Good news everybody. For all you footballing fans out there who can’t wait till PES 2011 comes out, the new demo for this year’s instalment of Pro Evolution Soccer has just come out for the PC. Get it in the direct link below from the Konami Servers. Enjoy!
Pro Evolution 2011 Soccer Demo
Source: Winning Eleven Blog
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A little nugget of information has emerged from sources within Pyongyang over the aftermath of North Korea’s campaign at the South African World Cup. After their 2-1 exits to eventual Quarter Finalists Brazil, the dear leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ordered for them to stand up on a public stage at the People’s Palace of Culture and be grilled for six hours by 600 top government officials, sporting professionals and athletes for not winning the Wold Cup. This is all for a team ranked 103rd in the world.
Oh but the punishment doesn’t end there. The clearly headstrong team coach, Kim Jong-Hun, has not only been kicked off the team but been expelled from the Workers’ Part of Korea. What’s worst is he’s now reportedly been forced to become a construction labourer on a building site in Pyongyang. And as if you thought it just couldn’t get any worse for him, he’s been charged with betraying General Kim Jong-Un, the son of the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, which has raised fears that he could be executed.
All of this came about after they’d lost 2-1 but been praised for a good performance against Brazil. They then decided to broadcast the first ever live foreign football match on television to the nation for the second game against Portugal. In a match which eventually saw them humiliated 7-0, commentary stopped halfway through the game and the match went unreported in the next day’s newspapers. They finally lost 3-0 to Ivory Coast.
Two of the team’s Japanese born players avoided this public humiliation as they flew straight to Japan after the World Cup ended. According to the Chosun Ilbo South Korean newspaper:
In the past, North Korean athletes and coaches who performed badly were sent to prison camps.
Considering the high hopes North Koreans had for the World Cup, the regime could have done worse things to the team than just reprimand them for their ideological shortcomings.
Well when put it that way, I guess you can count them lucky. If only such a public questioning was possible for the England team then we might very well win our next major tournament.
The World Cup in South Africa has finally drawn to a close and I’m sure a lot of you will be suffering a footballing hangover. But for those of you who still can’t quite get enough of the action, Konami have released a full 6 minute in depth HD trailer of their biggest franchise Pro Evolution Soccer.
PES 2011 is looking like the best new instalment of the franchise yet with new 360 degree controls and over 1000 new motions. The tactical screens look a lot more in depth and comes up to par with it’s ancient rival FIFA. They’ve also put more of an emphasis on not just pulling off tricks or one off moves but linking them into multiple feints, dummys, step overs etc into a more fluid attack. So expect to have Messi pick up the ball and maze his way to a goal from the halfway line.
Check out the awesome new trailer
The full list of new features are summarised quite nicely on the wiki page too:
- Total Control - 360-degree passing ratio has been enhanced improving the control over every pass, shot, throw-in, through ball and lofted through balls. This allows users to pass the ball into space, and move their play with total freedom. Players must precisely weight their passes and second-guess the runs of their team-mates in order to exploit their movement. Players can even apply pressure on opponents to force them off the ball.
- Shot and Stamina Gauge - The gauge details the player's exact level of fitness. Constantly sprinting will affect the player's movements and will have an adverse affect on his stats, with passes going astray coupled with an overall loss of pace.
- New Defender AI - Defenders will now hold their positions naturally, no longer chasing any ball that enters their area; preferring to close down the attacker and force them into a mistake.
- Animation and Player Physics - In-game animation has been totally reworked, with the players enjoying fluid, natural movements, with more realistic acceleration and inertia then previous games. The physicality between players is also improved, which was a priority requested in the online PES forums. Jostling and blocking now looks more impressive, while there is a larger variety of convincing tackling styles. Ambient animation also adds immensely to the in-game atmosphere, as players behave realistically when off the ball, and walk and run with a variety of individual styles.
- Speed of Play - With a new level of control, the pace of play varies depending on situations. The game will burst into life as counter-attacks come into play, but players can dictate the pace via slow build up or exploiting available space to surge forward. It is harder to make long runs from midfield, and successful play will depend on making quick passes to make room.
- Aesthetics - Facial animation has been enhanced from PES 2010. Also, PES 2011 includes over 1000 all-new animations which have been recreated from scratch using over 100 hours of motion captured footage. Every aspect of player movement has been reworked, with more organic runs, turns, throw-ins, tackles, and interaction. The way players speed up and slow down is also more natural, while replays display elements of motion blur that bring your saved goals to vivid life.
- Tactical and Strategy - An all new "Drag and Drop" mechanism that can be used in every aspect of team management, not just substitutions or formation changes. These settings are also animated to promote better understanding of the plays that have been altered.
- Feint settings - PES 2011 allows users to map their favourite move sequences including a wide range of subtle skills, feints and turns, to the right analogue stick.
- Master League Online - For the first time in the series, Master League will be playable online. Users will be able to play against each other with their own built squads.
- Enhanced Edit Mode - Pro Evolution Soccer 2011's Edit mode has been improved vastly to give the players complete control over the game's content and its appearance. Players are no longer limited to a number of player/team slots. They will be able to create virtually unlimited number of players and teams. Also, players will be able to create stadiums, custom league and cup competitions. Everything created by the player will be fully customizable. Stadiums can have different turfs, capacities, nets, roofs and other features. Created league and cup competitions can have their own formats (Group, Knockout, etc.), emblems, which teams and countries can participate and much more.
- MyPES - Players can now customize the game to their liking. They can change the appearance of the menus, change the menu music and much more.
- Pro Evolving Pro Evolution Soccer now contains a mode called Pro Evolving where players are updated weekly based on their performance from their previous fixture, appearance, clothing as well as status (e.g. if injured), although it can be turned off and on. It is very similar to FIFA's Live Season.
Source: PES 2011 Wiki
The game is scheduled for release on October 22nd later this year. Will definitely be looking forward to getting my hands on this version of the franchise as I pretty much do every year.
Source: Winning Eleven Next Gen Blog
The end of the South African 2010 World Cup is here. As we wrap what has been an enjoyable month of engrossing footballing action, we take stock of the performances that have graced this international stage and ponder this years winners and losers of the competition.
So here are my picks for the best starting 11 in the tournament this year:
(Click to enlarge)
Many of you are bound to disagree with me on the selection, for example where is Luis Suarez or indeed Diego Forlan upfront? Where did Robinho and his sparking performance go alongside Carlos Tevez’s equally strong performance or even the ever present Xavi in the centre? Well there’s only enough places on the team to merit 11 players and rather annoyingly, the FIFA system tends to have classed players differently to how I would have done, so if I could, I’d have placed Robben on the wing obviously with perhaps Diego Forlan upfront partnering David Villa.
Anyways whether or not you agree or disagree with me on this one, leave me a comment in the comments section below. Also you can check out the poll results for the best and worst player and team of the tournament as voted by you the readers here and my montage video of the best goals of the tournament this year right here.
So the results are in and after 98 entries, there have been some pretty interesting results. There’ve been the odd funny result here and there with Honda at one point in the lead for the best player of the competition as well as Spain not getting a vote for best team until the 28th entry came in. All in all though most the results have been good victories with other one category being split.
For the complete breakdown of all the votes, head to the results page by clicking on the image or head below for the top 3 from each category.
Best Player of the Tournament
Worst Player of the Tournament
Best Team of the Tournament
Worst Team of the Tournament
And there you have it. David Villa takes the top player of the tournament, evident with the 5 superb goals he’s scored in the tournament as well as leading the line well despite the notable absence of Fernando Torres. The worst player of the tournament is overwhelmingly Wayne Rooney. I think much of this comes with the negativity of the England team as a whole but even individually, amassing no goals and an apathetic first touch has made him take this accomplishment by landslide.
Voting for the teams was a lot more of an easier affair with Germany taking the vote. Expectations must have been low for the Germans with not many people having them down as potential winners but their brand of attractive counter attacking football has won many fans. France without question have fallen from grace. After reaching the Final in the last World Cup, they’ve no only failed to qualify but also managed to do so with their image in tatters.
Also there were some very insightful comments that were left in the poll I thought were quite interesting and thought worth quoting:
Thomas Muller as standout player due to his exploits at the world cup. Even at a young age and with little international experience (caps) he has done extremely well for Germany and especially against Argentina and England, scoring a total of 4 goals and a couple of assists.
Tie between W. Rooney and F. Ribery as the most underperformed, considering both are classed as "World Class" they failed to deliver for their respective teams.
Germany for team of the tournament as they have played good attacking football that has opened up defenses with good passing.
France for the worst team as not only did they play poorly but there was also the player revolt and poor decision making by the FFF overall a blight on the World Cup.
Raymond Jiang
I Picked Muller, Rooney, Germany and Italy for several reasons. For a neutral supporter Germany have been the team to watch. Enthusiastic young players combined with role players like Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Klose have proved to be succesful. And one of the young players which has been outstanding is
Thomas Muller which is pretty amazing if you consider that he was an amateur just one year ago.
Worst team I could have pick England but at last it was between France and Italy. But since France have had this problem during the season and they was in a quite difficult group I picked Italy because of their overrated team and performance in a quite easy group. I mean after New Zealand says it all....
Stefan Man
I think Honda should get the best player award simply because of being such an underrated player with a smaller reputation and finally an Asian player to get some well deserved limelight. I reckon he’ll be a great signing for anyone who comes in for him this summer
Anonymous
So that’s all for this years World Cup 2010 Poll and thank you all to those who voted. I’m sure you’ll all have your favourite moments of the competition and we’ll all definitely be looking forward to the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
Be sure to check out my selection of the World Cup Dream Team and my video of the Top Goals in this year’s tournament.
So in a flurry of World Cup related posts, I present to you my personal selection of the best goals at this year’s South Africa 2010 World Cup. There have been some simply sublime strikes in this year’s World Cup which is what I’ve centred this montage around. The goals I’ve selected may not be the best technical goals nor the most free flowing of team build ups but instead is just my personal list of favourite goals.
There have been plenty of quality goals and to include them all would create a video of epically gargantuan proportions, so the line had to have been drawn somewhere. Notable absentees from the list include Sulley Muntari’s strike from distance, Carles Puyol’s superhuman header and Diego Forlan’s sublime freekick to name but a few.
But enough ranting from me, sit back and enjoy the show and yes they are in order of preference .. the last goal was simply sublime:
All the footage and credit for the commentary contained within the video goes to the BBC Sports Team as well as Team GOL and 101Greatgoals. The music is composed and accredited to Immediate Music who create truly amazing musical compositions.
Carrying on the theme of a seeming lack of hygiene in the Germany squad at this year’s World Cup is Mesut Ozil. This latest video is taken of influential playmaker Mesut Ozil as he juggles a piece of chewing that either fell out of or was spat out of his mouth. Queue some great close control however there’s no surprise as to where the chewing gum ends up.
This follows on from the now infamous Joachim Low on the bench video that hit the tubes last week:
Also if anyone hasn’t yet voted in this years World Cup 2010 Best and Worst Player and Team of the Tournament, then today is the last day to do so. So hurry and get your favourite pick through.
EDIT (11/07/2010): It’s been brought to my attention by my good friend Elaine that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been featured in a Nike video a few years back going one better with his chewing gum.
Source: 101greatgoals
After a long month of watching some pure quality as well as some utterly dire matches, the World Cup is finally coming to an end this weekend. As we all know we who watch the great sport of football are often highly opinionated and for better or for worse are obstinate in our opinions. Whether or not you feel the born again Schweinsteiger or the strike of Asamoah Gyan should make them the standout player of the tournament, it’s totally up to you.
Regardless I thought I’d do up a poll to see who you all think have been the best and the worst players and teams in the tournament this year. I’ve listed down all the ones I can think of off the top of my head however if you feel like I’ve missed a player out somewhere, feel free to add it into the Other section and I’ll add it into the results if there are enough votes.
Anyways, I haven’t set an end date to the poll but will be looking to compile results by a week or two after the Final. So if you’ve got a minute to spare, then vote for your picks in this years World Cup 2010 Poll.
UPDATE (09/07/2010): I’ve had a really good response so far, keep the votes coming in. The results so far have been eye opening .. the leads changes pretty much everyday. Anyways, I’ll have the results posted probably Sunday Night/Monday so either subscribe to this site or check out my twitter at twitter.com/theurbanshogun for the links. Here’s a hoping to a great Final on Sunday everyone.
In more World Cup 2010 footage, as most of you who were watching at least the British coverage of Argentina’s win over Mexico last night will have seen this little gem after Tevez’s (offside) goal. After the Argentineans all run towards the corner of the pitch celebrating in a huddle, one camera man ventures too close to the action and cannot pull back in time as the huddle breaks loose. Consequently ex-united full back Gabriel Heinze takes a full smack on the head as he turns and gives the camera it’s own smacking in just revenge.
Check out the clip of Heinze smacking the camera after the jump.
To check out this superb piece of footage, click the jump.
In probably the strangest 10 seconds of footage from the World Cup so far this year, it comes from Japan’s comprehensive beating of Denmark last night in the group stages and we have Nicklas Bendtner using a felt tip ten colouring in the tape around the socks? “Huh?” I hear you all say? The only reason I could think for this was that maybe he didn’t want a white target on his ankles for the Japanese defenders to target? That’s stretching it still just a little bit. Especially considering he’s wearing silver and orange boots. That said it’s also a pretty lame attempt at colouring in that even a 10 year old child could do better. Either way Bendtner should probably have been concentrating more on his game than the colour of his ankle taping.
Click the jump to see the bizarre video.
EDIT (25/06/2010): A comment on the original post by David Langham explains:
He had a message on his socks. Apparently it violated FIFA rules, you’re not meant to have any messages other than official patches/sponsors etc.
So the ref’s told him to block it out, he got the marker from his team staff, I guess.
Case Solved.
Source: 101 Great Goals Blog
If you play football on a console or on a PC then there’s only one of two gaming franchises you can take up. You’re either a PES fan or a FIFA fan. I am a PES fan and anyone who knows me knows this fact. Following up on yesterday’s batch of new game trailer releases, Konami has shown off it’s latest addition to the series with PES 2011. It sports better controls, more accurate animations as well as a whole slew of game play features such as tussling and new tricks as well as the new pass meter.
Click the jump to check out the Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 trailer as well as High-Def Screenshots.
And six gorgeous new screenshots have also landed on my doorstep (and the sixth being the one at the start of the post).
Click to open the screenshots in their full HD glory.
As far as I can tell, the game is looking superb. Take that FIFA …
Source: Winning Eleven Blog
This is an absolutely quality piece of footage. During the Brazil vs Italy match last Saturday (20th June), something we spotted on TV which can only be defined as one of those eh? What the hell moments appeared on Televisions across the world.
It’s the 57th minute of the game, Brazil are walking all over the Italians by a margin of 3 goals to nil and playing brilliant olé football and the camera pans over to a chubby ginger kid in the crowd and well, have a look and see what happens next.
Was it too hot? Was that maybe not an Ice Cream? Do Magnum bars heal all wounds? Or perhaps somebody has really got to just check that kid’s IQ.
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Either because they ran out of things to report on, or were feeling a little creative, Sky Sports News brought on Sports artists Paul Trevillion to fill in the time with a little “trick” that he does. Quite how he came up with this is anybody’s guess but anyways, enjoy the video.
Source: 101GreatGoals
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Image via Wikipedia
The former UEFA Cup (the now Europa League) will now be played with 5 officials on the pitch starting from next season. This will be done by having an extra official standing behind each of the goals and communicating to each other via headsets.
Of all the English teams, Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham will be part of the 150 clubs set to use this system launched by Sepp Blatter earlier today.
Read on after the jump
The idea is designed to retain human decision making in the beautiful game rather than trying to rely on goal line technology such as the fifth video referee used at rugby games or microchips placed into balls for example.
The following is taken from BBC news:
European football's governing body FIFA and its rule-making arm, the International Football Association Board, ordered a trial of the system last year as an alternative to using video replays.
Uefa used the five-official system at last year's under-19 European Championship qualifying matches in Slovenia, Hungary and Cyprus, where it was hailed a success.
Having an extra pair of eyes monitoring play in each area had a preventive effect and promoted better decision making on suspected fouls.
Players were less prone to shirt-pulling at corners and free kicks, diving in the area and dissent, it reported.
The announcement that matches in the Europa League will be played with the experimental system came after a two-day meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Nassau.
Qualifying-round matches for the Europa League begin in July.
Source: BBC News
Anybody else seem to think that this might be a bad idea? Personally I’ve always been one to say that a Video Ref should be used somewhere in the stands for decisions that involve the ball crossing the line. Far too many times have we seen that this can swing games and the game just needs to be more updated. With extra officials on the pitch, will there be a clash of decisions? What if even these officials get it wrong? I open the floor.
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Image via Wikipedia
For those of you blues supporters, here’s the leaving letter from the great man Hiddink himself:
Back in March, just one month after I started working at Chelsea, supporters from the Fans' Forum came to visit us at Cobham.
I can remember the supporters telling me then that although they knew we were trying hard to win the Premier League and the Champions League, we should not underestimate how much the fans wanted to win the FA Cup this year.
We talked about that and so far we have kept our promise by going to the FA Cup Final.
For Chelsea, for the team, it is very important to be there, and also for the fans.
For the rest of the letter, Read on after the jump
We made the promise come true as much as we can and we hope we can make the next step to get the silverware as well.
A big club like Chelsea needs to win some titles almost every year and everyone knows how the situation has been this season. It was a very good start to the season, the middle it was a little sloppy, and then a rather good end - and it will be perfect to have won a cup.
Make no mistake, the FA Cup is a big title, not only recognised in England but also worldwide.
A cup final is special. It is different from other big league games or semi-finals and when I was a young kid, or after that a professional player, or even when I was beginning as a manager I always had one Saturday in May when I said, hey, this is my afternoon for watching the FA Cup on television.
The whole atmosphere around it is very impressive and the vision of the stadium made a big impact. Most of the Finals were so emotional and so tense.
I have been hearing the players say how much they want to win the FA Cup so I will leave Chelsea with a medal, but I want them to win it for themselves.
We have some players who are at the start of their careers and some who have already a beautiful career, but if every now and then a trophy materialises, it is the cherry on the pie.
The preparations for the game have gone well. We had last week some small problems with some players but they recovered very well at the beginning of the week and I think the team is fully fit.
We have been scoring goals in the last few games and that is important but also important is remembering what has happened this year when Everton is our opponent.
They have shown twice already this season that they can match up with Chelsea so it will be tough. But when we have played tough opponents, it is obvious that the team always reacts to the challenge, even if there is a set-back. We hope we don't have that experience at Wembley but this team is always fighting and that is nice to see.
We have a squad of players who have played many big games which could benefit us. Let's hope so, let's think so.
When you play lots of big games you do get used to it but also we must not underestimate Everton because they will rise to this occasion and they are experienced as well. Some of them have played big tournaments and they are in the Premier League where you gather a lot of experience. But yes, having played many big games, that might be an advantage for Chelsea.
I am told the fans have special big flag for me at Wembley and if so, I will be very pleased because I didn't expect that appreciation. Of course we did rather well in the Premier League from February on and we did well in the Champions League and also in FA Cup, but being here a short period and knowing that people know already what success is in this club, then being appreciated so much is a wonderful experience.
I would like to thank the fans for that, for the support they have given the team all season and for the big support I am sure they will provide on Saturday.
As a Chelsea man at heart, I could not see anything more fitting than to see us win the FA Cup for Guus. Come on you Blues!
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As we wrap up the long and arduous season and bid farewell to the God awful Newcastle United and her die-hard legion of fans, we take a look back at some of the beautiful aspects of our great game. Check out the sick skills on display this season.
I know that two other teams also were subject to the cut but Newcastle of all teams. It’s what happens when you have players that don’t play with no heart. Thank the lord we had Guus Hiddink just when we needed him. So question is, did Newcastle deserve to go down? Discuss.
Technorati Tags: 08/09,Showboating,Football,Newcastle,skills,Discuss
Well it’s that time of year again where local chippies across the country prepare for a slowdown in Saturday afternoon business and yes that means another season has come to a close. Thought I’d write a brief and honest commentary on how I thought each of the Top 4 teams have done this season and what remains for the next. Now before anybody begins to berate me for a one sided argument, it should be noted that I am a Chelsea supporter and that I don’t follow each of the four teams as religiously as you might each do to your own. Also that this is brief so I haven’t even touched upon things like formations, finances and all the rest. But, barring a statistical miracle, the Top 4 should finish in this order (at the time of posting).
This Season: I’ll be totally honest, I don’t think this first eleven is as good as last season’s first eleven. There’s a number of reasons for that ranging from Ronaldo’s dip in form, slickness of play and injuries to key players notably Neville. For the most part, a lot of the 07/08 season was spent with United blowing opposition away with a style of play born out of a West and North London illegitimate lovechild (as much as the idea sickens me). There was the balanced mix between slick moves and quick to the feet distribution as well as damaging counter-attacking play and an emphasis on body strength.
However having a strong first team didn’t win the title for United this season but rather a strong squad sitting in the wings did. Ferguson proved what a master of the old game he is by chopping and changing what he thought was necessary, proving that rotation done well can work well (hint hint Rafa). Also the emergence of key players this season such as Giggs with 18 assists and Tevez with a respectable 15 goals to his name have happily helped United along their way. Most people will have the rather misguided perceptions that a squad which has no clear first team, is not a strong team. However United clearly have proved this not to be the case and that if you were to ask a supporter who would feature in their first eleven, I’d dare you to bet that they’d all pick the same line-up. There’s a certain flexibility to this season’s United squad that has managed to deal with a ridiculously huge number of fixtures, a staggering 65 in total this season starting with the FA Community Shield to Portsmouth back in August to the upcoming European Final at the end of May.
That said, it’s hard not to mention the unbeaten run they went on which coincided with the impregnable form that Vidic and arguably Carrick has shown. Vidic slotting in nicely as Ferdinand’s demon of a partner and Carrick who calmly ticked over during matches and keeping the ball flowing.
For the future: Ronaldo and Tevez. These two drama’s will definitely need to be solved in this summer period. Ronaldo should either get his head down and get back to obliterating defences as he used to and Tevez needs to leave Kia Joorabchian because clearly it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Although 32million for Tevez? Hmmm, I think not. But if Ronaldo and Tevez stay, all the better for United fans. If not I would think they’d need either one clear goal poacher i.e. Benzema/Klose type and to reassure the backline with an extra sideback perhaps. Also it’ll be very important to keep the development of young players like Macheda, SIlva, Anderson, Nani etc and keeping their feet on the ground.
Oh and we can only pray that United’s away kit next season will be this monstrosity
This Season: Oh dear oh dear, where ever did it go wrong. A step so close yet so far. Having a look at the new signings and the existing squad during the summer of 2008, I honestly thought it would be Liverpool competing with us for the top spot with United a close third. How wrong I was.
Yet for all the money that’s been spent on the squad so far under Rafa’s reign, clearly not enough, again it’s that point about strength in depth. Now imagine this, stick United’s (approximate) first team alongside the Liverpool’s first team, and just ask yourself how many of those Liverpool players would replace that of United’s. Three? Four? Anymore? Now look at the whole squad, can you really compare the likes of Dirk (the apparent destroyer) Kuyt to Tevez? Or perhaps Charles Itandje to Tomasz Kuszczak?
That said, the combination of Gerrard and Torres has been devastating. But that’s when they play together. And that’s like hardly ever. Yes they’ve both had injuries at conspicuously similar times of the season but just how many times do you have to rotate your squad in order to satisfy your need for change eh Rafa? I still see Liverpool as being a one-match team. They’re orientated around playing the one most important match of their life every few months in order to get through to the next round of European glory. It’ll be interesting to see what a scouser would rather pick though, European or English glory next season?
I also see just far too many ‘nobodies’ on that bench as if to show that their transfer policy that they can deal with any injuries. But unlike United, every time they rotate their first team out, they just cannot sustain the same level of performance and it’s often these backup teams that succumb to crucial mistakes and drop the crucial points.
For the Future: Keeping the Torres and Gerrard partnership together. A better squad of 20. Bringing in stronger and more talented individuals like David Silva or David Villa. It’s sometimes more quality, not quantity that wins you trophies.
Chelsea FC
This Season: Oh boy .. what’s new i guess. This season there’s been the usual mix of drama, power struggles and inconsistencies we’ve seen since the end of the Special One’s Era. Yes you’ve guessed it, I’m another Mourinho fanboy, but for all the right reasons. For all his ego and unnatural ability to get under every opposition managers skin, he was clearly World Class. Everything that exuded from the Portugese said discipline, control and a winning mentality.
Now 18 months or so on, we find ourselves with a manager which although not being on the polar opposite end of the scales but is definitely significantly different. Scolari had an aim and a purpose from Day 1 to bring flair and style into what I’d admit is an ageing machine. Much like teaching an old granny how to breakdance. That and he simply had no Plan B. Sure there was a Plan A and sure it did blow away a good 7 or 8 teams at the start, but the EPL isn’t a dumb league. Managers and teams adapt, and through this is cropped up the problems. Unlike Barceona who actually can obstinately plug away in their same beautiful football, i couldn’t imagine for the life of me that Alex or Ballack would effortlessly pirouette their way their oppositions.
If Mourinho’s Chelsea was a state of the art Subaru Impreza STI rally car then Scolari’s Chelsea was arguably a ‘97 Lotus Elise. The former was a solid machine that’s robust, efficient, rolls all over opponents, and is comprised of exotic components from around the world and to which combine to exude confidence and success. The latter is an ageing machine which although shines and glistens and goes round like the great Zohan in a New York hair saloon, is really made up of old parts in need of replacing and is generally shite when the going gets tough. Of course however, the same things can be said about the cars.
Hiddink’s Chelsea therefore can be classed as probably a BMW M3. Undeniably yes it’s still old, but it still holds that strong and reliable spirit about itself. You know that when the going really gets tough, that you can still depend on them to grind out a result. What Hiddink has essentially done is bring Chelsea back to their comfort zone. A familiar formation, a familiar style of play, none of this zonal marking at the set pieces nonsense and all of a sudden it seems so simple. What might have helped was that being Dutch, how else would he have played if it were not for Mourinho’s 4-3-3? Either way, HIddink is a top class manager with astute tactical nous and a personality that makes managing even Drogba look like child’s play. And for that, we will miss you Guus.
For the future: Apart from saying wholesale changes to anybody whose over the age of 30, there’s a few key departments i think need changing. Working from the front, Didier Drogba. Two solutions, either we keep him if he decides to turn up and play like he knows he can, or sell him straight away because he’s beginning to be a pain in the ass. Also along with Malouda and Cole, we need one special winger to tie up the front three, that said I honestly believed Quaresma would prove to be that missing link, not sure where i went wrong there. Ballack and Deco need to go, young blood needs space to grow and there just isn’t enough there to justify their ridiculous wages. The likes of Ribery, Van da Vaart, David Silva and Kaka come to mind. Someone whose young, talented, quick and with an eye to unlocking the opposition. The defence will need another left back, the loss of Wayne Bridge hasn’t been felt yet but we wouldn’t want to have a repeat of Chelsea Liverpool a few years back and playing Duff at left back now would we. In terms of management, it looks set to be Carlo Ancelotti, say what you will about him, I personally don’t rate him and i can just see him falling flat like Scolari evidently did.
Arsenal FC
This Season: I guess the picture pretty much says it all does it not (Funny how Adebayor and Bendtner look so happy together). Arsene Wenger deserves a ton of praise for having the courage to stick to the philosophy that he’s had of breeding young talent through the beautiful way of football. WRONG. I’m sorry but that’s about as far as it goes for me, when will Wenger learn that releasing players prematurely to cash in on their value is not the right way to go about things. If we’d had all followed this same approach to everything, United would be without it’s Scholes, Giggs and Nevilles, Chelsea would be without it’s Lampards and Carvalhos of this world and we’d be left with a bunch of overrated babies learning to pass the ball sideways across the face of the goal.
Yes, it is stylish when they get it right and on form they could pass the ball through the smallest gaps in the best defences in the world but man is this team in need of a kick up the ass or two. The signing of Arshavin, which arguably goes against Wenger’s philosophy, shows that by spending a bit of money and being a little bit more direct that certain players can absolutely change games. If they actually decided to shoot half of their opportunities rather than attempt to walk it into the goal, they’d be a lot higher up the table. Sometimes I even begin to wonder if they know what it means to strike a ball at a goal. And to say this team is beaming with talent? Fabregas couldn’t stand up to a mild gust of wind, Adebayor is lackadaisical at the best of times, Almunia looks like he’s on a permanent hangover and lives on the corner of Brixton Tube Station, Diaby wishes he was Essien, Gallas is an epic *bleep*, Rosicky is secretly undergoing Wolverine-like experimentation because where else could he be, Silvestre looks like ET, Van Persie runs like a freaking spastic and Bendtner is a freaking spastic. Ahem, OK they have the likes of Song and Walcott who are turning out to be real gems of the game but again how many of those Arsenal players could you imagine fitting into United’s lineup. One? Two? Struggling now?
For the Future: The obvious more signings of experienced and physically solid players. They’re missing players like Flamini and to an extent Thierry Henry, far too much. However things don’t look too great if the latest rumblings are true that the Gooner Warchest has shrunk to £13m.
Anyways sorry for the gooner-bashing but meh, I just can’t be nice about them after all I guess and I’m kind of waiting for the hate mail anyways.
Again there’s a million other points up for debate but I don’t have a million pages to type on.
Anyways thanks for reading and let me know what you think.
