Ferguson pays for taking Spurs too lightly

The plan has worked year after year for Alex Ferguson at White Hart Lane, let Tottenham have the ball, cope with small periods of mild pressure, and constantly and clinically pick them off. It’s not surprising that Ferguson said before the game that White Hart Lane is one of his most favourite places to play considering his record against Spurs. However, for the first time in a very long time this season, Spurs have not simply rolled over and accepted defeat. This season Tottenham have gotten 4 deserved points from Manchester United in the Premier League.

United have beaten Manchester City and Chelsea away this season, winning both games 2-3. With Robin van Persie up front Man Utd believe that they can outscore any opponent, and their results this season back that up. That is why it was so surprising that yesterday they weren't pushing forward in their normal aggressive manner and only recorded 2 shots on target. After scoring the opening goal, they seemed content to sit deep and soak up pressure. While this has worked for a very long time for United at White Hart Lane, this Tottenham side hasn't got the same fragilities that it used to. It is also now a side that truly believes it belongs in the top four.

In the second half Tottenham controlled the match and created 2-3 wonderful chances that they should have taken. United should have got a penalty when Rooney was tripped by Caulker, but Dempsey’s 93rd minute equaliser was more than deserved. Alex Ferguson only pays compliments to teams that he doesn't fear. For years he has lavished praise on Spurs’ style of play and the atmosphere at White Hart Lane, but after only picking up one point from Tottenham this season, he may have to rethink his approach next time round.

Champions League Round of 16 - Brief Analysis Part 2

The second set of Champions League Round of 16 first legs took place this week. This week's entertainment level may have dropped, with only 5 goals being scored as opposed to 11 last week.

Below, I take a look at some points of interest with the aid of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app.

Impact Substitution
Jose Mourinho has shown this season that he doesn't necessarily trust Karim Benzema at the top end of his team. Emmanuel Adebayor has been brought in on loan from Manchester City, and on Tuesday night he started the match away at Lyon. To say that the ex-Arsenal striker was rather ineffective would be an understatement. Within 40 seconds of coming on as Adebayor's replacement, Karim Benzema grabbed the opening goal against his old side. A great goal after a mazy dribble across the opposition penalty area gave Madrid a crucial away goal to take back to the Bernabeu.

Firing Blanks
Marseille v Manchester United was not the most exciting game. Both sides seemed to be overly cautious, and although Marseille will consider a 0-0 draw a good result, they still have a difficult task of getting a score draw or better at Old Trafford. Manchester United were especially poor going forward, having only 2 shots on target in the match. Their 8 shots at goal was the lowest total of all the 16 teams that played over the last two weeks.

Torres bedding in
Chelsea got a comfortable 2-0 win at Copenhagen on Tuesday night, and look set to make the Quarter Finals with relative ease. They started the game with new signing Fernando Torres partnering Nicolas Anelka up front. The duo managed 13 shots between them and were far too much for Copenhagen to contain. Although Torres did not get a goal, his movement was excellent throughout the game and he got into numerous goalscoring positions. It shouldn't be long before the Spanish striker nets his first goal for his new club.

Bayern show their class
Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich recorded a fantastic 1-0 away win in their first leg with Internazionale on Wednesday. Inter did have chances of their own, with Samuel Eto'o coming close on a few occasions, but Bayern were bright and bold throughout, and got the winner in the 90th minute through Mario Gomez. Arjen Robben created the goal when he cut in from the right wing and had a shot which was parried by Julio Cesar. Robben tried this all evening, often picking the ball up in a very wide position. The Inter defenders doubled up on him well for most of the match in order to stop him cutting inside, but they ultimately failed.

Bastian Schweinsteiger also had an excellent game, controlling the midfield and dictating Bayern's play throughout. Schweinsteiger attempted and completed the most passes of any player on the pitch. As can be seen on the chalkboard below, the German midfielder concentrated the majority of his balls out wide, looking for the consistently dangerous Robben and Ribery.

Week Ahead: Big games at the top

After a midweek of European action, there are a host of top of the table clashes across Europe's top leagues this weekend.

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Saturday 26 February 2011
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga: Kick-off - 17:30 GMT

Bayern come into this game in good form. Louis van Gaal's side have won 4 of their last 5 in the Bundesliga, and their win on Wednesday night at the San Siro will also be a confidence boost ahead of this game. Dortmund are still 13 points ahead of the German Champions in the league, and while the result of this game is unlikely to alter the destination of the title, it could go a long way to proving whether Bayern Munich are back to their best.

Odds - Bayern Munich (4/5) Draw (5/2) Dortmund (3/1)

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Sunday 27 February 2011
Lille v Lyon
Ligue 1: Kick-off - 20:00 GMT

After a good 1-1 draw at home with Real Madrid on Tuesday, Lyon will see this game as their chance to grab hold of Ligue 1. Lille are currently top of the table, but with only 1 win in 3 in the league they desperately need three points on Sunday night. Rudi Garcia's side were also knocked out of the Europa League this week, losing 5-3 on aggregate to PSV. Lyon's experience may prove key in this top of the table clash.

Odds - Lille (11/10) Draw (9/4) Olympique Lyonnais (13/5)

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Monday 28 February 2011
Milan v Napoli
Serie A: Kick-off - 19:45

This is a huge game in the race for the Serie A title. Napoli visit the San Siro just 3 points behind leaders AC Milan, and victory for Walter Mazzarri's side would throw everything up in the air. An away win could also bring Internazionale right back into the mix, who are currently only 5 points behind in third position. Milan won the reverse fixture in October, but Serie A top goalscorer Edinson Cavani will be hoping to help his team achieve an historic victory on Monday night.

Odds - Milan (4/5) Draw (5/2) Napoli (7/2)

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Tuesday 1 March 2011
Chelsea v Manchester United
Premier League: Kick-off - 19:45

Due to postponements earlier in the season, Chelsea and Manchester United have yet to face each other at all in the Premier League this season. Manchester United play Wigan, Chelsea and Liverpool all in a week, all away from home. United played out a disappointing and rather boring 0-0 draw away at Marseille on Tuesday night, and there is a chance that they will travel to Stamford Bridge with containment in mind. Away from home this season Man Utd have drawn 0-0 with both Manchester City and Spurs. Chelsea will be hoping that Fernando Torres can quickly rediscover his form, while Ferguson's side will be hoping to benefit from Chelsea's seemingly fragile confidence.

Odds - Chelsea (5/4) Draw (11/5) Manchester United (12/5)

Champions League Match Day 6 - Brief Analysis

The Champions League Group stage is now over. 16 teams are through to the knockout stage, 8 will play in the next round of the Europa League and 8 are out altogether. The draw for the next round takes place in one week and is likely to throw up some very interesting ties.

Due to the fact that many teams had already sealed qualification, some of the games unfortunately lacked any real intensity or drive. However, there were some points of interest.

Quality over Quantity
Real Madrid brushed aside Auxerre 4-0 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday but somehow the French side managed to have more shots overall.

Benfica were in an even more wasteful and apparently desperate mood as they managed to lose 2-1 to Shalke despite having 16 more shots at goal than the German visitors.

Barcelona philosophy runs deep
Despite fielding a very young and inexperienced side, Barcelona showed Rubin Kazan that their passing philosophy is so ingrained that the youth can slot right in and be very effective too. Barcelona passed the Russian side to death, completing over 700 more passes in the match.

Valencia’s Possession
An impressive statistic in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Valencia was that the Spanish side had more possession at Old Trafford. Ever Banega in particular had an excellent night moving the ball around from the centre of the park, completing 25 more passes than anyone on the pitch.

Group Stage Statistics
At the end of the group stage we currently have the following statistics:

Top Goal Scorers
Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan) - 7
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) - 6
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 6

Top Assists
Carlos Martins (Benfica) - 5
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur) - 4

Most Successful Passes
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) - 516
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) - 515
Xavi (Barcelona) - 458

Most Shots on Target
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 16
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 15

Most Shots off Target
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 24
Carlos Martins (Benfica) - 20

Most successful take-ons
Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) - 28
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 24

Most Crosses
Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) - 72
Samuel Inkoom (FC Basel) - 48

Diagrams courtesy of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app

Rooney staying will not paper over the cracks

Wayne Rooney signed a new five year contract with Manchester United at the end of last week, just days after he announced that he wanted to leave. This is undoubtedly good news for the club as Rooney is a fantastic player, but there are big problems at Manchester United which won’t go away just because Rooney has signed on the dotted line.

Manchester United are a European and World football powerhouse and in the last 20 years they have won 11 league titles and 2 European Cups. However, over the last few seasons an unusual pattern has begun to emerge where Man Utd’s squad has dwindled and appears to be getting weaker every season. After receiving a mammoth £80m from the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, it appears that most of this money has gone to service the club’s debt rather than to bring in top class players.

In May 2008 Manchester United won the Champions League by beating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow. Below is the team that they fielded:

Man Utd - 2008 Champions League Final line-up

Only two players have been lost from this line-up, but their performances since leaving the club demonstrate what a huge loss they have been. Carlos Tevez has been in a rich vein of form for rivals Manchester City, scoring 36 goals in 51 games. Cristiano Ronaldo has netted an amazing 43 times in just 47 appearances for Real Madrid. Ronaldo would be a huge loss to any team in the world, and replacing him is arguably an impossible task and neither Nani nor Antonio Valencia have been able to pitch in with enough goals in comparison. In 2007-08 Ronaldo scored an astonishing 42 goals in all competitions for Manchester United, and although Wayne Rooney managed a fantastic 34 goals last season, circumstances this season may prevent that from happening again.

In addition to the loss of key players, United are arguably over relying on their more experienced personnel. Next month Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will turn 36 and 37 respectively. Scholes has played in every league game for Man Utd this season and Giggs has only missed two. 35 year old Gary Neville was very lucky not to get sent off at Stoke on Sunday after two late challenges on the younger and quicker Matthew Etherington. Neville also had a torrid time against the pace of Wolves’ Matt Jarvis in last night’s Carling Cup tie. These examples quite clearly show that Neville is starting to struggle to keep up with the pace of the Premier League, and it will be interesting to see whether or not Ferguson sticks with Neville when Tottenham and Gareth Bale visit Old Trafford this weekend. Ferguson’s reliance on his older players may be because the likes of Darron Gibson and the Da Silva twins have not progressed as quickly as he hoped.

Looking back at Man Utd’s Champions League winning side of 2008, a few more names have struggled for fitness and/or form ever since. Since that match Owen Hargreaves has only managed to play in 4 games, while Rio Ferdinand only appeared in 13 league games last season. Michael Carrick has also struggled for a long time to recapture the form he showed a few seasons ago where he dictated the rhythm of United’s play so well.

Manchester United are beginning to struggle in an emerging world where they can no longer compete financially with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid. They have missed out on big name signings across Europe such as David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Mesut Ozil. In the league, while United are trying to fight off dramatically improved competition from Manchester City and Spurs, they are struggling to keep up with Chelsea at the very top. This season is crucial for Alex Ferguson’s side, as Liverpool showed what can happen to a big side that is knocked off their comfortable perch.

Things are not heading for disaster at United, however they are certainly missing one or two world class players which they may or may not be able to afford. They need to adapt to the new challenges in both the Premier League and in Europe quickly, otherwise they could get left behind.