Corner Flag Talk

  PARKING THE BUS. What does it mean to ‘Park the bus?’ A football team Parks the Bus by deploying outfield players in a defensive setup, in an attempt to prevent the opposition from scoring goals to either hold a draw or preserve a lead. This can be achieved by organising the players into defensive lines to be compact and force the opposition to carry out a more patient build up.   This style usually restricts creativity by: Blocking passing lanes   Reducing spaces for opponents that attempt penetrating runs towards the goal Forcing opponents to attempt low percentage shots i.e. from outside the box or from tight angles which can be greatly inefficient Image 1 . Atletico Madrid’s defensive setup against Liverpool, two compact defensive lines of four and two player to lead the counterattack.     Why do teams “Park the bus?” The successful implementation of this style would allow the defending team to prevent the opposition from scoring due to limiting the amount...

  In the latest episode of “TTFA vs FIFA”, football’s governing body threatened the TTFA in a letter stating that Trinidad and Tobago can be suspended from FIFA and its competitions if they don’t comply with the FIFA Statutes regarding CAS and the normalization committee that FIFA appointed for T&T’s Football Association. A lot has happened since FIFA disbanded the new TTFA Board of Directors on March 17 th this year – from shallow disputes to heated court cases to intimidation. FIFA seems adamant on standing by their Statutes, which means Trinidad and Tobago are possibly in a hole that looks too deep to escape from. So, with a possible suspension looming over the country’s FA, where does that leave T&T’s next generation? Those young players who caught our attention at national youth level - are their dreams of reaching the senior team over? Most of these guys are in their late teens and, considering the popular Trini phrase “If you aren’t playing professionally by age 20,...

  Within the past decade the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors have seen two beaver tricks of managers leave the TTFA franchise with most recent being 2006 World Cup Warrior, Dennis Lawrence. This meant the introduction of former England international Mr. Terry Fenwick. Coach Fenwick has a lot of experience having played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup for England. He's also known as one of the players who Diego Maradona passed when he scored the "Goal of the Century". Along with the FIFA World Cup experience he played a total of 455 games which spans across the clubs Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Swindon Town all based in England. In December 2019 Fenwick was appointed as the new man in charge of the warriors and it didn't take long for the nation to see changes. As we know 2020 has been a troublesome year with the uproar of the COVID-19 pandemic putting all sports on a hault in Trinidad and Tobago. However, the Honourable Prim...

This piece analyses sensible targets the traditional “big six” as well as other competing clubs could make to enhance their side to make a run at either title glory or a UCL place. What this article aims to do is ignore the speculation of world football and show readers, through avid research, what teams need to achieve their season’s objectives. Hope you enjoy! Let’s start from the top of the table…             Liverpool. It’s hard to say what a 99 point championship winning team need to improve considering the standards they’ve set over the last two seasons. However, as elite as they are as a team there has been cause for concern about the productivity in midfield particularly from Naby Keita. Brought in to be the goals and assist cog in the middle of the park, while not a flop he has been less than impressive, even taking into consideration the injuries he’s suffered. Nonetheless he should be better when he does play. My alternative for Liverpool to get...

  Following the defeat against Manchester City, a multitude of questions arose as to how Real Madrid would fare for next season. Even with Varane’s blunders, Real Madrid have been defensively solid for the majority of the campaign. In one game, there cannot be proper assessment as how immense starting defenders Varane, Ramos, Carvajal and Mendy have been alongside goalkeeper Courtois this season. However, goals   have consistently been hard to come by and chance creation continues to be a massive problem. With the top two scorers Karim Benzema and defender Sergio Ramos being 32 and 34 respectively, the likelihood of them repeating these goal scoring feats seems unlikely. Therefore the question must be asked ,” Where do the goals come from next season and who can create them?”   Florentino Perez addressed that Real Madrid will not be making any big signings because of how the club has been hit by the pandemic, therefore Real Madrid must use the resources they already have....

  Harry Maguire – one of the names in football that gathers much opinion when uttered. And for both good and bad reasons. His situation is what can be deemed a predicament. Well, why you may ask? Here’s some background on his footballing career first to really put his rise in perspective. Harry Maguire is currently a Manchester United and England national player, who started his journey with his hometown club Sheffield United. He was a Sheffield United player for 3 years which earned him a move to Hull City with who he enjoyed a 3-year stint. His solid performances earned him a move to Leicester City where he played with the Foxes for 2 years and subsequently to Manchester United for the 2019/2020 season.   So then why the predicament? When a club of Manchester United’s magnitude signs a player for a world record fee (albeit within just defenders), and immediately promotes you to club captain, you are immediately open different level of scrutiny, analysis and criticism than th...

The most pessimistic of persons could not have foreseen the way in which the year 2020 would have panned out. The COVID-19 pandemic has not left a stone unturned in its movement across the world and has left many communities, nations and countries in a fragile state. The most obvious dilemma of 2020 is the pandemic has been the health implications but the ripple effects have not all been well documented, and the consequences spread further than it seems at first glance. The sporting community which has been in a fluctuating cycle where events were cancelled , put back on and some having to be cancelled again . In Trinidad many budding and aspiring athletes may have had their dreams slashed or discouraged due to the 2020 SSFL season being put off in addition to the Youth Pro League. Many of these individuals bank on competitions as such to attain a chance to make a name for themselves on an international level, by playing either College football in the most commonly in the United States...

Finally, after thirty years since their last league title, Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool have brought the title back to Anfield, raising their League Trophy tally up to nineteen, one behind their rivals Manchester United. Now, it has been some time since the team was crowned champions of England and now Jürgen Klopp has the task of attempting to repeat as champions and full credit to him in overhauling the squad he was given back in October of 2015 when he was appointed manager. He took a squad with a few gems and got rid of the deadwood and replaced them. Following both Dejan Lovren’s and Adam Lallana’s recent departures from the club, the only remaining remember from that 14/15 squad is Jordan Henderson who not only captained the club to the league title this season but was awarded the FWA Player of the Year Award. In the summer of 2019, before the start of the 19/20 season, Klopp only made two notable signings, Sepp van den Berg, a teenage defender from PEC Zwolle in the Netherlands an...