Overreaction Monday ft Andrea 'Professor' Pirlo, Gareth Bale’s regret and Frank Lampard’s tactical brain
Overreaction Monday: August 10th edition
|Sportscafe
Overthinking and over-reacting to situations is the human way but when it comes to football something clicks in a person that makes things comical, ludicrous and rarely sensible. That being said with the return of UEFA's premier European competitions, there were bound to be a few hare-brained ideas.
Andrea Pirlo can become a greater coach than Zinedine Zidane
With Maurizio Sarri’s tenure at Juventus over and Andrea Pirlo replacing him, Juve legend Alessandro Del Piero has confessed that the Italian could do better than Zinedine Zidane.
SC Take: To be fair to Del Piero, he did admit that Zidane had worked with Real Madrid as a coach before taking over as their manager but even then this is an overreaction. Few will deny what Pirlo did as a player was sensational but his ability as either a coach or manager is untested. First of all, he was supposed to be a U23 manager but was promoted without every managing the side. To make things even worse, Pirlo takes over a team that is surplus with superstars and they’re all jammed into one hole.
Zidane took over a similar team but unlike this Juventus side, he had a coherent midfield, Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime, and a system already in place. All Zidane had to do, more or less, was to manage the team properly and guide them to victory with the right moves. Juventus, on the other hand, need a project to improve but are aiming at instant success, something that will affect Pirlo’s ability to coach this team out of their “funk”.
Gareth Bale will regret this time he is wasting at Real Madrid
In light of Gareth Bale refusing to play Champions League football for Real Madrid and opting to stay at home, many on the interweb have cursed the Welshman and claimed that he’ll regret the time he’s wasting.
SC Take: Nope. Nope and Nope. First of all, Bale has already won more in his career at Real Madrid than most players have ever managed to win in their lifetime. He’s managed to do more in thirteen years as a footballer than most people do in their lifetime and he’s played more football than more humans do in their time on earth. But then there’s the biggest factor of it all, even if Bale had opted to play, there was little to no chance of him walking out on that field.
Zidane and the Welshman for some reason are on the outs and that does mean Bale's time at Real Madrid is coming to an end. He’s got two years left on his deal that sees him earn a lot of money while doing nothing and until Zidane leaves, there’s little chance Bale will make more than a sporadic cameo for the Los Blancos. Still not an excuse to opt-out of it but there is absolutely no chance in hell, that Gareth Bale will ever regret leaving Tottenham for Real Madrid. No chance in hell of that happening.
Frank Lampard is tactically and strategically out of his depth
After getting humiliated 7-1, over two legs, by Bayern Munich, many fans have taken to the wonderful interweb to claim that Frank Lampard is and has been “tactically and strategically out of his depth” all season.
SC Take: Chelsea fans, and football fans in general, seem about as ungrateful as it gets. Sure Lampard only took this Chelsea side from third to fourth but, shocking I know, he did it without spending a single penny on the team and no Mateo Kovacic doesn’t count. It’s a statement that has been repeated and regurgitated all season especially when the Blues were doing well but for a baby Blues’ team overfilled with veterans and youngsters losing to Bayern Munich isn’t that bad. Neither is reaching the FA Cup final although the way they lost has to be questioned.
Even then question Lampard’s tactical and strategic brain is a little weird especially since he’s been the Chelsea boss for a little more than a year. If nothing else, fans need to give him time because this is after all only his second year as a full-fledged manager and his first was in the Championship. And for someone in their second year, getting to a final and putting up a semi-decent performance against one of the favourites for the Champions League isn’t half bad. Judge him, if you want next season with the Blues spending heavily to help Lampard get a great squad to help them compete.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has a bad attitude and commitment problems
Despite leading an average Arsenal side to an FA Cup final and then ensuring that his team lift the trophy, the Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel still believes that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lacks the commitment that Arsenal needs.
SC Take: This is an average Arsenal side. They’ve got a world-class front-line, a mid-table midfield and a Championship back-line and even that’s being kind. Sure there are a few gems in the form of Kieran Tierney and young Bukayo Saka but beyond that, this Arsenal defense has been taped over by Mikel Arteta’s tactics. And yet, in the midst of all that you’ve got Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring an absolutely insane 70 goals in 109 games for the club.
You’ve got Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring more goals than any other Premier League player since he signed for the club. Then he steps up and scores four goals against Manchester City and Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals and final respectively to ensure European football for the club. And yet, somehow Martin Samuels believes that the striker lacks the commitment that Arsenal need. If anything, it’s the board and the recruitment team that has lacked the commitment that Arsenal need.
