Monday 19 March 2007

Cup Magic


England manager Steve Mclaren will tonight be sweating over whether six of his first teamers come through their respective F.A cup replays unscathed ahead of England's crucial European Championship qualifier away to Israel this Saturday.

After drawing the original games Manchester United, Middlesborough, Chelsea and Tottenham will all do battle for a second time tonight with Boro travelling to Old Trafford and Chelsea to make the short trip to White Hart Lane.

Six of Mclaren's first choice 11 look set for action tonight as captain John Terry and Frank Lampard line up against Goalkeeper Paul Robinson and winger Aaron Lennon while Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney could figure against Boro.

If both replays are anything like the first games then we are in for two cracking games of football. Boro manager Gareth Southgate has shown that he means business after resting Jonathon Woodgate and Mark Viduka at the weekend.

Meanwhile Sir Alex has today said he will use the fringe players in tonight's encounter and show confidence in his whole squad. Sir Alex has stated that the cup is high on his agenda as a second treble remains on the cards.

Spurs will be looking to make it second time lucky against Chelsea after leading 3-1 for long periods at the Bridge. Spurs seemed in control and only looked vulnerable when Martin Jol took off instrumental striker Berbatov and live wire winger Aaron Lennon.

It seems hard to look beyond United and Chelsea getting through but if the games are anything like the first ties then football is surely the winner although Steve Mclaren may not agree.

Monday 12 March 2007

Wembley


The home of football is finally ready, so the powers that be tell us. Multiplex the firm who have, putting it bluntly messed-up over the whole stadium fiasco have finally handed the keys for the stadium over to Mr Barwick and his fellow chums at the F.A.

The stadium has taken an astonishing SIX years to complete plunging the F.A into billions of pounds worth of debt, compare this to Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium, finished and ready to play in within a year and you get the drift.

With England underperforming in ALL THREE major tournaments during the six years the fans patience has been pushed to the brink culminating in one big public consensus of, "This better be one hell of a stadium."

Both the F.A and Multiplex seem to be making all the right noises for now, the new Wembley seems set to host the 2007 F.A Cup Final giving this years competition an extra edge. Its seems that everyone is expecting a flash finale at the new home of football.

But maybe the the bigwigs of the F.A are not telling us something, for one, the F.A have pre-booked The Millennium Stadium in case by some un-beknown reason the new Wembley is not ready yet again.

Secondly I have a little insight into what is going on behind the scenes at this present moment. The F.A have led us to believe that the finishing touches are in place, the final lick of paint getting applied as we speak. This couldn't be further from the truth.

My brother was fortunate enough to win a competition which enabled him and four of his mates to be the first people to grace the hallowed turf when he asked a man with "Supervisor" on his jacket he asked, "So mate, will the stadium be finished in time for this year." his reply...... a raucous laugh.

Read into it what you will, but better book the hotel in Cardiff, just in case.

Thursday 8 March 2007

Formation's


If players at the top of the game are really that good then it begs the question do formations matter? If a player is so technically skilled then surely they should be able to play in a number of positions and any type of system. An argument against this theory would be Manchester United.

The Red's are considered alongside Arsenal as the most entertaining team to watch in the Barclays Premiership having scored more goals than any other team.

Fans are left spell bound at the sides slick passing and fast counter attacking football. Domestically United line up in the traditional 4-4-2 formation but in the Champions League it is a different story.

A few years ago Sir Alex Ferguson came out with the statement that United were too easy to figure out in Europe so he decided to change the way the team play.

Ferguson experimented with 4-5-1 or how he described 4-3-3. The system failed to make an impact and the striker at the time Ruud Van Nistelrooy cut a lonesome figure upfront on his own as the teams fluidity disappeared in an instant.

Even though the system has failed in terms of results (this being the clubs first quarter final appearance since 2003 in the Champions League) Ferguson persists on this more conservative 4-5-1 formation on the continent.

With only one position available upfront Wayne Rooney has found himself stuck out on the left or right wing tracking back whenever the opposition has the ball. Surely Sir Alex is doing his opponents a favour as one of the sides most creative players has to spend as much time in the his own half as he does in the oppositions.

Rooney clearly does not relish this role but he does it for the team. It is even more frustrating when people criticise his goal record in the competition, surely a little common sense should prevail. Rooney has only played in his favoured strikers position a handful of times in the competition.

Maybe its time for Sir Alex to listen to the fans and play with the attacking 4-4-2 style that has seen us destroy teams in the Premiership after all how can one of the most entertaining teams domestically come over all Jekyll and Hyde and become so boring in Europe.

Monday 5 March 2007

Its a Squad Game


Champions League football returns to our television screens this week and my own team Manchester United host French side Lille leading 1-0 from the contraversial first leg in Lens.

Its is now the crucial part of the season where titles are decided and cups are won and where a large squad is most important.

Jose Mourinho took the squad game to new levels and used Abramovich's millions wisely to purchase two top class players for each position. An injury to Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge steps in, goalkeeper Petr Cech picks up a knock and Carlo Cudicini goes between the sticks.

Perhaps a reason why Chelsea have slipped behind Manchester United this season is because key squad players have been let go following recent success. Damien Duff, Glen Johnson, Hernan Crespo and Tiago were all allowed to leave the Bridge for relatively low fees.

Going back to my team Manchester United and we see squad players such as John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher receiving stick from many sections of United fans even though both are internationals for their respective countries.

Being a semi-professional footballer myself and being a season ticker holder at the Theatre of Dreams I fully appreciate the levels of skill and technique it takes to make it to the top of the game.

What is evident is the way the players have full confidence in each others ability to deal with any kind of pass as balls are fired into each other at rocket speeds.

The way that O'Shea and Fletcher are treated by their team mates highlights that some of the fans views are not shared by United's more illustrious stars. Both are popular members within the squad and would be welcomed in any other Premiership side.

Any barracking from the terraces does not seem to have damaged their confidence, O'Shea in particular recently scoring the winner at Anfield which surely keeps him safe from the more fickle fans......just for now.

Back to this weeks match with Lille and Sir Alex Ferguson may well utilise his squad further and we may well see the likes of Fletcher and O'Shea from the start.

So instead of having a moan and a groan when you see the number 24 shirt instead of the unmistakable number 7 of United think how good you really must be to be playing in front of 76,000 fans on a regular basis.