Monthly Archives: April 2015

Ricardo Pereira: Highly-regarded prospect groomed to be Danilo’s replacement at Porto

  By O-Posts Team | April 30, 2022 - 19:26 | , , ,
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Ricardo Pereira is one of a number of young prospects who were thrown in at the deep end at Vitória Guimarães – and grew up fast.

The northern club was in financial meltdown in 2011 when newly appointed coach, the aptly named Rui Vitória, decided to start from scratch, relying on largely unknown youth players. In truth he had no choice as any bankable assets in the squad were sold off, but the policy led to a spectacular change in fortunes

 

Forsaken by Sporting

As well as building a consistently competitive side, in 2013 Vitória Guimarães won their first piece of major silverware, lifting the Portuguese Cup. Ricardo Pereira played a key role in their success. It must have been particularly satisfying for the Lisbon-born 19-year-old, having had to head north to further his career after failing to make the grade at Sporting’s famed Alcochete academy.

Known simply as Ricardo in Portugal, he crowned an outstanding 2012/13 season with a late winner in the shock 2-1 win over Benfica in the cup final. He had also been decisive in the semi-final, notching a brace in the 2-0 victory over Belenenses, but it was on that sunny May afternoon that he first experienced true adulation after a mazy run saw him skip past a number of challenges before firing a deflected 20-yard shot low into the net to seal the cup triumph.

“It was without doubt the highest point of my career,” he told Portuguese website zerozero.pt. “Neno (the assistant coach) said we would only realise the enormity of what we had achieved a few days later, and it was true. It’s always great looking back on it, belonging to that team, winning that trophy for fans as passionate as the Guimarães supporters.”

 

Eye for goal

But it was not just Ricardo’s heroics that day that earned him a move to FC Porto. In his first full season in Portugal’s top flight his direct, skilful and productive wing play was allied to a lethal eye for goal as he scored 8 goals in all competitions.

He has also prospered at international level, hitting 6 goals in 13 appearances for Portugal’s U21 side, making himself a mainstay in the team despite fierce competition as one of what many pundits consider an emerging golden generation.

 

Adaptation

At Porto he has had to show patience with limited playing time in an expensively assembled squad. He has been adapted into an attacking right-back this season, with conspicuous success, even playing a Champions League quarter-final there.

His former coach Rui Vitória has no doubts he has what it takes to go far in the game: “He’s got enormous potential, an excellent capacity to learn, strong belief in what he does and he reacts very well to challenges.”

With Porto right-back Danilo sold to Real Madrid, Ricardo is gearing himself up for his next challenge: to establish himself as a first-team regular for the Blue and Whites. Don’t put it past him.

 

Written by Tom Kundert

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Chris Smalling: Struggling defensive prospect emerges to become United’s beacon of hope at the back

  By O-Posts Team | April 29, 2022 - 20:16 | , ,
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Sir Alex Ferguson would spend around £27 million on bringing Chris Smalling and Phil Jones to Manchester United within a year of each other at the start of the decade, later stating that he saw them as eventual successors to his last truly solid defensive pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. It is now 4 years since Jones joined Smalling at Old Trafford and things haven’t run so smoothly for the pair.

Ferguson spoke highly of both youngsters, perhaps bizarrely claiming Jones could go on to become United’s greatest ever player while he would say Smalling was in store for a long future at the club. Ferguson has since passed and United are nearing the end of a second season, under a second manager, in life after Ferguson and it looks as if those prophecies may only come to fruition for one of them.

After the erroneous year of David Moyes, Vidic and Ferdinand would both depart and with new manager Louis Van Gaal failing to sign a proper centre-half to replace them despite outlaying £170 million, the door seemed open for them, together with Jonny Evans, to show they could indeed provide a reliable long-term base to United’s new era, as well as for England. However Jones has missed 15 of United’s 34 games so far while Smalling has missed 13, starting only 17 games in the Premier League and making a further 4 appearances as a sub.

Van Gaal’s own misgivings over playing with a back 4, at times erring on the side of caution with a back 5, and a litany of injuries and suspensions has stymied any opportunity for Smalling and Jones to strike together a consistent partnership. Paddy McNair, Tyler Blackett and Marcos Rojo- naturally a left-back, have all made at least 10 appearances for United at centre-half this season while Daley Blind, also more at home at left-back, has also filled in there. Jones and Rojo were both again injured for the visit to Everton on Sunday, in which Smalling was partnered by McNair in a 3-0 loss that betrayed United’s recent upturn in performances and results.

The defeat at Goodison marked the first time United have lost successive league games under Van Gaal, coming a week after the 1-0 loss at Chelsea stopped a run of 6 straight wins which included impressive victories over Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester City. Smalling and Jones were at the back for all three of those games but the 3-0 win over Spurs was their first time together at the back in a pair this season. Incredibly, it was only the fourth time they had played alongside each other in the Premier League.

Jones has acknowledged this has curtailed the chance for the pair to develop an understanding. “It has been difficult for us”, he says, “You cannot build a partnership on four games. Hopefully now we have had back-to-back games together we can keep it going and keep playing well together”. Jones’s latest injury has once again prevented that happening and as the 23 year old enters the final year of his contract, talks still haven’t materialised over a new deal despite reports of an extension.

Smalling however has been given a new five-year deal, a reward for his “improvement and immense rate of development” according to Van Gaal who says the 25 year old has become “an integral member of the first team squad”. Smalling has made all of his 21 appearances this term as a centre-back, in contrast to his time under David Moyes where he often played as a right-back and the improvement has been palpable. He has made more interceptions (47) and won more tackles, 84% of them compared to 69.8%, than he managed throughout the whole of last season and pass completion is up, at 88.6%, to last season’s 82.6% as he has become more assured with his distribution.

Improvement has not only come over the season but in a period of 6 months as in November he was being described by Van Gaal as “stupid” for picking up 2 yellow cards as United fell to defeat in the first Manchester derby of the season. They remain the only cautions he has picked up in this campaign as he has developed a discipline that now makes him a calming presence at the back and having committed 19 fouls he has given away less free-kicks than Jones, Blind and Rojo. With Smalling, void of the haphazard panic he displayed in the first half of the season, in the team Van Gaal may now find, to borrow his phrase, his ass twitching considerably less.

Manchester Evening News now call him the best defender at the club and with Phil Jones still prone to clumsy challenges and rash instances of positional indiscipline, together with Evans’s notable lack of progression, it puts Smalling in the strongest position of the three as United’s defence looks set for a summer upheaval.

Evans, who has made just 14 starts in all competitions under Van Gaal, seems to be the most vulnerable as United reportedly target Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels to add some reliable, top-level experience to a defence that seems extremely young and has had its naivety exposed, most latterly at Everton, on numerous occasions this season.

Van Gaal may go for Hummels as a result of Jones’s injury struggles but Smalling is highly unlikely to be displaced, testament to his tenfold improvement over the past year or so. Ferguson may yet be proved wrong on Jones, but for Smalling his £10 million investment looks set to be proved very astute.

 

Written by Adam Gray

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Francis Coquelin: Le Coq’s unexpected rise has Arsenal gunning for a return to the top

  By O-Posts Team | April 28, 2022 - 18:26 | , ,
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Chelsea may have left Arsenal on Sunday afternoon with the Premier League all but in the trophy cabinet, the ten point lead the Blues have at the summit making it comfortable enough for Jose Mourinho to tease the Gunners over their decade-long barren run in search of the title, but the Portuguese, as he lavished overwhelming praise on centre-half John Terry, would be aware his team had been given a tough examination. There was enough from the 0-0 draw to suggest Arsenal will run Chelsea’s would-be champions to the limit next season.

That judgement is largely owing to a run of form that saw Sunday’s point become their 37th out of the possible 45 on offer since they won 1-2 at West Ham on 28th December. That day Francis Coquelin made his first start of the season for Arsenal and since then the Frenchman has been hard to displace, playing in all of the following fifteen games in a run that has seen Arsene Wenger’s men lose just twice. Nobody in the Premier League has been in better form over that period.

For so long the key behind Arsenal’s potential return to the company of genuine challengers for the title has been the lack of solid defensive midfielder and Wenger’s refusal to sign one, in the mould of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit or Gilberto Silva whom provided the solid base to his recently successful teams, seemed to be one of the most frustrating examples of outrageous oversight in the modern game. Yet now in Coquelin, the 23 year old who was playing on loan at Championship club Charlton as recently as December 6th, he could have stumbled upon the answer without even having to open the chequebook.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Coquelin’s introduction to the team, where he makes most of his appearances sitting alongside the more advanced Aaron Ramsey in the engine room, has changed their season. Up until the game at West Ham they had conceded 22 goals from 18 games but in the following 15, with Coquelin shielding the back 4, they have shipped just 10.

Furthermore it has allowed Wenger to find success in a new found pragmatism on show in the bigger matches, which began on December 21st at Liverpool, where Coquelin played just 8 minutes, where they registered 35% possession in the 2-2 draw, their lowest share of the ball since records started being collated in 2003.

They would also see less of the ball in the win at West Ham, seeing 42% of it, which started Coquelin’s run in the side and it was all in the prelude to the brilliantly engineered 0-2 win at Manchester City where again the Gunners would register 35% of the possession. The rigid discipline on display was a far cry from the 5-1, 6-0 and 6-3 thrashings Arsenal had suffered at the hands of Liverpool, Chelsea and, in the same fixture, Man City last season and Coquelin was superb, shackling David Silva and allowing Santi Cazorla to thrive in the area ahead of him.

Not long after the game at City he was signing a four-and-a-half year extension to a contract that looked more than likely to not be renewed when it expired this summer. Responding to the query of whether Coquelin can be a long-term solution, Wenger said, “yes of course, like anybody else, of course. I will wait until the end of the season to see how well things go and where we are. He does the job well.”

With his game now full of bite and spirit he certainly does do the job well. Patrolling the defensive midfield vicinity like a hound, and an added maturity that even Wenger admitted had taken him by surprise back in March. With Coquelin charging around, opposition attacking midfielders rarely get the space and time on the ball required to hurt Arsenal and he hunts the ball down constantly at a rate of 3.4 tackles and 3.8 interceptions per game.

Some of the doggedness has perhaps had to be toned down after he picked up four straight bookings over the Christmas period, but it has only added to the intelligence of his play and positioning. He has made a total of 113 interceptions and tackles in 2015, 31 more than any other player in this calendar year, and in doing so he has picked up just 2 yellow cards in the league since 4th January.

The amount of fouls he has given away, 21 from a total of 18 Premier League appearances, is also testament to his reading of the game and anticipation of the ball. On the ball he is also a reliable passer, a handy trait to have in a Wenger team.

Mourouane Fellaini, in such good form Jose Mourinho had to devise a special plan in training to handle his threat when his Chelsea side met him last Saturday, Phillipe Coutinho and on Sunday Cesc Fabregas, Coquelin has managed to handle the best playmakers in the league during his renaissance adaptation to the league. Whereas Chelsea have Nemanja Matic, inducted into the PFA Team of the Year on Sunday, as the midfield rock of protection to the defence, Arsenal could now possibly have the same for next year in Coquelin; one of the most unexpected breakthroughs of the season.

There will still be a lot to learn, as the 1-3 defeat to Monaco in the Champions League warned the whole of Arsenal’s squad, but there has been more than enough in Coquelin’s campaign to indicate Wenger was right to keep faith in the player he took from Stade Lavallois as a 16 year old in 2008.

An unsettled series of loan spells to Lorient, Frieburg and then Charlton has followed as he looked set to conform to Sir Alex Ferguson’s prophecy, in reference to Manchester United’s 8-2 demolition of Arsenal in 2011 that “he was completely out of his depth. I had hardly heard of him and he barely played again.” Now he is playing again and many more people are beginning to hear of the 23 year old.

“One day you are unknown - the next you are a bit bigger” says Coquelin, and the possibility for Arsenal and Coquelin is to now go even bigger.

 

Written by Adam Gray

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Hamstring Injury: How Bad Can It Be?

  By O-Posts Team | April 27, 2022 - 21:42 | , ,
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Just like that, it happened.

You were at the family picnic, having a fine time playing softball with the nieces and nephews and while running to first base - POW!  You felt a quick jolt of pain in the back of your leg which steadily increased, causing you to stumble about.  You had difficulty extending your knee.

You weren’t sure about what had hit you until your second cousin – the one with the medical background – confirmed that you had pulled a hamstring.  What steps do you take to recover? Can it get worse?

Hamstrings occur in quick-sprint sports like rugby, basketball, football (soccer), and yes, softball.  Your hamstring muscles – there are three in the series of muscles – stretch from your lower pelvis to the back of your shin bone.     They work to flex your knee and help move your thigh backward as you run.  Interestingly enough, you don’t really use the hamstrings very much when you are walking and even standing, but they go right into action when you run.

Symptoms of a pulled hamstring include pain at the back of the thigh which may often extend down into the foot.  Microscopic tears occurred when you were running to first base (When was the last time you actually sprinted?   Hamstrings can be caused by sudden bursts of speed.)

Treatment of the pulled hamstring starts with rest:  stop immediately.  You may need to get an icepack on it.  If it is severe, you’ll need medical attention, but if it is a minor strain you can get crutches to help you along, but the main thing is to give it some rest.  Should you wrap it?  Good idea, but use a compressive bandage – one that will tighten around your leg and limit your stretching movements so that you won’t do more damage.  Doctors like to use the acronym RICE:  Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.  If you follow these four steps, you’ll get along well in the healing process.

Will you need surgery?  Probably not – just a good amount of rest.  Of course, if the injury is severe, consult your physician.  However, if you ‘twinged’ the back of your thigh and are doing a bit of limping, time to set yourself down and prop your feet up.

Next time you’re out and ready to prove your athletic prowess, do some stretches for about five minutes. Drink plenty of fluids before and during the workout to prevent dehydration and muscle cramps.  Then pace yourself as you play.

Avoid sudden bursts of speed if you can help it, but by all means, get active and enjoy yourself.  Those muscles could use some careful workouts, so get a moderate running or stretching routine and prepare for the next family outing.

 

Written by Dr. Brad Zockoll

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Eden Hazard: Goals aren’t everything to the PFA Player of the Year

  By O-Posts Team | April 27, 2022 - 18:40 | , ,
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From the start, Sunday was an excellent day for Chelsea. After seeing 6 of their players picked for the PFA Premier League team of the year, they headed to Arsenal and ground out a 0-0 draw to retain a 10 point lead at the top of the table which is enforced by a game in hand.

To finish off, winger Eden Hazard would receive the individual honour of PFA Player of the Year at the evening’s awards gala, leaving many to ponder if it was Jose Mourinho who had personally wrote the day’s script, just as he orchestrates so many football matches into his favour.

In typical Mourinho fashion, the draw at Arsenal was more down to supreme organisation and defensive committal than attacking flair offered by the likes of Hazard and co. but the Portuguese coach would owe it to the Belgian that he was in such a position to go and suffocate the game at the Emirates. Last week his grip on the title was made firmer by the 1-0 win over Manchester United, forged with just 29% possession, 5 shots to United’s 13 and a goal from Hazard, the one who sprinkles attacking conviction to a base of reinforced steel.

Hazard has 13 Premier League goals this season, including winners over West Ham and QPR at home as well as vital goals in the wins over Arsenal and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. The 24 year old also has 8 assists to his name, offering the creative verve, together with Cesc Fabregas who has 16 assists, to a side that has the joint-best defensive record of 26 conceded.

Their inevitable league victory may be diminished somewhat by cries of a substandard league and the lack of genuine challengers, but Chelsea are indeed an excellent team, built on Mourinho’s extremely effective game-plan that relies first on the solidity of Gary Cahill, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta, Branislav Ivanovic and the titanium shield of Nemanja Matic in-front of them, before predatorily striking with the venom offered by Fabregas, Diego Costa, Oscar and Hazard in attack.

It may be simple, it may be boring as Arsenal fans acknowledged as they sang “boring, boring Chelsea” on Sunday afternoon, but Mourinho knows that such style has all-but won him a title. Nothing else matters.

It is Hazard, together with Fabregas and 19 goal Costa, who so often plays the role of match-winner. The Belgian goes into Sunday evening’s PFA awards ceremony top of the league charts in terms of chances created with 88, duels won with 287, dribbles attempted with 247 of which he has completed 153, also putting him first. They are statistics that highlight Hazard’s importance to Chelsea and what led Mourinho to warn off any potential overtures from Real Madrid by announcing that the Belgian is worth £200 million, £100 million for each leg.

It was a rebuttal from Mourinho that was perhaps tongue in cheek but maybe it was a serious insurance policy for a pair of legs that have earned 100 fouls this season, also putting him at the top of the Premier League’s most fouled chart. It is therefore remarkable that the Belgian has managed 40 appearances, starting in all 33 of Chelsea’s Premier League games, when the extent of the knocks he has taken has left him saying how he finds himself requiring 2-3 days to recover after matches and that he may not manage a career past the age of 32.

Hazard reportedly gauges his performances on the amount of fouls he has drawn- the more the better as it tells him how he has managed to attract the ire of his opponent- and it is that combativeness and resilience that has endeared him to his manager. “He wants to be a special player and a normal person. He’s a fantastic boy, a golden boy” said Mourinho, “he doesn’t cheat. He doesn’t dive. Nothing. So I think, even for opponents, he’s a fantastic kid.”

Hazard’s 18 goals in all competitions for Chelsea this term takes the winger up to 48 goals in 3 seasons for the club since making a £32 million move from Lille in 2013. That is a modest return for a player who has never been overly-renowned for his goal-scoring, the 22 he scored in his final year in France is his highest ever tally, so it is a redundant criticism to say he needs to score more.

Since he arrived in England he has made the team of the year 3 times, was Chelsea’s player of the season last term and has this year’s Premier League to add to the Europa League and League Cup medals. He may never be as prolific as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as some may challenge him to be, but goals are not everything; Hazard and his manager will be the first to point that out.

If Sunday could have been made better for Chelsea it was Hazard speaking of his desire for a long-term future with the club. “Why not?” he responded to the question of whether he could see himself being at Stamford Bridge for a while longer. “I am happy here, I play with big players and the most important thing is I want to win trophies and with this club, it is possible.”

With Hazard’s brand of strength, desire and technical genius that allows him to jink past defenders in tight spaces on the left, it makes the winning of those trophies easier for Mourinho and his team.

 

Written by Adam Gray

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Benfica’s Andre Almeida: Time to stick or twist

  By O-Posts Team | April 26, 2022 - 15:07 | , , ,
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A series of star-studded Benfica sides have enjoyed considerable success domestically and abroad over recent seasons. In a club that employs a constant revolving door policy with regard to the playing squad, the unchanging pillars of the side, although few and far between, play a pivotal role.

Captain Luisão and right-back Maxi Pereira are the foremost examples, but utility player André Almeida has proven an equally crucial cog to keep Benfica’s engine purring smoothly amid the frenetic comings and goings.

He has never done anything other than a thoroughly competent job when called upon to play at right-back, left-back, or as a defensive midfielder. The fact he is asked to switch between all three roles has denied him the opportunity to excel in any one of them over a sustained period of time, when his flawless performances suggest it would not be beyond him.

Tactically astute, a good tackler, accurate passer and a tireless worker Almeida would be a certain starter in almost any other team in Portugal, and his relatively infrequent appearances have done no damage to his reputation as a dependable, albeit unspectacular, performer.

Coach Jorge Jesus likes his full-backs to bomb forward, something which does not come naturally to Almeida, although the two excellent assists in the recent 5-1 hammering of Académica de Coimbra shows he’s no slouch in the attacking third. But it’s his staunch defensive qualities that are most appreciated, and the Lisbon-born player has often been selected in the starting XI over the usual incumbent for crunch games when Benfica adopt a more circumspect approach.

As for international football, specialists in the positions he usually fills in for naturally get the nod ahead of a jack-of-all-trades, although in tournament play this very adaptability is an important trump card in his favour, and one which earned him a place in Portugal’s 2014 World Cup squad. He has 8 senior Portugal caps to his name.

Still only 24 years old, Almeida is edging towards 100 appearances in his four years at Benfica, and may feel the time has come to either stick or twist – to seek assurances of a more prominent role in the team or to further his career elsewhere.

 

Written by Tom Kundert

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Borussia Dortmund: As Klopp bids farewell and Tuchel takes over, what’s next for the Black and Yellow?

  By O-Posts Team | April 25, 2022 - 20:28 | , , ,
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April 15, 2022 was  a day that would prove vital in the history of Borussia Dortmund as the charismatic manager Jürgen Klopp announced in a press conference that he will be leaving the Black and Yellow at the end of the season by stating that he was not the perfect man for this honorable job anymore.  The news spread immediately and the hashtag ‘Klopp’ was trending top on Twitter. Players started to express their gratitude and speculations mounted as who could possibly replace the lovable Klopp at the Signal Iduna Park. Many names have been thrown as candidates but finally the likeliest and most obvious choice Thomas Tuchel was confirmed as the new man to take the ranks BVB.                

It’s not difficult to point out the similarities between the two managers: both started their coaching careers at Mainz 05, have the same type of football philosophy and enthusiasm for the game, the same way of grooming their beard etc… But this doesn’t mean that their course as a Dortmund manager will turn out the same. Tuchel has arrived at a very critical stage. After a disappointing season, everyone expects BVB to get back into their fine form of recent years in which they have won two Bundesligas, one DFB Pokal and two Super Cups in addition to reaching the 2013 Champions League final. So it’s understandable that the 41 year old will be under immense pressure next season.

This was not the case when his predecessor arrived in 2008. By that time, Dortmund have long been absent from the Champions League and the Bundesliga title so the expectations were low unlike now. The possible departure of star players will not make the task any easier. Transfer rumors have already been circulating about who will follow Klopp out of Borussia Dortmund and who can be their replacements.

The unsettled captain Mats Hummels, who has been long linked with Manchester United, is one of the players who might leave the Bundesliga side. According to Sky Sports, team mate Ilkay Gündogan has already agreed a €30 million deal with the Red Devils. While players who endured a rather poor season like Ciro Immobile and Henerik Mkhitaryan are also other possible additions to the list of players who may bid a summer farewell to the Yellow Wall.

The ‘new’ Borussia Dortmund will be filled with youngsters rather than star players. Tuchel’s confidence in youth has been demonstrated in his previous club and he will be keen to bring that to his new home. Loaned out players like Maurice Litener, Jonas Hoffmann etc are set to return in the summer. Mainz’s 21 year old talented midfielder Johannes Geis could also join them, as a replacement for Gündogan.

With Sebastian Kehl’s retirement and Roman Weidenfeller’s aging and inconsistent season, new faces will arrive to take over the responsibility from these BVB legends who have been the symbol of the club for a long time. The team is in need of a change and this seems the hallmark of the Tuchel Dynasty.  It will be a transitional period for BVB and it will be difficult but the fans and administration will always be behind their manager, as they have demonstrated on several occasions this season.

In the mean time, the club will look to finish the season with a Cup title and a Europa League spot as a final tribute to Klopp and as a way of putting this horrendous season behind. But the players know the task will not be easy. They will have to face last year’s DFB Pokal champions Bayern München in the semifinal on Tuesday and have couple of important games ahead of them in the Bundesliga.

 

Written by Brook Genene

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Champions League Quarter-Final Second Leg: All four favorites seal their places in the semis

  By O-Posts Team | April 25, 2022 - 18:11 | , , , , , , , , ,
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So all the four favourites made it through to semi-finals, but what can we make of what happened?

On Tuesday night:

-  PSG showed the entire football world just how good, bad and limited their team is. Their first half at the Camp Nou was horrifying (entertaining if you are Barca fan), but in the second half, they put Barca under so much pressure that even Messi started diving.  But of course they messed up all the chances they created.

-  David Luiz showed us that he is one of the few players, who have the power to be the worst and the best player in the same game with his immense contribution at the Camp Nou.

-  Despite being on course to win all three titles in France for the second year running, Laurent Blanc is expected to be relieved of his duties at the end of the season. Now what could possibly be the reason? Is it his inability to go beyond the last eight in Europe? Is it the fact that he turned Cavani, a fantastic forward, into Ibrahimovic’s favourite left-sided or right-sided sidekick? Is it because he is building his team around Ibrahiselfish? Or just all of the above? Wondering…

-  Neymar spent the entire second half of the game against PSG trying to set up his Boss; sorry, I mean teammate Messi instead of actually creating a goal-scoring chance for his team. Is he expecting a pay raise? From Barcelona, I mean.

-  Luis Suarez did not dive in the entire game against PSG. Maybe there was something wrong with him. But anyway, congrats to him for not diving; and to Neymar as well.

-  Somebody needs to tell Javier Mascherano to stop his falling and touching the face nonsense because no matter how hard he tries it won’t get him into Captain America 3, Suicide Squad or any other Hollywood movie. And the new Spiderman role already belongs to Aubameyang so por favor Javier, stop this nonsense.

-  As we all expected and anticipated, Bayern Munich made a fool out of Porto at the Allianz Arena. But the good news and of course the silver lining for Porto is that they didn’t concede 7 goals and they manage to score one goal. But despite that, they were ghosts during the entire game. Honestly, did those guys went to Germany to play or did they just go there to be slaughtered?

 

On Wednesday:

-  Real Madrid finally managed to do the unthinkable; they beat Atletico within 90 minutes. But that was not the only surprise. One of the three surprises was that it wasn’t Ronaldo who scored the goal, it was Chicharito. Yes, the king of outcasts, one of the very few players who managed to be the best bench-warmer in not only two different clubs but in two different countries: jersey number 14, Javier Hernandez.

- But if you thought that Hernandez goal was the cherry on top, you were mistaken. And although it has happened before, it has to be the biggest surprise of the week.  So here it goes: CRISTIANO RONALDO MANAGED TO BE UNSELFISH IN FRONT OF GOAL IN THE DYING MINUTES OF A VERY IMPORTANT GAME. Yup, he is the one who gave to vital pass to Hernandez. And that merits a big congrats to CR7. I guess if Messi can dive, Ronaldo can be unselfish. Freaky auarter-finals.

- Despite being the hero for Real Madrid, Hernandez managed to make Arsenal legend Thierry Henry angry for not celebrating with Cristiano, who assisted the goal. Now, I don’t know if it is Henry’s Arsenal’s side or his Barcelona’s side talking but what’s wrong with running for joy and waiting for your mates to come and celebrate with you? Ronaldo does that for every goal. And no offense to ‘King Henry’, but how many times has he run to the teammate who assisted him when he scored goals? For what I can remember, he would run slowly and wait for the rest of the team to congratulate him. So with no disrespect to your opinion Thierry, I don’t see what’s wrong with running for joy.

-  Sticking with Real, Hernandez  heroics might just have allowed Ancelotti to live another day, but Los Blancos boss will be hoping that his boys rediscover their ability to finish off their opponent earlier in the game as the season enter its final stage. And if UEFA ‘fair’ draw keeps Barca and Bayern apart for the semis to set up ‘Europe’s most wanted final’, Real will be in for a tough end of the season.

- After taking a page from Mourinho’s book by not rotating his players, Ancelotti used another trick from the ‘Special Book’, book of the Special One, by playing a defender in central midfield. What’s next? Loaning 30 players?

- After an amazing 2013/2014 season, Atletico Madrid is showing us just how much they have fallen. They went from Champions League finalist and La Liga winners to… just another good team. That’s what happens when you sell most of your best players and replace them with excellent but cheap bargains. In football terms, that’s called doing an Arsenal.

- After realising how dangerous Monaco can be on the counter, Juventus left their fancy football in Turin and honoured their Italian origin by playing the Italian game; defend with 12 men, with the twelfth men being the coach.  Although it’s not many people’s glass of Heineken (Champions League sponsor), it’s a genius tactic.

 

Conclusion

With the draw sealed and dusted in Nyon, which have set two gigantic semi-final clashes: Real Madrid vs Juventus and Bayern Munich vs Barcelona. Two matches, both rivalries that evoke memorable moments and tight encounters. They should prove worthwhile as always, no matter the result and outcome.

 

Written by Christopher Kayembe

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Football Crosswords: Premier League Posers

  By O-Posts Team | April 24, 2022 - 15:56 | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Clues Across 

6      Mr Koné, Everton striker (6)

7      Homeland of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (5)

8      Mauricio, a summer loan signing for QPR from Juventus (4)

9      Highly-rated West Brom and England Under-21 striker (8)

10    Transfer window during which Chelsea bought Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado (7)

11    Ciaran, Aston Villa defender and Republic of Ireland international (5)

13    Harry Kane’s already chalked up 30 goals for them this season (5)

15    Manchester City defender - the Serbian Roberto Carlos (7)

18    Manchester United defender, Tyler (8)

19    They play at the KC Stadium (4)

20    _ Hill, QPR veteran who netted his first Premier League goal in April’s 3-3 draw with Villa (5)

21    Former Premier League ground now known as the Macron Stadium (6)

 

Clues Down

1      Mile Jedinak’s club (7,6)

2      Everton’s £28 million record transfer signing (6)

3      See 14 down

4      Mr Vorm, stand-in for Hugo Lloris of late (6)

5      Argentine who burst onto the scene with 5 goals in Leicester’s opening 5 games (8,5)

7      Midfielder who moved from Southampton to Swansea in January (4)

12    Stoke City’s nickname (7)

14    & 3 down Cheapest of Liverpool’s three signings from Southampton last summer (6,7)

16    Which name links Premier League players Barnes, Williams and Young? (6)

17    Villa striker currently on loan at Derby (4)

 

 

Answers Across 

  1. Arouna 7. Chile 8. Isla  9. Berahino
  2. January 11. Clark 13. Spurs  15. Kolarov
  3. Blackett 19. Hull 20. Clint  21. Reebok

 

Answers Down

  1. Crystal Palace 2. Lukaku 4. Michel
  2. Leonardo Ulloa 7. Cork 12. Potters
  3. Rickie Lambert 16. Ashley 17. Bent.

 

Created by Aleric Linden

Check out more of his work at Puzzle-House on his website

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Felipe Anderson: Lazio’s Standout Player of the Season

  By O-Posts Team | April 23, 2022 - 18:02 | , , , , , , , ,
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With seven games remaining in Serie A, Lazio have managed to leapfrog their bitter rivals Roma in second place, on goal difference.  They are having a tremendous season under coach Stefano Pioli. They have some top performers;  Antonio Candreva, Marco Parolo, Miroslav Klose and Stefan de Vrij to name a few.  The stand-out player for me is Brazilian Felipe Anderson.

In the summer of 2013, Anderson left Brazilian side Santos to showcase his qualities in Europe. Several big clubs such as AC Milan and Bayern Munich were interested in the highly rated attacking midfielder at the time. But it was Lazio who would win his signature and sign for approximately €8 million.

It was a very slow start to life in Italy, he only made a total of thirteen appearances and started just seven league games - failing to score or assist.  Many had by then written the Brazilian off, labelling him as just another young South American player who had earned his big move to Europe and failed to prosper.

Now into his second full season, it’s fair to say it’s been nothing short of revolutionary.  It took a slice of good fortune for him to get a real chance, when Antonio Candreva was injured back in December. Pioli gambled on him in the Coppa Italia fixture. Four months on, Felipe is now considered as one of the league’s star performers. The midfielder has already registered 10 goals and has been ever present in Lazio’s Champions League chasing campaign.

The 22 year old has an outstanding range of talents, and the most important of them is that he is naturally two footed. The Brazilian is equally comfortable controlling the ball or shooting with either foot, and that – together with his lightning speed and change of direction – makes him a nightmare for his opponents.

The stand out performance for me was when Lazio travelled to Milan to face Inter back in December, the match finished 2-2 – Anderson scored both goals.

After just two minutes the young Brazilian – starting the game on the right flank – received a low cross in the Inter penalty area. With one touch he deftly took the pace off the ball, controlling it and skipping past the Andrea Ranocchia all at once, before firing home firmly with his left foot.

For his second, Anderson then popped on the left flank just before the 40th minute mark. With the ball bouncing just inside the Inter half, Anderson nodded it into his path and advanced at speed. His compatriot, Juan Jesus, came across to cover him, but was evidently aware of Anderson’s pace. Jinking inside the penalty area and on to his right foot and slotted home. Outstanding.

More top performances followed, Lazio’s system seems to suit Anderson - Stefano Pioli has created an effective unit since he took charge last summer, with Anderson now an important component on the right or left wing of a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Unsurprisingly, the likes of Barcelona and PSG have been linked with the Lazio starlet. If he keeps this up, I think it will be difficult for Lazio to hold on to him. Nevertheless, they should receive a big fee, which they can invest in other areas of their squad.

 

Written by Serie A Writer

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