Friday 27 October 2017

MY TAKE ON WEEKEND GAMES .

now there are two to three good happened at the weekend so instead of writing them separately i would try to summarize them in one post . i would cover these games and will take into consideration the games that had happened last week ( the game between man utd vs liverpool ) .
the first big game was between napoli vs inter . napoli had done very well in serie A and are at the top . while inter too had been playing some very decent football . spaletti had organised them well . while napoli's sarri had been getting all the praise because of the playing style . there is no doubt that napoli are playing well .they pass the ball well but the football is a constantly evolving game and i think that napoli are just stuck in that one gear from which they need to get out . let me tell you even last year napoli were playing this good and against juventus but came undone . why did i say that they are playing in same gear is because their offense can be readed . they pass of very good and that is their style but their offense can be read . first off for me mertens had been one of the revelations for me but for me he is not used that much . he is used the same way as gaurdiola uses jesus in man city to keep the back two occupied . so that it creats the space for insigne who tries to take on the fullback . second is that insigne comes deep inside and he tries to release callejon or mertens behind the back four .
about the game first spaletti had the chance that his team is ready to play a top notch opposition and he preapred for that . he tried to match napoli by pressing them high up the field but as soon as the ball was brought upfield he would retreat the team in a two banks of four and make them compact . inter played deep because they knew that little space behind the back four can be exploited by napoli . why do i say that napoli are stuck in one gear is because first off they just play in one gear or forward positive football but while doing that they are not making enough passes in the final third to pull the opposition out of shape or bambozzle them with their movement and passing . even in the game against juventus last season they dominated the possession but they couldnt find a way to put the ball in the back of the net . they need to change gears and need to vary their offense and open up opposition .
spaletti had organised inter very well . they just sat back and hit on the counter trying to exploit napoli and the spaces that are left being . now when you play on the counter attack you need your centre forward to hold the ball and release ball to runners that are going beyond him . his role is very important . in this match either icardi didnt do very well . first off he wasnt used much in the attack because whenever the ball was passed to him he passed well . inter failed to use icardi as well as valero and these two need to combine well if inter need to have more potency on counter . or that they can use somebody other in big games to have more pace upfront who could provide more movement . i just marcotti statement as to whether inter or napoli can be genuine contenders . well they can be if they cant loose against lesser teams and that juventus doesnt make that late surge as they did in the first season of allegri .
liverpool played against utd and spurs in two consequitive games . what can a coach do if the defenders makes mistakes . yes he choose him but then his faith is not repaid by the player who he trusted if they keep on making amateurish mistakes . liverpool rely more on counter or on mistakes by the opposition . they try to press and counter very quickly . lets see how liverpool faired against spurs . 
spurs started the game with 5-3-2 formation with tippier and aurier as the fullbacks . aurier was shifted on the left side to counter salah's pace . while liverpool started with usual 4-3-3 formation . spurs had a very good game plan first off they played a bit high line and to counter so that they dont expose with run behind the back they played a back five so that they would have players to track diagonal run made by liverpool players . the second thing that why spurs played a bit high line was because that they know about coutiniho's quality . if you drop too deep and doesnt matters whether you man mark coutiniho he is good dribbler and he will find a little bit of space and has a good shot from beyond the box so dropping too deep would had been risky . spurs wanted to congested the middle because they know that liverpool can explore that little bit of space in that region . there are times when i do question opposition managers tactical acumen and here i have to question about kloop's . spurs played five at the back and three in the middle . spurs played the flat back five so both the full backs tucked besides their centre backs so opposition fullback had a  decent amount of space to play . now here is the question liverpool fullbacks had decent amout of space to go upfield secondly they were not man marked unless they came near the box . thidly why didnt kloop spotted this that his fullbacks were getting the space and then start the offense from there . spurs had laid a trap for liverpool by playing a high line but at the same time taken the precaution of playing 5 at the back and playing tighter . liverpool dont have proper number nine and their offense relies on the movement of the players but mane and wijnauldum injured and can had to play in the back four liverpool midfield didnt had the quality to support liverpool's front line and that hampered liverpool's offense . kane played very well against liverpool and his link up play is just getting better .
last but not the least but utd lost to huddersfield and drew against liverpool . utd offense is based around lukaku and for that his passing and vision needs to be very good . he has runner like mikhitariyan , rashford and martial who run beyond him . in the game against liverpool he was just awful with his first touch . he needs to keep the ball to get them high up the pitch . the defenders are going to be tight on you and they are not going to give you any space and time on the ball and that is when you need to show your quality on the ball . against huddersfield he was very poor and casual one thing that he needs to avoid if needs to be taken seriously as a good striker . why dont mouriniho wants to get him lean . he already has the height . if he gets lean then he can have a little pace in his legs and that will help with his movement . against huddersfield united were very poor . the opposition could just read the script as to what was going to happen when the ball was brough around the box . utd need to keep the ball more around the box and need to pass the ball more around the box instead of just crossing it in . they need to have a little bit patient with their offense and hold the ball more . i think jose needs to have more one on one sessions with him and needs to have that offense tweaked more to be more effective against good teams .


Friday 20 October 2017

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN CHELSEA VS ROMA .

chelsea played roma on wednesday night . over the years chelsea had tried to sign managers whom they want to play flowing and pressing football . last year chelsea just wanted to win something because in the last two years the club had not won anything . another thing was that last year nobody noticed chelsea's style of play because last year they were down and suddenly they blitzed everyone to win the title . another thing that i dont understand is this before the game dzeko was criticized for not running much in the game and in this game he just wanted to move but why do players and coaches take the tv pundit's and journalists criticism in consideration . they might had played the game but then playing the game and managing the team and making tactics are two different things .they should never ever try to listen to this criticism unless it is making sense which on numerous occasion doesnt makes any sense for me because they just focus on current things rather than taking into consideration the overall picture . 
chelsea started the 5-3-2 formation . while roma started with the 4-3-3 formation . as i had said that chelsea wanted to play flowing football but here they are just sitting back and are playing on the counter . another factor that had been one of the reasons that they were successful last season had been pedro who didnt start this game . now i dont criticize coaches who want to sit deep and defend back with numbers because it is never bad to defensive because at times defense is the best offense . chelsea were sitting back and defending with numbers and then hitting roma on the counter attack . although chelsea were playing on the counter attack but they were one dimensional ( even though they scored two goals in the first half ) . the first trouble was that there were not enough players for moratta and hazard to pass since the fullbacks were tucked up alongside the centre backs to make it a back five . it is important to show quality when you have the ball instead chelsea were just one dimensional they were just taking the ball forward instead of keeping the ball and be patient at times .
as i had said that players shouldnt mind criticsm . they criticized him for covering enough ground . now his game is not about moving instead he is more of a power forward around whom the offense revolves and he is there to be at the end of crosses and if he comes deep then players get beyond him ( footballers will understand ) . roma were playing 4-3-3 with manolans in front of the back four and naingolan and strootman either side of him . now for the first 40 min even though roma had the majority of the possession they were just not threatning . first off roma coach had correctly noted that there would no space in the middle of the park .roma wanted to stretch chelsea to create space so they moved the from wing to wing to stretch them but chelsea had numbers behind the ball .
as i had said that dzeko wanted to prove a point to his doubters that he does moves so he wanted to be invoved in the build up and he was coming i deep to help move the ball . but when your forward is coming is deep inside you want your wingers or the midfielders to run beyond him and exploit that space .instead gerson and pelotti stayed wide and strootman and naingonal didnt tried to bomb forward . roma kept the ball moving but they didnt had anybody in the box ( except for once ) . chelsea were happy to let the ball  roma move the ball because there was no threat . for me roma needs to work out there offense around the box as to what are they going to do when the ball comes around the box . they need to work on their final third tactis which are very important because team bring the ball upfield but after that they just seem to have lack of plan . 
in this match all the goals were scored because of the defensive  or individual mistakes . first two chelsea goals were conceded because roma lost the ball in their own half and on the first goal jesus tried to too cool rather than just punt the ball upfield . kolarov scored first goal for roma and here christensen made the mistake of not switching up when azpilicueta moved close to zapacosta to help him deal with kolarov and close the space . kolarov just exploited the space between azipilicueata and christensen and scored . i think at times defenders are just getting presumptious about players certain players cannot score with headers and they made a mistake with hazard and paid the price .
chelsea will work to do and i think conte needs to get the team playing because his teams performance in the ucl is not encouraging because under conte juventus won the league but never a european giant which they are under allegri . 

Sunday 15 October 2017

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ATH MAD VS BARCELONA

for the last two weeks there were world cup qualification games and messi was involved in all of them . i would try to establish a relationship between argentina's game and barcelona's last night game against ath madrid . this season the game seems to be more revolved towards messi than in his time at barcelona and agrentina . the tactics are made that suit him or the way that he wants to play or move and that all the other players get around him . but in doing this there is something missing and that is that the teams cohesion is getting hampered . there is lack of game plan and going forward they just dont as to what when the ball is in the final third and there is a clear lack of plan when the ball is in the final third and it was obvious in the argentina's game and the ath mad game . just like argentina barcelona clearly seems to be at loss when they take the ball forward and this was evident in the argentina game as well . first off messi wants to do everything and anything with the ball . he wants to be the creator and finisher himself . there is a clear lack of cohesion between him and the other players and with the coach preferring him to be the main man the players are always searching him to pass the ball but that makes it difficult for the team because they have lost the direction on offense . 
ath mad started the game with their usual 4-4-2 formation while barcelona started with the same formation . we all know as to how ath mad play they just defend deep and try to hit on the counter . as  i had said earlier it was evident to find out as how barcelona try to tackle ath madrid . they can be pressed since they drop so deep and have to take the ball from one end to other but i was clearly searching for barcelona's game plan and i didnt found any . barcelona were taking the ball forward and clearly they just seem to be lost . while ath mad may have found a very good gem in form of correria and he was bit off color yesterday where on he gave away ball one too many times but his ability to turn and drift pass players created the first chance or griezman . while griezman and corriea were working in tandem i didnt saw that relationship between messi and suarez . this was even evident in the argentina's game as well where on he didnt have a partnership with benedetto . in the final third they dint know as to what they should do with the ball  where on they should take the ball wide and bring it in or should they cross the ball from the wide areas . at times when barcelona crossed the ball i dindnt think even suarez was expecting the ball to be crossed . they were just doing it because there didnt seem to no other option or that they wanted to try something different rather than just keep on passing the ball .
the game started to change in the second half because barcelona made the changes and they introduced delefou who is an out and out winger who will stay wide and try to stay wide and take on the wide player and send in the crosses from the wide areas and that gets starts the plan and from there barcelona can improvise and on one such play sergio roberto spotted luiz suarez and got the equaliser . barcelona needed to find the plan a and they found it in the last 15 mins of the game . this should had been earlier and i hope that valverde does works on the offense .
another game that was going on was between roma and napoli was also very interesting . napoli play a very fluid game but roma too put napoli on backfoot but the trouble was that they were taking the ball wide and putting crosses which were very well dealt by napoli and roma failed to bring the ball in and secondly they played one dimensional in that game . they just tried to take the ball wide and whip it in the box . they just dint tried anything different and it is something that their new coach needs to look at .

Sunday 1 October 2017

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN CHELSEA VS MAN CITY .

when i watch the game at times i am frustrated and see the lack of technique . let me tell you with players who had played the game long enough and coached then they would understand the importance of pass . most of the time i see players missing to see a pass and passing the ball with outside  of the boot which is sometimes difficult to control . when you pass the ball it should be easy for the player to recive it and he should be able to pass it without having to make two touches or adjust for the angle . second is that at time i had seen players dropping back collecting the ball and passing the ball back . at evey inch of the pitch different angles are created and different possibilities are created . secondly you should be aware on the pitch as to whether you are pressed or not . if you are not then you should use the ball and many a times i had seen that even when not pressed players pass the ball back . instead keep the ball and use it .
yesterday man city played chelsea at stamford bridge . chelsea didnt had luiz so rudiger came into his place . chelsea started the game with 3 -5-2 formation . while man city started with a hybrid formation i would explain that . city started with 4-3-3 but made it would be different when they had the ball . if there was one reason as to why chelsea had success last season then with costa and hazard pedro's off the ball running and his ability to stretch the defense had been a very big factor in chelsea title winning season . in whichever games pedro hadnt played chelsea struggled to create space as well as stretch the defense and were not able to hold the ball upfield longer . his ability to stretch the offense was the main reason that he would distract the defense and create spaces for hazard and costa to work . chelsea didnt start him and obviously struggled .
the game started with chelsea sitting back and trying to absorb pressure and hitting on the counter . chelsea had hazard and moratta upfront . city had 4 at the back with delph in the left back position but he would move inside in the midfield when city had the ball and  this obviously had a plan first off city had sterling and sane upfront in the wide positions . their job was to stretch the defense so that players like silva and de bruyne could exploit the spaces and create chances . city used jesus in the middle and his job was to keep the three central defenders occupied . i think when pep must had thought about the game then at that time he must had taken into  consideration that chelsea were not going to give any space infront of the goal and the central area of the pitch was going to be water tight and so it would be better to exploit the space that is on the left and right of these central defenders ( will show in pic ) . another advantage of moving delph inside was that he would get an extra body in the midfield and would be able to move the ball easily secondly and secondly he could directly pass the ball from back to front to the wide players sane and sterling . city had all the joy with possession they were stretching the defense and sane and sterling were doing an excellent job of harrassing the fullbacks . now city were having all the possession but the trouble was that chelsea were able to keep city at bay . there are reasons for that . first off city had too many players in the middle and chelsea were not ready to concede space over there . secondly city were not able to move the ball inside which they should be . third and the most important one is that city were not able to bring jesus in the game . i would give you the stats for that . gaurdiola for me while watching the game failed to notice this for me ( his one touch and he set up a goal for de bruyne ) . city has to bring jesus in the game they had to mix things . city were just too much one dimensional for me and they should had brought jesus more in the game . they have one of the best players in the game that is david silva who is joy to watch for me . his touch his ability to pass the ball and pass with deft touch is simply exquisite ( he reminds me of me ) . when i watch the game at times i am frustrated and see the lack of technique . let me tell you with players who had played the game long enough and coached then they would understand the importance of pass . most of the time i see players missing to see a pass and passing the ball with outside  of the boot which is sometimes difficult to control . when you pass the ball it should be easy for the player to recive it and he should be able to pass it without having to make two touches or adjust for the angle . second is that at time i had seen players dropping back collecting the ball and passing the ball back . at evey inch of the pitch different angles are created and different possibilities are created . secondly you should be aware on the pitch as to whether you are pressed or not . if you are not then you should use the ball and many a times i had seen that even when not pressed players pass the ball back . instead keep the ball and use it .
yesterday man city played chelsea at stamford bridge . chelsea didnt had luiz so rudiger came into his place . chelsea started the game with 3 -5-2 formation . while man city started with a hybrid formation i would explain that . city started with 4-3-3 but made it would be different when they had the ball . if there was one reason as to why chelsea had success last season then with costa and hazard pedro's off the ball running and his ability to stretch the defense had been a very big factor in chelsea title winning season . in whichever games pedro hadnt played chelsea struggled to create space as well as stretch the defense and were not able to hold the ball upfield longer . his ability to stretch the offense was the main reason that he would distract the defense and create spaces for hazard and costa to work . chelsea didnt start him and obviously struggled .
the game started with chelsea sitting back and trying to absorb pressure and hitting on the counter . chelsea had hazard and moratta upfront . city had 4 at the back with delph in the left back position but he would move inside in the midfield when city had the ball and  this obviously had a plan first off city had sterling and sane upfront in the wide positions . their job was to stretch the defense so that players like silva and de bruyne could exploit the spaces and create chances . city used jesus in the middle and his job was to keep the three central defenders occupied . i think when pep must had thought about the game then at that time he must had taken into  consideration that chelsea were not going to give any space infront of the goal and the central area of the pitch was going to be water tight and so it would be better to exploit the space that is on the left and right of these central defenders ( will show in pic ) . another advantage of moving delph inside was that he would get an extra body in the midfield and would be able to move the ball easily secondly and secondly he could directly pass the ball from back to front to the wide players sane and sterling . city had all the joy with possession they were stretching the defense and sane and sterling were doing an excellent job of harrassing the fullbacks . now city were having all the possession but the trouble was that chelsea were able to keep city at bay . there are reasons for that . first off city had too many players in the middle and chelsea were not ready to concede space over there . secondly city were not able to move the ball inside which they should be . third and the most important one is that city were not able to bring jesus in the game . i would give you the stats for that . gaurdiola for me while watching the game failed to notice this for me ( his one touch and he set up a goal for de bruyne ) . city has to bring jesus in the game they had to mix things . city were just too much one dimensional for me and they should had brought jesus more in the game . they have one of the best players in the game that is david silva who is joy to watch for me . his touch his ability to pass the ball and pass with deft touch is simply exquisite ( he reminds me of me ) . 
chelsea were playing on the counter attack . conte does like to play from the back . he likes the opposition  to come and close them down so that they can play around them and exploit them . as i had mentoined that chelsea missed pedro . chelsea had three in the middle with bakiyoko and kante on either side of fabregas . fabreagas was in the team just so that he could dictate the play . city were well aware of that so the player that they pressed mostly was fabregas who they didnt allowed time on the because they know the quality of ball that he can produce . the trouble with chelsea was that they were not able to keep the ball . chelsea earlier tried to play through costa and they do the same with moratta . moratta has a different game he likes to take on players and is good in one on one situations . the trouble with chelsea was that chelsea didnt had the numbers and city had pinned them back and by the time they would try to arrive they were in the process of getting pressed and lossing possession . moratta left the game early and willian replaced him . even though morattta gives a pivot to work around . for me willian was a welcome change because you cannot press him since he is good in one on one position . with willian chelsea could hold the ball longer and bring the players around but then they got mixed up in the roles . they could done something with the game when batshuyayi was bought but missed the chance . the trouble with chelsea was that they were not able to keep the ball long enough and trouble city plus they could not move the ball properly instead got trapped in one dimension to move the ball forward and really  didnt showed quality with the ball .
chelsea were playing on the counter attack . conte does like to play from the back . he likes the opposition  to come and close them down so that they can play around them and exploit them . as i had mentoined that chelsea missed pedro . chelsea had three in the middle with bakiyoko and kante on either side of fabregas . fabreagas was in the team just so that he could dictate the play . city were well aware of that so the player that they pressed mostly was fabregas who they didnt allowed time on the because they know the quality of ball that he can produce . the trouble with chelsea was that they were not able to keep the ball . chelsea earlier tried to play through costa and they do the same with moratta . moratta has a different game he likes to take on players and is good in one on one situations . the trouble with chelsea was that chelsea didnt had the numbers and city had pinned them back and by the time they would try to arrive they were in the process of getting pressed and lossing possession . moratta left the game early and willian replaced him . even though morattta gives a pivot to work around . for me willian was a welcome change because you cannot press him since he is good in one on one position . with willian chelsea could hold the ball longer and bring the players around but then they got mixed up in the roles . they could done something with the game when batshuyayi was bought but missed the chance . the trouble with chelsea was that they were not able to keep the ball long enough and trouble city plus they could not move the ball properly instead got trapped in one dimension to move the ball forward and really  didnt showed quality with the ball .