Interesting to note that Doku almost always goes the direction of the wing he is on and Leroy Sane and Coman focus on a single direction of travel when they have the ball on the wing ( probably shows a bit of one footedness).
As for Galeano, I find that things can be two things. It is incredible to watch a single person Maradona themselves through a team. It is also beautiful to watch a team construct a pattern of passing that ends in a single touch goal. There is also nothing more infuriating as a fan to watch someone attempt the mazy dribble and everyone in the arena knows it will not work. Like watching a bolder roll down hill and someone tries to step in and stop it.
I'm sure I'll find something to grump about when I become older as well. Those damn blue cards!
Love this, John. You could have set up a straw man and easily demolished it (which must have been tempting because Galeano is obviously being obtuse) but instead you engage, acknowledge where he might have a point, and everybody learns something. On the other hand, as a Tottenham fan, realizing that we're behind the curve on dribbly bois (arguably our squad's biggest weakness at the moment) worries me as far as this summer's recruitment goes.
Do you need more dribbly players if your defensive plan is to press so high up the field and attack with such speed? I don't think it's as needed to the attacking plan. It's more necessary for teams that play low blocks and are slower in the buildup.
You're right that in our base plan against most teams we don't need the dribbly boi per se. But so many teams do bunker down against us (understandably) and that really stiffles the team at the moment.
Leverkusen do it some but not as much as you might expect from such a ball-dominant team. They love to break up the middle with short passes and don't cross a whole lot, so there's less slowing the game down in the final third for one-v-ones on the wing. When they do attack through wide channels they tend to like combination play up the wing or square passes back to the top of the box.
Interesting to note that Doku almost always goes the direction of the wing he is on and Leroy Sane and Coman focus on a single direction of travel when they have the ball on the wing ( probably shows a bit of one footedness).
As for Galeano, I find that things can be two things. It is incredible to watch a single person Maradona themselves through a team. It is also beautiful to watch a team construct a pattern of passing that ends in a single touch goal. There is also nothing more infuriating as a fan to watch someone attempt the mazy dribble and everyone in the arena knows it will not work. Like watching a bolder roll down hill and someone tries to step in and stop it.
I'm sure I'll find something to grump about when I become older as well. Those damn blue cards!
Why don't more children these days simply be Diego Maradona? It's those damn phones
Love this, John. You could have set up a straw man and easily demolished it (which must have been tempting because Galeano is obviously being obtuse) but instead you engage, acknowledge where he might have a point, and everybody learns something. On the other hand, as a Tottenham fan, realizing that we're behind the curve on dribbly bois (arguably our squad's biggest weakness at the moment) worries me as far as this summer's recruitment goes.
Do you need more dribbly players if your defensive plan is to press so high up the field and attack with such speed? I don't think it's as needed to the attacking plan. It's more necessary for teams that play low blocks and are slower in the buildup.
You're right that in our base plan against most teams we don't need the dribbly boi per se. But so many teams do bunker down against us (understandably) and that really stiffles the team at the moment.
Agree with both of you guys but Kulusevski is pretty dribbly!
Thanks for that - good fun to read!
Wonder how much of that is currently part of Leverkusen's impressive run in Bundesliga.
Leverkusen do it some but not as much as you might expect from such a ball-dominant team. They love to break up the middle with short passes and don't cross a whole lot, so there's less slowing the game down in the final third for one-v-ones on the wing. When they do attack through wide channels they tend to like combination play up the wing or square passes back to the top of the box.
Wrote about them a couple times recently:
https://theathletic.com/4883255/2023/09/22/how-football-works-part-two/
https://theathletic.com/5231341/2024/01/28/xabi-alonso-liverpool-manager/