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Features VIKTOR MASLOV: THE PIONEER OF THE 4-4-2 WHO TOOK PRESSING TO A NEW LEVEL https://thesefootballtimes.co/2020/10/12/viktor-maslov-the-pioneer-of-the-4-4-2-who-took-pressing-to-a-new-level/ Football is defined by its various and diverse philosophies and the masterminds behind them. For every successful tactic, there is someone behind its inception. The sport is littered with influences that precede it, and by the 21st century, every new style is not really new, but a modification of something old. Evolution is an inherent part of life, and football evolved faster than ever in the 20th century. While the evolved form might become a work of art, one must not forget its roots. One of the primary innovators of the modern game is Johan Cruyff, but there are important, just a revolutionary, figures that preceded the great Dutchman. Amongst the ranks of famed football innovators, one name is often missed out. Victor Maslov can lay claim to being one of the forefathers of the beautiful game as we know it today, and yet there is a stark lack of credit attributed to the Russian. It might be that his legacy is outshone by those that succeeded him. One of his successors was Valeriy Lobanovskyi, a Ukrainian whose success at Dynamo Kyiv was one of many common denominators between he and Maslov. Whether or not football has room for just one Soviet innovator, the fact remains that Maslov is one of the lost masterminds in the game who demands much more credit than is afforded to him. Maslov was born in 1910 in the Soviet Union, at a time where the European landscape was dominated by shifting borders and conflict. As a player his rise was steady, joining RDPK Moscow in 1930. He crossed the city divide a couple of years later, moving to Torpedo Moscow. It was there where he made his name as a tidy midfielder, staying until 1942 and captaining the side over a three-year stint during his time in the capital. He hung up his boots in 1942 as the Second World War began to escalate in his homeland. It was, however, not his playing career around which Maslov’s legacy is centred. A modest yet successful period on the pitch was the precursor to his time in the dugout, which would go on to define his legacy as well as the sport itself. He took over at Torpedo when he retired, but what followed was a largely underwhelming six years. When he was sacked in 1948, he learned of the news from the cleaners. He found it difficult post-Torpedo, shuffling between three clubs in seven seasons. But after some time off, Torpedo came back for Maslov, and it was then when the seeds of success were sown. A four-year stint produced a league title in 1959/60 and two cup wins as Maslov began to find his feet at the highest level. He moved on to SKA Rostov-on-Don for two years after that, commencing a solid building job that preceded a famous runners-up finish in the Soviet Top League in 1966. His efforts were finally recognised by the elite when Dynamo Kyiv came calling in 1964. Football formations have come in and out of vogue through the decades, and the 1960s were no different. Vicente Feola’s Brazil won the 1958 World Cup with a distinctive 4-2-4 formation boasting two wide wingers, a model that the world saw as the ideal system. The USSR turned to the same formation, with national coach Gavriil Kachalin at the head of its use. Club coaches followed suit as well, but their performances at the 1962 World Cup were reflective of a side in tactical flux. After Kachalin, Konstantin Beskov continued to hang on to the potential of the 4-2-4, even if results were mixed. Given Brazil’s success, that belief wasn’t entirely misguided, but innovation comes from looking at what works and then improving it. Maslov had no intention of following the crowd, and instead chose to take the 4-2-4 and bring the two wide wingers into midfield. While the 4-2-4 had one winger tracking back to become a third midfielder, Maslov innovated pulled back the other winger too. In doing so, he formed the 4-4-2, outnumbering the two-man midfield across the world, but not hindering his side’s creativity at the same time. In Jonathan Wilson’s words, “the 4-4-2 was first invented by Maslov”. He saw his formation as a system of individual roles that combined to form a collective that was greater than the sum of its parts. The wingers were now wide midfielders, who fulfilled their remit of working in the space in front of the full-backs, who themselves were encouraged to join in the play. His introduction of attacking responsibilities for the traditional full-back was the beginning of their dual responsibility. The midfield had a holder who covered the back four, while there was an advanced playmaker in possession. Maslov preferred his side to keep the ball moving and abolished man-marking in favour of zones. Above all of that, however, what he had his side doing without the ball was the defining factor. His clockwork system had players limit the space afforded to the opposition, winning the ball high up the pitch. That is now known as pressing, and his system was good enough to pressure the opposition while closing gaps of their own. At the time, pressing has long been prevalent in sport. In hockey, Thomas Patrick Gorman had introduced the concept of forechecking, where his forwards would surge and aggressively impose themselves on opposing players in possession, cutting down space and blocking passing lanes. It took them time, but it eventually brought success. More than anything, the system requires a machine-like system for it to fully work. While it seemed impossible to transfer over forechecking from hockey to football, given the numerous differences, it was eventually successful. The likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Jürgen Klopp have introduced a pressing system at their clubs today, but the very essence of the tactic dates back decades. Some credit Rinus Michels, while others attribute its success at the top with Ernst Happel’s Feyenoord, who won the European Cup in 1970. Whether or not Maslov’s influence is unrecognised or simply forgotten is something for the revisionists, but it warrants credit. The 4-4-2, regardless of its initial forefathers, is now a staple of the modern game. His tactics may have been criticised by the romantics, but it was undoubtedly effective. It maintained the right balance between defence and attack, having more bodies in midfield to carry out transitions. It ensured that football moved towards efficient systems rather than a reliance on individual brilliance. Maslov’s innovations, which would later have a profound impact on Lobanovskyi, included a new tactic altogether, but what completed it was his emphasis on training and recovery. It is no surprise that the advent of pressing coincided with improving fitness levels in the 1960s; to press hard over a sustained period, fitness has to be supreme. Maslov introduced intense physical training, but he also focused his attention on nutrition and recovery. While this is now a staple at clubs across the world, it wasn’t the case back then. One of English football’s clichés is the 4-4-2 formation, but that itself was drawn from the Three Lions’ sole World Cup triumph in 1966 under Alf Ramsey. Their success with the formation led to a nationwide adoption of the system, leading to its association with the English – and wider British – game. It is also why Ramsey is incorrectly credited as its pioneer, when in fact Maslov had devised its use years earlier. Given Cold War tensions at the time, it might be that Ramsey devised the 4-4-2 on his own, but there is no doubt that Maslov was the first. Like many pioneers, the Russian was ahead of his time, though it didn’t always translate into trophies or acclaim – at least not immediately. Thanks in part to their midfield, Dynamo Kyiv won the league for three consecutive years between 1966 to 1968, with Soviet Top League power shifting from Moscow to Kyiv. Maslov’s favouring of a collective ethos on and off the pitch was something that set him apart, with regular consultation with his players the staff a key part of his method. He would gather his squad together before games and talk through the plan, asking for their thoughts along the way. Such trust was vital in his implementation of a team-centric tactic. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that the likeable Maslov was known as “Grandad”. It’s also a reason why he’s been forgotten to time. Maslov might have gone further than a nominal 4-4-2 too. A free-flowing, interchangeable side was what he ultimately had in mind, something that he wasn’t able to execute during his own life. But that was ultimately the groundwork for Lobanovskyi’s success at Dynamo, and eventually Total Football under Michels and Cruyff. In Jonathan Wilson’s Inverting the Pyramid, where he puts forward Maslov’s case as a great pioneer, one of the Muscovite’s quotes stands out: “Football is like an aeroplane. As velocities increase, so does air resistance, so you have to make the head more streamlined.” His hint at the dearth of strikers to come was an accurate prediction of the path football would take over the following years. He was eventually sacked in 1970 when Dynamo slipped to seventh in the league. He wasn’t helped by a lack of reserves, and the players lost to the World Cup affected his side in all areas. While his impact at the club may have gone stale, his dismissal was sour nevertheless, shipped off with no replacement in sight. He returned with Torpedo, winning a domestic cup, before a stint with Ararat Yerevan, but by then his career was in decline. He eventually passed away aged 67 in May 1977. The concepts that Maslov pioneered, such as zonal-marking and aggressive pressing, have come to shape the modern game in ways the Russian himself may not have imagined. He conceived it all, and his famous Dynamo side is the stuff of lore in his homeland. Sadly, though, the exploits of Lobanovskyi have come to push him out of the limelight. It is ironic that the player once rejected by Maslov would eventually eclipse him as a coach. Lobanovksyi’s vision of the game revolved around science, to which extent he established a partnership with Professor Anatoly Zelentsov, a dean of the local Institute of Physical Science. Their exploits led Dynamo Kyiv to auspices further than those achieved by Maslov, but the principles remained similar. A systematic style, a focus on nutrition and recovery, and those high-pressing ideals were adopted by the Ukrainian, and to his credit, he placed Dynamo on the world map. Unlike his former coach, he wasn’t limited by the means of his times, coming into a game rife with tactical innovations and free-thinking. While they endured a frosty relationship, they remain giants of the Soviet game, each achieving success in their own right. While Maslov may have been forgotten to time and his innovations lost over 40 years of a rapidly evolving sport, the evidence of his brilliance lies in the fact that the 4-4-2 formation that he pioneered is still in use today. It shaped a generation of footballers, aiming to tie creative ideals with just enough pragmatism that the team would always come first. It’s why Viktor Maslov is a legend the game should cherish.

West Brom, Slaven Bilic and the Jurassic Football insignia Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! What’s that coming over the hill? It’s Sam Allardyce, isn’t it? Photograph: Mark Robinson NMC Pool Barry Glendenning @bglendenning BEING HELD BY MANCHESTER CITY PROVED THE LAST STRAW When you’re expecting a kick in the swingers and you get punched in the face instead, it could be argued you’ve had a decent result. But when you’re expecting a clap on the back for a job well done only to get handed your P45, then you could be forgiven for feeling decidedly aggrieved. A penny, then, for the thoughts of Slaven Bilic, who has been sacked despite masterminding West Brom’s promotion to the Premier League and, most recently, a highly commendable draw at Manchester City. A good result by any standards, it wasn’t enough to keep Bilic in his job and he’s now become the first top-flight manager this season ushered unceremoniously through the door marked ‘Do One!’ “West Bromwich Albion have today parted company with head coach Slaven Bilic,” announced the club in a terse statement. “The Baggies are currently 19th in the Premier League table with seven points from 13 fixtures. Albion would like to thank Slaven and his coaching staff for their efforts in achieving promotion last season and wishes them all well in the future.” While fairly brutal in tone, one can’t help but feel Bilic will be only too happy to leave with his contract paid up as he seemed decidedly miserable with his lot at the Hawthorns in recent months. West Brom in talks with Sam Allardyce after sacking Slaven Bilic Read more Looking more ashen-faced and disgruntled than he does even at the best of times, everyone’s favourite curmudgeonly Croatian has had the look about him of a man who deserves much better. A club whose overlords don’t sell players against his wishes, perhaps. And one that gives him more than tuppence ha’penny and a handful of beans to spend on helping fulfil the second part of his brief after he’s successfully achieved the first by winning promotion. And what of West Brom? What do they deserve? The Fiver isn’t quite sure but it looks as if they might be about to get it. Showing the kind of stunning lack of imagination that has seen them boing-boing between the Premier League and Championship in recent times, they appear to have illuminated the Jurassic Football insignia in the night sky over the Hawthorns and the early indications are that it is about to be answered. Yes, just 31 years after beginning his fledgling management career as reserve-team player coach at West Brom, it looks like Sam Allardyce is finally going to get a long overdue promotion. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE! Join Barry Glendenning from 6pm GMT for hot MBM coverage of Arsenal 2-2 Southampton in the Premier League, before Rob Smyth guides you through Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham at 8pm. QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s disgusting, to be honest. What was a really good night for us on the pitch was overshadowed by a real small minority that decide to boo in a moment when we’re reflecting the values that everyone at our club believes in. Inequality, racism, all these things that need kicking out of society” – Cambridge United manager Mark Bonner hits out at the behaviour of fans who booed as the players took a knee before his side’s League Two win over Colchester. RECOMMENDED LISTENING The latest Football Weekly special focuses on dementia in the game and is well worth your time. FIVER LETTERS “I recently discovered that one of my heroes and ex-Bournemouth striker Paul Moulden now runs a successful chippy in Bolton. As I was in the vicinity on Saturday I decided to pay a visit and was pleasantly surprised to see Paul serving. He struck up a conversation as he noticed my club face mask. We had a chat and I was able to tell him he scored one of my favourite goals against Newcastle back in the day. He gave me my order free of charge and was generally a top man. I though this might be worth at least sharing with your readers as a heart-warming festive vignette, particularly as I have quickly run out of friends to share the story with” – Paul Sheppard. “Yesterday’s Quote of the Day and accompanying archived match report made me nostalgic, not for that particular Manchester United team, nor even for the estimable Shaun Goater, but for Danny Tiatto, a player so comically aggressive that he wasn’t so much dogged by ill-discipline but jackalled, hyaenaed, dingoed and wolved by it. He really was ‘that kind of player’ if anyone ever was. I imagine his highlights reel is 30 or so eight-second clips of him stomping towards various dressing rooms with steam coming out of his ears” – Jon Millard. Send your letters to [email protected]. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day prize is … Paul Sheppard. RECOMMENDED SHOPPING Available at our print shop now, Tom Jenkins’s pictures of the past decade. There’s also this Gazza picture, one of Pelé and a Kenny Dalglish one too. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Rule-making body, Ifab, has approved two trials of concussion substitutes that will come into effect from next month. EFL suits insist Sunderland had the option to postpone their League One draw with Wimbledon after the squad was struck by Covid-19, leaving them without eight players. “That game should have been called off, no doubt,” said manager Lee Johnson. “I can’t help but feel angry, frustrated. At the moment, I am not sure who I am angry at.” Frank Lampard’s Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is feeling funky after their second defeat in four days, this time a 2-1 reverse at Wolves. “We should have seen the game out,” he tooted. “This is the Premier League. If you don’t perform, you lose games.” Pedro Neto after his injury-time winner. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock Newcastle boss Bernard Cribbins has been delving into his bucket of faint praise to drizzle on the squad. “They might not be breathtaking on the eye but they grasp what Newcastle is,” he parped. “At certain times they might lack a little bit of quality but you can’t knock them.” A 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest means Tony Pulis has now overseen the worst eight-game start by any manager in Sheffield Wednesday history. “I can’t fault the effort, the commitment of the players, but it’s not enough,” he sighed. And Northampton academy player Jack Maltby-Smith, 12, has helped raise more than £5,000 to feed 300 local families after being inspired by Marcus Rashford. “It makes me a bit emotional, to be honest,” he said. “I just feel so proud.” STILL WANT MORE? Barney Ronay looks ahead to Liverpool v Tottenham, a potentially titanic battle of the top two but one where, and somewhat disappointingly, Jürg and José actually seem to like each other. Connor Roberts, the Swansea defender, tells Ben Fisher of a passion for carpentry that has seen him build dining tables, desks, dog bowls, birdhouses and wine caddies. Footwear to make The Fiver blush. Photograph: Connor Roberts Have boots, will travel. Scott Parker, Peter Crouch, Kei Kamara and of course John Burridge. Plus 4-4 draws in this week’s Knowledge. Alejandro Pozuelo, Darlington, Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew feature in this year’s MLS end-of-season awards. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! WAIT, WHAT?

hope he plays a lot more, I still think he will be a very good player the only players we have on the official roster (and not out on loan) who are shit are Kepa Willy Caballero (other than pens) Marcos Alonso Emerson Abdul Rahman Baba Danny Drinkwater Charly Musonda Jr.

Why Brexit could mean Scottish clubs are raided from south of the border https://theathletic.com/2197585/2020/12/16/brexit-scottish-english-transfers/ Brexit is a subject that has dominated the public conscience since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016 — and football will not escape its clutches from next month. The FA this month confirmed that, after the Brexit transition period has ended on December 31, Premier League and EFL clubs will not be able to sign players from the EU under the age of 18. It is a move that will prevent the top English clubs scooping up elite talent across Europe with the hope it could promote opportunities for young local players but it could have a knock-on effect for Scottish clubs. “We become their second-biggest market overnight behind other English clubs,” one Scottish Premiership chief executive tells The Athletic. It is a topic that has understandably not been a main priority given the strain COVID-19 has put on finances, but the new post-Brexit dynamic could change the nature of youth development in Scotland if it leads to a surge in cross-border transfers. Indeed, The Athletic has heard from multiple sources how clubs in England are rapidly increasing their presence north of the border by hiring full-time youth scouts, with a couple of League One clubs even taking on scouts. The standing of Scottish players has improved dramatically in recent years, which is leading to an increase in interest itself, but there is apprehension that Brexit could lead to clubs being raided for talent before they even break into the first-team. In an in-depth investigation with sporting directors, academy directors, coaches, agents and scouts, The Athletic has found: There are understandable fears that the roll call of Scots to make the move south of the border before first-team age is going to increase, but this is a trend that has gathered pace in recent years. Then there is the transfer of Aaron Hickey from Hearts to Bologna and — the deal many in the game view as the gamechanger — Billy Gilmour from Rangers to Chelsea in 2017, aged 16. The rapid rise of the diminutive midfielder, who made his first Champions League start last week, has made clubs sit up and take notice of the market. “Scotland went down to play England in 2017,” says a Scottish Football Association (SFA) source. “That day changed a lot of people’s minds as it was at St George’s Park and people were shocked at how Scotland were playing against a team who had just won the World Cup at that age group. “If you go to a Scotland international game almost every club in England is represented in the stands. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing but it’s happening.” The groundswell in interest — which can see upwards of 15 English scouts in attendance at the National Performance Centre in Edinburgh — is in stark contrast to the situation six or seven years ago when clubs were said to be pulling out of Scotland and refocusing their attention on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “Some clubs take the Scottish market seriously but a lot still don’t, strangely,” says a well-connected Scottish agent. “Most like to say they do to the press but a lot of them don’t have any presence up here, which is staggering. They go off recommendations. It’s not just scouts I’ve heard being placed up here — agencies are looking to put more people up here too.” Scottish clubs have a breadth of views on whether this interest will turn out to be punitive or lucrative. At the top end they are said to be relaxed about it as, although they will compete financially with English clubs when they come in for a generational talent, they are beginning to realise the potential in trading players more often given the sums they can fetch. That is opening up the chance to replace them with English players, with one leading Scottish clubs said to be “all over” players exiting English academies due to the lower compensation fee on cross-border deals. Most clubs in Scotland, though, are holding their breath. Academy directors have been holding meetings where this has been a major topic of discussion. “Some of us are going to get hammered,” The Athletic is told by one of them. “It’s already happening. We have about six or seven players who are in correspondence with big English clubs about taking them down.” As of January 1, it is unanimously agreed that the standing of young Scottish players will instantly increase. “They are no longer competing with the best players at Anderlecht, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb or Lyon to catch the attention of Premier League clubs,” says a Scotland-based scout from a major English club. Another Premier League scout, who has just been appointed in Scotland, does not believe clubs will lower their standards but he believes the success of Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Kieran Tierney has awakened clubs to the potential. “When you would touch base with a club and talk about recruitment, as soon as you mention Scotland they would say, ‘Oh right, send me what you’ve got’, whereas there’s now a different tone. You can tell that it is now an important market,” says one agent who manages youngsters across Scotland. Scottish players have always faired well against their counterparts but after the age of 16, there seems to be a drop-off. Players who have gone south have sometimes taken time to adjust to the athleticism — an area in which Scotland have lagged for decades — but the SFA’s “performance schools” have improved that. “English clubs are not daft,” says an SFA source. “They know something has changed in Scotland because the performance schools that these young kids are training full-time from the age of 12 in a national curriculum. They seem to be producing players who can handle the ball in any environment in Europe for a fraction of the cost. “Clubs feel safer that they’ve been schooled right as they have had an individual coach for four years and the academies have got elite status now, which means there are more qualified staff in line with England. Scottish kids aren’t deemed to be one of the best in Europe but that will change with players like Gilmour doing what he is.” There may not be another Gilmour, who joined Chelsea at 16 from Rangers in a deal worth £550,000, in the next couple of years but will clubs be able to put up a fight for lesser talents? A couple of clubs are understood to have banned English scouts from their games, while others have tightened restrictions on agents and scouts attending by operating an application process, which has been around for years in England. When English clubs are interested in a player, they often invite them for a trial so they can view them against their standard of player but resistance is building to that. One club initially refused Chelsea’s request but changed their mind as they thought it was good PR for the club. Another agent who has helped complete several cross-border deals believes that once players experience the standards at elite academies in England, clubs in Scotland are already fighting a losing battle. “The reality is that sports science isn’t really a phenomenon outside of the Old Firm here,” he says “They don’t have the resources, the facilities, best v best, coaching provision. It’s a glorified boys’ club with the greatest of respect to them and I’ve found that when they’re exposed to a different type of professionalism every day they want more of it. I can’t see how training with Premier League first teams doesn’t develop them individually, or the national team later down the line. “They might play some minutes in Scotland if they stay, which for the old guard is the be-all and end-all, but who’s to say he doesn’t play until he’s 21 and stays there for the rest of his career? “If you leave a top English club, the number of branches you’re going to hit on the way far exceeds what you would at Celtic or Rangers. They haven’t been able to guarantee careers. “A lot of the English clubs aren’t selling the Phil Foden dream of being the next poster boy — they’re selling you a career. They tell you the structure, the training programme, the coaching, sports science, nutritionists, psychologists. If it doesn’t work out, then you’ve got the Championship, League One or League Two, which outweighs what clubs like Hamilton can afford to pay.” If that is difficult to counteract, then so too are the finances. At most clubs in Scotland, 16-year-olds are earning between £150 and £25o a week, unless you are an exceptional talent and the club are forced into pushing the boat out. Often the parents are offered a job by English clubs, who don’t always pay players of that age thousands of pounds a week — an attempt to keep them grounded — but the wages quickly increase. Indeed, there have been deals where players are earning £3,000 to £4,000 a week or a total package in excess of £1 million offered to the family. Many anticipate it will make the Old Firm’s attempts to scoop up the best of the rest more difficult but it is understood that there has been a gentleman’s agreement between Scottish clubs to pause the signing of players from rival clubs during the pandemic, even if several deals are thought to be all but done. If players do start leaving at 16 instead of signing a professional contract at their Scottish club, then the buying club is liable to pay training compensation set by FIFA. There are different categories of payments involved, which depend on the level of the club, but from the ages of 12 to 15 the fee is set at €10,000 per year of development, which works out at €40,000 at 16. “It falls way short of what it truly costs to develop a young player,” says a chief executive. “Those figures have not been reviewed for years despite everyone’s costs increasing, so the margin has been squeezed. The potential for lost revenue is also a factor as we could potentially sell him for millions in a few years. “That cannot be right but unless you are prepared to accept a deal — and inevitably that means taking less money — you have very little economic rights to the player in the future by way of sell-on clauses. You can scrape solidarity (payments) depending on where he moves but sell-on percentages and add-ons have actually been more lucrative than the initial transfers so to lose all these things because English clubs are going to become more aggressive is going to be a bitter pill to swallow, unless we can find a solution.” It may not be entirely by the book but one method of securing a talented player’s future before they turn 16 is the concept of a “pre-pro” contract, which multiple sources say several clubs are using to tie down their players in advance. The Athletic has been told that across the SPFL some players have signed undated contracts as young as 14, which clubs keep to register when they turn 16. Others have explored part-time contracts, which are legal from the age of 14 for “light work”, while it is also claimed that in exceptional cases, some clubs disguise payments as expenses to parents as a means of securing their future, though no examples of this have yet come to light. When the English clubs do come calling, though, the promise of riches and elite facilities is difficult for players to turn down. Another academy director believes that accelerating the pathway to the first team is the only way to compete against what is on offer elsewhere. “We’re open to working with clubs but it has to benefit the player and the club,” he says. “We have 10 English clubs coming to watch our under-18 game and to see certain players. “Through agents and the family, clubs have ways to get in their heads to stop them signing that first contract at 16, but we will only deal with clubs who come through the front door and conduct their business in a professional manner. “If we think it works well to that individual player’s plan, then we’ll entertain it, but a young player might think that their best chance to have a long-term or sustainable career is to play 60-80 games in the Premiership and then move down when he’s at a level closer to the first-team. At 16, you have to go under-16s, 18s, 23s and then the first team, so there is still a lot of development to do there. “Kids are only looking down south or other options because they don’t see enough kids getting their opportunities they think they deserve. That’s when facilities and money become more attractive but if you get them into the first team at 17 or 18 and you’re playing on TV, that’s more attractive than anything else. “There has been a lot of great work done at academies in recent years, and we’re starting to see green shoots from that, but how many minutes are boys actually playing? We need to offer that pathway. “Academies have never had a higher value because clubs can’t afford to go and spend money on wages and fees, however, if they cut back on academies they dilute that chance.” His stance is that any deal they do would have to amount to more than just an isolated transfer. It would have to be the start of a relationship where they could, for example, benefit from access to tournaments in England and coaching trips to exchange best practice. He is not alone. The rise of associated clubs — made popular by the City Football Group, which has a network of 10 teams across the globe — is thought to be one way that English clubs could circumvent the ban on signing EU players younger than 18. In theory, clubs could have another European club sign them and allow them to develop there for a couple of years before bringing them to the UK. If this becomes a popular method, then it may ease the spotlight on Scottish talent. It is not all doom and gloom, though, as Hibernian sporting director Graeme Mathie believes there is potential for clubs to benefit from the interest. He revealed that Hibs have agreed to enter into a partnership with a lower-league club, who want to plan loan moves for 15 and 16-year-olds 18 months in advance. “They now see themselves as part of our development process,” he says, stressing that it is a deeply integrated relationship that covers various areas of development. Hibs have just secured the future of 16-year-old goalkeeper Murray Johnson, who several English clubs were interested in, on a three-year professional deal. Mathie admits it is beneficial to the club that they have him on a professional deal, as they will now be entitled to a transfer fee should he leave, but he believes the timing is key to these decisions. “We need to be careful what we are talking about,” says Mathie. “If they (an English club) want to take him down to be an under-18s goalie, then I’d have a really open discussion with his family and his agent and ask if that is what he wants to do, because we think we can offer a pathway to adult football sooner. “When you look at the correlation between those who play at youth level and those who play senior level, it doesn’t really add up. It’s not always that the most talented 16 and 17 year-olds make it to become the top players. That’s not because they go to England or abroad but we need to figure out what paths they take as there hasn’t been a huge number who have gone down and progressed.” He is frustrated more English clubs have not been as receptive to his suggestion of partnering, with Hibs the smaller fish in this food chain. “If we use Josh Doig (Hibs’ highly-rated 18-year-old left-back) as an example: we have him on a decent length of contract, he played the first 10 or 11 games and people phoned me up in the first transfer window to sound out on his availability,” says Mathie. “In all these conversations I said, ‘Well, what level do we think he can get to?’ What we’ve started discussing is how we make Josh or any other player into a Premier League first-team player. “Are there things we can give them that they can’t? If that’s beneficial for a period of time great, but then the English club might think they can improve his athleticism with their extra resources and want to take a handle on that. “I want to work with a club who see us as an extension of what they do, as that makes it a lot easier to deal with fees and everything else. That might be over-simplistic — that would be utopia if we can get to that point — but I’m convinced that this is a model that we can start to live by in Scotland.” Others were more sceptical of that type of arrangement, citing the “need for competitive tension in the market to drive up prices”. Agents play a central role in that and, after more than a year of talks over strengthening their regulation in Scotland, it is understood that a majority of clubs are in favour of introducing stricter rules. In April 2015, FIFA made major changes to its agent licensing system, abolishing the “Player’s Agents Regulations” and replacing it with “Regulations on Working with Intermediaries”. The Scottish FA chose not to add to those minimum standards unlike the English FA, where agents have to undergo a “test of good character and reputation”, as well as a criminal record check. Agents should earn between three and five per cent of the worth of any contract they help broker, but the lack of regulations in Scotland has led to young players being targeted well before the age of 16. “We’ve got kids being targeted on Instagram and Facebook every day,” said an agent. “One dad said he was being bombarded with agents on social media at 16. The SFA say they have raised it but nothing ever seems to be done about it. I know an agent in England who only spoke to a player to ask for a phone number for his dad and he was reported and banned for six months.” Another recalls how he recently secured an under-16s player in Scotland after another agent had tried to sell the potential of moving to England or abroad, something he finds distasteful and akin to a “meat market”. Some may look to make a quick buck by pushing players to move clubs but it is accepted that many others genuinely act in the best interests of their players, even if it costs them hundreds of thousands of pounds by staying in Scotland. It is not just losing academy players that is making clubs apprehensive. The Athletic understands that the Professional Game Board in Scotland has instructed research to be undertaken on the number of players who would not have been permitted to work in the country under the proposed new regulations. The English FA’s work permit rules, a points-based system agreed with the Home Office, means that those who have played at least 70 per cent of international matches for a top 50-ranked nation over a two-year period will be automatically granted a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE). There are concerns, however, about how this will affect Scottish clubs’ ability to complement their squad with foreign signings, given the relatively minuscule budgets outside of the Old Firm. “It has been exacerbated by the government’s lack of understanding of the differences between the markets,” says a Premiership chief executive. “You simply cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to determining these rules. “Our clubs aren’t rammed full of foreign players but we’ve got to have the ability like our counterparts across Europe to be in that marketplace. If that is made draconian then it is going to make life difficult, coupled with the fact that we will be offered very little protection when it comes to the transfer of youth players to England. “It’s almost death by a thousand cuts if our buying market becomes insular and we have to double down on an academy where the battle to keep our players until an age we can sell for a transfer fee is going to be even more difficult. “You’ve got to have some ability to react to that because, if we don’t, trying to develop young players in Scotland is almost going to become a hobby rather than a key part of our business model. “You’ve got clubs already who have started looking at how much it is costing them to run an academy as every penny is going to be a prisoner in the post-COVID world. If your margin from producing players continues to be squeezed, it’s going to lead clubs to ask, ‘What are we doing this for?'”

Havertz and Werner might need Chelsea formation change to bring best out of them https://theathletic.com/2264487/2020/12/16/werner-havertz-formation-chelsea/ This season, it seems, is not going to be kind to the teams with designs to be considered Premier League contenders. Earlier this month, when they swept aside Leeds United at Stamford Bridge with a display of high-tempo ruthlessness, Chelsea had the look of a side who had found themselves heading into the festive fixture crunch in good shape. Eleven days and back-to-back defeats against Everton and Wolves later, it’s once again reasonable to question the on-pitch identity they had built with such style. Frank Lampard was in no mood for such introspection in the immediate aftermath at Molineux. For him, this was simply a case of poor game management. “The threat from Wolves is clearly the counter-attack and it is a major threat from what they have got,” he said. “It is the main one because they have speed and quality in forward areas. The players knew it before the game, the players knew it in (the) game but we allowed some counter-attacks. If you are going to allow a team to play to their strengths then you may lose.” Nothing he said left the impression there could be a departure from the 4-3-3 system that has underpinned Chelsea’s rise in recent weeks, even as Everton and then Wolves’ defensive success left many querying whether the formation is viable with the squad’s wing depth so depleted. The bigger headache for Lampard, however, will probably come when he ponders whether or not the tactical framework he has chosen can maximise either of his two marquee summer signings. Timo Werner — operating from the right and later from the left of the front three at Molineux — had three shot attempts against Wolves, none on target and none particularly memorable. He has now failed to score in his last eight Chelsea appearances across all competitions and while that time span includes some freakish misses, three of his lowest expected goals (xG) ratings of the Premier League season have come in his last four games. Wolves largely kept him out wide, where his sloppy passing often made him more of a hindrance than a help. Werner’s touch map vs Wolves Kai Havertz, meanwhile, was replaced by Mateo Kovacic in the 71st minute after producing his most anonymous performance of the season. Deployed as a No 8 on the right of the midfield three, he touched the ball fewer times (47) than any outfield Chelsea starter other than Werner and Olivier Giroud, had no shots and played no key passes. The vast majority of the passes he completed were safe options, either sideways or backwards, offering little to the team’s more progressive passages of play. Havertz pass map vs Wolves When it comes to Havertz there is no shortage of reasonable mitigation. He contracted COVID-19 in November and was bed-ridden with significant symptoms for more than a week. As well as depriving him of training time, the illness also further slowed an already tricky adaptation process to a new style of football with a new team in a new league. Having played for spells as a No 8, a No 10, a winger and a false nine in four years at Bayer Leverkusen, he has been deployed in all four positions in his first four months at Chelsea. He is also 21. Havertz revealed during his unveiling press conference in September that he considers himself primarily as a No 10. Werner, meanwhile, reached a new level of attacking threat at RB Leipzig last season when coach Julian Nagelsmann slotted him into a bespoke tactical role, somewhere in between an on-the-shoulder striker and a left winger, with either Yussuf Poulsen or Patrick Schick acting as the muscular attacking focal point. The one thing that Havertz and Werner’s ideal roles have in common is that neither exist in Lampard’s 4-3-3. It won’t always matter. As recent weeks have shown, Werner is more than capable of carrying a constant threat on the left of a front three, provided that he is allowed to do most of his running into the box without the ball rather than with it. While he can be a devastating ball-carrier in transition situations — as Newcastle and Leeds both found out to their cost — he lacks the skill of an elite winger to consistently dribble past his marker, and his touch is too inconsistent to be heavily involved in possession play. On his better days, Havertz has also shown signs of growing into the No 8 role, finding pockets of space to receive the ball on the half-turn, moving it on intelligently and arriving late in the box to connect with crosses. The slick sequence of play which led to Giroud’s equaliser against Leeds exhibited all of these qualities. Hakim Ziyech’s return from a hamstring injury will help both. The man Ajax fans dubbed “The Wizard of Amsterdam” has been exactly as advertised so far in England, establishing himself as the creative hub of this Chelsea team from the moment he came into the starting XI. Werner can connect with his devilish in-swinging crosses as Quincy Promes once did, and the defensive attention the Morocco international attracts can free up Havertz to express himself fully. But until then, Lampard might need to lean on the tactical flexibility he showcased at key moments of last season. The 4-3-3 is only as effective as the balance of personnel within it; Chelsea’s dearth of fit wingers right now might have made a return to 3-4-2-1 more logical against Wolves. Another option — one that requires less disruption to the team’s defensive and midfield balance — would be a 4-4-2 diamond, with Havertz operating at the tip and Werner up front alongside either Giroud or Abraham: That particular tactical scenario would penalise Christian Pulisic, Chelsea’s most dazzling attacker for long stretches of last season and a man Lampard really needs to find momentum for after a frustrating stretch of hamstring trouble. But any option the manager chooses will carry a significant selection cost in a squad blessed with as diverse an array of attacking talent as this one. Chelsea’s on-pitch identity will probably continue to shift with the tides of form and fitness, along with the unpredictable storms in this most volatile of seasons. Lampard will need Werner and Havertz to help him chart a course through it all.

Wednesday December 16 2020 Matt Law's Chelsea briefing Trophies are no longer the only mark of success at Stamford Bridge — Lampard is building the future By Matt Law, Football News Correspondent Frank Lampard made it clear at the start of this month that he would love to extend his Chelsea contract. Lampard’s current deal has 18 months left to run, which, understandably, prompted some Chelsea fans to respond ‘what’s the rush?’ That’s exactly what some Liverpool supporters said when the club ripped up Jurgen Klopp’s new contract nine months into his reign and handed him a fresh long-term deal. Like Lampard, Klopp had initially signed for three years, but so impressed were Liverpool by his work that at the end of his first season in charge, after the club finished eighth in the Premier League and lost two finals, the German was given a new six-year deal. Chelsea fans have become accustomed to the Roman Abramovich approach of quantifying success by trophies — and who can argue with it, given the incredible success achieved during the Russian’s reign? Lampard knows how Abramovich operates better than most, having been a player in the squad that kept picking up trophies as the revolving door to the manager’s office kept spinning. So why should Chelsea treat Lampard and his staff any differently, given Chelsea are not even halfway through his second season in charge and no manager has survived two trophyless campaigns during the Abramovich era? Jose Mourinho, in his second spell, and Antonio Conte both had to wait until the end of title-winning seasons to earn new contracts, despite the fact their teams had been dominant for much of the campaign. But in appointing Lampard and trusting him to make use of the club’s academy, Chelsea committed themselves to a different path and a new culture in which the power was no longer with the players. That remains the case, despite a £220million summer transfer spend, as the players who arrived, with the exception of Thiago Silva, were not ready-made winners or dominant personalities and Lampard has retained his faith in the academy graduates while integrating the new faces. This is not a group who can manage themselves or maintain a culture, regardless of the manager. This is a squad who are being built and nurtured in their manager’s image, which is exactly why Chelsea should commit to making Lampard and his staff part of the long-term plan with new contracts. Of course, there would need to be difficult conversations and analysis if this season did fall away, but, equally, Chelsea’s commitment to Lampard past this season should not be reliant on silverware. The progress from last season, when Chelsea qualified for the Champions League and lost in the final of the FA Cup, is already evident. Lampard may play their chances down, but his team are part of this season’s title race and comfortably qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League by topping Group E. Early results are not the only indicator of the continuing progress, as Lampard has also showcased his own development by managing a much larger squad than he has ever been in charge of and finding solutions to the defensive problems that had been Chelsea’s Achilles heel. Mourinho claimed it was impossible to keep all of his Tottenham players happy with Harry Winks and Dele Alli both hoping to move on in January, but Lampard has managed to keep the likes of Olivier Giroud and Antonio Rudiger, who had been poised to leave in the summer, involved and, more importantly, engaged. Klopp signed his latest Liverpool contract last December, months before the club had secured their first title for 30 years, while Manchester City last month extended their commitment to Pep Guardiola, despite last season’s failure to win the Premier League or Champions League and a slow start to this campaign. Chelsea have always done things different under Abramovich, largely to great success. But now is the time to follow the lead of Liverpool and City, and underline the fact that Lampard is very much their man. Get in touch at @Matt_Law_DT or via [email protected]. Have a good Christmas The Chelsea newsletter is taking a break over the Christmas period. I'll be back in your inbox in the first week of January.

took Pep one season at Shitty, and then he won the league back to back, including 100 points and 98 points he won the league the first 3 years in a row he was at Barca, won the CL his first and third years Pep won the league his first 3 years at Bayern as well, won the FIFA World Club Championship his first year

might as well take care of it ourselves

here are the best shots the rest of the season for them to lose at Anfield

PGMOL they have gifted at least 9 points so far via insane VAR and pen calls in their favour

and Curtis Jones looks to be well on his way to being a real baller

every young CB Klopp puts in has a big game

west ham drew, so the furthest we can drop is 9th when all you put all on 13 games

i am only talking about all teams being on 13 games, do not care about divergence and I left out Villa, whose next 3 games are all more than winnable would would actually put them 2nd by a point, over manure

just taking their next two games not the one they did not play and Villa next three games

yes, I just wanted that bloody streak broken

fucking Manure can be 2nd in the table o 13 games only 2 points behind the dippers

they are going to win the league again cant see anyone catching them

fuckers may well break our home record streak

another 90th minute win for the bindippers

BUT take away just 2 players Son Kane they are a mid table side

I have been saying this since I joined the board and I sort of want spuds to win as it stops the bindippers streak

2020-21 English Premier League Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur http://givemeredditstreams.com/sports/liverpool.html http://4kstreams.net/embed/2 https://www.totalsportek.com/highlights/arsenal-vs-everton-2016-match/ https://socceronline.me/

P Bamford (35'), Rodrigo (61'), S Dallas (77'), E Alioski (85'), J Harrison (88')

Leeds United 5 90'+3' 2 Newcastle United