Wednesday, March 9, 2011
This match was both exciting and frustrating. It was exciting because Milan created some great chances to score and yet it was frustrating at the same time, as the spurs decided to show up to the match by just defending. Leading 1 goal up going to the match, I was expecting the spurs to extend their lead and bring it to the Milan defense instead they decided to just defend their goal at all costs. The Rossoneri threw everything including the kitchen sink to the Spurs defense but they failed to find the goal even once. Milan defended the Spurs’ counterattack by double teaming Aaron Lennon immidietly at the midfield, the one responsible in setting up the Peter Crouch’ first leg strike, and forcing him to give up the ball instantly. With the defensive partnership of Nesta and Thiago Silva containing Peter Crouch and Rafael van Der Vaart, Milan was able to send Abate and Jankulovski to help with the offense.
The Rossoneri fielded with their traditional (4-3-3) formation, with the attacking trio of Alexandre Pato, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho up front. Two players that clearly stood out was Clarence Seedorf and Ignazio Abate. Both Seedorf and Abate rarely wasted performance and always looked to get their team moving forward, Seedorf was the catalyst as most of Milan’s attack originated from his boots. Both Zlatan and Pato was shackled by the Spurs’ defense and never found their flow.
The Spurs fielded a (4-4-1-1) formation but turned into a (4-5-1) defensive formation as Peter crouch was the only one left to attack. Both William Gallas and Michael Dawson were instrumental to their side, as they stopped the attacking trio of Milan. Gallas was the one who denied Robinho’s wide open shot at the goal line to preserve the Aggregate lead. Overall, every player for the spurs played great, if I were to choose the weakest player last night for the Spurs, that would be Van Der Vaart. It was obvious from the get go that he wasn’t fit and didn’t exert any influence on the match.
Harry Redknapp orchestrated a brilliant defensive gameplan by isolating Zlatan from his teammates. Here are some analysis of the Spurs defensive gameplan:
Zlatan (11) has the ball in front of the goal with Pato (7) and Robinho (70) on his side, ready to cut insides of their defenders. The spurs will force Zlatan (11) to go to his left by applying pressure to his right side via Dawson (20) and Piennar (10), Gallas will try to block Zlatan’s path towards goal and force him to go left much wider than he likes.
Zlatan (11) going to his left will be chase down by Modric (14) from behind and with the help of Gallas (11) and Corluka (22) blocking Zlatan’s path, his only path would be to go to the outside. Pato (7) realizing that Zlatan will go to the outside, will try to cut to the inside by going around the defenders. This is where Dawson (20) and Piennar (10) will be waiting for him. As they try to force him to go the outside to the same space as Robinho (70) by blocking his cut path. Robhino (70) is fully marked by Assou-Ekotto (32).
Zlatan (11) is forced wide, and now only faces Corluka (22) 1 on 1. He can’t pass back to the supporting midfield as Modric (14) will wait for some errand passes. His only choice would do a cross to his teammates or take a shot from a tight angle. If he opts to do a cross, the defense would be waiting for it, as shown by their aerial coverage(circle around the defenders), Both Pato (7) and Robinho (70) have no choice but to battle it on the air.
--Post Match: The Spurs showed the world that their defense can stop the best teams around, and partnered with a strong offense, they are definitely one of the favorites to lift the cup. The one thing that separates the Spurs from the rest of the field is that every position contributes and they don’t rely on what individual to bring them victory.
Zlatan wanders where the goal is.
The bigger defensive line vs. the small Robinho
Denied at the Line
Harry Redknapp orchestrated a brilliant defensive gameplan by isolating Zlatan from his teammates. Here are some analysis of the Spurs defensive gameplan:
Zlatan (11) has the ball in front of the goal with Pato (7) and Robinho (70) on his side, ready to cut insides of their defenders. The spurs will force Zlatan (11) to go to his left by applying pressure to his right side via Dawson (20) and Piennar (10), Gallas will try to block Zlatan’s path towards goal and force him to go left much wider than he likes.
Zlatan (11) going to his left will be chase down by Modric (14) from behind and with the help of Gallas (11) and Corluka (22) blocking Zlatan’s path, his only path would be to go to the outside. Pato (7) realizing that Zlatan will go to the outside, will try to cut to the inside by going around the defenders. This is where Dawson (20) and Piennar (10) will be waiting for him. As they try to force him to go the outside to the same space as Robinho (70) by blocking his cut path. Robhino (70) is fully marked by Assou-Ekotto (32).
Zlatan (11) is forced wide, and now only faces Corluka (22) 1 on 1. He can’t pass back to the supporting midfield as Modric (14) will wait for some errand passes. His only choice would do a cross to his teammates or take a shot from a tight angle. If he opts to do a cross, the defense would be waiting for it, as shown by their aerial coverage(circle around the defenders), Both Pato (7) and Robinho (70) have no choice but to battle it on the air.
--Post Match: The Spurs showed the world that their defense can stop the best teams around, and partnered with a strong offense, they are definitely one of the favorites to lift the cup. The one thing that separates the Spurs from the rest of the field is that every position contributes and they don’t rely on what individual to bring them victory.
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