If you have anything to say on any subject, mail us at theeditor@football365.com
Sign them up…
Right now Alexis and Ozil are awaiting new contracts. Pay then whatever they are asking for. The only saving grace is that they have both already played for Europe’s elite so won’t be as tempted as they might have been. But both of these players are in their prime, they are playing some sexy football and they are enjoying themselves. Get them five-year deals and build the team round them. Please.
Does anyone still think Ozil is nicking a living?
Rob A (on Ozil, you have to pay extra for composure like that) AFC
Criticising Ozil
Go and watch Mesut Ozil’s goal from last night again. His final touch before passing the ball into the net is clearly not needed.
I’ve got news for you Mesut. No one likes an over-elaborate showboater ok? Especially one who nicks a living like you do.
Damn fancy Dan…
Andrew (serious as cancer) Stevens
…I was watching City vs Barcelona last night so I did not catch the Arsenal game. Woke up this morning to lots of references to an Ozil wonder goal. Did he score two? Because the goal I’m seeing in front of me is Ozil seemingly doing his utmost to allow the defenders to get back in time to prevent him from scoring what should have been an eminently simple 1v1 opportunity.
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland
Loving Ollie
With all the eulogising over Ozil’s goal last night (and rightly so), can I just take a moment to praise Olivier Giroud for the way he won back possession enabling Elneny to set Ozil free?
Big Ollie, like Wenger, will be appreciated more once he’s gone, but I’ve always had a big appreciation for both of them.
Giroud is on 85 goals for Arsenal, and it is entirely reasonable to suggest he will hit a century this season, his fifth season __with us, making him the consistent 20 goals a season striker many fans have been asking for, erm…over the past five years. Achieved also, despite not always being first choice, and missing a long period out __with a broken leg.
One last metaphorical pat on the back to big Ollie for his outstanding professionalism when he has been marginalised from the starting 11. He never sulks, never moans in the press, he just let’s his feet (or head) do the talking.
Naz, Gooner (Laaa la la, la la la la, la la la la, Giroud)
Ludgorets v Arsenal: The alternative view
Now that we have all wiped our saliva off the floor following Ozil’s impression of ‘Dynamo – Magician Impossible’, I’d just like to make a couple of mature observations.
1) Mesut’s goal doesn’t happen without Giroud’s tackle. In the 87th minute of the game, that’s demonstrative of a winner’s mentality. Don’t pay too much heed to statistics; Giroud won’t be credited with an assist, because…
2) …Elneny will. That was an excellent assist from deep, the kind of pass that Xhaka was bought to supply. I had Elneny pegged as a utility/athlete type of midfielder but that shows me that he’s switched on mentally also. More of that, please.
3) Modern football analysis focuses too way much on an individual’s numbers. Particularly for Arsenal, the balance of ingredients needs to be near perfect to get a proper performance. Kostafi is a good partnership but it can be exposed when the team is unbalanced elsewhere. Monreal is key to Arsenal’s defence not because he’s so brilliant but because he creates a proper back three when Bellerin goes (and goes, and goes). Nothing against Jenks or Gibbs as players, the unit just doesn’t work as well when they play.
4) Despite the plethora of options we have in central midfield, and despite Cazorla’s physical limitations, the optimal partnership is always Santi + 1 (so long as the 1 is not Ramsey for some reason). Santi’s fitness needs to be guarded insofar as it’s practical, because if we lose him again for three months to a fatigue injury, we’re just as buggered this year as we were last. Pursuant to keeping Santi healthy, Wenger now has better relief players at his disposal. That’s the major difference between this year and last.
5) I accept Giroud for what he is and I have no problem with him but, if both he and Alexis are going to be on the pitch at the same time, they need to operate closer together than they did last night. Otherwise it becomes a lot harder for Alexis to turn defenders and create space for others with his speed and movement. Olivier’s partnership with Griezmann worked well at the Euros when they operated closest together, and I see no compelling evidence as to why this shouldn’t be the case with Alexis. Wenger will rightly want to avoid the attack becoming too narrow in midfield and attack so it might be worth experimenting with a 3-5-2 option against lesser teams, or when games are already won or lost.
6) Setting aside all that mature stuff though, Ozil’s goal did make me feel 12 again. Seeing a slew of bodies on the turf as he tapped it in was so satisfying. I’d put it up there with Bergkamp’s goals against Argentina, Leicester and Newcastle but just for the sake of starting a pointless debate…is Ozil’s effort slightly diminished or even enhanced by the fact that he only used his left foot? Discuss.
Niallo, Gooner, Uibh Fháilí
Literally the best/worst thing ever
So Shcrodinger’s Pep Guardiola is alive and well.
Should I open the paper this morning he will be a genius, but no doubt should I open it another time he will be a fraud. Just as Mourinho can only be described in terms of what word will be inserted between ‘The’ and ‘One’ depending on what has happened in the last 30 seconds.
I blame the likes of Robbie Savage and Ian Wright. Being knowledgeable isn’t required anymore, you just have to be an opinionated windbag. As long as you have an opinion and can shout about it you will find it doesn’t matter if the opinion is even slightly valid. As long as you’re ‘opinionated/controversial’ and don’t give two flying sh*ts about backtracking on that opinion just days later you too could be a football pundit*/tabloid journalist.
Personally I can’t believe that every straw man says the total fraud Guardiola thinks he can take on The Special One because ultimately every other straw man says Mourinho is The Clueless One and Guardiola is a Genius. End of.
Neil ‘The Clueless Fraud’ Armitage
More Man City musings
I just wanted to add a few more musings about the City – Barcelona game last night…
We might moan an awful lot in this country about the standard of officiating (which is as bad as I can remember) but City have come up against, time and time again, some absolutely diabolical reereeing performances in the CL. As good as our performance was last night (the second half was as enjoyable a half I’ve witnessed for a couple of seasons) we won in spite of the referee. He was bloody awful. There is a section of our fanbase that hate Uefa (“BOOOOO” – get a grip, lads. You’re booing a song!) and all kinds of wild conspiracy theories fly round on Twitter and fan forums. Such performaces do nothing but fuel the fire that the aforementioned crazies love to keep burning.
I know it seems absurd to complain when we have just outplayed Barcelona and I don’t want to sound like one of our paranoid bunch but some of the decisions were disgraceful. The none penalty award on Sterling (he should have had one in Camp Nou as well before the wheels fell off!), the subsequent yellow for diving, the fact Digne could have had two yellows in the first 10 minutes, Biscuits making foul after foul but ultimately being booked for dissent, Suarez winning fouls by body checking Otamendi (City’s weak link for me) with his arse. The list goes on. Awful, awful, awful stuff.
I also want to touch on Sergio Aguero’s performance last night, which is kind of being lost in the De Bruyne and Gundogan headlines. Last night was exactly the kind of performace that Guardiola has been trying to extract from Aguero. It was all action and he was a constant menace – dropping short between the lines, running the channels, bursting into the box and creating opportunites for his team mates. The only thing missing was a goal. There have been grumbles in recent weeks that Aguero is looking unhappy under Pep, doesn’t have the work rate to thrive in his system, wants to move to Madrid etc. I think that performance last night emphatically put those claims to bed. There are rumours on the grapevine that our main man has extended his contract as well. Happiest of days.
Finally, I’m happy for Guardiola that his team selection last week in the most underwhelming Manchester Derby in history has been vindicated. A 4-0 win in the league and beating arguably the best team in the world 3-1 a week later is a great return. Yes, it was a Derby but there was a distinct air of ‘meh’ around that fixture from the blue half of Manchester last week and the correct decision was made.
Mark (Oh what a night!! Playing football on a Tuesday night, you play Thursday ‘cos you’re…..) M32 Blue
About that blueprint
A quick reply to KM (‘tactics’ are simply a matter of priorities), London.
I think a couple of teams might have figured out your ‘blueprin'” for beating City, i.e sitting deep, hoping they don’t carve you up and having fast attackers to counter attack.
I’ve got a similar blueprint for winning the lottery i.e buying a ticket and spending hypothetical millions in my head until I’m inevitably disappointed.
Alan, Córdoba
This United is ‘not far off’
I have just finished reading the article in The Irish Times recommended by Mediawatch, José Mourinho and Man United look out of date. The article claimed that Jose’s tactics are out of date, over taken by more attacking teams like Liverpool, City and Liverpool. I thought I would look up the attacking stats for each team and see how much truth there is this claim.
All stats from Squawka:
United:
Chances: 133
Pass Acc: 86%
Possession: 54%
Shot Acc: 46%
Scored: 13
Conceded: 12
Arsenal:
Chances: 109
Pass Acc: 85%
Possession: 56%
Shot Acc: 48%
Scored: 23
Conceded: 10
Chelsea:
Chances: 128
Pass Acc:85%
Possession: 52%
Shot Acc: 50%
Scored:21
Conceded:9
City:
Chances: 131
Pass Acc: 85%
Possession: 59%
Shot Acc: 52%
Scored: 24
Conceded: 9
Liverpool:
Chances: 147
Pass Acc: 84%
Possession: 56%
Shot Acc: 58%
Scored:24
Conc: 13
Spurs:
Chances Created: 136
Pass Acc: 83%
Possession: 56%
Shot Acc: 46%
Scored: 14
Conc: 5
On chances created only Liverpool and Spurs have done better.
United have the best passing accuracy.
Unfortunately also have the joint worst shot accuracy with Spurs.
Let’s not write off Mourinho or this United team yet. They may not be firing on all cylinders right now, but I think they’re not far off. And if nothing else it’s better than the first 10 games last season when United created 78 chances. And it took 18 games to create as many chances as they have in the first 10 games of this season.
Chris MUFC
Not a great day to be a United fan
Funny story. When I looked at my Sky Sports News feed on my phone early this morning, I was greeted by a wonderful story on how Man City had beaten the best in the world. Not just beaten, but comprehensively beaten. This was followed by another heartwarming story on how Arsenal had come from behind to progress to the knock out stages and what a monster Ozil had become. If that wasn’t enough, the syrupy coated news continued with yet another on how well Celtic had done to get a very creditable point. For a moment, I thought I’d woken up in a Disney movie and we were all living happily ever after.
That’s until I read the next story entitled ‘New FA Charge for Mourinho’. Being a United fan, this made me laugh.
Question for the mailbox, has any other fan laughed when really they wanted to cry uncontrollably until the salty tears washed away all the pain?
Andy Race
Maybe Pogba should play at centre-half?
With all the furore over Pogba being so skilled at football that he’s bad in every position he played, I was wondering at what point your footballing ability transcends position?
James Milner can play every position, claims to naturally be a centre-mid, was a winger in the early days, did a bang-up job at city as a false 9 and is now filling in at left-back. But he very obviously has is versatility. What about players who have only ever played one position?
I’d bet Luis Suarez would have been a better fill in at left-back than Moreno, and I’m willing to bet there’s excellent centre-backs (Pique, Ramos) who’d make better strikers than some of the tosh we’ve seen in the Premier League, I’d say they’d get games up front for West Ham over Zaza for example.
Centre mids in theory should have mostly transferable skills, but strikers should know how to play in defence due to their understanding of football, and there should be a bit of that for all players. Seems the ones that transfer positions easily aren’t necessarily the best (Think Balon D’Or winners filling in), but the ones that follow their managers’ instruction best (Milner, John O’Shea, Daley Blind, Lahm).
Paul Pogba has the physical (and technical) attributes to play centre-back to centre-forward, with everything in between, no excuses really.
KC (he should definitely fit in midfield somewhere though)
We’re fine at Spurs, thank you
I hope you have room for this amongst all the delirious Man City mails you’ll no doubt get. I felt compelled to write in in response to your negative article about Spurs and Rio Ferdinand’s criticism of us not making a marquee signing. We’ve had our best start to a season for over 50 years, we have the best goalkeeper in the league, the best defence in the league and potentially the best young midfielder. The best start has come despite being without Kane and Dembele for most of the season who were both pivotal to last seasons title challenge.
Addressing the marquee signing nonsense, who are we supposed to sign when our ceiling cap is around 70k per week? We’re not shopping in the same market as United, City or Chelsea or even Arsenal. We’re competing with Liverpool and Everton. The one we maybe could and should have had is Mane but I don’t think he’d have been the statement that Rio is talking about. He looks great in hindsight but I thought he was overpriced at £30m. We agreed a fee for Batshuayi but Chelsea decided he’d look good on their bench so we got Janssen who had to be thrown into the deep end and is improving with every game. United made a marquee signing in Pogba, I would honestly take Wanyama every day of the week over him.
Tonight we line up in front of 80000 fans in the Champions League, we’re yet to be beaten in the Premier League, three points off the top and travel to the Emirates on Sunday for a mouth-watering derby.
As a Spurs fan of over 30 years I’ll happily take these problems.
David (Thankyou Poch)
A bit of love for Dave
While I am sure that the mailbox will be dominated by commentary on City vs Barcelona today, your magnificent Portrait of an Icon piece today got me thinking about the ‘unsung heroes’ of teams. While Zidane was undoubtedly a (literally) ‘sung’ hero, I have always had a bit of love for those guys who will never end up with their own fan page, cult status or iconic profile. I wanted to offer my two cents on one of my current favourite players and suggest that our fellow ‘home-grown’ players in the UK and Ireland could learn a thing or two from him.
Enter César Azpilicueta, a guy who joined Chelsea in 2012 aged 22 and clocks in at 5 foot 10. Azpilicueta (or Dave), played 48 games in his first season and went on to play no fewer than 40 games per season in each of the three subsequent ones. Over the last four years, he has played for four different managers (Benitez/Di Matteo/Mourinho and Conte) and been first choice as a full-back for each of them. It is pretty much safe to say he has rarely, if ever, performed below a 6 out of 10, and even in the disastrous 2015/2016 season was one of the few decent players. He even one the players’ player of the year for Chelsea in 2013/2014.
He joined as a right-back, established himself as the first-choice left-back and now slotted seamlessly in to play as the right-sided centre-back in a new system, looking like he has played there his whole life.
He plays in a physically demanding league despite being relatively small and typically comes up against some of the most technically strong and dangerous players given his position. He is solid in defence, solid going forward and, despite the implosion of the playing squads last morale year was rarely spoken about by the manager, press or other players. He has also been capped a handful of times by Spain. He has won the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.
In short, the guy is a model pro, tactically adaptable, superbly consistent and extremely athletic and fit.
Now, can you imagine an English player doing the same? For example, think Kyle Walker going to Atletico Madrid and establishing himself as one of the most consistent and reliable performers for that team, playing everywhere across the backline and being voted players’ player of the year? That this idea seems so outlandish is one of the strongest criticisms I can think of for the domestic game.
It surely can’t just be about money keeping young talented players on these shores, surely there is a cultural and mind-set element as well. Were I good enough to be a young footballer, the idea of playing abroad and experiencing different football cultures and traditions would be something both exciting and really beneficial in terms of my own development that I would jump at the opportunity to do so.
Azpilicueta is just one example – look at Monreal at Arsenal for a very similar one. Maybe a few more young players could look not at Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard or Harry Kane for inspiration and look at a humble, yet more inspiring Cesar.
Lee
Analysing Cheeky Punt’s performance
Long-time listener, first time caller…
I was bored at work and I decided to have a review of the Cheeky Punt’s season so far.
Overall the picture isn’t too bad but I think Pot Noodles may continue to be top of the food pyramid in Chez Punt for a while.
Nerdy as I am I have a spreadsheet attached showing the results but here are the highlights, not the most detailed analysis but entertained me for an hour!
Five weeks in profit, five weeks out of pocket.
Performance definitely as the improving as the season progresses.
· 94 selections
· 32 winners
· 61 Losers
· 1 no bet
Not one scorecast bet landed – stop doing them!
Based on 10 euro singles the punt is showing a loss of 27.86 Euro on the season so far.
Most profitable bets:
Leicester City v Crystal Palace – Leicester to win and both teams to score at 100/30
Arsenal v Liverpool – Liverpool to score in both halves at 100/30
Anthony Doyle
Are imaginary cards worse than screaming?
To carry on the theme of imaginary cards, can someone explain to me the difference between showing an imaginary card and screaming in the ref’s face to send an opponent off? Aside from the fact that John Terry speaks and John Foreigner gestures, there is no discernible difference.
It’s always baffled me.
Brad Smith
Loving Zizou
Lovely portrait. When I’m asked who the best player I’ve seen play is, it’s always Zidane. People bang on about the big two now but he really had it all and in spades. He covered every facet of the outfield game. I remember being behind the goal for our match against France v Euro 2004. Whilst I lay the blame of that crushing defeat at the doors of Rooney (should’ve passed to Vassell) , Beckham (captain tattoo shouldn’t take pens), Heskey (why would you foul someone like that there and then), and Gerrard (nice backpass, son) after Lampard and Scholes did everything on their part – watching Zidane was mesmerising. Then the way he stepped up and hit that free-kick at me as easy as if it was a penalty (which he did go on to do anyway) was incredible.
To think his most famous goal was a volley with his wrong foot. I remember when Carlos crossed it and watching Zinedine stop and adjust his position to a perfect stance. You knew it was in before it dropped to him. There’s a famous quote from him upon Makelele’s departure and Beckham’s arrival at Madrid: “Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?” Zidane, in his career, was both. He really was the best.
Adam Corbett
…Ah, there it is. The POAI piece on Zinedine Zidane. Whatever took you so long? There may be a couple of players with a stronger claim to being the best of all time but no-one ever lifted my heart the way Zizou did. And does. I still watch him on youtube all the time. And I’m 49. He’s Nijinsky, he’s Balzac, he’s Johann Sebastian Bach…if ever sport achieved the status of high art, it was surely in the dreamy, languid, balletic brilliance of this man. Even his penalties had a baroque beauty about them. That one he scored against Portugal in the quarters of Euro 2000. The way his body twists like some muscled man-god in a Michelangelo drawing, the sheer, unstoppable power of the shot allied with the grace of its execution, ah me, what a player . . .
Matt Pitt
…I’ve just finished reading the Zidane: Portrait of an Icon article over my lunch break. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
I’ll confess to an unbiased love of Zizou and most things French but I can’t think of a more iconic footballer in my time. There are plenty if equally, or even more talented footballers but there is just something different about Zizou. It’s not his elegance, which he has in abundance, or his technical skill, which is unrivalled, but his purpose. He was electrifying to watch because every touch of the ball counted towards something else. If he was receiving the ball, it was trapped, placed and ready to go for the next perfect move all in one go.
I remember first seeing him playing for Juventus in a Champions League game and instantly realising he was a class above any footballer I had been watching in the Premier League. Every time he appeared with the ball he made something happen, effortlessly.
Although it was when I was travelling in France during the 2006 World Cup that I truly realised his iconic status. He had already scored ‘that goal’ and his status as one of the greats had been well established. In fact, he was on the wane, if anything. Yet I hadn’t realised what he meant to the French nation. I remember watching the French games in a bar in Lyon and getting that spine tingling feeling when he was on the ball. The crowd would chant “Zizou, Zizou, Zizou”. It was pulsating, not because of the atmosphere in the bar but because of the atmosphere across the country. It could be felt. Every bar, packed and chanting his name together.
I’ll always remember his performance against Brazil in that tournament too. The French hadn’t been performing well. Along comes Brazil. A very good Brazilian side with Ronaldinho in his pomp. Zizou bossed it. He made Ronaldinho look like a lost schoolboy. Zidane at his most beautiful best.
Saminho
Stolen comment in the mailbox
Not sure if anyone else noticed (or cared), but this morning’s mail from ‘Spetsnat’ was copy and pasted from the post of a Fulham fan (ZeeZeeTopFulham) under the Arsenal match report on the Guardian site.
Spetsnat changed one word: ‘Arsenal’ to ‘our’. I hate to be a tattle-tale but to me that just seems like such a weird thing to do that I felt the need to share it. Plus it violates the sanctity of this excellent site’s excellent mailbox. Or something…perhaps ‘Spetsnat’ would care to explain?
K Drayden, Hamburg (not sure I like the direction the mailbox is going lately)