The annual UEFA Champions Festival will take place in London on 23–26 May 2013, it was formally announced today.
The free four-day football celebration, featuring a series of family-friendly activities, will be the first major event to come to the home of the 2012 London Olympics since last summer, taking place on The International Quarter close to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
UEFA is inviting fans and families to visit the festival and take part in a series of free activities including the opportunity to have photos taken with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League trophies.
Festival attendees will also have the chance to visit the UEFA Champions League museum to experience all the memories of past tournaments with children able to take part in a variety of skills clinics and coaching courses put on by professional coaches throughout the week.
Festival ambassadors, including former England players Faye White and Steve McManaman, will be on hand to meet and greet the fans who will also be invited to participate in an exciting schedule of entertainment hosted by UEFA Champions League partners.
The festival will open on Thursday 23 May running through to Sunday 26 May following the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 25. The festival will include one of the most popular events of the week, the Ultimate Champions Match which will feature a number of UEFA Champions League greats of years gone by.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “We are delighted that the UEFA Champions Festival is returning to London and especially that it will take place on the International Quarter close to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the scene of our biggest sporting moment. It will provide a fantastic week-long family event and will revive the spirit of community and celebration that made last year’s Olympic Games so special.”
UEFA Champions League final ambassador Steve McManaman said: “Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Stratford area came alive in the summer for London 2012 and UEFA is very proud to bring the annual UEFA Champions Festival to such a fantastic facility and offer an event that gives both parents and children the opportunity to celebrate football in a truly spectacular venue with free admission for all. We expect everyone will be blown away by the amazing multi-event entertainment programme on offer.
Mark Dickinson, managing director of development at Lend Lease, said: “The International Quarter will become a vibrant new commercial hub for London. We are looking to attract early investment in the form of exhibitions and events this year and are delighted to work with organisations such as UEFA to ensure benefits from these events spread beyond their boundaries to communities in the surrounding areas.”
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Further details regarding the exciting events on offer to fans during the week of the festival will be released in the coming weeks.
Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Tottenham last weekend was quite rightly hailed as a significant victory for the club and for manager Brendan Rodgers in particular for what it meant to not only the team’s hopes of pushing for a top five finish, but as a vindication of the man in the dugout’s methods, but despite the noticeable improvements being made this term, the task ahead to restore the club to the top still looks a long and arduous one fraught with trap-falls.
The current campaign has been one which has best been characterised by a one step forward, two steps back approach. Expectations have routinely been dampened only to be risen through the roof again after the odd result or spate of good form. Rodgers has at times resembled an excitable schoolboy that you need to constantly keep in check. Many Liverpool fans, myself included, have found this season an enjoyable jaunt, in support of the new man at the helm and his methods, but in danger of cringing every other week at either the corporate speak coming out of Rodgers mouth or his baffling need to set himself up for a fall. It’s all part of the ego, but many if not most back Rodgers plans and vision for the club, it’s just when he feels the need to, you know, talk, that we get a little uncomfortable.
The inconsistencies have been there all season, though, and point to a busy summer ahead. The squad has been padded out in terms of strength in depth and Liverpool are now in possession of a truly dangerous side on an attacking front and they’ve already scored more goals than last term and look well on course to better the points tally and league position that predecessor Kenny Dalglish achieved.
The two cup final appearances last year merely papered over the cracks of the club’s deeply ordinary form after the turn of the year; the system implemented by Dalglish fell apart and the lack of a coherent plan was a real worry looking further ahead. You simply don’t judge progress, as Chelsea fans will tell you this season, by how the team fares in any given cup, rather the bread and butter of a sustained league campaign and on that front at least, Rodgers has delivered a real improvement.
However, there’s a feeling that persists that the club should still be better off than where they currently find themselves in the league, seven points adrift of Chelsea having played a game more. It’s only now that the fluid nature of the top four and the weaknesses of those challenging for a Champions League place have really come out in the open and Liverpool may see this as a missed opportunity to re-establish themselves rather than focus on it being a period of transition.
Numerous challenges have been put in front of the club this year and they have been met, but the changing nature of the accusations levelled at them is worth drawing attention to; first it became that they were the last club in the top flight to beat a team inside the top ten, next up before the Tottenham game it was that they hadn’t beaten a side in the top four. It all points to a predatory moving of the goalposts triggered to undermine the team’s progress. The narrative of a club in crisis is one that sells plenty of easy copy, but it just hasn’t quite stacked up this year, particularly when you compare it to the scandals that rocked the club last season.
Still, after the win over Tottenham, which came courtesy of three horrific errors, there was a sense that there is still plenty of room to improve, especially from a defensive standpoint, with the side looking fragile against better quality opposition and incapable of keeping clean sheets. Jamie Carragher’s retirement and Martin Skrtel’s recent marginalisation point to a summer of concentrated centre-back recruitment which is crucial to the side bridging the gap on the more consistent teams ahead, with the win over Andre Villas-Boas’ side signalling the first time the side have won three league games on the trot this season.
Rodgers was quickly made to look stupid after targeting a top two finish by the 3-1 defeat against Aston Villa at home back in December, while Stewart Downing claiming that ‘it’s coming together’ and captain Steven Gerrard targeting a ‘perfect’ finish to the campaign all simply serve to ramp up the rhetoric precisely at a time when they need to talk less. The message of a club and team in transition craving stability is a sound one, you just wish those trotting it out would stick to it themselves a bit more and not get so carried away on the basis of a few results.
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How the side fares next season rests largely on the future of Luis Suarez, should he stay, with the break up of the traditional top four, Liverpool certainly stand a chance of crashing the party, but at the moment it is a castle built on soft foundations. The summer represents a pivotal period and a potential crossroads for their future development; finishing the campaign well is obviously important, but the real litmus test on their progress lies further ahead.
With the arrival of Hawk-Eye football has finally caught up with technology. In mid April it was announced that Hawk-Eye would be used for the 2013-14 Premier League season.
Hawk-Eye works by having seven cameras mounted within the roof of the stadium, at both ends of the pitch they will be directed at the goal. These cameras will then track any ball movement within the goal mouth. Computer software which is installed will determine whether the ball has crossed the line or not. If it has indeed crossed the line the result can be relayed to the referees watch within one second. Hawk-Eye is said to be millimetre accurate and can provide definitive replays to TV outlets.
The success of Hawk-Eye has already been proven in such sports as Cricket and Tennis. In Tennis, Hawk-Eye has come up time and time again to correct the officials which have made a mistake. With the balls traveling as fast as 140mph it is no surprise that there is technology in place to ensure a correct decision has been made. In Tennis however, it is up to the player to challenge the call, now being used in Football it will be a yes or no decision. The advantage of this being, players won’t be able to argue with technology. In Tennis once the decision is made on the screen in front of a rapturous crowd, the player has no choice but to accept the decision. Once the decision is made to the referee there is nothing the football players can do about it. The point being respect for referees will have to increase greatly, all too often we have seen decisions of all goals go the wrong way and referees taking the brunt of it. Understandably the players will have been upset that it is incorrect decision, but when a referee and his other officials have a split second to call it, it’s safer and easier to say no goal than goal. Respecting referees is something that still needs to be ironed out and this is one step that has been long overdue towards it.
The influence this will have on the game will be massive, it will stop occasions such as these happening:
2005 – Tottenham’s Pedro Mendes’ long ranger clears the line by a healthy distance before Roy Carroll scoops it clear. Goal not given.
2005 – In the Champions League Semi-Final, Liverpool’s Luis Garcia scored a goal that did not cross the line, Jose Mourinho was left furious and without a Champions League final.
2010 – A memorable one for the nation when Frank Lampard’s volley clearly beats Manuel Neuer, connects with the bar and bounces back out. The goal was not given in what could have been a sensation turnaround in the 2010 World Cup game.
2012 – Ukraine unjustly not awarded a goal after the ball crosses the line, just before John Terry hooks it out.
In all of these instances, huge mistakes have been made which have cost the unfortunate team in each circumstance detrimental consequences. As said previously many of us felt the pain of Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany. Although many believe Germany were too much for England as it was, if that goal had stood all the momentum would have been with England, something they could have carried on through to the final whistle. Jose Mourinho, from when was last asked, is still adamant that Luis Garcia’s goal didn’t cross the line. Had this been adjudicated correctly it could have been Chelsea who had won the Champions League trophy. Perhaps Jose and Chelsea would never have departed.
It is evident with the many examples of unjust decisions that this is the right course, but why so long? Football is a delicate sport which holds many traditions and values, something we implore as football fans to carry on. If you think back to when it was first created, the ideal has changed a lot since then. Two goals, a ball and 22 men. Since 1660 there have been records of football being played, technology in this time has evolved tenfold, Cars, Planes, iPhones. Football has got to a stage where it must finally embrace the wonder that is technology and use it for good in the game.
Here are some more public thoughts on Hawk-Eye:
Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger: ‘It’s good news and I hope there is more good news to come on technology because we want the right decisions to be taken. The more assistance the referees get, the better it is’
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore: ‘Football is fundamentally a simple game; whichever side scores most goals wins. So, when one is scored, or indeed not scored, and we have the ability through technology to definitively know whether the ball crossed the line we should absolutely use it’
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Chelsea Midfielder, Frank Lampard: ‘It’s a no brainer. It’s been a bit of time coming, but they got there in the end’
Tweeting after the England v Ukraine Euro Game, Sepp Blatter: ‘After last night’s match#GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity’
There is one man however who is strictly against the idea of Goal-Line technology altogether. Uefa President Michel Platini has publically announced time after time that he thinks Goal-Line Technology is a waste of time, and that football would be better of keeping to it’s traditions. Platini stated: ‘the money earmarked for installing Goal-Line Technology is an expensive luxury and would be better spent on grassroots football’. This was after it was announced that Goal-Line Technology was being used at the Fifa’s Club World Cup.
Those like Platini who argue football should keep it’s traditions do have a fair point, but when does keeping a sports traditions over rule fair play? In this case it simply doesn’t, just decisions must be made and from this, no later debate can be sparked. With the result determined within less of a second it will certainly not slow down the game. Hawk-Eye is the start of technologies infusion within the game, and as much as it is promoted throughout this article, I feel I must state that we ought to be careful. Rightfully Platini advocates keeping the tradition of the game, if we embed too much alien technology it could end up taking over. Hawk-Eye is the right move for now, but lets let that settle before we consider introducing another revolutionary wave.
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has ruled out a summer return to the Premier League.
Despite only leaving Old Trafford for Juventus last year, the 20-year-old has been heavily linked with Arsenal over the course of the past few months, with Arsene Wenger belied to be a huge admirer of the enforcer.
But, the Frenchman says that he is content in Turin, ending any speculation that he could make a shock return:
“I’m good at Juventus but I want to focus only on the World Cup.” He is quoted by Sky Sports via Le Parisien.
“On my future I have no news, so of course I will stay at Juventus.”
Pogba only managed seven first-team appearances for United before leaving in search of regular action, much to the annoyance of them boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
Since moving to Italy, the midfield anchorman has impressed, forcing himself into the first-team set-up while helping Juve claim a second successive Serie A title.
Despite being seen as a key part of the champions’ future plans, rumours suggesting that he could return to England have been persistent.
Arsenal were thought to be in the chase, with Wenger seeing him as the ideal man to add steel and resilience to his midfield, while contributing to their core philosophy of attractive passing football.
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Is it a shame that Paul Pogba won’t be returning to the Premier League?
Stoke manager Mark Hughes is close to finalising a £6m move for former Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf, according to reports from the Daily Mail.
The Senegal international flopped at Old Trafford, but has since carved out a reputation as one of European football’s top emerging talents with Hannover.
An impressive 18 goals in 38 games for the Bundesliga side last term has seen interest in his signature hot up, and Hughes views him as the ideal man to bolster his attacking options.
The Potter’s have developed a reputation for their one-dimensional style of player, and ‘Sparky’ is keen to alter this perception.
He has already set about drafting in more technically gifted players, with the likes of Barcelona youth star Marc Muniesa and Dutch international Erik PIeters having already arrived at The Britannia Stadium.
Although physically imposing, Diouf is a good technician and somebody who can contribute goals as well as assists.
The 6ft. 1” centre-forward has won 15 international caps, despite the presence of both Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba in the Senegalese squad.
He was signed by United in 2009 from Molde, with a reputation as one of the best young players in Europe.
But, he struggled with the Red Devils before moving to Hannover on a permanent deal in 2012.
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The modern Premier League is dominated by big money imports and a desire for instant gratification that seems to drive every shortsighted decision. It is for this reason that the story of Danny Welbeck’s career at Manchester United it so heartening. Welbeck was granted first team opportunity after years of toil and hard work at the boyhood club that he has so much affection for. After a series of loan spells and transitional periods for the frontman, 2013/14 marks an important season for the young man who is eager to showcase his abilities.
Danny Welbeck has been a part of the senior team since 2008. A local boy who was picked up at a young age by the extensive United scouting network, he was identified as a prodigious talent from early on. As part of his footballing education he was sent on loan spells to Preston North End and Sunderland. Returning for the 2011/12 season, he appeared invigorated by his experiences elsewhere and was able to notch 12 goals in partnership with Wayne Rooney.
Just as many started to expect great things from the Englishman, 2012/13 marked something of a backward step for the young talent. The capture of Robin Van Persie vastly reduced Welbeck’s opportunities up front with Sir Alex preferring both Rooney and Hernandez as back ups to the Dutchman. Afforded more opportunity out wide to support the under-performing wingers, Welbeck actually proved his worth as a wide man.
However, Welbeck has come under intense criticism for his meagre goal scoring record. The striker himself admitted he must improve fast in this area; a haul of 2 goals last year in all competitions for a title winning side is a concern. The striker mentioned this in an interview for the Mirror, commenting:
“Overall, there have been improvements to my game and I have been more consistent,”
“But I’ve been playing on the wing, which has inhibited my ability to get into goal-scoring positions.
Herein lies the problem for Welbeck. At 22 he is beginning to enter a stage of his career where he needs to be playing week in week out in his best position. Currently it is difficult to discern exactly where this position is simply because he has previously been played in a range of roles. If Manchester United do not see him as a long term front man, then they should consistently employ him in other areas. He may be apprehensive about playing out wide, but he showed last term that he has a real flair when given the opportunity to run at defenders. A player of Welbeck’s class has to at some point stop being the rotated utility man and move towards nailing down a position of his own.
Danny Welbeck not only represents one of the biggest talents in English football, but in the world game more generally. It has been widely publicised how incompetent we are as a nation in nurturing our talented youngsters. From a purely English point of view, it is important that Welbeck starts to show his true worth soon at United for the sake of our international team. On the continent rising stars are given the opportunity to nail down first team roles, whereas in England we seem averse to offering anything more than a bit part role. Manchester United should have their interests at heart first and foremost; considerations for the national team should be in my view secondary. In the case of Welbeck I think accelerating his development would be to the advantage of both club and country.
Next year is a big one for Danny Welbeck. A new manager could offer him the opportunity to nail down a first team role. Many may argue at 22 this is too much too soon, and that his current role will serve both player and club for the time being. However, across Europe it is commonplace for precocious talent to feature readily at this age and in many cases it has led to them developing a lot earlier. By his early 20’s Messi was playing regularly for Barcelona, and if we are to consider Welbeck a world-class talent then this sort of comparison should be made.
The problem for Welbeck is that his affiliation with United is both a footballing and emotional one. In purely footballing terms he should be playing in his best position week in week out. If United cannot offer this then he should look to move somewhere where he will be given that opportunity.
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Next season marks something of a crossroads for the England international. Will he be able to kick on and develop into a world-class footballer in the coming years? If he can be deployed regularly in his best role, be that wide or up front, then I am convinced United will have one of the best young footballers in Europe at their disposal. Failure to do this and I can only see another potential English talent forced to ply his trade at a club of lesser stature.
I haven’t read Alex Ferguson’s new book. Obviously. I don’t know what has been written about Wayne Rooney and the whole transfer saga of a few years ago, though I can probably guess.
Instead, I’ll take my time. The football world’s anticipation for this book has been equal to that of the Harry Potter releases. Imagine if Twitter had been around to ruin those books for everyone in the manner than Twitter has thrown out some of the juiciest parts of this book. What was the point in Paul Hayward helping Ferguson to pen 500 pages if Twitter and the newspapers were just going to reveal the most interesting stories?
Anyway, that’s not the point. The question is whether Ferguson’s revelations will throw a spanner – yes, another one – into the current Manchester United machine, which is already puffing and weezing a quarter of the way through the season. I highly doubt it.
As I mentioned, I don’t know what’s in the book because I haven’t read it yet. Instead, kings, dragons and backstabbing family members are higher up on my agenda. But as I also mentioned, I can probably take an educated guess as to the content of the Rooney chapter. Moreover, both David Moyes and Rooney, obviously, will be well aware of the situation. It’s not really news to them in the way it is to the public.
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Moyes has his problems at United – those are well known. We’ve discussed them countless times, from the disinterest in Shinji Kagawa, the failure to do anything right in the transfer market, and the point of Marouane Fellaini’s signing. United are currently in eighth position in the league, a quarter of the way through the season. You could say the league table has taken reasonable shape, so from that point of view, United’s position is a little worrying.
But I don’t think the contents of a book is going to make things that much more difficult for Moyes. In fact, at some stages of the season so far, Rooney has looked United’s best attacker, though that isn’t really saying much. We all sort of know that Rooney isn’t 100 per cent happy at United, just like we know Luis Suarez will probably upend a table and make for the exit door if Florentino Perez slides over a napkin with his number on it. We don’t need a book to change the landscape of the current season.
The interest and anticipation for Ferguson’s book is justified because it’s revealing and entertaining. Entertaining – that’s the most important part. We’re not looking to it because it may play a part in the relegation of United; just like other football books, we’ll read it because it lifts the curtain on a world we as the audience rarely, if ever see.
Whatever position United find themselves in at the end of the season it will be due to the performance of David Moyes as manager. Nothing else.
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Will Ferguson’s book have an impact on United this season?
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has backed up his manager Manuel Pellegrini’s claims that Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson was a decisive factor in their 2-0 defeat to Barcelona on Tuesday, reports Sky Sports.
Pellegrini was scathing in his criticism of the Swedish official following the defeat, and although Kompany admits that Barca played well, he believes Eriksson did not allow the game to flow.
A Lionel Messi penalty which resulted in the sending off of Martin Demichelis, and a late strike from Dani Alves has put the Catalan giants in pole position to qualify for the quarter finals.
However, Kompany does not believe City were outclassed, and when asked if Barca were the best team he has faced all season, the Belgian defender replied: “Not at all.
“Incredibly efficient, though – they have great individual quality. By no means did we think they were superior. When it was 11 v 11, maybe we showed a bit more respect.
“There was a lot of soft fouls. In the Premier League, they would have not been given. If the tempo was in this game, it would have been to our advantage.
“If the second leg is the same, and we manage to stay away from some fouls, we have a chance.”
Meanwhile, Pellegrini is facing the prospect of disciplinary action from UEFA, after claiming Eriksson lacked ‘impartiality.’
He said: “From the beginning, I felt the referee was not impartial so he decided the game with a foul that he didn’t whistle against and a penalty with Demichelis that was not a penalty, it was outside the box.
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“He did not have any control of the game. He was on the side of Barcelona from the beginning until the end.
“I think it was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important match, especially a referee who has made an important mistake against Barcelona in a previous match.”
Borussia Dortmund have taken up the option to sign loanee Nuri Sahin permanently from Real Madrid, as reported by Sky Sports.
The Turkish midfielder is in his second season on loan to the Bundesliga side but he is set to make the move permanent in the summer for around £5million.
Sahin had a fairly unsuccessful spell on loan at Liverpool back in 2012, making just seven league appearances before the Reds sent him back to Madrid.
Dortmund were knocked out of the Champions League in midweek against Real, and have fallen way behind champions Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Striker Robert Lewandowski is leaving the club this summer and so more big name signings are expected to join Sahin.
“We informed the Real Madrid management of our intentions to take the option on him during our Champions League quarter-final tie with them,” general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke said to the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper.
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Openly criticising players in public has become a Premier League taboo, but following a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Chelsea two weekends ago, Tim Sherwood unleashed a ferocious analysis of his Tottenham squad on live television that left little room for the feint-hearted.
In a surprisingly emotional display, the Spurs gaffer told the Sky Sports studio; “(It happens) too often, too often and again today against the big sides. It’s disappointing to see.You’re 2-0 down with 10 men at Chelsea, you’re not going to win the game. But I expect to see a little more gut, a little bit more pride, a little bit more feather rustling.I don’t want to be the only one who ever shouts at them. I think they need to dig each other out every now and again and get the best out of each other.”
In this modern era of soft gloves and foreign players with big egos, many have backed Sherwood for the bold, refreshing and aggressive approach he took two weekends ago. A lot of what he said will certainly ring true with the White Hart Lane faithful, who have seen their side capitulate against big clubs they’re supposed to be competing with numerous times already this season. Their 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool in December cost Andre Villas-Boas his job.
But as refreshingly passionate as Sherwood’s speech may have been, let’s not kid ourselves that it was sourced from anything else than managerial naivety. It’s the type of unbalanced, unchecked and poorly-thought outburst you’d expect from a gaffer that’s been in the management game for a matter of months, unable to keep his cool after what was Tottenham’s worst performance under his leadership.
Perhaps, considering the intensity of the situation, that can be forgiven. But it was the timing of this public slamming that spoke volumes about the Spurs boss’s disturbing inexperience.
Let’s reconstruct that disappointing four-goal thumping at Stamford Bridge. Tottenham’s backline can be held at fault for all four goals, as Jamie Redknapp was quick to point out in the Sky Sports studio.
Under Sherwood’s tactical guidance however, Spurs started the match with Kyle Walker on the right wing and Aaron Lennon as a shadow striker. For the first 45 minutes it did the job, yet at no point in the first half did Chelsea’s goal come under any considerable threat, and with that in mind, it was always a case of how many goals the Blues would eventually win by rather than the result ever being in doubt. From Jose Mourinho’s perspective, he was always waiting for the Lilywhites to make the first mistake, although he probably didn’t anticipate they’d make four so costly.
The Lane gaffer didn’t instigate the defensive implosion, and in that regard, he has a right to be annoyed at the long list of individual errors you wouldn’t expect from a side challenging for Champions League qualification. But he sent Tottenham out working to a tactical formula that would never have resulted in a win – a scoreless draw was the best the Lilywhites could have hoped from that starting line-up – yet Sherwood failed to mention any of his own misgivings in an almost taboo post-match outburst.
Rather, everything was directed at the players. Usually, managers use the term ‘we’, as if to imply mistakes were made as a group, even if that may not be the case. Even this custom was bypassed by Sherwood, instead accusing his roster of a ‘lack of characters’ and his players of not showing enough gut and pride.
But when it comes to psychological baiting, especially of your own players, timing is everything. And rather naively, Sherwood’s was some way off the mark. If this public name and shame had come following a poor defeat to one of the Premier League’s more rank and file sides, or Liverpool for example, it would be completely understandable.
Rather, it came against a Chelsea outfit who currently don pole position in the English top flight, overseen by a manager who has never lost a league game in 67 outings at Stamford Bridge, in an away fixture that Tottenham haven’t won since Gary Lineker was their star striker. The result was disappointing and the performance disturbing, but a wealth of factors suggested the Blues had three points in the bag from the opening whistle. As Sherwood himself subliminally suggested, perhaps Tottenham as a club expect far too much.
Furthermore, the outcry came ahead of what was undoubtedly the most defining week of Tottenham’s season. The following Thursday, Spurs took on Benfica in Europe, and the home leg result would have vital significance to Tottenham’s continuation in the Europa League, whilst on Sunday they took on Arsenal in the second North London derby of their Premiership campaign after losing the first bragging rights clash in September.
Sherwood clearly thought that publicly announcing the entire squad were now ‘playing for their futures’, further remarking that he was ‘singing from the heart, not from the script’, would give them the kick up the backside required to turn their form around.
But in fact, the reverse has taken place. Against Benfica, Tottenham were outclassed by a Champions League standard defence in a 3-1 defeat, in turn highlighting the inadequacies of their own from the weekend previous, and facing their local rivals, Arsenal’s better quality on the ball told as the Lilywhites were reduced to a hit-and-hope, route one strategy going forward, before eventually losing 1-0.
It’s easy to criticise a manager when his plans, or in this case, his attempts at motivation, have backfired in terms of results. It’s worth reminding that Spurs were probably the better side against Arsenal at the weekend, controlling the game and the ball for a good eighty minutes.
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But Jose Mourinho has never entered a press conference without meticulously planning every detail and every controversial remark first. Sherwood on the other hand, in his own words, ‘sings from the heart’.
Had the Tottenham novice held his tongue, stepped back and considered the larger picture, perhaps he would have realised that adding to the scrutiny of a Spurs roster already absent in confidence after an incredibly heavy defeat of their own doing, would only further hinder the situation. It’s certainly increased the limelight on the Lilywhites over the last week, which can’t have made attempted revivals in form particularly easier.
Until recently, Sherwood was making a decent case for himself to continue his Tottenham tenure for at least another season. But with his naivety in the dug-out becoming more noticeable with every heavyweight contest the Lilywhites are involved in, Daniel Levy will surely feel compelled to turn his attentions to the far more experienced Louis Van Gaal this summer.
It’s not Sherwood’s fault – he never asked to be appointed Spurs boss when Villas-Boas got the axe. But the fact remains, in the grand scheme of Premier League management, he is still nothing more than a rank amateur.