Another Year Over

Since it's that time of year, I thought I'd compile a list of some memorable football moments over the past 12 months. This is a totally subjective list, so bear that in mind before leaving angry comments about the exclusion of so-and-so. I don't doubt that I've left out some footballing nuggets, but these are what came to mind in the 10 minutes I spent thinking about the year gone by. I'll try and include relevant Youtube clips where possible, because that's the kind of guy I am. And also, the list has no order. So without further adieu...

Fabregas v Milan

It was the second leg of the first Champions League knockout round. Milan had gotten a slightly fortuitous 0-0 draw at the Emirates, where Adebayor somehow managed to miss a header roughly 7 inches from the goal line. Most people thought Arsenal had blown their chance. The old dogs of Milan were said to be too wily to let this youthful Arsenal side get the result they needed on Italian soil. Cesc Fabregas and co. proved most people very wrong.

It was a team effort of course, with even Philip Senderos playing well for a change. But it was the little Spaniard that ran the show from beginning to end. His tackling was tenacious, his workrate second to none, and everything we've come to expect from Fabregas -- his impeccable decision making, his precise passing, his ability to control the tempo of a game -- was on song. He had been quite laboured in the weeks that led up to this game, and quite laboured afterwards as well, but in these 90 minutes he was the complete midfielder, showing the once imperious Pirlo how it's now done.

Discovering Football Weekly

I can't quite remember when exactly I discovered Football Weekly, but I know it was some time in 2008, so that's good enough for it to make the list. I've championed this podcast on the blog already, but I have no problem doing so again.

To put it plainly, my football experience is not complete until I hear the opinions of "the pod" on Monday afternoon and Thursday evening. For anyone who says that football is their favourite sport, Football Weekly is practically required listening. If you haven't yet discovered the joy of it, then do so as soon as possible. There will be a new podcast up on Monday the 29th. I strongly encourage you to listen to it.

Arsenal v Liverpool

Another Arsenal related moment. This time the Gunners were faced with a tricky tie against Liverpool at Anfield (Liverpool in the Champions League and all that jazz) after coming out of the first leg at the Emirates with an unjust 1-1 draw (it should really have been 2-1, with Bendtner blocking a goal bound effort from Fabregas, and the referee denying Hleb a stone wall penalty after the Belarusian had danced his way into the box with his patented nimble footwork). Arsenal had to score at Anfield, and boy did they do just that and then some.

They completely dominated for 30 minutes, playing some of the best football of the season. The goal came from a neatly worked move, and at that point it almost looked like it was just a question of how many Arsenal would score. But then the Senderos factor kicked in. Having completley lost one of the most dangerous aerial threats of the last 10 years in the form of Sami Hyypia at a corner, Senderos then went on to give about 3 yards of space in the box to one of the most potent finishers in the Premier League, and Torres accepted the gift by guiding the ball into the top corner.

The game seemed to just drift away from Arsenal, until Theo Walcott produced a moment of unbelievable brilliance. Never did I think him capable of such things, but he proved me and a host of other people very wrong. It was just incredible to watch, and a moment worthy of winning any tie. Unfortunately for Walcott and Arsenal, it wasn't sufficient to win this tie. In keeping with their season, Arsenal managed to overshadow their attacking prowess by switching off mentality, and allowing Liverpool to go straight back up the field and win a (soft) penalty. A fourth Liverpool goal followed, and Arsenal's Champions League dream was shattered.

Still though, this was easily the game of the season for me, and one that will live long in the memory. If I did have an order to this list, this game would probably be at the top.

Terry Penalty

England's lion heart. England's war hero. Chelsea's rock, their heartbeat, their captain fantastic. John Terry has received all sorts of praise over the years, but in my opinion he has been vastly overrated. He is a good defender, but he's not even the best at his own club. That honour goes to Ricardo Carvalho, and it seems that it is the Portuguese defender's absence which is alerting people to this fact ironically enough.

Terry's missed penalty has of course nothing to do with his defensive capabilities, but you can forgive me for taking a certain amount of pleasure from seeing him completely fluff the chance to win Chelsea that much coveted Champions League trophy. Why he was the designated fifth penalty taker I do not know. The nasty part of me thinks that he just wanted the chance to be a hero, and selfishly decided to step up to the plate rather than letting someone with actual penalty taking abilities to the job. But then maybe no one else wanted the pressure, so JT took it upon himself when all else cowered at the chance.

Either way, he missed, and at that point you just knew who was going to go on and lift the trophy. The only disappointment was that had he scored the penalty, then Ronaldo would have been to blame for United's loss, and on a schadenfreude measuring device, I don't think anything could top that.

Messi v Ronaldo

When Man United and Barcelona were pitted against each other in the semi final of the Champions League, football fans' collective mouth began to water. The games themselves didn't quite work out as people thought they might. They were supposed to be end-to-end affairs, feasts of attacking football, but instead they were slightly cagey, with Barcelona having most of the ball and United defending superbly.

However, the subplot in this tie was equally intriguing. This was billed as 'Ronaldo vs Messi', the battle to see who really is the best player in the world. Of course all of this was sheer hype, and the best player in the world was never going to be decided during the course of two games. But that didn't stop people from getting worked up, with many probably seeing this as the chance for Ronaldo to show that he is the superior footballing specimen.

Well, he did nothing of the sort. If this was indeed Ronaldo vs Messi, then there was only one clear winner, and it wasn't the player who plucks his eye brows. Messi had been out for a month or so before the two games, but he was a constant thorn in United's side over both legs, producing some vintage 'Messi' moments along the way, some of which you can see here. There was a priceless piece of play in the first leg when Messi faced Ronaldo with the ball, waited for the pristinely groomed playboy to make a tackle, and just jinked by him in the blink of an eye. It served as a microcosm of the duo's battle.

The good news is that finally, after many, many months of hearing about Ronaldo's status as best in the world, people have woken up to the fact that the Camp Nou is the home of the world's best football player. The irony is that this realization was only cemented in popular belief around the time Ronaldo picked up the Ballon D'Or. That must really hurt the winker's ego..No wonder he's lashing out at everyone in sight.

Spain

It's very rare these days that the team who play the best football win a major trophy at international level. Since France's victory at Euro 2000, there hasn't really been a team worthy to be considered the best in the world/Europe. In 2002, Brazil won what was a distinctly average World Cup, 2004 saw a resolute but technically limited Greece side lift the European Cup, and the same can be said about the victorious Italian side of 2006, who were excellent in defense but quite laboured in the final third of the pitch. In each of these tournaments the quality was subpar, and only the Argentine team of '06 sticks out as being truly world class.

Euro 2008 broke the curse of dodgy international football, and it saw Spain break their long lived curse of being supreme under achievers. In truth, I think Spain have been vastly overrated in previous tournaments. Players like Etxeberria, Albelda, Baraja, Luque and Joaquin were getting games in 2004, but they were not really good enough to ever win anything. Compare them with Xavi, Iniesta, Senna, Villa and Fabregas and it is clear that the Spain team of 2008 really was a much better team than those of previous years. This was a team with genuine talent, a team that could have been justifiably branded as having under achieved by getting knocked out in the quarter finals.

However, this was to be their year, and never has a team so richly deserved to lift a trophy. They played the best football in a tournament full of good football, and I don't think there is any football fan who would begrudge them their victory. The defining moment of their tournament has to be the win over Italy in the quarter finals. This would usually have been the point for Spain to exit stage left, and having outplayed the Italian's for 120 minutes it seemed all set up for Italy to snatch victory courtesy of a penalty shootout. However, Fabregas was given the chance to exorcise a host of demons, and the former Barcelona prodigy made no mistake, cooly slotting the ball past one of the best goalkeepers ever to grace the sport.

This monumental win lifted the heavy burden off of Spanish shoulders, and they went on to dispatch Russia by playing their best football of the tournament, and ended proceedings by completely outclassing Germany in the final.

Euro 2008 was not only a victory for Spain though - it serves as a victory for football in general. The Spanish team didn't contain any immense physical specimens like Drogba or Cristiano Ronaldo. This was a victory for brain over braun. A victory for intelligence over physicality. Spain showed that playing football the way it should be played, the way that makes it the beautiful game, is the best way to win things. They have set the bar when it comes to international football, and given the relative youth of the side, it could be a while before they are knocked off their perch.

Barcelona v Athletico

There is no doubt as to which is the best club team at this moment in time, despite what the Fifa Club World Cup (or whatever it is called) might tell you. Barcelona have won 13 of 16 league games, scoring 48 goals and conceding only 10. If they were in the Premier League, they'd be third, 4 points behind Liverpool and 1 behind Chelsea, with four games in hand. As it is, they are first in La Liga, a massive 10 points clear of their nearest 'rivals' - hardly surprising given that they are averaging 3 goals a game, and have just beaten four of the best teams in Spain by an aggregate score of 11-1.

I've watched a lot of their games, but the one that stands out is the tie against Athletico Madrid. While Athletico were missing a few players, what Barcelona did to them was just catastrophic. The Catalan giants were 3-0 up after seven -- yes, seven -- minutes, and 5-1 up after twenty eight. It finished 6-1 in the end, but only because Barcelona didn't want to embarrass their opponents.

At the beginning of the season when Barcelona had lost and drawn their opening two fixtures, the ever excellent Sid Lowe (who will be in the pod today on Football Weekly) said that it's only a matter of time before Barcelona start clicking and beat someone 24-0. Well, they haven't quite managed 24, but they have won 6-1 (x2), 6-0, 5-0, 4-0, 4-1, and have generally looked unplayable.

While people are saying that Barcelona pose the biggest threat to another Champions League of Anglo domination, it seems more correct to say that the English teams pose the biggest threat to Barca domination. A slightly shakey defense still leaves a large question mark looming over their Champions League-winning credentials, but if they continue on this form in the new year and get past Lyon in the last 16 of the CL, then they will be the team that nobody (not even Liverpool) wants to draw.

Abu Dhabi Group

The comical tales of Messi and Kaka going to City aside, this takeover could well be the start of something very serious in world football. While Manchester City hover in and out of the relegation zone, the events of August 31 await their fulfillment in the January transfer window, and in the summer ahead. Nobody quite knows what's going to happen. Who will move to the Eastlands? Will players such as David Villa want to go? Or will City just end up buying the Shevchenko's of this world - former great players who are looking for a hefty retirement package?

There is talk of players like Bellamy, Defoe, and Parker moving to City, but if the Abu Dhabi group and Manchester City are serious about getting into the Champions League then they must overlook such third tier players. They need to look outside the Premier League for the players that they need, starting with Diego of Werder Bremen. A striker will most definitely be sought after, but Defoe and Bellamy don't represent good options. City should be looking to play a 4-2-3-1 formation (all the cool kids are using it these days), and I don't think such a formation will suit Defoe, and if Bellamy wasn't good enough for a bad Liverpool team then he shouldn't be good enough for a side looking to eventually break into the top 4. He's a mid-table player, nothing less and nothing more.

By signing Robinho, City have set the standard pretty high. I had my doubts about him -- some of which remain -- but you can't deny that he is a first or second tier player; his wonder goal against Arsenal and his last minute strike against Blackburn prove as much. But he needs good company (no pun attended). Will the Abu Dhabi group be able purchase the required personnel? We await with baited breath.

Ireland's goal v Hull

While Robinho has been quite the success story for City this season, he has actually been eclipsed by a 22 year old Irishman in the form of Steven Ireland. The former Cobh Ramblers youngster has been nothing short of excellent so far this season, and if the award for player of the season was given out now, he might well be the favourite to pick it up.

He has had many great moments in a City shirt so far, a personal favourite of mine being his performace against Hull on Boxing Day when he scored one and assisted three, giving me 38 points in Fantasy Football since I had him as captain.

However, the moment that encapsulates his season so far is his second goal against Hull back in November. He controlled the ball outside the box, and as it landed to the ground he just guided it into the bottom corner on the half-volley. It was a Robinho-esque piece of magic, and yet it was produced by someone who can play for the Irish national team. Speaking of which, if Steven Ireland isn't in the next Irish squad then Trapattoni needs his large head examined. At the moment he's the best Irish player I've seen since Roy Keane, and if we are to acheive anything then Steven Ireland must be reinstated, no matter how many grannies he's killed off.

Real Men Cry

I just came across the following quote from Man City's new bargain buy Robinho. To give it some backstory, earlier in the week Madrid's astoundingly retarded President Ramon Calderon* came out saying that Robinho cried when he asked for a move to Chelsea. That sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn't it? Crying over a transfer? Well obviously this was quite the claim to make on Calderon's part. I mean if something like this was said about me and it was completely untrue, then whoever said it would be staring at the business end of a hissy fit, that's for sure.

So naturally enough Robinho really had come out strong and rubbish these claims. Pele has even made it known that he thinks Robinho is emotionally unstable, so Robinho really had little option but to set the record straight, and be the umpteenth person to prove Pele wrong. Here's an excerpt from his interview where he attempted to do so:

"I cried when he didn't let me play at the Olympics and you can check that by asking him. I didn't cry to quit."

Oh dear, Rob. I actually think crying over the Olympics is worse than crying over a move out of Madrid. It almost brings to mind a 15 year old girl who is told she can't go to the youth disco, so she goes up to her room and sobs for hours on end. If I were Robinho, I'd have just stuck with Calderon's story instead of coming out with the truth. I just love the way he says "and you can check that by asking him" so defiantly, as if what he's just told us clears his good name. Too funny.

The lesson here is that if you, like Pele, make an obscene amount of statements and predictions, then by the law of averages at least one of them will be right. In this case, Pele has it spot on - Robinho really is a nut case. My advice to Mark Hughes - always let Robinho go to the youth disco, but make sure you give him strict rules to follow, because after all, that's what children want - bounderies.


* I put a star beside Calderon's name because I just figured out how this whole Ronaldo saga is going to be solved next summer. Since Ferguson and Calderon are basically fighting over who loves Ronaldo more, I reckon they're both going to stand in a room with Ronaldo and do the following: Ferguson will call Ronaldo, Calderon will call Ronaldo, and then they'll see who he goes to. Given the way Ferguson and Calderon have behaved up to now, I can actually imagine this scene in my head, and let me tell you, it's as disturbing as it reads.

Movers and Sheikhers

Do we now have a 'Big 5'? Or are one of Arsenal or Liverpool going to be replaced in the 'Big 4'? This would appear to be Man City's intention, because you don't spend £33m on a player to guarantee yourself Intertoto football, that's for sure.

When writing about the transfer deadline day, I can only really start with City. Being taken over by Arabs certainly had an immediate impact for the lesser Manchester club. City were reportedly putting in bids for all kinds of big names - Villa, Gomez, Berbatov, Robinho. With the exception of Gomez -- whom nobody else seemed to want -- they were competing with Real Madrid, Man Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. That's just crazy talk. City? In bidding wars with the Madrids of this world? Surely not.

And what's even crazier is that Man City actually managed to out-bid Chelsea and land Robinho for a cool £33m. In other words, they out-Chelsea'd Chelsea! The question is, was it a wise thing to do?

On paper, I don't think it was. People are calling Robinho 'one of the best in the world', but he's not. He's got unquestionable ability no doubt, but he has yet to produce a very lengthy run of form to suggest that he's up there with players like Messi, Fabregas, Deco, Kaka etc. Ask yourself these questions - why would a player move from Madrid to Man City? Why would a club like Madrid sell 'one of the best players in the world'?

One of the possible answers to the first question is that he knew he wouldn't be getting games for Madrid. He knew they didn't want him. An answer to the second question is that Madrid simply wouldn't sell one of the best players in the world. They'd pay him whatever he wanted in order to keep him in a white shirt. It's perfectly obvious that Madrid are in the habit of pursuing the players considered 'the best in the world' when you look at their shenanignas throughout the summer and down the years. So if in fact they already possessed one, why would they let him go? Again I say they wouldn't, which is why I (nor Madrid) don't consider Robinho to be one of the best, and therefore he's not worth anything close to £33m.

I would say paying that kind of money is a massive risk, but that would be the equivalent of me saying that buying a choclate bar I've never before tasted would make me a risk lover. I can afford to splash 80c on some unproven confectionary, and this Arab group can easily afford £33m on some unproven players. While that makes me a little nauseus, it's nevertheless a fact of life.

Robinho could turn out to be a real star of course. I'm not saying he definitely won't. All I'm saying is that he's not yet the finished article, so expectations need to be kept down a touch.

A reliable source of mine says 'Man City to fall to pieces...you heard it here first'. I find that to be a little premature, because City were a pretty decent side before Robinho signed, so there's no reason to suggest they'll suddenly collapse. They can't buy anybody else until January, but maybe that's the best thing for them. It will give them a chance to properly examine the squad and see where the need to strengthen things up a bit. I mean could you imagine what would have happened if City had more time to spend this summer than a day? Merely adding Robinho to the mix is a much easier task than adding 5 or 6 big names (duh), so this will give City a chance to get their feet wet in terms of dealing with the big names of world football, and not be overwhelmed.

Will they crash and burn? Will they become a real footballing force? Their next game (against Chelsea, which is just perfect) will shed a little more light on those questions, that's for sure.

And if City turn out to be only an average team this season, then as Barry Glendenning said on Football Weekly, we'll be reading in the papers that they're 'No Great Sheikhs'. Heh...Sheikhs.

As for the big 4, Liverpool didn't really do anything special. Just the usual business of securing yet another deal for a winger who costs between 6 and 10 million, and in all likelihood will be a major disappointment, just as the preceeding several dozen were.

Chelsea didn't really do anything either, except not sign Robinho, which may turn out to be a blessing for them. The last thing they needed to do was to spend another collosal amount of money on someone who isn't worth it, so they've at least avoided the potantial of that happening anyway. And if any of the big 4 are adaquetly supplied in the midfield department, it's Chelsea, so the non-capture of Robinho isn't really a blow to their title credentials me thinks.

United signed Berbatov for something like £30m, which is again crazy money. I've made some of my feelings known on Berbatov already in this blog, but what I will say is that if it was between Berbatov and no one at all, then they had to get The Moody One. He's a nice player to watch, and he could do very well for United, but I would have serious question marks over his attitude and his big game temperment. I've seen him give up on too many occasions not to be concerned about it.

Also, what will this mean for Rooney and Tevez, and even Ronaldo for that matter? Will Ronaldo finally start crossing the ball again? Will Tevez or Rooney play on the left, or will one of them be benched? Can Tevez or Rooney play on the left to good effect? We shall wait and see.

As for Arsenal, well they did sod all on the deadline day, which is not especially surprising given that, unlike me, Wenger probably wouldn't spend 80c on a chocolate bar, not to mention a few million on a player.

I said before that they needed to buy a central midfielder. They didn't, and they will most likely pay for that against the big teams. Out of all the candidates for the position, I think Song might be the best equipped, but Wenger seems content to start him on the bench every game. Right now Denilson is the starting midfield partner for Fabregas, but he has yet to prove himself worthy of the position. He's promising, but he's not there yet.

Eboue has been good so far this season, but you can't ignore the fact that Arsenal have played 5 very easy games. When Eboue comes up against the big guns, his incompetence is plain for all to see.

Because of the lack of a steady, reliable partner for Cesc, I think Arsenal will struggle to make a title challenge this season. They may prove me wrong, like they did many last year, but Wenger is gambling with his teams chances. There is of course the possibility that someone will step up to the plate, much like Flamini last year. I mean if you had told me a year ago that Flamini would be an integral part of the Arsenal midfield I'd have burned you at the stake for heresy. Maybe someone like Song, Denilson or Diaby will prove the doubters and the sceptics wrong. But that's what Arsenal are relying on - maybe's.