hjperdeath

I'd lost all hope in this competition after seeing Messi win it 4 times. This time though, there are some ghastly nominations. Not to forget that better players were left out. Great to see Hazard though, pity Mata isn't in there, but hey that's FIFA for you.

Barely think it's that way this time. In that case even Barcelona do, but in true esscence, the two who are wide are fake wingers. So if you're taking it that way then yeah, 4-3-3 could be a logicial observation.

Depends on the phase of play.. Only during defensive transitions does Ozil drop back. In the 4-3-3 of the previous years, Arsenal never had a pure AMF, Ozil gives them that. Plus the fact that Arsene is using wide players to play centrally, it's nowhere near a 4-3-3. Sometimes even in attacking transitions.

Sent , you're welcome !

Sent , cheers !

Arsenal play a different form of the 4-2-3-1 ( getting sick of saying this) . Two static center-backs with full-backs that push forward at every chance. However they're slightly inefficient. In the middle we have two midfielders, one defensive and the other holding. Unlike other teams, where one pushes and one defends, the other midfielder (usually Arteta) opts to sit around the half-way line and play passes into the middle . He spreads play along the flanks and the central zone. Like most teams, Arsenal have a problem with width. Arteta somewhat nullify's it by spraying balls wide and encouraging the full-backs to push forward a bit more. You can talk all you want about Ozil, but Arteta provides something different, which is highly essential to Arsene Wenger's team. In the front three we have wide players who function as interiores again. They come in a lot more centrally than usual ones though, creating central over-loads which help the full-backs push forward as well. Downside to this is, there are barely any 2v1 situations against the opposition full-back. Considering Chelsea's wide players retreat back to defend, Arsenal will most definitely have problems down the flanks. In the middle we have star man Mesut Ozil. Some say Arsene would never spend better 42 million on anything else again. He gives Arsenal a direct attacking threat, something they have lacked over the years in an attacking midfielder. His ability to pick out a man, and have himself easily picked out is a remarkable quality. Also has functioned as a second striker while playing in the hole behind the striker (though this is mostly an observation made when the wide players squeeze up in the middle and thwart Ozil forward) Upfront we have the striker who can combine with the midfield while at the same time make those runs in behind the defense. A target man during set pieces. While transitioning to defense, everyone presses high, especially Arteta. His aim is to press right at the man with the ball (if its around his zone) and cut off options for him to pass the ball forward. Thus he forces the ball side-ways or backwards, giving the Arsenal players a chance to recover back into position. Ozil too has been seen to join in on this pressing phase. It's highly unlikely for them to play two defensive blocks of four, but it is a high possibility when they come up against Chelsea. However one can never be too sure. The wide players have themselves well positioned to break forward. It was well noticeable against Napoli. They would carry the ball forward, or provide unnecessary distraction for the retreating defenders, often aiming to mess up the defensive line before they organize structurally. Now finding out defensive frailties isn't quite easy. However one that could be observed is exploiting the positional freedom given to Arsenal's wide players. While pressing, they are allowed to press high, while leaving open spaces which would naturally have to be covered by another player. This could be one of the pivot players or a full-back himself. If Chelsea were to pass the ball quickly, make indirect movements into the final third while turning the full-backs inside out, what could be perceived as a defensive block could be entirely destroyed. This would create space for someone like Mata or De Bruyne (who are likely to start) , a clear opportunity to play a through ball that splits apart the final defensive line when a striker makes a run in behind the defenders. While moving into defense, Arteta usually pushes up, but not too much. The wide players cut inside and form a quadrilateral in the center. The ball is played around them, while the full-backs try to push forward. Ozil meanwhile tries making runs in the final third. While he isn't doing that, he is trying to pick out either the striker or one of the wide players. Problem Arsenal have had so far is natural width. Despite pushing full-backs forward, their problems are akin to the one's Chelsea had against Basel, Norwich, etc. If Chelsea are to defend deep, then there doesn't seem that they would have much problems. Though I hardly think Mourinho would do that, considering Arsenal might just play kids. A growing trend seen in the Chelsea philosophy is to have brilliant starting minutes that lead up to the first goal, and then go into reverse drive by defending deep and making it harder for the opposition to score. At the Emirates though, Jose might have something different up his sleeve. I can't imagine the horror of being an Arsenal fan and writing a scouting report on Jose's team. Something else that has been talked about quite a lot is why central players such as Wilshere and Ramsey ( not counting Cazorla as he has previous experience of playing as an interiore) are playing in a wide position on paper. Arsene definitely knew that if players like Walcott and Chamberlain are out, he'll need a quick solution. The only way to do this was apply the philosophy behind interiores and push your full-backs up for width, the latter as said before, hasn't worked well yet. Ozil's lateral movement into the final third alongside Giroud, gives the wide players even more space in the middle to move the ball around. Not only that, Ozil's movement also drags player away from static positions or their own zones of pressing. A prime example being Tettey, who was used by Norwich manager Hughton, to man mark Ozil out of the game. Though Tettey did succeed in holding Ozil off, the other players found more than enough space to cause Norwich problems. Arsenal might be playing kids, but this would be their first real test against title challengers. There is no doubt that the Emirates, is about to be set on fire, not just entertainment wise, but also on a whole new tactical level. Click here to view the article

Mandzukic? What the actual fuck? He would go missing the first day he walks into training.

SO FUCKING KNACKERED. WHAT A FINISH TO A BRILLIANT GAME.

That's why it was a troll.....

@y10edn, Forwarded the mail to you. Cheers !

Can't wait for next season already. Get a proper CM and we'll be complete. Bloody hell.

Let the meltdown begin.

The quote was from the official website itself. I have never traveled through them, but I have travelled through other flights and they don't allow at all. Apparently the flight you want to travel by do, and are charging, atleast according to the rules given in the site.

if you keep the small bag inside the bag that goes in the compartments, its fine. I had a cover with books once too, very small, and barely any weight. Had to put it in my cabin bag. Airline policy. :/

City slowly build from the back. So we are going to find it tough to break them down, cause recent goals suggest Jose's definitely tilting more to a counter-attacking philosophy. Score an early goal, and City will open up by pushing more players up. That is our chance. Schalke fell for the same, hopefully Pellegrini falls for it too.

It usually does . My dad had a problem carrying one which basically had the same stuff.

Final bump for ones still asking .

If anyone wants the pdf for free, pass me your email. I can forward it to you.

This is what their website says- To keep our fares low, be able to board the plane as quickly as possible and ensure your comfort onboard, if you bring more than one piece of hand baggage we’ll check the extra into the hold. We’ll need to charge you for this – at the airport this fee is £25 due to higher handling costs at the airport if you don't buy the bag online and at the boarding gate this increases to £40 to ensure that we can bring you to your destination on time.

Most flights have one cabin baggage allowed inside. You can put it under your seat or in the over-head compartments. The other one (usually the bigger) goes with the cargo.

As always, can be found here as well. first link is my blog, other one an independent site, with one more hopefully soon. - http://scoutaficionado.tumblr.com/post/65034716067/pondering-over-joses-plan-b http://chelseafc360.com/2013/10/25/pondering-over-joses-plan-b/ EDIT - Here as well now -http://www.soccersouls.com/2013/10/chelsea-fc-pondering-over-joses-plan-b/

*bump 1/2 *

A lot has been made out of Jose removing left-backs and putting on attack minded players. People have said a 3-5-2, or 3-4-3 and even a 3-3-5. To analyse the situation, we look at how it has taken place. Against Everton, Bertrand was taken off and Torres came on in the 69th minute, as Mourinho opted for an all-out attack against a team sturdy in defense. 1-0 down, and Chelsea wanted the 3 points. Against Norwich, Cole was taken off and Hazard came on in the 75th minute, as Mourinho looked to provide width and incisive penetration against a team sturdy and organized in defense. 1-1, and Chelsea wanted the 3 points. Against Cardiff, Bertrand was taken off and Torres came on in the 64th minute, as Mourinho wanted someone who could partner Eto’o and bring the midfielders into play against a team sturdy in defense and threatening on the counter. We shall look into the Cardiff game to come to a conclusion as in how Jose makes this work. Before explaining the above frame, a small tribute to Branislav Ivanovic. His versatility as both a center-back and right-back helps Jose easily take off the left-back and deploy wing-backs who assist the middle three in defense. The above frame depicts a situation right after Torres came on for Bertrand. As it can be seen, two players, namely Willian and Lampard (both encircled in white) are retreating. The downside is, Hazard isn’t retreating as well. Now this is a problem as the entire left-side is wide open and can’t be covered only by Luiz. If Luiz drifts wide, then Kim (player in the center), can directly exploit that hole. As the ball is played into him, we see how Willian comes really close to the player who lobs the ball. As the plan has just taken effect, there is still some grogginess to shake off. Ivanovic didn’t have much reason to come back and press on the player. Luiz meanwhile rushes towards the left side to press on the player who has acres of space to have a shot at goal. Unfortunately for Cardiff, they couldn’t take an important chance. Luckily for us, we narrowly escaped. Hazard finally gets the idea of retreating back, and is helped out by a defensive triangular engine formed by a center-back and the pivot. If the center-back pushes, as seen above, Ramires drops back into defense. If Ramires pushes, Lampard drops deep. Reversible roles in a way. So after explaining that, we can come to a rough conclusion about how defensive transitions work. The defense squeezes in, the wing-backs pull-back and the pivot is joined by the attacking midfielder as they form a trio of defensive cover to the final back line. Meanwhile one of the two strikers retreats back to connect the midfield to the other striker up front. Once the ball is retrieved, the center-backs push away from each other. At this point two holes pop up which must be covered by the central center-back all by himself. To aid the defender, the pivot pushes back to ensure that it isn’t directly exploited. To showcase a scenario, a Cardiff player can retrieve the ball and run towards one of the exploitable zones (his movement shown by the orange arrow) . Luiz will have to cover and runs towards the Cardiff player, exposing the entire central zone of defense (his movement shown by the blue arrow). To cover this up, the pivot pushes back and covers for him, ensuring that no zone is directly exploitable. Here we see Hazard carrying the ball forward. Ramires tries making a run ahead as Lampard drops deep to give Hazard a passing option. The plan revolves around being highly dangerous. It can easily back-fire, but when it works, it’s beyond fascinating. Ramires and Lampard should technically not push ahead too much, as in doing so, they would leave the defensive line poorly exposed if the wing-backs don’t retreat back. 3 stay back, as Lampard and Ramires push forwards. The wing-backs are up as well, while Willian is just a little off the frame. This kind of structure gives Chelsea a good option in retreating and removing a bit off a sting out of quick opposition transitions and counter-attacks. Here we see Willian slightly retreating towards the right-back position as there is an impending danger of Chelsea loosing the ball to Cardiff. Also note how Lampard rushes towards the Cardiff player and Ramires drops deep to put himself in a better position for initiating defensive transitions. Now see how ahead the pivot and the wing-backs are. This could be called the killer frame. It shows that Chelsea aren’t worried about retreating as their focus is 99% only on attack. The rest 1% is on Willian and Hazard’s shoulder as they carefully think out their movement. The Cardiff player gets to the ball played for Torres, but Torres wins a corner. Willian takes it, and Cardiff head it out. Lampard plays the ball in and the ball is kicked out towards Oscar who lays it for Hazard who in turn finds Eto’o who puts Chelsea 2-1 up. The attacking transition is ironically more attack minded than the classic 4-2-3-1. Self explanatory roles, but one must also note that the relationship between the pivot and the attacking midfielders is much higher than it usually is. There is a fine line between conceding a goal and scoring a goal, both of which can be affected by the midfielders. To summarize, Jose’s plan B is a high risk scenario. However if it’s benefits include 3 points than the Portuguese manager can easily combine it with a solid defensive plan. Eto’o scores, and is eventually taken off as Azpilicueta comes on. Chelsea revert back to a 4-2-3-1. Brilliant, innit? Click here to view the article

haha he actually told you that as well? So ironic when you're older than his supposed age. I fear that the world I enter into has people like him. Anyway pre-ordered The Special One: The Dark Side of Jose Mourinho on iBooks. Can't wait to see how crap is made up.

android right? cause on an iPhone you can't copy the link and paste it using the app. Plus it's really slow on chrome. :/