The Concept Of Giroudology

by Fotbulnary

Football is laced with different concepts that defines how certain managers approach team building and tactics. While these varies according to beliefs and awareness of prevailing circumstances like availability of transfer funds and whether the players be sought are available for transfer. These set of rules if they can be called that are prevalent in virtually all football clubs.

While what might amount to a concept in respect of player quality might differ according to how each person perceives whether such a player is good enough for that team. When it comes to how good a player is, such judgment is always subjective and seldom would you find a common ground in such a situation. No other player defines such a position at the moment than Arsenal and French striker Oliver Giroud. The 29 year old has strongly divided opinion at the London club since he was signed in the summer of 2012.  

On this premise, the concept of Giroudology could be taken to mean a player that is seen as good, but not good enough to shoot a club to the pinnacle of sustained success. 

The short comings of Oliver Giroud would have been an after thought when his debate props up if he was a consistent goal scorer. When the chances that come his way and those he scores are considered. That is where the problem lies with a player that is yet to hit twenty league goals in four seasons at the club, and during that time, he has been the first choice striker.

As suggested earlier, his short comings would have been overlooked if he was a regular goal scorer. These short comings are very obvious. He is a player that lacks pace. And he is not one that moves to open up space as a result of that lack of pace. By this, it is little wonder that his best attributes remains to bring other players into play either flicking the ball, or holding the ball up. His inability to conjure up something special by scoring individual goals is largely due to his lack of pace, he is more a team player that seeks to bring other players into play rather that going for goal. His lumbering figure means he is unable to beat players for pace or move away from players when he is one-on-one. 

His career at Arsenal has be one where he scores in bursts. He can go months without scoring, and vice versa. This season, he has not scored a league goal since January, that is nearly three months. 

The question is will a first choice striker is any of the top clubs across Europe go that long without scoring a goal? Though, the French international continues to divide opinions, it is clear that he is really not of the top, top quality that Arsene Wenger harps about. 
It was last season that Thierry Henry commented that Arsenal cannot win the title without Oliver Giroud, that comment came after he missed several chances in the 3-1 defeat to Monaco in the Champions League. And so far, he has not done anything to turn around that assertion made by his French compatriot.

Oliver Giroud's recent relegation to the bench in the last couple of weeks, with Danny Welbeck now the first choice, means that Arsenal have moved from playing one paced football. With the addition of Alex Iwobi and Mohammed Elneny to the first eleven, it means that Arsenal now have a collection of players that can pass and move at the same time. With the added pace in the final third, Arsene Wenger's side are no longer as predictable as they used to when Oliver Giroud leads the line. The French striker is one that is ease to close down by opposition defenders.

Whatever the opinion that those of Arsenal persuasion have over Oliver Giroud as a striker, what is clear is that his short comings plus the fact that he is not prolific, means he would continue to be a person that divides opinion.

PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS [OLIVER GIROUD]

2012/2013-----------11

2013/2014-----------16

2014/2015-----------14

2015/2016*----------12

*Season Still Ongoing

OTHER GOALS FOR ARSENAL

EUROPE-------11

FA CUP--------11

LEAGUE CUP--2

C.SHIELD-------1

APPEARANCES: 181

GOALS: 78

EPL: A League Congregating Outstanding Managers

by fotbulnary

The English Premier League is expected to take on a new dimension next season with the calibre of managers that would be joining some of the league’s biggest clubs. On Monday, it was announced that former Juventus manager and current Italian national team coach, Antonio Conte would join Chelsea from next season. The Italian signed a three year contract. He joins another world class manager Pep Guardiola who would be Manchester City’s manager next season. And there have been reports that Jose Mourinho could become Manchester United manager next season.

The question that the congregation of these managers raises is what it will bring terms of growth and improvement of the English Premier League. 
Between them, Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola have six league titles in a combined seven seasons. Bayern Munich manager is expected to add to that number under Pep Guardiola this season; it will increase that ratio to seven league titles in eight seasons. Antonio Conte only left as manager of Juventus in 2014 to become national team coach of the Azurri. Besides, their respective successes in winning domestic leagues, Guardiola has two champions league titles to his resume.

With England’s dwindling fortunes in Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League [It is now one quarter final appearance in three seasons for the English Premier League clubs]. These managers will at least aid in improving the league's standing in Europe. Pep Guardiola for instance has a record of six consecutive semifinal appearances in the champions league as a manager of both Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He could make that seven if Bayern Munich overcomes Benfica in this season’s champion league quarter finals.

Though, Antonio Conte had less of an impact in Europe as Juventus manager, the Old Lady still made one quarter final appearance under him in three seasons. With the Seria A breathing down England’s neck in the UEFA co-efficient rating which could make England lose one of its four champion league spot, an improvement in Europe under these incoming managers could turn the tide around.

Besides, Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte that have been confirmed as managers of Manchester City and Chelsea respectively for next season, if Jose Mourinho joins Manchester United, It would further raise the bar of competition in the league. The Portuguese boast an outstanding record of eight league titles and two champion league titles as a manager. Despite the disappointing end to his second spell as Chelsea’s manager, he is still regarded as one of the best managers in European football.

The incoming managers would be coming with a huge reputation of their own, yet already in the league, there are managers with huge pedigree.

The likes of Mauricio Pochettino of Tottenham Hotspur has carved a reputation for himself with a young team that is currently second in the league table. The Argentine has managed to build a team in his own image, with his trademark pressing game now fully part of the Lilywhites playing style.  These were also hallmark of his time when he was manager at Espanyol and Southampton respectively.

There is also Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. Since his arrival at Anfield in October his gegenpressing style has been on display in Liverpool’s performances. Even though the reds have been inconsistent since he arrived, there is no doubt that the experience he gathered in winning two bundesliga titles as Borussia Dortmund manager could come in handy latter on. He would have his first full transfer window this summer, and an opportunity to build his team.

Then, there is the old war horse and the longest serving manager in the league, Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman will enter his 21st season as Arsenal manager next season. Despite the highs and low of his reign, it is a testament to Arsene Wenger’s staying power that even with the rate of managerial changes in recent times; he has remained Arsenal’s manager.

From next season these will be managers of top clubs in England and their records.

Arsenal-----------------------------------------------Arsene Wenger (three league titles)

Tottenham Hotspur--------------------------------Mauricio Pochettino

Manchester City-----------------------------------Pep Guardiola (Five league titles)

Chelsea-----------------------------------------------Antonio Conte (three league titles)

Liverpool---------------------------------------------Jürgen Klopp (Two league titles)

Manchester United-------------------------------- (Unclear whether Van Gaal would remain as manager)

With the gathering of managers of this calibre, the English Premier League next season should be exciting especially with the spot light that would be on the new managers. With the new television deal coming into effect from next season with the over 8 billion pounds available to clubs over three seasons, this should be reflected in the transfer market.

Does The Super Eagles Need A Foreign Coach?

by fotbulnary

The malaise of the Super Eagles which has resulted in consecutive failures to qualify for Africa’s showpiece football event, the African Cup of Nations has resulted in calls for Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to appoint a foreign coach. It is all too easy to forget that most of Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the last two cup of nations had more to do with maladministration on the part of the football house as well as the shortcomings of Nigerian coaches.

Firstly, the uncertainty over the future of Stephen Keshi after Nigeria’s participation in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil impacted negatively on the nation’s campaign. Amidst the uncertainty over the coaching position of the team, Congo Brazzaville claimed a 3-2 victory over the Super Eagles in Calabar. That result set the tone for a qualifying campaign that ended in disaster. But the NFF decision to subsequently play the team’s other matches in Abuja and Uyo respectively ended up as a bag of mixed results.

The last match in Uyo where Nigeria needed a win to advance to the tournament, and only managed a draw was one of the bad decision of the NFF that affected the team negatively.  A stadium that was more familiar to the team might have brought about another result. For that qualifying campaign the NFF should take more of the blame than Keshi because of the uncertainty that hanged over his head throughout the qualifying series. 

That the team almost rescued the qualifying campaign after they defeated Congo Brazzaville 2-0 away from home showed that the team under Keshi could have performed better under an atmosphere of certainty.

Secondly, the recent qualifying campaign for the 2017 Afcon in Gabon was again a mixture of insensitive administrative decisions and terrible coaching.

Stephen Keshi started the campaign when the Super Eagles ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Chad in Kaduna. A couple of months later he was sacked as the coach of the team. Sunday Oliseh was brought in on the basis of his punditry work with supersport. It turned out to be a huge gaffe on the part of the NFF as the former Super Eagles captain clearly lacked the temperament and wherewithal to handle the senior national team. Coupled with the fact that the maladministration at the football house where salaries of the coaching crew went unpaid for months caused him to jump before he was pushed.

The few matches he oversaw as coach, showed that he was nothing different from other coaches. His decision to experiment with players against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam prevented Nigeria from building any momentum after opening the qualifiers with a win. Although, Samson Siasia tried to rescue a sailing ship, the damaged had already been done earlier in the campaign.

However, some coaching decisions made by Siasia in the two matches impacted the team on the day. 
In the first leg of the Egypt match in Kaduna, a more tactically astute coach would have brought on at least a defensive minded player to close shop towards the end of the match as Nigeria were one goal up. Instead he brought on both Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi. Although both players  almost combined to get a goal which Victor Moses missed, a better bet would have been to bring in one of the two, while bringing on a defensive midfielder or another defender in Ogenyi Onazi or Elderson Echejiele. This would have prevented Nigeria from being so open despite leading before the Egyptians equalised.

In the second leg in Alexandria, Samson Siasia practically gave the match to Egypt on the day with his bizarre starting lineup. That players like Alex Iwobi, Moses Simon and Kelechi Iheanacho did not start the match was a psychological advantage to the Pharaohs. Instead he opted for a conservative approach which negated the team’s creativity in a must win match. By the time, he decided to play more expansively it was too late as the Egyptian came out victorious.

The decision making of our local coaches really calls into question their level of objectivity and tactical nous. 

The decision of Sunday Oliseh to invite Haruna Lukeman in his first match in charge against Tanzania was one strange decision that cost the Super Eagles. This was a player that had not featured for the team for three years, and he was practically living on past reputation. That he was hauled off less than thirty minutes into that match reflected his pitiable display as well as the bad decision of Oliseh.

Nigeria coaches seldom use objectivity to invite and include players in their squads. For this alone, a foreign coach could come in handy. I doubt if  any foreign coach will start a player struggling for a starting berth in the Portuguese second division over a player in French ligue One.

Besides the ailing administration of football in Nigeria which the football house is the cause, Nigeria have now gone almost six years without a foreign coach after the experiment of 2010 Fifa World Cup. Since then, the team has had Samson Siasia (twice), Stephen Keshi and Sunday Oliseh. In the past there have been Christian Chukwu, Austin Eguavoen and Shaibu Amodu  It is unlikely that another local coach would be up to the job as it stands, except there would be a second coming as in the case of Samson Siasia.

El Classico: Is Zidane A Genius Or Real Madrid Were Lucky?

by Fotbulnary

One of the biggest matches in club football El classico took place over the weekend at the Nou Camp. It was the second installment of this season's meetings between the two giants of Spanish football. Barcelona alienated Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first meeting in November. It was a defeat that set the tone for Rafael Benitez's eventual dismissal weeks later. Barcelona did not put a foot wrong in the reverse fixture in the Spanish capital.

However, it was a different match on Saturday. Real Madrid came into the match ten points behind their bitter rivals. The Catalans where effectively running away with the title. And since their first meeting in the first stanza of the league, a lot has changed between the two teams. Not least the managerial changes that Real Madrid underwent.

It was Zidane's biggest match since he was made manger in mid season. Real Madrid have had mixed fortunes in away matches in the league since the Frenchman took over. They have been high scorers at home, while they have struggled away from home to score the number of goals they score at home. And defensively, they have not be solid. As goalkeeper Navas have had to pull out some outstanding saves to keep Madrid in several matches. 
Barcelona on the other hand were riding on the crest of a 39 match unbeaten in all competitions that went back to last year. 

The match started with Barcelona all over Real Madrid, as los blancos struggled to move out of their half with Karim Benzema completely isolated upfront cutting a frustrated figure. Still they managed to keep the score at nil-nil going into the half time break despite the presence of Neymar, Messi and Suarez. However, the first yellow card Sergio Ramos picked up in the first half was something that worked against him later.

Gerard Pique evetually gave Barcelona the lead early in the second half after he escaped the attention of Pepe from a corner kick. At that point, it was a well deserved lead from the la liga champions. But Gareth Bale was having a good game, while Benzema had come into the game after a quiet first half. He eventually leveled the scores mid way through the second half.

At this point. it was a case of the next scorer would eventually take home the spoils. Barcelona was the fancied team to score with their front three which have 103 goals within them this season. 

Sergio Ramos was eventually sent off. And he should have been sent off much earlier after series of tackles and elbowing that he should have been cautioned for. With that decision, Barcelona had the momentum but it was Ronaldo who scored the winner late on from a Bale assist.

The sequence of events in the match was hinged on the inclusion of Real Madrid's Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro. The midfielder was instrumental to the victory, as he practically prevented either of Messi, Neymar and Suarez from scoring with vital tackles and blocks around the penalty box. It was this decision that made Zidane a genius, and having played his card, some luck had to come in at key moments of the match. However, back in November, Real Benitez succumbed to pressure from fans to be less conservative when he failed to include the Brazilian in midfield. On the day, Barcelona had a free reign in midfield as they ran out ease 4-0 winners.

The victory reinforces the point that an archetypal defensive midfielder is a necessity in an attacking team which have more forward leaning players than  defensive players. it is what brings balance to a team which opens the way for the others to flourish.

The win over Barcelona would certainly strengthen Zidane's position as Real Madrid's manager. And they would essentially be buoyed going into the tie against Wolfsburg. Meanwhile, Barcelona would have to negotiate another difficult tie against Altetico Madrid in the Champions League. 

Arsenal Mini Revival Calls Into Question Arsene Wenger’s Policy

by Fotbulnary

Since Arsenal exited the last two cup competitions with defeats to Watford and Barcelona in the FA Cup and Champions League respectively, they have gone on to win two consecutive league matches against Everton and Watford scoring six goals without conceding any in return. However, these results while tingled with an element of disappointment for many of Arsenal persuasion, raises series of question in respect of how Arsene Wenger has approached his team.

When Santi Cazorla got injured in November, it was clear that his injury would affect Arsenal’s balance in midfield. In the match, Francis Coquelin’s injury also impacted significantly the way Arsenal operated in midfield. However, it was the layoff of Santi Cazorla that has impacted Arsenal’s overall performance because there is no other player in the Arsenal squad that offers what he did when he got injured. His ability to keep possession in tight spaces and under pressure was something nobody else could offer. And his attributes to stay deeper effectively made Arsenal’s midfield defensively balance when he was alongside Coquelin. His replacement in that position, Aaron Ramsey could not offer these attributes. As the Welsh midfielder lacked the discipline to know when to join the attack, and when to stay deep, and his propensity to give away possession made Arsenal to be susceptible to counter attack, because most of the giveaway was in the centre of the field. Arsenal was effectively disadvantaged with Ramsey and Flamini in the middle as opposition teams could easily press Arsenal high up the field because both players were not comfortable in possession.

Little wonder that, Mesut Ozil often went deep to pick up the ball from the defence, as none of Ramsey and Flamini showed up to pick it up because of their short comings. This left Arsenal with a creative deficiency upfront with a dysfunctional midfield that could not support the attack enough in the creative department, and at the same time they couldn’t protect the defence from pressure.

These issues made Arsenal to struggle since the turn of the year, as the team was effectively dysfunctional in virtually all it matches especially at home, where team could just sit back, and hit Arsenal on the counter attack. This tactics worked effectively with Swansea the chief beneficiary of this tactics in February. This was not helped by an immobile forward in Oliver Giroud that was out of form. The French striker is easily closed down on matches because of his lack of pace.

However, the two recent matches Arsenal or better still the last three matches if the Barcelona match is added to the list, Arsenal’s overall balance has returned because certain players have been removed from the team, while others whose attributes suits the team have been brought into the team. Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck and Mohammed Elneny have been the trio that has aided the fortunes of the team. To the extent that Alexis Sanchez has retained his mojo back after he was deployed to the right wing, with Iwobi on the left.

By February, Danny Welbeck was still not completely fit. But Alex Iwobi and Mohammed Elneny were part of the squad. With the performance of the Egyptian so far, it was bizarre that Wenger did not include him more in the team’s line up in league matches when he arrived in January. Because he has certainly offered something that Arsenal have been missing since the injury to Cazorla in November. It was the home leg against Barcelona in the Champions League when Wenger brought on Flamini when the Egyptian was on the bench that called into question Wenger’s approach in player’s hierarchy.

Arsene Wenger has always preferred seniority. With his preference of sticking with senior players even when they are under performing when other younger players are in the squad that had fared better. Joel Campbell has suffered from this severally this season. However, the recent relegation of Oliver Giroud and Theo Walcott and the promotion of Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi to the line-up means Wenger has decided to abandon this policy. Arsenal are now less predictable as a result with the pace and movement that the current front three offers.  

The injury to Aaron Ramsey means Elneny had to come into the team, it remains to seen whether he would restore the Welsh midfielder into the line-up when he returns. Yet a clue could be gotten from the line up against Watford last weekend, David Ospina was behind in the stick even when Petr Cech was fit. Instead the Czech International was on the bench.

Arsenal’s mini revival could have come much earlier in the year if Wenger had made more bold decisions of resolving the midfield imbalance before the season collapsed. What is left for the team is to finish the season strongly.