England slip up in France

England slipped up, quite literally, in their friendly with France on Wednesday night.

It was not just the poor football that would have caused England supporters to question if the players had the right boots on, but the frequency with which they slipped on the Stade de France turf.

England disappointed, after an industrious start in which France were forced to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Coupet three times in the first 10 minutes.

The French players seemed to have no trouble as several times they glided through the England backline before the crucial moment came, striker Nicolas Anelka being tumbled in the area by onrushing goalkeeper David James in a one-on-one. Franck Ribery took a break from his evening's moaning to dispatch a cool penalty.

But by the end stages of the game, it was clear that France were the better side despite only a one-goal lead, and, quite simply, they wanted it more. Florent Malouda and Claude Makelele were both left floored but left grinning after being fouled by a frustrated England side.

There were many frustrated challenges from English players towards the final whistle, yet few bookings. Strangely, German referee Florian Meyer chose not to book David James for the penalty nor a frustrated push by David Bentley on Malouda, yet gave a frankly glorified booking to David Beckham for a simple shirt-tug in the middle of the park.

David Beckham was making a welcome start that would bring him his 100th cap. Whether he continues depends heavily on his fitness and whether he can last the pace of games and one of his main weaknesses is his lack of pace. With so many players on the pitch on Wednesday who can run a lot faster than Beckham but were not, demonstrating their lack of movement, interest and effort, he will not have much trouble attaining more England caps.

England were now the only side passing backwards, Rio Ferdinand often left with little option but to pass sideways or backwards, or a hefty boot forward, in a bid not to lose possession.

Dave Ross made the interesting analogy that England played like a barn door, their passes going to players who are too static. France, however, played as a seemingly continuous and well-working revolving door, passes flowing from one moving player to another.

England's doors are yet to be removed from their rusty hinges.

Formula One gets off to a heated start

The second of race of the new Formula One season took place in Malaysia yesterday and it already looks set to be another exciting and predictable season ahead.

The race in Melbourne, Austalia last week was a week to forget for Ferrari, getting off to their worst start to a season since 1992 and only gaining a point because so many other drivers had retired.

This week it was McLaren's turn to have a bad week, Heikki Kovaleinen and Lewis Hamilton only managing third and fifth respectively, while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took first place.

Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso were not happy during Saturday's qualifying as McLaren's cut them up on crucial laps. The McLaren's were duly punished and moved back on the grid.

Felipe Massa had a miserable race too, spinning off in the other Ferrari. A moment which Seyth Miersma says paved the way for BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica to take second place.

After both the expected leading teams, McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari, have already had good and bad days, the constructors table is taking on a familiar look, with BMW Sauber getting in on the act as well.

Meanwhile, Hamilton, Raikonnen, Nick Heidfeld and Kovaleinen lead the drivers table.

Is the era of the seven-goal thriller over?

I cannot think of the last time I saw a team win 4-3 in a high profile match and perhaps it is a dying scoreline. But why is this?

In the 1990s, there were some thrilling 4-3 encounters, most notably Liverpool's sensational 4-3 win over Newcastle, a match that showed the top quality strike partnerships of Newcastle's Peter Beardsley and Les Ferdinand and Liverpool's prolific Robbie Fowler and a Stan Collymore on top of his game compete arguably the most exciting match the Premiership has seen.

Four Four Two magazine editor Hugh Sleight wrote in the March 2008 issue about the decline in the number of strike partnerships in the Premiership, which is undoubtedly a factor behind less high-scoring matches in today's top flight. In the 1990s, the partnerships of Manchester United's Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, Blackburn's Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer and Liverpool's Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen were just a few thriving partnerships.

But since the beginning of the 2000s, exciting strike partnerships have been in decline as a new era has been entered, of the lone striker and the preferred 4-5-1 formation over the traditional 4-4-2.

This formation allows players like Arsenal's Spanish midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas to shine as he did in last night's famous first victory for an English side in AC Milan's San Siro stadium; it has been a breeding ground for the holding midfield position which in recent season's has been tagged by pundits as the 'Makalele role'; it allows wingers like Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Tottenham Hotspur's Aaron Lennon to burst forward more without the need to retreat back and defend.

Has it made Premiership football more exciting, though? The answer is no. It is a formation used to try and win, not to entertain. We have, as Starting Eleven blogs, "entered a period when neither team wants to make a horrible mistake". Therefore, teams are playing more defensively.
Kevin Keegan's attacking nineties 4-4-2 formation has been thrown out in favour of the more defensive 4-5-1, imported from Europe by foreign coaches.

This is a formation that has not particularly suited the England national team very well as Wayne Rooney was left isolated in attack during the team's World Cup 2006 match against Portugal, which was later lost on penalties. The clean sheet, though, did show that the defensive purpose of the formation did work that day.

On reflection, Manchester United did not win the title for two seasons while there was a transition period towards the 4-5-1. Instead, Mourinho's use of less conventional formations helped towards Chelsea's title wins, while Sir Alex Ferguson, so successful in using 4-4-2 in the nineties, recouperated his squad, acquiring the likes of Carlos Tevez, Anderson, Nani and Ronaldo and the side have come back stronger since. And why? Because he used 4-5-1.

The end of decade 2000 is into the latter stages now and it seems unlikely that it will produce many matchs that will equal the excitement and drama of the previous decade. But something else has become apparent. This season, Liverpool have blitzed Derby County and Besiktas 6-0 and 8-0 respectively and Arsenal have thrashed Slavia Prague 7-0. In League Two, Peterborough United have swept aside Accrington Stanley 8-2 and Brentford 7-0, while the week before, Stockport County beat Wycombe Wanderers 6-0.

Could it be that, in an era when attacking formations, prolific strike partnerships and 4-3 scorelines are becoming extinct, that we are more likely to see seven goals when a team hammers another than when it is a closely-fought thriller?

Diouf earns applause

Following on from my previous blog about Arsenal captain William Gallas, and after further research, Bolton Wanderers footballer El-Hadji Diouf also deserves applause for his aims over the past two months to help raise money for charity.

The Dioufy Foundation aims to help people in the Sengalese striker's childhood home, Dakar, and in his current home city, Bolton and will hold a series of fundraising concerts, friendly matches and dinners to help raise funds for hospitals and new sports facilities. It's more great news for football to see a player who, like Gallas, has reached the top level of the game and neither let the wages go to his head or forget his roots.

I feel at this point that I must verify that I do not think it is a footballer's obligation to help charities and similar causes. It is obviously not their fault that they are paid such high wages and they should not be punished for this like criminals are with community service. They also need sufficient money to cover the fact that football is a sport where most retire at around the age of 35. However, many are overpaid even taking that into consideration. I also cannot help thinking that there is something morally wrong with someone earning such a huge amount of money to do something they enjoy each week not to help those in poverty or donate just a little to charity.

(Picture from: www.football.co.uk)

A map produced in UCLan's digital newsroom workshop

Here is a map that I produced on the digital newsroom module of my journalism course at UCLan. It is an exercise to practise mapping news and, on this map, the news is from Preston, Lancashire. The links appear very large so you may need to use the arrow signs to find the minimize tool.


View Larger Map

Sport and entertainment join for one worthy cause

Sport and entertainment joined forces last week as it was revealed that Premiership footballer William Gallas and, star of the BBC's leading soap opera, Eastenders' Kara Tointon will team up to promote the Sport Relief campaign.

Gallas, who captains Premiership Arsenal, is in the latter stage of his career at 30-years-old, but he insisted last month that he does not feel his age: "I feel like I'm 20-years-old sometimes because the atmosphere is so great", he said at the launch of Sport Relief.

Arsenal's rock in defence has certainly been encouraging to the young players at Arsenal and urging them to do well this season. Now he is encouraging people to get involved with Sport Relief, an initiative which harnesses the power and passion of sport to raise money to help people living really tough lives...in the UK and around the world.

He said: “You don’t have to love sport as much as me to join in with the fun of Sport Relief. You can get involved in lots of ways, by doing something active, or a sports quiz, or just by wearing a pair of Sport Relief socks. The important thing is the money you raise will be spent by Sport Relief to transform lives in the UK and across the world’s poorest countries."

In a sport which currently seems to be ruled by money and a Premier League full to the brim with overpaid players, Gallas is an inspiration to other players in the game.

I hope that other high-paid players follow in Gallas's foot steps and, even if not participating actively, simply contributed some of their money to causes such as this. Money which many in the game would not notice if it fell out of their pocket, but money that would make a great difference to others.

The big-hearted 'Gallas attitude' is what football needs to adopt if it is going to achieve its much-craved global recognition, not the gluttonous 'game 39' attitude, which I have previously blogged about. The Premier League's Chief Executive Richard Scudamore may learn a thing or two from Gallas. But sadly, I doubt the Premier League will take this path, as it does not get the money-hungry businessmen behind the top clubs any money, does it? A big shame.

(Picture from Sport Relief)

Digital Newsroom work at UCLan

As part of my Digital Newsroom module, I have learnt how to make a video slideshow usuing Windows Moviemaker. I have posted it below. It shows the images that can be seen by a person walking from Avenham Park to the University of Central Lancashire via the main street of shops in Preston, Lancashire.

Enjoy!