Cultured Football #46

League Two, Gegenpressing Explained, How To Fight Relegation, Long Away Trips, Perils of Leaving Liverpool

Dec 18, 2021

I started watching Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg and it made me sad. Not because it was clear within minutes that Bayern were going to walk it but because it was played in an empty stadium. I, like everyone else, had assumed / hoped that these were a thing of the past. Sadly I very much fear that soon they are going to be all to common once again.

Anyway, apologies to start off with a downer. Hope that these articles make up for it:

Forest Green boss on Emile Smith Rowe, throw-in analysis and League Two promotion

With two play-off defeats in the last three years, Forest Green Rovers have started the season in determined fashion, leading the League Two table in remarkable fashion as they look to win direct promotion. Much of that is down to Rob Edwards, their intelligent and progressive 38 year-old manager who left a job with the England U16s to take up this role. It is certainly difficult not to appreciate him from this interview “We want a culture where people can be brave and not afraid to try things. We don't care if they make mistakes. That is going to happen, it is human nature. I will make more mistakes than anyone. But we try to learn from it.

Reading Time: 6 minutes

What is Gegenpressing?

A lot is written about gegenpressing (increasingly so since Ralf Rangnick took over at Manchester United. But what does it mean exactly? What is needed for it to be successful? Here’s a quick primer to get you up to speed.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Goals or clean sheets? How a newly appointed Premier League manager can avoid relegation?

Over recent weeks, Claudio Ranieri, Dean Smith and Eddie Howe have all been appointed managers with the primary target of helping their new clubs avoid relegation. All three have decent managerial track records but the job of coming in midway through the season at sides looking to climb out of the danger zone is rather unique. One that requires they adopt different strategies then they would in a normal season.

Reading Time: 6 minutes

What I learned from the ‘Pilgrims’ on English football’s longest away trip

More than a thousand Plymouth fans completed the 806-mile round trip to the north-east on Saturday to watch their team lose 2-1. This is where the true magic of English football lies.

Reading Time: 13 minutes

Why leaving Liverpool has become a dangerous move

For Liverpool fans seeing Gini Wijnaldum leave was something of a wrench. He was the ultimate team player: always available, capable of playing multiple positions and with a knack of scoring vital goals. Yet, for all of his merits, the club simply did not agree with what he felt he deserved to be paid and so he left for a club that matched his valuation. Only that hasn’t turned out too well for him which will likely lead other players to think twice before leaving.