Were My England v Italy Game Predictions Correct?Weekly English Premier League Opinion #28Jonny Carter filmed this video BEFORE the start of the England v Italy game and made some predictions. Was he correct?What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please let us know by commenting below.
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Who is the Player of the Season?Weekly English Premier League Opinion #27Jonny Carter gives his opinion on who could be the Player of the Season in the English Premier League.What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please let us know by commenting below.
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Manchester United's Changing Tactics Weekly English Premier League Opinion #26 Jonny Carter gives his opinion on how and why Manchester United change tactics...even in the middle of a game. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please let us know by commenting below.
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Has Pogba Just Lost the English Premier League Championship for Manchester Utd? Weekly English Premier League Opinion #15 Jonny Carter gives his opinion on how Pogba's red card could have cost them any chance of winning the EPL. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please let us know by commenting below.
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By Sean Pearson Area: Half a field Time: 20mins Players: 6v6 Objective: • For players to understand the defensive shape of the style • To frustrate the attacking team Set Up: The defending team sets up in a 4-2-3 or a 4-4-1. The attacking team is in a 4-3-3 formation without the 2 CB’s. The
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Jose Mourinho’s Porto won the UEFA Cup in 2003 then the UEFA Champions League in 2004. They did this on the basis of having a very strong defence, very organised in midfield with fast attacking transitions.
When I organised possession, they would play direct and often lose possession but look to recover the second ball while the opponent were unorganised and exploit space that they leave to press.
This week, I will look at the counter attacking phase and how Deco was the main attacking outlet in short pass counter attacks with plenty of support running at pace ahead of the ball, knowing Deco was good enough to find most passes in even the tightest of areas.
Deco initiates the counter attack
Here, Costinha wins the ball and passes to Maniche, who splits the midfield with a 1st time pass to Deco who is
Continue readingBy Stevie Grieve
Since I was young, I have always had an interest in tactics, specifically successful coaches, or coaches who have seemingly come from nowhere. When Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto won the UEFA Cup in 2003 against Celtic, I enjoyed the direct style of play much more than I enjoyed watching Celtic’s direct style of play, mainly because it had some unpredictability, fluidity of movement and the talents of Deco as a number 10 in a midfield diamond.
Costinha’s role was an interesting one; a common thing in all of Mourinho’s teams has been the utilisation of a defensive midfielder who sticks to his position and protects the defence – Costinha, Claude Makelele, Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Xabi Alonso, Nemanja Matic – but for me it was interesting because it was a ‘new’ position as I had grown up in Scotland with a 4-4-2 and no set defensive or attacking midfielder, and certainly not within a diamond midfield which is common in Switzerland and Italy.
Mourinho’s Porto were a strong defensive team with pace and efficiency in attack, with a good supporting cast in midfield in the form of Thiago, Nuno Maniche and super-sub Dmitri Alenichev.
Porto’s defensive solidity - Establish a block width, depth and compensation system
Wide area turnover; Porto drop off and form a flat back 4
As the ball is lost on the side instantly the back 4 drop off and get
Continue readingNext week we will have our new book, "Coaching the 4-2-3-1" ready for release. With teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City, Spain and others all playing with a 4-2-3-1, this has become our most anticipated book for a long time. Coaches can't wait to get their hands on it. Just to give you a
Continue readingOne of our best selling books over the past few years has been the 4-4-2 v 4-3-3. This book takes an in-depth look at two of the greatest managers/coaches in today's game...Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourhino. Both have incredible records, yet both have their teams play with a different style and formation. Ferguson opts for the 4-4-2 and Mourhinho with the 4-3-3. 
The argument as to who is better or what formation is better is too contentious for any book to answer. But what this special book, 4-4-2 vs 4-3-3, does do is to analysis in-depth the differing formations, strategies and tactics used by the two managers.
Through assessing the key players, the way in which the team adapted to new signings and how both managers adjusted their team's play to get
Continue readingUEFA has charged Jose Mourinho with improper conduct following the controversial second yellow cards earned by Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos in Real Madrid's 4-0 victory at Ajax in last weeks Champions League game. Here is the situation. Both players had been yellow carded earlier in the game (Mourinho claims they were "soft" debatable decisions).
Continue readingOkay, it's only another Champions League title (can it be described that way?), but my opinion of Jose Mourinho have sky rocketed after Inter won the Champions League this weekend. The "Special One" can certainly be described that way now. Let's look at some reasons why. He has generated success with three different clubs, winning
Continue readingWho would you choose as the manager of your professional team if you had the choice of Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho? The argument could be made for Ferguson based solely on his incredible record with Man U over the past 20 years or so. The number of EPL titles he has won
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