Italy’s Old Lady silences the Glasgow roar

"We need a miracle now. That's the harsh reality of Champions League football.” Those were the words of a disconsolate Neil Lennon after watching his Celtic side succumb to a classic smash and grab effort from Juventus, which sees Antonio Conte’s men virtually guaranteed to be in the draw for the quarter finals of Europe’s premier club competition.

In his post-match comments, Lennon did not disguise the fact that despite a rousing display from his players, Celtic’s European campaign ended the moment Mirko Vucinic stroked in Juve’s third goal.

The silence that greeted the Montenegrin’s strike is the soundtrack to a classic European away performance by the Italians who came to Glasgow and well and truly pricked the bubble of anticipation and excitement that had enveloped Parkhead prior to kick-off.

Lennon needs a miracle

Alessandro Matri was the chief ‘prick’ (so to speak) on the night, although Juve’s midfielder Stephan Lichtsteiner probably incurred the wrath of Celtic’s fans the most for his antics in the visitor’s six yard box which could and should have seen the home side awarded at least one penalty for blatant obstruction and shirt pulling by the Swiss player.

However, it was the young Matri who influenced the outcome of this match, capitalising on Efe Ambrose’s defensive lapse to poke the ball under the onrushing Fraser Forster after just three minutes before a sublime touch played in Claudio Marchisio 13 minutes from the end to make it two nil.

Up until then Celtic had been on top in terms of possession and territory but, in truth, they never really threatened Gianluigi Buffon’s goal apart from a tame Ambrose header from six yards out that will be giving the Nigerian nightmares during his overdue sleep, following his exploits in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

Indeed, it was Ambrose’s doziness that ultimately cost his side, and Lennon’s decision to start him despite the big defender only arriving back in Glasgow from Johannesburg on the morning of the game was a gamble that didn’t pay off.

The rest of the Celtic players certainly made up for any lack of energy that Ambrose may have been suffering as they pressed the Juventus players hard, closing down space and snapping into tackles. Scott Brown epitomised the Celtic effort and threatened to ruffle the preening feathers of Andrea Pirlo in the first half when he crunched into the Italian twice in the space of a minute.

Seconds later, Pirlo picked up possession on the edge of the centre circle and almost picked out Matri with a gloriously angled and weighted through ball.

And it was this little snapshot of the game that summed up the difference between the two sides and illustrates what Lennon referred to as the “harsh reality” of football at this level.

For all of Celtic’s high pressure high octane play, roared on by a frenzied crowd, Pirlo and his Juve teammates soaked up everything the home side threw at them before ruthlessly applying the sucker punch. Classic Juventus, classic Italian.

Of course, for the likes of Pirlo, Matri and Marchisio to have the licence to conjure, there needs to be a solid platform at the back; step forward Bonucci, Barzagli and Peluso.

Despite sounding more like fedora-clad hitmen from the streets of prohibition Chicago, Juve’s back three hate shooting – specifically, allowing the opposition to.

While Celtic rarely threatened to play through the visitor’s defence, they did fire over a number of inviting crosses and balls into the box but more often than not they were met by the head or foot of one of the Juve back three. These guys love defending.

In recent weeks, the Turin side have lost some of their defensive solidity in Serie A but with their captain and best defender Georgio Chiellini set to return from a calf injury by the end of February, that backline is set to become mean again.

Juve's midfield maestro Pirlo

Juventus are a serious outfit. Barring a meltdown of AC Milan Champion’s League final 2005’ proportions, they will see off Celtic in the return leg. They have already disposed of European champions Chelsea during the group stages of this season’s competition and lead Serie A by five points. Six of their first team started the Euro 2012 final for Italy.

The only area that has been a cause for concern to Juventus fans this season has been up front. Despite Vucinic returning to the goal scoring charts more regularly in recent weeks, and the acquisition of Nicolas Anelka on loan, the common consensus is that Conte has limited striking options (Nicklas Bendtner) which may ultimately hinder Juve in the latter stages of the Champions League.

Still, she may be a bit toothless up front, but the Old Lady of Italian football has not bitten off more than she can chew just yet. 

Pressing the panic button

Original Post: Thursday, 3 February 2011

The Oxford English Dictionary defines panic as- a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking. It also defines largesse as- generosity in bestowing gifts or money upon others.

Perhaps, for future editions the scholars who decide on such definitions should add a footnote saying- see also; Liverpool Football Club and Kenny Dalglish. For, these are the only words that can be used to describe the recent transfer of Newcastle United striker, Andy Carroll, to the Merseyside club for £35million.

We have become accustomed to the monumental transfer fees and wages that characterise the Premier League but the events of 31 January 2011 were on a different scale. Transfer deadline day is always a day of skulduggery and brinkmanship. Managers and agents making offer and counter-offer trying to secure a players signature, clubs releasing statements insisting, ‘’our man is going nowhere’’, only for that same player to be seen hours later gushing about how happy he is to have secured his ‘dream move’ to a new club that ‘’match my ambitions’’- more often than not using an interpreter.

This was the case for Fernando Torres, whose £50million move to Chelsea from Liverpool led to football phone-in lines encountering more traffic than the M25 during morning rush-hour. The vitriol was flying and the words, ‘’ traitor’’ and ‘’mercenary’’ appeared more times than in a CIA intelligence report. But disgruntled Kopites’ need not have feared. Armed with a £50million wallet, Dalglish rang up Mike Ashley and asked him to name his price for Kevin Nolan’s house-sitter. Ashley can be accused of many things, particularly by the Newcastle supporters, but not being a shrewd business man isn’t one of them. He was never going to turn down an offer of £35million for a player who came through the Newcastle ranks and has had his fair share of off-field troubles in recent times. Carroll, reportedly flew from Newcastle to Merseyside in Ashley’s helicopter to tie up the deal- like Liverpool’s very own ‘Angel of the North’ descending from on high to bring salvation to Anfield.

Welcome to Anfield

Now, I don’t doubt that Carroll is a promising player. His performances in the Premier League so far this season have been impressive scoring 11 goals in the process. And, with the addition of Luis Suarez, many believe that Liverpool will carry more attacking threat once both strikers are fully fit. Only time will tell. But when you consider that six months ago, Barcelona paid one million pound less for Spain’s all-time leading goal-scorer, David Villa; a player that has scored 44 goals in 70 internationals and has scored 20 goals or more for the last nine consecutive seasons- then Liverpool’s outlay on a player who was playing in the Championship last season and has a grand total of 72 minutes of international football experience, borders on the ridiculous. 

‘’Kenny! Fernando’s gone! Where is that big red button that says ‘panic’ on it?!!’’.    

Carling Nations Cup

Original Post: Friday, 11 February 2011

Let’s be honest, the inaugural Carling Nations Cup probably ranks lower in prestige than the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy; no matter how much Sky Sports hype it up. This was borne out by the fact that just under 20,000 punters turned up at the Aviva to witness Ireland’s 3-0 victory over Wales. However, considering that many see international friendly matches as meaningless exercises, if the incentive of lifting a trophy adds a more competitive edge to the games then where is the harm?

Giovanni Trapattoni praised the performances of his two debutants Seamus Coleman and Ciaran Clark. The Aston Villa man, in particular, had an impressive debut at left back. He looked solid and assured all night and came close to scoring with a header in the first half. Trapattoni now has a viable option to the veteran Kevin Kilbane in the full back slot. Although, the Italian has hinted that come the game against Macedonia in March, the Huddersfield man may well be back in the side. As for Coleman, the Killybegs man made a solid start to his international career. Coming into the game, expectations were high that the Everton man would be terrorising the Welsh defence; akin to his performances in the Premier League this season. Whilst, he did threaten on a couple of occasions to get in behind the Welsh full back, most of his best work was done around midfield, linking up with Whelan and Gibson. Coleman played more infield than he does with his club thus negating his opportunities to attack the wide positions and it will take time for him to adjust to Trapattoni’s more rigid system.

Donegal man is a rising star

While Coleman and Clark got their first caps, there was another first, for Darren Gibson. The Manchester United man got his first international goal and what a strike from the Derry man. His majestic strike into the top corner from 25 yards illustrates just what he can bring to the side. However, Gibson continues to frustrate. There were too many stray passes and he failed to stamp his authority in midfield. This was a golden opportunity for Gibson to stake a claim for a starting berth in the upcoming qualifiers. Against weak opposition, Trapattoni would have expected the midfielder to get on the ball and dictate Ireland’s play but, all too often, he failed to find a team-mate and question marks remain as to whether the 24 year old can be trusted to deliver in the big games ahead. Certainly, it appears that the manager has his doubts.

All in all, the game against Wales provided some positives but, the one negative of the week is the James McCarthy situation. And, for my money, the blame lies squarely at the feet of the FAI and Trapattoni. What is it with him and Irish midfielders? Granted, Stephen Ireland had already been in self-imposed exile before the Italian took charge, with subsequent efforts to coax the Cork man back into the fold proving unsuccessful. But then, the manager cast Andy Reid into the international wilderness for playing his guitar and not going to bed! Now there appears to be some confusion as to why Wigan youngster McCarthy pulled out of the squad after been named in the original list. Trapattoni has intimated that McCarthy may not be fully dedicated to the Irish cause due to this latest withdrawal and his previous non-appearance at last summer’s training camp. While it is understandable for the manager to be frustrated at not having all of the players at his disposal, the FAI would be well advised to have a word in his ear before effectively issuing ultimatum’s to players to ‘show up or else’.

McCarthy is reported to be perplexed by the whole situation. He has been out for three months with a serious ankle injury and has only returned to first team action for Wigan in the last two weeks. Wigan manager, Roberto Martinez, has come out and said that he spoke with officials from the Irish camp to inform them that the club thought the best thing for McCarthy was to stay in Lancashire and allow his ankle time to recover following such a long time out. That should have been end of story. Yet, confusion has reigned and accusations have flown. Why? Because, Trapattoni refuses to pick up the phone and speak to the player directly, saying the last time he done so was to Stephen Ireland and that ended in disaster. This is where the FAI should step in and take control of the situation. Surely, there is someone within the association who is capable of making a quick phone call to a player to find out his availability or otherwise.

McCarthy’s only appearance in an Ireland shirt was in a friendly against Brazil last year. Until he appears in a competitive game he can still switch allegiance to Scotland. Now, don’t get me wrong, if he is not fully committed to playing for Ireland, then calling him up is a pointless act. However, having represented Ireland at youth and under 21 levels, questioning where his allegiance lies is a non-starter.

Trapattoni has said that the 20 year old will be selected (if fit) for the Macedonia game next month. The sooner he makes his competitive debut the better, for McCarthy has illustrated in his short time in the Premier League that he has the potential to be an accomplished midfield performer at the highest level. Ireland cannot risk losing him. Let’s hope for our sakes, he has no issues with his hair and hates playing the guitar!

Trapattoni has abrasive management style

The 71 year old Italian will be at the Irish helm for the duration of this qualifying campaign whether, he secures qualification or not. The likelihood then is that he will step down from the role. Looking to the future, the next manager should have the nucleus of a good young side to work with; Westwood, Clark, Coleman, Cunningham, Foley, McCarthy, McGeady, Fahey, Gibson, Doyle, Long. Providing, Trapattoni has not alienated anymore players with his stubbornness in the meantime.