A Rivalry Steeped In History

The ship which sits proudly above the red devil on Manchester United’s crest often goes unnoticed, such is our familiarity with the global brand that the logo has become.

The ship represents the Manchester Ship Canal; it was completed in 1894 and meant goods were able to bypass Liverpool’s ports and be transported straight to Manchester, resulting in substantial job losses on Merseyside and great resentment from the Liverpudlian population.

This is popularly cited as the root of a bitter rivalry which exists between the two industrial cities; a rivalry which is always evident when Liverpool F.C. meet Manchester United F.C. and has led many experts to label it the biggest game of football in the world.

Liverpool dominated English football for the 20 years between 1970 and 1990, a period in which they won eleven league championships and four European cups. However, from that moment up until the current day, Manchester United have responded under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

They have now overtaken Liverpool’s famed 18 league titles and, although they are still two trophies behind them in terms of the Champions League, they remain England’s biggest football club despite surges of success from Arsenal, Chelsea and, most recently, another vicious rival in the form of Manchester City.

Manchester also retaliated culturally. Liverpool’s famous music scene, led by ‘The Beatles’ who took the world by storm in the 1960s, was replicated in Manchester with the emergence of ‘The Stone Roses’, ‘The Smiths’ and ‘Oasis’ to solidify their position as the leading city of the pair.

The rivalry has become so bitter that when the sides met last Sunday, there was a fear that Manchester United fans would disrupt Liverpool’s tributes to the 96 supporters who died in the infamous 1989 ‘Hillsborough disaster’.

The case relating to the scandal was finally closed this month when an independent panel concluded that multiple failures by emergency services should be held responsible for the deaths. Sunday’s game was the first time Liverpool had played at their home, Anfield, since the ‘justice for the 96’ campaign was granted its wish, allowing those who suffered to rest in peace.

It seems extraordinary that football would lead any fellow human beings to dishonour the practices which would take place in Liverpool on Sunday, but United boss Ferguson still felt the need to distribute letters to the travelling fans, encouraging them to respect the remembrance service.

Of course there were still an idiotic few who jeered as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was emotionally bellowed out by 40,000 sympathisers; the minds of some fans are so polluted by rivalry that their loyalty clouds their judgement of what is simply right and wrong.

Similarly in the past, a few Liverpool supporters have crudely taunted Mancunians about the Munich air disaster which killed 23 people, including much of the team nicknamed ‘The Busby Babes’ alongside journalists and supporters.

However, crucially, a memorial bouquet of flowers was placed outside the stadium, signed ‘The silent majority at M.U.F.C.’; it was certainly a humbling and truthful image which reflected the many who were able to lay their bitterness to one side in favour of humanity.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez rightfully accepted the hand of United captain Patrice Evra before the game, despite allegations of racism between the pair.

The match didn’t continue as smoothly, it maintained the rivalry between the clubs by featuring a sending off and a late goal from Robin Van Persie which gave the visitors the victory and epitomised their ability to go one better than their rivals in recent years.

However, the rivalry on the pitch is something that no football fan wants to lose. The united front between the majority of both sets of fans as well as staff and players of the clubs was a truly proud moment for English football and both cities.

The feud will remain, but Sunday showed that, in the face of adversity, thousands are able to put the most intense of differences aside in order to respect justice.

West Ham vs. Blackburn Preview

It’s quite absurd as to how Avram Grant remains in a premier league job. Now, even Osama bin Laden has been terminated before Grant’s contract. The American authorities had searched tirelessly for almost ten years before finally tracking down their target, whilst Grant has been on show at Upton Park for the last nine months, sporting an embarrassing league record of a mere 20% win ratio, must we remind our owners that they have the ability to eliminate him? Perhaps in bin Laden’s killer we have finally found someone more ruthless than the acrimonious Karen Brady.

British football experts continually convince English clubs that they must continually adhere to the manager they have appointed, stating the few obvious case studies of David Moyes, Arsene Wenger and most notably Sir Alex Ferguson as examples of the fruits of long-term leadership. What they fail to recognise in the case of West Ham United is that, instead of appointing a young, enthusiastic, inspiring candidate wielding previous honours and success, such as that of the three names mentioned above, our owners somehow saw it fit to employ the dull, inadequate and recently relegated; Avram Grant.

It seemed rather strange of David Gold, at the time of the appointment, to describe Grant as someone who had “been there, done that and got the T-shirt”, when in fact, his Portsmouth side, albeit with a points deduction, had already sunk into the second tier of English football. In fact, his record with Portsmouth was even worse than it currently is with West Ham, so to blame their relegation on this penalty would be ridiculous. David Sullivan also agreed with his co-owner at the time, claiming; “we have taken our time over this appointment and are certain we have got the right man”. Perhaps this is the perfect statement to epitomise how much our owners actually know about football.

At the time, Gold also added that “the bottom line is the relationship between the manager and the chairman is critical. In our case it’s two chairmen so it’s even more difficult as you need to have a relationship between three people”. It is now evident that what Gold actually meant by this statement is that by handing the position to an innocuous, lifeless excuse of a manager, there was enough room for him, and Sullivan, to squeeze their inflated egos onto the scene.

Prior to the Manchester City game, the frustratingly irritating Sullivan couldn’t resist the attention of opening his mouth once again by announcing that the Hammers only have a “25% chance of staying up” and labelling the players “spoilt”, claiming most of them are more interested in “where they will be next season” than keeping West Ham in the premiership. Sullivan certainly has a warped view of motivation if he believes deeming the players fickle mercenaries will give them the inspiration to battle for some much needed points.

And then, in an act of comical hypocrisy, Sullivan (and Gold) failed to show at the City Of Manchester Stadium, justifying their disloyal absence with the impact of “watching our poor away performances week after week”. If his comments were not rich enough, he went on to compare his motivational skills to that of Winston Churchill. It’s no wonder as to why he was unable to secure the services of an established, dignified manager in Martin O’Neill in January, as he continues to embarrass himself, and thus the club, with these sporadic outbursts.

It’s also worth noting that Sullivan stated; “I do think that a manager needs that fear factor. You look at Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. The players are a little bit frightened of them”. Obviously he completely ignored this belief when he appointed Grant as, with the omission of his eerily zombie-like demeanour, he would fail to strike fear, or any emotion for that matter, into anyone.

Even Demba Ba admitted that, in the brief February period in which we began to consistently win some games that “we had a new team … and other teams were surprised by us. Now they know how to counter us”. Clearly even Grant’s players recognise that he is tactically inadequate and that, even in the very few games he has won, it was not his ability as a manager but the fact he was able to spring a few new faces upon his opponent, before their traits were identified, assessed and countered by genuinely Premiership-quality managers, and it was back to square one.

Grant has tried to use this hopeless tactic all throughout the season, meaning West Ham have used more players than any other squad in the Premier League. Quite astounding considering the lack of depth in quality we have in some departments. Seeing Grant’s notebook fall apart and flutter around the pitch in Manchester last Sunday was quite symbolic of a man whose plans have completely crumbled. Seeing his hopeless attempt to collect them back together was perhaps even more significant in suggesting the lack of answers he has to the undeniable problems.

Seeing the emotion and joy on the faces of Norwich fans on Monday evening, following their promotion, sparked wonderful, nostalgic memories of our play-off success in 2005. However, it also provoked the epiphany of the immense value of premiership status, and the fact that at the moment, we are sickeningly throwing it away. Surely, whether he completes this demolition of another premiership club or not, Grant will be fired and disappear into the wilderness, as bin Laden did all those years ago. Inevitably he will never again have the chance to manage a premiership club, not that he was ever capable or worthy of doing so in the first place.

Grant’s career will be reflected on in bewilderment, as it was effectively based on absolutely nothing. However, I still believe that the team will remain in the premier league due to fortuitous fixtures, the incompetence of those around us and the personal brilliance of the likes of Scott Parker. That will leave us with yet another summer rebuilding job which must be done correctly this time. Where it leaves Grant is debatable, with a football director’s role rumoured to be lined up at Chelsea, he could unbelievably stroll into yet another lucrative contract. Grant’s secret is certainly beyond me, it’s certainly not his charisma or his ability, but as long as he’s nowhere near West Ham United next season, I’ll be a happier man, and so will 34,000 others.

The Swiss shock Spain and it's time for redemption as the second set of games begin

When Brazil’s first fixture’s opponents were identified as a team of semi-professionals in the form of North Korea, everyone expected an unquestionable demolition. But the underdogs showed they were no pushovers in this game and made the “group of death” appear an even more difficult prospect for the highly-fancied Ivory Coast, Portugal, and of course, the Brazilians.
The amazing spirit of the Koreans was infallible as the defence managed to shield the majority of attack bombarded in their direction. Brazil weren’t particuarly convincing despite their incredible squad featuring brilliant attacking options as well as an unusual array of defensive quality. The likes of Ronaldinho and Adriano were omitted from the squad with a strong message being sent out from manager, Dunga, that this years Samba stars will very much be a hard-working ‘team’, and not a bunch of ‘Galacticos’ attempting individual brilliance.
Robinho’s performance would’ve left Roberto Mancini scrambling for his mobile phone in order to persuade the high-maintenance star to return to Eastlands for another season at Manchester City as he pulled all the creative strings in tense conditions. However, it was Inter Milan’s Maicon who opened the scoring with an outlandish attempt from an incredibly difficult angle, resulting in an extravagant swerve from the ‘Jabulani’ ball as it nestled in the back of the net. Whether this was intended as a shot is ambiguous but with Brazil, anything is possible. The Koreans’ organised approach was slashed open with a killer pass from Robinho which resulted in another former City player, Elano, passing the ball casually in the bottom corner of the net.
It was all over from here and despite the admirable heroics of North Korea it was too big of an ask for them to equalise the match. But, incredibly, a burst of pace from the forward late on resulted in a fantastic consolation goal and a spirit-raising statistic which will worry Sven Goran-Erikson and Carlos Queiroz as they gear up for their ‘easy’ game.
Honduras then faced Chile in the opener of the final group of the world cup. As the Honduran star, Wilson Palacios was unjustly booked early on, his urgency and aggression was severely reduced in order to avoid further indiscipline and Honduras reluctantly accepted defeat. Chile looked like a very good side and performed possibly the most expansive, attacking display seen is this modest tournament (with the omission of Germany). Alexis Sanchez’s pace and skill would’ve caught the eye of premiership hawks, circling over the talented prey of this world cup, ready to snap them up for their club team. But it was a lucky goal which proved decisive as a Honduran defender slid the ball onto the side of a Chilean forward only to see it crash into the back of the net and ascend Chile into first place.
It was then the European champions and favourites for this world cup, Spain who finally took on a Switzerland side missing key-man Valon Behrami. With such an extended wait for their first game it was assumed that the Spanish would be totally prepared and have the added bonus of a fit Fernando Torres available from their selection roster, but a shock was on the cards. Despite capable, dexterous attempts from the unquestionably skilled Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Torres, Spain, incredibly, failed to hit the back of the net. However, to Spanish detriment, the Swiss did manage to score an invaluable goal as a combative goal-mouth scramble resulted in another former City man, Gelson Fernandes, nudging the ball over the line after a strenuous race with the defenders for the opportunity. Despite the obvious, evident attacking virtues of Spain, they failed to gain the equaliser and Switzerland held out for an astonishing win. It’s results like this that make you realise you’re not alone in the manner that your national team is continually an unexpected disappointment.
It was then time for the second branch of games to begin as the hosts, South Africa took on a Uruguay side who stole a point from France in the earlier game and at times, flirted with brilliance with the impressive front two of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan. It was Forlan who really shone on this occasion as the South Africans were stunned by his extravagant effort which cannoned into the back of the net with the aid of a slight deflection. However, like many who have had the benefit of taking a goal lead in this tournament, the Uruguayans did not plan to stop, as Suarez attempted to round the keeper an outstretching leg sent him crashing down to earth, resulting in a red card. The intimidating, focused face of Forlan was converted into one of a joy when he blasted a penalty into the back of the net. As the South Africans dwelled on their performance in dismay and disappointment, the Uruguayans went on to net a third meaning the romantic prospect of the hosts advancing to the next round were slimmer than ever.
Clearly the first round of games in this tournament didn’t live up to the hype of the tornado of brilliance, excitement and individual genius we were hoping for and maybe expecting, but a firm implication of each team is now ingrained within our brains and the best is yet to come. With Diego Forlan’s outstanding display against South Africa well publicised, perhaps this will provide the intent for all players in South Africa to really display their inventive, inspirational, imaginative powers on the biggest stage.

Could the end be near for the deceitful Arsene Wenger and his hopeless Gunners

The stubborn Mr. Arsene Wenger today stressed how Arsenal wouldn’t “panic into spending big”. Is this sensible in today’s inflated market or just another excuse for a disappointing summer with a severe lack of signings? The Gunners are in danger of slipping out of England’s elite sides as the likes of Aston Villa, Manchester City and their bitter, north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur traditionally attempt to “gatecrash the top four”. With Tottenham making the breakthrough during the most recent campaign, at the expense of Liverpool, both them and City are showing little signs of slowing down in terms of spending and unless Arsenal react it won’t be long until they’re overtaken as well.

Wenger could certainly be accused of sporting an oversized ego in times of late with his constant dismissal of the transfer market. Acquiring youngsters at a young age and blending them carefully into a squad of capable footballers is an admirable plan and one which keeps the club financially sound (a certain priority in these worrying economical times for football). However, this does involve poaching young players from other professional clubs, a particularly controversial action. How stealing young prospects from clubs who employ scouts to complete the gruelling task of choosing a few out of thousands is ethically correct is beyond me and their should be a minimum transfer age.

An example of this is young, Fran Merida. Sneakily plucked from Barcelona’s academy (a similar transfer to that of Cesc Fabregas’) at the tender age of sixteen; he was gullibly enticed by the prospect of the premier league and signed a contract for the deceitful Mr. Wenger. This caused chaos in sporting law and it must have been an extremely stressful period for Merida as two monstrous clubs engaged in legal battle. Eventually Merida’s contract was deemed legitimate and all three parties could move on. This summer, Merida has been released at the age of 20, finding first team opportunities scarce (he made only 6 appearances for Arsenal), he’s now back in Spain with Atletico Madrid practically restarting his career with minimal experience for a player of his age. Surely Merida would have been better off remaining under the expertise of Barcelona? This is just one career that Wenger has arguably hindered.

Of course some moves do work out; step forward Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas is unique in the way he’s a genuine success story from Arsenal‘s bag of stolen goods, he’s matured into a player of superb ability, a club captain and a Spanish international. However, despite an arguably successful period at Arsenal on a personal level for Fabrgeas, the Londoners have only collected one major trophy (the F.A. Cup) during his, remarkably, 7 years at the club. After being promised a key role in a European giant on a number of occasions, Fabregas has become alienated by the club’s transfer policy and lack of immediate ambition and is finally forcing his way out of the club. With a return to his supported club, Barcelona a romantic proposition and the increased likelihood of trophies, no one can blame Fabregas for wanting to leave.

But Arsenal are continually denying him this right. Yes he is under contract and the Gunners have the right to hold out for as much money as they can grab but can’t Wenger see this is another prosperous career he is in danger of ruining? It’s embarrassing for Arsenal and risks destroying a decent relationship previously enjoyed by club and player. What’s the point of uncovering a rough diamond at a young age if you’re not willing to build a sufficient squad around him? Can’t Wenger see it was when he had the steal and determination of the likes of Patrick Viera in his squad that he won trophies? Why does he ignorantly waste opportunities for success by not emulating this and opening his wallet?

It’s clear Arsenal don’t even restrain from spending on experience in order to be the big boys in terms of youth investment. Cristiano Ronaldo recently revealed he “nearly joined Arsenal” and claims the reason he went to Manchester United is because “they gave me a better offer”. What an investment that was, and now Untied have had a number of trophy-rich, successful seasons from him and recouped an astounding eighty million pounds. Maybe if Wenger had dipped a bit deeper it could’ve been Arsenal who had enjoyed such success in recent years.

Admittedly last season was encouraging for Arsenal. Hotly tipped to drop from the top four, they were aided by a dismal display from Liverpool and some very good runs of form themselves. With a genuine shot at the title and the injury to key striker Robin Van Persie a major hindrance to these ambitions, it was obvious fire power was required in January. Nothing. Yet again, in typically arrogant fashion Wenger continued with the squad he had and his side withered away into nothingness as the premier league climaxed. Wenger’s worrying tendency to consider himself as ‘looking out for the club’ must be frustrating for Arsenal fans as they pay extortionate amounts for tickets in the hope of signing some genuine stars, only to find Wenger believes the answer to his undeniable defensive problems is freebie, Notts County veteran, Sol Campbell. How exciting.

Evidently the market of expired contracts is a level above that of recent years on this occasion and Wenger is likely to raid it. With Marouane Chamakh already added to the squad, it’s possible someone like Joe Cole will be acquired free of charge. But with high competition, it remains to be seen whether Arsenal will have the muscle to push the deal through or allow him to slip from their grasps as Ronaldo did all those years ago. I’m sure Arsenal fans would be delighted with the signing of Cole, not only because he’s an outstanding footballer, but also because he’s British. Wenger continually ignores the country’s uncomfortable stance with his exotic squad and at times it appears he restrains from purchasing British talent in an attempt to show he won’t bow down to anyone, unable to accept that perhaps it is he who is in the wrong. But with Campbell and William Gallas on the outgoing list in the department of contract expiries, Arsenal will need to strengthen their squad more than ever before in the defensive sector and if Wenger’s ambitions match that of a club of Arsenal’s stature, a quality goalkeeper is also required.

In my opinion, next season has the ability to make or break Wenger and it’s likely another season with an absence of silverware will see the Arsenal fans finally run out of patience with the Frenchman. If influential players like Gallas and Fabregas move on and are not replaced in addition to extra recruitments due to Wenger’s inexcusable vanity, it won’t be long until the pressure starts mounting. And don’t tell me he “did not see it” coming.

Why football should employ a salary cap

As Premiership clubs are warned about their wage structures and recent statistics reveal that top flight clubs were spending around 1.3 billion on player wages even before Manchester City’s big-spending summer, we are yet again faced with the inevitable, yet predictable question; should football have a salary cap? The sport seems to have taken one step to far in recent times with irresponsible, uneducated footballers such as John Terry and Ashley Cole making publicly visible life errors and arguably, mediocre players such as Kieron Dyer and Michael Ballack remaining on astronomical wages. Unless you’re as deluded as the Chelsea left-back’s women judgement, the answer is a categorical yes.
Clubs such as West Ham, Crystal Palace and most notably Portsmouth have been placed in severe danger of ceasing to exist completely; an eventual state which would be a bloodcurdling disaster for staunch supporters. Fans will loose their love, which they have cherished throughout generations and the integrity of the sport will suffer a major dent if clubs with any form of history and heritage begin to disappear off of the face of the earth. The reason for this; astronomical wages which are financially crippling clubs with any kind of ambition. More and more foreign owners are breaking into the premiership toy shop, playing with a club, demanding instant success, handing out ridiculous contracts to playing staff; and if all goes wrong? They simply walk away, find something new to play with and leave the broken toy waiting for a saviour, reminiscent of David Gold and David Sullivan picking up the pieces at West Ham after the outlandish, unsustainable Icelandic era, fronted by Eggert Magnusson - and as debt increases, less of these heroic figures are going to be able to save the plight of doomed clubs.
The job of a footballer requires little responsibility - as doctors, nurses and soldiers struggle to stay out of the red, these uneducated fools are splashing out on Bentleys without a care in the world - how can this be logical? When these men and women fight for our country and save our lives, it seems staggering that a young man who kicks a ball around for 90 minutes on a weekend can get paid double in a week in comparison to what these high-profile professions earn in a whole year. A salary cap must be enforced.
As a casual fan of America’s NFL, it’s obvious this system has worked wonders in making their league one of the best domestic sport leagues in history to date. Every year holds an exciting race for the Superbowl title, with even games, competitive players and eventually an unpredictable champion. It’s a tried and tested method. It’s worked extremely effectively; so why not use it?
However; I must stress that I’m only in favour of the salary cap it it’s enforced on a global basis by FIFA. Players would simply request transfers abroad if nations such as Germany, Italy or Spain had no wage restrictions and this would degrade the quality of the league completely, turning the English premiership from what I believe is the greatest football league in the world to a mediocre campaign.
You may argue that if a club has money, why shouldn’t they be able to spend it? That’s why giving each club a unique salary cap based on their turnover is a rational option - this would mean large clubs such as Manchester United, who work hard on increasing their stature throughout the world and make colossal sums each year from selling their brand would have the ability to hand out bigger contracts than the likes of say, Wigan Athletic, who obviously don’t make anywhere near the same profit as United. As success breeds popularity, each club would strive to reach the top in order to make money and gain a lenient salary cap, meaning clubs would be unable the simply buy success and would have to gain stature naturally before being able to spend titanic sums of money in order to sustain their success.
Of course there is the argument that with foreign owners giving mammoth wages to English residents, the taxes are coming back into the country. But, with the economy in the dire state it is, these taxes obviously aren’t doing much good. The reality is, the government will always spend out of their means, no matter how much money is coming into the country. Footballers taxes appear relatively ineffectual at this current state, so why not change it? Football will provide it’s fair share of money for the country anyway if is able to win the 2018 world cup bid.
Yes; football gives an opportunity for the middle-class to earn big money and achieve a dream of being ‘rich’, but, in this respect, football is more of a distraction from education than a realistic, potential career. An extremely limited amount of hopefuls make it as a professional, so if gullible youngsters unrealistically believe they can be the next boy wonder, their education could suffer through lack of caring and a poor attitude under the belief they don’t need the qualifications. If wages were capped, perhaps these students would work harder on their studies rather than following the “£” signs provided by football. For the uneducated boys who actually do move into the game, role model status is instantly their, as idols to thousands, a huge number of kids aspire to be like these players because of the money they earn. If they didn’t receive such obscene amounts, perhaps more suitable role-models would be selected such as attainable jobs like doctors and lawyers.
Obviously I am in complete favour of a global salary cap for football, it will keep the clubs safe, the supporters happy and take the game back to what it originally was - a working man’s game and no longer a corporate monster which sucks all the fun out of a game which is, after all; entertainment.