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Arsenal v Newcastle United (A fans perspective).

March 14th, 2012 craigstokes

Arsenal v Newcastle

Written by Niki Wainwright of thepitchisback.wordpress.com (@thepitchisback)

What a great night for Arsenal and their fans last night. The comeback kings are at it again. We have had the worst start to a season ever and they have been slated from all angles, pundits, media, our own fans, fans from other clubs and many other people and now these people must be eating their words as we are managing to prove them all wrong. Somehow we have rose like a Phoenix out of the ashes and are now looking to achieve 3rd place, something that looked liked the impossible for Arsenal to do suddenly becomes an easier task.  The last few games have been amazing for us as fans to watch, but last night’s game was the one that counted. We needed to win this one to close the gap on Spuds. We dug our heels in against a fighting Newcastle side and our relentless and passionate gunners proved to be the better team in the end. Van Persie’s equaliser 53 seconds after Ben Arfa’s goal was awesome and surely served Newcastle right for their silly dancing celebrations. Walcott seems to have got his confidence back and I have to say I agree with Wenger that it was his best game ever.  Rosicky’s new contract seems to have got him moving again too.  He has been a great little player in the last few games. Let’s not forget the amazing Van Persie- who made me giggle with his little angry moments at Krul and the wonderful Verminator with that winning goal. Newcastle played well, they kept us running until the very end. Krul made some brilliant saves and the fought hard to keep the Arsenal from winning.  Ba is a very strong player and its no surprise he is wanted by a lot of clubs.

But the whole Arsenal team and Wenger deserve every bit of praise for turning this season round. I’ve been critical at times and I know we are not finishing with any silverware from this season but we are taking away a hell of a lot of pride and belief and sometimes that counts for a lot.  With improvements to the team in the summer with new players being brought and others being sold then next season we will be back stronger than ever.  I am hoping like every Arsenal fan that the curse of Spurs hits Man city and they lose the next 4 or 5 games and we win all ours then maybe 2nd place would be on the horizon…I know I know but a Gooner girl can dream.  No other team has come from behind to win four consecutive Premier League matches and make no mistake, we should not have been behind but it’s an achievement to go ahead and win games. It shows our passion and belief really does prove that with Arsenal FC nothing is impossible.

“I have never questioned our spirit. It was a game of absolute commitment from both sides. We needed something special to beat them and what beat them was our relentless effort to win. There was never a point when I thought we wouldn’t win such is the belief in this team” Arsene Wenger after last night’s game.

The Arsenal team celebrating Verminator’s goal

 

 

A Friend of mine who was at the game

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Arsenal – A Fan’s Perspective.

March 7th, 2012 craigstokes

Written by Niki Wainwright of thepitchisback.wordpress.com (@thepitchisback).

As an Arsenal fan I thought it was time I wrote an article on beloved club and give my opinion to a few things that have been happening.  We have had 7 seasons without a trophy and looks like we’re ending this season the same way.  We had an awful start to the season, and we have been pretty inconsistent to say the least.  It has been a strange season, with some strange results for everyone, not just Arsenal. Spurs and Man City have both upped their game too although I don’t like to defend Spurs but they kinda earned theirs whereas Man City bought it. I’ve been talking with lots of Arsenal fans and obviously we’ve had the pro Wenger and against Wenger opinions and we’ve also discussed the board and the players etc.  A lot of Arsenal fans are obviously annoyed and frustrated with the situation because it just doesn’t make sense that we should be in this position, we went from 49 games unbeaten to 7 season’s without anything to show. So why aren’t we doing better?

David Dein left Arsenal in 2007 and he was a very influential man on the Arsenal board.  He left due to irreconcilable differences after Stan Kroenke invested.  I think all Arsenal fans will agree that he and Wenger made a good team in terms on investing in decent players for a decent price. We have had some amazing buys from the both of them combined, Henry, Bergkamp, Overmars, Petit and Veira to name a few.  Peter Hill-Wood and Ivan Gazidis remain in control and neither of them have done much to reassure Arsenal fans that Wenger has money to invest in new players or confirm why we are selling the important players. Ivan Gazidis actually said that ‘finishing 4th is like winning a trophy’ something I’m sure no Arsenal fan, player or manager will agree with.  They were also the ones that went ahead with buying Ashburton Grove and moving us from Highbury.  It seems pointless to buy a big shiny new stadium when we don’t have the quality of players or achievements to pay for it. The board insist time and time again that Wenger has had a £50million kitty to spend but this is not what we are hearing from Wenger.  I don’t think any Arsenal fan expects Wenger to go and buy a player for £50 mil because we’re seen from the likes of Torres and Carroll that sometimes it just doesn’t work. It also isn’t Wenger’s style. But however we do expect that he at least invest in some quality players that we 100% need in the team.  We have 71 players being paid at arsenal-40% more than at Tottenham and silly wage plans.  If we sold the under performing players and cut down our squad size all that money could be reinvested wisely.

There is no denying that Arsene Wenger in the past has been a genius.  Without him we would not have had the early successes we had, winning doubles the achievements of 49 games unbeaten and all the amazing players that he has paid tiny amounts for but developed into the most wanted players in the world, Fabregas and Van Persie are the examples here.  He has never played over the odd’s for any player.  You can’t honestly tell me that a man who has a scout in every country in the world cannot find a team of 11 players for a reasonable price. The last 3 years Wenger has to take responsibility for some dodgy decisions made, whether he was forced by the board or not.  I have to be honest this season some of the players brought during the transfer window seemed like forced panic buys, Mertsacker for example, he is not a typical Arsenal defender, he is slow and not up to the standard of what we need.  Arsene admitted Arteta was the board’s decision and not his.  Why did he only buy players at the end of a transfer window when it was so clear we needed to buy them at the beginning so they could be integrated into the team properly.

This season the Arsenal team seem to have fallen apart. We used to be known for our amazing defence and a great striker partnerships.  We now rely on one guy to score 80% of our goals and he isn’t sure about signing a new contract.  No one else really seems to be having a great season and then on top of that we have had injuries and no-one to replace these injured people.  We’ve conceded more goals than we have for years and we have suffered historical losses. The last month has been a slight improvement with wins against Spurs and Liverpool but actually we were still not playing as well as we should’ve been. We also went out of the FA cup and Champion’s league.  Our style of football when we are playing properly is amazing and beautiful, we are always compared to Barcelona for that but we don’t have their success rate so something is wrong. The only time I have really seen that in Arsenal this season is last nights game against AC Milan.  The first half was Arsenal, the Arsenal team that has been hiding away.  We had fight passion and determination. It was a relief to see we still had it in us.  I like every gunner was cheering and jumping out of my seat and shouting welcome back. It was amazing to have that feeling again and I’m hoping we can continue in the spirit of last night’s game and achieve 3rd place in the league.

But there has to be some sort of change at the end of the season.  Arsenal fans are getting to the point of being more than fed up with low achieving end of season taunts we have to endure from all angles.  With Arsenal set to raise their tickets prices again in the summer they surely have to make it worthwhile by selling all the dead wood from the club and investing in some quality players. Now I love Wenger but even I have to admit that there have been times in the last year or so that I have sat there and thought, come on Wenger, surely it’s time to go and I’ve chopped and changed my mind so many times about this subject mainly because I sit and remember everything he has done for the club but now I’ve come to the opinion that if he doesn’t invest in the summer with the money the club absolutely have ensured to give him then I think it’s time we bring in someone who is willing to buy and sell to improve the club and bring it back to good old winning Arsenal that we know and love…

Who I think we should keep: Szcezsny, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna, Gibbs, Arteta, Song, Wilshere, Ramsey, Oxlade –Chamberlain, Frimpong, Walcott and Van Persie

Who I think needs to be sold: Almunia, Santos, Denilson Mertesacker, Squillaci , Arshavin, Benayoun (back to Chelsea), Chamakh, Gervinho and Park

Would love any opinions so please comment-whether you agree or not!!

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Chelsea: What’s Going On?

March 5th, 2012 craigstokes

Chelsea: What’s Going On?

Written by Craig Stokes (@_craigstokes).

 

For me, as a Newcastle United supporter, I’m even surprised at how quickly Chelsea gets through their managers. Seriously though, since Roman Abramovich bought the club, he averages out at pretty much a different manager a season. How on earth are they going to expect any long-term success, when their managers seem to have a short-term career?

 

Sir Alex Ferguson is a prime example of giving a manager a chance. It’s common knowledge to most football fans that Ferguson’s career at Manchester United did not start off too glamorous, by any means. In fact, there was a lot of talk that the manager had one game to save his career, in which he won, and since then he has never look back. He’s now been at the club for 26 long and successful years, something that Chelsea would give pay a ridiculous amount of money for, (they’ve paid a ridiculous amount of money for worse). Sir Alex’s reign at United has seen him build his own team, many a time. This is something that no manager since ‘The Special One’ has had. Time.  Time, for me, equals success. Something that Abramovich seems to know nothing about. All the Russian wants is Champions League success, or so it seems anyway. Now, look back and think of all the managers that have won the Champions League with a club in their first season. I can think of one personally, Pep Guardiola, who already had a great team as it is.

 

AVB has had just eight months to bring instant success to Chelsea, something that he did achieve at his previous club FC Porto. This is why Abramovich paid the millions to get him out of there, and straight into Stamford Bridge. When this happened, most people thought that after a number of managerial changes, that this was going to be the end of that. Many thought that after paying all that money, that Abramovich had a long-term plan set out for AVB. People thought that he’d be given the time to build his own squad, (seeing as though the squad he inherited did have a number of players coming to an end of their prime). How wrong could we have been. Abramovich showed yet again that if the results don’t go Chelsea’s way, then the manager would be out as quick as you could say ‘Oiski-Boiski’. Was this the right choice? Or has it ever been the right choice? No. Not in a long shot. For AVB to build his own team, he needed time. Now ‘a long period of time’ to Abramovich seems to be a season. How he can think that this is enough time to rebuild an ageing squad is seriously beyond me. I for one rate AVB. A manager can’t win the treble with FC Porto unless there’s some talent there. I think he proved that he wanted to change the style of Chelsea’s play with the signing of Juan Mata. A signing that I personally feel has been exceptional. Mata has probably been Chelsea’s best performer this season, so given the time to bring in more players would have seen a difference in the results. The style of play that AVB wanted to drill into the players needed a different calibre of players that Chelsea currently have. AVB wanted quick, possession football. Short passes with plenty of attacking options. The only players that I see that fit this bill are Juan Mata, and Fernando Torres. Yes, I said Torres. I know that for Chelsea he’s been nothing short of dreadful, but haven’t most of the players playing? I genuinely believe that if Torres was playing for another top team in England then we’d be seeing the Torres that we saw when he first arrived in England. In my opinion, one of the best strikers in the world. Players like John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Didier Drogba are all coming to end of their prime in the game. They were never going to be able to keep up with the style of play that AVB wanted. This is why I think he should’ve been given another season to bring in his own players.

 

Just eight months ago, AVB arrives at Chelsea.

 

Many top teams in the world go a season without success. Manchester United have done it, have they sacked Fergie? No. Just because a team doesn’t win anything in a season, should they be given the sack? It doesn’t take a person who knows anything about football that they shouldn’t be. With that statement I am saying that Abramovich knows nothing about football. I’ve never liked him, and I never will. He has a lot of money, yes, but does he have knowledge to really own a football club? No. The biggest mistake that he’s ever done is sacking Jose Mourinho, (incidentally the favourite for the job now). Their most successful manager in times has a little bit of a blip, (which happens to every manager as far as I’m aware), and he’s out the door. For me, a seriously bad move.

 

Will Mourinho make a return to Chelsea?

 

So where do Chelsea go from here? Well, the three favourites at the moment are Mourinho, Benitez, and Guardiola. Personally, if I was Guardiola, I’d rather stay at FC Barcelona than move to Chelsea. If I was Mourinho, I’d rather stay at Madrid, or possibly hold out for the Spurs job IF Harry goes to England. Benitez, well, he’s out of work, so he’ll  jump at the chance of returning to management. Either way, all three of the candidates have a huge amount of experience, and given the time, could do great things with Chelsea. Will they be given the time? That’s for us to find out I guess, but I think we all know the probably answer. That’s all from me, for now, ciao for now.

 

Craig.

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Podolski-Future Arsenal player?

March 2nd, 2012 craigstokes

Written by Niki Wainwright, of thepitchisback.wordpress.com (@thepitchisback)

Over the last few weeks there have been plenty of rumours flying about that Arsenal have agreed personal terms with striker Lukas Podolski.  If these rumours are true it is going to be a great move for the Gunners.  Podolski is a great striker; he has been young player of year and has great experience.  Already this season his stats are pretty impressive.  The 27 year old has played *19 games, scored 15 goals, 4 assists and a total of 53 shots.  He is at the age where he can develop his skills and moving to arsenal will definitely help him with that. He also has a great left foot on him! Koln are set to be disappointed when he leaves but as their form is dreadful this season and they have slipped down to 2 places above relegation zone it seems obvious that the player will want away in the summer.  As for Arsenal it’s a great move for them.  Arsene has done the right job getting in there early as I can imagine there are plenty of teams that want Podolski and it avoids a bidding war. After the season Arsenal have had I’m sure fans will be relieved that Arsenal are actually making an effort to buy a decent striker so that they are not solely reliant on Van Persie who scores 80% of arsenal’s goals, and who also hasn’t confirmed whether he will be signing a new contract.  I don’t happen to agree with a lot of arsenal fans speculating that Podolski will be Van Persie’s replacement.  I think that both these players could join together and make a great striking partnership, something Arsenal haven’t had since Henry and Bergkamp were at the club.  As an Arsenal fan I have to say, I really hope the rumours are true.

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Do we expect too much from our Football Managers?

March 1st, 2012 craigstokes

Written by Niki Wainwright, from thepitchisback.wordpress.com (@thepitchisback).

With Sir Fergie and Wenger as the only two long-term managers remaining within the Premier League, it has become obvious that somewhere along the line the pressure on managers to achieve has become much more demanding.

So, the question is… Is it the clubs’, the media or maybe even us as fans that contribute to the demise of these managers?

It is true to say that there are many factors within football management that have changed over the last few years, such as wage increases, buy-out clauses, changes to the basic dressing-room structure and the need for rapid achievements.  Managers are often offered 2 ½ year contracts now instead of 4 year contracts, and they are also being paid a lot more money.

When Chelsea signed Jose Mourinho in June 2004, he was one of the highest paid managers in football; he started off on a contract for £4.2 million which was increased in 2005 to 5.2.  He was and still is an amazing manager, I’m sure most people will agree with that and some might say he deserved the high pay after bringing Chelsea to great success during his time.  Mourinho parted with the club before his contract was out and was given a huge payout (£18-20mil).  Chelsea also paid Porto a buy out fee (£13mil) for Villa-Boas, who reportedly has a severance pay (£20mil) attached to his contract at Chelsea.

I’m not pointing the blame at Chelsea as there are other managers that have had similar contracts such as Rafa Benitez and Roberto Mancini, but they definitely broke the high wage record for managers in the Premiership.  I wonder whether managers are simply trying to ensure that they are not going to be sacked early and if they do that they still get paid.

There are many reasons why managers are sacked but are some of the recent sackings unfair?

I can understand if a manager has had a really bad run of results or if a team is relegated then the natural solution is for them to part company with the club, but nowadays it seems that managers are not given a long enough time to build up a team, clubs are wanting short term success.  But does the huge price tag make it harder for a manager to work to their worth?

You have to question how much the media play a part in the sacking of a manager.  Already this season a lot of managers have come under heavy criticism from newspapers and pundits. If a manager has had a bad run of results or the club is doing badly then the media have a duty to report on that but I think it is harsh to criticise managers all the time for no reason.  I think Villa-Boas has had some unfair media pressure this season.  He has only just started the club and already there has been an article about him almost every week.  To be fair Chelsea are not playing badly, they are only 4th because the other teams simply have improved – apart from Man U who have maintained the same standard as last season.  Is it fair for the manager’s to keep reading these media reports?  How much of it can they really ignore and not let it affect them?

In this modern day the Internet has also played a huge part in the changing of what we read, fans are not solely reliant on newspapers to get their information.  They can actually choose what they want to read.  There are specific groups on Facebook, fans can read club pages and participate in forums to discuss what they think.  The internet has also opened up a whole world of statistics at a click of a finger so they can always see how well they are doing.  The participation of footballers and managers on Twitter has increased too.  Fans can openly ‘tweet’ their opinions regarding certain issues. Warnock has even blamed the media and twitter for contributing to his sacking after fans ‘tweeted’ the QPR owner stating how unhappy they were.

Football has become much more competitive and over the last 4 seasons, there has been a definite change to the Premier League.  At the end of every season it used to be a case of the same 3 clubs fighting for the top spot (in various orders) with the smaller teams all trying to win a champions league/UEFA place, or even avoid relegation, but lately its been 6/7 contenders at the top with the ‘smaller’ clubs improving every year, sometimes even managing to beat the teams at the top.  Most clubs are improving their teams with new players every season and the quality of footballers in today’s world is fantastic.  It’s fair to say that the standard of football is improving and I also think the standard of managers is too.

After researching many reports, statistics and articles, I found that the money and business side of football has changed a lot over the last few years, this has an effect on managers and I think it plays a part in their career.  Managers are still always the front man or a club, they are ultimately the person who takes the flack when things go wrong. I think that the club’s, media and fans all contribute to the demise of managers but there are always other factors involved. I would like to conclude by saying that I do think we expect too much from our managers today but they are getting paid well for that expectancy.

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The State Of Chelsea FC

February 28th, 2012 craigstokes

The State of Chelsea FC.
Written by Harry Turner (@harry_turner_1)

 

As a Manchester City fan it actually hurts for me to see Chelsea in this state, as everyone says City are Chelsea just 5 years behind. Will we end up drying up after Mancini? Will we be forced to buy over-rated players by the media that turn out to be flops? I hope not!

As for Chelsea at the moment they sit 5th in the Premier League but only because of a storming come-back by Arsenal at the weekend, which actually over-shadowed what was a good performance by the Chelsea team. For the first time in a while Chelsea beat a team they should have done and did it comfortably. Yes, Bolton are in dire straits, Coyle hasn’t had the rub of the green with injuries and without loanee Daniel Sturridge, who is unhappy at being played out on the left for Chelsea, Bolton  aren’t the giant killers they used to be.

6 losses and 7 draws tells Chelsea’s story this season perfectly. Too many times they’ve thrown away leads or let a team back into the game, when most would think the Mourinho Chelsea would not have. But is that the reason Chelsea are suffering? The ‘Mourinho’ affect as hurt Inter Milan more drastically who won the Champions League under the enigmatic manager but have failed to maintain any sort of form since his departure. Chelsea may have plodded on after Mourinho due to more cash than Inter.

‘Changing Manager’ syndrome seemed to have Abramovich pulling his hair out as Scolari, Grant and Ancelotti have passed in and out of the clubs doors. Yet all seemed well when young AVB was plucked from Portuguese giants Porto in 2011. The Porto team of last year were powerful strong and quick and AVB’s record with them was one to match Mourinho’s at the Dragon’s.  However look at them now, knocked out of the Europa League comprehensively by Manchester City, and having already lost Falcao more players seem to want to leave the Blue and Whites. Does AVB have a similar influence on clubs as Mourinho? I don’t think so.

What can AVB do then? He can ask for time from Abramovich but that seems like something the Russian Billionaire doesn’t give up easy. Chelsea are still labelled as Mourinho’s team and AVB needs to shake that, by selling Lampard and Terry? It would be drastic but they are the two talismans who still remain from Jose’s reign. Maybe Drogba would have to leave as well and with all of them over 30 Roman shouldn’t expect big money for them. Then what? AVB needs money, he needs to build his own team, he showed with Porto that with the right players he can come up with the right tactics, so buying Hulk and whoever else he is interested in might be the right way to proceed for the London-based club.  Obviously for this to happen Roman must open up the cheque book again, so all that’s left to ask is does he want to?

The final point on Chelsea FC is one of Fernando Torres. He’s had a torrid last few seasons, injury plagued him at Liverpool and now is £50 million price tag seems to be heaping more pressure than wanted on himself. Solutions?  In my eyes there is only one, sell him! You won’t make the money back you paid for him but he’s 28 in March and how much time can Chelsea afford to give him to get back in form? Manchester City will only improve next season and so will Manchester United’s youngsters, for Chelsea to keep up changes need to happen in the next 8 months! Personally on Torres I’d like to see him move back to Spain, to his old stomping ground at Madrid or another big time, try help him get back to playing football and the form he had when he joined Liverpool!

 

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Can You Hear The Drums Fernando?

February 28th, 2012 craigstokes

Written by Niki Wainwright from thepitchisback.wordpress.com, (@thepitchisback).

When Fernando Torres signed for Chelsea in January 2011, he became the 4th most expensive player in history.  Sadly he has failed to live up to that huge price tag by not scoring many goals or been able to integrate himself as part of the Chelsea team.  A player of Torres’ quality just doesn’t turn out rubbish overnight so what is the reason for this downward spiral.

I think we all know Torres in the past has had the ability to be a great threat to any defence in the premiership.  When he was at Liverpool a whole team played around him and they also played to the best of his abilities.  For years Torres was Liverpool’s main striker so everyone fed him shot after shot and he turned these into goals. At Chelsea I happen to think they play very differently to Liverpool.  They definitely play a more attacking style of game and also play a faster game. Where as Liverpool are more holding midfield/defensive.  Torres isn’t Chelsea’s main striker.  They tend to have 2 or 3 strikers or players upfront and they also have Lampard, Malouda who are also goal scoring midfielders, so it is fair to say he doesn’t receive as many crosses and shots as he did at Liverpool.  Both Drogba and Sturridge have been played out of position to cater for Torres and I don’t think this has helped. To be fair I think Villa-Boas has given Torres fair chance this season starting him almost every game but how long can you keep a striker in the team if he isn’t scoring and how long do you keep him in the team to build up his confidence enough to score.

When Torres first signed for Chelsea he took a total of 903 playing minutes to score his first goal, but when he eventually did I think everyone was expecting the old Torres to be back to normal but that hasn’t happened.  His confidence has obviously wavered and the last few months he has looked nervous and almost passing more to avoid shooting.  He has suffered severe criticism and it will get worse until he improves.  When a player has a huge transfer fee I don’t think it helps with the pressure because there is so much more expectancy on them to succeed.  To be fair this isn’t the first time this had happened to a player at Chelsea either, I seem to remember Shevchenko had a similar experience.  Maybe Chelsea just isn’t the right club for Torres.

After being dropped from the Spanish squad last week and played 6 minutes for a Chelsea team that won with ease at the weekend the question is what next for Torres.  Does he stay at Chelsea and continue to fight a battle with his confidence or does he try and get a move away from the club for a cut of the price that was paid for him.  It’s really sad when this happens to a player of good quality and I hope whatever happens with Torres that he finds his goal scoring feet again.

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Why Joe Hart Should Be The Next England Captain.

February 28th, 2012 craigstokes

Why Joe Hart Should be the Next England Captain.
Written by Li Ming Law

Why not Joe Hart for captain? He seems like a very clean guy away from the controversy and does indeed produce good performances under pressure for both England and Manchester City.

Joe Hart has been a revelation for Manchester City since returning from his loan stint with now-Championship side Birmingham City, and should be given the captain’s armband from now on.

Let’s face it.

He has been absolutely pivotal for England in their recent games, that much so that he has garnered himself 6 games between the sticks for 3 Lions. But it’s not just been his club form that has been impressive over the past 2 seasons.

The fact remains that Joe Hart is still yet to lose his first England game. Hart looks confident in goal for the 3 Lions, as his maturity shows on the pitch, dominating that 6 yard box and shouting commands at his English defence during the International games, along with the reflexes to keep the goals out.

Another impressive statistic that helps the youngster’s cause is his clean sheet to game ratio. He has produced clean sheets on 2 occasions out of 6 for the International games and has had 6 clean sheets out of 22 games with Manchester City in the 2011/12 season thus far. Manchester City also remain the best team when it comes to least goals against in the entire Premier League.

He has a safe pair of hands that can be trusted, unlike how England felt over the past few years, with the likes of Paul Robinson and Robert Green disappointing the nation with huge blunders that have been fairly costly.

I see the ‘John Terry’ controversy as a chance for the young keeper to step forward and become a top class captain over the next few years. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Scott Parker and Rio Ferdinand have lots of problems, whether it be the injuries, lack of games or even some off the field controversies.

Joe Hart has had a completely clean record away from the law and he can be the perfect man to finally drive England to a major trophy, and the trophy that they yearn: the World Cup.

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The Carling Cup Final: From A LIverpool Fan’s Perspective.

February 27th, 2012 craigstokes

The Carling Cup final and the race for fourth.
Written by Rob Dawson (RobJDawsonn).

Being a Liverpool fan is far from easy. We don’t really seem to ever win cups the straight-forward way and yesterday was no exception. Before the game I, like many other Liverpool supporters, was confident of a pretty convincing win. Recently we had asserted our dominance over another Championship side by beating Brighton 6-1. That was a game where we had finally learnt how to take our chances – a Liverpool performance of old! (with a little help from Liam Bridcutt). Unfortunately, the game against Cardiff wasn’t quite so easy.

   It was clear from the off that Cardiff had come with a strict game plan. They were looking to nick a goal and try to hold out for the win. 19 minutes into the game and their plan was working to perfection, Joe Mason putting the ball through the legs of Pepe Reina. Liverpool looked poor going forward all game, I won’t shy away from that whatsoever. Luis Suarez looked constantly short of ideas and Andy Carroll didn’t look sharp or alert. Stewart Downing has come under some strict scrutiny from many football fans this season but yesterday was one of his better games. He caused McNaughton problems all afternoon and delivered some wonderful crosses into the box, it was just a shame that neither Suarez nor Carroll were ready to pounce on such opportunities. Jordan Henderson is not a winger, I cannot stress this enough. Starting him on the right was a big mistake, Dirk Kuyt or Craig Bellamy should have been on from the start. This has been something that has irritated me all season long, Jordan is a central midfielder. It’s where he wants to play and forcing him onto the wing is clearly not working and so it was left to our centre back to get us back on level terms! Martin Skrtel has improved season after season for us. The partnership that the big Slovakian and Agger have created is looking extremely solid.

   So, after 90 minutes, the game was level and I was beginning to worry that the game was heading to penalties until Mr Reliable, Dirk Kuyt popped up off the bench and grabbed the Reds a late goal, something which looked as though it was going to win the game. However, as I began this article by saying, being a Liverpool fan is never easy and rather than holding on to the ball and trying to wind down the clock, the Merseysiders continued to push the ball forward and gave away possession – Cardiff duly obliged and grabbed an equaliser that sank red hearts. And so onto the worst penalty shoot-out I can recall in a long, long time.

   Liverpool have an outstanding record in penalty shoot-outs and so heading into it I was reasonably confident of yet another League Cup success. However, when Steven Gerrard has the opening penalty saved your heart does begin to sink a little. An absolutely outstanding save from Tom Heaton – a former Man United keeper no less! Kenny Miller hitting the post was a big let off! Then up stepped Charlie Adam and hit one of the worst penalties I have seen in my life. Somehow, Liverpool won that penalty shoot-out 3-2. Steven Gerrard’s cousin Anthony stepping up to bottle the last penalty in front of the Liverpool supporters giving them their 8th League Cup victory in total. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Steven Gerrard lift a trophy and it was a great feeling to finally see it again. Players like Dirk Kuyt winning their long-awaited first trophy for the club was also great to see.

   This was by no means a convincing win for Liverpool but for their hard work throughout the competition it was a truly deserved victory. Full credit to Cardiff, they came with a game plan which almost paid off but their continued failure at Wembley carries on.

   So what now for Liverpool? The season is by no means over and this hopefully the first of many successes for England’s most successful club. It would be great to see us make the FA cup final but the primary focus has to be on getting that elusive fourth place. The race for fourth is probably the most competitive its ever been. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle all fighting it out. Saturday see’s Liverpool host Arsenal and for me, that is a must win game. We are currently 7 points behind the Gunners with a game in hand. Failure to win this fixture could see our European dreams disappear and we’d have to settle for ‘The Channel 5 cup’ next season. Personally, I don’t see Newcastle going the distance in the race for fourth. Whilst their squad is reasonably strong, I just see them dropping too many silly points over the remaining 12 fixtures. Throwing away a 2 goal lead at home to struggling Wolves is not how you qualify for the Champions League. The top 7 for Newcastle would still be a massive achievement.

That’s all for now anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading!

Thanks, Rob.

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Premier League: City Or United?

February 27th, 2012 craigstokes

Premier League: City Or United?

Written by Craig Stokes (@_craigstokes).

27/02/2012, Manchester City are 1st in the Barclays Premier League, currently two points in front ofManchester United.  13/05/2012, will this still be the same? Manchester City have just twelve league games to keep the current Premier League champions at arm’s length. Something that will definitely not be an easy task to complete, what with United’s past experience is title races. United have pretty much been there, done it, bought the t-shirt, played the game, worn the hat, whatever you want to call it, they’ve done it, a lot. If there’s any team out there that would be able to keep composed, and overtake a team lying in 1st place, with just twelve games left, then it’s going to be Sir Alex’s Red Devils. United are well known for kicking on in the final third of the season, something which has won them many league titles in the past, something that I feel gives them a slight advantage over newly successful Manchester City. City have never been in a Premier League title race, some of the players have never been in a title race period. This doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to cope with the challenge that is in front of them, it’s just the experience is a key factor in these sort of situations.

 

Both managers, Roberto Mancini, and Sir Alex Ferguson are clearly world-class managers. You have one, tactical Italian. He might have some flaws, lack of man management possibly being one of them, but you definitely can’t deny the job that he’s done at City. He’s managed to give them their first cup win in years by winning the FA Cup last season, he’s managed to give them Champions League football, (even though it was short lived), and now is giving them the chance to win their first Premier League title. Then you have Sir Alex. I suppose you could say he’s done alright at United. The guy will go down as one of the best managers to have been in the sport, if not the best. His record is second to none. He’s respected by everyone in the game, and rightly so. He’s pretty much The Don of football. Sir Alex has been in this situation many a time in the past, and has come out on top many a time in the past. If anyone has the nerve to pass City at the top, it’s this guy.

 

Who will be celebrating at the end of the season?

 

When you look at the squads of both Manchester teams, they’re pretty damn close in terms of quality and depth. If I had to be honest, I’d say the biggest depth of quality lies with City, but like I’ve previously said, the experience lies with United, and this could prove crucial in the title race.

Manchester City have some serious talent in every position at the club. For example, Joe Hart. This guy has come on leaps and bounds over the last few seasons. So much so, that I would class him as one of the best keepers in the world. He’s been one of City’s most consistent performers this season, so it’s no wonder why they keep as many clean sheets as they do. Next, their defence. Micah Richards, Gael Clichy, and not to mention their captain, Vincent Kompany have been excellent this season. They’re quick, strong, and they make it difficult for any player that they play against. They have the right amount of defensive and attacking midfielders in the squad to give the right amount of balance. Nigel De Jong, Yaya Toure, and David Silva have been prime examples of this, this season. Both Yaya and David have been given the license to roam knowing that Nigel is doing his job covering the defence. This has been one of the reasons why City have been so successful this season. The amount of assists that David Silva has got this season is unreal. He’s pretty much involved with every attack. The likes of Sergio Aguero, Mario Ballotelli, and Edin Dzeko have all blossomed whilst playing in the same team as Silva, which I think is one of the reasons why they’re currently finding themselves in first place. Another reason why they’ve been successful in the league this season can be found on the bench. The strength in depth that they have is the envy of many teams in the Premier League. In every game, they always have the option of throwing on a player who can change the game against any team. This will be vital for their outcome this season. However, Manchester United have just a good a team. Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nani, Hernandez and Wayne Rooney. Some of the key players for United. They have the ability to keep clean sheets, and score numerous amounts of goals in games. They showed in the game against Arsenal at the start of the season they can score a crazy amount of goals. This, alongside the experience of some of the players are going to be a key factor for them this season. Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, and Paul Scholes (again), are the veterans of this squad. They’ve each won numerous winners medals at the clubs, and have seen pretty much every scenario that football can throw at you. These three players, alongside other players such as Rooney, Nani, and Carrick can surely help the younger players like Phil Jones, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverly keep their composure and focus in trying to retain their Premier League crown.

 

The fixtures are going to play a big part this season. United have got just two of the top seven teams to play, with Spurs and City. City meanwhile, have four, Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea and City. This could, and probably will prove vital. With only two points between them at the minute, these games seem like they’ll have a say in whichever team comes out on top at the end of the season.

 

When it comes to my view, my head says United, due to experience, but my heart says City, due to the players and their home form. I don’t really know which one to listen to, but I would love to hear your views. You can leave them in the comment box below, or tweet me @_craigstokes or @discuss_soccer. That’s all from me, until next time, ciao for now.

 

Craig.

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