Brehs and Crehs....Was always a distant observer (world cups + generally keeping tabs on the greats) but finally started watching/following european league. Not gonna lie, 75% of the time I just watch the extended highlights online (which I think are amazing) due to work/life time limitations. Trying to get a feel for the conventional wisdom and have questions around here on a few topics.
1. VAR? Personally I'm a fan
2. Ansu Fati? How does he compare or where is he "ranked" informally or not among the best younger players.
3. I never played growing up so I know almost nothing about strategy/formations etc anyone know of a decent video/site with the basics
4. Do you think or has there been any discussion regarding if/how covid era playing conditions (no crowds) have affected specific teams? Has there been any appreciable decline say in home field advantage?
1. VAR has improved refereeing to a degree. They seem to allow the game to flow more than previously. Before VAR the majority of them use to blow up for anything, now its only a minority who are being very anal. But the actual decision making has probably gotten worse from both the refs and the video ref people. But thats because the rules seem to be unclear and the refs are all using their own interpretations of the laws. It seems like the refs and the videos ref are trying not to undermine one another in some instances.
2. Fati is
got to do it on a cold wet night in Stoke Depending on who coaches Barca next season and if Messi is no longer there he should flourish even more. Until Messi is gone everyone has to play 2nd fiddle. But he is legit, but needs an standout performance in a big European game to get the hype hype. If he does some magic in the Euros (if fit for that) then yeah his star probably just underneath Mbappe & Haaland as goal scorers gets all the love.
3. Tbh me personally. Every sport I've watched and I watch a lot. I've always just watched the sport and figured it out for myself.
Look for zonal marking/Michael cox on Twitter. I think he his old site zonal marking is pretty much dead. But he also has book called Zonal marking.
Can check Tifo football on YT.
Navigate thru this site
The Coaches' Voice | The Inside View of Football you'll get some old school formations and tactics of yesterday eras teams and coaches.
This is decent for analysis
Match Analysis Archives - Football Bloody Hell
Books
4. Yes covid/no crowds has had a huge impact. Away wins are at an all time high. And the home crowd is the 12th man for many teams. Especially those with close knit communities where football is the lifeblood of the town/city. Probably helped some managers/coaches keep their jobs tho with no fans.
