A much more encouraging performance by Arsenal in a lot of respects, but especially confidence. Throughout the first half they were dominant and looked they'd score with every attack, but then Sunderland scored and the jitters returned. They were much better in the second half mentally and looked assured.
However. There's still a lot of problems. Defending is still not great, the last 15 minutes of the first half when the players got a bit nervous there were a number of mistakes, especially when Jenkinson got caught in possession and the keeper came out of the area.
Jenkinson played pretty well though, and that was actually his only mistake of the game, he was good going forward and his crossing was excellent apart from the one time when, paradoxically, he had time and he scuffed it. On the right particularly he had no help whatsoever from Walcott who for me was poor. Don't if his positioning is something that he's bring instructed to do because he goes up to the striker position and there's a massive gap on the right which means Jenkinson has no one to pass out, and consequently, means he has no protection from Walcott.
The main frustrating aspect for me from Arsenal in position is that there are so many times when the midfielders push too deep too quickly and the defenders have no one to pass to, Arteta and Rosicky have got to come to get the ball and make themselves available.
The only player doing this was Song but the poor guy had to perform defensive midfielder, box to box, wingbacks cover, central defender cover, he was everywhere a fantastic performance.
But of course the name on everyone's lips will of course be the captains' Robin van Persie. The man is Arsenal's best player and it shows, every touch is pure class, his goals on the day superb. It's just a shame that so often he's devoid of support and, let's face it, intelligence around him. What a difference somebody like Mata would be.
A final mention to Gervinho who had a good first half and caused all sorts if problems, disappeared after the break though.
Not much to say about Sunderland, didn't try to win the game and completely abdicated to attack, the only positives were Larsson's free kick, a moment of pure genius you'd be hard put to find a better one all season (that is until RVP in the second half!) and Sessegnon who worked really hard.
A lot still to do at Arsenal but certainly on the ascendancy.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Portugal's Euro 2012 qualifying
Now I didn't watch the game but as soon as I saw the score on skysport news my first thought was here we go again. So a few points:
1. Portugal, similarly to England, always seem to do it the hard way, it's no surprise, many times this has happened. In fact, I would say we have been spoilt of late, 15/20 years ago we did not think we should always qualify top of our groups or qualify at all! But yes, with this team we should have done better, the fault? FPF, undeniably. For sacking Queiroz at the wrong time. For hiring a poor replacement and for taking their time getting Bento in.
2. Bento. I'm not a fan, and I think the mood and confidence of the players has to be his sole responsibility. Carvalhogate. Bosingwa not called. Danny citing "personal resons" for not playing yesterday. What is going on? Also hi team selection is suspect at times but it's also up to the players to step it up.
3. Ronaldo, world class player wants to be better than Messi. For the national etam he's always poor. True, you can argue that Messi is also poor with Argentina, but I don't think you can compare his performances his national squad with Ronaldo's, they have their own problems with national managers but I would venture to say that he's done a lot better. Ronaldo always looks uninterested and down on his colleagues, he's so selfish it's untrue. It seems it was another typical performance by him yesterday.
4. Defence. To be fair to Bento, he was missing Pepe and Coentrão, by far the outstanding players. Bar Carvalho but let's not go there. But, if Portugal had a decent defensive midfielder this might be alright because he could shield the defence, the fact is we don't. You can try to play Meireles there but he's just not that sort of player, the best man for the job is Pepe, but I would like to see Ruben Amorim being tried there, unluckily for him Benfica has Javi Garcia so he never gets a look in at club level.
5. Depth. Does Portugal have enough good players to fill in when the main ones are injured? Are there any good young players around? I would say kind of and maybe. Of course the second line isn't as good as the best players, that is true of any nation in the world, does Spain have replacements for Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas that are as good as them? Of course not. Young players, well to be honest I really don't know, I have not been keeping up with the whole of portuguese leagues, but one things is for sure, the Under 20's did bloody hell in the Summer so why not? They just need their club managers to either believe in them and play them or allow to go out on loan so that they can play, many great Portuguese players benefited from going out on loan, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto e more recently Coentrão.
In summary, in an ideal world, Bento would resign and another manager would come in and rescue Carvalho from exile. Better yet, ideally, Mourinho would take over!
But seriously, Bento has to be given the chance in the play-offs, it's no shame, and Denmark are a good team, they may not have world class players but they are much of a team than Portugal have been since oh Euro 2004? Unfortunately then, Scolari was great at man management and getting a team but so bad tactically it was painful. Can we find someone in the middle?
I think with a bit of luck Portugal should win the play-offs and make it to the European Championship but I do not believe we will do all that well with Bento there and without a Team, not players, Team.
1. Portugal, similarly to England, always seem to do it the hard way, it's no surprise, many times this has happened. In fact, I would say we have been spoilt of late, 15/20 years ago we did not think we should always qualify top of our groups or qualify at all! But yes, with this team we should have done better, the fault? FPF, undeniably. For sacking Queiroz at the wrong time. For hiring a poor replacement and for taking their time getting Bento in.
2. Bento. I'm not a fan, and I think the mood and confidence of the players has to be his sole responsibility. Carvalhogate. Bosingwa not called. Danny citing "personal resons" for not playing yesterday. What is going on? Also hi team selection is suspect at times but it's also up to the players to step it up.
3. Ronaldo, world class player wants to be better than Messi. For the national etam he's always poor. True, you can argue that Messi is also poor with Argentina, but I don't think you can compare his performances his national squad with Ronaldo's, they have their own problems with national managers but I would venture to say that he's done a lot better. Ronaldo always looks uninterested and down on his colleagues, he's so selfish it's untrue. It seems it was another typical performance by him yesterday.
4. Defence. To be fair to Bento, he was missing Pepe and Coentrão, by far the outstanding players. Bar Carvalho but let's not go there. But, if Portugal had a decent defensive midfielder this might be alright because he could shield the defence, the fact is we don't. You can try to play Meireles there but he's just not that sort of player, the best man for the job is Pepe, but I would like to see Ruben Amorim being tried there, unluckily for him Benfica has Javi Garcia so he never gets a look in at club level.
5. Depth. Does Portugal have enough good players to fill in when the main ones are injured? Are there any good young players around? I would say kind of and maybe. Of course the second line isn't as good as the best players, that is true of any nation in the world, does Spain have replacements for Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas that are as good as them? Of course not. Young players, well to be honest I really don't know, I have not been keeping up with the whole of portuguese leagues, but one things is for sure, the Under 20's did bloody hell in the Summer so why not? They just need their club managers to either believe in them and play them or allow to go out on loan so that they can play, many great Portuguese players benefited from going out on loan, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto e more recently Coentrão.
In summary, in an ideal world, Bento would resign and another manager would come in and rescue Carvalho from exile. Better yet, ideally, Mourinho would take over!
But seriously, Bento has to be given the chance in the play-offs, it's no shame, and Denmark are a good team, they may not have world class players but they are much of a team than Portugal have been since oh Euro 2004? Unfortunately then, Scolari was great at man management and getting a team but so bad tactically it was painful. Can we find someone in the middle?
I think with a bit of luck Portugal should win the play-offs and make it to the European Championship but I do not believe we will do all that well with Bento there and without a Team, not players, Team.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
England to get an English Manager?
This whole idea of having an Englishman is common in England, as is common to blame the foreigners for everything, it was like that after the World Cup, too many foreign players in the league no good young talent etc. Now I know I'm biased being foreign myself, and I think this idea of blaming the foreigners it's an easy one and more of a cop out. To be fair I would probably agree that national team players and managers should be local nationals but modern football is not like that, and I have no problem with getting the best man for the job.
Which leads me to who I think SHOULD be the next England manager but won't. Unfortunately I think the FA is what's standing in the way of England's success. One has only to remember the issue with Ferdinand's drug test years ago. The FA does not want an opinionated manager that wants control over the whole of the development of English football. If they did, Mourinho would have got the job before he went to Inter after Sven left, allegedly he produced a dossier over what he wanted and needed to take England forward, it was simply too ambitious for the FA. Similarly, a man that has great knowledge of English football and players, is a good tactician and a great motivator, Martin O' Neill was also disregarded before the appointment of Capello, Martin simply takes no prisoners, that does not sit well with the powers installed at the FA. Both Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson would bed the next two outstanding choices but once again they would want to oversee and have much more control than the FA are prepared to concede.
So England will not get the best manager they should get for the role. They will get someone from outside, like Capello, attracted to the money and a chance to prove themselves internationally but that are not going to be too much of a hindrance. But obviously, because the powers that be at the FA are spineless, England will get their English manager because that's what the press and fans are calling for, regardless of their suitability for the role. Redknapp would do well to motivate and lift the spirits of the players and deal with national press, but I fear he would be found wanting against the good teams tactically. Pearce, who is being groomed right now for job is I think the most likely candidate, he's an unknown quantity but he does have a lot of passion and has worked with good managers.
The other English managers, or British even, I fear are not qualified, simply because in fairness to most of them, they have not the chance to prove themselves, Allardyce, Pulis, Coyle, Pardew, even Moyes, all of whom have done great jobs but never at a top team. The most qualified is of course Steve McLaren who did well with Twente, but has once again self-destructed his career with catastrophic appointments at Wolfsburg and Forest.
England do really need a Mourinho or a Wenger, someone to think long-term, who can take risks, can handle big egos, and reform the system. But before that can happen the FA must change first.
Which leads me to who I think SHOULD be the next England manager but won't. Unfortunately I think the FA is what's standing in the way of England's success. One has only to remember the issue with Ferdinand's drug test years ago. The FA does not want an opinionated manager that wants control over the whole of the development of English football. If they did, Mourinho would have got the job before he went to Inter after Sven left, allegedly he produced a dossier over what he wanted and needed to take England forward, it was simply too ambitious for the FA. Similarly, a man that has great knowledge of English football and players, is a good tactician and a great motivator, Martin O' Neill was also disregarded before the appointment of Capello, Martin simply takes no prisoners, that does not sit well with the powers installed at the FA. Both Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson would bed the next two outstanding choices but once again they would want to oversee and have much more control than the FA are prepared to concede.
So England will not get the best manager they should get for the role. They will get someone from outside, like Capello, attracted to the money and a chance to prove themselves internationally but that are not going to be too much of a hindrance. But obviously, because the powers that be at the FA are spineless, England will get their English manager because that's what the press and fans are calling for, regardless of their suitability for the role. Redknapp would do well to motivate and lift the spirits of the players and deal with national press, but I fear he would be found wanting against the good teams tactically. Pearce, who is being groomed right now for job is I think the most likely candidate, he's an unknown quantity but he does have a lot of passion and has worked with good managers.
The other English managers, or British even, I fear are not qualified, simply because in fairness to most of them, they have not the chance to prove themselves, Allardyce, Pulis, Coyle, Pardew, even Moyes, all of whom have done great jobs but never at a top team. The most qualified is of course Steve McLaren who did well with Twente, but has once again self-destructed his career with catastrophic appointments at Wolfsburg and Forest.
England do really need a Mourinho or a Wenger, someone to think long-term, who can take risks, can handle big egos, and reform the system. But before that can happen the FA must change first.
Friday, September 23, 2011
The First Clássico FC Porto - SL Benfica
Eve though I didn't watch the first half I thought Benfica played pretty well. Prior to the game I had predicted a 1-1 draw, and I think the 2-2 draw reflects the parity of the two teams.
What most impressed me about Benfica was their composure, coming out of the interval 1-0 down, then equalising but going behind almost immediately, but never lost their cool just kept plugging away and plugging away and found a second to equalise, a pretty decent goal by Gaitan after a great pass by Saviola.
I was surprised Jorge Jesus replaced Nolito and Aimar when he decided to make changes and bring on Saviola and Bruno César, I thought he might replaced Witsel instead and perhaps Gaitan, as Nolito was looking quite dangerous and had just provided the pass to Cardozo´s first goal in the Estádio do Dragão. I guess the manager wanted to keep tactic discipline with Javi Garcia and Witsel in the middle and Saviola certainly plays closer to Cardozo than Aimar. Gaitan looks better on the left (after all he played there all last season) and his movement and finish for the goal was good, Jesus read the game well and his decisions worked.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The foolishness of the Press
We all know fans can be fickle and the Press can exaggerate but it's difficult not to be swayed by the myriad inundation of news and reports and opinions, and as a fan to be content with being patient and not be disgruntled when the team underperforms.
I don't want to over emphasise this point or labour on it too much, I'll just leave a concrete example of how wrong people can get it sometimes.
The idea to write this post comes as I depart for holiday to Portugal tomorrow, having had to postpone my trip that stopped me from being at Estádio da Luz for Benfica- Manchester United tonight, so I was reading on the result of 2005 when Benfica against all odds manage to stage an unlikely turnaround and win the game. I have since found out that it was the only time Benfica had done so and I was lucky to have been present in the stadium that night, with friends, and the feeling of exultation was palpable, regardless of how transient and deserved it was.
A particular report, I was reading just now, had launched a scathing attack on Sir Alex Ferguson. The year was 2005, Manchester United were in middle of a barren spell without wining the league, and the writing for this reporter was on the wall: "There will be a reckoning that takes place in private and it is likely to see Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure at Manchester United terminated at the close of the season."
These are strong opening words from someone at The Guardian, a newspaper I generally hold in high regard, but not reporter is free from doom scenarios and indeed being wrong. It's hard not to draw parallels with Arsenal's current situation. Manchester United were experiencing difficult years, stories of Ferguson's retirement abounded and the club had just recently been bought by the Glazers. Chelsea's dominance since the arrival of Abramovich and particularly José Mourinho meant that it was difficult to look beyond Chelsea for a credible alternative to the title, and it looked as though Manchester United were a club on the downside, a manager on the brink of either retiring or being sacked, a club in financial peril due to the amount of debt the owners that transferred to the club.
Well, two years later, Ferguson found the winning formula once again and the turned the club around, going on to win the Premiership three years in a row and last year also, managing to reach the final of the Champions League three times and winning it once.
It's true that Arsenal's barren spell has lasted longer, six years not four, the club has also been bought and it looks incapable of competing with the best teams in the league, moreover, Arsenal has to contend not only with Chelsea and Abramovich, but also Manchester City and their owners from Abu Dhabi who seemingly have even deeper pockets than the Russian in London.
But, with UEFA's new financial regulations coming to play next year it could yet prove that Arsenal's sustainable model may prevail, and the team, though less apparently competitive than in previous years has shown last night that it is good enough for the likes of the German champions, which for a team that has had their confidence shattered by a freak 8-2 three weeks ago is no mean feat.
In conclusion, do not believe all the press says at face value, and do not despair after one bad result, even a poor season. Sir Alex Ferguson is the proof that faith in a successful manager means that quite likely he'll know what to do to make the team return to glory and trophies.
Link to The Guardian report:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/dec/08/match.manchesterunited
Monday, August 29, 2011
Chaos at Arsenal - Part 2
So, who or what is the cause for the team doing so badly?
I think the senior players for one have found if difficult to keep motivated and have looked at the way the club being run and they are not stupid, they know it's going downhill and see no investment coming in. Kind of reminds me of Rooney not so long ago, he clearly was trying to force a move last year because he saw what Man City were doing, and he knew he needed to move to win trophies unless United started to seriously invest. Luckily for United, Rooney was high profile and good enough to force something like that. And the club have invested heavily, although they still had success last year. I do wonder though, was it all Rooney's doing, did he think all that all for himself, did he really want to leave or was it a bluff? Or, rather, was it a concerted bluff and scare tactic by ol' willy fox Ferguson and Rooney to scare the board and force their hand? One things is for sure, they, Man U, board and manager, convinced him to stay and have invested by buying the best English talent available in the land. Could Arsenal do the same financially?
I wrote a post a few days ago about the financial implications of a new stadium and I stand by that. But I have researched the financial situation at Arsenal a bit more and it's all all that clear. The stadium seems to be by and large now pretty much generating enough revenue and the club self-sufficient. It seems that since 2006/2007 the club and the new stadium's revenues are enough to cope with the clubs debts and mortgage repayments, with a net profit that year of about £37 million. So clearly, this is not the whole story.
That year the senior team's net transfer was -£836K and the following season £24.8M. Making money in the transfer market. Great, if you want to increase the club's revenues. But what about performances on the pitch? Well, Arsenal were doing well enough, there had been a couple of years with no trophies but too early to worry about it. Please see below Net transfer Spending over the next few years in comparison to the closest competitors Manchester United and Chelsea:
Arsenal
07/08 -£24.8M (profit)
08/09 £14.4M
09/10 -£31.4M (profit)
10/11 £12.4M
11/12 -£37M (profit)
Man U
07/08 £52.0M
08/09 £33.2M
09/10 -£67.8M (Ronaldo's freak transfer of £80M)
10/11 £9.8M
11/12 £40.3M
Chelsea
07/08 £14.0M
08/09 - £11.9M (profit)
09/10 £21.7M
10/11 £96.8M
11/12 £41.9M
A lot of profit there for sure, but is the team good enough? Well, no, and everyone knows this, but in Arséne we trust. And you know what, so we should, because let's be honest and clear about this, for a team to have done that well and stay competitive is a massive feat. One may go as far as say that they have over-performed, well and above their capabilities. Similarly to Everton, a lot of credit has to be given to the manager to ahve done as well as they did with the resources they have. But, and this is the clincher, like a an elastic band, you can stretch and stretch and if you are careful and really good stretch some more, but eventually it will invariably break.
Arsenal's tether has broken. In the most spectacular fashion yesterday.
So, when Fabregas said he wanted to leave last year, Wenger managed to persuade him to stay, and to be fair Arsenal did ok, but the squad was just not good enough to cope with four competitions. When this Summer come around everyone knew that Fabregas would go, it was a case of waiting for Barcelona to come in with an offer, clearly with their new chairman they were less inclined to pay £40M plus. So why wasn't Favregas swayed this time around? And why did Nasri suddenly decided to move? And Clichy? Why didn't Arsene persuade his players to stay? Couldn't Arsenal do the same as United and Ferguson did with Rooney financially? Or wouldn't? I think the net transfer spending tells you that Arsenal have not spent big on any players, but why wouldn't they spend to keep their best players?
Well, an interesting development this week, a blog suggested that it had information from a source inside the club that the club's board and the manager were at loggerheads over the wage structure. Which was promptly denied by an email from the club.
The fact remains, why doesn't Arsenal spend money on players? Is the official line of developing, and not going crazy and get over-priced players the reality? Or just part of the story? Even if that were true why are players wanting to leave? Worse still, why can't they be persuaded to stay? Suddenly wages seem to start making a whole lot of sense. Arsenal can and could afford the fee for Mata, yet he goes to Chelsea, where he's wasted not time showing how good he is and will be. So why? Chelsea are more likely to win the title yes, but Arsenal were after him for weeks and much before Chelsea showed any interest, and yet as soon as you heard that they were interested he had signed for them already. Was he simply offered a better contract from the off?
Now you can say all you want about player power and the obscene amounts they get paid, but at the end of the day, this is the game, it comes down to whether you want to play it or not. You want the best players you have to pay for them, either in fees or wages or both. Sometimes you don't have to spend insane amounts but sometimes you have to invest to get a return. It seems that for years Arsene Wenger has refused to play the game, and I always thought that the man has a philosophy and a degree in Economy he knows what he is doing. But I now start to wonder if everything has gone exactly as he wanted over the last few years. I start to wonder how much of this "philosophy" is his or the boards. He knows football he knows he needs players, better than anyone, I think he has hidden the fact that he as been constrained all these years.
In my recent research another fact emerges, and the timing of it is clear. I said and I thought that the stadium was a massive investment, which it is, and that was seven years ago, but clearly the club is making money, so what has happened since 2007? Any Arsenal supporter will tell you, David Dein has left the club. He seems to be somewhat of a controversial figure in football but it is undeniable that he has been a key man in shaping both Arsenal and English football, from the creation of the Premier League, to bringing Wenger to Arsenal, creating a self-sustained modern club with a new and expensive stadium. More fundamentally though seems to be his instrumental role is securing big name players for the club, something that has been sorely lacking for years now.
I have also found out that one of the main reasons for Henry's departure was David Dein's leaving the club. This was something I had not realised at the time, and I remember thinking at the time that he would never leave, not Thierry Henry and being completely dumbfounded and in disbelief when he did leave. apparently other players expressed their concern and going to the extremes of saying that the when he take away the foundations of a building it will eventually topple.
Has Dein's departure been the start of the erosion of the club's fundamental blocks? Did Arsene lose his main ally that day? The reason for his leaving are also both interesting and mysterious. Irreconcilable differences with the board, a strange reason for someone that had been so influential. Apparently he wanted Usmanov to invest in the club thereby allowing the club the necessary revenue to be able to invest the team and compete with the other big-spenders, after all the club was self-sufficient it was now time for some serious spending in the football players. He cannot fault his logic, but his was not what the board wanted, no, Arsenal could not become Chelsea, in essence, owned by a foreign investor. And so four years later, instead of Usmanov who had Dein and wanted to invest heavily in the club, the club's main shareholders sold the bulk of the club to another foreign owner, the American Kroenke who somehow managed to have the board on his side and convinced them he was the man for the job not Usmanov. The reason for this is unclear. Kroenke has business nous and is very rich, but Usmanov is one of the richest man on the planet, so why? In a further twist, by buying so many of Arsenal's shares, 66.1% he had to make an hostile bid for the remaining shares of 30% but Usmanov refused to sell, as he was caught completely in the dark by Kroenke's move and felt betrayed and that the board had conspired against him. I think that particular saga is not over and Usmanov is not a man to be taken lightly, he has been outmaneuvered and he last some influence, but he still owns 30% of the club.
Among the boardroom wars, poor Arsene Wenger has had to make do, and reportedly, wanted a bigger wage structure to both attract and keep the best players. He has not been allowed to do so but he has stoically kept positive and has tried to minimise the situation and has not blamed the board, but it became clear yesterday how bad things have got.
Wenger though, I think has to take some responsibility as well, for producing teams incapable of defending, being poor without the ball and dealing with set pieces. Mentally as well, he keeps talking how good the team is, because he knows how important it is, but surely he knows that they are in fact quiet weak and that's why he keeps talking about it, and I am surprised no one in the press has picked up on this.
There were key moment's in Arsenal's mental self-destruction: Eduardo's injury affected the team so badly that for at least two years they were shell-shocked and Gallas agony on the pitch who was supposed to be the captain was a symptom of the team's mental weakness. Even before that, with the great team of Invincibles, the following season, after they lost convincingly 4-2 to Manchester United they could not pick themselves up. Then last season, a make or break for Arsenal, and key for the continuance of Fabregas, the team mounted a spirited fightback since January and were in contention in four fronts, but the hapless Koscielny makes a mistake in the League Cup final that both he and the team failed to recover from, it was as if the bottom had fell out, and systematically they lost their chance in all competitions, a malaise that has transferred over to this year.
In summary, a host of reasons and protagonists, silent and otherwise, and maybe, a result yesterday that needed to happen. Maybe, just maybe, the club, the board, the manager and the players wake up in time to turn things around. We wait and see. Maybe Usmanov will decide that enough is enough and will buy out Kroenke and bring David Dein back. Or maybe the board will sack Arsene Wenger. Or Wenger will sign a handful of players but without addressing the deep-lying problems Arsenal will never recover in time to compete with the likes of United, City and Chelsea, and perhaps even Liverpool.
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