What's Happening to the Big 3

The title race gets blown open every single week. This season has been throwing up some seriously questionable results that have managers, pundits and fans alike scratching their heads and staring open mouthed at the television.

This weekend the spotlight was on Chelsea and Arsenal. The Gunners threw away a 2-0 home lead against their hated rivals Tottenham, going on to lose 3-2. And Chelsea saw their team barrage Ben Foster’s goal with an incredible 25 shots, only for Lee Bowyer to tuck away Birmingham’s only attempt of the game.

And last week was no different, Chelsea again making the headlines after taking a 3-0 pounding at home to Sunderland, in a run which has seen them lose 3 of their last 4 games. Man United also had to answer some serious questions about their performance after they salvaged a 2-2 draw away at Aston Villa, who had taken a 2-0 lead. Man United have now dropped 12 points away from home.

So what is happening with the Big 3? Last season’s title race was close at the latter stages with Arsenal making a late push and Man U and Chelsea constantly missing opportunities to take a significant point lead. And this theme seems to be continuing this year.

All three teams have made positive additions to their squads in the transfer window with Hernandez, Chamakh and Ramires, the biggest name signings, all performing well in the league.

But it seems that injuries to key players are taking their toll on the teams. Arsenal have, until recently, been without captain Cesc Fabregas and Holland international striker Van Persie, while Thomas Vermaelen, Abou Diaby and keeper Almunia still sidelined.

Man United and Chelsea too have a busy physio room with Star players like Rooney, Valencia, Lampard and Terry all missing from recent starting 11’s. And when you take into consideration the importance of these players it becomes clear why the teams are missing them.

Wayne Rooney has been the centre of some very unwanted attention after problems with his private life, a poor world cup performance and some, ahem, interesting contract negotiations, but he scored a formidable 26 league goals last season and United have clearly missed him.

Similarly Frank Lampard had a poor World Cup but was pivotal for Chelsea last season contributing 22 goals and 17 assists from the midfield. Couple this with the loss of their influential captain John Terry and any team would struggle.

The worry for these teams is that while they’re dropping points and failing to win what should be easy games, teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and, dare I say it, Bolton are sitting just 6 points off the top and licking their lips.

Spurs are taking plaudits for some fantastic wins in both the Premiership and the Champions League with players like Gareth Bale and Van Der Vaart are looking absolute class. Meanwhile the mega-spending Man City have a team flooded with top level talent and experience.

Maybe this year is the year that the Chelsea/United stranglehold on the title is loosened, or maybe it’s the year we see a brand new team of Premiership winner’s altogether.

One thing’s for certain though; it’s coming up to Christmas and everything’s still to play for.

By Joe Sharpe

Problems at Home?

Another England game, another disappointing result and once again every man and his dog are trying to work out what’s wrong with England.

Is it players playing out of position? Is it Capello’s management style? Or is it players “bottling it” in the games.

There is no doubt that something isn’t working, the team look like they’re out of ideas when they get into the opposition half and the big name players aren’t performing like we see them do every Saturday on Match of the Day.

But I think it’s wrong to place blame on one aspect of the team, whatever that may be. It’s a number of things that make a team perform below par and to start pointing fingers isn’t helping anything.

Now I’m going to mention now that I have no problems with fans having lively debates and voicing their opinions, but I think people get too caught up on one aspect to see the whole picture.

The most recent gripe we’re hearing is that players like Lampard, Rooney, Gerrard and, more recently, Milner, Barry and Carrick “bottle it” as soon as they have the three lions on their chests.

It’s true that these players underperformed drastically in the World Cup but to say that the pressure got to them, to me, seems like a cop out.

They are professional footballers who face immense pressure at club level playing in Champions league finals, taking make-or-break penalties and with fans constantly wanting them to bring glory to their clubs.

And I’m as guilty as the next England fan when it comes to getting caught up in world cup fever. Claims of ‘this is our year’ and ‘football’s coming home’ can be heard every two years (provided we qualify to the EURO’s this time) in every ground, pub or 5-a-side pitch around the country.

But do we actually expect the team to win? Do we actually think that there is no better team in the world than us and that it would be a shock if we DIDN’T have the trophy on the flight home with our English heroes? I don’t think so.

Going into the world cup we were high on the FIFA rankings but not top, we were not top in the betting shop and we were looking at teams like Spain, Brazil and Argentina thinking they were forces to be reckoned with.

Granted there is pressure on any England team but I don’t think the expectation in 2010 was for us to win, I think it was there for the taking if we put in a string of performances, but we didn’t. Nobody missed a penalty in extra time, nobody got sent off, nobody “bottled it” ...we just didn’t perform.

Then came the game against Montenegro last October at Wembley, when Capello had the chance to put the world cup daemons away. Another poor flat performance, another crowd (including myself) booing the players off the field, and another squad of England players looking dejected and making excuses.

However I do feel that Capello is making the right moves. He knows it isn’t working and he’s starting to experiment with new players.

Questions will be asked about giving first caps to a 33 year old Kevin Davis and 28 year old Jay Bothroyd who isn’t even playing in the premiership, but it shows Capello has got the balls to try something new.

And now he’s blooding young(er) English talent like Hart, Carroll, Milner, Adam Johnson and Ashley Young who are all putting in impressive performances at club level and fully deserve international call ups.

For me this is exactly what he needs to be doing, the golden generation is now sailing off into the history books and we need to concentrate on getting future prospects into the international system, scoring goals and winning games.

So we shouldn’t be too angry with losses in friendly games with France, a team which we now have a lot in common. Both teams have to rebuild from a disastrous world cup and have a team full of new faces.

The country is in a transition period and the Football team is no different. There’s going to be kinks that need ironing out as new players adjust to international football and Capello tweaks with formations and starting line ups, but we have to have faith that it will come good when it matters.

Capello is a highly respected and decorated manager and he doesn’t strike me as a fool. In two years we will (hopefully) be getting into frenzy about our chances in the EURO’s but will we expect to win it? No? Will we hope to win it? Yes. And if we don’t win it will the same questions about players, management and fans be circling around the country again? That much you can bet on.

Southampton FC vs Shrewsbury Town FC

FA Cup First Round

Southampton vs. Shrewsbury Sat 6^th November 2010

Supersub David Connolly saved Southampton a trip to Shropshire by scoring just two minutes after coming onto the field.

And Connolly wasn’t finished there as less than a minute later, he set up Adam Lallana who finished in style to secure Saint’s place in the next round.

But the home crowd had to wait until 2 minutes into injury time to see their team finally break the deadlock.

After the 4-0 drubbing of Dagenham and Redbridge, the Saints had their sights set on an FA Cup first round victory over league 2’s Shrewsbury Town.

Manager Nigel Adkins made 2 changes from the team who dominated Dagenham 4 days earlier, with Jose Fonte and Rickie Lambert making way for Radhi Jaidi and Guly Do Prado.

The Saints certainly looked the brightest in front of the modest 10,000 crowd, with Richard Chaplow having an early effort that narrowly sailed over the bar.

But as the drizzle began to seep down on the pitch, the standard of football became as dull as the weather.

Neither team was dominating or showing any signs of a breakthrough as the tight Shrewsbury defence successfully nullified the Saints attack.

Adam Lallana and Alex Chamerlain both looked lively with their unpredictable trickery causing problems, but toward the end of the half Shrewsbury began to test the Saints goal.

Kelvin Davies had to be alert when he kept out a shot from Shrew’s midfielder Dean Holden, but the chance was by no means clear cut.

After the disappointing first half the Saints began to pile on the pressure in the second as Shrewsbury struggled to get the ball into the Saints half.

But the possession was counting for nothing as the Saints failed to convert numerous attacks and corners and the home crowd started to become irate.

Adkins made the first of his changes on 65 minutes, bringing on Rickie Lambert who’s first act of the game was to blaze a promising free kick well wide.

And the small pocket of 700 Shrewsbury fans were the ones making the noise as they sensed a replay at the New Meadow.

But cometh the 88^th minute cometh the man, as a double substitution saw Lee Barnard and Guly Do Prado replaced by David Connolly and Lee Holmes.

As far as instant impacts go it was one of the best as just two minutes later, with the ball ping-ponging around the Shrewsbury penalty area, David Connolly reacted fastest to smash the it into back of the net.

And barely a minute went by when the Saints fans were celebrating againn when a rapid counter attack saw Connolly thread the ball through to Man of the Match Lallana, who expertly bent it around the keeper into the bottom right corner.

With the final whistle came a sense of relief for Southampton who were not forced to travel for an away replay.

But the fact that it took so long to break down lower league opposition, will come as a disappointment to fans and players alike.

Ancelotti Under Fire (March 2010)

It seems that the ghost of Jose Mourinho will forever be hanging over Chelsea managers for years to come.

Not only was his record in his three years at the club prolific, winning 71% of his 120 games in charge, but he brought consecutive premiership titles to the club along with two league cups and an FA cup.

It is certainly a reputation that I wouldn’t want to live up to and many high profile managers have failed in their attempt, remember Phil Scolari anyone?

But is it fair that new manager Carlo Ancelotti is coming under intense scrutiny from both the media and his own chairman, despite remaining strong title contenders and having one eye on this year’s FA cup?

It is just another example of the impatience of premier league chairmen that, after Chelsea were dumped out of the Champions league by Mourinho’s Inter team; Roman Abramovic hauled the squad in for a lecture about under-performance.

I’m sure anyone can understand the frustration of being knocked out of the most prestigious trophy in European football by the manager you sacked three years before, but the fact remains surely the Chairman should be supporting the team not putting them down.

Now I’m not one to admit I’m a Newcastle fan but they are a shining example of what happens when the chairman and managerial staff clash.

A team which has been established in the top flight for as long as anyone cares to remember suddenly finds themselves with four managers in one season and, lo and behold, relegation was the price.

And at the other end of the scale it just takes one look at Chelsea’s biggest title rivals Man United, to realise that their immense success and domination of both English and European football was all achieved in the 24 year, and counting, reign of manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

So what give Abramovic, and sections of Chelsea fans, the right to demand instant success from a manager that has only been in charge for less than a year?

And let’s not forget that Ancelotti hasn’t had the easiest of times at Chelsea this season with the African Cup of Nations depleting his squad, a transfer embargo and the high profile personal problems of John Terry and Ashley Cole.

Ancelotti’s press conferences have not been so much about his football tactics or position in the league and more about whichever drama has occurred overnight involving one of his players.

And now he himself, a highly respected and successful manager, has to answer awkward and embarrassing questions about the safety of his job.

Ancelotti has publically dismissed rumours that he is leaving Chelsea, whether mutually or by the dreaded axe of Abramovic which has claimed many high profile managers in the last 5 years, a clear disruption to himself and his team at such a pivotal point in their season.

To me it is a crying shame that such a highly respected and successful manager like Ancelotti is being treated this way and, reportedly, has to fight for his job.

They say a week is a long time in football but a year is nothing in management and Ancelotti has barely had the chance to flex his muscles in the transfer market.

Events like these show the greed and impatience of football, in no other business would a new manager or CEO face losing their position after just a year for doing a respectable job.

And it begs the question: Just how many world class managers are Chelsea going to lose faith in before finding one that they will give the opportunity to last more than a season?

I hope for their sake that the fans won’t have to get used to another new face at the helm of their club anytime soon.