We will start off this week with a plug for the Canadian International Player of the Year as selected by Canadian fans at the Voyageurs website. To quote from the press release – “This award recognizes the Canadian international who, through both their club exploits and international play, made the greatest impact in 2007. Last year, Atiba Hutchinson won this award on the strength of several strong UEFA Champions League performances for his club, FC Copenhagen, as well as for his professionalism, and dedication to Canadian soccer.”
You need to register on the Voyageurs message board, in order to cast a vote but the process I am told is fast, easy and free. And for our American friends, remember even if you are a registered Republican, in Canada, we are only allowed to vote once.
The Times looks back at a game that was played fifty years ago and one that we are unlikely to see the likes of again. Bill Shankly speechless?
For those of you who have not come across The Fiver (an occassionally factual daily e mail from the Guardian Unlimited) you can follow the link and discover the winners of their annual year end awards. Any awards that you would like to add?
Last weekend saw Bundesliga teams play their last league games until February 3. Spain (returning January 6), France and Italy (both returning January 12) sign-off this weekend with some great games in prospect.
Lyon might have been a bit slow out the gate this season but a win over second place AS Nancy would give them a very comfortable seven point lead at the half-way mark. And a seventh consecutive league title would be in prospect come the New Year.
Nancy are winless in the last four games but with third place Bordeaux already eight points behind Lyon they look to be the last team with any hope of challenging the perennial champions.
Not surprisingly the attention in Spain will be on the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match. However, the other Madrid vs. Barcelona weekend match-up between Atletico Madrid and Espanyol doesn’t look bad either.
Atletico has only lost once in their last nine Liga games while Espanyol are undefeated in the last twelve. When you consider that no Spanish side has scored more goals at home than Atletico and likewise Espanyol away then we could be in for another belter o####ame at the Vicente Calderon.
Like Lyon, a win for Real Madrid at the Nou Camp would provide the reigning champs with a seven point cushion at the top. However, there is a great deal more competition in the Spanish league and only the most foolhardy Real Madrid fan would be expecting a stroll to a second straight title come the New Year.
There was an interesting article a couple of weeks ago from Gabriele Marcotti on how Real's summer signing spree that cost around $160M has largely failed to produce any direct results. However, it seems to have reinvigorated some other players.
Raul is a prime example having already scored eight league goals, his best return in the last three seasons with less than half the season gone. Raul’s scoring stats over the last few seasons have mirrored his decreasing effectiveness. Starting with the 1998/99 season and moving forward to 06/07 Raul’s league goals have been 25, 17, 25, 14, 16, 11, 9, 5, and 7.
Any hope that Milan may have had at the start of this season of stopping Inter’s drive for a historic three consecutive Serie A titles seems to have evaporated over the first four months of this season.
Milan – FIFA Club World Champions and UEFA Champions League winners – are a massive twenty-two points behind Inter and even if you give them nine points from their three games in hand the gap is still monstrous. As it presently sits a finish in the top four is a more realistic goal.
Inter have seen injury worries mount in the last few weeks but it has made little difference to what has become a well oiled machine. Second place Roma have rattled off six wins and four draws (22 points from a possible 30) but have seen the gap with Inter grow from three points to seven over that time span.
Argentine forward Julio Cruz has been putting the ball into the net on a consistent basis with nine goals in 12 Serie A appearances and he has scored in his last three appearances. What makes it surprising is that Cruz is doing it at the age of 33 – an age at which most players are seeing production tailing off.
One thing going for Cruz is his lack of “mileage” – less than 400 games in 15 seasons means that the Argentine striker has averaged less than 25 games a season with a high of 33 games for Bologna in the early part of this decade.
Quick free kicks Super subs? Spurs’ Jermaine Defoe has come off the Premiership bench twelve times this season but has only scored once (against Manchester City two weeks ago). But with 14 goals as a substitute Defoe is second in Premiership history to Manchester United’s Solskjaer with 17.
Defoe’s best season as a scoring sub was in 01/02 when he scored six goals after coming on for West Ham. This is Defoe’s 9th season in the Premiership but he has failed to complete ninety minutes in more than half the 207 games that he has played in.
Andy Johnson of Everton has scored all of his three Premiership goals after coming on as a substitute this season – he is without a goal in 8 Premiership starts.
It is a hard sell to Liverpool fans but things are getting better as far as the Premiership is concerned. Going into this weekend Liverpool are 10 points behind the leaders and have a game in hand. Last season the gap was 15 points with an equal number of games played, in 05/06 it was 15 points and Liverpool had two games in hand.
The 04/05 season saw Liverpool 15 points in arrears (same games played) and a year before that, 16 points worse off than the top of the table Arsenal. In 2002/03 on this date Liverpool sat 5th and were only 5 points behind leaders Arsenal. However, by season end Manchester United were on top while Liverpool maintained the same league position albeit finishing 19 points behind the Champions.
If Villa starts a back four of Mellberg, Knight, Laursen and Bouma against Manchester City this weekend it will be for the 15th straight time in the Premiership. City has an outstanding record against Villa – 3 wins and a draw in their last 4 Premiership visits – in the last ten Premiership meetings against Villa City have 8 wins, a loss and a draw.
Another side that is hoping that history means something are Middlesbrough. Boro have a great home record vs. West Ham – 8 wins, 1 draw and no losses, they’ve scored 20 and conceded only six.
Steve Bruce will hoping for a better holiday period than last season. Twelve months ago Wigan were the only side to lose all four games. The best holiday performers were Manchester United with ten points out of a possible dozen. Next best were Arsenal, Liverpool, Blackburn, Bolton and City each with a point fewer.
Gongatore - Who or what team was the biggest surprise for you in La Liga this season? Who do you think will win in the Gold Cup semis? Can Capello survive to coach another season at Real? Will FR be shown the door at Barca?
Bobby – I predicted Racing Santander would be relegated and they finished mid-table so they have to be in contention my biggest surprise. Recreativo Huelva and Getafe would also be worthy of consideration. If you need me to pick one then I will opt for Recreativo given that they had just been promoted.
I will go for a USA - Mexico final but I would not underestimate this Canadian side. Hutchinson and De Guzman in midfield are excellent players. If I was Bob Bradley I would try to make sure that are not allowed to settle and in particular I would play a quick player - Landon Donovan? - a bit deeper against the Canadian holding midfielder Martin Nash.
Nash is a fine passer but he lacks pace and when he doesn't have time he normally struggles. In Canada's case I would be trying to get a skilful player up against Onyewu rather than trying to match him with brute strength. Canada tends to stick De Rosario out wide on the left and he can drift out of the game for long stretches. If he came inside he might cause enough problems to create a couple of clear cut chances or get a set piece opportunity.
Capello will leave and I believe Rijkaard will go also.
Henry14 - Q1 Do you know what Milan are up to, the other week Berlusconi claims he want Sheva, and has $140m for Ronaldinho , and then Ancelotti was Henry, then Galliano wants Eto'o , who do you see them signing. Q2 What do you think will happen to Capello as coach, because Marca claimed 56% of the fans wanted Capello back Q3 Do you remain adamant Henry is staying, even after dubious statements he has made which are so far from the one he said last summer and I quote "this is my last contract, the fans in England appreciate me even if they are not Arsenal fans something l can never get anywhere, l will never play in Spain" Q4 - Who do you think will own Arsenal summer next year?
Bobby – A1 – Circumstances have overtaken the answer seeing that Milan signed David Suazo from Cagliari. A2 – I would have thought that an approval rating of 56% after winning La Liga for the first time in four seasons is hardly a ringing endorsement or vote of confidence. I still believe that Capello will saddle up and ride out of Dodge. A3 – It’s silly season in England and I am taking transfer speculation with a kilo of salt. I think Henry will start the new season with Arsenal. Q4 - The same people that own the club now.
Quest5227 - My question deals with Manchester United (as always). I think we both agree that they could use another striker for the upcoming season. Who do YOU believe would be the most useful striker that they can get- realistically?
Bobby – Probably a fully fit Louis Saha – unfortunately he doesn’t come with a 100% health guarantee. I would be surprised if United make a move for a striker before moving some players out. Given the three new signings United will need to shave a chunk of money off their wage bill as well. Once they have decided who they have shifted and how much they get for them then we will have a better idea. The money being quoted for the likes of Darren Bent is silly. When you consider Andy Johnson moved for around 7M pounds last summer, 17M is crazy.
Wyofc – I was reading the some of the articles today and the one about demands of Club and National teams caught my eye. Do you think they will impose a game limit? If so what would be the number and who gets to decided if they are all for club, all for national team or what breakdown? If you look – say the number is 52 games is the max – that is one a week – and it looks like the standard number of league games are 38, that leaves 14 for FA Cup, Champions/UEFA, National team duty, other tournaments. To me putting a limit on number of games makes sense for the human body/mind is concerned, but posses many many more problems between clubs and nations. Just kind of wondered your thoughts.
Bobby – It is an interesting thought but one that would also raise considerable problems beyond the club and country debate. How would account for playing conditions, or travel ala David Beckham, or the age of a player? Another factor might be how spread out are the matches.
Digity - Care to comment on Lalas' statements regarding the 'inferior' EPL product?
Bobby – Lalas works for a very large and successful organization – I’m meaning the company that owns the LA Galaxy. I would find it amazing if he just said what he did on the spur of the moment as opposed to a well thought out strategy. However, I would agree that the average English pundit is generally pig-ignorant about anything that happens in the football world outside of England. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I have never understood the debate about what league is the best. Frankly, I don’t even see how you can compare leagues or why anyone would want to.
Maoze Reading - With Guadeloupe reaching the semifinals of the Gold Cup I was wondering what would happen with the CONCACAF spot at the Confederations Cup if they were to somehow win it all? Would the spot go to the second place team since Guadeloupe is not a recognized member of FIFA?
Bobby – My understanding is that in such a case the runner-up would get the CONCACAF place at the Confederations Cup.
CIAO - Do you think Capello will be fired? If so, with the instability, would any respectable/skilled player still consider moving to Real Madrid? I could see if they keep Capello last season would be considered a transitional and a successful period. So players may want to join Capello’s team. I could even see Kaka making the move to Madrid. Suazo was snatched from under Moratti's nose by rival AC Milan. Inter is perplexed. Regardless, I think it may be good for Inter as they should try to bring in players that will challenge for a starting position... Who do you think Inter should bring in to replace Recoba? And Adriano if he leaves? I personally would like to see Miccoli replace Recoba. And Cassano, Klose, Guti, F Torres or David Villa replaces Adriano. Cassano might be interesting. He will probably step it up a bit this season to regain his spot on the national team - at least I hope... Regardless, I think Inter should definitely keep Ibra and Cruz, they cannot replace them.
Bobby – I think Capello will leave. Some great players will still sign for Real Madrid because Real Madrid has been a mad-house for a while and it didn’t stop players moving there. The problem with your theory about players wanting to join Capello’s team is that it has never been for a longtime or unlikely to be in the foreseeable future Capello or any other coaches’ team. Real Madrid is always only two or three games away from a crisis and that means that whoever coaches Real Madrid will find themselves in a tenuous position. After all, if Capello’s termination clause had not been so costly he would have been gone earlier this year.
Do you think Inter is looking to replace Recoba? He has hardly been used under Mancini so I don’t see it as a great loss to Inter. Miccoli is a great little player and I never understood why Juventus never kept him around. Adriano needs to sort his head out and until that happens Inter is not likely to get market value for him. I’m not sure that there are too many clubs who would gamble on taking Adriano at this time. As for the possible replacements you mentioned – Cassano (it would a trouble for trouble swap at least), Klose (cannot see that move happening now), Guti (not the same type of player and Inter has signed too many floaters like him before), Fernando Torres (I don’t think he would fit with Ibrahimovic) and David Villa (more likely to say in Spain).
It took Chelsea a replay before they managed to move past Spurs in the 6th round of the FA Cup and into the semi final. Both games were outstanding adverts for the FA Cup and as the old cliché goes, neither side deserved to lose.
Now Chelsea faces a Premiership side in consecutive rounds and this time it is at a neutral venue, Old Trafford. The opposition is a side that has won the trophy more times than the Pensioners although the last Blackburn Rovers win was back to 1928. Seventy-nine years is quite the barren stretch but the real glory days for the Rovers go back even further to the latter part of the 19th century.
In the eight seasons from 1884 to 1891 Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup five times including three consecutive victories in the first three of these years. (Another Blackburn club the Olympic, won the Cup in 1883 and became the first team from outside of London to do so.)
The first two FA Cup wins by Blackburn Rovers were both against Scottish amateur side Queen’s Park. In 1884 the team from Glasgow came a cropper due to the application of a different offside rule. In Scotland only two attackers had to be between the attacker and the goal, while in England it was three. Queen’s Park had two goals disallowed and lost 2-1. The next season Queen’s Park lost 2-0 and a year later Rovers completed a straight hat trick of wins (the last team to do so) by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 in a replay after a scoreless draw.
In 1928, in only the sixth final played at Wembley, Huddersfield Town was shocked 3-1. Huddersfield Town finished as double runners-up that season as a Dixie Dean (59 goals) inspired Everton beat them to the League title. Since then the only other appearance for Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup Final was in 1960 when Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3-0. The final was not considered memorable and when discussed it is usually the career ending injury to Rovers’ Dave Whelan that is remembered. Whelan after failing to cover finally took an insurance settlement, parlayed it into a fortune, and now owns Wigan Athletic.
A semi-final loss to Arsenal in 2005 is the furthest Blackburn had reached since 1960 and now they – along with Watford – they have a chance to upset what seems to most fans dream final of Chelsea against Manchester United. The road to what might be a first FA Cup Final in 47 years, started with an emphatic 4-1 away against Everton. In the 5th round it was another four goals scored away from home and this time Luton Town were the victims.
Round 5 brought a hard-earned scoreless draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium followed by an 87th minute winner that flew off the boot of substitute Benni McCarthy to take the replay. Manchester City fell in the last round this time by a score of 2-0. So after playing four rounds and five games Blackburn has still only conceded one goal – scored by Everton’s Andy Johnson. The line-up of officials for Sunday’s game at Old Trafford is as follows; Referee – Alan Wiley, Assistant Referees – Cann and Ward, Fourth Official – Mark Clattenburg.
Here is a link to the latest news from the official FA Cup website and FA Cup payments that the clubs will receive.
Past Featured Games Extra Preliminary Round Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A. 5-2 Billingham Synthonia. Preliminary Round Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A 5-4 Thackley F.C First Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 3-0 Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A. Second Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 4-2 Goole AFC Third Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 2-0 Warrington Town Fourth Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 2-0 Wisbech Town First Round Salisbury City 3-0 Fleetwood Town Second Round Salisbury City 1-1 Nottingham Forest Second Round Replay Nottingham Forest 2-0 Salisbury City Third Round Nottingham Forest 2-0 Charlton Fourth Round Chelsea 3-0 Nottingham Forest Fifth Round Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City Sixth Round Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur Sixth Round Replay Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Chelsea
Only one of the teams that finished 11th through 15th last season showed an improvement on the previous season. Even then, Fulham could only look to an improvement of one place from 13th to 12th and that was not a true reflection of a season where the relegation zone was a constant threat.
Everton fans will be hoping that the pattern of David Moyes’ four full seasons in charge continue. It has been a yo-yo existence 2003 – 7th, 2004 - 17th, 2005 – 4th and last season 11th. Moreover, given a much-improved second half to last season the indications are that it could mean that Everton is again challenging for a top 10 spot. Last season the goal-scoring department at Goodison was simply woeful with only 34 goals – a record club low – in the 38 Premiership games. It would have been substantially less if James Beattie had not started hitting the target in December. He finished with ten goals and finally showed why David Moyes had splashed out a club record fee to sign him in January 2005.
Now Beattie will be partnered with the club’s new record signing Andy Johnson. For $17m, Everton has a lightning quick main striker who should be good for 15 goals this season. Over the last decade, the best has been Kevin Campbell’s even dozen in the 1999/2000 season.
After arriving on loan from Manchester United Tim Howard will be looking to take Nigel Martyn’s starting position between the sticks although the sometimes-bumbling Richard Wright will be hoping for the same thing. The signing of Joleon Lescott from Wolves will bolster the back four with the biggest doubt being Lescott’s dodgy knees. If he avoids injury, Lescott could turn out to be a snip at $9m.
Fulham’s manager Chris Coleman will again be one of the favourites to be the first manager sacked once the season is underway. He came under severe pressure last season as the Cottagers spend much of the season flirting with relegation. For the second straight season, it was Fulham’s inability to keep the ball out of their net that caused a problem.
Over their first three seasons in the Premiership Fulham conceded 44, 50, and 46 goals. Over the last two seasons, the total has grown to 60 and last season 58. To date is difficult to see how Coleman intends to plug his leaky back four. Twenty-year-old central defender Gabriel Zakuani has been signed from Leyton Orient while last week Frank Queudre arrived from Boro to compete for the left back position. Jimmy Bullard will add something to the Fulham midfield but without a solid defense, it might be another season spent eyeing the Premiership trap door.
Alan Curbishley has moved on from the Valley leaving Ian Dowie the challenge of getting more out a Charlton squad that seems stuck in mid-table purgatory. The last six seasons have seen league placings of 9, 14, 12, 7, 11, and 13. Relegation rarely a concern; Europe a win or two too far.
Dowie might be able to coax some exceptional performances out of the squad early on but at the end of the day, it is likely to be the same old mid-table finish. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink continues his multi-season run to retirement after being released by Boro while American Cory Gibbs will get a chance to improve a defense that tended at times to fall apart last season. Eleven times Charlton conceded three or more goals in a game.
Middlesbrough is another club under new management as Gareth Southgate moves from the centre of the defense to the manager’s office. On the face of it Southgate would appear to have the makings o####ood manager – articulate, knowledgeable, and with solid international experience. The problem with throwing him into the deep end is if he falters early on, it may prove to be terminal. Boro continue to be linked with central defenders and it seems certain that at least one will arrive before the kick off to the season.
Chairman Steve Gibson has invested millions in the youth academy and there are signs that the investment is ready to pay off with a steady stream of youngsters ready to make the next big step. It is interesting to note that in the last game of the 2005/06 season Boro fielded the first all-English Premiership starting line-up since Bradford in December 1999 and the first all-English squad since Villa the season previous.
It will not have escaped the notice of City fans that the form exhibited by the blue team of Manchester from Christmas onwards was horrible. In fact, if the season had started at Christmas Manchester City would have been relegated. Over the close season, the City of Manchester Stadium has seen 16 players either arrive or leave. As well, manager Stuart Pearce has been able to sign youngsters Joey Barton and Micah Richards to long-term deals.
The arrival of Didi Hamann on a multi-year deal will help solidify the midfield and probably allow Pearce to rotate the German with Claudio Reyna. The much-traveled French midfielder Ousmane Dabo is another addition although City fans have a right to be skeptical of foreign signings given their relatively poor track record of the years. Bernardo Corradi also fits that bill although the former Lazio and Valencia man is a big powerful forward who has in the past, worked his butt off.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
Thank you to all who take time to visit this blog and especially to those of you who post your comments and thoughts.
PS - If you have questions please post them on the regular Monday blog. I am unable to answer e mails posted to the inbox on this site.
And one more thing. If you have questions or complaints or compliments about programming please contact Fox Soccer Channel or Fox Sports World Canada directly. I have no control over what the stations televise.
