Bleacher Report - Articles by Jordan Lister

Steve Redgrave: An Indian Summer in Sydney

Jordan Lister — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:13:57 -0400

Prompted by the recent Indian summers enjoyed by the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Kurt Warner, Bleacher contributors were asked to reflect on individuals who had produced exceptional performances in spite of their advanced years.

Not one to pass up a challenge, I quickly realized that the task at hand required me to look beyond my comfort zone of the English Premier League.

Of course, there are many older players, both past and present, worthy of consideration (my first contribution to these very pages focused on the omnipotent Ryan Giggs), but I could not quite put my finger on that one individual who, unencumbered by the onset of the dreaded mid-30s (or beyond), had truly captured my imagination.

An obvious candidate, perhaps, is David Beckham. Certainly, his recent renaissance—both at club and international level—is worthy of praise.

However, at 33 years old, Beckham is not quite at an age to capture the spirit in which this assignment was given. Real though it is, Beckham’s Indian summer should be viewed through the lens of his premature departure from the rigor of elite European football, rather than his advancing years.

Instead, I have chosen to recall the exploits of an athlete who truly does fit the bill, and then some.

Ask any Brit to name the greatest modern day athletes and few will fail to mention Sir Steve Redgrave.

For those of you unfamiliar with the name (and I would hope that you are few and far between), Redgrave was a British rower who became one of the greatest Olympians of the Games’ long and illustrious history.

Redgrave’s crowning achievement came in Sydney in 2000, where, at the age of 38, he won his fifth Olympic Gold.

While Sir Steve’s total career haul of five gold medals is far from unprecedented (indeed, one Michael Phelps would have been bitterly disappointed with such a return in 2008 alone!), what elevates Redgrave’s achievement to the very highest echelons of the competition is that his five were attained in five consecutive Games.

Redgrave remains the only athlete ever to have achieved this remarkable feat.

As achievements go, gold medals in Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, and Atlanta were highly commendable without necessarily being remarkable. Taking into account his age alone (Redgrave turned 38 in March 2000), Gold at Sydney was an achievement of a different order.

Add to that the fact that Redgrave was diagnosed with diabetes in 1997 and you begin to realize the full mark of the man.

It is also important to put Redgrave’s achievement into a national context. Historically, Great Britain does not perform strongly at the Olympics, in terms of medals. Indeed, Team GB’s performance in Beijing was unprecedented in the post-war era.

For example, Redgrave boasts as many as or even more gold medals than the entire British team managed to accrue in each of the ’84, ’88, ’92, and ’96 Olympics.

Redgrave’s historic achievement on Penrith Lake (Sydney) also needs to be placed in the more immediate context of an exceptionally talented crew. In Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell, and Tim Foster, Redgrave had the rowing equivalent of anti-aging cream. This final gold was Redgrave’s third as part of a coxless four.

Redgrave’s place in Olympic history is secure. Such is the scale of his achievement —Olympic Gold in five consecutive games—that many will not live to see this success equaled, let alone surpassed.

Could Spurs Secure a Top-Half Finish?

Jordan Lister — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:32:04 -0400

After a dramatic point at Arsenal, two victories over Liverpool, and an unbeaten start of five games, Spurs fans could be forgiven for entertaining notions of a top-half finish as Harry Redknapp’s arrival has galvanized the entire club and vanquished memories of its worst-ever start.

Four months later, however, the Spurs remain embroiled at the wrong end of the table. Until the recent victory at Hull, dire away form had stalled the Spurs’ ascent from the mire.

Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. An emphatic victory on Wednesday, securing the club’s first back-to-back league victories since November, lifted Spurs to 12th and suddenly a top-half finish appears achievable. Yesterday’s draw at the Stadium of Light consolidated this position.

Despite being unbeaten in four matches now, survival is not yet guaranteed. As many as twelve teams remain vulnerable to the drop, an unprecedented number at this stage of the season.

Close to mid-level security, Spurs have demonstrated how a minor run of positive results can hugely impact the composition of the table. With the possible exception of West Brom, anybody capable of stringing two or three decent results could make similar progress.

For Tottenham, home form alone should ensure their safety. In particular, home games against Newcastle, West Brom, and Manchester City look winnable. Everton are the only team to have emerged from White Hart Lane with three points since Redknapp took over. And it is not unreasonable to expect points from the visits of West Ham and Chelsea.

Frustratingly, the team is a different proposition on the road. Performances away from home have often been poor, and a recent run of league defeats at Newcastle, West Brom, Wigan, and Bolton do not inspire confidence for the weeks ahead. Spurs must visit Villa Park, Old Trafford, and Goodison before their season concludes at Anfield.

Yesterday’s point, and a decent performance to boot, was encouraging, but the disparity between home and away form remains. Ultimate survival will be achieved but the ride may not be a comfortable one.

On a more positive note, Spurs, unlike the ailing economy, are beginning to show the encouraging green shoots of recovery. With new additions Keane and Palacious already making a tangible impact, Lennon and Modric are also reaching top form.

Less celebrated has been the improvement of the Tottenham back four. Spurs have kept nine clean sheets under Redknapp and only the top three have conceded fewer goals at home. Michael Dawson, in particular, has enjoyed a renaissance in form.

Yesterday’s game will have underlined this collective improvement. Sunderland, like Spurs and Blackburn, has also benefited from a change in management and appear to be a good bet to avoid relegation. The result will have satisfied both teams.

Sunderland’s North East rivals are not faring quite so well. Both appear to be in disarray and are urgently in need of a change in fortune. Middlesbrough’s thrashing at White Hart Lane this week will surely have dashed any brittle confidence taken from the defeat of Liverpool. In contrast, Newcastle, with the irascible Kinnear sidelined indefinitely, appear rudderless.

Portsmouth, under Adams, seemed to be in free fall but Hart seems to have steadied the ship. Hull’s unlikely mid-week win at Wigan slammed the brakes on their own alarming descent but it remains to be seen whether they have the strength in depth to survive.

Stoke, by contrast, appears to be getting stronger. Their home form has been fantastic and shows no signs of abating. West Brom, the third of the promoted clubs, are the one side who will struggle to keep the door ajar going into the final games in May.

Ultimately, such is the taut makeup of the lower half of the table that nobody, Spurs included, are "safe" at this point in time.

Managers and pundits alike are debating the points threshold needed to secure safety. Redknapp has his sights fixed on forty points. Others, the BBC’s Final Score team included, suggest that as few as 37 may be sufficient.

Less up for debate is that this year’s relegation battle is going to be like no other. Unless a dramatic fault line appears in the next two or three weekends, isolating the likes of Middlesbrough and Newcastle in the bottom three, it is feasible that up to seven or eight teams could enter the final weekend in danger.

It is unlikely that Spurs will be one of those sides. If they can make scoring, as opposed to conceding, late goals a habit, then reaching forty points should be straightforward. Hopes of a top-half finish remain alive.

This Article also features on The English Football Post

The Carling Cup Final: A Foregone Conclusion?

Jordan Lister — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:21:20 -0500

On Sunday, Manchester United stand in the way of Tottenham Hotspur retaining the Carling Cup. It looks a formidable task for a Spurs side flirting with relegation and stretched in the midst of a six-game spell, taking place within 17 days.

Of course, Manchester United have their own distractions as they seek to retain their own, rather more glorious trophies. Yet it is difficult to perceive anything other than a United victory

Manchester United's form of late has been simply irresistible. Spurs' form, by contrast, has been stuttering. Victory at Hull will have restored some confidence in the Tottenham ranks but it will be a stern mental test to see if this can be carried through to Sunday’s final.

United’s strong display against Inter Milan on Tuesday, though not yielding the goal that their first half performance richly deserved, will have done little to boost the Tottenham players’ collective morale.

While United wind down from a physical encounter at the San Siro and begin their preparations for Sunday, Spurs await the visit of Shakhtar Donetsk.

To put it mildly, the tie is considered a nuisance. Redknapp has been vocal in bemoaning the club’s fixture pile up and will almost certainly rest his entire starting eleven for Thursday night’s game. Nevertheless, that preparations for Sunday will have been interrupted is indisputable.

It is often suggested that form goes out the window for one-off cup ties. To some extent, this was proved in last year's final. However, Spurs' form was neither so dire nor Chelsea's so invincible and the gulf between this year’s finalists appears considerably greater.

Form definitely dictated events in the two clubs’ recent FA Cup fourth-round tie. Despite taking an unexpected lead, Spurs were easily beaten. Although United only prevailed by the one goal, Spurs never looked like forcing an equalizer and the second half was a non-event.

Of course, home advantage may have skewed things on this occasion and Wembley could provide a more level playing field.

Well, in theory at least. The Wembley pitch, larger than average, provides for width and pace—two things that United have in abundance. Spurs, by contrast, are desperately lacking in both, with Aaron Lennon the only notable exception.

In truth, Spurs best hope of causing an upset may well depend on the side fielded by Alex Ferguson.

For while Tottenham will undoubtedly be at full strength, Ferguson has suggested that some of his younger players will get an opportunity—the likes of Gibson, Wellback and Evans, all of whom have featured this season.

There are two important caveats to this possible outcome.

First, though young and relatively inexperienced, these are extremely good footballers, demonstrated by their growing prominence within United’s first team squad. Evans, in particular, has looked at home in the starting 11.

Second, Ferguson will name a strong squad and any players rested will likely be waiting in the wings should the game not be going United’s way. Rooney, starting from the bench on Tuesday, is almost certain to feature, perhaps from the start.

A glance at recent finalists suggests that the Carling Cup has regained a degree of eminence. Still the poor relation, domestically (the Community Shield aside), the bigger clubs have at least shown an increased desire to progress in the competition, if for no other reason than to extend competitive match experience to fledgling squad members.

For Spurs, this season as much as last, the competition is everything. With only survival (he says, nonchalantly) to play for in the league and a mountain to climb in the Uefa Cup, Sunday marks Spurs only real opportunity of providing some gloss to an otherwise dreadful season and, more important—particularly in terms of personnel—to secure continued involvement in European football.

At Old Trafford, the stakes are less high though fans and players alike will surely have one eye on the ultimate achievement—the ‘Quadruple.’

The Spurs dressing room will doubtless be looking to last year’s excellent victory in the coming days, as they seek the belief that they can push United all the way. Football is a funny old game, after all.

I for one hope it is in very good humour come Sunday.

Robbie Keane is Re-Earning His Spurs

Jordan Lister — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:48:49 -0500

There is no escaping it. Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer policy this January was confused. Time will tell if Redknapp’s interesting choice of signings prove inspired or spectacularly lacking in imagination. For now, we must fidget (Spurs fans mostly) in the knowledge that it raised far more questions than it answered.

A Spurs fan myself, I viewed the final day capture of Robbie Keane as the highlight of the new (or invariably not) arrivals. The other outfield acquisitions were simply ok. I for one—and I may be alone in this conclusion—perceived the re-signing of Defoe as a backwards step.

To put it bluntly, it was no coincidence that while Keane and Berbatov secured moves to bigger and better clubs, Defoe managed only to move sideways. The return of Chimbonda, too, did little to quicken the pulse although I would concede that he is likely to bring some versatility to a struggling back four. Palacious was a more exciting purchase but at £14m appears unproven and a risk.

Keane, by contrast, possesses a three dimensional game, the ability to thrill and, at a net gain of somewhere in the region of £6million, extraordinary value for money. Just how it came to be that he was permitted to make such a sensational return after just six months is yet to be fully understood.

Keane’s time at Liverpool, barely underway, was ended prematurely. In part, this was on account of Keane’s inability to rediscover the outstanding form that had underwritten his transfer fee. Yet, I would suggest that this tells but half of the story and that the full rationale behind Keane’s exit lies beyond the pale of his ability as a player. A more likely explanation can be found in the ongoing saga of Rafa Benitez’s fractious relationship with the club’s owners and Board.

It was reported earlier this week that Benitez is finally close to signing a new deal. In truth, the bedrock of a deal appears to have been in place for some time; the key sticking point in the negotiations has been around the Spaniard’s insistence that his office exerts greater control over the club’s transfer policy.

Challenging the extent to which this was the case, Benitez has conceded he asked for the power to make his “own decisions and run the team as I see fit.” Against this backdrop, Keane appears to have been made a pawn in a subtle yet ruthless power struggle.

Given the vast transfer fee involved, it is highly unlikely that Benitez strongly opposed the signing of Keane in the summer. Whether or not this was a player Benitez actively pursued behind closed doors is unknown but Keane featured heavily for Liverpool in the beginning of the season, suggesting that he had his manager’s support.

Indeed, Benitez appeared to retain faith in the player towards the end of the year and was rewarded with Keane’s spectacular goal at The Emirates, followed swiftly by a further two goals against Bolton on Boxing Day.

It was strange, then, that within barely a fortnight of this potential breakthrough in form, Keane suddenly found himself surplus to requirements and unable to force his way into a side struggling for goals.

Benitez’s decision to freeze Keane out of the first team in the second half of January invited Spurs to make a move. Moreover, coming as it did during the transfer window, this mini exile sent a clear message to his Board—that Benitez would not indulge players who were not his own. Aware of his strong hand, particularly with the Real Madrid job due to become open in the summer, Benitez prevailed and Keane was on his way.

Of course, to reduce Keane’s doomed spell solely to Benitez’s pursuit of power is unrepresentative. Keane had, by and large, struggled for form all season and was undoubtedly lacking in confidence. Plus, Keane did make 25 appearances in a red shirt—he was not starved of opportunities to prove himself.

Ultimately, however, it is difficult to balance these facts with the sheer speed with which Keane was dispatched, Benitez displaying a calculating pragmatism once the transfer window had come around, all of a sudden choking off Keane’s opportunities to fight for his survival.

Naturally, Keane’s departure, coming as quickly as it did, raises the question of whether Keane has what it takes to play for a top four club. Alan Hansen, backing Benitez’s decision and never one to mince his words, was damning in his analysis of Keane’s brief stay, stating “the simple truth of the matter is that the lad came to Liverpool and didn’t play well.”

A not wholly unreasonable view but does Keane’s uncontested loss of form preclude him from being able to ply his trade at the very highest level? Implicit in his comment that “six months is not a long time to settle into a new club but that’s modern day football for you” was Hansen’s take: if he was good enough, Keane would have settled more readily.

Mark Lawrenson, another former Red, holds a similar view. Just this afternoon, as Liverpool trailed 1-0 to Manchester City, Lawrenson said that the decision to sell Keane was the correct one. Instead, Benitez’s mistake was to not line up a replacement to support Liverpool’s title push. If today’s result and performance is anything to go by, it will likely be this aspect of the transfer that lingers the longest.

Whichever side of the fence you come down on, what few would dispute is that Keane will not get another stab at the so-called big time unless the opportunity arises at White Hart Lane. An unlikely prospect given the past 18 months and, let us not forget, the catalyst for this failed transfer in the first place.

Keane’s exit from the Lane in the summer underlined Tottenham’s inability to challenge the top four. Having come so close to a breakthrough in 2005, Spurs seemed to be closing the gap only on those clubs below them. The extraordinary demise of Ramos, after such a promising start, was well under way by the time Liverpool came calling and, at 28 years of age, Keane’s decision to leave was the correct one.

For Spurs fans, seething from the departure of Sol Campbell in perpetuity, the loss of a prized asset to a bigger club is always a bitter bill to swallow. Yet, with Keane, I would hazard a guess that for every dissenter, there was a well wisher.

For six and a half years Keane was unstinting in his commitment to the club and, having blossomed and matured as a footballer in the second half of this spell, had earned the right to pursue the silverware that is won in May, not March.

This is a roundabout way of saying that Keane was welcomed back to the club with open arms. Keane has an irrepressible aura about him, a mischievous sparkle behind the eyes. Redknapp was keen to impress as much on anyone who would listen, asserting that Keane had breathed new life into his flailing squad and raised everyone’s spirits—an impact that surely crystallized his decision to make Keane club captain.

As for the fans, the hero’s welcome afforded Keane as he took to the pitch against Arsenal spoke volumes.

Keane will be eager to rebuild his reputation after his doomed spell at Anfield and could take a big step tomorrow night, as Spurs travel to Hull desperately in need of three points. While Liverpool’s lack of fire power will be making the headlines in the morning, here’s hoping that Keane’s very own could be writing them come the evening.

Ryan Giggs: A Living Legend

Jordan Lister — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:17:33 -0500

Like many of my generation, I was brought into football fanhood on the coat tails of the launch of the Premier League. Through a selection process that I struggle to recall with great clarity, I was a Tottenham Hotspur fan. [i]

It is was a sign of things to come that one of my earliest memories as a fan was seeing the league table for the first time, with Spurs languishing in the bottom three after a wobbly start to that inaugural season.

A happier memory from that time was the discovery of Match of the Day. Slave though I was to my parents remembering to press the record button, it quickly became a highlight of the week and none more so than on that last Saturday of each month when the goal of the month competition was aired.

A highlight to be savoured and reenacted the following week, I still recall the Lightning Seeds theme tune. Any football aficionado old enough to recall the year will surely recall a particular gem from those embryonic Premier League days …

Winning the ball halfway in the opposition’s half, accelerating from the midfield with ease, playing possibly the most audacious nutmeg I have ever seen, rounding the keeper and finally slotting home from an angle that would have been the undoing of many, Ryan Giggs’ sublime strike on Sept. 19, 1992, was a profound marker laid by an incredible talent.[ii]

Giggs had, by this time, already established himself in Manchester United’s starting eleven. A prominent member of the side that finished second to Leeds the previous season, the teenage Welshman had been named PFA Young Player of the year.

Yet it was the thrilling nature of this goal, as the new season gathered pace, that hinted at the unique career Giggs would go on to enjoy.

And what a career it has been. Last weekend, Ryan Giggs scored his first league goal of the current season, making him the only player to have scored in each and every Premier League season to date.

Giggs also scored in both the 1990/91 (once, in just two appearances) and the aforementioned 1991/92 campaigns. As a result, should he manage to find the net in the league next year, he will hold the likely unassailable record of having scored in 20 consecutive top flight campaigns.

A distinct possibility, after his match winning contribution against West Ham was swiftly followed by the awarding of a further one year extension to his contract, a deal that will now expire just a few months shy of the player’s 37th birthday.

In some respects, Giggs’ fabulous career is not unprecedented. He is still 23 league games shy of surpassing Gary Speed’s record of 535 Premier League performances by an outfield player.

He is also not alone in having featured in all 17 Premier League seasons, joined in this regard by David James, Sol Campbell, and former team-mate Nicky Butt. Where Giggs comes into his own is in his loyalty and his medal cabinet.

The two are, of course, linked. Giggs was at the heart of the Manchester United team that stormed to that opening Premier League title, the club’s first championship in 26 years. Neither club nor player looked back.

Although Arsenal and Chelsea have both posed credible threats to United’s hegemony in recent years, both have been shrugged off and Giggs and co. look set to record the club's second series of three straight titles in a decade.

Giggs, as much a part of the club as he was 17 years ago, stands to collect his 11thwinner’s medal.

That is on top of four FA Cup and two Champions League wins. As if to underline Giggs’ individual contribution to these successes, he has been named in the PFA team of the year on seven occasions, including a recent entry in 2007.

There is, I think, a tangible link between loyalty and success. I racked my brain (briefly) to come up with a list of players who, while not necessarily as senior in years as Giggs, could be considered unusual in their loyalty to one club.

Focusing on the top flight, the names I came up with were as follows: John Terry, Paul Scholes, Ledley King, Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. This is, I am positive, not an exhaustive list (please do point to others I have missed, even if they do undermine my point!) but, I believe, an indicative one.

With the exception of Ledley King (in my eyes, a living legend also), each of these players has achieved considerable success. Not quite of the order of Giggs’ own, but up there with the very best of their generation, nonetheless.

King, the black sheep of the group, may well have been lured away from White Hart Lane had injuries not overcome his career of late.

Loyalty and success it would seem, mix well. That Giggs has been able to combine the two for quite so long, needs further consideration.

A key reason behind Giggs’ continued success has been his ability to recreate himself. No longer quite as fleet of foot and able to leave terrorised full backs for dead, Giggs has ceased to be a winger in the traditional sense.

Instead, he has become a versatile midfielder able to perform a number of roles. Manchester United’s recent dismantling of Chelsea is an excellent example.

His performance, lauded in many quarters, won him the man of the match award and triggered this short piece:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jan/14/rob-bagchi-ryan-giggs-manchester-united-chelsea

A gift that keeps giving. Indeed. Bagchi suggests that Giggs might have struck a peripheral figure of late but the fact that he has played a part in 17 of United’s 24 league games, as well as 4 of 6 Champions League fixtures, suggests otherwise.

Indeed, just the very act of giving Giggs such a key (not to mention unfamiliar) role in the Chelsea game, one of the key games of the season, demonstrates Ferguson’s unyielding faith in the player. Only the sheer fact of his age has likely precluded an even greater level of involvement.

Nor does this season represent an Indian summer for Giggs; he featured in 41 games across all competitions last season, including a record 759th appearance in a United shirt (albeit from the bench) in the Champion’s League Final, converting the penultimate spot kick as Anelka went on to miss.

The one black mark against Ryan Giggs’ illustrious career is his international record. Although he won a highly respectable 64 caps, scoring 12 goals along the way and captaining the side from 2004, Giggs never made an appearance in a top tier international competition, arguably the greatest player of the modern game to have never done so.

It was probably with mixed feelings then, that Giggs called it a day in 2007, perhaps frustrated that he had been unable to transport a measure of his club success to his national side.

Though Wales’ inability to qualify for major tournaments certainly contributed to this decision, it was likely reinforced by Giggs’ desire to prolong his career at Old Trafford.

Giggs, like any outfield player entering his mid-30s, is no longer able to play two games a week. Not only this, but in recent years his contribution is undoubtedly less tangible than it once was.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that is contribution is necessarily less than it was, though some will doubtless take this view, but that it is merely less visible.

For example, it is no coincidence that the majority of his finer goals, often combining pace, dazzling footwork, and a sumptuous left (and on occasion right) foot, came in the first phase of United’s domestic dominance.

In this way, his unforgettable goal against Arsenal in 1999 can be said, with the benefit of hindsight, to mark a turning point in the Welshman’s career. It perhaps brought to a close, symbolically at least, the eye catching part of his career.

In reality of course, the shift was not so black and white. But as Bagchi states, a series of injuries combined with perhaps an autumnal but mild malaise in form did signal a new chapter in Giggs’ career.

Increasingly, he took a more back seat role and let the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo, et al sweep the headlines as United briefly lost and then spectacularly regained the initiative over Chelsea.

But today, Giggs looks as far away as ever from becoming a peripheral squad player, as the recent Chelsea game demonstrated. If he does retire at the end of new deal, next summer, then he will do so from the very top.

Bagchi suggests that Giggs’ character, as much as his physical attributes, has contributed to his enduring success and he may be right.

More than anything, however, Giggs’ attitude...to the game, to his teammates, to his conduct off the pitch...should be held aloft as a shining beacon in murky waters. That Giggs has maintained this attitude in the face of such dizzying success, just adds to the legend.

As a final thought, I draw your attention to the link below to YouTube and a collection of Giggs’ best goals. The ease with which Giggs would leave a player trailing in his wake makes for mesmerising viewing; I defy you not to get goosebumps.

And his goal last weekend shows that, whilst he may no longer possess breathtaking speed and acceleration, he is still a wonderful talent befitting of a place in a title winning side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEAouJwTYlU

[i] I believe it was a combination of the 1991 FA Cup final. Lineker and Gasgoigne had both departed prior to the big kick off but up to that point were household names to latch upon, and a fellow 9-year-old who (incidentally, was always ahead of the curve in the fashion department) very kindly donated be a pair of ‘Spurs’ wristbands once he had moved on to pastures new (Manchester United...not without irony given where I am heading). Sweets may have changed hands.

[ii] This goal was scored at White Hart Lane, of all places, perhaps explaining why it is so etched in my memory. I am happy to report that Spurs came back to draw 1-1, as our season began to steadily improve after a slow start.