MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN NIGERIA VS ARGENTINA .

aregentina started the game with 4-3-3 formation while it was shown as 4-4-2 for me it was 4-3-3 because perez was shown on the right side but di maria was as high as messi . while nigeria started the game with 3-5-2 formation . nigeria just needed a point while argentina needed the win to progress so i think nigeria went with a defensive mindset of trying to stop messi and company . in the last game messi didnt saw lot of the ball and sampoli was criticized for that . another thing was that messi was far  away from goal and that stalled argentina's offensive somewhat . so sampoli made the necessary change he switched messi to all winning barcelona position on the right from where he can cut inside . another change that sampoli that was equally important for me is that he bought banega in the side . the little man is very good on the ball and his long balls created the win for argentina .
the game started with nigeria sitting back and hitting on the counter . now the nigerian coach must had thought his tactics right . he wanted to play 5 at the back but at the same time play a little bit of a high line because he knew that if they played deeper just around the edge of the box and if messi can find a space there then he knew of the quality that messi possess . so nigeria played a little bit of high line . argentina had different tactics than previous game here they were leaving messi and and di maria high of the pitch but wide to stretch the defense . higuain was coming inside to disturb the back line organisation and that when he comes inside the space he leaves behind will be exploited by messi and di maria . . now even though the nigeria thought of tactics right the execution for it was the bane for nigerians because who was going to pick di maria and messi when they were going to come inside was the real trouble . time and again argentinian players were finding space between the lines and most of it there was no cohesion on defense between the playters as to who is going to pick who and that confusion let to the first goal . the lines were flat and the coach failed to clear the confusion for the whole game . the game burst into life with banega finding messi behind the back three and messi scoring the goal it is because of that again in the first half banega could release di maria behind the back three . even though argetina scored the first goal  for me the offense for them was not working because first off banega was main progenitor . he was the one who pulling the strings . he was a little bit deep when he was trying the final ball and second was that messi was on the right but argentina dont of the quality they can successfully bring argentina inside and make messi pontent that he really is for that they lacked the left sided player that barcelona had in form of  neymar who could exploit the space that messi created by attracting the defense on right side . di maria was absolutely hopeless for me . 
i  had talked about the point of attack and that was the main problem for nigeria as well . first off nigeria only had two upfront they had three in the middle and they were pretty close in the middle the reason may be fear of messi . in the first half nigeria had to go musa and Iheanacho very quickly because argentinian players were pressing the nigerian midfield . mikel was the main man for nigeria . he was player who was  pulling the strings and he tried to play musa who has that tendency to drop on the left and then cut inside . musa was lively but the trouble was that he didnt had the proper support of other players because they were deep in their half and by the time they arrived argentina would had player behind the ball and were able to press musa .

distance between argentinian and nigerian midfield and frontline .

in football the distance between the line matters and particlular on offense . you need to take into account the time the ball gets to the player as well as his distance from the goal because if there is too much distance between players then the inter play between gets affected because the opposition can intercept the play and the offense falls apart . the distance between midfield and the front line matter because again as i had said that the interplay gets affected and if you want to have crisp interplay in your team then you need to have the lines very close . there was too much of distance between nigerian's midfield and front two . even in the first half the distance between argentian front three and the middle two was a bit too much and it was affecting their offense and because of that they had to go wide and then they were not able to bring that ball inside .
last but not the least untill now the officiating had been very good in this tournament and i just hope that the turkish official doesnt gets to officiate the game again because his stupid

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN GERMANY VS SWEDEN .

germany played sweden yesterday . this was one of the best games played in the tournament not just because germany scored a last gasp winner but because both teams had a very simplified approach as to what are they going to do with or without the ball . germany started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while sweden started the game with 4-4-2 formation . the game was of two halved for germans who adopted different approach in both the halves . in the first half werner was the no.9 and germany wanted to outpass sweden and try to score .
anybody can read as to how the game was going to proceed . germany were going to dominate the possession and sweden were going to hit on the counter . germany had both the fullbacks high up the pitch and were trying to stretch sweden's defense . sweden were not going to drawn in german's trap. they were patient and sat back compact conceding wide spaces to germans and instead waited for germans to come onto them rather than trying to be proactive they were going to be reactive for german actions . 

the reason why werners name was taken was because sweden are one of the biggest team in the tournamet but are not that mobile  so low played werner with the idea that he would make diagonal runs which would get the defense stretched and the three at the back  of werner would be able to exploit that space . the trouble with germans is that germans have good positional knowledge and tactical very astute but the trouble is that they still lack that cohesion and they keep searching for pass . germany were finding space on the flank but there trouble was that bringing the ball inside . i had already said that when one player makes the movement it should be key for others . instead players were not on same wavelength of each other . that is why even when draxler and rues were able to find space in the box they were not able to find  their teammates who didnt had the cue make the move and make themselves  available in the box . second thing is that werner is the no.9 . even though werner is no.9 he like to make diagonal runs and get himself involved in the game . when the ball goes wide werner needs to hold his position in the box try to occupy the two centre halves which would open spaces for other . if he is going wide in trying to get the ball deeper then somebody from german team should try to occupy werner's position . germans were having all the possession and were crossing but were failing to find team mate in the box . this was the story of the first half .
low must had noticed that he wasnt having a traditional no.9 in the box and a target man in the box . so he bought on gomez to be the target man and freed werner to make those diagonal and have run on the defense in a bid to disrupt their discipline  and organisation . but the trouble for germans had been for germans all night long was that they were not able to bring that ball from the wide areas into the inside . i think they had one two many touches on the ball which slowed down the game and allowed the opposition to regroup and make it harder for them .

germany on the attack and spaces exploited by sweden on the counter . 

sweden just played according to the script . not both teams can play possession football . teams need to play to their strength and sweden just did that . for me berg and toivonen were very good in holding the ball and then releasing classen and forsberg beyond them . most importantly berg's passing was very good . sweden's organisation was very good and should have had got something from the game . the one player i was disappointed was forsberg . it is because he has the quality and he needed to show more of it . he should had noted that it was necessary for them to keep moving the ball and shouldnt spend time on the ball and two or three times he lost the possession in trying to be smart . still i am picking him to be the player to be signed by man utd if mouriniho has some brains . he is the missing piece that utd want. the no. 10 that they desperately need .

if germans  need to repeat their  exploits from the brazil worldcup then they need to improve overnight because there is still a lack of cohesion between the front three and they should devise some special play and try to have that one touch football going because better team in the world cup will exploit them .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ARGENTINA VS CROATIA .

yesterday argetina played crotia . to be honest i had never seen such a weaker argentina side in my life . they all talk about maradona but it was not lone maradona . he had a great support cast who would do the work for him . sampoli is talking about how the other player didnot get with messi and that is cause for defeat . if you had looked closely then i think that messi is not 100% . either he is injured or unfit and that is why he is not seeing more of the ball . secondly it is sampoli who is to be blamed for the defeat . its his team he is the one who has chosen the players . he is the one who has chosen the team and had devised the tactics . if messi is not fit then he should had just dropped him and showed the balls . sampoli just put the players on the pitch and then wants his team to gel . geling doesnt happens overnight . plus the coach needs to have his thoughts cleared if his team needs to perform . all of failure falls squarely on sampoli's shoulder and he should be the one who needs to be put to sword . i had never ever seen argentina team getting outmuscled and outpaced by the opposition . they were literally second best all night .

argentina started the game with 3-2-1-3 formation . while crotia started the game with 4-3-3 formation with brozovic playing the anchor role in the middle of the midfield . even before the game anybody would read the script that messi wasnt going to get time and space on the ball and that is why brozovic was bought in front of the back four . the game started brightly for argentina with messi finding aguero and releasing him behind the back four and this was the only chance created by messi and the argies . after that the game just slipped out of argies hand . what were argentina were going to do with the ball is very questionable . sampoli played two wing backs with the thinking that they would stretch crotia's defense but while doing that he didnt take into account other factors . first off he was having aguero in the middle so aguero beating lovren and riga in the air is not possible .secondly just consider the mobility of perez and mascherano to modric and rakitic . crotia had better midfielders than argentina . argentina were always going to have problems when they were going to bring the ball from wide areas to inside of pitch because croatia were going to have numbers behind the ball and most importantly argentina's interplay wasnt that crisp . to be honest going forward argentina just didnt had a clear plan and most importantly what is sampoli doing on the sidelines pacing up and down . he should had corrected and gone to plan b but sampoli for me just didnt had a plan b . instead he took off perez and bought messi in the midfield . now when  you bring your best player that far from the goal you give opposition the chance because you have to move the ball that much to get the ball to opposition box and in doing so you give the opposition that much chance to stop you in the tracks . the other thing was that argentina were trying to play out of the back a very risky thing to do against a good opposition . it was always risky for argies to play out of the back . argies offense not working is all sampoli's fault and he should  answer for that and not messi . messi didnt made the tactics it was sampoli . 

speaking of tactics sampoli wanted to stretch the play so he deployed two wing backs and to play out of the back with the thinking that croatia would come out and press them . i havent seen a team who had gone to press opposition in their half . instead all the team are playing safe and sitting back and press team when they come in their half . secondly team are not going to chase you in wide instead they want  you to come and then defend in numbers . sampoli's tactics were just not justifying with the ground realities .  most importantly all the teams are not capable or playing out of the press and it doesnt work very well .without the ball argentina were having five at the back so both vrsjlko and strinic had no opposing player for a good half of the pitch . the tactical problem was that whether the fullbacks tuck alongside the centre backs or do they go on and press their opposite numbers which leaves the centre backs exposed .

croatia had a simple game plan they just wanted to hit argentina on the counter and most importantly they had players to do that with manzukic and rebic very good at holding the ball . most importantly the man of the match performance came from their three midfielders  modric,rakitic and brozovic who moved the ball very well .

when the match started the only players that i was worrying about were caballero and subasic who are good goal keepers but are mistake prone and i wasnt wrong with my assumption with subasic making a hash of the situation when he should had just gone to collect the ball when lovren was sheilding it and asking him to collect it . for caballero's mistake i would again put sampoli in the cage because he wants them to play out of the back a move which backfired .
all and all hope argentina are just not the team who can win the cup and for me crotia are the dark horse who can go all the way since they have the team and style to do it . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAMES BETWEEN BRAZIL VS SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY VS MEXICO .

 swiss played brazil in the world cup match . brazil started the game with 4-4-2 because both jesus and neymar were upfront and even though they looked like 4-3-3 they were not they were more like 4-4-2 . while swiss started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . now in what world would you let one of the best players in the world have time and space on the ball and leave him alone . it was abvious from the start that the swiss were going to strangle neymar . now here is where tite needs to coach him tell him and change the tactics . the more neymar is drawn into the battle the more he wants to fight it . instead tite should had just tried  to play one touch football and keep the play rolling and tite should had created the offense with other player who too are actually good .
the game started with a fimiliar note with swiss trying to sit back and strangle neymar . now i had just read the statistics that neymar was fouled 10 times in the match why wont he be . brazil were always going to have their offense on the left side because that the side neymar operates plus coutiniho was deployed there so that neymar can link up with him and can open up the swiss defense. brazil started the game brightly neymar was closed down so they spread the ball to willian who was on the other flank and he caused swiss the problem by crossing good  crosses  in the box . the trouble started with neymar getting shutdown more by berhami who was very good . what brazil lack is that height upfront which they make up with their crisp passing . jesus was never going to win headers against ikanji and schar so keeping  the ball on the floor was the best option .
swiss were never going to chase brazil in their half what swiss lacked was mobility but they had the physical advantage over brazil . now neymar likes to come deep and start dribble from there . berhami was specifically told to keep tabs on neymar who and he did a very good job with that . here is where i am disappointed with tite . neymar is the main man for brazil as messi is for argentina and every thing and anything is going to flow through him .  so the opposition are going to strangle them . now either you create and offense where on the other member of the team combine when neymar is strangled or create offense so that he can have space to work . the second thing that i was disappointed with tite was neymar's positioning . neymar likes to start from the left and deep . first off the deeper he comes the deeper the offense starts so brazil has to work that  length of the pitch to get to the box or goal . secondly when he getting closed down why not ask him to play one touch football instead trying to drive the ball and prove his ego . why play to his ego . if tite had taken the cue then it was there in the match when neymar was high up the pitch and he beat schar and schar had to take a card to stop him  . so why didnt tite asked him to stay high up the pitch and let the ball come to him and work his magic or let him stay on one side of the pitch and attract the opposition and let others combine . 
i was disappointed in brazil but i was more disappointed in swiss because going forward they didnt had a plan as to  what they are going to do when they are going to take the ball in the final third . now seferovic is a very good player and a good header of the ball plus you can play around him but none of that was visible in the swiss offense and shaqiri,dzemaili and zuber when the ball was bought high up the pitch . just try to cross the ball in the box for seferovic and test silva and mirando with both shaqiri and rodriguez good crosser of the ball . going forward the swiss were pretty hopeless and if the swiiss want to get into the next round then they need to have a better offense . the swiss let a very good chance of beating brazil who i think were vulnerable in the match .
both tite and sampoli need to solve neymar and messi or it may not get them far in the worldcup .
yesterday germany played mexico . germany started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while mexico too played with the same formation . the tactics were clear from the start that mexico were going to sit back deep and hit germnay on the counter for that they had hernandez upfront who pace can trouble anybody but his overall link up play and finishing are found wanting . germany wanted to stretch the game so that kimmich high up the pitch trying to stretch the play so that players can ozil and kross can exploit that space in the defense and find muller,draxler and wener upfront . the warning signs were from the start from both sides . first germany had the shot when werner found the space behind the back four with his diagonal run . this was because mexico tried to play a slight bit of high line and werner showed his pace to find space behind the back four .  while mexico were finding the space in the hole where on either or vela or hernandez were coming inside and releasing  lugano on the left . lugano was finding the space because kimmich use to high up the pitch and his pace was causing germany the problems . germany were playing the high line trying to congest mexico and press them but the trouble is that mexico are very good in one on one situations and are extremly mobile plus their ground game is very good . their crisp passing is very good with good positional  knowledge .
the game was all about germany dominating possession and trying to open up mexico and even though they lost it doesnt means that germany were bad . it was only that they could not find the back of the net . their game plan and the way played was actually decent and i think after this game low must had thought that perhaps he had a player like sane who can make run on defense with his after burners and open it up . the only player that i would criticise here is ozil . he is the no.10 in the side and on one of the time in the game he could had just released werner . he needs to be strong on the ball and needs to pull the strings and get himself more involved in the game . vela played the no.10 role for mexico and he played it with aplomb . both the teams should could had done more into the game . mexico should had thought about having a bigger scoreline while germany would had thought to have atleast a point in the game .
i think that low needs to look into his side and play kross in place of ozil and needs to have some crisp passing going because otherwise i think that there was nothing bad with the team with some little adjustments . if mexico are to go far into this worldcup then i think hernandez's game needs to improve overnight . the second thing is that they need to be a bit more patient they work the ball in a good position but they just get impatient with their shot . instead if they just can be a little bit more patient then they can just trouble a lot of teams but playing this deep and taking chances against team would someday catch them .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN PORTUGAL VS SPAIN .

yesterday portugal played spain in the world cup group match . portugal started the match with a 4-4-2 formation . while spain started the match with 4-3-3 formation . the game started with the usual script of portugal sitting back and hitting spain on the counter . fernando santo had his tactics right because if you are to play on the counter attack then you need to have two upfront and most importantly the front two seems to working in tandem with each other . portugal took the early lead because they able to overlaoad the left flank . portugal were able to do that because ronaldo shifted from the middle there and most importantly in the first 15-20 min spain's back line wasnt coming along upfield  with the front players to press them . so portugals players were getting time on the ball and were able to beat spains pressing game . now spain's pressing game were able to win them the 2010 world cup . the real reason why portugal were able to win the penalty was that there wasnt that clarity in the  spain team as to who was going to pick up raphael gurrero . porugal's left back was able to get go unabated upfield without an opposing player against him . spain had two player on that side with silva and koke but who was going to pick up gurrero wasnt decided . secondly he was aided by portugals tactics where on i think fernandes was told to come inside and provide cover to gurrero and let gurrero upfield because gurrero is a good crosser of the ball . in this match ronaldo was very good and he was ready to take players on and that won him the penalty for the first goal .

spain on offense

the game settled after 15 min where on the intial eurphoria of the portugal team died . the teams dont have the legs in them to close down players . spain there tiki taka game . spain attack was mostly from the left side and isco being the main progenitor .   there was some thinking to spains attack because of the players involved and the players that were in opposition . spain had isco,iniesta and alaba on that side while portugal had cedric,moutiniho and silva on that flank . portugals silva in one of the better players in that team and spain may had not wanted him to combine with the front players so spain wanted to push him back because he was marking alaba . alaba was given the lisecne to go beyond his front player a page taken barcelona's tactical book . spain had their tiki taka going and portugal were sitting back with a very compact two banks of four . even though portugal were trying to sit back compat but it a dangerous ploy because spain can move the ball very crisply and they have some very good players who have a very good game iq who know how to take position in the play and make themselves available .

what spain were trying to acheive with their offense was that they were trying to overload one flank and get either of isco or inesta getting deep into the portugal's box and then either crossing the ball for costa or koke who coming from the opposite flank .  even though spain were dominating the possession i think that they didnt use the arsenal that were at their disposal . nor did they use all of the canvas . while isco was seeing a lot of the ball silva was not having that joy . he too is one of the best ball player in that team . secondly the attack was just happening on the left flank and spain wasnt able to spread it on the right flank and they were getting greedy in crossing the ball . instead had they been patient and a better game reader and orchestrator of the game would had used the full canvas and tried to stretch portugal and opened them more . thirdly they have to bring costa more into the game and the offense should be around him and he should  be more involved in the offense . at time i felt that spain got greedy in trying to keep the ball instead of trying to take pick out players upfront who were in a good position to test oppsition's defense . spain had a good tiki taka game and dominated the possession but struggled on the counter and busquestus needs to be better with his game reading .i think he should be a little more upfront and should be the one pulling the strings . most important spain conceded three goals and at time on defense in think that on the counter there positinal awareness wasnt very good and were getting caught in wrong position . even when you are on offense you should have a reading as to from where the opposition can hurt them and should make that necessary adjustments to the game and i think after the tapes of the game heirro would make that  if spain are to go far in the world cup .

portugal had their tactics right but sitting this deep and inviting pressure in not going to get them very far in the world cup because a better organised team on offense will put them to sword . they cannot play this deep  but the satisfying thing for santos would be that they were able to beat the press and moved the ball very nicely . rafael carvalaho's performance in this game would be one of the most satisfying thing for him . the front two worked very well  and ronaldo's attitude and his performace would had satisfied him .