Bring This Man To Anfield!!!

What an amazing 15 minutes I have just encountered! Sitting at home watching the Ligue 1 highlights and i come across this kid playing for Monaco named Jeremy Menez. Some composed finishes leads me to continue research on the young Frenchmen, and would you believe it, wikipedia informs me none other then the mighty Liverpool F.C. are looking to purchase him. This excites me greatly. From what I have seen, he is quite a creative yet composed link up attacking player who I feel would fit in nicely between Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

I apologise for the music, but i feel the skill displayed by the young man will more then make up for it...



He has openly stated that if he were to make a move to the premiership; as an avid fan of the reds then the only club he could play for would be Liverpool, great signs as he was also a great fan of Kenny Dalglish. Hopefully with the news that Rafa and the yanks calling a truce, plans will be underway to poach this promising youngster...

Don Fabio – Just The Man Those Bleedin Poms Needed!

Recent news of Fabio Capello’s appointment to the position of head coach of the England national team has been reported on just about every page of every major sports publication in the world, and just quietly I am chuffed!

Capello’s appointment to the demanding position will be envied by few managers in the community, but to me Capello has done enough to prove he at least wants the job. Out of all the managers the E.F.A (Exclusive Fuckwit’s Anonymous a.k.a. English Football Association) short listed, Capello was the only one who really came forward and wanted the position. Jose Mourinho, it can be argued, showed some interest, but to me his ignorance and showboating about merely demonstrates the ‘special one’ has single child syndrome (i.e. he is an attention whore).

Why am I so excited about his appointment I hear you ask? Put it this way. For a long time the English National team has been a joke. The last decent performance that comes to mind for me was the 5-1 thrashing of Germany in 2001 (note a lack of decent performances under one S. McClaren - the old uneducated git) and put simply, this is a joke. The players like Gerrard, Lampard (sigh) and Rooney who perform for their respective clubs week in week out have been a huge disappointment every time they put on the three lions jersey, and it’s about time a man came in and gave the national squad a shake up. And who better then Capello?

Flashback no more then a season or two ago and bear in mind the so called ‘crisis’ that was encasing Real Madrid. They had been going through managers like a relegation bound club, which is not a good thing when your team is made up of Zidanes, Beckhams, Ronaldos, Rauls and Ramos’. Before Capellos appointment; between May 2004 and May 2006 Real Madrid had gone through no less then 4 managers (Jose Antonio Camacho, Mariano García Remón, Vanderlei Luxemburgo and Juan Ramón López Caro)! In short, Real Madrid was underperforming and the board felt this was down to mismanagement. Here was this team of absolute world beaters, and yet they simply could not win any title for the life of them. Cue the re-appointment of one Fabio Capello (his prior stint lasted from May 96 til June 97).

Put simply, Capello came in with no preconceptions and made the big names earn their place in the squad. He put the drive back into the team and made them work hard instead of allowing their ego’s to play the football. What resulted was the Spanish domestic title after several seasons of nothing. And from where I am standing, the comparisons between Real Madrid and the England national squad are quite parallel. Both have big names and both were or are underachieving. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard (especially fat Frank) and John Terry are all players who for me think they deserve special status and starts for their national team. Under Capello, this will not be the case; they WILL have to prove themselves all over again. And I find this great news.

Capello is a smart man; he will not start only one striker at Wembley against Croatia when only a single point is needed. This is a very negative tactic and it showed. When England managed to pull the game back to 2 – 2 then Capello would have bought off a striker and played with 2 defensive midfielders protecting the back four in order to cushion the games result (as this was much later in the match, and could be argued less negative). And quite frankly an England team wont be put in that position because they will not be playing out 0 – 0 draws to Macedonia at home. And against Russia in Moscow he would have acted quicker to tighten up the game once England conceded the equaliser. A draw away to Russia would have been a good result for England. In international football you don’t have 5 minutes to make the tough decisions. It took McClaren that long but for Capello this will be done in an instant.

With no competitive game until September for the National team, I am sure he will organise a tour next summer to have a close look at all the players. Bringing in all Capellos backroom staff will cost the E.F.A, but put this into context. How much did missing out on the European Championships cost the English Football Association? And without full backing of Capello (i.e. affording him the opportunity to bring in the personnel he trusts) it could have cost them a lot more. As we speak England are still not qualified for the World Cup (Major European qualifiers are yet to begin). But Capello is the man to do the job, and by giving him the resources he needs the only way is up for England national football. Capello will not refer to his senior players as JT or Stevie G. He will not leave press conferences saying he is off to have lunch with the squad. He will not pander to the media or fan power.

If this is the cost of making England a world force in football again, then for me it’s a price worth paying!

Deadly Weapon of a Bygone Era

Its none other then former Denmark striker Ebbe Sand!

In all, he was selected 66 times for the Danish national team and scored 22 goals, from his debut in 1998 until he decided to focus on playing for Schalke in 2004. When his contract with Schalke ran out in the Summer 2006, he moved back to Denmark to become head talent scout at Silkeborg IF. At his retirement in 2006, he was granted a testimonial between the Danish national team and his former Danish club Brondby IF.

Quite simply, Sand was a weapon, with the prowess of a fox and the speed of a mongoose. I haven't much to discuss about this finely woven creature, except that England dealt with him and his nation in the World Cup of 2002 in the Quarter Finals. But with Dirk Kuyt in massive decline at Liverpool perhaps Rafa should be keeping an eye on this fantastic footballer...

French Football, Que Faisant?

What the hell is going on with the domestic French League? France have this reputation of unearthing talent, dare I say it, like no other country in the world. In 1998 they proved their domination on the world stage by winning the world cup, and then in more recent times were only just pipped out of the same result 8 years later at the 2006 world cup against Italy (lets not forget European champions in 2000). Most of this success is generally attributed to the French Federation of Football’s Youth Academy; Le Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre – also known as Clairefontaine.

Clairefontaine was established as an answer to the ever growing Lilleshal academy based in England allowing the most talented young French footballers from the Île-de-France région train there. The scary thing is there are 8 other major academies based in France that aim to offer the exact same service. I use Clairefontaine as an example because it is quite simply the most successful football academy in the world. 5 ex-students immediately come to mind; Thierry Henry, William Gallas, Louis Saha, Nicolas Anelka and Jerome Rothen. Not bad hey? On further research, other players to come through this academy include Hatem Ben Arfa, Phillipe Christanval, Vassiriki Abou Diaby and Jacques Faty. Holy crap!

So why is it that these french domestic clubs struggling to live up to the national teams’ success? I realise that not every French international player is going to be based in their homeland, far from it. In fact, from the 23 players from the 2006 French world cup squad, only 11 of them played their club football in France. Compare this statistic to their Italian counterparts who actually had all 23 squad members playing in Italy, and it makes for interesting reading. So from this it can be derived that the French league seems to struggle to keep their best players in the homeland. And it is clearly showing.

This seasons Champions League comprised of a total of 3 French teams; Toulouse, Marseilles and Lyon. On paper, these three very good teams are capable of at least putting up a fight against the biggest clubs in Europe. Toulouse was eliminated early in the proceedings by Liverpool F.C in the 3^rd and final qualification round. Of the aforementioned clubs, Toulouse are easily the lesser known and weakest team, but still proficient enough to work their way through a group stage had they made it through. As for Marseilles and Lyon, they had already gained automatic qualification as per the rules and regulations set out by UEFA (i.e. the top 2 teams from the French league gain automatic qualification into the Champions League group stage), and made good inroads towards further progression after the first half of the group stage. Marseilles were topping their group after earning 7 of 9 possible points, meanwhile Lyon had only earned 3 of 9 points but had picked up momentum after a good win against Stuttgart on matchday 3 and had 2 more home games left to play. Funnily enough, by the end of the 6 matchdays the roles had well and truly reversed, with Lyon earning a place in the last 16 after a smash-and-grab win at the Ibrox against Rangers, while Marseilles had crashed out after a 0 – 4 loss against Liverpool F.C.

So going into the round of 16, only 1 of the 3 French teams remain in the competition. I would have thought that, with the amount of talent coming through the country that a more positive showing would be on display from the French, but again they have failed to live up to their reputation. With only Lyon progressing, it seems their chances of winning Europe’s most prestigious title may be slightly out of reach.

Now focusing on the domestic league, again questions must be asked about the credibility of the country’s major league. Lyon again is the focal team, currently cleaning up all major domestic trophies with ease and style. For the past 6 seasons running, Lyon has won the domestic league title, the winning point’s margin growing with every season (their first title in 01/02 won by a single point, their most recent in the 06/07 season won by a massive 17 points). Their stranglehold on the domestic title is something unseen in any other major European domestic league, and even this season after losing a considerable number of key players another domestic title is in reach after finishing on top of the table after the completion of the first half of the current season. Watch this space!

So basically, even though Lyon do suffer the odd loss here and there during the season, the trend is they win the title in a one horse race and leave the other 19 clubs to scrap it out for the other minor positions. While such an amazing record occurs once in a lifetime so to speak, there are adverse effects. For me, the interests in all things French football is still limbering, but keep in mind I am a die hard football fan. Thankfully the French are also quite attracted to the sport, still flocking in numerous thousands to each and every match. But with this domination, for how long?

There is no doubt the French league can still lay claim to having some of the most talented footballers on the planet plying their trade locally and continentally for these French clubs, with names such as Juninho, Benzema, Govou, Micoud, Alou Diarra, Nasri, Valbuena, Koller, Kluivert and Pauleta all involved week in week out for their respective clubs. The paradox for me still remains. Why is the national team so damn good, and why are the domestic clubs failing so miserably? Or am I being slightly pessimistic here?

Bolo Zenden: Part Time Marseille midfielder, Part Time Custard Tart.

I feel that my opinion runs parallel to that of my young friend Nutsy; the French league is something of a sleeping giant. There is plenty of enthusiasm from the fans, they absolutely love the game. There are also a great number of clubs in not just Le Championnat (premier division) but also in the support leagues that can contend for a greater continental presence. Most importantly, the players are there to play the great game and keep it at a competitive level. So why, in the history of the UEFA Champions League have only one French team actually walked away with the title (this being Marseille in 92/93). And even with the continued improvement of the greatest youth football academy in the world, the domestic competition continues to grow ever one sided. Yet for all this the French national team quite rightly holds the 7^th highest spot in the FIFA world rankings (as of 23 November 2007), and 5^th in the UEFA national rankings.

Make no mistake, I want to see French teams grow more successful in the continental competitions (and align themselves with the top 3 nations in European football; Spain, England and Italy). I want to be able to switch on the T.V and watch a competitive game of football with the knowledge that, no matter the result, Lyon may not walk away with the title. I’m not saying that the games aren’t competitive at the moment, but it almost seems their efforts are all in vain. Hopefully come May 17^th 2008, the French league will finish as one of the closest seasons in recent history. I’m not biased towards any team in particular, but hopefully this season will springboard a number of French clubs towards a bigger and brighter future.

The New Liverpool: Why I’m Confident These American Turds Will Be Gone Long Before Rafa!!!

Before I start, I must emphasise that this is not a cheap dig at the new American owners of Liverpool F.C George Gillet and Tom Hicks. Although I have a strong opinion of them – made mostly over the past few weeks – I am going to save my rant about them for another time. No, I feel that I now have the confidence in my team to say “Liverpool can definitely challenge for the title”.

Seems strange I am writing this merely 4 days after an unexpected 1 - 3 loss to Reading in the premiership, but I have finally realised that Liverpool have the firepower, cool headedness and experience to carry them to a long-awaited premiership title. I will work from the back to the front…

Goalkeeper: Jose Reina. I feel he has now made himself the best keeper in the premiership after ridding himself of the mistakes and eccentricity that plagued his game since his arrival from the Spanish League. Always capable of keeping a clean sheet, and has proved that penalties are not always a given, saving something like 50% of all penalties taken against him.



Back 4: In Carragher, Hyppia and Finnan; the experience is there for the big games like cup finals and such, and with them around it’s safe to say the likes of Daniel Agger and Jack Hobbs can learn and build their own game. If mistakes are made by these younger kids, more often then not the older heads are there to clean up. With Riise, Arbeloa and Aurelio, the defence has depth to cover a number of injuries without losing any strength at the back.


Midfield: Where to begin… Truly a world class midfield that in my opinion any team in the world can envy; with names such as Gerrard, Kewell and Benayoun provide the creativity and the power to move forward and set up a number of scoring chances, and when they aren’t providing they are more then capable of putting the ball in the net themselves. To cover these men there is the likes of Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva and Momo Sissoko. They are all capable of holding the midfield on their day and allowing the more attacking minded players to their own game whilst helping out in the defensive side of the game. We also have Jermaine Pennant. Umm, yeah…

The Front: Probably the weakest part of the team, I think with a few changes this can be aligned to be as strong as the other aspects of the team. Torres, I have decided, is a capable of becoming a 25-goals a season striker (in all comps). With Kewell also capable of playing alongside him, there is also Andriy Voronin who loves a good pass but probably needs to work on his finishing. Ryan Babel is only 20 years of age and he has bagged a few goals this season after playing only a limited role in the squad, and in Peter Crouch there is a chance to open up Liverpool’s game to play in a different dimension. Some would say he loves the long ball but has skill to hold the ball at his feet. Gross guy I don’t much like but he still can do the job.

Finally the Gaffer: Rafa Benitez. Quite simply has taken the team to a new level. Its safe to say the reds have not experience this much success since the days of Kevin Keegan, Joe Fagan, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish in the late 70’s – early 80’s. Sure Gerard Houllier brought the UEFA cup and a legion of domestic cups, but he never really looked like he could bring the premiership back to the club. With Benitez the side look like they are more then capable of doing so. In recent weeks his job has come under fire, and with the likes of Gerrard and Torres publicly backing the big man, its also a sure thing that the team is harmonious under his guidance.

In summary, the future looks good. The young kids like Hobbs (19), Babel (20), Lucas (20), and Torres (23) have the potential to become long serving LFC heroes, while the more experienced Gerrard, Reina, Alonso and Kewell have the heads to bring the young lads through. Domestic premiership success is knocking at the door, and I cannot wait till the mighty Reds get the success that they and their fans have so eagerly awaited…

YNWA

The 2009-2012 Champions League Format Explained

Over the past few days, news of Michel Platini’s revised Champions League schedule and competition have been plastered over most of the major football websites and television channels. This has compelled me to employ my numerous hours of spare time to generate my own opinion about the new UEFA Champions League.



The first major change to the UCL has to do with the qualification eligibility and access lists. In simple terms; which teams from which leagues will qualify, and how? Where in the past 16 teams have had automatic qualification to the group stages of the UCL, Platini has decided that this number should be increased to 22. These 22 teams include:

*The top 3 teams from the highest ranked European leagues (at present Spain, England and Italy),
*The top 2 teams from the European leagues ranked 4 through to 6 (at present Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands),
*The champions from the European leagues ranked 7 through to 12 (at present France, Russia, Scotland, Turkey, Greece and Romania), and
*The winner from the previous seasons UCL

N.B – I am unaware of what happens when the holder of the previous seasons UCL title falls into one of the aforementioned categories - I assume that the 2nd ranked team from the 7th highest ranked League, being France, will get the 22nd automatic qualification spot.


Michel Platini - Oddball

The other 10 spots will be decided via 2 separate qualification paths, both of which will have 5 qualifiers into the group stage. The 1st path has 3 steps to qualification;

*Preliminary qualification has 3 ties; 6 teams from the European leagues ranked 48 to 53. The losers are eliminated and the winners go through to the Qualification round 1.
*Qualification round 1 will stage 17 ties; 31 champions from the European leagues ranked 16 to 47 (not including Liechtenstein - the 37th ranked League), as well as the 3 winners from the Preliminary qualification stage. The losers are eliminated and the winners go through to the Qualification round 2.
*Qualification round 2 will stage 10 ties – including 3 champions from the European leagues ranked 13 to 15, as well as the 17 winners from the Qualification round 2. The 5 winners go through to the group stage of the UCL and the 5 losers are placed into the UEFA cup.


Liex Lovech - a badge you may see more of in the future!!!

This first path is a way of placing all the champions from the lower European leagues against each other in order to get 5 qualifiers through to the group stage of the UCL. The 2nd path has only 2 steps to qualification;

*Qualification round 1 has 5 ties; 9 teams ranked 2nd from the European leagues ranked 7 – 15, as well as the 3rd highest ranked team from the European league ranked 6th. 5 winners go through to the Qualification round 2 and the 5 losers are put into the UEFA cup.
*Qualification round 2 also has 5 ties; the 5 winners from Qualification round 1 are faced against the 3rd highest ranked teams from the 4th and 5th highest ranked European leagues and the 4th highest ranked teams from the top 3 European ranked leagues. 5 winners go into the group stages of the UCL and the 5 losers are put into the UEFA Cup.

This 2nd path is designed to placed the lower ranked teams from the highest ranked leagues against each other in order to get a further 5 UCL group stage qualifiers. You almost need a degree in rocket science to understand all this don’t you! So what does this mean?

Well instead of having say a Liverpool or Arsenal facing the likes of a lesser Helsingborg or Red Star Belgrade and having an easy run into the group stage, these lower ranked teams from the best leagues will be fighting it out for qualification, meaning you may see Villareal playing against Roma or Lazio. Meanwhile in the 1st qualification path, there is a chance of seeing an Anderlecht or Panathaniakos facing Viking, Kaunas or even Dnipro vying for the chance to qualify for the group stage of the UCL. So instead of Villareal or Liverpool being in the group stage, there will instead be Viking FC!

Platini has stated all along that he has a vision of seeing all these lower ranked teams have the chance to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition, but at what cost? Take this for example. In 2003/04, Liverpool F.C finished in 4th position in the English Premier League behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Liverpool had a supposed easy qualification into the group stage and, long story short, went on to win the 04/05 Champions League title. Now a team such as the 04/05 Liverpool squad will find themselves at a much higher risk of losing out and being resigned to the lesser UEFA Cup, while a Crevna Zvezda will be frolicking in the UCL Group Stage; food for thought hey. Platini thinks it will improve the game, I think that while it has its advantages, it could also damage the competition quite a fair bit. Anyway on to other changes…



Post-group stage, 16 teams are placed against each other and over 2 legs; fight it out for qualification into the Quarter Finals. These 8 ties used to be held all on the same night over a 2 week period, but Platini has decided to play 4 matches on 1 week, and the other 4 the week after. The 2nd leg of the ties will be held over the 2nd fortnight; during the 3rd week, 4 matches are played followed by another 4 matches a week after; thus increasing the quarter final stage from 2 weeks to 4, allowing for more live television coverage. My opinion is that this is something of a master stroke from Platini, as it will allow teams a resting period before their next match, while the amount of live coverage is increased and, at least for UEFA, an increase in financial income will result. Michel Platini, I applaud this decision.

The final significant change for the UCL sees the Final being moved from a Wednesday night to a Saturday night; usually the week after the cessation of the major European domestic leagues. This is supposed to account for families and in particular children who are unable to stay up till 11pm on a Wednesday night to watch the final. At least on a Saturday night, this audience will have a greater opportunity to watch the match. The only implication I can think of this move is that most European leagues hold their domestic cup football finals on the same night (i.e. F.A Cup in England and Copa Del Rey in Spain). I guess it’s up to the Domestic Football Associations to resolve this issue, as most will hold the opinion that a Continental Cup final take preference over a Domestic Cup Final.

For me, that’s it. I hope you find this guide to the 2009 – 2012 UCL as helpful as I have. YNWA

Recollections of the Past 1.0

The one, the only; MARIAN PAHARS!



My friend Nutsy and I often find ourselves discussing former players of the past, usually attempting to outdo each other in terms of obscurity. One name that came up the other night was none other than this Latvian; Ukrainian born striker who played for Southampton F.C between the years of 1999-2006. The lightning quick international striker was an integral part of the Saints attacking line up after his move from Skonto Riga in 1999.

Although sometimes used as an attacking left sided midfielder Pahars was most effective as an out and out striker. With bags of pace and skill to torment defenders, on his day Pahars was one of the most dangerous players in the Premiership.

Where is he now? Some rogue Cypriot club by the name of Anorthosis Famagusta. The only word I can use to describe this man is prodigious. Marian Pahars, you are officially obsecure.

Why Referees Are Not Footballers... Or Ballet Dancers...

LOL! Everton...

Just a random thought while I am sitting on my lounge enjoying the English Premier League highlights show, thinking about Everton and how they think they are all that. Well let my put a 'reds' spin on it. 7 - 1 against Sunderland is a great result yes, in fact 7 goals is brilliant. Except when Liverpool F.C are involved in a game where 8 goals are scored, it tends to look like this:



You see, Besiktas - from the country of Turkey, are a team that an English team can play against during a Continental competition, such as the UEFA cup, or in this case, the UEFA Champions League. Notice the difference between 8 - 0 and 7 - 1, and also the difference between Sunderland and Besiktas?



My point in summary is this; whatever Everton can do, Liverpool can do better. Its how it is, always has been and always will be. You'll Never Walk Alone.

The Mauve Half Of My Heart

Many people often question the origins of some of my footballing ideas and such, for example why I enjoy watching the likes of David Villa and David Silva of Valencia C.F, but paradoxically cannot watch the Spanish La Liga for extended periods of time? The answer to this is simple, Villa and Silva will move on to bigger and better things in the future, and the pace and energy of the English game which I have grown to love simply makes other leagues difficult to scrutinise and follow. However, there is a further anomaly with this paradox, and that is my devotion and infatuation for the club that is...


ROYAL SPORTING CLUB ANDERLECHT

Random much? I bet the most of you didn't see that one coming. This club, based in the Belgian capital of Brussels and established in 1908 are usually one of the ten or so clubs that fill up the group stages of the European Champions League, but never progress (other teams inlude Rosenborg, Steaua Bucherest and Slavia Prague). Further, unless on the odd chance that Anderlecht are drawn in a group alongside the Man United's and the Real Madrid's of the football community, you will never see them play on television be it free to air or pay-tv. This blog is something of an explanation on my behalf as to how and why I have such commitment for the 'Paarswit'.

It was the 1999/2000 season - and I think more specifically late 1999, and I was a brash 13 year old who had just began to come to grips with the technical side of the great game. On one of the few occasions I was at home on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to flick on the telly and see what was happening on the channel that is SBS. On came some random league in some random country with a lot of random people running around. Then, what happened next was something out of the ordinary. A young Jan Koller; in a white and mauve jersey, carving complete asshole like nothing I had ever seen. In hindsight I now realise that young J. Koller was too good to be plying his trade in the Jupiler League, but at the time I couldn't help but stay anchored to the lounge and watch the highlights of Anderlecht playing some great quality football. It so happened that RSCA went on to win the title that season, and I am proud to say that, with help from the internet, I was able to follow them for the best part of 8 months in the lead up to this lambasting event.

What has me flummoxed is the fact that, for all their quality in not only their first team but also their youth set up, Anderlecht are incapable of achieving and advancing in continental competition (there was one recent contradiction being the 00/01 season where they topped a group including PSV Eindhoven, Dynamo Kiev and Manchester United). I'm not taking all their recent domestic success for granted, but quite frankly I want to see RSCA flourish in the European competition (something which opposes my view on my other love - Liverpool F.C).

With past players including Aruna Dindane, Alin Stoica, Par Zetterberg, Gilles De Bilde, Celestine Babayaro, Vincent Kompany and Anthony Vanden Borre; its not hard to see why - at least in recent years - my love for Anderlecht has grown. With current players including Jan Polak, Lucas Biglia (just for you Nadsy!), Ahmed Hassan and Mbark Boussoufa, I am looking forward to the future. People may look at me strange or think of me as abberent, but for me Anderlecht will always be a team that I can support outside of the normal clique of the mainstream football community. RSCA - MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO.