Rob, Rambling about Football

I don’t know why we don’t see free-kick routines...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:34:09 +0100

I don’t know why we don’t see free-kick routines like this more often. Everyone’s expecting direct shots on goal, so anything different can be at a massive advantage.

From Spain U21s v Poland U21s this weekend, via The Spoiler

Annoyingly, I’m missing the first two Arsenal home games of the season, as a mate has...

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:11:29 +0100

Annoyingly, I’m missing the first two Arsenal home games of the season, as a mate has scheduled his stag do this weekend, and his wedding on the weekend of the next one. I mean, really, who has a wedding during the football season?!

I’ve sold my tickets for those games to the guy who sits behind me, which is handy as it funds (some of) the drinking on the stag do, but if we don’t get a home game in either the 3rd round of the League Cup or in the first Champions League group game, then I won’t see a match at the Emirates until 25th September.

And even that’s touch and go: I land back from a holiday just before 2pm at Gatwick, and will then have to get up to north London for a 3pm kick-off. If that flight’s delayed, I’m screwed, and it’ll be mid-October before my first game.

Barely worth having the season ticket!

So, what can we learn from the first weekend of the Premier League season? From an Arsenal...

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:07:43 +0100

So, what can we learn from the first weekend of the Premier League season?

From an Arsenal perspective, there’s good news and bad news. Firstly, Chamakh looks like he’ll be a very good signing. He’s willing to mix it up with the defenders physically, and is better than Bendtner in that he’s actually able to control the ball without it bouncing awkwardly off of a shin or a knee. Even during the brief period when Van Persie and Chamakh were on the pitch together, they worked well, with Chamakh’s presence enabling RvP to just drop off a little and try to find some space.

I was similarly impressed by Koscielny, the new centre-back. He’s quicker than I expected, and looks OK in the air. Hopefully he’ll form a good partnership with Vermaelen sooner rather than later. Oh, and harshly done by with the red card, I thought.

The bad news concerns Arsenal’s lack of penetration once more. Despite playing against 10 men for half of the game, and dominating possession, we only rarely threatened the Liverpool goal. We still lack a killer pass, and there didn’t seem to be too much willingness to shoot from distance.

Look at one of Chelsea’s goals which had a big deflection: if you don’t shoot you don’t get lucky. It’s harder to get a goalbound deflection when you’re playing 5-yard sideways passes…

Speaking of Chelsea, it’s a little tiresome to see teams roll over so easily against them. Fine, you’re probably going to get beaten, and it’ll probably be 2 or 3-0. But don’t just lay down and give them 6, 7, or 8 goals, for crying out loud. Yes, you could say it’s Chelsea being relentless in their attacking, but for me it’s a lack of fight from the opposition.

Chelsea looked impressive, again, and Manchester United eventually got going against a pretty poor Newcastle team. I still think both are very reliant on their centre-forwards, and Arsenal will be competitive in the league with them again this year.

Whether we can compete during the 90 minutes against each team is a different story. They seem to have figured us out, but hopefully our defence will be better this season. We definitely need a goalkeeper though, and I’d like to see Shay Given arrive.

That’s more likely now that he’s no longer the first-choice at Man City, who flattered to deceive in their first game. I thought Tottenham looked very good, although that has been tempered somewhat by their performance last night, especially defensively. Bale looks like he’s picked up where he’s left off though.

City’s defence seems equally porous, which is odd considering the number of defensive midfielders they deployed on the pitch. Up front, the Spanish winger Silva looks fantastic, especially centrally. Man City are going to be one of those teams that wins games 3-2 or 4-3 rather than 1-0.

Elsewhere, Wigan looked awful, West Ham too. Despite Blackpool’s win, I expect them to be relegated, joined by Wigan and one of the two clubs with West in their name. Newcastle, Wolves, Stoke and Birmingham will stay up by virtue of not being as bad as those three, even if they will get a thumping at some of the bigger teams.

That’s the first weekend done and dusted, only another 37 games to go!

If Barca should best Inter again on the way to the final, what do you rate Messi's chances of topping Puskas' 4 goals from the 1960 final against Frankfurt?

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:13:45 +0100

Firstly, although it was painful to watch from an Arsenal perspective, I’m so pleased that tonight I was able to see one of the world’s best players at the absolute top of his game. He was on a different planet, footballing-wise, to everyone else on that pitch.

Arsenal didn’t lose to Barcelona; we lost to Messi.

As far as his goalscoring exploits go, that’s four hattricks in 2010 for him already, which is just phenomenal. It was mentioned in commentary that last season he was part of a goal-scoring trio (Messi, Eto’o and Henry), but this year he is pretty much doing all of the scoring himself. He’s carrying that team, and he’s doing bloody amazingly well at it.

Barcelona are a class apart from anyone else right now, and Messi is absolutely outstanding within that team. If anyone playing this season is capable of making it into the list of all-time greats, it’s Messi. He already deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Maradona, Pele, Puskas and Beckenbauer, and that’s at the age of 22.

Ronald-who?

Inspired by last night’s Match Of The Day 2’s...

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:22:46 +0000

Inspired by last night’s Match Of The Day 2’s forecasts for the rest of the season, I’ve just had a run-through the BBC’s Premier League Predictor to see where the trophy would end up if my gut feelings for games play out.

Rather predictably, Arsenal win the league.

Let me explain: I genuinely, genuinely think that Arsenal can win all seven games between now and the end of the season. Yes, we’ve got a couple of tough games in there (Tottenham away, Man City at home), but I think the belief and the ability we have will be enough to get us through every match. Look at the amount of late goals we’ve been scoring recently: that’s a sign of the attitude we’re playing with.

And it looks like we’ll need to win every game, if my predictions are correct. I’ve only got Man Utd dropping points away at Blackburn and at Man City, which leaves things very tight come the last weekend. I hope they drop more, but can’t see it happening.

With Chelsea, however, I think they’ve peaked. They’ll lose at Old Trafford, and Liverpool should get at least a draw at Anfield, if not all three points. The FA Cup remains their best bet, to my mind. With any luck, the rot will set in on Wednesday night at Portsmouth.

I’ve got Man City cementing fourth position, and Liverpool just about scraping into fifth, unfortunately. Down at the bottom, it’s Burnley, Portsmouth, and Hull going down. No surprises there.

As it happens, I’ve got Portsmouth having a late-season rally, and they’d stay up if it weren’t for the 9-point deduction. Que sera…

Tomorrow sees Wayne Bridge and John Terry on the same pitch for the first time since all of the...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:47:16 +0000

Tomorrow sees Wayne Bridge and John Terry on the same pitch for the first time since all of the revelations came out about Terry and Bridge’s ex. It’s going to be fun to watch, and there are a few things you should be looking out for:

In the pre-match build-up, Sky to talk endlessly about the two coming face-to-face for the first time.
Or, Sky failing entirely to mention the elephant in the room.
In the tunnel, Bridge choosing to stand at the back of his team, as far away from Terry as possible.
The camera to linger on Bridge and Terry during the pre-match handshake.
I actually think Bridge will refuse to shake his hand, and give him a proper daggers look.
The first tackle between the two to be a foul, and to result in a melee of sorts.
Bridge to get injured (not necessarily by Terry).
Terry to get sent off (not necessarily for fouling Bridge, although that would be nice for the storyline).
Drogba to writhe around on the floor after being in the vicinity of Bridge for the first time.

As a follow up to my (anonymous) Jensen question, which do you think was the bigger shock: Denmark '92 or Greece '04? Furthermore, with the increase of the Euro field from 16 to 24 beginning in 2016 do you think that will help the minnows cause towards winning again or simply allow bigger nations that screwed up in qualifying get a reprieve? (Hello England circa 2008)

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:02:07 +0000

Denmark’s victory in 1992 was the stuff a screenwriter dreams of. Originally they didn’t qualify, and only got into the tournament when Yugoslavia descended into civil war and were banned. They then proceeded to win the whole tournament, to the surprise of pretty much everyone.

In 2004, when Greece won it, it was equally unexpected, but not quite so dramatic or poetic in nature. They qualified relatively easily, if memory serves, and there wasn’t as much of an outsider element to it. Admittedly, nobody anticipated them winning the tournament, but it was different from ‘92.

Maybe Greece was a bigger surprise because they didn’t really have any big names or outstanding players. It was a victory for tactics over superstars, even if it was a bit dull to watch (in 6 matches, they only scored more than one goal once).

Denmark were exciting though, with Laudrup up front and Jensen in the middle. Having a keeper of Schmeichel’s quality behind you probably gives you that licence…

I’d say that Denmark was the bigger shock, purely because of their late entry to the tournament.

On your second question, I was surprised to see that Euro ‘92 only had 8 teams in it. It’s amazing that in the space of 6 tournaments that number has trebled! Denmark only had to play 5 matches to win the tournament, whereas 2016’s winners will have to play 7.

It’s a stupid format too: 6 groups of 4, from which the top 2 of each group go through, and the 3 best third-placed teams, giving 16 in a knock-out stage. What is the POINT of the group stages if 75% of the teams go through?!

It seems like it will just allow a few minnows to play 3 more matches before getting the boot out of the competition, rather than failing to qualify. And it’ll make the tournament a lot longer too: 51 matches instead of the current 31. More of a strain on the hosts (France, Italy or Turkey).

Thinking about qualification for the tournament, I’m assuming that they’ll be staying with the 9 groups format. One host will qualify automatically, leaving 23 teams. So that’s the top 2 of each group going through, and then playoffs for the 3rd-place teams and the best 4th-placed team?

So you can finish 4th in your group and still qualify? Wow.

It’s basically guaranteeing qualification for the bigger countries, and for most of the slightly smaller ones (Norway, Belgium, etc). UEFA are framing it as being great for the minnows, but in fact it takes a lot of pressure off the bigger teams.

I find it quite amusing that there’s a discrepancy in the FIFA rules regarding player...

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:57:59 +0000

I find it quite amusing that there’s a discrepancy in the FIFA rules regarding player ownership and club ownership. A player can only play for two teams during one football season, according to FIFA rules (PDF), which has caused some problems for a few players who have been loaned out and what-not during the autumn, and then can’t be sold in the January transfer window.

But when it comes to club ownership, these rules are completely non-applicable. Portsmouth are now on their fourth different owner (fourth!) this season, after the buyout of the previous owners’ shares by one of their creditors.

So the Portsmouth players are now theoretically playing for a fourth different company/person that pays their wages, which surely must be in conflict with the above rule?

It seems that there is one rule regarding players (i.e. employees), and another regarding owners (i.e. employers), which to my mind goes against a whole number of laws regarding employment and freedom of movement for workers…

How do you feel about John Terry staying on as the England captain considering his affair?
Also does the Sports Minister hassling the FA constitute the same interference that got Togo banned for two African Nations tournaments?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:43:00 +0000

I think the John Terry situation is quite funny, really, but also really troubling in a freedom of the press situation. I write enough on my usual blog about the chilling effects of injunctions and the like, so I’ll leave that side of things for that blog.

As much as I detest Chelsea, I have to admit that Terry is a born leader, and that he is the most natural person to take on the captaincy role for England. He’s an absolute shoe-in to start every game, and there’s not too many other players we can say that about.

And the other potential England captains each have their own transgressions to deal with: Gerrard’s assault trial; Rooney’s temper and inclination to get sent off; Lampard’s playboy nature; Ashley Cole’s money-grabbing cunt-like personality. Would you prefer any of those? And nobody else is really a definite in the team every week, so you can’t pick them.

I really don’t give a crap about his alleged affair and infidelity with Wayne Bridge’s bird, in relation to his performance and status as England captain. If he’s a leader on the pitch, and commands respect from his teammates, that will do for me.

Bearing in mind that past England captains include Beckham (adulterer, corporate sell-out, got sent off in a huge match), Adams (convicted drunk-driver, spent time in prison), Shearer (elbow-tastic, dirty player), and so on, Terry’s not the worst.

On the second question, it should be noted that we don’t have a Sports Minister, per se. He’s actually the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, which always struck me as an odd combination.

The only time that sport ever seems to cross his lips is when there’s some media headlines and column inches to be made. He’s not even in charge of the Olympics! We have a separate minister for that…

And it’s not as if he’s making an original statement. He’s merely parroting whatever it is that Middle England wants to hear, in an effort to score political points.

Believe it or not, but the government has no say over who is England captain, or in fact who represents any of the home countries at whatever sport, be it professional or amateur. These sports run themselves, and have their own rules for everything from grass roots up to the national teams, and by and large they operate pretty effectively.

The government can merely attempt to influence this from the outside, looking in. They are merely a voice, and as I said above, it’s a politically-loaded voice at that. We can safely ignore it.

On the Togo issue, that’s a fucking disgraceful decision. They’re punishing the team for being the victim of an attack. How does that work?!

Yes, the team should’ve followed the organisers’ rules regarding flying to games, but surely an African football body should realise that costs are often at a premium nowadays. Many countries simply can’t afford that kind of outlay, and to ban them for the next two tournaments is a ridiculous decision.

Ask me anything (about football)

Did you see Jensen score?

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:59:00 +0000

If only, if only! I remember it happening, but I wasn’t there, unfortunately.

Back story: John Jensen was a Danish midfielder that Arsenal signed in the early 1990s. At his old club, and for the national team, he was known as a goal-scorer from the middle of midfield, but he didn’t live up to that reputation whilst at Arsenal.

He used to shoot really often, but it would never go in. It became a joke, eventually, and I think it was something like 130 games into his Arsenal career before he finally scored. Away at QPR, if memory serves.

This moment entered into Arsenal folklore, and immediately there were t-shirts made up with the slogan “I was there when Jensen scored”. I think I’m right in saying that they sold many, many more t-shirts than the actual number of fans on the night…

Ask me anything (about football)

American Landon Donovan scored his first Premier League goal yesterday. I don't expect that it was a big deal, he's just some guy, but it's still pretty neat. Is Everton even a good team?

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:37:00 +0000

I saw the goal this morning, and it was a hell of a deflection. They all count though! Donovan’s debut for Everton came against Arsenal, actually, and he played pretty well. Should be a useful player to have in the squad for the second-half of the season.

Everton are a pretty good team, middling to fair. A couple of years ago, they were very good, and pushing for a top-four finish, but the wheels have come off a little since then. They had a bad start this season, but are steadily recovering.

They’ve got some good players in their squad (Cahill and Fellaini spring to mind), and an excellent manager, so they’re underperforming, really.

Ask me anything (about football)

Manchester United debt hits £716m

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:12:03 +0000

Manchester United debt hits £716m :

I find it amazing that Utd can run up these eye-watering debts, because banks are willing to support them based on the name/brand status, and that the football authorities turn a blind eye to the sheer level of debt in which they find themselves.

And yet teams lower down in the leagues get huge point deductions and are effectively crippled because of debts of a mere (in the grand scheme of things) £250,000 or so. Yes, these clubs got themselves into debt and problems, but all it takes is the withdrawal of backing from either a bank or the multimillionaire owner and the club goes tits up.

Can you imagine what would happen if the banks behind Man Utd starting calling in their debts, rather than just accepting interest payments? Utd would be fucked, absolutely fucked.

And they’re not alone in running up massive debts, or relying on the never-ending pockets of their owners. To varying degrees, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, practically every big team, is in the same boat.

I like to think that Arsenal’s debt is a little more structured, having been taken on voluntarily in order to fund the stadium move, and with a solid plan regarding paying it off, but we’re as equally enslaved to the banks as anyone else.

Yet we see clubs, famous clubs with lots of history, go to the wall. Luton Town got screwed over, and now that area has no league football team. Teams like Southampton, Chester, Bradford, all of them got points deductions for relatively small financial issues.

It’s a shame that the hypocrisy is so brazen, it really is.

Liverpool are a joke right now

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:42:09 +0000

Liverpool’s home matches have now been moved from Sky Sports to the Gay Adult Channel. Apparently the sight of 11 arseholes being hammered for 90 minutes every week was far too explicit for a sports channel.

Cheers to a mate for sending me that one.

Ask me anything

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:06:31 +0000

Ask me anything

Player of the season so far?

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:04:09 +0000

afootballreport asked ‘Who has been Arsenal’s Player of the Year so far? For me, it would have definitely been RvP, but now I’m not sure.’

OK, this was originally asked on my other blog, but here seems a better place to answer.

For me, it’s got to be Alex Song. He’s been absolutely fantastic in the defensive midfield role, and has really grown into it this year. You can see just how much he dominates that part of the pitch, breaking up attacks and intercepting passes. His positional sense is just tremendous.

He’s also very good with the ball at his feet, unlike other players who do the Makelele role, including Makelele himself. Song is a lot more confident taking the ball on and going past players, surging into the box ahead of the other midfielders.

But he’s equally aware of times when one of the centre-backs goes past him, just dropping into the middle of defence when Gallas or Vermaelen heads upfield momentarily. Gilberto used to do the same thing, effortlessly, and it’s a sign of footballing intelligence to recognise the need to cover gaps when they arise.

He’s also a very physical player, which is something we sorely lack in midfield. He adds a bit of grunt and an ability to compete against teams which come to kick us off the park.

I should also add that Gallas has been immaculate this season. His partnership with Vermaelen seems to be one that just works.

A little about me

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:21:04 +0000

First things first: I’m an Arsenal fan, and have been for nearly 20 years. I have a season ticket, and go to pretty much every home game. I also watch most away games on TV or on the web. I read a couple of Arsenal blogs, and Arsenal-related news is what I look for in newspapers first.

I’ve no bones about letting this influence my writing here, but this isn’t an Arsenal blog. Go read Arseblog or the like if you want that.

I intend to write about anything that comes to mind football-wise, be it thoughts on the last Arsenal game, transfer rumours, laughing at other teams’ misfortunes (I’m looking at you, red half of Merseyside) and just about everything connected with the beautiful game.

I’m not one of those people that harks back to the “good ole days” of players earning a pittance and every game kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday. I love the amount of coverage that football gets nowadays, on TV and in other media. I think it’s added something to football as a whole, even if the tabloid lies when it comes to transfer rumours leave a little something to be desired…

If you like it, let me know on Twitter or leave a comment (when I get that up and running).

Introducing...

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:09:00 +0000

I think about, read about, talk about, and watch football far too much, and I feel that I could write about it endlessly too. I’m pretty damn opinionated about a lot of what happens in and around football, and am also one of those people that can laugh at how serious football takes itself.

I don’t want to turn my normal blog into a football-heavy one, because it is still only a small part of me, and of what interests me, so I’m starting a new blog on the side for all of my football-related thoughts and ramblings. Aptly enough, I’m calling it “Rob, Rambling about Football”.

If you like football, or even if you don’t, yet want understand the obsession, check it out.

Rob, Rambling about Football

I don’t know why we don’t see free-kick routines...

Annoyingly, I’m missing the first two Arsenal home games of the season, as a mate has...

So, what can we learn from the first weekend of the Premier League season? From an Arsenal...

If Barca should best Inter again on the way to the final, what do you rate Messi's chances of topping Puskas' 4 goals from the 1960 final against Frankfurt?

Inspired by last night’s Match Of The Day 2’s...

Tomorrow sees Wayne Bridge and John Terry on the same pitch for the first time since all of the...

I find it quite amusing that there’s a discrepancy in the FIFA rules regarding player...

How do you feel about John Terry staying on as the England captain considering his affair? Also does the Sports Minister hassling the FA constitute the same interference that got Togo banned for two African Nations tournaments?

Did you see Jensen score?

American Landon Donovan scored his first Premier League goal yesterday. I don't expect that it was a big deal, he's just some guy, but it's still pretty neat. Is Everton even a good team?

Manchester United debt hits £716m

Liverpool are a joke right now

Ask me anything

Player of the season so far?

A little about me

Introducing...

How do you feel about John Terry staying on as the England captain considering his affair?
Also does the Sports Minister hassling the FA constitute the same interference that got Togo banned for two African Nations tournaments?