The Weekly Take, Issue 43: The FIGC’s Own Goal

Sometimes, things happen in the world of sports that go beyond the game itself.

Regrettably, such an incident took place in the recent Serie A game between Inter Milan and Napoli.

The match finished 1-0 to Inter, with Lautaro Martínez scoring the only goal of the game in stoppage time.

However, to focus on that aspect of the game would both be incredibly offensive and miss the broader point.

Throughout the match, many Inter fans directed racist insults at Napoli player Kalidou Koulibaly. Koulibaly later responded by sarcastically applauding referee Paolo Mazzoleni, who refused to stop the game despite the requests of various Napoli players, as well as Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti. However, not only was Mazzoleni unmoved, but he even handed out a second yellow card to Koulibaly for his response.

This was not the only major flashpoint to take place during this explosive clash.

Before the game, there had been clashes between Inter and Napoli fans outside the stadium. This violence led to the death of one Inter fan. Four Napoli fans were also stabbed.

Incredibly, despite the shocking scenes that took place both before and during the game, Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina refused to suspend Serie A action until further notice. The only punishment given was a two-game suspension of fan attendance against Inter Milan, to be followed by a partial closure of the San Siro for the subsequent home game.

By refusing to take a stronger stance regarding such issues, the FIGC has shown blatant disregard for the welfare of players of colour, as well as that of those affected by fan violence.

Time and again, the FIGC has failed to take a hard enough line against such important issues.

In January 2018, the FIGC did not punish Cagliari when their fans directed racist chants towards Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi. The league’s disciplinary record claimed that there was no evidence that Matuidi was the victim of the offensive remarks, despite the fact that Matuidi openly stated that he had the racist volleys targeted at him. Cagliari’s club authorities also apologized to Matuidi for their fans’ actions. Despite being presented with this array of evidence, however, the FIGC did not take any action.

In 2014, the FIGC was once again involved in a racism controversy. Then-FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio received a six-month suspension from UEFA after making offensive comments about African players, whom he believed were stealing roster spots from Italian players.

While racism is certainly present everywhere in the world, the fact that it was the country’s highest football authority who made such remarks highlights the shocking state that Italian football has reached.

The FIGC has also failed to adequately address fan violence.

During last season’s Champions League semifinal between Liverpool and Roma, Liverpool fan Sean Cox was assaulted by Roma fans. Although Cox has not fully recovered from his injuries sustained in the attack to this day, not once did the FIGC do anything to address the issue, nor did they even release a statement condemning the assault.

If we go back even further, once again to 2014, before that year’s Coppa Italia final between Napoli and Fiorentina, a fan tossed smoke bombs at and shot a group of Napoli fans, severely injuring some of them and casting a pall over Napoli’s eventual victory.

To this point, the FIGC has only paid mere lip service to these issues. In the wake of the incidents surrounding the Inter-Napoli match, Gravina claimed that the association would make it easier for referees to halt games in similar instances of offensive epithets launched by fans and also claimed that the incidents would not ruin Italian football.

However, Gravina may have said all the right things, but what have he and his association actually done?

Fan misconduct, whether in the form of racism, violence, or anything else has blighted Italian football for decades. While other countries have experienced similar issues, they have generally made efforts to deal with them; Italy has not.

Although I am understandably sceptical that they will do so, I implore the FIGC to take stock of where Italian football is right now, consider the social problems damaging it, and work towards dealing with these problems and thus prove that the country’s football scene is not beyond saving.

The Weekly Take, Issue 42: An Expected Departure

The seemingly inevitable has now happened.

After Manchester United’s 3-1 loss to arch-rivals Liverpool, José Mourinho was fired as the Red Devils’ coach after just over two years in the position.

To say that Mourinho’s time as United coach was turbulent is an understatement.

Mourinho was known to have had personal issues with a number of United players, including Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sánchez, and Andreas Pereira. He also clashed with vice-chairman Ed Woodward over the money he was allocated for the purpose of signing players.

It cannot be said that Mourinho’s stint as United coach was a complete failure, especially given the fact that the squad he had at his disposal was not flooded with the sheer amount of talent that the likes of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, or Barcelona had. Second place in the Premier League last season can be considered a success, considering that they finished ahead of arguably more fancied teams such as Chelsea and Tottenham. However, it must also be noted that in his first season at United, Mourinho’s team only finished sixth in the league, only qualifying for the Champions League by winning the much less prestigious and competitive Europa League.

Although Mourinho’s time at the helm of United didn’t go the way many a United fan had hoped, the reality is that this Manchester United team was never the right fit for the Portuguese coach.

Consider all the other teams which experienced much success under Mourinho. What did all of them have in common?

Every one of them was built around an elite playmaking central midfielder – a player who was equally adept at playing the number 8 or 10 roles.

Mourinho had Deco on his roster at Porto, Frank Lampard at Chelsea, Wesley Sneijder at Inter Milan, and Mesut Özil and Luka Modrić at Real Madrid.

United do not have a player of such calibre in that position. Juan Mata currently occupies that role, but, while a solid player, is nowhere near the levels of the five players just mentioned.

Mourinho has also always favoured a defense-first approach. Once again, his personnel at other clubs allowed him to do that with ease, but not so at United.

He had Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa, and Ricardo Carvalho at Porto. At Chelsea, he had John Terry, as well as Ferreira and Carvalho again. His Inter Milan team had Javier Zanetti, Maicon, and Iván Cordoba. Then, when he coached Real Madrid, he had Sergio Ramos and Marcelo on his roster.

United’s current backline is led by Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelöf. That’s simply not going to cut it at the highest level.

To put it simply: this Manchester United team was not set up to favour a coach like Mourinho.

Furthermore, as Mourinho has pointed out, the team has clearly been hampered by the lack of signings made. Over the previous off-season, United made three signings, all of whom have mostly been limited to the bench. Diogo Dalot, Fred, and Lee Grant have combined for just 14 starts and five substitute appearances this season. United stood still while their rivals moved ahead and strengthened their teams by making key signings.

Of course, José Mourinho himself must shoulder a good deal of the blame. Publicly airing his personal problems with his players was a horrible look, and it clearly destabilized the team. To make matters worse, three of the players he fell out with – Pogba, Sánchez, and Martial – are arguably three of United’s four best players. A coach of Mourinho’s calibre and experience ought to know that a team’s best players often have to be dealt with differently. However, Mourinho clearly failed to get the memo, as far as his interactions with his players are concerned. This played a major role in the club’s making the decision to fire him.

No one should cast any doubt on Mourinho’s coaching skill. With two Champions Leagues, eight league titles, four domestic cups, two doubles, and a treble, he is, in my opinion, the greatest coach in football history.

Despite his track record, though, his United stint never came close to the heights he once hit, proving that no matter how great the coach, if the coach doesn’t fit the club well, success will be difficult to come by.

The Weekly Take, Issue 41: Who’s Taking Ol’ Big Ears Home?

The Champions League group stage has now ended, and we now know the identities of each of the teams that have advanced to the round of 16. Among these teams, there will be some who have a strong case to win it all, some who are fringe contenders, and a handful of others who have absolutely no chance and will almost certainly be knocked out in the next round.

I will begin by picking out the seven teams who certainly will not win the Champions League: Tottenham, Porto, Schalke, Ajax, Lyon, Roma, and Manchester United.

Even if the draw for the round of 16 is favourable to any of these teams, their ceiling is the quarterfinals. None of them are even remotely near the requisite amount of talent and quality required to win the biggest prize in European club football.

In the group stage, these seven teams cumulatively averaged just 10.6 points and a goal difference of +3.4. These figures drop to 9.7 points and +2.5 respectively after excluding Porto, who are an outlier because they topped by far the weakest group in the tournament – a group containing relative lightweights Schalke, Galatasaray, and Lokomotiv Moscow.

None of the teams I just mentioned were a top-seeded team in their group, and understandably so. Porto have the highest UEFA club coefficient of the seven teams I believe have no shot; however, their coefficient of 86 only placed them ninth overall among all of this season’s Champions League participants.

Now, we will take a look at the teams I consider to be fringe contenders; they are Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid.

Yes, Real Madrid.

Although I consider the current Real squad the greatest dynasty in football history, this season has not gone well for Los Merengues. The defending champions lost both group-stage games against CSKA Moscow, who finished bottom of their group. Santiago Solari’s team are also struggling in La Liga. After 15 league games, Real are fourth, five points behind leaders and arch-rivals Barcelona. This is largely due to the fact that they have already lost five league games. Thus, I cannot say that Real are among the favourites to win it all; it will be difficult for them to win an astonishing fourth consecutive Champions League title.

PSG, who were also among the pre-tournament favourites to win it all, also clearly showed their frailties in the group stage. Although they were drawn in the tournament’s “Group of Death” alongside Liverpool and Napoli, it doesn’t change the fact that the Paris club were almost knocked out of the tournament in the first round. Despite boasting a star-laden roster containing the likes of Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Ángel Di María, and Kylian Mbappé, they laboured to a 3-2-1 group stage record. Furthermore, PSG are perennial underachievers on European football’s biggest stage – over the last six seasons, they have been knocked out in the quarterfinals four times and round of 16 twice. While on paper, PSG are arguably the world’s most talented team, the reality is that their odds to win the Champions League are not particularly good.

Dortmund topped Group A and recorded an impressive 4-0 victory over Atlético Madrid along the way. They also have a comfortable lead in the Bundesliga. Unfortunately for Die Schwarzgelbe, the major knock on them is the fact that they do not have a genuine superstar on their roster, and this severely limits their ceiling. However, given how impressive they have been in the Bundesliga and Champions League, if any team with a relative lack of star power can overcome the odds and make a deep run, it could very well be Dortmund. Nevertheless, they certainly cannot be placed among the favourites because they don’t have that one guy who is likely to “lead them to the promised land”.

Finally, we come to Dortmund’s Bundesliga rivals Bayern. This has been a difficult season for the five-time champions. Bayern’s stuttering league form has left them third in the Bundesliga, nine points behind leaders Dortmund. This inconsistent form almost cost coach Niko Kovač his job. Despite finishing first in Group E, Kovač’s team were never really all that convincing in a group that also included Ajax, Benfica, and AEK Athens – three team whom Bayern should have finished ahead of by more than they did. That being said, Bayern have been known to consistently deliver results in the Champions League. Since 2010, they have advanced to the semifinals of the tournament in all but two seasons. Couple that with the considerable amount of talent running through the squad, and you have a team that, though they might not necessarily win it all, will definitely be a tough out.

This leaves us with the five teams which I believe have a genuine chance to win the Champions League: Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Juventus.

After four seasons of deep Champions League runs including runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2016, Atlético were knocked out of last season’s Champions League group stage in stunning fashion, finishing behind Roma and Chelsea. This season, however, notwithstanding their thrashing at the hands of Dortmund, Atlético have looked extremely impressive throughout the tournament. Led by Antoine Griezmann, who is capably supported by the likes of Jan Oblak, Filipe Luís, Saúl Ñiguez, Thomas Lemar, and Diego Godín, Atlético have the personnel, coaching, and team chemistry to potentially get over the hump and win the Champions League for the first time in club history.

As was expected, Barcelona topped a group containing Tottenham, Inter Milan, and PSV Eindhoven with absolutely no problems at all. What could be ominous for the teams that they will face in future rounds is the fact that Lionel Messi was shockingly snubbed from the top three in the Ballon d’Or rankings. It is likely that the Barça superstar took this slight personally and will use the rest of the La Liga and Champions League season as his “revenge tour”. Given the fact that Messi’s supporting cast of Ivan Rakitić, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, Philippe Coutinho, and others have also been in terrific form this season, the Blaugrana will not be easy to stop.

Having lost in last season’s final, Liverpool cannot be overlooked as title contenders. What is notable is that the Reds no longer live and die by the goals of Mohamed Salah. This season, players such as Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mané, and Joe Gomez have clearly stepped up their level of play. Beyond that, Liverpool made some excellent off-season signings. Xherdan Shaqiri, Alisson, Naby Keїta, and Fabinho have all proved to fit seamlessly into this Liverpool team. Although they started the Champions League slowly, only advancing to the round of 16 with a 2-3-1 record, expect them to only get better as the tournament progresses.

The next team to be looked at is Manchester City. Although their play this season has somewhat gone under the radar, they definitely have a chance to win the Champions League. Players such as Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte, and of course, Sergio Agüero have all been firing on all cylinders. The major question mark hanging over this team, however, is the fact that none of them have even been to the Champions League final, let alone won it all. Despite this, City are so star-laden and richly talented that it should not be any trouble for them to make another deep Champions League run.

Finally, we come to Juventus. Much like Liverpool, don’t be fooled by their relatively pedestrian group-stage record of 4-0-2. Obviously, Juve’s off-season was dominated by the acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, but the signings of João Cancelo and Leonardo Bonucci have also been key to their success this season. Another factor that may aid the Bianconeri’s push for a first Champions League title since 1996 is their massive Serie A lead. They are 15-1-0 right now and will almost certainly pick up yet another Scudetto. Hence, Juve are more able than most other teams to emphasize Champions League play.

Of course, there will be many more twists and turns as the Champions League continues. Surely, at least one of the teams I just named as being among the contenders will suffer a shock upset, and there will almost certainly be an underdog run by a team that nobody expects to do so.

But for now, as I see it, this is how it stands.

The Weekly Take, Issue 40: Another Defensive Masterpiece

The latest edition of the Derby d’Italia finished with the result many expected – a Juventus victory. Mario Mandžukić scored the only goal of the game to sink Inter Milan and extend Juve’s Serie A lead to a massive 11 points.

However, the real stars of the match were Juve’s back four, who collectively produced an outstanding defensive performance, completely neutralising the threat posed by the likes of Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perišić. João Cancelo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, and Mattia De Sciglio simply would not allow themselves to be beaten by a scrappy Nerazzurri.

Cancelo played arguably his best game for Juventus since signing for the Bianconeri this past off-season. The Portuguese right-back tormented his former club throughout the match with two interceptions and successful tackles apiece, while also helping out on offense by setting up Mandžukić’s goal.

Having returned to Juve after spending a year at AC Milan, Bonucci has shown that he hasn’t missed a beat, and his performance this game was no exception. His steady defensive play and superior technical ability for a centre-back shone through in this game, and indeed, has done so all season long. Bonucci’s centre-back partnership with Chiellini clearly helped set the tone for Juve’s victory.

Chiellini was the clear man of the match. In a previous post, I already wrote about Giorgio Chiellini’s defensive excellence, so I won’t go into too much detail here. Nevertheless, the Pisa-born defender was in top form. Thanks to his efforts, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny was largely untroubled throughout the match. Chiellini also caused trouble at the other end, posing an aerial threat and coming close to scoring with some headers. The 34-year-old once again defied his age, looking like a man a decade younger.

Deputising for the injured Alex Sandro, De Sciglio was clearly unfazed by the magnitude of the occasion. Despite playing in just his fourth league game of the season, the former AC Milan left-back was composed and assured until the final whistle. His defensive play on Kwadwo Asamoah and Perišić was especially impressive.

Although the majority of the headlines regarding Juve this season have been about Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time World Player of the Year has not had as much impact on Juve’s success as have his teammates at the back.

The four defenders who played against Inter, as well as Alex Sandro and backups Medhi Benatia and Andrea Barzagli, have all been absolutely terrific this season.

This Juve defense has established itself as arguably the finest in world football. Over 20 Serie A and Champions League games thus far this season, Juventus have conceded just 10 goals – the lowest figure by any team from one of the four major leagues.

Although it may not be as glamorous as offense, defense is half the game. A solid defense will set the foundation for the rest of the team to take off.

Every backline wants to develop something of an “aura” around them; a general expectation that there is no striker alive that they can’t stop. The current Juventus defense are well on their way to doing so.

Club legends Chiellini and Bonucci have already developed such a reputation, while Cancelo, Alex Sandro, and others have certainly contributed to this formidable defense.

They may not hog the headlines the way that Ronaldo, Mandžukić, and Paulo Dybala do, but without them, Juve would not even be close to the team they are now.

Unlike many other teams, Juve clearly put much emphasis on and take much pride in their defense, and it clearly shows.

It should not come as a surprise that Juventus have taken a defense-first approach; after all, this is a club that has had some of the greatest defenders of all time on its roster, such as Fabio Cannavaro, Claudio Gentile, Jürgen Kohler, Paolo Montero, Lilian Thuram, Gianluca Zambrotta, and many others.

Juventus will almost certainly win Serie A for the eighth consecutive season and remain among the favourites to clinch their third Champions League title.

While the exploits of their attacking trio will go a long way in helping them achieve this target, this team’s success begins and ends with their remarkable defense – one which no striker on the planet will look forward to facing.

The Weekly Take, Issue 39: Poland’s Finest Reaches 50

Heading into a Champions League match against Benfica, Bayern Munich had been in the midst of an alarming slump. Their results had been so poor that recently-hired head coach Niko Kovač already found himself at risk of being fired.

However, the Bavarian team broke their slump in emphatic fashion, hammering the Portuguese club 5-1 and securing the first seed in their group.

Another notable fact about the game was that Robert Lewandowski’s first of two goals made him the seventh player in Champions League history to score 50 goals in Europe’s leading club football tournament.

What makes this feat even more impressive is that Lewandowski now has 51 goals in 77 Champions League games.

To put this into perspective, legendary strikers such as Samuel Eto’o, Filippo Inzaghi, Didier Drogba, and Thierry Henry have all played more Champions League games than the Polish legend (yes, we can call him a legend at this point), but none have scored as many goals.

Despite his obvious goalscoring prowess, Lewandowski has arguably become the most overlooked football superstar in today’s game.

When discussing who the best strikers in the world are, after the obvious picks of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, most would cite names such as Kylian Mbappé, Mohamed Salah, Luis Suárez, Harry Kane, and Neymar, among others.

One player who is frequently forgotten in these discussions is Lewandowski – a real shame considering all that he has accomplished and the true big-ticket star he really is.

As of the writing of this post, Lewandowski has played 650 career games for club and country, scoring 403 goals. Of these, 240 of them have come in high-leverage games, which I define as games in a major domestic league, the Champions League, or an international tournament.

To put this into perspective, when comparing these numbers to some of today’s other elite strikers of around the same age, Lewandowski’s numbers look even more impressive.

Sergio Agüero has played 688 games and scored 374 goals, of which 267 have been in high-leverage games.

Edinson Cavani has 379 in 652 games, with 158 being on the biggest stages.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has netted 242 in 496 games. Of these, 139 were scored in high-leverage games.

Luis Suárez has 436 in 685, with 225 in the most important games.

Only Suárez has more career goals, while only Agüero has scored more in high-leverage games. Furthermore, both have played more career games than Lewandowski.

Lewandowski has also been the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer three times over the last five seasons.

He is one of 24 players to have ever accomplished this feat in a major European league.

The others to have done so include names such as Gerd Müller, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Alfredo di Stefano, and Michel Platini. Thus, as I mentioned earlier, Lewandowski is already among the all-time greats.

His goals also translate to wins, as Lewandowski has helped his teams to seven league titles and three domestic cups.

As a pure finisher, there is arguably no better in the world today than the man from Warsaw. The clearest evidence of this was his legendary five-goal performance for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg in 2015. In that match, Lewandowski came off the bench to score five goals in just nine minutes, an all-time record. To cap it off, his fifth goal was a spectacular bicycle kick from the edge of the penalty area.

But beyond all of this, one other thing is clear:

Robert Lewandowski is the greatest footballer to ever come out of Poland.

Through the years, Poland has produced some great players.

Zbigniew Boniek. Kazimierz Deyna. Grzegorz Lato. Jerzy Dudek. Łukasz Piszczek.

Lewandowski has surpassed every single one of them.

The player with the best case among those I just mentioned is Boniek, but Boniek was frequently on stacked teams throughout his career – he played for a Juve team containing Platini, Marco Tardelli, and Paolo Rossi, as well as a Poland team with Deyna and Lato.

That Poland team reached two World Cup semifinals. Just think what Lewandowski could have done with such teammates.

Maybe it’s the fact that his playstyle is not flashy. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s from Poland. Or, it could be the fact that he plays for Bayern Munich, a club often overlooked as well.

But right now, there seems to be no stopping the Bayern superstar.

The Weekly Take, Issue 38: A Harsh Reality Check

Any match between two of London’s three leading clubs will have some added spice heading into it, and the recent game between Tottenham and Chelsea was no different.

However, this particular London derby failed to live up to the pre-game hype. Tottenham swept Chelsea aside, winning 3-1. What’s more, the final scoreline did not reflect how one-sided the game truly was. Such was Tottenham’s superiority that they could easily have beaten a discombobulated, disjointed Chelsea team by at least four goals.

But even more than that, this loss highlighted that Chelsea are still a long way from challenging for titles, whether domestically or in Europe. Although the appointment of Maurizio Sarri as head coach has somewhat improved the current situation at Stamford Bridge, the reality is that Sarri’s arrival at Chelsea has merely papered over the cracks at a team which is systemically and fundamentally flawed.

The first aspect which must be discussed is what Chelsea did during the previous off-season.

As has been the case in many of the last few transfer windows, Chelsea once again failed to improve their squad and overpaid for players. In terms of personnel, they are arguably even worse off than they were before the transfer window began.

While Jorginho has played fairly well for the Blues thus far, his transfer fee of ₤51.3 million was clearly an overpay on Chelsea’s part, especially considering the fact that his vastly superior teammate in midfield N’Golo Kanté was signed for ₤32 million.

Chelsea also inexplicably let Michy Batshuayi spend the season on loan at Valencia. Considering the fact that Chelsea now have only two strikers in their squad after Batshuayi’s departure, the move was a real head-scratcher.

Of course, one of the two elephants in the room has to be mentioned here: the departure of Thibaut Courtois.

Although Courtois had openly stated his intentions to leave Chelsea, the club only received ₤31.5 million and a season-long loan for Mateo Kovačić from Real Madrid. While Kovačić has had a good season thus far, this is in no way an adequate return for the Belgian superstar.

It gets even worse, though.

Shortly before Courtois left Chelsea, his replacement had already been signed: Kepa Arrizabalaga, whom Chelsea picked up from Athletic Bilbao for the record-breaking price of ₤72 million.

At the time of his signing, Kepa had only played in a major football league for two years, totalling 53 appearances for Bilbao. Kepa had also only earned one cap for Spain to that point.

Kepa is a solid goalkeeper, but he is certainly not deserving of the status of “world’s most expensive goalkeeper”. I can think of at least 10 goalkeepers, of which Courtois is one, who would or should command a higher transfer fee than the Basque shot-stopper.

The second elephant in the room is the transfer drama surrounding Eden Hazard.

There has been much speculation linking Chelsea’s best player with a move to Real Madrid. Although these transfer links have existed for a while now, they only strengthened after the winger’s spectacular World Cup campaign for Belgium, in which he helped them to third place and only finished behind Luka Modrić in the tournament MVP rankings.

It appears that the uncertainty surrounding Hazard has destabilized the locker room at Chelsea, as even though they started the season well, Chelsea seem to have lost some of their edge since, as could be seen in their loss to Spurs.

If Hazard leaves, his departure could prove to have a domino effect, causing even more players to leave and Chelsea to lose even more ground to rival teams.

Finally, with the exception of Kanté, this Chelsea team – Hazard included to some extent – seems to lack heart and fighting spirit compared to other leading teams.

Teams such as Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal would certainly not have folded the way Chelsea did after falling behind against Spurs. This is a definite indictment on the team’s mentality – they just do not seem to want it badly enough. The Spurs match was especially egregious because it was a derby – the sort of match you would expect players to most desire a victory in.

Although Chelsea shuffled the deck during the off-season, it appears that they have only drawn a pair against their rivals’ full houses, flushes, and straights.

The Weekly Take, Issue 37: Hitting the Comeback Trail

What if I told you that just four months after the conclusion of the World Cup, the reigning world champions, despite fielding a team full of players that helped them win the title, would be easily defeated by a team which did not even qualify for the tournament?

To most, such a scenario would seem unthinkable; however, that is exactly what happened in a recent Nations League match.

This match saw the Netherlands, who failed to qualify for the World Cup in dramatic circumstances, beat France 2-0 with Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay getting onto the scoresheet for the Oranje.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Dutch team ever since their ill-fated World Cup qualifying campaign. They have recently been on a tear, as this victory over France came not long after a resounding 3-0 win over Germany in another Nations League game.

After missing out on Russia 2018 despite being the top-seeded team in their qualifying group, the Netherlands chose to embark on a major rebuilding period. This decision to rebuild appears to be bearing fruit.

Out of the players who started the Netherlands’ last World Cup qualifying game against Sweden, only five did so against France: Jasper Cillessen, Virgil van Dijk, Daley Blind, Ryan Babel, and Wijnaldum. New faces such as Marten de Roon and Frenkie de Jong have been added to the team to great effect.

Former coach Dick Advocaat was also replaced, with Ronald Koeman one of the Netherlands’ all-time greats, taking over. Although Koeman had coached nine different clubs over 17 years, he had only ever won one major trophy: the 2008 Copa del Rey with Valencia. Hence, the appointment of Koeman was certainly a risky move.

As it turned out, however, this full-scale revamp could not have been timed better.

Although the Netherlands have won just four of their nine games played in 2018, three of them came against Germany, Portugal, and France. This is a team that has consistently played against high-level opponents, with games against Slovakia and Peru being the only exceptions.

The newcomers’ entry to the squad has certainly been of great benefit to the team.

Probably the most striking difference between the Dutch team of a year ago and now can be seen in its backline.

Vibrant, young defenders such as Matthijs de Ligt, Denzel Dumfries, and Kenny Tete have emerged as rising stars who will likely be mainstays of the Netherlands team for the foreseeable future.

But even more crucially, the team has also seen van Dijk emerge as the cornerstone of their defence and a true leader on the pitch. Despite having played just 24 games for the Netherlands, van Dijk has already become the team captain, and rightly so. His rock-solid defensive play sets the tone for the team’s overall mentality, whether for club or country. At club level, his arrival at Liverpool from Southampton turned the Reds’ shaky defence into one of the most solid in the Premier League. There is every chance that van Dijk will go on to become the next great Dutch defender.

The Netherlands are no slouches up front, either.

Led by the underrated Memphis Depay, this Dutch squad’s attack also packs quite a punch. The likes of Steven Bergwijn, Quincy Promes, and Babel, who has been in the midst of an impressive individual comeback of his own, have also contributed to the Netherlands’ Nations League success thus far, scoring several key goals along the way.

Koeman’s coaching also must not be overlooked.

Under Advocaat, the Netherlands clearly fell far below the heights they once reached and were evidently a step behind all of the top international teams. They often appeared limited and devoid of ideas on the pitch. However, Koeman has rejuvenated this team, infusing it with much more verve and vigour than it previously had.

The Netherlands is a proud footballing nation, having produced legendary names such as Johan Neeskens, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Edwin van der Sar, Arjen Robben, and of course, Johan Cruyff. After a fallow period in which the Oranje missed both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, it appeared that this generation would never reach such levels.

However, after the events of the last few months, some fresh faces could perhaps be starting to write their own stories in that famous orange jersey.

The Weekly Take, Issue 36: It’s Not the Group of Death for Nothing

During the previous round of Champions League fixtures, the standout result was Red Star Belgrade’s 2-0 upset victory over Liverpool. This was a result that not many saw coming. However, overshadowed in the buzz over this upset was the fact that Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1, leading to this year’s toughest Champions League group becoming ever tighter.

As things stand, Group C of the Champions League sees all four teams separated by just two points after four matchdays. Napoli and Liverpool have six points, PSG five, and Red Star four. When the group stage draw was first made, many considered Groups A, B, and C to be the most difficult, but in the former two cases this has proven false, with Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid pulling well clear of Monaco in Group A, and Barcelona and Inter Milan doing likewise to Tottenham in Group B.

To give you an idea of how difficult Group C is, I will first analyse each team in the group.

PSG entered the competition as one of, if not the outright, favourites to win it all and bring the Champions League trophy back to France for the first time since 1993. Not a whole lot more that hasn’t already been said about this team needs to be. PSG are absolutely loaded, boasting superstars such as Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, and Edinson Cavani, as well as a capable supporting cast including the likes of Thomas Meunier, Marco Verratti, and Adrien Rabiot. However, although PSG have won every single one of their league games thus far, the general weakness of Ligue 1 has meant that this domestic dominance has not carried over into the Champions League. This fact is evidenced by PSG’s underwhelming Champions League record of one win, two draws, and one loss. This team, tipped by many to go all the way, might just be sent packing in the group stage.

Next, we come to Napoli. This is a team that had to retool during the off-season after losing Jorginho and, more crucially, head coach Maurizio Sarri, both to Chelsea.

With Sarri at the helm, Napoli had overachieved during the past three seasons. They twice finished second in Serie A, and, despite consistently underperforming in European competition, were always seen as a dangerous team. Now, with legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti in charge, Napoli could be in line for their best season in a long time, despite the departure of Gonzalo Higuaín.

Liverpool also cannot be overlooked. Much like Napoli, the Reds overachieved last season by reaching the Champions League final, largely thanks to the goalscoring prowess of superstar striker Mohamed Salah and the coaching genius of Jürgen Klopp. Liverpool also spent heavily over the off-season, bringing in Naby Keїta, Fabinho, Alisson, and Xherdan Shaqiri for a combined sum of over ₤168 million. Players such as Georginio Wijnaldum and Joe Gomez have also excelled, taking their levels of play to new heights. The heavy spending and player development have both borne fruit, at least in the Premier League, with Liverpool still unbeaten and only trailing Manchester City by two points. However, their Champions League campaign hit a snag after the shock loss to Red Star.

Speaking of Red Star, despite being regarded as by far the weakest team in the group before the tournament began, they have proven that they are not to be taken lightly. Players such as Lorenzo Ebecilio, Marko Marin, and Marko Gobeljić are better than most people think, and their draw against Napoli and victory over Liverpool have put them in a position in which they could potentially defy the odds and top their group.

Groups of Death usually feature nail-biting, nerve-wracking action, but not in the wildest dreams of most fans did they anticipate that Group C would be quite this tight. When all is said and done, at least one team, and perhaps two, expected to progress further in this year’s Champions League will not. This bloodbath of a group is far from over, and the last two matchdays will be utterly crucial.

I leave you with one final thought: with two Champions League matchdays to go, Red Star Belgrade could conceivably finish top of the group, while PSG could finish bottom and even miss entry into the Europa League.

Let that sink in.

The Weekly Take, Issue 35: Don’t Forget About ‘Dre

When looking at the current Arsenal squad, it is evident that the best player and only genuine superstar on it is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. As a player, he is head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates, and it isn’t even close.

However, every star player needs a supporting cast.

So, just who is the second-best player on the Gunners?

Mesut Özil is not the force he once was; neither is Petr Čech. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a solid player, but he has never quite reached the level I’m speaking of. Granit Xhaka is maddeningly inconsistent.

However, I believe that Arsenal’s best player after Aubameyang is a player often overlooked for various reasons, but while not quite elite, is one of the most important pieces of this Arsenal team.

I am speaking about Alexandre Lacazette.

Not too long ago, Lacazette, who was then playing for Lyon, was perennially linked with a transfer to one of the world’s leading football clubs, such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain.  However, in a surprising turn of events, it was Arsenal who ended up signing the highly sought-after Frenchman for €53 million.

This past week, he again reminded those other clubs what they missed out on when he scored Arsenal’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.

This was an impressive result for the north London club because they went into the game against the Merseysiders as the clear underdogs.

Lacazette and his contributions to Arsenal often get overlooked for several reasons: he is not as good a player as strike partner Aubameyang, his playstyle isn’t as eye-catching as those of Özil or Mkhitaryan, and he doesn’t have the sheer inner fire of the likes of Xhaka or Aaron Ramsey.

The centre-forward’s lack of recognition extends internally as well as externally.

This is reflected in the fact that despite being among Arsenal’s most consistent performers throughout the 2017-18 season, netting 14 league goals in 32 games, Lacazette was not named the club’s Player of the Month even once.

Yet in spite of all this, Lacazette has been a terrific fit on this team.

Lacazette’s willingness to track back, press, and play solid defence makes his style of play a good accompaniment to the spectacular, explosive game of Aubameyang. Furthermore, on offence, he brings solid dribbling skills and the ability to finish with either foot to the table.

Many players who move from a weaker league to one of the four major leagues initially struggle to adapt, while some never do. This has clearly not been the case for Lacazette, who has had no trouble adjusting to the higher level of play in the Premier League.

Lacazette has also been overlooked in his international football career.

Although he first played for France in 2013, Lacazette has just 16 caps for his country and has never played in a major tournament.

Lacazette has had to stay behind and watch as strikers who he is clearly better than, such as Olivier Giroud, André-Pierre Gignac, and Nabil Fekir were selected to represent Les Bleus in tournament play.

Giroud and Fekir were all part of France’s victorious 2018 World Cup squad – an honour which I believe Lacazette was extremely unfortunate to have missed out on.

The selection of Lacazette’s former Arsenal teammate Giroud was all the more surprising given the fact that Lacazette was clearly superior to Giroud throughout the 2017-18 season. In fact, Lacazette and Aubameyang’s arrivals at the Emirates Stadium made Giroud so expendable to Arsenal that he was shipped out to Chelsea during the January transfer window.

Lacazette’s form this season will be one of the key elements of how successful Arsenal will be during the current campaign. Much to the pleasure of Gunners fans, he is off to a strong start, with five league goals in 11 games.

Only time will tell if Lacazette ends up becoming the Dennis Bergkamp to Aubameyang’s Thierry Henry. So far, the two have combined seamlessly. On the other hand, there is still a possibility that he could flame out and prove that last season was just a flash in the pan.

But for now, as his solid play up front continues, Alexandre Lacazette does not deserve to be as underrated as he is.

The Weekly Take, Issue 34: The Sleeping Ruhr Giant Reawakens

This is the post that I have been hoping to make since the beginning of the season, though I never believed I would be doing so.

As a Borussia Dortmund fan since 2011, I was pessimistic about my beloved Schwarzgelbe’s chances of success heading into the season. In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich looked like an unstoppable juggernaut which would roll to yet another league title, while in the Champions League, Dortmund were drawn into a tough group, as they were forced to play against Atlético Madrid and Monaco – two teams which I would not have been surprised to see Dortmund lose both group games to.

Yet, after approximately two months of the season, Lucien Favre’s team are top of the Bundesliga, and even more impressively, recorded a 4-0 Champions League victory over Atlético to remain top of the group.

This season is looking far more promising for Dortmund than last season, when they were only fourth in the league and were knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League, then the Europa League’s round of 16.

So just how were they able to improve so rapidly?

The most obvious factor has to be their off-season acquisitions. After the departure of superstar striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal in January, Dortmund struggled because they had no replacement ready to step in for the Gabonese ace.

However, that is no longer the case.

On August 28, 2018, Borussia Dortmund brought in Spanish striker Paco Alcácer on loan from Barcelona. Alcácer had been languishing on Barcelona’s bench, but almost immediately upon his arrival at Signal Iduna Park, he began to put the football world on notice.

The Valencian has been absolutely sensational thus far this season. At the moment, he is the Bundesliga’s joint-top scorer with seven goals, equal with Luka Jović of Eintracht Frankfurt. Alcácer even managed to score a hattrick as a substitute, leading Dortmund to a 4-3 win over Augsburg in doing so.

Two of Dortmund’s other signings have also made understated but important contributions.

Midfield duo Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsel, who arrived at Dortmund from Werder Bremen and Tianjin Quanjian respectively, have fit perfectly into Favre’s system and tactics. Although both signings went somewhat under the radar, particularly that of Delaney, when Dortmund play, the impact of both players can clearly be seen.

The appointment of Favre as coach has also been crucial.

Lucien Favre is one of the most underrated football coaches. In four years at the helm of Borussia Mönchengladbach between 2011 and 2015, he led Die Fohlen to two top-four finishes in that span, a feat they had not achieved since finishing fourth and third respectively in 1986 and 1987.

He also led Nice to third place in Ligue 1, their highest league finish in years.

Neither Gladbach nor Nice were expected to play at the level that they did under Favre, thus proving the former Switzerland international’s credentials as an excellent coach.

Dortmund’s young talent has also begun to blossom.

Jadon Sancho, Manuel Akanji, Christian Pulisic, Abdou Diallo, Mahmoud Dahoud, and Jacob Bruun Larsen have all been key contributors for Dortmund thus far this season. All six are between the ages of 18 and 23.

Thus, this team is not only set up well for this season, but for the future as well. If most of their young core stays together, Alcácer signs a permanent deal as is expected, and their veterans such as Marco Reus, Mario Götze, and Łukasz Piszczek continue to provide stability and guidance for Dortmund’s young stars, this could go on to be Dortmund’s strongest team since the Jürgen Klopp era.

Dortmund look like a contender to not only win their first Bundesliga title since 2012, but also make a deep Champions League run. Though it is unlikely that the Ruhr club will go on to win the biggest prize in European club football, this team has been defying expectations throughout this season, so who’s to say?

Borussia Dortmund are a club known for their extremely passionate fanbase. During home games, the “Yellow Wall” is truly a sight to behold. Now, after some difficult years, these fans, myself included, have once again been granted the privilege of witnessing their team perform at an elite level.