|
 |
ALL SWEETNESS AND LIGHT 22-8-08
Udayan Mukherjee
This article was going to be all sweetness and light. It was going to be about the excellent football and the general feeling of happiness and contentment that the Boro v Spurs game brought.
Another thing has caught my eye, however, which is the insipid performance and general malaise surrounding ‘Team England’. I hope it was clear to you that the last two words of the last sentence were meant to be read with a sneer.
Every time England play in a friendly, I promise I won’t watch them again. Inevitably I do and inevitably I end up shouting at the telly.
The papers used to be full of talk of a golden generation, but in truth they were not able to deliver the patented English power game to victories beyond the quarter final stage.
The age old question of whether Lampard and Gerrard can play together was tested again in Wednesday's night match against the Czech Republic and yet again the answer was no.
Lampard has not played well for England for years and yesterday he was as ineffective as always. One wonders what his remit was. He didn’t tackle, didn’t pass well and didn’t get into the box to support the strikers.
As a Chelsea player he dictates play. He scores goals. For England he is virtually anonymous. If England are to progress he must be dropped and Gerrard to play in the middle where his driving runs can cause the most damage.
Fabio Capello seems like a decent enough man, and his record suggests that of a decent tactician, but time and time again, like the managers before him he is starting to pick the same old dinosaurs.
David Beckham, for example, played on the right. Let me get this out of the way first – Beckham has been a wonderful servant for England. At times he dragged us through games. However, now he is just too old to be a long term solution.
His game consists totally of trying to play Hollywood balls to team mates who show no movement and not enough technical ability to find space and effortlessly gain yards and lay it off to another team mate.
A wonderful example of the type of movement we should be aiming for would be the Spain team of Euro 2008. Passing the ball shouldn’t be something that a top class footballer really needs to think about. Possession should be interchangeable at the so called pinnacle of English football.
Instead, we see multi millionaires taking ages over passes and ultimately being unable to retain possession.
At the moment, the only people really technically good enough to play this game are Wayne Rooney and possibly Gerrard, although Gerrard has always been more bullish than a player of finesse.
Rooney has a wonderful footballing brain and bags of ability, but in this England side he is not good enough.
At Old Trafford, he is allowed to play his own game and pull strings. For England he is like a child vying for attention. He runs all day and never gets anywhere to try and pick the ball up and at times six largely static England players occupy the centre looking like gormless statues.
Time that could be given to the like of Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Gabby Agbonlahor and others is taken up by players played out of position to accommodate egos.
Players like this offer an urgency to the team that Lampard and Beckham are no longer capable of contributing.
In an ideal world, these two would be a part of the squad, offering advice to the younger players and helping them through, but not in the actual first team.
It is perhaps possible to understand why Capello and previous managers have come to the same baffling decisions. These are big game and big name players.
We can beat bad teams, but when it comes to teams that are half decent we look hurried and thoughtless in possession compared to the unflustered foreigners.
It is clearly going to get worse before it gets better. At the moment, it is nigh on impossible to sign good English players without paying top dollar for mediocre players.
Moreover, the way English players are brought up leads to poor football on the international stage.
‘Getting stuck in’ is not the basis for successful football at the highest level. It should be the reason why England perform above and beyond their peers, not the only attributes of a top team.
As kids, we are told to hoof it and actively discouraged from trying something inventive. There is no opportunity to chill out and think about passes, nor are youngsters given time on the ball to truly feel it and be comfortable with it.
In the end, generation after generation of England’s finest turn out to be one dimensional long ball merchants with all the poise and finesse of a pissed up wrestler.
That said, it is not all of the Premier League that actively discourages young talent from coming through. Teams like Boro, Villa, Manchester City and to certain extents West Ham and Everton are trying to bring players through.
With respect to us, not all of our academy graduates are good enough for the big time, but we are consistently producing a degree of quality that allows us to remain competitive in the Premiership.
The Spurs match showed that at our best we can be inventive, full of pace and power. There will be dark days, but while the enthusiasm remains we can pick up points and score goals and improve year in year out.
With the lack of real quality in the teams below the top three (I don’t count Liverpool as serious challengers any more) the ambition of Champions League football in the future could be more than just a pipe dream.
BACK TO UDAYAN'S CORNER INDEX
CREDIT CRUNCH RELIEF - A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £43.60 ON MANCHESTER CITY v ARSENAL
The Premier League returns to action this weekend and did you know that it is possible to win money on Saturday afternoon's clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm UK Time and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £43.60, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £43.60 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £111.00 on the Manchester City v Arsenal match and we will collect £154.60 if Arsenal win, £155.00 if Manchester City win and £156.86 if it is a draw. That's a minimum profit of 39%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Sky Bet .
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of FTB125 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £48.00 into your new Sky Bet
account.
Deposit £38.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £48.00 on Arsenal at 6/5 with Sky Bet
.
Sky Bet will now add a £20.00 free bet to your account. Place this on Arsenal as well. You will now have £68.00 riding on Arsenal.
Back the draw with £38.00 at 3.6 (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Manchester City at 3.1 (21/10) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Manchester City.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £111.00 on the Manchester City v Arsenal match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game. All winnings are paid out on the ninety minute result.
If Arsenal win, you collect £154.60. That's £129.60 from Sky Bet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £156.86. That's £131.86 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Manchester City win you collect £155.00. That's £130.00 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Manchester City v Arsenal match is Arsenal win and you make £43.60 profit. However, if Manchester City win you make £44.00 and if it's a draw win you make £45.86. That's a minimum profit of 39%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the three bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that this is the fifth season that we have been publishing arbitrage bets and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
|
|
|
|
