Football Dissected

Just 4 games have been played between Barcelona and Recreativo since the 1993-94 season, due in large part to Recreativo having just brief spells in the top-flight now and again. In the 4 games played between these two, Barca have won them all. The first encounter, back in January 2003, Barca won 3-0 and then just over four months later, they won again, this time 3-1. The other two meetings took place last season with Barca winning 3-0 at home and 4-0 away. This season marks the first time for a long time Recreativo are playing in the top-flight for back-to-back seasons.

Barca are contending, once again, for the title. In the twelve games played so far, they’ve won 7, drawn 3 and lost 2 to give them 24 points and 3rd position. They have the best home record so far this season, winning 6 out of 6 to take maximum points, while they’ve scored 17 goals, the second best behind Athletico Madrid, and conceded just 3. Like last season, their away form is proving to be the thorn in their side. In six away games, they’ve won just 1, drawn 3 and lost 2 to take just 6 points from a possible 18, giving them the 10th best away record so far. And it seems goal scoring is the major problem away from the Nou Camp. Unlike at home where they’ve scored a massive 17 goals in 6 games, away they’ve only managed to score 6 and they’ve conceded 7. And the goals they score seem to be coming in the first half and from the main 3 attacking players: Messi has 7 while both Henry and Ronaldinho have 5 each. So far, they’ve scored 14 of their goals in the first half while scoring just 9 in the second period. And in terms of conceding, they’ve conceded 6 goals, 60% in other words, in the first half.

These are the facts for Barca’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won 6, drawn 2, and lost 2
• They’ve kept 6 clean sheets (mostly at home)
• They’ve been the first team to score in 6 games
• They’ve not scored at all in just 2 games
  

Their last league game was the 2-0 defeat away to Getafe, where many would agree they looked completely out of sorts. And the players listed below look to be out for this weekend:

• Rafael Márquez
• Deco
• Samuel Eto'o
• Edmílson
  

Even though they’re in 17th, Recreativo will be pleased with the way they’ve started their campaign, especially seeing as only 6 points separate 10th and 19th. In the twelve games played, Recreativo have won 3, drawn 3 and lost 6 to give themselves 12 points and 18th position. At home they’ve been fairly good – they’ve won 2, drawn 2, and lost 2 to take 8 points from a possible 18 while they’ve scored 4 and conceded 5. Like most teams, their away form is the worse of the two. In six away games, they’ve only won 1 (a 2-0 win over Deportivo LaCoruna), drawn 1, and lost 4 to take just 4 points. If they had at least drawn the 4 games they had lost, then right now they would have 16 points and 10th position. Just like Barca, scoring on the road seems to be Recreativo’s problem. In their six away games, they’ve scored just 4 while they’ve conceded 10.

And the goals they score seem to be coming within the first fifteen minutes of the second half, seeing as they’ve scored half of their goals in this period. The goals are also coming from 3 main players: Guerrero has 3 while both Martins and Sinama-Pongolle have 2 each. The goals they’re conceding are more or less evenly spread out across the ninety, with first fifteen minutes being when they’ve conceded the most and the second quarter of an hour being when they haven’t conceded at all. This suggests that Recreativo are often caught out within the first fifteen minutes and only slowly come into the game after that.

These are the facts for Recreativo’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won 3, drawn 1, and lost 6
• They’ve kept 3 clean sheets
• They’ve been the first team to score in just 2 games
• They’ve not scored at all in 6 games
  

Their last league game was their 1-0 home win over 15th placed Osasuna. They’ll be without Gerard, who received a red in the game against Osasuna, and it appears Barber will not play either.

After losing 2-0 to Getafe, Barca will be keen to get things back on track, especially after Real Madrid have now opened up a 4 point lead at the top. And even though they’ll be missing key players such as Deco and Eto’o, Barca still have the quality to beat Recreativo, particularly now that Henry has started scoring.

My prediction: Barcelona 3 – 0 Recreativo Huelva

18 games have been played between these two teams since the 93-94 season. Athletico have the better record by far with their 11 wins to Valladolid’s 6. But in the last 3 meetings, which date back to the 2003-04 season, it’s been Valladolid who have been the better team, winning twice, both of which they beat Athletico by 3-1. In the last meeting in 2004, Athletico just edged it, winning 2-1. Since then, of course, the teams have changed and in the case of Athletico, it’s changed considerably.

Athletico are having a great season so far. In twelve games played, they’ve won 6, drawn 3 and lost 3 to give them 21 points and 6th position. Their home record is the 4th best in the league – they’ve won 4, drawn 1, lost 1 while scoring a massive 18 goals, the best scoring record at home for any team in La Liga, and conceding 8. And their away form is exactly like Deportivo La Coruna. They’ve won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2 while scoring 5 and conceding 6, giving them the 7th best away record in the league. 23 goals in 12 games (an average of nearly 2 per game) is a very good record by anyone’s standard. And the goals have been coming mostly from the young, promising Argentina forward Sergio Aguero, who’s got 7 so far this season. Forlan and Rodriguez have pitched in with some important goals as well, scoring 7 goals in total. So far this season, 14 of Athletico’s goals have been scored in either in the first or last quarter of the ninety-minutes while they’ve conceded a total of 8 goals in the first half and 5 goals in the last 15 minutes.

These are the facts for Athletico’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won 6, drawn 2 and lost 2
• They’ve kept 6 clean sheets (a good omen anyone would say)
• They’ve been the team to score first in 8 games
• They’ve not scored at all in just 2 games (a 0-0 draw away to Almeria and a 3-0 defeat away to Barcelona)

Their last game was the 0-0 draw away to Almeria, but this weekend they’ll be without Diego Forlan due to injury.

Valladolid are having a typical mid-table season. In the twelve games played so far, they’ve won 3, drawn 4 and lost 5 to give them 13 points and 14th position. Unusually, their home record is the 4th worst in La Liga – they’ve won just 1, drawn 3, and lost 2 to take just 6 points from a possible 18, which if they had completely taken would have given them 25 points and 3rd position. At home they’ve scored 7 and conceded 12. But their away form, again surprisingly, has been considerably better. In 6 away games, they’ve won 2, drawn 1, and lost 3 while scoring 9 and conceding 12, giving them the 8th best away record. Conceding is obviously the major problem for the team at the moment and it’s true what they say – goals do win games. 11 out of the 22 goals Valladolid have conceded, 50% in other words, have come in the final fifteen minutes, a clear sign of tired legs equalling tired minds. The goals they’ve scored, meanwhile, have either come in the last fifteen minutes of the first half or in the second quarter of the second half and they’ve from all over the place: Gutierrez has 4 so far this season while Llorente, Robles and Sesma all have 2 each.

These are the facts for Valladolid’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won just 2, drawn 3 and lost 5
• They’ve kept just 1 clean sheet
• They’ve been the first team to score in 6 games
• They’ve not scored at all in just 1 game

Unlike Athletico, Valladolid are the complete opposite when it comes keeping clean sheet in the last 10 games as you can see above. They’ve only managed one clean sheet, which is probably the best sign that Athletico are going to get some goals. But as bad as that is, Valladolid have been the team to score first in 6 of the last 10 and have, impressively, failed to score at all in just one game, which was a 2-0 defeat away to 7th placed Racing Santander. Their last game was the 1-0 home win over bottom-of-the-table Levante.

If Valladolid can make sure they don’t switch off in the final quarter like they have been doing this season, they may have a shot against Athletico. But, nevertheless, I think Athletico have enough quality in the team to win this game easily.

My prediction: Athletico Madrid 3 – 0 Real Valladolid.

It feels like its been a decade since Juan Román Riquelme last played for Villarreal. For those of you who don't know, Riquelme is probably one of the best passing midfielders in the game today, a man who can rival the best. He's not the quickest by any stretch of the imagination and in actual fact, he may be the slowest playmakers in the world today. But what he can do is sometimes absolutely spectacular, a wonderfully gifted player at the prime of his career.

The Argentina team is completely built around him. He's the captain of the boat, dictating the pace and rhythm of the game like a puppet master. He can slow the pace of the game down and then, in a moment of sheer brilliance, he can serve a wonderful pass to the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tevez or someone else who can then go and score. And with the likes of Lionel Messi doing most of running, the Lazy Magican can sit back and analyse the field, ready for the next attack.

So where to now for the Lazy Magican? Atletico Madrid were rumoured to have the deal done to take Roman in the summer, but the deal fell through. There's no doubt that the big clubs are watching him as he plays in the spotlight for Argentina, outshining the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Maxi Rodriguez, Cambiasso and even Agüero, who looks like the real deal in terms of a forward. Internazionale, Bayern Munich and Manchester United look likely destinations for the midfield maestro, but what about the MLS? Since David Beckham's arrival in the US and now with Ruud Gullit as manager of LA Galaxy, could the Galaxy or some other MLS team lure Juan Román Riquelme to the States with a lucrative, big money contract? We'll just have to wait and see.

Since 1993, these two teams have met 28 times in total, with Deportivo just slightly ahead with their 10 wins to Athletic’s 9. The last 3 times these teams have played against each other, Athletic have been on top, winning two with the third being a 1-1draw last season. But these stats hardly help us analyse the teams this season.

Athletic are having their typical average season. In the twelve games played so far this season they’ve won 3, drawn 4 and lost 5 to give them 13 points and 12th position. At home, their record is pretty good – 1 win, 4 draws and 1 loss while they’ve scored 4 and conceded 4. But it’s their away form that is killing them this season. In 6 away games, they’ve won 2, which is fairly good seeing as they’ve only won 1 game at home, but they’ve lost 4, missing out on 12 points which if they had taken would have them given them 25 points and 3rd position.

These are the facts for Athletic’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won just 3, drawn 3 and lost 4
• They’ve kept just 2 clean sheets (both at home against teams in the bottom 3)
• They’ve been the first team to score in 6 games
• They’ve not scored at all in 4 games
  

The low number of clean sheets is evidence of their inability to hang on in the final 30 minutes seeing as that’s the period when they’ve conceded 7 of their 14 goals this season. Yet as bad as that is, their ability to score first is outstanding. Led by Aduriz Zubeldia and Etxeberria, who between them have scored 7 of Athletic’s 10 goals, Athletic have scored first in 6 of their games, a good percentage of 50%. Their last game was the 2-1 defeat away to Espanyol on the 11th.

Unlike the 90s when they were a major force in La Liga, Deportivo have been struggling for the past few years. And this is evidence for their poor form this season. In the 12 games played, they’ve won 3, drawn 3 and lost 6 to give themselves 12 points and a 17th position so far. But contrasting to the good form Athlethic have at home, Deportivo have been abysmal at home. They’ve won just 1, drawn 1 and lost 4 to take just 4 points from a possible 18, giving them the worst home record this season. But, their away form is surprisingly and strangely better. On the road, they’ve won 2, drawn 2 and loss 2 to take 8 points out of a possible 16, giving them the 6th best away record. And their defence and goalkeeping is better than Athletic’s.

These are the facts for Deportivo’s last 10 games in all competitions:

• They’ve won 3, drawn 2 and lost 5
• They’ve have kept 4 clean sheets (3 of which were away from home against good opposition such as Sevilla and Getafe)
• They’ve been the first team to score in 4 games
• They’ve failed to score at all in 4 games.
  

Yet they’ve conceded 17 goals in total and the goals have mostly come in either the first 15 or last 15 minutes of the first half, the former being the period where Athletic get most of their goals. And their scoring hasn’t been fantastic either. So far this season, they’ve scored just 10 goals, over half of which have come from Guardado and Jimenez Tejada. Kasmirski will be missed as he serves an suspension after seeing red in Deportivo’s 1-0 defeat at home to Racing Santander on the 11th.

Out of the two, Deportivo is far better in terms of away form, but Athletic is the better team overall and are odds on favourite to win this one.

My prediction: Athlethic Club Bilbao 2 – 1 Deportivo LaCoruna.

Brazil against Peru looked like an easy fixture for the Samba Kings on paper, seeing as the Brazilians are over 50 places above their South American counterparts in the FIFA world rankings. But, in reality, it was anything but easy on Sunday. Playing away from home in their 3rd World Cup qualifier of this campaign, Brazil looked very ordinary, which is something that is becoming a norm about the 5-times World Cup winners and the only nation to have qualified for every single World Cup. They may have beaten Ecuador 5-0, but, as Paraguay proved this week with their 5-1 crushing of Ecuador, it seems Ecuador were just that poor that night and the result had nothing to do with the brilliance of Brazil.

On Sunday, Peru’s starting line up was full of attacking talent with the likes of Solano and Pizarro, a clear indication to everyone that they were going for their first win so far of this long, 18-game qualifying campaign. And they started the better team. For the first quarter of an hour, the Brazilians were pegged back in their own hour as Peru dominated possession. They attempted to take advantage of this possession with their short quick passing through midfield and to the wings, creating a few chances early on. Brazil, meanwhile, looked completely lost and out of sorts. Star men Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho were unable to find their rhythm and, whenever any of them received the ball, Peru’s players were quick to close them down in twos and threes.

Brazil were finding it hard to match the beat Peru had set, conceding possession with lazy passing, low concentration and over-elaborate play. Peru remained tight and compact, allowing very little to trouble their keeper Diego Penny. But CSKA Moscow striker Vagar Love created Brazil’s first chance. Stealing the ball from a Peruvian player just outside the box, Vagar Love dribbled away through Peru’s defence to only see his strike go inches wide of the far post. But in the end, it was a moment of sheer brilliance from World Player of the Year nominee Kaka that gave Brazil the lead. Towards the end of the first half, with Peru tiring from the pace they had set out to play at, Kaka received the ball yards outside of the box and in a just one moment, he gave a master class of scoring a wonderful goal. With the outside of his right foot, he hammered the ball and it curled right and straight into the back of the net, leaving Peru’s Diego Penny awestruck. And Kaka had another chance just before half-time to put Brazil two goals to the good. Getting onto the end of a wonderful pass from Ronaldinho, Kaka burst into the box, opened his body and chipped the ball cleverly, only for Penny to tip the ball over.

In the second half, Brazil continued their journey to find a pattern to their play. Kaka and Ronaldinho arrived to the party at last, linking up here and there when they were surrounded by Peruvian players. Ronaldinho’s playmaking qualities emerged from the dark shadows, his pass finding its way to Vagar Love in a fantastic through ball only to have Penny come out and collect. But Peru kept knocking on Brazil’s door, their counterattacking and simple pass-and-move strategies working well against the Brazilian defence. Yet Brazil kept the door shut – for a while. A Peruvian corner was cleared out of Brazil’s box and the ball landed in the path of Juan Vargas, who then hammered the ball low and hard with his left-foot into a crowded penalty area. Andrés Mendoza lifted his leg up and the ball hit Lúcio’s right leg. With Brazil’s Julio Cesar diving to his left for the original shot, the deflection made the ball spin down the middle of the goal and into the net.

And from then on, it was anybody’s game. Man City playmaker Elano and Sevilla’s Luis Fabino, who’s in brilliant form this season with his 14 goals in 15 games, were brought on, but neither made a significant impact. Peru kept the pressure on, attempting to pass their way through Brazil’s defence, only to have the likes of Lúcio and Juan shut the door. Meanwhile, Brazil went for the winner late on. A corner taken by Ronaldinho was headed against the crossbar by Juan in the dying seconds of the game.

On paper, a 1-1 draw looks like a good result for Peru against the mighty, football superpower of Brazil, but, in truth, they should have won the game. They created the better chances, their passing was more efficient and effective, they had more possession and, in front of their own fans, they were the better team overall. Brazil were lucky to have got anything from the match, especially away from home. They move onto 5 points from 3 games (a disappointing draw against Colombia, a 5-0 hammering of Ecuador and this draw) and on Wednesday they come up against a very good Uruguayan side that drew 2-2 with Chile this weekend, have lost 1-0 to Paraguay and have trounced Bolivia 5-0. At the same time, Peru, who have taken just 2 points from 3 games (a 0-0 draw with Paraguay, a 2-0 defeat to Chile and thi draw) travel to face an Ecuador team that will be glad they have veteran centre back Ivan Hurtado back from suspension.

Round 3 South American World Cup Qualification results:

Brazil 1 - Peru 1 - (Kaka 40), (Juan Vargas 71)
Chile 2 - Uruguay 2 - (Marcelo Salas 59, 70), (Luis Suarez 41, Sebastian Abreu 81)
Argentina 3 - Bolivia 0 - (Sergio Aguero 41, Juan Riquelme 57, 74)
Colombia 1 - Venezuela 0 - (Ruben Bastos 82)
Paraguay 5 - Ecuador 1 - (Nelson Valdez 8, Cristian Riveros 26, 87, Roque Santa Cruz 50, Nestor Ayala 82), (Ivan Kavides 79)

The 4-4-2 formation has become the typical standard for most football teams ever since the birth of it in the 60s, most notably with regards to the England national team at the 1966 World Cup. Whenever one mentions formations in football, the 4-4-2 setup is the first one to spring mind. In fact, most teams will attempt a 4-4-2 after another formation, whether a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 or any other, has failed simply because the system is the most familiar. It’s the most famous formation there is and, most of the time, it’s the most effective.

But to understand the 4-4-2 system and to implement it successfully, one needs to break it down completely. There are, in fact, many different ways to play the 4-4-2 system, with each individual position being an integral part of the whole just as organs are integral to the whole of the human body.

The Back Four

First, let’s take the back four. Two centre backs and two wings. It sounds pretty simple, yet in fact the back four is one of the most important and most complicated parts of the team. Because football is low scoring game, the defence is by far the most important component of the team. For example take Chelsea FC. Some would say the reason Jose Mourniho and Chelsea were able to win back-to-back Premierships and other trophies is that their attacking players, Lampard, Drogba and others, could score the goals needed to win the games. But, in truth, as many would know, the defence was the key. Everyone knows Petr Cech is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best, and his record of clean sheets is evidence for that statement. In 100 games for Chelsea, he’s kept over 60 clean sheets. The defensive line was just as important, if not more important. John Terry, partnered with William Gallas and then with Ricardo Carvalho, made sure Cech had nothing to do. Why? Because if the goalkeeper doesn’t have to do anything or if the opponent doesn’t get a shot on target, then there’s very little chance of conceding a goal (unless, of course, there’s a deflection or an own goal). And if you don’t concede, then you can’t possibly lose.

So let’s begin with the centre backs or CBs. Within the framework of the defence, there has to be clear communication between the defenders and the goalkeeper. The two CBs have to communicate clearly to each other about what should happen if any given scenario arises. For example, if an opposition midfielder is driving forward with the ball towards their goal and the CBs only have one striker to mark, then you should go and close down the midfielder and who should mark the striker? One, and only one, must go. If both go then the midfielder, with good timing not to let the striker be offside, can simply slot the ball in between the two CBs to the forward (unless of course there is a wingback playing the forward on side). So the communication between who does what must be clear. Ideally this would take place before the game on the training ground, but regardless there are still times when CBs can become confused about what they’re supposed to do so communication is vital. When they’re clear on what they’re supposed to do, the CBs must stick to the plan.

There is also got to be clear communication between the CBs and the goalkeeper. For example, if a cross comes in, does the CBs try and clear the ball away or does the goalkeeper come to try and clear/collect it? From very early on in the game, ideally from the first cross, the goalkeeper must make his mind up whether to come or not and then he must stick to that throughout the game. If he decides to change his mind midway through, he must let his CBs know otherwise chaos will ensue.

Communication between CBs and wingbacks is also important. The wingbacks occupy positions where it is more difficult for the opposition to score from directly, so therefore the wingbacks should show the opponent down the wing. For example, if an opponent comes inside and has a shot which is on target then that will work the goalkeeper and so therefore it has a chance of going into the back of the net. If, on the other hand, the opponent is shown down the wing by the wingback, then all he/she can do is cross because if they try and cut inside, the wingback will hopefully be able to clear the ball away. And if the opponent chooses to cross the ball then the CBs can clear it away or the goalkeeper can come and get it.

But above all of this, there’s still one thing that is important: the offside trap. Get it right and you get a free kick to start your next attack. Get it wrong and you better pray your goalkeeper woke up on the right of bed this morning or that the line’s man is blind. All too often in the game 3 out of the 4 defenders will get the line right, but there will be one, usually one of the wing backs, who is deeper than everyone else for whatever reason. Getting the line right is the most important things in making the defence work so whenever the ball is not near a defender, that defender should look at where he/she is with regards to the other defenders.

Sometimes the wing backs play another vital role for the team which is to attack down the wing to provide another outlet. The best wing backs in the world, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Ashley Cole, Daniel Avles and others, have been able to sprint up and down the wing for most of the game to help in attack. Their great lung power makes them a valuable asset to have, but also an expensive drawback at the same time. If the wing back is powering up the wing and the team loses the ball, there’s now a massive gap in the defence where the wing back should be. What happens to that hole varies from manager to manager, from team to team, but it must never get ignored. Does the rest of the defence spread out and risk getting stretched, particularly if they’re outnumbered by opposition players? Does one of the midfielders, perhaps the holding one, come and fill the hole with the risk that leaving his/her midfield position may allow the opposition midfield time and space to create a goal? Does the rest of the defence keep a high line to implement an offside trap? Or does the rest of the defence keep dropping back and back towards their goal until help arrives from the midfielders and/or the hole is filled by the wing back getting back in time?

The Midfield

The midfield is equally important as the defence. The four midfielders make up the central core of the team, so therefore they’re involved in all aspects of the team all of the time: set pieces, defence and attack. The way the midfield will line up will vary from manager to manager, from team to team, but the way they line up will influence the defensive and attacking strategies. For example, the midfield could be a diamond formation, a single line formation or a T-formation. In most teams nowadays though, there’s always the same components, regardless of what way the midfield is lined up: a holding central midfielder to provide cover for the defence, two wingers to provide crosses from the wing and an attacking central midfielder to link up with the two strikers and two wingers. In some teams, if the midfield is lined up in a T-formation (3 midfielders in a line with the fourth midfielder in front of them), then there may be a variation of the set-up. Some would say this is a completely different formation (a 4-3-1-2 in this case), but in essence it’s just a variation of the 4-4-2. For example, the 3 midfielders in the line:

(1)may be all holding midfielders
(2)two may be holding and one may be a passer/runner who links up with the fourth midfielder and the two strikers in front
(3)one may be a holding midfielder and the other two may be passers/runners

If the midfield line up in the T-formation then the 3 midfielders in the line will be the 3 players dropping back to help the defence when the opponent has the ball. The fourth midfielder, the attacking midfielder, will be, to some extent, free of defensive duties so therefore he/she can stay up front with the two strikers ready for the counter attack (note: the fourth midfielder may drop back now and again into his own half to try and get the ball back but only if the opposition’s midfield has the ball – he should rarely drop deeper). Ideally the fourth midfielder will be somewhat with pace and, because there are no wingers in the T-formation, he/she should be able to sprint down either the left or right wing to act as a temporary winger if the circumstances warrant such a move.

In a diamond formation, which is sometimes the most widely used midfield arrangement, the two wingers not only provide crosses into the box that the strikers can get onto the end of, but they also provide outlets for passing and through-balls. For example, if the opponent is playing a 4-4-2 system themselves and the back line and midfield are where they should be, then the left winger may come inside and link up with left-sided striker and the central attacking midfielder in a triangular passing movement, which is the best passing movement for drawing defenders out of position to provide through-balls. So, therefore, the central attacking midfielder must be able to cover the whole twenty-five yards or so rectangular area outside the box but not including the wings. A triangular passing movement is easy to implement and, if successful, can lead to many goals. Here’s an example:


Key:
Green dots – team players
Red dots – opposition’s players
Circled dot – player currently in possession
Straight arrow – direction of pass
Broken arrow – direction of movement/run
Dots in triangles – players in movement

(note: I have not included a goalkeeper as his position does not change drastically with regards to outfield players, although it does change at points. I have also chosen not to show the movement of some players as I’m only trying to show a triangular passing movement at this moment.)

The winger chooses to pass the ball to the central attacking midfielder. Then this happens:

The central attacking midfielder then passes the ball to the striker while at the same time opposition players are trying to close him down (note: in reality the opposition players will be much closer than what I have shown). Then this happens:


The striker then plays the ball into the feet of the winger who just so happens to be played onside by the wing back on the other side of the field. The midfielder doesn’t just pass the ball through to the winger as soon as the winger passes the ball and starts his run because then the opposition’s right-back or centre back will be able to ready the easy pass and will then be able to intercept. With this movement the right-back is completely taken out of the equation (unless of course he/she tracks the winger’s run, but even then the striker can choose to keep the ball, pass it back to the central attacking midfielder or, if he/she has enough awareness, pass a square ball across the box to the second striker). And the centre back will be to busy marking the striker to track the run of the winger.

One must realise this is a simplified version of a triangular passing movement as a more detailed one will take into account fatigue and much more realistic player movements among other things.

The central attacking midfielder can also link up with the strikers. If there are no opposition midfielders closing down the central attacking midfielder or if they are but they are not quick enough, then the central attacking midfielder has a choice. With the ball he/she can drive forward, thus forcing the defenders to make a decision. Do the CBs come and close down the attacking midfielder and risk leaving their striker unmarked? Does one of them go to close down the midfielder while the other one stays back to mark the two strikers? Or do they keep dropping back, eventually holding a line, and wait for either the midfielder to make a decision (shoot or pass) or their own midfielders to come and help? Here’s an example:






Now if one of the CBs comes out to close down the midfielder, this is what happens:



Now the midfielder has to make a choice – does he/she have a shot on goal where if they are not somebody like Steven Gerrard, they may not score, or do they move left and then quickly pass the ball through to the now unmarked striker who then has a one-on-one with the goalkeeper?



The Forwards

Forwards come in many different sizes and shapes. You can have the big, stocky target-man centre forward partnered with a smaller striker who a low-centre of gravity. Or you can have two medium-sized forwards who are midway between the huge target-man and the speedy striker. Or you can have a aging veteran partnered with a young, quick striker. Or any other possible combination. But for the forwards to work, they must of course have a good partnership with each other and their midfielders.

With playing a 4-4-2 system that has a central attacking midfielder, the attack, in essence, becomes a 3 vs 2 (2 forwards and the central attacking midfielder vs 2 CBs), without including the team's wingers and the opposition's wing backs and midfield. So therefore, in this case, one forward should always be a big target man who can go up against the CB and have a chance of winning the ball. In situation such as a counterattack the target man can then, after winning the ball in the air, link up with his strike partner or pass the ball back to his advancing central midfielder who can then have a shot at goal or pass a through ball to the second striker if he/she sees the opportunity.

With regards to the wingers, in a situation whereby the team is implementing a triangular passing movement as mention above, the forwards will not only be able to play in a winger, but he/she will also have a chance to get a square ball played across goal for a tap-in (refer to the triangular passing movement diagrams above). But for the tap-in to be successfully, the forward must lose the CB. Therefore to lose the CB, the forward must be able to dummy a run (e.g. dummy a run to the back post and then quickly get in front of the strikers).

Most of this is to do with football basics and isn't be any means exclusive to the 4-4-2 formation, but one gets the general idea behind why how there are many different smaller systems within the 4-4-2 system itself.

People talk about Cesc Fàbregas as having the world at his feet. But there's one player who may also have the world at his feet - Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva, aka Alexandre Pato. No player has ever had the enormous potential that Pato has at this moment in time. The kid is a future genius, through and through. He's got the skills, the tactical awareness, the upper body strength, and, of course, the mark of a great striker. He's also now playing at one of the biggest clubs in the world, AC Milan.

Standing at 5 ft 11 in, he just a little shorter than Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. But he's got the best of both worlds. He's got the skills of a future Ronaldinho while at the same time he's got the nose for goal that made Ronaldo a household name. Yet in truth he's more like the so-called 1000 goals man, Romário. Romário had the eye for goal that made him one of the most feared stirkers in all of Europe when he played for PSV Eindhoven and Barcalona back in the late eighties, early nineties. And Alexandre Pato has the potential to become a feared striker just like Romario was, although he'll probably stay in Europe and write his name into the history books.

I was lucky to see Pato in the 2007 South American Youth Championship where he played a part in helping Brazil win the competition, which qualified Brazil for the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada (which took place between June 30 and July 22) and next year's Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was outstanding in the competition, becoming Brazil's leading scorer in the tournament with five goals. Many observers may say his performances are lackluster, but I disagree. With the demands of footballers in this day and age to run thousands of metres every game, particularly for box-to-box midfielders and wing-backs, Pato may look lackluster but he's the kind of player who can change a game in a second, so why not save his energy for that killer goal that may win the match? As they say tired legs, tired minds.

Pato is the future of Brazil and the future of Milan. Everyone hopes he'll get more games for Milan after 3rd January 2008 when he'll be officially allowed to play for the Italian outfit, particularly this season after the poor run Milan are having in Serie A.

Real Madrid have reportedly been after Kaká. Chelsea have reportedly been after wonderman Ronaldinho. But what about Daniel Carvalho? There can be no doubt that Carvalho isn't in the same league as Kaká and Ronaldinho, but, with only being 24, he has huge potential.

The first time I saw him, in the 2005 Uefa Cup final against Sporting Lisbon, I truly believed he was something special. He was brilliant in that match and was undoubtedly the key to CSKA Moscow winning the cup. He picked up the Man of the Match award for that final since he was involved in all of CSKA's 3 goals. Since then his career has gone upwards - slightly. Since joining CSKA Moscow in 2004 from Brazil's Internacional, Carvalho has gone onto score over 20 goals in over 80 appearances for the Russian outfit. He also became the first foreign player to be named Russian Footballer of the Year in 2005. So why have no big European clubs come in for him?

There can be no doubt that the quality of Russian Premier League is no where near the quality of the main European leagues (e.g. La Liga, the Barclays Premiership etc.). But regardless of that Carvalho has become one of the best players in Russia and he's also shown he can play in Europe. This season hasn't been the best advertisement for Carvalho seeing as CSKA sit on the bottom of Champions League Group G with no points after 3 games. Yet Carvalho isn't titleless. The titles he's won include:

• FIFA World Youth Championship - Winner: 2003
• Russian Premier League - Runner-Up: 2004
• Russian Premier League - Winner: 2005
• UEFA Cup - Winner: 2005
• UEFA Super Cup - Runner-Up: 2005
• Russian Cup - Winner: 2004/2005, 2005/2006
• Russian Super Cup - Winner: 2004, 2006, 2007

Carvalho would be the ideal buy for any team. He's strong, a great passer, and has one of the most powerful left foots I've ever seen. CSKA probably won't let him go on the cheap, but he probably won't cost the £50 to £60 million which Kaká and Ronaldinho have on their heads.

With that being said, there's still one more reason Carvalho may not have been picked up yet by a big European club. And that reason is - money. Over recent years, "new" money has been pouring into Russian football due to the economic boom Russia had started to experience. Yet now may be the time for Daniel Carvalho to move on. He's followed the money, now maybe it's time he followed the challenge - the challenge of being one of the best that is found in Europe.

Inter were held to a 1-1 draw against Udinese on the opening weekend of Serie A. No doubt it isn't the best of starts in defence of their title, especially after their recording-breaking points total in the 06-07 season and after both Juventus and AC Milan both won their opening fixtures. So what went wrong?

With Patrick Vieira and others injured and both Adriano and Esteban Cambiasso left out of the squad as they appear to be on their way out of the club, Inter were left really with a makeshift team. Ex-Roma midfielder Olivier Dacourt held the holding midfield role for most of the game while his teammates Dejan Stanković and the aging Luis Figo pressed forward in support of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Julio Cruz. Inter took the lead through Stanković after just eight minutes after he got onto the end of a clever defence-splitting pass from Ibrahimović.

After the goal came, Inter created several more chances to increase the lead, the best effort for a second goal coming from Julio Cruz who went for power instead of placement. As the first half went on, Udinese increasingly got back into the game with their 4-3-3 formation. The attacking trio of Antonio Floro Flores, Fabio Quagliarella and Asamoah Gyan continually created difficulties for Inter's back four, especially Walter Samuel who was beaten by pace midway through the half by Gyan who's power-driven cross was nearly deflected into the back of Inter's net. Time and again Inter left only a few back, a clear sign of the shift away from defensive football in Serie A in recent years (in the 06-07 season more goals were scored in Serie A than in any of the other major European leagues)

In the beginning of the second half, Inter eased off, allowing Udinese to come on the offensive. And on the 57th minute things turned to the worse. Again Inter left just two defenders back and a Udinese long ball proved too much. Gyan attempted to get onto the long ball with centre back Walter Samuel with him. But goalkeeper Júlio César had other ideas. He rushed off his line to try and clear the ball, but he misjudged the bounce, the ball flying over him. Aware of the fact that Gyan would be able to beat Samuel with his blistering pace, César did the next best thing - he deliberately handled the ball outside the box. A straight red soon followed and so did veteran goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.

For the reminder of the second half Inter contentedly slowed the pace of the game seeing as they were down to ten men and it was an incredibly hot day. A brief burst of creativity from Ibrahimović here and there was really the only thing going for Inter as they passed the ball round lethargically. But Udinese had other ideas. When they had the ball they continually they tried to create chances, most coming from poor crosses into the box.

David Suazo and Cristian Chivu both made appearances in the second half with Suazo being the more active of the two as he partnered Ibrahimović up front.

At the end of the ninety the fourth official held up the electronic board to signal five minutes was being added on. Three minutes later a corner kick was headed into the back of Inter's net by Iván Córdoba and Udinese came away at the end of the game feeling happy with a point against the defending champions, particularly with how hard they worked. Inter on the other hand will feel hard done by, conceding the equaliser with just minutes to go, and Roberto Mancini probably won't be happy with his side's performance and the draw in light of the fact that AC Milan beat Genoa 3-0 and Juventus hammered Livorno 5-1 with David Trezeguet scoring a hat trick on the Old Lady's return to Serie A.

New signing Mido made his debut for Middlesbrough, but that didn’t really mean much in the beginning when Fulham took the lead. Middlesbrough were ripped apart at the back for the goal and, even though Brian McBride injured himself while scoring, he did score. Middlesbrough didn’t really look threatening going forward in the first half with Mido the only one coming close with his fine effort on goal. Then in a seemingly freak accident Hameur Bouazza injured his shoulder and he was replaced by Clint Dempsey who soon laid off Healy only for the shot from the Northern Ireland striker to be well saved. But Fulham had lost two of their starters in just one half.

But then the second half roared on. The Fulham home crowd were expectant – they were in the lead after all. The crowd wanted another goal from their team – except Mido had other ideas. With a powerful left-footed drive, Mido smashed the ball towards goal and keeper Warner, who made a howler in the rain-bombarded midweek game against Bolton, made another howler, although he would be hard pressed to blame the weather this time. The ball hit his arms and bounced off into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. A lucky goal for Mido on his debut you could argue.

And Middlesbrough could have made it 2. The Fulham back four kept a very high and they almost paid the price for it as ex-Arsenal man Jérémie Aliadière broke forward onto a through ball. One on one with the keeper, there seemed to be no way Aliadière couldn’t score. But there was. Aliadière went past the on rushing Warner only to find that Zat Knight had caught up with him. Knight fought hard for the ball and in the process the referee deemed the Middlesbrough striker to have fouled the 6-foot defender before putting the ball into the back of the net. Yet what Middlesbrough could not do, Fulham could not do better.

Brilliant passing and movement from Fulham resulted in the ball arriving to the feet of Clint Dempsey. Almost a tap-in and Dempsey from less than six yards out does the impossible. He misses it. And Fulham looked to pay the price for that miss when Middlesbrough got their second and the winner. With defenders all around him Aliadière used his quick feet to break free from midfield to the right wing with the ball. Turning back, one quick look up. Lee Cattlemole was breaking into the box and Aliadière played the simplest of balls to the English midfielder while Carlos Bocanegra got his feet in a tangle thinking he was going to play Cattlemore onside. The young promising England midfielder made sure it was number two for Middlesbrough with a beautiful finish.

Then deep into injury time Fulham gave one last shot at trying to get an equaliser. Unlike Dempsey earlier, David Healy’s close-range effort was on target and Mark Schwarzer got his body behind the shot, only after it crossed the line. Schwarzer then threw the ball away. The goal, disallowed by the officials, just adds to the call for goal-line technology which is already used in similar degrees in tennis, cricket and rugby. Middlesbrough you could say got out of jail and it was more bad luck for Fulham than anything else with losing McBride and Bouazza in the first half and not getting the goal that replays clearly showed crossed the line, which would have given them a hard-earned point.

It seems as if Roy Keane has a bit of work to do with regards to his team’s defence. Five penalty claims arose from the game, all of which came from the cries of Wigan players, but only two were given. The first three, the ones not given, were a mix. The first from Heskey who claimed he was tugged was a pretty good claim, but it wasn’t given. The second from Koumas was yet another good claim for a penalty, the Sunderland defender coming in from behind to take away the player’s legs. But that wasn’t given either. And the third penalty that wasn’t given was again from Heskey, although it was a doubtful one especially since it was unlikely he was going to get to the ball before the keeper did.
Wigan took the lead when Heskey knocked home Luis Antonio Valencia's right-wing cross from six yards on the 20th minute.

Penalty claims aside, Wigan should have gone two nil up with the goal from Heskey that was disallowed for offside, although replays suggests the ball took a slight deflection before arriving to Heskey. Heskey was again proving a challenge for the Sunderland defence when his header was saved at point blank from Craig Gordon. Sunderland also came close to opening the scoring in the first half. Michael Chopra free-kick was excellently saved by Chris Kirkland and Kirkland was to the rescue for Wigan for a second time when he saved a powerful drive from Michael Chopra after he was played in with a brilliant pass from Sunderland's £5 million summer signing Kerion Richardson.

But Wigan’s luck changed in the second half. Down to ten men temporarily due to the injury to centre back Paul McShane, Sunderland practically handed Wigan a penalty when Sibierski was handled inside the box. Up stepped Landzaat to put Wigan 2-0 up. And then came another display of rash, reckless defending to give away a penalty when Heskey was fouled. Up stepped Sibierski to fire Wigan into a 3 goal lead.

Sunderland defending was like something out of the Conference. It was careless. And even though it was 50/50 in terms of possession, Wigan, especially Sibierski and Heskey, proved to be too difficult for Sunderland’s back four.

For a full 90 minutes it seemed as if Derby County had no idea what the term defending meant. Time and again they allowed Spurs players too much time on the ball, too much time to look up to see the options, and when players like Tom Huddlestone and Robbie Keane are given that much freedom, then sooner or later they’re going to put the ball into the back of the net. The first goal was probably the worst goal to concede not only because it was within the first 2 minutes of the game and thereby setting the tone of the rest of match, but also because of the poor marking. Steed Malbranque stood just outside the box without a single defender near him and surprise, surprise, Jermaine Jenas squared the ball to him and Malbranque rifled it into the bottom corner of the net. The other two goals came in quick succession, a second for Malbranque just four minutes after his first and a delight from Jenas in the 14th minute. Bent added a header in the 80th to secure Tottenham's first win of the season.

A 4-0 thrashing appeared to be just what Derby deserved for their poor performance, although it should really have been 5 if the linesman had not given Wayne Routledge offside when he flicked the ball into the net. 3 goals inside the first 15 minutes not only won the game for Tottenham, but it also sent the spirits of a poor Derby side over the line to the disheartened side. One could argue Derby were only poor because they conceded so early, but still with knowing you still got over eighty-five minutes to go Derby should have remembered the basics of football. And perhaps they should have had a leader on the pitch - not a captain but a leader who would have pulled them together after the first goal and got them organised.

Looks like Sven is really rebuilding Man City. I've seen Elano Blumer play in the Brazilian national team for the past two years and he's a very gifted player. He's more of a play-maker than anything else, a bit like Cesc Fàbregas and the young promising Barcelona play-maker Giovanni dos Santos.

There's obviously going to be a period of adjustment, particularly since he's coming from FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine where the quality of football is no where near the level of the Premiership, but I think he's a good buy. He can pass the ball, he's good with both feet, he can score goals and he can set up goals, which was no more evident than in the recent Copa America final win against Argentina where he made a pinpoint cross to midfielder Júlio Baptista who then, of course, hammered the ball into the top corner of the net.

Juventus, the most successful team in the history of Italian football, returns to the top-flight of Italian football this season after their one season spell in Series B following their match-fixing scandal verdict over a year ago. The Old Lady of Italian football will be hoping for immediate success in Series A, especially since their busy transfer season so far.

Argentina central midfielder Sergio Almirón arrives from Empoli for a reported €9 million. Almirón was a key component in getting Empoli qualification for the UEFA Cup in the 2006-07 season as he provided protection for the back four in his holding midfield role.

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Tiago also arrives at Juventus from Lyon for a reported €13 million. The midfielder’s enjoyed great success with the unstoppable French winning-machine with winning his second Ligue 1 title last season, Lyon’s sixth consecutive league title, but now he looks set to enter a completely different football arena in Series A that will certainly be more competitive than the French Ligue 1 with the likes of Milan, Inter, Roma and even Udinese.

Manager Claudio Ranieri is certainly going to continue to be busy in the transfer market. Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero, the aging veterans of the black and white shirt, are already into their thirties and with age comes tired legs. Players like Marco Marchionni and Vincenzo Iaquinta are certainly going to be tested in the upcoming season. Other players like the solidly-built Jorge Andrade, who arrives from Deportivo de La Coruña, and the vastly experienced Hasan Salihamidžić, who arrives from Bayern Munich, will no doubt be tested as well as they enter an entirely new league. Juventus will be hoping they can get off to a good start with the team they're built.

With a population of over a billion, why is India not one of the big footballing nations? According to a recent study, over 550 million of the population are under the age of 21. With this massive pool of young people, perhaps the biggest on the planet, why then does India not even produce at least one world-class player? Why has India never played at a World Cup?

Firstly, young Indians have for decades have been influenced by Indian culture and family to concentrate more on education as a career than on sport. No one would argue that this is a bad thing, but it does immediately take out a significant amount of the under 21 age group.

Another problem is poverty. Most of the under 21s are in poverty and football is not seen as a way out of poverty like it is in South America. Some do play football, like in Goa and Kolkata, but because the caste system is still in effect, these young players are often ignored by the few scouts there are, regardless of their skill levels.

Some would say India is more of a cricket nation than a football nation. But, according to some leading experts, football is bigger than cricket domestically. So why then does India not produce world-class talent when football is argued to be the number one sport in the country and has been played in the country before FIFA ever existed? One reason is the structure of football in India. For many decades the infrastructure of the country was poor (e.g. communications, roads etc.). Because of this, the young talent that existed never got noticed because the villages and towns were poorly connected and therefore few scouts, if any, ever went to see the talent. In addition, because the country was poor, youth development never improved and because it didn't improve, top-quality players were never produced. All this is of course changing because of the super-power India is becoming and the infrastructure that comes with it.

Football in of Kerala, Manipur and West Bengal is said to be the top sport but still India lacks a world-class player. Attendances in India are erratic. In some parts of the country attendances can be very low while in other parts, particularly when the East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC are playing in their derbies, attendances can be as high as 120,000. So the fan support exists (well in some parts anyway), but fan support doesn't equal better players. Proper training and youth development is very poor, although this is changing as the scheme, signed in September 2006, between India and Brazil to train Indian footballers and coaches is proving.

Another reason is media coverage. Cricket is seen to be the most popular sport because it has massive media coverage and because the Indian national cricket team is one of the best cricket teams in the world. In comparison, for decades football coverage in India was very low, although that is changing due to the realisation of the massive fan support, and for decades the football national team were poor having never played at a World Cup and never won a major trophy (except for the South Asian Football Federation Cup). At the time of writing, the Indian national football team are ranked 162 in the world according to the FIFA rankings, behind teams like Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and even Niger - a Western African country which has a population of only roughly 14 million. With this young footballers have no idol to look up to with regards to the Indian national team.

In my opinion India could be as good as Brazil and Argentina. The climate is very similar to South America. Street football already exists in some areas in India. But the development at the grass-root level needs to improve significantly and hopefully that will happen with the scheme between India and Brazil as mentioned above. Nothing will happen overnight and in my opinion it will probably take another 10-20 years for India to even get into the top 30 of the world rankings.

For decades South American nations have been the most feared footballing nations on the planet. The big two are of course Argentina and Brazil. But how do these two countries countinue to produce world-class players like Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho when their economies are worser than their European counterparts?

Firstly poverty plays a big role in the development of these players. Because most of the big stars, including Ronaldinho, Messi and others, were born into poverty, football was and is still seen as a way out of poverty. As a result of this and because of the amount of money involved in football nowadays, any young player which shows he has talent and skill from a early age is immediately pushed into football by his family. Football then takes over the player's life and the player spends more time in the football environment than in school.

There's also the factor of street football and beach football. Street and beach football in South American develops the player's skills significantly whereas in most European countries "No ball games" signs forbid young European players from this development. Street football lives on skill and talent and winning and scoring goals doesn't really matter; its about the art of football. Of course street football does exist in some European countries, including France and Spain, but quite often these young players are (1) not very fit when compared to players coming through the academies of the football clubs (2) not interested in getting into professional football, or (3) ignored by the football clubs completely because of various factors, including their skill levels when again compared to footballers in the academies.

The climate is also important. Young players running around in hot weather year round in South America are obviously going to develop their lung capacity, Cafu and Daniel Alves are prime examples, and because of this the stamia of most young players is better than their European counterparts. With improved stamia, some South American players are able to sprint up and down the field for a full 90 minutes and with this ability players like Cafu, Robert Carlos and other wing-backs are able to sprint forward without difficulty, adding a new attacking threat when teams come forward.

The economy of football in South American is also significant. Most players coming through the ranks of football clubs are owed by a third-party, like the Carlos Tevez case recently has proven. This is due to the fact that South American clubs are rather financially poor so third-parties, e.g. investors, come in and buy percentages of the players, like 20-30%, and then hope to make a profit when the player is sold to Europe. Brazil, as a example, exported around 700 players in just one year recently, so football in Brazil is more of a exporting trade and because of this the quality of the Brazilian league is rather poor as the best players are sold off to Europe.

These factors help South American countries produce some of the best players in the world, but, nevertheless, in some circumstances they don't apply. Zinedine Zidane and Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo recently are prime examples of non-South American players making it on the world stage.

One would be hard pressed not to say Liverpool don't deserve to be named as possible contenders for the Premiership, especially since their busy transfer summer so far and especially since this may be the first time in nearly two decades they have a chance to win the Premiership title. But can they win it?

Fernando Torres, arriving from Atlético Madrid for just over £20 million, takes up the legendary number 9 shirt which has been previously been worn by Anfield greats Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush. No doubt the young Spanish striker may have a hard time filling the boots of the Fowler and Rush. Although El Niño (The Kid) is one of the quickest strikers in the whole of Europe and one of the strongest, there's no doubt going to be the difficulty of adjusting to the speed and physically nature of the Premiership, particularly after coming from a league like La Liga where getting away with a dive is something more special for some players than actually scoring a goal. But with his stats from his playing days in Spain, 75 goals over 5 seasons which is an average of 15 per season, he's definitely something special. My prediction: 12 goals this season

Ryan Babel arrives from legendary Dutch club Ajax in a transfer worth £11.5 million but, like Torres, he's no doubt going to have difficulty in adjusting to the Premiership. In the 97 games he's played for for Ajax he's only scored 19 goals, just under 5 every season, so he's no goal-machine. But he does have potential. My prediction: a good buy, but will be out of form at the start of season while he adjusts to the Permiership.

Unlike, Babel and Torres, Yossi Benayoun, arriving from West Ham in a deal reported to be worht £5 million, is a different matter. Benayoun has already adjusted to life in the Premiership while at West Ham and there's no doubt in my mind that while Babel and Torres adjust themselves, Benayoun will be called upon straight away to add to the team. My prediction: a solid season as a back-up player to captain Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano.

With Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Sissoko, Reina, Carragher and many other good-quality players already at the club, there's only one thing that the team needs to work on: consistency. Also will Rafael Benítez concentrate more on the Champions League and other cup competitions or the league or does he think he has enough depth in the squad to concentrate on all four? Nobody can argue Liverpool don't have european pedigree with their five European Cups and with reaching the Champions League finals twice in three years (05, 07), but, with the undoubted challenge from champions Manchester United and former champions Chelsea, do they have what it takes to win their first Premiership title since 1990?