Premier League Season Begins! Predictions for the season ahead

Tags

arsenal, arsene wenger, brendan rodgers, chelsea, community shield, everton, jose mourinho, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, manchester city, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, mauricio pochettino, Premier League 2014/15, roberto martinez, Tottenham Hotspur

Good morning, all! Despite my saying there’d be a blog a week, it’s taken a while for me to get to this one. My last blog was on August 1st so…yeah. I was going to write an article debating the overall competitiveness of the Community Shield and to what extend it should be considered a competitive or friendly fixture, but maybe I’ll work that into my articles to come.

Anyway, the Premier League season finally kicks off today. Even though this summer had a World Cup and the transfer market has been particularly interesting this year, it always feels like we go too long without any football and when the season kicks off again the sense of relief is beyond comprehension. As someone who absolutely hates cricket and isn’t really a ‘summer’ person, I never enjoy the off-season.

Instead of doing what I did last season and try to predict all the scores for today’s games, I’m going to take a look at the season ahead and state my predictions on who will be where at the end. Please note that this is based on the squads of right now, and my opinion may change by the end of the transfer window depending on who does what. 

Today I will cover…

The Top Four

Okay, this is the one everyone’s most interested in. For me, there are two teams who are almost certainly going to finish in the top four – Chelsea and Manchester City.

Chelsea were, for the most part, excellent last season (if not exactly pretty) against the big teams (6 points from City and Liverpool, 4 from Arsenal), but were let down in games against team who one would say they should beat by being unable to break down opposition who put eleven men behind the ball and played for a draw. Naturally, the other big sides will look at those results and find it amusing that Jose Mourinho and his men find out what it’s like when their favoured strategy is used against them. However, this summer Chelsea have gone and added two players who would really make a difference in games like that – playmaker Cesc Fabregas and clinical striker Diego Costa. They also added Filipe Luis, a very good left back, to the squad. While some may argue that Costa’s been bought on the back of one excellent season and may also need time to adapt, on paper Chelsea’s summer business has been fantastic. They’ve bought who they needed to buy, and barring some kind of tactical disaster they’ll finish comfortably in the top four.

Manchester City’s summer business has been quite quiet compared to most clubs, but they’ve strengthened the depth of their defence with the signings of Bacary Sagna and Elaquiem Mangala, and their squad is now at the point when their ‘B’ team could realistically at least challenge for the top four. I feel they’re still relying on the excellent but injury-prone duo of Sergio Aguero and David Silva, as well as the ageing Yaya Touré who may well begin to feel age starting to catch up to him at some point this season (he’s practically irreplaceable, but if they’re going to challenge on all four fronts they have to worry he could miss some important games or risk injury). Even so, with a squad like this, there’s no excuse for Manuel Pellegrini if they don’t finish in the top four or challenge for the title until the end.

That leaves us with five teams who will be aiming to challenge for the title or at least a Champions League finish – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham.

I see Arsenal as the next most likely team to seriously challenge for the title and claim a top four place, although I think that compared to Chelsea and City they are certainly the outsiders for the title itself, but conversely you could argue that the Gunners might feel better being the dark horses. The signing of Alexis Sanchez adds extra pace to the squad that was desperately missed when they slipped from their title challenge last season, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey (all of whose absences left blatant holes the squad last season) also add that pacey dimension. They’ve also replaced departing members of the squad with excellent new signings, but sorely need a centre-half and a top-quality defensive midfielder (ideally someone who can fill in both roles) before the transfer window closes. They’ll need it if they’re to properly compete in all four competitions. Still, with another trophy (a minor one, yes, but still a trophy) under their belts with a Community Shield victory, they should be heading into the season in good spirits. Just win your opening match for once, Gunners!

The remaining Champions League position is a tricky one to call. Liverpool have added lots of depth to the squad, but the majority of their signings are ones that could just as easily prove to be flops or take time to adapt to Premier League football, and they haven’t brought in any world class talent to replace Luis Suarez. I don’t think Daniel Sturridge is a particularly great or influential player on his own, rather someone who really thrives off having a world class partner like Suarez. But he doesn’t have that this time around and I don’t think he’ll be very effective. Steven Gerrard is ridiculously overrated in the ‘Pirlo’ role, and will probably be ineffective now that he’s getting older. It’s also Liverpool’s first season in the Champions League in years, and Brendan Rodger’s first ever season managing a Champions League team. As a manager with limited European experience anyway, he might find this tough going, but maybe if he does he’ll stop talking nonsense…nah, that’ll never happen. The bloke’s too obnoxious.

Much has been made over Louis Van Gaal’s appointment as Manchester United manager, and the media can’t stop creaming themselves over him. However, I advise caution to United fans. Despite an impressive pre-season, pre-season does not win you anything official. It means nothing unless you take that form into the season proper. I have an itching feeling that it may take a couple of months for the team to become accustomed to Van Gaal’s system and style of play, something that Van Gaal himself has warned of. That being said, they couldn’t have asked for an easier run in during the opening months of the season, and last season Liverpool showed us what a benefit that not being in Europe can be. I don’t think they’ll challenge for the title over the course of the whole season, but they’re my favourites to clinch 4th. They need a couple more purchases before the transfer window closes though, particularly a centre-half.

Everton and Tottenham I think are the biggest outsiders here. Neither are likely to challenge for the title, and at present have more or less the same squads as last season while the other big clubs have all strengthened to varying extents. It remains to be seen whether or not Mauricio Pochettino (he actually spoke English in his press conference yesterday!) will have a bigger impact on Spurs than Tim Sherwood, but even if he does it’s difficult to see how he could get them into the top four unless one or two of the big clubs have an unprecedented awful season. Both clubs are also competing in the Europa League, and last season we saw what a negative impact it had on Spurs’ league form. I think these two will clinch the final two Europa League positions relatively comfortably.

My prediction – 1st: Chelsea, 2nd: Manchester City, 3rd: Arsenal, 4th: Manchester United, 5th: Liverpool, 6th: Spurs, 7th: Everton

And that’s it for today! In the next few days (maybe even tomorrow!) I’ll take a look at who will be relegated!

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The Top Four in the Transfer Window – An Analysis

Tags

Adam Lallana, Alexis Sanchez, arsenal, Bacary Sagna, Calum Chambers, Cesc Fabregas, chelsea, David Ospina, Dejan Lovren, Didier Drogba, Diego Costa, English Premier League, Filipe Luis, Lazar Markovic, liverpool, manchester city, Mathieu Debuchy, Rickie Lambert, Romelu Lukaku, Transfers

Good day to all! Today marks the half-way point in the transfer window (well, more or less), and there’s been a lot going on. Seeing as it’s two weeks today that I last blogged, I thought I’d mark the half-way point by analysing how last season’s top four have done in the transfer market.

Manchester City

The champions have been surprisingly quiet this summer. The only addition to the squad thus far has been the signing of Bacary Sagna on a free transfer after the Frenchman’s contract with Arsenal ran out.

The question is what they are planning. With all the money they have behind them, as well as the fact that they finished only two points ahead of Liverpool, as well as only seven ahead of Arsenal in 4th place, would naturally convince Manuel Pellegrini that there is more work to be done with his squad if he is to retain the title next season, particularly since the others in the top four have been spending big this summer.

Bacary Sagna is an interesting acquisition as City already have Pablo Zabaleta, arguably a better player than Sagna. It seems odd that Sagna would move to a club where he is likely to be stationed on the bench for the most part, but perhaps City were attracted to his versatility (he can play anywhere along the back four) and the depth that his signing offers. However, they need more than just one defender to strengthen a defence that has been suspect at times this season.

Verdict – Still a month to go, and I expect City will do more to splash the cash. They need to if they’re to retain the title.

Liverpool

Liverpool are the big talking point because they’ve been spending a lot of money, but have also sold last season’s star man Luis Suarez after he bit Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

Naturally, replacing Suarez should have been their primary concern. I don’t care what any Liverpool fan will try to tell you; Suarez is the reason they finished in the top four last season. Without him, they’d never have finished anywhere near there.

But the fact is – they haven’t. They’re continuing to add pace to the squad, but haven’t brought in anyone whose quality is anywhere near that of Suarez. Rickie Lambert is a decent signing, but one who is mostly there to add depth and provide a ‘Plan B’, something that anyone who watched Liverpool last season will have noticed that they don’t have. Adam Lallana shone at Southampton but that team was really built around their front three and he seemed to benefit from being one of the best players at a mid-table club. Lazar Markovic is a gamble; he may or may not cut the mustard, but it’s hard to envisage him immediately adapting to English football. Divock Origi will spend the season on loan at Lille, so there’s no point talking about him yet.

They also desperately need strengthening at the back, but have thus far only brought in Dejan Lovren, a player who has played in the Premier League for only one season. He looked good but nothing special at Southampton, although if Brendan Rodgers finally realises that Daniel Agger is his best centre-half, the two could form a good central defensive partnership.

There’s also the full-back issues. Glen Johnson is not good enough to be a top four right back, but there’s not even any considerable back up. Liverpool also need a left back, although at least there they have been pursuing Alberto Moreno.

Verdict – They’re adding the depth they need, but not the quality they need. I understand why they sold Suarez, but they need to replace him or they’ll have a very tough time finishing in the top four again next season. Brendan Rodgers needs to stop talking crap about this, that and the other and get busy, because August is crucial to their season.

Chelsea

There’s not a whole lot to say about Chelsea, other than that they’ve got exactly what they need, and sold the right players to ensure they don’t breach Financial Fair Play.

They needed a creative attacking midfielder and a top quality striker, so before the transfer window even opened, Jose Mourinho bought Cesc Fabregas and more or less wrapped up the deal for Diego Costa. He then brought in Filipe Luis to replace Ashley Cole. Excellent business – that’s just what their starting eleven needed. Club legend Didier Drogba’s return is questionable, but he provides a ‘Plan B’ if nothing else.

On the other side of things, Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Everton for £28 million was a fine piece of business. Lukaku looks to be a very promising player but isn’t really worth that much right now and it was obvious that he wasn’t falling into Mourinho’s plans.

Verdict – Excellently done. A little more depth never hurts, but they’re looking deadly next season regardless.

Arsenal

Despite the popular opinion of Arsenal being a selling club who only buy cheap alternatives, this summer Arsene Wenger has proved wrong everyone who thought that his £42.5 million acquisition of Mesut Ozil was a one-off panic buy.

The summer started badly though, with the club turning down the opportunity to re-sign Cesc Fabregas (you do NOT turn down a player that good no matter how many attacking midfielders you have!), and instead he’s gone to Chelsea and strengthened a title rival.

But the acquisition of Alexis Sanchez has been an excellent purchase. He adds much-needed pace to the squad, and can play either as a central striker or as a wide forward. Both areas need strengthening in Arsenal’s squad and he fits the bill perfectly.

Arsenal have also gone and replaced two departing members – Bacary Sagna and Lukasz Fabianski – with Mathieu Debuchy (who’s keeping Sagna out of the French National Team at the moment, although given that Mamadou Sakho is somehow stupidly keeping Laurent Koscielny out of the same team leads one to question how well we can read into that) and David Ospina (a better keeper than Fabianski who poses a much bigger challenge to no. 1 Wojciech Szczesny). Both are very good purchases.

They’ve also brought in Southampton’s exciting prospect Calum Chambers (a little on the pricey side – possibly £16m when it comes to add-ons – but goes some way to proving that Wenger will spend what he has to to get what he wants when he has the cash), who can play at both right back and central defence, adding much more depth to a defence that really needs it. It’s also worth noting that they haven’t sold any of their big players so far (touch wood!).

They can’t stop here though. They still need a top quality deep-lying midfielder (links with Sami Khedira suggest they’re after him, but as excellent a signing as he’d be it’s difficult to tell whether he’ll join or not), and could do with one more out-and-out pacey winger. Sanchez alone will not be enough to fire Arsenal to the title, and given the amount of injuries Arsenal suffer from every season (that practically destroyed their promising title fight last season) they’re going to need as much top-quality depth as possible.

Verdict – Very good so far despite making the wrong decision with Fabregas. Don’t stop here, though. A couple more top-quality signings could make all the difference.

Right, that’s it for today. Hopefully there won’t be another two-week gap between this blog and the next one (I’ll try to do one at least once a week, but it’s difficult to think of things to write about in the summer). Until then…

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Internationals – could they make summers more exciting every year?

Tags

Argentina, Brazil, Euro 2016, Euro 2016 Qualifying Rounds, Germany, International Football, James Rodriguez, Lionel Messi, Mario Gotze, Netherlands, Thomas Muller, World Cup 2014

Good morning to all. So, Germany won the World Cup in the end courtesy of a fantastic Mario Gotze finish in extra time against Argentina. I think it’s hard to disagree that they were worthy winners. They were, overall, the best team of the tournament, and always provided us with good matches to watch (except maybe the one vs France but there’s always one like that). Argentina probably should have won it in normal time with the chances they had, but that’s just how things go sometimes.

Lionel Messi winning the Golden Ball was probably the most obvious consolation prize I’ve ever seen given (it should have gone to James Rodriguez or Thomas Muller…or generally anyone who played consistently well for Germany throughout the tournament), even if he did have a good tournament (faded as it went on, though). 

Brazil, meanwhile, couldn’t even win the third place match after being comfortably defeated 3-0 by Holland. In my last blog, I questioned the need for a third place match and in all honesty it really didn’t do Brazil any favours as it made their torrid end to the tournament even worse. Oh well, old news at this stage I guess.

But in all fairness, this was a fantastic World Cup to watch. Just about everyone I know agrees it has been the best in recent memory, and a thousand times better than the snore-fest that was the 2010 World Cup. Exciting matches from start to finish, lots of goals, a few dark horses really shining (think Colombia, Costa Rica, and the USA), and generally all-out entertainment. Oh, and a team who actually deserved to win it won it for once.

But most importantly (for me, anyway) was that it provided us good quality football to watch during the off-season, the worst time of the year for football fans (unless you follow, uhh…cricket?). Summers with major international tournaments are just so much more exciting than ones without. Just look at this one – the World Cup is over, and there’s only a month to go before the new season kicks off. But summers with nothing just drag and drag for goodness knowns how long.

But isn’t there something that can be done about that? Think of this – next summer there is no major international tournament (except maybe something South American, but I’m talking about Europe here so who cares). Yet in every season clubs are affected by internationals constantly interfering with the campaign, risking injury to important players and leaving them fatigued and whatnot.

The Euro 2016 Groups all feature six teams (except for one that has five) who play each other twice. That’s ten matches, which is five international breaks for this competition over the course of two seasons (not including international friendlies). 

So why not play some of these qualifying games in the summer of 2015? There will be six qualifying matches to be playing for each international team this season, and four next season. Why not instead cut out most of the international breaks and play some of these qualifying matches in the summer?

Here are the potential benefits:

– Six matches could easily be played in June-early July 2015. I suggest four of the six from 2014-15 season and two of the four from 2015-16 season, leaving only one international break (for competitive internationals, anyway)  per season.

– It would mean less fixture compression in domestic leagues that are caused by international breaks. Look at the Premier League: every team has to play about four or five league matches (as well as an FA Cup fixture) in the two/two-and-a-half weeks around the end of December and early January. Removing international breaks without making the season shorter allows these fixtures to be spaced out.

– It gives football fans proper competitive football to watch in a summer that would otherwise have not had any.

Potential negatives:

– It could prompt international FAs to retain the international breaks, but use them for international friendlies, which is worse for clubs as their players will be effected by a larger quantity of meaningless games.

– Doing this for World Cup qualifiers will cause a problem for European teams competing in the Confederations Cup. Despite the fact that the Confederations Cup is, frankly, nothing more than a money-making scandal that nobody’s really interested in, it’s not going to be discontinued any time soon.

I think it’s worth thinking about though, at least for Euro Qualifiers, provided what I mentioned about international friendlies is avoided. But it would never be avoided because, if thinking FIFA and UEFA have the common sense to at least experiment with this is too far-fetched, then them sanctioning less international breaks is certainly bang out of order by their usual pathetic standard.

Nevertheless, spread this idea. More summer entertainment? Less international breaks impacting club football (which will always be better than international football, let’s face it)? What’s not to like?

Right, that’s it for today. More again soon. Until then…

 

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Third Place Play-Off – is it really necessary?

Tags

Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Holland, Louis Van Gaal, Third Place Match, World Cup 2014

Good morning, all. After a two-week break, I’m back. The blog’s been getting random views over the past two weeks, so as it seems people are still checking here every now and again, I’m going to do my best to revive this hog and kick on.

So tonight Brazil and Holland clash in the match for third place, the game of the tournament that people are, frankly, least likely to care about. Brazil’s quest to restore some pride starts here, but third place is just a novelty that isn’t going to win them anything, at the end of the day. This added spice might make it a better game than it might otherwise have been, but given that Louis Van Gaal has bemoaned the match itself, we might see a weakened Dutch team as fringe players get the chance to make an appearance in the World Cup.

To be perfectly honest, this is a match that could provide any level of entertainment. 2010’s third place match between Germany and Uruguay played out to an enjoyable 3-2 result in the Germans’ favour, and was up there with the best games of the tournament (not that the bar was exactly set high).

But it’s easy to sympathise with Van Gaal here. What is the point of a third place match? You’ve been eliminated from the tournament after coming so close to the final, nobody’s really going to be up for it when they’d rather be going home and not playing one last time in the ridiculous heat and humidity of Brazil in a match that means absolutely nothing.

Fair enough if you’re a dark horse nation that has surprised everyone by making it to the semi-finals. Playing for third place probably has more meaning then. But Brazil and Holland are two big footballing nations consistently competing in every World Cup. They’re not going to care about whether they finish third or fourth, they’re only interested in winning the competition.

Yes, Brazil may want to restore some pride, and if they win this match they should consider it a very good tournament considering how mediocre this Brazil team is compared to those of the past. I wasn’t expecting such a humiliation against Germany but their luck was due to run out at some stage. But will their fans be happy? If they lost 2-1 in a close and hard-fought battle against Germany, and beat Holland to finish third, then maybe many would be. But after exiting the tournament in such a humiliating manner I highly doubt coming third will be forgiven. Despite the mediocrity of the team in general, this is a very successful national team and the World Cup was in their own country.

As for Holland, they’re not likely to care as much, so I think Brazil will win but without Neymar in the squad it’s probably going to be a really boring game. Personally, I think I’d just prefer to stick a film on.

 

That’s it for today. The transfer business so far this summer has given us plenty to discuss, particularly Suarez to Barcelona and Sanchez to Arsenal, but that can wait for another two days after the World Cup ends.

Why I think both the underdogs will progress tonight

Tags

Alexis Sanchez, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dani Alves, David Luiz, Diego Godin, Eduardo Vargas, Luis Suarez, Marcelo, Neymar, Thiago Silva, Uruguay, World Cup 2014

Morning all! I haven’t blogged in nearly a week because, frankly, I wasn’t happy with my approach and have been trying to think of ways in which I can stand out a bit more. So, rather than just post things that everyone knows anyway (match reports etc.), I’m going take a more analytical approach.

Right then, the first matches of the Round of 16 take place tonight. In an all-South American evening, first up is Brazil vs Chile, and after that Colombia clash with Uruguay. Now here’s the thing: naturally, Brazil and Uruguay are the favourites to progress, but in my eyes Chile and Colombia have a better chance of progressing if both teams continue to play the way they have played in the tournament thus far.

Why I think Chile should beat Brazil

Look at the group stage match between Chile and Spain, in which the Chileans completely dismantled the defending champions. Defensively, the entire team was switched on, working very hard to frustrate Spain and disrupt their famously boring tiki-taka football. When they attacked, they went forward with pace and menace, looking to get into the Spanish box as quickly as possible and create a clear-cut goal scoring opportunity. I thought once or twice early in the second half of that game Chile might have even scored a third, but were guilty of too many passes, with each player trying to set his teammate up rather than having a pop himself.

This is where I think, provided they use the same strategy, Chile will really hurt Brazil. Dani Alves and Marcelo are both excellent full backs when it comes to going forward, but their forays forward leave them susceptible to the break. If Chile sit back and invite Brazil towards them, and work hard to frustrate and deny the Brazilians space, they’ll eventually win the ball back, and at that point it’s likely that at least one of the Brazilian fullbacks will be out of position. Centre-half David Luiz can also be defensively suspect nervy situations, and Eduardo Vargas, Alexis Sanchez and co. should aim to test him rather than the more assured Thiago Silva.

Being defensively switched on, sitting back somewhat and pressing the Brazilians into under-pressure situations should also stifle the hosts’ creativity. Keep Neymar quiet (bully him out of the game if you have to) and Brazil suddenly look very ordinary indeed. They’re nothing on the great Brazilian teams of the past, and are more or less a one-man team as they seem to be relying on Neymar to get them their victories (even against a team as bad as Cameroon). Chile, however, despite having star men Vargas and Sanchez in the side, look much more like an actual team to me. They work hard, they all know their jobs, and are generally rather impressive.

People will point to the loss to the Netherlands as proof that Chile aren’t world-beaters, and I agree with that. Brazil can certainly win this one if they really apply themselve But I think if they play against Brazil the way they did against Spain, they’re my favourites to get into the quarter finals, not the hosts.

Why I think Colombia should beat Uruguay

Firstly, let’s take a look at Colombia. With eleven goals in the tournament thus far, they’re the joint-highest scoring team (along with the Netherlands), and won all three of their group games convincingly. In addition, they’ve only conceded twice. Granted, they didn’t have the toughest of groups (Greece, Japan and Ivory Coast), but they’ve looked a surprisingly good team thus far and I honestly thought that their group would be tighter (it was for the other three teams, though).

Uruguay, on the other hand, really haven’t impressed me in this tournament. Luis Suarez won them the game against England, but after mixing his cannibalistic instincts with a desire to check out the full range of what the Italian cuisine has to offer, he’s no longer around. So who do Uruguay turn to? Their other big-name going forward is Edinson Cavani, but despite all the hype I’ve never seen what’s supposed to be so good about him. He has a goal (penalty vs Costa Rica that was ultimately meaningless) and an assist (lovely dinked ball for Suarez’ first vs England) but has otherwise looked completely anonymous. Is he someone who can suddenly produce something out of nothing? Maybe, but I’ve never been overly convinced by him. But who else for Uruguay is a serious danger man? Centre-half Diego Godin has an uncanny knack for scoring important goals in important games, but you can’t bank on your defender scoring from a set piece in each match. I think if Colombia work hard they can completely nullify most of Uruguay’s attacking threat.

Uruguay are also suspect at the back, and as Costa Rica proved trouble dealing with pacey forwards is something Uruguay’s back line are susceptible to. Although marshalled by the impressive Godin, there’s really not a whole lot you can say in their backline’s favour. Italy were kept out, but that was largely due to poor finishing and the Italians eventually going down to 10 men and being forced to sit back. That’s not to say I don’t think Uruguay have a chance, they most certainly do, but without Suarez they’re missing their talisman and really look quite ordinary without him.

Ultimately, though, I think it’s important for the Colombians to take the game to Uruguay. Work hard to break up their play when off the ball, and hit them with pace and all-around positivity when on the ball.

 

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Let’s have us some upsets tonight! More tomorrow. Until then…

World Cup Round Up…again!

Tags

Brazil, England, World Cup 2014

Afternoon, all. It’s been an exciting few days since I last blogged. In all honesty, I don’t really have the time to write a large one today so I’ll just give quick updates on how the groups have gone since I last blogged, plus a quick look ahead to tonight’s game and thoughts on England’s dismal World Cup.

Group C

In the group that people least care about, Colombia’s 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast put the South Americans into the knockouts, whilst Ivory Coast still have a good chance of qualifying, although just to be safe they’ll need to beat Greece in the final match. Japan and Greece’s drab 0-0 draw just about sums up that neither team really deserves to get out of the group. I fancy the Africans to beat Greece and don’t expect Japan to beat Colombia.

Group D

The big talking point is that Costa Rica beat Italy to gain automatic progression from the group, most likely in 1st place thanks to their goal difference, even if they do somehow lose to England, who were eliminated after their 2-1 loss to The Republic of Luis Suarez Uruguay and Costa Rica’s victory. Italy and Uruguay are poised for a mouth-watering encounter in which both really need to go for the win to progress (although a draw will suit Italy due to their superior goal difference). More on England shortly.

Group E

France smashed Switzerland 5-2 in a match that really made you wonder how on earth the Swiss are currently ranked 6th in the world rankings, while Honduras’ 2-1 loss to Ecaudor means they are practically out. I still think the Swiss will progress from the group, as they should be able to beat Honduras.

Group F

The United Nation of Lionel Messi Argentina are through after Lionel Messi’s stunning injury time strike sunk Iran, who played well enough to at least deserve a draw. Iran can still progress if they beat already-out Bosnia and Nigeria lose to Argentina, but it’s a difficult scenario. Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Bosnia was well-earned, although Bosnia will feel hard-done by as Edin Dzeko’s early goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Group G

Germany and Ghana played out a thrilling 2-2 draw, after which Germany will still fancy their chances of getting through whilst Ghana also retain a faint glimmer of hope, although are unlikely to gain the required points (and possibly goal difference) to progress. USA and Christiano Ronaldo Land Portugal clash tonight in a match which will go a long way to deciding what will happen in the group. If the USA can mark Ronaldo out of the game I fancy them to at least gain a point.

Group H

In a group that is still wide open, Belgium and Russia clash tonight in what will probably be Belgium’s most difficult match of the group stage. Russia should probably have beaten South Korea, but they were too cautious and concerned with not losing rather than winning for too long in the match. South Korea will play Algeria in what will probably be a pretty dull game given that both are tidy enough defensively but don’t offer enough going forward, although I do think that a victory for either will complicate Russia’s chances of going through.

Phoenix’s Predictions:

USA 1-0 Portugal

Belgium 1-1 Russia

South Korea 0-0 Algeria

 

Thoughts on England

Naturally, living in the UK, most of the media focus is on England’s early exit. Frankly, despite a good showing against Italy, I’m not surprised. Here’s why, and what I think England really need to do if they’re going to be successful in the Euro 2016 (assuming they qualify…and if you’re thinking they’re pretty much guaranteed to do so then remember the Euro 2008):

Too many Liverpool players in the squad: I get that Liverpool are currently the Premier League’s media darlings, but at the end of the day just about every Englishman who plays for the club was called up after the Reds’ first good season in years. What too many people have overlooked is that without Luis Suarez, Liverpool wouldn’t have ended up anywhere near the top four. Daniel Sturridge scored lots of goals, so I get that, and Raheem Sterling is an excellent prospect who has had a very good World Cup. But Jordan Henderson? Glenn Johnson? Steven Gerrard? No, no, and definitely no.

Some players need to call it a day: Steven Gerrard, first and foremost, should retire after this World Cup. Gerrard was a great midfielder in his prime, but he’s past his prime and no longer has the legs to play in his favoured position. The talk about converting him into the ‘English Pirlo’ is an utter joke. Andrea Pirlo is an excellent footballer and a remarkably intelligent reader and orchestrator of the game. The thought of Steven Gerrard trying to emulate him is an hilarious embarrassment waiting to happen. Glenn Johnson is another. Despite his prowess going forward, he’s just a poor defender in general and is only in the squad because there’s not really anyone else there. Phil Jagielka is a good player but not quite at the level to cut it on the big stage, and Leighton Baines is unlikely to start another major tournament. Danny Welbeck wouldn’t even be on standby if he didn’t play for Manchester United.

Focus on the younger players: Jack Wilshere not starting either match was an utter farce, and I feel sorry for him, being overlooked in favour of the down-and-out Steven Gerrard and the average likes of Jordan Henderson. This tournament was a fantastic opportunity to give Wilshere some big tournament experience, but it’s almost been counter-productive. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury was unfortunate and I really think that Roy Hodgson would have started him instead of Welbeck if fit. Luke Shaw and Ross Barkley are exciting prospects who need to play more in the next two years, and it doesn’t stop with them. Give them the chance they deserve.

Keep up the positive approach: One thing you can say in England’s favour at this World Cup is that for once they were a decent team to watch, being much more positive going forward than their overly cautious and boring approach as seen in previous recent tournaments. Keep it up and build on it. It will only do them good.

 

Right then, that’s that for today. More tomorrow (hopefully). Until then

World Cup Roundup Part III

Tags

Alex Song, Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Danny Welbeck, England, Greece, Ivory Coast, Jack Wilshere, Japan, Jordan Henderson, Mexico, Netherlands, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Uruguay, Wayne Rooney, World Cup 2014

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Football Phoenix! Today I’ll round up the results from the last two days and take a look at how things might go for the teams who play later today.

Belgium 2-1 Algeria: A game that looked to be heading for a shock result for some time. Algeria took the lead in the 24th minute with a Sofiane Feghouli penalty after Jan Vertonghen needlessly fouled the former in the penalty area. It was hardly a thrilling encounter, and whatever you can say against Algeria you have to admit they’re tough to break down. Substitute Marouane Fellaini’s looping header levelled the score for Belgium, before Eden Hazard set up Dries Mertens to smash home the inevitable winner. It was the win Belgium needed in order to give their World Cup campaign a good chance of heading into the knockouts. Algeria defended well but aside from the move that lead to the penalty they offered little going forward.

Russia 1-1 South Korea: A dull first half, in which Korea tried to attack but lacked quality and Russia had the quality but lacked the interest going forward, was capped off by a more exciting second half. Korea took the lead when Lee Keun-ho’s long-range effort went straight at Igor Akinfeev, but the Russian keeper capped off a very unconvincing night by somehow letting the ball slip through his hands and half-tossing it into the back of the net. Russia equalised six minutes later when veteran striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov fired home a scrappy goal for Russia, but neither side could find a winner a draw was just about right on the balance of play, leaving this Group H wide open.

Brazil 0-0 Mexico: A fantastic display from Mexico helped them earn a well-earned draw with the hosts. It was very much an end-to-end game, and although Brazil had the better chances they failed to beat the excellent Guillerma Ochoa in Mexico’s goal, who pulled off a string of impressive saves to deny Neymar, Thiago Silva and Paulinho. The result means that Brazil can potentially exit the tournament early if they somehow lose to Cameroon and the showdown between Mexico and Croatia results in a draw, or also if a Croatia victory does not damage Mexico’s goal difference enough.

Australia 2-3 Netherlands: The Dutch secured their passage into the knockouts with a narrow victory over Australia in a thrilling encounter. Arjen Robben opened the scoring with an excellent run before finishing coolly into the far corner. Australia, however, levelled with the goal of the tournament. A long ball into the box found Tim Cahill, who smashed home a fantastic left-footed volley that powered in off the crossbar. Mile Jedinak put Australia ahead with a penalty after a rather harsh call for handball was given against Dutch defender Daryl Janmaat, although Australia will rue earlier missed chances from Mark Bresciano and Matthew Spiranovic as Robin Van Persie fired home an equaliser. The winning goal came when Memphis Depay scored from 25 yards. Chile’s later victory confirmed Australia’s exit from the tournament, and you have to sympathise with them as they played well but were not clinical enough in front of goal.

Spain 0-2 Chile: The current World Cup holders’ defence came to an early end at the hands of Chile. Spain were slow, uninventive, and could not handle a Chile side who were really up for the win. Eduardo Vargas slid home an early goal for Chile following fine work from Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal. The lead was doubled when a Chile free kick went straight towards Iker Casillas in the Spain goal, but the keeper took the bizarre decision to punch the ball out when he could have easily caught it. Not only that, but he punched it straight towards Charles Aranguiz, who toe-poked home a fine finish. Spain desperately tried to find a goal in the second half but struggled to put Chile under any real pressure and were devoid of ideas. Sergio Busquets’ horrible error, missing the ball completely when he could have tapped in from two yards, just about summed up Spain’s night. They’re out, and it’s clear that football has finally caught up with them, but Chile were fantastic, so take nothing away from them.

Cameroon 0-4 Croatia: Croatia pulled themselves right back into the battle to get out of the group with an emphatic victory over Cameroon. Cameroon started well but missed the clinical finishing of the injured Sameul Eto’o, and Ivica Olic gave Croatia an 11th minute lead when a fine Croatia move saw him smash home the impressive Ivan Perisic’s low cross. Alex Song was then sent off stupidly for needlessly punching/elbowing (hard to tell which part of his arm made the contact) Mario Mandzukic in the back off the ball without provocation. Perisic doubled Croatia’s lead when drove into Cameroon’s box from Charles Itanje’s poor clearance, and instead of squaring the ball for Mandzukic to tap home, went for glory himself with a fine effort over Itanje. Madzukic got on the scoresheet twice, though, rising unmarked from a corner to head home his first, and tapping in substitute Eduardo’s saved shot. Cameroon’s ego problems were further evident when Benoit Assou-Ekoto headbutted Benjamin Moukandjo for reasons currently unexplained, but to be fair to most of them, they kept trying.

 

Right then, England play Uruguay tonight in a vital clash that will go a long way to dictating whether or not they go out of their group. They played very well against Italy despite losing, but were missing something in the final third. Personally, I would replace Danny Welbeck with Ross Barkley and Jordan Henderson with Jack Wilshere for more creativity from the off, as well as move Wayne Rooney into the centre where he is more effective and Raheem Sterling out wide right. Uruguay looked poor against Costa Rica but the return of Luis Suarez will add much more verve and creativity to their attack, so England will need to be more switched on defensively than they were against Italy.

The other clashes are Colombia vs Ivory Coast and Japan vs Greece. Here are my predictions:

Colombia 1-2 Ivory Coast

Uruguay 1-1 England

Japan 1-0 Greece

 

Right then, that’s all. Enjoy the football later (try as anyone might in any game involving Greece). More tomorrow. Until then…

Another World Cup Round Up

Tags

Algeria, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA, Wayne Rooney, World Cup 2014

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Football Phoenix. For various reasons, yesterday’s games weren’t among the most enthralling, but here’s a round up, as well as the games I didn’t cover yesterday. So I’m finally on track!

Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica: Another shocking result, although one that Costa Rica deserved on the balance of play. Edinson Cavani’s penalty put Uruguay ahead but Costa Rica came back largely thanks to an outstanding performance from Arsenal’s Joel Campbell. Campbell scored a cracking volley to equalise, and Oscar Duarte gave Costa Rica the lead three minutes later with a header from a free kick. The game became quite open as Uruguay looked to level, but without Luis Suarez on the field they were lacking in creativity. Campbell produced a stunning pass for Marcos Urena to finish well and seal the victory. A good start to the World Cup for Group D’s underdogs.

England 1-2 Italy: England worked hard but were ultimately beaten by Italy in this surprisingly thrilling encounter. The game was fairly end-to-end, with England starting well but Italy slowly growing into the game. Following a corner, the instrumental Andrea Pirlo’s dummy allowed Claudio Marchisio to fire a low drive through a crowded box and into the corner of the net. But England levelled minutes later when the otherwise hapless Wayne Rooney fired in a cross for Daniel Sturridge to sidefoot home. Physiotherapist Gary Lewin comically injured himself in the celebrations and had to be stretchered off. Italy scored the winning goal in the 50th minute when Mario Balotelli headed home Antonio Candreva’s cross. England tried their hardest to equalise, but Rooney missed the best chance in a match where finishing and final balls in general were poor from an English perspective, and Pirlo had the last say with a free kick that hit the crossbar. I guess that’s what you get when the average likes of Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck are starting ahead of Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley. It’s going to be tough for England now.

Argentina 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Despite Argentina’s victory, they were poor for most of the game against a Bosnia team who applied the most pressure but couldn’t find the goal they needed when it really mattered. Argentina took an early lead when Sead Kolasinac was unfortunate to deflect a deflected free kick into his own net, but Argentina failed to take advantage and given the balance of play were lucky to be in the lead at half time. Early in the second half though, Lionel Messi dribbled through the Bosnian defence to curl an effort that hit the post and went in for a fantastic goal. Substitute Vedad Ibisevic pulled one back for Bosnia, thus netting the nation’s first ever goal at a major tournament, but the equaliser never came and Argentina went home happy. In all honesty though, given how well they performed and how rubbish both Iran and Nigeria looked yesterday, Bosnia shouldn’t be too worried about the prospect of going home early.

Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador: A game that so very nearly became the first draw at this World Cup. Enner Valencia opened the scoring with a header from Walter Ayovi’s free kick in a relatively tame first half. The second half was similar following substitute Admir Mehmedi’s close range header from a corner. The decisive goal came as late as late goals can come. Deep into injury time Valon Behrami’s excellent tackle and run produced a pass to Ricardo Rodriguez, and the left back fired a low cross into the box for substitute Haris Seferovic to fire home from close range. Dramatic, and it puts the Swiss in a good position to qualify from their group.

France 3-0 Honduras: Honduras’ tactic of trying to foul France out of the game worked well until Wilson Palacios was sent off for a foul in the area on Paul Pogba. Karim Benzema powered home the resulting spot kick and it was all France from there. France doubled their lead when Benzema’s shot bounced off the post and went in off goalkeeper Noel Valladares. Goal line technology ruled out Benzema’s initial shot. Benzema then scored a third when a short corner found its way to Mathieu Debuchy and the right back’s shot deflected into the path of Benzema, who fired excellently into the roof of the net. A good start for obvious group winners France.

Germany 4-0 Portugal: A very one sided affair. A foul on Mario Gotze in the penalty area resulted in a Thomas Muller penalty goal early on for Germany. Unlike previous big teams who have gone ahead with early penalties in this World Cup, Germany didn’t capitulate and Mats Hummels doubled their lead from a corner. Pepe was then sent off stupidly for Portugal when he head-nudged Muller after the latter over-exaggerated a challenge by the former. Muller fired in a third before half time and there was no coming back for Portugal. Muller added a fourth following a German breakway to seal the victory for the Germans. Portugal face the USA next and given what a one-man team they are they’ll find themselves going home sooner rather than later if they don’t pick up their act.

Iran 0-0 Nigeria: The most boring game of the tournament played between two teams who really aren’t good enough to be at the World Cup produced the first draw of the tournament. Nothing else to say, because very little happened. Both will be going home at the end of it most likely.

Ghana 1-2 USA: The USA battled hard for a victory over Ghana that puts them in a good position to qualify from their group. Clint Dempsey opened the scoring after a mere 31 second when Ghana allowed him to dribble through their defence and fire into the far corner of the net following a throw in routine, but on 20 minutes Jozy Altidore’s World Cup was ended when he pulled his hamstring, which also dampened the USA’s attack. Ghana tried, and tried, and tried, but simply couldn’t find a decent final ball, with Christian Atsu and Sulley Muntari being especially culpable for poor end product and decision making. It looked to be heading for a 1-0 victory but a good Ghana move saw Asamoah Gyan flick the ball into the path of Andre Ayew, and the Marseille winger fired home a fine outside-of-the-foot effort to level the score. Ghana’s deserved equaliser was short lived, though, as only four minutes later Josh Brooks headed home his first international goal from a corner to give the USA a victory. Ghana will find it very tough now, but the USA might fancy their chances of getting out of the group following Portugal’s heavy defeat.

And lastly…predictions for today’s games:

Belgium 3-1 Algeria

Brazil 2-0 Mexico

Russia 2-1 South Korea

That’s finally that for today. More tomorrow.

World Cup Round Up – So far, so good (for the teams that have won, anyway)

Tags

Christiano Ronaldo, Germany, Ghana, Group F, Group G, Iran, Nigeria, Portugal, USA, World Cup

Good morning all! Welcome back to the Football Phoenix. Due to nights out, delayed trains after nights out, work and very hot nights preventing me from sleeping properly, there hasn’t been a blog since Friday morning, and so I haven’t been able to cover the World Cup as well as I would have liked, but hopefully things will pick up now.

Before we get to previews of tonight’s games, let’s take a look at the weekend results from Groups A, B and C (D, E and F tomorrow). Amazingly, no draws so far in this World Cup too! I think what we’ve seen so far has already been much better than the World Cup 2010 in its entirety. 

Mexico 1-0 Cameroon: More refereeing controversy as Mexico had two Giovanni Dos Santos goals incorrectly ruled out for offside. It didn’t matter in the end though as Oribe Peralta was on hand to tap in the rebound for the only goal of the game after Dos Santos had an effort saved. Just the result Mexico needed if they’re going to want to get out of the group, but the same challenge is now going to be very tough for Cameroon as this really was a game they needed something from.

Spain 1-5 Netherlands: The first shock result of this tournament. Netherlands got revenge for the 2010 final emphatically. Spain were dubiously awarded a penalty when the totally-not-Spanish Diego Costa went down easily under a Stefan de Vrij challenge. Xabi Alonso’s penalty goal was cancelled out by Robin Van Persie’s fantastic diving header just before half time. Arjen Robben scored an excellent brace either side of further goals from Stefan de Vrij and van Persie again, the latter coming due to a poor goalkeeping error from Iker Casillas. Much as I find it hard to support anyone with Van Persie these days, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Dutch and was glad to see them do so well. Spain will hope to still qualify from the group, but following this result Chile might feel more confident against them and the goal difference could be decisive.

Chile 3-1 Australia: A scoreline that reflect more poorly on Australia than they deserved. Alexis Sanchez and Jorge Valvidia scored two early goals to put Chile 2-0, but later on in the half Tim Cahill rose well to head home and pull one back for the Socceroos. Despite Australia’s best efforts, their quality up front was sadly lacking and they failed to get the second goal they needed. In injury time, Jean Beausejour wrapped up the scoring with a well taken long range low drive. This result, in addition to Spain’s defeat, should leave Chile confident of their chances of progressing from the group, but it’s very difficult to see Australia progressing.

Colombia 3-0 Greece: Colombia dispatched of the most boring football team the world has ever seen with an emphatic 3-0 victory. An early effort from left back Pablo Armero put Colombia in front, forcing Greece to do something that they’re not comfortable with at all, and that is to actually attack. The Greeks actually fashioned several good chances, only for poor finishing (see Theofanis Gekas’ header onto the bar at 2-0 down) and unlucky near misses to prevent them from levelling the score. Despite not playing all that impressively on the whole, Colombia sealed the win with second half goals from Teofilo Gutierrez and James Rodriguez. Considering that Ivory Coast and Japan are, at the very least, no easier opponents than Colombia, it’s hard to see Greece getting out of this group.

Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan: Two headed goals in two minutes from Wilfried Bony and Gervinho, both from Serge Aurier crosses, secured a comeback victory for the Ivory Coast after Japan took an early lead through Keisuke Honda’s fine effort. A good victory on the whole from Ivory Coast, who looked better for the majority of the game after Japan’s early dominance wore off.

 

Right then, today’s biggest showdown is Germany vs Portugal. It’s set to be a good game, methinks, and with the Germans playing so well you have to fancy them as the slight favourites even if Portugal have Christiano Ronaldo ready to go. Seeing as Messi scored an excellent goal last night, Ronaldo will want to match the feat of his long-time rival.

There’s also Iran vs Nigeria and Ghana vs the USA to look forward to. Iran are serious underdogs and it would take a brave man to bet on them leaving this tournament with any points, whereas Ghana and the US are two relatively evenly matched teams who are likely to produce a pretty open game.

So here are my predictions for tonight’s fixtures:

Germany 2-1 Portugal

Iran 1-3 Nigeria

Ghana 2-2 USA

That’s right, I’m fancying the first draw of the tournament at long last later.

 

Anyway, that’s all for today. More tomorrow.

Brazil win thanks to bad officiating, plus my thoughts on Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea

Tags

Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, arsenal, arsene wenger, athletico madrid, barcelona, Brazil, Cesc Fabregas, chelsea, Croatia, Dejan Lovren, Diego Costa, Fred, Group A, Group B, Ivan Perisic, Ivica Olic, Jack Wilshere, jose mourinho, Julio Cesar, Marcelo, Mesut Ozil, Neymar, Nikica Jelavic, Oscar, real madrid, Santi Cazorla, sevilla, Stipe Pletikosa, Tomas Rosicky, World Cup, Xavi, Yuichi Nishimura

Good day, all! After the grand total of 0 views for yesterday’s blog, I’ve decided to set up a Twitter account to actually advertise this thing so people might actually read it. If you’re just tuning in, do take a quick look at yesterday’s blog too as I attempt to predict which two countries will advance from their World Cup groups.

Follow me on Twitter: @TheFootbllPhnx

Right then, I watched Brazil vs Croatia in the opening match of the World Cup last night. It was a pretty good game, all things considered, but was ultimately let down by a couple of poor decisions by the referee and his linesmen.

Brazil started the game with the lion’s share of possession, but were unable to real trouble Croatia, who were relatively composed at the back. Croatia looked dangerous on the break, and it was on one that they opened the scoring. In the 11th minute Wolfsburg frontman Ivica Olic burst down the left flank and sent an excellent low cross into the box. Hull’s Nikica Jelavic somehow miss-kicked the ball when he should have scored himself, but the slight touch from his foot was enough to redirect the ball into the path of Marcelo and the Real Madrid defender could do nothing but bundle the ball into his own net. A bad start for the tournament hosts.

Brazil continued to dominate possession, and Croatia continued to look threatening on the break, but the scoreline remained the same for the next 15 minutes. Brazil’s equaliser was inevitable, though, and came through superstar Neymar. Luka Modric attempted a half-arsed challenge on his Barcelona rival, and Neymar broke through, dribbled  and scuffed a left-footed shot that went through the legs of a Croatia defender and into the far bottom corner, despite the best efforts of Stipe Pletikosa to keep it out.

Brazil pressed for a second but it didn’t come until well into the second half. The ball was sent into the box by Oscar, and striker Fred tried to control it, before going down far too easily under a challenge from Southampton defender Dejan Lovren. There was nowhere near enough contact for a penalty, but referee Yuichi Nishimura pointed to the spot. Neymar’s most ridiculous of stuttered run ups failed to deceive Pletikosa but despite getting a good hand to it the Croatian keeper somehow didn’t save it and Brazil went 2-1 up. The keeper really should have done better, and sadly for him not for the first time of the evening.

Croatia pressed for an equaliser, and had one wrongly disallowed. The impressive Ivan Perisic volleyed home, but only after the whistle had gone after Olic was adjudged to have fouled keeper Julio Cesar in the process when competing for a header, but there was little in the challenge and a foul should not have been given. However, Brazil put the game to bed in injury time. A Perisic shot was saved, Brazil broke and Oscar drove towards goal and toe-poked an effort from 20 yards into the bottom corner. Once again, Pletikosa really should have saved it.

So, Brazil win the opening game of the tournament. It wasn’t without controversy, but it was a decent game to watch and will hopefully set the standard for the rest of the tournament (except for the bad officiating, of course). Croatia, on the other hand, looked a good unit and you’d have to fancy that they could still get out of the group stage.

Tonights fixtures will see Mexico take on Cameroon in the other Group A fixture, whilst Spain and the Netherlands go head-to-head for the first time since the World Cup 2010 final in what is a mouth-watering match-up in Group B. Fellow Group B nations Chile and Australia will also take each other on. Unfortunately, I won’t be watching any of the matches tonight as I am out, but here are my predictions, just for fun:

Mexico 1-1 Cameroon

Spain 2-1 Netherlands

Chile 2-0 Australia

Mexico and Cameroon both fit the ‘good but not great’ description. I think Spain will edge past the Netherlands and that Chile should dispatch of Australia (sorry Aussies!). 

 

Right then, onto the other piece of big news from yesterday, and that is the transfer of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona to Chelsea. The former Arsenal captain confirmed that the Gunners turned down the chance to re-sign him (more on that momentarily), so he decided Chelsea was the best option to take.

For Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, it’s a master stroke. £30 million for a player worth much more than that, and with the additional purchase of Diego Costa from Athletico Madrid they’ve already finished their major summer business before the transfer window has even opened. Better chance creation, and a more clinical finisher to bury those chances, were the two things that were quite obviously holding Chelsea back last season. The idea of someone with the vision and drive of Fabregas picking out the deadly Costa is something all Chelsea fans should be excited for.

It’s not without controversy, though. In 2010 or 2011 Fabregas himself said something along the lines of “you’d have to kill me before I put on a Chelsea shirt”, and as such he joins Rafa Benitez and Samuel Eto’o on the list of players who have bad-mouthed Chelsea in the past before going on to join them. So can we expect him to become an instant fan favourite at Stamford Bridge? Not among all sections of the fans, I would say. It goes to show that as a footballer, you should really take care about what you say as you never know where your career will take you in the future. But either way, Fabregas is a fantastic signing for Chelsea.

So that leaves us to discuss Arsenal’s decision not to re-purchase him. Frankly, I find it baffling that Arsenal would turn down the chance to purchase a player of that quality no matter how many attacking midfielders are at the club. £30 million for a player who is arguably better than every other midfielder at Arsenal. It was an excellent opportunity, and they blew it, if you ask me. They have enough money to buy who they want, and they still would if they went and bought Fabregas.

As an Arsenal fan, this is where my problem with Arsene Wenger signing a new contract lies. He’s not interested in what rivals do, only what he does. But instead of increasing the quality and depth of his squad by bring Cesc back, he’s decided not to because he already has enough attacking midfielders. The result is that Fabregas has gone to a direct rival who finished above Arsenal in the league this season and have already signed a world class striker. Should Arsenal fans be bitter towards Cesc for choosing to go to Chelsea? He wanted to return to England, he wanted to come back to Arsenal, but Arsenal didn’t want him back. So basically…no, Arsenal fans shouldn’t begrudge him his decision.

Forget all the nonsense about having too many attacking midfielders. Aaron Ramsey was brilliant last season, but missed four months due to injury. Jack Wilshere is even more injury-prone. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain wasn’t around for the majority of the season either, and all three are better suited to box-to-box roles (and out wide in Chamberlain’s case). Santi Cazorla can play out wide and did so more often than not last season, Tomas Rosicky won’t start many matches and is also injury prone. So that leaves competition between Fabregas and Ozil, something that should bring the best out of both of them. Oh, and also rotation between the two, and maybe even playing them together! Why not?

Yes, Arsenal do need a defensive or deep-lying midfielder much more, but bring Fabregas back would not have meant they couldn’t have done that either. If you ask me, the whole thing’s madness. However you look at it, it’s a bad start to the summer for Arsene Wenger and co. And where is Arsene right now? Providing commentary for French TV broacasts of World Cup matches, while Mourinho’s gone and got the most important of Chelsea’s summer business out of the way. It might just be another long, hard summer for Arsenal fans, and as one myself I’m not looking forward to it. Please prove me wrong, Arsene.

There’s also another confusing aspect to Chelsea’s purchase of Fabregas – why on earth did Barcelona want to sell him? For years both players and directors alike went on media witch hunts to try and bring Cesc back to Barcelona, convincing him that it was the right thing to ‘come home’ and whatnot. Three years later, after three good seasons at the club despite often being played out of position, he’s found himself on the bad side of some sections of the fanbase and was told that the club no longer wanted him.

This was a player tipped to be Xavi’s successor, whom Barcelona delved into their most disreputable and disrespectful nature in order to bring back. All that effort, and three years later they decide they don’t want him and send him off, bringing in Sevilla’s Ivan Rakitic as a replacement (who is a very good player but not quite, from what I’ve seen, as good as Fabregas). It just goes to show what a dislikeable club Barcelona actually is. They’re full of arrogance and have no respect for anyone, even their own players. But either way, Cesc’s departure is their loss, and maybe they’ll soon come to understand that.

 

Right then, that’s all for today. I’m not sure if there will be a blog tomorrow as I have work, but there will definitely be one on Sunday. Until then…