John Terry has been England captain three times. He has been stripped of the captaincy three times. Rio Ferdinand has been England captain once. He does not want the England captaincy again. Steven Gerrard has been overlooked for the England captaincy several times. He is no longer a guaranteed starter in the side. Scott Parker was not an England fixture until a couple of seasons ago, often considered good but not quite good enough for the squad, let alone the team, and now he is an England captain contender. It’s all a bit of a joke.
Andreas Vassiliades
Harry Redknapp was found innocent of tax evasion on Wednesday afternoon in London. The court hearing did not merely determine whether Harry Redknapp was going to find himself imprisoned, or at the very least fined and reprimanded, for tax evasion but, perhaps just as importantly, whether Harry Redknapp was still on course for the top job in English football. The England national football team manager. With the Londoner found innocent it seems the path is still set and all Harry Redknapp need do is follow the course.
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, has said in court that he believes he is being victimised because of his cockney accent (an accent peculiar to those from London). The cockney accent in British culture has long been associated with deviant behaviour, much like in New York an Italian might be stereotyped as being part of the mafia simply on the basis of the person being Italian. It’s a stereotype and a generality, Harry Redknapp claim’s that it is this generality that has led to him being persecuted and placed in court on tax evasion charges.
On the weekend just past the Spanish daily newspaper, Marca, released what they claimed to be an exclusive. The newspapers football journalists had found out that Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid coach, was dissatisfied with the level of hostility targeted in his direction and believing that his work was not recieving the plaudits he felt it welcomed he was going to leave his position at the end of the current season. Yes, Marca, the newspaper symbiotically connected with Real Madrid was claiming that the Real Madrid coach was on the way out.
When it comes to Real Madrid Marca rarely get it wrong. They exxagerate, the use revisionist history, they are bias, but they rarely concoct entire falsehoods from thin air. As far stretched as a story might be the paper, when it comes to Real Madrid, tends to have clout and its stories have substance. When the article was published nobody chose to question the journalist’s integrity and nobody considered it untrue. The only thing that was worthy of consideration was whether Jose Mourinho was sincere and determined in his resolution or whether it was merely a consideration.
Liverpool face off against Manchester City on Wednesday evening in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final. Liverpool lead the affair 1-0 but with at least 90 minutes still to play the tie is obviously very delicately poised. The second leg will take place at Anfield and with the home crowd roaring them on Liverpool will consider themselves favourite and the more likely of the two teams to succeed. Manchester City, by contrast, are coming off of the back of a very important victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. The importance of that victory, and the manner in which it arrived (a penalty winner in the 94th minute), cannot be understated. It will be a massive confidence boost for the Manchester City players and staff.
Cardiff City, the team from the Welsh capital, are heading to the Carling Cup final. The team defeated Crystal Palace in the first completed Carling Cup semi final. They will now play the winner of the Liverpool vs Manchester City tie which will be completed on Wednesday evening at Anfield. Liverpool head that tie 1-0, thanks to an away victory in Manchester in the first leg, secured by a Steven Gerrard penalty.
Manchester City‘s crosstown rivals and English Premiership title contenders Manchester United could also do with a transfer signing. Nemanja Vidic, the club captain and lynchpin of the Manchester United defence, is out for the rest of the season. Rio Ferdinand, the former England captain and one of the best defenders in the club’s history, continuously suffers from niggling injuries and his participation is never certain until the match begins. Darren Fletcher, the lung busting central midfielder, has a peculiar problem with his health and is unlikely to return this season. Ashley Young has struggled with injuries, Tom Cleverley has yet to return from an injury suffered at an early stage of the season, and Javier Hernandez, without a preseason training programme behind him, has struggled to find a sharp touch all season. The club have such serious problems with injuries that Sir Alex Ferguson decided to bring Paul Scholes back out of retirement. The club could do with a transfer signing to quell the unrest of the fans who want to see some improvement in the teams performance (especially in midfield where the play often appears weary and without control) and an addition of attacking talent to make the team more exciting to watch again. The players could also probably do with a psychological boost as they chase Manchester City.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Internazionale Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal. So many great clubs in the heart of Europe but not one has yet made a major transfer purchase in this January transfer window. To some degree or another, it could be argued, that each and every one of those aforementioned clubs need at least one single player, if not more in a few different positions.
Danny Welbeck scored again against Arsenal. This time, unlike the last, it couldn’t have been important. When he last scored against Arsenal Manchester United won 8-2 and were so imperious on the day that it was a little surprising David De Gea, the Manchester United goalkeeper, did not manage to get on the scoresheet. This time, it was a late winner that kept Manchester United in the title race.
Real Madrid. Top of La Liga. In the second round of the Champions League. In the latter stages of the Copa del Ray. All for what? The crowd are not happy and the white flags are waving not in support but in defiance. Why? Because Real Madrid keep losing to Barcelona. The fans are not stupid, they know that even Real Madrid win La Liga it will most likely be a pyrrhic victory, with Barcelona recognised as the best team in the country who just so happened to not win La Liga.
