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After Manchester United submitted Shalke 04 (4-1) in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, many people celebrated the setting of a final worthy of the competitions name. After all, both Barcelona and United will, after the match, have been in three Champions Leagues finals over the last five years. The teams are well known by their profound sense of tactical organisation inside Josh Hart Jersey the pitch, and, with different styles, by their breathtaking attacking football.So if we can think of anyone displeased with the fixture (besides Jos Mourinho), who would it be? In this writers humble opinion, even if theyre happy to a great degree, right now, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, must have much to worry.No, this is not (again) about the genius of Lionel Me si nor the cla s of Wayne Rooney. Right now were talking about the men who usually move around the last line of defenders, waiting the exact moment to do damage, faster than a blink of an eye. Those truly born offside. Since the liberalisation of the offside law, in the middle of the last decade, these kind of fast-thinking and agile strikers started to grow in numbers. The concept is old and simple: better than having to beat the defender in one-on-one is to be playing off his shoulders looking for the perfect time to run into a through ball, materialising in front of the goal with only the keeper to beat. David El Guaje Villa and (Ill explain it latter) Javier Chicharito Hernandez are this kind of players. Curiously enough the born offside expre sion is commonly linked to Sir Alex Ferguson who is remembered saying about themilanista goalscorer Filippo Inzaghi: that lad must have been born offside.With 34 matches played in La Liga, David Villa was caught offside 71 times. If we compare him with Me si and Pedro Rodriguez, the other two Barcelonas strikers, the real weight of this quantity becomes easier to understand: the Argentine has been caught offside 18 times in 33 matches while the Canarian was declared offside in 14 occasions out of 32 matches. But as much as this seems like a big negative number, working in the last line is one of the main a sets of Villas play. Lets not forget two of the most important Barcelonas goals of this season. The first, his first goal against Madrid at the 5-0 El Clasico, Darius Miller Jersey after a Me sis through ball, where he demonstrated his superb first touch and finished greatly. The second against Arsenal at the Emirates, again after a Me sis pa s. First touch finish, through the legs of Szczesny. Guardiolas plan to make Me si a false nine positioned at the centre of the action demands a sacrificed Villa to play wide, usually on the left. But Villa, as many Baras players do, is always switching positions, and these two E'Twaun Moore Jersey important goals were created centrally. Many of Villas goals are scored after a last line breakthrough not only at Barcelona, but also with Spain and at Valencia before.Even so, things have not been easy in the last few months for El Guaje. In the 17 fixtures he played following his great goal against Arsenal he has scored just twice. Although always important giving Me si space to create, Villa has clearly not been as accurate as normal and his first touch lacks the precision it usually has. After a brilliant collective play, in the first part of the recent derby against Espanyol, Villa had the golden opportunity of scoring an epoch defining goal. Once more he mi sed. This season, the most prolific Spanish striker still got a point to make no place better than Wembley.The seven years younger Javier Hernandez, meanwhile, has been shining like gold in the last matches Petr Cechbeing the last spectator of his quickne s of thinking. Ok, besides the goal against Chelsea, hes not obviously the first choice when we think of an offside-born striker, as many of his goals were from headers or from finishingafter cro ses, but lets look at his a sets. The Manchesters website with justice describes him as an out-and-out striker who is quick, two-footed and strong in the air (any coincidence with Villa isnt merely a coincidence). In 27 league matches he has scored 13 times, a percentage close to that of Villa (18 goals in 34 league matches). And this is only his first season at Old Trafford! Most important is the similarity between what his relation with Rooney is becoming and the Villa-Me Derrick Favors Jersey si connection (so thisis something about Rooney and Me si after all!). As Me si, this season Rooneys is transforming himself in a great a sistant, as he sits deep in the midfield more often, looking for space to play the ball behind the last line of defense. Even if he isnt used playing this way, Hernandezs increasingly acknowledging the nece sity of doing so, and hes the man with the ability and intelligence required. In the final the Mexican striker have serious chances of going into the spotlight if he plays off the shoulders of Baras defenders.Barcelona will certainly play with defenders high up the pitch, putting pre sure with its strikers up front. Rooney and Chicharito will then have lot of space for a last line breakthrough combo that is, if Barcelona players fail to do their pre sing well. But on the other hand, the J.J. Redick Jersey red devils will certainly have problems with the vision of Lionel Me si, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta (not to say the full-back playmaker Dani Alves). Maybe United should use some pre sing of its own as it wouldnt be wise for anybody to give the last three candidates for FIFA Ballon dOr time to think. A deep lying defence may add difficulty to the catalans space search, but lets not forget that Barcelonas strikers and midfielders have become used playing with very little space. For them, one of the main concerns will be a new and surprising one: the accuracy of David Villa. As a prediction we can expect a match surrounded by the ghost of the last line. |
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发表于 2024-7-5 11:17:39