Madrid the Real deal?

Real Madrid ‘the galacticos’ have had a bit of a renaissance this summer. After a few years out in the cold with little European success or extravagant spending, re-instated president Florentino Perez has spent a cool £220 million on players in the last few weeks.

The club that do not tolerate any failure appear to have lost all sense of sanity in a desperate attempt to dominate world football again. Having smashed the world transfer record in signing Cristiano Ronaldo for £80 million, they have once again helped create a frenzied transfer market whereby the world’s top players are no longer affordable to most of the big clubs. Real have also paid around £60 million for Kaka, £40 million for Karim Benzema and £30 million for Xavi Alonso.

The only other club capable of this kind of spending at the moment are Manchester City but even their £32 million British transfer record signing of Robinho now looks like pocket money. So in spending big Real have alienated the world’s top clubs and hence not many big name signings have happened elsewhere this summer.

Usually frequent spenders Manchester United and Chelsea have been relatively quiet in the transfer market and have not made any big name signings whatsoever. Content to keep the core of their squads for this season Europe’s best appear to be relying on Madrid’s plan of world domination falling flat on it’s face.

So will it? Well the apparent second coming of ‘the galacticos’ again sees the worlds top players all forced into one team and expected to instantly perform. However, this is no easy task and the first group of ‘galacticos’ failed in setting the world alight. With players such as Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Casillas, Raul and Roberto Carlos playing in their prime Real Madrid only won the European Cup once and the league title twice. Hardly awe inspiring stuff but admittedly better than most of clubs would settle for.

One of the problems with a team full of world class ‘stars’ is that they all want to be the stand out player. Rather than having eleven players gelling together to play the greatest football ever seen, there were eleven individuals on the pitch playing for themselves and not the team. Hence, free flowing football can not exist because the understanding and communication between players is not high enough.

So why will it be different this time around? It seems that ‘the galacticos’ did not work and may prove to be a failure again. Although important, money is not everything in football, more important factors such as a great manager and a great team of hard working players who love the club need to exist for a club to prosper.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini did well at Villareal. Pellegrini revitalized the team after acouple of poor seasons and has worked well on a limited budget to get Villareal into the Champions League year after year. The step up to Real Madrid though is huge. At Real the pressure will be immense and the need for instant results is always a hard burden to bare. Pellegrini has little experience of dealing with the primadonna types that he will have to control day in day out at Madrid. However, he has built up good teams who play for each other and if he can implement this at Real then he can be a huge success.

So to the players and to analyze where they might improve from the last bunch.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest signing of the summer and probably of history. The only saving grace being that the deal was tied up very quickly in early summer and so did not drag on in the usual hysteria the surrounds such deals. Ronaldo is very much an individual, he likes to score and create out of nothing, rarely will he pass the ball if a shooting opportunity arises. Very much a primaddona type, however, it seems to work for him and this did not negatively effect his form for Manchester United or the teams results. If Real get to the level that Manchester United have been these past three years with Ronaldo then they will be more than satisfied.

Another world footballer of the year Kaka has also signed for Madrid as part of Perez’s revolution. A well respected man, Kaka attributes all of his success in life to God and this humble way of life means that he is far from the primaddona type his peers so easily become. Kaka is an ideal signing for a side looking to gel well and play together as a team.

Lesser key signing Benzema is probably the most unknown player who Real have paid big money for this summer. Benzema is a world class forward who is expected to be the next Henry in France. However, he is yet to prove his talent at the highest level and this will prove a massive step up from the recently tame French league. Whilst goals against Manchester United in the Champions League have helped secure his fame on the world stage, it is yet to be seen how he will perform for Real Madrid.

Finally, Xavi Alonso who made the long awaited move from Liverpool may well be the last piece in the jig-saw. Again, very much a team player who is not greedy, Alonso may adapt well to the team in the same way that he had an instant impact when he moved to Liverpool.

So, maybe the new ‘galacticos’ have a better chance of success then the old ones did. However, I don’t think the rest of Europe will be quaking in their boots yet. Real will need to prove themselves on the pitch rather than in the transfer market to gain the kind of respect they so desperately crave and with the standard of Europe’s other clubs at the moment success is certainly no guarantee.

Has the football league ever had it so good?

The new football league season kicks off today and fan of the teams in the lower divisions of English football must be licking their lips at the opponents they will face. 

In the Championship, Newcastle and Middlesborough will be the big scalps of the season. Teams like Peterborough and Blackpool must be so pleased to be able to say that they are in the same division as these massive football clubs. It is only a few years since Kevin Keegan’s famous, ‘I would love it if we beat them rant’ at Alex Ferguson, when it looked as if Newcastle United would be Premier League champions. Middlesborough themselves were playing in Europe only a handful of seasons ago.

A league including other big clubs such as with Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Derby, Bristol City, West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday is sure to rouse the fans. Clubs that could all make a case for deserving to be in the Premiership for the size of their fan bases, will be sure to throw up a lot of interesting match-ups and fierce rivalries in the coming weeks. It looks like it could be one of the best Championship seasons in years.

Yet it is not just the Championship that now has all the big non-Premier League teams. League One can now boast an wonderful line up of once great clubs. Playing in the third tier of English football this season are most notably, Leeds United, Norwich City, Southampton and Charlton. All of whom have played in the Premier League within the last five years. Leeds United of course made the semi final of the Champions League in 2001 but since then have infamously collapsed into relative obscurity in League One.

Even League Two has hit the headlines in recent weeks. Although not boasting the same array of big clubs, the oldest club in the world Notts County have just signed up Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football. Eriksson is one of the highest profile managers in the world and arguably one of the best. With new rich Arab owners Notts County could be a club to watch in the next few seasons as they look to climb from the fourth league to the top.

Whatever happens it looks as if it will be a very exciting season this year.

The Psychology of Choking

Ever since sport began athletes who have been expected to win have failed. Top class performers week in week out can let themselves down on the big occasion for no obvious reason. The term ‘choking’ in sport has nothing to do with a lack of oxygen to the lungs and brain but rather an apparent mental breakdown from an athlete completely incoherent with their previous form.

Some of the most memorable ‘chokes’ are heartbreaking to watch. Any England fan will tell you that penalties are not their friend and you would expect top professional footballers like Beckham, Waddle and Pearce to slot home from 12 yards. So why are so many penalties missed in the professional game?

Tennis player Dinara Safina is also known as a ‘choker’, Safina races to a grand slam final time after time looking untouchable until in the final she capitulates and looks no more than a very average player and is thrashed.

Perhaps the most dramatic ‘choke’ of the past few years was Jean Van Der Velde. The French golfer only needed a six on a par four hole to win the British open. Something every pro golfer would be expected to do in their sleep. Somehow though after a perfect drive he managed to get it into the water and after continual mistakes ended up getting a 7 and eventually losing the open on a play-off.

So why do such talented professional athletes ‘choke’, some people thing that it is a result of pressure getting to them and throwing them off their game. This may be true as scientists have started to conclude that ‘choking’ is the result of thinking too much. Over stimulating the thought process seems to encourage doubt and a sense of vulnerability. The obvious solution seems to be to think less, to focus and get in the zone of playing rather than notice the external distractions. Although theories such as these are hard to prove they do seem to add up.

Whilst it is a bit much to suggest that less intelligent people who do not think will be good at sport under pressure. Let me leave you with one interesting stat. Of the 35 England players who have been selected for the past three world cups, only 5 had had fathers with more than ‘basic formal education’.

Champions League or English Premier League?

Kings of Europe or Kings of England?

It sounds like a straightforward question. Surely to be the champions of Europe is a greater achievement than being the best in England, just because of the sheer number of extra teams in the whole of Europe compared with England.

So basic statistics suggests that it is a far bigger honour to be the Kings of Europe. But as most people in sociology will tell you, statistics are not everything.

Is it really tougher to win the Champions League? Perhaps, one of the best arguments for the Premier League being tougher to win is that in 2005 Liverpool won the Champions League, in the same season they finished a lowly fifth in the Premier League, even below their main rivals Everton.

If the Champions League is so tough to win then how on earth did the fifth best side in England win it? Maybe, another point to add to this one is that in two-legged cup competitions it is far more likely that a ‘weaker’ team can beat a ‘better’ club. The nature of cups is so that a fortunate goal here or there could end up winning you the competition. Something that is unlikely in a League where over the 38 games of a season luck pretty much evens itself out.

It is very rare to hear anybody say that a team who wins a league did not deserve it. Even the most biased of fans have to admit that when a team wins a league it is a great achievement which is unlikely to be ‘lucky’.

Is the Champions League competition tougher in terms of teams than in the Premier League? In some ways ‘yes’ and in some ways ‘no’.

Yes, it is tougher in the way that all of Europe’s elite are competing to win the trophy. The likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan are far better than the average Premier League side. But on the flip side of this teams such as Anorthosis, CFR Cluj, Bate Borisov and Aalborg are arguably far weaker than the average Premier League opposition.

Would fans prefer to win the English Premier League or the Champions League? This is a difficult question to answer, one that was perhaps far easier to answer four or five years ago. Back then, English Premier League teams did not dominate Europe’s top club competition in the way that they do now. It seems that if the league is weaker then it is more of an achievement to win in Europe.

However, this has all changed over the past few seasons and was proven by last season when English teams were only knocked out of the Champions League by other English teams. After an all English final and another season where so far all four English clubs have made the quarter-finals it is hard to deny that the EPL is Europe’s toughest to win league. As a result because it is played over 38 games it seems a much fairer way of assessing which English team is the best. If your team wins the EPL there are more reasons to brag than if your team wins the Champions League.

All in all it is very hard to assess which competition is the greater to win in terms of achievement and prestige. People such as Roman Abramovich and Massimo Moratti would far sooner see their teams Chelsea and Inter Milan win the Champions League than their own Leagues. However, the die hard fans of such clubs especially in England probably would rather see their side lift the league trophy, knowing what a great achievement this really is.

Yes, the Champions League is very tough to win but there is a greater luck factor involved, would Porto really have won the EPL the league they won the Champions League? Of course it is nice to beat teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid rather than hammering Wigan or Fulham but until a season long league is created between Europe’s elite it is difficult to conclude that the Champions League is harder to win than the EPL.

Hiddink Hope

Chelsea Football Club has been on a seemingly downward spiral ever since the sacking of Mourinho. The less than inspiring replacement Avram Grant did little to impress fans and as expected achieved some solid results but nothing particularly special. Soon he was out of the door ready to be replaced by the one who may be the ‘real special one’ Luis Felipe Scolari. Again the hype turned out to be rubbish as Scolari’s inexperience of top class club management was his downfall and after a string of poor results he was also shown the exit. All of this coming in the space of not even two full seasons.

This is to not even mention the reported dressing room bust ups and the ageing squad which seemed to have been past its footballing prime. Also forgetting the owner, Roman Abramovic, who was less than interested in a club which he had built up from top 4 finishers to back to back title winners. Transfer funds were drying up and there was little reason for Chelsea fans to be optimistic.

Then suddenly, from nowhere along came a hero. A manager who could save this dwindling club and rekindle the owner’s interest. His name Gus Hiddink. A former European Cup winner, a man known for his ability to turn average sides into potential world beaters. A man tough enough to eradicate the dressing room disruptions. It seemed as if Chelsea fans prayers had been answered.

A few weeks on from his temporary appointment Chelsea already look a renewed team, a force to be reckoned with. Undefeated since the ruthless Dutchman took over the reigns and again hopeful of salvaging something from another bleak season. Hiddink’s tactical noose cannot be questioned and he had even got temperamental star Didier Drogba playing at the top of his game. Hiddink has brought a real unity to the previously disillusioned Chelsea squad something that only a ruthless manager can acheive.

But just as it looks as though Hiddink has restored hope to Stamford Bridge, the feeling may not last long. Hiddink has only been given a contract until the end of the season. By which time he may not even take the job, assuming he is offered it, as he is still the coach of the Russian national team. It is hard to be too optimistic when the instability that has blighted Chelsea for the best part of two seasons is still aparent. Chelsea would be far better off if they make sure they hang on to Hiddink. Another new manager by the start of next season will just add to the uncertainty of the club’s future and names like Carlo Ancelotti and Frank Rijkaard are hardly going to enthuse the Chelsea fans in the same way that Hiddink has.

Champions League Group Stages

The conclusions of the Champions League groups will be played out tonight but with half of the groups completed yesterday one trend has again occured. The group stages are a waste of time and devalue the cup competition.

With the top eight seeds qualifying for the round of 16 last night the three month long group stages were not really worth while. No huge upsets have occured and are very unlikely to. So once more the validity and point of the group stages are questionable.

Ok, so the idea is straight-forward a four team group stage format where two teams go through, six games home and away decide the outcome. The trouble is that by round five and six some teams have already qualified. Now if these teams decide to play weaker players then this is an unfair disadvantage to the team or teams that have already played them twice. This was apparent in Shaktar Donetsk’s win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp last night, Barca rested eight first team players for this match in which a full strength Barca team would be expected to win easily.

A simple solution would be to seed the teams and then draw a round of 32. Play over two legs and have 16 teams at the end of it. This would cut out four arguably pointless games and would help to solve fixture conjestion crisis for the bigger clubs in Europe. This may decrease revenue but it would also cut out any ‘dead rubbers’ in which the teams basically threw matches.

Classy Norwich Stun Rivals

A wonderstrike from Lee Croft and a two-yard tap in for Matty Pattison gave Norwich City a 2-0 win in Sunday’s East Anglian derby against Ipswich Town. The Carrow Road faithful were rewarded for their patience with a terrific performance by the Canaries.

The pressure was on Norwich and their boss Glenn Roeder as the side were hovering very close to the relegation zone.  Before the kick off some fans were calling the biggest game of Roeder’s reign and certianly the season but this only seemed to spur the side on as they won comfortably.

Norwich City dominated the match and fully deserved to go ahead midway through the second half when Lee Croft’s run and shot from the edge of the area curled majestically into the top corner of the net. One of the strikes of the season and probably the best goal of Croft’s career both in terms of importance and class. Roeder looked like a giddy school girl as he celebrated his relief was plain to see.

Norwich Fans were probably expecting City to defend their lead as they often tend to do but they kept pushing forward and a testing snap-shot from Leroy Lita was well saved by Richard Wright. Ipswich could not hold the Canaries out for long though as after a freekick was crossed into the box it fell perfectly for Matty Pattison who rifled the ball home from around two yards. The shot hit the underside of the bar and almost missed but nobody in the ground cared as Norwich had all but killed off the game and won when they needed to. There was controversy because Ipswich defender Gareth McAuley was off the field at the time of the goal.  Lita had highlighted to the referree that McAuley’s head was bleeding and as is the law in these circumstances he had to leave the field, much to the disgruntelment of the Ipswich player.

Ipswich looked out of sorts all afternoon and never really got anything going. Any chances they did have were thwarted by another brilliant goalkeeping performance by City’s keeper David Marshall. Marshall almost ruined his day however when he brought down Danny Haynes in the area but the penalty was not given a decision that summed up Town’s day.

This win was certainly vital for a Norwich side that has struggled in the league this season. If they continue to play in this form they should move up to the top half of the Championship. The problem is that consistancy has been sadly lacking this season and the mid-week game at Watford will be a real test of just how good this side is and whether or not Norwich just upped their performance for a derby match.

As for Ipswich they still have play-off aspirations but that looks a distant dream after a drab performance. They will need to bounce back quickly.

The Problem With Manchester City

So you are a club who lose your last game of the season 8-1 against Middlesborough. Your manager has just been fired despite getting the club into Europe for the first time in five years. The club’s owner, who may be arrested for corruption, has expressed a desire to sell your club and your captain has voiced huge discontent at the whole situation.

This was Manchester City seven months ago. The club was in disarray and the future looked bleak for their fans.

When highly regaurded young manager Mark Hughes was hired the mood was lifted slightly. But there were still rumblings from skeptical fans who thought Hughes would not encourage his players to play good football. Hughes is a manager who was focused on physical aggression and assertiveness from his players during his time at Blackburn.

There was some light at the end of the tunnel though when Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited completed a takeover of Manchester City. This instantly made the club the richest in the world. Sadly, the deal was made on the transfer deadline day and the club only managed to sign one player Robinho who was previously on the verge of signing for Chelsea. This was a huge coup for the club and broke the British transfer record costing £32.5 million.

So, with a renewed confidence around the club the new season started but Man City have not set the league alight. They are currently hovering just two points above the relegation zone with nearly half the season gone.

With the transfer window opening again at the start of next month the press and the fans are already buzzing with transfer rumours. Sky Sports News reported yesterday that Man City had offered £128 million for Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas. A ludicrous amount perhaps but it is certainly money that the owners can afford to spend in abundance.

The problem is that Man City do not have the pulling power of the big four. They will struggle to attract the huge names they have been linked with such as Kaka and Messi because of the lower prestige of the club. Okay, they did sign Robinho from under Chelsea’s nose but the fact remains that money is not everything in football. Yes, it counts for a lot but Casillas has apparently rejected Man City and many of the big players will follow suit. The club is still considered to be a smaller club than the Premier League’s famous ‘big four’ of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. It is unlikely that players will reject the chance to play in the Champions League to play in the UEFA Cup for City.

It is hard to see how they can break into and establish themselves in the top four with such a high standard of football being set by the ‘big four’. The Man City revolution is not likely to have a big impact for a few seasons yet.

So maybe City should set their sights lower down. The huge European clubs will not sell their best players. Perhaps the likes of Lazio’s Pandev and Weder Bremen’s Diego should be main and realistic targets. It seems a waste of time chasing after players at the top clubs such as Barcelona and AC Milan but there are still great players with huge potential playing for smaller European Clubs.

Who knows if the owners are willing to be patient. Maybe they will get fed up without Champions League football and will sell the club on again. Only time will tell, but City fans should be a bit cautious in their glee. The future may not be as bright as the fans hope, they may not be challenging for the title even with the huge cash injection.

Keane Leaves Sunderland

Just five days after Sunderlands dismal 4-1 defeat at home to Bolton, manager Roy Keane has walked away from his job. Although initially a shock departure it had been coming, with Keane hinting at his discontent by stating that he would not sign a new deal any time soon.

The board at Sunderland had backed Keane and showed a lot of faith in him when appointing the rookie manager who had no previous experience in the role. They also gave him plenty of financial backing with Keane having spent around 60 million on players over the past two seasons.

This is sure to come as a blow to Sunderland and their fans, who had hoped that Keane would become on of their best ever managers when he got them promoted and kept them in the Premier League last season.

This year has been a different story and after their fifth defeat in a row Keane clearly was fed up of the job. His future is unclear as although on the surface he did well at Sunderland he walked away at the first sign of trouble not showing any fighting spirit that is required to be a very successful manager.

Perhaps, the temperamental side of Keane has not left him since his playing days. Whilst many United fans will remember Keane as a legendary player most football fans will remember him for his career ending tackles and his refusal to play for his country in the 2002 World Cup.

There is no news yet as to who Sunderland will appoint to replace Keane.

Premier League Weekend Afterthought

The story of the weekend has to be Arsenal’s surprising win at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea who had gone over four years without a Premier League home defeat lost their second home game in recent weeks under dramatic circumstances. Arsenal, however, started the match very shakily and did not look comfortable as Chelsea seemingly dominated the possession and dictated the pace of the match. This was compounded by Djorou who put into his own net to give Chelsea a 1-0 half time lead.

Chelsea deserved their lead and looked good for it until a terrible referreeing decision allowed Arsenal to level midway through the second half. Denilson’s flick fell to Van Persie, who was visably a yard or two offside, no flag was raised and Van Persie slotted home.

A shell shocked Chelsea were outraged by the assistant referees mistake and were further made to pay when a sluggish Chelsea defence failed to clear allowing for Van Persie to turn on the ball and fire home the winner past a helpless Petr Cech a couple of minutes later. Chelsea never looked like scoring and again failed to come from a goal behind against strong opposition.

The Blues can look back on the match as an unlucky defeat but in truth Chelsea did not have enough spark at the Bridge to deserve anything from the match.

Scolari was surprisingly critical of the refereeing after the game. The Brazilian’s cool, calm and colleted reputation is quickly disappearing. The pressure may be getting to Big Phil, Chelsea are not looking they force they did at the start of the season. As the injury list grows and following the annoucement that Chelsea will not be buying players in January it is difficult to see how the home forn will be turned around.

As for Arsenal this result may have saved their season. They now are within 8 points of the top of the league and although it will be an uphill struggle the league title can still be theirs. Arsenal still lack a clear cutting edge but this result is sure to boost their confidence. Hopefully they will spend in January as the board have made it clear they have the funds to. Chelsea have now played all of the other three so called ‘big four’ at home this season and have only taken one point from those games not exactly title winning form.

Perhaps the fiercest derby in English Football went the way of Manchester United this weekend. United dominated the match and were good value for their win. Manchester City could not find the magic of last season to oust their rivals. Rooney scored a rebound tap in to seal the win for the Red Devils.

All did not end well for United, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for a needless handball late in the second half. The win has meant United have closed the gap significantly at the top and are starting to look like the team of last season again. City are now hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone. People at City will be starting to wonder how much longer their ridiculously rich owners will stand for the poor league position.

Liverpool claimed top spot despite failing to capitalise on Chelsea’s loss and could only draw in a drab match at home to West Ham. The Reds were booed off at full time and the Anfield crowd were less than impressed with another goaless home draw against weaker opposition.

It was the same result at Villa Park as a gutsy Fulham earned a good point. Villa missed out on the chance to consolidate their position in the top four and have now fallen to fifth. The league has tightened even more this week and no one at the top is taking control over their rivals.

Towards the foot of the table things are so close that a win can take some teams up six or seven places.

West Brom lost again despite leading away to Wigan and look like the real certainties to go down at the moment.

The other team on a downward spiral are Sunderland, hammered at home 4-1 by Bolton of all teams. An embarressing result and it looks as though Roy Keane has become disillusioned with life in the North-East. He will not sign a new contract and has admitted he may leave the club which is hardly reassuring to the players and fans. It is difficult to see how they can turn their fortunes around under such a fickle manager. Maybe Keane should just leave now so that the club can appoint a new manager and raise the spirits on the club before it is too late.

There were also good wins for Everton away at Spurs and Portsmouth at home to Blackburn. Stoke and Hull managed a draw as did Middlesborough and Newcastle.

1	Liverpool	15	13	34
2	Chelsea	15	27	33
3	Man Utd	14	16	28
4	Arsenal	15	8	26
5	Aston Villa	15	6	25
6	Hull	15	-2	23
7	Everton	15	-2	22
8	Portsmouth	15	-4	22
9	Bolton	15	1	20
10	Fulham	14	1	19
11	Wigan	15	-1	19
12	Middlesbrough	15	-6	19
13	West Ham	15	-5	18
14	Stoke	15	-10	18
15	Man City	15	6	17
16	Tottenham	15	-4	15
17	Newcastle	15	-5	15
18	Sunderland	15	-11	15
19	Blackburn	15	-12	13
20	West Brom	15	-16	11