Return of the Mou
When I say the Mou, I don't mean the MoU. Below is the definition of MoU.
 |
| Taken from the FAS website. If possibly, I don't need Drew & Napier to make me famous. |
As for the Mou...
It's good to be back. Or is it, should it, and will it? Up against his Man Utd will be Chelsea. It's like a script taken straight from a Korean drama where the male protagonist's current girlfriend has to do battle with his ex. Let's take a look/recap at the respective tactical core.
Let me be this brutally frank. While the red grudge match last week was anything but a looker, tactical purists would have nevertheless called this a piece of tactical masterpiece from O Especial himself. If there's anything to go by, he may have unwittingly told any team ranked 15 to 20 on how to remove a screw or two from the RoboKlopp machine.
As for Chelsea, it remains to be seen what Il Bestia himself can do for the rest of the season. A brief look at the Old Trafford dressing room would betray a decent semblance of change. The presence of Paul "Le Chevalier Noir" Pogba and Zlatan "Le Usurpateur" Ibrahimović proved that O Especial would stop at nothing to create his own team asap. Bad news for Wayne "not De Roon(ey)" Rooney?
Unlike his special counterpart, Il Bestia has to wrangle with his current's ex. This is still that O Especial team, not Il Bestia team. In order to one-up his current's ex and prove that he's good enough for his current wife, he has to make a damning choice. Should he bite off the spine of his team or tear apart the limbs? When we talk about the spine, we're referring to the likes of Gary "quite a different type of Cahill" Cahill, Nemanja "don't call him Vidić" Matić, and Diego "he fights like Maradona" Costa. When it comes to the limbs, I'm talking about both the defensive and offensive width.
Make no mistake about it, O Especial holds the strategic royal flush in this matchup. Il Bestia's tactical core relies heavily on two intelligent wide men who happen to be technically good as well. Against Utd, Il Bestia can afford to boss the ball but not necessarily the match. Against his ex, O Especial can afford to boss the match without bossing the ball. Be warned, footballing purists. You're far likelier to go bald than Pep "not that other Pep from the retail pharmacy" Guardiola. Tactical purist, rejoice. You're way likelier to end up like Scott Evil by the end of the last(?) Austin Powers series.
If there's anything Il Bestia can do to get something out of this match, it would be unleashing the beast in another Bestia.
Problem GGG?
Don't we all like to see goals? To the tactical purists, scoring is the best end to any means. It's like Go Dok-mi choosing Enrique Geum by the end of Flower Boys Next Door (in a shocking show of Asian clairvoyance, we got another Enrique arriving at the former Enrique's beloved football team).
For the literal purists, scoring goals is like having Park "not the 대통령" Shin-hye while scoring goals and winning matches is like marrying her before she reaches her third decade.
As for Arsenal, they're just way too used to heartbreak after heartbreak. Either they're called Les Goners (by the neutrals) or Les Goons (by the Spurs faithful).
Yet, Les Gunners have been firing high and on all cylinders so far. It's like the north London remake of GGG.
The first G used to be known as more of a Xavi than a Messi. The second G was forced to carry his band of brothers like how Private Ryan needed to be saved instead of saving people. The third G was known to be too fast, too brainless. Fast forward to now and how much has changed?
For starters, Mesut "still assists like every local S'porean girl's dream boyfriend" Özil has stepped up to the plate so far this season. Apart from assisting others like a true blue S'porean gentleman, he has also evolved into somewhat a more selfish player. In a good sense no less. Just as it's a good thing for every girl to have a jealous boyfriend (so long he doesn't go all psycho and paranoid), it's good to see this Ottoman German getting himself into the fray in the name of scoring rather than just being the best mate. His is a story of every best mate and bridesmaid here. Not just in the world, but also in S'pore. From standing behind your BFF and her beloved bridegroom to becoming the bride to your bridegroom. Feels good? I know it does. Same for this Ottoman German.
As for Alexis "that smokin' (gun) Alexis" Sánchez, he no longer has to carry the team like how Private Ryan needed to be carried. Despite Olivier "Le Chevalier d'Londres Nord" Giroud's somewhat(?) patchy form, Özil's successful attempt in self-upgrading ensured that Les Gunners is no longer a one man mecha. While it remains to be seen on who will assume that much vital lone avant-garde, having two Gunners hell-bent on making goners out of the opponents is bad news. Really bad news for us.
Now onto Theo "are you watching, Chris Waddle?" Walcott. Previously (and rightfully) ridiculed as a birdbrained roadrunner who can never outsmart that Wile.E Coyote, he has evolved quite nicely. Going by the words of Le Professeur X himself (after all, a football team is like a beautiful woman. Just don't ask me about Man Utd), Walcott is like some crazy girl you met during high school prom. Fast forward to now and you realised she's actually Amanda "unrelated to Bynes" Seyfried. Yes, this is a form of hyperbole from yours truly. Currently, Walcott is intelligent enough to play the role of a striker (albeit he's no Messi). Le Professeur X deserved credit for that. While he's not exactly the kind of man motivator like RoboKlopp, we have to acknowledge the fact that he's an exceptional teacher and nurturer of young talent. If only MOE can hire him after he retires.
Out of the GGG listed above, special attention must be given to the way Le Professeur X plays his football. A proponent of the more continental 4-2-3-1 rather than the more British 4-4-2 (ironically, the French are not above using 4-4-2 as well the last time I checked), the presence of Sánchez and Walcott out wide means Özil will have the license to assist and kill like 007. However, this also means that Les Gunners must have an effective foil to enable the Ottoman German to take the fight to the opposition like a true blue Ottoman Turk. Previously, Özil was incapable of making the most out of any 6 footer in the penalty box. I won't be surprised if it's down to a lack of tenacity and fight once the 20 yrd box loomed into view. As such, Sánchez was forced to carry the team like how Private Ryan had to be carried last time round (read: Özil was merely one of the 9 other players who became fans of the bottle). This time round, it seems that we may be seeing a more aggressive Özil. Someone who schemes like Tyrion Lannister and fights like Jon Snow.
Which now comes to the most interesting question. Who will assume the role of Sandor Clegane? After all, one of the most common criticisms leveled at Le Professeur X lies in a lack of steel and bite. However, it must be known that the Hound didn't commit verbal treason while sitting back and chilling out. Assuming Le Chevalier d'Londres Nord can't recover in time, it most likely means a toss up between Lucas "not El Dinero of Madrid" Pérez and Alex "yet to become Obi-Wan Kenobi" Iwobi. Whoever starts will have a certain bearing on how the match will go. Tactically ofc.
A/N: Santi "El Alquimista" Cazorla's show or no-show may impact Les Gunners more than what we might think otherwise. His versatility is one of, if not the chief reason why Les Gunners is still Les Gunners despite years of being ridiculed as Les Goners by the men in white.
The Stuani-Arnie conundrum
Señor is now feeling the heat. While it'd be foolish to dismiss what he has done for us in our push to the Promised Land, there are fears that we will be banished from Avalon come end of the season. We will get to see the likes of Ian "is he now officially sane?" Holloway on MotD while Alan "Captian England" Shearer will be mocking our failure even though he can't make the cut as a manager (at least I'm pretty sure Gareth "Gawain or Beaumains?" Southgate is tactically smarter).
Plenty has been said about Señor's apparent stubborn decision not to play two up front. Talks of reverting to 4-4-2 is pure nonsense. Formation can only get you this far when it comes to understanding the real deal called tactics and strategy. Denial of this fact means you're no smarter than Piers"not J.P" Morgan. It means you only know how to mock other teams instead of understanding them. I can easily tell Señor to pull Stuani into hole 9 while giving his right wing slot to some black guy blessed with racial pace and athleticism. Two striker system, but not 4-4-2. Problem solved.
The problem lies in the lack of penetration out wide. On the first glance, Señor favours a more continental approach where we have one bloke holding down the ball (that's Stewart "they're gonna down him once he has the ball!" Downing). However, it must also be stated that Stuani's presence out wide means this is not the continental approach as we know it. We got the wrong Uruguayan out wide, the chronic lack of balance between pace and control basically gave teams the reason to park their own Irish bus. Against Watford, we got undone by a combination of poor refereeing and some human bus named Holebas (ironically, that very same ref allowed Antonio "pls don't play like Antonio Banderas again" Barragán to stay on the pitch despite that amigo playing like El Mariachi armed to the teeth). We should have gone 1 or 2 goals up by end of first half even though we should have gotten at least one penalty call. Which sorta makes this a chicken-or-the-egg debate (i.e. which one should come first, the penalty call or the first goal in open play?).
We don't have what it takes to breach that final wall of Vicarage. Period. I won't be surprised if opponents know by now where Stuani will running in the next 90 minutes. Either two flat defensive banks or a four by two. This is worrying.
To be fair to Señor, however, he did get the right Traoré instead of Djimi. Will it be a case of too little and too late? It's pointless for us to ask why now and not last season. The only two orthodox wingers we've had were Mogga's players, not Señor's. Pace wise, we're now a different deal compared to back during Patrick "Bam Bam" Bamford's days with us. Stuani doesn't have Bamford's pace, he doesn't have Arnie's aggression either.
On the other hand, Traoré needs some serious work on his final ball. Against Spurs, his pace was horribly let down by a lack of control. Against Watford, he improved a lot. Improvement is one thing, consistency quite another monster to deal with. That's why I say he needs some serious work on his final ball rather than he needed some serious work on his final ball. Notice the grammar? Please don't tell me your standard of English is worse than mine, angmoh or no angmoh, elite school or no elite school.
Assuming Señor will stick to his gun on the right, it means there has to be a way to make things work. I've been visualising the pieces on my imaginary chessboard. Tbh I can't play chess. Too many rules. Playing chess is more about training your discipline than just intelligence. Let's give Stuani the freedom of movement. Perhaps he may easily be that queen on my chessboard, who knows?
Attacking behind cover
Stuani needs to learn a thing or two about off-ball tenacity. No one is telling him to do a Joey "I have a baton, I have a man" Barton. One El Mariachi is bad enough, we don't need a Stallone.
Depending on his positioning, someone has to drift instead of Stuani. In order to prevent such strategy from being predictable as time wears on, Stuani must not drift into the centre at will. The moment he does that, we're back to square one. He should only do so at his own discretion, not at his own freedom.
So who should be the one drifting? Firstly and foremost, this strategy involves someone in a central position drifting towards the right. Ideally, it should be the correct Uruguayan (i.e. Gastón 'El Bestia Bello" Ramírez). This is to facilitate the freedom of movement for whoever's the guy Señor deployed in the centre forward role. By doing so, Stuani will have enough time and space to make off-ball decisions. Should he stay out wide and play the easy ball? Or should he start moving to the centre so that the opposition will be kept guessing the next move?
As for the left, I don't think we'd have much problem so long Downing can swing in the crosses. At the same time, we need the lone vanguardia to chip in. To fall back so that a compact attacking diamond can be enforced. This is not chasing back the ball, this is creating an effective buildup in the attack without the risk of exposure.
Yes, that will leave open a space in the hole 9 area. Exactly the kind of hole with the size of Ibra's (super) ego. Which now coms to our back 6. Lately, it seems that our BFF leftback is hitting a stick patch. While I've got no problem with his technical ability, it seems that he may run the risk of losing the ball during open play. Already, we got punished twice (if my memory is correct). Once against some London team with a Korean bloke, the other time being another London team with another Korean bloke.
At this point of time, there's no point (pardon the pun) controlling the game via a four by two. Arsenal will punish us more than the other two London teams. The reason why being that Les Gunners have always been known to favour free scoring wingers, players no different from the likes of Ryan "not Private" Giggs and the late George "Best of the best in Belfast" Best. The only way is to consolidate possession via a combination of two centrebacks and two central mids. If you can't stop them, limit them. Which now comes to my special mention below.
We need this guy to be at his best. Marten "runs like a Rooney, fights like a marten" De Roon. Boasting an impressive record of interceptions, we need this bloke to prowl with freedom and impunity. While this will open up our central mid area, De Roon's positioning play can offer that much wanted support to the fullbacks, no matter whether it's the correct Antonio or our BFF. After all, we can't afford another terrible screw up. Opponents will just be emboldened and encouraged to pressure the flank. And I won't be surprised if Les Gunners happen to be one of them.
My advice to Señor? We have nothing to lose and everything to gain come tomorrow. No one will expect us to get even a point out of this match, so let us play without pressure. If we lose, at worst the correct Morgan will mock us while Shearer will give us that "I told you so" look. If we can get a draw, it means we're definitely showing something right instead of something wrong. If we win, it means UKIP will be saying "we should have stayed in EU even though they're all jerks". In fact, this match may easily be our springboard. Win, lose, or draw, we should only start asking how far we can go after full time. Being pragmatic is good, prudence is a virtue. That's why I never mention here "the next 90 mins".
No comments:
Post a Comment