Capital One Cup Final 2015

The first competitive piece of silverware in the New Year is up for grabs on Sunday as Tottenham take on the high flying side of Chelsea.

While the Capital One Cup may not mean much for many people, both Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to for their first silverware of the season. Mourinho has not won a trophy in his second spell as Chelsea manager, and Pochettino will be looking to win Tottenham's first trophy since the 2008 League Cup campaign. Both teams will be quietly confident going into this match and have a lot to prove.

An added incentive is that both sides were knocked out of the FA Cup in the early stages. Chelsea will be looking to win this trophy as a small consolation for being royally dumped out in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Mourinho came under criticism for not offering the appropriate value to the trophy by fielding a second-string side. He will certainly not show Spurs a lack of respect.

Similarly, Spurs were stunned by a 90th minute Schlupp winner for Leicester City in the FA Cup. Like this competition, it was earmarked as one that they had the potential to win and to not make it past the 4th round will be a major disappointment. Other than that, Spurs are having a decent season, particularly after a stuttering start in the league. This trophy would give Daniel Levy and the fans the much needed confidence in their manager.

Route to the Final
Chelsea's 3rd round tie saw Kurt Zouma net on his debut while Oscar scored the winner to secure an unconvincing victory over Bolton Wanderers. As for Spurs, they recovered a goal deficit to win 3-1 at home to Nottingham Forest thanks to Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Robert Soldado. An 81st minute own-goal was enough to break Shrewsbury hearts and send Chelsea through in the fifth round, while Spurs coasted past Brighton by two goals. A stylish performance from Spurs obliterated Newcastle in the quarter finals with Bentaleb, Chadli, Soldado and Kane all registering on the score sheet. Likewise, a confident performance from the Blues as they brushed Derby to the side and moved on to a semi final clash with Liverpool.

In the semi finals, both Chelsea and Tottenham faced scary situations. Spurs had a considerably easier tie on paper, facing Sheffield United but scraped through 3-2 on aggregate. Spurs took a slim 1-0 lead into the second leg after an Andros Townsend penalty inside the last 20 minutes. At Bramall Lane, Spurs looked comfortable and a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Christian Erikson, at halftime was deserved. Things got hairy in the last 15 minutes when 2 Che Adams goals sparked a comeback from United. As he has done so much this season, Erikson saved Spurs' blushes with an 88th minute goal to send the North London side to Wembley.

A tactical master-class from the 'Special One' secured Chelsea's appearance at Wembley. A 1-1 first leg draw at Anfield gave Chelsea the away goal that would prove beneficial if the tie went to extra time. Sterling's second half equaliser cancelled out Eden Hazard's 18th minute penalty. The second leg was an interesting affair. Chelsea edged the possession stats, but there was nothing to separate the sides. Scoreless after 90 minutes saw Liverpool having to score a goal to prevent exiting on away goals but it was Branislav Ivanovic who rose highest to nod in a Willian free kick and send Liverpool packing and ensure Mourinho's men booked a final clash against London rivals Tottenham.

My Prediction
Chelsea will be without Nemanja Matic for the final after his sending off against Burnley at the weekend. Remembering back to the New Years' Day fixture between the sides, Chelsea missed Matic's presence in the middle of the park and went on to lose 5-3 at White Hart Lane. It would be very bizarre if Mourinho was to prepare for this encounter by not using the events that occurred in January. It would be likely for John Obi Mikel to fill this role, with Fabregas alongside him. The threat posed by Harry Kane will need to be neutralised, particularly as he netted two goals that day and has been in great form this season. He can turn a match on it's head in a moment so Terry and co. will need to be aware throughout the game.

As for Spurs, it's obvious that Diego Costa and Eden Hazard will be the threat to watch out for. Hazard has created 8 goals this season, and finishing 11 of his own in all competitions. As for Costa, he has had a terrific debut season at the Bridge, scoring 17 goals to aid Chelsea's cause. Both scored a goal apiece the last time the sides met, so Spurs will know that they need special attention. Newbie Juan Cuadrado is a speed merchant who will pose problems for defenders. It will be an interesting battle between Kyle Walker and Cuadrado, if they play, to see who will come out on top. Although he is not your stereotypical fullback, Cesar Azpilicueta is one of the best right backs in world. He can defend but also whip a mean delivery into the box and is probably one of Chelsea's most underrated players.

This match is difficult to predict as both sides will be gunning for the win. It's easy to side with Chelsea as they have the players and a world class manager, however Spurs possess a youngster in top form. Chelsea will definitely repair the mistakes made in the last encounter. I'm going to sit on the fence and say that the match going to penalties with Chelsea edging out their London opponents. It will be a cracking final.

Manchester City v Barcelona

Barcelona are in Manchester tonight to take on the English Champions and this can only mean one thing, the  Champions League. I thought I would write this to give an insight into what Manchester City have to do to progress in the competition.

1. Vincent Kompany

For all the many millions that the Sheikhs are pumping into the Manchester club, £6m buy Vincent Kompany is the defensive heartbeat at all the success for City. He hasn't been at his formidable best this season, and was out injured around the Christmas period. I wouldn't say that his contribution is underrated as he does get a lot of credit for his actions, but his value is priceless to City and I'm sure Pellegrini is aware of this. Kompany brings a calm head to the defence, particularly when Mangala can be erratic at times. He will need to be at his best to neutralise a potent Catalonian attack.

2. Don't play 2 strikers.

City normally play a 4-4-2 that works pretty well for them. They've won the Premier League with the formation, but I don't see them beating Barcelona with it. We all know that Barcelona like the possession stats, so with only 2 in the centre of midfield, they may get overrun by Barca's 3. Here's hoping that Aguero tracks back, as the defence will need help. While Barca have been content with passing the ball in tiki taka over the years, Luis Enrique has seemed to acquire a more direct approach - not to the extent of hoof ball, but you know what I mean. Because of this, I can sort of see why Pellegrini has selected 2 strikers, although I don't agree with him.

3. Sergio Aguero 

Of course, the man, myth and legend will have a deciding factor on the game. I am unequivocally positive that City will get chances, and this will be the man who you would bet on 9 times out of 10 to finish them. Aguero is likely to play a shadow striker role, but will also need to give a hand in defence. Aguero will be involved in the action one way or another and may prove beneficial to his strike partner, Edin Dzeko, who poses a different threat to the other little Argentine. Both Dzeko and Aguero will cause problems for the defence but will they take them?

4. Wide players.

Pablo Zabeleta and Gael Clichy will be vital tonight in defence. Up against Neymar and Messi, discipline will be key as both and produce magic from nothing. Suarez needs to be thrown into the mix as I could put a mortgage on all three roaming positions. With Neymar often going down when a gentle breeze brushes him, City will need to be careful when it comes to challenging for the ball. Not only will they be facing this terrific trio, Jordi Alba and Dani Alves' overlapping runs are also likely to cause problems. The wingers will need to retreat when Barcelona are on the ball.

5. Sergio Busquets.

The fella is one of Barcelona's unsung heroes. Much against the popular opinion, he can tackle, and is an expert in breaking the play up by winning free kicks as we all know. Not only are is defensive capabilities to be commended, I believe he will pick up where Xavi and Iniesta left off only in a deeper position. He can dictate the tempo of the game and thread an inch perfect pass so will need to be closed down. He will probably drop to deep for Fernando to mark, so Aguero, Nasri, Silva or Dzeko will need to prevent him from weaving his magic. Alongside him is Ivan Ratikic. The Croatian is the legs, and will be able to help out in both attack and defence. Both are dangerous and it would be stupid to disregard one, but Busquets is the one, along with the attack, and end City's dreams.

Precisely 2 minutes to kick off, according to my computer screen, and I cannot wait for the 90 minutes to unfold.

Luis Figo - For Football

With the elections for FIFA President quickly approaching, Luis Figo released his manifesto entitled, 'For Football' in order to win over some last gasp votes. Pit against the current President, Sepp Blatter, as well as a Jordanian Prince, Figo's manifesto could win over potential voters, with his unique ideas.

When I first opened his manifesto, I noticed the title #ForFootball. Seeing that hashtag made me die a little inside. Now I'm no politician or political enthusiast, but I'm pretty sure hashtags aren't supposed to be contained inside serious document, (some of those who have read it may think that it is anything but serious.) Yes it gets people involved on social media and I admire his effort for doing this, but there's a time and a place Luis, a time and a place.

With that minor hiccup out of the way, his presentation is eye catching, slick and easy to use. There is an emotive sound bite to the right of a big serious bust of the man himself with a look of "I'm going to hunt you down if you don't vote for me" on his face. We get a detailed version of an impressive CV and also tells us his marital status. What this has got to do with running for President, I have no idea. In short, it's a nice looking PDF file, that doesn't beat about the bush and gets straight to the point. I like it.

#1. Change and Development.

Figo's main priority is to develop football throughout the world by increasing participation of all ages and genders in grassroots football. Aiming for at least a 10% growth in 4 years is ambitious, and if the model of the current FIFA continues, I scream 'no hope' in his face. With football easily being the most popular sport in the world, I think he means getting more people playing at a higher level. So far so good. In addition to this he wants to improve the infrastructure of football by dishing out equipment across the globe. He believes that at least 50% of the solidarity funds given to the Member Associations should be used to dish out kit and equipment. Let's hope the FA take note.

#2. Change and Solidarity.

Figo outlines his objective of distributing 50% of FIFA's revenues, $2.5b, to the Member Associations over a period of 4 years. A part of this also details giving a larger some to nations with the most need, whether that goes on lifestyle or not, I'm not too sure. It seems a solid proposal as with the amount of money other nations could become more competitive and in turn making international competitions more exciting. This is all well and good, but will the Member Associations spend this money correctly, rather than squandering it away? I hope he will dish out instructions as to what the money should be spent on. The most shocking thing about the next point is that FIFA have $1.5b in reserves. As Figo correctly states, there is no need for a sum this large and he will spread it among several projects that he will be running. I don't think anyone can argue with this proposal.

#3. Change and the World Cup

This is perhaps where things start to go downhill, depending on your opinion. It seems like he wants to increase the number of teams to 40 with the addition of several extra days to accommodate this increase. I have no real problem with this, after all it'll give Northern Ireland and extra chance of qualifying. Others will say that the competition will 'lose it's gloss' and I can see where they are coming from. His second proposal includes two 24 team competitions played on 2 continents with a final knock-out stage taking place in one country. Looking at the positives, it will split the amount of money required to fund the competition in three ways while giving several countries the 'World Cup experience.' Negatively, I don't like the weighting against the European nations for the additional teams for obvious reasons, and I think it would ruin involvement for nations when the matches are split over a larger area. I'm all in favour of the first proposal, but not so keen on the second. 

#4. Change and the Laws of the Game

It's great to see that Luis Figo is all in favour of goal line technology as our game needs to move with the advancing times. He also wants to abolish 'triple punishments' as well as testing the 'sin bin' disciplinary policy and reverting to the old offside rule. On triple punishments, this is probably a good idea, as many games are over as a contest once a player ends up in the dressing rooms. However, will this not just lead to more penalties? I covered this in an article around this time last year when Wojciech Sczezcsny was sent off against Bayern Munich. I'd like to see the sin bin option given a trial run as it would certainly cut down on the amount of cards dished out during the game. However the rule book will also have to be changed as bookings will not be able to be used for every single minor offence. Also, the 'football purists' will see this as a copy of rugby and may not be appealed by this proposal. There is certainly potential in some of these ideas.

Those are my opinions on the majority of Figo's proposals noted in his manifesto. The full compliment can be found at http://forfootball.org/. The former Portuguese international certainly looks good on paper, but I'm sure most of these proposals are easier said than done. With the elections on May 29th, I somehow suspect that Blatter won't be in for a fifth term. As always I'd like to hear your opinions on the topic at hand, and whether Luis Figo would excel as FIFA President.

Rights and Wrongs about the Premier League

Sky Sports have landed the rights to 126 Barclays Premier League games from 2016/2017 to 2018/2019 at an astronomical price. A total of £5.13b was spent by both Sky Sports and BT Sport. While Sky gets the pick of the games, BT have acquired 42, 4 more than the current contract details. Why are these rights so wrong?

As much as I love the Barclays Premier League, it does have quite a few fundamental flaws with the first one being it called the "Barclays" Premier League. It should be the Premier League and it alone. While this is a minor issue, the isolation of fans due to ticket pricing is a much more serious issue.

There is no better way to demonstrate the that football is moving further from its roots than the price of tickets. People claim that politicians are becoming out of touch with their constituents and the same is happening in football. Clubs will no longer cater for the working class, who effectively built the clubs over the past decades. Constantly clubs are favouring selling up-market tickets to 'men in suits' with no interest in the football. Several football personalities have expressed their concern about this on twitter.

"£5 billion for the new @premierleague TV deal. The game's awash with money. Cut ticket prices & make it affordable for real fans to attend." - Gary Lineker 

"Great day for @SkyFootball but with the amounts involved ticket pricing especially for away fans has too change. £20 for the 20 away games." - Jamie Carragher

I'll rhyme off some facts that I'm sure everyone is aware of: Arsenal have the most expensive ticket (£97) and the most expensive season ticket costing you a whopping £2,013. Charlton's £150 season ticket is the cheapest in England's top 4 divisions, while Barcelona's cheapest is £103, although I do hope this includes a pair of binoculars. Football is slowly pricing out the people that really matter. It is becoming corporate driven with ticket prices reaching astounding heights. Surely with the billions money given to the clubs they will be able to lower their ticket prices for their dedicated fans? I highly doubt it.

Clubs today want a quick fix. Buying ready polished talent is much easier than bringing a youngster up through the ranks. I certainly take more pleasure in seeing a youth product flourish and become a Premier League star than some import who made his name in a foreign league. From Chelsea's academy, the only name of note that plays regularly is John Terry. However, in fairness to Mourinho, he would use cup games as a platform for youngsters, although in small amounts.  Also  I have to note that Chelsea have some very promising individuals in the youth set up. Looking at Manchester City, they have only one player in their first team, Dedryck Boyata who has progressed from the youth academy. Although they do have a number of young players out on loan, are they likely to challenge for first team positions or will the manager just dip into the transfer market in order to replace and strengthen? The latter is more likely. Chelsea and City are easy targets but most English clubs are just as bad.

Lack of talent being progressed will lead to the detriment of the national side. I know many people that will say 'club before country' which I don't agree with. The situation in England is similar to the rugby situation in France. The French national team players are struggling to get game time in their clubs due to the imports from the Southern Hemisphere. The situation is much worse in rugby, but English football could lead the same way. Many people have lost interest in the national team because they aren't what they use to be. Quite often when I watch England play, the game is slow and lethargic evidence showing that the players just don't want to be there. Is the national team beyond saving? I don't know, but things need to be done quickly to save it.

The money from Sky and BT is likely to get spent on players wages and could lead to the first ever £500,000p/w Premier League player. It's quite staggering when you think of it.  It will also mean that transfer fees will rocket. Ever wondered why foreign teams love selling to the English teams? It's because they always overvalue the player therefore coughing up more money in order to acquire his services. 'Sterling offered incredible new deal' was the headline on Sky Sports' News last Tuesday, as Brendan Rodgers confirmed that the 20 year old was to be offered a bumper new deal. This set the ball rolling for an inflation of wages.

I can see why Rodgers is doing this to act as a deterrent for the Barcelonas and the Real Madrids of this world. But one thing I have learnt throughout my short time in football is that if they want someone then they will certainly spend whatever it takes to land their wanted player. See Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Luis Suarez for evidence. Also, do these clubs really need Raheem Sterling? No I don't think they do. Is Sterling likely to remove Bale or Ronaldo at Madrid, or Suarez, Pedro or Neymar at Barcelona? He's good but he's not that good.

Looking at the player, does he deserve a pay rise? Currently on approximately £30k a week, it has been rumoured that he is being offered over twice as much as he is on. At 20 years old, I feel this is a bit much. Without doubt that Sterling has been one of the shining lights in Liverpool's season. He's likely to accept the new contract and with the extra money, he is likely to face even more temptations. Jack Wilshere is not the role model that kids should be aspiring to be. While he is an alright player, his off the field antics regularly make the news for the wrong reasons. Wayne Rooney was hardly an angel in his early days, the same with Saido Berahino. Sterling will face these temptations and will have to avoid them otherwise his career could stagnate and he will not reach the heights that he has showed over the last few years.

As much as we all love football, there's no denying that there are a few basic principles that need addressed. With everything becoming more and more commercialised, I am likely to be here next year, giving off about the same situation with no actions being sanctioned. 

Dortmund's Demise.

To be quite honest, I am astonished with the current situation at Borussia Dortmund. Sitting not-so-prettily in the relegation zone, it is safe to say that a dark cloud has shadowed over the Westfaldstadion.

Three wins in their opening four games in all competitions seemed like a solid start, one of which being a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in which they outperformed the opposition in all facets of the pitch. Since then they have only registered five victories and haven’t won since December 5th, before ending their duck yesterday. Even though things aren't hunky dory, it was still a bit of a shock to hear the players being booed off at the conclusion of their 1-0 home loss against Augsburg on Wednesday night. Regardless of this, the Powers Above have shown no evidence of removing Klopp from his managerial post.

The heights of 2013’s Champions League Final and the double winning side of 2011/2012 seem distant memory. The loss of vital players such as Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski have not helped the current situation. Much was expected of Shinji Kagawa’s return from the Theatre of Dreams, but even he was unable to prevent a disastrous start to Dortmund’s season. Similarly, the signings to replace the departures haven’t exactly set the world alight. Ciro Immobile, whom I am a big fan of, has only been able to record a measly 3 goals with a conversion rate of 12.5%. Last season Lewandowski recorded 20 goals with a significantly better rate of over 22%. Like Immobile, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has a conversion rate of just under 15%. Dortmund are missing their hitman.

Looking at the defence, it seems that confidence is the issue. If we consider that they have 4 World Cup winning defenders in their possession, it would shock us all, but considering that 3 of them failed to make a single appearance during the tournament we can now see why. Matthias Ginter and Eric Durm both are under the age of 23. Although they have potential, 2 youngsters are unlucky to be able to dig a club seeped in turmoil. Neven Subotic and Lukas Piszczeck are experienced operators so Klopp will be looking for them to aid and abed the youth within their ranks. Looking at Mats Hummels, he may well be considering his future at the German club with Manchester United reportedly interested in him.

That leads me onto another sticky situation that may face Jurgen Klopp in the future. If the unimaginable happens and 2011/2012 Bundesliga champions are relegated to the lower tier, he may well face the exodus of several pivotal players. Marco Reus has been forever linked with a move away and the reported suitors is a list the length of my arm. Pretty much every European 'giant' has been linked with the World Cup winner. As I have said previously, Mats Hummels is another sought after player. Status may begin to talk as teams could swoop in for the remaining talent in the likes of Nuri Sahin, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Ciro Immobile, however performances of late will do nothing to persuade clubs to invest in them. It will be interesting to see what happens if the side are relegated and if they don't buck up their ideas, the nightmare could become a reality.

On the bright side, they recorded a resounding 3-0 victory away to Freiburg yesterday, lifting them off the bottom of the table and also easing the pressure on Klopp. Dortmund need to take confidence fron this away result into future games, and they can certainly finish in a mid table position.