LIVE FOOTBALL: 2011

Video: Ashley Cole Blasts Intern with Airgun

Next Media has done a hilarious video spoof of Ashley Cole’s recent airgun incident. If you are not familiar with the events, the Chelsea star accidentally injured 21-year-old team intern Tom Cowan when a .22 air rifle Cole was handling went off last Sunday.

The 30-year-old Cole is now under the gun for carrying a firearm and the police is said to be looking into the matter. The team has also fined the defender two weeks of wages worth 250,000 pounds.

As for the most famous intern in football right now, Cowan was treated for the lead pellet blow to his head and is recovering after receiving two days off. He has also received an apology from Cole.

Despite the “international incident”, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will start Cole in today’s test against Manchester United.

25 Years of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United

On the 6th of November 1986, Manchester United announced the signature of Scottish manager Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen. United were 21st in the league (second from bottom) before the Glaswegian arrived. His first game was a 2-0 loss at minnows Oxford United, then a 0-0 draw with Norwich, before Lou Macari scored a free kick to make it 1-0 in his first win at home to QPR. Since then the man from Govan has built on Sir Matt Busby’s foundations and made Manchester United into a team like no other, gaining a knighthood on the way. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and not just by United fans. Jose Mourinho, the special one himself, said ‘Alex Ferguson is a unique manager in European football’. Mourinho is one of the few men to have beaten Ferguson’s United team to a premier league, but he is another example of a manager who left the English game winning the title 2 years in a row. If Ferguson had of done the same he would have left in 1994, but 17 years later he’s still as red-faced as ever.

This week, a journalist asked David Beckham; ‘What do you think of the rise of Manchester City?’ To which he replied; ‘The rise of who?’ Ferguson has implemented players coming through the ranks the unerring sense of pride at Manchester United, and it’s for this reason that the team is so pitiless and will dig deeper and deeper as soon as the clock ticks to 90 minutes. How many times have we seen it happen? Manchester United 4-3 Manchester City, Bayern Munich 1-2 Manchester United, Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United, Manchester United 3-2 Aston Villa, and so on and so forth, the list continues. This is an aspect of Ferguson’s mentality which we never really saw with Busby. He made much different teams with players such as Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton and George Best who would bury games before there would have been need for a last-gasp winner, but you can argue that Ferguson’s team are much more together, with all the players on a very similar level and usually no need to rely on a star player. The obvious exceptions are Ronaldo and Cantona, but they were both part of a team which had players that if they weren’t part of a team with either of these 2, they themselves would take the lead, as Wayne Rooney did.

But for me, it’s not the togetherness of the team, not the brutality of the last few minutes in any game, but the ruthlessness of the manager. This ruthlessness alongside confidence in his own ability shows anything is possible in his hands. David Beckham, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane are all players who opposed him and they were duly out the door. Every time, he has managed to replace them and brought in another young squad who is capable of winning things. However, some United fans will argue that Roy Keane has never been replaced and it is the fragility of the midfield which is a weakness in the current team. Darren Fletcher, Anderson and Tom Cleverley are all players full of spirit and will work endlessly, but they are all attacking minded players. In my opinion Fergie should sign a hard-working defensive midfielder who will get sent off every other game. In typical Kean-o fashion.

On the 5th of November the Stretford End revealed a banner which reads – ‘The Impossible Dream – Sir Alex 25 Years – Made Possible’. The impossible dream of beating Liverpool‘s premier league title record has been done by an inspirational manager who will no doubt go on and try and overturn there European record. Who will replace him I don’t know, but you and I will get up of our arses and applaud him till the sun goes down. Even the Scally’s and the Blue’s. ‘What is this team destined to win?’, I hear you asking. Well in my view, not much. This is not his greatest team and this was made evident by the 6-1 dumping at the hands of Manchester City. But will Roberto Mancini bring the kind of continued success that Fergie has? I don’t think so, Fergie’ll be back for more. This team is very young, and as we know too well; ‘You can’t win anything with kids…’

A Photo Five Years In The Making

David Beckham, the most famous footballer on the planet — which he was, at least, in 2007 when he signed that $32.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy — lifting the biggest prize in American soccer.

Never mind that it took the full length of that five-year deal. Never mind that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo might have higher international Q scores now. Never mind that books were written about how Beckham and Landon Donovan didn’t get along at all. Never mind that it took all three of the Galaxy’s designated players — Beckham, Donovan and Robbie Keane, who were paid a combined $12.2 million this season and have scored a combined 187 goals in the Premier League, and isn’t that a number Galaxy superfan Snoop Dogg will appreciate — to work together to get the lone goal scored in the MLS Cup Final. Never mind that Adam Cristman’s complete lack of apparent skill on the pitch last night nearly torpedoed the entire thing.

And certainly never mind that this photo is probably more entertaining:

None of that matters now. MLS got the photo it wanted. It will be plastered on web sites around the world, sending a message to players and fans everywhere — soccer matters in America. Come explore what we’ve got.

And what will people find when they explore MLS? They’ll find stadiums in many cities — most notably Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Philadelphia – that have great match day atmosphere. They’ll find more young up-and-coming stars than they will aging veterans playing out their careers. They’ll find a knowledgable fan base that’s growing every season. They’ll find that the level of play here, a few players excepted, isn’t all that bad. Sure, Chelsea v. Liverpool was far more watchable and displayed far more talent on the pitch yesterday than L.A. Galaxy v. Houston Dynamo, but who’s to say that this Galaxy squad couldn’t pick off its share of clubs at the bottom of the Premier League table? Could Wigan defend as well as the Dynamo did against L.A.? Could Blackburn? Could Wolves?

That’s exactly the conversation MLS wants us to have as it prepares to start its new television deal with NBC Sports next season. Beckham might be on his way to Paris, but the league got everything out of him that they could, including that picture of him lifting the league’s big prize. Perhaps a few more kids will dream of lifting that trophy one day. The bigger picture, though, is that MLS isn’t going anywhere. It’s on the sporting map in America, and it’s only going to get bigger. That might be a lot more than we can say for the NBA right about now.

End of a Chelsea era?

In June 2003 Roman Abramovich rocked English football buy purchasing Chelsea FC – as a hobby, rather than a business investment. Over the past eight years he has invested millions of pounds in players, coaches, administrational staff and facilities; including a swanky new training complex in Cobham. However, if you look at the current state of Chelsea, I think it’s fair to say that they’re not going to compete for the title this season – and, unless major strategic changes take place, will struggle to do so in the near future.

It’s important to say that Chelsea have been England’s second most successful club (behind MUFC) since 2003 – they have won the Premier League three times, FA Cup three times and two League Cups. Star players have taken them to within one kick of the Champions League and, through the likes of Lampard, Terry, A Cole and J Cole; Chelsea provided the core of the England side for half a decade. Unfortunately for their fans it looks like this era is sharply coming to an end.

In 2008, whilst playing a characteristic media wind-up, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested that Chelsea would struggle to compete in a season when they had so many ageing players. At the time, Chelsea’s oldest first team player was Michael Ballack (31) with Lampard, Drogba and Carvalho (all 30) shortly behind. Obviously Ballack and Carvalho have now moved on, but the fact remains that Chelsea now have Cole, Malouda, Terry (all 30), Ferreira, Anelka (both 32), Drogba and Lampard (both 33) all competing for places in the starting 11.

I’m not saying it’s bad to have experienced players, it’s a necessity, but I do believe that these players represent a style of play and motivated dressing room that existed five years ago. The problem is that, collectively, they’re a bigger presence than every manager since Mourinho.

Every (permanent) boss from Scolari to Grant and Ancelotti has known that they’ve needed to win the league in order to keep their job – that seems to be Roman’s minimum requirement. As a result they have needed to build a team, fit to win the league, within weeks/months of moving into the position. It’s understandable to see the gamble in clearing out the likes of Terry and Lampard in order to bleed through untested talent such as Jeffrey Bruma or Josh McEachran.