The success of clubs like Ajax, Monaco, Atalanta and Southampton who have all exceeded expectations with teams built around players coming through their youth systems does not seem to be rubbing off with most clubs (especially English ones) opting to buy their way to honours. What is particularly sad about such behaviour is that young players are not finding a way through, having their hopes dashed after years of hard work. This article looks at that dark side of the game.
One of the hardest tasks facing any coach is that of teaching players how to react during games where not everything is cleanly laid out like a training session. AZ Alkmaar have developed their own way of handing this issue which makes for very interesting reading for any coach.
Michael Cox – or ZonalMarking as he is known - was one of the early football writing stars of Twitter through his tactical analysis of games and whilst many have followed in his path, his remains the freshest voice of all. He is now publishing his first book on football tactics (The Mixer) from which this is an extract. It deals with Georgi Kinkladze and how his arrival starting forcing English clubs to look at different tactical solutions.
This is the kind of article that makes Jonathan Wilson such a standout among current football writers: a piece about how Antonio Conte adopted an idea that is fifty years old to build his Chelsea team into champions. Brilliant stuff.
TEAMTALK
“Leadership must be likeable, affable, cordial, and above all emotional. The fashion of authoritarian leadership is gone. Football is about life. You can't be angry all day. ”
Vicente del Bosque – winner of Champions League, Intercontinental Cup, the European Championship and the World Cup
PSST…
If you want to read something a bit different, last week I wrote about this on Andrea Fortunato. A talented young left-back who was threatening to displace the great Paolo Maldini in the Italian national team only for tragedy to stop him from fulfilling his destiny.
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