The Real Problem

Real Madrid have a few problems. Two big ones were evident in their boring draw against Mallorca this weekend: Left back and right back. Their fullbacks were truly atrocious, offering nothing going forward (though they seemed to spend a great deal of time congesting midfield) and constantly being caught out of position during defensive phases.

In my opinion, Real Madrid lost the game because the fullbacks spent more time getting in the way than anything else. There was just no width in their play, and while the lack of runs being made by forward players didn't help the situation, though I have no doubt that this will improve as the team gets to know one another and the manager, the fullbacks needed to get forward and stretch the defence in order to create space for the forwards.

The other problem was in central midfield. Lass Diarra started out sitting deep, with Alonso doing what he does best and Canales in front as the playmaker behind Higuain and between Di Mara and Ronaldo: a clear 4-2-3-1. Clearly it would be Diarra's role to cut crosses out and intercept while helping retain possession but he clearly struggled in this role. He did well to tackle and try to win the ball but when he had the ball there was nowhere for him to go. Alonso was being crowded out while Canales was out on the wings.

The reason Canales was out on the wings (and not central) was to try and introduce some width into the play. You see, Ronaldo was cutting inside, as you would expect, but Di Mara was playing deeper and more centrally in order to help Diarra and retain possession. While this would have been fine, the plans were foiled by Marcelo and Arbeloa getting forward and drifting inside. By doing this, they allowed the Mallorca wings to move inside (where they wanted to be in order to run at goal) and congest midfield while also providing them acres of space to run into and cross.

As a result of all of this you had Alonso, Diarra, Marcelo and Arbeloa standing within 5m of one another, while the opposition cut passes to Alonso out, and somewhere between the left wing and all of this was Di Mara, who could do nothing with the ball when he got it because he had nowhere to pass forward or run. The forwards were isolated up front because the link man, Canales, was always drifting out wide to inject some width but because he was equally isolated his efforts were in vain. To top it all off the center halves were having to cover for the fullbacks, meaning there was a chasm in front of goal for the strikers to exploit.

The fact that the fullbacks didn't help during the first game of the season really isn't a problem. When there is a new manager, and a new formation, and six new players this kind of thing is to be expected. The real problem is that Mourinho identified the fullbacks as a problem when he arrived and the club didn't buy new ones. To be fair, Sergio Ramos is a wonderful right back but was covering for various injuries to center halves, so was not available, but the left back berth is still a major problem. Jose admitted that he tried to buy Kolarov for 11mil but Manchester City out did Real (with 17mil) and beat them to his signature, Ashley Cole was allegedly too expensive (I didn't know that was possible with Real Madrid) and a fee was agreed on for Maicon but the deal broke down when Real refused to pay him was he was earning at Inter.

All of this comes down to money and a club who could can afford to fork out the big bucks for Kaka and Ronaldo can afford to up their bid to buy what the new manager wanted, and clearly the board didn't approve those deals. Real still haven't learned from their past mistakes: all they want are attractive signings. They still haven't picked up on the fact that a team can't win by playing eight strikers and two defenders.

I have no doubt that Mourinho will get Marcelo and Arbeloa to stay wide, and Ramos will do what he asks of him. I still think they'll win La Liga but I don't see the Special One being happy with not getting what he wants and I don't see him staying very long as a result.

Fergie's Choice

I'm going to get straight to the point. With all due respect to Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, I believe the team are paying the price for the manager's indecision. In the early 2000's (2001 I believe) United were beaten by a Real Madrid who, under Vincente del Bosque, played a zonally pressurised 4-3-3 and subsequently dominated midfield and controlled the game. Being a man who learns from his mistakes, Sir Alex began to change the system the club plays away from the orthodox 4-4-2 and towards the now dominant 4-3-3.

This change seemed to be a gradual one but without a doubt working. Ronaldo playing as a striker off the right wing, but in a slightly withdrawn role, and Rooney moving centrally and onto the left wing meant that there was space for Tevez up front and sufficient movement for the system to be a hybrid of the old 4-4-2 and the future 4-3-3.

At the same time, players like Nani and Anderson were brought in to fit into the wide striker and attacking midfielder roles, and more emphasis was placed on the passing and interception role which Carrick so aptly performs in central midfield. The club seemed to be taking a definite step forward.

But then Berbatov arrived, and things seemed to change. Nani was pushed backwards into midfield while Tevez's work rate was preferred to an additional player in midfield and once again things went well for a bit before going south in a European competition. Suddenly things seemed to shift again with Tevez being released and Ronaldo being sold.

Nani was pushed up again and Rooney was used alone up front, particularly during big European clashes but at the same time Valencia (a classic midfield winger) was bought which appeared to send mixed messages.

Now things seem to have gotten even worse. Hernandez has been bought, and just recently SAF stated in an interview that he has always preferred a dual striker system, but the youth who have been bought (Hernandez, Bebe) and are coming out of the academy (Obertan, Macheda, Wellbeck) clearly fit into a 4-3-3 system.

The squad lacks cohesion. By that I mean that at a club like Chelsea or Arsenal, the first team play a system, in both of those cases a 4-3-3, and the youth academy play the same system. This means that players being promoted can integrate into the first team immediately and there is little or no transition period.

Personally, I think that Fergie enjoys the way a 4-4-2 plays and is more comfortable with working it on a tactical level but resigned himself to playing with the single striker up front. With Harold Redknapp and Tottenham's rise to prominence and success while playing a 4-4-2, Ferguson has perhaps had his head turned and seems to be torn between what he prefers and now believes can work versus what experience tells him works.

I think that which ever he chooses he needs to make a final decision. It's not fair on the younger players who are coming through and perhaps not getting a chance, and it's becoming detrimental to the club's results.

Tommy's 25 Prequile

Those of you who watch ESPN will know that at the beginning of the season Tommy Smyth picks his top 25 teams in Europe, no small task. I don't pretend to have as much experience, knowledge or insight as the great Tommy but I will say that in my opinion, the top three teams in Europe are as follows:

Chelsea

Real Madrid

Barcelona

I will be doing a team preview of Barcelona and Real shortly but I do think that Barcelona have the best starting XI in Europe. Real on the other hand have the strongest squad in my opinion, but I still maintain that Chelsea will win the Champion's League.

I think that Chelsea will win the Champion's League because it's a lot of the players' last chance to win, and their midfield is the strongest in Europe. You can't really fault their strikers and their defense is as good as any...

Neutral Numbers

Tactics and formations are the foundation of football, and yet for many they are relegated to being trivial intricacies which unnecessarily complicate the game rather than adding to the rich landscape that makes football what I love.

With England's failure at the World Cup there has been much criticism of Capello's tactics and his formation choice. Many have come out and said that with so many teams playing three in central midfield, the orthodox 4-4-2 is null and void while purists claim that the 4-3-3 is a boring and defensive.

Having considered all of this I have three points to make:

> Formations are neutral, it's how you choose to play that makes you defensive or attacking. As we have seen recently, Manchester City are playing a 4-3-3 with three holding midfielders and two wing midfielders with a single central striker. This, for me, is rather defensive. Chelsea on the other hand are playing with three balanced central midfielders and three strikers in the same formation, and as we have seen they attack relentlessley. Same formation, completely different approach.

> It's all about the players. Every play has different attributes that make them unique, and those attributes are better suited different styles of play and different positions. The formation played needs to work for the players, or the players brought in need to work in the current system. When the Anchovy arrived at Chelsea he tried to play a diamond, but it failed because the players at Chelsea lended themselves to a 4-3-3 formation.

> Any formation can work with the right players. Many have written off the 4-4-2 formation recently, but Tottenham have proven that it can still work. And the way they have done that is by playing it exceptionally well. This is down to the players working exceptionally well within the system. The AC Milan of five years ago proved the power of a diamond (a formation I suspect Ancelotti may be moving towards once again) while Barcelona and Chelsea make an extremely strong case for a traditional 4-3-3.

At the end of the day it really is eleven men kicking a ball around, and a manager has to find a way to fit them all together.

Dynamic DMs

Just before the first game of the season Chelsea concluded their second signing of the season, the Brazilian Ramires. 20 million quid may seem like a lot, but for the 23 year old who did such a fantastic job at the World Cup, I think it could well prove to be a real bargain. Here's why...

As was apparent at the World Cup, the favourite formation in world football at the moment is the 4-2-3-1. The reason being its flexibility. By making small changes the formation can take the shape of a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-3-3 or even a 4-5-1. The presence of two holding midfielders provides defensive stability by cutting crosses out and congesting the area in front of the penalty box. At the same time, in attack it means that fullbacks can easily get forward while adequate defensive cover is at hand.

At the same time, these two players can perform the same duties, while being two very different players. If the team choose to play two more traditional holding midfielders (as Brazil did with Silva and Melo) the midfield will be very different to if there was only one holding midfielder and one deep lying playmaker (as Spain did with Busquets and Alonso), or even two disciplined playmakers (Germany with Schweinsteiger and Khedira).

The biggest weakness in this system is the space between the fullbacks and the holding midfielders. Because the wings are further forward, than they would be in a 4-4-2, but the central midfielders are in the same place, there is a potential gap in midfield just in front of the fullbacks.

As a result of this weakness, teams use inside-out strikers (a striker who's stronger foot is his right, but is playing on the left, or visa versa) to get forward and cut inside through this space to either get centrally and score goals or to link up with the center forward in the box. An excellent example of this is Messi or Ronaldo.

The only way to get around this is to have an extremely high work rate off your wings and fullbacks, and to have a similar level of skill when it comes to attacking ability from both of them. An example of where this did not work was in the Community Shield this season. Both Ashley Cole and Flourent Malouda were not match fit, and as a result they were slow to track back. This left space on the left hand side which Rooney and Valencia exploited exceptionally well at different times, Valencia scoring the first while Hernandez scored the second. In these cases the space was used to cross rather than to cut inside and score.

It may seem very difficult to find fullbacks who are as skilled as strikers going forward, but it is not impossible. Inter Milan were extremely strong down the right wing because Maicon is extremely able as an attacking right winger, and he was afforded opportunities to get forward because Eto'o had such a high work rate. When fit, Malouda and Cole do the same thing on the left wing for Chelsea, while Bosingwa and Anelka work well on the right.

But the above problem can be eliminated completely if the correct type of players are used as holding players. Germany played with two central midfielders in front of their back four, and because both were highly disciplined as well as tactically aware they were able to be more dynamic. By that I mean they sat deep most of the time, but drifted to the left and the right as required. When teams tried to push their wings forward, the fullbacks stayed deeper, and the midfielders got forward rather than the fullbacks. That way, the system changed as the game dictated.

This system worked very well for Germany, but is by no means a new idea. Chelsea did something similar by playing Essien and allowing him to get forward, while Mikel was used as more of a sweeper at times. A similar effect was achieved by playing Essien and Ballack in a diamond formation.

But with the loss of Ballack, the club need another Essien to be able to do this effectively. Kaby has been bought at a young age, and is being groomed for this position, but at 16 years old is too young to come into the first team. Ramires on the other hand, provides exactly what is required. Essien Mark II.

The biggest plus with Ramires' arrival is the array of options available. Chelsea now have Essien, Ramires who are more like box to box central midfielders while Mikel is more of a Makalele holding midfielder and Matic who is a Serbian Xabi Alonso. With Kaby coming through, central midfield looks to be very strong and dynamic...

Liverpool Analysis

Of all the teams in the Premier League, Liverpool must be the most disappointing. Two seasons ago they were my second favourite club to watch (Chelsea again being my favourite, particularly under Hiddink) but last season they were simply woeful.

This season the club have a new manager and things are looking as if they may well improve, though I am less convinced than many. For me, there are just so many problems, the squad seems to lack cohesion.

Here is the first team squad according the the site

Diego Cavaliera (GK)

Glen Johnson (DF)

Alberto Aquilani (MF)

Daniel Agger (DF)

Fabio Aurelio (DF)

Steven Gerrard (MF)

Fernando Torres (FW)

Joe Cole (FW)

Daniel Pacheco (FW)

Milan Jovanovic (FW)

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (DF)

Maxi Rodriguez (MF)

Dirk Kuyt (FW)

Ryan Babel (FW)

Javier Macherano (MF)

Lucas (MF)

Danny Wilson (DF)

Jamie Carragher (DF)

David N'Gog (FW)

Pepe Reina (GK)

Jay Spearing (MF)

Christian Poulsen (MF)

Krisztian Nemeth (FW)

Charles Itandje (GK)

Nabil El Zhar (MF)

Stephen Darby (DF)

Jonjo Shelvey (MF)

Martin Kelly (DF)

Stephen Irwin (DF)

Martin Skrtel (DF)

Lauri Dalla Valle (FW)

Nathan Ecclestone (FW)

Daniel Ayala (DF)

Martin Hansen (GK)

Peter Gulacsi (GK)

Dean Bousanis (GK)

Victor Palsson (MF)

Thomas Ince (MF)

David Amoo (MF)

Gerardo Bruna (MF)

Jack Robinson (DF)

Emiliano Insua (DF)

Brad Jones (GK)

Damien Plessis (MF)

That is 44 players. That's a very big squad and to be honest, I haven't even heard of half of those guys. But it seems as if this squad just doesn't have any direction, particularly if you consider there are seven goalkeepers.

To be honest, I don't really want to comment on Liverpool at the moment, simply because we don't know what direction the club will take with the new management. There are some positions which seem to be sorted, like the holding midfield position. Macherano and Poulsen are both excellent players, and having cover in that position is imperative for a team competing in multiple competitions.

At the same time, there are other positions which are over populated, like the attacking midfield position. Gerrard, Joe Cole and Aquilani seems too much, and then in a central midfield / deeper lying playmaking position there is no one.

The real question will be how Hogson decides to line the team up. At Fulham he played a 4-4-1-1 but the Liverpool setup was based on a 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard behind Torres. How he will fit the two together, we shall have to wait and see, but here's how I'd set it all up.

Chelsea Analysis

In my previous blog I said that my second favourite club to watch last season was Tottenham Hotspurs because of their direct and attacking football while my favourite was, and still is, Chelsea. Tottenham's football is based around doing the basics right every time with a no nonsense and attacking attitude while Chelsea's approach is a little more sophisticated.

Ancelotti was brought in by Abramovic to give Chelsea an 'identity', and I think he has done a rather good job. When I think of Chelsea the characteristics that stand out are a high work rate and a compact formation where attacks start from the fullbacks and defence begins with the strikers. This may not be condusive to counter attacking football, but with a solid core and creativity coming off the flanks and more recently through central midfield, plenty of goals have been scored.

While creativity and flair is encouraged and even expected during attacking phases, tactical rigidity during defensive phases is strongly enforced. Many teams such as Barcelona and Arsenal build their identity around an attitude which says 'we'll outscore you' but with Chelsea it is seldom a game ends 4-3 or even 6-2. Rather than focusing on goal scoring, the objective is excellence in every aspect of the game with a 'predisposition' towards attacking football. As a result, it is far more probable that a game would end 4-0 than 5-1.

Ancelotti structures the team so that in attack they have a dynamic midfield, with freedom up front for the three strikers while the fullbacks are required to get forward in order to provide width or at least an outlet for the players in the final third. During a defensive phase, the shape and structure is strictly adhered to with a great deal of emphasis placed on tactical positioning from the forward line and defenders, with the midfield closing the ball down, rather than a situation where the front three are allowed to roam and defence is expected to close the ball down with midfield providing cover.

During the season the formation was changed from the original diamond to the current 4-3-3, but clearly the overall system has worked very well with the club winning the domestic league and cup, though success in Europe has not yet been attained. In fact, the criticism aimed at the squad as a result of the fall out after encountering Inter Milan was that there was a lack of creativity or at the very least the lack of someone to deliver a final ball. This is something Ancelotti identified before he even arrived at the club and something that I believe he has rectified this season by bringing Benayoun in (and playing him in central midfield) as well as identifying Gael Kakuta and Josh McEachran youth academy products to develop as soon as possible.

The other criticism which has been harped on about over the last few years is the age of many of the players: Drogba and Lampard are both 32, Anelka is 31, John Terry and Malouda are 30, Ashley Cole is 29 etc. While many of these players are getting on, this is a problem which is being rectified by the coach.

Ballack (33), Belletti (34), Deco (33) and Carvalho (32) have all been released or sold while Ramires (23) and Benayoun have been brought in. Benayoun is already 30, but the truth is that he is really being used as a 'stop gap' between the current setup and the youth being promoted from the academy, which brings me to my next point.

Many have said that with only two prominent arrivals (thus far) Chelsea don't have the squad to compete for the Premier League and the Champion's League. While this is partially true, these people are clearly overlooking the fact that the Anchovy has promised to bring through five youth players from the academy, namely Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt, Nemanja Matic, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini. There is an extremely strong possibility that a young striker Romelu Lukaku will be added within the next year, which will help to lower the average age even more.

So how big will the squad actually be? Well, let's have a look:

Petr Cech (GK)

Branislav Ivanovic (DF)

Ashley Cole (DF)

Michael Essien (MF)

Frank Lampard (MF)

Yossi Benayoun (MF)

Didier Drogba (FW)

John Obi (Wan) Mikel (MF)

Flourent Malouda (FW)

Jose Bosingwa (DF)

Yuri Zhirkov (DF / MF)

Paulo Ferreira (DF)

Salomon Kalou (FW)

Daniel Sturridge (FW)

Nemanja Matic (MF)

Ross Turnbull (GK)

John Terry (DF)

Alex (DF)

Nicolas Anelka (FW)

Henrique Hilaro (GK)

Michael Mancienne (DF)

Sam Hutchinson (DF)

Gael Kakuta (MF)

Fabio Borini (FW)

Patrick van Aanholt (DF)

Jeffrey Bruma (DF)

Ramires (MF)

Once again, I have put the position the players play in brackets, while I do not think that Michael Mancienne will feature much this season.

Given the fact that Chelsea are competing on four fronts, and are realistically challenging on two of them I think that there will be plenty of game time for the youth coming through and the 'squad players' who will be rotated to provide consistency across the board.

This then begs two questions. First, does the squad need anything else or anyone else and second, what should be the realistic expectations and goals.

For the first question, I think everyone has a different view. Some say there is a desperate need for a center half after Carvalho's departure, others say the club NEED a striker. Personally, I think the squad need a goalkeeper more than anything else. Let me explain my reasoning: In the past Chelsea had Cech, Cudicini and Hilaro. Cech was the best in the world for some time (and still is up there in my opinion), while Cudicini could easily start for most clubs. Hilaro was good as a third choice keeper though you wouldn't feel comfortable with him there.

At the moment, Cech is still great, though he has had injury concerns but neither Turnbull nor Hilaro get anywhere near him in terms of quality. Sure, Turnbull makes a good third choice keeper but so does Hilaro. Problem is neither are potential first choice keepers and subsequently shouldn't be second choice keepers.

I know the club have signed a 16 year old Croatian goalkeeper named Marec Delac who is already playing as the first choice keeper for his club but he is on loan this season. I think the plan is to bring him in and make him second choice, behind Cech. Hilaro's contract will expire soon and that will leave Turnbull as the third choice. That is a setup I could be happy with, though that doesn't help this season. That's why I'm praying Cech stays fit.

As for the defenders and strikers, the club are showing their clear commitment to the youth by not buying replacements for older players who leave, and thereby providing a space to slot into. With Bruma able to slot in as a center half and Hutchinson possibly taking over from Ferreira at right back, and Sturridge and Borini coming into the forward lineup things look good for the youth in terms of playing time.

As for the expectations, I think that the club can clearly field a starting eleven as good as any, and as a result I believe they can and should win the Champion's League. The truth is that if players like Drogba and Lampard don't win it this season they won't ever, so the motivation is there and so is the ability.

I don't think they will win the league because if the Anchovy is bringing through some young talent, it's likely that points will be dropped because of rookie mistakes. If five of the youth cost the team two points each throughout the season, that is the difference between first and second, possibly even third place.

There is every chance that the club could win the FA Cup, and are perhaps even likely to win the Carling Cup with their current crop of youth.

I'm not going to say too much about Chelsea right now because I am actually a Chelsea fan and I will have enough to say about them during the season, but what I will say now is that I expect them to win the Champion's League this season, and I would be disappointed if they don't win the Carling Cup or the FA Cup.

Tottenham Hotspurs Assessment

Last season, Tottenham were my second favourite club to watch, number one being Chelsea. The reason I enjoyed Tottenham so much was simple: They played a very direct and attacking 4-4-2 system. Redknapp didn't do anything strange or unexpected.

Wings were used with pace and moved up and down the line, tracking back to defend and expected to cross as they got forward. They were also used to tuck into midfield to make up numbers when against a team with three in central midfield. Fullbacks did little overlapping but allowed midfield to get a little further forward by doing more 'defending'.

The two central midfielders were actually rather attacking, and with Modric and possibly Kranjcar pairing up with Huddlestone or Palacios the team had a good balance of hard tackling helping defence and a playmaker able to thread passes together and dribble with the ball. The strikers did what you would expect and stayed as far up as possible, prowling the box and waiting for service from midfield and far more often, the wings. With Defoe, Crouch, Keane and the Russian (Pavlyuchenko) there was plenty of versatility and technical ability up front.

There has been much discussion of a possible change for the club away from the orthodox 4-4-2 played last season because most seem to think that it isn't possible for a club like Tottenham to survive in the Champion's League playing the way they do. While this is possibly true I can't see how Crouch or Defoe would be able to operate alone in the same way that a player like Drogba or Torres do. With four strikers and such an emphasis on orthodox wingers it doesn't seem likely that 'Ol Harry would choose change the system to a narrow 4-3-3 with central strikers up front (the system Chelsea and Inter Milan favour and I love to see).

Keane could operate as a lone striker up front, though I suspect that he would need support coming from midfield, and possibly the wings too which is likely to result in a 4-2-3-1 being favoured though I suspect only in Europe.

If Keane were to be deployed up front alone, I would expect to see Modric playing behind him with wingers like Lennon and Bale on either side because they are fast and don't mind moving centrally to get into the box. The fullbacks will probably stay quite far back, meaning that one of the wings or a midfielder will have to get outside to deliver crosses.

As for central midfield, Huddlestone, Jenas and Palacios will have to be disciplined and patient. The fact that only three central midfielders are able to play in this setup means that the club were always likely to bring another body in, in this case the new Brazilian Sandro.

Before we continue, let's look at the current squad.

Gomes (GK)

*Hutton (DF)

Bale (MF)

Kaboul (DF)

Bentley (MF)

Huddlestone (MF)

Lennon (MF)

Jenas (MF)

Pavlyuchenko (MF)

Keane (FW)

Sandro (MF)

Palacios (MF)

Modric (MF)

Crouch (FW)

*Naughton (DF)

dos Santos (FW)

Defoe (FW)

Bassong (DF)

Dawson (DF)

Kranjcar (MF)

Corluka (DF)

Cudicini (GK)

*O'Hara (MF)

Rose (MF)

King (DF)

Alnwick (GK)

*Walker (DF)

*Livermore (MF)

Assou-Ekotto (DF)

Woodgate (DF)

I'm sure you all noticed that I marked some players with an asterix. These are players who I don't expect to feature this season because they will either be sold, loaned or not be old enough to feature in a squad trying to perform in the Champion's League and the domestic league.

A name that stands out to me is dos Santos. He has been used during the pre-season but I'm not convinced of his performances. I think the idea was that he could be used as a link between midfield and attack, with the idea of providing cover for Modric. I'm not sure it will work out but I guess we will have to see. Having looked at the squad, there are two positions that I do think need to be addressed.

The first is left back. Gareth Bale is wonderful on the left wing, and far from wonderful at left back. Assou-Ekotto on the other hand is great at left back and quite useful going forward into midfield, but cover does need to be provided. The second problem for me is the right wing. Lennon is wonderful, and Kranjcar can play there very well, but Bently is not up to standard. That means that, excluding Bentley, there are three wingers and I just don't think that's enough.

There is the possibility that dos Santos could slot in there, and he could work well with the 4-2-3-1 system, but I don't think that he would offer the defensive backup for the right back, and I also don't think his crossing is really up to the standard required by Harry. What sounds more realistic to me is that Bellamy will be brought in from City because he is very similar to Lennon but could also be played as a withdrawn striker and drop into midfield when required. I have no idea who they could bring in at left back though.

Some have also said that the club require an additional right back because the only established right back is Corluka, but I disagree. Kaboul was played there last season and he did an exceptional job. He also provides you with an additional center half, and with King, Dawson, Bassong, Kaboul and Woodgate in the center things look strong.

The concern though is that with King's injuries and Woodgate still out perhaps someone is required. I can see the argument for that but I would rather play Hutton there than bring someone else in. And if push comes to shove, Naughton could deputise in the right back role while Corluka or Kaboul play centrally.

In my opinion Spurs have a fantastic squad, and their only problem is their limited youth involvement but that is to be expected for a team who are still establishing themselves in the top four of the league. I do think that Spurs can make the top four once again, though I doubt they'll make it past the group stages, maybe first round of knock outs in the Champion's League.

Pending Updates

For those of you who have been following my updates and opinions fear not, I am actually going to continue with my analysis of a few more teams. I am however waiting for them to conclude their transfer dealings before I begin.

I plan to do Chelsea next because if they do get Ramires it will change the way their midfield could line up, and if they bring Neymar in it will also change how the youth will be played. The other issue is in central defence. With Carvalho leaving there is much speculation as to if David Luiz will be brought in, or if another goalkeeper will come in for cover for Cech (something I have been talking about for a while). According to rumours the Ramires deal is already done, but they're waiting for the work permit so hopefully that one will be coming soon.

The other three teams I plan to discuss are Liverpool, Tottenham and Man City. Of these, Liverpool and City are expected to continue buying for a few weeks while it looks as if Tottenham will only go for another two or three players.

All of these signings will without a doubt change the way the club plays. Depending on who they bring in, they could well change to a single striker system which would be better suited to European competitions while no one has any clue how City will line up. As for Liverpool there are questions as to where players will fit in, considering Joe Cole and Gerrard prefer to play behind the striker, but neither would be able to play there without two central midfielders working behind them. The question is then where does Aquilani fit in etc.

I did have some more thoughts on Arsenal after watching some Emirates Cup games. During the games the team seemed to play a 4-4-2 with Arshavin and Chamakh playing up front and Rosicky and Nasri on the wings. Both were getting forward and both were playing in a fairly narrow sort of fashion. Playing deeper were Wiltshere and Frimpong while the backline was as you would expect.

My thinking is that there are two options. The first is to change things to something similar to what the club played during the Henry years, where a 4-4-1-1 was used, Henry playing behind a striker and roaming as he saw fit. The wings got up and often cut inside so things looked like a 4-3-3 at times. I don't think that this would work if Fabregas was in the picture because you need a striker not a central midfielder behind the striker, and Fabregas deeper in central midfield would mean that the center would be rather exposed.


The other, and possibly more likely option would be to play a 'Brazilian' 4-2-2-2 where the idea would be to play with more zonal pressure, allowing two strikers to play up front, with two more creative and attacking midfielders behind but roaming around as required. Two defensive midfielders / holding midfielders would be played infront of the back four so that both fullbacks can get forward for width during attacks.

To be honest, I suspect the 4-3-3 is the most likely but these are just other options I thought of.

Cesc's Motivation

Much has been made about Fabregas' potential move from Arsenal to the almighty Barcelona. According to the media, this is the story of a young man trying to make his way home, or something equally dramatic and cliche.

I don't buy it. Cesc Fabregas signed a six year deal to stay on at the Emirates just over one year ago, which clearly included improved wages and the promise of a title challenge. You don't sign a contract to stay at a club for an additional six years if you are unhappy, no matter how much extra they're going to give you. And especially not if there is a club you want to play for and they want you too.

A season later and Arsenal were not as successful as Wenger may have liked, Fabregas wins the World Cup and no one can stop talking about having him at Barcelona. What changed? According to the media, Fabregas wants to 'go home' or something but Barca aren't prepared to pay the money required to get him out.

While I don't doubt that Barcelona are in worse trouble than we ever expected financially, I think that the reason Fabregas wants to leave is that he wants success. His Barcelona brothers are winning the league every year and relentlessly pushing for the Champion's League but at Arsenal he has to be content with third place and a pat on the back.

For a player who has just won the World Cup, it's not enough. He wants more and no one can begrudge him that, though some would say Fabgregas has gone about it the wrong way.

I think Fabregas will be at Barcelona sooner rather than later, but I just wonder if any of this would be an option if Arsenal had won the league last season, or what will happen if they do this season...

Arsenal Analysis

Last season Arsenal came third in the league, and they did rather well considering how low the average age of their squad was. This season most of the squad are still there and everyone is a year older which hopefully means they are more experienced and possibly better in general.

At the same time Arsenal are being forced to delve into the transfer market a bit this summer because three of their central defenders (Sol Campbell, William Gallas and the geriatric aka Silvestre) have had their contracts not renewed, leaving Thomas Vermaelen and Johan Djourou to hold things together. Wenger said recently that he believed that a club required five central defenders to challenge on all fronts, so we can only assume that at least one more will arrive in addition to Laurent Koscielny. A new central striker, Marouane Chamakh, has also come in to the picture (on a free) and it will be interesting to see how his arrival changes things, but more on that later.

After a bit of research I was rather surprised by just how strong their squad for this season is. Here is their first team as of 28 July, 2010:

Manuel Almunia (GK)

Abou Diaby (MF)

Barcary Sanga (DF)

Cesc Fabregas (MF)

Thomas Vermaelen (DF)

Laurent Koscielny (DF)

Tomas Rosicky (FW)

Samir Nasri (MF)

Robin van Persie (FW)

Carlos Vela (FW)

Vito Mannone (GK)

Theo Walcott (FW)

Denilson (MF)

Aaron Ramsey (MF)

Alex Song (MF)

Jack Wiltshere (MF)

Johan Djourou (DF)

Lukasz Fabianski (GK)

Gael Clichy (DF)

Andrey Arshavin (FW)

Emmanuel Eboue (DF)

Kieran Gibbs (DF)

Marouane Chamakh (FW)

Armand Traore (DF)

Nicklas Bendtner (FW)

Wojciech Szczesny (GK)

For those of you who read my view on Manchester United, I have not highlighted any youth players who will probably not play any role in this season because I think everyone in the list above will play even though some of them should still be in the youth academy (this is Arsenal after all).

In my opinion, other than the obvious need for the club to invest in at least two more central defenders, there is a desperate need for a real goalkeeper. I once heard a tv commentator say that Shay Given will buy any team a minimum of 10 points a season and I believe he is spot on, but it would have been more accurate to say that a world class goalkeeper will buy a team 10 and probably more points a season.

In Almunia and Fabianski Arsenal don't even have two good goalkeepers. Neither are up to being a Champion's League club's first choice but I would say that both could be second and third choice keepers. It seems to me that the best option for a goalkeeper would be the same as the two available to Manchester United: Igor Ikanfeev or Hugo Lloris. Both are viable options for the club considering Ikanfeev's relationship with Arshavin and Wenger's affinity for French players but neither would be cheap.

I guess only time will tell if Wenger choose to buy. There have been rumors that Mark Schwarzer is going to make the switch from Fulham and while I think he'd be a better option than either of the current keepers I don't think he's as good as Liverpool, Chelsea or United's first team keepers. He's not even as good as Gomes or Given, and I think they need someone better.

The other interesting thing with Arsenal this season will be their formation. Last season the club played a fluid 4-3-3 with Fabregas (and occasionally Nasri) running midfield. Van Persie played alone up front with Arshavin and Bendtner coming in centrally, allowing a lot of interchanging amongst the front line.

Many thought that this formation had sort of been forced on them with Adebayor's departure, especially because previously Van Persie had not been seen as a 'target man'.

But with the arrival of Chamakh, a striker with a very similar build to that of Adebayor, the question of Van Persie's role is raised once again. Will the two be rotated or will Van Persie be used as a winger? Or could the formation change back to a 4-4-2? Personally I think that the only way the formation could change was if Fabregas were to become unavailable because to have him, and two strikers up front and only one battle hardened defensive / central midfielder would leave the middle rather thin.

I think it will be much the same as last season, with Fabregas given license to roam and run midfield with direct and fast wingers, a target striker and two enforcers in midfield. Fullbacks will be encouraged to get forward and cross and the center halves are all expected to be able to bring the ball forward from defence and to cover for the fullbacks during attacking phases.

I've chosen Eboue at right back because I simply don't rate Sanga, and I've chosen Diaby and Song because they are both inclined to sit a bit deeper and provide stability, especially when the fullbacks are getting as far forward as Wenger likes them too.

Clichy tends to sit a little deeper than Eboue, which is why I've put Diaby on the left side of central midfield, as he is more of a central midfielder than Song who is clearly a holding midfielder.

To be honest I don't think Arsenal have strengthened that much for this season, and unless they invest in a new goalkeeper I don't see them finishing above third this season, once again. Having said that, I do think that they'll finish above Manchester City and that they'll be around first place for a while. The thought of the beating Chelsea, for example, seems a little too much...

Brazil in Cobham

For those of you who are worried, I am working on my Arsenal review and it will hopefully be up by tomorrow afternoon. Right now I would like to comment on something Chelsea related. If you've been following the rumour mill you'll know that Ramires and Neymar, two Brazilians, have been heavily linked with the club. Chelsea have only recently had three Brazilians at the club and while one has been quite a success (Alex) the other two have been average (Belletti) and a complete failure (Scolari).

So what's changed? Well, if we think of Carlo Ancelotti's AC Milan we get a clue. In the recent past Milan have had three very prominent Brazilian stars in Kaka, Pato and Ronaldinho. While Ronaldinho's stay has not finished it has also not been spectacular but the same could not be said for Pato and Kaka.

So it would seem that our favorite Italian gets on well with Brazilians but the question is why? As all Chelsea fans know, the Anchovy was brought in to 'give the club an identity' which is something he seems to have done rather well. But what is that identity? Perhaps this is wrong, but here is how I see the changes at the club.

In defence, the team are very tactially sound and quite rigid posititionally. Everyone has a job to do, and they all know who does what. There is also quite a high work rate off the strikers getting back to defend particularly for set pieces. At the same time this does make counter attacking more difficult which is where the next attribute comes in: pace.

There were always rumors that Joe Cole was not favored because he was too slow and didn't distribute quickly enough, and that is why Benayoun was brought in. But pace with just the forwards is not enough, because the team play a very compact game requiring everyone to move forward at pace to attack, and back again to defend. A quick look at average positions throughout the season will reveal that Chelsea's center halves are an average of about 10m further forward than any other team's defenders.

All of this supports Ancelotti's view of a balanced team who are dynamic and well composed while still clearly being attacking minded. But players can only help out on multiple levels if they are technically accomplished which is something else the Anchovy clearly demands.

Something which is also clear by looking at Milan over the past few years is how creativity is always encouraged and players are allowed to express their 'flair' as they see fit. A good example of this could be seen when Ancelotti said that he has never told Anelka what to do on the field, rather allowing to move as he sees fit during attacking phases and only expected to mark specific players during defensive phases.

Now, by adding Benayoun the Anchovy has injected creativity and pace into midfield and with Matic being developed into a deeper lying playmaker things are looking good. But by adding Ramires and possibly Neymar, he will encourage all the attributes he craves: discipline in defence, flair in attack, a dynamic approach and team mentality.

So here's me saying that I can't wait for Ramires to occupy midfield and for Neymar to take over the right wing.