The Flat Back Four

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Four Reasons Why England Need Bobby Zamora

The performance of Bobby Zamora under Roy Hodgson particularly have been stellar. The marked improvement in his game have led to numerous calls for an England call up. If the thoughts were that Zamora does not have the big match mentality then those reservations would have been smashed to bits after stunning goals against Juventus and Wolfsburg in the Europa League.

Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole are great as the target and/or link up man upfront but they are not prolific goalscorers. At major world tournaments, goals typically determine how far a nation progresses, hence Bobby Zamora, who is in the form of his life, can provide that secondary goalscoring threat while performing the duties that Heskey and/or Cole does for England.

Thoughts About "Genius" Bobby Z, Bellamy's Tourist Attack, Graham Alexander

The past week's football action through the lens of the excellent Bob Holmes.

ALTERNATIVE CAREER

(1) Alex Ferguson - Racehorse owner.

The MU boss' nag What a Friend romped home a winner at Aintree on Friday. At least he won something in Liverpool.

(2) Steven Gerrard - Restauranteur.

The Liverpool skipper has bought a share in his favourite local restaurant and promises to give it a New York theme.

(3) Hermann Hreidarsson - Elvis impersonator.

Portsmouth's Icelandic defender gave a brilliant Elvis impersonation last time Pompey reached the FA Cup final. Now he’s injured and will miss this year’s match but has plenty of time to polish his act.

NOT FIT TO CARRY HIS JOCKSTRAP

Dimitar Berbatov for Wayne Rooney.

ONE-MAN TEAMS

Liverpool and Manchester United

NO Torres and NO Rooney = NO GOALS

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

(1) "Typical Germans!”

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

West Ham v Sunderland Injury Report and Head to Head Stats

West Ham must look to win this match at home against Sunderland. Harry Harris of ESPN Soccernet opined that that performance against Everton suggest that West Ham have the fight to survive relegation. We shall see this Saturday if Harry is right about this one.

First up, the injury situation,

West Ham
Valon Behrami -- Calf Muscle Strain -- no return date

Kieron Dyer -- Hamstring Injury -- no return date

Messi Joins The Ranks Of The 4-Goal Men

After his phenomenal four-goal salvo against Arsenal last night in the 2010 Champions League quarterfinal, Lionel Messi cemented his place in the Champions League history books.

He is the sixth player and the first Barcelona player to score four goals in a single Champions League match.

The other five who have done it are:

Marco Van Basten (Milan against IFK Gothenburg November 1992)
Simone Inzaghi (Lazio against Marseille March 2000)
Dado Prso (Monaco against Deportivo La Coruna November 2003)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd against Sparta Prague November 2004)
Andriy Shevchenko (Milan against Fenerbahce November 2005)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona against Arsenal 6th April 2010)

and to think that Messi is only 22 years old....phenomenal!

Messi Champions League Masterclass!

If anyone wanted to know how the game of football should be played, the Champions League quarterfinal between Barcelona and Arsenal would be it. The two best footballing teams at the moment did battle and Barcelona came up trumps over two legs. It was always a tall order for Arsenal given that their main inspiration, Cesc Fabregas was sidelined.

I don't know how Arsenal players must feel knowing that they have just played a truly magical team in Pep Guardiola's Barcelona. Perhaps they would be wondering if they could ever play at that high standard. This Barcelona team was put together from their youth squads, with Ibrahimovich as the only significant addition this season. Barcelona (and also Arsenal) are shining examples of how investing in youth talent are the best way of achieving sustainable success. These clubs are a credit to the football industry as they are the ones who are enriching and producing the players to ensure the football industry does not suffer talent drains.

We have seen how Abramovich's money can buy success but it is almost always unsustainable. Memories of Blackburn and Portsmouth come to mind. A much more viable model is the Barcelona model where youth and talent are nurtured and nursed into first team action, giving rise to long term success and champagne football. With such incisive, imaginative football and solid all-round work rate, who's to say that Barcelona will not be the first team to successfully defend their Champions League crown.

The star of Barcelona is Lionel Messi.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

How Does West Ham Compare To Fulham This Season?

West Ham as a football club have officially lodged a complaint to the Premier League over Fulham fielding a weakened team against Hull City on March 27, 2010. Fulham lost that game at the Kingston Stadium 2-0 to Iain Dowie's Hull which put them level on points with the Hammers.

The question I want to ask is how does the West Ham squad compare with the Fulham squad as a whole? This is my assessment of West Ham against Fulham's squad this season.

Goalkeeping:

Rob Green (WHU) is an England international and quite possibly England's no. 1 in the World Cup.

Mark Schwarzer (FUL) is Australia's no. 1 and will also be in the World Cup this summer.

Not much difference between the two in terms of goalkeeping strengths.

Defence:

James Tomkins, Matt Upson, Danny Gabbidon, Jon Spector, Julien Faubert, Ilunga, Daprela (WHU) - All internationals. However, Spector and Faubert are suspect defensively and the fullback area is the weakest part of West Ham's squad. The right fullback position sorely need reinforcements. Gabbidon looks past his best, and strangely, Upson does as well.

Chris Smalling, Hangeland, Konchesky, Aaron Hughes, Shorey, Baird, Pantsil (FUL) - Smalling is the best young defender in England without a doubt. Fulham's defenders have the edge as they have the defensive toughness and the experience of top-flight Premiership football.

West Ham's Point Against Everton Was Full Of Relief!

After some heavy knocks to the West Ham confidence, gaining one point in the draw against Everton must really felt like a big weight lifted off Zola's shoulders. The jubilant leap after Ilan's superb diving header says it all actually. The fact that West Ham were much better organized and had urgency in their play meant that this draw was well-deserved. There was a time after Da Costa had scored the equalizer, I felt that three points could be possible. Never mind that Everton had not lost for six successive games at Goodison, I felt at that moment West Ham had the momentum. Until the sucker punch by Yakubu that is and yet the West Ham players refuse to let that late goal affect them and promptly was rewarded 60 seconds later.

It felt great to have come from behind and forced the draw. It was extremely wonderful to finally see West Ham play consistently throughout the match. Throughout this testing season, West Ham have played very well in the first half only to falter and fade badly in the second half. Against Everton, the intensity and concentration stayed high all through the match. If the Hammers can keep this up in their next five matches, we should have more than an even chance to stay up.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

There Are No Epic Battles When It Comes To Manchester United and Chelsea

John Terry's headed goal settled the issue at Stamford Bridge in November last year. The rematch at Old Trafford carries heavier undertones this Saturday simply because Chelsea need to make up that one point deficit on the defending champions. The loss of Wayne Rooney will be intensely felt by Manchester United seeing that he has been the leading light of their title defence this season.

Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea have lost the Premier League title lead in the last month after being in front for much of the season. Out of the Champions League, it is unthinkable that Ancelotti should be under pressure to deliver the Premiership title but he is...as Roman Abrahimovich demands it.