“There has been a trend towards younger, or at least more progressive, managers in France of late, and largely to good effect. The football played by Will Still, Luka Elsner and Liam Rosenior is innovative, modern and genuinely thrilling to watch. Older managers are also making their mark. Franck Haise is doing much the same at Nice as he did at Lens, and more recent arrivals Adi Hütter and Roberto De Zerbi have Monaco and Marseille playing some fine football as well. Antoine Kombouaré and Jean-Louis Gasset are still stalking the sidelines at Nantes and Montpellier, respectively, but the era of apoplectic warhorse tracksuit managers seems to be well and truly gone in France. René Girard, Frédéric Antonetti, Michel der Zakarian are all out of a job in the top flight, and Olivier Dall’Oglio’s departure from Saint-Étienne seems to be working well for the club, who have looked far more cohesive under Eirik Horneland. …”
Guardian
Jorge Sampaoli’s negative tactics are not working at Rennes
Leave a reply
“Arsenal dominated the Premier League champions at the Emirates Stadium, beating Manchester City 5-1 to keep pressure on Liverpool at the top of the table. Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead within two minutes through Martin Odegaard before Erling Haaland equalised with a thumping header early in the second half. City were only level for a minute or so, though, before Thomas Partey restored Arsenal’s advantage. From then, the home side were in total control. Impressive 18-year-old full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly and forward Kai Havertz added more goals, before an outstanding curling strike from 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, on as a substitute, added further gloss in stoppage time. …”
“One of the familiar tells of St Pauli’s standalone attitude to their kit, until recently, was the sleeve patch advertising a local brewer. Astra make much of their alternative worldview too, as well as their attachment to the location of their microbrewery in the Reeperbahn. Like the football club, they see themselves at the heart of St Pauli’s community. Astra’s logo, spray-painted on the main stand at Millerntor, is particularly evocative of where they’re at. It’s a red heart with an anchor piercing the top, a nod to the city of Hamburg’s maritime heritage resembling a sailor’s tattoo (which is why it always looked so satisfying on the upper arm of St Pauli’s jerseys). …”
Scissors Kick 