World Cup Roundup – Groups E and F

FIFA and Qatar are two sides of the same corrupt coin.

That being said, what an absolute DAY at the World Cup. I still haven’t caught my breath!

Group F

Winners – Morocco

Runners Up – Croatia

Eliminated – Belgium, Canada

The big news in this group is that Belgium have been eliminated after a goalless draw with Croatia in their final group game. Belgium were very disappointing this whole tournament, and that form continued today. They were the better side in terms of possession and chances created, but of course a team doesn’t win simply by having more possession. Striker Romelu Lukaku was guilty of missing at least two gilt-edged chances, and I feel that the Lukaku of 4 years ago would have buried both of them. His form recently though simply hasn’t been good. But the Belgians can’t blame one man for their failure. They weren’t good enough in any of their matches, and the results prove it. Belgium fans will be devastated today, given that this was probably the last chance for players like Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Eden Hazard to play at a World Cup. They now face a ton of questions about their future, and they will answer those questions with out the aide of manager Roberto Martinez, who voluntarily stepped down as Belgium boss after the match. The Croatians did well to manage the game today and got a little lucky, but they’ll be happy to be through to the next round with their draw today.

A very hearty “well done” to the Moroccans today and for their general performance so far. Thy knew that a draw would likely see them through to the next round, but they went and got another victory today over already-eliminated Canada that saw them win their group! Not many would have picked them to do that before this tournament started. Winger/forward Hakim Ziyech got the first goal on 3 minutes when Canadian keeper Milan Borjan’s poor clearance fell straight to Ziyech and he chipped the keeper from about 30 yards out. The Moroccans then got a second about 20 minutes later when a long ball forward found the run of striker Youssef En-Nesyri. Despite being closely marshalled by two Canadian defenders, he got a low shot away that beat Borjan at his near post. The Canadians got one back from an own-goal on 41 minutes, but could not find another.

A day to forget for the Canadian keeper, but a day to remember for every Moroccan! They win their group for the first time in their history and become only the second African team to win their group in World Cup history!

Belgium going out and Morocco winning the group would be the story of the day if not for what happened in the other group.

Group E

Winners – Japan

Runners Up – Spain

Eliminated – Germany, Costa Rica

I don’t even know where to begin with this group. Total chaos and pandemonium from all four teams involved. Every possible mathematical permutation that could have happened did happen at one point or another during today’s matches. There was a very brief four minute window today where both the Ze Germans AND Spain were going out, and while that did not fully come to pass at the final whistles, the Germans going out is still a massive, massive, disappointment for them. Going into their final match against Costa Rica they not only needed to win, they needed a draw from the Spain-Japan match to get out of the group. They did end up winning 4-2 with forward Kai Havertz getting two goals, although it was much closer than the score line suggested. Costa Rica were right there with them most of the way. Even though Die Manschaft won, they still went out on goal difference to the Spanish. That 7-0 in favor of La Rioja against Costa Rica in the opening match ended up being very important indeed, as Spain advanced on superior goal difference. German manager Hansi Flick and all their players will be facing a lot of justified criticism for their performance in this World Cup. They never seemed to fully click. A more thorough examination of their issues is sure to come.

Both matches were great to watch, but the drama of how they impacted each other was the best thing about today. At halftime in both matches it was 1-0 to Spain and 1-0 to Germany, so it stood to reason that they would both hold on and sneak out of the group. Spain were passing the Japanese to death and the Germans looked to be revving up their goal machine.

But Japan had other ideas. In their match, the Blue Samurai came out in the second half and quickly scored two goals (48′ and 51′), one by substitute forward Ritsu Doan and the other by midfielder Ao Tanaka. The first came about due to some lackadaisical play by the Spanish, who were far too casual while playing the ball out from the back. Japan pressed and won the ball in their attacking third, after which Doan received it on the edge of the Spanish penalty area and whipped an absolute cracker of a shot off the hands of keeper Unai Simón and into the back of the net. A goal from nowhere, but that is a tactic the Japanese specialize in.

Japan had the ball forward again moments later, but this time the ball across the face of goal appeared to be just out of reach of winger Kaoru Mitoma. Mitoma still got a foot to the ball for a cross in though, and it was bundled home by the knee of Tanaka from maybe a yard out. The game was stopped for a goal check, and VAR allowed it to stand. Make no mistake, this was an insanely close call. There did appear to be some space between the ball and the end line, but it also appeared that a portion of the back half of the ball did not quite make it over the line. The camera angle made it hard to tell. In football, a ball is only out if the whole ball goes over the whole line, and the ref determined that the whole ball did not cross the whole of the line. The finest of fine margins though!

Japan then converted to a back-6 and essentially played the “attacks versus defense” training drill for the next 40 minutes, and while that is a risky strategy, it ultimately worked. The Spanish never did generate too many good chances after that, aside from two good saves from keeper Shūichi Gonda. Excellent defensive discipline from the Japanese to see it out, and it must be said that Spain were probably not in the mood to help Germany progress by scoring an equalizer.

Japan deserved this result today. I was worried about them after the first half being down 1-0 thanks to a header from striker Alvaro Morata, but their game plan for the second half was perfect. They pressed when they needed to, got a good goal as a result, and then nicked a second with a bit of good luck. They did almost the exact same thing against Germany. They were down 1-0 at the half in that match too, but got two in quick succession at the start of the second half of that match too. When something like this happens once it’s lucky, but when it’s twice it’s obviously a clear strategy.

Japanese manager Hajime Moriyasu deserves a ton of credit for today’s win. Japan’s strategy of holding on and defending for the first 45 and then really going for it in the opening 10 minutes of the second half worked perfectly – and it worked TWICE against two powerhouses of world football. The stats surrounding this team are absolutely mind-boggling. Japan is the first team ever to win a World Cup match with less than 20% possession. Indeed, their 17.7% possession today is the lowest for a winner in any World Cup match ever. They are the first team ever to come from behind and win twice in the group stage. They are the first Asian team to win their group twice. Just stunning in every which way. The party is on in Tokyo tonight!

Japan vs. Croatia – Monday, December 5th at 7 AM PST

Spain vs. Morocco – Tuesday, December 6th at 7 AM PST

Euro 2020(1) Quarterfinals – Two Tense Matches on Day 1

A few days off were needed for travel purposes, but the Euro 2020(1) quarterfinals got underway today with the first two games. Next two are tomorrow. All 8 of the remaining teams went in to the weekend knowing they were only three matches away from European glory. Spain took on Switzerland in St. Petersburg, Russia before the heavyweight fight between Italy and Belgium in Munich, Germany.

Spain vs. Switzerland

The Spanish were favorites coming into this match, as they boasted a lot more talent than the Swiss and are in a very rich vein of form. They have scored 10 goals in their past two matches, which is always impressive at a tournament. The Swiss however will not be afraid of anyone, having already slain the Goliath known as France. Importantly however, their captain and best midfielder Granit Xhaka was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. With Xhaka out, I thought the task just might be a tad too tall for the Swiss today.

It was clear from the outset what each team’s strategy was. The Spanish started out with their traditional possession-based game and the Swiss were quite content to let them have the ball a bit. The Swiss pressed on occasion and were trying to force the Spanish into mistakes high-up the pitch. That’s not a bad strategy as Spain can be prone to mistakes at the back, but it all went to hell for the Swiss less than 10 minutes in when Spain left back Jordi Alba fired a shot from a loose ball into the Swiss penalty area. The shot was somewhat hopeful and speculative, but it was effective nonetheless as it was redirected into the Swiss goal past keeper Yann Sommer on accident by defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria. Alba was credited with the goal initially by UEFA but they later changed it to an own-goal from Zakaria, which was probably harsh on Zakaria as Alba’s shot appeared to be on target. In any event, it was unlucky for the Swiss.

The rest of the half passed mostly without incident. Somewhat tepid, to be honest. Switzerland were again unlucky to see starting forward Breel Embolo go off after 20 minutes with a hamstring injury, and Spain were guilty of wasting a good chance that resulted from a free header by left back Cesar Azpilicueta. Aside from that though, not much else happened in the first half.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, not a lot between the two sides. The Swiss were starting to ask more questions of the Spanish defense though, and Zakaria was again unlucky to see his header go just wide from a corner. The Swiss had an excellent chance come via midfielder Steven Zuber who forced a fine save from a tight angle by Spanish keeper Unai Simon.

The Swiss got their equalizer however just five minutes after that shot across the bow via Xherdan Shaqiri, a man affectionately known as “The Cube” by supporters due to his box-like physique. Two Spanish defenders (Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte) both went for the same ball and their collision resulted in a loose ball that was pounced on by Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler. Freuler did well to find Shaqiri a few yards to his left, and The Cube made no mistake with a finish along the ground and off the inside of the left-hand post. The Swiss had fought back again, despite not really looking like doing so for good portions of the match.

Freuler found himself in the center of things again a few minutes later, but this time for negative reasons. He went into a tackle with both feet and his feet lifted off the ground, and made some very harsh contact with the Spanish player on the ball. English referee Michael Oliver went straight into his pocket and produced a red card. Upon review it was a rash tackle, and while you don’t always get a red card for such a challenge, it is very risky to try and tackle with both feet. You are inviting danger when you do that, and Freuler was punished for it.

Spain went into the ascendency after that due to the Swiss being down a man, but they could not make the most of their advantage and failed to score another in normal time. Extra time would be needed, which was a significant disadvantage for the tiring Swiss players. Having to play another 30 minutes with 10 men whilst having already played a full 90 is positively exhausting. However, again, Spain could not take advantage, despite some excellent chances falling to striker Gerard Moreno.

Penalties came and it was evident the fatigue being felt by the Swiss players. Spain missed two penalties themselves, but the Swiss could only convert one of them. Simon made two fine saves for sure, but I saw some very tired penalties from the Swiss. They were either hit too soft or blazed over the bar, because when fatigue sets in to the legs it is very difficult to maintain your technique and control when striking the ball. Perhaps if all 11 men had played until the end it would have ended differently, but of course now we’ll never know.

Credit to the Spanish for converting their penalties, but I would be very concerned about the semifinal if I was a Spaniard. The theme of poor finishing and defensive mistakes continued today, and against a more talented side they could have easily lost.

Spain advance to the semifinals at Wembley in midweek, where they await the winner of Belgium and Italy.

Belgium vs. Italy

Loads of talking points for this match, as it probably is the most intriguing fixture of the quarterfinals. Italy have the history of winning basically everything at major tournaments, although up until this tournament started there were questions concerning inexperience among this current batch of Italian players. They’ve done well this tournament, but their previous match against Austria caused some concerns among supporters about their ability to kill of teams effectively.

The Belgians come in with their current “Golden Generation” of players that are absolutely desperate to win the first major trophy for their country of any kind. Center forward Romelu Lukaku was in excellent form, but the major concern for Belgium was the fitness of star players Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard. Both of them are carrying injuries, but De Bruyne in particular is key to Belgian success at this tournament. As I have said before, there are serious arguments for De Bruyne being labelled as the best attacking midfielder in the world. De Bruyne did play in this match but Hazard did not.

Two great managers here too – Roberto Mancini for Italy and Roberto Martinez for Belgium. Interestingly, the last time these two managers faced off it was during an FA Cup final at Wembley, with Martinez’s Wigan Athletic pulling a shock upset over Mancini’s Manchester City.

The match was a little slow to start things off, with neither side really threatening the other in the first 10 minutes. Italy had the ball in the back of the Belgian net on 12 minutes though after a free kick found center back Giorgio Chiellini for a tap in, but after a VAR check the goal was correctly disallowed for offside. Chiellini was about a foot ahead of the ball when it came off his fellow defender Leonardo Bonucci. The tempo of the match did increase after that though, as Belgium knew they were given a let off. Romelu Lukaku did well to force a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma low to his right after good work from De Bruyne on a counter-attack. Gauging how this match would go from that point, it was likely that the team that made the fewest mistakes would go on to win. These teams were simply too evenly matched to call it one way or another. Good for the neutral of course, but nerve-wracking for supporters of the two countries.

You could call this fixture a chess match given all the tactical switching and formation changes by both teams throughout the opening half, but people tend to think of chess matches as boring and this game was anything but. End-to-end play that felt at times more like basketball than footie. The pace and energy from both teams was absolutely relentless.

The Italians broke the deadlock on 31 minutes via midfielder Nicolo Barella after a poor giveaway by Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen. The ball fell to the dangerous playmaker Marco Veratti who played in Barella, and he made no mistake with his finish over the top of Belgian keeper Thibault Courtois. Italy were even more energized by their goal and were able to grab another one from winger Lorenzo Insigne 12 minutes later. The first Italian goal was good, but the second one was a work of art from Insigne. He carried the ball about 50 yards, slaloming past a Belgian defender before shooting from the edge of the box. He got a lot of curl on the ball and the pace of it gave Courtois no chance to save. Truly breathtaking and a candidate for goal of the tournament.

The drama of the first half was not over though, as a penalty was awarded to Belgium just two minutes later in stoppage time. Teenage Belgian winger Jeremy Doku did well to beat his marker with pace in the left channel, and he went down inside the box after a shove in the back. The penalty was probably soft by most standards and the Italians were strenuously complaining, but VAR checked and the penalty stood. It’s a bit rich for Italians to complain about players going down too easily anyway, when they are the ones historically known as egregious divers. Lukaku stepped up to the spot and coolly put the ball past Donnarumma after sending him the wrong way.

The chaos continued in the second half, with both sides fashioning good chances but neither being able to finish them. Both Lukaku and Insigne were on fire and there were times when neither defense could get near those two players. There were more injuries and fouls in the second half as well, which wasn’t surprising given the effort and energy being put in by the players. The stoppages were really just temporary lulls in this hurricane of a match.

But the onus was on the Belgians to find an equalizer, and the Italians made subs that indicated they were going more defensive for the final 15 minutes or so, including switching to a back-5. They battened down the hatches and simply let Belgium come at them. It should be pointed out that as the game went on the Italians were engaging in what I like to call “shithousery”, meaning they were doing everything and anything to slow down the game without being penalized for it. They were taking their time with injuries, fouls, substitutions, and just generally wasting as much time as possible. While these Italians might play more attractive football than in the past, they clearly have not forgotten their traditional methods of gamesmanship mastered by their predecessors. I don’t like it as a tactic, but of course every team does it in matches of great importance.

The Belgians just couldn’t fashion another solid chance against the impregnable Italian back line, and the whistle finally blew. Italy held on to win despite a valiant effort from Belgium.

Italy will play Spain on Tuesday, July 6 at Wembley.

Tomorrow

Czech Republic vs. Denmark (9 am PDT)

England vs. Ukraine (Noon PDT)

I like England’s chances against Ukraine but they are a team with nothing to lose. No side should be taken lightly at this point. If a team makes the quarterfinals of a major tournament, that team is there for a reason.

Euro 2020(1) Round of 16, Day 2 – We Finally Have an Upset!

The next two knockout matches happened today in the Round of 16 at Euro 2020(1). Netherlands took on Czech Republic in Budapest, Hungary and there was a highly enticing matchup between Belgium and Portugal in Sevilla, Spain.

Netherlands vs. Czech Republic

The Dutch came into this match as group winners and appeared to be in great scoring form. They tallied 8 goals in the group stage and won all 3 matches despite some worries in defense. They were favored over the Czechs probably due to the amount of talent they have in attack, including players like Memphis Depay, Georgino Wijnaldum, and Denzel Dumfries. They have pace and quickness that I thought would very much trouble the Czech back line.

The Czechs came in having placed 3rd in Group D, and despite that finish they have showed flashes of footballing competence, primarily from striker Patrik Schick. He has the goal of the tournament already with his 50 yard chip vs. Scotland, and the Czechs may have surprised a few with their team displays thus far. Much like Austria yesterday, what they lack in superstar talent they make up for in team unity, discipline, and tactical nous.

Despite a lively start from the Dutch and the Czechs growing into the game a little later, the first half ended scoreless. Each side had crafted the occasional half-chance here and there, but the ball was frequently changing possession in midfield while both sides attempted to stamp some degree of authority on the game. You felt that the second half would be much more intense as the two sides tried to find a winner.

And the second half was really where this game changed. About 10 minutes after the restart, Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt was adjudged to have handled the ball just outside his own penalty area. The ref issued a yellow card at first, but after a VAR check the foul was upgraded to a red card. There was no penalty due to the handball being outside the penalty box, but the Dutch did suffer the consequence of having to play the last 35 minutes or so with only 10 men. The red card was certainly controversial, but it did appear that Shick would have had a clear goal scoring opportunity if not for the handball. Further, while it’s not 100% clear if De Ligt intentionally handled the ball, he has to be aware as a professional footballer that using your hand for any reason is always a bad idea and should be avoided at all costs. It was an awkward situation for De Ligt to deal with, but had he simply fallen on the ball there’s a good chance he would have won possession or at least a foul for his team. Instead though, he was off and the Dutch had to sacrifice an attacking player to shore up the defense. To add insult to injury, De Ligt is arguably the best defensive player in the Netherlands squad. Losing him was very much a double-whammy.

The red card really emboldened the Czechs and they became the more dominant side fairly quickly. There are talented players in this side, and they showed that by scoring the opener that really put the Dutch on the back foot. A cross from the right corner was over hit, but retrieved by Czech defender Tomas Kalas and played back into the box. The ball went over one Czech head but fellow defender Tomas Holes (pronounced HO-lesh) was at the back post to nod the Czechs in front. It was a very impressive header and a good cross back in, but again there were questions as to what the Dutch defense was doing. Holes was basically unmarked and was able to use his position to generate power on his header. Ecstasy for the Czechs, misery for the Dutch.

The Dutch then pushed for an equalizer due to not having any other choice, but that is always risky when you are a man down. They had plenty of possession in the closing minutes but the Czech defense shut them down time and time again. The Czechs then broke quickly and Schick got his 4th goal of the tournament after a fairly simple cross in to his feet from the left side. He hit the ball in stride and glided it past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg at his near post. Even though there was about 10 minutes left still, you felt that the Dutch were done. They couldn’t break down the Czech defense or put them consistently under pressure, and all credit to the Czechs for taking advantage of having an extra man.

This is by far the biggest upset of the tournament so far, and it’s what the tournament was crying out for. De Ligt blamed himself entirely for the loss, but he’s being a tad harsh on himself. Yes the red card changed everything, but the Dutch response to it was also lacking. The Dutch were being looked at by some as a contender to win the whole thing after their performance in the group stage, but today they were undone by a well-organized and disciplined team. Such is the beauty and agony of football – sometimes the team with the best players loses and that is precisely what happened today. Schick is now joint top-scorer at this tournament and who is to say that the Czechs can’t continue winning? This victory will galvanize them and do wonders for their self-confidence and belief. Well done to them!

The Czechs will travel to Azerbaijan for a quarterfinal matchup with Denmark.

Belgium vs. Portugal

This matchup is one of those that makes football fans salivate. Both teams are loaded with superstars, and both teams are probably among the favorites to win the tournament. Portugal are reigning European champions and boast the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Ruben Dias among their ranks. There are some question marks about Portugal’s tactical set up on occasion, but again they have more than enough talent to go win this thing.

Belgium have traditionally been underperformers at major tournaments, and while their window to win a first major international trophy with this current “Golden Generation” is slowly closing, it’s still cracked open a bit. They will be relying on all-world talents like Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Eden Hazard to go and get them some goals. De Bruyne in particular is, for me, the best attacking midfielder in the world right now.

The first 30 minutes or so were pretty tentative, perhaps even spilling over into the category of testy. Neither side’s attack really got going at first, and the match had the feel of a heavyweight title bout where neither fighter wants to make a mistake early on. Both defenses were highly organized and defending well. Many attacks from both sides simply just petered out when it came time for the final pass or final move to create a chance. Ronaldo did well to test Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois with a dipping free kick from about 25 yards on the right side and striker Diogo Jota should have done better from close range shortly after that.

Belgium however opened the scoring about 3 minutes before half time when the ball fell to Thorgan Hazard (Eden’s younger brother) on the edge of the penalty area about 20 yards from goal. He took a touch to get the ball onto his right foot, and then lashed an almighty shot towards Rui Patricio in the Portuguese goal. The strike swerved in the air and wrong-footed Patricio, and he could not recover to get over to the ball until it was already in the back of his net. Not many expected Thorgan to get a goal, but with that strike he showed that it’s not just his older brother that can score goals in that family. At halftime, it was 1-0 and Belgium were buoyant.

The Portuguese knew they would need a swift response having gone down just before the half. Bruno and wunderkind Joao Felix were brought on by Portugal for more power in attack, and indeed they began to see more of the ball in the Belgian half of the pitch. Belgium held strong though and Portuguese attacks repeatedly came to nothing. The tension grew throughout the match as well, with players pushing and shoving each other after fouls. Somewhat frustratingly for neutral viewers, the Portuguese were hitting the deck every time the Belgians challenged for the ball in an effort to win free kicks. To be fair, some of the challenges were heavy and worthy of fouls, but no one wants to watch the players on their team fall over anytime the opposition is near them. It is part of the game, but its cynical and negative.

The best chances for Portugal came with about 10 minutes left when a cross came in from a corner that was headed at the goal from point blank range by Dias. Unfortunately for him, the header was straight at Courtois and he parried it with his fists. He got a ton of power on the header, and if he managed to hit it anywhere else but straight forward it would have been an equalizer. Portugal left back Raphael Guerreiro was then unlucky to hit the base of the post with a shot from distance. They pumped cross after cross into the box, but they were all met by a Belgian head. They tried to play through the middle on the ground, but again Belgium always managed to get someone in the way.

All credit to the Belgian back line, in particular the center backs Thomas Vermaelen and Toby Alderweireld. They are getting long in the tooth but their experience cannot be discounted, as evidenced by their positioning and tackling today. Those two dealt with everything that came at them and did so fairly convincingly as well. Everyone knew Belgium could score, but the age of Vermaelen and Alderweireld led many to speculate that they couldn’t keep pace defensively. Having a confident center back pairing is always good, but especially so in tournament play. Indeed, defensive prowess is primarily how Portugal won Euro 2016.

But the defending champions are out now! Time to get some new blood in there if you ask me. Belgium have never won a major trophy as a team before, and they showed today they can beat another heavyweight if need be.

Belgium will take on Italy in yet another mouth-watering fixture next Friday in Munich.

Tomorrow

Croatia vs. Spain (9 am PDT)

France vs. Switzerland (Noon PDT)

England Victorious Over Austria and Romania, Plus Your European Championships Preview

Now the the club season is over, all eyes in the football world turn to the national teams and the summer tournaments. Major tournaments that were supposed to be played last summer, like the European Championships (Euros) and the Copa America, will be played this summer now that the COVID-19 pandemic is somewhat more under control. Even though the tournament is taking place in 2021, the tournament will still be known as Euro 2020, per UEFA. It’s kind of dumb to keep the original name when the tournament was postponed a year, but that’s UEFA for you. There was probably already a ton of merchandise made in anticipation of the tournament happening last summer, and the vendors that sponsor the tournament probably didn’t want to change it and throw out all their inventory. I should probably point out that only teams from Europe can compete in the Euros, so there will be no Brazil, Argentina, or USA in this tournament. They play in the tournaments of their respective regions this summer, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.

The Euros are normally hosted by a single nation and matches usually happen within the borders of the host country. This year is odd though in that the matches will be played in large-capacity stadiums across Europe, with the first match (Italy vs. Turkey) kicking off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy on Friday. Wembley Stadium in London will also heavily feature in this tournament, along with stadiums in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, and others. This was UEFA’s plan even before anyone knew about COVID-19, but the pandemic has made things even more uncertain and last-minute. Planning a major tournament is a pain in the neck even in the best of times, so I anticipate at least some matches being rescheduled due to the fluidity of the situation. This is a very big regional tournament though, second only to the World Cup in terms of team trophies in terms of importance in the minds of European fans, players, and managers. It needs to be played, it just could not be done safely last summer.

In the run-up to a major tournament, most teams play “friendlys” (exhibition) matches against other countries so they can have some practice playing with each other before the tournament begins. Friendlies can be very useful for a manager in determining his team selection and tactics for the tournament, but they are very similar to pre-season games in the NFL and NBA in the sense that you can only take away so much useful information from them. Your team might win a friendly 5-0, but if you are playing a small country like Andorra or San Marino, that 5-0 win may not mean much going into the tournament. Similarly, if you lose to a big team like France in a friendly, again it might not mean much in terms of predicting tournament results. It’s all about observing individual performances and figuring out what tactics and team selection will translate from the friendly to the tournament and what will not.

England won both of their friendlies over Austria and Romania this past week, both by a score of 1-0. Both matches were akin to watching paint dry, but there were some positives to take away. Neither Austria nor Romania are out-and-out bad teams, as both have players throughout Europe’s top-5 domestic leagues and both know how to organize themselves properly. The winning goal against Austria was a follow-up from a tight angle by winger Bukayo Saka, who scored his first ever England goal and had a very good match overall. The Austria match is a good example of the limited scope of friendlies though, as no players from Manchester City or Chelsea played in that match as it was too soon after the Champions League final and those players needed a rest. There was a stronger selection available for the match this morning against Romania, and England did play better attacking football as a result. Winger Jadon Sancho was unfortunate to hit the woodwork in the first half, but England scored thanks a to a penalty won by midfielder Jack Grealish that was converted by striker Marcus Rashford. Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson did miss a penalty later, but it did not affect the result.

Two wins is better than two losses going into a tournament of course, but we still haven’t seen the best England lineup and its unclear just how far this team will go once the tournament starts. England manager Gareth Southgate knows of course that a degree of success is expected from this tournament. He has already said that reaching the semifinals is the least he expects, and anything else would be a failure. He is right to say that, given the level of talent in this squad. We need to win a trophy with all this talent that we have, plain and simple. If we do not, it is possible that Southgate loses his job in the next year or two. We have Champions League winners throughout this team, and the depth of the squad is the strongest it has been in years. Southgate must take advantage of all this talent and figure out the best way to get the most out of his players.

What I want to see from Southgate and his men primarily though is the ability to adapt to matches and be flexible with tactics if things aren’t going our way. We found a good formula to win matches at World Cup 2018 and it worked very well early on, but it was our inability to adapt our tactics that cost us the semifinal match against Croatia. Southgate was far too rigid in that match and refused to change anything or take any risks until it was too late. We need to be able to play a variety of formations in a variety of ways. It is easier said than done of course, but if/when we get to the later stages of the tournament, it will be vital for our chances to succeed. England’s “Plan A” is solid, but we need to have just-as-solid plans B,C,D, and maybe even E as well.

England are in a tough but not overly-scary Group D with Croatia, Czech Republic, and Scotland. World Cup finalists Croatia are the main concern, but I don’t think they are quite as sharp as they were 3 years ago. World-class midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are coming off long seasons in Spain and no one on that team is getting any younger. Put simply, they’re very good but they’re also very old. Another concern is Scotland. What they lack in outright talent they make up for in hustle and shithousery. They always play England tough due to our geographical and historical rivalry, and they love nothing more than beating us. Scotland will gladly lose every match they play, as long as they beat England. I expect them to give us everything they’ve got. Czech Republic is probably the weakest team in the group and are probably co-favorites with Scotland to finish at the bottom, but they also have several Premier League players and should not be taken lightly. I think England have a good chance to win their group, but the match against Croatia will ultimately decide who takes this group. Two teams will advance out of the group stage, but if you win the group the draw is typically easier in the knockout rounds.

Some Other Teams to Watch

Portugal are the defending European Champions, having won in 2016 thanks largely to the Herculean efforts of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He will be back this summer for probably one of his final pushes for another major trophy with his national team. Ronaldo will likely play next summer at the 2022 World Cup, but his days in the team are numbered. Portugal currently have a bit of a “golden generation” going on given the talent they have at almost every position such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Ruben Dias. Those players will be expected to deliver, and they are all more than capable of doing so. Interestingly, this may be the most talented Portugal team Ronaldo has ever played in, so he may not need to do as much of the heavy lifting on his own.

France are the defending World Cup champions and are in the “Group of Death” with Portugal and Germany. France are once again absolutely loaded from top to bottom, and there are also high expectations for them in their home nation. When this France teams plays as a coherent unit, there are no other teams capable of stopping them. Champions League final Man of the Match N’Golo Kante is currently the best midfielder in the world, and he will be teaming up with another superstar in Paul Pogba to try and bring home another major trophy. Striker Karim Benzema is also in the form of his life, having had a stellar year at Real Madrid. His style of play also compliments the style of their other star striker, Kylian Mbappe. If France stay healthy and don’t succumb to infighting (which appears to be a thing of the past), they will be favorites to win the whole thing.

Belgium are probably the last team with the most realistic chance of winning this tournament, aside from France, Portugal, and England. Belgium are somewhat similar to England in the sense that the talent level they have does not reflect the level of success of the team. Players such as Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and Youri Tielemans have all won trophies at the club level, but they can never quite put it together at a tournament for one reason or another. They impressively beat Brazil in the quarterfinals at World Cup 2018, but then lost in the semis to the aforementioned French juggernaut. It could be a team mentality problem or a lack of depth, but whatever it is this current crop of Belgians know that their window to win a trophy is closing. Like Croatia, their star players are good but aging. Belgium face a bit of a rebuilding period once this current generation ages out of the squad, but there is no denying their quality.

Overall I am hoping for a fun tournament with lots of goals and high drama. Tournaments such as these are global advertisements for the game, and it’s good for the sport when quality football is seen by hundreds of millions.

United Suffer Disappointing Draw Versus Wolves; Racism Rears Its Ugly Head Again

Manchester United traveled to the Midlands to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) at Molineaux last Monday night. Wolves were a very difficult team for United last season, having lost to them both in the FA Cup and in the Premier League. Wolves’ Portuguese manager Nuno has the team well-drilled and they have talented attacking players. Fun fact: Wolves have the most Portuguese players out of any team in the Prem!

Meanwhile, the Red Devils looked to exact a bit of revenge for last season and continue their amazing start to the season after the victory over Chelsea in the opening match. In these early games you want to establish momentum and set the tone for the rest of the season. As the old adage goes: you can’t win the title in the first 10 matches of the season, but you can certainly lose it.

For the duration of the first half, it was all United. Although the opening 20 minutes or so were slow, United created the better chances and dominated most of the possession. They were rewarded for their dominance when Anthony Martial capped off a lovely move down the United left side with a stunner into the roof of the net from a tight angle. The buildup to the goal was phenomenal to watch, with Jesse Lingard, Luke Shaw, and Marcus Rashford all getting touches before Martial slammed it home. Congrats to Martial on scoring his 50th goal for United! He looks really at home in the center-forward position, having been shoved out to the left last season to accommodate Romelu Lukaku. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shown a lot of faith in Martial by giving him the No. 9 shirt back, and so far Martial has rewarded him. I want to see how Martial does when things get tougher down the road and the goals aren’t flowing as freely. He has a tendency to get down on his confidence which negatively affects his game. When his head is up though, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Martial almost got a second one thanks to a lazy pass from a Wolves defender just before half time, but he was knocked off the ball at the last second and the chance was gone. It was a controlled first half for United, but I was concerned that we would need another one to really solidify the odds of victory. It’s very difficult to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League due to the level of talent up and down the table, and even more difficult to do away from home. A cauldron like Molineaux is certainly no exception to that.

Wolves didn’t really get anything going until the 60th minute or so, and their ascendancy was aided by Spanish winger Adama Traore coming on. He tormented United down the right side and created some of Wolves’ best chances, including the cross that fell to Portuguese striker Ruben Neves at the top of the penalty box. He took a touch and United’s defenders were slow to close him down, and he struck an absolute belter past the outstretched arm of David De Gea for Wolves’ equalizer.

I can’t really be too mad about the goal itself. It was a wonderful goal from a good striker. The defense could have closed him down quicker, but you can’t take too much away from Neves. Fortunately, United still had plenty of time to find a winner.

They almost did a few minutes later when French midfield superstar Paul Pogba was fouled in the box by a Wolves center-back. It was stonewall penalty and could not have been any clearer. Pogba decided to take the penalty he had earned himself, and while his strike was powerful it was too close to Portuguese keeper Rui Patricio who saved down to his right. Pogba pulled his shirt over his head in shame and Wolves players celebrated.

A lot of people have focused on their criticisms on the penalty miss, and I have to admit I was confused by Pogba taking it as well. For those who don’t know, each time has their own methods for deciding who takes penalties when they are awarded. I am just honestly unclear as to what United’s particular procedure is. For example, the German national team has a rule that whoever wins the penalty does not take the penalty. I don’t know why they do it that way, but it seems to usually work for them. Some teams have a designated penalty taker for each individual game, and still some other teams designate a player who takes penalties until he misses one. After that, the job goes to someone else. I was under the impression that Rashford was our current penalty taker, not Pogba. Rashford has been cold as ice from the spot recently, while Pogba has missed four of them in his United career. I personally think Rashford should have been on the ball for this one. If he was, maybe it’s a different result. More on Pogba below.

The penalty miss sucked, but what concerned me more though was our inability to create chances in the second half. We looked flat and Wolves were all over us. Frankly, we were lucky to not concede a second. I didn’t really see a clear opportunity for United again until well into stoppage time, when Shaw smashed a shot directly at Patricio. The match ended rather flatly, with both teams clearly tired.

A draw is better than a loss, but given how well United played for most the game (in particular by the defense) a draw is still disappointing. We played much better at Molineaux this time than we did last season, but still only came away with a point. I know Wolves will cause problems for a lot of good teams this year, but you walk away from this one feeling like points were left on the table today. Still, 4 points from Chelsea and Wolves is not a terrible start to the season. United are at home to Crystal Palace next Saturday morning America-time.

***

After the match was over, Pogba was the target of racist abuse by some asshole idiots on Twitter and other forms of social media. They were pissed at him because he missed the penalty and decided to show their lack of intelligence through racial slurs behind anonymous online accounts.

This needs to stop. Period. It’s the third time this week that black players have been targets of racial abuse, and it’s completely disgusting. You can be mad at a player for not playing well or missing a penalty or whatever, but there is never, ever, any reason to use racist language against them. It’s maddening and these cowardly bastards are mostly getting away with it.

Twitter needs to do more to control racist speech and abuse online. I understand in America that racist language by itself isn’t illegal, but in England and in other parts of Europe it decidedly is. I think it’s getting worse due to 1) more visibility and media coverage and 2) an increasingly polarized society where it is tragically becoming more acceptable to be racist.

Of course, even if Twitter does tighten things up with their #KickItOut campaign, it’s only a band-aid on the problem. We have to address the root cores of racism in society overall instead of just fixing the behavior of football fans. Ignorance is the enemy of progress.

Shout out to Harry Maguire, Rashford, Lingard, and the club itself for calling out these morons and standing with Pogba. It’s good to see the players standing up for one another and the club vocally supporting them as well. I hope Pogba keeps his head up and pays no attention to them. He gets more than his fair share of criticism as it is.

 

The Transfer Window Closes and the Premier League Returns to Action

Early August is the season of the sports tease. My two favorite sports that I watch are the NFL and European football, and both start around the same time of year. The NFL’s preseason is just getting underway, while United’s preseason and the British summer transfer window are officially in the books. Everything is just getting started and I am sick of waiting for my sports to come back!

With the window closed, no club in Britain may acquire a player contracted to another club until the window re-opens in January. British clubs can still sign “free agent” or non-contracted players, but there aren’t many of those and the ones available aren’t very good.

In contrast, the European transfer window is still open, and will be for most of the leagues abroad in until September 2. Each country’s football association set the dates of their respective transfer windows. British clubs voted last season to move the deadline day up from the end of August last season. I think the idea was that it would ensure that each manager’s squad was more or less settled before the season began the following weekend. However, this move seems to have backfired a bit. British clubs are now at a disadvantage, because the European giants now have more time to get finances together to buy a player from England. Moreover, if a player leaves for Europe from England after August 8th, the English team can’t sign someone to replace him. Perhaps the Football Association will hold another vote about this to see if this is what clubs in Britain really want.

Anyway, short window or not, I am semi-pleased with the business Manchester United has done. There are positives and negatives here, and I think the Glazer family and Chief Executive Ed Woodward have done somewhat OK here. To recap, we brought in Welsh left winger Daniel James, English right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and English center-back Harry Maguire. We definitely strengthened the defense, which was one of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s objectives in the close season. The club spent about £140 million collectively on these players. A lot of money to be sure, but given that we are one of the richest clubs in the world, we can afford it.

We lost Ander Herrera on a free transfer, Antonio Valencia’s contract wasn’t renewed, and we also sold Romelu Lukaku for a rumored fee of £74 million. I have already aired my grievances about the Herrera situation, but I was pleased with the Lukaku transfer. OGS made it clear last season that he wants to use Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial as his strikers, and Lukaku became surplus to requirements. We got a lot of money for him out of Inter Milan, which is great for a player we don’t seem to need anymore.

My concerns however outweigh the positives from this window. We still don’t have a Director of Football/Technical Director. The supporters, including myself, have expressed their discontent with this on social media which hopefully reignites the fire under Woodward to bring someone in. As good as Woodward is at making money for the club, he is not good at keeping track of contracts and managing the overall footballing direction of the team. The Board of Directors like him because he makes money, but eventually they need to realize that profits are directly tied to success on the pitch. A DoF with a vision for the club would enable us to consistently compete again. The funds we got for Lukaku need to be re-invested into the club, and hopefully that’s what happens. I can’t imagine the uproar if we don’t buy a midfielder in January.

Now, to be fair, it does seem that we at least had a plan for this window. Get young, British players who have something to prove and stay away from the bloated wages commanded by established stars. This explains part of the reason why the Paulo Dybala transfer from Juventus fell through. The Argentine attacking midfielder wanted a ton of money each week and it was clear the only reason he would consider coming is for the wages. This club doesn’t need players like that. Let someone else overpay him, I say. Had he come, I have a feeling Dybala may have turned into Angel “Snake” Di Maria 2.0; a guy who plays well at first but then falls out with the club over petty bullshit because he didn’t really want to be here anyway. We have signed players who seem to embrace the club’s philosophies and values. That is good.

But again, problems remain. We still haven’t signed a midfield replacement for Herrera and our midfield looks incredibly thin. Paul Pogba is our best player and arguably the best midfielder in the world, but aside from him we are shockingly lacking in creativity in the middle. Scott McTominay looks to be a good defensive midfielder, but players like Andreas Pereira and Fred are going to need to step up their games massively this season when teams double and triple team Pogba. Clubs will believe that if you stop Pogba, you have a good chance of stopping United. Fred and Pereira will have to show them otherwise. Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic are no longer fast enough to play against the bigger clubs, and I hope to see OGS make McTominay our starting defensive midfielder.

Martial and Rashford will need to score 20+ goals this season for us to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. Pogba will need to add 10-15 goals and as many assists. I would also like to see more midfielders and defenders getting in on the goal scoring action as well. Five goals over the course of the season off the massive head of Maguire from set pieces would be great, for example.

OGS has also had a summer to tweak his tactics and develop new strategies with the team, so hopefully our play is a little less one-dimensional this season. I’d like to see different formations throughout games tailored to the strengths of the players on the pitch. That’s what a good manager does; he puts his players in the best position possible to win matches. OGS knows that managers can have incredibly short tenures in this day and age, so he will be keen on coming out of the gate strong.

The Premier League returned to action today with Liverpool’s 4-1 win over newly promoted Norwich City. Sadly, Liverpool don’t seem to have slowed down any after their incredibly successful campaign last year. Even though it was the bloody Scousers, it’s great to see the Premier League back. It’s one of the most entertaining leagues in the world and I am excited for this new season.

OGS and United get the season underway at Old Trafford against Chelsea FC on Sunday morning (Aug 11) America-time. It’s rare to have such a big match on opening weekend, and it is one full of intrigue and headlines. Chelsea and England legend “Fat” Frank Lampard is now the manager in West London after his successes at Championship side Derby County last season, so it’s match-up of former players as managers for both clubs. OGS and Lampard have dueled on the pitch before, and now they get to duel from their respective technical areas. USA star Christian Pulisic will also be making his Premier League debut for the Blues, so many Americans will be keen to see how he does in a very physical league.

Needless to say, I am excited. Let’s get this party started! Let the goals, drama, and Hot Takes commence!

 

United Take Down Kristiansund, Sign Harry Maguire

The preseason is almost over for Manchester United and the transfer window is almost shut, but United have had some major happenings in the past few days, both on and off the pitch.

The Red Devils flew to Oslo, Norway for their match against Kristiansund last Tuesday, after which they emerged victorious 1-0 thanks to a late penalty from Juan Mata. United dominated the match throughout, and were unlucky to not score more. In all honesty they probably should have won by 4 or 5 instead of just one. It was a special match for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who not only got to manage a match against his home town club, he also got to play against his son, Noah Solskjaer. It was a great money-maker for Kristiansund and the local economy of Oslo, plus United got another tune-up match before the season starts. Some of the younger lads played well and Paul Pogba stood out again, but the lack of finishing was something for them to work on before the last preseason match against AC Milan in Cardiff, Wales on Saturday.

The big news however happened today with the announcement of the signing of England and Leicester City center-back Harry Maguire. It was an open secret that the two clubs had been negotiating over Maguire las summer, but United didn’t want to pay the high transfer fee. This summer though the negotiations re-started, and the circumstances changed as well. United have needed a center back since the end of last season, but the longish-term injury to Eric Bailly a few weeks ago added fuel to the fire.

United set a world-record transfer fee by paying £80m ($97m) for Maguire, the highest ever fee paid for a defensive player. The previous record was the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for the services of Virgil Van Dijk. The question on everyone’s minds is whether or not Maguire is worth £80m. The answer, simply put, is that United overpaid for him. Leicester wanted £10m pounds less last summer, and now that United were in even more desperate position, Leicester could hike up the price tag almost as high as they wanted. A Director of Football at United could have potentially made this deal slightly better financially for the club. It’s true that we have the money, right now, to make these kinds of deals. But we can’t keep carrying on like this forever. The results on the pitch have to continuously be positive in order for the massive revenue the club generates to be maintained. Overpaying for players who don’t produce has been a massive problem in recent years and I’d like to see the trend reversed.

Still, United had a need and Ed Woodward and the Board of Directors filled the gap. There must be recognition for that. Our back line looks much better now than it did last season. Maguire is a natural left-sided center back, which allows Victor Lindelof to play in his natural position as a right-sided center back. With Luke Shaw at left back and new signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right, United look to be much more formidable defensively. More athletic, at the very least.

As for Maguire himself, he seems like a good lad with a good (and very large) head on his shoulders. He is easily better than most of our other center backs aside from Lindelof, and despite being an absolute unit he is deceptively good on the ball. The modern center-back has to be a good dribbler and passer, especially if at United if OGS wants us to play in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. It is vital for their to be a connection between the defense and midfield in our setup. The further forward Pogba receives the ball, the better. Maguire can make those difficult passes under pressure from speedy attackers. He does suffer from the occasional mental lapse, but under the tutelage of a tactically astute partner (like Lindelof) he will be consistently good. He was a big part of England’s 2018 World Cup run to the semifinals last summer, and scored from a corner against Sweden in the quarterfinals. He is certainly a big man capable of producing big moments, and I’d love to see him get his large frame and large head forward into the opposition’s penalty area during corners. I’d hate to have to mark him, that’s for sure.

It’s been a nerve-wracking transfer window in Manchester, mainly because we had only signed two players up until today. I do hope more transfers happen before the window closes on August 8th, but I do feel a little better now. There are rumors abounding of course about who else we are trying to bring in; with most of them centered on Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes, along with conjecture about swap deal with Juventus. We would send them Romelu Lukaku in exchange for Argentine winger/attacking mid Paulo Dybala. I personally can’t speculate on the likelihood of either deal happening, but I’d be happy if either or both of them did. Fernandes gives us another creative option in midfield so Pogba doesn’t have to do everything, while swapping out Lukaku would make him happy and United would be happy to lower our hefty wage bill. Convincing Dybala to come to England will be difficult, but it could feasibly happen for the right amount of money. He’s already a very good player, but he could really blossom in our attack given how much pace and dribbling talent is around him.

I do like the transfers the club has made so far, but I’d like to see at least 1 more signing before I call this a successful summer for United. We’ve spent a lot so far, so it is imperative that results on the pitch improve. OGS has been given a lot of financial support, so it is up to him and his staff to get this squad playing up to United standards. The preseason results have gone our way, but success isn’t measured in the preseason.

Preseason Tour of Asia Wrapped Up With a Win Over Tottenham

It’s been a very hectic week on a personal and professional level for me, so apologies for this post being a tad late. I know you all live for the Hot Takes!

The Red Devils defeated Champions League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in China thanks to a late goal from 18 year-old attacking-mid Angel Gomes. Anthony Martial, having hit a shot off the post early on, got United’s first when he nutmeg’d the Tottenham keeper from close range. Spurs equalized in the 2nd half thanks to fine work on the edge of the box by Lucas Moura. His shot took a deflection that wrong-footed United keeper Sergio Romero, who could only help but watch the ball roll into the goal. Moura probably deserved the goal in spite of the deflection anyway, given how good his touches were on the edge of the area. The apparent superstar of this match though was Tottenham striker Son Heung-Min. Even though he is Korean and this match was played in China, it’s very clear he holds Beckham-like levels of fame throughout Asia. Every time he touched the ball or took a shot the crowd cheered. Interestingly, Tottenham played their best football after he came on for Harry Kane.

Gomes got the winner after a scintillating 19-pass move by United’s players. It’s true that we pulled it off against Tottenham’s second-stringers, but there was still some great passing in the buildup and an excellent finish by the young player from a very tight angle. Gomes has played well on this tour and I sincerely hope he gets his chance to shine this season. He is only 18, but he has balance and strength on the ball I haven’t seen in someone his age before. It’s almost impossible to take it from him without fouling him.

The full build up to Angel Gomes’ goal from reddevils

The match was soured by over-aggressive tackling by Tottenham throughout, and also by the apparent serious injury to United center-back Eric Bailly’s knee. He was carted off in the second half and appeared to be rather distraught during the process. He’s had a lot of problems in his career at Manchester United with injury, and it’s always a bummer to see someone go down in a meaningless preseason match.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still has two more preseason matches to work out any selection issues he may have, but it does seem he is going to be presented with some real dilemmas. It’s hard to say who has nailed down a starting position for sure, but you can probably bet that Martial, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, David De Gea, Victor Lindelof, and probably Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be starting against Chelsea in the opening week. Beyond them though, it’s not entirely clear. We still need another midfielder, and with Bailly going down it might be a good idea to lock down another center-back as well. It’s also unclear what’s happening the transfer saga of striker Romelu Lukaku. He’s wanted to go to Inter Milan for quite a while now it seems but the two clubs can’t agree on a transfer fee. If no deal is done by Aug 31, he’s staying with United another year. I have a feeling he will go eventually, which is why he hasn’t played much on the tour. It’s more a matter of when than if.

Gomes, Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Tahith Chong, and Axel Tuanzebe all played exceptionally well on this tour. McTominay will likely be in the first team for a good portion of the season, since he played so well last year. He needs to start against Chelsea for sure, over Nemanja Matic. Matic’s athleticism and speed have sharply declined over the past season, and he still looks off the pace on this tour. I respect Matic’s dedication and efforts in every game, I just think he needs to come off the bench from here on out.

Greenwood could feasibly start on the right wing, and if United ever return to playing with a #10, Gomes is a great player to start there. Juan Mata (our other natural #10), is on the decline physically (much like Matic) and would not be ideal on the ball in a counter-attack situation. Again I love Mata to death (I’ve been told I look like him!) but I just don’t know if he can compete physically against the top sides anymore, especially late in the season. It’s clear OGS wants us to be a high-pressing team, and you have to have players with pace to make that happen.

Tuanzebe could end up being a good partner for Lindelof at the back, but I think Chris Smalling will probably start in the first match. I do think Tuanzebe is good enough to eventually lock up the other CB spot, but I don’t know if he will do it right away. Chong still looks a little raw despite electrifying dribbling and pace, so perhaps he will be loaned out to another club to experience first-team football. He may also be relegated to the bench, which would be another option.

I personally hope OGS takes a gamble or two on Gomes, Greenwood, and McTominay. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We’ve got to come out running at them and showing them that we aren’t scared, and if these kids are willing to do one thing, it’s running. They’re definitely technically gifted and deceptively strong on the ball, two key ingredients in every good Premier League player. McTominay and Gomes in particular can read the game better than some players much older than them. We’ve won things with young players before. It’s time to start doing that again.

Along with the selection headaches, OGS and his staff have to decide on what formations the team will play in. Last season OGS primarily used the 4-3-3, which enabled the team to press high, win the ball, and score goals. Teams figured out our tactics fairly quickly unfortunately, and we took in a dip in form after being unable to adjust our one-dimensional tactics. We need a Plan B at the very least. We need to be able to adjust the tactics and composition of the team on the fly during a match if the primary plan isn’t working. If OGS expects his players to step up, he needs to step up too.

United have gone back to England for the time being, but will soon fly to Norway to take on the small-ish Norwegian side Kristiansund in Oslo. This game was scheduled as part of OGS’s permanent contract at the club, as Kristiansund are the team from OGS’s home town. The match is designed largely to be a money-maker for the small Norwegian side, and I don’t expect it to be a serious match in any way. It’s for OGS and the fans of that club, and if anyone deserves a match in which he can have a bit of fun, it’s him. It will be interesting to see who lines up for United, and if any further selection problems arise for the manager.

GGMU

 

 

Manchester United Need to Show Massive Improvement In Order to Prevent a Fan-Mutiny Against Ownership

United strolled to a victory over Perth Glory 2-0 earlier today/yesterday as part of their pre-season tour of Australia, and while a victory is always great it usually means nothing in pre-season. Both goals (from Marcus Rashford and James Garner) came from sloppy clearances by the Aussie side; mistakes that will not be made by English clubs. While the pre-season got started off right, an in-depth analysis of last season and a preview of next season is required to get a full understanding of where this club actually is.

Last season was largely a forgettable one for the Red Devils, at least in the context of the end-of-season results. No trophies won, and no qualification for Champions League football. For a club with our finances, history, and stature, that is simply unacceptable. Not good enough, in any way.

Jose Mourinho got us started off brightly, but as the season wore on it was clear there was friction between him, the players, and the ownership. He’s a very tactically astute manager to be sure, and he is forever ingrained in our history due to winning both the League Cup and the Europa League. Unfortunately though he has a history of everything falling apart for him in his third season. Given that he left both Chelsea and Inter Milan in his third season after rumors of discontent and friction, I figured that the same thing happened again here. I honestly thought that despite his talents and knowledge, he’s just an absolute bastard to get along with on a personal level.

While that is undoubtedly true, whenever a relationship fails one must critically evaluate the actions of both parties involved. One thing to point out is that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2012, United have had 4 different managers. Why? Why is it that we go from one manager over a span of 26 years to 4 in the past 7 years?

For one, Ferguson is the greatest club manager in the history of football and his achievements will not be duplicated by anyone at any club any time soon. Guys like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Zinedine Zidane, and Carlo Ancelotti are all among the best managers in the world right now, but none of them are even close to where Ferguson was at the same stage of his career. It’s unrealistic to expect David Moyes, Luis Van Gaal, Mourinho, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replicate everything Ferguson did.

For two, the game has evolved significantly in the past 10 years. Thanks to increasingly lucrative TV deals, huge amounts of cash have been infused into the game at every level throughout the world, especially in the Premier League. The Prem is easily the most competitive it’s ever been, and I think even Ferguson himself would have more difficulty winning trophies now. Clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool grew sick of losing to us, so they’re respective owners did (and are doing) everything they can to beat us. When Ferguson took over United in 1986 he famously said he wanted to “knock Liverpool off their fucking perch”. Well, he successfully did that, but when he left every other club in England wanted to see us knocked off our fucking perch as well.

For three, the very structure of our club is stuck in 1990. Back then, the manager and his staff were solely responsible for evaluating players and deciding how the club would play overall. It was possible to be successful doing that back then since the level of competition was not as strong. But given how globalized the game is now and how much money there is in developing younger talent, it’s virtually impossible for the manager to be as involved as he may have been in past years. Handling training, man-management, tactics sessions, and press conferences all take precedent for most managers and rightfully so.

This is why a Director of Football is so crucial for a big club like United and why I’ve been banging on about this club desperately needing one. A DoF has the ability to focus solely on transfers and contracts, taking a huge load off the manager’s plate. He/she would have the ability to look at the overall status of the club and figure out, with the manager, who needs to stay and who should be sold. Ideally I’d like Edwin Van Der Sar for the job, the legendary United goalkeeper who has recently shown additional talents by developing and building up Ajax in the Netherlands. It would take a lot to get him to leave his homeland though, but a shed load of cash would undoubtedly help.

A perfect example of a massive failure that would not have otherwise happened if we had a DoF is the situation with Ander Herrera’s contract. The Spanish midfielder had a decent-to-good season last year minus his injuries, and even though he isn’t a world-beater he is still a solid squad player who showed signs of developing a strong relationship with superstar Paul Pogba in the middle of the park. He was up for renewal last summer and should have had his contract renewed then, when there was no outside interest in his services. This summer however, Paris St. Germain noticed that he’s a good player and also noticed that his contract was set to expire. They offered him a fat wage bill that United were unwilling to match, and now he’s gone on a free transfer. United could have gotten at least £30 million for Herrera had we renewed his contract last season. It’s again unacceptable that a player of his caliber was allowed to leave to a club with deep financial pockets for free. If the plan was to sell Herrera anyway then that’s fine, but at least get some money for him if he absolutely has to go. I’m not mad at Herrera for going to the place who will pay him most. I am mad he’s going for free and that United made no attempt to keep him in England.

We are now in July and the pre-season tour has already begun, and even though United have made two positive signings, we still don’t have a DoF. This failure is solely the responsibility of ownership and the Board of Directors. For a bit of history, the Glazer family bought Manchester United back in 2005. Before that, the club was more or less publicly owned. The Glazers saddled the club with massive debts, which was a point of great concern for many die-hard supporters. They were concerned United wouldn’t be competitive in the transfer market due to having to pay off debts. For the first few years or so, those doubts were unfounded thanks to the fact that we still had Ferguson at the helm. He acted as a giant band-aid from 2005 to 2012, covering up all the issues with management and finances by being the greatest manager of all time. Winning fixes everything, as long as you keep winning.

But Ferguson is gone now, and all of our problems have been laid bare in the time since. We’ve won the occasional trophy here and there, but we have not won the Premier League title or the Champions League since Ferguson left. We have no overall direction or plan, and as a result we have an amalgamation of players who are indeed talented but best-suited to a different manager’s style of play. Chris Smalling for example was excellent under Van Gaal but has declined significantly under Mourinho and OGS. The Glazer family know nothing about scouting football talent. We have a Chief Executive in Ed Woodward who is very good at securing sponsorships but not very good at negotiating contracts and wages. Ticket prices and concessions have only gone up in price at Old Trafford in recent years, as the Glazers look to extract more and more money out of the club. Some of the debts the Glazers incurred to buy the club have been paid, but United still aren’t out of the hole completely and it’s been 14 years since the takeover. This club does nothing but make money, so it’s utterly mystifying how we could be so poorly run and disorganized. No manager worth his salt will come to United in the future if he has to work under people who have no knowledge of the sport.

United fans protested the takeover back in 2005, but those protests kind of died out when United kept winning. However, the supporters are starting to realize that the problems with this club are rooted in the ownership versus a particular manager or player, and protests were organized against the club on social media in recent months. Now those protests have not materialized into anything significant yet, but if United keep losing and underperforming you can bet the calls for the Glazers’ heads will only get louder. We need a DoF with the authority to overrule the Glazers and Woodward, and we need one now. The more the Glazers take their hands off the steering wheel, the more comfortable I will feel.

Now, I don’t want to be all doom and gloom. Pure negativity usually doesn’t help. OGS did take over as caretaker manager about halfway through the season and took us on a 10-game winning streak that was pure magic. For a while, it felt like Ferguson was back. OGS brought the power of positivity and a bit of professionalism to the locker room, and the players responded by playing some of their best football in years. The comeback win over PSG in the Champions League will go down in United history as one of the biggest wins in club history. It’s true that United cooled off significantly as the season wore on, but I think that was down to player fatigue and opposing clubs figuring out OGS’s admittedly simple tactics.

Put succinctly; I expect improvement this season. We won’t win the Prem or anything like that, but I would happily take a smaller trophy or even no trophy as long as we show we are headed in the right direction. If the first two transfers under OGS are any indication, he seems to have a plan to invest in and develop youth instead of buying established superstars and paying them exorbitant wages. He also seems keen to use United Youth Academy players more than Mourinho and previous managers did. That plan worked for Ferguson, so I suppose it could work for OGS under the right circumstances.

So far United have signed Welsh winger Daniel James and English right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and while those are two good signings we still need a solid right winger and another central midfielder. The saga around Pogba’s transfer situation continues as well. His agent Mino Raiola is an attention hound of Mourinho-like proportions, and he loves spouting off nonsense at how discontent Pogba supposedly is. The media fuels all of these rumors that then have to then be quashed by people at United. If Pogba stays we need to build the team around him. If he’s going to go, he needs to go sooner rather than later so we can find a suitable replacement for him. I obviously want Pogba to stay given his massive talents, but I won’t begrudge him if he decides to leave. I personally think he will stay for at least one more season, but after that who knows?

Even if we had a world-class manager, world-class DoF, and super-rich owners who care about nothing but winning, the players on the pitch still have to perform at the end of the day. Last season I saw players willing to put it all on the line for the club, and I saw players who are not willing to put it all on the line. I also saw players who’s talent has been overvalued, and I also saw players who were good in past seasons but simply don’t have it anymore. I will never attack a United player who’s physical abilities aren’t there anymore (Ashley Young, Juan Mata), but I will verbally demolish players who don’t try for this club. Most of our players make six-figures per week so there is absolutely no reason for anyone to not be trying their hardest.

I think the best and simplest way to break it down is as follows:

Good Players From Last Season:

Sergio Romero, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof, Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford

Inconsistent Players Last Season: 

David De Gea, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Marcos Rojo, Juan Mata, Fred, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic

Players I Would Not Mind Selling/Cutting: 

Ashley Young, Phil Jones, Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Darmian

Already Gone:

Luis Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera

Players I Want to See More Of:

Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Andreas Pereira, Tahith Chong, Mason Greenwod, James Garner, Axel Tuanzebe, Timothy Fosu-Mensah

 

Another Scare, But United Survive

I have no idea what the hell is going on with this team.

There is clearly a problem with our team mentality, but I haven’t a clue as to how to fix it. For the duration of the match and despite the victory, the majority of the players in red today looks completely disinterested in this match. We were getting beat to every loose ball, and we lost possession more times than I can count. Anthony Martial, Fred, Paul Pogba, and Romelu Lukaku were all guilty of giving the ball away multiple times. David De Gea committed a particularly egregious giveaway in the buildup to West Ham’s goal as well.  Jessie Lingard didn’t give the ball away, but that’s only because he was never on the ball to begin with. Ran around like a headless chicken all day.

We won today because of some good decisions made by the referee, who correctly awarded two penalties to United in the first and second halves that were expertly dispatched by Pogba. United also benefited from a West Ham goal that was disallowed for offside, which even I can admit was a questionable decision. It’s very obvious that Video Assisted Replay (VAR) is needed in the Premier League and it’s good that it’s coming next season. Even though VAR may have hurt United today, it’s better for the game overall. What’s very clear though, even with VAR, is that you CANNOT rely on the referee to consistently make the right decision that helps you win the match.

West Ham could have been forgiven for not trying all that hard in today’s match. They are a mid-table side who aren’t likely facing relegation, but they also don’t have much to fight for above them either. I think United’s players were thinking the same thing; that West Ham wouldn’t really try to put in a shift. But they came out and played with purpose, with Robert Snodgrass (best or worst last name ever, not sure), Manuel Lanzini, and Felipe Anderson all playing like this was a Cup final of some kind. Anderson did well in particular to lose his marker and score West Ham’s equalizer in the second half. Michail Antonio came on in the 2nd half and also caused a ton of problems with his physical play, and he almost equalized for the Hammers again on two occasions. Had it not been for the crossbar and a redeeming save from De Gea, it easily could have finished 2-2 or worse.

We cannot expect teams to roll over for us anymore once we get a lead. It won’t happen. We need to kill teams off with multiple goals early on, or their belief will only grow as the match progresses. As I have said in previous posts, United are in need of a massive overhaul this summer. We have several players who are either past their best or simply not good enough overall, and I anticipate a clearing out once a Director of Football is appointed. In the meantime, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to figure out how to properly motivate this team into playing at the level we are capable of playing at.

The counter-balance to all of this negativity is that we still managed to win the game, despite all the shit that went wrong. I understand we can’t always play pretty football, and the mark of a good team is the ability to win even when the team doesn’t play well. I can remember many matches in the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson where we played like crap but still got the victory anyway. Resilience is a key trait for a team to have, but I’d appreciate it if we didn’t make it so hard on ourselves in the first place.

Barcelona again on Tuesday, and hopefully players who were rested for today like Luke Shaw and Ashley Young come out refreshed. Barcelona were able to rest many of their first-team starters today as well, so I expect them to come at us with guns blazing. United currently sit 5th after today’s victory, but Arsenal can reclaim 5th tomorrow with a win or draw.

Hold onto your butts, folks. The next few weeks are going to be wild, no matter what happens.