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Sorry, I just fell asleep on my keyboard while watching the French.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Fortune may favour the brave...or so we hope
This afternoon saw the first round of group games in World Cup 2010 draw to a close with Switzerland upsetting many people's favourites Spain. Hopefully this is the result that spurs underdogs to give it a go, and favourites to play more like favourites.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.
Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.
England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?
England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.
The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.
Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Olé, Olé, Olé...oh wait
That doesn't look like Ireland playing Uruguay tomorrow night! Of course its not, it's France with arch-cheat Thierry Henry warming the bench! Oh well, World Cup 2010 kicks off in Soccer City tomorrow afternoon regardless. I'll be watching of course, more in hope than expectation of a good tournament-recent experience would suggest that the standard has fallen and that negative play will win the day. Add to the fact that an ever growing list of stars look like they will miss some (Arjen Robben) or all (Michael Essien) of the tournament
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.
Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.
Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.
England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.
Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.
Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).
Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)
Friday, 14 May 2010
The countdown begins
And so it was confirmed-Chelsea are Premier League Champions for 2009-10. Not much drama in the end, Drogba's histrionics aside, but I'll not complain. Chelsea probably deserving champions, if even for their record against the rest of the Big 4* (*I guess Sky Sports don't consider Spurs as part of the Big 4 and I would have to agree with them!), where they finished 6 from 6. Their victories over Arsenal home and away were certainly convincing enough, but last month's victory at Old Trafford was far from perfect, and, until Steven Gerrard decided to play in Didier Drogba to gift Chelsea the lead after 20 largely unconvincing minutes, they didn't look great against Liverpool 2 weeks ago (their play in the final third has been awful at times this season). Still, aside from a loss to Wigan (who would have thought after watching Sunday's game?), any of their defeats were generally against 'quality' opposition, so they were as deserving as anyone else. The fact that they scored over 100 goals in the process did their case no harm either. Where the Premier League title mind end up next year is a discussion to leave for another day-all contenders have plenty of question marks hanging over them for 2010-11.
During the week, we have several 'preliminary' World Cup 2010 squads named. And, no shortage of surprises (from where I'm sitting). Who would have thought that Argentina would feature 2 Newcastle players but cannot find room for either Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambassio from Champions League finalists Inter Milan? Who would have thought that Kaka would be preferred to Ronaldinho (if we look at form)? France don't include Karim Benzema but have Andre Pierre Gignanc? And so on. For now, let's assume my predictions made (elsewhere) on Monday hold true-Spain are dumped out early and we have a Brazil v Italy final, with Brazil prevailing. Not much imagination on my part, but I'm only going on what I've seen and read.
Chelsea go against the hapless Portsmouth in tomorrow's FA Cup Final. If there's one team and manager I wouldn't mind losing to it's Portsmouth and Avram Grant. Let's hope for an exciting encounter, but if I'm honest, anything better than 2/1 on Chelsea at -3 is generous...
During the week, we have several 'preliminary' World Cup 2010 squads named. And, no shortage of surprises (from where I'm sitting). Who would have thought that Argentina would feature 2 Newcastle players but cannot find room for either Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambassio from Champions League finalists Inter Milan? Who would have thought that Kaka would be preferred to Ronaldinho (if we look at form)? France don't include Karim Benzema but have Andre Pierre Gignanc? And so on. For now, let's assume my predictions made (elsewhere) on Monday hold true-Spain are dumped out early and we have a Brazil v Italy final, with Brazil prevailing. Not much imagination on my part, but I'm only going on what I've seen and read.
Chelsea go against the hapless Portsmouth in tomorrow's FA Cup Final. If there's one team and manager I wouldn't mind losing to it's Portsmouth and Avram Grant. Let's hope for an exciting encounter, but if I'm honest, anything better than 2/1 on Chelsea at -3 is generous...
Thursday, 6 May 2010
And now, the end is near
So it's been a whole 2 months since I last posted. Laziness and volcanic ash are to blame I guess. Plus a lack of material. Well, not really.
The last time I was composing a post for this blog, I was going with the theme that Chelsea were going nowhere and I'd like to see them break up the team and start from scratch. Now, it looks as if they will win the Premier League, despite my misgivings back in March and a schizophrenic series of results along the way, Chelsea only need to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to deny Man Utd a historic 4th in a row and record breaking 19th English league title. Thanks to Steven Gerrard's errant pass last weekend, Chelsea are in the driving seat-surely they will be able to overcome a Wigan side that beat them 3-1 earlier in the season? The bookies make them 9-1 on, which I would say is about right. Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan have been making all the right noises this week about Wigan giving it the full gun, and I believe they will, but surely Chelsea will be able to put together 90 minutes from the 1st minute to reclaim the league crown after what has been a poor Premier League seasons all round.
All 3 English clubs have since exited the Champions League, as have Barcelona, and we are left with a final featuring 2 former sons of Stamford Bridge set to play key roles for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Chelsea and Arsenal can have no complaints, Man Utd can feel somewhat unlucky to go out on away goals with Wayne Rooney not being fit enough to play a full part in their defeat to Bayern Munich. Barcelona finally met their match in a dogged and well drilled Inter Milan team, who managed to withstand the Catalans despite being a player down for over 60 minutes at the Nou Camp.
The Champions League final is scheduled to kick-off on May 22 around 45 minutes after the European Rugby Cup champions are crowned. No Irish representation this year, as Toulouse take on Biarritz. Last weekend saw Leinster bow out during an exciting 2nd half in the rain, while Munster went out without a whimper in sunny San Sebastian. Home advantage and injuries had a large bearing on both games I'm sure, but both teams rode their luck at stages this year (Munster in their final pool game with Northampton and Leinster in the quarter-final with Clermont Auvergne. Let's hope both sides rebound for 2011.
The last time I was composing a post for this blog, I was going with the theme that Chelsea were going nowhere and I'd like to see them break up the team and start from scratch. Now, it looks as if they will win the Premier League, despite my misgivings back in March and a schizophrenic series of results along the way, Chelsea only need to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to deny Man Utd a historic 4th in a row and record breaking 19th English league title. Thanks to Steven Gerrard's errant pass last weekend, Chelsea are in the driving seat-surely they will be able to overcome a Wigan side that beat them 3-1 earlier in the season? The bookies make them 9-1 on, which I would say is about right. Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan have been making all the right noises this week about Wigan giving it the full gun, and I believe they will, but surely Chelsea will be able to put together 90 minutes from the 1st minute to reclaim the league crown after what has been a poor Premier League seasons all round.
All 3 English clubs have since exited the Champions League, as have Barcelona, and we are left with a final featuring 2 former sons of Stamford Bridge set to play key roles for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Chelsea and Arsenal can have no complaints, Man Utd can feel somewhat unlucky to go out on away goals with Wayne Rooney not being fit enough to play a full part in their defeat to Bayern Munich. Barcelona finally met their match in a dogged and well drilled Inter Milan team, who managed to withstand the Catalans despite being a player down for over 60 minutes at the Nou Camp.
The Champions League final is scheduled to kick-off on May 22 around 45 minutes after the European Rugby Cup champions are crowned. No Irish representation this year, as Toulouse take on Biarritz. Last weekend saw Leinster bow out during an exciting 2nd half in the rain, while Munster went out without a whimper in sunny San Sebastian. Home advantage and injuries had a large bearing on both games I'm sure, but both teams rode their luck at stages this year (Munster in their final pool game with Northampton and Leinster in the quarter-final with Clermont Auvergne. Let's hope both sides rebound for 2011.
Friday, 5 March 2010
One way or another, Manchester will deny Chelsea the title this season
4-2? At home? To Man City? Really? Yes, it was that bad. Chelsea succumed to a team that had failed to win any of their other games this season against the putative top 4. After taking a (deserved) lead late in the 1st half, indecision and incompetence allowed Man City to equalise and it all went downhill from there. Jon Obi Mikel is clearly not good enough to play a key role in a championship contending team, and to me, John Terry no longer instils a sense of confidence in the rest of the team. Mikel's replacement, the ageing Beletti, also showed his lack of quality in earning himself a red card in conceding a penalty that made the score 3-1 (although, it begs the question, what was the difference between Beletti's offense and that committed by Walter Samuel in the San Siro earlier that week?).
If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, it is going to require what would appear to be a flawless 2 months on the run-in. You can argue the point, but I think that it's fair to say that with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and a visit from Aston Villa that they have a pretty tough run-in. And they must do it without both 1st choice full backs after Jose Bosingwa joined Ashley Cole on the 'out for the season' list earlier this week. I'm pretty sure Zhirkov will be an excellent replacement if he can stay fit, and Ivanovic has shown he has decent attacking abilities (see his run in the San Siro),so maybe they will be ok. Time will tell, but Michael Owen's loss could be a factor in determining whether or not the title returns to London-I don't believe that Wayne Rooney's run of goalscoring from can run all the way to the end of the season, and Dimitar Berbetov hasn't shown that he is ready or willing to pick up the slack. But, let us not forget that there is always the chance another Fedrico Macheda will surface (Mame Diouf?)
The other London team were hit with yet another broken leg last weekend. Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas were understandably upset after the game, but I thought their comments were out of order. Still, when I saw Liam Fox of Burnley (who escaped with merely a talking to) dive 2 footed at Theo Walcott (who was lucky to avoid injury) earlier today, I wonder if maybe they have a point.
The long and ridiculous saga at Fratton Park appears to be drawing to a sadly inevitable close with administration, the loss of 9 points and almost certain relegation assured. This sort of scenario isn't unusual in the lower leagues or the League of Ireland, and I'm not surprised it has happened in the Premier League, but it's not something you want to see in the putative 'best league in the world'.
If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, it is going to require what would appear to be a flawless 2 months on the run-in. You can argue the point, but I think that it's fair to say that with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and a visit from Aston Villa that they have a pretty tough run-in. And they must do it without both 1st choice full backs after Jose Bosingwa joined Ashley Cole on the 'out for the season' list earlier this week. I'm pretty sure Zhirkov will be an excellent replacement if he can stay fit, and Ivanovic has shown he has decent attacking abilities (see his run in the San Siro),so maybe they will be ok. Time will tell, but Michael Owen's loss could be a factor in determining whether or not the title returns to London-I don't believe that Wayne Rooney's run of goalscoring from can run all the way to the end of the season, and Dimitar Berbetov hasn't shown that he is ready or willing to pick up the slack. But, let us not forget that there is always the chance another Fedrico Macheda will surface (Mame Diouf?)
The other London team were hit with yet another broken leg last weekend. Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas were understandably upset after the game, but I thought their comments were out of order. Still, when I saw Liam Fox of Burnley (who escaped with merely a talking to) dive 2 footed at Theo Walcott (who was lucky to avoid injury) earlier today, I wonder if maybe they have a point.
The long and ridiculous saga at Fratton Park appears to be drawing to a sadly inevitable close with administration, the loss of 9 points and almost certain relegation assured. This sort of scenario isn't unusual in the lower leagues or the League of Ireland, and I'm not surprised it has happened in the Premier League, but it's not something you want to see in the putative 'best league in the world'.
Friday, 19 February 2010
I guess some people never change. Or, they quickly change and then quickly change back
Well, well, well. Or, to put it another way, was anyone surprised by Wednesday night's carry on in the Champions League?
First off, we had Arsenal drafting Sol Campbell in as defensive cover. You're a team that has pretensions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. You need a centre back to cover for your 2 first choice stoppers. Where do you turn? To a 35 year-old who latterly played (1 game) in League 2 and who you allowed to leave the club on a free transfer over 3 years ago. Is this some sort of mid-life crisis for Arsene Wenger? I always thought his preference was to fill the team with as many 16 and 17 year olds as possible? Not with clearly washed up players like Campbell (just witness his reaction to the backpass that ultimately cost his side the game) or Man Utd cast-offs (Mikael Silvestre). But, Arsene quickly reverted to type post game. His ridiculous assertion that Campbell's poking of the football with his foot towards his goalkeeper did not constitute a back-pass was truly Arsene at his best, although, I would have got more of a kick if he had said he didn't see it!
Now, where Arsene might have had a point, was in his criticism of referee Martin Hansson in the way he 'handed' the ball to a Porto player and then allowed him to take the indirect free-kick straight away (it's hard to believe the ref could have asked the Porto player did he wish to take the free-kick quickly in the time that elapsed between the award of and taking of the free-kick. Of course, the same referee also had a significant role in 'handing' France their place at the World Cup. Was his attempt at appeasing Irish fans anger at the French (by playing a key role in the downfall of a team managed by a Frenchman and one who would count Thierry Henry as one of its greatest ever players)? I don't know. What I do know is that we will still get to see Mr. Hansson officiating in South Africa this summer. It's small minded of me, but I would like to see him turn up at an England game.
For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like Italian club football was going to redeem itself after several years in the wilderness. AC Milan had an early lead and played plenty of good football agianst Man Utd, but ultimately faded and were outdone by their failure to take chances and the English side's clinical taking of goals from a limited pool of chances. A late goal from Milan means that they only have to win but 2 clear goals at Old Trafford. I expect that odds might be long on that happening.
But the cruelest demonstration of incompetence, past performance being a predictor of the future and downright thivery was at the Allianz Arena, where a certain Tom Henning Ovrebo wronged the Viola not once, not twice but three times. The decision not to punish Bayern players van Bommel and Klose for dangerous tackles and the decision to allow Miroslav Klose's late winner ensured that Bayern escaped with a narrow advantage. Fiorentina, unlike Chelsea last May, have 90 minutes to right the wrongs visited upon them by Mr. Overbo. Let's hope for the sake of football that they do just that.
First off, we had Arsenal drafting Sol Campbell in as defensive cover. You're a team that has pretensions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. You need a centre back to cover for your 2 first choice stoppers. Where do you turn? To a 35 year-old who latterly played (1 game) in League 2 and who you allowed to leave the club on a free transfer over 3 years ago. Is this some sort of mid-life crisis for Arsene Wenger? I always thought his preference was to fill the team with as many 16 and 17 year olds as possible? Not with clearly washed up players like Campbell (just witness his reaction to the backpass that ultimately cost his side the game) or Man Utd cast-offs (Mikael Silvestre). But, Arsene quickly reverted to type post game. His ridiculous assertion that Campbell's poking of the football with his foot towards his goalkeeper did not constitute a back-pass was truly Arsene at his best, although, I would have got more of a kick if he had said he didn't see it!
Now, where Arsene might have had a point, was in his criticism of referee Martin Hansson in the way he 'handed' the ball to a Porto player and then allowed him to take the indirect free-kick straight away (it's hard to believe the ref could have asked the Porto player did he wish to take the free-kick quickly in the time that elapsed between the award of and taking of the free-kick. Of course, the same referee also had a significant role in 'handing' France their place at the World Cup. Was his attempt at appeasing Irish fans anger at the French (by playing a key role in the downfall of a team managed by a Frenchman and one who would count Thierry Henry as one of its greatest ever players)? I don't know. What I do know is that we will still get to see Mr. Hansson officiating in South Africa this summer. It's small minded of me, but I would like to see him turn up at an England game.
For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like Italian club football was going to redeem itself after several years in the wilderness. AC Milan had an early lead and played plenty of good football agianst Man Utd, but ultimately faded and were outdone by their failure to take chances and the English side's clinical taking of goals from a limited pool of chances. A late goal from Milan means that they only have to win but 2 clear goals at Old Trafford. I expect that odds might be long on that happening.
But the cruelest demonstration of incompetence, past performance being a predictor of the future and downright thivery was at the Allianz Arena, where a certain Tom Henning Ovrebo wronged the Viola not once, not twice but three times. The decision not to punish Bayern players van Bommel and Klose for dangerous tackles and the decision to allow Miroslav Klose's late winner ensured that Bayern escaped with a narrow advantage. Fiorentina, unlike Chelsea last May, have 90 minutes to right the wrongs visited upon them by Mr. Overbo. Let's hope for the sake of football that they do just that.
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