Apparently Blackburn win their matches ugly, think again please: Blackburn 4-2 Reading

Along with Bolton Wanderers; modern day Blackburn Rovers are seen as “bully boys”, who in order to survive in the lucrative, Sky Sports invested Premier Division of English football, resort to rough tactics (but not particularly dirty) in order to achieve good results and to survive and progress in the Premiership. Therefore whenever they have a fixture against Arsenal; a team that enjoys playing silky football, they are criticised for their rough tackling and physical style of play. On one occasion when the two teams delivered a 0-0 draw at the Emirates stadium last year in an FA Cup tie, Cesc Fabregas approached Blackburn manager Mark Hughes and asked whether he had played for Barcelona. When the former Manchester United striker replied yes, Fabregas said Blackburn’s display “wasn’t Barcelona football” . This comment implying that FC Barcelona are renowned for playing attractive football, yet Blackburn are not.

But so what? What if they don’t play like the Arsenal’s or Manchester United? Its a dog eat dog world and they have to survive in the top tier of the English league by any means necessary, even if they have someone like Robbie Savage in the team. However i would like to argue the case that Blackburn Rovers under Mark Hughes, do not play “ugly”, unattractive football or bully and harass their opponents or whatever media or football hyperbole that the media seems to tag on such teams. No Blackburn are well capable in playing football and good one at that, as emphasised with their win against new whipping boys Reading. Unfortunatetly this has not boosted their gate receipts for, everytime i watch a match at Ewood park, the stadium is most of the time half empty.

Blackburn Rovers and in this season in particular, have demonstrated their derivation as bastions of the premiership by achieving good results through playing stylish attacking football. There has been a number of results where they have torn teams apart, and their opponents have found difficulty in getting to grips with their slick passing, dynamic of the ball play, and pace. A series of convincing wins highlight this point: a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside, a 1-0 win against Manchester City at home, a 3-0 home win over Birmingham in the Carling Cup, and a 2-1 win at the stadium of light against Sunderland. They do however, still maintain a tremendous work ethic and physical presence. The central defender Christopher Samba is a player that supplements this statement, as he is commanding in the air in defensive as well as attacking situations.

They have also  managed to score 18 goals on the way to occupying a sixth place spot. This fluid and attacking sort of play of which i profess that they possess has much to do with the players Mark “Sparky” Huges has at his dispossal. A big part of Blackburn’s success so far, is the performance of their two forwards: Roque Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy. Up front this partnership may rival Manchester United’s Rooney and Tevez and Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adeybayor, and they have managed to score 11 goals between them.

In the case of Roque Santa Cruz, he gives Blackburn a domineering precense up front. Balls can be knocked long, and he is able to get on the end of balls knocked into the box. As well as this, he has proven that he is no slouch in the pace department and his link up play with his midfielders as well as his strike partner burgeons on the telepathic. If what you are getting from my description of the Paraguyian players ability is that he is a physical lout, please do not be mistaken as this is not the case as he is extremly able with his feet. Brought from Bayern Munich this July for £3.5 million, Blackburn haveobtain a striker with considerable experience even who has won 6 Bundsliga titles in Germany and a Champions league trophy. The nominal rule of foreign players taking a while to adapt to the speed and physicality of the English premiership, does not apply with Santa Cruz, having scored goals against Middlesbrough, Everton, Sunderland and Reading.

His strike partner draws comparisons in terms adaptability and a Champions League medal. McCarthy may not be as physical as Santa Cruz, but he is maybe a notch more skillfull on the ground and speedier. Having scored 18 goals in the premiership last season he has also adapted just as quickly for the Lancashire team. Defences have a hard time dealing with McCarthy with his quickness of feet combining well with his quickness of thought. 

The midfield is also capable of great attacking play and producing goals. Whereas up front we have the football equivalent of Butch and Sundance, it must be noted that in terms of the domino effect, Blackburn’s midfield deserves praise also. Though David Bentley has taken the decision not to be drafted for his country, the former Arsenal trainee, supports his front line domestically through providing great crosses, through balls and also coming up with goals. Bret Emerton proves Australians can play football, playing like an old school winger in the style of Stanley Matthews. Morten Gamst Penderson has hit top form with Blackburn, often producing some spectacular goals. David Dunne; the prodigal son, who was part of the squad that got promoted to the premiership back in 2002, and helped them survive a season before acrimonously falling out with then manager Graham Sousness. His return to his hometown club may signal a return to form that had seen him represent England, and a goal against Arsenal this season may support this view.

Then we have Tugay Kerimoglu and Robbie Savage. Although it can be argud that Savage’s sole purpose is to wind te opposition up (of which he duly does), beneath his hard tackling, water carrying role, is a player that has a deceptive technical ability. The constitution of Savage is to never waste a pass, and having operated as a winger he is adept at delivering good crosses when pushed out wide. Finally there is the Turkish number 5 Tugay Kerimoglu. Savage commented in a post aftermatch interview that Tugay looked like Worzel Gummidge; and to be fair he is not that far off. To me he looks like your modern day whino. I can easily picture an elderly man drinking a six pack of Fosters on the park bench, that he had brought from his winnings on the races, rather than an elderly man playing top flight professional football. The diminishment of his youthful looks, and the matureness of his footballing age of 37, does not correlate with his ability to play ball as if he were a 23 year old. The peach of a goal that he scored against Reading as well as his all round performance, can only be described as vintage.

Roque Santa Cruz laid on a first goal for Benni McCarthy and then slipped the ball under Marcus Hahnemann to make it two before Tugay made the game safe with a long-range shot just after the half-hour. Reading’s substitute Kevin Doyle pulled a couple back, with a McCarthy penalty in between, but this afternoon offered yet more evidence to suggest that Blackburn could make a decent fist of challenging for the top four.

Steve Coppell’s Reading team on the other hand are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the top performances they produced last season for this one, for what some people are calling secon season syndrome. On his recent problems Coppell said:

 ”I don’t know what the second season syndrome is. It’s a label, it means absolutely nothing. The first season is hard but for a lot of teams who get into the Premier League there is a huge gulf between that and the second season.”

Maybe it is time for Coppell’s team to take a leaf out of Sousness’s Blackburn team, or Allardyce’s Bolton team when both teams were embarking on this supposed difficult second season. They apparently played ugly; hounded the opposition physically to achieve good results.

Due to legal complications Tugay’s goal against Reading cannot be featured on You Tube. However a similar strike against Tottenham, scored about 7 months ago is shown below.

Tugay v Tottenham

Filed under: Reading, blackburn rovers, football, premiership , football, sports

International’s finished, England lose Rugby World Cup final to South Africa, Lewis Hamilton comes 7th and Raikkonen wins Formula 1 Drivers Championship(sigh!)…back to the Premiership.

Arsenal 2-0 Bolton Wanderers (A cultured left foot): With Van persie out for at least a month, the free kick taking duties fell to Kolo Toure, who finally broke managerless Bolton’s reluctance to submit to defeat. The token Englishman in the Arsenal squad came on as a substitute to

Aston Villa 1-4 Manchester United (BBC Sport): United continue their push to regain title with convincing win. Wayne Rooney misses a penalty, but still manages to score two goals and the combination of Rooney and Tevez is finally looking positve as they tear Aston Villa apart.

Everton1-2 Liverpool (BBC Sport): Liverpool scores all the goals in this Mersey side derby. Sami Hypia puts ball into his own net. But two penalties from Dirk Kuyt meant that Liverpool left Goodison Park with all three goals. Both Hibbert and Neville are sent off for Everton; Hibbert for being the last man when fouling Steven Gerrad in the penalty box, and Neville for a second yellow card for deliberate handball in the penalty.

Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea (BBC Sport): In France Football magazine a report that Didier Drogba had said that Chelsea was “broken” after Mourinho had left, expressing his intent to leave the club for either Barcelona, Real Madrid or Milan. However, Chelsea continued winning ways just like under Mourinho’s reign. With Drogba and Alex ending up on the scoresheet.

Manchester City 1-0 Birmingham(BBC Sport):  Sixth sucessive home win with that man again Elano, notching up the winner. He becomes  only the third Brazillian player that has had a tremendous effect on one team in the English premiership.

Fulham 0-0 Derby(BBC Sports): Considering  the results of matches involving these two teams are reminiscent of a cricket score (Derby has let in 22 goals so far, Fulham have let in 16 goals whilst scoring 12), thanks mainly to the heroics of Fulham keeper Antti Niemi who made several saves, he earned 10 man Fulham a point.

Wigan 0-2 Portsmouth (BBC Sports): Both Sulley Muntari and Benjani combined well to open the scoring at the JJB stadium, and both players are fast becoming Portsmouth fan favourites with displays that have propelled Portsmouth to a European spot in the table. Glen Johnson completed the scoring.

West Ham3-1 Sunderland (BBC Sports): West Ham’s rag bag of misfits and and football gypsies, put a spirited Sunderland to the death, Carlton Cole began the scoring before Sunderland’s diamond in the rough Kenwyne Jones levelled. Nolberto Solano’s shot managed to hit the post and go in the back of the Sunderland net via Craig Gordon’s boot, and the Welshman Craig Bellamy completed the rout. 

Filed under: football, premiership, soccer, sports , football, sports

Random responses from a Kevin Mc Carra blog, and England’s football situation.

I have not had time to write new articles so i have managed to copy and paste some interesting reads to this post. Please note that these are not my words but of these are the comments made by random ‘Guardian unlimited’ sports readers in response to a Kevin McCarra article.

The editor

goalpost online.

The green highlights separates each “authors” comments:

brisbanescouse

October 19, 2007 2:50 AM

Whilst SCS is clearly not up to the job and has to go, replacing him will be the equivalent of changing the skipper on the Titanic; the ship is going down regardless.

The pool of talent available to the England manager, whoever he is, is getting smaller every year and the quality within that pool is diminishing. Examples: Robinson is clearly playing like a scared kitten but who is available to replace him: only Calamity or Scott Carson. Cashley Cole gets injured and the only available replacement is a first-cap CB, Lescott? Terry is out and the next best option is 33-year old Campbell, whose manager says he never plays 2 games in a week because he is no longer up to it physically? As a Liverpool fan, even I will admit Gerrard is hugely out of form at the moment and should be dropped until he comes right; but which quality replacment is waiting in the wings?

English players are only good enough to fill 37% of the places in their own top league and the ones that are there, concentrated in the teams in the bottom half of the EPL by the way, don’t seem to be able to play unless they are surrounded and assisted by technically-superior overseas players. The home-grown players just don’t have the grounding in basic technical skills: look at how often they gave away possession against Russia.

The game in England needs to be restructured from the bottom up and it will take 10 years to fix. The FA needs to stop deluding itself that the EPL is the best in the world so everything must be ok. This is the group of clowns who stuffed up the Scolari appointment and thought it was better to spend ¾ of a billion pounds on Wembley rather than invest that money in a National Academy of Excellence and grass roots training of young players and coaches around the country.

What about this for a 7-point, 10-year plan to save English football:

1-Sack Brian Barwick. The FA board to be cleaned out and headed up by a proven football administrator, perhaps recruited from one of the successful overseas football associations;

2-Set up a national network of skill development centres, perhaps based in schools and clubs, to train local players and coaches;

3-Focus on basic ball skills from an early age (6 to 10), working up to employing these in tactics and game play from 11 upwards;

4-Get teams from 11 upwards from these schools/centres playing each other in competitive matches to hone the skills learned in the development centres;

5-Set up the National Academy of Excellence (modelled perhaps on Clairefontaine) and feed in the top players identified from the skill development centres;

6-Coordinate the whole thing with the existing EPL club academies so that clubs start picking up on young English talent;

7-Immediately appoint a top international coach for the England team and position 3 or 4 English coaches under him part-time to train and learn from him in a succession plan that would see one of them taking over in 5 years (Steve Coppell, Sam Allardyce and Paul Jewell might be candidates for this)

What do you think: should I fire this off to the FA?

Rock and roll

England’s failures are, in part, due to the fact that these are all Thatcher’s children. Whatever lip service they pay to loyalty and honour, nothing really disguises the fact that they seem to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. We have become expert at marketing fake achievement. We make the mistake of coming to believe in the lie. We are disappointed when the truth is exposed and then look for scape goats. How can anyone earning £135K per week fail to beat a team who collectively don’t earn that in a month? I know what Maggie might say: “You can’t buck the market.”

The wages feeding frenzy can’t last forever against this background of dashed hopes. Check the language: How much do the FA stand to lose(?) – wake up, they haven’t had it yet, it’s just more arrogant, corporate assumption. Sponsors won’t continue to back losers. Now read the article about Drogba and Chelsea.

Masterspy

October 19, 2007 4:10 AM

Kevin

“England have long been dogged by an incapacity to get the best out of their players.”

It’s true, England team managers have not been able to get good performances from the players, at least not in the same way that the successful club managers do. But then they are not their players or England’s. To be honest I am not even sure if the clubs see them as theirs either as loyalty seems to have gone out of the window and average players on galactico salaries seem consumed by a sense of “self” and delusions of grandeur. However, clubs do spend more time working with these players and they often build their teams and tactics around them. England on the other hand persistently asks players to play out of position and fulfil different roles than they perform at their club and many can’t adapt. When a player gets into the England squad, they do so on the back of training programmes and playing times that are carefully calculated, within the context of the available squad, to get the best performances for the club at the time when they need it most. Come the international games our key players are not always at their physical or mental best. How demanding is it to ask them to do this? Well, quite a few are retiring from international football to preserve their club careers, so the players must think it is very demanding. Club managers are always complaining about international demands too. But this is the same for every national team isn’t it. What home-grown England managers have not recognised is the importance of the “team”. They have to be brave enough to pick a significant number of players who are not necessarily the very best, but who are in form, hungry for success, have less mileage under their belt and have, with the right coaching, the potential to compliment and support two or three galactico’s. Club managers might even be supportive of this and over a five year period, who knows, we might improve some players, build a successful team and even do well in a few tournaments.

BobbyCram

October 19, 2007 4:39 AM

Atlanta/usa

England rarely produces players who are technically adept and are comfortable in possession of the ball. Unfortunately
that’s the way we are taught to play – hard, but brainless, and lacking in skill. England have, in truth been relatively successful at qualifying for tournaments and reaching the knockout stages using this method which is the only way they know how to play. It would be interesting to go back through a lot of these games, say, sinve the Sven era and compare the time in possession of the two teams. I’ve been saying this for years – it always seems like England chase shadows for most of the game while the tecnically adept opposition pass and keep the ball admirably. Look again at that 5-1 German game. Were the Germans that bad? I may be wrong but it seemed like we had 1 Gerrard sunner, 3 goals on the break and the scrappy opener. Our problem is simple – our players are definitely not good enough and are over hyped by the media. Have you really listened to an English commentator working on a prem league match. The hyberbole is astounding. Some goalkeeping saves are described as “fantastic”, some passes as “magnificent”. I play on an over 40’s co-ed team and could have made these “incredible” plays! Some blogger mentioned the Richards hoik upfield prior to the Rooney goal being described by a writer as something fantastic which is a fine example of what I’m talking about.

Let me be up front – I am and always will be a stauch supporter of Sven. Let me refresh memories. When he took over he wasn’t given much hope of qualifying for 2002WC. He did it. He wasn’t given a cat in hell’s chance of progressing from the group of death. He did it, beating our nemisis Argentina along the way. Denmark were beaten 3-0 before we succumbed to a much, much better(even with 10 men) Brazil team who won the tournament. We then qualified without a whole lot of fuss for 2004 and 2006 only to go out on penalties at the QF stages. We got to these dizzy heights with players who were technically inadequate and could not keep possession. It was not Sven’s fault – he did his best with the players he had. Ok I was a little surprised at the inclusion of Walcott but guess what, I’m guessing the opposition were too and that was the whole idea, the element of surprise. I live in the US and cringe at the media and public lynchings of our team and managers. Sure SM is out of his depth and was never the people’s choice but a tecnically challenged team without a cool head in the dugout spells disaster.

Other talking points – We lacked a leader in the last quarter of the Russia game. Remember Greece 2002, we missed Beckham.

Gerrard, Lampard, Terry etc are not world class. Give me an Alexander Hleb for a Gerrard any day, or a Thomas Rosicky for a Lampard. Who had heard of these guys before Wenger brought them to Arsenal. They are tecnically competent, skillful, intelligent players who couldn’t hoik it and run if they tried – they are a joy to watch.

I’m an optimist and think Russia have a massive challenge in Israel although I wouldn;t want to be in SM’s shoes if we do qualify. Right now he’s a lame duck.

Filed under: football, soccer, sports , football, sports

Russell on Russia

  (From Guardian Unlimited: Who’s to blame for my impotent rage?)

Desolate. The evisceration makes analysis appear futile. Vivid recollection torments the fastidious mind, unwilling to relinquish detail. The un-penalty – I frantically write optimistic headlines in my mind, Robinson Redeems Himself With Heroic Save – then the disappointment. The familiar cosy acceptance of yet another defeat.

Whilst we were one up for that unrealistic hour I felt the defeat gestating in my belly with every tick-tock of the inevitable clock, like when West Ham led Liverpool 2-0 in Cardiff last year, the score seemed absurd. I was relieved when Liverpool got one back because the single goal advantage was more manageable.

This sense of foreboding and tragic destiny is now our only comfort as we confront the likely absence of our national side from next year’s championship. I find it hard to condemn Steve McClaren. My facile rage rains impotently on his cadaver as furious blows rendered in a dream. It’s not his fault, I may as well rail against my cat for his inability to cook authentic Thai food.

McClaren was never the man for the England job yet I too joined the illusion after the three consecutive 3-0 victories. I conjured tableaus of trophies held above his head, glowing with triumph in addition to the glow it perpetually maintains. Even in this, a time of terrible defeat the McClaren bonce glows on, a beacon of gleaming mediocrity.

It’s too soon for me to become giggly and receptive to the possibility of a romance with Jose Mourinho or Martin O’Neill; Mourinho won’t take it, he’s too dashed handsome – when have we ever had a handsome England boss? Glenn Hoddle? Kevin Keegan?

I don’t know if I can summon up the gusto to hope for Israel to produce a result, I’ve reached a familiar point where, through self-pity, I can see little point in progression: “We don’t deserve to qualify.”

I still cringe at the memory, decades old, of an infant chastisement – whilst out with a school friend and his mum I carried on in my typical picaresque fashion, flicking rubber bands and pocketing gobstoppers. I was told off by my mate’s mum. Naturally I was shocked and unnerved as is always the case when a foreign authority exercises control, and I collapsed into tears. Later, when the dust had settled, consolation chocolate bars were offered. “I don’t deserve one,” I sobbed, not entirely sincerely but with litres of sentimentality, sentimentality; the unearned emotion. Perhaps England need another wilderness period.

Like in 1994 when we didn’t travel to the States for the World Cup. I hate it though, it’s rubbish when England don’t qualify; watching the games through a transparent pain of regret and bitterness. I can’t focus, every kick and whistle a taunt, an indiscrete reminder of our absence. Who can we blame? The pitch?

Those bloody plastic pitches. When QPR and Luton used to have them it was a constant source of resentment, spoken of through clenched teeth. “That bloody AstroTurf,” we all agreed, “it’s bad for the game.” I don’t remember, in those days of the old first division, the sides in question watering their plastic pitches though, that’s a bit baffling.

Surely one of the advantages, and may I stress unfair advantages, of having a plastic pitch is that you don’t have to water it or talk to it or fertilise it; the whole caper reeks of foul play. We could blame the referee for the penalty, which was palpably outside of the box, but then Wayne Rooney’s goal was offside anyway so we can’t even be righteously aggrieved by that unfair decision.

The FA, can we blame them? I suppose so but what’s the point, lovely old doddering sods they are, just trying to get through life. They’ll be penalised as much as anyone by the financial implications of not qualifying. Sponsorship and advertising money all nonsense now.

We shall spend next summer trapped in our impoverished nation peeping through a crack in the curtain as the rest of Europe indulges in an orgy of sport with our national game, swarthy Italians, sophisticated Frenchmen or possibly even joyful Scots, caressing and fondling our balls because we don’t know how to look after them. Never have I felt more irritated by my inherited indifference to rugby.

Filed under: England, football, soccer, sports , football, sports

Misery in Moscow (Match report from Sky Sports): “Three Lions tamed in Moscow”

From Sky Sports 

England’s Euro 2008 hopes are no longer in their own hands after they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Russia in Moscow.

All looked well for Steve McClaren’s men after Wayne Rooney volleyed England ahead on 29 minutes.

But Russia were handed the lifeline they needed on 69 minutes when Rooney was penalised for a foul on Konstantin Zurianov and substitute Roman Pavluchenko stepped up to convert the penalty.

Pavluchenko was then the hero for his nation as he grabbed the winner when he was first to react in the six-yard box as Paul Robinson blocked Alexei Berezutsky’s long-range effort.

Russia are now only two points behind England with a game in hand. Croatia are already virtually through so if Russia can win in Israel next month, with only part-time Andorra to play in their final match, it is they who are likely to go on to the finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Early pressure

England had some nervy moments early on with Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards under pressure as the hosts launched an initial onslaught.

Yuri Zhrikov and Alexander Kerzhakov were particularly impressive but the opportunities that fell Russia’s way were half-chances at best.

Robinson did produce one good save to deny Konstatin Zurianov but other than that Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Gareth Barry, operating in a deeper midfield role, stood firm.

England were growing in confidence and took the lead. Richards launched a long ball deep into Russian territory for Michael Owen to leap high and flick-on to Rooney.

Rooney took a touch on his chest before launching an unstoppable shot past Vladimir Gabulov.

Decisive penalty

After waiting three years for a competitive goal, Rooney had two in a week and looked like becoming the hero McClaren had called for – but instead, the Manchester United man turned villain after the break.

Rooney was caught napping as Zurianov burst into the area and Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo spotted a tug on the Russian’s shirt and pointed to the spot.

Substitute Pavluchenko dispatched the penalty with a degree of confidence which belied the pressure he must have been under.

The goal reawakened Russian passions and four minutes later they had even more to celebrate as Pavluchenko fired in from close range after Robinson could only parry Berezutsky’s shot into his path.

Late hope

Given the astonishing turnaround, how England had cause to rue Steven Gerrard’s glaring miss immediately after the break when he was left completely free at the far post as Barry delivered the perfect free-kick.

Had the Liverpool man realised the time available to him he would surely have taken a touch. Instead, he attempted a side-footed shot first time and fired wide.

Gerrard’s error was ultimately to prove extremely costly and it could even have been worse for England as Ferdinand almost turned the ball into his own net.

The visitors had one chance at redemption but for the first time all night Campbell erred, nodding Stewart Downing’s ball over.

Filed under: England, football, soccer, sports , football, sports

An easy 35 minutes, more injuries, and everybody hates Lampard: England 3-0 Estonia:

One of my favourite characters from ‘Heroes’ is Claire Bennet (played by Hayden Panettiere) the cheerleader who’s remarkable ability means that she can heal to such an extent that the severest of injury inflicted on her is diminished as inconsequential. Therefore to test out her powers, she jumps off of a 40 foot construction site and ends up miraculously alive all thanks to her healing powers. This invincibility; this power to heal better than the average human being is something Steve McClaren would wish bestowed upon all his England players. Michael Owen arguably England’s most valuable player and has just endured an operation to treat a double hernia, and has come out from a long injury that was inflicted since the World cup 2006. Owen is rightly seen as an injury prone player; Kevin McCarra in the Guardian had commented on Owen’s career resembling an endurance test, but now this is a trait that is developing amongst both West Ham and of course all of the England squad.

McClaren has been handed a group of England players who have come in a box marked “FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE”. Therefore when one player manages to come back from injury; another one subsequently bites the dust. This was the case with Ashly Cole, who had to be stretchered off after going over his ankle in the second half. Cole may be sidelined for around three months so now Mc Claren’s dilemma is to try to find a suitable replacement for the matches against Russia on Wednesday and then the crunch game against Croatia on the 21st of November. Joleon Lescott who came on for Cole in this 3-0 win may have to fill Cole’s boots on Wednesday as reported in the Mail, whereas Setanta (not Sultana) is dwelling on the possibilities of Luke Young (of Middlesborogh) as a replacement (article) with McClaren’s obvious understudy; Wayne Bridge still sidelined. But to add salt to the wound, John Terry has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game after locking his knee in training that had also seen him sit out the Estonia game (The Times). So there you have it you have got to wrap English players up in cotton wool.

All these injuries has however been a sort of blessing for the manager Steve McClaren who has now had his third consecutive three nil win. When i say a blessing in disguise, i am referring to the players who have stood in for the first team-ers when they were injured. Emile Heskey came in for Rooney and gave Owen a renewed sense of self confidence, and the prodigy that is Micah Richards may find that he will keep his place even when Garry Neville comes back, and Shuan Wright Phillips who has now scored twice in his last two outings playing on Beckham’s right midfield. If it were not for Lampard’s and Hargrieve’s injury, what English manager would of had the balls to put Gareth Barry in the team? Fair enough if Lampard or Hargrieves were fit neither would ‘ginger Steve’, but through necessity he has discovered a diamond in his England squad. Barry has been around for like forever, quietly doing what he does week in week out for Aston Villa. It had only taken an England injury epidemic for the midfielder to get his chance, and now he has seized this opportunity diligently, putting in perhaps the best performances out of all the England team, but most importantly allowing the rest of the team to play to the best of their abilities.

However with the first ‘team-ers’ coming back, most people (including the fans) are questioning the status of these so-called first teamers to automatically be in the first team squad. The Estonia match had seen after Cole’s substitution, a back four that did not have one player from one of the so called ‘big four teams’ in England. Micah Richards (Manchester City), Sol Campbell (Portsmouth), Phil Neville (Everton) and Joleon Lescott (Everton) had all managed to keep a clean sheet, but had all come from clubs that have not, or not in a while occupied the top four spots come the end of each league campaign. However before the Estonia match, it was brought to the attention that Michael Owen scores more goals when partnered with Heskey, though when partnered with Rooney he scores less but the goals are equally distributed between both strikers.

The most stunning criticism though, coming from the pantomime England fans at Wembley, were aimed at Frank Lampard. Booing him at very opportunity, booing him as he came on for Michael Owen, will do favours for England or Lampard’s performances for the England cause. The reason for this apparent hate from his own fans is uncertain. We may favour the belief that it has something to do with his performances at the World Cup 2006, but then again he was not the only player who put in poor performances. Besides that World Cup was a year and three months ago and i think we should of all moved on since then? An interesting article on the England fans uneasy relationship with the Chelsea midfielder is linked below:

Lampard’s uneasy relationship with England fans. Daniel Taylor.

Commenting on Lampard’s sensitivity, this is perhaps why Lampard is such an easy target. Any good that comes from this incessant booing at one of England’s most technically gifted footballers, may cause Lampard to raise the standard of his game up a notch. If there is any possibility that he can transfer his form for Chelsea to the England team, then this will be a welcome bonus for the England, what with the goal threat he possesses. I say this in recollection of the similar treatment bestowed upon Owen Hargrieves and David Beckham from these same England supporters. Those two players just buckled down and got on with their job to earn their fans respect.

However sporting national pride has switched from the round ball to the oval. This is mainly because the England Rugby squad is not as great as the England football squad in their respective field, yet the Rugby team has managed to reach the final of a major tournament for the second time since the last they won it in 2003, much to theirs and everyone elses surprise. To reach the finals with limited resourses and (dare i say it) the possibility of winning the thing; it will be more of an achievement because the last time round they were perhaps expected to win because of the pedigree of their squad. Now the England football team has lost to Russia (see above), dont be surprised if the nations number one sport is not football anymore.

Guardian match report

shuan custis: the sun Wayne Rooney should be the England football team’s answer to rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson.

Filed under: England, football, soccer, sports , football, sports

Arsenal 3-2 Sunderland: Van Persie puts Arsenal back at the top of the Premiership

Approximately a third of the way into the season, we are now developing a picture of who will be the main contenders come May. A previous Goalpost article had claimed that Arsenal would be a force to be reckoned with this season, notwithstanding Henry’s move to FC Barcelona and this prophecy has come to fruition beyond everyone’s belief in them. Manchester United are probably favourites, if Chelsea can sort out their internal problems they may yet make a final push, Liverpool when they have settled on a squad will challenge and Manchester City are proving dark horses. As i have reiterated before a number of players in Arsenal’s squad have stepped up their game from last season. Aleksandr Hleb, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adeybayor, player of the month Cesc Fabregas and match winner Robin Van Persie have all added something to their performances in an Arsenal shirt since last year that is reflected in their league position. They have since Wenger’s era always been an attack minded team but this season they have added something else which is to show resilience in games like these. After being pegged back to 2-2, the old Arsenal would have probably accepted the result as it were, with bowed heads and not of plugged away to produce the winner.

Traditionally the October month is seen as a problematic and difficult one for Arsenal, and with this win aside this was no different. This was perhaps the first time that Arsenal had been challenged this campaign after demolishing other teams with apparent ease. Roy Keane’s Sunderland has proved to be Arsenal’s sternest test yet. Perhaps one of the reasons for this was that Arsenal got a little bit complacent with their two nil lead so early on in the game. For the first 20 minutes or so however, they were their normal attacking best; with Sunderland boss Roy Keane fearing that they would get eight after they had scored twice in the first 14 minutes, and had another goal disallowed wrongfully for offside. After only six minutes Grant Leadbitter made a rash challenge on Cesc Fabregas that could only fall to Abou Diaby, who smashed the ball into the top left hand corner, but referee Rob Styles had already blown his whistle for the foul. Ironically the resultant freekick was hit with such ferocity and precision that it had ended up in the back of Sunderland’s net and past the hapless Craig Gordon anyway, courtesy of Robin Van Persie’s sweet left foot.

Though criticised for his defensive frailties, the Swiss defender Phillip Senderos decided to get in on the Arsenal’s attacking dominance. Ever increasingly moving forward and after Sunderland had failed to deal with a corner kick adequately, the ball fell to Senderos after Adebayor’s low cross was missed by Diaby. Stretching for the ball, he managed to scuff his shot with the bottom of his boot, through a sea of bodies that ended up in Sunderland’s net. Diaby managed to find the net yet again, but must of felt that referee Rob Styles and the linesmen somehow were conspiring against him as he yet again his goal scoring efforts were disallowed- Matthiue Flamini was ajudged to of been offside when clearly Nyron Notsworthy was playing him onside.

Feeling a little bit jealous that his co defender Senderos had ended up on the score sheet, Kolo Toure let fly a rocket of a shot from 30 yards out, that came back off the inside of Gordon’s post. This great sense of confidence, where some people might perceive as misplaced arrogance, allowed Sunderland to get back in the game and take the game to Arsenal. With a lack of discipline and so many players pushing forward, this opened up opportunities for Sunderland to exploit and in the 25th minute they got their rewards for a a spirited come back that started them on the tracks to put them back into the game. Kenwyne Jones showed strength and ability to take the ball down the right and realeased a shot that Manuel Almunia did well to block but the ball fell for Ross Wallace to rifle home. This should of been a warning to Arsenal to not get complacent but however did not heed the warnings of a side that worked really hard to get something out of this fixture.

Arsenal still had chances to score but Sunderland’s chances were increasing as well. Ross Wallace kept Bacary Sagna busy down the right side of Arsenal’s flank, while Michael Chopra checked Clichy’s runs down the left and Kenwyne Jones battled hard in attack to try and avoid defeat.  After some scares from Arsenal with opportunities to increase their lead even further, Sunderland’s work rate was soon rewarded after the break.

Growing in confidence from their first goal, Sunderland were enjoying more possession. The ball was worked out to Liam Miller on the left, who put in a great cross into the Arsenal six yard box.  Outjumping Clichy in the box Jones powered a downward header past Almunia to send the Sunderland faithful into ecstatics.

With 33 minutes left Theo Walcott was sent on to add impetus to Arsenal’s attack; however his first contribution did not give Arsenal fans any inclination that his imput would have a positive effect on the match. Hleb got inside down the left and cut the ball back to the far post, but with the perfect opportunity to put Arsenal in the lead, he completly missed his kick from four yards. Walcott was though to compesate the home fans for their premier league priced tickets, with a key play that earned Arsenal all three points. Showing great skill and close control he evading his marker to play in Van Persie. Van Persie still had quite alot of work to do, thus while running at great pace, he driblled the ball past two challenges and then unleashed a low shot past Gordon into the bottom right corner. Sunderland finished the game with 10 men when Paul McShane was shown a straight red for clattering into Hleb with his knee when the Arsenal winger was on the floor. Walcott struck the base of the post in stoppage time with an angled drive from the right, but by then it did not matter.

In the Guardian Matt Scott had commented that “There was compelling evidence here to suggest that Arsenal lack the maturity required of Champions.” (see link below.) This comment  applies to Arsenal allowing Sunderland to get back in the game, and may suggest this is a trait that Arsenal will show throughout the season. This is where i happen to disagree. Yes they were a little complacent in allowing Sunderland back into the game, but lest we not forget that Sunderland are actually a very tough team. Their run in the premiership may not back up this statement, where they had won 2, drawn 2 and lost 4 times; but though they have cracked many times under the premiership especially against bigger and established teams, they have though proved a tough nut to crack. In addition, Arsenal seemed to have surrendered the three points, regardless of the countless of chances they managed to muster. How many times did we see last season where they had a million chances on goal but ended up feeling short changed with the final result? They managed to be greedy and get all three points this time and next time when they find themselves in the same sort of situation, they will recall their memories back to this game.

 A CULTURED LEFT FOOT

BBC SPORTS LINK

GUARDIAN UNLIMITED

SKY SPORTS

Filed under: arsenal, football, soccer, sports, sunderland , football, sports

Goalpost’s September player of the month (Cesc Fabregas)

Before Arsenal’s home match with Sevilla, Wenger, in the Guardian compared Fabregas to the French Legend Michel Platini: “His vision is comparable to Platini’s, but he is at the start of his career. He will still develop. Platini had a strikers mentality. He could stay quiet for a game and think he would score a goal. Cesc is a guy who likes to distribute and be at the heart of things.” For those that do not know who only know Platini as president of Uefa, click on this Youtube/football vid link.

When he first emerged on the scene in an Arsenal shirt he was to break records for being the youngest player to play in an Arsenal shirt at 16 years and 177 days in a league cup tie to Rotheram United. Soon after he was to become the youngest ever goal scorer for Arsenal in the same competition against Wolves. Certain sections in Arsenal circles started to sit up and take notice of this child prodigy. Following injuries to key first team midfielders Fabregas proved a worthy understudy especially in the 2004-2005 season. In a Community cup match against Manchester United, he was to show what would become a distinguishable trait amongst his style of play, which is a great sense of maturity surpassing his tender young age. After earning a reputation with his fans, he soon was the subject of a football chant: “He’s only Seventeen, he’s better than Roy Keane”

Before Sunderland’s clash with Arsenal at the Emirates the former Manchester United skipper and now Sunderland manager commented on comparisons made between him and the Catalan starlet :

“He has got a chance,” Keane said with a smile. “He is probably a different type of player to me – not as cultured as me – but he’s a good player and hopefully our lads will enjoy testing themselves against very good players.

“He is still young and he is still maturing. He made one or two mistakes last year, but he seems to have settled down a bit this season and he is adding goals to his locker. Any top midfielder has to have a goal in him, and I think he has scored more now than he did last season. But that all comes with maturity, and the whole team is maturing together.” (quoted in Sporting Life.com)

Past performances aside however, it is his displays for Arsenal this season that has shown that he has made incredible improvements to his game of which was already in itself extraoadinary. A main factor of this is his goal tally both domestically and on the continent. Kevin McCarra of the Guardian commented that goals for Fabregas are now as routine as they were once exotic. Having chalked up six goals and a deflected shot against Sevilla in the Champions league, he has proved that he is head and shoulders above every else in the premiership who occupies in his position. In the post-Henry era of the red half of North London, a number of players for Arsenal were expected to step up their game. Most notably Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and other members of the squad have done so, but Fabregas has done this with considerable aplomb in September. Speaking in the Independent Henry said of his former team mate:

” When you look at Cesc and the way he plays it is like he is 30 with the way he sees the game, the way he sees the game the way he does everything. His mentality is already there. What i love about Cesc is that he does not like to lose.” (quoted in the Independent)

His performances are what makes Arsenal perform well, most of Arsenal’s attacks and greatplays go through him; he is virtaully unplayable; especially in the same way Henry was. One of the reasons why i like Cesc is that when he receives the ball he has that ability to turn without pressure from an opposition player and then to look for the perfect pass which more often than not he finds it. This season he has matured even more further. This is emphasised in Arsenal’s clash with Sparta Prague. Repka had made it clear his intent to mix it up rough against Arsenal, knowing this type of play is one Arsenal’s pet hates. Knowing this and after Repka upended one of his team mates, Fabregas showed that he and his team would not be intimidated and brought him down with a thunderous challenge.

Thierry Henry’s exit from Arsenal has had a profound effect on the Catalan playmaker, but not in the negative way which was expected. In relation to Henry’s exit and his performances that has propelled his team to the top of the league Fabregas commented:

“Henry intimidated us. He is a great player but it was not easy to play alongside him. We were a bit inhibited by him and dependent on everything that he wanted to do and by his demands. Now it is different. Everyone was saying that this year without Henry we would be nowhere and that has motivated everyone.”

He has shown this season that he is not afraid to get gritty and mix it in rough, but he also has not allowed to sacrifice his attacking and attractive football tendencies. His improved goalscoring tally is attributed to his willingness to shoot from outside the box , which is also something that the rest of the Arsenal players are attempting (even Toure), which is probably in response to the criticism last year that “Arsenal like to walk the ball into the net”.

Brian Glanville said of Cesc Fabregas after Arsenal’s 5-0 demolition of Derby that:

“… the transient star of the show yet again was the remarkable Cesc Fabregas. To speed of feet and thought, to a flair for the decisive pass, to a fiercely effective right-foot shot, he adds a precocious maturity.”

He went on to say that:

“When Wenger let his talisman Patrick Vieira go, even he could hardly have expected, however much he hoped, that the so much smaller Fabregas would so dominate in midfield.” (in the Times, September 23rd 2007)

He has been an integral part of the Arsenal squad that has seen them placed top of the league which is why he is Goalpost Online’s player of the month.

The other contenders:

2. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)

3. Elano (Manchester City)

4. Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

6.Micah Richards (Manchester City)

7. Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United)

8.  Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)

9. Benjani Mwaruwari(Portsmouth)

10. Robin Van Persie (Arsenal)

Filed under: arsenal, football, premiership, soccer, sports , football, soccer, sports