My Favourite Muse

I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning so I'm just going to link to one story - "The Fink Tank"'s predictions for the season:

by far the best way of predicting results this season is to look at the past two seasons and then add in as little of your instincts as your personality permits.

The Fink Tank team takes two years of goals and shots on goal and then for each club weights them so that the most recent goals and shots count more. This allows each club to be ranked and the probability of results in each game to be calculated. Allowance is made for the teams' performance to vary across the season, then the season is simulated thousands and thousands of times.The outcome is a table giving the probability of each team finishing in each position and a table representing their average position. The two together show broadly what to expect and how much variability there is.

Numbers to look out for? Manchester United are clear favourites to win the title, although naturally Chelsea are hot on their heels. Once more it would be a mistake either to write Arsenal off or to overestimate Liverpool.

So, if one takes away the bias then, unlike thousands of pundits around the media believe, we are favourites for the title, as we are at the bookies. Why is just about every pundit choosing Chelsea? Bias - pure and simple...

Big Money, Big Cars

I had all but given up hope of there being a single story today and then I came upon this important piece of information courtesy of The Telegraph:

Old Trafford players including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville appeared to have traded in their old cars for new models when the players returned to training at Carrington, near Manchester.

Rich people buy new cars regularly...

That's the news.

I don't know if she's worth 900kr

Top story today is that the transfer of Berbatov is, so it is written, back on - for instance, here, from The Telegraph:

It is understood that the Premier League and European champions have already tabled a bid of £23m for Berbatov while Tottenham have been holding out for £30m, but an offer of £28m is likely to swing the deal. Tottenham refused to comment on the future of the Bulgarian, who had returned to training at the club having expressed his desire to move to Old Trafford.

There's some comments from John Terry on us, widely reported, here, from The Guardian, not worth repeating really. Terry also has some comments on the new respecting-the-referee campaign: apparently last season he didn't realize it was wrong to get in the face of the referee and shout obscenities while backed up by several team mates - now that law has been clarified he'll be a good boy...

But the important thing is there is now some consistency. There are now rules. Last year, was there or wasn't there a rule where you couldn't surround the referee? I couldn't tell you. Now there's a rule.

There's an interview with Ryan Giggs doing the rounds as well, from The Telegraph:

“For the last couple of seasons I’ve gone into it as if it’s my last,” he said. “I’m not getting any younger so it could be.”

And Martin Samuel has some thoughts on Liverpool in The Times:

Today's column was intended to be a little more uplifting, more on the theme of a season of surprises. Liverpool for the title was the tag and it went west the moment the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, decided that they knew more about a footballer's worth to his club than their manager, Rafael Benítez.

First off note that he views the prospect of Liverpool winning the league as "uplifting". Secondly, given the amount of money Rafa Benitez has wasted over the years, doesn't pretty much everyone know more about the worth of players than him...

Unstoppable

Just an interview with Gary Neville today worth mentioning. This version in The Telegraph concentrates on his coming back from injury:

"The challenge for me is to be part of a team that wins the European Cup," he said. "We did it again last season after nine years. We've never won it two years on the trot, so I think the most important thing for us now is to step up to the plate again this season."

While this version in the Guardian concentrates on his comments about the quality of the team:

"The way our current players inter-change is definitely different to the United teams I've played for in the past," said Neville. "The front of three or four seem able to play in every position across the front-line and it's difficult for opponents and defenders of the other teams to know who they're going to be playing against from minute to minute, let alone match to match. In that sense this is probably the most inventive side I've played in."

Shield of Selflessness

Tevez, Nani and Rio take the plaudits after the Community Shield.

From The Guardian: "the middle of the attack cannot be an immediate concern when Tévez imposes himself so unstintingly"; "Nani conducted himself as if he had seen a vacancy. During his 79 minutes on the field he had hunger and verve."

The Telegraph also single out Nani and Tevez: "the star turns of the first half were Nani and Tevez. Nani, starting vibrantly, kept running at Johnson, or cutting through the middle ... Maintaining his good pre-season form, Tevez was immediately at the races here, impressing all over the field".

The Times quote Sir Alex:

“Ferdinand gave an exemplary display of centre-back play,” Ferguson said last night. “He broke out of defence so many times with comfort.

“It was an absolutely magnificent performance. On that kind of form he’s the best centre back in the world by far. He’s an absolutely magnificent player. Now he’s got to that stage at 30 years of age, he has the experience and is hugely influential.”

Alan Smith, in The Telegraph, takes a closer look at Nani:

Rather than goals (he only notched four) it was his unpredictable impact as a substitute that Ferguson found rewarding at times.

So if Ronaldo had fulfilled his 'dream’ with a move to Spain, the obvious successor would probably have been asked to fill the void.

The situation now, of course, isn’t quite so extreme, much to the relief of everyone concerned, maybe even Nani, who showed in his second Community Shield outing that while he possesses bags of skill he isn’t quite ready to fill the boots of his compatriot.

Very much like Ronaldo, in fact, during his early days, a propensity to overdramatise sometimes let Nani down. Clearly, 12 months under Ferguson’s guidance hasn’t been enough to iron out some of the less endearing aspects of the lad’s game.

The Guardian has a close look at Gary Neville:

Gary Neville will consider this season an opportunity to make up for lost time. The 33-year-old had cut a frustrated figure watching last term's triumphs from the sidelines, his involvement in the first-team restricted to nine minutes of a Champions League quarter-final against Roma in April since he shattered an ankle against Bolton Wanderers some 17 months ago. There have been friendlies since but this was his most high-profile start since that afternoon at Old Trafford. He ended this occasion lifting silverware once again, a sheepish smile creeping across his face. United will relish his return.

A report on Sir Alex's intentions in the transfer market can be found here, from The Guardian - and the Henry to Old Trafford rumour comes back and I still find it ridiculous.

And The Guardian also has a new season preview of us - the same old rubbish - we'll finish second, no striker. Here is how it's stated:

...obvious strengths making up for less obvious but still significant weaknesses. Last season a surplus of attacking verve in midfield, combined with the deep-lying wiles of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, more than covered up for the lack of a top-class and regularly available centre-forward.

And yet this season the lack of traditional centre forward (assuming we don't buy one) will tell, despite the fact that the midfield is still intact, as are Tevez and Rooney. Ummm.

We took the wrong step years ago

Ah. Here it is:

Could this be Liverpool’s year?

Delusion? We got it:

Kick-off was delayed in Liverpool’s friendly versus Lazio on Friday because of pressure on Anfield’s turnstiles. Supporters were drawn by the first home outing of a partnership that makes them think this time it will be different, that between Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane.

And it takes Ferguson to talk sense:

Ferguson, more interested in talking about Chelsea and Arsenal, could not raise much enthusiasm when Liverpool’s name was broached in a discussion about the title. Liverpool have not even scored against United in the league since September 2004, and lost seven out of eight games in Benitez’s reign. They have finished an average of 19 points off first position during those four seasons and Ferguson’s view, formed by the agonies of running Leeds United so close in 1991-92, before eventually making United champions a year later, might be that before winning a major you have to contend for one first — to borrow a golfing analogy.

Halcyon and on

A couple of previews of the Community Shield, from The Telegraph and The Independent. Nothing of much interest in them though.
Most of the previews of the upcoming season go for Chelsea to win the league. Now, this isn't a sign of bias in itself, but, let's face it, given the overall coverage of us in the media, this is bias. The surprising thing is that they seem to be going for Chelsea to win the league, rather than the usual "this is going to be Liverpool's year" rubbish. Paul Wilson in The Observer sums up the spurious logic of why Chelsea will win the league:

Chelsea to win the League. It's their turn, they have the most money, and they could still bring in a Brazilian or two before the end of the month. All the other foreign owners appear to lose their appetite for football or lose their grip on their wealth within the first couple of years or so. Abramovich is different, probably unique. Massively rich, massively hungry. A title in his first season might be a big ask of Luiz Felipe Scolari, though having seen how far Avram Grant took this squad last time out one has the feeling it practically drives itself.

By this logic they'd have won it the last two seasons (unless you go for the "it's their turn" position, when they would have won it last season and we'd be winning it this season. As they didn't win it last season when it was really their turn does that not mean that they just miss their go and it is actually our turn again?) - lazy journalism? Methinks.
The Independent manage to explain the Chelsea + money=championship equation better than The Observer:

If there is to be any change, it may well be that Chelsea overhaul United, and Liverpool do the same to Arsenal. Were Luiz Felipe Scolari to be subject to the same financial constraints as Jose Mourinho during his last year the picture would be different, but Roman Abramovich has apparently changed tack again, and instead of Steve Sidwell from Reading, this summer's addition to an already formidable midfield is the rather more impressive Deco from Barcelona. The hiring of a proven world-class coach as successor to Avram Grant appears to have persuaded Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba to stick around for another year and conse-quently Chelsea, who during the Champions' League final in Moscow looked as good a team as their rivals, are capable of taking the title back from them, with or without Robinho.

At least the bias is backed up here.
Returning to The Observer and Paul Wilson, we get to see the true reason (bias) that he doesn't want us to (sorry, think we will) win the league:

After confirming he is hopeful of bringing in a new striker before the transfer window closes, Ferguson said it wouldn't matter too much even if he didn't. 'We have a young, strong squad that can only get better,' he said. 'We did all right with this squad last season, we nearly won the Treble.'With all due respect, and without wishing to take anything away from the towering achievement of a Premier and Champions League double, surely the only circumstance that counts as a Treble near-miss is losing in the FA Cup final while winning the other two, as Liverpool did in 1977. United only went as far as the quarter-final of last season's FA Cup, when they were so disappointed at being beaten at home by Portsmouth that Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz immediately went on the offensive claiming it was all the referee's fault.

Ah, those halcyon days when Liverpool used to win things...

Stupid and Shallow

We're mainly still dealing with the nonsense from the non sale of Ronaldo today. The other story doing the rounds is this one from The Guardian (but everywhere really), on Sir Alex's thoughts on the introduction of quotas to the Premier League:

"There has been some criticism in the media of the Premier League with a call for quotas to guarantee English players starting places in teams," writes Ferguson. "I did not start the final of the Uefa Champions League with six Englishmen because I was making a political statement. I did it because they're good enough to win the European Cup."

Significantly, Ferguson disagrees with those who claim the number of foreign imports flooding the domestic game is weakening the England team and cutting its chances of international success.

"It is nonsense to say that England does not have players capable of competing on the international stage," he said. "The hysteria surrounding England's non-qualification for Euro 2008 does not create the right atmosphere for good decision-making."

And onto Ronaldo. The most sensible words today come from (shockingly) The Telegraph. They have a story on the position that not signing Ronaldo puts Roman Calderon in:

Ronaldo's decision to stay at Manchester United is a massive blow that even the implicit opportunity to sign him in the future cannot soften. Not so much for coach Bernd Schuster nor for the players, but for Calderon himself, who will now desperately scramble for a big name. After all, the one thing that matters more to him than anything else is at stake: his own survival.

Right now, having spent a bullish summer briefing that Ronaldo was in the bag, the credibility of Real's president lies in tatters.

The Telegraph then ruins everything by printing this from Henry Winter who brings out the usual cliches to argue that Ronaldo should stay at Old Trafford forever. As a Man Utd fan I would obviously like a player of Ronaldo's class to stay at the club forever but I can certainly understand the reasons for him wanting to go elsewhere, reasons beyond money, as he stated in his interview yesterday. Why it becomes a virtue to sit on one's laurels is beyond me - is it so wrong to want a new challenge, to test one's self? After the season Ronaldo had would it not have been a good time for him (from a personal perspective) to move on - he's proved himself in England - now to test himself elsewhere? I won't bother quoting and dissecting the article - it truly isn't worth it.
The worst article of the day comes in The Sun, who apparently have a problem reading - they have this to say on Ronaldo's interview yesterday:

CRISTIANO RONALDO sank to new depths of hypocrisy yesterday with a shameless display of blatant grovelling.

Having spent the summer saying he wanted to join Real Madrid, Ron insisted: "I never wanted to leave against United’s will.

"When they turned down the offer, the people at United made it very clear how much they wanted me.

"I didn’t fully understand it at the time — but now I can really appreciate it."

Excuse me? Hypocrisy? He said here that he didn't want to leave against United's will, previously he had said:

"Yes, I would like to play for Real Madrid," Ronaldo told Brazil's Terra Web site today. "But only if it is true that they are willing to spend with me and with Manchester United the amount they are saying they are. But it's not up to me."

Where's the discrepancy?

Armed Response

There's a bit in The Mail about our Brazilian twins, but seriously, there's only one story today: finally the saga ends. Ends with this interview in a Portuguese paper (via The Guardian, who kindly have the full transcript):

Sir Alex listened to me, I listened to him and we established that the best for both sides would be for me to continue at Old Trafford. So, I can confirm that I'll be playing for Manchester United next season. And before there are any rumours and speculation about me staying against my will, I want to make one thing clear: whoever says or writes anything to that effect is lying. I'll be playing at Manchester United with my heart and soul. I will fight and honour the shirt with the same desire and dedication as I always have.

I won't quote any of the other papers on this: we get a mix of the "so he'll stay for one more season" and the "the fans will hate him". I for one admire the way he takes responsibility for his actions, and, while it may be a little disingenuous of him to claim that all he has ever done is be honest, I admire his honesty in this interview. A few more quotes follow, with the most important bits (to me) in bold:

After we'd won the Champions League, I felt that in five years I had helped win everything there was to win. We'd won the Premier League twice and I'd won a host of individual awards, including the best goalscorer in the Premier League, Champions League and in Europe. So I felt that maybe I needed a new challenge. I never hid the fact that I wanted to play in Spain, at Real Madrid in particular, and I thought this could be the right moment.

Manchester United and Real are probably the two biggest clubs in the world and it would never be an easy decision to make. Apart from the challenge, everyone realises that Spanish and Portuguese culture and lifestyle are more similar. Those were the reasons that made me consider the change.

What I said publicly, which was maybe a little naive, I take total responsibility for. People have to understand one thing: at the age of 18 I arrived at a dream club like Manchester United. It was a dream come true. But, even at that moment, I was thinking about playing in England for some years and then going to play in Spain. Even at that time I was thinking that way, and I always gave 100% everything. Why lie? I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say the opposite of what I think, like some others do. I said exactly what I thought: I have a dream of playing at Real and I thought it was time to move on. People can't be upset about me fulfilling a childhood dream.
The figure mentioned, which would be a world record, would serve as some compensation for the debt of gratitude that I owe the club, as least in material terms. I'm going to say something here that I've never told anybody: if we hadn't been European champions I probably wouldn't have even thought about going to Madrid. And there is something else that should be mentioned: I never wanted to leave against United's will. When they turned down the offer, the people at United made it very clear how much they wanted me. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but now I can really appreciate it.

High Risk Insurance

Didn't post the last couple of days because the Ronaldo rumouring was about the only thing going down and that's so boring now that I couldn't be bothered.
Today we have the news that Rooney's going to miss the start of the season due to a virus. This story leads to one of those ridiculous articles that you wonder what on earth possessed the writer to write. In this case it's Tony Cascarino, who goes from Man Utd shouldn't have gone to Nigeria to players shouldn't go anywhere:

If Paula Radcliffe can get bitten by a spider in France, it can’t be a surprise when Wayne Rooney contracts a mysterious virus in Nigeria. Barclays Premier League clubs are putting players’ health at risk for the sake of making money from foreign tours to increasingly far-flung destinations.
Top clubs obsess over their players’ well-being, hiring sports scientists, dieticians, dentists, doctors and opticians - and then fly the team thousands of miles to exotic locations, exposing them to new germs in unfamiliar climates as well as the usual risks of air travel such as fatigue and picking up a bug from the plane’s air-conditioning.
And let’s not forget that footballers don’t spend their summers in Brighton any more. The stars go abroad on holiday, often jet-setting to several destinations around the globe in quick succession

Whatever next: suggesting footballers shouldn't ever play football in case they get injured?

Three Longers Later

I read 101 Great Goals's summary of the days papers after I had written my own and so missed this interview with Sir Alex from The Sunday Herald. It's a long read, but worth it.

One Pure Thought

Of the reports on Solskjaer's testimonial only The Sunday Times is worth reading. The others, from The Sunday Mail and The Guardian are predictably less about the game, or celebrating Solskjear's career, and more about spreading negativity. The Times report also has a brief bit of speculation on Ronaldo:

The future of United star Cristiano Ronaldo remains in doubt after Real Madrid boss Bernd Schuster maintained that his club were still pursuing a bid, believed to be around £68m, for the player. “We don’t have any doubts that the club is working hard to get a solution to this matter,” Schuster said yesterday. “It will obviously not be easy for him to come to Madrid but put the question to any coach and all of them would say they’d love to have a player like Ronaldo.” The Portuguese is understood to still hold out hope for such a move and it could trigger off a transfer chain that sees Robinho depart Madrid for Chelsea and United using the proceeds of a sale to up their bid for Spurs’ Dimitar Berbatov.

Following on from my post earlier in the week on the difference in coverage that Arsenal receive compared to us, comes this absolutely stupid column by Rob Shepard in The News of the World. Adebayor celebrated for doubling his wages:

Emmanuel Adebayor is poised to end the brinksmanship at Arsenal, sign a new deal and so end all talk of a move to Barcelona.

What a welcome contrast to some of the shenanigans that have rumbled on since the final ball of last season was kicked.

As if you need reminding, the Cristiano Ronaldo saga rumbles on and the ‘transfer’ of Gareth Barry has descended into the realms of farce.

Meanwhile, Manchester United and Tottenham are rowing over tap-up allegations.

He will more than double his current deal and comfortably slot in among the club’s highest earner at around £80,000 a week.

Huge dough, of course, but far less than the £120,000 Barcelona were supposedly prepared to offer.

The important word here would appear to be "supposedly".
Rather the safety of Arsenal than the risk of a move - he goes on to explicitly say this:

Had Adebayor pushed it, he could have ended up at the Nou Camp, probably sharing a dressing room with his old pal Thierry Henry for another season.

Perhaps he might have explained how a player as experienced as the French striker still struggles to come to terms with the unique culture and the demands of life at Barca.

And why Alexander Hleb might discover that the wages in Spain may be greater but why the pressure outweighs even that of London's harrowing traffic congestion.

Is this a position that Arsenal fans could be happy with? Rather than test himself, rather than see if he can handle the pressure, he will stay in his comfort zone at Arsenal. And this to be seen as something to be praised?
Imagine a situation where we tag an extra £20,000 or £30,000 onto Ronaldo's salary and he stays and someone writes an article praising Ronaldo for staying. I'm sure you can't imagine that, because you know that he would be absolutely slated for blackmailing us and we would be slated for giving into him.
But Arsenal? They are on a higher plain...

Dail-a-cliche

Solskjaer's testimonial today leads to an article by Henry Winter in The Telegraph praising him:

"The pitches already miss him,'' reflected Cristiano Ronaldo.

Solskjaer's millions of admirers will miss him: those flocking to the Stretford End, those in his native Norway, where he is revered as much as Ibsen and Munch, and simply all those around the globe who appreciate dignity and determination.

United players will miss him. Ronaldo spoke for all in the champions' dressing room when he said: "Ole was a fantastic player, with whom I loved to play, not even for the way he plays but also for the person he really is. As a person, he is absolutely fantastic, spectacular, kind and very, very nice. I improved a lot just because I've played side-by-side with him; he taught me lots of things. I also grew up with him and for that I have to say: 'Thank you, Ole'."

The Independent report that Gary Neville will miss the game and speculate that this causes "anxieties":

The anxieties Manchester United had been nursing about Gary Neville's future 18 months after he limped out of a match against Bolton were reawakened yesterday by news that the defender has picked up a calf strain in training and will miss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's testimonial against Espanyol at Old Trafford today.

On the other hand, The Times report that he's looking forward to the new season and ready to go:

“I genuinely believe, in my heart of hearts, with the way that I felt at the end of last season, that I will come back this season,” Neville, 33 said.

Rooney comes in for some criticism today (for a change.. (and yes they are still harping on about Pele - why do journalists insist on harping on the same old tired quotes?)), springing from an altercation with a photographer. The Guardian report it here, without comment. The Independent's James Lawton and Ian Herbert both use it to have a go at Wayne (I won't bother quoting, I'm sure you can imagine what they say, it's cliched enough. The idiots are winning.
Best quote of the day comes from Sevilla's president slagging off Spurs, from The Guardian:

The Sevilla president, José María del Nido, has accused the Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy of being "hypocrisy personified" over their complaints against Liverpool and Manchester United for what the London club perceive to have been a public and illegal courting of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.

But Del Nido was outraged to learn of Tottenham's sense of grievance as Sevilla are still smarting after losing their manager, Juande Ramos, to Spurs in controversial circumstances last autumn. "I think it is hypocrisy personified that Spurs are complaining about things they themselves have done," said Del Nido."They took away our manager. I think Tottenham's style is demonstrated by the way they contracted Juande Ramos."

Little Bit

Today there's a whole two stories to "enjoy". Both are from The Daily Mail, so the veracity of them may well be questionable, but there's nothing else to post, so take it or leave it.

1) This here, paper desperately tries to cling to the Ronaldo story...

Ronaldo, who has been on holiday in America recovering from ankle surgery, is back in Lisbon amid claims that he told Portuguese reporters: ‘Next week I will return to England and tell them my only desire is to play for Real and I will not negotiate.’
But the player’s advisers moved into damage limitation mode and insisted that no such interview had taken place.

2) This, from the drawer of very dull but conceivable:

Martin O'Neill wants to take Mikael Silvestre on a year's loan from Manchester United.

Aston Villa's boss is desperately short of cover at left-back and has earmarked the former France international to fill the spot vacated by Wilfred Bouma.

Another day closer to a new season I guess (sigh).