I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the first Chelsea injury of tomorrow's match. The collective holding of the crowd's breath, the uncertainty of Dr Eva Carneiro's touchline stand-in, before Jose Mourinho himself dons the medic uniform and grabs the ol' magic spray. All of course to distract the wider attention from the 2-0 lead that Manchester City have at the time.
On to the things that actually matter - action! Southampton came massively unstuck against the Toffees of Everton whose performance was pure Werther's Original. I spoke to an Everton fan who said he was used to going to bars in Poole and seeing his beloved Blues get trounced on the south coast year after year. Well, he can go back in next time with bragging rights firmly in his back pocket! It was a really impressive display from Roberto Martinez's men, one at odds with a lot of the accusations of one-dimensional death-by-possession leveled at him last season (and last weekend...).
While one Saints swallow does not make a summer, the ability by his charges to actually construct speedy counter-attacking moves is extremely promising for Everton's seasonal prospects. In his post-match interview, Martinez admitted the need for flexibility in his play, and today resembled the best of the 2013-14 performances. Admittedly, it is when the defenses are packed that Everton have tended to struggle, and the next home game against supposedly middling opposition will be a truer test of progress, but today was a definite step forward. Romelu Lukaku had one of his Superman games, and Ross Barkley reminded us all why he was talked of as the next (sober) Gazza. His lack of consistency last season was alarming, but this opening fortnight will ideally act as a springboard for him, and the side.
Speaking of sobriety, Daryl Jannmat will have needed some Dutch courage before entering the dressing-room at half time to face Schteve McClaren. His senseless sending off was the biggest nail in a coffin that was truly made of nails for Newcastle today against Swansea. Jefferson Montero had a field day against the Toon defence, and another day it could have been four or five. One can only imagine the accusations if John Carver was still in charge, because for Jannmat to indulge in a spot of shirt-tugging in his situation was a bit silly to say the least.
Speaking of indiscipline, new boy Aleksandar Mitrovic is seemingly a throwback to the psychotic days of Duncan Ferguson. The Serb actually showed a couple of nifty touches in his short spell on the Liberty turf. Unfortunately, once more he showed a hotheaded streak that threatens to earn him a reputation. The referee showed him a yellow card for a bit of pushing and shoving - while awarding Newcastle a free-kick, apparently missing a rather nasty high lunge at his Swansea opponent. Had this been spotted, that yellow may well have been red.
Borussia Dortmund and Thomas Tuchel got the post-Klopp era off to the perfect start with an absolute annihilation of Borussia Monchengladbach. 4-0 did not do it justice, with the referee even taking pity on Lucien Favre's men by not even bothering with the stoppage time at the end of the 90. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was in the hottest of form, and the Premier League speculation will no doubt intensify as August reaches its conclusion.
If tomorrow is supposed to be Super Sunday, the Saturday was a more than adequate appetizer!
Some bias-free and considered sporting opinion, courtesy of me, Gerry Walton!
Showing posts with label Jose Mourinho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jose Mourinho. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Monday, 3 February 2014
Man City 0-1 Chelsea - City's Invincibility Ended By The Old Master.
For perhaps the first time this season, Manchester City never really looked like scoring. The team that has broken all the records, yet still went into the evening behind Arsenal at the top, may look back on tonight as the night their dreams evaporated. It was by no means a title decider, but perhaps a reminder that for all the talk of quadruples, and history-making, there are 19 other teams in this league, and at least two others in the title race.
Branislav Ivanovic hauled Chelsea level on points with City, with a beautifully struck 32nd minute effort, and truthfully, the away side fully deserved it. All the talk in the build-up was of Chelsea showing us a masterclass of parking the bus, and of Jose Mourinho's inevitable hypocrisy. He would be sent packing with a heavy defeat and Sam Allardici would smirk to himself over a pint in one of West London's numerous pubs. Not the case. Instead the masterclass was of counter-attacking; a compact midfield three of Nemanja Matic, Ramires, and Willian providing the ideal platform for Eden Hazard to run rings around a decidedly suspect-looking City backline.
The movement was hypnotic, the passing was crisp, and the space Chelsea were finding should have been punished by more than the one goal. The woodwork came to City's rescue three times, and Hazard gave evidence to support his claim as the Premier League's standout attacking midfielder, at least this week. A Man City side containing Yaya Toure and David Silva looked bereft of both urgency and creativity, something that must be reversed if Manuel Pellegrini is to come anywhere near his bold predictions of quadruple glory.
Fortunately for the home side, they are unlikely to come across a team so well-organised as Mourinho's Chelsea again this season, but to not only fail to win but lose could yet prove costly at the end of the season. Mourinho has time and time again played down his side's title chances, claiming that second place would be ahead of schedule for his plan, but secretly he will smell blood. Both Arsenal and City are wonderful to watch in full flow, but Mourinho has the most recent experience of the three managers in winning the Premier League. It would be foolish to call the Stamford Bridge men the new title favourites, but their odds would have been significantly shortened on the blowing of the final whistle.
Pellegrini and Man City may yet re-write the history books, but tonight acted as a gentle reminder of mortality - they can be beaten, even at the Etihad. The next visitors - Gus Poyet's rejuvenated Sunderland - will perhaps not feel quite the same trepidation, as the cloak of invincibility has fallen from the Sky Blues. About bloody time.
Branislav Ivanovic hauled Chelsea level on points with City, with a beautifully struck 32nd minute effort, and truthfully, the away side fully deserved it. All the talk in the build-up was of Chelsea showing us a masterclass of parking the bus, and of Jose Mourinho's inevitable hypocrisy. He would be sent packing with a heavy defeat and Sam Allardici would smirk to himself over a pint in one of West London's numerous pubs. Not the case. Instead the masterclass was of counter-attacking; a compact midfield three of Nemanja Matic, Ramires, and Willian providing the ideal platform for Eden Hazard to run rings around a decidedly suspect-looking City backline.
The movement was hypnotic, the passing was crisp, and the space Chelsea were finding should have been punished by more than the one goal. The woodwork came to City's rescue three times, and Hazard gave evidence to support his claim as the Premier League's standout attacking midfielder, at least this week. A Man City side containing Yaya Toure and David Silva looked bereft of both urgency and creativity, something that must be reversed if Manuel Pellegrini is to come anywhere near his bold predictions of quadruple glory.
Fortunately for the home side, they are unlikely to come across a team so well-organised as Mourinho's Chelsea again this season, but to not only fail to win but lose could yet prove costly at the end of the season. Mourinho has time and time again played down his side's title chances, claiming that second place would be ahead of schedule for his plan, but secretly he will smell blood. Both Arsenal and City are wonderful to watch in full flow, but Mourinho has the most recent experience of the three managers in winning the Premier League. It would be foolish to call the Stamford Bridge men the new title favourites, but their odds would have been significantly shortened on the blowing of the final whistle.
Pellegrini and Man City may yet re-write the history books, but tonight acted as a gentle reminder of mortality - they can be beaten, even at the Etihad. The next visitors - Gus Poyet's rejuvenated Sunderland - will perhaps not feel quite the same trepidation, as the cloak of invincibility has fallen from the Sky Blues. About bloody time.
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
A Night At The Opera
Grand larceny may have long been abolished as a crime in the UK, but it appears everyone associated with Manchester United not only want it restored, but the penalty increased to hanging. A quick trawl through the murky depths of the BBC comments section revealed one particular fan urging his fellow aggrieved to make referee Cuneyt Cakir's life a misery forever and ever more.
For anyone who blacked out around 7.30 last night from the all the pre-match excitement, here is an action replay of the incident in question, where United's Portugese winger Nani stuck a few studs in Alvaro Arbeloa:
While obviously a red card seems a harsh decision, and a yellow would normally suffice in the Premier League, we have to remember the context.
European referees have always been somewhat stricter, when it comes to applying the rules to the very letter. And the English myth of decisions never going the way of the visitors at Old Trafford can be put to bed, as United are just another quite big fish in a pond full of them - few bigger than Real Madrid.
My own take on the situation - the ball was not in a dangerous area of the pitch and there was no need for Nani's boot to be that high. He didn't get the ball and his studs made contact with the opponent. As soon as your studs start showing in a key European encounter such as this, you are asking for trouble. Man United can consider themselves unlucky to be out - the ten minutes after the sending off are when they were cut open with the most ease.
BUT. The vitriol that has poured from the United camp since smacks of bad sportsmanship. Rio Ferdinand's aggressive clapping in the face of the officials at the final whistle flies in the face of the 'Respect' campaign. Yes, emotions run high in such a scenario.. but I wonder whether he even saw the incident.
Despite all I have written, would I give a red card for the tackle? The answer would be no, but I could understand why a red was given. Cakir was a very brave man. It was hardly in the league of incorrectly disallowed goals, or a missed offside. No mistakes were made. It is a matter of interpretation, and I have seen far more clear-cut decisions. I guess the only difference is that ITV's beloved Manchester United have been knocked out as a result, and 'that night in Barcelona' can no longer be wheeled out.
Roy Keane may have been looking for a fight in the ITV studios, and looked ready to spontaneously combust if anyone dared to question his opinion in the wake of the match, but he had a point. In no way was it a definite red as he claimed, but the challenge could certainly be deemed to be dangerous within reason. It is not the outrageous miscarriage of justice that the Old Trafford PR machine would like us to believe.
It could even be argued that the controversial decisions were evened out five minutes later. Rafael's clearance against Varane's header had more than a hint of handball about it. Sure, it maybe wasn't intentional, but it stopped a goal, and his arm shouldn't have been in that position. Had that penalty been given, it would've been a certain red card.
On to the action itself, and it is hard to escape the suspicion that the red card changed the game. Man United were containing Madrid quite professionally, but Jose Mourinho earnt his stripes by sending on Modric in place of Arbeloa. He may even have been trying to spare Arbeloa a possible retribution tackle. Whatever the logic behind the decision, Modric's equalizer was wonderful.
With ten men, United looked all at sea - unable to cope with Real attacks. Ronaldo's winner was as inevitable as Fergie sending Rooney on to try and rescue the game - which he couldn't do.
The wait to replicate that fantastic 1999 treble will go on then - as will United's season. Ironically, their European exit may have been the final nail in the coffin of City's own title chances. Fergie's boys were already coping quite well with the rotation required to juggle Europe and the league. Now they can take it easy, with no unwelcome long trips away.
That will be of no consolation to the Old Trafford thousands who trudged away dripping with despair and hurt. As far as the playing staff goes, any burning injustice they feel would do well to go into next season's campaign. Fergie's team talks will be easy next season - 'You should have gone on to win last year, make sure of it yourself this time around.' For now though, it's all a bit sour grapes.
For anyone who blacked out around 7.30 last night from the all the pre-match excitement, here is an action replay of the incident in question, where United's Portugese winger Nani stuck a few studs in Alvaro Arbeloa:
While obviously a red card seems a harsh decision, and a yellow would normally suffice in the Premier League, we have to remember the context.
European referees have always been somewhat stricter, when it comes to applying the rules to the very letter. And the English myth of decisions never going the way of the visitors at Old Trafford can be put to bed, as United are just another quite big fish in a pond full of them - few bigger than Real Madrid.
My own take on the situation - the ball was not in a dangerous area of the pitch and there was no need for Nani's boot to be that high. He didn't get the ball and his studs made contact with the opponent. As soon as your studs start showing in a key European encounter such as this, you are asking for trouble. Man United can consider themselves unlucky to be out - the ten minutes after the sending off are when they were cut open with the most ease.
BUT. The vitriol that has poured from the United camp since smacks of bad sportsmanship. Rio Ferdinand's aggressive clapping in the face of the officials at the final whistle flies in the face of the 'Respect' campaign. Yes, emotions run high in such a scenario.. but I wonder whether he even saw the incident.
Despite all I have written, would I give a red card for the tackle? The answer would be no, but I could understand why a red was given. Cakir was a very brave man. It was hardly in the league of incorrectly disallowed goals, or a missed offside. No mistakes were made. It is a matter of interpretation, and I have seen far more clear-cut decisions. I guess the only difference is that ITV's beloved Manchester United have been knocked out as a result, and 'that night in Barcelona' can no longer be wheeled out.
Roy Keane may have been looking for a fight in the ITV studios, and looked ready to spontaneously combust if anyone dared to question his opinion in the wake of the match, but he had a point. In no way was it a definite red as he claimed, but the challenge could certainly be deemed to be dangerous within reason. It is not the outrageous miscarriage of justice that the Old Trafford PR machine would like us to believe.
It could even be argued that the controversial decisions were evened out five minutes later. Rafael's clearance against Varane's header had more than a hint of handball about it. Sure, it maybe wasn't intentional, but it stopped a goal, and his arm shouldn't have been in that position. Had that penalty been given, it would've been a certain red card.
On to the action itself, and it is hard to escape the suspicion that the red card changed the game. Man United were containing Madrid quite professionally, but Jose Mourinho earnt his stripes by sending on Modric in place of Arbeloa. He may even have been trying to spare Arbeloa a possible retribution tackle. Whatever the logic behind the decision, Modric's equalizer was wonderful.
With ten men, United looked all at sea - unable to cope with Real attacks. Ronaldo's winner was as inevitable as Fergie sending Rooney on to try and rescue the game - which he couldn't do.
The wait to replicate that fantastic 1999 treble will go on then - as will United's season. Ironically, their European exit may have been the final nail in the coffin of City's own title chances. Fergie's boys were already coping quite well with the rotation required to juggle Europe and the league. Now they can take it easy, with no unwelcome long trips away.
That will be of no consolation to the Old Trafford thousands who trudged away dripping with despair and hurt. As far as the playing staff goes, any burning injustice they feel would do well to go into next season's campaign. Fergie's team talks will be easy next season - 'You should have gone on to win last year, make sure of it yourself this time around.' For now though, it's all a bit sour grapes.
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