Henry saga roars on - Replay, or no replay?

Football’s latest controversy not only lies solely in the hands of Thierry Henry (excuse the pun), but could well be crucial in the development of technology within the game. As Rob asked in his recent post on the incident, what’s it going to take for the authorities to realise technology is required?

Technology aside, the big question is, what happens now? The whole of Ireland has called for the match to be replayed, and understandably so. Henry himself remarked that Ireland “definitely deserve” to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals, and a replay would be the “fairest solution”. It’s easy saying that after the deed has been done though.

I’m completely on the side of the Irish on this one. It was an act of blatant cheating on Henry’s behalf, and something that will take an extremely long time to be pushed beneath the surface, if at all. Of course, everybody in the whole World that’s interested in Football, and some people who aren’t, remember Diego Maradona’s “hand of God” in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. We English are still going on about it to this day. However, I don’t see a replay being beneficial for the game.

There’s no doubt that it was a major incident, that had big repercussions for both the Irish side in not reaching the Finals in South Africa, and for Henry who has been rightly slaughtered in the press. However, where is the line drawn between a major incident and a minor incident? Is it the outcome of the match? The importance of the match? There are dozens of incidents each week – such as a handball that results in a goal, a dive to win a penalty that snatches a draw or a win (a la David N’gog), or a goal in the 5th minute of injury time when only 3 were allocated – in the Premier League, Champions League, World Cup Qualifiers, Lower Leagues and what have you that could be deemed as ‘cheating’, but we don’t have replays of all those matches, simply because we accept what’s happened and move on.

Take Eduardo’s dive in the Champions League against Celtic as an example. There was uproar, calling for the Croatian to be banned, for Arsenal to be disqualified, and all sorts, yet when Eduardo was punished, everyone accepted it and there’s been hardly any talk of it since. Yes, the Henry incident potentially cost Ireland a place in the World Cup, but we can’t give them a replay just because it was an International match that decided who plays in the World Cup and who doesn’t. The World Cup isn’t of importance to a League 2 side battling relegation with their Football League status at threat. How would they feel if exactly the same thing happened in one of their matches and they were relegated as a result of it, yet Ireland got a replay because the competition in matter was the World Cup? It would set an unrealistic precedent that when every time an incident like this happens, there would have to be a replay. It’s not plausible.

I believe the necessary sanction is a ban for Henry from the World Cup next year. There’s no question that it was a deliberate handball. You’d have to be deranged to think otherwise. And who cares that he admitted it? That’s not going to change a thing in Irish minds. Henry is the responsible party for shattering Ireland’s dream, and he should be made to pay by sitting out the whole of the competition and hopefully watching his teammates crash out in the group stages.

Roy Keane laughed the matter off in a press conference, stating that Ireland should “get over it” and move on. Solid words from the Ipswich boss, but try telling a hurting Irish population that to their faces. They’ll take a long time to get over this one.

Brazil 1-0 England: Quality shines through

England’s preparations for next year’s World Cup in South Africa got off to a slow start yesterday as they were confidently beaten by the World No.1 side Brazil. Nilmar’s 47th minute header was enough to see off the challenge of Fabio Capello’s men.

Admittedly it was a second string England side, but one that still consisted of regulars Wayne Rooney, Gareth Barry, and Shaun Wright-Phillips. However, England did learn a valuable lesson, one that they’ll need to revise up to and during next summer’s finals; Keep the ball.

Brazil were by far the better side, and whilst England were without a number of regulars in their XI, so too were the South American giants. Kaka and Dani Alves were arguably the only superstars amongst Dunga’s team. Despite the lack of first choice players on both sides, Brazil passed England off the pitch and showed much more invention and imagination in the final third. In sweltering conditions surely it was obvious that’s what England needed to do? Instead, possession was lost far too easily, and Brazil were seldom made to work hard to close their opponents down or retain the ball when they were in possession.

There’s been lots of talk recently about England’s hopes and chances of lifting the World Cup next year, but on the evidence of last night’s match, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Retaining possession is one of the basics of Football, right through from junior level to the professional game. It’s not especially difficult. A feature of Brazil’s play was how quickly they moved it. Often they’d play 2 or 3 touch Football throughout the match and they made it very difficult for England to win it back. A weary looking England was evidence of that at the end of the match.

Perhaps a stronger England side would have created a different outcome and produced a better performance. It was a chance for the fringe players to put their case forward to Mr. Capello before he picks his squad for the finals sometime next year. Unfortunately they’ll be some disappointed members of that particular England squad, none more so than Wes Brown, who I thought was distinctly average. His error mid-way through the second half allowed Nilmar in to win a penalty from the outstretched Ben Foster, who was lucky to stay on the pitch.

As the party settle back in England, they’ll be a lot for Capello to ponder ahead of the World Cup draw in early December.

Arsenal's young guns set the standard

Arsenal are a rather special team, for many reasons. Manager Arsene Wenger has been in the job for more than a decade, which is an achievement in itself. In a day and age whereby managers come and go like candidates to be Sir Alan Sugar’s apprentice, 10 years in the job deserves a gold medal.

Secondly, the players he possesses in his vastly-talented squad. Down the years Wenger has constructed a young, agile, attacking side and has received a lot of criticism for not having a big ball-winner in the ranks. Especially since Patrick Vieira left. However, evidence this season suggests that Wenger knows exactly what he is doing.

Arsenal won the FA Youth Cup last season, which goes a long way to underlining the enormous potential that the next generation at the Emirates possess. Now, most of those players have gained some form of first-team experience, whether as a late substitute in the Premier League or even Champions League, or maybe starting in the early rounds of the Carling Cup. At some stage, that potential has been on show, and boy have people been impressed.

The recent 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the Carling Cup completely emphasises where Arsenal stand in relation to other sides in the League when it comes to their ’second string’ team. Compare the likes of Craig Eastmond, Kerrea Gilbert, and Kieran Gibbs to Liverpool’s Damien Plessis, Philipp Degen, and Emiliano Insua, and the Arsenal guys are streets ahead in terms of talent and ability. Even though Degen and Insua are full Internationals, the standard of Arsenal’s teenagers is far higher than that of Liverpool’s.

Throughout the age groups Arsenal’s youngsters are taught nothing but how to keep possession of the ball. There’s very little on anything else. Credit must be given to the backroom staff and Academy coaches at Arsenal who clearly do a wonderful job of improving these youngsters and making them exceptional footballers. At times during the Liverpool match, they kept the ball for 20+ passes whilst playing one and two touch football; just an incredible thing to be able to do at the age of 17/18/19 against Premier League opposition.

Arsene Wenger is without doubt the best in the world at getting the best out of his young guns, and inspiring them to play out of their skin. Year after year more talent is brought in from abroad, and brought through the youth ranks to compete at the highest level, and year after year they impress. It’s like a conveyor belt of outstanding talent.
So Arsenal have set the standard when it comes to their Youth development system and the players they bring through. The question is, will anybody be able to compete with them in 5/10 years time?

The fact that Arsenal haven’t won any silverware in the last 5 years may suggest that all the hard work pumped into the academy is going to waste. However, it takes time to develop a side of such raw talent into one that will become world-beaters if you like. Take Cesc Fabregas for example. A couple of years ago he was an outstanding player, but there were still aspects to his game that needed improvement and honing. Now he seems to be the complete player. With several players of similar potential to Fabregas coming through, if they can reach maximum potential in the next few years then Arsenal have a team full of superstars in the making. 5 or 6 Cesc Fabregas’ in the side makes for a cup-winning generation.

It’s worrying for the other sides in the Premier League that they don’t have the same potential. It’s unquestionable that Manchester United have a world-class youth setup, and the same goes for Chelsea, but neither side has brought through the kind of talent that Arsenal are showing off, perhaps with the exception of Federico Macheda. As for Chelsea, well their side is made of over-30’s with very little youth being filtered through. Roman’s billions have obviously blocked the route for youngsters through to the first team. That’s probably another area that Arsenal have got right.

The Gunners have spent money on recruiting players from around the world (e.g Andrei Arshavin, Thomas Vermaelen) but they’ve also left plenty of room to enable them to filter through their youngsters in order to give them invaluable experience at the top level. It’s an area that other teams can take example from in order to progress their homegrown footballers.

One thing that will be interesting to see this season with Arsenal, is that if they make it to the final of the Carling Cup or FA Cup with the youngsters they’re putting out, will Wenger stick with them for that crunch game against, say, Manchester United with the Rooney’s and Berbatov’s? One thing’s for sure; Arsenal will be a side to look out for in the next few years, and they’ll have a few players who make it very big in the footballing world.

Stoke exceed expectations as they push for top half finish

Glenn Whelan celebrates his winner against Spurs

People have taken to Stoke like a bumble bee takes to honey. They arrived in the Premier League 18 months ago with the expectation that they wouldn’t be strong enough to stay in the division. Now, as a new decade is on the horizon, the Potters have done more than just keep their Premier League status.

Their direct style is typical of Northern sides; Bolton and Blackburn are easily comparable. A whole host of 6ft+ men make them extremely hard to break down and compete with, and with one of the county’s longest throwers of a Football in their ranks – Rory Delap – they’re also a force in the final 3rd. The likes of Abdoulaye Faye and Robert Huth provide excellent strength at the back, while James Beattie is a proven goalscorer up top.

It’s not rocket science to work out their secret then. One of the heroes of the Stoke side in recent years, in particular their key to survival last season, Ryan Shawcross is a perfect symbol of their style of play. A shaven-headed, 6′3″ centre-half from Manchester, Shawcross learnt his trade at United before being loaned out to the Midlands Club with a view to a permanent deal. In his first season at the Britannia Stadium, the season in which Stoke gained promotion from the Championship, Shawcross netted an impressive 7 goals from the back. His height is very dangerous from set-plays, in particular those Delap throws from either side.

Despite Stoke’s excellent start to the new campaign, manager Tony Pulis is refusing to get carried away and claims that he’s still concentrating on avoiding the drop. Stoke lie in 9th after 11 games, just one point behind Sunderland and only 3 off 4th place. A last-ditch win at White Hart Lane last weekend got people talking about a possible top 7 finish and therefore qualification into Europe. Chris Kamara, presenter of Goals on Sunday and much-loved pundit/commentator, admits that he backs them to clinch a Europa League spot too.

It’s a fact that the big teams find it very difficult to go to Stoke and get a result. They have arguably the best fan base in the Premier League in terms of passionate support. They make the Britannia a very hostile place to visit and make it very hard for visiting teams to play their Football. Arsenal and Liverpool found that out last season, and Manchester United almost slipped up earlier on this year as well.

A team like Arsenal, full of wonderful Footballers but not necessarily battlers, would be ideal prey for Stoke who would concentrate on kicking them off the pitch. Entirely fairly of course. That’s why teams will seldom take points from them at the Britannia. Home form will be crucial to determine Stoke’s season, as their away form can be very inconsistent, although pretty decent so far. They’ve lost only one on the road this season, that a 4-0 crushing at Anfield. Draws at Bolton, Birmingham, and Everton were followed by that impressive win against Spurs. However, last season’s form on the road suggests that there has to be caution about how they approach games against Hull and Blackburn away from home. They’d expect themselves to pick up points in these kind of games, yet can’t be too complacent.

So European contenders or mid-table solidity? Perhaps Europe is a bit of an ask at this stage. There are still better teams in the League who can do more than just battle. But they’re certainly heading in the right direction, and with the fans right behind them at the Britannia, who knows what may come about by the end of the season.

Fulham 3-1 Liverpool: All things red at the Cottage

Two fairly atrocious decisions from referee Lee Mason, and some bizarre substitutions from Rafael Benitez made for another woeful afternoon at the office for the Liverpool gaffer.

It was a game that people were cautious about following the 2-0 win over Man Utd last weekend – it’s one of those Liverpool should win but very often don’t. Fulham opened the scoring half way through the first half thanks to Bobby Zamora, before Fernando Torres levelled just before the break with his 10th League goal of the season. However, it went very quickly downhill from there for the visitors, who conceeded to Erik Nevland after 73 minutes before the first of the red cards.

Philipp Degen’s challenge was late. Nothing more. It was worthy of a yellow card. Nothing more. Disbelief was the common emotion when Mr. Mason produced red for the Swiss full-back. Clint Dempsey certainly made the most of the tackle, which on replay shows Degen actually made contact with the American with his back. As for Jamie Carragher’s sending off, it was pretty similar to that one on Michael Owen 6 days ago, apart from being much less of a foul. Carra was guilty of getting on the wrong side of Zamora, a bit of tugging on shirts followed from both parties, before Carragher made a perfectly timed, perfectly legal lunge for the ball. However, the referee saw something that no one else saw and handed the Liverpool skipper his first red card of the season.

Clint Dempsey wrapped up the win for Fulham just before full-time, but all the talk now will be about Benitez’s future, again. Especially after taking a furious Yossi Benayoun off before all the drama unfolded. Time will tell.

King jailed after club assault

10 months after Marlon King was accused of sexually assaulting a young student in a London nightclub, the Wigan Athletic Forward has been slapped with an 18-month jail sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm.

King, who was celebrating both his wife’s pregnancy and scoring a winning goal just hours earlier, grew increasingly frustrated when women enjoying a night at London’s Soho Revue Bar turned down his advances. It was when a 20-year old university student gave him the cold-shoulder that King eventually snapped, first of all indecently touching her before striking her to the floor with a blow that completely shattered her nose.

King claimed that he was a victim of a case of mistaken identity, but with so much evidence stacked up on him due to witness reports, one in fact from a Football coach, there was no chance that he’d get away with the offence. The 29-year old was therefore found guilty.

Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan has revealed that he will sack King from his contract in the very near future. King’s reputation will be permanently damaged now, due to a moment of incredible stupidity and brutality. Will anyone want to take him on after this? From past incidents you’d probably have to say yes. In 2004 Lee Hughes was convicted for causing death by dangerous driving following a late-night incident in the village of Meriden, Warwickshire. The original sentence was 6 years, but in August 2007 he was controversially released and immediately joined Oldham Athletic.

The question is, should King be allowed back into Football? The argument is that for the average Joe, they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting their job back if something like this happened to them, so why should Footballers? It’s a sensitive subject, but one that needs to be looked at. Not only does it say to Footballers ‘you can do what you want’, but it sets the worst example to youngsters in terms of behaviour.

Perhaps the tarnished reputation of these idiots is bad enough. It’s very much debatable.

Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United

I’m going to enjoy this; results like these don’t come along that often. Oh no wait, yes they do – this is Liverpool’s 3rd consecutive win over United – forgive me.

Coming into this afternoon’s game everybody was talking about how much longer Rafael Benitez would last at the helm. Now, just a couple of hours after, discussion has switched to the re-launch of Liverpool’s title bid. It was inevitable that would happen should Liverpool have got the 3 points, but I’m afraid I’m going to play the pessimist and say lets not speak too soon.

Liverpool were brilliant today, no doubt about it. The spark that they lacked in midweek against Lyon certainly returned against a lacklustre United side, who threatened very little throughout the course of the match. The home side’s best chance of the first half fell to Fabio Aurelio, whom after testing Edwin van der Sar with a 25-yard free kick, had a close-range header saved by the Dutchman – a chance that Aurelio probably should have scored.

United’s best chance of the half came via Wayne Rooney’s head, but Pepe Reina wasn’t made to work very hard by the England centre-forward. Little changed in the second 45, with Liverpool continuing to dominate and create chances. The deadlock was eventually broken after 66 minutes when Yossi Benayoun’s wonderful through pass found the run of Fernando Torres, who shrugged off Rio Ferdinand and fired past van der Sar. Question marks will again be raised over Ferdinand’s defending; he wasn’t tight enough to Torres to start with, and ended up wrong side, allowing Torres to graze through with ease.

The visitors failed to test Reina even after this goal. Nani skimmed the crossbar from a very tight angle and had a free kick saved by Reina with comfort, but Sir Alex will be disappointed that his side couldn’t conjure up more chances, especially against a Liverpool defence heavily criticised recently for leaking goals.

The referee did his best to try and get United back in the game. Numerous decisions went their way, and it’s plain to see why. Mr. Ferguson throwing another half-time tantrum may have something to do with it. Nemanja Vidic received a red card in the 90th minute for a reckless rugby tackle on Dirk Kuyt – Vidic probably lucky to have lasted that long if truth be told. It can be argued that Jamie Carragher should have received the same sanction just moments later for a seemingly last-man challenge on Michael Owen, but Andre Marriner produced yellow instead. Javier Mascherano also received his marching orders in the 95th minute for a silly lunge at Edwin van der Sar in the corner. Unnecessary and costly from the little Argentinian; he’ll now be banned for a game, meaning the Liverpool backroom staff will have to work extra hard to get Alberto Aquilani up to match fitness for next weekend.

I’d like to pinpoint a few one-to-one battles now:

Torres v Vidic: Not only was this United’s 3rd straight defeat against Liverpool, but it was also Vidic’s 3rd straight red card against the Reds. And it’s easy to see why. Torres ran the big Serb ragged at Old Trafford in March, and he did the same today. Too quick, strong, and skillful for the defender, who had to resort to fouling Torres to stop him getting away. Sir Alex revealed before the match that Vidic was “looking forward” to the tussle with Torres. Perhaps that’s what he’d like to have thought.

Valencia v Insua: This was United’s main route of attack. Insua looked vulnerable whenever the ball came his way, and United attempted to expose him on every possible occasion. Valencia was quicker and simply better than Insua, and it begs the question why United couldn’t have exploited that area more.

Mascherano/Lucas v Scholes/Carrick: This was probably the best game I’ve seen Lucas have. He seldom gave the ball away, and kept it very simple which is what you like your crap players to do I guess. Scholes and Carrick had little time on the ball thanks to the closing down from Mascherano and Lucas throughout the game. Those raking passes we’re so used to from Scholes weren’t so evident today.

Carragher v United: Jamie Carragher was immense. Yes, he probably should have been sent off, but that doesn’t take away the fact he was heroic. Every tackle he got right, every aerial battle he won, and United didn’t look like scoring while Carragher was on the pitch i.e the whole match. He’s received a lot of stick recently for being off the pace, but today he’s silenced his critics, if only for a few days.

A fantastic win for Liverpool then. Better than United in all areas, they wanted the ball more, and they wanted the win more. Pressure off Benitez for a short while, but now the hard work begins. Back these performances up and we’ve got a chance. For now, I’m a happy Liverpool supporter.