Soccer Challenge

A special supercar for the Special One
By Dairo Abayomi Dec 16 2013,
Clive Rose
Luxury car tuners Mansory are working on a supercar called Mourinho. I'm not making this up.
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That's right, it's the Mourinho. The car. Or more accurately, the supercar or, even more accurately, the special supercar (super special car?).
Yes, the car is called the Mourinho. Built by tuners Mansory(i.e. a company that specializes in making already rare, luxurious supercars even rarer, and superer), they will make just eleven of them, each of them carrying an expected sticker price of around €2m. Chump change. Mourinho will get the first one of course. It's unclear if he has to pay for it.
That this story is making the rounds only now, roughly a year after the original storywas published by the magazine Robb Report, purveyors of all things luxury, is one of those weird Internet quirks that sometimes sees current events ignored and somebody's random tweet or post getting picked up and going viral. I'm sure it didn't help that it was only the Russian edition of the Robb Report that carried the story, a decision that I'm guessing had something to do with a certain Russian's associations with a certain Special One

Part 2 United reorganisation and Arsenal spread play wider
Two key things happened at the start of the second half. First, Nemanja Vidic went off injured and was replaced by Cleverley, with Jones dropping into centre-back. This caused United problems: Cleverley lacked Jones’ positional sense – almost immediately conceding a free-kick for tripping Giroud, for example – and while Jones is a decent centre-back, he doesn’t have Vidic’s aerial power.
That proved to be particularly crucial because Arsenal realised they needed to exploit the wide open spaces on the flanks, and played a higher proportion of their passes down the wings. Ramsey played as more of a conventional right-sided midfielder in the opening stages of the second half, although Wenger changed to more of a 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3 by removing Flamini and introducing Wilshere. Now, Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere played as the midfield trio while Ozil went wide-right.
And while Arsenal didn’t equalise, Wenger deserves credit for the switch – Arsenal quickly showed signs of penetrating the United defence. Wilshere provided a good forward burst to get in behind, and then Ozil’s angled run from the right should have resulted in a fine chance – he seemed to pull out at the last moment.
Sagna dominates
With Arsenal dominating possession and United remaining extremely narrow, the key feature of the final 20 minutes was Bacary Sagna getting space down the right flank, and repeatedly hitting some fantastic balls into the box. His crossing created two chances, but two of his ‘unsuccessful’ balls were actually even better deliveries. Hit into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ between United’s back four and goalkeeper, they were begging for a touch, but Arsenal somehow failed to convert the chances.
Wenger had replaced Cazorla with Nicolas Bendtner to provide an extra aerial threat in the box, which further encouraged Arsenal to cross the ball. Meanwhile, Moyes was concerned about Sagna’s freedom so introduced Ryan Giggs in place of Kagawa, with instructions to stop the crosses. Sagna still got plenty of room, however, and this showed the fine line (just one Arsenal player providing a touch on a cross) between Moyes’ strategy being regarded as ‘highly successful’ and ‘naive’.
Conclusion
There were two different Manchester United sides here – the positive, possession-orientated side of the first ten minutes, and the increasingly defensive, narrow side that just about dealt with continual Arsenal pressure. United should have created more chances with the former approach, and made more decisive clearances with the latter approach, but there’s reason to be positive about the variation in strategy.
Arsenal were far from their best, with their passing extremely sloppy throughout the game, and pe*******on only arriving after substitutions. Sagna’s crossing was a positive, and having created goals against Napoliand Liverpool, he has been a key part of Arsenal’s season so far.

Part1 Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal: United start positively then defend extremely narrow
November 13, 2013
The starting line-ups
David Moyes recorded the first major victory of his tenure at Old Trafford.
Moyes selected Phil Jones in the centre of midfield alongside Michael Carrick, and continued with Shinji Kagawa on the left.
Arsene Wenger was without Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky due to flu, so Thomas Vermaelen came into the side and Aaron Ramsey moved right.
This was a very narrow United victory, in a match where neither side played at their best.
Both sides play cautiously
The word ‘cagey’ is generally used to describe matches that are slow to get going, but this was an interesting contest because it was simultaneously rather defensive, yet also played at a high tempo. With just one shot in the first half hour, neither side were attacking particularly dangerously, but this was partly because both sides were set up more defensively than usual.
The use of Jones in the centre of midfield gave United tenacity and fight, but also a midfielder who positioned himself more intelligently than Tom Cleverley or Marouane Fellaini might have – he cut off Arsenal’s passing angles and protected the back four, demonstrating that he’s not all about running and tackling. Jones is certainly a versatile player and yet to find a regular role in the side, but his positioning has improved over the last year or so, whether playing at centre-back or in the centre of midfield.
Arsenal, meanwhile, were also more defensive than Wenger would have liked – he indicated he wouldn’t have played two deep midifelders had Rosicky been available, and the Flamini-Arteta axis provided a good screen in front of Arsenal’s (now) relatively unfamiliar centre-back partnership. Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie rarely combined in open play, and the lack of invention from United’s central midfield zone meant Arsenal were rarely pe*****ted when they had men behind the ball.
United dominate opening
But the defensiveness was expected considering the line-ups. What was more surprising, however, was that United started the game dominating possession, with 67% in the opening ten minutes. Although they did relatively little with the possession (in terms of getting it into the final third and creating chances) it was an impressive start considering many expected Arsenal’s band of passing midfielders to retain the ball from the outset and put United under continual pressure.
There’s more on this at ESPN…
Maybe Arsenal were surprised at United’s dominance, because they seemed completely unable to work the ball forward when possession was won. Having expected to control the game in United’s half, they didn’t appear to have a cohesive plan at transitions, and rarely exploited the space United left at the back.
United narrow without possession
Without the ball, United used a tactic Moyes often favoured against Arsenal as Everton boss ( and also an approach he used against a wingerless Tottenham last season) – which was to defend extremely narrow, with the full-backs remaining close to the centre-backs, and the wide players tucking inside into the middle.
Clearly, Moyes was concerned about Arsenal’s midfield dominance, and although it took a while for Arsenal to start playing, the away side did eventually dominate possession with both Ramsey and Santi Cazorla darting inside to overload the centre. United’s narrowness, along with Carrick and Jones’ deepness, prevented Arsenal playing intricate passes through the middle, and with Olivier Giroud’s lack of pace and no direct runs from wide, it was difficult to see how Arsenal were going to pe*****te the United defence.
Also deserving of a mention is Rooney, who has been very inconsistent with his defensive work over the past couple of years, but essentially became a fifth midfielder at times here. With Rooney deep, plus Kagawa and Antonio Valencia moving inside, United weren’t overrun in the middle. Interestingly, Rooney was generally picking up Mikel Arteta rather than Mathieu Flamini – the Frenchman played higher up the pitch, as if Wenger wanted a combative player to take the fight to United.
The only goal came from a set-piece: Van Persie’s near post header, from the zone Mertesacker would probably have been defending, judging by Arsenal’s format when defending corners against Liverpool.

Top assits in the champions league Player Team Assists
1 Samir Nasri Manchester City4
Ángel Di María Real Madrid4
3 Arjen Robben Bayern Munich3
Thiago Motta Paris Saint-Germain3
Karim Benzema Real Madrid3
Gregory Van Der Wiel Paris Saint-Germain3
7 Frank Lampard Chelsea2
Xavi Barcelona2
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid2
Marco Streller FC Basel2
Emmanuel Eboué Galatasaray2
Gabi Atletico Madrid2
Sergio Agüero Manchester City2
Raúl García Atletico Madrid2
Blaise Matuidi Paris Saint-Germain2
Dries Mertens Napoli2
Ezequiel Lavezzi Paris Saint-Germain2
Thulani Serero Ajax Amsterdam2
Heung-Min Son Bayer Leverkusen2
Danilo FC Porto2
Oscar Chelsea2
Willian Chelsea2
23 Samuel Eto'o Chelsea1
Andrea Pirlo Juventus1
Javier Saviola Olympiakos1
Andrés Iniesta Barcelona1
Didier Drogba Galatasaray1
Wayne Rooney Manchester United1
Kaká AC Milan1
Patrice Evra Manchester United1
Alexander Kerzhakov Zenit St Petersburg1
James Milner Manchester City1
Christian Fuchs Schalke 041
Cesc Fábregas Barcelona1
David Silva Manchester City1
David Fuster Olympiakos1
Filipe Luis Atletico Madrid1
Antonio Valencia Manchester United1
Juan Zuñiga Napoli1
Gonzalo Higuaín Napoli1
Rafinha Bayern Munich1
Luisão Benfica1
Philipp Lahm Bayern Munich1
Sacha Kljestan Anderlecht1
Marcelo Real Madrid1
Branislav Ivanovic Chelsea1
Pontus Wernbloom CSKA Moscow1
Mesut Özil Arsenal1
Dimitri Payet Marseille1
Arda Turan Atletico Madrid1
Maxwell Paris Saint-Germain1
Roman Shirokov Zenit St Petersburg1
Olivier Giroud Arsenal1
Keisuke Honda CSKA Moscow1
Alexis Sánchez Barcelona1
Diego Costa Atletico Madrid1
Emiliano Insua Atletico Madrid1
Benedikt Höwedes Schalke 041
Aaron Ramsey Arsenal1
Ramires Chelsea1
Kieran Gibbs Arsenal1
Delvin Ndinga Olympiakos1
Álvaro Negredo Manchester City1
Martín Cáceres Juventus1
Toni Kroos Bayern Munich1
Rurik Gislason FC Copenhagen1
Mario Mandzukic Bayern Munich1
Kostas Mitroglou Olympiakos1
Giannis Maniatis Olympiakos1
Valentin Stocker FC Basel1
Jose Holebas Olympiakos1
Federico Peluso Juventus1
Andre Almeida Benfica1
David Alaba Bayern Munich1
Sergio Busquets Barcelona1
Lukasz Szukala Steaua Bucuresti1
Kevin Großkreutz Borussia Dortmund1
Jordan Ayew Marseille1
Hulk Zenit St Petersburg1
Nordin Amrabat Galatasaray1
Lasse Schöne Ajax Amsterdam1
Robert Lewandowski Borussia Dortmund1
Douglas Costa Shakhtar Donetsk1
Dante Bayern Munich1
Zoran Tosic CSKA Moscow1
Neymar Barcelona1
Dany Nounkeu Galatasaray1
Ahmed Musa CSKA Moscow1
Koke Atletico Madrid1
Mario Götze Bayern Munich1
Giulio Donati Bayer Leverkusen1
Taras Stepanenko Shakhtar Donetsk1
Josué FC Porto1
Álvaro Morata Real Madrid1

Top scorers in the epl PlayerTeamGoals
1 Sergio Agüero Manchester City8
Daniel Sturridge Liverpool8
Luis Suárez Liverpool8
4 Robin Van Persie Manchester United7
Loïc Remy Newcastle United7
6 Aaron Ramsey Arsenal6
7 Wayne Rooney Manchester United5
Yaya Touré Manchester City5
Olivier Giroud Arsenal5
Romelu Lukaku Everton5
11 Roberto Soldado Tottenham Hotspur4
Eden Hazard Chelsea4
Álvaro Negredo Manchester City4
Christian Benteke Aston Villa4
Wilfried Bony Swansea City4
Oscar Chelsea4
Rickie Lambert Southampton4
18 David Silva Manchester City3
Adam Lallana Southampton3
Jay Rodriguez Southampton3
Edin Dzeko Manchester City3
Gylfi Sigurdsson Tottenham Hotspur3
Ravel Morrison West Ham United3
Robert Brady Hull City3
25 Ben Davies Swansea City2
Steven Gerrard Liverpool2
Darren Bent Fulham2
Samuel Eto'o Chelsea2
Steve Sidwell Fulham2
Leighton Baines Everton2
Gareth McAuley West Bromwich Albion2
Lukas Podolski Arsenal2
Steven Fletcher Sunderland2
Fraizer Campbell Cardiff City2
Hatem Ben Arfa Newcastle United2
Samir Nasri Manchester City2
Nathan Dyer Swansea City2
Yohan Cabaye Newcastle United2
Craig Gardner Sunderland2
Jonathan Howson Norwich City2
Morgan Amalfitano West Bromwich Albion2
Mesut Özil Arsenal2
Stephane Sessegnon West Bromwich Albion2
Ricardo Vaz Te West Ham United2
Yoan Gouffran Newcastle United2
Charlie Adam Stoke City2
Danny Welbeck Manchester United2
Yannick Sagbo Hull City2
Libor Kozák Aston Villa2
Jack Wilshere Arsenal2
Michu Swansea City2
Jordon Mutch Cardiff City2
Steven Caulker Cardiff City2
Emanuele Giaccherini Sunderland2
Leandro Bacuna Aston Villa2
Pajtim Kasami Fulham2
Saido Berahino West Bromwich Albion2
Ross Barkley Everton2
Dwight Gayle Crystal Palace2
Adnan Januzaj Manchester United2