A Sweep(er) Is As Lucky As Lucky Can Be
A Sweep(er) Is As Lucky As Lucky Can Be
There's just SO MUCH football to talk about at the moment. There's all the men's leagues, the WSL, the men's Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference and the women's Champions League. It's a lot to keep tabs on when you're trying to do a light weekly overview I can tell you. Anyway I'll try my best to highlight all the most interesting or significant events and of course if there's anything you want to see let me know.
The Week In Ball
Right, I don't even know where to begin if I'm honest, I need to keep better notes throughout the week.
The launch proper of European football with the group stages of the Champions League and both Europa competitions began in style with a great Dortmund game (I love them so much, they're such good fun, so exciting! So perilous!) and an even better Liverpool one. The match against AC Milan was furious and exciting and Jordan Henderson's goal made my husband yell louder than I've heard him yell at football in a long while, maybe since Alisson's goal. And I haven't even mentioned Man United losing to Young Boys...
In the leagues we saw a thrilling lunchtime match between Brentford and Wolves on Saturday. I really rate Brentford. I think Thomas Frank is a solid manager (even if he did faff for too long over his subs and ended up not being able to prevent Baptiste committing another reckless foul and getting sent off) and I love his interviews. It's great to see Brentford settling so well into the Premier League and they're currently in the top half of the table which is a great achievement.
Speaking of the table, the results this weekend gave us this glorious sight. A completely equal top two, with Chelsea only on top by virtue of coming first alphabetically.
Elsewhere in Europe Bayern thumped poor newly promoted Vfl Bochum 7-0 to remain top of the Bundesliga, while Dortmund continued with their nonsense to provide another Match of the Weekend, outgunning Union Berlin 4-2.
In France PSG retained their seat at the top with a last gasp winner against Lyon from Mauco Icardi and Messi was seen to be firing daggers at Poch when he got substituted after hobbling around the pitch for a number of minutes.
In Spain, well known defender Gerard Pique was brought on by Ronald Koeman to play as a forward for Barcelona. It may be the case that the reports of their demise are greatly exaggerated but whatever's going on there, it isn't good. Predictably Real are top of the table with Atleti not far behind.
Finally in Italy, Napoli are currently holding court over the others with the Milans and Jose Mourinho's Roma (yes, it is a legal requirement to call any team managed by Mou 'Jose Mourinho's XXX) not far behind. Juventus meanwhile are languishing in 18th, behind sexy shirted new boys Venezia, not having managed a single win yet this season.
There were no WSL games this week as there were internationals, with Arsenal's Leah Williamson captaining Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses to a 8-0 win over North Macedonia, ushering in the new, Neville-less era.
Kick Off
This week we're going to go back to the beginning and talk about goalkeepers. Not just any keepers though, sweeper keepers.
Most goalies, certainly in the past, although hold that stereotype for a moment, generally stay on their line, coming out every so often to collect a ball, take a free kick or goal kick in the area or perhaps straying even further up field when they get a rush of blood to the head as we saw last season when Bernd Leno found himself out of his area and inadvertently handling the ball. (Yes, he was sent off)
These days however you're more often than not going to see your goalkeeper have better dribbling and passing skills than your outfield players, a throw to rival any cricket fielder and they can be expected to venture out almost as defensive midfielders.
The False Nine blog defines sweeper keepers thus
A ‘ sweeper keeper ’ is a player that seeks to control the space behind his respective back-line. The role involves keeping resolutely close to your defenders far more often than usual, keeping on your toes for the majority of each match, and providing quick counter-attacking throws with hastened speed and efficiency.
The desired goal-keeper must be technical, remarkably self-aware, and above all else – wholeheartedly confident when saving their team from the brink of defeat.
'Wholeheartedly confident' seems to be the phrase to sum up this position. Think of some of the best, and perhaps also most reckless, keepers you know: Neuer, Ederson, Alisson.
All of them are known for their wild antics on the pitch but also their reliability and trustworthiness. It's no accident that they all play for incredibly successful, modern teams. However we can even go back to the fifties and sixties when Lev Yashin, playing for the then Soviet Union became maybe the first sweeper keeper. Nicknamed the "Black Spider", he was "regarded by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport. He was known for his athleticism, positioning, stature, bravery, imposing presence in goal, and acrobatic reflex saves." [Wikipedia] So while we consider this a modern development and talk in awe and wonder of the skills of the current crop of keepers, it's by no means a new phenomenon.
The Offside Thirst Trap
Well, I had originally written some stuff about how I'm struggling with posting female footballers as well as male in the context of Bi Visibility Week, power dynamics and internalised homophobia but fuck it, who needs that seriousness in a silly little newsletter. So, in homage to Fever Pitch (see below) have some prime David Ginola instead.
Football 'eritage
An extremely short but wonderful item today. We all know Roy Keane, to put it mildly, doesn't suffer fools gladly. We also all know how much of a fool Robbie Savage is. Put the two together and...
Kit Bag
I'm not going to pick on any particular shirt this week but instead draw your attention to this article from FourFourTwo ranking all the teams' kits for the season, home, away and third. Firstly, there are a few I hadn't see which are nice (Burnley third, Watford third, Leeds third) but secondly and more importantly what the fuck is this article on? I accept the top 6, they're all good shirts, but some of the choices are really wild. I cannot understand the antipathy towards the Chelsea kits, all of which are stunning and why is the Liverpool home kit and both the Watford kits so low?
For a much better time try this article of the best 20 shirts of this season from around the world. There are some real stunners here and the winner is of course a given.
Extra Time
A couple of things to mention this week:
Firstly, please do read this raw and moving interview with Paul Merson about his life of addiction. It's such a sad and bloodsucking disease.
Secondly, on a much more joyous note (although of course serious issues are addressed) the BBC's Fever Pitch: The Rise of The Premier League is making me so so so happy. I got my footballing stripes in the 90s and it's so wonderful seeing all the footage and all the cultural stuff that went alongside it. It's a glorious, nostalgic confection and if you weren't old enough to have any idea what was going on it's a real education piece too.
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