On Southampton

Southampton fans keep on complaining that no one ever talks about them, so here we go.

Nobody really gives them a prayer of getting into the Champions League, but I'm not so sure.

Firstly, they have a well balanced team and their players complement each other well. Tadic and Pelle combine very well and Wanamaya is an underrated player who did very well for Celtic in the Champions League. Shane Long was an intelligent buy and he will score goals, why did Hull let him go? And Fraser Forster is an excellent goalkeeper despite the mistake on Monday.

Secondly, far too many teams underestimate them, and I think that will continue because everyone expects they will fall apart by the end of the season. Against the big four or five many teams drop back and defend with seven or eight players in the box, but against Southampton this doesn't happen. Sunderland, for example, didn't track back properly the whole match against Southampton and got beaten 8-0. They would never do that against the likes of Arsenal or City.

Lastly, although I can never forgive Ronald Koeman for his actions 21 years ago, I must admit he does look like a very good coach. That man has a nerve coming to work in England (of all places) after what he did but he has almost achieved a miracle to get Southampton where they are today and playing such good football. I believe he has the experience and the force of personality to possibly see Southampton through to the Champions League.

Please share if you like this. I will continue to blog every single fucking Thursday, right to the end of the season.

Tom

Qatar - A costly mistake

The decision to award the World Cup to Qatar could end up being a very costly one indeed for both FIFA, its President Sepp Blatter and Qatar itself.

- Qatar won the bid to stage a summer World Cup. Australia, the United States, South Korea and Japan, the other countries who bid for 2022 could all sue FIFA to recoup the cost of their bids if the tournament is moved. Had they known the tournament dates could have been moved they might have done things differently, or not bid at all.

- If the World Cup is staged at any time outside June and July then European leagues could sue FIfA because of the impact this would have on sponsorship and TV deals (i.e it would reduce the value of those deals for the 2021/22 season).

- A winter World Cup would clash with other big sporting events (notably the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics). So reducing the value of World Cup sponsorship and TV deals.

- Sponsors are considering withdrawing their support of FIFA because of its perceived lack of integrity and transparency, particularly over the Qatari imbroglio.

- If Qatar lose the World Cup (there is a precedent for this, Colombia lost the 1986 tournament four years beforehand) they will have spent all that money and exploited all those South Asian workers for nothing.

- I will be boycotting the Qatari World Cup because of their terrible attitude to human rights and because of the secretive (and possibly corrupt) way in which the bidding process was conducted. I urge other football fans to do the same. FIFA, Sepp Blatter and the Qataris think they can get away with their outrageous actions, I think they are wrong.

Chelsea: The Big Evil

Five huge reasons to dislike Chelsea this season.

1. Mourinho

The most arrogant man in football. The London-based, pro-Chelsea media love him to bits, but don't let that fool you. He is widely hated in most other parts of the football world. None more so than Italy where he is a figure of hate from his time at Internazionale. He's a bully (see the Anders Fisk incident, Wenger or Ferguson never ever went that far), and he sets up his teams to play negatively.  

2. The Gamesmanship

Chelsea 2014/15 are masters of  game management and gamesmanship. The former in common sense, the latter is cynical and spoils the game. For example, against Arsenal, Ivanovic pretended to misunderstand the linesman's call of a throw-in to Arsenal and took the throw-in himself, this had the effect of disrupting Arsenal's rhythm at a time when they were on top in the game. He really should have been booked for that and referees really need to start being a lot tougher on them. Chelsea players are the biggest cheats of the lot, how they got away with some of what they did in the Liverpool game on Saturday beggars belief.

3. They've bought the title

However you dress it up, it's still Abramovitch's millions which are making the difference. Chelsea aren't playing well because Mourinho is some sort of alchemist, it's because they have the money to buy whoever they want. Mourinho is an excellent manager, but the tipping point is the money. 

At the start of the season I was concerned that Man City might run away with it and destroy the long-term competitiveness of the league. I was wrong. But if Chelsea do win the league this season then City will surely spend £200 million over the summer to be competitive again. The danger is that both these clubs will end up dominating (like Celic and Rangers or Barcelona and Real Madrid) and it won't be the best league in the world anymore.

4. The pro-Chelsea media

In the recent Chelsea - Arsenal game, Danny Mills on commentary didn't criticize Chelsea or praise Arsenal once in the game. Now, I'm not complaining, but I do think it's indicative of a pro-Chelsea bias in the media. You won't find one journalist or pundit with a bad word to say about Chelsea at the moment. Some are even saying that Chelsea have won the league already. You don't need me to tell you how ridiculous that is.

5. They've been lucky this season......so far.

Chelsea have had no major injuries so far this season. The other top four teams are all missing big players, (Manchester City - Silva, Arsenal - Giroud, Liverpool -  Sturridge). I notice though that Cesc Fabregas has 'done a Steven Gerrard' and pulled out of the Spain squad this week because of an 'injury', don't worry folks, he'll be back in time for the next Chelsea game. 

But Chelsea's primary weakness is their lack of options up front. Should Diego Costa get injured,  they only have Loic Remy and an aging Didier Drogba.  

Nothing personal against the charming Mr. Costa, but we can only hope.

  

Things no football fan would ever say.

Things no football fan would ever say.



I really miss the eighties when players used to wear those really short shorts.

I think football was better in the seventies with Ron Chopper Harris, and that.

I actually think David Pleat is a really good pundit.

I like Neil Warnock.

I'm really hungry, I could do with some couscous salad, or something.

Being England manager is a really difficult job, I know I couldn't do any better.

I thought the referee had a great game today.

I went to the Emirates to watch the match at the weekend, I thought the ticket was very reasonably priced.

I wonder why there aren't so many ethnic minorities in football.

I don't enjoy it when my team keeps the ball on the floor, I prefer them to play long balls and try to score from set-plays.

I think the media have been really unfair on Mourinho recently.

I've just finished Elective Affinities by Goethe, yeah, it's a really good read, actually.

I feel a bit sorry for Manchester United for what's happened to them over the last eighteen months.

I suppose if I think that players get paid too much I don't have to go to watch games. 

I admit, I like going to football to be boorish.



Postscript: I really do think that Chelsea's luck will run out on Saturday against Liverpool. Chelsea really aren't as good as they say, and I think their unbeaten run will end. 1-0 to Liverpool, you heard it first here, folks.