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Prem split?
Reading Brian Reade’s bit on the Europa League in Mediawatch earlier, I thought I’d offer everyone this weird quirk happening here (the Czech Republic) from this season to make the Europa League a bit of a carrot rather than the pointless slog some people think it must be.
Now I’ve got a lot of love for the Champions League’s mildly-maligned, snot-nosed cousin, so I’m kind of for this idea. For the first time ever, the 1. Liga is doing the regular league (16 teams, so 30 games) and then a split. Interestingly, it’s a three-way split. The top six play each other in the championship group, the bottom six in the relegation group and, cutely, the middle four in the UEFA League group, the winner of that little lot getting a Europa League qualifying place.
The middle of the 1. Liga has always been an utter bun-fight, so it might be a matter more of luck than judgement if you finish 6th, 7th or 11th and the relevant group that lands you in, but it’s quite nice that if you do finish up in the middle group you’ve a) got nothing to worry about, unlike everyone else, and b) you’ve got a shot at Europe by playing teams on your level.
It also means we should get a wider variety of teams getting to have a crack at it. Say one of the big teams (Sparta, Slavia, Viktoria Plzeň) wins the league, there’s the CL spot gone. The winner of the Cup gets a Europa League place (or the losing finalist if the league winner does that too), so this offers a third route for teams who, out of the Cup and thinking they’ve got nothing to play for, find themselves in this middle group, with no pressure and with a bunch of players who might previously have been on the beach, as I feel I’m cliche-bound to say. Get them to give one last push over a couple of games and bang, European football.
What does everyone think? Good idea or nonsense?
David (Zbrojovkast!) Szmidt, Brno, Czech Rep.
Say it ain’t Joe
Mediawatch rightly took issue with Brian Reade’s column on comparing young stars to Gazza, but I’m surprised you didn’t have more outrage about one line: “the likes of Joe Cole, Kieron Dyer and Ross Barkley crumpled under the weight of being viewed as Gazza’s heir”. Joe Cole?! Is that the same Joe Cole who got 56 England caps, was a crucial part of several title-winning Chelsea teams, and scored some phenomenal goals? Winner of the Intertoto Cup with West Ham in 1999? Injuries ruining the later years of his career shouldn’t detract from how great the first 8-10 seasons were. I never liked the rest of that Chelsea team, but he was one of those maverick players who always made me smile. He doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with Ross Barkley.
Ollie, Bristol
Spurs should play at Wembley all season
I never relished Liverpool playing at the old WHL, certainly since Spurs got good; the atmosphere was always huge and we were blown away there more than once. WHL II will be the same but double. Wembley just doesn’t inspire the same fervour.
Now it appears that Liverpool will play Spurs at Wembley, while Man City will (barring further delays) be the debut opposition at WHL II. What if Liverpool snatched a win at Wembley in front of a restive crowd, then a couple of weeks later City went to WHL II and were overwhelmed by a Spurs team feeding off the fans’ housewarming party? What if Liverpool then went on to win the league from City by one point? It would be difficult to argue that the uneven playing field hadn’t contributed.
Of course, odds are City will win the league by 10 points and this won’t matter, and the vagaries of chance (injuries, form and priorities) will undeniably play a much larger part in deciding games and titles. However the crucial difference is that where Spurs play their home games is the only one of these factors that the Premier League can control – and in permitting them to play some teams here and some teams there, the fundamental equality that is the basis of the league system is (slightly) compromised.
Given that their new stadium wasn’t ready for their first home fixture, it shouldn’t be made available for any of the other eighteen.
JG LFC (There’s always next year, as we Liverpool fans say)
As to the laughable justification that “It’s a waste to have it standing empty for six months”, to paraphrase Wernham Hogg warehouse manager Glyn: You think we care as much about your new stadium as you do? Just because you let some useless tosser blow his construction budget up your security concerns. Well done, merry f&%king Christmas.
Nations League shoo-ins
Following on from your article on ‘So what the f*** is the UEFA Nations League‘ wouldn’t it be so typically English for us to go and win it.
Let me take you back to the summer of 1997 in France. Le Tournoi. Four of the best teams in the world competing in a round robin competition that served as a warm up for France hosting the world cup the following year.
The teams?
France including Barthez, Blanc, Desailly, Thuram, Lizarazu, Veira, Deschamps, Zidane, Pires
Brazil including Ronaldo, Romario, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Denilson, Leonardo, Dunga
Italy including Cannavaro, Costacurta, Maldini, Vieri, Inzaghi, Del Piero, Zidane, Casiraghi
and England
England topped the group with six points to lift the trophy. Do we feast out on this triumph and tell our kids about that summer of glory. Nope. It’s forgotten as a friendly tournament which meant nothing. 30 years of hurt is now 52 and counting.
Now don’t get me wrong, I actually like the new format of the UEFA Nations League but wouldn’t it just be so typically us……..
Ross (Tottenham also won the Premier League Asia Trophy in 2009) NorwichSpurs
Dat Guy grief
Sorry, but why the hell does Danny Welbeck come in for such a hard time?
He’s the squad’s second top scorer and was the top scorer going into the World Cup.
He doesn’t act like a knobhead – he works really hard, and he offers a threat from the bench.
He also scored the other day against West Ham.
I’m not saying Danny should start but surely a striker that can score off the bench and has scored a buttload for his country already, is always worthy of inclusion.
What’s more he’s only 27 – so he’s hardly ready for the knackers yard yet!
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
Saints malaise
Lovely job by Steven Chicken articulating the blandness surrounding Saints right now. I was rounded upon in the mailbox last year for suggesting Hughes was a (another) poor appointment at St Marys, the general gist being I as wrong because he’d clearly already inspired the players to up their workload and appear more interested. (Which frankly should be the minimum expectation of any new manager). I was perhaps too hasty to pin all the blame on Hughes (despite him clearly being a poor appointment, is anyone still pro-Hughes?), I should have shared the blame with the board, and their lack of vision/strategy.
Like UTD and Jose, why would you expect anything different from a man that has implemented the same strategy and attitude at every club he’s ever managed at? UTD and Saints are getting exactly what was expected from their managers. Everyone knew what Saints were getting when they appointed Hughes … Uninspiring football, ambitions of nothing more than survival (Hughes has never been relegated did you know?!), the miserable uninspiring ‘it’s not my fault’ interviews, the half-arsed cup runs. As Chicken says – As a fan I much rather see a manager try and play balls out attacking football, try to entertain, put out strong side in the cups, spend with plan … even if it ends in relegation. (The EFL is more fun anyway!). I get Pellegrino was supposed to be in that mold, but because it failed once doesn’t mean we should throw that entire plan straight out of the window. OK Pellegrino didn’t work, but the plan should still be to attempt attacking progressive football. No one wants to be the next Leeds, but let’s at least see an ambitions vision for the club, something more than staying above 3 shitter, less interesting clubs. I’m not expecting miracles, we’re a small provincial club … but as we proved between 2013-16/17 it can be done, but I’m still not convinced that starts with Hughes at the helm.
Kind Regards,
David Moore
…Steady on Steven, I like your writing, your varied verbalising on the sorry state of Southampton made me smile. But this paragraph “The Football League is littered with former top-half Premier League clubs that lost their way and never came back, former magnificent galleons now bobbing uselessly in the ocean void” while evocative is a little harsh on the leagues below.
Leeds, Villa, Forest, the Sheffield’s, perennially Newcastle, Sunderland etc.. all big clubs that failed in the premier league due to mismanagement yes. But to describe their time in the Championship as “bobbing uselessly in the ocean void” is elitist in the extreme.
They are simply mighty flagships that lost their battles and now fight in a different arena, the King’s favour has gone and they no longer sail alongside the other Royal Vessels, but they have purpose and they have meaning, they are likely just biding their time waiting for their chance to impress the Admiral and rejoin the glorious endless war for the Crown.
Keep up the metaphors mind, as long as they don’t mention that little tw#t Harry Potter.
Alay (not a fan of Potter), N15 Gooner
Lay off Leroy
Am I the only one who thinks he Leroy Sane criticism is just a massive overreaction and people just sucking off Pep in agreeing he was right to drop him? Pep was full of sh*t when he said he feels sorry for him in his press conference. Okay sure, Sterling is probably being more effective in terms of goal scoring, but yeah I just find it weird how much shit he is being given. He didn’t get called up to the World Cup after smashing last season, as Germany had no pace or counter-attacking threat whatsoever and and now Kroos has the cheek to say he needs to improve too!
Pundits are becoming oversensitive sheep who jump to conclusions without giving any real thought now! (Aka Jamie Redknapp)
Rami, London (Sane over Martial or Rashford at the moment!)
No fear for Phil Foden
Unsure exactly what made Daniel Storey think that Phil Foden doesn’t have a chance of making it at Man City. Is it the fact that senior players refer to him as “Pep’s Lad”? Or maybe that he’s only started once and made the bench four times this season? No, wait: it’s because Pep said “Phil is part of the team. When you talk about Phil it’s like you speak about Gundogan, Kevin [De Bruyne], David [Silva]… He will be a football player for us for a long, long time”, right? I mean it can’t just be because he’s not a Man City regular at 18, can it?
Would Daniel really rather an 18-year-old was loaned to the Championship instead of learning how to play exceptionally high level football with Guardiola, Silva, De Bruyne et al? I mean, if I were Phil Foden, I know which I’d rather be doing. So let’s not get our knickers in a twist just yet; if Foden’s head is in the right place (and by all accounts it seems to be), he’ll be a star of world football in the coming years. And it will almost certainly be Guardiola and Man City (ugh, but credit where credit’s due) we have to thank for that.
Alex G, THFC
Spontaneous substitution
Just a continuation of a chat I had with someone at work.
What happened to the days of the genius substitution? Mourinho used to make all 3 subs together, another time I’m sure he subbed someone off after about 20 – 25 minutes because the formation wasn’t working. Solksjaer on for Fergie? Flo by Chelsea?
Nowadays (and I could be missing something), they seem to be pre – planned, based on some kind of graph or fitness analysis. The spontaneity of them seems to have been erased.
Am I mistaken? I do currently have the flu and am on some strong meds, so could be.
Kiran, Sydney WHUFC
Copying France
Isn’t that system Mike described this morning exactly how Man United hope to line up? Classic back four, defensive midfield three of Pogba, Matic, Fred. Sanchez as Griezmann, Lukaku as a target man and someone like Lingard as a poor man’s Mbappe.
And therein lies the answer as to why nobody else is trying it.
JCNUFC (Ashleyoot)
…To reply to Auckland Blue, “Why doesn’t anyone copy France?”… West Brom and Tony Pulis were the “pre France” if you will, playing four defenders and three holding midfielders for most of last season.
We got relegated. The point being you can only play that system if you have players like Mbappe, Pogba and Griezemann. Players moving between the lines, a fluidity that makes formations academic – 4321 into 442 into 541 into 235at any given time. Otherwise it’s a defensive wall of seven with Chris Brunt hopefully aiming for Rondon in the middle distance.
No-one wants that.
Andy Jones
Away goals
While the away goals rule is imperfect, there has to be some merit in an idea that encourages teams to try to score goals. Taking the current tie-breakers and removing the away goals rule, you’d see more stalemates played out as teams wait for a penalty shootouts. Which is less fair? Losing on a lottery or to a goal that, owing to a quirk of circumstance, counts for double?
It’s worth remembering that the away goals rule was brought in to avoid the need for a third leg, played at a neutral ground. We could always bring that back – I’m sure managers won’t mind an extra game as they never complain about fixture congestion. Currently, the away goals rule requires teams to play well at both ends of the field: visiting sides have to come out of their shells at some point, and home sides must dominate in attack and defence to ensure the away goals rule can’t work against them. Most scenarios after the first leg leave the ties in the balance for the return fixture, largely because of the away goals rule. Without this, what’s actually stopping teams from doing nothing for 210 minutes (two games and extra time) and then pinning their hopes on winning a penalty shootout?
Often people say football is a game of opinions, but more often it’s a game of excuses. Teams complain about how unjust it is to be knocked out on away goals, and how cruel losing a shootout can be. No one likes losing, though some of us, through practice, have become quite good at it, but it’s easier to blame something you don’t like it about a rule both teams were playing to than it is to acknowledge you didn’t take as much advantage of them as your opponents did. These complaints miss the point that sport, by its very nature, is incredibly unfair. The consequences of success and failure are often wholly disproportionate to the margin of victory and defeat, but that’s not exclusive to football, it’s everywhere in life.
Ed Quoththeraven (may not be entirely serious)
Golden goals
I believe I have a solution for the away goals and extra time conundrum; remove away goals and bring back the “golden goal” rule. For those that may have forgotten, “golden goal” signifies that the team which scores first in extra time automatically wins the game. I know some of you may be groaning as you read this but hear me out.
With golden goal we can reduce the number of games that go to penalties as penalties are often considered a cruel method of determining the winner. If golden goal was instituted teams would need to make a crucial decision; gamble everything to score and win or be ultra-conservative to avoid conceding. Some teams would attempt something in between but that can be quite difficult to implement.
Eliminating the away goals rule would mean that more games would go to extra time but with golden goal more games would be decided by a justifiably fairer method than penalties.
Having said this, I’ve just realised that many matches may involve both teams being too conservative out of fear of conceding a goal and the match going to penalties anyway after a dreary extra time period which is not too different from what happens in many matches now. Well, never mind.
Vish (AFC), Melbourne
Solanke concern
Some interesting comments today from Aidy Boothroyd about Dominic Solanke and his development.
Firstly, I don’t think anyone needs to be too concerned about Liverpool hampering the development of England footballers, I’m sure Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold would be among the first to agree.
Secondly, we have played 4 games of the season, whilst managers no doubt have a clear idea of their preferred first XI, I’m not sure any of us can say with certainty what the effects of form and fitness will be and all clubs have decently sized squads for exactly this reason – Liverpool are no different in that regard.
Thirdly, looking objectively at Liverpools current squad, Solanke is at best the 5th choice forward behind Salah, Firmino, Mané, Sturridge, and probably on a par with Divock Origi in a tussle for that 5th choice spot. Again – after 4 games – its not surprising that the 5th choice in any position for any club has yet to make an appearance.
Finally, he says that “the fact [young players] have got to go abroad to play is a real red flag for the authorities”. I have to say I fundamentally disagree. Even without tearing this down from the obvious “little Englander” perspective, the fact that major Premier League clubs have used loans to the European leagues (including clear tie-ups with the likes of Royal Antwerp or Vitesse Arnhem to name just two) to develop young players demonstrates that this is a sensible means of players getting competitive football at a good standard.
Surely as manager of England U-21, he ought to be delighted that his pool of available players are getting exposure to playing regular competitive football, and perhaps even getting an insight into the tactics and styles of play they are likely to come up against in the international arena?
Believe it or not Mr Boothroyd, there’s a whole world out there beyond the UK shores.
Terry Hall, Switzerland
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