Actually Alex, Not a Catastrophe

This past Sunday Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2 at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson called it a "catastrophe" for Liverpool. Perhaps he needs to take a look in the mirror because we are rubber and they are glue. To my innocent eyes it was a bad day for Roy Hodgson but in the end points to a bad season for his Scottish buddy.

That conclusion may appear to fly in the face of logic but as a Liverpool fan I have to confess to being surprisingly satisfied with the game. Of course we were awful. The defending was criminal and the attack lacked potency. We are a team in a hideous downward spiral, playing even worse than last season and frankly the gradual downgrade in expectations can be mildly comforting. Liverpool aren't gonna win the league this year. We're almost certainly not gonna qualify for the Champions League. In fact, if Hodgson pulls us kicking and screaming into sixth that'll be a bonus. There's the FA Cup and Europa League to have a go at, whisper it, even the Whichever Beer it is This Season Cup would be a nice piece of silverware on the shelf. This year is all about getting rid of the American owners, and in some kind of ironic twist failure is taking us closer to that goal.

Meanwhile in Manchester their success over the last twenty years is what tempted the Glazers in and being on the cusp of further glory is keeping them entrenched. Torres could've left this summer and it would've been because he needed to play for a team challenging for the title as well as because of the dodgy finances. Rooney was offered to Real Madrid because of a crippling debt which requires players to be sold on for massive profits as often as possible. His injury and lack of form towards the end of the year kept him a Red but doesn't disguise the fact that Alex is having to scrounge around in the bargain basement, taking a chance on young Mickey Owen last year and a little Bebe this. Relying on the still surprisingly fine legs of Scholesy and Giggsy. Hoping Nani doesn't play well enough to turn heads in Spain.

United should have had a cricket score against Liverpool, fact. Dimitar Berbatov got a jolly classy hat trick but happily for the rest of the league apparently there can only be one striker on form in the red half of Manchester, the balding one is increasingly distracted by his own ridiculousness off the field. Liverpool were allowed back into the game because another out of sorts world class forward made a couple of distinctly average defenders very nervous. Two fouls, two strikes, two goals. That Liverpool came anyway near taking anything from this game is a catastrophe on a par with Everton taking two points off United a week previously, the last minute Fulham equaliser in August and the stalemate, at Old Trafford, against Rangers. It's pretty clear that there are blue clouds on the horizon and Fergie's taunting of Liverpool is simply a rather sparse smokescreen to cover his own team inadequacies. Think it's time for retirement.

A Sneaky Look at the Transfer Window Slamming Shut

I make no apologies for the fact that this entry is written from the perspective of a Liverpool fun and thus is largely concerned with the deals that affected the less mighty than they used to be Reds. There are more rounded or insightful looks at the bigger picture elsewhere, there's even a damn list if that floats your boat.

At the end of the day, or at 6pm on 31st August, or maybe a week or so later depending on how long the paperwork takes it struck me as a pretty reasonable transfer window. To be honest I find that you never need massive deals to make it exciting, just plenty of random rumours and sightings and the occasional deal both large and small to provide a suitable climax to the tension.

Starting with the most important points it was a little disappointing on the incoming front for Liverpool. Sometimes the most interesting stories are the just missed out ones, for us they seem to involve Carlton Cole, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Mario Gomez and Ola Toivonen. No cover for young Fernando then. Still did keep hold of Ryan Babel who at one point was in a helicopter destined for West Ham or Tottenham before using a jolly modern rumour rejection device by telling all the kids You'll Never Walk Alone on his twitter page. Hopefully the pace and finishing he demonstrates on very rare occasions will manifest itself a little more often, he's no less consistent or talented then those named above. And the silver lining is Konchesky who is fine as a covering full back, decent in the tackle with decent passing and decent forward running. In this case decent is plenty.

A quick shout out to Mr. Bourne of course, Wolves had already used the window wisely before the World Cup had even kicked off but still snuck Marcus Bent into Molineux on the last day. Feels like a bit of a journeyman who is only really fun when lining up alongside Darren but given that Ebanks-Blake has responded so well to the signing of Fletcher hopefully he'll go even crazier with another striker breathing down his neck. The bad news for Wanderers is that Michael Kightly hasn't made the squad list, the patella tendon is obviously a massive and continuing problem so fingers crossed he sorts himself out so we get the chance to see his pace in the second half of the season.

Continentally speaking AC Milan have laid down an attack minded marker of intent on snatching back Series A from Inter. Ibrahimovic is good enough to make a difference, just not in the big games, while if Robinho rediscovers his Brazilian touch in linking up with Pato and Ronaldinho then all will be right with the Rossoneri.

In the Premiership Birmingham and Stoke are the busy-boy-big winners, each have got a triple whammy of players who should add some extra dimensions. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Alexander Hleb are the pick of each bunch and have the some potential for awesomeness provided they haven't got lazy since their glory days in England. Kudos to Messr Pulis for selling his Potteries vision, it's a tough job and no mistaking. Another tough job is Arsenal No. 1 and it looks like Arsene has made a pretty drastic error in not improving his goalkeeping options. Having recently questioned the skills of Alumnia and been linked with several begloved men it was pretty clear what he needed and wanted. The rumour is that Shay Given was willing to walk to Arsenal which would have been perfect but alas, no offer was forthcoming and Fulham stayed firm over Schwarzer. That may be a detrimental position to take in the long term, it's never good to have a pissed off Aussie in the dressing room, but it's one which will definitely cost the Gunners any chance they had of the title. Prove me wrong Manuel, prove me wrong.

Finally to Harry Redknapp, emphatically not a wheeler dealer but still wheeling and dealing right up to the end on Transfer Deadline Day. The cheekiest story I saw was his offer to swap Robbie Keane for Steven Pienaar and Louis Saha, even the addition of David Bentley wouldn't sway David Moyes. Spurs always seem to be the team with the most buying or selling stories but eventually ended up without many departures or arrivals. However they do win the awards for Last Minute Deal, Most Surprising Transfer and Biggest Bargain. Rafael van der Vaart for £8 million would be awesome if it goes through. I don't particularly like Harry or Tottenham but if Rafe does make it to the Lane it does offer the opportunity to post pictures of the love Sylvie...

Wolves v Newcastle Sublime Sylvan, Crunching Carroll and Boo Hoo Barton

Wolves 1 v Newcastle 1

A trip to Molineux on a summer's afternoon is a delight to behold. As you walk up to see the golden stadium glisten in the sunshine you can not help but be full of optimism for the game of football to follow. A shame then that on this particular day the football would have been better suited to a dour, rainy, winter evening as the two sides refused to budge in a bruising encounter.

Newcastle came with confidence off the back of their  6-0 victory over Villa and they had a game-plan that worked very well for the first 30 minutes. They had the midfield packed out with Kevin Nolan given the task of running on to support Andy Carroll in attack. Early doors Barton and Smith were bossing things in the centre - which led to a number of strong challenges coming in from Wolves players - most of them fair despite the moans from Joey Barton in particular.
The irony of Barton not being able to take a hard tackle was not lost on Mick McCarthy who went to lengths to point this out to him on the final whistle.
Never the less the nature of the game was set as a full committed gritty match and this will never make a Referee's day easy. Stuart Attwell indeed was up against it, but he did not help himself by constantly stopping the game and booking players far too easily. He invited the wrath of both sets of fans with his decisions at different points in the game and I can testify to the bizarreness of the whole stadium singing 'you're not fit to referee' in unison - one point that home and away fans did appear to agree on.

Well the battle of Newcastle's midfield sufficed to allow their better players to shine. Andy Carroll was brilliant in his lone role up front - he won a lot of balls in the air and was such a handful for the Wolves defence. He will be very important for Newcastle this season if they are going to do some damage in the Premier League - It is bizarre to think that he is not in the full England team if it is the case that Capello prefers a target man.
Routledge also looked dangerous for Newcastle when he was allowed to run at a defence - perhaps just failing in composure and the final ball.
Gutierrez in comparison is a player who looks very comfortable on the ball, but he runs hot and cold throughout the game and may suffer from concentration lapses if his performance here is anything to go by.

Wolves, after containing Newcastle's early pressure, fought back and showed that they do have some quality of their own. No less than new signing Jelle Van Damme who battles with the best of them but also posses a sweet left foot - evident when he picked out Ebanks-Blake with a delightful ball from the right.
Ebanks-Blake had a difficult season last year after much was expected of him. You would expect him to be low on confidence, but that didn't show when he sweetly controlled Van Damme's pass in the air and powered into the goal through Harper's legs. A man on form with 2 in 2.

After the break another star of Wolves early season showed what he can do. Matt Jarvis set off on a run from the left that took him into the Newcastle are - he jinked past James Perch, only for the defender to hack him down. A penalty was not given - I could have forgiven Attwell for this if he had thought Perch had got the ball, but no he gave a goal kick. Had Jarvis thrown himself on the floor? no - he wasn't booked for diving. Then what the hell happened in the head of Stuart Attwell - please someone tell me.

As is usually the case with Wolves the chance taken away from you to make a game 2-0 becomes an excuse to sit back and lick your wounds - which usually results in punishment from the opposite team. With Andy Carroll playing as well as he was - this wasn't long before he had the opportunity to head Newcastle level from a Barton free-kick.

The game then petered out with a chance or two at either end but nothing clear cut. The shame here being that a usual solid Wolves back-line made a few big errors and let Newcastle have more chances than they should have - a bit of re-organisation needed over the international break - I'm sure Mick will be more than up to that task.

Seasons Already in Need of a Kickstart, it's only week 3 of the Premier League!

When all is said and done it was a very compact weekend at the end of August as players were about to head off on International Duty for the first couple of Euro 2012 qualifiers. The Premiership featured six games on Saturday and then four on Sunday given the excitement and disappointment of certain teams midweek European adventures.

Tottenham demonstrated that they'll certainly struggle to balance the thrill of Champions League football with the demands of the league season, coming off handing out a thrashing to Young Boys to lose at home to the Worst Team in the Division, Wigan Athletic. In truth it was a decent measure of revenge for the 9-1 pasting they received in the corresponding fixture last year although in no way does it therefore follow that they are a massively improved unit or that Spurs have fallen drastically. Indeed it's just the beautiful nature of football. Sometimes a team who looks so awful you wonder where their next point is coming from travels to a team considered by some poor fools an outside bet for the title. What follows is a rather miraculous smash n' grab raid and the world is turned on its head. To be fair the Lactics defence did look more organised than they had previously and the Tottenham players lacked the imaginative streak that had carried them into the promised land last season.

Of the ten games played four finished 1-0, a pretty goaless weekend after the free scoring we'd gotten used to in the first couple of weeks. Man Utd stepped up to the attacking plate although their 3-0 win had as much to do with West Ham continuing to be rubbish as their own skills. Clearly the Gollivan monster in change at Upton Park need to do more than change the manager to arrest their slide, there are a smattering of good players in the claret and blue but they lack self belief. At least Wayne Rooney managed to end his five month goal drought, albeit with a penalty. Fingers crossed he gets better with England as I fear the Bulgarians and Swiss have the potential to spring some nasty surprises.

Elsewhere on the domestic front even Arsenal and Chelsea toned it down a bit, like they were embarrassed about all the 6-0s which had been demonstrating the gulf in class in the Best League in the World. Liverpool were definitely subdued and even a little lucky to sneak the victory over West Brom, the lack of creativity was all too apparent but the silver lining is a sharper Torres, although one hopes that Spain will leave him at home for a nice rest this coming week. Looks like there are some more signings arriving at Anfield before Transfer Deadline Day on Tuesday, Raul Meireles isn't as good as Javier Mascherano but such are the times we live in, having Konchesky as cover would be a reasonable state of affairs it's just a shame Aquilani has shuffled off to Juventus, if only because of his lovely WAG...

Mr. Bourne was in actual attendance of the Wolves v Newcastle game so will no doubt offer a more incisive and interesting commentary than me in due course. Suffice to say it looked a tricky proposition given their status as a newly promoted side in transition set against the fact that they won 6-0 a week ago. Still a point is a point is a point and the tough tackling that Joey Barton found himself on the end of was an added bonus, hearty thanks to the Molineux Men.

The other important fact to arise from the Week 3 action is that I was stupidly premature in being so effusive in my praise of Manchester City, those words came when the wounds of defeat were still raw. They are not yet the awesome footballing machine ready to sweep all before them as evidenced by the distinct lack of chances they created against a Sunderland who had made a pretty horrendous start to their own campaign. A last minute penalty from Bent, who'll never make it as an England player, wrapped up a match both teams deserved to lose. Always with the snatching, such is football.

Smashed for Six and the Return of the Goal Line Technology Debate

The second week of Premier League action and what another astounding set of results. I was off at Green Man Festival this weekend (Great - thanks for asking) and it was one of those occasions where you return to look at the papers and can't believe what you are reading.

Three 6-0 results in one weekend is amazing- two of these however were if not expected, understandable. Blackpool traveled to the Emirates with a very hard task against Arsenal and were run ragged all day by some great attacking play- especially Theo Walcott picking up a hat-trick. For the second week running Wigan shipped a load of goals at home - well we all know what I think about Wigan, but it was Chelsea at their deadly best. The other 6-0 result however was very unexpected. Newcastle were expected to be strong at St James' Park as it has always been a difficult place for an away team, but no-one would have thought that the newly promoted club would put 6 goals past the usually impressive Aston Villa. Time will tell if this is a sign of things to come for Aston Villa after the difficult summer - losing a great manager in Martin O'Niell and a talismanic player in James Milner, but this was all about Newcastle marking their arrival back on the scene. The young striker Andy Carroll had a great chance to score against Manchester United last week but managed to misplace his header at the crucial time. Questions were asked about if he could make the step up from The Championship and he answered them in style with an expertly taken hat-trick in this game. An impressive victory for the Geordies that saw Joey Barton shave his smug face - hoorah.

Elsewhere, a hard fought point for Wolves away at Everton left me smiling after our superb start to the season. Though a few great saves and defensive input was needed to see it out. Fulham spoiled United's fun by grabbing a late equalizer to leave the Manchester team trailing Chelsea early doors. Man City gave Liverpool, as well as the rest of the Premiership, something to think about, when they blew Liverpool away 3 - 0 at The City of Manchester Stadium.

The other major happenings today was in the game between Stoke and Spurs. A decent game between the two teams looked like it was coming towards a satisfactory ending for the London side thanks to a brilliant goal from Gareth Bale, who had managed to score the two most contrasting goals you could ever see. His first hit him and made its way into the net, his second was the sweetest volley from just inside the box that flew past Sorenson in the Stoke goal. The contention however came when right at the end of the game Stoke looked to have forced home an equalizer when Peter Crouch blocked the ball - just behind the line? but the goal was not given, with the referee Chris Foy seeming to say that he hadn't seen it to be able to say if it had crossed or not. Surely this calls for the technology to be used once and for all - the referee perhaps couldn't say for sure - but a camera clearly would be able to.

Barmy Blackpool and The Passion of JC

What an opening weekend - a kick start to a brand new season of Premier League football. For all English supporters this couldn't have come soon enough following the disappointment of the World Cup. For some, the day would be full of joy and hope and the feeling that this could be the dawn of something great for your club. For others, this day would end with them wishing that football could go away agin for another week.

The main story of the day was the absolutely brilliant display by Blackpool. At the start of the weekend the press was full of headlines about the worst team to ever play in the Premiership and boy were they made to eat those words by 5 O'Clock on Saturday. True, Blackpool did not have a team full of Premiership experience - in fact they had appeared to go backwards from last season where a number of the star players were on loan and had subsequently returned to their parent clubs. Though what Blackpool did have was a lot of passion and fight for the cause - something that Wigan could not say of their players.

So it turned out that one person who Blackpool did manage to bring in pre-season came up trumps in their first game. Marlon Harewood, becoming a bit of a journey man of late, is a player that will always give his all for any club he plays for and showed no sign of not doing the same for Blackpool when he weighed in with two well taken goals. Another couple of scrappy goals from a lot of defensive errors and the tangerines were winning their first Premier League game 4-0.

Now call me cynical, go on I know you want to, but this was so much more due to Wigan being appalling then Blackpool being great. I have said for so long that Wigan should not be in the Premier League and surely now is the time to actually boot them out for good. The team have the first game of the season at home against a newly promoted club and they don't even bother to turn up. What is worse no fans bothered to turn up either. This is a Premiership football team who have  consistently performed well over a number of seasons and their gate for the first Premier League game this year was... 16,152...the DW Stadium holds 25,138 So So many unused seats - surely it is only the Premier League television money keeping this team afloat - So many other sides in the league below are much more deserving of a place in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, notable results saw West Brom and Newcastle get the rude awakening that a new club is usually accustomed to via heavy defeats from Chelsea and United respectively. Villa got off to a great start and looked promising, as did Wolves with a great win against Stoke to mark the intentions for the new season. Birmingham were lucky to snatch a draw in the end after coming back from two down against 10 man Sunderland.

The other major talking point for me this weekend was the biggest game between the heavyweights of Liverpool and Arsenal. The game was hardly going and approaching half time with the two teams seeming to have players weary from the World Cup. Then out of nowhere Liverpool's big signing of the summer - Joe Cole threw himself into a tackle to stop a ball being cleared out of defence, unfortunately the ex Chelsea man took out the Arsenal defender - Laurent Koscielny at the same time. It was perhaps an over enthusiastic lunge, but never a malicious one yet JC got his marching orders - perhaps suffering for the sins of other Premier League players who have used situations such as this to put in a reducer in the past.
The Arsenal fans looked visibly panicked that their already shaky defence would be up against it with their new man looking crocked, but he was fine to return after the interval. Amazingly 10 man Liverpool then took the lead and looked to be coasting home as Arsenal lacked ideas against an organised defence - Hodgson working his magic already?
Then out of nowhere right at the end of the game Pepe Reina the Liverpool keeper seemed to throw the ball into his own net. I'm not saying he did it on purpose, but maybe just maybe he fancies joining up with Rafa at Inter Milan - discuss.

The Fickle Finger of Fate Falls Upon the Final of the World Cup 2010

And so, the time has come, albeit a little late, to reflect upon the World Cup Final, a match described in one British broadsheet newspaper as filthy, and not in a sexy way.

As has already been established on these pages and will be known to anyone who followed the damn tournament it featured the funky orange of the Netherlands and the deep red of Spain. Here were two teams who had produced their fair share of top drawer players over the years but neither had ever lifted the golden trophy that would proclaim them footballing champions of the world. The Dutch had got to the final in '74 and '78 playing gorgeous total football, sweeping all before them before falling to the efficient West Germans and passionate Argentinians respectively. The Spanish had never previously progressed beyond the quarter final stage but the wonderful passing game they'd demonstrated at Euro 2008 had resulted in super special results, albeit under racist Luis Aragones.

This time around they had the altogether more cuddly Vicente del Bosque who had maintained the winning formula with a single defeat in the previous forty eight games. The Dutch had eased through the qualification stage with eight wins outta eight but in a rather more workmanlike manner. Thus they were not as favoured pre tournament as the Spanish but they had a smattering of stars who would be written off at a predictor's peril. As it turned out the Netherlands breezed through their group in South Africa with another 100% record, a tad easier then Spain who were shocked by Switzerland in their opening match and then squeezed out results against Honduras & Chile. Into the knock out phase the Dutch had upped their game when necessary against Brazil and Uruguay while Spain were still more efficient than beautiful with a trio of 1-0's.

So the stage was set for two European heavyweights to end their wait and put a new name on the trophy with flowing, classy attacking play built on a solid defence. Bloody exciting.

Alas it did not turn out like that. The Netherlands came out aggressively and steadily got tougher. Tackles flew in from all angles with poor Howard Webb was stuck in the middle. He could have sent de Jong off for a karate kick on Xabi Alonso and van Bommel came close by crunching in with more than two bookable challenges. It was rough stuff and the Spaniards weren't completely innocent, seeking retribution and getting frustrated in equal measure. Indeed Puyol could've walked when he was caught out by Arjen Robben but that red card stayed stubbornly in the top pocket.

Inbetwixt all the kicking of legs a match did threaten to break out. There were chances and brief moments of decent play when a yellow card wasn't being shown. Arjen Robben demonstrated his pace and would've been on the scoresheet but for excellent work from Casillas. At the other end there were clever flick ons and fancy stuff but the chances fell to Ramos and Capdevilla who lacked the potency of Villa.

Entering extra time is always exciting with the possibility of penalties and the potential that teams will shed their inhibitions and go for the jugular. Alas the action continued in the same manner as before with intermittent chances and a tad more rough and tumble. In a game defining moment Johnny Heitinga pushed the man in black to the edge with a cynical challenge, by no means the worst of the game, and saw a second yellow in the 109'. Then everything went into fast forward. Previously the overwhelming feeling seemed to be that it would have been a travesty for lovely Spain to lose to such nasty bullies and that sense intensified. Personally I find that football is football. Sometimes the guys who don't deserve to win, win. It's not rocket science and given that the Dutch had actually created the better chances to paint them as maniacal supervillains was jolly harsh. Had they fluked through on penalties having broken Fernando Torres leg they still would have won and that's the bottom line.

As it turned out the sending off of Heitinga was the final straw and an indication that an earlier red card would have killed the game off as a contest. The sides were so evenly matched that an extra player made all the difference. A Joy of Cesc pass found Andres Iniesta where Johnny should've been and a cooly taken finish was all it took to set las Rojas into raptures with five minutes to go. There was a foul on young Elia in the build up which the Dutch had reasonable reason to complain about but ultimately they had made their bed and went to sleep in it.

So with hindsight the final was certainly a clash of two giants but it was studs rather than style that did the talking. These finales tend to be tense affairs, barring of course that wonderful night in Istanbul and the lovely afternoon in Wembley a year later, so says bias Jo. The third place play off had been a far better example of thrilling stuff but to write the final off as complete rubbish is harsh and ignores the tension that built with every passing kick, of ball or man. Credit to Robben for leaving the theatrics behind, harnessing his natural ability and coming within inches of snatching the match on a couple of occasions. I felt Mr. Webb did a good job in the circumstances, walking the thin line between stopping the game and ruining the spectacle, slipping a couple of times but allowing the drama to unfold. When all is said and done the Spanish as a team were good enough and maybe that's all that matters. I'm out.

The Perfect Pilot

Hello to one and all - As we await our long time coming review of the World Cup Final 2010! It has fallen upon me to introduce you to the way things will be from this day forward...

We intend to write once a week to review the Premier League action that has passed that weekend and preview the treats that are to come. I imagine this will appear on your screens anywhere between the Monday and the Thursday just to keep you on your toes, and because games are more and more often being played during the week. We are two and will therefore take it in turns to do the main post, but will hopefully get involved in a deal of banter via the message boards.

So what do we have to look forward to...

Chelsea will set out to defend their championship with few significant editions to date. Apart from the super sub that is Yossi Benayoun - He'll surely be hoping for a greater roll then he was getting at Liverpool - but I'm suspicious that he is seen as a very good player who is willing to sit on the bench and make an impact ala one Ona Gunner Solskjaer me thinks.

United have brought in the mexican Hernandez who looked lively in his cameos for Mexico at the World Cup and has also already scored with his teeth in the Community Shield - imagine what he'll be like when he uses his feet.

Arsenal have looked to strengthen with the acquisition of Chamakh, who on a free transfer is nothing other than a bargain - but will he live up to the hype he has been given?

Spurs have not made major end roads into the transfer market but they have looked to probe a couple of avenues and there will surely be activity to come. In my opinion they need some Champions league experience in their ranks if they can expect to make a significant contribution in that competition.

Liverpool have done some good business, both to bring in Roy Hodgson as the managers got a wealth of experience and the playmaker Joe Cole on a free. Time will tell if Joe can get back to his best at the reds - I'd think regular football will make a great deal of difference. The concern is that Liverpool will not be able to make any other significant purchases while unrest remains in the club's boardroom and if they lose a player, will they be able to replace them?

Man City have pretty much bought anyone and everyone for the second year running. Big question marks will be there over whether these players can click together and also how players who aren't playing can be kept happy. The talent of the players however is not in question and they will do some significant damage.


One team that I have managed to follow closely in pre-season is, of-course, my own beloved Wolves. I know I may sound incredibly biased but we have looked bloody good and I'm confident that we can make a go of it in our second season back in the Premier League. McCarthy has made some very sensible purchases in players that have looked quality at times in the league but at smaller clubs so they haven't cost the earth. Fletcher and Hunt were both impressive last season and I especially think Hunt could have made the difference for Hull if he remained fit.
I saw Wolves play Hearts in Edinburgh and the thing that always impresses me about Wolves under McCarthy is the work ethic and willingness to put a shift in for the team. This was in abundance in that game, and ultimately impressive was the fringe players from last season giving it a real go and fighting to be in contention.

Bring on the new season, I can't wait...

The Scintillating Semi-Finals

What a feast to look forward to in the clashes of the final four teams in the tournament. The Netherlands were coming in as favourites against Uruguay and would look to extend a record 24 game unbeaten run. Uruguay however, had over achieved up to this point and surely that was down to graft, guile and no lack of team spirit when the chips were down. They shouldn't be written off, but I feel they lost the support of the neutral African crowd following the way they defeated Ghana and the Orange flags would surely be waved in an African nation that where there is, of course, history of Dutch involvement politically.
The other Semi-final matched the slick, if not firing on all cylinders, Spain against an impressive Germany side who would fancy their chances after scoring 4 goals in each of their previous knockout contests.

First up was Uruguay v The Netherlands and for almost 20 minutes it was a relatively slow and settled affair with the South Americans doing the job of stifling the Dutch midfield. Then a thunderbolt out of the blue came when just past the half way line - the veteran Holland captain Giovanni Van Bronckhurst for some reason decided to unleash an almighty drive that flew into the goal like an unstoppable bullet. Following this goal of the tournament contender Uruguay were stunned and then struggled to build themselves back into the game throughout the first-half. There was joy to be had though when the ever impressive Forlan put in another impressive strike to make the game level as the teams left the field.
Indeed following the restart it seemed that Uruguay were buoyed by their equalizer and were threatening to  control the rest of the game. The European team however had shown their resilience in the previous round fighting back against Brazil and they would again rally themselves here and it was no surprise that the men to put them back on track were Sneijder and Robben. The former had a fortuitous goal to break the deadlock when a deflected shot managed to find the net - but Robben's 3rd was all the more convincing when a fantastic cross was powered in off the post from the Bayern players head.
There was still time for Urugauy to put the Netherlands under pressure with a late goal from Pareira, but it was too late and it would be the Dutch taking their unbeaten run into a World Cup final.

Uruguay 2 v The Netherlands 3

We move on to the game that was so difficult to call that we all had to turn to marine life to point us in the right direction. No I'm not making this up,  Paul the psychic octopus had correctly predicted the winer in both of Germany's previous knockout round games and was now being thought of as something  of a prophet in his home country. Unfortunately for the German mollusc he had decided to back his teams rivals for this semi-final clash - not a great decision for an edible creature you might think.

The game itself was looking like a tense and tactical affair with Germany achieving their success thus far with a controlled counter attacking game and Spain playing a patient possession minded game where they would look to pass the ball around their opponents.  The game continued throughout the first half in this manor with the two teams tactics seeming to null the play from the other. The few chances that did arrive fell for the Spanish whose game-plan was at least a more attacking and attractive one. However, for all their flair and precision the European Champions did not seem to have the finishing touch in their locker to really blow a team away - probably due to the most notable poor form of one Fernando Torres.
The game progressed in this way and worrying looked as if it was drifting towards some extra time - or even penalties and we all know the differing fortunes of the Germans and Spanish there.
But in the 73rd minute an unlikely man stepped forward to be the Spanish match winner, Centre back Carles Puyol powered one of the most powerful headers I believe that I have or will ever see into the back of the German net. The Spanish were jubilant as they played out the game by passing the ball around and frustrating the Germans. The Germans were getting the seafood sauce ready and cursing that pesky Octopus.

Germany 0 v Spain 1

There would be a new name on the World Cup as Spain and The Netherlands would battle it out to win the cup for the first time.

The Queens of the Quarter Finals

And so it came to pass, after the quick fire round of 16 the last eight teams stood toe to toe. It pitted continent against continent. There were footballing superpowers and surprises amongst them. The potential for tension was awesome.

We started with the Netherlands against Brazil. Two legendary heavyweights, the inventors of Total Football against the kings of Samba Futebol, something had to give. The South Americans were the favourites, but had taken a while to engage their powers against the North Koreans and then showed a distinctly uninspired effort against Portugal. Despite that they still had the silky skills of Robinho and Kaka to call on while relying on the assuredness of Lucio and Juan at the back. Meanwhile the men in orange had so far swept all before them with solid play and the occasional flash of brilliance, combining Marc van Bommel with Wesley Sneijder had proven jolly effective. The teams had some awfully tight recent history too. There was the excellent quarter final of 1994 where five second half goals resulted in Brazil edging through 3-2 followed by a tense affair in the semis of '98 when Brazil snuck through on penalties.

The stage was set for an epic and I was enthralled from start to finish. The Brazilians took an early lead via young Robinho and then proceeded to dominate the first half, Stekelenburg in the Dutch goal earnt his stripes, in particular with saves from Maicon and Kaka. Then just eight minutes into the second half the tables turned back as Julio Cesar of Inter Milan, touted as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, completely missed a Sneijder free kick after colliding with team mate Felipe Melo. Now the match was evenly poised, both teams had a clear threat in attack but retained an admirable toughness in defence. As the pendulum swung it was the Netherlands who proved the smarter, Robben whipped in another cross on 68', the industrious Kuyt flicked it on and the wee man Sneijder got his head on it. The incident level did not drop, the five time champions threw everything they had into it, Melo even put his leg through Robbens which resulted in a red card and still there were chances to score at both ends. This match was all I hoped it would be, a dramatic affair with quality football in the style of their previous encounters but this time the Dutch triumphed and their steam train gathered speed.

The Netherlands 2 v Brazil 1

The second of the quarters featured two teams few would have predicted to be at this stage. Ghana carried the weight of a continent on their shoulders while Uruguay were rediscovering their World Cup form after several tournaments in the shadows. The Black Stars had proven themselves talented by reaching the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations final and resilient having qualified from the group stages despite only scoring two goals, both penalties. The winners of the first ever World Cup, Uruguay, had only got to the finals courtesy of a play off win against Costa Rica however had shown plenty of forward momentum in seeing off South Africa while standing firm against the French and Mexicans. For either of them the semi finals would be an incredible achievement.

It turned out to be another tense affair with chances at both ends as two evenly matched sides went head to head. Ghana took the lead with a spectacular Sulley Muntari goal in the second minute of first half injury time, his 40 yard hit took everyone by surprise. The Uruguyans hit back ten minutes after half time with an excellent Diego Forlan free-kick, the blond with the hairband was continuing the great form he had demonstrated with Atletico Madrid and making Alex Ferguson look a fool, which was nice. The second half was livelier than the first as opportunities were missed, bookings handed out and men chucked themselves in front of the ball. As extra time wore on the Ghanaians were in the ascendency, their opposition tired and the ball got closer to creeping in. In the dying seconds the ball was headed in thanks to Adiyah, only for Suarez to block it with his hands. A red card and penalty followed, the latter missed by Gyan and the former celebrated by the South Americans as they cruised through the shoot out thanks to the most cynical of cheating which had provided the most dramatic of conclusions. It certainly had me on the edge of my seat but alas, the final African team were out and their adventure over.

Ghana 1 v Uruguay 1, aet, Uruguay win 4-2 on penalties

The following day and we started with another European v South American clash of the titans. Germany v Argentina, both had been scoring freely in their first four games, both had attracted media attention thanks to the men on the sidelines and both have an enviable World Cup pedigree. Indeed pre tournament neither side had been given much of a shout, the Germans were lacking in stars and considered a team in transition while the Argentines had plenty of incredible players but a manager who appeared to be lacking in tactical awareness. Those criticisms had been proven definitively wrong by results and performances, this was shaping up to be a classic.

It turned out to be a game full of goals, but they all went one way. Muller scored within 3 minutes and it ding donged for the next hour before Klose got the second and the Germans added another two in the last fifteen minutes to add a sheen to the victory. The three time champions over ran the two time champions with a breathtaking display of clinical finishing and speedy counter attack which had been so effective against England. Although Argentina had shots they failed to impose themselves. In particular the superstar Messi was shackled by the mighty Schweinsteiger and Mascherano missed the support of Veron. The game demonstrated that the bearded Maradona did indeed have a lack of understanding when up against it while also serving notice that the Germans had the potential to knock four past two former World Cup winners.

Germany 4 v Argentina 0

Finally European Champions Spain had a relatively easy looking match against Paraguay who had only won one of their first four matches having drawn with Italy and New Zealand and knocked Japan out on penalties. On paper the Europeans had a spectacular team but had failed to light the red touchpaper quite yet. Their passing game was as excellent as expected but the lack of a cutting edge might cost them dear against a feisty South American team, the performance against Slovakia had shown a decent attacking verve with the ability to score when necessary.

In the end the game was the most disappointing of the quarters. It was cagey stuff that had its moments, a missed penalty each around the hour mark meant both sides had at least one golden chance. Indeed Paraguay felt aggrieved by a disallowed goal in the first half when Valdez, the scorer was onside but his strike partner Cardozo appeared offside. However ultimately Spain's superior skills told the story, albeit only just. An 82' goal from David Villa, his fifth of the tournament, was enough as it rolled off the post and in. They'd failed to be as amazing as they could be but a third consecutive single goal win was enough. Whether it would be against the attacking potency of the Germans made for a potentially intriguing semi.

Spain 1 v Paraguay 0

The Rock and Roll Round of 16 part 2.

OK, collective sigh following the turmoil that was Germany v England and we can all get on with the rest of the second round.

First up we have the clash between Netherlands and Slovakia. Now Slovakia could enter this game in confident mood following a cracking performance to eliminate Italy, but Holland were looking strong and had a number of players - Robben, Sneijder - that were looking just at home in this tournament. As it happened The Netherlands took this game by the scruff of the neck and from the moment that Robben hit a great opener in the 18th minute they were comfortable if not rampant. Slovakia are a well organised and difficult team to play against and they never looked like being over run but it was no surprise when Sneijder finished the game with a second goal for the dutch - leaving a late late penalty as a scant consolation for Slovakia to take away.

Netherlands 2 v Slovakia 1.

Next we come to what many, including myself, would feel is about as cut and dry a second round tie as you can get - Brazil v Chile. Some people may claim that Chile looked promising in their group with a couple of impressive attacking displays. They were playing Switzerland and Honduras so i wont apologise for not getting excited about that, the test of a game against Brazil is a different proposition all together.
In true Brazilian style for a while they did flatter to deceive with a good half an hour of huff and puff football that looked pretty enough put had no end product. Then just as soon as a few Chile fans dared to believe they were in the game - Juan and Fabiano put in 2 goals in 5 minutes and the task already looked beyond them. Robinho added a well taken third in the second half and the Chileans packed their bags for home after not too shabby a tournament. The Brazilians though would be telling us there was much more to come from them.

Brazil 2 v Chile 0

Paraguay v Japan was one of those games that occasionally crops up at this stage of a major tournament. A game between to lesser teams that have made it through to play each other through perhaps more fancied teams underachieving. Having said that Japan looked dangerous at times, especially through Honda who has caught a few eyes at the tournament. Paraguay also produced a couple of dogged displays that saw them topping their group so, whether we liked it or not, one of these teams would be a world cup quarterfinalists.
As it turned out, the two sides didn't pick up on the suggestion that they should show us why they deserve a place in the quarters, instead they both played out a stalemate where attacking was not on the agenda. Is it not better to lose having give it your all then to lose having sat back and killed a game? I can understand this style of play in a long league season perhaps - but a win or lose game - oh my.
Well the game went to penalties, as both sides seemed to want and eventually it was Paraguay who won out and managed to put themselves in the World Cup quarter finals - pretty much by default.

Paraguay 0 v Japan 0 a.e.t 5-3 PSO

After that wet fish what a delight we had to turn to in our final game of the second round- Spain v Portugal. Oh how the noisy neighbours would love to spoil Spain's party here. How Cristiano Ronaldo would love to pull one over on the Barcelona midfield of Xavi and Iniesta. Oh what a fiery encounter we had to look forward to here...

Don't be silly this is World Cup 2010 in South Africa - the tournament that loves to fool, that pulls the wool over your and everyone else's eyes. The only thing you know to expect is that anything you expect will definitely not happen.  So Portugal a team that had scored 7 goals in one game earlier in this tournament and were well remembered from previous ones from their attacking flair decided to doggedly defend in this game. They saw the threat of the Spanish midfield, crapped themselves and strangled the game so they couldn't play. They even alienated their own star player by giving Ronaldo so little support that he barely figured in the game.

Perhaps if they had been victorious I would be saying what a brilliant game plan, a fantastic bit of counter attacking, the only way to play against Spain. Well it didn't and Portugal were undone by another class act from the deadly David Villa who put in a 63rd minute goal to send the Spanish through. Surely teams should play to their strengths, surely teams should try and win a game...

Could we make a new rule where shots on goal decide tied games instead of penalties.....erm?

Spain 1 v Portugal 0

The Rock and Roll Round of 16 part 1.

As we entered the knock out stages hope was high that the level of football seen would improve dramatically. It is usually the case in a World Cup that cagey group stage matches turn into more more exciting games when teams have to chase a win. Indeed, we had some great games to look forward to:

Some very hard to call games between smaller but emerging football heavyweights in Uruguay v South Korea, USA v Ghana and Paraguay v Japan.

Possibilities for the big boys being upset at an early stage in Argentina v Mexico and Spain v Portugal.

The opportunity to see flair teams overturn weaker opposition in style with Netherlands v Slovakia and Brazil v Chile.

Oh and just that clash to set alight any World Cup torch paper that was Germany v England.

First up was Uruguay v South Korea and it did transpire to be a close fought game. Uruguay took an early lead through the lively Suarez, they were always looking dangerous with the front two of the Ajax star and Diego Forlan in the form of his life. However, South Korea always look good going forward and have some player of their own who are capable of unlocking defences. Indeed in the 68th minute Yong grabbed the equaliser that S.Korea duly deserved. It seemed that the game was destined to drift into extra time from here, but just as S.Korea look able going forward they are vulnerable at the back - inviting more and more pressure as the game wore on. Strikers such as Suarez do not pass up too many invitations before they make a team pay and it was with a glorious strike that he struck the goal that would take Uruguay to a World Cup quarter final.

Uruguay 2 v South Korea 1.

Argentina took on Mexico in the next knockout game with some people hopeful of an upset after Mexico's decent performances in the group stages.  Though Argentina have some brilliant players and even at this early stage it was looking like they would be unstoppable if they all clicked.
That is exactly what happened here - some sublime play and excellent finishing from Tevez and Higuain and Argentina were 3- 0 up by the 52nd minute. The Manchester United bound Hernandez eventually pulled 1 pack for Mexico, but the Argentinean's had powered their way through.

Argentina 3 v Mexico 1.

Next was another interesting encounter between two perhaps surprise packages in USA v Ghana. It promised to be another close fought tie, however in my opinion Ghana were improving with every game they played in this World Cup whereas USA had barely played at their best and seemed to be threatening to self destruct before they ever got going in a game.
Well, it seemed to be playing out in that vain when Ghana took the lead through Kevin Prince Boateng in the 5th minute. They looked good for it throughout the fist half and into the second. USA true to form then woke up, pressed and earned a penalty - Landon Donovan, one shining light for them at this tournament, duly dispatched the kick. This then allowed the game to peter out and drift into extra time.
It seemed the USA thought this meant that they had to start all over again - including the self destruct element - they conceded 3 minutes after the restart to a lively looking Asamoah Gyan. The americans could not muster up another comeback this time and Ghana deservedly took the hopes of Africa into the quarters.

USA 1 v Ghana 2 a.e.t.

Games between Germany and England are never without incident and penalty shoot outs tend to be a major part of this, so this time there was no lack of fans expecting this game to go to the wire. The group stages had been difficult for England but they had come through eventually and were now playing off the back of their best performance in the tournament. Surely all the troubles in camp and disagreements over team selection would now be all forgotten.
Germany themselves did not look all too convincing - a loss to Serbia and stuttering victory over Ghana. They had a young side and were still gelling as a team. Would a big game so early in the tournament be a bit too far for them at this stage.

The game started in pretty cagey fashion and then in the 20th minute an innocuous looking long ball managed to catch out the England defence and Miroslav Klose put away one of the simplest of his haul of World Cup finals goals. It got worse for England as Lukas Podolski then capitalized on more poor defending to put Germany 2 up. England were looking beaten after just over 30 minutes.

Then the unbelievable happened - England started to play - and look half decent. With Gerrard spear heading a fight back and whipping in a great cross for Upson to head home and make it 2-1. This is when things went really strange - the only way I can think of describing this is a goal was not given. The shot just before half time from Frank Lampard hit the bar and bounced clearly over the line. The goal was not given and what should have been a 2-2 half time scoreline was still 2-1.

A long story cut short now tells that England failed to rally themselves in the second half, defended poorly and conceded two more goals. A capitulation and bad defending completely uncharacteristic of an England side.
Is it worth asking the question what if? If the score had been 2-2 at half time could England have been more patient and Germany would not have hit them on the break? Would their confidence have been high from a great fight-back? Should the have been able to produce a performance anyway?

well we will never know...

Germany 4 v England 1