Should we have 11 leaders ?

How important is it to have a captain in your side? Does a captain in a football team have as many responsibilities as a captain in any other sport, say cricket, does?

 Are the Captain’s responsibilities just restricted to motivating his team mates?

These have been some of the many questions asked this weekend when Arsene Wenger finally decided to strip Gallas of his captaincy. The newly appointed Captain, Cesc Fabregas, is not as vocal as his predecessor but certainly more calm and relaxed then any other Arsenal player. So how exactly will Cesc manage to inspire his team mates when he is not getting under the skin of his team-mates?

Do football captains not only have to lead by example but also be vocal on the pitch?

The Mid-Field Connundrum

Much has been made about England’s International football abilities over the last decade so and even more so now since they have strung together five successive wins. Fabio Cappello has instilled the discipline in his team that is often seen on his rather phlegmatic face. Probably Cappello has promised the FA to flash a smile on his face only after he gets England to WC 2010. Assessing England from the performances so far under ‘Don Fab’ they might as well end up being the first team to book their hotels in South Africa.

 The major difference between Cappello and his predecessors has been that Cappello is not afraid to give a kick up the butts to some of his so called ‘untouchables’. Under McLaren and Sven these untouchables were guaranteed a place in the side, all they just had to do was come out in public and support their manager. Fabio Cappello on the other hand has not only changed the team ethics but changed the way England plays its game. One can associate a more continental approach to their game now. It is in stark contrast to the huff-puff, end to end stuff seen in the EPL. They are more firm with the ball, they are decisive and they now believe in possession play.

 This brings us to the topic that I would like to discuss. England have a plethora of mid-fielders but the problem lies in selecting the most balance combination. Each of the mid fielders who are in contention of a starting berth such as Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Barry and Hargreaves are different from one another and different set of attributes to the team.

 While Gerrard comes across as the all action mid-fielder who can play anywhere across the mid-field , Lampard comes off as the more disciplined of the two and a promise of translating his goal scoring form for Chelsea onto the International stage.

Hargreaves is the no nonsense traditional style of central defensive mid-fielder who’ll get stuck in the tackles and will never give opponent players an ounce of space. But unfortunately for him and England he has had persistent injury problems. Hopefully the surgery on his knee which will keep him out of the entire season will come back a stronger player. Barry on the other hand is a different type of defensive mid-fielder who keeps things simple, he is more of an anchor man someone who doesn’t try to do anything flashy. He also possesses an excellent left foot and can bend a few.

 But one man whom I always thought of as the perfect mid-fielder for the International set up is Michael Carrick especially even more when Cappello wants one of his mid-fielders to slow down things and keep the ball moving in the mid-field. Carrick and Barry were excellent against Germany and England mid-field never looked so balanced.  The advantage and different set of skills that England will have when Carrick is on the pitch is that he is a naturally gifted passer , some one who has an eye for a pass and who can shift flanks with consummate ease. Carrick is not an all action mid- fielder like Gerrard , he is not a natural goal scorer like Lampard , he is not a ferocious tackler , but he offers something different from them. He provides an assured presence in the middle , someone who is very good in slowing down the tempo of the game and someone who has always been touted as a good reader of the game.

 The best Combination : I would personally pick Lampard and Carrick, Carrick for the above mentioned reasons and Lampard for his superior tactical sense than Gerrard. Gerrard is quick , direct but is not a natural playmaker and for me personally Lampard is better at dictating the tempo of the game better than Gerrard .

 I'm ending the post a little rather abruptly due to some issues at work and I would even incur the wrath from a few of you as some might accuse me of looking at things through my red tinted glasses but I would really like to hear about the mid-field combination that you would prefer.

 PS : Not that I care about England

 

Too long a break

 

 Sorry for the long hiatus. We let the blog seep through to a dormant state for the last two weeks or so as we had to occupy our minds with work in the office.

 Now we vow to turn around the defunct state of the blog and spring life into it again. We would be back with our weekend predictions, ‘big games’ previews and review, players’ ratings and many more articles.

 To bring to you some recent news and events that occurred last week, you must have enjoyed the weekend action which had plenty of goals in the ‘big four’ matches only if you are not an Arsenal fan.

 Titles are not won in November but they can so easily be lost. I wonder if Arsenal fans are beginning to worry about their team’s prospects this season. They have lost close to one-third of their matches so far losing 4 out of 13. What must be worrying Arsenal fans more (they must have been used to their team not winning anything by now) is that the team has been woefully inconsistent. While everyone has been singing praises for Arsenal’s fledglings, much deeper cracks seem to have appeared in their first team set up. Arsene Wenger got a fantastic response from his team after the loss against Stoke when they beat Man United but the performance against the ‘Villains’ according to him was lackluster, lack of enthusiasm and energy. Arsenal is dropping far too many points at home and if you come to think of it they have played just one of the other teams in the ‘Big Four’. They still have to travel to Old Trafford, Anfield and Stamford Bridge and also entertain the latter two at Emirates.

 On the subject of big games, Manchester United should be well placed in the title race come March as they have played all the big away games of the season bar the one at Eastlands. If the performance against Stoke is anything to go by then they are also discovering their goal scoring touch.

 Liverpool has been the surprise package this season. Over the years one has got used to hearing Liverpool’s false promises of doing better and winning the league the next season during this time of the season. But they seemed to have that around this season; they are coming out unscathed in tough away games though it will be interesting to see if they can sustain that for the entire season.

 Chelsea has started well as they have always done since they go the taste of fine Russian vodka. They are also hitting top gear this season and have an excellent goal difference which might actually decide the outcome of the title race. Chelsea loses very few matches but draws a bigger proportion of matches and it will be interesting to see if the form of some of their goal scorers like Anelka and Lampard ensure otherwise.

We had another boring week of International friendlies, they are the worst that can happen to a club at this point of the season when there is usually a hectic schedule for the top teams. Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex can testify this as they will be without the services of Walcott and Berbatov respectively thanks to the meaningless friendlies.

 

 

Turn On The Style

"The team is experienced with most of the players above and around 30. We cannot expect a drastic improvement from them."

These are the quotes made by Sir Alex Fergusan(may not be the exact words but almost means the same) at the start of the season about Chelsea's credentials this season. Not only have these old legs defied Sir's logic, but also in style. The team which was ridiculed for grinding out results after results is suddenly the team catching the eye worldwide. The same bunch of players who were written off as not capable of playing beautiful football together by a large section of the football fraternity have proved everyone wrong. Although, we've had one of the best summers in recent times with respect to transfers this season,getting what could be said as the two most important pieces of the zig saw namely Bosingwa (the most important transfer since Frank Lampard in my opinion) and Deco, one cannot discount the one most important capture of the summer, Luis Felipe Scolari. He's the man behind the face lift of the team, unarguably. What impact the gaffer can have on a team is not something too covert in todays footballing world. Its a true saying that a team clearly reflects the personality of its coach. Mourinho's Chelsea was resilient, strong, never-say-die, Scolari's Chelsea is very Brazil-like. I'm not saying we've suddenly become Barca or Arsenal for that matter, but we certainly are a joy to watch unlike the last couple of seasons.

The first couple of games of the season, I had a feeling that all the change is due to Deco. His touch and vision allow us to be more capable of unlocking defenses, which is true, but later on even without him we were as good. We gave two of the best performances against Villa and Boro without him. It was clear then that it was Deco but it is the belief in each player shown by the gaffer to express themselves is what has brought about all the change. It would be an understatement to say that Mourinho did not allow showboating, which would be the wrong word to use for this Chelsea, but certainly the confidence is there to show off some skills without having the boss at the back of your mind. When I compare Mourinho's Chelsea to Scolari's, one thing that is apparant is that the players are more comfortable on the ball than they used to. That could be attributed the movement of the players aound the guy who has the ball. He always knows where the players are moving which makes passing and controlling the ball easier.

The tactical nous of Mourinho cannot be questioned but the difference lies in the mentality of the team. The former boss gave much importance to being solid at the back. The full backs did not bomb as much forward and as frequently as they do now. The mentality was to go up and then shut shop, which is also a very good tactic given the personel he had at his disposal to do just the same. But the style was not eye catching to say the least. It was much result oriented than aesthetics oriented and that is why he was so successful. In his first year at Chelsea, we were a great force going forward too, with the width we had in the form of Duff, Robben and Joe Cole and fast paced counter attacks. That somehow went astray as we offloaded Robben and Duff. We became very one dimensional in our approach and that became easier for teams to defend against. With Makelele a constant presense in the heart of midfield, as good a defensive midfielder as he was, he lacked those move starting passes especially as he got older. With next no width on the flanks, the obvious way was to go direct. Drogba is undoubtably one of the best center forwards for that approach which helped us get results but not in so much style.

Scolari has changed that mentality. He gives much importance to retaining the ball and making it work. As in his own words 'you must have the ball at your feet to make it work'. Ball retention can only be possible if the players move intelligently around the pitch, find spaces. The cliche 'passing and movement' with which Manchester United and Arsenal were showered week in week out before, is now being linked to us too. And it has not come overnight. Any mentality needs time time to change, and the amount of work being done on the training grounds for exactly the same is mind blowing. Players perform sessions after sessions of just passing the ball and moving off the ball, which is clear on the playing field. Players like Lampard and Mikel are revelling in Scolari's system as they have the licence to create. The full backs spend most of the time in opposite half and dare I say, Ashley Cole finally looks like the player he was at Arsenal.

There are a few drawbacks too. Since we're a bit new to the system, and most importantly since we dont have a world class wide man of the likes of Robinho and Ronaldo, who can beat defenders, we struggle to create much when the opposition hunts down all the spaces and close the gaps quickly. For example the games against Liverpool, Roma and Spurs. They crowded the midfield and put their wide men to close down our full backs. Malouda is clearly appalling and looks out of sorts. Sorry to say, but he has to be the worst player since Asier del Horno to get a continuos run of games despite being poor. We certainly missed Joe Cole, who has such a great record against Liverpool. We suddenly looked like we're clueless in these games, especially without Drogba, as Anelka is hardly the man to go with route number one approach.

If most players could remain fit for the rest of the season, I think we're on course for big things this term....and in style!

Champions League Round Up

English clubs have started well in the Champions league this season not losing a single game. It would be interesting to see if the ‘Big Four’ can make it to the semifinals this time. That would definitely be the talking point as the season wears down. 

While Arsenal and Manchester United had emphatic victories, Chelsea earned 3 points courtesy to their captain while Liverpool earned hard fought out draw.

 In a match that was billed as the ‘Battle of Britain’ Manchester United turned on the style against their Scottish rivals in the second half. Berbatov added two more goals, which were contentious as they looked offside, to his short United career while Rooney who is currently enjoying a rich vein of form added another after he was denied a perfectly legitimate goal.

Manchester United 3- 0 Celtic

 Elsewhere Arsenal and Fenerbache played if they didn’t know what defending was all about. Arsenal got goals from Song and Diaby which would make them and Wenger feel good while Fenerbache got one thanks to an own goal by Silvestre. It was not as if the Man Utd fans didn’t warn their Arsenal compatriots about that.

Arsenal 5-2 Fenerbache

Reports suggest Chelsea were far from their best and John Terry grabbed the winner from a set piece in a match that lacked any sort of tempo and both the teams were below par.

Chelsea 1-0 Roma

Robbie Keane scored for Lievrpool after opening his account against PSV Eindhoven earlier in the competition. Immediately after the first half Aguero was introduced for Athletico and it changed the complexion of the game as Athletico dominated the game in the second half andhad  more than a couple of chances to level before Simao scored an equalizer seven minutes from time.

Liverpool 1-1 Athletico Madrid.

 

Finally to end the round up with a joke on Tottenham as that seems to be the latest fad in footballing circles .

Q. What is the difference between Tottenham and a triangle?

A. A triangle has three points.

 

Spurs Down and Out ?

The world no more makes sense to the Tottenham Hotspur fans. If they were granted just one wish by a genie right now they would wish to wake up from a nightmare that they had been sleeping through over the last few months. Unfortunately for them the man who was touted to be their genie, Juande Ramos, is failing to deliver after promising a lot.

Tottenham has been perennially tagged as ‘Pretenders’ or ‘Fools Gold’ and Ramos and his ambitious Chief executive at the club vowed to finally throw those tags in the bins. Ramos showed the right intent when he came to the club as he immediately snatched up a defender that the club was missing so much. Woodgate suddenly got rid of the demons inside him and he was no more a regular visitor to the team physio. He started brightly, scored a goal in the Carling Cup which they won and played like a general for the second half of last season. Probably Woodgate promised a bit too much that Ramos blissfully and totally wrongly ignored the lack of quality defensive cover in the team. Ledley King when fit is an excellent and inspirational defender but one gets to see him as sporadically as one gets to see the sun in northern part of England.

If defense has always been their undermining their attack this season too falls way short of the quality that they have had for quite a few years. Ramos’ transfer activity will once again under the microscope and not without a reason. Ramos went for young bright talents in Bentley, Dos Santos, Corluka and Modric when he could have done with a couple of experienced players more so considering the departure of their two most talismanic players Berbatov and Keane.

Daniel Levy will really have to put his hand up for Spurs’ dismal start to their season. It is actually baffling to even think how he hung onto Berbatov until the last day of the season trying to increase his sale value rather than selling him and giving Ramos some time to find his replacements. It is always an excellent strategy to change the way your team plays after a season as Sir Alex will have you know but sometimes it is always safe and prudent to go for like-for-like replacements. Ramos brought in a couple of wingers and he has Darrent Bent and Pavlyuchenko leading their line and if you watch a s Spurs game this season it is quite astonishing to see the number of crosses that they are putting into the box now. To be fair to Ramos Bent and Pavlyuchenko have neither the skill or finesse to play one touch football as their predecessors but you buy replacements according to the way you want to play the game not always play the game according to the players you have. Ramos had the whole summer to plan and be prepared for the departure of his strike force and he failed to strengthen that area in particular. One gets a feeling that Tottenham’s board members have failed to learn from their mistakes. They have failed to fill the mid-field void left by Carrick ever since his departure to Man Utd and now they seem to be treading on a similar path. Ramos will have to come up with a solution , a quick solution or else ass the table suggests right now Tottenham’s fans would be cheering their club in another league.

These transfers below sum up the transfer activity of Tottenham this season:

IN:

Vedran Corluka; from Manchester City; £8.5m

Roman Pavlyuchenko; from Spartak Moscowl; £14m

Cesar Sanchez; from Real Zaragoza

David Bentley; from Blackburn Rovers; £17m

Giovani Dos Santos; from Barcelona; £4.7million fee rising to £8.6million depending on appearances

Luka Modric; from Dinamo Zagreb; £8.75(subject to granting of a work permit)

John Bostock; from Crystal Palace; £700,000

Heurelho Gomes; from PSV; £7.8m

Paul-Jose Mpoku; from Standard Liege

OUT:

Dimitar Berbatov; to Manchester United £30m

Lee Young-Pyo; to Borussia Dortmund

Anthony Gardner; to Hull; £2.5m

Younes Kaboul; to Portsmouth

Steed Malbranque; to Sunderland

Robbie Keane; to Liverpool; £20.3m

Pascal Chimbonda; to Sunderland

Paul Robinson; to Blackburn; £3.5million

Teemu Tainio; to Sunderland

Tommy Forecast; to Southampton

Radek Cerny; to QPR; free

Joe Martin; to Blackpool.

 

 

Weekend EPL Predicitons

Weekend Predicitons

# Middlesbrough v Chelsea
Boro are not an easy place to go to,especially for the "BIG FOUR".Chelsea know they have a tough game on their hands.Chelsea's quality should eventually win them the game.
Prediction:1-3

# Arsenal v Everton
Arsenal have lost some important players to injuries in the international break.Everton will combative as usual as we know they usually are under Moyes,though they been under performing of late.
Prediction:2-0

# Aston Villa v Portsmouth
Will be an interesting match.Villa have started well this season with Young,their star player so far.Pompey havent hit their stride yet,but Defoe and Crouch are starting to combine well.Expect a few goals here.
Prediction:2-2

# Bolton v Blackburn
Bolton have 7 points out of 7 and are struggling.Rovers have been OK under Ince so far.We can expect them to do better when Santa Cruz starts firing.
Prediction:1-2

# Fulham v Sunderland
Expect home advantage to count here.Not much difference to pick out between the teams in terms of quality or form.
Prediction:2-1

# Liverpool v Wigan
Liverpool have been in good form and we can expect them to run out easy winners in this game.Zaki is scoring for fun.I dont see him scoring here, though I would be quite happy to see him proving me wrong.
Prediction:3-0

# Man Utd v West Brom
ManUtd are on a good run and so is Rooney for both club and country in front of goal.I dont expect the Baggies to hold on for long.
Prediction:2-0

# Hull City v West Ham
Hull have been the surprise package so far this season,lying 3rd in the table with an impressive 14 points from 7 games,2 more than the Hammers who have 12.Expect a close contest between these two.
Prediction:2-1

# Stoke City v Tottenham
Its the bottom two against each other.Spurs have made their worst start in 96 years.It might get worse as Stoke will give them a tough time but Spurs' quality should help them get their first win of the season.
Prediction:0-2

# Newcastle v Man City
Robinho's a major doubt for this game after picking up an injury while playing for Brazil in their WC qualifier against Colombia.But they do have SWP who seems to be back playing at his best after a couple of forgettable seasons at Stamford Bridge.Have Newcastle turned a corner under Kinnear after their well earned draw at Goodison Park in their last match?
Prediction:1-1