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⚽️ First came Balotelli, then Suarez and England are on their way out 🥅 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

19 Thursday Jun 2014

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ANALYSIS –  Uruguay were a disaster in their opening game against Costa Rica and today we all found out why – Luis Suarez wasn’t in the side. There were shades of Maradona in his performance, first meeting a brilliantly lofted ball with an outstanding header and then a killer conversion just as England were beginning to dominate after Rooney had stepped in an equaliser. Suarez’s second goal was perhaps his best because it came from nothing – it was pure anticipation, expecting the ball to come and getting into the right place to sink a hapless England.
Uruguay didn’t give England the luxury of playing freely like Italy had done in the first game and that approach worked for them for most of the first half, but it wasn’t until a moment of magic from Suarez that they looked like winning.
In the second half, Uruguay had several chances  – including Suarez catching Joe Hart off his goal line for a second time off a corner – but as long as there was only a single goal between the two England were in with a chance.
Trouble is, as Balotelli showed at Manaus, and Suarez did here at Sao Paulo, class counts – and England’s overpaid Premier League players just don’t cut it on the international stage.

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⚽️ Cry now, for Spain are no more 🥅 🇪🇸

19 Thursday Jun 2014

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ANALYSIS – The warning signs were there as far back as the European Championships in 2012, when those magicians from Spain often looked tired and out of sorts. But their complete destruction of Italy in the final silenced the critics.
Spain also lost badly in the Americas Cup Final to Brazil, and it was this defeat that should have sparked a change in Spain’s approach when confronted by teams that play completely with tremendous athleticism and speed to deny their players the room to pass the ball around, tika taka, before inflicting the killer goal.

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That they failed to was exposed first by Holland, who as Australia showed later, are not as good as that 5-1 scoreline suggested, and then yesterday against a good but certainly not exceptional Chile side, a defeat that had ensured their early departure from Brazil 2014.
There’s something very sad about seeing the end of a great side, perhaps the best side to grace the football pitch since the 1970 Brazilians, a side that would have taught the 1982 Brazilians a lesson or two also.
And if this is indeed the end of Spain, who will take up the reins next..that’s the question that’ll be entertaining every football follower for the remainder of this tournament and the rest.

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⚽️ England were not up to it – and it showed against a team that could boast Balotelli and Pirlo in their ranks 🥅 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

15 Sunday Jun 2014

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ANALYSIS England attacked the opposition yesterday, they gave it a go and eventually lost to an Italy team that didn’t get out of first gear because they had a striker that could make a difference between the sides – Mario Balotelli  – and an ageing but very impressive man at the heart of the action, one Andrea Pirlo.
There were positives to the performance but the truth is England’s players were not the finished article when it came to the box. All the energy and hardwork came to nothing and the longer the game went on the less likely they looked like scoring.
There was a mixture of experience and youth in the England ranks, but Gerrard and Rooney compared poorly when you look at 35-year-old Pirlo and the way in which he virtually ran the game. Here, was a player whose dummy set up the second goal who was at centre of most things through out the game and who even managed to hit the bar with a spectacular free kick in the closing stages. In contrast, Gerrard and Rooney didn’t even get close to troubling the goalkeeper – most of their shots were way out, Gerrard’s freekick in the last ten minutes was poor.
Of the younger players, there were many good things but you can’t make snap judgments on fresh individuals, that can only come with time as young talent carves out a permanent place to create a great side which England are sadly not at this moment.
However,  in Brazil 2014 at the present time after an energetic and fearless performance  it is fair to say England will have a good chance against Uruguay and Costa Rica, and may even progress into the next round but don’t expect them to fare well if and when they come up against an opposition that can field quality opposition players like Italy were able to last night with Balotelli and Pirlo.

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⚽️ Firing David Moyes does not mean Manchester United will become a great side again 🥅 🏟

22 Tuesday Apr 2014

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ANALYSIS – David Moyes whose tenure as manager of Manchester United football club came to an end with two messages on twitter always had a difficult task – for one he had to follow in the footsteps of a great man and perhaps more importantly the side he inherited needed serious surgery.  The decision by the board at the club clearly shows that they could not trust the man chosen by Sir Alex Ferguson to make those tough decisions. United currently languish in seventh place out of reach of any Champions League football next season and the manner in which the side has played particularly against Liverpool and Manchester City as well as the last poor showing against Everton points to a manager unable to motivate an ageing side in the way José Mourinho has done at Chelsea.

The decision to fire Moyes has been endorsed by a rise in the share price.

That however does not address the central problem with this football club, that United have been in decline since their star player Cristiano Ronaldo abruptly left for Real Madrid. After that the club was held together for sheer force of will which meant that United were a fixture on the Champions League but no longer a force. And as long as they continued to prosper in the Barclays Premier League, there would be no complaints from the owners who could guarantee at least a third place to the shareholders. With the club languishing in seventh place and dull performances on the field the decision to fire their manager after just ten months is clearly a signal that the Glazer family have lost patience. Whether getting rid of the failing Scot will answer the clubs long term problems is however another matter.

For this is a club that is in decline and one that could have done with a man like Mourinho at the helm to steer it through those rough times. Instead, it made the decision to appoint a man with no experience of winning top level competitions and now finds itself nowhere.

Firing Moyes was easy – finding someone good enough to restore this club to the heights it once enjoyed is another matter though.

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