Background
Messi still wants to leave Barcelona and all that, community shield curtain raiser to the..mmm…international break…where Arsenal beat Liverpool.
Article
Messi Departure becoming a distasteful Saga
Ok, so it’s been a week dominated by Lionel Messi and his desire to leave Barcelona. We will all know by now that a burofax (The burofax is a service to be used when you want to dispatch urgently a document that requires proof to third parties. Usually, it is used when it is necessary to obtain a response to a complaint or claim)is not some sort of spanish fax machine so all good there. We now know that he earns one million euros a week and it may take from no money to seven hundred million euros to have the privilege to pay his wages at the ripe old age of 33. His new manager Ronald Koeman wants to build a team and not a team around him which apparently annoyed him, Suarez is one of his best friends, the president is awful, Bayern and Liverpool don’t have the money to get him, he had a three hour phone conversation with Pep and his father was seen shopping at the Trafford centre, well, seen in Manchester anyway, and he really should go the to “TC” as it is fondly known, it is a really cool shopping complex. All of this was watered down a bit by the spoil sports of the spanish league who said today that it will take the full seven hundred big ones to get him to play those ninety minutes of football a week for you. It is all getting rather exhausting how a player earning a million euros a week is so unhappy playing for one of the most decorated clubs in the world in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Luckily, we have the international break now, no idea who is playing who, as frankly, it is too early in the season to even think about such things. But this thing will not go away until two people sit in a cafe together and just get it sorted. Yes, Messi is a wonderful wonderful player and Barcelona are a club held dear in many hearts including mine, but in these difficult financial times and the ongoing pandemic, this squabble is getting a bit distasteful so the sooner it is resolved, the better.
Arsenal on the right track
Arteta, serial winner, full stop. We have seen so many great managers who have never one a trophy despite having really good seasons. The much desired Poch hasn’t won anything and yet, is supposed to be the answer to Manchester United, Barcelona and Paris St Germaine’s problem. Arteta in the space of six months has won two trophies already. I can hear the murmurs, community shield a trophy? Well, in this case, yes, as he had to beat the first or second best team in Europe right now and a team who had extra prep time to win it so this one counts a bit more. He seems to have the respect of the players, there is a structure to the team and even after the victory, the admittance that they were still a million miles from Liverpool was refreshing to hear. Maybe, something they can learn in the corridors of Old Trafford, a bit of honest introspection. Under Arteta, Arsenal will become a force in the premier league at some stage but he will need the trust of the board because sometimes, you do need to go backwards to go forwards. The steely look in his eyes at press conferences, structured and well defined answers and general upbeat nature of his aims, mean that Arsenal could well get into the top four this year and of course for a serial winner, add another few trophies along the way is a given.
International fixture timings need review
You wonder how the planning is done. So none of the the clubs have played a league match, some have been in training for a week, and yet, they now report to Gareth Southgate to play some international matches. Pre season is important for club managers to get the squads in the right shape and minds, tactically and technically, for the busy season ahead. Each player may have different training schedules to build up for the season. We can assume that the England manager will not be sent these schedules to ensure that the players reporting on international duty will follow them. It is really farcical and will just make the whole concept of international competition less attractive than it already is for managers, players and supporters. There needs to be reform where all the competition’s fixture makers need to sit in a room together and work things out in a logical fashion. Otherwise, we may end up getting players not playing to their optimum neither for their country or club. It really can’t be that complicated!
Why can’t Liverpool win pointless matches?
So after lockdown, Liverpool won the title after a stunning victory over Palace combined with City’s slip up to Chelsea. After that, thrashed by Man City 4-0, unconvincing wins over Villa and Brighton, home draw with Burnley and defeated by Arsenal. They raised their game on the trophy lifting day with a fine performance over Chelsea and then a decent last day victory over Newcastle. This week, we saw them lose to Arsenal in the community shield, albeit after a penalty shoot out, being a goal down the majority of the match. So based on this, are we about to see Liverpool give up their crown? The answer is no. This Liverpool team is a result focussed team where they perform better when result actually matters. It mattered to them to beat Palace and let City feel pressure against Chelsea and it mattered to win on the night of the trophy presentation. The rest, well they were just matches which they had to play. We have seen this in the champions league group stage matches in recent years where they know they need to win maybe three to four matches to get through. They are an aggressive team technically and need an edge to function. When it doesn’t matter, that extra bite is not there and gives a chance to the opponents. Unfortunately for the premiership rivals dreaming that they can take advantage of this complacency, this will not happen until they have mathematically secured the league, sorry! So back to plan B…getting Messi in to sort it out! Good luck with that too!
Football Features 