The Football Thread

[howard_the_duck]

PFF blows... di ba may leadership wrangling doon? whatever happened to that? good thing we're not suspended by FIFA

[redshirt]

lol it IS a big blow for the dutch. id take babel anytime over the inconsistent van persie. so says even coach van Basten. like all major teams in Europe, he plans to develop the young talent which arose from the Holland U-21s to cement a place in the wings of the Senior squad. which explains Raul being left out of the Spanish squad despite being top goalscorer of the competition of all time. critics ask, but why? its because of a stronger, quicker, and younger striker replaced him: F. Torres.

 

 

"Youll Never Walk Alone"

 

Van Persie is way better. He just suffered a major injury that's why.

 

 

Babel <<<<<<<<<<<<<< Van Persie.

 

 

But Torres >>>>>>>>>>> Raul is spot on. Time to hang up the cleats ledgend.

[redshirt]

THE SPECIAL ONE IS BACK!!!

 

 

 

Jose sign a 3 year deal with INT.

[bubuy]

Internazionale?

[duchessXI]

Van Persie is way better. He just suffered a major injury that's why.

 

 

Babel <<<<<<<<<<<<<< Van Persie.

 

 

But Torres >>>>>>>>>>> Raul is spot on. Time to hang up the cleats ledgend.

 

yah saw Van Persie back in his days, impressive. had lots of SOTs and several goals but thats due to henry playing decoy, i bet w/o henry he cant do a thing.

 

but babel? though hasnt established yet fully in the EPL, you could see his potential through his movements and passes, calm under pressure, already with Champs league and int'l experience. give him a break, hes only 21.

[howard_the_duck]

good luck on the special one, esp. since serie A is tougher than than the EPL

[redshirt]

Wonder who the Italians will treat Jose.

[duchessXI]

good luck on the special one, esp. since serie A is tougher than than the EPL

 

wow cant wait to see a draw between Inter Milan and Chelsea in the group stages or last 16. you could see the anger in Jose's eyes when everytime he comments anything about Chelsea. hes going to rip them [Chelsea] to pieces either with his players on the field or his blasts on press conferences.

 

now thats TV money.

[_eRon_]

woohoo!!! the special one is back..exciting na champions league nito pag nakaadvance na ang inter hehehehe sino na kaya magiging signings ni mourinho?hmmm ..

 

injured si cannavaro for the italians, sayang nman, importante siya sa backline ng italy..

 

zambrotta signs with ac milan from barcelona..

 

jens lehmann of arsenal signs with stuttgart..

 

mark hughes formerly of blackburn is the new manchester city manager..

 

bacary sagna of arsenal has singed a new deal with the gunnars..

 

kevin keegan of newcaste united is targeting argentinian star pablo aimar..

 

galing ni jermain defoe ah 2 goals against trinidad & tobago during their friendly ..

 

Cardiff City starlet Aaron Ramsey is close to sign with ManUtd; other teams aspiring for the England U21 star are Arsenal & Everton..

Edited June 4, 2008 by _eRon_

[redshirt]

I wonder who will Jose bring to INT?

 

 

Fat Frank? Dirty Drog? Don't cry for me Terry?

 

 

But Imagine.

 

Lamps+Drog+Zlatan = deadly

[damaso]

spain's 4-1-2-3 "false wingers" formation, a tactical discussion

 

we don't really focus too much on tactics here, but the football nerd in me is coming out. i just found really interesting how spanish coach luis aragones changed his tactics so he can adapt to his players. he has opted for possession-based, slow tempo, short passing football. malayo to what we're used to, especially since we watch the english premier league most of the time. it is very similar to what i see in the argentine apertura (swerte ako i have goltv channel). he also made them play a very curious formation - the 4-1-2-3 "false wingers". i think this will either make or break their euro 2008 campaign.

 

the system is really a slight variation from the 4-3-3. but before i break down this interesting system, let's see how this differs from what we are used to seeing - the standard 4-4-2:

 

4-4-2

 

this is the most common formation in the modern game. almost all the teams in the epl use this system. it is very balanced, for both attack and defense. man utd is the obvious example:

 

 

usually, one of the central midfielders (in man utd's case, owen hargreaves) plays a more defensive role while the other (paul scholes) supports the strikers. still, this formation requires the central midfielders to be quick and strong. that's why box-to-box midfielders in the mold of paul gascoigne (i.e. steven gerrard or frank lampard) are so highly sought after in the epl.

 

spain's star midfielders (xavi, andres iniesta, cesc fabregas), however, are small and slow. teams with big, strong midfielders will dominate the center. ballack or gattuso or patrick viera will just bully these guys. so, a third center midfielder was needed.

 

4-3-3

 

the best example of the 4-3-3 was jose mourinho's chelsea. the 4-3-3 is actually a defensive formation because it packed the center of midfield, with really only one out and out striker. chelsea owner roman abramovich clashed with mourinho because in this system, there was no room for andriy shevchenko. funnily enough, avram grant did not change the system. so it really still is mourinho's chelsea out there.

 

 

in this system, there are 3 central midfielders, 2 wingers and a lone striker. one of the central midfielders is a pure ball-winner, who will rarely join the attack. the 2 wingers will also track back in defense. now the crucial part of this formation is you need a strong striker who can win the ball in the air and more importantly, hold up play. didier drogba was perfect for this role. there is no better striker who can hold up the ball and let the team move from defense to attack. another important aspect is to have players with pace in the wings, who can deliver quality crosses.

 

spain did not use this formation because: 1) fernando torres likes either the ball played to his feet, or a through ball he can run to; and 2) spain has a wealth of midfielders who can't play on the wing - xavi, iniesta, fabregas, xabi alonso and david silva are all central mids and you can't imagine benching most of them.

 

4-1-2-3 "false wingers"

 

aside from torres, aragones has repeatedly said his most important players were xavi, iniesta and fabregas. to accomodate them all in the line-up, he came up with this formation:

 

 

there are now 4 playmakers in the field. david villa will support torres, and look for iniesta to get in the box often as well. the width will be provided by the fullbacks. so sergio ramos and joan capdevila will be bombing forward most of the time.

 

needless to say, it's a very attacking tactic. i do wonder how the defense will hold up. marcos senna (or xabi) will be called upon time and again to protect the centrebacks.

 

and aragones has put all his chips on the table with this formation, not calling up his one true winger - joaquin is staying home. it's a bug gamble but it might just pay off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ps - any of you guys interested in tactics, there's a game i play - football manager 2008. it's by far the most realistic simulation in the market. yung screenshots i posted are from that game.

[bubuy]

ive always played football manager since the 98 edition..

[damaso]

just finished watching mexico - argentina. what a match! end to end stuff. argentina 4, mexico 1. argentina would beat any team in the euro tournament handily...

[redshirt]

Well done mr. damso. Well done indeed.

 

I will try out the Spain formation in FIFA 08 to see if it can click.

[howard_the_duck]

noong araw daw 10-1 ang formation

 

meaning lahat striker