Chelsea take the plaudits, they beat Barcelona at home to take a 1-0 lead to the Nou Camp next week for the vital second leg.
Barcelona could not beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in a rivalry that has been built up over the last six years as their paths have crossed in group stages and knockout matches. Barcelona have not yet won in West London. Lionel Messi has still not scored against an English side in an away match (the final at Wembley does not count as it was a neutral site).
Chelsea won in spite of giving up 79% of possession to the Catalan giants, they had three shots at goal and scored with the only shot on target - Didier Drogba's first half injury time winner as he swept in Ramires' square ball following Frank Lampard's counter-attacking thrust as he dispossessed Messi in midfield.
The reason the Champions League holders always struggle at Stamford Bridge is the small confines of the pitch measurements. Barcelona play an incisive, neat and patient passing game looking for openings in a defence which may crack under the constant pressure. Yet in contrast to the vast size of the Nou Camp dimensions, the Chelsea home is tight and so the tactic of Chelsea employing two banks of four as walls in which Barcelona had to get past was impressive.
There were fears of Gary Cahill being overawed by the occasion, yet the ex-Bolton defender had his most impressive outing yet in a blue shirt. He dived at every ball, was strong and indicative of the resilience of his teammates - John Terry, the recalled Ivanovic and solid Ashley Cole.
They were matched by the solidity in midfield by Frank Lampard, Jon Obi Mikel and Raul Meireles - a trifecta who knew they had to bide their time to make an impact. Miereles fouled a few times in the first 10 minutes as he was outwitted by the tricky of the Barca midfield. Yet when they did, Lampard made it count. A glorious ball released Ramires who laid it on a plate for Drogba, who stayed on his feet for possibly the longest all night to convert the match winning chance.
The second half was a vertiable bombardment from Barca - they hit the woodwork twice in the match, and was thwarted by Petr Cech and the do or die blocking of the Chelsea defence. The last chance in injury time summed up Chelsea's achievement - a Messi shot blocked by Cahill, it falls into the path of Pedro who strokes it to the far post, a slight deflection from Cahill makes it hit the post as Ashley Cole again goes back to the line to cover, the richochet back to Busquets is blasted over as bodies go flying. The chance of an away goal has gone, and the opportunity for parity is squandered.
This was a game of respect, usually past encounters have turned into a shouting match overshadowed by refereeing inconsistencies and controversy yet this was a game when the magic of Barcelona went missing. Their body language was lazy, not arrogant just a general ennui with the surroundings and meeting head on the defiant rearguard.
Some players were absent without leave, Cesc Fabregas' return to London was a poor one. He had a great chance yet his soft lift over Cech allowed the tracking back of Cole to easily clear away the danger, he wafted an air shot at a chance that went begging. There was always the lovely caressing of the ball, yet the gaps to slide the ball into the net were few and far between. Messi's best chance was a header from 18 yards out that failed to trouble Cech.
Oddly, it went exactly as Fabregas recalled past Arsenal v Chelsea ties, 'We would dominate the ball, keep possession, create chances and then....a counter-attack, Drogba, goal! They have a super fast counter attack', how odd that it should happen again.
You can expect more of the same next Tuesday night at the Nou Camp. It promises to be intense, intriguing and immense.
Pep Guardiola says Chelsea are favourites, this may be an attempt at psychology, nonetheless the chance for Chelsea is there to reach Munich.
Showing posts with label Sport insight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sport insight. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Cracks at Chelsea
When Andre Villas-Boas (AVB) was declared the new Chelsea manager in July of last year following on from his triumphant treble-winning season at Porto, he must have hoped it would have gone a lot smoother in West London.
A bigger club with huge expectations he nevertheless was a young - still novice - manager at his first job abroad but walking into an experienced dressing room. All with the ambition to win back the Premier League title that they have not won in three seasons, since Jose Mourinho left.
Yet it has not been plain sailing. A dressing room revoltion led by old heads John Terry and Frank Lampard. A public falling out by the latter when dropped from the starting line-up, normally Mr.Lampard is only removed from the line up when suspended (rare) and injured (even rarer).
Lampard answered his critics when he scored a winning penalty in the victory over Manchester City; and he has remained around the side since then. In defence, AVB has had to contend with an unusual double act in the centre of a young enthusiatic David Luiz and an ageing and distracted John Terry.
Luiz undoubtedly is a talented footballer, comfortable on the ball when it is in his possession, not so when trying to win it back - at times he has looked out of his depth and has not learnt from Terry's experience. Terry meanwhile forever courts controversy, he is currently pleading not guilty to shouting racial abuse at Anton Ferdinand during a League game in October, and his body is slowly showing the signs of too many injuries and not looking after himself. He rarely sits out unless the game is a League cup or is concussed, his style is one of reckless abandon yet full of gung ho temperament. Yet as Terry gets older, the strikers are getting quicker and just as physical.
Even Petr Cech is playing like a goalkeeper who has had one too many knocks to the head, he looks a bit slower between the sticks and understandably less confident of the defensive pair in front of him which has never been a consistent selection based on form, injury or falling out. (Alex has been sold in the transfer window.)
Up front, AVB has unfortunately inherited a front-line of maligned talent. Nicolas Anelka had a falling out and has been sold to a Chinese side. Didier Drogba remains the talisman but is likely to be sold in the summer, Fernando Torres' slump in form continues since his £50m transfer from Liverpool which looks more and more like a mistake. Whilst Drogba is on African Cup of Nations duty, Torres has had an unbroken run in the side yet no goals. A natural talent would buy any goal. Luckily, Daniel Sturridge has been a bright spark for the season, his season long loan at Bolton paying dividends. He looks strong, runs at people with the ball and has an eye for goal. He looked most likely to score at Swansea last night.
The cracks that I refer to in the title have been apparent all season, yet they became all the more apparent during last night's fixture at Swansea, which ended 1-1 with Chelsea equalizing late in injury time through an unfortunate own goal by Neil Taylor who deflected a Jose Boswinga shot come cross to deny the Welsh side a deserved three points.
Swansea, have an impressive home form this season losing only once to Manchester United and defeating Arsenal last time out in a five goal thriller. Swansea are a team who man for man are comfortable on the ball, they play in a Barcelona style format of passing from defence to the front. The difference is that whilst Barca may be happy to maintain possession pass sideways, create triangles and bide their time - Swansea play with a typically Premier League vein of quick counter-attacking sometimes bypassing an opposition's midfield turning a phase of trouble into a goal-scoring chance in the space of four passes and 15 seconds.
This tactic renders the opposition midfield - in this case Malouda, Oriel Romeu and Raul Meireles - at times useless and rash in challenges. Malouda was at fault for a late challenge on Leon Britton on the stroke of half time. Swansea's dominance led to frustration from the Londoners, as Scott Sinclair (ironically once of Chelsea) struck on 39 minutes with a fine volley.
The second half led to much of the same, although Chelsea did slowly come back into the game thanks to a substitution of Michael Essien for the non-effective Romeu, Essien nearly struck a startling equalizer from distance.
Chelsea's frustration become more apparent as the previously cautioned Ashley Cole, needlessly and stupidly commited a rash challenge on Nathan Dyer nowhere near to winning the ball. Cole walked before shown his red card by Andre Marriner.
Yet I feel AVB missed a trick by playing Luiz and Ivanovic at the centre of defence instead of new signing Gary Cahill who has still not played for his new club. Cahill's experience of playing in the Premier League at away venues would have been of benefit next to the cavalier Luiz, whilst Ivanovic was played out of position. Luiz is too easily caught out of position - a mistake against the pace of Sinclair, Dyer and Danny Graham - and was also guilty of not making a challenge when it needed one.
The cracks are there at Chelsea, a point away at Swansea matches the result Tottenham got there but Chelsea remain seven points behind their London rivals in the battle for third spot and automatic Champions League qualification. In this season of six sides trying to fit into four, two sides with huge aspirations are going to be disappointed.
At least Chelsea's problems are not as bad Arsenal's yet they should be aware of a resurgent Liverpool who are only four points behind and completed a great week by winning convincingly 3-0 at Wolves with Andy Carroll scoring a goal. How much more on top of the £50m already paid would Chelsea give to get a goal from Torres.
A bigger club with huge expectations he nevertheless was a young - still novice - manager at his first job abroad but walking into an experienced dressing room. All with the ambition to win back the Premier League title that they have not won in three seasons, since Jose Mourinho left.
Yet it has not been plain sailing. A dressing room revoltion led by old heads John Terry and Frank Lampard. A public falling out by the latter when dropped from the starting line-up, normally Mr.Lampard is only removed from the line up when suspended (rare) and injured (even rarer).
Lampard answered his critics when he scored a winning penalty in the victory over Manchester City; and he has remained around the side since then. In defence, AVB has had to contend with an unusual double act in the centre of a young enthusiatic David Luiz and an ageing and distracted John Terry.
Luiz undoubtedly is a talented footballer, comfortable on the ball when it is in his possession, not so when trying to win it back - at times he has looked out of his depth and has not learnt from Terry's experience. Terry meanwhile forever courts controversy, he is currently pleading not guilty to shouting racial abuse at Anton Ferdinand during a League game in October, and his body is slowly showing the signs of too many injuries and not looking after himself. He rarely sits out unless the game is a League cup or is concussed, his style is one of reckless abandon yet full of gung ho temperament. Yet as Terry gets older, the strikers are getting quicker and just as physical.
Even Petr Cech is playing like a goalkeeper who has had one too many knocks to the head, he looks a bit slower between the sticks and understandably less confident of the defensive pair in front of him which has never been a consistent selection based on form, injury or falling out. (Alex has been sold in the transfer window.)
Up front, AVB has unfortunately inherited a front-line of maligned talent. Nicolas Anelka had a falling out and has been sold to a Chinese side. Didier Drogba remains the talisman but is likely to be sold in the summer, Fernando Torres' slump in form continues since his £50m transfer from Liverpool which looks more and more like a mistake. Whilst Drogba is on African Cup of Nations duty, Torres has had an unbroken run in the side yet no goals. A natural talent would buy any goal. Luckily, Daniel Sturridge has been a bright spark for the season, his season long loan at Bolton paying dividends. He looks strong, runs at people with the ball and has an eye for goal. He looked most likely to score at Swansea last night.
The cracks that I refer to in the title have been apparent all season, yet they became all the more apparent during last night's fixture at Swansea, which ended 1-1 with Chelsea equalizing late in injury time through an unfortunate own goal by Neil Taylor who deflected a Jose Boswinga shot come cross to deny the Welsh side a deserved three points.
Swansea, have an impressive home form this season losing only once to Manchester United and defeating Arsenal last time out in a five goal thriller. Swansea are a team who man for man are comfortable on the ball, they play in a Barcelona style format of passing from defence to the front. The difference is that whilst Barca may be happy to maintain possession pass sideways, create triangles and bide their time - Swansea play with a typically Premier League vein of quick counter-attacking sometimes bypassing an opposition's midfield turning a phase of trouble into a goal-scoring chance in the space of four passes and 15 seconds.
This tactic renders the opposition midfield - in this case Malouda, Oriel Romeu and Raul Meireles - at times useless and rash in challenges. Malouda was at fault for a late challenge on Leon Britton on the stroke of half time. Swansea's dominance led to frustration from the Londoners, as Scott Sinclair (ironically once of Chelsea) struck on 39 minutes with a fine volley.
The second half led to much of the same, although Chelsea did slowly come back into the game thanks to a substitution of Michael Essien for the non-effective Romeu, Essien nearly struck a startling equalizer from distance.
Chelsea's frustration become more apparent as the previously cautioned Ashley Cole, needlessly and stupidly commited a rash challenge on Nathan Dyer nowhere near to winning the ball. Cole walked before shown his red card by Andre Marriner.
Yet I feel AVB missed a trick by playing Luiz and Ivanovic at the centre of defence instead of new signing Gary Cahill who has still not played for his new club. Cahill's experience of playing in the Premier League at away venues would have been of benefit next to the cavalier Luiz, whilst Ivanovic was played out of position. Luiz is too easily caught out of position - a mistake against the pace of Sinclair, Dyer and Danny Graham - and was also guilty of not making a challenge when it needed one.
The cracks are there at Chelsea, a point away at Swansea matches the result Tottenham got there but Chelsea remain seven points behind their London rivals in the battle for third spot and automatic Champions League qualification. In this season of six sides trying to fit into four, two sides with huge aspirations are going to be disappointed.
At least Chelsea's problems are not as bad Arsenal's yet they should be aware of a resurgent Liverpool who are only four points behind and completed a great week by winning convincingly 3-0 at Wolves with Andy Carroll scoring a goal. How much more on top of the £50m already paid would Chelsea give to get a goal from Torres.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Mark Allen v Barry Hearn
Snooker is back in the back pages this week due to the staging of the second most prestigious tournament on the circuit - the UK Championship returned to York but with some changes. Instead of the established 17 frame rounds, the WPBSA announced that the event will instead have best of 11 rounds before the best of 19 final.
Some players have taken issue with this, before the event John Higgins said it was scandalous to change the format of a long established event.
Mark Allen, from Northern Ireland, the World 12 and who won his first round match 6-4 spoke of his displeasure at the changes, "When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn't be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed," Allen said.
Allen continued, "I don't think he's pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn't one of them. I've got no doubt he'll tweak the World Championship. The whole tradition of the game is going to pot."
Hearn (head of the Darts governing body Professional Darts Organization and Chairman of Leyton Orient FC) has had a long association with snooker back to his days as agent to the likes of Steve Davis and Jimmy White under the umbrella of Matchroom back in the halycon days of snooker in the mid to late 1980s. Hearn was sworn in as the new Chairman those 18 months ago and he has tried to bring new initiatives such as Power Snooker to the masses and bring bums on seats back to the events.
World Snooker says they are experiencing record box-office for this week, helped in no small part to a match up between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump (Trump won 6-5), but the need to have shorter matches will be of benefit to someone as enigmatic as O'Sullivan who admits he finds it hard to maintain concentration and apply himself to longer formats.
Allen's argument has credence to his style of play, a nugget of a player who is better the longer the game goes on. Yet it seems the more flamboyant and stylish players like Trump are the future of the game, which Allen also alluded to , "In the long run, he'll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation." Yet a generation that still has Steve Davis playing in the televised stages of a major tournament.
Snooker is one of those sports whose fanbase is fanatical and extremely supportive, yet at times Hearn has come to the fore and tried to change it too quickly. He has expanded the global view of the game staging events in Australia and Shanghai, where the growth of the game is considerable. The changes though to the UK Championship is a shame as it appears that the established names were not notified until before the event, hence the frustration of some players.
As for changes to happen to the Masters at Wembley and Worlds in Sheffield - that may be a case of too much too soon - now Barry Hearn is threatening legal action over Allen's comments.
After having quelled the threat of betting in the game and match fixing, now we have the new Chairman threatening legal action over any player who does not like what he is doing. Snooker players are not the superstars in terms of financial clout and the best players do have sustained careers for some 10 years, Allen has worked hard to stay in the illustrious top 16 and be a factor come World Championships, so does snooker really need a playground argument to be ended in a courtroom.
Hearn is the boss (a boss with too many fingers in too many pies it seems) yet Allen - whose exterior resembles that of a quiet choir boy - should not be reprimanded for once speaking his mind with such passion and belief. A lot of what he says has a lot of basis in fact, it shouldn't lead to a disciplinary but rather a thorough discussion and explanation from said chairman.
The floor is yours Mr. Hearn, and you've never been shy to talk before.
Some players have taken issue with this, before the event John Higgins said it was scandalous to change the format of a long established event.
Mark Allen, from Northern Ireland, the World 12 and who won his first round match 6-4 spoke of his displeasure at the changes, "When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn't be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed," Allen said.
Allen continued, "I don't think he's pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn't one of them. I've got no doubt he'll tweak the World Championship. The whole tradition of the game is going to pot."
Hearn (head of the Darts governing body Professional Darts Organization and Chairman of Leyton Orient FC) has had a long association with snooker back to his days as agent to the likes of Steve Davis and Jimmy White under the umbrella of Matchroom back in the halycon days of snooker in the mid to late 1980s. Hearn was sworn in as the new Chairman those 18 months ago and he has tried to bring new initiatives such as Power Snooker to the masses and bring bums on seats back to the events.
World Snooker says they are experiencing record box-office for this week, helped in no small part to a match up between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump (Trump won 6-5), but the need to have shorter matches will be of benefit to someone as enigmatic as O'Sullivan who admits he finds it hard to maintain concentration and apply himself to longer formats.
Allen's argument has credence to his style of play, a nugget of a player who is better the longer the game goes on. Yet it seems the more flamboyant and stylish players like Trump are the future of the game, which Allen also alluded to , "In the long run, he'll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation." Yet a generation that still has Steve Davis playing in the televised stages of a major tournament.
Snooker is one of those sports whose fanbase is fanatical and extremely supportive, yet at times Hearn has come to the fore and tried to change it too quickly. He has expanded the global view of the game staging events in Australia and Shanghai, where the growth of the game is considerable. The changes though to the UK Championship is a shame as it appears that the established names were not notified until before the event, hence the frustration of some players.
As for changes to happen to the Masters at Wembley and Worlds in Sheffield - that may be a case of too much too soon - now Barry Hearn is threatening legal action over Allen's comments.
After having quelled the threat of betting in the game and match fixing, now we have the new Chairman threatening legal action over any player who does not like what he is doing. Snooker players are not the superstars in terms of financial clout and the best players do have sustained careers for some 10 years, Allen has worked hard to stay in the illustrious top 16 and be a factor come World Championships, so does snooker really need a playground argument to be ended in a courtroom.
Hearn is the boss (a boss with too many fingers in too many pies it seems) yet Allen - whose exterior resembles that of a quiet choir boy - should not be reprimanded for once speaking his mind with such passion and belief. A lot of what he says has a lot of basis in fact, it shouldn't lead to a disciplinary but rather a thorough discussion and explanation from said chairman.
The floor is yours Mr. Hearn, and you've never been shy to talk before.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
A Model of Consistency
Tottenham Hotspur, following their dominant 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday evening, sit in 3rd place in the Premier League.
A position that after the first two league games against both Manchester clubs would have been unimaginable - two games, two defeats, one goal scored, eight conceded. Tottenham looked brittle next to the two juggernauts of the North West.
Yet, slowly but surely Tottenham have turned the corner and navigated the fixture list with assurance. Admittedly during those two August fixtures there were still some unanswered questions concerning player personnel - the future of Luka Modric was uncertain due to the interest of Chelsea; Scott Parker was not signed until the penultimate day of the transfer window and there was a spate of injuries in defence meaning combinations like Bassong and Corluka were having to fend off the might of Manchester City - Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero and Silva ran riot at White Hart Lane.
The change seemed to come following the signing of Parker and the first game at Wolves - the sort of fixture last season Spurs would lose, this time they left with a 2-1 victory and then followed it up the next weekend with a resounding 4-0 home win over Liverpool (who admittedly ended with 9 men).
Then came the crunch game against Arsenal, who although had their chances it was their own defensive and goalkeeping frailties that led to Kyle Walker scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory.
Spurs have only drawn one game out of 9 games, a 2-2 draw away to Newcastle where they conceded only in the last five minutes to drop two points otherwise it would have been 27 points out of 27 and Tottenham would be only two points behind Man United in second place. Spurs still have a game in hand (home to Everton) which was unfortunately cancelled following the civil unrest in mid August.
A reason I feel that Spurs are doing so well is down to a consistency of selection and also not having the headache of serious European competition to worry about. Tottenham are in the Europa League but Harry Redknapp and his staff are using those games against Rubin Kazan, PAOK Salonika and Shamrock Rovers as breeding ground for his reserve team players - Jake Livermore has especially shone on these occasions. The same would have been said of the Carling Cup but they lost in a lottery of a penalty shoot-out away to Stoke.
However, the lack of fixture congestion and use of squad depth is helping one Ledley King especially. Ledley plays one game and he knows he has a week to sustain and regain his fitness before the next encounter. King's presence at the bag and coupled with the signing of veteran Brad Friedel in goal has led to youngsters like Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker allowed to express themselves. King did the same trick with Michael Dawson, he has this unbelievable ability of making the man next to him look like he is having a blinder.
Spurs are benefiting from a fixed and settled starting XI - it has been the same men starting the last three and four games. The American in goal; Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto; Bale, Modric, Parker, Lennon; Van der Vaart and Adebayor.
This settled selection means the team knows they must perform to keep their places and their are players who can and will come in to do a job if necessary - Corluka, Sandro, Defoe and Bassong. Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson remain on the injury sidelines but will be welcome upon their return.
In contrast, Manchester City with all their highly publicised signings have made a rod for their own back. The constant requirement to keep everyone happy and the forging forward on four trophy hunts means that their is no fluidity in selection. Case in point, at the weekend Micah Richards and Gael Clichy had blinding games going forward in the 3-1 win over Newcastle from their respective full back positions. Yet in Napoli they were dropped for Kolarov and Zabaleta. This more defensive line-up belittled their attacking instincts and negated a negative performance away from home, where they went to not lose the game they did. Now City and their millions must fear the prospect of having to play Thursday night football like they did last year. It will be a big kick in the teeth to fail at the first attempt in the Champions League.
Arsenal after an early season collapse at Old Trafford are profiting from a steady line-up and a full season from Robin Van Persie, who is scoring for fun. The return of Tomas Vermaelen has helped.
Manchester United due to injuries to both central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have also suffered from a lack of continuity, and the nervousness surrounding David de Gea's debut season means those in front of him might not fully trust him.
Chelsea are really suffering - a new young manager is struggling to impose his ideas on an old guard of senior professionals - they have lost four out of seven and themselves are struggling to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, having to defeat Valencia at home in their final game to avoid the Europa League.
In contrast, Tottenham in their first foray into Europe did not change their tactics and kept on attacking even when 4-0 down away in the San Siro - a 4-3 loss that galvanised that campaign and led to Gareth Bale being christened the best left back in the world. Whereas many people adored Tottenham's ability to adapt to the scheduling and challenges - there appears to be a certain type of pleasure in seeing City struggle as they attempt to keep as many plates spinning at once. They will be the most dominant side in English football perhaps for the next five years - but they need to get a more consistent system in place and like they have done with Tevez, if people do not want to fit the bill or play their necessary role, show them the door. As there will certainly be people willing to replace them.
A position that after the first two league games against both Manchester clubs would have been unimaginable - two games, two defeats, one goal scored, eight conceded. Tottenham looked brittle next to the two juggernauts of the North West.
Yet, slowly but surely Tottenham have turned the corner and navigated the fixture list with assurance. Admittedly during those two August fixtures there were still some unanswered questions concerning player personnel - the future of Luka Modric was uncertain due to the interest of Chelsea; Scott Parker was not signed until the penultimate day of the transfer window and there was a spate of injuries in defence meaning combinations like Bassong and Corluka were having to fend off the might of Manchester City - Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero and Silva ran riot at White Hart Lane.
The change seemed to come following the signing of Parker and the first game at Wolves - the sort of fixture last season Spurs would lose, this time they left with a 2-1 victory and then followed it up the next weekend with a resounding 4-0 home win over Liverpool (who admittedly ended with 9 men).
Then came the crunch game against Arsenal, who although had their chances it was their own defensive and goalkeeping frailties that led to Kyle Walker scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory.
Spurs have only drawn one game out of 9 games, a 2-2 draw away to Newcastle where they conceded only in the last five minutes to drop two points otherwise it would have been 27 points out of 27 and Tottenham would be only two points behind Man United in second place. Spurs still have a game in hand (home to Everton) which was unfortunately cancelled following the civil unrest in mid August.
A reason I feel that Spurs are doing so well is down to a consistency of selection and also not having the headache of serious European competition to worry about. Tottenham are in the Europa League but Harry Redknapp and his staff are using those games against Rubin Kazan, PAOK Salonika and Shamrock Rovers as breeding ground for his reserve team players - Jake Livermore has especially shone on these occasions. The same would have been said of the Carling Cup but they lost in a lottery of a penalty shoot-out away to Stoke.
However, the lack of fixture congestion and use of squad depth is helping one Ledley King especially. Ledley plays one game and he knows he has a week to sustain and regain his fitness before the next encounter. King's presence at the bag and coupled with the signing of veteran Brad Friedel in goal has led to youngsters like Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker allowed to express themselves. King did the same trick with Michael Dawson, he has this unbelievable ability of making the man next to him look like he is having a blinder.
Spurs are benefiting from a fixed and settled starting XI - it has been the same men starting the last three and four games. The American in goal; Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto; Bale, Modric, Parker, Lennon; Van der Vaart and Adebayor.
This settled selection means the team knows they must perform to keep their places and their are players who can and will come in to do a job if necessary - Corluka, Sandro, Defoe and Bassong. Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson remain on the injury sidelines but will be welcome upon their return.
In contrast, Manchester City with all their highly publicised signings have made a rod for their own back. The constant requirement to keep everyone happy and the forging forward on four trophy hunts means that their is no fluidity in selection. Case in point, at the weekend Micah Richards and Gael Clichy had blinding games going forward in the 3-1 win over Newcastle from their respective full back positions. Yet in Napoli they were dropped for Kolarov and Zabaleta. This more defensive line-up belittled their attacking instincts and negated a negative performance away from home, where they went to not lose the game they did. Now City and their millions must fear the prospect of having to play Thursday night football like they did last year. It will be a big kick in the teeth to fail at the first attempt in the Champions League.
Arsenal after an early season collapse at Old Trafford are profiting from a steady line-up and a full season from Robin Van Persie, who is scoring for fun. The return of Tomas Vermaelen has helped.
Manchester United due to injuries to both central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have also suffered from a lack of continuity, and the nervousness surrounding David de Gea's debut season means those in front of him might not fully trust him.
Chelsea are really suffering - a new young manager is struggling to impose his ideas on an old guard of senior professionals - they have lost four out of seven and themselves are struggling to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, having to defeat Valencia at home in their final game to avoid the Europa League.
In contrast, Tottenham in their first foray into Europe did not change their tactics and kept on attacking even when 4-0 down away in the San Siro - a 4-3 loss that galvanised that campaign and led to Gareth Bale being christened the best left back in the world. Whereas many people adored Tottenham's ability to adapt to the scheduling and challenges - there appears to be a certain type of pleasure in seeing City struggle as they attempt to keep as many plates spinning at once. They will be the most dominant side in English football perhaps for the next five years - but they need to get a more consistent system in place and like they have done with Tevez, if people do not want to fit the bill or play their necessary role, show them the door. As there will certainly be people willing to replace them.
Monday, 21 November 2011
NFL - Week 11 roundup
Whenever you survey the NFL landscape you are sure of one thing - you can never be sure of anything in the NFL. Teams win convincingly on the road, yet lose humbly at home the next. Injuries burden teams with insurmountable odds, heroes turn into villains from one week to the next. Myself and other bloggers like picking the game results, no-one can ever be perfect as more than likely you will cock up somewhere, I myself went close to perfect but for two games.
I picked the Jags to win in Cleveland, alas Blaine Gabbert could not convert four opportunities from within the five yard line to get the go-ahead touchdown; and the Vikings could not make up the half-time deficit though their future looks good as they played incredibly well -making that comeback without the influential Adrian Petersen.
Elsewhere, teams roll on though nothing is certain. The Packers had their closest game of the season since playing the Saints in week 1 with the Bucs young team coming close to the upset, always staying tight and even intercepting Aaron Rodgers, though 35-26 was probably a fair result.
The Giants lost their second straight game this time in a divisonal match-up versus the Eagles who oddly won without Michael Vick under centre, this time Vince Young putting together a winning drive that gave the 17-10 victory in the MetLife stadium. This was an ugly game, and could be a costly defeat for the Giants who now look like not being a 2 seed cos of the consistent Packers and 49ers, if they win the NFC East they will be a 4 seed cos the Saints will probably be ahead of them.
The most action packed game was Detroit v Carolina which ended 49-35 to the Lions though they were way behind at the half, yet the Lions who are slow starters in every game came alive behind Matthew Stafford's 5 TDs and they were helped by Cam Newton's 4 picks. The Lions play the Packers this Thursday on Thanksgiving, the Lions have a chance but they need to start early otherwise they will find it harder to overcome such a deficit against the Superbowl Champions.
The Cowboys are building momentum and it continued as they overcame a resilient Redskins 27-24 in Overtime in Washington, Romo connected well with Jason Witten for a huge TD and thanks to the Giants loss they are tied atop the division.
The Bengals suffered another defeat to a division rival as they went down to Baltimore 31-24 on the road, although they have winnable games remaining on the schedule (Redskins, Rams, Browns) so they can still grab a wildcard spot and with Andy Dalton playing some good football (24-45, 373), one pass to Andre Caldwell (49yds) was inch perfect as the receiver caught it in stride and sauntered into the endzoen. The Ravens remain unbeaten at home, yet they need to sort out their road form as there three costly defeats (Jags, Seahawks, Tennessee) have all been on the road.
Chicago stayed in the hunt for a wildcard spot by defeating the Chargers 31-20 at home, yet it came at a price as Jay Cutler has reportedly suffered a fractured right thumb (his throwing hand) which rules him out for the remainder of the regular season. Whilst Matt Forte has been getting the numbers and spotlight in a contract year, lately Cutler's impressive leadership and being able to stay upright has dictated the outcome of the games like the dominant win over Detroit last week. Yet without him, the Bears will struggle down the stretch although four winnable games against west opponents (@ Raiders, Chiefs, @ Broncos, Seattle ) are not now and they finish with a brutal road double at Green Bay and Minnesota - from 7-3 to 10-6 might be good enough but if the Lions keep winning it might not be, depending on the Falcons, Giants, Cowboys.
Kudos to the Dolphins in my pick of the weekend as they destroyed the sinking Bills 35-8 at a near empty home stadium. Miami became the first team in NFL history to start 0-7 and then win their next three games, standing at 3-7 they are now a team full of confidence, Matt Moore not making mistakes and they are getting results off of turnovers. And to think Tony Sparano (head coach) would not have made the bye week after a 0-4 start to comeback and get this sort of result. There last six games are at Dallas, Oakland, Eagles, @ Buffalo, @New England, ending with Jets at home, the playoffs may be out of reach but each team they play has those postseason ambitions so they can certainly influence the playoff standings and seedings.
I am liking the 49ers but they were lucky they were only playing the Arizona Cardinals who completely stunk after winning in Philadelphia last week. In the first half, Alex Smith marched his offense down the field yet they only held a 9-0 lead at the half as they could not convert redzone possession, David Akers could even afford to miss two attempts. Better teams would not give you so many chances, so something to keep in mind. San Fran have a short week travelling to Baltimore as brothers go head-to-head but I feel the 49ers may come up short here.
Tonight the Patriots are at home to the Chiefs who have lost Matt Cassel for the season, expect a big win for the Patriots and a great opportunity for a young defence to get some consistency and force some turnovers.
I hope for a big win, but as week 11 like every other week shows Bo Diddley was right,'you never can tell'
I picked the Jags to win in Cleveland, alas Blaine Gabbert could not convert four opportunities from within the five yard line to get the go-ahead touchdown; and the Vikings could not make up the half-time deficit though their future looks good as they played incredibly well -making that comeback without the influential Adrian Petersen.
Elsewhere, teams roll on though nothing is certain. The Packers had their closest game of the season since playing the Saints in week 1 with the Bucs young team coming close to the upset, always staying tight and even intercepting Aaron Rodgers, though 35-26 was probably a fair result.
The Giants lost their second straight game this time in a divisonal match-up versus the Eagles who oddly won without Michael Vick under centre, this time Vince Young putting together a winning drive that gave the 17-10 victory in the MetLife stadium. This was an ugly game, and could be a costly defeat for the Giants who now look like not being a 2 seed cos of the consistent Packers and 49ers, if they win the NFC East they will be a 4 seed cos the Saints will probably be ahead of them.
The most action packed game was Detroit v Carolina which ended 49-35 to the Lions though they were way behind at the half, yet the Lions who are slow starters in every game came alive behind Matthew Stafford's 5 TDs and they were helped by Cam Newton's 4 picks. The Lions play the Packers this Thursday on Thanksgiving, the Lions have a chance but they need to start early otherwise they will find it harder to overcome such a deficit against the Superbowl Champions.
The Cowboys are building momentum and it continued as they overcame a resilient Redskins 27-24 in Overtime in Washington, Romo connected well with Jason Witten for a huge TD and thanks to the Giants loss they are tied atop the division.
The Bengals suffered another defeat to a division rival as they went down to Baltimore 31-24 on the road, although they have winnable games remaining on the schedule (Redskins, Rams, Browns) so they can still grab a wildcard spot and with Andy Dalton playing some good football (24-45, 373), one pass to Andre Caldwell (49yds) was inch perfect as the receiver caught it in stride and sauntered into the endzoen. The Ravens remain unbeaten at home, yet they need to sort out their road form as there three costly defeats (Jags, Seahawks, Tennessee) have all been on the road.
Chicago stayed in the hunt for a wildcard spot by defeating the Chargers 31-20 at home, yet it came at a price as Jay Cutler has reportedly suffered a fractured right thumb (his throwing hand) which rules him out for the remainder of the regular season. Whilst Matt Forte has been getting the numbers and spotlight in a contract year, lately Cutler's impressive leadership and being able to stay upright has dictated the outcome of the games like the dominant win over Detroit last week. Yet without him, the Bears will struggle down the stretch although four winnable games against west opponents (@ Raiders, Chiefs, @ Broncos, Seattle ) are not now and they finish with a brutal road double at Green Bay and Minnesota - from 7-3 to 10-6 might be good enough but if the Lions keep winning it might not be, depending on the Falcons, Giants, Cowboys.
Kudos to the Dolphins in my pick of the weekend as they destroyed the sinking Bills 35-8 at a near empty home stadium. Miami became the first team in NFL history to start 0-7 and then win their next three games, standing at 3-7 they are now a team full of confidence, Matt Moore not making mistakes and they are getting results off of turnovers. And to think Tony Sparano (head coach) would not have made the bye week after a 0-4 start to comeback and get this sort of result. There last six games are at Dallas, Oakland, Eagles, @ Buffalo, @New England, ending with Jets at home, the playoffs may be out of reach but each team they play has those postseason ambitions so they can certainly influence the playoff standings and seedings.
I am liking the 49ers but they were lucky they were only playing the Arizona Cardinals who completely stunk after winning in Philadelphia last week. In the first half, Alex Smith marched his offense down the field yet they only held a 9-0 lead at the half as they could not convert redzone possession, David Akers could even afford to miss two attempts. Better teams would not give you so many chances, so something to keep in mind. San Fran have a short week travelling to Baltimore as brothers go head-to-head but I feel the 49ers may come up short here.
Tonight the Patriots are at home to the Chiefs who have lost Matt Cassel for the season, expect a big win for the Patriots and a great opportunity for a young defence to get some consistency and force some turnovers.
I hope for a big win, but as week 11 like every other week shows Bo Diddley was right,'you never can tell'
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
In Praise of ...West Indies cricket
It has been a forlorn time of late for the West Indies Cricket Board. How far the mighty can fall? For so long the team were the most dominant teams in there and any sport, the envy the world over for the way they played and how they played it - always with a smile on their face.
Now when you think of the WICB you think of an organisation who struggle to pay their players, who cannot manage to come sort of arrangement with their most prolific player so he can play at the highest level and elevate a struggling team.
And yet it seems, very slowly and very surely, The West Indies cricket team are turning the corner. They are currently in Mohali playing the first of three tests against a formidable Indian batting line-up, newly bouyed by their demolition of England in a recent one-day series.
Tellingly, the West Indies for all their talent remain a team that have forgotten how to win. Since the legends Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose retired they have won just one test match away from home (nevermind a series) when they surprised South Africa in 2007. Now lets not get ahead of ourselves, the West Indies do not look like winning this test match or series of India with a fresh Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid returning to the line-up.
And yet for the first six sessions of this match, the West Indies were leading this test convincingly helped by another Shivnarine Chanderpaul century which allowed them to post a first innings 304, although they were 269-6 the adding of only 35 more runs would have been a disappointment considering Shiv was set.
Yet in the Indian's first response is when West Indies deciding to wake up dismissing India at that prolific line up for 209. Fears in the Indian camp would have returned to the same worries when in England this summer, unable to match first innings and giving in to scoreboard pressure, although 304 is not usually a fright.
The congratulations should be extended because India had put on 89 for the first wicket before the fortuitous run-out of Gambhir when Darren Sammy deflected a straight drive from Sehwag onto the non-striker's stumps, leaving Gambhir stranded and out on 41. Sehwag would go onto score 55, and Dravid also scored a half century of 54 yet only two other batsmen (Yuvraj 23, Sharma 17) reached double figures owing to some disciplined bowling by Devandra Bishoo (2-55), Ravi Rampaul (2-44) and Darren Sammy (3-35). All bowlers took at least one wicket to give the Windies a 95 run lead.
Yet the West Indies are like that average NFL side who cannot seemingly play a full four quarters of the game. Entering the third quarter of the game, the Windies had the opportunity to cement a dominance of Indisa and score a 300 plus lead, alas they ended up being bowled out for 180 with only Shiv 47 and Sammy 42 contributing to the scorecard, with Ashwin on debut gaining 6-47.
India require 275 and ended Day 3 on 152-2 with both Dravid and Tendulkar set with 148 more required, the pitch is not getting worse in fact these two mammoths of batting are going to pick off the runs easily, unless a miracle arises and a spinner can make magic happen. Unfortunately, you feel the Indian batsmen have the discipline to see out these difficult conditions.
The second innings dismissals were more about their inability to play spin rather than a pitch gettting worse on the third day, also nobody was willing to play the anchored innings, even Shiv's 47 came off a brisk 58 balls. This could be an indictment of the influence of Twenty20 forcing players to play more shots, even when the situation does not demand the expansiveness of shots. The Twenty20 has been played a lot in the Caribbean, and the West Indies gained a morale boosting victory over England at the Oval when fielding a second string XI, but at least it showed youngsters coming to the fore and stepping up.
Too often in the past the integrity of the West Indies has rested on senior professionals like Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo - now you have youngsters like Adrian Barath, Kraigg Braithwaite, Kirk Edwards and Kemar Roach; and when combined with the experienced yet mercurial captain Darren Sammy (at times inspirational, at times infuriating - why is he coming in at 9?) along with the x-factor Chris Gayle when he does finally resolve his issues with the WICB.
The West Indies will never reach the heights of the late 1970s and mid 1980s but Test cricket and cricket in general needs a solid West Indies team that competes and ultimately entertains, lets hope that half the work they did in Mohali does not go to waste in the remainder of the tour.
Now when you think of the WICB you think of an organisation who struggle to pay their players, who cannot manage to come sort of arrangement with their most prolific player so he can play at the highest level and elevate a struggling team.
And yet it seems, very slowly and very surely, The West Indies cricket team are turning the corner. They are currently in Mohali playing the first of three tests against a formidable Indian batting line-up, newly bouyed by their demolition of England in a recent one-day series.
Tellingly, the West Indies for all their talent remain a team that have forgotten how to win. Since the legends Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose retired they have won just one test match away from home (nevermind a series) when they surprised South Africa in 2007. Now lets not get ahead of ourselves, the West Indies do not look like winning this test match or series of India with a fresh Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid returning to the line-up.
And yet for the first six sessions of this match, the West Indies were leading this test convincingly helped by another Shivnarine Chanderpaul century which allowed them to post a first innings 304, although they were 269-6 the adding of only 35 more runs would have been a disappointment considering Shiv was set.
Yet in the Indian's first response is when West Indies deciding to wake up dismissing India at that prolific line up for 209. Fears in the Indian camp would have returned to the same worries when in England this summer, unable to match first innings and giving in to scoreboard pressure, although 304 is not usually a fright.
The congratulations should be extended because India had put on 89 for the first wicket before the fortuitous run-out of Gambhir when Darren Sammy deflected a straight drive from Sehwag onto the non-striker's stumps, leaving Gambhir stranded and out on 41. Sehwag would go onto score 55, and Dravid also scored a half century of 54 yet only two other batsmen (Yuvraj 23, Sharma 17) reached double figures owing to some disciplined bowling by Devandra Bishoo (2-55), Ravi Rampaul (2-44) and Darren Sammy (3-35). All bowlers took at least one wicket to give the Windies a 95 run lead.
Yet the West Indies are like that average NFL side who cannot seemingly play a full four quarters of the game. Entering the third quarter of the game, the Windies had the opportunity to cement a dominance of Indisa and score a 300 plus lead, alas they ended up being bowled out for 180 with only Shiv 47 and Sammy 42 contributing to the scorecard, with Ashwin on debut gaining 6-47.
India require 275 and ended Day 3 on 152-2 with both Dravid and Tendulkar set with 148 more required, the pitch is not getting worse in fact these two mammoths of batting are going to pick off the runs easily, unless a miracle arises and a spinner can make magic happen. Unfortunately, you feel the Indian batsmen have the discipline to see out these difficult conditions.
The second innings dismissals were more about their inability to play spin rather than a pitch gettting worse on the third day, also nobody was willing to play the anchored innings, even Shiv's 47 came off a brisk 58 balls. This could be an indictment of the influence of Twenty20 forcing players to play more shots, even when the situation does not demand the expansiveness of shots. The Twenty20 has been played a lot in the Caribbean, and the West Indies gained a morale boosting victory over England at the Oval when fielding a second string XI, but at least it showed youngsters coming to the fore and stepping up.
Too often in the past the integrity of the West Indies has rested on senior professionals like Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo - now you have youngsters like Adrian Barath, Kraigg Braithwaite, Kirk Edwards and Kemar Roach; and when combined with the experienced yet mercurial captain Darren Sammy (at times inspirational, at times infuriating - why is he coming in at 9?) along with the x-factor Chris Gayle when he does finally resolve his issues with the WICB.
The West Indies will never reach the heights of the late 1970s and mid 1980s but Test cricket and cricket in general needs a solid West Indies team that competes and ultimately entertains, lets hope that half the work they did in Mohali does not go to waste in the remainder of the tour.
NFL -Week 9 review
Week 9 was a thrilling one for the NFL, lots of high scoring, some great divisional storylines and some great road wins for a few teams who were not fancied by many pundits.
Lets start off with the Monday night match up, where Chicago rode into Philadelphia and in a stellar fourth quarter comeback, behind the gun arm of Jay Cutler the Eagles had their wings clipped again. The Bears scored 10 unanswered points in the final quarter, as the Bears defence matched up against the running part of Michael Vick's game, Vick was unable to extend plays and when he had to hurry and chase the game after the Bears took the lead, the Eagles could not make a hit. The Bears won 30-24, going to 5-3 still in the hunt behind the perfect Packers (8-0) and the Lions (6-2), in the NFC North. It sets up a tantalising week 10 matchup as the Lions visit the Bears in a match full of wildcard ramifications. As for the Eagles they are 3-5, and behind the better Giants - still they have a chance of getting the wildcard but they cannot afford another loss this week or for the next three games I would suggest. The hype team has met the hyperbole, and the Bears supplied the pin to pop the hot air balloon of hype.
The Sunday night matchup was the week 1 rematch between AFC North rivals Steelers and Ravens. In Week 1, Baltimore convincingly beat up Pittsburgh. Since then, the Ravens have stumbled and stuttered, whilst the Steelers have returned to form culminating with the impressive defeat of the Patriots last week. Many predicted that the Steelers would do much of the same, keep Flacco off the field and keep Rice quiet on the run; get a lead and make Flacco make mistakes.
The Ravens though came up big as Flacco led a 92 yard drive in the closing minutes connecting with Tommie Smith in the endzone for the go-ahead lead as the Ravens became triumphant 23-20 owning a season sweep over their rivals and becoming 6-2 ahead of the Steelers 6-3 and sharing a tie with the Bengals(6-2)
Those Bengals again won, although this time it was Andy Dalton and not the vaunted D as the rookie threw for 3TDs this weeks as they beat the Titans (4-4) 24-17.
The Giants rode into Foxboro and upset the Patriots 24-20, in a mad last quarter were 31 points were scored, Eli Manning led a final second TD drive for his 5th final quarter comeback win of the season. Four turnovers by the Patriots did not help matters, nor the still struggling defence that could not get a stop on Manning's vital drive also the lack of a down the field receiving target (like Moss) means defences know Brady will look for Welker or Branch underneath. Brady still threw for 342 yards (3TD) which means you will always be in the game, but the over-reliance on him is coming back to haunt the Patriots. The Patriots are suddenly sliding and have lost two games back-to-back for the first time in five years, and first loss at home for 20 regular season games. They need to run the ball more and not rely so much on a Brady that will soon have another bad day like he did at Buffalo.
Kudos though for the Giants who are quitely going about their business and now 6-2 leading the NFC East and coupled with the Eagles loss they now have a two game lead over the Cowboys (4-4) who the Giants will not fear. The Giants are legit and will want to be avoided in the NFC playoffs.
And next for the Patriots is away at the Jets (5-3), who were victorious at Buffalo (5-3) as the Jets defence forced 3 turnovers for a 27-11 win which included near 38mins of ball possession for Sanchez who was 20-28 and 230 yards. The Bills needed to win to be considered legit, but unfortunately the Jets are just turning the corner.
Other notes:
Tim Tebow led the Broncos to their 2nd win out of 3 beating the Raiders on the road 38-24, a mixture of playcalling and solid showing by a returning Willis McGahee (20 carries, 163yds, 2TDs) and the inspiration of Tebow who threw better and ran well, whilst the Raiders look lost all of a sudden.
The Packers march on continuing their undefeated season thus far, beating the Chargers 45-38 in a shootout between Aaron Rodgers (247yds, 4TDs) and Philip Rivers (385yds, 4TDs); but slowly there are questions arising with the Packers pass defense but for two more interceptions by Rivers the sorry Chargers might have won this game. Instead the Packers are perfect whilst SD are 4-4 in a division they should be walking.
The Suck for Luck sweepstakes are over, the Dolphins won their first game of the season 31-3 over the Chiefs on the road aswell. The Colts remain winless losing to a professional Falcons unit 31-7, they have winnable games remaining on the schedule but the Dolphins have also, yet the question about Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck on the same roster can be asked.
The Saints got revenge for their loss to Tampa by defeating them 27-16 in the Superdome, Josh Freeman outthrew Drew Brees but the utilisation of the rush attack and his arm led to a vital victory, the Saints are 6-3, the Bucs 4-4 and falling out of the NFC wildcard picture.
The 49ers rise to 7-1 and their schedule looks handsome now. They did the job against the tough Redskins (3-5), with defence coming to the fore. Alex Smith is managing the offence making few mistakes (17-24, 200yds, 1TD) and is helped by another 100+ rushing display from Frank Gore in a 17-11 win.
More storylines to come and we still have 8 weeks left of the season. Here are my playoff picks at the moment in seeding order:
AFC -Ravens, Texans, Jets, Chargers; Patriots, Steelers
NFC - Packers, 49ers, Giants, Saints; Falcons, Lions
Big picks I know as teams like Bills, Bengals, Eagles and Cowboys may miss out. But the season is still only halfway done, and I am never fully right.
Lets start off with the Monday night match up, where Chicago rode into Philadelphia and in a stellar fourth quarter comeback, behind the gun arm of Jay Cutler the Eagles had their wings clipped again. The Bears scored 10 unanswered points in the final quarter, as the Bears defence matched up against the running part of Michael Vick's game, Vick was unable to extend plays and when he had to hurry and chase the game after the Bears took the lead, the Eagles could not make a hit. The Bears won 30-24, going to 5-3 still in the hunt behind the perfect Packers (8-0) and the Lions (6-2), in the NFC North. It sets up a tantalising week 10 matchup as the Lions visit the Bears in a match full of wildcard ramifications. As for the Eagles they are 3-5, and behind the better Giants - still they have a chance of getting the wildcard but they cannot afford another loss this week or for the next three games I would suggest. The hype team has met the hyperbole, and the Bears supplied the pin to pop the hot air balloon of hype.
The Sunday night matchup was the week 1 rematch between AFC North rivals Steelers and Ravens. In Week 1, Baltimore convincingly beat up Pittsburgh. Since then, the Ravens have stumbled and stuttered, whilst the Steelers have returned to form culminating with the impressive defeat of the Patriots last week. Many predicted that the Steelers would do much of the same, keep Flacco off the field and keep Rice quiet on the run; get a lead and make Flacco make mistakes.
The Ravens though came up big as Flacco led a 92 yard drive in the closing minutes connecting with Tommie Smith in the endzone for the go-ahead lead as the Ravens became triumphant 23-20 owning a season sweep over their rivals and becoming 6-2 ahead of the Steelers 6-3 and sharing a tie with the Bengals(6-2)
Those Bengals again won, although this time it was Andy Dalton and not the vaunted D as the rookie threw for 3TDs this weeks as they beat the Titans (4-4) 24-17.
The Giants rode into Foxboro and upset the Patriots 24-20, in a mad last quarter were 31 points were scored, Eli Manning led a final second TD drive for his 5th final quarter comeback win of the season. Four turnovers by the Patriots did not help matters, nor the still struggling defence that could not get a stop on Manning's vital drive also the lack of a down the field receiving target (like Moss) means defences know Brady will look for Welker or Branch underneath. Brady still threw for 342 yards (3TD) which means you will always be in the game, but the over-reliance on him is coming back to haunt the Patriots. The Patriots are suddenly sliding and have lost two games back-to-back for the first time in five years, and first loss at home for 20 regular season games. They need to run the ball more and not rely so much on a Brady that will soon have another bad day like he did at Buffalo.
Kudos though for the Giants who are quitely going about their business and now 6-2 leading the NFC East and coupled with the Eagles loss they now have a two game lead over the Cowboys (4-4) who the Giants will not fear. The Giants are legit and will want to be avoided in the NFC playoffs.
And next for the Patriots is away at the Jets (5-3), who were victorious at Buffalo (5-3) as the Jets defence forced 3 turnovers for a 27-11 win which included near 38mins of ball possession for Sanchez who was 20-28 and 230 yards. The Bills needed to win to be considered legit, but unfortunately the Jets are just turning the corner.
Other notes:
Tim Tebow led the Broncos to their 2nd win out of 3 beating the Raiders on the road 38-24, a mixture of playcalling and solid showing by a returning Willis McGahee (20 carries, 163yds, 2TDs) and the inspiration of Tebow who threw better and ran well, whilst the Raiders look lost all of a sudden.
The Packers march on continuing their undefeated season thus far, beating the Chargers 45-38 in a shootout between Aaron Rodgers (247yds, 4TDs) and Philip Rivers (385yds, 4TDs); but slowly there are questions arising with the Packers pass defense but for two more interceptions by Rivers the sorry Chargers might have won this game. Instead the Packers are perfect whilst SD are 4-4 in a division they should be walking.
The Suck for Luck sweepstakes are over, the Dolphins won their first game of the season 31-3 over the Chiefs on the road aswell. The Colts remain winless losing to a professional Falcons unit 31-7, they have winnable games remaining on the schedule but the Dolphins have also, yet the question about Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck on the same roster can be asked.
The Saints got revenge for their loss to Tampa by defeating them 27-16 in the Superdome, Josh Freeman outthrew Drew Brees but the utilisation of the rush attack and his arm led to a vital victory, the Saints are 6-3, the Bucs 4-4 and falling out of the NFC wildcard picture.
The 49ers rise to 7-1 and their schedule looks handsome now. They did the job against the tough Redskins (3-5), with defence coming to the fore. Alex Smith is managing the offence making few mistakes (17-24, 200yds, 1TD) and is helped by another 100+ rushing display from Frank Gore in a 17-11 win.
More storylines to come and we still have 8 weeks left of the season. Here are my playoff picks at the moment in seeding order:
AFC -Ravens, Texans, Jets, Chargers; Patriots, Steelers
NFC - Packers, 49ers, Giants, Saints; Falcons, Lions
Big picks I know as teams like Bills, Bengals, Eagles and Cowboys may miss out. But the season is still only halfway done, and I am never fully right.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
The Taarabt Problem
Queens Park Rangers are back in the Premier League and have adapted to life pretty reasonably sitting on 12 points which after 10 games in a competitive division is not bad and considering they have lost 4-0 (on the opening day to Bolton - who are now below them) and 6-0 away to Fulham (again who are below them), it should be considered a marginal success. They sit mid-table and right now there are three teams worse than them - Wigan, Bolton and Blackburn.
However, there remain two problems. Their lack of firepower up front will come back to haunt them - I saw them dominant a Newcastle team at home but failed to find the net resulting in a goalless draw. They drew 1-1 at home to Aston Villa, again they dominated but required an own goal from the doyen Richard Dunne for that point. And in the result of their season when they beat Chelsea 1-0 they needed a penalty (that was nearly saved) to win, and even after two Chelsea players were sent off, they were lucky to walk away with three points; as the nine men of Chelsea played much better.
Interestingly, Neil Warnock did a brave step. During the second half knowing that Chelsea with two less men were winning the midfield battle - Lampard, Mikel, Miereles remained - he dragged off Adel Taarabt and put on Tommie Smith to stretch the field and hope Smith and Helguson could keep the ball for a long time.
Unfortunately, Taarabt's reaction to his substiution was followed by a typical hissy fit as he stomped down the tunnel to the changing room and did not sit and watch his teammates famous victory.
At White Hart Lane, following a dominant first half display by the hosts that resulted in a 2-0 deficit Warnock again withdrew the Moroccan for Jay Bothroyd who did score the consolation. Warnock must have done the change in the changing room to avoid another embarassing display of respect from his gifted midfielder.
Taarabt is finding how difficult it is to step up to the Premier League from the Championship is significant. Much has been made of the glut of goals being scored in the EPL this season so far, but the defending is so much better at this pinnacle of our domestic game. Taarabt has harder midfielders to push off, most are international players who watch the ball not the man and whilst Taarabt has the skill and audacity to attempt anything, he nevertheless remains a slight figure not strong enough to push off opposing players like a Paul Gascoigne and apart from the odd bit of inspiration he does not offer anything in terms of tracking back and defending to the team effort which asks a lot of Shaun Derry and Antoine Faurlin.
Yet I got to thinking of what would be the best formation for Warnock to adopt to allow the best of Taarabt, last season as they ran away with the Championship QPR for the most part played two strikers with Taarabt playing off of or behind them allowing him to pull strings and influence play. This season, in an attempt to shut up shop and consolidate in an attempt to be a team difficult to break down and score against.
Currently the formation reads 4-2-1-2-1: with Taarabt the first individual in front of Derry and Faurlin and behind Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips with one of Helguson, Smith and Bothroyd the lone striker.
Taarabt has not been given the opportunity to play behind a two prong attack, perhaps the formation should be closer to the 3-5-2 which took off in the Balkans and Central Europe during the 1980s because it allows a central midfielder to play allowing the use of a playmaker or most talented player, giving him leash to play knowing that there are two players behind to fulfil defensive duties (Wilson 2010: 282-285). This has not worked yet becasue Warnock has not tried it.
I would suggest a formation of 3-5-2: Young, Hall, Ferdinand; Derry, Faurlin, Barton, Wright-Phillips, Taarabt; Helguson, Bothroyd. This would allow allow Taarabt to put some influence on the goal-scoring opportunites, he is not even providing assists to the front line. By moving Taarabt to the left wing and coming in like say Thierry Henry, would allow him to be explosive and move Barton into the middle of the park where he would be intimidating to the opposition. By having Taarabt be in the centre is inviting more physical midfielders to tackle him and frustrate him.
Obviously though, the players are getting certain results and once Taarabt departed Rangers did play better and scored the goal to make it 2-1 with a chance to equalise before Gareth Bale's sublime second goal to seal the 3-1 victory.
This is not the end of Taarabt, even though he restated his wish to leave in the January transfer window. Yet unlike other mercurial wonders like Gascoigne and Matt Le Tissier who even on off days would provide something to the team morale, Taarabt is a confidence player and maybe one goal will change the tide and resurrect his season.
However, there remain two problems. Their lack of firepower up front will come back to haunt them - I saw them dominant a Newcastle team at home but failed to find the net resulting in a goalless draw. They drew 1-1 at home to Aston Villa, again they dominated but required an own goal from the doyen Richard Dunne for that point. And in the result of their season when they beat Chelsea 1-0 they needed a penalty (that was nearly saved) to win, and even after two Chelsea players were sent off, they were lucky to walk away with three points; as the nine men of Chelsea played much better.
Interestingly, Neil Warnock did a brave step. During the second half knowing that Chelsea with two less men were winning the midfield battle - Lampard, Mikel, Miereles remained - he dragged off Adel Taarabt and put on Tommie Smith to stretch the field and hope Smith and Helguson could keep the ball for a long time.
Unfortunately, Taarabt's reaction to his substiution was followed by a typical hissy fit as he stomped down the tunnel to the changing room and did not sit and watch his teammates famous victory.
At White Hart Lane, following a dominant first half display by the hosts that resulted in a 2-0 deficit Warnock again withdrew the Moroccan for Jay Bothroyd who did score the consolation. Warnock must have done the change in the changing room to avoid another embarassing display of respect from his gifted midfielder.
Taarabt is finding how difficult it is to step up to the Premier League from the Championship is significant. Much has been made of the glut of goals being scored in the EPL this season so far, but the defending is so much better at this pinnacle of our domestic game. Taarabt has harder midfielders to push off, most are international players who watch the ball not the man and whilst Taarabt has the skill and audacity to attempt anything, he nevertheless remains a slight figure not strong enough to push off opposing players like a Paul Gascoigne and apart from the odd bit of inspiration he does not offer anything in terms of tracking back and defending to the team effort which asks a lot of Shaun Derry and Antoine Faurlin.
Yet I got to thinking of what would be the best formation for Warnock to adopt to allow the best of Taarabt, last season as they ran away with the Championship QPR for the most part played two strikers with Taarabt playing off of or behind them allowing him to pull strings and influence play. This season, in an attempt to shut up shop and consolidate in an attempt to be a team difficult to break down and score against.
Currently the formation reads 4-2-1-2-1: with Taarabt the first individual in front of Derry and Faurlin and behind Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips with one of Helguson, Smith and Bothroyd the lone striker.
Taarabt has not been given the opportunity to play behind a two prong attack, perhaps the formation should be closer to the 3-5-2 which took off in the Balkans and Central Europe during the 1980s because it allows a central midfielder to play allowing the use of a playmaker or most talented player, giving him leash to play knowing that there are two players behind to fulfil defensive duties (Wilson 2010: 282-285). This has not worked yet becasue Warnock has not tried it.
I would suggest a formation of 3-5-2: Young, Hall, Ferdinand; Derry, Faurlin, Barton, Wright-Phillips, Taarabt; Helguson, Bothroyd. This would allow allow Taarabt to put some influence on the goal-scoring opportunites, he is not even providing assists to the front line. By moving Taarabt to the left wing and coming in like say Thierry Henry, would allow him to be explosive and move Barton into the middle of the park where he would be intimidating to the opposition. By having Taarabt be in the centre is inviting more physical midfielders to tackle him and frustrate him.
Obviously though, the players are getting certain results and once Taarabt departed Rangers did play better and scored the goal to make it 2-1 with a chance to equalise before Gareth Bale's sublime second goal to seal the 3-1 victory.
This is not the end of Taarabt, even though he restated his wish to leave in the January transfer window. Yet unlike other mercurial wonders like Gascoigne and Matt Le Tissier who even on off days would provide something to the team morale, Taarabt is a confidence player and maybe one goal will change the tide and resurrect his season.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
In Praise of...Newcastle United
In the week of demonstrations and thousands of people clambering to be heard in the centre of London to the masses, it is pleasing to see the most revered fanbase being able to sing at their loudest for the start of the season. Newcastle United remain unbeaten this season, they sit 3rd in the English Premier League a model of consistency as the teams above and below struggle for that trait.
Last night on the rather more English version of Monday Night Football, Newcastle United travelled to the Britannia Stadium to take on an always resilient Stoke City. A team whose home ground has become somewhat of a fortress, yet lately they seem unable to win more games than they should. Played Nine. Won three, drawn three, lost three.
Newcastle United went to the game and carried on where they left off, exuded confidence based on a team basis. Following the departure of key figures Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, it was feared that Alan Pardew was on a hiding to nothing with a squad that was fine on quality and was being tipped to struggle for survival.
Yet Pardew has found himself to be a keen scout - the signing of Demba Ba from West Ham has proved a master stroke as he completed his second hat-trick of the season from the penalty spot in the 81st minute, after Stoke were planning a raid following Ba's brace before half-time.
The victory was based on a team who defended resolutely to Stoke's aerial bombardment from set-pieces and who broke down the wingplay of Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant who remained mute throughout much of the game.
Being a Tottenham fan I only really watched Newcastle during the pleasing 2-2 draw a few weeks ago, there they showed much of the same but the spirit and unity of the team spoke volumes as they twice came back from behind to garner a point thanks to Shola Ameobi's superb finish.
Ameobi has since picked up a hamstring injury, this was Pardew's first test as a manager dealing with an injury that upsets the normality and serenity of a dressing room. Luckily, the next game was at home to floundering Wigan who although Pardew called it a lucky 1-0 win, it was another of his signings - Yohan Cabaye who supplied the winner with a rocket from 25 yards.
Newcastle's solidity is based on someone turning up with the good when required. The consistency of selection helps with a back four - Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Federico Coloccini and Ryan Taylor - all doing their part and supplying a backline that protects Tim Krul who is slowly establishing himself as a mainstay between the posts.
In front of those four you have Gabriel Obertan, Danny Guthrie, Cabaye and the inspirational Jonas Gutierrez, perhaps the most recognisable individual of the team due to his jet black ponytail. This a solid midfield base not without some additional flair when required such as Obertan's pin point cross for Ba's first goal last night which he headed back past the despairing Begovic.
And then you have Leon Best the workhorse who tracks down loose balls and bites defender's ankles next to the goalscoring threat of Ba who takes his chances with relish as Newcastle gather up the available points.
Pardew is doing this without the influential Cheik Tiote who has a knee injury but will probably return to the fold once fit at the expense of Guthrie, but Guthrie who had to leave hometown Liverpool for first-team football is doing his part to give Pardew a selection headache.
Some cynics may suggest that Pardew gladly let Nolan and Barton depart so that he could be the biggest personality in the changing room - instead of causing chaos, there has been a new level of trust instilled in these also-ran of players. Steven Taylor so esteemable at England U21 level but sometimes unable to translate those talismanic efforts to his club form has grown into a leader of the team even if he is not the captain like Coloccini.
The tests now come for Newcastle, this Saturday lunchtime home to Everton followed by a visit to the Etihad and the league leaders Manchester City following the international break.
Oddly, I was watching a pundit show who were all asked to pick a manager of the season so far; each went for someone different - Mancini, McLeish and Rogers - the fact that the third best team in the country did not get a look in nor garner any mention shows you how under the radar Newcastle United have been this season. Not so much a surprise, but the football has at times been refreshing and it is nice to see an undervalued manager getting the rewards for his effort and bringing a team back from the veritable brink.
Last night on the rather more English version of Monday Night Football, Newcastle United travelled to the Britannia Stadium to take on an always resilient Stoke City. A team whose home ground has become somewhat of a fortress, yet lately they seem unable to win more games than they should. Played Nine. Won three, drawn three, lost three.
Newcastle United went to the game and carried on where they left off, exuded confidence based on a team basis. Following the departure of key figures Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, it was feared that Alan Pardew was on a hiding to nothing with a squad that was fine on quality and was being tipped to struggle for survival.
Yet Pardew has found himself to be a keen scout - the signing of Demba Ba from West Ham has proved a master stroke as he completed his second hat-trick of the season from the penalty spot in the 81st minute, after Stoke were planning a raid following Ba's brace before half-time.
The victory was based on a team who defended resolutely to Stoke's aerial bombardment from set-pieces and who broke down the wingplay of Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant who remained mute throughout much of the game.
Being a Tottenham fan I only really watched Newcastle during the pleasing 2-2 draw a few weeks ago, there they showed much of the same but the spirit and unity of the team spoke volumes as they twice came back from behind to garner a point thanks to Shola Ameobi's superb finish.
Ameobi has since picked up a hamstring injury, this was Pardew's first test as a manager dealing with an injury that upsets the normality and serenity of a dressing room. Luckily, the next game was at home to floundering Wigan who although Pardew called it a lucky 1-0 win, it was another of his signings - Yohan Cabaye who supplied the winner with a rocket from 25 yards.
Newcastle's solidity is based on someone turning up with the good when required. The consistency of selection helps with a back four - Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Federico Coloccini and Ryan Taylor - all doing their part and supplying a backline that protects Tim Krul who is slowly establishing himself as a mainstay between the posts.
In front of those four you have Gabriel Obertan, Danny Guthrie, Cabaye and the inspirational Jonas Gutierrez, perhaps the most recognisable individual of the team due to his jet black ponytail. This a solid midfield base not without some additional flair when required such as Obertan's pin point cross for Ba's first goal last night which he headed back past the despairing Begovic.
And then you have Leon Best the workhorse who tracks down loose balls and bites defender's ankles next to the goalscoring threat of Ba who takes his chances with relish as Newcastle gather up the available points.
Pardew is doing this without the influential Cheik Tiote who has a knee injury but will probably return to the fold once fit at the expense of Guthrie, but Guthrie who had to leave hometown Liverpool for first-team football is doing his part to give Pardew a selection headache.
Some cynics may suggest that Pardew gladly let Nolan and Barton depart so that he could be the biggest personality in the changing room - instead of causing chaos, there has been a new level of trust instilled in these also-ran of players. Steven Taylor so esteemable at England U21 level but sometimes unable to translate those talismanic efforts to his club form has grown into a leader of the team even if he is not the captain like Coloccini.
The tests now come for Newcastle, this Saturday lunchtime home to Everton followed by a visit to the Etihad and the league leaders Manchester City following the international break.
Oddly, I was watching a pundit show who were all asked to pick a manager of the season so far; each went for someone different - Mancini, McLeish and Rogers - the fact that the third best team in the country did not get a look in nor garner any mention shows you how under the radar Newcastle United have been this season. Not so much a surprise, but the football has at times been refreshing and it is nice to see an undervalued manager getting the rewards for his effort and bringing a team back from the veritable brink.
Monday, 31 October 2011
The Consistency of Inconsistency
A feeling came over me watching the Premier League action this weekend not of pride and passion but of well being let down.
I love refereeing, with a passion. I love being a part of England's national pasttime. Being out on the field of play during a game amongst the free flowing football is wonderful. It gives me a reason to stay fit, and for me to back my decision making. Things are going well so far, yet often I feel that things that happen at the highest echelon of the games means that decisions trickle down to the level I officiate at.
When Chris Foy sends off Jose Boswinga for a denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity when still 25 yards away from goal and a goalkeeper to beat your eyebrows will be raised. Not because of the decision, I saw the sense in it, just what will happen the following week with a different official.
And so at Stamford Bridge, Ashley Cole is upended by Arsenal goalkeeper Sczezeny when bearing down on goal. Replays show covering defenders coming back, but if Cole had remained on his feet, he might well have got a quick shot away. Result from Andre Marriner was a yellow card and a free-kick, from which nothing resulted. Sczezeny admitted on Twitter that evening he was surprised to remain on the pitch, at that time I believe the score was 3-2 to Arsenal, who eventually won 5-3 with a full quota of playing personal.
The inconsistency remains; but ultimately it is down to how to manage the players and control the high tempo, high intensity game of football. Foy felt that the indiscipline of Chelsea was probably getting out of hand; yet Didier Drogba's two footed lunge at Adel Taarabt left him no option but to dismiss. Marriner had the option and refused it, feeling that there was a covering defender, yet how can there be if the last defender on this occasion is the goalkeeper - theoretically the last man possible.
Following, Vincent Kompany's sending off at Manchester City on Saturday, word has come out that from next season such a challenge when he fouled/pulled Kevin Doyle to the floor will not be a red card offence - instead a yellow card and penalty will be sufficient punishment. Yet a challenge like that by Sczezeny will still be a red card due to the recklessness of it - red card and a suspension. The feeling being that Kompany and his team is being punished three times - dismissal, penalty and suspension.
Again, this means it is down to the interpretation of the individual official, I think the wording of denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity is clear and most often (unless your Phil Dowd at Anfield this year) the referees call it correctly.
This will only lead to more inconsistency of decisions, but that is the point of this piece, it only goes to highlight the decisions will never be 100% spot on because nobody is perfect, and it will depend on the individual, the players, the game, the pressure and intensity of each and every match.
I love refereeing, with a passion. I love being a part of England's national pasttime. Being out on the field of play during a game amongst the free flowing football is wonderful. It gives me a reason to stay fit, and for me to back my decision making. Things are going well so far, yet often I feel that things that happen at the highest echelon of the games means that decisions trickle down to the level I officiate at.
When Chris Foy sends off Jose Boswinga for a denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity when still 25 yards away from goal and a goalkeeper to beat your eyebrows will be raised. Not because of the decision, I saw the sense in it, just what will happen the following week with a different official.
And so at Stamford Bridge, Ashley Cole is upended by Arsenal goalkeeper Sczezeny when bearing down on goal. Replays show covering defenders coming back, but if Cole had remained on his feet, he might well have got a quick shot away. Result from Andre Marriner was a yellow card and a free-kick, from which nothing resulted. Sczezeny admitted on Twitter that evening he was surprised to remain on the pitch, at that time I believe the score was 3-2 to Arsenal, who eventually won 5-3 with a full quota of playing personal.
The inconsistency remains; but ultimately it is down to how to manage the players and control the high tempo, high intensity game of football. Foy felt that the indiscipline of Chelsea was probably getting out of hand; yet Didier Drogba's two footed lunge at Adel Taarabt left him no option but to dismiss. Marriner had the option and refused it, feeling that there was a covering defender, yet how can there be if the last defender on this occasion is the goalkeeper - theoretically the last man possible.
Following, Vincent Kompany's sending off at Manchester City on Saturday, word has come out that from next season such a challenge when he fouled/pulled Kevin Doyle to the floor will not be a red card offence - instead a yellow card and penalty will be sufficient punishment. Yet a challenge like that by Sczezeny will still be a red card due to the recklessness of it - red card and a suspension. The feeling being that Kompany and his team is being punished three times - dismissal, penalty and suspension.
Again, this means it is down to the interpretation of the individual official, I think the wording of denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity is clear and most often (unless your Phil Dowd at Anfield this year) the referees call it correctly.
This will only lead to more inconsistency of decisions, but that is the point of this piece, it only goes to highlight the decisions will never be 100% spot on because nobody is perfect, and it will depend on the individual, the players, the game, the pressure and intensity of each and every match.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Fowler in Bloom
Watching the Open on the BBC this week has been an illuminating experience, for all the current noises being made by the European tour of having the best players - and pleasingly Darren Clarke, Miguel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn were flying the flag searching for their first major, along with PGA champion Martin Kaymer - but the most interesting thing to witness has been the play of the American tour, and how they dominate the huge leaderboards at Sandwich this week.
Every time the Open comes round, it is hoped that a homegrown Brit will win the Claret Jug, yet it seems more and more likely that again we will go without. Following the world 1 and 2 missing the cut along with luminaries like McDowell, Poulter and Harrington. The hopes rest with Darren Clarke, the only Irishman to not win a major it seems and his start on Saturday's round with a two shot lead was good, but you fear he may blow up and cannot sustain the challenge due to a mental block or a question of stamina.
But going back to the presence of Americans on the leaderboard - 2009 US Open champ Lucas Glover, now sporting a 1909 beard along with Chad Campbell, Dustin Johnson, Davis Love III and Tom Lehman are all there, all well known along with lesser lights Webb Simpson, K Stanley and Jeff Overton, as well as the perenial nearly man Phil Mickleson.
However, due to the luck of the draw the eyes of the world's golf media have had to follow the game of Rickie Fowler. I say luck of the draw as he has played all three rounds with the flavour of the month, Rory McIlroy - expectations were that McIlroy will add this homegrown Open to the procession at Congressional last month. And that Fowler would wilt under the pressure. It could not be more different.
Whilst McIlroy has been erratic, up and down and looking at a +5 finish after three rounds; Fowler has blown me away with his maturity and application on this famous links course. On Saturday, playing in the worst of the weather, were a round of 74 would be considered par on a par 70 due to high winds and heavy rain. Fowler surprised us with his invention and general demeanour.
There has always been the theory that Fowler (a 20 year old, 2nd year Pro) who has not won on the PGA tour as yet, would not have the imagination to play a links course, where humps and ridges change your shot pattern, but Fowler is proving to be a shot maker. After two par rounds on Thursday and Friday, Fowler definitely saw Saturday as moving day, at only four shots off the joint lead held by Clarke and Glover, any player at Par or one over would consider they had a chance to win come Sunday, if Saturday was not a complete disaster.
And as Tom Watson showed earlier on Saturday, if you apply yourself a good round can be had - a 74 from the 61 year old, left him at +4 .
In contrast, the play of McIlroy was distinct. The 2011 US Open champion's driving let him down, wide right , wide left playing from wet rough leaving no control of the ball, whilst Fowler was accurate off the tee and having birdie opportunites which he gobbled up at the 15th and 16th, whilst McIlroy's putting (vital at Congressional) has let him down. Fowler has managed the course as well as the conditions, he has not looked ruffled by proceedings and in hindsight his round on 16th July, could be considered one of the great rounds in Open history.
And let us not be surprised by the presence of an American winner on a Links course - the names on the Claret Jug of the last 20 years include, Mark O'Meara, Justin Leonard, Tom Lehman, Todd Hamilton, David Duval and Ben Curtis. All not great names, but nevertheless like Fowler showed the need to adapt to a situation and make the best of bad situations, and in that great American tradition show a bit of bravado when the going gets tough and to back your own ability.
Tiger may be out of the picture, but as Davis Love III plays alongside many of his team for the 2012 Ryder Cup he must be happy with the shift towards a team who will be gung-ho and firing on all cylinders.
Every time the Open comes round, it is hoped that a homegrown Brit will win the Claret Jug, yet it seems more and more likely that again we will go without. Following the world 1 and 2 missing the cut along with luminaries like McDowell, Poulter and Harrington. The hopes rest with Darren Clarke, the only Irishman to not win a major it seems and his start on Saturday's round with a two shot lead was good, but you fear he may blow up and cannot sustain the challenge due to a mental block or a question of stamina.
But going back to the presence of Americans on the leaderboard - 2009 US Open champ Lucas Glover, now sporting a 1909 beard along with Chad Campbell, Dustin Johnson, Davis Love III and Tom Lehman are all there, all well known along with lesser lights Webb Simpson, K Stanley and Jeff Overton, as well as the perenial nearly man Phil Mickleson.
However, due to the luck of the draw the eyes of the world's golf media have had to follow the game of Rickie Fowler. I say luck of the draw as he has played all three rounds with the flavour of the month, Rory McIlroy - expectations were that McIlroy will add this homegrown Open to the procession at Congressional last month. And that Fowler would wilt under the pressure. It could not be more different.
Whilst McIlroy has been erratic, up and down and looking at a +5 finish after three rounds; Fowler has blown me away with his maturity and application on this famous links course. On Saturday, playing in the worst of the weather, were a round of 74 would be considered par on a par 70 due to high winds and heavy rain. Fowler surprised us with his invention and general demeanour.
There has always been the theory that Fowler (a 20 year old, 2nd year Pro) who has not won on the PGA tour as yet, would not have the imagination to play a links course, where humps and ridges change your shot pattern, but Fowler is proving to be a shot maker. After two par rounds on Thursday and Friday, Fowler definitely saw Saturday as moving day, at only four shots off the joint lead held by Clarke and Glover, any player at Par or one over would consider they had a chance to win come Sunday, if Saturday was not a complete disaster.
And as Tom Watson showed earlier on Saturday, if you apply yourself a good round can be had - a 74 from the 61 year old, left him at +4 .
In contrast, the play of McIlroy was distinct. The 2011 US Open champion's driving let him down, wide right , wide left playing from wet rough leaving no control of the ball, whilst Fowler was accurate off the tee and having birdie opportunites which he gobbled up at the 15th and 16th, whilst McIlroy's putting (vital at Congressional) has let him down. Fowler has managed the course as well as the conditions, he has not looked ruffled by proceedings and in hindsight his round on 16th July, could be considered one of the great rounds in Open history.
And let us not be surprised by the presence of an American winner on a Links course - the names on the Claret Jug of the last 20 years include, Mark O'Meara, Justin Leonard, Tom Lehman, Todd Hamilton, David Duval and Ben Curtis. All not great names, but nevertheless like Fowler showed the need to adapt to a situation and make the best of bad situations, and in that great American tradition show a bit of bravado when the going gets tough and to back your own ability.
Tiger may be out of the picture, but as Davis Love III plays alongside many of his team for the 2012 Ryder Cup he must be happy with the shift towards a team who will be gung-ho and firing on all cylinders.
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