World Cup Preview

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2010, 2014, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, International Football, Iran, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Russua, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay, World Cup

Good afternoon, all! Welcome to another edition of The Football Phoenix. Due to a surprising lack of transfer news as well as personal stuff going on, I took a week-long hiatus from writing this blog as it shouldn’t be a chore to find things to talk about.

The big news today is that the World Cup kicks off tonight. Hosts Brazil take on Croatia in the opening match of the tournament. Kick off is at 9 o’clock tonight for us Brits (any other readers feel free to figure out how it corresponds to your timezone, because I sure as hell can’t). In terms of how the match will go, you have to fancy the hosts to win this one. Croatia are a tough team in their own right and won’t make it easy for them though.

Phoenix’s Prediction: Brazil 2-1 Croatia

Frankly, I’m really looking forward to this World Cup, more so than the last one. This one just feels like it’s going to be much more enjoyable to watch, in a country where football is actually a big thing (that hopefully won’t condone an annoying tuneless instrument like 2010’s vuvuzelas or whatever they were called). 2010 South Africa was a pretty boring one, featuring the tippy-tappy nonsense of Spain at its absolute worst as they won the tournament with a string of dreary 1-0 victories. Spain won’t find it as easy this time around, methinks.

Right then, rather than try to predict every single game, I’m going to do something a bit more interesting and try to predict which two teams will advance from each group. Here are my predictions:

Group A

This is a tough one, as all four teams would make tough opponents. You have to fancy the hosts to advance regardless, and I have a hunch that Croatia will be the other one to scrape through to the knockouts.

Brazil – Advance
Croatia – Advance
Mexico
Cameroon

Group B

Despite their horrendous showing at Euro 2012, I’d imagine the Netherlands will join Spain in the knockout rounds. Chile are good but I don’t think they’ll quite pull it off, and Australia will probably go out.

Spain – Advance
Netherlands – Advance
Chile
Australia

Group C

Another tough one to call. Greece are the bane of international football, and watching them play is the footballing equivalent of water torture, but they’re outclassed by the other three teams. Colombia have a good squad, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Ivory Coast and Japan will edge through. Greece will get three points from three 0-0 draws that nobody will watch.

Colombia
Greece
Ivory Coast – Advance
Japan – Advance

Group D

This is an interesting group. Personally, I think the two favourites are quite obviously Uruguay and Italy. England have some very good players but when your squad includes Chris Smalling, Glenn Johnson and Jordan Henderson (all likely starters) you’re not going to scare anyone. Costa Rica have a decent squad themselves, evident in that they got into the tournament in the first place. Sorry to any English readers, but I think you’ll be flying home sooner rather than later.

Uruguay – Advance
Costa Rica
England
Italy – Advance

Group E

Despite two South American teams in this group, I actually think it will be the Europeans who will progress. France have enough quality to get out of the group, and for once their defence doesn’t include the self-destructive antics of Gael Clichy. Switzerland are a tidy team, and should get the job done if they can cope with the heat. Ecuador are pretty good though and will provide stern competition.

Switzerland – Advance
Ecuador
France – Advance
Honduras

Group F

Argentina are obviously going to go through, unless in the event of a disaster. Bosnia are tough opponents but I think the Nigerians have the edge with their pace. Nigeria actually did pretty well in the 2010 World Cup before a Luis Suarez handball goal-line clearance, a missed subsequent penalty and a penalty shootout defeat in their Round of 8 match against Uruguay lost them a game they should probably have won. They’ll want to make amends. Iran are unlikely to get anywhere.

Argentina – Advance
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iran
Nigeria – Advance

Group G

I think the matches may be tighter than some might think, but Germany and Portugal remain the favourites and I think they’ll go through. Ghana and the USA have enough quality to make life difficult but not to progress unless they’re assisted by poor showings by their opponents. I’d like to see the USA progress, though.

Germany – Advance
Portugal – Advance
Ghana
United States

Group H

This is probably the most unpredictable of the groups (except for Algeria – they won’t get far!). Belgium and Russia are both strong if unspectacular teams, but South Korea aren’t exactly pushovers either. Belgium are probably my favourites to win the group. As for 2nd place, I have a feeling it will be the Russians.

Belgium – Advance
Algeria
Russia – Advance
South Korea

 

Right then, that’s all for today. More tomorrow. Until then…

Thrusday Update – Last Night’s Transfer News + more

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Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Antonio Valencia, Arjen Robben, Ashley Williams, aston villa, athletico madrid, Ben Davies, brendan rodgers, chelsea, Chris Coleman, Demba Ba, Diego Costa, Ecuador, Emre Can, England, Euro 2016, Fernando Torres, Gareth Bale, Gibraltar, International Friendlies, James Chester, James Collins, Jeremain Lens, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson, jose mourinho, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, Malta, Netherlands, paul lambert, Philippe Senderos, Raheem Sterling, Rickie Lambert, Samuel Eto'o, Spain, Wales, Wayne Rooney, World Cup

Afternoon, all. There was no blog yesterday, pretty much because there was no news until evening time, which was too late to bother posting one.

But news there is today. Three big transfer stories (some more so than others), plus some results from the pre-World Cup friendlies.

Let’s start with the biggest one. Athletico Madrid and Spain striker Diego Costa has been confirmed to have passed a medical at Chelsea, ahead of a surprisingly cheap £32m move (I use the term ‘surprisingly cheap’ because Chelsea were willing to pay up to £80m for him, and top class strikers were cost a heck of a lot more last summer).

This move comes as no surprise. Chelsea have been linked with the player for months and Costa himself has appeared keen to make the move. He’s pretty much achieved everything he could achieve at Athletico, having won La Liga and reached the Champions League final last season, and winning the Copa Del Ray the season before. As good as it has been to see Athletico be so successful over the last two seasons, it’s going to be very difficult for them to keep it up in the long term and maybe Costa knows that (although you’d have to think he’d be aware that his departure won’t exactly help that situation either). Chelsea are, for the foreseeable future anyway, probably going to be competing at the right end of the table as well as in the cup competitions and Europe, and with the wages they can offer him too it must be a very appealing move.

If there’s one player Chelsea need, it’s a prolific striker. Fernando Torres has been a shadow of his former self for so long now that he’s practically a shadow of the shadow of his former self. Samuel Eto’o is out of contract, and judging by what he’s been saying I don’t see him returning. Demba Ba is a very clinical finisher but doesn’t always seem to give 100%, nor does he appear to have Jose Mourinho’s confidence. Costa ticks all the boxes, Chelsea have been interested for a while and when Chelsea are interested in a player, they tend to get him. A very good signing for them.

There’s also Liverpool’s likely signing of Germany U-21 international midfielder Emre Can, who currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen. The 20-year old has been a stand out performer for the Bundesliga outfit this season, combining a high energy approach (no wonder Liverpool want him) and technical ability, having been compared with Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger. He can also play in defence when required, usually as a full-back.

He’s the right sort of signing Liverpool need in midfield, really. He’s an improvement over Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen who, despite their high energy pressing approach, aren’t quite good enough overall to be regulars in a Champions League team. If Can is the man (pun not intended) that Brendan Rodgers views as an improved update on Henderson and Allen, then he should do a good job for them.

Lastly, Aston Villa are due to sign former Arsenal, Everton and Fulham defender Philippe Senderos. Senderos is probably one of the most unusual players I’ve seen. Sometimes he looks like a very good defender, other times he’s a liability making some bizarre panic decisions. The last time I saw him play for Fulham (before he moved on loan to Valencia for the rest of the season), he unnecessarily Bruce Lee kicked a Sunderland player in the stomach inside the box after said player dribbled past him, then held his hands up as if he hadn’t done anything, but a penalty was given. Silly mistakes and poor decision making, usually in big games, were what made Arsene Wenger eventually lose faith in him during his time at Arsenal.

Even so, he adds experience to a Villa squad who desperately need it, and on his day is a fine defender.

 

In other news, a round of international friendlies took place last night. England drew 2-2 with Equator, thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney and Rickie Lambert, although both teams went down to ten men after Raheem Sterling and Antonio Valencia were sent off for getting into a scuffle. The bad news is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared to injure himself in a challenge and is due to have a knee scan. If fears that it may be ligament damage are confirmed, it will mean he misses the World Cup. He was impressive before being taken off, so hopefully it’s nothing serious and he’ll make it to Brazil.

Wales battled hard against the Netherlands too, but goals from Arjen Robben and Jeremain Lens won a 2-0 victory for the Dutch. Louis Van Gaal had earlier expressed his disappointment that they were facing a Wales squad without star men Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, and Wales were also without defensive trio Ashley Williams, James Collins and Ben Davies, although that paved the way for Hull’s James Chester to make his international debut. Even so, the Welsh performed admirably enough. Chris Coleman will have been pleased with some of the performances, seeing enough proof that his squad depth is improving ahead of the Euro 2016 Qualifiers, in which Wales have been handed a good chance to at last qualify for their first international tournament since the World Cup 1958.

And lastly, Gibraltar recorded their first ever international win last night with a 1-0 success over Malta. Congratulations to them.

 

Right then, that’s all for today. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have thought of a good way to build up to the World Cup (lack of transfer news permitting, of course). So have a good one, more tomorrow!

Tuesday Update

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Adam Lallana, Andrew Taylor, athletico madrid, Cardiff, championship, chelsea, David Villa, Fabio, Frank Lampard, liverpool, manchester united, New York City FC, Old Trafford, premier league, Rickie Lambert, Serbastian Larsson, southampton, sunderland, Wigan Athletic, World Cup

Afternoon, all. Sorry there hasn’t been a blog in the last two days, I took a brief hiatus mostly because of the lack of news, but also because I’ve been looking at creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account to support this blog.

There’s actually a bit of news today. Firstly, Frank Lampard has announced he is set to leave Chelsea after an excellent and successful 13 years at the club, in which time he became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with 211 goals. Despite being a reasonable age to consider retirement at 35, he looks set to continue playing for a couple more seasons and is heavily linked with a move to newly-formed Major League Soccer club New York City FC. NYC FC have already signed Athletico Madrid and Spanish international David Villa on a three-year contract, which was announced yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, Southampton captain Adam Lallana has apparently told the Saints that he wants to leave the club. The 27-year old has been the subject of a £25m bid from Liverpool, who purchased fellow Southampton player Rickie Lambert for £4m mere days ago, despite the Saints’ board announcing that there would be no player sales until a new manager is appointed, and that their financial issues are not going to force them into becoming a selling club either.

Personally, I find it very disrespectful to Southampton that all these players can’t wait to jump ship to club who had their first decent season in years. Southampton turned them into the players they are now, they signed contracts to stay at the club, but are all too keen to leave when a bigger club comes calling. Southampton should hold some of them to their contracts, at least. I’d have liked to see this Southampton team stay together as it’s good to have someone different being a tough, solid upper-mid table competitor in the league. Chances are if you support one of the big teams then you dislike most of the others in the top half of the table, so it’s good to keep things more interesting. But unfortunately, I just don’t see that happening and if Southampton do sell most of their best players then you have to worry for them in the upcoming season.

Other news is that Sunderland have extended the contract of Swedish international Sebastian Larsson, which will see the 28-year old stay at the club until 2017. Larsson most notably scored the winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford at the tail end of the season. He’s a decent, versatile player and a good one to keep around. 

In terms of the Championship, Wigan have signed Cardiff’s long-serving left back Andrew Taylor, who made over 100 appearances for the Bluebirds. At 27, he’s heading into the best years of his career, and given that he was dropped in favour of rubbish January signing Fabio at Cardiff, who can blame him for wanting out. Good luck to him.

 

Right, that’s it for today. Hopefully more tomorrow. If there’s no news I’ll start building up to the World Cup. Until then…

Lambert to Liverpool, why I think he’s a good signing for them, plus other transfer news

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Adam Lallana, Andres Iniesta, Daniel Sturridge, Dejan Lovren, England National Team, Fernando Torres, Gary Cahill, Glen Johnson, International Friendlies, Javi Martinez, Joe Hart, John Stones, Leighton Baines, liverpool, Luke Shaw, Phil Jagielka, Rickie Lambert, southampton, Spanish National Team, Steven Gerrard, World Cup

Morning all. Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday, but I got up late and had some things to do, and by the time I was ready to crack on it was perhaps a bit late.

Straight down to business, then. The big news is that Rickie Lambert will have a medical at Liverpool today ahead of a £4m switch from Southampton, and terms are expected to be agreed before Lambert jets off to the USA with the rest of the England squad for the pre-World Cup friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras. It is believed that he will sign a two-year deal with the Merseyside club.

Some eyebrows might be raised at the signing of a 32-year old who has never played in Europe or a Premier League title-challenging team, but I think Lambert’s a good signing for Liverpool. He’ll add experience to the squad (something that the more advanced areas of the pitch are lacking now that Gerrard has been Pirlo’d in defensive midfield), and he’ll also be a good plan B. I’ve often said that Liverpool lack physical presence and height up front, and even though that’s not part of their A game it’s something that Lambert provides. In particular games this season (0-2 defeat to Chelsea for example), I think height and strength in the box might have made a difference, as it gives wide players someone to target with crosses, rather than being forced to pass backwards for lack of a better option.

Lambert is also a tidy goal-scorer, too, with 14 goals in 39 games for Southampton this season, and as a boyhood Liverpool fan he’s pretty much living the dream and will work as hard as anyone. You have to admire his fairytale-like career, it has to be said. He’s worked his way up from the fourth tier of English football all the way to the Premier League, simply by continuing to do his job – scoring goals. He debuted for England at the age of 31 and scored with his first ever touch, and is now off to the World Cup. And next season he’ll probably make his Champions League debut. As close to a real-life version of New Star Soccer as you’re ever going to get.

Lambert also adds something else important that Liverpool are in dire need of – depth. Now that they’re in the Champions League, they really need to add depth to their squad or they’re going to find out the hard way that they’re asking too much of their first eleven to start potentially 50+ games (including Cup matches) over the course of the season. Liverpool really benefited from not being in Europe last season; they probably wouldn’t have done anything more than battle Everton for 4th place if they were in Europe, and they have to take advantage of the fact that not being in Europe propelled them into automatic qualification for the Champions League and a title near-miss by spending to add depth and stay there. Because the axis of Suarez/Sturridge is so effective, Liverpool were always likely to struggle to bring in another world-class forward (not that Sturridge is really world class, but whatever), so a 32-year old boyhood Liverpool fan who can and will do a decent job when required is the right fit for them.

And speaking of Southampton and Liverpool, the latter have made a £25m bid for Adam Lallana. The Saints turned down Liverpool’s previous offer of £20m, as they want £20m for the player, but under terms of Lallana’s contract Bournemouth, his former club, are entitled to 25% of any future transfer fee Southampton might receive for him, so his selling price would have to go up to around £27m (I think. My maths is terrible…) for the Saints to receive £20m for him. It remains to be seen whether they accept the £18.5m they’ll receive if they sell him for £25m. Liverpool are also interested in centre-half Dejan Lovren, seemingly looking to take full advantage of Southampton’s manager-less situation following Mauricio Pochettino’s move to Tottenham. Manchester United are also on the prowl, having apparently resumed talks with the Saints over the potential transfer of young left back Luke Shaw.

The only other news is managerial. Arsene Wenger has officially signed a three-year deal to keep him at Arsenal until 2017, and should he see it through (he probably will), he’ll have managed the club for 21 years, equalling Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of 21 years managing the same club in the Premier League (in the Premier League’s current format, i.e. since the 1992-93 season). An impressive feat. Meanwhile, Brian McDermott has left Leeds United, hardly a surprise to anyone given all the nonsense he’s had to put up with all season.

In terms of international news, England beat Peru last night. Daniel Sturridge actually scored a goal for once that wasn’t an easy tap-in or lucky deflected effort with nice curler into the top corner from outside the box. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka both scored from corners (the former directly with a header, the former firing home after the goalkeeper came, caught and dropped the ball) in the second half to seal the victory. Young Everton centre-half John Stones came on as a late substitute for Leighton Baines to make his debut. England will be concerned about Glen Johnson’s poor defending, though, and only kept a clean sheet through the goalkeeping heroics of Joe Hart.

Fernando Torres, meanwhile, actually managed to score a goal for Spain in their World Cup warm up friendly victory over Bolivia. Torres netted from the penalty spot after Javi Martinez was fouled in the area. Andres Iniesta rounded off the scoring with a low drive from outside the box.

 

Right then, that’s all for today. More tomorrow. Until then.

Thursday Transfer News

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alan pardew, alex ferguson, arsenal, arsene wenger, aston villa, athletico madrid, barcelona, benfica, borussia dortmund, brendan rodgers, brighton and hove albion, cardiff city, champions league, championship, charlton athletic, chelsea, community shield, crystal palace, cup final, david moyes, derby county, dundee united, everton, fa cup, felix magath, football, fulham, garry monk, gus poyet, hull, jose mourinho, juventus, league cup, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, manchester city, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, mark hughes, mauricio pochettino, neil adams, newcastle united, norwich, ole gunnar solskjaer, paul lambert, pepe mel, phoenix, premier league, psg, qpr, real madrid, referee, relegation, roberto martinez, ryan giggs, sevilla, sheffield united, southampton, st. johnstone, steve bruce, stoke, sunderland, swansea, tim sherwood, title race, tony pulis, tottenham, valencia cf, west brom, west ham, wigan

Afternoon all. Just a quick one today as there’s little in the way of news going on.

Over the next few days I will set up a Twitter account too to try and promote this blog more. It means no more posting this in Facebook statuses, which probably annoys some people, so I’ll keep you all updated with that.

Right then, the only real news today is that Arsenal’s back up keeper Lukasz Fabianski has agreed to join Swansea City on pre-contract terms when his current Arsenal deal expires in July. Definitely a good shot-stopper on his day, the 29-year old has since proved himself a fine goalkeeper after some terrible errors in his early career at Arsenal, and has played well when called upon in his last three campaigns. However, despite providing competition for Arsenal no. 1 and fellow Pole Wojciech Szczesny, he lacked the organising skills and strength and decisiveness from set pieces of his younger compatriot, and thus was never really going to be a long-term first choice keeper for the Gunners. Good luck to him at Swansea.

Fabianski’s transfer will also increase speculation over the future of current Swansea no. 1 Michel Vorm. The 30-year old Dutchman is apparently a transfer target for Liverpool, who are looking for back up to Simon Mignolet. Brendan Rodgers was the man to bring Vorm to Swansea and it is believed that Vorm is keen to play under him again.

There is also strong speculation over the future of skipper Ashley Williams, who last summer was apparently a transfer target for both Arsenal and Liverpool, but both clubs were unwilling to meet the £10 million price tag placed on him by Swansea. However, Williams has only a year left on his current contract with continued doubts over a new deal being signed, and Arsenal are apparently again interested in his services, this time for a heavily reduced fee because of his contract situation. The next contract Williams signs will likely be the last major deal he signs in his career, and with Arsenal offering Champions League football and the opportunity for more trophies. Arsenal must be a tempting offer despite the difficulty of claiming a regular starting position over one of impressive centre-half duo Per Mertsesacker and Laurent Koscielny. So he’ll have to think long and hard about this one.

Anyway, that’s all for today. Aside from Swansea-centric stories, there really isn’t much going on. Unless you count the story of the supposedly 42-year old youth player at some Italian club finally being confirmed as 17. Until tomorrow…

Wednesday Update – Pochettino named as Spurs manager, plus Transfers and whatnot

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alan pardew, alex ferguson, arsenal, arsene wenger, aston villa, athletico madrid, barcelona, benfica, borussia dortmund, brendan rodgers, brighton and hove albion, cardiff city, champions league, championship, charlton athletic, chelsea, community shield, crystal palace, cup final, david moyes, derby county, dundee united, everton, fa cup, felix magath, football, fulham, garry monk, gus poyet, hull, jose mourinho, juventus, league cup, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, manchester city, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, mark hughes, mauricio pochettino, neil adams, newcastle united, norwich, ole gunnar solskjaer, paul lambert, pepe mel, phoenix, premier league, psg, qpr, real madrid, referee, relegation, roberto martinez, ryan giggs, sevilla, sheffield united, southampton, st. johnstone, steve bruce, stoke, sunderland, swansea, tim sherwood, title race, tony pulis, tottenham, valencia cf, west brom, west ham, wigan

Afternoon, all. Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday, but I didn’t quite have enough time and there wasn’t a whole lot of news anyway to be honest.

First things first, Fleetwood Town won promotion to League One winning Monday’s play-off final against Burton Albion. Despite an all-action encounter with both sides coming close to scoring on several occasions, a Anthony Sarcevic’s free kick was the difference between the two teams in a 1-0 result. Sarcevic’s effort was actually a delivery into the box but it was one of those strange free kicks that just evaded everyone and ended up in the back of the net, helped in no small part by Burton’s goalkeeper horribly misjudging the situation and coming out to catch it, only to miss the ball completely.

It continues the remarkable story of Fleetwood Town, who have now been promoted six times in the last ten years, with no relegations in that period either. Ten years ago, they were struggling against liquidation in the Northern Premier League or some sort of division like that (or maybe it was the Isthmian League…I get confused when you go that far down the pyramid). It’s fascinating how far they’ve come, and congratulations to them for that. It must be a fun journey for all associated with the club.

Anyway, onto other news. The big story today is that Tottenham have appointed now-former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager. He’s been given a five-year contract, although chances are within two campaigns Daniel Levy will have thrown another strop over Spurs’ inability to get back into the Champions League and sack him (or maybe due to being fed up of Pochettino’s continued use of Spanish in press conferences and interviews despite the fact that he apparently speaks English very well). Given how well he’s done at Southampton, he may well be a good call from Spurs, although as an Arsenal fan I’m not going to wish him luck.

That leaves Southampton with a vacant managerial position. Pochettino was there for 18 months when he replaced Nigel Adkins in January, a move that was heavily criticised at the time given what Adkins had achieved as Saints manager, but turned out to be one of those decisions that actually worked out well. However, Pochettino’s future at St. Mary’s has been in doubt since the man who appointed him, chairman Nicola Cortese, departed the club in January. 

Southampton would probably be a more ideal destination for someone like Neil Lennon than West Brom and co., as they’re a bigger club, but whatever happens the departure of Pochettino is likely to weaken Southampton’s hold on star players Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and others. Pochettino’s move to Spurs has resulted in speculation that Lallana might even go there, but given he has the ability to play for a top four club and with competition for the Champions League places likely to be higher than ever next season, I’d still be quite surprised if he followed his manager to White Hart Lane.

Anyway, in terms of other transfer news, there’s not a whole lot going on. West Brom’s Billy Jones, whose contract expires in July, will join Sunderland ahead of the new season after rejecting apparent ‘vastly improved’ terms from the Baggies. Sunderland have been on the lookout for a new right back after out-of-contract Phil Bardsley agreed a move to Stoke in July. It’s not good news for West Brom, whose squad needs strengthening this summer, but he’s a tidy enough player who should get the job done at Sunderland.

Crystal Palace have announced the release of a few of their squad players, including goalkeeper Neil Alexander, striker (who doesn’t score goals) Aaron Wilbraham, Welsh international Danny Gabbidon and further defenders Jonathan Parr (Norwegian international) and Dean Moxey, as well as several youngsters. However, they have opened up talks with fellow out-of-contract players Marouane Chamakh, Julien Speroni and Kagisho Dikgacoi in an effort to keep them at the club.

They are the second team to have officially announced release departures, after Arsenal announced the departures of out-of-contract strikers Nicklas Bendtner and Park Chu-Young in addition to some youngsters.

The only other transfer news is that former Belgian international Bob Peeters has been appointed the new manager of Charlton Athletico, replacing Jose Riga who helped the club escape relegation following his appointment in March.

In terms of World Cup news, two Premier League players were on the scoresheet for France in Les Bleus’ 4-0 friendly victory over Norway last night. Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud grabbed a brace whilst QPR’s Loic Remy also found the net. 

Phil Jagielka is also annoyed by calls for John Terry to come out of international retirement and play for England in the World Cup because of his good partnership with Gary Cahill. Fair enough I suppose, but given how pathetic the English media can be when it comes to England in international tournaments, he’s better off ignoring it, getting on with things and doing his talking with performances on the pitch. Oh well…

 

Right then, that’s all for today. More tomorrow.

Bank Holiday Monday Transfers Update and other news

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alan pardew, alex ferguson, arsenal, arsene wenger, aston villa, athletico madrid, barcelona, benfica, borussia dortmund, brendan rodgers, brighton and hove albion, cardiff city, champions league, championship, chelsea, community shield, crystal palace, cup final, david moyes, derby county, dundee united, everton, fa cup, felix magath, football, fulham, garry monk, gus poyet, hull, jose mourinho, juventus, league cup, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, manchester city, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, mark hughes, mauricio pochettino, neil adams, newcastle united, norwich, ole gunnar solskjaer, paul lambert, pepe mel, phoenix, premier league, psg, qpr, real madrid, referee, relegation, roberto martinez, ryan giggs, sevilla, sheffield united, southampton, st. johnstone, steve bruce, stoke, sunderland, swansea, tim sherwood, title race, tony pulis, tottenham, valencia cf, west brom, west ham, wigan

Afternoon all. Just a short one today as there’s little going on in regards to football.

Burton Albion take on Fleetwood Town today in the League Two Play-Off final, the last game of the English domestic season. I watched Burton’s second leg against Southend and it was a relatively entertaining encounter that ended in a 2-2 draw. I’ve no idea how this will go as I know little about League Two sides. Play-off finals are always a good enough watch, though, so I’ll be sticking it on.

Speaking of play-off finals, Rotherham joined Wolves and Brentford in the move up to the Championship next season after coming back from 2-0 down at half time to draw 2-2 and win the penalty shootout. Moses Odubajo scored a stunning opener with a left-footed volley after a relatively drab opening 30 minutes, before turning provider with a fierce low cross for Dean Cox to tap home. After the break, though, former Orient player Alex Revell poked home into an empty when keeper Jamie Jones horribly misjudged a set piece delivery and came out to catch only to miss the ball completely. Revell then added a sublime second with a perfectly struck 30-yard looping half-volley into the far corner of the net when he saw Jones off his line. Neither side could find a winner as they grew tired into extra time.

Orient looked to be on the way up when Lee Frecklington missed Rotherham’s second spot kick, but their other four spot kicks were successful and Adam Collin saved Orient’s final two penalties from Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall to send Rotherham into the Championship. Congratulations to Rotherham, who have secured two successive promotions, but Orient must be absolutely devastated after leading League One for months only to slip away from automatic promotion at the vital time and then become the first team the history of the Football League in its current system to lose a Play-Off final after leading by two goals at half time. But that’s football for you.

Right then, time for other news. Firstly, Nigel Pearson will be signing a new deal at Leicester City within the next few days. Hardly surprising news, Pearson having won the Championship and set a new club record with nine successive wins this season as Leicester boss.

There’s not a whole lot of transfer news going on. Most notably, West Ham have agreed terms with Argentine striker Mauro Zarate, who played at Velez Sarsfield in his homeland this season but has Premier League experience playing for Birmingham in 2008, as well as spells in Italy with both Lazio and Inter. Zarate is expected to be a key player in Sam Allardyce’s bid to play more attractive football next season.

Cardiff are also expected to sign yet another player. This time, it’s Manchester United academy graduate Federico Macheda, whose contract will expire in the coming days. The Italian failed to properly break into the first team at United, with loan spells at QPR, Stuttgart, Sampdoria and most recently Birmingham City, where he scored a good turnout of 10 goals in 18 appearances.

And that’s that for today. More tomorrow. Until then…

Champions League Final Review + Championship Play-Off final thoughts

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Morning all. So, last night Real Madrid ran out 4-1 winners over fierce rivals Athletico Madrid in the Champions League final following extra time to claim their first victorious campaign in the competition since 2001-02. QPR also edged a victory over a dominant Derby side in the Championship Play-Off final to join Leicester and Burnley in the Premier League next season.

Champions League Final Review: Real Madrid 4-1 Athletico Madrid (after extra time)

In all honesty, the scoreline does not really reflect the true nature of the game itself. It’s somewhat glamorous from both teams’ point of view and, for about 70 minutes or so, Athletico were the superior side. Despite the gamble of playing Diego Costa not paying off (he last only 9 minutes), Athletico sat deep and denied Real the space they needed to be effective. Gareth Bale squandered a very good chance, but that was about all that happened.

When the opening goal came, it came out of more or less nothing. An Athletico corner was half-cleared, it was headed back in by Juanfran and Diego Godin, the man who scored the title-winning equaliser against Barcelona last week, headed at goal. Iker Casillas had ran out from his line for no good reason prior to Godin’s effort and despite his best efforts to hook the ball away from goal, the ball had already crossed the line completely, although one of the Athletico players stumbled in the rebound anyway. 0-1.

Following the goal, Athletico had their best spell of the game so far and the match became more open. Both teams looked dangerous on the break, but the scoreline remained the same going into the break. From the restart, Athletico were mostly on top with Real hitting on the break. Bale once again missed a good opportunity for Real, firing wide when he should have done better, but Athletico themselves never managed to grab that all-important second goal. Around the 70-minute mark, they began to tire, and ended up being pushed back further and further into their half by a much more energised Real.

Knowing that they weren’t likely to score a second, Athletico began time wasting considerably, most notably when the impressive Gabi feigned injury to buy his side some time. However, it was all in vain. In the 93rd minute, a Real Madrid corner was lobbed in, Sergio Ramos darted forward and leaped up to meet it, and powered home an excellent header low into the far corner. 1-1. On the touchline, Diego Simeone launched the first of his many complaints about the length of injury time (conveniently forgetting that Ramos scored in the 93rd minute, and all games are likely to see at least three minutes of added time, as well as the fact that his team really went to town with their time-wasting) whilst simultaneously trying to rouse Athletico’s fans.

But it went to extra time, Athletico were looking exhausted and unless they somehow held out for penalties there was only ever going to be one winner. The first half of extra time ended goalless, but it was the second half that killed the game off. Angel Di Maria, who had a very good night on the whole, impressively drove through Athletico’s tired defence, took a shot which was saved by Thibault Courtois, only for Bale to meet the rebound with his head and plant home. 2-1, and for the second time in barely a week a Welshman had put his team ahead in injury time for the first time in the match (after a centre-half had equalised for them to take the game into extra time following an opening goal from a centre-half on the eventual losers’ team…eerie coincidence, eh?).

It wasn’t over, though. Godin once again had a header on goal from a corner, but it went straight at Casilles, and Casillas was once again rash in unnecessarily coming off his line, but Sosa (I think) fired well over the bar for Athletico. But Real went further ahead when Marcelo drove unchallenged into the box, and fired a low drive at Courtois. The keeper really should have saved it but only managed to bounce it into the top of the net to make it 3-1. After a very quiet game by his standards, Christiano Ronaldo added a fourth from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the box. Although the penalty was probably a bit harsh (you’d probably have to give it under normal circumstances, but Athletico were well and truly done for by that point) Ronaldo fired home his record-breaking Champions League tally of 17 goals in 11 games, and did his best to make it all about him with his celebrations.

So, Madrid ran out the winners, Simeone caused more problems by having a go at Rafael Varane for, as far as I could tell, no real reason other than being aggravated from losing by such a heavy scoreline after being so close to victory (I may be wrong though). I was glad to see Gareth Bale celebrating whilst wearing a big Welsh flag, much like Aaron Ramsey did for Arsenal after the FA Cup final. And thus, Real Madrid became the first club to win the Champions League ten times, completing la decima, as they call it. Congratulations to them.

As for Athletico, despite the loss it’s been an excellent season for them, particularly having won La Liga for the first time since 1996. They reminded me a little of Borussia Dortmund last season in many respects, being the underdogs in getting to the Champions League final but losing it to their biggest rivals in the end (although Dortmund were more enjoyable to watch).

 

Right then, the other news is that QPR beat Derby 1-0 in the Championship Play-Off final yesterday afternoon. I missed the match due to work, unfortunately, so I can’t give it a proper review. Derby, though, had most of the ball and did the typical thing that Championship clubs do when they have most of the ball against defensive-minded teams, and that thing is to create very little in the way of actual chances. What they did create, Robert Green saved well.

QPR went down to ten men after Gary O’Neill brought down Johnny Russell, who was through on goal, but their winner came in the 90th minute from their only shot on target in the entire match. Derby failed to clear a long throw-in into their box, two of their defenders should have stopped Junior Hoilett but he played the ball, Derby captain Richard Keogh made a mess of his attempted clearance and Bobby Zamora fired home a very good finish to sink the Rams. Green made a couple of good saves, particularly one from Chris Martin, to ensure that the Rangers held on and won promotion to the Premier League.

 

And that’s that for today. More tomorrow. Until then…

Champions League Final Preview, Championship Play-Off Final Preview + Transfer News

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alan pardew, alex ferguson, arsenal, arsene wenger, aston villa, athletico madrid, barcelona, benfica, borussia dortmund, brendan rodgers, brighton and hove albion, cardiff city, champions league, championship, chelsea, community shield, crystal palace, cup final, david moyes, derby county, dundee united, everton, fa cup, felix magath, football, fulham, garry monk, gus poyet, hull, jose mourinho, juventus, league cup, liverpool, Louis Van Gaal, manchester city, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, mark hughes, mauricio pochettino, neil adams, newcastle united, norwich, ole gunnar solskjaer, paul lambert, pepe mel, phoenix, premier league, psg, qpr, real madrid, referee, relegation, roberto martinez, ryan giggs, sevilla, sheffield united, southampton, st. johnstone, steve bruce, stoke, sunderland, swansea, tim sherwood, title race, tony pulis, tottenham, valencia cf, west brom, west ham, wigan

Morning, all. A very big game on tonight as Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid clash in the first ever same-city Champions League final. There’s also the Championship Play-Off final to look forward to beforehand, if you’re off work and fancy one last day of football before the weeks of nothing leading up to the World Cup. Right then, let’s get down to business…

Champions League Final Preview: Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid

We’re in for a real treat in this one. The added spice of this one being a local derby surely means we’re going to have a fantastic game on our hands. Both sides have been outstanding in the Champions League this season, and wholly deserve to be where they’re at. Just to recap, Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich 5-0 on aggregate after winning the home leg 1-0 and then running rampant over the Germans at the Allianz Arena with a 4-0 away victory courtesy of braces from Sergio Ramos and Christiano Ronaldo. Athletico played out a 0-0 home draw against Chelsea, but came back from the return leg at Stamford Bridge with a stunning 3-1 away victory over probably the best defensive team in the world.

In terms of team news, Real Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo is expected to be fit and start the game, whilst Athletico’s star men Diego Costa and Arda Turan are more doubtful but hopes are high after the news that both were back in training yesterday. It’s unlikely that both of them will start but if they’re fit we can expect to see them at some point.

As far as predicting how this will go, it’s practically impossible. It has that typical derby-like unreliable feel to it. With a front line of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, you have to fancy that Real will score at some point, but Athletico are very strong at the back and are a tough unit to break down. The possible losses of either or both of Costa and Turan from the starting line-up might hinder their attacking credentials to a certain extent, but they still have plenty in their locker to give Real’s back four something to think about.

In terms of head-to-head records between the two, Athletico’s record against Real is poor but has improved in recent seasons. Last year they beat Real for the first time in 14 years in the 2013 Copa Del Ray final, but lost 5-0 on aggregate to their neighbours in the semi-finals of the same competition this year. In contrast, Athletico are unbeaten against Real in La Liga this season, with a victory at the Bernabeu and a recent 2-2 draw at the Vincente de Calderon.

So this is a game that could go anywhere. As for myself, though, I have a hunch that Real will win it…just.

Phoenix’s Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Athletico Madrid

Championship Play-Off Final Preview: Derby vs QPR

Significantly less notable that tonight’s Champions League final, the Play-Off final should still be a good watch, and more than a decent warm-up if you’re going to be viewing both games.

Anyway, Derby take on QPR at Wembley Stadium to contest which of the two teams joins Leicester and Burnley in the Premier League next season. The approaches of the two teams are relatively different too. Derby are more of an all-action outfit, working very hard and looking to hit on the break, piecing together dangerous attacks when they get the chance to move into the opponents’ third, and possess some clinical finishers in the likes of Chris Martin. QPR, in contrast, are slower, built around strong composure at the back and ball retention, and also possess a clinical finisher in Charlie Austin. Unbelievably, they also have a wage bill that surpasses Athletico Madrid, which just about says it all about what they’ve wasted their money on at times.

It’s another tough one to call, but I think Derby will win. 

Phoenix’s Prediction: Derby 2-1 QPR

Transfer News

A few things to talk about today.

Firstly, today’s big transfer news is that Chelsea have agreed a £40 million bid from Paris St. Germain for David Luiz. The centre-half signed from Benfica in January 2011, but despite scoring some spectacular long-range goals he’s failed to convince at centre-half and recent January signing Nemanja Matic has been preferred alongside Ramires in the central midfield position, where Luiz has looked better due to his ability to get forward and his defensive lapses not being so detrimental. Luiz now only has to agree personal terms and pass a medical to join up with national teammates Thiago Silva, Lucas, and co.

Something I meant to mention yesterday but forgot as I didn’t have time, is that Toni Kroos is likely to be on his way to Manchester United. The German is, I believe, out of contract at Bayern Munich this summer, and although a £24 million bid failed to secure a move for some reason or another, he can now move to the Manchester club on a free. Kroos is a good midfielder, but has found himself out of favour at Bayern Munich, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez being the preferred central midfield pairing and Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller ahead of him in the attacking midfield pecking order, Kroos’ favoured position. I don’t know how United will plan to utilise him if they do bring him in, but he would add quality to a squad that needs it badly.

There’s also news on the Arsenal front. Former Gunner Cesc Fabregas, who now plays for Barcelona, has been heavily linked with a return to the Emirates. Various newspapers have claimed that talks have concluded and Arsenal will pay £35 million to bring their former captain back. A clause in his contract, agreed by both Barca and Fabregas, gives Arsenal first buy-back option on the player, and also have to be informed if other clubs bid for him. Fabregas left Arsenal in the summer of 2011 for a deal thought to be around £30 million, returning to his boyhood club but despite having a good goal-scoring record at Barca he’s come into criticism from certain sections of the Nou Camp, which largely stem from him often being used out of position as a ‘false nine’, particularly during this season under unsuccessful manager Gerardo Martino. It still seems odd that Barca are willing to let him go, given that Xavi is passed his peak and without Cesc they’re an injury away from a regular starting berth for Alex Song, a player who the Gunners conned Barca into purchasing in the summer of 2012. Even so, despite Arsenal’s wide array of attacking midfielder, Fabregas is probably better than all of them and would provide some perhaps much-needed competition for Mesut Ozil in the advanced midfield role. As an Arsenal fan myself, I’d welcome having him back.

 

Right then, that’s all for today. More tomorrow…

Yaya Touré thoughts and other musings

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Morning all. There’s a Champions League final to look ahead to tomorrow as well as a Play-Off Final, but more on those with previews tomorrow. Today I’ll just look into the news of the football world and see what’s what.

The biggest story, of course, is Yaya Touré’s stop over not being wished happy birthday by a few of Manchester City’s owners, and the player has said that he doesn’t know where he’ll be playing his football next season. 

Pathetic, if you ask me. Aside from being an obvious attempt to negotiate a better contract, as far as the worst excuses to try and force your club into giving you what you want are concerned, this is right up there among the all-time classics. Poor Yaya, he gets a birthday cake but one or two of the owners forgot about his birthday and he’s ranting about a ‘lack of respect’. Yesterday, news surfaced that he’d be happy to stay at City if offered a coaching role. So that’s what he’s after (let’s face it, asking for more money when he’s already on £200,000 a week is ridiculous). Don’t get me wrong, he’s an outstanding player, but at 31 he’s a bit young to go into coaching, and doesn’t even have any coaching badges as far as I can find out. Never mind though, Man City will inevitably give him what he wants.

Along with a late birthday card.

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Anyway, the only other non-transfer related news is that Newcastle and Wales defender Paul Dummett has received death threats from Uruguayans over Luis Suarez’ potentially World Cup-ending injury. Despite the fact that, you know, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad a tackle as it looked (his red card was later rescinded, even), and Suarez has played the full 90 minutes in practically every single game for Liverpool this season ever since his return from his 10-game suspension. Did it occur to any of these Neanderthals that Suarez’ injury may be due to burnout? That it might have been an injury he picked up in training? That there were no reports of an injury after the Newcastle game? Have they even read that he remains hopeful to return to fitness for the World Cup?

Typical football fans at their worst. Sad as it is, Paul Dummett is far from the first footballer to receive death threats over something like this, and won’t be the last. Oh well, Paul, if you’re reading, you might want to avoid Uruguay as your summer holidays destination.

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Right then, onto transfer news and other stories.

Firstly let’s take a look at managers. Neil Lennon has left Celtic looking for a new challenge, with England being his obvious destination. In terms of Premier League clubs, right now the only one with a notable managerial vacancy is West Brom, although the likes of Southampton might end up without before the start of the season too. I’m not sure he’d be the right fit for Spurs, who also have a vacant manager position, but with Lennon’s natural winning mentality as well as Champions League experience it wouldn’t be an overly surprising appointment,  So Lennon might have his pick when it comes down to business. He’ll remain at Celtic to have a hand in picking his successor first, though. 

Speaking of Lennon, he’s long been linked with the job at Norwich as Chris Hughton’s future came under question earlier in the season. Although Lennon was unlikely to have taken up the post anyway due to the Canaries’ relegation, they’ve gone and appointed Neil Adams as permanent boss following his five-game spell as caretaker manager at the tail end of the Premier League season. Good luck to him.

In terms of transfer talk, there’s not a lot going on. Unless, of course, you’re a Cardiff City fan, in which case you’ll want to know that they’ve signed a third player, this time Austrian international Guido Burgstaller, from Rapid Vienna. Their midfield needs strengthening, especially since Gary Medel is likely to leave, so he seems to tick a few boxes. That’s three summer signings for Cardiff, and it’s not even the end of May yet. And speaking of Cardiff, club legend Craig Bellamy has decided to retire and look to move into coaching. It might be a bit of a surprise seeing that at 34 he’s a bit young to retire, but given he’s said his body can’t take it any more, I guess he feels the time is right.

Meanwhile, newly-promoted Leicester have made their second signing of the new campaign (after Charlton goalkeeper Ben Hamer) by bringing in Brighton’s Matthew Upson. The 35-year old is expected to bring Premier League experience into their backline, having previously played for Arsenal, Birmingham, West Ham and Stoke before joining Brighton two years ago. A good buy for a club aiming for league survival, in which experience at the back is practically essential. 

And lastly, Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna looks to be on his way to Manchester City with various newspapers reporting a deal has been agreed that will land him around £140,000 a week. It seems an odd signing from City’s end, when they have Pablo Zabaleta as their undisputed first-choice right back, but with the useless Micah Richards on his way out, they need to purchase new back up, and they may have plans for Sagna that we don’t know about. For example, he’s played very well at centre-half at times for Arsenal this season, so maybe they view him as a utility-defender signing, as opposed to just a right back.

 

Right then, that’s all for today. Tomorrow, I’ll have previews for the Champions League final and, if I have time, the Championship Play-Off final. Until then…