Racism in Football

Having not posted on this blog for a while, I was watching the CSKA Moscow v Man City game and searching for a new topic when sky announce that Yaya Toure is the subject of monkey chants from the home supporters. This sent my mind into a spasm of depression and rage at a whole manner of different parties.

Firstly this latest incident comes from a set of fans that support CSKA Moscow, a Russian team whose first choice strikers are pictured below. I typed the word "laughable" to describe that fact, but it isn't laughable at all. To be honest, I genuinely am lost for words.

Seydou Doumbia & Ahmed Musa - CSKA Moscow players

This comes in a country that is notorious for racism. Below are just three incidents that I've thought of off the top of my head. There are likely to be many more that barely even make the headlines.

1) Roberto Carlos - In an away match for Anzhi Machachkala at Krylia Sovetov , Roberto Carlos received a pass from the goalkeeper and was about to pass it when a banana was thrown on to the pitch. He walked off the pitch immediately, indicating that this was the 2nd time this kind of incident had happened. 


2) Chris Samba - In a similar incident, Chris Samba had a banana thrown at him playing away at Zenit St Petersburg.

3) Zenit Fans Letter - When Zenit first announced the signing of Hulk, the Zenit fans wrote an open letter to the club, in which it said, "We're not racists but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition,". (See here for full story - http://ind.pn/UDbOmD)

As you probably know, Russia have been elected to hold the 2018 FIFA World Cup (At England's expense I might add!). This can be added to the already mammoth list of baffling decisions and stupid choices that FIFA make. As much as I would like to, I won't be talking about that decision here. Instead, I will slaughter UEFA's policy for punishment for this kind of offence.

It is likely that CSKA Moscow will be fined a few thousand pounds for this, the media will call it an outrage, nothing more will be done and we'll have another racism issue in Russia in about 2 months time. What should happen is that CSKA Moscow should be fined heavily, and they should be kicked out banned from the UEFA competitions for a couple of years. I am willing to bet all that I own that Spurs will be fined more than CSKA for the flair incident earlier this week. UEFA are just as bad as the fans for failing to address the issues in European football.

As if to insult us all, during half-time in the Man Utd game later on, a 'No To Racism' advert, endorsed by the worlds best footballers is shown. I wanted to punch the screen. 

UEFA, you're a joke. Russia, you're a joke. Racism, no joke

Not quite all European football...

Read about todays abuse at the expense of Yaya Toure here - http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/23/manchester-city-yaya-toure-racist-chanting

Are Sunderland Making The Same Mistake Twice

It has broken today that Gus Poyet is set to be unveiled as the new Sunderland manager,

after the recent sacking of the ever-amusing Paolo Di Canio. Compare the CVs of the two men and you find a lot of similarities. You could call both foreign hot heads who, whilst playing in good premier league teams in the 90s, have no elite experience in management.

Make no mistake, Poyet has done a great job at Brighton. He took them from a mediocre League One team to a Championship team with playoff aspirations, transforming their playing style in the process. Poyet won 86 of his 194 games as Brighton manager, leading them from League One to the Championship play-offs last season, where they lost out to eventual winners Crystal Palace.

Sunderland chairman Ellis Short heavily hinted that Di Canio's appointment last season was a short term fix and keeping them in the Premier League was his only task. But what next for Sunderland Football Club? Their squad contains players too good to be battling relegation this season. The likes of Emanuele Giaccherini, Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher are simply too good to be battling relegation over and over again. 

For the record, I do not think that Sunderland will be relegated this season, and Poyet can look to build a new Sunderland with increasing amounts of foreign flair and vigour.

The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Shambles

Sepp Blatter has today reiterated that the World Cup in 2022 will definitely take place in Qatar, despite the debate surrounding the countries summer temperatures and recent reports of 'slave-like' working conditions. FIFA have also announced that they are setting up a 'task-force' who will look into a winter-held tournament for the first time ever and make a decision in about 12 months.

Qatar 'won' the right to hold the 2022 world cup in December 2010, almost 3 years ago. I CAN believe that its taken  FIFA 3 years to find Qatar on a map, but can't believe that noone thought that it might be hot in the Middle-East in summer. 

I am a firm believer that moving the Qatar World Cup to

winter is a poor idea. When talking about this, my friend Luke made a point that I completely agree with. When the issue first arose and a winter tournament was considered, Qatar should have had to rebid for the World Cup against Japan, South Korea, USA & Australia with their bid centred around being held in winter. Then, if they won the bid, they could go ahead and mess with the world's football calender. The fact of the matter is, noone voted for a winter World Cup in 2022.

Qatar's Crazy Stadia Designs

I believe that the USA should have won the right to hold the World Cup, although obviously I don't know the specifics of the bid. Russia won the bid over the UK because FIFA thought that the tournament could invigorate football in Russia. By that same logic, 'soccer' would see a huge surge in popularity across the pond if all the world stars came calling.

Saying that, who is surprised to see FIFA, with Sepp Blatter at the helm, make questionable choices. The man is an idiot.

"What Am I doing?" - Sepp Blatter

Midweek Fixtures - Champions League & Championship

Here are a list of tonight's matches. I will discuss a couple of the bigger games in a little more detail.

Champions League - Tuesday 1st October

Group E

Basel v Schalke - KO: 19:45
Steaua Bucharest v Chelsea - KO: 19:45

Few would have predicted Chelsea losing at home to Basel in week 1, leaving their trip to Romania this week much more important than they'd have hoped. With Mourinho still struggling to find his way back in the Chelsea dug-out, anything other than 3 points will set alarms bells ringing in fans' ears, as failure to get out of this group would be a disaster. Basel were impressive in London but face another tough test in a typically organised Schalke side who regularly dispose of average teams at this level.

Group F

Borussia Dortmund v Marseille - KO: 19:45
Arsenal v Napoli - KO: 19:45

Both games will be fast-paced and exciting in my opinion here. Dortmund & Marseille both lost in week 1, and if you can have must win games this early on in the competition, this is surely one of them. Mesut zil tweeted earlier this week "Looking forward to meet on tuesday Higuain, Albiol and Callejon. But: sorry. We have no presents...". He is clearly relishing the task of beating his former team. A strong Napoli setup will probably be Arsenal's toughest test so far this season.

Group G

Zenit St Petersburg v Austria Vienna - KO: 17:00
FC Porto v Athletico Madrid - KO 19:45

Im expecting a really exciting game between Porto & Madrid. Both picked up wins in matchday 1 and will be looking to move clear at the top of the table. I watched the Madrid derby at the weekend and Athletico were fantastic. Going to the Bernabéu and keeping a clean sheet is a feat not many can boast. Couldn't call this, but Porto at home are notoriously hard to beat and I think Madrid will take a point.

Group H

Celtic v Barcelona - KO: 19:45
Ajax v AC Milan - KO:19:45

Cannot see beyond two away wins in this group. Despite the absent Lionel Messi, Barcelona should prove superior in Glasgow. Ajax put up little resistance in Barcelona and I think Milan will be too strong again this week.

Championship


Barnsley v Reading - KO: 19:45
Birmingham v Millwall - KO: 19:45
Blackburn v Watford - KO: 19:45
Brighton v Sheffield Wednesday - KO: 19:45
Charlton v Nottingham Forest - KO: 19:45
Derby v Ipswich - KO: 19:45
Doncaster v Burnley - KO: 19:45
Leeds v Bournemouth - KO: 19:45
Middlesborough v Huddersfield - KO: 19:45
Yeovil v Leicester - KO: 19:45
Blackpool v Bolton - KO: 20:00

One of the most unpredictable leagues in world football, where anyone can beat anyone. Gonna stick my neck out and say I expect wins for Brighton, Forest and Leeds

Is Özil Arsenal's saviour?

Ever since the £42 million deadline day capture of Mesut Özil, there seems to be a new sense of positivity surrounding Arsenal Football Club. It would seem that finally Arsène Wenger has caved to fans pressure and spent big to make them competitors for silverware, is Özil the missing piece to the Gunner's silverware jigsaw?

As I have been reminded by my many Arsenal fan friends, they currently lead the way in the Premier League having won their last 5 league games after a disappointing opening fixture defeat to Aston Villa. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Gunners recent form is the way they've started considering the players they have unavailable through injury. Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta would all be right in the mix of the first team without pre-season injuries.

However, if you look at the last 5 games, they have beaten Swansea, West Brom, Stoke, Fulham and Spurs. Tottenham aside, those are sides that Arsenal should be beating. Compare that to the start of Man Utd who have already visited Anfield, the Etihad and hosted Chelsea, my warning to Arsenal fans is to not get too complacent just yet. I would go as far to say that Özil is Arsenal's only world-class player but look through their squad and you find a lot of talent. Jack Wilshere is rated as probably the best young

Ramsey: Who saw this coming

Englishman since Wayne Rooney, Aaron Ramsey recent transformation has Arsenal fans purring with delight and Olivier Giroud's goalscoring start to the season has been just what the doctor ordered. I still think Arsenal possess some weak links. Wojciech Szczęsny always has a mistake in him, and I if was an opposing manager I would always be targeting the left-back area. Kieran Gibbs is a liability in defence, and Per Mertesacker has the turning circle of a medium sized ocean liner.

Despite their good start with several players missing, I still think Arsenal lack the strength and depth in their squad to win the Premier League. All it takes is for 1 tackle for Wilshere to be out for another long period. I also think that an injury to Olivier Giroud would knock all the wind out of Arsenal's sails. Lukas Podolski is not a player I would want to have as my leading striker in a team, which is what they're left with without Giroud. In the games he has played in an Arsenal shirt, Mesut Özil has a lot of space to influence the game. Against the top teams, I will be interested to see if he has the same effect or whether he is starved of the ball and the game passes him by.

For the last 3 or 4 years, Arsenal have had to fight to get into the top 4, but I think they can finally start at least challenging for the top 2 now. I don't think Arsenal win finish this season with any trophies, but that prediction has the potential to come back and bite me come May. I am more sure that Arsenal are still a long way away from being competitors with ambition to win the Champions League. Perhaps with the addition of someone like a Robin van Persie...

Note: His name is pronounced 'eurgh-zil', NOT 'oh-zil' or 'oh-zeel' <- Someone tell the commentators