Landing The Big Fish : Stewart Downing

                     Following the Manchester United post in the "Landing the Big Fish" Series, we move onto Liverpool for this one. We welcome Sriram Viswanathan for this great piece, as he talks about King Kenny's most valuable deal this summer in his own witty style.
 

                Exactly a year ago, the Red side of Merseyside was brimming with a sort of uneasy anticipation. They had the unenviable job welcoming a certain Paul Konchesy to Anfield. Also the fact that they considered Joe Cole their best signing, told their somewhat miserable story.

              Since then, an entire legacy has been wiped out. That of Roy Hodgeson. Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole and Raul Meireles, have all left the club. Raul Meireles, threatening to silence all the Hodgeson-critics by breaking into fine form, has moved to Chelsea in one of the more bizarre Deadline Day activities. AVB apparently spoke to him in Portuguese, and offered something King Kenny could not offer him ( A bit like Moyes not being able to offer Arteta Champions League football? ).

Can Downing be the new Kop-hero???

SIGNING OF THE SUMMER :

Certainly not Craig Bellamy. What the hell is he doing there? Oh well, anyways, in my book, the signing of the summer has certainly been Stewart Downing. Simply because he brings something new to the table. Liverpool needed someone on the right to make the game-changing runs, and now, as and when Gerrard returns, there will no doubt on where he will play. Under Rafa, he sometimes played on the right, and didn't do too well to be honest.

         Talking about other acquisitions, Charlie Adam is a Lucas Leiva 2.0, who is good at set-pieces. I would've let Spearing come into his own, rather than bring in Adam. Moving on, Kenny showed the Arsene Wenger in him, by signing Jordan Henderson. Decent signing, although I had also hailed Fernando Morientes as one. Remember him?

Sebastien Coates has come in, and will probably ensure that Carra is already negotiating with John W Henry on a possible place in the coaching staff this season. He apparently thought Luis Suarez is the manager at Liverpool, until he saw Kenny Dalglish.

           Looking more closely into the Downing move, he appeared in all 38 of Aston Villa's league games last season, which suggests he's likely to get more opportunities at Anfield than a certain Alberto Aquilani did. Even though he's primarily a left winger, he played on the Right-wing at Villa for large part of the last campaign, due to the excellent form of Ashley Young on the other flank. Liverpool haven't really had a world-class left-footer in the side for long time now. They had Albert Riera a couple of years back, but then, Riera is hardly what you call a World-class player. More of a Rafa Benitez rather than Kenny Dalglish, to be exact.

Stewart Downing can prove to be the most cunning piece of business by Dalglish this summer...

           Downing could also prove to be a valuable asset, should Kenny decide to play Andy Carroll (Liverpool's own version of the current Fernando Torres) in a traditional No. 9 position. He's an excellent crosser of the ball. In fact, the stats show he has completed more crosses in open play than any other player in the EPL over last 3 seasons. 135, to quote the exact figure. You don't need to be a genius to realize Carroll's best time at Newcastle was when they launched the ball from literally anywhere towards his monstrous frame.

         All in all, I think Stuart Downing is a great addition for the Kop. 19 million Pounds is an awful lot of money. But, Liverpool are buying a statistically reliable footballer for that amount. He may not be the most exciting buy, but certainly a solid and reliable one. For a club who passionately boasted about being the most successful club in English history till last year, this approach is certainly an interesting one.

But then, the times are certainly changing at Anfield, and for the good ! 




Written by-
Sriram Viswanathan

The Eccentric Genius of Sir Alex Ferguson...

                     At the final whistle on Sunday,which curtailed Chelsea's much-threatening come-back, English Football was still grasping the legacy, on the brink of which Manchester United now stand.One point from the remaining last 2 fixtures,and Manchester United will become the Best Football Club in English history.Officially.2 Decades ago, this would have seemed unimaginable.And there's one single man,responsible for this upheaval.Do I have to say out the name?

                    Most of our generation perhaps don't fully understand the magnificence of this achievement, even those who proclaim themselves to be hard-core devils.
But the Old Guard of United will certainly do.You have to go straight back to 1986 to fully realize his achievements.When Alex Ferguson(yeah, he wasn't a "Sir" at that time) was appointed as the manager of Manchester United, the team languished at 19th position in the league of 22,while Liverpool FC were THE Ultimate team,not only in England,but in whole of the Europe.They say it's a myth that Ferguson actually said at that time, that he wanted to upstage Liverpool. It would have been ridiculous to say that,on the backing of 7 League titles,all achieved quite a long way ago.But Ferguson admitted, that once they won their first title in 92-93, "it just started to flow".

Any words required here??
Are the Merseysiders watching?

            

John Terry-the Captain, the Leader, the Legend...

                Almost everybody seems to have an opinion over England manager Fabio Capello's decision of handing the Captain's armband permanently to John Terry,just 13 months after he was unceremonious sacked as England skipper on moral grounds.And many of them are publicly expressing their dismay over the decision already,but for me,and I don't just say it as a Chelsea fan,it was the most obvious thing Capello and England should have done.I can already sense people ready to throw stones at this,but I firmly stand by my belief,.Whatever be the off-field issues,there is no better player in England at the moment than Terry to lead the country.Period.

Terry has been lifting many trophies with Chelsea,even after being removed as England skipper

                                                
                                      
                   I do not wish to enter into the controversy that erupted last year,but on the field,where it matters most,John Terry has been a Maverick.He has been,and remains, one of the most reliable defenders in World Football,along with Vidic and Pique.Just look at his Club level form at Chelsea for that sake.The ever reliable Ricardo Carvalho was sold away to Real Madrid this summer.David Luiz has just come in,but Alex has been missing through injuries for long periods this season.Still Chelsea boast the Best defending record in the Premier League this season.There should be no doubts where the credit goes most.
                    They say it took Capello 12 minutes to sack Terry as the captain last year,after all those lurid allegations.But it didn't take Chelsea even a few nanoseconds to stand behind their skipper.And John Terry paid the full value of that faith.Handsomely.Chelsea romped (No pun intended) to a Historic League and Cup double last season,breaking all kinds of records on the way,even as a toothless and leader-less England failed miserably in the World Cup.People criticised the performances of Terry most at that time,which was a conveniently easy thing to do,but it doesn't change the fact that Terry has been one of the Best defenders on the planet for last few years.

Absolute fearlessness while going for the ball,to the point of madness.
But this is what has made John Terry a footballing Great.

                     The thing that sets Terry apart from his counterparts in World Football is his passion about the game.Never in his life,has John Terry hesitated to go into a tackle or fighting for a header,fearing for his personal safety.In fact,his outright determination to win every tackle,and the readiness to always put his body on the line for the team's gain was what made Capello eat his words,and hand the armband back to Terry. "For John Terry,dying on the field would be glory.In order to stop him from playing,may be you will have to kill him,and may be even then he will still play!" These were the thoughts of the former Chelsea coach "Big Phil" Scolari about his club captain.Looking at Terry's some terrific,and almost madly tackles sometimes,you can't help but believe that.I have seen that guy trying to head the ball,while lying on the ground,without having the slightest fear about the Oncoming player's studs cracking his head.You can all crack jokes about the allegations with Terry's private life,really easy thing to do,but it takes real courage,to throw yourself on the ball,when there's every chance that the opponent's tackle may break your bones,perhaps can even end your career.Even when all those allegations came out,even when he was booed everywhere while playing,Terry did not go into hiding.His first reaction to all the abuse was to score the late winner at Burnley,the place where Manchester United,Arsenal,and Liverpool failed to win.In his first England game,after the Champions League final in Moscow,which left him heartbroken,he scored the winner vs USA.That was the game that made Capello make him the England Captain. He was targeted almost every time he entered the field last season,but he still emerged holding the EPL and FA Cup aloft in the end.

Perhaps tackles like this made Capello change his mind over the Captaincy issue

                                            
                                                          
                   I am in no way trying to support all the misdeeds he carried out,it was a disgraceful thing to do,especially at the time,when young kids see these footballers as role models.He should have been,and has been punished for that.But then who do England have as the "Mr. Clean" leader? Even Steven Gerrard has been involved in drunken fights.England's captaincy was handed to Rio Ferdinand after Terry,a player who was banned for 8 months for missing a Drugs Test (How many of us remember that?) ,and who had just been banned 3 games in EPL for "Violent Conduct" at that time,a ban which was extended to 4,because the appeal committee termed his appeal as "frivolous".Not the most moralistic thing you could do,was it?
                     People have been saying making Terry captain will cause divide in the team.Rubbish.Young players like Joe Hart,Wilshere and Carroll are going to be more interested in cementing their place in the team.In the seniors section,the Chelsea contingent are unlikely to have problems with having Terry a captain,Steven Gerrard knows Terry was Capello's first choice when he took over,and Wayne Rooney is said to be among Terry' allies.So fearing whose wrath, should Capello refrain from his decision? Gareth Barry?

That's what Terry's status is,at Stamford Bridge!

                                                                                                                                                                               
                        Rio Ferdinand is never going to be fit enough to lead England consistently.Even Alex Ferguson testified to that by handing Club captaincy to Nemanja Vidic ahead of Rio.Steven Gerrard may be an exceptional player,but he is not a leader,he inspires by his own performances,but he isn't influential enough in England's system,as compared to his heroics with Liverpool.On the contrary,John Terry is a born leader of men.A host of managers,who have a World Cup,Six European Cups,2 Club World Cups, and dozens of domestic titles amongst them,have chosen Terry to be the man to lead their team.Yes,he has been involved in many controversies,including infidelity and fraud.His dad was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine and such stuff.He has been in headlines many times for the wrong reasons.Yet,these managers,considered to be some of the most genius footballing brains in the world,put their faith him.They still dare to look beyond all those headlines.For what lies beneath,is one hell of a Footballer!

Chase the Devils...

               Yet another win,even after failing to dominate almost the entire game.Yet another comeback,after being outplayed for large periods,but most importantly,yet again 3 points added to the total.Some may say,Manchester United were plain lucky to survive,some may say they displayed the Spirit of the Champions.Whatever it may be,the fact is that United now have a Rock-solid Grip on the Title.Defending Champions Chelsea are 10 points short,which is a footballing equivalent of the Gap between a Ferrari and a Maruti 800,while let's not kid ourselves,Man City and Arsenal are just not good enough for the title.

Roberto Mancini,is he too defensive-minded to win the English League?

                 Let's just start with Manchester City only.I was totally baffled by their Midfield selections vs Aston Villa.De Jong,Barry,Yaya Toure and David Silva.Three defensive midfielders in the same line-up?? Against a team you beat 4-0 less than a month ago?? That's not title winning mentality,Mancini.That's the Problem with City.They can talk about World Domination as long as they want,but they themselves don't seem to believe they are good enough to beat the Manchester Uniteds and Chelseas.Even though they beat Chelsea,their goal came on the counter-attack only,and before that they seemed happy enough to play for a draw.Same thing versus Man United and Arsenal.You don't win titles like that.All they have managed so far,is to give away Huge Christmas presents to Arsenals and Barcelonas and Wolfsburgs by paying extravagant money for their players.Just look what they are doing,paid 25 millions for Adebayor,and less than 2 seasons later,they are ready to send him on loan,just to splash 25 millions more on Edin Dzeko.24 millions for James Milner,like he's the next-Gen Steven Gerrard or something! But,the biggest windfall went to Barcelona.29 millions for a want-away player in Yaya Toure! I mean,who are they kidding? Harry Redknapp got Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale together,for half that price!
                  Talking about Harry Redknapp,Spurs have been more than decent this season,with all those heroics in Europe as well.But the talk of the title challenge still seems far-fetched.They failed to take advantage against a Ten-men United recently and followed it up with a draw at Newcastle.We can already consider them out of Title Race.Their London neighbours,Arsenal,remain very much in with the chance.But,with their amazing ability to Self-destruct,I feel they aren't ready to go the distance yet.They might push their bid all the way to the end,but then this is a team that beats Chelsea 3-1 spectacularly on a day,and then fails to beat 10-men Wigan 2 days later!
                     I still think,even after suffering a massive dip in form for last 2 months,which included Defeats at unimaginable places like Wolves and Birmingham,Chelsea are the only team,which can really challenge United.And even Sir Alex seems to agree,as he's already declared their game at Stamford Bridge as the Season-defining game.The Blues looked almost back to their Best in the 4-0 demolition of Bolton.The ruthless desire to win was back in the team,the ability to turn a victory in a Rout was on display again.And although the 10-point gap that has been created due to ,what Carlo Ancelotti described as a "Bad Moment" (a moment which lasted just about 3 months,that's more than a Quarter of a season!) might yet prove too much.Manchester United may have massive points on the Board,but the Champions will not be willing to give away their Crown, without a Fight!

Can Chelsea's striking Duo Replicate their last season's Heroics?

                     So,at the moment, the Title looks Manchester United's to lose.Still unbeaten in the League,having Dimitar Berbatov in such Red-hot form,but I should remind those already jumping on the "Invincibles" Bandwagon,that United are yet to visit Stamford Bridge,and the Emirates,and the Anfield,and the White-heart Lane! Anyone still ready to bet they will be unbeaten,come the end of the season?
                     Well,United are running away at the moment,demolishing some teams,and grinding out results against the remaining ones.But,in Football,you can never promise what's gonna happen next.May be that's why,It's the Beautiful Game!

The Bridge is Falling....

               Come May,Chelsea will not be lifting the Barclays Premier League Title.Period. Now, some cynics (Read United Fans) may even say it was always likely to happen with the "Old" Squad and Chelsea are now not good enough to even finish in Top 4,while some may think it's just a tragic reaction to a Dip in form.Well,it's not.It's just the hard cold reality.Just go and check the recordbooks.Champions don't lose to Sunderland 0-3 at home,Champions don't dominate the whole games versus the likes of Newcastles and Birminghams and Wolves,and still manage to lose.And the Champions most certainly don't play Paulo Ferreira and Ramires,when they have the talented Brumas and Sturridges,in absolutely must-win games.True,there might still be a fightback,I am almost sure there will be a late surge to derail United's title charge,but well,It's just not gonna be good enough.

Dejected Chelsea players after another Defeat

               Having said that,it's not that United are playing so well to lead the League so easily,they are nowhere near the "Invincible" tag they are trying to claim.Go and watch their game vs WestBrom.They were all over the place.Westbrom dominated almost the entire game,should have had a penalty and red card to Neville,which they didn't get (Even Fergie accepted that.Now how many are ready to bet that a 10-men ,dejected United would come back from 1-2 down against an inform West Brom team.But,after that,Baggies did get a Penalty,which they just fluffed away.Now,you just don't do it against United.It was clear from that point,that United would make them cry.And they did.That's where they are so good,United,winning the games even after playing badly for the large chunks of the game.And that's what Chelsea have precisely lacked in last 3 months.United were outplayed at West Brom,and even Wolves,and still got the maximum points.Chelsea,on the other hand,wasted needless points at Birmingham and Newcastle,and Aston Villa.That's the reason that while United are way clear at the Top,while Chelsea languish in the Fifth place,even below City and Spurs.
               There are calls already to sack the Manager,the same one who was hailed as "One of the Best-Ever" after leading Chelsea to a Historic Double.The So-called "Football Pundits" are already claiming Chelsea won't even finish in Top 4.Nonsense. The same people were writing United off at the start of the season,after Chelsea had driven into a 5-point lead at the top.Now,suddenly,Chelsea are No-goers,right? Yes,there have been some Self-destructing decisions,like sacking Ray Wilkins,or not investing in New players to cover up for those who were drafted out.But,let's not forget they have missed their Big players big time.Injuries to Drogba,Lampard (that guy was out for 3 months,for God's sake,the World's best scoring Midfielder.You're bound to miss him,right? ) and Terry,not to mention the long-term layoffs of Alex,Benayoun,Zhirkov have all hurt Chelsea's cause.
                And then there is the problem of in fact HAVING players like Ferreira and Ramires.What it does is that it dents the chances of youngsters like McEachran and Bruma and Sturridge.Just imagine,Vidic and Ferdinand getting injured for United,and Johnny Evans will automatically come in to fill,Ferguson won't try to put Neville or Carrick in that role.But at Chelsea,there will be long discussions about whether to trust Bruma,or to put the "Experienced" Ferreira in that role.In the end,Ferreira will be picked to play in a position he just can't play,Chelsea will get drubbed (remember 0-3 vs Sunderland, don't you?) ,and after all this tragedy,next time similar injury crisis happens,Bruma will be given the task,as if he's being done a huge favour! And after all this,that 18-year old kid is still expected to go and play like John Terry!
Same thing with Ramires.Well,we were trying to cut the costs.So,we let all the Ballacks and Decos and Joe Coles ( don't you think anyone of them would have come in handy in these times?) were all allowed to leave for Free. Apparently,this decreased Chelsea's wage bill by 20 millions.And then they go and spend 18 millions on Ramires.Not a very smart piece of business,is it? When he arrived,we all were made to believe he is the Future of Brazil.That guy is supposed to be a Midfield-enforcer.But,seriously,he can't keep the ball himself,Forget winning it from the Oppositions.I just can't get why Carlo played Ramires and Ferreira vs Aston Villa,when he had Sturridge and Bosingwa.Don't tell me he "Rested" them.You just can't do that in such situations.It's like being stuck in a House on Fire,and saying "oh no,we're tired now.We'll have some rest first,and then try to get out".
               Chelsea's midfield has never looked so fragile.Few years ago,they could claim to have the Best Midfield Unit in the World.Free scoring Lampard,German captain Ballack,the African Superstar in Essien,the Invincible Makelele,all backed up by Deco and Joe Cole.Look at the situation now,with Lampard and Benayoun gone,we're straight into Mikel and Ramires,and there's this thing as well with Young McEachran not being trusted enough.They say he has the talents to match the Messis and Ronaldos,and still fear to put him against Aston Villa!
               But,even having had so many problems,it's still ridiculous to say they won't finish in Top 4.They still have the team to beat Uniteds and Arsenals.The big players are starting to return,The Blues will rise again,with same personnel,I still believe.For they are the men with Courage,the Terrys and Lampards and the Drogbas, they are the team who got heartbroken in Moscow in Champions League Final,and they still returned to win the Premier League in 2 years time,breaking all kinds of records on the way.

Carlo Ancelotii with Malouda in happier times,after winning the Premier League

                 I'll will leave you by refreshing our memories to a similar situation 2 years ago.Chelsea were playing badly( eve worse than they are now),people said they won't finish in Champions League places.Well we all remember what they did,winning the FA Cup,and even though they were beaten in Champions League semis,Don't you remember how they made the Mighty Barcelona,the Best footballing team ever and all that, look like an Impotent Unit at Stamford Bridge?

A Tale of two Manchesters...

As the seventh weekend of the Premier League passed,with Manchester City leapfrogging past their city neighbours ManUtd in the League table,there is a buzz that City are now the main threat to Chelsea's title,and a shaking Man United will struggle to mount a serious challenge for the championship.I beg to differ.

Yes,City are 2nd in the standings,ahead of united,having already played Chelsea and Liverpool,and its clear that their bench-strength is way better than United's.But anyone who saw their edgy win over Newcastle will know they were far fro convincing.Newcastle haven't got the best away record and they sill almost escaped with a draw.But the worst part for me was Nigel De Jong! a completely reckless tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa,that broke his leg in 2 places,and yet the "kind" referee didn't even give a foul!!! For anyone who understands football one bit,that was a straight Red Card for De Jong.That tackle deprived Newcastle of their most talented player for the entire season.Now,is there anyone still convinced that had there been the dismissal of De Jong in 4th minute,would ManCity,forget the win,would they even have managed to avoid the defeat,playing with 10 men for the entire game??? I certainly don't think so.

In a way,the attitude of De Jong almost represents the attitude of ManCity...they just want to leave their mark on your face.Its unbelievable that De Jong has escaped a lengthy ban after so many horror tackles.Does anyone remember the Kungfu kick in the Chest of Xabi Alonso in World Cup Final???Just watch this horrific tackle on Ben Arfa that broke his leg:

After wins over Chelsea and Liverpool,De Jong was hailed as the best City player.That shows where City really are compared to United....De Jong is not a great Defensive Midfielder,not even a decent one,Claude Makelele never broke people's legs ,not at Real Madrid,nor at Chelsea.We recognise him as the Best Defensive Midfielder of this era.Same for Owen Hargreaves,or Yaya Toure....That's why people love to hate ManCity!!! City might fool themselves that people are just jealous of their newfound wealth,but its not true....You know what,I would love to see United thrashing City in a title-deciding match,even if it means handing out the title to Red Devils,simply because there is no bigger humiliation for City than being tormented by their most hated neighbours!!!!

Talking of United,yes,they are having their problems.But,I have no doubt they will be fighting tooth and nail for that title in the end.Fergie has been in enough of these situations,and he knows how to get out of them.So,let the entire world think what they want to,for me,its not the battle between the Blues and the Sky Blues,but the Battle between the Blues and the Devils!!!

All hail the Lords of London

Chelsea won the Premier League title in the most emphatic fashion on Sunday,beating Wigan Athletic 8-0,their biggest ever top-flight win,to fend off Manchester Utd's challenge by one point,in the process breaking innumerable records.

Manchester fans are already queueing up with the excuses,ranging from missing Ronaldo,to not getting refreeing decisions(they are so used to big decisions ,whether wrong or right,going in their favour!!!). But,anyone can hardly say Chelsea didn't deserve to win the title,not surely after scoring a massive 103 goals in the League this season (no team has ever managed that in EPL History!!!)

Man Utd goalie Van Der Sar was saying that Chelsea were just lucky!! ya ya,just check out the facts yourself, Utd needed six and seven minutes of stoppage time to salvage points twice against ManCity and once against Sunderland,and they are just unfortunate that Chelsea got "lucky" to beat a stubborn Aston Villa 7-1!!! While Chelsea scored 7 or more goals in a single match 4 times this season,while second highest source of goals for Utd after Rooney was Own Goals against them!!!(wonder what 30million-man Berbatov has to say about that?) and still it's Chelsea who just got lucky to win the title,right??

So many Red Devils are moaning about Didier Drogba's winner against them from an Offside position,but the same guys conveniently forget that The only goal United managed in that match was literally punched (by hand) in the net by Federico Macheda,which is hardly "Legal" in Football.They also cry that Liverpool just rolled over to prevent United winning the title,but United had the chance to beat Chelsea for the title,and they miserably failed.Chelsea were way better than Manchester Utd and all other teams.The fact that they scored 17 more goals than the second-highest scores highlights the gap.

In the Sunday's games,the outcome was never in doubt as early as 6th minute,when Anelka opened the scoring to calm any pre-match nerves,and afterwards it was a all too familiar story !!!

I can't really understand that why Arsenal are still considered to play the most beautiful football,Carlo Ancelloti's Chelsea put some of the most sparkling performances the League has ever seen,just look at the sleek passing in any of those 8 goals they scored on Sunday,finally banishing the image of being a physical side,showing some of the best football,that even the mighty Barca would struggle to match . It was delightful to watch them celebrate wildly,after seeing Utd take the glory for last 3 years, In the end, the Roar from Stamford Bridge was very clear " All Hail The Lords Of London" !!!!