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Are Liverpool The Sexiest Club In England?
Your recent article on the attractions of the overseas 'sexy big four' has got me wondering that if Liverpool hold on to Alonso and Mascherano, does this make them the sexiest club of the English elite?
Glen Johnson. A young, improving inchoate England international has been drawn to the gates of Anfield rather than a return to (probably higher paying) Chelsea or (definitely higher paying) City.
Liverpool are not commonly considered to play sexy football like Arsenal, though Fabregas surely somewhat deflated his club's aura this week when he claimed them impotent. Ronaldo has also condemned Utd to a similar fate with his consistent courting of Madrid - as if Real accustom him to Hilton's rather than an M62 travel-lodge.
So if Liverpool keep hold of the best centre-midfield partnership in the world, and succeed in capturing (I'd be so happy) Villa or Silva, I reckon this makes them the new big-bollocks of the league.
(At the end of the season I rather wanted Liverpool to sign Barry as a utility man who could cover basically the whole left-side and the holes left by the performances of Lucas - but why didn't we chase him this year? Benitez didn't think he was sexy enough, simple as. And to be fair, i think 'Gareth. Barry.' is the least sexy name possible.)
Phil (Tony Orlando) Hayes.
(if someone has already raised this issue i apologise for my laziness in not scrolling through all the comments that follow your article.)
What Makes A Diehard?
I don't really get the basis for all this anti-american stuff, and redefinition of what a 'diehard' fan truly is. Judging by comments made, you only have the god-given right of being a diehard fan if you're from the place. I'm Irish, and of course do not have the oppurtunity to go over to go see my beloved Man U as much as 'diehard' local boys. It would be one thing if the lads kicking the ball around were from your local estate, that you know these people in and out. You're one with football club. But we all know that's a load of old twaddle. We bemoan the departure of an Argentinian who lived in England for three years. The fans loved him. He gave his all, and that kept you happy. But if we talk about Americans (Argentinians, Spaniards whoever), who are supporters of an English club, people who skip work, stay up all night to watch a match. They're not diehard? I myself eat, sleep and sh** United. I've gone to see them a few times, immersed myself in the history of the club. I know the club, I watch the team, I admire its players. So just because I'm plighted with not being from the place I can't be a diehard fan?
I'm sure these lads who you say aren't diehard fans, would avail of any oppurtunity to go support their team from the stands as opposed to in front of a TV screen. A diehard fan is someone who is commited to the club, not someone who is from its locality.
Also, the USA were excellent and deserved what they got. They proved themselves on the pitch so let them have their glory.
James (Bruce Willis) Cogley
England: The New Liverpool?
Now that all pundits, and many mailboxers, are claiming that England have nothing to fear after performances at the Confederations Cup.... Could next year really be their year? It's going to be doubly tough for any scousers that believe that to be the case!!
Danny (I'll be happy enough if we qualify), Belfast
Agreeing With Sepp
The Premier League has already effectively killed off the other three professional divisions in England and long gone are the days when a promoted team might go on to win the league in their first, second or third - assuming they even last that long in the Prem - year.
It's not often I agree with Sepp Blatter but I think he has a point about the spending of English clubs having a negative effect on European - and ultimately world - football. It's already done for English football.
Mort Snort
And Stoke, Bolton And Blackburn Are Supposed To Be Good, Yes?
Just on the whole "Sexiness of the PL" issue brought up by Sarah's article, I can't help but wonder if one of the biggest points is being missed. I will gladly hold my hands up and say I rarely watch any continental leagues these days, so stand to be corrected on the below, but am going on what has been stated in the past by a variety of players and pundits.
Surely one of the biggest reasons that players don't fancy our beloved Premier League is because of the pace and physicality of it? How many Spanish and/or Italian equivalents of Bolton, Stoke & Blackburn are there? Ronaldo has constantly moaned about being kicked and generally not treated like finest wedgewood china, as have a few others, and there seems to be a lot more acceptance of flair players being built of pipe cleaners in the continental league. Back in the good old days when I could watch Serie A football every sunday afternoon on terrestrial, I was often bemused by the amount of fouls awarded, and general protection given to 'dainty' players, by referees.
Players who grow with the league and become world class, as Sarah mentions, would grow and mature within our game, and hence become naturalised with that physical requirement and tempo. Perhaps Veron, as the mentioned exception, failed miserably because he could not relax on the ball and stroke it about as well as he did for Lazio? I think another point should be made with Shevchenko. To call him 'long since peaked' is to miss the point. He left Milan aged 29/30, by no means too old, and had scored 19 goals in 27 games in that last Serie A season. He was still a world class player, and I reckon if he'd stayed at Milan he would've stayed that way for another two seasons at least. He just didn't cut it in the premier league, his confidence went, he can't get it back and his career has been ruined largely as a result.
To the batmobile, I mean point...perhaps Villa, Ribery, Kaka and company just don't fancy the risk? History shows that if they do move to the premier league, they may just struggle. They may be brilliant, but if they do struggle and lose their confidence, they are no longer world class players.
I agree with the basic statements about food, weather, glamour and so forth, but I'd like to think there's such stronger reasons for not wanting to move to our shores.
To put a positive spin on it, hopefully young players will see the likes of Fabregas, Lampard, Gerrad, Torres and Ronaldo and realise that the premier league is a superb place to learn the trade, and possibly the ultimate proving ground.
Adam (Whatever happened to people naming a 'world's best' squad of 23 players?), Gooner
A Stout Defence Of Celtic
It is with some despair I write in reply to a letter published by Tony from London, which claimed that Celtic are a small club with no attraction outside of Scotland.
I would like to start with pointing out fact that Celtic are the first British club to have ever won the European Cup (in the proper, pre CL, knock-out days mind!) with a team comprised fully of home-grown players. Now compare that to wanna-be European giants Chelsea, whom with a plethora of nationalities are still trying in vain to win the (possibly) easier version of the European Cup in the Champions League format for their first time...ever. Celtic also have 42 league championships, which is no mean feat. Also, they have recently become one of the teams that people expect to see in the Champions League year-in, year-out and making some decent progress at times through the group stages.
Also if they had no attraction outside of Scotland, how come they've had such quality foreign players such as Henrik Larsson, Nakamura and Boruc to name a few in their recent ranks?
True after the Old-Firm there would be a significant lack of quality in the Scottish Premier league, but to call either side a little club, is just the sort of 'post-Sky-big four-the-Premier-League-is-the-best-league-ever-bar-none' ignorance that seems to be growing throughout the modern day fan base. To then finish the e-mail with the ludicrous assumption that if the Old-Firm played in the Premier League (which they won't, as then Scottish football will have lost it's two main established pillars of their league and could compromise their national league's integrity), that they would be on a par with two of the three team relegated last season is just silly, as no-one could predict what would happen if they did play. Yes the Old-Firm could be relegated, but they could also finish strongly in the top half, beat the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Utd on their day. Everyone has an opinion, but let's have some realism here, these teams posses squads of international class players, it'd be extremely naïve to think of them as automatic relegation fodder, personally I'd picture them as mid-level secure teams, with the odd moment of brilliance...but that's just my opinion.
No I am not a Celtic supporter, nor do I follow the SPL, however, I would not dare to deride such clubs as 'little teams', especially when they have a historical pedigree that'd put a lot of Premier League clubs well and truly to shame.
Chris (still geographically challenged in the North), AFC
Johnny; Naive
I have to say I have no problems with the USA footballers or their team - I have always thought the Americans that have played over here have been welcome additions to our leagues.
I'm a Spurs fan (who incidentally fully agrees with the recent letter about the North London power shift, COYS! ho ho), and apart from being a decent player, Kasey Keller always seemed like a thoroughly nice bloke, and when he left us I certainly wished him all the best.
But I just cannot fully support the USA team because of my views about their gorvernment.
That's a monkey on their back that they will struggle to shake off world-wide I'm afraid.
This isn't the site for political debate, but to just accuse the European masses of disliking the USA team because we are Euro snobs is naive.
I love American music, authors and artists, I am definitely not some 'knee-jerk' anti-American luddite, but it is hard for me to sing the praises of the USA because of their governments actions throughout the world...something I'm sure that Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips would understand, not to mention the great Hunter S Thompson, how patiotic was he? Yet he despised those in power with an acerbic vitriol few of us could muster.
Anyway, what I am trying to illustrate here, albeit in a clunky way, is that I think many people have complex and contradictary feelings about the USA - loved Captain America as a child/have real issues with Rumsfeld et al.
But good luck to them, I hope the tide is turning, the team certainly deserve it as they are a growing force to be reckoned with!
Paul, Builth Wells
PS I understand if this doen't get published because a) it's bunk, and b) it may start an unwanted debate.
It's Going To Be A Disaster
I am currently in South Africa for the Lions tour (yes you can be a football fan and still like rugby) and have a stark warning to everyone considering coming out for the World Cup next year.... it's going to be a disaster!
Putting aside the fact you cant walk down the street after dark in other city bar Cape Town, dark being after 5.15 I might add, there are no where near enough taxis or hostels/hotels to cope with 25,000 lions fans... think about 500,000 football fans. Also there is no public transport of any kind and the stadiums take ages to get in to- loftus on Saturday took half an hour queuing 45 minutes before the game! Anway enjoy it if you come out but dont expect an easy time!
Will O'Brien
It'll Be Great In Seth Efrica
I wonder if Steve H from this morning's mailbox is a Liverpool and England fan. It's the 1st of "this could be our year" emails I have seen from an England fan, but his logic is completely floored I'm afraid:
Firstly, the weather - it totally depends on where you get located. If England get located where they played the rugby on Saturday in Pretoria at altitude and bloody warm, we won't cope and our inability to keep the ball when we're a bit knackered will get exposed yet again.
Secondly, the pitches - what planet are you on with this logic that England will adapt better to crap pitches than other teams. The Premier League has pitches like billiard tables, but if you watch any football from South America and Africa you will see that their pitches are in fact absolutely abysmal. Far from it being an advantage to us, I would see this as a major reason we won't win it.
Why can't people just accept we have a decent ish team that given a fair crack of the whip with injuries is a last eight side who may be able to spring a shock or 2. It's still a year away and we need everybody fully fit to even manage that.
Tim (not a pessimist but a realist) Collins
...Having just returned after spending the last couple of years living in Cape Town, I think the negativity surrounding South Africa's staging of the World Cup is a real shame. It's also a bit unfair to judge how things will be next year by the recent Confederations Cup. For one, stadiums were not as full as few travelling supporters will have bothered flying out like they will for the World Cup and the locals in general can't afford it.
But I really think that it will be fantastic spectacle next year. South Africa is a beautiful country and one of the best tourist destinations in the world. It has a great history of hosting sporting occasions with the current Lions Tour and the recent IPL Twenty Cricket fine examples. The food is amazing, the scenery fantastic and the people are wonderful. It will be an incredible carnival atmosphere and it will bring the highest level of football to a new and less privileged audience.
The weather will be cooler so that will provide a more level playing field but I have to disagree that England will suddenly be favourites. Just because England can't cope in the heat doesn't mean nations from a warmer climate can't cope in the cold. And we're not talking that cold anyway.
There will be issues to be resolved, such as bettter transport and security but I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise we may as well just grant it to Spain, England, USA etc for every tournament but that's not really the idea of a World Cup. The stadiums will be finished and I don't think anyone will see a finer location for a football stadium than Green Point Stadium, it's sat at the foot of Table Mountain by the Atlantic Ocean. Check it out an Wiki.
So I would say that those who are considerin going, go! Don't expect it to be like Europe, things won't be as reliable but relax, have patience and soak up the atmosphere. It's going to be one hell of a tournament.
Mark Holleran, LFC
Footballers Aren't Perfect, But At Least...
I was glad to see South Africa's oh-so-brave gougers getting mention in Mediawatch. It also made me think... next time a rugby fan goes on about the discipline of rugby players and how poorly behaved footballers are on the pitch, ask them when they last saw one football deliberately try to blind another (who is half his size too). And then ponder on - in the unlikely event of this happening - whether the footballer in question would get more than a paltry two-month ban.
Football may not be perfect, but don't let anyone try to make out that there is a sport in existence that is.
Richard Gardham
Hybrid
Further to Andrew (Gold Coast)'s letter, even better than a game of each code between Aussie Rules players and Premier League footballers, how about a hybrid game? On the evidence of the cream of Australian Rules football having lost at home to a bunch of much smaller, amateur sportsmen from a country with a quarter of the population, in the International Rules series last year (a hybrid of Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football), I suspect they would struggle.
Paul F, LFC
Our Representatives Abroad
Just thinking about Andrew (Gold Coast)'s story of a proposed football / aussie rules crossover, maybe we could send Chris Morgan and Joey Barton to represent English football?
Just a thought...
Stephen, LFC
Vuvuzelas; It Could Be Worse
I was at the final last night and I saw there's a new kind of plastic horn being flogged at the stadiums. The sounds it makes; horrendous. Imagine a limp-wristed duck being strangled, it actually makes ears bleed. The vuvuzela may be annoying but at least it drowns out the sound of this new evil.
The football was wicked though.
Billy "can't friggin wait for 2010" Nomates
