The extraordinary delays in a resolution to the Terry-Ferdinand affair have already resulted in the wholly unnecessary cop-out by the FA and the Premier League in asking Chelsea and QPR to forego handshakes in their recent league clash. The pointlessness of team handshakes apart, the worst that could have happened would have been the whole of the QPR contingent refusing to shake John Terry’s hand.

Now you might refuse to shake Terry’s hand on principle in any case, but the more likely explanation was that the football authorities wanted to avoid the sort of press fiasco that followed Wayne Bridge’s refusal to shake John Terry’s hand and therefore deny tabloids extra ammunition to throw at Terry / the FA / English football in general.

Fair enough – but surely this could have been resolved a lot quicker through an expedited judicial process where the relevant witnesses and parties involved would have been due in court regardless of their ‘footballing’ commitments? Unless the reasons for the delay have nothing to do with time and everything to do with Chelsea and the English FA.

John Terry’s history with racism

A lot of people forget that John Terry has priors when it comes to racist comments – a few years ago he was thought to have racially abused Ledley King during a Chelsea-Tottenham game. Terry was already getting sent off for an incident that happened in actual play, but the reaction of players on both sides was damning. King, Zokora and Chimbonda all squared up to Terry, with Essien and Makelele from Chelsea’s side running up to Terry and asking him to repeat what he’d said.

That incident is long gone from the memories of the tabloid press but it’s just one of many indiscretions by Terry (and his family) – and there’s sufficient evidence (even if the press isn’t using all of it) to suggest that if there are any moral standards to being a captain of Chelsea and England, John Terry shouldn’t be it.

The best of John Terry

There’s sufficient evidence to suggest that Terry plays at his best when he’s dogged by controversies (on or off the field). His performance against QPR is just one of many telling contributions he’s made in a Chelsea shirt, and after every controversy there seems to follow a hallmark John Terry performance on the pitch as if to underscore the point that regardless of what you may think of him as a person, as a footballer he must be respected.

Despite the negative headlines, Chelsea are likely to benefit from an under-siege John Terry, and England will also benefit from a charged up captain determined to prove that he’s still the best. So regardless of the questions made over his footballing ability, the fact is that if Terry is picked for the Euros, the press uproar will be good enough for him to raise his game to a sufficiently high level.

So now it comes to what impact his presence would have on the rest of the England squad. Before I answer that, consider the key influences in the England squad – Terry, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, and recently Joe Hart (you can include Lampard and Gerrard in that list too). Rio’s injuries mean that he’s no longer first-choice for England, and all of the other players in the above list are generally close pals of John Terry.

You only have to look at Capello’s reinstatement of John Terry as captain to understand the support he has inside the team – with Rio’s injuries making him unavailable (ditto with Gerrard), the first choice for captain was Terry. With Rooney biding his time until the seniors retire, there are hardly any players in the England squad who would be both central to England’s chances in the Euros and would be opposed to John Terry being in the England squad.

So at the end of the day, Capello and the FA have a simple choice – they can take the moral ground, or they can put the squad first and value performances over everything else. We keep lambasting the FA for bowing down to the press and not making the right choice. This is the rare moment when (so far) they’ve stood firm against public outcry. It might not be the right thing to do, but it may actually help England’s performances at the Euros.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

We may be going into 2012 but with PR agencies it still feels like 2006 at times.

I started Soccerlens.com way back in April 2006 – and one of the lasting memories of the last five and a half years has been the treatment of football bloggers by PR agencies promoting their clients. I say ‘treatment’ because there has been a very distinct pattern to the blogosphere-PR world relationship – we’ve gone from being completely ignored to being completely inundated and taken advantage of.

Look, I like free stuff as much as the next guy but being asked to give brands exposure – however limited – for free seemed like a stupid idea at the start and still seems stupid. As I wrote a last year ago in Football PR 101, marketing is simple – get to know your contact, treat them as real people and give them value first before you ask them to do something for you. Not everyone wants money, but if they do, you should either be willing to pay, or find another solution.

And this bring us to this week, when I got an email from a PR agency representing adidas (yes, the new guys). Now I’ve been working with adidas for a while – through their UK and global agencies, and the guys at Hill & Knowlton and WeAreSocial are some the best in the business (hat tip to Seb, Glen and Chris). these are long standing personal relationships – emphasis on personal – and they work even if we don’t always promote what thy send us.

The email I got – and I’m sure everyone else got as well – was poorly phrased. It wasn’t a big deal – I made a couple of tweets criticisng it (1, 2, 3 and 4) and left it at that. Since I knew the other PR guys personally and after all, I run a digital media agency myself, I know that this doesn’t mean that adidas don’t get blogging – their Own the Game event was spectacular – its just that some young kid was trying to impress and got it horribly wrong.

That wasn’t important though – what’s really important is how adidas reacted. They could have easily ignored it and swept it under the carpet, but here’s the classic example of how proactive engagement of your community can help turn a negative feedback into an overwhelmingly positive recommendation.

Immediately after my tweets, I had a Skype conversation with one of my adidas PR guys. The next day, I had a call with adidas UK‘s senior PR manager, and a follow up email from him and my second PR contact. The same day, my miCoach boots arrived – a complete coincidence, I’m sure, but for the purposes of this story I’d like to think that adidas rushed them through to me as a result of those conversations.

The key theme during all three conversations – how much they value us as a blogging partner and an apology for that out of context contact.

I’m not telling you this to score points or show how important we are – we’re not – and I know that they’d say the same to any other blog, but GODDAMMIT, adidas GET PR. They are, like the ad, all in when it comes to client relationships, and the same goes for their PR agencies. I came away impressed by their dedication to positively resolving what was, to be honest, a non issue and mostly a critique of the new PR agency itself.

We don’t care about free stuff most of the time – and given that the PR business is mostly about earned media, the need for personal relationships is greater than ever.

And that’s where adidas is miles ahead of the competition. I could talk to you about Nike and Umbro and Puma and their respective PR agencies, but why care about them when they don’t care about us?

adidas cares. And because they care, we care.

adidas is all in. If only other brands and PR agencies did the same, they would get so much better coverage from bloggers. Something to think about.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Earlier this week I came across the ‘Global Game‘ initiative launched by Nick Harris (Mail on Sunday, Sporting Intelligence). It’s a great idea, hopefully it catches on and more and more people from different parts of the world who follow football (and especially the English Premier League) can contribute to it.

In the meantime, here’s my submission – and you can make your own submission by following the instructions here.

How It’s Like To Watch The English Premier League In Pakistan

Name:
Ahmed Bilal.

Age:
29.

Occupation:
CEO, Football Media and Editor, Soccerlens.

Club:
Manchester United since 1994. It was a computer game, based on Man Utd. A strange but enduring love.

Last Game watched:
Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal.

Date:
29 Oct 2011.

Time:
Saturday evening local time (early afternoon UK).

Where:
At a friend’s house, in Lahore. You do get people watching together in public places but given that there are no bars, it’s more of a personal / social experience than a public one.

Who else was watching:
Myself and a couple of other friends. Incidentally all Manchester United fans.

TV Channel carrying the game:
ESPN Star Sports (Which is a JV between ESPN and News Corp (STAR)).

How much does it cost:
I pay PKR 350 / month to my local cable company that provides us with 80+ channels, including a handful of sports channels. That’s $4 / month or £2.53 / month. You don’t get HD, but it’s affordable for most people here (i.e. anyone who can at least afford a TV).

What’s the local tipple and how much does it cost:
Fun question. In theory, alcohol is a banned substance, on religious grounds and also by law. Practically, if you are inclined, and you have the money (it’s usually 50% to 100% more expensive than what it would cost you in US or UK) and have the right phone numbers, you can get a limited variety of the average stuff. Since it’s an ‘underground’ market demand drives supply and that in turn means a limited selection to choose from.

Having said that, it’s a lot more common than people think – and if you move in higher circles of society, it’s a must.

Plus we have our own brewery (Murree Brewery) – again something people wouldn’t expect from a country that bans the consumption of alcohol.

One person’s preferences don’t always reflect local culture but usually drinking for me is more of a social experience, so when I’m watching the game at home it’s unlikely to be with a beer or a glass of wine. With friends though, it’s a whole different story.

What’s the popularity of the English Premier League in the country where you live:
Absolutely massive. Whereas a decade or two ago international teams still held greater sway (I remember the 98 and 02 World Cups being more popular than club football (Premier League / Champions League), you’re now seeing a much greater, more widespread interest in the Premier League. Partially it’s because the Premier League is always on TV, which is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. There isn’t enough Spanish, Italian, German or Dutch football to be seen on TV and that’s where you have to commend the marketing machine of the Premier League in getting to international markets first.

TV, then, has had a major role to play in promoting the Premier League in Pakistan and it would be easy to say it’s the only reason – Pakistan hasn’t been the focus of pre-season tours like Far-East Asia or the US, nor have we hosting international / major club teams like India.

But there are other cultural factors as well – the prevalence of football as a sport among the youth, coinciding neatly with the decline of several other major sports in Pakistan (including cricket), the strong social ties Pakistan enjoys with the UK in terms of population movement as well as, at the end of the day, the Internet.

Before the Premier League football used to be a sport people played. Even growing up, football was more of an athletic / social pursuit first, a game to watch on TV second. The liberalisation of TV channels here around the start of the decade coupled with the sheer explosion of the Premier League and it’s success in attracting football fans to a whole new world means that football is easily the second most popular sport in the country (and cricket is rapidly losing it’s charm). The Premier League has a big role to play in that popularity.

Any other observations:
UK fans (and many expats) are traditionally supporters of a team because they grew up watching up, or their family supports them, or even because they are the first team they saw in action. But there is a growing section of the global fanbase that has only ever watched football on TV, so their loyalties are formed by initial exposure to the sport. You can almost tell a person’s age and time of exposure to football by the team they support. At the start of the previous decade many people started supporting Arsenal (the big team of that time). There was a massive increase in the number of Chelsea fans in the Mourinho years. Barcelona has similarly enjoyed an upswing in support, partly because of their phenomenal success but also because of the likes of Ronaldinho and Messi being idolised by young footballers.

Are they glory hunters? Maybe at the start, but a lot of informal research suggests that after a certain period of time supporting a team, a fan will inevitably follow their team through thick and thin and behave like a ‘proper’ fan. Here’s a good article on glory fans that describes this better than me.

Another major factor is how players bring new fans to teams, and it’s something we’ve seen here in Pakistan with how Ronaldinho and Messi brought new fans to Barcelona despite Spanish football coverage lagging far behind the Premier League. But is it the chief cause? No – success, exposure and player appeal, all have a role to play.

It’s a shame that no international football club or team is likely to visit Pakistan in the near future because of the local instability, although like all things on the news there is a lot more propaganda and fear-mongering than reality. I think you would find that, just like everywhere else in the world, Pakistani football fans just want to watch good football, and when it comes to footballing culture, they enjoy being a part of something bigger and more powerful than themselves. It certainly lends to easy friendships (are you a United fan? you must be alright then), arguments (all Arsenal fans are pompous and arrogant) and overall, a good social experience.

Unless you get beaten 6-1 by Man City, that is. That just numbs you to the core.

Check out if your country has been covered yet and if not, make sure you send in your own experiences here.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

All of Messi’s 202 goals scored for Barcelona (2005-2011), in a simple, no-frills video. After the constant adulation, it is still ridiculous how good is really is.

Of course, when you’re playing with the likes of Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Henry and Iniesta, it gets a bit easier. But we tend to forget how the young Messi was still phenomenally good, as his early goals for Barcelona show:

For more great football video compilations, check out this YouTube channel.

Spotter’s Credit: Ahmed Umair.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Football wages are a ridiculously easy target – whether it’s the high wages paid by Chelsea and then Manchester City, the astronomical wage bills of Barcelona and Real Madrid fueled by unequal TV deals or the retirement homes that front as football clubs in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, football wages have steadily increased in the last 20-25 years.

But by how much? And is the growth spread evenly across all tiers of the game or concentrated at the highest level? You may already know the answer to that question, but even then the numbers below are eye-opening.

The data is taken from sportingintelligence.com (who have used their own research + an official PFA document detailing basic wages for the last 25 years) – here are some highlights:

The text below is taken from sportingintelligence.com – see source articles here and here:

• In 1984-85, top division players in England earned a basic average of £480 per week (£25,000 a year), which was more than double what the average worker earned, and which was three times as much as players earned in the Fourth Division. Today the difference is 30 times as much.
• In 1984-85, according to the PFA’s data, the average basic wage in the First Division – as the top division was then called – was £24,934 a year, or about two and a half times the average working man’s salary. With bonuses, it would have been around £36,000, perhaps more.
• In 2009-10, the average basic Premier League wage was £1.16m and the average take-home pay was £1.76m.
• In the Premier League, double-digit annual growth has been the norm in most years of the competition’s history. The biggest single leap was the 28.52 per cent year-on-year growth between 1996-97 and 1997-98. This was due to a new TV deal kicking in.
• TV cash has fueled players’ pay rises in the Premier League era. The first Premier League deal was over five years (1992-97), then next over four years (1997-2001), and the deals have been three years each since then (2001-04, 2004-07, 2007-10 and 2010-13 currently).
• The average annual basic salary in the Championship in 2009-10 was £211,068, in League One it was £73,320 and in League Two it was £38,844.
• Top division footballers now earn 46 times as much as they did in 1984-85
• Those in the Championship earn only 14 times as much as their counterparts.
• In League One the figure is six and a half times as much. In League Two the figure is 4.6 times as much.
• The average working man earns about three times as much.

Image from sportingintelligence.com.

Note: The numbers represent basic pay; wages typically increase by 50 to 100 per cent with appearance money and bonuses.

On the other hand, football ticket prices have increased by almost as much as 30 times in certain cases (looking at cheapest tickets / season tickets at Manchester United and London clubs).

And if you look at the commercial revenues generated by US sports, it’s evident that football, a more global sport, has still some way to go before it can reach it’s financial peak. So expect the TV deals, player wages and ticket prices to keep rising.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The first impression you get while playing Football Manager 2012 is how it’s improved as an imitation of the real thing – a genuine simulation of what it means to be a football manager, inasmuch as you can simulate the experience digitally.

Granted, there are no fans screaming pedophile chants at you, the BBC isn’t running documentaries about your son and no one stopping you from managing Barcelona as your first job.

But when it comes to football, and specifically, the myriad of opportunities available to a person wanting the experience of managing a football club, Football Manager is miles ahead of what you can expect.

Miles has been talking about the new features for the last month or so, but instead of features I’ll be talking about what broad changes you can expect in your playing experience.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Your assistants are now better at ‘assisting’ you. During training they will make recommendations on which areas a certain player needs a special focus in, or evaluate a player’s previous training levels and make recommendations accordingly. Leading up to a match you will get feedback on your match preparation and whether you need to change focus based on the next opposition’s strengths and weaknesses. You can also create ‘Shouts’ – a set of touchline instructions that players can automatically apply, as they would in the real world based on their training. In other words you can ask your team to tighten up and defend better instead of asking them to do 5 different individual things. You know, as you would in real life.

The 2012 edition of Football Manager makes you realise more than any previous edition the sheer amount of work that goes into running a football club (thankfully SI stick to the footballing aspects of the game), and that you can be as involved as Arsene Wenger, running the rule over every player’s training and customising it, or delegating to a strong team of coaches and trusting your team like Alex Ferguson.

Realism

Player / Coach negotiations are now more realistic, thanks to the subtleties of personality, tone of voice and the ability to lock certain aspects of your contract offers (for example if you have a wage ceiling but can afford higher bonuses).

There’s a bit of randomness in there – in one installation Berbatov’s agent happily accepted a reduced contract extension, in the other he wanted a pay raise – but overall you’re at a more realistic set of interactions between yourself and the football world – press, players, coaches and fellow managers.

And it would be remiss to talk about realism without mentioning the improved match engine – The 3D match engine looks more natural, and like I said about the last edition, Football Manager is that rare game where your football team is simulated the same way you end up playing on FIFA yourself.

And slightly unrelated, but despite the quality of Berbatov as a player, you can’t play him and Rooney in the same team. Just like in real life, I had to drop Berba for Hernandez because he just didn’t move fast enough.

Still a bit surprised at Anderson’s low ‘shooting’ rating though.

Tactics

The tactical / player instructions system has been upgraded and so have the coach recommendations on player roles. It all feeds into the overall philosophy of having your staff assist you in picking the right team and the right role for each player within that team. Phil Jones hasn’t had the # of games in my playing time to show if he marauds up the pitch as effectively, but watching Vidic snapping into tackles, Carrick plan interceptions to perfection and Chicharito breaking clear of the last man to race onto a through ball and bear down on the opposition goal – it’s all a combination of knowing what tactics to use and the match engine translating them accurately.

Some will say that this makes the game too easy. I would argue that SI’s purpose is two-fold – to open up the game to as wide a demographic of players as possible, and to keep improving Football Manager to make it more realistic. In the real world you have coaches and scouts telling you what position player is best suited to, whether he’s a good future prospect and what his training should focus on. It’s not an ‘easy’ setting in real life, it’s how things are. The better your support staff are, the better the information they give you. At the end of the day it’s up to you (as it’s up to any manager) how they use the resources available to them – in terms of support staff, players, transfer kitty, wages budget and expectations from the board.

And you’ll find that if you cannot motivate your players, then it doesn’t matter how good they are, they won’t play to their potential. Sound familiar?

Play The Game

I could go on for hours – the squad strength screen, scouting options, enhanced player details, improved board negotiations, better training options – a lot of small upgrades and innovations, all of which are designed to make the game more realistic to play. The 2012 edition of Football Manager can feel slightly overwhelming with the information overload but that feeling quickly gives way to excitement over how much control you have, and how good the game has become to allow you to manage your football club your way.

Football Manager 2012 is out on Friday, 21 October. You can pre-order it through Steam, or enter the Soccerlens competition to win a free copy of FM12.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Earlier this month Roker Report (Sunderland blog) editor Simon Walsh asked us if we’d like to do a Q&A on Sunderland – and here it is. We talk about Sunderland’s transfer policy, footballing identity (or lack thereof) as well as whether Sunderland will be in a relegation battle this season.

Q: Stoke are known for a physical game and strong set pieces, Arsenal for possession football. Do you consider Sunderland to have a similar identity, and if so what?

Footballing identities are partially self-created, aren’t they? Arsenal have a very varied history in how they’ve played football over the last few decades, so yes, under Wenger they have focused on possession and technical superiority, but even that has evolved over the last 15 years from a mix of mental, physical and technical quality to not being very good in all three areas.

Sunderland don’t seem to have a similar identity, and that’s probably down to two reasons:

1. You need a single manager playing a certain way (or consecutive managers maintaining the same philosophy) over a long period of time.

2. Almost every team looks to play either possession football, play on the counter attack or play a strong physical game (Chelsea used to be up there before Stoke but they’ve been trying to change for the last two years). Not every club is ‘labelled’ as playing a certain way.

Q: Taking money out of it, how competitive do you think Sunderland can hope to be in the transfer market? Which clubs do you consider their natural competitors for signings?

If you take money out of it, then geography comes into play. Does Sunderland’s geographic location hamper their attempt to attract quality players?

I don’t think it’s a major issue with a fish bowl like Newcastle, where they have gone out and recruited young, technical continental footballers and while they’re probably not going to be at Newcastle for life, they might help them push forward for the next 2-3 years, and they can then easily ‘renew’ their supply line.

So it shouldn’t really be an issue for Sunderland either. Competing against London and Manchester is probably a tough ask but competing against, say, the Ligue 1 or Eredivisie clubs where the money isn’t as good as in the Premier League.

It’s all about what type of players you target. As well as what they earn. At the end of it you can’t really take money out of it, can you?

Q: From your vantage point, what would you consider to be the iconic or most memorable Sunderland moment during your time watching football?

I’d love to point out something that would resonate with hardcore Sunderland fans but sadly the best I can think of is Sunderland’s romp to the Championship title under Roy Keane. Then again, they haven’t gone back down since then, so it’s not a bad memory, is it?

Q: Niall Quinn claims that Sunderland have dropped their ‘yo-yo club’ tag. Do you agree with that and consider Sunderland now an established main stay of the Premier League, or is it a club you would still not be surprised to see involved in a relegation battle?

Their recent form has been very worrying, everyone knows that, so the big question is if there are three other teams worse than them in the Premier League this season. They have the players to survive, although they could have done with a bit more quality (funny considering how many players Bruce has brought in).

Looking at the league table you’d think the side that’s doing the worst in terms of pre-season expectations are Arsenal (just above Sunderland) at the moment but if either team has to change things around, they’ll need to start winning games and that has to come with a change of mentality around the club (and not necessarily a change in manager).

So yes and no – Sunderland have been going steady in the Premier League for the last few years but given how they’ve performed recently (in the last six months really, since those heady days of a top 10 spot midway through last season) I would not be surprised if they’re in a relegation battle.

Q: I think all clubs like to pride themselves on quality of their support. Comparitively speaking, and as a neutral observer, how would you rate the Sunderland fans?

Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home (really not an Arsenal fan, honest!). In reality Sunderland fans are no better and no worse than the fans of most other football clubs. Good honest people who pay a lot of money to watch their team and are usually lifelong fans as it’s in their DNA to support the club.

It’s interesting how one of the key things Niall Quinn used to talk about when he came in was how Sunderland needs a more active fanbase, and yet there hasn’t been much change in that area. Whether he’ll have more success drumming up international partnerships for Sunderland is up for debate.

Having said that, it’s not only up to the fans but also up to the club on how they treat existing fans and attract new ones. Sunderland perhaps need to re-evaluate their on-pitch and off-pitch strategies and understand how they can grow their fanbase without needing to ‘win’ trophies – because if you’re going to base success on spending money, the fans will stop coming as soon as the money stops flowing, and that’s never good for long-term prospects (unless you like the new Chelsea fans).

Visit Roker Report for the all the latest news, stats and analysis on all things Sunderland AFC. Currently featuring an interview with football journalist / author / Sunderland fan Jonathan Wilson.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Football Manager will be released on 21 October 20112 – here’s a look at how Miles Jacobson and co. can make the game even better for the millions of football fans who religiously play the game every year.

So we know there won’t any players tweeting from within Football Manager 2012, nor will you see wives inadvertently sharing team news the night before. But there’s plenty of fun still to be had on the non-playing side of FM, here’s a look at a few things that could work wonders:

1. Advanced Football Stats

There’s a big debate in football on whether football stats are important to the game as they are deemed to be in other sports – luckily in a football game (it IS a game, right?) that debate is settled for us. Football Stats are immensely important, because everything in Football Manager is based on numbers.

With that being said, I’m aware that the new Football Manager will bring about several improvements in terms of match analysis and preparation, however, here why I think advanced football stats should be included in Football Manager (2013?):

Advanced statistical analysis based on player performances – per game or across the season. For example, it would be good to know how many goalscoring chances a player creates, or where on the pitch he wins his tackles, or if his passing is defensive (backwards / sideways) or attacking (sideways / ahead), where he takes his shots from and what % of those shots are goals…the list can go on and on. In terms of evaluating a player’s effectiveness on the pitch, it’s imperative to be able to track a lot of different data points that are traditionally missing from football analysis.

A real-world example – David Silva’s impact in the 2011/2012 season so far has been based on where he finds himself on the pitch but also because of the movement of the players around him (as well as the tendency of the City full-backs to push up more than before. The quality of the forward four, as much as Silva’s increasing ability to influence the English game, has raised City’s game as a whole. Understanding exactly how that happens – through video replays and statistical analysis – can help you identify the factors that make it successful and then using the same principles for the youth team / for your own team.

Add to this the ability to tactically review a game as well a player’s individual performance, and you’ve given hardcore Football Manager players another level of realism in experiencing what goes into managing a football club.

2. Better Betting Odds

Admittedly a personal preference but something that can improve the playing experience while still keeping the game football focused. Currently the game provides betting odds in terms of how likely a team is to win a specific competition, however this feature can be vastly improved by making the latest football betting odds available throughout the course of a season, updating them based on injuries, January transfers, form and the departure / lack thereof of the manager. In addition, a nice touch would be to provide betting odds for each

The purpose isn’t to promote betting – on the other hand, just as the odds at the start of a season help identify who the strongest contenders are, the odds during the season will help players track which teams are doing well and which are in a wretched run of form. Pre-match odds and half-time / in-play odds would also help the player understand where his team stands relative to the opposition much more accurately in the shape of success percentages (i.e. odds).

3. Enhanced Person Feedback

Currently the only way to get information on a player is to scout him. Presumably this translates into a real-world analysis of the player, including watching him play / in training as well as talking to his current / past coaching staff. Understandably, the later part (talking to other people about the player) is left out of the details (this is Football Manager, not Football Scout), but that’s how real-world scouting takes place when you want to evaluate someone’s personality (short of interviewing them / handing them a personality test, and I doubt scouts do that to players).

But what if you were able to get the same detail of information about the support staff – what if you could see the personality of your assistant manager, get feedback on potential coaches and their suitability to join your backroom staff and generally be able to get detailed feedback on each coach, scout, physio or manager – just like you would in real life?

Apart from helping you build a stronger backroom staff, it also has the tactical benefit of allowing you to understand the mindsets of the managers you go up against and incorporate that in your pre-match preparations.

So there you have it – three suggestions on how to make Football Manager a more realistic football management simulation. A lot of this information is already there in the game (although in terms of football stats they may need to add a layer of formulas and potentially add more scripts for person feedback) – it’s just a case of sharing it with the players.

This article originally appeared on FMScout.com in September 2011.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Imagine that you’re appointed manager of Manchester United tomorrow morning. The world is at your feet. You have (statistically speaking) the best team in the world alongside Barcelona in club football and you have a phenomenally talented young squad that will win titles before it reaches it’s full potential.

You even have the luxury to consider whether your team will be improved by Wesley Sneijder or not. After all, your team has won four league titles in five years without a title-winning central midfield pairing. And what’s more, just last season your club has finally moved ahead of Liverpool in the league title stakes, winning their 19th title.

It may just be a dream for now (at least until Football Manager 2012 comes out), but the truth is that as Manchester United gear up to attack the 2011/2012 season at full-force (and if their 2011 Community Shield display is anything to go by, United’s opponents are going to find it harder to contend with them than last year), they are genuinely looking a stronger squad than last year, and may yet improve further.

This article runs to just under 7,000 words (10 of these and we’d have a book on United), so I’ve divided it into separate sections that you can click back and forth from. Or if you’re (wo)man enough, dive right in. It’ll be the best season preview you’ll ever read today (probably the only one you’ll be able too as well).

• Tactical Preview
• Team Preview
• Fixtures Preview
• Transfers Review

Manchester United – Tactical Preview

Although we only have pre-season games and the football lesson handed to Manchester City (aka Community Shield) to go on, there is a definite shift in United’s strategy, as much an evolution on last season as it is a self-belief that United’s methods of picking apart the Premier League and Europe are true and that they only need to be faster and stronger to make it work more often.

I wouldn’t say United have or will become obsessed with Barcelona – purely because they’re far more obsessed with winning everything, all the time, at all costs. Like an raging sea that finds a way around, over or through all obstacles, United are determined to win, and that will not change as long as Ferguson is in charge (more about Ferguson and his influence on Manchester United’s ethos).

So what have United changed – for a start, there’s a clear emphasis on upping the tempo of their game, both in their passing as well as their off-the-ball movements. This is part of the reason why viewers saw United improve after Cleverley replaced Carrick in the Community Shield – although Carrick wasn’t 100% fit, Cleverley was far better at pushing forward and making runs (even if he misplaced passes or mishit shots). It’s the same with the central defenders – one of the reasons why Evans is still in the side (and why Smalling is rated so highly by United) is because they are eager to push forward.

Attack is the best form of defence, and United’s mode of attack this season will be quick passing, high pressing, rapid movements off the ball to ensure that the team stays compact and retains possession while still moving forward and, with time, clinical finishing.

Increased Defensive Responsibilities

The two things they still need to work on are central midfield and the goalkeeper / center-backs trio. United’s defence has been phenomenal in the last 5 years but while Vidic and Ferdinand are excellent in positioning and anticipating, not to mention fairly handy in the air, they’re both not as good at going forward as they were a few years ago, and especially in Rio’s case the loss of pace suggests that they are going to be vulnerable. It may just be pre-season rust and the two will pick things up as the season starts, but with a newcomer in goal, Rio and Vida need to take on more responsibility in breaking up attacks and starting counters further up the pitch than previous seasons, when they knew that Edwin van der Sar would be there to shout instructions or bail them out with some fabulous goalkeeping.

The most exciting part about United’s defence will be seeing Smalling and Evans reprise their full-back roles from end of last season as well as the development of Jones, Rafael and Fabio. All five are young, defensively sound (with the odd exception – Evans) and good at going forward (see Smalling’s display against Manchester City). They’ll improve, and United will benefit for years to come.

(Still) Lacking In Midfield

Although there’s been plenty said about midfield, and United do have several players for the central midfield positions, they don’t have a pure ball-winner / passer in the Busquets / Essien / Hargreaves mould. Fletcher / Anderson / Carrick all bring value to the side but only Fletcher is any good at actively closing down opposition midfielders and breaking up attacks quickly, and he’s not 100% fit for the start of the season.

There’s hope that Pogba will get a role to play, but while United eye Sneijder (who would make Berbatov redundant in my view), they might want to re-focus and evaluate whether their younger players (Pogba / Gibson / Anderson) are good enough to succeed long-term in those roles or bring in someone else, like Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse, Ligue 1). Pogba is expected to develop in a similar fashion though, so we might see Fergie just sit back and let his younger stars grow into first-team starters in due course.

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Manchester United – Team Preview

Having briefly looked at the overall tactical setup – of which we’ll be discussing plenty more of once the season starts – let’s look at each individual first-team player (as well as the manager), to see where they stand and what’s expected of them this season.

We’re going by squad numbers, mind you, not suitability for a first-team spot.

0. Alex Ferguson

A remarkable 25 years into his Manchester United career, Sir (Lord?) Alex Ferguson has silenced the loudest and harshest of United’s critics several times in the last two decades. As revealed by Barry Glendenning on this week’s Guardian Football Weekly podcast, every Guardian football writer who submitted their predictions for the 2011/2012 Premier League season picked Manchester United to win their 20th league title, a phenomenal occurrence considering that they’ve consistently picked United to not win in the last 5 years (4 titles, 5th missed by a single point / refereeing error / missed penalty – take your pick).

This has less to do with United’s 50m spending this summer and a lot more to do with the (grudging) acceptance that with Alex Ferguson in charge, Manchester United will always be more than the sum of its’ parts, and with the team (and team tactics) in constant evolution, United will use their experience, verve and mental strength (not to mention considerable talent and youth) to find a way to win when everyone else around them is losing their head.

It’s taken something special to stop Manchester United in the last five seasons, in Europe or in domestic football. Let me rephrase that – it’s taken something special to stop Alex Ferguson in the last five seasons, and it will take something equally special to stop him from winning his 13th league title with Manchester United.

1. David De Gea

Young. High self-belief. Driven to constantly improve. And remarkably for a player of his age, took his time to decide to move to a Champions League, title-winning club despite the money on the table. The long-range goals concession stat will be the monkey on his back for some time yet, and there have been calls from certain sections of the United fanbase to ‘protect’ him by playing Lindegaard in the opening few games.

United have a tough start to the season with Spurs and Arsenal to play against in August, but De Gea has survived City, and will improve as the games go on. It would be timidity to hold him back after making such a fuss about signing him, and one of the things you can safely say about Ferguson is that he’s anything but timid.

Can De Gea be the next van der Sar? His first goal would be to be the next Joe Hart – a young, first-choice, reliable top-level goalkeeper who can play for another decade for his club. The language will be an issue but he’s got the attitude to deal with it.

3. Patrice Evra

The outspoken left back who looks likely to be playing fewer minutes this season, not so much because of injuries but a direct consequence of ageing and the pressing need to give Fabio and even Evans more playing time. He’s understanding with Rooney and co is critical to his success going forward on the left flank but with Rio / Vida becoming slower, his absence at full-back is becoming more noticeable.

His experience will be crucial this season but it would also be interesting to see what else he can say to rile up the opposition fans – having had plenty to say in previous years.

Not my first choice to play against Barcelona if the chance comes around once again though.

4. Phil Jones

Given the #4 jersey in the Community Shield, Jones has been described by Gary Neville as ‘gold’ and ‘rock-solid’, a high valuation on a man who prides himself on being a perfectionist and values character and mental strength over ability. That’s not to say that Jones isn’t talented – he wouldn’t be playing for United otherwise – but that his mental attributes are so strong that he is seen as a long-term United defender.

His partnership with Chris Smalling at the U-21 level for England has been often spoken about and he’s also touted as a future England captain. High praise for the youngster but he has the challenge of needing to displace Ferdinand and Vidic from central defence. Helps that he can play as a holding midfielder, and I’m curious to see when Ferguson (if ever) actually uses that option.

He will get more games than people expect, simply because United’s transfer strategy and squad composition means that they have enough permutations to go out and compete in all competitions with a relatively strong team.

5. Rio Ferdinand

Still a classy defender, still a big injury risk and still a mouthy arse. Still mistrusted, and still the best defender at United (sorry Vidic). Rio’s professionalism and experience (and given his ‘stature’, his statesman-like nature) will be a great point of reference to the young United defenders – I honestly cannot think of any other center-back pairing in England as good and as respected as Ferdinand and Vidic for young defenders to learn from.

Hopefully he will stay fit this season – his contract is in place till 2013 and there’s every chance that he’ll do a Thierry Henry and move to the MLS for a swansong (it’ll help his ‘brand’ too), but as long as his back, calves and hamstrings can hold up to the rigours of the Premier League, he’ll be a first-choice for United.

7. Michael Owen

Most people expected Michael Owen to go this summer, but Ferguson obviously values his influence off-the-pitch on United’s young strikers, and on the pitch, few players are as positionally and tactically aware as Michael Owen.

Twitter has also transformed his image into a very likeable, intelligent and articulate footballer, and it’s easy to see that he’s a good influence on United’s younger players, something Ferguson has always valued in his time at United.

Plus he knows he’s not going to get it better anywhere else, he wants to win titles and if that means sitting on the bench or in the stands, so be it. It’s his choice, and even though Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov and Rooney are all ahead of him in the striker stakes, and Macheda / Diouf are more likely to get the Carling Cup chances than him, he may still get a game or two this season.

8. Anderson

Scored twice in a game late last season to send millions of United fans into brief dreams of fulfilled potential, but the reality is that he is still very much a work-in-progress. More than anything else he needs to play in every game this season (or as much as he can physically handle), simply to help him improve his decision making and sharpen his passing / shooting even more.

His tendency to run around in circles expending energy needlessly has cost him in previous seasons, although United’s high-tempo / compact passing game will suit him a lot more than it will suit Carrick / Fletcher.

As we’ve been saying for several years, this could be Anderson’s season. At the very least expect him to score a few more goals.

9. Dimitar Berbatov

The forgotten striker from the 2011 Champions League Final. Ferguson’s subsequent reasoning – that he thought Owen was a better bet to score in the last few minutes than Berbatov – hid a far worse reflection of the player’s abilities: Ferguson doesn’t see him as a suitable part of the fast link-up play that United have started to favour over the previous season.

He’s an effective second option – and one that United had to increasingly rely on in the first half of last season – and he’s a brilliant player. Problem is, he needs to play regularly to be on top form, and if Sneijder comes in, United’s system will change to a point where Berbatov becomes completely surplus to requirements.

He has a season to go plus a 1-way contract extension option held by United, but you get the feeling that the Sneijder deal will decide his fate too.

If Berbatov stays, he’ll be a welcome part of a squad that pushes to compete for all four available titles, and after overcoming serious criticism of his first two years at United to be the league’s top scorer last season, you can expect him to adapt once again and keep performing at a high standard.

The only other option is failure, and Berbatov does not seem like the player to go down without a fight (he might be quiet but you should see how he transforms on the pitch when he is visibly angry).

10. Wayne Rooney

Has supposedly seen the error of his ways and is back to being United through and through (as well as the best-paid United player), but perversely after this summer’s spending and what happened last season, he’s less essential to the team’s success than before. He’s also unlikely to be fully trusted by United fans after the ‘public statement’ last season, but he is still United’s best striker and tactically miles ahead of most players his age.

His main challenge this season will be work on improving his understanding with Nani, Young, Anderson and Cleverley, and when Hernandez gets into the mix you might see an unstoppable United side where no single player is individually a world-beater but collectively as a pack lead by Rooney, they are worthy of being champions.

As long as he scores 20 goals a season and takes on more leadership responsibilities on the pitch (without, paradoxically, always being more involved in the build-up play), he can swear to the cameras as much as he wants. What? Fucking What?

11. Ryan Giggs

Another United player in the tabloids last season for all the wrong reasons. Journalists were ‘shocked’ to hear it was Ryan Giggs, the fans far less so. Maybe journalists, like football players and politicians, have become more and more detached from the common football fan.

Yes, no one expected him to do what he’s supposed to have done. Yes, she’s tried to extort money out of him, hence the judge granting the injunction (read all about the Ryan Giggs / Imogen Thomas super injunction). Yes, he’s a role model for young footballers – for his professionalism, preparation and fitness regime, not his skills in the bedroom (or in the hotel room). His personal life is his personal life – and speaking about personal lives, here’s a fun statistic to keep in mind (from the above-linked article):

Infidelity research estimates the % of married men having extra-marital affairs between 20% to 50%, which means that between 1 in 5 to 1 in 2 married folks raising hell about Ryan Giggs’ superinjunction have cheated on their wives.

On to Giggsy’s football – Cleverley’s return as well as Young’s signing are a double-blessing – United will not need to rely on Giggs playing as many games as before, although he may end up taking Carrick’s place given the manager’s love for his last OAP.

This is his last season – it would be great to have sign off with his 13th league title and his 3rd Champions League title. Either one will do for us. Both will not be enough for him, which says as much about his desire to win and his Manchester United DNA as it does about his (reported) off-field actions.

12. Chris Smalling

Convincing at center-back, thrilling at right-back. His momentum makes him near unstoppable on the flanks and although his ball-work isn’t as refined as that of Rafael Da Silva, he’s as good as John O’Shea getting forward (and managed to score with his foot instead of his arse), can cross and tracks back well.

He’s supposed to be Phil Jones’ long-term partner in central defence but for now it’s entertaining to see him maraud up and down the right wing.

13. Ji-Sung Park

A player whose United future is uncertain as his effectiveness decreases, as does his influence on the games he plays and as United give their younger players more and more time on the pitch.

However, he’s a testament to United’s increasingly stable and versatile squad, and may still get time on the pitch this season. Will he leave? With two weeks to go, it’s more than likely that he will stay another season unless a last-minute offer comes in. He will add experience and the all-important ability to play at a high tempo to United’s game, and given his exploits at international level (and for United in the past few seasons) he’ll be good value for a few goals too.

14. Javier Hernandez

Easily one of the best, if not the best, transfer signing last season. He shone at the World Cup but really came to life at Manchester United, starting with that back-headed goal and culminating in that early-bird opener against Chelsea that more or less confirmed the title.

He has become integral to United’s current style of play and as someone remarked last season, it’s his ability to make multiple different runs to elude markers and make space for himself and his team-mates that makes him so valuable to the team.

Plus the goals, of course, especially with his timing. One relishes at the thought of Hernandez and Rooney in full flow with two of Nani, Young and Valencia behind them playing week in and week out in the Premier League.

However, he still has room to improve, and to add more guile to his play (not his play-acting, which has blossomed) if United are to rely on him to outwit Barcelona’s defence.

A measure of his popularity – he was the fourth most popular name on the back of football shirts bought by fans last season.

15. Nemaja Vidic

The captain, the strongman, and the de-facto leader of United’s defence after Edwin’s retirement. Rated by some as the world’s best central defender alongside Gerard Pique at the moment, and he’s definitely in the top five if not in the top two.

He’s put his contract and transfer troubles behind him (after a new contract and being awarded the captaincy, mind you) and looks set to lead United into the new era. Needs to be more vocal in the absence of Edwin (and quite often, Rio), and has to organise the defence better to deal with crosses and set pieces. Marginal improvements needed, but they are necessary at a club like United.

Another trophy-lifting season for him? He’s already picked up the Community Shield, odds on to lift one that matters more by May. Will play a key role in grooming Evans, Smalling and Jones. Maybe he can teach Evans to defend without grabbing the opponents shirts all the time?

16. Michael Carrick

Michael Carrick brings considerable value to Manchester United, as confirmed by several bloggers (See this, this and this). He’s also been hailed the a future United legend by yours truly, albeit this was near the end of the 06/07 season where his contributions were, in my eyes, the crucial factor in United winning the league title for the first time in four years.

Somehow that’s not happened – plenty of reasons behind it, from Paul Scholes to Carrick’s ‘confidence game’ to United’s evolving style of play to Ferguson’s tactics. What’s true is that he’s a quality player, the best passer at United (and as I’ve said since 2007, as good a passer as Scholes, excellent interceptor in central midfield and helps retain possession like no other Premier League player can.

This excerpt from the above-linked to Michael Cox article sums it up perfectly:

He also ranks No 10 in the ‘most passes played’ table for the Champions League so far this season [2010/2011], and yes, he does play a lot of square passes – the seventh most in the competition. However, when you consider that the six names ahead of him on that list are Dani Alves, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xabi Alonso, the sideways criticism looks rather impotent.

But the key problem with Carrick is how he will fit within United’s high-tempo game. He’s shown that like Berbatov, he’s not one to adapt his personality or playing style, preferring to play to his strengths. How that blends with what’s required of United’s senior-most (and currently best) midfielder will shape his future at Old Trafford.

17. Nani

Manchester United’s best player from last season, and effectively the Premier League’s best player too – although Robin van Persie’s phenomenal scoring record (when fit) and Modric’s displays for Tottenham were also worthy contenders (Scott Parker, Samir Nasri, Gareth Bale and Jack Wilshere, sadly, weren’t).

He came of age two seasons ago in that explosive instant when he stopped time and skipped between two Arsenal players on the far right touchline, a move that still excites viewers after countless replays. He’s the real deal, as his price tag suggested and he will take on more responsibility this season for creating chances.

He needs to sort out a few kinks, especially in terms of being on the same wavelength with Rooney, and he will always be a bit of poser, but he’s a United player and a match-winner, and he’s committed to playing for the club for a long time. That’s all you can ask for, really.

18. Ashley Young

The new man on the left wing, with Ferguson realising that you can’t buy a successor to Ryan Giggs for 3m (bye bye Obertain), nor can you force a right-sided winger (Nani), an ageing CAM (Park), a striker (Rooney), an OAP (Giggs) or a young defender (Fabio) to run up and down the wing and create chance after chance for United.

United now have a specialist left-sided player, one who provides quality from set-pieces and cuts in from the left the same way Nani cuts in from the right, providing United with incisive pace and more match-turning ability.

Plus he seems to be a on a similar wavelength to Rooney and co – the advantage of bringing in a player at the right stage of their career, when they themselves want to improve for the football and not just chase the money. A good signing, and if he can combine well with the rest of the team for the whole season he will be a regular starter.

19. Danny Welbeck

Could he be the Hernandez of 2011/2012? He’s excited fans in pre-season, and there’s plenty to suggest that his loan experiences have polished him enough to get regular games for United. He’s got a dodgy first-touch (the outcome of hurrying through the motions) but he’s got an excellent attitude and a developing physique that suggests that he could be the tall, powerful, fast front man United have been looking for all these years.

He’s likely to be relegated to the bench once Hernandez is fit but he can expect to compete with Berbatov for the 3rd striker spot, although if you think about it, an injury here and a few goals there, and Welbeck could be a regular starter. Probably a season too early for that though.

20. Fabio Da Silva

Could we please get him more games this season? Love the twins, I don’t think anyone has had a single bad thing to say about their attitude or their potential (and Fabio has a deadly shot on him when he’s on song), but for the love of football, please let him play 20+ games this season. Oh, and fingers crossed that he stays fit.

21. Rafael Da Silva

United’s first-choice right-back, especially after John O’Shea’s retirement. His brother got a handful of games on the right towards the end of last season (primarily to give him much-needed game experience) and Smalling has acquitted himself admirably in the position as well but Rafael was excellent last season and will be expected to continue his good form this season too.

Key for him is to deliver on his considerable promise and show that he can physically handle the glut of games Manchester United typically have to play throughout the season. He’ll have Smalling, and his brother, angling for his spot if he can’t.

23. Jonny Evans

It’s a toss-up between Evans and Gibson as the least liked United player by the fans. Evans had a poor patch at the end of season before last, when his shirt-holding and lack of positioning threatened every United game he started. It turned into something approaching terminal illness when Jonny Evans, carrying an injury (a little-known fact), turned into Calamity Evans, being caught out of position and generally coming off as a less-accomplished defender than his potential suggested.

It got to a point where fans wanted him shipped out this summer, but it’s worth remember that at this age, and with the player carrying an injury and often forced to play through it when Rio was injured, a bad season is not all that it seems to be.

He’s added a new dimension to his game (or at least exploited it better) by going forward when the opportunity presents itself, whether it was at left-back at the end of last season (one of his most encouraging displays yet) or at center-back for United in the Community Shield match last week.

He desperately – perhaps not the best choice of words given what his performances look like – needs to cut down on the shirt-pulling and improve his positioning, and it may just be that the summer rest, coupled with a new-found outlet at left-back, helps him develop as a defender this season.

He can’t get worse (remember the rollicking he got from Ferguson?), and when he improves he will be a strong contender for a first-choice berth alongside Vidic, Jones and Smalling. United’s defensive future is versatile and secure.

24. Darren Fletcher

Cut down by a virus last season that has kept him out of pre-season and will delay his return to the first team. His absence last season was covered by Giggs moving to central defence (which didn’t work so well against Barcelona) and this season we’ll see Anderson and Cleverley take greater responsibility. However, no one closes down space and defends in midfield better than Fletcher, and over the last two seasons his attacking play has improved, although his passing is still out of sync with the forward players.

He’s going no where – and has turned from a mistrusted youngster to a highly reliable, experienced squad player. A shining light for the likes of Evans and Gibson? Not everyone can be a hero, and that suits Fletcher just fine.

25. Antonio Valencia

Back from a leg break and performed as if he’d never left. Provides dependability, width and a good cross from the right, and has enough in his repertoire to leave most full-backs chasing shadows. Is as good from the start as coming off the bench, where his speed and direct approach can seriously hurt a tiring defence.

He will be at United for a long time to come, especially given United’s workload every month which ensures that United’s three wingers will get plenty of games to prove themselves as the best of them all. Valencia, along with Fletcher, is the prime example of how United’s squad is so versatile and experienced, without players that love to hog the limelight or complain about being left out.

27. Federicho Macheda

Last season’s loan didn’t work out well for him and his career seems to have stalled after he burst on the scene with those late goals. He was given a chance at the start of last season but didn’t take it, and slipped back down the pecking order. This season with Welbeck back in the side, his job will be a lot harder.

He needs a season long loan at a Premier League club where he can play week in and week out, or even a Championship club, before standing a chance to play regularly for United. Lacked positional sense and patience at times last season, looked a bit out of depth, something that can only be cured through game experience, which he’s not going to get much off with 6 other strikers at United.

28. Darron Gibson

So disliked by United fans that he shut down his twitter account within hours of starting it due to the abuse hurled at him – or so the story goes. Scorer of good goals, but needs to develop several other aspects of the game. The difficulties of last season would have made him rethink his decision to stick around at United without playing often, and when Sunderland came in with an offer he was quick to jump at the chance of regular football.

Sunderland’s offered terms changed, and Gibson turned the deal down, leaving in the unenviable position of being open to leaving but not having any buyers. Along with Macheda he would benefit greatly from a loan deal. If he wants to play for United he needs to improve, and he needs regular football for that. If he wants a transfer (a la Obertan), he needs to display his worth on the pitch (or get lucky), and for that he’d need a loan as well.

He’s a better player than he’s made out to be, but since his only advantage over other players is his long-range shooting, he needs to develop before he can be a United player. One of few who could still be sold.

29. Tomasz Kuszczak

The player few expected to still be at the club when the new season started – and is most likely going to leave before the transfer window is over. Kuszczak seemed happy to duke it out with Foster / sit on the sidelines when Edwin was playing, but with Lindegaard coming in and United’s long pursuit of De Gea, it’s fairly likely that Kuszczak’s days at United are numbered.

It’s just a matter of finding a buyer, or a loan deal, or having his contract terminated. He’d be a good backup goalkeeper though, more reliable than, say, Almunia or even Doni, most famous for shipping 7 goals to Manchester United in the Champions League.

32. Mame Biram Diouf

A surprise signing by United at the time and reminiscent of Manucho, although he was later overshadowed by Bebe’s transfer. Has the mentality to play the United but perhaps whether he can further improve his technical abilities remains to be seen. Another player that you would think would get very little time on the pitch and would benefit from regular football at a lower club, although United have effectively said that they want to keep all 7 strikers at Old Trafford.

If he stays and plays, it’ll be interesting to see where and when. His future may be clearer by next summer depending on what happens to Owen and Berbatov, and how Welbeck and Macheda develop. It’s also up to him on how he performs in training, reserve games and in the first-team opportunities he gets.

34. Anders Lindegaard

When signed, he was expected to be United’s future backup keeper but has looked fairly solid and as capable as Kuszczak, if not more. Ferguson has clearly placed his trust in De Gea, so we’ll have to see how Lindegaard reacts over the course of his first full season at United playing second-fiddle to a young kid who can’t speak English.

He will get a chance to stake his claim for the #1 spot soon enough, and if he takes it well, it’s only good for the club.

35. Tom Cleverely

The media darling after his performance in the Community Shield last weekend, although he promised more than he delivered. There was some misplaced passes straight at opposition players, a few scuffed shots.

He’s not the next Messiah, but he has the potential to be a very good player for United and his attitude on the pitch is excellent. He’s had to work his way up the leagues (on United books but out on loan) and he’s a lot better for the experience.

He’s also most people’s tip to take up a regular starting role for United. If there’s no Sneijder and / or he gets enough games to improve, he just might be supplying United’s forward line for years to come.

40. Ben Amos

United’s third keeper last season and also their third keeper this season, if Kuszczak leaves as expected. Could benefit with an extended loan period – i.e. actual playing time, although he hasn’t been loaned out yet so it’ll be interested to see what United have in store for him.

42. Paul Pogba

Another youngster who has excelled in United’s youth system and is on the fringes of the first-team squad. An year or two worth of regular football from a place on the bench in my view, and it would be good to see how United determine the best way forward is for Pogba. Alongside Cleverley, Anderson and Morrison, points to a very promising longterm future for United’s midfield, especially considering that he is exactly the type of player (the tall, powerful box-to-box midfielder who can defend or attack) that United have lacked for a while.

May get a few chances in cup football if he stays, but the best thing could be to get regular football out on loan. Have to keep in mind though that when he was sent out on loan last time he returned fairly quickly, so whether a loan is good for him in developing or not is eventually up to the manager.

49. Ravel Morrison

Troubled off the pitch, highly gifted on it. The most commendable thing about Morrison is how he’s received positive reports from those working with him in recent months about a concerted effort to re-focus his life. He needs to work hard to be a Wayne Rooney and not a Jermaine Pennant, for lack of better comparisons. Will get few first-team chances but is also better off developing at United instead of going out on loan in an unfamiliar environment given his recent off-pitch troubles.

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Manchester United – Fixtures Preview

You can watch Manchester United games in the Premier League and Champions League on Sky Sports HD.

United kick off with an away game to West Brom, who improved at the end of last season under Roy Hodgson, and have bought intelligently since. However that’s merely a warm-up to what next for United in August as they host Tottenham and then Arsenal in back to back Premier League fixtures. On the other side of the international break awaits another away game, this time to Bolton, before United host Chelsea (making it 3 of the top 5 in the first five games).

Then there is Stoke away and Norwich at home (the first relatively comfortable game) before United have Liverpool away and Manchester City at home, which means in their first 9 games United will face off against the five other sides that finished top 6 last season. If you look at the next two games (Everton and Sunderland), that’s 7 of the top 10 played in the first 11 games.

It’s a tough start and perhaps that’s the reason United’s pre-season has been designed to get them playing at peak performance early on in the season as witnessed by the Community Shield performance, where United’s fitness as much as strategy and talent ran roughshod over City. Also, getting the tough games out of the way early also means United don’t have to contend with these games around December (indeed, their schedule in December is mild compared to the first 9-11 games), when they are competing in multiple competitions and the games are compressed in a short period of time.

Although four of the five ‘top-6′ contests are at Old Trafford, United will still need to be at the top of their game to win. The upside – after 9 games United would have played all their title competitors at least once, and if they can win (or at least avoid defeat), there’s a good chance they’ll be top by end of October. It’s not too much to expect that United’s away form will improve, so a good start will see United ahead of competition early on.

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Manchester United – Transfers Review

Finally. Gary Neville and Paul Scholes are retired. Unfortunately, Edwin van der Sar is retired as well. Ryan Giggs is still there (another season at most?). O’Shea and Brown are gone as well.

The departure of 5 experienced first-teamers / squad players would create a vacuum at any club. However, unlike Chelsea who didn’t recruit effectively nor had experienced youth to step up to the plate last season, United have both. Ashley Young has come in to fill the left-wing berth as a naturally left-footed player, a long-standing missing link in United’s lineup. Phil Jones comes in and will immediately challenge for a first-team slot.

Then there is David De Gea, who has some big, big boots to fill. It’s a measure of Edwin van der Sar’s stature that a goalkeeper of the ability and potential of De Gea has a question mark hanging over him.

United still have players that should be on their way – Darron Gibson probably should have left by now (although more for his own sake than United’s, as he needs games to develop into a better player), the same with Tomasz Kuszczak. And as much as Ferguson thinks he will need 7 strikers this season, Macheda (loan) and Diouf (transfer / loan) shouldn’t be at United either – they need to play games or be shipped out.

But all the talk surrounding United isn’t about outgoing transfers, it’s about that one player United are after – Wesley Sneijder. After turning away from Modric and Nasri early in the transfer window (neither club seemed willing to sell to United for a reasonable fee, and both players had other clubs in mind – Modric to Chelsea and Nasri to City), United have been quietly chipping away at the Sneijder deal for two months now.

The sticking point is Sneijder’s wage demands, and United have reportedly offered a very lucrative signing on fee / bonus structure spread over the duration of his contract to entice the Dutchman. Given that United have refused to budge on their position and with Sneijder talking more about a potential transfer, it’ll be interesting to see how matters transpire over the next two weeks.

In fact, just this morning United made it officially known that they were not trying to sign Sneijder, a clear indication that a) they have been pursuing him for a while and b) that wage demands have brought the negotiations to a halt. David Gill has said that things may change over the next two weeks, but it seems unlikely that either Sneijder or Inter will significantly reduce their demands, and it’s 100% certain that United will not increase their offer.

The key question is whether United really need Sneijder – and although we’ll never know for sure, his arrival will almost definitely mean that United will abandon their 4-4-2 formation, playing Sneijder in what has often been Rooney’s position, either as the second striker in a 4-4-1-1 or in a central attacking position in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Sneijder’s arrival would also make Berbatov nearly redundant at the club, as it would lead to United playing with a single striker more often than not, and creatively Sneijder would be asked to perform a similar role (i.e. unlock opposition defences) as Berbatov has been asked to over the past three seasons.

If Sneijder doesn’t come in, United still have a strong enough squad to succeed in England and in Europe – and they may need that defensive lynchpin discussed earlier as much as, if not more, Sneijder’s match-winning ability. At the end of the day, United will be playing many other teams than just Barcelona, and the squad composition needs to reflect a balance that suits United over the whole season, not just in one fantasy encounter. Will Sneijder be the missing link? A creative player in a team that already has plenty of creativity sounds like a strange choice unless a player is on his way out (hence the above point about Berbatov), and adding a midfielder who isn’t defensively strong to a defensively suspect midfield isn’t improving the squad.

If Sneijder comes, Berbatov (great as he is) should go. And United will still be a player short of what would be the ideal Manchester United squad. And no, we can’t get Edwin back.

Back to top.

Thank you for reading my Manchester United season preview for the 2011/2012 season. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing this.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The season hasn’t started yet, but Arsenal are already contemplating a tough month ahead with matches against Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Udinese to start their season with, plus trouble in the transfer market with Fabregas and Nasri pushing for moves away and a lack of incoming talent.

There’s a strong temptation to categorise Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League qualifying playoffs against Serie A side Udinese as another sign of incredibly difficult times at the Emirates – but it might be the best thing to happen to Arsenal the whole of August.

For starters, Udinese will still be in pre-season – their first league outing is against Juventus on the 28th, but the kicker will be the loss of three key players for Udinese during the summer – Sanchez (Barcelona), Inler (Napoli) and Zapata (Villareal). ‘Selling your way to the top’, as Swiss Ramble puts it, has the unfortunate consequence of requiring the management to constantly rebuild the team.

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The first leg will be at home, another blessing as Wenger will be serving his touchline ban (courtesy of his outrage post-Barcelona last season) and RVP and Nasri are suspended as well. Quite simply, getting knocked out from the Champions League this early in the season would be disastrous for Arsenal, and you can expect Wenger to drill into his team the importance of controlling the tie at the Emirates and making the return leg a formality.

It’s a measure of Arsenal’s troubles on and off the pitch that a tricky knock-out tie worth at least £17.4m (the sum Arsenal will get for playing in the Champions League group stages) is the least of their worries in August.

Today, Arsenal and Barcelona are expected to meet in London to further discuss the transfer of Cesc Fabregas, with 2 bids already rejected and Arsenal holding out for 40m, with Barcelona offering 35m. Samir Nasri is also ready to go, with Wenger refusing to accept a reported 22m transfer fee for a player likely to leave on a free transfer next summer.

I’ve already said it makes no sense for Arsenal to keep Nasri, and why Arsenal should keep hold of Fabregas for one more year, but the more you wait, the more it looks like Arsenal will do the exact opposite.

Only if Arsenal were able to ship out the players they wanted to get rid off with as much as ease as their wantaway stars. Bendtner and Almunia are still at Arsenal, with talks seemingly taking forever, while there are no takers for Squillaci. High wages are a sticking point for all three. Wenger is also refusing to pay more than £10m on a defender, a strategy that leaves Arsenal without any defensive additions in a squad that desperately needs them (regardless of Vermaelen’s return to fitness).

And then there’s the Premier League. A quick look at Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures for August 2011 shows enough challenges to derail their title hopes at any point of the season – Arsenal are away to Newcastle, host Udinese in their Champions League qualifier before hosting Liverpool in the league, then travel away to Udine for the second leg before ending the month with an away trip to play the Premier League champions Manchester United.

Traditionally, Arsenal are strong starters to the season, and how they start their 2011/2012 Premier League campaign – both on the pitch and in the transfer window – will determine whether they are fit for a title challenge this season or if they will be chasing the Champions League qualifying spot.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News