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.