As a Blues fan, yesterday's game was incredibly painful to watch. We've dropped so far in 4 years - it's astounding that we were expecting to lose at home to Bournemouth, but that's where we are now. Bournemouth were 4-0 up at our ground without doing anything particularly special. We were so, so poor and deserved to lose 5 or 6-0. Federico Macheda's brace saved us from total embarrassment, though it's just paper over the cracks. We then made a change which completely ruined any momentum we may have had, killing the game.
These are my ratings for the players and reasoning. They may seem slightly harsh but we were absolutely dire bar around 20 minutes.
Randolph - 4
Spector - 2
Robbo - 4
Martin - 5
Blackett - 3
Caddis - 5
Reilly - 5
Burke - 5
Shinnie - 5
Ibe - 6
Zigic - 5
Macheda - 8
Lovenkrands - 3
Novak - 7
Randolph - Randolph has been good for us this season, but he was poor yesterday. The last few weeks he has been shaky and yesterday he gave away a needless penalty which killed the game. Admittedly, we were already 2-0 down, but he just needed to stay on his feet and Grabban would have run out of play. Diving in was needless and dropped us in it even more. He did make a few good saves later on, including one from Grabban to deny him a hat-trick, but it didn't matter.
Spector - I realise that people may disagree. I know that people will look at the 2 rating and say 'Really?'. I know it's a bit generous, but he was playing out of position so I gave him a mark for at least trying when he really isn't a right back. He was awful though. Genuinely awful. He gave the ball away consistently, was out of position a lot and didn't contribute going forward. One of the worst performances I've seen in a long time. Really, really bad.
Robbo - Robinson didn't have a great game yesterday. His lack of pace was shown by Grabban who ran him all day long. He worked hard and he made some good challenges but he wasn't helped by the complete incompetence of the full backs. He tried to lead from the back but he struggled too much.
Martin - Martin actually didn't play too badly. He was the best defender though that wasn't much of a challenge. He made a few good challenges and won a lot of headers. He didn't make too many mistakes but looked fairly uncomfortable on the ball and his distribution wasn't great.
Blackett - Tyler Blackett isn't very good. That's not an attack on him or his effort because he works hard and obviously wants to succeed, but he simply isn't a good footballer. He's clumsy and is constantly out of position - look at the first goal, where his positioning meant that the ball went over his head straight to the onrushing winger. He's fairly quick and strong and he can cross a ball quite nicely (which makes him better than Spector) but he can't really control a ball.
Caddis - Played out of position because Clark just has to make one stupid decision every week, Caddis did his best but he isn't a midfielder, plain and simple. He worked hard, tried to close down and distribute but we were terrible in midfield. It's not his fault, but Caddis was very poor in midfield. It also meant that any threat we had down the right was nullified as Spector is about as useful going forward from right back as David Murphy's hairbrush.
Reilly - Reilly works really hard and you can see that it matters to him. He's a player who never gives up, but unfortunately he isn't good enough on the ball. He'd be ok with a passing midfielder (e.g Huws) alongside him with Reilly as a destroyer, but he struggles next to a right back, unsurprisingly. He gives us energy but his positional sense isn't there yet, but he can at least improve. He wasn't bad yesterday but he didn't affect the game enough.
Burke - Burke didn't do anything of note. He was severely hampered by the fact that Spector doesn't help him going forward, but he was quite poor anyway. He should be grabbing games by the scruff of the neck and really impacting them, as he has the ability, but instead he twists and turns and hits the first man. A frustrating performance from the wideman.
Shinnie - Hauled off before he could do anything, Shinnie didn't really affect the game. He was invisible when he was on and didn't do anything that I can actually remember.
Ibe - One player who is genuinely exciting to watch at Blues is Ibe. He has blistering pace and good ball control. He's also very strong for his size. He runs at defenders which is always good to see and was easily our best player in the first half hour. He needs to work on his corners but he has potential. He played well yesterday in parts of the game but went missing, unsurprisingly, when we started capitulating.
Zigic - Zigic was unfairly booed off. He didn't play too badly; he won a few flick-ons and a couple of nice passes. He didn't really get a chance in front of goal and wasn't impressive as such, but he was nowhere near the worst player on the pitch. He gave the ball away a couple of times but so did every single one of our players.
Macheda - Easily our best player yesterday, Macheda looks like a genuine centre-forward. He holds the ball up, is mobile and can pass. He scored two good goals - the first a poacher's finish, sliding tidily home with his left foot from six yards, the second drilled into the corner from just outside the area. He worked hard, kept the ball and grabbed a brace - you can't ask for more than that.
Novak - Novak's intelligent movement created space for Macheda to exploit, which seemed like a good partnership. Admittedly Novak fouled the centre-back for the second, but the ref was so incompetent that it didn't really matter. That was up until Clark killed all the momentum we had at 4-2 when Bournemouth were bricking it by moving him into midfield and bringing Lovenkrands on (I think? I don't remember seeing him). That made us completely toothless.
Lovenkrands - As I said, I'm not sure he actually came on. It was officially announced and all but he was invisible. He added nothing and killed the game off. I gave him a 3 because he actually made us worse, though that's mostly Clark's fault.
All in all, a disappointing result and an abysmal performance. We have to improve or there is a genuine chance of relegation. As the song goes, 'there will be joys and sorrows', but this season has been more sorrow than joy. I for one am 'Tired and Weary' of it, but let's keep right on and let's stay up.
Sunday 30 March 2014
Monday 24 March 2014
Why Messi IS Truly Better than Ronaldo.
I'm not sure why there's even a debate to be having here. Messi is clearly better than Ronaldo. Let's look at the 'Messi is better' arguments.
1. He scored 100 goals in a year. That's pretty good. Scoring 100 goals in a year is so impressive in any level of the game, though doing at the top level is crazily impressive. 'But, Gerd Mueller did it in less games, and without penalties!' This may be true, but Mueller didn't have the offside rule to contend with, which is a big thing obviously. It's irrelevant anyway, because Ronaldo hasn't done it, so Messi is therefore the best goalscorer and the best player in the world.
2. Messi has a better scoring record and a much better assist record. Not much more to say here. Goalscoring-wise it's close, but Messi grabs more assists.
So why is there an argument? What do the people who think Ronaldo is the best say?
1. "Ronaldo is a more complete player!" If anyone ever says this, what they really mean is that Ronaldo's better in the air. That is true, but he isn't 'more complete'. I heard somebody say that Ronaldo can do things that Messi can't (score headers) but Messi can't do anything that Ronaldo can't.
Wow.
First of all, Messi has scored a header IN A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL. Not against any old mugs - against Manchester United. Yes, Ronaldo scores more headers, but Messi is decent at scoring headers, he just doesn't win many.
Secondly, have you ever seen Ronaldo dribble round a whole team and score, without the ball ever moving more than a yard away from his body?
How about splitting a defense in half with a perfectly weighted pass?
"But Messi is a forward! Ronaldo is a winger! His goalscoring record is more impressive because he plays wide!"
There are two separate ways to prove this wrong.
1. Ronaldo is about as much a winger as Thierry Henry. Whilst he is a 'winger' he plays so far inside that he's essentially a forward anyway. Ronaldo is an inside forward with a free role and he actually usually plays higher up the pitch than Messi.
2. If you're going to use this argument, then please realise that an inside forward's role is to score goals, or to create chances. Seeming as he does score a lot of goals he does it exceptionally well. However, if you're saying that playing wide hinders his goalscoring because he has to create more, then he isn't doing that well, as Messi creates far more chances than he does.
"If Messi didn't have Xavi or Iniesta behind him then he wouldn't score as many goals!"
If anyone ever says this to you, you can discount their opinion immediately. Of course he wouldn't score as many goals if Barca only had 9 players.
Manuel Neuer is worse than Joe Hart, cause if Bayern played without a defence he'd concede more. Right?
People act as if Ronaldo carries a poor Real Madrid side. Barca may have Xavi and Iniesta, who are exceptional and obviously would help any forward, but Ronaldo has played with Alonso, Oezil, Bale, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuian and Isco, to name a few. They're not mugs and Oezil alone had more assists than Xavi and Iniesta put together over two years.
"Yeah, but could he do it on a cold night in Stoke?"
Could Ronaldo?
That would be a nice sunny day in Stoke that Ronaldo couldn't score against.
I realise that it's just a (incredibly irritating) way of saying that Messi hasn't proved himself in England. But does he really need to prove that he can score against Ryan Shawcross when he's scored 4 Champions League hattricks and scored 19 times against Real Madrid? The English League is massively overhyped and a player shouldn't have to prove themselves in England to be considered the best in the world.
Do people who say this really think that defenders haven't thought of just kicking Messi off the park?
"Messi has never proved himself internationally - Ronaldo is better for Portugal than Messi is for Argentina"
This one at least has some ground to it. This is probably the best argument for why Ronaldo is better but if Messi is the star of the next World Cup, then he HAS to be universally considered the best.
Messi is often played out of position for Argentina to accommodate the incredible talent that Argentina have going forward. Messi isn't exactly unbelievably good for Argentina, but his record is nowhere near as bad as made out. He has struggled for them as a right winger or an attacking midfielder, but in the last 2 years he has scored 18 goals in 16 appearances - not bad.
Ronaldo has always been the star man for Portugal and there is no way I can deny he has been better than Messi internationally. Ronaldo is a few years older, though, and it seems Messi is just growing into the International scene.
To conclude, Messi is a better player than Ronaldo, both statistically and in terms of ability. The fact that Ronaldo is compared to Messi, whereas Messi is compared to Pele and Maradona tells you everything you need to know.
I will happily have a civilised debate with anyone who disagrees, however to me it's not even arguable.
1. He scored 100 goals in a year. That's pretty good. Scoring 100 goals in a year is so impressive in any level of the game, though doing at the top level is crazily impressive. 'But, Gerd Mueller did it in less games, and without penalties!' This may be true, but Mueller didn't have the offside rule to contend with, which is a big thing obviously. It's irrelevant anyway, because Ronaldo hasn't done it, so Messi is therefore the best goalscorer and the best player in the world.
2. Messi has a better scoring record and a much better assist record. Not much more to say here. Goalscoring-wise it's close, but Messi grabs more assists.
So why is there an argument? What do the people who think Ronaldo is the best say?
1. "Ronaldo is a more complete player!" If anyone ever says this, what they really mean is that Ronaldo's better in the air. That is true, but he isn't 'more complete'. I heard somebody say that Ronaldo can do things that Messi can't (score headers) but Messi can't do anything that Ronaldo can't.
Wow.
First of all, Messi has scored a header IN A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL. Not against any old mugs - against Manchester United. Yes, Ronaldo scores more headers, but Messi is decent at scoring headers, he just doesn't win many.
Secondly, have you ever seen Ronaldo dribble round a whole team and score, without the ball ever moving more than a yard away from his body?
How about splitting a defense in half with a perfectly weighted pass?
Messi is as 'complete' a player as he is a better playmaker and as good if not a better goalscorer. He can do everything except defend - much like Ronaldo. Neither is 'complete' and neither is 'more complete'.
"But Messi is a forward! Ronaldo is a winger! His goalscoring record is more impressive because he plays wide!"
There are two separate ways to prove this wrong.
1. Ronaldo is about as much a winger as Thierry Henry. Whilst he is a 'winger' he plays so far inside that he's essentially a forward anyway. Ronaldo is an inside forward with a free role and he actually usually plays higher up the pitch than Messi.
2. If you're going to use this argument, then please realise that an inside forward's role is to score goals, or to create chances. Seeming as he does score a lot of goals he does it exceptionally well. However, if you're saying that playing wide hinders his goalscoring because he has to create more, then he isn't doing that well, as Messi creates far more chances than he does.
"If Messi didn't have Xavi or Iniesta behind him then he wouldn't score as many goals!"
If anyone ever says this to you, you can discount their opinion immediately. Of course he wouldn't score as many goals if Barca only had 9 players.
Manuel Neuer is worse than Joe Hart, cause if Bayern played without a defence he'd concede more. Right?
People act as if Ronaldo carries a poor Real Madrid side. Barca may have Xavi and Iniesta, who are exceptional and obviously would help any forward, but Ronaldo has played with Alonso, Oezil, Bale, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuian and Isco, to name a few. They're not mugs and Oezil alone had more assists than Xavi and Iniesta put together over two years.
"Yeah, but could he do it on a cold night in Stoke?"
Could Ronaldo?
That would be a nice sunny day in Stoke that Ronaldo couldn't score against.
I realise that it's just a (incredibly irritating) way of saying that Messi hasn't proved himself in England. But does he really need to prove that he can score against Ryan Shawcross when he's scored 4 Champions League hattricks and scored 19 times against Real Madrid? The English League is massively overhyped and a player shouldn't have to prove themselves in England to be considered the best in the world.
Do people who say this really think that defenders haven't thought of just kicking Messi off the park?
"Messi has never proved himself internationally - Ronaldo is better for Portugal than Messi is for Argentina"
This one at least has some ground to it. This is probably the best argument for why Ronaldo is better but if Messi is the star of the next World Cup, then he HAS to be universally considered the best.
Messi is often played out of position for Argentina to accommodate the incredible talent that Argentina have going forward. Messi isn't exactly unbelievably good for Argentina, but his record is nowhere near as bad as made out. He has struggled for them as a right winger or an attacking midfielder, but in the last 2 years he has scored 18 goals in 16 appearances - not bad.
Ronaldo has always been the star man for Portugal and there is no way I can deny he has been better than Messi internationally. Ronaldo is a few years older, though, and it seems Messi is just growing into the International scene.
To conclude, Messi is a better player than Ronaldo, both statistically and in terms of ability. The fact that Ronaldo is compared to Messi, whereas Messi is compared to Pele and Maradona tells you everything you need to know.
I will happily have a civilised debate with anyone who disagrees, however to me it's not even arguable.
Sunday 9 March 2014
Blues vs QPR - Match Report
Ravel Morrison was at his frightening best as QPR strolled to a 0-2 victory at St. Andrews, ending their poor run of form.
Their form is nowhere near the level of Blues' home form however, which has now stretched to 12 games without a win. The most worrying part is that Blues don't look like picking up a win anytime soon.
Of course, it was the on-loan midfielder Ravel Morrison, who had a successful spell with Blues last year, who popped up to condemn Blues to another home loss.
With the squad at their disposal, it's incredible to think that QPR are not top of the table. They were simply better than Blues in every area of the pitch, which is understandable given the amount of money their team cost, when Clark has pennies to work with.
Blues started with a 3-4-3 formation, which is an unusual choice even for the enigmatic Lee Clark, but he started similarly against QPR away so it wasn't entirely out of the blue. Blues struggled to get a hold of the game - outnumbered in midfield and Burke and Ibe were struggling to get the ball in dangerous positions. QPR were working very hard to limit the space, but utilising it well when they had the ball.
Joey Barton ran the show for them, but Ravel Morrison was terrorising the defence with his direct running and clever playmaking. Within the first five minutes he gave the Blues defence something to worry about, beating four or five players before his eventual cross/shot was cleared. But he wasn't done.
Just as Blues started to get into the game, they were hit with a sucker punch. Tom Adeyemi won the ball high up the pitch and found Chris Burke. But the Scottish wide man was not on his game, allowing Richard Dunne to steal the ball off him. QPR broke, Kevin Doyle reaching a pass on the left hand side.
Before he could get a shot away, a cynical challenge from Blues' skipper Paul Robinson brought him crashing to the floor. Somehow, Robinson got away without a yellow card, but it turned out that the free-kick was punishment enough.
The omnipresent Ravel Morrison stepped up to hit a powerful, dipping free-kick which Darren Randolph between the Blues posts couldn't keep out. He may be disappointed that he didn't do better, but the swerve and dip on the ball was vicious.
Blues were just trying to hang on until half time, as QPR pressed to try and double their lead. They should have made it 2-0 through Armand Traore, who skewed his volley wide from 8 yards out with only the keeper to beat.
Barton's free-kick was headed powerfully onto the Blues' crossbar from Clint Hill on the stroke of half-time; a let off for Blues whose performance deserved to concede another.
Blues offered very little, but Rob Green had to be awake to tip over an Emyr Huws free-kick that looked to be going straight in. Then Paul Caddis got put through on the right hand side, with a waiting Nikola Zigic on the penalty spot, but the former Swindon right back took too long and Green denied him.
In the second half, Blues started to look a little more dangerous, but still looked impotent in front of goal. Burke found space on the right, but rather than cutting in and shooting with his trusty left foot like he normally would, he tried to cut back onto his right. Dunne tackled him but the ball fell straight to Jordon Ibe. His shot however, was tame.
Ibe looked much more dangerous in the second half, but Blues couldn't get him the ball in dangerous positions enough. Despite a change in formation coming with the introduction of Lee Novak and Kiko Macheda, it was not to be for Clark's men.
Morrison planted Jermaine Jenas' low cross firmly into the bottom left-hand corner for 2-0 and it was game over. Morrison had no qualms about celebrating against the team whom he had played for last season, but was clapped off by the same Blues fans who booed their own man, Nikola Zigic, off.
There were few positives to take from the game for Clark, and he knows that his team must play significantly better to avoid an embarrassing defeat to high-flying Burnley on Wednesday.
Randolph - 5
Caddis - 5
Spector - 6
Packwood - 6
Robinson - 6
Ferguson - 5
Huws - 7 *MOTM*
Adeyemi - 6
Burke - 5
Zigic - 5
Ibe - 6
Macheda - 5
Novak - 6
Blackett - 6
Their form is nowhere near the level of Blues' home form however, which has now stretched to 12 games without a win. The most worrying part is that Blues don't look like picking up a win anytime soon.
Of course, it was the on-loan midfielder Ravel Morrison, who had a successful spell with Blues last year, who popped up to condemn Blues to another home loss.
With the squad at their disposal, it's incredible to think that QPR are not top of the table. They were simply better than Blues in every area of the pitch, which is understandable given the amount of money their team cost, when Clark has pennies to work with.
Blues started with a 3-4-3 formation, which is an unusual choice even for the enigmatic Lee Clark, but he started similarly against QPR away so it wasn't entirely out of the blue. Blues struggled to get a hold of the game - outnumbered in midfield and Burke and Ibe were struggling to get the ball in dangerous positions. QPR were working very hard to limit the space, but utilising it well when they had the ball.
Joey Barton ran the show for them, but Ravel Morrison was terrorising the defence with his direct running and clever playmaking. Within the first five minutes he gave the Blues defence something to worry about, beating four or five players before his eventual cross/shot was cleared. But he wasn't done.
Just as Blues started to get into the game, they were hit with a sucker punch. Tom Adeyemi won the ball high up the pitch and found Chris Burke. But the Scottish wide man was not on his game, allowing Richard Dunne to steal the ball off him. QPR broke, Kevin Doyle reaching a pass on the left hand side.
Before he could get a shot away, a cynical challenge from Blues' skipper Paul Robinson brought him crashing to the floor. Somehow, Robinson got away without a yellow card, but it turned out that the free-kick was punishment enough.
The omnipresent Ravel Morrison stepped up to hit a powerful, dipping free-kick which Darren Randolph between the Blues posts couldn't keep out. He may be disappointed that he didn't do better, but the swerve and dip on the ball was vicious.
Blues were just trying to hang on until half time, as QPR pressed to try and double their lead. They should have made it 2-0 through Armand Traore, who skewed his volley wide from 8 yards out with only the keeper to beat.
Barton's free-kick was headed powerfully onto the Blues' crossbar from Clint Hill on the stroke of half-time; a let off for Blues whose performance deserved to concede another.
Blues offered very little, but Rob Green had to be awake to tip over an Emyr Huws free-kick that looked to be going straight in. Then Paul Caddis got put through on the right hand side, with a waiting Nikola Zigic on the penalty spot, but the former Swindon right back took too long and Green denied him.
In the second half, Blues started to look a little more dangerous, but still looked impotent in front of goal. Burke found space on the right, but rather than cutting in and shooting with his trusty left foot like he normally would, he tried to cut back onto his right. Dunne tackled him but the ball fell straight to Jordon Ibe. His shot however, was tame.
Ibe looked much more dangerous in the second half, but Blues couldn't get him the ball in dangerous positions enough. Despite a change in formation coming with the introduction of Lee Novak and Kiko Macheda, it was not to be for Clark's men.
Morrison planted Jermaine Jenas' low cross firmly into the bottom left-hand corner for 2-0 and it was game over. Morrison had no qualms about celebrating against the team whom he had played for last season, but was clapped off by the same Blues fans who booed their own man, Nikola Zigic, off.
There were few positives to take from the game for Clark, and he knows that his team must play significantly better to avoid an embarrassing defeat to high-flying Burnley on Wednesday.
Randolph - 5
Caddis - 5
Spector - 6
Packwood - 6
Robinson - 6
Ferguson - 5
Huws - 7 *MOTM*
Adeyemi - 6
Burke - 5
Zigic - 5
Ibe - 6
Macheda - 5
Novak - 6
Blackett - 6
Monday 3 March 2014
Thank You David Murphy
Today David Murphy announced his retirement from professional, at the young age of 30. Bad news for Blues. We haven't won one game at home since Murphy has been injured. In fact, the last home win back in October, Murphy scored twice.
Murphy scored 7 times in 106 games for Blues over 6 years, which is unfortunate as when he played he was fantastic in the Championship, even if he struggled under McLeish. Had Murphy played more in the last three years, I can't help but feel that we would have finished higher up in the table. Who knows, maybe we'd be top half? Is that overstating his influence?
Maybe not the best defensively, but going forward, Murphy was one of if not the best full back in the division. He was similar in playstyle to Leighton Baines - good set-pieces, great crosses and terrific going forwards.
Murphy can lay claim to something not many players can - scoring a goal in Europe for Birmingham City. Not only that, he scored away in Brugge, which was a massive game for many of the fans who went. He scored away at Stamford Bridge as well in the cup. These goals cemented his place as a fan favourite with the Blues fans.
He was loved at Hibernians as well, playing over 100 times for them before his £1.5 million move to Birmingham in 2008. He was known as a likable guy, a good man and of course, a good footballer.
Unfortunately, Murphy's time at Blues was plagued by injuries, which hampered his impact on the team. It's unfortunate that Murphy has been forced to retire through injury, as he could have been fantastic for Blues and a club hero.
I wish him all the best for the future.
Murphy scored 7 times in 106 games for Blues over 6 years, which is unfortunate as when he played he was fantastic in the Championship, even if he struggled under McLeish. Had Murphy played more in the last three years, I can't help but feel that we would have finished higher up in the table. Who knows, maybe we'd be top half? Is that overstating his influence?
Maybe not the best defensively, but going forward, Murphy was one of if not the best full back in the division. He was similar in playstyle to Leighton Baines - good set-pieces, great crosses and terrific going forwards.
Murphy can lay claim to something not many players can - scoring a goal in Europe for Birmingham City. Not only that, he scored away in Brugge, which was a massive game for many of the fans who went. He scored away at Stamford Bridge as well in the cup. These goals cemented his place as a fan favourite with the Blues fans.
He was loved at Hibernians as well, playing over 100 times for them before his £1.5 million move to Birmingham in 2008. He was known as a likable guy, a good man and of course, a good footballer.
Unfortunately, Murphy's time at Blues was plagued by injuries, which hampered his impact on the team. It's unfortunate that Murphy has been forced to retire through injury, as he could have been fantastic for Blues and a club hero.
I wish him all the best for the future.
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