Winter break anyone?

After an eventful few weeks the cry for a temporary suspension of the English football leagues during the brisk winter months seem to have been temporarily silenced. That is until the inevitable poor performance by England in the European championships this summer.

December in particular can be a huge strain on the teams in England's, and debatably the world's, top league, highlighted by the topsy-turvy results produced in recent weeks. The consistency shown in the early stages by the star-studded Manchester City has wavered greatly and their new reputation as the 'neutral's team' is beginning to evaporate. Never to be outdone however, their nearest rivals have largely stolen the headlines as they capitalised on City's poor form to take first place, before spectacularly collapsing and suffering back-to-back losses against Blackburn (incidentally the biggest shock in Premier League history according to the pre-match odds of 28/1 for a Blackburn win) and Newcastle. The main beneficiary from the crowded Christmas calendar has been Tottenham, who are now level on points in second place and have, for the moment at least, opened the season up to a three-horse race.

Elsewhere in the division, the dip in dominance from the 'bigger' teams has allowed others to pick up points crucial to their campaign. A string of impressive performances from the likes of Norwich and Sunderland has temporarily released them from the threat of relegation.

Aside from the factor of entertainment, (and this last month has been very entertaining; with late goals, dubious decisions, firing and hirings, return of legends, etc), surely one of the arguments in favour of a winter break is the decline in weather? In recent years however, it has not been until January onwards that the country begins to freeze over, and in the last month we have seen a winter temperature almost as warm as Ryan Giggs' bed. There were no postponements in the top two English leagues in December and everything ran as smoothly as Blue Ivy's bottom.

This then leaves the monotonous wearing-out-players argument, and whilst we can argue that they are paid enough so they should play when they are told to, they are athletes at the top of their game and can only perform as much as their body will allow. My issue with the 'solution' of a winter vacation however, is that it isn't a solution, merely a lazy attempt to copy the likes of Spain and Germany who have better international teams than us. Yes England were poor at the last World cup, but we weren't the only ones: Brazil were poor, Messi was silent, France were awful and Ronaldo was below par. The point is here, maybe we aren't just 'tired', maybe, horror of horrors, we are actually a poor team who do not work well together. We didn't even qualify for Euro 08 and the qualification stages were held during the course of our domestic season, so were they tired then? Of course the 'wally with the brolly' took the rap for that one, and the England players slid away back to their clubs. I would like to see what the F.A. would do if we introduced a winter break and still we floundered on the international stage.

And surely there is an obvious flaw to the proposed 'solution' in that the games delayed in the winter will still need to be played in the summer? This would mean a longer season and less preparation time for the summer tournaments, no? Oh but Germany and Spain do it! That must be the only reason they do well. They are screwed now, their secret is out.

If the footballing bodies in this country are really concerned about our players 'burning out' then the only option is to reduce the size of the league, and therefore the number of games. This would, of course, result in lower TV revenues for everyone and is probably the reason that we should not expect to see any developments in the near future. Equally so, I cannot see Sky witnessing the abolition of the winter fixtures without a fight, purely because of the entertainment and viewing figures they attract. So we will just have to lump it. Not that I personally am complaining, Boxing Day wouldn't be Boxing Day without a full helping of Jeff and the boys.

De Gea No Longer a Flop

After the first month of his Manchester United playing career, David De Gea was given a typical British media welcome: abuse. The unwitting Spaniard was greeted with constant criticism, terrace abuse and tabloid hopes that he would turn out to be another Taibi. He was initially thrown into the limelight, from no error of his own, as he transferred for a hefty £18million price tag in order to replace the infallible Edwin Van Der Sar, and faced a huge task in guarding the United net to the same standard as his predecessor. Admittedly, he did not help himself in his opening two competitive matches, as he made two glaring errors in the Community Shield against Manchester City, as well as conceding a soft goal away to West Brom in his league debut. Criticism of both his age and his lack of English ensued and it was clear that De Gea was going to have to improve somewhat if he was to keep the Number 1 jersey at Old Trafford. And he did.

As United began the season in blistering fashion at the other end of the pitch, the woes of young De Gea were soon forgotten. The performances of attacking players such as Rooney, Young and Nani, along with the exciting young Englishmen in the squad distracted the media who soon became bored with a keeper who was no longer making headline bloopers. But as the goals dried up and a slaughtering at the hands of the Noisy Neighbours knocked the wind out of their sails somewhat, people began to question the talent, or lack of, in the United side. The one position in recent weeks which has not been questioned, however, appears to be the big man in the net.

It remains the case that De Gea is yet to [directly] cost United any points in the league (or trophies). His errors in the Community Shield were reversed by an impressive second half performance by the United attack, and his mistake versus West Brom was cancelled out by a late Ashley Young strike. Since then, he has racked up 5 clean sheets in 15 appearances in all competitions, second only to Patrice Evra (United's top appearance maker in the last 2 seasons), and it certainly cannot be argued that he has only accrued these due to the lack of competition. Danish international Anders Lindegaard has been chomping at the bit all season and it is fair to say that he has taken full advantage of his four appearances this season, keeping clean sheets in three of them. In addition to this, young England U21 goalkeeper Ben Amos has had three appearances so far this season and has also not done anything to harm his reputation.

So whilst United continue a poor run of form which has seen them uncharacteristically concede an average one goal per game in the league, as well as conceding 6 goals in 5 games in Europe, not even the harshest critics are pointing the blame at the Spaniard, following a string of impressive performances and saves which showcase exactly what Sir Alex saw in him. Solid performances against the likes of Chelsea, Norwich City and Everton, as well as a crucial penalty save against Arsenal when United led only 1-0 (which of course ended up 8-2 to United), can only have boosted his confidence and, being so young, he still has plenty of time to learn more. The plaudits are yet to stream in, though maybe a longer period of sustained form is required before he has redeemed himself in the media's eyes. Although on the other hand, being kept out of the spotlight is probably exactly where he is happy to be right now.

Back after a long absence

I was looking through old accounts yesterday when I realised that this blog was still on-the-go in the cyber world, and I decided that it was time to restart it. There aren't enough footballing opinions in this world already, so I think the time has come for me to release my completely unique interpretations of the weekly events...

Hope you enjoy it, any comments are welcome.

Are City for real this time?

There is a common phrase often banded about in life - 'Money can't buy happiness'. Happiness, maybe not (see Mario Balotelli as an example), but as for success in the EPL, it would appear that money goes a long way towards securing the Holy Grail that is the Premier League trophy. Large cash injections into clubs have often seen fruitful rewards, from Blackburn's crown in 1995 to Chelsea's dominance in the latter half of the last decade, so is it the case that Sheikh Mansour's wallet could help to secure the EPL in 2011? As the teams begin the new year, Manchester City sit second in the league on goal difference, 6 points ahead of current champions Chelsea in 5th place. Do city have the legs and the experience, however, to continue their form to secure their first top division title in 43 years?

It is widely commented upon that Manchester United have a much wider range of experience in their squad, much more strength in depth and a manager who has been-there, done-it, and has so many T-shirts he could dress the entire City squad. It is certainly the case that 21 of United's squad have won at least one winners medal from Europe's top Premier Leagues, and it is undeniable that their dominance over the last 2 decades owes a large part to their ability to call upon experienced heads when the going got tough. To Sir Alex Ferguson, City's rise will only seem like another futile attempt to knock him and his club off their perch, from which they have watched many clubs attempt and fail to successfully break up the United dominance for good.

City, however, backed by billions, have other ideas. Having watched the red half of Manchester rule supreme for as long as they can remember, the sky blues will be fueled by decades of pain and jealously. Even the last time City secured domestic glory in 1968, United went one better and won the European Cup. But times are changing now, and they truly believe that this time they have what it takes to go all the way. In contrast to the common misconception, when it comes to experience of winning titles, City have ample. 11 of their squad have previously won European league titles - 12 if the the transfer of Edin Džeko is confirmed, and within that 12 they have 5 who have won English titles, including Patrick Vieira, who captained arguably the best title-winning side the EPL has ever seen. On top of this they have a World Cup winner, as well as a World Cup runner-up, and a three-time winning Serie A winning manager, with three Serie A titles as a player also to his name.

As well as clear experience, they also have an undeniable amount of flair and talent on the pitch. In Carlos Tevez they have a proven goalscorer and hardworking talisman for their squad, and, provided they can keep him happy, it will be a huge boost every time he is in the starting 11. Alongside him they have the surly Italian Mario Balotelli, who has the clear potential to produce magic if Mancini can coax it out of him. Whilst at the back they certainly seem to have eradicated their defensive problems, having conceded only 16 goals in 21 games - currently the best record in the league.

As for the other challengers, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, they seem, at present, quite a distance from title-winning material. Current champions and original favourites Chelsea have found themselves floundering in recent weeks and their decision to not replace the likes of Belletti, Joe Cole, Ivanovic and Ballack in the summer has left their squad looking extremely bare. Arsenal are suffering from the same old problems, they are in desperate need of a quality goalkeeper and defensive partnership, whilst Marouanne Chamakh has not provided the goal threat that they had hoped he would. Tottenham, on the other hand, have been one of this years top performers in certain games, unfortunately, however, most of these games have been in Europe, a competition which they appear to have prioritised this season.

At present, a London-Manchester battle is shaping up, with the Manchester clubs currently leading the pack. With just under half the season remaining and traditionally United's best form about to be kicked into gear, it will be fascinating to watch whether the not-so-inexperienced Manchester City have the legs to push their closest rivals all the way for the title.