Dismissed...
Pau LopezProtest...
“Jacques-Henri
Eyraud: Marseille
vomits you”REPORTS WE COULDN’T MAKE UP
1
MARSEILLE MAYHEM
Rarely the most stable club
in Europe, Marseille have
descended into complete chaos
in recent weeks. At the start of
December they were second and
very much in the running for the
Ligue1 title, yet a run of three wins
in their next eight games saw them
slip down to ninth. As a result – and
in protest atJacques-Henri Eyraud’s
presidency – over100 ultras
attacked the club’s training ground,
throwing smoke bombs and setting
trees alight, with defender Alvaro
Gonzalez struck with a projectile
and suffering a minor back injury.
Police made 25 arrests and their
home fixture against Rennes was
postponed – but the madness didn’t
stop there. On transfer deadline day,
coach Andre Villas-Boas resigned
in protest at the signing of Olivier
Ntcham, a replacement for Aston
Villa-bound Morgan Sanson. “He
was specifically a player that I said
no to,” the ex-Chelsea boss explained.
“I learned of the signing when I
woke up. I offered my resignation,
saying I was not in agreement with
the sporting strategy.”
“I really liked Marseille, but I’m
a professional,” he added.2
LOSING A JOB
During the online stream of
Hamilton Academical v Ross
County, the second half began
with no commentary. “I hadn’t
pressed the wee button,” eventually
explained commentator Bobby
Bulloch when his voice re-joined
the action, before going a bit too far
in his justification. “I was away for a
jobby at half-time.”
“Apologies if you deem that bad
language, viewers,” his embarrassed
co-commentator replied, but
Bulloch didn’t slow down.
“Yeah sorry it was just a wee bit of
poop, and I was a wee bit late back
over because I had to squeeze quite
a bit! Sorry I’ll change the subject
and get back to the match.”
“The club didn’t find this funny,
and the person will not be used
again. Our apologies for this,” said
Hamilton after the incident.3
MAN OF THE MATCH
The Premier League is
one of the most popular
leagues in Norway, so there was
understandably a great deal of
excitement when Martin Odegaard,
one of the country’s brightest
talents, joined Arsenal. At half-time
in his first match against Manchester
United, TV viewers voted the loanee
the second-best player on the pitch,
and by the 75th minute he had
overtaken Bruno Fernandes as
man of the match. The problem?
He didn’t come off the bench
until the 83rd minute.4
UNHAPPY HAIRDRESSERS
German football has come
under fierce scrutiny from
an unlikely source: the German
Hairdresser Association. With
salons across the country closed
since December, the association
wrote to the DFB to complain at
the number of players who have
clearly received a fresh trim – in
spite of German salons being closed
by the pandemic. “It is with great
amazement we noticed that over
the last match days of Bundesliga
a vast majority of the professional
footballers took to the pitch with
new haircuts,” the open letter read.
“The discontent with the top
styled football pros is growing.
They lead to customers calling
and asking for work on the side
and breaches of the corona
regulations like visits at home.”5
COPPA CHAOS
While some extra-time periods
can be tense affairs with little
attention, Roma’s 4-2 Coppa Italia
defeat to Spezia was absolutely wild.
Less than a minute after the restart,
Roma’s Gianluca Mancini was shown
his second yellow card, and seconds
later they were down to nine men,
as goalkeeper Pau Lopez rushed
out of his box and clattered into
an onrushing Spezia forward. With
a two-man advantage, the visitors
went on to win 4-2, with a glorious
chip from Riccardo Saponara, yet
there was one more twist: Roma
were subsequently handed an
automatic 3-0 defeat for making
one substitute too many.GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
problems and earned such praise on
the opening day of the season. But
there is a reason why few sides play
like that: if possession is turned over,
as it was here, huge gaps open up.
Scott McTominay drove into that
space and scored.
The second goal was the result
of an individual error from Klich, not
tracking McTominay’s run. Leeds did
have chances to reduce the deficit to
2-1 before Bruno Fernandes added
the third and perhaps had one been
taken United would have wobbled.
Perhaps they would have done had
it remained 0-0 for longer. As it is,
once you’re 2-0 down after three
minutes, the game is effectively done
- particularly against a team as good
on the counter as United.
Bielsa takes the risk because,
while his team may suffer some
heavy defeats, he believes unsettling
the opposition by confronting them in
a way with which they are unfamiliar
will win more games than simply
bunkering down and hoping for a
breakaway. Perhaps he is right in that
and perhaps wrong, but there is a
need at least to frame the discussion
around that basic principle.
Equally, it must be remembered
that Leeds were promoted with
the seventh-highest wage bill in the
Championship. Even with a handful
of biggish signings since, in most
Premier League games they play they
have the poorer players. Often they
make mistakes. But where other
managers might encourage their
players to operate within their limits,
Bielsa rarely seems critical of those
who, say, misplace a pass. The result
is that Leeds have a huge variance
between playing well and badly: only
Fulham have given the ball away
more with unsuccessful touches but
only Aston Villa have had more shots
from inside the box.
Leeds often give away cheap
goals, but they often score brilliant
ones. That is what makes them such
fun to watch. But the two go hand in
hand. To talk about Leeds needing
greater solidity is to deny the essence
of what makes them, and Bielsa,
who they are.