Manchester United out of title race!

by Simon Sparrowhawk

Manchester United are already out of the Premier League title race after a sensational announcement from boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

Sir Alex Ferguson has announced that his World Cup players will not resume training with the club until a month after they leave South Africa.

That means Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Nani, Michael Carrick, new signing Javier Hernandez, Park Ji-Sung, Zoran Tosic and Wayne Rooney could all miss the start of the new season. If a United player reaches the semi-finals they will not be back at the club until 9 August – at the earliest. That is just a week before the new season begins. In fact, the Community Shield would already have taken place.

There is no way they could be ready for the start of the Premier League campaign a week later after a month off. It could take until early September for them to be ready to start matches, by which time the Red Devils could be out of the title race. A bad start to the season would leave them chasing the leaders until May. They may never catch up and the season would be wasted.

Imagine the reaction of the irrepressible Rooney when he sees Chelsea lifting the Premier League trophy and realises that two losses at the start of August cost him the chance to life the same trophy. Can you see him being impressed? No chance! That Real Madrid offer would suddenly become very tempting to United’s true jewel in the crown.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti must be rubbing his hands with glee. He could already be guaranteed a headstart in the race for title next season.

The problem for United fans is, that Fergie has good reason for this ‘crazy’ scheme. Last season was blighted by injury after injury. Rooney ended the season totally burned out and bereft of energy. Rio Ferdinand was never truly fit. At one stage every senior defender, with the exception of Evra, was injured and the Scottish boss does not want a repeat of that scandal.

Fergie wants his players rested. He wants them ready when the business end of the season comes around in April and May. And nobody can argue with him on that point.

But at what cost? If his gamble backfires then United’s season could be over before it even begins!

Interesting Start to the Premier League

After three weeks, who would have though that Tottenham Hotspur would be sitting on top of the English Premier League ladder? They have won a perfect three from three and this is their best start to a season since the Double winning side of 1960/61.

Chelsea has also been playing some great soccer and won its opening three games. Manchester City has justified its big spending with a perfect two from two and Arsenal has also managed this.

Manchester City hasn’t put a halt to opening up the purse strings and this week finally signed Everton’s Joleon Lescott. Following the decision of John Terry to stay at Chelsea, Mark Hughes has been after Lescott. Despite the constant rebuffs of David Moyes, City upped their offer and finally Everton agreed.

It has been a horror start for Everton who have lost their opening two matches. Arsenal hammered them 6-1 in the opening game and then Burnley defeated them 1-0. It has two wins as does Sunderland.

The season has also been notable due to the stuttering start of Liverpool. Losses to Tottenham and Aston Villa see them with three points from three games. They are in 10^th spot and already spotting a six point deficit to those on top of the soccer league. Its next game is away to Bolton and it won’t care how ugly it is – it will just want to come away from there with three points.

Manchester United have rebounded from their sluggish start and face Arsenal is an absolutely massive clash. This is easily the match of the weekend and will be huge for both sets of supporters. Arsenal has been sliding under the radar and a win at Old Trafford will change all that. It has been playing some great soccer and it will be looking for some form of revenge after United knocked them out of last year’s Champions League. Arsenal have a midweek Champions League clash against Celtic but should be able to take it easy after a 2-0 win in Scotland in the first leg.

Everton’s match against Wigan will be critical for the Toffees and David Moyes will be looking for them to kickstart their season. They are traditionally slow starters and a win here will ease some of the tension. A loss will exacerbate it many times over.

David Wiseman writes for us. When not doing that he is looking forwards to the Caulfield Cup.

Tabloid Dramatisation: A Load of Tosh

"You know what Lionel? I think I might call it a day..."

There are the most ridiculous rumours circling at the moment, especially with regard to the future of some managers, and it really makes you stop and think: who on earth thinks the printing of such nonsense is a good idea? Yes, the Premier League season is over and the British press obviously needs to do something to occupy themselves over the Summer, and making up ridiculous rumours is pretty much their fallback for times like this when the news may have slowed.

But a couple of rumours that I heard in particular annoyed me. Firstly, I heard the absolutely insane suggestion that some newspapers had reported that Pep Guardiola, fresh from his first season in management, during which he won the treble (the freaking treble) with Barcelona, may be considering retirement. I just have to say that I cannot even begin to comprehend the absolute inane stupidity of that suggestion.

Yes, we all know of the old cliches that you should “quit while you’re ahead” or “bow out at the top”, but this is ridiculous. There is an argument that Guardiola can hardly hope to surpass this season’s achievements in the rest of his managerial career, but hell he’s going to try! He’s inspired what is arguably one of the greatest domestic sides ever seen to a famous treble and people genuinely think that it’s worth printing a story that he may step down? I’m pretty sure that even the most gullible people in the world will struggle to swallow that one.

Next up, are the suggestions doing the rounds that Owen Coyle, the man who has taken Burnley up to the Premier League via the playoffs, could be off to Celtic. Now of course, Coyle as a Scotsman may indeed harbour ambitions to manage Celtic one day, but I think I am right in saying that that day does not come so soon after he has reached the Premier League.

Because yes, Celtic are a bigger club than Burnley and offer him the chance to manage in Europe. But overall, the quality of the Scottish League is far lower than the Premier League, which is the best league in the world at present. So while there is a slight shred of plausibility about this one, I think we really need to take a step back and ask ourselves why these rumours are being given the time of day.

I just think that it is pretty sad that we cannot go even a few days without the emergence of some sort of wild rumour. It’s like being back at school, with gossip flying around the playground. I know that these newspapers are in the business of sales, but I fail to believe that someone is gonna pick a paper up off a newstand, flick through and see the headline “Guardiola to retire” or “Coyle to Celtic” and think “you know, there’s something in that, I’ll buy this paper”.

Surely even the most desperate football fan, in the very depths of the off season when he is completely starved of any sort of news of signings or any real, worthwhile goings on in the world of football would instead think “what a load of crap, with that sort of desperate journalism, I’m sure no one will ever by this paper”. I think what frustrates me the most is that here we are, facing a barren, football-less period, and all I have to look forward to are these ridiculous absurd rumours all summer.

That’s not a great prospect. I’m not saying that I’ll be able to come up with something better, and though I usually post new articles daily on my site I’m expecting to struggle to maintain that over the off-season. I’ve accepted that, and though it’s disappointing, I don’t think I’m going to have to resort to fabricating wild speculation to fill in the void.

Just imagine how the fans of the two clubs involved feel. Barcelona’s fans, if any of them are yet sober enough to be able to read, will look at the paper and (assuming that they’re gullible enough to believe it, which they almost certainly aren’t, but it’s just to make a point) be devastated at the thought that Guardiola, their hero, the man who has brought them such a stunning season, could be about to slip away just as suddenly as he stepped in to their club.

Likewise Burnley fans (assuming a similar suspension of disbelief with regard to their IQs) would be appalled to find that the man who has led them into the promised land that is Premier League football could be jumping ship to go and compete in a two horse race. Surely, they’ll think, he should have at least one go at the Premier League that he fought so hard to reach.

And of course he should, just as Guardiola will attempt to defend his titles next season. This sort of ridiculous rumour-mongering sums up everything that is wrong with the British press. They don’t care who they insult, who they undermine and who they fool, as long as there could be a bit of shock value in it, they’ll report it. But it’s supposed to be about delivering news or at least (as in my case) educated opinions. The mere fabrication of implausible lies is devaluing the entire industry and frustrating a lot of fans.

If I were you this summer, I’d steer clear from these types of stories as there’s nothing except comedic value in them. It is going to be a long and barren summer in terms of football, but I think that in turning to the tabloids out of desperation you will only make it worse for yourself.

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Seven Years in the Sun

David Moyes: A ray of sunshine for Evertonian's everywhere.

Time is a peculiar, fluid sort of thing. In saying that I refer to the habit it seems to have of making things seem both distant and recent, both fresh in your mind and yet a predicate to many, many experiences since. What I mean, via means of a more specific example, is that it seems both more and less than seven years since David Moyes took over as manager of Everton Football Club.

It seems only yesterday that I was sitting in my faithful seat at Goodison Park, shivering more with nerves than with the icy, sweeping wind that so frequently pervades the wonderful old stadium, watching as Everton played out a final day of the season battle with Coventry. We survived by the skin of our teeth, on goal difference, at Bolton’s expense.

Those years, the nervous, scrappy years, form the major part of my reminiscence of my time as an Evertonian. Only twenty years young, I wasn’t fortunate enough to witness our glory years in the eighties, and the high point for me, before Moyes, was our 1995 FA Cup final triumph under Joe Royle (best of luck back at Oldham by the way Joe).

And yet, although I remember those days as clearly as if we were still in the heart of a relegation battle, they also seem incredibly distant. Now the thought that Everton could be seriously threatened with relegation from the Premier League seems, wonderfully, a thing of the past. Even at the beginning of this season, when we stuttered into our campaign and languished near the foot of the table for some time, I wasn’t ever really worried. Because in Moyes we trust.

Seven years ago I was thirteen years old. I was living in England, and I’d only been to New Zealand on holiday. I was in Year 8 at school, happily belting a football round the playground. Now I’m twenty years old. In those seven years I have changed almost beyond recognition. I have moved from England to New Zealand, then back to England, then back to New Zealand.

In the past seven years I’ve lived in fourteen different houses/batches/flats/rooms. I’ve attended three different schools, taken two sets of important exams and then completed two years of study towards a university degree. Seven years ago, I had perfect eyesight, now I wear glasses or contact lenses. All of these changes, big or small, have happened to me while David Moyes has been manager of Everton.

And yet it still seems strange to me that Moyes has been at Everton for such a period of time. His reign in charge of the Toffees has been up and down, that’s for sure, though happily it’s been more up than down. Indeed, in comparison to the preceding years it has positive whirlwind of excitement and progress. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and in a way, that’s how it seems.

But similarly, it also seems like it has been a long slow slog. An uphill battle against countless obstacles, but slowly Moyes has dragged Everton steadily back toward the summit of English football – back where we belong. And this more than anything is a testament to the length of time Moyes has dedicated to our club, To the difference he has made to my life, and the lives of thousands of other Everton fans the world over.

From perennial strugglers, Moyes has steadily overseen our transformation. He started slowly, building from the back, quite literally, with his first purchase: Joseph Yobo. But you have to lay the foundations for success and he did that. Bringing in players who would work for him, players who would be the beginning of something. The likes of Phil Neville, established, experienced and reliable, and Tim Cahill, young, untested and hungry.

he took us to safety, then led us into the top six, before another season of struggle. But that was OK, we were realistic and didn’t expect too much. Plus, there was progress. Players like Rooney, Gravesen and Arteta were beginning to grace Goodison. These were players of a quality and flair that we hadn’t seen for some time. But they all had one thing in common. They were good, honest, hard working players. The mark of the manager. And what a manager.

“I am joining the people’s football club. The majority of people you meet on the street[s of Liverpool] are Everton fans.”

- David Moyes, 14.03.2002

Moyes eventually steadied the ship. He led us to the unprecedented territory of a top four Premier League finish. Unprecedented not just for us, but for any club outside the ‘big four’. Back before Moyes, it was the ‘big three’, because Chelsea weren’t so rich. And despite constant trials and setbacks, like the decision that denied us qualification to the Champions League group stages and the penalty shoot out loss to Fiorentina in the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup, Moyes has continued to lead our club forwards.

Over the last seven years, my life has changed considerably, as I’ve detailed. But one of the biggest, most significant changes in that period has been the blooming of Everton Football Club. This sport, and this team in particular is a massive part of my life, and it gives me enormous pleasure to witness us consistently push for European places. For me to admire and enjoy the style of football that we play. For Everton to be a club known throughout Europe again.

The title of this article is ‘Seven Years in the Sun’. I’ve lived in New Zealand, a land traditionally held in regard for it’s sunny climate for only 3 and a half years in total. But since David Moyes took over as manager of Everton, the sun has been shining on our club, and on the club’s supporters. Yes, we’ve had some patches of cloud and the odd bit of rain, but for the most part, David Moyes has brightened up our lives.

So let this article shine as a mark of respect to David Moyes. A mark of thanks to one of the brightest managerial talents in the game. May it spur him on to keep going, to keep building with out club. There are always those naysayers who will turn against him when the going gets tough, but Moyes knows he has the love and support of Everton’s true fans. We are honoured to have him, and we look forward to another seven years in the sun.

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Time To Become The Humble One

He may be known as ‘The Special One’ but Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan team looked far from special against reigning English and European Champions Manchester United on Tuesday night. Mourinho’s Italian Champions played host to United in this last 16 first leg Champions League encounter but never really looked in control of the game going on in their domicile that is the San Siro.

United who opted to start with Ryan Giggs behind Dimitar Berbatov instead of the conventional two strikers exploded out of the blocks and quickly banished any ideas that their modified formation was going to be in any way a defensive one. Twice Cristiano Ronaldo found himself in the box for free headers on goal, Giggs raced through for a one on one with the outstanding Julio Cedar and United also picked up numerous free kicks on the edge of Inters box which enraged the home bench. How they went in at half time goalless was a mystery and something they’ll be hoping doesn’t come back to haunt them in a fortnights time.

Mourinho must have inflicted some home truths at the break while mustering up a come back plan with his players as Inter came out in the second period with a completely different outlook and dynamic. They pressed the visitors and began creating chances to the delight of the majority 80,000 fans cooped in the magnificent San Siro. Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved left and gave John O’Shea a torrid time with his quick feet and overwhelming power. Estaban Cambiasso started to get a grip on the midfield that had been run in the first half by United’s Michael Carrick and the superb Darren Fletcher. It seemed the Special One was earning his wage but Manchester United who continued to offer a threat to the opposition remained composed, patient and dangerous.

The English visitors did have to soak up periods of pressure in the second half but still managed to create numerous chances to score that illusive away goal Sir Alex Ferguson believed they would get. Giggs had the better of the chances as he rolled back the years and raced through the Inter defence stepping over the ball and giving the shimmy to his marker, however his effort was blocked well by substitute Ivan Cordoba.

The game on balance did tilt in Manchester United’s favour and the difference in class between the Premiership and Serie A was blatantly clear in the opening half hour. The pace and tempo of United was far superior to their opponents that it took until the break for the home side to understand how they needed to play in order to contain their English counterparts let alone beat them.

Mourinho may have won the battle he fought whilst at FC Porto against Ferguson and danced down the Old Trafford touchline, he may have won the majority of the Chelsea, Manchester United domestic crossfire’s but this is a war he will not win. Ferguson holds all the cards this time and his team are on a completely different planet to Inter Milan when it comes to class and pedigree.

The special one will need to learn how to become the humble one come March 11^th as losing has never been something he does too graciously and on this evidence an Inter Milan defeat will be a certain outcome on what will indeed be another special night under the Old Trafford lights.

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More Important: The Cup or the League?

With things heating up rapidly in the battle for the three major trophies in England, the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carling Cup, I began thinking which cup do fans cherish most and what is the most important to them?  For the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, winning the League has become their focus as they battle amongst themselves year in and year out for this title.  Yet at the same time, they are able to succeed in FA Cup and Carling Cup consistently also, despite not putting out their best XI every time.  So for the top clubs in England, most would agree that the League for the most part is more important in determining how successful they were in any given season.  But what about the lower Premier League teams and teams in lower leagues?

When the FA Cup last season came down to a Portsmouth 1-0 Cardiff City result, it shocked England to see two teams who by no means are powerhouses, to be in the biggest club tournament in the best club football country on the planet. It would be hard to argue that a Portsmouth fan would’ve given up their great Cup run for a League finish a couple of spots higher. Furthermore, I’d be interested to see if Cardiff fans would’ve relinquished their trip to Wembley in the FA Cup Final for say-a spot in the Championship Playoff Final.  So to clubs like this, is the FA Cup as important as the league or is it something that really has been pushed to the background?  The debate will surely go on, but for me I’m sure excited for this weekends FA Cup matches.  I don’t know if I can say the same for the bigger clubs in the Premier League.

The Cup tournament that often gets tossed completely out of the discussion is the sometimes compelling, usually boring tournament that is the Carling Cup.  With Manchester United and Tottenham to meet at Wembley on the 1st of March, it will be interesting to see if United play their best players all over the pitch like they would in a Champion’s League Final. The Carling Cup is by far the least cherished of the three, but at the same time, when clubs like Burnley give every ounce of effort in their body for a chance to be in the Carling Cup Final like they did this past week versus Spurs, it really puts a different perspective on the Carling Cup.

When a smaller team gets drawn against a Premier League powerhouse in either the Carling or FA Cups, that match day instantly becomes the match of the year for the smaller team while at the same moment the fixture becomes sort of an annoyance for the bigger club. 

With the press and many of the Premier League fans now all agreeing and arguing that the FA Cup and especially the Carling Cup don’t mean as much as they once did, I’m trying to say it’s all a matter of perspective.  Fans of the English top flight, such as myself, are treated to the best club football in the world each and every Saturday, while fans of the 72 clubs in The Football League (The Championship, League 1, League 2) are not experiencing this sort of quality entertainment and high level of play on a weekly basis.  When they are fortunate enough to come up against the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool it means EVERYTHING to them, even if they know they are likely to lose.

Domestic Cup Football is something that I will agree can be somewhat dull and lacking of the excitement of the Premier League at times.  Other times, it can be enticing and exciting, leaving you on the edge of your seat.  But to anyone who wants to argue that these Cup competitions have no meaning and are more of a nuisance than a great spectical, I’m telling you to ask a Portsmouth fan if that FA Cup meant anything to him, ask a Burnley player how bad he wanted to knock Tottenham out of the Carling Cup, or ask a Derby County fan how he would’ve felt if they would’ve came back and beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford in spectacular style. 

The Carling and FA Cups may not mean the world to the bigger clubs in England, but to so many they mean everything and they work all season for one chance to shock the world.  That’s what makes Domestic Cup Football great and the next time you see Coventry City and Torquay United in an FA Cup match on TV and pass it up, think about how much it would mean to those players for one moment in the spotlight…

By RJ Sepich

An Evertonian Tactical Analysis: 4-4-2 vs. 4-5-1

Hello everyone, hope you’re all well. My blog this week will be a tactical examination of perhaps the two most popular formations in the Premier League, with a particular focus on how they are utilised by Everton FC. Most people woulds say that the classic 4-4-2 formation is a more attacking formation than the traditionally more reserved 4-5-1, but I intend to show that in fact, if combined with the right combination of players, 4-5-1 allows the team a lot more attacking freedom and could therefore be considered the more adventurous of the two.

To begin with then, let’s have a look at the two formations in their most basic form:

On the Left: 4-4-2; On the Right: 4-5-1.

Traditionally the 4-4-2 formation is considered the more attacking largely because it simply employs more strikers. And this would be an astute observation if the formation was utilised in that simple sense. But the thing is that today the game of football is so fluid and so fast that in fact, the 4-5-1 formation usually does not resemble the above diagram at all. It is this flexibility that is the key to the formation, and as long as you have players disciplined enough to play to a system, it can be very effective.

Looking at the 4-4-2 formation though, you can see that there really isn’t a great deal of flexibility to it. The two strikers are your most potent weapons, the midfield are there to provide for them and protect the defence, and that’s about it. It doesn’t give particular freedom to wingers, because their absence would leave the central midfielders and defence heavily exposed. One way to tinker with it would be to push one of the central midfielders forward to play ‘in the hole’ but that usually means that the other would have to drop back to protect the defence in what is known as the diamond formation.

The key to utilising the 4-4-2 to it’s full potential lies, basically, with having a truly top class strike partnership. While the midfield can get forward and help out, they do not have a hugely free role and are contained within quite a rigid structure because if they are caught out of position there is no cover for the defence. That means that the strikers will get good service from relatively deep, but from there must capitalise on it for themselves.

That led to the development of the traditional ‘little and large’ strike partnerships that became very popular as 4-4-2 became the most popular formation and are still fairly popular today, with Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe at Portsmouth until recently being a good example. This means that the ball can be played up to the target man who can hold the ball up or flick it on to his strike partner. The other option is for the ball to be played over the top for the smaller, speedier striker who can then either go for goal or put the ball into the box for the target man to attack.

Up to a point this can work very well, especially against the ‘old school English’ sort of defenders. For much of the nineties the Premier League was home to many of these sort of centre halves, big, strong and good in the tackle, they lacked any real pace and relied on reasonable positional awareness to keep the quicker strikers in check. Against these defenders the 4-4-2 was effective in that the target man could challenge the big defenders in the air and if he won the ball, the speedy striker who was playing off him was often away, as the defenders had been drawn in to the original aerial battle.

However, the game in this decade is evolving. It has become a much bigger business and so the majority of players are becoming more complete athletes. When Tony Adams was at the top of his game he was an alcoholic, and thus his body was not in ideal condition physically. Yet he was one of the best defenders of his time, and could handle most players. Now though, footballers are honed athletes, at the peak of fitness and physically and mentally prepared for every demand the game will throw at them.

With this development defenders have gotten faster and more versatile. No longer are they just big strong guys who can make a good tackle and bully the little strikers around. Because that just wouldn’t work anymore. Now defenders can be just as fast and agile as the strikers, and the strikers are just as strong and committed as the defenders. And with this development, the effectiveness of the 4-4-2 formation has waned. Now that there are fewer physical differences between defenders and attackers, there is less room to exploit them.

So managers have more and more been forced to turn to a new formation, to try and find new ways to threaten the opposition goal, and the solution it seems, has been the 4-5-1 formation. And the manager who has arguably utilised it most effectively is David Moyes at Everton. But it is not the basic old 4-5-1 formation that we saw above. Indeed, in trying to create a diagram with which to demonstrate it to you, I couldn’t come up with one defining way to represent it, simply because the midfield is so undefined. Instead then, I’ve got a few diagrams for you.

Just a few examples of the ways in which 4-5-1 can be utilised.

As you can see in these diagrams, this 4-5-1 formation allows almost endless fluidity through the midfield. Using Everton’s probable line up against Liverpool on Monday, you can see that the flexibility of the midfield is key to Everton’s chances. Victor Anichebe will likely fill a lone target man role, but by no means will he be isolated. The diagram on the left should demonstrate how we will line up when Liverpool have the ball. We are a tireless side and the four players across the middle of the park, when not in possession will revert to this holding line to keep Liverpool’s midfield at bay.

Phil Neville acts as a sort of safety net should the wall in front of him be breached and then there is the four defenders to get through. If we keep our discipline and work rate, it is a very stubborn defensive formation, and the effectiveness of it is demonstrated by the fact that we have not conceded a goal in our last six games.

It is impressive then, how easily such a solid formation can be transformed into an attacking one. You see in the middle diagram how Tim Cahill has pushed up to be playing off the shoulder of Anichebe, almost as a second striker. Expect Cahill to push forward into this role as soon as we have the ball, and as the arrows indicate, the other midfield players (bar Neville) will also have license to push forward too. In a way this middle formation will create something resembling the traditional 4-4-2, with Cahill forming something of a partnership with Anichebe. However, it is much more difficult to deal with, because rather than being deployed as an out and out striker, Cahill is free to pop up wherever he pleases and so it will be difficult for the opposition to track him. Should he be marked by defenders or midfielders? That sort of confusion is what Cahill makes a living off.

In the third diagram, the one on the right, you can see how the wingers Osman and Pienaar have pushed right forward too. The diagram shows Arteta having retreated to next to Neville but in reality he is not really so withdrawn. Instead he will simply be sitting a touch deeper, perhaps midway inside the opponents half and acting as a sort of lynch-pin for the attack. The wingers give him options on either side, as do the forward runs of the full backs, while Cahill can also drop off a little to provide a link in to Anichebe. This is the sort of formation that Everton will adopt when holding controlled and extended possession as they probe against a resilient defence.

And while there is still only Victor Anichebe deployed as a recognised striker, the fact is that in this formation there is a real goal threat presented by Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar and Osman as well. Compare this to the traditional 4-4-2 where only the two strikers pose a real goal threat and you can see just why the 4-5-1 allows a greater attacking threat. This can be demonstrated quite effectively by the comparative diagrams below.

Red arrows represent balls playable to potential goalscorers.

This diagram then (in all it’s pixelated glory) is meant to be a visual illustrator of the greater goal-scoring threat provided by the 4-5-1 formation compared to the 4-4-2. The red arrows are intended to represent the passes playable to players who are free to score goals in each formation. In the 4-4-2 (on the left) you can see that the only players with enough attacking license to get goals are the front two, and so the service to them is often very direct and predictable, which make it easier to defend against.

On the right hand side though, all you can see is a mass of red arrows. What that means then, is that there are simply a lot of options when playing the 4-5-1. The striker Anichebe, is of course a goal threat, as is Cahill who in his elevated position is playing off Anichebe and so can hover in and around the edge of the box, a constant menace to defenders. But the you also have Osman and Pienaar on either flank who can get wide and get balls played into the box. You might think that would take them out of the goalscoring stakes, but in fact when the ball is on one wing, the other can then tuck in and attack the back post, and Osman particularly is great at popping up at the back post, and Pienaar has notched a few from that position too.

Finally the last real threat on goal comes from Arteta. Although he is the deepest lying of the ‘attacking midfielders’ he can often be found sitting on the edge of the opposition box and so is able to pounce on any balls half cleared (not to mention blasting in free-kicks from a reasonable distance!) with his good long range shooting. In this sense then, you really start to get the impression that the 4-5-1 is a much more effective attacking formation for Everton to play.

I hesitate to say that it is the better formation in general though, because I believe that in the end it comes down to the players involved, and thus formation is relative. We played 4-4-2 earlier in the season, when Louis Saha and Yakubu were fit, but it never really worked for us. The two strikers, though both very good forwards, were not compatible when combined in this formation. They didn;t have enough variation between them, both prefer the ball into feet, to turn and attack the defenders. If the 4-4-2 is to work, you need a good, balanced strike partnership, as Crouch and Defoe demonstrated at Portsmouth.

It was perhaps a blessing in disguise then when Louis Saha did get injured again. Although we then lost Yakubu and Anichebe as well and found ourselves without a recognised striker, it has at least forced us to revert to the 4-5-1 formation. I think that before this season, even David Moyes may not have fully appreciated the value of this formation. I think before now he simply played 4-5-1 because that is what suited our squad. We had a wealth of good midfielders but weren’t exactly blessed in the striking department. However, with the upturn in form since we reverted back to the 4-51, Moyes will surely have realised that it is the key to our good performances.

He has shown this awareness too by bringing Mikel Arteta back into the centre of midfield. When we were playing 4-4-2 he was played wide, with Fellaini and Cahill as the more combative central partnership, and this was OK, because his delivery into the two strikers from wide is second to none. However, with a more cultured and less direct approach demanded by the 4-5-1 formation, Arteta is the perfect player to fill the central role. He is the type of player who can anchor attacks, who the ball can come back to time and time again. He will spread the ball wide, and if there are no further options can always happily have it back, because he is so comfortable in possession.

Moyes then has demonstrated the point I have been making. He has recognised that in the end, the players at your disposal are key to the formation that you play, as demonstrated by Arteta’s new role. This tactical awareness is one of the things that makes Moyes such a great manager. Aside from being a great motivator and therefore getting the most effort out of the players, he knows how to achieve the same thing tactically, how to shuffle his pack to get maximum performance from the players at his disposal.

In these upcoming weeks Everton have a run of very tough fixtures. Two away games at Liverpool this week are followed by a home clash with Arsenal and then a trip to Old Trafford to face the Champions. This run of fixtures will provide a huge test for the squad and really test Moyes’ side. However, I have every confidence that we will cause a couple of upsets in there somewhere, largely down to the commitment of the players and the effectiveness of their work as a unit, thanks to the 4-5-1 formation.

In devising a system that makes us both incredibly solid and tough to break down and rather potent in attack with the possibility of goals coming from throughout the midfield, Moyes has created a beautifully balanced team that functions very well as a unit. In the games against the ‘big four’, those teams packed with such talent that the clubs operating in the ‘real world’ can’t afford, it is important to make sure that every player on the pitch is making an impact. I think Moyes has achieved this, and therefore I think we have a real chance of beating the ‘big four’ teams in our upcoming matches.

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Why Aston Villa doesn’t deserve Champion’s League Football….yet

Hello all. First off I’d like to thank Abayomi for inviting me to join his team here with this growing blog and it will be my pleasure to voice my opinions on the world of soccer because it is one thing I certainly love to do.  Here’s a bit about myself:  my name is Roger Sepich and I’m an Aston Villa supporter born and raised in America.  My recently found love of the best game in the world (soccer) has led me to becoming utterly mystified and enthralled with the “beautiful game” and The Barclay’s Premier League in particular.  After choosing Villa as my club I’ve lived and breathed English and European soccer and now here I am discussing the sport and team I love…

But now to my first thoughts as a writer for SFB:  Why Aston Villa doesn’t deserve Champion’s League Football…yet.  Yes I can see that many of you believe me when I say those words, judging by the large number of Arsenal and Everton fans currently writing for this site, but it’s extremely hard for me to admit considering I’m a diehard member of Martin O’Neill’s claret and blue army.  As a Villa supporter, I’d LOVE to see Villa back where they belong in the biggest club tournament in Europe, but at the same time, I have to admit finishing in the top 4 this campaign could possibly be a bad thing for Aston Villa.  Villa do have an extremely young and talented squad, but one thing the gaffer has failed to do is bring in any type of quality depth.  With the likes of Nicky Shorey, Moustapha Salifou, and Craig Cardner usually being the best quality on the bench, it allows even a Villa fan like myself to ask if we are deserving of a spot in the hallowed grounds of the Premier League top four.

I know Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor have performed lights out this season and Laursen continues to be strong at the back, but with our lack of depth, if one of these guys were to be sidelined for an extended period of time I’m afraid I could see the Villans losing out on their top four chances rather easily.  Injuries are indeed a part of the game and are something that help determine the final league table come May and so far Villa have been rather fortunate on this front.  But I’m afraid this may end at some point and leave Villa in quite a hole.

With Aston Villa currently sitting in fourth, level with Man U on points and 3 clear of Arsenal, here is a short list of other reason I feel we should consider ourselves lucky to be where we are:

• With the season beginning in July for Villa through the Intertoto Cup, fatigue suprisingly hasn’t set in despite only consistently using about 15 different players in important matches.
• Throughout the course of the season Villa have played certain clubs at perfect times with their opponents being on horrible form such as their matchups with Tottenham, Sunderland, Wigan, WBA, Hull, and argueably Arsenal away. This lead to 18 easy points that easily could’ve been between 12-14.
• Two early (and somewhat lucky) UEFA Cup wins allowed Villa to rest key players in the other two matches.
• Here’s one that a smile at when I see:  Villa have been the fortunate recipient of 4 own goals in the past two months that resulted in at least 4 more points than they would’ve had.

I believe the next month or so will ultimately decide whether Arsenal, Villa, or even Everton can finish the season 4th.  Villa have West Brom, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wigan, and Blackburn in their next five matches before they enter a tough period in February and March and I believe they MUST get at least 12 points from these matches and need to be a solid 5 points clear of Arsenal after this period.  If they don’t do this I cannot see them breaking up the Big Four this year, but either way it could come down to the wire.

So what do you all think?  Will Villa last and finish in the top four or will lack of depth catch up to them and maybe their luck will run out? I hope not! Feel free to comment. Cheers for now.

By RJ Sepich

Sometimes, the league table does lie.

Hello everyone, first things first, an introduction. I am the writer of the football blog They Think It’s All Over… and Abayomi has kindly asked me to write weekly blogs on this site. I am a huge Evertonian and so my blogs will focus on football happenings on the blue half of Merseyside, and I do try and write fairly and without bias, but as you will all know, sometimes one’s heart can get the better of you, so I apologise in advance in case that happens. I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say, please leave comments and visit me at my site if you do!

To business then, and I intend today to put forth an argument in contradiction of one of football’s great old sayings, that ‘the league table doesn’t lie’. If we are thinking entirely literally, to challenge it seems insanity itself. The league table displays the stats of each team in accordance with how they have performed that season, it doesn’t make them up, and so it doesn’t lie. However, if one considers the league table to be an indicator of which teams are the best, I believe that, on occasion, it can be found to be fallacious.

The point of this argument and the relation it holds to my club, Everton, is that I firmly believe that Everton are a better team than Aston Villa. Villa currently occupy the fifth spot (but will perhaps move back to fourth once they play Hull City later today) while Everton are in sixth. Thus many would argue that Aston Villa are, at present, superior to Everton as a team. This is probably the view of the media too, who have been quick to praise Martin O’Neill’s men this season, as they have indeed put in some impressive displays.

There is even serious suggestion that Aston Villa may do the unthinkable and break the monopoly of the ‘big four’ on the Champions League places this season, probably at Arsenal’s expense. And I must concede, Villa have had a blinding season so far. Picking up points against most of the ‘big four’ and looking very impressive in beating the lower sides too, they certainly are a forced to be reckoned with. But I don’t think they’re better than Everton.

You see, Everton haven’t had a very good season so far. We haven’t really got into our stride form-wise, and our best players especially have taken a long time to get going – they are now starting to, but so far, the likes of Mikel Arteta and Joleon Lescott have been below par, as was Yakubu, before he got injured.

And there’s another point, injuries. Now one cannot make excuses and I am not trying to do so, there is no gurantee that we would have fared any better without the injury troubles we’ve had. But I think it is fair to think it entirely likely that if we had had slightly better luck with injuries, we may have fared a tad better so far this term. I mean, what team wouldn’t suffer with injuries to the likes of Cahill, Arteta and Yakubu? As well as others to Pienaar, Osman, Anichebe, Vaughan, Valente and more at other times? There has not been a single game this season when Moyes has not been forced to name a teenager amongst his substitutes, and while we have some great young talent (boy, do we!), it can leave you short of experienced options, which are important.

But aside from a lack of form and troubles with injury, it was the start of the season that really struck us down. We had a very unsettled summer. Huge frustration in the transfer market led to the season beginning without any major signings and then in the last few hours we payed a hell of a lot for a big Belgian fella’ with funny hair. Don’t get me wrong, Fellaini has done well since he joined, but it wasn’t the Summer we all pictured after last season’s fifth place finish.

But then, we are not a club who has ever had a lot of money to spend. Moyes spent fifteen million (ish) on Fellaini and pretty much bugger all else on the others, and that has probably done us for the season. But aside from financial stringencies (which in the current economic climate are looking more and more sensible as time goes on) we had the other upsets of a manager hesitant to sign a new contract and a stadium move that was flickering on and off more than a bloody strobe light.

Moyes’ indecision over whether to put pen to paper on his contract was bemusing. He stated a number of times that everything was essentially in place and so we were just thinking ‘well just sign the damned thing then’. But it rumbled on and on and it got to the point where I actually thought that the best young manager in the country (go on, challenge that statement) might leave our club. Whether it was a lack of transfer funds or just a genuine patch of cold feet we may never know, but certainly, since he signed, we have gone uphill quite quickly. A bit of stability goes a long way at a football club.

The other thing was the ground move. I for one am hesitant to leave Goodison, especially for somewhere outside the city, but it seems the club are keen and we ‘need’ to so they pushed on. Unfortunately it all seems to have gone tits up and has left a rather bitter atmosphere around the club. None of this should affect the players really, because as long as they have a pitch to play on, that should be enough, but somehow in football, if there is unrest at a club at all, it does tend to filter through and have an effect on the playing staff.

All in all then, things were looking a bit grim. And then we had a very dodgy start to the season, and as we were holding our heads in our hands thinking things couldn’t get any worse, we went out of Europe. For me, that was a big thing. We got a really tough draw against Standard Liege, incredibly tough compared to the other English clubs, especially considering we were the top English qualifier and Man City snuck in because they ‘play fair’ (what a load of nonsense that is, just by the way).

We gave Liege a run for their money, but fair play to them, those Belgians are a top side and deserve to be in the UEFA Cup group stages as much as we do, which is a lot. Either way, the competition was going to lose a good team and we were it in the end. And that was disappointing for the club. We had such a great run in it last season, losing only on penalties to Fiorentina after having beaten the eventual champions Zenit St. Petersburg relatively comfortably in the group stages. To then find ourselves with no hope of repeating the adventure gave the club a huge dent to morale.

And we have a history in that department. A few years ago, after we finished fourth (yes, it HAS been done before, thank you very much) and qualified for the Champions League, we were all set for a rollicking good time in Europe when we crashed out. Drawn against (another toughy) Villareal we were unfortunate to be knocked out after Duncan Fergson had a goal calamitously ruled out in what was, without doubt, the worst decision in the career of the world’s best ever referee, old beady eyes himself, Pierre Luigi Collina.

Bounced into the UEFA Cup we then fell at the first hurdle against Dynamo Bucaresti (I think, but don’t quote me on it) and found ourselves not in Europe at all, despite our magnificent fourth place finish. That then had the added knock on effect of causing the players to lose morale almost completely and have a very stuttery first half of the season, almost like we have this time around, after again going out in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

So there we go, a (not so) brief summary of the various things that may have impacted on our season in a negative way so far. I say again, these are not excuses. There is no guarantee that things would have happened differently under different circumstances and many of them were our own doing, or at least avoidable, but I think it is fair to say that all of them, to some extent, may have hindered our progress through this season’s Premier League campaign.

And so we return, eventually but inevitably, to the reason behind this whole article. Because Villa haven;t had any of these problems really. They’ve had a few injuries, but who doesn’t? And it’s been nothing on the scale of what we have suffered. Their best players (indeed most of their players) have not been struggling for form. Gaby Agbonlahor have set the League alight and even earned the privilege of being mentioned in the same breath as ridiculous and doubtlessly career ruining moves to some of Europe’s top clubs in the English press.

They don’t have any particular financial worries either. Indeed, their foreign owner is probably the sort of foreign owner that Carlsberg would profess to provide (that is; the best foreign owner in the world). He does not lavish them with money and it’s good friend, pressure, but he provides for them what they need, and has the sensible nature to not mess around with affairs that are beyond his expertise. That meant that Villa had a good little summer, bringing in a few players to add good strength in depth to an already promising squad, without upsetting the apple cart by splashing out massively, as say, Tottenham did.

A much more accommodating draw in the UEFA Cup first round meant that they didn’t have much trouble getting into the competition proper and avoided the sort of blow to morale that has affected my club. All in all then, Villa’s path through this season has been altogether smoother than Everton’s rather bumpy one. Which suggests, to me, that the league table does, on occasion, lie.

I’m not saying categorically that Aston Villa are worse than Everton. Nor am I denying that on current form, Villa are superior to my beloved Toffees. But what I will contest is the assertions made by certain elements of the English media that Villa are the most worthy and most likely challengers to England’s ‘big four’. For one thing, people easily forget that we did in fact break the monopoly a few seasons ago. And for another, I think we are just as likely to do it again, as Villa are to do it.

Because if one takes away all the factors that I discussed above, Everton’s season would perhaps have panned out slightly differently. Because although we have had a poor start to the season form wise, we are still in sixth position. We are still only three points (maybe six by tonight) behind Villa themselves. We are still very much in touch for the European places. Imagine then, if our season had been as smooth as Villa’s. We could be well up there with the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd as well as that other Merseyside club. You know the ones I mean.

So for people to jump to the conclusion that Villa are the best team outside the ‘big four’ is to make a mistake I think. It is to do us a bit of an injustice. Because yes, they have been great, and yes, they hold their current position on merit, but, the league table doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Everton’s season has been blighted by disturbances and they are not reflected in the table, nor should they be. But I think the table may read differently if they had not occurred.

So before jumping on the Villa bandwagon, I say, give it some time. Let the road run it’s course. We have had our fair share of bumps and hopefully will not suffer too many more. Villa may have a few around the corner, and the true test will be if they can stand up to them as well and as successfully as Everton have so far. Villa and Everton are two very, very strong teams and I think they will push the ‘big four’ all the way. Let us wait and see the final league table before we make our final judgements though, because that table is one that doesn’t often lie, I will grant you that much.

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