“Chelsea cruised past Bolton with goals from all of their front three, and Ramires’ first for the club. Owen Coyle made two changes. Gretar Steinsson replaced Sam Ricketts at right-back, whilst Martin Petrov came in for Mark Davies. Petrov played on the left, with Matthew Taylor switching to the right.” Zonal Marking
“Blackburn moved into the top half of the Premier League table with a win in a fairly uneventful game. Steve Kean brought in new recruits Jermaine Jones and Roque Santa Cruz, to replace El Hadji Diouf and Ryan Nelsen. Martin Olsson dropped into the defence.” Zonal Marking
“Leonardo suffered his first defeat as Inter manager as Udinese dominated the majority of the game. Francesco Guidolin made one change from last week’s side which defeated Genoa. Andrea Coda was left out, with Maurizio Domizzi coming in on the left of defence. Leonardo replaced Marco Materazzi with Ivan Cordoba, and Diego Milito’s absence meant Goran Pandev pushed forward, as did Dejan Stankovic, with Thiago Motta returning on the left of the midfield.” Zonal Marking
“Manchester City dominated the game but somehow managed to come away with nothing. Gerard Houllier named a very attack-minded side – Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Marc Albrighton and Gabriel Agbonlahor all played behind Darren Bent, who made his first start for the club. Carlos Cuellar returned at right-back.” Zonal Marking
“There were few signs of post-Christmas hangovers as Ligue 1 resumed after the winter break, with wins for all the serious title contenders. Leaders Lille immediately hit their stride with a 2-0 win at Nice, before Eden Hazard and Gervinho inspired Rudi Garcia’s side to a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Nancy in their re-arranged home game on Wednesday to send them four points clear of their title rivals.” Football Further
“Out for two weeks with a calf injury and locked in contract negotiations with Barcelona, now seems like a good time to assess the value of Daniel Alves. It’s long been a standard joke – or cliche, if you like – to say that an attacking full-back is “more of a winger than a full-back.” That’s particularly been true of Brazilian full-backs down the years – in recent times, most notably the combination of Cafu and Roberto Carlos, who started the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups in the full-back positions for Brazil.” Zonal Marking
“Leeds were unable to reproduce their heroics of last weekend, as Arsenal progress to the fourth round. Simon Grayson made one change from the first game. Luciano Becchio was out injured, so Billy Paynter came in. Arsene Wenger made three changes from that 1-1 draw – Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny started, whilst Samir Nasri was used in place of Tomas Rosicky.” Zonal Marking
“By now everyone knows how this match panned out. Both sides made errors that were punished and West Brom claimed the 3 points. However, what went on from a formation point of view and how did that affect the match as the 90 minutes unfolded?” Tangerine Dreaming
“Another tight second city derby ended with a 1-1 draw after an entertaining game. Alex McLeish used a 4-4-1-1 system, giving a debut to David Bentley on the right of midfield. Liam Ridgewell moved into the centre of defence in place of Scott Dann, so David Murphy came in at left-back. Matt Derbyshire started upfront alone.” Zonal Marking
Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United: goalkeepers rarely tested
“A contest that never really took off. Harry Redknapp played the usual 4-4-1-1. Peter Crouch was preferred to Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, whilst Wilson Palacios got the nod over Jermaine Jenas.” Zonal Marking
“All the goals came in the second half as Dortmund took another step towards the Bundesliga title. Jupp Heynckes made multiple changes to his side in the first game back after the winter break. Eren Derdiyok, Tranquilo Barnetta and Arturo Vidal were all left out, whilst Sidney Sam and Gonzalo Castro both switched from the right flank to the left. Patrick Helmes played just off Stefan Kiessling.” Zonal Marking
“Arsenal registered a thoroughly comfortable victory over West Ham amid rumours it was Avram Grant’s last game in charge. Arsenal returned to the front six that many consider their strongest, with Andrei Arshavin on the bench. Emmanuel Eboue continued to deputise for Bacary Sagna, whilst the centre-back pairing remained the same as in the midweek defeat to Ipswich.” Zonal Marking
“Edinson Cavani enjoyed the best night of his career as Napoli demolished Juventus. Walter Mazzarri played his most common line-up this season – 3-4-2-1, with Gianluca Grava ahead of Salvatore Aronica the only talking point. Gigi Delneri stuck to his favourite 4-4-2 shape, with Luca Toni making his debut alongside Amauri. There were six changes in all, with Milos Krasic coming back into the side on the right.” Zonal Marking
“The winter break in the Dutch football season is still in full effect. The downside of this is that for at least another week there are none of the usual match reports to bring here. But the advantage may be that such a period offers an opportunity to sit back and contemplate on the process of analyzing football matches.” 11 tegen 11
Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem – View of an Italian Port
“Pep’s Dream Boys – as officially endorsed by FIFA on Monday night, according to the local press – beat Deportivo using the most basic trick in the tactical book against the Galician outfit: staying awake for the whole ninety minutes when facing their terrifically tedious opponents.” FourFourTwo
Real Madrid 4-2 Villarreal: Real battered in first half, but press higher to dominate the second
“Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals and assisted another for Kaka, as Real came back from 1-0 and 2-1 down. Jose Mourinho used his usual 4-2-3-1 system. Sami Khedira was dropped with Lassana Diarra playing instead, whilst Kaka was again on the bench. Juan Carlos Garrido played Villarreal’s usual 4-4-2 / 4-2-2-2. Nilmar is still unavailable, so Marco Ruben started upfront. Marcos Senna and Carlos Marchena were also out – Jose Catala played at the back. Villarreal were excellent in the first half – by far the better side, and Jose Mourinho admitted after the match that the away side deserved to be leading at half-time.” Zonal Marking
“Sampdoria battled back from 1-0 down to claim the three points. Domenico di Carlo played a 4-4-2 system, but was forced to leave flu-ridden Giampaolo Pazzini on the bench, with Nicola Pozzi coming in. Daniele Mannini and Fernando Tissone were left out with Vladimir Koman and Andrea Poli starting instead.” Zonal Marking
“A penalty for either side – Arsenal’s coming in the final minute – meant these two sides will have to settle the tie at Elland Road next week. Arsene Wenger made sweeping changes to his side, keeping only Alex Song and Johan Djourou from the XI that failed to beat Manchester City. Nicklas Bendtner was used on the right, with Marouane Chamakh upfront.” Zonal Marking
Arsenal 1-1 Leeds United – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – FA Cup
The 90th Minute
“The transition from a player to a coach is not always easy and can take time, some will make it and some will not, they say a successful player doesn’t always make a great coach, but there is an exception to the rule and a prime example being Johan Cruijff.” La Croqueta
“Arsenal had all the best moments but failed to get the breakthrough. Arsene Wenger played the same side as in the recent 3-0 victory over Chelsea, which meant no place for Marouane Chamakh or Andrei Arshavin. Roberto Mancini made five changes, including three of his back four. He also left out Adam Johnson, instead playing Jo on the left. Arsenal started the match at a very high tempo when in possession, and should have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes when Jack Wilshere’s cross-shot wasn’t reached by Robin van Persie.” Zonal Marking
Once a Gunner, always a Hammer?
“If Trevor Brooking wouldn’t have fallen over in the penalty area at 3.13pm on Saturday 10th May 1980 life would have been so different for me. The moment a child chooses their football team to follow is a monumental decision, the first right of passage into adulthood. After being taken to Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Leyton Orient and Arsenal I had to choose which route I would take. Coming from a family of Charlton Athletic and West Ham United fans I obviously chose Arsenal.” The Ball Is Round
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
“Despite winning their last three matches before Germany’s winter break, including a notable success against reigning champions Bayern Munich, this season has been a mixed bag for Schalke 04. They have struggled in the Bundesliga, making a desperately poor start when they lost their first four games, including a crushing home defeat in the derby against bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund, but have cruised through their Champions League group, finishing ahead of Lyon and Benfica to secure a very winnable last 16 tie against an inconsistent Valencia.” The Swiss Ramble
“Georgios Samaras scored his first two goals of the season to hand Celtic an important victory. Walter Smith replaced Steven Naismith with Jamie Ness, who came into the centre of midfield, pushing Steve Davis to the right, and Steven Whittaker switched to the left. Elsewhere, it was unchanged from Rangers’ previous game, in the 4-4-1-1 shape Smith has favoured in recent weeks.” Zonal Marking
“The ten most interesting football games of 2010.” Zonal Marking
“The penultimate part of the review of the year.” Zonal Marking – Games of 2010: 20-11, Zonal Marking – Games of 2010: 30-21
Andrea Pirlo
“Here’s the first in four-part series reviewing the matches of the year. As ever, the focus is upon tactics rather than entertainment or importance, though naturally the ‘bigger’ games are featured prominently. It’s also limited to games that were covered on ZM, though that includes most of the contenders for the game of the year.” Zonal Marking
“Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott scored the goals as Arsenal stormed to victory. Arsene Wenger chose Robin van Persie rather than Marouane Chamakh, with Theo Walcott in for Andrei Arshavin, and Samir Nasri moving to the left. Lukasz Fabianski returned in goal.” Zonal Marking
Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
“This season and last, Blackpool has been lauded for their adventurous approach to playing the beautiful game. The majority of the mainstream media point to the influence Charlie Adam has had on the way that Blackpool play. However, one player doesn’t make a team and Holloway has reshaped the way that Blackpool play and there are facets of that play that help make watching Blackpool a superbly enjoyable experience. For the focus of this article the spot light will shine on the full backs. What role do they play? How have they been playing and where (if any) has adjustment (in role) been made for life in the Premiership?” Tangerine Dreaming
“In August, I wrote a piece for the Guardian’s pre-season supplement in which I speculated that, after the World Cup and Internazionale’s success in the Champions League, we may be about to witness a return to reactive football. Since when we’ve seen probably the most attacking Premier League in living memory, which goes to show two things: first, never believe anything anybody writes when trying to predict the future of football; and second, the World Cup is no longer a bellwether.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw that earlier this month Adriano was awarded the Bidone d’oro – the proverbial wooden spoon, or ‘Golden Bin’, handed out by Italian Rai Radio 2 listeners to Serie A’s worst performer. I was even more flabbergasted to learn that he was a repeat offender. His latest win (or lose depending how you look at it) completes the most undesirable of hat-tricks. I can’t understand it. The Bidone d’oro?! Surely he should be up for the Ballon d’Or.” In Bed With Maradona
“Schalke struck late to eliminate plucky Augsburg from the DFB-Pokal and move into the quarter-finals. This was the fifth consecutive game the Gelsenkirchen side had won in all competitions, and they’ll be disappointed that the winter break now eats into their momentum. The defeat was the first suffered by Augsburg in over two months, but they won’t be too disheartened as they seek to gain promotion to the top-flight for the first time in their history.” Defensive Midfielder
“In their ultimate match before the winter break PSV faced Harm van Veldhoven’s Roda at home. On match day six both teams met each other before and the 0-0 draw proved that Roda’s 4-4-2 diamond was capable of posing PSV some difficulties. In this match, however, PSV manager Rutten managed to find the solution during the first half, as was illustrated by the day and night difference of both halves of the match.” 11 tegen 11
“St. Pauli came into this game needing a win to achieve their declared mid-season target of 20 points. Like Mainz, the newly-promoted club started the campaign promisingly before tailing off, only rather more dramatically. Holger Stanislawski’s team had managed just one win in their last eight matches, and faced their guests without ‘keeper Thomas Kessler, red-carded in the defeat at Bayern München last week, Markus Thorandt, also suspended after being sent off, and flu-victims Deniz Naki and Richard Sukuta-Pasu. Thomas Tuchel, who saw his side suffer a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Schalke in Round 16, had the luxury of a near full-strength squad to choose from at the Millerntor – only Bo Svensson and Jan Šimák were ruled out. Although Mainz had dropped to fourth in recent weeks, they knew a win would – temporarily – take them back up to the silver medal spot.” Defensive Midfielder
Tactical Breakdown: How Mainz Overcame St. Pauli In A Six-Goal Thriller
“St. Pauli came into this game needing a win to achieve their declared mid-season target of 20 points. Like Mainz, the newly-promoted club started the campaign promisingly before tailing off, only rather more dramatically.” Goal
“At first it looked like Roma were coming for a draw, but they ended up leaving with a win. Max Allegri stuck with his 4-3-1-2 shape, the only change being Luca Antonini replacing Gianluca Zambrotta at left-back. Claudio Ranieri made five changes from the team which beat Bari last weekend – the major news being that Francesco Totti was omitted, with Adriano making his second start for Roma. Daniele De Rossi returned.” Zonal Marking
AC Milan 0-1 AS Roma – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Serie A
The 90th Minute
“Barcelona scored five for the third time in their last four games. Mauricio Pochettino played a variation of his usual 4-2-3-1 – Luis Garcia started out on the right and Jose Callejon switched to the left. Pep Guardiola chose what seems to be his first choice XI, the same one that started the legendary 5-0 victory over Real Madrid.” Zonal Marking
“Lyon’s trip to Marseille this Sunday has the potential to be the defining game of the season’s first half, and although both sides have been undermined by injuries and suspensions, their recent form contrasts starkly.” Football Further
“Eredivisie champions Twente succumbed to a painful defeat at the hands of Heerenveen, where Oussama Assaidi ran the show, scoring three and assisting the other three goals. A four goal loss for the reigning champions is not unique in Eredivisie history – it has happened two times before – but it illustrates the cropping together of the Eredivisie teams, where, as it seems, any team can beat anyone at present…” 11 tegen 11
“The modern offside law continues to frustrate defenders and pundits alike, but the men who should benefit from it – strikers – have not exploited it to its full potential. First, some background on the offside law is needed, specifically the recent changes to it. Jonathan Wilson’s piece gives a history of the law along with some implication for tactics, whilst the Premier League’s head of referees Keith Hackett outlines the ‘new’ law in detail. In this article, we are dealing with a very specific outcome of the changes. Now, a player who is in an offside position when one pass in a move is played can go onto participate in the rest of the move as long as he doesn’t touch the ball from the initial pass.” Zonal Marking
The Question: Why is the modern offside law a work of genius?
April 13 2010. “Nothing in football is so traduced as the offside law. Most seem to regard it as a piece of killjoy legislation, designed almost to prevent football producing too many goals and being too much fun, while for the punditocracy it has become the universal scapegoat, the thing that “nobody understands”. Just because Garth Crooks doesn’t get something, though, doesn’t make it a bad thing. The modern offside law may be the best thing that’s ever happened to football, and it is almost certainly the reason Barcelona have been so successful with a fleet of players whose obvious asset is their technique rather than their physique.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
“A version of this piece, a review of the year 2010 in French football, was written for Agence France-Presse and published on the AFP newswire on Wednesday, December 15.” Football Further
“Just when Newcastle United fans could be forgiven for thinking that their club had abandoned its frequent attempts to act as the setting for one of football’s longest running soap operas, their rotund owner Mike Ashley struck again, sacking the likeable Chris Hughton, who had guided the team to promotion last season on a shoestring budget, and replacing him with Alan Pardew, a man whose track record provides little support for his boundless confidence. In their first season back in the Premier League, Newcastle were handily placed in mid-table, having demolished local rivals Sunderland 5-1 and securing away victories against the likes of Arsenal and Everton, not to mention an impressive win at Chelsea in the Carling Cup.” The Swiss Ramble
“Manchester United came out on top in a game where neither side played their best football. Sir Alex Ferguson sacrificed Dimitar Berbatov to go with a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 formation. Paul Scholes was not fit enough to make the squad, so the side essentially picked itself after the decision about formation. Arsene Wenger kept the usual 4-2-3-1 shape. Cesc Fabregas was only fit for the bench, and Tomas Rosicky was picked ahead of Robin van Persie in the central attacking midfield role.” Zonal Marking
“The starting line-ups Dortmund weren’t at their best, but were still relatively comfortable. Jurgen Klopp selected an unchanged side, and with the exception of the absent Kevin Grosskreutz, this is the XI he has favoured so far this season.” Zonal Marking
Giulio Romano, The Battle of Zama
“Goals from Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll meant Newcastle leapfrogged Liverpool in the table. Alan Pardew’s intention was clear – change as little as possible. Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan returned to the side after being unavailable for last week’s defeat to West Brom, but the other nine players remained.” Zonal Marking
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea: Drogba changes game, then misses crucial penalty
“Roman Pavlyuchenko’s opener was cancelled out by Didier Drogba’s powerful drive, before a frenetic finish. Harry Redknapp chose Roman Pavlyuchenko over Peter Crouch, and was without William Gallas, so Michael Dawson returned. Carlo Ancelotti left out Didier Drogba but maintained the 4-3-3 shape. Paulo Ferreira started at right-back with Branislav Ivanovic playing in the centre. Frank Lampard was on the bench.” Zonal Marking
Genoa 0-1 Napoli: Hamsik header decides match
“An intriguing game rather than an exciting one, as Napoli go up to second for the time being. Davide Ballardini seems to have settled on a four-man defence after preferring three at the back last seasonand in the opening games of this campaign. He shuffled his side with the return of Omar Milanetto. Marco Rossi played on the right, with Rafinha moving to right-back in place of Giandomenico Mesto.” Zonal Marking
Roda 1 – 1 ADO: The 4-4-2 diamond doesn’t help Roda at home
“Roda remain unbeaten at home, but fail to win a home game again. Difficulties to convert their possession into chances which seem connected to their formation and playing style seem related to their 3-6-0 home series. ADO replaced missing winger Kubik with Vicento, a similar type of player, rather than making adjustments to their system like in the away loss at AZ and came away with a point in a game they might just have been able to win.” 11 tegen 11
Heracles 2 – 2 VVV: Bad pitch, bad weather, bad footb….
“It may not have been the best of matches to watch, but VVV will definitely be happy coming away with a point after being 2-0 down at half time. Heracles easily dealt with VVV’s split 4-4-2 team in the first half, as they simply regained possession every time the ball was played up to VVV’s strikers who missed any connecting midfielders. In the second half VVV did connect to their forwards and imposed a physical direct game that proved too much for Heracles to deal with in the end.” 11 tegen 11
Freiburg 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
“Papiss Cissé continued to show why Wolfsburg are intent on buying him to replace Edin Džeko as his brace and fantastic performance helped Freiburg defeat Mönchengladbach. Gladbach remain rooted in relegation trouble, but had they taken some of the numerous chances that came their way in the first half, the result could have been different.” Defensive Midfielder
“A brace from Didier Ya Konan punished two defensive mistakes as Hannover moved into second place. As a result, Stuttgart will be stuck in the bottom three over the winter break. Stuttgart came into this game as the only team who hadn’t won away from home in the Bundesliga this season, and knew that a win wouldn’t even be enough to lift them out of the drop zone. Hannover, on the other hand, went into the game knowing that a win would give them a new club record of five consecutive victories – and, as mentioned in the introduction, a win would also lift them up to second place. That’s Hannover. In second place. In December. Oh, and they’d be taking that position from Mainz. Yes, Mainz.” Defensive Midfielder
Tactical Breakdown: How High-Flying Hannover Edged Struggling Stuttgart
“A brace from Didier Ya Konan punished two defensive mistakes as Hannover moved into second place. As a result, Stuttgart will be stuck in the bottom three over the winter break. Stuttgart came into this game as the only team who hadn’t won away from home in the Bundesliga this season, and knew that a victory wouldn’t even be enough to lift them out of the drop zone. Hannover, on the other hand, went into the game knowing that a win would give them a new club record of five consecutive victories.” Goal
“Just as Marseille looked to be gathering momentum, a setback arrived in the form of a 1-0 defeat at Nice. Little matter that OM dominated the game at the home of their Mediterranean near neighbours. They barely created a chance of note and were punished in the second minute of injury time when former Reading man Emerse Faé side-footed home unmarked from Anthony Mounier’s cut-back.” Football Further
“Zach Slaton, author of A Beautiful Numbers Game blog and Arsenal fan, recently asked to take a look at the massive Transfer Price Index database, to apply some advanced statistical analysis to the findings. What follows is a fairly complex, but also compelling, look at the correlation between transfer spending and league position.” Tomkins Times
“‘A lot of club managers will take note of what happened in the World Cup and adjust their tactics accordingly,’ said Harry Redknapp in the September edition of FourFourTwo magazine. ‘I’ve gone on record as saying England were far too open in the tournament and I think 4-5-1 would have been the formation to get the best of our lads and also close the space in midfield. In the Premier League, you’ve already seen a lot of teams using 4-5-1, especially away. It’s a formation I’d consider playing on the road, for sure.’” Football Further
“Shakhtar progress as group leaders after a deserved victory. Mircea Lucescu used his usual 4-2-3-1 formation, in a Shakhtar side unchanged from their previous Champions League game, a 0-3 win in Belgrade.” Zonal Marking
“New Ajax manager Frank de Boer succeeded in installing hope in the heart of the Ajax fans in this match against, it must be said, an uninspired Milan side where no less than seven regular players were rested. Milan either preferred to sit back of were forced back by Ajax (presumably the first) as Ajax combined along the flank and create a significantly higher amount of goal attempts. In the second half Ajax succeeded in converting chances into goals to win a game that might be categorized as a dead rubber in terms of the Champions League competition. But, in terms of installing new found self-confidence and providing hope for their fans, Ajax did a very good job tonight.” 11 tegen 11
“When football fans witnessed Barcelona’s dazzling 5-0 demolition of rivals Real Madrid, they would have been forgiven for assuming that this was an unprecedented performance, but they would have only had to look back three weeks for a similar exhibition in Portugal, when Porto crushed Benfica 5-0 at the Dragão Stadium. The country’s most successful team of recent times thrashing its celebrated capital city opponents? Check. Inspired by a South American phenomenon? Check. Guided by a progressive young coach? Check. After finishing a disappointing third in the Portuguese League last season, Porto replaced their coach Jesualdo Ferreira with André Villas Boas, a protégé of José Mourinho.” The Swiss Ramble
“More so than any other Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier’s stewardship is characterised by two distinct periods, divided by a single dramatic event: the building up of a very good side, and then failure as he dismantled it following a near-death experience as his aortic valve ruptured. Decisions made after that potentially fatal heart problem in October 2001 were no longer laced with a Midas touch, and while it may be merely coincidental, the After did not match up to the Before in any way.” Tomkins Times
Ten steps: Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa
“Liverpool recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory over Gerard Houllier’s Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday night. The scoreline reflects the home side’s dominance – they were good, Villa were particularly bad. The game looked over after Ryan Babel made it 2-0 on 15 minutes, and Villa offered little threat for the rest of the contest. Houllier switched to 4-4-2 at half-time, as he did in the game against Arsenal when Villa were also 2-0 down at the break, but there was little sign of a fightback.” Zonal Marking
“It took a 94th minute goal to win it, but Napoli were far the better side throughout. Walter Mazzarri made two changes to Napoli’s defence, bringing in Gianluca Grava and Salvatore Aronica. The rest of the side remained the same, in the 3-4-2-1 / 3-4-3 formation they’ve used throughout this campaign.” Zonal Marking
Johan Cruyff
“Nearly 40 years after Netherlands legends Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff unleashed Total Football on an unexpecting world, along comes a Dutchman espousing a new philosophy – periodisation.” BBC
“Arsenal need a win to guarantee progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League, but Partizan Belgrade, with no points so far, are unlikely to provide much of an obstacle. Here are five tactical points about the game, and Arsenal’s European campaign in general.” ITV
“Villarreal produced a decent performance to remain ‘best of the rest’ in La Liga. Juan Carlos Garrido gave a rare start to Jose Manuel Catala at left-back ahead of Joan Capdevila. Marcos Senna started alongside Bruno Soriano in the centre of midfield, while Santi Cazorla started on the right, Cani on the left.” Zonal Marking
“Two Cristiano Ronaldo goals gave Real an important three points at the Bernabeu. Jose Mourinho changed to a 4-3-3 system for this game, with Karim Benzema replaced with Lassana Diarra and Cristiano Ronaldo used as the lone forward. Ricardo Carvalho and Sergio Ramos were replaced by Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa at the back.” Zonal Marking
“Was this the week that Marseille’s title defence began in earnest? A 4-0 win at home to Montpellier last Saturday took the champions back to the summit, above Lille on goal difference, and a goalless draw in the re-arranged game against Rennes on Wednesday sent them a point clear. Steve Mandanda saved an early penalty by Rennes’ Jirès Kembo Ekoko to prevent OM falling behind, with Lucho González squandering a superb chance late in the game when he side-footed wide from 12 yards.” Football Further
“A scoreline that barely makes sense given the away side’s dominance for the majority of the game. Felix Magath lined up with a lopsided and frankly disorganised 4-4-2 / 4-4-2 diamond shape. Jermaine Jones and Jefferson Farfan were dropped after last week’s 5-0 defeat to Kaiserslautern. Jose Jurado came in as a playmaker drifting to the left, and Ivan Rakitic played on the left of the centre of midfield.” Zonal Marking
“Wolfsburg and Bremen played out an entertaining scoreless draw but one that’ll only truly live on in the memory for Edin Džeko’s petulant reaction to being substituted. Bremen came into this game with a number of absentees, including Claudio Pizarro, Wesley, Naldo, and Tim Borowski. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, made do without just two first-choice players – Arne Friedrich, and Grafite.” Defensive Midfielder
“Mauro Zarate was the star man as Lazio moved joint top of Serie A. Eddy Reja kept a 4-2-3-1 system, making one change – bringing in Matuzalem for Cristian Ledesma in the centre of midfield. Rafael Benitez continues to have serious injury problems. Felice Natalino started at right-back, with Ivan Cordoba moving into the centre. Sulley Muntari started on the left.” Zonal Marking
“My Football Manager journey began back in 1993. I was playing the Commodore Amiga, the game was called Championship Manager and the makers went by the unimpressive name of Domark. If you are wondering how this relates to the game currently known as Football Manager then this story is probably not for you. Domark were soon swallowed up by Eidos, who developed the Championship Manager series into a global phenomenon before splitting from the brand name to create Football Manager. But let’s start at the beginning.” Ghost Goal
“PSV went into this fifth Europa League match knowing that a draw would be enough to secure a place among the final 32 teams. Sampdoria, on the other hand, were in need of a win to keep their hopes of qualifying alive.” 11 tegen 11
Scissors Kick 