AC #2 : match thoughts, end of 21 start of 22

In terms of actual games, we have the following:

Super cup v Atleti, host Barcelona in the Copa, and then at Rayo.

Prior ones are the one just past 0-0 against Alaves, the 3-1 win against Osasuna, and if you go back to late December the 1-2 loss at Madrid and the 3-2 win at San Mames v Betis.

Some good, some bad, and some ugly.

Osasuna 1-3 AC notes

A game where Athletic a) score early and b) score multiple goals! A rarity indeed. It's one where game state comes into play though. The Osasuna goal was pure Basque shithousery. As limited as Kike Garcia is, he would be of use at AC simply as a battering ram type striker. Hold the ball up, lay it off, get in the box and body dudes for headers. Props to Moncayola on the cross btw. One AC should look at for the midfield.

First Sancet goal- quick transition, the Marcelino special. Ball goes through the middle, finds its way out to Inaki, who curls in a lovely cross for the youngster to head in. Now, I made the point about needing a forward, and I do think Sancet is more of a 10 than a 9, maybe a 9.5 as they say, but in this team he and Raul Garcia are the best goal threats.

Goal #2 - patient buildup, which is a rarity. 4 guys queuing up in the box, cross comes in from de Marcos, and again Sancet is on the end of it. Nice side-footed finish past Herrera. Maybe he was screened by the defender. Either way, remontada complete within 15 minutes. Half decent chance soon after with a Kike Garcia header, but his effort was tame and saved easily.

Hat trick - poacher instincts again from Sancet. Decent string of passes ends up with Berenguer free on the right with Sancet streaking in behind toward the penalty spot. The low cross is perfect, and the forward stays onside to poke it past Herrera.

Other notes - I'm not sure why, but Osasuna are one of the worst teams in the league in terms of shot quality. I noticed it a while back, away to Espanyol I think, but they take so many bad shots, it's mind-blowing. Checking on fbref, Mallorca and Getafe are the only two sides that take shots from further out on average, and Osasuna are bottom 5 in shots on target %, so my hunch there was accurate. Crazy that they're not bottom in either category. They're also bottom 5 in xG, but top 5 in xGA, as I'd expect given their goals for and against.

Alaves 0-0 AC notes

This is what I'm talking about. More possession, nearly 60%, but fewer shots and no goals.

Looking slightly deeper, but still not wasting 90 minutes on this nonsense, there were two decent chances in the entire game, one for each team. Athletic had their opportunity in the first half through Muniain. It's a low quality chance for me, as there's a flick on from a corner and the diminutive creator lunges for the ball as it's going out of play at the second post. The Alaves one was Lejeune, also coming from a corner after horrible Yeray clearance. Joselu wins the header and flicks on to the defender, who fails to convert. Outside of that, it was a horribly Basque game. Downpour, two teams that prefer to not have the ball, little to nothing in terms of chance creation.

AC 1-2 Madrid notes

Bit weird with this one being out of order with the super cup nonsense, but it is what it is. I'll go back and watch, but in reality this is the third of three before the next set and whatever else I write about AC. From what I remember, it was another game that characterizes both of these teams. Madrid win when maybe they shouldn't, while AC have no finishing touch. The one at the Bernabeu was worse, IIRC, in terms of creating so much just to score 0 goals. Yeah, that was indeed the case. 2.51 xG, 18 shots, 4 big chances, all for naught. Pretty sure I had gotten rid of ESPN+ a couple days prior and looked at the trio of early goals and then nothing else happened, in terms of goals.

First goal you can't really do much with. It's just a world class goal. My complaint would be on the defending if I'm picking faults. The rotation when the ball goes right to left is a bit slow, meaning the right side of AC is scrambling. But then again, most people won't score that. The pass from Vini to Kroos is well timed, as is the layoff to Benzema, and then the shot is perfect.

Second goal is clearer in terms of blame. There's definitely some to go around. Again, I don't really think the keeper can do much. Balenziaga gives the ball away, meaning the other defenders are exposed, and then there's a scramble and someone puts the ball into the path of Benzema, who was initially offside. But since the defender plays it, the rules say it's a good goal. Yeah. Far from ideal.

The Athletic goal, scored by Sancet (assisted by de Marcos) was also high quality. Basically, Camavinga plays a long ball, it eventually is retained by AC, ball comes out to de Marcos, Sancet is chilling in between the middle of the pitch and the right half space, nobody closes him down and he puts one in the far corner. No chance for Courtois whatsoever. It's one of those that you go crazy over in the moment, but realistically it won't happen that way often. I'll probably watch more later, but possession was 60-40 to Madrid and it seems they were the more threatening despite having the lead.

To recap the three fixtures, I can't say I'm surprised with any of the results. Osasuna have been terrible for a while and struggle in attack at the best of times. Sancet took advantage of their porous defense in that match. Losing to Madrid both times isn't a surprise to me, either. One time they should have won, the other they were slightly worse and you can say deserved to lose. The Alaves result was arguably the most predictable. You know how they're gonna set up under Mendilibar. High press leading to a compact low block when they're under attack, and Athletic simply did not create chances. Pretty similar to what Marcelino does, but with lesser players, so there's some irony there.