Mails: Liverpool’s kids are alright, thank you

Sarah Winterburn

If you have anything to say, mail us at theeditor@football365.com

 

Happy with Liverpool’s use of kids
Another fascinating article from our resident celebrity on the lack of teenagers appearing regularly for Premier League sides. It’s hard to argue with any of the points made or the conclusions drawn. As a Liverpool supporter I have, however, been completely satisfied with our use of young players over the past few years. First Rodgers and now Klopp have oft-turned to academy graduates to fill places in the squad.

Obviously the most famous of these is Raheem Sterling who quite understandably forced a move through to a Champions League club but players such as Ibe, Flanagan, Wisdom and Joe Gomez have all played regularly at some point in the recent past and players such as Suso and Joao Teixeira appeared briefly before forging on with their careers in less physical leagues abroad.

More recently Sheyi Ojo, Ejaria, Alexander-Arnold and Woodburn have all been afforded minutes. Perhaps these numbers have been bloated somewhat by a couple of seasons where we have found ourselves towards the back end of a league campaign with nothing to play for (or a Europa League run to sustain). This has allowed their use in a relatively pressure-free environment but I prefer to look at the situation in a more optimistic light:

At Liverpool talented youngsters will be given game time and, if they are good enough, can become first-team regulars.

As a final aside I shall posit an early player to watch for your Friday segment: Loris Karius vs. a West Ham team featuring the return of Andy Carroll’s noggin and the imminent aerial bombardment!
Osric the Brave (apologies if any of the players mentioned were >20), Cape Town

 

Europa League is Tottenham’s level
Reading Matt’s piece this morning about Spurs falling back into the Europa league I feel there is one point that was missed/not made explicit. Is it just that for some clubs the Europa League is the best level for them? I know the annual conversation about why European teams take it more seriously got boring three or four years ago but if you’ve spent several years qualifying for it and then, when you get into the Champions League, you still end up qualifying for it then maybe that’s the level you belong at – as in pretty good side but not elite. Surely it must have reached a point by now when they’d have come to terms with it as they seem to take part every year.

Honestly guys, it’s just getting weird now – at least try to pretend you fit it. It’s like the one kid at school who desperately wants to be cool so is horrible to his own friends all the time and no-one liked that guy.
Harry (AFC) London

 

United need to take Europa League seriously
You know it’s articles like this that will ensure we’re going to be voting for Matt (congrats once again Dan) within the next two years. A good run for Spurs will give them greater confidence in their ability to use Wembley going forward and actually may help their players adjust to big European nights.

I think Utd also need to take it seriously – this is no time to snobbish, let’s be honest our performances in recent years when we’ve qualified for Europe do not justify our playing in the Champions League and I’ve seen snowballs with better chances of finishing fourth (eww).

It is a risky but doable proposition as perennial champions Sevilla are out the teams who dropped down bar Spurs and Lyon look average at best that leaves Shaktar, Schalke, Villareal, Roma and Fiorientina good teams but beatable the competition looks easier to win his year.

So let’s hope Jose can get over the moans about the pitch and having put Fellaini on the plane to get the point we need.
Timi MUFC

 

Man United’s problem: They’re England
So there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

The problem with United is that they’ve become England. Fergie’s last team was a mediocre side, boosted by RVP and Fergie’s brilliant management. A team that should have struggled to make the top four won the league because of Fergie’s determination to retire with a trophy. When he did retire, everyone said he’d left a championship-winning side for his successor and while that’s technically true, the side Moyes inherited was actually pretty poor. Rooney’s abilities had already declined by then, relying on mini-streaks for goals, United lacked a midfield, Smalling and Jones were never going to develop into the new Ferdinand and Vidic. Moyes inherited a poor side that were champions in large part due to the man Moyes replaced.

So why do I say United have become England? Because they’re a mediocre team? That played a part though there have been notable improvements to the personnel and yes, Woodward’s dealings left a lot to be desired. But the big problem with England, which became the big problem with United is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of history. United players are playing as if they’ve got the world crashing down on their shoulders. Fergie’s departure, coupled with the hiring of Moyes, left United players in a state where they didn’t know what to do. The boss was gone and the new guy seemed to be just as fearful as they were. It would have been easier if Fergie had left a better team behind or if he had been replaced by someone who wasn’t overawed by the job he was taking on but that first post-Fergie season became a nightmare both because the players weren’t good enough and because they were unable to cope with the new reality.

The first Van Gaal season was slightly better but the damage was done and the fact they struggled to make the top four ended up compounding that fear and doubt, which is what led to what happened in Van Gaal’s second season. Every time England play, the weight of expectation and the fear of failure leads to the inevitable failure they’re afraid of. That’s what’s been happening to United. Mourinho is, in theory at least, the right guy to drag them out of that. The players are starting to click, starting to play football but the results haven’t matched the performances. It happened a few times under Van Gaal. United looked to be turning a corner but then they’d get a couple of bad results and slide back down again.

United’s swagger is long gone. Fear and the pressure that comes with that fear has drained it from them. It was thought that personalities like Zlatan and Pogba would help do what Cantona did and bring that swagger back but ultimately, what United need is a winning streak. Every draw and every loss right now only serves to undo whatever progress Mourinho is making. A five or even ten game winning streak would give them that confidence and restore that swagger.

Manchester United should be top of the table. They should be steamrolling teams, scoring goals, playing entertaining football with a swagger. We say that. We think that. The trouble is, so do the players and every time those things don’t happen, the pressure grows, the fear grows and the results get worse. Mourinho’s biggest challenge is to do what Fergie did so brilliantly and that’s to get them winning, even when they’re not playing well. Do that and the everything else will fall into place.

England are a team that breeze through qualifying, but when it really matters, when the pressure is on, the fear of failure paralyses the team. The same has been true of United these past few seasons. The pressure isn’t going to go away. When you’re told you’re part of the biggest club in the world and you’re expected to win, that’s going to mess with your head when things aren’t going well. They haven’t gone well for the past three seasons (FA Cup aside) and Mourinho needs to find a way to get them winning on a consistent basis. Do that and the swagger will return. Don’t and it’s going to be a long way back.
Steve, Cork

 

Confirming what we all thought: Storey and Winty rule
Based on a model I made to see how your predictions for the season would compare to the first half of the season, the results were:
Daniel Storey 4.33
Sarah W 4.33
Matt Stead 2.66
Johnny Nic 2.22
Nick Miller 3.66
Jamo, Nairobi (I was bored and I have a statistics exam tomorrow so…)
Revamp the Champions League please
There seems to be a lot of talk of how the Champions League has become too predictable and the meaningful games are few and far between until you hit February when the knockout begins. While that’s true I believe there is a very simple way of changing the format that could reinvigorate the entire tournament while keeping nearly every team happy.

The simple change is to, instead of having a 32-team group stage, have a fourth qualifying round which leads into a 16-team group stage then into the quarter-final etc. I feel there are far too many weak teams in the group stage and by weeding out the weaker teams in the fourth qualifying round it could lead to a lot more meaningful matches in the group stages and therefore more in the tournament as a whole.

The big teams will be happy because their revenue streams will remain constant (unless they have an absolute shocker in the fourth qualifying round which will make that round entertaining) as they come into the CL at this stage so play the same number of matches, the smaller teams would be content because, while their revenue may be dented a bit by not playing six games, they will be able to have a crack at one of the big teams in a one-off two-legged affair where one bad performance by the elite team could mean passage into the more coveted 16-team group stage. The teams that get knocked out will be shunted directly into the Europa League group stage. Most of all us fans would tune in to watch a lot more of the CL because nearly every game will be important from August/September onwards and the group stage would throw up mouth-watering affairs as Europe’s elite clubs do battle on a bi weekly basis pre-Christmas. There would be at least three top teams going for the two positions into the quarter finals and that would make the games worthwhile in the group stage.

It’s just a thought. My main gripe, and I am sure it is a lot of other people’s as well, is that the group stage of the CL is far too diluted and, therefore predictable and while the number of games will decrease, the number of meaningful games would increase giving the tournament a shot in the arm I feel it needs.
Oisin NZ (Why don’t English teams want to win the Europa League? It’s now Tottenham’s and United’s best chance to get into the CL and I hope both take it seriously this year)

 

Choosing Chelsea as your second club? Really?
I’m a Coventry City fan, and as we haven’t won anything or finished in the top six of any league for just shy of 40 years, I chose myself a premiership ‘bit on the side’ to follow. In 2003 I chose Chelsea…

I am very happy to declare this was all about the money, as a previously neutral watcher of the Premiership I was extremely bored of the same Arsenal/United title runs with the occasional third team trying to wrestle in. Seeing a side come in with a blank cheque book to disrupt the very stale, boring handbags between Arsene and Sir Alex was wonderful.

One of my favourite parts was the backlash from United fans of the Chelsea spending spree, before Chelsea the main big spenders were United who were in a league of their own, spending over £30m on a single player in the two windows before Abramovic arrived.

Chelsea have been the real world equivalent of cheating on FM to give yourself endless cash, then having a rollercoaster career buying anyone you feel like (mainly players who play well against you to stop them), then watching everything go wrong on a regular basis.

The points made in the mailbox about the fans are pretty much bang on, but remember these racists or hooligans are the minority.

Overall I think the Chelsea situation has been brilliant fun so far (racism aside) and long may it continue.
Sam

 

Challenging the Chelsea Hate Club
I’ve followed the ‘why we hate Chelsea’ chat with interest and I want in.

You hate Chelsea because of scum like Terry, Ashley Cole and Diego Costa? Really? Well show me a club that has never had its fair share of scum players and I’ll show you a liar. So in that case, let us hate all the clubs. And sure, hate Chelsea because of Terry, Ashley Cole and Diego Costa but forget about the lovable players like Vialli, Zola, Makelele, Cech, Mata, Azpilicueta etc.

While we are at that… Remember when Man Utd legend, Ryan Giggs, had an eight-year affair with his brother’s wife? Good, we hate Man Utd now. Remember when Arsenal legend Thierry Henry cheated Republic of Ireland out of a World Cup place? Good, we hate Arsenal now. Liverpool’s favourite Uruguayan has a rapsheet as long as the sea. Plus the club shielded him from his racism storm and even had the players wear solidarity t-shirts in his honour. Good, Liverpool goes into our hate list.

You hate Chelsea because of their hooligan/racist fans? Did you see that video of Chelsea fans racially abusing a man in Paris? Well, take a few minutes to google the words “hooligans fans” or “racist fans” along with any club name of your choice and you will discover enough YouTube videos to hate all clubs. Again, every club has the good and despicable among their fans so yes, we really should hate all clubs.

You hate Chelsea because Abramovich’s money inflated transfer fees and wages, thereby ruining football? Well, perhaps you did not notice the yearly increase of football transfer fees long before 2003. Also, you did not notice that football has always been about the money especially since the early 90s with the rebranding of the Premier League and the Champions League. Forget about the regular increase in broadcasting rights revenue, let’s just blame it all on Roman and his oil money.

And it especially grates me when an Arsenal fan or a Spurs fan accuses Chelsea of monetizing the game when they proudly tell us that they prefer the money and glamour of ‘4th place trophy’ and Champions League rollcall over actual trophies like the League Cup and FA Cup. But no, let’s blame Chelsea for ruining football.

On that note let’s play a little game. Assume that Mr. Roman took his rubles to Arsenal rather than Chelsea. In that case, Arsenal would not have had the stadium debt because Roman would have covered the debt the way he did for Chelsea. Then Mr. Wenger would not have operated on a shoestring budget all these years. Then Arsenal probably would have had a few more league trohpies along with a shiny new stadium. So, Arsenal fans, in 2016, would we be saying that Arsenal ruined football?

PS: James, Singapore tells us about that time when Fabregas moved his hand in front of Erik Lamela’s boot so he could claim he was stamped on. Dear James, did you also notice that split-second when Diego Costa moved his eye in front of Dembele’s fingers so that he could claim he was gouged? I think it was a character in I-Robots that said: “Prejudice doesn’t hold much reason.”
Franklin, (Does this sound like a facts rant?), CFC, Lagos

 

Lucky Chelsea? Not for me…
Haven’t written for a while. As a lifelong Chelsea fan I do understand some of the reasons for such an intense dislike of the club particularly the element of racist undertones amongst a small minority of fans, the so called ‘nouveau riche’ positioning of the club since Abramovich took control (although let’s be clear we were a successful club prior to his takeover), and the unlikeable personalities such as JT, Mourinho, Faria et al. I get that.

However it has been referenced a few times in the maibox that the Champions League victory in 2012 was lucky, I have to bite at those jealous accusations.

Whilst we did ride our luck in the final against a strong Bayern Munich team in the very partisan Allianz Arena, we had a team decimated by injury and suspensions. Ryan Bertrand started in midfield, Cahill and Luiz both played despite not being fully fit. Terry and Ramires both suspended. Clearly Bayern should have put the game to bed but they didn’t and thanks to monumental performances from Cech, Lampard and Drogba we won on penalties.

The mental fortitude in that team was amazing – the only other Premiership team that would have dug out a result in such circumstances was a Man Utd side during the SAF reign. Spurs and Arsenal would both have crumbled in such a situation. We didn’t and beat Bayern in their own backyard.

Finally the route to the final included two-legged wins against Napoli, Sporting Lisbon and Barcelona (including the memorable 2-2 draw in the Camp Nou with 10 men) That’s not lucky – its displays team spirit, doggedness and mental fortitude. People can hate/dislike Chelsea but give credit where it’s due. Lucky? Not a chance.
Chris Nixon (F365 gets better and better) CFC, Surrey

 

More on Craig Dawson
I realize I’m a couple of days late to the Craig Dawson debate, but I was going back over the West Brom-Watford game from last weekend (I know, don’t say it) and found that Dawson played a vital part in all three Albion goals.

On the first goal, he got to a clearance before a defender, then drove forward and won a corner. West Brom scored from the corner.

On the second goal, he got to a clearance before a defender and volleyed it forward to Chris Brunt, who was fouled while going for the ball. West Brom scored from the free kick.

On the third goal, he intercepted a long ball and volleyed it forward to Matt Phillips, who went on to exchange passes with a teammate before scoring.

None of these contributions make the stats, but they’re exactly the sort of things that Dawson does on a regular basis, and why Baggies fans love him so much. Another way he contributes is as a secondary target man. Some clubs send a fullback forward to receive long balls from the keeper – I’ve even seen Chelsea do it with Branislav Ivanovic – and Dawson, who can outjump most opposing wing players, plays the role very well.

Admittedly, he’s only an average defender. But he scores goals off set-pieces and contributes to the overall team effort in many other ways. Among Premier League full-backs, he’s solidly in the middle of the pack. I can think of several teams who could use him.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA

 

Mail from Bournemouth’s one fan
I wrote in a few weeks back after we had just lost an awful match against Sunderland (the first win in their current run of three in four).

Since then we’ve beaten Stoke and Liverpool (it was bloody brilliant wasn’t it). This led me to the realisation that we’ve taken the majority of our points from teams above us in the league which seems like a topsy-turvy way of doing things.

By my count we’ve taken 13 of a potential 24 from the teams above us (Beat Stoke, Liverpool, Everton, West Brom. Drew with Tottenham and Lost to Man City, United and Arsenal). Whereas we’ve only taken five of a potential 18 from the teams below us. Is this something other teams have or is it just part of our crazy season. Perhaps the next three games (Burnley, Leicester, Saints) will shift that balance a bit but either way it’s very strange.

Anyone else feeling like their team’s results are all a bit wrong this season?
Paul (Fitting the stereotype that ‘every Premier League fan in 90 seconds’ guy uses for Bournemouth fans with my unnecessary verbosity) – Eddie Howe’s Barmy Army

 

Attacking The Last Defender
I think it’s best to start with the content of the recent ‘The last defender’. I don’t like music when a goal is scored, it’s silly, the crowd should be noisy already without needing musical accompaniment.

However, that point aside, it was this line that grabbed my attention:

‘for all I express bewilderment at such shocking over-investment of emotion in football’

Over-investment? Shocking? Not for me, Clive.

In my life I have a business to run, a three-year-old and a ‘significant other’. Then I have football.

Football is the only area in my life I can express what I am truly feeling. Be it disgust, annoyance, unbridled joy or any of the cacophony of emotions that I go through at the ground or watching on TV.

Can I tell a customer they’re ‘really getting on my nerves’ (to put it politely)? No, I smile and assist them.

Can tell my girlfriend what I REALLY think of that dress? No (well not if I want to keep my head)

Every area of my life is a balance, a fight between the true emotions and what is acceptable in society (and in my house!).

That is of course untill I’m watching football. I can scream and shout, get overly excited (not like that mucky minds) fall to my knees, bite my nails (literally and figuratively), feel unbridled joyful euphoria and my girlfriend will laugh knowing I’m watching football, my son will copy me knowing its only because football is on im acting like I am.

Football is a release from everyday life, that’s why it can never be a shocking over-investment.
Graham