Grand Slam Sunday
Comment & analysis round-up
Quote of the day: “We have got a big game, a massive game - I enjoy the madness of it. I love the Liverpool games and the players do… They’ll be anticipating a really difficult game, but they are the games you want to be playing in.” – Sir Alex Ferguson.
Runner-up: “Mentally, Eduardo’s injury was a blow to the team, and we had no replacement goalscorer. Instead of going 1-0 up, we were going 1-0 down. Now we have Van Persie coming back. He can give us the final push… We will play wide and we have to get back to speeding up our passing again around the box. That’s where we can be lethal. And what we don’t want is to put the referees under pressure before the games start. I do not want to put any blame on Chelsea. I expect them to play a fair game and my team to play a fair game.” – Arsene Wenger.
Today’s overview: Grand Slam Sunday is here and the Sunday papers are almost wetting themselves in excitement. The underlying theme is that the two referees (Mark Clattenburg at Stamford Bridge, and Steve Bennett at Old Trafford) are under as much pressure as the “Big Four” in these two Sunday afternoon games.
Both Paul Scholes (Independent on Sunday) and Ryan Giggs (Sunday Times) explain in interviews just how much they love to beat Liverpool. Patrick Barclay interviews Carlos Queiroz in the Sunday Telegraph and Gabriele Marcotti in the Sunday Herald describes Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world… for now.
The pressure is on Avram Grant, who needs to prove he can win a “big” game this afternoon. Joe Lovejoy in the Sunday Times claims the Chelsea players call their Israeli manager “Average Grant.” There is some good news for Grant today, as the Observer apologise for a story written on March 2, claiming the Chelsea players snubbed their manager in meetings after the Carling Cup final defeat.
Roy Collins (Sunday Telegraph) analyses William Gallas, “a hero or explosive hothead?”, and Duncan Castles (Observer) has a fine feature on Mathieu Flamini.
The News of the World has a number of articles on the uglier side of football. Their main story is that Paul Jewell “has “filmed himself bedding a blonde lover in a shocking hour-long video.” And for the second week in a row they interview agent Barry Silkman in “Silkmangate”.
Other articles of note include Bobby Robson calling for Ashley Cole to be dropped from the England squad in the Mail on Sunday, Trevor Francis claiming that England will never win the World Cup again in the Independent on Sunday, and Keith Hackett suggests in the Observer the Match of the Day pundits don’t understand the offside rule.
(Both graphics above are taken from the Sunday Telegraph.)
Paul Scholes gives an exclusive and rare interview to the Independent on Sunday: “Maybe over the past few years, Arsenal and Chelsea have been bigger in terms of going for the League, but overall through history, Liverpool is definitely the biggest game. It always was, right down to when you were playing on Saturday morning in the B team or the Under-16s; it was always special playing Liverpool and trying to beat them.”
Ryan Giggs, prior to what would be his 35th appearance against Liverpool, is interviewed by Jonathan Northcroft in the Sunday Times. “We have big games all the time these days with the Champions League, but this is the local rivalry, the test. Even when Salford Boys played Liverpool teams the games were huge and growing up when I did, supporting United, Liverpool was the fixture you dreamed of playing in. Liverpool were the team to beat. They won leagues and won in Europe. They were the team you wanted to play against and wanted to beat the most. I remember their great 1980s side; great players, great movement, and Ian Rush. He was a big hero of mine but I never wanted him to score for Liverpool, only Wales.”
Patrick Barclay (Sunday Telegraph) features Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz. “For many, Carlos Queiroz has become the voice of Manchester United. Match of the Day, which can still pull in the biggest Premier League audience, is not allowed post-match interviews with Sir Alex Ferguson because of the United manager’s continued grievance with the BBC over a Panorama programme about agents which featured one of his sons, so instead a path is beaten to the eminently approachable Queiroz. Little of the message is lost, for, although Ferguson and Queiroz may not look like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, they form one of football’s genuine partnerships.”
Gabriele Marcotti (Sunday Herald) writes that “Cristiano Ronaldo is without doubt the greatest player in the world… for now.” “The scary bit is that he only turned 23 last month. Which, of course, doesn’t mean he’ll be the best player in the world for the next decade. This time last year it looked as if Kaka would dominate world football and now he’s been bumped (and he’s still just 25 himself). Torres is 24, Messi and Fabregas both, amazingly, 20. He may have earned the title of world’s best player this year. But the competition is both fierce and hungry. If he wants to keep the crown, he’ll have to perform just as well next year. And the year after that, and so on. And, if he does, he’ll take his place alongside the all-time greats. Because the only thing he lacks right now is longevity. And that can only come in time.”
Paul Wilson (Guardian blog) believes Liverpool can have a big say in the title race. “With arguably the most reliable goalkeeper of the top four at the moment in Pepe Reina, an experienced and organised defence and the most lethal striker in Europe’s last eight, Liverpool would be well-placed for a double were it not for their points deficit in the League.”
The Observer have made a public apology to Chelsea manager Avram Grant. “In ‘Grant “snubbed” by players’ (Sport, 2 March), we said Avram Grant was snubbed when Chelsea players failed to turn up to a team meeting on time, in the wake of their Carling Cup Final defeat. We now accept that while the team meeting was delayed by a few minutes due to an earlier players’ meeting, Mr Grant was not snubbed by the squad or anyone else. We also accept that there were other inaccuracies in the article and apologise to Mr Grant for any offence caused.”
Joe Lovejoy looks at Avram Grant’s current predicament in The Sunday Times. “He won’t have heard of him, but Avram Grant - or Average Grant, as his players call him - is earning a reputation as the footballing equivalent of cricket’s Graeme Hick. A flat-track bully. Under Grant’s minimalist management, Chelsea routinely make short work of the likes of Derby [6-1], West Ham [4-0] and Manchester City [6-0], but fall short in the big games, such as the Carling Cup final, where they lost to Spurs, and in top-of-the-table combat with Arsenal [0-1] and Manchester United [0-2].”
Roy Collins (Sunday Telegraph) analyses the temperamental Frenchman William Gallas and asks is he “a hero or explosive hothead?” “The sight of William Gallas sitting forlornly on Birmingham’s pitch, hugging his knees under his chin and apparently close to tears, could become the iconic picture of Arsenal’s season if they fail to win the Premier League or Champions League. But show that picture to a thousand fans, Desmond Morris and any number of sports psychologists and they will each give a different interpretation of what it says about Gallas.”
Duncan Castles (Observer) features Mathieu Flamini. “If holding midfielders are not usually valued so highly by club accountants, Flamini can make a case for being special and is rated by many of his club’s followers as their best player this season. Team-mates call him Gattuso after a passion for the tackle worthy of Milan’s Gennaro, yet his role is more demanding than the Italian’s, more energetic than that of the doyen of holders, Claude Makelele. Where Gattuso works in a trio of defensive midfielders and Makelele rations his energy shielding his back four, Flamini is a sole trader at Arsenal, operating everywhere and often putting in more miles than any other Premier League pro.”
Stewart Robson writes in the Sunday Telegraph that Chelsea could be susceptible to Arsenal’s pace this afternoon. “Arsenal’s style is to control possession with speed of movement, combination football and incisive passing. Chelsea base their game on good defending and powerful counter-attacks. Neither side have been at full power recently and Chelsea’s inability to close out the game at Tottenham on Wednesday would have been unthinkable during their title-winning years. With John Terry’s lack of mobility a concern, Chelsea are vulnerable to pace if the Gunners can rediscover some of their spark and fluidity.”
The self-described “experts” at the Observer pick their best teams using players only from the “Big Four.”
The News of the World report how Newcastle chairman Mike Ashley “lost an astonishing £129million gambling on financial markets in the City. And that could spark fears Ashley, who bought the club last May, is on the brink of selling out at St James’ Park. The tycoon suffered the amazing losses after a series of poor bets on the value of crisis-hit Halifax Bank of Scotland stock. The mind-boggling losses were revealed after HBOS was at the centre of false rumours it was about to collapse and millions of pounds were wiped off its share price on Wednesday. Ashley, 44, has always pledged his long-term commitment to Newcastle but now Toon insiders believe he is weighing up a deal to sell.”
Joe Bernstein and Ian Ridley in the Mail on Sunday feature quotes from Bobby Robson who urges Ashley Cole to be dropped from the England squad. “While realising the precedent of asking an England manager to lead the fight against disrespect, Sir Bobby said last night: ‘I would be happy to see an England team line up against France without Ashley Cole. It would hammer home the message that what he did was unacceptable. Not being picked would be a huge blow for Cole and it would show him and everyone else that the manager is not allowing that sort of behaviour. Cole’s tackle was atrocious - it was a red-card offence. But he made things worse by arguing with the referee. He then showed a complete lack of respect by turning his back on him. It was disgraceful.’”
Keith Hackett in the Sunday Telegraph also felt Mike Riley should have sent off Ashley Cole on Wednesday night. “Cole turning his back on the referee was in my opinion a very clear act of public dissent and belittling of a referee. The player, having already been shown a yellow card, should have gone. But in terms of the original foul, I say again, Mike Riley did not see the boot going over the top. Afterwards, when he saw it again, I know for a fact he thought Cole should have gone. Unfortunately, Fifa do not allow restrospective punishments, except in cases of mistaken identity, but it would certainly help.”
Nick Townsend (Independent on Sunday) also calls for “petulant” Cole to be kicked out the England squad. “The FA are looking remarkably foolish, the day after their chairman, Lord Triesman, appealed for the Premier League’s biggest names to lead by example when it comes to respecting officials, that Ashley Cole was still in Capello’s squad only a few hours after events at White Hart Lane. It was not so much the Chelsea left-back’s poor challenge on Spurs’ Alan Hutton that was the source of concern, though that was reckless enough, but his petulant response to the referee, Mike Riley – and that despite receiving only a caution. Admittedly the player, who, speaking of respect, is afforded about as much of it by his critics as Heather Mills after being caught out by the red-top newspapers for cheating on his wife Cheryl, has apologised. He could scarcely do anything else.”
Roy Collins in the Sunday Telegraph writes that “The Premier League have promised England manager Fabio Capello that they will not permit another set of ‘Super Sunday’ fixtures immediately before a competitive international. Thirteen of England’s squad for Wednesday’s match in France are unable to join up with Capello until tomorrow because they are involved in title clashes today as Manchester United take on Liverpool and Chelsea face Arsenal.”
Simon Barnes (The Times) writes of the return of David Beckham to the England squad. “Sport is the most vividly present thing in public life. Sport takes place in the now. We want to watch it live, when we still don’t know what will happen next. And yet even here we find it possible to live in the future, to live for the time when someone will make it all right. Thus we blind ourselves to sport’s truth, perhaps because that truth, when looked at closely, is so hard, so uncompromising, so uncomfortable to live with. Sport teaches us that the individual is responsible for his own actions and that the only time we can control is the present. Lineker will not come to make our lives all right, nor will Freddie or Beckham or Rooney or Capello. In sport, in life, the only time is now.”
Jonathan Pearce in the Sunday Mirror praises the FA’s odd couple Fabio Capello and Lord Treisman. “An odd couple they may be. But so were Joe Mears and Alf Ramsey. One played a key figure as FA chairman preparing the World Cup of 1966, and the other won it. These are early days, very early, but this could be a winning combination again.”
Ronald Atkin (Independent on Sunday) provides a France-England preview by speaking to Trevor Francis. “It is only a friendly and France aren’t at the level they were a few years ago, but when you compare the 11 they will put out against our best 11, technically they will be superior. In France, and most other European countries, they spend far more time mastering the ball and honing their skills.”
Keith Hackett, the head of referees, explains in The Observer how the Match of the Day pundits don’t understand the offside rule. “Let’s be clear about this. Match officials do know the laws and apply them to the best of their ability - but time and again pundits criticise perfectly valid decisions. The Match of the Day analysis of the Aliadière decision was a case in point. They suggested the goal should not have been given, that the striker should have been flagged for ‘gaining an advantage’ after being in an offside position from the long ball. That is simply wrong… My point is that pundits’ criticism of officials should at least be fair and informed, based on a proper knowledge of the laws, not on some vague idea of what they might be. If I hear one more co-commentator criticise an assistant referee for a ‘late flag’ - when the assistant is clearly waiting to see if an offside player ticks any of the three PIG boxes - my TV will go out of the window.”
Geoff Sweet in the News of the World reports that “FA officials are praying today’s Grand Slam Sunday passes off without controversy as they try to find — and keep — 8,000 new officials. The sight of ref Mike Riley surrounded by angry Chelsea stars after Ashley Cole’s horrific lunge at Tottenham’s Alan Hutton on Wednesday could not have come at a worse time. The hostility Riley faced at White Hart Lane is mirrored outside the professional game. And it contributes to the staggering statistic that while 7,000 new officials are recruited every year, the same number quit — mostly because of threatening behaviour from players and spectators.”
The main story in the News of the World concerns Paul Jewell who has “filmed himself bedding a blonde lover in a shocking hour-long video. Soccer boss Paul Jewell is today filmed scoring a shameful OWN GOAL—as he romps with a married blonde lover behind his devoted wife’s back. The Derby County manager hits the net more times than his relegation-haunted team have managed all season in a sleazy HOUR-LONG home-made BONDAGE PORN VIDEO. Dad-of-two Jewell likes to portray himself as a staunch family man. And he has even bragged that he gives his players marriage guidance counselling. But all that is as forgotten as Derby’s last victory as the portly Scouser—whose club is aptly nicknamed the Rams - pounds away at his mystery busty blonde in a series of sessions filmed in living rooms and a bedroom. He also videos her sprawled near-naked in graphic poses over a Mercedes.”
For the second week in a row the News of the World’s Rob Beasley exposes football agent Barry Silkman, in “Silkmangate”. Silkman claims he said this to Bobby Robson: “See that cancer on your nose? I hope it spreads all over your face and that you live a f*****g long, long, long life because the longer you live the more you will f*****g suffer.” The article concludes: “Barry Silkman expresses surprise agents are not held in greater esteem by the media and football fans in general. After his wretched and foul-mouthed rantings on these pages, is it any wonder some of his kind are despised as parasites? Rarely has one man shown such a lack of morality for football’s conventions. Rarely has one man illustrated so vividly what is wrong with the sport. Silkman talks a good game. He boasts how he will sue the News of the World for a seven-figure sum. We look forward to hearing from his lawyers. But we look forward even more to the day when his kind are driven from the game. For good.”
James Robinson in The Observer reports that David Moyes has won his libel case against Wayne Rooney. “In a series of pre-trial hearings held at the High Court in London last week, defence lawyers acting for HarperCollins had their arguments dismissed and Moyes will now receive an apology and an out-of-court settlement worth between £50,000 and £150,000 within weeks.”
Duncan Castles in the Observer reports that Inter Milan have lined up Jose Mourinho to take over Roberto Mancini’s job. “Internazionale have sounded out José Mourinho over replacing Roberto Mancini as the club’s coach next season. An initial approach has been made to the former Chelsea manager’s agent Jorge Mendes, with further discussions expected next week. Mourinho will meet Inter’s president, Massimo Moratti, to discuss the position once a concrete proposal is put to Mendes. The 45-year-old is open to resuming his coaching career at Inter, who courted him while he was still at Chelsea, but he would want extensive control over the club’s football department.”
Stewart Fisher writes of Slaven Billic in the Sunday Herald. “Finding a professional footballer with a law degree is rare enough without insisting that he is also a selfless patriot and a warrior poet into the bargain. Bilic is the lead singer and guitarist of a rock band called Rawbau, and the beat combo are still in existence, even if they have found little time to gig too frequently on the circuit recently. ‘He is an unusual character,’ one Croatian journalist put it this week. ‘First of all, he is a law graduate - which is very unusual for a professional footballer. Then he is a composer, a singer and a poet.’”
