The Return of Tevez

The Return of Tevez

Since his unlikely return to Manchester, Carlos Tevez has been a huge influence on the fatigued and down beat side we saw less than two months ago; however is it too late for City to claw back the five point gap? And would it all have been different if Tevez had been treated less antagonistically by the manager and the club?

After Tevez was essentially told to leave Manchester by the club many City fans must have wondered where the goals would be coming from in what many hoped could prove to be a key season in City’s rise to becoming a European force. Mancini insisted he was the victim and I am sure he knew it extremely foolish to tell a player who has scored a prolific forty seven goals in seventy two games for the club to just leave. Despite the Argentineans outlandish behaviour which faced heavy scrutiny from pundits and fans, I believe a heavy fine and two week ban would have sufficed. It also led me to think whether Mancini, an experienced manager who is well aware of Tevez’s ability, would have been so naive to sacrifice twenty odd goals in vital games and putting his own job at risk over a “misunderstanding”. This begs the question, where does the real power lie at City; with the manager, or with the money?

After his recent antics Tevez has proven to be a liability despite his amazing knack for scoring goals. This led me to believe selling Tevez was another savvy move from Alex Ferguson, who over the years has earned the reputation of being the shrewdest Premier League manager in the transfer market. In addition during the Tevez and Mancini feud Ferguson came out saying he could have signed Tevez if he had acted more quickly. This is yet another acute move by Ferguson declaring he could have had him if he wanted suggesting he still has a huge amount of influence over City players. I have always thought highly of Tevez as he not only has a superb work ethic (subsequently earning him the “Bulldog” nickname) but has shown he battles for his team. He certainly this showed when he first moved to England as he singlehandedly kept West Ham in the Premier League immediately proving he could cut it at the highest level.

I think Mancini has received significant pressure from the City owners to get Tevez back as they have slumped since Christmas. This makes me think maybe Mancini is the victim in this whole situation as he was bullied to get rid of Tevez in the first place after it was the owners who ultimately told him to leave. In addition key players such as Yaya Toure (who is reportedly on over £200,000 a week) have underperformed and club captain Vincent Kompany and big money forward Sergio Aguero have both had long term injuries. These players’ replacements have just not been at a title winning standard with centre-half Stefan Savic and winger Adam Johnson having poor seasons. With Tevez now seemingly firing on all cylinders after his recent hatrick against Norwich, Mancini is surely set for more criticism as many fans and pundits will begin to wonder whether if Tevez would have made a significant difference to City’s season.

I am sure that he would have made a difference to City’s season and that the Argentinean partnership of him and Aguero would have more prolific than Balotelli and Dzecko have been this season however I am in full defence of Mancini. He has been insulted by Tevez and has had his authority undermined by the owners and players yet he has still kept City in the fight for the title. My view is that City’s problems this season go much deeper than Tevez’s prolonged absence and these problems must be addressed by the club and the manager before next season. If they finish the season strongly, keep Tevez on side, replace the “deadwood” (Dzecko), address their lack of squad depth and the owners come out giving Mancini full backing then I am sure they are in for a revolutionary 2012/2013 season. After it taking nearly 6 months for Tevez and Mancini to make up, the City fans have every right to think “what was it all for?”

 If you have any views on this subject and agree or disagree with any of my opinions please let me know in the comments

Capello resignation and who will be next?

After over four years in charge the sixty-five year old Italian resigned from his role as England manager after an argument with the FA over the removal of John Terry’s captaincy. Capello began his England career in 2007 nine months before the 2010 world cup qualifying campaign began and gained early success winning the group with ease and only loosing one match. Through his disciplinarian like approach he had already managed to stamp his authority on a squad which had struggled to gel under Capello’s predecessor Steve McLaren, and England looked set to challenge for a spot in at least the semi-finals in South Africa. However before even arriving in at their training camp for the upcoming tournament Capello had to deal with heavy media attention due to controversy surrounding a number of England squad members. England struggled to score throughout the tournament with Rooney failing to get on the score sheet and Terry spoke out criticizing the atmosphere in the England camp. After scraping through the group stages England got knocked out in the first knockout round to a far superior German outfit, who quite frankly embarrassed England in a 4-1 thrashing in Bloemfontein. This appeared to be a turning point in Capello’s reign as the media were already, after only his first major tournament in charge, on his back. He didn’t help himself by publishing the “Capello Index” where the Italian and his coaching staff rated each squad member on their performance during the Finals in South Africa however this backfired as the Media got hold of the document and published it on a website publicly humiliating all the players. Despite this act of carelessness the Italian was offered a contract that would see him through until after Euro 2012 when the FA would then make an informed decision on his role as manager based on the teams performance at that summers tournament. Suddenly things were looking up for England as they recorded wins against Sweden as well as world and European champions Spain. However after an incident between Chelsea captain John Terry and QPR’s Anton Ferdinand a court case was due to start on the 1st February 2012 after Terry allegedly made racist remarks towards his compatriot. However the case was adjourned until July 9^th 2012 which was seen by fans as an odd decision considering that it had been rescheduled after this summer’s tournament. This was a major set back for the Italian manger as it was sure to create tension in the England camp leading up to the Euros and with no decision being made Capello would have to decide whether to keep Terry as captain or strip him of the armband. Despite many calling for Terry to be dropped from the squad all together, Capello came out supporting him saying “innocent until proven guilty.” Although Capello had supported the Chelsea Captain in the past this was a shock to fans and the FA alike and flared up much media speculation over the Italians role as manager. With the controversy potentially jeopardising England’s chances at this Summers Tournament the FA decided to strip Terry of the armband despite the court case not taking place until after the tournament, undermining Capello’s decision to keep him as captain for the Euros. It did not take long for Capello to voice his opinion on the FA’s decision and was clearly outraged that he his had been overruled and that his role as manager had been severely undermined. I believe it fair to say that not many expected the Italian to resign after what just seemed to be a disagreement that would blow over before the tournament however after four years and 42 games in charge the Capello resigned as England manager.

In my opinion the cause of this was the ridiculous adjuror of the court case which would have bought an end to the situation involving Terry and if he were to be found guilty Capello would have been left with the easy decision to remove Terry’s captaincy. In addition I believe the lack of communication between the FA and Capello was a prime factor in his resignation and something that the FA have admitted needs to be addressed in future appointments. It goes with out saying that the FA should have discussed their thoughts surrounding the issue with Capello before making the decision as this clearly undermines his role as manager. However if there is a positive to get out of this situation it is that with Terry no longer captain and maybe even out of the squad altogether, there should be no controversy looming over England building up to the Euro’s. This year there is no excuse to not reach at least the quarters and although we may not have a squad of young talents like Spain or Germany we know that when each of the players in the England squad play well we are more than capable of beating those sides. Oh and then there is the small problem of finding a manager.

Who’s next

Media speculation points towards Harry Redknapp as being the next England boss and if the FA have any sense they would waste no time in trying to get him on board. Harry is not only the fan favourite but is also being favoured by the players to be the next national boss with Rooney and Ferdinand both tweeting about how he would be their choice for the job. Not only would Harry’s communication with the players be far superior to his predecessor but I believe the FA would find him far more approachable which is obviously vital when dealing with such a prestigious national side. In addition his straight talking approach towards the media would go down much better with the fans and players compared to Capello’s mind games that used to put across mixed messages. On a negative note Harry has no experience in International football and his love of “wheelin deals” in the transfer market may be a deciding factor on whether he leaves the Tottenham. Unlike Capello, Redknapp has little experience of winning trophies with Harry only winning one trophy (FA Cup with Portsmouth) in his 30 odd year career. However this may not matter because as Capello proved just because you have won trophies in the past doesn’t necessarily mean you can repeat that. I hope you have enjoyed this article and please let me know your views on Capello and who you think should be the next England manager.

The Blues flattered by 3-0 scoreline as they come out victors of group E

With Andre Villas-Boas in great danger of being Abramovich's next managerial victim, it was of great importance for his Chelsea side to secure qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Villas-Boas had come under much criticism after Chelsea's mediocre season and has come under scrutiny for being too inexperienced and out of his depth at such a big club. The Blues came into Wednesday's match needing a win or a goal scoring draw in order to qualify however they had only managed a one all draw with the Spanish side back in September. There was a great atmosphere in West London as the 42,000 seater stadium was packed out. I was hopeful of the result as our defense seemed to be improving and David Luis had made less mistakes in the three nil win over Newcastle a few days previously. I was also pleased to see Ivanovic starting at right back as i believe he is highly underrated and is always solid for Chelsea regardless of the position he is played in. The pre-match tension had built up as everybody knew the first goal was vital. Three minutes in Drogba showed that despite not having the same pace he did five seasons ago, he is still a world class finisher as he calmly finessed his shot unfazed by the defenders around him. I was pleased to see that after the goal Chelsea pursued a second and did not try and sit back and defend a one goal lead. Romeru  ,Chelsea's newly signed youngster from Barcelona looked to be struggling with his first touch and short passing being poor as he took on the role of anchorman in the midfield. However Valencia's defence was being continually split open with Sturridge and Drogba both having chances to double the lead. Luis, Terry and Ivanovic were looking solid and the only Valencia threat was the combination of pacy winger Jordi Alba and Spain front man Roberto Soldado as Cole was having problems handling them. The second goal came after Drogba, who was outstanding all evening, teared into the Valencia third trying to find Ramires who amazingly managed to out muscle Valencia defender Victor Ruiiz as he hesitated and failed to clear leaving the Brazilian with an easy finish. Straight after Chelsea doubled there lead they completely changed their mentality as the whole team rarely strayed out of their own half. It was clear Villas Boas wanted to protect this lead as the defense and midfield sat deep. Few Chelsea chances were created and Mata and Sturridge looked lost. Romeru and Mereiles began to come into the game and tackled well however had no options as the front three seemed reluctant to make runs. The Blues looked very content to just sit back, much to the frustration of the fans. The possession stat at half time was 34% to Chelsea and 66% to Valencia showing that Chelsea were happy to let Valencia keep possession. The Second half was much the same with Chelsea allowing Valencia to keep the ball with Mereiles and Romeru effectively providing as a wall in front of the defense. The combination of Drogba and Ramieres was by far Chelsea's biggest threat as Rameires kept up the pressure with bursts into the Valencia box. The fans were unhappy with what had so far been a textbook showing for Chelsea and were enraged when John Obi Mikel was bought on for the exhausted Ramieres. As we gave a standing ovation for the Brazilian a man to rows in front shouted "if your bringing him on (John Obi) you might as well bring Ferreira on for Drogba and all" obviously with profanities every other word. This showed me the pressure Boas is under from not only the media but also the Chelsea faithful. Cech went to make a couple of good save from long range efforts as the defence did well to stop any clear shooting chances.. Mata, against his former club, began to come into the game more, linking with Drogba and Mereiles. It wasn't until the 76th minute that Chelsea got a third as Drogba topped off a great performance with a delightful finish after Mata put him through one on one with the keeper. The match ended 3-0 and Chelsea gained their first consecutive wins for two months and guaranteed qualification winning the group. David Luiz looked pleased after managing to put in a solid performance at the back showing that he beginning to adjust to this level of football. Cech also put in a great performance between the sticks seeing off all threats posed by the Valencia attack. However the stand out player was the 33 year old Ivorian who continued to show why he should be in the team ahead of the £50 million man.

Despite what was in the end a comfortable win, the fans still didn't seemed satisfied as there was a melancholy atmosphere during "Blue Is The Colour." Boas will have to start getting his side to grind out results in the Premier League as although it may not please the fans at first in the long run it puts Chelsea in with a shot the fiercely contested title. He has come out saying that he will continue to play his way of football and that will not be compromised however Tuesday night's match showed that by playing a different way, his team looked more comfortable defensively as well as more threatening offensively. This way of playing is certainly reminiscent of Mouhriniho who was a master a grinding out results and making his team always look comfortable in victory. Perhaps Villas Boas is adopting this style or maybe this was just a fluke, we will certainly see in the weeks to come.

Sorry about the late post, I have been busy with exams.

Thanks for reading

Joe

United disappointment Crystal clear in embarrassing midweek loss!

As someone usually very critical of the Carling cup, previously questioning its position in the already jam packed football calendar, I was overwhelmed by the shocking results and performances shown by the eight teams involved. Lets start with the most enthralling game of the four and one of the biggest upsets of recent Carling cup history, Manchester United against Crystal Palace. I grew up in Crystal Palace and went to many games of theirs during their Premier League days when Andy Johnson and Tommy Smith were the stars of their humble squad. Despite not directly supporting them, ( i'm a Chelsea fan if you were wondering) I have always followed their progress and I will always have a special fondness for them. It was unsurprising when United were drawn against the lowest ranked side left in the competition and it was hard to see Palace getting any sort of result against the current Premier League champions and a team a division above them who finished 39 places higher in the football league last season. Nevertheless there was a glimmer of hope for Palace who were on the up sitting in a comfortable 12th position in the championship with players like young Ivorian Wilfred Zaha coming in to some great form. However to the the whole stadiums dismay, Palace opened the scoring through Darran Ambrose who struck a 40 yard belter; reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo's strike for Manchester United against Porto in 2009. It was a truly stunning strike from an underrated player who has produced some moments of magic for crystal palace in seasons gone by. However the travelling fans' glory was short lived and normality was restored when United won a penalty. There was bound to be a game changing desicion to go Manchester United's way as there is whenever they are loosing at Old Traffod. Macheda coolly stepped up and slotted home for the equalizer. Zaha was Palace's main threat throughout the second half however, after a poor start, United began to settle into a passing rhythm and create a number of good goal scoring opportunities. Despite this place managed to hold out until extra time however were looking fatigued. To the travailing fans delight, completely against the run of play, Palace snatched a goal through a superb Glen Murray header. Evans' continual poor defending finally caught up with him as he completely lost Murray leaving him with a free header. The late goal cued a United onslaught on the Palace goalkeeper and a late equalizer looked likely. However Palace held out to win a place in the last four for the first time in ten years. After the result against Newcastle last weekend it now seems like United's ongoing luck is finally come to its long awaited end and could spell danger for Ferguson's men.

In other shocking news Owen Hargreaves managed 79 minutes of football for Manchester City in there 1-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday. Arsenal were unfortunate to lose with 7 attempts on target to City's 2 however Wenger's side look's much improved especially considering the dire situation they were in just a month ago. Sergio Aguero got the winner as City carry on their amazing run, which I can't see being stopped looking at the strength and depth of their squad. Chelsea on the other hand are looking quite the opposite loosing again against a mediocre Liverpool side. With their defense being torn apart week after week, Chelsea need to pull together and start getting the results. I'm not going to go into too much detail as I am going to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to see them play Valencia in a crucial Champions League tie against Spanish giants Valencia. I will write a in-depth post on Wednesday the 7th about the game and Chelsea's prospects for the rest of the season and I will try not to be too pessimistic however i'm not too hopeful about Chelsea's future with Villas-Boas in charge.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post and please leave a comment telling me about your views on this weeks fixtures

Please follow my blog so you can catch future posts including next week's special.

Joe Bloggs

What is Wayne doing?

After another disappointing display on their travels, England are going to be without Wayne Rooney for the group stage of Euro 2012. The events of Friday evening are sure to bring back memories of Rooney's previous rebellious escapades and this evident violent display is certainly reminiscent of his dismissal in Euro 2004 after a stamp on Portuguese centre-half Ricardo Carvalho. After Rooney showed the travelling England fans he still is yet to fully mature as a world class footballer, England went on to put in a mediocre performance against a team 39th ranked  in the FIFA world rankings (a full 32 places behind England) as the match ended with two goals a piece. Although England qualified comfortably six points ahead of second, this match certainly sent Capello and the players a wake up call and underlined the amount of work needed to be done before next summer. It certainly raised the question that if England continue to play below par and can only manage lackluster draws against average European sides, what is going to happen when we draw Holland, Spain or Germany in the quarter finals of next summers tournament? It also poses the question can we even get that far with out are supposed Talisman of a front man and arguably are only striker, in what is a young English side, that is capable of scoring goals on a regular basis.

On a slightly positive note at least we qualified and avoided a repeat of the shame of 2007 in which we witnessed a horrid turn of events as England fell at the last hurdle and failed to make it to the tournament which thousands of England fans had already made arrangements to be at. Capello's side will surely be hoping to progress further than their disappointing early exit in the round of sixteen in South Africa over a year ago. One word of warning to England fans is don't get your hopes up. England haven't progressed further than the quarter finals of a major tournament since EURO 96 when England lost to Germany in a penalty shoot out in the semi-finals. Since then we have had various naive managers confident of a world cup win. For example Glen Hoddle who quoted "I honestly thought we would win it" after England got knocked out of the world cup in the round of sixteen to Argentina in 1998. Not forgetting are old friend Sven Goran-Erikson who was quoted "i think we will win it" before the 2002 world cup finals in Korea/Japan. Sven became a joke to most England fans as soon as they were comfortably beaten by Brazil in the quarter finals however went as coach until 2006 when he made way for the equally useless Steve McClaren.

There will certainly be alot of hope amongst fans and players next year at the finals however i cant help thinking that when we come up against a top twenty side we will struggle and once again take an early exit. I may seem pessimistic towards England's world cup chances as we do have a good, young squad of players who play very well week in week out for their club, however i cant believe that Capeelo will be able to perform a miracle and get this squad of players to beat the likes of Spain and Holland, the powerhouses of International Football. The one bit of advice i will leave you with is come next summer be sure to support England, but please be realistic.

Thanks for reading. I will now be posting regularly again so you will be hearing more from me over the next few weeks.
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Joe

What a start for United

After a shaky performance away at Benfica on Wednesday night many thought Chelsea stood a chance against an unbeaten Manchester United side. With Ferdinand and Vidic still sidelined United were once again forced to field a young defence with Evans and Evra leading the line. Chelsea however were looking strong with great starts for new signings Mata and Meireles and were coming off the back of a strong midweek Champions League performance. Despite being a big game between arguably the two main title contenders Villas Boas stated that the match "was not key" in a jovial press conference. It was a cracking game between two sides at the top of their game and despite Chelsea having 19 attempts on De Gea's goal - which is no mean feat at Old Trafford - the blues only came away with the single goal. It was by far Chelsea's best performance at Old Trafford in seasons gone by however United despite only having 6 attempts on target finished there chances very clinically. In this post i will be focusing on United's early sucsess this season rather than Chelsea's demise.

It is clear that once again Sir Alex was smart in his summer signings as Young, De Gea and Phil Jones are all already looking like they have been playing at Old Trafford for years. By making his signings early in the window it allowed Sir Alex to mould his squad throughout pre-season and prepare for the start of the season.   Youth has been key to Manchester United's great start with Tom Cleverly and Danny Welbeck both fitting straight back into the side after loan spells last season. With the addition of the youth Sir Alex has gained over the summer, United's squad certainly has strength in depth with plenty of attacking and defensive options at his disposal as well as a revitalised. But more than anything there has been one player who has been outstanding for United over the past eight months and almost the talisman of their recent success. Luis Nani is the man who has played a large part in their great star this season despite originally finding it hard to settle in when he joined. In his first 100 games he is equal on goals with Ronaldo after his first 100 United games yet has more than double Ronaldo's assists. He was a huge player for united last season scoring 10 goals and will be equally important this season as they face tough opposition for the title from the other side of Manchester. His efforts have certainly not gone unrecognised with Sir Alex saying "these are his best years".

So with united in easy mode at the top of the table, the question is can anyone challenge them for the title?

Leave your thoughts in the comments and please follow my blog for more posts

Joe 

England... are we any good?

Due to me being exhausted and with little going on in the Premier League I have decided to briefly touch on the goings of the past few days regarding England's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. After a convincing away win over Bulgaria and with Wales narrowly beating Montenegro England were sitting very comfortably at the top of Group G. The atmosphere in Bulgaria was nothing special as the National side were very unlikely to qualify. This meant that days before the game there were still 25,000 tickets still available which led to a desperate attempt to sell them at local stores and petrol stations.It was a comfortable win but beating a terrible Bulgaria side is nothing  for Capello to boast about. The Press once again began bigging up our chances in a major tournament... why do they do it, we should all just expect them to fail before a ball is even kicked; at least then we can't be disappointed. I mean Bulgaria were truly terrible which hid the fact that we didn't actually play that well and the goals came thanks to poor defending an good play between Downing and Rooney.  In addition England's home record at Wembley has been shocking with our last win being last year over Montenegro so there wasn't as much confidence as usual going into the match against the young Welsh outfit. Wales played surprisingly well following on from their win on Friday and it looked like after nearly a year of adjustments it looks like Gary Speed has finally got them playing the kind of football he wants them too. Despite Rob Earnshaw (who is clearly past his best) the Welsh looked young, energised and well led by 20 year old captain Aaron Ramsey. On the other England looked lazy and were slacking. Capello had bought Lampard and Milner in as the only 2 changes from Friday but the team couldn't manage to string more than five passes together... typical England! Wales deserved a point and would have got one if it wasn't for Robert Earnshaw having no idea how to put the ball in the net from 6 yards. Former England captain recently came out disgracing the England players saying that they no longer feel privileged playing for their National team. It now seems that International football has taken a major back-seat from the League and the Premier League and many are starting to wonder weather their will be any International football football in ten or fifteen years time. that do the England players still feel privileged playing for England. Could this be because the all the money is in club football? Personally I think so. In my opinion England cannot be judged until we play a team in the top 10 of the FIFA world rankings; I think when that time comes the nation will once again be sorely disappointed.

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Will be posting every weekend from now on as i have more time.