Just a quick note to apologise for the lack of blogging activity recently. Apparently being under-employed is surprisingly busy. In between working, volunteering, and studying, I will try to find time to write something more substantial soon. I am hoping this will be tonight, but there is the small matter of the Champions League final that may get in the way. Anyway, here’s a couple of videos relating to the Champions League, about the two best finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mf8SC_UASg
I retain a belief that football is a great unifying force for good. Whilst I accept that there are footballing rivalries and hooliganism, football also does an emormous amount of good too. As if proof of the point of the force of the sport, I found this article which serves to indicate the influence of football. The upcoming elections are important ones, as is every election in a democratic society. That football is trying to encourage as many people as possible to vote can only be a good thing.
With the end of the Premier League season approaching, three teams naturally find themselves struggling to stay afloat. West Brom look certainties to go down, and although Mowbray’s attacking instincts are commendable, I’m still not sure whether they are realisitic for a newly promoted side in the division. However, I hold no fear for West Brom, one of a few yo-yo clubs at the moment, and I think that, providing that they hold onto their better players, they will bounce back again pretty quickly.
Instead it is Newcastle for whom I fear the most. I think now they will go down, as I cannot see them picking up the requisite number of points to keep them up. If they are relegated, the club will sink in the manner of Leeds, Charlton and Southampton (all recently Premier League clubs who find themselves either in League One, or joining it next season). Newcastle are club prone to turmoil, it seems poorly run from the top down, and there is nothing Alan Shearer could realistically have done to prevent the collapse. It is a longer term problem within the club than simply a season full of bad results indicates. They will continue to struggle I think, over the course of the next two or three seasons, and may very well be rubbing shoulders with the teams in League One sooner than they will be back in the Premier League.
Of course, there are two teams already heading to the Premier League to replace West Brom and probably Newcastle. Birmingham City, who, if I’m honest, have not impressed me much this season in footballing terms, have secured second spot in the Championship and make an immediate return to the Premier League. It is however Wolves who have finally pulled clear of the chasing pack, finishing seven points clear of Birmingham as the top scorers in the league. It has truly been a roller-coaster season for Wolves fans, the thrills of last autumn were followed by the pains of early spring. Even as recently as April 6, when the team lost to Birmingham, the fans were still muttering that automatic promotion would not be achieved. However, for the team which had remained top since October, avoiding defeat in the final five games meant that the other clubs simply could not stand the pace and fell away (Cardiff in spectacular fashion). Wolves deserve to win the Championship, there is little question about that. For the team though, the hard work starts now.
It’s been a busy week for football this week. As I’m now sat watching the second FA Cup semi-final instead of finishing an essay, I thought I would do at least some writing.
Yesterday’s semi-final between Arsenal and Chelsea was an interesting tie. Won late on by Didier Drogba, the tie was played in the shadow of the Hillsborough tragedy (of which I have previously written), with presentations made to members of the Hillsborough families. The teams were meant to play wearing black armbands as a sign of respect. Yet Arsenal played the first half armband-less. Which was a point of criticism undoubtedly. Until Chelsea came out in the second half, without their armbands. They did, it appears, somehow jump onto the Arsenal players arms at half-time. This seems both bizarre, and slightly disrespectful. Was there only one set of black armbands at Wembley yesterday? I had always thought that the armbands were little more than black tape, so why would there need to be ‘proper’ bands? Did the FA simply forget the second set of bands? Whatever way you look at it, only having one set of armbands is distinctly unprofessional from the FA, and two teams could have simply made do with the traditional tape, as opposed to apparently sharing the armbands.
Secondly, briefly, I’m becoming more and more convinced that the next Manchester United manager will be David Moyes, who, to my mind, has many of the same traits as Sir Alex Ferguson, and who has proven himself consistantly with hardly any money at a high standard.
Finally, I cannot finish a football related blog on this day without mentioning the success of my own team. Wolverhampton Wanderers have been promoted to the Premier League two games before the season ends. Barring any freak results, they will go up as Championship Champions too. It has been a roller-coaster season, our autumn was brilliant, our winter less so. Our spring has been necessarily strong, and our summer will be exciting. Sitting atop the league since October, Wolves have proven themselves to be the best team, scoring the most goals and having the league’s top scorer in our ranks. Congratulations to Wolves, and here’s hoping for a solid season next term!
Yesterday was an extremely emotional day for football fans across the country. Wednesday promises to even more emotional. It is 20 years since the Hillsborough tragedy killed 96 Liverpool fans, and forced the Football Association into taking decisive action in regards to stadium safety.
As I sat watching Match of the Day last night, it was painfully apparent that the scars are still raw for those who were there. Alan Hansen, Liverpool’s captain twenty years ago, talked about how he had been affected by the event, and what it still meant to him. Mark Lawrenson sat beside him and could add nothing more.
Hillsborough was a national tragedy which still holds significance today. People who do not necessarily follow football know about Hillsborough and the significance of it. The event should not, and never will be, forgotten.
The surprising dismissal of Luis Felipe Scolari from Chesea this afternoon has revealed much about the nature of the beast. Having courted the Brazillian for so long, it seems counter-logical for Chelsea to sack him at the point the going gets tough. Yet they did. Or rather Abramovich did. Yes, it is true, the Russian owner of Chelsea has had his final, definitive say in the matter.
For Abramovich, sitting fourth in the league is simply not good enough, especially as Chelsea seem so far off the boil they are practically frozen. The fortress that was Stamford Bridge is now little more than a hiderance to players already suffering from a crisis in confidence. So many key players are not performing to the same standard they were a couple of years ago. Drogba is unhappy, Deco is wayward, Terry looks less than composed, Joe Cole is off colour, and try as he might, Frank Lampard cannot continue to carry the team as he has done in recent times. And the reason for all this, is, according to Abramovich, Scolari. The big Brazillian’s first attempt at club management for a long time has imploded spectacularly, despite it being easy to suggest that he was not given a fair stab at things.
For Abramovich, Chelsea remains his plaything. It is true that he does care about the club, and wants success, but he feels that, as owner, it is his call on the major decisions. He forced Mourinho out last season, in what was probably his biggest mistake to date. He sacked Grant and Scolari for little more than a few poor results (Grant had only lost in the Champions League final and finished second to Manchester United). Neither were given a fair crack of the whip. Chelsea were the first rich-mans-plaything in this era of increased wealth from foreign climes. They are still considered the blueprint for league success, and have upped the stakes for other clubs. Suddenly it became hard to compete with them in financial terms, so teams had to find other ways of gaining the upper hand. United succeeded, and there are signs Liverpool have done too. Chelsea’s transfer policy of signing the big-name older players has done for Scolari. Youth is the way forward, yet it was a factor ignored by the previous three managers. Sir Alex Ferguson has often talked about his current team playing together for another ten years at the highest level. That is a sign of his youth policy working. Most of Chelsea’s first team are 30 or over, and it shows. Aston Villa, another team who have invested largely in youth players, have claimed third ahead of the Blues.
Scolari, then, was sacked for two reasons. Firstly, most of his key players are alarmingly off-form. As manager it is his job to correct this element. But, more importantly, I would suggest Scolari has paid the price for a transfer policy which is clearly not of his own making. In this regard I feel sorry for him.
The continual debate over the nature of the transfer window is one which will continue to raise its head throughout January’s in the future. There are many arguments both for and against the window.
From a fan’s point of view, the window provides excitment, discussion and gets people talking. The evidence is there in full for anyone to read on the BBC 606 fans forums. The window is something to look forward to half way through a season when the trials and tribulations of following a football team are becoming apparent.
Yet many players and managers dislike it. The window has the potential to tear apart their season. Wigan, I think, will be this years prime example. With the departure of Wilson Palacios and (likely departure) Emile Heskey, not even the signing of Stephen Hunt could ensure that Wigan continue to do as well as they have in the first part of the season. Yes, their funds will have been swelled by the departures, but this money isn’t running out onto the pitch every week playing football.
For those clubs in financial difficulty, the window provides an opportunity to sell players to help the club survive. But there is the painful catch-22 of selling your best players for larger prices and then falling further down the leagues. Luton Town are a good example, as are Leeds United. It is here that the window could be said to be a good thing. It serves to grossly inflate the prices of players, knowing that if the buying club really need a player in this month, they must agree. The market is a sellers one. Craig Bellamy, as good a player as he is, is never really worth the £14million that Manchester City paid for him. Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth-Real Madrid) is not £20million worth of player, and never has been. Roque Santa Cruz is not worth £40million, the fee that Sam Allardyce put on his head. The window makes good players very expensive, and average players just expensive. For those clubs who need the cash, this is a good thing. For everyone else, it isn’t. Somewhere along the line, the money must be generated. It invariably comes from the pockets of the fans. Subtle increases in ticket prices, or official shirt prices help the club chase those players more expensive. Someone has to pay somewhere, and it generally has to be the fans, and whilst we could think about other sources of income (sponsors for example), they are usually not putting as much in as the fans (season ticket, shirts, matchday food, programme- all told could be upwards of £700 a season, per person). It is the fans, undoubtedly, who pay.
Yet what about those clubs who need the players? Arsene Wenger has today said that the inability to sign players in January would be good punishment for those teams who failed to strengthen during the summer months. This view is interesting, but fails to take into account the variables in a football season, especially injuries. If a team had, for example, injuries to a certain number of key players, is it right that they then cannot reinforce their squads as best they can during one month? I think that removing the window would penalise such teams through no fault of their own. Wenger himself has a long list of injuries (Eduardo, Walcott, Rosicky plus others) and naturally, the chase of Andrei Arshavin is a different case to everyone else trying to sign players this month.
Those richer clubs, can, of course, afford to pay the prices, and here is the next counter-argument to the window. The poorer clubs are priced out of the market by the teams around them who can pay just that bit more. The poorer club then has to look at other players, cheaper, worse players if they want to strengthen their team, which is something of a paradox. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good, cheap players to be had, but generally, the poorer clubs are hustled out of the market. Is this just some warped version of the Darwinian survival of the fittest theory? Possibly. Is it fair? Certainly not. Should it change? I hope not.
The window has its faults, of course it does. There are many reasons to not like it, it contributes to the obscene amounts of money in the game, it makes average players seem good, it hinders smaller teams. These are all valid arguments, but I still like it. The drama, the debates and discussions, the potential of a new player to reinvigorate your team, these are reasons to love the window, and, lets face it, it isn’t going to disappear any time soon.
That’s how much Manchester City are offering AC Milan for Kaka, former world player of the year. The fee is obscene, of course it is, but that’s not the point of this post. Instead, I want to say how sorry I feel for Mark Hughes. Reading his comments today that try to justify such a fee, it seems he is floundering amid the pressure of being manager of the richest club in the world, and not liking it one jot. It doesn’t make business sense at all. £91million is quite a lot of money for one player. Then you have various fees, wages and the rest. It will cost City’s owners a lot in the long term.
Nor does it make footballing sense. Manchester City are not floundering near the foot of the Premier League due to their inability to score goals, they have outscored everyone at home so far this season (with the exception of Manchester United). Their problems lie in their defence. The once impressive Micah Richards and Richard Dunne look bereft of confidence and, at the moment, ability. Vincent Kompany is not looking like the sort of player that fans of Football Manager know. Wayne Bridge has been bought to help the problems, but from left-back, it is hard to make a really telling impact in the centre of defence. Manchester City need world-class defenders, not attackers. If they sort out this problem, then they could begin to look at climbing the table, with the possibilty of considering a European place next season. Until then they will be top heavy, and will lose football matches.
I seem to remember Real Madrid making the same mistake. As they built a team of Galacticos at the start of this decade, they bought the likes of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and Beckham, which had the effect of making them great going forward, but lacking in defence (despite the ever impressive Iker Casillas in goal). Yes, it did win them the Champions League in 2000 and 2002, and La Liga in 00-01 and 02-03, but then they won nothing for four more years, as the stars waned and got older. Their defence was always considered their weakest link (as evidenced by the importance to them of Makelele), but they had enough good players to win them games. Manchester City do not have that yet, and regardless of whether they add Kaka this month, this will remain the case.
Nor is it clever to assume the player will find top form straight away. Robinho has been good, but has hardly set the league alight in the same way as Van Nistelrooy or Torres have done previously. For a £32million player, you would be inclined to expect a little more. The same could happen to Kaka. Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Kaka, and have been for years (whilst he was still relatively unknown), but moving to a new country, a new club, a new climate, a new culture and a new league can impact upon players. Morientes was a great player in Spain, Shevchenko was great at AC Milan, but when both came to England, they struggled, and looked shadows of their former selves.
I genuinely hope Kaka doesn’t come to Manchester City this month. I think that he is too good a player to be found at a club like City (or indeed a club like Chelsea). I would much rather see him in a side that plays the game in the same manner as he does, exciting, flowing football, scoring goals for fun, that hint of genius running through the side. In the Premier League there is only one club I would like to see him at, and that’s Arsenal, but that Sylvan Wiltord is still Arsenal’s record signing tells you all you need to know about Wenger’s transfer policy. Money may well talk, but I really hope it doesn’t.
I am one for history repeating itself, and, over the past couple of days, I think it has happened again. When Rafa Benitez pulled out a list of various misdemeanours committed by Sir Alex Ferguson over the course of this season, it was apparent though that this was so very much the same, yet so very different.
Everyone remembers Kevin Keegan’s famous outburst as his Newcastle team faltered as the season drew to a close, allowing Manchester United to win the league. Many were praising Alex Ferguson and his team of kids. Ferguson had won, both on the pitch and off it. Fergie, one of the best managers of the modern era, plays the mind games so well, and he broke Keegan so completely that the latter fell apart so publically, letting Fergie take the glory. Keegan had no answers to Fergie’s questions.
As Ferguson has gone on and had so much more success, no-one, and nothing has fazed him. Yes, he has complained (in pretty much every press conference), yes he has moaned (about all manner of things, including fixtures, referees, the FA, other managers, and players), but he has never been beaten when it come to the mind games.
As Liverpool have moved to the top of the Premier League this season, so Ferguson has played his cards, and so he has got under Benitez’s skin, to the point the Liverpool boss cracked on Friday. The trouble is, everything Benitez said was true. His points were considered, they were thorough, and they were all correct. Benitez, in his mind, was merely airing an opinion and substantiating it in a very precise manner. Many pundits have agreed with his views, as have the fans. But that really isn’t the point any more. For everyone now, it is about how Ferguson has got to Benitez, forcing a response.
Such an attack has been read as Benitez failing to cope with the pressure of being top of the league. It has been read that Benitez has been affected by Ferguson’s various indirect snipings. I don’t agree though, to me it seems that, for someone who has won two league titles in Spain with Valencia, pressure isn’t an issue. I’m not sure Ferguson has won any mind games, yet. All Benitez was doing was highlighting the inconsistancies that occur when the FA deal with Ferguson as opposed to other managers. The outburst may have had the affect of increasing the pressure on his players, but such pressure exists anyway. Maybe it could have been saved for a later date, say, when Liverpool had won the title. The point though, had to be made, and hopefully the FA will sit up and take notice of Benitez’s comments, and take a good look at itself, as it is so badly run that it is painful to most football fans.
In the long term, I think Liverpool will lose the race for the title, and Manchester United will win it again. Whether this does, or does not happen will be irrespective of Benitez’s comments on Friday.
On another note, it is nice to be able to say I was right with regard to Manchester City and their fortunes this season. As they flounder around near the foot of the table, Mark Hughes has a real job on to save the richest club in the world from problems.
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