Fundamentals of Football – How hard can it be?

August 24, 2018

Looking at stats behind the scenes, this post seems to be read on a daily basis, 3 today, 10 yesterday and 17 on Tuesday etc etc. Written in June 2012, I was wondering what is its specific appeal.

Does it come out on top from search engine enquiries?  What, if anything, would you wish to add? A simple game complicated by fools?

I have decided to write this piece in a bid to react to what really makes a good football player (Reactionary to “is this the time to sell Walcott?”) particularly when it comes to delivering in the required playing position. I believe the knowledge of the facts of an issue will result in better formulation of opinions.

The fundamentals of football relates to the following:

1. The Player

2. The Team

3. The Formation

4. The Positions

So we will consider the fundamentals of football within the spectrum of these four key aspects

1. The Player

There are basic requirements needed for an individual to qualify as a football player.

a. Ball Control:

Ball control is primarily the ability to position a ball such that it favours the overall objective of getting a goal. In other words, to get a goal, a player must be able to receive a pass, make a pass and shoot at goal. Basic skills needed here are Foot Control of Ball, Chesting, Heading (Nodding), Kicking (Shooting), and Movement (Running, Jumping, and Sweeping)

b. Ball Possession:

In the event where the opposition has the ball, a player is required to possess the basic ability:  technical or physical or both to dispossess the opponent of the ball for the purpose of gaining or regaining possession. For example Marking and Tackling

c. Team Play:

When it is a game, it only means there is more than one. There is no such game with only one person involved. At least there must be the player and the coach, and in this discourse, there are more than one and thus the necessity for Team play.

d. Knowledge of the rules.

2. The Team

The Team that will play football and win will have the following basic requirements

a. Desire to win: Since football is a game, it is just thus a fact that if there is no desire to win, there is no need to play. Of course somebody will say you can play for pleasure, but I dare ask ‘is there any pleasure in Losing?’ Desire to win or lose will be betrayed by Urgency, Grit, Determination, Belief etc.

b. Tactics: There must be the development of a tactic to overcome the opposition.

c. Tactical discipline: The ability to see out a game according to tactics must be present in a team

d. Knowledge of the rules.

3. The formation

The fundamental requirements of any formation are

a. Departments: Ranging from Defence, to Midfield, to Attack; a formation must possess those three. Each of these three may be sub-divided to accommodate details (Positions).

b. Balance: To assist in the overall objective of overcoming the opposition, the team must be able to achieve result without any department faltering.

4. The Positions

Each Position in The Department, in The Formation and in The Team defines qualities that are fundamental to The Player. Therefore, taking the fundamentals required from a player and defined in the position the player must play are here listed

a. Defence: Stamina, Tackling, Vision, Swiftness, Link-up play, Game Reader

b. Mid-field: Stamina, Tackling, Vision, Swiftness, Link-up play, Hold-up play, Distribution, Dribbling, Game Reader.

c. Attack: Stamina, Tackling, Vision, Swiftness, Dribbling, Finishing,

Considering these fundamentals, to succeed at the top top level like Arsene will normally say, A player must possess all the aforementioned qualities in degrees that qualifies him as a professional and additional qualities that distinguishes him for the position, for the formation, for the team and also not forgetting for the opposition. In reacting to if Theo Walcott is a necessity or a player Arsenal should do away with, I think we need to consider what Theo has that is peculiar to him. Speed, Penetrating run, Accurate pin-pointed cross-in (Grounder or Lofted), and lately superb finishing, I think he is a player suitable for teams playing Highline or generally lack tactical and positional awareness. Also, considering he is 23 years old, I think it is only logical to allow him develop other innate skills that a player can only get as he ages and hope he turns out the kind of player that can show up for any kind of opposition.

I believe with these submissions, we can fairly assess a player and determine if he is suitable for Arsenal or not.

Thank you.

Written by Timmy

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Posted by Bongo

Ramsey Mishandled?

August 23, 2018

Both Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey are in the final year of their contracts; neither of them has indicated a willingness to stay nor have they responded to the improved deals on offer. It is rumoured that Ramsey has said he will sign in AFC double his , already inflated, wages (this is a man who lives in the most expensive house in Wales!)

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We have been here before and not so long ago. Alexis Sanchez forced his way out of Arsenal by refusing to sign a massively improved contract. Sold in January, his agent managed to persuade MU to give Sanchez a purported ￡380k a week, plus ￡71k per game appearance, plus ￡1m a season signing-on fee!! No wonder he left AFC. Brilliant business for the player but not for either club.

And then there was Ozil. Great player but worth over ￡300k a week? He and his agent hung on until AFC where forced into a corner, especially after losing Sanchez.

What did AFC and our new negotiating team learn from this? Well, it seems sweet FA.

Had they been sold in summer, Ramsey would have attracted offers above €35m, Welbeck as an established International, around €20m. Can the club afford to let them run down their contracts and leave for free next summer or swapped for an inferior player in January? €50+m would allow us to buy the new, young CB we are crying out for. It would not have been Sokratis we signed but (perhaps) a player of Varane quality, maybe even Godin (though he is a bit old).

 

And while we are on strange (read incomprehensible) decisions, why did they give Elneny an improved contract? Is it worth paying him a few mill a year just to get a few games in the Europa? I like Elneny wish him well but he is limited in his ability whereas Xhaka (who also got a new contract) has clear potential to become a fine player.

So what do you think? Do AFC give in to player power or get tough and sell players who do not sign contracts which are running down?

Not a simple decision.

written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Drop Özil for the sake of the High Press?

August 22, 2018

Below is a comment RC78 wrote on 22/5/18 in response to a question from Micky about Unai Emery’s style of play and what we can expect. RC78 was convinced Mesut would be a sacrificial lamb to Emery’s favoured high press tactic. (So far he has been right about Calum Chambers, Jack and the recruitment of the DM.)

What do you think – would benching the player who creates more chances than anyone else be crazy or make perfect sense in the new system?

Guys – I can tell you all about Emery. The guy is a football fanatic…He is so meticulous and he wants his teams to play with character and aggression. He wants the teams to play:

1. Direct football – get to the box as fast as possible

2. Fast counter attack based on placed attacks

3. High press

At PSG, his desire, attention to details and aggression were not well appreciated by some players. He loves videos and he loves tactical chats.

With him as a coach, I am worried for either Miky or Ozil because there will be space for only one of them in the team. He will move Ramsey up the pitch for sure. He will also heavily rely on Auba and I think Lacaz will have a role to play up front as well so I can see the front three to be:

Ramsey, Auba – Lacaz

He will also want 3 mids with quite an engine so I expect to see Emery keep Xhaka as a starter but in a different role and I think that he will try to recruit a DM and if he doesn’t get the one he wants, he will ask Wilshere to play there so you will have

Xhaka, RECRUIT, Miky OR Xhaka, Jack, Miky

In terms of his full-backs, he relies on attacking minded full backs so expect Bellerin and Koli to be starters

In terms of his CB, he wants 1 old school CB that is strong in the air and on the man and 1 CB that is more modern with pace, positional awareness and good passing range. Expect us to recruit another CB.

Possible team:
Cech – Bellerin, Mavropanos, RECRUIT, Koli – Xhaka, RECRUIT, Miky – Ramsey, Auba – Lacaz

That leaves Wilshere and Ozil on the bench but he will make that team work because all of them are ready to play with heart. They will give him what he wants and they will maximize their potential.

Due back in Drayton Park on Saturday

Expect players like Mustafi, Chambers, Holding, Iwobi to be sidelined.

Expect players like Ozil, Wilshere to be frustrated but to fight for their place.

Expect players like Welbeck, AMN and Nketiah to be given a chance.

The guy is a football freak but he can maximize a team’s potential. With him, I feel that Top 4 is achievable and that a Cup win is on the cards.

Can’t beat Micky in a 30 yard sprint

If our recruitment team can get him a solid CB like Koulibaly (Sokratis – ed), a solid DM like Gueye (Torreira – ed) and maybe 2 promising defenders (1 RB and 1 CB), he will deliver to meet clubs and fans expectations.

Taken from a comment written by RC78

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Posted by Bongo

Gary Neville – Idiot or Savant?

August 21, 2018

Unai Emery’s Arsenal are certainly causing some debate after only 2 games played. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher squared up on MNF over whether Unai should stick to his guns or settle for a more pragmatic approach.

Read Carragher and Neville’s contretemps in the link below, followed by FGG’s response. 

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11477992/gary-neville-and-jamie-carraghers-heated-debate-over-unai-emerys-arsenal

I couldn’t agree more with Neville. This is a season for Emery to look at the players and see which ones he can rely on to implement his game plan. I don’t really care where we finish as long as the team play in a way that gives optimism for the future. It will take a few windows and some very astute signings for us to get anywhere near the top 4 next season. You only have to look at the money United have spent and the poor transfer decisions they have made to see how easy it is to slip backwards. Fortunately, I feel the club have put in place a very strong transfer structure with the recent hiring of Mislintat, Sanllehi and Fahmy and that’s something that will give us an advantage moving forward and hopefully allow us to avoid the mistakes United have made.

As for the team right now, I feel Ramsey should be a guaranteed starter and I’m shocked that people leave him out of suggested line ups. I really want to see him play as a 10 on a consistent basis and I feel he has the sort of workrate that Emery would love. He just needs a manager like Emery to focus his runs at the right moments rather than the headless chicken routine he sometimes has. A midfield 3 of Torreira/Geundouzi/Ramsey would be my preferred choice right now with 3 from Özil/Iwobi/Mkhitaryan/Lacazette/Aubameyang playing in front. At home I would be tempted to drop one of Torreira/Geundouzi and play Özil as the 10 and Ramsey deeper.

With the defence, I also have to agree with Neville in that the system is fine, it’s just the application isn’t there sometimes with these players. They’ve shown in the past a tendency to switch off and I think we are seeing some costly mistakes at the moment. The Morata goal was a prime example with the midfield allowing Chelsea far too much space and the defenders not recognising that the ball wasn’t being pressed. I do worry about the football intelligence of some of our players and feel they struggle to read situations for themselves. Hopefully Emery can drill some tactical nous into some of the players, and the ones he can’t, I expect won’t be at the club too long.

Taken from a comment by fatgingergooner

 

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Posted by Bongo

Failing the Football Proficiency Test

August 20, 2018

At age 11, a young lad from Edmonton was selected for a boys district XI. Well when I say selected to play, he was actually used as the substitute partly due to physique and partly because of a chronic lack of pace. Anyway enough of a failed footballing ‘career’.

The real reason for mentioning this schoolboy honour was that it enabled the lad to gain something he did not earn. Right, the truth will out, I failed my Football Proficiency Test. Yes, I know that sounds a bit odd but in those days, just like the Cycling Proficiency Test there was also a football equivalent.

The bit I couldn’t manage on the day was playing the ball into the net from around the penalty spot from a pass coming directly from the side. Blaming the pitch because it was lumpy, bumpy and encrusted with footmarks, just wouldn’t wash. I was given several attempts but failed on each occasion, the ball skewing wide off various parts of my shin, ankle and occasionally boot.

Because of participation in the above squad, a pass certificate was granted nonetheless. A fact that still winds me up today.

Back to The Arsenal.

Aubameyang’s worst miss on Saturday brought failed Football Proficiency tests back into my mind. In slow motion you can see the ball lift slightly off the floor just as he’s about to hit it. He’s concentrating so hard on which defenders he has to avoid to put the ball in the net, that the 100% concentration required to get his head over the ball, strike it cleanly and down underneath the crossbar is missing. Result, ball ends up in row X and the Gabonese looks an idiot. (I’m sure he calls himself a ‘twat’ as he turns around!)

https://twitter.com/ArsenalEdits___/status/1030859605621055489?s=19

In contrast Micki’s beautiful left footed strike was all about him concentrating on getting the contact correct on his weaker foot. The beautiful placement was, perhaps, a fortunate by-product of such perfect technique.

Some days they go in off your shin or backside, other days you can’t buy a goal. I’m sure Auba will start hitting the back of the net soon. 🙂

chas

 

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Posted by Bongo

Shambolic, Mesmerising, Perplexing – take your pick – Chelsea Ratings

August 19, 2018

Woulda, coulda, shouda, it was always going to be hard to imagine that such missed sitters would not come back to haunt us – and so it proved. We had the opportunities; they even fell to the players who we would most want them to fall to. But alas they were not taken and we are left with two losses in two games and Chelsea are left with the opposite of that statistic.

It was a game of four quarters or maybe two quarters and one half. The first quarter Chelsea dominated and if that wasn’t uncomfortable enough we had to listen to Glen Hoddle bemoaning the frailties of our defence which although he was right his irritating spud voice was making a bad situation worse.

The second quarter Glen had to do a complete u turn and started laying into Chelsea’s defence and its frailties which I have to say made his voice an awful lot more palatable, because, as we know, as easy as it was for Chelsea to slice through our defence and score two goals, we were able to do the same with just about the same amount of ease, all of which brought the score level.

We really didn’t need the break to come because at that point there looked like an epic victory was in the offing but the break came and Sarri was able to reorganise his troops far better that Emery could. Chelsea were dominant and it was hard to see any other winner. Yes we could have nicked it and I for one would not have minded one jot if it went against the run of play but here we are again after another loss ready to dissect the choice of team and how they performed. So I shall start.

Cech: now I thought he did very, very well as I also did after belatedly watching the City game. I see no problem with his part in playing the ball out short in goal kicks — what I do find fault in was the idea itself. In brief, he stopped the score getting embarrassing. 7

Bellerin: as City focused on exploiting our left last week, Chelsea focused on exploiting our right and dearest Hector was shown up for his lack of defensive skills. Chelsea were playing round him with ease; he was, however, very good when he was going forward and although I know it is easy to say after the fact: the priority against our two opening opponents should have been to have the strongest defence we could have had and work forward from that. Ironically, he should obviously start next weekend. 4

Mustafi: as the experienced central defender we should surely expect more, I struggle to say anything good about him. 4

The Greek Bloke: when is Koscielny back, mah, he got a bit better as the game went on. 3

Monreal: shored up the left for us after last week’s mess and put in some good runs forward. Understandably not back to his tip top yet but still good to have him back. 6

Guendouzi: ah, I get to the one bit that I was looking forward to and that is because he is my Man of the Match. Well done young man. You could argue that he should take his share of the blame for the way that Chelsea were going through our defence like a hot knife through butter but that in my opinion would be unfair: Guendouzi is not a DM, our DM was, for some unknown reason to me, on the bench. The young Frenchman is a deep lying playmaker and someone who can link the defence with the attack, all of which he did very well. 7

Xhaka: I jokingly said during the close season that Guendouzi had immediately made Elneny redundant; well, it looks like he has done the same to Xhaka. Why? Neither Xhaka or Guendouzi are natural defenders and so the decision on who is better must surely be based on accuracy of passing, the ability to play between that lines and who can do a bit to help the defence out and on the early evidence Guendouzi is doing all of those things far more effectively than Xhaka. 3

Mkhitaryan: went from someone who looked beyond his sell by date to world class in the space of five minutes after scoring his goal. I can’t think of anyone else who can play out on the right so I can’t see him losing his place in the near future. 5

Ozil: doesn’t still seem to be able to get to grips with the change of things, I say things although I am not quite sure what those things may be because the attack is largely that same as last season but for some reason he is still not clicking as we know he can. 5

Aubameyang: a game of two missed sitters. 3

Iwobi: Alex is at the stage where he gets called a confidence player and the goal he scored certainly lifted that, had he scored the following opportunity we would all I am sure be sitting here feeling a whole lot happier. 5

Emery: to me the man underestimated the opposition in both games. 4

Written by LB

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Posted by Bongo

A Point?

August 18, 2018

Let’s be honest, if we get a point from this evening it would be a surprise. Come the final whistle we are likely to be rooted at the bottom of the table with no points to our name. When was the last time we propped up the table? Only GN5 could answer that (perhaps).

Unlike BR to start with a negative as he is an optimist and always believe we will win prior to kick-off.

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We weren’t terrible against City, had a couple of chances to draw level at 0-1, and could, with a bit more luck,  have ground out a point but City showed why they are so good. The hope is that we can re-create their tactical pressing game.

Chelsea are also in transition but a little ahead of us – it should be recalled that they won the title a year ago. Sarri seems a good appointment. They have bought well and will be serious rivals for the Top 4.

Why they didn’t buy another striker is a mystery; will Giroud and Morata be enough firepower? Hazard is fantastic but they cannot continually rely upon his brilliance.

Giroud was crap at the WC, yet played every game (?) and won a WC Winners medal. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke and I wish him well, apart from this afternoon.

In defence the Chavs are strong on the flanks and if we are to find the net it will be through pace in the cantre of attack. A few clever passes and PEA will get behind their CB’s, then a little dink over the world’s most expensive GK. No-one highlighted the extraordinary finish against City from an offside position, the man is class.

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Changes to last week? Torreira has to start, he is to be our Kante (who IMO is the best player in the PL). The Hairy One should to be benched. Ramsey or Mhiki could be dropped to allow us to play two up-top. Monreal to return and add some spine to the right side, though it must be said that the Swiss bloke was very good last week.

My Team:

Cech

Bellerin    Mustafi   A Greek Bloke   Monreal

Ramsey   Torreira   Iwobi

Ozil

PEA   Lacazette

We will not start with this team but it is how I would like to see us line up. Iwobi is more mobile and better defensively than Mhiki (though perhaps not a better attacker). Mhiki was anonymous last week, so was Ozil – we need more.

Of the London teams Chelsea are the second best club, they may be Oilers but they play decent football and have got rid of the awful JT/Frank L generation.

Martin Atkinson is today’s referee.

I would be delighted with a point

Up the Gunners

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Arsenal: We’ve Got Our Bottle Back?

August 17, 2018

On the eve of our Saturday tea time visit to Stamford Bridge, perhaps it would be enjoyable to remember a fine performance away at the bus stop in Fulham. Victories when they come at unexpected moments are often the most pleasurable. With our new manager and signings already showing hints of more steel and determination, could we start to believe The Arsenal have begun to rediscover our bottle. Cheers, Rocky.

How are you feeling this morning?

Still glowing?

Yeah, me too.

We have kind of forgotten what it’s like to enjoy a BIG win; a meaningful win; a surprise win against the odds.

Most of our surprises in the last six months have been nasty ones – the kind Mrs Gary Neville has every morning when she wakes up and sees who’s beside her.

But Saturday was different. We went to one of the bookies’ favourites for the title and gave them a spanking in their own back yard. And just because it’s a Chav back yard full of old piss-stained mattresses and wrecked cars, that doesn’t make the win any less sweet.

Make no mistake, Chelsea were seen by many as the real dark horses (whoops, sorry JT, I meant pale horses) in the championship race. Even in defeat to QPR last week they earned plaudits for almost nicking a result with only nine men.

But in the second half of Saturday’s fine win we completely dominated them, winning the half 4-1, taking a stranglehold on midfield and defending well (we only conceded because the ref missed a blatant foul on Santos).

The first half was a different story, with both teams attacking like panthers and defending like pandas, but enough has been said about that in all the match reports.

The point is, we found ourselves in a game that, several times, could have gone away from us – at 2-1 and at 3-3 in particular. But we refused to allow it to do so.

Having hauled ourselves level at 1-1, then gone in one down at half time thanks to another soft goal conceded from a set piece, heads could easily have dropped.

If this had been last year’s Arsenal team, with the homesick Spaniard and the fat French trouble-maker, I think that’s exactly what would have happened. Our heads would have gone down faster than Dani Alves on ice.

But this is a different group of players with a much better mix of vim and experience. It’s interesting that our best performers on the day (with the exception of Prince Robin) were the younger ones: Koscielny, Ramsey, Gervinho and Walcott.

But I have no doubt that they felt enabled to play their best game by the presence of older heads like Arteta, Mertesacker and Santos (as well as Rosicky when he came on), all of whom added an air of stability to the team.

We now have players who do not panic when we’re leading with 10 minutes to go. Indeed, against a dangerous Chavski side we looked very solid in the final stages (the BFG making up for a poor first half by dominating the box in the closing minutes).

We were calm enough and confident enough to see the game out – and bold enough to take our chance to really kill it off when it arrived.

Someone has clearly been to Lost and Found and reclaimed something we mislaid about two years ago: our bottle.

No-one really knew where it had gone. Pat Rice went all up and down the Holloway Road stapling little notices to trees and lamp posts saying “Missing: Our Bottle: Answers to the name Vieira or Adams. Reward if found.”

There were no takers, but now it has turned up of its own accord, just when we needed it most after the most disastrous start to a season for 58 years.

There is still everything to play for this season. The Mancunian lottery winners may be streets ahead at the top of the table but there is a long way to go and anything can happen.

Next up for us in the league are West Brom (H), Norwich (A) and Fulham (H). With the players we have, and with the fact that we now have our bottle again after such a long time, everything is possible.

Keep believing fellow Gunners.

Written by RockyLives

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Posted by Bongo

Welcome to a state of the art Cockspur Up

August 16, 2018

So it looks like the crews of Arsenal supporting contractors are doing a fine job at the new Sh*thole. 🙂

Spuds fans are revolting (fuming), travel plans are in disarray and the tawdry N17 club is at the mercy of the FA and UEFA in terms of being allowed to rearrange fixture venues – possibly right up until the end of the year!

It would seem that the aforementioned ‘safety certificate concerns’ are doublespeak for ‘half-finished’.

Apparently Twickenham was in the running for hosting the spuds home game against Man City at the end of October, but Twickers refused as they said that the bill for post-match fumigation was likely to be prohibitively large.

Oh well, let’s hope it all gets sorted really soon!

 

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Posted by Bongo

How Did you Rate our Debutants?

August 15, 2018

How would you rate our summer signings in their first appearance?
This is meant to be a bit of fun; mainly for Eddie who loves a poll!
It’s obviously too early to make any decisions about our new signings but first impressions often linger.

 

Sokratis Papastathopolous – looked a wee bit slow in pre-season but seemed more commanding in his first competitive game – Cretan rock face.

 

Stephan Lichtsteiner – adapted well (as the seasoned pro he is) to making his debut at left back rather than in his natural position – not short of cojones.

 

Matteo Guendouzi – a little shaky to start and then he seemed to realise he could play at Prem level – “I am not calling another man Matteo. Ever.”.

 

Lucas Torreira – only had 20 minutes or so but seemed to have an immediate impact on our midfield shape – terrier or pit bull.

 

chas

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Posted by Bongo

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