Oooooooooooo, it's TWUTAB
Oooooooooooo, it's TWUTAB
I'm back at work (uuuuurgh) but it means we're back on schedule for the usual Tuesday drop.
The Week In Ball
Before I round up the Premier League I want to highlight what were probably the three biggest shocks of the weekend across Europe.
It started at lunchtime on Sunday when Ligue 1 bottom half dwellers Rennes beat league leaders and owners of the most valuable forward line in the world, PSG, 2-0. It continued with the early evening game in Germany where Eintracht Frankfurt, another bottom half dwelling side (who really shouldn't be, they're a decent outfit) beat 9-times-on-the-trot Bundesliga winning side Bayern Munich. At roughly the same time, yep, you've guessed it, bottom half dwellers Espanyol were beating La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Now, it should be noted that not one of these results made any difference to the position of each of the 'better' teams, they're all still top of their respective leagues, but what it does show is that they're fallible (especially Real, coming as it did after their loss to Moldova's Sheriff in the Champion's League) and can be outthought and outplayed. Hopefully it also means we might see a bit of competition in these leagues. Last year of course we had Lille and Atleti besting the rest so let's hope it's the Bundesliga's turn for a fresh winner this year (come on BVB!).
And so on to the Premier League.
Firstly let's talk about Everton and Andros Townsend's revival. Just recently I could be seen yelling 'stick to the podcasting!' at the TV when he played but moving to Everton has given him a new lease of life. He's scoring, giving and receiving excellent balls and provided a beautiful moment of trolling/shithousery (though he claimed it was a tribute, come on Andros do me a favour) but replicating Ronaldo's siuu celebration when his goal drew Everton level against United.
The lunchtime kick offs provided little interest or excitement. There was a predictable win for Chelsea against Southampton and Leeds and Wolves beat Watford and Newcastle respectively.
Now you may think those results would have put Steve Bruce or even Ralph Hasenhuttl under pressure but no, it was Xisco Munoz who became the first casualty of the Premier League managerial merry-go-round as Watford sacked him after a mere ten months in charge.
Because of course, there are only a handful of coaches who can be brought into the league mid-season, Watford have appointed Claudio Ranieri to take over, a glutton for punishment who is back for his fourth stint in the EPL. I like Claudio a lot, he's good fun, which seems to be my top criteria for managers these days.
The less said about Arsenal the better. They battled their way to a frustrating bore draw against a superior Brighton side. My poor Norwegian son Martin was off his game and got subbed off and the kids at the front couldn't quite make it work, not even with Papa Auba and Uncle Laca. And as I've always said, despite everything, we'll miss Xhaka.
Sunday was the real highlight of the weekend however, as Manchester City met Liverpool at Anfield in an utterly thrilling, end-to-end game. Each of the goals was a masterpiece but of course, Mo Salah's was the cherry on the cake. Here's a glorious version of it with incredible French commentary
Perhaps though, the most exciting, heart racing, uplifting moment was when Pep Guardiola, angered (correctly let's be honest) at Milner not getting a second yellow, raged at Mike Dean, culminating in the most extra, most dramatic removal of a coat I think I've ever seen. The fact he topped it off by still remembering to neatly put it on the back of his chair was pure chef's kiss. [Let's hope this doesn't get or indeed hasn't already been removed for copyright infringement]
Kick Off
This week we're going to look at the 4-3-3. A popular formation used by attacking focused teams.
Image above via https://www.footballparadise.com/the-4-3-3-revolution-triangles-arrogance/ which dives deep into the historical use and evolution of the 4-3-3 since the 50s.
As you can see from the image above, the 4-3-3 gives you many options for passing and fluidity. Unlike the 4-4-2 which we spoke about in the last issue, the players in a 4-3-3 have more freedom to break out of position and overlap in the quest to get the ball into the net. As the article linked above states
The 4-3-3 creates natural triangles between its players and is therefore ideal for such a passing game. Passing lanes open up on both sides ahead and behind the ball carrier due to the staggered, angled nature of player positions relative to his position; the system simplifies the style.
It also gives details of the types of player you would expect to see in the formation. You will remember we covered sweeper keepers just the other week and touched on many of the qualities stated below when talking about the other positions:
Ball-playing centre-backs patrolled ahead of a ‘sweeper keeper’ comfortable with the ball at his feet, energetic fullbacks shuttled up and down the flanks providing width and numbers where necessary, a staggered midfield trio consisting of a defensive midfielder and his more creative partners (one of whom was usually what is called a ‘box-to-box’ midfielder) set the tempo in the centre, skilled wingers stretched the play while comfortably playmaking or finishing when needed and a tenacious striker adept at holding the ball up linked with his teammates or finished attacking sequences.
It's no surprise then that this is the formation often applied by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Think about how the teams have a tendency to be shaky at the back, Guardiola's City less so but certainly Klopp's Liverpool. While they have defenders with pace and accuracy they're often used to start attacks and move the balls into these triangles we see on the formation map. It's all about attractive, pressing football. Again as stated in the piece one of the main differences between the two teams is the midfield. City have a much more creative, silky midfield (remember we mentioned they don't even have a recognised striker more often than not now Aguero has gone) with Grealish, De Bruyne, Foden etc. whereas Klopp's Liverpool has a stronger, more brutish line with the likes of Henderson, Milner when he plays there, Jones and before he left for PSG, Wijnaldum.
Of course, the 4-3-3 doesn't always have to be attack minded. Everyone's favourite bus parker, Jose Mourinho, used a more defensive 4-3-3 during his first stint at Chelsea which was characterised by counterattacks and a solid back line.
There will no doubt be a new, exciting development in the tactics and formations of football teams of the future, but for now we can continue to look at the 4-3-3 as a solid, press-based system that gives us the free-flowing, passing football most people love to see.
The Offside Thirst Trap
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down yesterday. You don't need me to tell you what happened next but you may not have seen this tweet from Jan Vertonghen
I was unable to restrain myself from doing a semi-thirsty quote tweet and it seemed to open a door where I suddenly went fuck! VERTONGHEN! Now I'm not going to pretend I haven't always found him hot but it was a sudden, overwhelming lust which made me mentally file him as this week's Thirst Trap.
One thing I can wholly recommend is checking out videos of him doing silly stuff on the Spurs YouTube from a couple of years back. He's very funny and charming, this is a good one:
I also want to draw your attention to his relationship with Dries Mertens, these gifs live rent free in my head...
Anyway, Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen, here's to you, a ginger prince, a charmer, a speaker of several languages, a stud.
Football 'eritage
Gary Neville.
United's greatest ever right back? Failed manager? Divisive pundit? Outspoken tweeter?
Well, yes, all of those things to be honest but the thing Gary Neville can best be summed up by is his 'oooooo's. At least once a match whilst co-commentating Neville will unleash an 'ooo' of varying length or depth, usually to express his feelings towards a rough tackle or a dive or in some cases a wonder goal.
It's become a Thing. Something to look out for during a game and tweet about when it happens. Maybe it's the thing that sways you one way or another over the severity of a foul but what it almost always is is entertaining.
This is a YouTube compilation of some of the best:
Kit Bag
A kind of Kit Bag this week, wherein it is about an item of clothing but it's also a Thirst Trap and a funny moment.
Last week Leroy Sane posted this brief (see what I did there) advert to instagram and whew, thank you Leroy.
Of course this is extremely hot but also extremely revealing (again, thank you Leroy), however the icing on the cake was the response of former teammate Kyle Walker
Extra Time
I've yet to delve into it myself but if you want to know more about the horrible allegations against former NWSL coach Paul Riley, the Athletic have an extremely in depth article here which explains everything that's gone on with the story. CN of course for sexual abuse.
For comments, clarifications, questions or corrections drop me a line at thewayutalkaboutball@gmail.com
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