Mails: Are Tottenham title challengers again?
Date published: Monday 3rd October 2016 9:58
You know what to do – mail theeditor@football365.com
Loving that Arsenal goal
Well I think that has to enter my top ten favourite Arsenal goals ever. People are absolutely furious about it. A perfectly legitimate goal but there’s anger I’ve not seen seen Pires ‘dived’ vs Pompey. And we all know that anger+bitterness = fear. Been a while since we experienced that. A very good sign indeed.
Well done to Spurs as well for closing the gap between The Arsenal and City. You do realise that Spurs are the only team in the universe that could go a season unbeaten and still finish below The Arsenal? That would pretty much be the most #Spursy thing ever.
Brad Smith
Arsenal: Lucky cheats
I saw the last half an hour or so of the Burnley v Arsenal game, and, after seeing Mustafi falling over in seemingly incredible pain after taking an elbow to the face, and subsequently, when realising he wasn’t getting the free-kick, jump up like nothing was wrong with him, I realised that there are ways to stop this sort of thing.
Feigning injury in order to trick the referee into giving a fellow player a card, must be bringing the game into disrepute.
Also, the Arsenal goal was a handball from an offside position. You know when you’ve handled the ball. You should call it, or you’re bringing the game into disrepute too.
I understand that retrospective punishments for these sort of things will never happen, but it bothers me sometimes that I follow a sport where every single player seems to be such a cheating, lying, filthy b**tard, and this is considered normal and acceptable.
Alex (LCFC – Champions of England)
Handball needs a reform
Arsenal’s last-gasp winner via Koscielny’s arm showed again how the current handball rule can seem really unfair. By the current rules, Arsenal’s goal was legitimate. The handball clearly wasn’t deliberate and that’s all that matters, despite Arsenal gaining a huge advantage. And I think this perverse outcome could be improved a fairly simple rule change of granting an indirect free-kick for accidental handball.
The key idea is that you shouldn’t gain an advantage, whether from an accidental handball, or a deliberate handball. However, the punishment would fit the crime.
Accidental = indirect freekick/advantage, with no yellow card.
Deliberate = same as now, i.e. direct freekick/advantage, with a caution possible
Think about rugby. The referee notes whether a knockon is accidental or deliberate. If accidental, the restart is a scrum, which is a lesser punishment than the penalty awarded for a deliberate knockon. They don’t wave away a technical infringement on the basis it was accidental, football should treat handball the same way.
Under these rules, the Arsenal goal would not have stood. Another typical situation, such as crosses being blocked by accidental handball, would result in indirect free-kicks for the attacking team, which seems fairly appropriate compensation. An additional benefit would be that referees would have it easier as giving a free for handball would be practically automatic, compared to the controversy that invariably erupts every a hand touches a ball in the penalty box nowadays (although they would still have to judge whether or not it was deliberate).
The only downside I can think of is that you might end up having a lot of indirect free=kicks in and around the box, which could get annoying, but it would still be better than the current grey area.
Michael, Tipperary/DC
Lucky Arsenal; supreme Spuds
As an Arsenal fan I have to acknowledge how impressive the Spuds were today. Cracking performance and with a defensive record like that they are scaring me!
Burnley played a regimented game against us and could have easily taken all three points.
We got away with blue murder with that offside, handball goal but the that’s the game.
Sorry Burnley but I’m happy with the result because our defensive players showed quality like yours did.
Turf Moor will not be an easy hunting ground for any team this season. You deserve to be in the Premiership and I wish you the best of luck (unlike today!).
Chris, Croydon
City were p***-poor
Fair play to Spurs, they were excellent yesterday. They fully deserved it.
Wanyama is a monster and that defence is rock solid. Son is good player and seems like a good lad (Penalty nonsense aside). I really enjoy watching him. Shout out to Danny Rose, What a nutter, he would jump through a stained glass window if asked.
We were p***-poor which also helped Spurs, but we were due a bad game and a loss. So at least we got that out the way. Navas is so poor it’s not even funny. He offers nothing, scratching my head as how he wasn’t sold in the summer.
Sane should have started. At least there is the unknown factor about him, as not many players in the league will have played against him.
The real Kolarov is back after being replaced by a cyborg for a few weeks. It’s sad to see but Zabaleta is well and truly past it.
Hopefully Pep will have learnt that you can’t use the keeper as much as in Spain and Germany. Sometimes Row Z is needed. Saying that, he has only been implementing his philosophy for a few months, so it will take time before we are the finished article.
Still we are top of the league and there is along way to go yet.
Normally I hate this international break as it makes the season so stop/starty, this time I’m secretly pleased as it gives us time to get De Bruyne fit.
Danny B, MCFC
Dear Tottenham…
You may be imperfect.
You build up hope, and then let us down.
Of recent times,
You lose to Newcastle 5-1.
You lose to Monaco 2-1.
You lose to City 6-0, 4-1.
You lose to Liverpool 5-0, 4-0.
You finish below Arsenal.
You give Tim Sherwood a job.
You keep Redknapp for too long.
You give Baldini over 100 million pounds.
You sign Chiriches, Rebrov, Berti, Bunjecevic, Hutton, Soldado, Paulinho, etc.
But.
I’d never leave you; for life would be dull.
You bring joy, excitement, and wonder.
You fill me with cheer.
My heart flutters, and skips a beat each and everytime you enter the arena to do battle.
You provide the wonders of Bale, Modric, VdV, Defoe, Lineker, Klinsmann, etc.
Of recent times,
You ruin City 4-1, 2-1, 2-0.
You annoy Utd 3-2, 2-1 twice, 3-0.
You beat Arsenal with ravishing 2-1 and 3-2 comebacks.
You wallop Mourinho’s Chelsea 5-3.
You smack everyone unworthy of the top 10.
You sign Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Dembele, Alli, Dier, Son, Eriksen, etc.
You give us Harry Kane of the Lane.
You lead us with Mauricio Pochettino.
You entertain with energetic, intense, attacking football.
Oh Tottenham, you’re imperfect in many ways, but I love you for what you are. Never change.
Matt, Melbourne
Wow. Just wow.
That first half looked like someone was holding down the press button on Pro Evo.
Get in.
Jon, COYS, Boston
Tottenham: Genuine title contenders
I wrote in last week querying how Spurs could be fifth favourites for the league at around 16 with the bookies, whilst other teams being much shorter such as Liverpool being second favourites at 5.5. After the weekend’s games, Spurs have been slashed to 8 and moved up to fourth so far as the bookies are concerned. My contribution was met with the typical derision that you expect to get as a Spurs fan, but does any neutral who saw Spurs ruthlessly dominate Man City yesterday disagree that they have a strong case to be considered amongst the potential winners in the league? It was the complete performance from Spurs and far more impressive than Liverpool’s lacklustre win at Swansea. Spurs were without Dembele and Kane, their two most important players last season and benched Dier, another hugely important player last year, for Wanyama who was man of the match.
Last season Spurs were very lucky with injuries and could field roughly the same first team every match, however when they lost Dembele through suspension for the last few games, the back-ups were players like Ryan Mason and Tom Carroll and the results went downhill fast. This year, they have a number of key positions covered with quality players that can play flexibly across Poch’s favoured formation. So, hopefully you all piled in on Spurs at 16 after my post last week, as I think the odds may be getting shorter for them going forward if they continue to play like they did yesterday.
Jonathan, (Not saying Spurs are going to win it, but they are up there) Gold Coast
Praising Tottenham’s full-backs
Both Rose and Walker gets plenty of stick from you guys so can I just point out the difference between the class of full-backs we have compared to the richest team in the league.
It’s about time the ful-lbacks of the club with by far the best defensive record stop being ridiculed. If they were half as bad as fans of other clubs seem to think we’d probably have already shipped in 10+ goals.
Shout out to every single Spurs players who played out of their skin. Could and probably should’ve been four or five nil. Outstanding performance from the attackers and defensively restricted City to only a handful of half chances and pot shots from outside the box.
Nabil (Pretty sure everyone will again start w**king their nuts off next time Milner scores a penalty or Clyne or Shaw puts in a half decent cross) THFC
Wrong about City, wrong about Tottenham
Last week I wrote in with some views on this season’s title contenders and I’d like to apologise.
I said City looked as if they could go unbeaten based on form so far – I clearly overlooked that they’d not really played anyone of note who would likely finish in the top half.
I also said I thought Spurs probably wouldn’t be up there, but I’d like to take that one back too after the way they completely bossed the game yesterday. City were awful defensively, but a lot of that was to do with Spurs themselves. Harry Kane will do well to go straight back into that team.
Lastly, just a word on Arsenal, because I can’t help myself. It wasn’t offside because Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn’t touch it, meaning Walcott’s header is only touched by Koscielny. It’s his touch that pings on to his own arm. It was probably accidental but the arm definitely helped it go in rather than over the bar. If we’d have conceded it, I’d have probably been quite angry!! We deserved nothing yesterday but thankfully we came through.
Joe, AFC, East Sussex
Lots of Minty thoughts
One can’t help but think that for big games, Liverpool and Spurs may now have very similar approaches. Son as a false nine is a much trickier proposition than a Traditional-ish 9 like Sturridge or Kane. That’s not to denigrate either of their talents but I think defenders simply can’t handle a player who can go deep and move laterally around the forward space whilst other attacking mids vary their own play; crossing from wide to central areas and then moving beyond the false 9. I’ve never been on a pitch when the crowd is noisy but how much can two centre-backs even shout at each other to keep track of what’s happening?
This might sound a bit harsh, and I think Sterling is a wonderful footballer, but I also don’t think he’s a guy you can turn to when the chips are down. He’s so young but at the same time he did cost an awful lot of money so that’s the only reason I think you might expect it. And I’m not saying he isn’t a big game player, because he’s scored massive goals in massive games, but I also can’t remember him being the guy to drag a team through when things are a bit hairy. Ultimately this City line up wasn’t ideal but at Liverpool he was a nice third act to Sturridge and Suarez whilst at City he seems to be the same behind De Bruyne and Aguero. Today without De Bruyne it might’ve been useful if he could’ve stepped up to be more but I’m not sure he’s got that in his locker.
Oh Mourinho. It was already delicious when you didn’t get results but to be doing it as Man Utd manager doubles the enjoyment for a lot of us. That Martial goal was lovely but it amused me that it came as the result of a Rooney mis-control which allowed a tackle to come in which went astray. I’m sure Utd fans will feel unlucky to have not scored more (and the keeper was great) but they should also feel slightly fortunate to have scored the goal they did. Saw a lot of people saying that Herrera should’ve got a red card but thought yellow was fair; he put his foot where the ball was but got there late. Of course it was contact high up the leg but that’s sort of inevitable if the ball is bouncing.
Arsenal; you lucky b**tards. Fair play though. Winning with such a ratty last minute goal is probably more enjoyable than winning 3-0.
Minty, LFC
Eight conclusions on Swansea v Liverpool
Just thought I’d do eight conclusions on the Swansea v Liverpool match (because I’m half the man Daniel Storey is)
* Swansea won’t get relegated, too many decent players in the squad and too many teams who are far worse than them in the Premier League who will finish below them. Admittedly their defence is a bit of a worry their ‘defending’ for the penalty was comedic, and when you have first choice centre-backs like Van der Hoorn making silly challenges like the one on Sterling last week and believing he was ‘unlucky’ to have been penalised, rather than accept he made a stupid challenge (made a similar one on Sturridge in the first half as well) it’s a bit alarming fair enough he’s 23 but he looks a bit too clumsy, they definitely miss Williams but when a lynchpin like he was for them leaves a club it’s inevitable that they will miss his leadership.
* Is Jack Cork the best uncapped English player? He was excellent first half set the tempo for Swansea play in the opening 45.
* Huge show of character that was from Liverpool, thought it was same old story after 45 minutes, after run of very good results get thrown back down to earth by hungrier outfit but they showed great resilience and quality in the second half against a very tired Swansea.
* Firmino is turning into a hell of a player, he was very quiet first half (as were many of his teammates) but in second half grew into game and scored with a good header and won the penalty through his desire to win back the ball. That kind of play is infectious and hes getting much more consistent which is a very good sign for Liverpool.
* The only real negative is that our set-piece defending was again poor, after the Chelsea result in which we defended our set pieces excellently we’ve seen evidence of the kind of play that will be the difference between us being genuine title challengers and too four hopefuls. Even with a completely comfortable second half in which the only question was if we can find that second goal we still newly blew it in the end, that happens again and we might not be so lucky for it to fall to their lumbering centre-half next time.
* On the subject of our defending at set-pieces a lot has been said about Karius on Twitter and as usual with Twitter it’s all over the top, he’s 22 to be expect him to be the reincarnation of Lev Yashin is a bit much. Don’t forget Reina’s first 18 months at LFC wasn’t a bed of roses and De Gea was very erratic early on so maybe just relax a bit. but while overall his performance wasn’t great there were aspects of his play which was very encouraging like his reading of the game and when to sweep up behind his defence and how comfortable he is with the balls at his feet those kind of attributes will only make us a better side. Yes he needs to command his area more and get better at crosses but these are all things that he can work on in training and with Klopp and his staff’s track record with getting best out of players I’m confident he can do that.
* I wrote into the mailbox after our win over Hull last week and wrote about how James Milner has been a revelation in a alien role that he’s had to take up, he was a increasing influence in the second half and was ice cool when he was given the penalty. It’s lovely to not have to panic any time the opposition attack the left side of your defence.
* Finally I’d like to start by saying I don’t think we’ll win the title. But as Daniel Storey so brilliantly wrote last week about Arsenal fans not being able to enjoy their side’s performances due to previous examples of false dawns, people shooting any LFC fan down for getting a bit overly confident needs to look at themselves. Of course I know we probably won’t win the title and we’ll probably lose to United and Jose and his band of b**tards will probably finish above us but why can’t I get a bit giddy over our recent performances? We’re playing really well and winning all kind of games with differing performances and after a summer of underwhelming performances from England. I’m enjoying watching a team that are exciting, resilient and unpredictable.
David (Lovren’s hoof at the end was lovely) Burzio
Liverpool to make an Ings profit?
With the news (spurious rumour) that Liverpool may be after Iñaki Williams and the consequent news that Liverpool may be looking to ditch a striker (despite shedding nigh on £50m of striker this summer) comes serious doubts about Danny Ings’ future. He would surely be the easiest fall guy from himself, Sturridge and Origi. He’s a different kind of player to Williams and the other two, less able in wide positions and more of a central striker, and whilst his goal-scoring ability is clearly good enough, he’s not done enough to get himself in the team yet despite Sturridge being dropped and himself scoring well for the u23s.
Interestingly though, despite him breaking the record for compensation, and having as bad a Liverpool career as he could imagine (if he is indeed off in January), I still imagine Liverpool will turn a profit on him. Not hard to see Stoke/WBA/Sunderland prepared to pay £10m for a proven goal scorer with his best years ahead of him.
But that really makes things interesting, as it would essentially make compensation transfers risk free, or alternatively, completely blow out the value paid in tribunals.
If he is indeed worth £10m in January, and given two goals in six league games for Liverpool over a whole season, then surely his value when he was signed should be much more than that later sale price?
Maybe tribunal fees should be more geared towards league appearances and later transfer fees?
No matter however, as for now every single club should be in for every single young out of contract player, confident that they can turn a profit a year later without any game time due to the crazy football inflation at the moment.
KC (got to be worth more than Borini right?)
Decrpyting Chelsea’s new system
A few minutes into our game at the Emirates, Conte decided his team didn’t show up and decided to change the tactical system to a back three, and since then Chelsea have not conceded a goal (okay, this is a ridiculous conclusion). Some thoughts on the new system and what is to come…
– First, I am appalled at English commentators/pundits. The moment they see a back three, immediately conclude that its a 3-5-2 because they heard Conte used it extensively at Juve and Italy. As a viewer, for paying the money I pay, isnt it fair of me to expect good commentary?
– But it was not a 3-5-2, rather a 3-4-3. In my understanding, this system is a pro-active aggressive system to overload the midfield and create 1-1 opportunities in wide spaces. This is what Conte tried with his back four system earlier to a moderate level of success.
– Conte’s Chelsea are tactically clear; play from the back, invite press from opponent, pull them out of positions and then hit accurate passes through midfield or from defense to wide attackers who would likely be one-on-one with a defender. The only irritating aspect was how Conte thought Ivanovic and Cahill could carry out these tactics. Anyways, bygones!
– And speaking of Ivanovic, dropping him has immediately changed the entire complexion of the playing 11. For starters, there is no more fear of a self-induced counter-attack. Lesser mistakes, and even Cahill for all his shortcomings looks a decent enough defender.
– The back three have specific roles; Luiz the central play making defender who sees the entire pitch and makes those diagonal hits, Cahill the no-nonsense defender tasked to man mark and clear balls (his forte), and Azpilicueta a technically proficient defender whose best is defending 1 against 1. Forgive me for over-analyzing but at least these seem the roles as of now!
– Also, Conte made a subtle tactical switch at Hull. Till now, Kante was wrongfully used as a holding man in a horizontal zonal system. I thought (and statistics here also helps) that Kante’s best at Leicester was an all-action box-to-box marauding across a vertical zone. Conte strangely asked Matic to do that and the pedestrian displays of Matic against top opponents exposed our midfield and in turn defense. So, against Hull it was Matic who was horizontally zonal stuck to the midfield, and Kante given the license to go up and down. Boy, didnt it change the outcome. Kante won balls everywhere in Hull’s area and around the midfield. With added security of a third center-back, it means defensively things were solid.
– It does and will take time for the players to get acclimatize to the new system and way of playing. Was evident during the opening minutes when Luiz hilariously threatened to make Ivanovic look like a world-class defender again. Thankfully it was averted.
– A note on Diego Costa, the only player I am willing to give credit as a fan for turning things from last season. No one else in that Chelsea shirt looks to portray the characteristics of the manager on the pitch than Costa. He is a thuggish b**tard (and I say this in an artistic tone). An absolute nuisance and hell to play against when he is in the mood; and he is in the mood most of the time this season. I won’t sell him for even 100m.
– On the other hand, Eden Hazard has been okayish to me, he has had his moments, but overall I am not happy with his attitude. He lacks the killer instinct that makes great players. Often, he showboats and walks around when the opponent is there for the taking. Some more performances like this and I’d be happy if we get 60m+ for him. I want to see more consistent displays from Hazard as a fan!
– A final note, Conte’s Chelsea are clearly a second-half team. 2-1 (West ham), 1-2 (watford), 1-0 (Burnley), 1-2 (Swansea), 1-0 (Liverpool), 2-4 (Leicester), 0-0 (Arsenal), 0-2 (Hull): Our results so far. Barring the 1-2 to Swansea which was an outlier, the pattern seems very clear. It was only the first half losses vs Pool and Arsenal that has condemned us to our current predicament in an otherwise interesting season. As the season goes on, we’ll know more.
Aravind, Chelsea fan
Peter G’s weekend thoughts
* Match of the weekend was Watford-Bournemouth: four goals, lots of ebb and flow, tactical switches on both sides, shots against the woodwork, and a whole new repertoire of hand gestures from Walter Mazzarri. The big takeaway is that the Hornets now have a plan B: a 4-3-3 with Troy Deeney as central striker, Isaac Success on left wing and Nordin Amrabat on the right. Odion Ighalo will need to up his game to stay in the line-up. For Bournemouth, Callum Wilson looks back to his best, and Artur Boruc continues his much improved play.
* Against all odds, Sunderland-West Brom was nearly as exciting. With Nacer Chadli the quality attacking midfielder they’ve lacked for so long, the Baggies are beginning to be a bit more expansive. They took 17 shots, the most in an away match for more than two-and-a-half seasons. But in the end, it’s only one point, and they should have put Sunderland away.
* Since everyone quite rightly will be talking about Spurs’ great performance, I just wanted to say what a joy it still is to watch David Silva play. With Kevin De Bruyne out, everything went through Silva, and in the second half, with City chasing the game, he was superb. (That Spurs held firm is even more to their credit.) The league has been incredibly lucky to have him for so long.
* I am emphatically not one of those who think Mesut Özil is overrated, but he seems to have more bad games than any other player of his caliber. No idea why.
* Speaking of bad games, was that Marcus Rashford’s first ever? Either way, Joe Allen will take some shifting from the advanced midfield spot for Stoke City. Bojan may be slicker, but Allen’s more robust play is an excellent complement for Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri.
* Not the brightest weekend for English officialdom. It started with Jon Moss forgetting the indirect free-kick rule, and ended with Craig Pawson and Scott Ledger somehow contriving to miss that Arsenal’s winning goal was 1) handball; 2) ridiculously offside. To be fair, Pawson had also missed a clear handball by Michael Keane a couple of minutes earlier, so the mistakes in that game evened out. But woof!
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA
Ed’s weekend thoughts
Let’s crack on, shall we?
* Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace was a fair result, really. Either team could have won it, but neither team did. The Toffees lined up officially in a 4-3-3, although the midfield trio were very central, and the only recognised striker up top was Lukaku. The Eagles, on the other hand, played a 4-2-3-1, leaving Yohan Cabaye on the bench – presumably the theory was that facing a team looking to dominate in midfield would require a more direct style, which suits the Townsend-Puncheon-Zaha combination.
* Lukaku’s free-kick was tremendous, and I’m not just saying that for Daniel Storey’s benefit. However, the events leading up to it were a little bizarre. Damien Delaney raised his foot to play the ball, but realising it was beyond reach he withdrew, at which point Phil Jagielka (who was bent slightly) played the ball with his hands in front of his face. The BBC described the decision as ‘soft’, and it probably was, but that’s how it went.
* Delaney then had a goal ruled out for offside. Having seen the replays, he has two teammates near him when he heads the ball. As the cross comes in, Delaney is onside, but James Tomkins, stood a few yards behind him, is offside and running back onside; James McArthur, in the middle of the area, is onside when the cross comes in but offside by the time Delaney makes contact. McArthur then attempted to head the ball but missed it.
One official told Delaney it was McArthur who was penalised, whereas another told Alan Pardew it was Delaney at fault. Either way, with the angles and distances involved, the goalkeeper wasn’t overly impeded or distracted, so it’s a little disappointing that it didn’t count.
* Against Sunderland, it was substitutions and an ability to switch playing styles that has turned the game. While Palace got level very soon after half time, both teams had spells of dominance. Yet neither sought to take advantage of them with a change of personnel and mentality. The first change came on 77 minutes, when the disappointing Ross Barkley (only this time, Toffees fans, I still think he’s good) came off in place of Kevin Mirallas. Shortly after that Cabaye entered the fray, in place of McArthur, but for someone whose main role within the team is to influence play, 11 minutes didn’t seem like quite long enough.
* Teams with 12 points from between international breaks: Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur
Teams with 10 points from between international breaks: Crystal Palace
Teams with 9 points from between international breaks: Liverpool, Manchester City
That’s good company to be in.
* After the international break, next up for Palace is West Ham United at home, then Leicester City (away), Liverpool (home) and Burnley (away). Four teams whose seasons have been, to different extents, up and down, much like our own. These are games we definitely could get something from, but could easily leave empty-handed on all four occasions.
* The recent celebrations of Arsene Wenger’s 20 years at Arsenal culminated with a goal off the elbow of a player possibly in an offside position. I’m sure he used to have a catchphrase for moments like this.
Ed Quoththeraven
Oh shut up, Alan
“We’ve got to try and find ways to incentivise our former international players who are coming towards the end of their careers to stay in the game. A lot of them now are multi-millionaires so there is no incentive for them to stay in the game. We’ve got to try to find a way to keep Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand in the game.”
These are the words of Alan Shearer CBE, discussing why the next England manager should be English. I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with this: I don’t give one single airbourne intercourse about keeping Lampard, Gerrard or Ferdinand in the game after they’re done playing unless they’re really good at managing football teams. If they really care about managing England in spite of their wealth, go and prove that you deserve it.
Manage Exeter in your first job. Take charge of a Championship or Premier Leagues U16 team. Don’t expect to be handed something, just because that’s what you’re used to. Work as hard as you did when you were a kid, when the guy from the big club’s academy came to watch you play. If you do the work, and are good at it, you earn your spot.
The truth is Alan, is that all the current English options for the English coach are either absolutely awful or too inexperienced. Sam got the job because he was the least terrible option, and he was a guy who has achieved precisely nothing in English football since he start coaching in 1992. The only English manager I have any hope for out of the current crop is Eddie Howe.
Oh, and guess what Alan? He has never played for England. Maybe being an above average international level player has nothing to do with being a decent international manager? Current Portugal manager Fernando Santos recently managed his bang average team to the Euro 16 championship, despite just playing for lowly Estoril and Maritimo. Never played for Portugal. How about Joachim Löw? Heard of him? Won the World Cup a couple of years back? Played 4 times for West Germany U21s, and that was that.
Our best international manager of this millennium Sven Goran Eriksson (how that must stick in the craw of the PFM mouthbreathers) lead us to believe England are a regular quarter-final team, when recent evidence suggests we are nothing of the sort. Journeyman career, never played for Sweden.
I’m all for Arsene Wenger (no French caps) managing England until English coaches are actually good enough for the highly paid England or the top jobs. If I got promoted at work purely based on my nationality, there would be serious questions asked. Alan, Fat Frank, StevieG and Rio can whinge like entitled toddlers all they like. Go to the toilet, pull down your huggies, and do the grunt work. Get good, or go home.
Jae, Tunbridge Wells
Justice for Neville
If England are that desperate for an aging right-back, whose best years and last England call up are a distant memory, then Phil Neville’s return to the famous f365 England ladder needs to be somewhere in the mid-twenties.
Chris Bridgeman, Kingston upon Thames
Oh we miss him
Balotelli vs Nice, a short story;
’86 scores winner and tops League
’87 yellow card
’90 red card
Love it.
Stijn, Amsterdam
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