Ancelotti – A Breath of Fresh Air

I’ve been quietly impressed with Carlo Ancelotti since he began managing Chelsea. He has a quiet, unassuming way about him which suggests he takes his football seriously, while avoiding the pretentious nonsense of many other top managers (‘mind-games’ etc.).

This presentiment was confirmed a little today, after Chelsea’s first loss of the season away at Wigan, 3-1. The course of the match turned on the dubious decision by referee Phil Dowd, when the scored was 1-1, to: (1) award a questionable penalty to Wigan after a ‘foul’ by Petr Cech on Hugo Rodallega, when actual contact seemed minimal; and (2) to then send Cech off for being the ‘last man’, even though Ashley Cole was also in the near vicinity. While most of the top managers, from Fergie to Benitez to Wenger to (yes, I admit) possibly also Redknapp, and most definitely Mark “I’m too big for my boots” Hughes, would have moaned in post-match interviews about the unjustness of the penalty and sending off, and the way the referee “ruined the match”, Ancelotti, in stark contrast, responded as follows:

“Wigan played better than us. They were well organised and played well. This was the right result. … It was a bad display. I don’t know why we didn’t play well but these things can happen after many wins.”

In spite of what many would deem poor refereeing, Ancelotti admitted that his side did not deserve to win, because of the weakness of their OVERALL PERFORMANCE.

If only Mark Hughes had had this honesty and humility last week after Manchester United pummelled his side for 90 minutes, rather than moaning about an extra 90 seconds at the end of the game. OK, so that 90 seconds shouldn’t have been played, and United scored an important goal in that time, but come on… City were VERY lucky to be drawing at all before the goal was scored, and ultimately United deserved the win, and City’s defending was awful throughout. Why didn’t Hughes mention that??

He should take a leaf out of Ancelotti’s book.

Harry Blames Fans in Adebayor Saga

I think my favourite part was at the end, when he says, “I’ll be truthful, I don’t understand it. If I go to watch football I watch football, I watch the game, why you’ve got be shouting abuse and giving people abuse for I don’t know, there’s got to be something wrong with you”.

Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal (Somehow)

Two weeks ago I went to watch Arsenal take on Manchester United at the pub.  After two hours of viewing I emerged in one of the most annoyed states I’ve ever been in after a football game.  Somehow, after outplaying them throughout the majority of the game, Arsenal lost 2-1 to Manchester United.

I was very annoyed because:

a) Arsenal in no way deserved to lose.  They probably didn’t even deserve a draw, but all three points.

b) It was Man United.  Any other team, and I wouldn’t of been too bothered, but it had to be Man Yoo.  How do they always get results when they don’t deserve it??

c) In my probably biased opinion, apart from the end of the game where Arsenal were pushing everything up front for an equaliser, United didn’t really make any chances.  The first goal was an annoying penalty to give away as Almunia shouldn’t have come out that far and Rooney was looking for it.  The second goal was just plain bizarre.  Abou Diaby, who otherwise played very well, strangely headed the ball into his own net despite not being under any pressure.

d) The Van Persie goal right at the end was offside, but it was typical that that would happen against Man United.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team get a last minute goal at Old Trafford accept United (who do it very often).

e) A penalty wasn’t given after Arshavin was clearly fouled by Fletcher in the area.  It was the most obvious foul of the whole game and then he hand-balled it on the way out.

But now that I’ve ranted about all that, on reflection I was encouraged by the game as a whole.  Arsenal played very well and showed very good signs for the rest of the season.  The two centre-backs in particular looked strong: an area last season that was at times shaky.

If there was one moment that cheered me up in particular, it had to be Wenger’s absurd sending off for kicking a bottle in frustration after the goal at the end was ruled offside.  The whole thing was superb and Gordon Strachan’s comments afterwards were amusing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11ExsKSezsU

OK, Man. City, seriously?

Richard Dunne went on record today having a bit of a go at Manchester City for how they handled his transfer to Aston Villa. He says they lied to him. What was it they lied about?

Well, apparently they told him that they needed to sell him to ‘balance the books’: “They told me they have a certain amount of money they have to recoup each season to make things look better on the books“.

City spent £118m this summer on transfers… they sold Dunne for £6m.

That has to be the worst lie ever.

What Is A Volley?

Just found a very interesting article on The Guardian website discussing this very issue. The author opts for the strict definition of a ‘volley’, which is not simply when a player “strikes the ball in the air”, but when they “strike the ball in the air before it has bounced” – put strictly: “a volley occurs when the ball is struck having not bounced since being touched by the previous player“.

This strict definition would obviously discount Steven Gerrard’s goal against Bolton this last weekend, which, though widely touted as a ‘volley’, should really come under the definition ‘bouncing ball’, as it had already bounced before he struck it. The article also allows for a ‘self-made volley’, where the player chips the ball up for themselves before striking it.

You can find the article if you <CLICK HERE>

It really is a must read, especially as it has links to YouTube clips of some of the best volleys, half-volleys, bouncing balls, and self-made volleys ever scored.