There was a comment on the previous blog from travel coach.
“I've seen Bobby has no love for the England team -- though I do and support Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland whenever they play -- but I feel the need to rant about our abysmal performance--beginning with the $25 we had to pay to watch the game (so I missed it live)!”
Normally I let this sort of remark go but being in a particularly foul mood this morning I don’t think I will let this one pass. First of all any Scottish (Welsh or Irish) view of English football is ambiguous. Being the small neighbor there is the reality of living in the shadow of a larger, more powerful and richer neighbor. Travel coach you may support (I notice that you don’t love) Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but you are an exception if you actually take an interest in the game in these countries.
It is rarely the case in reverse. If you are a football fan in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland it is almost impossible not to have a lively and long standing interest in English football. For years our best players have played in the English league to the point that up until fifteen years ago it was almost inconceivable that a good English club side might not contain key players from the other three UK countries.
The performance of the English national team has always been given more prominence particularly around World Cup and European Championship time. However, much of that coverage is insular, myopic and in many cases xenophobic.
The problem comes when someone dares to criticize the English team. Many English fans are ill-equipped to come to a carefully considered opinion of their side and so criticism is often met with open hostility and an attempt to belittle. (It is usually the case that the people most openly hostile to comments are the ones that are the most critical when things do actually implode. Where is the "England must have an English manager" crowd now?)
The issue is not whether I love the English team or not. The issue is whether I am providing a fair and rationale assessment of the English team and performance. Based on my comments prior to the last World Cup and views on the hiring of Steve McClaren I am happy to allow others to come to their own conclusions.
Part 2
Passion - England (and often Scotland's) answer to any football problem. Could someone please explain to me why so many British fans seem to believe that passion is some sort of differentiator between British sides and foreign teams?
How does that square with the foreign (particularly Latin) stereotype of being hot tempered and dare I say overly "passionate"? Isn't the constant use of the word "passion" just another way of saying technically inferior and the only way that it can be covered up is running around more and trying harder? It may work in the short term but it has a limited shelf life.
Doesn't it strike everyone as a bit odd that while British fans worship at the altar of passion that it is other countries - who apparently are not so passionate - produce teams that win the WC and European championships?
The commitment to passion leads to the an over emphasis being placed of players that may be poor but try hard to the exclusion of players that are skilled but are seen as a liability because they don't show passion.
The media in the UK doesn't help either. With a few exceptions it continues to be distrusting of anything foreign and coaching to name only two.
How many times have you heard a commentator make a remark about a foreign signing - "they will soon find out that there are no easy games in the Premiership." What rubbish. First of all the idea that the Premiership is the only competitive league in the world is nonsense. Second it perpetuates the myth that somehow the rest of world lacks a competitive spirit.
And it is not only the English media. I heard one on the weekend when watching the Scotland – Italy match. The Scottish colour commentator (who was an embarrassement throughout) commented to the effect that Luca Toni was starting for Italy even though he was not a regular for Bayern Munich. His evidence – Toni was on the bench against Bolton. Insular and uninformed.
The Times top 50 managers. Sure to generate some debate. I find some of the selections strange but I can’t disagree on the top two.
The always interesting Simon Kuper on Northern Ireland. This was written before Gillespie and McCartney started to scrap about who was getting the window seat.
The North London derby pits two managers "enjoying" vastly different degrees of job security. While Arsene Wenger has just signed a new contract that should keep him with Arsenal for four more seasons, his opposite number Martin Jol isn’t sure that he will be around for four more games. As far as this game is concerned history is not on Jol’s side. Spurs last win against Arsenal was at White Hart Lane in November 1999 under George Graham and since then David Pleat, Glenn Hoddle, Jacques Santini and the present incumbent have all failed to put one over on Wenger’s Arsenal.
However, draws and late equalizers have been par for the last seven North London derby games at White Hart Lane. Six of the last seven Premiership games between these two teams at White Hart Lane have finished as draws and four of the six have seen equalizing goals coming in the 89th minute or later. Spurs have pulled a rabbit out of the hat three times and Arsenal once.
If you are looking for likely scorers then Robbie Keane might be the man – four goals in 12 appearances against Arsenal. On the other hand Robin van Persie has yet to score against Spurs in five matches.
With a disappointing start and the prospect of Chelsea visiting Old Trafford next weekend three points is a priority for Manchester United when they play Everton at Goodison. Goals – or the lack of goals – have been the major problem for United but they face an Everton side that traditionally does poorly against them.
Everton has only recorded three wins in thirty Premiership matches against United and last seasons collapse must still be a fresh memory. Leading 2-0 and with Ian Turner starting in goal for Tim Howard, Everton gave up four unanswered goals on a day that all but sealed the title for the Red Devils. Ronaldo was thrown into the match with the Everton leading 2-1 and he contributed two helpers to turn the game around. After serving his suspension for a red card against Portsmouth Ferguson will look to Ronaldo once more.
Tim Howard’s availability will depend upon the finger injury he picked up against Brazil last Sunday. Howard has yet to record a shut out this season as Everton has conceded a goal in each of their five matches. In attack the Toffees have scored eight goals but none have come from the normally reliable Andy Johnson. Johnson has now gone ten Premiership games without a goal – his longest unproductive spell in the top league.
When Johnson signed from Crystal Palace Everton fans were hopeful that he would be their first 20 a season goal scorer since Peter Beardsley in the 1991-92 season. The hope may now be shared with new signing Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Twenty a season may be a bit much to hope for (his scoring per season has been 16, 12, 13, and 12) but as the stats show Yakubu has been a consistent scorer since he arrived at Portsmouth for the 2004 season. Fifty-three goals in 138 appearances gives him an average o####oal every 2.60 games.
The Chicago Fire has been blazing a trail to MLS play-offs lately with four wins and a draw in their last seven matches. A haul of 13 points contrasts with only six points picked up in the previous 12 games and it is difficult not to trace the improvement to the arrival of Blanco. However, one of the recent losses did come against the inconsistent New York Red Bulls at the beginning of September in New York. The Red Bulls have not won away from home since July 8 when they beat Colorado and overall their away record is almost a perfect inverse of their home record. At home 12 games, 8 wins, 3 losses and a draw, for 24 against 11; Away record 12 games, 3 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, for 13 against 24.
In Serie A the visit of Roma to Reggina catches the eye. After only two matches only Roma and Juventus can boast of perfect records. Roma has won only once on their last four trips to Reggina and lost twice. What's more they have been held scoreless in three of those games. However, it will be a different looking Reggina squad that did well to overcome an 11-point penalty last season and survive courtesy of a last day win over Milan. Rolando Bianchi, a source of 18 goals last season, left to sign for Manchester City. Also gone are Coach Walter Mazzarri (Sampdoria), Giacomo Tedesco (Catania), Alessandro Lucarelli (Siena), and Mesto (Udinese).
To compensate Francesco Cozza has returned to the club for his third stint after a short spell with Siena and Icelandic midfielder Emil Hallfredsson took a circuitous route to Reggina. Hallfredsson was sold by Spurs to Lyn of Norway only to be moved to Reggina only two weeks later. It was Hallfredsson who scored against Spain for Iceland last Saturday in a 1-1 draw. Roma’s Alberto Aquilani so far has scored two stunning goals from distance and will be looking to make it three in three games. Roma faces a tough schedule in the next few weeks with games against Juventus, Fiorentina, Inter, Parma, Napoli, Milan and Lazio in succession. Plus they have the Champions League as well.
The shock result of round two in Serie A was Napoli’s 5-0 away hammering of Udinese. Napoli hadn't scored five away from home in Serie A since 1929 and they did it against a team that had played well while drawing with champions Inter Milan the week before. The star for Napoli was Ezequiel Lavezzi with a goal and two assists. He was signed from San Lorenzo for around $4M this past summer and he has of course been annointed the new “Maradona”. Also prominent against Udinese was former Juventus striker Marcelo Zalayeta who scored twice. Sampdoria is still with Antonio Cassano and he is expected to be out for a month with a left thigh injury. Cassano was hurt during a friendly with Swiss team that was arranged in order to help get Cassano fit!
In Spain newly promoted side Almeria started with a 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna before losing at home to Valencia 2-1. This weekend they travel to the capital to play last season’s champions Real Madrid. Almeria, who finished as runners-up in the second division last year, are in the top flight for only the third time and most pundits have them marked down for one of the three relegation spots. They will not be helped by the fact that striker Alvaro Negredo (a goal in each of the first two games) cannot play as Real Madrid retained an option on his future services before allowing him to join the newly promoted club.
The Bundesliga has the two remaining undefeated teams facing each other this weekend. However, Bayern Munich has won three and drawn the other of their four games; Schalke has drawn three and only won one. What’s more Bayern has yet to concede a goal at home and are the only side to notch double figures in goals scored. After finishing fourth last season - their worst position for 12 years – Bayern has left no doubt that they plan to retake the Bundesliga title by uncharacteristically spending a lot of money.
Ze Roberto is back for a second spell with Bayern Munich and although he used to play on the left side of midfield his is now playing in front of the defense. Other signings Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, Hamit Altintop and Miroslav Klose have also started well as has Hamit Altintop. Altintop will line-up playing against his former club after making a Bosman move this summer. Bayern’s home record against Schalke in Bundesliga play at home is an impressive 27-5-5.
Last but not least the Old Timers play-offs get underway Saturday. It is going to be a painful Sunday and Monday.
In a number of provinces in Canada we can bet legally on sports courtesy of the government. The down side is the Russian Mob would probably give better odds than we can get on what is known as Pro Line. Included on Pro Line is the Premiership. Over the couple of years I have got into the habit of dropping by the local store on the way home from doing the Friday Fox Soccer Report.
My weekly wager is very small but it does add something extra to the weekend's soccer action. I try to avoid the early Saturday game because if you get that one wrong then your are screwed. Luckily this weekend was one of the few occasions when the govermment gets to return some of that money to me. I picked six games and all came good. The picks (all to win) were Bolton, Charlton, Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham.
Here are some articles that caught my eye over the weekend.
Stewart Fisher with a piece on Paul Dalglish of The Houston Dynamo. Apparently Paul’s father was quite a good player. Unfortunately Mr. Fisher can’t get the name of the Dynamo’s coach correct!
Gabriele Marcotti takes a look at how Roma have changed under the very underrated Luciano Spalletti. Totti has never been rated by the English media. I wonder if that will still be the case in a few weeks time.
Patrick Barclay takes a look at a player born just miles from Old Trafford who is out to stop Manchester United.
Steve Tongue points out that seven of the eight remaining Champions league teams are skippered by home-town players.
A little piece on Northern Ireland hero David Healey.
Finally a piece from Hugh McIlvanney on the behaviour of some England fans in Barcelona last Wednesday. It includes this stiletto - “All their efforts to masquerade as passionate patriots driven to condemnatory fury by the inadequacies of McClaren and his men could not begin to conceal the revolting truth that most of the snarling, bellowing viciousness came from look-at-me exhibitionists so absorbed in masturbation of their emotions that their favourite insult had an autobiographical ring.”
A big week coming up with the Champions League and UEFA Cup taking centre stage.
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.
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