Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Friday afternoon question: Does 6 + 5 equal nothing but trouble?
FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s plans to limit the number of foreign players in a team, otherwise known as the “6+5″ rule, received overwhelming backing at FIFA’s congress in Sydney on Friday.
His plans, which would see clubs allowed to field a maximum of five foreign players, are contradictory to European Union laws and Brussels has already warned of legal action against any country which allows this rule to be implemented. Many national associations, leagues and clubs also say the plan is unfair and unworkable.
Ten Cate’s sacking could be blessing for Barcelona
Henk Ten Cate’s sacking by Chelsea won’t make the headlines that greeted the departures of Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant, but it could be significant in Spain as well as in England.
Ten Cate, the 53-year-old Dutchman, was little known in Barcelona when he was appointed as Frank Rijkaard’s assistant in 2003. He soon won a reputation as a hard taskmaster in training and a disciplinarian when it came to man management. He was also praised as a clever tactician but he was content to keep a low profile in the media.
When he left to take over at Ajax in 2006, after the Champions League final win over Arsenal, a few columnists noted how Barcelona would miss him, but it’s fair to say his exit was hardly mourned by the public.
They certainly miss him now.
Owen, I think Racing have lined up Malaga´s coach Juan Ramon Muñiz as their next boss, so he may have to look elsewhere.
Getting back to Ten Cate though, I reckon you need a good double act to get the best out of players at big clubs like Barça. The Rijkaard-Ten Cate “good cop, bad cop” system seemed to work well at Barça while they were both there, but Neeskens was never as convincing a figure as his predecessor. The Carlos Queiroz-Alex Ferguson double act seems to work well at United too, but surely no one can beat the Clough-Taylor combination!
Is Eriksson the right man for Mexico?
Sven-Goran Eriksson has not even been sacked by Manchester City, yet he already finds himself under fire in Mexico where he is widely expected to be named as the replacement for Hugo Sanchez.
Despite leading Manchester City to a respectable ninth place in the Premiership, it’s been widely reported that Eriksson is facing the chop and at the Mexican Federation they are optimistic about naming him as their new coach as early as Monday.
Striker Jared Borgetti, who has scored a record 43 goals for Mexico, said in a surprisingly outspoken interview this week that the Mexican FA were trying to grab worldwide attention for themselves rather than concentrating on strictly football matters.
Borgetti said that if Mexico want to try their luck with a European coach, then they should appoint him when he has time to experiment and get to understand the psyche of their players.
Yes. I think Mexico can look forward to a quarter final place in South Africa in 2010. However, despite a solid first-half performance and a narrow, but deserved lead at half-time, the opposing manager will make a telling tactical change. Eriksson will react by not reacting and Mexico will exit the competition with a feeble second-half display.
He’ll get Mexico to the next level, but Eriksson’s teams don’t seem to be able to build on promising starts nowadays.
Euro 2008 — Austrian passions stirring at last
Up until a few weeks ago you’d have been fined in Austria for flying a flag on your car. Only ambassadors and government officials were allowed to that. But bureaucracy is slipping and passions are stirring, albeit slowly, as Euro 2008 approaches.
In the last few days Austrian flags have been fluttering from cars in the capital after the government lifted the ban for the duration of the tournament to help drum up some atmosphere. Some of Austria’s cheap supermarket chains will sell tournament merchandise half-price this weekend, and at last the Austrians, whose first sporting love will always be skiing, are starting to show an interest.
Culture reigns supreme in Vienna, famed for its balls, its classical music and art galleries. When I arrived in Vienna in mid-May the city’s residents still pulled faces when asked if they were looking forward to the tournament. Drunk fans might smash windows or make a noise at night.
Vlog on the pitch — time to put Rooney back centre stage
Join vlogmeister Owen Wyatt as he goes to the London College of Communication to seek opinions on Wayne Rooney’s role for England.
The 2-0 win over the United States was probably England’s best performance under Fabio Capello, and Steven Gerrard certainly had a good game, but there seems to be a common feeling that the Italian is not getting the best out of Rooney.
Should Capello be building his team around Rooney? Is it a case of Rooney trying to do too much for the team when he should be being more selfish? Or do you expect it all to come right again when he recovers from the effects of a long season?
Only Ronaldo can end this saga
Last week Alex Ferguson slammed Real Madrid for using Spanish sports daily Marca as a mouthpiece to further their designs on Cristiano Ronaldo. United have backed their manager’s complaints by threatening to report the Primera Liga side to FIFA for their behaviour.
Real, however, deny any wrongdoing, saying all they have done is express their admiration for one of the hottest properties in world football.
“We aren’t going to start a conflict,” said Real president Ramon Calderon. “If a club does not want to sell a player why would we insist they sell him? We know they are not a selling club. It is a problem between the player and his team.”
Real have a point. Aren’t United pointing the finger in the wrong direction?
And now Cristiano Ronaldo complicated things with his new statement “in 2 or 3 days.” That means it’s before the UEFA EURO 2008 starts. I hope it’s a definitive answer about his future so the Portugal national team can finally focus on winning its first match. The Madrid – Ronaldo saga affects the whole national team at the Viseu training camp.
I preferred Scolari’s statement about his future. In yesterday’s press conference he said that he hadn’t made a decision yet. If he does it will be made after EURO 2008. That’s what I call a stop to speculation.
Vlog on the Pitch — who’d be your England captain?
Fabio Capello has named John Terry as captain for England’s friendly against the United States on Wednesday, which may be some slim consolation for that penalty miss in the Champions League final.
Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard have previously held the captaincy under Capello. who will presumably make a decision on who gets the job on a long-term basis before England start their qualifying campaign for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Owen Wyatt was at Capello’s news conference this morning and he’d like your views on who the Italian should go for. Personally, I’m beginning to think Owen Hargreaves might be the man for the job — he can take a mean penalty, at least — but I’m sure you’ll have plenty of other ideas. Let us know in the comments, or with a video blog of your own.
You need a captain to be a great leader – in both victory and defeat. After the CL final, JT should have been consoling the younger lads in the squad – instead he just blubbed like a big girl because he kicked a ball squiffy. You never saw Stuart Pearce do that! And his outrageous accusations against a referee this season proves he’s neither sporting nor a gentleman either. Terrible choice.
Best candidate is Ferdinand – he has proven at Utd that he can do the job well, the other players respect him and by learning from his past mistakes he is a good role model for younger lads in the squad. Gerrard as a back-up – although he clearly doesn’t need the armband to inspire himself or others.
Forget Mourinho, it’s time for an Italian job at Chelsea
After sacking Avram Grant following the club’s first Champions League final, nothing at Chelsea should surprise us.
But Jose Mourinho possibly going back as coach? Even in the wacky world of Stamford Bridge, it is surely just paper talk and fantasy.
Mourinho is a shrewd man and he will know as well as anyone that coaches very rarely succeed in a second stint at a club. (See our blog from when Kevin Keegan was reappointed at Newcastle.)
The dynamics of Chelsea are also very different from when he took over in 2004.
Anyone who thinks that Jose wouldn’t be welcomed back to Stamford Bridge with open arms is an idiot! Jose will forever be idolised at Chelsea by the players and fans alike.
All he needs is to be left alone to get on with his job and then he delivers. Simple really…
Chelsea sack Avram Grant — your views
Chelsea have acted quickly and some might say ruthlessly to their Champions League final defeat by Manchester United, opting on Saturday to sack Avram Grant.
There is no explanation on the Chelsea Web site, but then again none is really needed, I suppose. When you spend so much money on putting together the best team you possibly can, you don’t really want to settle for second place, do you?
I personally feel a bit sorry for Grant. I don’t know him at all, but he came across as a very likeable chap in his dealings with the press at the Champions League final. I particularly liked his parting shot to the media on the eve of the final: “I know you all care about me because you’re always asking if I’m going to stay or go,” he said.
But what do you think? Was this is an inevitable reaction to the defeat (as well as the player unrest that’s bubbling away), or did Grant deserve a chance to build his own team rather than doing the best he could with what Mourinho had left him?
It has now become circus at chelsea. The whole bunch of them heads dont know what to do and dont have a heart to appreciate the good one does. How the hell do they think by prophesy or word of mouth they can win everything. Or do they think money kicks the ball? Do they at any momment ever realise that on the soccer pitch there are two teams and each team prepares adequately to conquer the other? Look guys, this is a game and all teams cant be first. The same Man U who are champs at some time were not doing well but they stuck on with the same coach. what we are seeing now are the results of patience. This justifies that Jose shouldnt have been fired in the first place. I hope all prospective coaches are aware of what lies ahead of them if they pick a job at circus chelsea…Suppose let Roman coach the team then there will be nobody to fire…come guys let us have feelings for others and the game…..
Friday afternoon question: Is this the end of a Chelsea era?
The futures of coach Avram Grant and several Chelsea players are uncertain following their Champions League final defeat by Manchester United. But how many will leave?
Speculation that Grant will be axed has intensified after chief executive Peter Kenyon said finishing second in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup was not good enough.
“It’s been an interesting season, but you don’t like finishing second and as runners-up. Given the standards we’ve set, that’s not something we’ve settled for,” he said.
football has a spirit. Even if Andriy Shevchenko played,it wouldnt have changed the result.This season is for Manchester united.Where was this Shevchenko when Liverpool came from 3-0 down and levelled up 3-3 and eventually won the CL final on penalty shootout?Result of soccer can go either way if decided on penalty. Sacking Grant or getting the best coach in the world would still not have affected the result.After all Grant is the first coach to have taken CHELSAE FC to CL FINAL.I CONGRATULATE Grant for that wonderful achievement thank you.
How does this actually help countries that have little or no competition in their own countries? By allowing the big league countries, like England, Italy, and Spain to hire players from other countries helps to create better players. How could countries like the US ever begin to produce quality talent? At the moment there are very few who even make a roster abroad, let alone a starting line up. Look at the African leagues. How many of these players would be at the top level that they are if their dreams were to play for an African club. If the top clubs in Italy, England, and Spain can’t put together a team full of their nationals then there’s a reason. Fans want to see the best players in the world compete, not the best players from their country.
Countries that will lose out on this deal are the ones with leagues outside of Spain, Italy, England, and Germany. The leagues would start to become less interesting. Nationalism and racism would begin to grow. How is this a benefit to the sport?
Can anyone argue that England is not one of the best teams in Europe at the moment? Yet the top teams in the league don’t follow a 6+5 rule. If this rule passes I hope the English Premier league(and others) protest it.
Can you imagine if every company in the world had to follow these rules? Would you support an interviewer saying, “I’m sorry you are qualified for the position but we can’t hire any more foreigners. Instead we have to hire a less talented individual.” Or perhaps people saying, “you know, Coca Cola is too strong. We need to level out the playing field so that all soft drinks have a fair share.” Even if the world prefers to drink Coke(sorry coke haters, I don’t like it either but still).