OUR football correspondent LIAM MACKEY is back in top form and full of energy. He casts his eye over your comments and gives his own critical analysis of the goings on throughout the world of football. You may agrewith him or then again you may not. This week Ferdinand was dire against Pool; Pool champions of the world; Here’s hoping to get Ud in the CL; Lucas man of the match; Ditch tumb sucking celebration; Carragher should have gone; Duffer is back to his best; Spurs for the CL; Ivan Klasnic was a breath of fresh air; Reid all about it again and again; Cole is magic; Madrid short a few players yet; Chelsea to splash.
The Letter of the Week goes to La Liga watcher, West Cork. Get in touch with your postal address and our magnificent prize will be winging its way to you before you know it.
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IT’S time for United to face facts about Rio Ferdinand. He was dire at
the end of last season and he hasn’t improved at all in this campaign. He
was left for dead by Torres at Anfield on Sunday. He and Vidic no longer dominate
the United defence and they don’t have an effective midfield screen in front
of them. We will win neither the league nor the Champions League this season without
some significant new recruits in January.
Red Devil, Limerick,by email
IF every competition depended on “life or death” one-off games like
it was at Anfield on Sunday then Liverpool would be champions of the world. Unfortunately
league titles aren’t won like that. Limerick Red, by email
I
JUST knew that when United supporters turned up with all their beach balls that
three points were in the bag for Liverpool. That’s three games on the bounce
for the Reds against Ferguson and three dismissals in a row for Vidic. Let’s
hope we get them in the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Dennis Canavan,
West Cork, by email
LUCAS Leiva has been written off all season by
Liverpool fans, but I thought he was man of the match against United as witnessed
by his through ball for the second goal in time added on. Well done Benitez for
getting his tactics correct, for taking a gamble on a half-fit Torres, and for
winning a major game without Steven Gerrard. Ferguson, who picked a team that
was meant to attack, was out-thought on this occasion.
Liam Kennedy,
Dublin, by email
GREAT goal by Torres. Can we ditch the thumb-sucking
celebration. It didn’t work for Luis Garcia, and it certainly doesn’t
suit Fernando. Patrick O’Dowd, County Cork, by email
FERGUSON was right about the Carragher foul on Michael Owen, surely? A few weeks
ago we saw Petr Cech sent off for bringing an attacker down when he was heading
away from goal and when there was a covering defender on the line. Owen was when
Carragher fouled him and there was no defender behind him. Whether Andre Marriner
lacked the experience for this game I do not know. But he got this decision wrong.
J.J. Mulholland, Dublin, by email
WHEN will Liverpool fans stop
demonstrating against their owners? They welcomed them in, didn’t they? Get
over it, and get on with things. And stop moaning.
Blue nose, Kildare,
by email
lOUR SHOUT: Ah, Blue Nose, anything to distract us from mentioning
teams beginning with B, like Benfica and, er, Bolton. As for the red side, well,
who can’t have been surprised by the win over Man U - I mean, Liverpool always
raise their game against the big guns.
GREAT performance by the Duffer
against City on Sunday. Not just the goal which was as cool as anything he scored
for Blackburn or Chelsea, but that headed clearance off the goal line was, as
you pundits like to say, top drawer. If he plays as well as that against France
we’re in with a shout.
Dennis Greene, London, by email
OUR SHOUT: When Duffer plays, we're always in with a shout.
SO,
just five days after Harry Redknapp says that Tottenham can qualify for the Champions
League they lose at home to Stoke. A lesson there in keeping your mouth shut.
And was I the only Spurs supporter to think that Lennon lacked some bottle when
he slunk off with ten minutes to go leaving Tottenham with only ten men. Whatever
happened to staying on, limping about, and making a bit of a nuisance of yourself?
Disgruntled Lilywhite, by email
OUR SHOUT: Sounds
like the Didier Drogba way to me, actually.
WATCHED the post-match interview
with Ivan Klasnic' after Bolton’s victory over Everton and was surprised
to learn that he has had a double kidney transplant. I thought his comments were
gracious and intelligent, and his winning goal was also brilliant. Good luck to
him. Carries himself well when compared to some of the other so-called stars of
the Premier League and European football. John Slattery, Waterford, by email.
OUR
SHOUT: Agreed.
HI LIAM, I don’t know why there is so much drama
around Trap not calling Andy Reid into the squad. Reid clearly doesn’t fit
into his system. I think that if Stephen Ireland declares himself available he
will find it hard to be more than an impact sub in the current system. If Stephen
Ireland fitted the system, Trap would certainly have ‘camped on his doorstep’
to try to get him to play and not have been ‘arrogant’, as Ireland himself
described it in their meeting. We were unbeaten in the qualifiers and now have
the two matches against France to play. I think the whole country should now be
behind the team and put faith in the manager and his selection. His defensive
(and negative at times) tactics will suit us and we will nick a result. Alf
in Cork, by email
OUR SHOUT: And if we don't? We'll hear nothing
but Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland.
GREAT to see Joe Cole back in action
after nine months. The BBC coverage missed one prodigious piece of skill, a precision
chip from 25 yards to the far post with his right boot swinging around the outside
of his standing foot. He is the difference between Chelsea being a cruelly efficient
team, and an inspired one.
Peter Donnelly, Cork, by email
OUR SHOUT: Him and a few billion squid, of course.
CAN you hear
that sound coming from southern Europe? It’s the tock clicking for Manuel
Pellegrini after another dismal performance at the weekend. I can’t be the
only one who finds it ironic that Real Madrid are talking about being short of
players after all that recession-busting spending in the summer. No doubt they
will be at it again over Christmas flashing bags of euro at other players. The
Spanish like to use this phrase about “anti-football”, but it’s
Madrid that’s the home of it.
La Liga watcher, West Cork, by email
OUR SHOUT: Prize-winning letter of the week (if only for tock-clicking!).
LIAM, is there a more shite programme on TV than “the Football League
Show?” Manish Bhasin is totally unconvincing as someone who might be interested
in leagues one and two; there are email contributions which make this column read
like a Nobel Prize winner, and Steve Claridge may have played for nearly every
club in the lower divisions but he’s got a face that is made for radio. The
league deserves better than the gimmick-ridden coverage provided by the BBC.
Steve Byrne, Galway, by email
OUR SHOUT: Always nice to hear from
ITN.
WHAT’S the solution for Derry City’s problems Liam? And
what’s the point of a new stadium at Brandywell if there’s no team to
go in it?
Patrick Rafferty, Roscommon, by email
OUR
SHOUT: If one line answers were able to provide solutions, I think the LOI
might have sorted things out by now. Perhaps the only consolation for the Foylesiders
is that they are most definitely not alone.
NEWSPAPERS this weekend report
that Chelsea are planning to spend more than €35m in the January transfer
window. Sounds to me like they’ve been given the nod that the transfer ban
is going to be overturned. And if they can get players who are qualified for the
Champions League they are going to go into the second half of the season very
strongly.
Tommy Ryan, Wexford, by email
OUR SHOUT:
I see they're appealing to Cas. No wonder they're confident.
FIRST it
was Ancelotti, now it’s Arsène Wenger. Both of them are admitting
that they love Yorkshire Pudding. Have they both gone mad at the same time?
Mark Kennedy, West Cork, by email
OUR SHOUT: Red card. A love
of Yorkshite Pudding is the mark of a man.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, October 28, 2009
