Will Real Madrid's heavy investments in players going to pay off?
Will Real Madrid's heavy investments in players going to pay off?
As you know Real Madrid has been spending money, but will those expensive players really make a difference and lead Real Madrid to accomplish all it's goals?
Redrebel
Redrebel
Spain's 4-2-2-2 vs England Feb 09
Spain's 4-2-2-2 vs England Feb 09
Del Bosque's Spain vs England in a friendly, Seville, February 2009.
Roberticus
Roberticus
Arsenals Team In 5+ Years Time (No Transfers)
Arsenals Team In 5+ Years Time (No Transfers)
Well I decided to make a future Arsenal Team, I'll talk you through it.
GK - Self Explanatory
LB - Clichy will be primed and at his best
RB - Sagna will act as the older head of the Arsenal back line
CB's - These two are young and will be a great partnership for years to come
DCM - I picked Denilson because he has more experience then Diaby and Coquelin in this position, also Wenger sees Song as a CB.
ACM - Self Explanatory
LM&RM - Wilshere is going to be one of the best players in the world once he breaks into the 1st team, Nasri will continue to play as a winger because I still don't see him as a central player next to Cesc.
SS - I picked Vela because I feel RVP will be just passing his peak and will enter the Dennis Bergkamp role, playing a bit part role.
ST - I see Walcott as the forefront striker at Arsenal but Nicklas Bendtner will be a target man that will interchange with Walcott.
P.S I know there are players missing such as Merida and Ramsey etc, This is my own personal opinion and I would enjoy a discussion to who would be better in any of these positions.
Thanks :)
Arsenal
GK - Self Explanatory
LB - Clichy will be primed and at his best
RB - Sagna will act as the older head of the Arsenal back line
CB's - These two are young and will be a great partnership for years to come
DCM - I picked Denilson because he has more experience then Diaby and Coquelin in this position, also Wenger sees Song as a CB.
ACM - Self Explanatory
LM&RM - Wilshere is going to be one of the best players in the world once he breaks into the 1st team, Nasri will continue to play as a winger because I still don't see him as a central player next to Cesc.
SS - I picked Vela because I feel RVP will be just passing his peak and will enter the Dennis Bergkamp role, playing a bit part role.
ST - I see Walcott as the forefront striker at Arsenal but Nicklas Bendtner will be a target man that will interchange with Walcott.
P.S I know there are players missing such as Merida and Ramsey etc, This is my own personal opinion and I would enjoy a discussion to who would be better in any of these positions.
Thanks :)
Arsenal
Brazil's lopsided formation
Brazil's lopsided formation
Quoted as 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 in most Brazilian publications but illustrated asymmetrically like so.
-Robinho: second-striker/false winger
-Kaka: advanced playmaker,mediapunta, trequartista
-Ramires (or Dani Alves): 'carrilero'/wide-midfielder = box-to-box
-Maicon: attacking full-back
Andre Santos/Kleber: attacking full-back
-Gilberto Silva: "head-of-the-box", ultra defensive holding mid. slotting between centre-backs
-F. Melo: holding midfielder..greater responsibility for covering advancing full-backs
-
Roberticus
-Robinho: second-striker/false winger
-Kaka: advanced playmaker,mediapunta, trequartista
-Ramires (or Dani Alves): 'carrilero'/wide-midfielder = box-to-box
-Maicon: attacking full-back
Andre Santos/Kleber: attacking full-back
-Gilberto Silva: "head-of-the-box", ultra defensive holding mid. slotting between centre-backs
-F. Melo: holding midfielder..greater responsibility for covering advancing full-backs
-
Roberticus
Argentina's Copa América 2007 Team
Argentina's Copa América 2007 Team
A team that I found fascinating from both a tactical perspective and to watch at their sublime passing and technique was the Argentina team from the Copa América in 2007. Favourites to win the tournaments and players of the best football there, on paper it shouldn't have worked. Look at their midfield, which reads Cambiasso, Mascherano, Verón and Riquelme. Where's the pace? Who is going to get beyond the midfield and break into the box? Two destroyers? But it did work, and beautifully, until the final.
Cambiasso and Mascherano proved to be key in the first phase of play, getting the ball back. They were tireless, constantly harrying and hustling, the two of them never allowing their opponents to settle in midfield when Argentina did not have the ball. But then, when Argentina did, they contributed further, through movement. While they mightn't have been breaking into the box Lampard or Gerrard style, they gave the two playmakers, Verón and Riquelme options to spread the ball. They were aided by raids on the right from Zanetti, and Messi and Tévez drifting, either wide or deep. Tevez indeed played like a Number 9, hustling the ball himself, and presenting himself as an out ball. While he isn't tall, he is mobile, and passers of the quality of Argentina's two playmakers picked him out with ease. This let Messi drift between the defenders and midfield, giving him space to dribble, shoot, or spread the ball wide for Zanetti or Heinze, whenever he got that far forward. This combination of hustle and passing and movement proved overwhelming for most of their opponents.
Except Brazil in the final. Brazil triumphed 3-0 in the final but it wasn't as one-sided as the score suggests. Brazil scored early, but Argentina's heads did not drop. They dominated possession, and looked likely to equalise. Then an Ayala own goal on the '40 mark sucked the life from them. Riquelme hit the woodwork, but they were done, and posed no further danger, Alves wrapping the game up with a goal on the counter.
While they may have lost the final, and Brazil perhaps proving a model on how to do so (play defensively and try to break with pace out wide) their style of play was beautiful, and, perhaps, instructive. Spain combined a work ethic with their flair and deservedly won Euro 2008. Barcelona did the same in this year's Champions League, where they were also nearly undone by a defensive Chelsea. But I believe that Argentina were modern innovators for playing with the personnell that they did in that year's competition.
Tyranax
Cambiasso and Mascherano proved to be key in the first phase of play, getting the ball back. They were tireless, constantly harrying and hustling, the two of them never allowing their opponents to settle in midfield when Argentina did not have the ball. But then, when Argentina did, they contributed further, through movement. While they mightn't have been breaking into the box Lampard or Gerrard style, they gave the two playmakers, Verón and Riquelme options to spread the ball. They were aided by raids on the right from Zanetti, and Messi and Tévez drifting, either wide or deep. Tevez indeed played like a Number 9, hustling the ball himself, and presenting himself as an out ball. While he isn't tall, he is mobile, and passers of the quality of Argentina's two playmakers picked him out with ease. This let Messi drift between the defenders and midfield, giving him space to dribble, shoot, or spread the ball wide for Zanetti or Heinze, whenever he got that far forward. This combination of hustle and passing and movement proved overwhelming for most of their opponents.
Except Brazil in the final. Brazil triumphed 3-0 in the final but it wasn't as one-sided as the score suggests. Brazil scored early, but Argentina's heads did not drop. They dominated possession, and looked likely to equalise. Then an Ayala own goal on the '40 mark sucked the life from them. Riquelme hit the woodwork, but they were done, and posed no further danger, Alves wrapping the game up with a goal on the counter.
While they may have lost the final, and Brazil perhaps proving a model on how to do so (play defensively and try to break with pace out wide) their style of play was beautiful, and, perhaps, instructive. Spain combined a work ethic with their flair and deservedly won Euro 2008. Barcelona did the same in this year's Champions League, where they were also nearly undone by a defensive Chelsea. But I believe that Argentina were modern innovators for playing with the personnell that they did in that year's competition.
Tyranax
Republic Of Ireland World Cup Qualification Campaign 2010
Republic Of Ireland World Cup Qualification Campaign 2010
This is generally the shape that the Ireland team takes in qualifying under Trapattoni. It is nominally a classic 4-4-2 with two wide men, a mobile central unit in midfield and two strikers. Howevew in pracitce it is different. Ireland tend to start at a high tempo, attacking through the wings and attempting to get an early goal. Later in the match it becomes quite defensive, with Robbie Keane dropping into midfield at times to make it 4-5-1, Doyle being left as a lone front man, and Whelan and Andrews dropping very deep, almost as far back as to be as little as 25 metres from goal. Hunt and Duff funnell back as well, and the two full back get quite tight to the box, almost acting at times as auxilary centre halves, with Dunne and O'Shea camped inside the six yard box when Ireland are under pressure. On the counterattack late on, generally either a long out-ball is played to Doyle, or a pass is given wide and the team will attempt to advance from wide, with the midfield occasionally breaking forward to support, often Andrews being the most advanced of the duo with Whelan remaining deeper.
Tyranax
Tyranax
