May 2014

    What Diego Simeone Has Done At Atletico Madrid

    6 Comments / Football /

    Firstly did the ‘only special one’ as I’d like to call him say Arsene Wenger is a specialist in failure? Well he should think again. Jose Mourinho just failed. Let’s also keep in mind Bayern’s Annihilation from Real Madrid. It’s kind of ironic how Bayern seemed to crush ‘tiki-taka’ last season and now they adopt the system and get crushed back. Now I said Mourinho has failed. Believe it or not but he has. Mourinho’s tactics against Atletico Madrid was a total failure. He parked the bus in the 1st leg in Spain which was understandable as key players were missing and two further key players got injured. So let’s accept he was right in tactics and it worked. Then he rested key players against Liverpool while parking two buses as Rogers said. He got the victory at Anfield and made sure the English Premeir League title goes down to the wire. So Jose is spot-on again.  Then comes the moment, the 2nd leg against Atletico Madrid. It’s a complete Chelsea squad well except Oscar, Eto’o and Cech but that’s no excuse because you would expect Chelsea to fire on but it all went wrong and in a moment all the tactical brilliance of the ‘only one’ destroyed in a once-upon-a-time fortress. Atletico Madrid did the unthinkable by reaching the Uefa Champions League final for the first time in 40 years against their cross-town neighbours Real Madrid. Atletico might have lost the final to Real but that hasn’t taken away the remarkable season they’ve had. The remarkable feat of Atletico comes under the guidance of one man: Diego Pablo Simeone. This man who was an ex Atletico player came in to manage the club he is adorned in December 2011. Atletico where in 10th place as at Simeone’s arrival and they looked in danger of going down the drain further. They sacked Gregorio Manzano and quickly installed this fan favourite. Where Atletico taking a gamble in hiring Simeone even with his cult hero status at the Vicente Calderon? Absolutely not. What followed would be Atletico climbing up the table to finish a credible 5th in La Liga but that wasn’t all. To top up a revived season, Atletico took home the UEFA Europa League. So Simeone proved his cult hero status at managerial level but was that enough to say this man is good? No because more was to come. Simeone led Atletico to an emphatic 4-1 win over 2012 UCL champions Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup. Simeone had entertained the football world with surprises and you could be sure more was coming. Atletico Madrid finished the 2012/2013 La Liga season in 3rd place, thus taking Los Rojiblancos to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2009. Like Simeone wouldn’t surprise us again. He led his Atletico team to victory in the Copa Del Rey final against foes Real Madrid, the first victory for Atletico in a Madrid Derby since 1999. You could say Simeone was destined to do greater things. If you predicted that, you are so right. The 2013/2014 has been superb for Atletico. They’ve won the liga title for the 1st time since 1996 when Simeone was playing for the team. It will also be the 1st time a team won the La Liga other than Barcelona or Real Madrid since Valencia in 2004. Here is just how brilliant Simeone’s men have been this season: In 6 meetings with Barcelona, Atletico have been unbeaten, drawing 5 and winning 1, that one victory coming in the champions league quarter finals. Atletico is the team Lionel Messi has scored most goals against a single team with 20 goals. This season he failed to find the net against them. Moving on the Champions League, Atletico Madrid has been nothing but outstanding. Prior to the final, they were the only team unbeaten and conceded the least amount of goals. Paired in a group consisting of FC Porto, Zenit and Austria Vienna, Atletico were favourites but you would expect the three to give Simeone’s team a run for their money. Well that didn’t happen and Atletico topped the group and finished 10 points ahead of 2nd placed Zenit. Then came knock-out time. Atletico had AC Milan to stop. AC Milan are not the team that once dominated Europe. The team wasn’t in form but you would say, Milan are still experienced and Atletico will have it tough. It happened to be the other way round. An emphatic 5-1 aggregate win took Atletico to the quarter finals to meet liga chasers Barcelona. A tough match it was for Simeone but his team prevailed in the tie and showed that everything is not about ‘tiki-taka’. Now came Chelsea in the semis and you know Mourinho has some tricks to play. Well Simeone stayed cool, not bothered by all the talk and Atletico prevailed against all odds to book a place in Lisbon with Real Madrid. Simeone has indeed dazzled the world of football but what is his secret behind all this amazements? Simeone has installed discipline into Atletico Madrid. Simeone was a defensive midfielder in his playing days and as DM, you have to be disciplined so it’s not hard to see him extend such in management. Atletico Madrid are focused and determined. This is what I regard as a key factor to the results they get against the big opposition. There is also motivation. It’s no doubt that Simeone is big motivator. You can see it from the way he shouts and screams from the touchline. The results are needed and motivation coupled with focus and determination has made Atletico Madrid excel well beyond expectations. There is nothing spectacular about Atletico Madrid. It doesn’t have a fancy squad. The squad is not up to what Real Madrid has talk less of Barcelona. They have just a small group of players who play their hearts out week in week out. This tiny squad has had the privilege of having most

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    The unknown secret behind Manchester City winning the EPL title.

    2 Comments / Football /

    The English Premier League is over and it continued the trend it has set over the years. It has brought thrill, excitement and adventure not only for TV viewers and fans but also for the club players and managers. The EPL has always had the tradition of having an intriguing climax and this just concluded season was not devoid of that. The most intriguing of course been the 2011/2012 season where Manchester City won the title with the very last kick of the game. Man City are champions once more and they rightly deserved it. The team had scored 102 league goals which is the highest in Europe so far only equal to Scottish team, Celtic and a staggering 156 goals in all competitions. They also amassed the highest number of EPL wins with 27 wins from 38 games. Such display from Man City this season has guaranteed automatic champions league football for the 4th consecutive season. It’s no doubt that Man City have shown their credentials as a force to reckon with. Bankrolled by the billions of Sheikh Mansour, the city of Manchester hasn’t been the same with city’s emergence. Some would see city winning the league as surprise and why? That’s because they have been quiet all along. Much of the frenzy was first focused on Arsenal who you think would break the league trophy drought jinx after 10 years but let’s not forget that lightening can strike more than twice in the same place. The lightning struck and Arsenal started falling to its cherished 4th place then Liverpool took over the top. It’s like Liverpool would do it now. First title in 24 years nearly on its away to Anfield. The curse was about to be broken. And why not? Liverpool where in hot form. An attack trio of Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling showed the signs. But wait a minute. Whoever said the curse would be broken this season? Lightening was going to strike for Liverpool the 24th time in a row and it just had to sadly happen at the crucial time. From that moment on, Liverpool knew it was all but over and city got their reward for waiting quietly. Indeed city waited quietly. There was no noise about city winning the title. The noise of the possibility of Arsenal or Liverpool and even Chelsea doing it was too much that city was forgotten. Maybe no one saw the probability lightening would strike on Liverpool and Arsenal. Their fine form was too much of a distraction that city’s own fine form was not noticed. Manuel Pellegrini and his pack of Lions must have been patiently waiting for that opportunity when defeat befalls Liverpool so they can pounce and leapfrog them on the table. Defeat did befall Liverpool losing 2-0 to Chelsea when it shouldn’t have been and then drawing 3-3 with a rejuvenated Crystal Palace. The draw meant that city had ultimate glory in their hands as long as they got it right against Aston Villa in their remaining outstanding game. They did it right and it was just a matter of taking it cool against Westham on the final day. Cool they won Westham and cool they took the title. Pellegrini came into the Ethiad Stadium in the summer of 2013 with eyebrows raised in some corners as to whether he was the right man for the job. For a fact he had never won any trophy in his European managerial stints except for taking his teams beyond the limits as he did with Villarreal and Malaga in the champions league. Man City were hungry for success after missing out on a single trophy for the 2012/2013 season much to the sheikh’s dismay who has invested billions into a club that wants to aspire to be a force to reckon with. Whether Pellegrini was the right man or not, it was a matter of seeing how things go. City didn’t start the league campaign well. Losing 4 games by the end of November was not a nice thing but from the 6-0 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur on November 24, 2013, city began to show what they were really made of as they went on a 20 game unbeaten run. Pellegrini’s men went on a goal scoring rampage that saw the team score 100 goals in all competitions by mid January 2014. Such was the fierceness of city’s attack and it had to be that way when you have a collection of Aguero, Dzeko, Negredo, Silva, Nasri, Jovetic and Yaya to choose from. Goals delivered by a potent attack force brought in the desired results for city. Pellegrini took city one step forward in the champions league to the round of 16 for the 1st time in the clubs history. Hence he continued the tradition of taking unexpected teams beyond the limit in the champions league. Well I won’t say city is an unexpected team. They should have qualified well beyond the group stages in previous seasons but Roberto Mancini’s careless handling of city meant they couldn’t move forward in the champions league. So a big kudos to Pellegrini. Let’s not also forget the Capital One Cup city won back in March. That added with the Premier League title meant city have had a fantastic season. Pellegrini having his first collection of trophies in Europe was indeed great. He also became the 1st manager from outside Europe to win the Premier League. The 60 year old Chilean has been called ‘this charming man’ by city supporters as banners displaying the message are put up in matches. Pellegrini has lived up to the word ‘charming’. He is a quiet and calm man. You never see him lose his cool or get into confrontations with match officials. He talks with a low tone and has a nice smile. He has introduced a style of play that relies on attack and such is a return of 102 league goals. Pellegrini has made Man City look rejuvenated from

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    A man without a job but rolling in cool cash

    4 Comments / Football /

    Around this time in 2012, Chelsea where preparing for a second Uefa Champions League final appearance against Bayern Munich. It had all gone wrong for Chelsea that season under Andre Villas Boas and the final straw was a 3-1 1st leg away defeat to Napoli in the champions league round of 16. AVB’s number two, ex Chelsea player, Roberto Di Matteo took over as caretaker manager for the rest of the season. Chelsea had to overturn the two goal deficit from Napoli if they had any chance of progression to the quarter finals. Di Matteo must have watched the Mission Impossible movie series because Chelsea won the 2nd leg 4-1, progressing 5-4 on aggregate and eventually taking ultimate glory in Bayern’s backyard. Di Matteo also won the FA Cup defeating Liverpool 2-1. The long awaited champions league trophy now in the bag courtesy of a man who is regarded as a legend at Stamford Bridge. The mission impossible stunts performed by Di Matteo didn’t need Mr. Roman to think twice and hand him a permanent job. Di Matteo went on and signed a two year contract in the summer of 2012. A 3-0 defeat away to Juventus in the champions league group stage had Di Matteo shown the exit after 8 months in charge. Rafael Benitez took over as interim manager until the end of that season. Since Di Matteo had been sacked in November 2012, he has not been involved in any managerial capacity. He had been linked with clubs like Westbrom, Fulham and Sunderland but no appointment. You kind of wonder why hasn’t Di Matteo come back to management after such a fine and short spell at Chelsea? You would think he should have one of the next top jobs in Europe or maybe ambitious teams like Tottenham would snap him but that wasn’t the case. The reason for Di Matteo not getting any job is because he is still being paid by Chelsea. After being sacked by Chelsea, Di Matteo failed to reach a pay-off settlement agreement with Mr. Roman so the only option was to continue paying Di Matteo the outstanding fees in his two year contract. To achieve this, Di Matteo must not join any other club within his contract. Joining another club means termination of the contract. The contract started June 2012 and ends June 2014. Di Matteo has taken his time out from football to earn some really cool cash. He is reportedly paid £130,000 a week and that winds up to a yearly pay of £6.76 million. By the time Di Matteo’s contract expires in June, he would have earned a whooping £13.52 million from Chelsea. That is some fortune for someone who spent just 5 months on the full contract and the remaining 19 months paid without working. The French Football Magazine’s latest list of the highest paid football managers in the world puts Di Matteo as the 8th highest paid coach with earnings worth €8.2 million. He is the only non-active manager on the list and is above established and experienced coaches like Rafael Benitez, Luciano Spalletti, Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte. Super pay without lifting a muscle. Di Matteo did the mission impossible as caretaker boss and such achievement would definitely be rewarded with a bumper contract. It’s just unfortunate his reign on a full time basis came to an end so soon but that won’t take away the achievement this club legend brought in. It’s good that Di Matteo was signed to a two year contract. I kind of imagined if it was maybe a long term contract of 5 or 6 years he signed and got sacked early, would he be paid his contract in this manner for the next 4 or 5 years? I don’t think so. That is too much for Mr. Roman to bear. In such a case, a pay-off must be agreed. Besides Di Matteo won’t want to stay out that long. He’ll want to manage yet again even if it means moving to a lower club. Di Matteo has sited being closer to his family as a reason for staying out and for sure his family must be enjoying the fortune he earns while on sabbatical. Once the contract runs out in June 2014, Di Matteo can sight sights on management again, showing his skills as he did with Chelsea. It would be interesting to see the club he manages in. If Di Matteo enters management again, he might not see such a lucrative deal as with Chelsea but it won’t be denied that Di Matteo not managing for a while was worth it. In fact, it can be considered one of the best tactical decisions off the field.

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