2011 September | Soccer Football

The Continuing Story Of Carlos Tevez

Opinion, Premier League, UEFA Champions League

Sep 282011

manchester city carlos tevez refused to play according to roberto mancini

Lescott refused to come on too. Nobody cared.

All the headlines from last night’s game between Bayern Munich and Manchester City have been based around Carlos Tevez, and his apparent refusal to take to the pitch when requested to by his manager.

Mancini said he refused to come on, as in the heat of the moment he was lead by the media into the next days headlines and seemed happy to oblige. As did everyone else in the world of football, lashing out at Tevez even before they knew any facts surrounding the whole saga. Tevez says he didn’t refuse to come on, well he would wouldn’t he. ”In Munich on Tuesday I had warmed up and was ready to play”, said the Argentine, but everyone has already made their mind up about this and decided Tevez should be put in the stocks at the newly refurbished Etihad punishment centre in Drolysden.

Maybe what people should be focusing on is the awful tactical decisions made by Mancini throughout the match.

He had to start Tevez in this game. If he got tired due to lack of match fitness then fine, bring him off in the second half and let Mario have a run round, or even get De Jong on to sure things up if you’re hanging on to a result. Even in his sulky phases, Tevez is a player who will close the opposition down more determinedly than many of the other highly paid egos in the Manchester City team, and this was something they needed in last nights game.

Then there were the substitutions. Mancini alienated his entire forward line with one substitution when he removed Dzeko from the field and replaced him with a defensive midfielder in the shape of Nigel De Jong, at 2-0 down. It was almost as if he’d given up and was looking to give De Jong a bit of match fitness as he returns from injury. The players seemed to have higher ambitions even at 2-0 down as Dzeko showed his disgust at being removed, Aguero seemed to appeal for help, Tevez zipped his tracksuit up (a blatant show of dissent), and Balotelli returned to playing games his mobile phone.

So surely the next lot of substitutions would be more attacking? Not so. The ineffective Barry, who is getting the Champions League football he always demanded whilst at Aston Villa but not doing very well at it, was taken off and replaced by another left back (What? Barry pretends he’s a midfielder now?) Aleksandar Kolarov. Then Nasri who no one knew was on the pitch was replaced by James Milner, as Mancini looked to hold on to the 2-0 defeat.

In amongst these minor events was the main event, where Tevez had a quick chat with one of the Manchester City staff, and then sat down in his seat zipping his tracksuit top up yet again! The cheek of it all. He even had the gall to talk to his team mates on the bench.

If Tevez did refuse to come on, then surely the next option would have been Balotelli, but he didn’t come on either (luckily for him as he achieved a high score on Angry Birds, a memorable night), so this adds more confusion to Mancini’s claims.

Roberto Mancini tasted defeat in a game which was supposed to be set up for him and his Manchester City team to announce their intentions and prove to Europe, and more importantly their Manchester rivals, that they are to be taken seriously when they talk of winning the big prizes. Instead Mancini was embarrassed by his players and his own inept tactical decisions, and which of these two things will hurt the manager more? Obviously the latter, but instead he deflected all of the blame onto an easy target, and everyone else followed him.

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

David De Gea – World Class Calamity

Opinion, Satire

Sep 252011

David de Gea

It was bound to happen really. Ever since his big money move to Manchester United the Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea has been under the spotlight, with his every move has being scrutinised by fans, pundits, charity shop volunteers, commentators, fellow footballers, and laymen. The subject of his erratic form was even a topic due for discussion on one episode of Question Time, but they didn’t have time to fit it in as they spent too much time discussing the colour of the upholstery in the House of Commons, and its lack of neutrality. (It favours the Green party). A thought on the matter, almost an opinion on it, even crossed Gary Lineker’s mind. You could see it.

It’s fair to say that the arguments put forward from both sides as to how good de Gea actually is, have actually become so polarised and skewed, that all rational thought has been lost on both sides. de Gea is either a world class goalkeeper, or a total calamitous waste of money.

De Gea takes a cross (sometimes he does) and he becomes one of the most commanding goalkeepers in the league, no, the world. He passes to a team mate and his distribution is second to none. As he tips a shot over the bar or round the post he displays reflexes of a super hero. And as he shouts to his back four he demonstrates communication and organisational skills which belie his age, of only 20, and this is what the qualified psychics who are the Manchester United scouting team saw in him at Atletico Madrid (for some Manchester United fans reading this, Atletico Madrid are another football team, who play in Spain). He’s a future Manchester United captain no doubt.

Next time de Gea does something approaching his job description of “goalkeeper” during a game, just watch as Rio and Patrice come rushing over to him enthusiastically, handing out back slaps and shouting down his ear with some kind of congratulatory encouragement that the player has done his job.

Now, there’s another side to all this as you’ll have gathered if you read and understood the second paragraph.

They’re usually fans of other Premier League sides, or fans of Leeds United (a team which hasn’t been in the Premier League for a while but is somehow still the best team in the country), or according to Manchester United fans – anyone talking about football on TV or in the media – because according to them everyone, even Gary Neville, hates Manchester United. Here’s what they say:

former manchester united football club goalkeeper massimo taibi

Massimo Taibi comparisons may be unfair. On whom is yet to be seen.

De Gea is about as good at collecting crosses as David James was during his “calamity James” years. He may make saves but he never catches them, and often looks slow to react. They may as well put Berbatov in goal. He makes his back four nervous by shouting at them in Spanish. He kicks the ball out of play more often than he passes to a team mate, which isn’t very good for a keeper who is supposed to have good distribution. He’s too small. He can’t cope with long shots, or shots from close range, but especially not long shots. Don’t you know he’s let in the most goals from long shots in the Spanish league for the last 10 seasons? Short-sighted. His confidence is shot, he cost too much money, Alex Ferguson is going senile, and he can’t cope with long shots. Massimo Taibi.

Tottenham were utterly disrespectful to him according to Manchester United fans, as Van Der Vaart continued to shoot every time he got the ball, even in his own half.

“It’s not fair,” said one disgruntled East Anglian.

“They know he can’t handle long shots but they’re shooting from distance at every opportunity. It shouldn’t be allowed.”

Watching the Stoke versus Manchester United game on ESPN the colour commentator (probably can’t say that anymore and summariser would have been a better description) described one save as world class, as he pushed a cross goal shot around the post for a corner. Later, on Match of the Day, Mark Lawrenson described the same save with the words “He got away with one there”. The truth, as you may have concluded by now, is somewhere in between. He saved it well, but perhaps should have looked more assured with his handling.

David de Gea has the potential to be world class. Manchester United don’t spend that kind of money on…… actually, forget that sentence. But at the moment he’s a decent goalkeeper who needs time to settle into the Premier League, and the price tag and extra pressure of playing for the best team in England makes this even tougher. Look at Michel Vorm at Swansea, he is going through the same thing but no one notices because of the lower profile of both the transfer fee, and the club he plays for.

Having said all this, Anders Lindegaard is probably the better goalkeeper at the moment, but he won’t get a look in because he didn’t cost £20m. However the Dane can always be the next Peter Schmeichel, as long as he never gets the chance to prove that he isn’t. Sounds like another story.

The New Patrick Vieira(s) – Chuks Aneke and Paul Pogba

English League Cup

Sep 202011

Chuks Aneke

Tonight’s Carling Cup could see the debuts of two players who have both been imaginatively touted as the new Patrick Vieira. One of them is French – a good start – but Paul Pogba plays for Manchester United, so the comparison might seem a little misguided. The other plays for Arsenal – seems fair enough – but Chukwuemeka Aneke (luckily for John Motson shortened to Chuks Aneke) was born in Newham, London, England.

True fans of both clubs will have gotten over these comparisons by now, realising that they have two young and very talented players on their hands, having seen their outstanding displays at academy level, and realised that if these players progress to their respective first teams they will have done so in their own right. Not on the back of a typical lazy media comparison.

Paul Pogba

The Carling Cup is seen by many to be a pointless exercise, but it has to be many fans highlight of the season, especially those of Arsenal as they get to see their future stars in their formative years. Many of the current Arsenal first team, including the likes of Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, and Wojciech Szczesny, were first blooded in this competition and the latter two of the examples given here have gone on to be two of the best players currently at the club.

Our earlier article on future Football Manager wonderkids name checks Pogba, and maybe it is a bit unfair to leave Aneke out as there’s no doubt that these two could play a role in the future of their respective clubs, and this could begin in this week’s League Cup. Pogba is almost certain to play in Manchester United’s mouth watering tie of the round against their old foes Leeds United, whilst Arsenal host Shrewsbury at the Emirates where Aneke will take a place on the bench.

Phil Jones is Superman, and Has Been For a While

Analysis, Premier League

Sep 102011

Phil Jones footballer of Manchester United, formerly Blackburn Rovers

Phil Jones - Wearing a strange Blue and White kit.

You might not think it, but Phil Jones has been a Premier League footballer for well over a year now. He used to play for a team called Blackburn Rovers, who play their home games at Ewood Park in Blackburn, Lancashire. Whilst at Blackburn he excelled in two positions – central defence and central midfield – but would pop up all over the pitch and make driving runs forward from defence in the style of his fellow defender Christopher Samba. Despite never scoring for the club, fans could see that he possessed a decent shot and you regularly heard the calls of “shooooot” from the terraces as he took the ball towards the opposition area on one of his typically marauding runs.

Jones took an opportunity to step into the centre back position alongside Samba when Blackburn club captain Ryan Nelson was suffering from injury. He impressed so much that Nelson could only get back into the team when Jones was forced to fill a problem midfield area, and then when the Preston born defender suffered an injury of his own. As well as the previously mentioned attributes, Jones is good in the air, dedicated in the tackle, good on the ball, can pick out a pass, and possesses good pace which should rule out any John Terry comparisons.

A few clubs began to show interest in the player late in the 2010/2011 season, and by the end of the summer transfer window of 2011, Jones had made a move to Manchester United which cost them around £17m, with the champions holding off late attempts by Liverpool and Arsenal to sign the player.

Now, despite this interest from some of the top managers in the country, it seems to have taken a move to Manchester United for him to be considered for the England senior team, even on the back of just a couple of impressive performances for his new club. It also seems to have come as a shock to some football journalists and pundits how good Jones actually is – exposing the embarrassing lack of football outside of the top four or five clubs that some of them must actually watch. One particular journalist will rue the day that he described Liverpool’s Sebastian Coates as “Twice the player of Phil Jones”. Good though Coates is, it was a rather flippant remark which was hastily deleted from his article.

Some Manchester United fans also think that Jones is a product of their youth academy, but you can’t expect everyone to know everything all of the time.

Phil Jones joins an exciting bunch of young English players at Manchester United, with the likes of Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, and Danny Welbeck settling quickly into the Manchester United winning mentality, which has given them a great start to the new season despite an apparent defensive “crisis” with Vidic and Ferdinand suffering injuries.

Blackburn fans used to sing “Phil Jones is Superman”, as they knew how good he was even if the knowledgeable football people in the media didn’t, but then again Blackburn fans probably don’t know how good Sebastian Coates is.

If Blackburn were to get relegated this season, it will mainly be down to that massive Phil Jones shaped hole in their defence/midfield/attacking third and the determined role he played which gave so much to a struggling team, and will give even more to a winning team.

P.S. Some people did notice and it’s unfair to put them all in the same boat. Here’s a good article from the Telegraph’s Henry Winter, written towards the end of 2010.

Sunderland’s Asamoah Gyan Joins Al Ain FC on Loan

Transfer News

Sep 102011

Asamoah Gyan footballer on loan at Al Ain from Sundeland Football Club

Asamoah Gyan by seriouslysilly from Flickr.

Sunderland have allowed Asamoah Gyan to leave on loan to UAE club Al Ain FC.

The move comes as a surprise to many who consider the player to be Sunderland’s best striking option in front of the likes of the injured Frazier Campbel, and new signings Connor Wickham, Ji Dong-Won, and Nicklas Bendtner who is on loan from Arsenal.

Steve Bruce has cited “parasites” hovering round, as the reason for the strikers departure, suggesting that he needs to play elsewhere to get back into the form which initially attracted these parasitic admirers.

Several reports are bemoaning the strikers lack of goals this season, which is just ridiculous considering the season is only 3 games in, and he has only once completed the ninety minutes.

Types Of Football – An Ordered List

Football History, Other Football Codes

Sep 102011

types of football - american football, aussie rules, rugby

An early form of football – mob football.

As the Rugby Union World Cup is being forced upon Freeview viewers due to the fact that there is nothing else on TV, we thought we would take a look at some of the various codes of football, and list them in order. With the AFL finals also under way, the Super League and NRL seasons approaching the play offs, the NFL season just starting, and the Gaelic Football all Ireland finals later in the month – we thought this was as good a time as any to make a list.

Association Football – We have to put this first as it is the main subject matter of this website.
Rugby League – One of the most exciting and accessible forms of football around. The State of Origin games between New South Wales and Queensland are usually the sports best representation. The Super League competition in England is generally seen as inferior to the NRL, but improves year on year.
Gaelic Football – No idea of the rules, but it’s still a great game to watch. A sport they should show more of on TV, although it would be an embarrassment for the millionaire Association Footballers if they had to follow this in a TV schedule.
American Football (Gridiron!) – People complain about the stops in play, but why not use the time wisely to drink beer and eat pizza. Then watch as a 25 stone defensive tackle crunches the quarterback in the style of the “Grave Digger” Gilbert Brown. It’s College variant is one of the best examples of the sport away from the NFL. Canadian Football is similar but played with an extra player, and one less ‘down’, three downs rather than four and twelve players rather instead of eleven.
Australian Rules Football - Seems similar to Gaelic football to those us who rarely get to watch these games, and is just as rugged. An international set of rules has been devised to allow Gaelic players to compete against Australian players. Competes with Rugby League in Australia as the most popular national football game.
Bully Football at Eton and the Wall Game by Sydney P. Hall. 1870
Eton Wall Game - A game still played at Eton college, where the aim is to get the ball to the opposing team’s end of the wall to score. Score a shy by lifting the ball with the foot, and touching the ball against the wall in this opposition area, know as the “calx” (meaning chalk in Latin). Goals are scored by throwing the ball at a target at the end of the wall after scoring a shy. The goals are a garden door at one end and a tree stump at the other, and the last one scored in the main St Andrews day game was in 1909… Picture on the right taken from The Victorian Web.
Blow Football - A form of the sport where the feet are rarely used, except sometimes to unsettle the opponent. The ball is blown usually using a pipe to aim the air, and the aim is to blow the ball into the opponents goal.
Wall-ie (Wally?) - A turn based game played by an unlimited number of players where the aim is to kick the ball against a wall using only one touch. The kick is taken from wherever you can get to the ball after the previous opponents kick. If the player misses the wall they are knocked out, with the last man standing being declared the winner.
Wembley - Played in one goal with one goalkeeper, where teams or individuals advance to the next round by scoring the pre-set amount of goals for that round. The last one remaining in each round is eliminated, until a winner is decided in the final. The origin of the game’s name is unknown.
Drinks Can / Sock Game / Jumpers for Goalposts - Played by those unable to afford a football, usually by youngsters in a playground. The ball consists of a drinks can, or a rolled up pair of socks. Bags and jumpers are commonly used for goalposts.
Eton Field Game – A form of football played at Eton – includes positions such as “Bully” and “Behinds”. You get the idea. Could be seen as a cross between Soccer and Rugby Union.
Kicking inanimate objects whilst walking around - one of the earliest forms of the game in which the player (usually a man) kicks an object which has attracted his attention along the path he is walking. If the object strays from the path, it is up to the player to decide whether he wants to fetch the object, or admit defeat. Great for participants, but not so much for spectators or passers by.
Rugby Union

Football Manager 2012 Wonderkids

Football Games

Sep 042011

This article has been updated in an article imaginatively titled Football Manager 2012 Wonderkids Update

As Sega and Sports interactive announce details for the new Football Manager game for 2012, we will try to predict the players with the potential to become a much sought after ‘wonderkid’, as managers will look to gain an advantage by signing young talent earlier, and cheaper.

Top wonderkids for 2012 – predictions:

Souleymane Coulibaly (Tottenham Hotspur) – Spurs fans starting up a new game, and struggling to find that regular striker (unless Arry gets busy in the transfer market before then), may look to this nippy Ivorian and find he improves quickly, possibly reaching wonderkid status. Seasoned Football Manager players will already know about this guy, but it remains to be seen if he retains his perceived potential in the new version.

Jack Robinson (Liverpool) – No doubt he will imaginatively be dubbed the new Ashley Cole, as is every young promising English left back on this game, but the soon to be 18 year old Liverpool defender has the potential to become a good all round full back with his determined, dynamic style – already showing he can fit into the first team at a young age. Watch out for John Flanagan being labelled the new Jamie Caragher as well.

Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel) – Swiss winger with plenty of potential. Has the passing ability and engine to play in a more central role too. Could fit well into a 4-3-3, either as an attacking midfielder, or probably more effectively wide in the front three.

Lucas (Sao Paulo) – Another attacking player who can create things up front with both his passing and dribbling. Every team in the world seems to be after that creative midfielder to split a defence, so he may not be so cheap.

Jon Toral (Arsenal) – Signed up by Arsenal from Barcelona at the age of 16, there are no prizes for guessing who this guy will be compared with. Expect passing, creativity and first touch to be creeping up to 20 as you try to train this young talent up to wonderkid status.

Álvaro Morata (Real Madrid) – Will probably take some prizing from his home town, but this 18 year old striker is being prematurely tipped for legendary status at Real.

Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre) – There are always a collection of French wonderkids on every Football Manager game, and this forward is set to be the pick of them this season. Standing at well over 6ft whilst also being technically sound, this French youth international has to be one of the picks of the 2012 game.

Samed Yesil (Bayer Leverkusen) – Starring at youth level for Germany, this young forward could be a great signing if you can manage to negotiate a move for him ahead of other suitors. Will surely break into the Leverkusen first team squad this season.

Paul Pogba (Manchester United) – The French midfielder is held in high regard at the Old Trafford club, with coaching staff and some more observant fans believing they have snapped up a real talent from Le Havre. He is likely to break into the first team squad sooner rather than later, and could also be an important player for France in the future.

Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) – AC Milan signed this youngster from Genoa after he impressed during a loan spell at Padova in Serie B. The midfielder has all the attributes to unlock opposition defences, and under the right guidance could become a creative force at the Italian champions.

Thorgan Hazard (Lens) – An attacking midfielder in a similar mould to his brother Eden, Thorgan Hazard will be linked with big clubs before long. Imagine if you had both of them at the same team!

Ross Barkley (Everton) – Already getting first team action in the Premier League under David Moyes at just 17 years of age, Barkley is tipped for big things for both club and country. A midfielder who can also play a forward role, the Liverpool born player could be part of an exciting generation of English talent. Not a golden generation, but a footballing one.

Some players will come ready made with a wonderkid tag, and probably a high price tag. Erik Lamela, Neymar, Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen, Alan Dzagoev, Luis Castaignos, Mario Goetze… the list goes on. But the key as always, will be spotting the wonderkids before they reach this status.

Check back for our updates when Football Manager 2012 is released, and we will see which players gain wonderkid status.

Everton, Drenthe, and Stracqualursi

Analysis

Sep 012011

Royston Drenthe

Finally it has ended. The transfer window shut last night amid a flurry of activity on transfer deadline day. Rather than go through a summary of all the deals – which would be boring because this is information you already have (even the BBC has it (well some of it)) – we will look at one of the clubs involved in a few intriguing ins and outs on the final day. Which might also be boring….

Everton, having already sold James Vaughan to Norwich earlier in the summer, sold players in two key positions.

Mikel Arteta decided at the last minute that he would like to go to Arsenal, and like the player who Arsenal hope he’ll replace – Cesc Fabregas – Arteta took a drop in wages in order to secure a move to a club playing at a higher level. A rare thing, but something these two Spaniards decided to do, putting their footballing career before earnings.

Jermaine Beckford also left the Toffees to join Leicester, who paid £4m for the striker. Beckford is proven at Championship level and probably feels more comfortable in this environment. Whilst he scored a handful of goals for Everton, he was never the Darren Bent style poacher they hoped he would be at the top level.

This has left many wondering what the future holds for Everton. They received around £15m in total for these two deals, and have a few million in the bank from the earlier transfer deals, but where did they spend this money? Surely it would be used to replace their midfield maestro, and sign a striker…

Denis Stracqualursi

The answer is – they didn’t spend it. Instead they brought in two players on loan in the form of Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe, and Denis Stracqualursi from Argentinian side Tigres, the latter set to challenge Bilyaletdinov for being the most awkward name to pronounce at the club. In these two players they are gaining a left sided utility player in Drenthe, who hasn’t quite developed into the player Real Madrid hoped he would, so all parties are hoping he will use his time at Everton to work hard and prove a point; and a prolific scorer in Stracqualursi, a centre forward who finished joint top of the scoring charts in Argentina’s Apertura competition last season with 11 goals in 19 games, getting a further 10 goals in the Clausura.

Not like for like replacements, but what will they be missing? As we have already mentioned Beckford didn’t consistently trouble opposition defences – hence his step down to the Championship, so Stracqualursi won’t have much to live up to and the nature of a loan signing relieves some of the pressure, which will be good for the player as he settles in. Arteta has never rediscovered the form of his 2006/07 season in which he played in most games, was a regular on the score sheet, and provided 12 assists. Much of this is down to injury – he has never played anywhere near a full season since, which has also meant the occasional drop in form. Whilst he was a solid performer for Everton when he played, you get the impression that the £10m or so deal was a good option for both clubs.

Not much will change at Everton because of this. They were going to struggle anyway, and anyone who has seen their first couple of games this season will confirm this, though many teams (including Everton, regularly) start badly and improve as the season goes on, which can often result in a top half finish. The big struggle will be made a lot easier if Drenthe can work well with Baines on the left, if Osman and Cahill can find some good form in the middle of the park, if Barkley becomes the player everyone reckons he will, and if Anichebe….. well, let’s just concentrate on the new signings in this article.