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secondstriker · 5 years

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hello! just stopping by to say your blog is awesome! just had a great time reading through some of your match analysis posts so thank you. as someone fascinated with football tactics i would love to see more talk on it on this site so it's always fun to find blogs like yours. hope you're having a nice day!! -@cristogonzalez (sideblog)

Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me! I’m really glad there is an audience for this on tumblr, will keep posting! 😊 have a great day too

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Manchester City 2-0 Cardiff: City Swat Aside Toothless Bluebirds

Manchester City lined up in their usual 4-3-3 shape, with Phil Foden making his debut in one of the central midfield roles alongside Kevin De Bruyne. Ahead of a fixture pileup, there was some other rotation from Pep Guardiola as Danilo and Gabriel Jesus started in place of Kyle Walker and Sergio Aguero. Neil Warnock chose to pack the Cardiff midfield with a deep 4-5-1, leaving Kenneth Zohore on the bench in favour of Oumar Niasse.

In truth this wasn’t the most interesting tactical contest, City scythed open Cardiff at will, and didn’t look like they had to get out of second gear to do so. If as lethal a finisher as Sergio Aguero had been on the pitch it could have been 6-0 quite comfortably - City missed some fairly easy opportunities. Cardiff looked resigned to defeat early on, without a cogent gameplan and massively lacking in confidence after their undeserved defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.

City opened scoring in 5th minute, Laporte picked out De Bruyne in the box, who was at a very tight angle and somehow snuck it past Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff goal. Etheridge is a capable goalkeeper and could have stopped the shot, but was too worried about De Bruyne squaring the ball for a tap in, and the Belgian spotted this and took full advantage with a clever finish.

City had been all over Cardiff in the opening minutes, with the Bluebirds not looking to have any idea of how they were supposed to be approaching the game. On the face of it this is a supremely tough match, but no one should be resigned to defeat from the start - there are ways of beating this City side. Some teams sit deep and try to frustrate like Newcastle successfully did in January, some counter attack like Crystal Palace in December, and those who are brave enough press high up to try to steal the ball up the pitch like Liverpool have tended to do in previous meetings. Cardiff didn’t really do any of these and so it’s puzzling as to what their plan was to try to take something from this match. City’s last two defeats have been to other relegation candidates, so it’s not as though they are unbeatable.

Foden making his first start was a big pre-match talking point, and he had a decent game - he was pretty unlucky to not get a goal on his full debut thanks to some good Etheridge saves but it wasn’t a headline-grabbing performance either. It’s hard to say whether this start represented a show of faith from Guardiola, or if he was just supremely confident of beating Cardiff and didn’t feel he needed a full strength side, especially as the fixtures build up for City at the business end of the season. If so, he had a point, City were not troubled in this match, but were guilty of taking it easy a bit too early in the game. At 1-0, they were taking shots from distance and not playing with enough urgency when another goal was needed to kill the game off.

One interesting tactical point was City’s winger-full back combinations, as the two starting pairs represent very opposite styles. Danilo and Riyad Mahrez both like to cut inside, with the former joining as an auxiliary central midfielder at times and the latter just wanting to cut in onto his favoured left foot to take shooting opportunities. Sane and Oleksandr Zinchenko both play extremely wide and high up the pitch, stretching the play. Zinchenko is a converted winger, so his attacking instincts are understandable, while Sane is atypical as modern wingers are concerned, playing on his strong side rather than cutting in like Mahrez and most others. This meant the full backs were doing the same things as their wingers, rather than offering a different option. City’s hand was forced when Zinchenko was taken off with an injury in the first 20 minutes, meaning Kyle Walker came on at right back and Danilo switched to the left, but this actually gave City more balance; Walker overlapped Mahrez, while Danilo came inside and left the left flank free for Sane.

Man City got their inevitable second goal just before half time, a corner fell to Jesus who laid it off to Sane to hit a lovely driven effort into the bottom corner. Although Cardiff had posed zero threat, the goal was necessary to ensure the second half was comfortable and could be played at a slower pace for the home side to conserve energy.

If this is a very Man City focused analysis, it’s because Man City did the vast majority of the interesting things in this match. Cardiff had a couple of corners, neither of which came to anything, their first shot came in the 73rd minute and they only gave the home side a slight scare in the final 10 minutes when Niasse had a chance on a counter attack to halve the defecit. Niasse is a willing runner and will work hard for his team, but he is not prolific enough to feed off scraps or gifted enough to hold the ball up until teammates can support him. Cardiff also only managed 21% possession and 3 shots to Man City’s 27. They played like a side who were already relegated, when in previous games they have clearly shown the necessary fight and desire to cause upsets.

Cardiff’s substitutions were fairly inconsequential, like-for-like changes, with Neil Warnock obviously deciding it was not worth throwing an extra striker on to chase in vain for a couple of goals for fear of taking major damage to their goal difference. Their first change was Mendez-Laing for Murphy. Bacuna and Reid later replaced Gunnarsson and Camarasa.

The second half was a languid affair, with the result already decided. It’s staggering City didn’t get at least one more goal, given their number of efforts on goal and the dominance they had over their opponents. They probably should have had a penalty in the 74th minute when Mahrez was clipped in the area, and on 78 minutes Jesus tried to flick a De Bruyne pass into the goal rather than applying a simple finish. He was offside, but this wasn’t flagged - it’s impressive that he was confident enough to try this trick after already having wasted some similarly easy chances earlier in the game. Unfortunately we didn’t learn much about City in this game, it was as routine as routine wins come.

This was an ideal match for Foden to make his debut in. He had the experience of Fernandinho behind him, and was playing with probably the best central midfielder in the world in Kevin De Bruyne. In addition, this was a home match to a pretty poor team, and he has already made several substitute appearances and starts in the cup competitions, so was familiar enough with the team to be used to his teammates movement. However… he played okay, but not spectacularly. David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan were all fit and on the bench, and it’s hard not to see City signing a top central midfielder to replace Fernandinho in the summer like they intended to with Fred or Jorginho in previous windows. At minimum, Foden desperately needs a loan move, but should really consider following Jadon Sancho’s example and moving permanently elsewhere. He might one day be good enough to get in this team every week, but he will not get the chances to grow to that level in the next few years if he is barely making the bench each week.

Cardiff look destined for relegation on the basis of this display. Clearly, this is probably the most difficult game they will play all season, away to the reigning champions, but they were completely listless and looked devoid of confidence. They had no plan, and face Man Utd and Liverpool before the end of the season. It’s honestly surprising that they didnt just play their reserves in this match so that the best XI were fitter for the winnable matches they have remaining. A better performance against Burnley in their next match is an absolute must.

#mcfc #ccfc #man city #manchester city #cardiff city #bluebirds #guardiola #de bruyne #foden #cityzens #football #tactics #soccer #jesus #sane

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Real Betis 1-4 Barcelona - Barca overcome early struggles to put Betis to the sword

This was a terrific tactical contest between two sides and two managers who like to play attractive football. The hosts Betis lined up in their usual formation, an unusual 3-5-2 shape where the wing backs are genuine wingers, rather than attacking full backs. Spanish legend Joaquin, at 37 years of age, patrols the right flank, providing extraordinary defensive discipline and running, while former Barca man Christian Tello provides more attacking threat on the left.

Betis pressed high up the pitch, very aggressively, and forced Barca into an early, unnecessary corner. This was an incredibly bold move against an opponent this strong. Betis wanted to win the ball high up the pitch and overwhelm Barca, which did cause plenty of problems for the Blaugrana. Unfortunately when Betis had the ball in deeper positions this is when problems arose, as they didn’t always look like they had the confidence to break Barca down, simply trying long balls over the top of the defence. The long balls did cause some awkward moments for Barca though, in fairness.

Barca played an unusual hybrid shape, close to their 4-3-3 but also switching to a 4 man midfield at times, with Arturo Vidal spending time on the left wing, and drifting into central and deeper positions to help deal with midfield overloads. Ousmane Dembele missed out through injury, while Coutinho (who had seemed to be regaining a bit of form in recent weeks), was left on the bench. It was notable that Barca did not focus too much on trying to find space out wide by overwhelming the Betis wing backs, and played their normal game, with lots of possession and passing in the centre of the pitch. Betis would surely have been happy that their full backs had free reign to attack Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba without too much cover. Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal did slot back into the wide midfield roles in a loose 4-4-2 without the ball, but clearly wanted to be in their central roles when opportunity allowed. It’s possible they were chosen over the likes of Coutinho due to Barca’s respect for their opponents, having been beaten 4-3 at home in the reverse fixture - they wanted more disciplined (and experienced) players in the midfield to ensure they weren’t overrun by a dangerous home side.

After 17 minutes Lionel Messi scored an incredible free kick after Arthur was fouled breaking forward. Barca seemed to gain confidence after the opener, closing Betis down in return and driving forward with more regularity and assurance. This actually played into Betis’s hands a bit though, creating more space for them to attack Barca’s defence, with Tello creating a couple of terrific chances, and all of the danger coming from his left side. Betis had made 9 tackles in the opening 30 minutes of the match (a total of 20 over the full 90 minutes), a clear sign they were bullying the away side into some sloppy errors in the early stages.

On 39 minutes, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen played a terrific ball out to Alba to start an attack. Alba was tracked well by Joaquin, but was still able to work the ball to Vidal who laid it off to Messi, who then presented Suarez with a one-on-one, which was missed in disappointing fashion - he struck the ball first time with his weaker left foot, when there was time for a touch and a more composed end to the move. Barca got a second goal in first half injury time in similar fashion to this attack, this time Messi was on the end of it after a good one-two with Suarez. Again the move was started by Ter Stegen.

In the second half, Barca were much more in control, as Betis seemed to accept that a result was beyond them at 0-2. Sergio Canales found himself through on goal (again the attack coming down the Betis left wing), and completely messed up the shot, not getting any power behind it when he might have put his team back into the game. Barca were also guilty of some profligacy though - twice Suarez was teed up for half chances, and each time he attempted to find Messi - it’s hard to ingore than an in form Suarez would have driven at goal and probably scored one of them. He would later round Pau Lopez and fail to score an open goal - albeit from a tight angle. Later he was presented with a one on one after another great Ter Stegen pass, with plenty of time, and contrived to put the ball off target. It’s a shame to see him on the decline, hopefully it is more injury related than age, and we can see a few more games of the Uruguayan at his best (or close to it).

Having said all that… Suarez finally got his goal to kill the game off at 0-3, and it was the hardest of the 5 or so chances he had in the match. He dribbled through 3 defenders, twisting left and right, then slotted comfortably past Lopez. It was genuinely reminiscent of his younger days, and speaks to his sheer determination to score.

Barca stuck more to their 4-4-2 shape in the second half, content not to expend too much energy attacking, and to ensure Betis didn’t get any opportunity to get themselves back in the game. Nelson Semedo replaced Arthur for Barca, so Sergi Roberto could move into midfield for even more stability. They slowed the game down a lot, only breaking into a run when an attacking opportunity presented itself.

Joaquin was withdrawn on 66 minutes for Emerson (who will join Barca in the summer, funnily enough), and Lo Celso for Diego Lainez. There was little point in continuing to demand any running from Joaquin, and the move was to save his legs since the game was gone. The subs were both very young players, simply getting some minutes rather than any major tactical change. Their final change was Loren replacing Carvalho - all of the subs came too late to significantly impact the game, unfortunately, however Loren would score a terrific consolation to make it 1-3 on 81 minutes. Barca’s defence was pulled out of shape by a quick Betis attack, and Loren curled an excellent strike beyond Ter Stegen.

Messi rounded off his hat trick to make it 1-4 on 84 minutes to kill any chance of a Betis comeback. Barca had 2 corners in quick succession, and following some possession play, Messi received the ball on the edge of the box, left of the goal. He hit it first time, a delightful curling chip over the keeper, which clipped the crossbar on its way in. A beautiful goal which really highlighted the gulf in class between the sides - in terms of individual talent at least.

Rakitic and Suarez were removed (the latter injured) for Carles Alena and Coutinho on 88 minutes, who roughly played in the same positions as the players they had replaced to see out the match.

Barca did well in this match to deal with a potentially troublesome game, especially after a midweek Champions League match. They changed their system a little to counter Betis, and had to deal with some strong early pressure. Once they got through the opening 15 minutes and scored a terrific free kick, they took control of the game. Despite the scoreline they weren’t spectacular, including Messi, which sounds slightly absurd given he scored 3 goals in the game. The truth is Betis gave them plenty of problems, but Barca clinically punished all of their host’s mistakes, but never really displayed their usual swagger and only looked genuinely comfortable after they had a two goal cushion. With Suarez injured and off form, and the likes of Rakitic and Vidal still being relied upon, Barca could really benefit by looking to the future a little more and better utilising the young talent which is available to them.

Quique Setien was linked with the Barca job earlier in the season, before Ernesto Valverde secured a new contract, and based on this it would be fascinating to see what he would do with a team of this quality. Betis play a very attacking formation, with forward thinking players in every position possible, and had more possession than Barcelona in this match (56 - 44), which is no mean feat. They are a fascinating team, with the likes of Guardado and Joaquin contributing boundless experience, and a selection of former Barca and Real Madrid talents like Marc Barta, Canales, Jese Rodriguez and Tello and giving them a chance to show their true ability after not quite cutting it at the very top level. Setien looks like he will go on to a bigger job at some stage and I look forward to seeing his progression as a coach.

#fcb #barca #fcbarcelona #barcelona #fc barcelona #messi #suarez #vidal #betis #setien #joaquin #la liga #football #football tactics #liga bbva #soccer #rakitic #spanish football #valverde

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Fulham 1-2 Chelsea: Blues Squeeze Past Spirited Cottagers

Fulham produced an impressive performance against Chelsea and can consider themselves unlucky not to leave with at least a point, after troubling a slightly disjointed Chelsea side all day. All of the action came in an exciting 10 minute spell in the first half but this game was thoroughly enjoyable throughout and will be very encouraging for the home side.

The starting elevens were not too different than expected. Maurizio Sarri recalled Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal after dropping him in midweek for his transgressions in the Carabao Cup final. Emerson kept his place as left back and Andreas Christensen played in centre of defence. This is about as much rotation as we can reasonably imagine from Sarri, who is very reluctant to change personnel or system. Willian was chosen over Pedro up front, and Barkley over Kovacic in midfield.

This game was Scott Parker’s first match in charge after replacing Claudio Ranieri on a temporary basis as manager at Fulham. Unsurprisingly, crowd favourites Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney started the match and played prominent roles, after being marginalised by Ranieri. There was no Jean-Michel Seri in midfield, who has had a very underwhelming season, with Calum Chambers continuing in his slightly makeshift midfield role which he looks increasingly impressive in.

It was clear from the outset that Parker wanted to restore some of Fulham’s attacking threat that was their trademark at the start of this season and in the Championship under Slavisa Jokanovic - which makes sense since they are all but certain to be relegated this season and are now preparing for how they will play in the Championship. They began positively, looking to attack Chelsea with some good fast breaks rather than absorbing pressure and hoping to grind out a result. It makes complete sense with this team, who simply don’t have the defensive quality to sit back.

Fulham’s approach seemed to surprise Chelsea, as though they were expecting to face a packed defence and to have to break them down, and they didn’t seem prepared for an end to end, lively encounter. Gonzalo Higuain was presented with a couple of half chances early on but just didn’t look particularly sharp. He’s an undeniably good finisher, but you get the impression Sarri might have preferred to sign a more mobile forward who’s link up play was more of a strength. His Napoli side looked far more exciting with Dries Mertens leading the line after having sold Higuain to Juventus. Eden Hazard has a lot of the attributes to be this kind of striker, and Sarri may be disappointed with Hazard’s unwillingness to really buy into the idea.

Higuain did score on 20 minutes, after some good overlapping from Azpilicueta produced a nice low cross for him, but it does feel like it’s papering over the cracks slightly. Higuain scored with a good first time finish, but was otherwise unable to really offer much to Chelsea’s all round build up play and did miss a couple of other decent chances later on. Perhaps Sarri will be happy that he is contributing with goals, but for someone so wedded to his principles and his tactical system, it feels like a compromise and one that will not result in “Sarriball” being properly implemented.

Fulham were a much improved team all over the pitch from what we have seen this seaon, and equalised on 27 minutes. They broke through with Joe Bryan laying it off to Sessegnon, culminating in a good cross for Mitrovic. The Serbian’s effort was spectacularly saved by Kepa but the resulting corner was put away by Calum Chambers, completely unmarked at the back post. Fulham had really gone back to basics, playing a simple 4-4-1-1 shape with 2 defensive midfielders allowing Cairney to create chances, and the wingers, particularly Sessegnon, to focus on getting crosses into the box and playing around Mitrovic. They also left out a lot of their high profile summer signings (Vietto, Schurrle, Seri) and this really seemed to boost confidence all round as faith was restored in the team who got them promoted.

Chelsea would take the lead again just 3 minutes later - Jorginho started and ended the move by winning the ball in his own half, which instigated a good attacking play ending with Hazard laying the ball off to Jorginho on the edge of the box, who curled in a terrific strike. Sarri may have felt fairly vindicated at this stage of the game, with his two big signings having scored Chelsea’s two goals of the game, even if this is a simplistic way of viewing things.

Whether by luck or design, Fulham’s midfield shape was perfectly set up to disrupt Chelsea. Cairney was in a number 10 role, meaning he was in Jorginho’s space, leaving McDonald and Chambers to line up against Barkley and Kante. Add in that Fulham’s wingers played with plenty of discipline, and Chelsea did not have the space and time on the ball they might have expected playing a team destined for relegation.

In the second half Fulham swapped their wingers, presumably to drive them towards goal and towards Mitrovic in the centre rather than down the touchline. They had put in some decent crosses in the first half but changed things around hoping for another equaliser. Sessegnon is a more threatening player than Babel too, and the change may have been just to pit him against Chelsea’s weaker full back (Emerson, rather than Azpilicueta). Sessegnon saw much more of the ball as the game went on, indicating that Fulham did indeed think they had found a weak point and any advantage would be found through exploiting Emerson.

Andre-Frank Anguissa was introduced after an hour for McDonald, who was on a booking. He would play a similar role, looking to break up play in a defensive midfield role. Floyd Ayite replaced Ryan Babel, who had had a decent game, in another relatively like-for-like change for Fulham. Vietto replaced the impressive Cairney late on as Fulham pushed for a goal.

Sarri made an unusual move, substituting Jorginho for Kovacic. We usually see him make changes that very much maintain his original plan (Pedro and Willian or Kovacic and Barkley usually swapping places for example). In this case, Sarri again resisted the opportunity to use Kante in his favoured deep midfield role, playing Kovacic exactly where Jorginho had been. Fulham were really growing into the game at this point and Kante would have been the ideal player to break up their attacks, but he continued in his more advanced role. Hazard was then replaced by Pedro - although this was not one of his best games, it is surprising he was removed when Fulham were by no means out of the game, and Chelsea may have needed a goal late on. Their final change was Ruben Loftus-Cheek in place of Barkley.

Just a brief note to say Kepa made quite a bad error in the early stages, dropping an easy catch which Ryan Babel was not able to capitalise on. This was quite uncharacteristic, and many will speculate that he has been affected by all of the discussion around him in the past week. He otherwise played well though including 2 brilliant saves from Mitrovic, and this will probably draw a line under the whole thing, much to Chelsea’s relief.

This was a good audition by Scott Parker, who obviously commands a lot of respect in the Fulham dressing room and may be well placed to lead a promotion charge next year. Sessegnon and Cairney were Fulham’s best players, both at the heart of everything good Fulham produced. Fulham also put in a much better defensive performance than we are used to seeing from them, limiting a gifted Chelsea team to just 2 goals. It will be interesting to see more of Parker’s Fulham - hopefully this is more than just a “new manager bounce”. Their attacking play and consistent pressure on Chelsea in the second half was seriously impressive.

Chelsea will be happy with the win but this was not a particularly good performance. Admittedly Fulham were on top form, but it is hard to point to a Chelsea player who really had a good game. Their first goal was very simple and the other was a brilliant strike by Jorginho, and while they had plenty of promising attacks, they really didn’t cut through a soon-to-be-relegated side like a team with this much talent should have done. Kante played fairly well but will always be a defensive midfielder being asked to do something he doesnt excel at. If Chelsea are to persist with Sarri, they need to give him genuine faith and allow him to bring in a team who can understand and properly implement his desired style of play. The midfield in general needs a lot of work, but it’s really hard to see Kante ever being truly successful in a Sarri team. Time will tell.

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Atletico 1-3 Real - Vinicius sparkles in thrilling Derbi Madrileño

Both sides came into the match in good form, Atleti had been on a 19 game unbeaten streak until defeat at Betis in their previous match, and Real have won all of their last 4 league games. Both sides have big Champions League ties coming up, and Real are in the middle of a Clasico double header in the Copa Del Rey, so it was always going to be interesting to see if both managers rotated their squads over this key period. Neither team will want to admit they are out of La Liga’s title race despite Barcelona’s convincing lead at the top, but either way both were desperate to assert their dominance over their city rivals.

Real made a big call starting Sergio Reguilon over Marcelo at left back, and left out the likes of Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale, choosing Lucaz Vazquez and Vinicius Junior in support of Karim Benzema. Isco was the only injured player for Los Blancos and he seems to have been frozen out by Santi Solari anyway, so the manager had almost a full squad to choose from. This game was Vinicius’ 13th consecutive start, the youngster has really found his feet at Real and is in great form.

Atleti were missing 3 key players from the spine of the team; Stefan Savic, Koke and Diego Costa. Diego Simeone would have been particularly keen to have Koke available for a big match like this, with the midfield looking a lot more attack minded than he might have liked with Thomas Lemar and Angel Correa in the wide positions. He could also have done with Costa’s combativeness instead of the largely ineffective Morata, even if Costa himself is not having a great season.

Atleti started by pressing very high up the pitch, which was a little surprising - perhaps their hand was forced a bit by injuries - they may have set up more conservatively if Koke were available, for example. Nonetheless they got in Real’s faces a lot, particularly in the first 10 minutes. Real perhaps expected to see more of the ball, so Atleti’s high press really disrupted them early on. Vinicius was guilty of losing the ball a couple of times when he had possession in his own half - Real were presumably expecting him to have more freedom given Atletico usually approach big games with a more defensive mindset. Real didnt really have enough pace in the side to play a purely counter attacking game, so made more of an effort to retain possession after they had adjusted Atleti’s strong start.

Real scored the opener was from a corner after 13 minutes, Casemiro was left wide open at the far post as four defenders were battling with Sergio Ramos for the initial header (which the Real captain still won), falling perfectly for a brilliant overhead kick by Casemiro.

Vinicius would be the key man in all senses of the word though - when he was allowed to get forward he was devastatingly effective; he hit a delightful outside of the foot cross for Vazquez, who couldnt connect properly, and would terrorise the Atleti defence whenever given the opportunity to run at them. When he was under pressure in his own half though, he was much more of a worry for Real. Atleti’s equaliser came on 24 minutes when the youngster gave the ball away again after some good closing down by Angel Correa, who threaded a delightful through pass to present Griezmann with a one on one with the goalkeeper which he duly dispatched.

After the equaliser the game settled down a bit, Atleti were more reserved, looking to break on the counter rather than continuing to press too heavily. Real passed the ball around with a bit of serenity, but this removed their biggest threat - Vinicius and Benzema had thrived on the chaos of catching Atleti too high up the pitch and were not as effective against a more deep, organised version of the home side.

The majority of the important moments of the half all happened on the same side of the pitch. Atleti had much more threat on the right flank than the left: Correa had a good game and Santiago Arias is quite an attacking full back, whereas Lucas Hernandez at left back is more defensive minded, and Thomas Lemar still does not look confident in Simeone’s system, drifting inside and not asserting himself on matches. With Morata hardly in the game up front, Griezmann, Correa and Arias were under a lot of pressure to be the ones to create things for the home side. Griezmann was already expected to drop into midfield to make sure Thomas Partey and Saul Niguez were not outnumbered by Real’s excellent midfield trio. All of this also meant that Madrid’s left sided players had more space and opportunities than Vazquez and Dani Carvajal did on the right. Vinicius won a penalty after getting in behind Arias and Diego Godin for the third or fourth time of the match. Ramos dispatched confidently, as he tends to do in the big moments.

After an anonymous first half, Alvaro Morata started much better in the second, stretching the Real defence with some decent runs in behind, and he then produced a delightful lob over Courtois to score what would have been the equaliser for 2-2, but was ruled out for offside by the VAR system.

Interestingly it appeared Godin had switched positions with Jose Giminez in the second half so he was the left sided centre back. This was presumably to avoid having to be the one covering Arias for Vinicius’ runs, as Giminez is slightly quicker than his compatriot, who had already struggled with the Brazilian. Santi Solari then made what looked like a bizarre decision to remove Vinicius for Gareth Bale on 56 minutes. The game was not won, and while Real have a CL tie with Ajax this week, they could surely have allowed him to miss that match in order to improve their chances in this one. Real now had Bale and Vazquez in the wide positions looking to cross for Benzema - aside from anything else, this hardly seems the best way to beat an Atleti defence that can win headers and clear crosses all day long. It might have made more sense to replace the quiet Vazquez with Bale, to keep Vinicius on the pitch and have two wingers cutting inside rather than being inclined to cross.

Vitolo and Rodrigo replaced Lemar and Correa for Atleti, these were relatively like-for-like changes but gave Atleti a more rounded threat from both wings, rather than having too much focus on one side. Morata was later replaced by Kalinic, perhaps to save Morata for the upcoming CL game against another of his former sides, Juventus. He had been growing into the game though, and would have been very motivated to get a goal.

Solari would later be vindicated in his introduction of Bale, as he scored to make it 3-1 on 73 minutes. Giminez was caught out of position, allowing Modric to find the Welshman in a lot of space for a good finish from inside the box. Atleti had been pushing up the pitch for an equaliser though - it’s unlikely this much space would have been available otherwise.

The game was extremely combative, as was expected, with eleven bookings. Partey was the only player to get two of them, being dismissed on 80 minutes for a poor tackle on Toni Kroos. This finished Atleti off, with no chance of scoring two goals in the remaining minutes with a numerical disadvatage. Kroos and Benzema were replaced by Dani Ceballos and Mariano Diaz in the late stages as the visitors ran down the clock to see out their victory.

All in all this was a great day for Real Madrid, who beat Atleti at the Wanda Metropolitano to overtake them in the league table and continue their great form of late. Vinicius Junior was at the heart of everything while he was on the pitch, giving the Atleti defence nightmares, but also losing the ball in some difficult positions, one of which led to Atleti’s only goal of the game. That said, at 18 years old he already possesses a ton of talent and is playing with a great deal of confidence, winning the penalty which gave Real their lead. Reguilon at left back also gave an assured performance as his side look for a long term successor to Marcelo at left back. He doesnt have the flair of his more experienced teammate, but was unfazed by the occasion and he and Vinicius could find themselves playing a lot more games together if they continue like this.

Atleti will consider themselves unlucky. The penalty they conceded could possibly have been given as a free kick, and Morata’s delightful goal might not have been ruled out had VAR not been available. In different circumstances they may have taken a point from this game, but now face the challenge of reclaiming second spot in the table from Real. They must find a way to get the best from Thomas Lemar - he is an excellent footballer who looks terribly out of place in this side, completely unsure of what is expected of him. Alvaro Morata needs to take confidence from his excellent finish and kick on, as this team is well set up for a striker in his mould, if on form.

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Napoli 3-0 Sampdoria: Callejon the star as Napoli deny Quagliarella

Napoli (4-4-2): Meret; Hysaj, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Rui; Callejon, Allan, Hamsik, Zielinski; Insigne; Milik.

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Audero; Berezynski, Andersen, Colley, Murru; Linetty, Ekdal, Jankto; Ramirez; Defrel, Quagliarella.

Both sides came into the match in very good form, each with 4 wins from their last 6 games. In the league it’s a pity that the title race is as good as over and Napoli cant catch Juventus, but Sampdoria have a real shot of getting into the Champions League, as sides like Roma and Milan are yet to find enough consistency to claim those places on a regular basis. Napoli without Mertens

Fabio Quagliarella last week matched Gabriel Batistuta’s record for scoring in eleven consecutive Serie A matches, and there was a lot of interest in his performance today to see if he could reach 12 and hold the record in his own right. As a former Napoli player the home fans would have been happy to see him do so (so long as he was not on the winning side!) and in recent weeks he has even been recalled to the Italy squad by Roberto Mancini at 37 years of age, highlighting what a terrific season he is having. His best chance to score in this match was at the 30 minute mark when Gregoire Defrel played him through, but he was unable to get his shot away before an excellent sliding tackle by Kalidou Koulibaly - he couldnt have wished for a more difficult opponent to face when desperate to score, Koulibaly was typically excellent in this match. Quagliarella had some half chances, but it felt like he snatched at the ones he got, possibly worrying a little too much about the potential record he could have held.

Samp played a narrow formation and pressed Napoli high up the pitch - they were quite fluid in their shape to allow them to press Napoli’s much wider formation, more of a basic 4-4-2. Quagliarella and Defrel have both played as wide forwards before, which helped. Napoli played simple shape and a general possession game -they possess two excellent central midfielders in Allan and Hamsik, but neither were key players in the match as they were outnumbered against Samp’s 4 central midfielders. It made sense for Napoli to spread the play and keep it in the wide positions, where they had an advantage of their own.

Napoli’s formation uses natural wingers, while Samp have a more traditional Italian shape, with full backs providing most of the width. Napoli are strong in the wide positions, particularly on the right with Elseid Hysaj at full back and Jose Callejon, who is a real classic winger, and very well rounded in his skillset. Their opening goal came from Callejon being released into space down the right and providing an excellent, curving low cross which left a simple finish for Arkadiusz Milik. It looked like Samp were unsure if the mezzalas in the side were supposed to be helping out wide, or more worried about Marek Hamsik and Lorenzo Insigne finding space between the lines.

The latter scored to make it 2-0 just 1 minute and 10 second later - Insigne was essentially playing as a centre forward despite developing as a winger. He would prove difficult for defenders to pick up as he doesnt make the typical movements a striker might make, but was very good in this game. He took advantage of a brief moment of chaos in defence for Samp for his goal, a good finish from a player who has developed a lot in the past few years and now is versatile enough to be used in this position. His lightning pace almost led to a third goal on the counter attack, showing again how dangerous he can be in a central role.

Napoli scored a third goal just before half time, which was ruled out for offside, but it did come from a corner which was won by Napoli left back Rui running from deep and being able to shoot as Samp had no obvious player to close him down. Napoli’s width was a huge problem for Samp, especially Callejon and Rui.

Samp’s front two with Gaston Ramirez in support caused some problems, but it felt like they lacked a focal point in attack, someone who could occupy Koulibaly and co while they worked around him. Riccardo Saponara was introduced in place of Ramirez in a relatively like-for-like change. Saponara was on the verge of a big move a couple of seasons ago - it’s slightly odd to see him not even a regular starter for Samp. He did offer a different threat to Ramirez though, immediately threading a nice through pass for Defrel which was ever so slightly underhit, but gave Napoli something to worry about as Samp now had someone who could release their pacy forwards, and a goal threat himself.

New signing Manolo Gabbiadini replaced Defrel, which meant Samp had two former Napoli strikers on the pitch. Gabbiadini was another goal threat but did not change the team shape or their tactics, which was the underlying issue rather than necessarily the personnel. A couple of long range efforts was all the away could muster as game went on. Utimately Napoli were too strong for them, with Calljon and Insigne constantly threatening, and Samp did not make any changes to help their full backs deal with the problems from Napoli doubling up on them. Napoli were able to take their foot off the pedal a little in the second half and preserve energy. Diawara replaced Hamsik late on to solidify a bit and help see out the game. Napoli were correctly awarded a last minute penalty by VAR which allowed them kill the game, and was comfortably dispatched by their final sub Simone Verdi.

Callejon was the best player on the pitch and man of the match in my opinion. His crossing was outstanding, he set up both goals and was a menace whenever he had the ball at his feet. Carlo Ancelotti has done some interesting things with this Napoli side, and it’s interesting to see Insigne as (an effective) centre forward. They have had to change their style completely a couple of times over the past few years due to losing key players, and more recently managers in Maurizio Sarri. It was a shame for Fabio Quagliarella not to break Batistuta’s record at his old stomping ground, but he can be proud to match the legendary Argentine and take his place in the history books.

#napoli #sscnapoli #sampdoria #samp #serie a #seriea #calcio #football #soccer #tactics #italian football #insigne #callejon #hamsik #ancelotti #quagliarella

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Liverpool 1-1 Leicester -Reds Miss Chance to Go Seven Points Clear

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Henderson, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Shaqiri, Wijnaldum, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Leicester (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Maguire, Evans, Chilwell; Mendy, Ndidi; Albrighton, Maddison, Gray; Vardy.

Liverpool came into the game with a terrific chance to go 7 points clear at the top of the Premier League after Manchester City’s surprise defeat the previous night at Newcastle. They named quite an attacking side with Jordan Henderson in at right back, and all four of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Xherdan Shaqiri starting. Leicester brought James Maddison back into the side and set up to hit Liverpool with pace on the counter attack with Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy also in the lineup.

Liverpool’s shape was very interesting - although the above lists it as a 4-3-3, they effortlessly switched to and from a 4-2-3-1 shape when it suited them, with Salah moving to centre forward, Firmino dropping back, and Shaqiri coming out to wide right. Shaqiri in particular put in a very disciplined performance, watching Salah at all times to ensure he was covering the space his teammate had vacated. Gini Wijnaldum and Naby Keita in central midfield kept their positions, and Sadio Mane generally stuck to his starting position on the left wing as he prefers to do.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Liverpool favoured that left wing in the early stages, and after just 3 minutes their opening goal came after good combination play between Mane and Andrew Roberton on that side. With Henderson deputising at right back, Liverpool may have instinctively moved the play to the other side to protect him, and were rewarded with a goal.

Leicester tried to target Henderson early on, with whichever player was taking up the left wing position at any given time playing higher up than their counterpart on the right. Henderson has played right back before though and is generally a decent defensive player. He certainly didnt stand out as a weak point in defence, although he did get away with an early foul that wasnt given right on the edge of the box. Liverpool were actually just as strong on the right side - because both Salah and Shaqiri were occupying right-of-centre positions, Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray had plenty to worry about and afforded Henderson a lot of space going forward. He is quite a good crosser of the ball and this added another dimension to Liverpool’s attack.

Leicester looked like they had arrived set up to play on the counter attack, but the early goal scuppered their plans as it meant Liverpool were not under pressure to commit too many men forward, so the Foxes had to change their tactics, and decided to press Liverpool high up the pitch. The snowy conditions helped hugely in this regard, with Liverpool unable to slow the game down and calmly pass it around: the pitch was far from it’s usual high quality. Alisson struggled the most with this, giving the ball away on a few occasions as he refused to adapt his game to the conditions. In the early stages Leicester’s three attacking players behind Vardy rotated to see if they could confuse the Liverpool defence, but eventually settled on Gray at left wing, Marc Albrighton on the right, and Maddison playing centrally, very close to Vardy.

If Maddison had played a little further back he may have been able to find more space as neither of Liverpool’s central midfielders are particularly defensive-minded, but he played more like a second striker and was not particularly effective. This meant Leicester’s only real threat was through traditional wing play, trying to get the ball high and wide and present a cross to Vardy. Leicester’s equaliser on the stroke of half time did indirectly come from this, with right back Ricardo Pereira chasing a lost cause and drawing a silly foul from Andrew Robertson. From the resulting free kick, Leicester eventually found Harry Maguire, who lost his marker to head home.

In the first half, Liverpool struggled to manage the game largely due to the slow pitch, but in the second half they attacked for virtually the entire 45 minutes, so this was no longer a major problem. Leicester had left a lot of spaces in behind in the first half when they were chasing their goal, but were satisfied with a draw and so played much more reservedly in the second half, presenting a new challenge for Liverpool to try to break them down. Leicester did almost score a carbon copy of their goal early in the second half with Maguire again unmarked from a set piece and missing a chance to take the lead. Other than this, Leicester stayed compact, only looking to counter attack occasionally as they protected the result.

Jurgen Klopp introduced Fabinho and Adam Lallana in place of Keita and Shaqiri to try to mix things up in their efforts to find a winning goal. Fabinho played central midfield rather than switching with Henderson at right back, and Lallana took up an inside left position, allowing Salah to stay as the central striker for the remainder of the game. It was slightly odd to see Lallana playing wide when he replaced a natural winger in Shaqiri, but Shaqiri had not been as dynamic as he usually is and perhaps Klopp hoped a more natural number 10 like Lallana would help unlock the stubborn Leicester defence.

Unfortunately for Liverpool their changes did not inspire a winner.. Given that they started with such an attacking formation, there was not a lot they could do to switch it up a gear short of something radical like moving to an aggressive back three. The changes were relatively like-for-like, as Fabinho didnt change much, and Lallana was unable to create anything significant. Liverpool really lacked a creative player with the ability to unlock defences in this moment. When compared to their title rivals, who can call on the likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Eriksen etc, Liverpool simply do not have a similar player of the same quality in this mould.

Klopp’s final roll of the dice was to introduce Daniel Sturridge for Firmino. Sturridge is a much more natural number 9, so it’s understandable to think he might have been the man to nick a goal, but he played in Firmino’s withdrawn forward role and was too involved in the build up play. Had he been allowed to play a slightly more selfish poacher role, he may well have gotten into a position to score, but he was too occupied trying to fashion a chance for the likes of Salah.

As the game went on, Leicester introduced Hamza Choudhury and Shinji Okazaki, hard working players who helped to see out the game. Choudhury in particular made a very good impact, at one stage sprinting back from a forward position to tackle Mane who was on a forward run.

Leicester were clearly happy to go away with a point, which is entirely reasonable given Liverpool’s form this season, particularly at home, and Claude Puel will be delighted to relieve himself of a little pressure. Liverpool pushed hard for a winning goal but did not have to go all out as, despite their disappointment, their lead has increased to 5 points after City’s shock defeat yesterday. Liverpool look well on course for the Premier League title, but if they are to have any sort of sustained success in domestic competitions and the Champions League, I believe they are missing a world class playmaker worthy of being in the same lineup as their fearsome front three.

#liverpool #leicester #lfc #lfcfc #reds #foxes #anfield #premier league #epl #football #soccer #tactics #liverpool fc #leicester city

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United Analysis - Solskjaer Continues to Impress

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Koscielny, Kolasinac; Torreira, Xhaka; Aubameyang, Ramsey, Iwobi; Lacazette

Man Utd (4-3-1-2): Romero; Young, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw; Herrera, Matic, Pogba; Lingard; Lukaku, Sanchez

Both teams were at close to full strength, fielding around eight first-teamers each and a couple of fringe players including their excellent respective backup goalkeepers. Manchester United used this opportunity to give the likes of Alexis Sanchez & Romelu Lukaku a chance, who had both been marginalised recently, and both took their chance to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a selection headache in the coming weeks. Both managers have a decent incentive to win the FA cup; it would help Solskjaer’s case for a permanent stay at United to win a cup, and Unai Emery is under some pressure to match Arsene Wenger’s recent success in the competition.

Jesse Lingard played centrally in a fluid 4-3-1-2 formation for United, which was the same approach Solskjaer took to their recent game at Tottenham, and Lingard would be key to the victory on this occasion too. Arsenal struggled to mark three central attackers, with him playing close to Lukaku and Sanchez in centre forward roles, and Pogba surged forward from midfield to join them when possible. This tactic is reminiscent of Alex Ferguson’s use of Ji-Sung Park in key games. Park was a hard working winger like Lingard but would play centrally in these games to harrass the opponent’s deep lying playmaker and knock them off their rhythm. Arsenal dont really play a deep playmaker - Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka are more functional, combative players, but Lingard caused a 4 v 3 overload in midfield and Arsenal’s centre backs didnt pick him up either.

The opening goal for Sanchez came from good play from Lukaku. Lukaku withdrew slightly allowing Sanchez to take up the central striker position, and a nicely weighted through pass from Lukaku presented the Chilean with a one on one with Petr Cech which he duly dispatched. Had United played their normal formation, he very likely wouldnt have been able to get to this position as he would have probably started in a much wider role. The second goal followed very quickly, Lukaku led a counter attack down the right, Lingard was in his central position and made a good, subtle run inside the box to create space and time to take a touch before calmly slotting past Cech. The front three were very fluid in their positioning, happy to interchange to cause as much confusion in the Arsenal defence as possible.

The home side lacked an obvious strategy, mostly looking to play it wide and overload the opposition full backs who didnt have a winger in front of them to help defensively. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang predominantly played on the right, with he and Alexandre Lacazette interchanging sometimes, so one was always covering the wing to allow the other to maintain a central striking position. Aubameyang showed a good attitude and worked quite hard out wide, tracking back well, but Alex Iwobi on the opposite flank was more effective as a natural winger. Aubameyang, it goes without saying, is rather better being on the end of attacking moves.

Arsenal’s sole response would come through wing play though, Iwobi found Kolasinac on the overlap, who centred for Aubameyang, who had drifted inside and took up a good position for a simple finish. Arsenal could have benefitted from mimicking United’s formation, to a) get their strikers both in their natural positions, and b) to allow a midfielder to track Lingard. Aubameyang is incredibly pacy but lacks the end product to be an effective winger - in this formation he’s essentially just there to supplement Lacazette and allow Arsenal to play with width.

Lacazette switched to the right in the second half - he is more of a well rounded player but this might simply have been Emery trying to keep both players happy by each getting a stint as striker. This is a minor point but I was surprised Arsenal didnt swap their wide players around - theoretically right footers Aubameyang and Lacazette cutting in from left wing to shoot and Iwobi more naturally stretching play on right might have been more effective.

Arsenal lost both starting centre backs to injury and ended up with Xhaka playing at centre back, which is hardly ideal when up against a traditional number 9 like Lukaku who dominates arial battles and physical challenges.

Both players used a number 10 but neither were typical playmakers despite each having one at their disposal (Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata), so a lot of the big chances in the game came from simple counter attacks rather than clever passes. Arsenal introduced Ozil in the second half which was a welcome move, but in removing Iwobi they took off the only genuine wide threat - they could have made a more daring sub especially when in need of a goal.

It would be unfair to say United sat back as the second half went on, but they did take less risks to try to take the sting out of the game. Lukaku and Sanchez were withdrawn for Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, who have started ahead of them in recent games, and the latter pair would be more effective with only 20 minutes to go for any counter attacks that presented themselves.

Ramsey didnt make much impact as the central playmaker, in contrast to the impressive Lingard. Emery appeared to agree, introducing Ozil after 64 minutes, who has been on the periphery at Arsenal for a while now. Ozil didnt do a great deal either unfortunately, understandably low on confidence perhaps.

A word for Ainsley Maitland-Niles who played at right back. He had a solid but unspectacular game, looks a decent fit in the role though and will likely be filling in there for the remainder of the season due to Lichsteiner’s advancing age and his struggles when he has played this season. Maitland-Niles was caught out for the decisive third goal for United as he was pushing up the pitch in search of a winner. Martial followed in a Pogba shot from distance for a simple finish, but Maitland-Niles wasnt really at fault - Pogba had dispossed Ramsey in the midfield with alarming ease and Arsenal were left with not enough numbers back in defence, not for the first time in the game. Arsenal’s midfield since the Ozil substitution looked muddled and lacking a real plan, possibly why Ramsey was dawdling with possession when Pogba took it from him.

The major conclusion to draw from this game is that with every game Solskjaer looks more and more like he should be given the manager’s job at Old Trafford on a full time basis. This was his second “tough test” after a relatively gentle start to his return to Manchester, and he passed with flying colours once again. He seems to have settled on a gameplan for games against other top teams, using Lingard in a central role; it will be interesting to see if he sticks with it, and if the likes of Manchester City or PSG can find a way to counteract it in their upcoming games. Arsenal were unlucky to receive two defensive injuries but were carved open too easily on several occasions, and failed to take real advantage of Manchester United’s lack of width given their slightly unusual formation. Emery needs to find an effective way to get the best out of his attacking players like Solskjaer has managed to do so far. It will be interesting to see how Mesut Ozil’s situation develops, with him unlikely to secure a move away from the Emirates this transfer window.

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secondstriker · 5 years

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Barcelona 3-1 Leganes: Dembele steps up

Barcelona faced Leganes on Saturday evening and chose to rest Lionel Messi aheas of a midweek Copa Del Rey tie with Sevilla. In the front three were Suarez and Dembele as usual, and Phillippe Coutinho was given a chance to impress in his favoured left forward role. The game couldnt have gone much differently for the pair, Dembele was a constant threat, regularly driving the team forward and creating chances, whereas Coutinho looked sorely lacking in confidence, an attitude which seemed to be shared by his teammates, who looked reluctant to pass the ball to him, and when they did he was unable to create much.

In midfield Ernesto Valverde selected Carles Alena and Arthur alongside Sergio Busquets - slightly surprising to leave out the likes of Rakitic on a day Messi was also not in the lineup, but Alena was impressive on the ball and linked up well with Dembele on the right.

Opponents Leganes played with 3 in defence, switching to 5 when Barca were on the attack. They pressed very agressively when the Barcelona defence were in possession, hoping to force errors and to their credit they did make the home side look a lot more sloppy than usual and caused a few misplaced passes. Unfortunately they lacked the quality to do a great deal with the ball once they received it, and when the ball reached Barca’s midfield, Leganes retreated very deep into their half and put nearly everyone behind the ball to try to keep it level.

Leganes’ tactics made it a slightly scrappy game, with 6 yellow cards dished out, and not a lot of quality from either side in the first half. With Barca rarely involving Coutinho, most of the play came down the right, through Sergi Roberto, Alena, and Dembele, and the latter pair were at the heart of the opening goal. Pique dribbled out of defence under pressure from four Leganes players, managed to release it into midfield at which point Alena and Dembele linked up to bring the ball forward. Dembele played the ball wide to Alba who found the Frenchman in the box for a well controlled first time finish into the corner.

In the second half, Leganes continued to cause problems and scored an equaliser just before the hour mark. Two names that may be familiar to English football fans, Allan Nyom and Martin Braithwaite, were both involved - a long ball down the right flank was crossed in for Braithwaite to tap in, with Alba unable to properly intercept the initial pass. Thomas Vermaelen was the only defender who is not a regular starter, and while he didnt make any particular mistakes, Barca certainly looked less comfortable in defence, although much of this could be attributed to Leganes’ pressing in attack. Roberto took a cynical yellow card shortly after the equaliser to stop Braithwaite from breaking through on a counter attack.

At 1-1, Valverde quickly introduced Messi and Rakitic for the young midfielders Arthur and Alena, and kept Coutinho in the front three despite Messi’s presence. A few minutes after the substitutions, Dembele went off with an ankle injury and again Velverde chose to keep Messi in central midfield, introducing Malcom in Dembele’s place. Alena should count himself very unlucky to have gone off - he looks like he could develop into a perfect player for Barca’s style.

It was unfortunate for the game to lose Dembele, but in Messi an even better dribbler and passer was now in play, and he impacted the match in a similar way, offering dynamism like his young teammate, although with far more all round quality and a better final ball.

Barca took the lead again after Messi created an opening from outside the box and let off a brilliant long range strike. It was matched by Cuellar in the Leganes goal, but he could only parry into the path of Suarez. The Uruguayan did not have one of his better games, but it was a fine poacher’s goal and he looked happier with Messi on the pitch.

Barca still didnt have total control of the game, as their wide options Malcom and Coutinho offered staggeringly litte to the general play, meaning most of Barca’s good moves came through Messi, Rakitic and Alba. Malcom was almost nonexistent, playing very safe passes when he received the ball and not providing any goal threat. Coutinho was just as bad, he looked nothing like the player we have seen at Liverpool and got in the way of any attacks his teammates dared involve him in. He was easily dispossessed and on the rare occasions he tried to make something happen, he was not successful.

When 7 minutes of added time were shown, it could have been a nervous end to the game for Barcelona, but after an exchange of passes with Alba, Messi finished a move with a terrific right footed strike from inside the area to ensure there would be no late drama.

The big takeaway from this game for me was how good Dembele was, and how he is able to offer a very similar threat to the team that Messi does. His dribbling is excellent and he is an extremely positive, dynamic player and is always making things happen - it’s a real shame he and Messi didnt share much time on the pitch this evening. Messi offered another reminder of his brilliance, controlling the game from midfield when he came on and losing none of his goal threat. He looks likely to move into a permanent midfield position in his later years and on this evidence, he will have no problems at all adapting. Barca will be wondering what on earth to do with Coutinho, they went out of their way to let him have a full game in his favoured position, having apparently decided he can’t be trusted in a central midfield role. Perhaps he could be successful in a number 10 role if they were willing to tweak the formation, but his confidence is on the floor and that is the biggest challenge they face with him.

#fcb #fcbarcelona #barcelona #fc barcelona #leganes #messi #dembele #coutinho #la liga #ligabbva #liga bbva #barca #football #soccer #tactics

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Milan 0-0 Barca: Goalless in Milano

Preview

Both sides stuck to their usual formations and mentality. Barca playing their fluid 4-3-3, with Andres Iniesta partnering Sanchez and Messi up front, Seydou Keita a surprise inclusion in midfield aside Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez, with Carles Puyol deputising at left back. Milan stuck to their narrower 4-3-1-2 shape, with Kevin Prince Boateng fit to return, playing behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho. Massimo Ambrosini took the injured Mark van Bommel's place in the defensive midfield role, flanked by the industrious Antonio Nocerino and the ageless Clarence Seeforf. Barca were not too badly hit by injuries but Milan missed their best defender, Thiago Silva, at the heart of their defence.

1st Half

Barca deployed their usual pass and move style, but with an obvious right sided bias. This made sense for several reasons, one of which was that Seedorf is not able to offer his full back as much protection as the much more energetic Nocerino on the right of the Milan midfield, and another is that Milan's narrow style is vulnerable to effective wing play. With Dani Alves as attacking as ever from right back, and Alexis Sanchez playing as a right footed right winger (not often Barca's style), it made sense to attack down that side. Couple this with the fact that Antonini is not a brilliant player, and that Puyol was the unnatural left back, and the tactic was an obvious one to deploy.

Milan's gameplan was similarly clear, although they did not target a particular player. Because they had home advantage, they knew the pressure was on them to score while remaining tight at the back. For the first ten minutes, they applied very heavy pressure to Barca, hoping to force and error and create a chance for themselves. This almost worked, with Boateng's powerful effort being blocked and Robinho horribly mishitting an easy volley from just a few yards out.

This tactic did not work though, and since Milan have quite a high average age in their team, they knew that continuing to press heavily would not be possible for the whole match, and reverted to their usual tactic (particularly against top sides) - counter attacking. They were without Ignazio Abate, who is very useful for fast breaks, but Nocerino, Boateng and Seedorf combined on a number of occasions to hit Barca on the break, with Ibrahimovic missing a very decent chance one on one with Valdes.

Counter attacking against Barca is risky though, you have to invite them to attack you and bring players forward, which they were only too happy to do. Sanchez and Messi were particularly dangerous, as Sanchez and Alves overloaded Antonini at left back and Messi's quick feet were often too much for Nesta and Mexes. One moments of controversy happened with a Barca attack, as Sanchez was brought down by Abbiati in the box and bizarrely, not awarded a penalty. Messi also managed a goal from a Sanchez cross, but was clearly offside.

Milan's plan worked in the first half though, a few excellent saves and some luck saw them to the break at half time. They played very narrowly even in defence, knowing that Barca are uncomfortable when they have to cross the ball. This proved to be true, Barca crosses were awkward and Messi was far too small to outjump Nesta and/or Mexes. Messi likes to drop deep as well though, and Ambrosini was tasked with dealing with him when he did so. On these occasions he decided to tackle hard, and was lucky to escape a yellow card, but he did appear to be achieving his aim of winding up Messi. The crowd also endeavoured to play their part.

The only other incident of note was a Barca counter attack, Sanchez broke clear but as he shot, Antonini managed to catch him up and perform a stunning sliding block in his own box. Goalless at the break.

2nd Half

The second half wasnt as exciting as the first, but still an interesting battle nonetheless. After 5 minutes Robinho appeared to be injured and was replaced by Stephan El Shaarawy. It may have been a tactical move as Robinho was playing poorly but both play the second striker role so it was not of much interest tactically. Neither team appeared to change it's tactics for the second half, but Milan played significantly further forward, chasing a win to take to Spain, and Barca retreated slightly, knowing that if they didnt lose it would be a good result.

No team really dominated the half, the midfields simply battled for the ball, then the teams took turns to counter attack. Barca passed the ball better, but Milan tackled better. Both were dangerous on the counter attack but neither teams talisman (Messi and Ibrahimovic) had a particularly good game. Ibrahimovic looked disinterested and off form, and was nowhere near his usual high standard of play. Messi on the other hand, while dangerous, was nullified by 3 different players.

The first was Alessandro Nesta, who he spent the majority of the game playing directly against. Nesta is a veteran, but he used every bit of his experience to shackle Messi (just as he did in the group stages), frustrating him on several occasions and knowing when to pick up a professional foul for the team. Part of Messi's game though, is dropping deep into midfield to receive the ball and assist with the build up. When he did so, Massimo Ambrosini was tasked with dealing with him, and he too did about as well as you're likely to see a player when faced with Messi. He knew exactly how much he could get away with, fouling Messi a number of times to knock him off his game, while throwing himself into tackles and blocks to help neutralise him. When Messi did beat these two, he was faced with Christian Abbiati in goal, who made a number of excellent saves when faced with a one on one.

Some more subs were made to attempt to change the game, but neither manager made too many risks. Tello replaced Iniesta, so Barca had a natural winger on both sides and could attack both full backs, instead of simply attacking Antonini down the right all game. Tello added a new dimension to Barca's play, but wasted a good chance when he should have passed to Messi, and couldnt beat Antonini to a loose ball which would otherwise have been an open goal.

Milan made two changes. The first was Boateng coming off for Urby Emanuelson. Boateng was probably not fit to continue, having just returned from injury, and Emanuelson is the most similar player to him in the Milan squad (highly energetic, links midfield to attack). He is an inferior player though, and horribly miscontrolled a decent chance for Milan. The second change was probably enforced as well, left back Djamel Mesbah replacing the excellent Alessandro Nesta. This meant a defensive reshuffle, but Milan would hold out for a clean sheet.

Barca then replaced Sanchez with Pedro, which again was not of great interest as both are similar players, but Pedro was less inclined to cross the ball into the box, which hadnt worked all night thanks to Mexes and Nesta's height advantage over Messi.

In the final 15 minutes, Milan tried much more simple, direct, long balls, hoping to catch Barca out at the back with Ibrahimovic's height. He had a poor game though, and Pique was only too happy to clear the majority of the hopeful long balls. The game ended 0-0.

Conclusion

0-0, but by no means a dull game. Both sides will feel they should have scored in the first half (Barca's penalty call, Robinho's terrible miss), but neither was desperate to score at the end and were not unhappy with the final result. Going into the second leg, Barca's failure to score an away goal means that the result on the night will decide the tie, and a score draw will favour Milan. Both sides played well, and neither Allegri nor Guardiola really came out on top. Had Ibrahimovic or Messi been at their best, this could have been a very different game.

#Milan #Barca #ACM #FCB #Champions League #CL #Messi #Ibrahimovic

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Newcastle's Exciting 4-3-3

At the weekend Newcastle United gave arguably their most convincing performance of an already wonderful season, a 3-1 victory away at West Bromwich Albion. This was in no small part to very clever tactics by Alan Pardew. This season he has generally stuck to 4-4-2, occasionally experimenting with 4-4-1-1 and 4-2-3-1 in attempts to accommodate Hatem Ben Arfa in his starting eleven. This was the first time they had played a more orthodox 4-3-3 though, and the signs were very positive. I'm going to analyse each area of the team, starting with the trio of attackers.

Attack

Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa all played from the start, with Ben Arfa on the right of Cisse, and Ba slightly to the left. The first point to make is that there are very few formations that could fit each of these 3 players in their preferred positions, but moving Ba into a wide left role was the best compromise in this case. Ba is in a minor goal drought, (with Cisse having taken the reigns,) but he is certainly no goal poacher, and has more than enough technical ability to play in a more reserved midfield/winger role.

Ba had a good game, despite not being directly involved in any of the three goals. He has excellent close control and is a decent dribbler, particularly for a player of his build and size. He has played with Ben Arfa several times for Newcastle, and Cisse on occasional when the two have been on international duty for Senegal, so the chemistry was clear to see. The best example was in their third goal, Ba played a clever flick to Ben Arfa, who picked out a dangerous ball for Cisse, who scored (Ba slipped in an attempt to reach the ball).

Cisse thrived in this system though, he is a natural "number 9" and one of the best finishers in the game at the moment. His goal record at struggling Freiburg speaks for itself, so he was always going to score with the likes of Ben Arfa and Cabaye in the supply line. For the first goal, he showed brilliant awareness and positioning to get on the end of a Ben Arfa low pass into the box, although both made it very easy for the other.

Ben Arfa has a wealth of experience in a wide right role in this formation as well, and he picked up the man of the match award after a scintillating display. This system and line up allowed Newcastle to break with pace, which they have never been able to do this season (before the weekend they had managed just one goal from a counter attack). They were a constant danger on Sunday though; Ba is no slouch but Cisse and Ben Arfa are lightning quick, and West Brom simply couldnt handle the fluidity and pace of the attack. This was summed up in the second goal, Ben Arfa, Cabaye and Cisse combining beautifully with one touch passing and moving to hit West Brom and leave themselves with a 3 v 2 on goal. Cisse layed the ball off for Ben Arfa, who was allowed onto his favoured left foot to finish calmly past Foster.

Midfield

The midfield was more unorthodox though. Traditionally, a 4-3-3's midfield will contain a 'tackler' to break up play, a 'passer' who will dictate the tempo of the game and an 'attacker', who will link up with the forwards. Newcastle named Danny Guthrie, Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez in theirs, which is 2 'passers' and one natural winger.

It's fair to say that Guthrie is least industrious of the trio, so for the majority of the game he played central, and deep, and was given the role of dictating play, so he acted as the passer. This is reflected in the statistics, as he was the game's second top passer, with 51 successful passes and an 86% success rate (via WhoScored).

As mentioned, Cabaye and Gutierrez cover a lot of ground (two of the highest in the league for distance covered per game), which helped Newcastle control the midfield, and allowed Ba and Ben Arfa a little less defensive responsibility. Cabaye was the more attacking minded, and was involved in counter attacks, while trying to play through balls to the stikers, so he acted as the 'attacker' of the trio. A notable positive was that he's played the majority of his career at Lille in a similar formation, so he knew his duties. He didnt get a direct assist but played the role fairly well, and Newcastle did not miss the extra man they should have in midfield.

This left Gutierrez, as the 'tackler', in theory. As you'll usually see him as a flamboyant winger, this appears an odd decision, but his work rate is outstanding and is one of the most defensive wingers in the league (if not most), so much so that he is able to play at full back as well. He did not break up play much, but was tied highest in the team for tackles and interceptions, including defenders. He was able to cover the full backs very well as well, as he is used to doing, which was important at the end when Davide Santon and Shane Ferguson were both caught upfield on the left and he got across to cover.

Defence

Finally, the defence. Newcastle chose to start Davide Santon on the bench, favouring James Perch at left back. Again, perhaps an odd call on the face of it, but Perch is far more defensively minded than Santon, which was important seeing as Demba Ba was not interesting in tracking back too much, and meant Perch was never caught upfield (as Santon often is). Perch is also in a good spell of form at the moment and the decision to keep him in the team will have upped his confidence, no doubt.

Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson started in central defence, with Simpson wide on the right. In the first half there wasnt much to comment on the defence as they kept a clean sheet and werent overworked. Coloccini though, had to go off at half time due to injury, meaning Perch moved to centre back and Santon took his place at left back. West Brom began to pressure Newcastle more, but that was perhaps to be expected anyway, as the home side who will have no doubt been told to improve their second half performance by an angry Hodgson at half time.

West Brom's goal came from a simple long ball, which Williamson failed to deal with and actually knocked it out of goalkeeper Tim Krul's path. Krul was not blameless either though, a more vocal goalkeeper would have screamed instructions to him and Williamson's gesture implied he had received no call. Coloccini's presence may have changed things, he is quicker and calmer on the ball than Williamson, and the ball was played into the area he usually operates on (the left).

That aside though, Williamson had a decent game, making 2 good blocks, while Perch continued his good form and showed he is comfortable in 4 positions (defensive midfield, and anywhere across the back 4). Simpson had a quiet game, which is usually an indication that a defender has had a good game, and Santon's positioning appeared to have improved, as he wasnt quite so keen to get forward.

Conclusion

Newcastle were outstanding, and with their injured players back in the side this formation could be a revelation for them, it's versatile, quick and gets the best out of their best players.

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secondstriker · 12 years

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How Barca Play Without Pressure

Not a proper match report, just some thoughts on Barca's play tonight. Although the tie was technically not over, Leverkusen were resigned to defeat over two legs before the game started, having lost the home leg 3-1, Barca were now at home and barring a 2 goal defeat, would progress.

Despite this, they named a full strength team (excluding injuries). The team featured SIX midfielders, crammed into their standard 4-3-3 set up. Guardiola is happy to replace any injured strikers or defenders with a midfielder, simply because it helps them keep the ball even better than they would usually. Mascherano played at centre back again (his primary position at Barca now), Adriano played left back (also plays there the majority of the time) and Iniesta was on the left of the attack.

Team (4-3-3): Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano (Muniesa); Xavi (Keita), Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Iniesta (Tello)

1st Half

Generally speaking, only one tactic is really effective against Barca and that is heavily pressing and closing down. Leverkusen did this well initially, almost forcing an error from Alves early on. They directed much of their attention at out-of-sorts Pique (sent off in his last Liga game), who had a poor first half - misplacing easy passes, missing a very easy free header from a set piece at 0-0, and failing to deal with several high balls.

Leverkusen tired though, probably due to the fixture pile up, and this game being away and midweek. The tempo slowed down as both teams realised the result of the game was, for all intents and purposes, decided. Barca still had to overcome a few minor tactical difficulties to take control though. The first of which is that because of Adriano's inclusion, Barca had 2 very attacking full backs who were keen to get forward, but when they received the ball they wanted to cross it into the box, which didnt suit Messi (or Barca) at all. He became slightly isolated in the opening 20 minutes.

Another small issue is the signing of Fabregas. Talented as he is, he prospered in a free role at Arsenal, but because Barca play a more conventional 4-3-3, he has to play in a deeper position for Barca, which he is clearly getting used to, given how much time he spends high up the pitch. Barca even used a 3-4-3 formation this season to help ease him in, because in this formation he could play a more advanced number 10 role at the tip of the midfield diamond.

The first goal came from nothing, really. Barca under slight pressure at the back, a hopeful long ball over the defence released Messi, who on this occasion decided to expertly chip the keeper, rather than dribbling around him. 1-0 after 25 minutes, and Leverkusen's morale drops further.

Barca stopped playing wide, with Iniesta in particular beginning to cut inside more often. Just as he does this, Barca score their second. Iniesta plays an inside pass to Messi, who then beats 3 men and puts the ball into the bottom corner. This was the last major action of the first half.

2nd Half

Barca started the second half very strongly, camped in Leverkusen half for the first 20 minutes. During which came the goal glut which killed the game.

- [49 mins] Messi completes his hatrick. Fabregas chips ball over defence, Messi holds off defender and chips keeper again. With his weak foot.

- [55 mins] Tello scores. Fabregas through pass, cuts inside and curls past/under keeper.

- [58 mins] Messi scores. Defender and goalkeeper errors, Messi capitalises.

- [62 mins] Tello scores. More score updates than normal notes at this point.

During that busy spell, Iniesta was subbed off for Tello, who made his European debut. This was not really a tactical change, they were merely resting Iniesta because his services were no longer required and this was the perfect opportunity to give an excellent prospect more game time. Tello is also a more attacking player than Iniesta, which was probably part of the reason for the sudden goal glut.

Another change was Xavi coming off for Keita. This was also just to rest a key player, although Keita sits deeper than Xavi, so Fabregas could play his more natural role (discussed earlier) without worrying about defending so much.

At this point it was 6-0, in case you'd lost count, so the tactics became less and less relevant as Barca slowed the pace hugely so as not to tire players out. Leverkusen were also terribly demoralised, so at this point the game was more like a training match for Barca, though they still did not stop looking for goals.

Adriano was then subbed off for Muniesa. At this point the subs were almost irrelevant but it was nice to see another young prospect given minutes with the first team.

Messi went on to score an incredible 5th goal in the 85th minute, the first player in Champions League history to do so, and the first time he has done so in his career to date, in any competition. A great effort from the edge of the box.

Incredibly, Tello came very close to a hatrick in the dying minutes, but the scoreline remained a mere 10-1 on aggregate as his effort was saved. Leverkusen though, did manage to pull one back. In the 90th minute Bellarabi scored a lovely goal after a neat one-two in Barca's box, but it was barely even a consolation

Conclusion

How do Barca play without pressure? Well this was a remarkable game, as they won 7-1 against a team who had progressed from the Champions League group stage, and at no point did they look like they needed to give 100%. They slaughtered Leverkusen without getting out of first gear, Messi with FIVE goals, Tello with two on his debut. The league might be Madrid's but on this showing Barca have to be CL favourites.

Not an amazing tactical battle but I've already written this, so hope you enjoyed reading it.

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Milan 4-0 Arsenal: Game Over?

1st Half

Arsenal were very poor. They started fairly strongly but had no real invention up front. Rosicky naturally cut inside but barring an early effort was anonymous for the first period. Walcott on the other side was out of ideas and struggled to get past Antonini (despite him making number of errors), even during a good start for Arsenal. The good start didnt last long, after about 15 minutes the balance shifted and Milan took control of the game, meaning Arsenal were the team who had to worry about exposed full backs.

Milan were forced into an early change, Seedorf being replaced by Emanuelson. This was actually not a bad move, he has much more energy and running in him than Seedorf, covered Antonini well and had more pace to hit Arsenal with, despite lacking Seedorf's technical ability. The first goal went to Milan, as Kevin Prince Boateng found himself with far too much space in the box and hit an astounding volley over Szczesny, and in off the underside of the bar [15 mins].

The reason he had so much space is the intelligent play of Milan's front three. Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Boateng all drift a lot from their starting position, leaving Arsenal defenders and midfielders unsure as to who should be marking them. They would move into the wide areas, with plenty of space thanks to Milan's narrow setup, leaving space in the centre for runners from midfield, particularly Nocerino. Robinho and Boateng's pace and trickery, combined with Ibrahimovic's power and fantastic passing, were a nightmare for Arsenal.

This was epitomised with the second goal. Ibrahimovic beat Sagna (and the offside trap) on the left, ran into the box and played a perfect pass onto Robinho's head. Even he couldnt miss, heading in from 7 yards [38 mins].

Arsenal had perhaps expected to dominate play, but their choice of players teamed with the poor pitch conditions forced them to play more narrowly - straight into Milan's hands. Barring a couple of hopeful through-balls, they created virtually nothing, leaving van Persie feeding off scraps in the opening 45 minutes.

Another enforced change didnt do them any favours either, Koscielny forced off for the error prone Djourou. Ibrahimovic turned him and played in Antonini of all people, who nearly snuck the ball past Szczesny.

2nd Half

Arsene Wenger made the first tactical substitution of the match, Thierry Henry replacing Theo Walcott. This meant Aaron Ramsey was fielded wide on the right, and Henry and van Persie took turns to spearhead the attack in a 4-2-3-1. To their credit, they started the 2nd half well but just 4 minutes in Robinho scored again. Ibrahimovic was inbetween the Arsenal defence and midfield and had plenty of time to find the right pass, before Robinho rifled home a good effort from the edge of the box [49 mins].

At 3-0, Milan slowed the game down, content with a 3 goal lead but still taking whatever opportunities they could to hit Arsenal on the counter attack. This was Arsenal's best spell, with van Persie being denied by a very good Abbiati save from a volley, and Arsenal had control of the match for 15-20 minutes, despite conceding the 3rd goal in that time. They defended Milan's counter attacks very poorly though, from a corner a 3 v 2 situatuon arose and Luca Antonini again found himself one on one, but scuffed his effort wide. The fact that Milan's left back managed to have this much space typifies how much space was afforded to them, and how poorly Arsenal defended against a team with some positional fluidity (players being allowed to drift out of position).

Then another tactical substitution for the Gunners, as Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Kieran Gibbs. After a significant defensive shuffle, (Vermaelen to left back, Song to centre back, Ramsey to centre midfield and Chamberlain right wing,) Arsenal retained their shape. A more simple substition would have been Ramsey off for Chamberlain but perhaps Gibbs wasnt fit enough for 90 minutes on his return from injury.

Similarly, Kevin Prince Boateng was returning from a lay off and made way for Massimo Ambrosini, perhaps a necessary sub but still he was replaced by a more defensive minded player, highlighting Milan's desire to protect their lead (an away goal would have given Arsenal a good chance at this point.) Emanuelson moved forward slightly to accomodate the change, but often tracked back on the left to assist Antonini in nullifying Chamberlain.

Between 60 and 70 minutes, Arsenal relinquished their control of the game slightly and the game became more end to end, but the mentality of the sides were still different. Despite the fact that one away goal at this point would have massively changed the tie though, Arsenal still didnt appear to be as attacking as they perhaps should have.

In the end though it wouldn't matter, as Djourou gave away a penalty after a clumsy foul on Ibrahimovic, who denied Robinho a hattrick by converting it himself [79 mins]. This effectively signaled the end of the tie, and Arsenal were visibly demoralised, perhaps showing as Rosicky hit an attempt on goal out for a throw in.

With 7 minutes remaining, Pato replaced Robinho, not tactical, merely bringing Pato on following an injury, and allowing Robinho his own ovation from the San Siro. In the closing stages, Abbiati pulled off another fantastic save to well and truly deny Arsenal any hope, and every single cross into the box was dealt with by Thiago Silva, who had a very good game.

Conclusion

The tie is effectively over, barring a 4 goal turnaround at the Emirates, but even 1 away goal for Milan would then require 6 from Arsenal. As for this game, Arsenal didnt show up until after half time, when it was too little, too late. A lack of invention and cutting edge, while Ibrahimovic ran the show for Milan, setting up 3 and scoring 1 himself. A man of the match performance.

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Sorry for the errors, Phillipe Mexes starts, not Nesta. Marginally more pace to deal with van Persie?

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Team News and pre game thoughts

Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Arteta, Ramsey; Walcott, van Persie, Rosicky

Kieran Gibbs starts, so Arsenal finally have 4 defenders in their recognised roles, and arent forced into playing Djourou. Gibbs will offer more going forward than Vermaelen would, and this line up features arguably their best central defence pairing. Vermaelen tries to intercept passes to forward players while Koscielny is more a sweeper. They will both have their hands full tonight with Ibrahimovic, provided he ends his characteristic of disappearing in Champions League games. Tomas Rosicky is a surprise inclusion on the left wing ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but given the state of Milan's pitch (wide areas in awful condition, probably tactical), he may be a wise choice as he will naturally drift into the centre of the pitch.

Milan: Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Silva, Antonini; Seedorf, van Bommel, Nocerino; Boateng; Ibrahimovic, Robinho

Luca Antonini is a surprise inclusion at left back, probably Milan's weakest option in the position. Despite the awful pitch conditions in the wide areas, Walcott will have a field day here. Robinho's wastefulness in front of goal as a centre forward means the goals will most likely be coming from Ibrahimovic, or possibly Boateng, who makes a welcome return to the side.

As mentioned, the pitch at the San Siro is in very poor state out wide and this is almost certainly a tactical move by Milan. It's no coincidence that their weakness is Arsenal's strength - wide areas. The state of the pitch will force Arsenal to play narrow, which will play into Milan's hands. Mark van Bommel and Antonio Nocerino will be breaking up play, and Seedorf the primary playmaker.

The key battle tonight is potentially van Persie v Thiago Silva. One of the most in-form strikers in the world against one of the best centre backs in the world. If Milan are to use their home advantage, Silva will have to nullify van Persie's threat.

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Latest reports suggest that Milan will start new signing Mesbah as left back ahead of Antonini, and that Kevin Prince Boateng will return the the side (at the expense of Emanuelson). Others suggest that Kieran Gibbs will in fact start from the beginning for Arsenal. This would mean Vermaelen moves to centre back and Arsenal would have two attacking full backs and two wingers running at Milan's exposed full backs.

These changes would make Milan more solid at the back but allow Arsenal more chance of exploiting the weaknesses of their narrow formations. Stronger line ups but perhaps fewer goals. Boateng is a very important player for Milan too, his energetic style is very different to Seedorf's more natural playing of the playmaker role, so it will be interesting to see how Song handles him.

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secondstriker · 12 years

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Milan-Arsenal Preview

Full match report to follow tomorrow night. Predicted line ups:

Arsenal (4-3-3*): Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Vermaelen; Song, Arteta, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, van Persie, Walcott

*It's debatable whether Arsenal's formation is a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, as Aaron Ramsey plays ahead of Song and Arteta (Fabregas's old role).

Alex Song plays as the deepest midfielder, but likes to venture forward, a freedom afforded to him by Mikel Arteta's ability to cover. Sagna's recent return is a welcome one, as young midfielders and centre backs had been forced to cover him previously, which lead to a lot of goals conceded by their inexperience in the role. Thomas Vermaelen is likely to continue to deputise at left back though - while Kieran Gibbs is fit again it's unlikely he will play from the start. In the event Gibbs does play, the Arsenal defence will be far more solid, as more players will be in their natural positions and Djourou will not be started.

Robin van Persie is the focal point of the attack, supported by Theo Walcott and Chamberlain either side of him (Gervinho unlikely to be available after playing in the AFCON final on Sunday). Henry is also available but his age is catching up with him and may struggle to last 90 minutes, so has started most of his games on the bench during his loan spell.

Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Silva, Antonini; Nocerino, van Bommel, Emanuelson; Seedorf; Ibrahimovic, Robinho

Milan's line up is usually predicted correctly by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta, so I have used their mock line up (they rotate a lot so it's difficult to guess). Of the back 5, four are first choice. Christian Abbiati, Ignazio Abate, Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva are all undisputed starters, while Antonini is one of 4 options at left back, none of which stand out like the rest of the back four and represents a clear weakness in their defence.

In midfield, the team could not look much more different to that of a few years ago. Trading skill and technique for craft and energy, Milan will be tough to break down but lack creativity. Mark van Bommel is effective in his old age, but lacks pace, he will probably be tracking Ramsey for a lot of the game. Either side of him are Antonio Nocerino, a big hit thanks to his work rate and occasional goals, and Urby Emanuelson, something of a misfit who has played left back, central midfield and trequartista.

Clarence Seedorf is predicted to start in the link role between attack and midfield, and will be responsible for the majority of the supply to Ibrahimovic and Robinho. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is having a fantastic season, the teams leading scorer and in the form of his life. He will lead the line and cause any number of problems for the defence, alongside Robinho in a more central role than he had played in his time in the Premier League. Perhaps wasted there though, as he is becoming fairly well known for his awful finishing - repeatedly missing very easy chances.

Prediction: 2-2

Both teams have a fairly obvious weak link. Ibrahimovic is likely to give Djourou in particular a torrid time, but Walcott and Chamberlain will easily deal with Luca Antonini at left back for Milan. As for the midfield battle, Milan's industrious tacklers will look to shackle Arsenal's playmakers, but the 4 v 3 battle in their favour means Seedorf may find himself with a lot of space between the lines.

Hoping for, and expecting, a very good game.

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