World Soccer - UK (2020-10)

Ross Draper...

another Ross in

action for County

Preparing...

Adama Traore

REPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP

1

LATHERED UP

Wolverhampton Wanderers

may have come up with an

ingenious way to help their winger

Adama Traore escape the attention

of opposition defenders. The pacy

dribbler, who was recently recalled

to the Spanish national team squad,

rubs baby oil onto his arms to prevent

opponents from pulling him back,

with the Wolves physio spotted

administering it on the pitch.

2

THREE IN A ROW

RB Salzburg goalkeeper

Daniel Antosch made history

in the quarter-finals of the UEFA

Youth League when he saved three

penalties in a row against Lyon.

The 20-year-old dived to his right

to keep out Florent da Silva’s shot

before being penalised by the referee

for coming off his line too early. The

exact same thing happened on the

retaken penalty, leading to a third

spot-kick, which Antosch also

saved, this time to his left.

3

SILENT SUPPORT

“Which club won the second

division championship in the

2018-2019 season?” For close

followers of German football, this

was a straightforward question

on quiz showGefragt–Gejagt,

the German equivalent ofThe

Chase. Contestant Claus Blumel

knew the answer, but refused to

say it. The problem? The Borussia

Monchengladbach fan could not

bring himself to utter the name of

his team’s biggest rivals, FC Cologne.

Effectively turning down€500,

he said: “No, I won’t say that, not as

a Monchengladbacher!” Gladbach

responded on Twitter, saying:

“This exemplary behaviour must

be rewarded. Dear candidate,

please contact us.”

4

RED TAPE NIGHTMARE

Portuguese side Portimonense

were the lucky beneficiaries

of an administrative mix-up last

month, cancelling their relegation

from the top flight. Having finished

second from bottom and set for

relegation, the club were spared

when it was announced that Vitoria

Setubal, a point ahead in16th, were

to be demoted instead after failing to

present the necessary requirements

for professional registration ahead

of the 2020-21 season.

The ruling, which also affects

bottom-placed side, Aves, means

that both clubs are banned from

competing professionally for the

new season, sending them down

to Portugal’s third tier.

5

ROSS JOINS ROSS

Scottish Premiership side Ross

County have stumbled upon

an innovative new way of scouting

players: signing players called Ross.

By signing Ross Doohan on loan

from Celtic, the club moved closer

to a full team of players with the

same name as the team itself,

with five Ross’ in the squad –

three of which are goalkeepers.

GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE

and those shortcomings were exposed
with the injury to Aymeric Laporte,
which in turn meant Fernandinho having
to play as a defender, placing increased
pressure on Rodri in midfield. City have
signed Nathan Ake from Bournemouth
for £40 million to try toremedy that,
and may even look to sign another
centre-back before the deadline.
There are issues at centre-forward
as well. Sergio Aguero is 32, while
GabrielJesus remains frozen in his
development. At the moment he is
just a notch below the very highest
level. He’s only 23 and it may be that
he suddenly explodes with a 40-goal
season, but equally it may not. They
may also wonder when Mendy is ever
going to deliver on the potential he
showed at Monaco, and whether
Rodri really is a long-term successor
to Fernandinho, who is now 35.
But the biggest question is over
structure and organisation. There is an
element of self-perpetuation here, that
once a weakness is seen, teams try to
exploit it and so it becomes more and
more apparent. And perhaps to an
extent it is reasonable to point out that
no team can do everything perfectly,
and that if you prioritise passing and
touch in your defenders it almost
inevitably means that certain defensive
qualities will be compromised. The
likes of Virgil van Dijk – or Kompany

• who are both good on the ball and
  commanding defenders, are very rare.
  But the success of Liverpool raises
  a vital question. They are at least as
  aggressive in their press, and yet they
  very rarely get caught out by simple
  balls in behind them. What is it that
  they are doing differently? Is the
  success of theirGegenpressingsimply
  a result of their ferocity through
  midfield, something Guardiola again
  perhaps has to sacrifice to an extent
  to encourage his side’s mastery of the
  ball? Or is it that opponents have
  become familiar with the Guardiola
  style of pressing that seemed so
  radical a decade ago, and that Klopp
  has taken that to new extremes of
  organisation? If that is the case
  then for perhaps the first time
  in his career, there is tactical
  work for Guardiola to do.