Derby Sunday

What a weekend! If you were a sports fan, you would have enjoyed a bumper-packed couple of days where top level competition was literally coming out of every possible angle. The Rugby World Cup finally drew to a close, and hearty congratulations are in order to the New Zealand team. In a repeat of the final 24 years ago in the first World Cup Final, New Zealand posted the same winning result and collected a second tournament crown in defeating France 8-7.

Thankfully the final was not a blow-out which many feared. What we had was a final that was not spectacular but was keenly contested. As the match was edging towards full-time and with one point separating the two outfits for much of the second half, the result really could have gone either way which created it sown sense of theatre.

With the confetti flying high in the Auckland night sky for New Zealand’s victory, eyes shifted to the Northern Hemisphere and the much anticipated derby between Manchester United and Manchester City. With many hyped games such as this, there tends to be a bit of a lull when the match is played and often disappoints. However, the Old Trafford encounter did not let us down and produced a remarkable match. Manchester City racked up a 6-1 victory in the backyard of their bitterest of rivals.

But with a result such as this, there is often a procedure of knee-jerk reactions to follow of the sides featured. So what did we really learn about the two clubs. Has the result unearthed a sizable power shift, or was it merely just another three points won against a cross-town adversary? Are we any closer to knowing the possible destination of the Premier League title for this season?

Well in my opinion not a lot can be concluded, particularly if you are a follower of the red half of Manchester. Is Manchester United out of the title race? Emphatically no is the answer for me. A humbling defeat no doubt, but a five point gap in the table is far from terminal for Alex Ferguson’s men. A factor heightened as all eyes will now be intensely fixed on Manchester City after Sunday’s result.

City has shown that they are the team to chase at this present moment in time, and from the bookmakers vantage point the new favourites to take the title also. We all know Manchester United are masters at going the course and distance in the Premier League. But with 30 games still to play, time will tell if Manchester City can handle the pressure and clinch their first English league championship in 42 years.

In the recent past, eyebrow raising results like the one recorded at Old Trafford have happened before to Manchester United. Newcastle’s 5-0 demolition of The Red Devils in the 1996-97 season could be one drawn out from this category. Additionally famed for when the then Newcastle chairman Sir John Hall announced, “You have seen the Premiership champions today”. He was indeed right, Manchester United ended up retaining their crown for that campaign.

Chelsea repeated the same feat of beating Manchester United 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, and similar echoes of Chelsea being lauded as the likely champions for the 1999-2000 season began. But again Manchester United went on to retain the league championship. More recently in 2009, United suffered a 4-1 reverse at home to major rivals Liverpool. But yes you guessed it, it did not stop United collecting Premier League crown number eleven, and consigning a revived Liverpool from years gone by into second place in the league for that season.

So with that brief trip down memory lane and just as the saying goes, ‘one swallow does not make a summer’. The proposed shift in power at the top of the English game is a little far off from fully occurring if at all. Ferguson has held of the challenges of Arsène Wenger and his Arsenal team, and kept at bay the riches of Roman Abramovich and proposed domination that South-West London club posed to Manchester United. So the emergence of Manchester City will not instantly see Manchester United being dislodged from being the team to beat in English football, well not at this stage.

What should concern Ferguson is that United are indeed conceding more opportunities at present than in recent times, and that is a worry. Friends of mine who are United fans have made comments that Rio Ferdinand is now a weak link in defence, and is no longer a player who deserves automatic team selection if fit. I do think that there is an element of truth with this, but feel it is more of a collective issue of Manchester United’s defensive unit.

The defence is in transition. New talented defenders in Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are playing well so far this season, but these young players are still bedding in to the United way. Adding to this, United has two goalkeepers in David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard trying to fill in the shoes of stalwart Edwin Van Der Sar which is not an easy task.

United aside, more can be concluded from this result if you are a Manchester City fan. Firstly to put it into context, the last minute winner Sergio Agüero scored in the Champions League against Villarreal last week played a huge part in guiding City to the big win at Old Trafford. I am a firm believer that it gave The Blues a lease of life and a confidence to showcase their worth against their opponents. If City were possible pretenders to the Premier League title, well with this result to marry up with their strong performances so far this season, City are very much certified contenders to crown.

What can also be drawn from Sunday’s game is despite the rollercoaster scene of events that have taken place at the club over recent years, Mancini is very much showing that he is the man in the driving seat where it matters, on the field. His vision of the Manchester City project is very much taking shape. If you are a player at Manchester City the directive is clear from Mancini, either you buy into my philosophy or you do not.

Those who are brought in, have responded by turning themselves into the key players of the team. Those who have not, are watching the parade go by with or without them. If it was not already confirmed before, it seems solidified that Manchester City are in no desperate need for the services of Carlos Tevez, and are looking to achieve great things without him.

The star men from the game and who have rightly gained the acclaim that they deserve include Micah Richards and David Silva, and are just two of the names who were immense on the day. Mario Balotelli just seemed destined to produce a spark or two after his latest explosive off field antics during the weekend. But I thought it was an intriguing masterstroke from Mancini in fielding James Milner, as it would have been easy to have selected the creative play of Samir Nasri in a game like this. But in matches of this magnitude, it is not always about flight and fancy play. The key attributes of passion, grit, and determination are also on required as well as dynamism. Milner exhibited all of these characteristics.

But if this match was not enough, minutes later we had a good old fashioned contest with two West-London clubs in QPR and Chelsea, which for me stole the show on Sunday. Drama, action, commitment, and controversy were all on show. We were treated to a snapshot of all that is good about the Premier League. The coming weekend seems like a lifetime before we get another Premier League helping. But next up, only the same matter of Chelsea and Arsenal playing each other this weekend, bring it on!   

Roonatic!

So the big news this week in the world of football was Wayne ‘Wazza’ Rooney’s impending three-match ban at next year’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Much dialogue has taken place amongst England fans and the media in trying to analyse Rooney’s petulant kick at Montenegro’s Miodrag Dzudovic, and discover why Rooney would do such a thing? Why would the Manchester United ace potentially jeopardise England’s fortunes during the Euro 2012 qualifier and in-turn, hinder the team’s chances during the championships as a whole next summer? So many questions!! 

Quite simply we could never answer all these queries, yet I would like to propose a thought. Perhaps quintessentially this is the makeup of Wayne Rooney for both Manchester United and England, and for the respective fans of both outfits they just have to take the rough with the smooth with such an enigmatic player.

However, the whole episode shows a murky passage in which England has this fixation on pinning their hopes on a particular individual to carry the nation’s entire football fortunes at a big international competition. Some of you may be quizzically wondering where I am going with this? Well let us have a look at the recent past. Currently Rooney is seen as the mainstay for England’s pursuit for honours, but before Rooney it was David Beckham (and his broken metatarsal) holding this position. At times old ‘goldenballs’ was working in tandem with former hotshot Michael Owen for the right to acquire this tenuous spot. Before Beckham and Owen it was Alan Shearer, and for a long spell post World Cup Italia ‘90, it seemed Paul Gascoigne was the key to England footballing success.

A phenomenon I have long thought unnecessary to assign one player the role of keystone of the team, whilst also fully installing a get-out clause if the team does not achieve the desired goal of tournament victory. In this case, if Rooney does not perform well in a competition or did not show up in its staging, here lies the acceptable reason why the team performed woefully. This observable fact is not exclusive to football I may add. If we use rugby union as an example, for many years Johnny Wilkinson held this role for his respective sport, and was still seen as ‘the man’ England hopes rested on going into this year’s Rugby World Cup. Kevin Pietersen holds a similar role for English cricket team, or had done for a spell until other top players have been performing well within the side particularly at test-match level.

I have never really understood why there always seems the need to single out one performer and make them the linchpin when things are going well, or the focus of anger for the lynch mob waiting to place blame onto them when things go awry. I totally recognise that indeed within a collective there are certain individuals that make the team better and very well may make the difference between success and failure. Nevertheless as brilliant as he was, I do not believe the successful French teams of the 1998 World Cup and the European Championships in 2000 respectively, were wholly dependent on Zinedine Zidane. Nor do I believe Brazil’s international successes in the 1990’s and early part of this century was based on the recently retired Ronaldo. Barring Maradonna's heroics of the 1986 World Cup, is it not the team that determines the success?

Greece and their Euro 2004 triumph prove a stark illustration that football is about the team. I cannot recall one starlet in that team who carried his side all the way to glory. Current World and European Champions Spain to my mind are not solely reliant on David Villa, Fernando Torres, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, David Silva, Carles Puyol, or Iker Casillas. Perhaps an unfair comparison to make as they are undisputedly the team to beat in international football, but as star names in their own right, the Spanish squad operate as cohesive collective despite their obvious individual talent and make it work on the field where it counts.

Now I am hardly a fan of Gary Neville and often drift away whenever he talks, but the former Manchester United right-back has hit the nail right on the head in his assessment of England and its preparations in international tournaments. When asked about his thoughts on England Neville claims, 

“Going into major tournaments we always put all our pressure and hopes on one man. I've seen it before with Rooney in 2006 and 2010 or David Beckham in 2002. Even before them, it was Kevin Keegan or Bryan Robson in the '70s and '80s. It's as though we think that one world-class player might be able to propel us to a major trophy, and now we're talking about Rooney possibly missing two games of Euro 2012 when what we should be talking about is the spine of a team that has no mobility and can't keep the ball”.

Personally I think Rooney’s ban is a blessing in disguise and should give other players the possibility to show their worth going forward for England. Now with Rooney’s ban and theoretically not featuring at all during the Euro 2012, the tournament’s build-up matches and the championships themselves take on a different guise and the stakes become higher for the players looking to fill-in the Rooney void. Also, the event will not be hyped-up centered on one individual to deliver the goods. Rather, the team will have to focus and come together to function, and execute its tasks if they have any chance of performing well in next summer’s competition.

However, no doubt the media spotlight of Rooney and his ban during Euro 2012 will cast a heavy shadow over the team to an almost frenzied circus on how Fabio Capello is utilizing him during training. Expect random camera shots of Rooney sitting in the stands during the games that he is suspend for, and constant scrutiny if or where the Liverpudlian will start should England negotiate the group phase. Oh it is all too predictable!

To conclude however, I must say UEFA’s three-game ban on Rooney is terribly harsh. A three-game suspension for what he did seems grossly over the top, and cannot help but think all this does not meet the eye in this situation. Now I am not one to brand nationality as a reason for decisions made, and some may call me a cynic for what I am about to say, but I very much doubt had this been another player from a different part of Europe who performed this act that they would not be receiving this same penalty.

Past examples of star names in a similar situation have shown UEFA to take a different course of action. Russia’s Andrei Arshavin acted out a near mirror image of what Rooney did in Montenegro, and got himself sent off in the last game during qualifying for the 2008 European Championships in an away fixture against Andorra. Strangely in comparison the Russian received a two-game ban for the start of the 2008 tournament, which I feel would have been the sufficient punishment for Rooney’s transgression. Especially as the England striker did not go launching into the opposing player, or perform a career-threatening tackle to the aggrieved. One has to wonder what Michel Platini and his motley crew would have handed out as punishment if Rooney loaded up with a running clothesline or elbow that you might see in the octagon circle of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ring. I think something untoward is afoot in the halls of UEFA on this one folks.   

Trying to Kick for Glory

Amongst you eager-eyed sports fans; you may have noticed that over that last few weeks a certain major event has been taking place in New Zealand. To those not in know, well let me put you out of your misery and enlighten you that rugby union’s version of the World Cup is currently being competed for. Unbelievably I am still pondering how four years have already passed since the 2007 edition held in France, and how South Africa complete with a jubilant president Thabo Mbeki, held the trophy aloft after a 15-6 win over the then defending champions England. Wow, time really does fly by!

Putting history to one side, if you are like me you would have enjoyed the rugby spectacular despite for some of us, the owl-like early starts to watch some of the matches. Highlights have included the colour and vibrant cultures on show, namely the war dances of some of the Pacific nations. Could we ever have a rugby union World Cup without the cries of New Zealand’s Haka? It just would not be a World Cup without it, truly a great sporting sight.

Other positives have included competitive contests at the elite-end, with some of the Home Nations namely Wales and Ireland, giving the Southern Hemisphere tri-nations something to think about. Also Argentina continuing the forward progression in the sport, dispelling thoughts that their two victories over France en-route to securing third place in 2007 tournament was a one-off.

But what has disappointed me is still seeing the high cricket scores posted when the elite nations face the lesser likes of Romania, Russia, and Namibia. Surely it cannot be good for the sport. But what has really frustrated me is the constant kicking game that we have seen during some of the games. Okay, I fully acknowledge that the kicking element is a prominent part of the game, particularly in applying pressure to the opposing team. However, unfortunately the teams have taken this tactic too far. All we see is teams playing negative rugby and launching the ball long, trenched within their own half.  

A feature that English winger Mark Cueto has commented in the past and claimed, “The way it is at the moment, if you get the ball deep in your own half, the easy option is to drill the ball long, put the pressure back on the opposition, wait for mistakes then take the points.” Well Cueto’s claims were very much true in this tournament as I was not sure if I was watching rugby's distant cousin of soccer being played. I like a bit of try-scoring in my rugby. I might be going out on a limb here, but is that not what we as watching fans draw us to the sport?

This brings me to another bugbear I have, the quick need for teams to kick for goal from a penalty. Some cynical detractors of the game claim that if you have a really good kicker, a team can boot their way to victories. I have always thought such a notion is a little harsh, but I do feel this theorem holds a component of truth, especially when a penalty kick is worth three points along with a drop goal. Yet the most important part of rugby in scoring a try is only worth five points.

Indeed scoring a try and conversion kick can result in seven points in this passage of play, but there does not seem to be much enticement for teams to go down this route. I do not blame the teams and their respective players opting to kick rather than fully going for a try. With only a two point difference from scoring a try and kicking between the posts, it is easy for sides to play the percentages and go for the open points of kicking for goal.

A bit radical thought but here is a suggestion for the IRB (International Rugby Board), why not lessen the points of kicking for goal to two points, and reward a try scored with 6 points. It would create an incentive of attacking play which we all want to see as fans, and help nullify some of the negative play that we have seen with some of the top teams competing in New Zealand. It would certainly get more bums on seats in the stadiums, which reportedly seemed to be a bit of a problem for the organisers of this year’s event.