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FC Barcelona – Gerardo Martino Needs Neymar to be Like Lionel Messi
People are so used to see Barcelona win every match, that every loss, not to mention consecutive defeats, is a source for talks about crisis and falling apart. Like it or not, the Lionel Messi injury is something extremely difficult to deal with, even for a team filled with game changers like Barcelona. Neymar isn’t the kind of player who does things on his own, and that means Gerardo Martino needs to find real tactical answers before the situation gets out of hand.
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Chelsea FC – Jose Mourinho Is Still Their Biggest Asset
Is making a switch into a 4-4-2 formation, playing that way for an entire half, that much of a stroke of genius? Yes, or at least it seems like it when you win. Chelsea took advantage of conceding a goal after only 14 seconds to fire back in an unexpected way during the second half, as Jose Mourinho made a change that his usually quite resourceful opponents couldn’t handle. Demba Ba being the spark of change might have been even more surprising.
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Juventus FC – Fernando Llorente With a Championship Goal
It might be a bit too soon to crown the next Serie A champions, but there was something special about Fernando Llorente scoring a 90th minute goal for Juventus to give them the dramatic win in another lackluster display, which fit quite perfectly with the results around them, making it seem like it might once again be a Bianconeri season.
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Liverpool FC – Luis Suarez Abandoned By Brendan Rodgers
Every once in a while Brendan Rodgers makes such a huge tactical blunder you can’t help but wonder if this Liverpool gig is a bit too much for him. Luis Suarez is talented, but even he can’t do it on his own against three central defenders.
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Manchester United – David Moyes Has Only Wayne Rooney to Count On
It wasn’t luck that got Manchester United their draw at White Hart Lane, but it had something to do with it. Wayne Rooney continues the cycle of interchanging seasons, with this one being one of the best of his career through the first three months, although it’s not enough to make David Moyes look like a genius, which he isn’t.
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Steven Gerrard – Liverpool Legend Shouldn’t Care About Alex Ferguson
Yes, there’s no denying that Steven Gerrard will probably retire one day as one of the best player to never win a domestic championship, although Liverpool have been looking a bit closer to achieving that goal this season. But it doesn’t mean that he’s had a pretty much dream career for his boyhood club, and nothing Alex Ferguson writes out of pure spite and venom is going to change that.
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Andre Villas Boas – One More Sacking Will End his Premier League Career
The point about the whole Andre Villas-Boas situation isn’t whether or not he deserves to keep his job with Spurs. It’s about his future in the Premier League as a manager after already getting sacked once by Chelsea, there’s a good chance he won’t get another opportunity from a club of this stature for a very long time.
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Impossible Misses – From Emanuele Giaccherini to FC Porto
There weren’t too many “big” matches across Europe this weekend, making it a rather dull Saturday for those looking for some prime time football. However, digging deeper reveals the same amount of quality and drama their usually is during a normal Saturday, including some impossible misses right in front of goal, including FC Porto in a comedy of errors during their loss to Academcia and Emanuele Giaccherini adding one for Sunderland in the draw against Aston Villa.
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Bayern Munich – Mario Götze Is Just Getting Started
It was Arjen Robben who scored both goals for Bayern Munich in their most recent win, extending their conquering form in the German Bundesliga this season, but Mario Götze is the player that at the moment makes the difference between a hungry and dangerous side to the one we saw in the second half, that’s simply content with winning and moving on to the next helpless victim that gets in their way of European domination.
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Real Madrid – Gareth Bale Makes us Forget All About Cristiano Ronaldo
It took Real Madrid some time, more than half an hour, to start pulling out all the stops. The pressure, the buzz around the Santiago Bernabeu was growing slightly louder. “They can’t do it with Ronaldo, they’re doomed without him…” Gareth Bale needed some time too when he first signed with the club. A hat trick and another assist later, no one was even thinking about the Portuguese star anymore.