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Soccer Banter

Extra Time with Dave Clarke 

2/22/2013

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Why are Spurs considered a one-man team?  Are Liverpool a one-man team with Luis Suarez or Manchester United one with Robin van Persie?  Of course not, but lazy journalists and pundits take the easy option by defining Spurs as overly reliant on Bale.  If they did their homework they would know that Bale has only been playing well since the New Year and that Spurs players of the season are Aaron Lennon and Jan Vertonghen.   

Why do Spurs have to finish in the top four to keep a hold of Gareth Bale?  With a new stadium to fund, Spurs may end up selling the Welshman for an offer they can’t refuse, but finishing fourth will have no bearing on the decision.  Everton kept Marouane Fellaini and Liverpool kept Luis Suarez despite finishing outside the top four last year while Spurs kept Bale despite missing out on the Champions League.  There is nothing like the truth getting in the way of the story.

Why was there not more outrage in the media for the manner in which Juventus systematically and cynically fouled Celtic at set pieces in their Champions League qualifier?  Players are vilified for diving because it is considered blatant cheating. What Juve did was cheating too and has been a part of the club’s culture for years. UEFA and FIFA need to come down on all forms of cheating in the game and not just the diving. 

   

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Why is Luis Suarez always vilified by the English media when he dives to win fouls, but Daniel Sturridge avoided criticism for his blatant dives against Man City and Swansea City?

Why did Neil Lennon start Efe Ambrose for Celtic in the tie with Juventus less than 48 hours after he played in the African Cup of Nations final in South Africa?  Ambrose was at fault for two of Juve’s goals and missed Celtic’s best chance of the game.  It was a gamble that did not pay off and leaves Celtic with little chance to advance to the last eight.     

Why are some pundits in the game so ignorant of the Laws of the Game?  The recent Newcastle United-Chelsea game is a case in point.  Demba Ba was kicked in the face by Fabricio Coloccini and there were calls for a penalty and a red card for the foul.  It was not a penalty.  It was an indirect free kick for dangerous play and at best a yellow card for the Newcastle defender.

Why is every error made by Manchester United’s David de Gea highlighted by the media and pundits, but similar errors in judgment by Man City and England keeper, Joe Hart, go unmentioned?

Why was the referee in the Real Madrid-Man United Champions League game criticized by the English media for blowing for full time before United could take their injury time corner?  If time was up then the referee was well within his rights to blow for full time.  Why should United have been given an extra couple of seconds just because they had a corner to take?  Did the experts want a repeat of the bizarre situation involving Clive Thomas at the 1978 World Cup when he blew for full time while the ball was in flight from a corner?  Brazil scored, but Thomas did not award the goal because he had blown as soon as the ball was kicked.  



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Why was there so much uproar about Emmanuel Adebayor reporting back late to Tottenham Hotspur after he had played for Togo at the African Cup of Nations?  Did the players who participated in last summer’s European Championships report back to their clubs right away?  Of course they didn’t.  So why are Adebayor and other African players being singled out?        

Why has Alan Pardew not been called to task for being a hypocrite after adding a tenth French born player to his Newcastle roster to bring the total of foreign players at the stadium, formerly known as the Sports Direct Arena, to 20?  I seem to remember him having a lot to say at one time about the number of foreign players at Arsenal.   

Why are more questions not asked of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal when financial constraints are cited as being a factor in their current predicament?  Arsenal have a wage bill that is $1.5 million more than Spurs, their main competitor for a top four place.  That is 10 players on over $100,000 per week difference between the two sides.  Arsenal have also invested heavily in the transfer market and their team against Bayern Munich was purchased for $170 million.  Surely such expenditure warrants beating lower league opposition in the League Cup and the FA Cup and a more competitive performance in the last 16 of Champions League? 


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Extra Time with Dave Clarke

2/12/2013

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With the greatest of respect to Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, and Paris Saint Germain, the two best ties of this week’s UEFA Champions League last 16 games are in Glasgow, where Celtic host Juventus, and in Madrid, where Real Madrid host Manchester United.  Extra Time takes a look at the prospects for the two British clubs.

Celtic v Juventus

The Bhoys of Glasgow face the Old Lady of Turin as two of world football’s greatest clubs return to prominence in their rightful places in the latter stages of the Champions League.  Neither club is the most popular team in their home city, but both are seen as the biggest in Scotland and Italy respectively.  In recent years the two clubs have endured a period of watching the knockout stages from the outside looking in and both will relish this tie.  Juventus will enter the first leg as overwhelming favorites to advance to the quarter-finals, but will do well to respect the threat Celtic will provide.

Celtic’s Keys to Victory:

1)     The support at Celtic Park on a European night is one of the most deafening and supportive in football.  The home side needs to ignore the emotion of their fans and be patient in attack.  If they don’t, then Juventus will open them up.  If they lead late, then the backing of the 60,000 fans will be pivotal in maintaining their lead.
2)     Celtic must take a scoreless draw or a one goal lead into the second leg in Turin.  If not, the tie will be over.  To do so they will have to defend resolutely and pick their moments to counter attack.  A lot will be required of the Celtic back four and goalkeeper, Fraser Foster, in particular.  He needs to repeat the heroics of his two performances against Barcelona.  If he does then Celtic will have a chance to advance.
3)     Juventus have a more talented squad than Celtic, but only one player, Andrea Pirlo, who makes them tick.  If Celtic stops him then they will go a long way towards stopping Juve.  This is one game where manager Neil Lennon might be best advised to man mark the Italian playmaker - perhaps a job for captain, Scott Brown.  If not, then Pirlo can give Celtic the run around the way he did England at last summer’s European Championships.

 

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Juventus’ Keys to Victory:

1)     Juventus will need to silence the crowd and stop them from being a factor for the home side.  They can do so by keeping possession of the ball, slowing the game down, and scoring early, something Barcelona failed to do in both of their games against Celtic.
2)     Celtic’s back four has been very inconsistent this season and is the team’s Achilles Heel.  Until recently Juve have not been prolific in front of goal, but in Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Matri they have two players who can punish any hesitancy from Celtic at the back.
3)     Celtic rode their luck at times in their six group games with their opponents, guilty of some horrendous misses in each game.  Juve will get chances in Glasgow and must take them or will be left to rue the cost.   

Extra Time Prediction:

The first leg in Glasgow will be a very cagey affair with Celtic’s new found experience helping to frustrate their Italian opponents.  The best Celtic can hope for is a hard fought 1-0 win, but if it stays 0-0 for long spells then a goalless draw will be seen by Celtic as a victory.   

Real Madrid v Manchester United

This game has everything for the supporters of the two teams involved as well as for the neutral watching on television.  It pits Jose Mourinho against Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo against his former club, La Liga against the Premier League and more importantly two of Europe’s most attacking and most successful clubs against each other. 

Real Madrid’s Keys to Victory:

1)     United have struggled to keep clean sheets all season, so Real will fancy their chances against their back four.  Patrice Evra is a major weak link for United, and a match-up with Ronaldo could hand the initiative to the Spanish champions.
2)     Real have pace and attacking threat in abundance.  Their speed on the ball and speed of movement off it will cause problems for United.  If United are to contain Real then there can be no place in the line-up for Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick or the aforementioned Evra.  Phil Jones can play in the Carrick role and Chris Smalling at full back, or vice-versa.
3)     Wayne Rooney is always a danger man for United on the domestic front, but too often in the European games he can be nullified.  The main threat to Madrid will come from Robin van Persie.  Stop him and Madrid are a step closer to stopping United.



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Manchester United’s Keys to Victory:

1)     The Bernabeu crowd will start the game fully supportive of Jose Mourinho and his team, but the longer the two sides remain scoreless, the sooner they will turn against Real.  United need to slow the game down, dictate the tempo, silence the crowd, turn them against Real, and put all the pressure on Mourinho’s side.
2)     Alex Ferguson is an experienced manager, and he showed by his man marking of Marouane Fellaini on Sunday that he can adapt his tactics to the modern game.  He will need to conjure up a similar tactical master plan if he is to get anything from the away leg.  He must go with a youthful team and pick players with pace, or United will be in for a long 90 minutes in Spain.
3)     To have any chance of advancing to the next round United must score in Madrid because they are not going to keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford.  Real’s back four is their weakness, so Rooney, van Persie, Valencia, and Young must run at them all night.

Extra Time Prediction:

The demise of Real Madrid has been over exaggerated and they will show their class over the two legs.  United would be best advised to ignore Real’s domestic performances because Madrid have only one goal this season: to win the Champions League.  Mourinho will relish setting up his team to play against Ferguson’s and safeguarding his standing as the Special One.  If Real score first and early in Madrid they have the ability to take United apart and demonstrate the gulf in class that exists between La Liga and the EPL.  This game will be nothing but a comfortable win for the Spanish champions.  


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Extra Time with Dave Clarke

2/1/2013

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The transfer window closed last night and not many last minute deals were done.  Manchester United tend not to involve themselves in the January window, but I fully expected Manchester City to bring in a player or two.  They didn’t.  Chelsea did add Demba Ba from Newcastle, but as long as Rafa Benitez is still in charge at Stamford Bridge, he will play second fiddle to Fernando Torres.  Newcastle United and Alan Pardew were one of the busiest teams, signing a number of French players.  They still have Gabriel Obertan on their books, so he can now earn his pay check by acting as an interpreter.

Call me a cynic, but I don’t buy David Beckham’s "I won't receive any salary. My salary will go to a local children's charity. That's one of the things we are excited and proud to do" after he signed for Paris Saint-Germain.  Beckham, despite the fawning of the English media, is all about Beckham.  Everything he does is calculated.  It is all about maximum exposure for brand Beckham and Paris is just the latest stop on his carefully planned world tour.            

It is very refreshing that two unfashionable clubs, Bradford City and Swansea City, have made the League Cup Final, which will be played at Wembley next month.  Both teams have earned the right to play in the final and only the most snobbish of Sky Premier League armchair fans will begrudge them their day out.  And for those fans that followed football before Sky and the EPL, the mere mention of Bradford will invoke memories of that horrific day at Valley Parade in 1985, when 56 fans lost their lives in a fire.  Bradford City Football Club deserves its moment in the spotlight, on the hallow turf of the national stadium, and the chance to honor those who died.    



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Eden Hazard was quite rightly sent off for kicking or trying to kick the ball from under the torso of a not so innocent Swansea City ball boy.  It was galling for so many ex-professionals to defend him and to point to the age of the lad involved and his pre-game Tweets as a justification for Hazard’s action.  Did the young Belgian player know how old the ball boy was when he kicked him?  Did he know of the ball boy’s pregame boasts?  Of course he didn’t.  Had the City keeper been holding onto the ball in a similar manner and Hazard kicked out he would have received an automatic red card.  It was very convenient for Chelsea Football Club that Hazard’s action and subsequent red card deflected attention from yet another woeful performance and their elimination from another cup competition.

It was a great weekend for the minnows in the FA Cup with Luton Town, Leeds United, MK Dons, Millwall, and Oldham Athletic all beating Premier League opposition.  People talk about the ‘romance of the cup’ and how magical the competition is compared to others.  Remind me in May of that romance when one of Man City, Man United, Arsenal, or Chelsea lift the cup.  The FA Cup is a great and historic tournament, but the notion of romance is overstated.  It does provide some excellent story lines in the early rounds, but only once in the last 26 years has that romance translated to a team winning the cup.  And even then, the victors were Portsmouth, who under Harry Redknapp, spent their way to the final.



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Alex Ferguson is a great manager and perhaps the greatest ever in the British game.  As the years have gone by he has become more outspoken, but because of his status he is rarely called to task for his comments.  The FA should throw the book at him for the manner in which he questioned the linesman after United’s recent game against Spurs at White Hart Lane.  Ferguson brought the game into disrepute by bringing up calls the official in question supposedly made against his team down the years.  But why stop there?  Why not highlight Mark Clattenburg’s failure in 2005 to award Pedro Mendes a goal at Old Trafford; or his failure to blow his whistle, when Nani unsportingly profited from Heurelho Gomes thinking he had been awarded a free kick five years later?  He could also have highlighted Howard Webb’s decision to award United a penalty against Spurs at Old Trafford in 2009 when Gomes clearly won the ball.  It was an incident that led to Webb’s demotion the following week.  Fergie in his waning years, like all old people, has selective memory.


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    Dave Clarke

    Head Women's Soccer Coach at Quinnipiac University and US National Staff Coach who received a Masters in Journalism from QU.  A Spurs and Celtic supporter.


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