Posts Tagged ‘First Game’
Is Houllier the right man for Villa?
After being interviewed by the Aston Villa board last week is appears Gerard Houllier has done enough to be offered the manager’s job at the Midlands club, but the Premier League odds suggest he has a tough task ahead of him.
The former Lyon boss is set to return to England six years after leaving Liverpool. Houllier moved to Anfield in 1998 initially as joint-manager with Roy Evans, but after a difficult start to the season Evans stepped aside and allowed the Frenchman to take total control.
Houllier’s best season with the Merseysiders came three years later when the club won the League Cup, FA Cup and the UEFA Cup as well as qualifying for the Champions League.
Sadly for Houiller medical problems forced him off the touchline in October 2001, with assistant Phil Thompson taking the reins temporarily for five months.
The Frenchman returned for the remainder of the 2001/02 season but failed to replicate the success of the previous year. A failure to qualify for the Champions League in 2003 increased the pressure on Houiller and he eventually stepped aside in the summer of 2004.
He has since won two titles in France with Lyon and is currently technical director with the embattled French national team, but you could say he has unfinished business in the Premier League.
If he does move to Villa Park he will be joining a side who have endured a mixed start to the season. Martin O’Neill’s departure just days before the team’s first game clearly unsettled the side, but wins over West Ham and Everton showed the players’ resilience. However, the failure to progress in Europe, as well as a disastrous 6-0 defeat to Newcastle, increased owner Randy Lerner’s desire to appoint a full-time boss before their next fixture on Monday. And don’t forget with the transfer window shut the new man will have to work with what he has got.
But in Houllier they will have an experienced boss who knows what to takes to win in England and they could yet achieve their ambition of qualifying for next year’s Champions League, even if the football betting suggests that will be an uphill battle.
Tags: Aston Villa, First Game, French National Team, Frenchman, Gerard Houllier, Martin O Neill, Medical Problems, Midlands Club, New Man, Phil Thompson, Randy Lerner, Resilience, Right Man, Roy Evans, Technical Director, Touchline, Uefa Cup, Unfinished Business, Villa Park, West Ham
Capello should stick with Green to avoid uncertainty
Fabio Capello had a number of issues to ponder after England’s 1-1 draw with the USA last weekend - none more so than who to pick in goal.
It can’t be denied that we currently have the weakest set of goalkeepers for a generation. With no obvious candidate for the number one jersey, fans and pundits alike are divided as to who should start for the Three Lions in South Africa.
However, that lack of faith should not be displayed by the man who matters - Fabio Capello. It seems obvious that he wasn’t sure who should start England’s first game, playing all three ‘keepers in the warm up matches. Even as the squad touched down in South Africa any of them could have started in Rustenberg.
When the Italian did decide to pick Rob Green as number one for the America game it may have been helpful to let his choice be known earlier than just two hours before kickoff. That way Green could have mentally prepared for the match and taken confidence from his manager’s faith. Anyone who has placed an England World Cup bet will want to see a confident performance, after all.
A similar show of decisiveness could prove advantageous in the run up to England’s second match against Algeria. Green will no doubt be dwelling on his horrendous error and will be anxiously waiting whether he has kept his place. All those worries, which have festered over the past week will not dissipate in the two hours prior to kickoff. Similarly those waiting in the wings - David James and Joe Hart - could do with longer to prepare to take the gloves.
Once the players take to the field I agree there is relatively little Capello can do to influence the game - he was certainly powerless to prevent Green’s blunder on Saturday. But he can do everything in his power to send the players out as mentally and physically ready as possible. The World Cup betting makes the Three Lions strong favourites for the match, and Capello must ensure they take their chances.
In short, the manager must back his man between the sticks, even if in private he, like the rest of the country, remains uncertain as to who that should be.
Tags: America Game, Blunder, Confident Performance, Decisiveness, Dwelling, England World Cup, Fabio Capello, First Game, Gloves, Goalkeepers, Joe Hart, Kickoff, Match, No Doubt, Pundits, Rustenberg, Three Lions, Waiting In The Wings, World Cup Bet, Worries
Belgium’s win among the best
Among all of the Football World Cup highlights, one of my own favourite games came back in 1986 between two countries who failed even to make it to this summer’s finals in South Africa, Belgium and Russia (back then still known as the USSR).
The game came in the second round of that tournament in Mexico, a tournament most England fans of course remember for Diego Maradona and the ‘Hand of God’ incident, but one that was memorable right from the first game all the way through to Argentina’s eventual crowning as champions.
Two weeks before their 3-2 win over Germany, a game took place in Leon, which would be the tournament’s highest-scoring match and see a hat-trick scorer Igor Belanov end up on the losing side.
The Soviet Union had battled into the second round against the predictions of World Cup Football Betting experts as Group C winners ahead of France on goal difference thanks to their 6-0 hiding of Hungary, and would have fancied their chances against Belgium, who only advanced as one of the best third-placed teams back when the tournament included just 24 teams.
But despite their poor Group B record, this was a Belgium team with plenty of well-known stars and arguably one of their best international line-ups of all time.
Belanov gave the Soviets a first-half lead, and all was looking good for them until 10 minutes into the second period when Enzo Scifo, arguably Belgium’s best-ever player levelled the scores, apparently from an offside position.
Belanov again struck with 20 minutes to go, a cross shot past Jean-Marie Pfaff, but the ageless Jan Ceulemans, again appearing to be mysteriously offside, chested down a long ball and made sure there would be extra-time.
In the extra period, the Belgians took over with a powerful header from Guy Demol (no suspicions of offside this time) and a cracking volley from Spurs striker Nico Claesen before Belanov completed his hat-trick to make the final nine minutes a nervy one for Belgium.
However they managed to hold on for a 4-3 victory and knock out Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals before finally exiting to the eventual winners Argentina 2-0 in the last-four, both goals coming from that ‘horrible genius’ Maradona.
Tags: Belgians, Cambria, Diego Maradona, England Fans, Enzo, Extra Time, Fareast, Favourite Games, First Game, Font Definitions, Font Format, Football World Cup, Goal Difference, Hand Of God, Hat Trick, Jean Marie Pfaff, Line Ups, Mso, Offside Position, Orphan, Panose, Paper Source, Poor Group, Props, Sans Serif, Second Period, Soviets, Style Definitions, Style Name, Style Type, Theme Font, Times New Roman, Ups, Volley, World Cup Football