footballspectator

Watford beat Leeds United 3-0 in the final of the Championship play-offs today to gain promotion to the Premiership. They dominated what is probably the most valuable game in football (promotion is said to be worth £35 million) from start to finish. It marks a remarkable turnaround for a club which only a year ago was close to relegation. Ironically the architect of their success is former Leeds coach Aidy Boothroyd.

How will they fair next year? They are likely to go the way of Sunderland unless they bring some quality players to the club. Relying mainly on meticulous planning and organisation may be sufficient in the Championship, but in the Premiership, a large amount of inspiration is also necessary; Marlon King may have scored 20 goals this season, but the likes of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are unlikely to be losing any sleep over him.

Throughout southern Europe, specialist sports newspapers consistently feature among the most widely read newspapers in the country. Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, with its distinctive pink pages has a readership of 3.4 million. Marca and L’Equipe are the mostly widely sold papers in Spain and France respectively and in Greece there are at least 7(!) national sports dailies.

In the UK, sports newspapers have not met with the same success. In the late 1990s, Sport First was launched in a fanfare of publicity but poor readership meant that it went from being a daily to a weekly in a short space of time. It can now be found in few outlets and goes under the title of Football First. The latest attempt is The Sportsman which aims to tap into the growing sports betting market.

Many argue that the reason for the failure of sports newspapers in the UK is that there is now such widespread sports coverage in other newspapers and with such competition it is difficult to penetrate the market. To some extent this is a valid argument, however there is significant sports coverage in the national pages in Spain, Italy and Greece and yet sports papers still flourish.

How do they achieve this? By strongly aligning themselves with one of the major football clubs, much in the way that national papers align themselves with political parties. In Spain, Marca and AS are strongly aligned with Real Madrid; El Mundo Deportivo and Sport are aligned with Barcelona. In Greece, Panathinaikos supporters read Athlitiki Icho or Derby; Olympiakos supporters read Protathlitis, or Fos. By doing so they are able to diffentiate themselves from the mainstream press and meet the specific needs of a particular set of fans, hungry for a daily diet of news, outrageous rumour and biased opinion and as fans rarely change teams, the readership is loyal. If UK attempts followed this model, rather than remaining unbiased, they might be more successful.

Over the next few weeks we are going to take a closer look at some of the main sports newspapers in Europe and some of their most unlikely rumours.

Austrian League runners-up Red Bull Salzburg have made two sensational appointments for the next season: Lothar Matthäus will be team’s new coach while Italian legend Giovanni Trapattoni will serve as the club’s general director.

Their primary objective will be to lead the Austrian club into next year’s Champions’ League and to “take it to even greater heights”, as the club’s president Dieter Mateschitz put it. “I’m coming to Salzburg to make something great happen” said Trapattoni, who coached Matthäus at Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

While Austrian football has not been very successful in Europe in recent years, Salzburg may be onto something here. They’re rumoured to be looking at adding 1 or 2 high calibre players to further boost the squad and we really hope this may help them reach the heights they last experienced in 1994, when they got to the final of the UEFA Cup (but were beaten by Inter Milan).

Looks like the disgraced team of Italian football, Juventus, is facing up to the fact that it will be punished with relegation after fixing a countless number of matches, and is putting together a plan for next year’s season in Serie B.

The disgraced team of Turin will be forced to get rid of most of its millionaire players in an attempt to raise money to compensate for likely losses from sponsors and tv rights. Buffon and Vieira, whose contracts end in 2010 and are on stellar salaries, will be sold, as will Trezeguet, who’s tired of not winning any silverware in Europe. The older players such as Nedved, Cannavaro and Thuram will stay with Juventus but are likely to be loaned for a year. Del Piero, who Juventus will rebuild their team on when (if?) they are promoted back to Serie A, might also be loaned to another team, unless he’s prepared to take a hefty salary reduction.

As for the other players, frankly we can’t see many of them wanting to stay at the Old Lady…. Ibrahimovic and Mutu are still young and have a career ahead of them, and it shouldn’t be difficult for them to find a new team. Emerson still appeals to many teams and it won’t be a problem for him to find a new home. Capello will also leave, despite claims that he will honour his contract that ends in 2007: Juve have already found a replacement for him in Sampdoria’s Novellino.

Many European teams will wait until after relegation is announced to feast on Juve’s prime assets, as their negotiating power will be much stronger - Juve will be forced to sell to survive and so will not be able to haggle on price.

Tonight’s Champions’ League final should have been a celebration of football. The first fifteen minutes promised a lot, with Henry wasting an easy chance to put Arsenal ahead. But then the 18th minute came the incident that marred the match: rather than playing advantage, Norwegian referee Terje Hauge sent off Lehmann and disallowed Barcelona’s goal that should have stood.

While people may argue that playing against 10 is an advantage, it’s only a potential advantage: football is decided on goals scored, and not on the number of players left on the pitch for each team at the end of the match. However more than the injustice, the excitement and anticipation that preceded the final drained out of the game right then. Arsenal, who had been superior until then, were forced to withdraw Robert Pires, playing his final game as a Gunner, to bring on Manuel Almunia. The game then descended into a predictable pattern of Barcelona enjoying the lion’s share of possession and Arsenal sitting back in defence.

Yet Hauge compounded his mistake a few minutes later. He missed Eboué’s blatant dive and instead gave a free kick against Puyol from which Henry crossed for Campbell to open the scoring. While justice was finally done with Barca’s two late goals, fans will no doubt be frustrated that Hauge’s incompetence destroyed what could have been a classic final between two teams loaded with attacking flair. Rather than replacing linesman Hermann Borgan who was photographed wearing a Barca shirt prior to the game, they would have been better off relieving Hauge of his duties.

Have you ever wondered what leagues contribute the most players at the World Cup?
Kicker has counted the leagues of origin of the 736 players, and it turns out that the English Premiership is the one with the highest representation, followed by the Bundesliga and the Serie A.

The top 5 leagues are:

Germany announced their squad for the WC today: Jürgen Klinsmann dropped Kevin Kuranyi but picked 32-year old defender Jens Nowotny and newcomer David Odonkor.

Kuranyi certainly had a weak season with Schalke, and failed to deliver after his €6.9million move from Stuttgart. Having said so, we still think he would have been a better choice than Gerald Asamoah (not sure why he plays for Germany…). With regard to Nowotny, we’re glad to see that Klinsmann has finally woken up! The Leverkusen defender, who hasn’t played for Germany since the new coach took over after Euro2004, has had a fantastic season and should have been called in the team a long time ago: he will bring a lot of experience and add the stability the German defence so desperately needs. As for 22-year old Borussia Dortmund midfielder Odonkor, who has only played for Germany’s U21, Klinsmann explained:

He’s a great talent and brings something we urgently need - speed, the unexpected and someone who can sprint to the goal line and give us a cross from deep in the corner. We believe that he can help us with his cheekiness, something we’re missing.

All in all Germany appears to be rather weak: apart from 3 world-class goalkeepers, a world-class midfielder (Ballack) and a striker with world-class potential (Podolski), they look too vulnerable in defence and lack lethal striking force, and many of the 23 players in the squad would hardly make it into any of the other major national team. It will be tough for Germany.

Brazil and Argentina have always been sworn enemies. So imagine the shock it would cause Argentineans to see their favourite son in a Brazil shirt. Almost as large as the shock England fans might feel seeing Bobby Charlton playing for Germany!

[click on image to open video]

In Saturday’s FA Cup final, Steven Gerrard gave the kind of performance which should have made England fans breathe a sigh of relief and stop worrying about broken metatarsals anda forward line being lead by the slow and goal shy Peter Crouch.

At 2-0 down, Liverpool seemed down and out. However, one killer Gerrard pass (and superb Cissé finish) and fantastic volley later, and Liverpool were level. Even Paul Konchesky’s fluke was not enough to finish Gerrard off. His stunning 35 yard last minute volley, despite suffering from cramp, was the kind of moment he has produced regularly for Liverpool during the last couple of seasons.

In the final group game of last year’s Champions League, Liverpool were facing a similarly difficult situation. Needing to beat Olympiakos to progress by 2 clear goals, Liverpool fell behind to Rivaldo’s first half free kick. A Gerrard inspired Liverpool roused in the second half with another stunning effort from Gerrard making it 3-1 with a few minutes left. Then, in the final, it was Gerrard who again showed his team the way back from 3-0, with a header to reduce the deficit to 3-1.

Ask any Liverpool fan and he will be able countless other superhuman performances from Gerrard in pulling his club out of adversity. Yet Gerrard has consistently failed to produce the same form for England. Many blame this on fatigue, the argument being that by the time improtant events come around, Gerrard’s tank is running on empty. Doubtless this is a valid point and the omens do not look good for the summer as Gerrard has already played over 50 games this season. However, it fails to explain a series of lacklustre displays by Gerrard during the last two qualifying campaigns.

Maybe Gerrard is the type of player that needs to be surrounded by a mediocre team which relies on his leadership, in order to be inspired to consistently produce his best. In a team where the supporting cast is superior to that at Liverpool, Gerrard struggles to develop the same level of motivation, preferring to share the burden of leadership and his performances suffer as a result. So maybe Rafa Benitez should think long and hard about how many top class players he should sign for Liverpool as they may in fact blunt the performances of Stevie G.

Juventus won their 29th Serie A title today, but celebrations were overshadowed by the recent match-fixing allegations, following which the club risks having both scudetti won in the last two years revoked and being relegated to Serie B (if not to a lower division).

While they may turn out not to be the only team to have manipulated matches in recent times (Fiorentina are thought to have benefited from Juventus’ refereeing connections to avoid relegation last year, Lazio and Milan are also being investigated) it is the fact that they have always represented the unassailable power, the untouchable, dominating force in Italian football that would make their relegation so special and such a historic event.

It’s hard to imagine a Serie A without Juventus: they’re the only team in Italy, together with Inter, to have always played in Serie A. At the same time, with increasing evidence against them emerging day by day, it’s even harder to see how they will escape their destiny in the the lower division(s).

If there is such thing as football justice in Italy, it’s only a matter of weeks until the announcement that next season Juventus will be playing against more modest teams the likes of Crotone, Rimini and Arezzo.

Raymond Domenech and Marco van Basten each today announced the 23 players that will be representing France and Holland respectively next month in Germany.

Two surpise faces in the French squad were the uncapped duo of Pascal Chimbonda of Wigan and Franck Ribery of Olympique Marseille. While the French press have been mounting a campaign for Ribery’s inclusion, Chimbonda’s call-up is a major surprise. There was no room for either Robert Pires of Arsenal, who fell out with Domenech last year, or Ludovic Giuly of Barcelona who only recently scored the decisive goal in the Champion’s League semi-final against Milan in the San Siro.

There was a surprise in the Dutch squad also with the Eredivisie’s top scorer, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, being demoted to the under-21 squad which takes part in this summer’s European Championships in Portugal. Van Basten challenged Huntelaar to prove him wrong with his performances in Portugal

Full Squads:

France

Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez (Olympique Marseille), Gregory Coupet (Olympique Lyon), Mickael Landreau (Nantes)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyon), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle United), Pascal Chimbonda (Wigan Athletic), William Gallas (Chelsea), Gael Givet (Monaco) Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Mikael Silvestre (Manchester United), Lilian Thuram (Juventus)

Midfielders: Vikash Dhorasoo (Paris St Germain), Alou Diarra (Racing Lens), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Juventus), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid).

Strikers: Djibril Cisse (Liverpool), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Franck Ribery (Olympique Marseille), Louis Saha (Manchester United), David Trezeguet (Juventus), Sylvain Wiltord

Holland

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar).

Defenders: Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Jan Kromkamp (Liverpool), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Khalid Boulahrouz (SV Hamburg), Joris Mathijsen (AZ Alkmaar), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar).

Midfielders: Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Philip Cocu (PSV Eindhoven), Denny Landzaat (AZ Alkmaar), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax Amsterdam), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax Amsterdam), Rafael van der Vaart (SV Hamburg).

Strikers: Dirk Kuijt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV Eindhoven), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Ryan Babel (Ajax Amsterdam).

Mahamadou Diarra could be on his way to Manchester United in a part exchange deal with Ruud Van Nistelrooy, according to sportime.gr. The 25-year Mali international, who began his European career with OFI of Crete as a 16 year old before moving to Vitesse Arnhem in Holland and then Lyon, is seen by Sir Alex Ferguson as the perfect replacement for United legend Roy Keane, now at Celtic.

Sportime reports that the French champions are willing to let Diarra go for €38 million but that United believe the price to be too high and so are prepared to offer Van Nistelrooy, who has scored 150 goals for United and finished second to Thierry Henry in this year’s Premiership scoring charts, in part-exchange after his recent falling out with Ferguson. Lyon have been on the lookout for a top class forward and have been heavily linked with a bid for Chelsea’s Didier Drogba.

Bernard Lacombe, who is responsible for the majority of Lyon’s transfer activity said:

“It’s true that Lyon is interested in Van Nistelrooy. We haven’t yet contacted the United board to initiate formal talks. The financial side of the deal will be complicated unless we agree to swap some players.”

Watch this space..