Louis Van Moyes: Has The 'Dutch Master' Improved Things?

What no difference a year makes... That's the saying isn't it? 12 months ago, David Moyes was bemoaning a fixture list that saw the club record its worst Premier League opening five games - the worst start since 1989/90. Berated, and quite rightly I might add, for the poor results he achieved in that time, but few would have expected that in just one year, that record would be not only in jeopardy, but broken. With hugely decorated and experienced manager Louis van Gaal, fresh off a remarkable third place finish for the Dutch national team at the World Cup, at the helm, it seemed Manchester United were in safe hands. The gamble with Moyes had not paid off, and now was time to resort to a more secure option.

But has van Gaal been the safe bet everyone assumed? After five fixtures of this season, Louis van Gaal's Manchester United were two points worse off than the team led by Moyes. More concerning for the new manager is the fact that when it comes to the fixture list, Moyes has a point. In the opening five fixtures of the ex-Everton manager's reign, United made difficult trips to Manchester City and Liverpool, while hosting Chelsea. If seven points seemed like scant reward from five Premier League matches, especially as defending champions, this season has been nothing short of a disaster. After defeats at home to Swansea and away at newly-promoted Leicester City, along with another disappointing 0-0 draw at Burnley, van Gaal's Manchester United ended up with just five points, and from a far easier set of games.

And that's not even starting to look at the transfer policies. While Moyes is hardly the Archangel Gabriel when it comes to transfer dealings, particularly on deadline day, panic buying Marouane Fellaini for £27m (£4m more than he could have got him for just a few months before), and failing to secure the signature of Ander Herrera after some shambolic goings on in Bilbao. However, it was clear that he never had the full backing of the United back room staff when it came to transfers, with chief executive Ed Woodward denying him the opportunity to splash the cash. However, that has not been a problem for van Gaal. Over £150m has gone out of the door this summer, with Angel di Maria and Luke Shaw accounting for the best part of £100m. While it is not fair to say they are failures just yet, only di Maria has made any kind of immediate impact, and defensively they look shocking.

But why is that? In fairness, part of that is beyond van Gaal's control. After their disappointing last season, three of United's regular back four left the club, with club captain Nemanja Vidic and ageing pair Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand opting to cut their losses. That kind of loss would shatter any club's confidence and performance, but I don't think that is entirely to blame for United's current predicament. Tactically, van Gaal and his players have looked inept at times so far this season. Unable to choose between 3, 4 or even 5 at the back, the lack of continuity has had devastating effects on communication in defence and understanding.

Having watched United a few times already this season, they look irresistible going forward at times, but when put under pressure defensively, they crumble. Without the presence of a strong leader at the back, no-one seems to want to take control. As a result, comical moments like numerous defenders going for the same ball, or marking the same man, have been prevalent this season. While some may be quick to blame the exuberance of youth, with the likes of Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair making their first-team debuts, they have been some of the more consistent performers so far this year (Blackett's performance at Leicester excepted).

So how can United put this right? As much as pundits like Phil Neville suggest continued mega-spending, that will not do anything for the continuity and understanding of the team. Being a City fan, I have seen the impact of attempting to build a team of Galacticos overnight - it simply doesn't work quickly. City took three years to rebuild to form a side that can challenge for the top 4, so for United to expect that a continuing influx of quality players will inevitably lead to their re-coronation at the top of English football, they are very much mistaken. In my opinion, United's best route forward is to accept that this is not simply an isolated season of struggle, and to focus on honing the players they already have, with the addition of a couple of high-profile names a season. The players they have brought in this season are quality, but they need time to adjust.

So is it unfair that van Gaal looks like getting time where Moyes didn't? Absolutely. Had Moyes have made the same purchases that van Gaal has, and struggled in the same way, then the backlash would have been far more severe. The hashtag #MoyesOut was trending on Twitter from November onwards - will van Gaal have the same thing? I very much doubt it, though the joke #LouisvanMoyes has been made by Twitter users. However, it may well be that van Gaal can turn this round. In the meantime, van Gaal's track record and ability to pull big name signings may well prove enough to keep him in a job, regardless of the performances.

Louis van Moyes? The comparison will only please one man, and I think he made a trip to Turkey recently to see about the Galatasaray job.

Diving: A Red Card Offence?

                             Last weekend's events, most notably David Moyes's comments after Manchester United's home victory against Crystal Palace, has brought the topic of diving back into the public eye. So many players are accused of it, and there there are discussions in pubs up and down the land assessing what the appropriate penalty for divers is. The current system of a yellow card for 'simulation' is widely considered to be too lenient. However, is the answer really, as Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has suggested, a straight red card for diving offences? This post will look at the offence as it is currently defined, before examining the possible new punishments for the crime.

                               In order to fully understand the topic in question, it is worth consulting the FA definition of diving (or 'simulation'). Diving constitutes: 'an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed'. This seems relatively clear, and you would expect to see fairly regular punishments based on this definition. However, it proceeds to state that: 'a referee should be 100% certain that a player has simulated (feigned) an unfair challenge before cautioning the offender for unsporting behaviour. The referee must be convinced that there has been no physical contact whatsoever by the player challenging for the ball.' This is the cause of the controversy, as this clause means that referees tend to be overly lenient on simulation, not wanting to call a player a cheat, and this sometimes leads to miscarriages of justice when the referee gets it wrong. We will examine this in more detail later.

                                 Looking purely at the definition as it stands, we should perhaps compare it with other offences. By examining both those considered to be worthy of yellow and red cards, we will be able to see which category this offence more resembles. If we look at the options in both categories, I would say that 'unsporting conduct' would most easily be comparable from the yellow card section. The red card section does not appear to have an easily comparable alternative, with neither serious foul play, nor violent conduct accurately describing the act. If we run with the unsporting conduct offence, there are clear parallels between the pair. This indicates that perhaps the initial classification of diving as a yellow card carries weight.

                                 However, two alternatives have been suggested by prominent men in English football. We will begin by the suggestion made by Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish, that diving should constitute a straight-red card offence. Despite my above paragraph, there is evidence to suggest that this may be a possible alternative. Diving is a scourge in world football, and needs to be stamped out. If we look at another offence that has been 'stamped down upon', we find that racism has been much more heavily punished in recent years, in an attempt to eradicate it from the game. Now, I am not for one moment saying that diving is as bad as racism, however, I am merely making the point that if you want rid of an aspect from a game, you must penalise every instance heavily. Therefore, a case could certainly be made for the introduction of a heavy-handed penalty for diving, at least until the act is not so prominent. However, there are a couple of problems with this. Firstly, there will be the inevitable comparison between diving and the other red card offences, which illustrates the gap in severity. Simulation does not seem on the same page as intentionally breaking someone's leg, but, under this rule change, they would be considered equally severe. Secondly, there is a more pressing issue with the rules. As the current idea of diving is so open to interpretation, there are already many instances of referees making the wrong call. Under these new rules, a referee making the wrong call could irreparably change the outcome of the game, potentially ruining a team's season. Until we solidify what is considered a dive, I feel that a red card could not be awarded for the offence.

                                     The second alternative is one that appears far more reasonable. David Moyes, having stated that he wanted to stamp out diving from his own club, with Ashley Young coming in for further criticism, then suggested that video technology should be used to retrospectively ban players who have been proven to have dived. As much as that will be a dagger to the heart of Michel Platini, I think that this is an excellent idea. It lowers the fear of referee's getting a decision woefully wrong and costing a team a game in an instant, whilst ensuring that those guilty of diving are rightfully punished. I would introduce an initial ban of 4 games for a diving offence, meaning that there is that aspect of over the top punishment with a more accurate justice system, which I believe forms a nice middle ground. Once simulation has begun to die out of the game, a reduction in the ban could then be enacted. However, I suspect that none of these will be considered, players will be allowed to con referees and dive all over the place. This will continue to cause a horrible Catch 22 situation for referees, who will be blamed as much if they fail to penalise a dive, than if they wrongfully penalise one. And it will continue to be the topic of pub gossip for years to come.

The 2013 French Open Finals: Same Old, Same Old?

             In the French Open preview post, I set out who I thought would be the most likely candidates for both the men's and women's championships, hoping for a surprise or two along the way. As the end of another Grand Slam draws ever nearer, it is clear from the four finalists that this has not happened. No Goran Ivanisevic-style surprise for us this time around, with the biggest shock being that it is clay-court specialist David Ferrer, and not Roger Federer, in the men's final with Rafa Nadal. The top four domination of the men's game seems set to continue, with only Federer's position being weakened by the events of the last two weeks. In the women's game, it is arguably even more predictable, as the family that have monopolised the game for the past decade and a half remain in control, albeit halved in power.

              With a little examination of the finalists and their run to the tournament's summit, we can see how monotonous today's game is. It could certainly be argued that has always been the case, especially in the men's game, with dominance from the likes of Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, and more recently, Federer regularly characterising tennis. Therefore repeatedly seeing the same names perhaps should not be surprising. However, with the increased publicity and awareness of tennis in recent years, should we have expected to see more competition than experienced previously?

               I will begin with today's women's final, contested between pre-tournament favourite Serena Williams, and reigning champion Maria Sharapova. Beginning with Serena, her route to the final has been relatively simple. Crushing her first three opponents for the loss of just 6 games, she cruised into the second week, doing little to challenge the assertion that the tournament winner is practically pre-determined. Another straight-sets victory in the fourth round against the 15th seed, Roberta Vinci, suggests that even the top 20 is not particularly competitive, seeing the American into the quarter final without dropping a set. There she met Svetlana Kuznetsova, who, despite being unseeded, is considered a very dangerous player. So it proved, with Serena being pushed all the way to the full three sets, claiming a 6-3 victory in the 3rd. The loss of a set evidently angered Williams, as she destroyed 5th seed Sara Errani in the subsequent semi-final to progress to yet another final, eradicating the memories of last year's shocking 1st round exit at Roland Garros.

              Her opponent, Maria Sharapova, has had an altogether more strenuous passage to her second successive Parisian final. Despite winning all of her opening four matches without dropping a set, matching the achievement of Serena, she found it considerably more difficult than the American to whitewash opponents, conceding more and more games in each match she was involved in. The quarter final saw the Russian concede her first set of the tournament against Serb, Jelena Jankovic. A horrendous start saw the reigning champion lose the first set 6-0 to the world number 18, and though she recovered to win in three sets, she can ill-afford to reproduce this start against Serena. Her semi final also saw her lose a set, with Victoria Azarenka levelling the match after a strong start from Maria. Her battling third set victory shows that she certainly has the fight to challenge Serena. Whether a poor start would prove fatal is difficult to tell. Serena is definitely the favourite for today's final, but I would not count out Maria.

               Moving on to the men's final, it appears almost unnecessary to reveal that Rafa Nadal is in another French Open final, as his dominance of the Grand Slam is well documented. The 7-times winner has had a more difficult route to this year's centrepiece than many would have expected. In both his first, and second round matches, he could only manage to win in 4 sets, suggesting signs of a Lukas Rosol-esque repeat, and the shock tennis seemingly requires. Nevertheless, he stabilised in later rounds, progressing from there to the semi finals without dropping a set, including a particularly impressive performance against Stanislav Wawrinka in the quarter-finals. There he met world number 1 Novak Djokovic, and yesterday saw one of the best matches in French Open history. A rollercoaster semi-final, with both men having ample opportunity to claim victory, Nadal triumphed in a mammoth 4 and a half hour, 5 set encounter, winning the final set 9-7 to progress to his eighth Roland Garros final. His trials and tribulations along the way, however, suggests that it is becoming ever more difficult to remain successful in the men's game.

               In contrast, tomorrow will mark the inaugural Grand Slam final of David Ferrer's career. The clay court specialist has had a remarkably successful journey to the final, being the only one of the four finalists in either the men's or women's games not to drop a set. Bearing in mind the dominance of Rafa Nadal in recent years here, there are few who would have predicted that! Most impressive were his victories in the quarter and semi finals against firstly Tommy Robredo, whom he dispatched comfortably 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, and then home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. With an expectant home crowd, desperate for a French Grand Slam winner, to comprehensively beat the Frenchman 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 is highly impressive. To beat Nadal he will have to be at the top of his game, and get a touch of luck along the way, but with the form he is in, there is no reason why we can't see a significant shock tomorrow. It would certainly be nice to show that there is a bit of variety in the game.

               The game of tennis has always had dominating factors, but certainly with the increasing coverage and publicity, I would have expected to see a more competitive tournament. If we compare tennis to another sport that has seen a recent increase in publicity, like Formula 1, we see the dominance of certain players maintained in tennis, and a much more competitive and open field in the latter. This makes me wonder if we will ever see a truly competitive tennis tournament, without there being some element of pre-determined nature to them. Until we do, moments like Ivanisevic's at Wimbledon will continue to be tennis gold.   

Everton: Top Dogs in Liverpool? And What Now?

2012/2013 Season Review:

                One of the most stable sides in the country, with consistent top 8 finishes for the last 5 years, Everton began the season looking for further consolidation, and to perhaps achieve what Newcastle had managed the previous campaign: to challenge for the Champions League. With signings such as Kevin Mirallas from Olympiakos, they simply added speed to their growing list of talents, managing to hold on to all of their key names from the previous season. Everton, being perennial slow starters, wanted to find more consistency and good performances from the very start of the season. Beating Manchester United on the opening weekend is certainly a good way to start! With Marouane Fellaini in exceptional form for the first month of the season, Everton won 4 of their opening 6 league games. Despite a disappointing Capital One Cup exit at the hands of Championship side Leeds United, Everton maintained their strong League form throughout September.

                Often the quiet side that sneaks up into the top six, Everton were once again fulfilling those expectations. Unspectacularly but critically amassing the points, whilst steering clear of significant controversies like at Chelsea, Everton looked in a strong position going into October. Four straight league draws slowed the Toffee’s bandwagon slightly. If we were to be pessimistic, we could say that Everton won 2 of 11 matches between October and mid-December, but on the other hand, only 2 league defeats in 15 matches sounds considerably better. To state the first statistic does Everton’s performances during this period a disservice, in my opinion, but you could certainly argue that it was during this part of the season where they lost the potential to challenge for a Champions League spot.

                Everton’s consistent form continued into the new year, where once again draws were relatively common, but defeats were impressively infrequent. If we go back to my earlier unbeaten stat and extend it further, we can see that Everton only lost 3 games in 23 between October and mid-February. Translate some of those draws to victories and we see a team highly capable of not only challenging for Champions League football, but being on the outskirts of the title shake-up. Progression to the Sixth Round of the FA Cup, albeit with a little Matt Smith inspired hiccup at Oldham, gives further indication that Everton can compete for multiple honours in the same season. There they met Wigan at home, leaving Everton strong favourites to progress to yet another Wembley Semi Final. Instead, three goals in 4 first half minutes propelled Wigan down to Wembley, and left Goodison Park stunned. The only performance all season where Everton were abject, but what an occasion to have it in!

                The latter part of Everton’s season was equally uneventful. With 6^th place virtually in the bag, and with it a guarantee to finish above Liverpool in the table once again, Everton could attempt to challenge Tottenham for the Europa League spot. An impressive 2-0 victory at home to Manchester City strengthened these aspirations, but as all too often, too many draws cost the Liverpudlians a shot at European qualification through the league. Chelsea’s Europa League victory has gifted a place in next year’s competition to Everton, and based on the vast majority of their performances this season, this is thoroughly deserved.

                The only significant talking point in Everton’s relatively uncontroversial season came in the last few weeks, with the announcement that David Moyes would be taking the reigns at Manchester United, after Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down after 26 years in charge. Moyes’s departure leaves arguably as large a hole at Everton as Fergie’s departure at United. After 11 years of fantastic and loyal service, Moyes gets the chance to manage a title-winning side, an opportunity he richly deserves. As for Everton, Roberto Martinez and Michael Laudrup have both been sounded out as potential replacements, but Moyes’s are big shoes to fill. He left this club top of its city and with European qualification. With the funds available to them, I wonder if the next manager will achieve that?

 

Player of the Season: Leighton Baines – A tough one between Baines and Fellaini, but I’m going to go for Baines. Fellaini, despite his fantastic start, became less effective as the season went on. In contrast, Baines remained consistently good throughout. He is the epitome of Everton’s season: highly successful but often unnoticed.

 

Game of the Season: Everton 2-0 Manchester City – This was never going to be either of the rather drap Merseyside derbies! The game in which I was most impressed with Everton, both as an attacking and defensive force, was in their victory over Man City in March. Despite having 10 men for half an hour, Everton dominated this game, and whilst they may have been lucky to survive a late handball appeal, they thoroughly deserved this win.

 

Summer Transfer Targets (Who I Think They Need): Firstly, replacing David Moyes is inevitably going to be of utmost importance. Roberto Martinez, especially after his years of heroics with Wigan, and his recent FA Cup giantkilling, seems to me the most likely candidate. Secondly, it depends on who David Moyes attempts to take with him, as I cannot see many turning down the opportunity to play at United. If no-one else leaves, I think very little in the way of alterations needs making, and given Bill Kenwright’s budget, that will suit him just fine! Perhaps just the addition of the impressive Callum McManaman, especially likely if Martinez becomes the manager, will give a bit extra pace and width to this Everton side.

 

Transfer Gossip Links:

In:

Luis Pedro Cavanda (Lazio, LB), Andreas Cornelius (Copenhagen, CM), Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic, RW), Michael Laudrup (Swansea City, Manager), Roberto Martinez (Wigan Athletic, Manager)

Out:

David Moyes (Manchester United, Manager), Nikica Jelavic (West Ham United, ST), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United, CAM), Leighton Baines (Manchester United, LB)

Tis’ the Season to Retire: David Beckham Retires from Football

             The news yesterday that David Beckham has retired from professional football will seem to many as a long time in coming. Ever since his ‘mid-football-life crisis’ move to LA Galaxy in 2007, it appeared that Beckham had been put out to pasture. Despite this, he returned to top level football with firstly AC Milan, and then more recently Paris Saint Germain, proving that he does have what it takes to perform at the highest level. Beckham’s CV covers almost every honour it is possible to receive, as he was at the heart of Fergie’s Manchester United ‘golden years’. The only thing missing is international success with England.

 

                My first memory of David Beckham is also part of my first World Cup memory. As a 7 year old, I remember my family all gathering round, eagerly watching the England vs Argentina round of 16 game in the 1998 World Cup. Any England fan will undoubtedly remember the story. The pre-match hype about the Maradona ‘Hand of God’ goal, and the fact that this was the first time England had met the Argentineans in the World Cup since then. Cue Michael Owen’s wonder-goal, and then the Beckham’s moment of madness, albeit provoked by Diego Simeone. England’s inevitable defeat on penalties soon followed. A nice introduction to English World Cup football, as I learnt from an early age not to expect too much. This appears to be Beckham’s solitary negative point, in a career of so many highs. I suppose it is good he got it out of the way early!

 

                I have nothing but bad memories of David Beckham as a Manchester United player, perhaps because he was always so instrumental in their success whilst I was growing up a Blue! My dislike of his club did nothing to stop me willing him on whenever he put the white jersey of England, however. My favourite, and most lasting memory of David Beckham will always be the injury time, 30 yard free kick against Greece at Old Trafford to send England to the 2002 World Cup. From absolute despair to elation in the kick of a football. I never thought I would experience such emotion again, but Sergio Aguero put paid to that last May. A dead ball and long ball specialist, Beckham’s abilities have been sorely missed from the England team since his move to the US, as the phrase ‘Beckham range’ has not since been adequately transferred to another- ‘Gerrard range’ or ‘Lampard range’ just sound weird, and ‘Oxlade-Chamberlain range’ sounds like a mathematical hypothesis!

 

                Whilst Beckham has also been all over the papers as a ‘style guru’, whatever that means, we must not forget he has also had some spectacular failures. His early ‘skinhead’ look, where we could have been forgiven for thinking he had just come from auditions for ‘This is England’. His bleached blonde shaggy look, during which he looked like the lighter version of an emo. My personal favourite has to be the quite ridiculous Mohawk, however. I have never seen so many 12 year olds look so similar, and so stupid at the same time. Not quite as disastrous as the Ronaldo clump from the same period, but pretty close. Since leaving United, he seems to have mellowed on the style front, and with Wayne Rooney’s recent hair transplant, it bears asking the question, why does Sir Alex Ferguson like ridiculous hair styles on his star English players? Nevertheless, his adverts for underwear, which oddly appear in women’s magazines more than men’s (and women claim men’s magazines are shallow?!), have given many women a poster for their bedrooms over the years, and will undoubtedly be sorely missed.

 

                As for the title of this post, it seems as though it has recently become fashionable to retire. Firstly, Sir Alex Ferguson calls time on his career, then Scholes, and now Beckham. Perhaps Beckham was always looking over his shoulder after the ‘boot to the face’ incident with Ferguson in 2003, and seeing as Ferguson has finally retired, he now feels safe...? An alternative hypothesis, and one that I quite like the sound of, is that Manchester United officials and players appear to be on a trend of retiring, and they appear to be getting younger and younger. Sir Alex, at a grand old age of 71, Scholes, a fellow member of the ‘golden years’ at United, recently retired at the age of 38 (albeit for the second time), and now ‘Golden Balls’ himself, a slightly younger 38. As a City fan, long may this trend continue! What we need to see now is the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Robin van Persie prematurely retire as part of this fashion...

 

                Alas, I fear that this is all the retirements we will see from United this season. Ryan Giggs soldiers on, apparently indestructible. The game has lost three iconic figures over recent weeks. Ferguson’s managerial presence will always leave a void, Scholes will also be missed (but mostly because I found it easiest to pick him out when watching a game!), but the loss of Beckham represents the end of a significant chapter in English football. ‘Captain Fantastic’ led England’s ‘Golden Generation’ to little success, but he will remain one of the most popular players to play for the Three Lions.