If the speed of the current game is faster .......

shouldn't that include the defenders?

Ryan Shawcross, who broke the leg of opponent Aaron Ramsey last season, and has now been made captain of Stoke City defends Man City's De Jong (who broke the leg of Ben Arfa, Newcastle last weekend) and of Wolves captain  Karl Henry who was sent off the same weekend for a wild tackle ....having left Bobby Zamora of Fulham with a broken leg just three weeks earlier.

http://www.footballfancast.com/2010/10/football-news/ryan-shawcross-defends-under-fire-tacklers

By offering the excuse that the game is faster nowadays Ryan opens himself up to the criticism - why isn't his game fast enough to tackle cleanly? Has he not kept up with the faster game? Does he mean that the forwards are faster but not the defenders? Is he confessing that he is too slow for the modern game? ( I don't think he has played in any other at his age)

If he realises that the margin for error is now so small then why does he tackle so recklessly?

There is also the question of whether De Jong will soon become the captain of Manchester City!

Related articles

• Shawcross defends duo (skysports.com)

"Cheat, cheat, never beat!"

In Saturday's Premier League matches, the sixth set of the season, two instances of cheating by blocking come to mind. 'Blocking' is when a player deliberately runs into an opponent to prevent him getting to the ball. It is a foul and is punished by a free kick, or a penalty if in the area.
In Manchester City v Chelsea, the young defender Boyata was making his second start for the team. In order to stop Drogba's movement in the penalty area he blocked him and they both fell over. The referee apparently did not see the incident, nor did the linesmen, otherwise it would have been an unequivocal penalty that would have changed this match - into at least a draw for Chelsea instead of a defeat. But we all say that!
Pundit, ex-player and ex-manager, Graham Souness said of the incident when reviewing the match in the tv studio, " This was just a young lad" referring to Boyata. He seemed to be suggesting that the foul was due to inexperience! Or did he mean that the crudity of the incident was due to inexperience?!

Watch your tackle

Image via WikipediaThere are only four games completed out of the 38 in the Premier League season, 2010-11. Some players have also played in two matches for their countries and one Eurpoean Champions League match. Already injured after these seven matches  are: Walcott, Van Persie, Ramsey, Bendtner and  Diaby of Arsenal and at Tottenham are Dawson, Defoe, Gomes. Fulham have Zamora and Stockdale injured since the season started. Manchester City have Bridge and new signing Kolarov, who lasted 45 minutes in his first match. And so on with other clubs.
Not all of the injuries may have been caused by opponents' tackles, perhaps, but some wild and wicked tackles are happening. Wenger, Arsenal manager, should not be the only one standing out in favour of some kind of control. The macho culture in many clubs prevents it being an issue. Rough play can be one way of dealing with players who are more skillful and this treatment has been going on for years. It breeds a kind of toughness, perhaps necessary to succeed in this sport. (Cumulative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License. Photo by Wonker)

Crystal Balls

Two matches into the Premier League, 2010, we have had some sparkling play with lots of goals:

In week 1, Blackpool, newly-promoted, thrash Wigan 4-0  (but get thrashed by Arsenal 6-0 in week 2). Chelsea start with a 6-0 win against WBA and a hat-trick for Drogba. Man U win 3-0 against Newcastle with an uninspiring Rooney. Spurs and Man City draw 0-0.

In the second week of the season there were three 6-0 wins:  Chelsea against Wigan away, and Arsenal at home against Blackpool, plus Newcastle at home against Aston Villa. Drogba, by the way, doesn't score this week but laid on three goals for Anelka (2) and Malouda (1).

Chelsea top the league as the only team with two wins! They do have easy-looking fixtures to begin the season: WBA, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham, Blackpool  .....till Man C in the sixth week.

No good at all!

England won last night's friendly (v Hungary) thanks to an inspired piece of passion from captain Gerrard with two goals, a lively performance from Adam Johnson plus solid goalkeeping from Joe Hart, but again nothing from a surly Rooney. And the opposition were ranked 72 in the World
In the pre-match television footage of news and comment, the England manager managed some English to describe his own performance in last month's World Cup in South Africa - "not so good" and his comment on Rooney's  performance last night - "he's not in a good moment". The first quote is witheringly weak as a summing up of two years' work with the English team. The second means that Rooney did not play well, or was having a nervous breakdown, or in a huff, or belligerent, or off form, or needed the toilet, or pissed off. Any or all of these!

How many of us in the early stages of trying out another language end up using the word for 'good' or  'well' (as in 'doing well) to excess? It is a classic sign of lack of more exact words but can be admired in some circumstances as 'at least trying to communicate'. It is a sign that you are in the early stages, a beginner.

In Capello's case, in a job which requires clarity and depth in explaining what he wants, his performance is 6 million pounds from being acceptable - his salary is reportedly £6m. Surely, he should do 'gooder' than he does in this most important part of a manager's job. And after two years!

And here's how the Telegraph described his handling of David Beckham's England career. 

And here's the match report England v Hungary, friendly, from the Guardian

What went wrong for England in the World Cup, the story continues

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/7935425/England-v-Hungary-players-hand-coach-Fabio-Capello-his-letter-of-failure.html
This piece by Jim White in the Daily Telegraph discusses Capello's change of status with players and  public just before a friendly match against Hungary tonight at Wembley. The crowd is expected to boo the England World Cup team members but there are lots of new faces in the squad .......let's see what happens in this unneeded match 3 days before the start of the Premier League's season, 20010-11. Let's see what more comes to light to explain the difference between England's strong qualifying performance leading up to South Africa and the team's dismal doings in the final 32 when we got there. England failed to reach the final 16.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/7935425/England-v-Hungary-players-hand-coach-Fabio-Capello-his-letter-of-failure.html

Too much Baggage: a new approach to selecting the England team

At England's pathetic exit from the World cup in the round of 16 in South Africa last month I wrote:

The debate or investigation into what went wrong will go on for some time. Was it the manager's fault in sticking rigidly to 4-4-2 or the players' fault for some inscrutable reason like incompatibility as personalities? I suspect there is a lot more to tell about this. Were they bored living and training together for 5 or so weeks? Is that relevant? Wouldn't it make them more eager and enthusiastic to be actually playing?


Well, things are not being investigated and all we may get is bits of gossip and speculation.  



It is time to change to the kind of player who would be better suited for the task. The England team should be chosen from the Championship, the league below the Premier League, plus the under-21s in the Premier League. Both of these categories have talented players who would relish the opportunity. They do not play as many games as those playing for teams in the UEFA competitions (Premier League teams) and would therefore be the fresher to play in the World Cup and European international tournament. Plus the fact that teams with 'stars' do not necessarily do well in these international tournaments: too much baggage!