Thursday 13 June 2019

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 .

Wednesday 5 June 2019

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 .