Back of the Net!

The big news of the day isn’t the woeful one-all draw between Chelsea and Tottenham, and not the disappointing Liverpool being held nil-nil at Aston Villa.

Fabio Capello has picked his first World Cup qualifier squad - and there is no Michael Owen.

With two away games against Andorra next Saturday evening and Croatia the following Wednesday, Capello has dropped England’s most prolific goalscorer of the last 18 years.

It’s a remarkable move, and one that may well hasten Michael Owen’s departure from Newcastle United before the transfer deadline on Monday evening.

The rest of the England squad is pretty much as you were - save for the shock inclusion of Fulham’s Jimmy Bullard. The 29 year old was facing the end of his career two years ago following a cruciate ligament knee injury, and his place in the squad comes courtesy of Steven Gerrard’s withdrawal due to an operation.

England’s form under Capello hasn’t been anything to write home about, and the loss of Owen and Gerrard doesn’t give the expectant England fans anything to be happy about…

England squad to play Andorra (September 6th) and Croatia (September 10th):
Robinson (Blackburn), James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham); Lescott (Everton), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea), Lampard (Chelsea), Bullard (Fulham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Downing (Middlesbrough), Bentley (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham); Walcott (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth), Heskey (Wigan).

Anyone who ever had any doubt on the quality and entertainment factor of the English Premier League should be eating their words by now following an action packed Saturday of football which didn’t even feature Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool.

With several fixtures due to be played on Sunday, however, Arsenal have made clear that while they may not be the team they once were, they can certainly compete at this stage of the season as they easily dispatched a constantly in transition Newcastle United team 3-0.  Two first half goals from Robin Van Persie helped the home side on their way against the travelling Geordies who really don’t seem to be able to get any luck either on the pitch or behind the scenes.

Bolton and West Brom were the only teams who failed to tally any goals, drawing 0-0 and giving West Bromwich Albion their first point of what looks like a tough season for them.  All the action was taking place Continue Reading »

The Domestic calendar will be in full swing when the UEFA Cup kicks off on September 18^th, as Europe’s not-quite-so-elite meet in the two-legged cup knockout competition.

Aiming for a place in the final at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium - home ground of Turkish club Fenerbahce - on 20 May are such illustrious European club football names as Italian side Sampdoria, Portuguese Benfica, Dutch club Ajax, and England’s Everton as well as a raft of newcomers including Harry Redknapp’s FA Cup winning Portsmouth FC.

National and club pride is at stake in the UEFA Cup, with the 40 winners of this stage entering one of 8 group tables in the next stage of the competition from which 3 top teams of each group enter a final dramatic knockout phase.

Given the success of British clubs over the last few years, there’s no reason not to bet against the wily Harry Redknapp and his Pompey Boys - however Juande Ramos of Tottenham Hotspur has proved himself handy in the competition in the past managing Sevilla to consecutive UEFA Cup titles in 2006 and 2007.

UEFA Cup first-round draw in full:

Continue Reading »

David Beckham might have trademark freekicks and pinpoint long passes - but he also knows how to score a goal from his own half of the pitch…

That’s 70 yards - final score in this LA Galaxy vs Kansas City Wizards on May 24th 2008 was 3-1 to Galaxy.

On Saturday 17th August 1996, a young David Beckham playing for Manchester Untited put the ball past Wimbledon FC (now MK Dons) keeper Tim Flowers… from behind the halfway line:

Inter Milan begin defence of their Serie A title this Saturday evening as the Italian football season leaps back into life.

An early test away at Sampdoria will more than likely bring the Nerazzurri their first points of the season, as the giants of Italy look to add to their 3 straight Serie A titles.

Of course the real one to watch this season is former Porto and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. His appointment back in June was one of the most awaited in recent football history, and he naturally charmed the Italian press by conducting his first press appearance in Italian, revealing that he had learned the language in just 3 weeks!

With no significant signings other than the Brazilian winger Mancini, Mourinho has however already made his mark on Inter by leading them to victory over AS Roma in the Italian Supercup last weekend (2-2 aet, 6-5 on penalties on Sunday August 24th).

The Special One will at the very least give outsiders a reason to pay more attention to the at times slow and uneventful Italian football season; there’s no reason however to expect anything other than passion and fluidity from Inter Milan this season, and with Mourinho’s exceptional record few would bet against them retaining the Serie A title for a 4th season.

This summer’s transfer activity in the English Premier League has seen three key transfers that never were dominate proceedings.

In each case the player concerned announced that he wanted to join the target club.  In each case the target club failed to meet the contracted club’s valuation.

In each case the scenario was played out with vulgar disregard for dignity in the pages of the national press.

What happened to the days of gentlemanly conduct?  Bobby Moore would never have behaved like this.

Gareth Barry, Dimitar Berbetov and Cristiano Ronaldo can all found be guilty of this lack of regard for convention and decency. Football might be a money spinner but there is no reason to play out contract disputes and transfer issues of this nature in the public eye.

This all stems down to the player’s agents of course.  With little real understanding of football, they’re in the wrong place both mentally and morally to be of any benefit to the game.  Theirs is a life of cellphone deals and quick chats with sports columnists, taking 20% for their trouble.

An £18m transfer of Gareth Barry to Liverpool would have netted his agent £3.6 million for two months work.

Whether or not Barry, Berbatov or Ronaldo would have even fit in at Liverpool, Manchester United or Real Madrid is a question to be discussed another time, as is Sir Alex Ferguson’s remarkable change in position depending on whether it was the Spurs striker or his own twinkle-toed boy wonder who was the subject of transfer speculation.

The fact remains, the only man to come out of this whole affair was Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill.

The remarkable transfer dealings of Sunderland AFC over the summer have raised eyebrows beyond Wearside and Teesside as Roy Keane - backed by chairman Niall Quinn and the money of countless Irish businessmen - raided Tottenham Hotspur and now West Ham United in order to build a team worthy of the Premiership.

While Middlesbrough FC have spent quietly and wisely - preferring to concentrate on promoting players from within - and Newcastle United have struggled to sign players of note, Sunderland seem to have effortlessly signed virtually how and who they wanted.

After a season of consolidation following their promotion, they’re certainly going the right way about it. But how has Roy Keane succeeded where Kevin Keegan has failed?

I’ll discuss Newcastle’s failings another time - but tell me this, how often do you hear the name Niall Quinn these days?  After taking charge of the club, the big soft-spoken Irishman has quietly stepped back from the limelight in order to let his manager and players do the talking.  The attitude at the Stadium of Light has been nothing less than exemplary, with boardroom shenanigans and sharedealing kept firmly out of the public eye.

A start contrast with Mike Ashley’s Newcastle.

Roy Keane has a settled environment, great facilities and a supportive chairman.  This, and of course his own determination and inspiring character has enabled Sunderland to sign David Healy, Steed Malbranque, Djibril Cisse, Pascal Chimbonda, Teemu Tainio, and El-Hadji Diouf, while at the time of writing Anton Ferdinand (brother of Manchester United and England defender Rio) is undergoing a medical.

Massively significant signings by a man set to make a massive impact in club management if his two managerial mentors - Brian Clough OBE and Sir Alex Ferguson - are anything to go by.

Kicking of Saturday August 30th, Spain’s La Liga is the most attractive and thrilling European soccer league.

20 teams will compete until May 31st for the biggest prize in Spanish football, with the smart money on Real Madrid retaining the title or their long time rivals Barcelona snatching the glory back for the first time since 2006.

Despite failing to sign Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid remain the favourites for the title thanks to some smart management by Bernd Schuster which relied less on dipping into the clubs finances and more on building a team out of the players already available.

Key amongst these are names such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Javier Saviola, Arjen Robben - and the returning youngster Ruben de la Red, who after time on loan at Getafe is set to make an impact at Real.

Barcelona meanwhile look set to continue their transition, but now under new manager Pep Guardiola who replaces the turmoiled Frank Rijkaard.  Losing Deco (to Chelsea) and Ronaldinho has allowed new blood to be brought into the team, in the shape of Daniel Alves, Gerard Piqué (from Manchester United), Martín Cáceres (Villarreal CF), Seydou Keita (Sevilla FC) and Arsenal’s Aliaksandr Hleb.

It may take some time for this new team to gel, but Barcelona certainly look equipped to at least match their long term rivals from Madrid this season.

The second weekend of the English Premier League has taught us one thing - no matter how much money the board has to splash on new talent from abroad, convincing wins are few and far between until the season gets going.

Chelsea’s brave new world with Luiz Felipe Scolari (pictured right) in charge of one of the world’s most expensive teams is all about winning the title for the first time since the heady days of Mourinho in 2006. How they do it isn’t important to Roman Abramovic.

Avram Grant failed to gear the team beyond a few runners up positions, and while Jose Mourinho gave himself a tough job in following up his 2 League titles, he continues to cast a shadow as Chelsea’s most successful manager in their history.

Exactly how Scolari - one of the world’s most successful international managers - will feel after an uninspiring 0-1 performance away at small-time Wigan Athletic is easy to gauge. But with the weather reasonable and conditions at the Lancashire club perfect for football, if a team of multi-millionaire international footballers can’t bury at least 2 past a team tipped for relegation then things are looking up for Arsenal and Liverpool.

The result also gives Manchester United plenty of resolve to take 3 points and move into an early lead on goal difference with a win at Portsmouth on Monday… notoriously slow starters, the bar has been raised this season by clever transfers at Liverpool and cash-splashing at Chelsea. The current champions could be in for a long season if this weekend is anything to go by.

International sports icon David Beckham just cannot stop - but at least he’s happy to poke fun at himself!