THANK YOU FOR LA DECIMA, BUT TRUTH BE TOLD, CARLO HAD TO GO

First and foremost this writer would love to say gracias to Carlo Ancelotti. He won us four trophies. Gave me my happiest moment as a Madrid fan, with La decima. For that I'll always be grateful. 

When Florentino Perez announced that Carlo Ancelotti had been relieved of his duties. The Madrid fan base broke into chaos. You could feel the love towards Carlo and hate towards Florentino.  Why it was surprising is strange knowing the way Madrid works.

I have agreed with almost everything Perez has done during this second tenure as president, and this is no different. Sacking of Ancelotti in the opinion of this writer was the right thing. Many madridistas will rain abuse on this, but when they look beyond la decima, they will see my point. This writer would like to highlight some key points for my reasoning.

First of all, the issue of lack of rotation. This was clearly a problem for this team. Madrid suffered a lot due to Carlo constantly playing practically the same XI every weekend or midweek when fit. Look at how rotation is about to lead Luis Enrique to a treble at Barcelona. By rotating earlier in the season, he has kept them fresh for the business end of the season. Tired bodies, equals tired minds and sometimes even with mental inspiration the body just does not allow you perform. All these could be seen with the players at the end of the campaign. The 2nd leg against Juve or the Liga game at the Camp nou are prime examples. Excessive playing also means that players are more susceptible to getting injuries, and this was what happened to Madrid. 16 muscle injuries were suffered over the course of the season, with fatal the losses of James, Ramos & Modric desperately felt. Without them, we lacked leadership, drive, flow, incision and penetration. The team looked dull, labored and in all honesty like headless chickens at times. A prime example of this is the painful 4-0 derby defeat to Atleti in February. Some would argue that the squad lacked quality depth. This argument is a very valid one and one which Perez should share the blame for, as our bench players (Isco, Navas & Varane aside) won't start at Atleti, Villareal, Valencia, Sevilla or other top la liga sides. It's a poverty situation for a club of Madrid's standards. However, following Carlo's history, he has never been one to favour rotation, so it's hard to judge if it would have been any different at Madrid. 

Secondly, the clear lack of tactical nous. Under Ancelotti Madrid played a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. Ancelotti is a master man manager, but he is tactically inept. Fair enough, Madrid played some brilliant football over the past 2 years, but when it was bad, it was really bad. No experiments in dead rubber games, and no clear idea of what exactly to do when the team needs a goal. Baffling decisions like the one to keep Kroos, can play the playmaker role, as the mediocentro while playing Illara or Lucas Silva, recognised mediocentroes as part of the 2 further up when James got injured. Terry Gibson of Sky Sport's revista de la liga show essentially pointed this out during their latest episode.

Madrid fans would argue Illara isn’t Madrid quality. But this writer wholly disagrees. Illara is Madrid quality. He just lacks confidence and is suffering from the pressures of such big club. Either way, the decision to leave Kroos as the mediocentro meant the attacking abilities of the team were diminished.

The games were a point or a win was gotten, wasn't due to a master stroke from Carlo, it was due to an individual piece of brilliance from Ronaldo or James or any of the super stars. Example of this? The UCL 2nd leg quarter final against Atleti. The goal was down to quick & incisive thinking from James and Ronaldo. There are many examples of Madrid not having an actual plan to get back into the game. The aimless crossing was particularly pathetic. I cannot tell you how often it was easy to call how a game would pan out from a Madrid perspective. The same way the team played over and over again. Even the substitutions were easy to call. Some the ones that were not easy were otherwise surprising in a negative way. His tactical ineptitude was also noted by Gibson. 

 

With Carlo, this side genuinely lacked identity or plan which made us easy to beat or play against when faced with tactical coaches who had quality players to implement the right method to stop Los blancos. This last bit leads to my next point

Next point is Carlo's pitiful big game record. Big games here are the knockout stage matches and league matches against the big 7. Over the course of 2 years, the record in UCL knockout is won 8, drew 2, and lost 3. Of the 8 wins, there were easy wins against Schalke (thrice). A win against a deteriorating Dortmund side. A win against a tired & depleted Atletico side (final), and a win against 10-man Atletico (UCL quarters). Looking at it, only both wins against Bayern last year actually didn't carry an element of luck or something of that nature. Madrid came close to bottling la decima twice. Against Dortmund, a disgraceful first half meant the team were inexplicably 2-0 down at HT after winning the first leg 3-0. If it wasn't for Casillas that night would have ended with UCL exit. Same applies to the 3-4 defeat at Schalke at the Bernabeu this year. Ronaldo dragged the team through that game and through the tie eventually. In the league, the big games against the 7 toughest teams, Barcelona, Atletico, Sevilla, Villareal, Sociedad, Valencia & Bilbao. In 2 years and 28 games. The record is won 12, drawn 6 and lost 10. A win ratio of roughly 43%.

 Failure to win these big matches are what essentially cost Madrid the league in each of the last 2 years. In both years Madrid were top of the league, 4 points clear coming into March. Both leads blown away by the end of the month (two defeats within a week to Barca and Sevilla in 13/14 and successive away defeats to Bilbao and Barca in 14/15).

Another point would be the lack of inspiration or motivation Madrid sometimes show. Self-motivation is vital, but motivation from your manager is key. Ultimately managers are paid to do such. Madrid lacked that at times with Carlo. This was particularly clear for all to see with the derby matches. After the 4-0 game, Ancelotti came out and said we lacked motivation. That was infuriating. Essentially the beginning of the end. How would there be a lack of motivation towards a team that had knocked you out of two competitions and beaten you once in the league already? An unbelievable statement that was from Mr Ancelotti. 

This writer would also like to note that everything is not the manager's fault. The Madrid players have a share of the blame. Silly and repeated mistakes cost the team matches. Profligacy and poor form from the BBC also caused the team games. The blame is on everyone, but the team manager is ultimately the one responsible for correcting such things. 

Fair play to Carlo, the decision to play Ramos in midfield was brilliant and something this writer had written on previously. Also, he did beat Atletico twice semi-final in 13/14 (although got eliminated this year in the last 16 by them) and Barca in the final of the Spanish cup. The team also benefited from his calm and serenity which was the complete opposite to the total chaos the latter part of Mourinho era was.

Its sad Carlo has gone, but Florentino Perez has logical reasons. The faults were repetitive, everything written in this article, has been written on extensively at different stages of the season (both articles can be viewed here http://soccerbants.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/ancelotti-has-failed-this-team-real.html  and http://soccerbants.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/killing-it-softly-ancelottis.html ) by this writer.

All in all this writer would like to thank Mr Ancelotti for several things. Credit had to be given for turning making Luka Modric what he is. A different beast from the player of pre-Ancelotti era. Also making James and Isco especially better equipped in terms of their defensive abilities. Madridistas will forever be grateful to Carlo for la decima. Many came and failed before him. He conquered. This however, guarantees nothing especially at the biggest club in world football. As this season has shown, failure to bring success to the table or at least show little deficiencies would spell the end.

Once again, Senor Florentino has made the right call.

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KILLING IT SOFTLY: ANCELOTTI’S STUBBORNNESS MAY CAUSE MADRID WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WONDERFUL SEASON

The season started well for Real, winning the UEFA super cup and then going on a run of 22 matches unbeaten in the league. 2014 was a wonderful year and 2015 was expected to continue like that. However at the turn of the year things I've gone downhill. The 22 match winning streak ended at Valencia, that was followed by a swift elimination from my Copa Del Rey, shortly afterwards we quite disgraceful slaughter at the hands of Atletico and coming into March we were still top of the league by 4 points but leaving March we could easily be behind by 4 points. So what has been the main problem? Simple. Ancelotti's stubbornness.

Ancelotti has shown stubbornness with rotation. When questioned on rotation he replied by saying "The BBC & Kroos are the key in this system, anytime they are fit they will play". That statement in itself has 2 implications. First and foremost, if those 4 players are out of form, they will continue play. That is unreal, and as seen in recent very true. You can understand the reason for not dropping Ronaldo & Benzema. The former is arguably the best in the world, the latter the best for our system. Bale on the other hand is different case. He has been badly out of form and didn't register a single goal or assist in February. Dropping him would do him and the team a whole lot of good, but Ancelotti is persistent. You can point to the "political reasons" for Bale starting, but that wouldn't be a problem considering Jese is the player most likely to replace Bale and he is arguably the most loved player at Madrid. Ancelotti would argue he persisted with Benzema last season with poor form and he came good. However, Benzema was actually dropped in the first classico. Jese should be given a chance to play often. Jese was brilliant before his injury last season and was even touted as possibly getting a ticket to the world cup. Ancelotti however seems to not trust him whether because of his injury or the way we're playing now is unknown. Playing him regularly would improve him as a player and that would help the club a great deal.

Tactical stubbornness is another fault in Ancelotti. Toni Kroos has suffered from this obstinacy by Ancelotti. His form was brilliant in the first half of the season, but has become visibly tired as he has played for Bayern, Germany and Real all as a major component. He needs to be rested. There are games were he could easily not have started and we would have been alright with Illara. Asier Illaramendi was bought to play the Alonso role, but Kroos plays there. Here again is another baffling thing. Ancelotti mentioned he won't play Kroos further upfield because he is key to this system. This has killed Madrid's creativity through the centre. Isco is the only sort of creativity in the midfield. Why not push Illara/Silva to the deep lying midfielder position and take Kroos to the more attacking position further up? 

Isco, Marcelo and Ronaldo have a good understanding on the left and are all better than the players on the right in terms of creativity. James was the major creative force on that side and indeed in the whole team as the stats show. 

His absence means Madrid only create through the left and intelligent coaches would just need to bombard their right hand side to make us look ordinary, disjointed and dull. Hence what Simeone, Marcelino and Valvarde have done, hence they've gotten results. 

The heat maps above show Isco and Illara's movement respectively during the last game. Clearly the right hand suffered. That has been the case with Illara, Khedira & Lucas. A switch to a 4-4-2 would see drop Bale deeper to the right taking Isco to left and 2 central strikers with Benzema dropping deep would cause more trouble for opponents but Ancelotti is adamant to such change. Sticking with this kind of 4-3-3 would only work by resting Kroos for a while or giving him a mid-season break and returning him to replace James for the period the Colombian is out injured time and increase our creativity and add energy to a tired looking side. 

The pictures above show were we clearly have the problems. The defence and midfield have dropped deeper, then attack has pushed further upfield. Hence shortage of balls to feed on for the forwards. Add that to the lack of creativity on one side and we have a recipe for failure. 

Tired body equals tired mind. It's not rocket science. Our players seem to be confused as to what to do. As Ben Hayward of goal.com says. 

This also further magnifies the points I raised in my previous article which you can see here: http://soccerbants.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/ancelotti-has-failed-this-team-real.html about how we don't seem to have tactics on how to beat big teams who can curb the individual brilliance of our players. Since that article was written we have played 3 big games Atletico, Villareal and Bilbao and won none. It's funny how Ancelotti is just taking note of this. 

Going back to the issue of tired minds, Ancelotti mentioned after the Atletico & Villareal game how the players lacked motivation. Emilio Butragueno said we lacked inspiration after the Bilbao game. Going back to Ancelotti's press conference after Alonso's departure, he said he couldn't force a player who said he has no motivation to play for the biggest club in the world to stay. With all this said, a simple observation will tell you Ancelotti leaves the work of motivation to his players. Self-motivation is good, but as a coach, it is his job to also prepare the players mentally. Mourinho is a classic example, his players are always hungry. Simeone is another. Ancelotti fails in this aspect.

Besides reinstating Casillas as number one at Madrid, another decision I've been supportive of Ancelotti during the season is refusal to make Varane one of the starting CBs. Pepe has been our best "defender" for 2 seasons running. Ramos has been shaky of late and some Madrid fans called for him to be dropped, but from what i have noticed Varane is too fragile & lacks total concentration to be a starter. Think back to the 4-0 defeat to Atletico look at his positioning on all of the goals & how easily he was bullied by the Atletico players even by Griezmann for the 3rd goal. For all his height, Ramos is more effective aerially in defending and attacking than the french man. . Ramos is a leader and a beast. His passion and motivation cannot be replaced. Varane will learn alot from Ramos and Pepe.

The return of Ramos, Modric and James would turn results around and bring back the class of the 22-match winning streak. Ancelotti knows he has no margin for error now and to his credit he hasn't used the "we have players out injured" excuse like some other coaches would. Those 3 players missing are players who would walk into most teams & are also from all areas of the pitch and whether you put it down to pride preventing him from accepting their absences as the reason for our loss of form or not, he's doing the right thing. In Ancelotti's defence a better bench would have helped the situation but we don't have that. 3-4 quality players need to be added to the squad especially in attack. We can't depend on the BBC all the time as this period is proving.

Things would change soon, but Ancelotti has to change his stubborn ways to help this team in difficult times such as this or else, a beautiful project and season would have been wasted. 

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ANCELOTTI HAS FAILED THIS TEAM: REAL MADRID LACK IDEAS AND AN IDENTITY

On Thursday night, it was a familiar tale for Los Blancos against Atletico, Atleti were compact, defended deep and with robust physicality, took their chances and got the job done against their arch rivals. Madrid fans will point to key mistakes at important times during the game. However with this being the 5th meeting between the pair this season and with Real failing to win any, it's more than individual mistakes or psychological problems that has cost them, big fingers have to be pointed at Carlo Ancelotti

 

Yes, he won 4 trophies in the past year, but that should not hide the fact that this Madrid team have a problem that has been there even during the successful period. This team lacks a particular identity and lack ideas when the opponent have played physical and cancelled out their game plan. Madrid look like a team who win matches based on superior quality of players. Admittedly this isn't a bad way to win, as it has proved effective, as the success of the past year will indicate. However, such play can only get you so far. Even a team that has superior players have it's bad day or a situation where the opponent "park the bus". It's in those situations Ancelotti's Madrid have been dire and diabolical. Granted Ancelotti did beat Bayern, Barcelona & Atletico to the Spanish Cup and the champions league last season, the matches against the former 2, were won with tactics out of Mourinho's page with better and improved players. Against Atletico, tiredness on the part of Los Rojiblancos and relentless desire to win the decima brought the coveted trophy to the Bernabeu. If it wasn't for the Ramos 92:48 equalizer, Ancelotti would have avoided criticism as Casillas would have taken the blame for the defeat. Here lies my point, Ancelotti escapes criticism due to the individual mistakes of players, forgetting that if he had better tactics the mistakes would have had little or no effect.

 

 

 

 

 

Last season, most of the possible "banana skin" matches Madrid faced in the league, more often, we slipped(no pun intended). Barca, Atletico, Valencia, Bilbao, Sevilla, Sociedad, Osasuna and Villareal are all "banana skin" matches and out of a possible 48 points, we took 26. With a win percentage of 43.75%. Horrible stats for such a club. In those matches, Ancelotti made some questionable decisions, Starting Bale as a number 9, Ramos as a DM in the Clasico and starting with 3 DMs against Atletico. 

 

 

Luis Enrique to his credit, learnt from the mistakes of his predecessors and found a way against Atletico. He switched play quickly using the full length of the pitch, pressed Atletico, allowed them to come forward to hit them on the counter attack and even nullify their set pieces brilliance. It was a tactical masterclass from Lucho. Why Ancelotti hasn't found a way or even copied such is beyond me. Such problems occur not only against Atletico but also against teams who have little quality. The aforementioned teams have good players and brilliant coaches, a little tactical nous will nullify our players individually and we seem to be lost every time as to what to do when this occurs. It's atrocious. It's unforgivable.

 

All great teams have an identity, Brazil of the 70s had "jogo bonito", Holland had "total football", Pep's Barca had "tiki-taka", what do Ancelotti’s Madrid have? Hard to think of a distinctive way this team plays. Individual brilliance is the closest thing. The best performance of this season came against Barcelona. That game was beautiful, we passed exquisitely almost mimicking Barca and their tiki taka, we countered like the beasts Guardiola said it's impossible to stop once we're in the mood. 

 

Ancelotti is Mr La Decima. He has the experience and I believe the tactical nous to find a way (not the shameful crossing of Thursday night). He has already come out to say he has a plan against Atletico in the league. Madridistas will hope this plan provides the key to defeating the other "problem" teams as well as Atleti. We all are behind the team and are not calling for the head of the coach (not just yet), we can still have a good season. However, things need to change tactically. 

 

 

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FINDING MARCO'S PLACE

It is no secret that Marco Reus’s contract at Dortmund is nearing it’s end. It is also no secret that a release clause in his contract will be activated in 2015. As expected the top teams in Europe will already be scrambling for his signature as he is arguably one of the best and most promising talents in the football universe at the moment. The World Class player has already been linked with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal and even Man Utd to mention but a few, (obviously there are more but these seem to be the ones grabbing the most media attention). I decided to write this article to talk about what I think Marco should do. This is an analysis of his options to conclude on where we think would be best for him, NOT where he will end up as he might very well end up somewhere else. Marco is a wonderful talent and obviously would deserve to start and grow even more, regardless of where he signs.

First of all Bayern Munich. Bayern are supposedly joint favourites to get his signature at the moment and given their history of stealing players from their rivals, it is hard to ignore the possibility. Bayern like to do business deals like this early from what I’ve seen. They don't wait around for other clubs to make bids and steal targets during the transfer window (just think Gotze and Lewandowski, both deals where agreed and in place before the start of the windows). I think this is a great advantage and if I were a manager I would probably use this tactic a lot for the players I need most. Register interest and open discussions then make it official when the window opens. Bayern however have a lot of talent in their squad. Reus would have to compete with Robben, Ribery, Thiago, Muller, Shaqiri, and Gotze (I imagine he won’t be battling with Alonso and Bastian) he might even be in contention with Lewandowski as a forward. This sort of squad depth seems healthy at first glance, but it can be dangerous as all these players deserve a lot of playing time so who really is going to be sacrificed? Another factor that may hamper this deal would be the players discontent for Bayern as a team. Unlike the other two before him, it has been said that Marco is not keen on switching sides to wear the colours of his fierce rivals, it might take such a large sum to tempt a player who already claims to not be tempted by money.

Real Madrid have also been touted as joint favourites with the powerhouse supposedly preparing to make their team an unstoppable force in Europe. Real Madrid are arguably playing the best football on the planet right now and they don’t look like they are dropping their form anytime soon. Money cannot be an obstacle here so this to me looks even more likely a destination than any other. Marco would join the formidable attacking force that already consists of Benzema, Bale and Cristiano (BBC) as well as golden boys James and Isco (not to forget Jese). Reus would provide adequate depth and could even serve as Benzema’s second striker allowing the latter to rest. His arrival however would mean even less playing time for Jese and Isco. As a matter of fact, only Ronaldo would be safe out of all those mentioned. I don't think Ancelotti would take out Modric or Kroos as those two are forming what will soon be the world’s best centre midfield partnership if not already the best. It would be interesting but scary to watch this devastating prospect take the reigns for a while in Europe and see who can challenge them.

Barcelona to me currently have the smallest chance of signing the player (yes smaller than Liverpool). They have a ban that doesn’t allow them sign players until January 2016, by which time one of these teams would have snapped up Marco. Marco Reus would need to reject every approach (highly unlikely) and then play at Dortmund for another season for this transfer to go through. Frankly this may be quite unwise. However in the event that it does happen, Marco would be joining Neymar, Messi, Suarez and Pedro to compete for one of 3 spots or at worst 4 depending on how Luis Enrique decides to field his team. Like Real Madrid, this would be such a phenomenal prospect but also less playing time for the younger players and possibly even Pedro may be forced to leave to facilitate this move.

Arsenal have been said to fancy the player. Arsene Wenger himself is a fan of his talents and every Arsenal fan I’m sure by now has dreamt of Marco Reus playing in their colours. Imagine it, Reus, Ozil, and Sanchez? no brainer. Arsene would be foolish not to at least consider it (so would every other manager). But then Arsenal have more pressing concerns at the moment. They need a World Class DM and some back up Centre backs at the moment. These must come in January or they won’t even be classified good enough for Reus join come end of season. A deal like this would most likely materialise in the summer. If Arsenal do sign the defensive reinforcements needed. Reus would be the one more signing needed to make them a Consistent European force and not the consistently inconsistent team we have seen so far this season. The trio mentioned above would easily terrorise any team in the world. Arsenal have such a bloated Midfield however, with so many attacking options. A DM would have to start, so that means even one less spot for Wilshere, Ramsey, Carzola, and Chamberlain to fight for. These guys would also be fighting Ozil Reus and Sanchez for the places behind or beside the main striker (depending on the formation). This midfield congestion may spell the end for Rosicky, fan favourite Podolski and even new boy Campbell. This might even be the biggest congestion that Reus would face. However, quite luckily Marco Reus and a number of these players are very versatile. If I was Wenger I would sign Reus and forget about a striker. We all know that Poldi, Walcott, Sanchez, and Reus can all play upfront and still be deadly. The kind of creativity having Reus would add, could increase the number of goals any striker would score (Giroud scores more goals every season by the way.) This case would be like Bayern’s. We should also take into consideration Arsenal’s current injury record, they probably need all the help and depth they can get. Reus is even said to favour a move to England and by the looks of it, the impact he would make at Arsenal would be even more than most other teams. This transfer may be further buoyed by the prospect of Jurgen Klopp taking the reigns after Wenger with all this Wenger In Out Razzle Dazzle going on.

Man City offer a great prospect for Reus. Just take a moment to think about this- Aguero + Silva + Reus + Yaya = Domination (at least in England for sure). This might be the key to further European success for Man City. He would probably receive a high salary here also and Man City’s depth would mean Nasri and/or Navas on the bench. This means even when they need to rest players they still have a great team. Just like Arsenal, Man City offer such a bright prospect or the player to develop and possibly win the Ballon D’or one day in the future. Jurgen Klopp is also being speculated to take over after Pellegrini if the club decide to let go of the Chilean. That being said Man City have also been linked with Isco and some others so they might see some benefit still in letting Reus join another team with a target of theirs.

It would be hard to write Chelsea off in this scramble. Chelsea have something about stealing Targets when they look certain to go somewhere else ( e.g Hazard). They have the money, they have Jose Mourinho who was able to convince Fabregas to join a side he never thought he would play for (although it was also because Wenger said no and no other option was good enough). Chelsea could just steal Reus from right under all our noses. You can imagine Hazard, Oscar and Reus behind Costa and Fabregas also playing behind them with Matic. This is a Chelsea squad that already seems complete. Marco Reus would be a welcome Bonus with Willian and Schurrle more than adequate competition for places as rotation options.

Liverpool and Man Utd are other teams linked with the player. Man Utd’s form last season seemed to signal the end to such a move and so does Liverpool’s current form. If Liverpool don’t finish in the top 4, it will be unlikely that this deal would materialise. Nevertheless he would be a very welcome bonus with Sterling, Lallana, Markovic, Coutinho, Balotelli, Sturridge and Lambert all vying for places to mention but a few. Reus would definitely be the star of the show at Anfield like Suarez was, but then after a while he might seek to move again to a bigger club. With Brendan Rodgers under constant pressure, Jurgen Klopp has emerged again as one of the possible replacements if Brendan gets the sack. Man Utd’s new luck has seen them climb into 3rd spot for now and we wonder how long it will go on for as critics say they have not performed well, but somehow luck is on their side. If Man Utd do secure a top 4 finish, they will be among the main contenders for his signature. It would mean a change of formation however in order to accommodate him with Mata, Di Maria, Januzaj etc. Unlike the other teams with midfield congestion, Man Utd have 3 World Class strikers (2 of which can also play in midfield). This limits the extent to which Marco’s versatility can be utilised. Quite frankly this move won’t be good for United. Arsenal and City would be able to balance their bloated squads but with United? it might be too difficult.

All things being considered, it is hard to pick a destination for Reus. Marco deserves to start wherever he goes and will obviously make a great impact. There will be congestion wherever he goes, it has been made quite obvious. Some players may have to leave permanently or on loan to get playing time. Reus is a young player with a lot of years ahead of him, so honestly he would be a good investment and if it means older players like Ribery and Rosicky have to leave? I would say take the deal. It would be better in the long run when these guys retire or are too old to play at this level. Based on what I’ve looked into, a move to England would be brighter for him. I’m sure EPL fans would want to see the Balon D’or leave Spain for once and see an English team lift the Champions league trophy. Real Madrid still have a strong say in where he will end up and Bayern might just snap up a deal before anyone can make the call. I would say his best options to me to develop as a player and move the team forward are Real Madrid, Arsenal and Man City. The impact he would make in these teams coupled with the playing time he would get and future prospects, make these three the most suitable clubs for him. Feel free to add your own reasons and suggestions below. Where do you think Marco Reus should go? Please leave your views in the comments column. Merry Christmas.

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WHATS HAPPENING AT ARSENAL: MY TAKE ON THINGS

Its been a pretty grim couple of weeks for Arsenal starting from the absolute capitulation against Anderlecht to losing our 15-month unbeaten home record to a severely weakened Manchester United team. There’s also the loss to Swansea sandwiched in between there. These recent awful results coupled with the sheer large number of extremely lacklustre and sometimes diabolical displays we have seen throughout the course of the season seem to have put the club in what is perhaps the deepest hole I have seen it in since I became a fan about 12 years ago. The tension has burrowed its way deep into the fanbase as well unfortunately. Nowadays with anything regarding Arsenal, its about Wenger In or Wenger Out and I think that the level of attention being placed on that subject is fast forming a highly negative cloud over the club as a whole but I think people forget that not just Wenger and the players make up Arsenal Football Club, we the fans are also a big part of the club and everyone has a part to play. Okay, Arsene Wenger made what I feel are grave errors in the summer leaving us light in numbers at the back and not bringing in the World-Class CDM which was so obviously needed (I did a piece on how important that position is in the modern game, please check it out) but I do not feel the fact that Wenger made mistakes means everyone else should. Say what you want about Arsene but I don’t think he enjoys losing. I think this Wenger out bandwagon has made people forget how important supporting the team is. I’ll cite the examples of our last 2 home games. In the 3-3 draw with Anderlecht, when we were 3-0 up, at a point the Emirates was almost silent then Vanden Borre pulled one back for them (albeit he was offside) and suddenly the small number of Anderlecht fans were outsinging the Arsenal fans and in the end drove their team to fight back and equalise. At 3-1, The players needed inspiration to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and graft out the result we needed. They needed the proverbial 12th man but didn’t have it. Same against United except this time, fans were even walking out of the stadium. That game was a really odd one to analyze and honestly in a match like that it was all about scoring and then sitting back then trying for a 2nd on the counter. Unfortunately we were made to rue our missed chances from the 1st half. I saw some people criticize Wenger for this result but honestly, I think his team selection was spot on and even the normal scapegoats (Arteta and Monreal) put in massive shifts today and impressed me, Arteta especially. Being realistic though, it was a loss albeit there were some encouraging signs but I think this game turned on fine margins, Look at the 1st goal we conceded, I don’t think Wenger has anything to do with Gibbs and Sczezsny clashing into one another although the issue with our defensive organization seems to continue along with our susceptibility to being caught out from crosses and counter attacks. In spite of all that, I just feel as fans, we could do a bit more. Look at Liverpool last season then teams like Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munchen whose fans are always loud and positive. Dortmund have struggled this season but the fans have still been amazing. Wenger has been backed into a corner where everything he does is highly scrutinized although arguably that’s through his own fault but I think the team has not needed us fans as bad as they do now for a long while and I think we should oblige. Yes, the season has been highly disappointing but its a strange one in terms of other teams (except Chelsea and Southampton) struggling. A couple of back-to-back wins will do the team a world of good and we need to back the team so they can push on. Yes, there are question marks tactically and in the transfer market but a good mentality and a great feel good factor around the club can do a whole lot of good in football. So forget about Wenger In or Wenger Out and pull together as the one thing we are, Arsenal fans and give the team our backing. If you won’t do it for anyone else, at least do it for Alexis. He has brought us basically all our smiles this season. #COYG

Share your thoughts in the comments below please. Let me know what you think.

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THE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER: AN ARTIST

In recent times, it is often said that the art of defending is dying in the modern game, that the obsession with free-flowing attacking football by so many managers in the game today has made defending become secondary and people forget the fact that you might score three or more goals and not win (Like Arsenal showed at Anderlecht) and might even lose, but when you keep a clean sheet, you can’t lose. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am one of the biggest fans of attacking football but to neglect the defensive side of the game is inexcusable. In the modern game, there is a lot of pace and attacking flair on show that even the slightest of tactical and defensive errors are often cruelly exposed and as such, the defensive midfielder has become arguably the most important position in a football team because he starts attacks and stops those of the opposition.

The modern defensive midfielder takes on a number of duties depending on the tactical blueprint of the manager. These duties vary from being able to effectively shield the team’s defence, control the tempo of the game, switch play between flanks of the pitch, become an extra centre back to allow the full backs push on without the team being left exposed and so on. Some teams even go on to play with two defensive midfielders to make sure all those duties are covered so the attacking players in the team can have more freedom to express themselves high up the pitch.

Another thing being thrown around is that defensive midfielders are a dying breed and there aren’t many top class ones around but I strongly disagree. Like Gary Neville said recently “In the modern game, players who would have made perfect midfielders are now centre backs because of the high demand for technical ability all around a team by managers”. I totally agree with that because we have seen players like Javier Mascherano being converted to centre backs in order to promote the philosophy of playing the ball out from the back for which centre backs who are good passers are required. It is fair to mention that Mascherano has exuded quality in that position although in my opinion, it has robbed the team of some height and physicality which is quite key in the centre of defence. We saw Mascherano restored to his natural position as a defensive midfielder for Argentina in the last World Cup in which he was one of the most impressive performers with La Albiceleste marching on to the final of the competition before being foiled by Germany. Mascherano showed great passing ability by keeping the ball moving. He also provided an effective shield in front of his centre backs which allowed the full backs push on to support attacks without fear of being punished by counter attacks. One thing he also exuded in this position was leadership as he always made sure the team was well organized and he also covered almost every blade of grass when he was on the pitch in addition to making crucial tackles and interceptions all while exuding an air of calm. Everything mentioned above refers to the traits of a world class defensive midfielder.

Now, I say the defensive midfielder is an artist but once people hear “defensive midfielder”, there is a stereotype of a tough tackling, physical presence who flies into tackles and accumulates cards and although this may be true, I have been blessed enough to watch some truly magical players play in that position, of which there is arguably none better than Sergio Busquets.

Busquets at his best played crucial roles for both club and country in Champions League, La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Club World Cup, European Championship and World cup victories. Although, it may be said that this was because he was lucky to play alongside some extremely talented players like Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta but Busquets definitely earned his place in history with some extremely remarkable displays. In fact it could be argued that Xavi and Iniesta were lucky to play alongside him as his skill set gave them the freedom to express themselves on the pitch. It was once said that “if you watch the game, you might not see Sergio Busquets but if you watch Sergio Busquets, you will see the whole game”.

I think that statement extends to the many maestros that play in that position now, people like Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, Bastian Schweinsteiger (to some extent).

These are players who were far more adventurous and attack minded earlier in their careers but have changed positions to make the most of the latter stages of their careers. These players play the position using their experience to cover up their relative lack of mobility and physicality as they take up excellent positions to shield their respective defences effectively, organize the team well and start attacks from deep with their near-immaculate passing. Their experience and what they have achieved in the game allows their teammates draw inspiration from them and they mostly lead by example, they also do their bit of dirty work.

There are players like Nemanja Matic and Danielle De Rossi, who look to have all the necessary attributes in their locker, very athletic, combative, great tacklers, able to more than hold their own in physical tussles, cover every blade of grass on the pitch, pick out great passes and also pose a threat with their long distance shooting ability. They are modern defensive midfielders.

The defensive midfielder is the dovetail between the defence and attack of a team and is what I would describe as the fulcrum of a team. As important as I feel the defensive midfielder is, it is not to say teams haven’t found different ways of playing without a defensive midfielder with some being more successful than others. I mentioned earlier how some say defensive midfielders are a dying breed but I feel the modern game demands a lot from them and as such defensive midfielders have had to evolve from the “pitbull” type players like Roy Keane and Gennaro Gattuso to mention two we have become accustomed to in previous years (it is important to mention we still have central defensive midfielders in this mould with the likes of Nigel De Jong, Cheikh Tiote and others like that) to the more graceful artists who play in that position nowadays.

It’s also important to note that a recent tactical innovation that has come up has been to man-mark the opposing defensive midfielder in order to stifle the opposition attacks at the source and I think that alone underlines the importance of the player in that position. Its a position that can make or break a team and in my opinion deserves far more recognition than it gets at the moment.

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