Forza Ronaldo

2011/2012 SEASON GOAL SCORING RATIOS: The Modern Center-Forward

Unsurprisingly this list (which I picked up on twitter) is headed by one Leo Messi. He averages a goal pretty much every hour of play he is involved in, a phenomenal return for a player who cannot really be seen as an out and out striker or center-foward. Following closely behind is Ronaldo, again a player of immense quality, yet he is by no means a 'striker' or your big, bustling number nine. Both players tend to play off the wings, right and left respectively, coming into the pitch, playing into positions which enable them the use of their stronger foot to come in dangerously on goal. Is their success down to their startling abilities, or a change in the way modern managers and coaches apply their tactics and build their teams?
  The role of the center-forward, the no. 9, the leader of the team, your Alan Shearers' and Drogbas', on the surface seems to be changing in the use of successful modern teams. We see this in many cases, with the tactical mess that AVB created at Chelsea in trying to create a more 'exciting' team and rid of the center-fowards, and of course at the likes of Barcelona and Spain who are arguably the best two teams in their classes.
   Euro 2012 proved the use of a center-forward, or a striker, was unnecessary if you adopted a style of play that relied on the possession of the ball at all times, leading to brief moments of superb skill or a killer pass to put through a player. This tactic of course is dependent on a select group of players who's touch, vision and pass are at the top of the game. Spain seem to have this in abundance.
   Craig Foster, a Ballon D'Or Australian representative judge recently tweeted the following:

"Barca say 5,600 hours of structured learning necessary to reach this level. That's 8 hrs a week, including games, 48 wks a year, from 10-24"

This is just a brief indication of the level Barcelona believe their La Masia trained players are at, and 6 of those were in the starting line up which embarrassed Italy (if you include newbie Jordi Alba).
   Barcelona do not play with a center-forward, but more of a striker in the form of David Villa (when fit). Their approach is almost identical to that of the Spanish national side. 4-3-3. However, Real Madrid differ quite significantly. They play closer to a 4-5-1, with either Higuain or Benzema alone up front acting as the center-forward/striker. In this set up, Ronaldo is put on the left wing more often than not, allowing him the space for creativity, crossing and shooting that he craves. This set up works due to the fact that Ronaldo is pretty much the ultimate player. He is fast, can shoot, pass, header, track back, dribble etc etc. He is the key man, yet unlike Barca, Real Madrid also have the likes of Higuain to score goals. He managed a total of 22 at a rate of a goal every 107 minutes during what was an injury blemished season. Similarly Benzema reached 21 goals pretty much from the bench. Real Madrid ended the season league winners, scoring 121 goals and leading Barca by 9 points.
 Does this say something about the role of the center-foward? The team that chose to include the more traditional attacker came through Spanish Champions, as did the team that deployed a center-forward in the Champions League final in Didier Drogba. In fact their opposition, Bayern Munich, have also developed a leading traditional attacker in Mario Gomez. Both Gomez and Drogba were in the Champions League final, Messi and Ronaldo were not.
   I would argue that Spain's refusal to play a striker, and Barca's approach which relies so heavily upon wingers are not changing the way football is played. Football as a whole is still successfully adapting the use of traditional center-forwards world over. There are cases such as Swansea where then manager Brendan Rogers had obviously been influenced by the likes of Spain and Barca, but such a tactic in no way eliminates the use of a traditional center-forward (Danny Graham). Spain know that nearly all of their midfielders have the ability to finish, so therefore felt more comfortable including Cesc Fabregas who could do two jobs at once, contain the ball along with the rest of the team, yet also finish when necessary. Jordi Alba's goal against Italy showed that defenders can do just as well in front of goal as strikers. They are professional footballers, it is their job to play football and this Spain team are the best in the world. You would expect most of them to be able to finish when required.

So if the center-forward still seems to be important in today's game, then why do these MID/FW/ST/CF/RW/LW players in Ronaldo and Messi score so many goals? Honestly, they are just the best players in the world. It seems an easy answer, but having talked about goal scorers for so long it seems to make the most sense. They are better than everyone else out there, they play in positions that are of their own making, free-roles provided to them by their managers. They cannot really be defined, only that they are the most important player their team has. There's a nice quote from Alan Pardew in reference to Hatem Ben Arfa's goal against Bolton last season and his performances at that time; 

"I don't give him too much information offensively. Somebody like Hatem, you have got to let them have their world - it's his world when he has the ball. My world is when he hasn't got it, and that's really where I have focused on him and given him the freedom to go and express himself."

In a way this sums up the role of the footballing mavericks. They do not get told to do the unimaginable, it is of their own making. 

Jesse

@JesseRivers11

 

PLUG

http://www.threenil.com/

Simplistic, great range of t-shirts etc. from this football related design company.

e.g.

Jesse

We Are Back

With a new addition to the team, 'De Godenzonen' is back to judge, predict and analyse everything football. Euro 2012 is well under way, Premier League 2012/13 fixtures have been released and with managers already delving into the transfer market, there's plenty to feast on, so stay tuned.

- Oscar

RIP

puts all other titterings into context

Dortmund's Atmosphere: German Football and Safe Standing

Tonight Arsenal face Borussia Dortmund in their first Champions League group game. In the build up to the game Sky Sports News just showed a clip of the Dortmund 24,000 capacity standing tier in full voice. This stand is the largest standing section in European football, enabling rows of fans to stand in what would be presumed as safe conditions whilst enjoying the football. To add to that, German football also allows the drinking of beer within the inner sections of the stadium (i.e. the seating and standing sections) which is currently banned by the FA in all stadiums.What becomes clear by watching these videos, and learning of the regulations for fans in German football, is that the atmosphere at games is by far superior to anything that can be found in the English game.
  That is not to say Anfield's "You'll Never Walk Alone" can't get the spine tingling, but as you will see, even the German's can compete with that:

For everything that the English game can offer in terms of an atmospheric stadium; St. James' Park, or, Upton Park in a full swing with "Forever Blowing Bubbles" (see below), it seems that the Dortmund fans alone could compete.

I'm genuinely excited for the game tonight (YES I am excited for an Arsenal game!?!?) with my newly informed knowledge on the Dortmund fans' singing section, yet also concerned by the route the English game has taken in response to the incidents at Hillsborough, Valley Parade and Heysel in the 1980's. I am in no way showing a lack of sensitivity to such events, i just believe that an alternate method of stadium management could successfully and safely be achieved despite such events.

Here is a link to the Safe Standing campaign with the Football Supporters' Trust:

http://www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/safestanding.php

Jesse

NO TIME FOR SENTIMENT

Why would anyone ever choose to support NUFC?:

Well I am sure there are some reasons; great fan-base, nice stadium, sometimes impressive performances (emphasis on sometimes)... But with the recent events coming out of St. James' Park, a Newcastle fan really has to ask himself, firstly, 'what the **** is going on', and secondly how worth it this may all be. Do not get me wrong, I am in this for the long haul, committed til I die and all that, but to me it often feels as if Newcastle fans really get the worst of it.

Having been successfully promoted from the Championship it all started to look sunny again, with the woes of the 08-09 season left in the past, and the bright Premiership future giving many fans reason to possibly think Mike Ashley had turned things round. How naive it seems we were. The sacking of Chris Hughton, Andy Carroll's sale, Kevin Nolan's sale, Joey Barton's 'dismissal', Jose Enrique's imminent sale. All events which have taken place in the last year under the stewardship of big MA and DL (Derek Llambias). All events which seem to have had an entirely negative affect on the team developed in 08-09.

The owner and his cronie seem to be choosing an approach to club management which (as a club 'source' supposedly said) is "un-sexy" but will benefit the club in the long-term. This is in effect a business plan based around Mike Ashley's attempts to create a club that is self-sufficient. This in many ways seems like a positive approach considering the debts involved in modern football, yet the fact that it seems to be tearing the team apart is to the contrary.

New signings Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Demba Ba and Mehdi Abeid are positive moves for the club. Three out of the four above however were free signings, which suggests Mike Ashley is keen to keep funding to a minimum this transfer window. Having cashed in on Carroll, followed by Nolan, you would imagine that Newcastle's current net spending would be more than £500,000 at this point in the transfer market, with 30 or so days to go. With a serious need to build on our current squad, and with the imminent departures of Routledge, Barton and Enrique (add to that transfer listed Nile Ranger, Leon Best, Alan Smith and James Perch) I cannot help but feel concerned. If Ashley is unwilling to spend this window, yet keen to unload so many players, where will our squad stand on September 1st?

The rise of young talent and return from injury by many players has seen additions to Newcastle which were missing last season. Dan Gosling has returned from an injury which saw him make only one appearance (after signing from Everton) for NUFC, and is looking sharp. Haris Vuckic, the 18 year old linked with Man United and Chelsea last season, has also returned from injury and grabbed 2 goals in 2 senior friendly appearances so far. Ben Arfa was back for three games only to be again injured and ruled out for a further 3 weeks, meaning he will miss massive games against Arsenal and Scumderland. All these returns are positive for Newcastle, yet not enough to suggest more investment is not needed.

I am an avid follower of anything NUFC based on twitter (@jesserivers11 wink wink) so have been absorbed by recent events involving Barton and all Newcastle's transfer dealings. Over-riding pessimism seems to have dwarfed the #NUFC tag line in recent weeks. Rumored attempts to sign Mevlut Erdinc seem to have come to nothing and interest elsewhere seems sparse. I believe that we will now need the following:

• 1 further striker with pace and flair to work off the bigger players such as Ameobi and Ba.
• A left back to replace Jose Enrique
• A midfielder (probably based on the right) to replace Barton 

These are all essential signings and anything else would be lovely. Links with the Swiss, Leverkusen based Barnetta in replacement for Barton have not left since the opening of the transfer window, similarly links with Cheick M'Bengue and Wayne Bridge at left back seem to continue. The agreed fee for Mevlut Erdinc may not mean anything as he seems very reluctant to come to Newcastle. Apart from him NUFC have been linked with Shane Long, Defoe and numerous players who are unlikely to make the move north. 

Ashley's recruitment system seems to follow a continuous theme. All new signings must be below 28 or so. All new signings must take a fairly standard if not small Premier League wage. All new signings must have the ability to gain a profitable selling on fee (fairly easy if gained for free!). And, it seems, all new signings will come mainly from France, as scout Carr may view the revolution in French national football as a chance to steal any up and coming international talents i.e. Yohan Cabaye. 

Considering this, sales of players such as Nolan (who wanted a 5 year contract at the age of 29) fit Ashley's business plan. He knows that in a few years, when Nolan has past his peak, his high wages as captain would have been an nag similar to that of Alan Smith who currently warms the NUFC bench on £60,000 a week. Being honest I saw a lot in Nolan that I did not like last season, and his lack of pace and clinical pass would only be exaggerated as the years went on. Joey Barton however showed a whole new side to his game, and he will be greatly missed. He wanted a four year deal and the club offered 3. He had previously declined contract talks twice. Ashley was having no more and with the addition of his frequent twitter outbursts was being seen as more of a disturbance than a help in the NUFC dressing room. 

The clique of 08-09 that held the team together and provided promotion and last season's security has slowly but surely been removed by Ashley as he looks to gain complete, dictator-like control of the club. He has a business plan which is ruthless and a disposition that should not be tempered. In my honest opinion I do not agree with his plan, it is far too risky and although he clearly has a vision ( we hope ) which will lead the club to greater things in the future, he is destroying the current team. The big question is whether the puppet Alan Pardew has what it takes to keep this team together and secure another successful season with NUFC. That question must wait, as the results of this summer's transfer window will be vital on September 1st; a first step which Newcastle can feel they may judge the summer dealings. 

This write up must surely be pretty dull for all those with no affiliations with NUFC, yet I have sat by and said very little for a long time. 

Thanks 

Jesse