TITUS MAXWELL

It was one of the awful nights for Pep's squard leave alone the UCL night versus Totenham  at home. Last Saturday, City dominated the game in everything from shots on target to possession and passing accuracy. But what was the Cityzen's mistakes? Norwich players celebrating after scoring a goal against the champions Manchester City at Carrow Road. Credits: Manchester Evening News(M.E.N) Is it leaving Kevin De Bruyne on the bench? Or can it be Aymeric Larpote's injury? Or is it that Pep did not sign Vincent Kompany's replacement?Absolutely not! There are more than these two reasons behind the defeat. We cannot blame their defensive mistakes because they are humans too. For a football analysist, there is just more than what the fans think. Here are Man City's weaknesses they showed versus Norwich: 1. Man City are poor to defend on set-pieces and corners. Man City are poor in defending corners. Credits: Bitter and Blue By leaving McClean to hang that ...

It was a fascinating match especially the way two managers from North-London played chess against each other. Arsenal lined up in their traditional 4-3-3 formation but shifted to 2-1-2-5 with possession. On the other hand, Totenham lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond-shapped midfield. This was to stop central attacks from Arsenal. During the first ten minutes, Arsenal had total control on the game but after that, things turned against them for the rest of first half. Totenham's intention since the kick-off whistle was to sit back and hit Arsenal on transitions. They achieved causing problems to Arsenal's defence through the quick pace from Son Heung-Min who is an expert too on late runs behind defenders. Arsenal's defence was high because Unai likes his team to play within 15-20 metres from the forward to defence. Arsenal's defence taken out thus Eriksen scored a  Tactics Used. Arsenal tried to create central overloads in Spurs defence. Aubameyan...

Arsenal took on Liverpool on Saturday and lost 3-1 although they created several goal scoring chances. Liverpool lined up in a 4-3-3 formation but shifted to 2-3-5 with possession and Fabinho sat deep to provide a cover for the defence. On the other hand, Arsenal lined up in a 4-3-1-2 formation with their new boy Dani Ceballos sitting behind Nicolas Pepe and Aubameyang. Arsenal's manager Unai Emery during their clash against Liverpool at Anfield. Source: sportskeeda. Each team's intention was known in the begining of the match. Liverpool went on the attacking approach while Arsenal waited to hit Liverpool on transitions. Here are the reasons why Arsenal lost: Poor Defensive Organisation. David Luiz was the bad boy during the match. The Brazilian pulled Salah's shirt in the box which resulted to a penalty. Luiz also failed to defend Salah which saw him netting his second and the third for Liverpool. Luiz failed to mark Salah rather, intercept the one...

Pressing is Liverpool's strongest weapon which they use to demolish their opponents. This game was evolved under Jurgen Klopp. Due to the presence of fast paced forwards, Liverpool are able to harass opponents deep in their own half and this won Jurgen Klopp two trophies, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Supercup. According to Nouman who is a football coach and football analyst, Liverpool press in two different ways: 1. Positional pressing 2. Hard Press. Positional Pressing. In this type of pressing, Liverpool wingers position themselves diagonally between the Centre Backs and Wing Backs. This is to block the opposition's passing lanes. Also, the Centre Forward positions himself between the Centre Back/Goalkeeper and Defending Midfielder. This leaves one of their DM or Central Midfielder free to cover the defence. Henderson has not been marked so he roams in front of the defence to provide a cover while Salah and Mane marked the CBs and WBs. This is done caref...

Liverpool and Chelsea will lock horn today at BJK Vodafone Park in Istanbul for the UEFA Supercup 2019/20 season. As I mentioned earlier on my previous analysis (between Chelsea and Man United), Chelsea always like to attack and defend as a close unit. This means that Chelsea's defensive line is always high up the pitch to support the press. Image:youtube Here are the things that they should improve on: Maintain a deep defensive line. A standard or deep defensive line will work when playing against Liverpool because they have players who have high passing accuracy eg Alison Becker and Virgil van Dijk. These two have long range and high accuracy so they might cause problems to Chelsea's high defence. The presence of Salah and Mane too who are good on timely runs to the final third after neing released by Alison or Van Dijk will punish Chelsea too. Image: 90 min They Should be confident to play from the back. Liverpool are the best team in Europe when it comes...

Both teams lined up in 4-5-1 but with different approaches. Man United's was clear from the begining. They wanted to hit Chelsea on transitions. On the other hand, Chelsea created chances mostly from being released from the midfield and also through the 3rd man technique. Sportskeeda Without possession, Chelsea kept a 4-4-2 formation while Man Utd used a 4-1-4-1 with Rashford pressing high up the pitch. It was a tactical battle between these two power houses and here are the reasons why Chelsea lost the match: High Defensive Line. This is the biggest opportunity which saw Ole Gunnar's tactics working. Man United knew Chelsea liked to keep a high defence. Just like Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard likes to his defence to support the midfield and forward to press the opposition. This usually leaves a void space behind Chelsea's defence. Ole Gunnar did his homework correctly and used Pogba to supply long balls behind Chelsea's defence. Source:Evening Standard ...

It's a football philosophy which involves the inter-changing of positions among the players except the goalkeeper. This type of football became popular in the 1970s . Many teams around the globe tried to use this tactic but only a few succeeded. Netherlands team in 1974 world cup. They practiced total football. Although this system became popular in 1970s, this idea began as early as 1930s though it was bound to failing. Argentina's River Plate (La Maquina) in 1940s, England's Burnley in 1950s and Brazilian Santos in 1960 were among the first teams to use the idea and ripped fruits from it. Netherlands' Ajax, was the most successful team to use this tactic. Ajax won all home matches in two seasons between 1971-1973. They won 46 games drew none and lost none. This resulted into winning 2 League titles, KNVB Cup, European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Burnley Fc in early 1950s. Source:game of the people. Also, the Netherlands National team used t...