UK Football

By now you all should know about the Thierry Henry handball saga.  Anybody that doesn’t see Republic of Ireland as having the short end of the stick, is watching a different replay than I am.  Ireland got cheated out of a possible place in the World Cup finals, end of story.  Sure Thierry Henry’s handball was in the heat of the moment, and he can’t be blamed for playing on with no whistle.  But the goal never should have been allowed.

Thierry Henry isn’t the problem I have here though.  I don’t think anybody can say that a striker playing for your country wouldn’t do the same in his shoes.  But FIFA’s actions are unforgivable.  First the seeding which clearly favored the bigger countries.  Then Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, of which both were in attendance, fail to comment on the clear wrong doing thrown at Ireland.  Then FIFA turning down Ireland’s appeals for a replay outright, without even considering the issue at length. 

FIFA can clearly review the fact that Henry deceived the referee to control the ball, and set up the goal.  FIFA can also see that Ireland were unbreakable that day, and played one hell of a match.  But that doesn’t seem to matter.  All FIFA cares about here, is a big country like France making their way to the World Cup.  It’s better for t-shirt sales if France makes the finals, opposed to Ireland.

I’m disgusted and have a serious lack of faith in Football’s governing body.  This is absolutely appalling.  Especially when Henry, the man at the center of the controversy, backs a France v Ireland replay to settle the situation fairly. 

And to think, FIFA could have done the right thing here, and at least used this controversy to make the game better.  Bring in modern technology so that bad calls like these become a thing of the past.  Or at least stick a referee behind the goal at all times.  That ref would have a decent chance of seeing questionable acts, more so than the 1st official himself.

Something needs to change, because it’s unforgivable to decide a four year World Cup campaign on a goal that was wrongfully allowed. 

Sure, there are other matches this weekend, but the one that matters most is Sunday’s fixture, Chelsea v Manchester United.  Chelsea, a team in form, but also at about the same spot where they began to sputter last season.  United, a team struggling to find their form, but who doesn’t know the danger of writing off the Red Devils by now?

For me the match comes down to some key battles.  The first and most prominent in my mind of course, United’s defense.  All reports indicate that Vidic will be available for the match, and that means the Serb is going to have to have a great match if United stand a chance.  The only time United can play their best is when Vidic is a rock in that defense. 

But if United can’t organize, and they haven’t been able to for some time, Drogba and Anelka are going to expose them horribly.  Evra takes too many chances, Drogba will relish the space he’ll leave by attacking too frequently.  Who do you partner Vidic with?  Brown is more of a physical presence, whereas Evans is more solid but definitely slower.

The biggest threat to Chelsea is going to be the midfield battles, and set pieces.  Chelsea have been punished on numerous occasions from set pieces this season, and that will continue if they can’t organize.  Especially with Fletcher available for United.  If anyone can score from a set piece in a big game, it’s Darren Fletcher. 

I’m still not sold on Ancelotti’s diamond formation, and Chelsea have paid the price when it hasn’t worked effectively against some of the ‘lesser’ teams.  Lampard just looks clueless in the middle with the new system, and Ballack and Deco are inconsistent battlers.  Essien will always win balls for you when the other team attacks, but he isn’t much of an attacker himself.  If Fergie is smart and plays Fletcher and Anderson to favor pace over experience, Chelsea could have their hands full.

But from open play John Terry has been an absolute rock this season, and their only real defensive worry is Petr Cech himself.  I’ve never seen a goalkeeper chase balls that he has no business going after as much as Cech this season.  In fact I recall a certain Villa goal that Cech was responsible for, helping hand Chelsea their second loss of the year. 

But let’s face it, he’s not going to have as much work to do now Ronaldo has left United.  Valencia just isn’t the sort of player you can count on to take on defenders and make plays.  United have plenty of good hard workers, but not enough playmakers.  That’s going to hurt them when Chelsea’s solid defending kicks into full force.

My verdict, Cheslea will edge United out 1-0 or 2-1 if things get hectic.  United just haven’t replaced the goals yet, and Fergie will play Berbatov when he should be playing Owen.  Owen would be a constant threat and would force Chelsea to hold a lower defensive line.  Berbatov is too slow for Chelsea’s defenders to worry.  This is a match made for Owen, but he won’t feature, and United will lose for that. 

Never leave Old Trafford before the whistle blows.  That has to be the rally cry after United’s breathtaking late display to secure qualification to the final 16 in the UEFA Champions League.  CSKA Moscow had a brilliant display, going to Old Trafford determined to get results, and three times on the night they wouldn’t be denied.

But more so than United’s heroic comeback, inspired by newfound father Rooney, who only just became a father the night before,  United’s defensive shortcomings were on full display.  Remember, the next match for the defending Premiership champs is at Stamford Bridge, against in form Chelsea.  If there is one thing Chelsea have shown this year, it’s that they can score goals.

Chelsea have an incredible, and uncanny ability to score, sometimes at will, against any opposition.  United have shown that despite having a squad rich with talent, some days they can’t score a goal to save their lives.  They’ve struggled to get on the score sheet against lesser clubs, even from the comfort of Old Trafford.

Stamford Bridge pummels the most confident opposition, and I’m betting the midfield battles will be very different, given that there will be no Owen Hargreaves present this year.  United’s defense really needs to be assessed, because nobody looked confident against CSKA, or Blackburn for that matter.  Even the usually spectacular Van Der Sar looked off the pace.   

Something needs to change here, or United need to try some different tactics if they are to have any hopes of avoiding three losses this early in the season.  A good start on tactics changes might be giving Obertan more opportunities now that he’s healthy.  When United went down 3-1 and the instant change was always going to be Rooney, Macheda was converted into a left winger.

Sure Obertan has some issues with calming his nerves, as evidenced by a few of his touches in all three of his first team appearances.  But that will calm, and he’ll settle in, but United don’t have a better left wing option.  Nani keeps turning in awful performance after awful performance, and while Giggs has been a revelation, he just doesn’t carry winger pace anymore.  

What is going on at Liverpool?  Rafa Benitez, the normally brilliant tacticion looked absolutely clueless on Saturday when Liverpool were outclassed by Fulham 3-1.  The match started off well enough for Liverpool, with the Reds dominating their hosts for the first twenty minutes.  That is until their shoddy defending allowed a great Fulham attack in which Zamora was allowed to tap in Damien Duff’s cross on 24 minutes.

Here is my first point about where Benitez just has it wrong these days, Jamie Carragher.  Carragher was a fantastic defender a few years ago.  But now every year that Carragher ages, that’s one more year he just looks more off the pace, trying to compete with younger attackers.  Sure Carragher had a career performance against United last week, but what matters most is how well you play against the clubs Liverpool should easily dominate.  The first goal showed that Carragher just cannot cover the ground the way that your star center back is expected anymore. 

From there Liverpool looked decidedly shaky, and only equalized when a terrible Voronin header ricocheted off a Fulham defender and was met by a typically sublime Fernando Torres volley.  A thing of beauty, and what you would expect from the no. 1 striker in the world.  Torres had Liverpool equal after 42 minutes, against the run of play.  That’s what Torres does, that’s why he’s brilliant.

Then, against the run of play as Liverpool had finally found their flowing passing, Fulham strike once more, taking the lead once more.  And worse, only four minutes later Degen receives a straight red for a terrible challenge on Clint Dempsey.  So how does Rafa respond to try and secure at least a point?  Well, by taking off Liverpool’s most creative and talented midfielder save Gerrard himself, as Yossi Benayoun makes way for the great Nathan Eccleston.  Because Nathan Eccleston is the man to turn around the match for Liverpool right?

Rafa went on to further embarrass himself by taking off Kuyt in the 84th minute, sealing Liverpool’s fate.  Not a decent attacker in sight, and a game strategy that I can’t explain.  Once again Rafa has got it horribly wrong.  Which confuses me.

That revenue is vital to Liverpool’s survival, and Benitez just doesn’t look capable of ensuring the Reds receive the money that they need.  

David Beckham has practically announced his interest in rejoining the English Premier League, and I think that’s the best thing for him and his career.  Especially considering his hopes to keep his place in the England squad.  Let’s face the facts, MLS is far below the quality of football that you would want a world class athlete to be playing to keep them sharp for the biggest sporting tournament in the world.  So no surprise Beckham wants to get himself back to the top football league in the world to keep himself fit and sharp.  But where does he go?

My wish is to see Beckham wearing Manchester United red again.  United need a creative midfielder and David Beckham is one of the most creative midfielders to have ever played the game.  Not to mention he’s already a living United legend.  Becks arrival could help ease the pain of Ronaldo’s loss in ways that Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia have failed to do as yet. 

Too bad Sir Alex Ferguson will never be able to get over their falling out.  So rather it looks as though United fans will have to look forward to their living legend playing against them twice a year for the rest of his career.  

David Moyes is widely regarded as one of the most talented managers in the Premiership.  The accomplishments he has achieved with an Everton team that has never had the money to spend big, or that is always being poached for players from other clubs, is nothing short of incredible.  But I don’t understand what he’s doing right now, as all reports indicate that Everton star Lescott is on his way out of Everton. 

Apparently the big defender has not officially turned in a written transfer request, but has made his desire to leave known.  This comes with the information that City has been repeatedly sending bid after bid to Everton, attempting to pry the England man from Moyes grip.  Now that’s not very surprising that Lescott would be tempted, especially considering City are probably offering to double his wages if he signs for the opposition.

I think Everton are in danger of making a huge mistake here with the handling of Lescott, and the attempted signing of Senderos.  But Moyes has proven himself as well more than capable at making a great team out of nothing in the past, so I guess Toffee supporters just need to keep the faith, and they’ll probably come out fine. 

What are Manchester City doing because I’m completely confused.  Mark Hughes now has 10 strikers in his squad, all of which with personalities that don’t exactly suggest comfort when being forced to sit on the bench.  Not to mention we’re also not talking about a manager that can command respect through a legendary level of understanding of the game like a Capello, or Ferguson, or Wenger, or Mourinho.  Any of them I’d give a fair chance of controlling the egos Manchester City has paid a massive amount of money for, but Mark Hughes doesn’t have a prayer, and is showing just how clueless an infinite amount of transfer money makes him.

How Hughes is going to find a format for Santa Cruz, Robinho, Adebayor, Tevez, and Bellamy to fit in comfortably with the squad.  Someone is going to be pissed off, which is going to mean that somebody is going to leave, meaning City will have spent an obnoxious amount of transfer money for no reason.  Right now it looks as though Hughes is just buying as many big name players as City can possibly sign, in a bid to buy their way into the top four, instead of developing talent.  

Case in point, Danny Sturridge, who was a Manchester City youth product that Hughes sold to Chelsea, who has been playing in Chelsea’s preseason matches, and showing himself worthy of playing at a big club by delivering when asked.  You don’t get to the top four by buying your talent, you get there by finding the right players and developing them.  What part of this does Hughes not understand?  And why would City sell a youth product that was shaping up well?  Your youth academy should always be the first place you look!

But then I’m not Manchester City’s manager, and apparently Mark Hughes has a strategy that none of us are privy to, so we all have to wait and see what’s going to happen.  But mark my words, if this doesn’t work out for Hughes pretty fast, I guarantee City find a new manager real quick.  Hughes is costing them an awful lot of money without making an awful lot of progress. 

Manchester United are poised to make a shock move for former Newcastle Striker Michael Owen.  Owen decided not to renew his contract with the club, which ran out in June, after the Toon Army was relegated from the Premier League.  Now apparently Sir Alex Ferguson figures that he can find a use for Owen, and United are willing to make an offer for the former Liverpool striker, and are likely to enjoy the fact that Owen will come as a free transfer.

So far it’s hard to tell whether Owen’s injury problems through the last few years will be bothersome, should he complete the move to Old Trafford, but Ferguson will have one hell of a late substitute striker with Michael Owen.  Obviously he’s not going to play 90 minutes every time at his age, or with his injury problems.  But you could do far, far worse than having Michael Owen as an ace up your sleeve ready to be unleashed at any time. 

 I’m not exactly a Reading fan, but I always respected the heart and determination that Kevin Doyle left out on the field.  Whether fighting to show himself to be worthy of the Premier League, or fighting to try and keep Reading alive in the dying stages of their last failed Premiership campaign., Doyle proved himself as a worthwhile striker.  And Wolves have seen that, and have saved the Irishman from his exile in the Championship by spending a club record 6.5million for his services.

Kevin Doyle is the right choice for Wolves.  Tested, and passed with flying colors as the right fighting forward for a team like Wolves.

Manchester United are essentially begging UEFA to overturn the horrid red card decision that went against Darren Fletcher on Tuesday night.  Technically United have no medium in which to challenge a decision made by a referee concerning a red card, as according to UEFA rules the only way you can dispute a red card is in a case of mistaken identity, where the wrong player is sent off.  So despite the million replays that UEFA and the match official have seen at this point, showing Darren Fletcher clearly winning the ball before touching Cesc Fabregas, it looks like the Scot will have to sit out the Final.

And that’s an absolute travesty, considering what the Champions League is supposed to stand for.   Darren Fletcher never should have been shown a red card, Fabregas shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty, and United should have the right to dispute that point.  I understand UEFA’s stance, as it provides the referee respect knowing that all decisions made by him are absolutely final.  But this is exactly what Sir Alex Ferguson called the event after the match, “a tragedy”. 

Fletcher is the most improved United player this season, by far, and his dominance in midfield all season during United’s Champions League campaigns has been second to none.  If UEFA doesn’t allow a man who has played by the rules, and done it exceptionally well, and that has earned his spot in the Final as much as any other United player, I will lose all faith in their ability to govern European football.

Give Darren Fletcher his honor back, don’t punish him for a brilliant, and legal, physical tackle because your referee made a mistake.