2012 February | Soccer Football

Pavel Pogrebnyak Arrives for Fulham, Finally

Feb 282012

pavel pogrebnyak scores for Fulham against QPR

Pavel Pogrebnyak scores his second Fulham goal against QPR.

Pavel Pogrebnyak has scored two goals in two games for Fulham since his move from Stuttgart in January, and in a league which is often said to be difficult for new signings from foreign leagues to adapt to, Pogrebnyak has proven he has the ability to fit straight in at the Cottage. No wonder Martin Jol didn’t seem too fussed about the departure of Bobby Zamora, as he moved to sign the 28 year old Russian with money to spare.

Pogrebnyak is a player who has always had the ability to become a good striker in the Premier League. He has the prerequisite great feet for a big man, is strong on and off the ball, and possesses a good left foot, and a decent right one. He also has a cool head in front of goal, as his goal against QPR recently demonstrated. So why has it taken so long for the striker to arrive in the English league?

In the build up to Euro 2008, Pogrebnyak was a regular in the Russian squads for the qualifying games, scoring one goal in their qualifying group as he came on at half time to score the winning goal against Estonia. He formed part of a Russian attack which included an emerging bunch of Russian star players such as Andrei Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Dmitri Sychev, and Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Although many of Pogrebnyak’s appearances in qualifying came from the bench, he was seen as a major part of the squad, and his domestic form – forming a strike force with Arshavin which took Zenit St. Petersburg to the title – meant that many considered him to be Russia’s in form striker going into the tournament proper.

Then a slice of bad luck came. Pogrebnyak suffered a knee injury just as the tournament was about to start. Russia went on to be one of the more impressive teams in the tournament in Germany, with their only defeats coming to the eventual champions Spain. They qualified through a tough group which included Spain, Sweden, and Greece, then they beat the Netherlands in the quarter finals, before falling again to Spain in the semis. Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko were Russia’s stars and were now stars of Europe, and the major footballing nations began to take note. Pavluchenko signed for Spurs, Arshavin ended up at Arsenal, and a couple of other players found their way to the Premier League on the back of their performances and subsequent rise in status after Euro 2008, most notably Yuri Zhirkov to Chelsea, and Dinyar Bilyaletdinov to Everton. But Pavel Pogrebnyak was the forgotten man.

A spell at Stuttgart began in 2009 with mixed success. Pogrebnyak starred for the Bundesliga side in the Champions League in his debut season, as they qualified for the first knockout round, only to be drawn against Barcelona. The striker was steady for the club domestically, but didn’t trouble the goal scoring charts enough for some. However he maintained his core skills and was always there for the team, and still had the attributes of a top striker, and this is what Martin Jol saw as he looked to freshen up Fulham’s front line.

Battling against Stoke

His start for Fulham may be out of character in terms of goal scoring, and the goal a game record is unlikely to stay, but Fulham have players such as Dempsey, Ruiz, Johnson, and Dembele who can benefit from the centre forward’s presence in the side. Even if the goals stop, he’ll worry defenders enough to allow his team mates more space in the final third, and considering the going rate for a good strong centre forward in this country, £3m isn’t much. Pogrebnyak has said himself that he’s here to learn, and commenting on the thoroughness of his Fulham medical he said:

“Last night’s medical was six hours long, they inspected my every finger! But the medical staff were satisfied with my condition. They said I can improve in England, become powerful and lean, like a beast.”

Pogrebnyak’s journey to the Premier League has taken him all around the houses, but it looks like he’s finally arrived at The Cottage.

Carlos Tevez Apologises – Maybe Mancini Should Too

Opinion, Premier League

Feb 222012

The Carlos Tevez saga (formerly affair) still has fair way to go.

Carlos Tevez has apologised to Manchester City, after realising that his exile from football during the past few months has been because Roberto Mancini thought he refused to warm up during a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in September. Mancini will support players who fail drugs tests, are Gareth Barry, sulk at being substituted, play on their mobile phone on the subs bench, and stand on opponent’s faces; but allegedly-refusing-to-warm-up isn’t on his list of forgivable crimes.

Tevez doesn’t seem to have been missed much during his time away, and a witch hunt has been out on the player who is now number 2 in the list of Premier League hate figures, after recently being trumped to the number 1 spot by Luis Suarez. Bringing the club and the game into disrepute is a commonly held view, and there is much anger directed at the player who has lost out on around £10m during this spell away. He’s a greedy, spoilt, childish prima donna; nothing like Mario Balotelli who is a model professional and continues to receive full support and father-like protection from his manager.

In what is ultimately a battle of two egos, the manager Roberto Mancini has come out on top. He has the support of the fans and the club, and has brought the club their first silverware in 486 years along with a convincing Premier League challenge – he holds all the cards.

Carlos Tevez has unfairly ended up as the victim in all of this. As players all over the world who aren’t half as good as Tevez get away with crimes twice as bad as his, the footballing world has missed one of its best players in his prime because of a manager who won’t swallow his pride and take a step back in this farce. Tevez obviously isn’t blame free, but neither is he the only one to blame.

Having had enough of playing golf, Tevez has returned to the club and issued an apology to ensure that he isn’t banished to the wilderness until 2014, which is when his contract at Manchester City runs out. Or maybe Manchester City fear that Tevez could look into the possibility of having his contract terminated due to not playing enough games, and the club would only receive minimal compensation.

There does seem something wrong with a club continuing to pay high wages to a player they didn’t intend on playing again, whilst at the same time rejecting substantial transfer bids from clubs who want to offer the player a way out, and a return to doing what he does best.

Hopefully we’ll see Carlos Tevez playing football again soon, and if this happens to be for Manchester City, it might be good to see Mancini accept some of the blame for this charade in which he successfully made Tevez the scapegoat.

Newcastle United, Cisse, and Ba – To the Future

Opinion, Premier League

Feb 092012

Cisse and Ba Celebrate a Newcastle goal on Cisse's debut

Newcastle's Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse celebrate beating Aston Villa

Demba Ba’s heroics in front of goal this season, have meant Newcastle currently find themselves in a position which only the most optimistic of Newcastle fans would have predicted before the start of the campaign. Of course this isn’t just down to Demba Ba – a whole host of shrewd signings have been added to a group of solid team players who helped Newcastle gain promotion from the Championship in 2010 – but 16 goals in 20 league games from the Senegalese has made the difference between a team whose aim is to avoid relegation, and one which now has hopes of European qualification.

Ba’s performances this season have been so impressive that it almost became a given that he would leave the club for a “bigger” team, and there were rumours of a release clause that would seem like pennies to some of the teams who receive Champions League money. This would also fit in with the philosophy of Mike Ashley who wants to run the club as a successful money making business even if it means selling the club’s best players. Imagine that, a football club which also operates as a successful business! Is anyone still moaning about Chris Hughton being sacked?

As the vultures circled, Newcastle may have pulled off a masterstroke. At the start of this year the striker was off to meet up with his international team mates in order to prepare for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Newcastle were being talked of as one of the clubs who would be hit hard by this competition, which takes top African stars from their clubs for nearly a month in some cases. With Ba and Cheick Tiote missing, Newcastle were supposed to slip down the table into their “rightful” mid to bottom berth. But before this competition started, Newcastle decided to spend a fraction of their Andy Carroll money on a prolific new number 9. He came in the shape of another Senegalise international, Papiss Demba Cisse, and as we mentioned in our African Nations preview, this guy’s goal scoring record isn’t too shabby either.

Then everything fell into place. Senegal were knocked out in the African tournament’s group stages so both strikers returned to the club after minimal time away, not that it mattered too much, as the club won 3 of their 4 league games without them, with only a defeat to Fulham and an FA Cup exit to Brighton to sour the mood a little. Papiss Cisse then scored a left footed screamer from distance on his debut, having come off the bench early on to replace the injured Leon Best. This was to be the winning goal in a 2-1 win against Aston Villa, with the other goal scored by Ba. And if Newcastle fans weren’t optimistic enough already, the strike pairing of Ba and Cisse seems to have gotten off to a great start with an immediate bond evident between the two, who surprisingly haven’t played together too much for their national side.

Cisse and Ba give hope to the Newcastle faithful.

This chemistry between the front two was evident throughout the game. They were together in the attack, together on the score sheet, and together in faith as they celebrated the goal. Does anyone still think Demba Ba will leave after this? With this one signing Newcastle may have secured the services of two great strikers for years to come, unless Mike Ashley’s business model and crazy money making ideas get in the way.

The Green Green Astroturf of Home

Football History, Russian Premier League

Feb 042012

Luzhniki Stadium Russia artificial pitch

The Luzhniki Stadium in Russia uses FieldTurf, a type of artificial turf.

As the 1980s embraced synth pop and synthetic fashion, several clubs in the Football League took it upon themselves to install artificial playing surfaces at their stadiums so as not to be left out of this synthetic revolution. The hip-hop DJs of the time perfected the art of spinning plastic on the decks, but the football stadiums couldn’t quite make a success of installing plastic on the deck. That said – Queens Park Rangers’, Loftus Road; Boundary Park Oldham; Deepdale, home to Preston North End; and Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road; became icons of 80s football culture, and are still recalled whenever a team is seen playing on a plastic pitch.

The drawbacks of plastic pitches were immediately evident. Footballer’s knees and ankles are subject to enough strain on soft natural turf, but the plastic pitches accentuated these problems as they were much less forgiving. As well as the hardness, they weren’t the most pleasant of surfaces when it came to falling on them, and a Full English sliding tackle on one of these pitches would often result in several layers of skin being removed from players’ legs.

So it was inevitable that these surfaces known by names such as Astroturf, Omniturf, Sporturf Professional, or simply “plastic grass”, were removed by 1994 with Oldham being forced to take up theirs after promotion to the top flight in 1991. Today the FA only allows artificial pitches in the lower leagues and the FA trophy, but advances in technology means that there is a great possibility that more could spring up, and this raises the question of whether they will be allowed in the English Premier League at some point. They’re used in the Champions League after all, and this is widely considered to be the most prestigious football competition in the world.

One advantage they do have, is that they don’t freeze like natural turf does, which is the reason they are widely used in the Russian Premier League, and by some teams in Scotland. With the Russian League now moving to a winter season, the artificial surfaces will ensure that their games can go ahead in sub zero temperatures, and will play an important part in the rise of this up and coming European league. They have the big money and investment in clubs, and now, thanks to the plastic pitches, they have a calendar inline with the top leagues in Europe.

Interesting developments in the field will be worth keeping an eye on over the coming seasons, as you’re bound to see top matches on TV being played on these pitches at some point.

Fans of the rugby league competition, Super League, will have noticed that newcomers Widnes Vikings play their games on a plastic pitch, so if a game as intense as rugby league can take place on an artificial surface without too many grass burns and joint injuries, then surely football can take note.

The advancement of the playing surfaces has been accompanied by a whole range of specialist football equipment designed specifically for this type of pitch. There are football boots made by all the top manufacturers especially for plastic pitches, and many of these are as popular as their traditional counterparts. Many players might choose boots designed for fake grass even if they play their football on real turf, as the boots are just as effective and may be more practical for modern short grass pitches.