Haaland & Reus

An interesting match to watch. Both teams were always seeking the offensie actions. On Dortmund's side there was quick counter-attacks commanded by the maestro of the team, Marco Reus. His play is elegant and smart at the same time. It is good to see Reus in form. I hope he keeps performing well and far from injuries.

However, the main aspect of the game was not Reus but the young Erling Haaland whose performance excelled even the maestro of the team.

When Haaland is with the ball, for sure you can expect damage to be caused towards the opponent's defensive system. His rushes, direct shots and combination with Reus causes panic. It seems that every action of Haaland turns into a clear occasion of scoring, whether he scores himself or a comrade scores the goal.

Bayern gegen Dortmund | 17/08/2021

Interesting match between Bayern & Dortmund. Since the very first minute of the match, I was wondering whether the actions would result into goal. However, Dortmund's actions expand even more in terms of Haaland. It almost looks what SK Slavia used to do with Josef Bican — they would constantly send balls seeking Bican's rushes or direct crosses to the centre-forward. Káďa, while he compared Pilát's era with Bican's, used to call this constantly move "everything for Bican". 

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Gschweidl's answer

While I was reading Augusto Godoy's interview with Friedrich Gschweidl, at first impression, I saw something wrong with Gschweidl's answer. In one of Gschweidl's answers, he says that, between 1931 & 1935, the Wunderteam only lost a single match — which was the match against England —, and that's it. This does not make any sense at all. Gschweidl considered the Austrian National Team as Wunderteam between 1931 & 1935, and even if we only consider the matches which Gschweidl played this is still wrong. It is also good to quote that Austria lost against Czechoslovakia — 1933 —, Hungary — 1934 with Gschweidl playing — and also the II. World Championship — this one without Gschweidl.

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Sobotka & the 8:3

Sobotka had a conversation with János Várday, while he was at the Slavia house, and he commented something related to Gyula Polgár having played the 8:3 match as defender. Actually Polgár Drumi did not even play the match. I don't know what Sobotka was thinking, but he got it wrong.

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Pedri, the young talent

Before the beggining of the last season — 2020/21 —, I saw that Barcelona had signed a young footballer from Las Palmas. The age of this player surprised me, he was 17 years-old, as I thought that he would be a substitute or Barcelona would end up lending the youngster. However, I watched a few matches of Las Palmas, saw the potentital of the player and some resemblance, in terms of style, to an old footballer. Pedri, from Las Palmas, had the style which Barcelona was looking for.

The trainings were interesting & intriguing, so was the pre-season. My first impressions was that his style was a combination of elegance with advanced technique, and, thus, I wanted to see more of this footballer. It actually went well since Koeman decided to make the young Pedri his first choice.

The season has passed, and Barcelona did not achieve international success. No, they even failed to achieve better results — domestically speaking. Nevertheless, they managed to win an interesting Copa del Rey title, which was full of remontadas and other crazy results. Pedri, contrary to Barcelona's overall performance, although being very young, excelled in terms of individual performances and brought joy to the culés. He was, in my modesty opinion, one of the best midfielders of the whole season. I was happy to see Pedri being called to play the Eurocup & Olympics, too. I was even more accomplished that he towered above many other great footballers at the Eurocup.

While I was watching Spain-Switzerland, I was wondering: "I have seen something like this footballer before". I tried to remind, and saw a resemblance to Konrád Csámi, the old Hungarian star from mainly MTK & Amateur. Pedri's game reflects Konrád II. and his maestry during the whole 90 minutes. 

Pedri's style is something out of the "normal" line. His game is a reflection technique and an incisive game interpretation, he exceptionally knows the combinations game to the backbone. Pedri's arsenal of passes is an aglomeration of short, medium & long passes — mainly short —, wall-dropping through-balls and a game which radiates the unexpected movements of backheel passes and many other movements from his arsenal. Pedri is an artist! The way he masters the ball; the way he moves with elegance and his close ball control, too. He is also seeking to create for others, to seek that incisive pass that breaks the whole defensive system. The calmness of his game, always aware of the space and when to time something. Pedri, indeed, reflects much of Konrád's II. style.

Pedri is not fast footballer, or at least does not use much of his speed, but is always reading the game, the space of the field and the next move, the next step to make.

Even for a youngster, Pedri's stamina is impressive, as he is constantly moving to attack or defend. He also played more than 70 matches during the whole season!

I shall input this condition: If Pedri continues to progressively elevate his characteristics to a point where he reaches his true potential, he will become a spectacular player, an artist with a high degree of football.

Messi's debut
29/08/2021

One of the main events of the day was Messi's debut for Paris Saint-Germain. I was not expecting much, due to the adaptation which Messi is still having, and, of course, Messi's return to a football field after almost two months.

A magician for another.

I must say, it was an interesting decision from Pochettino to replace Neymar with Messi. Indeed, both athletes are still returning, thus Neymar also had to rest.