Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool and boring football?
Twas' the time to talk about football again. Time and time again, this blog will again highlight the 'beautiful game'. Sorry to those non-football fans out there.
Current issues about football now. Attendance at football stadiums, particular in the EPL, has dropped a certain level. A few percentage I thik. Less people are attending football games. The 2 reasons analyst came out was that 1.) ticket prices are too high. 2.) football is becoming 'boring'.
Hmm. Let's look at it this way. Chelsea dominance in the premier league. Probably only 1, 2 teams to only challenge them, and probably not a serious challenge too. High ticket prices. People rather watch at home. Sound familiar? Yep. Sounds like the same problem F1 had a few seasons back. I'm not too sure whether the problem still exist.
Anyway, talk about boring football. What makes football boring? stalemates? 0-0 draws? I guess if u define the 'beautiful game' as 22 people kicking the ball and chasing the ball around aimlessly, probably Pele' would need to redefine it again. So what makes football 'exciting'? Well let's make a comparison. Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool. After watching the entire season highlights of Man U and Arsenal, I would rate which team I like best regarding playing 'exciting football: Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U.
Yep, Man U is last. People think I'm a supporter of MU. It's true to a certain extend. But actually I'm a real supporter of attacking and exciting football.
Arsenal
Arsenal plays beautiful one touch, through-pass football. That's why its real enjoyable to watch them play. It's like a 11 people playing as one person. Deadly through passes from Vieira, Reyes, and combined with the pace of Ljungberg and superb finishing from Henry and van Persie makes them the highest goal scoring team of the league. There was even one match where Vieira had rounded the goal keeper, and could have stopped the ball right at the goal line, and roll the ball in using his head if he wanted. And if you want to talk about home-bred stars, Wenger is the master. It used to be Ferguson with his 'class of 90', but gone are the days where he turned to his own academy. Van Persie, Flamini, Fabregas. Exciting football? EPL number one: Arsenal.
Liverpool
Liverpool used to play 'boring' football during the days of Gerrard Houllier. Their dead tactics of launching long balls up front for Michael Owen to chase was getting a bad name.Score 1 goal, then defend for your lives. But since Benitez took over, I'm pleasantly surprised how much it has changed. By introducing a 'spanish taste' into the team, they now have decent passes, cool dribbles, thanks to the introduction of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia. They still have a long way to go, but their main strength is their team spirit and determination, thanks to their engine room Stevie G. People get tricked when they see a formation of 4-5-1 from them. In actual form,they have a secret striker in Steve. He's the one who makes runs into the penalty box to connect. Before anyone knows it,the ball is at the back of the net. Good fluidity, adventurous runs, risk takers. Not bad from Liverpool.
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho has been blamed for 'boring football. During the last match against Liverpool, the anfield supporters taunted the Chelsea team ' Boring Chelsea, Boring Chelsea.' Though its through to a certain extend, they still have good movement of the ball in the field. But the difference is that they play 'controlled' football, which is the same case with MU. Control the game. Hold posession. Only take 'calculated' risks. Well, it's not wrong, in fact, it proved to be effective. They won the EPL using this. The thing that makes them 1 step above MU is that they take their chances well. that's why they still notched up plenty of 1-0 wins. And they have deadly wingers who don't waste their runs into the penalty box. As you can see, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben have managed to score plenty of goals. and of course, their expert long range 'cannon', Frank Lampard. Boring football? They play 4-3-3. How can that be still boring? It could, with their mentality.
Manchester United
Finally, MU. Ferguson has been accused of playing 4-5-1, and not reverting to the traditional 4-4-2 which was used during the 'glory days' of the 90's. The truth is, MU has lost its fluidity and attacking movement of the ball. They became less willing to take risk, and they have no really good passers of the ball. An counter attack movement can end up to their own goal keeper. Example: After a corner, Ronaldo dribbles the ball to the opposition penalty box furiously in counter attack, passes the ball to scholes. Scholes takes the ball, and looks up for options. Oops. No options. Opposition has recovered in time. One fella coming to tackle him. Pass back to Keane. Keane pass back to Ferdinand. Opposition coming to tackle again. Ferdinand pass back to van der Sar. See what I mean? It's amazingly hilarous and incredibly frustrating to watch. Makes you wanna pull your hair out. No chemistry between players. Controlled football. They have become experts in 'back-passing'. Another thing, is that they don't take their chances well. you can see the match statistics as '20 shots at goal' but with 0-0 result. They waste their chances too much. That's why they are finding it harder to get their goals. Thank God they still have Rooney to muster up some stuff, but they need to work harder if they are even thinking of challenging for the main trophy. I used to like MU because of the attacking football they play last time, but now it's getting on my nerves. Boring MU, Boring MU.
He might have to go to bring a change to the team.
Many teams are playing 4-5-1 now. It gives them more assurance of the midfield battle, though it limits their attacking options. Imagine a 4-5-1 vs a 4-5-1. 10 people in midfield alone. Crazy. Nobody can move a few metres without encountering another person. So? How to bring to ball up front? Launch long balls. Morever, every team will have a holding and defending role in midfield. Keane for MU, Makelele for chelsea, Alonso/sissoko for liverpool, and so on. Stalemates. Attackers can hardly get their momentum. result? Boring football, result? Nobody wanna watch, attendance go low.
Notice I didn't talk about the defending options. It will take another blog about it. :P Maybe it's still the start of the season. I don't know. But then again. teams like Barca are already firing it up, and they started later. I am a student and hardcore fan of the game, and I love it if anyone has comments about football. I don't really fancy 'one-minded' football fans who only support their club and other clubs 'suck', especially those people who detest a certain football club. I like exchanging good, analytical ideas with people who are open minded about the game. It's hard to find these among the comunity I live in. If there are any, I would be more than happy to chat with you . :) But then again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being a hardcore football fan is wrong. If it were like this, then football would have lost its passionate supporters who sing and cheer their heart out for their clubs. ;) Go ahead and support your favorite club. It's good. But don't come up with one minded ideas and simply shoot people and clubs. It's immature and stupid and frustrating. hehe.
Wow. Long blog.
He is still my favorite. I think you know why.
Current issues about football now. Attendance at football stadiums, particular in the EPL, has dropped a certain level. A few percentage I thik. Less people are attending football games. The 2 reasons analyst came out was that 1.) ticket prices are too high. 2.) football is becoming 'boring'.
Hmm. Let's look at it this way. Chelsea dominance in the premier league. Probably only 1, 2 teams to only challenge them, and probably not a serious challenge too. High ticket prices. People rather watch at home. Sound familiar? Yep. Sounds like the same problem F1 had a few seasons back. I'm not too sure whether the problem still exist.
Anyway, talk about boring football. What makes football boring? stalemates? 0-0 draws? I guess if u define the 'beautiful game' as 22 people kicking the ball and chasing the ball around aimlessly, probably Pele' would need to redefine it again. So what makes football 'exciting'? Well let's make a comparison. Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool. After watching the entire season highlights of Man U and Arsenal, I would rate which team I like best regarding playing 'exciting football: Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U.
Yep, Man U is last. People think I'm a supporter of MU. It's true to a certain extend. But actually I'm a real supporter of attacking and exciting football.
Arsenal
Arsenal plays beautiful one touch, through-pass football. That's why its real enjoyable to watch them play. It's like a 11 people playing as one person. Deadly through passes from Vieira, Reyes, and combined with the pace of Ljungberg and superb finishing from Henry and van Persie makes them the highest goal scoring team of the league. There was even one match where Vieira had rounded the goal keeper, and could have stopped the ball right at the goal line, and roll the ball in using his head if he wanted. And if you want to talk about home-bred stars, Wenger is the master. It used to be Ferguson with his 'class of 90', but gone are the days where he turned to his own academy. Van Persie, Flamini, Fabregas. Exciting football? EPL number one: Arsenal.
Liverpool
Liverpool used to play 'boring' football during the days of Gerrard Houllier. Their dead tactics of launching long balls up front for Michael Owen to chase was getting a bad name.Score 1 goal, then defend for your lives. But since Benitez took over, I'm pleasantly surprised how much it has changed. By introducing a 'spanish taste' into the team, they now have decent passes, cool dribbles, thanks to the introduction of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia. They still have a long way to go, but their main strength is their team spirit and determination, thanks to their engine room Stevie G. People get tricked when they see a formation of 4-5-1 from them. In actual form,they have a secret striker in Steve. He's the one who makes runs into the penalty box to connect. Before anyone knows it,the ball is at the back of the net. Good fluidity, adventurous runs, risk takers. Not bad from Liverpool.
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho has been blamed for 'boring football. During the last match against Liverpool, the anfield supporters taunted the Chelsea team ' Boring Chelsea, Boring Chelsea.' Though its through to a certain extend, they still have good movement of the ball in the field. But the difference is that they play 'controlled' football, which is the same case with MU. Control the game. Hold posession. Only take 'calculated' risks. Well, it's not wrong, in fact, it proved to be effective. They won the EPL using this. The thing that makes them 1 step above MU is that they take their chances well. that's why they still notched up plenty of 1-0 wins. And they have deadly wingers who don't waste their runs into the penalty box. As you can see, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben have managed to score plenty of goals. and of course, their expert long range 'cannon', Frank Lampard. Boring football? They play 4-3-3. How can that be still boring? It could, with their mentality.
Manchester United
Finally, MU. Ferguson has been accused of playing 4-5-1, and not reverting to the traditional 4-4-2 which was used during the 'glory days' of the 90's. The truth is, MU has lost its fluidity and attacking movement of the ball. They became less willing to take risk, and they have no really good passers of the ball. An counter attack movement can end up to their own goal keeper. Example: After a corner, Ronaldo dribbles the ball to the opposition penalty box furiously in counter attack, passes the ball to scholes. Scholes takes the ball, and looks up for options. Oops. No options. Opposition has recovered in time. One fella coming to tackle him. Pass back to Keane. Keane pass back to Ferdinand. Opposition coming to tackle again. Ferdinand pass back to van der Sar. See what I mean? It's amazingly hilarous and incredibly frustrating to watch. Makes you wanna pull your hair out. No chemistry between players. Controlled football. They have become experts in 'back-passing'. Another thing, is that they don't take their chances well. you can see the match statistics as '20 shots at goal' but with 0-0 result. They waste their chances too much. That's why they are finding it harder to get their goals. Thank God they still have Rooney to muster up some stuff, but they need to work harder if they are even thinking of challenging for the main trophy. I used to like MU because of the attacking football they play last time, but now it's getting on my nerves. Boring MU, Boring MU.
He might have to go to bring a change to the team.
Many teams are playing 4-5-1 now. It gives them more assurance of the midfield battle, though it limits their attacking options. Imagine a 4-5-1 vs a 4-5-1. 10 people in midfield alone. Crazy. Nobody can move a few metres without encountering another person. So? How to bring to ball up front? Launch long balls. Morever, every team will have a holding and defending role in midfield. Keane for MU, Makelele for chelsea, Alonso/sissoko for liverpool, and so on. Stalemates. Attackers can hardly get their momentum. result? Boring football, result? Nobody wanna watch, attendance go low.
Notice I didn't talk about the defending options. It will take another blog about it. :P Maybe it's still the start of the season. I don't know. But then again. teams like Barca are already firing it up, and they started later. I am a student and hardcore fan of the game, and I love it if anyone has comments about football. I don't really fancy 'one-minded' football fans who only support their club and other clubs 'suck', especially those people who detest a certain football club. I like exchanging good, analytical ideas with people who are open minded about the game. It's hard to find these among the comunity I live in. If there are any, I would be more than happy to chat with you . :) But then again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being a hardcore football fan is wrong. If it were like this, then football would have lost its passionate supporters who sing and cheer their heart out for their clubs. ;) Go ahead and support your favorite club. It's good. But don't come up with one minded ideas and simply shoot people and clubs. It's immature and stupid and frustrating. hehe.
Wow. Long blog.
He is still my favorite. I think you know why.
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