- Sterling and Mount double team in the left half space
- Kane redundant (lacks penetration)
- Phillips puts in a Kante performance and dominates the right half space
- No overlaps
Whilst Tripper held, Mount bombed forward in support of Sterling. Both gave Vrsaljko a torrid time, combining with one another and taking turns to go round him and cut in side.
Kane is a flat track bully. Lacks the pace to stretch well organised defences and despite facing a sub par Croatia backline, he was incapable of stretching them and finding pockets of space.
Do not see him hurting bigger sides deeper in tournament.
The lack of overlaps from England's full backs was concerning. It gives us stability, but long term Kane needs aerial service if he is to thrive in this tournament. Our wide men are also being forced to create when outnumbered. Against bigger teams this will be an issue.
This hurt Foden in particular who despite a promising start needed Walker to overlap and free him away from the right wing. This did not happen and Perisic came back to make it 2 v 1.
Foden's passing angles inside were also cut off, so he became limited as a threat.
Rice held which allowed Phillips to bomb on very aggressively. Phillips was waiting for whichever Croatian midfielder got the ball and then hounded them like a hungry dog. These interceptions were key to stopping Croatia from establishing a stranglehold.
At one stage England looked lost.. and did not look like they knew how to break Croatia's backline. Then that man Phillips once again broke forward, beyond Croatia's midfield and had the composure to find the excellent Sterling who made a much needed run in behind (a rarity).
Croatia offered no threat. Perisic faced double marking himself. Vrsaljko faced his colleage from Atletico who read him like a book and Modric lacked the legs to outperform Mount who faced him in the Champions League so was not overawed by him.
A well-deserved victory for England over a very poor Croatia team.
Still a lot to work on for England but that is a solid start to the tournament. My only concern is that I expect England to sail through the group stages so limitations won't be exposed to learn from.
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The sale of Jaap Stam. Jaap was the world’s best centre back during the treble season but a season later he was sold (not quite in his prime but still operating at a world class level).
Early in the 2001–02 season, Stam was controversially sold to Lazio in Italy after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly upset by allegations Stam had made in his autobiography Head to Head about the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV. Later, Simon Kuper reported that contrary to initial belief, Ferguson had noticed that Stam's tackling numbers were declining and simply assumed the defender was past his playing peak.Laurent Blanc was signed as his replacement.
In 2007, however, Ferguson described the decision to sell Stam as an error: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake. He is still playing for Ajax at a really good level."
The sale of Eto’o and signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic… letting go of the ideal striker for a tiki taka fluid style of play and bringing in a relatively tactically static target man type.
Ibrahimovic arrived at Barcelona when they were at the top of the mountain, and there was only one place for them to go. Yes, Barcelona won La Liga again in 2009-10 – they were one game away from an unbeaten season, only losing to Atletico Madrid – but they were to face disappointment in both the Copa del Rey, where they lost to Sevilla in the final due to away goals, and the Champions League, eliminated, famously, by Mourinho’s Inter in the semi-finals.
Ibrahimovic played sporadically, particularly by his standards; in La Liga, he was left out of the matchday squad on five occasions and was benched twice. He did not take it lying down.
The Swede later claimed that he was “a Ferrari being driven like a Fiat” in his book as he was limited to 23 league starts, and was substituted off in both legs against his old club, Inter.
He provided 34 goal involvements throughout the season, but the team simply didn’t seem to function as well with him as the focal point; Guardiola’s tiki-taka style did not require a bruising frontman, instead a light touch with flexibility and swift interchanges. Lionel Messi and Pedro were trusted to do that; it appeared that Ibrahimovic was not.
One thing you’ll realise about most of these wing pairings is this uneasiness of an alliance, great wingers are by nature quite selfish and used to being the star player of their side from a young age and want to ball hog so having to share the limelight with another can be quite a emasculating process.
Whilst Robben and Ribery to the outside observer was an unreal wing pairing and full of chemistry, in truth they set up camp on opposite flanks demanding that they get the lions share of possession - fortunately their team mates did a wonderful balancing act and allowed them to hit a zenith in football that they wouldn’t have been able to do without each other.
Robben, a left-footed right winger, was known for his trademark move of cutting inside from the right flank and unleashing powerful shots with his left foot. His incredible dribbling, pace, and finishing ability made him a constant threat. Ribéry, a right-footed left winger, brought creativity, agility, and exceptional ball control. His ability to beat defenders and provide precise crosses and key passes complemented Robben’s direct approach perfectly.
Together, they helped Bayern Munich win numerous titles, including multiple Bundesliga championships, DFB-Pokal trophies, and the coveted UEFA Champions League in 2013. That season, they were pivotal in Bayern’s historic treble-winning campaign, which also included the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles.
Probably the best looking duo in this list… Giggs was United’s original pin up boy and he had already forged an unreal wing pairing with Kanchelskis which has tortured the Premier League.
Unfortunately that never really got the chance to dominate Europe and it was the introduction of David Beckham which truly took United beyond domestic dominance to European mastery.
Two incredibly polar opposites in terms of style… Giggs was like the Welsh Gento, all directness and pace, weaving in and out and at times twisting himself in knots as well as the opposition whereas Beckham was all about laser precision, graft and using his ball striking to do the talking rather than his rather non existent ball carrying.
Together they wrecked the best defences in Europe and if it wasn’t Giggs jinking his way and attracting defenders down his side, Beckham perhaps wouldn’t have had the space to finish teams off with his unbelievable deliveries.
Together, Giggs and Beckham helped Manchester United win numerous trophies, including six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. The 1998-1999 season was particularly notable as United won the historic treble (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League), with both players playing pivotal roles. Beckham’s crosses and Giggs’s runs were crucial in many key matches, including the famous Champions League semi-final against Juventus and the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, where Giggs scored his legendary solo goal.
🔴What strengths does he bring?
⚪️What would he improve?
🔴How does he fit?
⚪️What does he not bring to the table?
A THREAD 🧵
Strong in the air, Calafiori has duelled with the likes of Osimhen and lived to tell the tale so in terms of a combative POV he should handle the physical tussles of the Premier League…
He also brings an air of composure in the build up phase so more assured than a Kiwior on the ball, and if he makes the shift to CB, better press resistance than Gabriel. Does he have the progressive passing to complement this daring style?
What strengths does he bring to Manchester United? What would he improve? How does he fit? What does he not bring to the table?
A THREAD 🧵
#MUFC
I have likened him to a Gattuso/Kante style of CM, he’s a rabid ball winner who seeks and destroys. If given a role where he can be freed up to hunt for the ball, he can be a menace… one of Europe’s leading ball winners statistically whilst at Lisbon
He’s not really a positional CDM. Someone who marks space well and holds his position. So the opposite to a Makelele, and that can cause issues when the team loses the ball because he isn’t always clued up as to how to cover for team mates and protect the back 4
i.e. players who may have lacked pace, but through intelligence, footwork, agility and most importantly STAMINA/MOVEMENT (i.e. constant offering for the ball) could wield their influence on the biggest of stages.
A THREAD 🧵
Kroos is the modern poster boy for proving that even in this so-called space age of fitter, faster - it doesn't necessarily mean better. There is still space in the game for a human snail to lord it over gym-forged Adonis' through his insatiable desire to get on the ball and calculate the right pass, time and time again.
When I was a kid, there was only one guy with 99 passing on FIFA and it was Pep Guardiola. Johan Cruyff, undeniably the biggest influence on him, famously said that Guardiola and Koeman can't defend in traditional sense of that word, but they created a new understanding of defensive game. You don't defend by tackling, you defend by keeping the ball and controlling the space — and in that aspect Guardiola was outstanding.
Despite his lack of pace, he intelligently positioned himself across the deeper midfield areas and proved to be a decent defensive player and not a liability. With the ball however he was a genius, constantly offering, never hurried when he received it, with eyes in the back of his head and an absolute artist with his passing, everything was weighted to perfection. 99 felt like an insult.
(Hard man CBs reknowned for man marking, aggression and warfare)
A Thread 🧵
My GOAT is Jurgen Kohler. Van Basten’s toughest opponent and starred in Italia 90 and as a wise head for Dortmund UCL win. Good in air, fast across ground, vigorous in the tackle and could play ball. Complete as it gets as a stopper.
Desailly. Went from being the World’s best CDM to an all time Stopper level. Didn’t quite do it at elite elite club level as a CB post Milan but before move to CDM he was a UCL winning CB for Marseilles. Powerful, athletic, beastly in the air and underrated in possession!