VAR, Udogie, Marseille and Tottenham Transfer Talk
Good morning once again and only a day to go before Wednesday sees Spurs start another UEFA Champions League campaign.
Today we will talk about VAR and is it just a marketing tool, look at Destiny Udogie, look into the tactics Marseille will employ against Spurs and indulge in some Tottenham transfer talk.
There is far too much controversy over VAR, which tells you it isn't being used correctly, or is it?
What is the aim of VAR?
Is it to change the howler, because right now it is being used to replace the referee, whose status is being diminished by it.
This speaks volumes about the people running the game and what they want.
But what do they want?
Do they want the game talked about, do they want the game in the media, do they actually want controversy or are they really trying to make it a black and white issue, because they are failing.
In rugby they use a video referee solution, it is shown on the big screen, y=the crowd hear the referee ask the VAR referee to look at certain things.
You hear his response too, the crowd know exactly what is going on, they look at the same thing.
The onfield referee will talk as he sees it to give his opinion, asking the VAR if he agrees.
A decision is reached, the crowd know why it has been reached, even if they don't agree with it, but everyone accepts it and moves on.
In cricket, the review system allows for an element of umpire (referee) error.
More than half the ball must pitch in a certain place or be hitting the wickets.
If a player has been given out, then the ball has to be missing the stumps to change it (I'll leave out where it pitches but that comes into play).
If a player is given not out, then more than half the ball must be hitting the stumps for the decision to be changed, if less than half is hitting then the umpires original decision remains.
Both teams have 3 chances to challenge a decision.
Everyone knows where they stand and there is nothing to argue about.
That too is displayed on a big screen and the VAR umpire talks his way through his decision making, so the crowd are informed again.
Do those running football actually want that controversy to be talked about to keep the game in everybody's mind.
Is VAR simply a marketing tool?
Do they actually want a system that works like rugby and cricket, that they MUST be aware of and MUST know work very successfully?
I wonder.
Destiny Udogie
Tottenham's new signing Destiny Udogie, who was loaned straight back to Udinese for the season, already has two goals to his name in four Serie A games this season.Udinese thrashed José Mourinho's Roma 4-0 on Sunday.
Destiny Udogie (7 goals, 3 assists) is one of only two defenders in the big-5 European leagues to have taken part in at least 10 goals in 2022.
David Raum of RB Leipzig (goals, 9 assists) is the other.
Udogie Report Card vs Roma
Udogie 7.5 - Dominated along the left, scored the first goal after only 5 minutes. If he continues in this form he will also have the blue jersey [be capped by Italy].
€18m guaranteed fee
€2m easy add-ons
€5m difficult add-ons
Tottenham wanted to sign him no as a ‘bargain’ for next season fully aware that a lot of clubs were following his progress and many who wanted to sign him.
The Summer Transfer Window was a window for left-backs and left-sided wing-backs with plenty moving teams, indeed with Ivan Perišić also arriving from Inter Milan, Tottenham signed two.
His value is only going one way.
Spurs vs Marseille
Familiar Players
- Pau López, remember him, is the Olympique Marseille goalkeeper
- Chancel Mbemba a former centre-back target
- Eric Bailly (Man Utd centre-back)
- Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal left-back)
- Mattéo Guendouzi (Arsenal central midfielder)
- Alexis Sánchez (Man Utd & Arsenal left winger)
- Jordan Veretout (Aston Villa central midfielder)
- Gerson a Brazilian attacking-midfielder
- Cengiz Ünder a former right wing target
- Dimitri Payet (West Ham Utd attacker)
- Arkadiusz Milik a former striking target
Marseille currently sit second in Ligue 1 having finished second to PSG last season.
They appointed a new manager in June, the Hellas Verona manager and former number two to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus.
Igor Tudor is an up and coming coach, he took over at a Verona side in disarray and was unbeaten after 10 games.
His style will build upon the high pressing and fast direct attacking that Marseille already play.
Challenge Intensity measures how many duels, tackles and interceptions a team makes per minute of their opponents possession.
Under Tudor, Hellas Verona had the highest figure in Serie A last season so Spurs can expect to be pressed on the ball and will need to be cool in possession when playing out from the back.
That could be a danger time for us.
Bearing that in mind, should Lenglet start over Davies?
Perišić has to start over Sessegnon, Perišić while Bentancur and Højbjerg are a must.
Verona also finished first for PPDA (passes per defensive action) a team allows an opponent before trying to in the ball back (8.28).
They then looked to press, making, as mentioned, more duels, tackles and interceptions than any other side.
By comparison, Marseille's challenge intensity was 5.6 compared with Verona's 7.1 so we can expect that figure to rise.
Marseille PPDA figure was 11.88.
Will Marseille, therefore, target Emerson Royal or Ben Davies, perhaps the two weakest links passing under pressure?
After winning the ball Verona tried to attack quickly as be as close to the opponents goal as possible, so in the final third rather than deeper.
It all points to a tough night for our defence and perhaps a greater test than some are imagining. Certainly the potential is there to cause us some problems.
Verona attempted more progressive passes per 90 minutes than anyone else (71.16) despite only having 49.71% possession.
Finally on Tudor's attacking style, Verona scored a lot of goals, but because they attack fast, there are also a lot of turnovers against them, so they conceded a lot of goals.
Ideal for our counter-attacking front three.
It would not surprise me if Marseille score, but I see us as having plenty of opportunities to score also.
Verona operated and therefore Marseille will operate a man-to-man pressing system with wing-backs pressed high to try and create a 7v7 game in the opposition half.
The opportunity for Spurs is that this exposes their centre-backs so a fast counter-attack will have them in trouble.
The theory of this is that there are a lot of 1v1 duels and you only need to win one to get the ball back.
Another opportunity this creates for Spurs is that their side can be pulled out of shape as players follow their man, so expect to see us create space in this way for Heung-min Son, who I predict will score his first goal of the season.
This Summer Transfer Window may have ended but that doesn't mean Spurs have stopped.
There are already areas of the team that have been identified as needing upgrading, as well as looking further forward to player retirements.
You all know Spurs want to bring in a top quality centre-back, but Fabio Paratici is also searching for a top quality right wing-back, having bought Djed Spence as a homegrown player to develop for the future.
Look at how long it took Ryan Sessegnon to make the leap to Premier League football and he isn't top quality yet.
We are seeking a replacement for Lucas Moura, while Bryan Gil and Pape Matar Sarr have a long way to go, if they remain at the club, which is doubtful.
As such, we keep our eyes open for another quality central midfielder.
Paratici will keep an eye on Zaniolo, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury.
Conte wants another player like Richarlison that can play in both wide attacking positions as well as an attacking midfielder.
Hugo Lloris is performing but we keep our eyes open for his long term successor.
It is important that all new recruits have the right mentality.
Lenglet has, Richarlison has, Perišić has and all have slotted in as a result.
Bissouma is taking a little longer to understand his role.
Until next time.
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