DUTCH, ITALIANS AND GERMANS MOST IMPRESSIVE SO FAR

D. Ray Morton, 18th June 2014.

Germany's Thomas Müller's hat-trick against Portugal makes him top goalscorer and brings his total World Cup goals to eight, now level with the legendary Diego Maradona

Since our last post about Italy's victory over a game but predictable England, we have seen every World Cup team in action now. We have seen Belgium, many peoples' "dark horses" to go far in tournament. We watched as Germany impressed against a self-destructive Portuguese side unable to get the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo. France and Karim Benzema strutted their stuff against violent minnows Honduras and Argentina, thanks to a moment of magic from none other than Lionel Messi, put away a resolute Bosnia & Herzegovina side. Mexico and Brazil were the first two teams to play their second match yesterday and the hosts/favourites failed to impress in a nil-all draw.

Having seen everyone, the three most impressive teams have been Italy, the Netherlands (who thrashed champions Spain) and Germany with Thomas Müller in top poaching form. Italy deserve credit in that they took care of England despite missing Gianluigi Buffon in goal and having to field a back four that had question marks hanging over it. The likes of Matteo Darmian and Gabriel Paletta have been steady, however. There is no doubt that the Netherlands' hammering of Spain has been the stand-out performance of the competition and Germany, though Portugal really were masters of their own undoing, were firm and incisive.

Brazil are a team that should be worrying at this point. Mexico managed to hold them to a scoreless draw thanks to a fine performance from goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa but the seleção were hardly unlucky in their stalemate. Fred had another poor performance and this time there was no cheap award of a penalty. A matter of concern is that the only real back-up for him is former Manchester City flop, Jô. Provided a team can keep Neymar occupied out left, Brazil are offering very little in attack at the moment and must be counting their lucky stars that they were handed such an easy victory in their opening match thanks to some shady refereeing. Things will have to be shaken up and serious consideration must be given to starting the likes of Willian and Fernandinho, players who could offer more creativity than Paulinho, Luiz Gustavo or Ramires.

Tonight's games see Louis van Gaal's Netherlands against Australia (5pm GMT), Spain with a chance to bounce back against Chile (8pm GMT) and Croatia's chance of redemption against a dull Cameroon side (11pm GMT). Vicente del Bosque's defending champions are hanging in there and need a massive performance against Chile. Though many have them written off after their embarrassing opening defeat, they have the quality within their squad to fight back and they could still take that second place position. Assuming Brazil win their group, a repeat of the 2013 Confederations Cup final of Brazil versus Spain would be a mouth-watering second round prospect. Many expected they would not meet until the tournament decider on July 13th but now it is looking like neither team are good enough to win this thing outright.

REACTION TO SCOLARI'S BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD

D. Ray Morton, 7th May 2014.

"Big Phil" has thought long and hard about his squad selection and the verdict is in

World Cup hosts and bookmakers' favourites Brazil named their squad for next month's finals today. Luiz Felipe Scolari has opted mainly for players who were involved in last summer's Confederations Cup triumph where they ran out 3-0 winners in the final against World Cup defending champions Spain. Here is the squad list in full:

Goalkeepers

Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Gremio).

Defenders

Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Roma), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Maxwell (Paris St. Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Paris St. Germain), Dante (Bayern Munich), Henrique (Napoli).

Thiago Silva, captain and key centre back for the Brazilians

Midfielders

Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Paulinho (Tottenham), Ramires (Chelsea), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan), Bernard (Shaktar Donetsk).

Fernandinho's move to Manchester City has done wonders for his international selection prospects
 

Attackers

Fred (Fluminense), Neymar (Barcelona), Hulk (Zenit St. Petersburg), Jo (Atletico Miniero).

There are arguably two surprises in their defensive selection. Very few would have expected Napoli's Henrique to feature but Scolari has worked with him at Palmeiras in the past and trusts his level of ability. Maicon's inclusion is another eyebrow-raiser considering he left Manchester City last season deemed past his peak and surplus to requirements.

Can Maicon still cut it the highest level? Scolari seems to think so

There are some notable exclusions at the back. Paris St. Germain duo Alex and Marquinhos have been snubbed. The former has enjoyed a great season in France and has formed a fine defensive partnership with national captain Thiago Silva. Scolari might have been wise in selecting him ahead of Dante whose form with Bayern Munich has really declined over the past couple of months. Also, Atletico Madrid's Miranda and Roma's Leandro Castan have been overlooked despite having outstanding campaigns at club level.

What more could Miranda have possibly done this season to be selected?

The midfield appears to have something of a "premface" bias towards it with five English-based players in the eight midfielders selected. Willian and Fernandinho find themselves there when it would have been unthinkable for them to be selected when they played at Anzhi Makhachkala and Shaktar Donetsk respectively. Playing in the Premier League does wonders for your chances of international selection (unless you're Spanish), not even so much in improving one's standard but to actually get noticed.

Joining Scolari's old club is a very good way to get noticed for the national team as Willian has found out

One eastern European-based player who is going is young Bernard, however. Another Shaktar recruit, the tricky playmaker has been brought along as, perhaps, an impact sub. The 21 year-old should consider himself very fortunate to have been picked ahead of "the two Lucases", Leiva of Liverpool and Moura of PSG. AC Milan's Kaka and Liverpool's Coutinho have also been left out in the cold.

Brazil's attack will rely on the qualities of Neymar with Fred and Hulk likely to start alongside him

The forward selection is probably about as expected with Scolari not bothering to opt for  Ronaldinho, Pato or Robinho who would have only made the seleção on past reputation alone. Granted, Ronaldinho has been awarded the South American player of the year (S.A.-based players only) but perhaps Scolari feels that his 34 year-old legs would not cut it at what will be a gruelling tournament which will require stamina the former Balon d'Or winner no longer has.

HAVE LIVERPOOL BLOWN THEIR BIG CHANCE?

D. Ray Morton, 27th April 2014.

 Demba Ba scores Chelsea's opener capitalising on Gerrard's mistake

Sunday's Premier League action saw Chelsea defeat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield as Manchester City later put two past Crystal Palace on their travels to add yet another twist to this incredible title race.  City have three remaining matches and barring an unlikely turnaround of their goal difference advantage, a trifecta of victories will hand them the championship crown.

Manchester City's destiny is now in their own hands
 

Liverpool's horror afternoon was largely due to the poor performance of their captain, Steven Gerrard, whose erroneous slip cost them Demba Ba's opener. Chelsea sat very deep with the second string side Jose Mourinho had warned he would field in order to rest players for their second leg Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid in mid-week. The underdog mind game comment worked a treat.

 

 Captain Gerrard's performance was poor at the time they needed him the most

Gerrard's game was panicked and he wasted possession several times with speculative long shots. Reds' talismanic striker Luis Suarez struggled to make an impact and was marshalled effectively by rookie defender Tomas Kalac.  Daniel Sturridge couldn't find spaces and his dismal showing lead to Chelsea's second when substitute Fernando Torres combined with Willian on the counter who walked it into an empty goal.

Willian had all the time in the world after he broke free with Torres during a late counter attack
 

Liverpool will take part in the Champions League next season and it should be interesting to see how they will deal with the busier schedule. Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are used to that situation but Brendan Rodgers' squad will have to be strengthened in the summer. Mourinho's Chelsea will be very strong as soon as they sign a world class striker, most likely Atletico's Diego Costa. City will spend too. Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton will also do their best to improve.
 

The chance of winning a title for Liverpool doesn't come along too often and there is now a sinking feeling about this season and that maybe the talk of it being their year had been too premature.

PRAGMATIC CHELSEA ADVANCE AND COULD WELL WIN IT

PRAGMATIC CHELSEA ADVANCE AND COULD WELL WIN IT

D. Ray Morton, 9th March 2014.

There was an air of inevitability about Demba Ba's late strike at Stamford Bridge last night, the same inevitability that haunted Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi two seasons ago at the same ground, albeit representing Napoli and not Paris St. Germain. José Mourinho had promised beforehand that Chelsea would progress. He was confident that his side would outscore the Parisians on the night and record the sufficient victory to guide them to the Champions League semi-finals.

They'll be an exceedingly tough nut to crack. With Liverpool and Manchester City pulling away in the Premier League to form their own two-horse, "Champions League-less" Premier League title race, the Portuguese has chosen his words very carefully over the past few months. He had warned Chelsea fans that, this season, it wasn't possible to win the league with the players at his disposal. The Champions League, however, is a very a different kettle of fish. A kettle of fish José knows like the back of his hand.

Barcelona and Manchester United, tonight, travel to Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively hoping to join Chelsea, along with Real Madrid, in that prestigious last four. Of all teams potentially left in the competition, Chelsea should fear no-one over two legs. Bayern were the football purists' darlings throughout the season but a recent slump in performances after winning their domestic league with their eyes closed has left many doubting their ability to complete back-to-back Champions League triumphs, a feat yet done in the competition's modern guise.

In a lot of ways, Chelsea are the perfect team to go on to win this tournament now. Barcelona aren't quite the Barcelona of old and even when they were, the Londoners were always a bogey team of theirs. Mourinho will not be ashamed to batten down the hatches and defend deep against any opponent should he see fit. If anything, last night's game against PSG represented "Big Money, Big Sam" tactics at their finest. A strong defensive unit, capable of dealing with a Zlatan-less side, long balls and long throws becoming their main threat once Eden Hazard was taken off injured. To watch a player like Willian scurry and track like a ball-winning midfielder was an unexpected sight and he performed in this unorthodox role admirably.

Willian was all-action, all energy last night

Indeed, the Brazilian could be vital for Chelsea with only two games between them an appearance in the lucrative final, to be played in Mourinho's native land at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. With Juan Mata sold and Oscar starting to show signs of tiredness due to the insane amount of matches he's appeared in for club and country over the past two years, Willian is starting to look like the freshest of their attacking midfielders, finding his form at the perfect time for what might be a heroic late season surge.

They lack a striker still, obviously, but the way they're set up doesn't require a world class No. 9. Demba Ba is no Marco van Basten but he's certainly capable of troubling defenders and his impact was predictably devastating last night. Chelsea are a team of big, powerful no-nonsense men for the most part. John Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic etc. They will bully teams who are not up for it. Teams that are not at 100%. Teams whose game plans aren't at their zenith. And looking across what's left to compete with, they should be quietly confident with whatever comes their way.