Opta researchers hard at work. Photo by Umbro.com

Opta’s stat boffins have uncovered some gems from this season. Some of which will make you go hmm. For example, did you know that West Bromwich Albion set a new Premier League record of 34 consecutive matches without keeping a clean sheet? Or that Manchester United were the most clinical side from the 60th minute onwards in the Premier League this season; netting 36 goals in this period? Or how about Lucas Leiva, who made the most tackles (172) in the league? The list of fascinating statistics for each of the 20 clubs who played in the 2010-11 Premier League are listed below.

Let’s take a look at what they tell us about each Premier League club:

Arsenal

• Keep Van Persie fit for a whole season and Arsenal may just have a chance… Robin van Persie equaled the Premier League record of 18 goals scored in a season from January 1 onwards held by Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo
• Robin van Persie’s goal every minute ratio (goal every 98.2 minutes) – best in league
• Arsenal are the Premier League keep ball kings… Arsenal were the only team who averaged over 60% possession this season
• Arsenal made more touches (1104) in the opposition penalty area than any other side in 2010-11
• Arsenal conceded the highest proportion (53%) of the goals from set-piece situations this season in the Premier League.

Aston Villa

• Villa need to keep an eye on the opposition’s defenders… Villa conceded 11 goals from opposition defenders in the Premier League this term; more than any other side
• Darren Bent is always offside… Darren Bent was caught offside 67 times, 20 more than any other top-flight player

Birmingham

• McLeish’s side were dreadful… Birmingham played just 14 defence-splitting through balls all season, fewer than any other side
• Birmingham only won 452 tackles – lowest in league
• Birmingham hit a higher proportion of their passes long (18.9%) than anyone else. Except Stoke, obviously (19.9%)

Blackburn

• With a bit of fitness work over last summer, Blackburn could have pushed for a Champion’s League place… Blackburn would have finished fourth if only first halves counted in 2010-11

Blackpool

• Blackpool provided great entertainment but ultimately a poor defence was to be their downfall… The game with the most shots was Bolton v Blackpool, which saw a total of 49
• No side have scored as many goals as Blackpool did this campaign in a Premier League season and still been relegated
• Only one opposition side scored a first half goal at Old Trafford this season, that coming in Manchester United‘s final game, Charlie Adam for Blackpool

Bolton

• Refs don’t like Kevin Davies… Kevin Davies committed 123 fouls in the Premier League this season; the most by a player since Opta began their analysis on the league back in 1996
• Bolton committed the most fouls (513)

Chelsea

• John Terry is brilliant… Chelsea conceded fewer headed goals than any other side in the Premier League team this season
• Torres and co at the other end were not… Chelsea attempted the most shots (563) in the league but 9 sides had a better shot accuracy

Everton

• Leighton Baines is a superb full-back… Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and Everton full-back Leighton Baines were the only two outfield players to play every single minute of the 2010-11 Premier League season
• Baines delivered more crosses from open play than anyone else (249, six more than Stewart Downing)

Fulham

• Pantsil had a nightmare campaign… John Pantsil scored three own goals for Fulham in the Premier League this season, equalling the record for the most scored in a single season by a player (Andreas Jakobsson, Wigan, 2003-04)
• Danny Murphy loves to zip a ball about… Danny Murphy completed the most passes (2329) in the league

Liverpool

• King Kenny worked his magic…Liverpool scored in 18 successive matches between 1 January to 9 May 2011; the longest such run in the Premier League this season
• Maxi Rodríquez’s goal versus Fulham on 9 May 2011 was the fastest recorded in the Premier League this season at 32 seconds – Rodriguez has been brilliant under Dalglish
• The youngest player to play in the Premier League in 2010-11 was Liverpool’s Jack Robinson, born on 1 September 1993 – Dalglish gave youth a chance to flourish
• Lucas improved a lot this season… Lucas Leiva made the most tackles (172) in the league

Man City

• City fly out of the traps… Carlos Tevez scored the first goal of the game on nine occasions in the Premier League this season; more often than any other player
• Manchester City scored the most goals (24) in the opening half an hour of matches in the Premier League this campaign
• Tevez is a world class player… The top goalscorer award was shared by Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov (20), the first time it has been shared since 1998-99 (Owen/Hasselbaink/Yorke, 18)
• Carlos Tevez has scored 43 goals in the Premier League since he joined Manchester City on the eve of 2009-10; more than any other player

Man United

• Man United’s great home form is what won them the title… Manchester United equalled the highest points total at home (55) in Premier League history, level with Chelsea in 2005-06
• Manchester United won the league title this season despite picking up only 25 points away from home; the lowest total by any Premier League title winner
• United know how to get the job done… Manchester United were the most clinical side from the 60th minute onwards in the Premier League this season; netting 36 goals in this period
• Manchester United substitutes scored the most goals (11) in 2010-11
• Manchester United scored more headed goals (18) than any other team in the Premier League this season

Newcastle

• Newcastle get stuck in… Promoted teams Newcastle and WBA collected the most yellow (78) and red cards (7) respectively
• Newcastle’s Cheik Tioté received 14 yellow cards, two more than Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic
• ‘Barton for England’… Joey Barton had the most goal assists (5) from open play

Stoke

• Stoke are not the prettiest on the eye… Stoke’s average possession per game in 2010-11 (38%), the only team to average under 40%
• Long throws by Stoke in 2010-11 (scored from 4 of the 570), the next highest was Bolton with 288
• Percentage of Stoke City’s Premier League goals this season (22%) arrived from a defender; more than any other side

Sunderland

• Steed Malbranque is terrible at shooting… Steed Malbranque shots without scoring (44) – miles ahead of Jack Rodwell (30) in second place

Tottenham

• Spurs love to have a ping from range… Tottenham Hotspur netted 15 goals from outside the box this season in the league; four more than any other side (including set pieces)

West Brom

• Scott Carson is a rubbish goalkeeper… West Bromwich Albion have kept only two clean sheets in the Premier League all season; a new record
• West Bromwich Albion conceded 14 of their goals from outside the area this season, 11 of which came from open play; both Premier League highs
• West Bromwich Albion set a new Premier League record of 34 consecutive matches without keeping a clean sheet, between 29 August 2010 and 8 May 2011

West Ham

• The Hammers were poor at the back… Bottom of the league side West Ham let in the most goals from headers in the Premier League this season (15)
• Blackpool and West Ham both allowed the opposition 239 shots on target over the season, more than any other side
• And even worse up front… West Ham v Blackpool saw 48 shots but ended goalless
• West Ham were caught offside (120) more than any other team

Wigan Athletic

• N’Zogbia is a ball hogger…Wigan Athletic’s Charles N’Zogbia again tried more dribbles than anyone else this season (301, way ahead of Jonas Gutiérrez on 219). In the past two seasons he has attempted almost 300 more than anyone else (554. The next is Gareth Bale with 258, followed by Torres with 239).

Wolves

• Stephen Hunt needs to practice his tricks over the summer… the Wolves winger beat his opponent just three times from 36 attempts all season.

Editor’s note: For more articles by Daryn MacRae, visit http://stayonyourfeetblog.wordpress.com/

http://www.evertonfc.com/match/report/0910/portsmouth-v-everton.html?t=2

On a side issue for Everton, it was interesting to see Heitinga get some major Premiership action, and even though it remains early days for him, I remain yet to be convinced.  The gossip from Athletico Madrid, and vicariously via Ajax, preceding the transfer of Heitinga was indifferent, bordering on slanderous.  And while gossip should always be tempered with a liberal does of reality, it does sometimes suggest a trend.  Today was ample opportunity to watch Heitinga against one of the more charitable teams that Everton will play this season.  I have a number of issues. 

There were times, on a couple of important occasions, where Heitinga was a little too relaxed and a little too detached from the required Premiership intensity.  Random and aimless dwelling on the ball lead to unnecessary pressure and frequently Heitinga was less than sharp to provide the oppression on attacking players when the field position became perilous.  And when caught in possession or when caught out of position his recovery pace looked absent, only to compound the poor retrieval by surrendering his value and going to ground far too cheaply.  I think it will be a while before he makes an Everton start at the centre of defence and on this showing, I kind of feel ashamed that Tony Hibbert was ousted from his fullback berth so easily. 

Hibbert doesn’t bring much class to the right back responsibility but he does have that electric recovery pace that can shroud over a few technical or positional errors.  I have never felt that Hibbert was the future of the Everton defence but I’m currently very reserved about the prognosis of Heitinga in that position.  To crown an inadequate day I was distraught to see Heitinga detailed to the set piece free kick on the top of the box while Leighton Baines stood subordinately aside.  The inadequacy lingered when the free kick tamely cannoned into the Pompey wall.  Heitinga had clinically defused any potential risk of an Everton goal with his feeble set piece.  I very much endorse Baines taking any dead ball scenario, especially ahead of Heitinga, but having said that Baines was nothing more than mediocre from the corner quadrant today. 

Heitinga has become a bit of a scapegoat as his weak performance was really just the most salient example of an Everton team performance that lacked the Champaign of recent victories, but sees the win and the points consigned regardless.  And to be fair, Heitinga did play the assist for the Saha goal, even if the generic diagonal ball was rather clumsy and would have been defended properly by any genuine defender, Heitinga inclusive.  Rodwell looked a little disconnected and he floated in a stranded manner rather than patrolling the midfield with his accustomed composure.  Pienaar was lively if not actually productive, though his jarred knee ailment looks worrying.  It also raises the questions as to why Bilyaletdinov wasn’t on from the beginning, if you’re fit enough to come on then surely you’re fit enough to start.  Pienaar will be missed, I hope not for long.  Baines was sometimes good and sometimes less so.  Cahill and Fellaini did what they do but lacked any real penetration.  And Osman was absent for most of the game.  Where one touch football was required each Everton player took three.  The speed of play lacked the important component of actual speed throughout a laboured first half devoid of the craft. 

Anyway, is wasn’t a classical Everton performance and I trust that the wheels will be better oiled for Europe and then back home for Stoke.  And with the fixture list crammed to capacity there will be plenty of opportunity for Heitinga to acclimatise. 

It wasn’t all shocking and for much of the game we were very comfortable, it’s just that on fulltime review we were lucky to win and we probably should have lost.  Tim Howard gets an honourable mention. 

It was a standard Everton team with a standard Everton formation, though this time, unlike any other time, there was a bench blessed with options, variety and ability.  We just never used it. 

There is a delicate balanced to be negotiated when a manager picks his team, and that balance is tipped even further when you’re playing a wounded opposition away from home.  And while the choices of David Moyes are more than validated with a three point win, I can’t help but think about the diversity of forwards available and about the range of options that remained seated.  The Everton midfield was packed with numbers and yet was still unproductive, and all the time the golden touch of Yakubu was never called upon nor the endeavour of Jo ever beckoned.  Jo’s injury time cameo was irrelevant. 

Aside from the mitigation of playing away from home I just question why Everton do not, or did not in this game, commit more attacking goal scoring players to the field when the current crop of midfielders had consistently failed to deliver through the preceding minutes.  If Everton had sacrificed any one of the midfield five and given Yakubu a thirty minute run then my in-play betting slip would have read with more optimism.  As it turned out Everton continued to throw on defensive minded players and we continued to retreat back further and further into the danger not sanctuary of our own penalty area.  At two nil Everton would never have been in jeopardy of losing this game, at one nil we were within the width of a post or a goal line clearance away from a justified defeat.  Better teams with better players will punish that. 

Saha is a class player and when fit he is every bit the Premiership quality striker capable of leading the Everton attack and I’m very much happier when he starts ahead of Jo.  Jo spends way too much time outside of the penalty box for a true goal scorer and while his effort is commendable his actual ability deems his £19million transfer fee an absolute mystery.  But then Yakubu has already proven that he’s worth time on the field regardless of match fitness.  The Yakubu – Saha partnership would surly emanate with fear across all Premiership defences and rightly so.  But in the true sense of a partnership it requires time to ferment, it requires time to mature, it can’t happen over night but it will never happen on the bench. 

And, as a brief aside, I can’t help but feel a little worried about James Vaughan.  His informative Everton career has been blighted by injury but I sincerely hope that his future remains at the club.  It was sad to see him farmed out to Championship regularity but we must trust that this is for his own good if not yet for our good.  Vaughan is a menace of an attacker and I would much prefer to see him grow on the Everton bench rather than Derby’s and I would rather see Vaughan on our bench than Jo.  One can only assume that Jo’s season long loan will result in no other conclusion than a return back to his parent club and so Vaughan will be less than a year away from a return back home to his parent club.  Vaughan brings that direct style complimented with his youthful passion which excites the terraces whenever he has command of possession.  I want to see Vaughan an Everton player once again. 

Without wishing to condemn the team after an away win, I just think it a sign of the Everton times where the expectation of victory is married with the desire for performance.  No longer do Everton fans just want to win, we want to win properly.  And while not winning properly remains satisfactory, perfection always remains attainable. 

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

The rather convoluted route to a Europa League final derided with an experimental overpopulation of match officials has sometimes brought the validity of the event into question.  I’m not sure if the shambolic way that AEK Athens defended set piece corners has helped to stem the ridicule.  Still, there were a few Everton moments to make you smile.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8255003.stm

It was finally nice to start with a balanced Everton team which we haven’t seen for ages, if ever.  Aside for the injury-enforced redeployment of Dan Gosling at left back, David Moyes selected every player in their recognised position.  Having two left footed players playing on the left really brings that illusive balance to the team shape.  Pienaar does a wonderful job of holding down that left midfield, but he does so out of necessity rather than preference.  With Diniyar ‘Bily’ Bilyaletdinov looking every bit the class act that we were promised, the left flank looks strong and now opens up possibilities for Pienaar to influence the game from other, more vital areas.

I was impressed with the individual performance from both Bily and Pienaar on the left and right of midfield, but I was even more impressed with the group tactics of the collective midfield unit.  Frequently the wide middies were tucked very narrow creating options and penetration through the middle for the short range passing game that, when at its best, is the signature of the true Everton philosophy.  The good times are here again.  Now we shouldn’t get too carried away given the charity of the opponents but the maturity of the football available now looks to be graduating to a new echelon given the personnel available.

Perhaps one niggling riddle is the current form and formation of Tim Cahill.  I think Moyes has just about worked out that Cahill and Fellaini shouldn’t really play together.  It didn’t much matter in this game, but I suspect that during Premiership matches they won’t both be in the team.  They seem to want to perform the same task for the team and too often that results in a duplication of movement or an absence of depth.  Moyes now might just find himself in the rare and privileged position of having to rest and rotate his squad, Cahill and Fellaini will surely be each others understudy.

Tim Cahill is a wonderful talent and a true servant to Everton and I hope he can regain that magical form that, when ripe, marks him as an unplayable attacking midfielder.  At the minute he looks a little out of sorts and his rather petulant booking in this game was a frustrated punctuation of his erratic form so far this season.  Pienaar has raised his game over the last year and Bily has that pheromone of potential that excites the terraces, I hope that Cahill can reinvent or relocate his form for the next phase of the Everton advancement.

My favourite part about the game was the continued emergence of Jack Rodwell.  Moyes has elected to start the youngster in many games this season and he really does bring a craft to the midfield which has previously been reliant on experience and destruction.  Rodwell patrolled the deep-lying midfield berth with a calming manner and with a clarity of decision making that bodes very well for the Everton prognosis.  Rodwell routinely changed the point of the Everton attack with inelegant passes and a technique to lean on when midfield serenity will not be given with such consent.  There were times during the Athens games when his reception and distribution of the ball resembled that of Paul Scholes, and if Rodwell can get anywhere near to the inspiration of English footballs most cultured midfielder then he will be quite the influence.

Rodwell seems to float along the ground with a classic ease; in contrast to Fellaini who looks like he’s towing a caravan, Rodwell glides with an elegance.  This marries very well with a composure that has Rodwell targeted for the future Everton captaincy and certain international recognition.  For now he fits very well into the crucial role at the centre of the Everton midfield.  And long may that continue.

So with the balance of the team more organised and with the pattern of play forever moving beyond the attrition of past performances and closer to the true sentiment of football, the prospect looks good.  Even if the current assembly of Premiership victories does not.  The depth of the entire squad provides genuine cover in all positions and the blend will result in other, better players being attracted to the club during the next transfer window and more.  Though the most seminal component of the current regime is that while Russian internationals and Champions League regulars are being brought in, there is still room and opportunity for young, local talent to rise up through the club structure and blossom in the first team.

Jack Rodwell is fast becoming the heartbeat of the Everton midfield and I fully endorse that decision.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

Nine months till the final.

The lure of European football transcends merely the million dollar incentives; rather the Champions League represents a team’s arrival at the highest echelon of world football.  Or at least it did when it was called the European Cup.

Marketing men have milked football for every penny that’s available, and milked a few more pennies that weren’t.  With nine months to go until the Champions League final there’s almost an entire season between now and the most prestigious game in football, and yet the best team in Spain and the league winners of Italy are somehow playing each other on a so called ‘Match Day #1’.  The competition is bogus.

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3190160,00.html

In an effort to widen the reach of the European football capture it seems that a little intrigue got lost in the trade for profitability.  Once upon a time the legacy of the European Cup carried a charm that was undeniable.  The European elite were pitted against the other elite Europeans in a format that was both rational and palatable.  Home and away fixtures dictated who were the better team over the randomly selected fixtures, and failure to advanced offered nothing more than the exit.

If you wanted to be recognised as European Cup winners and if you wanted to bask in all the accolades that were deserved by European Cup winners then you first had to qualify by being the most superior team in your domestic league.  Only domestic champions were invited and second placed teams, third placed teams and other placed teams were consigned to subordination.

Once the list of elite teams was compiled the European Cup competition was conducted in a manner befitting a true ‘cup’ competition.  You could be drawn against a minnow from some new Eastern European country, still Champions, but sill a minnow.  Or you could be drawn against the best team from the Spanish league or from Italy.  Either way, you had two games in fair exchange to advance or not.  There were no dead rubbers, there were no visas for supporters and there was significant football each game and every game.

In an effort to incorporate new emerging markets the Champions League umbrella has stretched beyond the usual contestants and engineered-additions have brought new television contracts even if they haven’t brought new quality football teams.  All of Liechtenstein or the majority of northern Serbia will pay to see their nauseating representative preserve a terrible goalless ignominy at Liverpool or Madrid.  While teams like Liverpool or Madrid will endure the ignominy in order to sell more replica shirts or to plicate improved sponsorship talks.

The charm of the European night has gone.  At least waning.  And it’s been replaced by the most profitable business arrangement that can be negotiated.

Some nine months before the conclusion of the Champions League final the calculated and rather artificial arrangement of the tournament format has fabricated an anomaly of a fixture very early on in the proceedings.  Last season’s Champions League winners and Spanish La Liga Champions Barcelona are playing Italian Champions and one of the tournaments’s fancied cubs Internazionale.  The game chronologically appears first on the calendar and so has some significance yet no real consequence.  Given the rather mediocre contingent that irritates the group’s minion hierarchy; the outcome of this specific fixture was far from decisive, bordering on irrelevant.  A win, lose or draw would almost certainly conclude with absolute an unequivocal advancement to the latter stages for both superior clubs.  The pantomime of qualification is indecently fuelled by business and has nothing to do with football.

More teams, more interested customers and more money.  That could also read as; more teams, fewer significant games, and a lower quality of football.

The one downside to the old style European Cup was that you only ever got to see one representative form any given opposing nation.  If AC Milan were domestically better than Inter or better than Juventus then that was the team that we got to watch.  The same was true in Spain; if Barcelona deserved the European Cup run then they were the only Spanish team to enter.  It was limiting on your European football geography, but it was at least upholding to the integrity of the competition.

The one benefit of the larger more accommodating Champions League is that you’re almost certain to see the very best European clubs regardless of whether they are their very best domestic club.  I understand and consent to having both Barcelona and Real Madrid playing in the most prestigious European competition, even though I also know that they can’t both be Spanish champions.  The same goes for Italy, I want to watch Inter, AC and Juventus but they all can’t be league winners at the end of a season.  And I’d rather watch the third placed team in England than the first placed team from pretty much all the other inferior and weaker European Leagues.

The rub truly comes when you have to watch inferior teams from inferior leagues.  I’m not sure that French people watch the third best team in France play the fourth best team in France.  I’m almost certain that I don’t want to watch them play on a Wednesday night in the Champion’s League.

An extended hybrid competition makes sense.  We all want to see the best clubs play the best clubs in the best European competition.  It just makes no sense when we don’t get to see the best clubs playing the best clubs.  Or worse, when we do get to see the best clubs playing the best clubs, but NOT during the best European competition.  Dead rubbers and inferior teams can go.

The fiasco runs abhorrent when you cast an eye over the rule book of the now defunct UEFA Cup and you try to understand the fusion that is the Europa League.  Any precious semblance of tier-two European glory has been dismantled and bathed in shame.  The convoluted and almost tedious route to the final deems the perceived success of qualification as bated venom.  Summer participation precedes a season campaign that can stretch the length and breadth of Europe and sometimes well beyond.  Thursday night in a country that has a land border with Iran or Syria should be deemed void or superficial preparation for West Ham away on a Sunday afternoon.  The thirst for exposure has gone too far.

The mockery or insignificance of the Europa League is now being mocked by UEFA themselves.  The UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winner Cup were once a prestigious punctuation on the European agenda, a stepping stone for aspiring teams ascending the ladder of the European elite.  No such luck today.  Rather the Europa League is an ambiguous fermentation for experimental rule changes and rotten ideas.  Instead of accommodating the technological advancement that football requires the Europa League will host the shambles of five-official matches historically experimented at youth games, school games and girl’s games.  And all this before the Champions League losers parachute in on the wrong side of half time only to swell the numbers to beyond comprehension.

Anyway, I cherish the fact that the Champions League has brought together the very best teams from the European football landscape and I’m glad that I don’t have to miss out or have to wait an entire season to see the most glamorous European clubs.  It’s just that I find it odd that we have now engineered a scenario where we can watch a valueless game obediently contested between two of the best teams on the continent.

I want to watch these two teams play, but not on some balmy September evening.  These teams should be playing the final and or at least playing for the final.

Champions League Final

Saturday 22^nd May 2010

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

After a ninety yard sprint, fuelled by hatred and loathing, Adebayor slid on his knees all the way into a double charge of violent conduct and improper conduct soon to be arbitrated at the mercy of the Football Association.

An epic encounter of two contrasting football values was swept aside as legal wrangling; blame shifting and cathartic apologising soiled the headlines where football should have glowed.

But was Adebayor wrong?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8263504.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2009/09/adebayor_mars_man_city_win.html

Now, I’m not privileged enough to have the detailed story of what exactly went on in that Arsenal dressing room behind the charade of rumour and gossip.  But something of some almighty significance must have occurred last season for Arsenal to so willingly consent to the departures of Touré and Adebayor.  Both were, and continue to be, astonishingly good Premiership players with world class credentials.  To allow such talent to leave given the rather fragile Achilles of an already crippled Arsenal team suspects of a provocative fiasco.

The story is an intriguing one.  Tentative reports suggest that Adebayor took explicit and evident displeasure to the rather impudent and frankly disrespectful conduct of some of the more privileged yet still juvenile contingent of an emerging Arsenal.  Despite being anything but established in the first team, the likes of Nicklas Bendtner, who seems to be the main antagonist in this marred narrative, allegedly displayed consistent insolence towards the ubiquitous club rules and flaunted a wider discourtesy above their advantaged standing.  Rules and regulations are an adhesive of society and for the welfare to be continued none are beyond reproach…regardless of salary, importance or conceit.

Teenage petulance buoyed by inflated opinion lead to a constant flirting with the boundary and an unnecessary antagonism of those who appreciate a more mature comprehension of the club policy.  It sounds almost irrelevant, but no training shoes were to be permitted in specific areas of the Arsenal dressing room and non-compliance to the mandate was deemed subordinate and submissive.  The relentless disobedience inspired Adebayor to respond against Bendtner with a verbal condemnation leading to physical appraisal.

Despite Adebayor’s motivation seemingly carrying great integrity the dressing room popularity votes sided on the wrong side.  Adebayor’s affirmative action appeared to alienate himself from his team mates and distance himself from the core of the side.  It seems that no one at the club was prepared to support Adebayor in his crusade against the misbehaviour and his detachment from that core just widened.  Disillusioned and isolated it was inevitable that Adebayor’s on field contributions were to diminish beyond the point of replacement.

However, parallel to this debacle the expectation of the Emirates crowd remained unfulfilled and Adebayor became the stooge blamed for an entire club’s inability to win enough games or to win enough games in the correct manner.  As a non Arsenal supporter looking in on affairs from the outside, I could not quite fathom just why the terraces were so committed to the estrangement of Adebayor from their ranks.  The guy is absolute class with all the good attributes of Didier Drogba complimented by a wizardry not whiteness since Kanu.  Defenders can usually accommodate one facet of an accomplished striker, but to deal with an entire armoury of potential weapons, such as those at the command of Adebayor, frequently proves illusive.  To allow that ability to walk away was negligent.  To allow that ability to walk away and into the first team of their most immediate adversary of Premiership qualification into the Champions League was just plain stupid.

Having said that, the Arsenal harmony does seem to have taken a significant and important turn for the better this season.  And so while the goals will surely be missed the benefit to the Arsenal team must take the highest precedent.  Perhaps the factions of vile Arsenal support who continue to deride Adebayor will be content with his departure irrespective of his scoring potential against them.

I don’t quite understand how such a futile disagreement could conclude in such an obnoxious and destructive way.  The legacy of this debate is massive and the repercussions I feel are far from assumed.

It was more than inevitable that Adebayor would score in the early season encounter; I would be surprised if they were even taking bets on such a predictable scenario.  It was less predictable however, that Manchester City might actually run out winners.  It was possible, but far from predictable.  What was also predictable was that when Adebayor did score the inevitable goal his eruption of human emotion would be forthcoming, how could it not be?

Any scorned or betrayed passion must feel justified when a decisive and compelling retort can fatally deliver a termination to the conversation.  To abolish any previous argument or to render any subsequent question as redundant is a persuasive vantage and this supremacy can skew integrity to beyond the point of acceptance.  The volatility amplifies when you punctuate or flavour the potion with the inflammatory perception that Adebayor continues to feel he was correct and justified to hold his standpoint so stoically and he feels deceived and misrepresented by an indignant Arsenal family.  It goes some way to understanding, if never quite condoning, the behaviour that manifested in a marathon sprint designed only to antagonise the lost confidence now proved flawed.

What Adebayor did was wrong.  To goad opposition fans to beyond the point of riotous behaviour was unacceptable, and the fact that innocent stewards and stadium staff were compromised and injured adds weight to the disciplinary contention.  But having said that, I totally recognised where Adebayor found the necessity to conduct himself in such a manner.  Given the parameters and injustice of his story I feel that I too would have felt it necessary, if not acceptable, to behave with such emotion.  I too would have swallowed whatever consequence or repercussions were required in order to voice my opinion or to express my side of the debate.

It was an unadulterated expression of justice and a very natural human response.  Very few recognise exactly what values that moment represents.

I’ve heard many condemn the behaviour of Adebayor and yet I’ve heard very few rational, accurate appraisals.  Most seem to contradict their own argument.  Some referencing that …they’re all just dumb footballers dirtied by money and beyond the honour of common society, who have little recognition of their worth or influence.  Behaviour like this is now expected if still not acceptable.  The same arguments carry on contradicting that …given their inflated earning and heightened status football celebrities should be educated against these acts of attrition.  Bizarre.  Too rich to know better.   And yet so rich they should know better.

The clichéd response from the infuriated football community is that the crowd pay their season ticket moneys and so they’re liberated and justified to voice their opinion, no matter how abusive, no matter how unfounded or no matter how wrong.  Why does this same sentiment not equally and conversely uphold for Adebayor.  The behaviour of the Arsenal support towards Adebayor, lingered over many months, deserves no compassion at all.  The conduct of the Arsenal support immediately after Adebayor’s inflammatory celebration was obnoxious, no matter whether they were incited or not.  I’m not sure how status, wages, or numbers should be treated any different.

Adebayor has no forum with which to represent his opinion.  He can score winning goals against Arsenal, but they carry only revenge, they don’t carry the truth.  There is no genuine method to represent his grieving.  Other than what he did.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

The stretcher bearers carried Neville form the field of play and next day assessment condemned his absence to nothing more specific than ‘lengthy’.  Perhaps the first bit of luck that Everton have had this season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/8255217.stm

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/neville-has-ligament-damage.html

Neville has been an excellent piece of business for Everton and the transaction to bring him to the club for a miserly £3.5 million takes some beating in the Moyes catalogue of triumphant purchases.  At the time an inferior club like Everton regarded it a coup to pick up an England international boasting nearly sixty caps and dragging with him a veteran experience of the Manchester United winning machine.  The nominal fee represented a significant percentage of the spending budget at the disposal of David Moyes and he disposed of it with great incite.

Neville brought with him not only the application and aptitude to be a versatile contributor to more positions than the karma sutra; he also carried the legacy of a vast and decorated nurturing under Alex Ferguson.  This wealth of experience all came at a bargain budget price much to the gratitude of Moyes and to the delight of Neville’s new adoring Everton public.  His meteoric rise to the captaincy was rapid and unquestioned.  His wholehearted exposure on the match day field married with the requirements of the team.  The wound left by Lee Carsley’s defection back to Birmingham resulted in Neville shifting from his recognised berth at right fullback to the role of a central midfield destroyer that he had occasionally occupied in his Man Utd grandeur.  This tactical deployment revitalised Everton’s Premiership resilience and fortunes changed on the back of Neville’s relocation.

Under the guidance of Moyes Everton continued to grow and the calibre of player attracted the club raised to a higher echelon.  Instead of Championship players and retiring celebrities Everton and the stature of Moyes were able to bring in good quality European players with good European experience.  This influx meshed well with the refreshing philosophy to allow any talent from the youth ranks to blossom inside the integrity of the club and not decay out on loan at some six month sabbatical in some subordinate division.  An imaginative blend of values indeed.  What this did mean for Everton was that for the first time in almost twenty years the manager finally had some options.

I’m a huge advocate of David Moyes; I feel he runs his program with great honour and with great dignity.  And also with great ability.  I’m grateful for his service to the club and I would be happy for him to double his tenure at Everton.  However, I do feel that Moyes currently lacks the same elegance or understanding that some of the true students of the game command, students such as Wenger or Ferguson.  Twice during his time at Everton Moyes has won the LMA (League Mangers Association) highest accolade of Manger of the Year; high praise indeed when voted for by your peers.  Though I do question the validity of his nomination and I do question whether Moyes is the most deserving.  Twice.

Since his inception at the club Moyes has been a strict proponent of and rarely deviated form the notion that playing your best eleven players is the correct course of action, regardless of the opposition and regardless of the competition.  With unerring regularity Moyes will play the best eleven players available.  And with limited exception; when a player is injured or suspended Moyes will select the twelfth best player to play in his place.  If another player gets injured then the thirteenth best player will play, and so on.  Under Moyes the management of the team works on a cab rank principle.  Very little time or strategy is wasted on the intricacies of tactical refinement.  Pick your best eleven players, charge them up and send them out.  And keep shouting from the sideline until you win.

I’m doing David Moyes a bit of a disservice there, but he very much falls into a category of basic football management whereas other fall into the realms of genuine strategists and erudite scholars.  Surely the task of Wenger or Ferguson is a greater obligation than that of Moyes and thus more worthy of accolades.  Okay, the million dollar squad at Man Utd or Arsenal means that Ferguson and Wenger are starting from a more lucrative vantage, but the delicate nature of having to align all of those maverick perspectives is mind boggling.  Opposition team tactics can be dissected and counteracted with subtle exploitation and with academic tinkering of formation or personnel.  Planning and plotting the correct path with a squad that has enumerate choice and flamboyant connotations is far more impressive than merely picking the standard first team subtracting whatever alteration illness and injury dictate.

Some pertinent examples in the recent rhetoric of Moyes and his stubborn inability to deviate from the ‘best eleven players’ approach to football management appear dramatically obvious after the event.  Mikel Arteta was an incandescent beacon shinning amongst the pragmatism of an Everton team most noted for bludgeoning malevolent low scoring victories.  Yet the majority of Arteta’s time was spent stranded on the right flank, and occasionally redundant on the left, escorted by a central midfield lacking the ability to service him with possession.  Arteta’s contribution became integral and cameo all at the same time.  The evaluation to shift Arteta into the middle of the field took years to appraise on Moyes and yet the returns were instant.  My preference was to have Arteta play as the second striker in the Bergkamp mould, but the centre midfield berth remains a far better option than the isolation of a wide midfield.

A similar anecdote followed the delayed introduction of Leighton Baines to the starting team.  After the expense of luring him from Wigan Moyes opted to play three central defenders across a back four, even if one had to play out of position at left fullback.  Lescott subsequently played for England and was sold for £24 million as a central defender and not as a left fullback.  Baines remained withheld until Moyes took a little too long to appreciate his work rate and his wand of a left foot.  Baines could argue being the second best left fullback in England, not just the second best left fullback at Everton.

On a more immediate note, during the Fulham debacle Everton were chasing the game with eleven minutes to go and we had played the entire game devoid of anything resembling coherent and penetrative football.  The Moyes decision was to throw on Yakubu for Osman and with him followed a wish for a miracle.  There was no subtle tinkering of formation, there was no genuine redeployment of troops, there was no refinement in the directives to the fullbacks, Pienaar was not asked to shift infield to provide the missing piece of sophistication…etc.  Yakubu = Goal!  Not this time.  And not without some more executive coaching.

Anyway, under the stewardship of Moyes Everton continue to flirt with the top end of the game as European nights are becoming a staple at Goodison Park and Saturday contentment is becoming more of an expectation rather than a rare and random treat.  However, in the vein that we have discussed above the Everton team is at a moment of transition and the future prognosis of advancement balances on the chance of David Moyes to recognise that.

While Phil Neville brings an indispensable personality to the game he also brings a style of midfield play that football at this level regards as obsolete.  If Everton are going to breach the top four, or indeed resist the very evident threats of Manchester City and Spurs, then we can only do so with a midfield blessed with more creativity.  And Neville just does not fall into that category.  When you consider the midfield options of better teams than Everton you simply will not find a misfit fullback playing there, no matter how many England caps they’ve won and irrespective of personality.

The contemporary midfield demands that players must be able to play football and demolish opposition football in equal priority, failure to have a full command of a full repertoire of skills just won’t survive at this standard of football.  Everton require craft and intellect along with the given brutal authority in the centre of the field and they have players available to do that.

I’m not sure Moyes was ever going to replace Neville by his own volition.  Now he has to.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

The build up to Wales’s most recent and irrelevant World Cup qualifying group game was punctuated by the rather petulant and juvenile civil war of criticism levied by legend Welsh players towards the ineptitude of the current national team.  The bitter and embarrassing barbs were derided and counter derided in a blemish that a sensitive Welsh football team can hardy tolerate.

Further torture arrived with the callused news that Jason Koumas had announced his retirement from international football.  And While Koumas has a chequered and unspectacular history he is the closest thing that Wales have to flair or talent.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8229460.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/8244337.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/8240621.stm

The appointment of John Toshack back in 2004 was met with a series of mixed emotions.  After the crescendo of Mark Hughes’s Euro Championship campaign the nation was divided, buoyant and worried about the prognosis of the Welsh national football team.  And while Wales had not qualified for Portugal there was at least hope and tangible advancement.  Toshack was not a widely popular choice, mostly because of his soiled flirtation with the national squad and even though ten years previous that one game abandonment still stains a few memories.  Anyway, regardless of his reputation the proud nation once again rallied around the new manager.

Since then and up to now the predicament for Toshack has been blighted and self-induced, often in equal measure.  The catalogue of player retirees is vast.  A cavity in quality and in quantity that Wales just could not afford to lose.  Never have Wales been blessed with options and to have that kitty diluted unnecessarily is nothing short of negligent.  Age and injury are unavoidable reasons to retire but Toshack has forced plenty of players to terminate their association with international football.  Many valuable players have expressed the desire not to play for the manager rather than not to play for their country.  And while I don’t condone player power undermining a national team’s qualifying campaign, I have to say that a manager of a country like Wales must plicate and acquiesce or sometime pander to the requirements of a delicate squad.  To resist against the talent just makes the task even more difficult, and to be the catalyst for the player departures is foolish.

The lack of first team variety or available alternative has seen a massive migration from the youth ranks and from a very special u21 structure.  The defect or legacy of Toshck’s managerial atmosphere has broadened the Welsh squad providing a greater depth across the player pool.  But the infant age and the lack of Premiership experience leaves a sometimes hollow team sheet playing around an isolated forward accountable for guiding the team and winning the game.  An unachievable task.

During this pre game press conference Toshack was quick and accurate to reference that Wales had been dealt a vixen in terms of a qualifying group.  Both Germany and Russia are resident in the top ten of Fifa’s dubious rankings.  Four and six, if you care.  And to have two such European heavyweights in one group is indeed harsh.  However, what Toshack does not point out so quickly or so accurately is that Wales continue to dwell in a subordinate seeding pot because Wales continue to bodge qualifying campaigns thus never raising the coefficient enough not to have two or more better teams above.  Fourth again this time.  Three better teams again next time.

Toshack never commands the press conference with the sharpest of cerebral wisdom and it seems that his stubborn and ultimately fruitless approach to management is again coming up dry.  There were many who weren’t that fanatical about his appointment at the start and those dissenters are canvassing more support for this perspective after each disappointment.  Toshack doesn’t have a strong managerial honours list despite a reputation that I can’t quite understand, and it seems that his ineptitude continues to be unravelled on the field.

For a very long time now the Wales team under Toshack has constantly deployed a five man defensive unit.  The three belligerent central defenders flanked by two fullbacks that years ago used to be called wingbacks.  I have massive issue with this primitive system that Wales continue to play irrespective of the personnel available.  Three central defenders is one too many, and instead of churning out more work or more protection the chores just get shared around by diminished responsibility.  Gabbidon and Collins are not world class defender but they are decent enough.  Adding in supplementary players just doesn’t give any more value to the centre of defence and even takes accountability away from two good players.  Gabbidon and Collins should be the two first choice central defenders and other central defenders should remain replacements and options.

The other unfathomable connotation of the wingback mystery is that the width of the team is then provided by the fullbacks.  On a couple of occasions the two Welsh fullbacks had made good penetration down the flanks exploiting the good theory of the system.  The demise then came as the deliveries into the box were devoid of quality.  Wales had poor Championship quality fullbacks on display and yet despite their technical inferiority they held the key to any potential Welsh success.  The wide ball was never delivered with the quality required because the players delivering the ball were not of the quality required.  Bale or Ledley would have made a better left wingback in this system; sadly neither were playing left wingback.  The system and the playing staff just didn’t fit.  An excellent piece of strategy or subterfuge was to swap Ricketts and Gunter, this merely shifted incompetence to another part of the field previously occupied by incompetence.  And lead to more Russian goals against.

The midfield four seemed to lack any kind of direction.  All four were honest in their endeavours but the shape of the midfield was incoherent.  That left Bellamy a little secluded, and despite his marathon of energy Bellamy was betrayed by the tactics.  Bellamy’s forward isolation smarts of a pending retirement; Manchester City must seem more of a valid prospect for him now, surely.

The individual performances were not at all bad, whereas the collective outcome continues to be intolerable.  The Welsh industry to keep funnelling back behind the ball was impeccable.  Each and every Welsh player had great aspiration to assist with the team cause.  The missing detail was that the priority for the Welsh players was to get back and adhere to the team shape but in doing so they neglected to prioritise the ball.  On numerous occasions the Welsh team were in synchronised formation and yet the first defender pressure on the ball was absent.  It’s a forgotten sentiment in contemporary football that team defending is oddly eclipsing the ubiquitous necessity to pressure the ball.  A maverick Arshavin picked passes through the entire infantry of a Welsh defence, and under no duress he could have done so blindfold.

On the rare occasion where the assembled masses of the Welsh defence did turn over possession it was inevitable that a counterattack could not be staged due to such a deep lying concentration of almost every player.  Without the counterattack option available ahead of the play the flawed choice was just a generic long ball through the channels arbitrarily guided towards the pace of Bellamy.  This did not work.  A poor quality set piece corner was the only moment of success and even that was more than fortunate.

As mentioned I don’t think that the individual players performed that poorly, there was much to be pleased with.  Brian Stock looked very comfortable on debut, it’s nice to see Gabbidon and Collins playing, Ramsey got some more field time, Hennessey…etc.  The Wales team just lack that guidance and they lack that direction.  The tactics were abhorrent this evening, as they regularly are, and the net result reads the same as last time and the time before and the time before that.

Wales will again almost certainly be stranded in a mid table mediocrity after this result and yet again some disillusioned Premiership star will surely choose to prolong his Premiership contract ahead of his national compulsion.  Wales don’t have the privilege to be radical with its decisions but things just aren’t right.  And I know what my preference would be for change.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

The Chelsea transfer embargo detonated by Fifa this week will have massive and perturbing repercussions. Even with Chelsea delaying proceeding and stagnating the affect of the transfer prohibition by deploying a stalling bureaucracy the outcome appears inevitable. And if the Mexès Roma policy is to be referenced, in addition to the FC Sion case, then the precedent suggests that the restrictions will be moderated if not quite abolished anyway. But the cost to Chelsea will be very rich in the long term. Though I suspect not so right away.

With an ageing first team and with the inevitable injury, suspension, loss of form and international obligation, the future might seem blighted and then compounded by this bizarre transfer restriction. Chelsea’s Premiership contention will already have been hampered by the African Cup of Nations January departures and prospective trophies will be jeopardised by the outcome of the pending Fifa arbitration. But despite all the contention this season’s Champions League must be deemed within the grasp of Chelsea even now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8239141.stm

The make up of the current Chelsea squad just smarts of quality and European experience, regardless of any major addition to the personnel during the closed season. But on more detailed scrutiny there has been massive addition to the Chelsea personnel. Last year Chelsea spent far too much time with unhappy and temperamental players enduring the wrong side of harmony. You factor in to the equation the return to fitness and the return to form of such seminal players as Ricardo Carvalho and particularly Michael Essien and you have a starting eleven, bench and depth to envy anywhere in Europe.

It took Chelsea less than a handful of games to rise to the top of the Premiership table and I have no reason to suspect that their passage through the group stages of the Champions League will be anything but trouble free and pedestrian. Athletico and Porto away from home will be credible European nights, but with home victories an expectation there is little for Chelsea to worry about. And given the recent pedigree of Chelsea winning two-leg European games you would fancy them to progress through each and every round regardless of random opponent.

Through the last two Champions League campaigns Chelsea have lost out to the best team in the tournament. And while Man Utd and Barcelona will be formidable adversaries and early favourites, there is the sense that both clubs are a little weaker this time around.

The high profile and much documented exodus from Old Trafford has left a cavity in the Utd team that just hasn’t been filled. Ronaldo and Teves brought glamour and prestige in addition to goals and the rather budget replacements of Valencia and Michael Owen are indeed budget. Budget in both goals and glamour. And while Man Utd should be discounted at your peril there is an aching sentiment that the team is short of class for both domestic and European glory this season.

Perhaps the most perplexing transfer dealings came from Spain. Of course from Spain. But not the Madrid carnival, we’ve seen that show before. The transfer policy at Barcelona was unbelievable. The acumen of Pep Guardiola is currently and perhaps eternally beyond suspicion, though I do have an issue with the dramatic exchange of Eto’o for the languid and dubious talents of Ibrahimovi?. Guardiola has harboured an agenda to remove Eto’o from his squad since the inception of his managerial tenure that plenty of game-winning goals just wasn’t able to resist. And while the true reason for that agenda may not be clearly evident, Guardiola was unyielding that the departure of Eto’o was imminent. Ibrahimovi? can boast some great numbers in terms of goals to games ratio, but he always carries with him an annoyance of underperformance, his fulfilment always seems pending and never quite delivered. If I had the choice of managing the imperfections of Samuel Eto’o against spending something like €70million for the latent promise of Ibrahimovi?, I know for sure where my allegiance would be pledged.

The Ibrahimovi? conundrum is not Barcelona’s only issue. With the loss of Hleb on loan and with Guðjohnsen sold, punctuated by the fact that transfer targets were not pursued with the vehemence required, the squad looks a little skinny. Premiership quality players have left and no players of any quality have replaced them. In similar circumstances to Man Utd, Barcelona might be weaker than last time around. Now, that doesn’t mean that they should be discounted or dismissed, far from. It’s just that a worthy antagonist appears more depleted for this season’s crusade.

Conversely to the Ibrahimovi? deal, Internazionale look a far stronger outfit. Inter were a little underweight on talent last season so the addition of Eto’o and his impeccable work ethic along with the undoubted guile of Wesley Sneijder makes them look a much more complete team. Certainly they hold the best chance of European glory for any of the Italian participants. Though AC Milan have a romance that should never be forgotten. They also have Pato and he should never be forgotten.

Perhaps the biggest intrigue of the competition remains with the Madrid madness. It’s undeniable that Real have purchased some excellent players, they over paid for them, but they have purchased some excellent players. But then good ingredients don’t always make for a tasty meal. However, surely it would be negligent on a biblical scale if you couldn’t find some success with that crop of talent. I suggest that letting Sneijder depart and especially allowing Robben to leave was a coarse misjudgement. Those two players can torment defences and it’s a perilous game to allow world class talent to drift away to the rivalry of the European elite. We’ll soon see how perilous.

But given the assembled talents of the current Madrid team they must be in contention for every major honour available. Though the balance doesn’t quite fit at Madrid. The formation riddle is the consistent appendage with any big spending team. The nature of the game requires left and right, back and front equilibrium; and the blemish of pragmatic necessity can’t quite be ignored with a crowbar team selection of media superstars. Can Madrid find the balance quickly enough to compete?

So in conclusion, the world of European football currently has an unpredictable landscape with the profit and loss of the major football currencies showing buoyancy and recession dependant on your perspective and opinion. And while international and then domestic supremacy has taken its limelight the Champions League lingers with the allure of great enchantment. Predicting the outcomes is even more enchanting.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

Chelsea travel to Everton on Thursday night and anything but victory will all but hand a second successive Premiership campaign to Man Utd. Given that Utd and Chelsea then play on the following weekend it is more than conceivable that all three points at Everton might still not be enough for Chelsea. In the cold light of sobriety I can’t think that too many people would begrudge Man Utd winning the title again this season. In spite of the blinkered loyalty that many adhere to most genuine football fans will concede that Utd have the deepest squad in terms of talent and in terms of numbers, Utd played the most consistent football for the duration of the season, week in week out, home and away; Utd have the standout performer of the season in Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ferguson concocted the appropriate blend of defensive stability and attacking fluency.

So where did the others go wrong? At the beginning I used to feel a little remorseful for Avram Grant. He inherited a squad that was every bit the Mourinho baby – it was an absolute dynamite squad, Grant couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect in the whole of world football – but they were Mourinho‘s players. And Mourinho’s supporters. Avram Grant has endured almost the entire season under the curse of Mourinho and the fans have never let him forget that, and so they too are culpable for this seasons silver medals. At first I thought Avram Grant was doing a decent job, he was getting results without ever being pretty; maybe drawing a few too many at home. He was winning European games and doing all this while missing some staple Chelsea performers at random times along the road. Not bad to still be in touching distance with just a handful of games to play and with your destiny still your own to pillage.

Now I feel less sorry for Avram Grant. His decision to inexplicably meddle with the team formation during the Carling Cup final was idiotic and he got exactly what he deserved that day. And even tonight, Grant decided to ‘rest’ some star players under the foolish perception that the Thursday game against Everton would be a tougher ordeal than little old Wigan at home. Joe Cole should not be on the bench. A manager of such notoriety should have either the humility or the sensitivity to understand that Premiership football is a helter-skelter circus and on any given day any team can beat the other. Underestimating Wigan was a blunder too many.

Every tabloid back page and almost every internet comment is rubbishing the Arsenal season and most are critical of Arsène Wenger’s accountability. The more bizarre back pages and the more irate comments are calling for Wenger to be replaced. Getting rid of Wenger would be absolute bonkers and those disillusioned Arsenal supporters who think his journey is complete will surely reassess such a notion with a more calming posture very soon. Arsenal have been an outstanding football team this season and the architect is Arsène Wenger. Perhaps Arsène Wenger has been a little malevolent with his transfer purchasing policy and that might have cost him a trophy this season. But it’s not as if Arsenal-quality players are readily available even if you do have the cash to buy them. Most recognized Arsenal-quality players will probably be playing for established clubs aspiring within their own domestic championship or embroiled within their own European potential. Alexander Hleb is now an Arsenal-quality player thanks to the tutelage of Arsène Wenger and a season of investment; Hleb was not Arsenal-quality when he was first purchased. The number of big fee transfer failures across the Premiership rhetoric should give reverence to Wenger on this one.

Arsenal are in good hands with Arsène Wenger and while the maturation of the current team has taken another vacant season I remain convinced that Arsenal will be even closer again next time around. And let’s be fair, two appalling refereeing decisions were the difference between European advancement and European despair. And I happen to agree with Arsène that his team have been subjected to some outrageous officiating this term. So if Arsène Wenger mellows a little with his recruitment strategy and assuming that he can find the quality of player desired I can only imagine how good Arsenal will be next season. And while you’re lamenting the empty cupboard just think back to the flamboyant passages of play that mesmerised opposition defenders and tortured doubting pundits for more than the majority of the season. Arsenal will be back. I’m not sure if they even went anywhere.

I am no longer convinced that Rafael Benítez is even trying to win the Premiership anymore. It seems that his flawed detail to rest the majority of his good players for the majority of the early season is a strategy of concession. While the Liverpool fan and his season ticket fees are wishing for the deferred Premiership success the guy in charge is preserving his fortunes for European glory and only European glory. The mid season slump attributed to squad rotation never really gambles with fourth place omission or the guaranteed re-entry into the Champions League and so while Chelsea and Arsenal are running the starting XI beyond empty in the pursuit of domestic euphoria and European prestige Benítez can roll out his new Spanish striker fit and healthy for the quarter final. Fourth place and a European dream. Don’t worry about all that Premiership guff.

Man Utd will almost certainly be Premiership champions once again this season though with the prospect of a fallow summer of English football we might see a few changes ahead. The constant boardroom unrest at Anfield, the dissent for Avram Grant and his dithering celebrities, and the wounded pride of Arsène Wenger will all make for an enchanting conclusion to the season.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter
www.JonnyCarter.com

Yes.

The glory, the fame and the majority of the money is frequently splashed on the goal scoring machines and on the match winning celebrity, but spare a thought for the value of a defender. This season, and indeed most of last season, Vidic and Ferdinand have been irreplaceable and while the records, the statistics and the legendary comparisons have been focusing on the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney, the very foundation of Utd’s success has been with the central defensive partnership. Nemanja Vidic is the classic belligerent defender that Utd have been missing since Jaap Stam, and Ferdinand brings the composure when it’s necessary to play football. A treasured alliance indeed. And a missing piece of the jigsaw that might just scupper the remaining and vital part of the season for Utd.

After reflection it seems that Ferdinand might only be relieved of duties for a matter of a couple of days while Vidic is closer to a couple of weeks. And while the potential replacements seem resourceful enough from one perspective they also seem rather inadequate from another. That second goal in Rome looks to have significant appeal now.

Indeed I think that Arsenal have suffered their very own injury crisis that has cost them much. Losing Van Persie, Rosický and Eduardo have crippled their season, but the biggest travesty was losing fullback Bacary Sagna. The responsibility of contemporary fullbacks has very much changed during the recent evolution of team formations and their systems of play. The new generations of shape are no longer limited to what the text book dictated; rather the liquid structure of a team sheet is limited by imagination and preparation only. Many top flight mangers are opting to deploy two deep central midfield players negating, with petrified caution, the fluid counter attack that is the signature of most winning teams. How you then deploy your front four varies from opinion to opinion and sometimes it varies from game to game under the same opinion. What this tactical innovation means is that the fullback is now a position enjoying a renaissance. In an effort to have another player join the attack with the fringe benefit of providing genuine width the fullbacks are encouraged to carry forward, often with abandon. No longer is the right back a berth for the fat kid or the cheapest contract in the dressing room.

Bacary Sagna has been a revelation this season and even though the Arsenal trolley had a wonky wheel before his injury, I can’t help but think that a couple of Arsenal’s woes are attributed to his absence. Certainly when you consider that Sagna was off the field for the Chelsea fight back at ‘The Bridge’ and also Sagna was absent while Steven Gerrard was tormenting the stunningly out of place Kolo Touré who was deputising during the first European game.

Chelsea have had their share of important defenders missing with John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho suffering this season. Both Terry and Carvalho have only played about half the season and when you combine that with the absence of first choice keeper Petr Cech you can start to comprehend the resurgence of Chelsea during their return. Again I think Cech has been a vital missing component for Chelsea, not so much Cech missing games this season rather he is missing the form that made him unique before that leprecorn from Reading smashed him up. And even today Chelsea’s world has been turned upside down as Cech will almost certainly be missing for the remainder of this season due to a bizarre training ground incident.

Liverpool suffered the dreaded metatarsal curse with Daniel Agger. Last season Agger contributed a significant amount to Liverpool’s Champions League final appearance and their third place finish in the Premiership. This season Agger has only played a handful of games and he won’t be playing any more either. Sami Hyypiä has stepped in for the majority of the season and he’s earned himself a contract extension because of it. But I’m sure that Benítez only had Hyypiä pencilled in for Carling Cup games and for the bottom three teams at home and not a forty game marathon season. Perhaps with Agger’s greater contribution the Premiership table might look a little different for Liverpool.

It’s not that defenders are more valuable than goal scorers; after all if you drew every game nil nil you’d end up with 38pts and that would get you relegated most seasons. The striker will always be the king of the football field, but never underestimate the importance of the defenders. I thought it most pertinent that at the start of Sunderland’s inaugural Premiership campaign under Roy Keane he splashed a speculative nine million on goalkeeper Craig Gordon and that he spent far less on Kenwyne Jones or Michael Chopra. Roy Keane’s imminent Premiership survival validates such a decision.

So as the crescendo of the Premiership title race flirts with the formalities of the Champions League conclusion it is perhaps not yet a given that one team or another is destined for glory or destined otherwise. Much will depend on the contributions of first team regulars and replacement players in equal measure. Long term injury or mild impediment might assign fortune one way or another, as might the miracle of the medical staff to redeem a player off the treatment table and onto the game field.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com

The Next Generation of Forward – Cristiano Ronaldo

When Ronaldo cannoned that header past a leisurely Roma defence he looked nothing like the flamboyant flair player, Ronaldo had no veneer of the tentative school child, he illustrated no semblance of the theatre that dramatised his way to recognition or scepticism back in the early years.

A towering header devoid of hesitation or devoid of any self preservation veritably bullied United to almost certain progression and yet again underlined exactly the quality, productivity and, above all, the versatility of Ronaldo as a new breed of player. World classified contenders and global contributing players are pretty much ubiquitously recognized by anyone with an elementary comprehension of football, though a few domestic and incestuous ‘beer mat debaters’ and ‘pub pundits’ might argue the fragility of such generic opinions. However, few will argue that Cristiano Ronaldo is at the absolute crest of his game play contribution and there are very few genuine contemporaries to sledge him for the mantle of world’s best player right now.

Ronaldo’s undetected late entrance to greet a perceptive dink by Paul Scholes, who was disturbingly altruistic with possession, was every inch the classic centre forward that you read about in comic books. ‘The Lionhearted endeavourer climbing higher than the odds and rising above the opposition defenders to claim victory where once success could never prevail.’ Ronaldo thundered through that header, powering his team to imminent competition progression, and yielding a bounce in the ribs that took a few minutes with the physio to inflate his wind. Everything about this goal summed up the complete character of a player who is as ‘complete’ a footballer as I have ever seen.

Unfathomably, Ronaldo comes in for criticism by some misinformed pundits for not fulfilling the dependability of a recognized ‘big game’ player, well, tonight I think is very much the criticism absolved, if ever that was actually required. Ronaldo scored the decisive goal away from home and he scored against the inform team in Italy – second in Serie A, but not much inferior to the reining champions Inter – and considering that almost all the wisdom predicted that Man Utd had the potential of an away day victory in Rome and yet nobody had the confidence or the betting slip to truly commit. Ronaldo marched on and slammed home the win and polished the stepping stones to advancement before any of the more accepted ‘big game’ contributors could cement their reputation. Ronaldo’s contribution was not just relevant or helpful but utterly significant. His contribution was befitting of a ‘big game’ player who can justifiably feel comfortable under the assigned embroidery that frequently follows in his trail.

Ronaldo’s goal could not have been scored by any other of the suitors who covert his recognition. The current crop of salient talent has many worthy players of amazing aptitude who might one day fill the pages and who might one day indulge the column inches with their own achievement. And there are some who have once been masters of their trade where perhaps the level of attainment is now inconceivable. But today the accolades are Ronaldo’s. Henry could never score that goal, even in his pomp at Highbury. Messi won’t put you ahead in such a game with such a goal, he might tomorrow, but he can’t today. Kaka is every bit the genius in terms of penetrating passing and extrasensory vision with the ball but I just can’t remember that bulldozer charge or that appetite for success when pain might be an obstacle. Name your contender and I’m sure that all will be worthy, but then all will also fail. Height, width, depth, girth, speed, frequency, importance, ratio, age, consequence, elegance…and whatever parameter gives your nominee the best possible chance in this argument…Ronaldo is astonishingly complete.

Above and way beyond the significance of Ronaldo’s goal and far above the variety of Ronaldo’s goal scoring prowess is the factor that makes the complete player ‘complete’ rather than just a ‘player’. In the 84th minute of a concluded game Ronaldo attempted a razzmatazz of showbiz skills that on this particular occasion razzmatazzed nothing but possession back to the elegant and yet outclassed Philippe Mexès. The French central defender – more a ballerina trapped inside the wrong body than brutal enforcer – dribbled possession out of play under the evident advancement and rapid deterrent of recovery footsteps from Ronaldo. The passion to do the dirty work, the energy to secure the win, and the effort to ensure that the performance is always more than adequate is a rare and wonderful entity. Many of those United superstars share the philosophy and sharing the philosophy warrants the superstar status. Ronaldo brings the recovery sprint and the mesmerising dribble in equal dosage. The desire to win and the desire not to lose are in equilibrium. Endeavour and brilliance are valued the same and both are a currency worth trading.

Ronaldo no longer has the fragility of Pinocchio in his penalty box possessions rather he is now the chiselled hero of comic book depiction and with the attitude and work ethic that merits the testimony of being the complete player. The quantity and the quality of goals scored are unquestioned and almost unparalleled when the contemporary pages of history are turned in an effort to find comparison. Roll out the lists of all who is good and great and even roll out those black & white memories who your grandad used to talk about before colour TV was considered pioneering. Before TV was considered pioneering.

Nothing can match the contribution of Ronaldo. Not right now.

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter
www.JonnyCarter.com

After watching yet another abysmal exhibition from Liverpool I continue to ask exactly why Steven Gerrard continues to plunder his reputation with his current crop of woeful colleagues. Liverpool looked anything but potential champions during a drab and error riddled Merseyside derby on Sunday. Yet throughout the first half Steven Gerrard continually delivered leadership, inspirational midfield mobility and a range of passing to rival anything around at the moment. The Merseyside debacle yet again failed to mirror any semblance of genuine ability or entertainment and I just wonder how long the wonder kid is prepared to tolerate mediocrity in exchange to meddle with the big boys on occasion.

Gerrard has a rare talent for a domestic player in that his diversity of skills places him in an echelon unique for an English midfield player. Gerrards unerring ability to pick a penetrating pass is far superior to any other local wizards such as Carrick or Barry. Gerrards breathless running and desire to truly embrace the responsibility of the box to box centre middie is unrivalled, perhaps Hargreaves or maybe Essien might be mentioned, neither of which are first choice starters in their respective teams. Gerrard has that ability to score regular goals, and not just fortunate gimmies that will occur throughout the course of a season. No, Gerrard scores plenty and he scores with diversity, headed goals, set piece free kicks, goal-of-season every other week and a hand in all of the goals that Torres scores as well. Only Lampard comes close to Gerrards goal scoring repertoire from midfield and I know exactly which one of those two I’d have on the field first. And Gerrards leadership and rousing persona makes John Terry look like a nursing home. The number of victories plucked from the grasp of impossibility by a one man show of brilliance has a catalogue of FA Cup, Premiership and European rhetoric.

And yet still Gerrard remains a sole provider to a team that has chopped and changed and invested millions and still appears to be no better that it was. New managers with bold new innovations have innovated their way out of a job as a league cup and Premiership obscurity were never quite enough. New foreign players have been given the earth and never really delivered on such a promise; the list of Liverpool’s purchasing blunders is endless and at times criminal. New owners with corporate assurances have regressed an inspiring club to the very doldrums of despair, and it don’t look much like changing soon either. And even today the Liverpool team sheet appears nowhere near adequate enough to truly be proud of. Gerrard must surely soon get bored with these bumbling idiots that hamper his advancement and jump to the riches and glory that such a talent deserves.

Liverpool have spent the majority of the season battling for fourth spot in the Premiership with local rivals Everton and only with a handful of games remaining does it look like this encounter has been resolved. The last two Premiership campaigns have brought more success to Liverpool than an Arsenal team in transition could achieve and yet now Liverpool’s season will see them finish lower in the Premiership than last year and further away from the winning points total than ever before. The delusional Liverpool fans were boasting a renaissance of triumphant proportions after a big win against Derby back in September. These delusions look somewhat pathetic when you now consider that Derby will be recognized as the worst side in Premiership history and most teams destroyed them handsomely at home. Out of interest, the return fixture at Pride Park was a rather pitiful two one away win followed by a run of four drawn games to inferior opposition. Not exactly the performance of champions. And finishing one place higher than Everton will not guarantee you anything at all.

Liverpool just don’t have any inspiring players and the lack of genuine progression must be of massive frustration for Gerrard. The piggy bank was well and truly smashed in order to procure the services of Torres and he is quite the player. But to look around the Liverpool team for the other world class superstars that are going to help Gerrard overhaul the ‘Big Three’ and reach expectation, well I just don’t see them. John Arne Riise and Dirk Kuyt are absolutely awful, Sami Hyypia was very good, the keeper is far from top class and the remaining squad players are very average when compared up against the Arsenal team and the Man Utd bench. And Jamie Carragher is not a world class defender in the same way that beating Derby does not make you championship material.

So will Gerrard finally come to his senses and give up the directionless Liverpool journey of squad rotation, boardroom scandal, managerial ineptitude and on-field mediocrity in exchange for a winning formula abroad. Gerrard will be twenty eight years old by the start of next season and he’s in the form of his life. Yet he’s going to finish fourth in this Premiership campaign and he also has no international football of any worth this summer. Not quite the environment that a genuine world class player deserves. Can you imagine the commentary of Gerrard influencing a European cup final victory with the likes of Barcelona?

“Xavi Hernandez, to Iniesta, to Gerrard, to Messi…Goal!”

“Carragher, to Riise, to Gerrard, to Kuyt…Goal…kick…Goal kick!”

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter

www.JonnyCarter.com