The Greatest Show On Earth



More Champions League. But no Totti in 11/12.























The UEFA Champions League kicks off for another season tonight with arguably the strongest field of entrants seen for several years. Since it's inception in 1992, the competition has grown into one of the most successful footballing and commercial ventures in the history of the professional game and has long since supplanted the World Cup and European Championships as the greatest display of soccer talent across the globe. This season's tournament will mark the 20th anniversary of the revamped European Cup and the 57th in total as Europe's premier football competition. Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena will host the final on May 19th, eight years since Germany last hosted a final - FC Porto's 3-0 victory over AS Monaco in Gelsenkirchen in 2004.

Despite persistent critisism of the tournament's group stage format and the emergence of a small cartel of club's actually capable of winning the trophy, there can be no doubt that the level of play is high above that of anything else found throughout Europe and the world. The English Premier League and Spain's Liga BBVA may boast the majority of the world's top players and team's in Italy, Germany and France are beginning to show their intent to join the elite, but the Champions League is the arena in where they all come together; a season-long competition that generates dozens of matches between Europe's best teams in a manner that cannot be replicated in the World Cup, European Championships or Copa America. Teams participating in the Champions League have often been together for many years, play with one another each and every week and are familiar with the systems employed by their repsective managers. One of the barriers to raising the quality of soccer seen at summer tournaments is that squads have comparatively very little time together and therefore fail to work as cohesively as club sides. National team players also find themselves playing at the end of a long, hard season, often with 50-60 games under their belt and it is not suprising that many individuals appear fatigued and lacking in the match-sharpness so evident throughout their club campaign.

There is no doubt then that the Champions League is the place to be for any team or player worth their salt; sponsors reflect such importance in the huge commercial deals struck in order to have their name associated with the competition. Global brands such as Heineken, Mastercard and Sony are principal sponsors and have their name and logo splashed around stadiums across Europe on match days. Cut through the big-business piggy-backing however and you are left with the best that football has to offer. The 2011/2012 season promises to be one of the best yet, with a larger than ever field of potential winners and some unusually strong debutants. FC Barcelona, on the back of their impressive final win last season will be looking to become the first club ever in the Champions League era to retain the trophy; Real Madrid, their fierce rivals on Spanish soil are arguably second favourites behind the Catalans, having fallen at the semi-final stage last season in the Camp Nou. England are strongly represented, with last season's runners-up Manchester United leading the pack ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and impressive debutants Manchester City. 

Outside of the big two leagues, there is a growing pack of teams looking to join that elite group. German champions Borussia Dortmund, with Jurgen Klopp's young squad will arguably be the most interesting watch during the group stages. Their opening round match at home to Arsenal will be fascinating viewing. Dortmund's Bundesliga counterparts, Bayern Munich, will harbour hopes of a repeat of their 2010 campaign when they reached the final in Madrid, losing out 2-0 to Jose Mourinho's magnificent Internazionale side. An impressive start to their domestic season, especially from striker Mario Gomez bodes well for Jupp Heynckes' side. 

Dortmund - Alot of fun

Inter, having been without Mourinho's genius last season struggled in the knock-out stages; losing humiliatingly to German club Schalke 04. However, with several additions to their already vastly experienced squad, such as Mauro Zarate and Jonathan, as well as the now eligable Giampaolo Pazzini, the Nerazzuri will fancy themselves to reach the latter stages, despite a poor start to their domestic season on Sunday night (a 4-3 defeat to Palermo). Their cross-city neighbours AC Milan however, are better placed to re-establish Italian football at the pinnacle of the European game. Knocked-out by Tottenham at the Round of 16 last season, Massimiliano Allegri has strengthed his squad immensely, with amongst others Phillipe Mexes, Alberto Aquilani and Taye Taiwo joining the Rossoneri and despite being drawn alongside Barcelona, the other two members of Group H, BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzeň should ensure that they progress regardless of their results against the champions. Napoli represent another tournament debutant and it will be interesting to see who they balance European commitments with their expected title challenge at home. A 3-1 away win at Cesena was a decent start for the Partenopei and in keeping hold of the excellent trio of Marek Hamšík, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani have ensured they will have the necessary squad strength and quality to make a serious impression both domestically and abroad, despite being drawn in the tricky looking Group A along with Bayern, Manchester City and Villarreal.

If there's not enough quality in the aforementioned teams, the pool of clubs just hovering below the established elite includes some incredibly exciting young teams; Lille in France boast the mercurial talents of the wonderful Eden Hazard and Moussa Sow, along with loan signing Joe Cole from Liverpool. Shakhtar Donetsk have an almost 50/50 blend of Brazilians and Ukrainians and have kept hold of coverted players such as Douglas Costa, Willian and Luiz Adriano. Their Group G opponents include FC Porto and Zenit St. Petersburg and is potentially the most intriguing of all groups, with no definitive favourite. APOEL make up the rest of the pool and will doubtless finish at the bottom of the pile come winter. 

Eden Hazard - One to watch

The list goes on, with Marseille, Lyonnais, Benfica and CSKA Moscow all in with a shout of reaching the knock-out stages as they have done in recent seasons. This again shows the great strength in depth that the competition possesses and something that is not seen anywhere else, whether in an international tournament or a domestic league. There may be a well-defined elite group, of which the winner will almost certainly come from, but previous campaigns (think 2004 and 2005) have shown that a team just below the radar is more than capable of making an impact. With such an array of top quality teams present in this years Champions League we can at least be assured that whoever does lift the trophy in Munich next May will have more than proved themselves to be Europe's best. After all, that is what the tournament seeks to establish and this year more than most will provide us with a definitive answer.

Football's Back!

So technically it's never been away. Over the summer we've been spoilt with the Copa America, Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups, European Under-21 Championships and a plethora of high profile, money-spinning friendly matches. However, the real business starts here. Over the last couple of weeks we've had the opening rounds of the Scottish Premier League, French Ligue 1, the Dutch Eredivisie, the German Bundesliga and this weekend, the English Premier League; as well as leagues in South America, Russia and the USA, which due to several factors, run throughout the summer months.

Therefore, in celebration of proper, competitive, league football returning to our boring and lonely lives, void of glamour and excitement, here is a list of things that football is infinitely better than:

- Rugby

- All other sports

- Garth Crooks

- Adam Boulton on Sky News

- Fresh coffee in the morning

- One Tree Hill

- The City of London

- Christmas Day

- Call of Duty: Black Ops

- The Godfather Parts I, II & III (Especially III)

- Foot Locker

- John Terry

- Everything I couldn't fit on this list

It's back! Look at it...keep looking...it's gonna move!

Premier League Preview: A New Generation

Who can stop United's pursuit for 20?

Amidst a backdrop of rioting and social unrest within some of the country's largest cities, the English Premier League kicks off this weekend. At the time of writing, only Tottenham Hotspur's opening match at home to Everton has been postponed due to the trouble, with all other scheduled fixtures due to go ahead; possibly however with altered kick-off times. I'm not going to spend any more time commenting on the scenes witnessed throughout the last week, so onto the football!

The opening round of games is spread right across this coming weekend, with 6 fixtures on Saturday 13th, 2 on Sunday and the first Monday Night Football of the season on the 15th:


Saturday, 13th August

Blackburn Rovers vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham vs. Aston Villa
Liverpool vs. Sunderland
QPR vs. Bolton Wanderers
Wigan Athletic vs. Norwich City
Newcastle United vs. Arsenal (ESPN)
Sunday, 14th August

Stoke City vs. Chelsea (Sky Sports)
West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester United (Sky Sports)

Monday, 15th August

Manchester City vs. Swansea City (Sky Sports)


No real stand-out fixtures from that opening round. Newcastle vs. Arsenal perhaps the pick of the weekend fixtures, purely on the memory of last season's corresponding game, whilst Swansea's first game back in the top flight sees them up against money haemorrhaging, title contenders Manchester City. Still, this is intended to be a season preview and as such the opening weekend shouldn't, and won't, have much bearing on how these teams perform between now and May 2012.

Season previews are ten-a-penny these days, be it on blogs and websites, in magazines or on the television. Therefore, in an attempt to differentiate this from the norm, I will not be addressing the season in the time-honoured fashion of team-by-team guides, but rather by looking at the Premier League as a whole and how it is currently evolving. Many sports broadcasters enjoy indulging in the popular sentiment that England's top division is 'the best in the world'. I'm not going to try and argue for or against this, as it is undisputedly, 100% impossible to provide an answer for. The 'best league' is the one that you, the fan, enjoy the most; for whatever reason that may be. What is a far more interesting and complex debate to be had is what the Premier League has become over the last 3-5 years; looking at the styles of play, the players it attracts and teams performances in continental competitions.  

Sergio 'Kun' Aguero

Perhaps the move obvious place to start is to look at the new additions to Premier League squads during the summer, and there are some very interesting ones to say the least. Manchester City inevitably spent big, with the wonderfully talented Sergio Agüero joining from Atletico Madrid for a reported £35m. 'Kun' was joined by Stefan Savić, a 20 year-old defender purchased from FK Partizan and Gaël Clichy, the French left-back, who joined from title rivals Arsenal. The Agüero deal is pleasing on many levels, and not just for City fans. In isolation, any deal that brings a player of the quality of Agüero to England is exciting enough, but it is even more fascinating when examined next to other recent transfer dealings, especially concerning their rival championship aspirants.

As has been mentioned in other articles on this blog, there is still an obvious and lingering aspect of British football that places great emphasis on strength and power. Managers enjoy the luxury of having a tall, 'target-man' as an option up front, with some clubs, including Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur using it to good effect. Over the last couple of seasons however, there appears to have been a notable shift in the type of footballers that teams are identifying in attempts to strengthen their squad. This has been more obvious at the top end of the table, with clubs evidently concerned with finding a balance within their squad in order to cope with domestic and European commitments. Hard working grafters, such as Dirk Kuyt and Ji-Sung Park are valuable commodities to teams that are competing in multiple competitions; they provide a more disciplined dimension for a coach to consider and their popularity is evidence of the high esteem in which they are held. Certainly in the last few seasons though, this style of player is being usurped within squads, both in terms of the amount of them and the emphasis placed upon them, by more skilful, creative individuals.

David Silva

FC Barcelona's dominance of the European scene is clearly having an effect on the way in which teams address their style of play. There are teams who maintain a direct approach, such as the aforementioned Stoke City, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Now there is nothing wrong with that; teams are well entitled to play within their means and to maximise their resources, but for sides competing for league titles and looking to make an impression in Europe, it is imperative that they establish several facets to their game. You could argue that Barcelona does not have this, but when a team's method of play is so strong, they need not worry about a Plan B.

This has been reflected in recent transfer activity in the Premier League. Manchester City's capture of David Silva from Valencia in 2010 for around £24m gave Mancini's side the kind of player that had been missing the previous season. Not strictly a No. 10, Silva has the wonderful ability to float around the final third at will, able to escape the opposition midfielders in attempts to create chances for the plethora of forwards at City's disposal. Some questioned whether Silva would be able to deal with the more physical nature of the Premier League compared to La Liga in Spain, but he was excellent in 2010/11; scoring 6 goals and adding 15 assists.

Across Manchester, City's fierce rivals United made perhaps the best signing of the summer, when they completed a £7m deal for Mexican striker Javier Hernandez. A deal that was in place earlier in the year and concluded very much under the radar, Hernandez lit up first the World Cup in South Africa and then the Premier League, where his 13 league goals helped Sir Alex Ferguson's side to a 19th English championship. A small, diminutive forward with a wonderful spring, Hernandez is unique in England's top flight and another example of a move away from pursuing tall, powerful players.

Chicharito

Not to be outdone, United's arch rivals for the crown of England's most successful side, Liverpool, have spent fortunes since the turn of the year in a bid to reclaim their perch at the top of the domestic game. Although they have added the powerful and burly Andy Carroll from Newcastle United for a ridiculous £35m, the real focal point of Kenny Dalglish's side is the mercurial Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, who signed from Ajax Amsterdam in January. A superb second half to the season was followed by several fantastic performances in the Copa America, where Suarez scored in Uruguay's 3-0 victory over Paraguay in the final.

There are several other examples throughout the league of an increase in emphasis on creative midfielders and forwards; Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart at Tottenham, Stéphane Sessègnon at Sunderland, Marc Albrighton at Aston Villa, Yossi Benayoun at Chelsea and Lee Chung-Yong at Bolton. Not only are there more of these players emerging or arriving at Premier League clubs, but they are becoming integral first XI members. All of the above are regular, if not first-choice at their respective clubs. With Barcelona abroad and Arsenal at home highlighting the importance of ball retention and the role it plays in winning matches, it's not surprising that managers are attempting to change the way they approach matches. Roberto Martinez at Wigan Athletic and Owen Coyle at Bolton Wanderers are just two examples of coaches making an effort to change the footballing philosophy at their respective clubs.

Home grown talent

It's not only players arriving from overseas that are facilitating this change. Clubs are starting to produce more and more British based players of a similar style. Jack Wilshere has just completed his first full season at the Emirates for Arsenal and is beginning to establish himself as a regular in the England national team. Josh McEachran at Chelsea appears set to follow in his footsteps, and with many citing a lack of creativity in the Chelsea ranks, may have the opportunity to establish himself this season, especially with new coach Andres Villas Boas insisting he will allow young players to make an impression.

Again, was with the Premier League's top clubs, those further down the ranks are also starting to produce far more technically gifted individuals. Aston Villa, which is regularly held up as an example of a club that is willing to give young players the chance to impress has many exciting players on its books. Scottish midfielder Barry Bannan had a brief run in the team during the club's injury problems last year; the scheming central midfielder was joined by the likes of Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso. Everton too have an excellent record in player development. A quick glance at their squad highlights Leon Osman, Jack Rodwell and Seamus Coleman as three players who either started their careers at Goodison or made their step-up to first team football there. Throughout the league there are also numerous creative and technical players that will be looking to made further impact in 2011/2012. James McCarthy (Wigan), Matt Jarvis (Wolves), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City) and David Hoilett (Blackburn) all impressed last season and are regulars for their respective clubs.

Hopefully this is beginning of a change in footballing philosophy in the English Premier League. I should reiterate that I appreciate the way that teams such as Stoke and Blackburn play; many outsiders are foolish enough to think clubs with limited resources should be expected to try and play expansive attacking football. That is not only naive and idiotic, but incredibly insulting. Journalist and author Jonathan Wilson recently opined that football whilst sometimes entertaining, should never been seen as a form of entertainment. I echo this sentiment greatly. Defensive and disciplined football can be appreciated just as much as attacking play, where reckless abandon results in many goals, but generally poor play.

However, an improvement in the technical abilities and creative intelligence of players should always be strived for. The further English football gets away from an over-emphasis on hard tackling and direct play the better and this season may just be the beginning of such a change.

Or if you were looking for something a little more traditional:

- United to win the title

- Arsenal to bottle something...anything

- Blackburn's owners to embarrass themselves

- Norwich to go down

- Chicharito will score more goals than City win matches  

Soccer: A very British term

A significant majority of uneducated football fans believe that the term 'soccer' is an American creation. This is not the case. The term 'soccer' is a colloquial abbreviation of association, as in association football.

Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, authors of the excellent Why England Lose: And other curious phenomena explained argue that 'soccer' was used commonly in Britain from the 1890s until the 1970s and cite the emergence of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s as establishing the Americanisation fallacy.

It doesn't take long to identify the term's popular use in the UK and across Europe; television shows Soccer AM and Soccer Saturday, the popular magazine World Soccer and video game Pro Evolution Soccer.

This is Football. This is also Soccer...this is also Shinji Kagawa

It took me about 5 mins to research this. Read a book!

The Art of Simulation

Lionel Messi

For many, if not the majority of football fans, diving is seen as one of the game's true evils. Along with greedy owners, 'anti-football' defending and Sepp Blatter, simulation is aggressively frowned upon, especially in the UK. We know that in many other countries and football cultures, the ability to draw a foul where there was none is almost seen as an art form; a skill that is to be utilised as much as a step-over or body feint. Present such a theory to British football supporters and it will most likely be dismissed as cynical and poor sportsmanship. Whether you lean one way or the other, there is no doubt that the issue of diving is ever-present. The act is evident in almost every match you watch, whatever the level, country or competition, of that there is no escape.

However, when pundits, journalists and fans debate and discuss this issue, are they more often than not missing the point? Certainly, questions have to be asked of a player's level of sportsmanship or his moral compass when trying to fool the referee into thinking he has been fouled. Even more so if that is followed up by the often-seen rigorous attempts to have his opposite number booked or sent off. However, when compared with other problems that plague the game both domestically and across the world, there's an argument to be made that diving is sinking lower down the list. I am not going to suggest that we embrace the art of diving or attempting to get a opposition player penalised, but it is worth making the argument that of all the sins we witness in professional football, it does not warrant the level of scrutiny that the media gives it. 

Firstly, let's look at the other problems that football has to deal with; whatever the level, whatever the league. In the Premier League in recent seasons, much has been made of dangerous tackling, resulting in several serious injuries. We all know of the horror tackles that have caused severe damage to the likes of Eduardo da Silva, Aaron Ramsey and Hatem Ben Arfa. Eduardo, then of Arsenal, was side-lined for almost a full year after suffering a broken left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle after a high challenge from Birmingham City's Martin Taylor. Ramsey, also of Arsenal, was the victim of a over-zealous tackle from Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross that left the young Welshman with a double-fracture to his lower right leg; keeping him out of action for 9 months. Newcastle United's Hatem Ben Arfa broke both his left tibia and fibula through a challenge from Manchester City's Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong and was unable to return to action for 10 months.




Hatem Ben Arfa

















I could fill this entire blog with similar examples from across Europe and in the English Premier League it's getting to the stage where we're almost guaranteed at least one serious injury per season. Now clearly, due to the nature of football and especially in England where the pace of the game is arguably quicker and more dynamic than any other top league, collisions and strong tackles are to be expected. But it is incredibly difficult to exonerate a player from responsibility using that as an excuse. We see dozens of examples of good sliding tackles every week across the country, where players are able to dispossess an opponent and win the ball back through a combination of athleticism and good technique. Unfortunately in the UK, media pundits and a large proportion of supporters are happy to allow these poor tackles to continue to be part of the game. Passing it off as an act of passion and determination, rather than filled with any malicious intent.

It only takes a few minutes to find examples of dangerous tackles that are clearly malicious and designed not only to impede a fellow player, but to hurt them too. Roy Keane, Steven Gerrad, Patrick Vieria and Michael Essien have all been guilty of committing to dangerous tackles, in the knowledge that it only requires the victim to be standing in a certain position or for his studs to get caught in the turf to cause serious damage. I am not trying to suggest that slide tackling has no place in modern football, it most certainly does; but tackling should be viewed as a art, a piece of skill akin to that of good passing or close-quarter dribbling. A well-timed tackle is entertaining to watch and excites fans, but should first and foremost look to win the ball and regain possession for that individual's team.



The art of tackling





















So surely bad tackling is a bigger issue than diving? I'm sure from a football perspective; fans would be less annoyed to see a player on their team go down under minimal contact than to throw themselves into an ill-fated two-footed challenge. The punishments would echo such a statement; rather a yellow for attempting to con the referee than a red for attempting to break a leg. Some may say it is a case of over-enthusiasm, but these players are professional and many who commit such tackles are vastly experienced. The excuse that an individual is 'not that kind of player' is usually immediately contradicted by the video evidence we see from out on the pitch.  

The governance of world football has arguably never been under more scrutiny. The corruption scandal that has engulfed football's world governing body, FIFA has cast a deep and dark shadow over the game as a whole. Allegations of bribery concerning high-ranking officials at Sepp Blatter's organisation has led to multiple suspensions and fines for several football administrators, as well as a life-time ban for former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President and FIFA Executive Committee member, Mohammed bin Hammam. Bin Hamman, who was due to run against current FIFA President in the 2011 Presidential elections, was found guilty of attempting to bribe members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in the run-up to the vote.

Considering these men are at the highest level within the largest organisation that governs football, it must surely be considered as the most pressing issue with regards to the future of the game. I am not suggesting that the majority of football fans are more concerned with the on-field antics of players than this, rather than when taking into consideration the true impact that an issue such as a diving has, it is worth comparing it to the larger picture with the world of football.

Guilty

Finally, and there is a danger of this becoming a running theme throughout these blog articles, there is the issue of poor football. By 'poor football' I do not mean dull 0-0 draws and match's void of chances and goalmouth action. By 'poor' I mean low quality football; be it a lack of technique, inaccurate passing, little creativity or team's bereft of organisation and tactical acumen. To many, the more goals scored, the better a match becomes. Fans like to see goals, chances and controversy. But do goals always equate to high quality? Liverpool's famous 4-3 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League during the 1995-1996 season was voted the Premier League's 'Match of the Decade'. There is no denying that it was an incredibly exciting match and no one would surely have failed to be entertained throughout the 90 minutes, but was it a football match of the highest quality? Watch it again and it is peppered with poor defensive play; a lack of organisation and positional intelligence that led to the majority of the 7 goals. Robbie Fowler is unmarked for Liverpool's first goal after 2mins, Liverpool's backline is caught ridiculously high up the pitch in conceding to David Ginola as Newcastle go 2-1 ahead, Asprilla's excellent finish to give Kevin Keegan's men a 3-2 lead is facilitated considerably by an absolutely woeful Liverpool backline that is all over the place and finally Collymore's late winner is virtue of Newcastle's entire defence being drawn to the ball, giving the forward ample time and space to finish. 

So whilst it was exciting, the quality certainly left alot to be desired and is arguably a source of concern for British football. There is nothing wrong with enjoying football for the excitement and goals, but in terms of British teams, both at club and national level catching up with Spain, Germany, Brazil etc., it is important to highlight that the level of technique and skill is lagging behind the world's leading football powers.   

What may be an interesting theory for consideration is that in order to improve the quality of football, especially in a technical aspect, simulation and other unsavoury behaviour may have to be tolerated. Certainly in Britain, skilful, gifted players do not get enough protection off the referees. Over-zealous tackling is usually tolerated and often commended. Look no further than Alan Shearer's deplorable chuckling when reviewing Karl Henry's brutal hatchet job on Joey Barton at Molineux last season. Whatever you think of Barton and he isn't the most popular of professionals, Henry's tackling, both late and malicious, was disgusting and counter-intuitive to high-quality football.

Tolerated

It is almost impossible to cover every facet of this issue on one blog entry. There are so many caveats to address you could almost write a thesis on it. FC Barcelona are held up as the model for modern football teams, mostly for the quality and style of their play. The intricate passing moves that are witnessed almost every match at Camp Nou, whoever the opposition, are arguably the zenith of modern day football. Some clubs around Europe have adopted a similar approach to differing levels. Arsenal are an obvious example, but teams such as Wigan Athletic, AS Roma, Borrusia Dortmund and Ajax all play in similar style and in some cases have cited the current Catalan side as inspiration. Anyone that witnessed Dortmund's opening day 3-1 win at home to Hamburg would have been able to draw comparisons; especially the quick passing and complex movement epitomised by Mario Götze and Shinji Kagawa.

From a personal perspective, I cannot understand why many fans are so dismayed at players trying to win free-kicks and gain similar advantages. Surely this is akin to a player claiming for a throw-in for his side when he knows that he was the last player to touch the ball. Compared to many of the issues discussed above, it seems odd that so many would maintain this level of concern for a rather meaningless issue. Certainly, if you could guarantee its complete eradication then there would be universal approval, but in the mean time the focus should shift to the referees. Officials are certainly more competent than ever before in terms of picking up these offences, but on many occasions we see referees acknowledge an act of simulation, but wave play on, failing to return and issue a yellow card to the offender. A tough, zero tolerance approach would surely help to at least tone down the frequency of these incidents. However, if governing bodies believe that officials would be better served focusing on other more pressing matters, such as dangerous tackling, then by all means do so, and in turn accept that diving has been a part of professional football for generations, despite what nostalgic-infested, history dwellers may perpetuate.