Three and in – not just another football blog

Just one game left of the opening Premier League season, it’s Man United v Newcastle (remember when that used to be a top of the table clash?!) but some thoughts on what we’ve seen so far.

Chelsea are like a juggernaut whose momentum has hardly been affected by the summer break. They were somewhat aided by a naive West Brom but showed that their tag of favourites is very well deserved. A Drogba hat-trick on the opening day is going to make every defence think ‘Oh-oh’.

Villa’s lack of manager made no difference to them whatsoever. O’Neill’s departure doesn’t seem to have upset fans or players and they looked comfortable against a West Ham side who look defensively very suspect indeed. Yes, Villa’s first goal was a mile offside but they more than deserved their win.

Joe Hart’s performance for Man City against Spurs makes Capello’s decision not to use him in the World Cup seem even more remarkable. Yes, you can understand the caution but in 90 minutes he showed he would have been more than ready and barring some kind of long-term injury has just ended Shay Given’s Man City career.

Arsenal badly need an experienced Premier League goalkeeper. If they can persuade City to sell them Given then it will strengthen them considerably. The alternative, Mark Schwarzer, should be considered just that. If there’s any chance of signing Given they should go for it.

The Gunners struggled to draw against 10 man Liverpool but played with Arshavin, who declared he was injured pre-game, Abou Diaby who hasn’t played one minute of pre-season football, and an 18 year old Jack Wilshere in midfield. There’s a lot of expectation surrounding the young Englishman and he showed that he’s still got a lot to learn.

Goalkeeping errors were a big feature. Tim Howard cost Everton the game against Blackburn, Chris Kirkland was hardly the only reason Wigan were beaten 4-0 by new boys Blackpool but he played his part, Scott Carson was wobbly for West Brom, Rob Green’s poor punch led to Villa’s first against West Ham (offside aside like) and the usually reliable Pepe Reina fumbled an equaliser for Arsenal. And not one Jabulani in sight.

Referees did mostly ok. New boy Anthony Taylor was spot on with his dismissal of Lee Cattermole. Two blatant yellows deserve a red despite what Steve Bruce says. His linesman spoiled the day a bit by giving a penalty for a foul outside the box but overall he showed the courage of his convictions with the red card. The same applies to Martin Atkinson who rightly sent off Joe Cole at Anfield for a reckless leap at Laurent Koscielny which could have seriously injured the Arsenal new boy. He then spoiled it by sending off Kosciely for an accidental handball but it was good to see a ref crack down on the kind of challenge we all want to see eliminated from the game.

Wolves picked up where they left off last season with a good 2-1 win over Stoke while you have to give enormous credit to Blackpool for their win over Wigan. At the same time you have to ask serious questions of the Wigan performance. Defensively it was worse than amateur and Roberto Martinez’s baffled countenance from the dug-out was worrying. If he doesn’t know why they played like that it doesn’t bode well. Add to that the outrageous behaviour of Charles N’Zogbia – a perfect example of the worst kind of mercenary modern pro – and it was a bad weekend for the Latics.

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As always feel free to pitch in with your comments or thoughts. Anything worth talking about that I’ve missed? Have at it.

So, Joe Cole has made his choice. He was offered the chance of a reunion with Uncle ‘Arry, a renaissance with Mnsr Wenger, or a return to his boyhood club, West Ham. In the end, he opted for Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool. One can’t help but wonder why – it certainly wasn’t the lure of Champions League football.

It’s funny. Only a few weeks ago, Cole’s agent was insistent that participation in Europe’s premier competition was at the forefront of Cole’s mind:

“Football is the most important thing to Joe and continuing to play in the Champions League is high on his priorities.”

Not that high, it seems. Cole has now opted to join a side who will be contesting the Europa League, which has about as much credibility in this country as the bastard offspring of the League Cup and Eurovision. We know Harry Redknapp was interested because he made a point of telling us. We know Arsene Wenger was interested because he made a point of not telling us. So what are the factors that have persuade Cole to move to Merseyside?

The first, and most obvious, is money. Matt Law of The Express suggests that Arsenal offered Cole £80k for two years, and Spurs £65k for three. Liverpool are widely reported to have paid £90k, for – and here’s the clincher – four years.

Cole has the security of a massive wage until he is 32 years old. Whatever injuries may befall him, whether he loses his first-team place to Nabil El-Zhar, that sum is guaranteed. Some pundits have incorrectly suggested that Liverpool have swapped Yossi Benayoun for Cole and ended up £5m better off. Hardly: Cole will cost Liverpool nearly £19m over the next four years. And that’s without the inevitable signing-on fee.

But finance isn’t the only factor in Cole’s decision – there’s first-team football, too. Spurs would probably have to change their system to one focused around a lone front-man to accommodate Cole, and they don’t currently have a striker suited to that role. Their flanks are well stocked, with Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon both coming off the back of very strong seasons. Arsenal, meanwhile, have a whole host of players in the Cole mould – Andrey Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere to name but a few.

Liverpool, however, have just lost Benayoun, and look set to sell Albert Riera. Assuming Hogdson adopts the same 4-4-1-1 tactic he used at Fulham, Cole could be deployed off Torres or on either flank as a creative alternative to Dirk Kuyt.

So Cole will get a chance to play. If, that is, he’s fit. He’s made just 28 Premier League starts in last two seasons combined – the same amount he made in 2007/08 alone. This is not a player on an upwards trajectory. Along with Torres and Gerrard, he now forms part of one of the most injury prone frontlines in Europe.

If he can stay fit, he could well prove a good signing – he has the potential to bring imagination to a Liverpool side that lacked sparkle last season. That if, however, is almost as big as the pay packet that persuaded Cole to move North in the first.

The worst ever England performance in a major tournament? Maybe, just maybe. As the dejected players trudged from the field after the Algeria game, the plea for kindness articulated in my last blog fell on deaf ears. The vuvuzelas were finally drowned out by, what else, the sound of English fans booing. Wayne Rooney, having played arguably the worst game of his professional career, looked down the lens of the nearest camera and uttered the following words:

‘Nice to hear your home (sic) fans boo you, that’s loyal supporters.’

Now, many things have troubled me since that woeful display on Friday night. Should the formation change for the Slovenia match? Was John Terry right to speak to the press before his manager? Why was Joe Cole taking a shower after the game? The latter one of many nuggets liberally sprinkled throughout Pavlos Joseph’s hilarious Sunday Mirror video exclusive. Whilst on the topic, how long ‘til that clown is given his own column in one of the dailies? One thing I can honestly say though is that I did not for one second feel aggrieved by Rooney’s comments or satiated when an apology was offered.

We’re a funny bunch, we English. By virtue of being Jewish, I have always thought of myself as being, in Hanif Kureishi’s words, ‘an Englishman born and bred, almost.’ From this vantage point, and without getting too political, I have been intrigued of late by the differing responses of acquaintances to significant world events. After the Gaza aid flotilla incident last month, my facebook feed was awash with statuses from Zionist friends akin to ‘- is prouder to be Jewish than ever before.’ After Friday, the bulk of the social networking activity I encountered revolved around pals ‘ashamed to be English’ or the like. A friend of mine believes nobody does pride quite like gays or grandparents. I would add Jews to the list, even if it does bugger up the alliteration slightly. Although perhaps there’s also a YouTube video doing the rounds showing the Algeria game from another angle which proves we were actually awesome. Somehow I doubt it.

Football is a game of opinions, never more so than in this country at this time. I expect little to no support on this issue but I simple wasn’t offended by Rooney’s words. Do I think it was a foolish thing to do? Yes. But then so was the press response. The day after the game you would think the papers were describing Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. Words like ‘disgraceful rant’ were being thrown around along with ‘England star shame’ as he ‘blasts’ and ‘lambasts’ the fans. Really? An ill-considered two line sarcastic comment in the heat of the moment from a player furious with himself and his teammates does not a hate speech make. Worse still, it’s a smokescreen. Any focus on the outburst simply served to shift attention away from the most abject display imaginable. Only in England.

I am not a booer. Never have been. In fact, I was brought up to not even ‘cuss people out’ if my team had beaten theirs, something I have always been very grateful for as football has a funny way of coming back to bite you in the arse if you do behave in such a manner. That being said, I can understand the frustration of those present who had spent thousands of pounds to be there. My attitude is that they are entitled to boo but I would prefer if they didn’t, like watching BBC Three. I am loath to agree with ‘England’s Brave’ John Terry on any issue but I thought he was right to suggest that such a response should be saved for Wednesday if we crash out, this was the equivalent of jeering at the 60 minute stage (66.6 recurring in fact but then my maths is probably better than EBJT’s). I have travelled an awful long way to witness some pretty abysmal performances over the years including a first half against Ecuador in the round of 16 four years ago in which England failed to work the keeper. Some around me expressed their displeasure; I couldn’t see the benefit. Indeed, if, as has been suggested in some quarters, the real reason for the poor form of England’s players thus far has been stage fright then abuse from their own fans seems somewhat counterintuitive. And I don’t buy the whole ‘we pay the money, we can do what we want’ line of argument because where does one draw the line? Homophobia? Racism? If it’s simply booing and nothing more then any fan is entitled to vent some spleen but, with the team still in the competition, how could it possibly help?

Almost two years ago, a pair of silly broadcasters made an inappropriate prank call to an elderly sitcom actor. Once alerted by the media, the public were apoplectic. A week or two later, the nation was outraged when a fat, old journalist who was really poor at dancing was criticised by professional dancers on a celebrity dancing show. In a wave of hysteria and anger on both sides of the fence, John Sergeant quit Strictly. I remember thinking then that things had been changed by Sachsgate and would never be the same again. There is now a culture of offence in this country like never before and it’s dictated by the tabloid press. Put it this way, do you think a single England fan present in Cape Town received a text from a friend watching on TV back home informing them of Rooney’s remarks proceeded to cry themselves to sleep? Again, I doubt it. That being said, if we play that badly again this afternoon I will be weeping into my pillow. And demanding apologies.

However poor Australia were (and they were), it was hard not to be impressed by the free-flowing football Germany produced yesterday.  They started the game at unusually long odds, and ended it being lauded as the best side on show so far.

I texted a friend to say how impressed I’d been with the teutonic team.  He agreed – but said he felt that our national team, England, were just as capable of producing a similar performance if lined up in the same shape.  The shape in question, as expertly analysed by ZonalMarking here, is a 4-2-3-1 formation which can shift to a 4-2-1-3 in attack.  It’s a formation England used consistently in qualifying, with Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard replacing Schweinsteigher and Khedira as the holding midfielders, and Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and one of Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott operating behind the bludgeon-like Heskey.

With Barry returning to fitness, England have the option of reverting to this system against Algeria on Friday.  But even if they do, they won’t recreate Germany’s smooth passing game.  There is one vital ingredient missing: a playmaker.  Whoever England deploy behind the striker, be that Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard, they will lack the canny craft of Germany’s Mesut Ozil, undoubtedly the star of Monday evening’s 4-0 victory.

I’m not disputing that either Rooney or Gerrard are great footballers.  But in my opinion, they’re impact players.  They’re more “WHAM!BAM!” than “pass+move”.  Ozil reminds me of an Arsene Wenger quote about Robert Pires, whom he called “the oil in our engine”.  Gerrard and Rooney are more like pistons.

It’s a cultural problem in English football.  We obsessed for years about the peroquial ideals of ‘box-to-box midfielders’ and ‘old-fashioned number 9s’.  In the meantime, the rest of the world was developing ‘playmakers’ and these things called ‘holding midfielders’.  The closest thing we have to the former is Joe Cole, and at the moment he sits behind James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips in the pecking order.

England may rack up their own four-goal victory in this tournament.  They may even progress further than the Germans.  But without a playmaker of Ozil’s calibre – without any oil in the engine – they’ll never match the flowing football of Joachin Low’s side.

“44 years of hurt” might not be as catchy, but it’s just as painful. This Summer, however, England expects. Lord knows why. Half a century of near misses suggests we should know better. At least England were spared the pain of an inevitable quarter-final exit at Euro 2008 – they have Steve ‘Schteve’ McClaren to thank for that.

The once-heralded ‘Golden Generation’ are losing their sheen: Rio Ferdinand is no longer jovially merking his team-mates, but nursing an ageing spine; John Terry burned his Bridge and saw his form go up in smoke too; and as for David Beckham, he won’t even be there, unless he’s called in for emergency cheer-leading duties.

Hope, it seems, lies in the hands (or, in one case, at the feet) of two men: Fabio Capello and Wayne Rooney. The latter, recently crowned PFA Player of the Year, has been in such irrepressible form as to drag an otherwise below-par Manchester United side to within clutching distance of the Premier League title. A groin injury has ruled him out of the best part of the run-in – a curse for United fans, but a blessing for England supporters, who can but hope he is now resting up in specially padded metatarsal-protecting slippers.

And then Capello, a man so commanding that no-one dares question the wisdom of selecting Aston Villa’s third-choice striker at centre-forward. English hopes have not rested so heavily on an Italian since Paul Gascoigne rang Pizza Express during Euro 96 in the hope of a midnight snack. Can he and Rooney secure the trophy before riding off in to a South African Sunset?

I’ll be in South Africa myself, and whilst I’m going principally to enjoy a festival of football, it’s clear my allegiances are nailed to my own nation.  We’ll need a bit of luck, but I can’t help but feel a tingle of belief that those who travel to South Africa this summer will, whether they’re on safari or not, hear the roar of three lions.

Today Fabio Capello names his 30 man provisional squad.  I predict he’ll go for:

Goalkeepers: Green, James, Hart
Defenders: Johnson, Carragher, Brown, Cole, Baines, Ferdinand, Terry, King, Upson, Dawson
Midfielders: Walcott, Lennon, Gerrard, Milner, Barry, Lampard, Carrick, Huddlestone, Downing, Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips
Strikers: Rooney, Heskey, Crouch, Defoe, Zamora, Bent

My own squad would make room for Phil Jagielka and City’s Adam Johnson, though I’m not sure they’ll feature as prominently in Capello’s thoughts.

The next task is knocking that down to 23.  If Capello is able to make those choices himself, rather than have injuries decide for him, he’ll be delighted.

I suspect you’ve heard, but there’s a credit crunch on.  As the transfer window swings open, managers all over Europe will make like David Dickinson and indulge in some serious bargain hunting – and they don’t come better than a Bosman.  This summer there are several big names available on a free.  In fact, there’s a whole teams-worth.

Having waived his right to a new deal in order to secure first-team football and a World Cup slot, David James is certain to be one of the first out of the door when the formalities of Portsmouth’s season are completed.  Although he will be 40 by the time next season starts, he’ll still be a viable option for the majority of Premier League sides.

It’s not often that a man who has scored the winning goal in a Champions League Final comes up for grabs, but that’s exactly what Juliano Belletti is.  He’d be my pick for right-back, though at Chelsea he’s shown that he is equally adept as a holding midfield player.  At left-back, Atletico Madrid’s Mariano Pernia has had enough injury problems to make him a significant gamble, but if he can regain some semblance of fitness his rocket-powered left boot would be an asset to any team.

At centre-back, an experienced partnership of Fabio Cannavaro and William Gallas would set you back plenty in wages but nothing in fees.  Cannavaro’s form for Juventus has been poor this season, but his impending retirement from International football might help him cope better with the domestic game.  A switch to Serie A rivals Fiorentina has been mooted.  William Gallas could soon join him in Italy, with a move to Roma on the cards after continuously stalling on signing a new deal at Arsenal.

If you need a couple of wide midfielders, there are two left-footed Premier League menaces for hire.  Martin Petrov has been edged out of the City team by Adam Johnson’s arrival but is still one of English football’s best pure wingers.  Morten Gamst Pedersen, meanwhile, was linked with the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool little more than two years ago.  His diving has made him something of a laughing stock since then, but if he can recapture his former purple patch he’d be a bargain worth snaffling.

In the middle, you can get a two-for-one deal at Stamford Bridge – the deep-lying Michael Ballack sitting just behind Joe Cole.  At 33, Ballack is not the marauding midfield Kaiser he once was, but the more leisurely pace of Serie A might enable him to prolong his career by a year or two.  Failing that, he’d be welcomed back to Germany with open arms – and Bayer Leverkusen are rumoured to be interested.

Joe Cole, meanwhile, seems to be one of the first Chelsea players to suffer the consequences of Roman Abrahmovich’s decision to tighten the strings on his silk purse.  One can understand the hesitancy to pay a player who has started only 14 league games this season £120,000 p/week, but Cole won’t be short of suitors if he decides to look elsewhere.  The most likely destination appears Spurs, where he’d be reunited with former mentor and compulsive wheeler-dealer Harry Redknapp.

Upfront there are a couple of aerial powerhouses to get on the end of Petrov and Pedersen’s crosses.  Marouane Chamakh seems all but certain to turn down Spurs and Liverpool to sign for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.  And with 18 Bundesliga goals and a guaranteed period of rest this summer, Brazilian-born Kevin Kuranyi represents an alluring opportunity to any manager looking to bolster his front-line.

Although the window is not yet open, these players have all been able to discuss moves from January 1st, and may have already agreed pre-contracts.  How many of them are really still up for grabs remains to be seen…