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Showing posts with label Peter Anderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Anderson. Show all posts
Peter Anderson ⚽ They didn't deserve it and they didn't get it. 

The underperforming English fell at the final hurdle as was absolutely inevitable given the poor quality of manager in place for the last number of years. The best team in the tournament deserved it and landed the prize.

For many years Spain followed a similar trajectory to England. Despite having one of the strongest leagues on the planet and arguably the biggest club side, they regularly underperformed. Like England, the only trophy they had won was in the 60s, a Euros in '64. They famously were effectively knocked out of their own World Cup in '82 by Northern Ireland and lost on penalties to England in Euro 96 in the last 16.

Shortly after moving to Spain, I went see them playing France on the big screen at the fan zone in Madrid city centre during the World Cup of 2006. The Spaniard I was with explained to me that they would certainly lose because they always lose these games. I remember being shocked that Spain were so poor. I always imagined that they were a big team, but no they weren't. One trophy years ago, then many years of hurt.

Things changed. And quickly. The Spanish F.A. made the decision to bring in Luis Aragones, a well respected old timer who had managed at the top of La Liga for years. He inherited a team with a mountain of young talent and he made sure to use them well. Xabi, Xavi, David Silva, Iniesta and Fernando Torres quickly became regular starters and playing a brand of bright, attacking footy. They quickly gained success. They won the Euros in 2008 beating Germany in the final. The monkey was finally off the back. Aragones was replaced by Del Bosque who introduced the team to tiki-taka and they went on to win the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros again in 2012. This team is rightly regarded as one of the best in history, certainly one of the most successful.

It seems totally intuitive to put a team of exceptional young talented players in the hands of older, experienced managers and the success duly came.

England on the other hand, decided to go for a vanilla manager with no experience. They wanted a conservative "safe pair of young, English hands" after the failures of Sven and Capello, and the disaster of Hodgson. And Southgate was a good choice initially. He dispensed with the disunity culture that saw the players hanging out with their clubmates only. He defended the team from the over-aggressive press and he galvanised the team into a group that believed they could win.

But he didn't have the necessary nous to install a style of play that everybody buys into, or to have a plan B when things go wrong. In this Euro cup it was obvious that the front 4 of Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Kane wasn't working, but he persisted when everybody knows that a top manager would have changed things. The quality of the opposition afforded multiple chances to field a new team. He didn't. One journalist reported that during the second half Bellingham approached Southgate and told him to "fucking do something". Shortly after Kane was subbed. I don't know how true it was but it sounds about right.

What will England do next? The pressure is on to get it right or another generation will be lost. For Spain, the hoodoo is well and truly broken. A World Cup, 3 Euros and a Nations League in 16 years is pretty damn good. I was lucky enough to be at the national celebrations at Cibeles Fountain in Madrid in 2008 and 2010 and I know what winning tournaments means to a nation of footy lovers after years of mediocrity. I hope one day England do the same, but the F.A. needs to be bold and get the right man. They had the best squad at this Euros, better than Spain's, and they had the easiest of possible opponents and still couldn't put together 90 minutes of good footy.

Something better change.

This is my last article as sports writer for The Pensive Quill. I would like to thank Mackers for the opportunity and to everybody who read the blog and commented. It has been a pleasure.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

My Final Offering

Peter Anderson ⚽ The weekend started so well. 

A plethora of assholes promoted above their capabilities were shown the door: Jacob Rees-Mogg-Twat, Ian "airmiles" Paisley and Stephen "woke as f-f" Farry were the highlights.

And while it was going to be hard to top that list,I was hoping, really hoping, that the weekend would finish with Gareth "useless" Southgate being shown the door too. Alas, it was not to be as the most boring team in world football stumbled through another round to reach the semi-finals.

How is this happening? Are we inhabiting in some sort of alternative universe? England's last 6 games have seen them lose to Iceland, draw with Denmark, Slovenia and Switzerland, beat Serbia 1-nil despite being awful for most of it and need extra-time to beat Slovakia. In all of those games they have been poor to watch and created very little despite having a squad stacked with talent. Southgate's conservatism with team selection and complete void of tactics is making this wonderful team of Champions League winners and Premier League winners look like a Sunday pub team. It is anti-football.

Simple.

The most galling part is that the pundits have defended him to the hilt. Gary Neville was at it on Saturday. As well as dancing around the studio screaming like a right twat when the winning penalty went in, he was quick to defend "the most successful England manager since Sir Alf". I think he just doesn't have the balls to criticise him, just like he didn't have the balls to criticise Ole Solksjaer. "Win at any cost" shouldn't be an option for the big sides. It should be how Northern Ireland win games, or RoI, or Scotland, not England. With their squad they should be entertaining.

France have been just as bad as England. They have caught the anti-football bug. The quarter-final against Portugal was so bad I switched it off at half-time. Deschamps has been shockingly poor. As was Martinez for Portugal. Despite their stellar squad, Martinez kept Ronaldo on the pitch for the full 120 minutes when he was useless. No balls. At least ten Hag had the necessary cojones to tell the over-the-hill CR7 that he was surplus to requirements. And so, a quarter-final of a major tournament that started with Mbappé, Griezmann, Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo and Leão on the pitch, ended up a 120 minute snorefest.

Now it is down to the Netherlands to get the dork of all dorks sacked.

I fear I'm becoming obsessed! But we just can't have a France v England final. We just can't. For the sake of football it must be Netherlands v Spain.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Anti-Football

Peter Anderson ⚽ Gareth Southgate is now England's most successful manager in the modern era. 

Considering how bad he is, you can see the colossal extent of England's underperformance at tournament football. From 1966 to 2016, England won 6 tournament games at the knock-out phase, and under Southgate England have won 7. He has led England to a Euro final and a World Cup semi-final, and a quarter-final in each. That is quite some achievement for such an awful manager. If Klopp or some such manager had the job, they would have won at least 2 of those tournaments.

On Sunday evening, we were once again subjected to the most abjectly awful football. Against a pedestrian Slovakia, England huffed and puffed and completely failed to blow the house down. Walker, Stones, Foden, Rice and Saka, who are star performers for Arteta and Pep, looked a shadow of their normal selves. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, the crown jewels, offered nothing. In the 3 group games Bellingham had passed the ball to Kane a total of two times! There was no cohesion, no ideas, no plan, no flow, nada. At one-nil down with 30 seconds of injuy time remaining, up stood Jude the Obscure to level the score and Kane won it in the first minute of extra-time. So, England are once again in the quarters of a major tournament. Next up is Switzerland, who have looked fantastic so far. If it goes to form, the Swiss will win it easily, but you wouldn't put it past this England team to stumble into the semis.

Later in the evening, the best side in the tournament so far, Spain, won easily against plucky Georgia to set up an absolutely mouth watering tie with hosts Germany, next Friday at 5pm. I would have preferred that match to be the final, but no matter, it could be a classic. Then on Saturday at 5pm hopefully we will see the Swiss put the English out of their misery.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Huffed And Puffed

Peter Anderson ⚽ The pointy end of the Euros is drawing closer and we still see no clear favourite to lift the trophy, and the competition is all the richer for it. 

Two things we know, that neither England nor Scotland will be lifting it. Scotland, because they are out (good riddance) and England, because they are shit. Southgate is all over the place, saying in one interview that the team is experimental because they haven't solved the midfield issue with Kalvin Phillips, even though he had Phillips at the World Cup and didn't use him once. How long does it take to solve a problem? The media are demanding Mainoo or Wharton be given a chance but Southgate is very conservative and looks like a bunny in the headlights. One thing is for sure, that is England were woeful against Denmark, worse than the second half against Serbia.

After a decade with these players Southgate still has no clear way of playing, no personality and no identity. The first "decent" team they play will kill them.

While the home nations won't lift the trophy, Germany and France don't look certs for it either. Les Bleus have been crap and Germany struggled for a draw with Switzerland. You can't write the French or the hosts out just yet, I just don't think they are the certs that some people think. Talking of Switzerland, they have been mightily impressive and a possible outside bet.

Spain and Portugal have also looked very good. Spain don't have the strength in depth of the glory years, but Portugal do. During the last game they had the Joãos Felix, Palhinha and Neves, City's Nunes, Liverpool's Jota and Wolves' Ruben Neves on the bench. They would start for most countries. Their starting eleven was littered with big hitters mostly plying their trade in the English Premier League, plus CR7. They are quickly moving to be my favourites. We'll see how they fair against Georgia, but they are odds on to top their group.

That leaves Belgium and The Netherlands. The Netherlands have been playing well and top their group, while Belgium have dominated both their games without really shining but you must consider that Lukaku has had 3 goals chalked off by VAR. The latest was an absolute peach from an exquisit through ball from KdB which was judged off-side by the invisible referee. On review it was incredibly harsh as they looked level. The semi-automated off-side VAR system is definitely much quicker but until they sort out the "gaining an advantage", and the handball rules, it will continue to suck the love out of the game. If Lukaku's non-goals had been allowed then Belguim would be in a great position. As it stands they are in the tightest group and could yet go home.

My prediction is that England will stumble past Slovenia and top the group, giving them an "easy" (on paper) game in the round of 16, which they will also stumble through and then get chinned in the quarters.

The semis will include Spain, Portugal, Germany plus one other, hopefully Belgium or Switzerland. It has been an engaging tournament thus far and there are plenty of shocks and drama ahead for sure.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Shocks And Drama Ahead

Peter Anderson ⚽ I was hoping to write about wee Rory McIlroy breaking his Major drought.

But from 2 up with 4 to play he managed to bogey 3 of the last 4 holes to blow it and lose the U.S. Open to the horrible DeChambeau. So footy it is.

The Euros provided some great entertainment this weekend. I watched the tournament opener with great anticipation of seeing the Scots getting mauled and I wasn't disappointed. For most of my life Scotland was my second team in international affairs of sport. Then something changed and they started booing our national anthem when we played them at footy. 

Now, I'm not one for national anthems and I certainly don't think Northern Ireland should have GSTK as ours. But it is. And nobody should boo the anthem of your opponent, it just ain't sport. In the warm ups for the Euros we played the Scots at Hampden and they booed it again. We beat them 0-1 and the delicious thing about it was the winning goal was scored by young Bradley, a catholic born, ex-GAA player from a nationalist part of Tyrone. Lovely. I haven't had so much fun beating it up the Scots on Twitter since wee Jimmy Cranky lost the Indie-ref.

So, it was great to see the Huns maul the smelly socks. Hopefully they'll get another one against Switzerland, forcing them to play a dead rubber against Hungary.

England on the other hand did what England do: underperform. They were saved by young Bellingham with the only goal of the game. Listening to the pundits and commentators purring about Bellingham reminded me of Ron Manager from the classic 90s sketch show The Fast Show. In one sketch, talking about Stan Colleymore, he described him as, "ooh...such a big and powerful physique but graceful like a big cat...grrrr....gorgeous isn't he?" And in a similar homoerotic style we were treated to Bellingham being described as "...ohh so graceful...dominant...and still only 20 years old". Ohh....suits you, sir!

Is there anything more vomit inducing than England pundits during an England game? It'll take more than the graceful, dominant Bellingham to get England over the line. They looked totally in control for the first 25 minutes and quite clueless thereafter. Kane had only 2 touches in the first half and they repeatedly gave the ball away cheaply in the second. This has been going on for years under Southgate and given the players at his disposal and the amount of years working with the squad, this should be a well oiled machine by now. And to think that there are some sages who still think they have a chance of winning the cup!😜

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Vomit Inducing Punditry

Peter Anderson ⚽It's Euros time again!

I've always liked the Euros because you get straight down to business. Not like the World Cup where you have a load of dead rubbers to sit through until the competition starts in earnest. No Congos or Hondurases to clog up the fixture list. Also, there are no weird time zone differences to interfere with your viewing time, like watching Brazil v England at the 2002 World Cup while eating breakfast. No, no, the Euros get down and dirty from the off and at a reasonable hour.

With no Northern Ireland at the tournament, I'll not be supporting anybody in particular. England will no doubt be the main focus on national TV, and as usual I expect them to have a reasonable tournament and then get beat at the pointy end. It is always thus with Southgate at the helm. Even though he has an attack of Kane, Foden, Bellingham and Saka I expect nothing good to come from them. In the last Euros they stumbled through the group phase, including a boring win over the Czechs and a 0-0 draw with a poor Scotland at Wembley.

They beat Germany well in the knock-out phase before stumbling past Denmark in extra time and finally getting beaten by a poor Italy in the final. World Cup 2022 wasn't a whole lot better, losing a quarter-final thriller to France. The inescapable fact is that they should have won a tournament with the squad they have, but haven't due to the manager. But the have opted to persist with Southgate despite his obvious failings. I wonder will Pep take the job after leaving City. It seems like a good fit to me.

This time around they face Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia in their group. I think they will win the group without shining, a 1-nil and a draw among the scores. They may get far into the tournament but they won't win it. If not them, then who? Well, don't rule out the hosts, Germany. You can never right off the Germans in a tournament. And France have a squad to win any tournament, Mbappé, Griezeman et al have the extra motivation after losing that World Cup final classic to Argentina just a year and a half ago. Belgium, Spain and Italy could also do well, you can never rule them out either.

Whoever lifts the trophy, I'm really looking forward to a feast of footy and a national crisis when the inevitable happens to England!

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

England's Chances Going Southgate

Peter Anderson ⚽ And just like that the club footy season is over. 

The final game of the season was the Champions League final as per usual. It was much better than most with Dortmund having a real go at Real, but unfortunately the result went Real's way. Was it ever going to be anybody but the Champions League specialists? It was a disappointing end to the season for me with City, Leeds and Dortmund losing their respective matches. I'll have to make do with the fourth league win in a row!

Generally it was another good season. In the EPL we had a 3 up fight for the title. How a lackluster City won it, I'll never know.

Liverpool losing at home to Palace and Arsenal at home to Villa changed everything. Arsenal must surely rue not having a go at City at the Etihad.

We also saw the end of Klopp's reign at Liverpool. The big German will be sadly missed. It would have been great to see him bow out with a trophy but Liverpool imploded in the run-in. He will be remembered mostly for his formidable Salah-Firmino-Mané team that destroyed defences at will, but for me as a non-Liverpool supporter I will miss his pressers where he put the world to rights. Just last month he had a go at TNT sports for implying that the TV companies pay the EPL teams. Klopp pointed out that it was just the other way around. All the managers attack the scheduling but Klopp seemed to hit the target more often.

As Klopp bowed out of England this season, so will Pep next. It seems increasingly likely that Pep will leave after his contract runs out.

There really is not much more he can achieve in England and many think that the other teams deserve a chance of winning the league! What will City offer next season? This season they were so unsafe at the back and so open to counter-attack that something needs to change there.

Will South American wonder kid Savio come to Manchester or will he be loaned out? Will Bernardo and KdB be sold? Knowing that Pep will probably leave, will the players drop off? Will we see a resolution of the FFP charges? So many unknowns.

In Europe's big leagues, we saw Stuttgart, Girona, Brest, Bologna and Villa finish in the top 4, proving that there is still plenty of opportunity for "small" teams challenging the top. Leverkusen went unbeaten for the whole Bundesliga season, which is truly remarkable.

The big established clubs want to continue their domination and I want, so badly, that ability is rightly rewarded. The new format for the Champions League better work or the Superleague vultures will come calling again. American style closed leagues are just not acceptable and we must fight to the bitter end to protect qualification and promotion/relegation. 

Let's see what the new season brings, but before then . . . the Euros.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Season Over

Peter Anderson ⚽ With world politics in such a tedious place, thank god for sport. 

The world seems obsessed with which middle eastern religious fanatics you sympathise with, or which useless geriatric you want to be the leader of the free world. At these times we need sport to soothe the soul.

So, on Sunday I sat down to watch the Play-off final from Wembley. I love this match, the jeopardy is at the max. The winner takes it all.

They call it the richest game in world football because of what a victory means to the club that wins it.

On Sunday my heart was with Leeds. They are one of the biggest clubs in England and have super fans. I'm old enough to remember the great Leeds team of the 70s with Bremner and Lorimer, and the one from the noughties with Viduka and Kewel, and I would love to see them at the top again. But they lost on Sunday and that could mean an exodus of their top players. At this point, promotion to the prem looks a long way off.

The point of the play-off final for the authorities is that they get a top game at Wembley, a big TV audience and a talking point for the press, but it doesn't seem like the best way to do this, in my humble opinion. Having a one-off final at Wembley may be good for the authorities and TV companies but sometimes the occasion can get to the players. The semis are over 2 legs home and away. It would be fairer to have the final in the same format. And it doesn't sit well that a team that could finish 6th may win promotion and lift a trophy at Wembley.

Also, it may be better to have one of the worst EPL teams invovlved, either 3rd or 4th from bottom, thus involving a team that none of the Championship sides have played all season. Personally, I think the Germans have it just about right. The 3rd from bottom plays the 3rd from top in the 2nd division. The game is over 2 legs home and away.

This season the team from the 2nd division, Fortuna Dusseldorf, beat Bochum 0-3 in Bochum on the first leg and now face a home leg with a comfortable lead. This method may not give the "Wembley Final" that so many love but it is a fairer way.

So, in the end Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton will play in the EPL next season. From my perspective I hope that they do better than last season's promoted sides who all went straight back down again. Sheff U and Luton were no surprise but Burnley will be extremely disappointed, given the way they won promotion. Forest, Brentford, Fulham and maybe even Everton will be keen to get off to a good start as the relegation battle next season will surely be tighter than this one.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Play Offs

Peter Anderson ⚽ It was inevitable really. 

The away game at Spurs last Tuesday was the decider as everyone predicted. City were awful in the first half, like they have been for many minutes in many matches this season, but in the second half it took one pass from KdB to split the defence and leave The Viking with a tap in from half a yard. Spurs had a chance to equalise but Ortega saved when Son looked odds on to score. A few minutes later and Doku wins a penalty and there was a universal sigh of relief from City fans worldwide.

West Ham were never going to trouble City at the Etihad on Sunday.

Within 79 seconds Foden had put City on course to win Pep's 6th title in the last 7 seasons, and his 4th in a row. A feat never before accomplished in English football. With this victory Pep has secured his place as the greatest manager in EPL history with 6 leagues and one Champions League and numerous FA and Carabao Cups, and don't forget a World Club Cup, all inside 8 years. A treble last season and 4-in-a-row this season demonstrate that this side have something special. Sadly predictable are the taunts of cheating. I understand.

It winds people up that one team dominate, but have they not heard of "innocent until proven otherwise"? It seems not. And if they are guilty of any of the charges, what exactly are they guilty of? Accused of corruption by the most corrupt sporting authorities on the planet smacks of desperation. United have spent more than City in recent years and have finished mid-table. Money doesn't buy titles. City have spent wisely and built excellence. They attracted the best manager in modern football and backed him. The sad sack haters will be pleased to see Pep leave, probably at the end of next season when his current contract runs out. Then it will be someone else's turn to dominate, and the haters will hate them.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

A Feat Never Before Accomplished In English Football

Peter Anderson ⚽ And so it all comes down to the Spurs v City game on Tuesday night, as expected.

City thumped Fulham on Saturday with Gvardiol getting a double. The centre-half turned "wing-forwardish type player" has been a revelation of late, regularly popping up with goals and assists and striking up a great relationship with Foden on the City left. At the start of the season he looked out of place and was prone to giving the ball away, but Pep worked closely with him and said that the penny finally dropped around Christmas. City's form has followed Gvardiol's.

Another of the new recruits who has finally worked out exactly what Pep wants is Kovacic. He now looks so comfortable playing beside Rodri. Meanwhile, Arsenal then beat a useless United team 0-1 despite not playing well, setting up Tuesday night's crucial game.

The question now is whether or not City can beat Spurs in London, something they haven't done in the league since Spurs moved into their new stadium. Much has been made of Spur's dominance of this fixture, but there are caveats. Firstly, City won there this season in the FA Cup. And secondly, it wasn't really that Spurs beat City, rather it was Kane who beat City, with MoM performances in all of those games.

Whether showing his extraordinary range of passing from deep or finishing off counter-attacks, he put City to the sword with such ease and delight that it must be noted that he is no longer at the club.

Sure they still have the tools in the box to score against City and if they score first it will be a super difficult game, but I don't feel that the jinx will play a part like in previous years.

The neutrals will be hoping for a draw. Then, it will come down to goal difference on the final day, with The Gunners at home to Everton and City at home to West Ham. City would need to score 3 more goals than Arsenal to equal their goal difference, but win it on their superior goals scored. With Arsenal's history of bottling and Everton's ability to grind out clean sheets, it may not be done and dusted for the Gunners if City do draw agianst Spurs.

I have said from the start of the season that City have been a long way off their best, but at the business end of the season they are in the FA Cup final and will take the EPL to the last day. Another remarkable performance from Pep. But not so good for the league in general. Last season's top two will be unchanged and the three promoted will be the three relegated, making the league look less competitive than it has done in a long time. 

Competitive or not, Tuesday's game will be a cracker and watched all around the world.
 
Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

City Closing In

Peter Anderson ⚽ Since I started learning Spanish and eventually moving to live in Spain between 2005 and 2011, one region has fascinated me: The Basque Country. 

It is so similar to Northern Ireland in many ways, conflicted identities, conflicted language, a historical physical conflict. Now, in my job of teaching Business English to foreign business people I have around 12 students from the region. Some are avid unionists, some avid separatists, all of them are top people, who I now consider as friends. It helps that I educated myself to the nuances of the conflict during a visit in 2009. I went to the Basque majority region of Northern Navarra (Pamplona), to the seat of the rebellion in Donosti (San Sebastian) and to Biarritz in the French Basque country.

But I didn't go to Bilbao, which I now regret.

While the main support for ETA came from Donosti in the province of Guipuzcoa, the majority of Basques supported the centre-right PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) in Bilbao and the province of Viscaya.

Ironically, Bilbao in particular and the Basque Country in general are the power house of Spain, the base of its industrial strength. But the one thing that gives pride to all the people of Viscaya is the local football team, Athletic.

The name is the English form of Atlético, as the club was formed by English seamen from Southampton, who did the regular cargo run from the south of England to northern Spain. They taught the local stevedores the beautiful game in the docks during lunchtimes. Hence why Athletic play in the same kit as Southampton football club, black shorts and red and white striped tops.

The club only employ Basques, which is an enormous source of pride to the local people. It has meant that they struggle to compete, as they usually have below par players playing for them who can't be replaced easily. That doesn't faze the fans. They taunt the fans of the Donosti club, Real Sociedad, that they aren't real Basques because there are Spanish and foreigners playing for them. The taunting stopped briefly last season as Real Sociedad beat Athletic in the final of the King's Cup. However, Athletic made the final of this year's competition and duly won it, beating Mallorca on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Sevilla.

This victory ended a 24 year wait for a trophy. To celebrate, the team did the traditional "Gabarra", where the team arrive in the centre of Bilbao by barge from the northern docks to the city hall, along the Nervion river. A staggering one million people watched the Gabarra from the river bank and any vantage point that could be garnered. I tried to poke fun at some of my prouder students by pointing out that they'd only won a wee cup, not the Champions League. It didn't go down too well!

I don't believe in their Basque only policy - sport should be for all in my opinion. It would also allow them to seriously compete. Surely a quota system could be applied to allow for a Basque majority in the dressing room? But that doesn't fly with any of the supporters that I have spoken to. Despite not competing for La Liga, Bilbao regularly fill their 53,000 capacity stadium and it is notorious in Spain for being a "hot" stadium, especially for the visits of Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.

Whether I believe in single ethnicity clubs or not, Athletic will always have an admirer in me. The area has great scenery, gastronomy, history and culture, but most of all great people. The King's Cup may be the only trophy they can seriously challenge for these days, but that matters not a jot to the locals. Their enormous pride in the club is a thing to behold, an inspiring case of local pride in an increasing global corporate game.
 
Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Admiring Athletic

Peter Anderson ⚽ And then there were two.

Liverpool finally dropped out of the title race. 

It was a damp squib of a run in for them. Drawing 2-2 away to the Hammers, Liverpool will rue a missed opportunity to give Klopp the send off he deserves. Maybe that was what caused the collapse; the pressure of Klopp's farewell. It certainly surprised me. I thought they would sweat blood for him. Nope. Instead we saw Salah having a right go at him on the sidelines as he prepared to come on. Later in the fan zone he alluded to his anger at Klopp. We can only presume it was because he was benched. Whatever it was it should have stayed in-house. It is such a pity that it should end this way. Both will long be remembered at Anfield, but not for this season nor last.

Arsenal put all the pressure onto City by going to North London rivals, Spurs, and taking all three points. The Gooners held off a strong Spurs fightback to win 2-3 and keep their title bid alive and kicking. City then had to go to Forest and win, which they duly did.

Winning 0-2, it was far from comfortable. Forest were on the front foot from the off. Chris Wood missed two sitters that Darwin Nuñez and Raheem Stirling would be proud of. City led 0-1 at the break and Pep made some changes. The second half was a little better and Haaland came back from injury to seal the points. Job done.

Arsenal entertain Bournemouth at the weekend and City host Wolves.

That should be three points all round for the contenders. The following weekend, City face a tricky tie at Fulham while Arsenal go to Old Trafford. Neither of those are gimmes, but I get the feeling that the title will be decided when City visit Spurs on Tuesday the 14th May. City have never won there under Pep and it is a clear bogey ground in the minds of the players. I hope for the sake of the league that the race goes the distance. Arsenal have played the most exciting football in England for the last two seasons and definitely deserve a title, but even after the stuttering start to the season and with so many players off form or injured City are still in the race. Who would bet against another City title now?

At the other end, Luton and Burnley look done for. Forest await the result of their appeal for the points deduction. If they win that they will probably stay up. If not, they still look the strongest of the three. Their performances of late have been very good, though they haven't taken many points. They face all ready relegated Sheff U at the weekend, then Chelsea. Their last game is against Burnley at Turf Moor. They'll want their place in next season's EPL secured before that one, while us neutrals won't!

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Damp Squib

Peter Anderson ⚽ Much too often these days VAR is having a mare. 

The latest installment saw the VAR at the Coventry v Man U FA Cup semi-final destroy one of the greatest moments in FA Cup history. I was late home on Sunday afternoon and ran in to watch the end of the Liege-Bastoyne-Liege cycling classic. I checked my phone to see the score in the semi-final and saw that Man U were 3-0 up. Game over thought I. 

After the end of the cycling I switched over to catch the end of the footy, just in time to see the ref pointing to the Man U spot. I looked at the score to see it was now 3-2 to Man U and Coventry had a penalty, which they dispatched. Extra time beckoned. And with the teams running out of energy and the game into the final minute of E.T., Coventry did the impossible and found the energy to bag the winner. But wait, VAR was checking for offside. And when the image came back the Coventry player's toe was offside. No goal. One of the greatest comebacks in modern FA Cup history was overturned because of a toe being offside.

This is not what football is about. No advantage was gained by the attacker. The game went to pens which Man U duly won. This can't go on. Something needs done. To add insult to injury, social media is awash with images of Man U's £70m flop, Anthony, goading the Coventry players when the winning pen went in. Classless in the extreme. A symptom of the depths to which the once great Red Devils have fallen.

Also, in FA Cup news, we heard that there will no longer be replays.

Personally I am happy. There are too many games and for the sake of the players the replays need to go. Don't blame the players or the clubs, blame the authorities, who have increased the number of Champions League games, World Cup games and Euro Cup games. The season is too long and there are too many games. The big losers are the small clubs, but this should be compensated by more money being taken from the big clubs and given to the small. I'm all in favour of the fair distribution of wealth, but I won't hold my breath.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

VAR . . . Again

Peter Anderson ⚽ Oh the agony. 

Sport can be so cruel, yet we can't take our eyes off it. This weekend was the annual debacle when Rory McIlroy wilts under the pressure of not winning a U.S. Masters. I have followed him faithfully since his breakthrough and watched him win 4 Majors, the Race to Dubai several times, the Fed-X cup twice, Ryder Cups home and away and be the world number one golfer for more weeks than I can count. He has won everything, except the Masters. He is richer than most Northern Irish people and leads a wonderful life, yet I still desperately want him to win the Masters. Why do I even care? That is the power and draw of sport.

Every April I sit down to watch the competition knowing that the pressure will get to him and he will wilt. And so it was this year too. Inevitably. I think now that his only chance is to win it when he is over the hill and is no longer facing the yearly questions about completing the Majors slam.

I followed Darren Clarke through his career too and was heartbroken that he never won a Major. Until, that is, he was no longer considered a contender. And at the grand old age of 42, he wins the British Open, by putting together 4 solid rounds the very year that none of the big hitters could. For me, that is Rory's only hope now. It is 10 years since his last Major and his star seems very much on the wane. I feel every bogey like a kick in the stones.

Also feeling like they have been kicked in the stones are the followers of Liverpool and Arsenal. It is pure agony to watch your team labour to a defeat, especially at home, and especially when you are creating chances not taken. There is a long way to go in this season's run in. City have to go to Spurs where they have never won on the Pep era, and City are nowhere near last season's level, with only a handful of clean sheets all season. Yet amazingly we are in mid-April and the Treble is still on. I am not saying for one second that I believe we will win another Treble but we are still in all 3 comps, which is a testament to the genius that is Pep Guardiola. Part of me can't believe that both Liverpool and Arsenal will let us win another EPL.

Rory McIlroy once said that he likes to win competitions by getting a lead and then going into cruise control. If he isn't playing well then plan B is to grind it out, stay on the leaderboard and hope that the opposition fall away. That is what seems to be happening to City right about now. I had years of agony watching City disappear into League One obscurity so I'll take the highs while they last. But why do we endure years of agony for fleeting bouts of ecstasy? Well if it was easy it wouldn't mean so much.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Agony And Ecstasy

Peter Anderson ⚽ Watching Arsenal against Porto in the Champions League a few weeks ago brought up a few bad memories. 

There in the Porto defence at the age of 41 was a certain Pepe. Probably the most despicable player to have played the game in the modern era. Gawd, even the look of him makes my skin crawl. For me, he epitomises everything that is wrong with the modern play acting of so called professionals.

I first came across him while living in Madrid. He was playing for Real (not a good start) and he was a dirty player. In the big pressure games he would lose control and fly into potentially career ending tackles. When the ref wasn't looking he would stamp on a prone player's hand or ankle. And he was constantly over reacting to any touch from an opponent to try to get them sent off. They were usually comic dives. Once a player flicked his wrist and he dramatically fell to the ground, rolling around clutching his wrist. It was utterly pathetic.

But he finally made it into the big league in 2009 with his outrageous assault on Getafe player, Javier Casquero. Getafe were winning 1-2 at the Bernabeú with minutes remaining. Guti equalised for Real. Then Casquero got free and ran into the Real box where Pepe pushed him over. The ref blew for a pen and Pepe completely lost it and ran over and kicked a prone Casquero two times with extreme violence and then stamped on him. It was shocking. The guy was completely unhinged. He had to be dragged off the pitch and was banned for 10 games, if memory serves.

Fast forward to Saturday's visit by Arsenal to Brighton. During the game Estupiñian and Ben White had words in passing. The Brighton player then tried to push White and lightly touched his throat. To my surprise and disgust, White went over like he had been hit by a sniper, clutching his throat. Really? Is this behaviour still acceptable in the Premier League? For me it is unbecoming of the professional game, never mind from title contenders. White is English so we can't blame Johnny Foreigner.

This behaviour needs stamped out. It is infuriating. And don't get me started on players going down holding their heads knowing that the ref must stop the game. This law was brought in to the game to protect players from concussion events, given the prevalence of dementia among ex-pros. Now the pros are using it to game the system. For me the clubs need to stamp this out. We need the managers and chairmen to tell the players that enough is enough. We can't rely on the authorities to end this nonsense, it must come from within.

Unfortunately, the sort of pathetic behaviour, perfected by Pepe during his long career, is still prevalent in today's game.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Pepe Pig

Peter Anderson ⚽ Sunday was a day of nerves. 

I felt like praying for Liverpool to drop points. It is the sort of frivolous ballix that god might grant.

Ending child hunger in Africa, not so much. Dropped points would have reduced the jeopardy for City and Arsenal, but it was not to be. In the end the Scousers got the job done. 30 shots, just 2 goals, as is the new normal for Liverpool, was enough to take all 3 points.

So, a defeat for City against Arsenal would put City 4 points behind Liverpool with 9 to play. I wasn't confident. City are on the wane; Arsenal on the rise. I should have been more confident because Arsenal came and parked the bus. I guess Arteta wanted to avoid defeat more than make a statement of intent. I was surprised. I thought now was the time for the pupil to come to the Etihad and take the old master's crown. Instead a double decker was well and truly parked. City couldn't get through. Indeed, couldn't even get into the box such was the tightness of the Gunner's defence. Gabriel and Saliba were imperious. Job done.

Arsenal threatened a few times, but the intent was just not there. I always feared a sucker punch after City had dominated possession, but the game felt very comfortable. I was expecting Arsenal to go on the rampage. They have won every game since their winter break in the Emirates. And they have won most of those games by scoring a lot of goals. But Arteta, probably with good reason, feared being picked off.

A defeat may have derailed their bid, so a cautious approach was what he chose. It was a disappointing game for the neutral, but it keeps the distance between the top 3 to 3 points.

April sees the top 3 play 2 games per week. Liverpool have 4 tough away games against Man U, Everton, Fulham and the Hammers. City face Villa on Wednesday then have an easier run, on paper. Arsenal end the month against Villa, Wolves, Chelsea and Spurs. The Sky pundits think it could go any way. I tend to agree.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Day Of Nerves

Peter Anderson ⚽ With an international break in this week's diary, all eyes turned to England manager Gareth Southgate. 

As he is expected to stand down from the England job after the Euros this summer, the word on the street is that Sir Jim Radcliffe is interested in taking him to Manchester United for the start of next season. If I was a Man U fan, I'd be hoping he gets nowhere near the club.

His record for England is second only to Sir Alf Ramsey. In his three tournaments in charge of the first team he has a 4th at the World Cup 2018, a 2nd at Euro 2020 and a last 16 at World Cup 2022. The players seem to love him and he has created a bond between the players that was sadly lacking with the Golden Generation of the noughties. But his tactical faults are obvious and he has made no ground in trying to negate them. A strong argument could be made that his team are even better than that famous Gerrard, Scholes, Beckham, Owen team that won diddly squat, all those years ago. The pundits all agree that the starting team at this summer's Euros will include Bellingham, Foden, Kane, Saka and Rice, with Rashford, Bowen, Maddison, Toney, Watkins, Grealish, Gordon and Cole Palmer all fighting for a place, with Sterling not even in the reckoning. At full back he has Walker, Trent A-A, Trippier, Reece James, Luke Shaw and Chilwell to choose from.

What depth in talent England possesses! Maybe that is part of the problem.

On Saturday night England faced a poor Brazil team at Wembley. Brazil have lost their last 3 games and have gone through 2 managers in that time. With a new manager at the helm, this was England's chance to put down a marker with the Euros on a few months away. They lost. I noticed from the start that when England had possesion high up the pitch there was a distinct lack of passing options available. When you watch a Klopp/ Arteta/ Pep team playing there are always men available, forwards, sideways or back. Not England. I noticed that at the last tournament. I was so used to watching Sterling for City, that it was weird to see him getting caught on the ball because there was no-one near him in the same coloured shirt. 2 years on and the same problem exists.

There is also the problem with subs. He just doesn't know how to change a game. In the last world cup England were being held to a goalless draw by the USA. England looked devoid of ideas. The USA had the bus well and truly parked and there was FA the English could do get around it. Southgate had Trent A-A and Foden on the bench but didn't use either. Result 0-0. There are multiple examples of Southgate not making the right subs or not making them at the right time.

On Saturday night, with the score at 0-0 and in need of some oomph to break down the Brazilians, he brought on Gomez, Dunk and Bowen.

Maddison, Toney, Rashford and Mainoo, who were warming up, had to return to their seats. Brazil then scored and the necessary changes took place too late. Southgate famously brought on Grealish in the World Cup quarter-final when England were losing 2-1 in the 97th minute, as if that was enough time for him to turn a game around!

But arguably his worst fault is sticking with rubbish centre-backs. He was a CB himself so you would imagine he would know what he is doing here. Yet he stuck with Tyrone Mings and is now sticking with Harry Maguire, despite successive Man U managers deeming him surplus to requirements. Against Brazil, he was rubbish, unsurprisingly. Dunk, no better. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod against Belgium. If England are to win the Euros, Southgate will need to plug this hole.

Personally, I think England have been relatively successful despite Southgate not because of him. When England have won difficult matches, it's because the players have worked it out not the gaffer. I can't see how they can win a tournament with him in the job. As for Man U, are they about to make another catastrophic appointment?

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Close Gate To Southgate

Peter Anderson ⚽ Well what a weekend of sport that was.

It all kicked off on Saturday morning with the first FA Cup quarter-final between Coventry and Wolves. With the score at 2-1 to Wolves, and into injury time, Coventry surprised the big boys and scored 2. It was a classic cup game and a great start to the proceedings.

Next up was the first cycling monument of the season and the one that always provides the best finish, Milano-Sanremo. It can be won by sprinters, climbers or classics specialists as it depends on who still has the legs to get over the final little hill after 300 kms. This year it was a sprinter who reached the line first. Needless to say that it isn't necessary to watch the first 280 kms as it all kicks off on the run in to Sanremo.

Third on Saturday's list was the rugby. And on Paddy's weekend the men in green won their second championship in two years by beating a stubborn Scotland in Dublin. It is a crying shame that they could make it a grand slam, having lost to England last week. But it is always great to see Ireland play so well after many years of mediocrity.

And finally, Man City became the first ever team to get to 6 FA Cup semi-finals in a row by dispatching Newcastle at the Etihad. It was a pretty routine game from City's point of view. The most surprising thing was they managed to keep a clean sheet.

On to Sunday and I watched Chelsea struggle past Leicester. Despite being 2-0 up, on top for long periods and having a load of chances, they failed to close the game out and nearly paid the price as Leicester leveled the score. Then Leicester had a man sent off and Chelsea manged to stumble over the line with 2 late goals.

But in a classic weekend of top notch sport the best was reserved for last. England's two biggest clubs went head to head to see who was going to reach the FA Cup semis. It was a modern classic. Man U came flying out of the traps and put Liverpool under huge pressure. They got their just rewards and went 1-nil up. Then Liverpool steadied the ship and my immediate thought was that Man U needed to score again, preferably 2 and soon. One thing that we see repeated throughout history is clubs failing to make hay while the sun shines. Man City have been particularly guilty of it this season. The standard is so high these days at the top of the English game that you need a 3 goal lead to feel anywhere near safe. Man U didn't score a second and paid the price. Liverpool worked out that if they could get beyond the press there were acres of free space behind the midfield. Time and again, the Reds were running unopposed at United's back line. It was all a matter of time and the half ended with Liverpool 1-2 up. The second half was the reverse of the first half with Liverpool failing to capitalise on their chances against a now rapidly weakening United.

Despite bossing the second period it was 2-2 at full time.

And so to extra time. Liverpool regained the lead, 2-3. Then on a quick counter-attack Liverpool faced a 5 on 3 situation. A goal here would seal it. Elliot was on the right side and called for the ball.

Nuñez, instead of slipping him the ball tried to tee up a shot for himself, and a United player nipped in and took the ball. A massive match winning chance was missed. Klopp was furious. Just one minte later and Nuñez found himself with the ball in a defensive situation and tried a difficult pass forward, got it all wrong, gave the ball away and United were in. 3-3. With penalties looming, it was Man U that held their nerve and in one final counter-attck snatched the winner in a raucous Old Trafford.

Liverpool fans and pro-scouse pundits are quick to sing the priases of Nuñez. I just don't rate him. He is Liverpool's Raheem Sterling.

Sterling has a wonderful record at City, scoring over 130 goals and nearly 50 assists. But considering how many wonderful situations he found hiself in that produced nothing, he quickly became City's most frustrating player. If he was just 5% better he would have been a wonder player. Unfortunately for him, his final pass or finish was woeful so many times, or he was caught offside when he could see across the back line. And I see Nuñez in a similar light. Like Sterling, I think he will make a great substitute, but if he wants to be the main man he will need to go to an inferior club. Just like Sterling.

And now an international break. God, I hate international breaks, though I may actually have time to talk to my wife!

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Top Notch Sporting Weekend

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