4 trophies in his first season (including the Portuguese Super Cup, Primeira Liga, UEFA Europa League and Portuguese Cup), AVB looked just as good, if ... more]]> Skip back to the end of last season and 33-yr Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas looked like he was about to set the football managing industry alight.

4 trophies in his first season (including the Portuguese Super Cup, Primeira Liga, UEFA Europa League and Portuguese Cup), AVB looked just as good, if not better then Mourniho after his 2004 Champions League success with Porto when he was 41.

Skip ahead just 6 months at Chelsea FC and now AVB looks under extreme pressure, with a lack of backing from owners, players and most importantly, the fans.

Andres always knew had a difficult job when he resigned from Porto in June 2011 to become the new Chelsea FC boss.  The fifth manager at Chelsea in just 6 years, Andre must have know the demands from the club, both in terms of success and Champions League glory.

However, so far it is all going downhill.  In addition to being challenged with monumental task of rebuilding a Chelsea team which has been so used to dominating European proceedings in recent years, he also has to manager senior players, placate the owner and compete with rising teams such as Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.  Life could not really be harder for the young Portuguese manager.

However, we still need to remind ourselves that he is managing a team that finished 2^nd in the Premier League last season.  The battle for a UEFA Champions League place should be a mute point.  A team with world-class players and experience such as Czech, Terry, Lampard, Drogba and Essien should not be struggling with a desultory Arsenal team or Newcastle for 4^th place.   They should be involved in the thick of it at the top of the table, and I think time’s starting to show that Andre isn’t up for the job.

Of course, we need to be careful criticising a manager who has lacked the financial backing of previous managers at the club, however 5 games without a victory and 17 points of the league leaders Manchester City is an outright disaster for Chelsea.  While I’ve agreed with the need for giving new managers such as AVB time to adjust to the league and build his team, he should still be digging out better performances then we’ve seen so far.  A 1-1 home draw with Championship side Birmingham in the FA Cup is not good enough for any manager at Chelsea, and after his 3-1 loss to Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, time must be running out for the “new Mourinho”.

Of course, luck is very important in football.  A single poor performance in the Champions League Semi-Final (against Monaco in 2004) cost former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri his job, while a last minute goal from Francisco Costinha against Man Utd in the First Knockout Round set the path for Mourninho to win his first ever Champions League Trophy.

However, Chelsea seems to be a team in decline.  Their performances have not improved of late and now a power struggle between the manager and the experienced players seems to be creating a crisis situation at the club.  This is not just about a series of poor performances at Chelsea, but a manager who looks like he is out of depth and unable to do the job that Abramovitch has asked of him.  Maybe he will be given until the end of the season to improve Chelsea’s performances, however an impending exit from the Champions League against Napoli on the 13^th March could be the final piece of the straw.

Overall, while AVB is a proven manager in the Portuguese Leagues and has won many plaudits for his attractive, attacking style of football, he seems to lack experience running an obstinate, Chelsea team that has become a European giant in recent years.  His lack of experience managing star players and dealing with the politics of big clubs such as Chelsea could eventually be his downfall.

Gibson moved to Everton from Utd for an undisclosed fee on January 13th, becoming the fourth ex-united player under Moyes to sign for ... more]]> Former Manchester Utd midfielder Darron Gibson helped his former team move level on points with Manchester City after scoring the only goal in Everton’s 1-0 win over City.

Gibson moved to Everton from Utd for an undisclosed fee on January 13^th, becoming the fourth ex-united player under Moyes to sign for the Reds (after Neville, Tim Howard and Louis Saha, who incidentally went back to Everton and has now been signed by Tottenham).

City’s latest defeat is their 3^rd of the season and leaves them top of the table only on goal difference.  Both Manchester City and Utd and 54 points, with a Goal Difference of 41 and 35 respectively.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2-0 victory at home to Stoke has massively changed the odds from 4/12 to 4/6 for them to secure a 3^rd consecutive title.  The change in the title odds have likely come from the fact that Utd tend to perform better in the second half of the season.  You only have to look at last season (10/11) when Man Utd were 12 points behind Chelsea in October and managed to turn this into a giant 15 point lead by March.

For City fans, the defeat will serve as a huge blow to their title campaign and will do nothing to help relieve the “pressure” of a team which has not won the 1^st division in the last century.

In addition, new financial regulations introduced by UEFA for the following season will prevent City’s owners from spending lavishly in the transfer market, should they fail to win the title this time round.

In many ways, it is all-or-nothing for City this season.  Robert Mancini’s men have found themselves knocked out of 3 other competitions already this season (the Champions League in November 2011, and the FA Cup and Carling Cup in January 2012), currently without two of their best players – Yaya Toure and Kolo Toure, who are both playing for the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations, and pitted against a resurgent Man Utd team who have yet to re-introduce key players such as Ashley Young, Hernandez and Tom Cleverly back into their first team.

Lack of Investment in the Christmas Transfer Window

Interestingly, there wasn’t much activity in this year’s Christmas transfer window.  In total, clubs spent a measly £33.4 million in the transfer window compared to more than £100 million in previous windows.

The fiscal restrictions of many club’s spending habits come from a variety of factors which include new UEFA financial regulations, which will be put into place in 2012, a lack of money under the current economic markets, reduced confidence in buying players during Christmas and getting settled into the first team (eg. Carroll and Torres who were bought for a combined total of £85 million and have only scored 5 goals between them in the last 12 months), high premiums on players and the availability of season-long loan signings.

One of the most active clubs in the Christmas transfer window, QPR, spent big money under Mark Huges on bringing in Fulham’s Bobby Zamora, City’s 25-year-old right back Onuoha, Lazio and former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse and finally a loan signing from AC Milan for defender Taiwo, which occured after QPR’s deal for Brazilian defender Alex fell through.

QPR currently sit in 16^th place, 3 points above the drop zone, and should easily now have enough strength in their team to see off Wigan, Wolves and Bolton.

Two world-class goals in the first half from Demba Ba and French International Johan Cabaye put Newcastle 2-0 up at half-time, while a 90th minute horror show in defending from ... more]]> Man Utd suffered their first consecutive defeat of the season as they lost 3-0 to Newcastle at the Sports Direct Arena.

Two world-class goals in the first half from Demba Ba and French International Johan Cabaye put Newcastle 2-0 up at half-time, while a 90^th minute horror show in defending from Man Utd led to the 3^rd goal that sealed all 3 points for Newcastle.

After reading The Times and BBC Football News report on the match, I think the critics have been a little harsh on Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson.  Yes, Man Utd had a poor performance in which they desperately needed to show a strong comeback after their 3-2 defeat at home to Blackburn, but Newcastle were a completely different class.

Johan Cabaye - 25 year old, box-to-box playmaker. The new French Lampard?

You only have to take a glimpse of the precocious talents in the Newcastle team and look at their position in the table to see where their strengths lie.  The 25-year old French International playmaker and box-to-box midfielder, Johan Cabaye, joined from Champions League team Lille for just £5 million in the summer (where he scored 15 goals in a single season to help Lille win the double) and looks set to be the new French Lampard, while Demba Ba, who’s currently 2^nd top scorer in the Premier League with 15 goals this season, came to the club on a free transfer.  Then you have the goal keeper, Tim Krul, who has been by far the best goal keeper in the Premier League this season, and then a wash of physically strong and determined players such as Ameobi and Tiote, who I have a sneaking suspicion Sir Alex will try to sign this transfer window.

Tiote, who plays for the Ivory Coast, is only 25 years old, has 1.5 years experience in the Premier League. He has the physical prowess and ability of a great Premier League midfielder, and he can play in both midfield and defence – the prefect weapon for Man Utd.  Since the loss of Scholes and Roy Keane, Utd have failed replace the void left in midfield.  Anderson and Carrick have massively underperformed for players of their quality and ability, while Giggs (who turned 38 a couple of months ago) is only one injury away from retiring from professional football altogether.  While Sir Alex would obviously love to sign a “Modric” or “Sneijder” playmaker, the least he ca do is bring in someone who can add extra protection to his young, susceptible defence.

And that’s where Utd’s problems really lie.  Yes, Rooney was out of form and their midfield failed to control the tempo of the game, but when you concede 6 goals in two games then you have to go back to the basics.  Man Utd desperately need Vidic and Evans back.  Ferdinand is still very good but isn’t the main man anymore, and Phil Jones has been played in more positions this season then anyone in the Football League.

Ferguson needs to go back to basics.  He needs to sign or loan a strong, experienced centre-back to replace Vidic for the season, a wingback to provide some cover and competition for Evra, and solve the mess of a jigsaw that’s become their midfield.  Carrick isn’t consistent enough for the big games and lacks the penetrative ability of a Gerrard, Modric or Ramsey, while Anderson and Park are just passengers in the game.  They need more of a physical presence in midfield and someone who can rage forward and take the game to the other team.  I think we’ve seen this far too many times this season from Yaya Toure at Manchester city, and boy will they miss him during the African Cup of Nations.

Meanwhile, for Newcastle, if it weren’t for the loss of Tiote and Demba Ba in January then I’d expect them to compete for the Champions League or Europe at minimum.  Newcastle are still only 4 points off the Champions League top spot and with Chelsea and Liverpool in such dyer home form I think they should be looking to try and keep in touch with these teams by May.

Goals from Aguero, Yaya Toure and a 75th minute penalty from James Miler secured the win for Manchester City, who went down to 10 men just seconds ... more]]> Manchester City completed a resounding victory over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium to move top of the Premier League and 3 points above Utd.

Goals from Aguero, Yaya Toure and a 75^th minute penalty from James Miler secured the win for Manchester City, who went down to 10 men just seconds before the penalty was given.

The win looked very straightforward for Mancini’s team, who went into the tunnel at half-time with a comfortable 2-0 scoreline.

While the Sky Sports commentators and Alan Gray and Rick Perry said that the difference between the two teams in the first half were the goal keepers (Pepe Reina made a very poor mistake to gift Liverpool and Aguero the opening goal), I thought it looks like a rudimentary win for City all across the pitch.

Liverpool deeply missed their top goal scorer Luiz Suarez, who’s scored 9 goals for Liverpool since he joined the club last year.  Liverpool chose not to appeal Suarez’s 8-match ban, which could all but end their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League this season if they don’t bring in another top quality striker during the January transfer window.

Since Andy Carroll’s £35 million move to Liverpool FC from Newcastle last year, he has yet to prove himself with only 4 goals from 23 games.  While the tall, powerful and gravitated 22-year-old still personally has plenty of time to find his form, his club are in deep need of goals upfront.

The midfield quartet of Kuyt, Downing (who has yet to score for Liverpool), Adam and Henderson have not been contributing nearly as enough as they should, hence why Liverpool are lagging in 6^th place in the Premier League, behind an out of form Chelsea and resurgent Arsenal team.

Personally, if I was a Liverpool supporter I would be deeply worried about their prospects this season.  While Liverpool have looked strong, experienced and with excellent away performances already this season (including 3 points away at Stamford Bridge), their home form has been poor.  Liverpool have drawn 4 of their last 6 home games, while their away record includes 3 wins and a draw.  As Gary Neville pointed out in the studio before the game, Liverpool’s poor performances at home stem from a lack of creativity in midfield and a failure to break teams down and unleash killer balls through the opposition’s defence.

Gerrard’s lengthy absence from the team has had an obvious impact on Liverpool’s home form, however at 31 years old Liverpool cannot keep relying on him to keep winning every game for them.  Someone else in the Liverpool team needs to step up to the plate, and with the likes of Bellamy, (32) Carragher (33) and Kuyt (31) all reaching their expiry date, Danglish seriously needs to consider injecting more youthful talent and natural leaders in his team.  If Liverpool doesn’t act soon, they could find themselves transitioning into a bottom half team in the next few years, while Man Utd, City, Chelsea and Arsenal see recent investments in their young signings and academy programs fulfilled.

Ronaldo and Messi have both been voted World Player and European Player of the ... more]]> Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the headlines in the last 3-4 years of European football.  As such, it’s a titanic task to separate and analyse the achievements of these two great footballers in the last 4 years.

Ronaldo and Messi have both been voted World Player and European Player of the Years, both of them have won Champions League trophies for their football clubs and both of them have earned a string of domestic league titles.  So how do we decide who’s better?

On the one hand, we have Ronaldo.  Powerful, strong and proven in two different domestic leagues. Ronaldo’s unprecedented 42 goals in all competition for Man Utd in the 2007-8 season ended with a Champions League trophy and being voted the World/European Player of the Year.  During his time at Man Utd, he’s also led his team to 3 consecutive Premier League trophies, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cups and a Fifa Club World Cup.

Since his record-breaking £80 million transfer to the Bernabeu, Ronaldo has maintained his astonishing form and gone on to score 86 goals in just 79 games – a ratio of 1.08 goals per game.

Then plods along Messi.  Starting way back at the World Cup in 2006 (when he became the youngest player to score for Argentina aged 16 in the competition), Messi has since become Barcelona’s most important, highest paid and influential player.  Since his breakthrough season into Barcelona’s first team in 2004-5, Messi has won a total of 5 league titles (including a stretch of 3 in a row which could increase to 4), 3 Champions Leagues, 5 Supercopas, 1 Cop Del Rey and 2 Fifa Club World Cups (in addition to 2 more UEFA Super Cups).

When you look at what both sets of players have accomplished, it’s easy to see that both had had huge impacts on their clubs, and have each won enough to go down in football history.

The problem with comparing both sets of footballers at the moment is that while Messi, aged 2 years younger, has already won far more trophies then Ronaldo, he’s also been part of an historic team filled with a shortlist of nominees for World Player of the Year.  Xavi and Iniesta have both proved their legendary status in the last decade of Catalan football, so exactly how far can we credit Messi for his achievements at club level?

Ronaldo, on the other hand, successfully guided Man Utd to 3 successive league titles, in arguably the most competitive league at the time (all 3 Premier League teams made it to the Champions League Semi-Final in 2008), which included two years of domination by Chelsea.

Ronaldo scored an unprecedented 42 goals as a winger, including 3 in the Champions League Semi-Final against Arsenal, and one in the Champions League Final 2008.  His goals came from everywhere, including penalties, free kicks, counter-attacks, headers, 40 yards wonders and plenty of other team goals.

The majority of Messi’s 136 goals (in 193 games) for Barcelona, however, have come from outfield play, with numerous assists accredited to the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Alves and Pedro.

While Messi is proven to be a better player on the ball, Ronaldo has proved to be the ultimate all round player.  Although even that isn’t very fair, considering Messi is effectively playing a host of positions (CF, SS, WF, CMF and SMF) in every game for Barca.

The only thing that we can say for sure is that Ronaldo has proven himself in two very different leagues, whilst we’ve only see Messi in La Liga.  One can only guess how well he’d cope against physical teams such as Stoke, Blackburn and Bolton in the Premier League when his team doesn’t have 70% possession, with Xavi and Iniesta feeding him balls into the box every 30 seconds.

But then we can just compare Champions League stats if we really want to compare the two in neutral territory against the best teams in Europe.  Messi has scored 44 goals in the UEFA Champions League in the last 4 seasons, while Ronaldo has scored 41.  Not much between them there then.

So what else can we look at?  The only thing that springs to mind (asides from International performances, where both have looked a shadow of themselves) is “big game” records.  Messi has scored countless goals against Madrid in their last 8 games against each other across all competitions, while Ronaldo has just his single headed-goal in the 108^th minute of the 2010/11 Copa Del Rey.

While Ronaldo has consistently underperformed in big games (his penalty misses in the Champions League Semi-Final against Barcelona and Final against Chelsea in Moscow), he has still done his fair share of work in winning trophies, at least at Man Utd.

I guess the only thing we can say for sure is that while Ronaldo possesses immense qualities that tick boxes across the board (strength, power, agility, right and left footed), Messi just has something “special” about his game that’s hard to put your finger on.  He scores more “big” goals, he stands out more on the pitch, and his ability to weed through defenders like a lawnmower cutting grass has never graced our TV screens before.  While we could criticise him for being too left-footed and selfish in his play, that’s also how Pep Guardiola would probably prefer it.

Personally, the main thing that stands out in my mind (and probably the reason why everyone else rates Messi above Ronaldo) is that while Ronaldo’s performances drip in the big games, Messi’s seem to get better.  His hat-trick against Madrid earlier in the season andhis brace against Man Utd in the 2009 Champions League are just pure illustrations of this.

Overall, while both are equally great players, Messi’s age, big game performances and accolades will always put him on top, at least until either player starts putting in team winning performances on the International Stage.

A late 2nd half penalty (7 minutes from time) from Frank Lampard, who came off the bench as a ... more]]> Chelsea successfully reduced the gap between them and Manchester City at the top of the table to just 7 points, which Andre Villas-Boas insists has put Chelsea back into the title race.

A late 2^nd half penalty (7 minutes from time) from Frank Lampard, who came off the bench as a substitute, sealed all 3 points against a 10-man Manchester City team.

While Lampard questioned the manager’s to start him on the bench in the post-match interview, the result will give the manager and club a huge boost during a period where they could have found themselves knocked out of the Champions League and 13 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.

Interestingly, while it was Chelsea who were under huge pressure to seal all 3 points at home, Manchester City started the better side with Balotelli scoring an opening goal inside the 2^nd minute.

It could have been even worse for Chelsea when Silva was blatantly brought down in the box by Bosingwa a few minutes later, however the referee Mark Clattenburg didn’t see it.

After dominating the opening 15 minutes with numerous chances, possession and quick balls through the Chelsea defence, Chelsea slowly reacted to the changes and got themselves into the game after Sturridge drove into the opposition penalty area and played a beautiful pass to Meireles who scored in the 34^th minute.

Chelsea ended the first-half as the better team, and with Manchester City slow to start the second-half, it increasingly looked like Chelsea could steal all 3 points.  To protect their back line, Mancini brought on defensive players such as Kolo Toure and De Jonge (his first Premier League match this season), and took off Silva and Aguero.

The turning point came just before the hour when Manchester City right-back Gael Clichy tripped over Ramires in the penalty box, to earn his 2^nd yellow card and reduce City to 10 men.

From then on, it looked like another dramatic night at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea tried to make the most of their 1-man advantage and search for the winning goal in front of their home support.

While it looked like City would probably defend their point with 15 minutes left in the game, a silly handball from Joleon Lescott (from a shot from Daniel Sturridge) gave Chelsea a penalty, which Lampard stepped up and booted into the back of the net, kissing his badge and celebrating amongst the Chelsea fans in the 83^rd minute.

In response, Roberto Mancini brought on Edin Dzeko and moved Milner to right-back to try and find a goal, however Chelsea’s old guard and 1-man advantage pretty much kept City at bay for the last 5 minutes.

Overall it was an excellent 3 points for Chelsea (who moved 3^rd place and within 7 points of the leaders); and a huge success for Andre Villas-Boas, who has had his toughest test as a manager over the last 2 weeks.

Bookmakers don’t spend nearly as much time setting MLS lines and therefore smart handicappers will be able to find lots of value ... more]]> The MLS is becoming more popular with each passing year and it won’t be long before more sports bettors start to look at betting more regularly on MLS games.

Bookmakers don’t spend nearly as much time setting MLS lines and therefore smart handicappers will be able to find lots of value betting on MLS. You’ll need to ensure you know the league well before you start betting, but once you know the league; MLS is one of the easiest sports to consistently beat the bookies at.

How to Read Moneyline Odds

• Toronto FC +175 vs. Columbus Crew -150 Draw +150

Most bets that you’ll make in MLS will have moneyline odds, which are simple to read. The team with the negative odds is the team that is favoured in the match while the team with positive odds is the underdog. In our example bettors would need to bet $150 to win $100 on Columbus while a $100 bet would pay $175 profit on Toronto. When the odds are positive the number equals how much you’ll make on a $100 bet while negative odds equal how much you need to bet to win $100. You can also bet on both teams to draw in the match.

Types of MLS Bets

• The most common way to bet on a MLS game is match betting, which is a bet where you simply pick what team you think is going to win or a draw. In soccer the teams can draw, so there are always three options on a match bet. You can bet on the two teams to draw in the game as well, which adds an extra element to betting on MLS.

• You can also bet on the over/under in MLS games at most major sportsbooks. The bookie will set a goal total and you need to determine if the game will go over or under the goal total set by your sportsbook. If the total is 2.5 goals the teams would need to combine to score 3+ goals to win the over on this bet or 2 or less goals to win the under.

• You can also mix multiple match bets and over/under bets together on a parlay bet. Parlays are bets with multiple outcomes and each outcome needs to win in order for the parlay to cash. Parlaying a few heavy favourites together can increase your payout odds and lower the juice you need to risk on a wager.

There aren’t a ton of different types of MLS bets available at online sportsbooks yet. As the sport matures and more fans start to bet on the sport I’m sure we’ll see the selection of MLS bets increase. For the time being you’ll need to focus on match betting and over/under bets at the majority of online sportsbooks that offer MLS betting. The odds are often similar between the online bookies because most of them copy the lines from each other due to low action on MLS. You can definitely find great value in MLS odds, but only if you follow the sport throughout the entire season.