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Surging Racing Santander Holds On To Defeat Slumping Sevilla
When the Racing de Santander board fired Juan Carlos Mandiá on November 9, the team had only won one game out of ten in La Liga, and they had lost the first leg in the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey against UD Salamanca, a mid-table club in the Segunda División. This job [...]
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Lower league signings could inspire Premier League success
The wealth of quality players in the lower leagues reinforces the strength of the English game, and shrewd signings this January could provide Premier League clubs with just the tonic to propel them to success.
Everyone is looking for a bargain at this time of year. The January transfer window provides managers with the opportunity to reinforce their ranks for the long, hard slog to the end of the season, and with many Premier League clubs suffering multiple long-term injuries, it seems like this month will see as much activity as ever.
Every team in the Premier League has something to play for, and strong January signings could be the difference between achieving your goals for the season, or fading into obscurity. Last year Harry Redknapp bought astutely, if expensively at Spurs, and they rocketed up the table after the additions of Wilson Palacios, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane. Arsenal bolstered their season with the inspired addition of Andrey Arshavin, while Chelsea failed to push United all the way for the title after picking up Portuguese flop Ricardo Quaresma on loan.
Panic buys aplenty can usually be expected, but this year it could be those players picked up from The Championship or England's other lower leagues that prove the most influential and effective.
Glancing down the list of some of the names being linked with moves to Premier League clubs, it is testament to the strength of the English leagues that so many come from The Championship or lower. Victor Moses of Crystal Palace is hot property, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham all tracking him. Watford's Scott Loach and Peterborough's Joe Lewis are great goalkeeping prospects who look Premier League class through and through. Arsenal and Manchester United are apparently "in a race" to sign Cardiff youngster Adam Matthews, while at the other end of the table Kris Commons of Derby has recently been linked with Wolves. Following his exploits in the FA Cup recently, I would also be very surprised if a few Premier League clubs weren't taking a long hard look at Jermaine Beckford, and possibly other Leeds United players.
All this suggests that, in terms of talent, the English leagues are rife with promising players who could well step up and make an impression on the very biggest stage, and I for one am excited about their prospects. There are still countless examples of unknown foreign players coming into the Premier League and failing to make the grade, or looking no better than average along the way. West Ham's recent signings (albeit under the huge financial constraints they are experiencing) boast some highly questionable foreign imports, while Newcastle employed the same bits-and-pieces approach to their transfer policy, which saw their side full of misfits from around Europe stumbling its way to relegation last year.
The example of Birmingham City is a fine one, and one that many clubs would do well to follow this month. Yes, they are the fashionable club to write about at the moment due to their impressive form, and no doubt they will encounter a dip at some point as the season progresses, but their transfer policy and the signings of Alex Mcleish have been a revelation. Their defensive duo of Scott Dann and Roger Johnson, signed from Coventry and Cardiff respectively, have formed the solid base of the Premier League's 3rd meanest defence this season and are arguably early candidates for the Premier League's team of the season.
Further up the table, big clubs have proven that it pays to take a look at the lower leagues. Arsenal have a real talent on their hands in Aaron Ramsey, while Spurs and Everton have benefited immensely from adopting a policy of picking up young players from The Championship. Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson, to name just a few for Spurs, and Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka to do likewise for Everton, have shown the value of taking a gamble on a lower league player, and it won't surprise me if these clubs and others bring in players from the second tier during this month.
I believe this is a really exciting transfer window for signings from the lower leagues, and I wouldn't be surprised if some real gems emerge. It is great for the English game to see such strength in depth in its leagues, and I hope that more clubs recognise the merits of adopting this transfer policy. While fans of some lower league clubs may be disappointed to see their top talents "poached" by Premier League big guns, developing talent and selling it on for profit is a great way to balance the books. It's good for the clubs who sell, it's good for the teams who buy and it's great for the players who get a chance to prove themselves on the biggest stage in domestic football.
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All footballers are knobs.
On a miserable day back at work after too many pies and too much champagne, a little light reading can help raise the temperature on an otherwise cold day.
Barney Ronay in the The Guardian's sport blog writes this amusing piece.
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Lessons Learned from Giornata 17
The big story of the weekend was the snow that postponed four matches including the much anticipated Fiorentina-AC Milan match, rescheduled for January 27. However, the weekend still had plenty of drama, especially around Juventus. In honor of the holiday season, this week’s Lessons will be handing out presents to various people and teams in [...]
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Mancini: already causing trouble
Roberto Mancini was unveiled as Manchester City manager yesterday and already will have displeased his new employers.
Lets not forget that he was sacked at Inter and had well publicized differences with president Massimo Moratti. Now he has openly contradicted his new boss, chief executive Garry Cook. In a statement Cook said that Mancini was offered the managers position at Eastlands after the defeat to Spurs last week. However at the press conference today Mancini told of how he was contacted about the position two weeks ago, forcing Cook to confirm these actions.
Publicly contradicting your chief executive is not exactly the description of a great first day at work.
We shall continue to keep an eye on Mancini.
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Lionel Messi: a man predestined for greatness
Lionel Messi was on Monday crowned the Fifa World Player of the Year for 2009 at an awards ceremony in Zurich. It marks the end of an outstanding year for the Argentine who has stood head and shoulders above the competition. Rarely has there been a more deserving recipient.
Three weeks ago, The Good of The Game predicted that Messi would follow his European Ballon d'Or with the Fifa award, following Cristiano Ronaldo who achieved the same feat in 2008. He has duly delivered, no surprise considering the quality and consistency he has achieved this year.
Above all however, perhaps it is his sense of occasion that has marked him out as the truly great player of the past 12 months. Like Diego Maradona, his Argentinian predecessor who he has been so closely compared to, or the French magician Zinedine Zidane, Messi has shown that he can produce his very best football on the very biggest occasions - truly the sign of a great player. Messi's moment came in the 2009 Champions League final as he scored a remarkable headed goal to seal victory for Barcelona against Manchester United. It was as if he was born for that stage, and it seemed inevitable that he would influence the game in such a profound way.
Ed Smith sums up this characteristic of sporting greatness in his fascinating book What Sport Tells Us About Life, and I think it's particularly relevant to the example of the great Lionel Messi:
Scratch a brilliant sportsman deeply enough and you reach a layer of self-certainty in his own destiny. The greater the sportsman, usually the more convinced he is of his own predestined greatness. The big stage means it must be his stage, victory has been prearranged on his terms, it is his destiny to win the World Cup or the Olympics or the Ashes. It might be perfectly rational for a great player to believe he has a good chance of decisively influencing the big occasion. But that isn't what he thinks. He thinks it is inevitable.
For me this perfectly sums up the genius of Lionel Messi, and why he is perhaps the most worthy winner of this award since Ronaldinho in 2005. While others such as Ronaldo have stuttered on the biggest stage of all, seemingly losing faith in their ability, Messi never looks anything other than totally convinced of his right, perhaps even his obligation, to command the very biggest stage. That's why The Good of The Game loves Lionel Messi, it's why he has been the greatest player on the planet this year, and it's why he will prove very hard to beat again in 2010.
What Sport Tells Us About Life, by Ed Smith, is published by Penguin.
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The Independent: are they getting their stories from The Good of The Game??
Take a look at this article in today's Independent - see any similarities to our last post?
Aside from the fact that its a little more eloquently written and they probably paid for the rights to the picture they used, the overarching point seems to be the same. For anyone that failed to read yesterday's post (shame on you) let me sum it up quite simply:
Roberto Mancini had been incredibly lucky with situations he has walked into and was helped immeasurably by the scandal in Italy involving Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio.
He may or may not be a great manager, we are not really sure. His accomplishments so far should come with an asterisk.
It is our aim here at The Good of The Game to drive intelligent football debate so kudos to The Independent for saying something that no-one has said yet (except us of course!).
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Everton vs Bate Borisov 2-3, video highlights 17/12/09
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Rapid Vienna 3-3 Celtic: Celtic stage a late comeback to end their European campaign on a high
It started off so badly for Celtic. Within the first 20 minutes they were 3-0 down and it looked as if they were onto a hammering of mega proportions, which could have eclipsed the Artmedia 5-0 debacle. Tony Mowbray’s men even conceded within the first 30 seconds of the game. And once again it was [...]
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Watching Europe — UPDATE
As everyone (or, um, Fulham fans specifically) is aware, the draw for the Europa League is tomorrow at 7am EST, or noon GMT.
But until the draw tomorrow, there are several games today that could impact who we draw. So be sure to follow the Ajax/Anderlecht, Lille/Prague, Valencia/Genoa and the Hapoel Tel-Aviv/Hamburg matches.
Why? Here are the [...]
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