Blac and Nents silly match reports

[Nentsia]

Salerno, Campania - Italy

As players of Palermo were practicing their drills in the heat of the Palermo plains in Sicily, I needed to visit an old friend. I knew, from the legends, that I had to be in Salerno, a small coastal town south of Naples. As I strutted through the harbor of Salerno, looking for my old friend, I noticed a man sitting on the dock, looking at the fishing boats. It was an old man. I needed him now.

I walked up to the old man sitting on the dock. I sat down next to him. ''Still watching the boats after all these years?''

The man nodded. ''I always come here to think. When I managed the local club here, Salernitana, we were performing very badly. I had to do something. So I came here to think, and looked at those fishing boats.'' and the man pointed at the boats deploying their reserve nets behind their main nets. ''Thats where I got my inspiration from'', the man smiled. ''I deployed an extra defender, a reserve one, behind my defence, to make sure nothing could get through. Catenaccio... we called it later.'' I nodded, as I looked at the ships. It was time for Catenaccio.

I returned to Sicily, and called the players together. We were going to change our tactics. I know I promised the players to play only two systems; 4-4-2 and 4-3-1-2. Trapattoni formations. But against Inter Milan, it felt right to resort to a football tradition that was invented by the Southern Italian teams. Catenaccio was invented by the poor teams of Southern Italy in order to stand a chance against the dominant, wealthy teams of the North: Juventus, AC Milan, and Internazionale. Catenaccio was the Right of the Weak, the weapon of the poor and oppressed South against the rich and powerful North. Catenaccio was a tactical innovation that enabled weak teams to hold out against much bigger teams, not by skill, but by tactical drills. Catenaccio was about playing smart, for those who lack strength must be clever.

I outlined my plans to the players to deploy a classic 5-3-2 against Inter, with Giancarlo Gonzalez being the designated ''free defender'', the Libero, operating behind the defence to clear everything. Andelkovic had the key task to guard Inter Milan's dangerous goalscorer, Mauro Icardi, throughout the match. Edoardo Goldaniga was a stopper, playing as an aggressive defender and tackling as hard as he could. In front of them, I deployed three central midfielders - all of them in more or less defensive roles. Gago was the playmaker of the team. He had the special task to give the long and difficult passes, while the rest had to keep it simple. On the flanks, I deployed Achraf Lazaar and Michel Morganella as the runners, the wing-backs, with the task of defending and being the first ones to jump forward on the counter-attack. Up front, I had the standard partnership of Gilardino and Vazquez.

The night before the game, a couple of big guys showed up before my house in Palermo. They were sent by Don Corleone. ''The Don sent us to remind you how important he thinks the match of tomorrow is. You must win against Inter Milan.'' I of course agreed with them.
''No-no, you do not understand. You ~must~ win...''
I was beginning to get the feeling that failure was not an option.

''The Don has invested a considerable amount of money in the Totonero.'' The men explained. ''Totonero?'' I asked.
''The ...unregistered football gambling market. It is run by the Families in Naples, and if the Don loses money, we might get into trouble with the Camorra. Which means you have a problem with the Corleone organization. Capisce?''

Of course I understood I was playing for my life tomorrow. I thanked the gentlemen for the supportive message and went to bed.


Fight to the Death

Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan came to Palermo in its expected 4-3-3 formation. I urged the players in the dressing room to fight for every inch and to do it for the fans (and my life).

The game started and it started surprisingly well. Inter Milan was rather cautious in the opening fase, and it was my team that was having the ball. But we played ineffectively. As I had ordered to keep the central areas of the pitch closed and well-protected, most the attacks needed to be launched from the flanks. But the crosses from my flanks to the strikers were not very effective. Inter's defenders like Miranda and Murillo are just beasts in the air, and Gilardino stood no chance against them. We had to adapt to the circumstances. We had to be smart. I yelled from the sidelines to send low crosses, because Gilardino posesses what they call ''Fiuto''. He can ''smell'' a goalscoring opportunity. Gilardino excels in being at the right spot at the right time. A low cross might be the perfect way to surprise and confuse those Inter defenders, and enable Gilardino to benefit.

But as the game progressed through the first half, it was mostly about Inter Milan attacking, and my team defending. But they were defending like I had never seen them do before. Perisic and Jovetic were constantly knocked from the ball if they had it, and they found no room to reach Icardi. Icardi permanently had Andelkovic in his neck, and never got any close to goal. Inter's danger had to come from Kondogbia, who tried long shots - but most of them were blocked by this dense forest of players I kept between my goal and the ball. It was Catenaccio in its purest form. It was a ''deep defence''. Every time an Inter attacker got the ball, he had one man on his tail, with a second one behind that one to step in if he got past. And after those two there were 6 more defenders all being ready to stop the attacker. My defence was as Catenaccio intended it to be: a pool of mud. The type of mud that even stopped the advance of Germany's tanks into the Soviet Union.

Gari Medel picked a yellow card, and I instructed the players to do everything they could to further provoke this guy. Medel is a hotheaded midfielder, prone to take yellow and red cards. But then, in the 30th minute, disaster struck. Inter Milan had a corner kick. It was sent into the box with a low kick. Kondogbia moved away from his marker, and kicked the ball into the near corner of the goal.

My first response is always: stay calm. The match was going well, there are reasons to hope that we will pick a goal as well. I did allow to let the team take slightly more risks by expanding our game. During the break the staff encouraged the players to carry on in the second half, that they were doing a good job out there. We had bad luck, but we could score an equalizer.

In the second half however, Inter slowed the game down and not much happened. I waited too long with my response. In the 70th minute I ordered the troops out of their trenches and use all means necessary to score that equalizer. Inter Milan was pressed back into its own half, and Lazaar and Morganella sent one cross after another into the box. Vazquez sent sublime long passes, crossing the entire pitch diagonally, to players like Gilardino who were running into spaces. Lazaar had a 100% scoring opportunity when a cross landed before his feet and all the Inter defenders had forgotten about him. But the goalkeeper stood in the way. In the 90th minute, as a result of our aggressively chasing the ball to recover it as quick as possible, Morganella took his second yellow card and was sent off. Two minutes later, the game ended in a 0-1 victory for Inter Milan. The team had fought and given everything, but we did not have luck on our side.

After the match I was forced to give press conferences, so I couldn't make a run for the airport and flee Sicily. After the press conference, I received a phonecall. It was Don Corleone. ''You lost... I lost a lot of money. But I have good news for you. Next week, you have to play against Juventus. If you win, I'll win my money back, and I'm willing to forgive you.''

[Nentsia]

I challenge the Blacaria to a duel!

I've found the source of my problems against Blacarism, and he's goin down!

[Nentsia]

The Wheels of the Bus go Round and Round



So I was experimenting around a bit with my tactics, and in particular my 4-4-2 that even the Blacaria fears. I wasn't keeping our games in mind though, this was more oriented towards dealing with CPU opponents. Drawing inspiration from both Jose Mourinho and Diego Simeone, the previous credited as the inventor of ''Parking the Bus'' and the latter credited with having made the 4-4-2 a Championsleague-winning formula when everyone declared it a thing of the past, I picked Chelsea to work out some ideas and see how it works in practice. Against Arsenal. I love to play 4-4-2 with Chelsea. It has all the right players for it.

The line-up was as follows:

GK: Courtois
RB: Ivanovic
CD: Zouma (quickly replaced with Terry due to an injury)
CD: Cahill
LB: Azpilicueta
RM: Willian
CM: Mikel
CM: Matic
LM: Hazard
SC: Diego Costa
SC: Falcao

Parking a Bus

Arsenal was in the usual 4-2-3-1 formation, with all those pesky fast players of theirs and Giroud as a lone striker with Ozil behind him. ''Parking the Bus'' was ironically a derogatory term used by Jose Mourinho to describe the playing style of his rivals, when they opted to defend a lead. But since then, it was used by commentators and critics to describe the style of Mourinho's Chelsea. The term was derogatory in the sense that it implies a very cynical and simplistic type of football: putting all your players literally in front of the goal to make it physically almost impossible to score. It sounds so simple, and so effective, that it almost reeks of cheating. There is some truth to it, but its a little more complicated than that: otherwise everyone could do it and smaller teams wouldn't lose to big teams anymore as long as they keep 11 players on the goalline.

Yes, everyone can do it, but it takes time and effort to drill the team in such way that it deploys an ~effective~ bus. Parking the Bus is all about positioning and movement. And it depends on the opponent how the Bus needs to be positioned in order to be effective. Especially in FM, a wrongly parked bus will lead to a bloodbath.

Show ContentMy anti-Arsenal Bus:

Now look at this beautiful bus here. The backline of four have a simple job: sweep anything that comes into the penalty-box. In front of them lies my second trench, another line of four. The idea of having two lines of four players as an ideal defensive positioning was born in Italy, invented by Arrigo Sacchi when he headed AC Milan. One of his players (and the most succesful manager of all time), Carlo Ancelotti, once commented that the 4-4-2 is the best defensive shape. When Sacchi's Milan dominated the Serie A, it did so with the fewest goals against of all teams. His successor, Fabio Capello, continued to turn Milan into one of the most solid teams in Europe and always implemented a 4-4-2 wherever he worked. Many Serie A teams copied Milan.

One of the players in the Serie A during those years, the 1990's, was Diego Simeone. When he became manager of Atletico Madrid, a mediocre team, he resurrected the 4-4-2 from the dead and led the Atleti to win the Spanish Liga and even the Championsleague. Simeone later explained he had drawn his inspiration from his years in Italy. Marcello Lippi also used the 4-4-2 to win the 2006 World Cup with Italy, and Giovanni Trapattoni, one of Italy's most succesful managers, also switched to a 4-4-2 in the later years of his career.

The double lines enable for deep defending, making up for individual mistakes. At the same time, the simple shape enables it to compress and become very compact, minimizing the spaces between the players and making it ''as solid as stone'', as one manager once said after playing against Simeone. Shots on goal are almost always blocked, crosses into the box are relatively easily cleared by the four-man backline and its almost impossible to dribble or pass through the defence as the spaces are to small and the number of defenders too big.

In the situation above, Ramsey finds himself basically cut off from passing options as he faces 8 defenders right in front of him. He has two possibilities: back to Bellerin, or a cross aiming for Alexis. He goes for the cross but its easily intercepted by the defenders.

Show ContentZone of Death:

In this situation, I want to show the Zone of Death TAM TAM TAM... Because the team is positioned so compact, the space between my central midfielders and central defenders becomes a small box, and any opposition player caught inside it becomes practically unavailable for passes and is cut from supply. Compare the space between my central box with that of Arsenal, which is leaving a vast open grassland that is larger than the Steppes of Central Asia. Two of my strikers can easily roam in that area and still be at a fair distance from any immediate opponents.

Also notice the positioning of Özil here. His position is attacking midfielder, and he is supposed to stand close to Giroud and ahead of Arsenal's central midfielders. But Giroud drops deeper in order to stay out of the Death Zone and avoid isolation. As a result, Özil drops deeper as well, turning him into a de-facto third central midfielder. My compactness drives Arsenal away from the crucial central areas of the pitch, and forces them to adopt something of a wide 4-3-3.

Show ContentArsenal adapts:

Here is another situation where my compact defence forces Arsenal players to adapt and seek space elsewhere on the pitch. Özil is having the ball again, and again he is forced to drop deep as there is no space in the central zone. With Özil playing practically as a central midfielder, he becomes much less of a threat. As Alexis Sanchez pushes higher up, and Arsenal's left full-back is covering the space that opens up on that flank, Arsenal practically positioned itself as a situational 3-5-2. Özil will try to reach Alexis Sanchez who is entering the penalty-box, but Sanchez is being marked by Ivanovic. Even if Ivanovic lets him slip, John Terry is close-by to help out while Cahill continues to guard Giroud. Azpilicueta meanwhile, is keeping a safe distance from Walcott so that if Özil tries a through ball there, Azpilicueta will always be quicker to reach the ball than Walcott.

Show ContentDriving the Bus:

My own attacking game relied almost entirely on transitioning, which is a fancy term to say you just rush the ball forward at the opportune moment when Arsenal has not many players back to help out defending. Chelsea has rapid wingers like Hazard and Willian which I let run up and down the flank. Falcao is the main central striker, while Diego Costa roams around him and has the task to link Falcao with the rest of the team. And Costa's secondary task is to annoy Arsenal's players.

When not counter-attacking however, my team positioned itself like this when in posession. The four-man backline remains intact, limiting the risk of Arsenal's counter-attacks as my game is prone to losing posession quickly. It also enables my wingers to take more risk and push higher up and play as wide attackers. My two central midfielders remain fairly in position to maintain control of the central areas. Again, notice the enormous space between Arsenal's central defenders and central midfielders.

The advantage of this attacking 4-2-4 positioning was that Arsenal's wingers remained fairly high up the pitch, not feeling the need to defend as my full-backs showed no attacking intent. But it left Arsenal's full-backs 1on1 against my wingers, as their central defenders were 1on1 with my strikers. Any individual error in this situation, can lead to a goal. In the first half, Willian dribbled past his marker twice, crossed, and Falcao beat his marker to it and scored twice. Arsenal didn't score until the 76th minute from a rebound.

[Nentsia]

Blacarov vs Mourinsky: Duel in St. Petersburg



Under the gloomy skies of St. Petersburg, the ''Pagan City'' as Fyodor Dostoyevsky called it, FK Zenith St. Petersburg faced Blacaria's Schalke 04, from the far-west of Germany, close to the Dutch border. Both clubs are being sponsored by the Russian state-owned Gazprom.

Having no idea what to expect from Zenith, I briefly screened their players and there was no escaping to it: if I wanted to deploy their best players, I had to employ that horrible 4-2-3-1 formation. Blac was expected to employ this horrible thing with Schalke, but he probably didn't expect me to resort to it. Blac is always difficult to play against because with his four attackers up front he can easily press my defenders in their own half, making the build-up play difficult and its psychologically exhausting during the match. His two central midfielders can assist to smother my counter-attacks through the middle. On top of that, in ball posession, his wingers can stretch my defence wide, while the rest roams in and around the vulnerable areas to find space for a goal. Blac always sends basically 3 attackers at me, supplemented by a creative attacking midfielder. His creative attacks down the flanks are particularly effective against a deep defence that I usually employ.

My approach to the 4-2-3-1 was somewhat Mourinho-like. I deployed a very rigid 4-2-3-1, with fast men on the wings, a strong central attacker, and the rest of the team was planted in front of my goalkeeper, which I instructed to stubbornly stay in place and not to move. With the four attack-minded players ahead of the defenders, I opted to simply place a blockade in midfield.

The result was a surprisingly boring game, with very few scoring chances on both sides. Schalke dominated posession with about 60% in the initial stages, but quickly reached statistics like 8 shots fired with only 1 on target. Zenith had only 4 shots fired, but also 1 on target. Schalke's aggressive midfield press ensured that my team could not make any good plays. When in ball posession, Zenith quickly searched for the lone striker, Dzyuba, but he was constantly harassed by Schalke's central defenders. Much of my gameplan was based on Dzyuba holding up the ball, until rapid wingers like Hulk had joined the attack. But 9 out of 10 times Dzyuba lost the ball or the wingers lost it. Schalke in its turn, failed to penetrate my defensive lines.

This had two reasons. The first was my defensive shape and the use of my Zone of Death:

Show ContentZenith Zone of Death:

Neustadter has the ball in midfield, and received it from Sane who, by dribbling inside got himself stuck in the morass that I like to create in the centre. Huntelaar is offside, Belhanda - Blac's attacking midfielder, is unavailable for a pass. Danny cuts off a backward pass, while Hulk on the right wing positioned himself in such way to block the channel to Kolasinac and to force Neustadter to play it far ahead of Choupo-Moting. But that ball can be intercepted by Smolnikov. In short, Schalke is being gridlocked by Zenith. So while my team suffers from quick turnovers, Schalke finds it hard to find any space to attack into.

The second reason why Schalke's play did not have much effect was the movement of Blac's striker Huntelaar.

Show ContentHuntelaar taking a walk:

Huntelaar decided to move wide to the flank, but Belhanda does not move into his position and Choupo-Moting seems to be like ''yeah whatever dude, im not going to help you if you start doing my job''. Sane meanwhile will never arrive in time for the cross. But even if he does, I have sufficient defenders available to pick up any incoming dangers now that Huntelaar is gone. Huntelaar made this move quite often during the match, and it can be effective to confuse a defence if the four attackers start swarming and changing positions. But thats why I told my players to stubbornly hold their ground. Huntelaar moves wide, but the outcome will be that he loses the ball before the wingers or Belhanda can move into striker position or offer support. It made it easier for my defenders.

If Huntelaar did stay in position, Schalke attacked in something of a 4-1-4-1 shape, which also played into the hands of my defensive shape since it made the distribution of defensive tasks and cover quite simple.

Show ContentSpoiler:

The first scoring chances occurred late in the first half for Zenith, when Hulk should have scored but missed. In the second half, Dzyuba took an injury and was replaced with Kokorin, and this changed my offensive game. Kokorin provided extra pace and depth to my game, and this enabled him to be launched into space by my wingers Shatov and Hulk. In the 75th minute, this proved a fatal combination for Schalke. After a corner kick, Schalke lost ball posession and Zenith quickly counter-attacked down the left flank with Kokorin and Shatov. Danny was eventually the man to score, and Zenith led with 1-0.

Show ContentZenith Counter:

After that sudden, but well-executed counter-attack, with only 15 minutes left, it was time to park a Russian trolley-bus to defend my lead. Schalke did produce a late scoring opportunity, but they missed and with 10 minutes left, the defence had settled into the new rythm and was solid again. The team hung onto the ball, wasted time, and therefore won with 1-0. Keeping Blacaria's Schalke 04 from scoring is quite an achievement for me. A minimal, aesthetically unbearable win, but a great one nevertheless. The Blac will soon want his revanche.

[Flo]

Cheer for the victory! Cheer for the victor! Cheer for the defeat of the Blacarist!

[Nentsia]

Improving the 3-5-2

Show ContentFormation:

I've spent the past few days in Football Manager trying to perfect my preferred system of play; the 5-3-2, or 3-5-2. I wanted to try some ideas in practice, but I also wanted to improve my understanding of this specific system, and above all, combine it with the art of the Italian School. The laboratory to experiment with it was a saved game in which my Italian national team is facing Portugal in the quarter finals of Euro 2016.

One aspect of the Italian School that is so hard to implement/replicate in the game is called Fantasia in Italy. Fantasia is the tactical equivalent of individual brilliance, for which Brazilian, Dutch, and Spanish styles are known. The Italian equivalent is the ability of Italian teams, through collective effort, to break down the opponent's defense at an unexpected moment and score. It is this ability that has contributed to the reputation of the Italians as being ''cunning'', with sneaky strikers like Filippo Inzaghi that ''nick'' their goals, and ''outwit'' their opponents. Italian teams are often accused of winning through luck, especially since their goals may sometimes make their opponents look stupid. Part of it is perhaps an inherited reputation, but it is genuinely part of the Italian football culture to play with the mind as well, and not just their feet. Fantasia then, is to play patiently and to wait for a small opportunity to appear, and then to strike unexpectedly and with precision. In FM, there is of course no tactical instruction saying ''be cunning as a fox''. And in real life, I doubt it would work that way.

The System: 3-5-2

The system that I want to perfect, which is quite common within Italy, is the 3-5-2. With its three at the back and three central midfielders, it offers a lot of security in the central zones of the pitch, which are the most crucial zones to protect. The two men on the wings have to defend the flanks and provide width when the team is in ball posession. The two strikers play close to each other to receive direct passes from the back and to be able to support each other. This sounds pretty basic and easy, but in practice the 3-5-2 system is a matter of tactical precision work. I've seen in my own country, where they are not used to it, and in the English Premierleague as well, where teams experimenting with this system were completely destroyed. In the Dutch competition, several teams have occasionally switched to a defensive 5-3-2 against bigger opponents, only to concede even more goals than was expected. The Dutch national team in similar fashion began with a 3-5-2 against France in the World Cup Qualification, and in the first half they were 0-3 behind. In the second half the Dutch switched back to their usual 4-3-3 and got back to 2-3. During the first half, virtually all players were walking out of position, showing a clear lack of understanding of their required movements in a 3-5-2 system.

The difficulty lies in those six players in the central zone. It makes the team unbalanced and space is given away on the flanks. In order to defend effectively, the central midfield three have to cover a lot of distance from left to right. But they also need to intelligently try to disrupt the opponent higher up the pitch, because a large gap exists between the midfield and attack. At the same time, the midfield three have to be careful that, in pressing forward, they do not leave gaps between the midfield and defence, which makes the team vulnerable. So the midfielders require a lot of stamina and tactical intelligence to remain correctly positioned. Tactical intelligence is also a necessity for the defensive trio. It is their task to protect the central channels, provide extra cover to the lone man on the flank, and to ensure that they remain close enough to the midfielders in front of them. These movements can easily go wrong if a team is unfamiliar with the system, and it will lead to a crushing defeat.

Tactical Style

One of the key features of the 3-5-2, aside from defensive security in the central areas, is the tactical flexibility of the system. In the defensive fase it positions as a 5-3-2. When the flank is attacked, a wing-back confronts the attacker and the system gravitates (like a pendulum) into a situational 4-4-2. When the team has regained posession of the ball, the wing-backs push up and join the midfield to form a 3-5-2, creating a lot of passing options to build up the attack. In the attack fase, the midfielders link with the attackers, the attackers make runs into different directions, and the wing-backs become wide attackers. This enables the team to attack from different directions.

With the Italian idea of Fantasia in mind, the ability to suddenly unlock the opponent's defense through collective effort, I tried to maximize the flexibility - and therefore the unpredictability - of my playing style. If the team is capable to build the attack differently every time, attack from different angles, and take unexpected paths to the opposition goal, it becomes impossible for the opponent to predict my team's next move, and they cannot cut off my passing channels. The three central defenders at the back, with a central midfielder directing the game from behind the front lines, and the two men on the flanks, would give me almost unlimited options to build up the play. No matter where Portugal would press, my team could always take an alternative route forward. For that purpose Marchisio, Bonucci, and Pelle were key. If Portugal were to press high, Bonucci had the license (and the skills) to hit the ball long to Pelle, whose physical strength ensures that he can hold off his opponents for a while. So in case Portugal decided to press, my team could fly over it. Marchisio was the main director of the team, always making himself available to the defenders, and in charge of the decision to play it short to the other midfielders, medium-long to the wing-backs, or a direct vertical pass to the strikers. Everything depends on the vision of Marchisio, which makes it unpredictable. It depends on what the opponent does and the movements of my own players as to how Marchisio decides to build the play.

The players on the wings always have multiple options when they are pressured. They move the game quickly forward with a cross from deep, they can try a short pass to the nearest midfielder who roams into whatever space opens up, move the ball back to Marchisio, or slow the game down and pass it to the side defender. The strikers in their turn can opt to reach their attacking partner, opt for a short pass to the nearest midfielder, move it wide to the wing-back, or move it back to Marchisio waiting in a safer area. In every fase of the play, the team can change the direction and speed of its game, and there is no fixed pattern or attacking plan behind it. These sudden changes of direction and rythm are the key to find opportunities and to unlock the opponent's defense.

Italy - Portugal

I tested the theory in a game against Portugal in the Euro 2016 quarter finals. The varied and collective build up worked, to my own surprise, remarkably well. The first half hour of the match was dominated by my team - but, admittedly, also because Portugal retreated into a bunker in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Christiano Ronaldo as a lone attacker (Basically the defensive variant of Blacaria-ball). In the first 30 minutes, Italy dominated ball-posession with 55%, had a pass completion rate of nearly 85%, and a tackling success rate of almost 80%. As my assistant manager said: we play brilliant football at times, but we have to start scoring goals. In the 32nd minute, completely unexpected, Gabbiadini ''nicked'' the opening goal for Italy. I've taken some screenshots to show how a seemingly non-threatening build-up variation no. 134 of Italy leads to an unexpected opening in the Portuguese bunker-defense.

Show ContentBonucci sets the play:

Christiano Ronaldo lost the ball just seconds before this moment to Claudio Marchisio, who played it back to Bonucci - the director of the defense. Because Marchisio, as midfield director, is unavailable due to Ronaldo and Adrien being close to him, Bonucci opts for an alternative route forward, without resorting to risky long balls: Verratti. Verratti, in passing skill and vision just as gifted as Marchisio, hits a risky pass to the right flank to reach Darmian who is rushing forward. This choice means he is opting for greater attacking urgency, but the Portuguese don't know that yet.

Show ContentDarmian switches the play:

Darmian, upon receiving the ball, found himself cornered by the double coverage of Cavaleiro and Antunes. In order to keep the attack going, Darmian cuts inside and reaches Florenzi to his side, whose primary role is to link the various parts of the team together. Darmian moves forward without the ball meanwhile, to make himself available again for vertical passes. Gabbiadini, the main striker, stops his vertical run into space suddenly, and makes himself available to Florenzi.

Show ContentGabbiadini finds space on the other flank:

Gabbiadini is suddenly dropping deeper and has created some space for himself, and just enough time to make the right decision. At this point the team is playing with three strikers, only seconds after it had eight players withdrawn into its own half. Portugal is panicking with the sudden tempo and movement changes, and their defensive structure is falling apart. All defenders are distracted by what's happening on the right flank, and they leave space open on the left flank where Antonelli is making a run. Gabbiadini has seen it, and reaches Antonelli with a long pass.

Show ContentGabbiadini scores:

The Portuguese defenders hurry themselves to their right and assemble in the box for the incoming cross. In their haste, they forgot to keep an eye on where Gabbiadini was hanging out, and Antonelli was deliberately instructed to cross the ball as fast as possible to deny the Portuguese defense to prepare for it and pick up their marking targets. Following the plan, Antonelli only has to throw it into the box and Gabbiadini, not being watched by anyone, anticipates on it and puts his foot against the ball before the defenders can. My 2nd striker, Pelle, has remained almost stationary throughout the attack, but properly did his job of serving as a distraction for the Portuguese defenders.

After that glorious moment, in which I enjoyed one the rare occasions in FM that a tactical plan is perfectly executed, Portugal started to take the initiative in the game. In this knock-out fase of the tournament, they must score in order to avoid elimination. That is partly the reason why Italy generally does well in knock-out tournaments: they can score out of nothing, and then they can play their favorite game of withdrawing and waiting for the opponent to come forward, only to hit them again on the counter-attack. Portugal was really pushing my team back, but their attacks stranded every time on my stubborn, Italian defense. In the second half, Portugal continued to pressure my team, and they seldomly managed to have posession of the ball for long. The Jose Mourinho in me was awakening, and I instructed the team to be a little bit more opportunistic in ball posession: no more trying to patiently build up the play, no more variations or trying to surprise Portugal. The ball had to be hit forward, out of my own half, as quick as possible.

Parking an airplane

From about the 70th minute, I did not want to take any more risks to try and score that 2-0 on the break. Rather than parking the bus with two defensive lines, I went for parking an airplane with three defensive lines. The attackers were now asked to help out defending as well, while the rest of the players faked injuries, wasted time, and collapsed from the slightest physical contact with a Portuguese player. But in the 76th minute, they secured the victory. A free kick by Verratti landed before the feet of Mattia De Sciglio (brought on for Antonelli), and the Portuguese had completely left him unmarked. De Sciglio scored 2-0. But it would even get worse for the Portuguese. In the 88th minute, in what was almost exactly the same scenario, Alessio Romagnoli got a clear chance to head on goal and scored the 3-0.

Although the score-line does not reflect the match, it was deserved for Italy in the sense that Italy was simply more lethal in executing its game-plan. In the analysis it was revealed that Portugal, despite their pressure in the late first half and second half, failed to produce any scoring chances at all. Italy meanwhile, produced 4 ''half scoring chances''. Three goals out of 4 half chances means they played with clinical efficiency. And perhaps also a bit of luck. You never really know which it is with Italians.

Show ContentMedia report:

Show ContentMatch statistics:

[Nentsia]

I'm just gonna leave these here:





Look at this tactical organization  

[Nentsia]

Testing the Fight Squad Against Blac



Me and Blac hadn't played against each other for a while because we've been busy and our internet connection was often too shitty. In the meantime, Ive been experimenting and working on some new tactics and formations. One of those was a classic Italian 4-3-1-2 formation that I adjusted to fit Inter Milan.

Inter Milan's 2015-16 season squad was often criticized for lacking in mentality, technique, and tactical intelligence. Their squad consisted of a few tall central defenders, some mediocre full-backs, a Chilean and a Brazilian criminal in midfield, some more mediocre midfielders, and a couple of talented attackers such as Mauro Icardi - himself also an Argentine troublemaker. Inter was in many ways the Suicide Squad of the Serie A. No wonder then, that when former Ajax manager Frank de Boer was appointed to get these players to play smooth possession-attacking football, the team lost again and again until De Boer was fired after less than three months.

But why play attacking football and a collective pressing game if the players are the exact anti-thesis to such football? I wanted to make a strength out of Inter's mean attitude.

Show ContentInter Milan 4-3-1-2:

The formula is simple: a four-man defense shielded by three hard-tackling, physically strong midfielders. The attack consists of the Trequartista, the architect of the team, and two strikers. One striker is an out-and-out striker, focussed entirely on scoring, the other is a runner, a velocista, who needs to create chaos for the opponent's defenders. The full-backs push up the field, but their task is only to provide width and stay available as passing options when necessary. Even the mediocre full-backs of Inter Milan can deal with such a task.

Against Blac, the midfield three consisted of Kondogbia, Medel (the Chilean pitbull), and Felipe Melo - the Brazilian hitman. They were given more or less free license to kill, chase the ball, harass opponents and disrupt the attacks of Blac's silly team: Schalke 04. Jovetic functioned as my Nr. 10, the creative mind of the team. The striking partnership consisted of the Argentine duo Mauro Icardi and Rodrigo Palacio. The aim was to defend aggressively, use physical power in midfield, and rely on a simple attacking style that was based on quick, vertical transitions. The strikers made runs behind the defense, and Jovetic gave the pass. The style was perhaps a bit similar to the one of Jose Mourinho when he was the manager of Inter Milan - although his central midfield three were less physical and had more technique.

The games against the silly Blac were extremely tight. The first game I was behind 1-0, but I also missed quite some scoring chances. The game crashed in the second half. After our restart, I won twice in a row with 1-0. The first time it was due to a major error by Schalke defender Höwedes, whose pass to his goalkeeper was intercepted by one of my strikers. In the second game, my Inter was more clearly the dominant team. Schalke failed to even get any shots on goal, my Inter Milan dominated ball possession with about 55% or more, and when a Schalke defender missed a ball from a free kick, Icardi was there to score. The score could've been bigger because my team missed some more chances.

Then it was Blac's turn. He won with 1-0 too, and I struggled to get my team's effectiveness in attack up. Our final game was the only game with more than 1 goal being scored. I believe it was Sane from Schalke who opened the score. Sane is one of Blac's favorite wingers, and I hate him and had hoped that Medel or someone would've broken his ankles before he dribbled into my box. As I took more risk to force an equalizer, Blac's Schalke scored again and sealed my fate.

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Mourinho vs Guardiola


The Blac also wanted to try a new tactic of his. He wanted to try his Guardiola inspired tactic against me, which was a good opportunity to try out my own emulation of Mourinho's 4-3-3.

I was Chelsea, Blac was Arsenal. I deployed a 4-3-3, which I seldomly do. Blac deployed a 4-1-4-1, which he seldomly does. In the first few games, I got wrecked. I believe the first ones were 3-0 and 4-0 or something. But then I discovered I had been making a wrong choice. Every time I got into trouble, I instructed my players to defend ever more aggressively, but this played right into Blardiola's hands, because it gave his players even more opportunities to run past my players.

Then I made some subtle adjustments to avoid Blac's players getting an easy dribble, and in our next game I believe the scoreline was 1-1 when it crashed. We then restarted and I was 1-0 in the lead when it crashed again and we called it a day.

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Project 3-4-3


One of the things I want to try out against the Silly Blac is my newest baby, a 3-4-3 system with AC Milan. The 3-4-3 formation is the latest trend in the Serie A. Its the trademark of AC Fiorentina for some years, but Genoa, AS Roma, Atalanta, Inter Milan, and Palermo have all used it as well this season. Antonio Conte has also developed a 3-4-3 system with Chelsea in the Premierleague. The 3-4-3 is in some way a natural evolution of the fact that a few years ago, many teams player 3-5-2 in Italy. The three-man defense is perfect to defend against teams with two strikers, so many teams want to preserve their three-man defense, but they seek to attack alternatively through wide attackers. This would make a 3-4-3 a logical solution.

But the 3-4-3 formation in itself is beautiful. It offers perfect symmetry, with an almost mathematically perfect distribution of players around the pitch. It is a flexible formation that can both attack and defend. It seems almost perfect to develop the artistic and stylish Italian brand of football and to provide defensive solidity.

Show ContentMilan 3-4-3:

The functionality of the system lies in its flexibility. In the defensive phase, the two ''mezzali'' drop deep and the team sits in a deep 5-4-1 shape. I have only tested this in the Serie A so far, and in the first 5 games of the season Milan only conceded 1 goal - against AS Roma. My defensive line is made up of Abate as right wing-back, Mexes as right side-defender, Zapata as Libero, Romagnoli as left side-defender, and Antonelli as left wing-back. The two central midfielders in front of it are Riccardo Montolivo and Andrea Bertolacci.

In the attacking phase, the team morphs into a 3-2-5. The three defenders function as the pivot, the wing-backs push up as wingers, the Mezzali cut inside and roam the spaces near the lone striker, and the two central midfielders connect the two flanks together.

In my test season so far, Riccardo Montolivo, the ''Regista'' or playmaker, excels exceptionally well in this system. Montolivo loves to collect the ball and send those long diagonal balls across the pitch, switching the play with his magic feet and vision. Those qualities come out well with him being the central director within this symmetric formation.

When the ball is moved to the flank, there are many ways to create space. The Mezzala and the wing-back could use combination plays to get past the defender, but usually the striker is nearby as well, and central midfielder stands close-by, and they can always play it back to the side-defender. There is always a way to drag an opponent out of position and to create the space needed to advance the attack.

But in my test season so far, I noticed that the greatest quality of this team lies in their ruthlesness before the goal. This team can throw off an entire defense by surprise, and create goals out of nothing at the right time in the game. This is an ancient quality of Italian football, ''Fantasia'', that I worship. Against Frosinone, a stubborn defensive team, Milan simply exploited two set-pieces to get away with a spotless 2-0 victory. Away against Palermo, Montolivo passed the ball to his left on the edge of the penalty box in the 42nd minute. The Palermo goalie moved to the left as well, but suddenly Bertolacci blasted the ball into the upper-right corner of the net, putting the goalkeeper on the wrong foot. The scoreline remained 0-1.

Against Roma they had bad luck when Salah fired a shot in our goal from distance after 7 minutes. But then, in a moment of brilliance by Montolivo, he surprised the entire Roma defense with a back-heel, putting Bonaventura 1on1 with the goalkeeper and he scored 1-1. With ten minutes on the clock, Zapata received the ball just outside Roma's penalty box. His shot was blocked, but Honda gave the ball back to him to try again. Zapata blasted it in the lower right corner.

Sampdoria was another patient waiting-game of two tactically organized sides. In the 82nd minute however, Milan forced Sampdoria to give away several corner kicks, and Romagnoli was left unmarked and could score a late goal. In the 93rd minute, while Sampdoria was putting everything on offense, Carlos Bacca exploited a mistake by a Sampdoria defender and put in the 2-0. Then they had to play against Chievo a few days later. There was not much spectacular action, until Abate received the ball from Montolivo on the right flank in our own half. Abate cut inside, and suddenly sent a deep vertical pass towards Bacca, cutting through the Chievo defense. Bacca, 1on1 with the goalkeeper, scored. That game too ended in 1-0.

Milan's games with this 3-4-3 system are sometimes rather sterile (not to say boring), and they don't create a lot of spectacular scoring chances. But they don't need to. And that's the beauty of it.

[Nentsia]

Thriller in Marseille



Euro 2000, the tournament hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands together, is sometimes considered the best tournament in the history of football, due to the enormous amount of goals being scored. The dull, defensive tournaments of the 1990's had been replaced thanks to prolific attacking teams like France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Yugoslavia. The crushing 6-1 defeat of Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands confirmed this was a festival of attacking football, and the Dutch were by far the most entertaining team, and at least expected to make it to the finals. One team stuck with the attitude and playing style of the 1990's: Italy.

The Italians were the villains of Euro 2000. They refused to attack, they relied on their defense, they played cynical, and everyone criticized their manager Dino Zoff for the boring games. The universe wanted the Dutch, practicing the attacking Dutch school of football, to play against the Italians - the practitioners of the Dark Arts, to play in the semi-finals. Within half an hour of the game, the Dutch had hit the post of the Italian goal, and the Italians went a man down when Gianluca Zambrotta took two yellow cards. The Dutch were awarded a penalty kick, but they missed. Then the agony, for me as a kid watching, started. The Italians withdrew to their own box, and gave up on football. The Dutch produced spectacular football, scoring chance after scoring chance, but they had bad luck every time. Then the Dutch got a second penalty kick: Patrick Kluivert, the best striker of his day, hit the post and missed. Despair and frustration was visible on the faces of the Dutch players.

The Italians held out until the penalty series. The Dutch missed three of their four penalties, the Italians only one. Things got extra painful when Totti scored a vital penalty, at age 23 I believe, with a stone-cold chip-shot. He showed us how it's done. Italy went to the finals, while I sat in front of the tv trying not to cry. That game became a national trauma. With me it struck a permanent admiration and fear of Italian football teams, only reinforced in 2003 when Ajax played against AC Milan in the Championsleague. Ajax was set to go to the semi-finals, but in the final seconds of the game AC Milan scored a winning goal and went on to win the Championsleague, killing my hopes again.

In FM, in a save in which I am the manager of the Italian national team at Euro 2016, there is only one team that I really want to play against: the Netherlands. I met them in the Semi-Finals, in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Time to punish the Dutch team one last time for their stupidity.

Show ContentFormations:

A Bad Start

With me having lined up the usual 3-5-2 formation (almost the same as that used by Italy at Euro 2000), and the Dutch coming with that awful 4-2-3-1, the clash of football philosophies was set to begin. The Dutch full-back crossed the ball from the right flank, and within 1 minute, the Dutch scored from a header. I guess the Blue Wall wasn't awake yet.

Seven minutes later, the Dutch were given a penalty-kick. I had the worst imaginable start, but I had still a tiny bit of hope left because the Dutch may have a penalty... I have Buffon on goal. Sneijder missed as Buffon saved his penalty, and we were still alive. Although I was still 0-1 behind, missing a penalty is always a huge mental blow and there was plenty of time left to look for the equalizer. The team regrouped and continued to play during the first half as if nothing had happened.

The defenders were now on high alert and the Dutch found little room for offense. Robben and Depay constantly found themselves closely marked, and Bonucci was always ready to step in where he was necessary. Marchisio dictated the build-up from deep and Verratti tried to split open the Dutch defense with his sharp diagonal passes to the flanks to reach the upcoming wing-backs. It wasn't the best football my team produced because the Dutch managed to disrupt a lot of my build-ups in midfield. It may surprise you, but I actually do try to get a smooth passing-game going, especially with players like Bonucci, Marchisio and Verratti.

With the end of the first half nearing, my team was searching for that one moment to net the equalizer just before half-time. It is, often, in those final minutes that the concentration starts to wane, as players start to think about the clock, or even about the second half already. And just when the Dutch defense wasn't paying enough attention, in the 45th minute, Italy struck. Antonelli sent a long diagonal ball from the left flank, landing exactly between the Dutch defenders and the goalkeeper. While the defenders were watching my strikers Verratti had made a run from midfield into the box and was there free to score.

Show ContentVerratti scores:

The Second Half

In the second half, my team found its rhythm and began to get more control over the game. The Dutch were still trying to attack, using those long sequences of passes, but they couldn't really create much. Most of the danger came from Depay's dribbles into the box, often ending with a corner kick. Robben and Sneijder had been completely neutralized.

Halfway down the second-half I replaced Pelle with Eder, hoping to benefit from his speed since I was getting more and more counter opportunities from the Dutch, who seemed to press forward more. Preying again on a late goal as the 80th minute approached, my team produced some good scoring opportunities and it was luck alone that saved the Dutch in those tense final minutes of the game.

My team escaped as well during one of the Dutch final attacks.

Extra Time

Nothing significant happened in the first period of the extra time. I used my final substitute, Bertolacci, to replace an exhausted Florenzi and to provide the midfield with a fresh engine. But at the beginning of the second period, my team faced another problem: De Sciglio, my right-wing back, was injured and I had no subs left. We had to continue with ten players against 11. Nobody else in my formation was able to play that position, and I took a gamble that Rugani - my right side-defender - would be able to stop Depay for the remaining 9 minutes. So the formation stayed the same, just without a right wing-back now.

In the next five minutes, my team tried to keep a hold over the ball so that the Dutch couldn't attack and exploit that weak spot on my right. The team gradually progressed into the opponent's half, along the left flank. In the 115th minute we got a throw in on the left flank. The ball went to Eder who dribbled horizontally into the penalty box. The Dutch defenders were getting extremely nervous as he played it to Verratti, waiting on the edge of the box. As everyone was watching Verratti, waiting for his devastating shot on goal, Verratti was only looking at my striker: Manolo Gabbiadini - left free near the penalty-stip. A simple pass by Verratti, and Gabbiadini shoved it into the lower right corner and scored that late goal we needed.

I quickly reshuffled the team: I reorganized a flat 5-man defense, with Verratti playing as right full-back now. Bertolacci and Marchisio would shield the defense in the center. I removed Eder and Gabbiadini from their striker positions and planted them in midfield as well, and basically to let them focus entirely on defending as well. Eder evoked the fury of the Dutch players and fans by faking an injury and Buffon delayed time with every ball he had to kick back into the game. Five minutes of pure Catenaccio secured our victory. And the Dutch completely deserved to lose in such a way if you miss a penalty and have a man-more situation in the final period of the extra time and still concede a goal.

Show ContentGabbiadini scores:

Show ContentMatch statistics:

[Nentsia]

Arsenal – Juventus

Earlier, me and the Blacaria played as Ajax and Schalke 04 against eachother (1-0; 0-0; 1-1) and it could not have been more boring. But now the Blacaria went with this monstrosity, Arsenal, and I picked Juventus. It could have been a great template for a Championsleague match.

I can see why Arsenal is Blac’s favourite team recently, because they perfectly fit his direct attacking style. With players like Walcott, Sanchez, and Oxlade-Chamberlain, he can attack from all angles with speed and unpredictability. My pick, Juventus, was simply because I wanted a high-class team as well and I seldom allow myself to be Juventus (in a season, Juventus is no fun because its too easy to dominate the Serie A, and online it means the other person is forced to choose a top team as well).

Show ContentLine-ups:

Game I
Blac’s Arsenal showed up in the formation I had expected, which was 4-1-4-1. I had therefore opted for a 4-3-1-2, rather than a 3-5-2, which would have enabled me to deploy Barzagli, Chiellini and Bonucci in defence. But then I’d play with three central defenders against a lone striker.

In the opening phase it was Arsenal attacking, playing mostly on my half, while Juventus tried to build-up from deep, and occasionally broke out on the counter-attack. Nothing new then in our usual confrontations.

In the 17th minute however, Juventus had a free kick in Arsenal’s half. Evra received the ball on the left flank, crossed it into the box, and Arsenal’s defenders weren’t paying enough attention so that Lichtsteiner could score the opening goal for Juventus. The Arsenal players appealed for offside, but the referee ignored them.

Arsenal resumed its siege of my penalty box, but every pass into the box got intercepted by one of my defenders, triggering a new counter-attack with long balls forward to Mandzukic and Dybala. Part of Arsenal’s problem was that, although attacking in great numbers, they too quickly tried to go for the killer-pass into the danger zones, leading to many interceptions and wasted attacking opportunities. Juventus’ counter-attacks were quickly smothered as well however, triggering counter-attacks from Arsenal. And so the game descended into more and more open match that went up and down the pitch.

When Juventus didn’t have the opportunity to counter-attack, they hung on to the ball much longer than Arsenal. The build-up began with Chiellini and Bonucci, with the goalkeeper never hitting it long. Even though Arsenal tried to steal the ball in my half, Juventus always had plenty of channels through which to move the ball forward. Lichtsteiner and Evra provided wide options, and there were three central midfielders always providing short vertical options. Arsenal, with only 2 central midfielders, could not effectively shut down the central channels. Therefore, Juventus frequently had prolonged periods of ball possession in the later first half. When playing in Arsenal’s half, Arsenal remained very compact. Juventus could play around it however, because its wing-backs tried to stretch Arsenal wide, while Marchisio operated as a very deep playmaker, directing my attacks from a position around the half-way line that was far out of reach of Arsenal’s players.

Just when I was beginning to think I had the match under control, Arsenal scored the equalizer. Bellerin, instead of crossing from the right flank, passed it back to central area in front of my penalty box. All of my players had lined themselves up for a cross, so there was no one to block Wilshere when he fired from outside the box into the upper left corner of the net.

In the 50th minute, early in the 2nd half, Juventus would turn the tiki-taka on Blacaria. Arsenal missed a corner-kick and Buffon took the goal-kick, passing it short to Chiellini. From there an elaborate build-up began, going back and forth with the central midfielders, then moving out to the left flank, back to the central midfielders, to the right flank, to the centre again, back to the right flank, and then back to the middle again: only now within Arsenal’s penalty box. The attack involved a total of 17 uninterrupted passes, finishing with Lichtsteiner dribbling into the box and reaching Pereyra waiting near the penalty spot. Okay, I admit it wasn’t ‘real’ Tiki-Taka because it wasn’t a high-tempo positional play, it was more of a clever use of passing to lure Arsenal’s players out of position to create spaces to be exploited as they appeared.

I hadn’t even finished celebrating when Arsenal scored the equalizer. Right from the moment Arsenal took the kick-off, Juventus wasted a long ball and Arsenal reached Chamberlain on the flank. Chiellini didn’t pay attention, and in his back were two players of Arsenal, completely unmarked, waiting for the early cross. Chamberlain perfectly placed it over Chiellini’s head, and Walcott behind him scored. Three minutes later, the exact same scenario repeated itself. Only this time it was Bellerin on the right flank, with Alexis Sanchez coming from behind the defender to volley-kick the ball past Buffon. Part of the reason this could happen twice in a row was perhaps because both Chiellini and Lichtsteiner, the righter half of my four-man defence, defended slightly higher up the pitch than the left side of Bonucci and Evra. And its there on the right side that I got beaten by crosses from deep. A good cross can’t be defended, but here I was perhaps giving Arsenal a little too much of an invitation.

With the score line suddenly 3-2 for Arsenal, things got worse for me as Dybala left the pitch with an injury. But I replaced him with Morata. With the match now completely open, the spectacle really took off. Juventus counter-attacked with Mandzukic down the left flank in the 58th minute. A cross landed before Morata’s feet a few meters from the goal line, but he hit the goalkeeper. In the 60th minute Morata played a high ball to Mandzukic in the penalty box, and Mandzukic attempted an overhead kick that barely missed the net. In the 70th minute a low cross from deep by Lichtsteiner reached Pereyra, waiting on the edge of Arsenal’s box. His shot was kept from goal by Cech with the greatest difficulty. In the 73rd minute a through ball by Mandzukic on Pereyra making a run into the box enabled him to score but he fired wide. In the 75th minute Arsenal had a corner-kick and Per Mertesacker headed the ball on the crossbar. In the 77th minute a distance shot by Pogda almost flew between Cech’s hands, and in the 78th minute Lichtsteiner lost the ball in Juventus’ half to Theo Walcott, and Chiellini was just in time to stop Walcott from advancing alone on my goal.

Then finally in the 82nd minute Bonucci scored the equalizer for Juventus as he was left unmarked during a corner kick. In the 84th minute, Juventus continued to attack as I hoped there was still more in it (given the amount of scoring chances). Morata dribbled into Arsenal’s box, and again Pereyra was waiting near the penalty spot and left completely unmarked. But this time he missed this ultimate opportunity to score the winning goal.

Arsenal too went for the kill. In the 88th minute, another one of those deep crosses from the right flank landed before a red shirt very close to my goal, but they hit Buffon. A few seconds later, Chamberlain got the chance to try it again and Walcott was there to score. I sent my troops out of the trenches for the remaining minutes, but it was over.

Game II
For game II I had made some adjustments within my system. Our previous game was nice to watch, but too many chances had been missed and it was still a loss of 3-4. Blac had switched to his standard 4-2-3-1 system for this game.

Although my team was defensively better organized now than in the previous match, this match would be the game of injuries for me. Lichtsteiner went off in the 8th minute, and I had no right full-backs on my bench. Evra was moved to that position and Alex Sandro came on as the new left full-back. But Evra is not familiar to playing as a right back, and in a 4-3-1-2 system, a lot is expected from these positions.

In the 16th minute a shot from Arsenal landed on the post and we got away lucky. Throughout the first half, Juve withstood the pressure of Arsenal. Occasionally Juventus attacked, such as in the 50th minute when Dybala went past his man in the penalty box and had a big chance to score, but he missed. The second half was the same as the first: Arsenal attacking, Juventus counter-attacking. My ability to build attacks was seriously harmed by the fact that Evra was now playing as the right wing-back, but on the counter the team was capable of creating dangerous situations so I wasn’t too bothered with staying deep and defending in my own third of the pitch.

In the 69th minute however, a string of individual errors threatened to ruin the match for me. Evra attempted a long pass and it was so badly placed that it was intercepted by Arsenal with not a Juve player around. Welbeck, the lone striker, was sent deep down the right flank where Evra was now absent. He cut inside with the ball into the penalty box. As if Welbeck had washed his body with onions or something, my defenders stayed far away from him, enabling him to get almost to the penalty spot with the ball. When even my keeper had decided that if the defenders did nothing, he should come out of his goal, Welbeck fired and scored. So much for tactics when your players do stuff like this.

In the 72nd minute, another one of my full-backs left the game injured. Alex Sandro this time. So I moved Chiellini to the left back position (where he once started his career) and brought on Andrea Barzagli as central defender. In the 76th minute, a sudden through-ball through the middle by Mandzukic to Pereyra enabled him to score the unexpected equalizer. And in the 79th minute Chiellini even had the chance to score 2-1 when he dribbled deep inside Arsenal’s box from the left. The match ended in 1-1 however, and I praised myself lucky considering the problems I had with my wing-backs.

Game III
For game III I was dead-set on winning it. I wanted at least one victory with Juventus against Arsenal. Arsenal had sticked to its 4-2-3-1, but this time I knew how to render it ineffective. With a few defensive adjustments, some changes in the playing style, and so extra instructions regarding the opposition players, I could make life very hard on Arsenal.

Arsenal barely got any attacking play going in the opening phase and in the 8th minute Chiellini opened the score line with a header from a corner kick. In the 18th minute Marchisio intercepted a long pass from Arsenal. Via Bonucci, Khedira and Pereyra the ball reached Mandzukic. The Arsenal defenders, thinking Mandzukic was going to shoot, quickly closed down on him to block it. Instead, Mandzukic quickly extended Pereyra’s pass with his wrong foot. The ball penetrated the Arsenal defence and Pogba ran into the box to score. This is what they’d call in Italy a moment of ‘fantasia’, the sudden, unexpected, yet simple move that puts and entire defence on the wrong foot.

As Arsenal was completely unable to respond, Blac brought on substitutions and resorted to his 4-1-4-1 formation in the 28th minute. After half-time absolutely nothing worth mentioning happened until the 66th minute as my Juventus was demonstrating its capabilities in killing off the game. I was set on winning this match and with a solid 2-0 lead I was doing everything to stop Arsenal from being able to get back into the match. So aside from a corner kick in the 66th minute, actually nothing interesting happened anymore until about the 80th minute. In the 75th minute, Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci and Marchisio even started to do a little exercise in back-n-forth passing in their own penalty box to waste time… Now this was a reincarnation of the evil spirit of Catenaccio, reminding me of the 1965 European cup final when Inter Milan defended a 1-0 lead against Benfica by constantly playing the ball back to their goalkeeper.

Show ContentBuffon doing a little passing excercise:

Some corner kicks for Arsenal in the final 10 minutes couldn’t change the game, and Juventus won with 2-0. It was a clinical, perhaps even a cynical victory, but it was a necessary one to make things even. The team scored by deceiving and surprising the Arsenal defence – the first lesson taught by Sun Tzu, and then utilized some ‘good cruelty’, in Machiavelli’s terms, to protect the lead.