hjperdeath

Guys i'd like opinions on the new gif's. I'm trying to increase quality and reduce dimensions for the next one so that I can paste them rather than link them,

PSG comfortably beat Bayer Leverkusen over two legs to confirm their spot in the next round of the prestigious European competition. As soon as they were drawn to play against Chelsea, both the teams have flirted against each other as the clock ticks down to kick off. Chelsea fans were intrigued at how the Parisian team line up. Yes, I can assure you that they don't have 11 Zlatan Ibrahimovics playing in the Zlatan formation at the Ibrahimovic Stadium. Paris Saint-Germain won their round of 16 second leg tie with a score-line 2-1, which was drastically different from what happened back in Germany. I've been able to pick up a few fine points about their system, which are open to be refutable. First off, this is how PSG lined up in that game - Their somewhat 4-4-3'ish lineup is very detailed. Many sides in Europe do pay attention to finer details but I honestly didn't expect Blanc to do the same. The 4 at the back are aggressive if I were to define them in one word. The full-backs literally get forward at every opportunity while tracking back in time (not always common). The two center-backs under the leadership of Thiago Silva aren't afraid to push at oncoming forwards. In front of them sit a three man midfield , in which two rotate. In this case, Cabaye and Rabiot rotated while Pastore acted as the connector between the forwards. Cabaye was the passer. We all wanted him at Chelsea and it's not hard to see why. He's always composed in situations of high pressure. Rabiot is the rougher one. Not afraid to tackle and willing to push you off the ball. Pastore was quite lazy in the game. Barely tracked back but did well to connect and hold the structure ( I'll not judge him through this game). The front three is composed of Lavezzi, He Who Must Not Be Named and Cavani. Cavani and Lavezzi have brilliant work-rates. They never hesitate to get back which is one of the main reasons PSG have a brilliant clean sheet record in Ligue 1. To see how the formation works, click here - you may need to watch multiple times to see how the entire system operates. PSG conceded their first goal in the 5th'ish minute, so I'll have a look at that. Paris have given the ball away, and Bayer have a chance to reorganize and work their way down one flanks. One of PSG's biggest downfalls is that they're easily attracted towards the side their opponent is playing through . This opens up space on the opposite side of the pitch. Here we have the midfield three in one side. So you can imagine how only Lavezzi and Digne are on the opposite flanks, with the midfield wider than Arsenal's goal after picking up the ball 6 times from the net (click to view image). Bayer midfielders have sensed this, and attack right at the throat. Here we can identify two mistakes. 1. Pastore's pitiful work-rate - In the game he would even make Fernando Torres looks like an absolute work-horse. He ran a bit and then casually started walking while Cabaye and Rabiot kept up with the play. Jallet pressed high , which both the full-backs did throughout the night. 2. Marquinho's 'not so clever' pressing - He was easily attracted, and the next thing you know , he made a dreadful tackle which let the wingers easily proceed down the flank (click to view). I don't even think that was a tackle to be honest. He hesitated, flinched and fell with a leg sticking out. The damage had been done though, PSG were now officially lopsided with a tremendous amount of loop-holes on the other side. So to compensate, poor ol' Digne had to drift in and act as a make-shift center-back. With Lavezzi nowhere in sight, the right-flank was now open. A pass was slotted in, which was latter crossed and met with a brilliant header. A header that even Sami Hyppia would've been proud of. PSG do have their defensive frailities though their League makes it look like they don't. This isn't a dig at the French, just an honest opinion. Apart from a few occasions such as this, PSG's pressing and organization helped them grab a win. Talking about structure, PSG often emphasised on locking down the midfield and blocking pass lanes . This was easy as Cavani and Lavezzi weren't exactly lazy. The ball playing midfielder was trapped in the middle and all possible passing options were closed, which can be seen by Lavezzi's effort in winning the back for the team from Paris. Talking about their wide players tracking back, I must also mention that they prefer to track back inward, rather than outward. At Chelsea we have Eden and Willian tracking back outwards, which helps Cesar and Branislav close in the middle. Cavani and Lavezzi however track back into the midfield, which explains why PSG are susceptible to crosses. Here we see Lavezzi and Cavani pressing inside exactly after being attracted to one side of the field once again (click to view). A second later, we see it's disadvantage as the right side opens up for Bayer. All in all, this was just a report on a specific game, rather than an entire fixed system like I usually do. This is mainly down to my lack of time in the present moment. All in all, the first leg of the quarter-final, is going to be one exciting game from a tactical stand-point. Click here to view the article

strongly disagree but all to their own opinion I guess.

My bad, didn't know real world meant one that did have FPP. That's an immense amount of generalization, 18 countries in the ME, you can't just use UAE. Like I said, when Roman first joined, many weren't sure what his intentions are. But now he's grown to love the club and is arguably the only owner who cares so much about his club from the big teams across Europe. He doesn't have a cause to promote cause he doesn't need to promote Russia (that doesn't mean he didn't have causes when he first started, no matter how controversial). PSG is different , in the sense that he wants to see the club move forward while having a dual objective of seeing Qatar's stature rise before 2022 kicks off. Khelaifi has a really good plan for PSG and they were quite decent in last year's CL. They're improving and will become only better. You can't just generalize all owners and presidents apart from Roman saying that they don't have a passion for the club. That could similarly be said about us by others. while holding substantial evidence to support that claim. There wouldn't be any justification agreed. I'm just highlighting the point about PSG not being able to afford Hazard. If there was no FFP, they easily could, but as it is the real world as you say, they can't.

if Real could afford Bale using tax payers money then PSG has Qatar. Richer beyond their wildest dreams. If there was no FFP, I don't think Khelaifi would even hesitate spending 300m on OScar and Hazard. No one is questioning Roman's intentions( though you could have in the start) . City maybe, PSG isn't. Basic knowledge really. Qatar isn't in UAE...

I think he did say the truth. PSG, Barcelona have both helped with their respective partnerships with Qatar Foundation, Oredoo, Qatar Airways QIA, QNB, and so on. PSG also played a game with Real over here . Even if the promotion is minute, Qatar needs it. They did have an analysis on it with numbers thrown and stuff. It's worse in the newspapers over here Since PSG's got drawn with Chels, all I've heard is propaganda that makes Chelsea look like the devil's offspring. They don't care about their own national league when it comes to Barcelona and PSG..

Considering I do live in Qatar, I will agree with the fact that PSG is being used like Barcelona had been to improve Qatar's stature in the footballing world. However Khelaifi (the man is brilliant btw, hi5'ed me once during a QTF game ) helped QIA take over PSG completely, the reason why two hundred million euro's are present as a sponsorship deal. It's kinda nonsensical to have your owners sponsor you. If UEFA did have an external enquiry , then PSG would most definitely be in trouble along with City. Chelsea should escape even after having Gazprom as their sponsors.

Yeah, cause Stoke City can actually afford to have Messi in their team... If anything we should be happy to have someone who top teams want, even though they aren't going to get them. I don't get how he's disrespecting Chelsea. Kinda awkward cause there are more Nigerians that speak English than Britishers.

yes. Lucas > Lionel Messi.

Isn't Porsche what he wears all the time? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ScB98QAh2w

Agreed. Sherwood has a number of reasons to be pissed from their game against them. I really did feel Arsenal would drop points. All this resilient defensive performance was mainly due to Tottenham being ineptitude upfront.

*bump*

While Hazard and his opposite winger have to work twice as hard than they normally would.

I meant in the final third.

On Saturday, two teams who have ambitious dreams of lifting the title come May, face each other at Stamford Bridge. When Chelsea visited The Emirates, they came away with a modest draw. The West London outfit’s aim has often been to clinch at least a draw away from home and grab all the three points in the home tie (United, City, Arsenal) . Arsenal have varied their tactics since we last met them, and these variations have often had a direct impact on the result they have achieved.. (Rosicky and Chamberlain can be switched, but I’ve not done it to avoid confusion) The game against Tottenham would be one of the many examples in which a neutral or rival fan could clearly see Arsenal not playing the ‘Arsenal’ way. They preferred to sit deep and counter by exploiting Tim Sherwood’s high line, which he inherited from Andre Villas Boas. Arsenal ended up with just 41% possession and completed just 75% of their passes. To stress on that point even further, Tottenham exchanged 109 passes compared to Arsenal’s 43 in the final third. Rosicky, Cazorla, Chamberlain and Podolski did well to work the channels. Regularly exploiting it as Tottenham looked clue-less when it came to the basic principles of uniform pressing. The full-backs pushed up, while the midfield stayed still. Just another day in the office for Cazorla and co. After Rosicky gave them an early lead, Arsenal looked resilient at the back. A good sign for Arsene as his side prepared for Chelsea. Here is Arsenal’s action areas at White Hart Lane - To understand how Arsenal work , I’ll not be dissecting the club into attacking and defensive transitions like usual, but instead sum up the main principles of their philosophy. Firstly, is Arsenal’s fluidity , The 5 behind the back can really work well together, and did so against Tottenham. Their intelligent movement is a strong attribute, which did give Vertonghen and Kaboul quite a few problems. Second is their engine. The one who sits ahead of the back four. Arteta had a really good game against Everton [even though Roberto did pin-point him out in his strategy] and Spurs. He receives the ball, when Koscielny isn’t spraying diagonal balls, and picks out passes. Chelsea effectively did nullify his contribution by playing a 4-3-3 at The Emirates. By doing so Mourinho made sure that no matter which situation arose, someone was always pressing at Arteta and out-numbering the midfielders. Press tangentially across the half-way line, force the ball towards the sides and win the ball back by creating 3v2 situations. That’s what happened and it can be seen using this graph sent to me by a friend of mine. A brilliant depiction of ball-winning using core principles. There were a lot of ball recoveries in the middle and on the sides, which helped Chelsea a great deal in asserting themselves. Tottenham went wrong by doing only a part of it. If each player did their duties they could have gone on to score as the Arsenal side we faced was much stronger than the one that played against Spurs. Rosicky and Podolski were not afraid to roam high up the pitch and often forgot their defensive duties. This is where I feel Chelsea can capitalize with their attack. I wanted to talk more about my Arteta point. Roberto Martinez used Barkley to shut him down in December, and it worked really well for them in a game Chelsea fans were scouting Lukaku. Chelsea should aim to shutdown Arteta and press out the system of rotation employed by the #10 and the second midfielder. Maybe not 4-3-3 again because I reckon Arsenal will sit deep at the Bridge, but just press efficiently until you score one goal. Then hit them on the counter, because once they open up, the Chelsea attackers will be having a field day. Keep the pressing uniform and directional. In doing so you not only mess up the organization Arteta takes care of but also increase the chances of ball retention. Chelsea should also look into dragging center-backs. With Hazard in their ranks, exploitable space could open up in between the volatile full-backs and central defenders. Tottenham did plan to do that on quite a few occasions but were their usual self’s when it came to converting chances. Click here to view article

Wait till he gets a new contract.

Salah's cup tied..

and this is why everyone likes Steve.

How is he not banned yet...

Doha, Qatar.

Absolutely pathetic when you realize that most of the Belgians here have supported the club long before any of them signed. You and the other guy are as much as a glory hunter as you think others are. Pathetic that you have to label respectful people around you, who support the same club as you do. Especially a club that is so multicultural, from a Russian owner and a Portoguesee manager to a Serbian player and Scottish masseur.

no one's said he's naive. I certainly do think we can grab a win without Hazard. That sort of mentality could deflate us in the long run. When I said something about this fixture I meant that we will be able to carry on our run and I don't expect us to struggle like I expected us to struggle away to WBA, Sunderland, Stoke, etc. Other teams have to catch up with us, and Mourinho will make sure we aren't dropping points. I expect a really poor first half and a really good second half.

More of a gut feeling than anything with logical explanation. I guess Salah will start to give Hazard enough rest to come out good against Gala. I do agree with the fact that PL is more important but there's something about this fixture. Schurrle, Salah, Willian and Eto'o for me.

Think Hazard might be rested.

You have really precise dreams....