Can't believe it...the footie season is almost over (the club/league variety, I mean - Euro 2012 yet to start).The Premier League standings tread on very thin ice. The winners in the Bundesliga, La Liga and the Serie A have been identified. Sorry folks from the US of A. Most people I know follow your women's league and the national team's jersey removal antics more than your men's league. Beckham and Henry were heroes of the 1990s in the real European leagues...
But my story today is about the common threads across winners in these four leagues.Teams with four different motivations and styles will have captured glory this season. But at the heart of these victories, there are some common threads. This blog post is dedicated to capturing these motivations, styles and common threads of these four winning teams.
But my story today is about the common threads across winners in these four leagues.Teams with four different motivations and styles will have captured glory this season. But at the heart of these victories, there are some common threads. This blog post is dedicated to capturing these motivations, styles and common threads of these four winning teams.
The first common thread is about the transition from being also rans to glorious winners. Real Madrid and Manchester City have watched their rivals from Nou Camp and Old Trafford corner glory for the last few years while their fans bit their teeth and tore their jerseys in desperation. Juventus got penalized for the match fixing scandal and had to come up from the second league in Italy to stay ahead of both the biggies from Milan. Borussia Dortmund have come from under the shadows of their more famous Munich rivals to take away the Bundesliga. All four teams, in my opinion played with this one juicy carrot - snatch glory from their 'nose in the air' rivals.
The second common thread is about the 'three striker' attacking approach. No other club demonstrated this style more than Real Madrid. Before their final game this weekend, Real Madrid had scored an awesome 117 goals in 37 games (FCB had 112 at the same time). But guess what - Real Madrid although relied on Cristiano for majority of goals (45) - they had two other strikers in Higuain (22) and Karim Benzema (20) - and together these three contributed to a staggering 87 out of the 117 goals that Madrid had scored this season in the La Liga. Three strikers meant that the team never had to rely on magicians (like Messi or Rooney or Van Persie) to pull out rabbits game after game - and also ensure that opposing teams had to be careful against not 1 BUT 3 possible strikers. Similarly in the Premier League - Aguero (22), Dzeko (13) and Mario 'Why always me' Balottelli (13) have scored 48 out of the 90 goals that City have scored this season. Dortmund had Lewandowski, Kagawa, Grobkreutz and Perisic who had 49 out of the 80 goals scored against their names. This is important especially in top flight leagues where the teams are playing almost 50 games every season if you include the Champions League and other Cup games - and you never end up with striker fatigue. It is likely that all top clubs will be hunting for the best strikers the coming season and pretty much explains why Robin V Persie is in such great demand right now.
The third common thread is a well organized defence and this is best evaluated by the number of goals let in. The Juve defence have let in just 19 goals in 37 games this season. That is just about 1 goal in two matches. Man City with 27, Dortmund with 25 and Real Madrid with 31 all feature in top two or three defensive teams in their respective leagues. While this may seem the most logical reasons, it is funny how the best teams also had the best defensive records this season.
And Finally, the most important thread. New managers for each of these teams that were brought in to stem the decay and mess created by their predecessors - and handed tremendous power by the club's owners. Man City brought in Mancini and Madrid brought in Mourinho. Juve brought in Conte to lift them from the terrible match fixing scandals of the previous years and Jurgen Klopp came into Dortmund because the club had finished 13th the previous season under Thomas Doll. The clubs game these managers complete power - Mancini could throw out their star striker Tevez when the latter rebelled. Mourinho called the shots when the Real Madrid management tried to play power games with him.
Net - the motivation to emerge from the shadows of their fierce rivals, three (and sometimes four) striker approach, ultra solid defence and new powerful managers have all contributed significantly to the emergence of Real Madrid, Man City, Dortmund and Juventus as winners this season.
P.S: After I wrote this blog - Man City actually went on to lift the Premier League yesterday after a dramatic last minute goal from Man City against QPR. And guess who scored - Aguero - one of the three attacking muskters.
The second common thread is about the 'three striker' attacking approach. No other club demonstrated this style more than Real Madrid. Before their final game this weekend, Real Madrid had scored an awesome 117 goals in 37 games (FCB had 112 at the same time). But guess what - Real Madrid although relied on Cristiano for majority of goals (45) - they had two other strikers in Higuain (22) and Karim Benzema (20) - and together these three contributed to a staggering 87 out of the 117 goals that Madrid had scored this season in the La Liga. Three strikers meant that the team never had to rely on magicians (like Messi or Rooney or Van Persie) to pull out rabbits game after game - and also ensure that opposing teams had to be careful against not 1 BUT 3 possible strikers. Similarly in the Premier League - Aguero (22), Dzeko (13) and Mario 'Why always me' Balottelli (13) have scored 48 out of the 90 goals that City have scored this season. Dortmund had Lewandowski, Kagawa, Grobkreutz and Perisic who had 49 out of the 80 goals scored against their names. This is important especially in top flight leagues where the teams are playing almost 50 games every season if you include the Champions League and other Cup games - and you never end up with striker fatigue. It is likely that all top clubs will be hunting for the best strikers the coming season and pretty much explains why Robin V Persie is in such great demand right now.
The third common thread is a well organized defence and this is best evaluated by the number of goals let in. The Juve defence have let in just 19 goals in 37 games this season. That is just about 1 goal in two matches. Man City with 27, Dortmund with 25 and Real Madrid with 31 all feature in top two or three defensive teams in their respective leagues. While this may seem the most logical reasons, it is funny how the best teams also had the best defensive records this season.
And Finally, the most important thread. New managers for each of these teams that were brought in to stem the decay and mess created by their predecessors - and handed tremendous power by the club's owners. Man City brought in Mancini and Madrid brought in Mourinho. Juve brought in Conte to lift them from the terrible match fixing scandals of the previous years and Jurgen Klopp came into Dortmund because the club had finished 13th the previous season under Thomas Doll. The clubs game these managers complete power - Mancini could throw out their star striker Tevez when the latter rebelled. Mourinho called the shots when the Real Madrid management tried to play power games with him.
Net - the motivation to emerge from the shadows of their fierce rivals, three (and sometimes four) striker approach, ultra solid defence and new powerful managers have all contributed significantly to the emergence of Real Madrid, Man City, Dortmund and Juventus as winners this season.
P.S: After I wrote this blog - Man City actually went on to lift the Premier League yesterday after a dramatic last minute goal from Man City against QPR. And guess who scored - Aguero - one of the three attacking muskters.
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