Football Objective

Premier League "B Teams"?

2012-01-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the news, Chelsea's manager Andre Villas-Boas proposed that the English League adopts the system which uses Premier League Reserve Teams in lower divisions.

It is widely known, that this system is widely used in Spain and Germany, and has benefited the young talents of Spain to progress faster and more efficiently to professional football. A classic example is "Barcelona B" (Barcelona's reserve team) is producing footballers that could potentially be top talents soon. The system involves reserve teams of top teams, to compete against teams from lower divisions. This way, the young talents can gain experience quicker, as they will see what it is to play against men.

The current football development system in England, involves the development of youth players through academy stages. The games are played between academies which is why youth players get to play other inexperienced youth players. This way, little or nothing can be learned because both sides play the same style of football. The only thing that those players can learn is how to play in theory not in practice, because the best way for players to develop is to play against real professionals. This way, they will learn from an young age what is required from them when they come to play for their first teams. Another good thing is that, the reserve teams do not compete for cups and are not allowed to get promoted, which I think it is fair because it still gives other teams the full opportunity to progress up the league.

Furthermore, with the current system, when U18s team players get to start playing for their first teams, often are sent on loan to other lower division teams. This is not a such bad idea, because this way, lower league teams can benefit from good quality young players and also the player's team gets some money for it. However, lower division teams hesitate to spend money on loan players, as they could not afford to pay reasonable wages. This is also an example why reserve teams in lower leagues should be introduced.

There are of course some criticisms coming from various football specialists saying that the way the English Football League is constructed there is no place for reserve teams. To a degree this is true, because some teams, for example in the Conference would have to drop out to make way for the new teams which is completely unfair for the teams and the fans. Also financially, if those teams drop out, they may have to fold the team which can result in destroying teams that have been competing for decades. It can be said that the beauty of the English League is the long tradition of teams and if it is ruined then it will lose its appeal.

Overall, I do think that the system proposed will work, if lower division teams are not disadvantaged by it. There is definitely interest, as David Moyes, manager of Everton also wants to get involved with that system. The fact, that the system works in Spain, means that it will work in England. This way young talents can be developed quicker, which means that England's national team will be much improved, and that might be the missing peace of the puzzle which can bring a England a major cup win on the world stage.

New Updates - After New Year

2011-12-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all

Sorry for leaving the blog for a few days but I am taking a break and I will be updating again after New Year, so look for new updates then.
Have a good New Year's eve!

Stoke V Tottenham - Key Decisions

2011-12-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

As most of you have seen the game between Stoke and Tottenham there were a few questionable decisions made by the referee Chris Foy.
First I think its right to talk about Peter Crouch's handling of the ball before setting up the goal. It could be said that the referee did not have a clear view of the incident, however the fact that the assistant referee could have signaled should not be ignored. Although a close call it would have been the correct one and the referee really should find the suitable position and angle in order to make the accurate decision. In today's game, especially on that level referees are not expected to make that kind of easy mistakes however we have to take into account the fact that we do not know what Mr Foy has seen.

The second key decision however is a mistake you would not expect a professional referee to make. Ryan Howcross deliberately cleared the ball off the goal line with his elbow which would usually result in a sending off. However, there was a player next to Showcross who looked like cleared the ball with his head. That is what I saw the first time when I watched it on TV, however the replays clearly show that the Stoke defender deliberately stopped the ball going into the goal. From the position of the assistant referee, in my opinion, he would have seen the other defender clearing the ball with his head because he in line with the players and its hard to make a decision because of the angle. However, Chris Foy should have been in position to make the correct decision, because it is a decision which would have affected the game massively.

Immidiatley after the denied goal, Adebayor was ruled offside by the assistant referee. The pace of the game was really quick at the time of the shot, so it was very quick for the assistant referee the make a confident decision. Having said that, the call was not very close to make, as Adebayor was about 2 yards on side so the decision would have been reasonably easy to make. This was also a key decision as it could have changed the course of the game, in favour of the away team.

Although those decisions were incorrect, in my opinion Kaboul's sending off was spot on. First, he was cautioned for dissent on the referee by mocking him suggesting he cannot see and should get glasses, and the second one was for persistent fouling. The fact that the referee showed the yellow card for the smallest of taps, means that his decision making was affected at all by the other incidents, making him look confident and still having control over the game.

Another decision that he got correct is when the Tottenham players were appealing for a penalty, after Dean Whitehead's arms were struck by the ball, following a shot. Chris Foy got this decision correct, because the Stoke player was trying to move his arms out of the way, however in the process, the football was travelling too fast, in order for him to move. Also, his arms were close to his body, which means that the incident did not change the direction of the ball massively. Nice one Chris!

Chris Foy is a top referee, who has been very unlucky on Sunday. The fact that he has been honored to referee the FA Cup Final shows the quality of the referee. For him to referee on the Premier League, proves to everyone that he knows his job and that he is good at it. The same way that player's have bad games (Torres 12 months), referees can have the occasional mistakes too. We are all human, making human mistakes. However if someone does the same mistake over and over again, then something should me done about it.

This is my opinion, I am not saying in any way that I am 100% correct.
Thank you for reading :)!
Hope you enjoyed it!

Goal Line Technology: The Debate

2011-12-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I has been widely talked that Sepp Blatter (FIFA's President) is planning to introduce goal line technology as of next season.
At the moment, the system with ''additional assistants'' is being tested, where there are two more referees added to the field of play. Each additional assistant stands next to the goal post, right on the goal line, in order to see wheather the ball has crossed the line or not, instead of using technology. Furthermore those assistants can help the referee about decisions over the microphone, for example penalty decisions and so on.
The media embraced the whole goal line technology problem during the World Cup 2010, after the game between Germany against England. As you are probably familiar, Frank Lampard had a long distance shot which hit the cross bar, bounced clearly over the goal line and then back out of the goal. The thing that shook the whole world was the decision of the referee who decided to let play on. It is still beyond me how the referee did not give the goal and I wonder what the referee and his assistant were saying over their microphones. The fact that the incident occurred between the two of the best teams in the world, during the biggest tournament in the World which is watched by around 2 billion people. This was a wake up call for FIFA which is why they started testing out different systems. However in my opinion if the incident happened between teams who are less known, I think that the media would not have embraced it as much, but because it happened on a world stage, something had to be done.

I had a meeting with Chris Foy, who is a Premier League referee and it is on the FA select list, mentioned that there is a system being tested that an instant replay of the incident is shown on the referee's watch which can help him to make his decision. However, in my opinion this is a silly practice because it would mean that referee's would have to wear gigantic watches on their wrists which will look completely unprofessional and stupid.

My personal opinion on goal line technology is that it should not be put into practice. I am going to use a quote from UEFA's president which is: "The day we have goal-line technology, five minutes after you will ask for offside technology. We will have that for ten years and then you will ask for penalty area technology. I don't want this in the game. Football is human, football is organised by people and we have the most popular game in the world because it is human.'' I completely agree with Mr Platini because the only reason why football is the most watched sport in the world is because it is unpredictive and there is that element of surprise. As Platini says, people will start using all kinds of technology and eventually football will turn into a game of robotics. One of the main reasons why football is so watched is because there is an element of controversy which keeps the interest going. The demand for the system, coming from the media and the majority of football clubs has put too much pressure on FIFA and they had to do something about it. I am not aware what the exact technology will be, but I still do believe that additional assistants will be more human like than a computer making the decision instead of the referee. Football has existed for decades, and goal line technology has not been used which means that it not such an important part of the game. Furthermore, I think that there are very rare occasions where the system will be needed and it will just be a waste of money that can be used for the development of football. If any of you saw last night's Champions League game between Basel and Manchester United, when Jones scored the goal it barely crossed the goal line and the correct decision has been made. This is evidence that the system with additional assistants works and I truly hope that the governing bodies take that into consideration and delay the introduction of the computer operated system because then system for all kinds of different decisions such as offside and penalty decisions will be requested. Technology might work in other sports such as tennis and rugby but football is a traditional sport and the human error is what makes it a beautiful sport.

Thank you for reading!

Article regarding Cahill's red card - I was proven correct

2011-12-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

If you have read my previous post about Cahill's sending off you will find out that in my opinion Cahill should not have been sent off and the referee has made the wrong decision. I just found an article on ESPN that the decision has been appealed by Bolton and the decision has been reversed. Cahill is free to play against Aston Villa next week. My point has been proven :). The link to the article is: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/993141/bolton-win-appeal-over-gary-cahill-sending-off?cc=5739

Thank you for reading!

Quite a few controversial decisions this weekend

2011-12-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

If you have seen this weekend's games, you must have noticed that the referees did make some questionable decisions.

I am going to start off with the Newcastle - Chelsea game which ended with Chelsea winning 0-3. The controversial decision there came in the beginning when Daviz Luiz pulled down Demba Ba when he was going clear on goal. The referee Mike Dean gave the Chelsea defender a yellow card, but many people felt like he should have been shown the red. On one hand it can be said that Ba was going through on goal with no defenders between him and Chech, which means that he has been denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity which by law, should be punished with a sending off. On the other hand, it can be argued that Ba did not have full control of the ball when he was brought down by Luiz which is why it can be seen as not denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity and only getting a caution for the challenge. In my opinion, and I am not saying that I am correct but David Luiz should have been sent off because although Ba did not have full control of the ball, Chech was not going to get to the ball before him, therefore denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

The next incident that I want to talk about happened in the game between Spurs and Bolton, the home team winning 3-0. The questionable decision came when Cahill (Bolton) made a reckless challenge on Parker, which resulted in a red for the Bolton player. It can be seen as the decision to be a bit harsh, because although Parker had the wing to himself, it still happened closely to the half way line. Furthermore there were Trotters' defenders who could stop Parker to advancing clear on goal. The tackle itself was not that bad as well, because Cahill clipped Parker's leg without showing his studs. For that reason, I do not think that Cahill denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity with his tackle.

The final game I am going to discuss is the Wolves against Sunderland, where the home team won 2-1. The first arguable decision is the penalty at which Larsson was brought down by a Wolves defender. There was defiantly contact between the players, however it happened just outside the penalty area, therefore a free kick should have been awarded, not a penalty. To be fair to Phil Dowd, the decision was very hard to call during a quick attack for Sunderland. The second decision, was at the other end during a Wolves attack. The ball was crossed in the penalty area and Jamie O'Hara seemed to have controlled it using his arm. At first it does seem that way, however on replays it can be seen that the ball strikes his shoulder first and then fractionally touches his arm as well. This decision all depends on the view that the referee has, as it can be viewed in different ways. It was important for Dowd to make an assured decision as the attack resulted in Fletcher scoring the winning goal after a pass from O'Hara. In my opinion, it should have been a free kick for Sunderland as O'Hara did move his arm away from his body slightly in order to gain control of the ball. It all depends on angles.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Quick Update!

2011-12-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

As from Monday the 5th of December 2011, I will be updating my blog every Monday and Thursday regularly, so keep checking. Thank you to all of you who often visit the blog, it is much appreciated!

AVB, is he truly the next ''Special One''?

2011-12-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It has been clearly seen that Roman Abramovich is starving for titles and does everything possible to dominate England and Europe. However, things have not been going the way he wishes. Unlike some other clubs, finance is one of the least of worries that the owner has, thanks to his outside business which does not make him shy to spend almost unlimited amount of money with the club. One of the major problems is that although fruitful with resources, they are not always spent wisely. This is where probably, the managerial position comes as a big issue within the club.

As we are all aware, Jose Mourinho (The ''Special One'') brought dramatic changes to the team. It was estimated that he spent £140 million. With that money, Mourinho transformed the whole team, bringing players such as Michael Essien, Petr Chech, Makelele, Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben who became key players for the team. The overall playing style of the team was changed which is why Chelsea became double Premier League winners between 2004-2007. The fans, the team and board members, all had full confidence in him and his idles of management. Nevertheless, Abramovich also wanted to contribute to the managerial decision making which is why Mourinho did not like the idea and decided the leave the club. There have been talks that Abramovich has forced the ''Special One'' to buy Andriy Shevchenko for the record sum of £30 million at the time, breaking the transfer fee record. Mourinho, having a strong character did not tolerate this kind of intervention because he wanted things to be ran his way which lead to him leaving the club after dominance in England.

After Mourinho's resignation, Chelsea went through a series of different managers with proven previous success rate. They were (in chronological order) Avram Grant ( 54 games- 36 wins - 67% success rate), Luiz Scolari (36 games - 20 wins - 56% success rate), Guus Hidink ( 22 games - 16 wins - 73% success rate), Carlo Ancelotti ( 109 games - 67 wins - 61% success rate) and the current Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas ( 17 games - 10 wins - 59% success rate). From the numbers it is clear that the only thing that Abramovich is after is very high success rate, higher that 70% as proven by previous managers. Although AVB has the worst record in the first twelve opening games (22 points, 8 less compared to Ancelotti), the club still has full confidence in him and Abramovich seems reluctant to sack yet another manager.

One of the reasons for this maybe because the Russian had to pay £13 million for him because of his contract clause with Porto. At first it may seem illogical for Chelsea to chose a manager so young with very little experience with big clubs. Villas-Boas is only 34 years old, same age more or less with Frank Lampard. It could be said that respect can not be gained from players for such a young manager but AVB has implemented his methods which seem to be greatly accepted by the players. This could be mainly thanks to the fact that he won four titles with Porto, one of which was the Europa League. Furthermore, Boas has been working closely with Mourinho for a number of years in Porto and Chelsea ( Scout ), which is why he is considered the new ''Special One'' in Chelsea. As I previously mentioned, his current record for the opening 12 games is the worst compared to old managers dating back to Mourinho. Mr Abramovich is most likely giving time to AVB to settle in English football. The young manager's philosophy is strongly approved by the club and people involved in football. Some football specialists say that his ideas work on paper but they just need to be perfected in practice. One classical example can be considered the game against Liverpool. AVB tried to play in a Barcelona -like tactic where the two wing backs (in this case Cole and Ivanovic) stay really deep and wide while the defensive midfielder(in this case Mikel) comes short to receive the goal kick so that the wings are clear and ready to play the ball forward. This is a very intelligent move, however it can be said that Spanish football is very different to the one that is played in England. In England, players put immediate pressure, while in Spain players try and read what would happen next which often a mistake as players are given too much time. Boas has now learned from his mistake and will adjust his moves and tactics accordingly.

One more way that Villas Boas can be said that has his job secured is by the fact that he was promised that he will have a larger spending budget in the winter transfer window that Ancelotti, and as we all know he spent around £75 million, bringing Torres and David Luiz to the club. Those two signing in my opinion are the worst signing that Chelsea have made alongside Shevchenko. Two strikers, with combined value of £80 million do not share more than 20 goals between them, but this is another subject. Chelsea fans can only hope that the ''3 year project'' which AVB is part of will bring players that will make significant change to the club, replacing players such as Terry, Lampard, Drogba and Maulouda who have been there since the Mourinho era and are getting old. The only good signs of quality signing for Chelsea can be said to be Juan Mata who is now playing a very important role within the club, proving to be deadly in most cases mainly thanks to his passing.

As a whole, Andre Villas-Boas has built a great relationship with the players and the board, and has their full backing up. Although looking shaky at the moment, things may look better for the team after the Winter Transfer Window after new players join the team (unless Abramovich interferes again and screws things up).

Mike Jones - making something out of nothing ( with the help of his ''assistant'')

2011-11-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Having gone through another engaging Premier League weekend, I think that the most talked about incident is the ''penalty that never was'' in the every so interesting game between title holders Manchester United and ''hot runners'' Newcastle. This was bound to be a eye catching for the fans but ever so difficult for everyone involved with the clubs and especially referees. Newcastle have been on an unexpected run since the start of the season, losing only one game. This record can be considered astonishing, having in mind that two years ago they were in the Championship. Although having some player problems involving their wages and players' attitude (Joey Barton), Alan Pardew has managed to resolve all this during the Summer period.
Manchester United on the other hand, have not had their best start of the season although winning confidently over Arsenal 8-2. Having said that, it could be seen that at that time Arsenal's squad was not looking very well constructed, having just lost key players in midfield such as Fabregas (gone to Barcelona) and Nasri ( gone to Manchester City). The two players alongside with Robin Van Persie can be said that were the ''backbone'' of the Gunners. Therefore, United's win is probably greatly thanks to Arsenal's poor form, not United's brilliance.
Back to the main topic, a top five clash between Manchester and Newcastle was expected to include something out of your ordinary football game. This brings me to the Rio Ferdinant's tackle on Ben Arfa in the penalty area. Many football managers and journalists claim that referees always give United advantage in one form or another at Old Trafford. This can be said, because we have all seen incidents where Vidic could have been sent off last season due to reckless tackles or just persistent fouling but got away with it in most cases. However, the incident involving Ferdinant and Ben Arfa could said that it was the easiest decision that Mike Jones and his team could have made in their entire refereeing career. As seen from the replays, the United defender went for a tackle from which he clearly won the ball, sending it for a corner kick. Mike Jones, firstly made the absolutely 100% correct decision by awarding a corner kick for Newcastle and nobody complained or said anything because it was a straight forward decision. That is what everyone thought, until Mr Jones' assistant referee started waving his flag, signalling for a penalty kick after the corner kick decision has been given by the referee. This caused a lot of confusion among players, managers, fans and commentators. After going over and having a discussion with his assistant referee, Mike Jones decided to award a penalty kick in favour of Newcastle. As always, you could see Rooney and Giggs being the first ones to surround the referee asking endless question (as if that will change the decision ). As usual, the replay was shown about 1000 times on TV and it was clear that the referee and his ''assistant'' cocked it up, the tackle was 100% clean, possibly best tackle so far in the season.
My view, as a referee is that Mike Jones was not decisive enough in this situation. He made the correct decision by giving the corner. His assistant intervened after the decision was made (wrongly). In cases like this, the assistant referee should go with the referee's decision 100% instead of contradicting him. Mr Jones was no more than 10-15 yards away from the incident, having a clear view. Usually, in the pre-match instructions, referees instruct their assistants not to oppose key decisions like this unless the referee is miles away and can not see or the decision (no matter of weather is right or wrong one is made). This can affect the credibility of the game, making it impossible to officiate and affecting the reputation on the officials.
I am not surprised by The FA's decision not to appoint Mr Jones or his ''assistant'' to a fixture this weekend. I really wish to defend the referees in this case but there is no excuse. Mike Jones should have over ruled his assistant's decision and restart play with a corner kick. Both officials have the blame for the ridiculous mistake made, Mike Jones -not sticking with his initial decision and his colleague for not doing what he was told in the pre match brief. This is one of the rare occasions where managers can have their rant with a legitimate reason. Hopefully other Premier League officials will use their years of experience more wisely next time.
Hope you enjoyed it!

About myself

2011-11-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
I'm starting this blog just purely out of interest. The main subjects concerning this blog will be the main headlines in football and most importantly controversy surround the world of football. I will be giving my impartial view, meaning that I will not be taking sides.
I am a Level 5 football referee, looking to progress further up the ladder only being 17 years of age.I mainly referee men's football in Oxfordshire. I started at the age of 14 in 2008 by taking a one month course during August, entirely out of interest. I started with youth football which I found extremely boring, which is why when I reached the age of 16 I immediately switched to a men's league. I found that managing 22+ people who are twice your age is greatly difficult. However with experience and help from developers, I know find it easily managable ( depending on the game!). I have had now 2-3 seasons experience refereeing at men's standard and very few referees can say that at my age. This is one of the reasons why I might be often picking up on controversial referee decisions and analysing them.
Education wise, I am doing my A Levels in History, Sociology, Business Studies and Science in Society. My college is based in London.
You may find that the main discussion points will be regarding doubtful referee decisions or new policies trying to be implemented by FIFA. There will be balanced analysis consisting of different view points including mine.
I will try and do a weekly update on the most talked about issues, mainly surrounding the Premier League.
If you have any questions or suggestions please contact me by email on: i.gelov@yahoo.co.uk
Your suggestions on topics will be very much appreciated.
Just a reminder that I am doing this purely out of interest and not trying to promote anything.
Enjoy!