Rio Ferdinand must be feeling the heat

He's 6f 2, nineteen years old and a “future England captain”. He goes by the name of Phil Jones. The commanding centre back has recently joined Premier League Champions Manchester United.

Phil Jones wasn’t expected to have many first team opportunities this season, one would naturally find it difficult to break into the first team with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in front of him, however due to injuries, Vidic and Ferdinand, the later who turns 33 this year, Jones has grabbed his opportunities with both hands and foot !

He had a tough, energy zapping debut in the searing heat of Chicago. His second match was against fiercest rivals Manchester City. He came on as a second half substitute for Rio Ferdinand, United fans were worrying 2-0 down at half time but Jones came on and added an extra solidity to ensure United had a firm base to start their attacks from.

Magnificent performances from Phil Jones question the languid Rio Ferdinand’s place in team. Ferdinand is a marvellous player, beautifully playing out from the back but he has always had that error in concentration once in a while.  Injuries have also plague the former West Ham and Leeds man who United’s career may be coming to an end.

Another contributing factor to the question mark over Rio Ferdinand’s place in the team, is Chris Smalling. From Maidstone to Manchester United, Non League football to one of Europe’s finest clubs, from an unknown centre back to a prospective Rio Ferdinand replacement at the Premier League Champions. What a transition for the young man who has dealt with the change admirably. Recently he has been filling in a right back, a position he has only been playing since the USA pre season tour. His power is a standout factor on the right hand side which has been a revelation as United do not have the strongest side compared to the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea.  Smalling’s rise and signing of Phil Jones has placed added pressure on Ferdinand, who not only has to worry the pair but Johnny Evans as well.  Three promising centre backs vying for first team places. Rio Ferdinand must surly be feeling the heat.

Mes que un Club- More than a club ?

"Mes que un Club"- More than a club. Cesc Fabregas has joined Barcelona for £30million plus £5million add ons. His "dream has come true",delighted Barcelona fans greeted him in a "Galatico" manner at a packed Camp Nou.

FC  Barcelona's fierce rivalry with Real Madrid stemmed back to the time Genreral Franco was dictating Spain. At time several Barcelona players had been enlisted in the general's ranks. However they had become unhappy at the way the regime was implemented. To add futher haterd towards General Franco,Barcelona's president at the time Josep Sunyol was murdered by General's army. As a protest a group of fans rebelled against the government and General Franco. This group is now known as the people of Catalonia.  Barcelona football club was formed.
The stage was set for an intense rivalry, Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Tensions regulary flair between the two sided in the "El Classico's. After all this is "more than a football match" .

Real Madrid have always been brash,bold and attention seeking. Everything they do seem's to have a publicity aspect involved. The astronomical amounts of money spent on players, the whole "Galatico" policy.  Plucking all the worlds best starts and forming a team together. Barcelona on the other hand, have always relied heavily on its youth academy, promoting youngster from the local area training them at La Masia . Giving back to the community in essence.

However; Barcelona are starting to embody the Real Madrid policy, parading their latest signing inventing their own "Galiticos". The amount of publicity and news coming out of the  management at Barcelona is at an all time high. It seems like every manager/player has their own opinion on what's best for the club. A recent example is when Pep Guardiola talked about the stresses on managing the Barcelona team. His constant battle to appease the directors of the club. Many reports have highlighted his "strained relationship" with the president Sandro Rosell.
Barcelona FC, previously had no sponsership, they then had a charity; Unicef across the front of their shirts fitting in with their family attitude; now its splashed across with Unicef and Qatari Foundation receving £30million per year for five years. Maybe Barcelona's marketing think tank accquired Unicef as a ploy to fit in with their "Mes que un Club" philosophy . At the time  the Barcelona president Joan Laporta said

"It will not be the brand name of a corporation. It will not be a commercial to promote some kind of business. It will be the logo of Unicef. Through Unicef, we, the people of FC Barcelona, the people of Barça, are very proud to donate our shirt to the children of the world who are our present, but especially are our future."

Barcelona's debt has been mentioned at £369.5 million. £65milion was spent in one season with the purchase of Zlatan Ibrahimovic .Barcelona could no longer continue to ignore such a lucrative revenue stream, especially with Uefa introducing the Financial Fair Play legislation that will require clubs competing in Europe to break even.
Fans and samaritans had protested at the commercialism, over times they faded. Barcelona FC have been left with a large profit. They are more than  club. They are "Un negocio" - a business.

The Premier League is underway !

Its back ! You haven't missed it have you ?  Long nails ready to be bitten ? Check. Refreshments ? Check. Excuses ready for the wife and friends ? Check. This must mean one thing of course, the Premier League is underway. 


The  Liverpool were held by a dogged Sunderland, Arsenal drew to Newcastle,Manchester United overcame a resilient West Brom side.


All "top four" sides were expected to easily overcome their opposition, however this was far from the case. Chelsea were by far the better team against Stoke, however as we have come to know, its one thing being on top, if you do not score t does not mean anything. Stoke made many last ditch tackles and a few superb saves from Begovic, the kept Stoke in the game for long periods. Stoke did however have their fair share of chances. Kenwyne Jones was a vital cog in the Stoke City machine, deftly controlling the long punts upfield from the defence.  


Chelsea could of had three penalties, at least two. They were unfortunate, however John Terry berrating the referee made a mockery of the FA's respect campaign. A positive for Villas Boas's side was that Fernando Torres, their star £50 million striker seemed to spark into life, and showed why he's worth the astonishing amount of money paid by Roman Abramovich.  Ramerias also looked lively, the small wiry figure made some bursting runs in the Stoke.


Arsenal played the nice attractive football they've become renowned for however the missing spark from Fabregas and Nasri were evident.  Gervinho was sent off on his Gunners debut and they were unable to break down a stubborn Newcastle side. The absence of Jack Wilshere through injury, left the Gunners with an arguably second-string midfield trio of Tomas Rosicky, Andrey Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey alongside Alex Song, and they quickly ran out of ideas.

A whipped free-kick by Van Persie was the closest Arsenal got to breaking the deadlock, and their hopes of an opening-day victory were all but ended when Gervinho was dismissed.

To leave the north-east with a point is by no means a disaster but the performance and outcome was hardly the shot in the arm Wenger's men needed ahead of a pivotal week.

Manchester United left it late, the Red Devil's much talked about team spirit saw them through a tricky opening away match.  The first twenty minutes was dazzling a performance from the attacking Manchester United team. Tom Cleverly was thrown once again into the deep end, after inspiring an inspiring performance against the blue half of Manchester, City.

David de Gea endured a nightmare  Premier League debut. Manchester United lost both their centre-halves. Yet somehow the champions still managed to start their Premier League title defence with a win.

emanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand will need to be assessed for the calf and hamstring problems that heralded their second-half departures.


Ferguson will need to find some confidence for De Gea, in addition to a crash course in dealing with crosses, the Spaniard's inexplicable error in gifting Shane Long an equaliser to Wayne Rooney's 12th-minute opener, setting the seal on what turned his Premier League debut into a personal disaster.

One must not forget however that Peter Schmeichel was given a horrid time by the crazy "gang" at Wimbledon AFC in his first match, he then conceded a howler at Fulham in his next match. He didn't turn out to be a too bad goalkeeper did he ?

Ashley Young's deflected effort 10 minutes from time ensured United opened the new season with a win under their belts.

United were luck to an extent with the deflections however their never say die attitude can only be praised upon. Rooney placed in a glorious goal in the 13th minute. Shifting one way before turning back on to his left foot before placing the ball in the bottom corner of the net. Ex United keeper, Ben Foster had no chance. 

West Brom settled afterwards, attacking down United's left hand side with the powerful Tchoyi. He gave Smalling a real test  in his new position at left back. 

Paul Scharner drew a fine save from De Gea that should have given the Spaniard confidence yet two minutes later the 20 year old was shaking his head and throwing his arms in despair.

If the jury was not out on De Gea before, it well and truly is out now. The spotlight will shine brightly on him, however he should be given time, he's 20, living in a different country away from friends and family. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly see's something in the young man, who dares to question the wily old fox.  

Scouting vs Superstars- "You'll never win anything with kids"

The transfer window is interesting for all stakeholders of football clubs. Managers and chairmen are busy sorting out transfer dealings. Players are in constant communication with their clubs or on holiday.

Many clubs have conflictiing transer policies. But the question is which is the right one ?

Real Madrid have their "Galatico" strategy bringing and showcasing the creme de la creme of footballing talent on one stage. Under the regime Zidene Zidane was a world record £44 million signing at one stage in the football world,Papa Ronaldo for £26 million,Luiz Figo £38.7 million were bought for large fees.These signing's however only achieved only two league title's and one Champions League title.

Manchester City are spending from what it seems an abundant amount of money, attempting to attract top tier players. Purchases of Robinho for a British record fee of £32.5 million, David Silva for £30 million. These players have greatly improved the squad, this results in City being serious title contenders, a foreign thought for a fan of Manchester City 3 years ago. The closest they were to premierleague glory was across the city in the red half of Manchester.

Chelsea are in the hands of Roman Abramovich, who spent a large amount of money on player transfer when he first purchased the club, however in recent times he has reduced that spending, latest signings point to the possible change in policy, trying to purchase young players with potential. Josh Mchearean is widely tipped as a future Frank Lampard, Daniel Sturridge who spent last season on loan at Bolton

On the other end of the spectrum is Arsenal and to a lesser extent Manchester United. Both these clubs are steeped in tradition and history of scouting youngsters from across the globe. Arsenal rigid wage structure keeps the business model lucrative, whereas Sir Alex Ferguson has implemented a barrier to the amount of money spent on over 26 years old. Of course there are exceptions, Dimartar Berbatov 28 years old at the time was bought for £30.5 million. Sir Alex Ferguson brought Neville brothers,David Beckham,Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes through United's youth system,immediately plunging them into the first team. Sir Alex identified the mercurous talent early whereas others such as ex Liverpool FC player Alan Hansen were unconvinced prompting this opinion from him. "You'll never win anything with kids" How wrong he was to be as United went on to win the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and European Champions League. 

Other clubs such as Everton ,Aston Villa,Southampton and the formidable Barcelona rely heavily on their youth system. The effort that goes into training these individuals from a young age and the difficulties that are attached to it provide a heavy weight to carry along with the development of a player. Much alike United are finding out with the supremely talented Ravel Morrison. 

 Now we come back to the initial question. Which setup is better ?  From City's billions, to Arsenal youth policy and Manchester United mix of embedding young blood and a few big name signings. The answer is neither, both, if implemented in the right way can be successful.

Give footballers a chance to shine !

The last couple of days have seen tragic events occur in the country;s capital and across the United Kingdom. The sheer thought of the riots prolonging even further brings a shudder to each citizen . Young men and women have vandalised public properties and shops resulting in a monumental expense to the taxpayer.However what can the government do to stem the tide of these outrageous attacks happening ? 

Theses despicable individuals often are bored and resort to these actions to "entertain themselves". They grow up idolising their sports superstar. A large number of footballers have had a hard upbringing . Rio Ferdinand, Luka Modric and Robson de Souza (Robinho) to name a few. They could be used by the English government as a catalyst to reach to these young people. 

Ferdinand had a good upbringing and was a happy child but he also had to learn to live without luxuries in low-income Peckham, a district of London where almost half the population are categorised as poor or borderline poor. Violent crime was a common occurrence in the area he lived. However, he largely avoided the darker sides of the neighbourhood.

Footballers receive a huge proportion of negative publicity. "The salaries are too high" ."They stagger out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning/" "They're not respectable role models for children.'' These are a few of the negative comments which are associated with footballers. 

However they should be given a chance to turn this image around. Rio Ferdinand and others could make an appeal to stop these riots. He has done so in the past when appealing in a murder case, why can't he and others do the same now ? After all what are the chances of these misguided individuals listening to the individuals in the black suits of the FA ?

The Community Shield- Manchester City vs Manchester United

 "Looking forward to game today. No such thing as friendly against city. We want to win." This was reeled off by Wayne Rooney when giving his prematch thoughts prior to the Community shield. 


“Whenever you are wearing the sky Blue shirt and playing against United, whether it is a under 15s game, an under 18s game or an FA Cup Semi Final , there is a special edge to it,”


The Community Shield is normally billed as a curtain raiser, a showpiece even for charity. However Rooney's quotes and events on the pitch displayed otherwise. 


Manchester United started the match in superb rhythm . Immediately pushing City back, defending from the front, hustling Manchester City. This performance was very similar to those of Barcelona's, Manchester United pressured City into mistakes. David Silva was marked out of the game for the first twenty minutes, the towering Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli conquered by the defensive pair of  Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. 



United were slick and precise in the opening stages however for all their dominance they failed to seriously test Joe Hart.


City, in contrast, were lethargic in every area of the pitch and their main contribution in the first half-hour was to keep referee Phil Dowd busy, with Micah Richards among four of their players booked early on, in his case for a wild lunge on Young.


However eight  lightning minutes, Manchester City turned the game on its head. James Milner surging run was halted by Patrice Evra on the edge of the box. David Silva who until then had been uncharacteristically quite much due to the brilliance of the United defence swung in a beautiful cross for Jolean Lescott to nod into the net. 


Questions will be asked over David De Gea. The young spaniard had an opportunity to command his area and catch the ball however he decided not to and that enable Jolean Lescott to glance in a header. 


United were hard done by but one cannot appreciate Manchester City's brute strength in midfield. Rio Ferdinand was also to blame for letting Lescott to head the ball in the first place.


Eight minuted later Edin Dzeko found space an struck a thundering shot past David De Gea. Nemanja Vidic allowed Dzeko far too much space which was gleefully accepted. Once again De Gea should have stopped it, reacting late to the 25 yard bullet which was not placed in the corner of the net. 


United were shellshocked they were the far superior team however they were trudging into the tunnel two goals down.  The blue moon rose, sadly for City fan's it was eclipsed by United "winning mentality". The phrase that so many managers place an importance on. The Red Devils never give in, every United player when they give an interview always state the word "believe" . Nani summed it up by saying this. "“This is United – we always believe until the last minute,”. 


Ferguson sent on new signing Phil Jones and Jonny Evans to replace Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at the back, and introducing Tom Cleverley into his midfield. The transformation was clearly visible. 
Cleverly who has a bright future ahead of him injected pace and forward movement into United's midfield.  noticeabale difference between Carrick's who was substituted and Cleverly is that Carrick's passes the ball and is stagnant whereas Cleverly passes and moves. 


United picked up where they left off in the first half in the ascendency. Smalling reduced the deficit from close range when Young's free-kick evaded Lescott and, six minutes later, Nani levelled when he rounded off a quick-fire passing move involving Rooney and Cleverley.


United were knocking at City's door time and time again however credit to City they held firm. Kompany marshalled his defence well until the dying mininutes of the match. Dzeko missed a golden chance to win the match but he missed his header, the ball fell to Rooney who hooked the ball forward. It bounced just before Kompany and Clichy they both hesitated allowing the superb Nani to nip the ball past Kompany and around Joe Hart to send the United fans in into ecstasy. 


A new United but the same old story. Manchester United win the Charity Shield belting out a clear message to their rivals, that they are well and truly up for the fight. 

Do Changes Really Bring Success ?

With the odd 'this is our year' mail making an appearance, and John Henry coming out with a sensible assessment of his club's chances, I wanted to ask: How often does a team win silverware - specifically the Premier League - when they have just bought in a load of new players? A few Arsenal fans have said that they need to buy a whole raft of players in order to challenge for the title, but does this work in reality? Blackburn and Chelsea are accused of 'buying the league', but I am interested as to how many players in those teams were bought in in their title-winning years, and how many were already established (I genuinely don't know the answer). As I've been writing, what started as an open question has turned into a mini season preview:

- City brought in shed loads of new players over the last three seasons, and yet they have only won the FA Cup. However, they also had a settled spine of the team last year, and it's really this year that they are looking dangerous - and they would do even if they hadn't brought in Aguero. As the players have settled in to their group, and as the manager has been given some time, they seem to actually be playing like a team, and working well together as a unit.

- Liverpool rang the changes last year, and did the same this year - so I think realistically that it's next year that they should be looking at for success - although obviously, targeting that CL place is a must, if they are going to make progress. I wouldn't have them as anything other than an outside bet to do it, though - despite them looking as strong as Arsenal in many ways, even before Cesc goes.

- Arsenal I think they are facing major problems - unless they can hold on to Cesc, and add a squad defender to cover injuries, I don't think they will be challenging this year - and even if they brought in fantastic quality with the Fabregas money, they wouldn't be contenders this season, as it will take time for new additions to bed in - and then they will lose Nasri next year, so things look bleak.

- Chelsea have a new manager, but the playing staff looks like it won't change much. Their key man is Torres - if he settles early, if he starts to bang them in, then Ramires, Luiz etc will do at least as well as they did last year, and the squad have the quality to carry the manager while he's finding his feet. However, if the £50m man becomes the albatross round Villas Boas's neck, then the pressure from fans and Abramovic will kill their chances of lifting the Premier League trophy this year.

- Manchester United's squad actually looks relatively unchanged - despite the numbers of names coming in and out, most of the departees were playing one game in two, at the most. Outfield, only Ashley Young will be expected to start regularly, so the squad will be more or less unchanged. United's season rests on one of their new goalkeepers making the gloves their own early on, and getting the defence working with them. If they can do that, they will be in the race till the end.

I really think that City will be the biggest challengers for United's title this season. It's going to be exciting.