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 .