MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN SPAIN VS TURKEY.

yesterday spain played turkey and it showed as to why they are the best teams in the business and why they should be considered the favourites to claim the title back . in football cohesion between you team members is a must . if the threat is coming from each and evey member from the pitch then it makes that team that more effective to execute its game plan and far more dangerous . its not necessary that each and evey one should score but providing that pass or being one of the element in the jig saw in opening opposition  . yesterday spain were all that . they just overwhelmed the opposition . of all the contender team the reason why spain stands out is having he best fullbacks in the tournament . their ability to give width to the attack or even at times run behind the back four gives them the edge . spain are not just opening the opposition with tiki taka football but the second goal did demonstrated that they can change the approach and they will explore other ways also like crossing in the box . this was game that spain established there credentials as the favourites for the cup .
the game started with spain playing there usual 4-3-3 combination .while turkey playing 4-5-1 started the game . there are two important things that need to talk about . first off the distance between the two centre back of turkey . i dont know but there was more that 10 yards of space between turkey's two centre backs . i think they never ever thought that moratta would beat them in the air and were concerned about attacks coming from the flanks rather than trying to keep hold of moratta and the threat he possessed in the box . if you had seen the turkey's defense then it was very spacious . there were lots of gaps . the distance between two players was far more than that was required . plus the thing was that the defense wasnt that mobile as it would wanted . there were moments when moratta dropped between the lines and it was desired that one of the centrebacks should come along with him from the back four but that never happened because of the threat that spain possessed . turkey were always on the wire because spain always had runners from the midfield who would go beyond the back four and open turkey's defense . the good thing about spain's attack was the cohesion between the fullbacks and the centre forwards or the players in the box .now normally the fullbacks cross in the box in the attempt to find someone in the box and find someone at the end of it . but here moratta was making himself available so that alaba was not finding that difficult to find him in the box . the fullbacks knew where to cross the ball and forward knew where he needs to make the run as  to where the fullback was going to cross the ball . i think the biggest mistake that turkey made that they got over stretched and tried to contain spain even in the wide areas where as they should had stayed compact and let spain come onto them and then hit them onto counter . turkey just didnt worked as a unit which is the key for a good defense . defense is the ultimate football game because here you are required to play as a unit rather than  as a individual . turkey will have to do much better if they are to have result against the czecks and hope to make it to the next round .
just as turkey did mistakes on defense i think they were poor on offense . first off turkey had a very good target man and keeping him in the box and then trying improvise with time . first off ramos and pique quite deep and were not coming out of the defense to contest the long balls with the turkish centre forward . at times i think arda turan did try to keep the ball to himself and tried to over do things . his passing was presumptous as to who he was going to pass rather than trying to take the natural option trying to move the ball and not getting closed down that quickly . they could had started the game playing one dimensional but just crossing into the box and then try to improvise instead they tried to show that they too can play ball and just lost possession because of it .
i think this win will give spain a necessary boost and turkey will have to the drawing board as to what can they salvage in the game between them and the czecks it will be a game which may decide as to whether the czecks or the croats go into the next round .

MY TAKE ON BELGIUM VS ITALY .

yesterday belgium played italy in one of the opening fixtures . the italians won the match but rather they pulled belgium in their game and belgium just could find a way past italian defense . belgium have the best offensive playrers in their squad and have a squad full of superstars while for the first time italians just didnt had any star player in their squad .
the game started with belgium playing 4-4-1-1 . while the italians started the game with 3-5-2 formation . the 3-5-2 is conte's favourite formation . conte must had studied belgium's weakness and he prepared for it .
conte was applauded for his tactics in the media and i would say that atleast on the offensive front he got that spot on . not with the defensive one . yes the italians defended very stubbornly and didnt offer belgium anything but to be honest it had to do more with belgium's inability on the offensive front rather than the italians defensive effort . how he got the offensive front correct was that on the wings he knew that hazard and de bruyne doesnt like to come deep and defend and do their defensive part . secondly he loaded the wings with two guys . but the biggest failure on the part of belgium was their inability to stop pelle . just how many time in the match pelle won the long balls and laid it out for eder . the italians had the pattern set . pelle is one of the most underrated players . i think he has the most no. of assist for the centre forward and links very well with players around him . you could ask that to sadio mane .
the reason why said that his defensive approach was not that good because the italians backed too much had there been a better team then they would work the ball more better with such deep penetration being offered by the italians . the belgium failed to find one decent ball to lukaku's feet ( although he missed one ) and that would had been a game changer . you cannot allow the opposition to come so much inside your own territory . yes you had players defending it but better teams find a way around it and it was just that belgiums were not that better the other day .
 the trouble was that the belgiums backing up and never challenging pelle for the ball and sitting back and letting him have the ball . the trouble with belgiums is that they have centre backs playing in the fullback role and they dont like to come out postion . what conte had see that the italians would always have space on the wings because hazard and de bruyne wont rush to defend and that allowed the italians time and space on the ball. pelle needed to be their in the box since he is one of the best header of the ball . but i felt that eder could have done something . they could have had worked the ball better then i think the belgiums could have had more trouble .
the game started with lukaku upfront with fellaini behind him with hazard and de bruyne on wings . now the italian back three play together day in day out . they work as a unit . most importantly they play deep and start with a yard on the goal side . what conte did was that he congested the field of play and you could literally see italian player at 10 yards distance from each other . they played very compact . belgium depend on hazard and de bruyne for the creativity or for opening opposition defense .here they were not given any space to work with .
this was total failure on the part of mark wilmots in terms of offensive game . first off his team was totally one dimensional . first off the belgium always tried to cross the ball in the box and never tried to open the italians on the floor . secondly the penetration was poor whenever they had the ball wide they just tried to cross theball in the box . they should had been more patient with their possession . they had players who can dribble and pass . for one time de bruyne made a diagonal run and he had clear chance on goal but i never saw that anybody making that again . their lack of specialised fullbacks was clearly exposed here . the fullbacks extend the attack they provide the necessary width to the attack in the modern football with their runs . most importantly somebody needed to play off lukaku just as eder was playing off pelle . first off fellaini was playing but he was there to head the ball rather than to play off lukaku . another thing was that many of their players spent too much time on the ball allowing the italians to contain them . the italians were never going to come and close down and give too much off space . instead they would sit deep and crunch the space and hit you on the counter . what i wanted to see was lukaku going wide (shown in the diagram ) and have more penetration . the trouble with belgium was that they just didnt had any patience with the ball just look at the positions from where the balls was crossed in the box . couldnt they work the ball deeper . the italians do that at juventus day in day out and were really comfortable . to be honest with such an attacking threat belgiums should have had a good game and had a decent result but missed it  .

bonucci was going to be a very important player because of his ability to play out from the back . he produced three good balls from the back out of which one resulted in the goal . radga naingollan was another who was auditioning but he still lacks that mobility for a complete midfielder who could impose himself on the game .
for me mark wilmots needs to rethink about his tactics and the football they are playing and their dependence on headed goals . italians were decent in the game but their offense needs to have a plan b not just pelle to eder . all and all a very good win for italians which would give them confidence .  

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN GERMANY VS UKRAINE .

now yesterday i was criticized for criticizing rooney and the rating that he was given but if we are to justify rooney rating of 8 then what are we going to say about kroos and khadeira's performance last night . they were simply immaculate . why kroos had not struggled in spain is because he can not only play long balls and spread the play but also can play with same ease on the floor . given with that he has good shot from distance which is very good asset and one that a defensive midfielder needs to have . just as he was good on the offensive front in spreading the ball and dictating the play he was very good at closing down the possible danger helping the fullback in dealing with the imminent danger of yarmolenko . same can be said about khadeira who was also equally good and just because he was good that is why kroos could had time and space on the ball because they couldnt mark these two at the same time and let holes in their defense .
germany started as the dominat team and they dominated the whole match .as expected germany dominated the play and ukraine would sit back and try to hit germany on the counter . their main counter weapons were yarmalenko and konoplyanka .germany started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while ukraine started the game with 4-4-1-1 formation . this is why germany are the champions because they do not just rush things like taking the ball wide and whipping it in the box . they work the ball and try to have maximum penetration and you could see the penetration by the team and the number of clearances inside the box . it shows the germans ability to play the ball . plus the understanding that the players have about their positions .
the germans dominated the game because they had the midfield advantage even though kroos and khadeira were the midfielders but both the wide players kept on coming inside as well as both muller and ozil dropping in the midfield to dominate that zone and give upperhand to germany which allowed them to press ukraine successfully and most importantly their midfielders just couldnt had time and space on the ball to support their wide players and get them moving upwards .
the germans dominated the game but they had trouble in the wide areas especially with yarmalenko and konoplyanka who were very lively . both are good players and can take on fullbacks and beat them in footrace and in trickery but the real trouble was that they didnt had the pivot around who they could play . they didnt had the support of their midfield plus not even from the front players as well . the germans had the trouble dealing with these two and when these two came into the final third they created some very good decent chances . there were two things that i thought ukraine did bad first off  they spent too much time on the ball to allow themselves to close down . secondly their play was just too one dimensional . both yarmalenko and konoplyanka were staying wide and not coming inside and trying to link up with each other and try to borrow a page from bayern munich tactics of the champions league winning team . i wanted to see both players linking and playing off each other with others around them . ukraine need to resolve their play and need to get to have some different variations in moving the ball .yes now its understandable as to why germany play so deep because they dont want their fullbacks to get exposed and offer space for players like konoplynka and yarmalenko to run behind them since they can beat them in the foot race . but the trouble is that germany are conceding too much space in doing so and other teams who will be better will try to exploit the space that is offered . seconldy on the counter germans were getting caught up . ukranians were filling the box to head on the cross but they were very one dimensional in their approach . if you could see then kroos or khadeira were getting sucked up on the wing trying to give support to the wing backs in dealing with the opposite number at the same time gotze,draxler,ozil and muller were getting caught upfield and were not able to support their defense . so there was a lot of space in front of the back four and only one player to guard and that was either kroos or khadeira . so ukranians should tried to exploit that space and placed players just in front of the back four on the cross and this would had given them more numbers to pick in the box and some good angles

all and all a very convincing win for germany and showing as to why they are the best and most importantly their second half performance where on they just dominated the ukrainians fully and sniffed any possible threat deserve credit .

MY TAKE ON GAME BETWEEN ENGLAND VS RUSSIA .

yesterday england played russia and came out with a draw . i was reading the news and one news i read was rooney awarded 8/10 points for his performance in the match . another was the positives that glenn hoddle was talking about . to be honest what are the positives that need to be taken out of this game .last but not the least what is roy hodgson job to put out players on the pitch and watch from the sidelines or does he needs to constantly try to improvise his side and give inputs to his players and try to improvise the situation . atleast in the second half i expected him to do something when england were overwhelmed by the russians . i am disappointed by hodgson's role .
the most obvious questions from the game were does rooney deserve to start . he had been given a 8 by the pundits but the first thing that you notice is that these england players are not that technically proficient . they dont get their head quickly . the once who play football knows that once you get yourself in line with pass then you can get your head up and search for the pass so that you can pass it in one touch and that what spaniards and the germans do . english players cannot do that and that is why they need to do two touch. the other thing was that england player pass the ball but they dont move to recieve it back . thirdly the choice of pass was very poor by english players they would pass it to player who would get close down very quickly . they were not helped by the playes movement . i have heard that hodgson takes the practise and tells them on how to play in a situation but obviously they have either not grasped it well or hogdson hasnt explained them well . the most obvious question was as to why was kane coming in deep . he can come deep in the run of the play or when england have the ball and help it get upfield . when england dont have the ball he should be around the back four trying to stretch the play always keeping an option open for the long ball  and the most important one is that when england have the ball wide he should be on the should be on the shoulders of the top 4 keeping them engaged so that there is space behind him .

the most important thing is that you are playing kane as no.9 then try to play through him . he is good passer and alli and he can combine beautifully . he must be a frustrated player because he couldnt decide as to whether he is going to at the end of sterling's cross or should he play one two and release sterling beyond him. i think hodgson needs to sort his role and get him more on the ball and get him more involved . another thing was that other than back four and dyer the others where taking positions upfield but there was not a lot a movement from them . i think one of them needs to drop deep and stay alongside dier and just control the game from there and then make late run rather than making early foray upfield . hodgson will have to think too much since they have bale and england are playing too deep which will help bale since he may just use smalling and cahill as the wall and shoot around them .
england started the game with 4-3-3 while russia were the same . for the first half england overwhelmed russia and they were themselves to blame . they tried to play the english game with england and wanted to take the ball upfield quickly and were hitting long balls to dzuba . secondly they were not able to track runs of alli,llalana and kane who coming deep and letting alli and llalana to get beyond him . the russian were getting all opened because alli and llalana were finding space between the lines and using that positions to find walker on the right particularly whom smolov was not tracking properly . the problem with russia was they didnt know as to who should track alli . whether somebody from the back four should come out and track kane . most importantly russians were nervous on the ball and were misplacing the pass which was allowing england to close them down and win possession high up the pitch and hit them fast on the counter .
the game changed in the second half and this is where a manager comes into play . when the russians come out for the second half they looked more assured on the ball . they moved the around and didnt just tried to find dzuba . they kept the ball rolling and looked more assured on the ball . just as russians were getting control the game england were sitting that much deeper and inviting pressure and trying to play more on the counter .

FRANCE VS ROMANIA 2-1

yesterday france played romania in the opener of the uefa uero 2016  . first off i dont know many of the romanians players only two are known to me . now france started the game with 4-3-3 formation .
now first off with this performance should france be considered as the favourites for the cup . i have doubts . there is serious lack of cohesion in the side and it is dependent more on individual abilities rather than team play and cohesion between players . in the first half romania started the game better . they had borrowed the idea from athletico madrid where on they were waiting for the ball to come into midfield and then press it . romania had very correctly guessed that kante and pogba would be the two guys who would be dictating the play and they should be the ones who should not be given time and space on the ball and that what romania set up to do . as soon as france had the ball they would let koscielny and rami have the ball and positon themselves to press when it is moved into midfield . they played a very high line which could had proved costly because i think they didnt romania calculated that rami is good ball playing centre back and can play good balls from the back . the space behind the back four meant that france played some long balls to release griezman but could not find the proper ball . whenever france could overcome that pressing from romania they were knocking on romania's goal and they were finding space on the wings because to play the high press romania had to play compact and which meant that the fullbacks were having space to run to . but overall in the run of play romania had tied france and were dictating the tempo of the game.
romania were causing france problems were with balls played behind the back four . rami is a cause of concern with france . romania tried to exploit rami's lack of pace . so initially when france tried to play a high back four they quickly had to drop back to compensate for rami's lack of pace . romania played some very good short crisp passing game but they had lack of height in the box . secondly they were missing some good deliveries from the wide where on they could trouble france but overall they did ok on the defensive front to keep france at bay . france's main threat griezman was not timing his run properly and was not that effective .
in the second half romania changed their game they started to sit back and most importantly kante started to dictate the game and romania started to sit deep . the initial pressing was gone and france got the hold on the game most importantly deschamps changed the system . he bought coman to stretch the play  .matuidi who was very sitting along side kante in the first half and had it very quite one started to move up the pitch in the second half . he started to impose himself more on  the game .  secondly he switched payet in behind giroud in the no.10 role . payet can dribble past player and able to release players in space . his switch changed the game and france went on to win the game .
can france build on this performance . i dont think so . first off kante had to cover too much of space in front of him . secondly there is no natural cohesion in the team and players like rami and evra lack of pace can cause problem's to france . thirdly france's are too much dependent on pogba or payet and in the next game if they are tied down what then . there was a lack of movement upfront since kante and pogba both were unable to find players to who they could pass . all and all i think some of the france players are playing more for themselves and to achive personal glory rather than team play . 

MY TAKE ON ZIDANE AND UCL FINAL

on saturday ath mad played real mad in the uefa champions league final . zidane won the ucl in his first stint as the manager but i fear for him . i fear that he will become de matteo (former chelsea manager ) . the reason is this when all the world is going ga ga over zidane's capture of the champions league crown i will be the only one who will be questioning him and his tactics and his style of play . now pep gaurdiola and barcelona have changed the land scape of football . not only the result but the style of play is equally important in today's game . big or better teams are not only required to win game but they need to dominate the opposition in terms of possession and territory and open the opposition defense at will . that is why coaches like mouriniho are never ever appreciated that much in the modern game even though they win things . the reason being that their team dont ever play attractive football .today instead of the defensive effort the beautiful offense is more appreciated . once the euphoria of the win subsides then people will start questioning zidane's tacitcs . at this moment of time it is seen as if the win is made out as if real madrid dominated ath mad and won comprehensively .

the reason as to why i said that i feared of zidane becoming di matteo is because just as de matteo zidane has won the ucl and perez will be forced to keep him as the manager for the next term because he cannot fire the manager who has won the ucl for him . but can he continue to let the team play just as they had been playing like this . the team has obvious lack style of play . the players in the team are more comfotable playing on the counter attack than playing possession football . the team depends more on individual effort on offense than team effort .
in the game yesterday real started the game with 4-3-3 while ath mad started the game with 4-4-2 . in the first 20 real were the better side they passed the ball better they evaded ath mad's pressing were trying to get the ball to ronaldo or bale who would run on the defense and cause trouble to the ath mad back four . now both these teams are very counter attacking teams and both like to sit deep and hit the opposition on the counter . in this match however zidane was lucky than  simeone since his team could play on the counter . the reason being some good defensive work done by bale and benzema who would go on pressing the back four  and that would slow down ath mad and would allow real to sit deep and counter . compared to real mad ath mad were playing a high line and there was a reason for that . all the top three were dropping deep to collect the ball and then start the offense . since there was nobody who was playing on back four's shoulder therefore  ath mad could play a high line but were unbale to press real because of some fine work by modric and kross in the midfield .

ath mad are not suited to play slow offensive football but real sitting deep meant that ath mad had to play build up and open real which ath mad are not very good at . in the first half koke who starts on the left but ends up in the no.10 position .this meant that felipe luis had the space to go on and bomb forward . but the trouble with ath mad was that real mad kept good tab on torres and squeezed any space in the middle to give ath mad any shot at goal . ath mad's main offense was from the left side but the trouble was that koke moving central meant that there were not even players to stretch real on the left side and secondly playing deep denied any space behind the back four .
the real reason why i questioned zidane's tactics is that in the second half ath mad just overwhelmed real mad . firstly ath mad took the initiative of removing agusto fernandez and moving koke besides gabi in the centre . he brought an out and out winger in form of yannick karrasco who can run with the ball and would stretch the real defense . ath mad just started to upped the tempo and gabi really controlled the midfield very well and distributed the ball very well . real had to ask ronaldo and bale to drop deep and do their defensive duties . the trouble with real is that the way switched off for the equalizer when both marcelo and isco switched off and let juan fran run behind the back four and cross in the space between the back four and goal keeper for carracasco to score .
ronaldo is hailed in the media as if he single handedly won the trophy for real but he should be ashamed . he cannot get the better of defender in one on one .compared to ronaldo bale was far better . he troubled both the fullbacks . he ran on the defense like a man possessed . he should be the best player of the match with modric who was the best player on the ball for real madrid who looked always assured with ball at his feet and always finding a player with his pass . for ath mad gabi was the best player who's distribution was very good from the deep and controlled the game better .
last but not the least but i fear for zidane . if the team continues the way it is playing this term then they will be caught next term and what happened to de matteo will happen to zidane . 

MY TAKE ON BAYERN MUNICH VS ATH MAD . 2-1

now i wanted to write about this match but the weather didnt permit me . for the last two days i had been reading this that the ugly football won against the more stylish football . the press had every possible way or tried to devalue ath mad win over bayern with such statistics and prove as to how ugly they are . to be honest the ones that talk this languange just dont have knowledge about football . in football your discipline,team work and concentration is all tested on defense than on offense . your single second  lapse in concentration on defense and the team has to pay for it and it applies not only to one player but applies to each and every player who is on defending duties . so anybody who says that defending is easy or ugly is either stupid or doesnt understand's football and shouldnt comment on it . on offense you can have a blip or can miss a chance but the team doesnt pays for it but on defense a single blip and the team pays for it . the other thing was that the statistics were provided about how bayern were the superior team in terms of possession and all that but one question needs to anwered as to how did they threatned ath mad goal then the i dont think they did that much . they had all the possession but ath mad dealt very nicely with them oblak didnt had to make too many good saves or that bayern were knocking on ath mad goal all the time . it is not that important as to how much you have the ball but how good you use the ball when you have that . whenever ath mad had the ball they looked threatning and looked more likely to score than bayern .now gaurdiola is credited with changing the face of the modern football . he is a thinker and is  thought to be one of the foremost thinker of the game . people thinks he see's the game more like chess player and players as his pieces and plays accordingly . but in this game and overall gaurdiola has fallen short of that and his game thinking or there had lack of innovation in his offense which had been blatantly exposed in this fixture . his tactics had been one dimensional and team lacked a certain creative spark which was needed in the final third .

i had earlier dont the first leg game between bayern and ath mad and expected bayern to change and to go to their usual formation which had given them success this season .  gaurdiola bought muller back into the team and played him in the no. 10 role where on he had been successful this term . the other one was ribery was given a chance compared to coman in the bayern starting lineup .i expected bayern to change their style to pull ath mad in their game and give them headaches . instead bayern were pulled into ath mad's trap and just got drifted from their game plan . ath mad will always sit back and invite team to open them up and will try to hit them on the counter . ath mad are hammered because of their defensive approach but as i had said that it requires a very good team work . just look at the way that the players work off for each other and the camraderie that they have and this is seen not only on defense but also on offense  . when i write about ath mad's team work then i cannot help but remember man utd's team work in 2007/08 season and it was due to their assistant coach carlos quieroz who had disciplined the team with their positioning and drilling the team to handle various game situations .
this term under gaurdiola bayern had been one dimensional they had lacked the incisive edge that is very much needed to open oposition . first off you know what you expect from ath mad so you try to pull them up in your game . gaurdiola should have looked at ath mad first legged against barcelona and how much barcelona troubled ath mad . barcelona too played balls on suarez's and neymar's head but they did that just out of ath mad box where and they played it so that neymar and suarez have could easily win them . they placed it in front of them and neymar and suarez would head them down for others in the box to score . barcelona were unlucky in the first match not to score more and oblak did a very good job in goal . i thoought that bayern will try that where on they try to place ball on muller and lewandowski's head and they will knock it down to incoming costa or ribery . instead bayern went traditional they didnt even tried to work the ball in the wide areas and tried to have more penetration. bayern lacked good interplay between their players and their play lacked the choreographed moves which are needed when you have a very good defense .
the other thing that i expected of bayern was that when the ball comes out in the oppositon half ath mad tries to press the ball in trying to win the ball back high . this was the chance for bayern had they brought the ball from back to front quickly then they could had been able to catch ath mad . bayern being bayern instead slowed the game and allowed ath mad to get back into shape and missed the opportunity . the other thing was trying to be ath mad . give them the ball invite them to open you up and then hit them on the counter . lets see what they do with the ball when you sit back . i expected gaurdiola to show some innovative  thinking in the game . i did not see that instead what i saw was time and time again ball been crossed into the box from wide areas . i expected bayern to be calm and more incisive with their possession trying better penetration .in the first leg bayern just didnt had enough players in the box and thats what he changed in the second leg and he brought muller behind lewandowski and secondly he had costa too close to them  . but credit to ath mad who didnt let these players find any time and space on the ball in the box .
now ath mad are criticized about their defensive approach but to be honest when they have the ball they look very good . their inter play on offense is also very good where on they are able to find each other and can work the ball towards opposition's goal .as i had said that its not important as to how much you have the ball but how you use it when you have and athletico just knows that .