Mark Nelson
@marknelson
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The depth of City's crisis is partly conveyed by possession. The first 20 minutes of the match - 60% of possession, 0 shots from both sides. 20 minutes after Kovacic came on and before the penalty - 65% of possession and 2-2 in shots. That is, the team's more or less usual style of play lasted for about half a match, and in this style, City were not even better in attack.
The rest of the game - periods of equality in possession or even superiority of Manchester United. That is, even if we leave out the sabotage at the end, the team in which Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, KDB and Nunes came on the field SIMULTANEOUSLY, could not take the ball. This is the basis of the crisis. And only then do the mistakes pile up. 0 reply
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That is what happens if you let Stuttgart play football. You will get torn apart. Yet, Motta's Juventus has this amazing quality of getting results even with mediocre play. Today was their worst match of the new season, a dead team, a complete tiagomottina - and they lost only 0:1, conceding only in added time.
Too many problems have been amassed by the team from past seasons. Not all at once can be solved. A motley, strange lineup. Allegri's collective psychological trauma: you cannot set up a game like that right away, yet Motta still manages to succeed in many things. On the other hand, though, the most amazing thing is that on the worst days, too, this Juventus stands to the last. Plenty of willpower there, now a game overhaul is needed. There will still be a lot of Guerra this season, but hardly trophies, while next season, yes, we will evaluate Motta with all severity. 0 reply
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Of all the surprises through the first month and a half of the Premier League season, Fulham has been the biggest. Last year, the team finished 14th-they were also 14th in expected points-and they had a depth crisis. But Marco Silva not only managed to stop the plane from falling into the abyss but even brought it back on course.
In the off-season, Fulham sold Joao Palhinha to Bayern for €51 million. He carried the whole Cottagers midfield on his shoulders, just as the Ancient Greek Atlas took the whole sky upon himself, was the best in tackles in all top-5 leagues last season and for two seasons was among the best destroyers of the league.
Yet, Silva fooled everybody. Fulham is in the eighth position. In terms of expected points, the team is even second-to none but Liverpool. Last seasons, Fulham played pretty closed counter-attacking football, but without dogmatism and sometimes with something included for fun. Now Silva has realized that the best defense is a guard, so the vector has moved a little bit. 0 reply
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About a year ago, Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen ended in a 2-2 draw-a result apart from being the best match of the 23/24 Bundesliga season, it basically sealed Bayer's championship ambitions.
Great defense by Bayer. One could have almost wondered if they were this good in defense. Meanwhile, Bayer managed an accumulated total of just one completed action in Bayern's half all game, and it was a very well-designed set piece.
It is, of course, pertinent to mention something so regular, which we often miss in the chorus of laudation for Bayer. Their German miracle march took place well, at a time when Bayern were demonstrably struggling. How much they were struggling, was something one could only tell today, when this is the Bayern.
That's where the most fantastic beauty in football often resides: in people who, to the conventional mind, would not be considered beautiful-Maradona, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta-dancing stools, Musiala and Olise, in their own particular way, come off as ballet dancers. 0 reply
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