Liverpool show how classy the are!

 

Football is the game of the people and the reason people think or say such because it fulfills their imagination and understands their pulses. The flow of goals, high-octane pace, errors, and then correction of those, drama, the players running hard and skillsets juiced with spikes of brilliance – no other game can provide so many things in just 90 minutes.

After two days of crazy football in England, finally, Liverpool resorted the normality by displaying high-quality football and burying the thoughts that they are a team which have lost their Midas touch and are in decay with other contenders cropping up to dethrone them. Surely, after the dismal shows from the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City; Jurgen Klopp can be sure that his reign as the champions might not only continue, but it would continue to dazzle in the coming days.

Last night, in the clash against Arsenal, Liverpool reconfirmed the world that they are unstoppable!

 Maybe Arsenal are more organized, pragmatic in outfit under Mikel Arteta, but they had no answer to Liverpool’s relentless intensity.

The start of the campaign was freakish and the emphatic victory over the Blues at Stamford Bridge last week was an indication that the Reds are flexing their muscles and charging are up gradually while the rest of the world is busy in discovering their weakness.

While the rest of the teams were busy in breaking their banks and sowing the seeds of false hopes among their fans, the Reds remained silent and observed the set up closely – Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota were signed up and it proved inspirational to Klopp’s mission 2020-21.

Arsenal had defeated Liverpool twice over the past two months and, like their hosts, entered this fixture with a perfect start, but Mikel Arteta's men were unable to build on a lead gifted to them by Andy Robertson within 25 minutes.

The left-back inadvertently set up Alexandre Lacazette to score for the visitors completely against the run of play, only for Sadio Mane to equalize 147 seconds later.

The set up to Mane’s goal was the ideal example of how the Reds strike back.

The back four became back three with Fabinho taking the place in the defensive midfield. The two wing-backs – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson went higher up the pitch to press the Arsenal threat. 

Gini Wijnaldum joined Fabinho in the midfield to form the double pivot, which forced Willian to move narrow and gave Robertson the license to roam freely and high up. 

Hector Bellerin was left in two minds whether to mark Robertson or join Rob Holding to create a 2 vs 1 situation against Mane. 

Arsenal were attracted by the double pivot of the Reds to come forward and force a turnover as high as possible - the Gunners paid a heavy price. 

It opened the opportunities for the Reds and their dangerously devastating long and diagonal crosses nullified Arsenal. 

Arteta tried the wall-pass and longballs to overcome the threat; last night none of them worked.  

Naby Keita advanced forward and the relentless pressure led to his foul on David Luiz.

Roberto Firmino picked up the loose ball and played it to Mohamed Salah, who surged thrillingly away from Tierney like a leopard hungry for prey - his first touch into the space was majestic and whipped a shot that was beaten away by Leno. It rebounded straight to Mane, who cushioned a volley into the empty net.

The Arsenal celebration was cut short by the counter-pressing of Klopp’s Red Machine.

A few minutes later the Liverpool wing-backs came into action, which simply bamboozled the Arsenal unit.

 Alexander-Arnold’s deep cross skimmed off the head of Hector Bellerin and reached Robertson, who controlled it on the chest and poked past Leno – Robbo, the villain became the hero in minutes.

If Robbo is all about chicky runs and low crosses then Trent is about devastating long and diagonal crosses.

When did Premier League last witness such a devastating wing-back pair?

Arsenal were taken out of the game in the second half as the Reds poured in their half like a unit hungry for more.

The newly signed Jota was introduced and made his presence felt as he fired into the side netting with only Leno to beat, but he rifled in from further out five minutes later to put the icing on a fifth home league win in a row for Liverpool against Arsenal.

The scoreline was 3-1, but the Reds could have scored more.

Perhaps their ruthlessness and decisiveness in front of the goal are preserved for the upcoming matches.

Surely, Liverpool are unstoppable.  

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 29/07/2020 Liverpool show how classy they are!

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Faisal Caesar 

 

Barcelona start brightly, Philippe Coutinho impresses

 

Football had been wild on Saturday and Sunday. There had been quite a few hiccups and there had been the fall of the giants at the hands of determined units in an astonishing manner. While Bayern Munich and Manchester City were left reeling after the heavy defeats, all eyes were focused on how Barcelona would start the new season.

Already their arch-rivals, Real Madrid found the going tougher and with so much chaos dominating the headlines during the offseason, Ronald Koeman’s Barca were thought to be suffering from a lack of self-confidence.

But as soon as the ball started rolling against Villarreal, all those offseason-chaos and anxiety diminished.

Lionel Messi's desire to leave Barcelona showed no sign of impacting his on-pitch performance. The young Ansu Fati got the ball rolling with an impressive double in a five-minute period, before then winning the penalty that was scored by Messi, who subsequently saw a cross of his turned in by Villarreal defender Pau Torres.

Unai Emery's side tightened up in the second half, with Barca consequentially having a little less freedom in the final third, but Villarreal's slight improvement had no impact on what was an easy start for Koeman in LaLiga.

With Messi's future up in the air, Fati had seemingly been billed as the poster boy of this new era at Barca and fittingly he was their inspiration here, opening the scoring 15 minutes in with an emphatic first-time finish from Jordi Alba's cut-back.

The teenager was decisive again a few moments later, latching on to Philippe Coutinho's through-ball and coolly slotting past the helpless Sergio Asenjo, who also had no answer to Messi's penalty, which was won by the omnipresent Fati as well.

Things got even worse for the visitors on the stroke of half-time, Torres poking Messi's cross beyond Asenjo as the unlikely specter of Sergio Busquets lurked for a tap-in.

A bright start for Barcelona and Fati and Messi are hitting the headlines and it was expected.

But somewhere between Fati and Messi – Philippe Coutinho is lost as usual.

Koeman shaped up Barcelona in a 4-2-3-1 formation, where Coutinho was given the role to play behind Messi as a central attacking midfielder or center forward. Fati and Antoine Griezmann started on the left and right respectively while Sergio Busquets formed the double pivots.

Coutinho relishes the central role and last night he showed when he is given his ideal position, he could become better and better. Neither the wide midfield on the left nor the left-wing was the best position for him, but this is the position where Coutinho thrives.

He was brilliant while passing the ball from center to the right and to the left with an accuracy of 91.5% and then not only linked up well with Messi and fat, but dictated the game by linking up with the pivots as well.

Then there was that key pass, which opened up the opportunity to Fati second.

Holding on the ball, dribbling, and through-balls during the match; made one think of the return of the old little magician.

One of the most important aspects of Coutinho’s game was his ability to exploit the spaces smartly. It was not evident before, but since returning from Bayern Munich, one could notice the shadow of Thomas Muller in him. A season with Bayern Munich seemed to have helped Coutinho.

It is a long season and one needs to maintain the best of fitness and skill level to prove a point.

Most importantly, the player needs to be utilized properly.

Koeman used Coutinho appropriately in the first match.   

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk 28/09/2020 Barcelona start brightly, Philippe Coutinho impresses

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Jamie Vardy and Leicester hit Pep Guardiola 5 times

 

If any team could challenge the might of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the Premier League this season then it would be none other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Since football returned to Europe after the break from COVID-19 Pandemic, City displayed their killer instincts and hinted that they would mean business in the next season.

But today, in the clash against Leicester City, they were done and dusted. The Foxes hit Pep five times. Pep has never lost a match by such a margin and in home matches such things were always unthinkable. But this is 2020 and always be ready for the unthinkable to happen.

The start of City was bright and when Riyad Maharez struck in the opening minutes, it seemed that they would steamroll the Foxes.

Everything was going according to the script until the 36th-minute.

Kyle Walker put hands on Jamie Vardy in the area, and referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot.

Barnes went on a good run and played the ball through to Vardy. Walker, who was on the wrong side, put hands on him and Vardy went down.

Vardy equalized from the penalty spot.

The equalizer boosted the morale of the Foxes.

Pep decided bring a change in the second half.

Liam Delap replaced Fernandinho, which changed the shape to 4-1-2-3: Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne in the midfield, Raheem Sterling on the left, Mahrez on the right and Delap up front.

But actually City started playing in a 4-4-2 shape with De Bruyne alongside Rodri in the midfield and Sterling partnering Delap up front. Pep Guardiola in 4-4-2.

It actually toned down the tempo.

 A few minutes later,  Tielemans played a fine ball down the line to Castagne, who crossed low towards the near post. Vardy got in front of Garcia before flicking the ball behind his standing leg and past Ederson. The best part is that he stunned the ball into the ground so that it bounced over the crouching Ederson – it was an outrageous finish!

A minute later, Leicester almost bagged the third - Praet teed up Barnes, whose cracking long-range shot is pushed behind by the sprawling Ederson.

But the third goal was around the corner – Garcia fouled Vardy and conceded a penalty. Vardy made no mistake in netting the third and bag the hat-trick – second hat-trick against a Pep Guardiola team.

Vardy has scored nine times against Pep Guardiola’s City. Nobody else has scored more than five.

20 minutes later, James Maddison received the ball in space on the left wing, cut inside and hit a magnificent, booming curler that beat the flying Ederson and nestled in the far corner.

Ake reduced the deficit, but Mendy conceded another penalty, which Tielemans shot from the spot to complete the humiliation.

For the opening 30 minutes City dominated the proceedings, but as soon as Vardy equalized, Leicester simply tore the home team apart ruthlessly. The defence of City was crushed and left clueless whereas the back like of Leicester hardly allowed the midfield of City to advance and limited them to long-range shots.  

The 2020-21 season is getting exciting.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/09/2020 Jamie Vardy and Leicester hit Pep Guardiola 5 times

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Hoffenheim shock Bayern Munich

 

The football fans need to take a deep breath and calm down themselves because this has been a wild, wild football weekend. Brighton almost halted Manchester United, West Brom were all set to gift Chelsea a shocker, Real Betis stranglehold Real Madrid yesterday and New Castle have stunned Tottenham Hotspur courtesy of a ridiculous VAR decision today.

And, when they witnessed TSG 1899 Hoffenheim hand the German Giants Bayern Munich a 4-1 disgrace – well, buddy, this 2020; where anything can go wrong. There would always a surprising element for which you are still not prepared to digest.

Surely, the roster against Hoffenheim would be one of those matches where Bayern would go out there and finish the formalities by thrashing the opponents and maintain their brilliant unbeaten streak since last December. But all good things have their end and at times they end in an astonishing fashion.

Bayern surfaced a team without their hit-man Robert Lewandowski for the first time in the last two years.  The young Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee preferred in his place to lead an attacking line that also consisted of Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller and Serge Gnabry.

A clash against Augsburg at home on September 25, 2018 was the last time Lewandowski did not feature in the starting XI when fit from the outset for a league match.

The match progressed and Hoffenheim looked the better side in the first half, with the visitors arguably lucky to only trail by one goal at the interval as Joshua Kimmich pulled one back after Ermin Bicakcic and Munas Dabbur had put the hosts 2-0 up.

Bayern can’t lose and that is the kind of thought which the followers nurture in their mind these days and in the second half they expected Bayern to come out all guns blazing.

Hoffenheim's intensity remained impressive after the restart and they went close twice in quick succession through Dabbur early on.

Bayern almost made the most of those let-offs when Zirkzee hit the bar from an acute angle just prior to being replaced by Lewandowski, as Flick attempted to force the issue.

That change failed to bring the desired improvement.

Andrej Kramaric put the result beyond Bayern with two goals in the final 13 minutes to inflict a first defeat on the champions since December, and in emphatic style.

Overall, Bayern looked sluggish and Hoffenheim exploited the sluggishness and ended Bayern’s immortality.

Hansi Flick needs to come up with a different plan because the rest have started to catch up.  

Note: this article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/09/2020 Hoffenheim shock Bayern Munich

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Victorious Real Madrid, but still a lot to improve

It was another test of patience and temperament for Real Madrid. Real Betis would come hard and at one point they were ahead of the title holders. But in the end, the Royal Whites bounced back to bag full points.

The Los Blancos began their title defence with an underwhelming 0-0 stalemate with Real Sociedad, and while they were only marginally better in Seville, they just about made the most of their numerical advantage.

Real Madrid initially looked good value for their lead when Federico Valverde prodded them in front, but Betis showed excellent resilience to turn it around.

Aissa Mandi and William Carvalho did the damage in a three-minute salvo, the latter netting in successive games having not scored in his first 57 outings for the club.

Things began to look up for Madrid early in the second half when Emerson found his own net before then getting sent off, and Los Blancos completed the win thanks to Ramos' Penanke eight minutes from time.

The coach of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane experimented with his side, by getting rid of the wingers and making Luka Jovic the partner of Karim Benzema up front with Martin Odegaard lying behind them by forming the tip of the diamond midfield.

But Odegaard is not someone like Isco, who could perform both the attacking and defensive duties from that position slightly better, rather he more like a deep-lying player. His rigid presence at the top helped Betis to break the lines and catch Real Madrid during the transitions.

Then Sergio Ramos took risky decisions in the first half, which disturbed the shape of the formation on a couple of sequences. On William Carvalho’s go-ahead goal for Betis in the first half, Odegaard’s positioning in transition off the ball was clearly an issue.

Betis took the lead in the first half as Real did not have the sense to control the ball despite having four at the center of the park. The players did not press higher enough. The defence kept a high-line, which gave spaces and struggled to cope with the pressure of Betis without the ball.

Isco was brought on in the second half, who positioned slightly left rather than staying rigid in the center.

Real Betis were vulnerable at the back also, and this became a back-and-forth, frenetic game where both teams had space in transition – sadly, both the teams lacked the quality in the midfield to exploit the spaces.

Real Madrid’s equalizer came in the 48th minute, where Fede Valverde’s quick diagonal ball to Dani Carvajal was followed by a ball into the box by Real Madrid’s right-back which was deflected into goal by Emerson.

Emerson’s night got worse when, defending a Jovic breakaway, the Brazilian committed a foul on Real Madrid’s striker and earned a red card.

Jovic was dull - During his time on the Benito Villamarin pitch, Jovic didn't shoot, create or even show that he wanted to be there.

The forward's move to Los Blancos last summer, costing 60 million euros, has resulted in a disaster for all involved.

Zidane substituted him for Borja Mayoral, but at that point in time, either Vinicius Junior or Rodrygo Goes should have been on the pitch to exploit the fragile Betis defence.

Benzema, Mendy, and Ramos led by an example.

Valverde had been the best player on the pitch – linked-up well with the players high-up and dropped down to partner with the defenders and Casemiro.

Thibaut Courtois channeled his inner Gordon Banks with a save to deny Antonio Sanabria in the seventh minute. The Belgian imitated his English counterpart's stunning stop against Pele from the 1970 World Cup with some impressive reflexes.

Critics complaining about the complicated decisions in the match on which Zidane said, “The referee is there to review the action. I think that in the end, it's just what happened. He's in charge. I never get involved with the referees and I'm not going to get involved today. The most important thing for us is the game we played at a difficult ground.”

The victory against Real Betis was Zinedine Zidane's 100th in charge of Real Madrid in LaLiga Santander.

The Frenchman has coached Los Blancos in 147 LaLiga Santander matches in total, with 55 at home and 45 away from home.

In those games, Zidane's sides have scored 342 goals and conceded 142.

Only Miguel Munoz has won more La Liga matches in charge of Real Madrid than Zidane with 257.

As well as his centenary of victories, the former Real Madrid midfielder has won two LaLiga Santander titles - in 2016-17 and 2019-20.

A tough victory, but still a lot to improve.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/09/2020 Victorious Real Madrid, but still a lot to improve

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Faisal Caesar 

Chelsea still not up to the mark

 

The talk about the heavy spending of Chelsea has become boring and quite irritating at the same time. If the performance remains dull and face-saving ones, surely, the presence of quality players doesn’t mean anything. If the team remains a project, which is yet to bloom even after spending two to three weeks on the pitch, then, it is better to save money and invest faith in homegrown talents.

Chelsea have problems at the back and this was evident in the last season as well. You can relish the intent to play attacking football, but until and unless, you don’t fix your back and center of the park, adventure becomes a liability.

Bayern Munich attack, play with a high-line defence, but look carefully, they have someone in that central midfield to link-up with the defence and their backline is astute enough to block the threats.

You are free to attack, but at first inject solidity at the back.

In the first half the Blues were wasteful up front and sloppy at the back and looked set to be humiliated by the whipping boys, West Brom. West Brom looked well organized and clinical with Callum Robinson scoring twice and Kyle Bartley adding a third to send the hosts in at half-time with a three‑goal lead.

Marcos Alonso and Thiago Silva horror show let down Lampard, who felt devastated at the dugout.

Lampard gave the captaincy to Thiago Silva with the intention to solidify the backline. He also elected to consign the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, to the bench even though Edouard Mendy, the £22m replacement signed from Rennes this week, was not ready for a debut.

Willy Caballero began in goal instead, leaving Arrizabalaga to wonder if last week’s blunder against Liverpool was the last he will ever be allowed to make for Chelsea. His absence certainly did not bring any changes to the sloppiness of Chelsea.

West Brom were aided by the blues to take the lead after just four minutes.

Marcos Alonso was the chief culprit, heading the ball straight to Matheus Pereira, who slipped a clever pass through to Robinson, who fired a shot from the left-hand corner of the area beyond Caballero.

Alonso goofed again two minutes later when he pulled back Semi Ajayi and got a booking.

Then the blunder came from Silva, who inexplicably lost control of the ball in his own half, allowing Robinson to run through and finish emphatically.

West Brom made it 3-0 before the half-hour thanks to a cleverly worked corner-kick routine that culminated with the unmarked and onside Bartley guiding the ball into the net from six yards.

The Blue Kingdom was falling apart and Lampard was forced to make desperate changes in the second half to bounce back.

He duly put Alonso out of the team’s misery by introducing Cesar Azpilicueta and also sent on Hudson-Odoi for Kovacic – the shape was adjusted.

Lampard would switch to a 4-3-3 in the second half that saw Timo Werner – who had an off-day at the office - protected by another man behind him and Mount in a more natural position.

Chelsea switched to third gear and dominated but lacked the inventiveness to find a way through the vigilant hosts until the 55th minute.

Mason Mount circumvented West Brom’s defence by unloading a swerving shot from the 25 yards.  

The deficit was reduced to 3-1.  

Lampard then decided to roll the dice again, switching to a 3-5-2 system with Olivier Giroud joining Abraham in the attack.

Things started to click.  

It took Kai Havretz 70 minutes to rediscover himself and played a one-two with Hudson-Odoi before the England winger finished smartly making it 3-2.

Chelsea continued to press with the final whistle looming large around the corner and in the stoppage-time, Johnstone could only paw Mount’s shot to his right, leaving Abraham with a simple finish to claim a point for Chelsea.

Like Manchester United, Chelsea had to escape the humiliation.

But at least, in the second half, Chelsea pulled their socks up and fought back spiritedly.

Still, the unforced errors, wasteful finishing, and flimsy set-up don’t justify the hype of spending so much in the summer.

At the end of the day, the tried and tested customers are paying back.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/09/2020 Chelsea still not up to the mark

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Faisal Caesar  

Hard luck Brighton

 

Football can be very cruel at times and after the result in the match between Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion; one might also come to the conclusion, there is no justice in this world. Clearly, Brighton had been the bravest and most efficient unit on the pitch, but at the end of the day, Manchester United escaped with full points.

The Brighton players relished the atmosphere and played the game with a frenetic pace, which left United at bay. They showed no signs of fatigue despite playing their fifth game in the last thirteen days.   The boys of Graham Potter were quick to the ball, strong in the challenge, and brave enough to commit players forward.

Brighton hunted in packs. Whenever they lost the ball, they snatched it with excellent pressing football and in the counterattacks, they surpassed the Manchester United players at ease – United could be blamed for being too sloppy in front of the ball.

Where was the press, Man Utd?

Bruno Fernandes gave away a penalty in the first half as Neal Mapay’s nerveless Panenka shot hinted how calm and composed, but bold and attacking Brighton would be at home.

An own goal by Lewis Dunk injected hope in the United camp, and it sparked Marcus Rashford, who started to ask questions in the second half.

Paul Pogba diced with disaster in the 48th minute when he lent on Aaron Connolly inside the area and the Brighton striker went down theatrically. Kavanagh awarded the penalty; VAR would overrule him.

Then, Rashford stepped up – He had seen one finish from a Greenwood cross pulled back for offside by VAR he got his goal but twisted Ben White one way and then the other following Fernandes’s pass before firing beyond Mat Ryan.

Still, Brighton were on top and always kept United under pressure.

Quite astonishingly, Brighton rattled the posts and crossbar five times, with Leandro Trossard doing so three times. Adam Webster and Solly March were also denied. Since Opta began compiling statistics in 2003 for hitting the woodwork, no team had done so more than three times in a Premier League game.

In the stoppage time, the Brighton substitute Alireza Jahanbakhsh curled over a fine cross and March headed home on the bounce at the far post to make it 2-2.

The result should have stayed such because Brighton did not deserve to lose points, sadly, it was not their day.

Manchester United forced a corner - Bruno Fernandes took it and the unmarked Harry Maguire saw his header cleared off the line by March. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, promptly blew the final whistle.

Then bedlam took hold.

Maguire argued that his header had flicked off Neal Maupay’s hand and Kavanagh would be advised by his video assistant to check the pitch-side monitor.

When the replays were shown, it was clear the ball had indeed hit Maupay’s hand.

 Kavanagh gave the penalty and Fernandes crashed it into the top corner to break Brighton’s hearts.

Manchester United overcame the Brighton scare with an unsatisfactory display.

Hard luck, Brighton!  

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/09/2020 Hard luck Brighton

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Young Gabriel Veron is ready to take big steps and shine

 

In the Under-17 World Cup last year in Brazil, Gabriel Veron caught the attention of world football with his intensity and hunger to score goals. He donned the Number 7 shirt for the youth team and dazzled in the tournament, which the Selecao won. After that, Veron has been a target of clubs like Manchester City, Barcelona, Arsenal, and Everton and rightly so, because, with the kind of intensity Veron plays, any clubs in Europe would want to sign him.

Veron was born in Assu, Rio Grande do Norte on September 3, 2002. He had been named in honour of the former Argentina international – Juan Sebastian Veron. The unusual idea to choose Veron, his surname is Fonseca de Souza, as Gabriel’s second name, came from a neighbour and ardent admirer of the former Argentine player.

As he said to FIFA, “I was named after former Argentina midfielder Juan Sebastian. It was our neighbour's idea. He’d always wanted a son but ended up with three daughters. So, when my parents couldn’t decide on a second name for me [during the pregnancy] in 2002, our neighbour said: “why not call him Veron?”

“My parents liked the suggestion. I really like the name and will try to live up to it, just as he [Juan Sebastian] did. I've seen clips of him on YouTube but never live, unfortunately. He really was a very good player.”

“I’m certain you’ll achieve much more in your future”, said the original Veron on a video that was sent to Gabriel and shared on Palmeiras' social media accounts in 2019.

“He’s an idol for me. I promise I’ll keep honouring our name on the pitch,” was Gabriel's reply.

However, Veron's life could have been very different if his father, Carlos Alexandre, had got his way during the boy's upbringing.

Carlos Alexandre would take his son on horse rides into the countryside with a  ranch hand in Assu despite, at times, searing temperatures in the hope that he could be persuaded to become a cowboy.

His mother, though, never backed down in supporting Veron's dream of becoming an athlete.

Nicknamed Raio, the serious steps towards the footballing world of Veron came through the youth setup of Palmeiras in 2017, from the local side Santa Cruz de Natal. In June of the following year, he was the top goalscorer and the best player of the Mundial de Clubes de La Comunidad de Madrid Sub-17, helping the under-17 squad lift their first international trophy.

In 2018, Veron signed his first professional deal with Verdao, until 2021.

Roughly one year later, after returning from international duty, he agreed to a pre-contract until 2024, active on his 18th birthday.

Veron made his first team – and Serie A – debut on November 28, 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute for Willian in a 1–0 away loss against Fluminense.

A week later, after coming on only in the second half, he scored twice and provided an assist to Dudu in a 5–1 home routing of Goias; by doing so, he became the second-youngest player to score for the club.

“He’s a boy with loads of quality, so it’s up to us to slowly give him space to play in the first team,” Andrey Lopes, Palmeiras’ caretaker manager for the end of last season, said. “I’m sure he’ll provide much joy to our fans.”

He called up for the squad which would participate in the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil. It was an unforgettable tournament for Veron and Brazil.

Veron found the net on three occasions as well as providing two assists, with the hosts beating Mexico 2-1 in the final at Estadio Bezerrao.

He also led the way in terms of chances created from open play (18) and dribbles completed (22) during the tournament, with his performances ensuring he was the clear winner of the Golden Ball for the competition's outstanding player.

It is enough for a young player to carry his team on his shoulders and win the Golden Ball and thereby become world champions to turn the heads of the top clubs of the world.

Veron thrives on pace and acceleration, which makes him a dangerous customer during the counterattacks. His raw energy brings life into the game and when needed, he can vary his pace.

At this age, technically, he is gifted and posses a close control over the ball. Being rated as an offensive allrounder, Veron is confident and skillful with aggressive dribbling ability, good reading of the game and decision making, and very good off-the-ball movements. 

 

Again, he is capable of playing in several offensive positions, either in the center as a striker or as a supporting striker, or as a winger

Veron prefers to play in a free attacking role granted the freedom to roam the pitch and find space – typical of the Brazils.

Surely, without freedom, the Brazilians can’t express themselves on the pitch.

With the ball at his feet, Veron can move past opponents with extreme ease and it becomes extremely difficult to knock off the ball with a low center of gravity and excellent close control. He is tricky with off-the-ball movements in and around the box of the opposition.

Brazilian legend Bebeto has vouched for Veron to Correio Brasiliense when he said, “He’s a kid with enormous talent.

“I looked for more information about him and I was impressed once I saw him wearing the No.7 producing beautiful plays.”

“I watched him score a goal dribbling from almost his own half before finding the net with a quality finish, calmly beating the opposition goalkeeper.”

Critics say Veron is one of the finest talents ever to arrive in Palmeiras since Gabriel Jesus who is now a regular member of the Brazil National Team and English Club Manchester City.

The kind of maturity and positive frame of mind Veron has, the young Brazilian is ready to take the big steps and shine.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 26/09/2020 Young Gabriel Veron is ready to take big steps and shine

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Faisal Caesar 

Bayern Munich overcome the Sevilla scare

 

Winning trophies and Bayern Munich are synonymous right now. For a long time, Europe and World Football have not witnessed such a stronger club, who plays with a ruthless fashion, and even when the game becomes tighter, they just find a way to stay in the game and ultimately win it. The Royal Whites – Real Madrid and AC Milan had such intensity to win with great panache and leave their mark.

But at times, even such teams find the going tough!

Just a few months back, Bayern completed the treble and their UEFA Champions League journey had been nothing short of a brutal display. The next challenge was the UEFA Super Cup clash against the sturdy Sevilla, who are habituated to fight back and make the opposition sweat.

Bayern struggled against a stubborn Sevilla side who had been unbeaten since February – a run that included a record sixth triumph in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup – and when they went ahead through Lucas Ocampos penalty.

Luuk de Jong's cushioned header reached Ivan Rakitic, and the midfielder – back at the club after re-joining from Barcelona – was barged over by David Alaba, with Ocampos outfoxing Neuer from a no-look spot-kick.

Julen Lopetegui planned to neutralize the unfettered swagger of Bayern by relying on counterattacks with a quick one-touch football.  Then, press the Bayern defense and Manuel Neuer up high, to keep Flick’s men from pushing the defense up the pitch. This keeps Bayern from congesting the field of play, a key aspect of Hansi Flick’s tactics.

Again, defend in a medium-block with enough emphasis on the flanks, to isolate the wingers from the full-backs. This would prevent Bayern from overloading the flanks, and cut off the supply to Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski.

The plan of Lopetegui worked and the German Giants found the going tough, but they bounced back.

Lewandowski failed to beat Yassine Bounou from a one-on-one as Bayern responded, but he made up for that before half-time, laying the ball back for Leon Goretzka to pick his spot and score the equalizer.

Bayern thought they had the lead within six minutes of the restart after Muller teed up Lewandowski, having initially been presented with the chance himself by the Pole, but VAR spotted Bayern's number nine was offside when first collecting Leroy Sane's pass.

Bounou denied Serge Gnabry and Diego Carlos blocked the rebound from Sane, who had a goal disallowed himself after Lewandowski was adjudged to have fouled Sergio Escudero in the build-up.

Sevilla responded - Lopetegui masterfully set up his team to find space inside Bayern’s suffocating press, and it paid rich dividends.

While Sevilla did all the right things to shut down Bayern Munich in the wide areas - Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry, who had four goals and two assists between them against Schalke, struggled to spread their wings because the fullbacks failed to inject the attacking intent.

With Lucas Hernandez starting ahead of Alphonso Davies, Bayern struggled to create any real pressure down the left flank. Lucas was defensively decent, but what Bayern actually needed was the pace to penetrate the loading of Sevilla in the flanks.

 The best of Sevilla’s counterattacks came in the 87th-minute when Jesus Navas set free En-Nesyri, who beat the Bayern defenders and he had only Neuer to beat and strike the winner. The German goalkeeper took the position sideways when he watched En-Nesyri coming forward, thinking he might have to come forward and use his feet, but quickly switched a rather well-set position when he noticed that En-Nesyri would shoot.

En-Nesyri shot and Neuer’s quick reflexes prompted him to make one of the best saves in his career.

Without a doubt, Neuer is still the best goalkeeper in the world.

The game went to extra-time and Javi Martinez was the unlikely hero as he came off the bench to head in the 104th-minute 2-1 and secure the title.

Bayern overcame the Sevilla scare, but from here Hansi Flick needs to evolve because the rest of the clubs would surely study Lopetegui’s tactics and exploit it to stop Bayern Munich.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 25/09/2020 Bayern Munich overcome the Sevilla scare

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Why Sergino Dest should join Bayern Munich

 

The Portuguese and Barcelona right-back, Nelson Semedo has joined Wolverhampton Wanderers and that leaves the right-back position a subject of headache for the Catalan Club Barcelona since Dani Alves left.  Semedo’s move comes in part due to the influence of Jorge Mendes, as two weeks ago he met with Josep Maria Bartomeu in Barcelona in a meeting revealed by Marca.

Semedo has left the club for a fee worth a potential 40 million euros - 30m euros upfront and 10m euros in variables. This is potentially larger than the figure of 30m euros plus 5m euros in add-ons that Barcelona paid Benfica for the right-back in 2017.

Semedo was billed as the next generational attacking full-back at the time and it appeared to be something of a coup for a Barcelona team desperate to win another Champions League.

Meanwhile, Sergi Roberto has been constantly asked to change positions and deputize at right-back, and whilst it has afforded him many senior appearances for the club, he has never been able to fully adjust.

Moussa Wague is a promising talent to emerge from La Masia, but he hasn't really been given senior opportunities, and he has just left for a loan with PAOK Thessaloniki after a brief spell with Nice in France.

Barcelona also signed Emerson, but a rather complex deal will see him play for Real Betis for at least another season with the Andalusian club partly owning his registration rights.

Then Max Aarons is being considered as an option.

Norwich are open to letting Aarons leave for the Camp Nou.

The right-back position is vacant in Barcelona and right now they are after the Ajax sensation Sergino Dest. Various reports claim that Barcelona are quite ahead in signing the American.

But in the meantime, the German Giants, Bayern Munich are also after him.

According to Marca, “Barcelona have come forward with formal offers, but Bayern have too and Ajax felt more confident about the offer from the Germans given their more stable financial situation. The player, though, wants to join Barcelona and the LaLiga Santander club have a great relationship with sporting director Marc Overmars.”

“For this reason, Barcelona are moving ahead in this race and TV3 even reported on Monday night that there is an agreement for the player to join for 20 million euros fixed and 5m euros in variables. The 19-year-old was specifically requested by Ronald Koeman and he's able to play on either side.”

It is a very tough choice for a young player to choose between two big clubs, but when the matter is about financial security and expression of freedom and development, definitely, Bayern Munich would give Sergino Dest the greater opportunity than Barca.

At present Barca are a disorganized unit where the cooperation between the players, coach, and officials is not sound and financially they are passing a rough period. Ronald Koeman as a coach does not have a reputation like Hansi Flick and in the last couple of years in Barcelona, no players have been able to develop properly, rather, they had to leave.   

Whereas under Hansi Flick, Bayern are passing a rosy period and Flick is such a manager, under whom, players become the best from better.

If Dest has to join a better club then there could be no better club than Bayern Munich.

Flick would transform him into the best right-back in the world.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 24/09/2020 Why Sergino Dest should join Bayern Munich  

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Douglas Luiz: The talent is transforming into deeds

 

The World Cup Qualifiers would start soon in Latin America and Brazil are geared to make an impact. Tite has announced the squad for the upcoming matches against Bolivia and Peru. There was no sign of Arthur Melo because of his recent lack of playing time, but he has included Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, who has been brilliant in the Premier League and his performance against Sheffield United justifies Tite’s selection as well.

Douglas was born in Rio de Janerio on May 9, 1998.

Douglas hails from a poor socioeconomic background. He experienced poverty and like many Brazilian kids, he realized that football could be the best option to change his fortune.

When he was 14 years old he was accepted in the Vasco da Gama youth academies and while playing for the Under-17 team, he made a big impact years later.

He was given the option to play as a full-back on the right, but Douglas was not accustomed to the position, but he could realize the fact, the competition to play in the initial XI was an uphill task, as Vasco had three players constantly called into the national team of the category (Andrey, Evander, and Mateus Vital), so Douglas thought it was better to play as a right-back than not no play.

As Vasco was in the Brazilian Serie B in 2016, they were forced to use some domestic solutions and promoted nine youngsters. Well, Douglas was not amongst them, but injuries and suspensions forced the team to call for even more kids and that’s when Douglas started to draw some attention.

When the team passed through its worst moment in the year, Douglas was like a light at the end of the tunnel. The coach Jorginho liked what he saw and the player had a six-game sequence, enough to convince everyone.

When Vasco managed to uplift themselves among the elite of Brazilian football, Douglas was even better – he took the role from full-back to manage the center of the park. Douglas flourished as a midfielder.

Again, at times he failed to hit the jackpot when it was needed the most and that was the case in the Under-20 South American Championship. Douglas, Felipe Vizeu, Richarlison, and Guilherme Arana had a decent tournament but weren’t enough to win the title for Brazil.

Back to Vasco da Gama, Douglas soon began to leave his supporting role to play as the main actor, becoming popular for his calm and composure in important games, such as the derbies against Flamengo, Botafogo, and Fluminense.

That was enough to put him in the Campeonato Carioca’s best XI and catch the attention of the scouts from Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City to Brazil.

However, even though his contract had recently been renewed, Vasco could not hold him when the €12M offer arrived from England.

Douglas caught the attention of Pep Guardiola.

Douglas Luiz completed a move to Manchester City on 15 July 2017, signing a five-year contract.

In August, he was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC for his first season with the club. Douglas made his debut for Girona, replacing Portu in a 1–0 home win against Malaga CF.

A year later, Douglas Luiz was again loaned to Girona due to the UK Home Office denying him a work permit.

In 2019, Douglas signed for Aston Villa subject to a work permit. His work permit was granted and he officially became an Aston Villa player on August 7, 2019. 10 days later, Douglas Luiz scored his first goal for Aston Villa against AFC Bournemouth; Villa would eventually lose the game 2–1.

At one point, Aston Villa were at risk of relegation, but they escaped the scare courtesy of the brilliance of Douglas in the 2019-20 season.

He featured in 28 matches for Villa – 8 of them is coming on as a substitute. Douglas spent 2855 minutes on the pitch with 79 minutes per match. Scored thrice with an xG of 2.40. Took 22 shots on goal among which 12 off them were on target. Provided 2 assists. Made 1235 passes among which 1025 had been successful with a success rate of 83%. Completed 46 successful tackles among 92 and blocked 16 shots.

He was the pivot in the midfield and the game flowed through him.

Douglas is great on carrying the ball, posses a superb technique and versatility to adapt to different situations and it is not surprising that he is well-equipped to dribble past the ball – typical of any Brazilians.

According to WhoScored, “Of the 303 players to have attempted 25 or more dribbles, Douglas has a better dribble success rate (93.1%) than any other player since the start of the 2017-18 La Liga season.”

And if the dribble is not an option, that is not a problem. He has a really precise pass, especially when he tries layoffs for fast wingers. If the strategy is intensity, his passes can cut the opposition lines. If possession is the focus, he can patiently wait for the opportunities.

While starting for Villa in the early days, Douglas knew neither was he good in long-distance shot nor well-equipped in man-marking and thus, invested more on his positives smartly and worked hard to improve the shortcomings. Over the years, one can say, Douglas has improved and he is ready to make an impact in even better clubs and Brazil.

 Note: This article has been posted as Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 23/09/2020 Douglas Luiz: The talent is transforming into deeds

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Sergino Dest: The modern day full-back

 

The top clubs in Europe such as Bayern Munich and Barcelona are after a young full-back, who plays for Ajax, but by nationality is an American.  For Ajax, he has been extremely impressive and for the United States of America, he is expected to shine like the other talents who have already started to showcase their talent and skill in the top leagues of Europe.

But let us focus on the talent named Sergino Dest.

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and American father, Dest has represented the United States internationally at the senior level since 2019.

Dest played for the youth academy of Almere City FC until 2012 when he made the switch to the youth teams of Ajax. After progressing through the ranks of the club, he made his debut for Jong Ajax on October 15, 2018, Jong Ajax, in a 2–1 loss against Jong PSV.

Dest impressed over the course of the 2018–19 season, making 17 appearances in the Dutch Eerste Divisie and tallying one goal and two assists.

He also scored one goal and provided one assist in seven appearances in the prestigious UEFA Youth League.

In 2019, Dest made his debut for the Ajax first team in an official game, when he started the 2019 Johan Cruyff Shield match, a derby against PSV Eindhoven.[2] Ajax won the match, 2–0, and in consequence, the title.

A few weeks later, Dest debuted in the Eredivisie, replacing Noussair Mazraoui in the 54th minute of the Ajax 5–0 home win against FC Emmen.

He represented the United States U-17s at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the United States U-20s at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he played four matches.

Dest debuted for the U.S. men's senior team on September 6, 2019, starting and playing 68 minutes in a 3–0 friendly loss against Mexico.

Dest chose to commit his international future to the United States at the senior level on October 28, 2019.

In Ajax, Dest plays as a full-back on the right. He is not just an ordinary full-back but the kind of talent he possesses, critics have already tagged him as a modern full-back, who can join the attack and defend when it is needed.

 Once upon a time, he was a free-flowing attacker who could operate on either flank or even in the middle. In his full debut for Ajax, Dest actually played the entire game at left-back.

He was able to cut in onto his right and show his quality in the midfield on countless times - This flexibility is important for any player, especially one who is still young and can offer so much across the pitch. 

In terms of his positioning on the right-side, Dest has been comfortable playing with his feet on the touchline or inverted to fill in the midfield. Much of this was dependent on the space that Chelsea-bound winger Hakim Ziyech took up. When Ziyech would drift wide, Dest would pinch in.

On the wings, Dest can utilize his pace and dribbling ability to the fullest extent.

According to Total Football Analysis, “He attempts nearly 4.6 dribbles per 90 and has a 55.13% completion rate, which is a very respectable number considering the limited space he usually finds himself in. Like in the example above, Dest teases his defender in order to eventually take a touch past and find a pass once he gets to the byline.”

“Dest is not afraid to be a big source of attack for his side and the 2.2 progressive runs per 90 are indicative of how much he gets forward. While he doesn’t shy away from whipping a cross into the box, he has found much of his success operating through the middle.”

“Other than his dribbling ability and superb athleticism, Dest has proven himself to be a very proficient passer of the ball. His 47.16 passes per 90 that return an impressive 86.25% completion rate could be a hint at why some of the best possession teams in the world.”

“Dest’s ability on the ball opens up so many avenues for him and his teammates which is why he posts impressive numbers for the passing side of the game.”

Such has been his attacking abilities, but as mentioned above, he is quite good if not better in defending also.

It is not easy to drop down deep after linking-up with the attack and help in defending – adapting the body shape while defending is very important. Dest centers himself in front of the attacker so that the attacker can’t move either way and retains possession or intervenes with a crucial block to neutralize the attacks. Again, when he discovers that the opposition attacker has found a space to exploit just in front or behind him then his pace aids him to fill that space quickly.

Then he has that sliding tackles, which aided Ajax on many occasions.

Still, his defensive position has been one of his shortcomings as discovered in the Dutch League and while playing for United States National Team. His awkward position while defending tends to leave him flat-footed. He has been left nutmegged a couple of times because of that, and his decision making at times raised questions too.

But right now, he is in a phase of learning, and in the course of time, he is expected to overcome the shortcomings.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 22/09/2020 Sergino Dest: The modern day full-back

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic gives AC Milan the right start

 

Stefano Pioli, the manager of AC Milan, has opted for no real surprises in his first line-up of the 2020-21 Serie A season with defensive trio Alessio Romagnoli, Mateo Musacchio and Andrea Conti all injured, while Rafael Leao returned to Milanello on Monday having been in quarantine.

Ante Rebic did return from suspension though, and he slotted straight back into the XI on the left, with Samu Castillejo preferred to Alexis Saelemaekers on the right.

Bologna started better - pressing Milan well high up the pitch, and Ismael Bennacer was almost punished for a giveaway on the edge of his own box as a Soriano shot was blocked wide by Kessie following a ricochet.

AC Milan started to gain the momentum and had an early handball shout turned down as Calhanoglu attempted to flick the ball back past the defender.

In the 12th minute Milan generated their first clear chance. Some lovely combination play down the right side involving Calabria and Ibrahimovic saw the latter find some space to shoot from inside the area, but his effort was deflected narrowly wide of the far left post.

The Rossoneri cut through Bologna through the left - Theo Hernandez finding Calhanoglu with a pass infield, though Hakan have done better than dragging his effort wide from the edge of the box in space.

Gianluigi Donnarumma’s came into action in the 22^nd minute as Rossoblu’s first real counter of the game ended with Dominguez firing a shot towards the top right corner that Donnarumma pulled in.

Matteo Gabbia had a big chance to open the deadlock a few minutes later as a free-kick swung in from the byline was hit back into the box by Rebic, but the young Italian spun and skewed his effort wide first time from around six yards out.

The chances kept coming, and Franck Kessie became the latest player to shank a shot wide from just outside the box when he could have taken a touch.

Just seconds later, the 1,000 spectators allowed inside the stadium and those watching at home were stunned as Ismael Bennacer missed a sitter. Ibrahimovic did well to hold the ball up inside the area and the Swede fired a low cross into the box that Skorupski parried straight to Bennacer, who somehow managed to fire the ball over and wide with the goal gaping.

Milan gave the impression of scoring any moments, but the lack of neat-finishing undermined their efforts.

The Lion from Sweden – Ibrahimovic has had enough and yet again, decided to take matters in his hand.

The breakthrough came just before the half time.

An impressive spell of controlled possession inside the Bologna third ended with Theo Hernandez whipping in an inch-perfect cross to the far post, where none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic was waiting to tower above his man and headed inside the post.

Who else, but, Zlatan Ibrahimovic!

Indeed, and he was not finished yet!

Pioli opted to make a change at half time, with the struggling Castillejo making way  for Alexis Saelemaekers, and he should have had an assist within two minutes - dropped a ball back to Ibrahimovic on the break but Ibra saw his effort turned away for a corner when he should have done better.

Milan were quickly handed a chance for their second, though, when VAR spotted Orsolini's foul on Bennacer, which had been given as a free-kick, actually took place in the box and Ibrahimovic slammed the penalty high into the right corner.

A perfect hat-trick looked a certainty when Ibrahimovic rounded Skorupski, but the Swede sliced his effort over.

But the two-goal of Ibra was enough to bag full points despite being sloppy in the quarter of the game.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored a Serie A brace at the San Siro for the first time in 3065 days.

In opening games of a season within the top five European leagues, Ibrahimovic has now been involved in 16 goals in as many appearances, scoring 12 times and providing four assists. He has now scored in 23 top-flight seasons. He's scored a league goal in four separate decades.

Ibra just keeps getting better and better.

Perhaps, the best is yet to come!

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on Zlatan Ibrahimovic gives Ac Milan the right start

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Andrea Pirlo starts brightly

 

The appointment Andrea Pirlo as the replacement of Maurizio Sarri was surprising. He was just promoted as the Under-23 coach and a week later, promoting him as the coach of Juventus, was simply termed as a smart but risky gamble. A man without the experience of coaching now has to run a side, which experienced hiccups last season and looked down under Sarri. Then their European glory days were the shadow of the past despite having the man of UEFA Champions League – Cristiano Ronaldo.

Juve needed a new and dynamic personality to change the fortunes and the hierarchy invested faith in Pirlo.

In the opening encounter against Sampdoria, Pirlo hinted what might Juve do under him in the coming days – They came out all guns blazing and looked energized – hungry for goals and more goals.  

They moved to regain the ball immediately after it was lost. They created a lot of really good scoring chances — so much so that it was only by dint of sheer bad luck and good goalkeeping that Juve didn’t go into halftime up three, even four goals against Sampdoria. The first-half goal they did get was an absolute beauty by Dejan Kulusevski.

Sampdoria came out of the second half looking to get back into the game, but ultimately didn’t end up forcing a save out of Wojciech Szczesny until there were 10 minutes left in the game, by which time Juve had picked up an insurance goal on a corner. A textbook Cristiano Ronaldo strike from the channel put things away late, giving Juve a 3-0 win and starting off the Pirlo era in style.

Pirlo would mobilize the midfield more and it was expected he would rotate the formation from 3-5-2 tp 3-4-1-2 while on attack and defend in a 5-3-2 or 4-4-2 formation.

As soon as the match started one could see the above-mentioned formations in action.

Sampdoria are not the force, which they were in the late 80s and early 90s; and thus Juve played the way they should against an average side. Never let the tempo down, but consistently remained charged up. Aaron Ramsey seemed rejuvenated under Pirlo and played one of the best games in his Juve journey.

Maybe the best is yet to come and even in defeats, Pirlo’s men won’t go down without a fight, that is the kind of spirit Juve showed last night.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 21/09/2020 Andrea Pirlo starts brightly

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Real Madrid start slowly

 

The Champions of La Liga – Real Madrid started the campaign slowly – ended up the opening encounter against Real Sociedad without scoring a goal and shared points. Zinedine Zidane trusted in youth and in this season this would be seen more often. It is evident that Real Madrid would rely on home-grown talents more and more to build a better future so that they don’t need to break the bank and buy big names – one of them until now, has given the Los Blancos nothing.

Zidane started with Martin Odegaard in the midfield along with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. All eyes were on Odegaard and how he fares in this system. There is no doubt about the technical gifts Odegaard possess – press-resistant and able to essay incisive passes, but even though, Odegaard is defensively good, but midfielders like him can’t ensure team security like Casemiro and Fede Valverde.

Zidane’s starting trio in midfield lasted 69 minutes together until Casemiro replaced Odegaard and Valverde replaced Modric.

Real had more than 70% of the possession in the first half along with neat-passing and movement. Odegaard positioned himself between the lines, and unlike Isco roaming in a diamond, stayed mostly central in a 4-2-3-1 behind Benzema — with Rodrygo and Vinicius on the flanks making overlapping runs.

Despite trying to cope with the position of Zidane, Odegaard hinted of how well he positions himself in the transition to receive the ball behind the opposing midfield.

At San Sebastian, the Los Blancos struggled to break the deadlock.

Defensively, the team looked good for the major part of the first half - Real had a few defensive sequences on either side of the half where they scrambled, and the absence of Casemiro became evident.

Sergio Ramos would sprint over to the right and Carvajal to the left. Both Ramos and Raphael Varane were solid reading passes and covering for their full-backs. Carvajal started off sluggish, but recovered well and made several good vertical passes to Odegaard and Rodrygo. Mendy on the other end was good on both ends of the field.

After the horrendous show against Manchester City in the Champions League, Varane dished out a marvelous show and without him, Thibaut Courtois would have been bombarded with shots.

The number of times Varane appeared to make a clearance or to intercept the through-balls or close down a runner, had been outstanding. He was calm and composed – his desperation block on David Silva had an element of coolness to it.

Varane made a team-high 2 clearances, team-high 3 interceptions and won the ball back a team-high 9 times.

Then, Thibaut Courtois was impressive as Alexander Isak bore down on goal amid a rare Sociedad foray, his effort turned away by the toe of Courtois.

But you need to score goals and despite the dribbles, pace, and pressing forward – the goals did not come. The workload on Karim Benzema was noticeable. The sharpness was lacking even though he was never short of dedication.

Madrid had their hosts under pressure from the outset but did not threaten to capitalize on their dominance until late in the first half.

Alex Remiro was scarcely troubled before the 38th minute, yet Karim Benzema's harrying prompted a rushed pass from the goalkeeper straight to Vinicius Junior, who quickly fed Madrid's number nine. Benzema rounded Remiro and looked certain to score but skewed an off-balance effort across the face of goal.

Both teams made substitutions and after a decade La Liga witnessed the arrival of David Silva whereas Real debuted a Nigerian – Marvin Park for the first time.  

But the goals did not come.

A slow start and offensively, Real need to find the way to score more goals.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 21/09/2020 Real Madrid start slowly

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Chelsea reminded Liverpool are the boss

 

Chelsea vs Liverpool had been the match of the weekend. Both the teams opened the season with victories. Both the teams looked a tad shaky, but still, those could be overlooked because, in any opening matches of the season, shakiness exists; but with the progress of time, the better teams tend to gain the momentum and the champions of last season – Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool showed at Stamford Bridge, the Reds are gradually gaining the momentum and they are the Boss of English Premier League.

Chelsea, who?

There is no need to highlight about the hype Chelsea created in the transfer market, which gave everyone the impression, Frank Lampard and the Blues meant business this season, but at Stamford Bridge, it was clearly evident, they are still a project, which would take a long time to produce consistent results.

Again, you may buy big names by breaking the bank, but if you don’t get the combination right, seriously, you don’t deserve to dream big only on the basis of hype.      

Just look at Klopp – he is well aware of his combination and knows how to use the players accordingly. He noticed, Virgil van Dijk struggles against Leeds United last week and his backline needed solidity – both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip were injured. Meanwhile, the most wanted Thiago Alcantara arrived at Anfield, which definitely would create a dilemma in choosing the players at the center of the park.

Klopp did not sweat at all.

He pushed back Fabinho further and exploited his talent as a center-back so that he could help a struggling Van Dijk. Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson, and Gini Wijnaldum started at the midfield and after the break. Thiago was brought on because after watching the first half Klopp knew where to utilize him.

Meanwhile, in the first half, Fabinho was outstanding. The pace of Timo Werner would be a headache and his tendency to exploit the spaces behind the defensive line could be a problem because Van Dijk is struggling.  Werner showed his tenacity, but Fabinho was like a hard nut to crack – he neutralized the Werner threat and blocked the potential threats whenever it started to gather momentum.

The backline of the Blues has holes, but Lampard does not seem to bother. Moreover,  Kepa Arrizabalaga as the shot-stopper is always a problem.

Defender Andreas Christensen and Kepa invited problems.

Christensen put his side in serious trouble with a red card just before half time before under-fire goalkeeper Kepa gifted Sadio Mane a goal with a disastrous pass in the second half.

With the match scoreless as half-time neared, Jordan Henderson picked out Mane with a driven long ball and the forward found himself behind Chelsea's defence.

As Kepa charged off his line, Christensen took matters into his own hands – He took down Mane by putting his arms around him and wrestling Mane to the ground before he reached the ball.

Referee Paul Tierney originally showed Christensen a yellow card but then went to the monitor to check if the defender had denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.

After a VAR check, Tierney changed the colour of Christensen's card from yellow to red and Chelsea paid the price five minutes after the break when Mane headed the visitors into the lead.

Chelsea's afternoon went from bad to worse in the 54th minute when Kepa took a routine pass and played the ball directly to Mane's feet, gifting the forward a second goal on the afternoon.

Chelsea were awarded a penalty, but Jorginho failed to score for the first time from the penalty spot under Lampard – big man Alisson stopped him.

That was it – Liverpool reminded Chelsea that they are the real boss and the Blues still have a lot to learn.

Note: This article has been posted in Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 20/09/2020 Chelsea reminded Liverpool are the boss

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Arsenal escape West Ham scare

 

Last weekend, Eddie Nketiah and Dani Ceballos briefly came to blows at Fulham after a dispute in the pre-match warm-up. On Saturday, they combined at close quarters to squeeze a good outcome from an average performance - Ceballos squaring five minutes from the end to give his teammate a tap-in and leaving a vastly improved West Ham aggrieved.

Jarrod Bowen felt he should have been awarded a penalty when challenged by Gabriel but nothing was given, and Arsenal moved in front courtesy of Lacazette's powerful header from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's cross.

But it was canceled out by Michail Antonio shortly before half-time and were more preoccupied with matters inside their own penalty area for a long spell in the second period.

Gabriel avoided conceding a penalty again when the ball hit him high on the arm, yet West Ham drew level on the stroke of half-time when Antonio turned home Ryan Fredericks' low delivery.

Antonio was unable to add a finish from six yards to Arthur Masuaku's excellent cross after the restart, while he was then denied by the woodwork with a header in the 67th minute.

Arsenal came under increasing pressure and Bernd Leno's blushes were spared after the goalkeeper spilled a cross and Bowen's shot was blocked by a host of bodies in the box.

The midfield of Arsenal was not up to the mark.

West Ham had 17 shots on goal to Arsenal’s seven at the Emirates. Arteta's midfield was cut open time and time again, especially in the second half, with Xhaka unable to offer the defence any sort of defensive shield.

Willian failed to mark his home debut with a performance as eye-catching as the one he produced at Craven Cottage, and with Ceballos as off the pace as Xhaka, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were often left totally isolated.

Meanwhile, they have spent the summer looking to improve their midfield, with Thomas Partey and Huseem Aouar their chief targets. Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos have been excellent for the Spaniard since lockdown, but both struggled against a compact West Ham put the midfield on the back foot and gave little time on the ball.

Again, their defence was split-opened more often, but it was the Brazilian Gabriel, who spent a quality evening to weather the storm.

It seemed that West Ham would share points and deservingly so, but at the fag end, the Gunners escaped the West Ham scare.

“I think they've been really good since I joined the club,” said Arteta, when asked about Xhaka and Ceballos after the game and whether the midfield performance showed why the club is so keen to bring others in before the transfer window closes.

“I thought it was a game where we were going to attack the spaces and the way they defended, we wanted to create some situations with Dani there. But if we can strengthen the team then we're going to try and do that. Until the market is gone, everything is still open.”

“Depending on what happens with some other players, we are open to discussions. The market can surprise us. [Teams] can come for any of our players in different positions and we have to react as it happened with Emi [Martinez]. So let's see what happens.”

Full points achieved, but that cannot mask the shortcomings at the center of the park and back.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 20/09/2020 Arsenal escape Hammers scare

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Faaisal Caesar 

 

 

Manchester United were below-par

 

Manchester United signed the better players to start the new season with a great spirit. But at the end of the match, they were left shell-shocked as Crystal Palace stunned them with a stunning 3-1 victory. This defeat was unexpected for the United fans because according to the hype the signings created, United were expected to become better.

Sadly, they looked pale, and even if one cancels outs the controversial VAR decision against United, the performance was heavily below average.

“Our approach will be about fine-tuning what we can do better this season,” Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wrote in his program notes ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace. “And we know what areas we’re looking to improve upon.”

Going by their performance at Old Trafford, he would be thinking, still a long way to go.

United's passing was sloppy, their movement slow, and the defence all over the place.

 Ed Woodward was used on the right, where he struggled big-time while Daniel James had to be substituted after a poor display in the first half.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who started as the right-back with Aaron Wan-Bissaka linked up with James 12 times in the first half – more than any other partnership on the pitch. However, the duo failed to make an impact and so it was no surprise to see James replaced by Mason Greenwood for the second half.

The vulnerability at the United backline was evident within just seven minutes Luke Shaw was beaten to a cross from Jeffrey Schlupp by Andros Townsend, who fired the visitors ahead with a back-post finish. Victor Lindelof was also at fault in the build-up, as he allowed Schlupp to get by him far too easily.

Then there was Paul Pogba, whose passing was not accurate, poor on possession, and making errors all over the pitch whereas the highly rated Bruno Fernandes was hugely ineffective.

The injection of Greenwood and Donny van de Beek gave United some momentum, but it is hard to put things together with a fragile defence.

The home team was unfortunate with some of the VAR decisions that went against them.

According to the law, the visitors were rightly awarded a penalty in the 74th minute, after Jordan Ayew’s shot bounced onto Lindelof’s arm, but it only further highlighted the harshness of the new rules.

The decision to order a retake of the subsequent penalty, which was saved by David de Gea, because the Spanish goalkeeper had stepped marginally off his line, was a total joke.

The net result, though, was Wilfried Zaha succeeding where Jordan Ayew had failed, leaving United were left with a mountain to climb.

Later, Zaha sealed a deserved victory for Palace by easily brushing aside Lindelof before firing low into the bottom corner of the net.

Remarkably, Zaha became the first player to have played for United in the Premier League to then score twice in a single game against Manchester United in the competition.  

Manchester United started off badly and without compactness, Ole can’t even think of a better outcome in the coming days.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 19/09/2020  Manchester United were below-par

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Faisal Caesar 

 

Thiago Alcantara: The midfield maestro

 

In the summer of 2013, the smartest and innovative brains in world football, Pep Guardiola said in a press conference, “Thiago or nothing!” He was just appointed as the manager of the German Giants – Bayern Munich and immediately made it clear that Bayern would need the services of the Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara and the young lad is ideal to fit his plans.

Thiago was born in San Pietro Vernotico, Italy when his father Mazinho - player for the Brazilian team during that memorable tournament in the United States in 1994 - was playing for nearby U.S. Lecce. He started at the lower levels of Flamengo in Brazil, and, at the age of five, moved to Spain with his father, and started playing with the Galician team Ureca in Nigrán.

In 2001, he played with Kelme CF when his father played for Elche CF. He returned to Flamengo aged 10 and, in 2005, once again moved back to Spain, signing with FC Barcelona, where his cousin Marielo Dos Santos was also playing.

In 2009, at the age of 18, Thiago made his debut for the first team when he came on as a substitute for Eiður Guðjohnsen in the 74th minute at RCD Mallorca for his only appearance of the season.

Barcelona, having already won the league, lost 1–2.

In 2010, after coming on as a substitute for Yaya Touré in the 76th minute, Thiago scored his first goal for Barcelona in a 4–0 home win against Racing de Santander.

He scored his third goal against Real Sociedad, although Barcelona lost 2–1. He ended the 2010–11 season with 17 games, three goals, and three assists, and was an unused substitute as Barcelona won the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

Thiago started the 2011–12 season with the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa match against the rivals Real Madrid, being substituted for Xavi after 58 minutes, and was an unused substitute as they defeated FC Porto for the 2011 UEFA Super Cup.

He then scored in Barcelona's first La Liga match of the season in a 5–0 home win against Villarreal CF.

Thiago started as Barcelona won 4–0 in the Club World Cup Final at International Stadium Yokohama.

Thiago also netted Barcelona's fifth in a 7–0 win against Rayo Vallecano on 29 April from a close-range header.

In Barcelona, Thiago’s development was all about learning the game from the master Pep Guardiola, who spotted his talents and could guess, the young lad is desperately in need of nurturing and thus when he joined Bayern Munich, he signed Thiago in the 2013-14 season, which changed the fortunes of the Spanish player – who could have been a Brazilian player due to the nationality of his father but decided to don the Spanish shirt because the competition back in Brazil is tougher.

Back in Germany, the talent of Thiago started to transform into deeds under the supervision of Pep, and under Hansi Flick, he has reached that level, which is the dream of a footballer – one of the best players in world football.

In Bayern Munich, Thiago marshals the center of the park. Covering the game in the midfield as a central midfielder is always a very demanding task and one needs to possess a high level of endurance and top-class mobility, which Thiago has.

While there are some limitations in his game due to his size, especially his height (he’s 172 cm tall), he showcases a fair amount of strength in ground duels and isn’t afraid of challenging bigger opponents.

In Bayern, Thiago played as a number 8 for a brief period and then played as a number 10 and for the past few years, he became a master of the art as a number 6 – either alone or in combination with others.

Under Hansi Flick, he was deployed as a deeplying playmaker in a 4-2-3-1, usually alongside the more dynamic and defensive Joshua Kimmich. Despite the roles being markedly different, Thiago’s tactical intelligence and vast skill set has enabled him to thrive as a number six.

Thiago’s greatest strength is his ability to maintain possession under pressure. When dropping deep to collect the ball from the center-backs, he is often met with an intense opposition press. Due to the positions he takes up on the pitch, losing the ball in these areas would leave Bayern hopelessly exposed defensively – but Thiago advances with the ball defying the high-press and dictates the game from the deep.

His first touch also allows him to control the ball in tight areas or create space from an opposition player – Thiago excels through turns, feints, and shimmies to outweigh the marker and progresses without breaking enough sweat.

The creative role of Thiago opens the play for Bayern and the players in the forward exploit that fully – one could witness how brutal Bayern Munich had been in the Champions League.

Using his vision and passing range, he spread the play and found the likes of Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman with direct, vertical passes. More commonly, though, he looked to find teammates who find space in between the lines with penetrative forward passes.

Despite his primary creative role, Thiago is also a competent defender. He wins 70% of his ground duels and makes 2.6 interceptions and 3 tackles per 90. Despite his 5’9” frame, he wins an impressive 2.8 aerial duels per 90. He is relatively strong and quick and is particularly good at initiating sudden bursts of acceleration that can be an asset both with and without the ball. Thiago is generally lauded as a creative player, but his defensive contributions are vital to his viability as a number six.

In the English Premier League, his such qualities would be highly beneficial.

Liverpool have signed midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich on a four-year deal for £20m.

The fee for the Spain international, 29, could eventually rise to £25m with bonuses.

The midfield of Liverpool has always been about maintaining compactness and accelerates with the high-octane nature of the League. The likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Gini Wjinadum or James Milner have not been all about creative play in the center of the park, but retaining possession and then push it forward to the center or on the flanks, where Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold would do the rest for Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

So, how could Thiago fit in Klopp’s midfield?

According to Melissa Reddy, senior correspondent of The Independent, “Part of the job when you are at the top is to stay there and one of the ways to do that is to make sure you're evolving, reinventing yourself in certain respects while staying true to the fundamentals that got you to the pinnacle in the first place - and Thiago would do that. He is the anthesis of everything they have at the moment, which I think is the entire point.”

“He's so progressive on the ball, pressure-resistant and against deep defences especially, he would open them, with his incredible range of passing with both feet. While it's true that Liverpool largely funnel all their play through their full-backs, who are the creative heartbeat of the side, they know that clubs are trying to deny them that avenue. They're working really hard to put pressure on the full-backs to funnel all their play inside.”

“Liverpool's midfield is incredibly industrious, tactically astute and their job really is to cover the areas when the full-backs go and are left vacant to make sure they're offering protection, but if you can have somebody in the midfield as well who can function in that creative capacity, it makes sense to do it.”

“Thiago is an incredible thinker of the game as well when he talks about the art of passing. He was schooled at two clubs [Barcelona and Bayern] where the pressure and expectation is so much, so moving to a club where that's also the case wouldn't really hamper him too much.”

“But in essence, when you look at Liverpool's midfield, they're already struggling to give everyone a fair crack at appearances and it is their most well-stocked area. For Jurgen, the biggest thing is squad harmony. He thinks a big reason they are where they are is, yes the evolution of the team and being able to win in different ways, but that's possible because of the squad harmony, the way the group gets along and he's very conscious of keeping that, adding to the group but not destabilizing that harmony.”

“Interestingly with Thiago, Georginio Wijnaldum is in the exact same position in terms of having a year left on his contract to run and Barcelona under Ronald Koeman want Wijanldum. There has been no secret of that.”

Reddy has explained beautifully about the role of Thiago and at the center of the park, he would take the burden of creative play and reduce the load from the fling wing-backs.

Players like Milner and Henderson who could shift from a flanking midfield role to a more defensive one during the course of a game, relieving Thiago of some of his defensive duties.  

Without an iota of doubt, Thiago is the best signing of this summer and Liverpool have signed an absolute gem of a midfielder, who would only deliver the goods for Klopp and make them stronger even though some think, this is a move of stepping backward, but keeping in mind the form and skillsets Thiago have, some of the critics need to recheck their thoughts.  

 Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 18/09/2020 Thiago Alcantara: The midfield maestro

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Faisal Caesar