Querem um treinador português, mas estão discutindo o nome errado

A contratação de um bom treinador é um processo complicado, meticuloso e capaz de radicalmente mudar os rumos de uma equipe. Lembremos das condições nas quais Jurgen Klopp assumiu o Liverpool, por exemplo, e como ele transformou aquele time no atual campeão europeu. A escolha de um novo comandante se torna óbvia, quando o timing de seu auge se alinha com uma grande oportunidade, mas às vezes, a escolha errada neste momento de ápice, pode causar grandes danos na carreira de um treinador. Pensando neste fenômeno, um nome vem em mente, o atual treinador do Monaco, Leonardo Jardim.

O treinador português virou sensação na temporada 16/17, após conduzir uma equipe muito jovem a um chocante título da Ligue 1, desbancando o todo poderoso PSG, e alcançando de forma surpreendente a semifinal da Uefa Champions League. Aquele time titular tinha:

Subasic
Sidibé
Jemerson
Gilik
Mendy
B. Silva
Fabinho
Bakayoko
Lemar
Mbappé
Falcão

João Moutinho.era boa opção no banco.

Naquele momento, Leonardo Jardim era o bola da vez, e o seu nome era cogitado em diversas equipes. Ele escolheu seguir no Monaco e viu este time espetacular ser dissimado na janela de verão. Qualquer trabalho de reposição era uma missão impossível. Sim, o time caiu demais, mas é injusto o criticá-lo de forma veemente pelo que aconteceu em seguida, diante destas cirscunstâncias.

Neste período de 2 anos e meio desde aquela temporada, o técnico português perdeu muito espaço no mercado, ele saiu e voltou do Monaco, tentando reconstruir algo que foi completamente demolido. Quem sobrou dqquele time? Ninguém.

Estamos vivendo um momento de contestação e incerteza em 2 times da Premier League, Everton e Arsenal. Ambos em busca de um novo comandante e sem grandes idéias sobre quem contratar. Se especula Vítor Pereira e David Moyes nos Toffees e no Arsenal a coisa é tão feia, que nem especulação se encontra. Olhando para essa cenário, só consigo imaginar o quão óbvio seria a procura pelo português, se estivéssemos nesta mesma situação 2 anos atrás. Acho até que o Everton precisaria de um certo convencimento para o trazer para o Goodson Park.

Se eu estou no comando de qualquer uma destas equipes, Leonardo Jardim seria o primeiro nome na minha lista. É fácil olhar agora para Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho e outros, e dizer que os jogadores eram bons e diminuir o feito que ele conseguiu, mas devemos olhar para o contexto da época e reconhecer que se tornaram um grande time com ele.

Refletindo agora, não consigo me recordar de um treinador que tenha perdido tanto espaço, o seu trabalho foi ruim, mas existem óbvias justificativas para explicar esta queda tão grande. Não o isento de culpa da campanha pífia, que quase resultou no rebaixamento do Monaco, mas a responsabilidade maior é do clube, que vendeu toda a espinha dorsal daquela equipe.

Se é pra cogitar David Moyes, Marceliño Toral e Vitor Pereira deem uma chance ao Jardim, ele já mostrou do que é capaz em situações minimanente favoráveis ao seu trabalho, Everton e Arsenal podem conceder estas condições para ele.

Manchester City, a club under an ideal situation with a situation less than ideal

It's time to talk about what we all thought at the beginning of the season. Manchester City lack centre-back depth There were minor discussions at the end of the last transfer window about Vincent Kompany's lack of replacement and how serious an injury would be for Manchester City's defense but because of how much Pep Guardiola is respected around the football community nobody was too critical of City's unwillingness to really pursue a world class defender and most assumed they'd find a way to cope with that lack of depth at that position.


Early in the season the best defender of the team Aymeric Laporte was injured and that really complicated things for the defending Premier League champions with his return likely to come next year leaving the side with only two defenders in the squad, Otamendi and Stones. It is important to make it clear that City is still a great team and you cannot summarize the possible failure to win the English title this season in the absence of Laporte for much of the season, just look at City's competitor and how good they are plus everywhere else on the pitch Klopp has backups that are not of the same level as Guardiola. The Citzens' squad are still the best in the Premier League and superior to Liverpool but this is a mere obligation in my view considering the significant difference in investment capacity that exists between the current Premier League champions and current European champions who can spend but not at City's level just consider that their biggest signings came right after the biggest sale in Premier League history.


My point is this Man City started the season with three centre-backs in the squad, and that is far from ideal for a team that works under ideal conditions, it becomes even worse when we consider that two of them do not inspire much confidence (Stones and Otamendi) if someone had said 4 years ago that Nicolás Otamendi would go through long periods as a starter in the best team in the world without being a liability, no one would believe it and it actually happened but that period seems to be over.


Fernandinho can fill that void at centre-half even more now with the arrival of Rodri and has been acting there frequently but this says much more about the lack of confidence in other defenders than the instantaneous adaptation of the Brazilian defensive midfielder to his new position something that did not happen and in fact I'd argue that he should only play there temporally not only because of how good he is at his original position but contrary to what one might think playing as a centre back in Guardiola's system is a tougher task physically than the one of the holding midfielder, plus if you play him as a defender in that case the team has no backup for the CDM position as Guardiola rarely uses Gundogan there and I guarantee he never will in a big game except like the last one at Anfield unless he is under extraordinary circumstances. It is bizarre for a team with so many financial resources to not have better options in defence or at least a couple more players at the same level just to provide cover.


Manchester City are the side that:


Their third left-back in the squad was a undisputed starter and a key player of PSV last year.


To provide some context Liverpool does not have a backup left back if Robertson can't play Milner fills in.


Using the team that played the last match as an example you could put together a reserve-only attack with Mahrez, Jesus and Sané who is hurt but even when healthy often sits on the bench.


The Manchester City centre-back group needs reinforcements to try to match the level of the team in other sectors of the pitch but I do not have the same opinion regarding the fullbacks. This is not to say that the menu of players available to Guardiola in that position is the best in the world but let's be honest which right fullbacks today are better than Walker and / or Cancelo, very few in my opinion and none who might be could realistically be bought today, the same goes for the left full-backs, however looking at the middle of the defence the situation is different. Leaving aside names that City did not seek or sought without great efforts such as De Ligt, Maguire, Van Dijk who were sold recently and only looking at the current market we have names available like Reuben Dias or Romagnoli who can like I said earlier provide depth and maybe evolve into regular names on the team sheet but if we raise the level a little we will find two players who would represent a solidity that now you can't find in their squad, those two are Koulibaly and Skriniar, I admit that today only the Napoli defender is a real possibility, with the arrival of Conte and what seems to be a head to head battle for the Italian Scudetto there is no way to get the Slovakian defender from Internazionale  in the winter window but if we are looking further ahead it cannot be denied that this is a plausible signing for a summer window because even with this resurgence of Inter Manchester City is on another level.


Koulibaly would be the perfect defender for Guardiola's team he has all the attributes needed to play in his system that's based upon a very high defensive line just look at his speed and just sheer talent in one on one clashes combine that with the fact De Laurentis himself already seems to be resigned to the likely sale of the Senegalese in the near future as long as the value is good which cannot be such a hindrance in this case.



To conclude I consider that Manchester City needs a reinforcement at the centre-half position but not because with that signing the team would be Premier League favorites again after all Liverpool is so good they lost 1 match of the last 50 in PL play they need a centre-half because there is a discrepancy in quality and depth in relation to any other position in the squad and in relation to other major European football clubs at that position and to me is something to be corrected.

An interesting theory regarding Real Madrid

Hi I'm here today to talk about Real Madrid and their current state as we get ready for another season of exciting football in the European continent. There is so much going on in the transfer market everything from the whole Neymar debacle to the surprise signing of Nicolas Pépé from Arsenal which I alongside pretty much everyone never saw it coming, you have Tottenham bringing in Ndombele a player some would assume should be joining a bigger club is this the beginning of a new chapter for Spurs just to give my take quickly I love the move for both the player and the club and right now Tottenham is a top side with a real chance against any club in the world obviously Pochettino's side must improve significantly in order to compete for the Premier League title against a side like Man City for instance but on a Champions League draw I see them competing with anyone and that's what they have done for the last couple of years.

Moving forward now as I got off the topic which we are here to address, I have a theory on Real Madrid and their squad and I'm very interested in hearing what you guys make of it.

It's beyond denial that Real Madrid changed their history after Ronaldo arrived and despite a round of 16 exit in his first year at the club against Lyon if I'm not mistaken they spent every year since the exception being last season making all the way to the Champions League semifinals and if that's all you knew you would think well Real Madrid has been playing the best football in years period and for the majority of those years that hasn't been the case even when they were at their best in seasons like when Mourinho led them to 100 points in LA Liga or when Zidane won both LaLiga and the Champions using that 4-1-2-1-2 with Isco as a number 10 and Ronaldo joining Benzema as a striker isntead of being a winger like he used to even in those seasons Real Madrid never really stood out as a side that played the best football.

The truth of the matter is that Real Madrid in the last 10 years has been known as the side that rises to the big occasion even in underwhelming seasons they seem to flip a switch and turn up for the big Champions League matchup whether it's against Guardiola's Bayern period and for the majority of those years that hasn't been the case even when they were at their best in seasons like when Mourinho led them to 100 points in LA Liga or when Zidane won both LaLiga and the Champions they seemed to  always scrape by in the group stage and then manage to drastically improve their play when it matters the most.

Let's just reflect in their last Champions League trophy and how that season went down.

Under Zinedine Zidane in what would later become his last season at the helm during his first spell an already aging side that despite coming off back to back Champions League trophy was under some pressure to improve, pressure on Zidane to deliver Real had a melancholic exit on the Copa del Rey being e liminated by Leganés, their performance on LaLiga  was as he has been for the majority of the seasons since they began this run quite underwhelming never really challenging Barcelona and the title and due to the lack of competition beyond Atletico Madrid they never saw qualification for the Champions League being threatened and that's the script for a lot of their past seasons. I am certain that if Real Madrid with the exact performance they delivered during the last 10 years played in the Premier LModric for instance we would have had a couple of seasons with no Los Blancos in club football's biggest stage.

Now at this point you are probably thinking what's his point and can we get on with it but slow down as I said this take some elaborating and all of it is important in making my point.

Moving forward the fact that Real Madrid continuously showed up and elevated their play in decisive Champions League matches with very little change to the starting eleven, James started for a while with Kroos and Modric playing further back on the pitch but Zidane quickly inserted Casemiro in the lineup taking James out and gave Modric and Kroos more freedom to create and distribute that worked for a while but with Gareth Bale's recurring injury woes and a lack of a replacement at his level the Frenchman made another change to the formation and gave Isco a starting job playing the role of the number 10 transitioning from a classic 4-3-3 to a 4-1-2-1-2 sliding Ronaldo to the middle alongside Benzema and rBenzema

on Marcelo and Carvajal to provide width as the team didn't have a winger nor a wide midfielder, Isco had the freedom to roam across the field but he always ended up coming to the middle of the field this formation really explored the ability to attack from both fullbacks.

What I am trying to say is that for the most part under Zidane in the big games Madrid rolled out with one of these two lineups.

4-3-3
Navas
Carvajal
Varane
Ramos
Marcelo
Casemiro
Kroos
Modric
Bale
Ronaldo
Benzema

4 -1-2-1-2

Navas
Carvajal
Varane
Ramos
Marcelo
Casemiro
Kroos
Modric
Isco
Benzema
Ronaldo

This was pretty much the entire variation tactically that Real Madrid had over the last 4 years give or take it goes without saying that I'm not including last season given that Florentino Perez fired two managers and each one of the three had a different philosophy.

Considering all of these factors I just mentioned and looking at the team right now under Zidane who deployed a strategy of doing a lot of man managing
and not altering the starting eleven often like we see with managers such as Unai Emery for instance we can assume that he won't look to make wholesale changes but despite that argument being most likely true I also have a theory to explain Real Madrid's lack of renewal in their roster inspire of spending literally more money than any other team in the history of the world on a single window for transfers.

Stop and marvel at this. Florentino Perez splashed out the cash and when it comes to the overall that of money spent on a single transfer window this year's Madrid sit at the top of that list displacing PSG spending spree a couple of years ago when they bought Neymar and Mbappé and regardless of that whenever we see a probable starting eleven for Los Blancos in the 19/20 season the top only change we see from the squad that won the Champions League against Liverpool is Hazard replacing Ronaldo and the uncertainty of who plays in the place of Isco not the actual option given that Real no longer display that f ormation. Before you get all worked up I know Hazard will play on the left wing unlike Ronaldo during his last few years in Spain and that they will most likely use a 4-3-3 formation and that Isco will I assume be a bench piece since he's not a winger and even less so a right winger and right now with no Asensio for the season and Bale out of Zidane's plans Vinicius Jr. seems to be the one who'll get nod by default.

Also if you want to go back to an era in Madrid when Gareth Bale wasn't the scastarted Madrid used the classic 4-3-3 with CR7 on the left wing the exact position Hazard will play and Bale on the right, the only change from that team that's not mandatory due to an exit is the fact Bale is no longer viewed as an viable player and while Real isn't short of candidates to replace him there is no one that jumps out at you.

All of that means Real Madrid have been against change to the starting eleven now anyone will feel the same with their recent success but even after an awful season that started with based on most reports Zidane leaving his role because Florentino Pereslz didn't want to make moves that Zidane deemed necessary and culminated on a melancholic end when in a matter of days they were eliminated from both the Copa del Rey against Barcelona and got thrashed at home against Ajax in the round of 16 of the Champions League which led to an unanimous belief amongst fans, pundits and anyone that follows football to state that this was it Real Madrid has delayed this for as long as they could b ut now the results on the pitch are there for anyone to see it. The end of an era, Madrid need a big overhaul, the midfield looks slow, Marcelo's offensive abilities no longer outweigh his lack of defending a lot of people completely ignored the fact that Benzema actually had a pretty good season and all that frustration they accumulated over the years for his lack of scoring it all came out, his critics often felt handicapped by the results of the team.

The consensus was that a handful or so of players needed to be shown the door and you had to bring fresh faces in, that happened but why as we get set to begin the season Real Madrid look as those they will start the season with the exact same starting eleven of years past outside of Hazard replacing Ronaldo and the uncertainty surrounding the right winger unless Zidane pulls something out of nowhere like that formation with three centrebacks that he experimented with against Roma something I doubt he planned on doing when he first started planning for this upcoming season but after seeing bad performances that worried even the most optimistic Madrid fan Zidane had to try something new even if they exclusively played friendlies.

I'll tell you why.

This Real Madrid squad with the amount of success it has had in the past few years reached a level where most of their players were and still are viewed as the best players in their position and even now after a down year no matter who Real bought that player would struggle to be in the starting eleven right from the get go.

Let me elaborate.

Goalkeeper: They didn't need a goalkeeper but nonetheless no goalkeeper would be a starter with Courtois as the goalie. Maybe De Gea.

Fullbacks: Carvajal and Marcelo are excellent fullbacks but especially with Marcelo even at his best I always considered him amongst the great fullbacks and by far and away the best attacking fullback but his bad defending was always an issue and just to name another player I always liked Alaba more viewing as an all around better option and even now with Farland Mandy easily one of the more promising fullbacks in the world arriving at the club for a large sum every probable starting eleven we saw throughout the summer window had Marcelo as the left back to begin the season. I cannot think of one player that Real could have bought for their back line that would be viewed as a starter. Some might say De Ligt but would you bench Varane because Ramos is the highest paid player in the entire team. I can see few player benching Varane for De Ligt but I attribute that a lot more to the hype surrounding De Ligt than to his actual play on the pitch.

Think about that there was pretty much no one that Florentino Perez could buy to be in the starting eleven from day one for this Madrid side. That's not my opinion there's a lot I would do differently but based on the popular opinion what I said at the beginning of the paragraph.

The same goes for the defensive midfielder role that Casemiro plays despite how bad Kroos and Modric looked last season beyond Pogba and maybe Eriksen no other midfielders would join the club as regular starters from day one. Madrid has been linked with Van De Beek in these last few days and he is another name I'd bring in and put him in the starting eleven from day one but that's not what you will see from most people. I doubt a sports show would do a preview of Real Madrid for next season with Modric or Kroos on the bench and Donny Van De Beek as a starter.

With Hazard already in the squad that right side was open for a big acquisition but even there a guy like Vinicius Jr. or Gareth Bale who after the season opener looks set to say provide good options but look at the number 9 role, Benzema has been contested for years but coming off a season in which he was by far the best player for Real Madrid even with a guy like Jovic coming in most previews have him as an option off the bench with Benzema starting.

What does all of this mean?

It means that even after an awful season Real Madrid have a great squad and in most positions you would struggle to find better options anywhere at least if you go by name recognition.

In my eyes bringing Zidane back was a mistake not moving on from a few players like Modric for example, loaning Ceballos and selling Llorente all very questionable decisions and I would not view other players like Marcelo or Kroos as untouchables.

Despite how crazy it may seem Florentino Perez managed to spend the most money in a single transfer window ever while seeing a handful of players leave the club permanently or on loan all of that without doing an overhaul in terms of the roster

The Uefa Champions League Final

Hi I am here to do a quick preview before this year's much anticipated Uefa Champions League final at the Wanda Metropolitano between Tottenham and Liverpool

Much has been discussed about this game, will Harry Kane play if so what happens to Lucas, how about Winks and Firmino, the midfield trio for Liverpool and very shortly all of these questions will be answered.

Let's begin with Liverpool, II'm pretty sure Firmino will start and that Klopp will use his usual 4-3-3 formation with Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum in the midfield even in times where the 4-2-3-1 worked for him he always turned back to that 4-3-3 in the big games.

Now when it comes to Tottenham's starting XI things aren't as easy to predict, Harry Kane is not 100% fit but we don't know how fit he is which is obviously the key factor, if hhe plays it is almost certain that Lucas starts on the bench to play them both you'd need a 4-3-3 with Sissoko, Alli and Eriksen in the midfield and Lucas, Son and Kane that's virtually impossible with one of them on the bench the question becomes who plays alongside Sissoko, Wanyama had a extremely poor game against Ajax in the second leg, if he's fit Winks plays but we also don't know what his status is. In my opinion if Harry Kane is fit for 60-75 minutes you play him from the start he is the best striker in the world you cannot leave him out of your lineup, I get what that means leaving Lucas on the bench to come in at some point in the second half just to reiterate this is all assuming he's fit for that amount of minutes. Just think about this what does the Liverpool fan rather happen, Lucas playing with Kane on the bench or the other way around, I have a tough time believing that they rather see Kane playing from the start, now no one should base their decision on that but it certainly tells you something.

The key to the game is how will Tottenham cope with the intensity that Klopp deploys with that trio in the midfield can Dele Alli and Eriksen get in behind them and manage to escape the pressing without ridding themselves of the ball. There are other factors like can Trippier provide some good crosses and still cope with Robertson and Mané on his side, with Kane on the field but even more with Lucas in his place there won't be much of an one on one battle with Van Dijk since there's a lot of movement in the Spurs' attacking front, can Matip keep up his good form.

Overall I'd give Liverpool a 60% chance of winning the title as much as anyone will agree that Liverpool have the edge in this game, just look at their previous encounters and almost always it's a close game. Anythijg above 75% for Liverpool is not really justifiable for just one match.

We'll just have to wait and see.

A rundown of everything that happened in this final will come tomorrow. Stay tuned

Champions League delayed article

The Uefa Champions League is down to its last four teams.

1 from Spain: Barcelona

1 from Netherlands: Ajax

2 from England: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool

The semifinals begin tomorrow but before we get to that, let's discuss what happened in the previous round.

Porto 1 x 4 Liverpool

Porto 1 x 6 Liverpool on aggregate.

After the first leg in England everyone more or less felt like this was a done deal and that comes with no disrespect towards the Portuguese side, considering the roster talent on each side, the level they are currently playing in and the result of the first leg this was the Reds' trip to the semifinal to lose and in a somewhat more pragmatic style of play than the one they employed last year they managed to keep Porto at bay throughout the 180 minutes.

Virgil Van Dijk continues his extraordinary run of form that has turned him into undoubtedly the best defender in the world and at least to me a lock to be amongst the top 3 for the Ballon D'or award, Messi is also a lock that goes without saying, he maybe should be even a lock to win it regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season.

Getting back to both teams this seemed like Porto's ceiling and it would take something truly extraordinary for them to go through as for Liverpool accounting for every factor in play I really see them as the favourites to win the competition and also obviously favourites to beat Barcelona in the semifinals, this doesn't mean that there is too much between the two sides and beyond Messi pulling something out of nowhere, there's not that much more to rely on for Barcelona fans, I just see Liverpool at a higher level collectively, individually it's a coinflip but for anyone that's seen both of them this year it's clear there's a gap there.


Barcelona 3 x 0 Manchester United

Barcelona 4 x 0 Manchester United on aggregate

Before we address anything I have a small rant to go on.

For anybody that follows football closely and even more for all of the Manchester United fans aren't you just sick and tired of  hearing about Paul Pogba transfer rumors I mean enough, either stay or ask for a transfer. This is a guy that's been there for three years and every other week we get the same stuff whether is Real Madrid, Juventus or even Barcelona is just exhausting.

When Solskjaer came in and they improved their level of performance while still maintaining a counterattacking style of play that's for those of you who said United should never hire a manager like Mourinho and also praised the good job Solskjaer has done since taking over mid-season because they can't be a counterattacking team, did you see the win at Wembley against Tottenham if that game happened with Mourinho at the helm I can already imagine the headlines and none of this is a knock on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but merely acknowledging that in the end of Mourinho's run as United manager they were a bad counterattacking team that didn't defend well andalso weren't effective while counterattacking and with Solskjaer especially against good to great opponents they became a good or at least a better counterattacking side.

Now getting back to Pogba for all of his time at United the one big game against a world class opponent where he actually has shown up is the game against City at Etihad last season when United came back from behind 2 x 0 and won the game 3 x 2 delaying Manchester City's celebration of the Premier League title and that ganey didn't have much meaning beyond pride really, he got sent off in the first leg against PSG which means he didn't even play in the match at Paris and he was a complete no show for both legs against Barcelona as well as the match against City in the Premier League and 

Discussing the second legs of the quarterfinals and looking ahead to the semifinals

The Uefa Champions League is down to its last four teams.

1 from Spain: Barcelona

1 from Netherlands: Ajax

2 from England: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool

The semifinals begin tomorrow but before we get to that, let's discuss what happened in the previous round.

Porto 1 x 4 Liverpool

Porto 1 x 6 Liverpool on aggregate.

After the first leg in England everyone more or less felt like this was a done deal and that comes with no disrespect towards the Portuguese side, considering the roster talent on each side, the level they are currently playing in and the result of the first leg this was the Reds' trip to the semifinal to lose and in a somewhat more pragmatic style of play than the one they employed last year they managed to keep Porto at bay throughout the 180 minutes, Virgil Van Dijk continues his extraordinary run of form that has turned him into undoubtedly the best defender in the world and at least to me a lock to be amongst the top 3 for the Ballon D'or award, Messi is also a lock that goes without saying, he maybe should be even a lock to win it regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season.

Getting back to both teams this seemed like Porto's ceiling and it would take something truly extraordinary for them to go through as for Liverpool accounting for every factor in play I really see them as the favourites to win the competition and also obviously favourites to beat Barcelona in the semifinals, this doesn't mean that there is too much between the two sides and beyond Messi pulling something out ofof nowhere, there's not much more to rely on for Barcelona fans, I just see Liverpool at a higher level collectively, individually it's a coinflip but for anyone that's seen both of them this year it's clear there's a gap there.


Barcelona 3 x 0 Manchester United

Barcelona 4 x 0 Manchester United on aggregate

Before we address anything I have a small rant to go on.

For anybody that follows football closely and even more for all of the Manchester United fans aren't you just sick and tired of hearing about Paul Pogba transfer rumors I mean enough either stay or ask for a transfer, this is a guy that's been there for three years and every other week we get the same stuff whether is Real Madrid, Juventus or even Barcelona is just exhausting.

When Solskjaer came in and they improved their level of performance while still maintaining a counterattacking style of play that's for those of you who said United can't be a counterattacking team because of their history all while praising the job Solskjaer had done, did you see the win at Wembley against Tottenham if that game happened with Mourinho at the helm I can already imagine the headlines and none of this is a knock on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but merely acknowledging that in the end of Mourinho's run as United manager they were a bad counterattacking team that didn't defend well nor was effective while counterattacking and with Solskjaer especially against good to great opponents they became a good or at least a better counterattacking side but getting back to Pogba well for all of his time at United the one big game against a world class opponent where he actually has shown up is the game against City at Etihad last season when United came back from behind 2 x 0 and won the game 3 x 2 delaying Manchester City's celebration of the Premier League title and that game didn't have much meaning beyond pride really. He got sent off in the first leg against PSG which meant he didn't even play in the match at Paris and he was a complete no show for both legs against Barcelona as well as the match against City in the Premier League and several others, okay I'm done.

The actual game it didn't start off in the way you'd assume given the final outcome, if United were by any means going to pull through and reach the next round they were going to have one chance, not one single goal scoring chance but one chance as in there was not much room for error and the first 15 minutes saw United with its chance to pounce on Barcelona and they didn't, the efficiency that they demonstrated at Paris didn't made the trip to Spain and in those moments where things went their way in Paris well they didn't this time, in the first act of the game Marcus Rashford on a beautiful piece of finishing hit the crossbar, De Gea killed any sort of chance they had of coming from behind by conceding that ridiculous second goal by Lionel Messi who once again put the ball in his back pocket and decided the game like he so often has done this season and in his whole career.

Barcelona advances through the quarterfinals with some questions marks and they will most definitely have to improve if they want to go through to the final but they are still Barcelona and Jurgen Klopp's side will do all but underestimate them. Just notice that even in this set of circumstances Barcelona is still widely considered to be the favourite.


Juventus 1 x 2 Ajax

Juventus 2 x 3 Ajax on Aggregate

The dutch side pull off another major upset, if you have been following my articles you know that I didn't share the opinion that Ajax beating Juve was an upset by any stretch of imagination, what they have managed to do in this season is beyond words really, they dominated matches against Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich in those encounters they've looked like the shot callers, time and time again proving people wrong, they especially in the midfield made Real Madrid and Jiventus look old, Tadic seems to have mastered the art of controlling and dribbling the ball in extremely short spaces and I'm sure you can find individual merits for each player.

Talking about Juventus especially for a moment, in the last 4 matches in the Champions League, the two against Atletico and these two against Ajax no one other than Ronaldo has scored a goal and that's concerning mostly because Dybala is completely out of sync and seems to be playing without a position at least not an effective one he just seems to be in there, Kean is still too young to carry a big part of the load, I really like Douglas Costa but he is always hurt, Bernardeschi is a fine option but not much more than that Mandzukic is getting old and if you look at the midfielders literally none of them have great finishing skills, now Juventus is still a terrific side that should be able to eliminate Ajax and this is more about praising Ajax and Erik Ten Hag than anything else but it'd be negligent on my part to not address those minor issues that the Italian side has.

One last note, despite all the quality they have presented to us in these 4 games, Ajax conceded the first goal in 3 of them including both ones at home so this is a group of players that does not get fazed by the moment even when they get knocked back.


Manchester City 4 x 3 Tottenham

Manchester City 4 x 4 Tottenham on Aggregate. Spurs go through on away goals

A night to remember at the Etihad, 4 goals in the first 10 minutes set the tempo and the rest of the match did not disappoint.

This City side showed an ability to bounce back and be resilient that we haven't seen before, conceding two goals in a span of a few minutes both on defensive blunders by one of your better defenders in Laporte  this could have easily gone sideways but right afterwards Bernardo Silva scored the fourth goal of the game and gave the Citizens some momentum and in the end despite their best efforts Tottenham go through on away goals which is to me a completely arbitrary rule that should not exist but that's a debate for another day.

It's obviously a disappointment for Guardiola and his side to once again be eliminated in the quarterfinals but to me this is the most honourable defeat out of the 3, against Monaco despite being the first year they really looked bad in the second leg and after winning the game at home 5 x 3 I expected that they'd qualify for the semifinals but a 3 x 1 caused their elimination also on away goals, last season not so much the elimination but they were embarrassed by Liverpool in the first leg and the duel was pretty much decided there. Overall they probably deserved at least as much as Tottenham to be amongst the last four, Kevin De Bruyne showed why he is one of the 10 best players in the world and Lloris once again proved just how important he can be.

A side note to think about, when Pep looked at his bench he saw Stones, Fernandinho, Sané, Mahrez, Jesus and when Pochettino looked at his bench Llorente was his best option to replace an injured Sissoko unless he wanted to put Skipp in a baptism by fire that gives you an idea of the difference in terms of investment on both sides.

As for the matches against Ajax, Harry Kane will surely be missed and Son being out for the first leg will also hurt Tottenham chances but given what we have seen so far this is as much of a coinflip as it can be, maybe just a slight 52-48 % chance in favor of Ajax strictly because of the aforementioned absences, but what levels the playing field to me is that I see room for improvement in terms of what they performed so far in the Champions League for Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, especially the latter which would give Spurs a huge boost where as for Ajax this is pretty much their ceiling nonetheless it is a very high one.

The fact is we are in for two great matchups that I can't wait to watch.

See you all for the next article debating the first leg matches.

Spread the word, comment, share your opinion let's get some discussions going.

Reviewing the first leg of this year's Uefa Champions League Quarterfinals

The second leg of this year's Uefa Champions League Quarterfinals are fast approaching and I'm here to breakdown and discuss all four matches that occurred last week for the first leg.

Liverpool 2 x 0 Porto

The result that all home teams seek, a 2-0 win at home is a realistic objective for any side that's remotely competitive in comparison to their opponent and it's practically irreversible mainly because of the away goal rule, not to say that Liverpool was by any means desperate to get a good result at home fearing Porto's strength at home after all they won there 5-0 last year, but the reason why a comfortable win was so important was the encounter Liverpool had against Chelsea yesterday.

The Reds are in a title race for the history books, two teams with outstanding campaigns fighting toe to toe for the right to call themselves Premier League Champions and to call the match against Chelsea this weekend a crucial one is an understatement, given what happened a few years back in a very similar situation against this same Chelsea side well they needed all of their strength and knowing the Champions League duel is pretty much done well it definitely helps.

Now talking especifically about the game itself as far as the result it was pretty much what we expected, a comfortable Liverpool win but there were some shaky moments after that second goal when Porto could've easily and probably should've scored, Moussa Marega had three very real goal scoring chances and on most days he puts at least one of them in the back of the net. To be fair Mo Salah missed a goal that you just can't and Liverpool created chances to score a third, maybe a fourth goal.

In the end the big takeaway from the game was that the back five that Sergio Conceiçāo prepared for the game didn't really achieve what it set out to, denying space for Liverpool's fast paced line of attack, Corona and Telles didn't produce much offensively and overall you get the feeling that this is quite certainly Porto's ceiling and it would take something way, way out of the ordinary for them to go through unlike any of the other three matchups, at least in my opinion.


Tottenham 1 x 0 Manchester City

The first Uefa Champions League match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a very big one, an encounter that put together the only two teams left in the competition that have yet to win it.

On one side Pochettino's Spurs that despite all the compliments it has received there's always the no titles dig by some pundits.

On the other side Guardiola's side the best team in the world since the beggining of his second year in charge, breaking all sorts of records but there's always the no Champions League success dig from the same pundits and some also point out that he only won the top club competition in the world with Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

No matter what, one of this morronic narratives will manage to go on for another year and that's a shame but at the same time those who agree with such notion will manage to find another absurd theory support.

The match itself was a very intense one with both teams taking turns at pressing the opponent and trying to force a mistake, both teams did a good job especially Tottenham taking into account City's ability to create opportunities at limiting the opposition's chances, there weren't many clear ones.

City controlled time of possession like it was expected but Gundogan and David Silva didn't really perform like they can which handcuffed the Citzens in terms of getting inside the box, especially with David Silva who has mastered that skill, the German midfielder actually plays more in a creative role and doesn't get inside the box as much as he once did. Aguero obviously missed the penalty and really was a non factor in the game, Mahrez had a bad game and Sterling was the only one who actually produced something which is really not a surprise, he elevated his game to another level this year.

Also don't be quick to dismiss or underestimate the fact that Bernardo Silva was out and De Bruyne hasn't really been on the field this entire seadon, subbing him in alongside Sane with 88 minutes already played was a bad move by Guardiola but overall this wasn't your classical "fiasco" by a rich team with no traditions a la PSG against United or Barcelona, this looked more like a team more pragmatic than usual conceding a goal on a defensive blunder and being really self aware as to what they can do at Etihad.

Obviously they wanted to win and Tottenham did a great job at keeping City in check but without Kane at Manchester, the Citzens are still favorites to go through and what that means is that it will take something surprising in the second leg for them to be eliminated, granted the away goal gives Tottenham the ability to lose 2x1 or 3x2 which keeps things even more interesting but like I said City are still the favorites just not by much.

Looking ahead to the second leg something to look out for is how will Guardiola handle the fact that in some way not conceding a goal is even more important than scoring one, 0x0 keeps City closer to advancing than 1x1 or 2x2. A wide open game with lots of chances is definitely not what City wants, 1 goal by Tottenham forces City to score 3 which needless to say it is a tough task.


Manchester United 0x1 Barcelona

A surprising game with an unsurprising result, anyone would agree that this result is a normal one but on the pitch in the 90 somewhat minutes of game time the one goal Barcelona scored an own goal was pretty much all that they produced offensively, at one point in the second half  attempts were 8 to 2 in favour of United, don't get me wrong Manchester United didn't exactly overwhelmed anyone but the way they contained Messi and the whole attack was quite remarkable.

For all the talk about Pogba he has to show up more often in these big games he really was the low point for me when it comes to expectations being met, even Messi that wasn't at his best was the know responsible for the cross to Suarez that resulted in the game's only goal.

I expect more offensively from both teams at the Camp Nou and Barcelona must be careful and unafraid to be pragmatic. The only way if not the likely way that Manchester United manages to pull off another upset is by catching Barcelona off guard running behind their defenders with Rashford and Lukaku maybe Martial, it's hard to see them patiently creating chances, Valverde side must be clinical in their finishing unlike PSG and the best thing they can do for periods of  the match is to give Man United the ball and say hurt me with ball possession, Solskjaer's side is one likes counterattacking and cab struggle against teams that give them the ball. I don't expect given the talent level of both teams the culture of Barcelona and all that comes with it that they will just sit back and defend but that might not be the worst thing in certain periods of the game.

Any win is enough for United to go through. Ox1 takes us to Extra Time so this is far from over, but clearly Barcelona are still the odds on favorites to go through.


Ajax 1x1 Juventus

The match that I personally looked forward the most to, not only is Ajax the most fun team to watch right now in the world but they are going up against Juventus, a team that with Allegri in charge can behave differently depending upon what the match calls for and obviously they have Cristiano Ronaldo which proved once again to be critical to their result, beyond his goal all that Juventus created was a Bernardeschi shot that was close enough to be dangerous and Douglas Costa showing his skill in a 1 v 1 situation leaving the Ajax defender and finishing with the ball on the post, beyond that there wasn't much. This was a Dutch side that dominated the game, in possession, in attempts, attempts on target, quite literally anything had it not been for the heroic performance of Szczesny this could have been far worse

This Ajax side can play with anybody, they have proven that time and time again, Tadic's skill in short spaces seems out of this world, Ziyech and Neres are both playing extremely well, Van De Been seems to be everywhere all the time and De Jong what is there to say about this class act of a midfielder, we all know it won't happen but to imagine this team sticking together for like the next 5 years, wouldn't that be something.

Juventus need to contain this Ajax attack more efficiently and like City they must and probably will try to keep this from being a back and forth shootout because that's just not good for them, I don't see this being a 0-0 affair so I think in order to go through Juventus must win the match, which is certainly doable given their quality but I really don't see a favorite here. It's as close as they come and although I will be all but surprised with a 2x1 win from Juve, a couple of goals from Ronaldo but if I had to bet I'd say Ajax go through.

This is all I have for right now, the review of the four games alongside a preview of what's to come in the semifinals will come soon so stay tuned, help spread the word and let me know what you think in the comment section, I'd really like to discuss my thoughts with you guys especially if you disagree with me.

Till the next time.

Champions League Quarterfinals are Here!

Today we are here to talk about the Uefa Champions League's Quarterfinals, it has been a week since the matchups have been defined and as it would have been regardless of who plays whom we are in for 4 great football games.

PS: It's really a shame that we only get to watch 2 of them live, given that they will be played simultaneously, 2 on a Tuesday and the other 2 on a Wednesday.

These are the four duels we'll get in the 18/19 edition of the Uefa Champions League:

Tottenham Hotspur x Manchester City

Liverpool x Porto

Ajax x Juventus

Manchester United x Barcelona

This is a very odd season, for a a while now it has been pretty much a consensus that there's no big favourite that stands out ahead of the pack and thinking about it that does make sense but here is a counterpoint.

In the last decade or so the Champions League has been dominated by three teams:

Bayern Munich of Robben and Robert.

Barcelona of Messi.

Real Madrid of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Obviously we saw other teams shine in the competition, Internazionale won it during that time span but they have been a non factor for a while, only this year that they got back into playing among Europe's best.

Chelsea also won it, but they should've won it in any other of half a dozen years when they were significantly better structured, more prepared and it didn't happen, so there are other factors that played a role in that season.

More recently Juventus and Atletico Madrid have been to a couple of finals each, but both failed to beat Barcelona once and Real Madrid three times, so there's always a little bit of skepticism in their ability to go all the way, whether that's a correct perception or not it's another subject.

Think about those three teams and consider that Ronaldo left Madrid and even before they were categorically defeated by Ajax at the Bernabeu, there wasn't a lot of belief that this Real Madrid team could go all the way and the little belief that there was only existed because it's Real Madrid and in an era of great success in the Biggest stage.

Let us not forget that Los Galacticos n this century for a while seemed to always be defeated in the Round of 16, that side didn't have what this one now has, the public belief that no matter what they'll go through and at least be a factor until the very end. With this in mind Real Madrid were never the big favourites this season.

Bayern is enduring the end of an era, a side with aging stars on the decline, Robben and Robert stand out, although Hummels, Boateng, Muller and Neuer are all Declining, thus not playing at a level they once did, which is odd to say the least, taking into account their age.

Bayern with the signings of Pavard and Hernandez (coming next summer) are in the process of replacing or at least trying to replace some major pieces that were cornerstones for a team that was virtually a lock for the Uefa Champions League semifinal on a yearly basis for practically a decade, a bit of a stretch but you know what I mean, a team that probably  should've won more and only didn't because they happened to face two of the 5 greatest players ever and that is undisputable.

Then again they lost two Champions League finals and neither one involved Messi nor Ronaldo, surely that final at home against Chelsea must  be looked at, as the one that got away.

Even with the tradition and blackness of a clear cut favorite, Bayern never threatenwd to take that position.

Barcelona remains the strongest of the three this year, now that's obvious given that the other two were eliminated, but even before the round of 16 began that was clear, Why you ask?

Because they still have Messi at top form unlike Real who sold Ronaldo and Bayern that's seen its stars decline.

Because despite a significantly worse performance as a unit from what they once were, Messi seems to always decide games in which they've been outplayed and although Xavi and Iniesta are both gone, individually this roster is not worse than those from the Guardiola days at least not significantly worse, some key players like Dani Alves for instance are very much missed but Rakitic to me is a underrated players, Arthur seems to be made in a Lab to emulate Xavi and you undoubtedly have more offensive firepower.

A third reason that's probably more or as important as any is that regardless of how that team compares to the one from a few years back, this team in terms of individual talent is as good as any in the world, you could make an argument that with the presence of Messi that they are the best, and the Messi factor can level the playing field when comparing Barcelona to teams that are better trained, tactically better thus performing at a higher level as a unit, like Manchester City or even Liverpool as an example.

Lastly we have Madrid that especially with Zidane at the helm seemed to always elevate their level of play (which probably was never the highest or as high as it could be) in the big games, it's not that they were often mediocre and happened to win the Champions League three times in a row, there were some great moments especially in that second year but they didn't dominate as often as one would think for a team that accomplished so much, and as we saw this year you can only elude defeat so many times until it catches up to you, clearly there were other factors that played a role in that elimination, no Ronaldo, an even more inconsistent side but you can't deny any of them.

Considering all of that it was and it is clear that this year's edition was about as wide open as it could be, and with the Quarterfinals set, we see something very interesting.

All four matchups have clear favourites that can be identified by anyone, not all will agree but the consensus is that if Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City and Liverpool go through to the semifinals it will surprise no one, but...

Looking at each game individually you'll see that a lot can happen.

Manchester City vs Tottenham

We had almost this exact scenario last year, Manchester City with an outstanding campaign in the Premier League, already champion of the Carabao Cup facing an opponent from England with a smaller budget, out of the title race, coming with a manager that's been there a while but hasn't won a title, fighting for a top four finish in the Premier League, a significant difference is that City had already won the   League by this time last year, unlike the current season where they are fighting head to head with Liverpool for the title.

Now most of those facts do not play a role in the duel and can be looked at as coincidence, but one cannot overlook the fact that Tottenham despite what they spend can beat any team any time, a big problem that's cost them a Premier League title in the past is that they can be inconsistent and endure too many ups and downs. One of the keys to the game for me at least is can Mauricio Pochettino come up with a gameplan that disrupts City's tempo, it's obvious that Guardiola's side will dominate time of possession and I don't see Tottenham beating them with 2 banks of four, always compacted, looking for one ball, maybe a set piece and then playing the second leg not to lose, they are not equipped that way and I don't see it working, to beat them I believe they will have to look for periods in the match to beat them in intensity and catch them off guard, if they can do that we'll be in for a great game.

Manchester United x Barcelona

Out of all the four matchups this is the only one where we see two teams with equal conditions, two European giants with massive budgets, surely you could make an argument that Barcelona is better but it's nothing alarming and the problem with Man United was never individual quality, putting Messi aside (like that's possible) they stand in the same level as Barcelona. Solskjaer has repeatedly exceeded everyone's expectation, how much of that is linked to the psychological side and how much to the tactical side won't become clear until later on.

It's true that United has declined in the recent games both in performance and result, the only victory since that night in Paris has been a 2-1 win against a Watford that impressed no one, but to keep up the level Solskjaer established when he first got in there was an impossible task, at least for the time being.

I certainly can't and will not argue that this is a 50/50 duel but putting United at 4 to 1 odds as I have seen in a lot of places well that's pushing it.

How many times has Lionel Messi bailed out Barcelona when they had subpar performances, they have a comfortable lead in LaLiga but that's a testament to the lack of another real contender for the title this season as much as anything else, obviously the fact that he has done that so many times means he can do that again but for a team who relies on one man so often due to its inability to perform well as an unit playing against an United side that for all it's issues can be deadly on the counter I just don't see a justification for such a large favoritism.

A lot of people think United is going to sit back and try to absorb pressure as much as possible and rely on quick transitioning to catch Valverde's side off guard and I can see some of that for parts of this encounter but regardless of Barcelona's struggle against that type of opposition if United plays like they did in Paris it will be ugly, especially until Dalot came in and moved Young into what became a back 3, yes they sat back and gave PSG the ball but the key is they were extremely passive, they left a lot of space, PSG just failed to convert chances time and time again, with the quality in the midfield that Barcelona has I don't see that happening.

Solskjaer can do one of two things. He can either sit back as he did but with a much more aggressive posture one that doesn't give the opposition as much space and really do a better overall job at closing the holes and denying chances or he can bw bold pressing Barcelona and occupying the final third of the field at least for periods within the match. We'll just have to wait and see.

As it is with all four games there is a obvious favorite but whatever happens I see this being a close game over the 180 minutes.

Liverpool x Porto

Here we have a repeat of last year's round of 16 encounter one that was decided pretty quickly when the Reds came in and scored 5 at Porto on a 5-0 win, that's a longshot to happen again, yes overall Liverpool is a better side but that clearly was one of those games where the weaker side is keeping it close and thus maintaining itself in the game but once the opposition manages to break through and score the first, the other team then must change it's position which opens up more space for the team ahead to explore and it just piles on from there but when you look back the play over the 90 minutes it doesn't necessarily reflect what you saw on the field.

I really see Liverpool amongst the favorites to win this Champions League, behind no one really and their display against Bayern only helped solidify that theory, they won comfortably without being brilliant in that sense they sort of reminded me of Real Madrid in these last few years.

For Porto the key really is do not give Liverpool's attacking three room to run, make them create chances from the midfield and do it marking Firmino very tightly he is their most creative player probably in terms of finding passes and creating chances, try and take advantage of the attacking fullbacks that the Reds have, staying away from Van Dijk (easily the best defender in the world right now)

They really have no better option than dropping back and leaving Liverpool as little room to run as possible.

Overall given what Ajax have already proven that they can do against both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in this Uefa Champions League edition I see this rematch of last season as the one with the greatest difference between the odds on both sides.

Juventus x Ajax

This could easily be considered the most interesting matchup of the four especially from a tactical point of view, how will Ajax play, will they keep the same level of boldness, try and be a little more pragmatic, how will Allegri prepare Juve, we all have a general idea of what both teams will try to do but how well they do it will affect a lot of what comes after, whether it's the first 15 minutes, first half or the first game, the adjustments will definitely come.

Whether Ronaldo will even play or not we don't know, a lot of that I think comes from the fact they are playing Ajax not Barcelona maybe that isn't the case, but I really doubt that. Weather it is wise or not we don't know, ask Sergio Ramos he went through a very similar situation but that's a topic for another day.

There are a lot of battles within the war that we can discuss like how will David Neres try to explore the hole left behind by Cancelo that likes to go forward a lot will the Portuguese fullback even start is Tadic going to produce at the same level playing as the false 9 dropping back behind the defensive midfielders, Pjanic and De Jong both control the pace of their team they are the thermometers if you like that sort of thing, how will they be marked, who's gonna get more space to work with, if Blind plays as a centre back will Ronaldo or Mandzukic position themselves behind him in on crosses through the area to try and produce headers on his back, something Juve is known for doing. Both representing different alternatives are Dolberg and Dybala bound to get in on the action and play key parts in this showdown involving two former winners of the Champions League.

Given Ajax style of play and the record Juventus has in the last few years regardless of who wins the first leg this won't be decided until the end of the match in Turin.

For now that is all I hope you all enjoyed this article, I will see you soon with reviews of each match and what to expect for the second leg.

If you enjoyed what you saw, spread the word, also I encourage everyone to interact and communicate with me, comment, leave your opinion and we will certainly talk about it.