Category: Football

Football evolves, that’s just how the game is. The UEFA Champions League returned to our screens and for British football fans, it seems that English football has become second fiddle to other countries around the continent. Personally, I believe we have been brainwashed commercially with the Premier League being branded as the “best league in the world”- and we are now in fact behind the Bundesliga of Germany and La Liga of Spain.

It took 278 minutes for an English team to score, as Chelsea secured a respectable 1-1 draw in Istanbul against Galatasaray. Before that however, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all failed to find the net and all lost 2-0 with tough jobs to do in their second legs. The shift of power of football is changing, as City lost to Barcelona and Arsenal lost to Bayern Munich, two of the top four teams in Europe in my opinion with Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid the other two teams.

Think back to 2008, three English clubs reached the semi-finals of the competition. In just 6 years, it seems Premier League clubs are struggling to even reach the quarters. Why is this? How can the tide turn and power shift so dramatically in such a short space of time?

I think it’s down to three factors; Philosophy, Generation and Money. The Spanish have controlled world football since 2008, and this is because of the enforced philosophy put on young players as they progress through the youth ranks. Barcelona implemented this philosophy too and the reward was constant appearances in semi-finals of the Champions League, winning it in 2009 and 2011.

The Germans have had footballing rejuvenation. The current players are al relatively young, especially at Borussia Dortmund. They and Bayern Munich are full of young international players who pretty much spend the whole season together both domestically and internationally which only has benefits. Bayern have become the best team in the world with outrageous fire power going forward and a steady defence.

Madrid have money to burn. After splashing £86 million in the purchase of Gareth Bale; and the employment of Cristiano Ronaldo, who to me is the world’s greatest player makes them a dangerous team. Add Benzema and Di Maria to the mix and you have a lot of attacking menace. Arguably, you could consider PSG as a team who have the money to construct a world class team that on their day can defeat our English elite.

So how can the English teams improve? I think we need more home grown coaches to take on the challenge. We allow too many foreign coaches come in and imply their philosophies, causing havoc to us internationally. People may disagree with me after watching David Moyes’ slow start at Manchester United but look at Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, he has got them playing some fantastic football. Also, a winter break in my eyes is needed. Yes it may create more midweek fixtures pre and post-Christmas, but other countries have a break and that gives their teams a fresh impotence on the second half of the season as well as international tournaments in summer such as this year’s World Cup in Brazil.

So for English football fans, I think it’s time to stop piling pressure on the English teams to do well and just accept that at the moment, we are second best to other country’s top teams.

For the past 72 hours, I’d have hated to have been a Southampton fan. It must have left some fans leaking tears after hearing the rumours that Chairman Nicola Cortese was looking to quit the club, which left many doubting if current manager Mauricio Pochettino would remain in charge. Also rumours also spread that owner Katharina Liebherr may sell the club onto new buyers.

Then yesterday, I heard the news Cortese had indeed resign as Southampton FC chairman, and this really had me feeling sympathy for the Saints fans. It is quite weird for me to say that about Southampton- south-coast rivals with my club, Brighton and Hove Albion. But to see a team move on leaps and bounds in the past few years under the guidance of Cortese, it was going to be difficult for the club to find a successor of the same calibre.

Whilst tucked up in bed yesterday evening listening to Talksport, I found out that the owner herself would take over as Chairman. This confused me quite a bit. She has no clue what it takes to be a chairman of a football club in my eyes. Also on the show, I listened to a co-presenter for the Southampton podcast and it was a fascinating listen. He said the majority of the fans were “concerned” due to the fact they had “no idea which way the club was heading”. He mentioned teams like Hull City and Cardiff who went to the highest bidders when they were up for sale and look how that’s turned out- fans angered about managerial sackings and colour changes at Cardiff, and team name changes at Hull.

Today the media was primarily focused (as was I) on Pochettino, would he stay or would he go? The answer given today was a promising one. He claimed he was focused on staying and completing the ambitions of the club. Also he was adamant no players would be sold. Southampton fans, you can relax a bit more now. Since Pochettino took over from Nigel Adkins, a change which at the time sprung as a confusing decision by Cortese, he has guided the team to ninth in the table at present after finishing fourteenth last term. He has the team playing some lovely football too. Confident passing and lovely link up play offensively, its typically Argentinean philosophy.

The players themselves would have been the next thing. Players like Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert are all key to the success down at St.Marys. If the owner was looking to sell on the club, she may cash in on the key players to make the most profit out of the club before she moved on. That makes the next few weeks crucial for Southampton Football Club. If the players stay and Liebherr commits to the club, things may still look on the bright side for the team. However, if she cashes in and then sells off the south coast club, things may look downhill.

Back when Cortese joined as Chairman of Southampton, they were struggling financially. The team were in League One, and had been deducted 10 points at the start of the campaign for administration regulations. He had an aspiration that Southampton would one day become a Champions League team. Since then, the team under Alan Pardew, Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino, have just been going up and up and up. Back-to-back promotions and then surviving their return to the top flight has recently had fans truly dreaming of the biggest continental competition being played at St.Marys. These aspirations and dreams looked like they could’ve happened at the start of the season when Southampton were sitting third in the table looking like a top side.

Southampton Football club ultimately will either rise or fall, depending on the actions now of Chairwoman and owner Kristina Liebherr. She is the lady holding all the cards towards Southampton’s success, or failure.

What do you think will happen? Will she sell? Will she stay? Where do you see Southampton finishing this season? Why not comment below what you think or alternatively tweet me at @leeham1996 or facebook me at Liam ‘leeham’ Richner.

I had just finished watching the highlights of Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Game of the Day on Sky Sports. Then the presenter broke the news. Steve Clarke had been sacked by West Bromwich Albion after four successive defeats. Straight away I told my brother who was sat beside me “What have West Brom done?” he replied, “Got themselves into more of a relegation fight that’s what.” And I had to completely agree.

Steve Clarke was a favourite of mine, not just because he managed West Brom to their best Premier League finish in their history last season (8^th) but because he was genuinely a lovely man who loved the game. He had progressed up from being a no.2, and he has shown off his potentials and credentials at the Hawthorns so I don’t think he will be out of work for too long.

I fear for West Brom now. I don’t know if they will be able to replicate or even exceed their achievements last season without Clarke. Roberto Di Matteo is the early bookmaker’s favourite to take the job on and make a return to the Hawthorns where he was in charge between 2009-2011. He did do a marvellous job at his previous club Chelsea but he hasn’t got the same world class squad that he had at Stamford Bridge. Will he or whoever takes charge be able to win over a squad who are clearly in discontent with the club’s owners after the sacking of Clarke? Only time will tell.

Fast forward to Monday Lunchtime and I was making my way to history at college and casually decided to look up my Sky Sports Football app on my IPod. Breaking news it read… Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked by Tottenham Hotspur. Finally. The Portuguese manager has, unlike Clarke, turned Tottenham into a laughing stock in the previous few weeks. A 6-0 demolition at Manchester City followed a few weeks later by a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday marked the end for AVB. For a team who let’s not forget splashed out around £110 million in the summer, sitting mid-table is simply not enough.

The Tottenham job is always an exciting job to take. However the new guy who comes in needs to find a system and a core in the side for them to exceed. The new players have been at the club 6 months or so now and have begun to adapt to the English game and are obviously struggling. Personally I would drop Roberto Soldado and stick Jermain Defoe on because he seems to always find a goal in a game. Also, I would always stick Sandro in front of Paulinho any day. Perhaps the system needs changing from this 4-2-3-1 that AVB seemed to be playing week in, week out. Names like Fabio Capello are being mentioned but we saw what he did for England and to be honest, I would rather see a young upcoming manager, someone like Michael Laudrup, take the reins.

This is the trouble with modern football and club owners. They just want success. If the team are on a bad run, the manager’s neck is on the line, no matter what club it is. There are times for change, and also times to let the manager take the challenge on and turn the club’s fortunes around. These two sackings over the past week that I have mentioned above are prime examples of when a manager should and shouldn’t get sacked.

Who will the teams bring in? Will they have money to spend in January? What if they don’t turn the club’s fortunes around? We saw that last year with both Nigel Atkins and Harry Redknapp who failed to keep Reading and QPR in the Premier League last season.

In the business that is Football, being a manager means putting yourself in the firing line when times get tough. You never know when you’ll lose your job, so be prepared for the worst if the teams’ fortunes begin to deteriorate.

Oh the joys of being a football Manager…

Two Jack Wilshere goals gave Arsenal control of Group F in the Champions League as they played out a comfortable 2-0 victory against a very average Marseille side.

Arsenal knew a win should be enough to cement their place in the last sixteen. They would also qualify if Napoli beat Dortmund tonight. A draw in that game would see Arsenal win the group.  

Within 32 seconds Arsenal were ahead. Jack Wilshere’s individual effort found the top corner of the net in Arsenal’s first attack on the Marseille goal and many surely thought that the game would now be an easy, controlling exhibition for the Gunners just because of how quick the goal came.

It was nearly two for Arsenal in the sixth minute as they once again cut the visitors defence apart. Jack Wilshere was involved again and his square ball should have been tucked into the net by starlet Aaron Ramsey, who is having the season of his career, but his shot was saved by French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Wojciech Szczesny was as much a spectator for much of the first half as us watching the game on the television or the fans in the stadium, and it wasn’t until the twentieth minute that he was called upon to come and gather the ball from Marseille forward Gignac’s feet.

Arsenal were in complete control throughout the first half and ten minutes before half time they received a penalty after Aaron Ramsey was tripped but Mesut Ozil  saw his penalty saved by Mandanda, a penalty which to be honest was awful. And with that Arsenal held a 1-0 lead at Half Time.

The second half started like the first ended- with Arsenal dominating the ball and comfortably playing it around a sluggish Marseille. The closest Arsenal got to a second early on was Olivier Giroud’s deflected shot which spun just wide. A couple of minutes later Mesut Ozil had his poked effort saved by Marseille captain Mandanda who was having a very busy night.

Arsenal finally made it 2-0, and again it was Jack Wilshere who put the ball past a helpless Mandanda after clever play by Ozil.

Marseille finally tested Szczcsny after 70 minutes when substitute Thurian had two shots saved by the polish international in just a couple of minutes.

Arsenal could have buried the game and nailed Marseille’s coffin shut but Santi Cazola and Theo Walcott missed their chances and the game ended 2-0; A comfortable victory for the Gunners. Another Champions League knockout stage beckons…

We may be good; but we are not world class. The performances that saw us beat Montenegro and Poland last month are just forgotten memories as England were shown to be an average side against both Chile and Germany in the past week. Following the 2-0 defeat to the South Americans last Friday, England was put to the sword by an arguably German “B” Team yesterday evening, 1-0, at Wembley.

How can a nation go from feeling confident of making the semi-finals at least a month ago to feeling England may struggle to get through to the quarters today? Well we got our answer to that question yesterday. We simply haven’t got a world class team like Germany, Spain and Brazil who have depth of talent, enough to make three different teams. England have an ageing Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. That’s it for now.

Chile were a clever team that were just too good for our back line. Germany on the other hand were well… boring. They drove to score and then were more disciplined in defence to deny England a chance of equalising. The thing that was disappointing about the result was not just the goal, but the fact Germany were without Neuer, Schweinsteiger, Gomez, Lahm and others. They were a younger much braver side. It showed us just how good German football is progressing.

This again links back to the question to whether England and the Premier League should bring in a maximum amount of foreign players in a squad so more English and British players can develop. Only 26% of players in the Premier League are English. That’s outrageous. We need to take a step towards the future like Spain and Germany have done and they now have the world’s best two young player development in World Football.

If I had to place England in a tier of world football we would be tier 3 or just peak into 2. We are nowhere near the likes of Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina. France, Holland, Russia, Chile and Uruguay make up some of the band two teams who would give us a scare. For me, we are similar to teams like Sweden, Greece and Portugal, average at best. We have enough to qualify to major tournaments but not enough to progress in them.

That could all change in the next few years though if we work on developing the younger players. Russia may seem a bit too close but definitely Euro 2020 should be a tournament we are looking towards to mount a serious challenge on. Players like Ross Barkley and Andros Townsend need to progress and be steadied into the side regularly over the next couple of years so that they hit their prime along with players with similar ages and a little order to create that winning balance of players.

So until then England fans… don’t get disappointed on another quarter final defeat in Brazil if that happens, for us that will be a achievement. No more pressure, we aren’t the team we used to be. But we can be again in the next few years…

Experimenting is a frustrating part of the game. England gave debuts to Southampton duo Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez and Celtic ‘keeper Fraser Forster in a bid to allow new players to try and impress as Brazil looms ever closer. Unfortunately, the trio failed to light up England’s performance as the visitors from South America Chile won 2-0 at Wembley in the first of two friendly’s in North London.

It only took the away side seven minutes to score the opening goal as Alexis Sanchez got ahead of Leighton Baines and headed the ball into the far corner, leaving Forster with the job of picking the ball out of the back of the England net at the first Chilean attempt on goal.

The Barcelona forward then scored his and Chile’s second of the match in injury time at the end of the second half with a delicate chip over Forster to wrap up the win for the South Americans.

Forster himself didn’t do too badly; he made a decent save against Wigan winger Bousenjour in the first half and cleaned up nicely at the back when required. However the other debutants, Lallana and Rodriguez, didn’t seem to get into the game and they disappointed in their first appearances for the Three Lions.

England did have some decent chances, especially in the first half but both Lallana and Wilshere’s shots were straight at Chilean goalkeeper Bravo.  The closest England came to a goal was from a deflected 30 yard free kick from Captain Frank Lampard which Bravo tipped over the bar brilliantly.

Chile thoroughly deserved their win; England were disjointed and didn’t seem to play together as a team. The English defence was shaky from the start and it was highlighted in the opening goal. Leighton Baines allowed Alexis Sanchez half a yard which was enough for the in-form forward to pounce and capture his 21^st goal for his country.

The Chileans also outclassed us when it came to keeping possession of the ball. The team were confident to pass the ball around (Barca esc) and for the opening three minutes of the game England failed to touch the ball. England’s passing however, seemed average and sometimes the players gave possession away cheaply with passes either too short or inaccurate.

Overall this was a learning curve for England. Chile were very good opponents for the youngsters to come up against. We have to be realistic. We aren’t going to win the World Cup next summer, we need to try and encourage our younger players to implement their position in the team and prepare for competitive cameos in Euro 2016 and the World cup 2018 in Russia.

Tuesday once again will prove a tough test for England as we welcome Germany to North London. Play like we did tonight and we may come away stuffed by the Germans, we can only improve after tonight and a fierce competitive friendly is sure to thrill us in 4 days time.

It might not seem like it on Paper, but I believe that Wigan Athletic are having a very good season. They currently sit tenth in the Sky Bet Championship and second in Group D in the Europa League. Wigan, the only second tier side in the continental competition, have impressed against the likes of Maribor and Rubin Kazan and look comfortable to progress to the knockout stages, a huge achievement for such a small side.

They haven’t been too bad in the league either, an unbeaten home record with a tight defence, it seems well worth making the trip to the bookies to bet that the Latics will be promoted either automatically or by the Play-offs.  You have to credit the team, who have arguably the busiest fixture list in the country. It was only last weekend they had to travel to Russia to play Kazan, where they were narrowly beaten, before flying back to take on Yeovil in the Championship, a game they won 1-0.

All the plaudits must go to the manager. Owen Coyle has done an outstanding job so far to keep both the League and Europa League in contention for the side, we’ve seen teams like Birmingham who, a few seasons ago struggled to balance the two competitions when they were in a similar situation. The team have also remained grounded and they have been putting in really good performances. The club are benefiting from an excellent summer transfer market, one which saw the likes of James McClean and Marc-Antoine Fortune arrive at the DW Stadium.

The DW is a feared place to go to, with Brighton and Hove Albion the next team to make the daunting trip north. If Wigan keep the home form going, they will easily end in the Play-Offs, which will make the season overall one of their best. It would be the icing on top of the cake if they were to make it into the last 32 or even 16 of the Europa League, the prospect of bigger and more established European clubs coming to Wigan will be a crowd pleaser and bring the fans to the games, increasing their fan base and income. Wigan will also be feared by clubs after their performances so far.

So come May next year, we could be talking about Wigan Athletic and the season they had. Keep it up boys….

Sergio Agüero, Eden Hazard, Yaya Toure and Luis Suarez.  These are just a few of the players who have started this season in blistering form. But no one could have expected a young Welshman to become the hottest footballer in the Premier League right now. Aaron Ramsey is in the form of his life, and because of this Arsenal are sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League and top of their Champions’ League group.

Aaron had always shown glimpses throughout his early career that he would become what he is today, even back when he was just 18 years of age playing for Cardiff City. He introduced himself to the footballing stage when he scored his first professional goal against Chase town in an impressive performance in the FA cup tie back in 2008. The following summer saw him move to current club Arsenal for £4.8 million after impressing scouts. He made his first Premier league appearance for the Gunners against Blackburn Rovers in September 2008, assisting Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal’s third goal in the game.

Everything was looking on the up for a young upcoming wonder kid. But then Aaron suffered a major setback. On February 27^th 2010, Arsenal travelled to Stoke City in a premier league contest.  Ramsey was included in the starting line-up.  Aaron was tackled by Ryan Shawcross, and what resulted from the challenge was a broken leg for Ramsey.  He had snapped both his tibula and fibula. No return date was initially in place and Aaron was rushed to the hospital. It would be 8 long months before he returned to training and a further month before making his first competitive appearance since the injury on loan at  Nottingham Forest. Some feared he wouldnt come back the same player as he had been before the horror injury inflicted upon him.

However, since that injury he has been showing more and more that raw talent he possesses. We began to see it on the international stage as well as domestically.  Aaron had been impressing in performances for Wales in 2010 and the late Gary Speed appointed him Wales Captain in 2011, aged just 21. He dazzled opponents with his quick feet and he provided more and more impressive cameos for Arsenal last season.

But this year he seems to be a completely new player. Wales’ new prodigy after Gareth Bale some would say. He has banged in 11 goals already this campaign, netting in the recent wins against Liverpool in the Premier League and Bourssia Dortmund last night, making Arsenal the first team to beat last season’s beaten finalists on their own patch since United back in 1953.

I don’t whether its’ that he is much more fitter, training harder, eating a better diet or just Arsene Wenger  putting something into his lunchtime meals, but Ramsey so far has been the player of the season without a shadow of a doubt. If he carries on like this, we may see yet another multi-million bid coming in for his services either on these shores or abroad. Watch out Gareth, there’s a new welch wonder about….

A late strike from Robert Lewandowski helped Bourssia Dortmund to a 2-1 win against Arsenal at the Emirates in their Group F encounter.

The German runner ups in last season’s competition took the lead through Mkhitaryan in the first half before Olivier Giroud levelled for the Gunners.

But the second half was dominated by Lewandowski. After what TV Replays showed to be an elbow in Laurent Koscielny face; the striker scored the vital winner in front of the travelling fans to put Dortmund level on points along with Arsenal and also Napoli with six points, after the Italian club defeated Marseille 2-1 in France.

This was always going to be a closely fought contest. Arsenal sat top of the Premier League and Bourssia Dortmund sat second in the Bundesliga, a point behind leaders Bayern Munich. Arsenal were top of Group F at the start of play with two wins out of two, Dortmund were second place, with a defeat in their opening match in Naples (a game which saw Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp given a two game touchline ban) and a win in the last round of fixtures at home to Marseille.

Arsenal started the game with sloppy possession, they took time to get going, and there woeful passing got its just rewards as they fell behind to a nicely place finish from Mkhitaryan. The Gunners then started to find their flare with chances falling constantly to the home side. They got their equaliser four minutes from Half time as a mix up at the back from the visitors allowed Giroud to smash home the leveller from no more than 2 yards.

The introduction of Santi Cazola in the second half made Arsenal more of a threat in the second forty five minutes and the little Spaniard nearly put the Gunners in front with twenty minutes to go after he smashed Mesut Ozil’s pull back against the bar but just as Arsenal pushed forward for the goal to put them in front, Dortmund threw a sucker punch by re-taking the lead and winning the game.

Group F was deemed the group of death at the start of the campaign and after three matches, the three main clubs looking to advance out of the group are level on points. For Arsenal, the competition has got tougher as they must travel to Dortmund and Naples in the coming months. It’s going to go down to the wire in this group and I can’t wait to see which way the pendulum of qualification swings towards.

It isn’t just a World Cup Qualifier tomorrow night against Poland at Wembley. For Roy Hodgson and co, its make or break time.

After a much needed victory last Friday against a spirited Montenegro side, the Three Lions can now prepare for their most crucial qualifier since Greece at Old Trafford back in 2002. That game produced one of the most memorable of memories in recent England history, David Beckham’s free kick.  Repeat of a moment like that tomorrow evening would relieve the tension surrounding Wembley Stadium.

It has been built up like a World Cup Final. England, top of the group only by a point, have to win tomorrow in order to qualify automatically. Anything else and it’s the dreaded Play-offs, a place no team wants to find themselves (unless your classed a minnow country in aspect to teams like France and Portugal). England’s rivals in group H are Ukraine. They caused the biggest problem for England last Friday by defeating Poland in Kharkiv. With San Marino there next opponents, it’s fair to say they will grab the 3 points with relative ease, which is why England have the win or bust scenario put before them.

Confidence should be high following a comfortable 4-1 win on Friday, led magnificently by the impressive debutant Andros Townsend. However it is without a shadow of a doubt the nerves will kick in in the opening stages. If England manage to score early it could be another rampant performance.

Robert Lewandowski has come out publically stating Poland are going to Wembley to win, even if they have nothing to play for. The Poland talisman has been in immaculate form for Dortmund this season and he will cause our defence problems.

Although it does look a tougher test to last week, England should have the quality to grab the much needed three points and book their place in Brazil next summer, a less then reasonable expectation is for our country to make it to the World Cup Finals.

A nation will watch on expectant of a positive result. No pressure boys….