Preseason Sucks

So, with all this talk of the San Antonio Spurs being the ultimate in team basketball, I started to wonder whether a team of all-stars from the rest of the league would be topple Greg Popovich’s well oiled machine. To be honest I didn’t really ponder on the thought for too long. When I imagined a starting 5 consisting of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Steph Curry & Dwight Howard – regardless of how little they’d played together, they would be able to topple any basketball force put in front of them. So I tried to think of a concept that might be interesting to watch – what if the winner of the NBA Finals match had a warm-up match for the following season against an all-star team comprised from the rest of the NBA – but the only eligible participants were ballers from teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs… Now that’s a game I’d like to see…

So, let’s pretend this would have happened in 2014, and let’s try and picture what the game would have looked like. Well, one side would have been the Spurs, obviously, and everyone knows what we’d be getting from them. The main question to address would be who’d line up as their opponents. Well, the Spurs fielded all 13 players in the 2014 NBA Finals on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Heat, so, to match up, I thought I’d pick a 13 man team to take on the Spurs.

Just to clearly outline the rules of eligibility, the 13 players I chose had to come from either: The Bucks, The 76ers, The Orlando Magic, The Celtics, Utah, The Lakers, The Kings, Phoenix, The Pistons, The Cavs, The Pelicans, Denver, The Knicks, or Minnesota. And just to properly match the squads like for like I picked 7 forwards/centres and 6 guards.

So, here it is:

The Starting 5:

Pick 1 (Point Guard): Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Pick 2 (Shooting Guard): Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)

Pick 3 (Small Forward): Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)

Pick 4 (Power Forward): Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Pick 5 (Centre): Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)

The Bench:

Pick 6: Ty Lawson (Denver Nuggets)

Pick 7: DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)

Pick 8: Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)

Pick 9: Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers)

Pick 10: Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns)

Pick 11: Isaiah Thomas (Sacramento Kings)

Pick 12: Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets)

Pick 13: Eric Bledsoe (Phoenix Suns)

So who would win? Well, let have a look at The Spurs. They have the distinct advantage of being headed up by the best coach in the NBA. They also have the experience of having played together for close to 100 matches in 2014; knowing each others roles, strengths and weaknesses; and mastering how everyone’s game fits within the team and one another’s responsibilities. On the flip side, they’ve played close to 100 matches in 2014… their opponents will be much fresher and well-rested – they will not have played since the close of the regular season in April.

But let’s try and take a deeper look. Throughout the NBA playoffs the Spurs defeated their opponents through moving the ball, always looking for that extra pass, and playing utterly unselfish basketball. They adopted the philosophy of ‘I have a good shot, but you have a better shot’, always thinking of the team as opposed to themselves as individuals. Magic Johnson even likened them to his Lakers team and Larry Bird’s Boston team from the 1980’s. (I somehow think Wilt Chamberlain might have struggled to fit in). Highlighting this essence of ‘team basketball’ is the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were in the top 4 for assists, and Danny Green and Ginobili were 2 and 4 respectively for 3 point field goals, throughout the playoffs. It’s also shown in the Spurs Finals stats: Against Miami, The Spurs averaged 354 passes per game. During the regular season, the Charlotte Bobcats led the league with 334.3 passes per game. San Antonio was therefore averaging 20 more passes per game than the league-leading regular season number. Now, Miami had no defence for this, proven by the fact it was one of the most one-sided Finals series of all time…So why would the all-star team have any answer to it?

Well, for starters the Spurs wouldn’t get as many second chance points. Tim Duncan dominated the glass throughout the playoffs, topping the tables for offensive and defensive rebounds. With Anthony Davis and Kevin Love in the starting 5, and Drummond and Cousins as back-up there’s no way Duncan could be that dominant. (Drummond and Love were 2 and 3 respectively for rebounds in the 2013/14 NBA regular season, with Cousins coming in at 6). The all-stars would also be able to slow the Spurs down with effective perimeter defence coming through Eric Bledsoe and one of the best 2-way guards of all time in Kobe Bryant, while at the same time being able to offer great rim protection through Anthony Davis who showed in 2014 he could well be a future MVP. (Davis was ranked number 1 in blocks per game in the 2013/14 NBA regular season).

But probably the all-stars biggest advantage would be options. Their strength in depth would be vast and varied. With the exception of Bledsoe, everyone on the bench was probably one of the 2 best players on their team in 2014. Dragic, Thomas and Faried would be really good heat check guys to come off the bench and change the tempo – all 3 of them were lighting it up at the end of the regular season! And Gasol and Lawson offer great alternatives to the starting 5 with their pick and role play. But let’s be honest, looking at that all-star line-up, defence isn’t going to be a priority. Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love were 2 and 4 in points per game in the regular season, and Kobe Bryant who didn’t play in the 2013/14 season is one of the greatest scorers of all-time. This coupled with the creativeness of Kyrie Irving and the athleticism of Anthony Davis, the all-stars would really be a force to be reckoned with offensively. But without playing the game, there’s no way to tell whether it’d be enough to topple the Spurs with their unique cohesion and winning formula of ‘team basketball’.

In conclusion, I’ve no idea who would win, and nor do you, in the back of your mind you probably have a favourite, but you’d have to concede that there are arguments for both sides. One thing you and I do know however, is that preseason games suck, they are meaningless dead-rubbers and I don’t know one NBA fan that watches them. At least this concept would provide a spectacle that would galvanise the fans, and really wet their lips for the upcoming NBA season.

Bow to the Brow

I’ve heard some analysts during all the pre-season hype and hysteria putting Anthony Davis’ name right up there as a dark horse for the 2015 MVP winner. Now, I don’t quite think that’s possible, as in order to take that crown, history dictates that you have to be from at least a Playoff Team; if not a top 2 or 3 team in your conference. Being in the West, and up against The Spurs, The Clippers, KD’s OKC and Curry’s Warriors to name a few, Davis is going to find it hard to carry the Pelicans to those lofty heights. But I don’t want his lack of MVP credentials to take away from how good I think this guy is! Last year, at 20 years old, Davis averaged 21 and 10 after the All-Star break; and on opening night against the Magic he dropped 26 points (10-of-22 shooting), 17 rebounds, nine blocks, three steals, and two assists in a 101-84 win. Yeah, that’s right, he almost got a triple double in blocks! Now, at 6’10” and with the wingspan of an albatross you’d imagine blocking shots is easy, but the most incredible physical gifts in the world won’t just make you a good shot blocker. What makes Davis so good at being a rim protector is how he feels the game out and has impeccable timing when it comes to going after an attempt. This led to him having the highest blocked shots average in the NBA last year at 2.8 per game.

But it’s not just his defence, he’s effective at both ends of the floor. The 26 points that he bucketed were all in the flow of the game. They came in the form of breakaway dunks, put-back dunks, midrange jumpers and just general hustle around the glass. But as well as his scoring, Davis ran the floor hard in transition, and hovered around the hoop so that nine of his 17 rebounds came on the offensive boards – with he and Asik combining for 16 offensive boards, which matched the entire Magic team! Now I know the Magic aren’t the strongest of opponents, and are probably going to end up as a lottery team come April, but these stats from Davis aren’t a fluke. He was putting up big numbers at the end of last year and was one of the stars of the FIBA World Cup this summer.

And it’s not just his eye-popping stat-lines, watch the video below and look at how he gets his numbers. He’s an athletic freak of nature.

To further accentuate Davis’ performance on opening night: only 3 players since 1985 have posted 20+ points, 15+ rebounds and 8+ blocks before turning 22. And those 2 players were 4x NBA Champion and 1x MVP Shaquille O’Neal, and 5x NBA Champion and 2x MVP Tim Duncan. Now that’s not bad company to be in. And if Davis keeps improving on the path that he is on and reaches anywhere near the elite levels of the aforementioned pair, he’ll be some player. So yeah, I’m backing the unibrow hard in 2014/15 – maybe not MVP, but depending on how deep the Bulls and Joakim Noah go in the playoffs, he’s my pick for defensive player of the year.

‘Arry’s ‘ead’s gone

Okay, to start off with: what I first of all want to know is what the positive outcomes were that Harry Redknapp thought he was going to get out of publicly hammering one of his first-team squad players – calling them “unfit to play” and “about 3 stone overweight” and accusing them of “not wanting to run and train”. Because I personally can’t see any. I feel like what he was trying to do was get a reaction of Adel Taarabt so he gets some professional pride, trains harder and works his way back into the QPR starting line-up. Now, if that’s the case, that outburst in the post-match press conference was a conversation that needed to be had privately and not in front of most of the  sports journalists and reporters in England. As a manager you should be able to motivate your players in the dressing room behind closed doors, not resort to publicly chastising them. What addressing situations like that in front of the world does, taking into account the competitive nature and pride of sportsmen, is drive an even bigger wedge between the two parties.

So, instead of motivating Taarabt, what Redknapp’s remarks did do was drive an even bigger wedge between the two parties, and highlight that the cohesion at QPR isn’t what it should be. This is reflected in their performances on the pitch so far this year and subsequently their position in the league, which is… you guessed it, last. Now, moments before the press conference QPR had just conceded with pretty much the last kick of the game to lose to Liverpool. And being the passionate guy that he is, I expected Harry to wear his heart on his sleeve and say how he was “gutted for the lads” but to direct his frustration to a player who wasn’t even on the pitch seemed odd. I’ve always thought one of the most important roles of a manager was to protect your players, not hang them out to dry. Look at Arsene Wenger for example, when he knows his teams done something wrong he chirps up with the famous “I did not see it” line, and when they’ve been beaten by the better side he shifts the blame to the referee – basically he does everything in his power to move the focus and spotlight away from his players. Redknapp’s done the complete opposite.

Let’s take another view on the situation. Adel Taarabt is a guy that spent last year on loan at AC Milan, and I know they’re not the force they were in yesteryear, but they are still a top European side. He obviously feels that he should be playing at a higher level than QPR. Which, fair enough, he has quality, he probably could be. But if we’re to believe Harry Redknapp and read between the lines of what he said in the press conference, Taarabt doesn’t have the attitude or the application to play, not only for QPR, but football in general. And this is why it’s a real ‘heads gone’ moment from Redknapp: Taarabt wants out of Loftus Road – whether it’s back to AC Milan or another European club, he doesn’t want to be turning out at Loftus Road on a Saturday. And by the sounds of it, Harry isn’t too keen on having him around either. So the best thing to do for QPR is to package that player up so other clubs may take a interest in acquiring him. Now, this isn’t going to be easy as Taarabt apparently earns between 60K & 70K a week. But what’s going to make the situation harder is publicly telling every other manager, scout and club owner that he’s lazy, doesn’t train hard and is basically an all-round nightmare to work with. This unfortunately is what Redknapp did and now he’s left with a player on a huge salary for a bottom-half-of-the-table Premier League team who isn’t contributing on the field and who nobody really wants to sign.

The Myth of Mario

Okay, I’m going to say it, I don’t think Mario Balotelli is that good at football. I like him as a player because of the hype, uncertainty, and media attention that he brings to each and every game he plays in. But based on footballing ability alone, I’m struggling with him. I hear all the time statements along the lines of: ‘Balotelli has the talent to be one of the best players of his generation but none of the hard work, commitment and mental focus that is required to get there.’ Well, yeah, he definitely doesn’t have the hard work, commitment or mental focus – I watched him play FC Basel last night, and as per usual, Mr Neville got it spot on in the post-match analysis: “he looked disinterested”. In fact, to describe his performance as underwhelming would be very generous to the lad. It has to be said though, people have come to expect this idol attitude and lack of grit and determination from Mario, and it’s kind of agreed within the football community that he’s generally lazy; but you know what, I don’t think he has the talent to get away with it.

I get that he’s not Luis Suarez, in fact in terms of on the field play there couldn’t be a bigger contrast, but he should offer more than what he is doing for a Liverpool team that recently paid £16 million for his services. It’s kind of weird watching him play; the lad seems to perform on his own agenda, his own timeframe and almost entirely removed from any managerial guidance. When the opposition are in possession, he may as well be sat in the dugout. And I know that strikers aren’t judged on their ability to defend and track back (unless your Dirk Kuyt) but they should act as more than just a token gesture.

But in spite of this, football fans still rate him for what he can do when his team are in possession and attacking. But from I’ve seen from Mario, other than the odd screamer every now and then, he doesn’t offer much in that department either. And to be fair, you’d expect one or two to fly in when you’re having more attempts from outside the box than Charlie Adam circa 2010. I personally think his first touch is sloppy, and because of this is hold-up play is worse than it should be for a bloke of his stature. I think his movement off the ball is sub-par; he gives the ball away with alarming regularity and is dispossessed countless times throughout the 90 minutes. But worst of all, when things aren’t working out for his team he goes completely invisible. In big games when his team are behind and they need their stars to shine (like last night), throughout his career he has lacked the qualities to grab his team by the scruff of their neck and drag them forward. And that’s what you need from your so-called world class players, that’s why you pay millions and millions for talent; so they can change games and make the difference when the team needs them. Mario, simply doesn’t do that.

Anyway, there’s definitely an aura about Mario Balotelli; whenever he’s involved in a game, he’s the focal point, he’s who people are talking about, and as I said before, I love him for it! All these off the field antics he’s been involved in: from allegedly handing out 20 pound notes to every man and his dog in Manchester, to racking up 10 grands worth of parking fines, to setting off fireworks inside his house – they create a buzz for the fans and media. But they also detract from his ability on the pitch, and it’s to Balotelli’s advantage as they create a facade that cloaks his short-comings as a footballer. A myth if you will, a myth that he is a world class player, because from what I’ve seen he doesn’t have the attitude or the ability to cut it at the very top level.

McCormack to Norwich?

It seems inevitable – whenever a Leeds player has stood out from the squad in recent years a certain yellow and green Canarie has come sniffing. And as is the case for any young footballer, the lure of increased money and fame that Premier League football provides is often too much for them resist. Personally I don’t blame the Leeds lads, I mean, a bit of loyalty would’ve been nice I guess, but as painful as it is to say it, I fully understand their decision on a purely selfish basis. Who wouldn’t want to apply their trade to a greater audience for more money.

So anyway, since 2011, 4 players have made to trip South to Carrow Road: Bradley Johnson was shortly followed by Jonny Howson; who in turn was followed by Robert Snodgrass; and most recently Luciano Becchio has transferred. And it’s this apparent hard-on for Leeds players that the Norwich board have that makes me fear that McCormack will mimic the movement of his former teammates, because he most certainly is the stand-out player down at Elland Road this year…

Reminiscent of Mark Viduka 13 years ago this very weekend, Ross McCormack yesterday afternoon scored all Leeds’ 4 goals in a virtuoso performance that saw The Whites win 4-2 away at Charlton. This will make Ross top goalscorer in the Championship this year with 11, surpassing early leaders Jordan Rhodes and Danny Ings, which don’t get me wrong, is fantastic for Leeds – to have our best player firing on all cylinders can only have a positive impact of the team and it’s performances. But it also attracts attention, and being the pessimistic Leeds fan I am, I can see Delia and co. dreaming of yellow and green kit with ‘McCormack’ between the shoulder blades.

I hope my fears are proved fallacious, but until Leeds stop operating as a ‘selling’ club, putting profit over promotion, it’s going to be difficult to see our star performers staying any longer than they have to in order to catch a bigger fish’s eye. And more often than not this so-called ‘bigger’ fish seems to by Norwich F.C. I thought all had changed when Salah Nooruddin and the GFH Capital group dipped into their pockets and bought Leeds earlier this year, high profile signings were rumoured and a swift return to the top flight was foreseen, but just our look, it appears we are the only club to be taken over by Arab owners with no cash.

McCormack to Norwich in 2014? Probably, but I hope not.

Mezut Ozil – Cause or Catalyst.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 10 fixtures and almost 3 months of the 2013/14 season Arsenal currently sit 5 points clear atop the Premier League. Now there are very few football fans that could have foreseen this after Arsenal’s curtain-raiser in mid-August where they slumped to a 3-1 home defeat to last seasons relegation threatened Aston Villa. Quite frankly, if anybody says they did predict it – they’re lying.

The reason being, on that sunny mid-August day, Arsene Wenger, as was the norm at the time, was being vilified by fans and media alike for his lack of action in the transfer market, and subsequently his apparent lack of ambition. As we all know however, football is a very unpredictable game, and sure enough, 2 weeks down the line from that Villa defeat a vast majority of the football community (in particular Talk-Sport’s Adrian Durham) had to chomp down on a £42.4 million slice of humble pie. This, in turn, directly correlated to Arsene Wenger becoming to smuggest man in North London as he posed outside The Emirates, grinning like a Cheshire cat, next to a fish-eyed Turk-come-German adorned in a Arsenal shirt. That man was Mezut Ozil. That’s right, the Mezut Ozil; Arsenal pulled off the surprise of the transfer window and signed a lad from Real Madrid who had had the most assists in Europe’s top divisions in the last 3 years. Even then, with all that being said, you’d have to say that there would still be scarcely any football fans that would have predicted Arsenal to be where they are today.

The reality of the situation, however, is that Arsenal do lie 5 points clear from nearest challengers Chelsea, and since signing Ozil on 31st August 2013, they have been undefeated in the League, winning 7 and drawing 1. Not only this, but after a 1-0 away win against Borussia Dortmund last night, they currently head the Champions League ‘group of death’. Evidently then, from that 3-1 defeat, Arsenal’s fortunes have definitely changed. But can one man really make that much of difference? Many sections of the media seem to think so, as praise has been heaped on Ozil and his performances – and rightly so – he is a quality performer; providing skill, class and incisiveness to Arsenal’s attack. However, all that being said, how much is Ozil the cause of this apparent revival, or merely the catalyst? – inspiring his new teammates to fulfil their potential simply by his arrival and presence on the field.

I think it’s the latter, Ozil’s performances have been of a high calibre yes, but he’s not been head and shoulders above the rest of the team. In fact, he’s not even been the stand out player. Aaron Ramsey for example has been unbelievable so far this season, and I mean that literally, I cannot believe how good he’s playing. It’s a joke really, this is a guy who before this season had scored 10 goals in his previous 148 Arsenal appearances – yet this year he’s scoring for fun, after bagging in the Westfalenstadion last night he’s now got 11 in just 18 games. And it’s not just his goal return, his all-round game has also been top drawer. He’s playing with confidence, exuding self-belief, almost as if he’s found a new lease of life in a red and white shirt. And it’s Ozil that’s given it to him, the presence of this world class player has acted as a catalyst, reinvigorating and rejuvenating players like Ramsey, giving them the opportunity to step up and really express the footballing talent and flair they clearly already had.

The thing is, the capture of Ozil was such a huge deal for Arsenal that it completely changed people’s perceptions of the club. In the past few years Arsenal had been viewed as a selling club: In 2011 captain and talisman Cesc Fabregas swapped North London for Barcelona, and playmaker Samir Nasri left to join Manchester City; these transfers were closely followed by their top goalscorer and match-winner Robin Van Persie moving to notorious adversaries Manchester United. The Gunners were selling their best assets to their rivals and the backlash was felt in the stands, but more importantly, on the pitch. Performances dropped, and the objective of the club changed; instead of challenging for titles, Arsenal were challenging for 4th place and Champions League qualification. If you think about it, it makes sense, it cannot have instilled confidence in the players that remained at the club when all the top performers were looking for the nearest exit. Which is probably why, last year, fans were calling for Wenger’s exit. But now, with Ozil joining, people fear Arsenal again; teams now don’t rock up to The Emirates on a Saturday afternoon expecting to get something from the game, they go hoping to get something. And the positive attitude is being felt throughout the red half of North London as the ‘in Wenger we rust’ chants have transformed into ‘in Wenger we trust’.

To sum it up, one man can never make a team, but he can definitely be the catalyst. Ozil has acted like a missing cog, that star factor that alters perceptions, improves performances, and ultimately makes the Arsenal machine run smoothly. And suddenly, with Ramsey and co. stepping up around him, the whole can be greater than the sum of it’s parts.

An Alternative Theory – David Moyes was holding Everton back.

So are Manchester United now an average, mid-table side? Well the age-old of saying of the table never lies suggests that, well, yes, indeed they are. Okay, I’m a Leeds United fan so I’m probably being biased; they are slightly better than that… but lying 8th going into November; it’s only just.

Okay, you might read that and think it’s a ridiculous comment to make – how can the reigning champions that can boast a strike partnership of Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney seriously be classed as mid-table? And you’d be right, on paper Manchester United are far better than mid-table, but as Sir Bobby Robson once said: “you don’t play football on paper, you play it on grass.”

Lucid as Robson’s words were, the message he was conveying was very astute – no matter how good a team looks on the back of the match day programme; the only thing that truly matters is what happens once that white line is crossed and the whistle is blown. And throughout modern football history, this is where Manchester United have, for want of a better phrase, got it done. They have become synonymous in the Premier League era with not just winning when they play well, but consistently picking up the 3 points on offer even when they under perform. But not this year… After 9 games, United have already lost 3 and drawn 2 (including an abysmal 2-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion). Compare this to 5 losses in the whole of last season and some questions need to be asked.

The obvious one then, is what has changed? What has caused Manchester United to go from being right in the mix, lying one point behind early leaders Chelsea going into November 2012; to one year later, following a hardly convincing 3-2 victory over relegation threatened Stoke, finding themselves languishing in mid-table obscurity? Well, on the field; other than the second retirement of barely featuring, already-on-his-way-out Paul Scholes; the signing of a 20 year old Uruguayan full back who will probably not feature; and a seemingly rather desperate deadline day capture of Sideshow Bob lookalike Marouane Fellaini; not much. In fact, looking at that you’d have to say the squad has improved from last year – on the face of it United haven’t lost anyone of note, and added a midfielder apparently possessing £27.5 million worth of talent to their line-up. So surely something else has changed at The Theatre of Dreams, something else must have contributed to football fans questioning whether United will even achieve Champions League qualification in 2014, when the last time they finished outside the top 4 was back in 1991 before the Premier League even existed. Oh wait, of course. David Moyes.

In the summer of 2013 Manchester United swapped one Glaswegian for another and David Moyes stepped into the shoes of old whiskey nose himself, and became the manager of the reigning Premier League Champions. This was obviously a huge upheaval as Ferguson had been in charge at Old Trafford for an insurmountable 27 years. However, Moyes came in having served as Everton’s manager for 11 years; as someone out of the same mould as Ferguson, as someone who would not upset the applecart, and as someone who would keep the tradition of this oh-so iconic club going. Well, United probably got all of that, but what they didn’t get, something that should have probably been top of the list, was a good manager.

For years at Everton, Moyes was lauded for his consistency, style of play and achievements. But what did he actually achieve?  A quick dust down of the trophy cabinet at Goodison reveals a blank return from Moyes in his 11 year tenure. In fact, other than a League 2 title with Preston North End more than a decade ago when Moyesy was just a rookie, the only piece of silverware he has ever lifted was this years Community Shield – which I’m not even sure counts. Okay okay, so he’s not won any trophies… we can forgive him right? I mean, he’s barely had a budget to work with. Well, in actual fact, in the last decade Moyes’ Everton have been the 10th highest spenders in the league with only Villa and Sunderland spending more and winning equal: zilch. Fine, so he’s not won anything and spent a fair bit, at least his results have always been consistent? Erm, go on then, I’ll give you that; in fact, the consistency and dependability of Moyes’ teams is probably what he is commended most for – back in 2002/03 (his first full season in charge of The Toffees) Everton finished 7th with 59 points, fast forward a decade to the 19th of May last season and Everton pulled the curtain on a season where they finished 6th on 63 points. But is that really something to write home about? The fact you’ve essentially gone nowhere and won nothing in a decade. In fact since 2006, aside from a 2009 FA Cup Final, every season of Everton’s has pretty much been a carbon copy of the other – the will-they-won’t-they saga of Champions League qualification (they won’t), and the ultimate finish of somewhere between 5th and 8th in the league table. Hell, with that all laid out, had David not had the world’s most patient chairman in Bill Kenwright there could’ve been P45 on it’s way Casa Moyes.

You know what, that’s probably an exaggeration, I actually know a few Everton fans and the general consensus is that they all worshipped Moyes when he was the gaffer at Goodison (I think the term “Moyesiah” was even floated). And it was pretty much a guarantee that Everton were never going to be relegation threatened with Moyes at the helm; but the thing is, Everton were equally never going to take that next step and play European football on a Tuesday and Wednesday night. The reason being, Moyes himself and his negative, defensive tactics against the top teams. Get this, in his 11 year tenure at Goodison Park, the Scot failed to notch up even one away win against the so called ‘traditional top four’ of the Premier League; namely Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. To lay it out, that’s 43 games and 0 wins – some record that. And In my opinion it’s this negativity; in his tactics, and maybe even his ambition; that has led to me querying whether Moyes was in fact holding Everton back as apposed to the common, yet ultimately flawed ideology throughout the media, of him leading them to overachievement.

You only need to look at Everton this year under Martinez to see how Moyes could indeed have been preventing his team from realising their potential. Renowned for his free-flowing attacking football, Martinez has got Everton playing a slick passing game – and the results are backing up the play. After a stuttering start of 3 draws, Everton are now 2nd in the form guide winning 5 of their last 6 games, including a 1-0 win over Champions-elect Chelsea. And it’s not just an altered style of play, Martinez and imposed changes in personnel down at Goodison. Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley have been a couple of stand-out players this season, and both have started every Premier League game for The Toffees so far – but these two guys are not new signings that Martinez has brought in, they’ve both been at the club for a number of years. Coleman in particular has had to play second-fiddle to Tony Hibbert for the majority of his career under Moyes – Hibbert being a man who since making his debut in 2000 has never bagged himself a senior competitive goal (that’s a barren spell of 316 games!). And okay, Barkley is still a young lad at 19, but he’s bloody good, and in my opinion will go to Brazil this summer. In any event, even if you don’t rate him, anybody with an ounce of football knowledge knows he is better than a 35 year old Phillip Neville. Yet Barkley appeared in a first-team Everton kit on less than 10 occasions last season, with Moyes instead opting for good-old reliable Phil to be solid, pass it sideways, and create approximately 0 goal-scoring opportunities from just short of 30 appearances.

Okay, if I’m honest, I’ve never really rated Moyes that highly, with the team he had at Everton I always thought they should have challenged the top teams way more than they did. Yet instead of this view being shared, Moyes spent his 10 years at Everton revelling in the praise and eulogy of the football community. But with a higher profile job comes higher scrutiny, and since he took the hot seat at United other football fans starting to question the Scot, with #MoyesOut trending in just about every country that can access a twitter account. Nonetheless, was Davey holding his Everton side back? Well, looking at how both Everton and Manchester United have started the season this year, I’d like to say yes. The most interesting scenario now will be what does Moyes have in his locker to get Manchester United back to winning ways (and not just a 4-0 League Cup victory against Norwich). Ferguson said to the Old Trafford ‘faithful’ in his departing speech that “your job now is to stand by our new manager.’” If United’s performances don’t improve – you have to wonder just how long the fans will adhere to Sir Alex’s wishes.

The Black Hole of Fernando Torres.

Having just watched Fernando Torres become the “hero” and grab the winner in the Chelsea vs Manchester City match today, the phrase ‘false dawn’ immediately sprung to mind. Torres’ career has been littered with them over the last couple of seasons, and after the hysteria and hype of Super Sunday dies down and he lines up against Newcastle next Saturday and spurns yet another guilt-edge chance; my subconscious will once again have been proved correct, as an overwhelming feeling of deja vu spreads across the football community.

The thing is, we’ve seen it all before with Torres. At the beginning of the 2012 Premier League season for example, once the shadow of Chelsea icon Didier Drogba has dispersed, Torres strung together a number of performances including one in a 2-0 win over Newcastle that led, manager at the time, Roberto Di Matteo to describe Torres as “immense”. But look back a month or so down the line and this ‘rebirth’ of El Nino was closely followed by some dreary, lacklustre performances; and the ‘lets all laugh at Fernando Torres’ bandwagon was back in full motion.

Anyhow, back to today’s game and what really triggered me to question poor Fernando. You see, throughout Chelsea’s 2-1 home victory I listened to Martin Tyler ask co-commentator Gary Neville in his theatrical match day voice numerous questions along the lines of “Is this the old Torres?” – and it got me thinking beyond the frequently asked – What has happened to Fernando Torres? And to a question much more difficult to answer… Will Torres ever become the player he once was? Or is a player who used to make headlines, now nothing more than a punchline?

Lets put this into perspective. This is a player who was once described as the best striker in the world. A player who was capable of becoming the fastest player to reach 50 league goals for Liverpool. A player who in 2009 as part of a Liverpool 4-1 win over Manchester United, was able to humiliate and embarrass Nemanja Vidic, widely regarded as the best central defender at the time, in his own backyard.

However, since joining Chelsea in the winter of 2011 for £50 million, Fernando Torres has become a sort of myth. A player who every football fan knows has greatness in him; but one if you were new to football within the last year or so, you might think Roman Abramovich was receiving a back-hander to put him in the starting 11.

Furthermore, this once great striker nicknamed ‘the kid’ scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2008 European Championships Final; nowadays he doesn’t even get a call-up to the squad. And when Chelsea realised their dream and achieved European greatness in 2012 Champions League, Fernando sat the final out on the bench. It really is a remarkable, yet curious fall from grace.

So anyway, will Torres ever get back to the form that in 2007 saw him score 24 Premier League goals for Liverpool in a debut season at a remarkable 1.39 goals-to-games ratio? Ed Chamberlain certainly thinks so as he greeted the Super Sunday viewers to the studio after the full-time whistle today with a typically hyperbolic statement; exclaiming that Fernando Torres was “back in business”. But in my opinion, no. There have too many of these ‘false dawns’ over the last couple of seasons and I’m afraid that this is just another. Not even Mourinho can get El Nino firing on all cylinders again – and it’s a sad situation. I’ve laughed at Torres in the past, for example when he rounded David De Gea in September 2011 only to stumble and miss an open goal at Old Trafford. But I didn’t mind because I always thought that he still had it, that this was just a prolonged dip in form. However, in more recent times the mockery has turned to pity, as the great striker that once was, now just kind of isn’t.

The reason I guess only Torres knows: injuries, fatigue, confidence – I’m sure you could make a claim for any. The only thing that is for certain, is that it is Torres, and Torres alone that has contributed to his demise. Hell, it can’t be his teammates – the current Spain line up are arguably the best international team ever assembled, and his club side Chelsea lifted the greatest club prize in Europe with him in the squad. And it certainly can’t be the manager, as the same fat Spanish waiter that coached Torres in the glory years at Liverpool returned to his life with absolutely no impact as the man in charge at Stamford Bridge in 2012.

All I know is that Fernando Torres will never be the player he once was. Whatever ability he had that made him at times unplayable, he’s lost it. This is no longer a dip in form – more so a transformation into where there is no return – a black hole if you will.

The black hole of Fernando Torres – where assists go to die.