New Zealand has picked players to succeed for the Bangladesh series and they have been advised it would be unwise to under-perform.Announcing the side for the first Test in Hamilton starting on Tuesday, Sir Richard Hadlee, the selection chairman, said it had been five years and 40 Test matches since New Zealand had fielded the same team in successive Tests.That there were no changes was a reward for the third Test performance against Australia in Perth, and for the Australian tour overall, Hadlee said.”We’ve picked the players to succeed and we want them to win convincingly,” he said.Hadlee said the selection of Mathew Sinclair, the one batsman in the side who has struggled for his best touch recently, had not taken much debate at all.He averaged 52 in New Zealand conditions and deserved the chance, Hadlee said.Sinclair had been advised he was under pressure and Hadlee said the side had been picked for the first Test only.As far as the bowlers were concerned Hadlee said they would find the conditions in New Zealand much more suitable than those they had struck in Australia.”In Australian conditions the margin of error is very small. Here there is more in, and off, the track,” he said.It would be up to captain Stephen Fleming and coach Denis Aberhart to decide who would be given the new ball but it was certain that Shane Bond would be at one end with it and it would be between Chris Cairns and Chris Martin who supported him.Whatever else happened, Hadlee said standards set in Australia must be maintained and progress must continue to be made.If Bangladesh was able to play well and put New Zealand under real pressure that would be ideal.On the issue of Lou Vincent opening the batting instead of a specialist, such as Auckland’s Matt Horne, who scored his second century of the summer today against Bangladesh, he said that Horne had made a lot of progress over the last 12 months.He had some personal problems and had to rebuild his career and he offered another choice and option for the selectors.There was more depth in the pace bowling department available to the selectors with 10 or 12 players now vying for positions in the side but there was still no obvious second spinner sorting himself out from the crowd.Aberhart said the intention in Australia had been to be competitive, to learn and to move forward and that would continue against Bangladesh with the players looking to show more confidence as a result of the improvements they had achieved.He said that left-arm fast-medium bowler Shayne O’Connor had an MRI scan last night and New Zealand Cricket’s medical personnel were still assessing the findings but it did not look good for O’Connor in the short term.”They [the medical specialists] were not willing to commit on when he might be playing again,” Aberhart said.Dion Nash was the other player not considered for the side.Of the decision to choose a 12th man so far out from the Test, Hadlee said: “Chris Drum is in excellent form. He bowled well in the final match of the Australian tour taking a five-wicket bag and had a psychological edge over Bangladesh after claiming four for 32 for Auckland yesterday.”We have told Chris that, barring an unexpected injury, he will be 12th man but we know that having him waiting in the wings will keep pressure on the other seamers to perform at the highest levels,” he said.
The one day series between the New Zealand and England is taking theappearance of one of those tales that old cricketers tell: the same story alittle more exaggerated each time. It goes like this. England bat first,fail to make enough of a score, New Zealand knock them off.Given that this pattern was already apparent England’s decision to bat onwinning the toss was a surprise. Their team was unchanged from the defeat atAuckland on Thursday. New Zealand replaced Katrina Keenan with Helen Watson.The first overs of the England innings set the pattern for what followed.The bowling was tight, the batting cautious. Only ten runs came from thefirst nine overs for the loss of Connor, lbw to one that nipped back off theseam from Rachel Pullar. Since being handed the poisoned chalice of theEngland captaincy in mid tour Connor has scored only 24 runs in fourinternationals.The other opener, Claire Taylor, had scored only four by the thirteenth overwhen frustration overcame her. Attempting a cross bat swipe off Ramel, shespooned a catch to Campbell at mid on.Charlotte Edwards timed the ball well until her leg stump was removed by aTiffen delivery that came in from the off when she was on 11. She was notthe last England player to be playing back when the slowness and movement ofthe pitch suggested that she would be better off on the front foot.Nicky Shaw cover drove the first boundary of the innings in the sixteenthover, following it with another straight away, before becoming as becalmedas the rest of the top order. Shaw fell in an unfortunate manner, treadingon her stumps in the process of pulling Emily Drumm.That Drumm (two previous overs in the series) chose to put herself on asearly as the twenty first over showed that with the series already won shewas going to take the chance to experiment. Her leg breaks were sometimeseccentric of line but claimed a second victim when Debbie Hockley took afine catch, turning and diving full length at silly point off the bat andpad of Laura Newton.Kathryn Leng was the only English batsman to try to take the game to the NewZealand bowlers, but those who were more cautious might say that it got herout, as Pullar caught a hard hit drive off her own bowling.Jane Cassar had come in at the fall of the third wicket. With Reynard andHolden out quickly and the score on 78-8 it was up to her to use up theovers and to take England to the outer edges of respectability. She did thiswell, producing the best batting of the innings, placing the ball well tokeep the score moving. Clare Taylor provided excellent support, the pairputting on 38 for the ninth wicket, the best partnership of the innings.Rachel Pullar was the pick of the bowlers, her brisk, testing seam bowlingearning figures of 10-2-15-3. Seven bowlers were used, though any five wouldhave got the job done. Catherine Campbell delivered a miserly eight overs ofoff spin for 12 runs, though none of the English batsmen thought of goingdown the pitch to her.The New Zealand fielding matched the bowling effort, a particularly goodexample being set by Hockley and Campbell, the two (how shall we put it?)most experienced members of the side.Though there was movement off the pitch for both spinners and seamers,especially from the town end, the England total was well below par for thefourth time in a row.The New Zealand batting set about its task with all the aggression andconfidence that England’s had lacked. As with the Australian men chasing asimilarly small total in Auckland yesterday, the approach was at times a bittoo cavalier, and wickets fell.Though England’s bowling was not as consistently accurate as New Zealand’sthere was enough evidence to suggest that if they ever get to bowl first orhave a decent total to play with they will pose a few problems. LucyPearson, the left arm opening bowler, got the ball swinging into the righthander and claimed two victims. Payne was lbw shuffling across while Drummfollowed a ball down legside to be caught behind.Dawn Holden, a slow left armer on her first tour, also impressed, bowlingwith a nice loop and considerable accuracy. She got Pulford stumped, luredinto the charge.With Rebecca Rolls (who had been promoted to open) also gone the Kiwis were53-4 and by no means home and hosed. This brought together Kathryn Ramel andHaidee Tiffen who had each taken two wickets with accurate medium pacebowling earlier. They now put on 63 for the fifth wicket with good shotselection, placement and running. Tiffen looks a fine young cricketer. Witha few more performances like this she can change her first name to Hadlee.Ramel was out just before the end, bowled by Shaw, who had earlier bowled aneleven ball over.New Zealand won by five wickets with sixteen and a half overs to spare.Seeing them for the first time this season, the impression is of acompetent, self-disciplined, well led team who will challenge Australiastrongly for the World Cup on home ground in Christchurch later this year.If England’s sponsors happen to read this, they should rest assured that theEngland team is determined, hard working and with an outwardly good spirit.It is also clear that they are chronically short of confidence, especiallywith bat in hand. Two key players, Collyer and Redfern, should return tostrengthen the side for the World Cup. Hard work is needed in theforthcoming series against South Africa.With New Zealand leading four-nil the final game in the series takes placeunder the lights in Napier on Tuesday.
Pundit Kevin Campbell has been reacting to Tottenham’s reported offer for Barcelona forward Memphis Depay, Football Insider report.
The Lowdown: Depay offer
Spurs are already making preparations for Antonio Conte’s first full season in charge, with attacking reinforcements seemingly high on the Italian’s radar.
Journalist Gerard Romero, via Twitch, revealed earlier this week that Tottenham have made a formal offer for Depay ahead of the summer transfer window.
Foot Mercato have also backed up those claims, suggesting a pre-summer offer has been submitted, with Barcelona now tempted to accept due to the financial situation at the Nou Camp.
Campbell, who contributes for Sky Sports, was buzzing at the possibility of Depay moving to north London, describing the Dutch striker as ‘brilliant’ and labelled a possible deal as ‘very good’.
Talking to FI, Campbell said:
“That’d be a very good signing.
“He’s a brilliant player. Obviously, it didn’t quite work out for him before at Man United.
“He’s had a decent spell at Barca but maybe is falling down that pecking order with Aubameyang coming in and with the way Xavi wants to play. He doesn’t really fit.
“Memphis Depay won’t want to come to be an understudy to Kane or Son. He will be coming to play.
“So Conte needs to find a way to fit those three in, and then decide what that means for the likes of Kulusevski and Moura.”
The Verdict: Shrewd move?
Depay has found it hard to get back into Xavi Hernandez’s side since his return from injury, with former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appearing to be the main man for the Catalan giants in attack.
However, Depay has been in fine form this season prior to his hamstring and achilles issues, contributing to 12 La Liga goals in 19 games, playing as a centre-forward and on the left, so it could turn out to be a shrewd move by Spurs officials.
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He is still just 28 years of age, and due to Barca’s financial situation, you’d expect a cut-price move could be on the cards, so this seems like one to keep a close eye on over the coming months.
In other news: Tottenham ‘monster’ now eyeing exit as club chiefs already make contact to sign him…find out more here.
Before the half time whistle had blown at the Ethiad stadium against Villarreal, with City losing 1-0 and looking like crashing out of their group, Mancini made the decision to substitute Adam Johnson for Barry. It was not the tactics behind the substitution that got me thinking, but the player who was taken off. Adam Johnson is undeniably a good young talented English player, yet has become little more than a bit part player recently for Manchester City. After his move from Middlesbrough, a sparkling future was predicted for the player, yet playing the full 90 minutes is now a novelty for the player.
Johnson is not the only player in the Premier League that is suffering from a similar fate, with many players struggling to get game time, either because of the vast talent at their club or just falling out of favour with their manager. Not only this, there are also players who may have out grown their current club and need to move on in order to enhance their careers and have the opportunities to play in Europe and challenge for the major trophies. So just who are these players at a crossroads at their current clubs and what are their options for the future?
Obviously most of you flicking through this will be wondering where Carlos Tevez’ name is, but the answer is that his future is not at a crossroads, it’s at a dead end.
Click on Kalou to unveil the top 10
[divider]
List compiled by Rebecca Knight
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Arsene Wenger is looking to end Arsenal’s trophy drought at Wembley in a competition that he has previously shown an element of disdain to in the past. The bookies feel it is a foregone conclusion on Sunday, with very few neutrals expecting Birmingham City to cause a shock.
In the papers this morning there has been a mixed bag of stories that includes the Glazers rule out sale; Mancini bemoans the fixture schedule in England, while West Ham are rocked by Faubert’s desire to quit Upton Park.
*
Glazers rule out United sale – Sky Sports
Mancini: Players treated like machines – Guardian
Gareth is simply unbelieva-Bale – Sun
Wenger firm on Toral deal – Sky Sports
Sparky: City can’t look me in eye – Sun
West Ham ‘less than 50-50’ to stay up – Guardian
Spurs chief Redknapp in the market for out-of-favour Barca striker Bojan – Daily Mail
Faubert hits Hammers with exit demand – Mirror
Ferguson rules City out of title race – Guardian
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Houllier: no chance of a ‘full English’ – Daily Telegraph
Wales international goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey has signed a new five-year contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 23-year-old still had two years of his current deal to run, but has now extended his stay at Molineux until the summer of 2015.
Manager Mick McCarthy told the club's official website:"I'm delighted that Wayne has signed his new contract.
"We're blessed to have three very good goalkeepers at the club who are currently fit and battling for the position. Wayne is somebody who I believe is a top-class young keeper who will also get better.
"This is really good news for the club to have secured one of its best young players and one who will be keen to play a big part in the future."
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Hennessey has made just over 100 appearances to date for Wolves, while during the 2006-07 season he was loaned out to Stockport County where he kept a club record nine consecutive clean sheets.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Bolton boss Owen Coyle will be cursing his luck as his hapless Trotters side welcome Chelsea to the Reebok Stadium on Sunday looking to halt a run of five consecutive defeats.
Coyle’s men have failed to win a game since beating QPR 4-0 at Loftus Road on the opening day of the season and sending them plummeting to the foot of the table. Pressure is starting to build on the Wanderers boss as fans start to question whether he is the right man to take them forward although having to play both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea in their first seven games would prove difficult for any manager. However last week’s second half collapse at Arsenal and the spiritless defeat at home to Norwich seven days have seen fears rise in the Reebok stands that the club could be on the decline. The loss of Stuart Holden and Lee Chung-Yong have proved to be bigger blows than first expected with Chris Eagles and Nigel Reo Coker struggling to replace the dynamic midfield duo. Retaning the services of Gary Cahill was also supposed to be a massive plus only for the England defender to see a dramatic downturn in form add to Coyle’s woes. The once steady Jussi Jaaskelainen now looks like a bundle of nerves every time the ball comes towards goal and the veteran may need to be benched if things continues to get worse. A clutch of players are ineligible for the game with David Wheater and Ivan Klasnic serving suspensions. Gael Kakuta is also unavailable as he isn’t permitted to play against his parent club. The Trotters have failed to score in their last five league and cup games against the Blues and have failed to win in the last 15 against their opponents.
Andre Villas-Boas will be intent on making that 16 on Sunday as he continues to remodel the side into a well oiled attacking machine. Gone is the patient approach adopted by Carlo Ancelotti replaced with a forward thinking mentality mixed with pace and guile. Juan Mata has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and is brining out the best in Ramires and Jon Obi Mikel in the holding roles. Raul Meireles has also added some much needed craft to the centre of the park and with Fernando Torres slowly but surely getting back to his best everything looks rosy at Stamford Bridge. The Spaniard will miss the trip to Bolton after his sending off against Swansea last week meaning former Trotters favourite Nicolas Anelka or Didier Drogba will start up front. Frank Lampard could also be recalled after sitting on the bench last Saturday before scoring in Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Valencia. Daniel Strurridge could also return to the Reebok after spending six months on loan there but is likely to start the game on the bench after receiving from injury.
Key Players
Gary Cahill – Despite a poor start to the season from the England centre half he is still key to Bolton’s defensive game and will need to be on top form to snuff out the Chelsea attack. His pace and aerial prowess will be put to the test against Drogba, Anelka and Sturridge.
Ramires – After a below-par debut season the Brazilian midfielder has stepped up to become a key figure in Villas-Boas’ team. Despite his size he has a massive engine and puts in a lot of unnoticed running from the centre of the park. Took his goals well against Swansea last week.
Verdict: 0-2
Bolton’s Gary Cahill continues to be linked with a host of top European clubs this season, with Barcelona the latest to be linked with a January swoop. The defender is ranked 112th in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index and is the 3rd highest Bolton player after Ivan Klasnic (ranked 31st) Martin Petrov (ranked 59th). However, Cahill is currently a part of the Premier League’s worst defence, with Bolton conceding more goals than any other this season (16) Ramires showed his goal scoring credentials netting twice against Swansea. The Portugese midfielder had 6 attempts on target on Saturday with 4 hitting the target and 2 goals. In his previous 5 appearances for Chelsea he had only had 8 attempts at goal, getting 3 on target. Ramires also covered more ground than any other Chelsea player against Swansea, with 12.32km (7.66 miles)
Fancy winning a million pounds??
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Take up our exclusive offer with Goaldash below to be in with a chance – what have you got to lose?
Real Madrid welcome Levante to the Bernabeu in La Liga on Saturday, as Jose Mourinho prepares to face a date with destiny.Should Mourinho’s men avoid defeat against the league’s 15th-placed side, it will be nine years since the Portuguese last lost at home as a manager. His last defeat on home territory came when he was in charge at Porto on February 23, 2002. When quizzed on the long-standing record, however, Mourinho insisted that his focus was on reducing Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga.”I don’t do anything to maintain my record. If we are drawing with fifteen minutes to go, I don’t order my team to defend in order to maintain my home record of nine years undefeated,” the former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss said. “If you journalists didn’t tell me how many games or years it is, then I wouldn’t really know. Tomorrow, what I want is to win the game – not to defend my record.””I consider Levante the most important match of my career, because it is tomorrow. The next 100 days are as important as the last 100 days.”Mourinho said the mentality of playing 24 hours prior to their title rivals Barcelona meant nothing, and all Real could do to better their hopes of catching the Catalans would be win.”That they give us the chance to play a day ahead of Barcelona is either to trick us or has no significance. Barcelona play on Sunday, and if we win then we will be two points behind, but if they win we will be back to five. It is the story of pressure … and this doesn’t create pressure,” he said.
During yesterdays half-time interval I, for one, sat listlessly gawping at the box as a litter of giddy, excited adverts espoused England’s World Cup chances; given the preceding performance, it seemed like a vulgar and untimely gag.
Friendly matches are always a bit of a drag and not really a fair reflection on a teams true features; especially one so close to the World Cup (injury worries, squad rotation, etcetera, etcetera). Plus, we eventually won, for whatever that’s worth, managed to overcome a deficit – a useful exercise in crisis management – and again proved we can play below par and prevail, so we shouldn’t get overly disheartened.
But, still, I foolishly sat down expecting to behold an England romp and to reaffirm my optimistic (deluded) belief that we could actually win the World Cup; a deluded belief which is persuading me to patriotically slam some money on England success.
Instead a limp lethargic display ensued, throughout which I unconsciously found my mouth making lots off huffing and puffing noises as England frustratingly dithered.
The first-half was particularly exasperating. Conceding from a set-piece is disappointing, but the defence looked a little rickety throughout. A long ball outwitted both Terry and Ferdinand as the latter was outmuscled, swung a limb, missed the ball, and offered a great chance for Japan to double their lead.
If we defend in a similar manner against stronger sides, you get the feeling they will ruthlessly strike a rusty shovel against our skulls, drag us to the bottom of the garden, spend the moonlit night digging before placing pretty little plant pot on the eventual perturbing, and protruding, mound of earth (i.e. kill the game, and England, off).
Johnson was responsible for a decent proportion of my huffy puffy noises; he sloppily lost possession on a number of occasions and still looks defensively defective. He is, of course, usually an outlet going forward and it seems there not many other options at right-back, though Carragher demonstrated that he can certainly put in a solid and steady shift in this position.
To highlight one player is probably unfair; everyone looked fairly sluggish. Walcott only reaffirmed my opinion that he is a great athlete but largely a frustrating figure of little end-product, but Lennon also missed the best chance of the half when Rooney played him through, so its ‘swings and roundabouts, mate, yeah?’ Yeah. Huddlestone and Bent didn’t get much chance to enforce and impress themselves on proceedings, you get the feeling it may be to their cost. The previously mentioned Rooney was, inevitably, probably the most imposing player throughout the game.
Overall, though, going forward we lacked any real potency.
Cue those cruel, sardonic half-time adverts.
The second half was a slight improvement, but it is also slightly worrying that we seem unable to thrust ourselves on the game from the outset and often require a half-time cuppa and a good old rollicking.
Changes of course ensued, with Joe Hart, Joe Cole and maybe Shaun Wright-Philips benefiting most. Indeed, Hart responded well when called into action and England emerged more direct and threatening offensively; Joe Cole providing the cross for Japan to score their second own-goal of the game and hand England victory. Certainly two own-goals aiding us to victory is not ideal but at least we were threatening and making a nuisance of ourselves.
Rooney and Gerrard linked-up relatively effectively on occasion, something we must utilize and exploit more often. It was also Gerrard’s cross which adeptly landed right at the head of the ineffable Emile Heskey. Heskey then dutifully demonstrated why he remains the butt of ‘couldn’t score in a brothel’ jokes; for a prospective England World Cup striker – or, indeed, any human – it really was a bad miss.
So, overall an unconvincing victory, but a victory nonetheless; going into the tournament following failure to beat Japan could have been a confidence sapper.
However, it did paper of cracks, against a very mediocre opponents; Brazil, Spain, Germany and all that crazy clan lay in wake, are you confident?
Still, it was a friendly, a lethargic friendly, a friendly we came from behind to win. The vitality and vim will surely materialize when the tournament begins; hopefully, or its going to be a thoroughly frustrating, huffing and puffing summer. Indeed, it’s the real thing now…the World Cup…it’s been a long wait, and I can’t wait…I’m excited again…I’m even smiling in giddy gormless expectation as a write…we’re gonna win baby! We are definitely, without any slither of doubt, gong to win! I’m off to throw my (limited) life-savings on England.
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I couldn’t help but notice something during the Arsenal v. Swansea match, and it made me quite unhappy at first: Mikel Arteta was sitting quite deep for someone who was practically a “false 9” at Everton. I’ve never pretended that my writing will shine a bright light on tactics or provide you with ground breaking insight into the “subtle nuances” of the game (because there are so many).
But there’s something about seeing a player who really thrived just off the forwards being asked to do what he was doing against the Swans that, even with his nice passing in the opening half, I find irksome in a squad so obviously desperate for chances at the goal.
I have no idea who made the decision for him to play as far back into the midfield as he did, but it seemed to me that as the game wore on, it left the forward line a bit isolated from the midfield. And of course I had to hear the standard line about how Theo isn’t really a wing player (he didn’t look like one in that match) and couldn’t deliver crosses in any kind of proper fashion and that he doesn’t have a footballer’s brain or spleen or pancreas, which if that’s the case then real chances and service to van Persie were going to be at a premium.
And yet, every account I’ve read says “Arsenal should’ve scored more goals.”
Perhaps, or perhaps Arsenal scored just as many goals as they could’ve scored. The magical footballing TARDIS doesn’t allow for the changing of events as they’ve already unfolded in a “fixed point in time.” So perhaps the lone accidental goal scored v. Swansea was exactly the number of goals such a pitiful attempts total merited?
I’m beginning to wonder how much Jack Wilshere’s injury is going to affect the tick-tock of the midfield, too. He adjusted to a “terrier” role last season perfectly and combined with Alex Song (mostly) to win as many balls and harass as many of the opposition as he could in every match in which he played. He did it with a skill that belied his age. And he did it in such a way that the midfield or the front 4 or whatever the formation was could generally get forward without worrying about being exposed if they lost possession.
I had assumed this season, with the transfers being what they were probably going to be, that he and Aaron Ramsey would begin to forge a partnership in the middle of a 4-1-2-2-1, with him handling the dirty work and pulling the strings in front of defence whilst Aaron continued developing as a more forward attacking type midfielder. Instead, because of this “unusual” (how can we call any bizarre injury to an Arsenal player “unusual” anymore?) swollen bone (is this a medical term?), Aaron has been forced into Jack’s role and I must tell you I think he’s particularly unsuited for it. I’m not trying to be rude because I think Aaron is gifted and will continue to grow as a player, but it’s just not his skill set to be chasing and harassing the opposition and winning back the ball.
Knowing this, I wondered, is this why Arteta was so far behind van Persie?
And then the boring, boring Arsenal of the lateral pass and the spurned goal attempt and the pass straight into a defender’s legs emerged. Incisive is the word I wanted to hope to use but what I saw was an off-road vehicle slogging through mud. And I started asking myself about the best formation for this group right now. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the world’s least astute tactical analysis of the Arsenal Football Club.
I’ve said before that in order for a “continental” 4-3-3 to be effective, it has to quickly change to a 4-5-1 upon losing the ball. If you don’t play it that way, especially the brand of it that Wenger has employed because the fullbacks’ forays forward make it a 2-1-4-3, it will leave your team horribly exposed down the flanks. It may also force your centre backs to rush madly about and leave them out of position. The complaint about Meatsack losing that early challenge v. Swansea springs to mind–I think he’s been an excellent “positional” defender as long as I’ve been watching him.
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Making a catalogue of the players currently available, I started getting more frustrated with AW’s approach to yesterday’s match as it seemed that Swansea were tearing down the flanks and at the same time Arsenal were reaping no reward for playing the fullbacks in such advanced positions. Yes, there it is–the cry out for “Why not just use a bloody 4-4-2?” You know, the one where you have fullbacks who can defend, midfielders who can cross, and forwards who can score? Sod tactics, man, really, can’t we just put players in effective positions to “express themselves?” Are we turning football into gridiron where there are infinitesimal experts at the smallest details? “This is the 3rd down flanking running back who catches the six yard forward pass when isolated by the inside line backing specialist.” Bah! Watch other clubs–it seems like they just play football.
Whoever defends in the 4-4-2 doesn’t matter (of course it does, but you know what I mean). The middle 4 could be…
Wait, why was I so despondent?
Didn’t Arsène sign that Gervinho bloke? Didn’t Alex Song get suspended?
Winning the ball and getting back into attack is what the best sides–both club and country–do these days. It’s why the ones who are quickest at that transition seem to be succeeding so much. Yes, I mean those Catalan c***s and their predominantly Catalan national side.
Now I find myself back in the footballing time machine. What if Arsenal hadn’t faced Joey Barton in Week 1? I believe that Gervinho wouldn’t have been suspended and Arsenal wouldn’t have looked so toothless and Song would’ve lent experience that Frimpong lacks…
And we’d still be moaning about something. And maybe the hiding at Old Trafford wouldn’t have looked so horrible and maybe the Club doesn’t buy at the deadline like they did (oh yes, I know the story that they bought because they were always planning to, of course!)…
Arteta was a serious transfer target in 2008 when Cesc was injured, along with Arshavin, but Everton did not wish to part with him and if you recall, he ended up getting seriously injured himself and missed the rest of that season and much of the following one. If he had come to Arsenal then, and that had happened, what would we have said about him?
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You can’t ever tell what will happen when you miss the train. Perhaps that midfielder you needed becomes an afterthought. Perhaps a change in tactics becomes less urgent. Perhaps the status quo remains and it takes even more time to correct it.
Without an unlimited wage and transfer budget, it’s unlikely that Arsenal will surpass other richer rivals. That doesn’t mean that “something special” is impossible, whatever that may be. But we all need to remember that accidents, happy and unhappy, play as large a role as planning does in the fortunes of our lives and the fortunes of our football clubs. Maybe that sliding door you missed will make everything better. Maybe it’ll make everything worse. Either way, there’s no sense in cursing it.
1-0 to the Arsenal.
Article courtesy of Antonio Gramsci from the excellent Arsenal Mania