1 United look a good bet; Others are shaky
We'll expand on the Utd-Chelsea game in a while but for now, awful as Chelsea no doubt were yesterday, fact is Man Utd made a serious statement of intent with that 3-0 win. They were energetic, lively, strong-minded, had a good tempo and when it came to the crunch of a big game, had the mindset to go for it and win. Chelsea look more vulnerable than any time recently, they're not playing for Scolari and Drogba's a liability wandering around like that. Liverpool and Rafa lost the plot a little by drawing at Stoke - no easy place to win obviously - but after the rant by their manager they needed to make their own statement. That they struggled to says a lot about their chances of sustaining this challenge. Leading onto...
2 Rafa doesn't fancy our Robbie
Look, we do seem to be having a go at poor Robbie Keane a lot here but we hold no grudge against the man. Much as we Irish may moan about the craziness of Benitez leaving Keane on the sideline, it's not like Keane has shown lethal, deadly finishing recently. But with Pool drawing 0-0, needing a goal from somewhere, that Benitez again left Keane on the line says everything you need to know about his real feelings on the striker: he doesn't think he's up to it. Rightly or wrongly, that's a simple fact. That Benitez spent £20m on a striker he's decided six months later isn't good enough must raise questions in Pool supporters (and American owners) heads. That Benitez went to Stoke with Kuyt up front on his own and two sitting midfielders says a lot about his mentality too though.
3 RTE ought never do GAA specials (ever!)
Take your pick on the worst moments of a typically cringe-inducing, clichéd, Late Late show GAA special. The Fields of Athenry by Brush Shiels. Bertie and Dunphs together. Showing Darragh that pic of Brian Dooher. More of the Kerry-Dublin "hilarious characters and stories from the golden era of football". The woeful attempt at parody from the comedian that was simply in bad taste. The lack of effort at including anything slightly to the left of the bigger names. Late Late specials are always terrible. This was especially terrible. Please spare us anything like this again. Please.
Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Things we learnt 3
1 We're still not convinced by Liverpool
Yes, yes, Jumpthefence has enough Liverpool fans as friends to know that they're top of the league having been missing their best attacker for much of the season so a basic analysis of matters would suggest there ain't a whole pile wrong. But sometimes a little delving beneath the surface tells more. As one notoriously biased Pool fan on a Guardian blog admitted,their performances so far have been hugely lacklustre. Yesterday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal (as predicted Friday folks!!) might seem a very decent result but in truth Arsene Wenger's side were performing poorly, lacking their captain after half-time,lightweight in midfield, terrified of every ball in defence and generally as there for the taking as you can be. Liverpool were comfortable, yet they never took a risk or showed a hint of ambition to go for the throat when it was on. Four draws in five games they could have won could come back to haunt them.
By the way, great to see Robbie Keane scoring a cracker, but we wouldn't be getting carried away with talk of answering his critics just yet.
2 Padraig Harrington is Irish sportsperson of the year
And rightly so. Much crazy talk went around the sports forums all week that Harrington was somehow undeserving of the honour for various reasons that went through different shades of begrudgery. Harrington won two of the four majors in golf this past year. Imagine the thumping of chests from across the water if Andy Murray won Wimbledon and the US Open. Just because it's a slightly minority sport here in this country doesn't make Harrington's achievements any less. I know a fair shot of people that cheered Harrington to those wins who wouldn't know a putter from a nine-iron if both were handed to them. The fact he seems a genuinely nice guy only makes it sweeter. Would have been nice to see them recognise Kilkenny as team of the year though.
3 Aiden McGeady's time with Celtic may be up
No harm either if true. We always had the impression of McGeady as a mild-mannered enough chap, a sort of incomprehensible, forever-young winger who just went out and played with little worry about money or the trappings of modern football. Seems he's got a bit of a rep for being mouthy and not slow in getting his point across in the dressing-room though. Anyhow, McGeady's surely reached the end of the road and it could be the best thing for him. There's no more improving he can do playing the likes of Motherwell and Hamilton week after week and as much as Celtic fans wouldn't agree,a couple of years with an Everton or a Middlebrough would be better for his development and decision-making - the main part of his game that needs work. Bayern Munich might be fanciful. A mid-to-top premier league team shouldn't be and the boy's young enough yet. We watch with interest.
Yes, yes, Jumpthefence has enough Liverpool fans as friends to know that they're top of the league having been missing their best attacker for much of the season so a basic analysis of matters would suggest there ain't a whole pile wrong. But sometimes a little delving beneath the surface tells more. As one notoriously biased Pool fan on a Guardian blog admitted,their performances so far have been hugely lacklustre. Yesterday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal (as predicted Friday folks!!) might seem a very decent result but in truth Arsene Wenger's side were performing poorly, lacking their captain after half-time,lightweight in midfield, terrified of every ball in defence and generally as there for the taking as you can be. Liverpool were comfortable, yet they never took a risk or showed a hint of ambition to go for the throat when it was on. Four draws in five games they could have won could come back to haunt them.
By the way, great to see Robbie Keane scoring a cracker, but we wouldn't be getting carried away with talk of answering his critics just yet.
2 Padraig Harrington is Irish sportsperson of the year
And rightly so. Much crazy talk went around the sports forums all week that Harrington was somehow undeserving of the honour for various reasons that went through different shades of begrudgery. Harrington won two of the four majors in golf this past year. Imagine the thumping of chests from across the water if Andy Murray won Wimbledon and the US Open. Just because it's a slightly minority sport here in this country doesn't make Harrington's achievements any less. I know a fair shot of people that cheered Harrington to those wins who wouldn't know a putter from a nine-iron if both were handed to them. The fact he seems a genuinely nice guy only makes it sweeter. Would have been nice to see them recognise Kilkenny as team of the year though.
3 Aiden McGeady's time with Celtic may be up
No harm either if true. We always had the impression of McGeady as a mild-mannered enough chap, a sort of incomprehensible, forever-young winger who just went out and played with little worry about money or the trappings of modern football. Seems he's got a bit of a rep for being mouthy and not slow in getting his point across in the dressing-room though. Anyhow, McGeady's surely reached the end of the road and it could be the best thing for him. There's no more improving he can do playing the likes of Motherwell and Hamilton week after week and as much as Celtic fans wouldn't agree,a couple of years with an Everton or a Middlebrough would be better for his development and decision-making - the main part of his game that needs work. Bayern Munich might be fanciful. A mid-to-top premier league team shouldn't be and the boy's young enough yet. We watch with interest.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Champs lge draw + weekend action
Well at last the Champions League gets somewhat interesting. After the horrible boredom of the group stages – Jumpthefence turned over to Eastenders on final game night and the lads on RTE were getting awfully stale with far too much filler – we’re treated to some crackers in the first knockout round. Premier league vs Serie A/ La Liga with a whole pile of interesting subplots thrown in. This time last year I’d have fancied all the English sides to progress but there are reasons enough to suggest it won’t all be one-way traffic now; in fact I’d wager there’ll be some high-profile casualty when these games are done and dusted.
Arsenal-Roma won’t be as straight-forward as one might think. Roma are on a decent winning streak after terrible early season form and with Totti back, Perrotta on form and Vucinic a threat, they won’t be fearing Arsenal at all. Chelsea-Juve has the Ranieri factor to lead with. Juve have actually looked a team again this season, thumping four past Milan last week, and with Del Piero on the sort of form he showed ten years ago, Amauri a revelation up front and the likes of Marchisio and De Ceglie coming through the ranks, they’ll be more than fodder for Chelsea.
United-Inter will bring out the best in the Mourinho/ Ferguson history. Inter looked out of their depth crumbling to Liverpool last year but Jose will have them more compact, harder to beat and a tad more resilient I feel. If Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ever going to announce himself as a big-game player (Italian football has had its share of Godots, we’re always waiting for them – Totti, Del Piero was actually known by that name in Italy), there’d hardly be a better tie. And Real-Liverpool has a glean of importance off it. Real have looked a shambles at times but with Ramos in charge they ought be better organised, up for it and if Robben is fit he could well inspire an upset. Rafa, going back to Madrid, will most likely make a stalemate of it and hope to nick a goal somewhere. Torres of course will be well up for it, and could be the deciding factor.
And if you want more: Arsenal-Liverpool this weekend could be fun. Pool will fancy making another statement of intent on their title, ahem, charge but like the teenage boy who’s finally got the go-ahead to take things further with the girlfriend, their nervousness may well end up making a mess of things. Arsenal can always be relied upon to be flaky so when we’re expecting a big-game, all-action display they could be disappointing (let’s be honest, they were lucky out to get something from Chelsea a few weeks ago). Both teams are far too inconsistent to call it. So we’ll say a 1-1 draw is a good bet.
Arsenal-Roma won’t be as straight-forward as one might think. Roma are on a decent winning streak after terrible early season form and with Totti back, Perrotta on form and Vucinic a threat, they won’t be fearing Arsenal at all. Chelsea-Juve has the Ranieri factor to lead with. Juve have actually looked a team again this season, thumping four past Milan last week, and with Del Piero on the sort of form he showed ten years ago, Amauri a revelation up front and the likes of Marchisio and De Ceglie coming through the ranks, they’ll be more than fodder for Chelsea.
United-Inter will bring out the best in the Mourinho/ Ferguson history. Inter looked out of their depth crumbling to Liverpool last year but Jose will have them more compact, harder to beat and a tad more resilient I feel. If Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ever going to announce himself as a big-game player (Italian football has had its share of Godots, we’re always waiting for them – Totti, Del Piero was actually known by that name in Italy), there’d hardly be a better tie. And Real-Liverpool has a glean of importance off it. Real have looked a shambles at times but with Ramos in charge they ought be better organised, up for it and if Robben is fit he could well inspire an upset. Rafa, going back to Madrid, will most likely make a stalemate of it and hope to nick a goal somewhere. Torres of course will be well up for it, and could be the deciding factor.
And if you want more: Arsenal-Liverpool this weekend could be fun. Pool will fancy making another statement of intent on their title, ahem, charge but like the teenage boy who’s finally got the go-ahead to take things further with the girlfriend, their nervousness may well end up making a mess of things. Arsenal can always be relied upon to be flaky so when we’re expecting a big-game, all-action display they could be disappointing (let’s be honest, they were lucky out to get something from Chelsea a few weeks ago). Both teams are far too inconsistent to call it. So we’ll say a 1-1 draw is a good bet.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Question - Robbie Keane,mistake or hard done by?
Right, an explanation to begin, before the catterwalling about there being “no problem” with Robbie Keane starts. A striker Rafa Benitez paid £20m for (but more importantly, that was hailed as the final piece of the jigsaw all summer) sat his arse on the bench over a full league game with Blackburn that Liverpool struggled for long spells throughout, and then a crucial home game with Hull where they badly needed a spark. And that’s all while their top forward is out injured. There IS a problem. To suggest not would take an Irish government-like, heads-in-the-sand, of-course-we-can-always-rely-on-the-building-industry stubborness.
And the problem is that Robbie Keane, for varying reasons, has not started terribly well at Liverpool. Those wondering exactly why it was Benitez didn’t rush him from the bench last Saturday are ignoring the evidence built up from Liege (x2), Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Villa, Man Utd, Stoke, Wigan, Chelsea, Spurs, Atletico, Bolton, Fulham, West Ham – all games where Keane neither looked like scoring or creating a goal. 13 starts, 2 sub appearances, for 2 goals against West Brom. You’d swear Benitez was tinkering with a goal machine for all the moaning. If we were to be critical, Keane’s been largely ineffective and mostly anonymous. There have to be questions as to why Benitez bought him and to whether he’s possibly out of his depth.
Okay, there are possible qualifications. Keane’s not had a regular partner and wasn’t bought for playing up front on his own. The way Liverpool play doesn’t necessarily help a striker’s flow of goals (though they are top of the league). Being hauled off every game doesn’t do much for a man’s confidence. But, and it’s a J-Lo sized but(t), there must be questions asked of Keane in all this. Martin Samuel wrote a great piece in the Times recently about how Steven Gerrard supporters spend an awful lot of time telling people all the things he can’t do for a supposedly great player and Jumpthefence finds the same with Robbie Keane. Tony Cascarino took it to farcical lengths last week, narrowing Keane’s ideal effectiveness down to a situation that might happen once a month at best (though there was a glimmer of truth in his piece). You’ll see explanations that Liverpool don’t play to Robbie’s strengths, but that hardly hampered Fernando Torres last season and in truth, top attacking players ought have the capacity to adjust and still offer something.
His limitations? Keane’s not a link man – yep he likes dropping deep but rarely enough is it effective and he doesn’t tot up huge assists – so suggestions of a new Kenny Dalglish were well wide of the mark. He’s not a prolific finisher. Yeah, he’s our leading scorer but critics would point to a lot of padding out against poor sides. Last campaign he missed big chances at home to Germany (that lob) and Czech Rep (that header) and didn’t score against either. Remember him being whipped off at home to Switzerland when we needed a goal the campaign before that (and he didn’t score against France or Switzerland then either)? He’s tactically poor. How many times have we moaned collectively at his flapping about the place up front for Ireland, running a lot but achieving damn little. Throw this all together and there has to be a school of thought that says Keane’s just not a top-club striker. Add in the fact that his temperament doesn’t seem fantastic right now – for those who claim he’s putting the head down and quietly getting on with things, shrugging shoulders at fans during the Hull game, running his hands over his face every time he’s taken off and shaking his head at not getting every pass smacks of a look-how-badly-I’m-being-treated attitude – and perhaps performing highly at Spurs is very different to the pressures of life at Liverpool.
For all this, he does have strengths; in fact, there were occasions last season where Jumpthefence believed he might be turning into a real top player. His movement round the goal is supreme; he’s caught god knows how many defenders with that feint to near post, go far post routine. Those knacky little twitches and turns that can create space in phone-box like areas. Working off knock downs to get in behind defenders. Mostly those instinctive finishes like the crackers notched for Spurs at Anfield and home to Chelsea last season (check out all his 07/08 goals here).
Look, it might all turn out grand for Keane yet; there’s plenty of players who took time to settle at a top club (though mostly it’s guys who came from abroad). But Jumpthefence doesn’t believe that the return of Torres will automatically mean a Yorke-Cole like gelling up front for Pool, in fact we’d suggest it’ll likely limit his chances as Rafa dons his conservative 4-2-3-1 cap. Out wide for Kuyt/ Riera simply can’t work. He may not be shipped out in January (that’s be far too galling an admission of mistake from Benitez) but the summer would be a good bet. We take no pleasure in this – it’s far too long (Duff circa 03/05) since we had a player on form at a top club. But evidence so far would say it ain’t gonna turn out sweetness and light for Robbie Keane. Blame Rafa if you like, but there’s more to this problem.
And the problem is that Robbie Keane, for varying reasons, has not started terribly well at Liverpool. Those wondering exactly why it was Benitez didn’t rush him from the bench last Saturday are ignoring the evidence built up from Liege (x2), Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Villa, Man Utd, Stoke, Wigan, Chelsea, Spurs, Atletico, Bolton, Fulham, West Ham – all games where Keane neither looked like scoring or creating a goal. 13 starts, 2 sub appearances, for 2 goals against West Brom. You’d swear Benitez was tinkering with a goal machine for all the moaning. If we were to be critical, Keane’s been largely ineffective and mostly anonymous. There have to be questions as to why Benitez bought him and to whether he’s possibly out of his depth.
Okay, there are possible qualifications. Keane’s not had a regular partner and wasn’t bought for playing up front on his own. The way Liverpool play doesn’t necessarily help a striker’s flow of goals (though they are top of the league). Being hauled off every game doesn’t do much for a man’s confidence. But, and it’s a J-Lo sized but(t), there must be questions asked of Keane in all this. Martin Samuel wrote a great piece in the Times recently about how Steven Gerrard supporters spend an awful lot of time telling people all the things he can’t do for a supposedly great player and Jumpthefence finds the same with Robbie Keane. Tony Cascarino took it to farcical lengths last week, narrowing Keane’s ideal effectiveness down to a situation that might happen once a month at best (though there was a glimmer of truth in his piece). You’ll see explanations that Liverpool don’t play to Robbie’s strengths, but that hardly hampered Fernando Torres last season and in truth, top attacking players ought have the capacity to adjust and still offer something.
His limitations? Keane’s not a link man – yep he likes dropping deep but rarely enough is it effective and he doesn’t tot up huge assists – so suggestions of a new Kenny Dalglish were well wide of the mark. He’s not a prolific finisher. Yeah, he’s our leading scorer but critics would point to a lot of padding out against poor sides. Last campaign he missed big chances at home to Germany (that lob) and Czech Rep (that header) and didn’t score against either. Remember him being whipped off at home to Switzerland when we needed a goal the campaign before that (and he didn’t score against France or Switzerland then either)? He’s tactically poor. How many times have we moaned collectively at his flapping about the place up front for Ireland, running a lot but achieving damn little. Throw this all together and there has to be a school of thought that says Keane’s just not a top-club striker. Add in the fact that his temperament doesn’t seem fantastic right now – for those who claim he’s putting the head down and quietly getting on with things, shrugging shoulders at fans during the Hull game, running his hands over his face every time he’s taken off and shaking his head at not getting every pass smacks of a look-how-badly-I’m-being-treated attitude – and perhaps performing highly at Spurs is very different to the pressures of life at Liverpool.
For all this, he does have strengths; in fact, there were occasions last season where Jumpthefence believed he might be turning into a real top player. His movement round the goal is supreme; he’s caught god knows how many defenders with that feint to near post, go far post routine. Those knacky little twitches and turns that can create space in phone-box like areas. Working off knock downs to get in behind defenders. Mostly those instinctive finishes like the crackers notched for Spurs at Anfield and home to Chelsea last season (check out all his 07/08 goals here).
Look, it might all turn out grand for Keane yet; there’s plenty of players who took time to settle at a top club (though mostly it’s guys who came from abroad). But Jumpthefence doesn’t believe that the return of Torres will automatically mean a Yorke-Cole like gelling up front for Pool, in fact we’d suggest it’ll likely limit his chances as Rafa dons his conservative 4-2-3-1 cap. Out wide for Kuyt/ Riera simply can’t work. He may not be shipped out in January (that’s be far too galling an admission of mistake from Benitez) but the summer would be a good bet. We take no pleasure in this – it’s far too long (Duff circa 03/05) since we had a player on form at a top club. But evidence so far would say it ain’t gonna turn out sweetness and light for Robbie Keane. Blame Rafa if you like, but there’s more to this problem.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Things we learnt
Jumpthefence may have overindulged in some activities for various reasons over the weekend, but here’s what learnings were made clearer over the last few days of sporting activity…
1 Liverpool are passing up their chance to pull away in the league
Okay, it may well be that all the top sides are dropping a few more points than expected in the last few weeks. It may well be that the Pool are still top of the league by a point heading towards Christmas. It may well be that Chelsea don’t look anywhere like as invincible as people would have you believe, Arsenal are as likely to crumble under pressure as revel in it and Man Utd’s attack still isn’t gelling with Berbatov, Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney not quite clicking into gear as a force. But United have played away to Aston Villa, Man City and Spurs in the last month. Liverpool were at home to Fulham, West Ham and Hull over the same period. Yet United actually gained two points over those six games. It’s hard to escape the notion that Rafa Benitez’s men have missed their best chance to make a statement and pull 5/6 points clear at the top and the main reason is they’re simply not good enough. (We’ll get back to Robbie Keane’s increasing outsider’s role soon here.)
2 Munster are Munster, Leinster are Leinster
For all Eamonn Sweeney’s thoughts in the Sindo yesterday, and I agree with him largely in that the chastising of Leinster as some kind of rich man’s pastime while Munster are paraded as the working man’s team is complete tosh, there’s no getting away from the difference in mentality between the two sides. It seems no matter the personnel or ability, there’s a large gap in how they approach games. Munster grind wins as naturally as FAS execs blow money. Leinster, on the other hand, keep living up to their windy reputation. Swap the sides around over the weekend for a minute – there’s no way Munster would have let a game in Castres slip away and I couldn’t see Leinster pulling that Clermont game from the fire when under the cosh. I may weep occasionally when I see Munster wins being lauded as some kind of miracle and I grit my teeth at the overhyping that accompanies every single act from the crowd at Thomond but I won’t begrudge that there’s something special in their make-up.
3 Crossmaglen are some club
Ulster football mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea and truth is, it’s damn ugly on the eye a hell of a lot of the time. Handpass, tackle, turnover, handpass, handpass, tackle, foul, and so on tends to be the pattern of things. It’s not free-flowing stuff and yesterday’s Ulster final replay between Crossmaglen and Ballinderry was no different, with hit after monstrous hit going in and frequent foul and illegal stuff happening on and off the ball. Yet that’s just why you have to admire a side that continue to come back for more year after year. They’ve won 13 Armagh titles in a row and now they’ve negotiated through three Ulsters in a row, despite having to constantly see off sides from the toughest province of the lot. Oisin McConville is remarkably still inspiring them, as are the McEntees and of course the Kernans are the energy and pace of the team. Note to footballing connoisseurs: don’t tune into their All-Ireland semi with Drom-Broadford expecting a classic.
Other things we liked this weekend:
Eamonn Sweeney again on the crazy money pumped towards horses in Ireland
The Guardian on the two big European clashes over the weekend - El Classico of Barca-Real and the Juve-Milan match-up in Italy
1 Liverpool are passing up their chance to pull away in the league
Okay, it may well be that all the top sides are dropping a few more points than expected in the last few weeks. It may well be that the Pool are still top of the league by a point heading towards Christmas. It may well be that Chelsea don’t look anywhere like as invincible as people would have you believe, Arsenal are as likely to crumble under pressure as revel in it and Man Utd’s attack still isn’t gelling with Berbatov, Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney not quite clicking into gear as a force. But United have played away to Aston Villa, Man City and Spurs in the last month. Liverpool were at home to Fulham, West Ham and Hull over the same period. Yet United actually gained two points over those six games. It’s hard to escape the notion that Rafa Benitez’s men have missed their best chance to make a statement and pull 5/6 points clear at the top and the main reason is they’re simply not good enough. (We’ll get back to Robbie Keane’s increasing outsider’s role soon here.)
2 Munster are Munster, Leinster are Leinster
For all Eamonn Sweeney’s thoughts in the Sindo yesterday, and I agree with him largely in that the chastising of Leinster as some kind of rich man’s pastime while Munster are paraded as the working man’s team is complete tosh, there’s no getting away from the difference in mentality between the two sides. It seems no matter the personnel or ability, there’s a large gap in how they approach games. Munster grind wins as naturally as FAS execs blow money. Leinster, on the other hand, keep living up to their windy reputation. Swap the sides around over the weekend for a minute – there’s no way Munster would have let a game in Castres slip away and I couldn’t see Leinster pulling that Clermont game from the fire when under the cosh. I may weep occasionally when I see Munster wins being lauded as some kind of miracle and I grit my teeth at the overhyping that accompanies every single act from the crowd at Thomond but I won’t begrudge that there’s something special in their make-up.
3 Crossmaglen are some club
Ulster football mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea and truth is, it’s damn ugly on the eye a hell of a lot of the time. Handpass, tackle, turnover, handpass, handpass, tackle, foul, and so on tends to be the pattern of things. It’s not free-flowing stuff and yesterday’s Ulster final replay between Crossmaglen and Ballinderry was no different, with hit after monstrous hit going in and frequent foul and illegal stuff happening on and off the ball. Yet that’s just why you have to admire a side that continue to come back for more year after year. They’ve won 13 Armagh titles in a row and now they’ve negotiated through three Ulsters in a row, despite having to constantly see off sides from the toughest province of the lot. Oisin McConville is remarkably still inspiring them, as are the McEntees and of course the Kernans are the energy and pace of the team. Note to footballing connoisseurs: don’t tune into their All-Ireland semi with Drom-Broadford expecting a classic.
Other things we liked this weekend:
Eamonn Sweeney again on the crazy money pumped towards horses in Ireland
The Guardian on the two big European clashes over the weekend - El Classico of Barca-Real and the Juve-Milan match-up in Italy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
