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.

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.

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.

john terry

The John Terry affair, if you will excuse the pun, continues with the declaration from Wayne Bridge that he has chosen not to play for the England team at the World Cup this summer and many so called England fans calling for the former captain to be dropped from the World Cup squad.

I do not often agree with FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, but his comment along the lines of ‘this could only happen in England’, for me, ring very true.

Personally I feel that England will have enough problems with the quality of players available, to have a chance of winning the World Cup in South Africa and leaving out key players is not an option for Fabio Capello. The way things are we have a serious chance of losing before a ball is kicked!

Listening to radio phone in’s it is obvious to me that there is a lot of  hate amongst football fans towards Terry, something I can only put down to the fact that he plays for Chelsea who many still consider to have bought success.

When it comes to the England team, fans should be united in supporting the best players that are available for their country and as far as I can see along with Rio Ferdinand (injury permitting) Terry is the best choice in his position.

While Terry has never been quite the same player since his back injury a season or two ago, he is for me still currently the best Englishman available.

I have always been a fan of Wayne Bridge since I first saw him play for Southampton and considered  that until the arrival of Ashley Cole he was the best left back in the country.

Throughout his career though Bridge has suffered more than his fair share of injuries, while Cole has managed to produce his best football since leaving Arsenal over this past season.

So already Bridge is second choice and his ‘retirement’ from International football may open the door for other hopefuls, but leaves England relying on at least a third choice player with little or no experience at international level.

Capello has already used the versatile Milner in the left back position and maybe that is the way he will go, but whatever way you look at it to win the cup we will need our best available players.

Regarding Terry, he is a footballer not a celebrity, but I wonder what the master of adultery George Best would make of it all. Back in those days most of us would have considered him a lucky so and so and patted him on the back!

carling cup predictor

Carling are inviting football fans to take part in the Carling Cup Final Predictor Challenge ahead of the game on Sunday 28th February 2010.

Entry is free and fans can take part in the challenge up until 2pm on Cup Final day by registering on the Carling website and simply predicting the final score in the game featuring Aston Villa and Manchester United.

If you guess the score correctly you will stand a chance of winning a replica team shirt signed by the 2009/2010 Carling Cup winning squad.

The competition is open only to fans over the legal age limit. To take part first register on the Carling Cup Final Predictor Challenge website and follow the instructions, it is that simple.

Good Luck!

However, following recent events Capello must now understand why his job is so often referred to as a poison chalice. Although the John Terry incident was no doubt a test of the manager’s PR and diplomatic skills the injury to Ashley Cole will be the bigger headache as the tournament approaches. Yes, the fact that Cole’s direct replacement is Wayne Bridge complicates matters a little, but the fact England could be missing one of their few truly world class players in South Africa is the real issue.

Oddly though, Capello might be slightly relieved that it is his left-back who been struck down rather than anyone else. Although Bridge isn’t quite as good as Cole, he will at least be able to cut it at the World Cup. Cover for other areas of the squad looks distinctly thin on the ground. Rio Ferdinand and Terry are likely to be the first choice centre back partnership in South Africa, but Ferdinand’s season has been plagued by injury and it’s doubtful the likes of Joleon Lescott would be able to cut it against side like Brazil and Italy.

In midfield England’s problems are underlined by the failure to find a replacement for David Beckham. Shaun Wright-Philips, Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon have no end product and would be easily blunted. The emergence of Aston Villa’s James Milner is one of the few bright spots for Capello.

However, the biggest worry for the England manager will be the fitness of Wayne Rooney. The striker is in the form of his life and is the one truly irreplaceable player Capello has at his disposal. The name Rooney on its own will strike fear into defences, but if he is forced to miss the tournament then a paring of Defoe and Zamora just won’t have the same impact according to Football World Cup Betting experts.

Capello also faces a selection dilemma in goal. On form, Joe Hart would probably be first choice but his lack of international experience will no doubt count against him. But David James, first choice in the qualifying campaign, has struggled with injuries all season and it’s unclear who would replace him.

If Football World Cup betting odds are to back England to win the World Cup they will need their key players fully fit and at the top of their game. Sadly, after a tough Premier League season, it’s highly unlikely Capello will have this luxury.

“We are one of the ten best clubs in Europe and players who strengthen our team at that period of the season are not available, or at a price we cannot afford.” Arséne stated.

I nearly spat out my coffee. Not to offend fans of Arséne himself, but that’s truly a poor excuse for his lack of involvement in the recent transfer season.

He claims that the amount of money he is allowed to allocate his players is simply too low to attract any good footballers. But surely a £90k a week wage is enough to buy at least a decent striker?

Instead of trying to reason with his board, he’s been trying desperately to gain players like Maraouane Chamkh, and I have no doubt that he was heartbroken when, just hours ago, Chamakh himself said he was not prepared to move, at least not yet.

Many Arsenal fans, alongside non-supporters, are sceptical whether or not Arséne has performed well as manager this season.

Among these are many that also believe that Arsenal are in dire need of fresh new additions to their line-up, especially after Michael Ballack criticized Arsenal’s style of play, describing them as ‘predictable’.

At least Arsenal fans can rest assured that key player Cesc Fábregas, will not be transferring to Barcelona any time soon, despite recent rumours of his leave before the World Cup as Wenger has repeated stated that he still has ‘four years left on his contract’, and he is not prepared to sell him.

Although I deeply respect Arséne for the amount he’s done for Arsenal with so little money, I can’t help but think he’s only looking to buy stars, instead of looking for raw talent.

Arsenal have to adhere to their strict £90,000 a week rule, regardless of whoever the player may be. This means even their top players (Gallas, Arshavin), are on this.
Yet I think, although he might not be able to purchase a top-end player like Lionel Messi, he could definitely reel in some talent with that budget.

And besides, I think another small Arshavin-like player is not what Arsenal needs. What Arsenal needs is a large, powerful striker, to provide Arsenal with that muscle that the team sometimes lacks.

Even if his eyes are only on big names, surely he could sell some players that, frankly, just aren’t up to Arsenal standard (Walcott, Vela), and make an exception to bring in some world-class talent.

However, Arséne is adamant that his budget limit is necessary for the club to function healthily, and I think many people (including myself) respect the fact that he is cautious with his money, as we’ve all seen the effects of excessive spending with Portsmouth’s near-bankruptcy.

Anthony Duong
Guest Writer from GenXXL.com

Manchester City won the game 4-3 against Sunderland in another exciting goalfest.  But on the final whistle Mark Hughes appeared subdued, and after congratulating each of his players he applauded the crowd and gave them telling goodbye wave.

Surprisingly, Mark Hughes claimed on Sunday that he had not been told until after the match that was to get the sack and be replaced with immediate effect by Roberto Mancini, who had been in the crowd at Eastlands.

Mark Hughes went on to say it was agreed at a pre-season meeting with the Manchester City owner, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour, that  a top six finish or 70 points was a realistic target for the 2009/10 season. After Saturday’s win Manchester City was in sixth place and on target to reach 70 points this season.

Furthermore, they had only lost two games all season. One to a last minute injury time winner against the current Premier League champions Manchester United (4-3) and last week to an inform Tottenham Hotspur (3-0), the best record in the Premier League Chelsea have already lost three games, Manchester United have lost five games, Arsenal have lost three games and Liverpool a whopping seven games – none of which have sacked their manager, yet!

They are also in semi-final of the League Cup.  Manchester City’s first semi-final for 28 years!

The fact that Manchester City, not necessarily Mark Hughes, have spent £200 million of Sheikh Mansour’s money is apparently enough to sack a perfectly good young manager who I believe this season would have finished with a trophy and a very real possibility of guaranteed Champions League football next season, which in turn would have opened the door for some of the biggest names in world football to choose the blue half of Manchester over the red devils.

Too many draws and not enough wins was of course Mark Hughes’ problem. This I believe was caused by too many top quality attacking options and not a strong enough defence.

Panic buying led to inflated transfer fees for Jolean Lescott and Kolo Toure when the lure of money failed to capture John Terry’s signature in the summer.  And to rub salt into wounds, former captain Richard Dunne, who was hounded out of the club by someone, is having a great season for Aston Villa.

Whether Mancini will continue to look for proven players in the Premier League or use his Italian connections to bolster a very weak defence we will see in the coming January transfer window.

Certain players definitely appear to have been bought on the request of Mark Hughes.  Rocky Santa Cruz followed him from Blackburn Rovers and Craig Bellamy who had always been admired by Hughes since his days as manager of Wales I would be confident in saying had Mark Hughes stamp of approval.  But remember how both Hughes and Robinho looked dumbstruck the night  he was signed from Real Madrid?

Fitting then that in what appeared to be a final stand, Mark Hughes left Robinho and Emmanuel Adebeyor on the subs bench on Saturday and Rocky Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy both had a great game and scored three of Manchester City’s four goals.

Roberto Mancini has managed Fiorentina and Inter Milan, where he won three successive Italian League titles and two Italian Cups, before being dismissed in May 2008 and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Mancini definitely has the right pedigree to take Manchester City to the next level, and with the astute appointment of Brian Kidd as first team coach maybe Manchester City are looking to emulate the successful Anglo-Italian  partnership of Jose Mourinho and Steve Clarke at Chelsea. But with several players – Rocky Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy, Shay Given, Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure, Nigel De Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland – already stating how unhappy they are with the sacking of Mark Hughes, Mancini faces a baptism of fire as he prepares to take over the reigns for three games in quick succession, starting with an awkward game against Stoke City on Boxing Day.

At the beginning of the season I wanted Manchester City to break into the top four but now there’s a part of me that wants them to finish mid-table and get thrashed by Manchester United in the forthcoming League Cup semi-final!