MY TAKE ON THE BARCELONA VS INTER MILAN GAME .

inter milan played barcelona at home . this is the first of the two test that conte's side had this week . before i write the article let me tell you . in football when sir alex fergusson was the man utd manager his famous quote used to be that football is played for 90 min . you have to plan according to the halves . you cannot play with the same tempo all throughout the game and you need to plan the moves as the game progresses .  even though its a team game but individuals make the team . with every passing minute in the game you get tired and that affects your intensity,concentration, relex and even your decision making since these are all related . for the very first half i thought that what conte's 2016 italian team did with the spanish team . they played a wonderful counter attacking football and nullified the opposition and were brave on possession .while he aced the first half he should had read the second half and should have had a plan b this is where he was and  is  lacking . he should had read in the second half that barcelona will be changing things . they will get more aggressive and try things differently . while at the same time his players which were playing superbly in the first half will be able to play the same way in the second half . he should have got more italian and just try to make things difficult for barcelona . then even when the game was equalised he should have had taken that and should had tried to win the game and should had taken the draw . this first half performance was enough for him to win the game mentally and would had given him the upper hand in the second encounter which would be very interesting one .

barcelona started the game with what you call the best possible 11 that they can put on the pitch with their best formation . while conte started with his pet 3-5-2 formation . first off i dont know as to how barca blaugranes has got into my google feed but in the first half conte's team played the best counter attacking football and valverde just didnt had no answer for it . now its in the barca dna to go and press while the time is gone . now most of the  teams ( except the english players that too who play in the premier league ) are good in one and one situations . they move the ball quickly and the time to hard press had passed . the trouble with barcelona is that barcelona are still in this middle limbo as to what to do when they loose the ball . should they go and press and try to win possession or just sit back and allow the time and possession on the ball . this thing was boon for inter milan and conte had prepared his team for that . this is perfect example of how you should move the ball . they moved the ball inside and outside with midfielders supporting the wide players perfectly in moving the ball . most importantly they choose to take it to move the ball from back to front right from the goal keeper who was calm even in press and moved the ball very nicely . 

now the things to notice in the first half was barcelona were just too slow in their interplay . i had said this many a times this barca side just searches for messi to do everything . barceloan always like to move from back to front and it wasnt just that inter were starting very deep . they started with a high line trying to win the ball high but never overdoing thing and move back as the ball moved up . barcelona were slow in build and they just couldnt take advantage of the high line that inter were holding initially because the distance between front line and back line was less than 25 yards and barcelona just couldnt do that  .i think conte must had watched the dortmund-barca game and he would based his tactics on that . inter were playing deep and they just couldnt play a fast tempo game because that would had isolated sanchez and martinez and barcelona could had contain them . so inter had to build up with small passes but with good tempo and counter barca . in the first half you can read the barca's play and that meant that inter could adjust themselves to the play or even press them . barcelona were just too slow in the first half .

the trouble with dropping too deep is that if you loose possession then it can come to bite back your ass because ur players are in opposite momentum and opposition can find the spaces to hit you . barcelona just couldnt even do that in the first half . but in all of the match inter played a deep line and this has problems because even if you are protecting the box it just creates chances just beyond the box and this was always the trouble for inter .

the second half started somehow like the first half for the first 10 min but then you start to get tired and you cannot play the same style for 90 min .in the second half barcelona upped the tempo messi started to take control of the game and most importantly valverde had to change the things . he changed the shape . he subbed busqeustus and asked de jong and arthur  move in front of the back four while vidal was drafted just behind suarez . now just as the second half progressed the hard work that inter did in the first half had started to take the toll . they were on their toes in the first half and were eager to close down . more importantly barcelona were playing on a counter counter system where on they were eager the take the ball up very quickly and that created the chance for suarez between the lines . as i had already said that when you drop too deep it creates chances around the box . i would say this was suarez's brilliance because he took the volley shot . had the tried to take a touch and shoot then he would had been closed down but he realised the importance of the moment and took the shot . 

conte then had realised the inter were lite in front the back five and barcelona were trying to take advantage of it . secondly sanchez had run full steam so he needed to be subbed . so he subbed gagliardini for sanchez and changed the shape from 5-3-2 to 5-4-1 . this fell in barcelona's hands as inter couldnt bring players forward quickly on the counter attack . secondly barcelona having equalized thought that they could get something out of the game . they subbed dembele for griezman who is more direct than griezman . this pushed inter more deeper . the second was all brilliance by suarez who used goidin's momentum against him messi passed the ball to suarez and suarez's first touch took the ball past godin who was coming to close him down . barca could score because again inter were lost the possession in the middle of the park and barca countered .

now again barca blagurana's had severly criticized valverde for his team's first half performance . to be honest they are correct . valerde was seen dropping on his one knee and seemed clueless as to what was happening and how his team getting outplayed . he was mute on the sidelines and was'nt passing a single instruction . now the coaches can spot things from the sidelines which the player cannot see in the flow of the game . let me give you an example . in the first half inter's middle three were againt barca's middle three of which brozovic was coming out of his natural position to press busquestus . now the coaches job is to spot the gaps in the opponents formation and he should ask his team to try to exploit it . he can ask the team to play to play at a certain tempo depending on the situation in the game . now the brozovic's example is given because he coming out of his natural position which is quite much . he coming beyond 10 to 15 yards and that length needs to be exploited .  any anamoly in the formation of the opposition is to be exploited and that is what the coaches job is . this is where valverde was lacking and first half performance wasnt helping . it was good that barca won the game or else there may be voices asking for valverde's head.

MY TAKE ON THE MADRID DERBY

ath mad played real madrid in the madrid derby . before i write about the game let me tell you before tactics comes technique . if you are not technically proficient then the tactics go out of the window .there are littl things in football that make a whole lot of differnce on the pitch  for far  too long i had been watching football that too professional football where these so called footballers are paid figures which any simple human being can only dream off . but these so called footballers make such stupid technical mistakes that any good football coach would run out on the pitch and kick his ass . why these players play ball from the wrong side of the foot. just play normal side foot pass . think when you pass . pass the ball with accurate weight on the ball . unless you are doing an aerial pass keep the ball on the floo because it is easy to control on the floor . dont pass a bouncy pass . there is a way to open the defense and there is a way to defend . your anticipation , game reading makes a lot of difference in the game . 
now the game started with ath playing in their favourite 4-4-2 formation while real started with 4-3-3 formation . real bought valverde alongside kroos and casmeiro . its very know as to how ath mad play . they play deep and like to play on the counter attack . now joao felix is playing with costa upfront . there is reason for his mention here . the commentators were calling this game a chess match . either these commentators were obviously  must just amteurs chess players but the game was boring . most importantly both the teams couldnt a decent spell of football or show something good where on i can say that any one of them deserved to have win in this game .
the real reason real are struggling this season is because is first off they are playing too deep secondly their midfield is too slow and is not able to read the game properly . thirdly varane are ramos are dropping too deep allowing the opposition time and space between the lines which is the reason for trouble . just look at the goals against PSG. there is no cohesion on defense when real loose the ball . now both these coaches are criticized that there teams not that pleasing to the eye and most importantly there seems no improvisations by the coaches and they are expecting their players to do something special instead of them taking sessions where on they are taught as to how to read the defense and how they approach to unlock it . just look at the number of chances created in the game and the interplay . not more two chance were created by either side . 
real started with three upfront . but these upfront were flat out . hazard was on the left while bale on the right . i think that the idea of playing revers wingers needs to be corrected. why not at times go orthodox . the reason why zidane must be criticized is because real were just insipid in their offense . hazard and bale both stayed wide and the side dependent on their ability to beat their opposing number but not some creative offense . secondly when the ball was on the either side of the field the opposing number didnt try to cut in but instead they stayed . this meant that real were light in the box because there was only benzema in the box and at times when benzema would come out wide there would be no one in the box . thirdly real were trying to slow down the game which plays in the hands of the ath . because they can adjust themselves and stop real's moves . the only chance real had was cross from the left when only one time bale cut inside . the other chance was created by modric for himself and the move was started by himself and he combined with bale for the chance .
it is frustrating when you are asking somebody to do a job and if he fails to do it then i think you get pissed off and i can feel what simeone must had felt when costa lost the ball time and again . he is playing up front and his first touch needs to be good . he cannot loose the ball . but at the same time i would criticize simeone for his handling off joao felix . the boy is still young . he has a huge price on his head but then the coach needs to take blame as well . he needs to teach him as to how he needs to take positions and what he needs to do . everytime he has the ball there is something special expected off him . first off the team on counter attack so he has to adjust to style of play . i think there is nothing to show for simeone and that is bad because they didnt had a shot at goal to show .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN AC MILAN VS INTER MILAN

ac milan played inter at the san siro. both the milan teams are having new coaches and  what changes they have made to the teams and what formations do they use and how do they approach the game was worth noting . inter has conte while milan has giampolo .to be honest while one of the milan ( inter ) teams future looks  bright because they know what they need to do when they have the ball .while ac milans future doesnt looks  that good for me inter's future looks decent under conte . italian are supposed to be the most tactical teams in the footballing world . but while being tactical they do forget that football is a team game and there are other factors that too are important in the outcome of the game . giampolo had forgetten that while tactics are impotant but there are other factors like decision making , cohesion and understanding the situation is very important . the most important is you should have a plan a when you have the and then you go on improvising because its a constant chess game . inter had a clear plan as to what they wanted to do when they have the ball . i was struggling to find as to what they are going to do with the ball .
inter started the game with 3-5-2 formation while . ac milan started with 4-3-1-2 formation . ac milan were trying to play out of the back . now that a stupidity if dont have a clear approach as to what do you want to do when the opposition come on pressing you . most importantly you cannot spend time on the ball and allow the opposition to close you down . if you are not able to move the properly and most importantly if you are not able to bring the whole team into play and take the ball from back to front quickly then playing out from the back can come you and bite back in the backside . ac milan's tactics were just baffling me . most importantly they were taking the ball 5 yards front and 10 yards back . what was the team trying to do when they had the ball was unknown . ac milan had piatek and leao up front with suso just behind them . going forward what were ac' s  tactics were just confusing . first off suso is the best player in the side and the offense need to revlove around him . but at the same time suso needs to understand that he needs to use the players around him . he needs to understand the play as well as the opposition's formation and work his way through the maze that is oppositions formation . giampolo has his work cut out if needs to get better because leao was told to  drift in the space between right wing back and the centre back . but this where the coaching is needed and this is evident from ansu fati who has that maturity as to when to take on the opposite number and when to be conservative . leao wanted to take on godin every time he had the ball . there is moment for everything in football and decision making is a big part in football .
another thing that i noticed was that giampolo was very late to notice things . when the match started milan had two up top and suso was behind them . when ac milan lost the ball biaglia, kesse and chalangolu would form the middle three in front of the back four which would mean that they would be light in the wide areas . this was not observed by giampolo till 20  min and ac milan kept on losing the possession because they didnt had wide players would protect their fullbacks or would look out in zones in front of the fullbacks . he then changed the shape and asked suso to be in part of the middle four . 
in the match giampolo changed the formation three times . changing formations doesnt makes any difference unless and untill you dont have that necessary cohesion in the team . why do you change the formation is because you need to create new angles and explore new zones and try different things because your plan A wasnt working and that is why you change things . but if you dont have the necessary understanding of the play then changing things doesnt makes any difference . changing formation means you create new angles but to explore them you need to have understanding between the players and if you dont have that then the change of formation makes no sense .
conte likes to play on the counter attack . he likes his team to work hard and the basic thing is that his team has certain way to play . his offense is very well orchestrated . he likes to have a front two and likes to combine them together . plus every player in his team has a determined role and that is the sign of a well coached where the roles are very clear . they have a clear thought process as to what they need to do . the only thing was that the opposition was poor or else there are areas of concern that needs to be addressed .  some of his players(sensi an barella) need to be taught as to why they need to let the ball go and not spend time on the ball or try taking players in ne on one . his big test will come against barca and that will determine as to what his team can acheive this season . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ATH MAD VS JUVENTUS

juventus played ath mad in the ucl first match . juventus has the coach changed in the summer with sarri taking over from allegri . now the biggest threat from juventus is ronaldo but if he is not in and around the box then juventus just dont have any credible threat . sarri's team  drew a blank against fiorentina in their previous encounter . sarri likes to control possession while making short crisp passes and likes to keep the ball moving but his trouble even with his time at napoli and chelsea he was not able to bring his forward player in the offensive move . this was first credible test for sarri as ath mad are very good defensive side and opening them is a very difficult job as their organisation and discipline is very good . 
ath mad started the game with 4-4-2 formation with 4 out and out midfielders starting in the middle of the park while juventus started the game . juventus started the game with 4-4-2 formation . the reason i am saying this is because caudrado would slide back into the back four while on defense while higuian and ronaldo would stay top . juventus likes to dominate possession while ath likes to play on the counter . the trouble with ath mad is that they play deep so on the counter they have to  bring the ball way up and in that process they can be pressed and they can loose possession and the team can hit them on the counter counter . simeone realised this may throught the first half so he wanted to slow the game and asked his team to pass the ball around and push juventus back and then try to have a shot at goal . ath mad had four out and out midfielders who would move in the middle of the park so to counter it juventus had to bring all their midfieders in the middle of the park . it allowed ath mad fullbacks time and space on the ball and they could bomb forward because their natural numbers were busy in the middle of the park trying to defend spaces in front of the back four because ath mad had crowded that and had juventus not brought numbers in the middle of the park then ath mad could had been to work one of the zones and caused juventus the problem .

now here the main test was of ath mad fullbacks in particular trippier who was bought by ath mad in the summer because of his crossing ability because pochettino will tell you that on the defense trippier is a liablity. for me in this match he failed badly . had his crossing been better then he would had cause juventus a whole lot of problems . had his first touch and crossing been better then he would had caused juventus many problems because his crossing means juventus had to adjust for him and they would had looked to somebody to get to close him down which would had caused to create the gaps elsewhere and ath mad would had been able to work those . .any team requires a point of attack from where they can trouble the opposition  and from there on they need to improvise but here trippier was just letting his team down .  trippiers first touch was letting him down he is there in the team because of his crossing ability and if he is not doing that then he not doing then what is the use of such a player . second is simeone likes his team to play counter attacking but it doesnt work everytime and at times when they play a slow offensive game they need to move the ball crisply to have a better offense .

juventus two goals came on the counter rather than in the open play which sarri would had liked . ath mad had all the four midfielders inside of the park so the fullback was pushed up to counter juventus fullback which opened the space between centre backs and the fullbacks which was exploited by juventus on both the goals and both the goals came from the same side . the worry about juventus is that they are conceding on defense which is result of the zonal marking .

last but not the least if sarri needs to be a great coach then he needs to tell ronaldo that he needs him in and around the box and dont drift wide or anything because he is of no use and his potent threat is there and his team will be of good service from him if he stays just in and around the box . plus he can score a lot of goals and even have a lot of assist if just mould his game to be real no.9 rather than the no.7 he is wearing 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN DORTMUND VS BARCELONA

barca playd dortmund at  the signal iduna park . barca were without messi untill the half of this match . this is when valverde will be judged as to how he marshalls his troops . around does he base his offense . what combination he uses and what tactics does he uses . to be honest valverde has come up short in his examination without messi . with messi its very easy to base tactics . he makes things very easy he can spot runs and pick him up with a pin point pass . his sense of positioning is also very superb where on he makes available for the pass . with messi its very easy but what if he is not there . in football injuries are very common and you need to have a plan b and you need to plan that in advance . i didnt watch the ath bilbao game but barca failed to score in that game .. while in the game versus real betis griezman was the real hero . he was the one around whom all the offense was circling . he found spaces between the lines and everything flowed through him on that day and it looked as if barca have finally found the answer without messi and found a way to play without the great player . in the game against valencia it was ansu fati and de jong who stole the show . both found spaces between the lines and punished valencia for it .
the thing to see in this game was how does barcelona unlocks dortmunds defense . dortmund were not going to make this easy for them . lucien favre's team has a good discipline about them as soon as they loose the ball they organise themselves in two banks of four and most importantly both the lines work very good in tandem with each other . now it was worth seeing as to who would be star for barcelona as to who would unlock dortmund's defense . for the last two matches ansu fati was the star so he was given the ball in the final third to do something in the final third . the trouble with barca was that valverde didnt let him the full freedom to go and charge against his opposite number and try something . instead they just kept on moving the ball and trying to find the opening but dortmund were equal to the task . they defended very nicely . most importantly they kept suarez quite and didnt allow him time and space on the ball . in the first half dortmund's defense was very good and they kept barca at bay . 
dortmund played on the counter but dortmund's offense was nothing but  a lesson to all the young coaches as to how to play a floor game . dortmund kept moving the ball with short crisp passes and evaded the barca's press in their final third and pushed barca back . delaney and witsel supported their wide players and moved the ball very well . dortmund's passing was very good but there is a flaw the way they move the ball . their moves can be read and most importantly they can be pressed if the opposition can read their moves and hit them on the quick counter  . this is what bayern did to dortmund in the last season's bundesliga . in this game dortmund moved the ball very well at least guerrero was very good on the ball and his  ability and ball control was very good .  another thing with dortmund is that dortmund may be moving the ball crisply but then they are allowing the oppositon time to regroup and this makes dortmund's job difficult  since they wont find the space they desire . dortmund needs to bring some novelty in their attack and at time needs to go very direct and surprise the opponents .
the trouble with barca is with pique and the back four they are torn in the indecision as to whether they should press or should they sit back and maintain the shape and organisation and defend.  they are told to drop deep and let others come and dont get caught high on the pitch .  pique is supposed to be the organiser from the back but he is one who keeps on making mistakes and barca need a leader at the back .
in the second half messi and rakitic were introduced but the shape was the same . there was nothing new from barca . but messi has clearly lost his legs and hasnt got the pace that he had earlier in his carrier . but while he has lost his legs his game reading ability and positioning sense has improved leaps and bounds . valverde now has the headache as to how he play's messi,griezman and suarez together . compared to suarez griezman has better ability on the ball and can be a better link up player with messi . 

MY TAKE ON THE JUVENTUS VS NAPOLI .

yesterday napoli played juventus in the serie a . the game can be best described as the game of two halves with each team domination either of it . while juventus dominated the first half . napoli came back strong in the second half to equal the game . before writing about the game let me tell you one thing a couple of years back the england managers job was vacant and several names were considered among them was harry redknapp . now the reasons that were given as to why he was fit for the job was that he makes very good tactically astute substitutions . the reason for telling this tale is similar thing happened in this game . napoli was run over by juventus in the first half and he was just watching and in the second half he made two good substitutions and they could have had a different result . 
juventus started the game with 4-3-3 formation while sarri's former side started with 4-4-2 formation other will show  different but for me he had two upfront and callejon and insigne wide . ancelotti has kept the nucleus of the side the same that was under sarri what he has changed is the approach and the way they go forward . they still play the high line which was a question for me because juventus has so many pacy players who can create problems for any defense plus they are playing on the counter where on the opposing team is in not in shape and back tracking.
now the game started with napoli playing building offense and juventus hitting on the counter attack . napoli wanted to press juventus for which they played a high line . the main problem had been napoli's offense . fabian was played behind or with mertens .now if you play mertens against bonucci and de ligt then the aerial battle is gone . napoli were in a disarry in the first half fabian was shooting whenever he was getting instead of trying to build a play . callejon was just a spectator on the left . insigne who recives most of the touches and is the main player at times does too many touches causing the play to slow down and allowing the defense to organise and stall the offense .
the main problem was just not napoli's offense but its defense . playing such a high line wasnt helping . they were prone to counter attack . napoli had only six players on defense with the back four and the middle two . even the full backs were sent up to press and it cause gaps in the napoli's defense . juventus second goal can be considered the perfect example as to how bad napoli were . the way juventus bought the ball in from wide to inside without any challenge and obstruction and then higuain turning koulibaly inside out was the worst napoli .  kahadeira and matuidi were constantly getting space between the lines and causing problems to napoli. napoli's back four just couldnt come out to defend them because they had ronaldo and higuian to deal with and had they left their organisation then that would had been more trouble . juventus just ran riot in the first half .

in the second half ancelotti changed some personal as well as their positions . he removed the entire left side . he replaced insigne with lazano and mario rui for ghoulam . another change he made was fabian who was in the no. 10 position was brought in the middle alongside allan and zlensky who was in the middle was promoted upfront alongside mertens and lazano . he was drafted on the left side . the second half started with juventus wanting to preserve the lead and trying to sit deep and hit napoli on the counter . lazano's pace and zlensky's  positioning was causing juventus all sort of problems . most importantly the counter attack which was causing napoli in the first half was not there . napoli equalised the game but last minute own goal by koulibaly means they dropped points . this can happen to anybody but the important thing about the game is that ancelotti needs to make his tactics smartly he could had been hammered badly in the first half itself . while sarri doesnt needs to just be italian when they have the lead instead he needs to be positive when they have a lead and should try to control the game rather than handing the reins of the to the opposition .

MY TAKE ON SPURS LAST TWO MATCHES

i watched three matches one i had already written and posted . spurs played newcastle and lost and barcelona blew away real betis in the second half blitz when they turned up the screw .
spurs played newcastle and this was one of the worst offensive performances by the spurs . newcastle were sitting back with two banks of 4 and hitting spurs on the counter . now the weaker they rely of their discipline,shape and concentration to defend and its the opposition job to find the way past it . generally in such matches the so called weaker teams can some how score a goal so the stronger team in this case spurs needed to find more than a goal . the most disappointing thing about spurs was their offense . on the defense it was very well known as to what newcastle were going to do so spurs had to put a combination together . spurs offense can be best illustrated by the tactical board where on the newcastle are waiting for spurs . newcastle are having two rows of 4's with one of the forward dropping deep to help on defense . 
in the board you can see that spurs attack started 8 to 10 yards beyond newcastle's midfield . it should be more closer . secondly the attack was lacking any creative spark . most importantly spurs were not helping not themselves . their offense can be seen from a long away by the newcastle defense . most importantly the spurs offense didnt had more than two moves . one of the midfielders or the wing backs would try to cross the ball in the box trying to find one of the players in the box . spurs needed to put more than three to four passes together so that they could create that confusion in the newcastle defense and have a real chance to score . spurs didnt a orchestrated offense which is the real problem when you are playing with such team who dont have that great quality and one who rely on their discipline ,organisation and shape and do hard work to preserve the lead when they have one .
spurs played man city and even though the score wont suggest the the lop sided contest it was . man city outplayed spurs but two mistakes and man city dropped points . man city started with their usual 4-2-3-1 formation while spurs started with the same formation .
now as  i had said in my posts that the coach can choose to play the way he feels best suits to his team . spurs were sitting back and playing to play on the counter attack while as always man city was the dominant team in possession as well as trying to control the tempo of the game . what i expect from pochttino was atleast to have some decent game plan and he has some good players in his team but the team just looked like bunch of ameteurs who had been put together and told to play most importantly their game plan both on offense was poor . 
i would like to elaborate on what tim sherwood said at half time during this game . now what tim sherwood said that winks and nNdombele who were playing in the middle were not taking half turn and were just passing the ball side ways and back . they need to take a half turn and pass the ball forward and start playing forward . now here i want to say this how can a player who is under pressure and getting pressed make a half turn and risk lossing the possession and have the chance of coceding the goal because he very near the goal will take that a risk . secondly if you had watched closely then winks wasnt that much of a great pressure but since the offense wasnt that orchestrated he had to find player to pass and that meant he spent time on the ball and slowed the game down . spurs were just not able to keep the ball not man city pressed heavily and nicely but because they lacked a cohesive team which didnt had a orchestrated offense . its always important as to what you do with the ball . when playing  from the back wasnt working they started to go direct . poch changed the shape of the team he sent issoko in the middle while kaine came deep in the no.10 position and lamela and eriksen were sent beyond him . the opposition can read the changes and they would like to stop spurs in the tracks . man city just man marked kane and denied him time and space on the ball . here i was disappointed with poch he should had read that since kane wasnt getting time and space . he should had positioned somebody near him so  that as soon as kane receives the ball he should pass the ball to him and keep the game rolling . instead kane tried to take the ball in stried and got fouled or lost possession . spurs offense was very poor they lacked cohesion most importantly there was no imagination and desire to win and just wanted to hang on .
on the defensive end too spurs were poor first off they played deep which i dont object but as the game went on they became much more compact and offered space for sterling to have a start . any player who has pace needs a start and if he is given that then he is difficult to stop . poch should had realised that . giving him space to run means he could turn any side and could cause problems for the defense because you dont know him as to where he is going . spurs committed  many mistakes in the game and they are lucky to come out of the game with a point .

MY TAKE ON THE LIVERPOOL VS ARSENAL

arsenal played liverpool at anfield . the result was as expected but at  same time i expect a fight and most importantly i expect it to be a close not a  wash out .  arsenal started the game with 4-3-1-2 formation . while liverpool started the game with their usual 4-3-3 formation . arsenal had pepe and abumeyang upfront and they choose to sit back and hit liverpool on the counter . i wont describe the whole but there are some instances in the game which i would love to point out and i think they are very important .
liverpool have their own game plan . but here arsenal sat back and made liverpool the possession team .  arsenal had 4 in the middle . they wanted to play a very compact game and they knew about liverpools passing and players qualities so on defense the game plan was correct . arsenal didnt want to give liverpool any space in the middle of the park . so they had to concede space wide on the flanks . 
first off what liverpool lacked when liverpool had the ball you could see that geundozi had to come on the right side to help out maitland -niles so that he doesnt get overload . now when geundozi would come out wide on right and at times ceballos would come out from the middle chasing the ball in trying to win the possession . klopp should had realised that arsenal would be light in the middle with only xhaka who is not a good game reader and most importantly he should be an organiser which he is not . liverpool should had tried to take advantage of that with firmino . when ball was in the middle sokratis would come out of the back to press firmino but when the ball is near the 18 yard box i dont thing sokratis would come out and press firmino and break that defensive structure . what i was appaled to see was the way henderson just swinging his boot and trying to deliver the ball near the 6 yard box without any proper target in mind . robertson and arnold didnt had a natural opposite player and they had plenty of space to run but apart from robertson arnold didnt tried to take the ball deep or even tried to go deeper . most importantly they tried crossing for which i think arsenal were prepared . most importantly liverpool only could penetrate when firmino started seeing more of the ball and his runs ,movement and passing caused all sort of probelems for liverpool .

arsenal had been disappointing but the way they play most importantly for some of its players . emery choose his tactics which he thought were there to be suitable for his team . he had abumeyang and pepe upfront trying to run behind liverpool's defense . now this is the first step of the offense and once you do this two or three times the opposition starts to expect  it and it starts to take steps to counter it . so this is when you need to change the gear and change the game plan . the threat of that long ball to abumeyang and pepe should be there  . so while keeping that threat you can pass the ball around and develop the play . arsenal just went one dimensional trying to release pepe and abumeyang just as they did in the uefa cup final against chelsea when they tried to play through lacazatte . chelsea kept tab on him and stopped arsenal's attack in the tracks .
arsenal play front two . you need these front two to get them to combine together . if you had seen the starting position of both these players then they are far too apart from each other . i dont understand this . you do this when the players have quality but then again its better to have players combine with each other than trying to do the solo act which has a very low success rate . the most important factor in terms of counter attack is maintaining tempo of the game and most importantly the selection of the pass and players decision making . the main  problem with arsenal is with the selection of personal . on what merit is xhaka commanding his position in the team . his game reading is poor . his distribution is poor most importantly he just doesnt have that game reading in him to play in the midfield . he needs to understand as to when to throw the  long ball    and when to just continue the regular offense . the big problem is with pepe and abumeyang . whenever they recive the ball they tend to just go into one gear and try to take on the entire  opposition . instead they need to taught  as to when they need to go solo and when they need to hold the ball and bring their team into play and wait for support  . i hope he plays torreira who is a very fine player .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN LIVERPOOL VS CHELSEA UEFA SUPER CUP .

liverpool played chelsea in the uefa super cup final . now on sunday chelsea were hammered by man utd and lost . people were questioning lampard's choice of personal . this game would erase some doubts about his approach towards the game and the understanding he has . towards the game . i think he still has some strides to make but the process is in the right direction . the tactics he employed nullified liverpool atleast in the first half and some observation and some improvisations defensively and he can become one of the top managers in the game .
liverpool started the game with their usual 4-3-3 formation while chelsea started the game with the same formation . while chelsea had started with 4-2-3-1 formation against man utd but i think he reverted to 4-3-3 formation so as tribute to sarri because of whom he was playing this game . liverpool approach to the game is very well known they like to play on the counter attack . most importantly what liverpool does better than anybody is that whenever they win the ball in any part of the field they start the counter attack then and there . they have a well oiled machine who know how to counter opposition quick and fast and catch them out of shape . the game started with chelsea sitting back and hitting liverpool on the counter . the first chance of the game came towards liverpool and this was liverpool offense theme in the first half . liverpool have salah and chamberlain out wide . salah saw most of the ball and liverpool tried to have offense starting from salah . chelsea were trying to deny salah time and space on the ball and emerson was coming out to close him down . this was freeing up the space between him and zouma which henderson was taking full advantage of . this where i think frank lampard needs to tweak and ask his midfielders to follow handerson so that he doesnt have time and space on the ball . henderson's cross produced the first real chance of the game . 
there are two good things about chelsea which are with ball and without the ball . chelsea even were playing on the counter wanted to play out of the back and they wanted liverpool to come and press them . i think this was because chelsea had the belief in their game that they can beat liverpool's press and in turn exploit that space behind the back four . while doing this playing out of the back i think kepa's passing will be the most important thing because he should be able to pass the ball from to back in a jiffy and accurately . in this game zouma did redeem himself because he was criticized for his performance in the man utd game  . his passing was superb in this game . his passing is most important because nowadays teams dont allow opposition's midfielders time and space on the ball so defenders should be able to pass the ball . most importantly he needs to make understand emerson that he should allow salah to cut on his strong foot and inside instead show him out and on his weaker foot . these are little things that change the complexity and outcome of the game .
what nobody noticed but what chelsea did very correct with liverpool in the first half is that chelsea pressed the ball as soon as they lost it but didnt over commit which would had been suicidal . now what this little press meant was that liverpool  like start offense as soon as they win the ball but what this little press meant was that liverpool had to pass the ball back to their back four and this allowed chelsea to regroup and slowed the game down . liverpool just could do what they like to do and start a quick counter . 
in the first half chelsea played the ball from side to side trying to find the space and let pulisic and pedro on the ball . i think this is ancelotti's influence on lampard but lampard's game is a bit pacy compared with ancelotti. both pulisic and pedro are good on the ball but the problem lies with giroud . giroud is very good on the ball but he has no pace and because of his team can play that high line and can take their chances on defense . emerson should be taught that  another thing is that the midfieders have to make better read of the game and both kovacic and jorginiho were failing as to read as to what is going to come next and that is very important . the most worrying thing is that of goal who needs to command the back four and right of now kepa hasnt got that . he is circumspect . most important on the set pieces he should be commanding the box and his organisation of the players is tested . lampard needs to get that sorted . i think in the coming few weeks we will see a better chelsea .
liverpool were out played in the first although they created some chances but it was their which was exploited by chelsea . liverpool have their two midfielders high up the field and there is an ample space for the opposition to explore in front of the back four which chelsea did very nicely and that is how they got the first goal in the first half . most importantly liverpool couldnt play the quick counter that they are famous for . in the second half he bought on firminiho and in the first 5 minutes he was able to score but then chelsea were able to slow the game a bit . i watched the game till 90 min and slept .

MY TAKE ON THE UNL FINAL BETWEEN PORTUGAL VS NETHERLANDS

netherlands played portugal in the unl finals . dutch started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while portugal started the game with 4-3-3 formation . the game started with holland dominating the possession while portugal were sitting back and trying to hit back holland on the counter . holland had two in the middle with de roon and de jong in the middle while wijnauldum was playing behind depay who had babel and bergwin alongside hide . wijnauldum had a free role with him allowed to drift anywhere . the trouble with dutch was that even though they dominated the possession they were not able to convert that domination in creating chances and were short of ideas in the final third . the dutch's idea of offense was that in the final third depay will come deeper and get the ball and then try to create the chances or try to release bable or bergwin who would try to go beyond . the trouble with holland was that their offense can be read from a mile and after first 15 min portugal would stop depay from getting depay time and space on the ball . they would just close him down as soon as he would receive the ball . the most trouble with holland was that they didnt had a flair player who would create the chances for them or say finish that had been created by others . portugal has two good players in form of ronaldo the finisher and silva the creator . 
portugal might had won the match but they were not convincing . most importantly portugal have a very good team and they should be dominating the opponents . instead they are sitting back and hitting on the counter just what weaker teams do . santos started the game by dropping two players . he dropped jao felix and started ronaldo in the no.9 position . he had guedes and silva either side of him . silva is one of the best ball players in the game and he just had to increase his game intelligence . gone are the days when ronaldo could start from the wide left and cut inside and had the pace to get past opponents . he has lost the pace but still has the leap and the terrific finishing ability with the feet . the trouble with portugal was that they dont have an orchestrated offense and some of their players spent too much time on the ball which allows the opposition to close them down and loss of possession . some players in the team were ready to shoot the ball even when they would had been better to keep the ball and pass it to player like ronaldo or silva who would make better use of it .
portugal's goal came in the second half and i think it was because of a bit of over confidence from the dutch plus the good ball play by silva and the threat by ronaldo . people will see guedes finishing plus silva passing but they dont see that ronaldo was on the right and that made the shot easy because ronaldo's presence made the defenders distracted and guedes had time and space over the ball to take shot and score . ceillesen should had done more and should have had more firm touch over the ball .

this was the position when de light came out to close down guedes and lost in one on one battle .

this was the position when guesdes scored off silva's pass . 

the goal prompted dutch to change things . they had already substituted promes for bable but the trouble with dutch shape was that when depay comes deep they didnt had anybody who would go beyond him or get in the six yard box .  van de beek is the kind of player that was wanted . wijnauldum is good player but not the one who can create or control the tempo of the game . he is hard worker . lastly he throwed de jong upfront to have some height in the box but by that time portugal had started to get men behind the ball and kept holland at bay and won the cup .
last but not the least about the transfers but if dortmund are asking 70 mil for sancho then man utd should  just pay them and get the player because the kid is good . Sergio Reguilón who i think will be surplus because real madrid has signed a new left back then i think he will be a very good signing . de beek will be a very good signing for a team as he is a very hard working player and a very underrated player .

MY TAKE ON THE UCL FINAL BETWEEN LIVERPOOL VS SPURS

liverpool played spurs in the final of the ucl . if this had not been the ucl final to be hones i would shut down the tv or atleast channel and watched something different . this was the worst final in terms of the football played and this match showcased the class of football played this season . the teams had been below par and what ever they talk of tactics at time i find it stupid . man city played a good game but if you dont defend properly then you are bound to loose and oversmartness is a crime in football . for the entirety of the match i was expecting to play some good football to understand the state of play and play accordingly .
liverpool started the game with their usual 4-3-3 formation while spurs started the game with the 4-2-3-1 formation . liverpool got in front in the very first minute because of a stupid refree decision and these laws needs to be revisited because sissoko wasnt trying to stop the ball instead he was just jesturing to the others to keep eye on players behind him when the ball stuck him . so when liverpool got ahead too early in the match spurs had the entirety of the match to equalize or even win it but spurs were just too bad . 
now about the game lets talk liverpool likes to play on the counter attack also they like to press if possible . spurs had two in the middle with sissoko and winks in the middle . kane was upfront with alli just behind him while eriksen and son were wide of kane . lets get to basic winks and sissoko's job is to get the ball to front four and from there the real attack starts because you are trying to breach the defense that the opposition is put . liverpool were trying to play a very high line and spurs were trying to play son behind the back four but there was no cohesion between son and the player who playing the pass . secondly whenever the ball is in the final third and is passed either in the middle or wide you have to take into consideration the formation of the opposition . not only that but you have to take into consideration the players strength's and weakness as well as our players strength and weakness for that you need the coach to properly coach the players as to what they need to do . in the game spurs front use to get the ball but were not able to put three good passes together so as to trouble the opposition and cause worry to the opposition . in this particular i think son was the guilty party because he wasnt able to read the game properly . secondly you try to overdo with the ball is a crime in football . you let your team down . you just cant put four players upfront and expect them to combine but you need to create the proper cohesion plus you need to make them understand the various scenario's as well as how they need to improvise . spurs front four were just too bad in the final  third and they just couldnt combine together to cause any trouble to liverpool  . most importantly the players who are cool and read as to whether they can shoot first time or they have a time to take touch or pass to the player in the better position are the players who excel in the game .
the trouble with spurs was that not only were not able to combine but also they were not able to control the tempo the game . see in the final third its very important to control the tempo of the game . you play a somewhat slow game till you bring the ball in the final third but from there you need to control the tempo . you can suddenly up the tempo by playing quick one two pass and combining or just slow down when you see that the gaps that you envision are not there . you need to again restart the offense from a certain point and that is what a coach is for . he needs to coach this  . frankly spurs have guys like eriksen who can do that but sadly for me the technical ability is not matched by the technical knowledge of the play . alli was let down for me .
liverpool too didnt played a very good game . they like to play on the counter . kloop had rightly judged that mane will have a very good chance against tippier and mane was seeing more of the ball in the first half but as liverpool started to sit back spurs even though they dindt do very good with the ball but still dominated the possession liverpool started to play more through mane and salah trying to release them in the space between fullbacks but i think what let them down was the support of the midfield who should had controlled the tempo better and tried to keep the hold of the ball and try to trouble the opposition more but liverpool were poor and it wasnt the best performance by liverpool although they won .

MY TAKE ON SPURS VS AJAX

ajax outplayed spurs in every department in the first leg of the semifinal in the ucl . spurs started the game with 4-1-4-1 formation while ajax started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . tadic is playing as the no.9 for ajax and his back to the goal play had been one of the real factors for ajax doing well in the ucl . in the previous encounters spurs try to control the tempo of the game and set the pace but in this game at least in the first half spurs seems to have given the control of the game and were just content on sitting back and hit back on the counter .
the game started with spurs sitting back and ajax being the team which had the majority of the possession but also it was able to control the tempo . the problem with spurs formation was that the midfield was very light . they only had a legitimate midfieder in the name of wanyama while alli would drop back alongside wanyama . they didnt had a wide players who would support the wing backs so the wingbacks were exposed and most importantly they couldnt show the ajax wide players the right way so that they could be less effective . because of this both ziyeck and neres were able to come inside and link up with de beek and tadic . in the first half spurs were left exposed by the lack of wide players who would support their wing backs in congesting the space for ajax wide players and stop those inside channel runs . spurs played a very direct english type game . they went direct to llorente who would try to release moura . while eriksen and alli joined the attack . the trouble with spurs offense was that ajax could see the move coming right away and can take proper positions to defend .
vertroghen had injury in the first half so sissoko was bought in his place and spurs changed the shape they went from 3-1-4-1 to 4-4-2 . sissoko was drafted on the right side of the midfield who would support trippier in dealing with wide players while eriksen was sent on the left . most importantly with the urgency spurs upped the tempo they started closing down quick and also upped the tempo of the game  . this continued for the first 15 minutes of the half and when the ajax manager saw that he told his side to slow down the tempo of the game because ajax too were playing the same trying to match spurs . the most important thing was that spurs had started to get some space between the lines because of the direct play . ajax midfielders were getting caught high up the pitch when the ball was played directly to llorente and he could bring it down in the space and lay down to other players , the trouble with spurs was that they dont have a very cohesive offense and players take a touch to pass the ball and it gives the defense to adjust themselves and prevent any danger . spurs played the initial formation with the belief that with llorente in the side they can exploit the height advantage they have in the box but instead being able to get the advantage from the wingbacks spurs were conceding teretorrial advantage to ajax and because of which ajax were able to move the ball freely and dominate spurs .
this tie was won by ajax because the front three with de beek can really combine and trouble any defense . tadic is one of the best no.9 . although small he can really keep the ball to his feet and lay for neres and ziyech . i dont think that spurs are going to overturn the deficit and i think ajax are going to the final .

MY TAKE ON THE MAN CITY VS SPURS

man city played tottenham in the ucl q/f at the etihad and the game was quite entertaining . the way gaurdiola sets ups his teams has got quite a bit of meaning to it . the player he used and the movement of these players the zones they occupy the runs they make the way the offense starts and how he wants his teams wants to execute it . man city started the game with the 4-3-3 formation while spurs started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . the way gaurdila set up his team was most fascinating and i will try to explain why .
in the man city formation sterling and b.silva start as the wide players but both play inverted . while d.silva and de bruyne play alongside fernandiniho or gundogan in the midfield . now the attack starts from the wide with b.silva or sterling starting the offense and they stay out wide . their starting position is wide left and right . both are inverted players so both try to cut inside ( shown in the figuer .) now this leaves space behing the back four to explore or that the ball can be taken further forward and crossed into box which can be much more threatning . so here comes the two midfielders who bomb beyond the wide players and both these are correct foot players ( lefty on left and righty on right ). even when they cross the ball they have a perfect plan for that . aguero who plays as no.9 doesnt tries to occupy the space between the centre back but he there and there about so that they cant just ignore him . because he stays inside the centre backs too have to keep an eye on him because if left unguarded can be cause trouble so the centre backs are pulled towards him which leaves the space between them and the goal keeper from which the ball is crossed and player on the opposite flank can get to the end of it . 
the game started with man city being the offensive team and spurs sitting back and hitting man city on the counter attack . trippier was always going to be in the trouble with sterling in the foot race and he decided to be patient than hasty when defending sterling and it is the right thing to do because sterling is too fast for tripper . but the one thing that trippier did wrong was that he allowed sterling cut inside and allowed him time and space on the ball in the 18 yard box . spurs equalised very soon because man city's defense were bit hesistant of the spurs counter offense and instead of trying to stop in the tracks they just kept on dropping back and allowed sun time and space on the ball which allowed him to pick up the pass and then play good interplay to score . the second too was one of the mistakes by the one of the man city defenders which allowed spurs to counter and score .
the way spurs were set up was that wanyama and sissoko were in front of the back four while alli,eriksen and moura made the three behind son . sissoko especially played on sterling side because he can protect trippier if sterling tries to come inside and give him cover . but the trouble with spurs was that they were especially in front of the back four and mostly de bruyne could find that space in between midfield and back four and spurs would be in trouble . the same can be said about man city because on the counter there midfielders would be scampering back since spurs will be bringing the ball from back to front with pace and most importantly they only had gundogan to guard that space . the first 15 min were all chaos because gaurdiola's side's made mistakes which shouldnt had been made by his team . in the first half man city controlled the tempo and the game slowed down a bit after first 20 min . the half ended any more drama . 
i think gaurdiola must had asked his team to up the tempo on the second half because with upped tempo the opposition can make mistakes and the team can capitalise on the them the third goal is the perfect example of the gaurdiola's tactic's and spurs at that time just didnt had any answer to man city's tempo . they were lucky to have that third goal . the most important thing was that i didnt find any novelty from gaurdiola in the last 15 minutes . he did change players but thats that there was no change in shape and tactics which were the same .