Forza Futbol 139: Andy Mitten

Andy Mitten from Yahoo-Eurosport

On today's episode of Forza Futbol we welcome back Andy Mitten, author of Mad for It amongst many other books. He covers Manchester United and La Liga for Yahoo-Eurosport, and joins us here for a chat about the Spanish League and about the European competitions, a comparison between La Liga and the EPL, and we talk about financial problems in Spain. Dare I say we cover relegation? Too much show I think.

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Half way there, the Journey so far and looking to the end.

Were do I start? It's been a very interesting season so far, in England the normal challengers seem shocked by the season, yeah yeah, they have had injuries here and there, but tell me who hasn't? In Deutschland, boy ol boy, Drama Unlimited, the teams predicted to be fighting for the title are having a season to forget so far. In Italia some teams that were buried in the ashes are finally back and ready to make a statement. In La Liga it is between her favorite two teams and one looks completly unstoppable right now.

I shall begin in the Bundesliga: Amazing season, book maker´s predictions have been torn to shreds. Mainz first led the race blasting all before them for their first 7 matches, then Borussia Dortmund rose like a phoenix stopping all before them and falling only twice. Currently with an 11 point lead heading into the winter break, they will maintain such a gap till March and I see them crowned Bundesliga champions. Bayern Munich look dazed from the World Cup and achievements of last season, Wolfsburg look like England under McClaren, Schalke only realized that the league even started by end of November, while Bremen and Stuggart haven't decided to partake in the season as of yet. Key deciders for Dortmund will be the Ruhr Derby vs Schalke-04, Weder Bremen, Mainz-05, Bayer Leverkusen and, while not forgetting Bayern Munich, maybe Hamburg. Should Dortmund survive all these games they´ve got the Bundesliga.

Standout player so far: (it's a tie): Shinji Kagawa and Nuri Sahin. Dortmund´s scouts deserve an extra bonus. Shingawa is the reason football is the world´s sport. Honestly, what more can you say about someone who was playing in the Japanese second division and is now dominating the Bundesliga?

In Italy it's been a disappointing season for the all conquering Internazionale Milano of last season. After replacing Mourinho (who moved to Madrid) with Benitez (wrong move I must say), failing to make any noticeable signings and depending on a very old squad lacking any motivation, they seemed to be telling their rivals, ¨Hey we don't want the title do you? And their rivals said YES!!¨ The rossoneri lead the pack. They have a fearsome attack (with the addition of Cassano it just got better), but the same problems as of last season (their defense) still exists. With a resurgent Roma, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli and Inter which woke up late, it should make for a most exciting second half of the season. Can Milan march straight on to their first Serie A title in almost 7 years? I think whoever wins it will be the coach willing to go beyond the safety zone. I have never been a fan of Juventus but something tells me that they are going to play a huge role in deciding Serie A.

Standout player so far: I am tempted to name Samuel Etoó or Javier Pastore as standout performers, but I think I'll give it to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. On his return to Serie A he showed that it was just Pep Guardiola that didn't like him (quite frankly he didn't fit into Barcelona style like David Villa has this season), but he has helped lead Milan to a position many were not sure they'll be able to attain and he is looking at his best once again.

In England it's quite interesting to see the money bags of Man City having the opportunity to be on top and saying, "Well, we would rather just finish in the top four." Chelsea started very strongly, and like I said earlier on, they are their own biggest weakness. The excuse that they trying to cut costs and bring in their youngsters is crap. They have a squad at their peak and you let players like Ballack, Belleti, Deco go (with no cover), throwing in Kakuta, MacEachran into the heat of battle and if they don't deliver, what do you get? Six weeks with no wins. I think Mother Nature did Chelsea a huge favor and they'll be back to battle for the crown. At the beginning I had Chelsea and Man Utd. as the main title contenders, and I still say it's between both teams. No disrespect intended at Arsenal, Spurs, Man City but you guys do not have the consistency to land the title. Right now Man Utd is my number one favorite to win the EPL. Why, because while they haven't hit the sort of form or a good patch like the Man Utd. of old, they are still unbeaten. Since their rivals have decided not to up their games, it's now up to Manchester United to lose the race. Will they? I don't know, but what I do know is that if by end of March, Man Utd. is still topping the table, then they'll be on their way to another league trophy. Man City and Spurs will play kingmakers and may both finish in the top four. One good thing for Man Utd. is that they are undefeated against both teams. Maybe that's a sign?

Standout player so far: It would have gone to Florent Malouda, but considering Chelsea's loss of form, I won't give it to him. Samir Nasri is also having his best season with Arsenal but does not show up in the biggest games (or does for one half, isn't that typical Arsenal?) so he can't get it. Andy Carroll gets it. In his first season in the Premiership he has announced himself on the big stage and looks a better version of Crouch. Berbatov also deserves some praise.

Finally we come to the Land of the World Champions and of the next Champions League winners ( ha ha ha, don't hate). One Name says it all FC Barcelona. They have dominated everyone, except for the likes of Hercules, Mallorca, Copenhagen (in the UCL), but their performance against Real Madrid and Espanyol would have made other teams give up and say the league is over right? No. This is La Liga. It's only two points that separate second from first and just ten that separate second from third. (Yes, I said just ten because I believe that will be reduced, too). The league is nowhere near it's end.

The Special One has brought a tremendous improvement to Real Madrid this season and apart from the thrashing at Nou Camp, the Magnificent Whites have continued to grown in strength. The likes of Ozil, Di Maria and Carvalho have all turned out to be impressive signings, and with the return of Kaka and Higuain, adding to the rebirth of Benzema and the already magnificent Cristiano Ronaldo, los blancos can only push FC Barcelona to the end. I believe the title decider may not just be the El Classico at the Santiago Bernabau, but games against Villareal, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Mallorca will be the games that will decide who lifts the La Liga crown come May. Valencia scored the same amount of goals as Real Madrid did in Europe, and despite losing their major stars, have proved they have what it takes to go far. Villarreal has the wonderful combination of Nilmar and Rossi who can't stop banging in goals, and while Atletico Madrid´s Diego Forlan has had a very bad hangover from the World Cup, hopefully he should be back for the second half of La Liga. Also watch out for Getafe and Malaga. They might earn huge results against some of the power houses.

All said and done, FC Barcelona are the number one favorites for the title. They have been unstoppable in last few rounds of games and with Xavi playing his best football, Messi, Villa, Pedro still scoring and Iniesta on the prowl, you can hardly find any weakness in this team, but that's were the weakness lie. They simply are their own weakness. Will they get complacent?

Standout player so far: In a league where newcomers such as Ozil and Di Maria are delivering consistently, David Villa is doing great for Barca, Xavi is the number one central midfielder in the world, and every attacking player is under the shadows of Lionel Messi and CR7 (isn't everyone in the World?), I'll instead name Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao as that star performer. There is no striker like him in La Liga. He is big, but he has good feet, and has taken his goal scoring to the national team. He won't be with Bilbao for too long but while he is, he deserves that standing Ovation.

So there you have it, a lot of you may not be happy with where I put your teams, but well someone had too, besides my team wasn't named number one to win the League by me right? Wish you all the best of the Holiday Season, stay safe and thank you for your support.

by Raphael Harry, for Forzafutbol.com

World Cup bid Scuppered

You would have thought that England were going to win the 2018 bid. They had a royal wedding amongst the attractions coming up and Fifa voters are "notoriously underpaid", at least on-top of the table, which is why they are so quick to stick their hands below the table I´d say. Quid pro quo. What about David Beckham actively stumping for the bid? Some handshakes, promises to build academies or host camps in their confederations, and maybe they´d vote, but all were scuppered because of some damning evidence of corruption broadcast on British television.

Is anyone surprised? Spain/Portugal and The Netherlands/Belgium were out. Fifa doesn´t want dual bids after Korea/Japan. Russia wins the 2018 bid. For 2022: Australia, Japan, Qatar and the United States all bid. The United States looked the clear favorite, ready to host at a moment´s notice I´d say, let alone giving them 12 years to fund state-wide projects to be able to host the event. Instead, the unlikely bid of Qatar wins the right to host the event in the blinding Summer.

FiFa says it wants to take the game into emerging nations and spread the game´s popularity there, but I don´t buy it. This isn't a case of FIFA largess, bringing the largest sports spectacle in the world to economies in need of revitalization. Russia and Qatar? These are emerged nations, and more importantly, nations ready, willing and able to funnel money into a project with little to no public transparency and that is exactly how FIFA wants it, because they'd be the primary recipient. Is it any wonder that with the worldwide economic crisis in full tilt, that FiFa chose to hand the bids over to countries with the least amount of public accountability? Not at all.

Oh, I´ll probably be watching, counting my days until an early retirement maybe, but watching nonetheless and I´ll remember that day 12 years ago when I realized that rather than having just a little faith left in the process, there was actually no point left to trusting the lumbering, corrupt, cesspit that is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.

Premier League Nonsense: Mis-Director of Football

This Director of Football nonsense will never work in England. Let the manager bring in his own players. If it worked for Cloughie and Sir Alex, or Shankly and Bob Paisley then it can work today.

That may have been true, once before the Premier League, the high-salaries and the expensive imports tainted the first division, but nowadays it just doesn´t stand to reason to continue the status quo. Look at Manchester City. Three ownership groups and four managers in 5+ years. Stuart Pierce, Sven-Goran Ericksson, Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini. One Englishman full of blood and thunder followed by a Swede more Italian than Scandinavian of temperament. One Welshman schooled in the rough-and-tumble Northwest followed by the measured continental grace of an Italian from the shores of the Adriatic. What differences in styles, tactics, management, and even communication between them. It´s no wonder despite the talent on that huge squad, they still haven´t been able to crack the top four.

The papers say it´s money that keeps all others out, but what is City´s problem? Is it always the manager´s fault? The players rule, and with the sort of contracts given to them, it almost assures mediocre performance. The managers are fired and the club yo-yos between British and Continental and back-again. The papers say they should have given them more time or more money even, that stability is the key and it takes awhile for a Wenger or a Sir Alex to build a juggernaut, but I contend it´s much easier than that. Hire a Director of Football. Liverpool just did. Your club should too.

You´ll save money in the long run. Take Sevilla and Villarreal for a start. Both have cost-conscious owners with a penchant for frugality. They both have innovative front-offices and scouting structures in place scouring mid-level leagues in Europe and in South America. Nine different countries are represented for the nervionenses (Sevilla). 6 for the Yellow Submarine (Villarreal). They both have active and productive youth-team set-ups. Sergio Ramos, Jose Antonio Reyes, Dani Alves and many others have come out of the Sanchez-Pizjuan. Villarreal B are one of the strongest sides (let alone B-squads) in the Second Division. If they would have had anywhere near what Real Madrid and Barcelona make from television contracts or merchandising, we would have been celebrating wins from either squad in league and in cups over the last five years. 

You´ll keep up with the times. Some would say that this is an extension of Moneyball; where clubs in baseball changed the status-quo using statistical analysis to evaluate talent, sell players at a profit and constantly change and adapt to the marketplace first rather than following tried and true, old-boy´s network strategies of doing business. It wasn´t just attempting to run a club like any other business, nobody really believes that the usual rules of profit and loss apply to sport in the strictest sense, but running it effectively considering how poorly your competition was running theirs; that´s the key to Moneyball or Sabermetrics or whatever you want to call it. It´s not about statistics, but about intent and applying it by beating your opponent before they even step out onto the pitch.

You´ll stop waiting for saviors. I realize that the English game is steeped in the history of the innovative manager, the genius who comes to town and creates history: Chapman, Shankly, Revie, Clough, Ferguson or Wenger, but those days are over. In today´s game it is almost impossible to assert yourself at a club to the extent that they did. It takes years to build a club from the ground up to suit your intent; you´ll get fired before that happens. Think of all the fuss over Kevin Keegan returning to Newcastle or Kenny Dalglish being almost willed by an entire city, or at least the red-half, to return to the Liverpool bench. How many clubs are waiting for Jose Mourinho to pick them from amongst the wallflowers and dance with them for awhile until he tires and even he doesn't work alone. He has a a group of trusted advisors that he takes with him wherever he goes and he requires an investment of capital that few clubs can aspire to. Are you willing to hand him the keys to your Aston Martin knowing that he'll be trading up to next year's sports-car sooner rather than later? Even his is no long term fix. His Chelsea squad endured but has Inter's? Porto´s? The jury is still out as it is at Real Madrid.

Now that's not to say that the Director of Football is a panacea that works at all times in all situations. That's just wrong, but consider the cases of Juande Ramos and Manuel Pellegrini. They were instrumental in leading Sevilla and Vilarreal respectively. Both left their comfortable niches, one more cordially than the other, to secure big salary positions. They left their respective clubs reeling, but because the organizations were in place, the wage scales and contracts had already been negotiated, and the youth teams were stocked, there was only a slight blip in form. There was no mass exodus of players and the new coach did not plunder his former club for expensive signings. The reason for this continued stability is the Director of Football. Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo or "Monchi¨ for Sevilla and José Manuel Llaneza Durá for Villarreal (amongst others in their charge) have allowed both clubs to continue fighting for titles and trophies despite the fact that either club are miles apart financially from their immediate rivals.

You think I´m wrong? Look at the latest hire at Chelsea FC made. Txiki Begiristain, architect of the latest incarnation of Barcelona FC, and cast-off of President Sandro Rosell, has landed with his feet firmly in place. The London-Blues realize that even an infinite amount of money cannot buy Championships. Someone must be in charge, and it might as well be a Director of Football; or do I have to remind you of Luis Felipe Scolari and Avram Grant?

Liverpool FC Sold?

Petco Park: San Diego, California

I know this is a Spanish football website, but there are still many Spanish players playing for the Kop week in and week out, and in what was recently known as Costa de la Merseyside there is still a huge connection for anyone interested in La Liga, even with madrileno Rafa Benitez having moved on to Internazionale of Milan.

Most people know the story there. Owners Tom Hicks and George Gilette have come in, used the club as their own personal checking account, and turned the storied club into a relegation threatened shell of its former self. If I could use a baseball analogy, these guys are small-market, small-time, short-term investors. The Liverpool board however has accepted  an offer from New England Sports Ventures for the sale of the club to another set of Americans. The supporters are cautiously optimistic, but worried honestly that this is a like-for-like trade of problems. In my opinion? They ought not to worry. Based in Boston, this group owns another baseball club, they own the Boston Red Sox. Big market. Big-time and the success of the Red-Sox recently is directly tied to the rehabilitation process that NESV coordinated. As you'll see, this is the right group for Liverpool FC.

The lead guy at the firm is a guy by the name of John W. Henry. His portfolio looks the most like that of Gilette or Hicks (Wall Street guy-investment futures, etc.), but he has decades of experience owning sports teams. The other high profile name is Tom Werner. A television producer by trade (Cosby Show, Roseanne, Taxi), he also owned the San Diego Padres before joining Henry at NESV. Werner is important because his key hire at the club was a baseball executive by the name of Larry Lucchino. Lucchino was President and CEO of the Baltimore Orioles and was head of the project there to build their state-of-the art stadium at Camden Yards designed actually by the firm that built the Emirates and new Wembley Stadium. When Lucchino came to San Diego he spearheaded the effort to build Petco Park in the historic gaslamp quarter in downtown San Diego. This is a group that is interested in investment certainly, there is money to be made, but they are keenly aware of their constituency and their legacy, the infrastructure of the club and its fans. Nowhere is that more evident than in Boston. They took over a moribund team, one that hadn't won anything of note since 1918, changed their fortunes immediately with two championships in the ensuing decade and built them into true economic rivals to the almighty Yankees; and they did it while saving venerable Fenway Park.

These guys have it in them to rebuild Liverpool FC, revitalize Anfield and restore faith from the Kop. That's if the sale goes through.

Is the Premier League Outshining La Liga?

With the start of the new Champions League campaign, one of the topics that has frequented Spanish commentary and blogs is - Is the Premier League outshining La Liga? Is La Liga are 2nd Tier League? (I don't want to go there, but the same Spanish rags claim that Serie A is a retirement league and will get worse should Ibra or Kaká leave.)



OK, the yahoos from the Spanish rages, exaggerate, freak out and love high drama. They need to fill up their dailies and create news. But it's been awhile since a La Liga team has won the Champions League, Spanish clubs are in debt, and people are worried.

Does the Prem brand better than La Liga? Is the Prem moving towards the NBA mega-sensation and is La Liga far behind? C'mon, La Liga still shows their games at 10pm at nite. This is not conducive to Asia and the the other foreign markets. Do the Spanish teams do a good job of promoting themselves overseas other than the Big Two? Look, Everton has been coming to the US every year and West Ham came over to play this past year. Pompey went to China. These teams are spreading the Prem love and they are NOT the Big Four. Is La Liga doing enough to earn fans and sell shirts? We have the best fútbol, shouldn't that be enough?

Also what about the provincial, club media deals? Is this archaic? Is a league-wide agreement as used in England, more conducive to a strong league?

Deportivo La Coruña's President has said that the future of Spanish football is foreign investment? Do you agree?

Here's my two cents, I think Spain can learn a lot from the Premiership, particularly the media deals and distribution of wealth (even though the richer clubs still get more money due to more appearances on TV and attendances). I also adore the parachute package for teams promoted and relegated. Spain needs something like this drastically. I also think the branding can improve of La Liga, but in moderation. The league as a whole should try and assist in this matter. Why don't they produce and offer Friday preview shows in Spanish? Why aren't some of the Spanish football opinion shows made available, with dubbing or translation to foreign markets?

The infrastructure and organization in Spain needs vast improvement. Why are the games decided sometimes 3 hours before kickoff? How is that conducive to coach potato fans? The technology, camera angles, and TV picture, needs to get to the 21st century. The visuals are appalling. Have you ever compared a Prem or CL game to a La Liga game. The La Liga game pales in comparison.

We need access to more La Liga games on TV or via broadband. Why not offer the other games at a more moderate price? It's difficult for Spaniards to watch non local games, let alone foreigners. This has got to improve. Also access to kits, merchandise, magazines, daily rags would be awesome. Do you know how hard it is to find an Athletic Bilbao kit?

But I like the provincial nuances and local flavor of La Liga and I for one, don't want them to lose this. The play on the pitch is amazing, along with the parity and strength of the mid table teams. The cantera or youth academies keep producing wonderful talent. And there are players that are loyal or don't want to go abroad - see Cazorla, Villa, Silva, Casillas. I don't want foreign investment to come in and ruin La Liga or great an artificial market. We don't need billionaires, just better marketing and business savvy. The Spanish owners already do a fine job sticking their clubs in the red. I also feel that the last remaining socio clubs, need to stay that way - Real Madrid, Barçelona, Athletic Bilbao, etc. It keeps accountability.

But where there is talent on the pitch and in the back office ie managers and technical directors, some will want to go abroad where the money is IE England. But I am not worried about the level of play or the trophies, to me it's all cyclical. The money is in the Prem, but that is a bubble that will burst and a recalibration or reallignment will take place. The Premiership will not always be at the top. Relax.

And honestly I don't want a super league. I don't want to watch just the top leagues or the same teams always winning. That's boring and not what football is all about. We already have the Champions League, World Cup and other tournaments where the cream of the crop rise to the top. Isn't that enough?

OK, those are my thoughts, but I want to hear from you. What do you think? Give us your comments and we'll read them on the podcast. We'd love to hear from you. It's a fascinating topic, that won't go away.

Chumpeons League

Ugh. Another stupid Chelsea v Liverpool match awaits us in the Champions League. If only, if only. Another dubious penalty awarded at Anfield in the dying moments while Arsenal were still celebrating an amazing cross-field run by Theo Walcott, who setup the defining goal at the time. The only ending that’s clearer is that there’ll be a similar penalty awarded at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Were there mistakes made by Arsenal? Absolutely. Their midfield had no presence to contend with Mascherano and Alonso, they had no pace up front with Hleb and Adebayor, and Cesc was efficiently eliminated from the equation early on by having to take a more defensive role with the injury to Flamini. People will be talking about the penalty, a classic dive arms flailing by Babel through Toure, who was flailing his arms just to avoid contact, but that’s not ultimately what brought Arsenal down.

I know we hardly talk about the Prem here, and with good reason the football is generally atrocious, but Arsenal are re-knowned as a proponent of Continental football in the lump-it-up garbage can that is most of English football, aren’t they? Stop talking that nonsense. They don’t have the players anymore to play the champagne football they played with Henry and Pires and that falls directly at the lap of Arsene Wenger. He has dropped the ball at restocking the side with world class quality players to play the way he wants to play.

He says he can’t compete with Manchester United and Liverpool financially. No, that may have been true 3 or 4 years ago, but they are the most financially stable club of the big 4 as an independent financial entity. Please, if Roman Abramovich went way today, Chelsea would drop like a wet turd.

This marks another year with no chance of silverware, yes I know the Prem is still mathematically feasible but please, when is the criticism going to fall on Wenger for his buys? He had a chance at Torres, a chance at some very talented stars just hitting their prime, why then does he insist on 15 year old starlet? Because he can.

I know I’ll get stick for this, they’ll say that Arsenal have a talented young side with promise for the future. When the loans come in for United and Liverpool they’ll have to pay for it somehow so that’s when Arsenal will strike. Not a chance.

I guess Barcelona are still hanging around...

A Prayer before Firing

When Guillem Balague wrote his book Season on the Brink, a tale of the unlikely victory by Liverpool in the Champions League Final, no one expected that title to hold sway on the Reds again so quickly, and for such different circumstances.All season, Benitez has been under fire by the American owners, by the Liverpool faithful, and by pundits who generally give Liverpool a wide berth, but much of the criticism is of his own making. I won't get into his rotational policy. All European managers, or at least the successful ones, rotate players in and out for different competitions. His problem lies simply in that he has failed himself.Rafa Benitez did not beat AC Milan by himself.

He had a backroom staff that he brought over from Valencia, led by Chief Scout and ex-Merida and Albacete coach Paco Herrera, assistant and fitness coach Pako Ayesteran, and goalkeepeing coach Jose Ochotorena, who have all left since that victory in Istanbul. Ochotorena returned to Valencia to become their goalkeeping coach under apparently amicable circumstances, and Pako Ayesteran famously left under a cloud, as his friend and confidante Benitez threw him under the bus, taking away much of his authority as an administrator and trainer for the club. Ayesteran was also widely seen as a good cop to Rafa's bad cop to the players, and his presence or lack thereof has been mentioned by some as a reason why the club have underperformed, but frankly these are professionals.

They shouldn't need coddling by an understanding and sympathetic assistant.I believe the primary reason why Benitez is under fire is that he never adequately replaced Paco Herrera who left to become Sporting Director at RCD Espanyol, and with ex-Periquito Ernesto Valverde, he has taken the Barcelona club to within a breath of the La Liga leaders.Benitez on the other hand has been in charge of a revolving door of washed up players like Bellamy, exuberant workmen like Dirk Kuyt, and not-ready for prime time players (yet) like Ryan Babel. He lucked into Mascherano and had the brilliant signing of the new decade in Fernando Torres.

Now, obviously I'm no Liverpool fan, and I'll probably get the most flack I've ever gotten with this post.Just know that I've been following Benitez since before his Valencia days, as he was about to take over from Cuper, and I sided with him in his battles against Mourinho (see one of my early posts on this blog in fact), but I can't see where this will end well for him.We can blame the media for a perceived bias against Scouser Nation, or the lack of support from the new foreign owners, but ultimately Benitez has failed himself. He had a staff in place to deflect criticism and share responsibility which allowed him to do what he does best: develop tactics to defeat his opponents. Rather than continue with his winning formula, he never adequately replaced his backroom staff.