In other areas we have mostly everything that is needed to take the prize of being the best league. The play is fast, furious and physical without being plagued as much as La Liga in terms of play-acting. The rivalries are fierce and our teams often do well in Europe and this standard of quality runs through to sides that even battle relegation (see Blackpool). Yet, it seems again there are few big stars who want to join us and revel in what is surely the best balance of overall football and without doubt the best atmosphere in any league in any country.
Lets trace back the years: Ronaldo was our superstar back in 2008, the best player in the world, Henry ruled 2003-2005 alongside the magical Bergkamp, Beckham was an overrated yet wonderful talent known throughout the world and everyone's Mr Nice, the electric Zola, lit up our screens. Let's not forget Marcel Desailly or throughout the 90's Cantona, with Klinsmann joining for a few seasons and Pires and Peter Schemichel also being characters in our game. Lets not forget Di Canio, either.
What has changed? Why can our country no longer attract the talent it once used to and why have we now got the hated Rooney, or want-away Fabregas as the face of our league. Giggs image is out the window and Torres hasn't been producing the gorgeous displays that we all know he can do for at least a year. Again, Kaka did not sign for City when they offered 100 million +, just as Ronaldo wanted out to play for his 'dream club', despite the fact that they were nowhere near reaching European finals or even having domestic success. Ronaldinho, a brilliantly attacking player chose the mundane Italian league aswell as Eto'o, Sneijder and perhaps Tevez will be added to that list now his Corinthians move has collapsed.
We can also comfort ourselves with the notion that these players haven't fitted in right at their respective clubs or they are homesick, or of course that we 'hated them all anyway'. Yet, the more annoying and even shocking truth is that the inability of England to attract a superstar (even Neymar and Aguero want Madrid) may simply tell us that a move abroad is a much more attractive prospect than rainy, physical, boring old England. Even if it poses no danger to the brilliance of our league, it would be nice to have a player that we either love or hate, yet all appreciate for their genuine football talent.
Sunday 24 July 2011
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Will Sneijder be the new Veron ?
Sneijder could become a luxury player like Veron and would take a position that would unbalance the team , i.e. It would mean one less forward or one less central midfielder.
If Ferguson elects a 4-3-3, his problems is the wide men in the 3 attackers are wingers not forwards like Inter Milan play (Eto'o, Pandev, etc.) so will not get into the box as much to support Rooney. It works well for Chelsea as they have Lampard always getting into the box to support, but Sneijder does not do this. He plays in the space between te centre circle and the 18 yard box.
If Ferguson plays 4-5-1 currently he has Park busting a gut to support Rooney. With Sneijder he would have zero players getting into the box with him. A bit like when United played Veron.
This problem can also be seen at Spurs where the introduction of Rafa Van Der Vaart seriously disturbed the balance of that team. Afterall, they had four international strikers (not including Van Der Vart) and a creative midfield of Modric, Bale and Lennon and yet the strikers could not score. It says to me that Vanv Der Vart unbalanced the team by reducing the actual amount of targets the creative players had to find.
The only attacking midfielder that has played that role well was Steven Gerrard and I think that was mainly due to his athleticism at bursting into the box ( something both VdV and Sneijder do not have), Torres needing two markers and having Xabi Alonso and Mascherano behind providing the defensive shield. (Do Carrick, Giggs and Anderson really do that?).
Ferguson has always played wingers so If he plays 4-4-2 (his preferred formation) then Sneijder will be the attacking central midfield. United do not have a Roy Keane to fill the space produced, so United may get overrun against teams playing 4-5-1 as Sneijder does not do defence.
However, Sneijder may be a success. He could sit in Scholes role, pinging balls through to Hernandez. One cannot question his CV for sure, with the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan lined up,and participated in a world cup final and european cup final he sure has the big game experience.
This is all assuming a certain Massimo Moratti at Inter Milan agrees a fee with Manchester United.
If Ferguson elects a 4-3-3, his problems is the wide men in the 3 attackers are wingers not forwards like Inter Milan play (Eto'o, Pandev, etc.) so will not get into the box as much to support Rooney. It works well for Chelsea as they have Lampard always getting into the box to support, but Sneijder does not do this. He plays in the space between te centre circle and the 18 yard box.
If Ferguson plays 4-5-1 currently he has Park busting a gut to support Rooney. With Sneijder he would have zero players getting into the box with him. A bit like when United played Veron.
This problem can also be seen at Spurs where the introduction of Rafa Van Der Vaart seriously disturbed the balance of that team. Afterall, they had four international strikers (not including Van Der Vart) and a creative midfield of Modric, Bale and Lennon and yet the strikers could not score. It says to me that Vanv Der Vart unbalanced the team by reducing the actual amount of targets the creative players had to find.
The only attacking midfielder that has played that role well was Steven Gerrard and I think that was mainly due to his athleticism at bursting into the box ( something both VdV and Sneijder do not have), Torres needing two markers and having Xabi Alonso and Mascherano behind providing the defensive shield. (Do Carrick, Giggs and Anderson really do that?).
Ferguson has always played wingers so If he plays 4-4-2 (his preferred formation) then Sneijder will be the attacking central midfield. United do not have a Roy Keane to fill the space produced, so United may get overrun against teams playing 4-5-1 as Sneijder does not do defence.
However, Sneijder may be a success. He could sit in Scholes role, pinging balls through to Hernandez. One cannot question his CV for sure, with the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan lined up,and participated in a world cup final and european cup final he sure has the big game experience.
This is all assuming a certain Massimo Moratti at Inter Milan agrees a fee with Manchester United.
Sunday 10 July 2011
Transfer Window Frenzy !
The transfer window is well and truly underway. Football fans are sparked into a frenzy of excitement, commence hours of debates in pubs and forums on the latest player their club is linked with.
Manchester United have set alight the English Transfer windows with signings of Ashley Young,David De Gea and Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson has begun the rebuilding of his side who has won its astonishing 19th Premier league title, overtaking Liverpool on 18.
The players purchased are youthful and exuberant but the question remains are they talented enough to battle against Europe's finest ? One might say Sir Alex's side were already competing against the finest prior to the signings so with the addition of the new players, they must be stronger ? For all the players linked with Manchester United, there have been some departures, loyal servants John O'shea a fans favourite and Wes Brown have been moved on to Sunderland to join Steve Bruce, while the stellar Edwin Van Der Sar ,passionate Gary Neville and the "radar" Paul Scholes have retired.
Arsenal fans so far have had a horrid transfer window; the persistent rumours of Cesc Fabregas still exist, will he or won't he ? Is the question on Arsenal fans lips. So far it seems as if he will leave, to strengthen the supreme Barcelona side. Another Arsenal player future also hangs in the balance, Samir Nasri. Is he refusing to sign a contract and flirting with Manchester United to achieve a bump in his salary ? Or does he really want to win trophies and not just using it as an excuse to leave Arsenal? He's been linked with Manchester City who's name appears with every transfer saga in the world.
Chelsea have had a relatively quiet transfer window so far; all the focus has been on who would be their 7th manager in six years. The lucrative job has been acquired by Andre Villas Boas, the Portuguese tactician has drawn comparisons with a former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. However Villas Boas decided to reflect comparisons and named himself the "Group One" . Chelsea have been repeatedly linked with Neymar, the flamboyant striker from Santos, Falcao from Porto and Roman Lukaku from Anderlecht. These transfer seem still in the pipeline. With Andre Villas Boas settled in his managerial position, and Roman Abramovich heavy financial backing. The future weeks for Chelsea fans seem very interesting indeed.
Liverpool under the leadership of Kenny Daglish have been rejuvenated. With the deadly strikeforce of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll , one cannot rule Liverpool out as contender for the league in the upcoming season. The acquisition of Jordan Henderson solidifies the Liverpool midfield. The club missed out on Ashley Young and Phil Jones but have strongly been linked with Stewart Downing. Aston Villa have strongly dismissed any notion of the club selling.
Manchester United have set alight the English Transfer windows with signings of Ashley Young,David De Gea and Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson has begun the rebuilding of his side who has won its astonishing 19th Premier league title, overtaking Liverpool on 18.
The players purchased are youthful and exuberant but the question remains are they talented enough to battle against Europe's finest ? One might say Sir Alex's side were already competing against the finest prior to the signings so with the addition of the new players, they must be stronger ? For all the players linked with Manchester United, there have been some departures, loyal servants John O'shea a fans favourite and Wes Brown have been moved on to Sunderland to join Steve Bruce, while the stellar Edwin Van Der Sar ,passionate Gary Neville and the "radar" Paul Scholes have retired.
Arsenal fans so far have had a horrid transfer window; the persistent rumours of Cesc Fabregas still exist, will he or won't he ? Is the question on Arsenal fans lips. So far it seems as if he will leave, to strengthen the supreme Barcelona side. Another Arsenal player future also hangs in the balance, Samir Nasri. Is he refusing to sign a contract and flirting with Manchester United to achieve a bump in his salary ? Or does he really want to win trophies and not just using it as an excuse to leave Arsenal? He's been linked with Manchester City who's name appears with every transfer saga in the world.
Chelsea have had a relatively quiet transfer window so far; all the focus has been on who would be their 7th manager in six years. The lucrative job has been acquired by Andre Villas Boas, the Portuguese tactician has drawn comparisons with a former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. However Villas Boas decided to reflect comparisons and named himself the "Group One" . Chelsea have been repeatedly linked with Neymar, the flamboyant striker from Santos, Falcao from Porto and Roman Lukaku from Anderlecht. These transfer seem still in the pipeline. With Andre Villas Boas settled in his managerial position, and Roman Abramovich heavy financial backing. The future weeks for Chelsea fans seem very interesting indeed.
Liverpool under the leadership of Kenny Daglish have been rejuvenated. With the deadly strikeforce of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll , one cannot rule Liverpool out as contender for the league in the upcoming season. The acquisition of Jordan Henderson solidifies the Liverpool midfield. The club missed out on Ashley Young and Phil Jones but have strongly been linked with Stewart Downing. Aston Villa have strongly dismissed any notion of the club selling.
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