MY TAKE ON THE SPURS VS CHELSEA

on saturday spurs played chelsea and they just beat them very convincingly. when you are trying to analyse the game there are various factors that are taken into consideration like formation ,player used for that  awarness of players , their movement and many others . its always a coach's job to find out as to what went wrong in the match and if the scenario rises again he has a solution in mind . whichever team game it is . its like a game of chess where on the two opponents keeps on asking question of each other and try to seek answer . whoever finds the solution is the winner .
spurs started the game with 4-3-1-2 formation with sissoko preffered in the middle of the park alongside dier and eriksen . while chelsea started the game with 4-3-3 formation . the game started with spurs giving chelsea a taste of their own medicine . chelsea like to press hard and try to hit team on the counter . here spurs did exactly what chelsea does to others team . what chelsea like is that the opposition sits back and then the assess the shape and open them up with their ball movement . here spurs just didnt let them have time and space on the ball . while we talk about the formation and all that we do have to take into consideration the tempo of the game . it doesnt matters whether you play on the counter or on ball holding offense. its very important that you control the tempo of the game because if cannot control the tempo the game you can be ripped apart because if you let the opposition let control the tempo the game they can move the ball very fast and slow and get you out of shape and use that to their advantage .because after all the game is all about discipline,hard work,concentration  and organisation and if any of one quality comes short then the one team that lacks it can ( definitely) ends up on the losing side . 
so how did spurs controlled the tempo of the game . for the first 15 min they gave the same medicine that chelsea gives to their oppposition . they just closed down chelsea very hard and never allowed them time and space on the ball . the game was frantic till the first 25 min . most importantly chelsea are caught our of shape when the ball is take from back to front . the trouble is not the back four its the midfielders . apart from jorginiho the others are caught very high on the pitch and basically there is a lot of space in front of the back four which is there to exploit and thats what arsenal did in their first match against chelsea .
so how did spurs controlled the tempo and how chelsea lost it . for first 25 min spurs high pressed and scored . but you cannot do high press for the entire time of the match . you need to change levels and thats what they did . after 25 min spurs started to sit back but the sitting back wasnt that they let chelsea let time and space on the ball . instead they let chelsea come in their own half and then pressed them enough so that they had to play with a high tempo . this is where i think chelsea lost . spurs after 25 min had passed the mantle to chelsea by sitting back and chelsea had the ball . chelsea should had controlled the game better . but instead they played with on tempo and one dimensional always trying to play a forward pass game . while chelsea had the ball they should had controlled the  game better and moved the ball better . 
for that i am  going to give one example what gaurdiola team use to do at barcelona . they would slow down the game by playing tiki taka and moving the ball around and let the opposition take the shape . what this does is you can gauge the opposition's defense and can work your offensive moves . they would play tiki taka and suddenly they would up the tempo to which the opposition is caught unprepared . chelsea played with one dimensional tempo . they should had controlled the tempo better . they should had tried to draw out spurs out of their own half . the trouble with sarri's team is that they only know in one way of playing the game . the second problem is that the cohesion that is wanted between the front players is not there . conte's team had a good cohesion between hazard and costa and that won them the league . in sarri's game the no.9 is used more as a positional piece who keeps the centre backs occupied and other try to exploit the gaps . it had been a problem with his team at napoli too and i had written about it when i had analysed the napoli's game . this game should be a learning a curve for sarri who should look at his tactics and the back that remain at the back when  opposition team come very fast forward . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN CITY VS UTD .

utd played city on sunday . before i write about this game or anything else let me tell you some from india's great history . it is said that abhimanyu the son of arjuna of  pandava's from mahabarta is that he learnt how to break into the ckravyuh ( formation) in his mother's womb . now what his this got to do with this match well the fact of the matter is that mouriniho just learnt one part of the game and that is how stop team's . he is what they call the defensive coach in the american football . he knows what teams should do when the other team has the ball and that is what is got to do with mouriniho . mouriniho is just one way coach and i think  he just thinks about defense and what his team does when they have the ball . even though man city won but i still think that gaurdiola's team wasnt that impressive  as well . first and foremost he has studied chess and talked with them about tactics and when you talk with such sharp minds about tactics i think he needs to show some of that on the field . even though his team won it wasnt that convincing for me . they were going to win no doubt about that but the trouble is they should had just outclassed man utd which i think they didnt . when man utd were good they had such fear in opponents minds that the opponents knew that they can score at will and that is why they won a lot . gaurdiola's team is still not doing that . they still are not playing the same level as i want them to be . 
the game started with man city and utd playing the same formation . i dont have any issues in any team trying to defend deep and sit back and play on the counter attack because the coach decides what is best for the team with the players on hand . the issue is not about sitting about sitting back and hitting on the but its about when you have the ball and what you do when you have it . you need to show the quality when you have the ball . fine if its on the counter attack . the understanding of any manager about the game gets endorsed by the offense his team plays . man utd when going forward just didnt had the clue as to what they want to do with the ball and this is a clear indication that mouriniho doesnt understands offensive side of the game . while i see gaurdiola constantly tipping his players on what to do when they have the ball and what need to do . i never saw mouriniho tell his players on what to do when they had the ball . it happened all throughout the match and mouriniho just didnt had the clue as to what his team is doing with the ball .
i would like to give an example on 37th minute rashford was released behind the left backs space by herrera . rashford had lindgard and martial in support . while rashford went for the ball . lindgard and martial went inside the box with the expectation that the ball will be crossed and they should try to get at the end of it . while rashford was mobbed by two players and led to eventually ball played out and loss of possession . now this is stupidity . the player should had studied about the space that was between rashford and the middle . even there was a space between the defensive players and it should had been exploited . team works for space they try to create and thats what team try to do . here there was space and they just couldnt exploit it . ( see the pics for that . ) either one of the player should had gone with rashford and help move the ball inside while one should had gone inside the box to keep the threat of cross alive . its shows the lack of knowledge about the offensive of the part on the part of mouriniho . his players were caught on the ball because they seem to be fixated on passing the ball to a certain which you cannot be in the football game . you need to read the play and do what is necessary . utd dont have a single player who can put his foot on the pedal and control it . they are just playing like individuals and not as a team . 
the  second thing is that mouriniho prepared his team with the expectation that city will press them and if the ball is moved fast enough then he can catch them on the counter and out of shape . which is what he did at real madrid in the title winning season . gaurdiola has learnt from that . in the second season he clearly struggled because instead of trying to press him teams were sitting back and inviting madrid to open them up . mouriniho always knew just one way forward and he just couldnt make adjustments . the adjustments that man city or gaurdiola made to the city team was that they pressed but never  hard pressed . they only pressed the player with the possession of the ball . they played deep or dropped deep maintained their shape while just doing enough pressing to keep man utd on their toes . when the opposition is not doing what you expect him to do then you need to make adjustments and clearly mouriniho wasnt able to do that . this was another failure on the part of mouriniho .
let me tell you defense is a maze or puzzle which the opposition needs to solve . gaurdiola has talked with the grandmaster so they must have imparted some very good knowledge with him . man utd defensive formation was like a sitting duck formation . city has so many good players that if they move the ball properly then they can rip open utd on every move . this was seen on the third goal but in the middle of the they just didnt do enough for me . they just didnt showed their quality on the ball . i expect more from gaurdiola and this performance was not enough for me . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN DORTMUND VS BAYERN MUNICH .

yesterday bayern munich played dortmund in the bundesliga . while munich have a mini collapse in the bundesliga . dortmund are at the top .  munich started the game with 4-4-1-1 formation while dortmund too played the same combination . it was important game for both the coaches because it gives them the bragging rights atleast till christmas for being the best team in the land .

the game started with dortmund sitting back and bayern being the aggressive team trying to have the initiative . for bayern groetzka started the game in the middle of the park along side martinez . at other times in other games he has started in the no.10 position . for dortmund goetze started the game upfront in the no.9 formation . bayern had both ribery and gnabry in wide positions . bayern were trying to stretch dortmund so that the spaces can be  exploited by ribery and gnabry . the first goal came because bayern moved the ball from side to side in trying to steretch dortmund . because of that dortmunds defense got somewhat disorganised .plus the biggest mistake to that goal was the prenotion that akanji had . dortmunds midfield had moved up when the ball was moved from side to side and muller found the space between the lines . akanji in bid to close down muller left his position and went to close down muller . had akanji stayed in his proper position and maintained his discipline then he could had made it difficult for lewandowski to score . his prenotion was the cause for the first goal . bayern were dominating in the first half . even though they were dominating they were not able to find past dortmund . there was a reason . when you want your team to perform then you need to have each player to contribute . most of the bayern attack was from the left and ribery being the insitgator . the trouble was that the ribery and alaba were combining wide but the proper pivot that they wanted to bring the ball inside wasnt there . plus they were not that patient in their possession and instead choose to cross the ball rather trying to work the ball and get it come inside . on the defense bayern's plan was excellent . they were pressing dortmund so that they have to pass quickly . dortmund had reus and gotze upfront who were up against muller and boetang and there was no chance of them winning aerial duel against bayern's back two . so bayern's tactics were atleast working on the defensive upfront and they were able to contend dortmund in the first half .

akanji left his position and it led to first bayern goal

there is no problem in sitting back and hitting on the counter but for that you need to show your quality when you have the ball . plus the trouble with sitting back is that you are inviting the ball to be crossed or come close to your goal then you are inviting trouble . yes dortmund had a good shape to their team but individual mistakes can happen and that can  cost the team very much especially as dortmund had seen in the game against athletico madrid . ath.mad were able to stop dortmund in the tracks and were able take advantage of the deep line that dortmund play . in the first half whenever dortmund had the ball they just couldnt take the ball near bayern's goal and the reason for that  was the midfield of weigel and witsel just couldnt control the game properly and support their front line and the wingers . plus when gotze and reus had the ball they made bad decisions on the ball and that led to their attack stop in the tracks had they done better on the ball then bayern would had been in trouble .

the game is of two halves and the tempo that you have in the first cannot be maintained in the second half and that is why team make adjustment to the game . they just dont go on pressing which they will do in the first half because they are fresh . the team needs to make adjustment to their game and play accordingly. bayern just didnt that . they tried to play the same game which they were playing in the first half . in the second half the main change that dortmund made was that weigel was replaced by mahmoudi who is much more attacking minded than wieigel who is a defensive minded . mahamoudi instead sitting back like weigel started to come forward and started to join the offense and most importantly the pressing that was crisp wasnt that much crisp in the second half . this gave dortmund the space and time on the ball and they have decent players who can use the ball .
even though dortmund won their coach favre needs to look at the way they play when they have the ball . most importantly the distribution from midfield and from the back is very poor and this stops their offense in the tracks . secondly their offense can be read from a mile long . they try to take the ball wide and then the fullbacks and his forward try to combine and try to open take the ball forward . this offense was stopped by ath madrid and they couldnt conjure another way to take ball forward against ath madrid and even in this match in the first half bayern stopped them in the tracks . for bayern they just keep on dropping too deep and once the pressing fails plus the thing is that they just have one player who  is protecting the back three ( since one of the fullbacks is caught high on the counter on offense ) . he needs to be a bit more conservative because they even lost against wolfsburg even when they dominated the match but on the counters they were exposed and paid with the result .