Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 114
April 8, 2019
Spurs’ errors may damage hopes of breaking down Manchester City | Jonathan Wilson
Inherent sloppiness at crucial moments threatens to damage whatever tactics Mauricio Pochettino uses in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg
There are two ways to play against Manchester City. You can press high up the pitch, as Liverpool and Lyon have with some success over the past two seasons, and try to force their defenders actually to defend, or you can sit deep, look to absorb pressure and hit them on the break. Jürgen Klopp may have dismissed the bunker mentality as being akin to looking to win the lottery, attempting to restrict the number and quality of the chances City have but essentially accepting they will have some and hoping they will miss – but it worked for Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Wolves. Pressing probably is the best way of disrupting City’s flow, but it is an approach fraught with risk: when it went wrong for Liverpool last season, they lost 5-0. Huddersfield pressed hard at the Etihad last May and were rewarded with a 0-0 draw; when they tried the same again in August they lost 6-1.
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April 4, 2019
Solskjær's sticky run, City on top and Moise Kean – Football Weekly Extra
Max Rushden, Jonathan Wilson, Gregg Bakowski and Paolo Bandini discuss Manchester United’s stumble, Manchester City’s dominance, Fulham’s capitulation, grand stadium openings and racist abuse in Italy
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We look back at the last few days of football, starting with Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wolves – a third defeat in the last four games for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team, their worst run of the season.
Continue reading...April 1, 2019
Liverpool just won’t stay down – they’ve become Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction | Jonathan Wilson
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of GOATs, it was the epoch of frauds, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, they had everything before them, they had nothing before them, they were all going direct to Heaven, they were all going direct the other way. It was a period in which the only degree of comparison was the superlative and nobody could feel pressure without being denounced as a bottler.
Liverpool were not bottling the title after 89 minutes at Anfield on Sunday but nor can it reasonably be denied that what happened in the second half, as Tottenham came back at them after a disjointed first half, was conditioned to a large extent by circumstance and the awareness of everybody present of the significance of the result.
Related: Late wins show spirit behind Liverpool’s title push, says Andy Robertson
Related: Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: player ratings from Anfield
Continue reading...March 29, 2019
Klopp and Pochettino have reminded English football what it does best | Jonathan Wilson
Liverpool and Tottenham meet on Sunday when the high press will be evident in what is likely to be an engaging ninth meeting of the men in the dugout
English football has, of course, learned before about the dangers of hailing golden ages before they’ve hatched, but with four Premier League clubs in the last eight of the Champions League and a youthful national side playing with rare verve, it can reasonably be acknowledged that there is a profound sense of positivity and promise about the game. At least at the top end. And if you only look at what’s happening on the pitch. And you ignore the looming iceberg of Brexit.
A huge part of the reason for that is the two managers who will meet at Anfield on Sunday, Jürgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino, and not only because they have led their respective sides to European quarter-finals. It’s not just the players they have produced for the national side – four of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the wins over the Czech Republic and Montenegro play for Pochettino and three used to, while two play for Klopp. But for injuries, there would have been another two from Pochettino’s stable and one from Klopp’s, and that’s without counting Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana who are now on the periphery but have played for both – it’s the way the managerial pair have changed the wider culture.
Related: Firmino and Wijnaldum seal Liverpool win as Spurs pay price for Vorm errors
Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport
Continue reading...March 28, 2019
Ole Gunnar Solskjær needs to be more than high priest of Fergianity | Jonathan Wilson
Backwards, then, to a glorious future. Where change has failed, let there be continuity. After six years of churn and unconvincing change, Manchester United in appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjær on a permanent basis have turned not merely to an icon of their past but to a manager who seems determined to be a conduit for that past. Let there be progress through history. Let it always be 1999.
It is a popular move and, on the face of it, a good one. Solskjær has transformed this season. Yet Ed Woodward’s track record is such that every time he takes a decision the instinct is to flinch and assume it must in some way be flawed. And there are questions. Solskjær is inexperienced. He has never undertaken a rebuilding project such as this before. The charm of his Scandi‑manc vowels and sheer excitement at being in the job may not last for ever.
Related: I feel so privileged to be Manchester United manager, says Solskjær
There have been notable tactical successes, most obviously at Arsenal and PSG
Related: Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League winners: where are they now?
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Continue reading...Solskjær at the wheel and England in Montenegro – Football Weekly Extra
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Mike Calvin discuss the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the ups and the downs of England’s trip to Montenegro, Gordon Taylor and Harry Kane’s NFL dreams
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We look back at the last few days of football, starting with the breaking news that Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been appointed as permanent manager of Manchester United.
Continue reading...March 21, 2019
Lionel Messi returns for Argentina but can his dreams finally be realised?
Last weekend, Lionel Messi hit a high even in the context of his ridiculous career, his name chanted by opposing fans after another astonishing hat-trick. This week, it’s back to an environment that has never been so happy for him, back to the one area of his career in which there is a sense still of something missing: Argentina.
Debates about who is or was the greatest are futile. There are too many different variables at play. But to someone who had never seen them, who looked only at the numbers, the comparison between Messi and Diego Maradona would seem absurd. One of them has played consistently as a genius for 14 years, the other produced perhaps four seasons of genius across his career. But the mind seems to struggle with consistency, to privilege the peaks and troughs of Maradona’s story over the relentless brilliance of Messi’s. The memory deals in moments and with Messi it’s almost as though there have been too many to process. And, vitally, one of Maradona’s moments involved lifting the World Cup.
Related: Euro 2020 qualifiers and international football: 10 things to look out for
Related: Messi, Matty Taylor, Lewis Hamilton and commentators gone wild | Classic YouTube
Continue reading...March 18, 2019
City's Cup comeback, Liverpool on top and Zidane's return – Football Weekly
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Barney Ronay discuss Swansea’s brave defeat, convenient paths for Manchester City, Liverpool going top, Chelsea slipping up, Zidane back with a bang and more
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We look back at the weekend of football just gone, starting with the FA Cup and Manchester City’s 3-2 comeback win at Swansea.
Continue reading...March 17, 2019
A patch of blue emerges through the grey skies over Goodison Park | Jonathan Wilson
Marco Silva talked up victory over Chelsea but it will take more than that to suggest Everton are improving
Above the Bullens Road Stand a tear appeared in the clouds and behind there shone, well, not a sun-kissed future exactly but at least a bluer shade of grey. Everton had a second goal and, with it, a first win in 26 months against a top-six side. And that, at least, is something.
Related: Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson strike as Everton overcome Chelsea
Related: Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson strike as Everton overcome Chelsea
Continue reading...March 14, 2019
Four English clubs in the Champions League last eight. What took so long?
Unfurl the bunting, roll out the barrel, clear the streets for a party: there are four Premier League teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. With Chelsea all but through to the last eight of the Europa League and Arsenal in with a chance, these are heady days for the coefficient (even if La Liga has, so far, picked up more points this season). To which the first response should probably be less self-congratulation than,“What took so long?”
It’s 10 years since the Premier League last made up half the quarter-finalists. In 2009, three of them got to the semi-final but it was Barcelona who went on to win the competition in what was the first of Pep Guardiola’s four seasons at the club. Given the previous year there had been an all-Premier League final, Manchester United beating Chelsea in Moscow, and that English clubs had got to the final in each of the three seasons before that, this felt normal.
Related: Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool are back on the map after win over Bayern Munich
Premier League clubs in Champions League quarter-finals
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