That is so true. If the situation is bad enough, hope is the one thing you can’t afford. "Abandon all hope, you who enter here," is not something Dante wrote to create a gloomy atmosphere. It’s helpful advice.
Part of the reason is that PL lower and mid level managers are tactically astute. Partly it’s because the TV money means anyone in the PL are a big money team compared to the recent past. Another point is that more and more teams are making the same mistake of buying a bunch of players and finding they have a bunch of recently bought players instead of a team. However that may be, the fact is that half a season has decided absolutely nothing at the top of the table. Leicester could easily win the league or drop out of the top four. As to the CL places, Watford and Crystal Palaces are real threats, and even Man U and LIverpool still have a chance.
I am pretty sure its because the big clubs on the continent tend to be happy with a team approach to managing the club while here we are stuck with the manager being in sole charge of everything and very few people can do a job that big. But the other reason is that most players have quite similar abilities and you can only get an edge by either having a few really good players (which costs money or luck) or by gelling a bunch of average ones into a team which is greater than the sum of its parts. Barcelona and Bayern Munich have managed to do both at once of course. I think we are well on the way to having a proper team rather than a bunch of individuals. Chelsea, Liverpool and the Manchester clubs ae behind us on this but do have better players so will always be a danger.
http://www.theguardian.com/football...est-footballers-in-the-world-2015-interactive. So Mahrez, hands down the best player in the PL this year, is the 97th best player in the world. Alrighty then. Mahrez is a very serious candidate for the golden ball this year, if it were actually awarded to the best player, as opposed to the usual suspects. Would Ronaldo have done better than Mahrez playing for Leicester this year? I doubt it. I guess you can’t rank him with the likes of Memphis Depay (#86).
97th best according to the Guardian who have Rooney at #60... It doesn't matter how many "experts" they have gathered together, based on the advertised "best in the world 2015" this list is, well, a likely load of bollocks?
Is having a 'team' coaching? Certainly Man Utd players have had their most effective qualities 'coached' out of them. Pochettino's team all reference how good it is to go on the pitch knowing that they are going to be backed up by their team mates. A lot of that is application. You see your team mates putting in the effort and do likewise. I think it's also about knowing your part in the collective whole and what others are bringing to the team and that they will do it effectively. What strikes me about the teams, not traditionally seen as successful, that are having such a good season is that they are very, very well organised. They tend to have pretty low levels of possession of the ball but are unconcerned by that. They know how to defend when they don't have the ball and that comes from long hours working hard on the training pitch. They also know how to switch from defence to attack very quickly. They have pace and power in attacking positions and they make sure they use it. They get the ball to the pacy players as quickly as possible but they don't just hoof it upfield. I was struck by watching Norwich beat Utd at the weekend how well they broke out of defensive positions using the pace of Jerome and Tettey (neither of whom are that skilled but have real pace and strength). This mirrors what Palace, Leicester and Watford are doing. Match of the Day used to be filled with Hansen laughing at comical defending. Hansen's gone and the joke defending along with him. Defending can be coached into a team that costs far less than the traditional top teams. George Graham's boring Arsenal defence got very few international caps but won league titles. Look at City's £30m centre halves and Liverpool's Lovren, Sakho and Skrtel. They often look lost whereas Huth, Morgan, Dann, Cathcart, Britos, etc are having fine seasons. This defensive drilling is what Pulis has done for years to keep teams in the PL. Other coaches have effectively grafted pacy counter-attacking onto it and Hey-Presto you're challenging for Europe!
Good points. Moreover, I think Pochettino based his game plan on this - organised defence, plans to press as a unit, and swift counterattacking when we turn the ball over and transition. What will really set his Spurs team apart from the rest, if he can really develop as a coach with this group of players, is if he can get them consistently breaking down teams when we have the majority of possession and teams sit back and put men behind the ball, instead of getting around us as Southampton did at the weekend.
I agree. We have the players to do this very effectively. Both goals against Southampton came from winning the ball in our own half and getting it forward quickly. Likewise, Son's goal against Palace, Lamela's against Man City and probably quite a few others. We also have the high press which we do extremely well and has yielded a number of goals. As you say, the key to our success is breaking down the well-drilled, in-position defence. If we lack anything it's frightening pace. Son's pretty quick but you wouldn't say the same about Kane, Eriksen, Lamela, Dembele, Chadli or Alli. Clinton's that quick but has had little chance in PL games which is likely to continue due to injury. Maybe it's why we have only got 1 penalty this season? Gray at Birmingham is greased lightning. I think it's no wonder we're scouting him. I also think that Pritchard might be a player whose quick thinking, low centre of gravity and ability to spot space could open up teams when we are pressing against massed ranks of defenders. Onomah's ability to run with the ball in tight spaces could also work. Maybe we can use their talents in the last 20-30 minutes of future games to increase our options? Or is Berahino going to play up top with Harry Kane behind him in the no 10 role? The more I think about it this makes sense of our desire to buy him.
I disagree a bit on the pace front actually. We've a few players who can really shift it - Son, Clint, Townsend and Walker of course - and the likes of Alli, Chadli, Lamela and Kane are quicker than many give them credit for. Even Eriksen can move fast when he has to. Effective counterattacking football is as much about awareness, decision making, and speed of thought though as it is about physical speed, in my opinion. Of course it helps to be Gareth Bale but its not always necessary. In the past players like Lamela and Townsend haven't always had the decision making part of it down to a fine art. We'll see if that changes. Key to breaking down a packed defence once you've 'boxed them in' is good movement and passing (and players with the understanding of each other to the extent where they can put them together), and players having the awareness that they need to spread out wide to draw defenders out of the congested space in the middle of the pitch, and to drop off a little and allow the other team to bring the ball out to create vertical space between midfield and defence and the goal. I think we press too hard sometimes and need to drop off a bit occasionally just to allow some gaps to appear. We end up with the ball but just knocking it about aimlessly in the middle/opposition 3rd of the pitch with little chance of breaking the other team down, if anything we're setting up the opposition for a counter with all our midfielders and FBs drawn into offensive positions. Avoiding that, and making sure we have the discipline to keep a player (FB or midfielder) as on option on each touchline, will open defences up a bit. I think there is scope for us to use Kane like Muller is used for Bayern - as a goalscorer but with no fixed position playing off a focal no.9 who can also score plenty but also bring other players into the game very well (that might be where Batshayui is better than Berahino, from what little I've seen), and that might actually be very effective for Kane but it does call into question the role in the team of Eriksen, Alli or Lamela. More likely is that we sign another striker as backup and only play them together when circumstance calls for it, in my opinion.
I think Townsend's on the way out. It's a shame because there's talent there and he's Spurs but he's lost his way a bit and his decision making is off at the moment. He wants to go to France in the summer and needs game time. We could do with the money and in the summer he'll have 12 months left on his contract and it adds up to one thing; he's on his way. Clinton was finding his way but the first season for new imports is usually a bit hit and miss and a few months out isn't going to help with that. As you say, we've people who are quick but not like Lennon was quick over 5 yards and who can commit people and go past them. Someone like that would be another option for us. Mitchell's been scouting Gray and I reckon it's that element of his game that appeals to us. If we're a CL team (please) we're going to need a squad of players of 23 who can all bring something to the team. Even if we strike a deal like we did for Dele Alli, allowing him to keep improving ahead of joining us later, someone like him with pace would be beneficial.
Wenger has slammed the press speculation about Van Galling's immediate future as "disrespectful" Funny he never said that about the press speculating about Moron's future up until last week...
I don't normally feel sorry for managers in this situation but I do for van gaal, reminds me of the last days of martin Jol at Spurs, pretty much knows he's going to be replaced, it can't be nice for your final job in football to be played out like this. I'm not sure why there's this media obsession with mourinho, he might win things at united (if he gets the job) but he will never win in the style that club craves.
I also feel for the guy. It's about time someone stood up against some of the two faced people who write for papers. I know some will say it comes with the well paid job these managers are on, but the guy deserves a bit more respect than the media are currently giving him.
Unfortunately, for LVG, the current erratic form of Utd, coupled with the money he's spent, have coincided with Mourinho being sacked. Maybe our Dutch guest isn't used to the UK red top press, but he'd better get used to it if he wants to survive!
Her Majesty's Gutter Press, there's not a finer bunch of jackals and hyenas to be found anywhere. Mourinho has made the worst defence of a championship ever; fallen out with his players; dared his employers to sack him; belittled a junior member of staff for giving medical assistance to a player who suffered a head injury leading to her dismissal; been banned from the stadium for acting like a kid experiencing the terrible twos and yet these people want him to replace Van Gaal and will hound the incumbent to try and make it happen. All this because the little prick gives them something to write about by behaving like a 2 year old. I wonder how long it will take them to turn on Klopp or is he also 'column inch magic' and immune?
To be blunt, I have absolutely no sympathy for Van Galling whatsoever: not only was he given everything he needed to succeed at Man Utd so soon after the club did the exact opposite for Moyes, but ever since he became their manager the press have had a whole Narrative written up that he would succeed - after all, it was only a few weeks ago the BBC were triumphantly proclaiming Man Utd had returned to the top of the table after winning a lunchtime game...even though they were knocked off the top spot the second the 3pm games kicked off (literally) and would've dropped to fourth if City and Arsenal didn't conspire to lose to Liverpool and Kvetch Brom respectively. The red carpet was rolled out for him since day one and at no point was he judged under the same criteria as the majority of Premier League managers, for example even Pellegrini or Wenger would've been crucified by the press for selling Van Persie for a mere £3.5m, so for him to piss that up the wall within eighteen months reflects extremely badly on him and him alone. Also, let's be honest: with Barca, Bayern and the Dutch national team on his CV he should have a hide thicker than a brachiosaurus when it comes to being criticised by the press and/or former players with such considerable clout their opinion holds a lot of weight - yet instead he comes across as thin-skinned and petulant when facing even the most mild of criticism.
What has the BBC's triumphant proclaiming of United going top of the league, got to do with his right to a bit of respect from the media ? Apart from murderers or *****s etc, no person should have to be subject to mass red top hysteria about his impendingd demise. He is human, same as the rest of us, so why shouldn't he try to defend himself ?
Tbh millions of us get slaughtered in the press every week. If you're on benefits you're a scrounger, if you're a public service worker you're lazy and overpaid, if you need the nhs you're making the country bankfupt, if you are anti war you support terrorism, if you are strike you are a militant ****bag...the media lay into people all the time The difference is that regular people do not get to put their side across and do not get paid huge amounts of money for interviews etc by the press that slaughter them. LVG uses the press when it suits him...he accepts their praise and should (when he is doing completely underwhelming job of being Man Utd manager) take the criticism. If his family and friends are worried cos he might lose his job then he should explain it means nothing...cos he is set for life. When millions of people face losing their jobs and benefits and those peoples families are reading about it in the press (who justify these cuts with lies) their families can not be told not to worry as the loss of work causes havoc to their lives. LVG is not suffering imo...he is just doing a piss poor job and should stop acting like a prima donna
