There are three types of decisions that a football coach has to make when preparing for a game.

His first of course is to decide on the game plan (usually based on an assessment of his team’s and the opposition’s weaknesses and strengths).

The second on the system and formation that will fit the game plan. He has to choose a formation that will allow his team’s strengths to shine, exploit the opposition’s weaknesses and at the same time contain the threats. Which is a difficult balancing act.

And lastly decide on the appropriate personnel to make the game plan work.

He also has to have some alternative plans (plan B if you like) and substitution options sorted out beforehand so that he can timely respond to events during the game.

Benitez got the formation right for this Champions League Final against Milan in Athens but we are sorry to say he got the rest pretty much wrong!

And we are not some post match, wise after the event, climbers on the bandwagon of Benitez bashers! In our review of the game “Rafa’s line up and formation” and additionally in our posting “Is this really Rafa’s line up?” we pretty much warned of what was likely to happen.

First glaring mistake was what we would call the “schizophrenic” choice of placing Kuyt on the striker’s role. Schizophrenic because why play with two wingers whose main function when attacking would be to put crosses in but omit Crouch from the line up? He was the only one in the Liverpool ranks who could exploit these balls.

We believe that Crouch should have started as Milan’s defenders, especially goalkeeper Dida, were known to be vulnerable to high balls as was so evident in their games against United. And the goal that Liverpool eventually scored came from a high ball delivered from a corner.

Second glaring mistake was to persist with the ineffective Zenden on the wide midfield position. This was very evident in his inept performance against Chelsea in the Semi final.

Riise should have started there with Arbeloa at left back. Riise would have been much better at attacking defenders, getting crosses in and also tracking back to defend.

And the third glaring mistake was that he got the substitutions wrong! What the hell did Harry Kewell contribute to the game? Why oh why get him on in such an important game when he has been out of action and obviously not match fit for almost the whole season?

Substituting Mascherano instead of Alonso was another mistake as kaka was then free to do the damage, he was denied excellently during the game, in setting up the second killer goal at 82 minutes for that perennial goal poacher Pippo Inzaghi.

But although he got Crouch on it was way too late in the game for him to have any meaningful impact. A player that should have been on from the beginning!

Arsene is no hot shot on substitutions, we all know that, but we don’t think he would have made these type of mistakes! And to go one step further Arsenal, with Henry and Van Persie in the line up, would have wrung circles round this very ordinary and ageing Milan team.

The Olympics originated in Greece. Well, Milan’s victory can be likened to an athlete running the hundred meters in the Olympics final. He may have won this world prestigious event and got all the glory but at a time well outside the world record!

By Arsenal Analysis

Arsenal are not going to take up the option to turn Julio Baptista's loan deal from Real Madrid into a permanent move, the Brazilian attacking midfielder has said.

"Arsenal have told me they are not able to buy me and so all I can do is return to Real Madrid," Baptista told sports daily Marca on Thursday, in a telephone interview from New York.

The 25-year-old international moved to London last August in a one-year loan swap, with Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes moving in the opposite direction.

The deal included an option for the clubs to buy the respective players at the end of the season but neither man has consistently impressed during the loan period.

"I have enjoyed my season with Arsenal and in England. I adapted well. I didn't play much at first but finished much better. The first year is very difficult," Baptista said.

"The English league is very strong and very competitive with great teams. Manchester United and Chelsea are very strong and it is difficult to compete against their great squads."

In Baptista's absence, Real have come from behind to grab first place in the Primera Liga and with three games left are on course for their first major trophy in four seasons.

"I speak a lot with Robinho and Roberto Carlos and I have wished them all the best for the league. If I am honest I am a little jealous I can't be with them playing for the title," he said.

"I am keen to know what happens in the last three games and hope they go on to win."

Baptista joined Real from Sevilla two years ago in a deal worth $24.2 million (12.2 million pounds) but failed to make it into coach Fabio Capello's plans when he took over last July.

Rafa Benitez has to choose a formation that will allow his team’s strengths to shine, exploit the opposition’s weaknesses and at the same time contain the threats. Which is a difficult balancing act.

One threat that he will have to consider minimising is that from Kaka who is likely to play in that hole behind Milan’s front man in a 4 4 1 1 formation. So Liverpool will have to fill in that area between their defence and their midfield that Kaka will roam in. Mascherano will probably be deployed for this role.

And the next formation related problem that Benitez will have to decide on is how to play up front. Play with two front men in a 4 1 3 2 formation or go like for like.

If Liverpool play with two up front they ran the risk of being outnumbered in the most important area of the pitch. Milan will have four to Liverpool’s three midfielders. Something that Ferguson chose to ignore for the semi final in Milan; eventually to his peril Milan outclass United. Fergie gets the tactics wrong! We think that Benitez has the sense to avoid making the same mistake.

Of course Manchester United were a very tired team as their gruelling tussle with Chelsea for the Premiership was taking its toll. They were also missing some key defenders which accounted for a lot of the errors that were committed in both legs.

On the other hand Benitez has been resting players for some time now safe in the knowledge that a Champions League place was reasonably secure. So have Milan of course, safe in the knowledge that theirs was a punishment year where the Scudetto was, due to past misdemeanours, administratively placed out of reach.

All things being equal Liverpool is the younger team and this might play a more decisive role in the second half and even more so if the game goes into extra time.

Having sorted out the formation then Benitez has to decide on the personnel.

We believe that Crouch should start as Milan’s defenders, especially goalkeeper Dida, are vulnerable to high balls as was so evident in their games against United. Dropping off Crouch will have to be Kuyt who will have to drift between midfield and attack according to needs.

Acropolis in Greek means the area on the edges of town and if the teams cancel themselves out in the centre then it is in the wide areas of the pitch that the outcome of the game may be decided on.

Yet we have not been convinced by Zenden’s performances in the semi final against Chelsea. He worked hard, stretched Chelsea’s defence and tracked back well but he failed in the most important aspect of his position; that of getting the crosses in. And this will be important if Crouch starts.

It looks as though Benitez will want to start with Zenden in the wide midfield position unless he is declared injured by the medical team. We would prefer however that Riise starts there with Arbeloa at left back (we do not consider Kewell as being a viable alternative). He is much better at attacking defenders, getting crosses in and also tracking back to defend.

And since the service to Crouch will be important we would consider ex Arsenal boy Pennant, who impressed in the semi final against Chelsea, to be more appropriate for the wide midfield position on the right. He is one of only a few ex Arsenal players to have prospered after leaving Arsenal. The others include interestingly enough left backs, Silvinho and Van Brockhurst.

The other midfielder will be Gerrard who can play in a similar role in central midfield as initially intended in the semi final.Pivotal.

There are two areas that Liverpool may have the upper hand. One is that Milan’s forward line whether it be Inzaghi or Gilardino are nothing to shout home about.

The other is that Benitez will be in his element in a European arena where he feels at home and knows the territory and the mentality of the opponents more than the other managers in the English Premier League.

And tactically he has proven to be one of the best; the latest example being his tactical outwitting of Mourinho in the Semi Final. Why Liverpool came out winners against Chelsea.

And in the end Rafa’s tactical nous may prove the shining light under the shade of the Acropolis!

By Arsenal Analysis

This was a boring game which did not befit the grand occasion of being the first Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley. It was boring due to the tactics and formation adopted by Chelsea but also to an extent by Manchester United.

Chelsea played with three midfielders sitting deep and this list surprisingly included Lampard who was not always very wiling to cross the half way line and give some support to the lone Drogba up front.

On the occasion he did, a goal was conjured in extra time with an exquisite one two with Drogba to send the latter through free in the United area and take advantage of another slow response from Van der Sar ( he was also slow to react for two of the Milan goals in the Champions League semi final).

Drogba’s goal on the 126th minute broke Andy Linighan’s record by four minutes, which stood since Arsenal’s cup triumph against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993, as the latest Cup final goal!

But a similar observation with regard to tactics can be made of Manchester United. Scholes was deployed deep, right next to Carrick even assuming some of his distributional trademark long balls and getting in his way. Tactically not physically.

But Man U lacked balance in their formation more than Chelsea did. And this was due to the absence of Saha or a similar target man which Roonie clearly is not; nor did he receive the support from midfield that he deserved. On the other hand Chelsea had Drogba up front and at the end that’s what made the difference.

Mourino adopted these spoiling tactics because he did not believe that his players could beat Man U in a more open game but we suspect that he also faced a similar decision that Wenger did prior to the 2005 Cup Final against Manchester United.

It was the only honour left for Arsenal to contest in that otherwise barren year. But Wenger was not of course afraid his tenure was under threat! Maybe Mourinho wanted to desperately win something of note this year for non footballing reasons.

So it was not a surprise that stalemate was going to be the order of the day. On the occasion that a goal was scored it was ignored by the refereeing team as not having crossed the line. And of course we all saw that it did; yet we were privileged to a number replays from our living room sofas! Why oh why goal line technology is not yet part and parcel of the game baffles us. The beautiful game and how to make it better.

But it looked obvious that Giggs did foul Ceck by pushing him over the line and Essien’s lunge to stop Giggs was not that obvious. So it was probably the right decision for the wrong reasons!

There are two lessons for Arsenal to learn from this game though.

The first is that possessing the attribute of winning ugly is part and parcel of any winning team. What does Arsenal need to do to challenge for next season? And this is really needed in the marathon that the English teams are asked to endure because the number of games that will have to be played includes, other than the league, the cups and those in Europe. You need to win when the team is not playing well when things are not going according to plan. And to do this you need guts, determination and tenacity. Arsenal haven’t got it at the moment.

The second is that unless there is a solid defence in front of a top quality goalkeeper you might as well forget it. Manchester United played reasonably well but one incidence of inadequate marking from the central midfielders and a slow reaction from the goalkeeper cost them the game.

Chelsea on the other hand know that they can win ugly because they know that their defence will not to make such mistakes nor is Ceck likely to be slow to react.

Arsenal's transfer targets are likely to be focused on the more creative areas of the team but Chelsea’s transfer policy for the summer is bound to include central defenders as back up for Terry and Carvalho so as to avoid a repeat of the period this season when their absence cost them the championship.

If they do then it will be a very exciting championship next year.

By Arsenal Analysis

There are quite a lot of weaknesses that Arsene Wenger needs to address and rectify if Arsenal are to challenge seriously for honours next season.

Fortunately they are all correctible as a lot of the changes needed involve a change of attitude or better coaching and organisation on the pitch rather than radical surgery in the personnel.

We started to put our views on the above subject in an earlier posting. The first part covered the issues of getting the defence right, buying two experienced players and adopting the 4 5 1 formation. What does Arsenal need to do to challenge for next season? Part I

With regard to the defence we maintained that what is needed is more organisation than new players and the two signings will need to be for a wide midfielder and another forward. The 4 5 1 formation is a flexible system that additionally helps provide extra protection for a young defence and allows for the utilization three central midfielders inclusive of Diaby.

This posting deals with the rest of our suggestions:

- Learn how to break up packed defences
- kill teams off when on top
- Learn how to win ugly
- Hit the ground running
- Manage the impending takeover bid correctly.

Let’s take each in turn.

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