Man Utd midfield provides five-point blueprint for football that’s not chess
Weāre at that point in the summer when people come up with ideas to āfixā football. And reminisce about when football and Man Utd were good.
Surely somebody has watched some pre-season games? Mail us at [email protected]
How to fix football
Ok, thatās it, Iāve finally crackedā¦
Iāve seen one two many articles/mailbox entries about how a holding midfielder would help another side. A holding midfielder is just another way of saying itās a midfielder who can tackle and pass but canāt create chances or shoot for sh*t.
The best teams in club and world football have one thing in common. They have multiple players who can score across the front, the midfield and often goal scoring defenders too. But here Iām just going to rant about the midfielders.
Utd at their prime had a midfield 4 of Giggs, Scholes, Keane and Beckham. While Keane may have only scored or assisted 5-10 a season, the other 3 were around the 20 goal mark every year.
For Arsenal in their prime, they had Pires, Viera, Ljungberg, Parlour. Similar to utd they had Viera who contributed 5-10 goal contributions and the rest could easily hit the 20 goal mark.
And Chelsea in their prime had Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole.
(City have comparable talent in their squad right now but theyāre just a bunch of f***ing robots so Iām not giving them any credit.)
Opposition came up against those sides above and didnāt have a clue who was going to score against them and I havenāt even talked about the 3 or 4 striking options they usually had. Those teams played exciting football with their fair share of success.
It seems nowadays the midfieldās primary role is to provide an extra bank of 4 defenders when the opposition have the ball. This bloody game has turned into a chess match where the side that defends the most combined with the most negative tactics and robotic patterns of play gets rewarded for their efforts. Itās not really the fault of managers and players, theyāre doing what has proven to work best by the stats and the numbers.
However, the game should be about entertaining and more should be done to encourage attacking play. The rules (or often the interpretation and application of them) get tweaked every season, why canāt they tweak them to favour attacking play?
Easier said than done now I come to think about it but hereās some starters, would love to hear any other mailbox suggestions that might work:
1. Crack down on those professional fouls that are designed to stop a breakaway attack. Instant yellow card for those niggly ones that do the job, instant red for the more cynical ones.
2. Put a stop to players who stand over the ball to prevent a kick being taken quickly. These hardly happened a few years ago as offending players would get a card the minute the ball got kicked against them. The kick could also be moved forward for that offense for a while although I donāt remember that happening much or being very useful.
3. Are goalkeepers bigger than 10, 20, 30 years ago? Maybe the goal should be bigger too? (Not that Iām a big fan of making changes like this that change the basics of the game ā then again, keepers have it so easy now. They pick the ball up anywhere and can run around to wherever in the box they like and then drop it on the ground and waste more time, yawnā¦)
4. Now of course we need a bit of technology added, plus a bit of nonsensical suggestions so letās first add trackers in the ball and all the players. Any team who keeps the ball in their half for more than 10 passes, a little gizmo inside the ball starts to oscillate making the ball very erratic and increase the chance theyāll lose possession in a dangerous area. Attacking teams that just pass it sideways across the front of the box should also be penalised in a similar way, maybe their studs can randomly retract making them fall over ā if youāre not going to do something with the ball then the other side gets it (āShit or get off the potā rule)
5. And what about the cynical diving in the game. How the hell has that not been tackled with VAR? Why canāt they have VAR reviews that any player who riled around in agony to try and get a decision and is seen trotting around seconds after said decision gets a yellow card (and a punch in the face by the opposing player).
I think Iād better stop there,
Jon, Cape Town
Why fix penalties?
Am I the only person who loves penalty shootouts? Why invent stupid ways of avoiding them, if anything Iād sack off extra time and just go straight to penalties. I hate it when someone scores with a couple of minutes left of extra time (presuming itās a game Iām neutral for) and robs me of a shootout when Iāve just endured 30 minutes of tired and risk averse football, which extra time almost always ends up being.
Seb, LFC
Very, very useful?
So I think what youāre saying is Zubimendi is useful?
Mike Bean
Zubimendi man is back
Firstly, I really enjoyed the headline that Martin Zubimendi would be āusefulā. Iām being completely honest in letting you know it made my morning. Iād forgotten even mentioning him š Iām also banning myself from using the word āusefulā for six months after finishing this opening paragraph.
It gets better. Someone in the comments section referred to him as Zumbamendi and the idea he could run an evening Zumba class in Islington could also be (wait for it!) useful! He did, however, make a really good point that I could well be guilty of the typical succumbing to summer tournament hype and, yes, I admit it was only at around 9pm on July 14th that his very existence entered my cerebral processing.
However, while it is very much a hypothetical thought that he could be the second coming of Xabi Alonso, there is some method to my madness. Zubimendi can be found in La Ligaās 86th percentile for interceptions and 82nd percentile for successful passes last season. As he is in the 83rd percentile for attempted passes, these statistics demonstrate high proficiency in ball retention. Furthermore, his 97th percentile placing for shot accuracy is impressive given he also hit the woodwork three times. A number 6 who can shoot is Rodri territory.
While the stats are impressive, completing the supplementary eye test is difficult when using video compilations, but important information can be gained from examining the things a player can do. Zubimendi clearly has quick feet and dribbling skills to escape tight situations and can pass between the lines with a varied and proficient range of passing.
An often-overlooked variable in football is the invisible 88 minutes that players spend without the ball. Spain nullified Englandās build up play in an incredibly intelligent manner, preventing us from touching the ball in their half for twelve minutes after our equaliser. While Cole Palmer was rightly championed for his decisive moments versus Netherlands and Spain, little attention was paid to his failure to cut off the passing channel to Fabian Ruiz in the build up to their winning goal. Unfortunately, he was about four metres away from being able to surreptitiously prevent the important first pass.
Real Sociedad conceded the third least goals in La Liga last season and topped a Champions League group featuring Benfica, Salzburg and Inter, conceding just two goals. The fact that they claimed a top six spot while scoring an average 15.6 goals less than the other five teams indicates their success was built on a compact core, with Zubimendi at the heart of it. An elite holding midfielder holds more defensive influence than centre backs, simply because many attacking threats can be eliminated during play progression before becoming a forward versus defender situation in a crucial position. Turn the gas off so you donāt need to put out a fire.
Funnily enough, Martinās midfield mate Mikel Merino has been heavily linked with Arsenal today. A quick comparison on the excellent Squawka stats site actually suggests that he is the inferior option. In the Champions League, Zubimendi holds superior stats per 90 for passes attempted, pass and long pass completion, interceptions, arial and ground duel success and tackles made. Merinoās 77.5% passing success in La Liga is less than Zubimendiās 86.4% and the interceptions data shows the latter to read play more effectively. Iād be interested to watch the precise midfield roles they occupy in greater detail as Merino strikes me as a similar profile to Declan Rice.
So, I hereby rest my case that Zubimendi could well be the main man. With all of that said, thereās probably now no doubt that heāll soon join a Premier League outfit and turn out to be completely useless.
AC in Milan
Bitter about Gordon
Anthony Gordon, chief penalty winner, chief turncoat. Everyoneās favourite player who didnāt play in the euros, is trying to force a move to Liverpool.
Newcastle fans, this is why we didnāt like him. England fans, this is why he didnāt play in the euros.
Gets voted player of the year, kisses the badge, wants to leaveā¦ā¦cunt.
I never want players to leave or fail, but this guy.
Fat Man (donāt forget heās also well āard coz he does boxing innit)
An Ipswich fanās guide to relegation
Relegation Favourites
Everton. No more Barcelona style levers to pull. Administration = relegation
Southampton. Finished below Ipswich last year and have sold Che Adams.
Leicester. Lost their best player, and their manager and have significant FFP issues.
Notts Forest. Trifecta of crap manager, tin foil hat brigade and Greek accounting.
Could get in trouble
Bournemouth. Running hard on that treadmill just to stand still. At some point, they go backwards.
Brentford. Have an end of days, slow decay feel about them. The Toney side show isnāt helping.
Wolves. Donāt feel like a stable mid-table club.
Too good to go down
Brighton. At least one club takes a swan dive from the top tier each year. Brighton havenāt been good for a while. Starting to believe their own hype. Southampton Mark II?
West Ham. If ManU are the West Ham of the North with their new 100,000 capacity stadium, are Stam just the Sunderland of the South?
Easy peasyā¦we only need three below us. If they bin off Man City, weāre laughingā¦
Matthew (ITFC)
