UEFA Champions League Final 2011

The line-up for the Champions League final has been confirmed for the past two weeks, and Wembley stadium is all set to host the two biggest clubs in the world, for the most coveted prize in football.

On the 28th May Manchester United will take on FC Barcelona in North London, both teams vying for their fourth European Cup.

There are lots of exciting match ups all over the pitch, including: Xavi and Iniesta vs. Manchester United’s two or three man midfield. Ferdinand and Vidic vs. Messi, Villa and Pedro. Seeing how pantomime villain Segio Busquets handles the movement and creativeness of Wayne Rooney. Even in form striker Javier Hernandez against Barcelona icon Charles Puyol.

It’s intriguing, and the list could go on forever. No one is doubting that this is the best final available, and the two top teams in the world, with one of the greatest managers of all time against a steady rising manager, who is on his own path to etching his name into Football folk law as one of the greatest of all time already.


The main protagonist for Barcelona this season, as usual, has been the World Player of the Year Lionel Messi. His goal scoring record in the Champions League tells only half the story of his influence on this Barcelona side. He has hit 11 goals in 11 Champions League appearances, but his all round performances have driven this Barcelona side forward.

The 23 year old has 49 goals in all competitions this season, coming from 51 appearances. The man who joined Barcelona aged just 13 years old from Argentinean side Newell’s Old Boys, after Barcelona had taken the youngster from the poverty ridden streets of Rosario, took him to Europe, and paid all his expensive medical bills (due to him being diagnosed growth hormone deficiency and threatened to halt his career) in order for him to sign with the club.

He was seen as one of the brightest talents in World football, and he has repaid Barcelona back in kind, with him not only considered as the best in the world, but he's establishing himself as one of the best players of all time.

Already with 5 La Liga titles, 4 Spanish Super Cups, 2 UEFA Champions League medals, a UEFA Super Cup, a Copa Del Rey and a FIFA Club World Cup under his belt, not to mention over 40 individual accolades, Messi is could undoubtedly be the difference maker on the grandest stage.


The main men for Manchester United have been Goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar and Centre-back Nemanja Vidic. These two have played 8 of the 12 possible Champions League, helping them achieve the best defensive record in the tournament, only conceding 3 goals. In those eight games, Manchester United have kept six away clean sheets, making them the first ever team to do so, and subsequently Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have not conceded away from home all competition.

Van Der Sar has previous in this competition, winning the title in 1995 with Ajax, and was a runner-up a year later with the Dutch club. He of course won it in 08’ with Manchester United, saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the shoot out and collecting his second Champions League title. A year later, he was between the posts for the 2009 final 2-0 defeat to Barcelona.

Two time winner, two time runner up. Will is be third time lucky, or unlucky?

Club captain; Nemanja Vidic has been a focal point of the Man United back four for the past four years. He is widely considered as one of the best Centre-backs in the world, and will be playing in his third Champions League final with the Red Devils.

Vidic plied his trade in Russia with Spartak Moscow after establishing himself through the Serbian Red Star Belgrade youth system, turning him into a no nonsense one man wall who takes no prisoners on the football pitch. By any means necessary, Nemanja Vidic gets the job done. Sir Alex Ferguson lamented defensive mistakes as the clubs downfall in their last Champions League final, and he will need to be at the top of his game if he is to stop this free flowing Barcelona attacking side.


The Line-up

Now, there are three major questions regarding the two line ups on this game.

Firstly, whether Darren Fletcher is fit enough for this game. The news today was that he trained away from the main group of players, with the likes of Bebe and Obertan, so there is real talk of him being on the bench for this game. So my pick would be Giggs, Carrick and Park as a three in midfield, with Valenica on the right, Rooney dropping from the forward position to play slightly left, and the explosive Hernandez up front. Fabio gets my shout at right back ahead of O’Shea.

The second question is whether Rooney and Hernandez will partner each other up front as a pair, or with Rooney playing off the Mexican, and moving to the left, or with Rooney playing as the sole striker and/or Nani playing left wing, or Anderson playing in the centre midfield. So many decisions, I asked four Manchester United fans, and none of them came up with the same staring XI.


The final question mark over this game is regarding Eric Abidal. If Pep Guardiola deems him not ready for this huge game, Puyol will play left back, just as he did so well against Real Madrid. Mascherano has been playing centre back recently, and according to Revista de La Liga, he is expected to partner Gerard Pique, with Busquets’s playing in his more familiar midfield role.


The Stats

Manchester United won their first European Cup in 1968, at Wembley Stadium.

FC Barcelona won their first European Cup in 1992, also at Wembley Stadium. A 21 year old Pep Guardiola, featured in the win. He of course, is now Barcelona manager.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking to win his third Champions League title, putting him level with fellow football managing great, Bob Paisley.

Lionel Messi has 11 goals in the Champions League this season; he needs just one more equal Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record for most scored in a single campaign.

Edwin Van Der Sar will be the oldest winner of the Champions League should Manchester United be successful this Saturday, surpassing AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini.

Carlos Puyol will make his 101st Champions League appearances, playing in the final this Saturday.

Whoever wins this game, will win their fourth Champions League title, taking them level with AFC Ajax and FC Bayern Munich.

This is the third straight final featuring two domestic champions. Barcelona won La Liga and Manchester United won the Premiership respectively.

All stats via Goal.com, ESPN.com and others online sources.

This is Manchester United’s third Champions League final in the last four years, and Barcelona’s third in the last six years. Football biggest competition, is taking place on the biggest stage, Wembley; the home of football, and one of these two brilliant with leave London as the champions of Europe.


Who do you think will win the Champions League Final? Cast your vote in our poll, and leave your predictions below.

Real Talk Football

The Plight of West Ham United

This weekend was a defining moment in the Premier League season, as with one week of matches left to play, West Ham’s slim hopes of hanging onto their Premiership status finally evaporated as Avram Grant’s side surrendered a 2-0 lead, and ended up losing 3-2 to relegation rivals Wigan Athletic. Hence condemning themselves to fall through the trap door and into The Championship. Relegation.

Consequently The Hammers sacked their manager less than an hour after the 3-2 defeat, four months to the day after Avram Grant was expected to be sacked (after the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal and replaced by Martin O’Neill). This was not to be, as O’Neill turned down the opportunity, and the owners left Grant with 14 remaining Premier League games to save West Ham from relegation.

The records for those 14 games were as follows: DWLDWWDLLLLLDL, 3 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats. It’s fair to say, relegation form.


What caused the Hammers downfall?

For me; an average manager. Avram Grant’s record in the English football; is rather hit and miss. He took over from Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2007, and guided to West London club to their first ever Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. They then ended up as runners-up in the Carling Cup final, and ultimately runners-up in the Premiership as well.

Grant was then sacked due to his failings, receiving much criticism from fans, who claimed his side was boring, while Chelsea players were quoted openly criticising Grant’s outdated methods.

After a year away from management, he took over at south coast club Portsmouth, replacing the sacked Paul Hart. Now he was managing a side that had massive amounts of financial trouble, legal wrangling and issues regarding ownership of the club. Despite all this, Grant led Pompey to the FA Cup final, where they were runners-up, losing 2-1 to Chelsea.

Despite the excellent cup run, Pompey finished bottom of the Premier League with 19 points (a 9 point deductions due to administration) and subsequently ended up in The Championship.

Next for Avram, was the West Ham job. He was appointed by new owners David Gold and David Sullivan, who decided to sack fan favourite, the man who saved them from relegation last year; Gianfranco Zola.

Avram Grant struggled to gain the confidence and admiration from West Ham fans, with his lack of tactical knowledge and any sort of game plan was evident at various points throughout the season. Grant seemingly gives off the impression as more of a motivator than a football coach.


Terrible signings in transfer windows

It’s fair to say, all the troubles with West Ham begun when they were overtaken by Eggert Magnusson in 2006. During the Icelandic businessman’s time at the club, he was executive and non-executive during his tenure, and infamously oversaw the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (which were later deemed illegal due to third party ownerships and the club was fined for).

Players like Julian Faubert, one of the most promising French wide-men in recent years, was converted from a right back, to a right midfielder then back to right back again. He has failed to reach his potential since being at the club, and spelt an ill fainted loan spell at Real Madrid midway through his time at West Ham.

The next name to highlight was Freddie Ljungberg, was one of the worse signings, who was given a four year contract despite his well documented problems, and big wage demands. After one year, this contract was terminated, for a sum believed to be around £6 million.

Kieron Dyer; another injury prone player with big wage demands. According to one source, he earned £83,000 a week, £424,000 a season in image rights, and £100,000 in loyalty fees. During four seasons at the club, he has only played 30 times. Absolute shambles.


Diego Tristan, 3 goals in 14 games, and Davide Di Michele, 4 in 30 games, were brought in for the 2008/09 season and justified their wages helping the club reach 9th place in the league, performing brilliantly under Gianfranco Zola and assistant manager Steve Clarke.

After the fantastic 08/09 season, Gold and Sullivan took over half way through the 2010 season, and this marked the start of a resurgence in West Ham’s problems. Three signings on the last day of the January transfer window displayed a sign of things to come. Benni McCarthy, Ilan and Mido.

Mido was a well known flop on these shores, and was reportedly only paid £1,000 a week. A bargain? Not really, he only played nine games, and didn’t score a single goal.

Ilan came to England with his best year’s way behind him. His goal return was okay, scoring 4 in 11 games, but injuries and open criticism of the manager Gianfranco Zola, it was clear Ilan’s time in England was going to be a short one, and displayed another example of a poor signing backed the West Ham board.

Benni McCarthy was one of the most impressive strikers in Europe during the early 00’s, but his career was in decline during the latter period of his career at Blackburn. At the age of 31, he joined West Ham for £2.5 million and will go down as one of the worst transfers in Premiership history. He racked up just 14 appearances in one year, was persistently fined for being overweight, left out of the 25 man Premier League squad list for this season, and never scored a single goal for the Hammers. He was reportedly paid £38,000 a week, and was on a two and a half year contract. His contracted was terminated in April.

This poor calibre of signings continued this season, such as loan signings Wayne Bridge and Robbie Keane who both failed to make an impression, looked more interested in there bank balance rather than the fate of the club. Subsequently it ended up with the Hammer failing to learn their lesson, and they’ve consequently ended up paying the ultimate price.


Honourable mentions

With Scott Parker winning the Football Writers Player of the Year Award, it’s evident that his sensational performances this season where the only reason the Hammer lasted as long as they did. Parker pretty much carried the team for much of the season, while his inspirational captaincy and work ethic rubbed off on fellow players.

Mark Noble is another player who can hold his head up despite the despair at Upton Park, along with January signing Demba Ba, who has shown he can definitely score goals at this level.


Valon Behrami, Kieron Dyer, Julian Faubert and Luis Boa Morte are all players who will certainly need to be offloaded in order to clear the wage bill.

Matthew Upson, Fredric Piquionne, Demba Ba, Thomas Hitzlsperger, and regrettably Scott Parker are expected to leave the club, as top flight clubs will be interested in this batch.

It remains to be seen whether Robert Green will leave the club, as it seems there may not be a large queue of suitors for the 31 year old as first thought, as his high profile errors have somewhat reduced his value.

The likes of Jonathan Spector, James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Zavon Hines, Carlton Cole and Freddie Sears should all stay at the club and prove their worth, not only owing it to the fans but at the very least to themselves.

Finally, the reason this is such a important issue and that big of a disappointment is because West Ham are a club ingrained in proud tradition and football history, and despite not being a main stay in the English top flight, its owed to their great fan base that they are rewarding with an excellent manager who has a point to prove himself and improve the state of affairs at the club, and most importantly take the Hammers back into the Premiership.

As for now, disappointingly for these great West Ham fans, it’s no less that then the clubs owners deserve with their shoddy control of the club.


Who do you think will take over at West Ham? Do you think David Gold and David Sullivan have been detrimental to West Ham’s cause? Leave a comment below and let me know what your thoughts are

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Heurelho Gomes – A Part of the North London Goalkeeper Crises

“He’s a great shot-stopper but...”

For Heurelho Gomes, and Tottenham fans, this is an all too familiar phrase used by pundits and even opposition football fans when describing the 30 year old Brazilian. He joins the ever growing list of Premiership goalkeepers, who have made mistakes on the grandest stage, and it seems that the problem for Gomes is, he makes them far too often and the patience of loyal Sours fans has finally run out.

For some goalkeepers, it is a rarity that they make a mistake. Take Pepe Reina for example, the Liverpool keeper scored a calamitous own goal against Arsenal on the first day of the season, and has since gone on to have a faultless season. Manchester United’s instrumental goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar made a mistake against West Brom earlier in the season, this my friends, is a collector’s item.

Look no further for a team with highly publicized goalkeeping problems than North London rivals; Arsenal. They’ve had so many issues with that goalkeeper position this season; they’ve used five different ‘keepers. Lukasz Fabianski was the number one, but injury saw his season end prematurely and young Polish stopper Wojciech Szczęsny, then was seen as the great new hope, took the vacancy. However injury slowed his season, as well as the huge mistake in the Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham help put a black mark on his claim for the number one shirt. Manuel Almunia hasn’t looked the same player as he was two seasons ago, and is on par with Gomes in terms of mistakes in important matches. Last but not least is Jens Lehmann, who put down his slippers and cigar, came out of retirement and answered Wenger’s call, and added his experienced presence to the Arsenal dressing room and even managed to play a game.

It’s no coincidence that Arsenal have missed out on “four” trophies this season, Tottenham got spanked and dumped out of the Champions League, missing out on fourth place as well, that the goalkeepers of each respective club taking the flack for most of the disappointment.

And it’s no coincidence that both Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger will both be vying for a new goalkeeper this summer, no matter how many sympathetic words they have directed to their prospective number ones.


Is Gomes as bad as people have been making out? I mean Brazil has a history of eccentric goalkeepers, prone to big mistakes, yet sensation shot stoppers. Flapping at crosses, yet displaying excellent reflexes and agility. Hélton of FC Porto is a good example, as well as AC Milan legend Dida. Both brilliant shot stoppers, but prone to mistakes at the highest level.

The pressure definitely seems to affects Gomes, when he’s under the cosh; it seems he folds all too easily and ends up spilling a ball into the net.

Against Blackpool he goes from zero to hero, then back to hero in the matter of minutes, saving a penalty and then conceding one moments later from the resorting corner. Against Real Madrid he is at fault for letting a tame Ronaldo shot past him, in both legs of the Champions League quarter final. He rolled the ball out against Manchester United, hoping to take a free kick; Nani took the ball amidst all the confusion and put the ball in the net. He made two big mistakes against Chelsea this season, one against Drogba, and most memorably against a soft Frank Lampard shot which he fumbled past him into the net. He’s let a 25 yard shot from Ashley Young squirm under him, given away a ridiculous penalty against Udinese, and even fumble a Fulham cross into his own net. The list goes on and on.



Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp recently stated that Gomes will be his number one until the end of the season; however a “back” injury was the supposed reason for his exclusion from the Champions League decider against Manchester City, in which Italian Carlo Cudicini impressed, his performance was seen as breath of fresh air, and made you wonder why on earth this man warms the bench!?

Cudicini was thrown into the starting XI, to make his first Premiership start in four and a half months. He was as impressive as we all remember; turning back the clock and giving the kind of performance he gave on numerous occasions during his time at Chelsea. Despite the 1-0 defeat where he was beaten by a Peter Crouch own goal, Cudicini was lauded.

The only set back for Cudicini becoming in his quest to be the undisputed number one, is that he is turning 38 in September, and it seems he has one more season left in him at the most as the Spurs reserve ‘keeper. It also appears that Redknapp see’s him as the back-up goalkeeper anyhow, and while he is never one to shy away from the transfer market, will look to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer.

Names such as Ben Foster, Shay Given and Marten Stekelenburg have all been linked; because Gomes’ mistakes have been deemed far too costly, and even the fans have had enough.

One thing’s for sure; it will not only be Sir Alex Ferguson shopping around Europe and looking for a new, first class goalkeeper this season.

Who do you think Spurs should sign this summer? Do you think they should stick with Gomes? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think

Remember to follow me on twitter @RealTalkFB

Real Talk Football

Zlatan Ibrahimović - Great or Overrated?

This weekend, Serie A round 36 commenced in Italy, on a warm spring evening in Rome, AC Milan took on AS Roma knowing that thanks to their hefty eight point cushion between them and closest rivals Internazionale, just a solitary point was all they needed to take away from the Stadio Olympico in order to wrap up their first Serie A title in seven years.

Milan went on to draw 0-0 with Roma, completing their task in very Italian fashion, doing all that's necessary in order to ascertain the result. This point gave them a 9 point lead ahead of rivals Inter, and subsequently wrapped up their 18th Scudetto.

The match itself was an entertaining spectacle with standout performances from Roma defender Juan, and AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, who made very important saves during the 90 minutes.

However one of the most impressive stat to come out of Milan's triumph was that 29 year old striker Zlatan Ibrahimović becomes the first player to win eight league titles in a row and more impressively he has done it with five different clubs (four if you’re excluding the Juventus scandal). A phenomenal achievement.


Ibrahimović is quintessentially one of those players who if he is playing against your club, you hate him, or if he’s playing for your club, you love him!

Another interesting note is that Ibrahimović seemingly gets no admiration from Football pundits, legends or fans outside of Italy, Sweden or Holland. Some fans believe he's "a lazy individual", a "showboat" or "one trick pony" and fans fail to take a shine to the Swedish, mainly because of his arrogance. Alternatively, some fans believe him to be one of the best strikers in the world, and his ability, and medals tally supports this theory.

They say that in order for a striker to be considered great, they must have a degree of selfishness, arrogance and of course the ability. Zlatan has these three elements in abundance, as well as the titles to back this.

Ibrahimović is two inches shorter then Peter Crouch (6ft 5in), but isn't slow by any stretch of the imagination, as he has acceleration, pace and a fantastic balance. He has great shooting technique, power and can ping the ball with either feet. A man with his height, of course is great in the air, but has great flair and dribbling technique with the ball on the ground. Finally his control and first touch are second to none, and his technique is astounding. For me, he has all this ability and is almost the complete striker.



His talismanic influence on the clubs he has been at, is testament to how much of a quality player he is. Since turning professional aged 18, at the time playing for his local side Malmö in Sweden, he has gone on won 16 major honours with four/five different clubs (Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Juventus; if you’re counting the Calciopoli incident). He has also won 16 individuals titles since turning professional.

Since Ibrahimović left AFC Ajax in 2004, in a spell that was littered with controversy (having a pair of scissors thrown at him by team mate Mido) and the brilliance. Subsequently the Dutch giants haven't won an Eredivisie title since then. Of course Ajax will win another league title, but the influence of Ibrahimović in that side, lead them to winning the title was undeniable.

At Juventus he won two Serie A titles, which were consequently revoked due to the Calciopoli match fixing scandal. Nothing of which, was to do with Ibrahimović surely? Absolutely not. He still went on to the field week in, week out, notching up 26 goals in 91 games over two seasons. His change of play changed, and was more of an attacker rather than an out and out striker.

At the start of 2006/07 season, he joined Inter Milan, and despite the lack of competition due the bans handed out by the Italian Football Federation due to the Calciopoli scandal, Inter Milan won three titles in a row with Ibrahimović leading the line.


His excellent performances for Inter Milan caught the attention of Barcelona, who was looking for that central striker to play as part of their three pronged attack. So he joined in a transfer worth around €66 million in exchange for Samuel Eto’o and Alexander Hleb, plus a transfer fee.

He was widely criticized during his time at FC Barcelona, despite scoring 16 goals in his first season and the winner in El Clasico. He won five trophies in one calendar year. Barcelona was a juggernaut and was unstoppable at the time, and Ibra was unlucky not to win the Champions League trophy.


After his 13 month stay in Spain, his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola declined, twined with criticism from the press and fans, he left him seeking a new home.

So he took his bag full of medals, and jetted back to Italy, some would say his second home. He joined AC Milan on a season long loan with an agreed transfer of €24million.

AC Milan hadn't won a title since the 2003/4 season, and boss Massimiliano Allegri brought in the big guns, Robinho on loan from Manchester City, Antonio Cassano from Sampdoria and of course Ibrahimović from Barcelona.

Milan lead from pretty much the start of the season, and Ibrahimović was inspired form, adding to his array of sensational goals and assists. He’s leading the clubs goal scoring chart this season with 20 goals in 40 appearances (with two games remaining). A stimulating signing, which gave the desired results and Milan’s first piece of silverware since 2007.



Over his career, his transfers have totalled at a sum of more than €138million. He has scored a believed 200 goals in 429 appearances. He has also won 66 caps for Sweden scoring 25 goals, and is the national team captain.

Here is his list of awards:

Ajax
- Eredivisie 2001/02, 2003/04
- KNVB Cup 2001/02
- Johan Cruijff Shield 2003

Inter Milan
- Serie A 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09
- SuperCoppa Italiana 2006, 2008

Barcelona
- La Liga 2009/10
- Supercopa de Espana 2009, 2010
- UEFA Super Cup 2009
- FIFA Club World Cup 2009

AC Milan
- Serie A 2010/11

Juventus
- Serie A 2004/05, 2005/06 (both revoked)

If you think I’m overrating the Swedish international, then I'd advise just taking 10 minutes to check out some of his unbelievable goals. I guarantee that if you’re sitting on the fence in your opinion over Ibrahimović, then your opinion will alter to either to joining the masses the either loving or hating Ibrahimović.

Either way, Ibrahimović’s track record, the facts, figures and footage of his goals prove that he is great player, and the matter of whether he is overrated, is surely a matter of opinion.


What are your thoughts on “The Magician”? Do you think his criticism is justified? Do you think he is a great player, or just one who was at the right club at the right time? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think

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