The World Cup in Brazil was a huge success except that Brazil and England just confirmed what everyone has muttered for years; one has traded for too long on it's reputation and the other is simply not good enough...period. The Germans did what the Germans do, they put a plan in place and executed it. Their humiliation of Brazil should have shocked us, but in the cold darkness of deepest Autumn, it was inevitable once the poster boy Neymar was out of the picture. For me it was a real shame that Lionel Messi was too exhausted to announce himself on the greatest stage of all in the Final. Many Argentinians will wistfully observe him probably dismantle a Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund defence single-handedly at some point during the Champions League fiesta of football in early 2015, and wonder why he failed to deliver the same pleasure for his fellow compatriots. And that my friends is where the modern World Cup will always fall down. The competition has become like midnight on New Year's Eve for my wife, by the time it comes around the players, like her, are too exhausted from the hugely intensive grind of the modern footballer's arduous journey to reach this momentous summit in their sporting lives. But, somehow the Germans can do it, consistently!
Let's quickly talk about England. Firstly, to be positive, Roy Hodgson has to be applauded for his bravery in selecting youth at this year's tournament; Raheem Sterling was a revelation especially in the first match against Italy. I felt that he genuinely frightened the Italians with his fearless runs and speed, but we lacked a clinical end product. Daniel Sturridge is a good striker and so is Danny Welbeck,but Chelsea and Manchester United allowed both players to leave their respective clubs for one reason only. They individually lack that ruthless streak to score important goals in critical moments of a game of football of high importance. There is a point to be made here that I concede may be valid, the fact that they were not given enough opportunities to learn the dynamics of the high-end script at their original clubs may be a significant factor here, but the facts still remain that in the matches against Italy and Uruguay, the winning goals were delivered by players (who fully understood from their English experiences) the significance of getting that goal at that time; Balotelli and Suarez. Gary Lineker and Michael Owen netted huge game-changing England goals, and that for me is simply why both players ended up at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Unfortunately, the rest of the spine around them was never quite good enough to make their respective teams world-beaters. Right now, without Rooney, and I rate him very highly, England are enthusiastic at best and downright tame at worst. I am not overly concerned about whether we can keep and pass the ball 600 times in the course of a phase, what maters is that real menace exists further up the pitch with predatory instincts to trouble the scoreboard. The Euro campaign will teach us very little, but it will give those young men like Luke Chambers and Fabian Delf real international experience hopefully without the negative consequences of a failed qualification, but the real footballing heavyweight nations and Switzerland are NOT one will still pick us off and destroy our deluded dreams, once again I fear.
But the Premier League is back to it's teasingly exciting best. Although just as well-heeled folk venture to the theatre or concert hall in search of great entertainment rather than vegetate on the couch with a Dominos Pizza and absorb the X Factor, the connoisseurs will be accessing BT Sport and SKY for superior technical excellence in Das Bundesliga and La Liga. But the reality is that our Premier League with a few exceptions deliver the greatest matches. The close season sub-plots and constant 'intrigue' have emotionally corrupted the logical mind of football-starved summer months and suddenly once again, despite denials to the contrary, huge debates with strangers over generously delivered pints at all my numerous engagements have become the norm once. So what's really occuring?
The reality is that all the top clubs are sailing in uncharted waters. The mid-table sides can smell the weight of fear. Chelsea should win the Premier League at a canter, but Jose Mourinho will not feel complete until he has won the Champions League. Failing to do that at Real Madrid still rankles with him; and ultimately that inner turmoil may allow Manchester City to defend their title successfully. But, they too have a huge psychological hurdle to overcome themselves in the Champions League, after all Chelsea have already won the thing, thanks to the Munich Miracle, so maybe Pellegrini's pressure is the greater, who knows? Liverpool will slide out of the top four this season; losing Suarez has made the task of reaching fourth a mountain. Poor performances in the Champions League have already confirmed that Liverpool are not ready to live with the real playground bullies, and Real Madrid have yet to meet them in a fixture! I am worried for them. Arsenal will do enough to stay within the lines of top 4 qualification and will succeed in the group stages but Arsene Wenger despite his revered status knows that the time to prove to the Arsenal faithful that he has the ability to achieve real traction is now, His principals are irrelevant, winning meaningful silverware is the only barometer that counts. Being declared the most expensive team to watch in English football will this season create a wide spectrum of attention from the Arsenal public and cynical observers. If the price being paid for the Gunners product does not translate into a superior existence, the ceiling could crash unannounced. Just ask Manchester United who have an army of Corporate Partners whose products demand to be sitting in the blinding lights of global media windows. Louis Van Gaal and his side will use the advantage of not having the 'distraction of European Football' with a star cast and enjoy those greater rest periods. Stealing a ruthless march on their weary competitors and becoming the story, is a minimum requirement and everyone at St Matt Busby Way knows it. Their publicity-hungry allies will puff out their cheeks and chests more in relief than outright delight but that defence has more holes that our sieve and that's their achilles heel; ask any Leicester City fan! It is a critical time in the history of Manchester United and the legacy of Busby and Ferguson is now hanging around manager Van Gaal's neck like an obese albatross; he'll need all his power to win the day here. Everyone is watching.
At the bargain basement end of the table, I am worried for Burnley and Sean Dyche. Sean is loved in these Northamptonshire parts as a great servant to the Cobblers, so we are keen to see him succeed in the Premier League but so far his troops are falling a long way short. Desire and organisation alone are not enough as attributes to consistently win games in the top league. Newcastle United too are currently playing with great willingness, under a suffering Alan Pardew, but losing meaningful assets during the summer has compromised this great club and I sense that with or without the current manager they will slide through the trap-door along with Queens Park Rangers. Mike Ashley needs to offload the club to a wealthy owner who has a proper media presence and a desire to deliver a football team for the Geordie public to celebrate. Right now, the whole affair of Newcastle's demise is squeezing the optimism of a deserving fan-base. Pardew was always a poor fit, but when Hughton was sacked undeservedly, he, to his credit was the only candidate prepared to work under the constraints placed by Ashley. The owner is the true villain of the Magpie's story; but because fans need tangible objects to vent their frustations, poor Pardew is undeservedly copping the flak for his over-generously extensive contract; as I said before it's a very sorry mess. Harry Redknapp, despite his brilliance is, in reality managing a club with a capacity of less than 20,000, this unfashionable minnow in shark-infested Premier League waters is in serious trouble of imploding and I feel that Harry may have to walk away to save himself, and probably the club. For all his tweets and ill-informed opinions about life events, Rio Ferdinand is symptomatic of the kind of distracted characters the club currently has on it's pay-roll and that sadly will cause their demise. Across the River Thames, I do believe that Crystal Palace have just enough guile upfront and belief to engineer another survival; roared on by their impressive home support, that completely unsettled a marauding Liverpool to relinquish control so dramatically at the end of last season. And finally, Leicester City and Nigel Pearson will also despite many scares survive because these savvy battlers have integrated the hugely impressive Leonardo Ulloa seamlessly to create a robust but also imaginative unit with effective end-product; namely goals.
To touch on the pack of teams pursuing mid-table obscurity, many of these sides contain high marquee players. It was great to observe that most of the squads of the participating World Cup nations contained Premier League players and their contributions were significant at all levels of the tournament.
After many years of berating the tactics of Stoke, they are an established elite side along with Aston Villa who have smartly rescued and rejuvenated the much maligned Tom Cleverley to add purpose and stability to their midfield. For the record, I sense that he will be find his feet and in time become an England regular. More importantly, Villa will not be scrapping in the basement any longer; it would seem that they are on the rise, how far they will go depends greatly on Randy Lerner; don't hold your breath in Birmingham! Mark Hughes has much to prove in his role as Stoke City manager, and it remains to be seen if he can inspire the Potteries to feature in higher reaches of this very competitive league. The fact that Sunderland are NOT being discussed at any great length would signify that Gus Poyet is doing a fantastic job of keeping the Mackems simply as a solid Premier League team without any consequence of failure. As a fan of North East football, I would love to see them and Newcastle along with the 'Boro have a great and exciting F.A.Cup run.
Can my teams get promoted? Yes and No! The Cobblers possess real threat going forward but still have a soft underbelly. If they can become more robust in protecting leads, the play-offs are a distinct possibility. Middlesbrough, on the other hand, proved in their marathon game with Liverpool in the league cup that at last, they are team that is better prepared for the task of winning Championship games, and serious contenders. Like the Cobblers, the regular sensation of accomplishment is a habit that must be acquired once more and retained. Aitor Karanka is an impressive manager who has remained off the radar of the general watching public, in joining the 'Boro. Having worked as No.2 to Mourinho at Real Madrid, I am confident that his management excellence will propel the boys for a Wembley Play-off final at the very least! Everything is crossed!
As British Summer Time leaves us to usher in colder and darker times, it is now that we will start to learn about who the real contenders are. The bean counters are both sweating and silvating, because the numbers rewards are big, very very big and getting bigger still. Phases are being worked out, fitness established, pundits delivering cliches. We might be starting to shiver in the cold but the heat is really on...stay warm my friends!
Let's quickly talk about England. Firstly, to be positive, Roy Hodgson has to be applauded for his bravery in selecting youth at this year's tournament; Raheem Sterling was a revelation especially in the first match against Italy. I felt that he genuinely frightened the Italians with his fearless runs and speed, but we lacked a clinical end product. Daniel Sturridge is a good striker and so is Danny Welbeck,but Chelsea and Manchester United allowed both players to leave their respective clubs for one reason only. They individually lack that ruthless streak to score important goals in critical moments of a game of football of high importance. There is a point to be made here that I concede may be valid, the fact that they were not given enough opportunities to learn the dynamics of the high-end script at their original clubs may be a significant factor here, but the facts still remain that in the matches against Italy and Uruguay, the winning goals were delivered by players (who fully understood from their English experiences) the significance of getting that goal at that time; Balotelli and Suarez. Gary Lineker and Michael Owen netted huge game-changing England goals, and that for me is simply why both players ended up at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Unfortunately, the rest of the spine around them was never quite good enough to make their respective teams world-beaters. Right now, without Rooney, and I rate him very highly, England are enthusiastic at best and downright tame at worst. I am not overly concerned about whether we can keep and pass the ball 600 times in the course of a phase, what maters is that real menace exists further up the pitch with predatory instincts to trouble the scoreboard. The Euro campaign will teach us very little, but it will give those young men like Luke Chambers and Fabian Delf real international experience hopefully without the negative consequences of a failed qualification, but the real footballing heavyweight nations and Switzerland are NOT one will still pick us off and destroy our deluded dreams, once again I fear.
But the Premier League is back to it's teasingly exciting best. Although just as well-heeled folk venture to the theatre or concert hall in search of great entertainment rather than vegetate on the couch with a Dominos Pizza and absorb the X Factor, the connoisseurs will be accessing BT Sport and SKY for superior technical excellence in Das Bundesliga and La Liga. But the reality is that our Premier League with a few exceptions deliver the greatest matches. The close season sub-plots and constant 'intrigue' have emotionally corrupted the logical mind of football-starved summer months and suddenly once again, despite denials to the contrary, huge debates with strangers over generously delivered pints at all my numerous engagements have become the norm once. So what's really occuring?
The reality is that all the top clubs are sailing in uncharted waters. The mid-table sides can smell the weight of fear. Chelsea should win the Premier League at a canter, but Jose Mourinho will not feel complete until he has won the Champions League. Failing to do that at Real Madrid still rankles with him; and ultimately that inner turmoil may allow Manchester City to defend their title successfully. But, they too have a huge psychological hurdle to overcome themselves in the Champions League, after all Chelsea have already won the thing, thanks to the Munich Miracle, so maybe Pellegrini's pressure is the greater, who knows? Liverpool will slide out of the top four this season; losing Suarez has made the task of reaching fourth a mountain. Poor performances in the Champions League have already confirmed that Liverpool are not ready to live with the real playground bullies, and Real Madrid have yet to meet them in a fixture! I am worried for them. Arsenal will do enough to stay within the lines of top 4 qualification and will succeed in the group stages but Arsene Wenger despite his revered status knows that the time to prove to the Arsenal faithful that he has the ability to achieve real traction is now, His principals are irrelevant, winning meaningful silverware is the only barometer that counts. Being declared the most expensive team to watch in English football will this season create a wide spectrum of attention from the Arsenal public and cynical observers. If the price being paid for the Gunners product does not translate into a superior existence, the ceiling could crash unannounced. Just ask Manchester United who have an army of Corporate Partners whose products demand to be sitting in the blinding lights of global media windows. Louis Van Gaal and his side will use the advantage of not having the 'distraction of European Football' with a star cast and enjoy those greater rest periods. Stealing a ruthless march on their weary competitors and becoming the story, is a minimum requirement and everyone at St Matt Busby Way knows it. Their publicity-hungry allies will puff out their cheeks and chests more in relief than outright delight but that defence has more holes that our sieve and that's their achilles heel; ask any Leicester City fan! It is a critical time in the history of Manchester United and the legacy of Busby and Ferguson is now hanging around manager Van Gaal's neck like an obese albatross; he'll need all his power to win the day here. Everyone is watching.
At the bargain basement end of the table, I am worried for Burnley and Sean Dyche. Sean is loved in these Northamptonshire parts as a great servant to the Cobblers, so we are keen to see him succeed in the Premier League but so far his troops are falling a long way short. Desire and organisation alone are not enough as attributes to consistently win games in the top league. Newcastle United too are currently playing with great willingness, under a suffering Alan Pardew, but losing meaningful assets during the summer has compromised this great club and I sense that with or without the current manager they will slide through the trap-door along with Queens Park Rangers. Mike Ashley needs to offload the club to a wealthy owner who has a proper media presence and a desire to deliver a football team for the Geordie public to celebrate. Right now, the whole affair of Newcastle's demise is squeezing the optimism of a deserving fan-base. Pardew was always a poor fit, but when Hughton was sacked undeservedly, he, to his credit was the only candidate prepared to work under the constraints placed by Ashley. The owner is the true villain of the Magpie's story; but because fans need tangible objects to vent their frustations, poor Pardew is undeservedly copping the flak for his over-generously extensive contract; as I said before it's a very sorry mess. Harry Redknapp, despite his brilliance is, in reality managing a club with a capacity of less than 20,000, this unfashionable minnow in shark-infested Premier League waters is in serious trouble of imploding and I feel that Harry may have to walk away to save himself, and probably the club. For all his tweets and ill-informed opinions about life events, Rio Ferdinand is symptomatic of the kind of distracted characters the club currently has on it's pay-roll and that sadly will cause their demise. Across the River Thames, I do believe that Crystal Palace have just enough guile upfront and belief to engineer another survival; roared on by their impressive home support, that completely unsettled a marauding Liverpool to relinquish control so dramatically at the end of last season. And finally, Leicester City and Nigel Pearson will also despite many scares survive because these savvy battlers have integrated the hugely impressive Leonardo Ulloa seamlessly to create a robust but also imaginative unit with effective end-product; namely goals.
To touch on the pack of teams pursuing mid-table obscurity, many of these sides contain high marquee players. It was great to observe that most of the squads of the participating World Cup nations contained Premier League players and their contributions were significant at all levels of the tournament.
After many years of berating the tactics of Stoke, they are an established elite side along with Aston Villa who have smartly rescued and rejuvenated the much maligned Tom Cleverley to add purpose and stability to their midfield. For the record, I sense that he will be find his feet and in time become an England regular. More importantly, Villa will not be scrapping in the basement any longer; it would seem that they are on the rise, how far they will go depends greatly on Randy Lerner; don't hold your breath in Birmingham! Mark Hughes has much to prove in his role as Stoke City manager, and it remains to be seen if he can inspire the Potteries to feature in higher reaches of this very competitive league. The fact that Sunderland are NOT being discussed at any great length would signify that Gus Poyet is doing a fantastic job of keeping the Mackems simply as a solid Premier League team without any consequence of failure. As a fan of North East football, I would love to see them and Newcastle along with the 'Boro have a great and exciting F.A.Cup run.
Can my teams get promoted? Yes and No! The Cobblers possess real threat going forward but still have a soft underbelly. If they can become more robust in protecting leads, the play-offs are a distinct possibility. Middlesbrough, on the other hand, proved in their marathon game with Liverpool in the league cup that at last, they are team that is better prepared for the task of winning Championship games, and serious contenders. Like the Cobblers, the regular sensation of accomplishment is a habit that must be acquired once more and retained. Aitor Karanka is an impressive manager who has remained off the radar of the general watching public, in joining the 'Boro. Having worked as No.2 to Mourinho at Real Madrid, I am confident that his management excellence will propel the boys for a Wembley Play-off final at the very least! Everything is crossed!
As British Summer Time leaves us to usher in colder and darker times, it is now that we will start to learn about who the real contenders are. The bean counters are both sweating and silvating, because the numbers rewards are big, very very big and getting bigger still. Phases are being worked out, fitness established, pundits delivering cliches. We might be starting to shiver in the cold but the heat is really on...stay warm my friends!
