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Four ways to stop Spain

 

Gabriele Marcotti

1. Clog the middle, concede the flanks

Spain’s intricate passing can befuddle any opponent, but the short-passing style of Xavi and co. is most effective through the centre of the pitch. That’s why it makes sense to tuck your full backs inside and defend more narrowly. This will make it far more difficult for Spain to work their way through into your area. 

The flipside of this, of course, is that you will concede space on the wings. That’s fine. You should be able to handle their crosses. Spain do not pose much of an aerial threat, except possibly on set-pieces when guys like Gerard Pique or Sergio Ramos advance. The real danger from wide areas come from the cut-backs which find runners from midfield. That’s why it’s essential to have bodies in the middle ready to pick up any late runs into the box.

2. Defend deep and resist the temptation to press

There are various schools of thought regarding pressing but it’s generally accepted that it’s not a good idea to do it against very technical opponents. And the fact of the matter is that Spain may well be the most technical side in the world, with the guile and passing ability to break any press you throw their way.

Instead, it’s better to defend deep, denying Fernando Torres and David Villa the space behind your defenders. This will help you deal with their pace and it will also make Spain less effective on the counter-attack.

3 Take the full backs out of the game, make the central defenders work instead

Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila are outstanding going forward and are often Iker Casillas’ first option.  They are tough to handle because they are equally adept at running at opponents as they are at picking out teammates with a pass. 

Therefore, encourage your strikers to pick up the fullbacks at goal-kicks and restarts. This will force Spain to involve the central defenders (Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique or possibly Marchena or Albiol) who are simply not as technically accomplished. It will also naturally drive them towards the centre of the pitch, which you will presciently have clogged (see 1).

4. Be lucky

I appreciate that this one will likely be out of your control but it’s a huge part of the game. The fact of the matter is that Spain are so gifted that they can create chances against anyone, even when they’re being out-fought and out-thought.  We saw it against the US, when they continued to generate dozens of goalscoring opportunities.

You just have to accept that sometimes your best laid plans can be shattered by a moment of individual genius.

The Tehran Four, Owen's shocker and Cesc's lose-lose proposition

Gabriele Marcotti

Unless you've been hiding under a rock (or only read the back of the paper) you're probably aware of what's going on in Iran and the turmoil following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

According to reports in a pro-government newspaper, four Iranian players have been told they will never again represent their country after they wore green armbands - a symbol of support for Ahmadinejad's rival, the pro-reform Mir Hossein Mousavi - during their match against South Korea last week. The group includes some of the country's most high profile stars, including Ali Karimi, a former Asian Footballer of the Year, and Mehdi Mahdavikia, the veteran wingback who has been one of the most consistent performers in the Bundesliga for over a decade.

Fifa rules ban the display of political symbols or messages during games (as Robbie Fowler found out a decade ago), but clearly this is a gross over-reaction from Iranian authorities. Far more worrying however is the fact that, according to reports, the men have had their passports taken away and, for now at least, can't leave the country.

Politics and sport should not, on principle, mix. But, when they do - and, inevitably, it occasionally happens, since sport does not exist in a vacuum - you can only admire young men who have the courage to take a stand and face the consequences.

David Bentley is a real bargain at £7million

Gabriele Marcotti

At what point do you cut your losses? If Tottenham really plan on selling David Bentley to Aston Villa for £7million as widely reported, it will represent a loss of around £9m in just twelve months. OK, so establishing the “right price” to pay for somebody is an extremely tricky art form.  And, yes, it’s obvious Spurs overpaid horribly. But £7m? For a guy who is twenty-four years old and has seven England caps to his name (several of those under Fabio Capello)? A guy who, in two seasons at Blackburn, missed just three league games and who is generally pretty durable and injury-free? In this market, that’s an absolute steal.  No matter how poor Bentley was this season, that is a knockdown price for one of the more gifted English attacking midfielders around. Kudos to Martin O’Neill if he can make it happen.

Type-casting the Toon Army, Big Phil's Uzbek adventure and losing the flags

Gabriele Marcotti

I'm watching the Newcastle/Mike Ashley saga unfold from a distance, relying on George Caulkin's reporting and reading musings like this one from Matthew Syed.

Viewed from afar, you get the sense that Newcastle fans are a monolithic bunch of infantile fools. They seemingly spend their days crowding behind David Craig when he does his stand-ups on Sky Sports News, they prattle incessantly about what a "big" club they are and how nobody can match their "passion" and, most of all, they are convinced that if you're a Geordie who was once a great player you will automatically solve all the club's ills. And, of course, because they are a "big club" they want a "big-name manager".

Best English managers under the age of 50, talent escaping Serie A and dismantling the foolish anti-Carlo arguments

Gabriele Marcotti

This is an old bugbear of mine. The way I see it, one of the purposes (by no means the only one obviously) of lower league football should serve to prepare players and, especially, managers for the jump to the top flight. It's a nursery, if you will, growing the next generation of managerial greats. For whatever reason, that doesn't seem to happen in English football. I strained my mind to think of English managers with experience in the lower leagues who were handpicked by top flight clubs and given a chance and I could come up with just one: Paul Ince. Extend that to British managers and the number doubles: David Moyes.

It's an unusual situation, when compared to Italy and Spain. Even weirder is how far down you have to go to find, say, ten English managers younger than, say, 50. At the end of last season there were twelve Italian managers in Serie A under the age of 50, whereas in La Liga there were eleven.

In the Premier League, there were five: Steve Bruce (48), Phil Brown (49), Alan Shearer (38), Gareth Southgate (38) and Tony Mowbray (45). (And, of course, the last three got relegated). To get ten, you need to dip into the lower leagues for your other five. Going by league position, you get to Gareth Ainsworth (36 - who is really a caretaker), Brian Laws (47), Ian Holloway (46) Nigel Clough (43) and Phil Parkinson (41). Given that Parkinson finished dead last for Charlton it doesn't bode well. But that's it. There are only ten English managers under the age of 50 in the top two leagues of English football (and four of them were relegated, while not a single one finished in the top ten).

That's the single most worrying aspect and, frankly, it leaves me nonplussed. Anyone have any plausible theories? Anyone care to flag up-and-coming managers we should look out for in League 1 and League 2?

Mourinho's new contract, Adam Johnson on the cheap and United fans unpopular in Rome

Gabriele Marcotti

3. So Jose Mourinho has extended his contract with Inter and gotten himself a neat pay rise along the way (from a minimum of £13.9million to a maximum of £15.4m). Click here to read the story.

He is now the highest paid man in football and, with the exception of Tiger Woods, Valentino Rossi and maybe a couple of other non-football guys I can't be bothered to look up, the best paid man in sport.

I don't have a problem with The Special One getting himself the best possible deal he can: that's what a free market is all about and, as long as there is somebody willing to throw money at you, you may as well go for it.  In this specific case, given that he had two years left on a deal which already paid him some £11m a year and that he had failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, I'm not sure he deserved a new deal just yet.  Then again, when it comes to football, otherwise shrewd chairmen seem to lose all sense of proportion.

When refs are seeing things, the cost of Barry and Valdano's Arsenal dream

Gabriele Marcotti

I don't have a problem with referees making mistakes, though, obviously better referees make fewer mistakes than worse ones. But it's one thing if you make a mistake because you didn't see something or because you interpreted something in a way which turned out to be incorrect. It's quite another when you make a mistake because you think you saw something which did not happen.

We're told that Howard Webb disallowed Mark Viduka's goal for Newcastle against Fulham because of a foul Kevin Nolan committed on Mark Schwarzer. The Fulham goalkeeper himself said after the game that Nolan grabbed him and shoved him as the corner kick was being taken. I'll give Schwarzer the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was confusing that play with a different one. But I have no idea what Webb saw (or thought he saw). The replays are pretty clear. Nolan just stands there with his back to Schwarzer. There is no foul (or, at least no foul "as the corner kick is taken" as Schwarzer claims). Unless there is a special camera angle (one which only Webb can see), the referee got this very wrong and he did so in a very bad way.

It sort of reminded me of a game between Parma and Juventus, back in May of 2000. Juventus were going head-to-head with Lazio for the Serie A title and were leading 1-0 at home against Parma. With one minute to go, Fabio Cannavaro (who, at the time, played for Parma) headed in the equalizer but the referee, Massimo De Santis, mysteriously disallowed it for a foul which, like Webb, only he could see.

Judge for yourself here (it's at 7:09)

Ancelotti's bandwagon, (not) feeling sorry for Fletcher and judging youth development

Gabriele Marcotti

Enough people have brought this up, that I think it's time to address it. Is Carlo Ancelotti right for Chelsea?

Silvio Berlusconi may have had harsh words but I'm on the Carlo bandwagon. Here's why:

Arsenal in need of answers, the Almunia question and saving a relegated Newcastle

Gabriele Marcotti

Arsenal were simply terrible last night. However well Manchester United played (and they played extremely well), there is no escaping the fact that Arsenal were awful. Mitigating factors? Sure... Half the starting defence (Gael Clichy and William Gallas) was injured. So was the club's best backup defender (Mickael Silvestre). Arsenal's most experienced midfielder was out too, (Tomas Rosicky) just as he's been out all season long. Eduardo was also sidelined, of course, while the club's best player not named Cesc was ineligible for this competition (Andrey Arshavin, in case you're slow).  And, of course, the side's best striker (Robin Van Persie) was only just returning from injury and was clearly unfit. But that doesn't change the fact that the performance looked lifeless.  If the World Cup were tomorrow, every single one of Arsenal's starting XI would be going, with the exception of Kieran Gibbs and Manuel Almunia (unless he becomes English, of course).

It has been said before, but the fact is that Arsenal can't afford one transition season after the other, another year waiting for the kids. Especially when these very same kids seem to want to bolt as soon as they gain some street cred (last season it was Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini, next summer it could be Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas). This might be a good time for the club's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, to make a public statement, telling supporters exactly what the situation is in terms of money. Is the decision not to spend big down to Wenger's personal preference (as some have suggested) or is it, in fact, a function of the debt incurred to build the Emirates? Either one is fine, I just think people deserve to know one way or another.

Because the unpleasant truth is that Aston Villa, Everton and Manchester City are currently in Arsenal's rear view mirror and they're only getting bigger. Missing out on the Champions' League is something Arsenal really can't afford to do.

Hiddink's 8-1-1, Jenas and Gallagher and Overrating Klinsmann

Hiddink is a special manager

When Guus Hiddink's PSV Eindhoven faced AC Milan a few years ago, Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan boss, famously said: "I had never before faced an 8-1-1 formation."  Pep Guardiola might have said something similar after last night.  Chelsea defended in numbers with what can only be described as an "uber-catenaccio".  (Except, of course, that when English sides do it against foreign ones it's "good organization" whereas when the reverse happens it's "negative, sterile football".)  That said, you can only congratulate Hiddink on his result.  His job in this game wasn't to entertain or to provide cannon-fodder for Barcelona, it was to keep a clean sheet.  And his side did that exceptionally well.

There are probably few managers in the world who can so thoroughly change their sides tactical approach and philosophy based on the task at hand.  This is what makes Hiddink special.  Kudos also to Petr Cech.  He has had a rotten season, but last night he was outstanding.  This is what I mean when I say that a great goalkeeper can carry a team.

A final point on the referee, Wolfgang Stark.  What this guy is doing in a Champions' League semi-final is an absolute mystery to me.  He was terrible last night (arguably hurting both teams equally), just as he was awful in Arsenal v Villarreal.