Sceptics had already doomed the tenure of Ancelotti at Chelsea
before he had even stepped off the plane for the simple reason that
he couldn't speak English. Many feared that the Italian's methods
would get lost in translation when it came to addressing the
players but they needn't have worried. Shortly after arriving in
London the former AC Milan boss gave an interview to Chelsea
TV in near-perfect English leaving the doom-mongers with egg
on their faces.
The Manchester United record breaker captained England
schoolboys in his youth, causing many people to believe he was
eligible to represent the Three Lions at senior level. Therefore,
there was mass confusion and bewilderment when Giggs apparently
chose Wales over England. But, in truth, there was never a decision
for the winger to make. Born and raised in Cardiff, Giggs moved to
Manchester at the age of five where he attended English schools -
explaining his inclusion in the England youth sides.
The 'King of Old Trafford' was assigned to the scrapheap by new
Manchester United boss Tommy Docherty when he was handed a free
transfer in the summer of 1973. Law subsequently signed for rivals
Manchester City and faced his former club at Old Trafford on the
final day of the season knowing that a win would consign United to
relegation to Division Two. Law ultimately scored the winner with a
divine back-heel but failed to celebrate thinking he had sent his
former club down. The truth is that United would have been
relegated regardless after results on the day went against
them.
The Italians have long been admired for their defensive
capabilities but over the years that same method - dubbed
'Catanccio' and made famous by the Inter Milan side of the 1960s -
has now helped label Serie A as a negative, boring league. Back in
the late 80s and early 90s Italy boasted some of the best attacking
talent in the world with Diego Maradona, George Weah and Roberto
Baggio just some of the stars who plied their trade in the Italian
top flight. Nowadays the cream of crop flock to the Premier League
or La Liga but is Serie A really that much more boring? According
to the facts no. Over the past three seasons Serie A has outscored
the Premier League twice, including this term when the English top
flight recorded a total of 860 goals compared to Italy's impressive
988 strikes.
The current Fifa World Player of the Year's talent has never
been in doubt but his critics state that he cannot belong to the
game's elite until he influences games on the biggest stage. Over
the past two seasons the Portuguese star has blown that theory out
of the water. Ronaldo helped United to UEFA Champions League glory
last season when he headed them into the lead against Chelsea,
while he also scored twice in this season's Champions League
semi-final second-leg against Arsenal to guide United to another
final appearance. The 24-year-old has scored against all of the
so-called 'big four' in the past two seasons, while last term he
finished as the top scorer in the Champions League with eight
goals.
The Dutch were hot favourites to lift the World Cup in West
Germany having knocked out Brazil with their brand of total
football. All that was left to do was defeat the hosts in the
final. A German newspaper then decided to spice up the build-up
when they paid female escorts to go to the hotel where the Dutch
stars were staying. Their photographer was duly on hand to snap the
action and report the breaking news, albeit without Holland's
involvement. The truth later came out that the startled Dutch
players had actually fled the pool area, where the girls found
them, as soon as the women arrived, but they couldn't extract
revenge on the German public as they lost the final 2-1.
So many times on FA Cup final day we see players going down with
cramp with the sheer size of the pitch churned out as an excuse.
Granted Wembley has always looked huge on our television screens
but in reality the opposite is correct. The new Wembley measures in
at 105 metres long and 68 metres wide and is smaller than 15 of the
20 Premier League pitches, but do you ever see players going down
with cramp every weekend? We thought not.
Despite the Premier League being one of the strongest leagues in
the world, not too many Brits seem to succeed abroad. Jimmy Greaves
and Denis Law were two players to first experience football on
foreign soil with AC Milan and Torino respectively, but both were
back home within a couple of months. Ian Rush was another to fall
short in Italy in the 1980s, later describing his switch to
Juventus as 'like moving to a different country'. Michael Owen and
Jonathan Woodgate have continued the failed trend over recent years
but the success of players such as John Charles at Juventus, David
Beckham at Real Madrid and AC Milan, Paul Lambert at Borussia
Dortmund and Matt Derbyshire at Olympiakos this season has surely
proved that British players can hold their own overseas.
Nowadays, Premier League managers can't go two weeks without
complaining about the number of games their teams have to play or
that a Christmas break should be introduced into the English game.
For years experts have been saying that our players at the top
level are playing too many games, minimising their team's chances
of success. But is it true? Of the top four teams Manchester United
played the most games, 66, and also won the most games following a
midweek fixture with 15 wins from 19 games. Chelsea claimed 14 wins
from 19, Liverpool 12 from 19 and Arsenal had the worst return with
11 wins from 21. Hardly poor records. United won the Premier
League, League Cup and reached the final of Champions League,
Chelsea won the FA Cup, Liverpool pushed United all the way in the
league and Arsenal reached the semi-finals of the Champions League
and the FA Cup. Poor seasons indeed.
There is a myth among football fans, especially those at the top
level, that if a player decides to leave a club he is not loyal.
Granted, there are players out there who would leave a club at the
drop of a hat or those that are simply motivated by money, but
surely all footballers can't be tarnished with the same brush?
Gareth Barry is the latest player to have his loyalty questioned
after his switch to Manchester City. However the midfielder has
given Villa more than 10 years of service. Surely that is loyal.
Frank Lampard is vilified by West Ham fans for leaving the club but
he still gave them five years of football. Shay Given was
criticised for leaving Newcastle to join City in January but he had
suffered in a poor team for more than 12 years. Perhaps we need to
redefine the term 'loyal' when used in football circles.
