What you missed while ghosts were attacking half naked women…
- Europa League update: Manchester City 3-1 Lech Poznan, Red Bull Salzburg 1-1 Juventus, Atletico Madrid 3-0 Rosenborg, Aris 0-0 Bayer Leverkeusen, Sporting 5-1 Gent, Lille 1-0 Levski Sofia, Villareal 1-0 PAOK, Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Club Brugge, Sheriff Tiraspol 0-1 BATE, AZ 1-2 Dynamo Kyiv, Palermo 0-3 CSKA Moscow, Sparta Prague 3-3 Lausanne-Sport, Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 Hajduk Split, Anderlecht 3-0 AEK Athens, Young Boys 4-2 Odense, Stuttgart 1-0 Getafe, Metalist 2-1 Sampdoria, Debrecen 1-2 PSV, Borussia Dortmund 1-1 PSG, Karpaty Lviv 0-1 Sevilla, Utrecht 1-1 Steaua Bucharest, Liverpool 0-0 Napoli, CSKA Sofia 0-2 Rapid Wien, Besiktas 1-3 Porto.
- MLS roundup: New York 2-0 New England. The Red Bulls clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with this win.
- Apparently £180,000 a week through 2015 is enough to sate Wayne Rooney’s blinding ambition. Also, his ankle really is hurt and he’s going to miss three weeks.
- Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes has tipped Gareth Bale for a call up to the Brazilian national team. Wait, what?
- Chelsea will get Didier Drogba back from injury but will still be missing Frank Lampard ahead of their match against Wolves on Saturday.
- Roy Hodgson will never re-sign resign as Liverpool manager.
- Ryan Babel isn’t concerned about people who talk about his future at Anfield (mainly because he doesn’t really have a future at Anfield).
- Oft-injured striker Andrew Johnson will return to Fulham’s lineup for the first time since January 17th.
- Ashley Young has no problem with Aston Villa, but has still put his contract discussions on hold until the summer so he can focus on his performance on the pitch.
- Everton midfielder Leon Osman will miss six weeks with an ankle injury.
- Blackburn have signed former France U-21 international Herold Goulon after a successful trial period.
- Former England international Paul Gascoigne was held overnight by police after being arrested on drug offenses; I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that it’s possible that Gazza has a substance abuse issue.
- Birmingham striker (and Jack Wilshere victim) Nikola Zigic isn’t planning on moving to Sporting.
- AC Milan midfielder Ronaldinho might miss Milan’s trip to Napoli on Monday with a strained thigh.
- Australian commentator Mark Bosnich has been tapped as the new manager of the Hyundai A-League’s North Queensland Fury.
- DC United legend Jaime Moreno will play his last game on Saturday against Toronto; he’s the only player to amass 100 goals and 100 assists in MLS history, as well as being the league’s all-time leading scorer.
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I read the Rooney news on the BBC this morning. All I could think was: Good luck with that one. I don’t know if they promised him a unicorn, but two things here…1)Unless they plan to change owners or someone got a sugar daddy in the owner’s box, this is looking like another Pool situation. 2)He may have wished he went as the supporters are going to take a while to get behind him (sans knives) again.
Speaking of knives, I feel very sorry for the Liverpool faithful who essentially got hunted by the Napoli ultras. Same story, different year in Italy. Italy will not hold a major tourney until they solve this issue and I don’t see how they can solve it. They’ve tried just about everything outside of telling the Ultras to fuck off…and that’s worked so well for PSG.
You just get the feeling Gazza is going to kill himself, kill someone else, or land in the slammer for a long, long stay. Any of these are going to come soon.
Speaking of Liverpool, again: I like Roy. I don’t want to see him go. However, the squad either don’t get what he’s selling or they’re just useless…given what I’ve seen on the pitch, I’m not sure it’s not both. If they’re in the relegation zone at Christmas, my gut says he gets the sack. One thing for sure: A squad rebuild is in order and Babel…that boy has lost his damn mind.
Last year on a couple of podcasts, it was mentioned that Roy Hodgson engaged in a lot of “shadow play” with Fulham. Essentially, everyone would stand in formation and the team would work on their off-ball movement. Perry Groves described it in extensive detail, but also provided the caveat that it’s pretty much the most boring thing ever in the history of training, and that Hodgson does it for a lot longer than other managers (something like four hours a week).
The thing is, though (and Groves pointed this out), that it IS effective at creating that ephemeral “well-organized, hard to break down” squad if the team is buying into the training. Fulham’s team were exactly that, because they were willing to check their egos at the door and submit to Hodgson. I’d also imagine that, as they got results, they saw the benefit of their work and were more willing to do what he said.
Liverpool’s players, on the other hand, are probably coming into this situation with more ego than the Fulham players. Additionally, you have some players (Gerrard, most notably) who are used to having tactical systems formulated around them; now, though, he’s being asked to integrate more with the midfield (instead of playing as a de facto second striker) and it’s causing problems. If the whole team isn’t behind the training, you have problems.
You can look at that problem two ways. On one hand, Hodgson needs to give a little and try to integrate the unique skillsets of Gerrard/Torres into his gameplan. On the other hand, though, Gerrard (especially Gerrard, to my mind) has got to develop a little bit more tactical discipline and position sense. He wants to play a free role, and the team as it stands doesn’t support him roaming; it’s great when he tracks way back or gets into the box, but if he’s in a holding role he needs to actually hold. It’s on both of them.
Ultimately, though: Liverpool players need to pull their heads out of their collective asses and figure themselves out, because given their current form none of them should be running into problems over “ego”.
All very valid points indeed and your last one ices it. This Liverpool side are *very* reminiscent of the Newcastle side that went down a couple of years back. Ego is great if you’re running the league, but they’re not and don’t look capable of it. It’s a yeoman’s effort they need and I’m not sure they have the squad for that right now. I hope Hodgson works it out because I hate in season managerial changes.
Just over the wire:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/9120108.stm