MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN LIVERPOOL VS STOKE . 4-1

yesterday liverpool played stoke and won . i wanted to see stoke and what better to watch them than play liverpool . but first for the last two seasons stoke have added quite some quality players in their ranks but they have failed add any good decent defensive player in their rank and whatever they have added are not upto the task . stoke are good on one end but the defensive end made them look ordinary plus some tactical mistakes by their manager in trying to accommodate the players and trying to offset the opposition also cost them .

starting formation

liverpool started the game with their regular 4-3-3 formation . while stoke started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . stoke started on a very positive note by trying to press liverpool  but it was only successful when the ball was in liverpool half . the trouble with stoke is that there front four are good but they are not properly supported by the back four who have severe lack of pace and dont like to come out and close down . this is what let stoke down. initial walter's and diouf were the wide men and crouch the middle man with allen behind him but stoke were not finding any success and every attempt to move ball upfield was failing . crouch could win the first ball but he didnt had anybody to pass the ball beyond him . secondly liverpool contest the ball once it was on grass and were succeding in dispossessing crouch . so stoke didnt had any success . hughes noticed this and changed the formation and switched walters beyond crouch so that crouch can flick the headed balls to him. but in doing so they conceded the left side to liverpool because having moved walters over there they didnt had a natural player over there to occupy or defend that zone. stoke found some good success initially with this switched formation and direct play . the other thing that he changed was that he restricted johsnon's movement and he had a flat back four making it a back three with diouf and pieters as the full backs .  their approach was to play through crouch and he would try to release walters on goal or try to pass the ball to allen who was around him . stoke took the lead because of some stupid defending . in the lead upto the goal neither clyne nor pieter's opposite number mane went with him to close him down. instead he was allowed to cross and walters headed the ball for goal.

formation after hughes changed it . 

the reason why i had criticized stokes defensive players is because of their lack of game reading and doing nothing but standing . as i had stoke had changed the formation midway through the first half but it had adverse affect on them too . first off they didnt had any natural cover for pieter's on the left side to imbula was aked to cover that zone . so imbula had to cover not only central zone but also cover the left side zone which meant that there was considerable space between him and whelan . secondly liverpool move the ball very quick and kloop knows the importance of moving the ball fast because it doesnt let the defense settle and close you down . kloop has made them understand the positional aspect of the game very well and their ball handling . so liverpool bring the ball back to front very quickly and this meant that allen,walter's and crouch were not able to help team on defense . the trouble was that the back four were not ready to come out of defense and close down liverpool players and this allowed the opposition time and space on the ball and they were able to take the ball wide and bring it inside with ease .
if you watched liverpool goal's then you can see stoke's defensive mistake . leading off to the first goal matin's indi played mane onside had he kept the defensive discipline better then he would had caught him offside . he was one of the back three while johnson and shawcross moved up he stayed back and that allowed mane to be in the onside position . secondly he just kept on backing instead of trying to close him down in the movement . the second goal was the classic example as to how stoke got stretched and how the back four just kept their position instead of coming forward to close down the player in space. liverpool moved the ball from flank to flank and stretched stoke . if you watch the goal then you could see the space between whelan and imbula since imbula had to look at the left side as well . thirdly the back four not coming out quick to deal with firmino who was in the hole with time and space on the ball and they got punished . the game was over once liverpool scored second goal .
hughes needs to have some defensive addition into the team . secondly i would had loved whelan being dropped and allen and imbula in front of the back four which would had given them a good mobile and ball playing cover . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN MAN CITY VS ARSENAL

yesterday man city played arsenal at etihad . now before i write about the game let me say that doesnt matter what formation you play or the way you execute it but atleast on defense the players mental ability and his ability to read the game and take decisions is put to test . those who do it correct are known as great players . if you had looked at the great teams of the past and present then you may had read about the game reading of the back four or one or two stalwarts in the team who would read the game and were able to stop the opposition in the tracks . the coach is important because he teaches you as to how you make decisions and what you should do in those situations . but ultimately it all depends on the player on the field and his ability and mental ability and there is the difference between a good player and great player .
man city started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation with sterling starting as the no.9 .while arsenal started with the same formation of 4-2-3-1 with sanchez in the no.9 position . the game started with arsenal sitting back and trying to soak up city pressure and hit them on the counter . on the very first counter arsenal were ahead and the very reason why arsenal were ahead because otamendi and kolarov . sanchez dropped deep to collect the ball as he does and let ozil,walcott and iwobi  run beyond him and that has been the tailor made counter or way or offense for arsenal . now the reason for writing first para is this . first off otamendi or kolarov should have followed sanchez and shouldnt had given him time on the ball because they didnt had anybody beyond sanchez to worry about whom sanchez could release behind them . now even if they had not followed sanchez then they should had realized that he would try to release walcott who had made the run and they should kept track of him and made sure that the pass cant be played to him . city's defense were just ball watching in that play and were rightly punished . this is where the good players come into play because they can read the game better . reading play means that they can predict what is happening next and take the necessary steps and prevent it .
the goal was scored early in the first half and arsenal were comfortable for the whole half while city were just flat out . city were spending too much time on the ball and were just not crisp on the ball  if you had looked at city's offense then you could see that at time there were only two players involved in the move the on passing and the one receiving and the others were just mannequins .city's offense lacked a clear direction .  there were three or four times when yaya toure tried to release sterling behind the back four . the idea of playing sterling as the no.9 was to use his pace against gabriel and koscielny but city were just too slow in moving the ball . the instinctive changes that gaurdiola makes or the inputs that he provides were completely lacking . city were far too flaccid with toure the most frustrated player because he was slow and coquelin was getting the better off him in the exchanges . gaurdiola didnt seem to have the answer's to arsenal's counter in the first half and the first half ended with arsenal ahead . for the first time i thought that gaurdiola had lost it and had the changes in the second half didnt worked then the thoughts would had been confirmed . 
gaurdiola changed the personal in the seconld half first off he bought de bruyne central and sterling wide and also the other thing that he changed on the defensive front . the time and space that sanchez was getting wasnt there . sanchez was followed up by kolarov and otamendi and was denied time on the ball . the most important change was that they were moving the ball crisply and moving quickly . the change from the first half was that in the first half city were playng the ball more in the wide area's and were unable to bring it inside . sane who was staying wide in the first had  started to make diagonal run's towards the  goal in the second half with de bruyne dropping deep like sanchez to release sterling and sane behind the back four .  city wanted to stretched arsenal although arsenal wanted to be more compact but there was considerable space between the back four and the goal keeper which was there to be exploited .
the reason why arsenal lost there way in the second half was that sanchez wanted to much off the ball . city had changed there mentality and were not going to give sanchez the time on the ball so it would had been better off sanchez to pass the ball quickly and move it crisply and his over insistence on doing things caused arsenal their offense  . arsenal tried to change things by bringing giroud but by that time arsenal had lost the impetus and were merely chasing the game .
ozil was criticized after the game for disappearing during the game but then in the first half the way arsenal are set on the counter he doesnt sees lot of the ball and he dependent on sanchez's service to feed him the ball's as ozil gets into sanchez's position to keep the centre backs occupied . but after giroud was bought about i think ozil should had taken the reins of the game but then he needs somebody to play around him and then he flourishes but he failed to establish that . while criticizing ozil nobody questioned walcott . he might had scored the goal but just look his ability on the ball . he cannot drive the ball . hopeless on the ball . the goal he scored was made by sanchez's work . why wasnt he subbed in the first place is mystery . i think iwobi deserves his minutes . to be honest i was impressed with granite xhaka and coquelin who dominated the arsenal midfield for me .

i really dont like to talk on such subjects but i think the two goals were offside . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN MAN UTD VS SPURS .

yesterday utd played spurs and it was the first win for utd after 4 games in the league but even in the win i think utd are one dimensional the attack lacks innovation . they are still playing on the counter offense and they still dont look like the team who when they have the ball look to be dangerous . the only positive thing has been mikhitariyan's performance . but the utd win would had been better had some players made better decisions on the ball .
utd started the game with 4-3-3 formation . this formation does gives freedom to both herrera and poga who can go forward that they have carrick behind their back to look after defense. spurs have their standard formation of 4-2-3-1 . spurs started the game with utd sitting back and soaking the attack and trying to hit on the counter . the trouble with utd that spurs were pressing them and the problem with utd is that they cannot play out from the back while both spurs centre backs are good ball players and comfortable with ball on the feet . utd have good defenders but their ability on the ball is not that good and when pressed they tend to punt the ball upfield to ibramovic . utd's main offense has been to play around ibramovic . the offense seems to work well with mikhitariyan given the lisence to leave his zone and go in the playmaker role while martial keeps stretching the defense by remaining wide . the trouble with utd is that there offense is one dimensional . ball is played to ibramovic and then in turn he tries to release mikhitariyan or martial behind the defense. other is that when they get congested in one zone they pass the ball to opposite flank and try to stretch the game and use the space that is left on . the trouble is that they are not moving the ball quickly or crisply . secondly they are not keeping the ball and i havent seen them working  a move and then open the opposition . everytime its on counter and utd should try to hold the ball more move i, work a zone ,try to take it deeper and then take the shot . to be honest there are some best long distance shot takers in the utd team in the form of ibramovic and pogba and even mikhitariyan but i havent seen them taking shots beyond the box . with ability like that utd can be deadly from far more distance and that in turn stretches the defense . when utd are on offense balls were directly played to ibramovic  but at the same time i didnt see a player around ibramovic to whom he can pass the ball quickly . just look at the time he had to hold of the ball  and it does gives the time for the opposition to claw back . just look at the way hazard is stationed closed to costa in the chelsea and just look the rewards they are reaping with that partnership . it would be better to post pogba or mikhitariyan close to ibramovic since both are very good ball players and are two of the best ball players in the world and their weight on the pass is terrific . i want carrick to play more quickly i think that he spent a bit more time on the ball than required and if he can release the ball more early then the play would start the offense more quickly .for the first 20 min spurs dominated the possession and there was a reason because their front players are more mobile than man utd's . i wanted the reciprocation by utd . they have ibra upfront who is not that mobile but he could had been asked to track on  one midfielders and then ask the herrera ,mikhitariyan to close the front players and try to give them the same medicine .
spurs had been struggling to get kane into their offense and this had been their biggest drawback . spurs have good ball players all over the pitch but the trouble is that they are not able to play through kane they dominated the game . the game plan was very correct they played compact and had more passes than utd in the game . they closed down utd very quickly and made them play the ball quickly which made them concede the possession . for the first 20 min i think that spurs played very well and had they been able to get their offense going then we would have had a good game . even in the last game against chelsea they were not able to give any service to kane and that had made him a frustrated player . pochettino is good coach but how come he not able to see this problem and tackle it is beyond me . to be honest delle alli is played in the no.10 role but he hasnt got the first touch that is needed to be a no.10 and the creative mind to be play in that position and it would be better if dembele is promoted in that position who can go past players with ease and is better in every aspect than alli . 
in the game the players are the one who have to take the decisions . it doesnt matters what they coaches teaches you on the training field but ultimately its the players who are playing and the ones taking decisions on the field . there were two incidents in the play that really were the highlight and i think i have to write . first off martial was released by ibramovic on 24nd min behind the defense but the ball wasnt in total control but martial was one on one with the goal keeper had he controlled the ball better and shielded it and made sure that he stood between the ball and the player .just look at the way mikhitairyan did it and he just scored .  had he been able to done that then he could had prevented walker from making the clearance and that should had been his first priority . yes he wanted to take the shot but when the ball is upfield your first priority should be to protect it and then take the shot  . the second one was on the 50th min when pogba ,ibra and somebody like mikhitariyan  were on the counter with three against three . pogba had the ball and ibra was on the left and herrera or mikhitariyan on his right . pogba was not under any pressure when he switched the ball to ibra . there two better options were to keep the ball and take it further forward or pass it right who was in decent space and space to run into or make something of it . pogba passed the ball early to which ibramovic was closed down and lost the possession and utd lost the chance . i think that mouriniho needs to show that to his players and get them to make better decision .
the only player that i was impressed was the substitute eric bailly and the reason being that he is not supposed to pass the ball but just punt it upfield and clear it but instead he played the ball very coolly and passed it under pressure and that too very nicely so if i was the coach then i would see that he continues that education and keeps playing that way because you may never now that we may have to use him as that .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN CHELSEA VS SPURS.

yesterday chelsea played spurs at stamford bridge and chelsea have dealt heavy defeat to clubs . it was interesting to watch as to how spurs would stop chelsea . chelsea started the game with their winning 3-4-3 formation while spurs started with their 4-2-3-1 formation.
chelsea's main offense had been diego costa even though hazard and others had been scoring goals but costa is the one who the centre of all that good which chelsea had been doing on their offense . the change in the chelsea team had been that earlier hazard wasnt having that aount of the ball which he is currently having . secondly pedro is there in the front three but he is used  for his running for braking offside traps and making runs and is primarily used to disrupt the defensive structure . hazard is the main playmaker a role which he always wanted . in antonio conte's team  the front two had always played in tandem with each other . just look at eder and pelle in the italian team and here it is costa and hazard with pedro in the side role . the whole offense goes through and if he doesnt plays well then the offense suffers . spurs made sure that they keep tight on him and give him little time and space on the ball . the space he operates is the zone between dier and walker . spurs superiority in the first 30 min can be determined by the touches that costa had . this is because spurs press very hard on chelsea and gave very little time on the ball and that forced chelsea to play direct balls to costa and dier did very good and won the duel . chelsea got the foothold back into the game when they switched hazard from wide to central position behind costa and they started playing ball to costa's feet rather than  in the air and chelsea got the foothold back into the game . they started the moving the ball better and that gave them the advantage . 
the deadlock was broken when eriksen scored and it was because when chelsea have a flat back five there is a lot of space in front of them and there are only two players to guard who are reluctant to leave their zones . if the opposition can just bring the ball from back to front quickly against chelsea then they can catch them . even though spurs scored the goal but the trouble was that they couldnt work the ball through kane . even the earlier games if you had seen that but kane had been isolated and spurs had not been able to give him decent service or that they can involve him better in their offense ( game against arsenal) just as chelsea are able to bring costa and the game flows through him
now in the game reading the play is very important and especially for the defenders and they have to make decesion based on that . spurs lost the game because of two personal mistake by their one player that is dier . in the run up to the first goal pedro crossed the zone and came central. if you could see he wanted the ball to be played to alonso but matic made the smart decision to pass the ball to him as he could see that pedro didnt had any player against him and was having space . here is the mistake and the stupidity by dier and here is what is game reading is all about . dier was concerned that the continues then and come forward then he may leave walker exposed but he didnt realized that walker was against and was more than decent to take him on . secondly he should have come forward and shouted to look for the space behind his back that it didnt get explored . his indecision cost spurs the first goal but i think there are many a factors that are also reponsible for that .

costa's touches in the first half.

first and foremost spurs front three are good on pressing but when required they dont come deep quickly enough to make the numbers and squeeze the space . the second goal for spurs was nothing but stupid game reading lack of understanding of the game and carelessness by the spurs players . if we look at the spurs second goal then dembele lost the ball in the midfield and it was played onto costa who didnt had much joy till that in the game and he decided to take the ball deeper . he was guarded by dembele who had lost  the ball .  dier who was closed to the dembele should had first kept his shape and moved in line with demebele because the only way that ball could had been played was beyond dembele ( i will show in the diagram ) not through him and dembele is good enough in one on one situations . he could have had joind dembele to press costa and try to get the ball the maximum that he would had given away was a corner which is not bad instead of loose ball inside the box . so dier's stupidity meant that the ball could be played across but another players stupidity meant that moses could stride unchallenged in the box and score the ball . as i had said the front three of the spurs players dont like to come deep and defend and that was responsible for the second goal  . son was the man that was the opposite player against moses and he is one that is suppose to guard him when he come on into spurs half . you could see son not interested and jogging as if he had no part in that play and let moses stride into the box and score . the game was just over then and there even though spurs made changes but they were never were able to score against chelsea who made the defensive changes and secured the game .
off the spurs players only dembele seemed to be the man who was really up for the game and all the others were either nervous or were upto the game . pochettino had rightfully said that they need to add quality to the squad if this squad cannot perform . but first he needs to look into himself as to why his offense is not working and how he can involve his forward more into the game . alli is decent player but he need to get his first touch sorted . the difference between a good player and a great player is the first touch on the ball . eriksen is good player but after he scored why was taking shot from anywhere and everywhere while he could have worked the ball and have better chance by taking it deeper .  chelsea passed this test because spurs are always weak in the second half of the game but the big test comes next week when man city will play them and how pep will bind costa . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAMES BETWEEN MAN UTD VS ARSENAL AND BAYERN MUNICH VS DORTMUND.

utd started the game with 4-3-3 formation while arsenals started with their 4-2-3-1 formation . utd tried to man mark arsenal's midfielders basically they were set up to stop arsenal whenever they come just into utd's half . the mismatch was on the right side of utd where ramsey was marked by valencia while mata was marked by monreal . in each case the fullbacks were going to come on top .
utd tried to play through rashford and they tried to explore his pace by trying to play direct balls to him and try to get him in one on one with koscielny but to be honest there are may be very few players in this world who would beat koscielny in the foot race . while utd were trying to do that arsenal's offense is dependent on sanchez . all the arsenal's midfielders were man marked by utd so they were not finding any space so it was sanchez's duty to come and relieve pressure on his players by providing option for an extra body to pass . whenever sanchez comes deep ozil feels the role by making runs behind the back four or going uptop but yesterday ozil wasnt on song in the first half and utd were able to stop there combination . there were two mistmatches on right side of utd . first off in no world ramsey was going to get better of valencia while the same could be said about mata against monreal .
here i want to present my take on the game now . first off rashford was playing upfront . just as i said earlier utd were trying to get him in the foot race with koscielny why not try that on the other side with mustafi and test him out . now mata always comes inside and tries to play the no.10 role and because of this valencia gets the space to run on opposition defense . while this is true but at the same time the right sided attack gets hampered because of the lack of natural width with mata not staying wide and utd cannot work that zone because of the lack of players in that zone and utd have to cross that ball which is easy to deal that ball worked just like for the first utd goal and a 10-15 yard ground pass . martial was staying out wide and trying to stretch the defense . instead why not put him in tandem with rashford and try to switch between those two . mouriniho's plan was to test jenkinson but to be honest jenkinson is quite a decent defender and  he did well . instead why not start martial just off rashford and see . even though mata scored the goal and he will be lauded but to be honest he lost possession twice by over staying on the ball while he could have had released the very quickly and kept the move going . utd  were trying to play through rashford but why not let him hold the ball and let others come into play . there is always that element of him leaving the defender leaving empty if he tries to be too cute . 
i read jamie redknapp criticizing rashford for the equalizer that utd conceded but to honest he should look at the play and the player. first off he was against a player who was fresh off from the bench and rashford had just had a complete game . seconldy just look at the play . utd players were all inside the box expecting for a ground pass being made or that if the ball is worked up in the zone just as arsenal do there would no space for them to work with . so i wont criticize rashford . but the player that i would cricize would be pogba . in the first half just as mouriniho planned to stop arsenal's midfielders and have them time on the ball they too returned the favour and in the first half coquelin did a very good job on pogba and it could be said that he was in his pocket . he robbed him of possession twice and was quite good with his job . to he honest just because you are the world's most expensive players doesnt means that you have to dribble everybody and spend time on the ball . pogba had been at times guilty of spending time on the ball . the game didnt had too much of a great tactical side to it . 
bayern played dortmund in another big game and to be honest it was one of the boringest match between the big clubs that i had seen about whom i am writing . there are all sort of statistics that are available but the one that need to be there and that should be is the time that players spend on the ball and make it slow and allow the defense to organise itself to stop the offense .
bayern started the game with their usual 4-3-3 formation while dortmund started the game with 3-5-2 formation . touchel had used this formation in the draw in march. dortmund took the lead through abumeyang goal . the reason being that ancelotti wants his fullbacks high up the pitch and his zone is protected by the midfielder but if you can work that ball beyond him then there is a lot of space on either side of the centrebacks which can be exploited . even though bayern played a bit deeper compared to dortmund they still were comfortably high on the pitch. just look at alaba's positioning and he was caught high on the pitch and couldnt get into his natural position . dortmund played a very high line but the offside trap was broken times and again and as there was considerable space between the back three and they were not flat instead baratra and ginter were bit higher than sokratis . time and again both lewandowski and muller broke the offside trap and but were unable to use those opportunities . bayern played like a english team last season under gaurdiola last term but this term under ancelotti they look to spend more time on the ball and dont look to be that crisp as they looked under gaurdiola . every players tends to make atlest three touches and at times it seems as to that they dont have a game plan as to how they are going to open up dortmund's defense. they could work up the ball deep into dortmunds half but just couldnt score a goal . bayern bug seemed to be caught with dortmund because as the game went on they seemed to be spending more time on the ball and conceding possession to bayern . under ancelotti bayern doesnt seems to be that threatning as they were earlier . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN BRAZIL VS ARGENTINA 3-0

today brazil played argentina in world cup qualifier . the match might have just confirmed brazil's qualification for the world cup while argentina's world cup hopes lie in balance . the way brazil played and the way they used the field and kept argentina  at bay was commendable . the most important factor in this game was the mobility of the players and their speed and brazil had that and they used it to maximum . had agrentina did one thing correct then this humiliation would had been avoided and that is that both neymar and coutiniho exploit or are dangerous from one zone ( i will show that in the lineups ) from where coutiniho scored . had argentina just closed that zone then i think that they would had atleast half stopped brazil because jesus wouldnt had been able to beat otamendi and mori in the air and had they played deep then there would had been little space to exploit behind the back four .
brazil started the game with 4-3-3 formation with fernandiniho sitting in front of the back four while he was partenered by renato sanches and pauliniho . argentina started the game with 4-2-1-3 formation. the formation was a bit odd because argentina had three in the middle with mascherano,perez and biglia in the middle . of the three in the middle perez or biglia would try to fill up the space on the right of argentina . they didnt had a fixed right sided player . brazil knew that if they stop messi and stop him from getting time and space on the ball then would have stopped half of argentina's offense . so brazil didnt man mark messi instead they just let him take the position and the player that was occupying that position would try to close down messi . the second thing that brazil did right was that they played deep compared to argentina who tried to play a bit high even though they had problems the back four . the most important facet of the game was the mobility of the players or atleast the mobility of the back four and the front players and the cohesion between them .
the first thing correct that brazil did was that they played and this stretched the game and argentina didnt want the brazilians to have the ball so in trying to do that they tried play a high line and tried to close down brazil since they knew that the brazil players given time on the ball would hurt them . brazil played their tactics beautifully by playing deep but initially they were just trying to soak up argentina's pressure and they were trying to stop messi . there was audition for man city forward role for gabriel jesus and the did it perfectly well . his job was to play high on the shoulders of mori and otamendi  and keep stretching the game and keep mori and otamendi occupied which he did . argentina were worried about his pace . now neymar's movement was unpredictable . untill the first goal brazil were flat but coutiniho changed his zone for the first goal and linked with neymar. mas couldnt come out of the back four since renato sanches would fill coutiniho's position and exploit that space . coutiniho got the space in the hole and he is one of the best shot taker beyond the box . brazil's first goal was a combination of various factors and coutniho excelllence over the ball . the other two goal were nothing excellent counters by brazil and argentina's inability to deal with it .

ZONE WHICH BOTH NEYMAR AND COUTINIHO LIKE TO PLAY AND EXPLOIT . 

the trouble with argentina is not the defense but the offense . i had said that in my previous articles that if you have good offense then teams dont commit too many players forward and are afraid to come upfront because they can be exploited of the space that they will leave . argentina were very bad in their offense  . they rely heavily and his ability to open opposition up . first off i dont understand his plan to play three defensive minded players . even though brazil did the same but then you can understand that because they had messi to contain . but at the same time brazil's middle three are more mobile than argentina's middle three . now the thing is that when he played them he compromised the right sided offense although perez or biglia dropped there and tried to occupy the zone and work but brazil were able to always contain them . seconldy there is poor link up play between messi ,higuain and di maria . for me di maria was poor . firstly he started out wide trying to stretch the defense was always solo in his effort .
the most important factor in nullifying argentina was to just stop higuain . he was man marked by marquinihos and miranda . most importantly marquinihos who is quite mobile . the thing is that higuain cannot beat miranda and marquinihos in the air . seconldy brazil played narrow and deep  to allow argentina any space behind the back four to exploit so that balls could be played in the space . the other wrong thing is that after the first goal argentina got rattled and messi started to drop deeper to get the ball upfield and this where i think argentina and bouza got it wrong . he should have kept messi upfield because who has the more fear factor than messi when he has the ball near the box . messi coming from the deep allowed brazil to close him down or foul him or bring numbers behind the ball and crunching the space . i think villanova was correct in playing upfont on his own which created space for the entire team to play although messi may not have that much off the ball that he desires . in the second half he bought aguero but by then the contest was over and argentina were overwhelmed by brazil's counters .
i think argentina genuinely missed banega or lamela who would take that right side and is good dribbler . banega is the same he would had linked better with higuain . i dont know as to why bouza didnt changed things after first goal . why not ask messi to drop on right side where on he plays for his club and try to stretch brazil and try to test one of their fullbacks . messi upfield would had always created chances . secondly why didnt they tried to drop deep with the play and let brazil cover more of the grass and try to get more players behind the ball . i think bouza's job would be on the line if he cannot get them to play more efficiently in the next match against columbia and all marks to tite for getting things right .
lastly i think in the form of jesus man city are going to get an upgrade of aguero and gaurdiola would love it . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ARSENAL VS SPURS .

yesterday arsenal played spurs in the north london derby . the game wasnt that glorius to the eyes and this was another spurs performance where they had been poor but still came out with a point in the contest . they had been poor against liverpool and the same was against arsenal . to be honest midway through the first half to the end of the game i never saw a game plan from spurs they passing the ball but what were they supposed to do when they had the ball was always a question . the problem with spurs was that they could take the ball till 20 yard from the box but from there what they need to do and who will do what was always a question . the trouble with spurs is that harry kane like to play forward but at the same time he like to drop deep and wants somebody to run beyond him . he is not a complete no.9 around whom you can play . he like to get more involved in the play and the player that was most missed yesterday was lamela who like to go beyond kane and take that position in the box which kane should be occupying . in this game spurs shape was ripped apart by arsenal . it would be better explained in the diagram .
the game started with arsenal playing their usual 4-2-3-1 lineup with alexis preffered to lead the line . spurs started the game with unusual 3-4-1-2 formation  . just like most english game the game has a good pace with arsenal sitting back and hitting spurs trying to build a good offense . the only good thing about spurs was the return of dembele who is very good on the ball . spurs played three at the back with wimmer trying to cover for vertroghen and dier . even though both team tried to play a high line and congest the play but both teams kept the forward in front of their back four and kept a 2 to 3 yard distance between them to have a head start .
arsenal for the first time too the novel approach of sitting back and hitting spurs on the counter attack .even though spurs had three at the back the trouble with spurs was that the three were not flat instead dier and vertroghen were a bit high trying to deal with iwobi and walcott . arsenal have worked out their offense what they do is that alexis like to drop on the left and bring and try to hold the ball and then develop the offense from there . so when alexis drops on the left walcott will do a diagonal run in the box and try to get at the end of passess  created by alexis and ozil . the good thing about arsenal is the way iwobi had been able to get himself in the mix with ozil and sanchez . he keeps things very simple and has a very good sense of positioning and very good decision making on the ball . the trouble with spurs was that there was considerable space between the back three and sanchez could work the space and make a run behind the dier to recive the ball and start the offense . the trouble with arsenal is that they just try to score perfect goal if they just try to take some shot from the edge of the box that will make them more potent .
spurs tried the 3-4-1-2 formation in this game and even though they had 5 at the back they were not flat . instead the fullbacks never ever tucked up alongside the centrebacks but were high up the pitch and were trying to man mark their opposite number . as i had said before that spurs missed lamela in this game who complements kane very nicely . the trouble with kane is that even  though he is good player his positional sense is not that good . this could be seen when on the play when son would be bringing the ball upfield then he could not make the decision as to whethere  he would try to get in front of the defender for the cross or pull away from him . the other trouble was the lack of bodies for spurs in the box . eriksen wasnt trying to go beyond kane instead he likes to pass and cross  the ball and create chances from the edge of the box . the trouble with spurs was that they wanted to stretch the game with wingbacks but the trouble was that there was decision making trouble with whether they should try to bring the ball or whether they should cross the ball . spurs thinking was that playing fullbacks high up the pitch with the thought that they would be able to push back arsenal's wingers but it back fired on them . on the counter they got exposed and it can be shown in the figure . the fullbacks have to cover length on the counter than the wingers once they loose the ball and they get caught out of position . the only good thing about spurs was dembele's quality on the ball but his movement was restricted because he had  couldnt leave wanyama exposed . arsenal knew quality of dembele and they tried to man mark him with ozil which shows his importance . they didnt tried to mark wanyama .  i think pochettino needs to get back to the drawing board . yesterday he wanted to pull arsenal in their own game but got backfired .