Nate’s 9: Soccer Hodgepodge
Over the
next couple of weeks, I’ll be working on the season previews for the only two
that really matter, football and football. Until those are finished though, I
thought I would write up a few appetizers to get the mouth watering while we
count down the days to our beloved EPL, NFL, Bundesliga, Big Ten, etc. Last
week was my NFL questions, which seemed to go rather well. I annoyed a good
many of you, and no one agrees that the Carolina Panthers have a shot at
getting to the Super Bowl. Fine. My only response is this: Jake Delhomme. With
that said, let’s take a look at some of the things that could and should matter
during the 2015-16 European soccer (football) season. I’m getting really
excited for...
#9. Thomas Tuchel taking over BVB Dortmund Mainz
05; they are now a fixture to stay in the Bundesliga for the next few seasons
to come. While no one is better than Jurgen Klopp for me, the fact of the
matter is, Dortmund ALWAYS played a 4-2-3-1 system while Klopp was there.
Tuchel uses many formations and changes the tactics within them. He says he’s
going to start with a 4-1-4-1, but I do believe there will be a little bit of
versatility to the arrangement. I’m excited for the future, and it’ll be
interesting to see if Tuchel can get them back into a title race and those fun
Champions League places that the big clubs always seem to be after.
#8. If PSG will stack up in Europe . I think there are a few people that believe they will finally get
their ‘missing piece’ when Angel Di Maria makes his move to the Parc des
Princes. They’ve already proven that they are now the powerhouse club in France ,
but they haven’t made their imprint on European football as of yet. Ezequiel
Lavezzi and Javier Pastore evidently weren’t the answers, which is odd
considering their price tags. Now, comes Di Maria. While I think he will be a
good fit running down the right side of the field, or next to Marco Verratti
and Blaise Matuidi in their triangular midfield, they still lack the defensive
class that I think it will take to knock down a Barcelona
or Real Madrid. They will certainly be fun to watch this season, however.
#7. Pep Guardiola ruining of Bayern Munich.
Bayern does the treble three years ago. They have great talent throughout the
side, and with the signing of Mario Gœtze, look like they are set up for years.
Guardiola comes in, and while they’ve been good (especially in the league);
they only won 1 trophy last year, and look a bit vulnerable in some places in
the team. I’ll never understand why Pep sold Toni Kroos. Perhaps it was a
contractual thing, or maybe the signing of Thiago Alcantara said something. But
he was the perfect and ready replacement for Bastian Schweinsteiger and he can
play in any of the five Bayern Munich midfield positions. Yet, he was sold and
then replaced with the elegant, albeit slow Xabi Alonso. Bayern isn’t allowed
to be as physical, and their counter-attacking prowess is converted into
possession-based football. Next, he gets Robert Lewandowski on a free. A player
it would appear, that loves Bayern Munich above self. He wanted to play at
Bayern for years. Yet, he is miss-handled all season long, and played out of
position at times. The list continues. Philip Lahm to mid-field. David Alaba at
centerback. This is probably Pep’s most important season. He brought in Douglas
Costa and Arturo Vidal, two good players that should step in immediately. But
I’m not sure why a great future had to be destroyed to build a good, but not
spectacular team in Pep’s favor.
#6. If Louis Van Gaal has finally built his
United team. In two seasons, Van Gaal has brought in no less than twelve
players. For those poor at math, he has quite possibly replaced every starter,
plus first man off the bench. Could United have been so poor? His results have
been mixed so far; he hit nicely with the Daley Blind and Ander Herrera (Ander was Ed
Woodward’s actually) signings, and missed badly with Falcao and the aforementioned
Di Maria. He has already purchased three midfielders this season, and it’s
rumored one more could be in before the end of the open season. Does he finally
push forward with the team he’s created? Or does he push to spend another
£100 million at season’s end?
#5. Knowing why Jose Mourinho and Chelsea
have been so quiet. Something is happening. Mourinho uses the transfer
season to boast about his own accomplishments, derive conversations about how
horrible other managers are, and undermine players from rival teams just to get
the mind games going in time for the new season. This year, however? Nothing.
Not so much as a peep, outside of his conversation with the wife of Rafa
Benitez over the handling of the many clubs that they both seem to love. It’s disconcerting,
and I would like to know what they are up to... And why didn’t they sign Raheem
Sterling? Eden Hazard, Oscar and Sterling
running at your defenders in continuous counter-attacks that were started by
Nemanja Matic and Cesc would have been one of the most terrifying things in Europe .
And perhaps enough to pull down that remarkable Champions League trophy once
again.
#4. Knowing whether Arsenal has enough firepower
to win the Premier League. No.
#3. Guessing which Spanish side makes it to
the Champions League final this time. I’m not sure what makes Diego Simeone
so interested in continuing to blow up a great squad, but I’d like to see if he
can break up the duopoly in the league, and potentially take out one of the
giants (FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, I hope you knew already) in Europe as
well. I understand the Diego Costa sale as it essentially funded a new run at
European and domestic success, but why did he choose to sell Mario Mandzukic
(Although Jackson Martinez
could be the best signing in Europe this year)? You need
a bit of depth to go far in multiple competitions and by getting rid of Arda
Turan as well, they’ve lost a lot of their firepower. If the race in Spain
is only between the two classics, look for them to really push to make the
European final the first “El Classico” on the biggest stage.
#2. Considering which player takes the
next step up to world class. I think that this may be the toughest question
to answer. We know that there are about 15-20 that fit in the category currently.
Players that should never get sold, and essentially put butts in seats (i.e.
Messi, Cristiano, Hazard, Zlatan, etc). Last year I thought it would be Antoine
Griezmann, and I was pretty close. He’s just a hair shy of the top level in my
humble opinion. Paul Pogba took that step, but that was a much easier
prediction based on his World Cup performance. Lucas Moura may have grabbed
that chance with PSG, but now it looks like he will be replaced by Di Maria. I
wavered a little bit when making my final #1, with a bullet decision, but my
pick this year will be Sami Khedira of Juventus. I think Bayern signed the
wrong guy (Vidal), and Juventus might just make another Champions League final
appearance with their shiny, new signing. I look for him to match Pogba for
production, and along with Marchisio, really take that Juventus midfield to the
level of a Barcelona and Real
Madrid. (And now he's injured. Badly. Well, can't back out now...)
Runner-Ups
- Kevin De Bruyne
- Nemanja Matic
- Ashley Young (winky face)
- Arda Turan
- Serge Aurier
- Raphael Varane
- Harry Kane
#1. What’s the biggest surprise for the
2015-16 season? I have a few, but I want to see how the rest of the
transfer window plays out. I really like the team Roma is putting together, but
Juventus did well to retain most of their talent in order to win another
Scudetto (Carlos Tevez won’t be missed at all... i.e. Mandzukic. Morata). I
love VFL Wolfsburg, but I think Bayern will be just strong enough (4-6 points
or so) to keep Wolfsburg from
winning the Bundesliga. I like PSG for Europe , and they
could win the whole thing. If Man Utd can retain David De Gea, they could
challenge on multiple fronts as well. My biggest surprise to the season though
is something that hasn’t happened yet. I really don’t want to see this happen
as a Man Utd fan, but when Karim Benzema signs on the dotted line with Arsenal,
I think that it could be enough to take them from title challengers into the
title forefront. A team that generates numerous chances already, enhanced by getting
a striker that has a high scoring percentage, looks like the perfect match. I,
unfortunately, believe it is.
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