All Is Not Well At The Bridge

December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Leigh Sanders

The body language said it all. Dejected superstars trudged back towards the dressing rooms at the Emirates as the roars of supporters so used to tasting despairing defeat at their hands rung round their heads like the crashing waves of a tempestuous ocean.

Chelsea made it six games without a victory in the league on a run which is as far away as you could possibly be from their explosive start to the season where hitting five or six was the norm.

It is their worst run in the Premier League since 1999 and The Blues now stand with their lowest Christmas points haul under Roman Abramovich’s hugely successful tenure. Jose Mourinho simply would not have stood for such a scenario.

What must be most frustrating for the Chelsea faithful is the devastating tidal wave of injuries which has decimated their squad at times this season. In previous years this would not have been a problem due to the size of the playing staff employed by the club. But the new 25-player squad ruling deployed by the Premier League coupled with the intent of Abramovich to reel in the spending in order to make Chelsea more self-sufficient means for the first time in many seasons Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t have a mammoth squad of world-class talent to call upon.

At times this season Chelsea’s bench has looked about as fearsome as a three-legged elderly tiger whose sabres have cracked and staggered. While they have some obvious stars of the future in their ranks these players are being exposed to such high-pressure situations at a tender age merely so Chelsea can enter a match with a full compliment of players.

Gael Kakuta continues to improve with his quick feet and eye for a pass while Josh McEachran is well thought of within the corridors of their Cobham training headquarters.

But these guys are reasonably wet behind the ears when it comes to the cut and thrust of Premier League football and it remains a fact that beyond the first eleven Chelsea lack the consistent firepower of their title rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and now Manchester City. Could it be argued Tottenham Hotspur too?

Manager Ancelotti is a winner. He always has been throughout a vastly successful career most coaches would be envious of. He is not used to situations such as this. Neither, for that matter, is his employer Abramovich.

“Obviously he won’t be happy at this moment,” said the Italian when asked about the safety of his job. “I will take my responsibility but this is a question you have to ask him, not me.

“I’m not afraid about my job. Everyone said I did a fantastic job last year. Now people are asking me about my job. We have to do better, obviously. It’s not usual that Chelsea can’t win for six games.”

The recent sackings of Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce coupled with the continuing speculation surrounding Roy Hodgson at Liverpool and Mark Hughes at Chelsea’s bitter neighbours Fulham means Ancelotti would be an incredibly naïve man to believe he would never get the boot given his glittering past. Last season’s domestic double would count for nothing if Chelsea fail to snare the Premier League once more or, alternatively, lift the one trophy Abramovich covets more than any other – The Champions League.

The way this season is going Chelsea are by no means in serious trouble despite being six points behind and a game ahead of United. But this is historically the point where The Red Devils really kick in to gear and fans of the blue sectors of Manchester and London as well as the North London Gunners will be well aware of this.

Despite the Russian billionaire’s recent prudence the pressure may now be on him to dig deep to help save a floundering season when the transfer window opens in a few days.

But will he be so willing when Ancelotti’s summer buys haven’t exactly set the Stamford Bridge turf alight? Football pundits the length and breadth of Britain are scratching their heads as to what Brazilian Ramires actually does. Dynamic wing-man Yossi Benayoun has been dogged by injury since his cut-price summer switch from Liverpool and hasn’t been seen in first-team action for some time.

Yet in Petr Cech they have one of the world’s safest keepers as his save from Samir Nasri’s cheeky chip Monday night proved. John Terry remains one of the country’s great defenders while the Serb Branoslav Ivanovic is enjoying his best season yet alongside him. Though injury has curtailed Frank Lampard this term he is now back in the first team picture and is a guaranteed 20-goal-a-season midfielder and Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba are as a good front three as you could ask for when on form.

It is certainly not panic stations yet but Chelsea really need to “wake up” as Ancelotti puts it and pull their fingers out before this season passes them by. Whether something has happened in the dressing room that the press have, for once, not picked up on we don’t know.

It may just be another twist in a bizarre Premier League season which rights itself in three weeks’ time and Chelsea go on knocking goals in for fun once more. For their fans’ sake I hope this is so. Or Ancelotti could become the highest Premier League casualty since the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ Mourinho himself.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With: , , ,

Azzurri Legend Bearzot Dies

December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

13 298x300 Azzurri Legend Bearzot DiesFormer legendary Azzurri coach Enzo Bearzot passed away yesterday at the age of 83.

An excellent tactician as a coach and center back during his playing days with Pro Gorizia (as well as Catania, Inter and Torino), the pipe-smoking Bearzot is best known for leading Italy to an improbable World Cup triumph in 1982. After three meager and pedastrian draws in group play, the Italians asserted themselves with wins over Argentina (2-1), Brazil (3-2) and Germany (3-1) in the later rounds.

In 1978, he led the exciting Azzurri to an impressive fourth place finish in Argentina  as well as a top four finish at the 1980 European championship. However, it is 1982, with all the acrimony that surrounded striker and eventual Golden Boot winner Paolo Rossi and a match fixing scandal, that remains fixed in the minds of soccer fans.

He would also lead Italy to a disappointing campaign at Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup. What I remember most about ’86 was the criticism he faced for bringing back the heroes of 1982 much like how Marcello Lippi was questioned for doing the same in 2010.  

Interestingly, Bearzot never coached in Serie A.

Anyway.

The 1982 edition of the Azzurri is one I will always remember.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With: ,

Who Invented Edinson Cavani?

December 20, 2010 By 2 Comments

For a country with only 3 million people, it sure can produce great players. Of course, to the historically literate among you, this is nothing new as Uruguay has been a world class soccer nation for a long time – as their two World Cup triumphs prove.

At the last World Cup, the soccer planet plainly saw what Ajax fans already knew in Luis Suarez, Atletico Madrid supporters knew in Diego Forlan and what Palermo fans knew (and what Napoli fans know) of Edinson Cavani.

Indeed, Napoli (who are in second place in Serie A behind AC Milan) striker Cavani has been on a vicious scoring streak terrorizing defenses in all competitions. Truth is, this is nothing knew to Cavani. Witness this awesome piece of work against Lecce:


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer, Videos Tagged With: , ,

Destroying The House That Tevez Built

December 16, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Leigh Sanders

“My relations with certain executives at the club have broken down beyond repair.” These are the words uttered by Manchester City talisman Carlos Tevez who on Saturday handed in a formal transfer request to the club, which they promptly rejected.

Now he claims he will quit football altogether if he doesn’t get his own way. While their money-rich owners seem happy enough to force him to stay at the club and rot in the reserves, collecting his princely sum every week for his troubles.

It is just the latest episode in the topsy-turvy rollercoaster of the Arab Sheikh’s tenure at Eastlands and just another drop in the ocean of player power holding clubs to ransom.

Carlos Tevez has managed to rise above the parapet of world-class, highly-paid talent at City to rightly be seen as their talisman, their main man and their largest goal threat. The supporters love him and the players visibly rely on their captain, not bad for a former Manchester United star.

However, for once this whole furore might not be money related. Some sources are reporting that Tevez is demanding a new £300,000-a-week contract, which Tevez has instantly denied. He is said to want to return to Argentina to be with his wife and small child. He is said to be majorly homesick.

Yet after playing for City, United and West Ham Carlos has been in England for the best part of five years now. You question why he has not made moves to bring his family with him. Does he really view England as such a bad place for his daughter to grow up?

He is also becoming increasingly frustrated with manager Roberto Mancini’s tactics and his constant withdrawals of his captain.

He has spoken of this before so it is not fresh news. Just after the World Cup finished he spoke of how he may quit his Argentina duties, and even football itself, as he was becoming increasingly tired of the constant flights and travelling to represent his various employers. Sorry Carlos, but you chose to chase the footballing dream.

It is also a fact that Carlos has made his money. Represented by the controversial Kia Joorabchian he has certainly engineered a series of high profile moves, most notably on free transfers. The signing on fees and wages he has commanded have set him up comfortably for life.

Yet Tevez has denied his agent’s involvement. “I hugely resent suggestions that I have been unduly influenced by others,” the 26-year-old said. “I wanted to leave in the summer, but was convinced to return. Sadly, my feelings have not changed. I am disappointed that the management should now see fit to try to portray the situation in another light.”

He could easily return to his beloved homeland and ply his trade for the local sides. He would still pick up a steady wage and have his European millions to back him up. But would this not be such a waste of his mercurial talents?

While there are undoubtedly big Argentinean stars and household names of the future playing in the country’s league the standard does not compare to the European stage and would it not be more beneficial to him to move to Spain where his family might find it much easier to settle? I am sure the likes of Barcelona and Madrid would beg him in to their camps, despite Jose Mourinho’s comments otherwise.

But all this seems irrelevant. Tevez still has three and a half years to run on his contract. And it is also reported his representative had recently been pushing to extend this, hence the mega-bucks rumours. But nothing would stop Tevez announcing his retirement from football only to later renounce his decision once back home. And if he is that desperate to return to South America then he probably would be quite happy to waive any severance fees.

It is a wholly sad situation and City fans will quite rightly be wondering what the hell happens next.

However, it may not be all doom and gloom. On the weekend City looked impressive in their 3-1 victory over Tevez’ former club West Ham and they didn’t have their diminutive leader in the lineup.

Could there be life after Tevez? The Citizens have Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Roque Santa Cruz and David Silva on the books and there is no doubt that their owners wouldn’t bat an eyelid in splashing around £80m on a replacement in January.

The only problem would be finding somebody of Tevez’ ilk. Very few players run themselves in to the ground like the Argentine international. His workrate is phenomenal and he has the touch and finishing ability to compliment his bulldog-like approach to the game.

I can struggle off the top of my head to find a like-for-like replacement. David Villa? Newly signed to Barcelona and on fire for the Catalan giants. How about Tevez’ fellow countryman Gonzalo Higuain? I doubt even City’s millions would tempt Madrid to sell. Could this pave the way for a bid to lure Fernando Torres away from Liverpool? Maybe. Could City even be super cheeky and test Wayne Rooney’s resolve at United after their recent spat? He may be the closest match for Tevez but his recent form hasn’t exactly been breathtaking.

The only certain factor here is that this is one almighty mess! And one the City faithful would love to be resolved quickly. Fingers crossed for them. For us neutrals the January spending spree from the world’s richest club would be fantastic should Carlos pack his bags and leave.

But from a football purists’ point of view it is a crying shame. Player power is here to stay. And Tevez could be about to take it to a whole new level.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With:

Meet Juve’s Scoring Artist Extraordinaire

December 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Alex

While a lot of the attention justifiably going to guys like Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (and a host of other players like Ronaldo, Rooney and Eto’o), there is one player in world football who scores beautiful goals -and I betcha you haven’t noticed. His name is Fabio Quagliarella of Juventus. A name that almost certainly gives non-Italians a headache pronouncing.

Lemme help: Kwah-lyia-rella.

Easy. Always remember the ‘g’ is silent in Italian.

You’re welcome.

The former Udinese, Ascoli, Sampdoria and Napoli striker is a highlight reel onto himself when it comes to high quality goals. Indeed, he’s admitted he doesn’t like taking penalties. Probably because it diminshes his body of work I reckon. He’s a strange breed of athlete in that he aims like a Baroque musician or Renaissance painter for perfection in his craft.

The other intangible Quagliarella brings to the table is his passion. After Italy embarrassingly crashed out at the 2010 world cup, he was captured on television crying. In a team that displayed a shocking amount of indifference, he stood out in his bitter disappointment. He still exhibits a love for playing for the Azzurri.

He has his critics (as most athletes d0) but there is no question in my mind he’s the closest thing to a game breaker Italy has in its strike force. Remotely suggesting he doesn’t belong on Cesare Prandelli’s roster is an unfortunate position to assert in my opinion.

As for Juventus itself, despite bowing out of Europa League after six painful draws, I like what they’re doing. They’re building a team built on the next generation of Italian talent with guys like Chiellini, Bonucci, Marchisio, De Cegelie, Motta and Aquilani. Hopefully Giovinco will come back into the fold if he can stabilize and maximize his potential while on loan at Parma. 

Along with the excellent Milos Krasic marshalling the midfield, this team is not that far away from challenging for the Scudetto and reentering the Champions League fold.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With: ,

Daftness At Newcastle Continues

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Leigh Sanders

Newcastle United fans were once again left staring open mouthed at their television screens today (Monday) as yet another despairing tail emanated out of the corridors of power at their beloved football club.

After taking the reigns at a team labelled ‘The Titanic’ of English football, Chris Hughton steadied the good ship Newcastle following their relegation to the Championship two years ago and helped build a side which dominated that division and won a quick and relatively painless promotion back to the big time of English football.

Far from being relegation scrappers, the Toon Army have posted a host of impressive results including wins at Arsenal and Chelsea in the Carling Cup as well as drawing with Chelsea at home in the league and hammering fierce rivals Sunderland 5-1 in one of the most uneven derby matches ever seen.

Yet Newcastle’s inconsistency has been their problem. Home defeats to Blackpool and Stoke City as well as a 5-1 hammering of their own at Bolton sit alongside a 6-0 smashing of Aston Villa at St. James Park.

So what do Mike Ashley and his fellow directors do? Yes, wield the axe. “He’s not experienced enough,” they say. So, what makes him even less experienced now than he was at the beginning of the season?

There is widespread criticism of his treatment throughout the sport and rightly so. Newcastle centre half Sol Campbell is one to speak out against his employer’s decision. “This will hit the players hard,” the former England international told ESPN Soccernet. “The players admired him and liked him and won’t be happy now he’s gone like this.

“It makes no sense. Here is a guy who has done an unbelievable job. He got the club back into the Premier League and any manager would have been rewarded for that with a new contract, but Chris wasn’t.”

League Manager’s Association (LMA) Chief Executive Richard Bevan expressed his lament at yet another dismissal “without fair trial” of a young English manager at the top of the sport.

“Throughout his time at Newcastle, Chris has conducted himself with tremendous integrity and dignity,” he said. “The team’s current position of 11th demonstrating the stabilising effect Chris has had in his role as manager during his period at Newcastle.”

His assistant and good friend, Colin Calderwood, was also deeply shocked at today’s revelations. “[I feel] a great deal of shock, but [it’s] probably not unexpected,” said the former Swindon Town, Tottenham and Aston Villa defender. “The job has been done terrifically well. The position we’re in, in terms of the number of points over the season, is more than acceptable. It’s just the way that the league is so tight it makes them [the board] more nervous when they look behind them.”

Understandably the fans are sharing these sentiments on messageboards and discussion rooms across the internet.

There can only be one reason for this. The Newcastle hierarchy have gone behind Hughton’s back and found somebody they see as a suitable replacement. It is the only “reasonable” explanation, but then when have Ashley et al been that reasonable?

The bookies already believe Martin O’Neill down as the man to take over. But who in their right mind would take a job managing a team under Ashley right now after the trauma the Tyneside club have gone through in recent years?

It is the same disgusting treatment handed out to Mark Hughes by Manchester City when they courted and then hired the much more “fashionable” Roberto Mancini behind his back.

Hughes was understandably distraught at his demise and the football world rallied to his defence. I hope the same happens with Hughton because this couldn’t happen to a nicer man. I hope he finds himself another good job in English football as the guy has shown what he can do.

 He will learn from this and will hopefully come back stronger. What a lovely story it would be to see him return to St. James Park with his new club and mastermind a terrific 3-0 victory over his old boss.

The other hurt party here are the Newcastle supporters who religiously back their side no matter what. Just what will it take for them to see a fairytale ending for their club? It is just another sight of the horrific money machine football has become and one that just fills lovers of the sport with sadness.

 What’s worse is that when next week’s controversy occurs all this will be forgotten. Let’s hope Hughton does not become one of football’s many forgotten men.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer

Qatar Kaknocks Out All Bidders For 2022

December 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Alex

Qatar beat out the USA, England (now that’s a punch in the stomach), Australia, Japan/Korea and Spain/Portugal in the bribestakes to host the 2022 World Cup.

Q-tar. Nice.

 How do you prounounce Qatar? Kuh-tar? Qwatar? Q-tar? Kwattar? Cutter? Liquid cash?

Whatever it is, it’s one of the strangest countries to get the World Cup to be sure. I reckon FIFA is more concerned with growing the game rather than holding the event in established places. Not sure how you can grow the game in a tiny country like Liquid Cash.

1.6 million people inhabit the place with an average salary that swings in the neighborhood of 80k.

If it were me, I would have gone to the States. If there’s one place you should tap into potential for soccer, it’s there. 1994 remains the most profitable and successful World Cup event in history and I’m pretty sure it would have repeated the feat in 2022. But that’s me.

Now we’re going to see an Arab country try and defy the climate with its freakish stadium designs, which may include solar technology to air condition stadiums. It gets hot down there, you know. Real hot.

I know the Brits are all hot and bothered with the decision but it’s not like their media helped matters with their daily assault on FIFA and corruption charges. Not that I care for Shlepp Blather all too much. Think of it this way, if you’re apt to believe England gets waaaayyyy too much exposure relative to its soccer might, you may just be spared what could have been a psychotic and delusional coverage about how they were going to make up for all the other World Cups they were supposed to win by beating everyone 5-0 for seven straight games.

If you’re not predisposed to think along these lines, well, I can’t help you. Sucks to be England I guess.

As for the notion of FIFA aiming and claiming to grow the game, I think we’re far off from seeing a USA v. Iraq type of World Cup final. Although I’m sticking to my prediction of seeing the USA in a final in my lifetime. Holding it in Qatar may be the setting where we finally see other than the traditional powers contest the trophy. We’ll see.

And what about sexy tourists? No clue how that’s gonna play out in a conservative Muslim climate – excuse the weather pun.

Methinks…

Brazil vs Turkey 300x104 Qatar Kaknocks Out All Bidders For 2022


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With: ,

World Cup “Fever”

December 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Leigh Sanders

It is barely half a year since the commercial juggernaut of the FIFA World Cup left South Africa and sped back off to its great financial plain to prepare for its assault on the cities of Brazil in 2014.

Arguably the world’s showpiece event it often garners greater audiences than even the much older and more prestigious Olympic Games.

But, with London having ensnared the Olympics for 2012 England has been launching a staunch bid to bring football’s premier showpiece home (as they did start the damn game after all, so they keep telling us) for 2018. Having hosted, and won, the tournament in 1966 for the only time they will be hoping that a repeat performance can be seen and that the inevitable rise in money changing hands will help a severely flagging economy.

From being a straightforward selection of the best cities, however, the more beautiful settings and a suitable infrastructure to support the influx of football-mad patriots roaring their country on, it is just another sorry modern-day political cat-fight between various parties looking more desperate and insane by the day.

Take, for example, the teams behind the Russian and English bids. Back in October, Russian bid leader Alexei Sorokin slated England’s high crime rates and youth drinking culture as reasons why they should be seen as a better option to host the World Cup.

“We do not enter into squabbles, although we have much to say,” he told the Russian paper Sport Express. “It’s no secret, for example, that in London they have the highest crime rate compared with other European cities, and the highest level of alcohol consumption among young people.”

He also played down worldwide attacks on the racial intolerance problem in his native Russia highlighted by the fact Lokomotiv Moscow fans unfurled a banner with a picture of a banana and the slogan “Thank You West Brom” when Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie switched between the clubs.

England retaliated by complaining to FIFA over the allegations and it all became a bit of a monotonous playground spat.

“I can only apologise for this misunderstanding,” retorted Sorokin.

It is also widely known that England withdrew from the bidding war for the 2022 finals on the understanding that the USA did so for the 2018 running.

After employing anybody who simply uttered: “yeah, England’s OK I guess” as an “Ambassador” for the bid, England seem to have an army of 500 or so former pros and celebrities “backing the bid” as the slogan goes.

It is like a who’s who of English football from 1960-2010. A whole family of esteemed company who, from what I can see, aren’t really doing much. I would love to see the World Cup in England. I think it would be a fantastic experience. Can I be an Ambassador? Do we get paid? Just how much money is being spent on this bid? How much will have been wasted if Russia succeed? How much of that money could have otherwise gone towards the NHS and saving a few lives?

The BBC face heavy criticisms this week from all and sundry over their recent Panorama broadcast looking in to possible corruption among top-ranking FIFA officials when it comes to “selling” their host votes. Vice-President Jack Warner was also accused of trying, and failing, to sell off $51,000-worth of tickets to touts.

The program has been accused of just dredging up old dirt without coming up with anything concrete or new. But most overwhelmingly, the BBC has been slated as most unpatriotic for possibly harming England’s bid, and doing their jobs.

Yes that’s right. DOING THEIR JOBS. They are journalists. It is their professional inclination to investigate the powers that be and enlighten the people as to what exactly is going on within the corridors of power.

That is, after all, where the origins of journalism began. Much before this disgusting obsession with celebrity and selling things. Yes, their timing could have been better with the decision made this Thursday as to who will host the competition. But it is their calling to help the people make up their minds as to what is going on above them and whether it is right or wrong.

But, because they are going against the commercial interests of so many they are seen as scum. How dare they possibly lose that big money deal with Sony to sponsor such and such and provide money for this and that.

So to Zurich flew the “Three Lions” team of David Beckham, PM David Cameron and Prince William to save the day. A trio who look the most ill at ease in each other’s company as is humanly possible.

How far do you think the conversation can go? How interested will Beckham really be in the trade deficit currently facing Britain while he suns himself in LA? Will Prince William really give a fig about Posh’s pop career? Still, great PR exercise guys.

Only time will tell if England wins the race to the money monster. I hope they do, as I think it will be a great spectacle for the country to have so many top stars entertaining us.

But I just wish England was bidding for a World Cup. Not bragging rights in the worldwide economy.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With:

Early Season Stars

November 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Leigh Sanders

We are just over a third of the way in to the 2010/2011 season and the table is starting to settle nicely for us. We know roughly who is going to struggle and who will do well. We have the most open title race in thirteen years and for the first time in four/five we really have no idea who will lift the Premier League trophy.

Of course there is oh so much more football to play. But the following XI are those who have really shone for me so far this season and who, if they continue to do well, will see their teams sitting pretty come May.

GK: Joe Hart (Manchester City)

All the pre-season hoo-hah was over whether Joe or Shay Given would be Manchester City’s number one. Hart got the nod and performed excellently in the opening day draw with Tottenham. Since then, he has put in some sterling performances and has made himself both City’s and England’s first choice goalkeeper. There is very little to suggest that will change over the next decade on this evidence.

RB: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

Has slowly been establishing himself at Chelsea since his £9m move from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2008. This season he has continued to grow in to English football and has weighed in with some important goals. One of the few Chelsea defenders to cover themselves in glory recently he is one of the main reasons Juliano Belletti was allowed to leave on a free this summer.

CB: Roger Johnson (Birmingham City)

Since joining from Cardiff City Roger has proved those who thought he wouldn’t hack premiership football wrong. Wholehearted and never afraid to put it in where it hurts he has continually rescued the Blues when an opposition goal looked certain. A danger from set pieces he adds an extra spur to the Birmingham attack and could be a future captain in the making.

CB: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

Originally bought as a holding midfield player Kompany has moved to centre half to encompass the talents of Yaya Toure, Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry in midfield. He has excelled remarkably and outshone his more expensive counterparts around him. First to dive in to block a shot, his ball-playing midfield skills come in handy when building up attacks from the back.

LB: Seamus Coleman (Everton)

Admittedly Seamus has been played at right back or right midfield this season but I am sure he would have no problem performing similar duties on the left flank should the need arise. Young but with bags full of pace and composure he looks like a gem of a find by David Moyes from the Irish leagues. At 22 he has many more years to mature in to a foreboding full back and if he can bulk himself up a bit there’s no reason why that can’t happen.

RM: Florent Malouda (Chelsea) (Captain)

Again another who has switched flanks but Malouda has started this season exactly where he finished the last – in explosive form. He links the midfield and the attack so elegantly and chips in with more than his fair share of goals and assists. Last week also proved how important he is to the revival of the French national team with a masterful display against England at Wembley. My Captain for the continuation of last season’s performances.

CM: Rafael Van Der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur)

Undoubtedly the signing of the summer. Harry Redknapp must not be able to believe his luck snapping up this gem for £8m. Goals, flair, vision, passing range; it’s all here. Has been an inspiration both domestically and on the European stage and nobody could have imagined how quickly he would settle in to the English game. Along with Gareth Bale, VDV is the new hero at White Hart Lane.

CM: Kevin Nolan (Newcastle United)

Criticised in his first season at Newcastle United for a perceived lack of talent having left his comfort zone at Bolton Wanderers. Then last season he was told that, so what, he was playing in The Championship. Anybody could do that. Fast forward six months and the media were lambasting Fabio Capello for not including Nolan in his England squad for the France game. Football fans are the most fickle in the world of sport but to Nolan it’s all water off a duck’s back. The immovable rock at the heart of this side.

LM: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)

Another who has continued where he left off last term. His hat-trick at the San Siro against Inter Milan was one of the most memorable individual displays I have ever seen on a football pitch. His volley away at Stoke City was technically one of the greatest strikes I have ever witnessed. A year ago there was talk of Spurs cutting their losses and getting shot of the Welsh winger after a slow start to life at the Lane. Now, the Tottenham hierarchy would be hanged in the streets for trying any such move.

CF: Johan Elmander (Bolton Wanderers)

After so much promise as a teenager Johan has always been viewed as one who never quite lived up their billing. A Championship Manager legend, he is now finally hitting all the right notes under Owen Coyle at Bolton. His goal at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he danced around three defenders within a meter radius before slotting home was impeccable and he has proven to be the perfect foil for the boisterous Kevin Davies. The fact Newcastle United tried to kick him to the moon and back on the weekend shows his importance to the Trotters this season.

CF: Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland)

This is by far the selection that took the most agonising over. But when he has been on the pitch Gyan has been magnificent. Whatever reasons Steve Bruce had for easing him in to Premier League life so slowly have paid dividends. Gyan has exploded off the leash like a dog on heat and has hit some fantastic goals to prove his eyebrow-raising £13m price tag was worth it. He is taking the pressure off strike partner Darren Bent slightly and is proving a good buy for a manager who is more than erratic with his transfer market forays.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With:

Bothroyd Gets England Call Up

November 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Leigh Sanders

This weekend saw headlines that no Cardiff City fan in their right mind thought they would be seeing anytime soon. Their treasured No. 9, Jay Bothroyd, has been included in Fabio Capello’s England squad for Wednesday night’s international friendly with France.

It is the first time a Championship player has been selected since Preston’s David Nugent got the nod back in 2007 and the first time in their 111-year existence that a Cardiff player has won selection to the England team.

The reaction has been typical of armchair fans who obviously look no further down the footballing ladder than, say, Aston Villa or Birmingham City as people who have only read the stats (Jay has scored 13 goals in 15 league games this season) are claiming that Bothroyd has only had three good months of football. So why should he earn selection?

WRONG!

Jay Bothroyd has been Cardiff City’s “main man” for two and a bit seasons now. While Michael Chopra and now Craig Bellamy get all the headlines, the 6 ft. 3 Londoner is integral to the way they play and the side look a mere shadow of their illustrious selves when he doesn’t play. The Bluebirds fell apart completely during last season’s Championship Playoff Final loss to Blackpool when Jay hobbled off injured after roughly twenty minutes. Suspended for last week’s South Wales Derby, Cardiff didn’t look like they had bothered getting out of bed.

While his goal return is much better this season than the previous two, his all-round play has not changed one iota. While he is frustrating in his inability to stay on his feet during challenges his raw pace, explosive power at full speed and technically gifted left and right feet, as well as his aerial prowess make him close to the complete target man.

Many say that Cardiff play long balls to Bothroyd hoping for a flick on. While this may be, at times, correct if the going gets tough they have obviously not seen what the man can do when he drifts from his central role as he so often likes to do.

On numerous occasions Cardiff fans have been delighted when Jay collects the ball on the touchline via a short pass from the fullback, charges infield past two or three static opponents and unleashes one of his unstoppable bullets in to the roof of the net.

This spectacular goal against Doncaster showcases his effectiveness when Cardiff have to go long whilst this strike for previous club Wolves shows his ability to turn and run with the ball before shooting from range. UK readers can also view how important Bothroyd’s all-round game is to Cardiff as his two goals and an assist helped the club to a 4-2 away win at Scunthorpe United this Saturday.

But it is not just through rose-tinted spectacles that I speak. While much of the football (supporting) world seems to be deriding the decision, those who work in the game can see why the decision has been made by Fabio.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones said that, while Bothroyd can be difficult to handle, it is a testament to how well he, and the club, are currently performing. “It’s a lift for Jay, it’s a lift for the whole club – myself and the staff,” the Scouser told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek. “I don’t think he was expecting it. We hoped it would happen because he has been in good form. He’s not an out-and-out big target man. He can drift, he’s got good ability, good pace.

“We’re hoping he starts or he gets some part of the game because we do believe that he has earned it. He’s what we call high maintenance. But he is a lovely lad, he wants to do well. Most footballers are high maintenance. Sometimes players get a reputation with other clubs. You only find out when you work with them and he is a genuine and honest player.”

And it is not just his own manager who has heaped praise on the player either. The man who oversaw his development as a teenager at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, has revealed his “regret” at losing such a young talent in such controversial circumstances.

Bothroyd was booted out of the North London club after a row with coach Don Howe as he was substituted during an U-19s match in which Bothroyd threw his shirt at Howe. Youth coach Liam Brady made the decision to release Bothroyd from his contract and Wenger decided not to intervene.

“He is one of my regrets, he left very early,” said Wenger of the 28-year-old. “But I have said many times it is important a guy has a good career, even if he goes somewhere else. It is better than to play in the reserves. He went down but has come back up again and we are all very proud of him at Arsenal.

“Sometimes to go down to the Championship, there is no better education. It is true, he had a little outcome that you can have when you are 16 or 17, but he is a good guy, and he is classy; left-footed, strong body, fantastic technique.

“The incident didn’t happen in the first-team group, it happened in the youth team.

Liam Brady is responsible for that. They made the decision and I didn’t stand in the way because it was a disciplinary matter.”

Bothroyd then became something of a journeyman for a few years taking in the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers as well as having a short spell in Italy with Perugia.

But it is under Jones at Cardiff, who also managed him at Wolves, that Bothroyd has found his best form and the initial fee of £300,000 the Welsh club paid for his services is continually looking more and more of a complete bargain.

Of course, off-field problems continue to rear their ugly head and with the big man’s contract up in the summer many Cardiff fans are worried that the extra attention and value may go to the player’s (and agent’s) head leaving to another unceremonious exit such as that of former fans’ favourite Joe Ledley this summer who left on a free transfer to Scottish giants Celtic.

But for now we should rightly bask in the extra attention being lavished on our relatively small club and take pride in the fact that one of our players could be representing one of the world’s greatest footballing nations.

“Once you get a taste you want to do well and stay in,” Bothroyd said in Monday’s official England press conference. “When I was younger I made a massive mistake but I was a nipper and you try to learn from mistakes. It was disheartening to leave and I’ve had a long journey. I like to think I am back on track now.

“There have been lots of downs but the last couple of years I have knuckled down. I have made a conscious effort to turn my life around.”

“It was the best day of my career to get that call and I am happy to be here,” he continued. “When you meet players like Stevie Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand you feel you have to step up and show your worth. They are world-class players, it’s terrific. If I am involved on Wednesday it will be another great day for me.”

Despite what many might be saying it is wholly deserved and now it is up to Jay to show the doubters they were wrong with a performance, and possibly a goal, against France to show the Championship is up there with the best leagues in the world.


Filed Under: Featured Articles, Soccer Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »