Friday 8 June 2012

Euro fever


Dimitris Salpingidis changed the game for Greece

I’ve well and truly been taken down by European Championship fever.

You know you’ve got it bad when Poland vs Greece – a fixture you wouldn’t usually pay any attention to whatsoever- takes on Champions League final-like significance. When your non-football loving friends ask you how you’re spending your Friday night you look at them as if it’s the stupidest question on the planet.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been starved of football for two weeks. Suddenly questions like, ‘Will Polish striker Robert Lewandowski justify being linked to Manchester United?’ Or, ‘Is the Greek defence – which conceded just five goals in qualifying – good enough to help them repeat their shock win in 2004’, have taken upmost precedent in my mind.

Football – or to be more specific – a major international tournament can do this to you. Spotting the ‘next big thing’ is too tempting, ensuring you do your best to watch every minute of every game, even it means sneaking out of work half an hour early to make sure you make the 5pm kick off times.

Most eyes were on Lewandowski during the opening game of the Championships. He certainly looks the part. His movement and touch make it clear to see how he’s scored 30 goals for his club, German champions Borussia Dortmund this season. His goal against Greece showed a striking instinct but the game also highlighted, like most strikers, he relies heavily on service. He is not the sort of striker to fathom something out of nothing and the 23-year-old went missing for long periods when his side needed him most. One thing is for certain the hosts will need him at his best if they are to progress to the quarter-finals.

Perhaps the power of the Euros is best summed up by the fact that Dimitris Salpingidis is now a household name. Before the match the PAOK forward was an unknown, now he could be a possible transfer target for half the Premier League after changing the game following his introduction at half-time to see the Greeks come from behind to draw 1-1.

I’d better get off and prepare for Russia vs Czech Republic. Why? To see if Russia’s Alan Dzagoev is the real deal and whether Andrey Arshavin has really rediscovered his Arsenal form of his first season. Why else? 

Thursday 12 April 2012

Ruud hails time at United


Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has described his time at Old Trafford as like ‘living a dream’.

For the Dutchman, goalscoring wasn’t just a habit it was a necessity. Van Nistelrooy struck 150 goals in five seasons for United making him the club’s 11th all-time top scorer.

However, it wasn’t just his awesome record in front of goal that endeared him to United fans. The sheer passion with which he celebrated each time he hit the back of the net struck a chord with Red Devils fan across the world.

Now plying his trade for Spanish Primera League side Malaga, after spells with Real Madrid and Hamburg, Van Nistelrooy still looks back on his time at the Theatre of Dreams with fondness.

“It was a fantastic five years,” he told Inside United. “It was crazy, all the games we played in the league and in the Champions League. As a football player, playing for United at Old Trafford, it was something crazy and it felt like a dream at the time. Now, looking back, it is even more special because it was really successful and exceptional.”

Having won Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup titles at United it is perhaps no surprise Van Nistelrooy enjoyed his time at the club but he does admit to one regret.

“My relationship with the fans was really special,” he added. “From the first day I signed it was there and it just gives you that extra 10 to 20 per cent on the pitch home and away. My relationship with the fans was special and that’s why leaving in the way I did was, and still is, a real shame for me because I couldn’t really say goodbye to them. It was my only regret that it went like that and it’s a real shame that it happened, particularly for the fans as I saw the players and the people at the club before I left but I never got a chance to properly say goodbye to the fans.”

Despite being in the twilight of his career Van Nistelrooy is still doing what he does best – scoring goals. The 35-year-old has scored twice in his last three games to keep mega-rich Malaga well and truly in the hunt for a Champions League place. Unsurprisingly Van Nistelrooy is making the most of every kick at this late stage of his career.

“Malaga is the perfect place for me to be at the moment,” he said. “I am enjoying every moment here and I am enjoying the project (Malaga were bought by a member of the Qatari Royal family in 2010, with plans to bring UCL football to the Spanish club), the club and the young squad that we have, so yes, I am enjoying every moment of it.”

For the full interview buy a copy of this month’s Inside United magazine.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Spent force?


Fast-forward to Saturday 1 September 2012. Having failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League the previous season, the transfer window has slammed shut with Arsenal’s captain and talisman Robin Van Persie hot footing it to Barcelona, after a drawn out transfer saga that has lasted much of the summer, leaving the Gunners with little or no time to sign a replacement.
   Back to the present day and Arsenal still possess an outside chance of finishing fourth. But Van Persie, with just one more year left on his contract, is more likely to fancy his chances of winning silverware at the Nou Camp or fellow admirers Manchester City after eight, mostly pot-less, years at the Emirates.
   If, and it is still an ‘if’, Van Persie leaves it will no doubt fuel Gunners fans to ring up any radio phone-in show that will listen to label the move as further proof of the club’s falling stock in English football. But would the North London club be as worse off as first feared without the deadly Dutchman?
   In Jack Wilshere they have a player in which to mould a team around. The loss of Wilshere, to injury for the whole season, has arguably hit the team harder than the sales of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri last summer. The young midfielder has proven he is more than comfortable playing at the highest level, having not looked out of place amongst pass-masters Xavi and Andres Iniesta as Arsenal beat Barcelona 2-1 in the last-16 of last season’s Champions League. Wilshere has also made his mark on the international stage, so much so that experts are still, optimistically, hopeful that the 20-year-old will play some part in this summer’s European Championships.
   Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another who has shown, in just a handful of first-team appearances, that he is the real deal. The former Southampton trainee is reminiscent of a young Wayne Rooney, not just in his broad physique, but also for the way that he tramples over more experienced opponents’ reputations with little or no regard. Not too much should be read into the forward’s brace against an inexperienced Blackburn backline at the weekend but his performance against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra seven days previously prove that the Englishman is ready for regular first-team football.
   Add Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain to an already strong spine of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, centre-backs Thomas Vermaelen and the ever improving Laurent Koscienlny and the outstanding Alexandre Song and you have the makings of a strong team capable of, at least, qualifying for a top four place.
   Of course if Van Persie does leave the capital the Gunners will need to replace his goals. Oxlade-Chamberlain will chip in with his fair share but with Theo Walcott showing no signs of growing out of his infuriatingly inconsistent form Wenger knows Van Persie will have to be replaced. A target man such as Fernando Llorente would fit the bill perfectly while Porto’s Hulk could be another option and both wouldn’t have to break the bank – a fact that will most please Wenger.
   Granted, Wenger will need to strengthen in key areas if they are to end their six-year wait for a trophy but the Gunners have more than enough in their ranks to be a force once more even if Van Persie decides the grass is greener in Catalonia or Manchester. The bigger question will be whether Wenger is given even more time to construct another great side or if the disgruntled voices of a possible Van Persie sale will persuade him to try his hand at managing elsewhere…. the Bernabeu perhaps?  

Friday 20 January 2012

Patience is a virtue


It’s a sad state of affairs when a youngster with just three first team games to his name won’t sign a contract for anything less than a reported £30k a week.

It’s even worse when you consider the club - Manchester United - and the manager – Sir Alex Ferguson – has one of the best reputations for bringing through youngsters in the last 20 years. In simple terms arguably only Barcelona have a better record at producing players for the first team. However, all of that doesn’t seem good enough for 18-year-old Ravel Morrison.

Morrison denies making such - to use Ferguson’s own words - ‘unrealistic’ claims insisting, via his private Twitter account, that any offer, let alone one for 30k a week, is yet to be forthcoming.

Newspapers claim that United have offered the troublesome teenager a meagre £12k a week but for a club that has stood by Morrison through some dark times surely the attacking midfielder should be asking ‘where do I sign’ rather than questioning the amount on the table. 

Contract issues aside if Morrison is to be as good as people in the know will have you believe it should only be a matter of time before he begins to stamp his authority on the first team. After all the likes of Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney had all established themselves at United and Everton respectively by the time they had reached Morrison’s age. If Morrison is to live up to his billing – and that is a big ‘IF’ – and be considered in the same class as the likes of Giggs and Rooney he will surely be paid what he deserves sooner rather than later. However, it seems patience is a virtue that is lost on the younger generation.

If Morrison is to be believed and no contract has even been tabled it begs the question as to whether United are using the ‘contract negotiations’ as a smokescreen and washing their hands of the youngster once and for all.  

Despite his lack of first team football Red Devils fans got more than a glimpse of the England youth international in United’s recent Carling Cup exit against Crystal Palace. Morrison came off the bench at half-time with the score at 0-0 and despite the odd flick here and there did little to influence the outcome of the game during the second period and subsequent extra time. Harsh? Maybe but would a young, upcoming Giggs, Scholes or Rooney have made a positive impact on the same game? Almost certainly.

Morrison’s chances of making it at United now look slim to none but what is almost certain is that the youngster will end up making millions out of the game, probably moving from one club to another with each new manager believing they can be the one to curb his off-pitch antics. The saddest thing is that Morrison will probably deem that a success when he could have earned something far more valuable by becoming a hero at Old Trafford.