Kelvin’s Premier League Predictions

It’s that time of the year again! This is how the Premier League table will look at the end of the 2013/2014 season.

1	Manchester City
2	Chelsea
3	Manchester United
4	Arsenal
5	Tottenham Hotspur
6	Liverpool
7	Swansea City
8	Everton
9	Fulham
10	West Ham United
11	West Bromwich Albion
12	Newcastle United
13	Southampton
14	Sunderland
15	Aston Villa
16	Cardiff City
17	Norwich City
18	Stoke City
19	Hull City
20	Crystal Palace

Disagree? Tweet us!

@ChapsTalkFootball

@KelvinJonesCBE

Can Arsenal win the Premier League next season?

Bacary Sagna believes that Arsenal can win the Premier League next season. Does he have a point?

There is no denying that Arsenal were schizophrenic last season. Cup defeats to Bradford and Blackburn were inexcusable, but Wenger’s team finished the season excellently, taking 26 out of a possible 30 points to secure 4^th position.

In the end, Arsenal finished with the second best Premier League defensive record, conceding 37 goals. Comparing this with the 49 goals conceded in the 2011/2012 season, a significant improvement has been made. The central-defensive partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker has flourished and the old cliché of Arsenal not being able to defend is surely out of date now.

In order to mount a title-challenge, it is vital to make a good start. But over the last couple of seasons, Arsenal have made poor starts. This can be attributed to the departures of key-players. For example, after losing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in 2011, Arsenal failed to gain domestic form until October. They also stuttered in 2012 after losing Robin van Persie and Alex Song, as it disrupted a major part of the team’s spine.

Arsenal are unlikely to lose a first-team player this summer. It could be argued that this is because Arsenal no longer have any world-class players, meaning that clubs such as Barcelona have no need to swoop. By keeping the nucleus of the team intact, there is no reason why they cannot build on the form that was captured at the end of last season.

However, if Arsenal are to mount a serious title bid, they must buy a world class striker. Although I think Olivier Giroud has been a good signing, he admittedly struggles against the best Premier League teams, and because of this, he should be second-choice up front.

As for a first-choice striker, Wenger will never purchase someone like Edinson Cavani at their current market value, and rightly so in my opinion. Kaká and Fernando Torres were bought at £56 million and £50 million respectively; they both failed to live up to massive expectations.

Gonzalo Higuain has been heavily linked with Arsenal and he would be a superb signing. He should be available at around £22.5 million, which would break Arsenal’s transfer record, but I think he is good value for money. According to transfermarkt.co.uk, he had a market value of £33.5 million in 2011. While this could provide evidence of stagnation, at 25 years old, he would be worth the risk.

Arsenal should also be able to benefit from the managerial changes at the title-contending clubs. It will take a considerable period of time for David Moyes to feel comfortable at Man Utd, and with tough opening fixures, there is, for the first time in many seasons, just a hint of uncertainty at Old Trafford.

To conclude, I do think Arsenal can at least challenge for the Premier League this season. Their defensive frailties appear to be ironed out and with some intelligent signings, such as Higuain, they’ll have a competitive team. While actually winning the Premier League may be a little too optimistic, a second place finish would provide a solid base to build upon for the 2014/2015 season.

By Kelvin Jones

Follow us on Twitter! @ChapsTalkFBall

Released XI

Last week Premier League clubs revealed the players who they would be releasing, this prompted @False_Number9 to create a Released XI, here is my team to face his. I have not used any of the same players, not even from the bench, and therefore this presented something of a challenge. None the less a team has been put together.

Mucha (Everton) - Whilst Mucha only played 2 games in the season gone, one of them was a sensational clean sheet and man of the match performance against Manchester City which allowed Everton to win the game 2-1. His second performance being a good game in Everton's 3-1 defeat of Reading. At 30 years old Mucha still has plenty of years ahead of him and a steady run in a team could allow him to shine.

Stam (Wigan) - Despite being a casualty in Wigan's disappointing season Stam offers solid defensive contribution and reliable tackling. His greatest quality, however, is his ability going forward from right back. Stam is an ablle dribbler and adept at crossing. At 28 years old Stam could provide a newly promoted team with cover or fit in well in the Championship.

Ben Haim (QPR) - At 31 his best years are no doubt behind him, but Ben Haim has 72 caps for Israel and has played for clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City. As a player with a wealth of experience and the ability to play anywhere across the line, a gamble on Ben Haim seems worthwhile, as if he were able to recapture his form for Bolton (04-07) he would certainly be an asset to any team.

Pearce (Reading) - Only 24 and already a full Republic of Ireland international it is surprising that Reading has let Pearce go. Said to possess "a superb work ethic and mentality" the centre back, who played 19 times in the 12/13 Premier League, offers terrific value for any team looking for an old fashioned centre back.

Tierney (Norwich) - Tierney was only able to play once last season, but as a 27 year old Tierney still has years in him. He is a player not dissimilar to Pearce in his willingness to put his body on the line for the good of the team. He is also a strong crosser of the ball.

Whitehead (Stoke) - Versatile, experienced and strong Whitehead is more of a destroyer than a creator. 26 Stoke appearances suggest he is still up to pace with the Premier League, and a pass success rate of 83.8% suggests he isn't completely bereft of qualities with the ball. At 31 Whitehead could steady an inexperienced midfield or offer cover to a higher calibre of player.

O'Neil (West Ham) - A different sort of player to Whitehead, ex-England U21 player O'Neil has good technique and this is reflected in his set piece taking ability, key pass rate and long shot accuracy. In this hypothetical team O'Neil and Whitehead would act in a similar way to Alonso and Khedira do for Real Madrid. O'Neil has never relied heavily on pace, and therefore it seems likely that, at 30, he has 4-5 years left playing at a high level.

Bentley (Tottenham) - One of the stars of this team. Bentley has amassed 7 full England caps and has played for Arsenal, Blackburn during their reliable 06-08 years and Tottenham. Bentley has exemplary technique and scored one of the best goals in North London derby history for Tottenham. Bentley is 28 years old and has the ability to play comfortably in the English Premier League.

Gera (West Brom) - 34 years old and subsequently lacking in pace, regardless Gera is a highly creative and intelligent player who is able to play in almost any attacking position. Gera scored 4 goals in 16 West Brom appearances last season and no doubt has another season or two in him.

Thomas (West Brom) - Whilst 30 years old Jerome Thomas is still a left winger with pace capable of causing defenders problems. Thomas, a junior England international, may well be a class below Malouda but offers a superior attitude to the Frenchman's and would be an asset to most Premier League squads.

Campbell (QPR) - 31 years old and injury prone, DJ Campbell seems like an odd choice. Despite this in the 10/11 season Campbell showed finishing prowess and scored 13 goals for Blackpool, with three players behind him who will create chances DJ Campbell, when fit, could relive his season at Blackpool and score amply.

By Alex Pointon

Follow us on twitter - @ChapsTalkFBall

Sources:

Whoscored.com

Wikipedia

http://outsideoftheboot.com/tactics-creator/

UCL Final 2013 Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich

On Saturday, London will finally be invaded by the Germans.

Borussia Dortmund take on Bayern Munich at Wembley. Both teams have been thoroughly impressive in the Champions League this season and are worthy finalists.

You would have to say that Bayern are favourites for Saturday. They absolutely steamrollered the Bundesliga this season, finishing an incredible 25 points ahead of Saturday’s opponents. This feat is even more impressive considering that only 34 matches are played in a Bundesliga season, compared to 38 games in the Premier League and La Liga. They also managed to score 98 goals, while only conceding 18, giving them a gigantic goal difference of +80.

Astonishing stuff. And with Pep Guardiola and Mario Götze joining the club in the summer, FC Hollywood have a real chance of repeating the glory achieved by the Beckenbauer inspired team that lifted the European Cup in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

But with football, you can never tell what will happen. I falsely predicted that Bayern would comfortably beat Chelsea in last season’s final. Bayern also have a tendency to lose European Cup/Champions League finals; they lost in 1982, 1987, 1999 and 2010. If this list was to grow on Saturday, and with last season’s defeat still fresh in the memory, it would have massive psychological implications. There is a strong possibility of this happening, as Dortmund are an excellent side.

But Mario Götze has a hamstring injury and is ruled out of the final. But I believe that even a fully fit Götze shouldn’t play. In a Champions League final, you need eleven players that are 100% committed. This simply cannot be ensured if Götze plays. He obviously wouldn’t play badly deliberately, but by agreeing to join Bayern, he has made it abundantly clear that he does not want to play for Dortmund. Imagine what would happen if he had to take a penalty in a shootout?

I believe Bayern will win on Saturday. They have a good record over Dortmund this season with two wins and two draws. However, I would like Dortmund to win. The humorous Jürgen Klopp has assembled a young but outstanding team on a small budget and the club, from a neutral point of view at least, seem to be more likeable than their Bavarian rivals. Despite this, I can still see Bayern winning, albeit by a single goal.

By Kelvin Jones

Follow us on Twitter! @ChapsTalkFBall

Kelvin and Alex's Predictions

Last August Kelvin and Alex predicted how the table would look come the end of the season. Now that the last Premier League fixtures have been played for the best part of 90 days we are capable of assessing who was most accurate. You can find Kelvin's predicted table here and Alex's here, also of use may be the final Premier League table, which you can view in full here.

There are, as far as I see it, three ways in which to assess the accuracy of our tables;
1.) How close to correct we were in predicting the Champions League places and relegation spots
2.) How many team's final positions we guessed correctly
3.) The cumulative difference between predicted positions and final positions for each team

1.) On the left is Kelvins predicted top four and bottom three, on the right is Alex's.

1st - Manchester City (2nd)                          1st - Manchester United (1st)

2nd - Manchester United (1st)                      2nd - Manchester City (2nd)

3rd - Arsenal (4th)                                       3rd - Chelsea (3rd)

4th - Chelsea (3rd)                                       4th - Arsenal (4th)

-                                                                  -

-                                                                  -

18th - Wigan (18th)                                      18th - Wigan (18th)

19th - Swansea (9th)                                    19th - Southampton (14th)

20th - Southampton (14th)                            20th - West Ham (10th)

Both predicted the top four teams correctly, however Alex predicted the precise order, Kelvin didn't get one in the correct position. Both predicted that Wigan would finish 18th, both incorrectly predicted the other two relegated teams. 

Due to the more accurate top four Alex wins this round.

2.) Kelvin correctly predicted that Liverpool would finish 7th, that Fulham would finish 12th and that Wigan would finish 18th. This gives him three exact predictions.

Alex Predicted the top four exactly, Everton's 6th place finish and Wigan's 18th place finish. This makes six exact predictions.

Alex Wins this round.

3.) Kelvin's cumulative difference totals 78, with his farthest from the truth guess being Newcastle finishing 5th, which is 11 positions too high.

Alex's cumulative difference comes to 66, with two predictions 11 places incorrect (Newcastle and QPR).

As his total is 12 lower than Kelvin's Alex wins this round.

A clean sweep for Alex, for next years predictions all four CTF writers will contribute and see if Alex can retain his crown.

EDIT

Mark Lawrenson of the BBC also made a predicted table before the season began, that can be found here.

His top four contains all of the correct teams, however three of them are in the wrong position, making his top four prediction better than Kelvin's but worse than Alex's. Lawrenson, just like Alex and Kelvin predicted only one relegated team correctly, but his prediction for Reading to finish 20th was not exaxtly right, unlike both Kelvin and Alex's prediction of an 18th place Wigan finish.

Lawrenson only got one exact position correct, Manchester United finishing first. This is lower than Kelvin's three and Alex's six.

Lawrenson's total difference comes to 74, which is 8 higher than Alex's but 4 lower than Kelvin's.

Follow us on twitter - @ChapsTalkFBall

The Wayne Rooney Problem

Wayne Rooney has recently placed a second transfer request at Manchester United. He has also, reportedly anyway, said that he is prepared to perform a U-turn on this decision and stay at Manchester United. Regardless of how Moyes decides to react to this it is evident that Rooney is a volatile character who requires specific man management.

Rooney's second transfer request was placed after he fell out Ferguson's favour. Rooney has been playing second fiddle to Robin Van Persie, exactly the type of player Rooney believed Manchester United were not willing to sign when placing his first transfer request. Subsequently Rooney has found himself playing further back, sometimes as a centre forward and other times as far back as central/holding midfielder. Rooney has a game suited to these roles, partially down to Rooney's physical attributes. That will, however, be discussed later. It took an excellently executed press conference by the outgoing Sir Alex Ferguson to convince Rooney to stay at Manchester United in the wake of the first transfer request, is Moyes capable of talking Rooney into changing his mind a second time?

Moyes, as everyone knows, managed Wayne Rooney as a youngster at Everton. Their relationship was far from the best, with Moyes suing Rooney for libel in 2008, following accusations in the players autobiography that David Moyes leaked details of a private conversation to the Liverpool Echo. Moyes won between £50,000 and £150,000 and a "sincere apology" from Wayne Rooney. Since the legal agreement was reached the pair are said to be on amicable terms, however this may be put under significant stress as they enter into a working relationship. Although that is dependent on Moyes wanting to keep Rooney. Ferguson famously let a player go if he considered himself larger than the club, with Moyes chosen due to similar values as Ferguson then there is more than a chance that Moyes will also sell players he believes have such an attitude. There are certainly clubs willing to buy Rooney too, with PSG, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Monaco all rumoured suitors. The final factor likely to force Rooney out of the door is the fans. Rooney was booed by fans during the open bus parade celebration, and the talk of Falcao, Lewandowski or Fabregas as a replacement may cause excitement amongst the fans.

If the supposed U-turn is true and Rooney decides to stay with the newly crowned champions then he may have to cope with playing deeper. Many claim that Rooney is coming to the end of one of his worst seasons playing for Manchester United. He has, however, registered ten league assists, the joint fourth most in the league (and only just overtaken by Cazorla's four assists against now relegated Wigan) and only two fewer than PFA player of the year nominated and the league's top creator, Juan Mata. Rooney has also scored twelve goals, whilst only placing with joint 14th on the scoring table it does put his combined goals and assists in the top eight across the whole league. His slump may not be reflected in the numbers as strongly as some may suggest. Rooney also showed a capability of playing elsewhere on the pitch, a convincing performance against Stoke in mid April suggesting he could partner Carrick in midfield. This potential positional shift could add both playing time to Rooney's future seasons and add to Rooney's worth to Manchester United.

Whether Rooney stays at Manchester United or not depends very much on what happens behind closed doors between Rooney and Moyes. If Rooney commits his future 100% to Manchester United and is willing to succumb completely to Moyes' future plans. The statistics show that Rooney is of use to the team. However if Rooney is not able the commit wholeheartedly to playing a large part of Moyes' first few years as Manchester United manager then he should be sold to the highest bidder outside of England.

By Alex Pointon

Sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/david-moyes-once-sued-wayne-rooney-2013-5

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/399473/Rooney-in-peace-talks-as-David-Moyes-wants-Wayne-to-stay-at-Manchester-United

whoscored.com

Life After Ferguson: the Moyes Appointment

 It has now sunk in, Sir Alex Ferguson is to end his time as Manchester United manager. In his 26 and a half years at Manchester United much has changed, for one I have been born and grown into a young adult. It is his longevity, ridiculous trophy haul, constant reinvention and never ending passion for the game that make him a one off. Sir Alex once said "there are too many examples of people who retire and are in their box soon after. You're taking away the very thing that makes you alive, that keeps you alive." It very much seemed that way with Sir Alex Ferguson, that football, that being the Manchester United manager, was what kept him alive. Waking up early and dealing with mounds of paper work before training seemed to pleasure him. To turn Ferguson's own phrase onto him, he is a "unique freak". However this piece is not an ode to Ferguson, it is about his successor. David Moyes is the man set to come in and replace the irreplaceable.

Many have said that Moyes is not the right appointment, that he lacks European experience or that his record against the traditional big four is poor. Despite Moyes' only real European experience being guiding Everton to the UEFA cup round of 16 in 2008 and the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League in 2005 the obvious question is, how do you gain the experience if you aren't qualified to compete in the competition? As for a poor record against the big four, that is neither here nor there. Never before has Moyes had a squad of Manchester United's quality at his disposal. Realistically it was not the points picked up against the very biggest teams that defined Eveton's seasons, it was consistently picking points up against those teams around and below them. That is not the case at Manchester United, the games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and even Liverpool and Tottenham can be the difference between a historic season and a forgettable one. It will be in his first year or two as Manchester United manager that he can define his ability to outwit the top managers in the country.

There are other positives too, Moyes is 50 years old. Neither old nor young for a Premier League manager. He has had time to gain the necessary experience and now is at a good age to settle down. Prior to Ferguson stepping down Moyes was the third longest reigning manager in the Football League. In his eleven year tenure at the helm of Everton he has had to build teams, a much praised characteristic of Ferguson. This will stand him in good stead as Manchester United manager as he will, presumably, stay long enough to have to build upon and develop the league winning team Ferguson has left him. Jose Mourinho's longest spell managing one club is 3 years, meaning he has never had to have a truly long term vision in regards to squad building. Another advantage of bringing in Moyes (that may well apply to bringing in any manager) is that because the team is not "his" it is easier to identify weaknesses and ruthlessly act upon them. It is a wide held view that a central midfielder is required at Manchester United with Fletcher, Scholes and Anderson all going (or deserving to go, Ando), however Ferguson hasn't bought a defensive minded central midfielder. Carrick enjoyed his best season in a Manchester United shirt and this may have slightly masked the problem, none the less a new manager will be able to objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of the squad.

Recently Everton have been playing better football than many give them credit for. Regardless of their reliance on physical strikers (Anichebe, Jelavic, Fellaini. Historically, Yakubu, Cahill) he often employs a system with focus on wide areas. Pienaar and Baines have developed one of the most effective and consistent midfielder - full back partnerships in the league. Proof of this is that 43% of Everton's play is in the left third of the pitch. 31% of Everton's play is on the right, leaving 26% through the middle third. In comparison to Manchester United, a team who historically attack in wide areas, Everton actually play more down the wings. Manchester United play 32% down the left side, 40% down the right side and therefore 28% through the middle. This indicates that Moyes is unlikely to change the style of play associated with Manchester United. Another point worth noting is Moyes' effective use of a clever playmaker, Leon Osman. Shinji Kagawa has been used poorly for his first season in English football and it is possible that Moyes will be able to utilise him more efficiently than Ferguson has, especially with rumours suggesting that Wayne Rooney has handed in a second transfer request at Manchester United.

Moyes is also accomplished in the transfer market. Rarely does he make a big signing that doesn't work well, and even so, with the budget constraints at Everton a big signing for them may not be considered so at United. For example Kevin Mirallas for £6.7m has been one of Everton's top performing players this season, for comparison purposes that is roughly £1m less than Bebe cost Manchester United in 2010. Another shining example is Marouane Fellaini, the powerful midfielder cost Everton £19.1m in 2008 and has gone on to prove his worth and his sought after by many of the top clubs in Europe. With Ferguson staying at Manchester United in a directorial capacity Moyes will always be able to ask for advice or guidance. This bodes for success in the transfer market.

All things considered Moyes is a smart choice as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor. Whilst Mourinho may have provided the club with a sense of glamour, it is stability that is most desired. Sir Alex Ferguson has delivered success almost every year for his entire stay at Manchester United, undoubtedly a tough act to follow. Mourinho may have offered an attractive quick fling, however Moyes offers the dependability of a life partner. Which is what is required at Manchester United in the wake of Ferguson's retirement.

By Alex Pointon

Statistics from

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

www.whoscored.com

Ever Present Players

I have always been interested by the phenomenon that is a player who can go a whole season without missing a minute of football. Obviously injury, rotation and form or the presence of a decent replacement are all reasons for a player to miss minutes. How many players have done this in Premier League seasons of the past? The 95-96 season was the first to be reduced to 38 games a season (previously 42). Surely fewer fixtures would make it easier to not miss a minute? Also, does the increasing physicality of the league make it harder to go all season without missing a minute?

As you can see the trend goes very much up and down, however were you to add a trend line (and I did) the gradient is -0.0312, to the non-mathematically inclined that means that that there is, on average, a very very slight decline in the frequency with which a player achieves this feat. If this season 7 players had not missed a minute (which has been equalled or bettered 10 times) then the gradient of the trend line would be 0.0078. Basically, the number of occasions that a player has gone all season and played every minute is neither really more or less frequent than it was at the beginning of the Premier League era.

Most frequent not missing a minute-ers

Name	PL seasons without missing a minute
David James	8
Brad Friedel	5
Jussi Jaaskelainen	5
Shay Given	4
Tim Howard	4
Pepe Reina	4
Nigel Martyn	3
Paul Robinson	3

That list is exclusively populated by goalkeepers, with David James well ahead of Friedel and Jaaskelainen. The most seasons managed by an outfield player is 2, achieved by just 4 players (Gareth Southgate, Alan Wright, Wayne Bridge and Sylvain Distin). All of the outfield players to have achieved this are defenders. Alan Wright is the shortest player in Premier League history and once strained his knee reaching for the accelerator in his new Ferrari.

By Alex Pointon

Follow us on twitter @ChapsTalkFBall

Statistics from www.transfermarkt.co.uk

Luis Suarez: The most controversial footballer ever?

I’m sure you are all aware by now that in yesterday afternoon’s clash between Chelsea and Liverpool there was a rather crazy incident involving Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Chelsea’s centreback Branislav Ivanovic. For those of you who remain unaware, this is the incident of which I refer to:

What happened there is that Suarez, seemingly frustrated at Ivanovic’s challenge on him has proceeded to bite the defender just below the shoulder. Now I am of the opinion that no matter what the scenario, there is no need to be biting other people, let alone during a competitive and physical environment such as a football game in which tempers are liable to flair. It would also be easy to now forgive Suarez for what seems to be a momentary lapse in self-control, if it were not for the fact the Uruguayan has a history of highly controversial moments on the football pitch, a history that I will now elaborate on.
First of all, there is this incident, which occurred in 2010 whilst Suarez was still playing for Ajax in Holland:

That’s right, Suarez has not once, but twice bitten an opposing player during a game of football. On this occasion it was PSV’s Otman Bikkal, and Suarez actually managed to draw blood with his bite to the collar of Bikkal. He was later banned for 7 games because of the incident.

However, Suarez’ controversies are not limited solely to the mastication of his fellow players. He was sent off in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final against Ghana whilst representing Uruguay for deliberately preventing a goal with his hands. A goal that, had it gone in, would have won Ghana the game and sent them in to the Semi-Final. But the goal didn’t go in having been denied by Suarez in a way that any goalkeeper would have been proud of, and Uruguay went on to win the game on a penalty shootout.

Suarez then transferred to Liverpool in January 2011, and controversy followed him to the Premier league. He was banned for 8 games in December 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United’s French left back Patrice Evra. Suarez then refused to shake Evra’s hand before a game between the two sides in March 2012 because of this.

 As recently as the first half of this season, Suarez’s desire to win at all costs has led to even more controversial moments in his career. In October 2012 Suarez was accused of diving in a game against Stoke by Stoke’s manager Tony Pulis. Suarez later admitted on Argentinian TV that he had “fallen” intentionally in order to attempt to win a penalty. Suarez had also been accused of diving against Everton the previous season, in order to get an Everton player sent off, and later celebrated a goal against Everton in a different match by performing a swallow dive in front of the Everton dugout.
As well as these major events, Suarez has also been involved in a variety of smaller events including alledged stamps, kicks, dodgy challenges and other altercations with a host of other plays, notably with Dave Jones of Wigan, Scott Parker and Sylvain Distin.

Fortunately for Suarez, he is a player of undeniable talent, as demonstrated by the fact he is currently the Premier League’s leading goal scorer and his recent nomination for PFA Player of the Year, and this talent may be seen as a way of excusing some of his actions. As author Terry Pratchett suggested in his novel Thief of Time, “Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up” and this logic can, and perhaps will, be applied to Luis Suarez’s flashes of genius on the football pitch. However, for me Luis Suarez’s footballing ability will always be overshadowed by his willingness to cheat for his own gain, and I think that a player of lesser quality may not have been given so many chances to apologise for his actions, and a may have even been forced from the game.

Suarez is not the only player to have featured in such controversial events in a football ground, and for a comparison, I direct you towards the two following clips:

The first clip there is of Manchester United's charismatic French Striker Eric Cantona performing his now infamous kung fu lunge on a Crystal Palace fan after he had received a red card. The second clip is from the 2006 World Cup Final and is, of course, of Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi. Both of these incidents involved stars of the world game, players of a standard that Suarez is yet to even reach' but in each of these cases this incident is often the first thing that springs to a person's mind when the player's name is mentioned. This shows just how drastically a career can be overshadowed by one moment of high profile madness, and in Suarez's case it is not even a single moment. At the time Cantona managed to recover from the incident and proceeded to have a fruitful career, but Zidane's action was his last of a long and prosperous career, having announced that that game would be his last. This just shows that it is unlikely that Suarez will ever be able to shed his mantle as a cheater and a controversial figure, no matter how much he can and may in future achieve.

Written by Paddy Milnes
Follow us on twitter: @ChapsTalkFball @thepaddy

The information in this post is from BBC Sport

Team of 11 Leagues

I’ve been recently set the challenge of selecting a team with each player coming from a different league. It sounds easy on paper, but it’s rather challenging! Here is my team:

4-3-3

GK -  Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

Akinfeev is an outstanding shot stopper who has 18 clean sheets this season for Russia and CSKA Moscow. Still only 27, he is certainly capable of replacing Victor Valdes at Barcelona next year.

LB - Philipp Lahm  (Bayern Munich)

Lahm can play both right-back and left-back, which is a rarity in today’s game. He captains both Germany and Bayern Munich and has 14 assists in all competitions this season; astonishing for a full-back.

CB - Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

Kompany missed a lot of games through injuries this season and it’s no coincidence that City are so far behind United in the Premier League. Kompany was included in the PFA Team of the Year in both 2011 and 2012. He would have made the team this year too.

CB - Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Chiellini was a key part of the water-tight Juventus defence that did not lose a single Serie A game last season. An incredible achievement that was sadly largely overlooked by the British media.

RB - Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Croatia’s captain and most capped player with 102 caps. Definitely underrated, Srna should be playing in the Premier League.

DM - Victor Wanyama (Celtic)

Extremely powerful and can, at times, dominate the midfield. Definitely one to watch, and at only 21, Wanyama has the potential to be world class. Neil Lennon shares this view; he believes Wanyama is worth £25 million.

CM - Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray)

Quick and technically gifted, Sneijder remains a world-class player despite his contract dispute with Inter Milan. Sneijder has settled in well at Galatasaray, but I believe a man of his talent should be playing for a better team.

CM - Nicolas Gaitan (Benfica)

Another playmaker, Gaitan continues to turn heads in the Primeira Liga. An excellent passer, Manchester United were rumoured to be interested in the Argentine last summer.

LW - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

Doesn’t need an explanation really…

ST - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)

Despite not doing auditions, Ibrahimovic is one of the world’s best strikers. The power that his shots can generate is astonishing. He currently has 33 goals in 40 games in all competitions for PSG this season.

RW - Neymar (Santos)

The greatest Brazilian talent since Ronaldo. Neymar has 54 goals in 102 games for Santos and 19 goals in 31 games for Brazil. Comparisons to Pelé are premature, but at just 21, time is on Neymar’s side.

What do you think? What would your team be? Tweet us! @ChapsTalkFBall

By Kelvin Jones @KelvinJonesCBE

Statistics from whoscored.com

Breaching Barca

3 years ago Barcelona were without a doubt the best team on the planet both defensively and offensively, however, especially since the departure of Guardiola, opposition teams seem more able to compete with them.

The 2010/11 season was arguably one of the most successful seasons, winning everything available to them with the exception of the Copa Del Ray which was lost in a 1-0 clash with rivals Real Madrid. Barca won the La Liga title for the third consecutive season with a mighty 96 points and claimed their fourth European cup with a 3-1 win over Manchester United at Wembley in the Champions League final. In this season only 2 of their 38 games resulted in defeat and conceding only 21 goals throughout the entire season.

The 2011/12 season was Guardiola’s final season at the club and was one that resulted in no trophies being added to the Barcelona trophy cabinet. The main reason I believe this to be is that their water tight defence had seemed to have sprung a leak, all be it not a very big one though it was enough to surrender the title to Real Madrid that season. Barca won 28 out of their 38 games, and being held to high 7 draws, and 29 goals, 8 higher than the previous season. In 2012 captain Carles Puyol was hit with a recurring knee injury which saw him miss a huge proportion of Barca’s league and European campaign which Barca were unsuccessful in both. With no real centre back cover available midfielder’s Busquets and Mascherano were given the responsibility to fill in after which Barca became even more vulnerable which shows when teams were able to muster an average of 7.2 shots per game against them, compared to just the 7 the season before.

This figure continued to rise, with so far this season oppositions averaging 8.8 shots per game against them. Though it may seem Barca have the league comfortably in their grasp it appears to be through lack of serious competition rather than solid performances across the pitch. So far this season Barca have conceded 33 goals, 4 more than last season with 7 games still to go including Bayern Munich (2 legs), Bilbao, Athletico Madrid and Malaga who are all capable of taking advantage of any defensive weaknesses.

This is a dangerous period for Barca with their continuing dip in form coming ahead of their most important games, and bigger teams showing that positive results can be achieved against the Spanish giants. Over the last 20 games Barca have won 10, were held in 6 and defeated in 4. Real Madrid (twice), AC Milan and Real Sociedad all claimed victories, whilst PSG run them close in the Champions League quarter final and probably deserved to go through and as a result I wouldn’t put any money on Barca claiming their fifth European cup this season.

By Ryan Pantrey

Sources:

@BarcaStat, Wikipedia and whoscored.com.

Who is going to win the Champions League?

So today, the draw for the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals were made. The games to be played are Barcelona vs Bayern Munich and Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund. With only these 4 teams, two from Spain and two from Germany, remaining, now would seem the ideal time to make an educated decision on who is actually going to win the tournament. To do this, I have compiled a table to compare the teams’ performances and squads.

	Borussia Dortmund	Bayern Munich	Real Madrid	Barcelona
League Position	2nd with 55 points	1st with 75 points	2nd with 65 points	1st with 78 points
Total Market Value	£225 million	£380 million	£525 million	£530 million
Most Valuable Player	Mario Gotze £37 million	Franck Ribery £37 million	Cristiano Ronaldo £88 million	Lionel Messi £105 million
Form in last 10 games (all competitions)	DLWWLWWDWW	WWWWLWWWWW	WWWWWWDWWL	WLLWWWDDWD
Goals Scored in UCL this season	19	22	23	18
WDL record in UCL this season	6-4-0	7-1-2	5-3-2	5-3-2
Discipline in UCL this season (Y/R)	9/0	24/1	18/2	19/1
European Pedigree (Includes European Cup Wins as UCL)	UCL Winners: 1997 UEFA Cup Runners Up: 1993, 2001	UCL Winners: 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001 UEFA Cup Winners: 1996	UCL Winners: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002 UCL Runners Up: 1962, 1964, 1981 UEFA Cup Winners: 1985, 1986	UCL Winners: 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 UCL Runners Up: 1961, 1986, 1994

Clearly, the remaining four teams are fairly evenly matched, with each team having its own strong point. Munich are in the best run of form, having lost only once in their last ten games, the defeat coming against Arsenal in the Champion’s League last 16. Dortmund, however, have the best record in this year’s competition, being the only team in the last four yet to have lost a game. Real Madrid obviously have the European pedigree, having won the tournament more times than any other team. Barcelona’s advantage, for me, lies with Messi. He is capable of winning the tournament single-handedly, as demonstrated by his game changing substitute appearance against PSG in the quarter-finals.

However, to consider who is best placed to win the competition, we must also examine who is playing who. Barcelona vs Bayern Munich would seem to be the tougher of the two games, with these being many people’s pre-tournament favourites. I’m sure it will be a tense game over the two legs, but I personally feel that Barcelona will be able to edge out Munich in their home tie at the Camp Nou. Having seen Barcelona wipe AC Milan out 4-0 at home, I see no reason why a similarly impressive Barcelona display could not happen against Munich. However, I would imagine Munich would win their home tie, but I still see Barcelona winning out over both legs.

The second semi-final would seem far more easily settled. Madrid are the clear favourites to win over both legs, with Dortmund having been considered as outsiders to get this far in the tournament, at the cost of sides with perhaps greater pedigree such as many of the English or Italian sides. That said, Dortmund have shown great resilience so far in the competition, they came from behind against Malaga in the quarter-finals to win in injury time, and it is no mean feat to play 10 UCL games and not lose a single match. Madrid, do overall have a deeper squad, with a larger range of talent and Ronaldo. He is not a player to be ignored, and like Messi, can single-handedly win games.

This brings us to a final that I predict will be Barcelona vs Real Madrid, to be hosted at Wembley. I think that this final encounter will be won by Madrid. In the last 10 iterations of El Clasico, Real Madrid have won 4, Barcelona have won 3 and 3 have ended in stalemate. However, of the last 5, 3 have been Madrid wins, and the other two were drawn. This shows that Madrid may have the edge in what is perhaps one of the most hotly contested rivalries in European Football, and this is the reason why Real Madrid are going to win the 2013 UEFA Champions League (in my opinion, I can’t say what the other chaps think).

By Paddy Milnes

Follows us on Twitter: @chapstalkfootball @thepaddy

Statistics from:

Transfermarkt.com

Uefa.com

Bvb.de

Fcbayern.telekom.de

Realmadrid.com

Fcbarcelona.com