Reuters Soccer Blog

from Mark Meadows:

Reuters Soccer blog merges with Left Field

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In future please head to Left Field http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/ for all sports blogs including soccer articles.

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from Mark Meadows:

Real’s psychological barrier key to Barca’s 3-1 win

By Drazen Jorgic

Annoyingly for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, the supposed plot line of  El Clasico on Saturday did not follow the script. The much-anticipated power shift from Catalunya to Madrid did not take place and his team are back to the drawing board as far as playing against Barcelona is concerned.

Mourinho blamed bad luck for the loss, as you would expect, but a lot of the press have zoomed in on Real's psychological barrier when it comes to facing Barca.

These things are always difficult to quantify but the awe-inspiring Real team that crushed everyone so far in 2011 simply crumbled when Barcelona reversed a one goal-deficit and went 2-1 up.

Even Mourinho conceded the third Barca goal was a 'psychological blow', though I would argue it was the second goal that mentally defeated them.

Perhaps the players -- a bit like many of the Madrid fans -- had that feeling of 'here we go again'. The doubts crept in, slowly but surely, and Barca took what is now their customary control of latter parts of El Clasico clashes.

Real Madrid began to play like a team that was facing an opponent who had whipped them in six of the previous seven encounters under their current coach, including a 5-0 drubbing.

Fergie the old hand shows softer side…for a bit

By Simon Hart

For a brief moment, it seemed Sir Alex Ferguson really might be mellowing with age.

Twenty-four hours after ending his seven-year feud with the BBC, the Manchester United manager spent part of his weekly news conference on Friday defending the record of his erstwhile chief adversary Arsene Wenger, who comes to Old Trafford with Arsenal on Sunday.

Ferguson then reflected on the potential of his latest crop of young talent before a question about the possible involvement of some of these young guns in the England senior team.

“It is not a problem it is fantastic,” he began. According to reports in Friday’s newspapers, four of the United players aged 22 or under who have caught the eye in the season’s opening weeks –- Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck –- will be watched by England manager Fabio Capello on Sunday before the Italian names his squad for next month’s Euro 2012 qualifying matches.

Capello’s squad could include as many as seven United players given the presence of Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Ashley Young. Rio Ferdinand may miss out due to injury.

From Tranmere to Bayern Munich in a flash

Dale Jennings may as well be called Roy of the Rovers.

The  teenage striker, who only made his first-team debut last season, completed a dream move from English League One (third division) side Tranmere Rovers to German giants Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Tranmere said the 18-year-old, who scored six goals in 32 appearances and was named League One Apprentice of the Year, had signed for an undisclosed fee.

“This is an amazing opportunity for Dale and one which any younger player would jump at,” Tranmere manager Les Parry told the club’s website.

“Bayern Munich made us a very good offer for Dale and we’re happy for him to progress his career with them in Germany.

“He has had an incredible 12 months with us now and hopefully he’ll go on to do great things at Bayern.”

Such comic book transfers are rare these days but Bayern have made similar moves before with differing results.

from Photographers Blog:

Goodbye to hell

In the second half of the 2010-2011 Turkish football season Galatasaray moved to its new home ground in Istanbul, the Turk Telekom Arena, a 52,000-seat multi-purpose stadium replacing the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.

The fate of the legendary Ali Sami Yen Stadium is now sealed.

The demolition of Ali Sami Yen, one of the most iconic venues in Turkish football and the home to one of the three oldest Istanbul football clubs Galatsaray for 47 years, started last week. For almost half a century, the yellow-and-red lions hosted their rivals in this temple with the slogan "welcome to hell". The stadium played host to victories against European giants FC Barcelona, A.Bilbao, AC Milan, Real Madrid, E.Frankfurt, and a historic victory against Neuchatel Xamax. Most notably it was the scene of Galatasaray’s triumphal UEFA Cup campaign in 2000.

The team played all its home group and qualification matches for the 2000 UEFA Cup at the stadium before winning the final against Arsenal in Copenhagen, the biggest success in the history of Turkish football. World renowned Italian referee Pierluigi Collina even once admitted: “I love this Hell.” It was witness to unforgettable national and international football matches, hosting world class teams, players, coaches and referees. The stadium witnessed 14 of Galatasaray’s 17 Turkish league titles. Opened in 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium has always played a major part in the Turkish football scene, being home to Galatasaray’s heyday and many victories of the Turkish national football team.

But within two to three years it will be replaced by a vast residence and office project, rising above the memories where Ali Sami Yen Stadium used to stand.

Soccer Break – Monday edition

Hello and welcome to Reuters Soccer Blog’s new daily digest where we’ll recommend some of the best stories on the internet for you to read over morning coffee/afternoon tea/cocktails (depending on your time zone).

Where better to start with a look at Birmingham City’s last-gasp win over Arsenal in the England’s League Cup final, the drama of which is depicted in our photo of the 89th minute goal that left the north Londoners still yearning to end that trophy drought.

Here’s the Daily Telegraph’s Jonathan Liew’s verdict. Quite simply, the pressure told.

Arsenal are still on for a treble, of course, so it will be interesting to see how they rebound in the FA Cup, Premier League and the Champions League on March 8 when they face the slick and ruthless Barcelona.

Unlike Arsenal, Juventus really are struggling. 

“Played 14. Won 4. Drawn 6. Lost 4. An abysmal record belonging not to one of Serie A’s relegation threatened teams but to Juventus…” Read on here.

Another mystifying statistic this season is Real Madrid’s poor away form. Over to Marca to explain all.

FIFA takes agenda by scruff of the snood

There will be a lot of fashion-conscious footballers holding their breath for item “V.1.b” at the International Football Association Board’s annual meeting next month.

Forget goal-line technology and positioning of goal posts and the other very sensible items on the agenda, the one sure to get a few people rather hot under the collar is the “wearing of snoods” – those snugly neck warmers much loved by the likes of Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri.

Soccer’s rule makers will determine whether the fluffy accessories are a safety hazard in the “Any Other Business” section submitted by FIFA.

“There may be a safety issue – if for example a player was running though on goal and an opponent grabbed his snood, that could pose a potential danger to his neck,” a FIFA spokesman was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Based on that, shouldn’t Andy Carroll’s long ponytail be quickly added to the agenda? One tug on that would also pose “a potential danger to his neck”.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has already said he thinks snoods actually protect against injury.

Players already grab each other by the shirts and shorts – the latter which could have pretty painful results too – so surely nipping at a snood is nothing that really needs discussing.

Football still offside in attitude to women

The British media furore over two television presenters’ sexist comments over a lineswoman at a Premier League match at the weekend has thrown the spotlight on the subject of women in soccer – be it on the pitch or off.

Sky Sports duo Richard Keys and Andy Gray have apologised for saying female officials “don’t know the offside rule” when they were talking about lineswoman Sian Massey at Saturday’s match between Wolves and Liverpool when they thought their microphones were switched off.

She in fact made the correct call on a big borderline decision that allowed a Liverpool goal to count.

Even if she hadn’t, it wouldn’t be because she was female – or is someone going to tell me it was a woman who missed Frank Lampard’s “goal” that clearly crossed the line but was not given in the England v Germany match at last year’s World Cup?

The notion you need testicles to get your mind around the offside rule is sadly not restricted to Massey’s case, as female soccer reporters like me find out from time to time, even though things have of course improved over the years.

I have yet to be asked to explain the offside rule – although I am quite excited about the prospect I might be. One of my friends, a football reporter on a British national newspaper, was asked a couple of years ago by a Premier League manager at an awards ceremony to do just that.

She actually went along with his request but to this day regrets not thinking of a comeback along the lines of “You don’t understand the offside rule? No wonder your team keep losing!” I have plenty of ripostes up my sleeve for the poor person who tries to ask me.

Beckham’s value is his values

Harry Redknapp does not need a right-sided midfield player and, with the depth of talent regularly available on his bench, he hardly needs to bolster his squad with a three-month loan signing.

Yet he, and several other Premier League managers, are trying to secure the services of 35-year-old David Beckham.

Many observers are scratching their heads and wondering just what is the enduring appeal of a player clearly several years past his peak.

They point to the unavoidable media frenzy that will come as part of any loan deal arranged with LA Galaxy, if the American club agree to let their number one asset go again after he suffered a serious injury on his last sojourn, to AC Milan last year.

Yet Redknapp, who has seen football from all sides, knows the value — or more to the point – values, Beckham brings.

Having served his apprenticeship with West Ham in the penny-pinching 1960s and now overseeing players earning millions of pounds a year, Redknapp recognises that the professionalism and dedication to his art that Beckham shows could help turn some of his “nearly men” into the finished article.

“I am a great fan of his,” Redknapp said.

from Photographers Blog:

Yes, my job really is this glamorous

When people ask me what I do for a living, or they hear tales from my wife about me being away at the Olympics or shooting football or golf or a Papal visit somewhere, the usual response is to tell me how glamorous my job is, rubbing shoulders with all these famous sporting and political icons and how lucky I am to get to attend all these events and call it work!

Granted, I am incredibly lucky to have an office that regularly includes Premier League football grounds and other major sporting events, but glamorous......not a word I would often use, and last night was a perfect case in point.

I've been shooting professionally now for 15 years. Being located in the north of England, an awful lot of that time has been spent shooting football, which we all know is an outdoor sport. I've experienced most things that football can throw at you: the thrills, the spills and the bad weather. But I have never been as wet as I was at last night's league cup game between Liverpool and Northampton Town.

The early rounds of the annual cup competitions always throw up the classic David and Goliath contests with teams from the lower leagues drawn against the Premiership big boys,. This one had all the ingredients for an upset, especially when you take into account my beloved Liverpool's off pitch going's on with talk of takeovers and board room splits being rife. So, the game plan had to be to shoot as if Liverpool would lose, after all they are expected to beat a team from the lower divisions with ease, so where is the story in that?

I positioned myself in front of the Northampton fans, knowing that this would usually give me Liverpool's attack in the first half should they run away with it but also give me a picture if Northampton scored and ran to their own supporters in celebration. The only issue with this plan was it was raining, not too badly, but enough to get you soaked and the end I had chosen to sit at offers the photographers no protection.

Liverpool duly scored early on and ran towards me, job done I thought. The floodgates would now open and Northampton would be swept away. But at half time it was still only 1-0 and Liverpool were far from dominant. I would have to file pictures and return to the same end, just in case.