Tag: premierleague

Manchester United Vs. Chelsea 4/28/19 Premier League

SUMMARY:

After Tottenham and Arsenal lost to West Ham and Wolves respectively on the weekend, an opportunity presented itself for either Manchester United or Chelsea to make a convincing case for themselves to finalize a spot in the UEFA Champions League. The game started quickly and intensely for both teams, but United had the better of the chances when Lukaku seemed to be in one of those moods in which he was going to have his way with the Chelsea back-line. In the fourth minute, Lukaku created an early chance as his break-away chance was saved by Kepa at a tight angle.

First Goal (Manchester United):

United kept the pressure on until they broke through in the 11th minute through Juan Mata. Luke Shaw made a well timed run deep from the left-back position into the box and was found by a superb dink over the line by Lukaku. Shaw squared the ball to Mata who could tap in from ten yards out.

Jorginho:

A key to understanding this game tactically, is the role of Jorginho in the game and in most Chelsea games. Jorginho acts as the playmaker for Chelsea who looks to be the pivot and distribute the ball to the full-backs who are pushing forward or play direct balls through to the front-three.

Jorginho in defense:

When Chelsea are not in possession of the ball, they press starting with the forwards and look to smother their opposition by pushing Jorginho very high to restrict the space. If they win the ball, they have the luxury of having their playmaker forward up the pitch. This does, however, leave a considerable amount of space behind in between their midfield and defensive lines.

Jorginho in attack:

In possession, Chelsea look to get Jorginho on the ball to take advantage of his superb passing range. They try to get him on the ball as quickly as possible after winning possession as he can exploit gaps in the defense of the opposition by playing through the space to a winger, creating 2v1 situations with their high-playing full-backs or play the direct route to Higuain.

The problem with this tactic for Chelsea, is that they are extremely reliant on the role of Jorginho. Manchester United nullified his presence by having one of their front three, usually Mata and McTominay later in the match, man mark Jorginho when Chelsea were in possession. It became difficult for Chelsea to create opportunities despite having marginally more possession than United in the first half. Manchester United looked very dangerous on the break as Marcus Rashford proved to be a real handful with his intelligent and well timed runs.

Second Goal (Chelsea):

The goal came when the apparent lack of options for Chelsea in possession led to their center-back, Antonio Rudiger, to take a more than 30 yard strike at goal. De Gea made a mess of holding onto the shot and let up a rebound into the path of Marcos Alonso who did well to finish it from the tight angle. Unfortunate for the Red Devils.

Second Half:

The second-half started with largely the same intensity that it ended with and it was a well-balanced back and forth game. As the half progressed, a multitude of injuries to both sets of players created long stoppages in the game and by the 75th minute the pace of the game had slowed considerably. The game ended with both teams having a clear cut chance each in stoppage time when Rojo’s header was cleared off the line by Pedro and De Gea blocked a shot from Higuain in which the whole stadium had assumed he was offside. It was a tightly run affair, but neither team were able to convincing stake their claim to the top four.

GOALKEEPERS:

David De Gea

Another tough night for De Gea. It is clear to me De Gea’s mistakes of late can be broken down technically, but to do so would miss the point completely. The Spaniard is not in the right state of mind as the mistakes all come from saves that he usually routinely makes. Any goalkeeper can tell you that they know exactly what he is going through, because it happens to every goalkeeper and it is a feeling exclusive to goalkeepers. Unless you are a goalkeeper, you cannot fully understand the feeling after making a mistake, but I will tell those who don’t know that it can only be described as isolating. You feel that you have let your team down, you feel that you have let yourself down, and you feel the humiliation of the opposing team begin to shoot from anywhere. I believe this feeling comes from an extreme level of wanting to do well and then letting yourself down in one moment and from feeling the expectations of your teammates to have done better. Each mistake leaves a mental scar on a goalkeeper forever. I cannot remember my best save ever, but I can certainly remember my worst mistake ever and I expect that this is true for all other ‘keepers. After one mistake, the human inclination the next time out is to avoid making mistakes. The problem with this, however, is that playing a game with the objective of not making a mistake is a great way to make one. Overthinking for a goalkeeper is fatal as your visions of making mistakes will surely turn into reality. I still believe that De Gea is one of the best in the world and maybe spending some time on the bench to reflect is not the worst thing for De Gea, this tactic worked earlier in his career to spring him onto being one of the best in the world, and I suspect he will be back.

Kepa Arrizabalaga

If you are a Kepa fan, perhaps this game can be interpreted as foreshadowing of the passing of the guard from De Gea in the Spanish National team in the near or the distant future. Despite his distribution lacking slightly in this game which is typically superb, Kepa had a solid game between the Chelsea sticks. Kepa has been a good replacement for Courtois and I believe that we are only seeing tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential. I good sign of a great goalkeeper is controlling 1v1 situations and Kepa did that brilliantly to deny Lukaku in the fourth minute. Kepa narrowed the angle well and stayed on his feet to force Lukaku wide. Kepa then received aid from his defender cutting off one side allowing Kepa to sprawl to his right to the near-post and take the ball off the chest, very good goalkeeping. Their was very little that Kepa could have done about the goal as he came out and closed the angle on Shaw who was through, but he scared it to Mata who could then tap it in, Kepa was helpless. In the 50th minute the Spaniard made a save from a United free kick in which the top spin on the ball made it bounce directly before getting to Kepa. Kepa took one shuffle to his right and collapsed to hold onto the ball. He tracked the ball very well and did not give up a rebound, this seemed to be in stark contrast to the ball that De Gea had spilled that led to the goal at the other end. In the 76th minute Kepa took up a good angle against a driven cross from inside the box in which he set with his body square to the ball at his near-post. This allowed Kepa to cover the near post angle, but was also able to handle the cross that was hammered in well and, again, avoid the rebound. I am impressed with the young Kepa.

Everton Vs. Arsenal 4/7/19

SUMMARY:

This match presented enticing opportunities for both the home and away sides. The Goodison Park faithful aimed to see their side go 9th in the Premier League just one point behind both Wolves and Leicester City with a win over Arsenal, though Wolves have one game in hand over Everton. The Gunners intended to keep their 3rd place position 14 points behind Manchester City and league leaders Liverpool . The incentive for both teams to win the day was ever present, however it was Everton that took all three points from a lackluster Arsenal side. Everton captain Phil Jagielka scored early in the 10th minute in a goal that exposed problems in Arsenal’s defense more so than showcasing particular attacking prowess from Everton. A long throw into the box from Lucas Digne was flicked on by Jagielka, headed down by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and ultimately tapped home by the Everton skipper. Everton were able to see out the remainder of the 90 minutes creating a few chances, namely a shot from Bernard which was saved at point-blank range by Bernd Leno which came from a weak header from Maitland-Niles back to his goalkeeper which was intercepted by Bernard. This, other than the goal and a flash chance in front of goal for Aaron Ramsey following a Pickford punch, was the biggest chance of the game other than a multitude of failed Arsenal counter-attack attempts as well as a few missed half-chances from Everton.

GOALKEEPERS:

JORDAN PICKFORD: Jordan Pickford has not had one of his best seasons to date, but he appeared to be solid in this game despite having very little work throughout the 90 minutes. He showed good confidence when dealing with services into the box from the Arsenal wing-backs and was able to take pressure off of his team by either coming to claim the cross or punch it away. I expect that Pickford will come under a bit of heat for coming to punch a ball that was lofted above his penalty area and he punched it down straight to Aaron Ramsey who tapped it over the bar from about 14 yards out. I felt that given that his defenders were not marking Lacazette in the 6 yard box and the position of the ball in front of Lacazette that made Pickford have to reach over the Arsenal Striker, he was completely in the right to punch instead of catch. Perhaps he good have generated more height or power on the ball, but when reaching over an attacker like he had to it’s a tough thing to manage. Although he didn’t have too much to do with his hands, the distribution of Jordan Pickford never ceases to impress me. There is no other goalkeeper in professional football at the moment that has mastered using body momentum and mechanics to strike a ball the way Jordan Pickford has. Pickford is not the tallest of goalkeepers meaning when he strikes a long ball he is dealing with a shorter pendulum. When Pickford strikes the ball he strides quickly then plants his planting leg simultaneously cocking his kicking leg all the way back and raising his opposite arm. He then, in one fluid motion, whips his kicking leg through the ball while swinging his opposite arm altogether to produce maximum momentum in a motion similar to a medieval Trebuchet. As well as his impressive kicking from the deck, he was able to start a few counter attacks with his laser-accurate side volley a few times in the second half. Like his goal kicks, Pickford puts his whole body into his side-volley and anyone learning how to drive a ball with pin-point accuracy, look no further than the example of Jordan Pickford.

BERND LENO: Despite a slow start to his Arsenal career, Bernd Leno has experienced something of a renaissance in the Arsenal goal showing the top form that he displayed in flashes in his time at Bayer Leverkusen. Although conceding very early in the game, Leno is not to blame for the calamity of defending displayed in the scrappy goal scored by Everton in the 10th minute and made 2 saves of note. The first came from a Jordan Pickford side-volley (no surprise) which was flicked on by Calvert-Lewin forcing the error from Maitland-Niles trying to head the ball back to Leno and creating a 1v1 situation between Bernard and the German ‘keeper. Leno starts off inside his 6 yard area and takes a step forward then sets his feet until he knows whether Bernard will strike the ball first time or take it into his stride. Once Bernard has taken the touch, Leno steals the space away from Bernard particularly well by reading when the ball is bouncing at a height that would not allow Bernard to get a strike off and moving forward in this window of time. Once the ball has dropped to where Bernard can attempt to finish, Leno is already within 2 yards of Bernard and has set his feet while dropping his knee to close the gap between his legs; A technique we see many keepers (the Germans in particular) use in 1v1 situations. The second save came from a cutback from Richarlison to Gylfi Sigurdsson whose one touch shot was straight at Leno. It is a relatively easy save to make for Leno, but the importance of keeping an open stance when facing a cross has to be stressed. The stance that Leno takes up when facing the cross from Richarlison allows him to quickly open up his body and take one shuffle step to his right and set to deal with the shot straight down his throat.