ENG v SA: England bounce back at Manchester

When you are watching a Test match where a team plays with the intent to play a 5-day match the way it should be played and give it more importance - no matter how much the cash-hungry blokes bark around them, they tend to dish out something captivating and intensifying which instills the motto of a vibes-driven play throughout the days. 

Brendon McCullum sounded confident despite the defeat in the first Test and no matter what, he would stick to the strategy and allow his men to play with more freedom and go for the kill and when you notice that the opposition decided to play according to your strength, you can just let yourself relax and watch the show. 

Surprise choice by Elgar, England cash in 

I am not sure what made Dean Elgar think of choosing to bat first on a juicy deck, but still, he followed his gut feeling, perhaps, yes, perhaps! 

The ball was shining like a fresh apple as if brought from the orchard and James Anderson and Ollie Robinson could not but let the apple move around on the juicy deck - really, the batters of the visiting team could not find an answer to the questions asked by Anderson and Broad. 

Despite his key contributions to the Lord's win, Erwee was never allowed to settle as Anderson and Robinson hounded him in a probing new-ball pairing, and after playing and missing relentlessly in an unconvincing 12-ball stay, Anderson found his inside edge to carve an opening in the fifth over of the day.

This was the first time since the Cape Town Test of 2009-10 that he and Anderson had not shared the new ball when playing together.

After taking 16 balls to get off the mark, Elgar had been limited to a solitary punched boundary through long-off when after an hour, Stuart Broad entered the attack - hit a good length outside off with a hint of away movement. Jonny Bairstow at third slip stooped low to gather, and South Africa's captain was gone for 12. Then he cut short the stay of Keegan Peterson - courtesy of a stiffer bounce from the good length that kissed Peterson's edge. 

Ben Stokes then showed how hungry he was with the ball as he induced an error with a ranked long-hop against Aiden Markram. Rassie van der Dussen then followed and after the break, Anderson struck gold with two in two deliveries, and then Broad had his third. The tail of South Africa but it was not enough to salvage something significant. 

Stokes and Foakes show

It had to be Stokes at the center of everything. 

After a brilliant display with the ball on Day 1, he revived the English hopes with the bat. 

His magnificent innings of 103 from 163 balls - his 12th Test century, and his first since the tour of the West Indies in March - came in the midst of a game-seizing stand of 173 for the sixth wicket with Ben Foakes, who went on to top-score with an unbeaten 113, his second England hundred after a memorable debut against Sri Lanka in 2018.

In the early part of the partnership, it was all about the basics - Stokes and Foakes had ticked along at a very similar tempo, but whereas Stokes saw the chance to put his foot down after reaching his half-century, Foakes recognized his role as the sheet-anchor.

Twin hundreds not only entertained the crowd and viewers but it had taken the game away from the visitors.  

South Africa's wrong choice 

England were 147 for 5 at one point and guess what, Elgar and South Africa's choice to include the second spinner Simon Harmer in place of the left-arm pace of Marco Jansen, thinking that the Manchester track would turn, later on, backfired and South Africa lacked the options to break the stand between Stokes and Foakes. 

South Africa done and dusted 

Anderson, never gets old, does he? 

He was bowling from the Anderson end and let the ball do all the talking - it jagged back in. Moved away. Bounced stiffly and then nipped back in like a rocket to send the stumps of Elgar cartwheeling. Wickets kept falling until Van der Dussen and Petersen stitched a partnership of 87 for the fourth wicket in 42.2 overs to essay a turnaround. 

Stokes ended the partnership and then came England's second new ball, and Anderson and Robinson polished off the other batters to bag an innings victory. 

The takeaways 

England have proven effective with the ball this summer when they are bowling first. They immediately put the opposition on the back foot with all the crafts they have under their belt and exploit the condition better. Most importantly, their ability to take wickets in the crucial juncture of a partnership has been one of the key features - the length tends to vary from short t back and then fuller. And, of course, with the Bazball around, you would not want them to bat second, which has enriched them this summer. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

Manchester United outweigh Liverpool with better tactics

It has been two weeks now that the new Football season in Europe has commenced amid the global crisis. If anything that helps the people across the globe forgets about the ongoing crisis then it is nothing but football - the game of the people.  In La Liga, Italia Serie A, and Bundesliga; the matches have been vibrant - without a little shocking outcome whereas no one cares about what is happening in Ligue 1. 

In the Premier League, it has been a wild ride - Manchester United was outclassed by Brighton and Brentford, Leeds United thrashed Chelsea, Newcastle United went neck to neck against the defending champions Manchester City, and Liverpool dropped points in consecutive matches - well, the weekend ended with Jurgen Klopp losing against the arch-rivals Manchester United, who opened their accounts for the first time this season. 

How a team trounced 4-0 at Brentford last time out could outfight, out-skill, and outrun an opponent who defeated them 9-0 on aggregate last term remains a matter of deep study for Klopp, who and his men are reeling at the moment. 

On a night where the latest anti-Glazer protests had up to 10,000 marching to Old Trafford and introduced the newly signed Casemiro from Real Madrid to the crown, Manchester United were a picture of bravery and quality from David de Gea in goal to Marcus Rashford at number 9, his second-half strike bookending Jadon Sancho’s early opener.

Erik ten Hag hinted at playing with players who would ensure more energy, better communication, and attitude at Old Trafford - that might have resulted in benching Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire. Ten Hag went with a new central defensive pair - Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Diogo Dalot paired on the wing-back positions. 

Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen formed the pivot and playmaker pair respectively at the central midfield, Bruno Fernandes joined the central attacking midfield, operating behind Marcus Rashford, with Anthony Elanga and Jadon Sancho operating on both the flanks. 

 Erik ten hag was quick to notice the weakness of Liverpool and which was the left side and at the center-back position, where Virgil van Dijk and Joel Gomez looked shaky.

In the first phase, in the previous matches against Brighton and Brentford, the Red Devils were seen struggling to move the ball forward after completing the short passes during ball-receiving from De Gea and opting for the longer ones at the center of the final third and flanks - but everything started to work since the ball started rolling.

The short passes on their own half during receiving the ball from David de Gea were limited and the long balls fell on the right paths. 

De Gea and the United backline had targeted Gomez and TAA with the long balls because neither of them was great in the air. Their vulnerability, left Harvey Elliot and Mohamed Salah to guard the right flank and Henderson was shielding the center-back position, where Gomez was shaking.  

On the left side of Liverpool, Diaz was trying to cut back but was neutralized by Lisandro and the pivot McTominay and when Andy Robertson moved to aid more fuel the area was congested because United were compact and Liverpool failed to move freely. McTominay partnered with Eriksen very well and complemented each other by moving up and down - well, the midfield of United was running like a beast as if already the presence of Casemiro had an impact on them.  

What followed was a sweet back-to-front sequence that finished with United scoring. Raphaël Varane made a superb intervention, taking the ball from Roberto Firmino’s toes in the area. Those in red moved upfield, before Elanga found Sancho, who feinted, left James Milner on his backside, and coolly beat Alisson.

James Milner gave Van Dijk a telling-off about something, and Klopp was thinking of his techinal moves. Klopp had 10 players unavailable including several injured A-listers: Thiago Alcântara, Diogo Jota and Naby Keïta, plus the suspended Darwin Núñez. The manager’s preference for the functional 36-year-old Milner instead of Fabinho, a natural holding player whose legs were the best part of a decade younger, was a head-scratcher.

So far so good for Manchester United, a pattern that continued when Elanga turned Trent Alexander-Arnold and drew a foul. This time Eriksen’s free-kick was tipped over by Alisson.

Liverpool displayed some resurgence when Alexander-Arnold’s cross was stabbed away by Varane and Harvey Elliott’s shot had to be stopped. 

Klopp’s charges rued their ill luck, however, when Milner headed a corner and Fernandes crashed the ball towards his own goal only to be saved by Lisandro Martinez who blocked on the line and hacked away - another bright side last night was the Argentine defender. 

After the break, Henderson failed to control one, and Anthony Martial, on for Elanga at the break, steered the ball to Rashford. Bursting in, the maligned forward beat Alisson with a sweet finish for a first league strike since January. 

Liverpool could reduce the deficit - but the night belonged to Manchester United. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

ENG v SA: Bazball proved handy for England

 

England were batting first on Day 1 for the first time this summer and at Lord's the surface under the grey sky had enough juice to encourage the South African pacers who came out all guns blazing.

On a literal and figurative stormy day, with thunderbolts sent down from the four quicks of the Proteas, it was the 24-year-old Ollie Pope who weathered it out. 

Surviving and thriving as the senior trio of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes together managed just 28.

Of the 69 deliveries that made up his first 51 runs, 32 percent drew false shots, according to CricViz, including a skew through gully when on 43 - a flavor of Bazball - but to be honest it is backfired. 

Last year, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared stands of 83, 126, and 97 on last year's tour. Those starts set India up for totals of 466, 364, and 278, and they weren't beaten in any of those encounters. 

This indicates that stitching a composed opening stand is very important in England, especially, if you're batting first and the Proteas openers followed the prescription with a stand of 85 that laid the foundation. 

England took the left side of the road by investing more in Bazball that should be done when your foundation is solid rather than throwing the bat, entertaining like jokers of circus shows, and leaving your team in the middle of the ocean without a single crew to steer the ship. 

The Englishmen came in. They wanted to have fun. Got dismissed. Smiled. Walked back towards the pavilion. Bazball was ending up with eggs on its face. 

An innings defeat was inevitable.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Casemiro will be missed in Real Madrid

 

The Castilla days 

Once upon a time, there was a school of thought going around the footballing world that the best way to the Real Madrid first XI is not via the Castilla, rather, Barcelona breed them and Florentino Perez used to buy them. 

Courtesy of Real Madrid's Galacticos, mind-warping revenue figures, Florentino Perez and the rivalling La Masia, such a perception has persisted, regardless of its accuracy. 

But the 2013-13 Castilla was bursting the myth that had been established. 

From the 2012-13 academy batch, Jese, Nacho, Denis Cheryshev, Lucas Vazquez and Casemiro have all found their way into Rafa Benitez's Real Madrid squad, and one of the boys named Casemiro would experience a short period in Santiago Bernabeu under Benitez. 

Casemiro was loaned to FC Porto in 2014, in a season-long loan.

He totalled 41 games overall for the Portuguese side, scoring four goals, including a free-kick in 2015 in a 4–0 home win over FC Basel in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. 

Three months later he returned to Real Madrid and scored his first competitive goal for the Merengues, heading home an 89th-minute corner kick by Jese in a 2–1 victory at UD Las Palmas.

Change of fortune

By then, Real Madrid, the champions of 2013-14, were a total mess in 2014-15 and with half the season gone, Benitez and his tactics came under severe criticism with Perez being forced to sack him and appoint Zinedine Zidane on an experimental basis for the rest of 2015-16 season. 

Zidane organized the midfield by injecting Casemiro along with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. 

 Zidane fully realised that the collapse of the galacticos began with Claudio Makelele’s departure and their mention of him has Casemiro beaming. 

“Makelele is one who invented this position,” Casemirio staed in an interview with the Guardian. 

“Him, Mauro Silva, Dunga. Gilberto Silva was another. There was a period teams played with two, but it’s mostly one pivot again now. I watch videos of them: they developed this position. Zidane is a specialist: he knows every player’s importance. But Makelele wouldn’t have been as important without Zidane. Or me without Toni [Kroos] or Luka [Modric]. Fede [Federico Valverde] now, or Isco.”

In the El Clasico of 2015-16 - Zidane put Casemiro in front of the defence as a pure pivot and mark the dynamic Lionel Messi. On that night, Casemiro had put Messi in his pocket and in the coming years, Messi would not be able to overcome the sharpness and quality of Casemiro, who would establish himself as the best defensive midfielder in the world. 

And since then, in 22 games vs Messi: 4 goals (only two from open play). Last 12 games 0 G/A for Messi. 

In the meantime, the trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro developed as one of the best midfield trio in the history of football - The Burmuda Triangle had started together in 10 finals for Real Madrid - and Real Madrid won all 10, which is a staggering achievement. 

Talk about impact, Casemiro had the most at the centre of the park that was vital to the glory of the Los Blancos. 

The Tank was comfortable defending near his box and was crucial in covering his teammates and recovering with excellent timing. 

When he had the ball, Casemiro never complicated himself and did what was needed to do - pass it fine or keep it safe - delivering to Modric or Kroos was the solution and let the match move forward. 

Zidane asked Casemiro to go forward when required, taking the role of an offensive midfielder, equalling his best goalscoring efforts last season. 

“That’s Zizou. He’s very insistent; he always, always says: ‘Case, you can do more: arrive from the second line, feed midfielders, bring the ball out cleanly.’ This (2019-20) year, maybe I’ve had more protagonism with the ball, but I still know my job: rob the ball, give it to my teammates. But Zizou is pesado, heavy going: always talking to me, wanting more. He says: ‘I’m not asking you to do something you can’t do; I’m asking you to do something you can.’ He trusts me a lot.”

Casemiro has powerful shooting abilities and is a great header of the ball - Real reaped a rich harvest for those qualities. 

Casemiro is a footballer who is a different breed

He once told Jorge Valdano that he fights for every ball as if it were “a plate of food.”

Casemiro’s mother Magda, a cleaner, brought him, his sister Bianca and his brother Lucas up alone. 

They were poor, there wasn’t always enough food and their tiny home was cramped, forcing him to spend nights with his grandparents or stay with teammates to sleep properly before playing. 

Casemiro recalls Nilton Moreira, who ran the club a six-mile walk away, paying fees he couldn’t: about €3. Being given boots and food. And how joining São Paulo meant finally getting fed properly. “Football,” he says, “is an escape valve, a way of achieving something in life.”

“That’s especially true in Brazil where maybe we have more difficulties in education and culture,” he says, “but it’s not only there.”

“Everything I am is because of my mum, because of football. I was fortunate to find a way thanks to football: my friends didn’t have that luck. Knowing how hard it was is why I do everything from the heart, 200%.”

“Casemiro does the work others won’t,” Sevilla’s Brazilian midfielder Fernando told El País. 

The Guardian reports: ”There’s the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, electric recovery boots, extreme abstinence, and morning sessions before training – teammate Rodrygo says Casemiro is always dragging him to the gym – together with constant videos and analysis: good decisions are not guesswork, nor are they all intuition.”

Rafa Benítez called him a “listener.”

Julen Lopetegui describes him as “a joy to coach”, whose “secret is the desire to improve, his willingness to adapt”. It is born perhaps of awareness that he may not be a natural virtuoso, some sense maybe that his place is at the service of others: he describes his role as “filling gaps, helping teammates”. 

It is manifest in his performances. When he arrived in Madrid, he didn’t look that good. He didn’t look this good, anyway.”

“I love to learn. I watch back, see the errors, and evaluate. I love that. People say I think like a coach. I always try to read the game, the other team’s mind, their coach, and what they’re trying to do. Often the smallest details – a metre either way – change everything. I have [football analytics platform] Wyscout and watch everything, from China or anywhere. My wife gets annoyed. It’s my work. There’s a time for everything but it’s my job. And I love it. My life is football. I have to think permanently about football,” said Casemiro. 

“It’s not the legs, it’s the mind that’s in charge. You have to be strong, and aggressive: I like challenges, and contact. But you play with your head; I always thought the key was thinking: being better positioned, seeing the move before it happens.”

The midfield and defence of Real Madrid always had breathed easy when Casemiro had been around. 

His decision to part ways with Real Madrid will be a blow for the Los Blancos who might have Fede Valverde, Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni; but it would take time for them to fill the gap of Casemiro.  

With less quality around him in the Brazilian midfield, he had to put a lot more effort to be influential and his absence literally killed Brazil at Kazan. 

That could be a problem with Manchester United when faced with teams that press higher and if Casemiro is expected to drive with the ball and becomes the key figure bringing the ball forward - lack of quality in the midfield and back. 

With the World Cup in Qatar knocking at the door, this move might strain the preparations a bit for Brazil because of the heavy workload for a club that is in tatters, but the show must go on. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar 

The memorable night at Bordeaux in 1994

Both France and Algeria considered Zinedine Yazid Zidane as their citizen, but the maestro would shine in the Blue Shirt for France and of course, back in Spain, he is a treasure for Real Madrid. On the field, he has always been about a footballer blessed with the ability to script incredible things. 

And, on August 17, 1994, in his international debut during the friendly against the Czech Republic, Zidane hinted at what was to come in the next twelve years. 

The French team was going through a transition period because the heydays of the 80s were over and the next generation failed to deliver anything at the top competitions - they were absent in World Cup in Italy and USA and cut a sorry figure in the Euros as well. The coach decided to build on defence rather than flair because, as a matter of fact, the French did not have the talent like the 80s. 

Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, and Bruno N’Gotty all played as Jacquet packed his team full of center-backs, hoping to stifle the Czechs, who still had not lost the reputation of displaying attacking football. 

What little flair was provided by Eric Cantona, David Ginola and Christophe Dugarry hadn't ignited. 

The unthinkable happened at Bordeaux as the Czechs took a lead by two goals in the first half courtesy of their hero Skuhravy and Daniel Smejkal. 

Enter a 22-year-old novice from Bordeaux. Zinedine Yazid Zidane.

The midfielder had built a reputation in Ligue 1 as a talented if slightly one-paced midfielder with Cannes and Bordeaux and now it was time for him to step up and prove his worth at the international level. 

Corentin Martins off, Zidane on. 

Zizou took over as the primary playmaker with Ginola leaving the pitch for Bixente Lizarazu.

The Czech Republic, who’d brought Patrik Berger and Karel Poborsky off the bench, continued to frustrate the French.

Zidane, wearing an unfamiliar number 14 shirt, struggled to get into the game.

But then, in the 85th minute, it happened. Zizou picked up a perfectly weighted pass from Blanc, beating one man without even touching the ball.

A second defender came rushing out only to be sent back to Prague with a drop of Zizou’s right shoulder and a swivel of the hips.

Zidane then shifted the ball from his right foot to his left foot, beating another man in the process, before arrowing the ball into the bottom corner from 30-yards out.

No celebration. No overjoyed passion at scoring his first international goal. Just the demand that someone fetch the dispatched ball out of the net and race it back to the center circle.

Two minutes later he was at it again, though this time showing a much-underrated side of his game.

An inswinging corner was whipped in. The Czech Republic made the mistake of leaving Zidane unmarked on the edge of the area.

He ambled into view before bulleting a header into the top corner from a good 10-yards out.

This time he did allow himself a moment of celebration. Rightly so.

And the journey of a legend began! 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar