Changes Must be Made at Liverpool

If you had just walked into the room and didn’t know the score of today’s game between Aston Villa and Liverpool and saw the way Peter Crouch wheeled off to the corner after scoring an 88th minute goal, you’d probably think that he just won the Premier League for the Reds. In reality, the 6′7″ striker simply levelled the game for Liverpool at 2-2.

This, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with Liverpool right now. The players and fans are satisfied with draws when they should win and losses when they should pick up a point. I’m not seeing any killer instinct from this team; they play the exact same way in the 17th minute that they do in the 81st minute, and quite frankly, that’s an uninspired style of soccer.

Rafael Benitez is–and here’s that word again–one of the most uninspiring, boring managers on the face of the earth. Every time the camera pans to him on the sideline, he’s bringing his arms closer together and screaming the word “compact” at his players. Hmm, compact. Compact like Steven Gerrard going out to play right back or left wing like he did today? No, I think not. That’s how you know something has to change. I think Rafa has lost the team in many respects. Liverpool’s fans will tell you that it was Rafa who won the Champions League for them in Istanbul a couple seasons ago, but they’re wrong. It was Steven Gerrard who led Liverpool to their fifth European Cup (…”18 leagues, that’s what we call history”…you’re right, it is HISTORY, it certainly isn’t the present) by putting the team on his back and carrying them to that historical comeback.

Say what you want about Liverpool’s American owners, say that they’re a huge distraction and that they don’t have the club’s best interests at heart, whatever. Here’s the reality of the situation. The owners have NOTHING to do with what happens on the field. Last time I checked, and I can go back and watch the game again, but Mr. Hicks and Mr. Gillett weren’t playing for Liverpool when they drew with Wigan at home, drew with Birmingham at home, drew with Spurs at home, and lost at Reading. Notice a theme here? A championship-caliber team like Liverpool and their fans claim themselves to be don’t draw in those type of games and they certainly don’t lose. I could care less what you have to say about the owners as it relates to Liverpool FC on the field because these are professional players, they get paid very handsomely to play a GAME, to play 90 minutes. When they’re between the touchlines, they don’t have the club’s owners in their minds; the only thing they’re thinking about is the game itself.

The owners aren’t going to leave even though that’s what most of the fans want (they want DIC apparently, good for them). Fans in England and across Europe don’t seem to understand the concept that owners don’t actually have to support their club. That’s not to say that the owners don’t want what’s best for the club, but the club isn’t like a childhood team that they rooted for; the club is a business enterprise in which they can make money, nothing more. Things aren’t like they used to be in your parents’ generation when clubs truly cared about their fans and the owners and chairmen were diehard supporters.

There’s something in the Red section of Merseyside when a draw at home against Aston Villa is considered to be a good result. Don’t get me wrong, Aston Villa are an impressive young side but a team as good as Liverpool say they are would win that game. Manchester United throttled Villa 4-1 earlier in the season. Liverpool simply aren’t good enough this year, that’s just a fact. It’s no anomaly that after 22 games, more than halfway through the season, that teams are where they are in the standings. Liverpool are the 5th best team in the Premier League but when you look at the actual talent on the roster, they should be no worse than 4th and possibly even 3rd.

This is why I believe Rafa has to go and I can’t put it any simpler than that. Liverpool have enough talent and capability to be so much better than they have been this year, and I put that squarely on Rafa’s shoulders. When a manager can’t blend a roster and shape it in a style that allows for the most possible success, he isn’t doing his job. I don’t believe for a second that the players enjoy playing for him because he’s one of the least friendly, distant managers I’ve ever seen. There’s a reason you hear Aston Villa’s players come out publicly and sing the praises of Martin O’Neill and that’s because they like playing for him; O’Neill takes the time to forge a relationship with his players beyond the soccer field and they respect that, whereas I’ve never once seen a Liverpool player back Benitez in that same fashion. There’s a reason you hear players at Manchester United talk about what a joy it is to play for Sir Alex Ferguson and players at Portsmouth do the same about Harry Redknapp, but you don’t hear Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard talk about Rafa in such a positive light.

If you’re a Liverpool fan, take a step back from the Rafalogy cult you’ve subscribed to and look at the situation your club is in. In a season that held high hopes and one in which Benitez stated that the Premiership title was his main goal, you’re in 5th place, 14 points behind Manchester United. You’ve crashed out of the Carling Cup and have been fortunate to draw the teams you’ve drawn in the FA Cup. You’ve got a tie against the second most impressive team in Europe this season in Inter Milan in the Champions League coming up and I’m not you’ll come out of that and advance. You’ve got a captain and center midfielder in Steven Gerrard who clearly, clearly isn’t buying into the system Rafa wants to employ.

Someone has to go, changes have to be made. It’s not going to be the owners and it’s not going to be Steven Gerrard, which means Rafa’s head is on the chopping block and the switch could be pressed at any moment.

Something has to be done, what’s it going to be?

African Cup of Nations Recap--Day 1

As I said before in my previous post about the 2008 African Cup of Nations, I'm very disappointed that I'm not going to be able to watch the games on TV. I’m going to try and do my best to keep with this tournament as best I can, but that’s not nearly the same as actually watching games live. The African Cup of Nations is the second biggest continental championship in the world in my opinion, and it's an absolute outrage that it's not available here in the States for free on TV.

That said, the tournament started in rousing fashion yesterday. Ghana, the host nation, defeated Guinea 2-1 on a last-minute rocket from Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari, who I picked to be the top newcomer to the Premier League before the season started. The Black Stars feature a roster that includes four players who play their domestic soccer in the Premiership and to be honest, were fortunate to beat Guinea yesterday.

What I'm planning on doing is coming out with a recap of the games every day and highlight the contributions of the Premiership players on each team. Guinea doesn't have anyone on their roster who plays in England, much less the Premiership, and Ghana's lineup yesterday also featured Chelsea stalwart Michael Essien and Birmingham goalie Richard Kingson.

There's a pretty good slate of games on tap today, particularly the Nigeria-Ivory Coast affair that's ongoing as I type this. I picked Ivory Coast to win the whole thing, so hopefully they start out group play on a good note.

New ''I'm on Setanta Sports". Fantastic.

A Weekend to Forget? Not So Fast, My Friend

If you're a neutral observer like me, this weekend's slate of games really doesn't have any compelling storylines or reasons to get excited, at least from the outside. None of the big teams are playing each other and there are no rivalry games. The closest thing to a true derby is the Fulham-Arsenal affair at Craven Cottage tomorrow but I don't think anyone expects that game to be pleasing to the eye.

Look a little bit deeper though. You'll find what could be a pretty good game between Reading and Manchester United as Reading went to Old Trafford early in the season and escaped with a point. Now the Royals get a chance to knock off the defending champions at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow in front of what should be a capacity crowd in Reading. United have lost three times away from home this season already. Can Reading make it a fourth? I'm not so sure, but I think that's still a game to keep an eye on.

Kevin Keegan will make his Premiership return with Newcastle as his side welcomes Bolton to St. James Park tomorrow afternoon. With Nicolas Anelka gone to Chelsea and with the incredible amount of emotion one would expect to see from Newcastle, you wouldn't think Bolton has much of a chance but emotion can only carry Newcastle so far. Bolton will have to commit men forward if they want to win, which is more than possible. Newcastle are a bad team; Bolton have no punch without Anelka. You say boring, I say one of the most exciting draws you'll see all season simply because no one is expecting much out of this game. Hey, if Newcastle lose, maybe we'll see Kevin Keegan cry again, you never know. That possibility alone makes this game worth watching.

West Ham and Manchester City will square off for the second time in four days on Sunday as the two sides will get together again at Eastlands after City beat the Hammers 1-0 there in a FA Cup 3rd Round replay on Wednesday. Nothing says emotion and passion like renewed acquaintances and I'd expect to see most of the same players on Sunday that we saw in midweek because both teams sent out full-strength sides. I think there's a good chance we'll see our share of yellow cards and possibly a sending off or two in this game. Remember, both teams are within striking distance of a place in Europe next season, so that just makes Sunday's match even more meaningful.

I'll be honest with you, the rest of this weekend's games don't look to be that great, on paper at least. That's the beauty of the Premiership though. Did anyone foresee that 4-4 goalfest between Aston Villa and Chelsea a couple weeks ago? I know I didn't; Chelsea rarely score more than a goal or two in a game, much less concede more than once. The Premiership is the most entertaining league in the world. I'm not expecting anything from the other games this weekend but even though I can say that with certainty now, just watch a candidate for game of the year come out from the woodwork.

I wouldn't be surprised, and you shouldn't be either.

Newcastle Hires Kevin Keegan

The hiring of Kevin Keegan today to become Newcastle's manager (again) demonstrates why the Tyneside club have become one of the laughingstocks of the Premier League: Instead of looking to the future, they've fallen back into the deadly trap that is the past. What's worse is that Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, had to have made this decision based solely on what his club's fans wanted rather than making the best business decision and what was right for the team by going with a foreign manager.

I have nothing against Kevin Keegan whatsoever. He's a Liverpool legend and was a great player for Newcastle and Southampton and wasn't too shabby during his time in Germany with Hamburg either.

What has he accomplished as a manager though?? Listen, I could care less about the two First Division titles he has and the one Second Divison championship; those don't prove anything to me at all. Newcastle were the runners-up in the Premier League in 1995-1996 and lost the Charity Shield to begin the '96-'97 season; again, not impressive to me. Second place in the Premiership is nice and not too shabby of an accomplishment, I admit that, but that was the best he could do in thirteen years of management.

He didn't do anything when he coached England except crash them out of the group stage in Euro 2000, when they lost two games in which they led at some point. Keegan finished with a .500 record with England (7-4-7) and in terms of winning percentage is the least successful permanent manager in England national team history.

Let me put this out there. If Keegan didn't win multiple domestic and European trophies when he was at Liverpool as a player, I don't think he would even have gotten into the management door. People don't seem to understand that being a great player and playing on a great team doesn't necessarily translate to being a good manager; the two aren't connected like that.

Apparently Newcastle owner Mike Ashley (all 567 pounds of him) doesn't see it that way, and that's fine. His problem is that as a fan himself, he's biased towards guys like Keegan and Shearer; he even sits with the fans at home matches. He has absolutely no knowledge and experience in the game of soccer other than making his fortune in the sporting goods business, and he clearly doesn't understand the game. If he did, he would realize that appointing a figure from the past isn't the answer the answer for Newcastle's problems in the present and certainly isn't the right way to steer the team to better things in the future.

There were better, more qualified candidates that Ashley could have, and should have, pursued. Yes, I give him credit for going after Harry Redknapp and trying to lure him with the big bucks, but come on; Redknapp was never going to leave the South Coast for the coal heap that is Newcastle. The favorite over the past few days had been former Monaco and Juventus manager Didier Deschamps, who did an outstanding job in leading Monaco to a Champions League final in 2004 and won Serie B with a depleted Juventus side after the Italian match-fixing scandal.

Mark Hughes would clearly have been a better choice than Keegan with the way he's led Blackburn to a possible UEFA Cup spot this year and he has that team on the right track, and Gerard Houllier would have been the best choice of all. Houllier is outstanding at developing young players and Newcastle really needs an injection of young talent into their side. The Frenchman had just come off two La Ligue titles in a row at Lyon and won two Carling Cups, a UEFA Cup, and an FA Cup at Liverpool. It was reported that Houllier turned Mike Ashley down to stay at his post with the French national team, but I have a feeling that's because Ashley didn't offer Houllier a good enough amount of money.

If you're a member of the Toon Army, you think you won. You persuaded your owner to hire a blast from the past because you think he's the right man to take you out of the hole you've dug yourself in over the past few years.

I've got news for you. You lost. You lost bigtime.

Al Bangura Will Remain in the UK

Finally, after a protracted, drawn out saga that stretched over the past couple of months, I'm glad to see that justice has been served and Watford midfielder Al Bangura will be allowed to remain in the UK permanently. Bangura won his appeal of an original ruling by the Home Office that was going to deport him back to his native Sierra Leone and now will be able to raise his young family without fear for his own life.

I wrote twice about this in mid-December and I don't want to go over his whole life story again because by now, many of you have heard what has been going on, but suffice it to say that Bangura had an extremely difficult childhood and has gone through more in his life than many people twice his age. I'm just thrilled to see that the United Kingdom got it right this time by making this decision based on common sense and rationale rather than following the letter of the law. If they would've done that, Bangura would not have been granted a work permit and his days in England would've been over.

England's World Cup 2010 Qualifying Schedule

The England national team's fixture list for World Cup 2010 qualifying has just been released, and I think it sets up pretty nicely for new manager Fabio Capello. The meeting to hash out the exact details of the schedule took a reported eight hours in Zagreb, Croatia.

It’ll be important for the Three Lions to start and end qualifying on a high note and they have a good chance to do just as they’ll visit minnows Andorra to get the ball rolling and host relative lightweight Belarus to end the campaign.

September 6, 2008: @ Andorra
September 10, 2008: @ Croatia
October 11, 2008: Kazakhstan
October 15, 2008: @ Belarus
April 1, 2009: Ukraine
June 6, 2009: @ Kazakhstan
June 10, 2009: Andorra
September 9, 2009: Croatia
October 10, 2009: @ Ukraine
October 14, 2009: Belarus

Big Ten Conference Update

Each team in the Big Ten Conference is now either three or four games into an 18-game league slate and things are really starting to become clear.

The Big Ten is extremely down this year. In past seasons, this league routinely sent six or seven teams to the NCAA Tournament but with new head coaches and young rosters all across the conference, it looks like the Big Ten will get four teams (at most) into the Big Dance.

As almost everyone who knows college basketball predicted, the conference is extremely top-heavy with Indiana, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. After that, we've got a bunch of above average and mediocre teams who are all going through their respective struggles right now and a couple of teams who are just downright bad.

Let's take a look at the current standings:

1. Indiana (14-1; 3-0)
2. Wisconsin (13-2; 3-0)
3. Ohio State (12-4; 3-1)
4. Michigan State (14-2; 2-1)
5. Minnesota (12-3; 2-1)
6. Purdue (11-5; 2-1)
7. Penn State (10-5; 2-1)
8. Iowa (8-9; 1-3)
9. Michigan (5-11; 1-3)
10. Illinois (8-9; 0-4)
11. Northwestern (5-8; 0-4)

For me, the most surprising team so far this year has been Illinois and not in a good way. One of their key players, Jamar Smith, has been out for the entire season and won't return until next year, but still, this is a team with two experienced big men and a pretty solid point guard in Chester Frazier, and that's usually the recipe for success in the Big Ten. Perhaps the most disappointing thing is the way they've played at Assembly Hall, usually one of the toughest places to play in the conference, if not the nation. The Fighting Illini have already lost at home to Miami (OH) (a pretty good team in the MAC), Tennessee State (enough said), Ohio State, and Penn State. Two conference losses at home is almost an abomination for Illinois and right now, they're just not playing good enough basketball to win anywhere.

The jury is STILL out on Minnesota as far as I'm concerned. Yes, their overall record looks nice but they didn't beat anyone of note in the non-conference and in their two games against decent opponents, they lost both times. In the conference, it's been much of the same. They won at Penn State but that's a game they should win; it wasn't an upset, they beat Northwestern at home but everyone beats Northwestern, and they lost at Michigan State, the one tough team they've played so far inside the Big Ten.

I'll keep these posts about basketball to about once every week and a half or so, but if you're interested check out the "Useful Basketball Sites" on the left side of the homepage. Those are all great sites for college basketball fans.

Race for Fourth Place--Who Will Win?

After this weekend’s games, Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa, and Manchester City (in that order) are all tied with 39 points and Blackburn is within reach at 36. Portsmouth are hanging on right now with 34 points but face a difficult month or so ahead as they’ve lost some key players to international duty in the African Cup of Nations.

Starting with whom I believe is most likely to snatch fourth place and the last Champions League place that comes with it and progressing to the least likely, here's a breakdown of the contenders:

Liverpool: I picked the Reds to finish third at the beginning of the season and while that may be out of reach now, I'm still going to stick with my guns and go with them to get back into the Champions League. Whether that's good enough for Rafa Benitez to keep his job is unclear at the moment, but in my opinion everyone involved would be better off if he left.

The squad he consistently rotates has more collective talent than any of the other contenders and boasts the two best players in that group of teams in Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. To me, it's that overall talent that will prevail despite Rafa's Premiership incompetence. As long as he puts those two players and Jamie Carragher in the lineup at the same time to form that spine right up the middle of the field, Liverpool have a good chance to win every single league game they play in. They have the huge advantage of hosting Manchester City (awful away from home), Everton, and Aston Villa and it's nearly impossible to win for visitors to win at Anfield.

Aston Villa: Aston Villa, aka the future England national team, have been very impressive at times this season. However, they may still be a season or two away from breaking into the ranks of the top four. I'm not sure if they're consistent enough to end up ahead of schedule this year. Are they the team that got walloped at home by Manchester United 4-1 or the side that has taken four points out of six from Chelsea? Games at Portsmouth, Manchester United, Arsenal, and West Ham will tell us. Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor are stars in the making.

Portsmouth: The month of January and the beginning of February will be a make it-or-break it slate of games for Pompey. They've lost some important players (John Utaka, Kanu, Sulley Muntari) to the African Cup of Nations and need to tread water until those guys return. Luckily for the South Coasters, the schedule after early February shapes up nicely with home games against Fulham, Sunderland, Birmingham, Wigan, and Newcastle. Five games, must take 12 points (at least) to have a chance at finishing fourth.

Manchester City: If this club could win away from the Eastlands, they'd have a legitimate chance to wind up in fourth place. As it is, they've claimed full points on the road just twice in eleven games and that's not good enough to break the stranglehold on the top four. They lost at fellow contender Everton today and that's the type of game they simply can't afford to lose. The overall talent is there, the coaching is certainly there; the consistency is not.

Everton: The Tim Cahill Show is back on a roll after their 1-0 win over City (at Goodison Park) today. The Australian midfielder is the King of Clutch and for Everton to mount a serious challenge, he'll need to carry the load with Yakubu gone for at least the next month. The Yak's presence up top will be sorely missed and I'm not sure who they have (other than Cahill) to replace him. It certainly isn't Andy Johnson, at least not on a regular basis.

Blackburn: Out of all the teams battling for fourth place, let's be honest, Mark Hughes is getting the most from the least amount of talent. This is a group of experienced, veteran players who are the definition of "steady". Blackburn aren't flashy but they get it done. Difficult games against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal are still to come, but the schedule is relatively light in March. Blackburn have five winnable games and need to take care of business to be in with a shout.

José Mourinho is Fantastic!

I want to thank a loyal reader for e-mailing me today and giving me the heads-up about a new José Mourinho segment on Setanta. There's no better idea for my 200th post here at English Soccer Talk then to post the embedded YouTube video of The Special One; after all, he is fantastic.

For more of the future AC Milan manager, scroll down to January 2 and "José Mourinho Setanta Commercials".

200th Post

Alright everyone, listen up.

My next post will be the 200th on English Soccer Talk since its inception in May. This site has undergone a few changes over the months and I'm continually tweaking it to try and make it better and more informative but most of all, more enjoyable for visitors.

What I'd like everyone to do is leave a comment after this post and explain what you'd like to see in the future on this site. I'm interested to hear how you all think I could really push English Soccer Talk further into that community of more reputable blogs. Give me your feedback; do you think I should change the color scheme? Should I write about different topics?

Also if you don't mind, give me your suggestions on what I should post about for the big 200. I'm open to anything and whichever option I like best will be the winner. My contact details are on the lower left side of the page if you want to send an e-mail, or feel free to leave another comment.

Here's to another 200 posts!

Harry Redknapp Rejects Newcastle

Come on. Did anyone actually think Harry Redknapp was going to leave Portsmouth for Newcastle? Let's see, a relatively quiet life on the South Coast near the water or life in the North East, where you're more likely to find coal than a good time?

Never mind those things though, just look at the actual talent on the field. Portsmouth is an up-and-coming team with legitimate European aspirations this season and for seasons to come. 'Arry has put a dangerous team together down there and with Alexandre Gaydamak's considerable wealth, Redknapp doesn't exactly have to worry about not having any money to buy more players if he needs to.

Newcastle is a team in turmoil right now. Their squad is full of players in their late 20's and doesn't have much young talent aside from Steven Taylor, James Milner, and Obafemi Martins. They haven't won anything of note in over 50 years and the immense pressure placed upon both the team and its manager by the fans to change that is hard to operate under.

I don't blame Redknapp one bit for not going up to Newcastle; it would be a step down for him and he has Portsmouth on the right track.

Lazy Friday Night

Nothing much to report tonight, although I'm sure you've all heard about Nicholas Anelka's reported $30 million US move to Chelsea today. When he makes his first appearance with the West London side, Anelka will have played for his eighth different professional team since 1995. The "Incredible Sulk" has cost teams a combined $170 million US in transfer fees over the course of his career.

You heard it here first: Tottenham will end Chelsea's record home league unbeaten streak at 73 matches tomorrow...

Following Premiership Players in the African Cup of Nations

I have to tell you all how unbelievably disappointed I am that this year's 26th edition of the African Cup of Nations, set to kick off in Ghana on January 20, isn't being televised on any major station here in the US (at least as far as I know, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). This tournament has a history of exciting games and has developed a reputation of producing players that are amongst the best in the world now but really got their kickstart by playing at Africa's championship.

The quality of players coming out of Africa is growing by leaps and bounds. Most of the major clubs across Europe have at least a couple of Africans on their roster, even some, like Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, that won't be playing in this tournament because their respective nations didn't qualify for the 16-team event. The host nation, Ghana, has players on its squad who ply their trade at the domestic level at Chelsea, Portsmouth, West Ham, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, Fenerbahçe, Udinese, and Celta Vigo. My personal favorite to win the whole thng, Ivory Coast, boasts players from Stuttgart, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Lyon, Sevilla, Werder Bremen, and others.

Many of the Premiership's managers and others from other major European leagues, notably Arsene Wenger, are upset with the timing of this tournament. Players who are called up by their country will miss roughly a month of action with their clubs and managers don't like to have to adjust. What they seem to not realize, however, is that Africa's geographical position in the Southern Hemisphere puts this tournament in the summer for them, which is the same time that the World Cup and the European Championship are played.

The whole "country or club" debate is always called into question at times like this, but how you can realistically expect a player to reject a place on his country's team? A chance to put on the colors of your nation is something that truly appeals to players. To represent your country and wear the colors with pride is something that's so honest and special; it's not about the money like it is with club soccer, it's about the spirit of the game and love for the place you came from. I would pick country over club any day of the week if I was lucky enough to ever get the chance to be in that position.

Numerous Premiership players will compete in this tournament to one degree or another and I wanted to make it easier for fans out there to know who's going and what nations they'll want to support if they have players from their favorite club. The players mentioned below have either been named to their nation's provisional squad or the actual tournament squad itself. Again, feel free to correct me if I went wrong somewhere.

Nations with Premiership players (club team):

Ghana:
Richard Kingson (Birmingham)
John Paintsil (West Ham)
Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)

Guinea:
None

Morocco:
None

Namibia:
None

Benin:
None

Ivory Coast:
Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal)
Abdoulaye Méïté (Bolton)
Kolo Touré (Arsenal)
Emerse Faé (Reading)
Didier Zokora (Tottenham)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

Mali:
Mohamed Sissoko (Liverpool)

Nigeria:
Joseph Yobo (Everton)
Dickson Etuhu (Sunderland)
John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
John Utaka (Portsmouth)
Yakubu (Everton)
Obafemi Martins (Newcastle)
Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)

Cameroon:
André Bikey (Reading)
Geremi (Newcastle)
Alexandre Song (Arsenal)

Egypt:
Mohamed Shawky (Middlesbrough)

Sudan:
None

Zambia:
None

Angola:
Manucho Goncalves (Manchester United)

Senegal:
Habib Bèye (Newcastle)
Ibrahima Sonko (Reading)
Papa Bouba Diop (Portsmouth)
Diomansy Kamara (Fulham)
El Hadji Diouf (Bolton)
Henri Camara (West Ham)

South Africa:
Steven Pienaar (Everton)
Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn)

Tunisia:
Radhi Jaïdi (Birmingham)
Medhi Nafti (Birmingham)

Editor's Note: At the time of publishing Mohamed Sissoko still technically played for Liverpool, although all signs point to him joining Juventus within the coming days.

Goodbye, Sam Allardyce

In a move that should come as no surprise to anyone, Newcastle United and Sam Allardyce have parted ways today by "mutual agreement". The writing was on the wall for Big Sam after his team took just one point from a possible six against bottom-feeders Derby and Wigan over the holiday season and were also held to a scoreless draw in their FA Cup 3rd Round tie last weekend at Championship side Stoke City.

I've been calling for this move for weeks now, as you all well know. All Big Sam did at Bolton was prove he can manage a side to mid-table mediocrity. He didn't have any expectations to answer to when he was with the Trotters and he had a roster that was full of experienced players. Honestly, teams like the ones he had should finish somewhere around 7th or 8th anyway so I don't really believe Allardyce worked magic there like many people believe he did.

As soon as he made the jump up to Newcastle (if you can even consider Newcastle a step up), he showed his true colors. Newcastle are a club with passionate supporters and with all due respect to Bolton, have higher expectations than the Wanderers and Allardyce couldn't answer the bell when he needed to.

Look, you can argue that he deserved more time and a chance to really rebuild his squad, and I can see your point. The Premiership managerial merry-go-round has been on super-speed this year and some of its victims have been less deserving than others. In Allardyce's and Newcastle's case, there's no real difference between 13th in the table and 9th; it's mid-table and it's nothing to brag about. Newcastle would have, and likely still will, finished somewhere in that range this year so why not give him another two transfer windows to improve the squad?

Well, I'll tell you why, Because the players Allardyce signed last summer have turned out to be disasters. Joey Barton could go to jail for an extended period of time, Mark Viduka still hasn't left the pie shop, José Enrique is an average Premiership left back at best, Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye has played in only 11 league games, and Caçapa's transition to the Premiership from Lyon hasn't gone nearly as smoothly as hoped for. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, a man of the fans, would have been wrong in letting Allardyce spend more of the former's money given the fact that he hadn't shown he can buy wisely.

Rumors are circulating that Steve McLaren could take over but I'm not sure how much I buy into that. His former club, Middlesbrough, are Newcastle's bitter rivals in the North East. McLaren was just fired from the England job in the summer after that whole debacle and I would think he'd want some time away from the game.

Alan Shearer is clearly the people's choice but appointing him would be a step in the wrong direction. He has no managerial experience whatsoever and as Sammy Lee's short tenure at Bolton this year proved, you can't just walk into the Premiership and be successful. Newcastle fans will have a say in who the club's next manager would be because as I said, Mike Ashley is a man of the people and a fan himself, but they need to look past their favoritism and reach out for a more experienced candidate.

Martin Jol is available but I believe he'll want the vacant Dutch national team job after Marco van Basten's contract with Holland ends after Euro 2008 this summer. There's no way Mourinho will take this position; he looks poised to take over at AC Milan or maybe even Barcelona next summer. Marcelo Lippi won't have any interest in Newcastle either; if he even takes another managerial job it'll be with a national team and he is way, way above a club like Newcastle.

Football Manager 2008

Frustrated by Rafa's rotation policy at Liverpool and think the Reds should be better? Angry that Valencia is falling apart as we speak under Ronald Koeman? Think you could lead Manchester United to another treble? Then Football Manager 2008 is the game for you.

I know this game has been out for a while here in the US but I haven't seen any "reviews" for it on soccer blogs or websites around the internet, so I wanted to put something out there for those of you who may be interested.

This isn't your typical soccer video game like EA Sports' FIFA series or Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. In FM 2008 you don't actually play the game on the field; rather, you take complete control of nearly any club or national team in the world as their manager. You can buy, loan, and sell players, schedule friendlies, set up your team and player tactics in nauseating detail; in short, anything a manager is responsible for in real life you become responsible for as well.

If you want to look at all the nifty features and whatnot, I encourage you to go to the game's official website at http://fm08.footballmanager.net/en/article/100/index.html. I'm not going to go into specifics here other than what I've already covered but suffice it to say that this game is worth the money. You can also download a free demo if you want to get a feel for what FM 2008 is like and then decide whether or not to buy the full game.

I definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in soccer. As I said, it's not the typical video game but that's what drew me to this series in the first place. This "review" doesn't do it justice in the least and so if you're intrigued, check out the website for yourself. In fairness, the game did have a few bugs and kinks to be worked out but several patches have been released that should have addressed and corrected those errors.

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

The draw for the 4th Round of the FA Cup was conducted today and once again, we'll be able to look forward to some potentially entertaining ties. Once the 3rd Round replays are played on January 15 and 16, the 4th Round matchups will become set in stone.

The 4th Round is made up of the last 32 teams in the competition and its pairings will be played the weekend of January 26 and 27. I'm hoping to see a Manchester United-Tottenham affair and that would come to fruition only if Spurs can go to Reading and win in their 3rd Round replay. I'm also excited about the battle of the "mouths" as Portsmouth will welcome Plymouth Argyle to Fratton Park.

The Cinderella story of this year's 127th edition of the FA Cup, Havant & Waterlooville, got either a dream draw or a nightmare draw, depending on how you want to look at it. On one hand, if they beat Swansea City in their 3rd Round replay, they'll get a chance to slay Goliath and beat Liverpool at Anfield. The national media exposure and publicity for the Blue Square South side would be immeasureable. On the other hand, they likely wouldn't progress in the competition and their dreams of winning the whole thing would come crashing down on them. This whole dilemma would be moot, of course, if Luton Town goes to Liverpool and wins but that doesn't appear likely.

Both Oldham Athletic and Huddersfield Town have to like their chances to advance to the last 16 as the two sides will square off at Oldham, and the same can be said for Southend United and Barnsley.

Here's the complete list of 4th Round matchups, with the home team listed first:

Arsenal vs. Stoke City/Newcastle United
Coventry City vs. Walsall/Millwall
Oldham Athletic vs. Huddersfield Town
Swindon Town/Barnet vs. Fulham/Bristol Rovers
Wigan Athletic vs. Chelsea
Luton Town/Liverpool v Swansea/Havant & Waterlooville
Southend United vs. Barnsley
Southampton vs. Norwich City/Bury
Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur/Reading
Portsmouth vs. Plymouth Argyle
Derby County/Sheffield Wednesday vs. Preston North End
Watford vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Peterborough United vs. Charlton Athletic/West Bromwich Albion
Sheffield United vs. West Ham United/Manchester City
Mansfield Town vs. Middlesbrough
Tranmere Rovers/Hereford United vs. Cardiff City

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

FA Cup Recap--3rd Round

The Third Round of England's most prestigious knockout competition, the FA Cup, made for a very exciting slate of games. We saw some lower-league sides keep their dreams alive; we saw Premiership teams overcome spirited opposition to move on to the next stage; and most importantly, we saw the true spirit and passion of the game come out.

Chasetown were the lowest ranked team to ever make it to this point in the FA Cup and after scoring first in their game against Cardiff, gave up three unanswered goals to bow out of the competition. Havant & Waterlooville are now the flag-bearers for clubs outside the Football League (Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2) as the Hawks are currently toiling in Blue Square South.

Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, and Birmingham City were all knocked out by lower-league sides, Sunderland (Wigan) and Aston Villa (Manchester United) were eliminated by fellow Premier League teams, and Newcastle, Derby, Tottenham, Reading, West Ham, Manchester City, Fulham, and Liverpool will all need replays to further their quest to win the FA Cup.

Like I said before, we saw some great displays of the game this weekend. The quality of play wasn't always the greatest but it was made up for with the passion and desire that both teams and fans showed. The draw for the 4th Round will be made tomorrow, and you can get full coverage of that right here.

Round 3 Results:

DATE HOME SCORE OPPONENT
01/05 Chasetown 1 - 3 Cardiff City
01/05 Walsall 0 - 0 Millwall
01/05 Wolverhampton 2 - 1 Cambridge Utd.
01/05 Barnsley 2 - 1 Blackpool
01/05 Blackburn 1 - 4 Coventry City
01/05 Bolton 0 - 1 Sheffield Utd
01/05 Brighton 1 - 2 Mansfield Town
01/05 Bristol City 1 - 2 Middlesbrough
01/05 Charlton 1 - 1 West Bromwich Albion
01/05 Chelsea 1 - 0 QPR
01/05 Colchester 1 - 3 Peterborough
01/05 Everton 0 - 1 Oldham Athletic
01/05 Huddersfield Town 2 - 1 Birmingham City
01/05 Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Portsmouth
01/05 Norwich 1 - 1 Bury
01/05 Plymouth Argyle 3 - 2 Hull City
01/05 Preston North End 1 - 0 Scunthorpe
01/05 Southampton 2 - 0 Leicester City
01/05 Southend Utd. 5 - 2 Dagenham & Redbridge
01/05 Sunderland 0 - 3 Wigan
01/05 Swansea City 1 - 1 Havant and Waterloo
01/05 Swindon Town 1 - 1 Barnet
01/05 Tottenham 2 - 2 Reading
01/05 Tranmere Rovers 2 - 2 Hereford
01/05 Watford 2 - 0 Crystal Palace
01/05 West Ham 0 - 0 Manchester City
01/05 Aston Villa 0 - 2 Manchester Utd.
01/06 Burnley 0 - 2 Arsenal
01/06 Derby 2 - 2 Sheffield Wed.
01/06 Fulham 2 - 2 Bristol Rovers
01/06 Luton Town 1 - 1 Liverpool
01/06 Stoke City 0 - 0 Newcastle

Replays:

01/15 Barnet vs. Swindon Town
01/15 Bristol Rovers vs. Fulham
01/15 Bury vs. Norwich
01/15 Hereford vs. Tranmere Rovers
01/15 Millwall vs. Walsall
01/15 Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County
01/15 West Bromwich Albion vs. Charlton Athletic
01/15 Liverpool vs. Luton Town
01/15 Reading vs. Tottenham
01/16 Havant and Waterloo vs. Swansea City
01/16 Manchester City vs. West Ham
01/16 Newcastle vs. Stoke City

Premiership Teams' New Year's Resolutions

I figured that before the Christmas and New Year's hype ends and becomes irrelevant, I'd try to milk it for all it's worth and relate it back to the Premiership.

Twenty teams compete in the most entertaining domestic league in the world; every single one of them has room to improve, some much more so than others...Derby, ahem, ahem...

Here's what each club should look to do in the new year:

Arsenal: Choose one competition to focus on, either you go for the Champions League or the Premiership, but not both. A roster this inexperienced and young really can't balance both and be successful.

Aston Villa: Build around that great young English talent in the midfield and up front by strengthening the back four. Laursen and Mellberg aren't getting any younger..

Birmingham City: Keep up a good relationship with Arsenal. Fabrice Muamba, Johan Djourou, and Nicklas Bendtner (last season) have all come to Birmingham on loan recently and all parties involved have been better for it.

Blackburn Rovers: Get rid of the dead wood (Benni McCarthy, Robbie Savage, Jason Roberts, etc.), make whatever profit you can for those players, and invest in some capable defenders. Also, it'll be essential to play better at Ewood Park.

Bolton: Keep Nicholas Anelka, plain and simple. You'll be worse off financially in the short term, but you could be relegated without him because no one else scores goals. Sell him in the summer and buy a couple younger strikers to replace him. Win away from the Reebok (0-2-8 this season).

Chelsea: Buy Nicholas Anelka, plain and simple. Whatever the cost, buy him. You need a striker who can score goals in the Premier League; 1-0 and 2-1 every game isn't going to get it done. Look what he does at Bolton with inferior talent around him; imagine what he can do with quality players in West London.

Derby County: Avoid becoming the worst team in Premiership history by somehow picking up at least eight more points before the season ends.

Everton: Make the Steven Pienaar deal permanent. If you can get a king's ransom for Mikel Arteta and Joleon Lescott like what we've heard on the rumor mill, sell them both in a heartbeat. They're good players, but not irreplaceable.

Fulham: Find a way to stop conceding late goals, whether they be equalizers or game-winners. You've got to play with a bit more creativity also, pumping the ball up the field isn't really getting it done.

Liverpool: Get rid of Rafa Benitez in the summer and offer the job to The Special One with no expenses spared. If Tom Hicks can give A-Rod a 10-year, $250 million contract, I think he can find a way to bring Mourinho to Liverpool.

Manchester City: Must improve away from Eastlands if you hope to become a top-four club. How do you do that? Bring in a capable striker or two who can step up under pressure and score big goals. Oh, and send Rolando Bianchi packing.

Manchester United: First and foremost, find a right back. Sevilla's Daniel Alves, perhaps? After that, make Old Trafford a more imposing place for away teams to come and play. Fergie said there's no atmosphere at the largest stadium in the Premier League and he's exactly right.

Middlesbrough: Lower ticket prices, advertise more in the local media, whatever it is, put more butts in seats at the Riverside. You're the best team amongst your rivals in the North East, use that to your advantage and keep bringing in talented young players through your academy.

Newcastle: Either fire Big Sam now or commit to him through next season at least. It's too much of a distraction with his job security seemingly hanging in the balance after every game; make a decision and stick with it. Buy Joey Barton a private jail cell or something, he may need it.

Portsmouth: Last year you couldn't win on the road, this year you can't win at home. More consistency is the only way you'll become a top-six side every year.

Reading: Find another keeper to replace Marcus Hahnemann, and find someone else who can score goals on a regular basis to play with Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita, when he returns. Have to improve away from home as well.

Sunderland: Use that Manchester United connection that Roy Keane has and bring in Wes Brown and Darren Fletcher to shore up the leaky defense and midfield. Two draws and nine losses away from the Stadium of Light doesn't cut it either.

Tottenham: Sell Dimitar Berbatov and use that money to invest in experienced, quality defenders. Alan Hutton would've been a good start before he rejected you, and Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson aren't good enough to play for a team with your ambition. English lessons for Juande Ramos wouldn't be a bad idea either; he has a good system but if he can't really communicate it to his players, it does no good.

West Ham: Somehow, some way, you have to prevent your players from getting injured. Maybe it's lighter training sessions or better physical therapists and massuers, I don't know, but injuries are killing you. Keep buying the rejects from other teams; their trash is your treasure (Craig Bellamy, Lucas Neill, Lee Bowyer, Carlton Cole, etc.)

Wigan: Make sure that great performance at Anfield this week doesn't become an anomaly; try and duplicate that and make it the norm rather than the surprise. Steve Bruce is a solid manager I think and he knows what it's like to work with little to nothing, but if you can raise more money through ticket sales or merchandise, he'll have more opportunity to bring players in.

Premiership Midseason Awards

Phew. After a jampacked holiday schedule that came fast and furious, fans and players alike now get a chance to catch their breath as the next round of games doesn't come until the 12th. The Carling Cup semifinals and the 3rd Round of the FA Cup will have to tide everyone over until then and there should be some pretty good games in both competitions.

I came out with a "Best of" list for the year 2007 the day after Christmas and got some interesting feedback on that. That list encompassed everything in the 2006-2007 season and what we've seen thus far in the '07-'08 season, but my next endeavor is to hand out midseason awards for this year. I know it's not exactly the halfway point in the season as teams have played either 20 or 21 league games, but I've always looked at midseason as the turn of the new year and that time has come.

So, without further ado, here are my midseason awards for the 2007-2008 Barclays Premier League season:

Most Outstanding Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Most Valuable Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Striker: Nicholas Anelka (Bolton)
Best Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Center Back: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Best Full Back: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
Best Summer Signing: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Worst Summer Signing: Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Most Improved Team: Manchester City
Least Improved Team: Newcastle
Biggest Surprise (Team; Best): Manchester City
Biggest Surprise (Player; Best): Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)
Biggest Surprise (Team; Worst): Tottenham
Biggest Surprise (Player; Worst): Darren Bent (Tottenham)
Best Goal: Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham); vs. Tottenham (12/02)
Best Manager: Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)
Worst Manager: Sam Allardyce (Newcastle)
Best Match: Chelsea-4, Aston Villa-4 (12/26/07)