As we traipsed onto the bus heading towards Hampden on Saturday we were greeted with spew bags on our seat, little did I realise it was to be an omen for the day as a late Michal kadlec penalty to make it 2-2 was a real sickener, and left a horrible taste in the mouths of Scottish fans up and down the country.
It was a tale of two penalties; one given and one not. Dutch referee Kevin Blom left the hosts seething as substitute Jan Rezek – who was still lucky to be on the pitch after lunging in recklessly not once but twice within seconds of each other midway during the second half – made the most of a Danny Wilson stuck out leg and fell to the ground – his dying swan act enough to convince Blom that it merited a penalty.
Kadlec converted the spot-kick sending it high into the roof of the net giving Allan McGregor no chance and all but ending Scottish hopes of reaching the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine in 2012 barring a minor miracle.
But in the dying seconds the hosts could and perhaps should have had a penalty of their own – given the softness of spot-kick awarded moments before. Defender Christophe Berra managed to wriggle free of the visitors defence before Roman Hubnik unwisely stuck out a leg - a move that had been ruthlessly penalised in the opposite box previously. But to the bewilderment of at least 50,000 fans and millions more watching at home, the whistler from Holland accused the Wolves defender of diving.
It is sort of the decision that leaves fans, players and managers incensed because of the inconsistency of the awards given. And once again calls for some sort of technology to be introduced into the game.
But no qualms about the result on reflection a point was fair as the Czechs controlled large periods of the match. The two goals that Scotland did score were defensive errors and should have been dealt with but it would have mattered very little had Milan Baros taken his early opportunity and Charlie Adam had not escaped punishment for a rash challenge in the box on the aforementioned striker, indeed they could have been out of sight with only 15 minutes played.
However, the Scots grew in confidence after their initial early scare but as has been the case with most games this European Qualification campaign rarely ever troubled the opposition goalkeeper. Looking at shots on target to goals ratio this tournament Scotland have converted 40% of their chances an incredibly high rate compared to the opposition yesterday who have a 22% success rate.
The stat suggests that Scotland do not create that many chances but when they do they usually take them. That certainly was the case yesterday as against the run of play the Scots went up 1-0 through Kenny Miller just before half-time. Darren Fletcher played an incisive pass through to the Cardiff City striker and his effort was poorly dealt with by stand in keeper Jan Lastuvka who let the ball squirm under his foot before nestling in the back of the net.
It was a lead the hosts barely deserved and the Czechs look confused as to how they were behind. The pattern of play in the second half widely reflected what had happened in the first, the visitors were in control and should have equalised when Tomas Rosicky threaded a ball through to Baros but he put his effort wide.
Miller could have extended the Scots lead when James Morrison put in a wicked delivery but he couldn’t convert the chance.
Then on 55 minutes, Rezek was introduced to play and would have a big impact on the match. His fired cross aided Jaroslav Plasil to bundle the ball home from a few yards out to give the Czechs the equaliser on 78 minutes.
But it was the partnership of Miller and Fletcher again that would lift the hopes of Scotland as the striker pounced on an error by Jan Rajnoch before driving towards goal and playing a perfect weighted pass to the Manchester United midfielder who tucked the ball away with aplomb.
The gamble had looked to have paid off. Fletcher had been sidelined for five months with an unknown virus but manager Craig Levein had no issues about putting him in the starting line-up. However, it was to be the midfielder who was caught spending too much time on the ball which led to the visitor’s equaliser. The 27-year-old was deep in his own half and should have just cleared the ball away to safety but perhaps his match sharpness so late in the game was questionable having being out for so long.
The result all but ends Scotland’s chances – they need to win their last three games including an away tie against the World Champions Spain – a challenge that can’t be overestimated.
Showing posts with label Tam's take. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tam's take. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Sunday, 10 July 2011
The Jekyll and Hyde nature of Falkirk midfielder Jack Compton
Jack Compton is something of a footballing enigma. There are times when he is capable of tearing defences apart with his blistering pace and scoring wonder goals like he did against Raith Rovers last season – resulting in the Bairns coming from behind to record an important 2-1 victory.
But there are times when the player just seems disinterested with what is going on around him, his effort and determination is at times questionable leading to him being unable to produce performances expected from this calibre of player.
It is frustrating to witness especially since he has so much more to offer and after the team’s 2-0 defeat to Peterhead, there were clear signs that the manager Steven Pressley was also becoming annoyed with this Jekyll and Hyde footballing personality.
“Bar one player Jack Compton, the players gave me their lot,”Pressley told reporters.
“There are demands I put on the players and that one player continually fails to meet those standards.”
Compton signed for the Bairns in January 2009 under the management of Eddie May - a massive coup for the then SPL side who beat off competition from Newcastle United to land the 22-year-old’s signature.
The former Weston-Super-Mare player’s arrival to the club came with a wave of expectancy but injury and a lack of first team football restricted Compton to just a handful appearances for the side.
It was not until the Bairns were relegated to the First Division did the fans get to witness glimpses of what this talent is capable of. His marauding runs down the channel terrorised the opposition defence and his goal against Cowdenbeath had tinges of Arjen Robben about it having drove down the right wing, he cut inside on his left foot and lashed an unstoppable low drive past the goalkeeper.
His goal against Raith Rovers was nothing short of sensational, he ran fully forty yards with the ball as the Bairns countered, with support left and right of him the pass seemed the better option but Compton continued to surge forward as the Raith defence backed off and then from thirty yards, he cut inside again on his left foot and unleashed a ferocious shot which clipped the underside off the bar before hitting the back of the net.
But these 2 goals and a further goal he added against Stirling Albion is all he has scored. He made 24 appearances last season – 15 of these he started.
On his day Compton could play at a much higher level, he has illustrated what he can do but the problem remains that he fails to regularly produce this high standard. To his credit, he has came back from a recurring knee injury which he picked up when he was a teenager and this has no doubt held him back from going on to bigger and better things.
This season he has the chance to finally step-up and give consistently high performances as he – even at the age of 22 – seems a veteran in a very inexperienced Falkirk side. The onus is on him and other first team players' to drive the team on but only time will tell if he can deliver the goods which too often has not been the case.
But there are times when the player just seems disinterested with what is going on around him, his effort and determination is at times questionable leading to him being unable to produce performances expected from this calibre of player.
It is frustrating to witness especially since he has so much more to offer and after the team’s 2-0 defeat to Peterhead, there were clear signs that the manager Steven Pressley was also becoming annoyed with this Jekyll and Hyde footballing personality.
“Bar one player Jack Compton, the players gave me their lot,”Pressley told reporters.
“There are demands I put on the players and that one player continually fails to meet those standards.”
Compton signed for the Bairns in January 2009 under the management of Eddie May - a massive coup for the then SPL side who beat off competition from Newcastle United to land the 22-year-old’s signature.
The former Weston-Super-Mare player’s arrival to the club came with a wave of expectancy but injury and a lack of first team football restricted Compton to just a handful appearances for the side.
It was not until the Bairns were relegated to the First Division did the fans get to witness glimpses of what this talent is capable of. His marauding runs down the channel terrorised the opposition defence and his goal against Cowdenbeath had tinges of Arjen Robben about it having drove down the right wing, he cut inside on his left foot and lashed an unstoppable low drive past the goalkeeper.
His goal against Raith Rovers was nothing short of sensational, he ran fully forty yards with the ball as the Bairns countered, with support left and right of him the pass seemed the better option but Compton continued to surge forward as the Raith defence backed off and then from thirty yards, he cut inside again on his left foot and unleashed a ferocious shot which clipped the underside off the bar before hitting the back of the net.
But these 2 goals and a further goal he added against Stirling Albion is all he has scored. He made 24 appearances last season – 15 of these he started.
On his day Compton could play at a much higher level, he has illustrated what he can do but the problem remains that he fails to regularly produce this high standard. To his credit, he has came back from a recurring knee injury which he picked up when he was a teenager and this has no doubt held him back from going on to bigger and better things.
This season he has the chance to finally step-up and give consistently high performances as he – even at the age of 22 – seems a veteran in a very inexperienced Falkirk side. The onus is on him and other first team players' to drive the team on but only time will tell if he can deliver the goods which too often has not been the case.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Champions League Final: Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United
It had been built as the greatest final in 10 years, with Manchester United and Barcelona -two of the world’s best going toe-to-toe in the Wembley arena- and it did not disappoint. Many articles and reports will have been written on the best spectacle in the world - evening eclipsing the Superbowl - but none could do it justice.
It was a pulsating match from start to finish as the world’s superstars displayed the sort of entertainment that had you on the edge of your seat and as if the script had been already written it ended fittingly with Frenchman Eric Abidal- who 72 days ago was having a tumour removed- lifting the Champions League for the Catalan giants after their fantastic 3-1 victory. It was Barcelona’s fourth time and twice in quick succession over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side- beating them 2-0 in Rome in 2009.
And perhaps the most pleasing aspect from a neutral point of view was that there was little if any controversy which mired the La Liga Champions semi-final against Real Madrid. The game was played the way it was supposed to be, with the exception of Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets- who would win an Oscar for best actor as each challenge he received saw him roll about the floor as if he had been taken out by a sniper in one of the stands.
That aside however, this match was exceptional and it was United who took the game to their Spanish opponents in the early stages as their defence looked lost without their leader Carles Puyol. Ji- Sung Park has been a revelation for the Red Devils this season and put in three decisive challenges – including one on Leo Messi – which demonstrated the kind of character and determination exuberating around the whole team in the opening 10 minutes. United could have even went ahead as Wayne Rooney almost latched onto a through ball but goalkeeper Victor Valdes – who many still question his ability- came rushing out to deny the Englishman. But where that was good anticipation, it was perhaps fortuitous that Gerard Pique’s back pass under pressure from United’s Javier Hernandez did not go past him moments later.
Although after this initial early pressure from United, Barcelona started to stamp their authority on the match and created chance after chance. But they were thwarted by the excellent defending of Nemanja Vidic – who was unfortunate to be on the losing side- however Barca’s pressure soon proved too much as they opened the scoring through Pedro Rodriguez on 27 minutes. It was a lovely goal and epitomised the Spanish’s style of play as Busquets and Andres Iniesta played a one-two, fed the ball into orchestrator Xavi- he darted unopposed towards the United defence before playing an exquisite pass- with the outside of the foot- to Pedro who evaded Vidic’s challenge slotting the ball past Edwin Van der Sar at his near post.
It was the type of goal we had come to expect of Pep Guardiola’s men, a style which has manifested itself in the Catalans – and bares the hallmark of the Dutch total football from the 1980’s. It is no coincidence that Barca have picked up this attractive play. Former Barcelona manager Frank Rikjaard was a Dutch superstar thirty years ago. Guardiola has only smoothed off the rough edges of the style shaping his team into one of the best the world has ever seen.
But if Barca expected the Red Devils to roll over and appease them they were sorely mistaken. Ryan Giggs who perhaps might have taken out a super-injunction for this match as he was fairly anonymous throughout- even the linesman failed to spot that he had strayed into an offside position for Alex Ferguson’s side equaliser on 34 minutes. Despite that the goal was as good as any made in Catalonia. Rooney played a one-two with Michael Carrick before -baring a similar resemblance to Xavi's pass previously -dinking the ball with the outside of his foot into the path of the Welshman who set up Rooney to curl the ball past the despairing dive of Valdes in goal.
The animation witnessed on Ferguson’s face only moments before had lifted and been replaced by joy. But Barca came roaring back and almost took the lead twice before the first half ended. A free kick worked off the training ground as Xavi rolled the ball into Busquets before threading a pass through to Pedro almost made it 2-1. Then Messi went on one of his trademark runs before finding David Villa, the Spaniard then laid the ball into the Argentine’s path but the last ditch challenge by Vidic did enough to put the striker off and the sides went in level at half-time.
Nevertheless United’s defence would be breached again as Xavi and Iniesta orchestrated the play in the final third – a wave of unrelenting Barca attack eventually took its toll and it was Messi who delivered a severe blow to the Red Devils cup aspirations by surging forward and hitting a curling shot beyond the clutches of Van der Sar- who perhaps might have felt he should have done better as the ball was fairly centre of the goal.
The Dutchman soon made up for his unusually poor goalkeeping by producing a string of stunning saves to deny Xavi and co. But he could do absolutely nothing about Barca’s third. Ferguson would have been raging with the sloppy defending in the lead up to the goal. Substitute Nani – who’d only recently came on- surrendered possession in United’s box, the Spaniards' took full advantage as the ball was laid back to Villa at the edge of the D, and he took a touch for control before producing a dipping curling shot beyond the 40-year-old. It was a fantastic piece of skill and thoroughly merited.
United had a couple of chances towards the end – Rooney tried to find the top corner with a curling effort but it only found the roof of the net, and Giggs felt that United should have had a penalty late on but the referee waved play on. Ultimately, it would be the Spaniards' that would go on to lift the coveted trophy.
It was a pulsating match from start to finish as the world’s superstars displayed the sort of entertainment that had you on the edge of your seat and as if the script had been already written it ended fittingly with Frenchman Eric Abidal- who 72 days ago was having a tumour removed- lifting the Champions League for the Catalan giants after their fantastic 3-1 victory. It was Barcelona’s fourth time and twice in quick succession over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side- beating them 2-0 in Rome in 2009.
And perhaps the most pleasing aspect from a neutral point of view was that there was little if any controversy which mired the La Liga Champions semi-final against Real Madrid. The game was played the way it was supposed to be, with the exception of Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets- who would win an Oscar for best actor as each challenge he received saw him roll about the floor as if he had been taken out by a sniper in one of the stands.
That aside however, this match was exceptional and it was United who took the game to their Spanish opponents in the early stages as their defence looked lost without their leader Carles Puyol. Ji- Sung Park has been a revelation for the Red Devils this season and put in three decisive challenges – including one on Leo Messi – which demonstrated the kind of character and determination exuberating around the whole team in the opening 10 minutes. United could have even went ahead as Wayne Rooney almost latched onto a through ball but goalkeeper Victor Valdes – who many still question his ability- came rushing out to deny the Englishman. But where that was good anticipation, it was perhaps fortuitous that Gerard Pique’s back pass under pressure from United’s Javier Hernandez did not go past him moments later.
Although after this initial early pressure from United, Barcelona started to stamp their authority on the match and created chance after chance. But they were thwarted by the excellent defending of Nemanja Vidic – who was unfortunate to be on the losing side- however Barca’s pressure soon proved too much as they opened the scoring through Pedro Rodriguez on 27 minutes. It was a lovely goal and epitomised the Spanish’s style of play as Busquets and Andres Iniesta played a one-two, fed the ball into orchestrator Xavi- he darted unopposed towards the United defence before playing an exquisite pass- with the outside of the foot- to Pedro who evaded Vidic’s challenge slotting the ball past Edwin Van der Sar at his near post.
It was the type of goal we had come to expect of Pep Guardiola’s men, a style which has manifested itself in the Catalans – and bares the hallmark of the Dutch total football from the 1980’s. It is no coincidence that Barca have picked up this attractive play. Former Barcelona manager Frank Rikjaard was a Dutch superstar thirty years ago. Guardiola has only smoothed off the rough edges of the style shaping his team into one of the best the world has ever seen.
But if Barca expected the Red Devils to roll over and appease them they were sorely mistaken. Ryan Giggs who perhaps might have taken out a super-injunction for this match as he was fairly anonymous throughout- even the linesman failed to spot that he had strayed into an offside position for Alex Ferguson’s side equaliser on 34 minutes. Despite that the goal was as good as any made in Catalonia. Rooney played a one-two with Michael Carrick before -baring a similar resemblance to Xavi's pass previously -dinking the ball with the outside of his foot into the path of the Welshman who set up Rooney to curl the ball past the despairing dive of Valdes in goal.
The animation witnessed on Ferguson’s face only moments before had lifted and been replaced by joy. But Barca came roaring back and almost took the lead twice before the first half ended. A free kick worked off the training ground as Xavi rolled the ball into Busquets before threading a pass through to Pedro almost made it 2-1. Then Messi went on one of his trademark runs before finding David Villa, the Spaniard then laid the ball into the Argentine’s path but the last ditch challenge by Vidic did enough to put the striker off and the sides went in level at half-time.
Nevertheless United’s defence would be breached again as Xavi and Iniesta orchestrated the play in the final third – a wave of unrelenting Barca attack eventually took its toll and it was Messi who delivered a severe blow to the Red Devils cup aspirations by surging forward and hitting a curling shot beyond the clutches of Van der Sar- who perhaps might have felt he should have done better as the ball was fairly centre of the goal.
The Dutchman soon made up for his unusually poor goalkeeping by producing a string of stunning saves to deny Xavi and co. But he could do absolutely nothing about Barca’s third. Ferguson would have been raging with the sloppy defending in the lead up to the goal. Substitute Nani – who’d only recently came on- surrendered possession in United’s box, the Spaniards' took full advantage as the ball was laid back to Villa at the edge of the D, and he took a touch for control before producing a dipping curling shot beyond the 40-year-old. It was a fantastic piece of skill and thoroughly merited.
United had a couple of chances towards the end – Rooney tried to find the top corner with a curling effort but it only found the roof of the net, and Giggs felt that United should have had a penalty late on but the referee waved play on. Ultimately, it would be the Spaniards' that would go on to lift the coveted trophy.
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