Daily Archives: January 23, 2013

Pep Guardiola: A Masterstroke By The German Heavyweights

  By O-Posts Team | January 23, 2013 - 21:03 | , , , ,
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There have been rumours spreading like wild fire since the beginning of last week that former Barcelona player/manager and history maker, Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola will take over from current Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes at the end of the season.

The speculations were becoming stronger by every passing minute and doubts were put to bed when the German giants announced last Wednesday that indeed Mr Guardiola was to become their next manager cum the end of the season.

It was a decision well applauded by a few, but many were astonished that the former Spanish midfield pearl chose the Bavarian outfit over the likes of CFC and Manchester City. He (Pep) even stated his desire to manage in England one day since he never had the opportunity to ply his trade there as a player. Bubble bursting news for all EPL followers.

There was some outrage on the announcement by Bayern re: Guardiola. Nevertheless, his former charges at Barcelona like Captain Carles Puyol and GK Jose Pinto gave him their full backing and all the support he ever needs to succeed at the very demanding Bundesliga outfit.

However, even more despairing was the extreme displeasure shown by a very strong, passionate and dedicated Bayern Munchen fan from Bulgaria called Vasil Kotsev(@jmliak). Having temporarily retired (in his own words) his twitter account well over 6 months ago, he brought it outta retirement Wednesday night for a few hours to express his utter disgust at the appointment of Pep Guardiola.

Below are the points he raised on why he’s not in the least pleased with the Gaurdiola capture.

@jmliak- I am going to bring this account out of retirement for a few tweets, because there are some things that need to be said today..

@jmliak- Bayern probably made their biggest mistake (signing Gaurdiola for next season) since appointing Jurgen Klinsmann back in 2008

@jmliak- I am going to outline why I think so, and everyone is welcome to try and counter any of my points. I actually look forward to that.

@jmliak- Point 1: Pep good for youth players? Out of the 10 youth players he introduced, only 1 (Busquets) became a regular at Barcelona.

@jmliak- Point 2: Pep is awful at transfers. Hleb, Ibra, Sanchez, Mascherano, Villa, Chygrynsky, Fab. Dani Alves is his best buy- enough said. Sold Eto’o

@jmliak- Point 3: Pep doesn’t work with out and out strikers. Ruined Villa’s career, nearly did the same to Ibra. Bayern currently have 3 pure strikers now.

@jmliak- Point 4: Pep did not build this Barca team. Pep inherited Van Gaal and Rijkaard’s team, and despite his efforts, he did not change much.

@jmliak- Point 5: Pep didn’t make Xavi world class. Xavi really is a late bloomer, and he was only given a chance when Deco left. Hardly Pep’s accomplishment.

@jmliak- Point 6: Pep doesn’t use wingers and they eventually leave. Hleb and Sanchez to name just two. Bayern have Ribery, Robben, Shaqiri and Muller.

@jmliak- Point 7: Pep has ;little to no input in FCB’s success. He stumbled upon the best midfield and the best attacker. All he needed to do is field them.

@jmliak- Point 8: Pep just sat and watched games for free on the bench. He’s a zero tactically and couldn’t do anything when the going got tough.

@jmliak- Point 9: When Messi did not play well and Pep faced a coach who actually has a clue, he was helpless. Hiddink and Mourinho just 2 of them.

@jmliak- Point 10: Under Pep, Barca turned into a limited team in which 10 players supported one. Each time Messi was shut out, Barca lost.

@jmliak- Point 11: If Bayern wanted possession football and youth players, they would have stayed with Van Gaal. He is better than Pep in every aspect.

@jmliak- Point 12: Pep does not know German. No quality coach would agree to work in a country and not know the language (Quoting Mourinho here).

@jmliak- Point 13: Bayern need a coach that has tactical ability and win-at-any-cost attitude. They needed Mourinho, not Pep. Should have waited 6 months.

@jmliak- Point 14: Jupp worked really hard to build a team that is Multi-dimensional and flexible. Pep will be the end of that. Bayern shouldn’t be Barca.

@jmliak- Point 15: Pep is about to work with a man thrice more stubborn, forceful, and influential than him.- Sammer. Good luck with that.

@jmliak- Point 16: Probably the biggest proof that Pep was a pawn at Barca is that his assistant is doing better than him so far in the League.
The 16 points above are just off the top of Mr Vasil’s head as he put it, but some are very valid and well constructed, although I personally disagree with a few, I sincerely am with him for the first 3 points. Point 4 has some truth in it, but someone has to inherit a team. He (Pep) changed the team wholly and brought a new winning mentality to the set-up and made them very very difficult to beat…Van Gaal and Frank’s teams didn’t embody that.

Point 5 is what I kept hitting on in 2008. Xavi only became Barcelona’s main midfield man when Anderson ‘DECO’ De Souza left. The Barcelona no 6 emerged from Deco’s shadow to establish himself as not only a mainstay in the Blaugrana team, but the fulcrum. So Pep just monitored the situation and supported the motion.

Point 6 is a fact. But where I think Mr Kotsev is wrong is the tagging of Muller as a pure winger. In a 4-3-3 format (Pep’s favoured strategy), Muller is a wing forward/left sided striker and can easily adapt to the Guardiola master plan (however and whenever it changes) because he is a technically gifted footballer. Same goes for Robben, Ribery and Shaqiri.

Mr Vasil was too angry to think straight when he was tweeting point 7. Pep is pivotal to whatever Barcelona are and will be in future. He totally brought a new meaning to tiki-taka and atttacking football. He transformed good players to great players and is the reason why Messi is regarded as one of the best footballers in History. He is the focal point of football transformation in modern times. He is that revered.

Point 8 is absolute nonsense. Arrant balderdash. If Pep wasn’t tactically adept, he wouldn’t have won the staggering number of titles in his time at the Catalan club. As for point 9, it is a matter of opinion really. I do not quite agree with it. Pep has a dominant record v Mourinho (Hiddink floored him tactically, though).

Point 10 is a half truth. Messi was the main beneficiary of the Guardiola ideology. Pep’s Barcelona teams were built around the Argie great – that was why Eto’o and Ibra were shipped off. Leo was always the main man and that was Pep’s thing.

Point 11 shows that Mr Vasil hasn’t really forgiven Uli, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (KHR) and Franz Beckenbauer for showing Louis Van Gaal (LVG) the exit door. But saying Van Gaal is better than Pep in every aspect is going over the top. Possession football? Spare me that.

In Guardiola’s 247 games as Barcelona manager, Hi side out-possessed every team they faced. An unreal statistic. In terms of promoting youth players, only a few have/can bettered/better Mr Van Gaal. Andres Iniesta is eternally grateful to the Dutch managerial legend for whatever he is today, and many other greats who were given a chance by LVG.

Point 12 is easily the most trivial. Pep is taking over the Reds in 6 months. That should be more than enough time to learn some German. No intelligent and well trained soldier goes to war unprepared and Josep is too super to falter in that respect.

Point 13 is also sheepishly mundane and daft (with all due respect). Pep knows how to win and it is only after next season, we can begin to judge him based on what he has done right or wrong. Mourinho is a class act, so is Guardiola.

Point 14 sees Mr Kotsev showing sympathy for the departing Fohlen Legend, Jupp Heynckes. Yes, he has made the Bayern team multi-dimensional and bla bla bla…But the Football World is a harsh place as seen with Julio Cesar Falcioni’s dismissal at Boca and EL PELADO Almeyda’s at the Monumental (River Plate).

These are just a few examples of how managers are shipped off at the slightest provocation, not minding what they have won or/and done; Sean O’Driscoli’s at NFFC is a recent one. About the phrase/statement- ‘Bayern shouldn’t be Barca’. That’s the idea, right? Sammer and his team want Pep to make DIE ROTEN unbeatable and unplayable like Barca were in his four years at the helm. Mr Vasil should take a chill pill here.

Point 15 shouldn’t really be a problem. Sammer is stubborn, headstrong, strong-willed and very influential. Other football directors have been worse attitude-wise and still managed to get along with their coaches. Pep and Matias will come good for the sake of Bayern Munich and who knows? They might become the best of friends. Life is unpredictable you know.

Point 16 is more or less laughable. ‘The end justifies the means’ they say. Pep was La Liga Champion 3 of the 4 years he was at the Nou Camp and whichever way he started out every league season is inconsequential as long as he reached his set objectives. I like the phrase-’so far’, as the league is still on. Don’t get me wrong, Tito has been exceptional ‘so far’. Not yet ‘so good’

All in all, PEP GUARDIOLA’s return to football has been saluted by majority of us as a welcome relief and we hope he does very well at the ALLIANZ ARENA. Wish you the best Josep the Great.

Opinions/Views are humbly welcome. Please state your minds in the comment box.

 

Written by Ohireime Eboreime

Follow him on Twitter @ohiskaka1990

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Mario Balotelli: Could Roberto Mancini get one more chance to prove he was right all along?

  By O-Posts Team | January 23, 2013 - 19:24 | , , , , ,
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Speculation of Mario Balotelli’s possible move from Manchester City to AC Milan this month has been illuminated by stories of the striker mysteriously giving up his highly expensive rented property in Cheshire and inspiring an Italian hip-hop artist to write a song about the pitfalls of native citizenship.

There have been no stories of mass-philanthropy at petrol stations or schools, but indication all the same of the slapstick nature that has followed the character during his time in Manchester that maybe coming to an end.

For somebody who tested Jose Mourinho’s patience to the extreme upon his emergence with Inter Milan and possessed enough lack of wit to appear on national television wearing the shirt of their bitter city rivals, the £24 million move to Manchester City in the August of 2010 as Inter finally gave up on the attacker’s eccentricities and passed him on to his first Internazionale coach and mentor Roberto Mancini, was never going to be the smoothest of rides.

Two years and six months later, Balotelli is rumoured to be on his way back to Milan with his reputation for the petulant, unreliable and utmost frustrating well and truly installed. 27 yellow cards have been picked up at Manchester City and four reds, the most costly one being the scissor tackle that threatened to derail his side’s title chase with defeat at Arsenal last April.

Despite the wretched indiscipline that, just like Mourinho, has driven Roberto Mancini to the edges of his faith in his apparent talent that looked to have finally broken during a training ground fight in December, the manager still appears to hold support for his prodigy whose agent has claimed that any January move is unlikely.

“I’m not interested in negotiating with anyone” says Mino Raiola, “Mario stays at City,” which may go someway to delighting Mancini who, as some are quick to point out, has never voiced a desire to sell the player and is said to be the only member of the City hierarchy to still hold patience in the 22 year old despite ironically being the one who Balotelli has let down the most.

Too often there hasn’t been the ruthless efficiency in-front of goal that adorned Euro 2012 and neither has there been too many moments to replicate the “why always me?” motif of his two-goal inspiration in the 1-6 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Instead the more everlasting images have been Mancini furiously reacting on the touchline to another misdemeanour, withdrawing him immediately after a needless back-heel in a pre-season friendly and from a woeful display in this season’s Manchester derby.

It was his inclusion in that game that indicated Mancini’s relentless mission to siphon the best out of Balotelli, which he has chosen to just restrict to mere glimpses, and what initially sparked Mancini to pay out the £24 million fee 2 years ago. City are seeking to recuperate £31 million for the striker, an extortionate ask when it is considered the frequency of which the Italian has proved an encumbrance to his employers.

Adriano Galliani, AC Milan’s vice-president, has said his side are eager to sign the troublesome player and expressed a willingness to negotiate, while Silvio Berlusconi has been entirely negative towards the projected move, conflicting reports that show in microcosm how much the enigmatic striker splits opinion.

Any opinion that is, apart from Roberto Mancini’s which remains completely unswayed on what his man can eventually offer to Manchester City once his shoddy attitude stops betraying the talent he possesses.

Aside from the misadventures and the comedy that has incurred his time with City, a return of 30 goals from 75 is a modest total from two years in east Manchester where he has played a significant role in a period of incredible success; he was man of the match in the FA Cup final win over Stoke in 2011 whilst as well as twenty goals last season, his measured pass to provide Sergio Aguero for his last gasp goal that sealed City’s first ever league title would have achieved him immortality in City’s history despite the infuriating underbelly of this chapter of his young career.

Balotelli has played just 31 minutes of football since that erroneous decision to field him in the derby at the start of December, but as City once again go in pursuit of their neighbours for a successive Premier League title, his services could well be needed again as he currently sits on the bench awaiting a possible shot at redemption.

If Milan’s interest passes in this window without action, as is looking increasingly likely, it will give Mancini another 5 months to launch one last desperate attempt to give the striker a chance to prove he was worth the trouble all along.

 

Written by Adam Gray

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Christian Benteke: Another Belgian Talent On The Rise

  By O-Posts Team | January 23, 2013 - 17:16 | , , , , , , ,
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There have been a host of Belgian footballers that have consistently made the headlines this season for their outstanding performances for their clubs in the Premier League, but none of them have carried the fortunes of a club in a relegation dog fight and still received glowing plaudits like Christian Benteke.

His match winning prowess are invaluable for a club like Aston Villa who need players to lead the club to safety, 20 year old Benteke is taking the initiative with Aston Villa getting points every time Benteke has scored so far this season.

The highlight so far in his Villa career was a sensational performance away at Anfield where his combination of creativity and athleticism demolished the Reds with the Belgian scoring two goals and assisting another to complete a shock result.

But seven days later he was the lone striker as Aston Villa surrendered to an eight goal defeat away at Chelsea. After all the deserved praise from the previous weekend, Benteke was smothered by Ivanovic and Cahill leading for Benteke to play “off the shoulder” far too often and was constantly offside.

Christian Benteke was a late transfer from Belgian club Genk where he had scored 19 goals in 41 games in the 2011-12 season. 7 million was steep figure for a player with little experience at such a competitive level that the Premier League demands week after week.

Benteke was introduced to the Premier League at Villa Park in the fixture versus an in form Swansea City. Benteke had an instant impact as a he scored coming on as a late sub. At the early stages of his career, his place in the Villa starting lineup was questioned as his first touch seemed heavy while a proven Premier League striker in Darren Bent didn’t even make the substitute bench.

Benteke established himself as the spearhead of the Aston Villa attack in the absence of Darren Bent with goals in important matches such as the equaliser versus Norwich and the late winner versus Reading.

One of the standout games for Benteke in a Villa shirt was in the Capital One Cup where after 85 minutes he had bulldozed through the usually air tight Norwich defence. His subtle combination play with Andres Weimann led to him unselfishly playing in the Austrian for his second goal of the night, while scoring from 20 yards himself in the 90th minute to complete a 4-1 victory.

December 15th was the date where I feel that Benteke began to really stand out. The Claret and Blue’s encountered Liverpool at Anfield. Villa needed a win as they were slowly creeping into the relegation zone at this time. Lambert changed Villa’s system to shore up the backline by changing to 5-3-2 counter attacking system.

Aston Villa lined out with the youngest average age for a starting eleven this season but the roars of the Kop didn’t affect them. Suddenly Benteke nonchalantly pushed the ball out of his feet and unleashed a low shot inside Pepe Reina’s near post from 25 yards out.

The Belgian then turned provider when in arguably the best team goal of the season he raced onto a Weimann pass, then returning the play to Weimann through a sublime backheel for Weimann to score. In the second half, Benteke collected a sloppy Joe Cole pass and bounced off a Martin Skrtel challenge before slotting past the helpless Reina.

The Christmas period left Villa with zero goals and thirteen conceded so that in itself states that Benteke didn’t influence games as much as he would have liked during this period. But he has scored in consecutive away games against Swansea and the opener, a stunning shot coming in at 68mph from 28 yards out in the local derby versus West Brom. In the second leg of the of the Capital One Cup tie with Bradford, Benteke despite scoring the opener was on the losing side over both legs.

Benteke has impressed me in his debut season by finding consistent goalscoring form but can still improve in his timing of runs and hold up play. His strength and aerial ability give him great tools for goalscoring, which he has used to score seven premier league goals this season.

Aston Villa have won five and drawn four in of the nine games Benteke has scored in for all competitions. Expect top clubs to be monitoring his situation at Villa over the summer if he continues this form for the rest of the season.

 

Written by Daire Kilkelly

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Football Tips: Psycho-Motoric Training Allows You to Play Football with Your Mind

  By O-Posts Team | January 23, 2013 - 16:14 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Football players do not only need physical fitness, powerful technique and perfect mental ability, but they also need to develop psycho-motor skills. This means that they need to improve their concentration abilities, multitasking, space orientation, the ability to comprehend, and enhancing memory capacity and so on.

Barcelona’s midfielder, Xavi Hernandez has stated in an interview that the first thing, which is taught to every child in Barcelona, is to keep thinking fast without losing a second. Children are taught to play football with perfection, and right from the age of ten it is imbibed in their minds that losing a ball brings shame.

This statement can be better understood if you refer to the performance of Xavi Hernandez starting from the time when the player receives the ball, till the moment it is released for a pass.

The moves go in this manner:

1. Determining an open space with a passing angle and then moving the ball into it.
2. Understanding the ball is now being passed to him.
3. Looking off from the ball and viewing the surrounding.
4. While the ball is half underway, pointing his look and predicting the spot where it will head to
5. The strength of observation during the time of absorption
6. Receiving the ball and viewing the surrounding areas while estimating the moves
7. Passing the ball with maximum accuracy towards his team member or to an open space where the team member is moving to.

Xavi is speaking about the human brain and the functions of thinking abilities during physical exercise. To put it in simple words, it is all about training and exercising the brain.

 

The talent capacity

Famous football players like Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Messi and so on are also blessed with extraordinary psycho-motoric skills. These players have many qualities but one of the most noteworthy of all the qualities is their thinking ability and the power to take the correct decision on field while in motion. Coaches have also said that talent is one thing that cannot be taught. It is something which you either have it or do not have it.

A football player who is unable to put in complete attention and distracted easily is liable to perform critical mistakes, irrespective of how talented he might be. Hard training or motivation alone is just not enough for playing good football.

Barca star, Xavi Hernandez in action.

You need to understand about the neurological pattern here on which a football player does not have complete control. The first thing towards rectifying this problem is:

• Development of consciousness and getting aware of these distractions
• Instant training which is dedicated towards complete attention

The mental effort of any football player that he uses for keeping his concentration in the game is affected by concentration and attention skills.

 

Psycho-motoric training

The importance of physical fitness cannot be ruled out as it affects both concentration and attention skills. However, even if a player is physically fit, the symptoms of mind getting fatigued cannot go unnoticed.

It has been observed that players who have performed psycho-motoric training since months have reported of having both improvement and better attention ability in the game. They have also expressed the feeling of remaining fresh for a longer duration. You should not be surprised with this. Human brain reacts to physical training with equal extent in the same manner as body muscles do.

 

Conditions of Psycho-motoric training

Psycho-motoric training can be divided into general training that fits to all kinds of specific training and sports activities and is adjusted to its nature. There are multiple conditions for different exercises:

• Regular – when the player is fresh
• Intensive – when the player puts in effort
• Under tiring or fatigue conditions.

 

Author’s Bio:

Albert Steve is a sportswriter, and he also interviews popular sports people for a magazine. You could also check out his interview with Mericle, who is quite a big name in American football.

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