the madrid derby was played on sunday . before writing about the game as always i want to have something off my chest . ath mad have one of the best squad in europe . many of the clubs will envy ath mad squad . another thing is that simeone is also top paid managers in the world . the thing that wonders me is as to how does simeone is able to keep his job . looking at simeone's team is like looking at mouriniho's team . the team has no cohesion and for he didnt even take into account the qualities that the player possess and in which zone he can be useful and how he should operate . different players have different qualities and it is the managers job to gel them together . for that he needs to find them the positions from where they can be effective . its the managers job to devise tactics and get them to perform . its just not important to put these players in their comfort zone but also put players around who will support each other and thats how you devise tactics . tactics is just not putting players on the field and asking them to perform . secondly its common to question the losing team and analyze the factors which led to their downfall .
ath mad started the game with 5-3-2 while real madrid started with 4-3-3 formation. let me start with ath mad they had three at the back with two wingbacks . they had three in the middle out of which two are out and out defensive minded then they had two upfront with griezman and jaoa felix. griezman like to play around a big forward while jaoa felix likes to take on players and has a good pace and dribbling skill which he can use to beat players . ath mad like to play on the counter attack . simeone team never had cohesion so if the team sit back and just slow them down then they are not able to play .there are so many good players in the team but there is just no cohesion in them . there were three midfielders in the middle so there would be little space through the centre of the pitch . so that is why he wanted to have two full backs who have pace and dribbling ability .
as i had said before football is like a chess game . both try to do out do each other . now simeone played carrasco and llorenete( he is very good midfielder but just because idiot enrique plays him as a fullback he is played as a full back by simeone . this reminds me of michael essien and owen hargreaves who were very good midfielders but were played as right back by their managers just to accomodate them in the team and if they need to change formation then they can switch their positions if the needs arises) as wing backs . in the opening exchanges of the match carrasco found the space to run on carvajal . he did very good in the dribbling exchange with carvajal but the trouble is that the forwards just didnt had the sense as to how position themselves . there are some position where on you just take to bind the opposition like the no.9 who plays on the shoulder of the last defender so that any mistake by the centre backs creates a tap in situation for him. neither jao felix nor griezman play as no.9 so they dont know on how to take positions on such plays . the other thing is the lack of positonal understanding by felix and griezman . they should had made themselves availble for the pass so that carrasco would had passed to them . secondly he should had instill some discipline in carrasco . when he drives ball that time he is very single minded instead he needs to find players in the box which makes him more threatning and the opposition cannot have read on him as to what he will do next .
as i had said this is a chess game carrasco would trouble carvajal so ancelotti brought valverde to help calvajal defend carrasco . both ath mad and real played three in the middle but none of the team were pressing each other . the second player that i was talking about was de paul . when he is on the ball then you need to be very switched on . you try to make yourselves available . he is the one player who can slip the ball when the opposition least expect it . you find the best example of it in the 38th and 56th mnute of the match . he just slipped the ball and the player was just not switched on. paul is not the most mobile one but he is one of the best passer and his reading on the offensive front is very good one but sadly under manager like simeone he is totally wasted .
real madrid sold casmeiro in summer to man utd and he was replaced Aurélien Tchouaméni. i think that real madrid got an upgrade on casmeiro. he stands tall on the ball and his game reading is also very good . one point i forgot to mention . real madrid played a very deep line compared to ath mad . there was always going to be space behind the fullbacks . they played qute a high line and the other feature was that they didnt even tried to press any of the midfielders . the game reading was very poor from ath mad and they paid for that . the first goal was what i would be proud of because that's how i operate or play . there isnt much to write about this game . but the sad thing was that both hermoso and witsel should had read that move quite a bit earlier . hermoso should had used his head or any other body part other than hand to clear the ball and if you see the replay then you can see that header was the better the choice than clearing it by foot .
i had been watching other games and i would like to summarize them in short . first off juventus played psg in the ucl . i had said that the team should play to its strength instead of trying to outdo opposition . juventus played two big forwards in the game. whatever chances that juventus created in the game were from the crosses from the wide areas . you are playing two big forwards who are good headers of the ball . play to their strengths get the ball wide and start crossing the ball . when you start doing that then the opposition tries to stop you which opens up space in other areas of the field . instead juventus tried to be cute and tried to outpass psg which is studpidity . secondly juventus dont have any flare player anymore and are devoid of any creative spark .
the other game that was played was the game between bayern munich vs barcelona . in first half barcelona were very good . but if xavi looks at the tapes and analyzes the game then he should realize that they were just one move short in the final third . two players like rafiniha and lewandowski were combining nicely but a third angle or third pass was required to make it more effective and potent. the second goal was the most important play in the game . that move can be likened to the basketball where on the guard gets a free run in the paint for dunk . after that goal xavi replaced christensen just because he thought that he was responsible for that goal . since he could read the play and stop sane in the tracks . the question that i want to ask is why didnt he replace sergio busquetus who had been poor all these years . untill now till rakitic was playing besides him he was doing up the mop up work but since he had left busquestus had been badly exposed and he is the one who should been replaced not christensen . barcelona are playing a decent game but they need to gel their players together to make them more potent and be more effective.
