MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN MAN CITY VS REAL MADRID.

 man city played real madrid in the ucl s/f . for a long time now this was the game in which i had not used the remote in the first half . i think the gaurdiola must had read me and his team played proper football . they had a  proper no.9 for man city in the match . in my last post about man city i think that i had stressed about de bruyne quality and it was evident in the first half . i dont know but he kind of faded in the second half . man city had lot of opportunities and they missed a lot and it come back to bite them in the back in the second leg or if the result of the tie is decided. last but not the least i had been talking about technical aspects of the game . in the football world technical ability means how pin pointly you can do an aerial pass ( as kroos picked out rodrigo for the first goal)or how well they control that ball ( aerial ball). to be honest nobody cares as to they play that simple football that is play with middle of the foot or control that simple floor pass . if man city had did that properly ( foden ) then i think man city would have had one foot in the final . 

real started the game with 4-3-3 formation . man city started the game with the 4-2-3-1 . now in football you have to think about defense while you are on offense and viceversa . real made change in their regular line up . they brought rodrigo in place of casmeiro . the thinking was that they needed quick players who can exploit the high line that man city deploys while on defense. kroos and modric are indespensable while valverde too has made him indespensable because of his hard work . just as real madrid had studied man city gaurdiola too had done his homework . he knew of  real counter attacking formation . he knows that vinicius is kept high of the pitch by real madrid for his pace . so he played john stones but he asked stones to be conservative and never tried to go too much high off the pitch and get caught on the wrong side of vinicius . secondly compared to other games man city played a little deeper than usual in this game . they let real madrid come on to them than they going to go and press them . 

the game started at the very good pace . i had already said that de bruyne is a special player and his qualities were evident in the first 25 min as he was involved in everything from creating to finishing . for the first goal if you had looked very carefully then vinicius was partly responsible for the goal as well as mendy . now mahrez will always try to cut on his strong foot and modric who was on that side should had closed him down .but mahrez run may not had come to frutition had de bruyne not made the run.if you had seen earlier matches then none of the man city players would make those kind of runs in the box . the second goal was nothing but a good pass by de bruyne but stupid defending by militao who under estimated his opponent and tried to get the better of him and paid the price . man city could had scored the third when de bruyne thread real madrid defense on the counter attack and foden failed to score . i think man citys missed chances may just come back to haunt them .

real were playing on the counter attack . in this match real used two fast paced counter attacking players compared to one since ancelotti knew that man city may try to contain vinicius and it was evident in the first half as silva would come up to double up on vinicius with stones . real scored the first goal from a mendy cross . now if you had seen then man city many a wrong things on the defense . first kroos passed the ball to rodrigo . now i had written about zinchenko as to how his mistake led to the goal . first off it was more than 40 yard pass and if zinchenko wanted then he could have gone on and compete for the ball . secondly when the ball reached mendy at that time benzema had shown hand and zinchenko should had realized his mistake .he had time to correct his position and should had been goal side and guard benzema and make it difficult for him to score.

in the first half stones went off and fernandiniho came off in his place . compared to stones his approach was different . he was getting tight on him while stones let him come on him and wait for the right moment to dislodge him off the ball . the third goal came off for man city because fernandiniho nicked ball off vinicius and foden made the run in the box ( different than man city's character to score). but on the very next move fernandiniho was fooled by vinicius and his defenders didnt cover for him which led to the goal. in the second half man city tried to  slow down the game but then deep in the game you cannot press as efficiently as you can do in the first half . most importantly man city has to build around de bruyne . in the second half his influence on the game was very small compared to what he did in the first half . 

real madrid will have to very good in the second leg . the reason i am saying is this . real madrid are mostly dependent on benzema and vinicius for their counter attacks and but for them to be successful they like the opposition to come on them and press them . for me ancelotti has put players in their positions and told them on how to operate but they dont have the cohesion as to how they will open the defense and this was evident in the second half . benzema has the habit that he takes over the offense from either vinicius and rodrigo but they dont have that proper cohesion as to what they need to do and how they will open up that defense . apart from those two good goals against chelsea which were perfect headers which would had made ronaldo jelaous they didnt made the goalkeeper work that hard . even in this game they seem to be in each others way and they need to work as to how they are going to make runs and how they will take positions and how they make penetration in the opponents box when the defense is has taken positions .ancelotti and his players need to take some drills to make this intersting affair and for man city they just need to play proper football which they did in the first half . i think gaurdiola will bring walker in the second leg against vinicius and use cancello as the left back . 

MY TAKE ON BAYERN MUNICH VS BORUSSIA DORTMUND.

  yesterday dortmund played bayern munich in the german bundesliga . now in the game every aspect of the game is important  and the smallest of detail makes a world of difference in the outcome of the game and the opposition tries to exploit the smallest of advantage it has . also what i had stressed in my previous post is that you can make plan but how you improvise it is the most important thing . i dont think that in the game between two good opponents their plan A works but the coach who improvises and who's players execute it are the ones who come out victorous . while writing about this game i remembered former ac milan coach ariggo sacchi . tactics were there from the day this game was invented but sacchi was the one who was particular about the distace that needs to be the players . he was particular about the distance between players and the lines and he was very particular about the positions of the players with respect to the formation . i had said that the coaches are there are on the sidelines to observe and change things if the things are not working . for me dortmund coach marco rose was just didnt do enough . he could see that his team is struggling but he just didnt change the things . he could have asked his players to be more crisper on the ball and pass it quickly . he could have asked his players to be more compact because they were far too apart and far too much stretched for their own good . bayern were just picking their spots as to when and where they could press them and regain the possession . 

dortmund started the game with 4-2-4 while bayern started with 3-4-3 formation . the reason i am saying that dortmund started the game with 4-2-4 was that both the wingers and the front players played in a line and were high off the pitch . as i had said in my previous post that you may device tactics but the opponent will not respond to the way that you had calculated and that is where you need to improvise . i dont have any problem with dortmund coach playing 4-2-4 formation . for me dortmunds offense was just one dimensional . they were playing on the counter attack . rose had calculated that bayern like to press when they loose possession and they play a very high line which is required for pressing opposition . now here bayern just didnt press that hard . instead first they crowded the midfield and made sure that dortmund had to move the ball through the wings . the other reason for dortmund to move the ball through the wings was that they had winger who were high and wide and forwards too playing on the shoulders of the last defender . dortmund only had two in the middle so they tried to move the ball through the wings . now bayern just waited to right moment to press . they made dortmund slowed down the game and made them move the ball through the wings . now dortmunds failure is that they should had met fire with fire . they should had moved the ball more crisply . 

now as i had talked about the distance between the players in my first para . you cannot help notice the distance between dortmund players . they were too much distant for me . marko rose thinking might be correct that in trying to doing so he will stretch the opposition . but thinking requires proper execution and improvisation . first off they he didnt calculate that bayern will sit back slightly and press at the appropriate time but i wouldnt laud bayern but i would criticize dortmund . he should had realized that they were drolling on the ball and were not moving the ball crisply . most importantly they were just one dimensional in their offense . they were trying to release either halland or reus behind the back line. my question is how many times did they take the ball wide and tried to cross the ball in the box and test bayern's centre backs . just compare hallands height with bayern back three and see who has the advantage . in doing so would had give another added dimension to dortmunds offense . the only thing that dortmund were doing was trying to release halland behind the back three. if you had seen that bayern can be caught if you can bring ball from back to front then there is space on the either side of the back two since either pavard or hernandez comes out to press . even the goal that is scored by dortmund was a result because ball fell kindly to brandt because of the long clearance and he found reus in the box only to be fouled by kimmich . 

for the majority of the match dortmund were just poor they couldnt piece four passes together and kept on losing the possession. they just didnt had enough players involved in the build up and players stuck to their positions instead of involving in the build up which is nothing but lack of coaching since they should be first try to take the ball into the final third and then create from there . the lack of coaching is evident from the fact that the playes were trying to find passes and this happens when you are not properly coached . i think i dont need to write about bayern since i have wrote about them in past posts and they just execute their game . in this game they first slowed the game and then upped the tempo when they would take the ball upfield . 

MY TAKE ON MAN CITY VS ATH MAD .

 man city played ath mad in the q/f of the champions league . i had been reading people criticizing about ath mad performance . i think that they are half right . i wont criticize them about their defensive performance but i would be critical about their offense . just as diego simeone is criticized for their defensive approach then why is man city not questioned . to be honest let me make this statement then it will be reverberated around the world . i think that de bruyne and cancello are very good players and their spotting and decision making and positional understanding is a grade above the other players . for players like them you need to take inputs from them think of their strengths and prepare tactics around that . there were moments in that game that didnt do justice to their talents and most importantly that cancello is played out wide . i think that he can be brought back in the middle with his ball playing ability . the reason i am criticizing gaurdiola is that yes ath mad will play a defensive game . not everybody needs to play like man city . now you know that ath mad will build a wall but at the same time a coach like gaudiola who is not only paid handsomely but also has some of the best players in the world needs to find a way to breach that defense . what do you look when you look at the man city team. they are bunch of players who know as to what the shape of the team has to be but they dont know as to how they should put the ball in the back of the net or how they are going to create chances . if they would know then the passes would crisper and the game would be much more faster and ath mad would be more on there toes than they were . 

the game started with the familiar note of man city dominating the possession and ath mad sitting back and trying to hit on the counter attack. the reason why i had criticized gaurdiola  is that gaurdiola is not paid exorbitant amount of money to just stop team his opposition in tracks but to open opposition defenses at will . i am not saying that ath mad will make it easy they are there to make it hard but then i am talking about gaurdiola and not about just about any mediocre team but about man city who have the best team in the league . man city started the game with 4-3-3 formation while ath mad started the game with 4-4-2 formation . gaurdiola wanted his wide forwards to stretch the defense so that his midfielders can exploit those spaces and bomb beyond the back line . to be honest at times when he make a plan i dont think he thinks it through . first off he played bernardo silva as a 9 so any chance of winning headers in the box was gone . the most important thing  was that silva was never trying to get at the end of crosses that were made from the wide areas . i am criticizing because i know that the opposition is not there to make it easy for them . they are going to read the game try to make it as much tight as possible and stop you in the tracks but that why you are paid the top dollar and given the best player so that they are not lacking the skills that ordinary players dont have . to be honest for the whole of the game i didnt find man city mustering 4 passes in and around the box . gauriola was asking his wide players to  stay wide but it wasnt clear as to how they would work the ball inside . you can have the desirable shape but you have to work the ball and play according to oppositions strength and weakness . the best team that knows as to how to work the ball and bring into goal scoring positions is liverpool. the exactly know as to what their players should do in the final third and create chances . 

now gaurdiola had the desired shape that he wanted from his team but the thing is that there was nobody at the end of the cross . now why i am saying that gaurdiola doesnt deserve player  like de bruyne and cancello is because these guys are not just good with the ball but they are excellent spotters who can spot the weakness in the opposition ranks and but they need other players on same wavelength . you could see that in the second half with foden coming . he and de bruyne were on the same wavelength and combined together to score the goal. in the game there were two or three instances where on de bruyne and cancello spotted the players that can be released in space and in good position who can create chances but the trouble is that because of the lack of coaching and the players inability to spot that same space . the trouble is that even when they are released in the space they dont know as to what needs to be done next as to how they are going to create chances and put the ball at the back of the net . 

now ath mad were defensive and played on the counter attack and there is nothing wrong in that but the trouble is that when they have the ball that is when they need to use it very wisely . they should know that they are going to get pressed when they have the ball . now simeone used kongodibia who is a big unit and is good in one and one situations but lacks the mobility and the game reading ability that is wanted when playing in the midfield. ath mad likes to play on the counter and for that they started the game with jao felix who is good on the ball and had good pace and dribbling ability. the trouble with ath mad is that they play very deep and the chances they created are going to be far and few because most of the teams will stop them in the tracks . in the opening minutes of the game ath mad had the chances with felix driving the ball but again there was lack of coaching and i will explain that in the diagram .

 

in the first 10 min ath mad had the counter attack . here griezman(8) should had tried to get closer or try to be first to the ball . if he cannot then jaoa felix should try to cross a high ball to griezman  for header.

i see no problem in playing defensive football but the opposition will only respect you when you show your ability with the ball . teams will only fear any opposition when they see that they have good ball playing skills and their is cohesion in them . ath mad didnt had any cohesion had they had any cohesion then man city would had played at caution but they didnt . in the first half they just kept ath mad strapped in their own half . in the second half when  the players get tired and the game opened up still ath mad couldnt conjure a chance . ath mad were lucky that man city didnt put them to the sword or the tie would had  been over . 

CONTE.

 i had shelved this article but after reading conte's comments that he can walk out of the club since he was not supported by the club in transfer window . i want to talk about the things that are being said in the press . i think conte is highly paid for his services at spurs and he would had been made aware of the realities of the club. after the game what i read in the newspapers is that conte may walk out of the club if the club doesnt gets the player that he wants or that if he is not supported in the transfer window .i think that daniel levy must had talked on length with conte on this . but the one facet that nobody talks is that why is ndomble who is think is a very good player and is sought by psg is being kept out of the team and not being played just because of some personal differences . the other thing is the players that he played and even the formation that he deployed on that day and the tactics that he employs . i will  explain each point . first off just look at the players that he used .he used winks in front of the back five . now a couple of years ago spurs were playing bayern in the champions league and pochettino played winks in the same position that conte used in the game against chelsea . on that day bayern just made sure that they just pressed winks and they just did. winks likes to have time on the ball which bayern had noticied and they just pressed him and dispossed him off the ball and punished spurs . playing winks itself is a blunder for me . he had skipp and other players who can do that job for him . hoiberg was pushed wide to accommodate winks . why not ndomble who is very good . secondly conte likes to play on the counter attack .over the years all the team that he had coached had played with the same tactics and formation and spurs were not playing anything different . he really just couldnt see as to what the team was lacking or what corrections were needed to get his team in the game . they were just playing one dimensional game and chelsea could just stop them in the tracks or slow there pace down and nullify there offense . why dont they ask these questions to conte . he had problems every where in whichever team he coached . he had problem at juventus .chelsea and even at inter . when he was available in the summer no big team approached him. france and germany dont approach him or the teams there are too small for him. 

now lets talk about the game . conte used 4-4-2 formation in this game . he is not known to use this formation . but one thing that is common in whichever team he fields is that he like to have two up top . the other main facet is that he like to play counter attacking football . these are two main facets of his teams but there are other defects also that are there . when teams sit back then conte's team struggle with offense . second is that they are not able to control the tempo of the game . the game started with the  spurs sitting back and chelsea controlling tempo and possession . chelsea were more inclined to attack from the right because ziyech,azipilicueta and mount were on the side . ziyech was very good the reason being that he kept things very simple . just look the pass to release azipilicueta beyond him . just perfect ball with perfect weight on it . everybody had watched the game and like before i would like to point out some of the mistakes that were the reason as to why spurs lost the game . 

i will try to list the mistakes that spurs did with ball and without the ball . first off spurs were trying to play on the counter . when they were not going direct with kane and bergjwin they were moving the ball through flank and in doing that they were getting pressed and losing possession. conte should had noticed that and he should had asked the team to spread the play . winks should had been asked to be more involved in the build up . spurs should had moved the ball from one flank to another . secondly he should got more played in the final third of the opposition in trying to pressure them . the second thing is that on defense dier was sloppy . his mistakes would had cost spurs dearly . first thing there was only lukaku in the box . so he has to mark him only . he doesnt needs to nothing about the shape just man mark him . he could had slowed down the game and the most important mistake that he made was playing winks who is another stupid english footballer . 

MY TAKE ON PSG VS REAL MADRID.

 real madrid played psg in the ucl . before i write about the game let me respond to the news and opinions about the game. i was reading daily mailand they gave messi just 3 points for his performance . there are idiots that are sitting in the tv studios and same ones that are writing articles in the print media. these people dont understand the game and are idiots to the core . they dont understand the game . this is my 200th post . i think i had said and i will say it now that when you make tactics then at that time you do have to take into consideration the player at hands,the opposition and their player their strengths and weakness and then you have to derive the tactics but that is just the preliminary aspect because you have to keep it improvising it on the field and that is why the manager is there on the touchlines to do that . when messi is given a 3 by these geniuses but did they question the tactics that are deployed by the psg coach . you have to take into account not just messi's performance but also the performance of the other players in the team. the other thing the game was just boring but the commentators called it very tactical which is just hopeless. what about the tactics and the peformance of the team and its players . yes messi is a special one but everybody knows that he has lost  a yard or two of his pace but he still has that vision and passing ability which makes him special . i was wondering as to why there no questions asked about pochettino's tactics and his style of play . i never heard that nor did i heard anybody questioning ancelotti tactics which  were awful .to be honest in the last few years since he has left ac milan his desire and that killing mentality is not there . he accepts that he is beaten by a better and there is not much fight in his team which is needed by a top level coach . 

psg started the game with 4-4-2 . people may say its 4-3-3 yes mbappe was there alongside di maria messi but when they were defending he was defending the left flank and covering up his fullback . madrid too started with the same 4-3-3 formation but they played like a 4-5-1 . the game started with madrid sitting back and playing on the counter attack and it was very correct since they were playing a team who had mbappe and messi in it . messi may had lost the pace but his passing ability is second to none .if play a high line then you have players like mbappe and di maria who can exploit those spaces . now psg are primarily coached to be a counter attacking team . if you had seen then pochettino's team are counter attacking team . they are not possession based team . messi was in no.10 position with mbappe and di maria alongside him. psg lacked the cohesion that is required to open up a good defense . madrid were not going to allow them to have space near the box . they were drilled to congest the space in the middle and let psg have space on flanks . psg's fullbacks were able to go upfield because both mbappe and di maria cut inside but they didnt had a big player in the middle to be at the end of the cross . messi lacks pace and he needs somebody upfront to play around him or somebody whom he can release behind the back four . he needs somebody to play on the defenders shoulders . in the first half he released mbappe behind the back four but he couldnt finish .

for me the problem with madrid starts with ancelotti . first off he lacks the killer instinct that top manager should have . now madrid were sitting back and were playing on the counter attack . there were several mistakes that were done by madrid when they were in ball possession . first off when you are playing on the counter attack you cannot spend time on the ball . second was that the distance between team player needs to not more than 10-12 yards so that you can play crisp passing game . when you are playing deep then you are bound to get pressed because the opposition has a space to recover even if they get oupassed . the other thing on counter attack is that you cannot spend time on the ball . when you spend time on the ball then it gives time for the opposition to press you as well get players behind the ball and they can press and dispossess you on second or third pass . even though madrid were sitting back psg were not pressing them hard since they knew that madrid had some good players who are good in one on one situations and madrid had vinicius jr who has good pace . so psg were cautious in pressing but they made sure that they pressed and congested the space and then regained possession . the other thing is that when playing counter attack you have to have a plan and the coach should be fine tuning it as per the situation but here i found ancelotti wanting since madrid were just one dimensional on their offense . first off madrid lacked a no.10 or a link up player with benzema who could combine with him . both vini jr and asensi stayed wide and the distance between them and benzema was quite a bit which allowed psg to organise themselves or press them . at times even when madrid could bring the team upfield at that time too they lakced the cohesion to open psg defense . 

at times during madrid's offese they tried to play vinicius jr behind the psg back four when benzema came deep to help madrid keep possession of the ball . but what i found lacking was that vinicus made some very poor runs . he kept on dwelling in his own zone while he should had made some very diagonal runs which would had shortened the distance between him and the ball and would had put him on the goal . i find his attitude very hopeless . most importantly ancelotti should be coaching him. he can make diagonal runs. he is supposed to make runs on the fullback and take him and thats how you create space for others because once the opposition turn their attention on you then it creates spaces for your team . most importantly there were instances in the game where on he could had diagonal runs which could had been fruitful or atleast diverted the attention and created flutter in the opposition ranks and that what you want . for me he was hopeless . his attitude is his major drawback which will be  hinder in his growth . 

psg should be playing some all star football . playing one touch football and bamboozling the opposition with their pace and passing but instead they are lacking cohesion . mbappe should be played on the shoulder of the last defender so that he can stretch the defense . 

MY TAKE ON CHELSEA VS LIVERPOOL GAME .

 chelsea played liverpool in the premier league . in this post i am not going to elaborate about the game since i had been doing that for a long time .liverpool started the game with 4-3-3 formation while chelsea started the game with 3-4-3 or you can say 5-2-3 formation . we all know as to how liverpool operated they like to play on the counter attack . the same can be said about chelsea they too like to play counter attack because if the opposition sits back then chelsea just dont have the cohesion to open opposition up . people might be thinking that touchel is good coach but a coach who sits back and who cannot tell as to what his team is lacking in their last move and what should they had done or when his team just struggles in the final third of the pitch . liverpool two goals were because of individual mistakes . stupid mistakes made by idiot players would had cost chelsea . i had said in my posts that while defending you should be able to read the game but you cannot be presumptuous . alonso just did that for the second liverpool goal . he got presumptuous that salah would like to have the ball on his stronger foot and would cut inside rather than going deep . this stupidity can cost the game . instead of writing about the whole game i would like to write some points which influence the game because they are the game changers and showed players brilliance as well as their stupidity . this is what louis van gal does .he makes notes and then tries to correct his players in the practise sessions . 

as i had written chelsea were hopeless . they are coached only to play counter attacking football . they dont have the cohesion if the team is sitting back and asking them to open them up with their passing and movement . most importantly touchel i dont think understand the tempo of the game because in the first half his team was lacking the tempo and slowing the game down . alonso and others were guilty of spending time on the ball and slowing down the game. in the first there was a moment when chelsea was on the offense and kante picked the ball just 10 or 12 yards from the box and everybody thought that he would pass out wide ( i would show that in the pic .) instead he showed the presence of mind to pass that ball to havertz who wasnt expecting the pass ( which he should had been . ) what i want to say is that kante showed that creativity which is lacking in the chelsea midfield . he clearly could read the game and had havertz had the presence of mind that kante could pass the ball to him then he should had taken the ball properly in his stride and one proper touch would had led him to goal . i had already said that the coaches ideas his teaching his improvisation as to what he teaches on the practice feel is emulated in the match. 

silva was very good in distributing ball from the ball for chelsea . his ability to pick out players from back to the front is an asset to any team. because of his ability liverpool had to sit somewhat deep compared to the high line that they were initially playing because of his ability to pass the ball . because of silva's ability and salah and mane not dropping back chelsea's fullback were having time and space on the ball but clearly chelsea couldnt exploit that advantage that had . alonso and other chelsea players spent too much time on the ball . chelsea should had played with cohesion and high tempo to open up liverpool defense . in the second half chelsea had the upper hand was just because they could stop liverpool in the tracks but they started the counter attack from that interception and they played at a high tempo which gave them the equalizer . but when liverpool just made sure that they had players behind the ball and slowed chelsea's tempo at that time chelsea's offense looked blunt  and lakced penetration but when liverpool tried to stop chelsea in the track at that time chelsea could trouble liverpool . 

as i had already said that silva's distribution from the back was very good . i want to describe one moment from the game and what should had been done exactly . alonso made a run behind the back four and silva picked him out with a pin point pass. now the ball was over alonso's head and tried to take a shot which is not wrong but he should made a better judgement call as to whether he can really get a good shot . if he is not able to take the shot then he should try to bring the ball down and while he is making run he should see as to whom he can pass the ball and should try to pass the ball to the player who can take the shot or atleast can create chance for somebody . alonso taking shot shows that the coaching is one dimensional . he knows as to when to make the runs but how should he proceed and bring that chance to frutition . 

chelsea can only play on counter attack .just look at the goals that they scored and when they troubled liverpool but as soon as they were forced to make a back pass or slowed their tempo down they showed lack of cohesion and creativity on offense . the problem for liverpool is jotta who is firminiho's position . he is not able to combine that well or is not that good technically who can link or can play the no.10 role . i think he needs to shifted out wide and mane can play that role . 

MY TAKE ON BAYERN MUNICH GAMES .

 before writing let me tell you that little things make the biggest of differences in football. barca played bayern munich in which they had to win. the destiny was in barca's hand win the game and you get qualified for the second round of ucl . barca had changed their coach in between . xavi had been brough in a bid to stop that slide which was happening when  koeman was the manager . in this blog i had already pointed the players that barca needed to change but they stuck with those players and for that they are paying the price . xavi is brought in because he has played under gaurdiola and the club thinks that he can emulate garudiola and coach the team as the was gaurdiola was doing . bayern was the acid test that xavi had to face in his short time as a manager . to be honest i dont think that xavi is going to do any miracles . he should just watch the bayern as to what the short coming were in the game against bayern and he can correct those then i think he can become good but if he keeps on believing that the system that he is playing is going to bear fruits for him then he is day dreaming . a team is like any cycle or automobile which will only function very optimum  when all the components function to the best of their ability . most importantly even if when messi or a ronaldo has to shine he needs to have the support players who need to play at the same level as the other . a team only performs very well when all the players contribute not just certain players or else the opposition can read that and can stop the team in tracks and the offense falls apart . 

bayern had appointed nagelsman in place of flick as the bayern manager . i think what he had done is that he has tweaked the formation and also he wants to play a very high tempo game and as soon as they receive the ball they are ready for offense . they like to press the opposition and as soon as they recover the ball they just start attacking . they dont waste time in  moving the ball and getting the players in position . under flick the bayern used to   play 4-2-3-1 but they were doing the same thing as to what they are doing under nagelsman . what naglesman had noticed that bayern were offering too much space in the middle of the park under flick so he has three in the middle plus he has alphonso davies playing a bit high than his natural position . he is more of a left winger than a left back . daives playing high up is brought from gaurdiola's play book who use his fullbacks to move the ball but nagelsman has improvised it . he knows that davies is very fast and can recover quickly . secondly with him bayern has an extra and a very fast player high up the pitch who can press as well as counter very quickly . 

while writing about the formation you do have to take into consideration the players that are there cause that is what is very important . i had written about this that for any formation to work the players are the most important ingredient . for defense and offense nagelsman is using very athletic and good technical players . although i have reservation about sane and tolisso . what nagelsman is that he doesnt want the opposition to have time and space on the ball . for that they play a high line and most importantly they press very hard but its just not the pressing they recover the ball and start moving it upward very quickly which puts the opposition on the back foot. the one thing that i want to give them credit is the cohesion that they have in the team . the other important thing is the technical ability of the players . most of them are very good in one on one situations . the most important ingredient is the way the ball is played . just look at the way ball is passed to the feet of the receiving player . it is passed on the most perfect side with perfect weight on the ball . all these qualities had been developed in flicks time at bayern and not they are used by nagelsman . 

bayern faced dortmund . win over dortmund would be a stamp on nagelman's tactical acumen . dortmund started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . as i had said that players make all the differences with their qualities in an average and a championship team. dortmund had emre can and doud in the middle of the park . had emre been that good he wouldnt had been let go by two good sides like liverpool and juventus . his passing and game reading is both horrible . but on the other had the plan that they had to counter bayern was very good and it could be the one that would give bayern the problem in the future . dortmunds plan was to sit back and hit bayern on the counter . their plan was to release halland  behind the back three and then the three behind him will support him for the offense . the plan was very good to take advantage of the chaos that is caused when the opposition is back peddeling . once the opponents is backpeddeling it is not able to track the incoming players . but for that you need to keep a high tempo and get as many passes as possible . if the defending can make the offensive team spend time on the ball and slows down its tempo then the whole offense can derail and you may surrender the attack . dortmund had a good plan on counter but at times it was one dimensional . it was like reus to halland who would try to find bradnt . 

there are two things that i had said first emre can and mahmoud were poor in the middle of the park . the reason being that when the team goes deep in their half then you should try to press them and try to win the possession back . the front line will press but its the middle line who should try to win the possession .for that you need to have a good game reading . second thing is that you should be able to recycle the possession and should be a threat with your passing ability . both are not that good . their passing ability is just poor . i had said earlier that little things make big changes in the game. munier was joining the attack because the middle was getting congested and he didnt had a direct opponent against him. his decision making is very poor . at times when he should had crossed the ball early he held on the ball which resulted in chances being missed . i had already said that small things make big changes in football and these are the small things . decision making is one of the biggest aspect in football and the dortmund coach needs to improve it . his players make poor decisions . 

bayern played barca next and this was acid test for xavi . i had already pointed the flaws in barca's team . they needed to change the players but they had been sticking to those for the last 3 seasons and they had been paying price for that . they needed to get rid of pique who had been hopeless . why dont they change busquestus position and play him forward and play somebody younger in his position . now xavi started the game with 4-3-3 formation but when you play the game you do have to take into consideration the opposition and the type of football that they play .  you can really read as to what barca are going to do when they have the ball and the opposition can stop them in tracks . depay coming deep and then trying to play to release one fo the wide players or midfielders but to be honest certain players are given preference over others . while de jong saw little of the ball . gavi was given more preference . he is still young and still needs to develop physically and still has a lot of things to learn . to be very honest some of the barca players are purely casual . dembele's approach to the game is not that good . secondly when you take the ball to the final third or near the opponents box then you need to make sure that you need to be very responsible with the ball . you need to make sure that you need to make the opposition work and try to create chance so that the opposition will respect you . barca were just poor it was like men playing against boys and toying with them . i hope xavi looks at the tapes and makes the necessary changes to alleviate his teams performance .