ATF

I'm pretty sure Rafa would admit he shouldn't be seen on Keegan or Robson level. He said as much when he was asked something along those lines around the start of the Championship season if I recall correctly. He never ended up with the chance to be thought of quite like that.

Good decisions yesterday. He switched the positions of Gray and Richarlison at half time and, interestingly, switched the sides the centre backs were playing on. Iwobi coming on with about 20-25 minutes to go also seemed to have an impact. No panic subs or random change of formation.

Rafa teams start slower than they finish. It's been the case since he was at Valencia. Functional but underwhelming at times in early months but prepared so they peak around March/April. Go through pretty much every job he's ever had and you'll find that pattern. His staying power may well be his best asset.

If I had to predict how it will work out for him this season, I would say that the first few months may be quite ugly - some minor improvements to the team but inconsistent results and potentially an increasingly hostile crowd. If he's allowed to ride that out, they'll come into the last few months fit and prepared for the run-in while other teams fall away. How good/bad both these parts are will determine where they finish.

It looks good business to me. Begovic and Townsend are free agents and Gray is supposedly costing them £1.5m. They've wasted so much money on worse players in the last five or so years. Bernard's supposedly on £120k a week! They've released Bolasie. Trim down the squad of players like Bernard, Tosun, Iwobi, Delph, amongst others, then you have three improvements for a fraction of the price, whilst simultaneously cutting your wage budget.

Bigger problem for Everton is whether they have the resources to make three or four transfers to improve their first eleven, because the talk suggests that they don't.

People tend to get uptight about criticism of someone if there's a fair chance that that criticism will be snide or without honest intentions, as a lot of it has been with Rafa. If people had enough sense to see he did a very good job then there wouldn't be sensitivity over saying that this or that player didn't work, or saying that he made a judgement call on a player based on a lot of factors and maybe should have made a different one in hindsight. These things are barely even criticisms because they happen at all levels of football. It's because people want to pretend he did no better than Bruce or want to say he achieved the bare minimum (finishing 10th first season up with Joselu and Gayle as your striking options and Diame and Shelvey as your midfield is not and never has been the "bare minimum", and that's ignoring being promoted as champions in your first season after relegation which is always a very impressive achievement) that people get defensive. 

The £100m is a stain on Bruce not so much for the number but because the attacking players he has (Wilson, ASM, Willock alongside a settled Almiron), added to a squad who established themselves as a solid, organised, difficult to beat mid-table Premier League side, has yielded no improvement and in a number of ways a decline. 

I'm preaching to the choir mainly so whatever.

1 hour ago, nufcjb said:

Did Manquillo play under him at Liverpool?

Arrived four years after.

Why isn't Rafa lying down outside St James' Park with tears running down his face, openly praying out loud to the Lord God almighty that the takeover gets done? If he really loved the club that's what he would be doing. Obviously a sellout.

This made me laugh 

7 hours ago, Beth said:

Just another boost to his retirement fund imo. Yes he's probably the best manager we've had since Robson, but the way some on here build him up you'd think he was the next messiah.

Read every story on Rafa, his incredible commitment to his work, his 24/7 obsession with football, his legendary attention to detail and pure passion for coaching and you'll know that just turning up for a pay check is not part of his character. Getting paid well for a job you love is great and not a moral failing at all. It's not a binary choice - "he's either doing it for the love or the money". There are many reasons to take a job but it's just not possible for Rafa to turn up merely for the paycheck. If he takes a job it means he's going all in.

The sheer bloody mindedness of going for this job.

Rafa's made some odd career choices but as with many top coaches there is such a level of self-belief and will to win that sometimes a job that appears to be a poisoned chalice is exactly the sort of one they take. Nobody feels completely immune to criticism that comes their way but a coach like Rafa has such a thick skin and confidence in himself that taking these jobs (Inter straight after the Mourinho treble, Chelsea, Newcastle under this ownership) doesn't faze him. This is the mentality of a winner even though it appears to every outsider like a misguided move. And maybe it is misguided. Put me in Rafa's position and I wouldn't go anywhere near it. But he's thinking of the potential if he pulls it off. Booing won't bother him. Calls for his head... "eh I've had those before". Criticism of decisions or maybe style of play..."they'll sing when we're winning". 

It could easily blow up in his face. It may spell the end of him in England. But on some level I have to admire the mentality behind it. There's a family tie because he lives there and most probably there are Evertonians, especially those who know him, who have met him over the years he's lived there and with the charity work he's been involved with, who will support him. So it definitely won't be all negative. But even if it was, I still think he'd take it. 

He doesn't chase the safe jobs does he?

33 minutes ago, nbthree3 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/06/09/everton-consider-shock-move-former-liverpool-manager-rafa-benitez/?

 

Everton are considering a shock move for former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.

Benitez is available and hungry for a return to the Premier League, and Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is weighing up what would be the most unexpected appointment in Goodison Park history.

 

Moshiri has good reason to at least meet Benitez, who lives on Merseyside and is a free agent following his most recent stint at the Chinese club, Dalian Professional. There has already been contact between Benitez and Everton to sound out mutual interest. But for his obvious Anfield connections - Benitez spent six years at Liverpool where he won the Champions League and FA Cup - his candidacy would be a no-brainer given the calibre of his CV which includes the highest honours in European football.

Benitez has spoken openly about his eagerness to return to management in England as soon as possible, and is pragmatic enough to realise the Everton job is an attractive proposition. 

That's them testing what the fan response is, I think.

Rafa makes some strange decisions when picking his jobs. That Fenerbahce move wouldn't surprise me.

5 minutes ago, astraguy said:

Would the Liverpool connection put him and Everton off though? I sure hope so for our sake 

I don't think it would put him off. Man United are the one club that would put a tarnish on his Liverpool legacy if he ever managed them. The rivalry with Everton is not venomous in that way and given it's been eleven years since he left Liverpool, I don't think that would be an issue. It wasn't when he went to Chelsea either.

I imagine for Everton it would be a discussion point but if they really wanted him I don't think the Liverpool connection would put them off.

Pretty sure Rafa would take that job if the right guarantees were made.

He mentioned in that article how much more comfortable City looked in a back five in the league game against Chelsea, as opposed to when they played a back four in the FA Cup semi, because of the extra central cover and the control in the wide areas. Tonight Guardiola played a back four and the backline looked really stretched.

I don't know if Rafa would have won as many league titles as Guardiola's won with City - certainly not as comfortably - but I'm pretty sure he'd have won a Champions League in five years. His Champions League record with Liverpool was excellent and of course he's won two UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues as well. Almost every coach is built more for either cups or leagues - even Ferguson only won the big European title twice in 26 years. Wenger lost his only final. Coaches like Rafa, Tuchel very possibly, Ancelotti, Emery - they know how to set up for these games and control the variables to get over the line. They're maybe not as effective at creating a team that continually wins week after week in the league like Ferguson or Guardiola, but they seem to have the magic touch in one-off matches or two-legged knockout situations. 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rafa-benitezs-complete-tactical-breakdown-of-the-final-nr0wkvdd5

Defending
This is a final between the two sides with the best defensive records in the Premier League. Manchester City conceded 32 goals and Chelsea 36 last season. When I was in charge of Newcastle United, I had a meeting with Benfica officials in Liverpool. We were discussing some players and one name I mentioned was Rúben Dias. He was valued at £20 million at the time, but they did not want to sell him. He was a young player and they wanted him to be the new centre back in the first team. He has since become an important player for City. He can read the game very well and he is good on the ball. One of the big advantages of City is they can spend a lot of money on good players — Nathan Aké, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones among others — until they find the right one.

But it would be wrong to say City or Chelsea rely on one player for their defensive success. Both teams are organised and they have balance, which is important.

They can defend high, pressing with aggression when they give the ball away because they have the best players whose understanding and physicality is good. And, normally, in the Premier League they are on top of the opponent, so if the rival wants to be dangerous and go to the other goal they have to cover a lot of ground. Obviously, this offers time
to reorganise.

City and Chelsea are also good at defending “deep”. Why? In the case of City, they usually play 4-3-3 although in some of the games against the top sides they play 4-2-3-1.

In the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea in April, they did this with two midfielders in Rodri and Fernandinho protecting the centre backs. Pep Guardiola asked his full backs to go high, but they are usually solid and strong in the middle.

Chelsea won that game 1-0 and played 3-4-3. They used three centre backs in César Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rüdiger, plus Jorginho and N’Golo Kanté. Jorginho, the holding midfielder, was always in front of the centre backs and Kanté was very quick, aggressive and dynamic over short distances.

In the league game three weeks later, I thought City were better but Sergio Agüero missed a penalty when they were winning 1-0. They then lost 2-1 in the last minute to a Marcos Alonso goal. The difference is City changed to a 5-3-2 with Dias, Laporte and Aké, at centre back, while Chelsea played the same 3-4-3.

Guardiola was looking to mirror the wing backs of their rivals and have more control of the game. He was maybe worried about the width Chelsea had in the cup game, so Benjamin Mendy and João Cancelo went against Alonso and Reece James. Then it is one versus one, each player has responsibility and it depends who is better. City looked more comfortable and it will be interesting to see whether they go with a five or a four in defence in the final today.

Striking options
When Guardiola won the Champions League with Barcelona against Manchester United in 2011, he used to play with a “false nine”. Lionel Messi was dropping off and he was playing David Villa from one side and Pedro on the other side. The idea, with Messi dropping off, was to have an extra player in the middle of the pitch to link and play more of a passing game. It also means defenders do not have a reference to mark. Centre backs do not like to follow the false nine too far because if they do, they leave a big gap for the wingers to run in behind.

They are more comfortable not following the player, but that also leaves the player free and, little by little, with passes, the opposition moves into the box. A false nine makes it complicated for defenders and that is why we have seen City using Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden there. Neither Gabriel Jesus or Sergio Agüero have started any of City’s past five matches in the Champions League, and it is possible to see a false nine with three or four defenders at the back. For Chelsea, Timo Werner is the runner who is the threat behind. Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic or Hakim Ziyech usually go inside and link the play.

The position of the three attacking players depends on how much they want to press the holding midfielder of the other team. They can play 1-2 — a striker and two offensive players behind — or 2-1 with two strikers. They have freedom to move around. They try to link with the midfielders or wing backs, always threatening to run in behind the opposition. Usually Werner is the most advanced player.

Achilles’ heel
The aggressive way in which both teams press to try to win back the ball is a weapon, but it can also be a problem. If the opponent can escape the pressure, then there is usually space to exploit. To beat the press, you need to support the player who regains the ball quickly. So if Jorginho has it, he needs Mason Mount to show or N’Golo Kanté to make themselves available for a pass. The same is true of Rodri or Fernandinho. They need options from Kevin De Bruyne or Bernardo Silva. Knowing Pep Guardiola’s methods, it is important for him to have a midfielder available behind the player who is coming to press. It is not enough for a player just to watch. You have to watch and move. Play simple and away from the pressure.

When I was at Valencia, we had a lot of players who were in sync and a lot of our rivals were not ready for that. The quality of both teams mean they have players who are quicker and more aggressive, and they can press faster. Equally, both teams have players who can play out of trouble.

The game is difficult to predict. I think Manchester City will have more possession. It seems they have a bit more confidence now in terms of passing and moving the ball. Chelsea will be a threat on the counterattack, especially if Timo Werner is playing because he likes to run behind defenders. But the opposite is also true. City can be very dangerous on the counter if Chelsea play high like they did in the second game against Leicester City after losing the FA Cup final. They were more aggressive in that second match. Under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea can also score from open play. That shows how both teams are strong in all areas.

Feels familiar
Between 2004 and 2010, I faced Chelsea 14 times as Liverpool manager in cup competitions and the Community Shield. That was in addition to the Premier League games! This will be the third meeting in six weeks between Man City and Chelsea and each time the analysis becomes harder as you try to see something that can be key. You must focus on your strengths as a team, but also what your rival will do to try to stop you. That means hard work with your staff before the game.

I do not think Pep Guardiola has an advantage because he has won the trophy before. Both teams will feel pressure. But as a manager, you can make a difference. It depends on your experience and capacity to read the game and make decisions in a short period of time. I used to try to be calm, analyse quickly the shape of the other team and what they are trying to do. During the game, the manager can change things by moving players, asking them to attack one side more than the other depending on what you see.

At half-time, you can do the same. In Istanbul, we made a tactical change playing three instead of four at the back, using Didi Hamann in the middle for Steve Finnan, and reinforced to the players that they were doing the right things despite the scoreline. But when you analyse what happened in Istanbul, there is also the fact that you have a player like Steven Gerrard in your team who can score a great headed goal and start the comeback.

There is also always the chance that as a manager you can be thorough in your analysis and then a player scores with a free kick into the top corner, for example.

One to watch
Phil Foden is a player who has shown so much maturity and his understanding of the game is exceptional. Some players do not like taking players on in one-versus-one. He is the opposite. He has the skills to do it. His movement, and his change of pace, can unbalance any system of the other team.

If you watch how City arrived in the final, there are moments in every game where he is doing something different.

3 hours ago, Optimistic Nut said:

It’s the ‘he’s matched Benitez’ shite that I hate.

 

If Benitez had spent £100m plus after that Fulham game two years ago and there’d been literally no progress, he’d rightly be getting criticised.

And the laughable thing of comparing points totals two and three years later. Complete irrelevance. 29 points would've kept you up this season. The points required for first was 13 points fewer than last season. On the other hand, the points total required for top half of the table was higher than last season. In other words, points totals are changing all the time because the teams and the context of the league are changing all the time. 

Add ASM, Wilson, Willock and an improving Almiron to Rafa's counter attacking team - obviously there would be improvement. Almost certainly a sizeable one. Especially given he'd spent two years in the Premier League with attackers who either had pace but no quality, or quality but little pace, or mainly just little of either.

What a tremendous fucking cunt.

6 minutes ago, Stifler said:

It’s a foul because of the follow through, but I don’t think it’s a red card.

How should Vestergaard have stopped the follow through?

57 minutes ago, triggs said:

He is a Simeone type player but he's not good enough for that level IMO

Depends what "that level" is, because levels are, to a limited but clear extent, contextual. We all know players can look completely different in one manager's system than they do in another's, or from one league to another. For example, there were players who came up from the Championship under Rafa who one could easily have been expected to flop when they 'moved up' a level, yet then put in similar or better quality performances than they had before. Look at a player like Patrick Bamford, who has scored and assisted at a much higher rate in the Premier League than he did months earlier in a lower tier.

With a player like Almiron, who has a few obvious qualities, it's more indicative to look at whether he'd suit the type of games he'd play in La Liga and whether he'd fit into Simeone's system. Almiron is quick, can carry the ball forward from deep, can press and recover his position, can pinch in defensively and still close down wide, can combine and make runs to open up space and relieve pressure in a deep block. Those are the sort of qualities that would appeal to a coach like Simeone. He's not a goalscorer but that's not necessarily a priority for Simeone - the first priority is the clean sheet and if that is achieved then all that's needed is a set piece goal or for one of the forwards to convert a chance. If he can pitch in with goals and assists, especially when there's added space on the counter (and he's playing in a team who train very intensely so that they're on each other's wavelength defensively and offensively), then he's doing his job.

It's obviously hypothetical and very unlikely to happen - and I also don't necessarily even disagree with you - but I wouldn't bet against Almiron's ability to perform in Simeone's system. I could see him being a very handy first or second sub.

He's a Diego Simeone player if ever I've seen one. 

27 minutes ago, huss9 said:

how many automatic promotions and how many playoff successes out of interest?

Two automatic promotions (both 2nd), two play-off wins.

Incoming Joelinton analysis on MOTD.

It's a copy of Valeriy Lobanovskyi's setup but currently without the right profiles to actually carry it out.

Villa looked like they weren’t arsed

They were embarrassing. One of the worst performances I've seen all season.

And they still got a point.

Game is there for the taking for either team. Horrendous level of performance across the pitch.