The hypocrisy towards the Chinese Super League

Prior to the Chinese Super League making headlines the world over with insane offers for players everywhere, the league was an absolute mess. Regular match-fixing scandals, generally a very poor standard compared to the K & J leagues in South Korea and Japan respectively and the nationwide interest was extremely lacking. Basically it was not where it is today. Sound familiar?

I find the whole rise if the Chinese clubs coming onto the world market fascinating to say the least. Last year I blogged about the first major forays the Chinese were making with Alex Teixera among others going east. The truth is though this has been going on for a few years. Top level football is heavily concentrated in Europe. All the best teams and players play here and generally it is seen as the place to be. With that in mind, leagues outside the big four in Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Spain) have to overpay. The interesting question for years has been what league outside of Europe will be a major player at the top level?. For years my thought was Brazil. A major producer of talent, it needed investment to keep that talent there and if it ever does it for me will be the one to rival Europe.

The rise of the Chinese Super League actually mirrors the rise of the English Premier league in some ways. In England the game was in crisis. The clubs were not making enough, off the pitch problems such as hooliganism was rife and they were falling behind their European rivals. So the Premier League was born and after some ludicrous TV deals the English clubs now have the financial muscle to raid everywhere, until the Chinese came along.

The response to the Chinese clubs coming onto the market has been I find anyway, hypocritical. When players decide to go to China it's "for the money", "mercenary", "no ambition" etc. Yet when players go to England the media doesn't kick up a storm. Does anyone think players are signing for English clubs for anything other than money? Did the likes of Shaqiri, Víctor Valdés, Fernando Llorente and the many other foreign players in the premier league dream of playing for Stoke, Middlesbrough or Swansea. It seems that if it's not an English club splashing the cash its bad for the game. We had a similar reaction when Paris Saint-Germain were bought by Qatari owners, Monaco, Zenith St Petersburg and Anji Makhachkala when they all began to flex some financial muscle.

Then we get golden quotes from Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness labeling the Chinese spending "sick". While I do agree the sums on offer are ludicrous in the extreme there is nothing different in Chinese clubs hoovering up talent much like Hoeness' Bayern have been doing for years. One has to get the feeling that the European elite are indeed worried about the "threat" China poses.

I do think though it will take quite a period of time before Chinese  clubs become major players in the market by being in the frame for the best talent. My personal opinion is that rather than making Carlos Tévez the highest paid footballer in the world they should be using that money bringing in the best coaches. The warning signs however are plenty for China. One only needs to look at the old North American Soccer League and the fall of Anji Makhachkala as examples of what could so easily happen.

Cycles are very much part of football. We see this with Spanish sides dominating European football currently, it won't last, just like the English dominance of the 2000s and the Italians before them. The cycle of English clubs being financially unchallenged could be ending soon and if it does result in a more even spread if talent across the world, then where is the harm in that.

The European elite are rattled, make no mistake. Nothing like this scale of spending outside of Europe for in-prime players has occurred before and this is definitely a trend worth following.

Real Sociedad's relegation - good but avoidable

Thursday night saw Barcelona win at the home of Real Sociedad, Anoeta, for the first time in ten years. That last victory for the Catalans was during the 2006-07 season which saw Real Sociedad's forty season stint in the top flight end with relegation. A relegation that arguably rejuvenated the club with faith in youth restored in the following three seasons spent in the segunda.

The relegation may not have been as much of a shock as Real Zaragoza's the following season but it nonetheless was still a slight surprise. The surprise element was the relegation came almost four years to the day that le txuriurdin cruelly lost the Liga title they deserved. That 2002-03 title challenge was largely thanks to the prolific strikeforce of Nihat and Dark Kovacevic.

Nihat with Real Sociedad

The season of 2006-07 may well have ended with Real Sociedad preserving their top flight status had they managed to keep Nihat at the club. The Turk left in the summer of 2006 to Villarreal, champions league semi-finalists a few weeks previously, on a bosman. Nihat fired twenty-three goals in the title challenge season and as the Basques struggled in the following three seasons, his goals kept them in the division.
His absence for the 2006-07 season was felt. Real Sociedad went from scoring forty-nine (03-04), forty-seven (04-05) and forty-eight (05-06) to just thirty-two in the relegation season. The impact Nihat had on the team was evidently vital. Strike partner Kovacevic was still at the club but he only managed three strikes in the season. The top scorer was Brazilian Savio with five and the relegation was down to simply not scoring enough.

José Barkero started the season as coach but after a disastrous start he was fired and replaced by Miguel Lotina. Lotina would be given the rest of the season. For a chunk of the season Real Sociedad were cut adrift of safety, by twelve points at one stage. By round thirty-two that deficit was cut to three points and the fight was back on. However as highlighted above goal scoring was a major problem. At this stage the Anoeta club had scored just twenty-three times. Bottom club Gimnàstic had scored seven more just to highlight the problem even further. Round thirty-five saw Real Sociedad win and even score three. A 3-1 home win over fellow strugglers Celta de Vigo leaving La Real a point off safety and rivals Athletic Bilbao, defending their never relegated status.

The gap increased to four points with Athletic Bilbao beat Real Mallorca and Real Sociedad defeated at nearby Osasuna. A stalemate at home to Racing Santander rendered the task of avoiding relegation very difficult and out if their hands.

A 3-3 draw away at Valencia which featured own goals from Víctor López and Daniel Estrada sealed their fate. Athletic Bilbao's 2-0 win over Levante meant even a win at Mestalla would be in vain. La Real ended as the joint lowest scorers with thirteenth placed Deportivo. The Galicians making a strong case for their "dull" football in the next few seasons regularly scoring just enough goals. However defensively Real Sociedad had the best record of the bottom seven. Their defensive record was just two conceded more than Deportivo which just further illustrates how strange a season it was. There was just two goals conceded in the difference between Real Sociedad and Deportivo, yet the Galicians ended up twelve points better off. Talk about efficiency.

The relegation offered a chance to get the club back on track. In the three year spell in the Segunda a certain Antoine Griezmann broke into the first team and well we know how good he turned out. Promoted back to the top tier in 2010, La Real have been relatively free of relegation trouble. A champions league qualification in 2012-13 with Griezmann in fine form continued the rise of the club. Now under Eusébio Sacristán hopes of another return to the champions league are not too far off the mark. In many ways that relegation in 2007 was with the benefit of hindsight a blessing in disguise.  I still maintain they would've stayed up with Nihat involved.

Uzbekistan's objective - Russia 2018

FIFA's decision to expand the world cup from 2026 onwards has led to thoughts of which nations across the world stand to benefit from last week's decision. One such nation would be Uzbekistan. The Oq bo'rilar (white wolves) have established themselves in the second tier of Asian teams. If we accept Japan, South Korea and maybe Australia as the first tier, the central Asians have to be considered for the tier below. Steady progress since independence in 1990 has yielded some good and not so good results. An 8-1 drubbing by Japan being their heaviest defeat thus far.

Uzbekistan have qualified for seven Asian cups since joining the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). That tally includes the upcoming edition in 2019. Such a record has seen them as by far the strongest nation in central Asia. In fact only Turkmenistan of the other central Asian nations have qualified for the Asian cup. However for the Uzbeks, the missing achievement, apart from not winning the continental title, is a world cup qualification.

It's no secret that since the break-up of the Soviet union, only Russia and Ukraine have qualified for the world cup. A fact that Uzbekistan is trying desperately to change. They may well have done so in the qualification for 2006, had FIFA not effectively robbed them. In the Asian play-off to decide who would advance to the inter-continental play-offs, Uzbekistan and Bahrain faced off. Controversy struck when an Uzbek penalty was disallowed for encroachment, but rather than ordering a retake the referee gave Bahrain a free-kick. Uzbekistan were 1-0 up at the time and in the aftermath, FIFA ordered the game to be replayed. (So Ireland did have a case?). The replayed game ended 1-1 and the second leg 0-0 with Bahrain advancing on away goals. That painful defeat coming a year after Bahrain eliminated them at the quarter-final stage of the 2004 Asian cup.

The team didn't threaten to qualify in 2010 but a year later did finish fourth at the Asian cup, their best finish to date. They were back in the play-off for qualification to the inter-continental play-off for 2014 but agonisingly were beaten 9-8 on penalties by Jordan.

And so to this current campaign. A comfortable second round group win saw them advance to the greater challenge of the third round group stage. A tricky assignment was handed to the Uzbeks. South Korea, Iran, China, Syria and Qatar.

Coach Samvel Babayan still has a couple of previous campaign veterans to call upon such as midfield dynamo and captain Server Djeparov, keeper Ignatiy Nesterov and go to man up front Alexander Geynrikh. All of whom were around for that 2005 game against Bahrain.

The group began perfectly with back-to-back 1-0 wins, at home to Syria and away to Qatar. Alexander Geynrikh scoring both goals to move within three goals of Uzbek all-time top scorer Maksim Shatskikh. A frustrating home defeat to Iran followed before a 2-0 home win over China a few days later dragged them back into contention. Despite Marat Bikmaev giving them a lead in South Korea, the home side battled back for a 2-1 win to leave the Uzbeks in third place a point off automatic world cup qualification. Exactly halfway through the group they still have tricky assignments to come, with an away game with first placed Iran. A final group clash at home to South Korea has the making of a do-or-die game about it. However those two games are later in the year. First up in March is a double header with Syria (away) and Qatar (home). Games that could derail any word cup hopes.

So with all the talk of the world cup expansion, the Uzbeks have in 2006 qualification and the current campaign showed they are threatening to qualify in the current format. Expansion does make the task of future qualification that bit easier but the motivation of the 2018 edition being held in nearby Russia and being the second last thirty-two format tournament the hope is to break through this year. They will qualify eventually but making a tournament debut practically next door is a great way to start.

"We've made the league more fun"

It was pretty much a title decider. As close to one you will get in January. La Liga's top two going into the weekend were squaring up for the third time in a week and a half. The previous two encounters were Copa del Rey games but this was the biggest fixture. Real Madrid were top, played a game fewer than everyone and were unbeaten in forty games. Sevilla had slipped to third place by virtue of Barcelona's victory earlier in the weekend and were four points off top spot. The scenario ahead of kick-off was simple. A Real Madrid victory and it's a procession to the title, draw suits Madrid while a Sevilla victory opens the league up.

Real Madrid made a change in formation after the Copa game in midweek. Out went the 4-3-3 with Zidane switching to a 3-5-2. Marcelo and Carvajal pushing higher up as wing-backs allowing for a Nacho-Ramos-Varane back line. Sevilla were the high energy 4-2-3-1 with last week's hat-trick hero Wissam Ben-Yedder continuing up front.

The first half resembled a tactical game of chess with both sides growing into the game, Sevilla after twenty-five - thirty minutes. 0-0 at the interval and a fascinating half of football still to come. Both sides showing their quality without working both goalkeepers all that much. Sergio Rico making a comfortable save from Ronaldo and Navas was called upon later in the half.
The second half began much like most of the first half with both sides trying to find their rhythm. Sevilla settled quicker before a period of Madrid pressure saw the deadlock broken. Sergio Rico marginally off in his timing tackling Carvajal. Penalty given. After some petulance from both sides, Ronaldo eventually despatched the penalty low sending Rico the wrong way.

The concession of the goal seemed to spark Sevilla. New signing Stevan Jovetic was introduced in the midst of Madrid taking the lead. Pablo Sarabia was put into the fire of the clash with just over ten minutes remaining. Both players were to have the ultimate impact desired by coach Sampaoli. The equaliser arrived via the head of former Sevilla defender Sergio Ramos, as he headed in Pablo Sarabia's terrific free-kick into his own net. Still time for a winner and it came from the newly signed Montenegrin Jovetic. He unleashed a curling effort that, despite Keylor Navas' best efforts, found the back of the net to win the game for the hosts.

That goal had in the words of the goalscorer Jovetic "made the league more fun". Fun being competitive. Sevilla were now within one point of Real Madrid. The result also meant Barcelona climbed back into contention with Atlético having a small glimmer back in fourth. One result had opened up the league which now reads Real  Madrid 40, Sevilla 39, Barcelona 38 and Atlético 34. A three horse race with maybe a fourth.

It's been ten years now since Sevilla's last title challenge. After a similarly vital 2-1 win over Barcelona in 2007, Sevilla were shocked by bottom placed Gimnàstic. Next week Sevilla are away to current bottom side Osasuna. Sevilla will be hoping history doesn't repeat itself and that they can continue this terrific season.

This victory over Real Madrid was also a statement that Sevilla mean business. Steven N'Zonzi was a colossus in central midfield, a wonderful performance. Right-back Mariano equally as impressive and Samir Nasri also. Coach Sampaoli's changes showed why he is probably the most talked about coach this season, why the big clubs are interested in his services. Sevilla title winners?. Hopefully but they are definitely in contention. Hay Liga!.

World cup expansion thoughts

Cast your minds back to the aftermath of the infamous Thierry Henry handball in 2009. In among the uproar was a daft suggestion from Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO John Delaney that Ireland should be allowed into the following year's world cup as team 33. Disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter openly mocked the claims and well Delaney was well compensated with €5 million sush money.

However this week, some seven years later, FIFA have gone and expanded the world cup. It's not thirty-three teams but forty-eight and the expansion won't come in until 2026. Now my thoughts were that the current thirty-two team format was working fine and there wasn't any pressing need to fiddle with the format. My gripe was that the allocation could be a bit more representative of a world cup. However thirty-two is a nice round figure with the group stage of four team groups.

My first thought of the forty-eight team format was this is a mess. Firstly three team groups open up a situation where two sides can play out the final group game in a draw to eliminate the third team. If the rumours of group draws being settled by penalty shootouts are true well then that adds a further mess. It will not lead to more exciting games as teams will settle for the lottery of the shootout.

It's argued that it reduces the number of dead rubbers which in some degree is true but football being football you won't have a tournament without dead rubbers. You will have boring groups and competitive groups. An expansion to sixty-four, the next round figure for the tournament was never considered which was the only expansion needed to maintain the four team group format.

The big positive to this sixteen team expansion is seeing potentially new teams qualifying. Now the allocation wasn't discussed by FIFA but I'm assuming it'll be Africa, Asia and North America who will get more qualifying berths. Perhaps Oceania might get a guaranteed berth. South America can't really expect more given they are a ten nation confederation and I'd be against Europe getting anything more than two or three places in the expansion. They have a decent amount already.

All this leads to how the qualifying stage will be redone. With more places possibly going to Africa, Asia and North America their traditional qualifying formats will need to be altered. That will probably mean the end of the hexagonal in North America and Asia's final stage of two groups of five. If Oceania is given a guaranteed spot that changes their system slightly but it is very much remain to be seen territory as the confederation has never had a guaranteed spot. Europe will be unchanged even with an extra few qualifying berths and South America assuming no places are given in the expansion keep their qualifying format, which is the most exciting in my opinion.

It's hard to escape the fact that there wasn't much wrong with the current format. A rejig in confederation allocations but nothing drastic. Despite the potential new teams on show which I stress is my only favourite part of the expansion the format is a mess. Sixty-four might have been too big a jump but it is the next number up from thirty-two that goes perfectly. The revenues which is the real reason for expansion will be significant for FIFA and so I'll end this post with a prediction, we'll have that sixty-four team format after two world cups of forty-eight.

The devalued FA Cup

The valuation of the FA cup took yet another beating this past weekend with scratch teams and TV games being the bone of contention. The oldest cup competition in the world as has been said repeatedly when talking about it saw teams from the top two divisions enter this season's event this past weekend and being honest, some shouldn't have bothered.

So we'll start with the scratch teams. Bournemouth were away at Millwall, a club in anguish which is an entire post in itself. One would've thought the premier league side would have this tie in the bag. Manager Eddie Howe then made eleven changes to the team that capitulated against Arsenal. These changes didn't work as Millwall brushed them aside 3-0. Why the wholesale changes? Bournemouth will be clear of relegation but probably won't have enough to get Europe. Why not give the fans a cup run to enjoy for the rest of the season?. It beggars belief that a side such as Bournemouth would throw away a potential cup run for the sake of finishing one or two places higher in the league. Had I made the trip those Bournemouth fans made and see the manager blatantly disregard the game I would be incredibly disappointed.

Liverpool made many changes too but did have the excuse of a first leg cup semi-final this Wednesday. However Jürgen Klopp's team couldn't break down League two Plymouth so Klopp's team faces a replay down in Devon. Even Cardiff City made changes with manager Neil Warnock going with five for their game against Fulham. However with twenty-two league games left he felt the need to sacrifice the cup for their battle to stay in the second tier. So even this mentality is sinking to championship sides.

Unfortunately for the cup it wasn't just the teams devaluing it, the TV companies had already made their intentions clear weeks in advance. The third round saw non-league side Sutton United face neighbours AFC Wimbledon, their first third round appearance since the 1980s and seventh tier Stourbridge making their third round debut. However TV companies including the national broadcaster, where viewing figures are not a prerogative, overlooked the non-league side's biggest games of the season in favour of an all premier league tie and ties where the premier league side was at home. All of which were no contests or drab affairs, really showcasing the cup in a bad light.

Going back to Cardiff, their game was moved to the ludicrous kick-off time of 11:30am which fans quite rightly vented fury over. Just over five thousand turned up to see Cardiff surrender a potential cup run to Fulham, whose fans had to make costly arrangements due to TV selecting an absurd kick-off time.

This isn't a new phenomenon. There are a myriad of causes for the devaluation of the cup with many pointing to the Manchester United withdrawal in 2000, with FA blessing, as the moment it lost value. The increasing wealth in the premier league has led to sides prioritising finishing one or two places higher than having runs in the FA cup, league cup and Europa league. As seen last weekend even championship sides are starting to throw away the cup for the sake of a couple of places in the league standing.

Calls for revamping the cup such as offering a champions league place for the winner are being made so the premier league sides will take it seriously. While it does sound good in theory, the Europa league had that exact 'revamp' and still hasn't done much to the English view. Do we start offering champions league places to the league cup as well in vain hope premier league sides take it seriously? If these sides are not interested in cup competitions, save us all the hassle and just don't bother entering.

Thrills and spills in the highlands

Victoria park
Source: JOD photography

It was the only option left. Edinburgh had become London price wise for four days. Hogmanay being a massive attraction and drive in the price hike. I scampered around for a place to stay for those four nights around new year's. Newcastle, Glasgow, Aberdeen, even remote areas like Fort William, nothing. It came down to Dundee or Inverness for affordable accommodation. I chose Inverness. After all that was sorted I was dealt a blow with Inverness Caledonian Thistle not having a home game. However as luck would have it, they were away just over the road in Dingwall, home of their Highland rivals Ross County.

So a highland derby? This needed to be done. Tickets were available and it was off to Dingwall we went on new year's eve. My first premiership game and it was a derby, brilliant. A chilly day in Dingwall with Inverness washed out it was probably a typical highland derby setting. Caley Thistle under Irishman Richie Foran were bottom, Ross County with a former Limerick striker (Curran) and Cliftonville star (Boyce) were sixth.

Derby setting
Source: JOD photography

After getting into Victoria park early to take in the build up the game kicked off at three on the dot. However it was nearly over after two minutes for myself and my friend. A smoke bomb was let off and my innocent friend got the blame from the investigating steward. Thankfully common sense prevailed and we were allowed to stay but missed Boyce giving County the lead.
The game was County's as they forced Fon Williams into a few key saves before Caley hit the back of the net with Carl Tremarco's diving header causing a roar from the opposite end of the ground. Caley didn't quite fill the away stand but were in good voice until Boyce's deflected cross/shot gave County the lead again.

Half-time arrived and with it darkness. Daylight not sticking around for the second half. A half with more drama. Foran made a double change near the hour mark and well, within minutes County hit them with a sucker punch. Martin Woods slotting past Fon Williams in the box. 3-1 and Caley looked shaken.

Ross County v Inverness CT
Source: JOD photography

They did try to rescue the game with County keeper Fox making a couple of stops. With Boyce having a stormer he remained a threat on the counter. Ten minutes remaining and a Caley lifeline, Fox could only parry a shot from outside the box and substitute Alex Fisher was quickest to pounce. 3-2 and a grand stand finish in store. Urged forward by Foran, Caley just couldn't force the ball home and referee Robert Madden sounded his whistle on the derby, County being the highland top dogs going into 2017.

After the game a surprisingly lax segregation saw Caley and County fans exchange pleasantries. "Going down, going down" being one with Caley fans wanting to get out and hope the winter break is put to good use. A few did want to show County fans they had a bit of fight left after what was a deflating result.

First highland derby and it was eventful to say the least. The next clash isn't till March by which time, given how congested the bottom of the table is, things will be different. Foran and Caley had better hope so.