Mails: Can we arrange an immediate job swap?

Ian Watson

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com. Go on…

Screaming out for Jonjo
Am I missing something? I look at England’s central midfield options and Jonjo Shelvey should be the first name on the list and he isn’t even in the squad? We are SCREAMING out for a transitional central midfielder that isn’t a little gremlin that runs into players and spends most the game on the floor and losing the ball in very dangerous positions on the pitch (Jack) and Shelvey, albeit with his reputation (4 yellow cards all season, 2 in the same game admittedly), is head and shoulders above the rest of them with his ability to play a forward pass. Surely it’s not just me that sees this?
Joe, MUFC/LOFC

 

Job swap
Lots of people have had lots to say about Russia this week, and the musings of 2 high profile figures in particular caught my attention. While one was rashly comparing their democratically elected president to Hitler, the other was talking about getting our own house in order before throwing accusations around, and adding that he’d always found it a safe and welcoming country.

Now given the players available, the quarter finals are England’s absolute limit this year, and let’s be honest, Southgate’s appointment was underwhelming from day one. Consider also that Boris Johnson increasingly looks like Mike Bassett from a posh kids’ school, and ask yourself, are these 2 men in the wrong jobs? Given the respective personal qualities required for the roles of England manager and foreign secretary, not to mention the fact that expectation for England is at an all-time low anyway, I would’ve thought that Gareth Southgate is much more likely to have the level of integrity and diplomacy needed to fulfil the role of foreign secretary – preventing WW3 and stuff – leaving the blond buffoon free to professionally invoke the spirit of ’66 for a few weeks this June.
Gareth Dix, Sutton

 

F*ck off, international week
Call me a curmudgeonly old f*cker if you like; but I absolutely hate International football! There, I wrote it. And the curmudgeonly reference is not too far wide of the mark given I have a Scottish accent and can do a decent Victor Meldrew impression.

I remember a couple of weeks ago some chap wrote in who nailed his colours to the mast in fine fashion about how much he loves it. I recall thinking ‘I don’t belieeeeeeve it!’ [sorry!] and how much I oppose his views. Diametricallly opposite is putting it politely.

In fact if there is an impotent pointless petition doing the rounds on change.org or some such to disband this pointless, xenophobic, anachronistic, corruption riddled affair then sign me up! And not just because the standard of the mailbox nosedives alarmingly during the International break and clowns like Adeel get through but because it is an unwelcome distraction from the proper business of club football.

I know as a general rule us fans of non-London / non-Southern based clubs hold a fairly dim view of England and refer to it as London FC but this is more than that. I just think it is shit. I myself was born in N.Ireland and left when I was 4 so have no real depth of feeling for Norn Ireland. As much as I try I simply cannot muster the patriotic fervour required for a country I have little feeling toward, nor it to me. I spent 5 years in Germany and 6 (on and off) in Edinburgh so do I follow Scotchland or the Motherland!?

The modern consensus would appear to be that any top club in any top league in Europe would comfortably beat any of the top International side. It’s second rate fayre, pure and simple. And quite clearly the players couldn’t give a flying.

You want to know why England’s most recent golden generation never delivered. It’s because they couldn’t care less! Rooney had it spot on when he was caught on camera lambasting the knuckle-dragging masses booing them off! They don’t get paid for it (literally the only currency they understand) and clubs increasingly are fretting over their assets when they send them thousands of kilometres to play against, in some cases, almost tantamount to a pub team by dint of the unfortunate happenstance of geography.

All I wish for is for the players of Liverpool FC to return unscathed. I appreciate this might sound like the whining of a typical paranoid ‘Scouser’ but our boys seem to return from England duty injured more than is acceptable and more than other clubs. Alexander Ferguson had it bang on when his players were increasingly injured for country but miraculously recovered come 3PM Saturday. I wish Der KloppMeister would follow suit.

International football belongs in the same bin as the Eurovision Song Contest. As much as I enjoyed and miss terribly Sir Terry Wogan…
Gregory Whitehead, LFC

 

Sterling and Cole can’t be compared
I cannot understand the claim that Cole and Sterling have received the same treatment, nor is it properly argued by Sachin Nakrani. Seems more like 2+2 = racism.

Sterling was a young player on the back of two strong seasons at a club he had joined at 16. After refusing to sign a new contract and seeing his club leak information to the press about it, he did an ill-advised interview with the BBC saying he wanted to win trophies and it had nothing to do with money. He left after refusing to sign a new contract. He ended up on the tabloids for having the audacity to buy his mother a house or going to the pound store.

Ashley Cole was an established world class player, married to a famous pop star. He illegally met up with a rival’s sporting director and a manager who had spent his time insulting Arsene Wenger. He did everything in his power to engineer a move out of his “boyhood club”. Complained about the treatment he received, wrote a book about it. He ended up on the tabloids for allegedly cheating on his wife and continuing to act like an asshole. He has spent the remaining decade badmouthing Arsenal and their fans.

So no, he won’t get the same treatment Torres did. As far as I know, Torres never bad mouthed and trolled Arsenal fans.

I’m not saying some arsenal fans weren’t petty (it was hard seeing win trophy after trophy after leaving us), but Cole was hardly innocent of any wrongdoing.
Guillaume, Ottawa

 

Takes more than talent
Legendary status at a club composes many elements and isn’t just about the ability of the player in question.

The likes of Adams, Drake and Armstrong are rightly regarded as Arsenal legends. They were all brilliant players but came from different periods of the club’s history.

But then you also have the likes of Jensen, Groves and Grimandi, who are also regarded as legends but for different reasons.

In short – it’s not enough to be a fantastic player – if I was to pick my all time Arsenal XI I’ve seen in the flesh, I’d opt for Sansom over Cole and it’s because he combines elements from the two aforementioned trios.

You have to be a top player but you also have to be unquestionably an Arsenal man. Drake, who at the time was the only manager ever to manage Chelsea to a title, when interviewed called Arsenal “the club” – Drake was regarded as a legend of the all conquering 1930s team because he was a top player – seven goals in one game (should have been 8), but it was Arsenal and only Arsenal for him.

I don’t dispute the fact Cashley was a top player but he should never be welcomed back to the club in any celebration of the Invincibles – he burned his bridges a long time ago and there’s no way back across for him.

To paraphrase Clubber Lang – I don’t hate Cole – I pity the fool.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

…There are a plethora of reasons why people hate/hated Ashley Cole, but race is not one of them. Trust me, as a bitter, petty and frustrated Arsenal supporter I can assure Sachin that I hate Robin Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri just as much as I hate Cole. Likewise, I am sure that Spurs fans disdain of Sol Campbell has nothing to do with race. The treatment of Raheem Sterling by the gutter press has been deplorable, but let’s not add racism as a suggestion as to why supporters dislike a man who symbolised the gap between players and supporters in the mid 00’s and highlighted the self serving bubble in which he lived.

Aside from being “one of our own” and a fantastic footballer, Ashley Cole was earmarked as future captain material. He actively sought out a move to Chelsea at a time when Arsenal could still harbour ambitions of a title push. He bemoaned the fact that on the last match at Highbury the fans weren’t singing his name constantly, instead singing about Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. Yep, that day should have been all about you Ashley. He demonstrated a complete lack of awareness of supporters lives when he self pityingly asked for sympathy over only being offered £55k per week in his laughable “My Defence”. He has taken every opportunity to mock his former club, including on ITV last year when he was asked if he enjoyed watching Arsenal Struggle; “If I’m honest yeah, I still think to this day I laugh to myself”. He also shot a work experience student with an air rifle, was done for speeding in a residential area and swearing at a policeman and also cheated on his wife with numerous people, which paints a picture of a guy who is a bit of an arsehole.

Now, Ashley may feel he has some justification in some of his actions, and he won everything with Chelsea so fair play. Across numerous interviews and pieces about the Invincibles he is always a glaring omission, which is incredibly sad. But he will always be as welcome to the Emirate as Sol is to the Lane, and neither incident has anything to do with race.

Cheers,
John (He “hates England and its f**king people” too you know) Foster.

 

The Sterling paradigm
The Sterling Paradigm, as you described it, is nothing new, and I’m sure nobody at F365 or in the mailbox is naïve enough to think it is, but for a really interesting, deeper look into this, I’d strongly recommend that you take a look at some of the countless interviews Dave Chappelle conducted after his “disappearance” to South Africa back in 2005, when he famously walked away from a £50m contract.

He talks about seeing Hollywood from the inside, well past the layer of glitz and glamour, and specifically how he felt the industry treated countless successful black men just as they were reaching their pinnacle. His theory covers a number of topics, from why so many successful black actors have had to wear a dress for a role at some point in their career, something he said no to (think Martin Lawrence in Big Momma’s House, Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor…), right down to his own disappearance for what he explained as incredibly debilitating stress following work pressures and the loss of his father, being labelled as “Dave is a drug addict” or “Dave is in a mental institute” by the press.

His most interesting point, I found, was his explanation of celebrities that have become celebrities through their own success, and are therefore clearly strong, driven, ambitious people. Yet that strength can be taken away from them by the very same people that gave it to them, be that execs, people in power, or, as we all know, the press. Again, think Martin Lawrence having a breakdown in ’96, or recently, Colin Kapernick being lambasted for simply standing up, or rather, kneeling, for what he believed in.

I do honestly have some hope that these problems will continue to be diluted, and eventually eradicated completely, as generation after generation becomes more and more understanding and harmonious, having being raised in a more culturally accepting environment as times move on, but then again, we are all reading stories about Paul Pogba’s flashy Rolls Royce, but not a mention of the fact that Phil Jones drives a Bentley…
Joe

 

Suicide squad
Fergie’s Squad end of 2012 – 2013
(GK) David de Gea, Anders Lindegaard, (DEF) Rafael, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidić , Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Alexander Büttner, Fábio, (MID) Ryan Giggs , Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Darren Fletcher, Ashley Young, Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha, (STK) Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Javier Hernández, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda.

Fergie’s last squad was aging, with Giggs and Scholes retiring, but they’d just won the league. There were weaknesses and improvements were needed to refresh the starting line-up, but there was a balance to it, and decent back-up. They were not playing scintillating football, but they could grind out results and the strikers had goals in them. But look at the squad Mourinho inherited following Moyes’ and Van Gaal’s tenures just two years later. The back-up has become the first team.

The squad start of 2016 – 2017
(GK) David de Gea, Sergio Romero, Sam Johnstone, (DEF) Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw, Matteo Darmian, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Axel Tuanzebe, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, (MID) Juan Mata, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin, Daley Blind, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Adnan Januzaj,
Jesse Lingard, (STK) Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.

Goalkeepers – no worries. Defence – oh dear. Midfield – where’s the creativity? The two best creative wide players will be converted to full backs to help the non-existent defence. Carrick and Blind have been played more often as central defenders than midfielders. Mata aside, the rest are workhorses. Strikers – Two very good young players, but Rooney’s Man Utd career is fading fast. Where are the senior strikers?

Discounting Zlatan and Mkhitaryan (both departed) Mourinho has brought in just six players to add to that sorry squad. Two central defenders. Two strikers. Two midfielders. Look at that 2016-2017 squad again and imagine it minus the not-quite-good-enough midfielders Mourinho sold to free up squad numbers and wages. It takes more than six players to fix. Even if one of them did cost £90million.

During Moyes’ and Van Gaal’s tenures an entire first team defence and midfield of the quality required to compete for top honours left the club and that lost quality has not yet been replaced. Mourinho has, bit by bit due to the board’s limit on bringing more than 3 or four players in, tried to address the spine of the team, but the job is only half done. To get this current team into a comfortable 2nd (after a 7th, 4th, 5th and 6th) and last 16 of the Champion’s League this season is a monumental improvement on the last four years. This summer Fellaini will leave, Carrick will retire, Shaw, Darmian and Blind will be sold. One of Smalling, Jones and Rojo should be shipped off too. If Jose can replace them with a new left back, centre back, right back, defensive mid, and two attacking mids of top quality we’ll have a team and back-up that is much more fit for purpose.

BUT I don’t think they’ll buy more than the usual three or four players in the next transfer window, so next season will be another step toward Jose’s team. A bit closer to Man City and a bit further in the Champion’s League. He’s not there yet so let him finish what he started for two more seasons, then at least we’ll have a balanced and capable squad with a winning mentality and players mostly of the right ages. If the football’s still not scintillating that’s the time to change the manager. Change now and we’ll have to go through this whole thing again with a new guy.
Jim C

 

Dele’s season
Has Delle Alli been rubbish this season? No. Has he been brilliant? No.

It’s a complex situation and you can look at the season in two halves. For the first half of the season he was asked to play deeper than previously in his career. His penchant for trying the sublime (which can turn into the ridiculous when it goes wrong) was more of a liability in this role and he didn’t shine.

Since Christmas however, he’s been playing a little further forward and he’s been much more effective, both in assisting Kane (generally) and in no longer giving the ball away in dangerous areas.

So should he start for England over say, Lingard? Depends on the formation we go with and how direct we need to be. Either way he’s a good option and he’s playing better and better as the season progresses.
Matt L, Spuds, London

 

…I just wanted to address the popular perception around Dele Alli having a poor season. In the last couple of days we’ve seen Alli’s season being described as “sh*te” and “pretty poor” and many things in between. Even F365 bizarrely included Alli as their number one disappointment of the season (albeit quite early on). I just don’t think it’s the case he’s had a poor season.

The main problem with Alli is that he was unbelievably good last season, especially his goal return, outscoring the likes of Zlatan and Hazard. He set the bar so high in this regard it was always going to be difficult to repeat. But this season he’s doing really well for assists being third in the league overall, the same number as David Silva, and more than Eriksen! Admittedly he might have had a few poor games here and there but I think in a lot of the big games he’s really turned up (fantastic against Liverpool and Madrid off the top of my head).

Another problem with Alli is that to opposition fans he’s very unlikeable. The nutmegs, the attitude, the diving etc. So if he’s not being brilliant it makes him an easy target, he sticks out. I’m not a fan of diving but otherwise I think a lot of his qualities, the swagger and the desire to try things, make him quite unique when looking at the England squad. On a tactical note I think he could play deeper in a midfield two no problem.

This is getting quite long so I’ll just summarise by saying Dele Alli, not as good as last season but still very, very good. A must for England.
Kevin G, THFC (obviously)

 

…Has Dele been as bad as you thought he’d been? No – he’s being used differently.

The Kane/ Dele partnership is not as much of a thing as it was, as the attacking load is now more a 3 with Son, which has been the result of using a back 4. The 3-4-1-1 used last season gave Dele the freedom to do what he wanted, which was basically act more of a forward than midfielder as there were more players doing the hard work for him.

He can be frustrating at times as he tries tricks a lot and often loses the ball, but normally it’s fair enough. You know why – because it’s different from the sterile possession lots of people seem to hate against teams that just sit there. Which for Spurs otherwise means recycling it back to either Eriksen to find a good cross or Son to work some magic on the left – it is Dele’s unpredictability and variety that’s good and it is worth the risk (particularly considering where he loses it). The stats say more about the amazing Son than Dele in my opinion.

For England? For the teams that sit back we should go 4-2-3-1 and I think we need a wide skill/ pace outlet on one of the flanks (Rashford – as your Son), and someone who is clever (to do the Eriksen job). This is tricky as it should be Lallana but he’s not playing. Sterling has to play and is a natural on the right so you’re looking at a shootout for the middle role between Dele and Lingard. Nice problem to have but would go Dele for the unpredictability factor.

For the better teams he’s a no brainer in my mind as he’s a big game player with an arrogance we need against the big boys. Personally whilst I think we could go 3 at the back, it worries me a bit in terms of loading the team with our worst/ least in-form players (centre-backs), and think betting on ourselves to attack would play to our strengths better and surprise the opponent. Even if we have 3 at the back we’re sure to leak chances or do something daft and maybe it would be more fun too.
Dave, Winchester Spurs

 

In defence of Bellerin
I know there have been several responses already to Graham Simons’ criticism of Bellerin but I’d just like to add my own. Bellerin is just the latest lightning rod for criticism in this current Arsenal squad. None of the other members of the team have been any better than him. There’s our forwards and midfielders on the right side not tracking back enough leaving Bellerin to pretty much cover the entire right side on his own, there’s Xhaka often leaving a huge hole in midfield and failing to provide an adequate shield for the defense, there’s Koscielny and Mustafi launching into hit or miss challenges and above all there’s a stubborn, anachronistic manager who insists on attempting to play the same style of football and giving his more offensive-minded players far too much freedom to do whatever they please and slack off defensively,

And to further add to previous mails about ArsenalfanTV, it genuinely is nothing more than a footballing equivalent of the Jeremy Kyle show or the Jerry Springer show. It’s typically the same 5 or so “guests” bleating on about the same old thing with barely coherent language offering nothing constructive with a few other extras interviewed for good measure. ArsenalfanTV’s target audience might as well be fans of rival clubs. And surely you can see that it exists predominantly to make a profit, otherwise why else would they aggressively promote Ladbrokes?
Vish (AFC), Melbourne

 

Evo-Stick casual
While the top flight takes a weekend off so we can all gaze in wonder upon the amazement of the England team, further down the pyramid things are hotting up nicely. I have a vested interest but I am referring in particular to the Evo-Stik Premier Division.

The weather has claimed several rounds of fixtures in recent weeks, with a lot of postponements (some at short notice), meaning just about everyone is playing twice a week until the end of the season, with even an occasional three games in a week (Grantham Town are currently in a Thursday-Saturday-Tuesday run). Last night the Gingerbreads travelled to Shaw Lane (who played in a televised game in the FA Cup First Round) for the fourth attempt to face their rivals. It was worth the wait as two goals from Curtis Burrows sealed victory: the first was a free-kick curled expertly from into the far top corner, the second an almost identical shot from open play. Grantham leapt above their hosts and into the final playoff place.

The race for the title, and the one automatic promotion place – is incredibly tight, as just one point separates Altrincham from Warrington Town. Barring a huge upset, this looks set to stay the same as both teams face struggling opposition. However, just below them, the playoff race is tighter than a gnat’s chuff. While Warrington look fairly set, there are just four points between Ashton United (61) in third and Witton Albion (57) in seventh. Ashton and Farsley Celtic have their noses in front in that race, but the teams chasing them – Grantham and Shaw Lane – have games in hand on their rivals.

Celtic and Shaw Lane both host opponents from the bottom half, so would be expected to take three points, but life is a bit tougher for the other sides. Grantham take on Barwell, who could get themselves back into the playoff picture with a win, while Ashton take on Witton. Much like the Premier League relegation picture, this playoff race will likely come down to someone blinking at the wrong time and losing when all their rivals win.

Also, the Evo-Stik League announced their shortlist for Supporters’ Player of the Year last night. It’s not a surprise that I’ve voted for Lee Shaw, a striker with the speed, guile and endeavour to terrorise almost every defender and goalkeeper he faces. However, a wider audience may be interested to know the former Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca, of South Shields, is also nominated.

Enjoy your football this weekend, however and wherever you find it.
Ed Quoththeraven

 

Happy Friday
Hello there all and sundry.

Ready for some lovely Friday footy thoughts to get you through the international break? Right this way…

1. If you normally support one of the big boys, this weekend’s another occasion to give some love to a smaller team in your area. Go find a non-league or lower league side and stick some of your time, money and support in their direction. I’ll be investigating the manifest delights of SK Líšeň vs. Mohelnice.

2. The idea of the semi-mythical East Fife 5 – 4 Forfar scoreline.

3. Ex-pros turning out for Sunday League sides simply because they love playing football.

4. To touch on a theme from the Mailbox this week, remembering players that brought you joy for no particular reason than they just seemed good to watch and fitted the team they were in perfectly. Morten Gamst Pedersen springs to mind. Lovely player, very likeable Blackburn side.

5. Hilarious own goals. The bigger the game, the better. My former boss Dave (hiya!) sent me this one. He’s an Ipswich fan, so this is a source of constant entertainment to him:

6. Gunnersaurus. A constant source of bafflement to me. Why a dinosaur? Well…
https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/article/nzppdk/gunnersaurus-explained-the-guy-who-dreamt-up-arsenals-mascot

7. Sticking with mascots, mascots observing a minutes’ silence is always sombrely hilarious.

8. And further to that, the people in the mascot not wanting to be identified so they can method act the character. Amazing commitment / reason to be committed.

9. The fact that the Olympiacos – Panathinaikos derby is known as either “The Mother of All Battles” or “The Derby of the Eternal Enemies”. Wow. No pressure on the players there!

10. Jamie Vardy’s skittle vodka.

Have a great weekend, everyone.
David (and the F1’s restarting!) Szmidt, Brno, Czech Rep.