Football is such an emotional display, at times.

How things move from one side to the other with such ease is amazing, and that’s the element that turns Football into the world’s biggest Sport!

By nature, the score is not the largest.
The truth is that there’s not a lot of goals.
Unlike Basketball, where the scores regularly surpass the 100 mark per Game, in Football an average of 2 to 4 goals per match is not a bad outcome most of the times.

Some say that this a problem for Football, because “people want to celebrate more”!

For me, that’s the beauty of Football, what makes it more unpredictable and loved by so many.

Because, if there’s a chance to win, statistically it will be greater in a match where there are not a lot of goals, than a competition where there are a lot of scoring opportunities – because, naturally, the most qualified will be better.

And these dynamics will then influence the financial aspect, which then will make the Sports more predictable.

Now, don’t take me wrong – Football (as any part of any Sport, or even Society) isn’t built to be fair, balanced and even.
If you look at the periods (ie. Decades or quarters of century) of each Competition (national or international) you will probably see that there’s a greater tendency of having always the same group of winners (ie. Paris Saint-Germain in France; FC Porto, SL Benfica or Sporting CP in Portugal; FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain, etc).

However, in a single match, there’s always an unpredictable factor that is hard to leave behind.

And this Season has been amazing in surprises and great comebacks, as Internazionale Milan beating FC Barcelona, Manchester United’s comeback against Athletic Club Bilbao in the last minutes, or even Crystal Palace beating Manchester City at the FA Cup.

Why is this relevant for the context of this match?

Because Al Wasl forgot the most important Principle of Football – consistency.

If you were to leave the Game by half-time you would probably expect a significant win for Al Wasl, by a significant margin.

However, if you would come in to only see the last 30 minutes you couldn’t recognize this and would, probably, think otherwise.

Al Wasl wasn’t perfect during the first 45 to 55 minutes, and had a few Tactical lapses, but it was definitely better than Al Orooba.

The home team, tried to press in a medium to high block and it worked at times. 

However, there were a few lapses in between, with some players contributing for a larger space than expected between the offensive and midfield lines, or by their individual behavior (ie. Not pressing and also not following their marker).
These behaviors made it harder than it should be to recover the ball more often and more consistently, allowing them to create more shooting opportunities in the last third.

Al Wasl is not, by individual profiles, a team that we can consider to be very dangerous on the counter-attacks, but their lack of aggressiveness in the last-third is definitely something to consider for next Season.

In the beginning of the 2nd half the amount of poor decisions in the last third cost not only another dangerous situation to score, as it turned out the win at the match.

Al Orooba, on the other hand, went from down-up in their performance, without brilliance but with a more consistent behavior towards their objective for this match – to win.

The team was way more active and aggressive in duels, making sure there were no doubts about their objective.

On their Attacking Model, the side backs projected into attacking positions, which was somehow dangerous in terms of 1st half, because the team left only the 2 CB’s + 2 holding Midfielders to prevent any counter-attack in case they lose the ball.

However, on the other hand, with the wingers and striker also navigating in the center, this overload of players in the centre, eventually paid off in 2nd balls or when the pass could go to that area.

Defensively, they were able to adapt, after a 1st half where they were disorganized and couldn’t recover the ball where they wanted, in a medium to high pressing block. 

Despite the lack of brilliance, credits need to be given to those that understand that Football is a Game of Decision-Making.

And it punishes whoever wants to play by different rules.

You don’t press correctly, you get passed by.

You don’t play to the right teammate, you lose the ball or the advantage you had.

It’s all about decisions.

And effort.

If you lose this, you lose the essence of the Game.

And the points.

Lessons to be learned for the future, as Clubs are starting to wrap-up this Season and prepare the next!

How do you see next League unfold?
What are the greater lessons to take forwards?

Let me know your thoughts!