MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN REAL VS CHELSEA .

 real madrid played chelsea at home in the ucl semi's . both the teams started the game with the same formation 3-5-2 . for the first time i think i saw zidane's team play with a back three . while chelsea was 3-5-2 real madrid were 5-2-3 . the fascinating thing was that zidane taking  a page out of gaurdiola's book of bringing the left back in the central position and trying to have an extra option in the midfield which is an advantage when you have numbers in any position . the game wasnt that great it was slow game compared to the other game . both the teams were not ready to commit too many men forwards since they could be caught on the quick counter . 

you cannot say for sure that real madrid were sitting back and chelsea were playing the counter attack . they both were playing both and compared to chelsea real played a bit of a high line in the first half . in the first half real were light in the midfield . chelsea particularly were exploiting this . the interesting thing was that real were playing in a twisted mindset .when the ball was upfield they wanted to press but then there back four or back five didnt want to come too up so as to close . they were playing relatively deep and this was creating quite a bit of space between the back line and the midfield and as soon as chelsea could beat the real press they were through on real goal with just back four defending. this was the feature of the first half . the midfield was crowded because both sides forward player would drop deep to support their mdifielders in trying to winning  the ball back and congest the spaces between lines . real were five at the back now the thing is that whenever chelsea were on the counter their one fullback had quite a bit of space to run on the real back line . childwell specially had this luxury time and again . since modric was upfield and carvajal was sliding besides the back four childwell had quite a space to run on the back four and had he made some intelligent  runs then things would be different .  the other thing was that had werner had the intelligence to pick his team mates with the pass  then chelsea would had caused real more problems . the more you cause chaos in the opponents minds the more you get the opportunity to defeat him . the thing in the first half was that both the teams players were getting time on the ball for both the teams  . there was just light pressing where on they didnt caught on the wrong side of the defense.

 

the thing that impressed me but which real didnt do enough was that benzema and vinicius had good inter play between themselves but what intrigued me was that they pulled the trigger just a bit too early where on they could have tried a better penetration and more deeper in the opponents half . the other thing was that they should had brought others in the play which would had made it threatning .in the first half real had two in the middle and they were getting run over by chelsea especially kante who is more athletic than any of the real's midfielders . the main thing was that there was a vast space between midfield and back four . this was because real were afraid of pulisic's pace and his dribbling ability . so they were not keen on coming forward to press . instead they held their positions which allowed kante and pulisic time and space on the ball. time and again in the first half chelsea had chances to run on oppositions defense but they didnt capatalized the chances and wasted with thier poor choices of passes and trigger pulling .  

 zidane saw this and he bought modric in the middle along side kross and casmeiro in the second half but then you take one from the front and put in the middle that reduces the threat that you have . the game wasnt that great in the second half . both the team just played through the motions but i was exicited about chelsea when they introduced havartz on 65 min who me is the future of chelsea and should be the one that should start instead of werner . he will be combine very well with pulisic and is technically better than  werner and has a good common sense as to when to shoot and when to pass plus his passing is very good . 

the guy that i was disappointed with most in the match was jorghiniho . his passing was bad and most importantly he is one who sets up the tempo the game . a good midfielder not only passes the ball but also he plays himself and finds spots in move from where he can be more effective . a midfielder needs to find the spot from where he can be effective .jorghiniho was very pedestrian in this game and even his passing was not that good . i think mendy for real madrid who will come in the second leg will make major difference for real madrid . last but most important chelsea centre were not very comfortable whenever the ball came upfield and there is no cohesion between them which is needed . 

MY TAKE ON THE EL CLASSICO.

  //OM//

real madrid played barcelona which can be a title decider and can have big implications on the title race . first and foremost i dont reason why koeman should be coaching barcelona next season . but first i am amazed as to why there idiots doing commentary on the match . i had never seen a more idiotic commentrator than these ones . 

now barcelona started the game with 3-5-2 formation . while real madrid started the game with 4-3-3 formation but let me tell you it was 5-4-1 till valverde was on the pitch . when i am to write about the game i try to find a pattern in the offense and needs to be one . you need to have a clear approach why attacking the opposition and then you try to improvise on the go . the coach is there to change things to make changes to improvise things not sit in the dugout . you play a certain foramtion beacause you want to acheive something from that . barcelona were just hopeless for the entire match . most importantly as i had said before the players are the ones that carry out the coaches plan and make the formation work . 

real were set up to play the counter and they were sitting deep and absorbing barca pressure . barca were trying to play dutch football trying to pass the ball around and try to create gaps in the real defense . why does koeman thinks that the opposition is stupid and it will fall into his plans . any team that thinks that the opposition will fall to plan a are either fool or living in dream land . zidane must had seen how barca operate and that is why he bought valverde who was supposed to playing up field along side back four and made it back five . secondly is that they didnt went overzelous with their defending instead they let barca come on them and defend properly . you can create in the oppositions defense only when you are playing properly and you have a proper plan A and you execute it and then improvise it . 

barca started the game with 3-5-2 combination but in the first half they didnt had much of the joy . to counter alaba's run zidane asked valverde to play alongside the back four and he did his job deligently . barca were trying to play tiki taka but it didnt had any direction as to what they wanted to achieve. they couldnt find the space to release dembele behind the back four .messi wasnt able to open up the defense with his runs cause real defended well . most importantly when messi is making the run he wants players around him to be open so that he can pass on to them if he cannot find the space . here there wasnt that much help from other players . so in the second half he changed the things . he bought griezman on and changed the formation from 3-5-2 to 4-2-1-3 . he pushed de jong up front which he had done that this season . he pushed dembele on right and griezman on the left . demble did alright on the ball but griezman was poor . now even the goal which was scored because messi just passed the ball to alaba who must had crossed the half heartedly since he knew that messi wasnt in the box . the commentrators made a meal of it crediting griezman of playing a dummy for letting mingueza to score . they were saying that as if the defense was sleeping and they were just going to let the ball crawl to mingueza to score . btw he scored in desperation not a clear strike . none of the formation or changes were going to work because they lacked the plan and the proper cohesion that is required to open the opposition . 

my biggest complain is not how about barca operate but how they defend . first off real were defending deep so they had to cover a lot of grass to get to barca's goal . you should play as such that when you play offense at the same time you should be thinking defense that you can loose possession anytime and how can you defend or can recover the possession . barca were pressing initially but the first goal was a total idiotic defending by the barca defenders . first off look at just look at barca left back who is hopeless and shouldnt be played and is only played because messi likes him or else he is a hopeless defender. just look at the ease with which valverde got passed him like a kid . he should had known that instead of trying to recover the possession off valverde he can just stick with him and just put him pressure and limit his passing angles . the another was araujo who was stupid he should be the first to the ball . you have be a striker in your own box and try to be the first to the ball . 

now my complain is that if you ask the chess players is that they dont just do offense . while constructing a move they make sure that they dont leave spaces for the opposition to exploit and put his offense in jeopardy so that like barca your players ( pieces are caught on wrong side of the board ) . in this barca side sergio busquetus is  one the most senior player and plays in front of the back four . when he is making the distribution at the same time he should be reading as to what spaces are being left and read as to how the opposition can counter cause the opposition is doing the same to you .  they too are reading the spaces that you are leaving behind and thats how they counter . busquestus is the most important peice of the puzzle and he should instructing players as to what they need to do . he needs to take positions where on he can stop those counters in track or slow that flow so as to get players behind the ball and defend in numbers . he was just hopeless just look the number he was caught high up the pitch with his team needing him and he is just jogging back not caring about them . he should be the one who should be the one who should be running the game both on offense and defense for the team while defending he should be thinking about countering quickly and while on offense he should thinking about the way opposition can counter and stop it in track . barca should had replaced him in the summer instead of rakitic .

you cannot expect to open the opposition with your plan a . instead its just an opening sequence or you can call it a feeling process as to how the opposition reacts . you improvise it and then you can open them .the other complain about barca's defense is just not about reading the play but also if you dont defend individually then you cannot win as a team . passes are coming for more than 15 yards or more and you are not closing down players and allowing the opposition time and space on the ball is very criminal . all and all i dont think that i dont think that koeman has done anything great with this team and even though he may just win the league but it will be pure luck than his coaching accomplishment . 

the only positive for barcelona is the young kid pedri . he looks assured on the ball and looks technically good and hope that the coaches will let him dictate the play and let him have some more freedom with the play . 

let me get something off my chest and it is very vital to the game also . i was watching the fulham vs aston villa game . i appreciate scott parker very much . i think while idiots like steven gerrard and lampard are receiving all the plaudits he was the most underappreciated one . he was a true midfielder for me the other one being carrick . both gerrard and lampard never played midfield they played as number 10 never as a midfielder and whenever they played as midfielders the team lost badly . thing is that i was watching the half time comments and it was bothroyd who was commenting . he was asked as to why fulham are playing tiki taka and why dont they try something different . this is where your knowledge of football is seen . he replied that the manager believes in that philosophy and he is entitled to that . yes you should play any style but should be flexible in that you should be able to read the game and the opposition and make changes on the go and then adopt those changes in the game . every style has its plus and minuses . i had watched bothroyd  under 21 team they were utterly hopeless . also roy kean's comment on fred that he would miss an open goal is stupid . i am disappointed in keane . he was a midfielder and he should understand or appreciate a good player . fred does all the dirty work for man utd and he is good at that and plus if you do understand football then he has the best pass completion rate and if solskjaer can let him have some freedom then he can really show that he is good in scoring too . 

MY TAKE ON BAYERN VS PSG

  //AUM//

bayern munich played psg in the first leg of the ucl . just a few months back they played in the finals . the game was very good but a few things intrigued me but first . there are coaches that specifically design their teams to play on the counter like conte and mouriniho but their teams struggle when their own medicine is given to them and they struggle to open the opposition . but when the opposition really has to sit back that means the opposition has the quality and that is why team has to sit back and get numbers behind the ball and play deep . now i dont know whether the substitutions made in the game were forced or whether they were made keeping in mind the need of the game . even though bayern lost the game the tie is far from over and if hanzi flick can make some changes to personal or the way they operate then i think bayern can still bounce back and win this tie while psg still have neymar and mbapper there two main trump cards and if they can combine or there individual quality can change the game single handedly . 

both the team started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . the game started with psg sitting back and bayern in the ascendancy . psg scored in the first 10 min and it was because of neymar's brilliant run but somebody forgot to see that bayerns second midfielder groetzka who was supposed to be along side kimmich failed to read the play and just couldnt see that psg could use the space that he had left along side kimmich . groetzka was caught high up the pitch and when good interplay between di maria and fullback released neymar in the space between the back four and midifield . even though bayern were a goal down they were controlling the possession and tempo of the game . 

obviously psg were afraid of bayern's offensive ability that is why they had a very compact back four with full backs tucked alongside of the centre backs . they played deep and had two central midfielders in front of them . the reason for this might be that they were afraid that if the full backs come out of their natural positions then the space that is left will be exploited by muller and even chipo moting so they kept a very compact shape but that means that they allowed bayern winger time and space on the ball . both the bayern wingers were kept high on the pitch . even though bayern wingers saw most of the possession and every move was through them they were not able to capitalise the time and space on the ball . this is why i said that even if your tactics are right its the players that get them executed . 

for me that is why i said that bayern missed some of its players . koman is good player . he has a good space and beats many a full backs in one on one situations but he lacks that final pass . he is very poor in that . even during the game there was pass in which he would had released muller or sane behind the back he failed to pass that ball perfectly which lost that chance to put that player in a scoring position . majority of the attacks were from his but he failed to produce that final chance . if he can improve that final then i think he can be very big player . the other one was sane . i was baffled by him . his first touch is not refined . the ball always bounces off his feet . hansi flick needs to work with him . there were positions where on the could try a curler which would put the defense on alert . most importantly he needs to work on his game to make himself pronouced . 

why i said that bayern missed lewandowski is that he links up very well these wingers . he comes deep and lets muller runs beyond him so that the centre backs cant come out and close him down . the other player who bayern missed was gnabry who runs and link up play makes the offense that much potent . most importantly in the run of play bayern went one dimensional they would let these wingers have a run on the defense and then try to cross which were finely dealt by the psg defense . if bayern are to successful in the second leg then they need to get create some chaos in the opposition and try to disturb the oppositions defense and use it to their advantage . 

when psg had the ball they were pressed by bayern and they were not able to find neymar and mbappe . they were struggling with their possession . they need to bring neymar and mbappe more in to the play and try to keep the ball more or else if bayern were to take the chances that they missed in the first leg then they would be in trouble .

i would commend hansi flick was making the substitutions . he saw that groetzka wasnt up the speed of the game and was finding it difficult .most importantly his game reading was poor which had led to the first goal so he sent alphonso davies and bought alaba in the middle . kimmich was very good in the whole game his distribution game reading was very good . what bayern are lacking is a leader on the pitch . for the second goal they just completly switched off and failed to read that the ball could come back and the di maria was having time and space on the ball and that they were letting space between defense and the goal keeper which marquinihos very well explored . they need somebody who would keep them on their toes and they can have a chance .