HOW ANCELLOTI'S MADRID COULD AND SHOULD LINE UP

Carlo Ancelloti has finally been appointed as Real madrid,as if we didn't know that was going to happen since the end of May.On the 1st of July he'll take charge of his 1st training session at Real,although not everyone will be present as some of the players are at the confederations cup.However,Ancelloti by now will know that this Madrid squad is built around a 4-2-3-1,and knowing that he is a man who doesn't just change things to please him,i'm pretty sure he'll stick with it at least for the first season and maybe change it later,although he'll change some things tactically in order for Madrid to play the "spectacular football".So all those thinking about him using some of his previous formations like a 4-3-3 system(which madrid fans will hate because Barca use it), 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1, and even a 3-man defence,should not worry,the Italian is smart enough not to change just yet.People should also not expect "tiki-taka",Madrid fans hate it because it's what Barcelona do,that they refer to as boring,expect them to play like,Dortmund,a very attacking team,who will not nessicarily get 70% ball possession,but will demolish teams.Ancelloti will however have to make room for new players and make some changes to the individuals in the starting XI.This article takes into consideration of the players that could possibly join and possibly leave.
             Here is the analysis of how Madrid could line up next season.In goal,Iker Casillas,will be back.Although Ancelloti said that he would have to fight for his place,we all know that Casillas is the favourite madrid and possibly favourite Spanish son,we all know the dropping of Casillas was one of Mourinho's problems,and dropping Casillas,would be the continuation of problems,something Ancelloti will want to avoid.The sad thing is that,for all  the efforts of Diego Lopez last season,he will now be on the bench,but i'm sure he'll get games in the Copa del Rey as the the "cup keeper",and dead-rubber UCL matches and maybe sometimes in the league to give Casillas a rest.At the back,Arbeloa kind of lost his place last season with a string of poor performances,mistakes and foolish things(asking the referee if he was alright against Galatasary and getting sent off),and with Dani Carjaval returning to the club with a string of good performances in Germany(entering the team of the year and by statistics the 5th best right back in Europe),i for one would love to see him replace Arbeloa,but i think Ancelloti will keep Arbeloa,just like the way Del Bosque is keeping him for Spain,and for the sole reason of the experience he has.In the heart of the defence Sergio Ramos,will definitely be there (to me only Thiago Silva can argue that he is a better centre defender than Ramos).Pepe would have been the obvious partner for Ramos 12 months ago,but not now,Raphael Varane has proved to be more thoughtful,less rash,faster,have greater goal threat, and has even been better in Pepe's job of marking Messi.He also proved to have a better understanding with Ramos than Pepe ever did.On the left,although Marcelo,had a poor season with injuries,weight issues and poor displays,he to most Madrid fans is a typical Madrid player and excites more than Coentrao.Although he is not the best defensively,he surely makes up for it in the attacking front.Coentrao is a really good player,make no mistake about it( remember his perfomance against man utd and at the Euros),but i feel Marcelo will get the nod.In midfield.Xabi Alonso will take his place back and will be fresher after not competiting in the Confed. cup.He after Ronaldo and maybe Ozil is the most important Madrid player on the field.He is the pace setter(only Xavi and Pirlo can argue that they are better pace setters).Mourinho only used him for important matches last season because of an injury he had,that is fixed now and hopefully he'll play more this season.Sami Khedira should bring the defensive steel Madrid need,but to me this steel is not needed,as only a few sides really have the attacking threat to burder Madrid.So i feel Luka Modric should partner Alonso,he had a slow start to life at Madrid but turned out to be an important player for Madrid last season.He will add flair to that of Alonso and help Ancelloti bring about the "Spectacular" football Madrid want to play.Although this means Alonso and indeed Modric will have to work on their defensive side to give the team some kind of balance.Khedira,however should be called-in,in matches were a natural defensive steel is needed.On the Right hand side of the attacking trio,Gareth Bale will certainly play there "IF",and that's a big IF,he comes.The Tottenham man has openly said that he wants to play with Cristiano Ronaldo and be like him,and also play in his dream club,Real (everyone seems to say this nowadays).The thing is,he doesn't want to force his way out of spurs and also wants to give on more go at helping Tottenham qualify for the champions league.Tottenham's chairman,Daniel Levy is said to be prepared to decline all bids including a €100million bid,which will make Bale the most expensive player of all time.Florentino Perez,seems more than happy to pay that price "big players pay for themselves",and has made Bale his number 1 target,reportedly wanting to handle this one like the Figo transfer to Madrid.The Spanish media and Real players have certainly been seducing Bale and his agent recently claimed that Bale hadn't signed a new contract,giving Real more hope.Real themselves have left the number 11 jersey vacant,suspicious?.I hope he comes,but i feel its going to happen next summer.Again what Perez wants he gets.That aside,if Bale doesn't come Angel Di Maria,will gladly take his place back,although the new kid Isco,could play there if Di Maria showed the inconsistency he showed last year.Mesut Ozil should retain his place in the centre of the attacking trio,although he tends not to start seasons well and always seems to carry on the summer vacation into the actually season and comes alive in middle or late November,his assists stats,although very high (had the most assists in Europe in all competitions in his first 2 seasons at Real) have been reducing in arithmetic order since his first season.Isco could go in there if such holiday form is shown at the beginning of next season,but Ozil will eventually take his place.Isco will be coming on as a sub mostly,for one of the 3 attacking midfielders.On the left we have Cristiano Ronaldo,arguably the best player in the world.His goals and talent will make him the first name in any team sheet.He is the most important Madrid player. In attack its one of Suarez/Cavani/Benzema.The thing is if Tottenham push the price for Bale,Madrid will have limited resources to land either Suarez or Cavani.If they however sell fringe players(Like Cajellon,Adan and sadly Kaka) like the way they have already sold Pedro Leon and some youth players (although with a sensible buy-back clause) ,they can raise funds.Madrid need a striker,as Higuain's departure leaves them with just one recognised striker although Jese and Morata are set to be added to the first team.Madrid however need a proven goal scorer,General manager Jose Angel Sanchez,said the club will add two strikers to the squad,one expected to be a youth player and one a proven scorer.Suarez is the cheaper and easier option to get but the transfer could carry on for the whole summer as Liverpool will hold out for a large sum,i feel this will go through,but in the same way the Alonso and Modric transfers went through ( a transfer request by the player and very late in august). I also feel Suarez is more suited to madrid,as the flair and flow he will provide with Ozil,Ronaldo and whoever ends up on the right will be devastating + the fact he  scores goals,although not up to Cavani (For their clubs though).Ancelloti will probably use him and Benzema just as the way Mourinho used Benzema and Higuain,the only difference is that Suarez will play more just as Benzema played more under Mourinho.

           REAL MADRID  POSSIBLE XI FOR NEXT SEASON:                                                                                                     


CASILLAS


CARJAVAL SERGIO RAMOS VARANE MARCELO



MODRIC ALONSO





BALE OZIL RONALDO







SUAREZ



If you think this is frightening,look at a possible second XI with Diego lopez---Arbeloa---Raul Albiol---Pepe---Coentrao---Casmeiro---Khedira---Kaka/Cajellon/Jese---Isco----Di maria---Benzema/Morata/Jese. .If Florentino Perez can assemble this squad,Carlo Ancelloti will have the most expensive and arguably the most talented squad in world football.With this squad any coach who fails to produce should be sacked and Florentino is definitely not one afraid to sack anyone.What ever happens in the transfer window though,Ancelloti has no doubt inherited a talented squad and will succeed at Madrid,but the thing is,will he turn them into the best many in the club feel they are?.That remains to be seen,but this squad is the kind many have in video games and win without trouble,now Ancelloti has to win in reality,so world football,get ready,Real are assembling their Galaticos once more,expect this one to be better and hungrier,they are coming for world domination.




Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

CARLO ANCELLOTI :THE NEW BOSS

I begin this article by saying that as a Real supporter,i would probably have preferred Andre Villas Boas or Michael Laudrup for there successes at there previous and current clubs,but some people will say,they don't have that much champions league experience,but,then again i would have fancied them for the long term.Now back to the man Carlo Ancelloti,the new manager of madrid was finally announced after a month of speculation and seduction.It had been 27 days since madrid last had a manager the longest manager drought in the Perez era(the previous time was 3 days) and indeed the longest in Madrid's history.
       Ancelloti has won trophies in everywhere he has gone to,2 champions league winners medal,a the cup competitions in England and Italy,as well as the league titles in those countries along with the league trophy he won with PSG.Ancelloti however has some weak points,i'll like to comment on here.First of all Carlo is a quiet character,who does not get involved with things like mind games,like Mourinho,but at times,these mind games are actually needed,a good example here can be seen with Sir Alex Ferguson,i may not have been a big fan of the man,but i surely did respect and fear his mind games.He won titles with it (Newcastle 1995,Liverpool 2009).Ancelloti may need that at some point and that is not in his arsenal.Also he may have won trophies in many clubs,but he's Seasons to trophies ratio is not that good for Real standard.He has won 10 trophies in 14 years as a coach,the 10 include 3 league trophies,2 champions league trophies ,2 cup trophies,2 season curtain raisers(super coppa,community shield) and the club world cup.Coincidentally Madrid's longest serving manager Miguel Munoz,spent 14 years at the bernabeu.If Ancelloti should have the same record in the next 14 years,as he has achieved in his first 14 as a manger,would he be regarded as a success at Real? The answer sadly is NO.For a club like Real they target all 3(possibly 4) trophies every season and would hope to achieve the treble at least thrice in such amount of time.They will be aiming to win like 25 trophies or more in that period of time.He also has the tendency to Fail at some point.Infact at Reggiana(he's first job),is the only place he succeded fully,gaining promotion in his first season and staying up in his second season.At parma,he took the team to 2nd place in his first season and 5th in his next season.At Milan,he won just 1 serie a finishing 2nd in 05 & 06.Even the 2 champions league successes,should have been 3,Istanbul should have been the 2nd,Liverpool should never have come back.Jose Mourinho rightly pointed out in 2010 "Ancelloti is a great manager,but i will never be on the losing side,after going into half time 3-0 up in a champions league final". That kind of thing at Madrid will definitely warrant the sack.He also failed to win anything in his last 2 years at Milan.At Chelsea he failed to win anything in his 2nd season and ended up 9 points behind champions man utd in that same 2nd season(it is fait to say he recovered from a 15-point gap and reduced it to 3 with 3 games to go).He also failed to go beyond the quarter-final of the champions league in both seasons at Chelsea.At PSG,he took over in Decemeber 2011 and at the time he took charge,PSG were 3 points clear in the league,but ended up,3 points behind shocking Champions Montpellier.
        So,i know most people would think,i hate my own,but i don't,i always like to look at where to criticize them,in order to see how good they actually are.Now for Mr Ancelloti's strong points.First of all Ancelloti is one who builds his squad on what he has at his disposal and not based on what he wants.He has used different tactics were ever he has gone,playing defensive and attacking.At madrid he has already spoken of how "the most prestigious club in world football needs to win,playing spectacular football,because the history and tradition of this club is to play offensively,spectacularly,and we are going to work hard to play football that will give happiness to the fans".That will definitely go down well with the madrid supporters who complained that Mourinho's madrid sometimes won games,with an inspired goal by Ronaldo,a lovely assist from Ozil,a Fantastic sliding tackle from Ramos or Varane or with a top class save from Iker Casillas.Sergio Ramos did complain about this criticising Mourinho for his inability to be on top,in terms of tactics,because he never played the game.Such thing cannot be said about senor Ancelloti,he was part of the famous Milan squad of the early 90s.During that time he learnt a lot from renowed mangers like Capello,Sacchi and Co.He also has the ability to handle big name players and know that some players are just part pf the club(something Mourinho failed to understand with the sales of Raul,Guti and harsh treatment and spats with Casillas and Sergio Ramos).Ancelloti has managed big names and hot heads,players like Zidane,Stam,Nesta,Lampard,Lavezzi and most of all Zlatan Ibrahimovic.Hence he will fit the bill for madrid.He is a fantastic man-manager as he is the type that will put his arm round a player,and has this father figure status.He also gets repect from the owners he has worked with examples of this Silvio Berlusconi,who crticised him of being too defensive,he also gained respect from Roman Abramovich and Nasser Al-Khelaifi.Also the fact that Zinedane Zidane is going to be part of his coaching staff and is also the sporting director,he will be involved in the two sides of footabll which will help Ancelloti very well,in terms of transfers.Ancelloti also has the tendency to bring out the best in players.He started the work on Zidane,he changed Andrea Pirlo from an attacking midfielder to the pace setter we now know and respect him as,we saw the best of Andrey Shevchencko and Ricardo Kaka whilst he was under Ancelloti,we also saw the best goal scoring records for Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard,under Ancelloti. Who knows maybe we haven't yet seen the best of Ronaldo and maybe there is still something left in Kaka.Madrid supporters will certainly be hoping for that.






Florentino Perez and all madridistas will be hoping the 'Italian Del Bosque" will be the "peace maker" and the man who restores all that the club symbolises and finally end the club's drought for La Decima.So get ready madridistas,a new era is upon us,we should get behind our manager and the players and wrestle back what many in the club feel is there's in the champions league from Bayern and La liga from Barcelona.Spain and Europe,be prepared,Real are a wounded animal and are coming for World domination. HALA MADRID !!!



Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:THE VERDICT

Well with the group analysis done and dusted,i guess its time i give my personal verdict on the whole tournament.I begin in Group A,the group consists of hosts Brazil,Italy,Mexico and Japan.This group has been called the group of death.The teams are not too far from each other in standard.The first match of the tournament and the group between Brazil and Japan,is going to be a tough one which Brazil will just win,with a score like 3-1.If this was the Mexican team that went to the World cup,i'll say they'll draw against Brazil,but it isn't,its going to be a close game with the Mexicans outstanding defence.A 1-0 victory will settle it.I fancy Italy to take the maximum 9 points.The match against Brazil will be a close one.A game between Neymar and Balotelli and as i said in the Italian article,Balotelli is a big game player and Neymar isn't.Italy would win that game by a score of 2-1,and hence top the group.So at the end its Italy to top,Brazil second.Mexico last because i feel Japan will beat them.In Group B Spain like the Italians will breeze through the group collecting the full 9 points as they did in 2009.It will be difficult but they'll do it.Tahiti sadly will do what i'm expecting Spain to do,but in the opposite manner,they will lose all 3 games,although i'm hoping for an upset from them.The second spot would be fought between Nigeria and Uruguay.Its going to be based on three things,1st who scores more goals against Tahiti,which Nigeria are at a disadvantage because they'll have one day to train before the match especially after a long and tiring trip to Brazil,also without 2 key goal threats Emenike and Moses.Uruguay on the other had have 3 deadly forwards who will want to use this match to win the golden boot.2ndly who concedes fewer goals against Spain and finally who wins there group match which i feel will be a tough draw.Like 2-2.I'm picking Spain to top as already said,then Uruguay to come 2nd because of their 3 front men who will score more than the Nigerians against Tahiti.Then,with what i said we will now have a semi final of Brazil-Spain,Uruguay-Italy.In the first one,its going to be a tough match which Spain will win,they'll hold on to possession as they normally do and render the likes of Neymar useless.The main threats to Spain will be Lucas Moura or Hulk,Moura for speed and dribbling ability,Hulk for power and Speed,Pique tends to get bullied by strong defenders eg Drogba.If Brazil are not having the ball Neymar will be ineffective,a good example of this can be seen in the  Barcelona vs Santos match in 2012.In the 2nd match its going to be very tuff.Italy vs Uruguay,that match will be decided by an error,a big decision from the ref, a piece of individual brilliance or even penalties.But i feel Italy will prevail.Now its a 3rd place match between Uruguay and Brazil,again both sides may want to play fringe players for the game and if that happens,Brazil will win,but if it doesn't,another tight game which Brazil may be lucky to win.The final,will be a repeat of the Euro 2012,final and like last year,Spain will prevail,but this time with difficulty this time,Italy will want revenge,Spain will want to have the honour of holding the World Cup,European championship and the confederations cup, + are still hurting from the last edition.I expect them to pass the ball around alot and as with most of there tuff matches end up winning 1-0.So come June 30th Spain will be Confederations cup champions ending Brazil's run of 2 successive victories in the tournament.






Top scorer in the tournament is a difficult one with many top strikers on show,players Like Hulk,Neymar,Balotelli,El shaarawy,Forlan,Chicharito.These guys score goals but i'm giving this one to one of Suarez or Cavani.They play Tahiti and are both auctioning themselves for clubs.They will look at Tahiti at a match to score like 3 goals or more + the others they will score during the tournament.However i'm going for Suarez,he is the one with the more desire to leave his club, than and will want to use a golden boot award to add to his CV plus he is also more selfish than Cavani






Best goalkeeper i expect it to be Iker Casillas,he has had his troubles this season,but i expect him to start for Spain and lead them to Glory.He has conceded just 3 goals in Spain's last 2 tournaments and i don't see him conceding many more.






Best Player....many people will be expecting Neymar,but no.I doubt this is his tournament,it is definitely going to be Balotelli's tournament.But i'm going for the man who won the best player award at last year's Euros.Andreas Iniesta is that man.As said in my article on Spain.He is the only one of the forward starters who maintained his forn during the past season,and he will be the one to pull the strings for La Roja and together with Casillas will led them to glory






No matter what happens in Brazil,we are definitely going to have a feast of  samba football and hell of fun,with the colourful brazilians and there beautiful ladies,we are going to have a lot to feed our eyes on.If the tournament is up to half the fun we experienced in South Africa 2009,then get ready to love football even more.The Confederations Cup is upon us,lets go out and support our teams.Good luck!








Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:GROUP BY GROUP ANALYSIS

GROUP B
NIGERIA
     The Super Eagles of Nigeria are the reigning AFCON champions and are making their second appearance at the tournament after finishing fourth in 1995.Nigerian football had seen its standard drop a little bit especially after failure to qualify for the 2012 AFCON.They did qualify for the 2013 tournament and won it,and are therefore fortunate to play in the tournament,because if it wasn't for CAF's decision to prevent AFCONs from being played in World Cup years,Zambia would be the ones making the trip to Brazil and representing Africa.The Nigerian players threatened not to participate in the Confederations cup after getting half of the bonuses they are meant to get from World cup qualifiers drawn or won.That issue was sorted out,as they were now paid their remaining money.The team will therefore now get to Brazil on saturday,meaning they have one day to train before they play Tahiti,which would be music to the ears of the Islanders.The Nigerian team is coached by Stephen Keshi,he is a former player of the super eagles and became the 2nd man to win the AFCON as player and coach when he guided Nigeria to the 2013 AFCON glory.He famously handed in a resignation letter after wining the competition,after rumour came out that he would be sacked after the tournament.Neither thing happened and he remained on board.Nigeria seat top of the first phase of their qualifying table with 9 points two clear of nearest rivals Malawi who they play in the group decider in September.The team play a 4-3-3 system.The system is going to be the same as the AFCON winning system.Enyeama in goal.Efe Ambrose-Oboabona-Omeruo-Echijiele in defence from right to left.In midfield Onazi will be the holding midfielder,although he has an injury and is out for the game against Tahiti,he will be replaced by Fegor Ogude in that match or when ever he gets back.Mikel Obi the controller and pace setter while Sunday Mba as the most forward player of the 3 midfielders.In attack comes the real problem for Stephen Keshi.The 3 forward players of the AFCON winning team were Brown Ideye,Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses.The last two along with Mikel,Mba and Efe Ambrose were to me Nigeria's best performers at the Nations Cup.The aforementioned Moses and Emenike gave them real attacking energy and impetus and these two are out injured.So what to do for Stephen Keshi? In the Nations cup final Emenike was also out injured.He was replaced on that day by Ike Uche,he didn't make the squad for the Confederations cup.Going with his selections at the recent World cup qualifiers,he is not sure which 2 of 3(Nnamdi Uduamadi,Anthony Ujah and Ahmed Musa) he should go with.I personally will go for the first 2,they will be eager to really prove themselves and will want to take their chances when given.Musa on the other hand has been given many chances on the field which he somehow manages to miss time and time again.I've seen this guy play for both Nigeria amd CKSA Moscow and he tends to miss chances,take on a defender when its not nessecary, give the wrong pass and even when he gives the right pass,it is either missed placed,too early or too late.Don't get me wrong,he has the potential and also has incredible pace but he really needs to work on the problems i mentioned above.Players to watch for the Super Eagles,i'll say,the two strikers Stephen Keshi picks to replace Emenike and Moses,they'll have big boots to fill and many people in the West African country will be looking to see what they do.They have to impress and put in a good show or risk being left in the dark for later events.The Midfield trio of Mba,Mikel and Onazi were excelllent at the Nations cup and will need to be at that again especially when they come against World champions Spain.Sunday Mba has proven to be one who scores important goals,as he scored the Nations Cup winner against Burkina faso and also the winner against Cote D'voire in the quarter final,both goals happened to be scored on a sunday strangely enough,So beware Spain(they play Nigeria on a sunday) and opponents of Nigeria in the 3rd place or Final(both matches will take place on a sunday) if they get there.Onazi had a fantastic season winning the Coppa Italia with Lazio and also had the habit for scoring breath taking goals,Nigerians will hope he recovers in time to face Uruguay and Spain.Mikel is the most famous player for the Nigerian squad and probably the best player in the squad too.He tends to play a more pace setting game for Nigeria rather than the holding one he plays for Chelsea.He did that well at the Nations cup and will also do well to produce an even better performance in Brazil.Another player people should watch out for is the Celtic defender Efe Ambrose,he impressed me alot at the AFCON with his dribbling ability and forrays forward,all the more impressive is the fact that he is a centre back for his club side,Celtic.






One thing i love about African football is that,the other countries tend to support their neighbours.The Nigerian players not only carry the hopes of their country but also the hopes of a continent.I'm a big fan of the Nigerian band they always carry about to all their matches and can't wait to hear their drums and trumpets.All the talk that Stephen Keshi carried 8 home based players and hence Nigeria won't take the tournament serious is nonsense.They will go to Brazil and give it a real good go as they always do and maybe,come June 30th we all will be more surprised than we were when Nigeria won the AFCON,if the Super Eagles emergence victorious in Brazil.



Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP B
URUGUAY 
            Uruguay come into this tournament after very successful and convincing World Cup and Copa America tournaments.They along with Spain and Italy are aiming to win the tournament to join Argentina and France as the teams that have won all FIFA tournaments.The Celeste,have had an indifferent world cup qualifying process.They have played 12,lost,drawn and won 4 times each,and have picked up 5 points from 21 avaliable.This leaves them with 16 points and 5 points behind Chile in the final automatic qualifying spot,although they have a game in hand.They have the 2nd worst record defensively conceding 21 whilst scoing 18.The team is coached by Oscar Tabarez.He has been at the helm since 2006,after previously been head coach from 1988-1990.As said he has been largely successful with Uruguay,taking a team that had failed to qualify for 3 out of the previous 4 world cups,to 4th place in the Copa America of 2007 and then 4th place in the World cup in 2010 and the Copa America of 2011.Uruguay are blessed with some of the best players in the world with the likes of Fernando Muslera,Alvaro and Maxi pereira,Diego Lugano,Christian Rodrguez,Nicholas Lodeiro,Gaston Ramirez,Luis Suarez,Diego Forlan and Edison Cavani.The Uruguains have sometimes played a 3-4-3 or a 4-4-2 formation in qualifying but i expect them to play a 4-3-3 system which they look more comfortabke with.Their full backs attack with pace from the back and they use a midfield of 1 holding midfielder ,1 controlling the midfielder and 1 attacking midfielder.Their 3 strikers,Suarez,Cavani and Forlan to me are as deadly as it can get.All 3 know each others game well and can interchange at anytime,knowing where to be,when to move.They are very dynamic and together they have various devastating traits that would dismantle any team in the world.Their centre back pairing at the Copa America of Lugano and Coates may not be the same as Diego Godin has had a by far better season than both and,both made 10 and 12 appearances respectively for there clubs all season.Players to watch for the initial world cup winners has to be the front trio of Suarez,Cavani and Forlan.Enough has been said about how they play already,looking at stats Cavani has 17 goals in 55 appearances,Forlan 33 goals in 98 appearances and Suarez 32 goals in 64 appearances.I personally feel Suarez will overtake Forlan in this tournamentas Uruguay's all-time top scorer,especially with a team like Tahiti in their group(no offence to them).Suarez may,also be playing for a move,I said may? Scratch that,Suarez is playing for a move seeing as how he has now been moulded into the Most hated player in England by the English media,he is desperate to leave amd has been giving Real madrid open invitations to come and take him ever since he joined up with the squad.Cavani is also another man who with a good performance may increase his suitors,as he is already pursued by the world's biggest clubs.Forlan will want to prove that he is stil the image of Uruguain football and will not want to leave the crown of all-time top scorer that easily.Other players like Gaston Ramirez and Christian Rodriguez will want to make amends for a slighlty below par season by their standards






Uruguay will be looking at this tournament as a means of sending a message to everyone that they still have the spark of 2010 & 2011 and are definitely one of the favourites.They will want to do better than their last appearance in this tournament when they finished 4th,especially since it is on South American soil.Their 3 forward men are also players out to prove a point in Brazil and with their deadly finishing don't bet against them delivering a deadly blow to the 7 other teams by winning the tournament.



Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP B
TAHITI
     Honestly,before i saw the groupings for this Confederations cup,i had never heard of a nation called Tahiti.Intially i thought it was Haiti wrongly spelt ,but then i realised Haiti technically belonged to North America and they already had Mexico.So i had to do a lot of research on them to find out about them and what to write about them.This is the hardest article i have to write in this Confed Cup series.It took a lot from me.Enough said now to the main business.Tahiti became the first team other than Australia and New Zealand to win the OFC Nations cup.They did so with a 1-0 win over New Caledonia,in a match they were expected to lose as New Caledonia had already beaten tournament favourites New zealand 2-0 in another suprising result.This although is not the first time Team Fenua have qualified for a FIFA tournament.They qualified for the 2009 FIFA u-20 world cup in Egypt were they met Nigeria,Spain and Venezuela.They lost those games 5-0,8-0,8-0 respectively.The coach of Tahiti a former player of the National team Eddy Etaeta knows that they won't win the tournament and possibly may not pick up a point too in the tournament but he is just proud that they are going to Brazil "The people of Tahiti will be happy that we are going to play against Spain and Brazil,it is amazing and we shall enjoy these moments".They are currently ranked 135th in the world. They will not have the opportunity to particpate in Brazil next year as they have failed to qualify for the world cup,so this is there world cup.They played a 4-4-2 system in the final of the OFC Nations cup Final,but in all honestly i expect them to play a10-0-0 formation in this tournament,trying to play on the counter.Players to watch for the Islanders would be primarily 2 players.1st of all,we look at the man who actually brought them to Brazil,Steevy Chong Hue,he scored the winner in the OFC Nations cup final,the winger has scored 11 goals in 22 appearances for his country.He is the 2nd player in the squad that has played outside the country,with spells in the Belgian 2nd division.The second player to look out for and the most experienced is Marama Vahirua.The striker,yet to be capped,has played for Nancy,Liorent,Nantes and Nice.He is now plying his trade in the Greek top division for Panthrakikos.The hopes,although very little of a nation rest chiefly on these two






Tahitians are not hoping for anything big,they are going to Brazil to have fun and enjoy the moment.Any goal scored will be celebrated like they won the World Cup.A 1-0 or 2-0 defeat would be awesome.To say a defeat would be awesome tells you how much an underdog they are.They are without doubt the biggest underdogs in the tournaments history.They may have just 1 professional footballer in there entire squad with the rest,teachers,fishermen,salesmen,but one thing i do know, is that Tahiti have spirit and with this spirit  plus happiness and excitement that they are in a major tournament,i'm expecting them to give the other teams a real good run for their money.So Spain,Nigeria,Uruguay watchout...Tahiti will be no pushovers



Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP B
SPAIN La Roja or in full la furia Roja.Spain are the reigning world and European champions and will want to win the only tournament that they have participated in and have not won since 2008,The FIFA onfederations cup.Cesc Fabregas recently stated that they were going to treat the tournament like a world cup.In all honesty La Roja have a better overrall squad than the class of 2008,2010 and 2012,as they can now call on players who are on the top of their game(Mata,Carzola,Javi Marthinez) but from the starting 11,everyone with the exception of Jordi Alba and Iniesta dropped in form or lost his place with his club side (Casillas)(Villa and Arbeloa to an extent).La Roja are coached by Vicente Del bosque.The former Real madrid coach has won everything at the highest level except the confederations cup.He has at his disposal probably not only the best team in the world,but maybe the best team in history.His team are arguably the most compact squad at the tournament many of the squad members have been together since 2008.They play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation,with every player in each position already known.But since Euro 2012,there has been a problem.The number 1 striker position.Torres was the number 1 striker with Villa and Iniesta sligtly more towards the wing but just behind.But the loss of form of both Villa and Torres,especially Torres has given Del Bosque a headache.Villa can easily be replaced with David Silva.But for some reasons Del Bosque has little faith in any spanish striker.This was evident at the European Championships were he prefered starting Fabregas as the number 9.But that,he may not be able to do in Brazil because of the injury to Xabi Alonso.The Real madrid man is part of the spanish engine room,with Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets.He delivers the aeriel through balls,which is his speciality unlike the through balls on the ground,he can do this but not up to the standards of his aerial balls.This problem is solved by the architect,Xavi Hernandez.He can give the though balls on the ground,but aerially not that well.Xavi and Alonso complement each other perfectly.But Alonso is out,so is this a problem? Yes.But the effect can be reduced,Spain have a player who,when he was younger was said to have the qualities of both Xavi and Alonso,i'm not talking about Benat,i'm talking about Francesc Fabregas.The Barcelona man showed this at Arsenal,but since moving back to catalunya,he has not been quite the same player.He,in my opinion should replace Alonso,Del Bosque should forget using him as a false 9.He will understand Xavi better because they are at Barcelona together.Another option would be to play a 4-3-3,with a Barcelona midfield of Busquests,Xavi and Iniesta,then Fabregas,Villa and Silva.This would be easy to play because 5 of the 6 players mentioned play for Barcelona and i can make a strong bet that this has been done before with Barceola.Del Bosque can also use Javi marthinez as a direct replacement for Alonso,but that would make spain more defensive and cancel out that aerial passes.But realistically,Spain won't change their style.With that solved who will lead the line for La Roja.Torres,Villa,Soldado,Pedro?.Robeto Soldado has the best record of all the strikers with 30 goals in 46 matches and he did he's chances no harm by scoring against Ireland last night.But i personally feel David Villa should lead the line.He has a better goal ratio than Fernando Torres and has more International experience than Soldado.The goal keeping spot is also a slight issue,because of the lack of match practice Iker casillas,but really,i cannot imagine him on the bench for this tournament,no offence to Pepe Reina and Victor Valdez,Iker Casillas is the best Keeper in the world and symbol of spanish football.A few outtings in friendlies would get him back in shape.Another issue may be that of the right back position.Alvaro Arbeloa as the usual person,but he had a below par season which made Madrid exercise a buy-back clause and bring back Dani Carjaval,which may see him loose his spot with Madrid,but before that he may lose his spot too in the national team to caesar Azpilicueta.The Chelsea man had a fantastic season and will definetly be able to replace him.But just like Soldado,he has little experience in competitive international tournaments.I personally feel Javi Marthinez was the best holding midfielder in European football this past season,i feel Del Bosque should use himself and Busquets in turns,such as the way Real madrid use Benzema and Higuain.Although i feel Marthinez is a better player,due to the fact that he heads the ball better,he is also better playing in defence,and even the pass accuracy which will make Del Bosque prefer Busquets over Marthinez,he has improved on that wonderfully well this season,although not to Busquets' standard.Del Bosque did not call up Michu who had a fantastic season with swansea and to me its very sad to see him not make the squad.Alvaro Negredo who scored 31 goals in 42 matches will be wondering what he has to do to be a regular for Spain, last season he scored 14 goals in 36 matches and he made the squad for Euros.Javi Garcia who was terrible in the EPL,made the initial squad.This i find perplexing.That said the,players to watch for Spain,first of all their captain,Iker Casillas.As i stated earlier, saint Iker was left in the cold by Jose Mourinho last season and the spanish will be looking up to him for inspiration.Xavi,Iniesta amd Sergio Ramos have all called him the symbol of spanish football in recent weeks.In the World cup in South Africa and the European championships,spain conceded a total of 3 goals.This is how good the man is,although critcis will say he has a strong defense ahead of him,but i only need to remind such critics of the 2 saves he made from Arjen Robben.Another man that viewers should watch closely is Cesc Fabregas.If indeed he replaces Alonso,he will be under scrutiny for everything he does,the Spanish will hope he does well in that position and also hope he does not give-in to pressure if things don't go well.The next inspirational player in the Spanish team after Casillas would be Andres Iniesta.Going into this tournament he is the most consistent of all the forward players for Spain and also managed to finish the season with the most assists in La liga.He scored the world cup winning goal in South Africa and was also the best player at the European championship.Don't bet against him repeating the act in Brazil .Players like Juan Mata and Santi Carzola are fringe players for Spain,such is the frightening quality of La Roja,they would want to do well when given the opportunity,and expect them to do so.






In all honesty Spain are the overwelming favourites for the tournament,they are motivated to hold The world cup,the European Championship and the Confederations cup at the same time,something only France have done and are also motivated to join France and Argentina as the only teams to win all FIFA international tournaments (World cup,Confederations cup and the Olympics).Spain have been criticised for not scoring much at competitions.They are also criticised for not having a plan B,if things are not going there way.But any spandard will tell you he doesn't care how the win the tournament as long as they do it.It would take a brave man to bet against La Roja winning this tournament,my advice:DON'T



Posted from WordPress for Android

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP A
JAPAN
        NIPPON DAIHYO represents Japan in association football.They won the 2011,asian cup and hence participate in the curtain raiser.They finished in 2nd place in the 2001 edition.They are coached by Italian Alberto Zaccheroni,the former Milan coach has much experience at the highest level and is on the right track in terms of making Japan the best in Asia and also a house-hold name in world football.Expect to hear a lot of the "Nippon ole"  chants in Brazil.The Japanese lost 3 games on the bounce before scoring a last minute equaliser against Australia,made them the first team to secure their place in Brazil next year,after Brazil.Now the confederations cup presents itself to them as a chance to test themselves competitively ahead of next year.Zaccheroni has stated that the tournament will act as a "building block" for next year.Japan play a 4-2-3-1 system.They have highly attacking players with Keisuke Honda as the 10 and Shinji Kagawa on the left,but he will the first to tell you that he prefers playing in the middle of the park.Then the stuggart Shinji Okazaki who has scored 33 goals in 63 matches for Japan. Players to watch for the Blue samurai  are definitely Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda.Honda is struggling for fitness and may not make the tournament,but the people of japan would be hoping that he can make the flight to Brazil.Kagawa on his own will what to be at the best he can when the tournament comes around.But a somewhat more crucial player is their captain Hasebe who provides the team with a lot of energy and drives them on and on.Japan are hoping to go one better than 2001,but with the quality of the other teams,it would be quite an achievement if "Zaccheroni japan" can pull it off.

                                                                                              

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP A
MEXICO
        Mexico, are one of the most colourful teams that will enter into the competition.El tri qualified for the confederations cup by winning the CONCACAF gold cup,but are in danger of not qualifying for the main event next year.Mexico will want to win back the love of their fans who have slighlty turned against them in recent qualifying matches,by repeating what they did in the 1999 edition and win the tournament.They are coached by Jose Manuel de la Torre.Torre's tactics have been somewhat disturbing seeing that he has changed Mexico into a defensive minded,less creative team.I for one,am not pleased with Torre,because i remember Javier Aguirre's world cup team,who were technically good and fast.Torre's team tend to play with a cautious formation,with two centre midfielders who are defensive minded.Defensively they are sound because they haven't conceded at home during qualification for the world cup.But this has affected the offensive side of Mexico as they have scored 3 goals in 5 matches.The team has the ability to be better offensively as they play a 4-2-3-1 system.The problem,as said earlier is that they play two deep midfielders who are both defensive minded.They can change this by bringing in Hector Herrera,who will replace Gerardo Torrado.Herrera will be a box to box midfielder to create more goal scoring opportunities.I personally feel the team will be favoured more with Giovanni Dos santos playing on the right wing  and cutting into the centre,with Raul Jimenez behind,Javier Hernandez and Javier Aquino/Andres Guardado playing on the left.PLAYERS TO WATCH for El tri,and of course first on the list is Manchester united striker,Javier Hernandez Balcazar,also known as Chicharito.The Mexican would lead the line in Brazil and will also be expected to bang in the goals for Mexico.He is the man that defenders will be wary of,especially with his high poaching abilities.He also has a good leap on him,which makes him very good aerially.He has scored 32 goals in 47 appearances for Mexico.He has also scored 5 goals in Mexico's 9 qualifying matches.He will be assisted by Giovanni Dos santos,who really showed his potential this season but was sadly relegated with mallorca in La Liga.I for one would love to see him back in La Liga.He has pace and will trouble any defence.Guardado has seen his influence go down after scoring 1 goal in 32 matches for valencia in La liga,so he'll like to get that back with a good showing in Brazil.





Mexico will go into the tournament without Carlos Vela who scored 14 goals in la liga this season,who fell out the coach and hence cost him his place in the Confederations cup.They will also be without Oribe Peralta who scored 4 goals in 6 matches at the olympics games last year,including the winner against Brazil in the final.Mexico will fly to Brazil after a world cup qualifier against costa rica at home,and they will want to return home with the confederations cup,just like they returned home with Gold,from London last year.

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

GROUP A
ITALY
       Ah! The Azzurri,four-time world champions and perennial competiton favourites.Italy are heading into this tournament,aiming to win it for the first time.They will be hoping that the awful outting they had in the last two FIFA tournaments,were they left in the group stages.They are coached by casare prandelli,the former florentina coach struggled intially but has now forged a team worthy of winning any tournament,this they showed in Euro 2012,by getting to the final,beating a fantasic German side,only to be outplayed by probably the best team in footballing history:Spain.But since after the European championship they've played 7 matches winning 2.They can point to the fact that the 2 they won were competitive matches,while the others were friendlies.I watched them play last week against Czech Republic and they were outplayed on the night.As with Brazil on my previous article they have a formation problem.Whether to use a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 formation.Prandelli has previously stated that his team were not suited to a 4-3-3 system.But he can play that with the juve backline of Chiellini,Barzagli and Bonucci,along with with either Christain Maggio or Ignazio Abate.Then a midfield trio of Pirlo,Marchisio and De Rossi.A trio of Balotelli,El shaarawy and 1 of Giovinco/Gilardinho/Diamanti as the forwards.Also a 4-2-3-1 system would work,with the same  backline,then Marchisio playing as the the number 10.With any of 2 strikers mentioned above playing on the wings then the another up top.A 3-5-2 system will go well,with the Juve backline replicating what they do for their club for their country then one of Maggio/Abate playing as a right wing back while De sciglio playing on the opposite flank.In midfield,its the same shape with Juve except its De Rossi instead of Vidal.But De Rossi can do what Vidal does,just think back to the 06/07 season when he showed us the stuff he is made off,and the stuff that made Marcelo Lippi  give him his 1st cap.With 2 strikers which i think should be Balotelli and El shaarawy.I personally would go with a 3-5-2 formation against "weaker" teams or teams that do not have strong wing play.Juventus and Napoli have used this formation to great effect over the pasr 2 years.But against stronger teams,i'll go for a 4-3-3 system to fend of the strong wing play,Bayern destroyed Juve with their wing play in last season's champions league when Juve stuck with their 3-5-2 formation.I don't think Italy have natural wingers to play a 4-2-3-1 formation.Prandelli hinted that he could call up francessco Totti or Antonio Di Natalie,after both players(both above 35) had fantastic seasons for their respective clubs, could be called up,but he didn't call them at the end,that was suprising to some, as many felt that at least 1 of the 2 should have been called up.Totti had previously retired,but he came out of retirement,because critics said he showed more passion for Roma than Italy.He scored 12 goals in 34 matches last season,while Di natalie scored 23 goals in 34 appearances.Also suprising is the fact that Giovinco who scored 7 goals in 31 league matches + no goals in15 matches for Italy,was called up.Prandelli can point out the fact that Giovinco is younger and has lightening pace and could bring more options since he can play on the wing and that Totti has just 9 goals in 54 appearances for Italy,while Di natalie has 11goals  in 42 matches .The truth be told the Italian strikers have a bad record for their the national team.El shaarawy has 1 goal in 7 appearances while Balotelli has the best record with 8 goals in 21 appearances. PLAYERS TO WATCH for the azzurri. First name that comes to my mind is SUPER MARIO.He is a fantastic talent and can produce on the big stage(*unlike 1 brazilian i know*) as seen with his performance against Germany in Euro 2012.But he has the tendency to go crazy and do stupid things that will get him sent off,this can be seen with their last match against Czech Republic.He together with El shaarawy will probably lead the line for Italy and Italians will be hoping that they won't just lead the line but lead the team to Confed cup glory.








One man who is probably more important for Italy than Balotelli,is Andrea Pirlo.He is the heart of the azzuri,the man who makes the team play,without him Italy's chances of winning the tournament are reduced drastically.As seen with juve against Bayern,when he was kept at bay,Juve looked dead and could not do anything.Casare Prandelli,will do well to prepare for that type of situation happening and find a solutiom to that problem.One thing is for certain though,Pirlo is a boss for days and has so much class that many players at the tournament will only dream of having.On his day he can win any match and make opposing midfielders feel like they're amatuers (just ask England what happened in the quater final of Euro 2012).Pirlo is the Choir master in the Italian Choir.








Other players will love to do there chances at the world cup no harm by performing well in Brazil.Players will Buffon,Chiellini,De Rossi will hopefully be at their best,for us all to have a fantastic tournament.But now,all has been said,let's go and see it happen on the pitch, FORZA ITALIA! ! !

www.wordpress.italy-confed cup-analysis

Read More

THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

The FIFA Confederations cup is traditionally a curtain raiser for the actually world cup.This year it will be held in Brazil,the home samba.As with all tournaments there are expectations and drama will definitely unfold.On this article you're going to get a glimpse of what is going to unfold in Brazil.
GROUP A
BRAZIL: I start my analysis with the host nation,Brazil.The selecao are going into this tournament as favourites as they always seem to do going into every tournament.Although with their lowest world ranking of 22nd,the brazilians still believe in themselves and believe they can win the tournament as they did with the last two editions especially under the man who brought them their last world cup,luis felipe scolari..In the 7 matches he has beem head coach the selecao have won just 3 .He has a lot of experience at this level but he seems like a man trying to find his feet with the wealth of talent avaliable to him.He doesn't yet know which centre back pairing he prefers,either Thiago silva or David luiz/Dante.Although of recent,he has shown a preference for David luiz.He also has the same problem in the centre of midfield between Fernando,Hernanes and Paulinho.As with the centre backs,of recent he has gone mostly with the latter 2 of 3.Then the attacking trio always has Oscar & Neymar,but the 3rd person could be Lucas moura or Hulk if he's not playing up top ahead of Fred.Brazil will definetly miss Leandro damiao who is out of the competition due to injury.Scolari took a gamble not calling Brazilian legends Ronaldinho & kaka,but taking them would have been a gamble on it's own.The exclusion of Chelsea midefielder Ramires is somewhat suprising seeing as he has been a regular in the Brazilian squad.Lucas of Liverpool would also be disappointed not to be called up,but then again,many players would also be disappointed not to be called up after a fairly reasonable season.But an exclusion that suprised many was the exclusion of the 20-year old Philipe Coutinho.The Liverpool man had a brilliant second half of the season with the merseysiders,he created the most chances in the Epl starting from his debut in February.Oscar played 34 games in the Epl scoring 4 times assisting 7. Coutinho played 13 times scoring 3 goals assisting 7.Also he played12 times for the Brazilian u-17 and u-20 scoring 6 times .These stats alone show how good the youngster is,anyway maybe he's a star for the main event next year.The brazilians have been handed a very tricky group,because in all honesty,the gulf in class between Brazil,Italy,Mexico and Japan is not that much,if any.People consider Brazil and Italy as the two that will qualify,but Mexico and Japan are teams that will always give their all,and as said earlier the Brazilians are still trying to find there feet and only look superior because they are Brazil,while the Italians have not been the team that won plaudits for their performance at Euro 2012.I personally am expecting a really tight group and for those who bet i'll advice you keep your cards close to your chest.Players to watch the first name which certainly comes to everyones mind would be the new Barcelona player Neymar.He will be out to prove a point for people who think he is over-hyped,overrated & just a "you tube player",although he had that chance at the 2011 edition of the Copa America and also at the Olympic games of 2012 and didn't perform as he and his Brazilian counterparts would have hoped for.Neymar has the tendency to go missing in big games,he tends to showboat when it's not necessary and is not also the best at tracking back to help the defence.Another man hoping to put on a good show at the Confederations cup is Oscar.The Chelsea midfielder has been named man of the match in the 7 matches Scolari has been in charge,this alone tells you how important he is to Brazil's hope of winning the Confederations Cup.He is also seen as the Robin while Neymar is the batman of the Brazilian juggernaut.They together with Lucas Moura,Hulk and their captain,Thiago silva,who many believe to be the best centre defender in the world, and who recently described the Brazilian defence as "leaky" will be hoping to light up the tournament and win the Confederations cup in style just like their 1997 counterparts won it in style with Ronaldo,Romario,Rivaldo and Denilson running the show.The bottom line is Brazilians want to win the Confederations cup for the 3rd time in a row & for the 4th time overall.





                                                      

www.wordpress/brazil-confederations-cup-analysis.com

Read More