England: How not to prepare for the FIFA world cup

Rooney or Gerard gets a knock and an anxiety frenzy sets in or will Barry be fit for the world cup? While England’s lack of depth is obvious, their approach to this year’s world cup preparation is self defeatist in a mental sense, an attitude which somehow also explains the poor record in penalty shot outs. Capello is a good coach with a group of nice players to tutor for a great football fiesta, a job in did perfectly during the qualifiers, but there is this feeling now that England is preparing for a cup final, a one match event where you need all your best players to start the game. Any indication a player won’t be fully fit spreads this uncomfortable suggestion that the team will be missing something special. Capello may have a solid team of psychologist, but that is hardly an invitation to accumulate stressors.

The road to the finals is paved by tenuous pillars in the frame of six tough matches, of which the first three is likely to be routine is ease, but beyond that England must prove their mettle. The best way to achieve this is to develop a belief and confidence in those players that may start from the bench. This works both ways. A Rooney or a Gerard is more likely to play to his full potential if he knows that his absence would not necessarily derail the overall ambition of the team. This is the extra edge winning teams tend to have. Dunga went ahead to name is 23-man team and excluded those he wanted to from the outset. It may not be a perfect team, but in players like Ramires, Nilmar and Grafite, there is belief that if they are called upon, which they may not, they will deliver. That sense of completeness, even if artificial is a propellant of immerse value. 

This one match mentality has often perpetuated the duplicity of Gerard and Lampard playing together in the same football match in similar positions with only cosmetic differences because everyone should be accommodated. Compare England with Brazil where effective roles are created for Alves and Maicon. The three lions are in for a turbulent world cup with this rigid obsession with a team of static eleven players because in the second round, there are bound to face Serbia or Germany, two rugged teams with tactical discipline and beyond that stage, is Brazil in the quarters.

FIFA 2010 World Cup | I lost the friendly match, and so what?

Portugal’s goalless draw with lowly Cape Verde in a recent friendly match has send scorching headlines across the footballing world, as the likes of Ronaldo and Nani were unable to score in 90 minutes. For a minute I never believed the upheaval had anything to do with the true strength of the Portuguese. Friendlies say very little about teams, but our response to these results may reflect our deeper opinions regarding the chances of the teams at the FIFA 2010 world cup. Preparing for the world cup is much simply in a technical sense than you would expect.

While it brings a lot of excitement, the depth of the intrigue is shallower. A lot of the teams that come out of the group stages are obvious with the exception of a few surprises and very few indeed. The seeding format and fixtures give the top teams an edge, which in financial terms is good for the game. With no room for a third place qualifier, the mathematics of qualifying is simplified, as the seeded team start against the lowly team, which is often a warm-up match across the groups.  

The semi-finalists are fairly predictable as well using the FIFA/Coca Cola ranking. It is always risky to bet against 4 of the top 8 teams reaching the last four i.e. 25% of the 32 teams have more than a 90% chance of reaching the last weekend, hardly any brain storming here. In a way, teams like Portugal already know what the need to do go far, a huge source of distraction for Ronaldo and co. With a final game against Brazil, getting the three points against a Drogba led Ivory Coast is daunting task for a team that is not balanced. Friendly matches for what they really are, is a test drive that hardly ever reproduce what we should expect when the competition keys off.

They can be used for various reasons. Dunga already has a good idea of the structure of the Brazilian team and has planned two soft games against African opposition in June. Maradona needed a morale boosting match in front of his home crowd, which Canada delivered by conceding 5 goals, but that does not mean they would not struggle when it matters. I can vividly remember the wave of amazing headline prior to USA 94, when Brazil draw with 1 – 1 with poorly fancied Canada, but they got to the finals and won. The general impression then was to dismiss the result. It still holds true.

Football transfers: The 5 top stories of the summer

This summer’s transfer window is set to generate an enthralling frenzy because a number of top guns missed the bull’s eye by a mile. The returns were just too pantry to fend off the tag of failure for teams like Real Madrid and Manchester City, who spent well over £200 million on players for their respective campaigns. But the game has changed drastically. Driven by the huge financial remunerations from competing in premium competitions like the champion’s league and sales of club memorabilia, football is big business and the desire for immediate gratification has never been so consuming.

1.    Fernando Torres
Liverpool is riding a debt crisis with a trajectory that appears to be on a collision course with a stone slab. In all honesty, the Kops have the ability to overcome their financial woes, but as the search for a new buyer drags on, the likelihood of a Torres exit simply becomes inevitable. In the financial economics of the modern game, a player in the frame of Torres should not be competing in the Europa cup or partake in dire struggle for Champions league qualification with the advent of the likes of Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa, if as expected Liverpool wouldn’t  have the funds to strengthen their team. A potential transfer headline is bound to be the tussle for Torres by Stamford Bridge or the City of Manchester.

2.    Kaka
He has had a poor season by any standard and by his own, a disastrous performance as a prelude to a world cup. Comprehensively out-played and overshadowed by the brilliance of Christiano Ronaldo, his groin injury has been unable to hide his poor performance on the pitch. At a stage, the story was that of his commitment to Real Madrid. A Kaka transfer from the Bernabeu is very likely. Financially, it could help limit the potential loss from the team’s huge investment. On the field of player, the Madrid style with so many mid-fielders stumbling over each other is tragic for Kaka’s free roving role. He likes to dictate play, but with Alonso in the mix, this has been impossible. I have to bet on Kaka leaving, but to where? Manchester United or Chelsea I suspect.

3.    Cesc Fabrecas
After an injury blighted season, which dented severely Arsenal’s trophy aspirations, the FIFA World cup might still present a respite for one of the best attacking mid-fielders of his generation. Will he remain at the Emirates in North London? Xavi and the Messi have dropped the best hint of his next destination if decides to leave and I think he would. They both said he has the Barcelona DNA in his blood stream, whatever that might look like, but sincerely who won’t want to play for the Catalan giant. Cesc simply needs to do the maths and if he arrives at anything near the fair conclusion that the Premier league and Champion’s league are perhaps two huge aspirations for the gunners next season, he will jump ship this summer. 

4.    Luis Fabiano
Fabiano is just too hot a property to remain with Sevilla this summer, except they offer him something special, which is unlikely. He has never denied his intention to move on when the right offer appears. but I guess his appeal might have been deadened as a result of the erratic showing, but the Bernabeu remains his unlikely, but realistic destination, a possibility that could strengthen once Pelligrini leaves and is replaced by Mourinho as widely expected. A player comfortable with tactical discipline rather showmanship is a Mourinho delight. My guess is that if Benzema is leaving as speculated, then Fabiano is a perfect replacement.  

5.    Jose Mourinho
For a coach who has never denied his disgust for the Italian game, it is inconceivable he would remain in Milan in the summer because that would ridicule is persistent outburst against the Calcio. And if he is after the money (who won’t), Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City are capable of meeting his price, as well  as providing good funds to buy the players he wants. He seemed destined for the Bernabeu which has all the entrails of a soap opera with engulfing twist ahead as his style comprehensively contrasts with the free flowing attractive football expected by the Real Madrid faithful.

All hail Chelsea, but what a season for the Gunners

In the end, the emphatic thrashing of Wigan was all an en-thrilling league contest, filled with thrills and turns, needed to separate the teams and the blues more than deserve their win. For a football team almost marred by Terry-gate, they recovered superbly and literally went on a rampage in the last 8 weeks. And Chelsea offers a frightening prospect in the coming seasons. No one can deny Ancelotti's tactical astuteness and his eye for talented players, which buoyed by the ravishing wealth of a certain Russian, create an alchemy that should deliver a stronger Chelsea. Pato (and troubled Kaka) can't be ruled out of a Bridge switch.  

But this season can so easily be remembered for the unedifying fortunes of Arsenal FC. Mortally dented by injury woes, the gunners had a bad season based on their potentials. At the start, they looked liked a dream team and I hope next season should provide a better opportunity for the beautiful game to flourish at the Emirates, but grit, experience and dexterity at the back would be essential. The summer signing should give a fair preview.

It is quite interesting that as of now, the gunners should ideally be looking to caught up with Manchester United and Chelsea, but are rather keeping their sight behind, at Tottenham and Manchester City, maybe Aston Villa. Tottenham is sure to get stronger and City might just. Right now, the overwhelming pre-occupation is the world cup. See you there.

Jose Mourinho as an Avatar for the beautiful game

In a way, the special one has come to symbolize the future of the beautiful game in proportions often underrated. Winning is everything and as a natural winner, endowed with the tactics and antics to produce results with such an enviable degree of certainty for the football teams he has coached. Jose stands out brightly as a competent avatar for the future of the game, a poster boy for the very ideals most team will have to abide by in other to be successful.

Granted that in football, winning has always been essential, in the past successes where achieved with revered decency and sportsmanship, a quality that allowed teams and players with exciting technique and artistry to flourish. When the Germans play the Brazilians, it was quite easy to appreciate the contrasting styles because as a contact sport, players rode tackles with game fullness and the motivation to gain dubious advantages by feigning infringement was wholly despised. Nobody can deny the role played by this sporty philosophy in showcasing the game in such rarefied percept, a key ingredient that enticed a global audience. Remove Barcelona and Arsenal and you will perhaps need a microscope to scan for any other team in top flight European club football who still cherishes the need to play football in a way that is fair and pleasing to the eye.

A trick which is being enacted with impunity is to ensure football is played for a less amount of time. At the slightest contact, a modern football player goes to the ground often with the added intent to get the opposing player booked, a practice that is so well rehearsed as his mates encircle the referee as well. Once the card is awarded, a football player who was wriggling in so much pain springs up from the turf with excellent agility. Top teams take it further by using these situations to dent the composure of the referees. In the recent champions league game between Barcelona and Inter Milan, the referee was completely ruffled by play acting from both sides that he went on a mishap spree, giving an unfair red card, missing clear fouls and giving infringement against the offended. In this realm, Mourinho is king. Once the referee is taken out, the negative antics simply flourish. Welcome to the future of football.