I have never been really fond of Valencia's eagerness to fire managers and hire new ones as a way to success. Since Rafa Benitez in the 2003-2004 season Valencia has done little under a wide array of managers that have included Claudio Ranieri, Ronald Koeman and Unay Emery.
It was a surprise when the ex-Manchester United player Gary Neville was made new manager in December. With Neville never having coached a top team before, it certainly seemed a gamble, and personally I continue to be skeptical. There have been some awful results, from the elimination in the Champions League to the 0-7 humiliation by FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. And only now, more than two months since he took over, Gary Neville got his first victory when they defeated Espanyol 2-1 in la Liga.
Maybe this first victory, coming so late, will be the start of something good. I doubt it though. I fear that this first victory is just an exception under what I don't believe will be a good period for Valencia under Gary Neville.
I hope I am wrong.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
The Greatest Euro Matches: Spain-USSR (1964)
The 1964 European Championship again not have the participation of either Germany or Italy, although England entered, only to be eliminated in the first round of the knock-out round. The tournament had no seeding, which led to Denmark making it to the semifinals, after defeating Malta, Albania and Luxembourg. The latter had been the sensation of the tournament when they eliminated the Netherlands, and were only defeated 0-1 by Denmark in third re-match.
The final tournament was to take place in Spain, who four years before had withdrawn from the tournament when refusing the play the latter champions of the USSR. This time, the USSR, having defeated Italy and Sweden on the way, had come to Spain to defend their title, and started by crushing Denmark 3-0 and making it to the final. The Spanish home side had defeated Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to make it to the final four, where they met Hungary. It was only after a nerve-wrecking extra time that Spain scored the winner, and made it to the final.
At home in Madrid, with the Dictator General Francisco Franco watching with 80,000 other spectators, Spain would not forfeit.
The dominating force in Spanish football throughout the 1950 had been Real Madrid. Between 1956 the team had won all the European Cup titles and led by the legendary Alfredo di Stefano, it was surely the best team in the world. Di Stefano had played for Argentina, Colombia, and finally Spain, but had retired from national teams in 1961. In the team of 1964 there was only one Real Madrid player though, namely the right winger Amancio, who is still one of the legends of Real Madrid. Otherwise, the team was a good mixture of players from different teams: On goal Athletic Bilbao's Jose Iribar. In defense Atletico Madrid's Feliciano Rivillo along the team captain Ferran Olivella from FC Barcelona. On midfield another Barcelona man, Jesus Pereda, was one of the team's leading players. In attack two Zaragoza strikers, Marcelino and Carlos Lepetra were supplemented by the superb Inter Milan playmaker Luis Suarez, who in 1960 had won the Balon d'Or (the only Spaniard to have won it).
A solid and elegant team that would be facing the physically strong defending champions. On goal the USSR still had the greatest goalkeeper in the world, Lev Yashin. In defense the team had two of the best defenders in the world at the time, Torpedo Moscow's Valery Voronin and the legenday CSKA Moscow defender Albert Shesterynov. The team was captained by the veteran striker Valentina Ivanov from Torpedo Moscow, while in attack Viktor Ponedelnik, who had scored the winning goal in the 1960 final, supported Spartak Moscow's Galimzyan Khusainov and Alexey Korneev.
Spain had to win, and the team started with putting pressure on the Soviets. Only 6 minutes into the match a cross by Luis Suarez hit the leg of the Dynamo Moscow defender Edouard Mudrik and the ball landed at the feet of Pereda, who hammered the ball into the net. But the Spanish delight lasted only a couple of minutes when Khusainov received a perfect pass and slid the ball under Iribar, who looked a bit passive in the situation.
The match then became a tactical match where the technically superior Spaniards were trying in vain to open the strong Soviet defense, while not letting themselves be caught in the patient Soviet counterattacks. Shesterynov had many close encounters in his direct duel with Marcelino, one of the most interesting themes in an intense match.
Only in the 84th minutes did Spain get relief.
Pereda elegantly got around a Soviet defender on the right side and his cross went to Marcelino, who had gotten a meter away from Shesterynov. It was a difficult ball as it came down a bit behind him and low, but Marcelino elegantly got his head around and headed the ball hard and low towards the near post. To many it looked as if it had gone around the goal. But it was a beautiful goal enough to give Spain the title.
Due to the circumstances the title was not regarded highly by many pundits, and it remained Spain's only international title until they finally broke through to become a footballing superpower in 2008.
Madrid, 21st June 1964, Santiago Bernabeu
Attendance: 79,115
Refree: Arthur Edward Ellis, England
Spain-USSR 2-1
Spain: José Ángel Iribar; Feliciano Rivilla; Ferran Olivella (c), Isacio Calleja, Ignacio Zoco, Josep Maria Fusté, Amancio Amaro, Jesús María Pereda, Marcelino, Luis Suárez, Carlos Lapetra. Coach: Jose Villalonga
USSR: Lev Yashin; Valery Voronin, Albert Shesternyov, Eduard Mudrik, Viktor Shustikov, Viktor Ponedelnik, Igor Chislenko, Valentin Ivanov (c), Viktor Anichkin, Aleksei Korneev, Galimzyan Khusainov. Coach: Konstantin Beskov
Goals:
1-0 Pereda (6)
1-1 Khusainov (8)
2-1 Marcelino (84)
The final tournament was to take place in Spain, who four years before had withdrawn from the tournament when refusing the play the latter champions of the USSR. This time, the USSR, having defeated Italy and Sweden on the way, had come to Spain to defend their title, and started by crushing Denmark 3-0 and making it to the final. The Spanish home side had defeated Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to make it to the final four, where they met Hungary. It was only after a nerve-wrecking extra time that Spain scored the winner, and made it to the final.
At home in Madrid, with the Dictator General Francisco Franco watching with 80,000 other spectators, Spain would not forfeit.
The dominating force in Spanish football throughout the 1950 had been Real Madrid. Between 1956 the team had won all the European Cup titles and led by the legendary Alfredo di Stefano, it was surely the best team in the world. Di Stefano had played for Argentina, Colombia, and finally Spain, but had retired from national teams in 1961. In the team of 1964 there was only one Real Madrid player though, namely the right winger Amancio, who is still one of the legends of Real Madrid. Otherwise, the team was a good mixture of players from different teams: On goal Athletic Bilbao's Jose Iribar. In defense Atletico Madrid's Feliciano Rivillo along the team captain Ferran Olivella from FC Barcelona. On midfield another Barcelona man, Jesus Pereda, was one of the team's leading players. In attack two Zaragoza strikers, Marcelino and Carlos Lepetra were supplemented by the superb Inter Milan playmaker Luis Suarez, who in 1960 had won the Balon d'Or (the only Spaniard to have won it).
A solid and elegant team that would be facing the physically strong defending champions. On goal the USSR still had the greatest goalkeeper in the world, Lev Yashin. In defense the team had two of the best defenders in the world at the time, Torpedo Moscow's Valery Voronin and the legenday CSKA Moscow defender Albert Shesterynov. The team was captained by the veteran striker Valentina Ivanov from Torpedo Moscow, while in attack Viktor Ponedelnik, who had scored the winning goal in the 1960 final, supported Spartak Moscow's Galimzyan Khusainov and Alexey Korneev.
Spain had to win, and the team started with putting pressure on the Soviets. Only 6 minutes into the match a cross by Luis Suarez hit the leg of the Dynamo Moscow defender Edouard Mudrik and the ball landed at the feet of Pereda, who hammered the ball into the net. But the Spanish delight lasted only a couple of minutes when Khusainov received a perfect pass and slid the ball under Iribar, who looked a bit passive in the situation.
The match then became a tactical match where the technically superior Spaniards were trying in vain to open the strong Soviet defense, while not letting themselves be caught in the patient Soviet counterattacks. Shesterynov had many close encounters in his direct duel with Marcelino, one of the most interesting themes in an intense match.
Only in the 84th minutes did Spain get relief.
Pereda elegantly got around a Soviet defender on the right side and his cross went to Marcelino, who had gotten a meter away from Shesterynov. It was a difficult ball as it came down a bit behind him and low, but Marcelino elegantly got his head around and headed the ball hard and low towards the near post. To many it looked as if it had gone around the goal. But it was a beautiful goal enough to give Spain the title.
Due to the circumstances the title was not regarded highly by many pundits, and it remained Spain's only international title until they finally broke through to become a footballing superpower in 2008.
Madrid, 21st June 1964, Santiago Bernabeu
Attendance: 79,115
Refree: Arthur Edward Ellis, England
Spain-USSR 2-1
Spain: José Ángel Iribar; Feliciano Rivilla; Ferran Olivella (c), Isacio Calleja, Ignacio Zoco, Josep Maria Fusté, Amancio Amaro, Jesús María Pereda, Marcelino, Luis Suárez, Carlos Lapetra. Coach: Jose Villalonga
USSR: Lev Yashin; Valery Voronin, Albert Shesternyov, Eduard Mudrik, Viktor Shustikov, Viktor Ponedelnik, Igor Chislenko, Valentin Ivanov (c), Viktor Anichkin, Aleksei Korneev, Galimzyan Khusainov. Coach: Konstantin Beskov
Goals:
1-0 Pereda (6)
1-1 Khusainov (8)
2-1 Marcelino (84)
Monday, February 01, 2016
The Greatest Euro Matches: France-Yugoslavia (1960)
The idea for a European Cup of Nations was first proposed by Henri Delaunay in the 1930s, but only took form after he became Secretary General of UEFA in 1954. The tournament started in 1958 as a knock-out tournament with only limited interest, and only 17 teams signed up, among whom notable absences were England, Italy and West Germany. The tournament was to be played by home and away knock out matches until the semifinals, which were to take place in France, the home of Delaunay, who also gave name to the trophy.
The four teams that made it to the semifinals in France were the French hosts, Yugoslavia, USSR and Czechoslovakia. USSR got there controversially as they were to face Spain in the quarterfinals, but Spain, ruled by Francisco Franco, refused to play the Communist country, who advanced without a match.
But the first semi-final was to see France face Yugoslavia. France had without doubt high hopes after their side had thrilled the world in the 1958 World Cup, making it to third place, only defeated by the mighty Brazilians. However, their two biggest stars, Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa were not available to play. Instead of Kopa, France was captained by Lens' Maryan Wisnieski who in 1955 had been the youngest man ever to play for France. The veteran Jean Jaqcues Marcel was another important player of a team that in fact had no other returnees from the 1958 World Cup. Still, the French had high expectations to their team. To make it to the semifinals France had first dispatched Greece, and had then destroyed Austria 9-4 on aggregate.
Yugoslavia was nevertheless not to be underestimated. They surely had one of the strongest sides in the world at the time, which was seen only a few months later when they took gold in the Rome Olympics and two years later when they made it to the World Cup semifinals in Chile and had made it to the quarterfinals of the 1958 World Cup. The team that Yugoslavia brought to France had some very experienced players. The FK Partizan legend and Red Belgrade star, Branko Zebec was throughout the 1950s one of the world's best players, and was also captaining the side in Paris. In attack the Yugoslavs were powerful with a striking force of Milan Galic from FK Partizan and Drazen Jerkovic from Dynamo Zagreb. The left winger Borivoje “Bora” Kostic was also a prolific goalscorer, who today remains the most scoring player in the history of Red Star Belgrade.
To make it to the semifinals the Yugoslavians had eliminated Bulgaria and Portugal, and the match in Paris was to be a repeat of a match two years before, when Yugoslavia had defeated France 3-2 in the first round of their 1958 World Cup group.
But now France was at home and expectations were high.
Only 11 minutes into the match it was Milan Galic who brought the visitors ahead, but only one minute later the Stade de Reims striker Jean Vincent equalized for France. Both teams maintained their positions throughout the first half, but in the dying minutes the home player, from RC Paris, Francois Heutte, brought France ahead 2-1. France, wanting to force a result, continued attacking in the second half and things looked good when the captain, Wisnieski, brought France ahead 3-1.
Although the Hajduk Split defender Ante Zanetic soon scored a second for Yugoslavia, France continued attacking, and it all was going their way when Heutte scored his second and France's 4th 17 minutes into the second half.
The match could hardly change now, and France seemed content in front of their delighted spectators. But as often happens in football it all fell apart in five magical minutes for Yugoslavia. With 15 minutes to go. When Borislav Knez scored for Yugoslavia it seemed it gave Yugoslavia renewed belief in a good result, and only three minutes later Drazan Jerkovic scored the equalizer, and before the French could get over the shock, they went 4-5 down on another strike by Jerkovic.
France had ten minutes to recover, but never managed to against a Yugoslav side that fought with claws in the last minutes of the match. A disappointed France even went on to lose the match for third place 0-2 to Czechoslovakia. The next time France would again have a shot at a European final would be in 1984.
In the meantime, Yugoslavia were to face the USSR in the final, who had beaten Czechoslovakia 3-0 in the other semifinal. To this day the first match of the tournament remains the one with most goals scored in ordinary game time!
Paris, 6th July 1960, Parc de Princes
Attendance: 26,370
Referee: Gaston Grandain, Belgium
France-Yugoslavia 4-5
France: Georges Lamia, Jean Wendling, Robert Herbin, Bruno Rodzik, Jean-Jaques Marcel, Rene Ferrier, Michel Stievenard, Lucien Muller, Maryan Wisnieski (C), Francois Heutte, Jean Vincent. Coach: Albert Batteux
Yugoslavia: Milutin Soskic, Vladimir Djurkovic, Fahrundin Jusufi, Ante Zanetic, Tomislav Knez, Branko Zebec, Zeljko Perusic, Drazan Jerkovic, Milan Galic, Dragoslav Sekularac, Borivoje Kostic (c). Coaches: Tirnanic, Lovric and Nikolic
Goals:
0-1 Galic (11)
1-1 Vincent (12)
2-1 Heutte (43)
3-1 Wisnieski (53)
3-2 Zanetic (55)
4-2 Heutte (62)
4-3 Knez (75)
4-4 Jerkovic (78)
4-5 Jerkovic (79)
The four teams that made it to the semifinals in France were the French hosts, Yugoslavia, USSR and Czechoslovakia. USSR got there controversially as they were to face Spain in the quarterfinals, but Spain, ruled by Francisco Franco, refused to play the Communist country, who advanced without a match.
But the first semi-final was to see France face Yugoslavia. France had without doubt high hopes after their side had thrilled the world in the 1958 World Cup, making it to third place, only defeated by the mighty Brazilians. However, their two biggest stars, Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa were not available to play. Instead of Kopa, France was captained by Lens' Maryan Wisnieski who in 1955 had been the youngest man ever to play for France. The veteran Jean Jaqcues Marcel was another important player of a team that in fact had no other returnees from the 1958 World Cup. Still, the French had high expectations to their team. To make it to the semifinals France had first dispatched Greece, and had then destroyed Austria 9-4 on aggregate.
Yugoslavia was nevertheless not to be underestimated. They surely had one of the strongest sides in the world at the time, which was seen only a few months later when they took gold in the Rome Olympics and two years later when they made it to the World Cup semifinals in Chile and had made it to the quarterfinals of the 1958 World Cup. The team that Yugoslavia brought to France had some very experienced players. The FK Partizan legend and Red Belgrade star, Branko Zebec was throughout the 1950s one of the world's best players, and was also captaining the side in Paris. In attack the Yugoslavs were powerful with a striking force of Milan Galic from FK Partizan and Drazen Jerkovic from Dynamo Zagreb. The left winger Borivoje “Bora” Kostic was also a prolific goalscorer, who today remains the most scoring player in the history of Red Star Belgrade.
To make it to the semifinals the Yugoslavians had eliminated Bulgaria and Portugal, and the match in Paris was to be a repeat of a match two years before, when Yugoslavia had defeated France 3-2 in the first round of their 1958 World Cup group.
But now France was at home and expectations were high.
Only 11 minutes into the match it was Milan Galic who brought the visitors ahead, but only one minute later the Stade de Reims striker Jean Vincent equalized for France. Both teams maintained their positions throughout the first half, but in the dying minutes the home player, from RC Paris, Francois Heutte, brought France ahead 2-1. France, wanting to force a result, continued attacking in the second half and things looked good when the captain, Wisnieski, brought France ahead 3-1.
Although the Hajduk Split defender Ante Zanetic soon scored a second for Yugoslavia, France continued attacking, and it all was going their way when Heutte scored his second and France's 4th 17 minutes into the second half.
The match could hardly change now, and France seemed content in front of their delighted spectators. But as often happens in football it all fell apart in five magical minutes for Yugoslavia. With 15 minutes to go. When Borislav Knez scored for Yugoslavia it seemed it gave Yugoslavia renewed belief in a good result, and only three minutes later Drazan Jerkovic scored the equalizer, and before the French could get over the shock, they went 4-5 down on another strike by Jerkovic.
France had ten minutes to recover, but never managed to against a Yugoslav side that fought with claws in the last minutes of the match. A disappointed France even went on to lose the match for third place 0-2 to Czechoslovakia. The next time France would again have a shot at a European final would be in 1984.
In the meantime, Yugoslavia were to face the USSR in the final, who had beaten Czechoslovakia 3-0 in the other semifinal. To this day the first match of the tournament remains the one with most goals scored in ordinary game time!
Paris, 6th July 1960, Parc de Princes
Attendance: 26,370
Referee: Gaston Grandain, Belgium
France-Yugoslavia 4-5
France: Georges Lamia, Jean Wendling, Robert Herbin, Bruno Rodzik, Jean-Jaques Marcel, Rene Ferrier, Michel Stievenard, Lucien Muller, Maryan Wisnieski (C), Francois Heutte, Jean Vincent. Coach: Albert Batteux
Yugoslavia: Milutin Soskic, Vladimir Djurkovic, Fahrundin Jusufi, Ante Zanetic, Tomislav Knez, Branko Zebec, Zeljko Perusic, Drazan Jerkovic, Milan Galic, Dragoslav Sekularac, Borivoje Kostic (c). Coaches: Tirnanic, Lovric and Nikolic
Goals:
0-1 Galic (11)
1-1 Vincent (12)
2-1 Heutte (43)
3-1 Wisnieski (53)
3-2 Zanetic (55)
4-2 Heutte (62)
4-3 Knez (75)
4-4 Jerkovic (78)
4-5 Jerkovic (79)
Sunday, January 31, 2016
The Greatest Matches of the European Championships
The Euro 2016 will take place in France this summer, and as a countdown to the tournament I will do something that I did as a countdown to the 2010 World Cup, when I wrote about the 50 greatest matches in World Cup History.
This being a younger tournament (it started in 1960, and the first tournament was, as this one in 2016, hosted in France) it will "only" be the 23 best matches, and I will start tomorrow with the very first match, France-Yugoslavia, in 1960.
The series will continue until the tournament starts in France in June, so be sure to tune in and learn about the legends of the European Championships!!!
This being a younger tournament (it started in 1960, and the first tournament was, as this one in 2016, hosted in France) it will "only" be the 23 best matches, and I will start tomorrow with the very first match, France-Yugoslavia, in 1960.
The series will continue until the tournament starts in France in June, so be sure to tune in and learn about the legends of the European Championships!!!
Monday, January 25, 2016
Can Leicester win?
It seemed the most unlikely thing when the league started; a curiosity by December; and there are still many who say that it will not happen (among them, many from Leicester itself). But it is about time that the unlikely, or impossible, must be contemplated seriously: Can Leicester win the Premier League?
They are currently three points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, so most definitely we must admit that the possibility is there; it is not impossible. Not least because in the struggle for Champions League places and in the most competitive league in the world teams that seem to (still) be the main favourites for the title, most notably Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United (and here I am not even going to bother mentioning the defending champions of Chelsea, who will not even make European football), continue to stumble against each other and against other competitive teams that are competing for Europe, such as West Ham, Tottenham and Southampton. And it is against these that Leicester should be compared: a small, yes, but highly competitive team with an experienced coach in Claudio Ranieri (although I do not like him myself) and a good collective group of players that have hit the best form in their lives at the exact time when other larger teams are struggling with stability and injuries.
If Leicester wins the Premier League it is because of stability in its form and results, as well as the fact that they can play without nerves, while everyone else is playing against the ghosts of expectations. Even if Leicester ends in third or fourth place, their season will have been considered a success.
The next three matches will probably define if Leicester is indeed the serious candidate for the title that still eludes expectations: they will face Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. If Leicester is still leading the Premier League after these three matches, the answer to the question if Leicester can win must be a resounding Yes.
They are currently three points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, so most definitely we must admit that the possibility is there; it is not impossible. Not least because in the struggle for Champions League places and in the most competitive league in the world teams that seem to (still) be the main favourites for the title, most notably Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United (and here I am not even going to bother mentioning the defending champions of Chelsea, who will not even make European football), continue to stumble against each other and against other competitive teams that are competing for Europe, such as West Ham, Tottenham and Southampton. And it is against these that Leicester should be compared: a small, yes, but highly competitive team with an experienced coach in Claudio Ranieri (although I do not like him myself) and a good collective group of players that have hit the best form in their lives at the exact time when other larger teams are struggling with stability and injuries.
If Leicester wins the Premier League it is because of stability in its form and results, as well as the fact that they can play without nerves, while everyone else is playing against the ghosts of expectations. Even if Leicester ends in third or fourth place, their season will have been considered a success.
The next three matches will probably define if Leicester is indeed the serious candidate for the title that still eludes expectations: they will face Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. If Leicester is still leading the Premier League after these three matches, the answer to the question if Leicester can win must be a resounding Yes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)