Mourinho has stronger hand in Chelsea game

The teams finishing first, second and third in the Premier League will have new managers in place for the start of next season. Well, 'new' is quite right.

David Moyes has been announced as Manchester United's new manager, Manuel Pellegrini is odds-on favourite for the Man City job, and Jose Mourinho is reported to be ending his tenure at Real Madrid - or having it ended for him - and taking up the reins from Rafa Benitez at Chelsea. From fan-enemy to fan-favourite, the world will wait with baited breath to see how the 'Special One' does second time around at Stamford Bridge.

There are plenty of details to be ironed out. Real will want compensating, even though they dearly want rid of Mourinho. The Portuguese manager has alienated the media (typical), the opposition (understandable) and also the club's star players, like Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo (unforgivable). Where once the ex-Porto and Internazionale manager specialised in uniting his teams under his leadership, like a modern day Achilles, just like the epic Greek Mourinho's weak spot has been found, and his usual tactics of blind loyalty to the end have failed to work.

That Mourinho has lasted three years in the Spanish capital is an achievement of sorts, but that he won't be missed tells the true story. Overlooked for either of the Manchester jobs, and with Paris St Germain holding on tightly to Carlo Ancelotti, the only place Mourinho can realistically go is back to Chelsea. So how come he has the stronger hand in negotiations?

The answer is as simple this: as much as Mourinho can only go to Chelsea, Chelsea can only go for Mourinho. The Blues have run through the course of young coaching prodigies (Andre Villas-Boas), former player (Roberto di Matteo), World Cup winner (Felipe Scolari), Italian maestro (Ancelotti), and temporary World traveller (Guus Hiddink). Who else can they go for, and who would want a potentially career threatening or simply short term move? Apart from Sven-Goran Erikssen.

A Jurgen Klopp would want to start another dynasty, like he has at Dortmund, Manuel Pellegrini has already suffered the bite of a big club, while Antonio Conte, Michael Laudrap, and Frank de Boer do not need the hassle of the Chelsea system. Even Rafa Benitez thought twice before joining.

Jupp Heynckes could be a short term option, but why would he want to allow his potential treble winning legacy at Bayern Munich be tarnished at a club as unstable as Chelsea, while Roberto Martinez does not have the reputation that Roman Abramovich would desire, and Roberto Mancini is another club's cast off.

Mourinho is at least a favourite with the terraces and has proved himself once already with Chelsea. He ticks the most boxes by a long way and it will be fascinating to see what demands he issues to the Russian billionaire and what demands he accepts in return. Working with Technical Director Michael Emenalo? Allowing the club to control the transfer strategy to some extent? How much of his backroom staff Chelsea will buy from Madrid?

The only manager who is available and might be interested would be Rafa Benitez, a winning at home and abroad, but there is no way the fans would accept him, so where else can Chelsea turn but Mourinho?

How much control Mourinho has at Chelsea may depend on how much money Madrid ask for in compensation. Those negotiations will take a while to resolve, with both sides in equally weak positions - the buyer has very few other options, while the seller is desperate to get rid.

If Chelsea can get him cheaply, then they can get in the rest of his backroom staff. If he's expensive, then Chelsea can say to their new man that the Blues were his only option so shut up and put up.

Personally, I think there will be a mix of success and fireworks, maybe a league title, but then a big fall out, with Mourinho doing enough to raise public opinion so he can get the Portugal job. Chelsea will be sated for a while, but the fall out will see Abramovich veering violently away from the policy of satisfying the fans and turning to someone who will satisfy him, until the point where Chelsea aren't winning and we go through the seven circles of Chelsea hell again.

Whatever happens, the neutrals will be entertained.

Benitez the greatest Squad manager?

There is a reluctance in football to give Rafa Benitez any undue credit. Alex Ferguson mocked the Spaniard for talking about his CV so much, but a quick gander shows that the former Valencia and Liverpool manager has an awful lot to gloat about – 2 La Ligas, 1 Champions League, 1 Uefa Cup, 1 FA Cup, 1 Club World Cup – and could add the Europa League to his collection.

The feeling prevails that Benitez is a grinder, someone with a preference for effective efficiency rather than electrifying entertainment. So the old joke goes: why does Bentiez play two holding midfielders? Because he hasn’t got three.

There is some truth that Benitez prefers containment over openness, but his record shows he is a very good manager. Look where Valencia and Liverpool are now for starters. At Chelsea he was never going to be a fan’s favourite. From day one the fans were waiting for the day their old adversary left, and even a top 4 finish and a European trophy will do little to endear him to the masses at Stamford Bridge.

A closer look reveals Bentiez is a manager of no little skill. His tactics might be dour, but the way he has led the Blues through Champions League and Europa League campaigns, culminating with the final in Amsterdam, to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup, and into pole position to finish ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham in the race for the remaining CL places is something to be admired. Chelsea have played 65 games this season, with four left, and yet they look the freshest out of the London trio.

Juan Mata has played 60 times this season. John Terry, blighted by injury and subject to Benitez’s rotation policy, has still played 26 games. Frank Lampard, perhaps no longer of the parish next season, has made 47 appearances. For the players to put in such effort for so long is commendable, but for their manager to rotate the team so successfully, especially with only two misfiring strikers, is simply astounding.

With only Demba Ba joining in the January transfer window, and Daniel Sturridge leaving for Liverpool, Benitez was not even afforded more resources, let alone players he personally wanted. The interim appointment was undermined at every step but still Chelsea are competing and, more importantly, winning.

There are numerous examples of managers who have failed to rotate successfully, and even more who have fallen foul of their players because of the team selections. Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham team notoriously hit the buffers in the latter third of last season, while Barcelona’s fatigue was exposed by a ruthless Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Real Madrid have plenty of disgruntled stars and have fallen short in European and in La Liga, while Roberto Mancini appears to upset a different Manchester City player each week.

Benitez has not. The Spaniard has even managed the egos of Chelsea stalwarts Terry and Lampard, and while those two and others may simply be biding their time until a new man is at the helm, lesser man have felt the wrath of the dressing room leaders.

He may not be the man you want in charge of your club, but there is no doubt that Rafa Benitez is an accomplished and successful manager. He will toe the party line when it keeps the fans onside, or at least off his back. While other managers struggle to compete on more than one front, Benitez rotates his way to success, and it is a shame that his management skills are not recognised properly.

Budesliga yet another flavour of the month

 Wilkommen! Guten Tag! Das, erm Spielsplaztenberger. Okay, my GCSE German needs some brushing up, but the Bundesliga is here! Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are in the Champions League, and ze Germans are set to rule us all (in football terms). This is the age of the Mannschaft, all hail the mighty Farterland!!

Actually, let’s not. While the rest of the media loses their collective shit over the indomitable Germans, gushes over their ownership models and sycophantically applauds the young German talent coming through, how about we enjoy some perspective? Yes, we should not stick fingers in our ears and our heads in the sand but every three-to-five years there is another fad, another first-mover, another market leader, another football flavour that is THE BEST THING EVER and must be copied head to toe by the English powers that be if we are to achieve anything, ever.

At the moment, it’s the German model. Before that, La Masia and Barcelona. Before that, England was dominating Europe, following on from the all Serie A Champions League final of 2003, which naturally was a reaction to Real Madrid and Spain’s supremacy. Go into the nineties and earlier, see the great Italian dominance of Europe, including Milan’s successful defence of their European crown in 1990, and of course Ajax’s famous academy system.

As media attention has ramped up and become increasingly desperate to seek headlines by resorting to extremes, it is now the norm to decide whoever wins has the best plan, the best set up, the best system, and everyone else is failing. The German duo were extremely impressive as they beat Real Madrid and Barcelona. Bayern Munich comprehensively outclassed the Catalans who struggled without their talisman Leo Messi and, probably more importantly, without Carlos Puyol and Javier Mascherano, while Real left it too late to undo the damage exacted by Dortmund in the first leg.

There was some fantastic German talent on offer, and of that England manager Roy Hodgson can be envious. But the fact is the Premier League is such a worldwide phenomena, brings in such massive revenue and can offer such massive wages that of course it will attract the world’s best, in the same way that Serie A in the 90’s attracted the best players because it paid the biggest fees and wages, and how Real Madrid and Barcelona can tempt the best players in the Premier League to Spain, given their unfair share of La Liga TV revenue. To think English teams can easily adopt the German system of bringing through youth is simplistic. There are many unique factors (language, cultural immigration, money) that come into play.

But hey, I hear you cry, if we want a successful national team we need to follow the German method (which I imagine is the football equivalent of the missionary position – maximum efficiency). Let’s look at the record books – before 2002, Germany had won three world cups, finished runners up three times, and semi-finalists three times. They also won three European championships, twice runners up, and once semi-finalists. What I am saying is, the Germans have always been successful at international level, and it is somewhat ironic that they have not won a major international trophy since 1996 – seventeen years of hurt, it makes my heart bleed.

It is the Spanish model, shown up this week, that has proved the most successful in recent times, but again there are mitigating circumstances. The concentration of most of the players in two teams – the two teams in La Liga – will have helped the cohesion and understanding of the team. That Spain is basically Barcelona with Real’s power is no coincidence.

There is a lot to admire about the German system, just as there is much to admire in the Spanish, Dutch, Italian or Scottish systems (okay, maybe stretched a little far there). Germany certainly treats its fans a little better, and the ownership model has a lot of plus points, but equally you could argue that the rules that give fans 51% of the club allows Bayern Munich to dominate, as the signing of Mario Gotze from Dortmund shows. Bayern have finished well ahead of their rivals and you can only see the gap getting bigger. There is no Sheikh on the horizon to mix things up a bit.

Ticket prices are a lot lower, and it is shocking that as TV revenue for the Premier League increases so do match day prices, but recent announcements that ticket prices were to increase in the Bundesliga led to protests. It goes to show that’s it’s all relative, although naturally we’d rather have the German supporters’ price problems than ours.

When the English FA built St George’s Park they received phone calls from across the continent asking them what they were doing, how they were doing it, what they were planning, what they wanted out of it. Everyone wants to know the best practices so they can adopt and adapt to meet their requirements and their systems. When England had three semi finalists in the Champions League other countries were looking at how we marketed the league, how we tapped international markets, how we negotiated our TV deals. Italy changed from an individual to a collective bargaining agreement, Germany and Spain started moving matches to appeal to the Asian market. We need to do the same.

We should identify the best things about the German system, the Spanish system, in fact all systems, see how we can integrate them into how football is run in our country and mould them to suit our circumstances and our needs. Not simply say the Germans are winning ergo we should copy what they do.

Uli Hesse, a writer for ESPN, annually checks the stats and shows the Bundesliga has the most goals in it on average than any of Europe’s leagues, each year for the last decade. Where were the plaudits in 2003? Why weren’t people looking to their tactics and strategies back then? Because they were not winning and English teams were. Then the Spanish came. Now it is time for the Germans.

If we here in England only look to copy others we will always be one step behind. We need to find the best method that suits us, what we want and what we need. Only then can we lead the way and win the trophies. In the mean time, let’s slow down the German love fest. One all-German final does not mean a new era had begun. Yet.

Damiao finally set for Spurs? Maybe not...

ESPN's website today carried quotes from Internacional President Giovanni Luigi indicating that Brazilian international striker and long term Tottenham target Leandro Damiao was set for a move to England.

“If a club want a player, they must talk to the president of the club at which that particular player plays, and not just deal with the agent – that is not correct behaviour,” Luigi told Tutto Mercato.

“Recently we talked with Tottenham, Leandro is very likely to play games in England in the coming year. On the other hand we can exclude Napoli.”

This will come as a great relief to Spurs fans who have become increasingly frustrated at the club's inability to sort out a transfer for the big number 9. The club from North London were first linked with Damiao in 2011, and despite continued rumours of negotiations transfer windows have continued to pass without any resolution.

The form of Emmanuel Adebayor (3 goals in 20 Premier League appearances this season) has been a constant worry for the White Hart Lane club, while Jermain Defoe has only one Premiership goal in 2013. Spurs will need to buy at least one striker in the summer, perhaps two if the rumours of Adebayor's demise are to be believed (and why wouldn't they after his slack attitude this season?).

However, Spurs supporters should not get their hopes up on the back of these quotes. Firstly, Internacional has a tangled mess of a boardroom, it is not like Spurs or most Premier League clubs where there is a chairman or chief executive who is solely responsible for handling transfer talks. Secondly, the club does not wholly own Leandro Damiao's registration, so Luigi is not even the sole negotiator on the seller's side.

Thirdly, and most interestingly/worryingly, Levy has already dealt with the Internacional set-up when Spurs were in talks to sign Sandro. That transfer dragged on but was eventually concluded, and while there may be differences over Damiao's transfer value, you would think the Tottenham chairman had the right guy's phone number having already concluded one transfer with the Brazilian club. Spurs and Internacional also agreed a 'sporting partnership', whatever the hell that means. You'd think that, as a result of all this, Levy and his Brazilian counterpart would be on speaking terms!

Perhaps the most reassuring quote out of all of this for Spurs fans who, like myself, would like to see Damiao at the Lane is that Luigi appears to rule out Napoli as a destination. The Italian team would be flush with cash should they sell Edinson Cavani and will be on the look out for a replacement striker.

Having spent so long chasing Damiao, it would be troubling if Spurs lost out on him now. There is a feeling that Levy should either stump up the cash or focus his efforts elsewhere. One thing is for certain, Tottenham cannot go through another window without improving and adding to their strike force.

Aston Villa have earned the favour of the neutrals

Aston Villa is a big club. They have won the first division seven times (albeit only once since the First World War), won the FA Cup seven times, five League Cups and are one of only five English teams to have won the European Cup, in 1982. Villa Park holds over 42,000 and was once a venue for FA Cup semi finals, and the club has competed in the Premiership every season since the league began.

The club struggles to compete with the flash teams from London nor the giants from Merseyside and Manchester and under Martin O’Neill the Villains hit a glass ceiling, battling for a top four spot only to slide in the second half of the season to finish sixth three times in a row. That frustration that the club could not or would not spend and push higher led to O’Neill’s departure, and after an indifferent season with Gerard Houllier there was the walking disaster that is Alex McLeish. With a high wage bill and dwindling success, owner Randy Lerner looked to reign in the spending, and the appointment of Paul Lambert was with the understanding that budgets would be trimmed.

Fortunately for Villa, they have a wonderful habit of bringing through youth products. Not all of them go on to the highest level – Gaby Agbonlahor has failed to find the consistency to become a top Premier League striker, Craig Gardner is at struggling Sunderland, Luke Moore is often on the bench for Swansea while the likes of Barry Bannan and Marc Albrighton have seen their stars fade a little – but there is a constant conveyor belt of talent coming through that. Lambert likes to give young British players a chance, as demonstrated by his spell at Norwich where Grant Holt, Wes Hoolahan, Elliot Bennett, Bradley Johnson and John Ruddy are amongst the players who have made the step up from the Championship and lower. At Villa it is the same.

Nathan Baker, Andreas Weimann, and Ciaran Clark have come through the academy to become first team regulars this season, while Gary Gardener would surely have made a mark if injury had not ruined his season. Lambert has also signed players from the Football League (Ashley Westwood from Crewe, Matt Lowton from Sheffield United, Joe Bennett from Middlesbrough, Jordan Bowery from Chesterfield) and given more prominence to battling Englishman Fabian Delph. At a time when Roy Hodgson is lamenting the lack of English players playing in the Premiership, Lambert is giving that talent a chance, showing no fear when it comes to transfers, allying big money transfers like hattrick hero Christian Benteke and Ron Vlaar with home grown and ‘lower league’ players.

This season has not been without its setbacks, and the loss of Stiliyan Petrov to illness was a massive blow. His experience and leadership have been missed and this was exacerbated when Dutch international Vlaar was injured in the first half of the campaign. Villa and Lambert fought through the tough times and have come out the other side, and Monday night’s 6-1 win over Sunderland was clearly their most impressive result and performance of the year. The attacking play finally appears to have come together, although the defence still looks liable to concede there is at least hope for the future.

The January signing of Yacouba Sylla underwhelmed many observers, at 22 the defensive midfielder did not appear to be what Villa needed by Lambert knew better. Lowton has improved as the season has worn on, while Benteke has been one of the Premiership stand out players and Villa will do well to hold on to him in the summer. If the Congo-born Belgian international does leave, Villa will be making a very hefty profit.

After the win over Sunderland, Villa look in a good shape to stay up this season. If Lambert can work his magic again in the transfer window, offloading a few of the higher wage earners like Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Darren Bent and Stephen Ireland, and bring through even more young British talent, the long term future of Aston Villa looks very exciting. While they will never be able to compete on the same level as Manchester United, City or Chelsea, they have at least identified a plan to return the club to its former glories. A financially honest plan that relies on British talent? That is something we can all admire.

Bale double award shows PFA need a rethink

Gareth Bale won the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year award on Sunday night. Congratulations to the young Welshman who has continued his progress from wing wonder to all out star. No doubt fans of Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez et al will be up in arms that Bale has won, but it is the candidates on the Young Player short-list who should be angered.

It is such a waste to have Bale win both categories. If he is player of the year, he is de facto young player of the year, de facto Welsh player of the year, de facto left footed, side parting and silly celebration player of the year (although Daniel Sturridge pushes him awfully close in the latter category).

You would think the PFA would rather have separate winners as well – Bale wins two more awards isn’t as interesting as Bale is Player of the Year and, let’s say, Benteke is young player of the year. Twice the players, twice the clubs, twice the coverage. The actual number of votes are never revealed anyone so it is not like anyone will care if Bale was technically the Young player winner as well, he’s picked up the big prize and it actually seems bizarre that the Player of the Year winner wouldn’t also win the Young Player award too if eligible – if Benteke was a better candidate for the Young Player award, he would be a better candidate for the full award too, no? It would hardly go against the law of man if the PFA said if you win the full award, you cannot win the junior category as well.

The current set-up is weird. You can argue that these awards are largely meaningless anyway, but if we are to indulge the PFA then they might as well give us the maximum payback.

Tottenham should drop Parker to finish in Top 4

England international does not fit into current Spurs side

After the comeback win over Manchester City reignited Tottenham’s Top Four challenge, there was the inevitable stumble as Spurs were held 2-2 at the DW stadium against Wigan. Despite taking an early, fortuitous lead, Andre Villas-Boas and his men needed a late own goal to seal a share of the points. Fluidity is still lacking in Tottenham’s play, and the lilywhites continue to concede goals.

While the spotlight searches across the side for the cause of Tottenham’s problems, one thing has become clear – this Tottenham side look better when Scott Parker is not on the field. That’s not to pour blame onto the former Player of the Year’s shoulders, for he has done little wrong, but he simply is not suited to how Spurs want to set up at the moment.

Dropping yet more points against teams well down the table could cost Spurs once more, and with games at Stoke and at home to Southampton and Sunderland to come, there is a worry that Tottenham will lose out to London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal for the Champions League places. Spurs had a lot of shots on Saturday, but they still lacked enough goals and it is now nine games since they kept a clean sheet. Stretching back further, Spurs have just two clean sheets in the Premier League in 2013.

It is no surprise this lack of clean sheets coincides with the injury to Brazilian Sandro in early January. Scott Parker has started twenty games this season in all competitions this season in Sandro’s absence, yet has been subbed nine times (45%), and in seven of those nine Tottenham were on the verge of defeat (including on away goals to Lyon in the Europa League). Still to score for Spurs, and hardly high up the assist table, if Parker is not offering defensive solidity then his worth to the team begins to be questioned.

Parker was integral to Spurs under Harry Redknapp, becoming an England starter as well, so what has changed? The loss of Luka Modric and to a lesser extent Rafa van der Vaart has put a greater emphasis on Parker’s playmaking ability, which is not his strong point. Moussa Dembele has impressed since his move from Fulham but is not a classic passer like Modric, and it is to Tottenham fans’ frustrations that Parker is often found bursting forward while his more talented midfield partner covers.

This brings us to Parker’s diminishing defensive value to Spurs. Villas-Boas likes his teams to press high up the pitch, which should play to Parker’s strengths, but the Achilles injury that put him out for the first six months of the season has taken a little energy from his play, while the ex-West Ham and Chelsea player will turn 33 in October and his age is starting to show.

Also, with Gareth Bale’s deployment in the centre and Aaron Lennon’s recent absence, Spurs have continued the evolution away from the 4-4-1-1 system that Redknapp preferred to a 4-3-3 shape. That allows AVB to play a designated holding midfielder but Parker’s positional discipline is terrible and he often vacates his central berth at the drop of a hat, leaving the defence woefully exposed.

Villas-Boas looked to address that on Saturday by playing Tom Huddlestone as the deep playmaker, but given Parker's lack of attacking skill one wonders why Lewis Holtby, who is equally energetic but a far more effective attacking threat, did not start as well.

Tottenham have evolved, and Scott Parker is getting left behind. Sandro has usurped him as Tottenham’s leading defensive midfielder, and the Brazilian’s style and tactical play is far more suited to playing alongside Dembele, who needs to pick up his position off his midfield partner when Spurs defend.

Parker is not offering one thing nor another, and although there are no direct rivals currently available there are better alternatives available. Tottenham are struggling to keep clean sheets, so they might as well focus on trying to outscore the opposition.