GOAL – The next Gerrard? Introducing Van Ginkel, the Eredivisie starlet set to be Mourinho’s first Chelsea signing

Goal tells you everything that you need to know about the young Vitesse Arnhem midfielder, who is on the verge of sealing a switch to Stamford Bridge in the summer

A news article on 2013-05-27 10:10:00 from: Goal

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F365 – Jamie Carragher believes he is not ready to be a manager yet

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has admitted he is not ready to move into management when he hangs up his boots.

A news article on 2013-05-04 09:57:00 from: Football 365

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ECHO – Liverpool FC News: David Prentice: When tiki-taka fails, any team needs a plan B

BARCELONA is one of my very favourite cities on the planet. Vibrant, beautiful, cultural … a riot of colour and warmth.

A news article on 2013-05-03 10:15:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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TTT: Who’s the Star, the Players or the Team?

TTT: Who’s the Star, the Players or the Team?

By Bob Pearce. It was Copernicus who, just before his death in 1543, first proposed the ‘Heliocentric’ model. Simply said, the Sun does not go around the Earth, but the Earth is orbiting the Sun. We now ‘know’ and ‘understand’ that the Sun does not go around and around the Earth. We now ‘know’ and ‘understand’ that the Earth is spinning on its axis, and this means the Sun’s appearance and disappearance each day is due to our own movement on a spinning Earth rather than the Sun’s movement. We also ‘know’ and ‘understand’ that football is a team game, and yet we continue to talk about it as though it was about individual players. We have ‘star’ players. TV coverage has a ‘man of the match’. Newspapers have ‘players ratings’ within games. Fans say ‘he isn’t good enough’. Clubs sell DVDs of ‘Gerrard’s Greatest Goals’. Just to be completely clear from the start, I am not criticising Gerrard here, just using him as an example to illustrate my point. It may appear that I am simply stating the obvious in saying that football is a team game, but there are two big issues lurking below the surface of this apparently simple truism. I’ll try to unwrap these issues one by one to reveal what may be hidden from immediate view. One is the flexibility of roles required in the modern game, and the second is that describing the resulting complexity in terms of the ‘individuals’ can begin to sound ‘crude’ and ‘clumsy’. Using a ‘Playercentric’ model in the modern game will miss the target in the same way as trying to land a man on the moon using the ‘crude’ and ‘clumsy’ ‘Geocentric’ model prior to Copernicus would be doomed to failure. For example, when we talk about needing a new ‘striker’ or a new ‘centre back’, what are we saying? I’m going to suggest that these requests are too vague, clumsy and ill-defined, meaning they miss the point and lack real value. Increasingly in modern football, each of the 11 players are expected to fulfil a number of roles. A ‘forward’ can be dropping back, roaming wide, and sitting on the last shoulder. A ‘winger’ can be cutting inside, tracking back, and offering width. A ‘midfielder’ can be a creator, a destroyer, and recycler. A ‘centre-back’ can be central, wide, and bringing the ball out. A ‘wide back’ can be defensive, build-up midfield, and attacking wide. A keeper can be a stopper, a sweeper, and a ‘play-maker’. Saying ‘We need a new left back’ becomes too vague when that can now refer to just one of an increasingly wide range of possible ‘part-time’ roles. If the club wish to have a range of playing systems available, they will want to have flexible players that can play equally well in a variety of roles and move smoothly and fluidly between them as cohesive components within the team as a whole. Meeting this requirement for flexibility means that teams no longer simply have 11 players filling 11 roles. They are no longer relatively static and fixed ‘full-time’ roles. Each player will have a number of ‘part-time’ roles and be expected to move smoothly between these roles as required. To illustrate, if we assume each player was allocated on average three ‘part-time’ roles, we could have 11 players available to fulfil up to 33 ‘part-time’ roles. This greater flexibility and fluidity means the team are getting greater efficiency from the 11 players out on the pitch. It also means the complexity of what these 11 players can deliver grows enormously. It is no longer 11 ‘full-time’ roles with 10 ‘full-time’ team-mates that they work with giving a total of 55 links within the team of 11. Having the assumed three multiple roles for each player does not just triple the number of connections between them from 55 to 165. If you have 33 (11 x 3) ‘part-time’ roles with 30 (10 x 3) ‘part-time’ roles that they work with, there are now a total of 435 available links within the team of 11. That is eight times more complex. And it is this dramatic increase in the complexity available between the 11 players which allows them to deliver greater efficiency, flexibility and fluidity. This brings us to the second big issue. I’d suggest that ‘identity’ (what a player ‘is’) may be far too fixed and limited a way to describe players in the modern game. If fixed positions have been replaced by the requirement that players are flexibly and fluidly working together in a highly complex whole, is it still helpful to try to describe what they are doing as a pile of individuals? Should we still be defining these roles in terms of the ‘identity’ of individual players (e.g. ‘striker’, ‘winger’, ‘midfield’)? I’m suggesting it may be more helpful to focus on what happens between the players in this complex web of 435 potential links. I’m asking shouldn’t we be describing them in terms of the ‘relationships’ between players? The rest of this article is for Subscribers only. Member-only content – you need to subscribe to read it ! A subscription costs only £3.50 per month. Find out what you get with your subscription, or Subscribe now.

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A news article on 2013-05-02 11:22:00 from: The Tomkins Times

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ECHO – Liverpool FC News: New book ‘Shankly: The Lost Diary’ reveals Liverpool FC legend’s lost words of wisdom

IT’S a prized discovery from deep within the ECHO’s archives.

A news article on 2013-02-25 07:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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ECHO – Liverpool FC News: Liverpool FC manager Brendan Rodgers thinks finding a perfect replacement for Jamie Carragher is futile – as he is…

BRENDAN RODGERS says searching for the perfect replacement for Jamie Carragher this summer will be futile as the Liverpool legend is “irreplaceable”.

A news article on 2013-02-09 00:00:00 from: Liverpool Echo

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GOAL – Word on the Tweet: Aguero dedicates goal against Liverpool to son

The Manchester City striker is among those reacting to Sunday’s dramatic 2-2 draw, while the Superbowl – or, more specifically, Beyonce’s half-time show – catches the eye

A news article on 2013-02-04 16:30:00 from: Goal

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TTT: Tactics for Beginners – No. 7

TTT: Tactics for Beginners – No. 7

By Bob Pearce and Mihail Vladimirov. Executed by the feet. One of the few statistics TV commentators are comfortable quoting is the percentage of possession each team has had. This gives the impression that this is inherently a good thing. You have made it clear that there are two points of view about possession. Proactive teams see possession as something valuable and try to have as much of it as they can, while reactive teams value protection much higher and and can be very economical with possession. Usually the TV co-commentator then ‘wisely’ reminds us that the only important statistic is the score. While it is true that possession does not guarantee goals, I’ve never actually heard them attempt to explain each team’s use of possession. Is possession domination? Yes, in short possession means domination. But not total domination. There is a difference between possession dominance and tactical dominance. Tactical dominance means two things: a) your attacking patterns are working (you don’t necessarily need much possession to create adequate attacks – for example direct, counter-attacking football will do with 20-40% possession and could still score goals) which means you are outplaying the opposition and their defensive strategy is not working; and b) your defensive patterns are working – means you are nullifying your opposition and their attacking patterns are not working. Combine these two elements and this means you are tactically totally dominating your opposition. So having possession is not necessarily having the initiative. As you’ve said before, reactive teams will ‘gift you possession’ in your cold and warm zones for the benefit of the vulnerable space you may leave exposed. For the reactive team, controlling space is central to their game. Aren’t they getting the same benefits that proactive teams get from possession through controlling the space? Yes, the benefits are identical even if they are actually gathered in a different way. When defending, the reactive team’s main defensive strategy will be to try to control the space in their defensive third. The proactive team will try to defend mainly by trying to just pass the ball around in their defensive third (or to use the modern term “rest with the ball”). Both styles are doing similar things – preventing the opposition from having what they need most to hurt you. For reactive teams it’s the space that’s the most harmful thing. So if they can deny their opposition space they would be happy to let them have the ball. As every reactive team focuses on their shape (i.e. space), gifting the ball back is not really a concern for them if their shape is well constructed and does not allow easy free space. Meanwhile, for proactive teams possession (i.e. time) is the most valuable asset. As everything is based around possession for them (in both the defensive and attacking phase), their biggest fear is when the opposition has the ball. This is because their defensive strategy is not based on shape (like the reactive teams) but on the ball (i.e. to go and press to regain it as quickly as possible). Guardiola once said that Barcelona are a horrible team without the ball, so whenever they lost it they aim to quickly get it back. Indirectly Guardiola admitted that without the ball their shape is really poor (and it is!), so the only way to minimise the risk this creates is to quickly regain the ball. Otherwise they would be hit on the break and concede goals. This effect was brutally exposed by Mourinho’s Real Madrid and others like Valencia, Sevilla, and Sociedad last season. So what every proactive team fears most are the moments when the opposition has the ball. So to defend they either “rest with it” or try to press as hard as hell. This is one problem Liverpool have seen in their first season under Rodgers. They are really awful without the ball in terms of structure. But they were doubly awful as they were not pressing. This is the double killer for any possession-oriented team. So possession football means you set out to ‘own’ the ball and try to mitigate the risk of being exposed by ‘stealing’ it back again quickly. Possession must always be coupled with pressing. But needing both means that if you are not doing both to a high enough standard you will destabilise your whole approach and the risks will outweigh the rewards. What should a team do while they are not yet at a high enough standard of both retaining and regaining possession? Should they practice one style in training and play another style in matches? Or do they accept poor results are the price of their learning? There isn’t a rule that every possession team must press. It’s more of an indirect consequence of the fact they are hugely possession-oriented. To be hugely possession-oriented you would need the framework to allow you several passing angles and the smoothest way of transitioning between the phases which allows for the many passing angles. So your structure will be completely different from the structure of a reactive team. The proactive team structure is hugely spread-out both vertically and horizontally in order to allow for so many passing angles. This means acres of space will be open in the defensive third. Or in other words – the defensive shape is horrible as it’s not covering the defensive third so well. It’s a question of shifted balance – the increased numbers of passing angles and attacking capability comes with decreased ability to defend the defensive third. Hence when you can’t defend in terms of shape your other real variant is to defend by pressing. If you do neither of these you will be horrible exposed – as Liverpool so many times this season. What should a team do if they are not yet good at defensive shape or pressing? Choose whether to defend with the structure or defend by pressing, and try to develop it. In theory both strategies require no more than a couple of months to be set to a decent enough level to be able to handle the requirements during the season. Then with time they will only be perfected. Setting a defence based on shape is easier and requires around a month. Setting up good pressing lines and behaviour is a little bit more sophisticated as the whole process is based on two phases – pressing and covering. That’s why it requires one month more. So one team may try to dominate the time on the ball, and another team may try to dominate where the ball can be used. The possession stats only measure one team’s approach. It would be more balanced if they also measured what the reactive team values, the controlling of space. The rest of this post is for Subscribers only. Member-only content – you need to subscribe to read it ! A subscription costs only £3.50 per month. Find out what you get with your subscription, or Subscribe now.

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A news article on 2013-02-04 12:33:00 from: The Tomkins Times

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GOAL – In Suarez & Sturridge Liverpool finally have a strike partnership to worry their rivals

The former Chelsea attacker has impressed in his first few outings since signing on at Anfield and looks to have forged a deadly combination with the Uruguayan forward

A news article on 2013-01-20 08:45:00 from: Goal

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GUARDIAN – Liverpool’s Luis Suárez ‘laden with controversy’, says Alex Ferguson

• Manchester United’s Sunday referee is put in the picture
• Brendan Rodgers says scandal helps Suárez play better

Brendan Rodgers has claimed Luis Suárez thrives on the controversy that Sir Alex Ferguson believes the Liverpool striker is “laden with” and fears could cost Manchester United when the great rivals meet at Old Traffordon Sunday .

The Uruguay international came in for renewed criticism following his goal in the FA Cup third-round tie against Mansfield Town on Sunday, when he handled the ball in the build-up to what proved the deciding score. The Mansfield owner, John Radford, accused Suárez of embarrassing Liverpool’s directors and manager, a claim vehemently denied by the Premier League club’s managing director, Ian Ayre, who said the striker “has our full support” and echoed Rodgers’ view that several decisions have gone against the 25-year-old this season.

Ferguson, however, claims Suárez has benefited from the pressure placed on referees, in what could be interpreted as a warning to Howard Webb, Sunday’s referee at Old Trafford, despite Football Association guidelines against managers or players discussing officials before a game.

“I never saw the [Mansfield] game so it is difficult to say whether it was a deliberate handball or not but I think the lad is laden with controversy,” said the United manager. “I don’t know whether he enjoys it or not – but it is something we hope we don’t suffer from ourselves.

“Every club goes into it that way. When you go into a game of football you hope you don’t get a bad break against you and, with the speed of the modern game, I suppose you can cherry-pick an incident every week that you say: ‘That should have been a penalty kick’ or ‘That shouldn’t have been a goal’. Things happen so quickly for the referee and the assistants to pick up.”

Asked if Suárez has toned down his on-field behaviour this season, Ferguson said: “As I say, I just hope we don’t suffer from some of the decisions that have gone his way in terms of that. We want it to be a good game on Sunday.”

The United manager’s comments prompted a wry response from Rodgers, his Liverpool counterpart. He said: “I agree that we hope they don’t get the decisions that can influence the result – like last time at Anfield where a sending off [for Jonjo Shelvey] and a penalty [for United] cost us the game.”

Rodgers says Suárez’s reputation has made him an easy target for criticism, as evidenced by the reaction to the goal at Mansfield, but believes the furore around the striker serves only to spur him. “I really felt for Suárez last week,” the Liverpool manager said. “He got absolutely vilified. It was ludicrous the amount of stuff that was said against him. The Mansfield chairman had a few drinks in him by the time he spoke.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are some sports where the etiquette is important, snooker or golf for example. If you touch the ball in snooker and the other player doesn’t see it, you put your hand up. That’s the etiquette of the game. That doesn’t happen in football. It’s just the way of the game. Not just here but worldwide.

“Suárez, unfortunately given what’s happened in the past, is vilified for it. But does it make a difference to him? No. If anything, it’s actually fuel for his mentality because he is so strong. Luis’ character is very strong and you find that with world-class players. The background noise, he can park. When he goes on to the field, all the stuff that can get into people’s minds, it’s not a problem. His mental fitness is very good. He is only human but he has the brain I believe to park things, which is part of what makes him world-class.”

Liverpool are 21 points behind the league leaders and Ferguson admits it could be a while before they are challenging for the title again. He is also unsure if the Anfield club are improving under their new manager. “It is difficult to say. When a young manager goes to Liverpool it is a challenge,” Ferguson said. “Kenny [Dalglish] going back was a challenge for him. For anyone going to that club at the moment it is a challenge because they haven’t won the league for 20-odd years. It is a long time for a club like Liverpool. It is a long road back to what they used to be.” Ferguson also reiterated that Wayne Rooney will not be available to face Liverpool.


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A news article on 2013-01-11 23:01:00 from: The Guardian

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