Bleacher Report - Articles by Allen Joseph

Barclays Premier League: Is This Going to Be the Best Season Ever?

Allen Joseph — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:30:59 -0400

It’s Week Nine and the Barclays Premier League is up and running after the international break. After eight weeks of some scintillating football—including only 18 draws in 152 games played, with a goal per game average of 1.5 and some stunning results—I think it is fair to say we are in for a wild ride this season.

Watching the season so far, we've gotten a pretty good idea of how the Premier League will turn out, but things may change (like Tottenham and Burnley last season).

For the first time, it looks like all of the big-four clubs are vulnerable to dropping points, hence making for a great title chase. However, Manchester United and Chelsea look set to battle it out for the title this year, with Liverpool already losing three key games and Arsenal having been beaten by both Manchester teams.

Arsenal will be an interesting prospect this year. They did lose two key players in Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, but their new signing of “a goal scoring centre-back” in Thomas Vermaelen looks to have fit perfectly. Having already destroyed teams in the Premier League so far with their fantasy football, it isn't too farfetched to assume that this might be their season after all.

Liverpool looks to be battling away again this year, having already thrashed lesser teams like Burnley, Hull, and Stoke. They should still be ranked high, but have looked vulnerable against big teams. That elusive 19th league title still seems to evade their clutches this season. Tottenham and Aston Villa—two teams they should have beaten—have bettered them and stolen six points, severely denting their title hopes.

However, more than the title race, the real deal will be the battle between the big four and other ambitious teams for the chance to get into the coveted Champions League spots.

Obviously, big spenders Manchester City look firm favorites to give the big four a run for their money, having collected 16 points from a possible 21. They have a great squad, and if they are in the whereabouts of a Champions League spot, they might be able to lure bigger superstars in January.

Aston Villa had a shocking start to the season. After being dumped out of the inaugural UEFA Europa League in the early stages, they did not get going too well in the premier league by losing to Wigan in the opening fixture. However, they have since recovered and look to battle away for another season.

Everton had a terrible start to the season, being drubbed 6-1 at home to Arsenal. They have since done better, however you must feel that the departure of Joleon Lescott and their lack of financial power will hamper their chances of cracking it this year.

Finally, Harry Redknapp's Tottenham has made its best start to a Premier League campaign, collecting an impressive tally of 16 points from eight games. Injuries have dampened their season, but they still have looked very impressive, riding on the performances of wing wizard Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe. Even if they don’t crack the big four, they still could be in for a great season.

The battle to avoid relegation looks equally appetizing, with every team in the bottom half of the table winning randomly. Burnley’s home form, Portsmouth ugly start, and Hull City’s inconsistency have grabbed some headlines.

If things continue as they are now, then expect some huge changes this season.

Soccer: The Top 10 Young Footballers To Watch Out for This Season

Allen Joseph — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:36:29 -0400

As football becomes more global, the football clubs are willing to spend more money on scouting networks which extend to every continent in this planet to unearth new young talents. It wouldn't be long before Scouts are given the same importance and salary of a manager.

While the scouts are busy doing their work let us have a look at the Top 10 young players who have made heads turn or who are expected to make heads turn in their direction this season.

1. Bojan Krkić, 19, Barcelona.

On 16 September 2007 (aged 17 years and 19 days at that time), Bojan made his official debut for Barcelona against Osasuna, breaking Lionel Messi's record of the youngest Barcelona player to feature in a La Liga match. He has already established himself as an exciting new talent in the Barcelona first team. Has exceptional talent and could become as influential as Lionel Messi.

2. Lorenzo De Silvestri, 21, Lazio.

Is a product of the highly successful Lazio youth system. During the 2007–08 season, De Silvestri established himself as a regular in the Lazio side with several impressive performances as an attacking right back. He made 24 league appearances, as well as six in the UEFA Champions League. Is widely regarded as one of the best young talents in Italy.

3. Mario Balotelli, 19, F.C Internazionale.

On 16 December 2007 Balotelli made his first team debut in a 2-0 Serie A win against Cagliari. On 30 January 2008 Balotelli gained national attention after he scored two goals against Juventus in the return leg of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, being instrumental in a 3–2 away win for the Nerazzurri.

Balotelli's role in the 2009–10 season is expected to be much more prominent than the previous season, owing to the loss of several key strikers over the prior few months, leaving Balotelli as the third choice, behind new summer signings Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito

4. Breno, 20, F.C Bayern Munich.

In December 2007, Breno officially signed for Bayern Munich having refused to sign with Real Madrid who wanted a bone analysis to prove his young age. Has captained the Brazilian U23’s and is widely regarded to fill up the void left by compatriot Lucio’s departure.

5. Stevan Jovetic, 19, Fiorentina.

On 10 May 2008, Serie A club Fiorentina signed him for a reported fee of £7.3 million. Jovetić was a founding member of the Montenegro national team who played their first game against Hungary in March. Famously scored both goals in a 2–0 victory over European giants Liverpool in the Champions League this season. Despite interest from various clubs, looks set to stay with the Viola.

6. Adem Ljajic, 18, Partizan.

Attacking midfielder dubbed “little Kaka” which to be honest is high praise indeed. Even though he has only a handful of first team appearances behind him, he was rated highly enough to catch the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson. He is set to join England's Manchester United in January 2010.

7. Davide Santon, 18, F.C Internazionale.

Santon is a product of the Internazionale youth system. He is an attacking right back, with the ability to play also on the left side. Recently, he has also become subject of praise from Italy head coach Marcello Lippi, who defined Santon "A predestined that reminds of a young Paolo Maldini."

He also played in Inter's home draw with Manchester United, playing directly against FIFA Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and showing great performances against the Portuguese winger.

Ronaldo himself said about Santon: "I was impressed by Santon; he is a really interesting lad and a great footballer." Already drawing comparisons with Italian legend Paulo Maldini, looks set to become one of the world's finest fullback despite having very few first team opportunities.

8. Alexandre Pato, 20, AC Milan.

Milan officially confirmed the signing of Pato on 2 August 2007. Pato is a highly rated forward who is a key piece in the Milan rebuilding process. Despite a pretty dull start to the season, he is capable of turning Milan's season around along with compatriot Ronaldinho.

9. Aaron Ramsey, 18, Arsenal.

On 10 June 2008 it was confirmed that after meeting officials from Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton, Ramsey had decided to join Arsenal, who paid Cardiff City a total of £4.8 million for the player. Wenger described Ramsey as "a player with a fantastic engine, good build, good technique and good vision.

Ramsey is named amongst host of young players poised to shine in 2009 by Fifa.com. Despite his young age, looks certain to be a star and is already a key figure for Wales.

10. Ivan Rakitic, 21, Schalke 04.

Born in Switzerland Rakitic won the Swiss young player of the year award. However he has preferred to play for Croatia. He can be deployed in both attacking and defensive midfield roles. Has been rumoured to have a whole lot of top European clubs on his trail after impressive performances for Schalke 04.

Anyway, that’s the best I could get out of my crystal ball. What does yours predict?

EPL : The Worst Signings of the season

Allen Joseph — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:46:08 -0400

Money, it can be both a gift and a curse. The Premier League has definitely benefited from it. Several top signings have been made possible by it. To choose the best signings is not easy, but it is equally difficult to find the worst ones, as the Premier-League clubs pay outrageous sums to acquire players who are useless, troublesome, or just plain stupid on the field.

Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell, and Tal Ben-Haim (Bayern Munich, Reading and Bolton Wanderers to Chelsea).

It is never advised to include free signings in a list of this nature, but when three really abysmal ones are made by club which is one of the richest clubs in the world, we must raise our eyebrows.

It is understood that they were brought in to enhance squad depth, but to treat players possibly in their prime like this is laughable. Claudio Pizarro was a top striker in Bayern Munich. Fellow South American Roque Santa-Cruz has settled well at Blackburn Rovers after his summer move, Pizarro has followed Shevchenko's footsteps.

Steve Sidwell was possibly the best player at Reading last season. To be honest, nothing more can be said. With owner Roman Abramovich calling for sexy football, one of the possible ways for Sidwell to light up Stamford Bridge is by his ginger hair.

Tal Ben-Haim is the least affected of the trio. But he has looked very slow against far less illustrious opposition. He has failed to repeat the levels he had set at Bolton Wanderers. To make matters worse, fellow new signing Alex was settled and did a good job covering up for John Terry during his absence. But let's face it, he has to fight for places with Carvalho and Terry, so his oppurtunities have been few.

Even when fellow Israeli Avram Grant took charge, Ben Haim's first-team prospects did not change one bit, which has resulted in an outburst from him aimed at his already under-fire boss, which resulted in a cut of two weeks wages for him.

Robert Earnshaw (Norwich City to Derby County)

Derby have become so pathetic that finally boss Paul Jewell has accepted that his side do not belong in the premier league. A club-record fee of £3.5 million was spent on a striker who had proven himself in the lower leagues. What's ironic is the fact that both Billy Davies—who signed the 27-year-old—and his replacement Paul Jewell have decided against playing the Zambian-born Welshman (yup, it seems Wales has a Zambian population of nearly two: Earnshaw and his mother).

The Rams have long been destined to relegation, and as their ugly season draws to a close, let's face it: if ugliness is the problem, Earnshaw is not the solution.

Younes Kaboul (Auxerre to Tottenham Hotspur)

While bitter rivals spent £1 million less buying from the same club, what must turn out to be one of the signings of the season in Bacary Sagna, Tottenham got Kaboul. He is young, he has scored goals, he's named after a terror-zone—what's not to love?

Well, he can't defend. £7 million for the Moroccan-born French national was beyond excessive. Kaboul is looking to be very much surplus to requirements at the Lane, and could well be headed for the exit door as Juande Ramos plans his summer overhaul.

Rolando Bianchi (Reggina to Manchester City)

Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City revolution has been amazing. Yes, he has Thaksin Shinawatra's big, black sack of quite-possibly-laundered money to back him up, but he has spent fairly well, and has a good eye for talent.

Bianchi, though, just did not work out. Splashing out a sizeable £8.8 million to land the 25-year-old from Serie A relegation strugglers Reggina is questionable.

First off, he hates England. He's not the first, and certainly will not be the last, Italian to come to this country and despise it from top to bottom. He has been spared the embarrassment, because Sven made the smart move of offloading him at the first possible opportunity.

He has gone back to Italy on loan to an under-performing Lazio side, with whom he has made a good start. Assuming Sven does well enough to recover a significant amount of the original transfer fee come this summer, it will be business not-so-badly done on part of the Swede.

Diomansy Kamara (West Bromwich Albion to Fulham)

Has Lawrie Sanchez cost Fulham their place in the Premier League? The coach did a fantastic job in charge of Northern Ireland, and was head-hunted by Mohamed Al-Fayed to take over from Chris Coleman at Craven Cottage.

Cookie was constantly forced to sell while in charge of the club, while Sanchez was allowed to reap the benefits of his work by spending over £25 million in one summer. Most of it was spent on trying to re-unite all of Northern Ireland at the Cottage; a disastrous experiment that went horribly wrong.

Chris Baird in particular stood out as the white equivalent of Titus Bramble, for his consistent ability to make the worst of each and every situation.

However, the biggest money was splashed out on Diomansy Kamara—a man little more proven than Earnshaw, who cost almost twice as much—and he has failed to live up to his price tag.

Craig Bellamy (Liverpool to West Ham United)

If your budget can't quite buy consistency, that's one thing, but why anyone would willingly sign Craig 'nine iron' Bellamy given his track-record off the pitch, quite frankly beggards belief.

He is reported to have earned Liverpool an unbelievable £7.5 million—yes, they made a profit—despite enduring a hit-and-miss time at the top. Bellamy has always been erratic and inconsistent everywhere else. Bellamy has failed to pay back even a quarter of his transfer fee during his stay so far at Upton Park. He is the sole representative from the Hammers' summer signings, of which several were absolutely woeful.

Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyonnais to Chelsea)

On paper, it was logical. Chelsea offloaded Arjen Robben to Real Madrid, chaired by the eccentric Ramon Calderon, who had developed a fondness for the part-time Flying Dutchman.

They then brought in France international Malouda, who was a hero of the Lyon side that dominated Ligue 1. Though he is still a quality player in his own right, injuries, poor form and a rumoured distaste for the English appetite has made him be labeled a flop.

David Nugent (Preston North End to Portsmouth)

Why Harry, why? No doubt the 22-year-old was extremely prolific with lowly Bury and the Championship's Preston, but ultimately, commanding a fee of £6 million when all he was ever seemingly going to do was warm the bench is an astounding decision.

The Huyton-born striker's career highlight is being handed his first and only England cap by the clueless Steve McClaren, and in that solitary England appearance as a substitute against the mighty Andorra, he achieved the incredible feat of stealing a goal from his new teammate Jermain Defoe. Wonderful!

Darren Bent (Charlton Athletic to Tottenham Hotspur)

It must be said, it's not all his fault—but ultimately, he should have known better. Perhaps he anticipated that Dimitar Berbatov would be on his way out at White Hart Lane, but ultimately, he has spent most of his time on the bench. This after commanding a transfer fee in excess of £16 million.

It's laughable—that goes without saying. Though to his credit, he was the highest English scorer in the Premier League last season. Ultimately, it has been a waste of a year for the 24-year-old, and if he has any sense, he will follow Jermain Defoe out of White Hart Lane elsewhere, so he can play regularly and reap the same rewards as Defoe is now.

Joey Barton (Manchester City to Newcastle United)

One of my personal favorites to win this award. What a waste of space. Manchester City will have laughed all the way to the bank when they cashed in £5.8 million for this glorified thug.

In fact, I take that back—there's nothing glorious about him. He has scored just one goal, a last-minute penalty against Fulham, and has been lucky to escape suspensions for some of petulant acts on the field. He has spent about as much time in custody as he has in training.

It is time for you to decide deserves to be the worst of this lot.

EPL: How Avram Grant Can Win the Hearts of Chelsea Fans

Allen Joseph — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:22:57 -0400

The dour looking Grant had the unenviable task of following the Special One and you can't help feeling that whatever he did, he was always doomed, with some of the players, the media and the fans comparing him to Jose. Success this year and it would have been argued it was all down to Mourinho's team, anything less, then the Israeli would be the cause of the failure.

The backdrop to Chelsea's Champions League clash with Liverpool is a revolt among some senior players who want Avram Grant removed from his post as manager.

It is widely accepted that the injury list has been ridiculous this season at Stamford Bridge and that the African Cup of Nations affected Chelsea more than any of the other big three. The unbeaten home league record remains intact and Grant could argue that he has spent relatively little in the transfer market compared to his Portuguese predecessor. In most situations, a first season like this would be accepted while the manager rebuilt the team in his own image, but not now.

In the end is there anything that will satisfy the fans other than a new face and one that is more recognised and renowned? There are lots of rumours about Frank Rijkaard, whose popularity is on the wane at Barcelona. He would bring a more attacking outlook for sure, but would he bring in the silverware in the first year? Who knows, but I am sure he wouldn't be pilloried in the same way as Grant has been in his inaugural season.

The anger from the dislocation between the fans and the club is now being targeted directly at Grant. He is a decent enough coach, but he has landed a job that was previously being done by one of the world's best and one who was adored by the fans. Many of them still think Grant was plotting against their man all along to get the job and he certainly was about as welcome as Camilla at Diana's memorial.

Mourinho made mistakes, and big ones too, but he could either talk his way out of it or simply point to the trophies he had already won. Grant makes mistakes such as leaving Joe Cole on the bench and Ricardo Carvalho out against Wigan and he is pilloried for being an amateur. His fine decision to play the last 10 minutes on Thursday with two holding midfielders, which earned the three points against Everton, is conveniently overlooked. But fans have a right to be fickle. If Grant does steer his side past Liverpool this time, most will be forgiving.

But what can he do to win the blues' support?

I have come up with a few suggestions :

1. Play the attractive football he promised with good results.

2. Make press conferences more attractive, opposite of what he did last Thursday night.

3. Lose some weight and get a makeover - lets face it, even women started watching football for Jose Mourinho's good looks.

4. React with more passion when his team scores goals and be inspirational.

All this looks impossible, so it does seem like he will never win the support of the club's fans.

EPL: Will Andriy Shevchenko Ever be the Same Again?

Allen Joseph — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:34:42 -0400

The second highest goalscorer in the history of European club competition with 60 goals.

Seven seasons in an Italian club scoring a stunning 173 goals in 296 appearances.

A Ballon D'Or winner, year 2004.

Two seasons in an English club, 68 appearances, 21 goals, constantly languishing on the substitutes' bench.

Of course, to a person seeing this with a little knowledge of football, these are the stats of two very different footballers.

However, the truth is they are the same person. These stats refer to a certain Andriy Shevchenko.

A man who has sunk from being the most lethal player in front of goal to the most expensive substitute in the world of football.

What reasons can be given to this horrific transformation of such a wonderful talent?

Let's start with that ill-fated transfer from AC Milan to Chelsea, close to £30 million involved.

Even though Chelsea had a manager who was interested in playing a lone striker with two wingers, Shevchenko chose Chelsea as his destination. That was his first major mistake.

Even with the change of managers, he is still sitting on the bench, in spite of putting his best ever performance in a Chelsea shirt in his last full appearance for the club: two goals in that 4-4 draw with Aston Villa.

Recent reports have linked this player with a return to his former club, which is in need of salvation and are fighting for a Champions League spot.

The question, however, that needs to be asked is, "Will he ever be the same Shevchenko again?"

The most honest answer is no.

I hope I am proved wrong, because football cannot afford to lose such a prolific striker.

Let's just hope for the best.

EPL: If Only Jose Mourinho Was Still in Charge of Chelsea

Allen Joseph — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:34:17 -0400

This question looms in the minds of many admirers of this beautiful game. Had Jose Mourinho still been in charge what would have happened?

Like most of the last season, I am sure and so would every Chelsea fan agree that they would still have had a chance of winning all the four trophies this season.

Let's start with that League Cup humiliation at the hands of Spurs. The question is, would Chelsea have blown it away with the special one behind them: most football pundits don't think so.

Jose Mourinho was a proven winner and a man of cup competitions. So he would have definitely been inspirational when Grant chose to just watch John Terry and Steve Clarke rally the troops.

Secondly, Chelsea would have almost certainly booked their place at Wembley for an FA Cup final, and it would shock the entire world if they didn't win their second consecutive FA cup against a lower league team.

Would Jose have allowed his team to be beaten by a team fighting for a place in the Championship?

Now is the interesting part, everyone had praised Avram Grant for getting through that difficult period with injuries and the African Cup of Nations with very good results.

However in my opinion Jose Mourinho would have done it equally good if not better.

With most of the Chelsea fans giving their opinion that Chelsea are still within a shout for their third league title in four years and a Champions League title that has evaded them for many years, in spite of their manager rather than because, it remains to be seen whether this team can do the magic without their special one.

In my opinion, with Mourinho behind them, Chelsea would still be with in contention for a League title like they are now, and a semi final berth against Liverpool in the Champions League.

The question that will remain to be answered is can Chelsea knock out Liverpool, third time lucky perhaps?

They would have successfully defended the FA cup and the Carling Cup.

Another difference would be the attitude of Didier Drogba and many other team mates on the field.

Would Mourinho be sitting quietly when someone from his team had made a wrong pass?

What has Roman done to a club that were almost cruising for another successful season?