Arsenal v Spurs
A North London derby that neither club can afford to lose, so almost certain to be a draw. I'm going for 1 a piece, with Arsenal to dominate possession.
Liverpool v Wigan
Both these teams are improving all the time, but I can't see this being a high scoring affair. I predict a narrow victory for the home team, almost certainly scored by Suarez after he's hit the post at least twice.
Man City v Azzzton Villa
Home win.
Newcastle v Swansea
Newcastle are due a good performance and I fancy them to deliver it this weekend. The Toon to win 3-0.
QPR v Saints
Talk about a six pointer. It might only be November but whoever loses this could be 7 or 8 points adrift of safety. I think Saints will win this, but the first goal will be crucial. Adkins men to prevail 2-1 and Hughes to be sacked in the morning.
Reading v Everton
Reading remain winless themselves, a run I can't see being broken here. Everton haven't quite mastered the winning ugly style that turns you from a good team into a great one, so I'm going for a draw here. 1 all.
West Brom v Chelsea
This is arguably the game I'm looking forward to most all weekend. West Brom are flying, the two games they have lost they should have got 4 points from. Meanwhile, Chelsea are stuttering after a flying start. Very hard to call, but I'm going for a close fought away win. 2-1 to the Blues, with Mata again pulling the strings.
Norwich v Man Utd
Norwich have been looking good of late but they don't score a lot and keeping Utd out for 90 minutes seems impossible right now. Away win, by a couple of goals.
Fulham v Sunderland
Sunderland surely have to start playing football again soon? They're up against a really good Fulham team this week and it's impossible to look beyond a home win. 2 nil.
West Ham v Stoke City
Meanwhile in the land of the giants... nil nil.
Friday, 16 November 2012
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Eleven
1. Coming from behind, it’s the new missionary position.
Manchester United & City are sat at the top of the league table this weekend looking down at the other teams and laughing. Utd have hit top gear twice all season and City haven’t even got out of 3rd. Yet, the former are top of the pile and the latter are somehow still unbeaten. In the 30 games that both have played in the Premier & Champions League this season they have come from behind to claim points in a barely plausible 18 of them. Of course, it helps when you don’t bother playing until the last half hour of matches to have a super sub on the bench. Edin Dzeko has scored more goals than any of City’s strikers and cannot buy a starting place. He has scored the winner in a third of City’s Premier League games this season. He is better than Sunderland on his own. Javier Hernandez meanwhile has scored more goals in the last ten games than the ENTIRE of Manchester United's team combined bar Van Persie. He is currently averaging a goal every 54 minutes. His goals per minute ratio is the best of any striker ever to play for Utd in the modern era. Let’s look at this another way, Edin Dzeko and Javier Hernandez have already this season won more points for their team than the whole of QPR, Reading & Southampton put together. And neither of them start games. Ah who cares, it makes things much more interesting if you give the opposition a chance first.
2. Big Sam, the manager Mark Hughes wishes he was.
Say what you want about Big Sam, his knack of taking supremely average teams into the top half of the Premier League is peerless. His teams aren’t always easy on the eye and often tread a disciplinary tightrope, but time and time again he manages to deliver. West Ham sit in 6th position in the table, above Spurs, Arsenal and Newcastle, and the worst thing about it is they actually deserve to be there. They have the second best defence in the league and have been outplayed just once to date (away at Swansea). Allardyce knows how to win Premier League matches and West Ham are organised and committed with a smackering of flair around the edges. In Kevin Nolan, they have the most consistent uncapped midfielder in England, certainly now the equally impressive Leon Osman has been called up. Mark Hughes on the other hand, can’t even remember how to win football matches. QPR are bottom of the table, winless and shit out of luck. Hughes has won just 8 of his 34 games in charge, a ratio of less than 24%. Lower than Neil Warnock managed in his time in the same league, with a lot less money and time. Hughes vowed last season that you would “never, ever see a team in that position whilst he was at the club.” He may well be proved right, but only because he won’t be there come May...
3. Chelsea have to ship out Torres in January.
Chelsea may have posted their first profits under the Roman Empire, but if they’re to harbor any realistic chance of winning the title this season, they have to take what they can for Torres and buy a genuine centre forward, not an ex one. Torres may have scored four league goals, but only one was a genuine strikers finish and given the talent behind him, it’s a pretty meek return. Ask yourself, would Torres get in the first team of any major club in European football? Would he even get in the match day squad at City or Utd? No. He’ll still score the odd goal, who wouldn’t with Mata, Oscar and Hazard running riot, but he is simply not a game changer in the way that top strikers are. It’s time to put him out to pasture. I’m sure Spurs will buy him... or PSG, just for a laugh.
4. Everybody, even Arsenal fans, need Arsenal to not finish in the top four this season.
With the top three all but certain to remain as they are, a battle for 4th of epic proportions is currently being fought beneath them. Everton, easily playing the best football, are surely the most deserving of the spot to reward them and their manager for a decade of over achievement. Right now though, I’d take just about anyone in the league (not West Ham) finishing in 4th spot ahead of the Gunners. Why? Because Arsene Wenger needs to leave; and them finishing 3rd or 4th year after year after trophy less year is only prolonging the inevitable. Arsenal at least used to challenge for the title. Now they rise slowly to the surface like a dead, bloated whale corpse scaring away all the little fish at the latter stages. Arsenal are now so average that Aaron Ramsey has started to look ok again, just because he runs more than the others do. When their strikers find their boots, the defence collapses. When the defence keeps a clean sheet, they can’t hit a barn door. Sure they’ll go on a sneaky little run at some point and fool a few people, but when it comes to the crunch they aren’t good enough. For a team with their recent history, charging £150 a ticket, with a magnificent stadium, an army of supporters and turning a bigger profit than any UK bank... that’s unforgivable. Wenger out. The campaign begins here.
5. A nod to Andrea Pirlo.
Juventus’ unbeaten run came to an end last week one short of the magic 50 mark. For Pirlo, it marked the end of a streak that had stretched back to December 2010. One month shy of two years, Pirlo was beaten for the first time in sixty league matches. An astonishing run whichever way you look at it. Pirlo is a romanticists footballer, a throwback to days when people treated the ball like a fine woman, gently caressing it around the pitch with elegance and grace. His range of passing is exquisite, and his pass percentage during the last two years is better than Toure, Xavi, Alonso... even Michael Carrick. This summer he dragged a very average Italian squad to the cusp of greatness. He even managed to get a penalty renamed after him en route. Being far too much of a homosexual to play in this country (thank you Phil Brown), we are left to admire him from afar as he weaves his magic across Italy. He won’t win the Ballon d’or, it’s likely he won’t even make the top five, but he’d still walk into any team in the world at the age of 33 and slowly, gently, make love to the ball.
Manchester United & City are sat at the top of the league table this weekend looking down at the other teams and laughing. Utd have hit top gear twice all season and City haven’t even got out of 3rd. Yet, the former are top of the pile and the latter are somehow still unbeaten. In the 30 games that both have played in the Premier & Champions League this season they have come from behind to claim points in a barely plausible 18 of them. Of course, it helps when you don’t bother playing until the last half hour of matches to have a super sub on the bench. Edin Dzeko has scored more goals than any of City’s strikers and cannot buy a starting place. He has scored the winner in a third of City’s Premier League games this season. He is better than Sunderland on his own. Javier Hernandez meanwhile has scored more goals in the last ten games than the ENTIRE of Manchester United's team combined bar Van Persie. He is currently averaging a goal every 54 minutes. His goals per minute ratio is the best of any striker ever to play for Utd in the modern era. Let’s look at this another way, Edin Dzeko and Javier Hernandez have already this season won more points for their team than the whole of QPR, Reading & Southampton put together. And neither of them start games. Ah who cares, it makes things much more interesting if you give the opposition a chance first.
2. Big Sam, the manager Mark Hughes wishes he was.
Say what you want about Big Sam, his knack of taking supremely average teams into the top half of the Premier League is peerless. His teams aren’t always easy on the eye and often tread a disciplinary tightrope, but time and time again he manages to deliver. West Ham sit in 6th position in the table, above Spurs, Arsenal and Newcastle, and the worst thing about it is they actually deserve to be there. They have the second best defence in the league and have been outplayed just once to date (away at Swansea). Allardyce knows how to win Premier League matches and West Ham are organised and committed with a smackering of flair around the edges. In Kevin Nolan, they have the most consistent uncapped midfielder in England, certainly now the equally impressive Leon Osman has been called up. Mark Hughes on the other hand, can’t even remember how to win football matches. QPR are bottom of the table, winless and shit out of luck. Hughes has won just 8 of his 34 games in charge, a ratio of less than 24%. Lower than Neil Warnock managed in his time in the same league, with a lot less money and time. Hughes vowed last season that you would “never, ever see a team in that position whilst he was at the club.” He may well be proved right, but only because he won’t be there come May...
3. Chelsea have to ship out Torres in January.
Chelsea may have posted their first profits under the Roman Empire, but if they’re to harbor any realistic chance of winning the title this season, they have to take what they can for Torres and buy a genuine centre forward, not an ex one. Torres may have scored four league goals, but only one was a genuine strikers finish and given the talent behind him, it’s a pretty meek return. Ask yourself, would Torres get in the first team of any major club in European football? Would he even get in the match day squad at City or Utd? No. He’ll still score the odd goal, who wouldn’t with Mata, Oscar and Hazard running riot, but he is simply not a game changer in the way that top strikers are. It’s time to put him out to pasture. I’m sure Spurs will buy him... or PSG, just for a laugh.
4. Everybody, even Arsenal fans, need Arsenal to not finish in the top four this season.
With the top three all but certain to remain as they are, a battle for 4th of epic proportions is currently being fought beneath them. Everton, easily playing the best football, are surely the most deserving of the spot to reward them and their manager for a decade of over achievement. Right now though, I’d take just about anyone in the league (not West Ham) finishing in 4th spot ahead of the Gunners. Why? Because Arsene Wenger needs to leave; and them finishing 3rd or 4th year after year after trophy less year is only prolonging the inevitable. Arsenal at least used to challenge for the title. Now they rise slowly to the surface like a dead, bloated whale corpse scaring away all the little fish at the latter stages. Arsenal are now so average that Aaron Ramsey has started to look ok again, just because he runs more than the others do. When their strikers find their boots, the defence collapses. When the defence keeps a clean sheet, they can’t hit a barn door. Sure they’ll go on a sneaky little run at some point and fool a few people, but when it comes to the crunch they aren’t good enough. For a team with their recent history, charging £150 a ticket, with a magnificent stadium, an army of supporters and turning a bigger profit than any UK bank... that’s unforgivable. Wenger out. The campaign begins here.
5. A nod to Andrea Pirlo.
Juventus’ unbeaten run came to an end last week one short of the magic 50 mark. For Pirlo, it marked the end of a streak that had stretched back to December 2010. One month shy of two years, Pirlo was beaten for the first time in sixty league matches. An astonishing run whichever way you look at it. Pirlo is a romanticists footballer, a throwback to days when people treated the ball like a fine woman, gently caressing it around the pitch with elegance and grace. His range of passing is exquisite, and his pass percentage during the last two years is better than Toure, Xavi, Alonso... even Michael Carrick. This summer he dragged a very average Italian squad to the cusp of greatness. He even managed to get a penalty renamed after him en route. Being far too much of a homosexual to play in this country (thank you Phil Brown), we are left to admire him from afar as he weaves his magic across Italy. He won’t win the Ballon d’or, it’s likely he won’t even make the top five, but he’d still walk into any team in the world at the age of 33 and slowly, gently, make love to the ball.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Nine
1. How hard is it to
let football to do the talking?
Sky’s Super Sundays rarely delivers, but this weekend’s combination of a high octane Merseyside derby littered with subtext; and a full out attacking bonanza at Stamford Bridge were both ruined by terrible refereeing. At least the Everton & Liverpool game waited until the last few minutes before letting controversy mar it. This was not the case at Chelsea, where the Mark Clatternburg show completely took over what was fast becoming the game of the season. As it was, not only were we robbed of a final half hour of end to end attacking football, we were left once again to listen to the pundits, the managers and the media seemingly forget about how much wonderful football they’d seen and just discuss the controversies over and over again. This is the biggest shame about all of this. I want to hear people talk about the way Suarez tore through Everton’s defence. Or the way David Moyes team rallied themselves in fine style to come back from two down. I want to discuss the passes that combined to create Chelsea’s magnificent second goal, or the movement from Robin Van Persie in both of Utd’s openers. What I don’t want is half an hour of people going on about bad decisions. Decisions, it has to be said, that were so obviously wrong it barely merits a discussion in the first place. Indeed, you open the papers this morning and there’s little mention of the football in light of not only the existing incidents, but the extraordinary allegations that Clatternburg racially abused a Chelsea player. A friend made a good point yesterday on that. If he is found guilty will he be given a 4 game ban like John Terry? Unlikely. He’ll probably be sacked. In which case not only will football once again be guilty of terrible hypocrisy, but Howard Webb has a lot of responsibility as Fergies remaining 12th man…
Sky’s Super Sundays rarely delivers, but this weekend’s combination of a high octane Merseyside derby littered with subtext; and a full out attacking bonanza at Stamford Bridge were both ruined by terrible refereeing. At least the Everton & Liverpool game waited until the last few minutes before letting controversy mar it. This was not the case at Chelsea, where the Mark Clatternburg show completely took over what was fast becoming the game of the season. As it was, not only were we robbed of a final half hour of end to end attacking football, we were left once again to listen to the pundits, the managers and the media seemingly forget about how much wonderful football they’d seen and just discuss the controversies over and over again. This is the biggest shame about all of this. I want to hear people talk about the way Suarez tore through Everton’s defence. Or the way David Moyes team rallied themselves in fine style to come back from two down. I want to discuss the passes that combined to create Chelsea’s magnificent second goal, or the movement from Robin Van Persie in both of Utd’s openers. What I don’t want is half an hour of people going on about bad decisions. Decisions, it has to be said, that were so obviously wrong it barely merits a discussion in the first place. Indeed, you open the papers this morning and there’s little mention of the football in light of not only the existing incidents, but the extraordinary allegations that Clatternburg racially abused a Chelsea player. A friend made a good point yesterday on that. If he is found guilty will he be given a 4 game ban like John Terry? Unlikely. He’ll probably be sacked. In which case not only will football once again be guilty of terrible hypocrisy, but Howard Webb has a lot of responsibility as Fergies remaining 12th man…
2. But… we have to
give refs more help.
All of yesterdays’ controversy could have been wiped away with three simple rule changes. Diving, the professional foul and offside goals all ruin games week in week out and none of the changes outlined below would slow the game down or take away the “power” from referees like FIFA claim.
All of yesterdays’ controversy could have been wiped away with three simple rule changes. Diving, the professional foul and offside goals all ruin games week in week out and none of the changes outlined below would slow the game down or take away the “power” from referees like FIFA claim.
i. Retrospective punishment for diving.
Refs are on increasing pressure to clamp down on simulation and it’s clear that was the message ringing in Clattenburg’s ears when he booked Torres yesterday. However, it was an impossible call and one he should never be in a position to have to make. Ref’s should never be having to guess whether people went down too easily or not, they should let the game flow and be able to assess the video footage after a match and if they think someone has dived, be able to issue a retrospective straight red card. This would cut out diving at once as right now, about three people would be sent off every game. It would also keep the power with the referee who would have time and technology on his side to make his decision.
ii. Change the professional foul rule.
One of my most despised rules in all of football, it the tackle isn’t cynical or dangerous, a player should not be sent off for what we saw on Sunday. A clash of legs, accidental collisions or a genuine mistimed tackle should not be punished by a red card. But what do you do when someone is clean through outside the box then? Simple. Award a penalty. They do it in other sports, why not football. All that has been denied is a “clear goal scoring opportunity” – so give them one.
iii. Allow for offside goals to be reviewed by the 4th official.
Within 20 seconds on Sunday, the 4th official would have correctly awarded Liverpool a goal and denied Man Utd one. For all the fuss about goal line technology, this is a much more common problem and one that offers exactly the same solution. Just allow a team to review it? The 4th official (or someone else) could communicate to the referee during the celebrations whether or not the goal was offside or not. It wouldn’t slow the match down and if you’re worried about assistant refs losing their jobs then say that each captain can review one decision a match. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, but what we saw on Sunday (especially at Goodison) were just total bottles from fallible officials under intense pressure. The time has come to help them, rather than just abuse them. Maybe this way we can start talking about football again…
3. David de Gea is
all sorts of fun.
Say what you like about De Gea, he’s pure box office. Easily the most entertaining keeper since Crazy Jens left our hallowed shores, the young Spaniard is a mixture of the surreal, sublime and complete shit in every single 90 minutes he plays. On Sunday he managed to follow up an 80 yard pin point drop kick under pressure onto the boot of Van Persie, with a scuffed clearance straight to a Chelsea player. The next minute he was flapping at a cross before making one of the saves of the season to deny Torres. There is no middle ground with De Gea, his distribution is often extraordinary accurate and his shot stopping is as good as anyone in the world. Sadly his command of his penalty box is, at best, invisible and at worst disastrous. In short, you never know what you’re going to get next from him. Currently he saves at least one shot he has no right to save every match. Which would be great if he didn’t concede a goal he really should have kept out every match as well. Regardless of his performances, Fergie owes it to the league to play him every match. The division is much more entertaining with him in it.
Say what you like about De Gea, he’s pure box office. Easily the most entertaining keeper since Crazy Jens left our hallowed shores, the young Spaniard is a mixture of the surreal, sublime and complete shit in every single 90 minutes he plays. On Sunday he managed to follow up an 80 yard pin point drop kick under pressure onto the boot of Van Persie, with a scuffed clearance straight to a Chelsea player. The next minute he was flapping at a cross before making one of the saves of the season to deny Torres. There is no middle ground with De Gea, his distribution is often extraordinary accurate and his shot stopping is as good as anyone in the world. Sadly his command of his penalty box is, at best, invisible and at worst disastrous. In short, you never know what you’re going to get next from him. Currently he saves at least one shot he has no right to save every match. Which would be great if he didn’t concede a goal he really should have kept out every match as well. Regardless of his performances, Fergie owes it to the league to play him every match. The division is much more entertaining with him in it.
4. There is no
defence for Southampton.
Fast becoming the new Blackpool, without the ability to actually win, Southampton look set to be an entertaining footnote in this year’s Premier League battle. Lying in 19th place already adrift of safety, they are actually the league’s 6th highest scorers. Sadly they have conceded 26 goals in 9 games. Indeed, their fans have witnessed 40 goals in all at an extraordinary average of 4.5 a match. At this rate they are on target to beat Swindon Town’s unenviable record of 100 goals in one season… in less games. The problem with Southampton is simple, they cannot defend in any way shape or form. Bale’s opener yesterday came from a looped cross which he headed in from around 16 yards, barely challenged. Before that, Saints had been carved open by the seemingly new technique of people passing the ball and running after it. They improved in the second half, but only because they had more of the ball. Indeed, given you can’t see how they’re going to improve their rearguard at this hour, the only chance they have of getting close to the 40 point mark is trying to keep the ball for the vast majority of the time. Saints possess some very good footballers and they should look to Swansea as their blueprint for how to keep the ball and also stay vaguely solid at the same time. If not, you fear for them not just getting relegated, but going down with an unwanted statistic hanging around their necks as well.
Fast becoming the new Blackpool, without the ability to actually win, Southampton look set to be an entertaining footnote in this year’s Premier League battle. Lying in 19th place already adrift of safety, they are actually the league’s 6th highest scorers. Sadly they have conceded 26 goals in 9 games. Indeed, their fans have witnessed 40 goals in all at an extraordinary average of 4.5 a match. At this rate they are on target to beat Swindon Town’s unenviable record of 100 goals in one season… in less games. The problem with Southampton is simple, they cannot defend in any way shape or form. Bale’s opener yesterday came from a looped cross which he headed in from around 16 yards, barely challenged. Before that, Saints had been carved open by the seemingly new technique of people passing the ball and running after it. They improved in the second half, but only because they had more of the ball. Indeed, given you can’t see how they’re going to improve their rearguard at this hour, the only chance they have of getting close to the 40 point mark is trying to keep the ball for the vast majority of the time. Saints possess some very good footballers and they should look to Swansea as their blueprint for how to keep the ball and also stay vaguely solid at the same time. If not, you fear for them not just getting relegated, but going down with an unwanted statistic hanging around their necks as well.
5. There are no
winners at Norwich.
Norwich are probably the most regularly patronised club in the top flight. 3 minutes of highlights can’t go by without a nod to their director’s box or reference to Alan Partridge. Most football fans couldn’t name more than three of their players. This summer they replaced the departing Paul Lambert with the reliable, likeable Chris Hughton. On the evidence of Saturday however, neither manager nor club can be particularly happy with the way things have turned out. Norwich under Hughton are less expansive than they were under Lambert, preferring a tighter formation and reliance on the creativity of their wingers to cut inside. Villa meanwhile… are Villa. If Lambert has tried to improve the way they football, he’s failed. Which is a bit surprising given he’s only using about three players who were there under the McCleish regime. A predictably tight draw left both teams looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table and wondering where the attacking football of yesteryears had gone. Perhaps if both managers just swapped jobs things would be better? Maybe not. But a long, hard and potentially very disinteresting season awaits both clubs. Oh well, maybe Delia can spice things up instead…
Norwich are probably the most regularly patronised club in the top flight. 3 minutes of highlights can’t go by without a nod to their director’s box or reference to Alan Partridge. Most football fans couldn’t name more than three of their players. This summer they replaced the departing Paul Lambert with the reliable, likeable Chris Hughton. On the evidence of Saturday however, neither manager nor club can be particularly happy with the way things have turned out. Norwich under Hughton are less expansive than they were under Lambert, preferring a tighter formation and reliance on the creativity of their wingers to cut inside. Villa meanwhile… are Villa. If Lambert has tried to improve the way they football, he’s failed. Which is a bit surprising given he’s only using about three players who were there under the McCleish regime. A predictably tight draw left both teams looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table and wondering where the attacking football of yesteryears had gone. Perhaps if both managers just swapped jobs things would be better? Maybe not. But a long, hard and potentially very disinteresting season awaits both clubs. Oh well, maybe Delia can spice things up instead…
(the author is aware that this last entry is mildly
patronising to Norwich)
Monday, 22 October 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Eight
Dzeko deserves more
8 of Manchester City’s goals this season have come in the last 10 minutes of their matches and no man has been more prolific in that period than Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian boasts the best goals per minute ratio of anybody so far and has won his team 9 ill-deserved points already, half their total haul. Mancini is a member of the “Rafa Benitez Rotation for Rotations sake” club but there is a time when you have to put you most in form players on the pitch and just be done with it. Right now, Mario Balotelli is nowhere near worthy of a starting position. The maverick Italian has been in fine form for his country but has been woeful so far for his club. With Aguero returning from injury, surely Mancini has to start Tevez and Dzeko for a run of games and see what happens. Indeed, when he started the latter for such a run at the beginning of last year he scored freely. Dzeko is clearly a player who needs an arm round his shoulder and consistent, regular game time. He is far too good to be City’s fourth choice striker. Initially cumbersome, he took time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League but has now been his club’s MVP in four of their eight games already. If it wasn’t for him City would lie in 13th. Behind Liverpool…
8 of Manchester City’s goals this season have come in the last 10 minutes of their matches and no man has been more prolific in that period than Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian boasts the best goals per minute ratio of anybody so far and has won his team 9 ill-deserved points already, half their total haul. Mancini is a member of the “Rafa Benitez Rotation for Rotations sake” club but there is a time when you have to put you most in form players on the pitch and just be done with it. Right now, Mario Balotelli is nowhere near worthy of a starting position. The maverick Italian has been in fine form for his country but has been woeful so far for his club. With Aguero returning from injury, surely Mancini has to start Tevez and Dzeko for a run of games and see what happens. Indeed, when he started the latter for such a run at the beginning of last year he scored freely. Dzeko is clearly a player who needs an arm round his shoulder and consistent, regular game time. He is far too good to be City’s fourth choice striker. Initially cumbersome, he took time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League but has now been his club’s MVP in four of their eight games already. If it wasn’t for him City would lie in 13th. Behind Liverpool…
Chelsea’s three
musketeers can be as good as anyone
The preferred system for top clubs these days is a 4-2-3-1 with two screening midfielders allowing the protection for three attackers to float behind a lone striker. Barca & Spain have sometimes used a false 9 to turn this more into a more fluid 4-2-4-0 but in the most part, this is the system for teams to attack at will with the knowledge that they shouldn’t get caught too easily on the break. Barcelona currently have Messi, Pedro & Iniesta behind Villa whereas Real boast Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil behind Benzema. Chelsea, whilst nowhere near as strong as those teams in the other positions, have a trio themselves of Mata, Hazard & Oscar who have the potential to be as good as anyone. White Hart Lane is not an easy place to go, especially for Chelsea, but the passing, movement and creativity that these three produced on Saturday was mesmerising. Oscar & Hazard are just 21, yet both play like seasoned pros. Mata was Chelsea’s best player last season and since a two week break in September has come back even stronger still. Last week, he must have been the best player in World Football not to be selected for an International squad (such is the absurd depth of Spain’s talent). Mata’s second goal on Saturday contained a first time pass of such beauty from Hazard that all the Spaniard had to do was take four strides and pass it into the net. I dismissed Chelsea’s challenge at the start of the season, pointing to their defence and the complete uselessness of John Obi Mikel as the reasons why. Neither of those flaws have been corrected, but if Chelsea’s three musketeers can keep playing like this and scoring four goals every game… it will hardly matter.
The preferred system for top clubs these days is a 4-2-3-1 with two screening midfielders allowing the protection for three attackers to float behind a lone striker. Barca & Spain have sometimes used a false 9 to turn this more into a more fluid 4-2-4-0 but in the most part, this is the system for teams to attack at will with the knowledge that they shouldn’t get caught too easily on the break. Barcelona currently have Messi, Pedro & Iniesta behind Villa whereas Real boast Ronaldo, Di Maria and Ozil behind Benzema. Chelsea, whilst nowhere near as strong as those teams in the other positions, have a trio themselves of Mata, Hazard & Oscar who have the potential to be as good as anyone. White Hart Lane is not an easy place to go, especially for Chelsea, but the passing, movement and creativity that these three produced on Saturday was mesmerising. Oscar & Hazard are just 21, yet both play like seasoned pros. Mata was Chelsea’s best player last season and since a two week break in September has come back even stronger still. Last week, he must have been the best player in World Football not to be selected for an International squad (such is the absurd depth of Spain’s talent). Mata’s second goal on Saturday contained a first time pass of such beauty from Hazard that all the Spaniard had to do was take four strides and pass it into the net. I dismissed Chelsea’s challenge at the start of the season, pointing to their defence and the complete uselessness of John Obi Mikel as the reasons why. Neither of those flaws have been corrected, but if Chelsea’s three musketeers can keep playing like this and scoring four goals every game… it will hardly matter.
The Premier League is
a very different beast to the Championship
It’s always one of the strange things each year that the team who comes up via the play off’s tends to fair better than those who gained automatic promotion. People can talk about momentum all they want, but the truth is that some teams are just better suited to play in this division than others (in the same way that Darren Huckerby was the greatest Championship player of all time… and nigh on useless in the Prem). Last season Reading and Southampton eased to automatic promotion at the expense of West Ham, who eventually went up by the skin of their teeth via the play offs. Thus far this season West Ham have amassed 14 points and sit in 7th. Reading and Saints meanwhile, lie in 18th and 19th with seven points and one win between them. West Ham have bought some new players of course, but then so have the other two clubs and they haven’t been able to gel with anything like the sort of speed that Big Sam’s new players have. No, the simple fact is that you need to be a more physical, rounded team to survive in the Premiership whereby you can get by playing light weight, fast attacking football in the league below. West Brom were a yo-yo club for years before they realised this and added solidity to their passing style, learning that in order to make it in the top flight defence has to come first. As it is, I would rather pay money to watch Saints play football 100 times over than West Ham, but that won’t change the fact that come May, the former will be heading back down to the fiery chasm from whence they came.
It’s always one of the strange things each year that the team who comes up via the play off’s tends to fair better than those who gained automatic promotion. People can talk about momentum all they want, but the truth is that some teams are just better suited to play in this division than others (in the same way that Darren Huckerby was the greatest Championship player of all time… and nigh on useless in the Prem). Last season Reading and Southampton eased to automatic promotion at the expense of West Ham, who eventually went up by the skin of their teeth via the play offs. Thus far this season West Ham have amassed 14 points and sit in 7th. Reading and Saints meanwhile, lie in 18th and 19th with seven points and one win between them. West Ham have bought some new players of course, but then so have the other two clubs and they haven’t been able to gel with anything like the sort of speed that Big Sam’s new players have. No, the simple fact is that you need to be a more physical, rounded team to survive in the Premiership whereby you can get by playing light weight, fast attacking football in the league below. West Brom were a yo-yo club for years before they realised this and added solidity to their passing style, learning that in order to make it in the top flight defence has to come first. As it is, I would rather pay money to watch Saints play football 100 times over than West Ham, but that won’t change the fact that come May, the former will be heading back down to the fiery chasm from whence they came.
Martin O’Neill is
limping
Martin O’Neill did everything right. He started his career at a lower league club, forging an impressive reputation before stepping up to manage Leicester. Here, he guided the club through their golden years adding cup triumphs to impressive league finishes. It was the year 2000, Martin O’Neill was 48 and he was being talked about as having the potential to manage any club in the land. He opted to manage Celtic. Whilst an unqualified success in Scotland, there is an argument that five years spent managing a club who essentially nobody respects your achievements for, was a potential waste of time for a manager of O’Neill’s abilities. When he did return to England some six years later, he took over at Aston Villa and guided them to three successive top six finishes. A feat that looks even more impressive when you consider Aston Villa both before and after that period. Eventually he quit and spent a season in exile being linked to every major job under the sun. His eventual appointment to the club he supported as a boy, smacked of a final and sentimental move. O’Neill is now 60 and in danger of greatness passing him by. He started well at Sunderland but so far this season his team have retreated into their shells. Sessegnon is yet to get going, likewise James McClean. His team have created fewer chances than anyone in the league and scored fewer goals, a feeble six in eight matches. Nobody apart from Stephen Fletcher has yet scored at all. O’Neill needs to arrest this creative lull and fast. Johnson and Fletcher are good signings and his team have enough talent to push for a top 8 finish. It would be a crying shame if a manager of his abilities finished his career languishing in mid table with no trophies since a Scottish Cup with Celtic.
Martin O’Neill did everything right. He started his career at a lower league club, forging an impressive reputation before stepping up to manage Leicester. Here, he guided the club through their golden years adding cup triumphs to impressive league finishes. It was the year 2000, Martin O’Neill was 48 and he was being talked about as having the potential to manage any club in the land. He opted to manage Celtic. Whilst an unqualified success in Scotland, there is an argument that five years spent managing a club who essentially nobody respects your achievements for, was a potential waste of time for a manager of O’Neill’s abilities. When he did return to England some six years later, he took over at Aston Villa and guided them to three successive top six finishes. A feat that looks even more impressive when you consider Aston Villa both before and after that period. Eventually he quit and spent a season in exile being linked to every major job under the sun. His eventual appointment to the club he supported as a boy, smacked of a final and sentimental move. O’Neill is now 60 and in danger of greatness passing him by. He started well at Sunderland but so far this season his team have retreated into their shells. Sessegnon is yet to get going, likewise James McClean. His team have created fewer chances than anyone in the league and scored fewer goals, a feeble six in eight matches. Nobody apart from Stephen Fletcher has yet scored at all. O’Neill needs to arrest this creative lull and fast. Johnson and Fletcher are good signings and his team have enough talent to push for a top 8 finish. It would be a crying shame if a manager of his abilities finished his career languishing in mid table with no trophies since a Scottish Cup with Celtic.
Hatred of other clubs
is all relative
Manypeople who just insult my blog of my fans have asked me over the
past couple of years why I dislike the teams I do and why some make me go all
warm and fuzzy inside when I think about watching them try and defend (Spurs). There
are of course, a myriad of reasons for this from the fans of the club to the
managers, youth policies, transfer dealings and historical incidents.
Ultimately though, you can’t always rationalise why you like the clubs you do.
Whilst I try to remain impartial on this blog, there is little doubt that I
favour writing about clubs that interest me in either their approach or ethos.
As such, I have decided to once and for all clarify my stance on all the
current Premier League clubs on the official “Hindu Monkey Scale.” The scale
features eight categories, to which clubs fall into rank order within. Any
questions, please contact the management…
Many
Man Utd
Soft Spots
Spurs
Everton
Swansea
Sympathist
Fulham
Arsenal
Wigan
Southampton
Little Interest
West Brom
Sunderland
Reading
Norwich
No Interest (at. all.)
Aston Villa
Mild Disdain
Newcastle
Stoke
Total Loathing
Man City
QPR
West Ham
Liverpool
Unrivalled Hatred
Chelsea
Monday, 24 September 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Five
1. You don’t get what you deserve in this sport…
Following a Liverpool v Utd match which saw the away fans behave impeccably and the home fans lead a stirring tribute to the 96 who died at Hillsborough, it was left, for once, for the football to do the talking. The only incident of note during a first half of the worst possible quality was a harsh sending off for the Liverpool youngster Jonjo Shelvey. The challenge was reckless, but Shelvey’s real crime was catching the equally as committed Evans and not the ball and he paid the worst possible price. On another day that and an equally as soft penalty decision could have gone Liverpool’s way. It is indicative of their season so far that they didn’t. The Anfield faithful deserved to come home with a victory this weekend and yet again they saw their team undone by a combination of bad luck, poor finishing and some questionable defending. Man Utd have won their last four games despite playing well for around 30 minutes in total. Criminally still reliant on Paul Scholes, a Utd team shorn of him and Rooney look unable to create anything, especially when Kagawa sees so little of the ball from a midfield used to continuously spraying it out wide. Nani is a shadow of his former self, and that former self was pretty shit to begin with. RVP looked tired, Valencia not at the races and Patrice Evra is now the worst full back defensively in the entire league. As it is, Utd somehow sit a point off the top of the table haven’t yet to get going this season and that can only spell bad news for everyone else. As for Liverpool, 2 points from 5 games and a goal difference of minus 6 is a brutally harsh statistic. Rodgers style will take time to bed in but already what little chance they had of returning to the Champions League is gone. Winning a game has to be the immediate priority, keeping a clean sheet the next. Rodgers’ teams are easy on the eye but the contrast with the slick, first time passing of Joe Allen and the penetrating, sometimes brilliant, sometimes wayward through balls of Gerrard just isn’t working as a combination. At this rate Everton might, just might, win a Derby match this year.
EDIT - following writing this it has emerged that a small pocket of Utd fans stayed behind after the match and sang anti-Hillsborough chants until they were cleared to exit. This is a sickening development to a day that started so well. They should be identified, banned for life and charged by a court of law. They are a disgrace to MUFC and a disgrace to football in general. Utd should be fined, docked points and made to play games behind closed doors. This cannot be allowed to happen and if I was Alex Ferguson I would refuse to play a match until these "fans" are identified and thrown out of football.
Following a Liverpool v Utd match which saw the away fans behave impeccably and the home fans lead a stirring tribute to the 96 who died at Hillsborough, it was left, for once, for the football to do the talking. The only incident of note during a first half of the worst possible quality was a harsh sending off for the Liverpool youngster Jonjo Shelvey. The challenge was reckless, but Shelvey’s real crime was catching the equally as committed Evans and not the ball and he paid the worst possible price. On another day that and an equally as soft penalty decision could have gone Liverpool’s way. It is indicative of their season so far that they didn’t. The Anfield faithful deserved to come home with a victory this weekend and yet again they saw their team undone by a combination of bad luck, poor finishing and some questionable defending. Man Utd have won their last four games despite playing well for around 30 minutes in total. Criminally still reliant on Paul Scholes, a Utd team shorn of him and Rooney look unable to create anything, especially when Kagawa sees so little of the ball from a midfield used to continuously spraying it out wide. Nani is a shadow of his former self, and that former self was pretty shit to begin with. RVP looked tired, Valencia not at the races and Patrice Evra is now the worst full back defensively in the entire league. As it is, Utd somehow sit a point off the top of the table haven’t yet to get going this season and that can only spell bad news for everyone else. As for Liverpool, 2 points from 5 games and a goal difference of minus 6 is a brutally harsh statistic. Rodgers style will take time to bed in but already what little chance they had of returning to the Champions League is gone. Winning a game has to be the immediate priority, keeping a clean sheet the next. Rodgers’ teams are easy on the eye but the contrast with the slick, first time passing of Joe Allen and the penetrating, sometimes brilliant, sometimes wayward through balls of Gerrard just isn’t working as a combination. At this rate Everton might, just might, win a Derby match this year.
EDIT - following writing this it has emerged that a small pocket of Utd fans stayed behind after the match and sang anti-Hillsborough chants until they were cleared to exit. This is a sickening development to a day that started so well. They should be identified, banned for life and charged by a court of law. They are a disgrace to MUFC and a disgrace to football in general. Utd should be fined, docked points and made to play games behind closed doors. This cannot be allowed to happen and if I was Alex Ferguson I would refuse to play a match until these "fans" are identified and thrown out of football.
2. …and ultimately, points are everything.
If Utd can consider themselves lucky to be 2nd in the league, the fact that Manchester City remain unbeaten looks almost criminal. They have been outplayed in every match this season and Sunday was no exception. A rampant, slick Arsenal side, led by the majestical Santi Carzola, tore into City during an opening 40 minutes when they could have led by three goals. As it was, Gervinho had one of those days and as it was left to the Arsenal centre back to salvage a point late on following Joleon Lescott’s undeserved opener. The league table doesn’t lie, but with the exception of Everton it currently provides scant reward for those who have played the best football this season. Arsenal have looked as good as anyone yet find themselves just a point ahead of Spurs and Newcastle, both of whom have been pretty dreadful. The turgid West Ham meanwhile, have twice as many points as Sunderland & Stoke; both of whom have looked solid and dependable and unlikely to concede too many goals. Points mean everything in this game though and whilst Liverpool have been poor, they have not been anywhere close to the second worst team in the division. Perhaps in another month or two things will start to even out a bit, but right now Utd, City and even Chelsea are there for the taking. The fact that nobody is managing to do that looks ominous.
If Utd can consider themselves lucky to be 2nd in the league, the fact that Manchester City remain unbeaten looks almost criminal. They have been outplayed in every match this season and Sunday was no exception. A rampant, slick Arsenal side, led by the majestical Santi Carzola, tore into City during an opening 40 minutes when they could have led by three goals. As it was, Gervinho had one of those days and as it was left to the Arsenal centre back to salvage a point late on following Joleon Lescott’s undeserved opener. The league table doesn’t lie, but with the exception of Everton it currently provides scant reward for those who have played the best football this season. Arsenal have looked as good as anyone yet find themselves just a point ahead of Spurs and Newcastle, both of whom have been pretty dreadful. The turgid West Ham meanwhile, have twice as many points as Sunderland & Stoke; both of whom have looked solid and dependable and unlikely to concede too many goals. Points mean everything in this game though and whilst Liverpool have been poor, they have not been anywhere close to the second worst team in the division. Perhaps in another month or two things will start to even out a bit, but right now Utd, City and even Chelsea are there for the taking. The fact that nobody is managing to do that looks ominous.
3. Gervinho is not the new Kanu.
Lethal against the defensive might of Southampton, the talk in some quarters was that Gervinho was now ready to fulfil his potential and live up to his billing as the new Kanu. Not on Sunday’s evidence. In an otherwise near faultless Arsenal performance, the Ivorian had an absolute horror show. One first touch following a beautiful through ball which sent him free of the defence was so bad he should be fined two weeks wages on the spot. He followed that up with a mixture of falling over, failing to pick a pass or weaving around three players before blazing a shot high and wide over and over again. Gervinho can certainly dribble, but he has none of the effortless, almost poetic qualities of Kanu that made him such a joy to watch. Whereas Kanu looked like a sleek panther who sometimes couldn’t be bothered to hunt for his prey, Gervinho looks like a strange puppet who is being pulled in several different directions at once. His approach to finishing seems to just be hit it as hard as physically possible every time. Of course, he’s still capable of the odd moment of brilliance, but his selection over Walcott, contract wrangling’s aside, looks a touch perverse. And don’t even get me started on that hairline.
Lethal against the defensive might of Southampton, the talk in some quarters was that Gervinho was now ready to fulfil his potential and live up to his billing as the new Kanu. Not on Sunday’s evidence. In an otherwise near faultless Arsenal performance, the Ivorian had an absolute horror show. One first touch following a beautiful through ball which sent him free of the defence was so bad he should be fined two weeks wages on the spot. He followed that up with a mixture of falling over, failing to pick a pass or weaving around three players before blazing a shot high and wide over and over again. Gervinho can certainly dribble, but he has none of the effortless, almost poetic qualities of Kanu that made him such a joy to watch. Whereas Kanu looked like a sleek panther who sometimes couldn’t be bothered to hunt for his prey, Gervinho looks like a strange puppet who is being pulled in several different directions at once. His approach to finishing seems to just be hit it as hard as physically possible every time. Of course, he’s still capable of the odd moment of brilliance, but his selection over Walcott, contract wrangling’s aside, looks a touch perverse. And don’t even get me started on that hairline.
4. When will Alan Pardew get the call from the big guy downstairs?
There’s no denying that Pardew has assembled a fine team on a shoestring budget. If he could get Ba and Cisse scoring at the same time his Newcastle team could even finish in the top four. There is also no denying however, that the man IS the Anti-Christ. The way Pardew prowls a touchline, strokes his hair back and gazes menacingly into space all points to one thing. That he’s simply not human. Right now the question has to be asked whether there is a more detestable sight in football than the Pardew fist pump? It’s not just the mannerisms and the actions though, it’s the post-match interviews where Pardew has managed to invent an entirely new tense in which to speak in. He manages to mix a third person narrative arc in with an almost voyeuristic description of the way his team is performing. In one section of his post-match interview this weekend he used the words “they,” “we,” “I,” “them” and “us” all in the same speech to describe his own team. He then bore into the reporter and his eyes turned red. I’m not making this up folks. Still think he’s not waiting for a return to the underworld? Just watch this celebration and tell me this guy is all there.
There’s no denying that Pardew has assembled a fine team on a shoestring budget. If he could get Ba and Cisse scoring at the same time his Newcastle team could even finish in the top four. There is also no denying however, that the man IS the Anti-Christ. The way Pardew prowls a touchline, strokes his hair back and gazes menacingly into space all points to one thing. That he’s simply not human. Right now the question has to be asked whether there is a more detestable sight in football than the Pardew fist pump? It’s not just the mannerisms and the actions though, it’s the post-match interviews where Pardew has managed to invent an entirely new tense in which to speak in. He manages to mix a third person narrative arc in with an almost voyeuristic description of the way his team is performing. In one section of his post-match interview this weekend he used the words “they,” “we,” “I,” “them” and “us” all in the same speech to describe his own team. He then bore into the reporter and his eyes turned red. I’m not making this up folks. Still think he’s not waiting for a return to the underworld? Just watch this celebration and tell me this guy is all there.
5. John Terry will not be missed.
I can’t even be bothered to drag up old banter about JT. The news he has retired from International football is worthy enough to declare a national holiday. The most detestable football of my lifetime will play for my country no more. Given Jags & Cahill are better and Smalling & Jones the future, his “retirement” is no loss anyway. If Gerrard, Barry, Cole and Lampard can now all follow suit that would be lovely. I’ll leave you with this as a parting shot… last month JT was asked about England’s questionable ranking of 3rd in the world. His response? “I think that’s fair. We have the players, it’s just up to us to prove it.” Few people have had a more inflated opinion of their own ability and importance than JT. And few players have managed to be so hated for just being themselves. John Terry is a sewer rat and I hope the FA through the book at him today. Not for being racist. But for just being John fucking Terry. Cheering for the national side again just got a whole lot easier.
I can’t even be bothered to drag up old banter about JT. The news he has retired from International football is worthy enough to declare a national holiday. The most detestable football of my lifetime will play for my country no more. Given Jags & Cahill are better and Smalling & Jones the future, his “retirement” is no loss anyway. If Gerrard, Barry, Cole and Lampard can now all follow suit that would be lovely. I’ll leave you with this as a parting shot… last month JT was asked about England’s questionable ranking of 3rd in the world. His response? “I think that’s fair. We have the players, it’s just up to us to prove it.” Few people have had a more inflated opinion of their own ability and importance than JT. And few players have managed to be so hated for just being themselves. John Terry is a sewer rat and I hope the FA through the book at him today. Not for being racist. But for just being John fucking Terry. Cheering for the national side again just got a whole lot easier.
Monday, 17 September 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Four
Liverpool finally get justice off the pitch, if not on it.
After a campaign for justice that has spanned over two decades, the Hillsborough report published this week finally revealed the truth for all to see. The families of those affected by this horrendous tragedy have fought for justice for 23 years and now there can be no doubting the facts… the Liverpool fans were blameless, the South Yorkshire Police, FA and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club were not. End of discussion. Of course, until those who were to blame (both in terms of the incident and the subsequent reporting of it) are held accountable the families will continue to campaign and seek for these wrongs to be righted in every way they should. For now though, every single football fan up and down the country knows that anything other than unwavering support and sympathy towards those families is completely unacceptable. Alex Ferguson acted quickly to attempt to draw a line under chants that have been rife between Liverpool and Utd fans since the disaster. The Hillsborough tragedy chants and returning Munich ones are as sickening as football gets and have to stop. A small pocket of Utd fans carried on the chants this weekend (all be it of a different nature) and an apology and condemnation from the club is just not good enough. These fans should be identified and banned for life. ANY club guilty of terrace abuse of this nature should be made to play without fans for its next game. Moving back to matters on the pitch, Liverpool could not mark the occasion with their first win of the season against a typically resilient Sunderland. Despite having 66% possession and well over 20 attempts at goal, it was a case of same old Liverpool as they couldn’t find the back of the net. Suarez did eventually score to cancel out Fletchers opener near the end, but in truth Liverpool deserved to win the game. For Hillsborough, an event that redefined football in my lifetime, justice has finally come. For this once great football club on the pitch however, the glory days still look a long way off.
After a campaign for justice that has spanned over two decades, the Hillsborough report published this week finally revealed the truth for all to see. The families of those affected by this horrendous tragedy have fought for justice for 23 years and now there can be no doubting the facts… the Liverpool fans were blameless, the South Yorkshire Police, FA and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club were not. End of discussion. Of course, until those who were to blame (both in terms of the incident and the subsequent reporting of it) are held accountable the families will continue to campaign and seek for these wrongs to be righted in every way they should. For now though, every single football fan up and down the country knows that anything other than unwavering support and sympathy towards those families is completely unacceptable. Alex Ferguson acted quickly to attempt to draw a line under chants that have been rife between Liverpool and Utd fans since the disaster. The Hillsborough tragedy chants and returning Munich ones are as sickening as football gets and have to stop. A small pocket of Utd fans carried on the chants this weekend (all be it of a different nature) and an apology and condemnation from the club is just not good enough. These fans should be identified and banned for life. ANY club guilty of terrace abuse of this nature should be made to play without fans for its next game. Moving back to matters on the pitch, Liverpool could not mark the occasion with their first win of the season against a typically resilient Sunderland. Despite having 66% possession and well over 20 attempts at goal, it was a case of same old Liverpool as they couldn’t find the back of the net. Suarez did eventually score to cancel out Fletchers opener near the end, but in truth Liverpool deserved to win the game. For Hillsborough, an event that redefined football in my lifetime, justice has finally come. For this once great football club on the pitch however, the glory days still look a long way off.
Arsenal might not have replaced RVP, but they have replaced
Cesc Fabregas
Southampton have not had the easiest entrance into the Premier League and after being cruelly beaten at the death by both Manchester clubs, they came up against an Arsenal side in full stride on Saturday. The Gunners have started the season well and there are two main reasons for that. The first has been their defence, thanks largely to a fit Vermaelen and the recruitment of Steve Bould, but the second has been the signing of Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard is two footed and with a deftness of touch that should be the envy of any English footballer. He already looks at home as the central point of one of the league’s best teams and seems to see passes before he even receives the ball. He controlled the rhythm and tempo of the game on Saturday and although he only directly created one of the six goals, he was involved in the build ups to all six of them. Wenger’s team played with a Barcelona esque approach at times, with Gervinho as a false 9 and Podolski and Chamberlain popping up wide and cutting in. Granted they were playing Southampton, but in the absence of Van Persie and with Giroud yet to pack his shooting boots, this could be the way they set up this season. With Santi pulling the strings they look solid, fluent and strong. It’s incredibly early days, but it’s hard to see them finishing outside the top four on this evidence. Next week’s match up with Man City could be a cracker.
Southampton have not had the easiest entrance into the Premier League and after being cruelly beaten at the death by both Manchester clubs, they came up against an Arsenal side in full stride on Saturday. The Gunners have started the season well and there are two main reasons for that. The first has been their defence, thanks largely to a fit Vermaelen and the recruitment of Steve Bould, but the second has been the signing of Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard is two footed and with a deftness of touch that should be the envy of any English footballer. He already looks at home as the central point of one of the league’s best teams and seems to see passes before he even receives the ball. He controlled the rhythm and tempo of the game on Saturday and although he only directly created one of the six goals, he was involved in the build ups to all six of them. Wenger’s team played with a Barcelona esque approach at times, with Gervinho as a false 9 and Podolski and Chamberlain popping up wide and cutting in. Granted they were playing Southampton, but in the absence of Van Persie and with Giroud yet to pack his shooting boots, this could be the way they set up this season. With Santi pulling the strings they look solid, fluent and strong. It’s incredibly early days, but it’s hard to see them finishing outside the top four on this evidence. Next week’s match up with Man City could be a cracker.
Wayne Bridge is good at something after all
Anyone who didn’t want to talk about the pre-match handshake before QPR v Chelsea on Saturday must have cursed a miserable game which gave the pundits… pretty much nothing else to talk about. What struck me about Anton’s pre-mediated act of defiance (other than the ultimately total meaninglessness of it) was quite how bad his attempt to NOT shake Terry’s hand was. After shaking the officials hands in a calm and normal manner, he then dropped his hand sharply only to find himself with nowhere to go. Face to face to with John Tery, Anton tried to slip past and just bundles into a mascot. Pushing him out of the way he then over compensates for his botched gesture by offering the rest of the Chelsea team huge, over the top handshakes like he’s known them all his life. At least Ashley “Choc-Ice” Cole was on the end so he could just scamper past him onto the pitch. A similar comedy of errors occurred at Old Trafford last season as Suarez somewhat more questionably refused to shake Evra’s hand but was hauled back by the defender. It made them both, and the now much questioned pre match gesture, just look silly. As it is, we have to go back to Wayne Bridge in 2010 to show us how to not shake John Terry’s hand properly. Bridge is poetry in motion as he just dips his hand a fraction, scooting under JT’s and into the paw of the mascot next to him. It’s brilliant. It’s sheer class. It’s better than anything the man has ever done on the pitch…
Anyone who didn’t want to talk about the pre-match handshake before QPR v Chelsea on Saturday must have cursed a miserable game which gave the pundits… pretty much nothing else to talk about. What struck me about Anton’s pre-mediated act of defiance (other than the ultimately total meaninglessness of it) was quite how bad his attempt to NOT shake Terry’s hand was. After shaking the officials hands in a calm and normal manner, he then dropped his hand sharply only to find himself with nowhere to go. Face to face to with John Tery, Anton tried to slip past and just bundles into a mascot. Pushing him out of the way he then over compensates for his botched gesture by offering the rest of the Chelsea team huge, over the top handshakes like he’s known them all his life. At least Ashley “Choc-Ice” Cole was on the end so he could just scamper past him onto the pitch. A similar comedy of errors occurred at Old Trafford last season as Suarez somewhat more questionably refused to shake Evra’s hand but was hauled back by the defender. It made them both, and the now much questioned pre match gesture, just look silly. As it is, we have to go back to Wayne Bridge in 2010 to show us how to not shake John Terry’s hand properly. Bridge is poetry in motion as he just dips his hand a fraction, scooting under JT’s and into the paw of the mascot next to him. It’s brilliant. It’s sheer class. It’s better than anything the man has ever done on the pitch…
Blackburn are still as entertaining as ever
After their relegation from the Premier League there was a feeling that it could be a long time before we saw the Kentucky Fried Army again. However, having brought in some pretty decent transfer signings, as well as hanging on to a lot of their squad, Blackburn are still unbeaten and sit at the top of the fledgling Championship table. More than that though, they are showing no signs of going away quietly but rather continue to be as strange and wonderful as before. For starters Steve Keane is still there. Despite fans continuing to protest at every fixture, the manager who must be eating a lot of chicken to keep his job is doing just that. Rumours continue to abound though that not only will he be sacked if Blackburn slip off the pace, but that he’ll be sacked if they lose a single game. Given his team’s flimsy defence, not to mention commitment to attack, going a whole season unbeaten seems very unlikely to say the least. Blackburn look up for the challenge though. New signing Jordan Rhodes raised eyebrows with his £8m fee but repaid some of it straight away on Saturday with two fine goals. Scott Dann, Paul Robinson, David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen all remain at the club, and the signing of Danny Murphy is looking like a masterstroke. Up top Rhodes has been joined by the talented Kasim Richards and, somewhat bizarrely, Nuno Gomez. Blackburn and Venkey’s are not going away. They said they came to win trophies… and if they have to start that run by winning the Championship one first, it looks like it could be entertaining for all to watch. Whether Steve Keane is there next week, let alone next year, remains as much of a mystery as ever.
After their relegation from the Premier League there was a feeling that it could be a long time before we saw the Kentucky Fried Army again. However, having brought in some pretty decent transfer signings, as well as hanging on to a lot of their squad, Blackburn are still unbeaten and sit at the top of the fledgling Championship table. More than that though, they are showing no signs of going away quietly but rather continue to be as strange and wonderful as before. For starters Steve Keane is still there. Despite fans continuing to protest at every fixture, the manager who must be eating a lot of chicken to keep his job is doing just that. Rumours continue to abound though that not only will he be sacked if Blackburn slip off the pace, but that he’ll be sacked if they lose a single game. Given his team’s flimsy defence, not to mention commitment to attack, going a whole season unbeaten seems very unlikely to say the least. Blackburn look up for the challenge though. New signing Jordan Rhodes raised eyebrows with his £8m fee but repaid some of it straight away on Saturday with two fine goals. Scott Dann, Paul Robinson, David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen all remain at the club, and the signing of Danny Murphy is looking like a masterstroke. Up top Rhodes has been joined by the talented Kasim Richards and, somewhat bizarrely, Nuno Gomez. Blackburn and Venkey’s are not going away. They said they came to win trophies… and if they have to start that run by winning the Championship one first, it looks like it could be entertaining for all to watch. Whether Steve Keane is there next week, let alone next year, remains as much of a mystery as ever.
What is happening at Real?
Away from the Premier League still further, the champions of Spain have thus far won a single match of their opening four league fixtures, losing two and currently finding themselves in 11th place. Normally the old “early days” statement would be bandied around to high heaven, but in Spain things are different. The league is a straight out two-horse race and giving Barcelona an 8 point head start already looks pretty daunting for Jose and his team of superstars. Real were ragged at the weekend and never looked like scoring. Luca Modric has come to add more guile to the midfield but he’s yet to start a game and couldn’t unlock the Sevilla defence when he did come on. With their star player making it clear he’s not a happy boy, Real & Ronaldo need to get things back on track and fast to stop this season unravelling before it’s even begun. Next game? Man City tomorrow night. Who said the Champions’ League Group Stages were dull…
Away from the Premier League still further, the champions of Spain have thus far won a single match of their opening four league fixtures, losing two and currently finding themselves in 11th place. Normally the old “early days” statement would be bandied around to high heaven, but in Spain things are different. The league is a straight out two-horse race and giving Barcelona an 8 point head start already looks pretty daunting for Jose and his team of superstars. Real were ragged at the weekend and never looked like scoring. Luca Modric has come to add more guile to the midfield but he’s yet to start a game and couldn’t unlock the Sevilla defence when he did come on. With their star player making it clear he’s not a happy boy, Real & Ronaldo need to get things back on track and fast to stop this season unravelling before it’s even begun. Next game? Man City tomorrow night. Who said the Champions’ League Group Stages were dull…
Monday, 3 September 2012
Five Things We Learnt From Watching Football This Week - Week Three
The Transfer Window was an all-out carnival of comedy
As the window slammed shut at near midnight on Friday there was a genuine sense
of confusion and comedy at what had happened for several clubs over the past
couple of months. On the plus side, there have been some big marquee signings
for the first time in three years. Not only did Van Persie, the world’s top out
and out striker, commit his future to the league; but new talent like Hazard,
Michu, Kagawa & Oscar took their place amongst more experienced talent like
Santi, Podolski and Garcia. On the flip side, it appears that several of the
bigger clubs have actually weakened their squads over the summer. There were
few more surreal dealings than Man City paying 6.5m for Scott Sinclar and
seeing Swansea instantly replace him with the cheaper, better Hernandez .
Meanwhile, Spurs transfer dealings can only be considered a success when
compared to Liverpool. They have let a myriad of players leave this summer and
have replaced them with quality, but nothing like the sort of quantity you need
to compete on several fronts. Surely the lengthy pursuit of Loris could have
been spent on a striker or a winger? Or anyone at all to suggest that Ekottu
& Bale won’t have to play 50 games back to back? Friedel was outstanding
again at the weekend and the decision to drop him, if it comes, will not sit
well with the already disillusioned White Hart Lane faithful. Still, whilst
Swansea, West Ham, Stoke and um, Blackburn, can be happy with their deadline
day deals… the greatest failure was that of Liverpool football club to buy…
well anyone. Since Rodgers has come in he has completely dismantled King
Kenny’s squad with all the subtly of a 1920’s war medic. That’s not a bad thing
per se, but as a club what sort of statement does it make to spend £100m one
season only to completely lose faith in those players the next. Surely Adams
& Carroll could have done a job for Pool? Especially the latter who leaves
to bolster West Ham’s aerial threat and severely weaken Pool’s depth of attacking
talent. Pool have let 13 players leave this summer and brought in 5. Whichever
way you do the math, their squad is now badly weakened and there is no real
sense they have bought anyone who will make them better than last season. They
look a team not so much in decline, but one who have accepted mid table
mediocrity for the foreseeable future. Christ, they look like fucking Aston
Villa.
The Champions League Rankings need a serious rethink.
This week’s draw sprung up some exciting match ups, predictable dead rubbers and a genuine group of death… but it also sprung up some serious questions about a system that allows Arsenal to continue being drawn in Pot One of a tournament they have never won, whilst also managing to not win a single domestic trophy for the past eight seasons. By contrast how can Dortmund, a team which have European pedigree over the past 20 years and have won back to back domestic titles, be placed in the middle of Pot Four? Below Celtic? What system are UEFA using for these rankings? Man City were in pot four last year, which seemed fair given it was their first ever entry into the competition and they had only scraped into the tournament at the last minute. But they were at the top of pot two this year despite being knocked out at the group stage? Ok they won their domestic title, but then so did Dortmund? Twice. Regardless of the system, winning a title should be the most important thing each season. Pot one should be the reigning champions of Spain, Germany, England, Italy, Holland, Portugal, France & Russia. Pot two the next eight clubs with the best record in the tournament over the past three-five years. Pot three the champions of the lesser leagues and moving down to pot four which is everyone else (i.e. those who come 3rd and 4th in the bigger leagues). This absurd bias towards teams from England & Spain has to stop. Crucially, a system which throws up genuine group stage drama will only serve to make the tournament more competitive and more exciting from day one. And don’t even get me started on the 3rd place Noropa League farce…
This week’s draw sprung up some exciting match ups, predictable dead rubbers and a genuine group of death… but it also sprung up some serious questions about a system that allows Arsenal to continue being drawn in Pot One of a tournament they have never won, whilst also managing to not win a single domestic trophy for the past eight seasons. By contrast how can Dortmund, a team which have European pedigree over the past 20 years and have won back to back domestic titles, be placed in the middle of Pot Four? Below Celtic? What system are UEFA using for these rankings? Man City were in pot four last year, which seemed fair given it was their first ever entry into the competition and they had only scraped into the tournament at the last minute. But they were at the top of pot two this year despite being knocked out at the group stage? Ok they won their domestic title, but then so did Dortmund? Twice. Regardless of the system, winning a title should be the most important thing each season. Pot one should be the reigning champions of Spain, Germany, England, Italy, Holland, Portugal, France & Russia. Pot two the next eight clubs with the best record in the tournament over the past three-five years. Pot three the champions of the lesser leagues and moving down to pot four which is everyone else (i.e. those who come 3rd and 4th in the bigger leagues). This absurd bias towards teams from England & Spain has to stop. Crucially, a system which throws up genuine group stage drama will only serve to make the tournament more competitive and more exciting from day one. And don’t even get me started on the 3rd place Noropa League farce…
Utd don’t need a replacement for Paul Scholes, they need one for
Roy Keane.
The most heard line that Alex Ferguson has heard over the past five years has been “when are you going to replace Paul Scholes?” In that period Utd have been linked with a host of attacking midfielders such as Ozil and Sneijder and brought none. Until Kagawa this year that is. However, over the past few years Utd have hardly lacked for goals. They scored a hatful last season and despite Fergie’s belief otherwise, they didn’t lose the title by not scoring enough, they lost it by conceding ten goals at home to City & Everton. Already this season Utd look if not a slicker prospect going forward, then certainly one more capable of unlocking stubborn defences with a more varied passing style and the ball over the top to Van Persie. What they don’t look like though, is a team capable of going ten games without conceding a goal. Hell right now they don’t look like being able to go one game without conceding a goal. Rafael is a sham of a fullback and Evra is now a sham of player full stop. The centre backs look strong at least, just about making up for an erratic duo of keepers. But the real problem, as was proved yet again by Southampton this weekend, is the lack of any sort of shielding player to stop opponents attacking at will through the centre. Cleverly, Anderson and Carrick are all fine players when the possession stats are in their favour, but against teams who attack them at pace they are essentially passengers. Where was the bid for Check Tiote? For Diarra? For Tom Huddlestone (joke). Utd are lacking in several positions, but a genuine, ball winning holding player would free up the attacking talent to create and dazzle knowing that they have a player in reserve to do the donkey work. Utd look as entertaining as ever, but come the big matches it’s hard to look beyond the likes of Toure, Khedira, Xavi et all making boys once more of Fergusons balsa midfield.
The most heard line that Alex Ferguson has heard over the past five years has been “when are you going to replace Paul Scholes?” In that period Utd have been linked with a host of attacking midfielders such as Ozil and Sneijder and brought none. Until Kagawa this year that is. However, over the past few years Utd have hardly lacked for goals. They scored a hatful last season and despite Fergie’s belief otherwise, they didn’t lose the title by not scoring enough, they lost it by conceding ten goals at home to City & Everton. Already this season Utd look if not a slicker prospect going forward, then certainly one more capable of unlocking stubborn defences with a more varied passing style and the ball over the top to Van Persie. What they don’t look like though, is a team capable of going ten games without conceding a goal. Hell right now they don’t look like being able to go one game without conceding a goal. Rafael is a sham of a fullback and Evra is now a sham of player full stop. The centre backs look strong at least, just about making up for an erratic duo of keepers. But the real problem, as was proved yet again by Southampton this weekend, is the lack of any sort of shielding player to stop opponents attacking at will through the centre. Cleverly, Anderson and Carrick are all fine players when the possession stats are in their favour, but against teams who attack them at pace they are essentially passengers. Where was the bid for Check Tiote? For Diarra? For Tom Huddlestone (joke). Utd are lacking in several positions, but a genuine, ball winning holding player would free up the attacking talent to create and dazzle knowing that they have a player in reserve to do the donkey work. Utd look as entertaining as ever, but come the big matches it’s hard to look beyond the likes of Toure, Khedira, Xavi et all making boys once more of Fergusons balsa midfield.
West Brom have crept under the radar.
There has already been good talk this year of the strong starts made by Everton, Swansea and Chelsea; but sitting in 3rd in the table, still unbeaten and having conceded just one goal are West Bromwich Albion. Relatively quiet in the transfer window, the Baggies main activity was replacing the departing Hodgson by bringing in Steve Clarke for his first managerial role. So far it’s a role he looks tailor made for. West Brom are a disciplined, well organised team in all the right ways (i.e. not managed by Sam Allardyce). They play with genuine width and now have a great collection of bustling centre forwards who can all get goals. Ben Foster remains easily the second best English keeper around and they have a great set of fans. Few would begrudge them a prolonged stay in the top flight and on the evidence so far, it looks like their days of being a yo-yo club may be about to end.
There has already been good talk this year of the strong starts made by Everton, Swansea and Chelsea; but sitting in 3rd in the table, still unbeaten and having conceded just one goal are West Bromwich Albion. Relatively quiet in the transfer window, the Baggies main activity was replacing the departing Hodgson by bringing in Steve Clarke for his first managerial role. So far it’s a role he looks tailor made for. West Brom are a disciplined, well organised team in all the right ways (i.e. not managed by Sam Allardyce). They play with genuine width and now have a great collection of bustling centre forwards who can all get goals. Ben Foster remains easily the second best English keeper around and they have a great set of fans. Few would begrudge them a prolonged stay in the top flight and on the evidence so far, it looks like their days of being a yo-yo club may be about to end.
Just when you think MOTD can’t get worse, it does.
For no reason whatsoever, this year the BBC has decided to use our licence money to pay Harry Redknapp to provide “analysis” on a Saturday night. This was bad enough anyway, but when paired with Alan Shearer it was like watching two invalids trying to learn to speak. Shearers first job this week was to get Michu’s name wrong (twice), his transfer fee wrong (three times) and then talk us through the action of the first game by essentially repeating word for word the commentary. Harry meanwhile providing no analysis whatsoever. Seemingly still thinking he was in “the game”, Redknapps comments consisted of him saying “Yeah I like him, I like him a lot, I’ve looked at signing him” over and over again? Lineker at one point asked him a question twice having not received anything by way of an answer first time around. When he was once again greeted with a cockney ad lib he tried Shearer, who was staring into space. At one point Redknapp just interrupted him and announced “Spurs are a top side and they’ll come top four no worries.” Harry you’re not their manager anymore you wanker. That said, if it gets you off my screen in this capacity, I’ll call Levy myself right now.
For no reason whatsoever, this year the BBC has decided to use our licence money to pay Harry Redknapp to provide “analysis” on a Saturday night. This was bad enough anyway, but when paired with Alan Shearer it was like watching two invalids trying to learn to speak. Shearers first job this week was to get Michu’s name wrong (twice), his transfer fee wrong (three times) and then talk us through the action of the first game by essentially repeating word for word the commentary. Harry meanwhile providing no analysis whatsoever. Seemingly still thinking he was in “the game”, Redknapps comments consisted of him saying “Yeah I like him, I like him a lot, I’ve looked at signing him” over and over again? Lineker at one point asked him a question twice having not received anything by way of an answer first time around. When he was once again greeted with a cockney ad lib he tried Shearer, who was staring into space. At one point Redknapp just interrupted him and announced “Spurs are a top side and they’ll come top four no worries.” Harry you’re not their manager anymore you wanker. That said, if it gets you off my screen in this capacity, I’ll call Levy myself right now.
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