Cole fails whilst Babel spares Reds' blushes

Sports - Football - Europa League - Liverpool 1:0 Trabzonspor

Liverpool should have left Anfield with a comfortable 3-goal cushion as least to take away to the second leg against the Turkish "Bordo-Mavillier" (Maroon Blues) at the Huseyin Ami Aker Stadium next week. But the Reds were denied one goal but the referee and Joe Cole missed a penalty to make things from bad to worse for the former Blue.

The first half didn't see much action worth mentioning apart from Pepe Reina's save of a Bulut Umut free kick in the opening minutes. With only seconds remaining of the first half, Cole on the break, put a fine cross through to David Ngog in the box who made it look easy to net it into the right hand-corner of the goal, a fine and skillful goal.

The second half had much more to show for it, Liverpool much more on the attack with Fernando Torres on for Ngog and making a direct impact, pulling a save out of Turkish keeper Onur Kivrak with his first touch of the match from far out on the left sideline.

Lucas Leiva then missed a sitter for Liverpool, heading the ball wide from a couple of yards out with all the space in the world. When Serkan Balci's clumsily felled Lucas down in the box, it gave Cole a chance to open his account for the Reds. He was keen to get off the mark but gave it a soft shit and Kivrak an easy save.

Then Dane Christian Poulsen thought he had opened his Liverpool account when he had bundled the ball over the line, just to be denied by the referee Thomas Einwaller who awarded the Turkish keeper a controversial free kick.

Roy Hodgson, who rested both Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard from midweek action, has admitted that Joe Cole has made a nightmare start to his Liverpool career, but remains confident he will pull through it and prove his worth. After being sent off in the Premier League season opener against Arsenal and missing a penalty in this match, Cole will be everything else but a happy red bunny.

Hodgson accepts the midfielder has made headlines for all the wrong reasons (including a speeding fine, points and a threat on losing his license), but believes Cole needs time to discover his best form for the club.

"He was so desperate to start his career here well and he hasn't done so," Hodgson said on Sky Sports News. "In the first game he managed to get sent off - albeit harshly. In the second he missed an penalty. It couldn't be a worse start for Joe Cole in his Liverpool career but starts are starts and finishes are finishes.

"We will judge Joe Cole on what he has done for Liverpool some time in the middle of May when the final ball this season has been kicked." - well, Roy, let's see if he will last that long...

Quotes taken from Sky Text page 251 on Saturday, 21st August 2010, 3.30pm.

Liverpool: Reina; Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Carragher, Kelly; Cole, Maxi (Ngog ,73.), Lucas, Poulsen; Jovanovic, Babale (Torres, HT).

Subs not used: Cavalieri, Wilson, Skrtel, Spearing, Pacheco.

Trabzonspor: Kivrak; Cale (booked 86.), Glowacki, Gulselam (booked 54.), Korkmaz (booked 79.); Inan, Yilmaz (Alanzinho, 56.), Balci (booked 51.), Teofilo Gutierrez; Bulut (Ibrahima Yattara, 86.), Colman (Kacar, 77.).

Subs not used: Zengin, Atas, Badur, Jaja.

BBC Stats

Liverpool-Trabzonspor

Attempts: 14-9

On target: 8-4

Corners: 6-5

Free kicks: 24-15

Possession: 53%-47%

Sky Stats

Liverpool-Trabzonspor

Attempts: 12-6

On target: 7-2

Offsides: 2-1

Corners: 6-5

Free kicks: 24-16

Possession: 51%-49%

Passing Success: 77.78%-79.37%

Tackles/Success: 21/76.19%-20/65%

Territorial Advantage: 50.67%-49.33%

Referee: Thomas Einwaller

Man of the match: Ryan Babel

New Season, New Tops and Flops...

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

TOPS:

Game: The White Hart Lane crowd saw no goals between Tottenham and Manchester City, but that gives no indication of the level of action, entertainment, thrills and spills they enjoyed to watch. Spurs could have and should have had six or seven goals! City pressed on a bit late on in the match, but all in all, no real contest though, Spurs were on top from start to finish, proving their true quality.

Team: Blackpool are on my dad's and my relegation-prediction list, see below, but looked everything else but that at the opening weekend. They stole the show against Wigan, without a doubt. It was not a good start for Wigan though, they will struggle if they continue in this kind of fashion, dire, broken and hollow; Blackpool certainly won't! If...

Man: Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has done a great job so far after Martin O'Neill's sudden departure from Villa Park. To take over so confidently and make the team look and win so confidently and comfortably, beating West Ham 3-0 at homee, I give him ten out of ten for that! That's what I call team spirit!

Goal: David Jones' free kick from just outside the box to make it 1-0 for Wolves against Stoke was a perfect example how to do it. Like every boy tries it in the park, flick up and shoot, mostly making a mess of it, wasting and missing it, he got it spot on, volleyed it in giving his team the deserved lead, a delight to watch again and again.

FLOPS:

Game: Chelsea v West Brom was just a mismatch. Despite all the goals, the game looked like a strawl in the park for the Blues, they will certainly not have it this easy again! West Brom be warned! Play like this and they won't get a single point or goal in the Premier League this season!

Team: The bottom three, West Ham, Wigan and West Brom, make a miserable trio at the top of the relegation likelies list. For all their big spending and oooos and aaaas, City looked out of Tottenham's league. It's only thanks to their keeper Joe Hart and his countless number of top notch saves that they knicked a point and did not have to join the Misery Club of the opening week.

Man: Stephen Carr and Joe Cole will both want to forget their starts to the season, that's for sure! The Birmingham skipper was unlucky conceding an own goal and a penalty against Sunderland whilst the Liverpool debutant just had one of those idiotic moments with an act of unnecessary stupidity, a dangerous tackle, seeing red for it just before half time, letting his team down and making their job everything else but easier.

Goal: Poor Pepe Reina! 90th minute, just at the end of a strong, hard-fought contest, looking like it was going to be a close win for his side... He is the only Liverpool player to play in every match, with solid display after solid display, one of the best goalies in Europe... He nearly completed a clean opener to the season, and his first clean sheat against the Gunners, when he shot himself in the face with a cruel own goal! OUCH! It happens, always when and to whom you least expect it!

My dad's and my predictions...

Relegation:
My dad: Blackpool, West Brom, West Ham
Moi: Blackpool, West Brom, Wolves

Champions (dark horses):
My dad: Arsenal (Chelsea)
Moi: Chelsea (Spurs)

First week of predictions:
My Dad 9:3 Me (:-/)

Reina hands Arsenal a point

Sports - Football - Premier League - Liverpool 1:1 Arsenal

I think both sides will be glad and disappointed with the result, feeling they could have/should have got more out of the match, but it could have been worse, too.

For Liverpool, debutant Joe Cole and star keeper Pepe Reina both had moments of horror: The prior saw red for a reckless and dangerous tackle on new Arsenal full-back Laurent Koscielny just before the end of a quite uneventful and all-evens first half. The latter saw Arsenal new-boy Marouane Chamakh's shot deflect off the post, onto him, into the back of the net, to give the Gunners a lucky late goal and point.

Moments after that late equaliser, Arsenal were down to the men themselves after Koscielny turned from victim into offender, conceding two quick consecutive bookings, first for a fowl, second and off for a handball. Both looked harsh in hindsight, compared to similar offenses of David Ngog earlier in the match.

The young Frenchman had a mixed match, off(side) most of the time but on (target) at the start of the second half, after Arsenal lost possession clumsily just outside the box for Inter-bound Javier Mascherano to connect and cross to Ngog, who put it into the top right-hand corner, over and past a very insecure and fragile looking Manuel Almunia.

The early lead in the second half made Liverpool look stronger, safer and more confident even though they were down to ten men. Arsenal enjoyed more possession and kept Liverpool back. But the Reds defended well, their man-to-man marking system paying off with Arsenal more and more frustrated and Jamie Carragher not earning the MOTM award for nothing.

The late twists and turns made the match much juicier than the first half led to believe. In the end, both teams got away with a point down to ten men, so, should not have anything to complain about really.

Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Kuyt, Gerrard (booked 72.), Cole (s.o. 46.), Mascherano (Lucas, 79.), Jovanovic (Rodriguez 66.); Ngog (Torres, 74.). 4-5-1

Subs not used: Cavalier, Aurelio, Babel, Kelly.

Arsenal: Almunia; Sagna, Koscielny (booked 92., s.o. 95.), Vermaelen, Clichy; Eboue (Walcott, 59.), Diaby (van Persie, 76.), Nasri, Wilshere (booked 41.; Rosicky 59. booked 85.), Arshavin; Chamakh. 4-5-1

Subs not used: Fabianski, Vela, Song, Gibbs.

1st half Stats

Liverpool-Arsenal

Attempts: 3-3

On target: 1-1

Offsides: 4-1

Corners: 2-4

Free kicks: 6-9

Possession: 43%-57%

2nd half Stats:

Liverpool-Arsenal

Attempts: 4-7

On target: 2-2

Offsides: 0-0

Corners: 5-8

Free kicks: 9-5

Possession: 36%-64%

Sky Stats:

Liverpool-Arsenal

Passing Success: 73.8%-85.8%

Tackles/Success: 33/69.7%-20/70%

Territorial Advantage: 37.2%-62.8%

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Man of the match: Jamie Carragher

England, England, England... Sad but true!

Sports - Football - International Friendly

England 2-1 Hungary

And Steven Gerrard was there to save the day. Sad the effort came over a month too late.

Apart from the two goals, England looked woeful as always. No pace, no coordination, no communication. The whole game was just a charade, no one looking like they wanted to be there, just like in South Africa, no change there.

No wonder, with the new season just a couple of days away, where the players can continue their high lives, getting cheered, hailed and paid tens of thousands of pounds (per week) for only a fraction of the trouble.

Hungary took the lead just past the hour mark when Vladimir Koman's shot was deemed a goal although Phil Jagielka looked to have cleared it off line line.

Stevie G. scored two outstanding goals that turned the match around just minutes later. He celebrated and tried to lift the team and crowd, like a captain should... Sorry, but what's the point? The team's hopeless, the manager miserable all the way through, the whole match was just pointless!

Okay, let me just draw out a little scenario... What if...

...Gerrard would not have scored, Hungary would have won, the fans would have been outraged as always, booing and calling for Fabio Capello's head, once again...

...Capello would no longer be England manager (which I am surprised he still is to be honest after the miserable World Cup) and the hunt would be on for a better replacement; an Englishman if possible as many have been pointing out that that would make the difference because of national pride, a man leading his own country, and...

Bla bla bla bla bla! I'm honest, I was over-optimistic predicting England as finalists in the first place as were many others and I knew it!

For over 40 years now the so-called experts have been waffling on about who and what would be better and best for England to finally get back on top of their game. Since THE world cup win - the odd one out, that's for sure - 13 managers have tried their best. Of those 13, only TWO were not English (Sven Goran Eriksson from Sweden and Italian giovane Fabio).

So, how can you lay the blame on the nationality or the language of the manager as all the "experts" are now trying to do?! EVERY TIME the new manager goes from hero to zero within a couple of years - until the next tournament, Euro or World Cup. It's an impossible job!

In the end it is the 11 men on the pitch it comes down to. Of course, the manager represents the team and has to take responsibility, but looking at the above record, and at the International football record in general, Euro and World Cup, there are some things that are just facts and will never change:

I don't know and cannot imagine international football without the Brasilian temperament, French w(h)ine, Portuguese drama (queens), Spanish flair, Italian scandal, Dutch boom, Argentinean glare, German efficiency... And English tears! And I don't think that will change, not in my lifetime anyway!

Green howler costs England two points

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

England 1-1 USA

"Sometimes a forward misses, sometimes a keeper makes a mistake - that's football." - that's how manager Fabio Capello summarised a painful draw for England against the USA.

The match could not have started better when captain Steven Gerrard tapped in an Emile Heskey cross past US keeper Tim Howard with not even four minutes gone on the clock. England fans could not have wished for a better start.

But the Americans did not let that stop them, they kept up the pressure on England and enjoyed most of the possession. England keeper Robert Green did not have much to do as the England back four and their skipper stayed solid and kept tackling continuously and clean.

James Milner's England debut however, ended disappointingly early after half an hour. He was taken off minutes after he was booked and replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Things went from bad to worse for England when one of those full-dreaded disasters for every goalkeeper happened: Aussie Clint Dempsey twisted and turned through the back line and got a low shot through from about 25 yards. It looked like a comfortable take for the England keeper, but somehow the ball slipped off and past Green's gloves and rolled over the line.

He must have seen it happen in slower motion, looking on in horror whilst it passed over the line, just like every England fan. "At half time I walked in, apologised to the lads and moved on." Green recounted after the match.

The second half saw both teams share plenty of possession, chances and pressure between them, both Wayne Rooney and Heskey missing good chances for England and sending Capello into fury on the sideline.

Frank Lampard pulled a good save from Howard with a free kick from about 25 yards out with just under half an hour to go. Just minutes later, US star striker Jozy Altidore outpaced sub-defender Jamie Carragher and fired in a goal-bound shot, for Green to make a fine save to see the ball deflect off the post and go across goal.

For the final ten minutes Peter Crouch came on for Heskey, who showed a fine display as provider but his own shots lacked aim staying off target. But neither side looked like they were going to be able to grab the match by its horns* and take all three points late-on. (*a.k.a. vuvuzelas)

According to Opta statistics, Green made more errors leading to goals than any other player in the Premier League last season. But former skipper John Terry backed the England keeper after the match: "It's one of those things. Mistakes happen and we're in this together. We need to get behind Rob - he's got good friends here."

England can take encouragement from the fact that defending world champions Italy also drew their group match against the US 1-1 back in 2006 and went on to win it. Hopefully, England can gain confidence from that and make similar improvement and progress.

Quotes taken from the BBC website.

England Green; Johnson, A Cole, Terry, King (Carragher 46); Gerrard, Lennon, Lampard, Milner (Wright-Phillips 30); Rooney, Heskey (Crouch 79). Bookings Milner 26, Carragher 59, Gerrard 61. Subs not used James, Hart, Dawson, Warnock, Upson, J Cole, Barry, Carrick, Defoe.

USA Howard; Bocanegra, Onyewu, Cherundolo, DeMerit; Bradley, Depmsey, Clark, Donovan; Altidore (Holden 86), Findley (Buddle 77). Bookings Cherundolo 39, DeMerit 48, Findley 74. Subs not used Guzan, Hahnemann, Spector, Bornstein, Goodson, Beasley, Torres, Edu, Feilhaber, Hercules Gomez.

Match Stats: England-USA

Attempts: 16-12

On target: 9-5

Corners: 8-4

Free kicks: 8-10

Possession: 58%-42%

Man of the match: Tim Howard

Ground: Royal Bafokeng Stadium

Referee: Carlos Eugenio Simon

Attendance: 44,026

Details and stats taken from the BBC website.

2010 World Cup South Africa Countdown

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

With just a couple of days left until the World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg, expectations are high and the nerves in tatters - who will cry tears of joy and glory, whose sobs will be in grief and defeat? We will not know the answer until the final whistle is blown and the competition concludes on the final day on 11 July, but, here are my thoughts and predictions, the winners highlighted bold:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France: Despite their home advantage, I do not think South Africa will be able to contend successfully against the established likes of Mexico and France. Although "les bleus" were lucky to scrape through against the Republic of Ireland, the heartbreaking encounter should have been a good enough wake-up-call for them to make up for the blushes and make the best and most of the competition.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece: Argentina's strong lineup which includes Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and with none other than Diego Maradona at the helm, there is no question about who will top this group. Who will follow them into the last 16 is a tougher one to answer with South Korea's and Greece's success-stories being long, distant memories. I think Otto Rehhagel's men will be able to make the push.

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia: England have had their fair share of scandals and injuries as always before major competitions, but were let-off by a comparatively easy draw for a change and could not have been given a much easier pass into the last 16. The US look stronger than ever though under manager Bob Bradley and captain Landon Donovan. I would not be surprised to see them make this their best competition display and progess yet.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana: This one's my dark horse/shocker-prediction: Having followed Germany's friendlies, dire displays, injury setbacks and crises talks, I think it gives the rest of the group the best chance to capitalise on. Australia have Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill to keep them out and Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell to knock them down and in; whilst Serbia can count on Nemanja Vidic and Milan Jovanovic along the same lines.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameron: The European sides take pole position again with experienced players and strong lineups. World number three Netherlands thrashed their way through the warm-up games in preparation to the competition and I see them continue in that fashion with Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar et al over-filling the scoreboards.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia: The defending world champions are a shadow of the side that won the cup in 2006, but should be able to top the group with their star keeper Gianluigi Buffon, world cup winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro and energy source and runner Daniele de Rossi. Paraguay should follow them into the last 16 with their focal men in attack Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez.

Group G: Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil, North Korea: With Ivory Coast's top striker Didier Drogba out with a fractured arm, the 2006 semi-finalists Portugal and record world champions Brazil should cruise through the group stage. Both sides are star-struck with their lineups including Ronaldo, Simao and Nani; Kaka, Lucio and Robinho, respectively. Finals without those well-established names is unimaginable.

Group H: Honduras, Chile, Spain, Switzerland: Ottmar Hitzfeld had tears in his eyes to see his home country qualify for the world cup and I see this as his best chance to make the dream-come-true get even better. World number one and world cup favourites Spain should be able to yawn and sleepwalk their way through this stage with star men like Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

So, my European bias sees ten European countries progress into the last 16, joined by four South American countries, USA and Australia. My German bias normally gives Germany the advantage as they have always proven to be successful no matter how miserable their form or display has been. But this time round, under Joachim Löw, I see their luck has run out and I forecast their demise against more competitive and hungry opponents. I am optimistic for England, more than ever, and hope they can enjoy some sweet revenge and success, but am prepared for heartbreaking scenes as always...

Last 16: France v Greece, Mexico v Argentina, England v Serbia, USA v Australia, Netherlands v Paraguay, Denmark v Italy, Portugal v Switzerland, Brazil v Spain

Quarter Finals: Netherlands v Portugal, France v England, Argentina v Australia, Italy v Spain

Semi Finals: England v Portugal, Argentina v Spain

Third Place: Portugal v Argentina

Final: England v Spain

Final Picks of the Weekend and Season

Sports - Football - Premier League - Final Picks of the Season

So, I haven't blogged in a while and we have already reached the end of the season. A lot has happened over the last month-or-two, so these are my overall picks of the last weeks and season:

Hero: Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp are the obvious picks for their achievements at Fulham and Tottenham, reaching the Europa League final and Champions League place respectively.

However, I think Gianfranco Zola should be recognised and lauded just as much for keeping West Ham up under extraordinarily difficult and chaotic circumstances. Most importantly, he kept a good relationship with the players all the way through and to kept them going. The more surprised I was to find out he has been sacked this morning!

Zero: Dirk Kuyt and Dimitar Berbatov have certainly annoyed me most this season! Being over-over-over-paid for their moaning, diving, whining and being bad losers. Rafael Benitez has also to take a real close look at himself. With Rick Parry's departure from Liverpool he was able to clear and reorganise the back room to his will and choice and look what it has brought him. You can always lay the blame to the ownership fiasco, but that does not hold and directly influence everything what is going on on the pitch - it is the players and the coaches, who are all overlooked and coached by the manager.

Champs: As mentioned above, Fulham and Tottenham have to be lauded for their over-achievements. So too Chelsea for their fourth title, first since the departure of the "Great One". But the sides that have surprised me most are Arsenal and Birmingham. I thought the Gunners were going to be the first to drop out of the top four and the Blues I saw battling relegation - how wrong was I! Arsenal will not be happy with their slip late-on in the season, but it came to no surprise looking at the lack of depth and back-up options in their squad - something they will have to look into and change if they do not want yet another repeat of their slip and fall.

Birmingham will be dreaming of a European spot next season, see what/who they will do/change/buy/sell to see that happen, especially interesting and intriguing as they could not be happier with the display, performances and results of their current squad.

Has-Beens: Liverpool were not even a shadow of the side they were last season whilst Portsmouth and West Ham fought on through the storm, holding their heads up high - the prior failing to avoid the drop whilst the latter was able to withstand all the counterweight.

I know Liverpool the Reds have had their problems and turmoil with their owners, the board, their debts, etc., but as a club of such prestige, history, success, large fan base, global reputation et al, it was sad to see the ship sink so low with hardly any fight or uproar.

You Beauty: So many goals! So many thrashes! Chelsea broke all record books with their 108 goals, achieving that last but not least with their 8-0 destruction of Wigan. Not to forget the 7-goal thrashings of Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa, also by the champions; Manchester City putting 5 and 6 past Birmingham and Burnley respectively; Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham also enjoying their 5, 6 and/or 7 goal thriller-wins. There were so many goal-feasts this season and juicy and action-packed encounters, it is impossible for me just pin it down to one or two!

Ouch! Referees, own goals and divers - this season these three top my lists of outrage, cringes, complaints and criticism. In this day and age where the cameras and advanced technology pick everything and everyone in the finest detail in the matter of seconds, I cannot believe that they cannot be used to assist and support the officials, prevent very unfair and costly errors and stop the cheaters and whiners.

And finally, to see where my picks have come from, here is a comparison table of the last to seasons. It obviously does not include Birmingham, Wolves or Burnley as they were not part of the Premier League last season. Birmingham have certainly exceeded all expectations ending up ninth, whilst Wolves avoided relegation quite comfortably in the end, 8 points clear in 15th place, and Portsmouth, well, they faced an impossible job to stay up, with or without the 9-point-deduction, they had a too high mountain to climb to avoid the drop.

So, the table shows all 17 teams that were in the Premier League in both seasons, comparing how they fared in the 38 games of both seasons. The + and - numbers indicate how many games they won, drew and lost and how many goals they scored and conceded more or less, and finally how many points they gained or lost consequently. It just shows how bad the season has been for Liverpool...

1) Tottenham:

+7 wins, -2 draws, -5 defeats; +22 goals, -4 conceded; +19 points

2) Man City: +3, +8, -11; +15, -5; +17

3) Blackburn: +3, 0, -3; +1, -5; +9

4) Sunderland: +2, +2, -4; +14, -2; +8

5) Chelsea: +2, -3, +1; +35, +8; +3

6) Arsenal: +3, -6, +3; +15, +4; +3

7) Aston Villa: 0, +2, -2; -2, -9; +2

8) Stoke City: -1, +5, -4; -4, -7; +2

9) Everton: -1, +1, 0; +5, +12; -2

10) Bolton: -1, +1, 0; +1, +14; -2

11) Man Utd: -1, -2, +3; +18, +4; -5

12) Hull City: -2, +1, +1; +6, +16; -5

13) Fulham: -2, -1, +3; 0, +12; -7

14) Wigan: -3, 0, +3; -3, +34; -9

15) West Ham: -6, +2, +4; +5, +21; -16

16) Portsmouth: -3, -4, +7; -4, +9; -22 (includes the 9-point deduction)

17) Liverpool: -7, -2, +9; -16, +8; -23

Total Goals scored: 1053 this season, 942 last season; +111