Chuckle Chuckle Barry

I'm often told that you should take 5 minutes before you write.  Usually this seems a great bit of advice, particularly to a blogger without an editor.

Sometimes however, something happens that changes your rules.  Tonight I heard a football pundit discussing the saga of Gareth Barry's potential transfer to Liverpool(again).  I felt I had to say something....so I blogged instead.

The general debate started with Liverpool's midfield.  Which was a position of fun; and interesting, particularly if you read the last blog on this site.

Apparently, Liverpool's world class  holding midfielder Javier Mascherano, £17m ish, will dedicate his (potential) olympic gold medal to Rafa Benitez.  In the meantime, said manager is/was trying to sell the European Championship winning playmaker Xabi Alonso to Juventus for £17m ish.  Which will, apparently, fund the purchase of, yep, you've guessed it, England's second choice holding midfielder, Gareth Barry, for £more than he's worth.00p.

Hands up anyone who thinks Barry (good player as he is) is a better player than Alonso!  And more to the point, less likely to give the ball away. Mascherano is a superb player in that position, so the question is...who wants Barry? Benitez or Gerrard?  Interesting.

Owen Hargreaves cost about £17m, and has played when fit, but at least Ferguson has him in mind. Michael Carrick, who I must admit I've unjustly criticised since he went to United, plays a more important role but a a similar cost.  What price Gerrard; as Fergie once said, he'd be the player he'd like to sign, but he knew he'd never go to United.

I am, however, slightly confused by the way in which value is judged,; how can we suggest that the members of England's New Glorious One Man Football Team are worth anything unless they can play together?  

I'm sure these are lessons I learned in school.

A losing draw with Bouncing Czechs

As an England fan, as well as a committed (or perhaps should be) Derby County fan, it was with a mixture of interest and trepidation I planned my evening's viewing tonight.  England vs Czech Republic at Wembley was an interesting friendly ahead of the Andorra world cup qualifier, and more relevantly, the formidable Croatians in Zagreb in 3 weeks.

Which England would turn up? The promised brave new world of Capello, or the lambs to the slaughter that capitulated so meekly to Croatia at home.

The answer, it appears, should have been obvious from the team selection.  With once again the old "stalwarts" of Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard picked across the midfield, with Barry anchoring and Wayne Rooney becalmed somewhere in the outside left position, England lacked direction and the ability to open up defences.  Even worse they were so immobile that the Czechs could move through them with short interpassing.

The first 5 minutes seemed positive, England kept the ball reasonably well, and created a couple of nice moves.  Then the demons returned, the players tried to play a killer pass and the Czechs got on the ball with confidence.

A team with the ability to increase the pace of the game at will and counter-attack after the opposition over-commit is great to watch.  It's a shame that tonight that team wasn't England.

With the exception of Gerrard, who seems to have taken the Beckham mantle of one-man team and inspirational leader, the midfield were ineffective.  No-one ever managed to get into a useful support position for Rooney, not even that little fella who was on the team sheet to play up with him.  Anyone any idea where Jermain Defoe went?

Anyway, one of Steve MacLaren, and his Guru Sven's, major failings was the inability to make a tactical change to alter the course of the game.  Sadly, even in a friendly such as this, Capello couldn't pull the rabbit out of the hat.   His changes at least changed the shape of the team, but also raised questions as to why several of the players didn't start.

England should be looking at a team that can develop together rather than one that is stifled at birth by overbearing older relatives.  The Lampard experiment has surely run its course, David Beckham's great service to his country must come to an end, and David James should never keep goal for England whilst there is a selection of younger keepers who'll need the experience of playing in such games.  John Terry isn't half the player he was, reliant on Carvalho's steadiness to hold together a slightly fragile Chelsea back line, and Rooney urgently needs a strike partner, but more importantly a position to play in.

Gerrard is England captain in all but name, his displays for Liverpool continue to impress whilst Peter Crouch, a more than useful asset at International level, and goalscoring foil for Rooney, wasn't even in the squad.  I mean, Emile Heskey and Defoe are not really prolific - Crouch has more than both combined in Internationals.  Real decisions need to be made!

Below is my idea of what may have been an England team for tonight's game, Andorra (and possibly Croatia), playing 442 or 451.  Based on form, and not reputations.

Green (West Ham)

A Cole (Chelsea)

Ferdinand (Man Utd)

Woodgate (Spurs)

Brown (Man Utd)

Barry (A Villa)

J Cole (Chelsea)

Gerrard (L'pool)

A Young (A Villa)

Rooney (Man Utd)

Crouch (Portsmouth)

Hopefully the pace and confidence on the ball of this unit might mean we have a cutting edge, as well  as the ability of Peter Crouch to provide more than an outlet for long balls.  Perhaps that is what Capello sees him as - rather than having stereotypical "good touch for a big man" - which means he's loath to pick him.  And also we saw that the David Bentley fan club obviously doesn't yet contain Fabio - its primary member is still D Bentley.

It's time that Capello began to rebuild England, rather than shore up the badly cracked facade. At least playing the Czechs, then a hapless Andorra team might have given a few players the experience they need.

Disappointing the home support at Wembley is a trap that Capello must not fall into - England must win friendlies, or at least prove they've learned something from them.  What tonight proved was that we still know certain players still don't do it in an England shirt.  Time to give a chance to those that might. 

Failing to invest in success

Amateur sports are the bedrock of the Britain's success in the current olympics.  That's what the government will undoubtedly be saying following the success of our athletes.  New Labour will be crowing with delight as our olympians strike gold after gold with 2012 in London yet to come.

I'd like to get my retaliation in first and suggest that the Olympic situation is in spite of, rather than because of, the way the British government (both national and local) gets involved in sport.

The cycling team have been backed by UK Sport, funded by Lottery money, and organised by fantastic performance directors.  The rowers are the product of years of coaching in Universities across the country, to the point where private sponsorship is the norm.  Sailing is a massive leisure sport in certain areas, where Britain has traditionally competed if not been world beaters.  The evidence against any form of sudden massive improvement due to government policy is the fact that the majority of track athletes have barely made it into their semi finals (apologies to our new 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu).

Amateur sport in Britain is in a pretty unhealthy state.  Sports grounds are becoming scarcer, and more importantly more expensive every year.  Without wanting to get into the realms of Sky Sports populist investigation into the state of amateur football, it is a problem that is in evidence in many of the UK's favourite pastimes.

There is a fantastic set of facilities at Sportcity, where the cyclists are based, but there is little advertising that these are available to the general public.  The council surely has an obligation to the payers of council tax to ensure that their leisure needs are cared for, along with their desire to see every street in Manchester dug up once a year.

If you play football in any of the Manchester leagues, you'll know that every year you must find more and more money to pay for a pitch, whilst also paying the FA, referee, Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all.  The state of the council pitches is laughable, we regularly turn up to find they've not been mown, lines unpainted, pitches so poorly drained as to be unplayable or in some cases, the posts so sunken into the ground as to make them little more than 5 a side goals.

If the government really want us to believe they don't want us to win the title of the most obese nation on earth, then they need to make sure that the amateur sportsmen (of all sports) get the maximum opportunity to participate, and not be ruled out on the basis that they can't afford all the top gear or a multi-million pound stadium.  Lottery grants to improve local sports facilities would be a step in the right direction, and as important for our local communities as any campaign against knives.

Fortune telling 2008/9

It's a week to the start of the Premiership season, and finally the will he won't he saga of Cristiano Ronaldo's potential move to Real Madrid has ended.

The next question is whether or not United will have the firepower to retain their title. Their title rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have recruited to some extent, leaving United as the only one of the top 4 not to have significantly invested over the summer. Spurs have outspent all of their rivals combined, going for broke (literally) and blowing huge sums on the likes of David Bentley, Luka Modric, Gio Dos Santos and Heurelho Gomes. Significantly they haven't replaced Robbie Keane, and must surely have another option lined up for when Dimitar Berbatov makes his protracted (but inevitable) move to United. Question is, what will this mean for the top 4?

The experienced heads at United and Chelsea should, in theory, ensure that these two are the main protagonists in the title race, but what of the others?

Liverpool's bumbling pursuit of Gareth Barry has only served to unsettle that player and cheese off another - the calming influence of Xabi Alonso won't be as great now he's been hawked round half of Europe in order to make room for Barry - surely not a better player? Robbie Keane looks a good signing but perhaps not the decisive match winner required to take the weight off Gerrard and Torres. 20 goals from Keane might make some difference but don't expect miracles. A settled (ish) back 4 is a benefit, but it's converting draws into victories that may make the difference. They'll be closer than last season, I feel 10 points max from the winners, and 3rd place. Rafa still hasn't the mastery of the premiership he enjoys in Europe.

Arsenal have made one or two interesting signings, (especially Samir Nasri) but I think their best new player may be an often overlooked existing one. It's about time Theo Walcott got a run in the team, and with Alex Hleb's defection to Barca, there may be a regular first team place for him. Certainly his pre-season form has suggested he has matured and doesn't panic when in the final third. Anyway, it'd be nice to see an English player in the most stylish team in the land! Arsenal could either destroy teams with their counter-attacking or suffer some hammerings if they concede early. Certainly they miss a top keeper and experienced back up in defence. 4th place for them - don't expect many draws!

Exciting though they appear to be, the signings at Spurs don't appear to be enough to drastically change their fotunes. I think a 4th place would be a major step forward, perhaps a bridge too far - it's just a matter of whether they have the patience to give the manager time to create a confident team. It's all well and good when they're battering hapless Roma 5-0 in a pre-season game, but when they're under the cosh at Old Trafford or being outmuscled at Stamford Bridge, what will the response be? Last season appeared to be over before it began for the men from the Lane, and must be considered a blip based on the players they have. Robinson may have gone, but Gomes certainly isn't the great keeper £9m would buy. Expect more from Spurs, but not too much yet.

Anyway, I think relegation might be more clear cut - much as it pains me, I expect Stoke City, Hull City and WBA to descend immediately back whence they came. The two flies in their parachute payment ointments may be Fulham and Wigan who seem to think volume of signings equates to points. I anticipate them struggling once again - even Andy Johnson and the irrepressible Jimmy Bullard can't make that much difference, surely. Of the 3 newly promoted teams, I think Stoke may have the best chance of upsetting a few people, a partisan Britannia Stadium crowd and a muscular approach may upset the likes of Arsenal's foreign legion.

Money for Auld Firm - The Euro Vase

It's still August, and before a ball has been kicked in the Domestic leagues in most of Europe, Glasgow Rangers are already out of European competition, courtesy of an away defeat to FC Kaunas of Lithuania last night.  Great news for those of us in Manchester who were party to their travelling "fans" antics last year.

The questions this raises are far more important than the trivial issues that have been voiced so far regarding the impact of Rangers missing out on the £12 million their rivals Celtic will get for just reaching the Champions League group stages.

What we should be asking ourselves is how a team finishing 2nd in their Domestic league (and last season reaching the UEFA cup final) can find themselves cast out of Europe by a team from a place where the national sport is basketball . 

And how on earth can this remotely value the UEFA cup and Scottish league when Aston Villa look likely to qualify for that competition with ease through the Intertoto Cup despite finishing only 6th in the English Premiership.  And Liverpool will no doubt qualify for the Champions League through one tie again, despite finishing only 4th.

A drastic overhaul of European competition is required, making sense of the handicapping system known as the co-efficient, used by UEFA to determine at what level each team (who aren't Champions of the country) join the competition.  

The old cup winners cup at least provided interest for those sides who had a knockout pedigree, and meant they wouldn't get drawn against a top 4 side who'd dropped out of the Champions League - as per Rangers last year.  The UEFA cup is a joke, with intelligible group stages requiring 1 win from 4 games to get through in some cases.  How this is meant to convince punters a meaningful competition is taking place is beyond me.

At any rate, The Champions League, in its current format, becomes more successful every year and the fat cats get ever fatter.  What we need to think of is how to encourage new competition in the closed shop of the top 4.  Look at what happened to Leeds after Champions League funding was missed out upon?  Who's to say that an Arsenal or Liverpool wouldn't find themselves in a similar spot if they had a difficult draw in qualifying.  British teams have always rated the home league championship as the main point of the season - but there is a worry that a top 4 slot is now the main prize and the riches of Europe have replaced the glory of lifting the Championship in May.  I'd love to see a return to those days of touch and go championships and less emphasis on ensuring qualification for continental competitions.