EPL Talk » Champions League

Benitez Cannot Buckle Under Pressure

Paul Bestall — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:05:21 +0000

“It is difficult for us to qualify, but not impossible,We have to win our game and see what happens with Fiorentina and Lyon. Then we will approach the last game.” Benitez has certainly fought his corner today after the galling last minute equaliser Liverpool conceded in the Stade Gerland last night. Of course, the nay sayers and doom merchants are already drafting Rafa’s last rites as the promise of last season seems already consigned to the dustbin by mid November.

Even Liverpool’s most feverish critics must be surprised how quickly the wheels have fallen off this season. 5 league defeats, knocked out of the League Cup and facing demotion to the Europa League have seen Benitez under the most pressure he’s ever faced during his tenure at Anfield. With the financial situation at Liverpool as tight as it can be, the key achievement for Liverpool to aim for this season is to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League.

Of course, Lyon may win in Florence in 3 weeks time and Liverpool could win the last two games, making sure they beat Fiorentina by 3 clear goals to finish second, but it’s a straw that is swaying away from Benitez. With Torres still carrying a groin injury, Gerrard injured for who knows how long and Carragher having his ropiest period in a Liverpool shirt, the Reds 3 key players are all suffering in one form or another.

During the summer, all the predictions pointed to that it would be Arsenal who would be the one side in the big four that would be the most nervous about retaining their place at the Premiership’s top table. With Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton all waiting to pounce, no-one considered that Liverpool would be the one with the most to lose.

Without the stadium revenue that Manchester United and Arsenal can pull and without the billionaire sugar daddies that Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham can call on, the financial rewards that the Champions League has to offer is crucial to Liverpool’s continued success. They NEED to be in Champions League to continue progressing, regardless of reputation, Manchester City have already shown money can attract players above their current station.

Yet Liverpool will not find it any easier and by December 13th they could be staring up at the top four and hoping that they can find a vein of form that has so far eluded them this season. They’ve failed to beat every decent side they’ve played this season, with the exception of Manchester United two weeks ago and that in itself is a worrying trend. With massive matches against Manchester City, Everton, Fiorentina and Arsenal in the next five weeks, something needs to sorted and quickly.

Of course, Benitez has a position of strength in the fact that he signed a 5 year contract in March this year and Liverpool’s finances would tend to support the argument that the club can’t afford to sack him. Liverpool fans tend to support their manager through thick or thin, only Graeme Souness lost the fans in the last 30 years and at the moment the attention for the fans frustration is the owners.

Chelsea sacked Scolari when the club were fourth, 7 points behind Manchester United. Liverpool are currently 6th, 9 points behind and whilst we may assume what Hicks and Gillett do, would it surprised anyone if they pressed the panic button? Unfortunately not. Trouble is, they may call on Jurgen Klinsmann, which shows just how little about club football they actually know.

The Tale of Two Chelseas

Adam Mikhail — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:42:19 +0000

That is, one with Didier Drogba and one without Didier Drogba. I, like many others have stated before, have always had this sort-of idea that Chelsea were a completely different team when Drogba wasn’t playing. During tonight’s match versus Porto, this idea culminated into a thesis that was entirely tangible and defensible.

This view really came about last year during Scolari’s reign as Chelsea manager. Scolari was forced to start the season with Nicolas Anelka in the lone striker due to the injury of Didier Drogba. As everyone knows, the story started like a fairytale and divulged into a true nightmare for Chelsea fans and Luis Felipe Scolari. The change in style was obvious from the first match – Chelsea were now a “horizontal” team, signaling the end of the Jose Mourinho-type directness that had proved so successful. Until this day, I attributed most of this to the new manager’s new ideas and don’t get me wrong, that definitely was part of it. Now, I attribute a large portion of this to the use of Nicolas Anelka as the sole focal point of the attack. Although he was the Premier League’s top scorer, I’m also inclined to put some of the blame on him for the system going sour. That’s not saying Anelka was doing something wrong, because he wasn’t.

The Chelsea team, still primarily a product of Jose Mourinho’s purchases, cannot be built around the silkiness of a striker like Anelka. With his purchases, Jose Mourinho designed Chelsea to attack in a very direct manner – a style Mr. Abramovich found unattractive (funny how that works, huh?). When Chelsea are forced to attack in a more indirect way, as I believe they are when Anelka is leading the line, they suffer an identity crisis.

As one could imagine, it becomes difficult to really see the effect of Didier Drogba because he spends so much time sulking, being injured, not trying, diving, etc. Today’s match was like a Didier Drogba light-switch. The player is in the best form he’s been in since 06/07 and he’s forced out due to suspension, to be replaced by his counter-part with a completely different skill set, Nicolas Anelka. And so the Drogba-less Chelsea experiment begins. Within five minutes, I saw Frank Lampard put a header on target from open play – I knew from that moment we were back to last-season’s Chelsea.

For those of you who don’t know, Frank Lampard never gets his head on the end of anything for Chelsea. I believe his first goal for Chelsea was a header and then he went on a 5-6 year drought to score 3 or 4 last season. Why such the sudden increase in headers last year? The absence of Didier Drogba. First, had Drogba been playing, Lampard would have been behind Drogba, who would have been heading that ball (and probably would have scored). The reason being that Nicolas Anelka, although 6 ‘1, cannot head the ball for his life. He has the neck muscles of a lizard. Second, Anelka opens up little space in the defense with his physical presence. As opposed to Drogba, who is second-to-none at being a nuisance around the box. Although not in this particular situation, the famous Lampard late run becomes the un-famous Lampard late header. When there’s not enough space for the ball to played on the floor, it goes to the air.

I found myself yelling at Anelka through my computer, telling him to stay in the center. Anelka has a tendency to unnecessarily roam around the field looking for the ball and leaving us without a centre-forward. God knows you don’t want to be depending on Kalou to score goals from the box.

As the game progressed, I was in full confidence that Chelsea would take the lead from an Essien shot that would deflect off the bar for Anelka to tap-in. To my admitted delight, I was slightly off and Anelka provided a handier finish than I first predicted. After the relief of coming out of the rain-trodden match with three points, I immediately became paranoid of the idea of a Didier Drogba injury. Sure, Chelsea could do pretty well without him, but could they win the Champions League or the Premier League without Didier Drogba? I’m not so sure.

UEFA to Fine Arsenal and Manchester United £5,000, Why Bother?

tyduffy — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:46:28 +0000

UEFA will fine both Arsenal and Manchester United £5,000 respectively for fan incidents during last years Champions League semifinals. An Arsenal fan hit Nemanja Vidic with a plastic bottle. A Manchester United supporter hurled a smoke bomb onto the pitch. The actions were potentially serious. The fines are not.

UEFA functions like all bureaucracies. It continues actions without a hint of rational analysis, solely because it was policy beforehand. Has no one questioned the purpose of these penalties?

The sums under discussion are trivial. Both Manchester United and Arsenal measure turnover in the hundreds of millions. Five thousand pounds neither attracts attention nor deters future behavior. It is doubtful Arsenal will now institute a plastic bottle task force.

It does not stop supporters. If you throw a projectile into the pitch, it is assumed you will be banned. The thought of the club paying a paltry fine in addition does not factor into the decision.

The fines are also not cost effective. There must be a meeting to determine whether a meeting to discuss these incidents is required. Someone has to schedule, to organize and to provide amenities for that meeting, which, with UEFA, is probably a lavish lunch. They may even fly people in for it. Someone has to contact the clubs to make statements. Once the issue is deemed punishment-worthy, another meeting must take place. The process takes months. The sum cost exceeds the amount returned in fines.

UEFA penalizing Arsenal and Manchester United accomplishes only one thing. It re-publicizes unsavory events long-forgotten and ultimately insignificant.

Rationales are non-existent. The fines are useless. UEFA should give meaningful punishments, or none at all.

Barcelona v. Manchester United: Time To Choose

Ethan Armstrong — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:16:42 +0000

And now it’s time for all good little football writers to predict the winner of today’s final. No dodging the question. No avoiding the responsibilities of punditry. Well, Clyde, I think it’s too close to call. I mean, if we don’t pick a side, we’re being wishy-washy, right? Readers want deliberate statements. They want to hear our measured opinions. It’s time to jump of that cliff and say: The winner will be…

Pick a side. Make a call. Bite into it. Just say it.

But how do you pick between these two?

The Champs v. Los Campeones.

One spanked Real Madrid both on the league table and at their own stadium. The other just tied Liverpool for most English league trophies ever.

One’s got last season’s FIFA world player of the year, the one who’s pretty well reviled by most everybody apart from Fox Soccer Commentators and Manchester United Supporters. The other’s got probably the best player in the world, the one who’s pretty well revered by everyone apart from Real Madrid supporters and C. Ronaldo’s mum…

No, no, no, Ethan… Don’t turn this into good v. evil… It’s not Lionel Skywalker v. Darth Ronaldo… Start again…

Manchester’s got that unbelievable defensive record on their side. It was the back four who won most of those clean sheets for Edwin van der Sar. Jaaskelainen had to make more actual saves this year. When they are fit and in form they are the best in the world. VDS hasn’t had to work too hard since his Fulham days. He must be tempted to bring a book and a lawn chair to work. That man’s got it easy.

Barcelona’s got the biggest collection of creative attack on the planet. Messi, Eto’o, Henry, Xavi, Bojan, Iniesta… Any one of ‘em could transform the face of a team and be the big star, but Barca wrangled them all together. An army of grace and form. Ambassadors of the beautiful game.

United have Rooney and Ronaldo, but nobody else really makes the defenders’ boots tremble quite the same way as those two. Giggs and Scholes are past their prime. Tevez and Berbatov are on fire at times, but not all the time. If they get past Barca’s back line (who are not nearly as tight as United’s) they will cause problems, but Barca will strive to dominate in possession, which they have the touch and passing to do, and limit United’s chances.

Today, it’ll be a matter of who’s having a better day out: United’s defense or Barcelona’s attackers. Rio is expected back, but is he really fit? And can he and Vidic fire up the chemistry right out of the gate or will they be rusty? These will be key factors in United’s ability to ward off the Barca seige. The whole match may well come down to how the rapport holds between those two men.

Okay, now you’re just stalling. What’s the problem?

The problem is based on Barca’s previous encounter with A Big English Club™ and United’s Well, Entire Season Really, this match promises to be a tight one. If we don’t go to penalty kicks (oh please, not again), I smell a close scoreline between two teams who could tip the balance in a heartbeat.

But both sides have shown they can snag the win from the dying moments of a match. They’ve crushed hearts all over London and Liverpool with last gasp winners.

Putting aside the worst refereeing interference since Bush v. Gore, we can’t diminish the fact Barcelona went into stoppage time at Stamford Bridge as the losers and came out the winners. And Manchester’s been doing the same all season with many 1-0 wins and plenty of late goals. The ability to create that deciding spark when the match is in its death throes is a mark of top class and pure drive. Both sides have the grit to carve out chances out of thin air and that’s going to force each side to keep on top of each other until the final whistle. It may just go to the side who makes the least mistakes. The side who sacrifices the least space to the gods of opportunity.

Alright, can you see me putting it off? Enough of that. I’ll pick. Here it is:

Barcelona.

I know I just set myself up for a United supporter to tell me I’ve got my head up my own offside trap, but it’s better than being wishy-washy.

Now, I’m not saying Barca are more likely to win. As I’ve implied above, I don’t think either side is more likely to win. It’s not a cliché or a dodge: this match really could go either way. I’m saying Barca are more deserving. I want them to win based on merit.

If United supporters are honest with themselves, this has been far from United’s best season as far as form goes. And I don’t buy the injury woes complaint. All sides have injury problems, especially in a long campaign chasing multiple trophies. United weren’t any worse off than any other big side and they have the depth to combat it anyway. United have not been their usual dominant selves. They’ve been good. Not great. They relied on Liverpool and Chelsea hitting bad patches more than anything else. They got enough close wins to secure trophy number 18, but we cannot reward their sub-par season—and I’m comparing it to their own par, mind you, the high bar they’ve set for themselves— we cannot reward that with another Champions League trophy. Last season, fine. They played amazing football. They won the League and Europe. I can accept that. But this season Barcelona need to stop them. For all that’s right and good it must be done. I’m sorry, United supporters: but it’s true.

Look, I know you can’t see this, but it’ll be better for you in the long run. No, really. If you win today, Fergie will get complacent in the transfer window. Why would he make big changes if United win everything again? He’ll do nothing major to combat the aging of key parts of the side. Giggs and Scholes are on the wan and as they’ve been United’s most influential players for ages and there is nobody there to step into their boots. Some of the young kids may grow into it eventually. But Fergie needs to go hunting. He won’t do it right if United win it all.

Okay, no supporter’s going to go along with that. But it was worth a try.

But, still: I’m backing Barcelona. They’ve played the best football in the world in their own context. They deserve to win on the big European stage as well.

Now, I can live with being wrong, folks. But I can’t endure another penalty shoot-out. Please. For godsake. Somebody win it in regulation.

Do it for the kids.

Half Empty or Half Full: A Look At Arsenal’s 2008-09 Season

tyduffy — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:05:06 +0000

Facing the sobering reality of a fourth season without a major trophy, Arsenal fans have been disappointed. The disenchantment has created a culture of negativity around the club, which Arsene Wenger lashed out at on Friday.

“When you look at people assessing the situations of the clubs, it has become ridiculous,” Wenger said.

“You sit here, you are in the last four in Europe, and every day, you feel you have killed someone. If you do not take a distance with it, you think what kind of world do you live in?

“We lost against United who have 10 times more resources, they are the best in the world. In sport, you have to accept that. It is like they are ashamed to be fair.

“There is no shame to say, ‘Yes you are the best.’ We were in the last four with a very young team – that is the reality.

“We have to keep a little bit of commonsense. Our average age in midfield is 22 – normally you play not to go down in the Premier League with a team like that.”

Wenger has a point. Arsenal played well for portions of the second half of the season to maintain their Champions League place. They competed in both the Champions League and the FA Cup, and with a bit of luck or a better draw could have played in the finals of both competitions. For a young squad, that is not a bad performance.

The club supporters, however, have a point as well.

Arsenal sputtered the first half of the league season. They lost five of their first 14 matches. Three of the losses were unacceptable against Fulham, Stoke, and Hull.

The club did have an injury crisis, but that crisis was self-imposed. Wenger had time to account for injuries to Eduardo and Rosicky. They had a frail first team, talented but green teenagers and zero squad players. With nearly every player playing internationally as well, injuries are to be expected. Arsenal suffered because they were not deep enough.

Arsenal’s cup performances look deceptively impressive. The Gunners made the semifinals of the FA Cup. To get there, they beat lower league sides Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City and Burnley. They faced Hull City in the quarterfinal. The first time Arsenal was challenged facing Chelsea, they lost. Arsenal’s FA Cup magic was really the minimum expected.

Arsenal made the semifinals of the Champions League. They qualified from the group stages, the minimum expectation in a system designed to ensure the big clubs go through. They scraped by on penalties against Roma. They outclassed Villarreal, an inferior team. Facing their first stern test against Manchester United, they were trounced. Again, it was the minimum expected.

The season can be considered both positively and negatively, depending on Arsenal’s finances. Supporters see one of the five wealthiest clubs in the world. They see a sold-out stadium of fans paying the highest ticket prices in English football. They see massive turnover, yet a team profiting in the transfer window.

The club’s fiscal picture inside may be bleak, but the Arsenal public front insists that there is money to spend. Arsene Wenger heroically may have kept the club as competitive as it is has been the past four years, but, with no transparency, how are Arsenal fans to know that?

Supporters can understand the lack of resources, what they cannot accept is the seeming lack of effort. On nearly every occasion, the 2008-09 Arsenal squad cowered in the face of adversity.

Arsenal are a team professing trophies as their goal. For the manager to throw up his hands after a defeat and say something to the effect of “It’s Man United, what do you expect?” is unacceptable.