As a defensive midfielder fresh from Diego Simeone’s tutelage. This is a signing that serves two purposes, a longterm replacement for Fernandhino and technically good player adding to defensive shape and passing.

In context the defensive unit, consisting of, Aymeric Laporte, Stones, Walker/Cancelo and for the moment noone fully claiming the left back position. The defensive shape and strategy of the club should be more resolute as players have had a season or two to familliarise.

However, I feel this was not quite the case vs Spurs, the same inability to hold on to a lead and add to it is the same problem that lead to their exit at the hands of Tottenham.

The first goal from spurs could be deemed a goal keeping error as the ball was in my opinion quite close to the keeper.

Secondly, Lamela was allowed to much space in midfield, with centre back contending with the run of two forwards already one of the midfielder, presumably Rodri should’ve been poised to foul or disposes him. That amount of space for any top midfielder, and ther are plenty in this year’s champions league presents a deadly opportunity.

Efficency, City had 10x more shots than Spurs 30 in total and 10 on target. With better finishing the attack really should’ve ended the game as a contest. This could be attributed to a quality performance by Hugo Lloris who was in impressive form.

However my argument is given The way Spurs knocked them out last season let us consider this was the first leg of champions league semi final. City would be under immense pressure in the returning leg.

Although it is early in the season, on would think the preseason Asian Cup and first game overhaul. City would hit the ground running.

I remain unconvinced that City has done enough to take that extra step that would lead them to Continental Glory.

Pep is not the best defensive coach by any means, but his defensive tactics should be scrutinised more heavily in my opinion.

Quickly aadding to a previous post, the Parisien problem.. Athletico Bilbao has a strong Basque grown culture, or as a bare minimum raising players through their youth system. This ensures by enlarge players have a real affinity for the football club.

That being said what a bicycle kick to give Bilbao the win from an Iconic and beloved player of the club. First touch of the game and in the 88th minute what an impact. At 38 years old he seems to be as sharp as ever and could prove a real goalmouth threat. Albeit as a supersub.

Continued performances like this will give defenders a lot to think about having dealt with Inaki Williams speed for prolonged periods of the game.

The veteran looks to be in a form that could now rival the substitute role that gained Solskjaer noteriety at Manchester United

This is a real sign of a good season to come for the club as top performances came from Inaki Williams who was a constant threat to the Barça defense with his speed, and we should see quite a few goals from him this season.

The Basque side fielded a starting 11 of players born in the Basque region and this cultural identity plays a role in the sturdy mental strength of the team!!

The latest instalment of la Liga is here and the big three seem to have increased the gap in quality between themselves and the chasing pack.

Madrid defensive organisation has looked shaky at best. That being said defensive henchman Casemeiro may improve that. Combined with new addition Eder Militão should reinforce another wise suspect defense.

Barcelona remains strong on the flanks but the question of Umtiti’s fitness will be important and how the replacement pairing will work with Pique.. The real question will be on the athleticism of the ageing Busquets, his pairing with new acquisition Frenkie de Jong may struggle supporting the centre backs leaving Barcelona more susceptible to attack than in previous seasons.

Athletico is perhaps the most balanced as the whole team generally transitions together between attacking and defensive phases. Gimenez the heir apparent of Diego God in will surely rise to the occasion. The midfield pairing of Saul and Koke seems competent and is a duo I tout to almost reach Inieasta&Xavi levels.

What these teams are all geared to do is score goals, with Neymar likely to sign with Barceolna or Madrid. This is an arms race that who ever wins may end up with the fiercest attack in the league.

In my opinion Athletico is posited to pickup where they left of last season defensively and won’t concede many.

Athletico will be the hardest of the big three to break down.

Real Madrid’s defense will need time to Gel, combined with the fact the club and coach have never been defensively orientated, I can see them dropping unnecessary points.

Barça’ Centre backs are reasonable, fitness of the starting pair is essential tho as Umtiti/Pique proved formidable. The quality upfront will mean they will have oppositions on the back foot throughout many matches, with possession and pressure from constant goal threats.

The best attack as it stands goes to Barcelona. MESSI Suarez and Greizmann all impact players capable of pulling off something special at any moment and Dembele as a replacement. I expect them to score the most.

Lastly from his performances in preseason I expect Joao Felix to score a minimum of ~25 goals in all competitions and establish himself ahead of Alvaro Morata. Combined with Diego Costa’s brass nature and power, this will be an ordeal for defenses in the league

Structurally the club is in some of the best shape that many clubs could only dream of. As I’ve mentioned in a previous, financial muscle supplied by the Qatar Sports Investment in unison with a sporting director like Leonardo. These are the ideal conditions for a club to progress quickly, but why then has psg failed to make the next step and claim the title.

The next question would be managers, since the new ownership entered the fray Psg has had 4 manager since 2011. Ancelotti, Blanc, Emery and now Thomas Tuchel. None of these managers are lacking tactically with Emery and Ancelotti lifting Champions league and Eurpa league respectively.

With these factors well accounted for the issue must lie with the players. Recruiting wise Psg has not struggled I would remind the reader, that Marco Veratti was scouted from Serie B with Pescara.

This now begs the question how do events like the remontada occur, with superstars in the squad.

First I would raise the issue that although 3 French players featured in the second leg and 4 in the first. Only Rabiot came through their youth system, with talented academy product Kingsley Coman sold off to Juventus and on loan at Bayern. The retention of youngsters coming thru the academy is the first problem. I have highlighted one who is touted to become world class.

The second issue is not of the quality of signings as the talent of Neymar is undeniable. A more sophisticated approach in considering chemistry and player temperament.

My case here is that this season has seen Antoine Greizman move to Barcelona for €120 million. This in contrast to the Neymar transfer for €222 million. Although Greizman’s price had a clause that only reduced his price on 1 July. Effectively at the time of the Neymar purchase he cost €200 million. My feeling is that he would’ve been a much better fit for Psg.

Ideally a Psg that featured Mbappe Greizman Coman as the attacking front and more home grown players would benefit the club greatly as I feel they would take the losses more personally.

This argument is muted by the fact players have their own ambitions for winning the champions league. Also, many of the foreign based players may not feel personal attachment to Paris, they do need to perform for national team selection and personal accolades.

Perhaps four-two is a more fitting scoreline, give tho two attempts that hit the post. Emerson was the only other real threat from Chelsea, with his well thumped efforts..

Six interception from marquee signing Maguire, he put in a solid enough performance. In midfield Pogba played quite a reasonable game distributing well and giving an excellent assist for Rasbford. R Ashford and Martial, will give many oppositions plenty to think about as they played quite well, Rasbford could improve his touches and concentration from the first half.

Degea was confident enough and dealt well with Emmersons offerings.

Chelsea as a team that will feature in the champions league, will need to take a long hard look at today.

Kurt Zouma may have been naive and clumsy challenging Rasbford in the box. The penalty and resulting goal really gave United momentum.

Ngolo Kante was sorely missed, although Chelsea did reasonably well for 60 odd minutes and did well applying pressure as the goals started flooding in they failed to regroup.

Ngolo Kante would’ve been a pivot to push united into mistakes as they try to counter attack quickly. As we saw last season under pressure Pogba can be pushed into errors. That was apparent today with a few slips and him being caught on the ball once or twice.

Chelsea will need to show a way more intensive defensive aptitude if the are to make Europe through the league.

The champions league may prove daunting under this current structure but it is early days yet.

It is a longterm goal of mine to eventually own or buy a football club.. With that in mind let’s see some meteoric rises that may serve as a blueprint…

UD Salamanca is another club that saw financial difficulty as a major cause in their decline. Reaching the sixth tier of Spanish football in 2016.

They are currently in the third tier as it stands and I’ll be watching their progress..

The club is owned by fans through a membership one vote per person and the directors are volunteers an interesting structure.

This club with its strong fan culture is one to watch..

Salford City is owned by Peter Lim Singapore billionaire supplying financial muscle the remaining 60% of share is owned by former Man Utd players like Beckham, Scholes, Neville and Nicky Butt. The chairman an accomplished executive Karen Baird and the manager has Represented the Scottish national team, small hints at Fergie..

This club was in the 8th tier of English football as recently as recently as 201. The takeover by the class of 92 has seen them rise since then to tier 4 or league 2. This strengthens the case for a football orientated board, combine with financial muscle..

Spal where Fabio Capello came through the youth academy. Spal has had two distinct bankruptcy periods 2005 & 2012. In the later bankruptcy they were in the 4th tier of Italian football and as highlighted in a previous post a new owner emerged and is an integral part of the revival story. **The Colombarini family**

Also worth note enigmatic coach Leonardo Semplici who made this team extremely difficult to beat and is responsible for there survival last season. A manager who likens his approach to Leonardo Jardim who led Monaco to a successful run in the Champions league. Semplici managed promotion in each of his debut season that saw the club rocket its way into series A.

Further testament to his prowess is that Spal had a player called up to the national side Alex Meret albeit on loan..

Chairman oowner and manager produced synergy that saw a fourth division side rise to Serie A for the first time in history. Its a well oiled machine and an establishment to watch!! This club’s last golden era was in the 1950’s and this is a template I feel copied well by Wolverhampton. From owner to personnel, this tactic can be used by sleeping champions league clubs such as Nottingham Forest.

Myself as a potential investor in football stocks I can’t stress enough the balance of executive prowess and football savoir faire, that is proving successful and I expect the investment in lower league teams with progression plans to provide healthy returns as football continues to develop the way it is monetised…

I also can’t stress enough the case of Wolverhampton, the manager’s is tactically adept and owners vision for the club saw a strong enough pull for the club to secure starting players from the Portuguese National team. Getting Ruben Neves to join the championship for around £18 million these ar keys to success.

Maldini legacy Cesare, Paolo can Daniel do it, with his call up to the senior team for preseason. This is the sort of legacy only seen in fairy tales and would represent a real legacy. With grandad MHSRIP, and dad as integral parts of Italian and Milan history this family would no doubt have left its mark on the beautiful game.. Although he is some what an attacker and most likely an attacking midfielder, I will keep close tabs and see how this potential dynastic influence plays out.

Zidane…. I will look into further as the season progresses…

Lilian Thuram one of the best defenders I had the pleasure of watching, rather I ronically has two sons who are both attackers Marcus currently at Borrusia Monchengladbach and come of a reasonable u21 tournament with France. There is however Khephren who appears to have been scoring wonder goals with the Monaco youth side last season. This being enough to get Viera to commit, he is only 18 but is already a towering 1,91metres tall and will be one to watch this season.. The French league has been producing peodigys and I am excited by his potential..

Iwobi as the nephew of Jay Jay Okocha, has big shoes to fill as this legend graced Psg, lead Bolton to almost qualify for the champions league and had an Olympic medal with Nigeria in 1996 a true African treasure. He also had a stint with Eintracht Frankfurt. Iwobi cons of a somewhat dissapointin Afcon tournament, let’s hope he can produce a big season with Arsenal. The current crop of Nigerians must strive for more as they are quite a talented bunch themselves. With loads of domestic and foreign based players to choose from.

Kluivert, Justin son of Patrick has some relatively big shoes to fill however, his move to Roma is an exciting one and this must be a big season for him. Roma has a very solid contingent of young players like Nicolo Zaniolo and Cengiz Under. The clubs push towards youth development is promising and could be an incubator for potential world class players in the not so distant future.

Federico Chiesa son of Italian legend Enrico Chiesa who devastated the seire A for over a decade. Federico is coming off of an extremely successful u21 campaign with Italy and it will be good to see him in action with Diego Simeone’s son.

Giovanni Simeone son of the legendary coach and player diego. Has been playing for Fiorentina since 2017 ammasing 20 goals from 70apps. And won himself 5 Argentine caps from which he has scored one goal. At 24 I hope he really get into his stride, I will be watching closely there seems to be good young talent around in Fiorentina…

There are four Hazard brothers Eden currently at real Madrid Thorgan at Borrusia Dortmund. Kylian currently play in the Belgian league (Cercle Brugge and Ethan in a Belgian football academy. Their father only played at semi-pro level however their mom had a stint in the Belgian first division only stopping when she got pregnant.

One is the best defender I ever had the pleasure of watching the other is debatably the best defender of all time, both are legends.

With Harry Maguire signing with Manchester United for £80 million my initial reaction is oh no, thats too much. Or if he’s that much what does that make Puyol? Baresi who even had the nickname Kaiser Franz a tribute to Franz Beckenbauer.

These are amongst the most skillfull defenders ever to play the game as you may imagine the resembled midfielders more than defenders. The passing ability possesed by these players more the German counterpart is what lead to the creation of the sweepr position. It is my hope that the high fees are a signal that we are set to return to a golden age of defenders…

The matter of fact of it is the Premieire https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43002985

Ajax managed quite an impressive run last season similar to that of Monaco 16/17 not to long ago and in this post I hope to explore how I believe the perfect balance between business decisions and footballing decisions.

In my opinion no two owners have had such an impact over there clubs as, Roman Abramovic and Fiorentino Perez. Both have perhaps through a propensity to inject capital more freely than others, boost their respective clubs.. Real has seen some of its most successful periods in history under Mr Perez and his philosophy or Galacticos projects making Madrid a hub for the best football players in the world. Filling his teams with balon d’or winners and possible winners has proven a successful strategy.

Equally under Mr Abromovic Chelsea turned from a top half to mid table team, to real title contenders. This can be attributed to free flowing capital, but both owner have shown a propensity to be heavily involved with the clubs.

Frank Lampard is now Chelsea’s 13th manager in 15 years paying testament to the high expectations the owner has for his club.

Real Madrid have also had a high turnover rate with 15 different manager over the same time frame. This approach although heavy handed has proven quite fruitful for both clubs and has seen these clubs deliver trophies.

I would however be remiss if I didn’t also say this has the draw back of clubs lacking an identity or recognizable style with such frequent changes in management. Approaches of Mancherster United in the past with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm for such a long period is worth note. Also with the time that Diego Simeone has been at Athletic he has been able to establish a particular bar and of football at the club.

I would also bring to the reader’s attention the Basque club Athletic Bilbao through ownership and culture have retained, culture and identity through nurturing talent from their academy and at most the region. This has to an extent meant they have remained a relatively mid table club. However they do have a clear identity.

Liverpool has in contrast had only 5 managers since 2004. This stability and more patient approach has tended to pay dividends for them in the past. Again recently with the Champions league victory this despite two finals defeats in the two previous campaigns. Enough to have seen Klopp dismissed at Chelsea or Real. At this means plaudits are needed for the Fenaway group, for an awesome recruiting job on Klopp.

My favorite organisation, is Ajax Amsterdam with Marc Overmars as sporting director and Edwin van der Sar as C. E.O this executive body is the ideal mix for any football ensuring day to day running of the football club and issue like transfer policy are in the hands of former players held in high esteem. This may be a real driving force in the champions league run of last season. If the club can replecate such achievements for a prolonged period they will deserve plaudits.

The board is full of individuals with strong sporting backgrounds like Leo van Wijk who trained with Johan Cryuff and has been C. E. O of Dutch Airline KLM.. Another board member they can boast of is former player and coach at all levels of Dutch football Danny Blind.. Having Such a seasoned and experienced board well poised to monetise the club but still maintain a focused football oriented approach at heart..

The last approach can clearly be seen as that of Arsenal and Ac Milan that are mainly run as business. Milan is currently owned by the Elliot management group a hedgefund whos main purpose is to increase the value of the football club as much as possible to ensure that when they eventually do sell they make a lucrative return on there £300 million acquisition. This with Paolo Maldini as sporting director and Boban as an executive as well reinforces the idea of having former players in executive roles. It will be intresting to see how this setup will perform given Milan is a club with inherently high expectations!!

Arsenal has taken on their former player Edu Gaspar as a sporting director and this should be a step in the right direction. for a club who’s owners who have for the longest time exceeded expectations whilst maintaining a very desciplined wage structure. This combined with a very restrictive transfer policy and one of the most expensive ticket prices have left me of the view the club was a conduit for ownerships profit.

The tv money as additional factor meaning Arsenal’s share price should continue to increase. In September 2004 an Arsenal share cost £1500 today a share in the club will set you back £30000.