(Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur must prove they belong in Europe's elite side after a late loss to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, manager Antonio Conte said on Thursday. Read Full Story
Understanding tactics is one thing. Managing under an owner with an increasingly clear sporting outlook is another matter.
If Chelsea had hoped for an immediate rebound when Graham Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel as manager, they were disappointed. A slight 1-1 draw at home to Red Bull Salzburg leaves Chelsea bottom of the Champions League table after two games and, with two games against AC Milan still to come, face the possibility of missing out on the knockout stages. Perhaps more concerning, however, is that Wednesday's performance was as disjointed as in recent weeks. Obviously it would be absurd to judge Potter after just one game - especially given that it comes in an unusual week for England's game in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death - but his team also faced the same problem as Tuchel, which was taking advantage of the midfield. dominance without too much penetration in the final third. Here, at least, is a real central striker who was brought in at Tuchel's request (though he was never able to set him up), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. No wonder it looks rusty. Kai Havertz was positioned behind him in what was certainly his best position, with Mason Mount on the right and Raheem Sterling, who scored Chelsea's only goal with a neat finish, on the left. But Sterling spent most of the game in pursuit, acting almost like a winger. He looked unhappy when he was substituted for Christian Pulisic in the sixth minute and may have felt his out-of-the-forward attacks were unnecessarily restricted. Yes, to be fair, work to be done. Chelsea faced Salzburg for a Champions League draw in Potter's first game as manager. IMAGO/PA Potter's Great Joining image was overshadowed by comments made by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly earlier in the week. He is not the first owner to be seduced by the idea of a multi-club model, one that has crept into football recently without much comment, but this serves to reinforce Unnecessarily inequality within the club and the stratification of leagues. But what attracted the most attention from the public was his idea of a Premier League star game. It's so improbable that it's impossible to do and the idea that it could generate $200 million for the pyramid is ridiculous (there's actually been a unique performance in English football to generate business). Collected funds for charities since 1908, the Community Shield, is accepted, a disturbing sign of how Boehly sees the world, rather than envisioning a system of equitable income distribution, or wondering what to do. how the rich get richer than others, he likes to rely on charitable donations to fund small clubs, the definition of hand washing fat cats). But what probably worries Potter most is what he says about how Boehly sees football and how little he understands it. Football is not a game of individuals. Take even the 11 most naturally gifted players on the planet, tie them together, and the result will be a mess. Perhaps legendary Ukrainian coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi exaggerated his point of view when he remarked that more important than the individual is interpersonal cohesion, but football is about union. This is why international football is so different from club football; National managers simply do not have the time to train their players in the complex pressure systems or complex attacking patterns we are used to seeing at club level. Internationals, with a few exceptions, are all about tightening the defense and hoping that an individual striker can do something. Two teams of 11 who have never played together before will inevitably lead to bad football, even before the lack of intensity and fear of unnecessary injuries. Chelsea are at the bottom of the Champions League table, with two games remaining against AC Milan. IMAGO/PA Image Whether Boehly thinks such a ploy is worth mentioning reveals that he considers the game primarily a matter of individuals, which perhaps explains why he are very interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo (and Anthony Gordon and Roméo Lavia) even if they would not fit in Tuchel's system. And if this week's interview at the SALT conference in New York reveals the kind of WhatsApps Boehly is sending to Tuchel, it's perhaps no surprise that the manager has become reluctant to respond. And that doesn't look encouraging for Potter in the long run. He is polite, studious and attentive. He is admirably open to new ideas, as evidenced by his stints with the Ghana women's team and the Swedish team in Östersund. But his parties have always had internal unity. He has worked with tight budgets and, by securing player purchases, has created balanced, intelligent teams that perform better within their resources. He has the resources now, but securing a buy-in will be more complicated due to the egos of the higher-earning players. The ego of an owner who doesn't understand that football is above all a system game can be an insurmountable obstacle. More football news:
0 Comentarios