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

Landing the Big Fish : Ashley Young

     
            Friends, this week we're beginning a new Series titled "Landing the Big Fish" to discuss about all the Big acquisitions by the top European clubs, with the club's very own ardent fans explaining exactly who's their best buy of the summer and why.
          So for the very first post, we welcome Akash Nair, a die-hard Red Devil, as he talks about Fergie's summer dealings and who might end up as United's best buy this summer.
                                              

Ashley Young....the next United super-star in the making??

                                     

After  the mauling suffered at the hands of Barcelona at Wembley, plus the impending departures of some vital cogs of the first team, Manchester United FC needed some reinforcements…quickly.
The question was whether United had the money to invest and after  the circus by Rooney (the small matter of handing in a transfer request saying the club lacks ambition!!), this was going to be a summer which would clear some doubts.

The fans clearly wanted a midfielder(out of desperation) and a goalkeeper(out of necessity) and after numerous scouting reports,hard negotiations, some failed bids, countless spotting at airports and Bridgewater hospital and 2 months later we have a goalkeeper, a defender and a winger.

In David De Gea we have a 20-year old goalie with truckloads of potential, in Jones an inexperienced defender but a born leader ;a player who can marshal United’s and England’s defence for years to come, and in Young, we have an established Premier league winger. The best signing of the summer for me is Ashley Young.While DDG and Jones have lot of potential, whether they will fulfill it is another matter of fact. 

While much has been said about United’s need of a creative midfielder or a midfield destroyer,there is also a need for a left winger who can bomb down the flanks, put in crosses , cut inside and track back to help the fullback. This has been highlighted due to the fact that Ryan Giggs has become old now--old is an understatement—so much so that he is almost exclusively used in centre midfield by Ferguson as his pace has decreased. Some may argue that we have Nani or Park who can do the job in the left, but the fact is that none of them are primarily left footed.Nani tends to drift inside while deployed on the left forcing Wazza wide or Hernandez to run behind the fullback.

Technical  attributes of Ashley Young:

Young has searing pace, with a bucket-load of tricks to match. He's a great dribbler of the ball, who can tantalize the opposition. Even though being primarily right-footed, he has an excellent left-foot, which makes him an awesome "Inverted Winger" to have.Add to that his deadly Set-piece skills and pinpoint crossing, and you have a genuinely world-class winger in your ranks.

Mental attributes :

For a player who rose through the ranks at Watford offering to play without a contract just so that he can train, will and determination comes easily.
The desire to win is always there in a player who only has held the community shield aloft. 

Young is fast and deceptive, which is deadly attribute for someone who plays for a team known for super-fast counter attacks

                                             
The important thing for me is Young’s versatility.
He can play as left forward in a 4-3-3 ,as a second striker in a 4-4-1-1, on the right as well as the left wing, in the hole behind the front two in a 4-1-3-2.
This versatility opens the door for a revolving front 4 last seen during 07/08 season when the likes of Roo, Ronnie, Giggsy and Tevez  wreaked havoc.
Young was also employed by Gerrad Houllier in a more central role during his last season at Villa helping them to steer clear of relegation and also Fabio Capello’s England during the Euro 12 qualifying  campaign.
All this versatility won't be much visible during the initial stages of the campaign but it will be prominent during the latter stretches when games come thick and fast and injuries enter the picture.

If you still think he's not a Marquee signing United needed to formally replace the legendary Paul Scholes, just check out some of his stats in the English League.

• Ashley Young is10th on the list of all-time assist makers in the Premier League with 53 assists to his     name.
• In terms of assists per games, Ashley Young ranks 7th in Premier League history with 0.46 assists per game, behind Giggs, Bergkamp, Cantona, Fabregas, Henry & Beckham.
• Only Cesc Fabregas has more Premier League assists than Ashley Young since the 2006/07 season
• He has scored 62 goals and made 70 assist in 300 appearances in all competition.
• Ashley Young has scored 33 goals in the Premier League – 32 on his right foot, 1 on his left foot, 34.4% from outside the box & 37.5% from dead balls.
• From 07/08-10/11, Ashley Young has provided 30 dead ball league assists: 7.5 per year. #MUFC’s best Nani has averaged 4.25. Improvement.
• Young’s dead ball assist rate from the last 4 years of 7.5 per season is better than Beckham – who averaged 4.77 per season in his Man Utd career.
• He has only been sent off once in his premier league career.
•  Incidentally Young is also one of the most fouled players in the league, which creates more set piece opportunities  and also gets injured very rarely.

I m sure some United fans will still feel we could have done with an attacking midfielder in the moulds of Sneijder--- but that’s mainly from the need to match Barca after the dressing down they have given us last two times. It certainly would've added to the oomph factor, but the defeat was much more of a result of a midfield that was unable to initiate lightning fast counters which United are known for.And Young is much more likely to bring back those counters rather than a Sneijder or any such creative midfielder. 

Glory days are here to stay at Old Trafford. Let's just hope Ashley Young owns the left wing of United first team for years to come !!

Written by:

Akash R Nair

"The Tainted One"??

                     
                    Images speak for themselves, they say. For the entire last week, all the Sports media have filled the pages, with enlarged images of a single photograph. Jose Mourinho, the self-proclaimed "Special One", the so-called "Scourge of Barcelona", poking a finger into the eye of a Barcelona assistant coach, Tito Vilanova. Jose is being slammed, almost by all the sections of the Footballing fraternity. Arrogant, cowardly, despicable, I wonder how the adjectives haven't been exhausted yet. He's simply lost the plot, they say, Barca are simply too good for him. In the circumstances, it's difficult to be sympathetic to him. But you know, you just know, that writing Jose Mourinho off, is the footballing equivalent of a suicide.

"The Special One" : Never afraid of Controversies

                         Even the most ardent supporters will find it difficult to justify Mourinho's actions on the night. But then, just take a look at all those who're leading the charge against him, and you'll find they're no saints either. "Jose is destroying Spanish Football", said Gerard Pique. Apparently, poking a finger at an assistant coach is the gravest sin one can possibly perform, but shamelessly diving in the Semi-finals of one of the Most watched tournaments in the world doesn't really malign their image according to Pique.Nor does insulting an opponent on his religion or country. I'm not at all trying to defend Jose here, I despised his actions like any footballing faithful would do. But, people should notice the hypocrisy that's currently going on here.

                           Modesty has hardly been an illuminating aspect of Mou's persona, nor has been humility. But then, never forget, it's his brazen attitude and arrogance, which have made him the man he is today. Winner of  3 major European leagues and numerous domestic cups.Add to that, 2 continental titles won with not-so-fancied teams,all at the age of 48, and even the most vocal Mourinho-haters will be forced to admit he's good, damn good at what he does. Yes, some of his actions are despicable.Yes, he's a terrible loser. If you don't love him, it's pretty likely you hate him more than anything else. But even then, one can't deny his greatness. He's the man, who thwarted the heavenly Barca with Chelsea and Inter, he's the man who broke Manchester Utd and Arsenal's stranglehold on English Football, he's the one who single-handedly made Inter Champions of Europe, at a time when all other Italian teams were crumbling like sand-castles. Most importantly, one 0-5 demolition aside, he's the man who's defeated Barcelona in a cup competition which the Catalans had won 7 times more than Madrid. He's forced Barcelona, supposed to be the epitome of Beautiful football, to resort to unsavory tactics like playacting, and insulting opponents to get past the opposition. 

Jose Mourinho at Camp Nou : In your face....

                  It's difficult to like the man, I agree. All his theatrics, let it be the run down the touchline at Old Trafford after Porto's late equalizer, or silencing the Liverpool supporters after Gerrard's own goal in League Cup Final, to his sensational accusations against Barcelona this May, hardly improve his arrogant image. But, he has his gifts, the uncanny knack of uniting his team by creating a siege mentality. Getting himself in the line of fire, to provoke his players : "It's us against the whole world. Fight back in every way possible, and we shall prevail". Not the beautiful way of doing it,eh? But, Mou has hardly cared about the Universal opinions.
And it's been clear every time he's been criticised for his style of play.

Look, we're not entertaining? I don't care. We win. "

Was all he said, when such accusations were hurled, let it be at Chelsea, or Real Madrid. You can hate him for all you want, but even against Barcelona, this mighty Barcelona, count him off at your own peril. For tainted or not, he's still the "Special One".

Signs From the Bridge : The Chelsea Preview...

This post also appeared on the blog "False9"

                 Another new manager in the dug-out, with almost the same crop of players again trusted to win the silver-wares that Roman so craves.Chelsea may be entering the new season with a brand-new coach and mentality, but there's still a strange familiarity in the air. The management may have changed, but the core of the team is still the same. It was the same, when Ancelotti began 2 years ago, or Scolari a year before that. The much talked-about rebuilding of the ageing squad is still not happening.Whether Chelsea's Old Guard still have it in them to take the team to glory again for one final year, only Time will tell.But, what are the likely options Chelsea will have this upcoming season, let's have a closer look.

 4-3-3 : The Conventional One

Despite all the rumours, Chelsea are still far from signing Luka Modric. With Javier Pastore having gone to PSG, there're no signs of a new creative play-maker in sight. So unless Villas Boas decides to hone Josh McEachran for that coveted role, Chelsea are likely to stick to the 4-3-3 formation this season. Oriol Romeu, the new recruit from Barca, is likely to challenge Jon Obi Mikel for the holding midfielder's role, with Lampard and most likely, Ramires completing the midfield. AVB is likely to choose either Drogba or Torres, rather than both.But, with Sturridge looking in top form, on which flank the Chelsea boss decides to play him, will decide who between Anelka and Malouda gets starts.No signs of changes in defense look imminent so far.

                                                  Torres/Drogba
               Malouda                                                              Sturridge




                      Lampard                                                Ramires
                                                         Mikel




   Cole                        Terry                           David Luiz              Ivanovic


 4-1-2-1-2 : The Midfield "Diamond"

First used by Carlo Ancelotti in recent times in English football, the Diamond formation did prove to be successful for Chelsea.What's more, this is Chelsea's best chance to make the Drogba-Torres partnership work. Carlo used it brilliantly, when similar doubts had been raised about Drogba-Anelka pairing.Sturridge could be given the free-roaming role at the tip of the diamond, but Yossi Benayoun seems tailor-made for ths role.The major issue for Chelsea would be to accommodate Lampard in this formation, as playing him on the left-wing deprives them of a natural winger,thereby leaving Ashley Cole to run the entire left side of the pitch.But even if only for the sake of Drogba-Torres pairing, trust AVB to experiment with this often, possibly against mid-table oppositions.


                                        Torres               Drogba
                                                  
                             
                                                   Benayoun


                       Lampard                                              Ramires


                                                       Mikel


   Cole                        Terry                           David Luiz              Ivanovic

Lot will depend on what Drogba and Torres can achieve together...

4-2-3-1 : A different approach

In an approach totally different from what Chelsea have followed in recent times, Villas Boas can use either Lampard or Josh McEachran in a deep-lying play-maker's role, the kind of which Xavi or Andrea Pirlo play for their clubs. Oriol Romeu can sit as a "Sweeper" in front of the back four, with Ashley Cole and presumably Branislav Ivanovic being given license to bomb forward.It allows Villas-Boas to play Sturridge as an Inverted Winger,a position in which Lionel Messi dazzled, before shifring to his now famous, "False No. 9" position. Also, Modric can easily fit in the system too,if he does sign up.Either Kalou or Malouda make up the left side of he midfield. 

    
                                                  Torres/Drogba


                 Malouda                    Benayoun                      Sturridge


                                               McEachran
                                                          Romeu
                         
                                                     
   Cole                        Terry                             David Luiz            Ivanovic


With the embarrassment of riches Chelsea have got in striking department, Anelka and Kalou are going to find it much harder to get starts, especially if Sturridge continues to be in top form.Best chance for the next imminent arrival, Romelu Lukaku seems to be January-February, when Drogba and co leave for African Cup of Nations. Whether Chelsea can get Modric will have a big impact on AVB's tactical set-up, although failing to get Modric might be a blessing in disguise, as it offers Josh McEachran a much more prominent role for the upcoming season.
In the end, whatever may be the tactics Villas Boas employs, including promoting the young players, he will have to produce the silverware right from the start. Carlo Ancelotti had to go, for finishing Second in one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Villas Boas might be Chelsea's best bet at the moment, but that's no reason for him to relax the slightest. There's a glimmer of Sunshine in the skies of West London now, but it'll take hell lot of work to make all the clouds part.


Welcome back to the EPL, Mr. Villas Boas!

Why Messi's Argentina Never Win...

                    It's almost becoming a cliche now..."Miracle Messi" fails to lead his National team to victory again... World's best Footballer fails to display the same form for his nation, etc etc. And the comments are pretty obvious and simplistic. Just blame Messi for not being proud of his country, or where the Messi-worshipers are concerned, find faults with rest of the team or just blame the head-coach (In case of Maradona, I do agree with them, yeah!). But, I would hardly think the reasoning behind Argentina's failure is that simple. You just can't throw together some of the world's finest talents, and expect them to conquer everything, as Real Madrid keep finding out again and again.
             
                         Argentina have some incredible talents, alongside Messi, be it Tevez, Kun Aguero, Di Maria or Higuain. But, the major issue is Compatibility.Let Messi put any number of inch-perfect through-balls, the fact is Higuain and Tevez are simply not used to just wait on the shoulders of the last defender for such passes.Higuain plays an out and out Target Man for Real Madrid under Mourinho, in a role which lets him fight with the defenders. Carlos Tevez was the joint-top goalscorer in EPL last season, without a world-class play-maker in his team (David Silva returned to form pretty late in the season). Even Messi built his reputation as the world's Best, not only on his sleek passing, but also deadly finishing which saw him score an incredible 53 goals last season. But then, there's not a single play-maker in Argentine team, who can offer Messi the service that Xavi and Iniesta provide him at Camp Nou. Juan Roman Riquelme, the only one who could've done the duty, left the team after differences with the then-coach Maradona. His loss is huge to the Argentines, because it forces Messi to go even deeper to create chances for his team-mates, which deprives Argentina of one of the most brilliant finishers of the game.

The Professor's Conundrum...

Arsene Wenger has come under lots of criticism recently,
 for his side's long trophy-drought

           Arsene Wenger is possibly the most distinguished manager in Arsenal Football Club's history.And in recent times, probably the most ridiculed one, too.Six years without a trophy, and the patience seems to be growing thin among the Gunners' faithful.Another year like this, and Arsenal's new owners may have to take action.But is Arsenal's crisis as simple to solve as most of us think it to be?

The curious case of The Seleção ...

              There were times, when every football fan,on seeing his team knocked out (or in some cases, team didn't even qualify), would go on to support Brazil for that tournament.It was considered an almost obvious thing to do.Not that other teams were not competent enough, Brazil were the epitome of Football, the unanimous emperors of the "Beautiful Game".Fast forward to today, and you'd almost feel sorry at the current state of affairs.

The 3 Legendary Rs of Brazil