Europa League Group Stage Wrap

Prelude and Preview to the draw...

The group stage of the Europa League is over and now everyone awaits the draw for the knockout stages.  48 teams in the 12 groups have been whittled down to 24 clubs.  They will be joined by the eight dropouts from the Champions’ League.   The 32 teams will be squaring off in early February.

 

In truth, this season has seen some early separation with many teams a cut above the opposition, in the Europa League.  Several teams powered ahead early and secured qualification as early as Matchday 4, easily proving to be too good for most of their opponents.  But before anyone rushes to brand the tournament as a voluminous exercise in mediocrity, consider this, there is no tournament that has more parity.  Also ponder the fact that many of Europe’s biggest guns faltered and either, only stumbled through in unconvincing fashion, or missed out on progression altogether.

 

I summarise the notable points from an engrossing Group Stage:

Crash and Burn Country: Big Guns, Going Home

Juventus – The Old Lady was unable to bring its best game to the tournament and finished third in Group A.

Dinamo Zagreb – The Balkan giants, despite the latest wave of young Croat talent, lagged 4 points behind in Group D.

AZ Alkmaar – Group E was too much for the 2009 Dutch Eredivisie winners, logging 3 defeats to end in third spot.

Sampdoria – Getting out of Group I was a step too far as the Genoa club were out of contention after 5 games.

Borussia Dortmund – The Germans may be tearing up the Bundesliga but were inconsistent in Group J.

Atletico Madrid – The defending Champions exited with a whimper, behind Leverkusen and Aris in Group B.

 

Surprise Central: Plucky Underdogs, Standing Tall

Lech Poznan – The small Polish club, not even a domestic heavyweight, tied Manchester City on points in Group A.

Aris – With 10 points and second spot in Group B, one of an impressive trio of Greek clubs to progress.

Bate Borisov – Emerging from Group E after an excellent autumn for the Belarussian team.

Young Boys – The Swiss side followed up their narrow Champions’ League elimination with a strong second in Group H.

Metalist Kharkiv – Presaging upcoming tournaments in Eastern Europe, the Ukrainian side snatched second in Group I.

Setting the Standard: Laying down a marker

Zenit St. Petersburg – Following up on our tip for the tournament, the Russian Champions won six out of six, in Group G.

CSKA Moscow – The Russian World Cup is in 2018 but the Moscow side are right here right now, 16 points atop Group F.

FC Porto – Group L were out to the sword as the Portuguese side scored 14 goals and notched 16 points to go through.

Manchester City – Not spectacular but steady, with 11 points to win Group A and set themselves up for a long run.

Stuttgart – The Germans put aside league woe to win 5 games and nail down a top seed for the round of 32.

Players who caught our eye: Outside bets for player of the tournament

Radamel Falcao – The Colombian forward notched seven goals for Porto to lead all scorers.

Tomas Necid – Czech youngster on a purple patch for CSKA Moscow with five goals in six games.

Giuseppe Rossi – The Italian has responded to his World Cup snub with continued good form for club this season.

Roman Eremenko – Finnish playmaker who pulled the strings for a resurgent Dynamo Kiev side, setting up five goals.

Edinson Cavani – The Napoli forward was persistent and deadly with five goals and 15 shots on target.

Artem Milevskiy – The Ukrainian forward is at the peak of his career and notched five goals for Dynamo Kyiv.

 

With Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven still alive and growing in strength and confidence with every passing week, the tournament is still anyone’s to win, especially with the Champions’ League dropouts still to be drawn.  But once the knockout rounds arrive, this tournament will once again serve up a healthy dose of evenly matched football and close games.

Qatar 2022

The only American connection to the World Cup in 2022 will be the military base in Doha.

Holding the voting for two World Cups on the same date was not the only dubious first by FIFA.  The utterly incredulous decision to award the 2022 World Cup to a rank outsider, with no facilities or pedigree of any kind, was surely the coup-de-grace.  On December 2 2010, shortly after awarding the 2018 edition to Russia, in another surprise decision, the FIFA executive committee went one better by giving the 2022 tournament to the tiny Gulf nation.  Like Russia, Qatar is rich in hydrocarbon wealth, having the world’s second largest natural gas field.  One suspects, with good reason too, that mineral wealth went further in convincing voting delegates than the pure merit of the bid itself.  Apparently, new space age stadiums which will use massive air-conditioning to keep players and fans cool (a necessity in June and July, when the tournament is slated for) while allowing themselves to be dismantled and shipped to other developing nations was a large part of the technical bid.  However the award is still a joke, as better qualified nations like Australia (having hosted the Olympics twice) and the USA, who has hosted an excellent tournament in 1994, were overlooked.  The Americans were especially optimistic as both the continued success of the MLS as well as the growth of grass-roots football in the country, were seen as the perfect foil for a strong World Cup bid.  Qatar, on the other hand, has never made it to the World Cup and possesses no Asian Cup record to speak of.  The local top division was notable for being a massive retirement cheque for over the hill ex-superstars like Romario and Luis Figo while the national team has recently been called up for nationalising Brazilians in order to raise their performance.  Already top football executives are calling for the tournament to be moved from the summer months.  Watch this space.

Sepp and The Steppe

Russia 2018

 

Russia has been awarded the 2018 World Cup in a surprise decision by FIFA.  Many expected the English bid, led by David Beckham and featuring both Prince William and David Cameron, to be awarded the hosting rights for the tournament.  However, in a dramatic twist, that saw England finish dead last garnering only two votes, while being eliminated in the first round, Russia were awarded the hosting rights, having received 14 votes in the final round.  While the Russian bid was far from shoddy, questions remain over the infrastructure and professional abilities of the Russian FA.  Meanwhile rumours of votes for money, already exposed in a BBC expose weeks before the final vote, loom large over the process.  Stories abound of FIFA President Sepp Blatter having received close to $3 billion dollars from Qatar (shock winners of the 2022 World Cup bid process) and Russia combined.  With the notion of dark politics and non football decisions pulling the strings behind the scenes, never in doubt, it remains to be seen whether Russia can host a World Cup as well as its Western European neighbours – notably England and fellow bidders, Belgium and Holland.

Russia:

Population: 142 million population

Area: 17.07 million square km

GDP: $2.109 trillion

Notable clubs teams:  CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Rubin Kazan

International Pedigree: 2 World Cup appearances, Euro 2008 semi-finalists.  As USSR, winners of 1960 European Championships during 5 appearances and 7 appearances at the World Cup.

FIFA Ranking: 13

Joan Capdevila

Elevation:

In 2006, Joan Capdevila was, arguably, the third best of a back four featuring himself, Antonio Barragan and Alberto Lopo, at Deportivo La Coruna, who were then mid to lower table.

(I know this because they kept several clean sheets that helped me dominate a La Liga fantasy football game - 82nd out of 13,000 - woot)

In 2010 the same Capdevila has won a Euro Title and World Cup with the Spanish national team, being an ever present at left back.

How things change.

Capdevila, you lucky bastard.

Extra Time

Surprises have been the theme of the season so far, a bit more so than in earlier years, enough for me to acknowledge and praise it.  While the Premiership seemed Chelsea’s to lose, it now seems anyone’s title after the Blues dropped back to back games, for the first time in four years, in losses to Sunderland and at Birmingham.  To be fair, the latter have something resembling a fortress at St. Andrews; but Sunderland’s demolition of the defending champions, in a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge, was sublime.  Suddenly, the team from West London that seemed invincible at home and imperious everywhere else, had been cut down to size in the most emphatic of fashions.

With Manchester United building a quiet head of steam, despite never quite looking convincing, and Arsenal still in with a shout; this season in England’s top flight seems the most open in years.  Casting one’s gaze further, one sees Manchester City and Tottenham still at large, with Spurs defeat of rivals Arsenal, at the latter’s own patch, one of the signal shifts of power this season, in both league and in North London.  Not one club has been able to maintain the consistency required for a prolonged tilt at first place and the 2011 Premiership campaign may be the one that no one seemed to want to win.  The season is far from over so expect plenty of more twists and turns.  Come to think of it, even Liverpool appear to be on their way back to the top eight.

 

Speaking of the Merseyside club, the recent, last minute acquisition by John Henry and NESV served as the double tonic of easing financial woes and injecting some fresh optimism into the ranks.  After a season of inept, stop-start football by the Kopites, Fernando Torres returned to display why he can be Europe’s most destructive striker, with a double salvo that saw off Chelsea at Anfield.  With no one, but mental gamblers and the most hardcore of Liverpool fans, giving the Reds any chance against the runaway leaders of the Premiership, Liverpool produced an efficient and composed performance to see off the Blues and earn some respite for beleaguered manager Roy Hodgson.

Although woefully out of his depth and lacking the charisma or stubborn bloody-mindedness required to drag Liverpool out of its misery, the affable Englishman has stuck to his guns admirably and gone about his work with an honest, quiet dignity rarely seen in top flight football.  Liverpool, post Henry, are still far from the finished article, but with a returning Torres, a restored Dirk Kuyt and a reassured Maxi Rodriquez, seem capable of taking points from most games as they begin a quiet ascent back up the table.

At the other end of the spectrum, time is surely up for professional football’s biggest hoax, Avram Grant.  Parachuted, due to his ethnic ties, into the Chelsea hot seat in 2008, after Jose Mourinho’s sacking, he rode on the latter’s system to almost nick a Champions’ League win.  Despite his quiet demeanour and Chelsea’s continued form, one knew that he was merely a front office mascot for an efficient team put in place by his predecessor and operated by coaches Steve Clarke and Ray Wilkins, both of whom have now left the club.  Witness and remember his shell shocked appearance before extra time during the Carling Cup defeat by Tottenham in 2009 as Clarke drummed up the troops and held a tactics brainstorming session.

A failed season at Portsmouth in 2009-2010 followed, another appointment based on connections rather than ability.  Relegation was a certainty, especially with a points deduction almost certainly dooming the club, but Grant’s touch was equal parts invisible and superfluous.  Football’s luckiest manager then got another chance, this season, with West Ham.  Once again, has ensured that the club mirrors his position, at the foot of the table.  Despite a decent playing corps, the club have been mired in the recesses of the Premiership all season.  At time of writing Avram Grant has spent almost an entire year in the relegation zone, first with Portsmouth and now West Ham.

One manager who has been incapable of riding in Mourinho’s slipstream, has been Inter manager Rafa Benitez.  Taking over the defending treble winners, despite the presence of money and post triumph euphoria, was never going to be easy.  However Rafa has managed to slowly destroy Inter’s confidence, dominance and general ability, as the team, nine points off the summit of Serie A and in danger of missing out on top spot in their Champions’ League group stage, are a pale shadow of Mourinho’s all conquering side.  There is little joy in Inter’s football, even less attacking verve or poise and the stale morbidity that had so characterized Benite’z unedifying final season at Liverpool, has returned with renewed passion on the blue side of Milan.

Mourinho himself, is quite enjoying his stint at Real Madrid.  There is renewed confidence, a sense of common purpose and omnipresent team spirit at the Bernebeu.  Whisper it quietly, but Real are now outside bets for both La Liga and the Champions’ League.

How refreshing it was to see tiny Brest sit atop the Ligue 1 standings.  Another coup for parity in France’s top division, fans must still be rubbing their eyes in shock, having seen St. Etienne, Stade Rennes and Toulouse all occupy the top spot so far.  Puerile synonyms aside, the newly promoted club have been a handy outfit, welding the talents of local French players with a smattering of foreign imports as they slowly built momentum and headed up the table.  Coach Alex Dupont has performed miracles with the small club from the North Western corner of France and will surely be snapped up by one of the bigger clubs, if Stade Brestois continue their fine form.  Montpellier and then Lille may well become the latest clubs to assume the summit, as the top of the table rotation continues.  This set of musical chairs may well bemuse followers of most leagues, but is a welcome change to most neutrals, as they hope Ligue 1 can prove that parity is not just the preserve of the German Bundesliga.

Serie A's Young Eleven

Serie A players are like rock musicians.  They may burst onto the scene explosively as young, exciting talent; but they produce some of their best performances after 30.  Italian football is very much an old man’s game, with the domestic scene stocked full of players excelling in the autumns of their careers.  Many Italian footballers themselves reserve their purple patches for their late 20s and early 30s; aided no doubt by the continued faith of managers and the slower pace of the game; one that requires intelligence and a clever reading of the game more than raw pace, strength and pure talent.

Fitting then, that we pause to review some of Serie A’s relative toddlers, all under 22.  Here are some of the youngest players in Serie A, who have established themselves in starting elevens and in some cases even stamped their mark on the division altogether.  Meet the youngsters setting Serie A alight.

Javier Pastore – Palermo – Midfielder

One of the season’s revelations and a real star in the making Pastore has taken over the creative leadership at Palermo, no strangers to fielding young talent.  Three substitute appearances for Argentina at the World Cup may have failed to showcase his talent but his second season at the club surely will, as he has stepped up to inherit the mantle of club talisman from elder statesman Fabrizio Miccoli.  Seven goals, one assist and 22 shots on goal during 12 starts, are an impressive return so far.

Adem Ljajic – Fiorentina – Midfielder

The young winger had a bit of a nightmare at Manchester United as he flitted in and out of a bloated side.  His class was never in doubt and this season at Fiorentina, he has shown just why.  Speedy and tricky, one would be forgiven for terming him a Balkan version of Cristiano Ronaldo.  In the absence of an injured Stevan Jovetic, Ljajic has made the most of six starts in nine appearances slotting in two goals and creating two more.

Armin Bacinovic – Palermo - Midfielder

Yet another young gun thrown in at the deep end by coach Delio Rossi at Palermo, the young Slovenian has flourished with an extended run in the first team, scoring twice and creating one in 12 appearances so far.  His role is more of a spoiler as he complements the more attacking instincts of the Palermo midfield.  With three yellow cards from 23 fouls committed, his grinding style has been effective as Palermo compete in both Europa League and Serie A campaigns.

Alexis Sanchez – Udinese – Midfielder

After a great World Cup in which both he and Chile acquitted themselves exceedingly well, Sanchez has continued his rapid rise to fame in the black and white stripes of Udinese.  His natural poise on the ball at the right of the Udine midfield has converted many admirers, as he has impressed during nine starts and 13 appearances.  Able to create as well as finish moves, he will no doubt add to his current tally of two goals and two assists.

 Philippe Coutinho – Inter – Midfielder

Inter’s granddad army is notoriously hard to break into, for young players, especially with the defensive discipline preached by both Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez.  How refreshing then to see young Brazilian Coutinho impress during 10 games for the Nerazzurri, in both Serie A and Champions’ League.  Still wiry, with some work to do at the gym, his composure and forward passing have been rare, bright lights in a dark campaign for Inter.

 Ezequiel Munoz – Palermo – Defender

The sole defender on this list, the prodigy is another young Argentine who is among the first names on the team sheet at Sicilian club, Palermo.  His reading of the game and calmness under pressure has eased Palermo’s backline during tough passages of play this season.  Starting all 13 games he has featured in, look to see him become a defensive colossus in Serie A over the coming decade.  Only three other players have played more for the club this season.

 Matias Schelotto – Cesena – Midfielder

Often identified by his given name of Ezequiel, the youngster has slotted in naturally at promoted Cesena.  12 appearances and nine starts have yielded a couple of assists during his stint as a regular starter.  Ever present during an impressive shock win over Milan early in the season, his composure has justified the award of the number 7 shirt.  Scheletto was also part of the Italian team that narrowly missed out on the Euro U21 finals next summer.

 Vladimir Koman – Sampdoria – Midfielder

Another young Hungarian making a name for himself in one of Europe’s bigger leagues, Koman Junior has racked up eight starts and 10 appearances for the club from Genoa.  Yet to score, his play so far is a welcome fillip to both Sampdoria and Hungary, for whom he has played a game during their European Qualifying run.  Sampdoria’s average age is one of the youngest in the division and in Koman they have a possible midfield presence for years to come.

Pato – Milan – Forward

Something of a veteran having been blooded three seasons ago, one often forgets that he only turned 21 this year.  Seen as the long term successor at the front of the park, to Kaka, Pato has move up a gear this season as he notched six goals in as many games before being sidelined with an injury.  Despite competition from new arrivals Robinho and Zlatan, Pato still commands the respect and adoration of the Milanista faithful as his production continues apace.

Kwadwo Asamoah – Udinese – Midfielder 

The lone African in our compilation, Asamoah is the latest exciting young prospect from Ghana, incidentally sharing the same name as his famous colleague Asamoah Gyan.  Strong and physically developed, his style is reminiscent of Michael Essien.  13 games and 12 starts have made him into a key component of a Udinese midfield where he has dovetailed with Gokhan Inler to some effect.  A guaranteed starter when fit, only Inler has featured more than him this season.

Frederico Casarini – Bologna – Midfielder

Bologna’s super sub is one of their youngest players.  Five starts and six more appearances of the bench has made Casarini one of coach Alberto Malesani’s go to guys.  Mostly brought on to shore up an overrun midfield, his tackling on the deck and strength have allowed him to make the most of limited time on the pitch.  Something of a limited defensive midfielder in the mould of Massimo Ambrosini, Milan’s current captain; Casarini’s sophomore season is well underway.