People News Archives

Peter Reid talks to Soccerlens about who should take the England captaincy, why Rooney is the best player in the Premiership, and getting one over Graeme Souness.

Peter Reid was the kind of player you’d want to have in your team. Passionate, committed, full of drive and a never say-die-attitude that saw him gain thirteen England caps, as well as helping Everton to two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup.

That style’s transferred off the pitch where he’s still full of passion and drive, both during his time as manager of Sunderland, Leeds, and Manchester City and now in his latest role – as England manager.

No, we’re not breaking a world exclusive here. Reid hasn’t taken over from Fabio Capello. But his task is no less daunting – he’ll be managing a team of England legends over three matches this summer, televised on ITV4, starting with a match up against Scotland legends managed by his old Merseyside adversary Graeme Souness at Southampton on Thursday and we caught up with him as he made his final preparations.

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When I first read it - and before I had read what the mainstream media thought about it - it sounded like an over-ambitious plan that had no chance of success. In one respect at least, their aims for Euro 2012 and World Cup 2010, the FA were setting the bar at the right height - but expecting everything else to fall into place was quite ambitious considering their past track record.

The next day, I had the (mis)fortune to read what the press thought of it. It seems that no matter what the FA do, they will get ripped a new one. The same morons who ripped into the England team for not being good enough were now criticising the FA for setting the bar too low in terms of targets.

TOO LOW? Take out James, Beckham, Terry, Ferdinand and Lampard from the England lineup and have fun trying to reach the semifinals of Euro 2012 (assuming England qualify).

The press have taken the FA to task for setting a minimum criteria for England - anything less would be considered a failure. Considering that we’ve been stopped at the quarter-finals stage thrice and dumped unceremoniously out of Euro 2008 by sides supposedly inferior, I’d say it’s a pretty ambitious goal.

So - get your thumbs out of your asses and find something else to complain about - as far as setting targets for Fabio Capello is concerned, the FA have done the right thing. For once.

Download link: FA Vision document (pdf, 2.6mb)

Can someone clue me in - did Tottenham always have this much to spend, or is it the fact that they’re realizing that winning is nice that’s making them shell out big bucks?

Today’s transfer rumors are Spurs-heavy, so if you hate Tottenham, or are a Spurs fan who doesn’t want to get their hopes up (or dashed), it’s okay to read selectively.

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There is some news from the weekend to get caught up on, but first, there’s an actual signing to report.

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Today’s transfer roundup won’t be too long, because I’m being generous. I’m sure you all have much better things to do than to sit and read for an extended period of time…right?

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Guess who’s back? That’s right, me and the transfer roundup.

The season’s winding down and the rumors are heating up, so you’ll be seeing me in this space regularly.

Anyway, on to the good stuff!

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Keano has lost patience with some his players and wants to ship out the non-performers as soon as possible:

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Looking through the Soccerlens postbag this week we found a letter from a man much in the news at the moment. He has written for our help as he feels he is simply misunderstood:

Dear Soccerlens,

I have been reading your website for some time in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the game of football. I must say I find the writing of Graham Fisher to be particularly enlightening.

I need your help with a very difficult problem. I have made a sound decision based on my extensive knowledge of the game but it appears that most other people think I am wrong. I am disappointed to discover that in England people are allowed to disagree with me. In the past I would have had them….never mind, they’ve proved nothing!

People say my knowledge of football is lacking but I can assure you that I have followed Manchester for many years. I was surprised when I saw us play for the first time and we were wearing blue shirts and not the famous red ones, and I also found that we no longer played at Old Stratford, which was disappointing.

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Earlier this week Sir Alex Ferguson made an off-the-cuff remark which directly compromised the integrity of Premier League managers and the very institution of football that we, as fans, put their faith in.

He was answering a question about Eriksson’s predicament at Manchester City, and he said:

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An interesting article appeared in the Guardian this morning, featuring soundbites from 9 managers in the Premier League on the chances of Manchester United and Chelsea in winning the Premier League this season.

This was before today’s set of matches, mind you, so it wasn’t as if these managers knew ahead of time that Manchester United were going to derobe West Ham and then whip them into submission (some expressions don’t translate that well, I’m afraid).

The responses were predictable (8 out of 9 backed United, guess who was the odd one out), although it would have been interesting to hear the other 7 managers (keeping Curbs and Keegan out of this since their teams play the league leaders this weekend), I doubt they’d have gone against United, such is the level of expectations surrounding the Manchester club’s final 2 performances.

So what about Rafa?

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Arsenal fans seem to put a lot of faith in their young Spanish midfielder, and with good reason - Fabregas has often displayed a coolness of temperament ever since breaking on the scene for Arsenal that is rarely seen in footballers, regardless of age or experience. Arsenal fans know how lucky they are to have Cesc, but perhaps even his manager doesn’t know what the protege is actually capable of.

Apparently, after destroying his agent’s office to get himself a TV show, the Arsenal star has now taken the next step in creating his public image - and put himself on fire.

Yup. Fab actually has gasoline poured over him - quite a lot of fun, if you ask me. Here’s the video:

If they did that to Gallas I’m not sure the fire extinguishers would have been out so quickly though…

It be foolhardy to suggest that Thaksin Shinawatra knows more than the average football fan. He might know how to make money, and avoid going to jail, but in terms of pure footballing knowledge he would be more Macca than Rafa, if you catch my drift.

But the Manchester City owner does not consider Mr Eriksson to be the ‘right man’ for the job. That raises a host of interesting questions, such as:

Did Shinawatra really do his research last summer or did he just hire the most high-profile, unemployed, english-speaking manager available on the market?

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Since Tottenham crashed out of the UEFA Cup on penalties back in March, its fair to suggest that cruise control mode has set in a White Hart Lane. The north London club are guaranteed a spot in next season’s UEFA Cup following their Carling Cup victory. But with just two games of the season remaining, the height of the club’s current ambition is to leap frog West Ham into tenth position in the Premiership table.

Spurs’s league form has been consistently inconsistent throughout 2007/2008 and to emphasise the point, Juande Ramos‘ team have managed just one win in their last eight games. It’s hardly the kind of form expected from a side talked about in many quarters as being top four material last summer.

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Noun
catenaccio m. (plura; catenacci)
1. a bolt (for a door)
2. a system of defensive play in football

Catenaccio is a tactical playing scheme in the game of football. It consists mostly in a 5-4-1 formation alignment characterized by its defensive propensity.

Under the definition of catenaccio lie a series of modules and tactical schemes that define the main philosophy of the team’s defensive unit. The latter’s mission is essentially that of preventing the opposing team from scoring, an objective which is achieved by closing down (or precisely, “locking” or “bolting”) the area around the team’s own net.

The word ‘catenaccio’ has given origin to the term ‘catenacciaro’ in the Italian language (nowadays almost always employed with negative connotations), which is used to describe a manager or a team who, above all, are dedicated to all-out-defense tactics, to the destruction of the opponent’s plays and the renunciation to construct any type of attacking game, simply in order to prevent opposing strikers from getting a shot on goal.

Source: Italian Wikipedia (translated by Marco Pantanella)

The question all of you are now asking: how on Earth can the term ‘catenaccio‘ be applied to Manchester United? Sure, all they did against Barcelona on Wednesday was defend (hell, even Rooney and Tevez were playing center-backs at times) but the Red Devils are a team also capable of very attractive attacking-style football, a characteristic which they’ve demonstrated many times over in the Premier League this season. So… what gives?

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With the football season almost at its end, there is no doubt that the most outstanding player this year has been the Portuguese wing-wonder, Cristiano Ronaldo. With almost 40 goals in all competitions, few would argue that he is the player of the moment.Naturally, this has led some fans to wax lyrical about him.

Some say he is “the greatest player ever”; I have also heard others saying that he is better than Zidane, some have gone as far as to say he is superior to Pele and Maradona. I’m not going to debate on the validity of those statements. Everyone is entitled to their views and opinions, and this here is mine:

There is no doubt that Ronaldo has ability, but to call him “the greatest player ever” is pre-mature at best and absolutely absurd at worst. Surely I do not need to remind you that a player is judged by his career, not his performance in a single season. Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Maldini, Cantona, Baresi and Baggio, just to name a few, did not become great players because they had ONE great season. If that were the case, we would have to add players like Kevin Phillips and Javi Moreno to the list.

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Photo Caption: Grant thinks Kenyon was joking when Chelsea picked AG as manager - the ironic bit is, Kenyon might have been.

Both Avram Grant and Rafael Benitez have been locked in various off-pitch wrangles lately. Grant with the press and the fans and if the media is to be believed, players. Benitez with the owners, the board and Neil Warnock.

Both managers recently wrote in to Soccerlens to let off some steam and get some answers to their problems. Here’s how that particular exchange went:

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Cesc Fabregas is set to star in his own one-off TV program called “The Cesc Fabregas Show: Nike Live” which will be broadcast on Monday 19 May on Sky Sports 1.

In the show, Cesc will be taking the audience on the journey of his own life to date as a player and person. The programme will feature a host of cameo appearances from other athletes and stars of the game, including Arsene Wenger.

Here’s a little teaser video for Fab’s show:

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On Wednesday, 9 April, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reached his fifth Champions League semifinal after his club progressed at the expense of AS Roma.

Only Carlo Ancelotti has reached so many semifinals as head coach in this competition. What’s interesting to note here is both Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez have made it to 3 semi-finals each, and at their (relatively) young age it’s quite likely that they will get to a few more semi-finals, assuming that they go in the upward trajectory that their career paths have suggested till now.

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Apparently, these clubs have (or have had) players with the most Champions League semifinal appearances.

Before you go through the list, try guessing who’d be on this list. Several Italians, of course, which is where Juve / Milan come in, and then there is the Madrid - Chelsea connection (bonus points if you can think of the 2nd player before peeking at the list), and there’s a record-breaking Champions League winner and a couple of underachieving continental strikers to round off the list.

Here’s the list:

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Here’s a list of the top scorers in this year’s Champions League (so far), plus their career stats for the Champions League:

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While Manchester United keep closing the gap between themselves and rivals Liverpool in terms of league titles, a debutant playing at Anfield is close to matching (and if opportunities permit, breaking) a record set by a former Manchester United striker.

With 3 games left in the Premier League (2-3 more in Europe), Fernando Torres has 30 goals from 42 appearances, and 22 from 31 appearances in the Premier League. This leaves him just 1 short of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 23 goals from 32 appearances, and 6 short of his overall first season (2001/2002) tally of 36 goals from 45 games.

These numbers are phenomenal - RVN’s strike rate of 150 goals in 201 games is legendary and Torres can bring that consistency of 4-5 seasons (at least) to Liverpool, then who knows where they’ll go?

Some numbers:

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Yes, we’re back to that age old rivalry between the Red-Men from Liverpool, and the Blues from London, the Angels of the North against the Arseholes of the South. So here is a very Liverpool view on why we will beat Chelsea, and then see Fergie in the final in Moscow.

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England boss Fabio Capello has warned his players that those who make themselves unavailable for games without a genuine reason will be putting their international careers at risk.

This message has been sent prior to the forthcoming friendlies against the United States at Wembley on 28 May and the visit to Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June.

Capello said: “If someone doesn’t want to come and play for England, it means they don’t love the shirt enough and obviously they must prefer to go on holiday.”

Capello added: “By the time of the two games, some of the players will have been on holiday for a week already. Do I want to see commitment to England? If a player doesn’t love to play for England, then perhaps he should stay at home. Players must love the England shirt and wearing the England shirt. That is all there is to it.”

I don’t know about any other English fans out there but at first this sort of talk is absolute music to my ears. OK, the two performances we have seen from England since Don Fabio took over may not have been obviously full of passion and ‘love of the shirt’ but this is a message that I was so pleased to have heard.

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I received a letter this morning from former England manager Steve McClaren. (If you believe that, you’ll believe anything!) Anyway, I thought I would share it with you because it contains some wonderful insights into some of the decisions he made over his England career.

Dear Graham,

Firstly, let me say that I think you are probably the best football writer in the world. I admire your work and think you should be paid a lot more than you are. Have a word with those Soccer News and Soccerlens people and see if they could pay you something like £500 per article. You are certainly worth it.

I wanted to contact you because you have made some unfair criticisms about me in the past. You are not the only football writer who has done so but I thought I’d start at the very top.

I want to take this opportunity to put the record straight.

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Football Club Barcelona is not in the best state to go into the Champions League semi final with Manchester United. If you regularly read the Spanish sports press you will know that Barça is a club in crisis. It may also seem that the press always says the same, at least when Barça are not beating the pants off everyone.

However, over the last couple of weeks the situation has reached a point where it feels as though the club is going to explode with one more bad result. Before last week’s goalless draw with Getafe president Joan Laporta appealed to a group of supporters that Barça “are not as bad as all that.” He went on to tell the fans that they should not fall into the trap of listening to journalists who pretended to be on Barça’s side but in fact had other interests.

His arguments might have been valid but the anxious aggressive tone that he used to make them did little to convince the fans, and after Barça once again missed an opportunity to close the gap on Real Madrid by failing to beat Getafe, some of the crowd protested by calling for Laporta’s resignation.

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It’s that time of the season when the player of the season awards start being handed out. It’s also the time of the season when us fans argue about who has been the best player in each of the positions. It is unlikely that any two fans would select an identical ‘team of the year’ but for the purposes of debate and ‘friendly’ discussion I thought I’d have a go at putting my ideas on paper.

I have selected a squad of twenty-two from which I will select my final Premier League eleven. I just know that the players I select will be hugely proud to be recognised by me, a man who all the top players listen to. Mmm.

I’m going for a good old fashioned 4-4-2. Not because it is the only way to play but because it makes it easier to put down on paper!
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This article was partly inspired by this incredible piece from the Guardian.

As anybody who has heard me talk about the Premier League, and even European football in general, will tell you, I don’t speak very highly about Arsenal Football Club. I never found any reason to respect them. It seemed all they did was blame referees and bring the game into disrepute.

However, after paying more attention to the mass media lately, I have found that Arsenal (and their manager) are worthy of my respect, even though it still remains very much a love-hate relationship.

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Manchester United play Arsenal on Sunday, 13 April needing to win to keep Chelsea at arm’s length.

Arsenal have been United’s trickiest opponents since Alex Ferguson took over at Old Trafford in November 1986. The London club have won 13 league fixtures against United in this period and collected 53 points, more than any other club. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has been in charge for eight of these victories, including three at Old Trafford.

Arsenal have won four matches at United since November 1986, a total bettered only by Chelsea’s five in the same period.

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Like last season, Ronaldo is a strong favourite for winning the Professional Footballers’ Association players’ player of the year and the PFA young player of the year awards.

Here’s the full list of nominations:

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Roy Keane insists that Sunderland haven’t yet secured their Premier League future.

A fourth consecutive win for the Black Cats at home to Manchester City on Saturday will all but see the north-east club safe.

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