The 2014 FIFA World Cup begins on Thursday with Brazil v Croatia. Before the action kicks off be sure to get yourselves in the mood by checking out my favourite goals of the last 20 years of World Cup football, and read my predictions for the competition.
Let me know your expectations by leaving a comment or Tweeting me @adamgray50
The final:
Brazil to beat Argentina in what will hopefully be a thriller.
How far will England get?
We will play decent, but not brilliant football in the group, before stunning Colombia in the second round. A plucky, gallant, typically English quarter final exit to Brazil will then follow.
Surprise package:
Possibly Bosnia-Herzegovina. A quarter final place in their debut World Cup isn't beyond the realms of possibility. I am really looking forward to seeing how Miralem Pjanic gets on at the top level.
Biggest disappointment:
Netherlands. Chile will beat them to the second place in Group B behind Spain. Three defeats at Euro 2012 followed by another failure in Brazil; the final of 2010 seems an awfully long time ago.
Golden Boot:
Neymar.
Most looking forward to:
Hearing the Brazilian national anthem sung before the opening game. It will be something else.
Least looking forward to:
Hearing some England fans no doubt claim the tournament has been a failure if we 'only' reach the last 16.
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
My Favourite World Cup Goals
I have watched football my whole life. The first time I was old enough to remember World Cup football was sadly watching England's infamous failed campaign to qualify for USA 94, the San Marino goal and all. It was immortalised by the terrific An Impossible Job documentary, which I urge you to watch if you haven't seen it. Since then, it has been slightly better for my country, but sadly not much better. Too many missed penalties, and not enough memorable moments (for the right reasons, anyway), but we keep coming back for more.
Ahead of the 2014 tournament in Brazil, I have attempted to compile my 20 favourite World Cup goals of those last 20 years. A few classics, a few forgotten pieces of brilliance, and the first goal I can remember where I was when I saw it, put away by an Irishman. Well, sort of.
These are in chronological order by tournament, but let me know what your favourite is, or maybe even work out the order from 1-20. Maybe I have missed a really obvious goal, or perhaps your favourite isn't on the list. Tweet me @adamgray50 or leave a comment if you agree or disagree with my choices.
USA 94:
Ray Houghton (Republic of Ireland v Italy)
Houghton controls a poor Italian header on the chest, before coolly chipping Gianluca Pagliuca from outside the box.
Gheorghe Hagi (Romania v Colombia)
Was it a cross, or was it a shot? Either way, the left foot effort completely bamboozled Cordoba in the Colombian goal.
Diego Maradona (Argentina v Greece)
This goal is more remembered for the celebration, but the tight ball control and excellent finish in limited space is worth remebering too, even if Maradona left the tournament in disgrace.
Daniel Amokachi (Nigeria v Greece)
The future Everton man takes it past four Greek defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box.
Saeed Al-Owairan (Saudi Arabia v Belgium)
The best goal of this World Cup from a man forever remembered in pub quizzes since. His impression of Maradona's second goal against England was just as good, if not better, than the original.
France 98:
Ronaldo (Brazil v Morocco)
The best player in the world at the time will sadly be more remembered for the mysterious events of the day of the final, but prior to that he showed why he was the top striker in the game with this finish.
Michael Owen (England v Argentina)
The 18-year-old announced himself to the world with this run from the halfway line and calm finish. One of England's greatest ever World Cup goals.
Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands v Argentina)
Bergkamp won his country this quarter-final with possibly the finest example of how to control a 60-yard pass and stop it dead, before keeping your head to poke home. Insanely good.
Japan and South Korea 2002:
Dario Rodriguez (Uruguay v Denmark)
Uruguay's corner is only headed away as far as Garcia, who tees up Rodriguez for a spectacular volley.
Edmilson (Brazil v Costa Rica)
A fantastic acrobatic volley, made even better when you consider that Edmilson was a defender, and this was his only goal for the Selecao.
Salif Diao (Senegal v Denmark)
Diao had a game to remember. In between committing the foul for Denmark's penalty and then getting sent off late in the game, he put the finishing touch to one of the great counter attacks.
Germany 2006:
Phillip Lahm (Germany v Costa Rica)
The opening goal of the tournament. Lahm picks the ball up on the left, before cutting inside and finding the top corner with his right foot.
Torsten Frings (Germany v Costa Rica)
Frings is teed up from a free kick, before rifling one in from fully 30 yards.
Joe Cole (England v Sweden)
The ball comes to Cole, who sets himself up on the chest, and volleys it into the corner from distance.
Maxi Rodriguez (Argentina v Mexico)
In Extra Time the game is usually either decided by a mistake or a moment of pure brilliance. You decide which this is.
Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina v Serbia and Montenegro)
Quite simply one of the best team goals of all time.
South Africa 2010:
Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa v Mexico)
The first goal of the tournament gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Carlos Tevez (Argentina v Mexico)
Tevez takes the ball past two Mexican defenders, and before they have time to recover, it's in the net thanks to a thunderbolt.
Maicon (Brazil v North Korea)
Shades of Roberto Carlos as Maicon finds the North Korea net from close range with the outside of the foot.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands v Uruguay)
The best goal of the last World Cup. van Bronckhorst picks the ball up nearly 40 yards out, and for some reason thinks it's a good idea to shoot. As Alan Partridge once said, "He must have a foot like a traction engine!"
Lets hope the Brazil World Cup can provide a few more goals to treasure.
Ahead of the 2014 tournament in Brazil, I have attempted to compile my 20 favourite World Cup goals of those last 20 years. A few classics, a few forgotten pieces of brilliance, and the first goal I can remember where I was when I saw it, put away by an Irishman. Well, sort of.
These are in chronological order by tournament, but let me know what your favourite is, or maybe even work out the order from 1-20. Maybe I have missed a really obvious goal, or perhaps your favourite isn't on the list. Tweet me @adamgray50 or leave a comment if you agree or disagree with my choices.
USA 94:
Ray Houghton (Republic of Ireland v Italy)
Houghton controls a poor Italian header on the chest, before coolly chipping Gianluca Pagliuca from outside the box.
Gheorghe Hagi (Romania v Colombia)
Was it a cross, or was it a shot? Either way, the left foot effort completely bamboozled Cordoba in the Colombian goal.
Diego Maradona (Argentina v Greece)
This goal is more remembered for the celebration, but the tight ball control and excellent finish in limited space is worth remebering too, even if Maradona left the tournament in disgrace.
Daniel Amokachi (Nigeria v Greece)
The future Everton man takes it past four Greek defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box.
Saeed Al-Owairan (Saudi Arabia v Belgium)
The best goal of this World Cup from a man forever remembered in pub quizzes since. His impression of Maradona's second goal against England was just as good, if not better, than the original.
France 98:
Ronaldo (Brazil v Morocco)
The best player in the world at the time will sadly be more remembered for the mysterious events of the day of the final, but prior to that he showed why he was the top striker in the game with this finish.
Michael Owen (England v Argentina)
The 18-year-old announced himself to the world with this run from the halfway line and calm finish. One of England's greatest ever World Cup goals.
Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands v Argentina)
Bergkamp won his country this quarter-final with possibly the finest example of how to control a 60-yard pass and stop it dead, before keeping your head to poke home. Insanely good.
Japan and South Korea 2002:
Dario Rodriguez (Uruguay v Denmark)
Uruguay's corner is only headed away as far as Garcia, who tees up Rodriguez for a spectacular volley.
Edmilson (Brazil v Costa Rica)
A fantastic acrobatic volley, made even better when you consider that Edmilson was a defender, and this was his only goal for the Selecao.
Salif Diao (Senegal v Denmark)
Diao had a game to remember. In between committing the foul for Denmark's penalty and then getting sent off late in the game, he put the finishing touch to one of the great counter attacks.
Germany 2006:
Phillip Lahm (Germany v Costa Rica)
The opening goal of the tournament. Lahm picks the ball up on the left, before cutting inside and finding the top corner with his right foot.
Torsten Frings (Germany v Costa Rica)
Frings is teed up from a free kick, before rifling one in from fully 30 yards.
Joe Cole (England v Sweden)
The ball comes to Cole, who sets himself up on the chest, and volleys it into the corner from distance.
Maxi Rodriguez (Argentina v Mexico)
In Extra Time the game is usually either decided by a mistake or a moment of pure brilliance. You decide which this is.
Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina v Serbia and Montenegro)
Quite simply one of the best team goals of all time.
South Africa 2010:
Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa v Mexico)
The first goal of the tournament gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Carlos Tevez (Argentina v Mexico)
Tevez takes the ball past two Mexican defenders, and before they have time to recover, it's in the net thanks to a thunderbolt.
Maicon (Brazil v North Korea)
Shades of Roberto Carlos as Maicon finds the North Korea net from close range with the outside of the foot.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands v Uruguay)
The best goal of the last World Cup. van Bronckhorst picks the ball up nearly 40 yards out, and for some reason thinks it's a good idea to shoot. As Alan Partridge once said, "He must have a foot like a traction engine!"
Lets hope the Brazil World Cup can provide a few more goals to treasure.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
The Behind The Goal Awards 2014
What a season it has been in the Barclays
Premier League. One of the closest title races for years has gone all the way
to the final week of the campaign, and while it should be won by Manchester
City now following Liverpool's dramatic collapse at Crystal Palace, you cannot
take it for granted the way it has gone in recent weeks. At the bottom, Cardiff
City have been relegated after just a single season in the top flight, along
with Fulham and almost certainly Norwich City. Sunderland's upturn in form has
come at exactly the right time, and Gus Poyet has got the Black Cats over the
line for another year in the Premier League.
Leicester City and Burnley will join the elite next season after romping to the automatic promotion positions in the Sky Bet Championship; the latter defying this blog's prediction of an 18th-place finish. Derby County and Queens Park Rangers' play-off positions were nailed on for most of the season, but Wigan Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion were made to sweat for theirs; the Seagulls not securing a top-six finish until stoppage time at Nottingham Forest on the last day. We await the play-offs with excitement once again.
It's also been another enjoyable year on a personal level as I have continued Behind The Goal for a second season. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my work and supporting the page.
Here are the 2nd annual Behind The Goal Awards. If you agree or disagree with any nominations or winners, let me know either on this page or on Twitter @adamgray50.
Player Of The Year:
Nominations: Wilfried Bony, Steven Gerrard, Eden Hazard, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Yaya Toure.
He has won the PFA and the Football Writers' awards, and now he has the hat trick. To score 30 goals in a season is not to be sniffed at, and the way in which he has rebuilt his reputation a year after the incident with Branislav Ivanovic is commendable.
The winner is Luis Suarez.
Goal Of The Season:
Nominations:
Pajtim Kasami (Fulham v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park)
Pablo Osvaldo (Southampton v Man City at St Mary’s)
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd v West Ham at Upton Park)
Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal v Tottenham at White Hart Lane)
Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea v Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium)
Luis Suarez (1st goal, Liverpool v Norwich at Anfield)
Alexander Tettey (Norwich v Sunderland at Carrow Road)
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal v Norwich at the Emirates)
Cardiff sacking Malky Mackay to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Arsenal signing an injured Kim Kallstrom and not a striker in January
Andre Marriner sending off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Chelsea
Leicester City and Burnley will join the elite next season after romping to the automatic promotion positions in the Sky Bet Championship; the latter defying this blog's prediction of an 18th-place finish. Derby County and Queens Park Rangers' play-off positions were nailed on for most of the season, but Wigan Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion were made to sweat for theirs; the Seagulls not securing a top-six finish until stoppage time at Nottingham Forest on the last day. We await the play-offs with excitement once again.
It's also been another enjoyable year on a personal level as I have continued Behind The Goal for a second season. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my work and supporting the page.
Here are the 2nd annual Behind The Goal Awards. If you agree or disagree with any nominations or winners, let me know either on this page or on Twitter @adamgray50.
Player Of The Year:
Nominations: Wilfried Bony, Steven Gerrard, Eden Hazard, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Yaya Toure.
He has won the PFA and the Football Writers' awards, and now he has the hat trick. To score 30 goals in a season is not to be sniffed at, and the way in which he has rebuilt his reputation a year after the incident with Branislav Ivanovic is commendable.
The winner is Luis Suarez.
Goal Of The Season:
Nominations:
Christian Benteke (Aston Villa v Norwich at Villa Park)
Graham Dorrans (WBA v Man City at the Etihad)Pajtim Kasami (Fulham v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park)
Pablo Osvaldo (Southampton v Man City at St Mary’s)
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd v West Ham at Upton Park)
Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal v Tottenham at White Hart Lane)
Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea v Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium)
Luis Suarez (1st goal, Liverpool v Norwich at Anfield)
Alexander Tettey (Norwich v Sunderland at Carrow Road)
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal v Norwich at the Emirates)
All types of goals in this
list, and any could have won, but the winner is this beauty from an early
season London derby.
Best
signing of the season:
Nominations: Wilfried
Bony,Fernandinho, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Jason Puncheon, Willian.
This award goes to a player
whose team would have been in serious relegation trouble without his signing.
To come into the Premier League and score 15 goals for a mediocre side is no
mean feat, and Swansea must be praised for taking a punt on a striker from
Dutch football.
The winner is Wilfried
Bony.
Manager
Of The Year:
Nominations: Steve Bruce,
Mark Hughes, Roberto Martinez, Manuel Pellegrini, Gus Poyet, Tony Pulis, Brendan Rodgers.
It is difficult not to give
the award to Brendan Rodgers, considering how close he has taken Liverpool to
the title, but the winner has taken his Crystal Palace team to a scarcely
believable 11th place at the time of writing. I think people forget how bad they
were under their sacked former manager Ian Holloway. They looked embarrassingly
out of their depth at this level, yet they now have the potential to establish
themselves as a tough-to beat, mid-table outfit.
The winner is Tony
Pulis.
Premier
League Rookie Of The Year:
Presented to the player
playing his debut season in the top flight.
Nominations: Wilfried Bony, Gerard Deulofeu, Christian Eriksen,
Fernandinho, Adnan Januzaj, David Marshall.
Any player that can adapt to the speed of the English game and instantly
fit in will impress me, and it is no surprise that the likes of Borussia
Dortmund are reportedly interested in his services, so for the same reasons as
Christian Benteke won it last year I shall award it to one of the best, if
still slightly underrated strikers in the league.
The winner is Wilfried Bony.
The Jose Bosingwa Award for Flop Of The Year:
Named in honour of its first winner, whose season was so bad it
deserves permanent recognition.
Nominations: Jozy Altidore,
Andreas Cornelius, Marouane Fellaini, Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Ricky van
Wolfswinkel.
These players have either
flattered to decieve (Altidore), failed to live up to a big price tag or
reputation (Lamela, Soldado), sent back to their former club (Cornelius), or
just been plain rubbish (van Wolfswinkel). But the winner sums up his team's
dreadful season on and off the pitch. There's no way he's good enough to play
for Manchester United.
The winner is Marouane
Fellaini.
Boob of the Year:
Nominations:
Manchester United appointing David Moyes
Tottenham wasting the Gareth Bale moneyCardiff sacking Malky Mackay to appoint Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Arsenal signing an injured Kim Kallstrom and not a striker in January
Andre Marriner sending off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Chelsea
The winner is Manchester United appointing David Moyes.
Little explanation necessary.
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
RIP Tiki Taka
- R.I.P.
- N.B.—The body will be cremated and the
- ashes taken to Madrid.
Thursday, 24 April 2014
TWIF 2.06: Champions elect; Champions League; Championship
This Week In Football, it's all about the champions. There was another story too, but you're probably sick of reading about that already!
Chelsea right to rest the starters
Chelsea's shock Barclays Premier League defeat to Sunderland this past Saturday night has virtually handed the championship on a plate to Liverpool ahead of the teams' clash at Anfield on Sunday. The game, which could have been a title decider, comes three days before Chelsea's Champions League semi final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Jose Mourinho's threat to rest his starters for the Liverpool game has been met with some criticism, but in my opinion, he would be stupid not to keep what is left of his first team fit for Europe. Even if the Blues do beat Brendan Rodgers' champions-elect at the weekend, Liverpool have to drop points somewhere else not to win the title, and Mourinho knows it. It's a shame that Chelsea feel they can't win the trophy, and that the closest title race for years has become a slight anti-climax, but what would be a bigger shame is for their Champions League challenge to fizzle out so close to the final in Lisbon having chased a prize they are unlikely to win anyway.
Champions League round up
Mourinho has always faced criticism for his defensive approaches to big games, but is he bothered? Not a bit. Should he be? If Chelsea win on Wednesday, he'll just show you the way to the final. The goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon arguably puts the Blues in the ascendancy, but they will be desperate not to concede an away goal which would leave them needing to score two. Atletico Madrid are more than capable of scoring of course, but I do think Chelsea have enough to go through even if they fail to keep a clean sheet.
Bayern Munich's grip on the European Cup has slipped somewhat following their 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid, but Pep Guardiola will be very thankful that his charges only conceded the one goal. Despite dominating possession, they didn't do enough with the ball and failed to create enough clear-cut chances, and those they did have were wasted. Carlo Ancelotti's game plan would have been to exploit Bayern down their right hand side on the counter attack, and that is exactly how the goal from Karim Benzema came about. It wasn't until the arrival in the second half of Javi Martinez, with Philipp Lahm moving to right back, that Bayern were able to cope with Real without the ball. Despite the off-day, Bayern will still fancy their chances of going through, but if they allow Fabio Coentrao and Cristiano Ronaldo the sort of space they had at the Bernabeu, they will do well to keep another clean sheet. It's great though that we have absolutley no idea what the final will be though even now.
Champions!
Congratulations to Leicester City, who finally secured the Sky Bet Championship title this week. They have been the best team in the division by a long way, and it goes to show what can happen if a board remain patient with a manager and a young team. They have swept all before them and will deserve the milestone of 100 points should they reach it in their last two games. They couldn't beat Forest though, could they? :)
Chelsea right to rest the starters
Chelsea's shock Barclays Premier League defeat to Sunderland this past Saturday night has virtually handed the championship on a plate to Liverpool ahead of the teams' clash at Anfield on Sunday. The game, which could have been a title decider, comes three days before Chelsea's Champions League semi final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Jose Mourinho's threat to rest his starters for the Liverpool game has been met with some criticism, but in my opinion, he would be stupid not to keep what is left of his first team fit for Europe. Even if the Blues do beat Brendan Rodgers' champions-elect at the weekend, Liverpool have to drop points somewhere else not to win the title, and Mourinho knows it. It's a shame that Chelsea feel they can't win the trophy, and that the closest title race for years has become a slight anti-climax, but what would be a bigger shame is for their Champions League challenge to fizzle out so close to the final in Lisbon having chased a prize they are unlikely to win anyway.
Champions League round up
Mourinho has always faced criticism for his defensive approaches to big games, but is he bothered? Not a bit. Should he be? If Chelsea win on Wednesday, he'll just show you the way to the final. The goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon arguably puts the Blues in the ascendancy, but they will be desperate not to concede an away goal which would leave them needing to score two. Atletico Madrid are more than capable of scoring of course, but I do think Chelsea have enough to go through even if they fail to keep a clean sheet.
Bayern Munich's grip on the European Cup has slipped somewhat following their 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid, but Pep Guardiola will be very thankful that his charges only conceded the one goal. Despite dominating possession, they didn't do enough with the ball and failed to create enough clear-cut chances, and those they did have were wasted. Carlo Ancelotti's game plan would have been to exploit Bayern down their right hand side on the counter attack, and that is exactly how the goal from Karim Benzema came about. It wasn't until the arrival in the second half of Javi Martinez, with Philipp Lahm moving to right back, that Bayern were able to cope with Real without the ball. Despite the off-day, Bayern will still fancy their chances of going through, but if they allow Fabio Coentrao and Cristiano Ronaldo the sort of space they had at the Bernabeu, they will do well to keep another clean sheet. It's great though that we have absolutley no idea what the final will be though even now.
Champions!
Congratulations to Leicester City, who finally secured the Sky Bet Championship title this week. They have been the best team in the division by a long way, and it goes to show what can happen if a board remain patient with a manager and a young team. They have swept all before them and will deserve the milestone of 100 points should they reach it in their last two games. They couldn't beat Forest though, could they? :)
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Two cup finals in the Premier League
This weekend sees the semi-finals of the FA Cup with Budweiser. Arsenal face holders Wigan Athletic and Hull City play Sheffield United, but in the Barclays Premier League, there are two cup finals too. One will probably decide a relegation place; the other will almost certainly hand the league title to the winners.
Norwich City travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday to play Fulham with the losers facing a near-impossible task to avoid going down, almost certainly alongside Cardiff City and Sunderland, who look doomed already. With five games to go, the Canaries hit the panic button and parted company with boss Chris Hughton. Despite being five points clear of Fulham, who occupy the third relegation place, the board have acted now, given the team's last four games are against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. It is not inconceivable that Norwich will lose all four. Defeat at the Cottage will leave Fulham two points behind Norwich, and assuming that Norwich do lose all four against the league's big guns, Felix Magath's charges will only need one more win from fixtures against Tottenham, Hull City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace to move above the side from Carrow Road. Magath has a proven track record for pulling teams out of trouble, and no doubt will smell blood coming from a Canaries team who look short of confidence, are out of form and who have just appointed a manager - Neil Adams - with no Premier League experience. Norwich went to Craven Cottage on the final day in 2005 needing a win to stay up. They lost 6-0 and were relegated. The omens are not good, and I think Fulham will add to their growing belief with another win to follow up their success at Villa Park last week.
On Sunday afternoon Liverpool play host to Manchester City in what looks for all the world like a title decider. The Reds are on a run of nine consecutive victories, and five more will earn them their first ever Premier League title, and their 19th in English top flight football. Standing in their way is a City side who have stuttered of late, just weeks after seemingly beginning to run away with the league. Despite this, Manuel Pellegrini still has the bookies' favourites in a strong position; as well as Liverpool, they also know that maximum points from their remaining matches will win them their second championship in three years. Brendan Rodgers has already ramped up the pressure, claiming that the visitors will go into Sunday lunchtime's game as favourites. The Kop boss has said all along that Liverpool aren't in this title race. He may as well keep saying it, because it isn't doing his players much harm at the moment. The timing feels right for the home side to take the bull by the horns and go and win this title. This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and Anfield will be an emotional setting for a game which will kick off seven minutes late as part of the league-wide commemorations of the tragedy. What better way to remember the 96 who lost their lives that day than to win the one piece of silverware that has eluded them since 1990. Mind you, Manchester City will have something to say about that. Who do I think will win the game? I don't know, but I'll have a lot of fun finding out!
Norwich City travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday to play Fulham with the losers facing a near-impossible task to avoid going down, almost certainly alongside Cardiff City and Sunderland, who look doomed already. With five games to go, the Canaries hit the panic button and parted company with boss Chris Hughton. Despite being five points clear of Fulham, who occupy the third relegation place, the board have acted now, given the team's last four games are against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. It is not inconceivable that Norwich will lose all four. Defeat at the Cottage will leave Fulham two points behind Norwich, and assuming that Norwich do lose all four against the league's big guns, Felix Magath's charges will only need one more win from fixtures against Tottenham, Hull City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace to move above the side from Carrow Road. Magath has a proven track record for pulling teams out of trouble, and no doubt will smell blood coming from a Canaries team who look short of confidence, are out of form and who have just appointed a manager - Neil Adams - with no Premier League experience. Norwich went to Craven Cottage on the final day in 2005 needing a win to stay up. They lost 6-0 and were relegated. The omens are not good, and I think Fulham will add to their growing belief with another win to follow up their success at Villa Park last week.
On Sunday afternoon Liverpool play host to Manchester City in what looks for all the world like a title decider. The Reds are on a run of nine consecutive victories, and five more will earn them their first ever Premier League title, and their 19th in English top flight football. Standing in their way is a City side who have stuttered of late, just weeks after seemingly beginning to run away with the league. Despite this, Manuel Pellegrini still has the bookies' favourites in a strong position; as well as Liverpool, they also know that maximum points from their remaining matches will win them their second championship in three years. Brendan Rodgers has already ramped up the pressure, claiming that the visitors will go into Sunday lunchtime's game as favourites. The Kop boss has said all along that Liverpool aren't in this title race. He may as well keep saying it, because it isn't doing his players much harm at the moment. The timing feels right for the home side to take the bull by the horns and go and win this title. This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and Anfield will be an emotional setting for a game which will kick off seven minutes late as part of the league-wide commemorations of the tragedy. What better way to remember the 96 who lost their lives that day than to win the one piece of silverware that has eluded them since 1990. Mind you, Manchester City will have something to say about that. Who do I think will win the game? I don't know, but I'll have a lot of fun finding out!
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
TWIF 2.05: Moyes and Davies under Derby day pressure
This Week In Football I look at two managers facing battles to save their jobs following, or ahead of, derby day fixtures.
Manchester United's 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool was a shocking new low in what has been a horrendous season for the Barclays Premier League champions. Shocking in that Liverpool only managed to score three goals. Two penalties from captain Steven Gerrard and a goal from Luis Suarez gave Brendan Rodgers' side an unbelievably easy victory. Liverpool would have been disappointed it wasn't six or seven. What would have hurt the home fans the most would have been the players' lack of urgency, fight, and ultimately discipline. To concede three penalties is pretty shameful, and to be honest, referee Mark Clattenburg could, maybe even should, have given Liverpool five. United were getting overrun in midfield; it looked like 12 men against ten at times. Juan Mata was out of position again. If you don't play him in the No.10 role, you may as well put him in goal. The gulf between the two old rivals was apparent for all to see, and it proved that David Moyes, despite his defiance in press conferences before and since, is on borrowed time at Old Trafford. If United are knocked out of the Champions League by Olympiacos and then lose at home to Manchester City in the Premier League, I am reasonably confident that the United hierarchy will act. We all expected a transitional season, but 7th in the table is an absolute failure.
Speaking of managers who may be up against it, Billy Davies is allegedly facing a battle to hang on to the Nottingham Forest hot seat after a poor run of results and an FA charge, which has brought a touchline ban, subject to appeal. It gives me no pleasure as a fan of his and of the club to see his position brought under threat by an increasing band of supporters who have had enough of his antics and percieved lack of tactical nouse. In all fairness, find me another team in the Sky Bet Championship who wouldn't struggle to maintain a good run of results with almost their entire starting XI out with not insignificant injuries. The Billy Out Brigade will point to the fact that the club is in no better position now than a year ago, when they ultimately missed out on a play-off place on the final day, but he needs to be given the chance to see out the season. If Davies isn't the manager, who will be? Last time he left, he was followed by Steve McClaren, Steve Cotterill, Sean O'Driscoll and Alex McLeish, a glorious period in the club's history it wasn't. On Saturday Forest travel to the iPro Stadium to face local rivals Derby County. Needless to say, the Reds fans aren't all that confident, illustrated by their struggle to sell out their ticket allocation for the match. Following the reverse fixture at the City Ground in September in which Forest won 1-0, Derby sacked Nigel Clough. I am just hoping that the roles aren't reversed on Saturday afternoon.
Manchester United's 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool was a shocking new low in what has been a horrendous season for the Barclays Premier League champions. Shocking in that Liverpool only managed to score three goals. Two penalties from captain Steven Gerrard and a goal from Luis Suarez gave Brendan Rodgers' side an unbelievably easy victory. Liverpool would have been disappointed it wasn't six or seven. What would have hurt the home fans the most would have been the players' lack of urgency, fight, and ultimately discipline. To concede three penalties is pretty shameful, and to be honest, referee Mark Clattenburg could, maybe even should, have given Liverpool five. United were getting overrun in midfield; it looked like 12 men against ten at times. Juan Mata was out of position again. If you don't play him in the No.10 role, you may as well put him in goal. The gulf between the two old rivals was apparent for all to see, and it proved that David Moyes, despite his defiance in press conferences before and since, is on borrowed time at Old Trafford. If United are knocked out of the Champions League by Olympiacos and then lose at home to Manchester City in the Premier League, I am reasonably confident that the United hierarchy will act. We all expected a transitional season, but 7th in the table is an absolute failure.
Speaking of managers who may be up against it, Billy Davies is allegedly facing a battle to hang on to the Nottingham Forest hot seat after a poor run of results and an FA charge, which has brought a touchline ban, subject to appeal. It gives me no pleasure as a fan of his and of the club to see his position brought under threat by an increasing band of supporters who have had enough of his antics and percieved lack of tactical nouse. In all fairness, find me another team in the Sky Bet Championship who wouldn't struggle to maintain a good run of results with almost their entire starting XI out with not insignificant injuries. The Billy Out Brigade will point to the fact that the club is in no better position now than a year ago, when they ultimately missed out on a play-off place on the final day, but he needs to be given the chance to see out the season. If Davies isn't the manager, who will be? Last time he left, he was followed by Steve McClaren, Steve Cotterill, Sean O'Driscoll and Alex McLeish, a glorious period in the club's history it wasn't. On Saturday Forest travel to the iPro Stadium to face local rivals Derby County. Needless to say, the Reds fans aren't all that confident, illustrated by their struggle to sell out their ticket allocation for the match. Following the reverse fixture at the City Ground in September in which Forest won 1-0, Derby sacked Nigel Clough. I am just hoping that the roles aren't reversed on Saturday afternoon.
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