Tag Futebol

In light of the launch of the new football gaming phenomenon that is ‘Goaldash’ I decided to look at the top six Sir Alex Ferguson moments in charge of Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson has this weekend insisted he still has no plans to retire despite the fact he turns 70 at the end of this year and the veteran manager will clock up 25 years as Manchester United boss on November 6. Whatever you may think of him, Ferguson is a legend of the modern game and one that will be remembered as probably the greatest ever football manager. Lets have a look at some of his greatest moments during his 25 years at Old Trafford.

1.Securing the Treble 1998/99

Probably he greatest of all Ferguson’s achievement’s, which will be remembered forever by Red Devils fans, was that famous treble in 1999. After winning the Premier League and FA Cup United went and pulled off an astonishing comeback against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Injury time goals by Sheringham and Solskjaer sent the fans into wild celebration and Alex Ferguson went into the history books as the only manager in English football to have won the treble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZzwWMum658

2. Beating Mourinho to the Premier League 2007/08

Ferguson and Manchester United had gone three years without a title and José Mourinho’s Chelsea looked an unstoppable force. But started United season on-fire with four goals against Fulham in the first 19 minutes of the season and continued this rich vein of from throughout the season. With Cristiano Ronaldo moving from good to great, Ferguson’s team swaggered to the title and Ferguson had his crown back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPntU3l1iAI

3. Winning his first Premier League title 1992/93

After struggling to even hold onto his job in his first season in charge at Old Trafford, Ferguson managed to turn a team of no-hoppers into the inaugural Premier League Champions. It put down a real marker that United were force once again after 25 years in the wilderness and Ferguson’s reign over English football had begun.

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4. Winning his second Champions League title 2007/08

Defeating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow will forever be remembered as one of Ferguson’s greatest moments as his Manchester United side became the best club side in Europe for only the second time during his management. The game itself wasn’t a classic but United did enough to win the penalty shoot-out and guarantee Ferguson’s legacy remains.

5. Catching Newcastle United to win the Premier League 1995/96

The most romantic of Ferguson’s titles. Alan Hansen infamously stated that United could not win anything with kids, but they had Eric Cantona and Peter Schmeichel in the form of their lives: the pair combined in a series of 1-0 wins in the run-in as United destroyed Newcastle’s 12-point lead and drove Kevin Keegan to a very public meltdown.

6. Surpassing Liverpool’s 18 with Manchester United’s 19th Premier League Crown 2010/11.

Last season Manchester United became the most successful club in the history of English football and overtook great rivals Liverpool, something that famously Ferguson has always set out to achieve. Will it be 20 for United and Ferguson this season?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d691D1pyQZw

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So what is Goaldash all about then?

‘Goaldash’ is a fabulous concept which fuses the Lottery format with pre-chosen football fixtures. Whereas you may use birthdays or your own favourite numbers to pick your six numbers, with ‘Goaldash’ you need to use your foresight of the Beautiful Game to select the six teams that are likely to score the quickest in the pre-selected 24 fixtures.

It only costs £1 a pop to enter and you have the chance to win a million pounds, every given week.

All you have to do is scour the 48 teams and pick out the 6 teams that are likely to score the quickest on the Saturday afternoon. The matches are chosen from the Premier League, the Football League, as well as the Scottish divisions therefore you will have plenty to work out and strategise before you make your selections.

Playing the Lottery has just got fun, especially as your odds are a damn sight greater.

Fancy your chances? Fancy winning £1million pounds? Why not give it a go!

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Liverpool rode their luck at Anfield to beat Fulham 1-0, with John Pantsil’s own-goal moving the Reds up to seventh in the Premier League.

Pantsil sliced the ball past goalkeeper David Stockdale in the 52nd minute, with goal enough to hand Kenny Dalglish the first home win of his second spell in charge at Anfield.

It leaves Liverpool only one place outside the top six and only six points from a European qualifying place.

But although the Kop celebrated a crucial victory and chanted their manager’s name, it was a nervy night in which Fulham created a string of chances worthy of earning at least a draw.

They were only kept out by poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping from Pepe Reina.

Liverpool had captain Steven Gerrard back from suspension but never really hit top gear, although they started brightly.

Torres was unlucky to be ruled offside after finishing off a smart Raul Meireles through-ball in the opening minutes, but Fulham dug their heels in during an even first half to match their rivals.

Meireles had a header well saved by Stockdale and the Fulham custodian also tipped over a stunning effort from Glen Johnson.

But the visitors were not without chances of their own.

Dempsey and Dembele were both denied by Pepe Reina and it took a piece of good fortune to finally put Liverpool ahead in the 52nd minute.

Torres’ shot was deflected onto the post and then, in the confusion that followed, Fulham defender Pantsil sliced the ball backwards past his own goalkeeper.

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Fulham, to their credit, refused to buckle and three times went close to equalising; first when Reina saved from a Hughes header, then when Meireles cleared frantically off the line from Brede Hangeland.

The final scare for the Kop in a frantic finish came when Dembele wasted an excellent chance to score, firing straight at Reina.

But the Reds held on for a confidence-building victory – their second in succession after also winning at Wolves on Saturday.

You could say Sol Campbell has never been my favourite player in football, largely down to my North London roots, but I can’t help but feel that he and the large part of the nation had been duped by the BBC in their scaremongering of what football fans can expect had they stepped foot in Poland and the Ukraine this summer. I personally have never known an international tournament pass off with so little trouble and full credit to both nations for their handling of the Euros.

Of course Panorama have past form don’t they, in the selective material they provide you with and I do wonder how deep they actually had to dig in order to come up with the footage that they used.  If they want to find incidents of brutality and other dark sides of football then I reckon I could deliver them enough material for them to put on a feature length special, on any given weekend in English football. Are they really that naive that they think crowd trouble and in some instances racial abuse doesn’t exist in England? I truly believe they have a lot to answer for with that documentary, especially when families of players refused to travel to support their loved one for the fear of trouble. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be pleased to know that a hotel TV was where his dad watched his International tournament debut, in what was arguably his biggest game in football to date. Thousands of other England fans also refused to travel in light of their revelations.

I’m not saying what we did witness was acceptable, in fact it was utterly despicable, but to tarnish two nations’ football supporters by generalising them as perceived bigots is completely wrong and out of order. The English supporters that did travel came back with nothing but positive stuff to say about the host nations and the way they were treated. Many saw it as arguably one of the best international trips they had been on, largely down to the lack of trouble and the past victimisation supporters have had to suffer at the hands of police and the authorities on their respective travels. I suppose the likes of the Beeb wouldn’t be interested in reporting this positive aspect of football, as there is nothing that can be dramatised or any negative aspect to report. Maybe recent events will ensure Panorama keep their nose out of football once and for all – given their catalogue of non-revelations they have produced in the past.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has switched his attentions to Borussia Dortmund star Mario Goetze, according to the Express.

The Manchester United boss has given up on his attempts to sign Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder and is now chasing the 19-year-old German prodigy.

United watched Goetze play and score for his country against Brazil last week and were impressed by the way he dominated the midfield.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have also been linked with the midfielder who has been described as the best young talent in the Bundesliga.

He helped Dortmund to the title last season and now Ferguson is set to swoop as he steps up his search for Paul Scholes’ replacement.

£20 million rated Goetze would prove a cheaper alternative to Sneijder who’s wage demands scuppered any chance of a move to Old Trafford.

The Dutchman’s reluctance to take a cut from his £200,000 at the San Siro coupled with Inter’s unwillingness to budge on their £35 million asking price ruined any chance of a deal being agreed.

A move for Goetze would also provide Ferguson with the challenge of moulding another young player into a superstar.

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He know’s he’ll have a fight to wrestle the midfielder away from Dortmund due to his deal at Signal Iduna Park having another three-years to run.

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has pushed striker Wayne Rooney to match the efforts of in-form Dimitar Berbatov, and aim for 20 goals this season.

Berbatov’s latest hat-trick took the Bulgarian to a personal record of 17 goals in the Premier League so far this season, and he leads the club’s tally in contrast to Rooney’s poor run in front of goal.

The 29-year-old has inevitably been a key contributor to Manchester United’s 22-game unbeaten run in the Premier League this term, scoring numerous key goals including three hat-tricks, and propelling the club to top spot amongst England’s elite.

However, in order for the Red Devils to remain there, Ferguson realises that they can’t afford for Berbatov to enter a barren patch, and he has urged other players to step up to the mark and start contributing to the goal tally.

Nani has been in prolific form since August, and has been the key ‘Ronaldo factor’ in the squad – providing 11 assists for others and grabbing seven goals for himself.

“Dimitar is getting up towards that 20-goal mark, which is going to be important for us,” said Ferguson, according to ESPN Soccernet. “Hopefully we will get another one to that level too. Once you do that you know it is a substantial season.”

Rooney scored 34 goals last season, but has failed to really hit top-gear so far this campaign following revelations about his private life, speculation over his future and the debilitating effect of various injuries.

Now Ferguson is challenging Rooney to get back to his best.

“We hope so, he [Rooney] deserves it. He is working his socks off and is playing some great football,” said Ferguson. “The third goal [in Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of Birmingham City at Old Trafford] was very, very exciting with the interchange between Berba and Rooney. It was right at half-time and it killed the match,” he added. “Wayne showed fantastic control in the fourth goal to bring the ball from Edwin [Van der Sar] out of the clouds. The control of Rooney and setting up Ryan [Giggs] to square the ball for Berba – it was a fantastic goal.”

Despite the former Everton striker’s unselfish work, which yielded two memorable assists against Brum, he struggled in front of goal himself, heading a cross wide from two yards out.

Berbatov wrote his name into the United record book by notching his third hat-trick of the season, equalling Ruud Van Nisterlrooy’s haul from the 2002-03 season.

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The Bulgarian has managed double figures in every one of his seasons in England, and is finally looking the £30.75m player United bought from Tottenham in September 2008.

“Dimitar is realising his ability,” said Ferguson. “The other players sense it too. They are playing their part in playing with him. He has special qualities. I think we are using them.”

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Germany coach Joachim Low is expecting a Greece to prove tough competition in Friday’s Euro 2012 quarter final but refutes the claim that Fernando Santos’ will deploy an ultra defensive game plan.

It has been suggested that the Euro 2004 winners will implement a similar strategy to the one that Chelsea used during their Champions League final victory on penalties against Bayern Munich last month

However Low has dismissed any comparisons after stating they won’t be facing “the Chelsea of the Mediterranean” but did warn his players not to take their opponents for granted.

“I have heard a few times that they are the Chelsea of the Mediterranean, but it is not that way,” he said. “Greece play good combination football. Their defence is strong, they are strong in the tackle and defending and countering is in their blood.

“They have been playing that way for years. It was similar or practically the same in 2004 [when they became European champions in Portugal].

“They get written off sometimes, but then they are always there. But anyway, Chelsea play a different football to what we saw in the final or semi-finals of the Champions League.”

Having remained unbeaten the group stage Low also admits the knockout phase is tricky to navigate but is confident his team can handle pressure of being favourites to bag a semi-final spot.

“Logically we are favourites, but we can deal with that,” he said. “But remember – knockout games have their own character so it won’t be the case that the favourite automatically reaches the next round.

“We saw that in the group when Russia were the big favourites and we have all seen what happened. But if we show all of our inner strength and belief, then we are strong enough to beat the Greeks of course. I am convinced we will win.”

Greece coach Santos is aware that his side are the  ‘David’ to Germany’s ‘Goliath’ as they prepare to face off against one of the favourites to win the tournament they triumphed in unexpectedly eight years ago.

He wants the current squad to revel in their role as the underdog and believes the success of 2004 should provide an extra boost of motivation ahead of the game in Gdansk.

“If we see it as a David and Goliath task, then this is good for us because we all know that Goliath lost,” Santos said. “They are a big team and usually get to the semi-finals and we are talking about a very consistent nation.

“But I am willing to accept the role of David, just as long as history repeats itself.”

“I would like to seize this opportunity to say what an inspiration for us the 2004 success is,” Santos said. “We showed great resolution and strength and we were written off before that tournament, but we still reached the final and won the cup.

“That should be a source of inspiration for us this time.”

Team News

Jerome Boateng is available for Germany with Joachim Low likely to bring him back into the starting eleven at the expense of Lars Bender despite right back netting the winner against Poland in their final group fixture.

Skipper Giorgos Karagounis and left-back Jose Holebas are suspended for Greece after picking up their second yellows of the tournament against Russia. Sotiris Ninis, Grigoris Makos and Giorgos Fotakis will battle for Karagounis’ spot in midfield while, Georgios Tzavelas had already usurped Holebas in the left-back slot.

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Key Players

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Once again the Bayern Munich man has been a leading light for Germany in midfield. When he’s at his best Schweinsteiger is up there with the best in the world and he’s been on another level for die Mannschaft during the tournament displaying his exquisite range of passing and defensive tenacity when he isn’t pinging the ball around and driving at opposition defences.

Soitiris Ninis

The likely candidate to replace captain Giorgos Karagounis in the engine room, it will be Ninis’ job to lead from the front and provide the creative inspiration for Greece. Much will be expected of the Parma man who has failed to live up to his reputation as a goalscoring midfielder but has the opportunity to showcase his undoubted talent against Germany.

Prediction: 3-0

Football FanCast is bringing Blankety Blank to the Premier League. Each week we’ll pick one of the hottest headlines from the back pages of the newspapers and it will be up to you to fill in the blanks.

This week the world of football has unsurprisingly been dominated by Cesc Fabregas’s move to Barcelona. After 3 years of bids, rejections and relentless flirtations, the Arsenal midfielder was finally reunited with his boyhood club. It was a particularly emotional move and Fabregas admitted that he had been unable to tell Wenger how grateful he really was. However, Fabregas’s gratitude will do little to fill the gaping hole in Arsenal’s midfield especially if Nasri follows him out of the door.

Here is a headline taken from Wednesday’s Daily Mail, just fill in the blanks and leave your suggestions below….

Wenger’s empty _______, Barcelona’s _________ and a _________who’ll forever have a place in Arsenal hearts.

Newcastle winger, Wayne Routledge, has insisted that Newcastle are not a one man team after Alan Pardew revealed that Newcastle could be without Andy Carroll for up to four weeks. Following the performance against Wigan on Sunday, Newcastle clearly missed their talisman, but the team pulled together and managed to get the win. Clearly the squad is united but against better sides the feeling is Newcastle will struggle without Carroll.

To be fair to Wayne Routledge, his comments came before the win against Wigan. It wasn’t a reaction to the win but quite a considered point he was making. It is clear that the whole Newcastle team will have to bring goals to the side whilst Carroll is injured, something that Routledge recognises.

Routledge admitted: “Andy will be a big loss. He’s the focal point of our attack, but we’ve got to get on with it. We’re not a one man team and we’ve got to step up to the mark.”

Against a Wigan side who clearly were shattered from their midweek game against Arsenal, Newcastle were able to come away with the victory. However, in the Tyne-Wear derby on January 16, Newcastle will struggle without Carroll. Against a top quality team, Shola Ameobi does not have the presence to scare defenders. Most Premier League defenders know what Ameobi is about. He will not intimidate defenders into making mistakes like Caroll has, nor has he proven he can share the goalscoring burden. Without the goals from Carroll over the next four weeks, many pundits believe Newcastle could find themselves in a relegation battle come the start of February.

It would be unfair to label Newcastle a one man team, but one thing is clear. Andy Carroll is their best player by a country mile. If you take 11 goals out of any newly promoted side, they are going to struggle – that is obvious. Against Wigan, Newcastle showed phenomenal team spirit and played for each other. That is what Alan Pardew will bring to the club. Newcastle have warriors in their line up. Jonas Gutierrez, Cheik Tiote, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan will give everything for the cause, without having the sufficient quality to keep Newcastle in the Premier League. Andy Carroll is the man that will score the goals that keep Newcastle up. I am not sure that makes them a one man team, just Carroll is clearly a class above.

Alan Pardew may now be tempted to go into the transfer market and look for a short term solution to the Carroll problem. Players like Robbie Keane and Michael Owen have been touted as possibilities, with the Irishman looking the most likely. It would be sensible for Pardew to look around and try and find somebody to ease the problem. Going forward, Newcastle will struggle without Carroll, but with Steve Harper returning – Newcastle look in good shape across the rest of the pitch. Newcastle proved on Sunday they are not a one man team. They will miss Carroll, no doubt, but such is the spirit of the squad, they may surprise a few people.

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As we all know the Championship fixtures were released this week and, I’m not going to lie, it’s nice to see names like Bolton Wanderers, Leeds United and erm, Barnsley, among our list of opponents next season.

I mean, no offence to the teams that we were playing in League One, but a lot of the guys we’ll be against next season have recent Premier League credentials.

Bolton, Wolves and Blackburn were all Premier League outfits last season and there’s no doubting the history and heritage of the likes of Nottingham Forest and Derby County.

When you look at the Championship table ahead of the 2012/2013 campaign, 13 of the 24 teams who will be involved have been in the Premier League in the past 10 years and have at least a bit of a brand about them. Also, if you look at some of the teams who haven’t been in England’s top flight in the last decade, such as Wednesday and Forest, we at least have a big name behind us.

Our first four games of the season will see us take on Derby, Birmingham, Millwall and Crystal Palace. While only one of the above (Birmingham) challenged for promotion last season, they are all tough sides to break down and will be a stern challenge for a Wednesday side that will be finding their feet in new surroundings.

I’ve said it many a time, especially to my colleagues in South Africa, that the English Championship is possibly the toughest league in the world. I by no means think that it’s the best league with regards to quality, but with regards to the excitement and the unpredictability of who will make the top six come the end of the season, you never really know. It’s as open as a 24-hour McDonalds.

Look at the Premier League, for years it’s been dubbed a two, or three, or four horse race, and understandably so. We all know that the top spot in the division is only really up for grabs by a certain hierarchy. Now take The Championship, there are a whole host of teams who could take the title, and even more who will feel that they can genuinely challenge for at least the playoff places.

We’ve just gone up, we know in our heads that we ‘should’ struggle. Yet even so, the odds on us winning the league, or at least getting into the playoffs, are not that high. For this reason, among others, I’ve always said that England’s second division is near on impossible to bet on.

However, despite all of this good news. Despite the fact that we’ll now be sparring with the cruiserweights instead of the welterweights, there is a hint of sadness when I look at next year’s fixtures. The reason is, even though I do like to see Sheffield United fail a tincy bit, Derby Day is epic, even for little old me listening to Wednesday World in Mzansi.

Yes, we’ll get to play Barnsley and Huddersfield. Of course, beating Dirty Leeds will be great fun, but none of these derbies quite pack a heavyweight punch like our red and white rivals. I’ll admit it, I’ll miss them… only a little bit though.

When the fixtures came out this week I checked the opening day and then skipped right through to December. I’m coming home for Christmas and I needed to see when I could end my Hillsborough drought. I did hope that we’d have Leeds while I was back, but to be honest, I’m happy with a home game against Charlton as long as I get to sing Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday in the blistering cold once again.

To sum it up folks, I’m looking forward to next season. There’s still a few transfers on the cards for Dave Jones, and we’ve signed well so far. There’s still reason for us Wednesdayites to believe that, when I do come home in December, I’ll be seeing a side that are at least sitting comfortably in mid-table.

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Anyway, as a parting note, in true Wednesday fashion, we’ve already found ourselves in the relegation places, 22nd, after just 0 games. We’re yet to hit the back of the net and have racked up no points, however on the plus side, we are yet to concede.

Come On Wednesday

Can we kick it? @YesWeCrann

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On Sunday 13 May 2012, the final day of the upcoming Premier League season, you expect to see a battle over the final relegation places and even for the title itself but it is very hard to envisage that deciding the makeup of the top six will go to go the wire. Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are very likely to form it and the only question to ask is what order they will be in?

Sir Alex Ferguson recently said: “We used to talk about a top four, with ourselves, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool-you can’t say that anymore. Manchester City have definitely come into the frame. They have a buying power better than the rest of us. Maybe having the run in the European Cup just stretched Tottenham too much last season and they ended up being out of the top four. But you look at those and say any of them could win the league.” If Sir Alex thinks anyone of them could win the league, what hope is there of another team breaking through this season?

This shows how much has changed in such a short space of time as just a few years ago Aston Villa and Everton were regularly in the top six, keeping either Liverpool or Manchester City out. However in the last few seasons something has become different and that is the finances of the big sides.

The financial gulf between the current top six clubs and the clubs that are likely to challenge is now substantial. Stats from May 2010 show that five of the six teams had a wage bill over £100m in 2010 and two of clubs had a turnover of over £200m. While in comparison, Fulham had a wage bill of just under £50m while Everton were only slightly ahead with £54m. This shows what a a huge challenge it will be for any team to break into this monopoly which is only going to increase with the introduction into the Premier League of the UEFA’s financial fair play rules.

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Spending this summer has already been considerable for nearly all of the current top-six. They know it is the last chance to strengthen before these financial fair play rules, which require clubs to break even in order to qualify for European competitions, kick in next season. Man City are likely to sign more big names after the captures of Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic, Arsenal may have only brought Gervinho so far but Wenger looks certain to strengthen his defence before August and Champions League quarter-finalist’s Spurs have added Brad Friedel and Cristian Ceballos so far this summer. Liverpool, who last failed to reach the top six in the 2009/10 season, have already signed Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stuart Downing. If the improvement under Dalglish continues, they could easily be challenging for the top-four yet alone top-six.

It is a different story for the clubs that are threatening to make a breakthrough. Aston Villa have become a selling club due to the financial restraints placed on them and McLeish now has the task of rebuilding a side that has been already picked apart by the top-six teams with both Young and Downing moving on to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.

It must be very frustrating to be a fan at Goodison Park as the repeated lack of spending by the board, results in Everton, who missed 6th place by four points to Liverpool last season, being unable to compete with the big teams despite Moyes best efforts. They used to be situated in the top six every season but now with mass influx of money at Man City, Redknapp’s influence at Spurs and the major revolution taking place at Anfield under Dalglish, it seems unlikely that they will make waves this year especially after another summer of inactivity.

Teams like Sunderland, Villa and Everton now have to sell their best players in order to progress as a Premier League club as they cannot compete with the sort of money the top-four achieves for appearing in the Champions League and with Tottenham joining the party in recent years, this task will be even harder during the new Premier League season.

There has been much talk about the Premier League levelling out over the last few years especially after two of the promoted clubs survived last season. However at the top of the league, the opposite seems to be present as there has been a changing of the tide with the top six receiving even more money, leaving the chasing pack further behind.

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Their increased spending and high wage bills suggests the only way to stand a chance is to match this expenditure and until another team gets the sort of investment Manchester City have had, I cannot see any of top six being dislodged for a long time to come.

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