Ten Football Predictions for 2010

January 5, 2010

by Willie Gannon… The last year was a memorable one. Barcelona won the Champions League with the kind of display associated with Holland in the ’70s. Real Madrid took their spending to £1 billion while Liverpool went backwards.

1) Liverpool and Rafael Benitez will part ways.

Life at Liverpool has never been a bed of roses for Senor Benitez. Ever since the clubs American owners took over in October 2006, there has been rumors of a new manager coming in.

Liverpool’s worst start to a season in decades has shown Benitez’s failings in the transfer market to everyone. Having taken over the worst Liverpool team in decades in 2004, the Spaniard has created the worst Liverpool squad of all time.

Time for Rafa is running out and even if Liverpool finish fourth, as expected, there could be a parting of the waves.

2) David Moyes to Celtic, Mark Hughes to Everton.

David Moyes has achieved everything he is going to achieve at Everton. He has hit the ceiling, there is no where else to go.

The club simply do not have the money to progress any further and Moyes himself will never be fashionable enough to manage one of the big five clubs, despite his sterling record at Goodison.

Celtic are in turmoil under Tony Mowbray, and the former WBA manager is on his last legs at Celtic Park. Should Moyes take over, he will get the chance to win trophies and play in Europe regularly.

While the initial move to Celtic may look a step backwards, it is in truth a step sideways. Celtic are a huge club and success in Scotland would open the door to managing someone like Spurs or Aston Villa should their managers move on.

The obvious manager to take over is Mark Hughes. Having seen his star rise when he was given the City job, it would be a massive step down to manage anyone outside the Premier League’s big clubs.

3) Thierry Henry will serve a one-game suspension for his infamous hand ball.

The “Hand of Frog” incident may have blown over for the time being but it has not yet disappeared.

With Ireland refusing to accept the FIFA Fair Play award recently, FIFA will be embarrassed into action.

They have already said they will look at the incident in 2010 with a view to retrospective punishment.

Expect FIFA to fudge this, too. Henry will, in all probability, be given a one-game suspension during the World Cup as a penalty for the handball as Sepp Blatter looks to make himself and his organisation look progressive rather than the bunch of idiots they usually come across as.

4) Portsmouth, Hull, and West Ham to be relegated.

Sorry Brian…

Portsmouth have no money to pay the wages of their players. There will be a clear-out of available employees in January and those that are left will have to pick up the pieces of a demoralised squad.

Hull just don’t have the strikers. Unless Phil Browne really works some magic in January then the Tigers will go down battling.

West Ham are in as just a precarious position as Pompey. Their Icelandic owners have ordered Gianfranco Zola to bring in at least £10m for “them” this season. That will mean the sale of the clubs best two players at the very least.

With his team treading water expect Gianfranco Zola to be linked with the Napoli job…

5) Liverpool will sell Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard

Even if Rafa does somehow manage to avoid the sack at Liverpool, he will have to sell to rebuild the squad.

As it is Liverpool only have three players that any other team would covet. The two aforementioned players and Pepe Reina.

They could accrue almost £130m for the trio if they get what they want for the players. That money will give the manager the money to rebuild the team.

In a worse case scenario RBS will force the sale to claw back some of the £290m still owed to them.

6) Jose Mourinho will replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United

Fergie does not have long left.

United will not win the title this year and the Glazer’s are now facing that massive debt growing again. Two seasons ago, Manchester United had their most successful season of all time, having won the EPL and the Champions League, and their debt still grew…

Imagine what will happen in a season without a trophy?

It is a step the Glazer’s cannot take or afford. They will try to get Fergie to resign this summer and will have the best manager available lined up, Jose.

With Wayne Rooney having won the Golden Boot for the Premier League as well as the World Cup, Mourinho will possess the best forward in the world.

7) Arsenal will win nothing this year.

Having seen the Gunners tackle the first part of the season, I have come to the conclusion that they are about three to four players short of winning the league.

Their over dependence on Cesc Fabregas means they will be relatively easy to neutralise as the Champions League gets into the knockout stages.

8) Cesc Fabregas will join Barcelona in July.

Having sat on the bench through most of the World Cup, Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be itching to set foot on a pitch.

The upcoming Presidential elections at Barcelona are ominous for the Gunners, as Fabregas’ signature is promise numero uno for the candidates.

9) Rafael Benitez will take over at Real Madrid.

Free from Liverpool, the Spanish giants will move to sack Pellegrino and replace him with Rafa.

10) Chelsea, Newcastle, and Leeds will win their leagues, while The Penioners will get to the Champions League Final.

The Premier League is Chelsea’s to lose. Has been since day one. The African Nations will give some of their players time to reflect on what is needed to win the title, while one or two additions will give their squad the chance to rest as the knockout stages come thick and fast.

If United or Arsenal get to the final, Chelsea will win. If Barca or Real get to the final, they will probably lose.

And just for good luck…

Brazil to beat Italy in the World Cup final.

Any other predictions?

Soccer and Baseball: It Is Time for Video Replay

November 28, 2009


1. Yes, Real Madrid is Good

Real Madrid spent an exorbitant amount of money in the off-season constructing a team of superstars designed to terrorize both Spanish and European competition. The goal was simple: take back the Spanish Primera Division title, and reclaim the Champions League crown. Sound familiar? The Spanish giants used the same formula in the early 2000’s – the Galacticos era – bringing in David Beckham, Michael Owen, Luis Figo, and Zinedine Zidane among others. Back then, the results were entirely underwhelming, with zero trophies captured and little magic created. Many were curious to see if this year’s version would become the unstoppable force as planned, or just another collection of overbearing egos. A 5-2 thrashing of FC Zurich in Matchday One suggests the former.

It appeared Madrid had the power to score at will. The passing was crisp, the speed relentless, and the teamwork nearly perfect. Zurich’s quick netting of two goals will leave questions about their defensive prowess, but the offensive fireworks more than compensate for whatever shortcoming that presents. Besides, a 5-0 blanking of Xerez in the Spanish League directly following the Champions League match shows they do have the ability to prevent goals. The competition should be sterner in Matchday Two with French League runners-up Marseille, but for now Real Madrid looks like the real deal.

2. Jose Mourinho Ruined the Hype

By far the most anticipated game of the opening week, and perhaps the entire tournament, came in Italy, where Inter Milan hosted defending champions Barcelona. Besides being a battle of two high profile clubs, and matching the champions of Italy against the champions of Spain, it also marked a homecoming: Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o playing against their former squads. But for all the hype, the game did not live up to its billing. The result was a lackluster 0-0 draw, and though both teams created a few quality scoring chances, neither looked like they would score.

For this we can thank Inter coach Jose Mourinho. Very rarely did he order any attacking rushes, preferring instead to sit back and stifle Barca, focusing on containing Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, and Ibrahimovic. The result was unfulfilling not only to both squads, but to the public in general, who were denied the opportunity to see two world class teams in action. For Barcelona, it’s never a bad thing to gain a point on the road in a hostile environment, and for Inter, they did hold the defending champs. But everybody wanted more. Hopefully we get more in the return match in November.

3. More English Dominance?

In 2005, Liverpool won the Champions League and Chelsea made the semi finals. Arsenal went to the final in 2006. Three English teams made the final four in each of the next three years. The Champions League was turning into a playground for Premier League teams. But coming into this season, it appeared on paper that Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United were weaker, with the exodus of players such as Xabi Alonso, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Only Chelsea looked to have a real shot at winning.

Well, Matchday One came and went and the English teams look as strong as ever. All four Premier League clubs were victorious. While true that Liverpool looked underwhelming in scraping by unheralded Debreceni at Anfield, the other three looked fantastic. Arsenal used quick strike offense to storm back from two down against Standard in Belgium; Manchester United survived a long daunting road trip to Turkey; Chelsea bullied their way past Portuguese champs Porto in a ferocious downpour in London. Liverpool appears to have a tricky group to manage, but this is a team built for European play, a team that continually shines in the Champions League. If they can sneak into the knockout rounds would it really be a surprise to see another British invasion in the final four? Stay tuned.

4. No Place for Underdogs

The 2004 Champions League final pitted Monaco against Porto – only notable because that marks the last time a final did not include one of Europe’s traditional powers. 2005 – 2009 saw a who’s who of Europe’s elite in the ultimate match: Manchester United, Liverpool, AC Milan, Barcelona, and Chelsea. This season, UEFA amended the tournament format in attempts to open up the competition. More group stage places were reserved for champions of smaller European countries, while qualifying was more difficult for third and fourth place teams of large nations. The ultimate goal was to provide hope for smaller teams, that maybe they can become the next Monaco or Porto.

Unfortunately, Matchday One proved the big boys are better than ever, and that this tournament is no place for minnows. Of all the smaller clubs, only one, APOEL FC of Cyprus, was able to steal a point, a hard earned 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid of Spain. Teams like Zurich, Debreceni, Maccabi Haifa, and Besiktas fought hard, but were ultimately no match for the Bayern Munich’s or Real Madrid’s. The gulf in class is simply too much to overcome, especially with many of the world powers placing more emphasis on the Champions League than on domestic triumph. It would be the shock of the year for the final on May 22nd to be played without at least one super club present. My money is on two.

5. Best Competition in the World

Despite its popularity the Champions League is still the target of many criticisms: too many teams, too many qualifying rounds, the competition is too long, smaller teams have no chance. But there is really no doubt that even with these criticisms, the UEFA Champions League is still the best sporting competition in the world. As soon as the Champions League anthem was heard on television sets, millions of people across Europe and around the world, even the critics, were transfixed. The atmosphere it presents is electric, so much so that even soccer followers thousands of miles away feel jitters. The tournament is so popular that millions of people log onto uefa.com to read play-by-play text updates of matches. The first Matchday of this year’s tournament certainly didn’t disappoint. From Arsenal’s thrilling two goal comeback, to Real Madrid’s official coming out party there were highlights aplenty. The action was intense and left many catching their breath. But be warned: Matchday Two is just around the corner.