The General Football Thread

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

27 minutes ago, Fernando said:

What is this? 

USA and Mexico to have league together. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Quincy Promes has been arrested for suspected involvement in a stabbing.

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Dortmund have sacked Favre.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Gerard Houllier has passed away.

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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.

 

[Vesper 28,767]

Indestructible rankings: most fielded players in 2020 https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp318/en/ No professional footballer has played as many minutes in official matches in the calendar year 2020 as Manchester United’s centre back Harry Maguire. Up until December 17th, the English international was fielded during 4’745 minutes (53 matches). The top 100s for both goalkeepers and outfield players are available in issue number 318 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post. For outfield players, Maguire ranks ahead of Manchester City’s Rúben Dias and the Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi. Other well-known footballers are high in the rankings such as Bruno Fernandes, Romelu Lukaku and Raphaël Varane. If we consider the number of matches played, the Danish full international Christian Eriksen tops the table with 54 games. However, in terms of minutes, the Inter player is not even in the first 1,000 ranks. On average, he played just over a half time per match. With regard to goalkeepers, at the head of the table is Marcelo Lomba from SC Internacional: 4’740 minutes in 52 official matches. The Brazilians are over-represented in the top positions of the rankings. Four goalkeepers playing for European clubs are in the top 10: Lukáš Hrádecký (Bayer Leverkusen and Finnish national team), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan AC and Italy), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid and Slovenia), as well as Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany).

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Professional football survey: reminder

 

Dear football/soccer enthusiast,

the CIES Football Observatory wishes you a happy end of the year 2020 and an excellent 2021, hopefully with the possibility of attending more matches in the stadiums.

We also kindly invite you to take about 5 minutes of your time to answer this anonymous questionnaire about the fans’ opinion on professional football. Warmest thanks to all those who already answered. Your answers will be analysed and made available in the January’s 2021 Monthly Report.

Sincerely yours

On behalf of the CIES Football Observatory, its head

Dr. Raffaele Poli

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Cristiano Ronaldo shows his class by giving away his award to Robert Lewandowski after winning it

https://punditarena.com/football/jeff-simon/cristiano-ronaldo-robert-lewandowski-bayern-munich-juventus/

Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in an incredible gesture

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo had reportedly won the Globe Soccer ‘Player of the Year’ award but refused to accept it. He chose to give it to Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski instead who he felt was more deserving of the award.

The Juventus superstar was set to clinch the award in Dubai on Sunday after a fan vote deemed him the best performer of 2020.

But Italian publication Tuttosport claimed that the ex-Real Madrid man and his agent Jorge Mendes opted to turn down the award.

They believed that it was “unfair” and that the only reason Ronaldo won was due to his popularity and that Lewandowski was the deserved victor.

Lewandowski has scored 55 goals in 2020 propelling Bayern to a treble of league, Champions League and German Cup. The Pole had finished as top scorer in every competition he participated in last season.

[Fulham Broadway 16,829]

16 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Cristiano Ronaldo shows his class by giving away his award to Robert Lewandowski after winning it

https://punditarena.com/football/jeff-simon/cristiano-ronaldo-robert-lewandowski-bayern-munich-juventus/

Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in an incredible gesture

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo had reportedly won the Globe Soccer ‘Player of the Year’ award but refused to accept it. He chose to give it to Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski instead who he felt was more deserving of the award.

The Juventus superstar was set to clinch the award in Dubai on Sunday after a fan vote deemed him the best performer of 2020.

But Italian publication Tuttosport claimed that the ex-Real Madrid man and his agent Jorge Mendes opted to turn down the award.

They believed that it was “unfair” and that the only reason Ronaldo won was due to his popularity and that Lewandowski was the deserved victor.

Lewandowski has scored 55 goals in 2020 propelling Bayern to a treble of league, Champions League and German Cup. The Pole had finished as top scorer in every competition he participated in last season.

Fair play to the bull necked Madeiran. Lewandowski is the complete dogs bollocks. Funny how eats his pudding before main course - some kind of training he does.

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CIES Football Observatoryn°319 - 06/01/2021

Values

https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp319/en/

Biannual transfer value list: Rashford takes first place

Issue number 319 of the Weekly Post presents the traditional biannual list of the big-5 league players with the greatest transfer values according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The top estimated value was calculated for the 23-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford: €165 M. With only 18 months of contract remaining, the former leader Kylian Mbappé falls back to fifth place.

The 20-year-old Norwegian prolific striker Erling Haaland ranks second with an estimated transfer value of €152M. The 22-year-old English full international Trent Alexander-Arnold completes the podium. The Liverpool’s full back is the most expensive defender ahead of Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies (€139M) and Manchester City’s Rúben Dias (€127M). The top estimated values for midfielders and goalkeepers were recorded for Bruno Fernandes (€151 M) and Ederson Moraes (€80M).

With only six months of contract remaining, Lionel Messi just makes the top 100 list: 97th with an estimated value of €54M. Despite his excellent performances, 35-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo (€47M) is only 131st. This is mainly due to his age and the relatively short duration of his contract with Juventus (until June 2022). The transfer value intervals for all big-5 league players are available for free on the CIES Football Observatory website.

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

 

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4 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

 

wtf!

but tbh

a couple of those corners, crosses, and free kicks were decent

bit holy fuck is he fat and slow and lazy

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A viral lie about the USWNT was amplified by right-wing media. It wasn’t the first time

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/08/a-viral-lie-about-the-uswnt-was-amplified-by-right-wing-media-it-wasnt-the-first-time

The last send-off match before the US women’s national team begin their Olympic campaign was pretty standard fare for the best team in the world. The USWNT beat Mexico by 4-0 and, as is usually the case, they looked good doing it, setting themselves up as the favourites to win gold in Tokyo.

It was the day after Independence Day, and a World War II veteran named Pete DuPré played the Star-Spangled Banner on a harmonica before the game. This was also usual – the USWNT have often taken opportunities to honour those who fought for their country, like when the team took time away from 2019 World Cup preparations in France to visit the site of the Normandy invasion and speak with US veterans who fought there.

 

But the next day, when everyone presumably should’ve been talking about how strong the USWNT looked against Mexico, I received a reply to one of my tweets about the team: “Our families will never support women’s soccer until there is an apology to the 98-year-old veteran and the US military! No class to turn your back on the flag and an American hero! Shameful!”

Huh?

That was when I was abruptly pulled into an alternate universe – a bizarro world with its own narratives and set of facts around the USWNT, designed by right-wing propagandists and built on outrage.

The claim? That the unpatriotic USWNT turned their backs on DuPré during the anthem in a show of disrespect. The reality? The players – all standing, many with their hands over their hearts – had turned to face the flag directly in a show of respect as the flag is placed at the end of Rentschler Field.

Even faced with it, many propagandists refused to acknowledge reality. Sean Spicer, who is most famous for repeatedly lying on behalf of Donald Trump as White House press secretary, left up his original tweet spreading the lie without a follow-up. Another former member of the Trump administration doubled down, changing the lie every time he got fact-checked. Fox News ran a segment on it, and declared it will still be a story as protests occur at the Olympics, despite acknowledging the truth, which the right-wing network framed as a he-said, she-said.

How did the USWNT end up in this strange place?

The USWNT have a history of outspokenness on everything from challenging gender norms on the soccer field to fighting for better treatment off of it. They’ve ruffled feathers before. But only in 2019 after Trump tweeted at Megan Rapinoe did the disinformation-fueled bizarro world fully take shape around the USWNT. Apparently hurt by her suggestion that she wouldn’t visit the White House if the US won the World Cup, Trump scolded Rapinoe to “never disrespect our country, the White House, or our flag.”

Quickly, the right-wing echo chamber followed his lead. People who had never heard of the USWNT were suddenly trying to undermine the team. People who couldn’t correctly pronounce Rapinoe’s name dredged up stories of her past protests during the national anthem, falsely claiming it was to disrespect the military and the flag.

Rapinoe had already stated that she kneeled to highlight racial inequities in America, writing: “…It is because of my utmost respect for the flag and the promise it represents that I have chosen to demonstrate in this way. When I take a knee, I am facing the flag with my full body, staring straight into the heart of our country’s ultimate symbol of freedom – because I believe it is my responsibility, just as it is yours, to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country.”

To anyone outside of the bizarro world, there’s an absurd irony to lies designed to paint the USWNT as lacking American values. There are few athletes who can say they have won as many trophies on behalf of the United States as the members of the USWNT. These women – who are not a monolith, have views across the political spectrum and in some ways mirror the diversity of America itself – have single-handedly done more to demonstrate America’s greatness than any of the right-wing trolls who try to discredit them.

Perhaps that’s why such noise and nonsense has never bothered the USWNT much.

During the World Cup in France when the players were asked about distractions, from Trump or anyone else, the players mostly shrugged it off. They talked about their ability to compartmentalize and their self-made “bubble” where they ignored outside chatter – and they simply continued to do their jobs.

That’s no truer than in the case of Rapinoe. Trump made her the target of his loyal fan base, but she was unflappable – two days later she scored twice to lift the USWNT over France in the World Cup quarter–final. She would score again in the final, which the USWNT won in a story of American greatness.

And that’s when I first stumbled into the USWNT bizarro world of right-wing disinformation.

When Fox News Radio asked to speak with me the day after the final, I didn’t think much of it – I had recently published a book about the history of the USWNT and, in promoting it, I had done dozens of radio and podcast interviews with various outlets before and during the World Cup, all of which were fun. The Fox News producer told me they wanted to talk about the game. Turns out, he lied.

The host mostly wanted to talk about how unpatriotic Megan Rapinoe was and how her teammates must be sick of her, neither of which was true and I easily debunked. The host also zeroed in on a moment where USWNT players accidentally dropped the flag while celebrating as proof of their disrespect for America – an overblown moment I had to look up after the interview because no one outside of bizarro world was talking about it.

The host then pulled out a popular lie about the USWNT and women’s soccer: the men’s World Cup earns more money than the Women’s World Cup, thus the women don’t deserve more prize money. I explained that such information isn’t just wrong, it doesn’t exist: Fifa bundles revenue for all its World Cup events and doesn’t know the individual revenue generated by any of them. (Commonly cited numbers are the result of a Forbes editor misreading a chart and publishing misinformation.) The host did not care, and I could tell she was annoyed by me debunking her talking points.

As soon as the World Cup ended, a new disinformation campaign emerged. The Christian Broadcasting Network interviewed Jaelene Hinkle, a USWNT prospect who refused a call-up in 2017 because she didn’t support the team’s initiative to raise money for an anti-homophobia sports organization.

“Apparently, the US women’s Football team is not a very welcoming place for Christians,” the viral tweet claimed, setting off outrage among conservatives.

In bizarro world, the USWNT is hostile to Christianity. In the real world, many of the players on the USWNT are Christians, and they huddle together and pray before games.

Before the 2019 World Cup, for instance, Julie Ertz spoke about Bible study with her teammates, telling a Christian sports magazine: “These Bible studies really help me grow and keep me accountable. It brings me closer to my teammates – we continue to grow as players and persons.”

USWNT manager Jill Ellis later explained that Hinkle ultimately didn’t keep earning call-ups because, as a one-dimensional fullback in the NWSL, she was behind the USWNT’s other defenders. “If you look across the back line, all of those players can play at least two positions,” Ellis said.

It’s fitting, perhaps, that as the USWNT embark on another big tournament, this time the Olympics in Japan, the team is facing disinformation again. The more this tough, strong-willed group of women wins, the more some so-called patriots root against the United States.

Just don’t expect it to affect the USWNT much – after all, they exist in the real world, where they are the best team on the planet, and there’s no outside pressure greater than what the players put on themselves. As Ellis once said: “People tend not to realize the US team lives in pressure. There is always a target on your back. The players are built for this.”

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Football Twitter goes wild as Atletico Mineiro release beautiful fan-designed kit

https://www.90min.com/posts/football-twitter-reacts-atletico-mineiro-fan-designed-kit

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

Fans and people in general are always against changes. Changing to 30mins a half with stopping time every time when corner, foul, set piece, out, sub is the best thing that could happen to football.

No more wasting time. Today on average football game is effective play 55 mins out of 90. And after that ref give 3 or 4 or 5 mins added time? Wtf?

I definitely agree with first two. 

 

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Incurring the manager's wrath! Furious Diego Simeone storms onto pitch during pre-season friendly vs Feyenoord to blast Yannick Carrasco after Atletico Madrid star's petulant kick-out sparked melee

• Atletico Madrid flew to Holland for a friendly against Feyenoord on Sunday 
• The LaLiga champions lost 2-1 having gone down to 10-men late in the first-half
• Yannick Carrasco started a brawl by kicking out at full-back Tyrell Malacia 
• He then taunted the player, Orkun Kokcu came away with blood on his head
• Diego Simeone stormed over to Carrasco to send him down the tunnel  

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9874607/Diego-Simone-storms-pitch-friendly-lambast-Yannick-Carrasco-sparked-melee.html

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

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9 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

 

PSG and Citeh just came in their pants

when you have trillions backing you, a 'luxury tax' is chump change

I fully expect the Saudis to REALLY try and buy teams now, plus perhaps Bezos or Musk or Bernard Arnault (who just passed Bezos as the world's richest man)

Edited August 12, 2021 by Vesper