5 Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Weekend - Week Twenty Six

1. The wrong team won at Wembley.
The simple stats may point to one club battering the other, but the reality was that a considerably lesser team went toe to toe with Liverpool’s expensively assembled pool of mediocrity and out fought them for 120 minutes. Cardiff showed heart, skill and energy. The majority of Liverpool’s team had turned up simply expecting to win. Already the worst shooters in the league, Pool’s £110m front five, plus Gerrard, mustered up a preposterous 45 shots on goal and well over 100 corners. It took a defender to get them back into the game and the oncoming Dirk Kuyt to finally get them over the finish line. Suarez and Carroll were bad beyond all belief, the first barely trying and sulking for the majority of the match and the latter just unable to head the ball anywhere near the goal. Neither player took part in what tried to pass as a penalty shoot out, a damning statement upon £60m of attacking talent. Liverpool, of course, eventually did win the match and claim a trophy that still looks beyond Arsene Wenger; they may even win the FA Cup given the teams that have gone out. But even if they did, the cold hard facts are that Kenny Daglish’s Liverpool team are supremely average. They remain the least likely of the Chelsea/Arsenal trio to claim 4^th spot and unless they start scoring goals and fast, they will once again contemplate a season without major European football. That may be good enough for some teams, but for Liverpool, after all that money spent, it’s not even close.

2. A new adjective is required for Ryan Giggs.
38, 900 appearances and still popping up with match winning performances... each and every year new records tumble, new words need to be invented to describe the ongoing brilliance of Ryan Giggs. The Welshman’s performances, fitness and pace haven’t dipped over the past 5 years, indeed there’s an argument to say he’s improved in that time. Since reinventing himself and changing his game he has added years to his career and is now without a doubt, the greatest player the Premier League has known. His latest trick was to ghost in at the far post after another 90 minutes of excellence and provide Utd with a beyond priceless three points. The most pleasing thing about this latest chapter in the Neverending Story, was the reaction of Giggs following the goal. This wasn’t a calm, seen it all before celebration. There was not a trace of arrogance. No, Giggsy celebrated with the passion of an 18 year old netting his first goal. Punching the air with delight and running to the Utd fans with a fair degree of madness, if his team do win the title this year, this moment will be remembered as much as any. Arise sir...

3. Arsenal owed Arsene Wenger those 30 minutes.
Wenger deserves a longer leash than most managers given his past achievements at Arsenal, but there’s little doubt he has lost his way over the past few years and this season has reached even lower depths. For 30 minutes yesterday though, his Arsenal starlets reminded the world what they could do when they all hit form at once. Van Persie was electric, Rosisky rolled back 8 years, Song snapped and harried and Walcott was pacey and penetrative. They tore into Spurs with such venom that one of the teams of the season was left exposed and all over the place, unable to prevent their rivals coming at them again and again. The result of course, does not change the fact that Arsenal and their manager still look on borrowed time, but if they can now rally and claim 4^th, the players will at least have gone some way to paying back the faith shown by a manager who has given his all to his adopted club.

4. When Peter’s good, he’s very very good.
West Brom have had a strange season and it’s been in part due to the erratic form shown by both Shane Long (who started well and has since faded) and the enigmatic Peter Odemwingie. Last season Odemwingie mixed the surreal and the sublime, being the man of the match one minute, falling over and missing penalties all... the... time... the next. This season has been no different and after an abject start to the campaign he hit form over Christmas netting three in three in some crucial results. He then went missing again and had done next to nothing until a fortnight ago where he scored a hat trick. Adding two more well taken finishes this weekend, Odemwingie is almost unplayable when he’s on song, possessing of quick feet and an assurance of touch that sometimes makes it look like the ball is glued to his feet. He also has a low and powerful shot that regularly makes the keeper work. Of course, none of this is true on days when he turns up and looks like the bastard lovechild of all Bobby Zamora and Emile Heskey’s bad points. When he’s bad he’s bloody awful, but thankfully for West Brom right now, he’s very good indeed.

5. Can Connor really keep the Wolves at bay?
One of the great managerial farces came to an end this week with Wolves finally appointing Mick McCarthy’s assistant as their new boss after 78 managers had turned down the job. Making a mockery of their decision in the first place, Wolves chairman Steve Morgan has poured embarrassment on the club from the moment he undermined the manager by marching into the dressing room last month. Initially turned down by Alan Curbishley, Wolves then offered the job to Walter Smith, Brian McDermott, Gus Poyet and Neil Warnock, before lying about it all when the managers rejected the chance to join them. Finally deciding that anyone was better than Steve Bruce (who now surely has to return to the lower leagues, or go abroad, before he can get near the Premiership again) – Connor was appointed and was off and running in fine style this weekend. Masterminding a comeback against Newcastle at St James’ is never easy, but if Morgan and his club aren’t going to rue their decision, Connor has much bigger tasks ahead. Only surviving relegation will spare Morgan from the fans ire and this weekend told us nothing we don’t already know. It’s three from five... and all bets are off.

5 Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Weekend - Week Twenty Five

1. Kenny Dalglish has let his club down just as much as Luiz Suarez.
The fallout from Saturday’s match has been such that Liverpool felt compelled to release three separate apologies on their day off to try and quell the storm that threatened to engulf their season. Suarez’ actions on the day were indefensible, a childish and offensive gesture that once again told us how petulant and pathetic so many professional footballers are. Suarez’s action though wasn’t just racist, it was indicative of a person who has been made to believe that he is the wronged party here. One man has to take responsibility for the stance of his player and that is Kenny Dalglish. A legend amongst Liverpool and football fans generally, Dalglish has had amble opportunity to stamp this issue out at the source and has failed again and again to do so. His apology yesterday is frankly, too little too late and this whole incident has sullied the reputation of a man so many held in such high regard. Dalglish should have backed his player privately and said in public it was up to the FA to decide and until that happened nothing would change (see AVB’s handling of the John Terry situation). When the mountain of evidence stacked up against Suarez, not to mention the contradictions in his and his teammate’s testimonies, he should have again backed his player privately and released a statement accepting the FA’s verdict. He didn’t. He implied he was going to fight the charge saying it was “unjust”, before changing his mind and accepting it, only to openly criticize it, describe it as “baseless” and maintain his player had been wronged. He then had a chance to heal the wounds caused before the FA cup game, where he could have released a statement to the Liverpool fans asking them to treat Patrice Evra, a clearly innocent man, with respect. He didn’t, they didn’t and he then dropped his biggest bomb of all by describing the systematic booing and persecution of a player for being black as “harmless banter.” When Suarez returned, again he had the chance to draw a line but instead released a subtle statement saying that he was sure Suarez would shake Evra’s hand, again implying that somehow it was Suarez and not Evra who had been wronged here. Finally, in perhaps his lowest moment, all be it in the height of passion, he claimed not to have seen the event on Saturday, before then implying he’d been told they had shaken hands and then ranting about how dare people blame Suarez!? Apologies may be accepted, but Liverpool football club, led by Dalglish, has dragged itself through the mud over the past 3 months and remains a long way away from healing the damaged reputation. That their recent & American owners had to eventually step in to diffuse it all says everything about how out of control the situation has become. Everybody already knew Luiz Suarez was a wanker, but for Dalglish, there will be no faultless character eulogies anymore. Neither person has been fit to represent this great club; and Liverpool FC have a long way to go before they can hold their heads up again.

2. How much longer can Mick keep the Wolves at bay.
You sense that if Mick McCarthy was going to be sacked, it would probably be after a 5-1 home defeat to your local rivals. Fortunately for him, he has a more loyal chairman than most clubs who has not forgotten the good work the Irishman has done on a limited budget over the past few years. I would never call for a manager’s head, I merely ask that Steve Kean be put out of his own misery from time to time, but Wolves are in a real dogfight and are fast heading into the Championship unless McCarthy can get his team playing again. Just two points now separate the not so famous five clubs at the foot of the table and it’s impossible to see any other teams getting involved in the scrap. The worry for Wolves is that their home form is truly risible at present. They’ve conceded more goals at their own ground than anyone and haven’t won in over 2 months. The most disturbing thing for the fans has been the lack of fight, which isn’t something you can normally say about teams managed by Mick McCarthy. Not for the first time this season, Wolves just gave up yesterday once the game seemed beyond them. To do that against your local rivals, who they could have dragged into the relegation fight themselves with a victory, was simply inexcusable. Mick has work to do to get players and fans believing again. Dropping the utterly useless Ebanks-Blake would at least be a start.

3. Re-signing Thierry Henry was worth it.
3 goals in six games have, in itself, made Henry’s return to Arsenal’s colours a worthwhile move by Arsene Wenger. The fact that two of the goals were match winners, with Saturday’s one securing three vital premier league points, have meant his return can now be deemed an unqualified success. Henry may lack the pace or tricks of old, but old habits die young and his movement and technique at the weekend to latch onto a perfectly weighted cross gave Arsenal a massive victory against a very good Sunderland team. With all three of their rivals for 4^th losing, it was the perfect result for Arsene Wenger and the topsy-turvy battle for the final Champions League spot took yet another unexpected twist. Henry now declares himself a fan of the club first and a player the second, but he has not only lifted the mood at the club upon his return but has paid them back in the best possible currency. Whatever happens in Milan on Wednesday he can go back to America proud of his efforts. One only hopes that he may have left behind any sort of a “how to score goals” guide book for Marouane Chamakh to read in his stead...

4. Watching Aston Villa is actually more dull than watching paint dry.
Mildly hungover and clinging to the small belief that maybe, just maybe, Man City might not win... I made a terrible mistake yesterday afternoon by voluntarily watching Aston Villa try and play football.  Alex Mcleish’s teams are never fun to watch, but he has sunk new lows at Villa this season by stifling what little creativity his team did have and relying instead on a 8-1-1 formation which is leaving Darren Bent so lonely he must be getting a complex by now. Villa decided to have a go at City as we ticked into injury time, not so much leaving it late as hardly bothering at all. Happily playing for a nil nil against the best team in the league is one thing, but happily playing for a 1-0 loss at home to them for 30 minutes is something else entirely. Mcleish has a broken squad, discontent fans and is playing the worst football in living memory. His appointment was a mistake from the start and remains a mistake now. Villa are redefining mediocrity with every torturous 90 minutes we are subjected to. I just want them to go away...

5. It’s not a taxing choice, just give it to Harry.
Let’s make it clear, if most people could take their pick from anybody in world football, the belief that the majority would genuinely want Harry Redknapp as the next England manager is surely wide of the mark. But, like him or loathe him, the FA needs a hit to get the country back onside and as a result mainly of the media, people have been whipped up into such a froth of cockney love that not offering Redknapp the job would now been seen as a massive fuck you to the fans. Devoid of any tactical nous whatsoever, not to mention being completely illiterate, ‘Arry at least possesses fine man management skills and has played the British press expertly for years. I don’t go along with the theory that we need a British manager, but accept that right now the country probably needs one to get behind and there are no real candidates out there who can make a better claim to the job than ‘Arry. Anyone expecting him to come in and radically change things though should be very wary. The man has already declared “Stevie G” or “Lamps” as his captain elect and vowed to bring Paul Scholes out of retirement. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that “reimagining” then as we look forward to the same players failing in the same way come July. The alternative of course is to listen to Ollie Harris and give the job to Rafa Benetiz. But given you’ve all just spilt your morning coffees after reading that, I’ll leave you with that harrowing prospect as you clean up. After all, how much more Pete Tong can it really get...

5 Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Weekend - Week Twenty Four

1. Newcastle aren’t going away.
As we head into the final third of the season Newcastle sit deservedly in 5^th place and find themselves playing with more consistency than any of the teams around them. They have defended well all season and could give both Arsenal and Chelsea a lesson in organisation, as well as a guide to defending as a unit. Their midfield has been strong, especially in the centre where even with injuries they have dictated matches. Up front, the signing of the season has just been added to by what looks like a clone of himself. Indeed, there is little evidence that Newcastle will collapse and right now they have to considered a genuine contender for the 4^th Champions League place. Despite a proper, all be it two horse title race and a five way relegation scrap, the battle for 4^th is shaping up to be the most intriguing contest of the season. Not just in who claims it, but what the aftermath will be for at least two of Chelsea, Liverpool & Arsenal. It would be somewhat ironic and heavily amusing, if all three found themselves in that boat. There is little love lost between myself and the delusional and irritable Geordie fans, but truth be told I would love it... love it... if Newcastle finished 4^th.

2. Fortress Bridge is a distant memory.
Jose’s ghost may live on at Stamford Bridge, but the team he left behind are now shadows of their former selves. Chelsea have conceded 19 goals at home and you have to go all the way down the table to QPR in 16^th before you find a worse record. It’s too easy to blame the personal in these situations, Terry, Cole & Luiz have all come in for serious stick already, but the buck must stop with the manager. AVB is a fine attacking coach, deserved of more than the woeful Fernando Torres to spearhead his fluent system, with Mata & Sturridge causing havoc in front of a quick passing centre. Defensively though, he continues to look clueless. His fullbacks bomb on aimlessly and he is currently playing without any real holding player. Both centre backs yesterday often found themselves way too far forward and Luiz continues to look genuinely disinterested in defending altogether. Utd’s third and crucial goal was the definition of schoolboy defending as Chelsea allowed not one, not  two, but three players time and space to pick out first a shot, then a cross and finally a free header. AVB can defend his team to the hilt all he wants in his increasingly deluded post match interviews, but until he can learn how to make his team... actually defend, his tenure at Chelsea still looks fragile.

3. Give the Ox chance to graze before sending him to new pastures.
Oxlaide-Chamberlain had started a grand total of one Premier League game for Arsenal before Fabio “I’m only interested in people who play in the top six” Capello was sniffing around. This Saturday would have done nothing for the poor lad’s prospect of bedding into Premiership life before making his bow at International level. There are the odd freak cases every now and again (Rooney, Gazza, Joe Cole) but by and large I’ve never seen the logic of calling any young player up to the International scene unless they are playing regular club football first. Oxlaide-Chamberlain looks a fine prospect, fearless, pacey and direct... he could well become everything Theo Walcott wishes he was... but please can we give him a season or two to develop properly before throwing him to the Lions of the England National team. After all, right now, that is no place for someone wanting to learn how to play football to be...

4. The sideshow of comedy that is Steve Kean rolls on.
After a good run of away results and performances, Blackburn came down to earth with a crashing bump on Saturday as they were swept aside by an Arsenal side on song. However, decent as Arsenal were, this was very much a case of Blackburn being so, so bad that several of their players would be better served up via the Venkey’s deep fat fryer than on a football pitch. The problem with Steve Kean, as I’ve said all along, is that fundamentally he has no idea what he is doing. Yes Blackburn have had the odd good result, but you suspect that’s more to do with the law of averages rather than any carefully plotted tactical triumph. His recent decision to not select Chris Samba after the transfer window has closed is baffling. He is, after all, their only decent defender. Blackburn may yet escape, such is the ineptitude of at least three other teams around them, but frankly they don’t deserve to. It may be harsh on their fan, but this team needs to be put out of their misery, disbanded in the lower leagues and hopefully not be seen again for a very, very long time.

5. England & Capello have serious problems.
At the risk of poking Sage with a stick, the FA’s blunder over John Terry’s 29^th scandal has now gained enough momentum to seriously derail what little chance England had of not embarrassing themselves in the summer. Capello’s reaction says everything we need to know about his relationship with the FA and indeed why he is personally so ill suited to managing our national team. Saying you disagree is one thing, saying that JT “will always be my captain” is quite another. Seemingly ignoring the continuing evidence that John Terry can’t actually defend these days anyway, Capello has nailed his colours to the mast and essentially admitted that JT will be going to the Euro’s as his unofficial leader. He may as well not even select another captain; such will his leadership be undermined. The England set up has been in disarray since before the last world cup and after a small rescue job during the qualifiers, it has now turned full circle again as another major tournament looms. When Joey Barton starts talking sense, you know you’re in serious trouble. Is there anything to be done? Probably not. All the major parties have dropped a bomb over this situation and nobody has come out looking good. The FA & Capello need to sit down and plan some sort of a united way forward to stop our team sinking even further into international waters. In reality, it’s probably best if we just go, get spanked, get rid of Capello, appoint someone else and start again with a new, younger team and captain (Hart, Richards, Jones, Rooney – whoever). I’ll stop now because I’m depressing myself. It could have been worse though, I could have written about Aston Villa. But frankly nobody deserves that punishment...

5 Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Weekend - Week Twenty Three

1. What is the point of the transfer window?
Initially designed as a way to “help coaches” by ensuring they must work with players rather than just buying new ones, it’s safe to say that after 10 years the January transfer window has achieved almost nothing of any value. The system just doesn’t work, coaches will just tap players up until the window starts if they want to which unsettles both players and clubs. Gary Cahill could and should have been sold in September. He hasn’t helped himself or his club by playing on further and has now moved, somewhat oddly, from the skipper of Bolton to the 4^th choice centre back for Chelsea. Watching Sky & BBC feebly try to drum up excitement on a deadline day that featured Bobby Zamora as the star attraction, the time has surely come for either saying you can only arrange transfers in the close season... or just making it open season again. The former would properly allow players and managers to work together over an entire season, within the 25 man squad limit. Judging them on tactics, motivation and technical ability rather than being able to buy themselves out of trouble. Managers should also held by the same terms, it would be much more interesting if coaches had to stick with their choices until all 38 games had been played rather than just getting rid of them at the first sign of a crisis. Will it happen? Of course not, the transfer window and in particular deadline day has now just become a big marketing device which generates Sky and the Premier League even more money than before. I mean ‘Arry did all he could, but given he’ll be in jail this time next year, it’s probably time to try something new.

2. What has happened to Samir Nasri?
This time last year Nasri was close to untouchable. He was the star player in an Arsenal team gunning for success on all four fronts and had scored 14 times including some memorable and match winning solo efforts. Little wonder then that despite a slight loss of form toward the end of last season, he was coveted by both Manchester clubs this summer before eventually being bought be City. With the view of playing him and Silva as twin creators either side of Aguero and a lone man, Nasri, unlike Silva, just hasn’t kicked on at all. He has been invisible in almost every big game, outshone not just be his fellow first choice attackers but often by the likes of Barry and Milner as well. He doesn’t seem to be able to dribble anymore and his confidence looks very low. One piledriver against the bar this week reminded us what he was capable of, but the stats make pretty terrible reading for a player that City thought they had picked on the “cheap” at £20m. Nasri has 3 goals and 6 assists this season, but of those 9 key contributions, 7 of them took place in his first four games with the club. Since then, Nasri has played over 1000 minutes of football and City have scored 37 goals. Nasri has been directly involved in 2 of them. City may still be top, but they are badly missing Ya Ya Toure and even Balotelli, who can at least create a goal out of nothing which seems well beyond Edin Dzeko right now. They need Nasri to start stepping up, or it could well be Deja Vu yet again for their ex Arsenal starlet.

3. Barcelona might be surrendering their title, but not their status.

The best football team on the planet are not having a great time. They drew again last night, all be it in the cup against a decent Valencia team, but have now already drawn or lost the same number of games as last season and more than the season before. They trail Jose’s ruthless Madrid machine by 7 points and look unlikely to claw that back from the fixtures remaining. Despite that though, they remain the team to which all other teams aspire to and will continue to do so until they are beaten by another on a regular basis. Jose may well triumph in the league, but he has beaten Barcelona just once in 9 games (and that in extra time) and has been soundly beaten in half of those matches. Unless he can match them over two legs in the Champions League and come out on top, his tenure will still be known as someone who achieved success by slipping round the back door. Barcelona are not as strong as they were despite the two excellent new signings. They badly miss an in form David Villa to swap positions with Messi and defensively the cracks are starting to show. On their day however, they are 20% better than any other team, something that has been shown time and time again in the big matches. Even if they lose the title and fail in the Champions League, barring a close season break up of their entire squad, they will still be the team to beat next year. Not even the special one can change that.

4. John Terry is right not to give up his captaincy.

This may be the only time I ever defend John Terry, so as a caveat I should note that I’m not defending the man, but merely the situation. Terry pleaded not guilty to racially abusing Anton Ferdinand this week and the trial is now set, somewhat bizarrely, until after the European Championships. Since then, there have been several calls for Terry to step down and resign from the England set up until he’s cleared his name. In short, why? If he’s innocent, which he clearly believes he is, why on earth should he sacrifice captaining his country at a major tournament. Despite people’s claims that there could be “conflict of interests” in the squad, I just don’t buy that. For starters, Anton Ferdinand does not (and never will) play for England. Rio of course, has been JT’s partner for several years, but if Capello selects him for the final squad based on this year’s performances he wants his head examined. Right now, Danny Simpson is a better defender let alone countless others. Terry should be allowed, like any person, to continue with his life as innocent until proven guilty. If the FA care that much about it creating an issue, why on earth doesn’t somebody release the “evidence” that the case is based on? Surely we can’t be going to bloody trial for a case of one man’s word against the other? Of course, all that said, he shouldn’t be in the England team either on form, let alone our fucking captain. But if Capello has stuck with him this far, he cannot disregard him now. Although obviously if he does... I will openly celebrate it.

5. Andy Carroll. Hell, at least he’s better than Torres.
Two goals and two assists in his last three starts, Carroll is not firing on all cylinders just yet but he is at least starting to show signs of recovery. In fairness to the lad, he has continually been played in the wrong tactics for his strengths to shine. Carroll has never been a loan striker; he is not mobile or quick enough and needs a proper number 10 alongside him to flourish. In recent weeks, Dirk Kuyt has fulfilled that role which Kevin Nolan did so well at Newcastle. Breaking from a deeper position and feeding off the knock downs that Carroll provides. Carroll can hold it up and spin with the best of them but when the ball has gone out wide, too often the service has been dire. Liverpool were wrong to try and offload him this window, it is less so the player than the tactics which haven’t been right. Something that, at least, King Kenny seems to have worked out. The same cannot be said of Fernando Torres. Whilst he would probably benefit from playing the ball over the top more often than Chelsea tend to, he has more than enough skills in his locker to play in a 4-2-3-1 formation and feed off the creativity of Mata and Merillies. He just isn’t doing that. Too often he gets in good positions to look for the pass rather than the shot and bar the odd instinctive moment, his confidence now looks so far gone there is a real worry it will never return. You can’t pay 50m for someone and then watch them not score in 18 games. Torres record over the past 12 months is as bad as any striker currently playing regularly and time is now running out for him to do something... anything at all to arrest that.