Dec 17, 2024
Juventus have had more joy in the Coppa Italia than Serie A in recent seasons. After dismantling Cagliari tonight they face Empoli at home in the quarters. Another deep run beckons in what is likely to be their best and only chance of silverware yet again for another season.
Dec 10, 2023
An excellent tactical match between two wise old men in the dugout as Manuel Pellegrini and Carlo Ancelotti pitted wits against each other. As is often the case when Real come to the Benito Villamarin, they were made to suffer against an excellent Betis side. The stars on the pitch were Jude Bellingham, who scored yet another goal (who else?) and Isco, who almost scored the game winner at the death when his header crashed of the post. Isco’s redemption at Betis is one of the stories of the season in Spain, probably just behind Bellingham’s emphatic start to his La Liga career. Despite the excellence of these two midfielders, watching this game, I couldn’t help but wonder how much closer these two sides would be to achieving their respective aims if they had someone who could finish chances ruthlessly in the final third.
Dec 10, 2023
For those of a Red Devils persuasion, the galling aspect of this defeat wasn’t so much the ineptitude of the home side, but simply the fact that nobody was really surprised that an excellent Bournemouth side on the up could and ultimately would win at Old Trafford. United’s midfield dysfunction and lack of defensive organization is so obvious, that Andani Iraola’s well-coached Cherries looked a cut above tactically and comfortable in every other facet from kickoff to the final whistle. A 5-0 scoreline wouldn’t have flattered the visitors. And that’s the not the first time someone has said that about an away side playing United this season. How Erik ten Hag fixes this is beyond me. A possibly season-defining double-header against Bayern and Liverpool up next is hardly going to fill the United faithful’s heart with any sense of hope. As for Iraola, he’s only the latest Basque coach to pitch up and show his quality in the Premier League as he gradually leads a classy in-form Bournemouth side up the table.
Dec 10, 2023
The first thing to say is that this kind of defeat is not uncommon no matter how many one-sided jibes one may hear about the Bundesliga. Bayern have their bogey teams, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach to name a few. Also, Frankfurt over the past few years have done this to many teams — Barca, Arsenal, Napoli and a quite a few others. The home side decided to go toe-to-toe with Bayern, an approach that can pay dividends against the serial German champions, especially considering their glaring absence of a number 6. The alarm bells won’t be ringing just yet for Thomas Tuchel. After all, on most weekends they’ll overwhelm their domestic opponents and they aren’t likely to face a credible threat in the Champions League until the quarterfinals. However, Tuchel may yet end up getting a small but significant victory as a result of this defeat as he builds the case for the board to prioritize signing a defensive midfielder in January.
Dec 10, 2023
Jurgen Klopp pulled no punches in his post-comments when he said his team were really bad for 76 minutes and then were really good once they had a man advantage. Not for the first time this season on the road, Liverpool lacked control in midfield, causing issues not only when it came to their defensive organization, but also in terms of having any fluency with the ball, lacking clearly defined patterns when it came to attacking Palace. Jordan Ayew’s extremely harsh second yellow provided a timely boost as the Reds naturally found more spaces to run into, delivering yet another comeback win to take them top of the table. Klopp also rightly stated that Liverpool’s substitutes have been the story of the season. While their squad may not offer much in terms of tactical variance, the fact that guys like Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo can come on fresh in the second half of matches means the Reds are always capable of breaching tired defences provided they stay alive in a game. They may not pass the eye test, but momentum for an unexpected title tilt increases as Liverpool now have the opportunity to lay down the gauntlet with back-to-back home games against Manchester United and Arsenal up next.
Dec 10, 2023
The kind of performance and win that has been the bedrock of many Juventus title wins in the past. Not fussed about dominating with the ball or creating loads of chances, but based on exemplary defensive focus, organization, work rate and making efficient use of their opportunities, which this season have primarily come from set pieces and crosses. The fact that for the second successive game the match-winning goal was scored by a Turin-based centre-back in Federico Gatti only adds to the parallels between this team and successful Juve sides of the past. For all the justifiable critiques of their style, downplaying their credentials and delivering results is all that Max Allegri will care about. There may be more entertaining teams in the league, but the Bianconeri and their grizzled manager don’t often get beaten in close races.
As for Napoli, successive defeats to Inter and Juve remove any lingering hopes of defending their title. Walter Mazzarri could say that in both games his team had their moments only to be deprived by some outstanding goalkeeping, but in truth the champions looked a cut below both this season’s pacesetters. Mazzarri now has to work on keeping his players motivated for this season’s core target, qualifying for the Champions League again in what looks like a proper scrap between three to six teams at this point in the season. The talent of the squad is not in doubt, but the new returning manager has a task on his hand keeping a clearly disgruntled set of players on track for the second half of the season.
Sep 5, 2022
Like every season, I find myself excited and looking forward to the beginning of the group stages of the Champions League. Even in this busy season, Matchday 1 just brings a unique sense of anticipation as European giants take on each other across borders. Here are the six games I am most eager to follow on Matchday 1:
Celtic vs. Real Madrid
PSG vs. Juventus
Salzburg vs. Milan
Inter vs. Bayern Munich
Napoli vs. Liverpool
Tottenham vs. Marseille
May 27, 2022
This is ultimately trivial, but purely as an exercise in persistence I finished a whole season of making picks for every single league game in the top 5 leagues. These were the results:
Premier League — 191/380 (50.26%)
La Liga — 182/380 (47.89%)
Serie A — 172/380 (45.26%)
Bundesliga — 137/306 (44.77%)
Ligue 1 — 161/380 (42.3 %)
Turns out my best effort was just barely above 50%. Goes to show predictions are a mugs game. As I said, this was an exercise in persistence, but I want this microblog to be about passion. Hence, we won’t be seeing picks anymore.
May 27, 2022
Final Round — 6/9
Season — 137/306 (44.77 %)
May 27, 2022
Final Round — 3/10
Season — 172/380 (45.26 %)
May 27, 2022
Final Round — 3/10
Season — 182/380 (47.89 %)
May 27, 2022
Final Round — 2/10
Season — 161/380 (42.37 %)
May 27, 2022
Final Round — 7/10
Season — 191/380 (50.26 %)
May 20, 2022
Palace vs United — Draw
Arsenal vs Everton — Draw
Chelsea vs Watford — Home
Leicester vs Southampton — Home
Brentford vs Leeds — Away
Burnley vs Newcastle — Draw
City vs Villa — Home
Norwich vs Spurs — Away
Brighton vs West Ham — Home
Liverpool vs Wolves — Home
Last round — 0/3
Season — 184/370
May 20, 2022
Brest vs Bordeaux — Home
Clermont vs Lyon — Home
Lens vs Monaco — Away
Marseille vs Strasbourg — Draw
Lorient vs Troyes — Home
PSG vs Metz — Home
Lille vs Rennes — Away
Angers vs Montpellier — Home
Nantes vs St Etienne — Away
Reims vs Nice — Draw
Last round — 4/10
Season — 159/370
May 20, 2022
Real vs Betis – Home
Rayo vs Levante – Draw
Valencia vs Celta – Away
Elche vs Getafe – Home
Alaves vs Cadiz – Away
Granada vs Espanyol – Home
Osasuna vs Mallorca – Away
Barca vs Villarreal – Draw
La Real vs Atletico – Home
Sevilla vs Athletic – Away
Last round – 7/10
Season – 179/370
May 20, 2022
Torino vs Roma – Home
Genoa vs Bologna – Home
Fiorentina vs Juve – Home
Atalanta vs Empoli – Home
Lazio vs Verona – Home
Spezia vs Napoli – Draw
Inter vs Sampdoria – Home
Sassuolo vs Milan – Away
Venezia vs Cagliari – Home
Salernitana vs Udinese – Home
Last round – 5/10
Season – 169/370
May 18, 2022
Villa vs Burnley — Home
Chelsea vs Leicester — Home
Everton vs Palace — Draw
Last round — 2/9
Season — 184/367
May 13, 2022
Spurs vs Burnley — Home
Wolves vs Norwich — Home
West Ham vs City — Away
Watford vs Leicester — Home
Leeds vs Brighton — Home
Villa vs Palace — Home
Everton vs Brentford — Draw
Newcastle vs Arsenal — Draw
Southampton vs Liverpool — Away
Last round — 4/6
Season — 182/358
May 13, 2022
St Etienne vs Reims — Home
Montpellier vs PSG — Home
Metz vs Angers — Home
Rennes vs Marseille — Away
Strasbourg vs Clermont — Home
Lyon vs Nantes — Home
Bordeaux vs Lorient — Home
Monaco vs Brest — Home
Nice vs Lille — Home
Troyes vs Lens — Home
Last round — 0/2
Season — 155/360
May 13, 2022
Espanyol vs Valencia — Home
Villarreal vs La Real — Home
Celta vs Elche — Home
Cadiz vs Real — Draw
Athletic vs Osasuna — Home
Levante vs Alaves — Home
Atletico vs Sevilla — Home
Mallorca vs Rayo — Home
Getafe vs Barca — Draw
Betis vs Granada — Home
Last round — 4/10
Season — 172/360
May 13, 2022
Augsburg vs Furth — Home
Dortmund vs Hertha — Home
Union vs Bochum — Home
Arminia vs Leipzig — Away
Wolfsburg vs Bayern — Draw
Mainz vs Frankfurt — Home
Stuttgart vs Koln — Home
Leverkusen vs Freiburg — Draw
Gladbach vs Hoffenheim — Home
Last round — 2/9
Season — 131/297
May 13, 2022
Empoli vs Salernitana — Draw
Udinese vs Spezia — Home
Verona vs Torino — Home
Roma vs Venezia — Home
Bologna vs Sassuolo — Away
Napoli vs Genoa — Away
Milan vs Atalanta — Home
Cagliari vs Inter — Draw
Sampdoria vs Fiorentina — Home
Juve vs Lazio — Draw
Last round — 7/10
Season — 164/360
May 11, 2022
Nice vs St Etienne — Draw
Nantes vs Rennes — Away
Last round — 3/8
Season — 155/358
May 9, 2022
Villa vs Liverpool — Away
Leicester vs Norwich — Home
Watford vs Everton — Home
Leeds vs Chelsea — Home
Wolves vs City — Away
Spurs vs Arsenal — Home
Last round — 5/10
Season — 178/352