Lippi rinnova mentre Perrin è vicino alla firma

Due firme, o quasi, fra le maggiori notizie di questo febbraio per il calcio cinese. Il Guangzhou Evergrande infatti ha annunciato il prolungamento per tre stagioni del contratto che lega il club cinese al tecnico italiano Marcello Lippi mentre, nello stesso tempo, anche se ancora manca l'ufficialità, aumentano i rumors riguardanti la firma del francese Alain Perrin come prossimo coach della nazionale. Le due news sono collegate, in quanto Lippi recentemente aveva parlato della possibilità di lasciare il club alla fine del suo attuale contratto mentre aumentavano le notizie che lo davano come principale candidato proprio per il ruolo di CT della nazionale cinese. Invece, tanto Lippi quanto il suo staff rimarranno con l'Evergrande, club con il quale hanno vinto due campionati, una CFA Cup e l'ultima AFC Champions League. Per quanto riguarda Perrin, come detto, la Chinese Football Association deve ancora rilasciare un comunicato ufficiale, ma sembra ormai certo che sarà il francese il prossimo tecnico a guidare la nazionale asiatica. Perrin si trova attualmente a Qingyuan, Guangdong, dove la nazionale è in ritiro prima di partire per gli Emirati Arabi Uniti, dove affronterà l'Iraq. La scelta di Perrin è dovuta alla sua conoscenza del calcio dell'Asia occidentale, contro i cui Paesi spesso la Cina ha sofferto e al fatto che il francese ha accettato le condizioni dettate dalla CFA, fra le quali quella relativa allo stipendio. Infatti, mentre il suo predecessore, lo spagnolo Jose Antonio Camacho, aveva firmato un contratto da circa $6 milioni, Perrin percepirà uno stipendio inferiore a $1 milione per stagione.

AFC Champions League 2014 Preview

La Champions League asiatica comincia ufficialmente questo martedì. I campioni in carica del Guangzhou Evergrande, guidati da Marcello Lippi, si presentano ai nastri di partenza con l'intenzione di duplicare il successo ottenuto nel 2013. Anche se l'Evergrande ha perso un giocatore come l'argentino Dario Conca, partito per andare  a giocare in Brasile con la  Fluminense, l'acquisto del nazionale italiano Alessandro Diamanti compensa questa partenza. Diamanti deve ancora esordire con l'Evergrande ma pochi dubitano che il 30enne attaccante poosa scendere in campo contro il Victory al Tianhe Stadium mercoledì, con Lippi che potrà affiancarlo ai brasiliani Elkeson e Muriqui. Elkeson ha segnato 24 goals in 28 partite giocate dal suo arrivo all'Evergrande nel dicembre 2012, mentre Muriqui è stato il capocannoniere e l'MVP dell'ultima ACL. L'edizione 2014 della ACL sarà anche l'occasione per il calcio giapponese di tornare al vertice del football continentale, almeno a livello di club, dove cinesi e sud coreani hanno prodotto maggiori risultati nelle ultime stagioni. Particolare attenzione sarà infatti data al Cerezo Osaka, forte dell'arrivo dell'attaccante uruguayano Diego Forlan che verrà affiancato in attacco dal nazionale giapponese Yoichiro Kakitani. La squadra di Forlan esordirà in trasferta contro i campioni della K-League dei Pohang Steelers. La Sud Corea, i cui teams hanno preso parte alle ultime 5 finali e che conta 10 titoli in totale, sarà rappresentata da Jeonbuk Motors, Ulsan Horangi, Pohang Steelers e FC Seoul. Proprio l'FC Seoul, finalista della passata stagione, comincerà la sua ACL edizione 2014 scendendo in campo contro i campioni d'Australia dei Central Coast Mariners. Il club sudcoreano ha però perso due talenti in Dejan Damjanovic e Ha Dae-sung, entrambi partiti per andare a giocare in Cina. L'FC Seoul è nel gruppo F, insieme ai campioni del Giappone del Sanfrecce Hiroshima, che esordiranno ospitando i cinesi del Beijing Guoan. L'Esteghlal, squadra iraniana arrivata alle semifinali nel 2013, esordirà contro l'Al Shabab dell'Arabia Saudita. Attesi anche i campioni 2003 dell'Al Ain, guidati dall'attaccante ghanese Asamoah Gyan e da Omar Abdulrahman, star in ascesa del calcio locale, accostato di recente ad Arsenal e Manchester City ma attualmente fuori per infortunio. Per ora, i due volte campioni EAU sono alle prese con l'ennesima crisi, che potrebbe portare il club a dividersi dal tecnico spagnolo Quique Sanchez Flores dopo appena 49 giorni dal momento in cui si è insediato, sostituendo Jorge Fossati.
 

MLS takes over Chivas USA: what next?

Thursday afternoon, MLS announced that it has purchased Chivas USA from Jorge Vergara and Angelica Fuentes. The league’s announcement closes a 10 years era opened in 2005 when Vergara get off to MLS in the way to spread out the brand of Chivas de Guadalajara. But the idea of a US-based counterpart of Mexican powerhouse never materialized as 10 seasons of futility, front-office upheaval and constant roster changes damaged Chivas brand in Los Angeles. Vergara failed to boost Chivas USA as he didn't enough to made it in a position to succeed. The club failed to attract more Latino fans and the attendance in 2013 dropped to a league-low average of just 8,366 fans per game. It wasn’t the only embarrassment Vergara brought to MLS as team’s owner went on embarrassing the league again when race discrimination lawsuits was filed against the club’s tentative to build the program around Spanish ethnicity. So, where the team will reside beyond this season? The MLS plan is to administer the team in the existing Chivas identity, making it a viable franchise and looking for a potential ownership group to buy the franchise. MLS Commissioner Don Garber seemed committed to keeping the team in Los Angeles as MLS remains committed to have two teams there. To do it they need of a new stadium in the Los Angeles area to become next Chivas' home as the shared venue of the StubHub Center, where Chivas and LA Galaxy actually play, affected Chivas USA potential. Speculation immediately raised involving Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke, who purchased 60 acres in Inglewood, Calif. recently. But Garber pointed out that MLS is unfavorable to allow single owner to own multiple teams. The same Vergara couldn't handle two clubs at once. It will be interesting how Garber will be approach this transition here.

Pep to utilise Philipp Lahm in midfield.

The former Barcelona coach had a couple of surprises during his first season as Bayern Munich coach. The first one were the utilization of Philipp Lahm. Pep Guardiola’s switch of Philipp Lahm from full-back to midfielder raised some eyebrows but this decision now appears logic. The double pivot of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez was a key to Bayern’s success last season but Guardiola went far from it utilizing just one holding player. The result was the switch from Jupp Henyinckes’ 4-2-3-1 to a more offensive 4-1-4-1 with a central midfielder sitting between two banks of four. Guardiola has called Lahm "the most intelligent player I’ve ever coached" and his movements remembered the job Sergio Busquets has done for Guardiola at Barcelona. The Uefa's Champions League magazine some months ago descrive Lahm as "a modern libero". It works as Guardiola relocated him into the centre of midfield more than as a simple holder: he acted like a ball carrier able to contribute on team’s flow of play. The use of Lahm as a holding midfielder allows Guardiola to utilize Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcântara and Toni Kroos in more attacking roles, growing up their influence on Bayern’s offense. In the new position, Lahm quickly became a Pep Guardiola’s key player. It was far from a definitive move as Lahm was lined up at full-back against City. By the way, in lining him as a holding midfielder, Guardiola found his man. Lahm is the passer around which to build a lot of offensive line of passes.

Utd tactics not a surprise

Things get worse for Manchester United as the season goes far. United recorded 42 points out from 25 Premier League matches this season, one point fewer than what David Moyes got coaching Everton at this same stage last season and 21 less than they had last term after 25 games. The points United have is the lowest total they reached at this stage in a Premier League season and their worst since 1989-90, when they ended the season 13th. Not so many years ago, the fans at the Old Trafford was booing the team calling for a return to their loved and classic "4-4-2" when the then assistant manager, Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, altered team's formation introducing a different shape. The switch was part of Ferguson's plan to ‘continentalize’ the team. Things have changed.  A recent criticism of Moyes' tactics is that United are relying too much on crosses. If the hiring of Juan Mata was a sign that United wanted to create more chances in central zones, it didn’t happen against Fulham as the Spaniard parked on the right. Barcelona enjoyed football success with short passing recent seasons and it ended overshadowing traditional wing play. But Moyes has gone back to basic and lined up United in a conventional 4-4-2 formation having Mata wide right while Ashley Young was on the opposite flank and with Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick was paired as central midfielders. Against Fulham, 81 crosses were put in the box over the game, 46 just in the first half alone, with Ashley Young and Rafael da Silva that delivered the major part of the passes into the box and with Nemanja Vidic as the only Man Utd player not to put in a cross. When Adnan Januzaj replaced Darren Fletcher and Moyes pushed Wayne Rooney into the midfield and when Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia came on for Rafael and Young, the tactical think didn’t change. Moyes denied that United's plan was merely to utilise the cross and suggested his approach wasn’t one-dimensional. "It was never one way," he said. "If you're just going to look at the stats and think about the crosses you need to think about the number of passes and I don't think we just went out and crossed the ball. Some people might say that one of the things that Manchester United do is play with width and cross the ball, that's in the genes here. But Fulham’s manager Rene Meulensteen disagreed: "When I saw Manchester United today I thought the game plan was quite straightforward – get it wide, get it in, whether it was from the full-back pushing on or the supporting wide man and midfielder." How hard is to defend against this kind of game plan? "If you're well-organised and the goalkeeper is in good positions to come and collect the ball at times, yeah, it can be easy," said Meulensteen. “I've never headed that many balls since [playing in] the Conference,” told Fulham 6-6 centre-back Dan Burn. Squawka stats clearly exposed Moyes’s tactics: United had 65% of possession and produced the above mentioned 81 crosses but had just nine shots on target out from a total of 31. They also were unable to score one goal from ten corners. By the way, this is not a news. It was Moyes's approach since he became United’s manager last summer and this is his background. Moyes’s tactical approach is reactive as the Scot is a manager who wants to nullify the opponent’s strengths, and expose their weaknesses. Moyes were never focused upon ball control. One of the key parts of Moyes's strategy at Everton was creating numerical edge in wide areas in the way to cross. Everton’s passing statistics from last season indicated that the Blues crossed the ball 989 times last campaign with an average of 26.06 crosses per game. Under Moyes, United’s passing statistics for 2013-14 are suggesting that the team is more direct and more careless in ball control. This tactics relying on long passes coming into the attacking third of the field were the same Moyes utilized at Everton. The high ball into the area from out wide was a key part of his strategy.

Much to prove

Remember this: Good coaches don’t always make good managers. There is a gap between Numbers 2 and 1. While Brian Kidd and Carlos Queiroz immediately come to mind, Rene Meulensteen is the latest example. A former assistant of Sir Alex Ferguson, he was in charge at Anzhi Makhachkala for just 16 days before joining Fulham as No.2 to Martin Jol, then going onto replace him when the Dutchman was fired in December. But Fulham continue to struggle. The results remained poor as latest 1-0 defeat in their FA Cup game to Sheffield United testified. And Meulensteen’s job is now in jeopardy, although late equaliser against Manchester United give him some breath. The knowledge gained from working on the shadow of great managers can't be translated to instant success. Making the step up and spreading the wings isn’t impossible but it’s a hard way. Almost every No. 2 thinks he can be a manager. You have to left your comfort zone. You have to become the decision maker. You are no more  working with the club's academy, or a respected and admired assistant coach close to his players, and too friendly… you have to treat the boys differently. Expectations rise and you have to exercise control on the training field and in the manager's office as well. Coaching and managing are different jobs. Your thought process has to be different. Many coaches have failed after leaving their assistant job. André Villas-Boas knows it: he served as José Mourinho’s right-hand man but his lack of man-management skills damaged him. Managers often struggle in their first jobs, just ask Rafa Benitez. Some others simply don’t find their way. Kidd is now a coach at Manchester City after a failed spells as manager with Blackburn Rovers and Queiroz too had forgettable stints with Real Madrid and Portugal. That is not the charge against Garry Monk. There are exceptions. Malky Mackay worked at Watford under Brendan Rodgers. Gus Poyet and Tony Pulis were assistant coaches. Steve Clarke finished in the top half the Premier League in the last two seasons. Monk will face a huge test for his first managing job. The days of playing are over. He took charge at Swansea after Michael Laudrup was fired. There was a feeling that Laudrup’s regime was too soft, his training apparently lacking in intensity and with not enough tactical input during the games. Monk wants to instill a good work ethic and started with a double session. Knowing everything about the club and about the players may help. He learned club’s passing philosophy playing under Roberto Martínez and Rodgers. The former Swansea captain also has experience as club's academy coach but this is a different kind of story. He will have to manage big players.  Monk took over with Swansea close of the relegation zone. He and his first-team coach Alan Curtis have to put their players through the right paces. Their debut worked as Swansea had a memorable start under the new manager. Monk has the opportunity to succeed at management level.