David Moyes
defensive style was a key factor in his sacking by Manchester United and
interim manager Ryan Giggs will have to fix it. Scot’s approach relying on
defensive shape and constant crosses from the flanks were predictable. Moyes’s
training methods also has been questioned for being lengthy and tedious.
Players were accustomed to training with the ball under Ferguson while they
were now being asked to improve their fitness in much more classic physically
demanding training routines. But above all Giggs will have to take care of
man-management. Coaching at higher level have a lot to do with man-management.
It a clear fact as you have to deal with adult players that know what they want
in terms of training and playing. Giggs
knows he has to be adaptable as he once stated. And man-management is an area
to be improved and where Giggs will have to show this flexibility. Moyes'
classe with players, notably Rio Ferdinand, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley,
Ashley Young and Chris Smalling, were well documented. Clearing out former
coaching staff of Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele and bringing in
his lieutenants from Everton didn’t help Moyes to be accepted by Manchester
Uited’s dressing room. Giggs will have to do better here than Moyes if he
doesn’t want struggle. His first comments suggest he could be more of a
man-to-man coach. That could be draw benefits for Manchester United’s players. A
group of Premier League players is a hard crowd to deal with. They are critical
of your training sessions and methods. Just ask to Paolo Di Canio, who
struggled this season to run his way with less demanding players at Sunderland.
Handling multi-millionaires with a big ego and managing every aspect of their
needs, from contracts to their tactical requests - remember the famous Robin
van Persie’s quote claiming that
team-mates was "occupying the spaces I want" - is a key aspect
of the job. Andre Villas-Boas’ lack of flexibility and man management tools cost him the job with
Spurs this season. What Giggs have to be impressive with is definitely man management.
Tutto quello che volete sapere sul calcio europeo, americano e asiatico...Sakka, soccer, futebol...100 modi di dire calcio.
venerdì 25 aprile 2014
martedì 22 aprile 2014
Is Simone Zaza the next Gianluca Vialli?
Between the
forty-two players arrived to the national training centre at Coverciano last
week to undergo physical tests in preparation for this summer World Cup, there
was a couple to young men coming from a struggling side. Simone Zaza and Domenico Berardi both
get their call-up for tests with Cesare Prandelli's Italy side Prandelli
acknowledged in an interview with the newspaper Libero on Tuesday that he
already had 18 names in mind for his 23-man squad. So it’s interesting to see
which players might be battling it out for the remaining five open spots. There
is going to be fierce competition for attacking places in the squad next summer. With players like
Ciro Immobile and Antonio Cassano still unsure about their spots, Zaza will be
hardly among them. He probably will have a better chance to get the call-up for
the roster Prandelli will start to assemble looking to Euro 2016. By the way, Sassuolo’s
forward is a player hard to overlook. Zaza showed flashes of his ability during
this term. He has been effective playing as centre-forward or wide out for
Eusebio Di Francesco and he’s one of the gifted forwards which have flourished
this season. Zaza is a two-dimensional forward able to play into the box and
wide open as well. His value is more than simply in scoring goals although the 22 year old forward provided 7 goals out from 29 appearances this
season. The left-footed shot that found the net to give Sassuolo the
lead and a pivotal point 1-1 at home against Cagliari another reminder of what Zaza can
do. Another standout prospect gone through the Atalanta
youth system, Zaza is a mobile, strong and quick forward that successfully
integrates the prodigious starlet Berardi. Together with his left-footed
teammate, Zaza has gone to form one of the rising and prominent attacking
partnerships in the Serie A. Sassuolo’s hopes of survival go through the pair
of Berardi and Zaza. His pace and
directness caught the eyes since his stint at Ascoli in Serie B 2012-13. After
he ended the season scoring 18 goals, Zaza was brought and he’s now co-owned by
Sassuolo and Juventus. Although Zaza isn’t a finished product, his tools
generated a lot of excitement and comparisons have been made with Gianluca
Vialli, former Sampdoria and Juventus forward who lead Blucerchiati to their
lone Scudetto in 1990-91 and Bianconeri to their second Champions League in
1995-96. As Vialli at Cremonese, Zaza cut his teeth in a small club. As former Chelsea manager, Zaza started his Serie A career with not a big club, although with Vialli up front Sampdoria enjoied the most successful era in its history. Vialli is one of the 20 best
attackers to ever played the Italian top flight so this is a demanding comparison for Zaza. While is
not sure that Zaza will replicate Vialli’s highs, he surely started the long
way towards achieving them.
lunedì 21 aprile 2014
Decision on Frank Farina's future expected
Sydney
FC's season is finally over after
Melbourne Victory knocked them out with a 2-1 win. Frank
Farina's tenure will came under scrutiny after his team put too much up and
down. while fans across the country could wonder whether it has seen the last
of Farina, the coach defended how the team had performed this season,
suggesting they played better than the media and public think.
Farina's future should
be evaluated in term of results and performances. The problem for Sydney
were inconsistency. Let me explain it:
Farina doesn’t give his team a clear identity as the Sky Blues’ season was a
rollercoaster in term of shape and formation. Entering this pre-season thoughts
was Sydney was ready to move to a 4-3-3 formation. But since the A-League season started, Farina abruptly moved to a 4-2-3-1
system featuring two midfielders sitting deep. With this formation, we have
seen the No. 6 coming into a deeper position with the centre-backs splitting
to have a three-man back line with an extra man in the buildup.When they
faced Melbourne Victory on Australia Day, Farina switched to a 4-4-2 diamond
formation, with Terry McFlynn sitting at the bottom of the diamond and with
Alessandro Del Piero up top. But when Sydney faced Melbourne once again in the
A-League quarter-final, Farina changed again, coming back to the same 4-3-3
that earned his side two consecutive wins over Perth and Wellington, lining up
Alessandro Del Piero as false nine. Farina seemed to have more belief and faith in principles than in tactical
shapes as he tried to add an extra man in midfield at any coast, although it
meant change his side’s formation any time. In effect, Farina once affirmed that “99 times out of a hundred the game is won in
the middle of the park”. Questions can be also raised about the way Farina utilized Del Piero.
Although the great impact Del Piero had on and off the pitch for the A-League
is undeniable, how he fitted into Sydney FC wasn’t clear. More a striker than a
trequartista, Farina made him operating as a No. 10 between the lines of
midfield and defence when Sydney was playing a diamond in midfield. Otherwise,
we have seen Del Piero operating as wide left forward in a 4-3-3 formation as
it happened in the game against Adelaide. At the end, as pointed earlier,
Farina assigned the Italian a false nine spot. Former Juventus star was never Farina's
pick. When Farina played Del Piero, Sydney defend with 10 men and didn’t play
the "high tempo" style Farina spoke about when he get the job. The
answer to these questions isn’t
obvious and discussions have to be had. However, Farina has been able to get out
results although it didn’t eliminate the final question. In fact, while chief
executive Tony Pignata once detailed the team’s expected football philosophy,
suggesting that club favored a pro-active style of football, based on
possession, Farina likes a more direct brand of football, with his team sitting
deep and counter-attacking. If it goes along with team’s fans and board of
direction football expectations remains to be seen.
martedì 8 aprile 2014
The Gombau way
Josep Gombau has been voted to take charge of the A-League All Stars for the game against Juventus in August. This is hardly a surprise after the recent run of good results as the Reds are playing the league’s most entertaining football. Still, in the beginning things was difficult for the Catalonian, as Gombau’s side went winless for eight games and some criticism was raised by players and fans to the former Barcelona youth coach's tactical thoughts, creating a hostile environment. It was difficult to understand what Gombau was doing and the philosophy he was implementing not just for people in Adelaide but for every football fan in Australia. Gombau’s focus is always on the performance first. The strict ball retantion and the high defensive line he was tinkered was something new at this latitude. Bringing a new football philosophy to a club needs time. With patience and tenacity, Gombau turned things out, installing his favorite 4-3-3 formation based on possession and attacking mentality. Reds want to win, and what they want is to attack, having the ball and playing an amusing brand of football. They have struggled a bit to counter sides sitting deep and playing on the counter but the Spaniard stayed faithful to his system. “This is the way that we want to win, if we win like this okay and if not we will keep trying”, Gombau said. “"What we want to do is create our own philosophy, our own style.” It started to pay off. Gombau’s playing style revolves around to dominate possession and it starts from their centre halves. The Reds like to start the build up from the back, getting the ball out from the defensive line to play it in between the lines or behind the opposite’s defense. It is when defending against Adelaide became more hard. If rivals allow Fabio Ferreira, Sergio Cirio and Jeronimo Neumann to attack the channels and the spaces over the back line, the Reds become dangerous. They are explosive and quick when facing the goal and running into spaces. Gombau was able to teach is way, building a team playing the style he wants and it is an indictment of his tactical acumen.
giovedì 3 aprile 2014
Oscar withdrawal and Ramires switch cost Mourinho the game
José Mourinho's
defensive approach worked PSG…until he abruptly changed it! With no faith in
Fernando Torres after his erratic performance at Selhurst Park, with Samuel
Eto'o injured and with a lack of trust in in Demba Ba, Mourinho is clearly not
happy with his strikers' performances, so he opted to play Andre Schuerrle as a
false nine in front of a packed midfield featuring Ramires, David Luiz, Oscar, Eden Hazard
and Willian. The duties were set with Ramires chasing Marco Verratti and Oscar
covering Thiago Motta. This gave Blaise Matuidi enough freedom to become a
factor on the left side. And in fact, Matuidi managed 64 passes with a 88% of
pass accuracy and 4 crosses, having an impact in creation being involved in the
first two PSG goals. The midfield three Mourinho selected suggests his idea was
to contain PSG’s midfield trio, playmakers Verratti and Thiago Motta in
particular. The game plan of shutting down both them worked nicely as they
suffered Chelsea’s pressure and failed setting the tempo. Playing Luiz as holding midfielder helped too as the Brazilian made Zatlan Ibrahimovic ineffective when he was dropping deep to act as an advanced playmaker. So Chelsea were balanced
defensively and the positional play from Verratti and Motta was under control until
Mourinho elected to replace André Schuerrle with Torres and Oscar with Frank
Lampard, switching Ramires into a right flank role. It simply conceded Motta to play effectively
as deep-lying midfielder and gave Verratti to become the playmaker he wasn’t
allowed to be in the first half. With this formation on field, Chelsea showed
all their inability and discipline to defend deep.
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