A world-class defender in a past life, Fernando Hierro’s safety-first approach to this one should come as no surprise. But the novice manager’s undue caution certainly inspired a shock, allowing resolute Russia to execute their plan-of-frustration to perfection. Continue reading
Reputations are made to be broken. Hector Cuper, the dour Argentinian who led Egypt to their first finals in 28 years, is seen by all and sundry as a negative manager. The people of host nation Russia, this tournament’s lowest-ranked side, predicted certain embarrassment — and early elimination — on home soil.
And, yet, as of Tuesday night, Russia are sitting pretty atop Group A on six points; poised to reach their first knockout phase since the collapse of the USSR. And Cuper, after indulging Mohamed Salah in a shockingly open system, is going home. Football: bloody hell. Continue reading
“I like to press high up the pitch, and put the opponents under pressure,” said Juan Antonio Pizzi, espousing his footballing philosophy in a recent chinwag with Arab News. Yet, in an ironic twist, the Argentinian was beaten at his own game here, by a rampant host nation determined to defy all expectations. Continue reading
France’s 4-2-3-1 flops
Didier Deschamps’ last dalliance with 4-2-3-1, prior to May’s warm-up friendlies, saw his France side crash to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Albania in June 2015.
The French manager’s memory must be as short as his passing range, as the same configuration completely failed to threaten the same unheralded opposition in the first half at Stade Vélodrome on Wednesday night. Continue reading
Walker and Rose show France how it’s done
Like France’s Didier Deschamps, England manager Roy Hodgson selected a 4-1-4-1 system with inverted wingers for his side’s opening group game against Russia. But while the host nation’s narrowness played into Romanian hands, with ageing full backs Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra unable to regularly provide the requisite width, their younger cross-channel equivalents looked far more dangerous. Continue reading
Tactics Truck v2.0 