Match Thoughts ~ Manchester United 2 - 0 Southampton

Manchester United were comfortable winners in their match against Southampton at Old Trafford. This was a match of many firsts:
first home game of the 16/17 EPL season.
first home game at Old Trafford for Jose Mourinho
first home game at Old Trafford for Zlatan Ibrahimovic
first game and start for Paul Pogba

With so much emotional aspects of the game, the occasion could have easily overtaken MU. But it did not. They won reasonably comfortably and played pretty well. Here are some of my takes from the game.

The Good

More vertical passing & direct play & faster pace of movement
throughout the game, the ball was moved up vertically from the defensive/central midfield zone. This launch several counters and caught Southampton on the back foot. Together with the speed of play, this was a key improvement from the LVG era and allowed the team to be on the front foot for most of the game.

Plenty of combo play
this was a new and refreshing aspect of Jose's MU that I really like. MU's play was peppered with several combos (1-2s and triangles).

Pogba is phenomenal
Really, is there anything else to say about Pogba? He can run, he can tackle, he can defend, he can pass, he can dribble, he can hold the ball, he can attack, he can shoot. Is there anything else he should be doing?

Fellaini and Pogba combo
I particularly like this 2-man combo. There seems to be much to look out for in this combo. Two powerful players who can take turns to go up and support the attack knowing the other is comfortable staying back to cover the defence.


The Bad (or rather The Ok which needs work)

Fellaini and Pogba
Several times, these two were in same area of the pitch, especially in the defensive midfield zone. In some cases, they were both close to each other when MU's centrebacks were holding the ball and Saints were on the back foot. This resulted in a square of 4 players within 3 arm's length distance of one another. If one of them pushed up, it could create overloads in any section of the pitch and allow the centre backs to find a more strategic vertical pass. One could push up to support attack. but good combo.

Defensive channels
Saints had their best chances when they played the ball through MU's channels. Specifically, the channels between the centreback and fullback (e.g. Blind and Shaw). This was caused by too much space between Blind and Shaw, leaving the channel exposed. It could be a result of the centrebacks being too narrow or that the fullbacks are playing too wide. Either way, its a potential gap that someone like Pep is certain to exploit.

Rooney
Granted, he assisted for the first goal. But on an overall match basis, his ball control was weak, lost possession several times, was not taking up space behind Zlatan and was slightly out of sync with his teammates. Readers know I am not a big fan of Rooney and I stand by it. Hopefully Mikhitaryan comes good and allows us to cut the wage bill by selling Rooney.

Attacking plan
At the start, MU seemed to have a plan. Fast vertical passes to the 3 attacking mids, who had 3 options:
1. Combo play and get shots
2. Find overlapping winger who crossed in
3. Diagonal forward passes to get ball into the box

However, as the game went on, MU seemed to lose the plot and had no specific attacking plan. It became a case of relying on individual brilliance. Martial tried to dribble his way through. Pogba tried the same.

Control
Despite winning, I did not feel that MU were fully in control of the match. Midway through the first half, Saints upped their temp. Instead of pushing back and taking charge, MU simply retreated, allowing saints to put together some excellent plays and create chances. These are things Jose will need to work on.

Vertical spacing
I felt that there was too much space between the 3 attacking midfielders and the 2 central midfielders. That was evident in how many times Pogba had to dribble past Saints players to get the ball to the front 3. You could argue that the space was what allowed MU to play fast vertical passes but then I would say shorter vertical passes are not as risky than longer vertical passes. With the latter, chances of interceptions are higher. With the former, it shows the team is moving up and down together as a unit.

16/17 EPL season

Here we go again. Brand new season, many changes across the 20 teams, strongest managerial pool in the EPL's history and several subplots.

I honestly cannot wait for the season to get under way.

Can Koeman improve everton or will he regret leaving saints?
How will Poch raise spurs to the next level?
Can Ranieri keep Leicester in the top 4?
Will Jose be the man (finally) for Man Utd?
How will Pep fate in his maiden season in the EPL?
Not forgetting West Ham n Bilic, serious underdogs for top 5.

Pep vs Wenger vs Jose vs Klopp vs Poch
Bring it on!

#Pogback

And so the greatest saga of the 16/17 pre-season has been concluded. Paul Pogba had finally signed for Man Utd. Works record fee. But was it really worth it for the club?

Pogba preferred a move to Real Madrid. They could not afford Juventus' asking price. Just seems like him coming to Man Utd was his alternative option. Do we really need a player wise heart is not set on playing for the club? While I don't believe he will turn out to be another deMaria, what are the chances of Pogba staying for more than 2-3 seasons?

At his age, Man Utd is just another port of call in his journey. If so, how much would the club be able to recoup when he wants to move?

I'm all for the club getting better, but we could have spread out that money over another central defender and a central midfielder.

Italy @ the Euros

It was a tactical masterclass from Italy against Spain in the 2nd round of Euro 2016. Antonio Conte masterminded a brilliant plan to beat Spain. Credit too to the players for executing the plan perfectly from the start till the end.

Knowing that Spain's midfielders were unstoppable when they had the ball, Italy bypassed the middle of the park - either through high/long balls from defence or through long on-the-ground veritical passes into the Spanish defensive third.

This had 2 effects. One, it removed the Spanish attacking quarter of Iniesta, Fabregas, Nolito & Silva from the game. Two, it put immediate pressure and confusion on the Spanish defensive trio of Busquets, Pique and Ramos. That combined with the Spanish fullbacks often higher up the pitch meant that Spain were always on the back foot with little time to gather themselves and find their footing. Jordi Alba and Juanfran were never around to give enough support to the defence. The net effect was to allow Italy's 5 man midfield to overload the Spanish defensive zone.

Finally, Graziano Pelle was the perfect striker against Pique and Ramos, both of whom are not very good with high balls and against strong opponents. Instead of trying to be the point man for Italy's attacks, Pelle came back just a little bit for the two Spanish central defenders to open up spaces for the Italian midfielders to move into. Pelle was often laying up balls and assisting the flow of the movements. That helped Italy be more fluid, which is often not the case with a 3-5-2 formation.

Next Italy face my favourite team, Germany. It will be interesting to see Conte's tactical plan to counter the Germans.

Euro 2016 - the Quarters

And so we have the last 8. Though I must admit, I got a few predictions wrong, I am very happy that Spain and England got kicked out. Iceland truly truly deserve to be still in the tournament

Euro 2016 QuarterFinal Schedule (all in Singapore local time)

Friday 3am: Poland vs Portugal

Saturday 3am: Wales vs Belgium

Sunday 3am: Germany vs Italy

Monday 3am: France vs Iceland

My predictions?? Portugal, Belgium, Germany & France in the Semis.

Euro 2016, the knockouts are here

Are you ready for the fun part of euro 2016 starting Saturday afternoon? It's going to be an avalanche of games.

Switzerland vs Poland (prediction: Switzerland to win)
Croatia vs Portugal (Croatia to win)

Wales vs Northern Ireland (Wales to win)
Hungary vs Belgium (Belgium to win)


Germany vs Slovakia (Germany to win)
Italy vs Spain (Spain to win)

France vs Republic of Ireland (France to win)
England vs Iceland (England to win)

Looks like football fans are in for a cracker of a weekend.

10 players Jose Mourinho should sell this summer

Here are 10 players who I think Jose Mourinho, and Manchester United, should sell off:

1. Chris Smalling - way too many errors and slips in concentration to be the dominant, leading centreback for a team.

2. Daley Blind - great technically but just too slow for the EPL. Would do well in other leagues.

3. Antonio Valencia - great utility player but simply one-dimensional. Opponents have read him and tucked him away in their back pockets.

4. Phil Jones - enough said. Anyone seen him lately?

5. Marcus Rojo - absolutely the worst defender in United's squad. Extremely clumsy, tactically dumb, lousy crosser and many more. Has to be sold off somewhere, anywhere.

6. Michael Carrick - used to be good. Age has caught up and he simply cannot be the first choice if United are to challenge for honours.

7. Ander Herrera - I personally like him as a player but with LVG's tactics, was not getting his favoured role. Might want to stick around for Mourinho to bring the best out of him.

8. Marouane Fellaini - could be kept as a Plan Z perhaps? Though if we are that desperate to reach Plan Z, then the game is lost.

9. Wayne Rooney - simply hopeless now. Best days are definitely gone. Can be an impact sub at the most. Seems to have a very strong grip on the dressing room. Might be a hindrance to the club's progress.

10. Juan Mata - for some reason, he cannot seem to perform anymore. Heady days of being the top playmaker in the EPL are past him.

Do you agree with my selection?