matchday 3 round up

finland 0-1 ukraine
ukraine leave the tournament with their heads high as finland made 5 changes to their starting lineup.

holland 2-1 denmark
denmark again failed to convert their chances, and holland in 2 incisive counter-attacks made them pay the price. denmark have been the disappointment of the tournament. could neither attack nor defend.

norway 1-1 france
elodie thomis can't score. the kind of chances she has had throughout the tournament, and no goals. her pace and trickery are key weapons in the french arsenal, but they have to find someone to be on the receiving end of the chances rather than her. france are vulnerable to crosses and are suspect defensively.

germany 1-0 iceland
germany made 6 changes and a sole inka grings goal ensured their 100%record.

sweden 1-1 england
england are very reliant on carney, because they focus on the flanks, and when the other winger is useless, carney has to do everything. the english team is slow, aside from aluko and carney. but they managed to shut out sweden, who scored from a penalty. you could also say sweden shut out england. basically the two teams cancelled each other out, though england looked sharper.

russia 0-2 italy
russia laid siege. italy changed to a 5-3-2 midway through the second half and got 2 goals.

team of the round
gk: picarelli (ita)
dl: thunebro (swe)
dc: white(eng)
dc: koster (ned)
dr: scott (eng)
ml: pekur (ukr)
mc: abily (fra)
mr: carney (eng)
aml: rasmussen (den)
amr: melis (ned)
fc: herlovsen (nor)

and so,
finland-england
france-holland
germany-italy
sweden-norway

i wonder if england were secretly smiling to themselves when they knew italy won their game 2-0, because they were just hurtling towards a date with germany. it is ironic sometimes how finishing third may be better off.

this is what we mean when we say: lose the battle win the war.

of course, if you want to win the tournament, ultimately, you have to beat everyone.

i see england, france, germany and sweden going through.

team of the group phase
gk: hjelmseth(nor)
dl: thunebro(swe)
dc: rohlin (swe)
dr: scott (eng)
dmc: bresonik (ger)
mc: seger (swe)
mc: abily (fra)
amc: kalmari (fin)
aml: van de ven(ned)
amr: carney(eng)
fc: panico(ita)

hjelmseth- a keeper who conceded 5? well if you don't take into account the three late german goals, and the fact that she almost got to bresonik's penalty, and that she made 40 saves in 3 games, she essentially only conceded the abily goal, which was a class goal. necib passed, abily pirouetted, and while falling, tucked the shot in.

scott and thunebro- the england-sweden game was a battle between the two full-backs, facing off one another. both are similar in that they can run and run and run, they can play ball, keep possession and attack.

rohlin is probably the steadiest centre-back in the tournament. hardly put a foot wrong, hardly a skewed clearance.

carney- other than kelly smith's goal, carney was involved in every england goal. won the penalty in the italy game, scored one, created one against russia, faye white headed in her freekick against sweden.

panico- i chose panico, despite the fact that italy's 8 won 2 player of the match awards, because she is the captain, she played alone upfront most of the time, and it is her intelligence and class that bring other teammates into the attack, and why the no8 could score. and she was the one who got the equaliser against england with an acrobatic shot.

you can tell that this is a very objective team selection, because louisa necib, my favourite player in this tournament is not in it.

matchday 2 round up

denmark 2-1 ukraine
denmark stole it almost right at the death. scoring goals is a problem. ukraine are thus out.

finland 2-1 holland
holland sat back for the last 20minutes instead of going for an equaliser, to protect their goal difference, as their coach later explained apologetically. full marks for pragmatism. it means they just need a draw against denmark to go through as second. if they lose, they can count on their goal difference to go through as one of the 2 best third-placed teams.

germany 5-1 france
the chances france had were not inferior to that of germany's in terms of quantity and quality.

norway 1-0 iceland
norway has the same problem as denmark- scoring. but their defence is solid. they were almost perfect against germany for 90 minutes. what happened after that cannot be explained.

sweden 2-0 italy
sweden look very very good, very complete. won every second ball. the attack is clicking. asllani, schelin and svensson are growing into tournament form.

england 3-2 russia.
england went 2-0 down after 22 minutes. i thought it was over. then kaz carney scored on the 24th minute. the look in her eyes told me england was still alive. she played like a girl possessed, pardon the cliche, but she was everywhere, playing with this intensity. she created the second. the russian keeper cleared the ball to kelly smith just inside the russian half and kelly smith lobbed her from there for what would be the eventual winner. all within the first half.
amazingly, the player of the match went to kelly smith. i am an admirer of kelly smith, her presence, vision and passing helped the english cause and that goal was worthy enough to win any tournament, but i thought carney was simply outstanding.

team of the round
gk: hjelmseth (nor)
dl: saari (fin)
dc: roenning (nor)
dc: rohlin (swe)
dr: scott (eng)
mc: seger (swe)
mc: bresonik (ger)
aml: van de ven (ned)
amc: svensson (swe)
amr: carney (eng)
fc: osterberg kalmari (fin)

germany verdict
germany are like the men's germany of the 1990s, that efficient juggernaut. not firing on all cylinders, got a few soft goals. the quality of the team is there, no doubt. but i feel that they have not found the right balance. can a team win a tournament without finding the right balance, without peaking? i think even with germany's quality, it would be hard, because teams like sweden, england and france, for the latter two, despite their recent results, are not that far behind. i think they recognise that the results have flattered them. if they havent, they could very well be punished for the complacency in the later stages.

growing into the tournament
we talk about growing into a tournament, building upon each game. teams win tournaments like this.
at the moment, the team that has grown the most is surely england. if france can bounce back from their defeat, things will get interesting. but i feel that france's biggest problem is that they can't protect the talents of necib and abily.

group a
you may have suspected it. group a is a weak group. denmark are a pale shadow of their illustrious past. finland hasn't exactly impressed me, although they do have home support. holland are fresh to watch, but will struggle against even tougher opposition. ukraine is already out.

fight for their lives
denmark v holland
france v norway
sweden v england
italy v russia

i would say russia's chances are really very slim. at best, they go through as one of the two third-placed teams.
england need at least a draw.
france and norway, because of their inferior goal difference thanks to the games against germany, need a draw for both to go through and a victory in one of the other games(not for just any team. group c is tricky- but the key thing is to make sure that at least one group has a third-placed team with 3 points or less) if a victor is produced, the loser will almost certainly go home. i hope both teams go through.
holland will probably sit back against a not-very-potent denmark. could be a boring game.

"Tactics? I don't know about tactics. Sometimes I have a dream and they come from there."- Pietro Ghedin, italy coach

finland are the first nation through.

germany may lose to france today. remember, you read it here first.

matchday 1 round up

this blog is a football blog until 10.9.2009

first round of matches over in finland.
quick summary of results

group a
ukraine 0-2 holland
2 quick goals within 10 minutes left ukraine with too much to do, despite an improvement in the second half. but holland were not interested in pushing for more by then. 3 points more than anything else was the philosophy. holland were stronger than expected. the 4 attackers upfront are fast and direct.

finland 1-0 denmark
a freekick cross which evaded everyone landed in the goal. disappointing for denmark, who failed to make their chances count.

group b
germany 4-0 norway
the score is unfair to norway. yes, germany largely dominated proceedings, but it was 1-0 until the 90th minute. 3 goals in injury time. norway actually defended well, held the line well, very organised in defence up till that point. the first goal was a penalty.

france 3-1 iceland
the french impressed with their technique and passing. the midfield will also be responsible for getting the goals, i feel, because the system they employ is such that the forward's job is to hold the ball up.

group c
england 1-2 italy
the shock of the round. but england played an hour with 10 players, so it was always going to be difficult. england has strong midfield runners in fara williams and jill scott. essentially, england is an arsenal reunion, with 6 players with arsenal connections.

sweden 3-0 russia
sweden never looked in trouble after taking the lead. the team kept possession well and won the ball back easily. caroline seger ran the midfield and even popped up to score the third goal, a long range drive. i think things will get more interesting when their strikeforce takes off.

setpieces
interesting variations on corners were seen. norway put 4 players around the german keeper and simply cross the ball there. let's hope premiership teams don't learn from that against arsenal. italy looks to play the ball just outside the box for long shots all the time.

quarter-finals
because the top 2 from each group and the two best third-placed teams all go through to the quarter-finals, one may think it is more difficult not to go through. but i think it may be very tight in the end, not within the group, but between the three third-placed teams. it could be that all 3 have 3 points. a clearer picture will emerge after the second round of matches.

misfiring strikers
only 4 goals of the 17 goals scored came from the forwards. quite a low return when you consider the names on show: inka grings, birgit prinz, victoria svensson, lotta schelin, patrizia panico, kelly smith.

team of the round
gk: korpela(finland)
lb: gama (italy)
cb: annike krahn(ger)
rb: bito(ned)
ml: sjoengran (swe)
mc: kulig(ger)
mc: seger (swe)
mr: abily(fra)
fl: bajramaj(ger)
fc: panico(ita)
fr: necib(fra)

i love panico's play, all about exquisite flicks. playing against a solid english defence as a lone striker, she held her own, scored a goal and in my opinion, should have been the player of the match.

germany plays france on thursday, one of the three teams that can really hurt them, next to sweden and england, should england go through. i say england can hurt germany, even if you may think otherwise, based on their loss to italy, because they actually have a solid defence and midfield that can match germany's physically, and at the same time, they have kelly smith, capable of delivering that moment of magic.

it will be a stern test for germany, though not one that will decide the champions, because it is a group phase game after all. even if you lose and meet them again in the final, it doesn't mean you will lose again. not too much should be read into the result of the game.

the french's ability to retain the ball means the german defence will be tested more than in the norway game. and louisa necib and camilla abily are the players to watch.

one centimetre

Quotes from Bruno Bini, coach of France's women national team.

"The ball can go one centimetre inside and you're a hero. The ball goes one centimetre outside and you're a zero."

"They can score four against us tomorrow, as long as we score five." -on Iceland being the only team to have scored against France.

"Everyone! You think they are higher than the others? So give them the prize now and everyone else will fight for second place. I'd have preferred a group with Liechtenstein, Malta and so on, to achieve our goal of advancing to the quarter-finals but, hey! Do you know how many coaches would like to be at EURO and lock horns with Germany, Norway and Iceland? It might look simple, but I always look down to realise how happy I am to be in my position. So we'll make the most of this happiness to play at such a level. But don't believe we have no ambition." - on Germany

anyway, so the party in Finland has finally begun.

my pick for the 8 quarter-finalists: germany, france, denmark, finland, sweden, england, norway and holland.

i would say germany are the favourites, sweden are second favourites, england and france are the dark horses.

the kashima antlers mystery

2 things have been bugging me.

first, how is it that the team that has won the past 2 j-league titles has only one regular in the japan national team?

second, how is it that the team that has won the past 2 j-league titles and currently holds a 8-point lead do it, with basically the same team?

to the first question, i agree that japan has very good players. i think each team has one or two very good players, but kashima has a very good team. i sometimes wonder if you take the kashima players out of the kashima system, they will not do as well.

to be honest, i will have to think twice about replacing kengo nakamura with nozawa, or yasuhito endo with aoki. but these players didn't win the past 2 seasons for nothing. surely you don't mean to tell me that only uchida is good enough for a place in the japan squad? maybe not as a starter, but in the squad, to provide another option.

and if you are thinking kashima are a team that relies on its foreign players, you got it all wrong. it is true that marquinhos is an integral part of kashima, but only one other regular is foreigner- partk joo ho, the left-back. marquinhos is not the only one banging in goals; the whole team chips in.

the keeper sogahata is outstanding. totally what i look for in a keeper. safe hands, always there when needed, steady with crosses, and most importantly, spreads the ball well. someone who can play with the team. for the past 2 seasons, the antlers have the best defence in the league. not for nothing.

it is ironic that when coaches talk about trying players, they tend to be referring to unknown players from smaller teams, whereas my advice for takeshi okada would be to try the antlers players. the players from the champions.

one player whom i don't expect to see representing japan any time in the future is mitsuo ogasawara. a shame really.

the fifth of the Golden Quartet comprising Nakata, Nakamura, Inamoto and Ono.

now, there is still no place for him with the likes of Nakamura, Nakamura, Endo and Hasebe.

i think he has given up on playing for japan. maybe he wasn't interested in the first place.

but he is still one of japan's best midfielders. the brains of kashima antlers.

football matters

the talking point of the arsenal-portsmouth game is the gallas incident.

i didn't see it. i really didnt, thanks to the lag in the livestream.

but dear portsmouth, you can't see it as a conspiracy. the world isn't against you; it is against us. anyway, arsenal isn't the kind of team that gets favours from the ref. so if it were a penalty, then the referee made a mistake. full stop. please.

we are public enemy no1 until jack wilshere establishes himself as the new Messiah of England.

regardless what happens, we will never be left alone. faults will always be found, or invented.

but at the moment, there are flaws. why did we concede that goal from Saha in injury time, why did we give portsmouth that goal on a platter? the defence doesn't have to be the best in the world, but almunia ought to do some serious reflection.

wenger put his head on the chopping board to back him. in the whole squad, he is the one who has the least justification of his place in the starting eleven. age is not on his side, and his age did not come with experience or trophies. i wouldn't say he has bags of talent as well. van der sar, cech, reina all made the difference for their teams. did he?

such a mistake was disappointing. don't let wenger down.

anyway, what the media and experts say, take it with a pinch of salt. realise that even if we were to thrash man u and man city 5-0 in the next two games, we will still be blasted.

and so what if we do become the new favourites for the title? it means nothing. the media and experts are just a load of bullshit, frankly speaking. we don't need it.

i want all 4 titles. give me at least 2. give me the champs league and the premiership. 53 games, 53 victories. we have 3 now. 50 more to go.

love yourself.
respect your opponent.
love who you want to love.
this is me.
i am me.
i've got nothing to prove.
take it or leave it.

"I wanted to know why it was Pires who had to come off in the final."- Robert Pires

"Wenger knows I’ll never agree with him that he made the right decision. But it cannot erase six years when I won trophies, learned from him, grew in confidence and did well with France’s national team. I’ve put it behind me."

what struck me was how he used his own name, referring to himself in the third person. this interview, three years on, still showed his anguish.

somehow, i can understand his anguish.

time may pass, but you will still ask: why did you let go of my hand back then?

123

123 goals in the champions' league and la liga last season.

goals were what separated arsenal from barcelona. of course the football played by barcelona was better. but that was partly because teams put 10 men behind the ball in england whereas in spain, even the 'lesser' teams look to attack.

if we want to win something this season, the goals have to come. even from out of nothing.

van persie-18
eduardo-18
bendtner-18
arshavin-15
fabregas-10
walcott-10
nasri-10
rosicky-5
gallas-5
vela-5
ramsey-2
denilson-2
diaby-2
song-2
clichy-2
sagna-2
djourou-2
silvestre-2
vermaelen-2

"it was your birthday."

"have i, in being too obsessed with the idea of becoming a fellow citizen, killed my own personality?" - vincent law.

federica pellegrini

swimming world champs in rome came to an end. alot of uproar over michael phelps' one defeat. his coach said he should stay off competitions until the ban over the swimsuits come into effect.

someone was saying records are not important, because records will be broken. medals are more important, because it belongs to you once and for all.

unless of course, you fail some doping test.

in any case, i just love the expression on her face after her win, when she registers surprise at breaking her own record set in the semis. such showmanship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTdBdTYBUZ0&feature=PlayList&p=C6137A212F05F924&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=16

and of course, i love it when she wins, because it means the italian national anthem would be played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAq7iPqU-NU

frauen-em

"when you cut down the largest tree in the woods, there is more room for the smaller ones to grow." -Kenneth Heiner-Møller, denmark, on the retirement of their star striker.

"I firstly chose the girls who are hungry to win and then the ones who hate to lose."- Bruno Bini, france

speaking of france, i was watching the u19 women em the other day, and three of their midfielders impressed me with their tenacity in defence, class and passing ability. complete midfielders. and i was thinking, france haven't had any great central midfielders in recent times. or maybe that quartet of tigana, platini, giresse, fernandez was an anomaly.

in any case, germany will definitely enter the tournament as the team to beat, even if japan held them to a draw in a recent friendly. japan were really impressive in that game. they moved the ball so well. and i was struck by how far forward their keeper was playing. really as a sweeper.

germany's captain and talisman birgit prinz has returned from injury and reinvented herself as an attacking midfielder, a trequartista. her partnership with inka grings, a striker who also likes to drop deep, will be interesting, because essentially, they will be playing between the lines. the wingers can go in and attack the space.

this fluidity gives the defence problems because no one knows who is to pick up who.

a player whom i hope would be fit in time is kelly smith, of england and formerly of arsenal.

season preview- do you know jack?

much of the pre-season has been overshadowed by the departures of kolo toure and emmanuel adebayor.

i regret that kolo toure has left, especially for a team like man city. it leaves a sour taste. i think the past year has been bad for him. among all the Invincibles who have left, i think he is the one who has left under the least amicable of terms. which is sad, because he has always been the kind of player who gives everything for the club. i don't like what he is saying to the press, even if it may have a ring of truth to it.

if you ask me, the one thing arsene wenger didn't foresee was probably how badly affected kolo toure was by the handing of the captaincy to gallas instead of him. maybe in 10 years' time, arsene wenger would explain this peculiar decision in a book. between gallas and toure, toure was the one who needed the captaincy more. after he didn't get it, he just wasn't the same player anymore.

as an arsenal fan who has followed the club for more than half my life, i wish that more players can retire at the club. players like vieira, henry, pires, gilberto silva, campbell and even kolo toure.

but when you look at the youth players coming through, you either have to accept a reduced role or leave.

if kolo toure felt betrayed by the club, then it was better to let him go, because there was no point in keeping an unhappy player. i think between gallas, djourou, vermaelen and toure, there is nothing much to choose from.

the defence more or less picks itself: almunia, clichy, gallas and sagna. i personally prefer djourou to vermaelen. but this defence on paper is not better than last season's defence. focus and playing time together to nurture confidence and understanding are the areas of improvement. as well as set-piece defending, which is the job of the whole team anyway. judging from pre-season, set-piece defending is still an area of concern. in any case, our defence is not world-class but can be good enough.

of the other 6 outfield positions, only cesc fabregas is guaranteed a starting spot. the question is: what system would wenger employ? at the moment, everything is open. 4-3-3, 4-1-3-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-5-1.

i won't be surprised if no further signings are made, even though i would gladly see a player like daniele de rossi at the club. song, denilson and ramsey have to repay arsene wenger's faith in them. cut out passes, keep the ball moving, keep it simple.

it is the attack that is really interesting. bendtner, van persie, eduardo, arshavin, nasri,rosicky, vela, walcott, jay simpson and jack wilshere. on one hand, it means we have many options. on the other, it means we don't have a truly outstanding, indispensable player a la fernando torres for liverpool. really depends on how you look at it.

fluidity will be the theme. playing between the lines. the death of the second striker, the death of the traditional winger, the death of the traditional centre forward. it is simply the reflection of football's evolution.

eduardo looks good, bendtner looks good (you wonder if this could be the season he finally proves his worth), rosicky looks good, albeit a little rusty (18 months out, unbelievable), arshavin is the kind of player who can be quiet for 85 minutes and turn it on and destroy you with 1 touch of the ball. one hopes that vela can bring his Gold Cup winning form with mexico back to europe. walcott has to be very nervous about his own prospects after watching wilshere.

i said last season that wilshere can be our wayne rooney. i think he is ready to play, and deserves his chance to mark his coming-of-age a la wayne rooney with some volley against, say chelsea. honestly, if you can flick the ball past 2 players and lob the keeper, even if it didn't result in a goal because the keeper pulled off a wonderful save, you are ready to play. capello was at the emirates stadium when there was only one englishman playing. i think he will be ok, especially when there are intelligent players like arshavin, eduardo, fabregas around who can guide him.

what we need to see this season is the willingness to shoot from outside the box when teams put 11 men behind the ball. it doesn't matter how, but getting the first goal is very important to settling down in the game.

things look good so far, but friendlies are only friendlies. the real thing starts in 2 weeks.

we have a big enough squad. the question is: are the players ready and able to repay wenger's faith?

almunia, fabianski, mannone
gallas, djourou, vermaelen, clichy, sagna, eboue, gibbs, traore/silvestre
fabregas, denilson, song, ramsey
arshavin, nasri, rosicky, wilshere, diaby
eduardo, van persie, bendtner, walcott, vela