Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United are well placed in a three-horse race for the Barclays Premier League title. Sir Alex Ferguson's side are seven points behind leaders Liverpool with two matches in hand, both at home, to Wigan Athletic and Fulham and the England striker is looking forward to the run-in against Liverpool and Chelsea.
"I think we are in a good position," Rooney said. "We would have liked to have played those two matches in hand but we've got them to come. If we can get some good results in those games we would be in a really good position.
"You can never write Arsenal off and they are a good team and Aston Villa are doing well as well but in the end I think it will be down to one of the top three."
United have won both their league matches since returning from the Club World Cup in Japan, but Dimitar Berbatov's solitary goal against Middlesbrough last night was only the club's fourth in their last six league matches.
Despite converting just one of 25 chances against Gareth Southgate's side, Rooney believes it is only a matter of time before United start firing on all cylinders again. "I thought we played well, created a lot of chances and could have scored four or five goals," he said. "If those chances go in everyone speaks differently. If we don't score it is a worry but we got the goal that mattered."
Ferguson warned his players after the match that they have to start turning their dominance into goals on a more regular basis if they do not want to slip up in their attempts to haul in the top two. Chelsea have scored 40 times in 20 matches and have a goal difference of plus 31, well in excess of their two main rivals.
Rooney admits it is something which the United players are conscious of and are trying to rectify. "Of course we want to score more goals," he said. "Going into the last game of the season last year our goal difference could have won the league.
"We want to try to get our goal difference up but this stage of the season is a difficult period and you are just looking to get points on the board. We missed some good opportunities against Middlesbrough, the goalkeeper [Ross Turnbull] made some good saves but that is football, it happens.
"It has happened a bit more than we would have liked this first part of the season so hopefully we can start taking those chances."
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo to go home to find missing spark
Sir Alex Ferguson will consider allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to return to Portugal to recharge his batteries before Manchester United’s Barclays Premier League showdown with Chelsea on January 11. Ronaldo has cut a snarling, fractious figure in recent weeks, having been involved in a series of altercations with opponents, but the idea of a short break is regarded at Old Trafford as a routine course of action from which the winger might benefit.
Ferguson has often given his younger overseas players dispensation to return briefly to their homeland during the winter months, with Anderson and Carlos Tévez back in Brazil and Argentina respectively this week, and now would appear the ideal time to allow Ronaldo a brief rest, particularly given that United’s next two matches are against Southampton in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and Derby County in the Carling Cup semi-final, first leg a week today before they face Chelsea at Old Trafford. Ronaldo may be involved against Southampton, but he is almost certain to sit out the Carling Cup tie.
Ronaldo could be said to be in need of a change of environment, having struggled for his best form in recent weeks and he has also been involved in a succession of spats with opponents. The Portugal winger angrily squared up to Emanuel Pogatetz at half-time during United’s 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Monday, having been fortunate to escape punishment for kicking out at Scott Brown, of Celtic, Michael Dawson, the Tottenham Hotspur defender, and Andy Wilkinson, of Stoke City. The dispute with Pogatetz continued into the players’ tunnel at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo furious that the defender grappled him to the ground at a corner in the final minute of the first half.
Related Links
Angry Ronaldo in Old Trafford tunnel rage
Berbatov keeps United in the title hunt
Multimedia
Ronaldo must not lose temper like Zidane
Has Ronaldo lost the plot?
Ferguson would be reluctant to acknowledge a link between Ronaldo’s recent antics or form and any decision to rest him, but even on United’s television station on Monday night the player’s conduct was a matter of debate. Lou Macari, the former United player, said that “the Ronaldo of last season” had not been seen for several weeks and that it is essential he finds his best form during the second half of the campaign, with his team seven points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, albeit with two games in hand.
Ronaldo missed pre-season training and the opening weeks of the campaign while recovering from an ankle operation, having also spent much of the summer distracted by his planned transfer to Real Madrid, and, while he scored seven goals in his first nine appearances after returning to the starting line-up in September, his form has dipped markedly in recent weeks.
Anderson, the midfield player, is expected to return to the United squad against Southampton on Sunday, having flown to Brazil after his team’s success in the Club World Cup in Japan before Christmas. Tévez is due back in Manchester at the weekend, having been given permission to return to Argentina for what Ferguson called a “family issue”, but it is not clear whether he will be back in time to figure in the FA Cup tie. “When their parents and families are far away, you have to be patient with them,” Ferguson said.
United also had to be patient against Middlesbrough, with the only goal of the game coming through Dimitar Berbatov with just 21 minutes remaining, but the forward has echoed Ferguson’s belief that profligacy in front of goal is the main threat to his team’s ambitions this season. “Maybe we must work on our concentration in the final third of the field,” Berbatov said. “The boss tells us all the time not to lose our concentration because it will be very important in the crucial games coming up. We will keep working on that and, as long as we keep making chances, hopefully the goals will come.”
source:the london times
Ferguson has often given his younger overseas players dispensation to return briefly to their homeland during the winter months, with Anderson and Carlos Tévez back in Brazil and Argentina respectively this week, and now would appear the ideal time to allow Ronaldo a brief rest, particularly given that United’s next two matches are against Southampton in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and Derby County in the Carling Cup semi-final, first leg a week today before they face Chelsea at Old Trafford. Ronaldo may be involved against Southampton, but he is almost certain to sit out the Carling Cup tie.
Ronaldo could be said to be in need of a change of environment, having struggled for his best form in recent weeks and he has also been involved in a succession of spats with opponents. The Portugal winger angrily squared up to Emanuel Pogatetz at half-time during United’s 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Monday, having been fortunate to escape punishment for kicking out at Scott Brown, of Celtic, Michael Dawson, the Tottenham Hotspur defender, and Andy Wilkinson, of Stoke City. The dispute with Pogatetz continued into the players’ tunnel at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo furious that the defender grappled him to the ground at a corner in the final minute of the first half.
Related Links
Angry Ronaldo in Old Trafford tunnel rage
Berbatov keeps United in the title hunt
Multimedia
Ronaldo must not lose temper like Zidane
Has Ronaldo lost the plot?
Ferguson would be reluctant to acknowledge a link between Ronaldo’s recent antics or form and any decision to rest him, but even on United’s television station on Monday night the player’s conduct was a matter of debate. Lou Macari, the former United player, said that “the Ronaldo of last season” had not been seen for several weeks and that it is essential he finds his best form during the second half of the campaign, with his team seven points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, albeit with two games in hand.
Ronaldo missed pre-season training and the opening weeks of the campaign while recovering from an ankle operation, having also spent much of the summer distracted by his planned transfer to Real Madrid, and, while he scored seven goals in his first nine appearances after returning to the starting line-up in September, his form has dipped markedly in recent weeks.
Anderson, the midfield player, is expected to return to the United squad against Southampton on Sunday, having flown to Brazil after his team’s success in the Club World Cup in Japan before Christmas. Tévez is due back in Manchester at the weekend, having been given permission to return to Argentina for what Ferguson called a “family issue”, but it is not clear whether he will be back in time to figure in the FA Cup tie. “When their parents and families are far away, you have to be patient with them,” Ferguson said.
United also had to be patient against Middlesbrough, with the only goal of the game coming through Dimitar Berbatov with just 21 minutes remaining, but the forward has echoed Ferguson’s belief that profligacy in front of goal is the main threat to his team’s ambitions this season. “Maybe we must work on our concentration in the final third of the field,” Berbatov said. “The boss tells us all the time not to lose our concentration because it will be very important in the crucial games coming up. We will keep working on that and, as long as we keep making chances, hopefully the goals will come.”
source:the london times
Sunday, December 28, 2008
'Noles pull away in second half to rout Badgers
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Bobby Bowden glimpsed into the past, and it made the 79-year-old coach excited about Florida State's future.
Bowden saw a big-play offense and a hard-hitting, opportunistic defense in the Seminoles' 42-13 win over Wisconsin at the Champs Sports Bowl on Saturday.
Bowl season roundup
Recaps and analysis
EagleBank Bowl:
Wake Forest 29, Navy 19 AnalysisNew Mexico Bowl:
Colorado St. 40, Fresno St. 35St. Petersburg Bowl
South Florida 41, Memphis 14Las Vegas Bowl
Arizona 31, No. 17 BYU 21 AnalysisNew Orleans Bowl
So. Miss 30, Troy 27 (OT) AnalysisPoinsettia Bowl
TCU 17, Boise St. 16 AnalysisHawaii Bowl
Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 AnalysisMotor City Bowl
Fla. Atlantic 24, Cen. Mich. 21 AnalysisMeineke Bowl
W. Virginia 31, N. Carolina 30 AnalysisChamps Sports Bowl
Florida St. 42, Wis. 13 AnalysisEmerald Bowl
Cal 24, Miami 17 Analysis
Photo gallery:
Snapshots from Saturday's bowls
Best from bowl season's 1st weekend
Poinsettia Bowl Hawaii Bowl
"It looked like the old Florida State out there," Bowden said. "Not that we're there, but we looked like we used to."
Florida State (9-4) finished with more than eight wins for the first time since 2004. Nine victories was once a given for Bowden's Seminoles, who hit that mark in 17 of 18 seasons before tailing off in recent seasons.
Many key players on this team will be back next season, so there's reason to believe Florida State is headed for even better results.
Derek Nicholson and Dekoda Watson returned fumbles for touchdowns, Christian Ponder threw two TD passes and the Seminoles got a game MVP performance from punter Graham Gano.
Watson and Ponder are among the underclassmen who will be back for the Seminoles next season.
Nicholson, a senior, had two fumble recoveries, including one he returned 75 yards for a first-quarter score. Gano averaged 48.2 yards on five and had three downed inside the Badgers 5 to earn game MVP.
"Once we got our feet on the ground, we were almost unstoppable out there," said Ponder, who was 18-for-31 for 199 yards. "We got into a groove and every one was making plays."
P.J. Hill ran for 140 yards on 15 carries for the Badgers (7-6), but quarterback Dustin Sherer completed only four of nine for 55 yards through the first three quarters. His fumble early in the fourth quarter was returned 51 yards for a score by Watson to put FSU up 35-6.
"I was disappointed in everything out there," Sherer said. "I didn't make the plays we needed. They made it tough on us early with the punts, but we really kind of shot ourselves in the foot and allowed them to do that."
It was an ugly finish to a disappointing season for Wisconsin, which was ranked as high as No. 8 early and was expected to contend in the Big Ten.
Hill broke runs of 46 and 43 yards, both setting up Philip Welch field goals. But he fumbled deep in FSU territory late in the third quarter and Nicholson recovered to end the threat.
Florida State, playing in its NCAA-leading 27th-straight bowl game, improved Bowden's career record to 21-10-1.
"I plan on coming back next year," said Bowden, who has 382 career victories, one behind Penn State's Joe Paterno for the major college record. "This makes it exciting to coach."
Antone Smith scored on a 6-yard run off right tackle to put the Seminoles up 21-6 in the third quarter and make the power running Badgers have to go to the pass to catch up.
Gano, the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's best kicker, placed three first-quarter punts inside the 4, including two at the 1. Wisconsin managed drives of 56 and 51 yards after two of those coffin corner punts, but had to settle field goals of 31 and 41 yards by Philip Welch.
"What if he didn't kick them out?" Bowden said. "Those would have been touchdowns. This guy (Gano) kept us in it."
The Seminoles couldn't turn that field position edge into points, though, and when Sherer hit Garrett Graham on a slant for a gain of 43, the game seemed to turn.
But on second-and-9 at the Seminoles 19, Sherer took a one-step drop and tried to hit Hill on a quick screen. The ball, clearly a lateral, was deflected by end Neffey Moffett and picked up by Nicholson, who retured it for a score, high-stepping the last 20 yards. FSU led 7-0 with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
"I kind of saw it coming," Nicholson said. "I went for the interception, but when I missed it, I wasn't sure what happened, so I just picked up the ball and started running with it. When we scored, it changed things a little bit."
Nicholson's celebration was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and after a short squib kick, Wisconsin took over at the Seminoles' 46. Sherer, though, was sacked by Moffett on third-and-2 at the 38 and the Badgers had to punt.
The Seminoles have a tradition of designating games "Sod Games." If they win, they take a chunk of the turf back to Tallahassee, plant it and put a plaque over it.
Gano cut a swatch of sod out from the 3-yard line, near where two of his punts went out.
"Somebody told me to go to there to cut it out, because that 1-yard line attracted the most attention," Gano said. "It was hard to cut that out."
Instead of running out the clock deep in their own end in the first half trailing 7-3, Wisconsin passed. FSU forced a punt, taking over at the Badgers' 47 with 40 seconds left. Ponder hit Louis Givens on a swing pass for 26 yards and then found Greg Carr on a fade route in the right corner for a one-handed 15-yard TD catch with 7 seconds left that put the Seminoles up 14-3 at halftime.
Wisconsin appeared to have regained the momentum after Welch's second field goal when they recovered a Bert Reed fumble at the Seminoles' 28. Replays showed Reed's knee was down before he lost the ball and the call was changed.
"That was a huge play," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "I didn't think they would overturn it."
Bowden saw a big-play offense and a hard-hitting, opportunistic defense in the Seminoles' 42-13 win over Wisconsin at the Champs Sports Bowl on Saturday.
Bowl season roundup
Recaps and analysis
EagleBank Bowl:
Wake Forest 29, Navy 19 AnalysisNew Mexico Bowl:
Colorado St. 40, Fresno St. 35St. Petersburg Bowl
South Florida 41, Memphis 14Las Vegas Bowl
Arizona 31, No. 17 BYU 21 AnalysisNew Orleans Bowl
So. Miss 30, Troy 27 (OT) AnalysisPoinsettia Bowl
TCU 17, Boise St. 16 AnalysisHawaii Bowl
Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 AnalysisMotor City Bowl
Fla. Atlantic 24, Cen. Mich. 21 AnalysisMeineke Bowl
W. Virginia 31, N. Carolina 30 AnalysisChamps Sports Bowl
Florida St. 42, Wis. 13 AnalysisEmerald Bowl
Cal 24, Miami 17 Analysis
Photo gallery:
Snapshots from Saturday's bowls
Best from bowl season's 1st weekend
Poinsettia Bowl Hawaii Bowl
"It looked like the old Florida State out there," Bowden said. "Not that we're there, but we looked like we used to."
Florida State (9-4) finished with more than eight wins for the first time since 2004. Nine victories was once a given for Bowden's Seminoles, who hit that mark in 17 of 18 seasons before tailing off in recent seasons.
Many key players on this team will be back next season, so there's reason to believe Florida State is headed for even better results.
Derek Nicholson and Dekoda Watson returned fumbles for touchdowns, Christian Ponder threw two TD passes and the Seminoles got a game MVP performance from punter Graham Gano.
Watson and Ponder are among the underclassmen who will be back for the Seminoles next season.
Nicholson, a senior, had two fumble recoveries, including one he returned 75 yards for a first-quarter score. Gano averaged 48.2 yards on five and had three downed inside the Badgers 5 to earn game MVP.
"Once we got our feet on the ground, we were almost unstoppable out there," said Ponder, who was 18-for-31 for 199 yards. "We got into a groove and every one was making plays."
P.J. Hill ran for 140 yards on 15 carries for the Badgers (7-6), but quarterback Dustin Sherer completed only four of nine for 55 yards through the first three quarters. His fumble early in the fourth quarter was returned 51 yards for a score by Watson to put FSU up 35-6.
"I was disappointed in everything out there," Sherer said. "I didn't make the plays we needed. They made it tough on us early with the punts, but we really kind of shot ourselves in the foot and allowed them to do that."
It was an ugly finish to a disappointing season for Wisconsin, which was ranked as high as No. 8 early and was expected to contend in the Big Ten.
Hill broke runs of 46 and 43 yards, both setting up Philip Welch field goals. But he fumbled deep in FSU territory late in the third quarter and Nicholson recovered to end the threat.
Florida State, playing in its NCAA-leading 27th-straight bowl game, improved Bowden's career record to 21-10-1.
"I plan on coming back next year," said Bowden, who has 382 career victories, one behind Penn State's Joe Paterno for the major college record. "This makes it exciting to coach."
Antone Smith scored on a 6-yard run off right tackle to put the Seminoles up 21-6 in the third quarter and make the power running Badgers have to go to the pass to catch up.
Gano, the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's best kicker, placed three first-quarter punts inside the 4, including two at the 1. Wisconsin managed drives of 56 and 51 yards after two of those coffin corner punts, but had to settle field goals of 31 and 41 yards by Philip Welch.
"What if he didn't kick them out?" Bowden said. "Those would have been touchdowns. This guy (Gano) kept us in it."
The Seminoles couldn't turn that field position edge into points, though, and when Sherer hit Garrett Graham on a slant for a gain of 43, the game seemed to turn.
But on second-and-9 at the Seminoles 19, Sherer took a one-step drop and tried to hit Hill on a quick screen. The ball, clearly a lateral, was deflected by end Neffey Moffett and picked up by Nicholson, who retured it for a score, high-stepping the last 20 yards. FSU led 7-0 with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
"I kind of saw it coming," Nicholson said. "I went for the interception, but when I missed it, I wasn't sure what happened, so I just picked up the ball and started running with it. When we scored, it changed things a little bit."
Nicholson's celebration was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and after a short squib kick, Wisconsin took over at the Seminoles' 46. Sherer, though, was sacked by Moffett on third-and-2 at the 38 and the Badgers had to punt.
The Seminoles have a tradition of designating games "Sod Games." If they win, they take a chunk of the turf back to Tallahassee, plant it and put a plaque over it.
Gano cut a swatch of sod out from the 3-yard line, near where two of his punts went out.
"Somebody told me to go to there to cut it out, because that 1-yard line attracted the most attention," Gano said. "It was hard to cut that out."
Instead of running out the clock deep in their own end in the first half trailing 7-3, Wisconsin passed. FSU forced a punt, taking over at the Badgers' 47 with 40 seconds left. Ponder hit Louis Givens on a swing pass for 26 yards and then found Greg Carr on a fade route in the right corner for a one-handed 15-yard TD catch with 7 seconds left that put the Seminoles up 14-3 at halftime.
Wisconsin appeared to have regained the momentum after Welch's second field goal when they recovered a Bert Reed fumble at the Seminoles' 28. Replays showed Reed's knee was down before he lost the ball and the call was changed.
"That was a huge play," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. "I didn't think they would overturn it."
Blatter expresses Ojo-Oba regret
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter has expressed his regret at the passing of Nigerian referee Adigun Ojo-Oba.
The 34-year-old, younger brother to Nigerian Football Federation General Secretary, Bolaji Ojo-Oba, died in a car accident in Delta State last Wednesday.He was on his way to officiate a game between Senegal and Guinea in the West African U-20 Football Union Cup."On behalf of FIFA and the worldwide family of football, I wish to extend our condolences to you, the Nigerian football community, and, most importantly, to Adigun Ojo-Oba, family, friends and loved ones," said Blatter.
"Please let them know that today, the football community stands by their side. We hope that in some way, our words of support may help bring a little bit of peace and solace in this time of sadness."
source:fifa.com
The 34-year-old, younger brother to Nigerian Football Federation General Secretary, Bolaji Ojo-Oba, died in a car accident in Delta State last Wednesday.He was on his way to officiate a game between Senegal and Guinea in the West African U-20 Football Union Cup."On behalf of FIFA and the worldwide family of football, I wish to extend our condolences to you, the Nigerian football community, and, most importantly, to Adigun Ojo-Oba, family, friends and loved ones," said Blatter.
"Please let them know that today, the football community stands by their side. We hope that in some way, our words of support may help bring a little bit of peace and solace in this time of sadness."
source:fifa.com
Secret to success is forward thinking outside the box
What people always seem to do with fantasy teams is pick last season’s best players, and I think in the PlayTheGame system you have to have a bigger picture, a more objective idea of who might come in – for example, who has been injured and has a chance of being in the team far more regularly than they were in the previous season. And maybe some bright young talents who haven’t been out there, but will get a chance this time.
My first team is all about players who can make things happen, such as Michael Essien, of Chelsea. He can play at right back, but I don’t see that happening much this year. With him signing a new contract, he has got to be at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield and I expect him to be there, perhaps more than any other player.
But for the bench I’m looking slightly beyond the obvious. I’ve tried to get a mixture of people who have been very productive and others who have underachieved at their clubs and could have more to offer than they have shown.
That could be players who have been transferred from one club where they haven’t been noticed so much to another where they will come under the spotlight. Zoltan Gera, who has moved to Fulham, was very creative at West Bromwich Albion last season but because he was outside the Barclays Premier League, some people might not have paid so much attention to him.
Unlike in some fantasy football games, you can’t have your ideal XI, as they would be in those leagues where everybody ends up naming the same team. In this game, you want to find value in a player and a good return from someone you don’t necessarily put at the top of your rankings. That’s why I picked Tim Cahill, of Everton, in the ninth round. He missed a lot of time through injury last year, but when he is fit he can score goals from midfield.
And he plays for a good Everton team. Mikel Arteta missed time towards the end of the season, but I think he is a fabulous player - one of those midfield players who is extra valuable because he can chip in with goals, which is something Everton seem to have. I named Leon Osman on my bench because he’s a player who can deliver from deep midfield areas.
Gareth Bale was probably my biggest risk, along with Theo Walcott. Bale is a player I really like going forward. I think he still needs to learn a lot about his defensive duties, but hopefully with the likes of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate around him at Tottenham Hotspur that will help him. I think Walcott’s time has come, or it should do. It is time for him to start to be a regular in the Arsenal lineup. We’ve all heard fans at the Emirates singing “Theo, Theo”, calling for him to come off the bench. He now has to start, on a regular basis, and maybe they’ll be singing after something he has done early in a game. He should be maturing into the player that Arsène Wenger would want.
He has been there two years and that is enough time for Wenger to think of him as being in his first XI – if not in every match, then certainly far more often.
No risks at goalkeeper, though. Because so many teams rotate – Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United, for instance – I picked someone in David James who will be asked to do more at Portsmouth than José Manuel Reina at Liverpool and perhaps even Manuel Almunia at Arsenal. James is one of those goalkeepers who does an awful lot right and very little wrong. Unfortunately, the “very little” has been the monkey on his back over his career.
He makes fine saves, but what has sometimes cost him dear is his judgment, not only of crosses but also coming off his line in one-on-ones. He has been far too ready to leave his line and try to get to a forward who is 35 yards from goal when there is still a lot for the forward to do. But while he is still making the saves, as he has always done, I think he knows his job better now. I’ve listened to him talk and he understands what is expected of him and what his duties are within a group of players.
My final pick was King, a player I really like. The way he played in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea was absolutely superb. It’s a pity that injury has taken so many games away from him. If he was fit on a regular basis, he would probably be one of everybody’s first picks rather than their last.
Cascarino’s squad
David James (Portsmouth)Lucas Neill (West Ham United)Joseph Yobo (Everton)Martin Laursen (Aston Villa)Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)Mikel Arteta (Everton)Michael Essien (Chelsea)Tim Cahill (Everton)Theo Walcott (Arsenal)Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)Obafemi Martins (Newcastle United)
Substitutes
Alex (Chelsea)Leon Osman (Everton)Ryan Babel (Liverpool)
Bench
Shay Given (Newcastle United)Zoltan Gera (Fulham)Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)André Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)
My first team is all about players who can make things happen, such as Michael Essien, of Chelsea. He can play at right back, but I don’t see that happening much this year. With him signing a new contract, he has got to be at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield and I expect him to be there, perhaps more than any other player.
But for the bench I’m looking slightly beyond the obvious. I’ve tried to get a mixture of people who have been very productive and others who have underachieved at their clubs and could have more to offer than they have shown.
That could be players who have been transferred from one club where they haven’t been noticed so much to another where they will come under the spotlight. Zoltan Gera, who has moved to Fulham, was very creative at West Bromwich Albion last season but because he was outside the Barclays Premier League, some people might not have paid so much attention to him.
Unlike in some fantasy football games, you can’t have your ideal XI, as they would be in those leagues where everybody ends up naming the same team. In this game, you want to find value in a player and a good return from someone you don’t necessarily put at the top of your rankings. That’s why I picked Tim Cahill, of Everton, in the ninth round. He missed a lot of time through injury last year, but when he is fit he can score goals from midfield.
And he plays for a good Everton team. Mikel Arteta missed time towards the end of the season, but I think he is a fabulous player - one of those midfield players who is extra valuable because he can chip in with goals, which is something Everton seem to have. I named Leon Osman on my bench because he’s a player who can deliver from deep midfield areas.
Gareth Bale was probably my biggest risk, along with Theo Walcott. Bale is a player I really like going forward. I think he still needs to learn a lot about his defensive duties, but hopefully with the likes of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate around him at Tottenham Hotspur that will help him. I think Walcott’s time has come, or it should do. It is time for him to start to be a regular in the Arsenal lineup. We’ve all heard fans at the Emirates singing “Theo, Theo”, calling for him to come off the bench. He now has to start, on a regular basis, and maybe they’ll be singing after something he has done early in a game. He should be maturing into the player that Arsène Wenger would want.
He has been there two years and that is enough time for Wenger to think of him as being in his first XI – if not in every match, then certainly far more often.
No risks at goalkeeper, though. Because so many teams rotate – Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United, for instance – I picked someone in David James who will be asked to do more at Portsmouth than José Manuel Reina at Liverpool and perhaps even Manuel Almunia at Arsenal. James is one of those goalkeepers who does an awful lot right and very little wrong. Unfortunately, the “very little” has been the monkey on his back over his career.
He makes fine saves, but what has sometimes cost him dear is his judgment, not only of crosses but also coming off his line in one-on-ones. He has been far too ready to leave his line and try to get to a forward who is 35 yards from goal when there is still a lot for the forward to do. But while he is still making the saves, as he has always done, I think he knows his job better now. I’ve listened to him talk and he understands what is expected of him and what his duties are within a group of players.
My final pick was King, a player I really like. The way he played in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea was absolutely superb. It’s a pity that injury has taken so many games away from him. If he was fit on a regular basis, he would probably be one of everybody’s first picks rather than their last.
Cascarino’s squad
David James (Portsmouth)Lucas Neill (West Ham United)Joseph Yobo (Everton)Martin Laursen (Aston Villa)Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)Mikel Arteta (Everton)Michael Essien (Chelsea)Tim Cahill (Everton)Theo Walcott (Arsenal)Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)Obafemi Martins (Newcastle United)
Substitutes
Alex (Chelsea)Leon Osman (Everton)Ryan Babel (Liverpool)
Bench
Shay Given (Newcastle United)Zoltan Gera (Fulham)Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)André Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)
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