
Analysing Football. Studying the game, one phase at a time. Professionally unbothered. For business inquiries and collaborations: [email protected]
Joined October 2021
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Whenever I feel lost, and anxious, he always helps me find a righteous path.
Om Namah Shivaya💙
Ideally, a replacement should be a right-sided centre-back who could play right-back too.
🚨 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦: Manchester City left-back Rayan Ait Nouri looks set for an exit, after falling down the pecking order since Enzo Maresca’s arrival.
A move could possibly be in January.
📰 via @ManCityMEN
CitySide retweeted
Sources have stated @etihad are poised to proceed with an action against @premierleague following recent consultations with their legal representatives.
Khusanov and Gvardiol, O'Reilly and Nunes as full-backs.
Then, the midfield, depends upon who we are facing but if we need more control, then:
Anderson, Bouaddi, Fernandez/Cherki
If we want to attack freely:
Anderson, Fernandez, Bouaddi
Simple and sound.
Chelsea's interesting approach to defending corners: prioritising space over numbers.
- Rather than dropping almost everyone into their own penalty area, Chelsea position four players higher up the pitch, reducing the number of bodies around the six-yard box.
- The underlying principle is to reduce congestion in the goalkeeper's operating space while forcing the opposition to reconsider how many players they commit forward.
How does the mechanism work?
1. By leaving four players higher, Chelsea create a potential numerical threat in attacking transition. The opposition must either retain additional players in their rest-defence structure or risk being exposed if Chelsea win the first contact and launch a counter-attack.
2. This can indirectly reduce the number of attackers occupying Chelsea's penalty area.
3. Meanwhile, the reduced congestion around the six-yard box provides the goalkeeper with clearer sightlines to track the delivery and greater freedom to attack the ball.
4. The remaining defenders are responsible for protecting the most dangerous zones, engaging opposition runners and winning the first aerial contact.
However, there are clear vulnerabilities.
1. With fewer players defending the box, Chelsea become increasingly dependent on the quality of their individual duels and the goalkeeper's ability to command his area.
2. Opponents can exploit this by overloading the far-post zone, using blocking movements to isolate defenders or attacking second balls before Chelsea's advanced players can recover.
3. Another important consideration is the delivery itself. Inswinging corners towards the six-yard box may favour an aggressive goalkeeper, but deliveries targeting areas outside his effective claiming range can force Chelsea's reduced defensive unit into difficult aerial contests.
The tactical trade-off is interesting.
- Chelsea are effectively attempting to defend corners by influencing the opposition's attacking structure, rather than simply matching their numbers inside the penalty area.
- The objective isn't just to clear the initial delivery, but to create favourable conditions for the goalkeeper, preserve defensive access to key zones and maintain an immediate threat in transition.
- However, the effectiveness of this approach ultimately depends on whether the opposition respects the counter-attacking threat or chooses to overload the penalty area regardless.
CitySide retweeted
If your heads gone after 7/8 relax, go out and touch some grass 🤣. Long long way to go yet.
Hope everyone had a nice Sunday. Dog walk, pint in the pub and home for a home made curry. 🩵
Perfectly embodies his own fanbase. The ideal manager for that club in terms of "victim mentality".
Donnarumma needs to realise that his position isn't untouchable, and I believe Enzo Maresca has to make the bold decision to give Rulli a few games as the temporary No. 1 to see how things unfold.
Many people, myself included, have defended Donnarumma over the past year, but if he's consistently failing to deliver in the very areas that are supposedly his biggest strengths, then serious questions need to be asked.
Sometimes, competition and a spell on the bench are necessary to bring the best out of a player.
The positive is that these setbacks have come relatively early in the season, leaving enough time to reassess, make adjustments and get things back on track.
But something needs to change, and no player should be exempt from accountability.
A similar statement could be made about Guehi too.
CitySide retweeted
Growing pains were inevitable but 7-1, top of the league to start a new season with a new manager, a new team, and the entire world wanting to shadow ban us to hell is a damn good start though.
Some perspective perhaps.
CitySide retweeted
The Trafford stylistic debate is irrelevant at the moment. Problem is that Donnarumma is just letting in soft goals and isn't actually being good at what he's meant to be like. Largely most of us would not give a shit about his footwork if he wasn't letting in goals like that.




















