Buzzin Football Blog

alex ferguson greatest achievment ever?

As his Manchester United past swept past a weary and punch-drunk AC Milan side, inspired by the imperious Wayne Rooney, team manager Alex Ferguson is edging ever closer to what could be regarded as his greatest ever achievement in football.

In light of what he has already conquered, that in itself seems an unimaginable concept. His re-construction of the Old Trafford club in the 1990s and the subsequent continued success this century is nothing short of inimitable. Indeed, with eleven league titles, two champions league victories and countless other Cup successes, the man’s decorated career history is hardly short of treasured memories and notable accomplishments.

Of course the 1999 treble will go down in the club’s history as the most spectacular success story to date, whilst another noteworthy conquest was the 2007 re-capturing of the Premiership crown following  the three-year drought amidst the London backlash in the form of Arsenal’s 2003/04 “Invincibles” and of course the subsequent arrival of the Russian mega-millions and Jose Mourinho  at Chelsea.

Fergie’s had great teams and world class players and memorable performances throughout his twenty-four year reign, yet with everything he’s developed to date and in particular all that he’s had to deal with this season in particular, he could be making his greatest mark yet.

Consider just what he’s had to face this last nine months and how on earth he’s managed once again to line his team up for the two biggest pieces of silverware available, with the League Cup already in the bag. Last summer saw the sale of megastar and top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo; he wanted to leave the club a year earlier but Ferguson shrewdly managed to effectuate another fruitful season out of him.

Yet Ronaldo was never replaced; only a fraction of the mammoth transfer fee received for the Portuguese was re-invested in players, particularly Antonio Valencia. Now, although he has improved as the season has progressed he is not nor ever will be the same class of player as his predecessor, yet somehow Ferguson has managed to harness the combined skills of the Ecuadorian with Nani and Ji-Sung Park and of course Wayne Rooney to heal the gaping wound inflicted by such a potentially devastating departure.

Tactically, he has disproved the doubters who refuted the impact of Rooney as a lone-striker at the head of the 4-3-2-1 formation, with the England striker currently on the form of his life, leading the line, also now scoring headed goals and singling himself out as the hottest striker in Europe.

Of course, the United boss has relied heavily on the fitness of Rooney in a season where his team has been decimated at times by injuries, particularly in defence, and the fact that United are still very much in the thick of the title race is testament to the Scot’s ability to get the best out of a player in an unfamiliar position. He has persevered and rewarded the industry of players like Park and Darren Fletcher and now they are rewarding his faith with moments of inspiration to add to their irrefutable endeavour.

As has been highlighted particularly with the David Beckham homecoming, his ability to support and sustain the consistency of the senior professionals like Giggs, Scholes and Neville is a testament to the core values central to his managerial ethos. Whereas Arsène Wenger at Arsenal tends to show players the door at 30, Ferguson actively encourages an omnipresent core of senior professionals to set the example and maintain the motivational standards of the club.

The final minutes of the Milan match illustrated the Old Trafford chief’s latest footballing headache, as the United supporters continued their fervent opposition to the Glazer family’s ownership of the club. This storm has threatened to sweep up Ferguson in its trail, and he has thus far managed to stay loyally respectful to his employers whilst at the same time voicing his empathy to the disconcerted fans’ perspective; meanwhile the club charge relentlessly towards the top honours once again.

A Premiership title this season would be a momentous nineteenth league title and knock Liverpool into second place in the history books, not to mention what would be a record fourth successive League success, with the prospect of a third successive Champions League final entirely conceivable.

He has steadied the Old Trafford ship countless times now and has fought the fires that threatened to engulf the club’s success and ambition.  After the catalogue of crises and circuses that have plagued the club this season in particular, he may soon be able to look upon this 2009/10 season as his greatest campaign to date and his most monumental achievement ever.

john terry

John Terry’s latest headline-hogging activity has once again raised questions of the character of the man. His gesture of pointing to the captain’s armband following the relentless abuse from the Stoke City supporters was clearly provoked but far from advisable.

This whole soap opera following the personal problems between the Chelsea skipper and ex-teammate Wayne Bridge has been publicised enough, though what he didn’t seem to realise amidst the obvious joy of his goal celebration, was that it’s only going to make him a bigger target than before.

It’s true that Terry wasn’t exactly in his best form in the weeks either side of his break and the resultant crisis talks with his wife. In reality with the spotlight so firmly on him everything was magnified and vastly exaggerated, particularly when most of the media wanted him to fail, thus perpetuating the paper talk about and against him all the more.

He’s a professional athlete who is clearly one of the most focused and determined Premiership protagonists. Of course his mentality may have been affected a little, but it should never have resulted in the sensationalist and over-accelerated glorification or damnation by the press.

The armband-gesturing goal celebration by Terry was his first real reaction in anger or frustration to this whole scandal. When responding to Craig Bellamy’s comments: “I know what JT is like, everybody in football knows what he is like,” following the Man City defeat, Terry simply responded: “People in glass houses should not throw stones;” a reserved and coy reaction to what could’ve turned into another Gary Neville-Carlos Tevez style war of words (another media mountain out of a mole-hill).

Ray Wilkins, Chelsea’s assistant manager called for an end to the Terry abuse following the Stoke game, saying: “I would like to think the abuse would stop.”

In fact it’s actually a response like Terry’s that will fuel the opposition supporters’ desire to antagonize, because they know they’ll get a reaction out of him. This time it happened to inspire a goal, but it might not go so well for Terry and his Chelsea side in the next crucial few weeks as we enter the business end of things as crucial league, FA Cup and Champions league games approach.

As much as the Chelsea fans will love him all the more for his reaction against Stoke, he needs to try to hold on to the fact he, despite his dismissal as England captain, still has a huge leadership role to play in the England team in the World Cup.

Consequently the exhibitionist, arrogant and provocative reaction to Stoke’s supporters could yet have a negative effect on his career ambitions. If he can curb his future behaviour and keep his dignity in the face of impending adversity, he might just find his future will be much brighter and surely much less turbulent.

Now that the Toronto Winter Olympic Games have drawn to a close, the world turns its focus to the year’s biggest sporting event, the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.

Following the estimated $6 Billion spent on the Toronto games (including infrastructure improvements), it would seem that South Africa has a lot to live up to, but the wider geographical and socio-economic scope of the World Cup™ makes it an event not to be missed by any country, even by those football-loving nations that didn’t manage to qualify.

Every international sport even ensures tourism of gargantuan proportions, and no expense is spared on creating living space for the influx of players, their administration and their fans from across the globe.

One of the more interesting developments in South Africa’s approach sees the docking of ‘flotels,’ – luxury award-winning cruise liners – on the South African coast for the duration of the tournament. These flotels will bring an additional 4,600 beds to the tournament.

It’s going to be a 5-star affair, which offers Penthouse Suites, Veranda Cabins, Outside Cabins, Inside Cabins Deluxe Veranda Suites and Superior Veranda Suites. Each cruiser comprises 11 bars, 4 restaurants, 2 nightclubs, coffee shops, cinemas, theatres, fitness centers, hydro spas and libraries; the tickets ranging from R40 000 to R150 000 ($5,300 to $19,800USD) for the experience.

Furthermore, business facilities are available, along with sightseeing excursions that will be offered by local tourism operators.

To further entice the mad football fans towards the cruise deals, it has been reported that German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer will be staying on board the MS Noordam for the first five days of the tournament.

Franz Beckenbauer will be part of an A-list of celebrities who have been invited to give the World Cup an apparently well-needed boost in marketing, the list rumored to include such names as President Obama, Lady Gaga, Charlize Theron and the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

The World Cup 2010 begins on June 11th.

michael owen injured again

You have to feel sorry for Michael Owen, Manchester United who took a flyer on signing the former England regular on a reported pay per match basis last year have reported that the player will not feature in the rest of the season following a hamstring injury picked up in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday.

Alex Ferguson has said that the injury is worse than first thought and Owen will need yet another operation after pulling up in the game against Aston Villa and being replaced on the pitch by Wayne Rooney.

Owen had made the most of one of his rare starts for Manchester United by scoring the equalising goal for his team, but his injury left the current England favourite Rooney to score the winning goal to take the Carling Cup back to Old Trafford.

The chances of Owen making the South Africa World Cup playing for England were already extremely slim given the few chances that he has had to impress at United, but now there is no chance of a recall to the England squad and I wonder if there is a future for the player who was not so long ago considered among the most feared strikers in the game.

It remains to be seen whether Michael Owen can overcome this latest setback and indeed if he does will he ever get close to the fantastic player he was or will he decide enough is enough and turn his back on the game for good.

Brazil legend Pele famously claimed that an African nation would win the World Cup by 2000.

Although that prediction turned out to be spectacularly wrong it the fact the event will be hosted in the continent this time around will no doubt engender great pride in the players, most notably those of host nation South Africa.

Indeed, the location of the tournament is likely to give all African players a footballing lift as well as an emotional one.

By in large, the World Cup follows a simple rule – it is won by a country from the continent which is hosting it.

This rule was broken in 2002 when Brazil won the tournament hosted by South Korea and Japan. However, few would argue that Asia sides are on a par with their African counterparts.

Although World Cup Betting Odds this year’s hosts will face a struggle to make it to the knockout stages – they face France, Mexico and Uruguay in their group – other African teams might stand a better chance.

Ghana will face a tough task to qualify from Group D during the 2010 Football World Cup which also contains Australia, Germany and Serbia, but they have some quality players and Michael Essien could help them spring an upset.

The Ivory Coast – another team blessed with some very talented footballers – have also face hard going. They will play Brazil, Portugal and North Korea and Didier Drogba will have to be in top form if he is to fire his side into the last 16. Perhaps what the side need is a quality manager to get the best out of them.

If, as has been rumoured, Guus Hiddink takes the reins before the start of the tournament, then Ivory Coast’s chances of progressing should improve greatly. After all, he is the man who took South Korea to the semi-finals in 2002.

For their part Algeria face a less daunting task than many of their African counterparts. England are the only real footballing force they will face in Group C. However, it’s doubtful the African side will have enough quality to see off the USA and even Slovenia could prove to be a challenge and it’s a shame one of the stronger nations didn’t land what would have been a relatively plum draw.

After his last prediction was proved wrong, Pele shifted the deadline for his prediction forward by ten years, meaning an African nation will have to triumph at this World Cup to spare him more blushes.

It doesn’t look like happening, but it’s highly likely a few new African footballing heroes will be created this summer.