The Footy Dynamic

🚨🇫🇷 Didier Deschamps: “I will ask a question… does the referee possess the required level to manage a World Cup semi-final?”.

Conclusion: you can’t build anything around Tchouameni. Too slow, too passive, just doesn’t have a great deal of football in him.

Fascinating how much of a 180 Nolan's reputation has gotten among cinephiles. I remember when he was frequently called "a dumb person's idea of a smart director" but ever since Tenet and Oppenheimer came out he's been pretty unambiguously regarded as an auteur

- Atleti paid £113m Felix and he flopped. - We paid £72m for Sancho and he flopped. - Chelsea paid £107m for Enzo and he’s MEADY. - Barca paid £135m for Dembele and he flopped. Paying a premium on youngsters has a low success rate, not all succeed✌🏽

Jude Bellingham vs Bayern Munich (both legs)

Lamine Yamal is not “still regaining fitness” he’s playing through wear & tear. Only rest will allow him to recover. He’s over-stressing his hamstring at 80% and compromising his physical development in his teenage years to be available for the World Cup. Predict this will also be the final nail in the coffin that prevents him from ever consistently hitting peak Lionel Messi levels. He returns to Flick’s Barcelona, a very high tempo team. They will move him centrally, but his explosiveness will only return with an extended break, which seems unlikely with the way the football calendar and pressures of top level football work. Even the fastest versions of Yamal already looked slower than Messi to the eye, and then he got the groin and pubalgia issues. With a worn down hamstring it’s unlikely he ever reaches the peak athleticism of CR7, Messi, Mbappe, Bale and other freaks. Besides Michael Owen noted below, a loose example of this is James Harden on the Brooklyn Nets. While his situation was more severe, playing through a grade 2 strain at 31 in the 2021 playoffs affected his explosiveness for years. Ronaldo Fenomeno did not play through any injuries, but did have a patellar tendon tear in 1995/1996 that was perhaps a sign of things to come. Around the time Messi accumulated hamstring strains, he regularly rotated, often came off the bench early in his first seasons, and accumulated minutes more slowly. Messi had already demonstrated recurring soft-tissue problems by age 18-20, and Barcelona responded by managing his load. While Yamal has generally been healthier so far, he has also carried a heavier competitive workload at a younger age than Messi did.

I'm bored so let's try to actually determine what makes a good "controller" on ball - strong technical fundamentals: weight of pass, good touch, wide range of passing, two footedness, good shielding to retain the ball, quick change of direction - fast processing speed: can recognize runs, passes between the lines, make decisions quickly in transition moments - progressive mindset. Rodri/Xavi are risk averse players but that's only to set up the conditions to catch defenders off guard when they actually want to make something happen. playing with guile and making quick progressive actions - top level endurance. both mental and physical. you're playing one of the most taxing positions in the game and you have to have clarity and intensity for 90 minutes while leading your team Tielemens is very good at football

“When Bellingham gets into that untouchable mode” He’s always this. He’s not streaky, one of most consistent footballers to maintain that game in & out. Because the club has failed to platform him at even 50% since fist season- doesn’t mean he has still not produced. Bellingham does 100 things for Real Madrid and lack of structure is cause of problems- he doesn’t have a defined role or instructions, he’s asked to fill the gaps everywhere, run the press, drop deep to progress, keep it tight high-up AND crash the box while having to CONSTANTLY chase players because the team is so unstable. Drop the useless usage with proper coaching and role, add unlocking pieces where current squad does not possess and you will get this all the time. Bellingham, Vinícius Jr. and Mbappé playing like this is a matter of platforming and what Real Madrid have lacked to provide for them- also never gave time for anything to gel together and solution to be found.