Soccer Amidst the Assisgnments
Just thought I would take a break from assignments, and give my honest two cents about of the BPL season so far with 7-8 games to go. It’s been one of the most exciting seasons for a long while, as we’re heading into a 3-way battle for the title, a 4-horse race for the last Champions League spot, and of course another desperate battle at the foot of the table. But if there’s one way to assess the teams this seasons, I feel it would be best done through the performance of the managers (apart from Pompey, poor Grant). And to make things simple, I will stick to the classification of the brilliant, the good, the bad and the ugly.
The brilliant. If I were to take into consideration squad strength and general public expectations, then I would have only two names here, Alex McLeish and David Moyes. Birmingham were never favourites for the drop, but neither were they expected to be in the top half of the table. Apart from a slow start to the season, they climbed their way up and will most probably finish in the top half. What’s commendable about McLeish is that despite the availability of finances, he did not splurge and instead brought in effective players who mattered and delivered, and he’s turned Birmingham into a decent premiership side with strong characters.
As for David Moyes, he’s surprised me as he did last season. Everton started slowly again, but very quietly they managed to climb up the table, and all of a sudden the Toffees are in for a decent shout at 4th spot (although I think they may end up not even in the Europa spot). The thing that impresses me is how Moyes can get the best out of his not-so-big squad, and somehow get the best out of his young players. Moyes can be verbal at times, but I’d say he has spent most of the season silently concentrating on his job to guide Everton into a comfortable position just below the 4-horse European fight. He probably deserves more credit than he’s received.
The good. Ferguson, Ancelotti and Wenger would probably be the first mentions here, although I would single Fergie out for bringing the best out of Rooney. It’s often said Man Utd function like a one-man team this season. On the goal-scoring front I would agree, but I think its important to look at the bigger picture of things to realise that Rooney is only performing well because of players like Valencia, Fletcher and Park. I think Fergie’s deployed them well this season to play alongside Rooney’s style, as they make the great runs to free up space, or great crosses for Rooney to work his wonders. Of course I’m not undermining Rooney’s individual brilliance, but what I’m saying is that if you take Rooney out the goals dry up, but if you put Rooney back in without the supporting players and the goals will start to dry up too. So I personally think it would be a quadruple of titles for Fergie, if Rooney and the trio stay fit.
Apart from the managers of the top 3, I would also give the thumbs up to Harry Redknapp and Martin O’Neill for living up to European spot expectations, and also Roy Hodgson for creating a strong (although at times inconsistent) Fulham side. I am hoping they win the Europa League. Similarly, Tony Pulis gets a mention as Stoke are no longer a side tagged with relegation worries, as Pulis has shaped them into a strong physical side with execellent set plays (sounds like Blackburn a couple of years back). And the only manager at the bottom who gets my nod for this category would be Mick McCarthy, simply because he’s stayed positive through the season and has got Wolves playing some decent football recently. Wolves are still widely tipped for the drop, but I’m somehow certain that he can continue to get the best of out players like Doyle and Jarvis, and as long as Ebank-Blakes don’t play, they would stay up.
The bad. As I already know of who falls into the next category of ‘the ugly’, the rest of the managers would somehow fall here. Steve Bruce and Gianfranco Zola for underachieving despite having great individuals in their team, and Bruce for recording that remarkable 15 games winless streak. Owen Coyle for doing a last-season-Hull-like plunge when at Burnley, and then having a slow start at Bolton (although he’s starting to work his magic again in the last few weeks). Roberto Martinez for bringing in his ineffective Swansea players (think Scotland). And surprisingly, I would also include Brian Laws here and not in the next category, as Burnley’s current plight is only partially his fault. The other half of the fault lies with the management even appointing him, and the Clarets should be going down.
Of course, Sam Allardyce lies in this category. Bias would usually place one’s supported club manager at a higher standing, but my sentiments are otherwise. Recently there are a number of Rovers fans who follow the tide, i.e. be supportive of Allardyce when we string results together, and then go against him when things go bad. But for me, my loath for Big Sam has always been a constant. I personally still think he’s not making the right decisions in terms of team selection and man management, and I’m starting to irk at how he shifts the attention away from team selection problems when we lose, but credits his ‘gamble’ or foresight when we get a good run in. If I may compare, I think our squad is pretty similar to Everton at the moment, with a fair bit of experienced players, and a growing number of prospectful youths. But somehow, I think Everton is much better managed, and play the better football. Again I’m not going to totally discredit Big Sam, but I just don’t see us becoming a top 7 side again under Allardyce.
The ugly. So who’s left? Phil Brown, Roberto Mancini and Rafa Benitez. Brown should’ve been given the boot much earlier, as I fear it may be a little too late for Hull. The on pitch half-time team talk and end-of-season karaoke session will always leave a bad impression, but I would say he’s been somewhat uninspiring for the whole of this season and half of last. I would say that he has the strength of a squad comparable to quite a number of teams at the bottom, but the only difference is that he can’t get the best out of his players like the other managers can. And up till today, I’m starting to wonder why he wears that hands-free microphone. If it’s for communicating some tactics with someone from somewhere, it obviously has not worked, and it would probably serve better as a karaoke mic now.
Roberto Mancini has to say the least, accomplished nothing different from Mark Hughes. In fact, I think results have actually been worse since he took over, and his latest outburst at Moyes cements his frustrations. And it’s not just the results, even their style of play has not changed much. And if you ask me, the best thing he’s done is probably to loan Robinho out. But apart from that, Big Daddy’s (impatient owners) watching and the clock’s ticking away Roberto.
I just had to leave Rafa Benitez for the last. I’m seriously still scratching my head over why Juventus is so anxious to secure his services for next season, because I think he’s been the worst manager all season. Liverpool have way underperformed, and his constant denial and blame-shifting tactics are getting on everyone’s nerves, including Liverpool hardcore fans. It’s still hard to figure out why he’s using Aqualiani as a bench warmer, but the worsening temper of both Gerrard and Torres are clear signs of how the top players are getting frustrated with the club, and more so at how Rafa’s running things. It’s therefore of no surprise that Carragher has decided he may just ‘walk alone’ to another club, and I wouldn’t be surprise if Gerrard and Torres follows suit. And even if Rafa continues to say ‘they cannot afford to lose’, I think they’ll lose a couple more games and 4th spot will be all but a dream. And the only way to save this ‘sinking ship’? To hope that Juve tows this Spanish titanic away from the club.
