Could it be an unpredictable contender who overthrows the Italians?

As the world champions, Italy, couldn’t even beat a Paraguay team missing their major threats in the form of Roque Santa Cruz and Oscar Cardozo, there’s sure to be a power shift this tournament and a new king. Although notoriously slow starters to major tournaments, Italy lacked speed and strength and with this world cup appearing to be one of stamina and endurance it’s unlikely they’ll progress too far in to the competition.
Paraguay took the lead in a tedious first half, which tends to have been the case with most games since the opening day. However, Italy did manage to net an equaliser from a set-piece with yet another goalkeeping mistake. As the ball was graciously floated in, the South American goalkeeper, Justo Villar flapped at his opportunity to catch and helplessly watched the infamous “Jabulani’” advance past his body and connect with Daniele De Rossi for an easy goal.
It was soon the turn of Group F’s other two contenders, New Zealand and Slovakia playing what was probably the least anticipated match of the entire tournament. With Australia, unfairly in my opinion, drafted into the Asian qualifying system for being ‘too good’ for their continent of Oceania, the Kiwis were presented with a timid route to the finals and with the emergence of deceitful “New Zealand internationals” born elsewhere, searching for world cup glory, such as Tommy Smith from England, who conveniently lived there for a while; they also had a whole new team.
The Slovakians duly took the lead with a rare attack on goal finishing with a converted header. More opportunities were scarce and you were left wondering how the likes of Sweden, the Czech Republic and even the Republic Of Ireland were left out of the tournament at the expense of this team of non-leaguers and fake national heroes. Romantically, the Danish, Winston Reid scored a header in injury time to gain New Zealand a point sending their team into hysterical celebrations. Celebrated as their ‘best result ever’ you have to wonder whether the system is flawed and FIFA’s interference with geographical qualification leagues is hindering the quality of the tournament which is famous for sporting the best teams and players in the entire world. With Dimitar Berbatov, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Petr Cech absent, should the qualification process be reassessed? I defiantly feel there is room for improvement.
With such a lack of quality in that group, it was time for the “group of death”, group G, to display their unquestionable talent and their right for a presence in South Africa, perhaps with the omission of North Korea. Arguably the best African side, Ivory Coast, were hit with a group including Brazil and Portugal, diminishing their favourable chances of progressing to an honourable stage of the tournament. With the appointment of Sven Goran-Eriksson as manager, the Ivorians’ hopes were instantly raised and despite a potentially fatal blow in the form of an arm fracture for the incredibly powerful, talismanic hit man, Didier Drogba, the Africans played better than they were given credit for.
Drogba was handed a place amongst the substitutes but Ivory Coast still managed to field an impressive side including the Toure brothers, Salomon Kalou and the particularly credible, Gervinho. A typical Eriksson display limited the Portuguese to only one satisfying attempt in the form of some Cristiano Ronaldo magic as the outstanding player produced a neat turn and distant snap-shot resulting in the woodwork. It was mainly the Africans who flaunted an undeniable urgency, rarely visible in the dull nature of this tournament’s competition by causing the majority of the problems.
Drogba’s passion could not be questioned as he appeared, constantly animated from the sidelines and he was finally allowed to join the game with twenty-five minutes remaining. His involvement was minimal as all his team-mates appeared to be aware of his unfortunate situation and intended to save his brilliance for other games, with a point seemingly, already gained from a disappointingly sedate European team. However; Drogba did make sure his presence was respected with an outstretching leg to send the ball agonizingly wide on one occasion, but it was obvious that this is the best African team and could, in my opinion, be a real contender for the title if they manage to sneak out of their difficult group as the improbable advancers.
Attention now turns to the world cup’s most successful nation, Brazil. Against an unassuming North Korean side, it’s likely this unusually solid side of Brazil’s, still containing the predictable flair, skill and brilliance of always will do their best to dismantle, devour and destroy the Koreans. But football is made for moments like this and it could be quite a moment of national pride if the underdogs manage an unlikely draw or even an inconceivable victory.

Do we never learn? 'NEVER write off the Germans!'

As the world cup has progressed we’ve already seen the typical, predictable, yet rather fun circus of controversy, tears and ‘never write off the Germans’ slogan, which tends to show it’s face every four years.
Following England’s disappointing showing in the opening fixture of group C it was now time for the two lesser nations of the group to fight for some valuable points. Whoever lost this game would arguably find it almost impossible to qualify and whoever won would have a strong three points, go top of the group and genuinely be able to begin a solid quest for qualification. However; with the potential of the world cup knockout stages in store, neither side began with any particular strength, skill or determination. A very poor match by world cup standards, sporting only three to four players who could possible hope to even play in the premiership, was thankfully finished by a goal from former West Bromwich Albion midfielder, Robert Koren. Koren’s shot looked to be heading for the Algerian keeper’s grateful grasp when he suddenly appeared to forget he had the use of his arms and helplessly watched the ball fly past his chest into the back of the net. It appears it’s not only Robert Green having his problems and perhaps if these goalkeeping misjudgements continue to occur it will be the “Jabulani” ball who has yet more guilt to accept.
It was then the start of Group D where a reasonably strong Serbia side would take on last tournament’s wild card; Ghana. The Ghana side quite obviously missed the presence of Michael Essien in the middle, as any team would, following his heart-breaking injury and the lack of urgency in midfield became instantly apparent. The slow tempo in the middle of the park made for yet another poor game with a lack of attacking flair but Ghana will be pleased with the acquisition of Kevin-Prince Boateng as a Ghanian international as his flashes of quality proved decisive and he, himself will be delighted with his high stature in the team despite his easy route to the tournament. Despite a strong nucleus of Nemanja Vidic, Dejan Stankovic and the giant Nikola Zigic in the Serbian side they failed to advance from first gear and never really got going. An imbecilic hand-ball from a Serbian international in his own penalty area lost the chance to gain any points as Asamoah Gyan stepped up confidently for Ghana, in patriotic fashion to blast the ball into the back of the net resulting in wild celebrations of joy and cultural dance. However; despite the win, it was another disappointing display from an African side who I had expected to excel in this tournament.
With neither team a particular favourite of the Englishman, the majority of the nation did not mind if either side crashed and burned immediately. However; to see Germany beat Australia so convincingly was rather worrying as they put in, unquestionably, the performance of the tournament so far to smash the Aussies and place a gloomy cloud over group C, which of course includes England. Whoever draws Germany in the round of the last sixteen will have to do very well to advance any further in the competition. As we, in England, consistently moan how our players including the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney perform so magnificently at club level, yet fail to convert their form onto the international stage, it appears Germany have the complete opposite of that problem. With Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski only scoring three goals each domestically this season, they still managed to form a deadly partnership and opened the scored for Germany with a goal each. The third striker, the much talked about Mr. Muller, then aptly netted the third goal and to top it off, the introduction of Brazilian-born forward Cacau then netted the forth to complete the demolition.
Confident moves and comfortable passing from the Germans throughout made this performance more than convincing with the captain, Phillip Lahm just one of the stand-out players as he patrolled the flanks in aid of offense and defence. Mesut Ozil was another star who appears to have burst onto the scene and his effective play-making is likely to have taught England a lesson. We need Joe Cole. The young midfielders dribbling ability and eye for the killer pass, aswell as his own threatening runs towards goal made him a constant problem to the opposition. His position was clearly made for the slow tempo of this year’s world cup and the only players England have in that mould has to be Chelsea’s departing Mr. Cole. The controversial sending-off of Tim Cahill was a shocking mistake which sent the Australian into tears. Not only did it effectively kill the game off in Germany’s favour but it also broke the heart of a fantastic, honest footballer and again raises the question of video technology. The challenge should no where near have been deemed a red card offence and now Cahill’s tournament could be over due to the reckless, unnecessary antics of an irresponsible referee.
Holland’s game the following morning was of much anticipation with excitement building around this year’s team despite the absence of Arjen Robben. However, despite a relatively comfortable win, the side failed to live up to it's expectations of ‘total football’. An incredibly fortunate own-goal in favour of the Dutch saw a Danish defender, under little pressure, head the ball into the back of his own team mate only to watch it drop perfectly onto the post and in. Later on, as the game was becoming stale, Holland hit the post and the ball fell nicely for Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt who gratefully slotted home. Holland showed no where near the class of Germany the previous evening.
Japan then stole a deserved 1-0 win over another disappointing African side in the form of Cameroon. Despite the likes of Geremi, Sebastian Bassong and Samuel Eto’o, the organised unit of the Japanese drove out a grinding 3 points and increased their, before, slim chances of qualification to the knock-out stages.
Overall; the tournament is advancing calmly into one of potential excitement but has so far failed to hit the heights we had all hoped for. Apart from the Germans of course. Typically we wrote this off as their ‘worst team ever’, and yet again, typically they have proved us wrong with a stunning display of strength, skill and determination and emerged as genuine contenders. Tonight we can see the world champions, Italy with an ageing team against a Paraguay side without it’s two key strikers, Roque Santa Cruz and Oscar Cardozo. If the Italians fail to beat the Paraguayans then surely their chances of retaining their title is over. But then again; you never know in football.

A magnificent start with a desperate finish. Is the best still to come? It better be.

The first Saturday of the World Cup was a day of magnificent starts, encouragement and hope; only to see the excitement agonizingly fizzle out into a calm game of a cautious, tedious nature. Typical of an international exhibition match but not the World Cup.
The Korean Republic were rather impressive against an extremely poor Greece side with a distinct lack of ambition. As an organised unit the Koreans scored from a set-piece early on, which would’ve infuriated the Greek coach. They then became the first team of this world cup to kill a game off with regards to the scoring of their second goal. A weaving, speedy run from Manchester United’s Ji-Sung Park was completed with a neat finish. His creative threat throughout was a constant thorn in the sides of the Greeks and it’s possible Park has the potential to be a hero for his nation in this world cup. The likes of Georgios Samaras and Thomas Gekas up front for Greece showed little to suggest the European side could pull off another amazing tournament win, reminiscent of Euro 2004 and it was easy to tell why they’re struggling to sell tickets for games.
Argentina against Nigeria was probably the first game of the tournament that the neutral genuinely wanted to see, rather than simply being sucked in by world cup fever. Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi naturally impressed throughout but the Argentinean goal came early on from an unlikely source in the form of former Manchester United left-back Gabriel Heinze. Widely criticised throughout the qualifying campaign and resented by the Argentinean public for the omission of Champions League winners Zanetti and Cambiasso, Heinze began to defy the critics with a superb, diving header from a corner. Absence of marking and urgency from Nigeria practically gifted the opportunity to Heinze who couldn‘t believe his luck.
Nigeria’s poor performance in defence continued but Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain missed two superb opportunities which left Diego Maradonna rolling down the touchline in despair. Champions league final hero, Diego Milito eventually replaced Higuain but it was astounding to see a team sporting an advanced trio of Messi, Tevez and Higuain with the likes of Miltio, Martin Palermo and Sergio Aguero sitting on the bench fail to convert the second goal.
And then it was England’s much awaited, opening clash with the United States of America. Capello finally put a stop the infernal line-up speculation from the media by announcing Robert Green, James Milner and Emile Heskey would all start. England began in the best possible way, with Heskey displaying his link-up play to the audience in an attempt to justify his selection, he put Steven Gerrard, controversially starting next to Frank Lampard, through on goal who gracefully slotted the ball in the corner. The game looked as though it would practically die out in typically English fashion with the British scraping the 1-0 in a game involving nothing more than a few scares. Wrong. Clint Dempsey’s rather weak strike of desperation from 25-yards looked to be safely entering the grateful grasp of Robert Green when the West Ham keeper shockingly spilled the ball and scrambled in despair only to see it tortuously trickle over the line as a fortunate equaliser. As a West Ham fan, the feeling of Green’s embarrassment and incredible shame was shared by me. Like watching your son lose the relay for his team on sports day, I was met with a feeling of guilt and lust for the Earth to gobble Green up before he had the chance to re-show his face. However, I’m sure Green’s relaxed nature will mean he can bounce back from this and I hope Capello reselects him for the Algeria game so he has an opportunity to redeem himself.
James Milner’s hasty substitution on the half an hour mark heralding the introduction of Shaun Wright-Phillips must’ve been heart-breaking for the Manchester City target but his reckless fouling was a danger to England’s hopes and by displaying such indiscipline, as well as failing to assist Ashley Cole in dealing with Landon Donovan, perhaps it was the correct decision. The safety-net of Gareth Barry was missed by the defence and as Ledley King predictably left the field via injury a lethargic back two of Jamie Carragher and John Terry required his presence as they were continually skinned by the likes of Jozey Altidore. God knows what will happen when they’re up against the likes of Luis Fabiano, Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres rather than the former Hull City fringe player.
With immense pressure and focus placed on Wayne Rooney, he often found himself isolated by mass amounts of American defenders and had to come deep into midfield to collect the ball; meaning his new-found goal-scoring prowess for Manchester United this season was non-existent and he was relatively ineffectual. It’s worth arguing that with the opposition placing so much attention upon our young talisman it could open the way for other strikers to score. But when your other striker is Emile Heskey, what chance do you stand?
In fairness to Heskey he went someway to showing exactly why he is chosen but I stand by my theory that you need someone who will take your chances in the big match and by admiring Argentina’s awesome bench it’s obvious we don’t have the ammunition of our competition. However we do have a top manager in Fabio Capello who must do a better job than Diego Maradonna and despite a disappointing start on a national level, we can still go further in the tournament. Maybe the best is still to come.

The World Cup begins with a magnificent opener on South Africa's day of pride

The mood-reflecting, sun shone brightly down on ‘Soccer City’ in this illustrious day for the proud nation of South Africa. The delightful opening ceremony’s essence of Africa and celebration was as refreshing as any previous tournament’s attempts and despite the unfortunate absence of the iconic Nelson Mandela due to his great granddaughter’s shocking death, the display still managed to emit the positive message of diversity and prosperity amongst the proud continent of Africa on a colossal scale.
The first game of the tournament which saw the hosts, South Africa take on a Mexico team recently beaten by England was of little disappointment. Conveniently, it was the Africans who took the lead as the rather comically named, Siphiwe Tshabalala blasted an astounding bullet beyond the grasps of the Mexican keeper. The Kaizer Chiefs’ (a South African football team in case you were thinking the team had some kind of rock star) winger will have attracted European interest, which will come as a nightmare to John Motsen, with a performance which made him a constant threat to the opponents as he constantly advanced within Mexican territory with genuine pace and quality. The slightly embarrassing, yet meaningful, patriotic celebration involving a choreographed dance which followed is likely to be a cult image to be carried through generations and a famous picture resembling the moment Africa really, finally put it‘s stamp on the world of football on a global basis.
Moments of quick, quality, fluid football from the, so-called “Bafana Bafanas” will have pleasantly shocked viewers who considered South Africa’s presence in the tournament a mere convenience on a geographical level. However, the emphatic, monotonous drone of the controversial vuvuzelas was unexpectedly drowned out by disappointment when Barcelona defender, Rafael Marquez spoilt the party by equalising for the Mexicans. A late chance for South Africa agonizingly hit the post, but overall it was an encouraging, positive, commendable start to a tournament which has attracted such negative speculation.
France versus Uruguay, on the other hand, was much more of a disappointment. Arguably two giants of world football; despite the Uruguayan’s severe loss of stature in modern times, an exciting strike partnership of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan threatened to regain the South Americans’ respect and pride in the world of football and act as a catalyst in catapulting the team into an unexpected contender to enter the latter stages. Nothing of the sort. Tipped by many to overturn the French, a rather pathetic couple of shots from Forlan was all Uruguay could muster and France contributed little into making this the spectacle it had the potential to be.
The France manager, Raymond Domenech went some way to proving why he is so unpopular in his native country with a lack of tactical awareness, poor substitutions and a generally negative approach to “the greatest show on earth”. Florent Malouda’s introduction was far too late and after the Frenchman’s superb performances for Chelsea in attack this year, he should have been employed in a more advanced role. The straight swap of Thierry Henry for Nicholas Anelka lacked ambition as last year’s finalists cautiously, unimaginatively decided not to convert to a formation sporting a front two. Henry’s performance was nothing like the magical, majestic displays of his time at Arsenal and this once, world-class act appeared isolated as the lone striker and his physical attributes are slowly, pitifully withering away. His desperation for an impact even forced him to appeal for a handball, an extremely hypocritical and audacious action with regards to his Irish shame. It’s unlikely Henry will agree to David Sullivan’s bold attempts to sign him for West Ham as his legendry status in England would drop further down the drain with poor performances, a financially rewarding transfer to the USA would probably be the most sensible move at this stage of his career. Unless he sincerely believes, in his unquestionable yet rather admirable arrogance, he can still have a crack at the big time.
A late sending-off for an irresponsible, reckless, Uruguayan substitute was the only controversial action of the game, on a day when referees made some fantastic decisions in both matches. The much awaited 11th of June is finally over and the world cup is well and truly underway with the anticipation increasingly growing ahead of England’s game tomorrow evening. Despite a tedious match to finish the night, it would be acceptable to say that South Africa can be very pleased with their soccer introduction to the world.

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.

Why England's first game in South Africa must be considered a success

England’s first game in South Africa against local side, Platinum Stars will probably be deemed unconvincing by the British media, but, when you put the situation into perspective, the game was nothing more than a training session to the England squad and we’ve escaped with a reasonable, 3-0 win and, vitally, no injuries.
You could generously describe Platinum Stars as the equivalent of a lower league side in England, so imagine their delight and excitement at the task of facing an international side filled with stars of the calibre and stature of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, especially as the nation is currently overwhelmed with the buzz of soccer pandemonium. With those men playing the game of their lives, England would’ve been happy to take a back-seat and gain a morale boosting winning whilst not loosing any more players to the curse of injury, which so cruelly stole Rio Ferdinand’s chance to lift the trophy.
Jermain Defoe’s early goal would’ve quietened moans fighting Darren Bent’s case for a space in the 23-man squad and reassured the public that despite his rather reserved end to the season, Defoe is a natural goal scorer and should disaster strike in the form of an injury to the talismanic Wayne Rooney, he is a suitable replacement. The game was encouraging for Rooney who ended a, for his standards, moderate goal-scoring drought for his country. Emile Heskey, on the other hand, knocked an opportunity, with his head, wide of the mark. No surprise there. As top-level international matches tend to be extremely tight, tense occasions, you must be efficient in the manner of taking your chances if you’re going to succeed. If England’s golden chance falls to Heskey, it’s unlikely they’ll be advancing to the next round and the Aston Villa target man’s low popularity in this country will decrease even further. However; it would be great for Heskey if he could defy the critics in his reserved, unselfish manner by allowing Rooney more freedom to play his game and finally gaining some recognition of his own.
An attacking, solo-run from Glen Johnson was promising in terms of his offensive ability but this has never really been in doubt for the pacey full-back. His defensive credibility, however, was again a dilemma for England as a misjudged header forced him to into conceding a penalty, which the local side, fortunately, failed to convert. You can be sure a player of the stature of Didier Drogba, Kaka or Fernando Torres would not have been so forgiving and Johnson’s unreliable performances in the defensive sector will be an increasing worry for Fabio Capello, enhancing the chances of Jamie Carragher adopting the right side of the back four for himself.
The expeditious break from England in aid of Joe Cole’s goal was hopefully an advert for the expansive play we will look to employ during the tournament and was the real highlight of an otherwise, dull and modest game. The fact Cole was the only player to complete the whole game means his fitness must now be unquestionable to Capello and that can only be good news for England who, with Cole, have a genuine footballer made for the big stage. His undeniable skill, technique and ability to produce a moment of unthinkable magic makes him one of our squad’s most naturally gifted players and his disappointing domestic season at Chelsea will be quickly forgotten if he proves to be the major asset to England he has the potential to be.
Whether the vacancy of David James meant he has nothing to prove to Capello or that he’s a non-starter will certainly be up for debate, but, the lack of Gareth Barry will be a genuine worry for England and the question as to why their seems to have been a lack of recognition towards Scott Parker in the 30-man squad will yet again be raised. The enthusiastic midfielder was said to have been the outstanding trainer in the Austrian camp and would certainly have installed his passion, determination and typically English spirit into the rest of the team, not to mention his conclusive talent and decisive, defensive ability. Capello will also be labelled a hypocrite after he began his reign as the national manager stressing the importance of fitness and form, a comment he may live to regret as he continually ignores it.
The reason for Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham’s presence is ambiguous to the outsider but seeing them sign shirts and converse with the natives during this warm-up game suggests they will be able to remove some of the untenable pressure provided by the obsessive media from the players and perhaps allow the playing squad to be fully focused on winning football matches alone. The fact Capello now feel they require this particular role reflects badly on our national media as they continue to convince us our world cup dreams will finally come true, only to send our hopes crashing back down to earth in a whirlpool of cynical stories and scandal. As the most powerful voice in our country, we must take it upon ourselves to support our team patriotically in the sincere belief that this really can be our year.