Puma evoSPEED 1.2 football boots

The Germany-based sports goods manufacturer, Puma, have introduced the all-new evoSPEED 1.2 FG. The latest in a series of performance boots that help players maximise their speed on the pitch.

      The difficulties of supporting England

England are facing two crucial away fixtures against San Marino and Montenegro in the next week, and as is often the case with our national team, it’s difficult to know what to expect. So many times we’ve seen listless performances in these types of games, even if we have managed to secure the result.

There has, of course, been the occasional terrific display – the 4-1 thrashing of Croatia away from home being a perfect example – but often those performances are met with a degree of negativity too.

If we reflect back on England’s 2-1 win against Brazil last month for instance, amongst the well-deserved praise there was a stark reminder of the difficulties of supporting the Three Lions. An England performance acknowledged by the media as a positive one was soon met with weary cynicism from the fans.

                                                                    Frank Lampard against Brazil

Oh here we go, the media portraying England as world beaters again, until we go to a tournament and fail. It was a common train of thought following that match, and it is easy to understand why: for years we have been yo-yoing between absurd highs and crushing lows, between unfounded confidence and depressing reality.

Every major tournament has delivered the same dismal cycle: the high of qualification followed by a media-fuelled sense of optimism, only to see us scrape through to the quarter finals and lose on dreaded penalties, prompting the press to tear apart those players they had so recently decorated with praise.

Assuming we fail to achieve startling success, which we inevitably do, it’s a mindset we’re all tired of: false expectations crumpling to sand as soon as we face any opposition of calibre.

Recent years, however, have seen a significantly diluted version of this process: whether it was the dismal failure of Steve McClaren’s reign or the abysmal 2010 World Cup performances (or a combination of both), the 2012 European Championships witnessed England supporters (and the media) exhibiting a distinctly muted attitude to the prospect of English success.

Yes, we had just changed manager, suffered injuries, and lost Rio Ferdinand to ‘football reasons’ (a saga brought to a bizarre climax this week), but it was more than that. There was a marked sense of sober realism, which bled from the fans to the media and back again.

We didn’t dream of success. We maybe, tentatively, hoped for the quarter finals.

The caution remains. To return to last month, we defeated Brazil, both in terms of result and performance. The fact they happened to be mediocre was a thought unheard before the game and pre-match predictions tended to suggest England were likely to lose, and lose convincingly.

As it turned out, it was one of the most encouraging displays of recent times and we had the best player on the pitch in Jack Wilshere. The media responded with watchful praise: (mostly) avoiding the sensational and providing a considered, positive view of the game.

It was refreshing. It was honest. The next day I heard many people muttering about England in positive terms, quietly, carefully, almost under their breath, in case they were accused of getting carried away. That cautious appraisal once more.

It’s rarely witnessed in club football, as supporters display tribal pride in their team’s achievements. But at national level it feels different. And herein lies the problem: how do you actually celebrate an England victory?

Let’s consider it for what it was for a moment: a meaningless friendly against a clearly less than fully-fit Brazil side in home conditions. We conceded a few too many chances and were a little fortunate Neymar’s finishing was as bad as his haircut. But generally we played well, displaying a tempo, passion and drive we seldom glimpse in an England performance. Yet any acclaim was met with equal wariness.

No one, even the media, is claiming England to be world-beaters. Scour the newspapers this week or next: you won’t find a prediction of England’s World Cup success in Brazil. No one is even guaranteeing we’ll qualify. But surely we can celebrate a good game. Surely we can enjoy a good performance.

If England perform well in the next two games, we should relish it. It might be isolated in its success, it might not matter a great deal in the long-term, but it shouldn’t make it any less enjoyable.

England won’t be trying to hustle us by playing well now only to mess it all up next summer or in the qualifiers. They always strive to play well – it simply doesn’t always work, sometimes chronically so. Why can’t we enjoy it when it does?

And what is success for England anyway? Forget those misleading world rankings for a moment. Are England about the 8th, 9th, 10th best team in the world? Possibly. Even if you do agree with that, then by rights then they should reach the quarter-finals of a major tournament.

If you think they are inferior to that, then they have over-achieved in getting that far. Maybe that is our success level; our ceiling. I’m not sure England should be pilloried quite so much for achieving for exactly what their standing in the game states they should do.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m desperate for England success. I’m as disappointed and dismayed as anyone when we are knocked out, usually because we are embarrassingly bad at kicking a ball into a goal from twelve yards out. But perhaps our definition of England success should be modified slightly.

As much as I’d love to see our players lift a nice shiny trophy above their heads, and perhaps knowing how unlikely that is, I feel there is still considerable enjoyment to derive from the highs England provide.

                                                             

                                                                 Terry   Venables and Paul Gascoigne

Do we focus too much on the negatives? A quick race through the last thirty years and straightaway we recall Diego Maradona’s handball in ’86, the excruciating loss to Germany in ’90, Gareth Southgate’s feeble penalty in ’96, David Beckham’s red card in ‘98, Ronaldinho’s lucky/incredible (delete as appropriate) goal in 2002, Rooney’s injury in ’04, Rooney’s dismissal in ’06, England generally stinking the whole place out in 2010.

Even if we narrow it to that time-frame, it’s been nearly three decades littered with frustration. Yet there’s been thrilling highlights too. Who didn’t enjoy England beating Argentina in 2002 World Cup, when David Beckham drove home a winning penalty?

Or when we demolished Denmark with three goals in the first half a week or so earlier? A Rooney-inspired England’s march through the group stages in 2004? Or when Venables, Gascoigne and Shearer combined to provide that joyous summer of ’96?

The football we played under Glenn Hoddle’s progressive and intelligent England in ’98? And Capello’s England thrashing a strong Croatia side 4-1 in their own back-yard?

I’ve not even mentioned the 5-1 against Germany yet.

  

                                                                     David Beckham and Sven Goran Eriksson

There’s many more and they are moments to savour. Each of those times was celebrated with elation, and yes, we did get carried away back then at times (the Golden Generation, for example, promised much but delivered little). And that’s the problem with good performances.

With England, hope can, and often does, lead to despair. Each tournament tends to end in familiar disenchantment.

I think that’s the point with England. There will be disappointments. That’s football. Most teams won’t win. The majority of teams in every league in the world know they will conclude each season empty-handed. It shouldn’t, and doesn’t, stop them relishing those times when they do well.

We should do the same. Let’s enjoy the successes for England when they happen, however small and however fleeting. If we play well in the next two games, it’s a step nearer to qualifying for the World Cup next year. It might mean nothing more than that, but it will still be enjoyable.

So if it happens, let’s enjoy it.

Can Tottenham pose a title challenge in the next 2 years?

Can Tottenham pose a title challenge in the next 2 years?



Former Tottenham player Ledley King says he expects the club to be pushing for the Premier League title within the next two years.

King is now an ambassador for the club and says there are several factors in the club’s favour, which will benefit the side and the fans over the next couple of seasons. He told the BBC:

“I think we’ve got a young and ambitious manager who’s great and is going to do well for the club.”

That is certainly something which Tottenham have got going in their favour. Andre Villas-Boas is young enough and fit enough to put his full energy into a challenge to get Spurs alongside the two Manchester clubs at the top of English football.



He is also a very good tactician and is the only manager to have taken a team to Old Trafford this season, to leave with any points in the bag. He’s not afraid of making gutsy decisions at key times.

He will also have the benefit of being able to test himself in the Champions League next season, should Spurs finish in the top four, a position they have held for the majority of the season. King added:

“I think we’ve got a great group of players at a good age where they’re improving all the time and reaching their peak.”

Again, that’s certainly another factor which Spurs have in their favour. The emergence of players such as Kyle Walker, Steven Caulker and the signings of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lewis Holtby inject youth into the team alongside experience.

These are solid young players who are coming through the ranks at Tottenham and being injected into the team via solid investments. As the older players move out of the side, these young players will step up and make way for the next generation.



However, there are certain factors which contradict this optimism in a solid way. Tottenham need a bigger stadium than they currently have at White Hart Lane, if they are to match up against the financial power of other sides and increase their fan base. King further said:

“Ours is a great stadium and I’ll be sad to see it go but we’ve got so many fans all over the world and it would be nice for more fans to come and watch the team play.”

This will be a big financial commitment on the part of the club and it will suck funds away, that would have otherwise been used on key first team players as a way to improve the squad.

However, the stadium would stay in the White Hart Lane vicinity which is important in terms of pacifying the club’s main fans and retaining their key support base.

The other major factor, which could dent Spurs’ immediate development is the future of Gareth Bale.

Bale is the top scorer at the club this season and a player who is being tipped with a multi-million pound move away from the club in the summer.

He is only one man but such is the effect Bale has on the club, it would be a hammer blow in terms of losing that one special player that any side needs if they want to go for the Premier League title.

It will certainly be interesting to see if the club can match King’s optimism.

What is making Juventus so special this season?

What is making Juventus so special this season?


In cruising past Glasgow Celtic and into the final eight of this season’s Champions League, Juventus notched up a remarkable fifth clean sheet in a row in Europe. That doesn’t come with ease, and not even the might of Barcelona or Real Madrid can look upon that without some degree of envy.


The reigning Serie A champions are hot at the moment, and in not too an unfamiliar ethos with Italian sides, it is all about defence. One of the best games that the Old Lady have played this season was when they destroyed reigning European Champions Chelsea in Turin in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, dumping the Blues out of the competition.




To most, it was a slick passing midfield performance, but everything at Juve is built on defence. Not only that, you will be hard pushed to find a better team spirit then there is in Turin.

That is down to the coach Antonio Conte, who may just make Chelsea themselves sit up and take notice in their search for a new manager. They are an impressive unit, without a single star shining all that brightly.

How many other teams will you see both defending and attacking with eleven men? That’s not to say that Juve get eleven men behind the ball and park that proverbial bus in front of the net, it’s not like that.

It is the closing down of space that is pushing Juventus to glory, an overwhelming work ethic installed by the coach that is becoming unparalleled and it could project Juventus all the way in this year’s Champions League.

There is no-one who they should fear, not having kept five European clean sheets in a row since conceding on Match Day Three. It took a spectacular free kick to beat keeper Gianluigi Buffon on that occasion. Even when their back line has been depleted with the absence of the immense presence of Giorgio Chiellini, Juventus have remained on track.

It is the little things that go a long way with Juventus, the extra runs put in by players all over the pitch, including the forwards, to press and close down opposition, which makes the methodical Juventus machine work so well.

Everyone has a role in the collective, it’s not a game for individuals at the club. The secret is that so much work gets put in high up the pitch, that rarely do Juventus have to defend deep. That alleviates a tremendous amount of pressure by staying compact.

Look down their team sheet. There is no outstanding star like a Lionel Messi in the side to go and tear defenses apart with pace and power, but frankly they don’t need one. Juventus play smart football. Having that single star power, may well upset the rhythm and the basis on which Conte has built them.

Fabio Quagliarella and Sebastian Giovinco, along with support from Alessandro Matria and Mirko Vucinic have shared a lot of goal scoring responsibility this season, and all cover well for each other, so there is no let up in the collective force of the system being employed. It just rolls on.

Veteran Value

Humbly, the Bianconeri’s Alessandro Matri admitted that there was no star in their set up, certainly not up front. There are some famous names in the squad, but none that stand out above the rest on the pitch.



Alongside the tremendous goalkeeping abilities of Buffon between the sticks, the lynchpin of Juventus is still the vision of veteran Andrea Pirlo at the back of the midfield. He finds the space with his precision passing and vision, he doesn’t need to run quite as much as the others. But he still puts in the work and makes Juventus tick.

Juventus in the Champions League

If you are betting on the UEFA Champions League then Juventus should not be dismissed. It has been a long wait since Juventus lifted a major European trophy. Their last European Cup/Champions League title was all the way back in the 1995/96 season.

That was the second of their history and they are one of just three clubs to have made a clean sweep of UEFA’s major club titles, the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Cup. But that is all in the past and Juventus are a side pushing forward in the present, and forming something which could be great for the future.

Will the wait to complete their European Cup hat-trick come to fruition, in what would be a fully deserving win, this season? They surely have to be gearing up for something big.

Serie A League Defence

Look around the big five European leagues. Who else is defending a league title successfully this season? Manchester City in the Premier League? No. Real Madrid in La Liga? No. Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga? No. Montpellier in the French Ligue 1? Certainly not.

Juventus are the only ones on track to do so after another impressive season on the domestic front. Juve went the entire Serie A season unbeaten last term, but they haven’t been able to live up to those high standards this time around. But still, no-one else has been able to match their power this time around.



No one has been able to keep pace with them. Again it is down to defence. After fifteen home league matches in Turin, Juventus had conceded just eight goals. That is an average of 0.53 goals per game. Gianluigi Buffon and the wall in front of him have produced clean sheets in a staggering 67% of all home matches this season.

Even The Special One, Jose Mourinho said that it is Juventus who he fears. In a recent interview, Mourinho referred to Juventus as an “unsinkable ship.” In Mourinho-speak that is a huge compliment to the Serie A side.

Mourinho is the king of structured, systematic football so for him to hand out words of admiration is a big thing, something which should be sat up and paid attention too.

Critics

Of course Juventus aren’t without their critics. Many that watch live football find them boring and uninspiring. Lacking any true striking quality up front and benefiting from many dubious referee decisions. In the last 32 of the Champions League, they came under heavy fire and criticism from Glasgow Celtic.

The Scottish champions accused the Italians of being too physical, of getting away with too many fouls while defending in the box. The physical intimidation was there, pushing, shoving, shirt pulling, blocking, bear-hugs, you bet, it was all there.

That’s the Italian way. But again it was a collective effort, because all defenders were doing it, and the referee can’t get everyone at once. When a team is doing well, someone will always try and cast aspersions. It is how that is answered that makes a team. Those aspirations signal that a club are doing something very right.

So the criticism has all been there, it has all been fired at them. But it should all be water of a ducks back because the Bianconeri are doing something right, something that a lot of teams should be envious of. They fully deserve any recognition that they get, it will certainly have been worked hard for.

France and Spain prepare for vital Paris Showdown

While many are talking about the importance of England’s trip to Montenegro on Tuesday night in their 2014 World Cup qualifier, the real crunch tie comes at Stade de France between France and Spain, two of Europe’s heavyweight sides.



After the World and European champions’ surprise 1-1 draw at home to Finland on Friday night, they now find themselves two points adrift of Didier Deschamps’ side at the top of Group I with four games to play.

In what is always an intimidating ground to visit, Spain will have their work cut out in what is arguably a must-win game for the winners of the last three major tournaments.

With all due respect to the other sides in the group – Georgia, Belarus and Finland – you would expect both France and Spain to pick up maximum points from their remaining games, making their showdown virtually a one-game battle for automatic qualification for one of sport’s greatest events in Brazil next summer.

For the loser it will likely be a second place finish, resulting in a two-leg play-off against another runner-up from a European group. This, therefore, means that we could see a Spain vs England contest, with one facing the disastrous consequences of not even qualifying for the World Cup.

Surely Spain, arguably the greatest international side of all time, can’t fail to qualify, can they?




The truth of the matter is that cracks are starting to appear in the side, and although they are still better than anyone on their day they now look very beatable at times. France are building a strong side, and they will feel they have a great chance of a huge victory over Vicente Del Bosque’s array of world-class talent.

Iker Casillas’ injury is a big blow in goal, despite Victor Valdes’ obvious qualities, while the metronomic brilliance of Xavi may also be missing due to his current fitness issues. In attack David Villa still doesn’t look like the player he once was, while Pedro also appears to be struggling to hit the heights of previous years.

In fact, barring Andres Iniesta and Juan Mata, it could be argued that none of their attacking players are in top form, with David Silva, Cesc Fabgreas and the aforementioned Villa and Pedro all looking a little out of sorts by their very high standards.

France, meanwhile, are fresh off the back of a resounding 3-1 victory over Georgia, and look full of confidence at present. They have an excellent blend of youth and experience, with future stars Raphael Varane, Paul Pogba, Mamadou Sakho and Blaise Matuidi blending effectively with household names likes Franck Ribery, Mathieu Valbuena and Patrice Evra.




In terms of World Cup qualifiers this is up there with some of the most important in recent times, and while games like San Marino vs England highlight the flaws with the qualifying stages, games like Tuesday’s showcase international football at it’s best.

For the winner (or in France’s case a draw too) it will signal one step on the plane to Brazil, but for the loser it will mean nervy preparations for the lottery of a probable play-off later in the year. It should be a superb spectacle.

Nigel Adkins will be the new manager at Reading

Nigel Adkins is set to become the next manager of Reading and will be officially unveiled in a press conference on Tuesday morning.

                              Nigel Adkins set to become the new manager of Reading



Reading sacked Brian McDermott a couple of weeks ago and were heavily interested in Brighton & Hove Albion manager Gus Poyet. The Royals pursued him till last week but after Poyet rejected their advances, the Berkshire club swiftly moved on to appoint Adkins.

Adkins was relieved from his job at Southampton in January after falling-out with Chairman Nicola Cortese and was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino. His tenure at Southampton can be considered a success after he led the Saints to back-to-back promotions to the Premier League in the past two seasons.

His proven track record is considered to be the central reason why Reading owner Anton Zingarevich signed his appointment. The Russian businessman considers him as a manager with intelligence having good work ethics, and thereby he is seen as a natural fit for the club.

Reading is tied at the bottom of the table with same points with QPR are facing the glaring prospect of relegation. Adkins will be primarily asked to carry the team to the path of safety but failing to do so won’t cost him his job as the owner is expected to back him with cash (something which McDermott didn’t enjoy) to bolster the squad in the English Championship which in turn will help Reading to return back to Premier League quickly.

With only eight games left to go, the task of carrying Reading (lag seven points off safety) to safe zone is not only herculean but close to impossible as well. Reading travel to Arsenal on Saturday and will face Southampton the following weekend – a match that Adkins will be looking forward to proving a point or two against his ex-employers.

Real Madrid vs Manchester United. The Special One vs Sir Alex. And so the story continues…

Real Madrid vs Manchester United. The Special One vs Sir Alex. And so the story continues…

The Champions League returned last night, and while Juventus and PSG already have one foot in the quarterfinals, the colossal fixture between Real Madrid and Manchester United kicks off at the Bernabeu. It’s a truer welcome back in our mind. Ronaldo’s hair will be full of gel, Sir Alex will be wearing multiple watches, and Mourinho will certainly leave us with a memorable quote.
Before you head to your mate’s place to swoon over Özil’s eyesfootwork for Valentine’s Day, get informed about how these two sides stack up currently and throughout history.