Good morning folks, lots of top quality football going on around the world this week and if you’re an Arsenal fan living in the States, you probably have ESPN+, Paramount+, Disney+, Peacock -, and Fubo (or regular cable, if you’re a Boomer) and you’re wondering what to watch! Well… wonder no more.
First up is the Champions League clash between Man City and PSG, today. Man City won 2-1 in the away leg which should give them a huge advantage but with their history of faltering at the final hurdle this clash is far from over. Pep Guardiola is famous for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and unless he’s finally learned his lesson, he could possibly overthink this match and throw on some wild, untested lineup.
That said, this really should be the most boring game of all time. City literally just need to hold onto the ball and be patient about their attacks and they walk away winners. On the flip side, this could be a crazy knock-down-drag-out fight as well, if PSG get an early goal. Don’t sue me if this is a 90 minutes of possession match but praise me if it’s a real contest!
Wednesday is Chelsea and Real Madrid. That one is also pretty close, as the last match ended 1-1. Real Madrid are getting pretty old but they still have some of the best players in football on their team. Chelsea will play Pep ball and try to control the game with possession but unless they pressure Kroos and Modric in deep areas, every time they get the ball, those two will find a pass to unlock the Chelsea defense.
On Thursday, we have Arsenal v. Villareal and the inevitable: Arsenal crashing out of the Europa League. Just kidding! Here it will be interesting to see if Unai Emery goes full turtle or if he decides that his team are good enough to beat Arsenal in a head-to-head match. From an Arsenal perspective what we want him to do is go defensive. A one+ goal win with a clean sheet puts us through. If Emery goes crazy Ivan on us and takes the game to us, we should have the quality to beat them as well, but with this Arsenal team, you never really know. Hopefully, Arteta has learned something from his last match (where he went Pep) and decides to deploy a normal old boring lineup with a goal-scorer in the middle and with wide players serving him passes.
Friday is a rest day! Don’t watch Leicester v. Newcastle.
Saturday is a biggie: Leeds v. Spurs kicks off the weekend at 0430 PST or if you’re more of a sausage guy, Borussia Dortmund v. RB Leipzig at 0600. I also highly recommend Barcelona v. Atletico at 0715. This is a literal title winning clash. Whichever side wins this puts themselves in pole position to win the League with just three games left in the season. It’s also getting toward the end of the Messi era. He’s getting older now, how many more years can he do it at the level he’s playing at? Three? Two?
Sunday, we have Parma v. Atalanta at 0550 which is my opener. Atalanta lost any chance of winning the Serie A last weekend with their draw but they are still on for the Coppa Italia on the 19th and one of the most fun teams in football and Parma are getting relegated. If you like to see a team score beautiful goals, watch Atalanta.
Arsenal v. West Brom at 1100 but you know… I would consider watching Real Madrid v. Sevilla instead at 1150. The Arsenal match is a nothingburger. Record it. Watch it later after you go play golf or hang out at a friend’s house (covid rules permitting).
I was hoping to catch Brentford play their last match of the season on Saturday but ESPN+ is (rightly) playing the relegation battle matches. Brentford have qualified for the League Championship playoffs which start on May 17th and coincide with fans being allowed back into stadiums. That should be a fun set of matches but it’s a few weeks off. So, I’ll leave it for now.
Anyway, full week of football. Hope you get a chance to watch one or two matches!
tim, going back to the previous thread, i agree wholeheartedly with the passing patterns failing. essentially, these patterns limit a player to the level of a coach’s strategy. some players have so much more to offer. it’s the coach’s job to recognize and maximize the strategy and a player’s creativity.
soldiers have this attitude when it comes to doing work: tell me what to do, don’t tell me how to do it. if they’re ordered to “take a hill”, some general back in an op center isn’t going to tell a soldier on the ground how to take the hill. first, that general ain’t there getting shot at. likewise, when you’re on the ground, situations often present that you didn’t plan for. a good tactician will always allow the situation to dictate and, if necessary, alter or change their pre-planned actions.
being a young coach, arteta’s idea of coaching doesn’t respect the player’s perspective. it’s as if he’s got a playstation controller in his hand; he’s trying to make every pass and direct every move. control is good but what about respecting a player’s ability to assess the situation as opposed to only the touch line perspective? what about if the player is blessed with more creativity than you are? you’ve eliminated the creativity and perspective of the player on the field. what’s more ideal is to challenge a player’s tactical skill in training and then allow them to showcase that skill on game day. to quote thierry henry, you do what the game asks you to do.
I agree. Every coach wants to create automatisms: like you said yesterday “know where the cup is in the cupboard”. But the danger is when those automatic actions become dictims. Every coach develops and refines patterns of play. Klopp is famous for his pressing systems, Guardiola had a 15-pass rule which is crazy if you think about it, and Steve Bruce’s patterns of play are definitely work it to the guy to hit a long diagonal.
But one crucial difference is that even Pep, who uses a very set pattern to get his teams into position to defend (his “Juego de posicion”) in case of a counter attack, then lets the team go free and implores them to “attack like hell” in the final third. Klopp is similar: his patterns are more about pressing and traps but once those are executed, I think his players have freedom to attack how they want.
Where Arteta is being very rigid is in that final third. I think he tries to dictate our final balls and while I guess you could do that it becomes too rigid.
I do suspect that this is down to him being a young coach and I think a bit skittish. Which is understandable since this Arsenal team has a terrible history of defending. I feel like this is a main reason why we don’t have many goals from midfield. My hope is that we keep up our patterns of play but also add in a little chaos. You know, an Aaron Ramsey run every once in a while.
As an aside, the Ramsey thing is a great example. Ramsey under Wenger won Arsenal trophies but to do so, we often vacated critical defensive areas. For Wenger this was a calculated risk: he figured (rightly) that we would score more goals than we would concede (for most of his career that was basically 2x more than conceding). Arteta seems hesitant to let the midfielders get into scoring positions. But his buddy Pep has figured this out a bit and is letting Gundogan get forward. What Arteta maybe needs is a guy LIKE Buendia (I’m not 100% convinced by Buendia) in order to let that happen.
I hope its a youth thing rather than It being a characteristic of his personality, which I must admit, does strike me as slightlyknow-it-all-ish.
Emery actually had it up until PSG. When he finally admitted to Neymar that his creativity was beyond his plans and that he would leave him to decide what’s best on the pitch. But the moment he left PSG, where Neymar admittedly had power, Emery reverted to type and went back to playing FIFA career mode with his players. He is still doing it now.
Funny enough Pep learned how to adjust and leave players to their devices at Bayern where he had Rubery and Robben. He has continued to set his sides up in such a way that he presents his side with attacking situations that get ask of his players to express themselves.
But most young managers are very controlling, and since everyone else took years to even consider adjusting and giving players freedom to decide on the pitch, are we supposed to wait for Arteta to learn? Pep and Emery had to change teams to learn as well, will Arteta learn in an environment where he has no pressure to adjust to players?
Arteta is in his first job, at a club where he has a lot of power. I really hope it is a youth thing with him, because if it is not, then we are in for many more losses, bad performances and predictable patterns, but with unhappy players.
Appreciate that slate of choices Tim.
You’d convinced me– and tuned into Atalanta at Roma. Likely do so again.
“…and if you’re an Arsenal fan living in the States, you probably have ESPN+, Paramount+, Disney+, Peacock -, and Fubo (or regular cable, if you’re a Boomer) and you’re wondering what to watch!”
There’s also ‘Boomer+’ — where your better half insists on cable/DVR. ESPN+ piggybacks on Disney+ and Peacock rides free on Xfinity. Our condo HOA has free basic cable via Comcast– with inexpensive broadband as a bonus. In Houston subscribing to Comcast’s Latino programming package, delivers most of best European matches on Galavision, Univision or ESPN Desportes. A one-off blend of cafeteria-type choices.
PSG v City first leg was high intensity. Little time on the ball, or room to maneuver. Guys not known for defending (a la Di Maria) chipping in. Was wondering Tim if you have seen the xG for City’s 2 goals Those were two of the most improbable and unexpected big game goals I can recall.
Leg 2?
“Guys not known for defending (a la Di Maria) chippy-ing in”.😉
so, roma just hired jose mourinho. hilarious! i used to like roma. i wonder what mkhitaryan and smalling are thinking.
To be honest, for the squad that they have, they are massively underperforming under Foncesca.
They have a very good goalkeeper, at a good age in Pau Lopez. They have two big and very good fullbacks, who do their jobs attacking wise and defensively in Karsdorp and Spinazzola. They have probably the best set of young center backs of any club right now in Mancini, Kumbula and ibanez. Funny enough Arsenal may lay claim to that title if Mavropanos continues the way he is playing, added to Salina and Gabriel.
They have a very solid set of defensive, central and attacking midfielders. Diawara is the player I wanted as a cheaper alternative to Partey, and plays like Rodri, but with more muscle about him. Cristante is capable of playing centerback as well as defensive midfield in a sort of David Luiz way, just very composed on and off the ball. Pellegrino is a world beater and Veretout is finally hitting his potential. Gonzalo Villar is a solid enough squad player that Mourinho should love in the same way that he loved Stankovic at Inter.
The forward line might not be as blessed, especially after they let go of Kluivert, Under and Schick. But they still have a bit about them in the final third with Mkhi, Dzeko, Pedro, Pastors, El Sharrawy, Perez and the endless potential that is Nicolo Zaniolo.
This is a squad that is not lacking in talent, but does not have big egos. They are very much players willing to follow their manager and seem to have a really good future plannes out.
I think Mourinho’s agent may have just pulled a really good move out of nowhere for his client. It might low key be the perfect side for Mourinho. If he f*cks this up? I will be surprised. To me, with this side and after watching how bad or inconsistent the top italian sides are, he is now probably a favourite to take Serie A.
The same could be said for Spurs. The squad was not lacking in talent, but Mourinho managed to alienate the players with his boring and defensive football and his constant refusal to accept the blame for the mediocre results.
I can’t see the young and talented Roma players willing to accept his methods for a long time. He will eventually lose their trust, in the same way it happened in his second spell at Chelsea, Man United and then Spurs.
I am not just talking about talent. the Roma side, unlike Sp*rs, have not had a coach that prioritized attacking football in the way that Poch did. Where Mourinho has been successful has always been in environments where the sides didn’t have a prior attacking identity.
Sp*rs had built a side to play attacking football. The players signed by Roma are more conservative and carry less ego than Sp*rs. What they also have going for them is that there will not be media attention on the style of football or even anything from the fans that side. Expectations are different in different countries and players are different as well.
The youth in this Roma side is also mostly in defence, the center backs are more old school type and not really the ball player types. The moment I heard he got the job, it struck me that he had found his perfect job. To tell the truth, just like with Inter in 2009, he might just have found a squad built with the same mentality towards football as him.
Does anyone know of any situation where a player or even a group of players altered the course of a team as much as Tuchel has changed this Chelsea side. They went from being outplayed and dominated by 15th place Arsenal to bossihg Real Madrid in their own back yard, and it didn’t even take a full season.
From what I have seen, the direction and leadership provided by a manager is probably the most important variable in a team succeeding. We knew they signed quality before the season, but it showed that quality needs direction or it will fail to shine to its true potential and make the players look like shadows of their true selves. Solid defensively, possession monsters and very organised. It night and day the difference he has made.
The same has happened at Bilbao with Marcelino and Pochetino at PSG. Last season’s dominant side brought through a new manager mid season and he had a similar effect as Tuchel. Flick might even have made a bigger difference for Bayern than Tuchel has for Chelsea.
I like Arteta as a person and loved him as a player. I have hope and I believe this side can win the Europa League. But I see it as a short term success in the same way as Arsene’s last FA Cup, where he should have left instead of continuing with something that just wasn’t working or built for sustainable success. That is Arteta for me. I don’t see any success going forward with him in the side.
A rebuild does not take 3 to 4 years. To succeed, a side does not have to face relegation or play at relegation form first. To compete, a side does not have to destroy first and then build after. All of that is a lie, and I ask anyone to present proof validating patience.
i could make an argument for esteban cambiasso at leicester city. i believe leicester city were bottom at new years and managed to finish 10th that season. then, they won the premier league the following season. for me, it was cambiasso who taught the foxes how to win. he had come from winning a treble with inter milan and you could see his influence on that team. i can’t think of a more dramatic turn about than that; bottom of the league at the start of 2015 and premier league champions 18 months later? nuts!
it’s a shame cambiasso left leicester city. he deserved to be part of that team for the championship campaign.
for me, your point about tuchel is not a highlight. it shows how poor frank lampard was. experience is crucial and lampard had very little. tuchel, like klopp and even wenger, had tons of experience and all have even been relegated before.
while i’m no pro, i do coach high school and college boys. i began coaching in 2002 and i can say categorically that i’m a much better coach than i was 20 years ago or even ten years ago. i’m better because i have experience. arteta’s a baby competing against guys with tons of experience. it’s so unfair to compare his experience to tuchel’s but we rightfully compare his results with tuchel’s so…
That’s an anti Tuchel bias there… I know you referred to him as a tool but credit where it’s due. He’s achieved incredible results in a very, very short timeframe. They’ll be fighting for the league next season.
tuchel is a tool. however, this is not an anti-tuchel bias. if anything, i’m giving him big credit. the main idea is to showcase the difference between an experienced manager like himself and a nymph like lampard (or arteta).
Fair point but I think it’s more nuanced. Really it’s down to individual personality. Are you a quick learner, do you adapt, do you listen, do you surround yourself with strong people and so on?… look at Nagelsmann. He’s hit the pinnacle at 32.
Wenger when challenged why he had no or very few English players in his teams used to say it doesn’t matter where you’re from or how old you are; it’s whether your good enough. And this is ultimately the yardstick. It’s a results business. Every thing else is secondary.
“…and if you’re an Arsenal fan living in the States, you probably have ESPN+, Paramount+, Disney+, Peacock -, and Fubo (or regular cable, if you’re a Boomer)”
Well, what if you’re just a tight (like gnat booty) bastard who refuses to spend all this ala carte-highway robbery-extortionate cheddar just to watch men chase the ball? What then?
I’ve been watching a great deal more of Liga MX on TUDN as well as watching European matches on Galavision. It’s not the same, but it ain’t all bad.
I’ll just get me highlights online…
btw, i have comcast so peacock is free. i have paramount because picard and champions league is on it, among other shows. i have espn free because of my cell phone service.
the only thing i really pay for is a subscription to fanatiz. for $7 a month, i get to watch the spanish and french leagues live or on replay. likewise, i think i have all of the south american leagues. i even get to watch mesut playing for fenerbache; btw, he had a great game yesterday. which brings me back to the previous thread.
mesut is difficult to manage for coaches with rigid approaches because it truly minimizes his impact. he’s so dynamic when given the freedom to improvise and create. he’s also unreliable to follow those rigid systems, which is why he got dropped at arsenal. i think he got bored with the football he’d been asked to play under emery and arteta. he’s like the student that’s smarter than the teacher and everybody know it. he’s a nightmare to defend when given freedom because he always finds the right space and makes the right runs and passes. however, it also makes him a nightmare to count on in the defensive phase because you never know where he’ll pop up. chaos on both sides of the ball indeed, tim.
the point about chaos with mesut got me thinking; how do you manage a mesut ozil? i would try by setting up the team to play as if defending with ten men and give mesut some fake, insignificant, b.s. defensive duties. then, i’d let him dictate the flow of the game in attack and build from there. most managers have ego’s too big for that. if i were a pro manager, i might too. however, quoting a line from “the bourne legacy”, you can’t treat a ferrari like a lawn mower. is mesut special? yes. you can’t let him run over you but you can’t treat him like everyone else and get the best from him either. it’s a true balancing act.
I think its mainly about understanding the value of such player and weighing the risks to the rewards.
So most development systems I have worked with have a certain term when it comes to players that provide a bit of chaos to the system, and they are called “crack” players. Basically players that present the crack in a system or style, they deviate and offer chaos to your team’s primary way of playing. unpredictability. But the players that usually fall under this category are players like Alexis Sanchez and not Mesut. Mesut is a player that will not alter your preferred approach to the game, but will probably make better decisions on the pitch for your preferred style, than you could come up with in your tactics. That is why he has played well in a counter attacking side (Real), Possession side (Arsenal) and transition side (Germany).
I have worked with u/13, u/15, u/17 and u/21 sides mostly. I am also a strictly 442 guy, all the way. I used to love the “Ozil” type of player, but never understood how to utilize him. The 442 asks a lot defensively of every player, but with time I learned where you can loosen the strings a bit and take some risk.
what I learned about was the “counter target” concept. This is the player that does form part of the front two when pressing or when sitting back, but only as a faux-defender. the channels he covers are mostly traps that the opposition is guided towards. This way, defensively, a player such as “Ozil” can lead opposition into the strongest defensive areas of your side, in much the same way that Liverpool direct opposition into contesting against the three combative central midfielders.
This type of player is very much talented in how they read the game and the spaces or pockets they find off the ball, and most importantly, the decisions they make on the ball. As a counter target, such a player is supposed to take up a counter position after the ball (and opposition player) has gone past him, so that when the ball is won, you not only have a player that has the technique to control a difficult ball out (clearance), but has the intelligence to position himself in the best areas to do damage and with the right decision making to take the best possible option on the break.
In a possession side (or period of dominance in a game), such a player can drop deeper to his more natural between the lines game and use the 7 second rule after losing possession to protect from counters. Quick pressing isn’t above anyone if it is done frantically for only 7 seconds to get teammates back in position.
I know it all sounds a bit too simplistic, but in my experience football isn’t as complicated as it might seem. The best coaches are those that can express their tactics to the players in ways that they can understand and interpret, not the most complex thinkers.
Tim, I have noticed your love and appreciation for Atalanta and Gasperini for their brand of football and tactics. With that in mind, I have been wondering what you make of Napoli and Gattuso.
They are, to me, the closest thing to Wengerball I have seen since Arsene was a manager. Or at the very least, they play possession football, fast breaks, lots of combinations, individual expression and always look to stamp their identity on the game, against anyone. Like Arsene’s sides, they are flawed, so you can expect games where there is a chance for them to lose against anyone.
They are my shout for an entertaining game this weekend against spezia.
And so Pep gets another team to the CL final in the battle of the Persian Gulf Petrodollars, Qatar’s House of Thani vs Abu Dhabi’s Al Nayan clan. A proxy battle of pride and wealth fought in the European theater of football.
“…and if you’re an Arsenal fan living in the States, you probably have ESPN+, Paramount+, Disney+, Peacock -, and Fubo (or regular cable, if you’re a Boomer) and you’re wondering what to watch!”
Years ago, I used to pay $107 /month for Dish Network just so I could have all the sports channels and watch footy 24/7. Then I just got tired of paying that much for a handful of decent channels, and became an early adapter of PS Vue (which is no more). They had everything I wanted and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg ($30 /month). Then they raised prices… then again. Then dropped some channels including BeIn Sports giving only days notice. That was the last straw for me. I hopped back and forth, and tried pretty much every single streaming service except for Fubu. The last one was Youtube TV. At 50 bucks a month it was still relatively reasonable, and had almost all the channels I needed. Then one day I get an email saying that the subscription is going up in price. From $50 to … $65! I mean, come on! I can understand a 10% increase. But a 30% hike?! I said enough is enough, and cancelled it. So at the moment, I’ve got Netflix, Amazon Prime, ESPN+ (at $50 /year it was a steal), and … Kodi. I discovered it for myself a while back (8 years ago give or take) but mainly used it for watching movies/shows, and occasional boxing PPV events. However, you can find literally anything on it including live sports. I’ll just leave it at that. Whoever is interested can do their own research. Good luck!