World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

REPORTSWECOULDN’TMAKEUP

1

TACTICALBOOKING?

IagoAspasturned 34

atthe startofthisseason,

butinCelta Vigo’s recentclash

withValencia,itappearedhe’sstill

assharp as ever– in more ways

thanone.Aftergivinghissidethe

leadwith a smart stepover and

finish,heappearedtosustainan

injuryfroma clashwith a Valencia

defender. Knowingthatthe knock

wouldlikelyrulehimoutofaction

• latertappinghisgroinareawhile
  lyingdowninjured– thestriker
  whippedhisshirtoffin“celebration”,
  anddulycollectedhisfifthyellow
  cardof theseason.Hethenserved
  hissuspensioninCelta’s nextgame,
  whilerecoveringfromhisinjury.

2

EDENPROJECT

Ambitionisalwaysa good

thinginfootball,butthe

ownersofWesterloinBelgium’s

secondtiermayhavesettheir

sightsalittletoohighby declaring

theirinterestin RealMadrid’s Eden

Hazard.“IthinkI canconsider[him]

asa friend.I methimwhenhewas

atLilleandhepromisedthatone

dayhe wouldplayforFenerbahce,”

theclub’s Turkishvice-president,

HasanCetinkaya toldVoetbalkrant.

“Westerlowillbe more difficult,

butyou neverknow.”Inthis

case,perhapswedoknow.

3

TOuGhJOuRNEy

Thisseason’s Coupede

Francethrew up another

remarkablelong-haultripforone

ofthe teamsinvolved.Ten-time

championsofTahiti,ASVenus,are

basedinFrench Polynesiainthe

PacificOcean,yet qualifiedforthe

FrenchCupby winningtheTahiti

Cupearlierthisyear. Theirreward

wasa20,000-mileroundtripto

southwestFrance to facefourth-tier

sideTrelissacFC.Althoughthey

suffereda2-0defeat,theircoach

SamuelGarciatookthepositives:

“Thetriphasbeena verypositive

experiencefor thewholeteamand

club,” he said.“We showedreallygood

forminthismatchagainstateam

whichplaysina higherdivisionthan

us.” Incidentally, in 2 01 5 Trelissacwere

onthe othersideofsucha draw,as

theyendureda10,500-miletripto

faceASMagenta in NewCaledonia.

4

DREADFuLDIVING:

PARTONE

Itishardlyraretosee

footballersexaggerate contact

duringthe heat of battleinthe

hopeofgettingyouropponentsent

off.Thatwas thethinkingofViking

goalkeeperPatrikGunnarsson,after

gettinginvolvedina scuffleduring

theNorwegiantop-flightclashwith

Kristiansund.Afterbeingshovedin

thechest,Gunnarssondroppedto

thegroundclutchinghisface, and

therefereedulywhippedouta red

cardforthe offender. Theproblem

was,theperson whohadpushed

himwas Gunnarsson’s ownteam-

mate,DavidBrekalo.Fortunately

forthegoalkeeper, histeamwere

abletohold onto their3-2lead.

5

DREADFuLDIVING:

PARTTWO

Gunnarssonwasn’ttheonly

player to be guiltyofsomeawful

playactingrecently– thegoalkeeper

wasbeatentothe awardofworst

diveby Palmeirasforward Deyverson.

TheBrazilianwas theheroforhis

teamafter scoringthewinnerin

theCopaLibertadoresfinal,but

thatshouldn’texonerate himfrom

hisattempts to getsomebodyelse

sentoff – in thiscase,thereferee.

After feelinga patonthe back,

Deyversondroppedtotheground

asifhe’dbeenshot,before realising

thathisassailantwasNestor Pitana,

andthe weaponwasawhistle.

Somehow,heescapedtheincident

withoutbeingbookedfor simulation.

Deverson...

orDiver-son?

Aspas...teCelta

acegetsinjred

wilescoring

GlobalfootballintelliGence

decentteamthatsometimes
strugglestoscoreandadding
a prolificstriker.
“Ifyou have a centre-forward
likethat,you need to usehim andI
don’tthinkChelseahavequitefigured
outhow to usehimyet,” Conte,his
manageratInter, saidafter Chelsea’s
narrow1-0 defeattoJuventusinthe
ChampionsLeagueattheendof
September. “Lastseason,theydidn’t
havea propercentre-forward,so
theyrotatedpositions,whereas
Romeluisa realreferencepointin
attack.He is averyspecificstriker.
BringingLukakuintothebox,he is
dangerous.However, whenhe starts
frommidfield,heisincrediblyquick.
Itisverydifficulttofinda playerwho
isboth a targetmanbut canalso
runfrommidfield.”
Yet Lukaku, as he hasshown
regularlyatinternationallevel,isalso
adeptatpullingawayfromcentral
areas,atnot beingthatreference
point.For Belgium,heoftenpullsout
tothe right,creatingspacefor Kevin
DeBruyne.Intheory,with Chelsea
usuallyplayingtwoinside-forwards
(andtheylookbetterina 3-4-3than
a 3-5-2thatwas triedforatime
earlierthisseason),Lukakushouldbe
abletocreatespaceforthem,aswell
asfor thewing-backswhoprovideso
muchofChelsea’sattackingthreatat
themoment,whilealsoofferingthe
optiontogomoredirectifneedbe.
AndTucheliscertainlynotaverse
togoingdirect;hiscriticismafter
thatJuventusdefeatwas thathis
sidehadplayed toomuchlike
a possessionteam.
LukakushouldworkatChelsea,
butina worldinwhichsomany elite
clubsseemsobsessedbysigning
celebrities,byservicingtheirown
contentproduction machinesrather
thanputtingtogetherteamsthat
workonthe pitch,thereis something
almostconsolingaboutthefactthat
evena playeras intelligentand
versatile as Lukaku,anda manager
asclear-sightedasTucheltaketime
toget it right.Footballshouldnot
yieldtoo readilytomoney,even
whenitisbackedbylogic.