Champions League Defeat Marks Dark Day for Chelsea Duo

Tonight marked perhaps both Fernando Torres and Carlo Ancelotti’s darkest moments in English football.

This time seven months ago, the Italian was coming off the back of a Premier League and F.A Cup double in the previous campaign and his Chelsea side had stormed to the top of the league with five straight wins, racking up 21 goals in the process. Back then, Chelsea looked unstoppable. Now, Ancelotti is staring down the barrel, facing the increasing probability that he will be sacked come the end of the year. Roman Abramovich is not known for his mercy when it comes to dismissing his managers, even those with Ancelotti’s pedigree.

For Torres, subbed off at half time against a team and defensive line he once terrorised for Liverpool, tonight showed just how far his form has dipped, his misery compounded by the fact he was swapped for and totally shown up by Didier Drogba, the man he was supposed to replace at Chelsea. While it is quite unclear why Chelsea feel the sudden need to replace the Ivorian at all, doubts are increasing among Chelsea fans if Torres is the man to do so.

It is ridiculous to say, as many have, that Torres is no longer a world class player. True he has not played consistently well for near on a year, but he has been continuously hamstrung by injuries and appears totally shot of all confidence. Let us not forget also, that this is a player who, due to international duty, has not had a full summer break since 2007. No wonder he appears to have lost a yard of pace. There is also the issue of Chelsea’s system that is almost purpose-built for someone with the athleticism, strength and power of Drogba’s type, exemplified by the Ivorian’s immediate impact when he came on tonight. Torres is a totally different player. While Drogba likes the ball to feet where he can hold it up, Torres likes it played in behind for him to run on to. Roy Keane always said you can only judge a player after he’s been at his new club for two years. Surely Torres deserves at least half a season to get acclimatised to the new system, or Ancelotti the same time to create a new one for him? While Torres will certainly get this chance, the Italian may not.

Tonight’s quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford was seen as make or break for Ancelotti, with much emphasis being placed on the need to change his tactics from the first leg. The consensus was that Chelsea only had room to accommodate one of either Torres or Drogba in the starting line-up. Perhaps it was Torres’ impressive record against Manchester United that convinced Ancelotti to select him. Or perhaps he, like many others did, just had a gut-feeling that the stage was perfectly set for the Spaniard to answer his critics. Maybe it was Didier Drogba’s recent ineffectiveness and own lack of goalscoring form? Or maybe even pressure from above, with Roman Abramovich keen to see his 50 million pound acquisition in action, and finally begin to pay off. The purchase of Torres has been described by many as a vanity buy, just as Andriy Shevchenko was, enforced by the Russian who just can’t help but go over the heads of those far more clued up in what it takes to run a successful football club. While at Manchester United the famous adage goes, no player is bigger than the manager, it appears to be the opposite at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho didn’t want Shevchenko; Ancelotti, supposedly, didn’t want Torres but Mourinho’s departure has set an example for what happens when Abramovich doesn’t get his way.

Whatever the reason for Torres’ selection Ancelotti’s ill-judged decision might well have cost him his job, a fate inconceivable just seven months ago.

Andrew Holder-Ross

Refcam!

I’m writing this not because I’ve seen a referee make a terrible mistake and get castigated by thousands of angry fans. I’m writing it because every team of referees and their assistants who take charge of a match this weekend will make several errors, which will almost certainly have an impact on the outcome of their game.

So should they be demoted, voted off in a league table as Tony Pulis suggested? No. Should video technology be implemented to render the man in the middle as useless as a eunuch at an orgy? No.

Technology should instead be used to show the baying masses what a good job that balding, slightly rotund fellow is actually carrying out for two hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Human error

Now don’t get me wrong, I get as annoyed as the rest of you when a ref cocks up. But take a second, breathe, count to ten. Doesn’t that feel better? It was just a mistake. Unlike your oaf of a striker whose 93 bad touches are erased from your memory when he bundles in a late equaliser with his ear, referees rarely get the chance to win back a fan’s adoration. OK, adoration is perhaps too strong a word for an attitude regarding a referee. Respect. Still too strong. Impartiality. Nah. Non-hate?

I’ve left many a game overhearing both sets of fans claiming the officials were terrible, they were biased against their team. Codswallop.  It’s just a lot easier to blame an individual than a collective, isn’t it? The papers and television companies are equally culpable:

‘The referee ruined the game by sending off Fabricio Coloccini for a two-footed tackle in the fifth minute.’ 

Hang on, let’s try:

‘Fabricio Coloccini should have learnt how to tackle by now, and Newcastle United should be professional enough to have practised playing with a man disadvantage.’ 

Nope. Nobody will read that tripe.

Referees are human. Believe it or not, they’re not cheats. Well, perhaps the Italian ones are, but that was all cleared up after the Calciopoli scandal, right? These guys earn about the same as you and me – perhaps a little more if they’re really good like Howard Webb, and are given the honour of refereeing a final or two. They don’t deserve all the criticism they receive - but then again, neither do traffic wardens or speed cameras, but I’m not going to try and explain how they’re just upholding the law… I do want some of you to read on.

Solution

What I propose is Ref!cam (the exclamation mark is required because it’s impossible to utter the word ‘ref’ in anything but a yelp. As Neil Buchanan would say, try it yourself). We’ve seen a similar thing before with Sky Sports’ player cam gimmick, but this proved to be utterly boring. Am I really paying £30 a month to watch a close up of Dennis Bergkamp jogging about without the ball for 80 minutes, then occasionally receiving the thing – from god knows where, and passing it off with his first touch – to god knows who?

This concept could be used to tract the referee instead of a player.  I think Alan Green or one of his 606 ranters suggested it a couple of months back actually, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were gibbering on about through all the distortion, due to a combination of poor reception from my analogue radio and the frazzling waves of negativity that ooze from Green’s mouth that make everything he spews almost unbearable to digest.  So I’m claiming it as my own.

How about mixing it up and throwing on a pair of Elton John-esque novelty glasses? While perhaps justifying the calls of ‘the referee’s a wanker’, these would simultaneously make those bawling ‘you need glasses, ref’ sound a bit stupid. Oh, and they could track what the referee sees – almost forgot that crucial element. 

I’ve seen it before on T4 or some shit. You know the one, it’s called something like ‘Eye For a Bum-gain’ or ‘Tit You Looking At?’, it’s about pervs gawping at scantily clad girls in shopping centres and is probably hosted by 26 year-old Miquita Oliver, trying to act 17, and a pimple-nosed 17-year-old squirt, trying to act like Steve Jones. Sometimes they even throw in June Sarpong in an ill-fitting bikini on a cold beach near Weston-super-Mare and see if she can lock her luscious lips round the outtake reel for a pointless feature before every ad break.

Anyway, enough beating round the bush. What this would enable us to see is exactly what the referee sees. It may have teething problems and initial embarrassment for, say, Mike Dean, when he’s caught repeatedly glancing southwards in an attempt to make out the outline of Paul Scholes’ wotsit, but on the whole I think it’d be a great way of showing fans why they should cut the referee a bit of slack. They’d suddenly become aware of how much the he has to keep an eye on during proceedings. 

Fictional-but-likely scenario number one:

An obvious foul flies in from Richard Dunne – but wait, our ref had followed the path of the ball onto the sleek head of Andy Carroll to see if his pony tail was being tugged by James Collins, which it was. Therefore he missed Dunne’s lunge, which came in 14 seconds after the ball had been played. To be fair, in this instance all referees should be briefed to automatically blow up for a foul whenever Dunne hits the turf, but that’s for the FA to sort out, not Ref!cam.

Fictional-but-likely scenario number two:

Our ref didn’t see the incident because he had Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan screaming obscenities in his ear and had temporarily lost all ability, or will, to function like a normal human being. 

In both of these situations, allowing millions of couched potatoes the opportunity to see things from the referee’s eyes might just make them think for a second before their latest outburst of ‘ref!’.  Then again, it probably wouldn’t.  But Mike Dean looks splendid in Elton’s glasses, no?

Jude Ellery, Football Farrago

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Don’t Eur Want To Be Relevant?

The elimination of Liverpool and Manchester City from the Europa League at the last 16 phase last month ended the involvement of Barclays Premier League representatives in UEFA’s secondary competition for another season. No abundance of tears was wept in the North-West. Both clubs undoubtedly envisage their aims with European football inextricably linked with the golden treasure-chest of the Champions League, with the former dominating UEFA’s premier tournament in a bygone era, the latter looking to instigate a period of hegemony over the continent in the not-so-distant future. 

So for these two English stalwarts, elimination at the hands of adversaries boasting significantly lesser resources at least on a fiscal level - namely Portugal’s Braga and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev of respectively - was no biggie, perhaps even a relief. The Liga Sagres runners-up of last season, Braga, deserve their plaudits for their run to the quarter-finals of this year’s edition of the Europa League. The Minho Warriors have effectively knocked three British clubs out of Europe on the way: prior to dispatching Liverpool from the Europa League they accounted for Celtic’s exit in the Champions League preliminary qualifiers, then went on to defeat Arsenal at home in the group stage, a result which condemned the Gunners to runners-up spot in the group and a second-phase meeting with the Catalan Wonders of Camp Nou.

Braga now join compatriots Porto and Benfica in the last eight. So while they may be light years behind their contemporaries on a domestic plain - already a full 31 points behind runaway leaders Porto, which is 11 points more than the gap between themselves and the bottom placed club - they may yet be able to eclipse their rivals on the European stage. The draw has kept all three clubs apart, with a possible semi-final meeting to come against outgoing Portugese champions Benfica if they manage to overcome City’s conquerors from Ukraine, Shevchenko et al, in their quarter-final.

While Portugal must be applauded for producing three clubs in the last eight of a major European competition from a mediocre and grotesquely unipolar league, much less Kiev and Russians Spartak Moscow for prolonging the challenge from behind the Iron Curtain beyond March, it is sadly notable that four of the five top domestic leagues in Europe have no further interest in this season’s Europa League. The sole exception is Spain’s Villarreal, who meet Twente Enschede in the last eight, who along with PSV Eindhoven are the Dutch Eredivsie’s two remaining clubs in the shake-up. 

Clubs of England, Germany, Italy and France are inconspicuous by their absence, but no root and branch post-mortem will be held to the extent of that by Premier League observers from the lack of progress of English clubs in the latter stages of last season’s Champions League, or the examination currently being held by Le Championnat officials over the vacuum of French teams from this year’s edition of UEFA’s top banana.

Around these nations, ours included, the Europa League is regarded as a second-rate competition, the preserve primarily of clubs from the continent’s second-rate’s leagues. The Yellow Submarine from Spain apart, the competition does undeniably exude a second-rate feel, with Portugal, Russia, Ukraine and the Netherlands coming in sixth, seventh, eighty and ninth respectively in the UEFA co-efficient listings. This may seem like a harsh observation to make, especially in light of Porto’s Champions League victory of 2004 and the ascendancy of Russian and Ukrainian clubs to a number of recent European finals (albeit in the UEFA Cup, the now-defunct precursor to the Europa League) but the profligacy of the representatives of the top leagues does not reflect their domination of the latter stages of the Champions Cup, with only one team from outside the ‘Big Five’ leagues – Shakhtar Donetsk - qualifying for this year’s quarter-finals. 

The financial and footballing clout of the Big Five leagues is so great that they can comfortably dominate both competitions, with clubs of the prowess of Liverpool and City, Napoli and Juventus, Stuttgart, Sevilla and Paris St. Germain all participating from the group stage of this year’s Europe League. Although it no doubt aids the leagues of Russia, Ukraine and the Netherlands that as leagues six, seven and eight they benefit from being granted one extra place in the Europa League (under the current format all other countries are permitted three places, with the exception of Leichtenstein, Andorra and San Marino), the aforementioned so-called elite clubs should still be able to perform better than they have done. Their performance in this competition is hampered by its relegation in their list of priorities, which favour qualification for the following season’s Champions League or even a good domestic cup run. 

I must add at this point that I am not against the distribution of European success to clubs from the less-celebrated leagues, often big fish swimming surreptitiously in small ponds. In fact the triumphs of the Shakhtars, CSKA Moscows and Zenits make a refreshing change from the tri-partite ownership of the Champions League trophy that Spain, England and Italy can often boast. What does grind my gears, and I am sure those of many true European football fans, is that we are deprived of viewing some top clubs at full throttle in the Europa League, and the opportunity for some top-quality Thursday night action to perhaps even rival the fare offered on the preceding Tuesday and Wednesday. This is forsaken amidst a plethora of second-string line-ups, half-full stadia, unsocial kick-off times, apathetic supporters and managers alike, and embarrassing third-rate opponents from far-flung outposts such as Baku and Yerevan (if you’re reading this in Baku and Yerevan, no offence, but this is the reality). 

So what is the solution, I hear you cry from Motherwell to Macedonia? Well, I’m no Michel Platini, but here is my five-point plan which may well just save the Europa League from its current sorry state - and in turn improve both the coffers and credibility of UEFA, while improving the quality of European football as a whole. Erm, no pressure on me then…

1. Automatic qualification to next season’s Champions League group stage for Europa League winners

This would make Roberto Mancini, Kenny Dalglish and the other big boys take the competition more seriously in one fell swoop. A prize that may well be more coveted than the trophy itself, it would also open doors for an unlikely winner to grace Europe’s top stage e.g. lowly Fulham (almost) in 2010.

2. Scrap the group phase 

How do you make a meaningless competition more meaningless? By adding more meaningless games. The addition of the group phase to UEFA’s secondary competition in 2004 was much-maligned – it just seemed like a pretty lady’s younger, poorer, much more unattractive sister trying to dress exactly like the pretty lady. And failing. What would the new format resemble? Keep reading…

3. Centralised television deals and more sponsorship

Here’s a model from the Champions League which UEFA should adapt for the Europa League. Numerous blue-chip backers to go alongside or replace the car company SEAT, which is currently the only official sponsor, as well as a long-term central television contract to mirror that of the Champions League, with terrestrial coverage alongside a satellite partner. The prize money will improve, making the tournament all the more lucrative as well as relevant.

4. Scrap those blooming 6pm kick-offs

All very well in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and Scandinavia, especially in the darker months when the time difference dictates an earlier kick-off time is necessary. However, City and Liverpool were both victims of this bizarre start time at the detriment of working fans, while local police already have enough trouble with rush-hour traffic. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned 7.45pm? Or, if UEFA must insist on staggering kick-offs, how about 5pm for matches in CEE and Scandinavia, 7pm in Britain and other Western European nations, and 9pm along the Mediterranean? Applicable to the football cultures of those regions, and a veritable feast for armchair fans, thus bumping up the price of television contracts.

5. Change the format to knockout only 

As I mentioned in point two, the group stage is a tiresome and dispensable ancillary and should be removed immediately. Thus, the tournament should be rebranded the Europa Cup. Furthermore, get rid of the long-winded qualification process, which is currently four rounds, and end the daft ruling of teams finishing third in their Champions League group being eligible to play Europa Le…, ahem sorry, Europa Cup football after Christmas. Let’s have four teams from every country in a hat, with the first round seeded and two-legged to filter out any possible duds early on. Good evening Yerevan (apologies, again). The losing teams from a streamlined Champions League qualifiers can join in from the second round of 128, which I would like to see become the start of an Carling Cup-style unseeded one game knockout, with extra time and penalties if the score remains level.

I believe this format is the reason why the Carling Cup is arguably viewed with higher regard by some Premier League managers than the replay-laden and weekend-cluttering FA Cup, but that’s another debate altogether. Also, it would keep the superior teams on their toes against plucky opposition eager for their night of glory. The second and third round can follow this format, with the competition reverting back to two-legged ties from the last 32 onwards as it does now. The difference would be that the Europa Cup can run its last 16 concurrently with that of the Champions’ League from the start of the spring resumption.

So there you have it: how to improve Europe’s second club competition and make it relevant again. This way, it may be best remembered for something more meaningful than Super/Stupor (delete as your opinion dictates) Mario not knowing how to put on a bib.

Emile Okoke, Football Farrago

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5 Observations From England v Ghana

Observations from England’s friendly against Ghana, who were impressive in South Africa and again at Wembley last night. The game featured an inexperienced, somewhat experimental England side, and finished in a 1-1 draw.

1) Andy Townsend is still a tool

The ITV co-commentator’s been getting on my wick for a while now. His cliché-ridden style has been spotted by many and he earned himself a parody twitter account that was featured in When Saturday Comes, but worse is his pluralisation of the word ‘goal’.

It’s not hard, Andy. There are two of the things on the pitch, but you only shoot at one of them. So when Ashley Young and Stewart Downing blaze over from good positions, they were shooting at the goal, not goals. When Joleon Lescott needlessly fouls a Ghanaian running towards the corner flag in the 56th minute, he was running away from goal, not goals. Has nobody at ITV Sport noticed? Come on son, you’ve gotta be doing better than that.

Grammatical errors aside, Townsend also thought he’d throw in some subliminal racism. He described the Ghanaians as ‘athletic’ when they broke England’s offside trap and almost scored. ‘You won’t catch them’, he says as the replay is displayed, exactly at the point when Phil Jagielka catches up and Dominic Adjei rushes his shot. England’s carbon copy of the move five minutes later, on the other hand, is noted as ‘great movement’ and a ‘clever interchange’. 

Now I’m not suggesting the former Republic of Ireland striker’s a racist; it’s more of an old-fashioned attitude, summed up by his reference to Roy of the Rovers when Asamoah Gyan shot from distance. Roy Race is a great character and I’m sure many enjoyed his stories (and still do), but as Scott Murray wrote in The Blizzard Issue Zero, it’s a dated comic that displays old, imperialist ideals. 

2) England B are more fun

So on to the match analysis. Overall, England minus their big names might look a little more frail without the ball - as was shown when Gyan equalised in the dying moments - but they entertained me more than the A team did against Wales. It made for a more open spectacle, which was perfect for a game of this sort.

Young continued his good form in the white of England while on the opposite flank Downing was even better, especially in the first half, and was deservedly voted man of the match. Ghanaian left back Lee Addy was caught ball-watching time and again, and if not for a poor attempt at a right foot finish and some over-hit crosses by the Aston Villa midfielder England could have scored more than Andy Carroll’s well-taken first international goal.

Matt Jarvis was given a run-out in the second half and was later joined by fellow debutant Danny Welbeck. Both players had little time to make an impact but can expect to be included in future squads.

3) 4-3-3 works

We’ve all known 4-4-2 is dead for a few years now and it seems England have finally caught up. While they probably played more of a 4-4-1-1 at the World Cup, what with Rooney’s drifting nature, the current team is lining up in a true 4-3-3 formation.

This allows Jack Wilshire to shine in a three man midfield (as he does at Arsenal), which worked well as England always had a range of passes available in this area. Good movement from the wingers helped, and England looked much more fluid in possession than they have in recent times. Perhaps having footballers who can play a number of positions like James Milner, Downing and Young makes for a more adaptable, flexible team who can fill in for each other. It’s not quite total football yet, but it’s at least a bit more adventurous.  

Wayne Rooney may find himself shunted to the left or played as a lone striker more often now, but he can do both and still be a highly effective player, as he’s often shown at Manchester United. He could even play as the furthest forward of the midfield three, but this is largely untried.

4) Competition is healthy

In goal, Joe Hart in now England’s established number one. He made two excellent saves which confirmed this standing, the first in a one-on-one situation, the second an impressive reaction stop. Goalkeepers need to know they are the manager’s first choice – we’ve seen at Arsenal how changing the ‘keeper regularly can cause problems. Two intercepted clearances will blot Hart’s performance but he will learn from these incidents.

For the rest of the team, finally there is true competition for places. Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard were not unduly missed; in fact a clear separation of the midfielders’ and attackers’ responsibilities make the team look more cohesive at times. The three aforementioned players sometimes dominate games too much, trying to stamp their personality on the game at the cost of the team’s shape.

Leighton Baines also looked the part. While arguably no left back is better than Ashley Cole defensively, Baines is the better option going forward. I’d go as far as saying Cole’s offensive game is overrated; since he moved away from Robert Pires and Thierry Henry at Arsenal he’s never looked quite as good in the opponent’s half. 

Cole’s dribbling and crossing skills are poor, whereas these are two of Baines’ best assets. Food for thought for Fabio Capello, as with Cole now in his thirties injuries are surely set to creep in to his career – he’s admitted the number of games he’s played over the past ten years is catching up with him and he often plays with ankle pain. 

Hopefully England will experiment more in the rest of their games prior to Euro 2012, as inevitably there will be injuries to a couple of key players preceding the tournament. Instead of a rush to the medical dictionaries to discover what a metatarsal is and how long they take to heal, it’d be nice to have a raft of alternative players to choose from who are experienced enough not to be considered a risk at an international tournament. We’ve accommodated too many half fit ‘stars’ in past tournament squads like David Beckham in 2002 and Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry last year. 

5) Joleon Lescott doesn’t cut the mustard

The Manchester City centre back-cum-left back was overvalued when he moved from Everton, probably due to the high number of goals he grabs from set pieces. Defensively though he’s a liability at the top level. He gives away needless free kicks and was at fault for Ghana’s equaliser, allowing Gyan to turn inside the area and finish crisply with his weaker foot. 

While Lescott is obviously a decent player he has had ample opportunity to impress for The Three Lions and has never looked assured. Michael Dawson, Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill and all better propositions as successors to Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. Lescott’s club team-mate Micah Richards will also possibly move into central defence as he matures.

Jude Ellery, Football Farrago

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Australian Grand Prix – Vettel continues 2010 form

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing started off their 2010 Drivers and Constructors title defence in the best possible way after a dominant victory during the opening race of the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Albert Park, Melbourne.

Vettel, who started from pole position was never challenged as he controlled the pace during the 58 lap race to secure the win by 22.2 seconds from Lewis Hamilton and Vitaly Petrov – the latter becoming the first Russian driver to stand on the podium.

For local hero Mark Webber, he was off the pace during the whole weekend and finished a lowly fifth, thus matching his best result at home when he was driving for Minardi in 2002. He pulled off the track straight after the chequered flag and Red Bull’s Adrian Newey then confirmed he had no idea what was wrong with Webbers car during a disappointing home race.

Jenson Button, who was on for a hat trick of Australian Grand Prix victories had a tough opening race. Having made a bad start and dropped back behind Felipe Massa, he attempted to pass the Brazilian on lap 11 but ended up cutting the chicane and being awarded a drive through penalty once both Ferrari’s pitted.

Button had the final laugh though as he got passed the three stopping Massa at the end of the pit straight on lap 54 and brought the car home sixth.

The starring drive of the Grand Prix came from Sergio Perez and the Sauber team. People were predicting anything up to four stops during the race, former GP2 driver Perez proved them all wrong by claiming seventh after a one stop strategy and he was backed up by Japanese star Kamui Kobayashi who finished eighth overall. After the race, however – both drivers were disqualified for a technical infringement - more details can be found here http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/3/11874.html - thus promoting Massa to seventh, Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Buemi eighth with the two Force India’s rounding out the points, Adrian Sutil ninth and Scottish F1 debutant Paul Di Resta 10^th.

It was a solid debut showing by reigning DTM Champion Di Resta, who had run 10^th during the early stages having avoided the collision between Michael Schumacher of Mercedes GP and Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso. Team mate Sutil passed him before Di Resta repassed. The pair traded lap times as they crossed the line 11^th and 12^th, which would become 9^th and 10^th.

For Mercedes GP, the 2011 Australian Grand Prix was one to forget as Schumacher retired on safety grounds after the accident with Alguersuari while Rosberg was taken out by Williams Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello was awarded a Drive through Penalty for the incident.

Barrichello’s Williams Team mate Pastor Maldonado was the first driver to retire in the 2011 season, having pulled off the track during the early stages of the race.

For the returning Nick Heidfeld, he had a weekend to forget as he finished a lowly 12^th, being out performed by Petrov and finishing ahead of the Virgin Racing car of debutant Jerome D’Ambrosio and former Renault driver Jarno Trulli in the Team Lotus car.

Trulli’s team mate Heikki Kovalainen retired just after his first pit stop with water leak while Timo Glock, D’Ambrosio’s Virgin team mate made a number of visits to the pits for constant repairs.

HRT drivers Tonio Luizzi and Narian Karthikeyan didn’t qualify inside the 107% time and thus weren’t allowed to start the race.

RESULTS:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - Renault, 25 points

2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren - Mercedes, 18 points

3. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 15 points

4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 12 points

5. Mark Webber, Red Bull - Renault, 10 points

6. Jenson Button, McLaren - Mercedes, 8 points

7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 6 points

8. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso - Ferrari, 4 points

9. Adrian Sutil, Force India - Mercedes, 2 points

10. Paul Di Resta, Force India - Mercedes, 1 point

We Like Sports Driver Of the Race: Sergio Perez

The Mexican GP2 Graduate has proved that he has a very bright future in Formula 1 and that his seventh was well deserved before being disqualified.

Matt Auger

We Like Sports’ Relegation Tips

With eight games left before the Premier league concludes for another season, the potential for the most exiting relegation battle since the dramatic last day antics that the 2004/05 season brought is most certainly upon us. The stage is brilliantly set, with 12 teams separated by only eight points, with many of these teams playing each other during the next two months. Expect to see the phrase “six-pointer” overused by pundits across the country - but who can blame them? This season’s finale will be tense.

To add to the excitement, I have decided to use a table predictor to see how I believe the forthcoming fixtures will pan out, and to ultimately pick the three teams who’ll finish the league in the bottom three.

18th: Blackburn. 

A team with plenty of money and potential, but I feel the sacking of Sam Allardyce will come back to haunt them. They still have Arsenal and the Manchester duo yet to play, and two crucial matches against West Ham and Wolves are away from home, meaning they have some intimidating ties ahead. Bolton, Everton and Birmingham are their other opponents, which shows they have the toughest run-in out of the relegation candidates.

19th: West Brom. 

Another side with very tough fixtures ahead of them; their four home ties are against Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton. I feel in order to survive the drop, winning home games is vital, and I can only see a couple of points at best from these games. It may go down to the final day, and if it does, a trip to St James’ Park would not be the ideal place for Roy Hodgson’s new side to travel to - especially if Newcastle find themselves down there themselves. In short, I feel West Brom will add another reason for Roy to wipe this season from his memory.

20th Wigan 

Okay, maybe two points from eight games is harsh, especially when this team can literally create a win from any position. However, I feel with 39 points needed to stay up on my prediction, Wigan will struggle to find nine points from their remaining fixtures. Tottenham and Chelsea in their next two games could see them slip further down, while the trip to Bloomfield Road on the 16 April will be one of the ultimate six-pointers, a game Wigan simply have to win. The hostile atmosphere at Stoke City will probably be negated as I feel this match will be meaningless; their stay in the Premier League will have been ended by then. 

Here then, is what my bottom three will look like:

Maybe my romantic side, willing Blackpool to stay up for one more season, will backfire. Maybe Wigan will produce performances a few of their players most certainly have the potential to do. Maybe a real shock is on the cards with Aston Villa or the Carling Cup winners, Birmingham, not being able to pick up form. Nevertheless, after looking at the fixtures, predicting the results and reflecting on the teams’ current confidence, I believe these three will face the drop. 

Andrew Williams, Football Farrago

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Formula One Fortnightly – Season Preview Part One

The opening round of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship down at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia gets underway next weekend and with the final pre season test completed, cars being transported, team drivers and personnel are finding their passports and getting ready to kick off the 19 race season. In this section, WLS previews the top four teams from 2010, Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

Red Bull Racing – Renault.

1. Sebastian Vettel

2. Mark Webber

2010 saw Red Bull Racing secure their first drivers and manufacturer’s titles since they joined the Formula One field in 2005 with David Coulthard and Christian Klien. The team took 15 out of the available 19 pole positions, including the first seven pole positions on the trot and took a total of twenty podiums during the season, of which nine were race wins, six were from second places and five came from third positions. The team recorded four one, two finishes during the dominant season. 2011 sees the same driver line up retained as the team get set for their first campaign as World Champions and their pre season testing pace shows that they could well be the team to beat again this year. Vettel, having secured his first Formula One Drivers Title will be in confident mood and will be looking to make the crown his own while Mark Webber, who led the Championship for the majority of the season will want to use the disappointment of losing the crown to spur him on to become World Champion. Interesting times ahead for Red Bull Racing and what should turn out to be another very successful season with either the drivers’ title or manufacturers crown remaining with the Milton Keynes based squad. Pre season testing has shown the team to be blistering quick over a single lap but not as fast in race trim but will be the team to beat.

Vodafone McLaren – Mercedes.

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Jenson Button

Continuity is the name of the game for McLaren as they look to build on their 2010 performances and offer their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button a chance to take their second titles. The team took five race wins in 2010, two early season victories for Button in Australia and China while Hamilton took the chequered flag in Turkey, Canada and Spa-Francochamps. The downside for McLaren is that they ended the season as the third fastest team on the grid and by Abu Dhabi, they were the outside shot for the drivers crown while Button was ruled out after Brazil. Bad luck was also a part of McLaren’s season with Button being taken out three times during the season – he was the only driver out of the top five not to suffer a mechanical failure while Hamilton would have been closer if he hadn’t have suffered a puncture at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton also had a brace of retirements through contact with other drivers – first lap at Monza, broke his steering rod and damaged rear suspension at Singapore after Mark Webber made his move. Having not won the Constructors’ crown since the days of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard in 1998, the team are desperate to knock Red Bull off the top spot while seeing one of their drivers end the season as Champion. Pre season testing has shown that the team aren’t ready to challenge Red Bull without major improvements, with reliability being a major issue.

Ferrari - Ferrari

5. Fernando Alonso

6. Filipe Massa

Having ended the 2010 campaign as runners up to Red Bull Racing after a miscalculation with their pit stop at Abu Dhabi, Multiple Champions Ferrari are looking to bounce back in 2011 and win both crowns. After the British Grand Prix last year, Fernando Alonso said that he was going to win the Drivers title and he almost did – he did all he could but the team ruined his chances after a mistimed pit stop and the wrong tactics in Abu Dhabi – choosing to cover their backs with Mark Webber, not Sebastian Vettel. Germany saw the team involved in controversy after Massa allowed Alonso to take the race win after clear team orders were heard over the pit to car radio – the race stewards hit the team with a $100,000 fine and took them in front of the World Motorsport Council (WMSC) but they didn’t add any other punishments. Alonso will start as one of the favourites for the title and will look to assert his authority on the team – Massa needs a good start to have any hope of beating Alonso come the Brazilian Grand Prix in November. Pre season testing has put the Italian outfit as the second fastest over a single lap but is the most consistent over a longer stint.

Mercedes - Mercedes  

7. Michael Schumacher

8. Nico Rosberg Michael Schumacher and his return in 2010 with Mercedes didn’t go according to plan as the team were normally the fourth fastest team on the grid and while young team mate Nico Rosberg took three podiums compared to Schumachers nil and outscored the seven times World Champion by 142 points to 72. Schumacher is still convinced he can claim his eighth world title and believes that Mercedes will make a step forwards this season after a tough 2010 campaign where they were playing catch up during the season. Rosberg was the bright point for Mercedes and has slowly started to show that he could win races and could yet become a Formula 1 World Champion. The team will still be behind Ferrari and Red Bull Racing but will start 2011 ahead of McLaren and will want to finish inside the top three of the Constructors Championship with their new car. Pre season hasn’t gone according to plan with a lack of pace and unreliability being the main issues but they have completed around 19 full race distances during the five pre-season tests.

Stay with WLS for race previews and reviews over the coming weeks.

Matt Auger

WLS Profile: Luciano Spalletti’s 4-6-0 Roma

After spending 15 years in charge of seven different teams in Italy, Luciano Spalletti moved to Russia to take over Zenit St Petersburg in 2009, where he won the league title the following year.  Yet when he retires he will no doubt be remembered as the manager who played a strikerless system in Serie A, which for a few seasons had AS Roma functioning well above the sum of their individual parts.

Overachievement

During his four years at I Lupi the former midfielder won innumerable plaudits for performing above the expectations of a team that contained only one recognised star: Francesco Totti.  An 11-match winning streak in 2005/06 helped him win the Serie A Coach of the Year award, while he also proved time and again his tactical nous was better than that of Internazionale’s Roberto Mancini.  Roma triumphed 3-1 at the San Siro in 2007 in a season where they would also win 7-4 on aggregate in the Coppa Italia final against the Nerazzuri.  The following season Spalletti added more silverware at the expense of Manicini and Inter, with a 1-0 win in the Italian equivalent of the Community Shield, the Supercoppa Italiana. They defended their Copa Italia in 2008, again beating Inter, this time 2-1 in a single match final.

Roma were a mixed bag in Europe.  They recorded two victories over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, the first European side to do so, but both times went on to lose to Manchester United at the quarter-final stage, the first of which by a humiliating 8-3 aggregate score. However, there was no real disgrace in this as The Red Devils proceeded to win the competition on one of these occasions and lose to Milan, the eventual winners, on the other.

System

As mentioned in the introduction, Spalletti often employed a strikerless system during his time at The Stadio Olympico; at least, the team did not contain a traditional centre forward, a ‘number 9’.  The formation came about when, deprived of a spearhead in his attack through injury, Spalletti was forced to play Francesco Totti as the furthest man forward.

Or was he?  Totti may have gone down on many reporters’ notepads as a striker, but he played in pretty much the sametrequartista role as usual.  As Zonal Marking notes, 4-6-0 is an exaggeration, but 4-5-1-0 is still revolutionary.  This meant Roma effectively had four players in the centre of the park, which allowed the team to keep hold of possession with ease.  The team’s wingers and central midfielders often broke from deep to occupy the space left by Totti.

Yet Totti did not suffer from his withdrawn role, in fact he became more prolific.  In the 2006/07 season he notched 26 league goals to win both the Serie A and European Golden Boots.

This season, under the management of first Claudio Ranieri and now caretaker Vincenzo Montella, Roma remain incredibly malleable and their formation is never settled.  They can play a conventional, Italian 4-3-1-2 (or 4-3-2-1, depending on personnel and your interpretation).  This comprises three combative, primarily defensive midfielders and a front three that incorporates Totti as a trequartista and/or Jeremy Menez as a roaming second striker, or ‘central winger’.  The fullbacks and forwards are relied upon for width.

However, in Roma’s 2-0 derby victory over Lazio they reverted to their strikerless line-up, and it has been said that Montella is a big fan of this formation.  Mirko Vicinic and Menez played wide left and right respectively and Simone Perrotta supported Totti, who seemingly lead the attack but, as usual, drifted towards a deeper role.  Regardless of formation, Totti is always the main man, Roma’s talisman.  He scored a brace against Lazio that typically comprised a free kick and a penalty.

A new fashion

As we saw back in 1966 with England’s Word Cup-winning ‘wingless wonders’, tactical innovation can lead to future trends.  Sir Alf Ramsey’s team were set up in what would now be called a midfield diamond, leaving opposition full backs looking at each other in bewilderment at who they should be marking.

Similarly, Spalletti’s legacy lives on; it was immediately adopted by Sir Alex Ferguson.  His United team contained Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Ryan Giggs/Park Ji-Sung/Nani playing in a fluid front line with no discernable focal point.  Their pace and movement negated the need for a traditional English target man, and this combination and strategy led to some of the most breathtaking football any of Ferguson’s team have played (it could even be argued this style stems from Dutch total football).  Many believe this team bettered the treble-winning class of ’99, and while it’s hard to call it ‘strikerless’, one must concur it was often hard to tell who was playing where when Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez could all do the same jobs.   In fact some called these three the new ‘holy trinity’, a phrase first used to describe United legends George Best, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law.

This season has seen the re-emergence of the strikerless team, most notably in Spain.  Last year Zlatan Ibrahimovic played as a conventional centre forward at Camp Nou, but since his loan move to Milan, Barcelona now employ a 4-3-3 that, with Dani Alves’ incredibly attacking play from right back, has sometimes been called a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.  Despite the Brazilian’s forays it most resembles a 4-3-1-2 with wing forwards.  Lionel Messi plays as a withdrawn striker which sees him involved in more of the build-up play than previously (yes, this is possible).  This leaves David Villa (a striker) and Pedro (a winger) playing left and right of the hole where Messi ‘should’ be.  From here they can play wide or make Freddie Ljungberg-like diagonal runs into the middle and behind the defence.

Previous Barca manager Frank Rijkaard had tried this idea a couple of times in Europe against English sides, deploying Ronaldinho in the centre forward slot and Samuel Eto’o wide right.  However, in all probability this was an attempt to confuse defenders and he usually reverted the players to their normal places during the game.  See more on Barcelona’s current formation at A Tactical View.

False nine

Other teams play with a withdrawn forward and the phrase ‘false nine’ is now well and truly lodged in our tactical vocabulary.  Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez is a classic example of a striker who likes to do the majority of his work in midfield, but as with all good players who do this job, he also knows when to get in the box and score goals.  Note how playing this way does not usually result in a lower goal return – Messi, Totti and Tevez simply become more effective overall while still finding the net regularly.  But this could just be a case of them being fantastic individuals; it’s hard to imagine lesser players still being able to score like a centre forward from this position.

So, was Spalletti’s Roma experiment truly ground-breaking and has it had a lasting impact? The existence of the ‘second striker’ is not a new phenomenon by any means.  In the old five man attacks of the 1950s teams would play with two wingers, a centre forward and two inside forwards – deep lying supporting attackers who would probably be classified nowadays as ‘in the hole’ attacking midfielders like Paul Gascoigne and Ronaldinho.  More recently, classic strike partnerships have often consisted of a number nine/number 10 double act, for example Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea or Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal.

What Spalletti’s team showed was that it was possible to play a second striker, the Zola or Bergkamp, without the first striker’s presence.  The withdrawn forward plays as a bogus target man who drops deep instead of leading the line (hence the name, ‘false nine’).  On paper he will appear to be the point of the attack, while in practice he will instead often be the instigator.

 However, this tactic can only be effective with the right players.  Tactically astute midfielders are required who know when and where to break forward.  At Roma these take the shape of Perrotta and David Pizarro, while Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta are two of the most intelligent, strategically minded midfielders in modern football, who also have the benefit of having played together for 15 years.

Conclusion

Returning to the crux of this piece, Roma’s 2007 team came fifth in Zonal Marking’s Teams of the Decade series.  Whether the 4-6-0 system was intentional, or as Michael Cox thinks an Alexander Flemming-esque accidental discovery, it’s hard to say.  But it was often very effective, as Spalletti’s domination over Mancini in head-to-head matches shows.  It’s perhaps more of a style than a formation and will only be seen at the very top end of football, instead of filtering down through the leagues like 4-2-3-1 will inevitably do.

Jude Ellery , Football Farrago 

For more FF content, go to: http://www.footballfarrago.com/

WLS RANT: Carlos Tevez, More Trouble Than He’s Worth

Carlos Tevez is a nuisance. The Premier League’s highest paid player, under the guidance of his greedy agent, has fallen out with the management or owners of every club he’s ever played for and has developed a habit of leaping from one wage packet to the next. Poster boy of a small club with a humungous salary funded by sugar daddy Sheikh Mansour, he is a stroppy, pampered brat, who loves to play the victim. 

 The Argentine had a bust up with his manager at Boca Juniors in 2004. His spell at Corinthians ended in equally unpleasant circumstances in 2006, and at West Ham United he fell out with his team mates, his manager, and threw a tantrum after being substituted against Sheffield United. In all cases, he claimed he loved the club and its supporters. After falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2009, reports claimed he wouldn’t join Liverpool because of their rivalry with United. Being the genius he is, he signed for Manchester City. Obviously there’s no rivalry to worry about there.

During his time at City, he’s been promoted to club captain, and has relished the added responsibility, winning a lot of matches practically on his own. But at Eastlands we’ve also seen the Tevez of old, having a tantrum when substituted (the mark of a great captain?), complaining about his manager’s training sessions, and finally handing in a transfer request, stating:

“My relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club has broken down and is now beyond repair”. 

Weeks later, however, he has the arrogance to claim:“I do not think there is anyone who loves the shirt more than me”. 

Sure thing, Carlos. 

He remains a City player, for the time being, but keep in mind that other than his first club, Boca Juniors, he hasn’t stayed with one club longer than two seasons. Who would be surprised if come May, City win the FA Cup and days later he’s off, claiming he wants a new challenge, he’s home sick again, he doesn’t like blue?

Some Manchester United supporters were critical of the manager for not making more of an effort to sign Tevez on a permanent deal, but Sir Alex should be commended for seeing through the rubbish; Carlos Tevez is more trouble than he’s worth, and from looking at his wages at City, he is worth a lot.

Mike Topp, Football Farrago 

For more FF content, go to: http://www.footballfarrago.com/

The NBA Comes To London: All You Need To Know

On March 4^th and 5^th the NBA will hop across the Atlantic and stage its first ever regular season games in Europe when the New Jersey Nets ‘host’ the Toronto Raptors at the 02 Arena in London.

NBA commissioner David Stern hopes to repeat this event every year, with his ultimate aim being to establish a European division of the league with franchises in major European cities. However, this plan is not without its critics. Raptors center, Andrea Bargnani, yesterday expressed his frustration with the long journey to London and the prospect of adjusting to the time difference. Bargnani’s sentiments echo those of his coach Jay Triano, who has also made his discontent public.

Despite these protests, it is not often that Stern doesn’t get his way and therefore the possibility of a European division and London franchise remains a very real possibility.

The games should be exciting and closely contested. Here, WLS provides previews of the two teams and the key players to watch out for.

The New Jersey Nets:

The Nets have recently become the ‘Chelsea’ of the NBA, although without their success. Last year the Russian nickel magnate and entrepreneur Mikhail Prokhorov (net worth: $25bn) purchased the club and became the first foreign owner in the NBA. He has repeatedly expressed his desire to transform the dishevelled franchise into the ‘first truly global team’, an effort which includes moving the team to Brooklyn in 2012.

Coming off a near historically bad campaign last year, in which they flirted with the record of least wins in a season (9), the Nets have completely overhauled their roster and coaching staff, with Brook Lopez the sole survivor from Prokhorov’s cull.

WLS’ Players to look out for

Deron Williams (Point Guard): With an array of dazzling passes, offensive moves and defensive ability, the recently acquired Williams is quickly becoming the leader of his new team. While “D-Will’s” first three games for the Nets have ended in defeat, he has – despite injuries to both hands – set a record for the most assists made in the first three games for a new team, with 47 (15.5 a game). The NBA had been criticised for sending two teams without any star players to play in London, but Williams is that star and if the Nets are going to achieve success in London and the future, he will be the key.

Brook Lopez (Center): Lopez averages 19 points a game over the last two seasons of his three year career and is a constant threat on offense for the Nets. His rebounding numbers are down this year (from 8 per game last year to a measly 6 this term) and he is a liability on defence, but is often the Nets’ go-to scorer. Look for him to do well against the Raptors over the weekend, as he should take advantage of their lack of interior defence.

Kris Humphries (Power Forward): This season has been a break-out one for Humphries and not only due to his improved play. While often providing spectacular plays - particularly on the defensive end - it his personal life that garners most of the attention. Humphries has recently started dating socialite Kim Kardashian, who along with Beyonce and Maria Sharapova, forms the basis of the Nets’ WAG support.

The Toronto Raptors:

While the Raptors players and coaching staff have been public in their opinion of playing in London, it is hard to blame the NBA for choosing them to go up against the Nets. Not only will they not be making the playoffs this spring, they are the currently the most European team in the NBA. Four Europeans, Jose Calderon (Spain), Alexis Ajinca (France), Andrea Bargnani (Italy) and Linas Kleiza (Lithuania) are regular features in their rotation and will ensure that people from all over the continent make their way to London over the weekend.

The Raptors go into Friday’s game with the same win total this season as the Nets (17) but with one more loss (44). While the Nets have lost six in a row, the Raptors are coming off an impressive 96-90 win over the New Orleans Hornets, in which point guard Jose Calderon scored a season high 22 points to go along with 16 assists and 7 rebounds; a truly special performance against one of the league’s best point guards in Chris Paul.

WLS’ Players to look out for

Jose Calderon (Point Guard): The Spaniard tends to have good games against the Nets, as shown by his 15 point, 14 assist performance in the 98-92 win against them earlier this season. Calderon has the ability to carry his team to wins and if his performance against the Hornets is anything to go by, he could be the key for the Raptors this weekend. That being said, he is yet to play against the Nets with Deron Williams and may struggle to defend or score against him.

Andrea Bargnani (Center): The 7ft Italian is nicknamed “The Magician” in his home country and was considered Toronto’s answer to Dirk Nowitzki when originally drafted. He is yet to live up to that billing, but possesses the ability to torch any team on a given night. He has a lethal outside shot, but like Brook Lopez is considered somewhat of a black hole on defence and is a poor rebounder for his size. He scored 32 the last time these two teams matched up.

DeMar Derozan (Shooting Guard): The young second year guard is a two time Dunk Contest participant and is regularly featured in the plays of the night. His quickness and explosiveness makes him difficult to guard and is a capable scorer. If you’re looking for spectacular dunks this weekend, Derozan is your man.

WLS Verdict?

Both teams have the ability to win and ultimately both will, splitting the games 1-1. Don’t expect much defence, but with a sell-out crowd in attendance for both nights, it should be a great atmosphere and a terrific advert for the game.

Andrew Holder-Ross

Formula One Fortnightly: The News On Kubica

Robert Kubica recently was seriously injured in a rally accident recently – ruling him out of the 2011 campaign. We Like Sports looks at who Lotus Renault have signed to replace him and what do the other drivers say about other motorsport activities outside F1…

Heidfeld confirmed as Kubica Substitute

German Nick Heidfeld has been officially confirmed as Robert Kubica’s replacement at the Lotus Renault GP outfit for 2011, with his driving duties due to start in the forthcoming test at Barcelona.

He had impressed the outfit during the previous test at Jerez and had been widely tipped to land the drive.

Heidfeld will drive the new Lotus Renault car on the Saturday and Monday at Barcelona with team mate Vitaly Petrov in the car Friday afternoon and Sunday.

“I would have liked to come back to Formula 1 in different circumstances, but I’m proud to have been given this chance,” said Heidfeld to Autosport. ”Everything has happened so quickly, but I’ve been very impressed by what I have seen so far in terms of the facilities and the dedication of the people at Enstone.

“I really enjoyed the test last week in Jerez and I’ve already settled in well with the guys at the track. I have a good feeling for the car, which is quite innovative. I’m extremely motivated and can’t wait for the season to begin.”

Heidfeld, 33, will race alongside Petrov while Kubica recovers from his injuries sustained in the rally.

“The team has been through a very difficult couple of weeks and we had to react quickly,” said team boss Eric Boullier. “We gave Nick a chance in Jerez last week and he really impressed us. He’s quick, experienced and is very strong technically with his feedback and understanding of the car.

“We always said the priority was to have an experienced driver in the car and we feel he is the ideal man for the job. We are pleased to welcome Nick to the team and look forward to a strong start to the season with him and Vitaly in Bahrain.”

Alonso: Drivers can’t cut out risk

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso believes it will be impossible for Formula 1 drivers to cut out risk away from the race track – after he expressed relief that his close friend Kubica is recovering well from his recent crash in a rally event.

Double Champion Alonso was one of the first F1 drivers to visit Kubica in hospital following the Polish driver’s accident on the Ronde di Andora rally earlier in the month.

Alonso admitted that he feared the worst in the immediate aftermath of the crash before admitting that drivers will always face dangers away from the track – as he explained to CNN.

“We need to have something to get some adrenalin out of our system and rallying is good training from an F1 driver’s point of view, I train on a bicycle ever day, and a couple of weeks ago a friend and myself were out riding and a truck cut in front us.

“A few metres nearer and we would have crashed into it. You cannot cut out risk.”

Speaking about his immediate reaction to Kubica’s accident, Alonso said: “It was not so clear he was going to survive. I tried to drive to the hospital to find out exactly what his injuries were.

“Now he is recovering well and we hope to see him back very soon in F1.”

Matt Auger
For more of Matt’s articles, go to: http://gridreversal.wordpress.com/

We Like Sports Round Up - 10/02/11

Better late than never, We Like Sports once again brings you a roundup of last week’s sporting action featuring the beginning of the Six Nations, the highest-scoring weekend in English Premiership history and the self-proclaimed “greatest show on Earth”.

Not breaking from tradition, we begin with Football and the Barclays Premier League which continued on from the dramatic closing of its January transfer window with a grand total of 43 goals across the weekend. The pick of the games was played between Arsenal and Newcastle, which saw the Magpies produce a stunning come-back from a 0-4 half time deficit to draw 4-4. Elsewhere, Wigan finally found some goals in a 4-3 victory over Blackburn; Tottenham bagged a last minute victory over Bolton, winning 2-1; Stoke overcame Sunderland 3-2; Everton saw off Blackpool 5-3; Aston Villa and Fulham battled out a 2-2 draw; Birmingham beat West Ham 1-0 and free-spending Chelsea and Liverpool met at Stamford Bridge, with a Raul Meireles goal giving Liverpool a 1-0 victory. For Roberto Di Matteo, a Carlos Tevez hat-trick condemned him to the unemployment line as West Brom were brushed aside 3-0 by Manchester City.  Last night, England faced Denmark in an international friendly which saw Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere receive his first international start and Frank Lampard awarded the captaincy. England gave a good account of themselves, showing a speed and accuracy that was previously missing from most performances, and came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to a well taken first international goal for Ashley Young.

To Rugby now and the beginning of the Six Nations championship, which kicked off on Friday evening when England ran out 26-19 winners over Wales at the Millenium Stadium with help from two Chris Ashton tries. Saturday lunch-time nearly saw a big upset when Italy came within two minutes of defeating Ireland at the Stadio Flaminio, however a last gasp drop-goal from Ronan O’Gara was enough to see Ireland home. Later that evening, a much improved Scotland came up against France. Despite this improvement, as well as three tries, the dominant French pack proved enough to lift France to a convincing 34-21 victory. This weekend, England host Italy at Twickenham, Wales visit Scotland at Murrayfield and France travel to Ireland.

In Cricket, the Pakistani spot-fixing scandal came to a climax with harsh punishments being handed out to all involved. Captain Salman Butt received a ten year ban, whilst Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir face seven and five year bans respectively. With their first World Cup game only twelve days away, England suffered the loss of Eoin Morgan, who was ruled out with a broken finger. Morgan, who will be replaced by Ravi Bopara, is the latest in a series of injuries that have troubled the England squad ahead of the tournament. Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Tremlett, Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad are all still recovering from various injuries, but are all expected to be fit in time for England’s opening game against Holland on 22 February.

Finally, the NFL season came to an end on Sunday with the Superbowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. An exciting and dramatic game ended with the Packers coming out on top 31-25 winners, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers being awarded the Most Valuable Player award.

Andrew Holder-Ross

Superbowl XLV: Key Match Ups

Two of the best sides in the NFL meet in Superbowl XLV this Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers look to write themselves an extra passage in the history books by winning the trophy named after their opponents, the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi.  The Steelers already have 6 Superbowl wins, the most of any franchise in the NFL while the Packers have 3 Superbowl victories to their name, including the first 2 Superbowls, the Packers however won 9 NFL Championships prior to the birth of the Superbowl in 1967.

The Packers are the NFL’s second oldest franchise and can trace their roots back as far as 1896 and they joined the NFL’s predecessor the American Professional Football Association in 1921.  The Steelers are not quite as old as the Packers, but still steeped in history, they are the fifth oldest NFL franchise and were founded in 1933.

So both teams would be worthy winners in terms of history and ownership, but who will win the on field battle?  There will be several important match ups, as always the quarterback battle between veteran and owner of 2 Superbowl rings Ben Roethlisberger and Superbowl debutant Aaron Rodgers will be integral to the final result, but everyone will be talking about that in the next few days so I’ll be looking at the battles that may not be as obvious but just as important:

1. Packers Receivers vs Steelers’ Mike Wallace

The Packers have a very impressive group of receivers and in the postseason 3 of the top 5 receivers are Packers, for the Steelers one receiver stands out head and shoulders above the rest Mike Wallace.  Although Wallace has just 4 catches for 26 yards in the play offs I expect he will have a huge role to play in the final game of the season.  The Packers defensive back field has been one of the revelations of this postseason and they have defended 11 passes and made 5 interceptions including 1 in their own end zone and 1 which was returned for a touchdown.  While these are unbelievable statistics for a period of just 3 games the Packers backfield will have to be at their best when they face the raw pace and shear acceleration of Wallace, who recently recorded a 4.28 second 40 yard dash!

2. Steelers’ Tight End Heath Miller

The second match up that could prove fascinating during the game is just how will the Packers cover Steelers Tight End Heath Miller?  The Packers may assign their Safeties to cover Miller, but while the Packers Safeties have combined for 24 tackles in the playoffs they have not defended any passes and if Miller draws the Packers Safeties away from the middle of the field then Steelers slot receiver Heinz Ward will surely have a field day.  The Packers have one of the best Linebacker cores in the NFL, arguably the second best behind the Steelers, but they are renowned for their pass rush more than their coverage capabilities and no Packers Linebacker has defended a pass in the postseason.  Miller is the Steelers leading receiver in the playoffs with 7 catches and of these 7 catches 4 have been for first downs so along with Roesthlisberger he is a key figure in keeping Steelers drives alive.

3. Packers’ Pass Rush Defence

While the Packers Linebackers may not be looking forward to solving the Miller conundrum they must be champing at the bit to bring their dynamic and potent pass rush to North Texas.  Clay Matthews III has recaptured his form of the early regular season and has recorded 3.5 sacks in the postseason, the Packers Defensive Line has really come into it’s own in the playoffs too and they have combined for 3 sacks and that by now infamous interception return by Nose Tackle B.J Raji.  The last time these teams played was in the closing stages of last season and the Packers managed to sack Roethlisberger 5 times, with Clay Matthews recording 2 of them.  Obviously a space of 12 months has seen vast changes in both teams, but the Packers pass rush should still be a major concern for the Steelers.

WLS Verdict?

The last meeting of these two teams ended with a 1 point win to the Steelers in a 37–36 shootout with both Heath Miller and Heinz Ward gaining over 100 receiving yards despite the Packers effective pass rush sacking Roethlisberger 5 times.  I expect Superbowl XLV to be a tense and similarly taut affair although 73 points would be a surprising turn of events! 

Ultimately, I believe the Steelers’ edge in experience will see them win, they have 25 players who have previously been to the Superbowl compared to the Packers’ two.

Rhys Knott

Formula One Fortnightly: Team Gossip (Part III)

The third and final instalment of We Like Sports’ Formula One Fortnightly: Team Gossip reveals the latest news from Toro Rosso, Lotus, Hispania Racing and Virgin Racing and includes dates upon which the 2011 cars will be unveiled.

Toro Rosso

Helmut Marko is hoping to see Toro Rosso’s reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo in Formula One by 2012 at the latest. The Red Bull Racing advisor is keen to fast track the 21 year old Australian into a Formula One Race seat.

Ricciardo is the current reserve driver at Toro Rosso, and he will take part in the Friday Practice sessions during the Grand Prix season. As well as his reserve duties, he will return to the Formula Renault 3.5 series. He narrowly missed out on the title in 2010 to Russian Mikhail Aleshin.

The obvious route for Ricciardo would be into one of the two Toro Rosso cars. These are currently occupied by Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, however Marko didn’t rule out a 2011 race debut for the 2009 British Formula 3 Champion during an interview with German Language motorsport-total.com.

“It all depends on the parties involved,” said Red Bull’s driver programme manager Marko, clearly referring to Buemi and Alguersuari. “The plan is to see him in a race cockpit in 2012 at the latest.”

Toro Rosso will unveil their new car on the 1^st February.

Lotus

Lotus are close to confirming their full driver line up for the 2011 Formula One season, with former Hispania Racing Team’s Karun Chandhok likely to become the team’s test and reserve driver – possibly leading to the opportunity of testing the car on Friday Mornings of Grand Prix weekends.

Having made his Formula One debut for the Spanish outfit before being replaced after ten Grand Prix by Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto, Chandhok found himself on the sidelines and ended up as a guest in the 5live Commentary box for the Grand prix weekends.

During the off season for the forthcoming campaign, he has been linked with both Lotus and Force India, but his chances of landing a drive at Force India have been ruled out.

The popular Indian has now revealed that he is looked for a long term deal with a team and he believes that Lotus, who is owned by Malaysian Tony Fernandes, is the perfect fit for him.

“I think it will be a step up,” he told the Deccan Herald. “By racing last year I have got a foot in the door and now I don’t need to look for that anymore. I like the idea of building an Asian team with Asian drivers, mechanics, engineers, PR and marketing people.

“It [F1] is dominated by the West so far. We have the brain power but not experience. I just want to show Asia is capable. Tony Fernandes is trying hard and that’s what he has done with his Air Asia [brand] as well.”

Lotus will unveil their 2011 race car on February 1^st.

Hispania Racing Team

The driver situation at HRT is no clearer after Pedro de la Rosa admitted he won’t be racing for them in 2011 and will look for a test role with another team.

De la Rosa, who started the 2010 season at Sauber, was replaced for the final five Grand Prix of the season by German Nick Heidfeld and he took over the Germans duties with Pirelli.

The 39 year old Spaniard had been looking for a race drive in 2011 but has told Autosport it won’t be with HRT.

“HRT is, for me, not an option; I don’t know what the future will cover. I’m trying to find a race drive in Formula 1 as always, I will never give up. Pirelli are planning to do some more testing during the year. I don’t know, possibly I will be running with Pirelli, a race drive somewhere, or a reserve role in Formula 1. The next few weeks will be quite important for my future.”

De la Rosa says he would consider returning to a test drive or reserve role – like his role with McLaren between 2003 and 2009 – as he feels his knowledge of the new Pirelli tyre would make him a valuable asset for a top team.

“The test driver role would be interesting, wherever a serious team needs one” he told Autosport. “Obviously there is not much testing now, so you have to look into the teams that have simulators and are taking the reserve driver seriously.”

HRT haven’t announced when their 2011 challenger will be unveiled.

Virgin Racing

Virgin Racing’s popular German driver Timo Glock believes that the team can enjoy a much stronger 2011 campaign, after saying that any doubts he had in the teams potential had been laid to rest.

The German publically expressed doubts about his future at Virgin Racing after a troubled debut season in Formula One for the team. Following end of season discussions with senior management, discussing frustrations and to map out the future, Glock is now fired up and looking ahead to the 2011 campaign.

We had a good sit together in the last couple of races. John Booth and [CEO] Graeme Lowdon and myself spent quite a lot of time together, talking about the next year,” Glock told Autosport in an exclusive interview.

“The team is moving in the right direction and we’ve got some good sponsors on board. Marussia is a big partner now. I think they are quite straightforward and they want some success in the future, and that’s good. That’s what the team needs, and in the end we have to find out how quickly we can move up.”

Glock believes that staffing structure changes and the experiences gained from the 2010 season will pay dividends for the team in 2011.

“We’re much better, much stronger, than the same time last year. But in the end you need a car which is quick to move forward, and that’s what we have to prove this year.

Virgin will unveil their 2011 car on February 7^th.

Matt Auger
For more of Matt’s articles, go to: http://gridreversal.wordpress.com/