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THE WEEK ON THE TEES 2-4-08
Luke Raine
Last weekend saw Boro go to the fortress that is Stamford Bridge where they could, and perhaps should, have picked up at least a point from the game.
After the match, what struck me was the gulf in class between Chelsea and their title rivals. After watching Manchester United put four goals past Aston Villa less than twenty-four hours earlier, I could hardly believe just how lethargic Chelsea looked.
This is a team who are potentially six games away from a Premier League title but had the look of a side that had just started pre-season. With a bit of luck we could have picked up all three points, never mind one.
After the Chelsea game, Gareth Southgate made a good point about his side’s mentality during the opening period. It just makes you wonder how many sides go to places like Chelsea with the aim of keeping the score down.
It makes it even worse when travelling fans are forced to pay fifty pounds just to see the game alone.
To be fair to Boro, the second half showing was much improved and if it wasn’t for a slackness in front of goal, we could have ended the host’s four year unbeaten home record.
Fingers will be pointed at record signing Afonso Alves and he will probably be the first to admit that he could have done better with one or two of his chances. But at least the Brazilian is now getting into positions where he looks like he could find the back of the net.
The big talking point of the weekend was arguably Vassiriki Diaby’s sending off at Bolton. The tackle on former Boro target Gretar Steinsson was horrendous and certainly merited the red card shown by Chris Foy.
But surely questions must be asked about Arsene Wenger’s response to the tackle in his post match interview. Wenger claimed that the tackle couldn’t be compared to the one by Martin Taylor that left his centre forward Eduardo with a double fracture of the right leg.
His reasoning for this was that Diaby was “defending” himself. I find this hard to believe when Steinsson was the player with ball!
In truth Steinsson was lucky that he saw Diaby coming. He could so easily have received an injury as serious as Eduardo’s and the tackle was just as bad, if not worse.
Managers need to take responsibility for their players' actions in circumstances like this. Wenger didn’t condone the tackle but didn’t condemn it either. He was even applauded by some parts of the media for saying it wasn’t a great tackle.
Would it have been hard for Wenger to come out and say that there wasn’t a place on a football pitch for a tackle like that? Especially for a man who touted a lifetime ban for players who commit such fouls.
After watching this weekend’s football it is clear to me that the title is surely heading back to Old Trafford for a second consecutive season. Even though there is still only a five-point gap at the top with six games remaining, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side look unstoppable at the moment.
Pundits are claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world at the minute but I don’t understand how people can make this sort of statement.
On current form, he is certainly the best player in the Premier League but I find it hard to say that he is the best in the world without watching all the main contenders week in, week out. I am also pretty sure that these pundits don’t either.
Sunday sees the Champions visit the Riverside and Boro fans should make the most of watching a player of Ronaldo’s quality in the flesh. The one positive for Teessiders is that we meet United in the middle of two big Champions League quarter final ties with Roma.
Next weekend is also the date for the FA Cup semi finals at Wembley and Boro fans could be forgiven for trying to ignore the two games that will be going on.
It must be said however, that it is refreshing to see a different line up of teams for these big matches. Hopefully this might lead to more open and entertaining games being played on Saturday and Sunday.
There have also been stories in the news about England manager Fabio Capello withholding information in a corruption trial.
It also sounded like he was withholding information after last Wendnesday’s dour 1-0 defeat to France. England are in dire need of a spark from somewhere if there isn’t to be a repeat of failing to qualify for a major championships.
Capello sounded pleased with the performance, which certainly came as a surprise to me. If Steve McClaren had said that after the same performance, he would have been pilloried by the press.
Finally this week, it has emerged that Merseyside police will be investigating distasteful singing from Everton fans during Sunday’s derby match. I for one know that whenever we host a derby game there is more than a murmur of chanting like this, yet nothing is ever done about it.
Maybe because the Merseyside derby gets more coverage from the media, the police feel the need to get involved. It wasn’t the first time chanting like this has gone on at a derby match and it won’t be the last. It is just a sad indication of the reasons some people attend football matches today.
Luke Raine
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