Saturday 30 December 2017

MY TAKE ON THE ELCLASSICO

 i was ill that is why i was not able to post and do this game early which i wanted to do so badly . on satuday real madrid played barcelona . for the last 4 or 5 days i had been reading the news, opinions and analysis of many a pundits . first and foremost many a pointed this defeat towards zidane and he is responsible for it . well a coach is defenitely responsible for the result of his team but on the other had let me ask as to which coach will tell his players to play badly or mess up in the game . there are situations where on the decisions making goes wrong and the team pays the price . i dont think that zidane would ever do that . when would a coaches CV or his status gets raised when he does something against great opponents and what better opponents than barcelona to do better .
the most important thing had been which had been missed in this game is that everybody and anybody is criticizing zidane but what about valverde and barcelona . i am want to first one who will criticize his or say question his . if the match had been the mirror image of first half then everybody had been questioning valverde and his tactics . barcelona is said to play the best football in europe and they had been the flag bearers of football tactics for all the teams . under gaurdiola it was intense pressing then came enrique era of quick counter attack and the question mark remains of what of valverde tactics . had the game gone the other way then he would had been questioned and he would had been on the knife's edge .
barcelona started the game with 4-4-2 formation but pauliniho was playing more as a forward rather than a wide man and messi playing as a number 10 . pauliniho started the game because he has the knack of making runs into the box and taking great positions where on his team mates can find him and that helps in offense because it helps to move the ball and helps the team very nicely . real started the game with 4-4-2 formation with ronaldo playing as the wide forward while benzema through the middle . real started to have 4 midfielders in the middle of the park the stratergy being to congest that space and deny barcelona any space in the middle of park . for the first half barcelona were trying to find their identity . what were barcelona trying to achieve was very clear but madrid were prepared for that . first off messi was coming deep and luis suarez was going wide just to create that space between centre backs so that if messi beats his marker he will can either pass that ball to suarez or use that space which suarez created . 
real madrid were prepared for all what barcelona were going to throw at them . first off they didnt gave messi time and space on the ball and this might the first classico when messi had lost possession most amount of time in a half . either kovacic or casmeiro were with him . while barcelona were trying to play a little bit of a dutch game trying to be patient and find the opening in the madrid defense . madrid had their own offense . they had crowded the middle of the park but they had sent their fullbacks high up the pitch and they too wanted to stretch the barca defense . the offense had the correct intent because real had benzema and ronaldo in the middle but at times i think that real crossed the ball with letting ronaldo having the time to come into the box . the other thing was that real could had just tried to have deeper penetration in the box and once they succeded and created the best chance of the game which ronaldo scuffed . now here is the difference between great player  ( bergkamp)and good player ( ronaldo) is that they have the awareness of who and what is around them and whether they can take a touch or take first time show . 
i dont know what happened but zidane tried to change thing in the second half . in the first half kovacic and casmeiro were in the middle of the park and were guarding that space very perfectly . in the second half zidane sent casmeiro against sergio busquetus . if there is a better ball passer in the barcelona team other than messi then its busquestus who is very under appreciated . the second mistake was to play sloppy passes i mean real are trying to play out from the back and if you loose the ball in the middle of the park and too to barcelona then you are inviting trouble . in the analytical pieces being done by various writers they had pointed about the counter counter attack but they failed to point as to why casmeiro ,modric and kross were caught on the wrong side of the ball . kovacic was given the duty to guard messi and he was doing it perfectly . when rakitic intercepted the pass and ran onto the real defense . kovacic was is in two minds as to whether he goes to go against rakitic or keeping on guarding messi and in that they kept on dropping back and they conceded the goal . another such goal with the same mistake with a red card and it ended the game for me .
first off the only thing zidane did wrong was that in the second half he changed the system and instead of trying to improvise what was done in the first half he tried to do different which opened the game for barcelona and real suffered the defeat . i think zidane will learn from that but the question still lingers for me about valverde and if barcelona gets upset in the coming months especially in ucl then i think he is in danger . 

Monday 4 December 2017

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN NAPOLI VS JUVENTUS .

juventus played napoli on friday night . the game was significant because it was important for napoli to show that they are the best team in italy and play the best football over there . now before i write about the game as i had written time and again that the coaches try to find out the weak points in the opposition and try to explore it or try to create imbalance and start the offense from there . the coaches game is to think and coach and the players job is to carry it out on the field . the other thing is that as i had written earlier about game reading and that had been in reference to defense but just as game reading is important on defense it similarly important on the offense as well . you have to take into account the defensive formation and players qualities . even the coach had coached them and taught them as to what they need to do but its the players who is playing and has to improvise and read the play . he has to read as to where he can create space which zone he can exploit who to use in the play and take the necessary decision . its just like a chess game out there where on each one is sizing up one another and try to out do each other . if the players are of equal strength then the match will be a draw because both will cancel out each other and that is why the coaches job is to find that extra factor which can be beneficial to his team . napoli are a very good team and play good football but the trouble with napoli is that their game can be read from a distance and unfortunately sarri had not been able to add anything new to the game . napoli's game is forward going game but unfortunately what they lack is flair in that team and they dont have anybody who can attract the defenders and create space for others . 
juventus started the with 4-4-1-1 formation while napoli started the game with their usual 4-3-3 formation . i think allegri was prepared for napoli and they had prepared very well for napoli . the most important  factor when you play a pressing game is that you have to be reletless and press very hard . even though napoli were pressing and their team formation and they were working very well in tandem . while pressing the seem to be somewhat hesitant because first off juventus players possessed a physical and technical advantage over napoli's players ( whether anybody admit that or not ) .   napoli's players were waiting for juventus players to take first action and that allowed juventus players time on the ball were able to play themselves out of the press . napoli's players were circumspect and they wanted juventus players to first move because of the first goal because juventus players could play out of the press and because of the pressing many were caught on the wrong side of the ball and there was a lot of space at the back for costa to explore which led to higuain's goal ( just like last year where on juventus scored the goal and sat back to absorb the napoli's pressure for win.
allegri had prepared juvnetus very well for the napoli's test . he wanted juventus to sit back and hit back on the counter . the most important facet of the game was that he wanted higuain to come off the back four and stay inside so as to disrupt that back two . his plan was that higuain would come inside and costa and dybala to run beyond higuain . juventus had better players who could get out better in one on one situation . napoli were just one dimensional in the first half . both the team were not going to concede space in the middle so there was going to be space on the wings for both the team . as i had said napoli were one dimensional in the first half and most importantly mertens who i consider the best player in that team was just not involved in the offense in the first half . in the first half napoli were just not able to bring the ball inside from the wide areas . mertens wasnt not involved in the offense at all . secondly none napoli players could show their magic and show some skill on the ball to create chances for their team . mertens was left frustrated in the first half because of the lack of touches to the ball as well as his involvement . most of all i was very frustrated with callejon's movement and his positional understanding of the play . hysaz for me has one of the best passer of the ball in tight situations but he was let down by callejon . mario rui who was playing as left back was choosing to cross the ball which is ok considering that atleast they were getting the ball in the box but mertens beating chilleni and benatia is me beating anand in a chess game . 
in the second half sarri made the changes . he must asked his players to play around mertens and mertens to come off the back four and let insigne and others get beyond him but the trouble is that juventus were prepared for all this . secondly the length of pass from where napoli were trying to open up juventus was a bit far ( i would show that in the diagram . the passes were atleast 30-40 yard passes and which should had been further forward  ) . this was allowing buffon and others that necessary time to come off the line or make that necessary interceptions in the play . most of all i think that the mistake that sarri made was that he subbed allan for zalenski . zalenski is a very good player but allan too has a very good underrated game and i think he was realling shining in that game and would had been one of the difference maker  in that game . i thought that callejon would be subbed and he would bring somebody upfront or even just like same allerdyce tried put koulibally upfront and play mertens off him and that would had been hell of a play .