You Can Keep Your Anfield

They will tell you their is no greater footballing atmosphere than a European night in Anfield, they have done as recently as when Liverpool went out in the Europa League to Zenit St Petersburg. They may tell you the same about any match in the Champions League in all fairness, they will be wrong.

'They' could be anyone! 'They' are usually journalists, co-commentators, pundits and even fans, especially those of a scouse disposition. Simply put 'they' haven't looked hard enough. 

It took just a 2 hour plane journey, 15 stops on a intercity train and a walk not much longer than the one between Old Trafford metrolink stop and Old Trafford football ground to prove them all wrong; 

Just gone 5.45 p.m on Friday evening and after walking through a forest, yes a forest, and buying a scarf that cost 2€ less than the 14€ admission fee, I walked into Stadion An der Alren Forsterei amid a sea of cheering, this is 2nd Bundesliga, this is FC UNION BERLIN!

There is no seat to find, just a standing spot in section C where I might be able to see some of the action. The team comes out to Nina Hagen's 'Eisern Union', translated to 'Iron Union' (a handy explanation to why there seems to be many West Ham United supporters around), and the fans respond to the lyrics by chanting. The fans in the tier away to my right are already bouncing up and down, singing a song that I, and my fellow Englishman, can only make up words too that sound similarish to the actual German. 

At kick off I can see very little, however Union's domination of FC Erzgebirge Aue in the opening exchanges is still very visible with the defence and central midfielders keeping hold of the ball easily until they see an opening further up the pitch. The tall and awkward Adam Nemec was a big threat up front and he was causing havoc amongst the away side's defence. Finally the deadlock is broken, after only 7 minutes, a brilliant cross from the right finds Nemec rising above the Erzgebirge defence. 

The next half an hour is a master-class of football from 'The Iron Ones' however they fail to beat Martin Mannel in the opposition goal despite the defence continuing to struggle to defend against Nemec. The midfield battle is being well won by Union with Baris Ozbek and captain Torsten Mattuschka winning tackles and starting attacks with composed passing. After half an hour the away side make a tactical change with Nicolas Hofler being replaced by Andreas Weigel, the midfielder is clearly annoyed as he refuses the hand of the manager and slumps into a seat on the bench.

The change makes little difference however, after about 40 minutes, the 'Veilchen' have their first real chance but they hit the woodwork when it looks easier to score. This spurs on the home side who, after a 3rd corner, win a penalty when Nemec is pushed whilst jumping to win a header. Up steps the captain, Mattuschka, to make it 2-0 as the whistle for half time blows. 

We move up a step in the tier and if by magic the whole pitch is available to us. Our section of the stadium, which has been singing throughout the first half, moves into bouncing mode along with the 'diehards' behind the goal and the second half starts in the same fashion of the first half, with Berlin dominant. Simon Terrode becomes the dominant striker in the match as the away side decide to man mark Nemec giving Terrode more room. However it is the continued brilliance of Ozbek and Mattuschka that keeps Berlin on top. 

Just before the hour mark Aue attack but lose the ball just in front of the penalty area, Union counter at speed and Bjorn Jopek finds Michael Parensen in the box who side foots past Mannel to make it 3-0 and the match is over as a contest. Berlin continue to pour forward and Jopek, Parensen and Terrode all have chances to make it 4 but find Mannel, who looks about 12, in fine form. 

Despite the match being over no one walks out early. As the whistle blows for full time we expect the rush for the trains instead as we leave most of the 17,250 stay to sing and cheer. We get out of the forest to head back to train station, the crowd,  most still stood in their spot, can still be heard.

This is no fairytale, no 'once upon a time', this is simply the heartland of football where in 2008 fans took time off work to help rebuild a stadium that was all but derelict. This is very special club.

I will always be a Manchester United fan, I will always long for the nights like tonight where my team face one of the other giants of world football, Real Madrid. But now I will always hold a special place for another side wearing red and white- I recommend you take a visit to that forest one day too, I'll let you know when I plan to go back if you like.

UNION! UNION! UNION! UNION! UNION! UNION!

And the nominees are...

It's been a busy few weeks in the world of cinema, it's always the same this time of year. In the past month or so the silver screen has seen esteemed awards, in the shape of Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars, go to the likes of Ben Affleck, Adele, Christopher Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence and Ang Lee, to name but a few.

In football it's always a busy few weeks, recently we've had a slew of F.A cup shocks, fantastic Champions League games, some absolute 'thronkers', to borrow a phrase from Football Focus' Dan Walker, and of course the very first 'Pulled off at Half Time' Podcast, featuring me. But many people seem to have mixed up football's busy period with that of cinema with many starting to speculate on who will be this season's "Player of the Year." The confusion has come after yet another wonderful performance, and goals, from Gareth Bale against West Ham United on Monday. Added to the fact that the voting slips for football's end of season awards come out famously early, although not this early, and you've got a myriad of speculation.

It's clearly too early to be considering player of the year with many pivotal moments to come in the next 11 games. Now, obviously, I'm not suggesting the player who performs best in the next 11 games should win the award I simply mean the 'run in' may tip the scales towards one of the contenders.

All this got me thinking, in this mini season of 11 games who is the player who will be the most important?

And the nominations are...
In alphabetical order

Gareth Bale
The Welshman has been almost unstoppable recently, his 2 free kicks at home against Lyon and his top class goal against West Ham amongst his many match winning performances for Spurs, but the winger will have to keep up his current form if Spurs are to clinch a top 4 spot, with 2nd still up for grabs. The North London side have the hardest of run ins with home matches against Southampton and Sunderland the only 'easy' games on a list that includes the North London derby and away trips to Liverpool, Swansea, Chelsea and Stoke. Ironically a good end to the season for Bale may propel his side into the Champions League but may make the likes of Real Madrid more determined to stop him playing for Spurs next season.

Christian Benteke
Aston Villa have been absolutely awful for most of this season, with performances against Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United being some of the few exceptions (though they only won one of those matches), and find themselves in the relegation zone during Paul Lambert's first season in charge. Villa's young side have missed the experience of club captain Stylian Petrov, battling against leukaemia, and so their only hope of survival falls to the young Belgian striker Benteke who has so far bagged himself 15 goals.

Jussi Jaaskelainen
It seems odd that I would include a 'keeper' for a team seemingly on the way to mid-table obscurity on this list but the 'Hammers' are in a run that certainly suggests relegation form, winning twice and losing 8 times since beating surprisingly beating Chelsea on December 1st. If Jaaskelainen can continue his form from Monday's match against Spurs, as well as call on his previous experience of relegation fights with Bolton, then West Ham should be okay.

Arouna Kone
"Shock as Wigan win in late February" was never going to be a headline as Wigan brushed aside 10 man Reading at the weekend, after all the Latics are well known for their sudden revivals in the last third of the season. Roberto Martinez, and Paul Jewell before him, has become well versed in keeping his Wigan team in the Premier League, often on the last day of the season. The difference between this season and previous ones is Kone, a genuine match winning goal scorer, and the man who may well keep the 'Pie Eaters' up before their last day encounter with Aston Villa.

Wojciech Szczesny
The second goalkeeper on the list, and player who's name I looked at about 8 times before typing it correctly, Arsenal's custodian will be more important to his side's battle to be in the top 4 than the likes of Walcott, Podolski and Giroud. The 'Gunners' will always score goals but it is not so certain that they will stop them going in. The Pole is so important because Arsenal's other choices have had so little football and because the defence in front of him can be so shaky. In Szczseny can find his best form then Arsene Wenger's team could still pick up a trophy this season (I know and you know 4th place isn't a trophy but apparently Arsene doesn't).

John Terry 
Love him or hate him, and I loathe him, it's difficult to reject the importance of John Terry to Chelsea football club on the pitch, and in the dug out. "Captain, Leader, Legend" Terry has plenty of influence in the 'Blues' dressing room, which he's showed by helping get rid of Andre Villas Boas and guiding Roberto Di Matteo through his managerial stint to win the Champions League, and with the dressing room in current disarray he is the only man who can pull it together. 'J.T' is also important on the pitch which has become more and more evident during his run on the sideline through injury. Terry could be the man who performs miracles and leads Chelsea into the top 4 and F.A cup success- although he won't be able to get Fernando Torres to score.

And the winner is...

Yeah right, don't get ahead of yourself!

All is Said...

Now it is Time To Do

I hope it doesn't matter what football team you support, or if you even like football, but what happened on the 15th of April 1989 at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday, should shock you to the core.

That the truth about what happened on that day has finally come out, a massive 23 years after the event, should not lead one to care less but in fact to care more- now there is truth next there should be justice.

Last week, after the results of the inquest by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, I decided not to write a blog post; little else in football mattered that week and I didn't have enough insight or intelligence to add to the proper debate, with Liverpool due to play against rivals Manchester United I have decided to throw in my comments.

Sir Alex Ferguson has once again asked for United fans to respect the 96 who died as a result of that tragedy and their families after some idiotic fans chanted, with ambiguity, about Luis Suarez at the match at Old Trafford against Wigan. With Sunday being Liverpool's first home game since the findings emotion will be running high.

'SAF' has written to those fans attending on Sunday to remind them the rivalry with their Scouse neighbours is built on "a determination to come out on top – a wish to see us crowned the best against a team that held that honour for so long" rather than the hatred and vitriol that usually surrounds these matches. Football is no doubt all about passion and rivalry but it does not need to lead to idiocy, tribalism and heartlessness that has led to songs about Hillsborough, Hysel and Munich- none of these tragedies are footballing, they are all human and horrible and we should not laugh at those involved but empathise with them.


Any one who does now not believe the truth is a moron, anyone who does not respect the dead should not constitute a human being. I, for one, believe that Sunday will go off without a hitch and we'll just have a moving tribute and hopefully some fantastic football to talk about.

We have done the talking, now is time for the action.

Has Too Much Been Said?

I wrote in this blog on Tuesday about Joe Hart's performance and that of the defence in front of him. Furthermore I mentioned how Hart should pick his words wisely in regards to teams winning 3-2 from 2-1 down with 5 minutes to go, it was all very ironic.

However to concentrate on that one line would be too miss the point, Hart was actually incredulous with rage at losing and the performance of the team- he told us as much. Hart blamed City as a whole team for losing the match, whilst at no point blaming himself he never said he wasn't to blame. This, along with Hart making a mistake for the winning goal, led to Roberto Mancini to criticise his goalkeeper.

Mancini said in his press conference "Joe Hart should stay in goal and make saves. If anyone should criticise the team it should be me, not Joe Hart. I am the judge, not Joe Hart", which may have been okay as criticism but it is not as if Mancini did not agree with the England 'number 1' after also suggesting that the defence was too deep at the end of the game.

Since then both Vincent Kompany, the club captain, and Gareth Barry have come out in defence of Hart with Kompany further backing his 'keeper' by admitting he was at fault for the important goal. 

Hart was harsh but honest about the team and that included himself. It would surely be more worrying if both he and the rest of the players failed to see their own failings.

It's Never Enough

Some may argue that Joe Hart said too much. Some have even argued that, by not paying Real Madrid enough respect for their win, he didn't quite say enough.

On the other hand one man who was extremely happy with himself was Jose Mourinho, the Madrid manager, whose words after his teams loss last weekend inspired them to victory over City.

Of course Mourinho can't take full praise for the victory, after all it is the players who go out and play the football and score the goals...Actually scratch that, if any manager can ever take full credit for victory it would be the 'Special One'. Once upon a time the former Barcelona interpreter graced the Premier League as manager of Chelsea and wowed us with his arrogance, tactical brilliance and on camera personality and ever since leaving we have missed him. 
Mourinho's jump from the bench and slide across the turf as Ronaldo scored reminded us of his most famous moment, sliding down the sidelines at Old Trafford as his Porto side beat Manchester United, but more poignantly it reminded us that Jose is the master puppeteer who never wastes a word- that goal was as much his as it was Ronaldo's.

He is one man who can never say enough!

Only 140 Characters To Say it All 

In the past I have Tweeted about football and written about Twitter. I have discussed Joey Barton and his use of Twitter, mainly to try and make him seem more intelligent whilst really making himself ridiculously conceited.

Many have damned the use of Twitter, Sir Alex Ferguson said he did not understand how someone would have time to bother with it  whilst answering questions about Rio Ferdinand's Tweets.

Twitter though has proved its worth with all sorts of campaigns and charities but one major campaign Twitter has helped with was in getting #JFT96 (Justice for the 96). And one main character to help this campaign was in fact Barton himself. 

Like him or not, Tweet or not, sometimes we have to doff our caps to the power of celebrity and the power of social media, especially when there's only 140 characters to get the message across.

That's Just Champion!

Not Very Italian

Perhaps the most exciting last 22 minutes of a football match you're likely to see kicked off the 20th season of the Champions League as Manchester City came within a defensive mistake and 5 minutes of a famous victory away to Real Madrid.

That City came within 5 minutes of winning was incredible testament to their effort although, as Joe Hart said and I suggested in a previous blog post, simply going to the Bernabéu and coming close is not enough for a team of City's current stature. That the 'Blues' lost because of a serious of defensive errors is almost baffling. 

On the way to winning the league last season City conceded just 29 goals, already this season they have seen the opposition score 6 times with Arsenal to come on Sunday. Only two season's ago it was being suggested Roberto Mancini would never lead City to the Premier League title as he was too defensive, last season Mancini was able to combine defencive stability with flair and attacking prowess to win the league. Tonight, in the Champions League City looked terribly poor at the back especially Vincent Kompany, the captain and usually a rock at the back. 



It seems worrying for City that they have looked so oddly weak defensively because it is not one or two mistakes creeping in they look, as a unit, to be poor. Joe Hart has made mistakes, Vincent Kompany too, whilst Joleon Lescott looks less assured than last season- a knock on effect from Kompany's form- and the full backs have never settled under Mancini as he enjoys rotating them.

Fortunately for City their title rivals weaknesses are also prominently defensive, it means that games between the top four may turn out to be just as exciting as last season's 8-2's and 6-1's.

We're Not So Different You and I

I said in my last blog post that I thought AVB just needed time and, though the turnaround is nowhere near complete, my faith does seem a little vindicated already.

It is not just the win that has led me to gleam over AVB this week but also the manner of the football, the ex Porto manager seems to have got his system correct with Sandro and Moussa Dembele creating a fantastic midfield partnership. Villas-Boas also had a good week in the press managing to hit back at his predecessor, the shadow that is Harry Redknapp, after Harry had criticised his style of management. This was also, accidentally, a response to Martin Keown who had suggested on BBC Radio 5 Live that Villas-Boas was 'too tactical' and 'confusing' his players. 

Surely though the most pleasing thing for Spurs fans and, even more so, the manager will be the excellent form of Jermain Defoe who already has 3 league goals this season and 2 for England (which should have been 3 against Ukraine). Defoe's goals have kept Emmanuel Adebayour on the bench and the ex Portsmouth striker looks full of confidence unlikely to stop scoring.

Ironically Defoe's upturn in fortune seems to have come from AVB's man management skills and decision to give the Englishman an extended run in the team meanwhile Harry lost his job after being unable to keep his player's focus once he was convinced he'd get the England job.

Pick Your Words Wisely

Joe Hart was rightly a little mad at the end of his teams match versus Spanish champions Real Madrid. Not only had City seen their 2-1 lead to turn to a 3-2 deficit in only 5 minutes but Hart was also partially at fault for the last goal.

Hart was interviewed after the match and suggested in his answer that the interviewer wanted him to say that the team could go away from the match with their heads held high instead he apologised and then, rightly said, they were annoyed they lost from 2-1 up with 5 minutes to go and lost. He even questioned it "how can you be 2-1 up with 5 minutes to go and lose 3-2?", the answer to winning from 2-1 down is; with the will and determination to win no matter what, but then I guess he should know that after May 13th 2012!

Retain or Regain?

We're in our 20th year of the Champions League, in its current guise, and still no club has managed to defend their title as best team in Europe. On Wednesday night Chelsea begin their challenge to become the first.

Chelsea's group is tricky with Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk to play but they should still qualify for the knockout stages. Roberto Di Matteo's side should arguably be better equipped to win the Champions League this season as their new players have made them into a dangerous attacking outfit, however this new setup will work adversely against the likes of Barcelona and this season they will also have a Premier League title challenge to contend with.

It looks like we'll be waiting till at least the 21st year till we get a defending champion!

Your Not Very Good

The King is Dead

"...It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership" John W Henry may not have gone as far as naming his mistakes, or any mistakes made since he bought Liverpool from their previous American owners, but we all knew what he was alluding too.

It was a bold step by Henry to release an open letter to the Liverpool less than a day since a 2-0 home loss to Arsenal and just over two and a half days since the transfer window shut with Brendan Rogers hands trapped underneath but a step he felt he had to take, it was one not only to get the players on board but seemingly the manager too.

Henry went onto say such things as;  "we are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes", "spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a midtable place with expensive, short term quick fixes" and "We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players." The 62 year old laid some blame at the feet of the previous owners but more tellingly at the previous manager's, Kenny Dalglish.

When Dalglish was given the job in January 2011 it seemed like an odd decision and one that seemed odder the more times Dalglish dipped into the transfer market starting off with the £35 million transfer of Andy Carroll and finishing nearly £100 later after Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson had joined and now, 18 months later, that odd decision seems to have derailed not only Liverpool's campaign last season but also for the forseeable future.

The Boston Red Sox owner talked about his disapointment at not being able to sign a new striker but defended their transfer dealings by talking about the likes of Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Nuri Sahin, even though the latter is only on loan, the ability to keep hold of their current players, such as Luis Suarez and Daniel Agger and UEFA's upcoming sanctions on teams who spend beyond their means. This lack of spending stemmed from the transfer mistakes of the last 18 months.

The man known as "The King", from his playing days at Anfield, made many mistakes that ruined Liverpool's season last year it seems now he did far more to ruin the longer term too. The King may well be dead.

Rather Striking

Let's not pretend that, given the chance, most of us would have tried to move Andy Carroll on had we taken over at Anfield this summer however that decision, and Brendan Rodger's actual implementation of it, now seem ridiculous. Liverpool are left with 2 front line strikers and a mix of young talent, this is a Liverpool side attempting to play 3 upfront.

This has led to critisim of the manager for not replacing Carroll, though this has quickly subsided since the owners open letter, and thoughts of bringing in an out of contract player to the club.

Among those mentioned is former Kop hero Michael Owen. Owen has long since tainted his name at Anfield by playing for Manchester United and this, as well as injuries, seem to have soured the idea to many fans. Yet these fans also forget that Owen is certainly not 'passed it' as many would have you believe and is in fact a very viable option considering his recored off the bench for United during his time at Old Trafford.

Perhaps what many have forgotten in all this is not simply Liverpool's lack of options from the bench in case of injury but also the fact that Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez, the only epxpereinced front men, are currently under no pressure to perform as they simply cannot be dropped.


Too soon to be crap

So far this season I look a bit foolish in my thinking that Andre Villas-Boas would be a good replacement for Harry Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur and would in fact be a better manager that 'Arry.

My assumption was based on the fact I think Redknapp is highly overrated and that AVB, unlike his predecessor, would be a master tactician. It is therefor ironic that Spurs under the Portugese manager's tutelage look all over the place and without any tactical discipline.

But Villas-Boas' early plans have been in part ruined by the ego of his boss, Daniel Levy, and the insistance on eeking out as much money out of Real Madrid for Luka Modric. In a strictly business world this would have made sense but in footballing terms it was a disaster and left the Portuguese manager with only a couple of days to buy who he needed, missing out on the likes of Joao Moutinhio.

It is not the first time that Levy has pulled this trick having waited to sell Dimitar Berbatov till the last minute. Then, as now, the team struggled early in the season. Hopefully unlike now, when the transfer of Modric was done with enough time to get in Moussa Dembele, the manager will be given time to prove his worth.

Oops, Butterfingers

The number of high profile goalkeeping errors at the beginning of this Premier League season is quite out of the ordinary, especially as some of the league's best 'keepers' have been at fault.

We've already seen mistakes from Hart, Cech, De Gea, Given, Green, Federici and Reina to name but a few.

It can't be long before the roundness of the ball is blamed, after all who wants a round ball!