As FSC says: TITLE WEEK

Brian Fantana: Panda Watch. The mood is tense; I have been on some serious, serious reports but nothing quite like this.

Manchester Derby Mind Barf pt. 1 (Wednesday)

The lead up to THE GAME (YES, ALL CAPS) on monday thus far has been strange. From the City camp, almost all the players have spoken as to their confidence and determination going into this game, in unilateral disagreement with wily Roberto Mancini who has spent the last four weeks playing a highly successful mind game of stating that the title race is over.

On our side, everyone is dead silent. Not a peep. Other than Sir Alex saying that now the derby is greatest of his life, there has not been a single utterance on our attitude or prospects going to the Etihad.

I’m not quite sure what to make of it. A couple things are clear. City does not handle pressure very well. Roberto did a brilliant job of relieving his squad of that pressure and now they are back in the race after a series of wins reminiscent of their first half of the season massacres. On the other hand, United deals with pressure too well for our good, whereby a consistent theme of complacency has led us to playing poorly pretty much all season. Complacency is the league, complacency in europe, complacency is cups, and pretty much complacency in literally every game other than Villa two rounds ago. Complacency with no logical basis, considering the squad is no where near amazing enough to be complacent against European or premier league teams.

So here we stand, at the season’s title defining moment. Position against position, if we were to throw out a best XI, we are at a disadvantage. We are equal at the GK position. Joe Hart is better in the air without question, but De Gea’s is ahead on shot stopping. City’s backline is more reliable than ours. Evans is solid but gangly and clumsy, a trait which Aguero will take advantage of at some point. Rio is adequate at the highest level, but no longer has the physical attributes to recover from a missed tackle. Evra is good as ever going forward, but his defensive tracking back has been on the decline this season. Rafa is a fantastic one-on-one marker, but is prone to lapses of concentration and discipline. The midfield is comparable if Scholes starts. Despite his age, he is still the best midfielder in this league. Unfortunately, our attack is less consistent than City’s because of the day-by-day fluctuating forms of Welbeck, Nani and Rooney. Only Valencia shows any sort of consistency, while Young seems to be out of the running for the time being while Sir Alex disciplines him for his diving antics. So best XI against best XI, City is the better bet. And they are at home. All this is reflected in the betting books as City head into the fixture as favorites by quite some margin.

So for United, it really comes down to the mental state of the players. Go to the Etihad with the same mindset as we have done all season, and it might be a 10-0 loss this time. Go there with a healthy dose of nerves and genuine sense of urgency, and we just might get a win in a very harsh away environment. That mental state alone is the difference between terrible form and excellent form for our key players. It is just the way that they are, and I fucking hate it, but its true. When Rooney is at his best, he is unplayable. Unfortunately, his best has not come out of him this season due to his complacent nature. Nani at his best, is better than any of City’s wingers at their best. But again, his mental state largely determines his game. Welbeck has no rhyme or reason to his consistency, but that’s often the curse of a young player. If these three can come into this game as nervous players, they can win the game for us. But if they approach it like they have approached all other games this season, United will lose the title at the Etihad.

A couple things will happen. Sir Alex will talk up this game. He has to know about our mentality issue. So he will try to do his best to get the squad up on their toes. This game being our biggest of the season, bar none, Park will play some part. A sturdier, more disciplined defender like Phil Jones or Chris Smalling may be preferred at right back to Rafael.

My preferred lineup, if City maintains their recent lineup at the Etihad.

4-4-2, Rooney withdrawn role.

——————-Rooney———–Welbeck——————

Young———–Carrick———–Scholes————-Nani

Evra—————-Rio—————Evans———-Valencia

——————————De Gea——————————–

Subs: Smalling, Jones, Amos, Giggs, Hernandez, Park, Rafa

More brain farts, venting, anxiety outbursts to come soon.

YES! Chelsea

(above) Torres clarifies to the press that he has deliberately missed open goals just to throw off Barcelona’s scouts.

On an unrelated note, heartfelt, joyous congratulations to Chelsea FC. Karma hasn’t truly reached the Nou Camp yet as Chelsea won fair and square without the help of a referee. That has yet to come around. Only when Chelsea beats Barcelona again next year with the help of some atrocious calls, will then justice truly have been served for the injustices of 08/09. But for this year, they have deservedly beaten Barca and given us an amazing two legs of football.  Chelsea’s old guard (John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, and Petr Cech) are a generation of world class, premier league footballers that deserve some form of European success. Despite coaching changes, despite instability, they have stayed loyal as a group to the Blue shirt. And that loyalty deserves recognition. As a collective, they are too good to not get a single European trophy in their long careers. So full, deserved respect to the old guard of Chelsea football club. God speed in the finals, and thank you for representing the   strength of the barclays premier league so well.

In a season where many uneducated, article-reading, highlight watching, non-match watching football fans have been obviously to quick to suggest a decline of the English game, Chelsea has just  massive favor by beating World’s best team of the past four years, as only the sixth best team in England. La Liga’s biggest proponents have just lost the fundamental basis of their argument. England is still the home and standard of football.

(above) Lampard gets a sugar high from a jelly donut provided at half time.

The Dilemma of Pep and I, documented.

Feeling once again guilty of having to witch hunt Pep Guardiola, I’m relieved that I don’t have to do so on this occasion. Fortunately for me, he showed his tactical weaknesses as a coach to the world in a definitive, indisputable manner last night.

Having to point out, what is to me, a clear lack of tactical nous in comparison to other top managers of our time has been a very difficult ordeal, particularly because many fans on the forums that I battle on don’t really the see the tactical side of the game. Because he has a fantastic trophy case, because his teams maintain possession and play one touch, and consistently against a variety of teams, it is easy to assume to the layman that he must be a genius. Whereas I would beg to differ, whereas I have long maintained, (despite being branded as villainous), that some day that very weakness that I have observed for years will show blatantly, painfully, and in an extremely taxing manner to Barcelona football club. Not just that Barcelona will lose, but that they will lose in a manner specifically where his tactical decisions are the reasons for their downfall. This season was it. At long last, teams finally figured it out. It showed in Barca’s league form, it showed at the Nou Camp in both El Clasico, and against Chelsea. It is without question that I am being snooty about this tactical blabber. I am 150% being snooty. But my position that Pep lags in comparison to Sir Alex, Mourinho, Hiddink, Bielsa, Unai, Cuper, or Pellegrini or any other tactically astute managers that I’ve admired and appreciated over the years, is a position that has found agreement even among some very loyal Barca fans, and that shows me that I am an educated minority. Again snooty, but unless these fools who oppose me can prove that they know more about the game than I do, I’m going to have a right to be. Anyway – sword wagging aside, I have been, and always will be unequivocally confident in my position, but I lament the fact that it is seen by many, both online and offline, as an attack on Pep. I resent that because all I’m doing is deflating the overrating of Pep by idiotic fans who only see the surface of the game. I resent it because I actually genuinely like and am excited by the young, energetic, decorated coach that is Pep. Sir Alex likes him, and that’s more than enough for me. I’m not attacking him in the slightest, but rather the blithering idiots who don’t see a single inch further into a Barcelona match than Messi’s dribbles or a possession stat at the end of a game.

In my mind, like any other coach I follow on a consistent basis, I have Pep judged at a certain level. I’ve ranked him as a manager in different categories, whether it be eye for talent, tactician, and man management. And it is a good level for his age, but more importantly, it is fair. These fucking idiots put him at a much, artificially higher level most often on the amateurish bases of possession, shots on target, and trophy wins. This careless overrating act by these fans is what makes me angry –  because them doing so unjustly and unfairly gives Pep a higher, widespread (as there are more uneducated fans and educated supporters of the game) reputation over other coaches in the world. And I will not have simpleton fans, however numerous, create this unfair perception that Pep is better than those gentlemen who I so admire, based on shallow, uneducated knowledge of the game. It’s unfair, and its wrong, and I will gladly be snooty and obnoxious to educate numbskulls who would think lower of greater managers due to their own ignorance of the game.

On my part, I wish he leaves Barcelona at the end of this season. I want him to come to England. A team where he doesn’t benefit from having possibly the best player of all time, certainly the best player of our generation. I want to see him implement fresh tactics, customize a system, and showcase what he’s got in a country and team where the football is different. He once said that he would be coaching in the third division of Spanish football if he didn’t have Lionel Messi. For the sake of those idiots I mentioned, and for my own hopes for this talented young coach, I hope that that is not the case. Everyone knows that I love a good footballing prospect.

 

Uncensored

This article is directly copied and pasted from the The Sun. The link is: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4201639/Frank-Lampard-talks-to-SunSport-about-his-relationship-with-Chelseas-ex-boss-Andre-Villas-Boas.html. It is wrritten by Shaun Custis and contains interview content from one Frank Lampard.

I’m going to try something new whereby I read an article and I write what is going through my head as I read it. I have a sworn mission to try to maintain objectivity to any event in soccer, whether it pertains to one of my teams or not. I figured: how else is anyone going to truly respect what I say?

In any event (be it a foul, or call, or controversial event), much like everyone else, I have an immediate judgment, and I will maintain that judgment. Thankfully, through keeping an open mind I think I’ve managed to be fair in those judgments. But every once in a while, like Nero in the Matrix (I’m kidding, its more often than that), a subjective, unfair judgment from my gut will kick in. When this happens, immediately afterwards, I will give it some thought, and think about what is/or should be, the objective, fair judgment on the situation. As a very simplified scenario, lets say a player goes down during a game. There are times, where without looking at a better replay or giving it the proper due diligence that I should, just by human nature, I have a preconceived notion of whether the player was either probably fouled or probably dived, thought its never definitive in one direction or the other. I just have an inkling based on my past viewership of the player. I don’t reveal that inkling so to speak, and often choose to stay quiet until I see a replay, but it is there. It exists. But this reaction is forgotten immediately in my mind because then the customary due diligence will be made right after  (rewinding for a replay, in this example) and I will have automatically made a more informed decision within seconds. I feel the need to bring up those forgotten, gut reactions, so I can actually identify where my biases lie. I need to do this because if I really want to be truly objective, I need to confront those.

Games are fleeting, and foul calls go by in seconds. So the easier place to analyze these “x-files” is when I read soccer news. What I’m going to start to do is – whenever I read an article or an interview where there is opportunity for lots of thoughts, I will simply put my reaction down. Whatever it is. Good judgement, fair judgment, bad judgment. It is very likely that I’ll embarrass myself at some point because at some point I’ll reveal some raw reaction of gut bias to the world without putting them through the complete filter of my judgement. But that is the whole point! As someone who publishes his thoughts and professes to have a respectable amount of knowledge about soccer, achievement of my goal of objectivity (if it is even possible, that is) surely cannot come without some embarrassment or humiliation. Even if it one can never be 100% objective about soccer, I’m willing to undergo the trials and tribulations that come with the attempt!

So this is the first article. Lets give this a go. And if can maintain this exercise regularly, then I’ll need to come up with a catchy name as well. Custis and Lampard are in Gray, I’m in Blue.

—————————–Article Beginning——————————–

Lampard said: “The boss was an intelligent fella and very across everything. In his short time at Chelsea, he attempted to do everything right. He was there from seven in the morning until seven at night and maybe through the night. Rumors of Villas Boas’s stress levels and obsessiveness were true…poor guy…

“He was looking to the future and his plan was long-term. But somewhere in the middle of that, the present didn’t go so well — and that’s where the problems came. Surely you are referring to cutting the old boys too quicky…

“It became the thing that Chelsea needed a revolution and to move out the older players. To be fair to AVB, that was part of the remit and I get that we need to move on and change. So you do know that at some point, you Mourinho boys have to go? And that maybe its you guys not moving out after your peaks that is perhaps preventing the development of another successful Chelsea era of the early 2000s? It surprises me that you actually realize that. 

“But you can’t lose sight of the present, as a team like Chelsea, with the quality we have, can’t be fifth in the league. We should be pushing higher and there’s a lot of strength in our squad which you can hold up against any in the Premier League. So in many sentences, you are saying at some point, the old boys will leave, but it won’t be for a while. I feel bad for people like Villas Boas who felt the transition point was sooner-the-better (which I agreed with) but couldn’t prove his point. I guess its means credit to you old boys after proving yourselves right with that Napoli game. Maybe Villas Boas and I were wrong and you guys were right. I still want to think that it was bad management that made Villas Boas discredit himself. I still want to think, maybe had he done a better job with the young Chelsea squads, you guys would still be sulking on the bench.    

“You can’t force change. It has to be a more careful process. You guys walked the walk. The Chelsea old boys win. For now at least. 

“If young players are coming through, who deserve to be in the team, I have no problem with that and would stand aside. But they have to earn their place and show they deserve to be in. I feel that that’s your way of saying there is still no one better at your positions than you guys at Chelsea football club. Regardless, yes, that much has proven to be true. 

“I know I can’t play every game. But I look at Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs and see no reason why I can’t play on as long as them.” Do not even dare sully their names by comparing your unworthy self to them you fat, repugnant twat. Mere mortals are not allowed to utter the names of Gods. Keep your envy within. Matter of fact, in this case, even envy should be forbidden. 

Lampard publicly admitted his relationship with AVB was ‘not ideal’ and there was a frank exchange of views when he was dropped for the first leg of the last 16 Champions League clash in Naples.

He added: “It wasn’t just me left out but Ashley Cole as well. That is the sort of game where you want your experienced players in. The manager and I had a conversation, though I wasn’t disrespectful. I just told him I thought I should be playing. Definitely fair. I sympathize. At any other club other than Manchester United, this is a very appropriate player-to-coach, employee-to-boss conversation.

“I wouldn’t be me and I wouldn’t have got this far in football if I had said ‘OK, no problem, I’ll sit on the bench, have a jolly time and pick up my wages. Word.

“I told him what I felt and he had no problem with me saying it. I did say our relationship wasn’t ideal and it’s true it wasn’t fantastic.

“I’ve had closer relationships with other managers. But what I was also trying to get across is that’s not important. What is important is the group.

“I wasn’t making a stand. The fact we might not have seen eye to eye was irrelevant to me.” I think that’s a little tunnel-visioned in a way, if that’s even the right term. Frank, you do sulk when you are unhappy. You know this. Everyone knows this. So even if it were irrelevant to you, if other players saw you and the manager not seeing eye-to-eye, does that come truly come across as a unified dressing room? It is possible that unbeknownst to you, your clear “un-ideal” relationship with the boss was affecting younger players in a negative way? 

Despite their differences, Lampard revealed: “I didn’t see the manager after he left but I sent him a message wishing him all the best and, yes, he did send me one back. He didn’t blank me.

“He thanked me for being a top professional, which I appreciated. A lot of people think the players didn’t play for him or respond. We did but it just didn’t work out and the team didn’t play well enough.” AVB is clearly a good coach, given his accomplishments at such a young age. But maybe he wasn’t a great one. Because a great one would have been able to produce results while handling the senior players appropriately. AVB’s issue was never that he was cutting senior players, some Chelsea fans still embrace that notion. His issue was that the results never came. This reaffirms for me more and more that whoever takes over Sir Alex’s throne definitely needs top experience at a top club, and with top players and huge egos. Managing clubs like United or Chelsea requires more than eye for talent and tactical nous. 

Since Di Matteo has taken over, Chelsea have won three out of three and will be expected to make it four with a home FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester today.

Lampard said: “I’ve heard the argument we shouldn’t have been playing that badly. But there has to be a catalyst to a change in form and it has come with Robbie in charge.

“It happens a lot when a team changes the manager. You saw it at Liverpool when Roy Hodgson left and Kenny Dalglish came in.

“It might not be working for whatever reason and it might be no one’s fault but as soon as a new man takes over, the crowd is lifted and results change.” The new manager effect really is a curious effective one. It’s funny how Sparky never has that effect on any of his clubs. Poor QPR. 

Abramovich blamed the players for getting AVB the sack and Lampard accepts the Russian billionaire had the right to say what he felt. But the writing was on the wall for the young boss once Abramovich started making regular trips to the training ground.

Lamps admitted: “Anyone at any club will tell you that when the owner turns up you jump a bit. I’ve never heard of it. Matter of fact, I’m pretty certain that the Glazers don’t know who Giggs is.  

“Roman hadn’t been to the training ground in quite a while and the Press made a lot of it, which was understandable in the circumstances. Yuuuup.

“He obviously wasn’t happy with us and I agree with that.

“He’s right to say ‘I’m the owner and I expect a level of play higher than we’re getting’. No one can argue with that, nor would they. You need that pressure at a top club.” It’s his money, his club, his choice. All true. But maybe Roman should have met AVB and Di Matteo alone. Just by showing himself, it undermines the players. And you yourself say that his presence signaled a cause for worry on the players. Even the most hands-on Bill Kenwright just meets with Moyes alone after bad results. Never show yourself on the training pitch!

But what about the accusation it is actually the players who run the show and that skipper John Terry confirmed it by barking orders from the dugout during extra time in the win over Napoli?

Lampard insisted: “It’s really out of order the criticism John has had for shouting the team on. Perhaps if JT was simply yelling LETS GO…but it wasn’t that was it Frank? He was pointing out positions, telling people where to go. That’s beyond a captain-esque rally cry, that’s a tactical shout. I don’t think the criticism is out of order. Even I cringed when I saw that scene. And everybody else for that matter.

“He couldn’t stay on because of injury but wanted to keep involved.

“He was trying to do something in a really critical situation and I don’t think it’s undermining anyone. As a fan, I’d want to see that. I would too like to see a passionate captain on the sidelines. Gary Nev spurred players on after he left the pitch, but I never once saw him do what JT did during Napoli. There is a clear difference.

“Everybody is bringing up this thing about player power and how we think we are the managers. But if John sees something as a captain and a senior player, why shouldn’t he say something? Because by doing that it shows that he doesn’t think Di Matteo is saying sufficiently what needs to be said. The underlying assumption for a person watching that is a lack of trust. The action itself screams a lack of respect. The sequence as a whole is called undermining. Consider this, Fatty. A professor is lecturing. The PA jumps in mid-lecture and says “actually i should also add…” What would you call that? How would you feel about that as a student watching?  

“We do have a strong dressing room. Yet it’s being made out we take liberties which we shouldn’t — and that’s not true. You may say that, but having seen the number of top coaches come and go…I can’t believe you. And JT proved my reaffirmed our beliefs at Stamford Bridge. 

“This is a group of players which wants to win and knows what it takes to win. We try to portray that on the training ground, on the pitch and in the dressing room “There are strong personalities. But I hate it when people go on about big egos. If you’re a big player you should be a strong personality. I don’t agree with the label ego when it comes to the Chelsea old boys. None of you are what I would call egotistical. But I do think the strong personality you speak of has proven negative effects when it comes to the authority of the man in charge. And that’s not right. Call it what you will, egotistic personality, strong personality, supersonic personality, whatever, but it’s gotta be fixed. 

“When someone asks me, as a senior player at 33, what my opinion is I would be letting myself down if I didn’t say what I think.” And if you were at United, as a senior player, in your late thirties, saying what you think and not letting yourself down, you end up like Roy Keane. Transferred to Celtic within hours. I don’t know what to say though I do agree with you in principle.  

SunSport columnist Roy Keane claimed last Sunday there was a falseness in how Chelsea try to show they are all together when they are not.

Lamps hit back: “I’ve loads of respect for Roy but he’s wrong. That spirit has always been one of the things which is special about Chelsea. Fair, you have a right to say that. Keano is often hot-headed and doesn’t think about what he’s saying. You want Ego? Keane here now. 

“When something gets on Roy’s nerves, he has a rant about it. But I like that. It shows he’s passionate about the game, just as he was when he was a player.” You just don’t want to piss off Roy Keane. Don’t blame you one bit. 

Keane questioned whether the Chelsea team would be mucking around and playfully flicking each other’s ears after the Napoli match, because he expected them to go out.

Lampard noted: “We were doing a lot more than just flicking each other’s ears after such an amazing night. Sounds kinky Frank. 

“When our backs were against the wall, we responded. I don’t think there’s anything false about that.” That’s the great thing about winning. People can hurl anything at you, and you can just hurl the result back at them to win the argument. Credit for the amazing night at Napoli. Well done. 

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That was fun! I’ll read it in a couple of hours.