Who doesn’t love a hero? This week on Football FanCast we’re celebrating football heroes – players who are loved by supporters and in their eyes can do no wrong. These players will long live in the memory at their clubs as footballers who were adored and cheered every time they stepped onto the pitch.
Every hero has a story. There is always a reason why they’re loved by the fans, whether it be for the effort and commitment they showed on the pitch or the success that they were part of, and more often than not greatly contributed to.
So here we are letting football’s heroes step forward and take the limelight one more time and pay homage to their achievements and remember just why they have the status that they do.
Blogs:
The Top TEN Returning Football Heroes
Liverpool Hall of Fame – Ian Rush
The Premier League’s Cult Heroes XI
Chelsea Hall of Fame: Gianfranco Zola
The Essential Ingredients of a ‘Cult Hero’ in football
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Javier Mascherano’s acrimonious move to Barcelona at the beginning of the season had an air inevitability to it. The well trodden path of Premier League stars departing for La Liga’s hegemonic duo of Barcelona and Real Madrid remains an attractive proposition that few are capable of turning down. However, after departing for pastures new, Mascherano appears to have made one fatal error – he has seriously underestimated his new employer’s preference for a local lad.
Barcelona are a club that, rather arrogantly at times, revels in the quality of its youth system and they often laud the strength of their system and their relative superiority over Real Madrid‘s with nothing short of youthful glee. It is thought by many that a long-held association to the club can often triumph over even the best of players – and this appears to be a trap that the Argentine captain has fallen into.
Mascherano is to my knowledge, currently the greatest exponent of the holding midfield role in world football. When on form and fired-up, he can be devastatingly destructive. His distribution skills, while not as consistently excellent as his tackling, are an area often overlooked for praise. In short, Mascherano’s move to Barcelona, on paper at least, made a lot of sense as it was thought that he would help add a steeliness, urgency and aggression to the Barcelona midfield that has at times been lacking.
The tippy, tappy stylings of this Barcelona side are the thing of legend. This current Barcelona side will go down as one of, if not the greatest club side of all time, yet there is a school of thought that persists in suggesting that this side have a soft underbelly at their very core. A side of Barcelona’s character that is often overlooked in favour of their breathtaking brilliance is that they are sometimes left resorting to acts gamesmanship and other less savoury tactics in an attempt to gain a significant edge over their opponents – attributes that I happen to think are integral to the makings of a successful side. Mascherano typifies this and upon completion of his move it was thought that he would help add a new dimension to the Barcelona engine room.
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It remains extremely difficult to stifle this Barcelona side, but Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan side laid a blueprint last year whereby they turned Barca’s greatest strength – their passing ability – into their greatest weakness. In essence, Mourinho’s risky plan meant that Barca stifled themselves with their sideways passing and stilted movement.
The loss of Samuel Eto’o up front hit the side greater last season than they could have imagined. He often acted as the first line of defence and his phenomenal work-rate often forced opposing defenders into making rash clearances and stray passes.
Last season Barcelona took that little bit longer in winning back possession from their opponents than they would have liked. They missed Eto’o’s presence as a defensive force leading the line and because they appeared to lack a degree of urgency up front, it heaped too much pressure onto the midfield and so reinforcements were called for in the middle of the park. This at least sets the context for the Mascherano move and from a Barcelona point of view, it appeared a logical step.
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Mascherano was expected to take the place of Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona midfield – something which has yet proved to be the case. Busquets is a player that quite often divides opinion, but something tells me that he’s a player that will be revered more in years to come than he is now. People underestimate how essential Busquets is to Barcelona’s style of play and indeed Spain’s.
Busquets may not possess the technique of team mates Xavi or Iniesta, and he may not possess the tenacity or aggression of Mascherano, yet he represents a halfway house between the two and is ideally suited to the holding midfield role in the Spanish league – a league that often values intelligence of movement and speed of thought above all else, attributes that Busquets routinely displays with ease.
The former Liverpool player, much like in his final full season on Merseyside, has been forced to play at right back at times instead of his preferred central holding midfield position. Mascherano has been involved in only 18 of Barca’s 28 league fixtures to date so far this season and the player will no doubt be surprised that he is not as integral to the first-team line-up as he would have perhaps previously anticipated upon signing for the club. It would seem that all Mascherano has done is to replace Yaya Toure as Busquets’ understudy and he is looked upon as a squad player rather than an essential component of the first-team.
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While Mascherano may feel surprise at his role on the fringes, his failure to make his mark thus far will have come as no surprise to most football fans who realise that Barca value their’s and the club’s identity above all else. This identity is often best personified by the graduates of the club’s Cantera – Barcelona’s famed and highly successful youth system.
Barcelona fans love a local lad more than anything else, yet they are aided by the fact that their youth team and B-team players happen to be of a sufficiently high enough standard that they actually merit their chances in the first-team squad and the opportunities that are granted to them to establish themselves.
Barcelona have a unique system of blooding in youngsters that very few clubs on the planet are able to replicate. The club’s identity remains it’s most powerful asset. Locality triumphs ability in the minds of many Los Cules and Mascherano appears to be the latest victim of the club’s preference for local talent over foreign imports.
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Mascherano has been linked with a move at the end of the season to Italian duo Juventus and Inter as well as Chelsea. Moving to either Barcelona or Real Madrid remains the pinnacle of any footballer’s career, however very few of these moves have happy endings as Kaka will no doubt testify to.
With a little else other than a role on the periphery secured at Barcelona for the time being, with Busquets’ status as a guaranteed started under no immediate danger, the Argentine could very well by forced to depart Barcelona at the end of the season in search of guaranteed first-team opportunities elsewhere, after being confined to an unfamiliar role on the bench at times this campaign.
If by chance he does happen to move to Chelsea – not an entirely absurd notion in itself – then there may be a few Liverpool fans, just a few, that may allow themselves a wry smile at the move; this would not come from the identity of the club he is joining, but the fact that the player is being forced to return to our fair shores with his tail wrapped firmly between his legs.
One man who’s not leaving Liverpool any time soon is Conor Coady, watch the video below to see why…
The fight for English Premier League survival will be on in earnest when Blackburn welcome Birmingham to Ewood Park on Saturday.Steve Kean’s Blackburn are without a league win since their 2-0 triumph over West Brom on January 23, and they are in 14th place on the league table – just two points clear of the bottom three.
However, they did manage a 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates in their most recent start.
The situation is much the same for Birmingham boss Alex McLeish, with his side winning just two of their past 10 league matches and sitting in 15th place, also on 34 points.
Birmingham did enjoy some success last time out, beating Bolton 2-1, but like their rivals on Saturday they are skating perilously close to the drop zone.
The highlight of McLeish’s season was undoubtedly Birmingham’s 2-1 win over Arsenal at Wembley on February 27 to claim the Carling Cup, the first piece of silverware to arrive at St Andrew’s in 48 years.
The Scot is desperate to ensure his side do not become just the second team to win the League Cup and be relegated in the same season, a fate which befell Norwich in 1985.
In their only other meeting this season, two goals from Craig Gardner helped Birmingham to a 2-1 win at St Andrew’s on August 21.
Kean has selection problems of both a fitness and disciplinary nature ahead of the clash, with midfielder Steven N’Zonzi suspended for the next three games after being sent off for a rash challenge on Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny on Saturday.
Vince Grella is out for the rest of the season, and Keith Andrews looks unlikely to shake off his troublesome groin problem in time to feature in the seven games they have left.
The injury list at St Andrew’s is slightly more extensive, with defender Martin Jiranek, midfielder Alexander Hleb and striker James McFadden all in doubt, while defender Scott Dann is nursing a hamstring injury.
Tottenham’s hopes of Champions League success now hinges on them finishing in the top four this season. It is a mammoth task that faces Harry’s men, after yet more points thrown away this afternoon, although Spurs are never known for making life easy for themselves.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Spurs blogs that includes the right transfer for Tottenham; summer cull what Harry needs, while Tottenham have every right to feel frustrated.
We also look at the best Spurs articles around the web this week.
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The Greatest Premier League Goals Of All Time…YOU DECIDE!
SIX things we learnt from the North London Derby?
Transfer links with Tottenham and Liverpool the real reason for the demise?
Will UEFA initiative ensure equality for all football clubs?
The right transfer deal for Tottenham Hotspur?
Is streamlining at Spurs such a bad idea?
Tottenham’s top TEN ‘Bogey-Men’
WHL or Old Trafford – who represents the best move for Diego?
Why Tottenham have every right to feel frustrated
What actually makes a BIG club then?
Harry and Fergie go head-to-head for Ajax star
*Best of Web*
Great game for the neutrals – Spurs Musings From Jimmy G2
One of the Great Derbies – Tottenham On My Mind
Do you think that’s wise, Spurs? – Martin Cloake Online
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The Stupendous Adventures of Gareth Bale – Dear Mr Levy
The Clive Allen & Aunty Wengy Caption Comepetition – Harry Hotspur
FIFA Presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam has called for new blood at the governing body as he continues his election campaign.Bin Hammam has been in South America, along with current President Sepp Blatter, at the South American Football Confederation, as they both look to gain support ahead of the vote on June 1.
And despite supporting Blatter in the past, Bin Hammam said it is time for change.
“I was with Blatter and I was honored to work as a member of the executive committee with him,” bin Hammam said.
“I supported him a lot, of course during 1998 and 2002. But, I think also, it is time for change , this is actually one thing I believe in. And I believe also the competition and democracy is something very good for our organization.”
The pair were guests were guests at CONMEBOL where both sat at the top table with federation president Nicolas Leoz.
And Blatter was confident that he would be getting Leoz’s backing.
“I want to congratulate the 62nd Congress of the South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL, especially Nicolas Leoz for his 25 years, also to the presidency that will continue these next four years,” Blatter said.
“I also want to thank this congress for its support of me to continue my mission in FIFA.”
CONMEBOL holds 10 of the 208 votes at the FIFA congress.
Blatter believes he has about 50 percent support from Africa and Asia and a majority in the rest of the world, but Bin Hammam believes the issue is not settled.
Controversy seems to follow Emmanuel Adebayor everywhere he goes, and so it is only fitting that he should be linked with his former employer’s Arsenal’s local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. The Togolese striker is currently on loan at Real Madrid from Manchester City, and with the Lilywhites obvious troubles up front, is signing the former Monaco forward worth the aggravation he will no doubt cause?
The former Gunners ace has proven his ability at the highest level, time and time again; averaging just over a goal every two games for the Gunners, and the same ratio for Manchester City. Adebayor has all the attributes of an ideal target man, very much like Peter Crouch, but the difference between the two is that Adebayor actually uses these attributes. The Togo star is strong in the air, holds up play and has a huge presence when in and around the final third.
The problem with Adebayor is that for every fantastic goal or entertainment he produces, there are always outspoken, controversial and blunt actions or comments. You have the infamous celebration against the Gunners, the ‘stamp’ on Robin Van Persie and the continual argument via the media with Roberto Mancini. It is these moments of madness that can overshadow a season, cost you a Cup Final or bring down a team’s morale, can Spurs really risk such an occurrence on their quest for Champions League football?
Liability or not, the fact of the matter Spurs are desperate for new faces in their frontline after the abysmal form of Defoe, Crouch and Pavlyuchenko this season. Yes Adebayor poses a risk, but what decision is football doesn’t? The knock down price that Adebayor will be available for, the guaranteed goals he will bring and yet another chance to get one over on Arsenal, after the success of Gallas, I think Spurs fans should embrace such a signing as Adebayor despite his ‘baggage’. Some of the games current greatest managers have seen real talent in big forward, and no doubt in true Adebayor style, he will endear himself to the White Hart Lane faithful, but for how long is a totally different question?
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Imogen Thomas Joins Paddy Power For a Champion Offer! They will refund losing Champions League Final bets if Man United lose the match Make your bets now!
Highpoint- The big number 19. In the years after the 26 year title drought was finally broken in 1993, we were still taunted by Liverpool fans telling us we’d never beat 18 titles. This is the year we officially ‘knocked them off their perch’, with it clearly meaning as much to Fergie as it did to the fans.
Lowpoint- Men against boys, a centre forward we couldn’t handle, and over ran in midfield. Not the Champions League final, the League Cup defeat at Upton Park. Standing in the cold snow, watching a reasonably strong United team being taken apart by Carlton Cole and Jonathan Spector. Jonny Evans’ season never recovered from that, Bebe and Obertan played like, well, Bebe and Obertan. The disappointing performances from Smalling and Hernandez fortunately proved to be an exception in excellent seasons for them both.
Player of the season- Nemanja Vidic. Honourable mentions go to Hernandez and Van der Sar, but Vidic has been a rock at the heart of the defence all season. The partnership of Vidic-Ferdinand often looks unbeatable, and he has also played his part in the impressive development of Chris Smalling.
Best Away Trip- Schalke in the Champions League Semi final. An absolutely fantastic stadium was a suitable setting for one of the best European away performances from United in recent years.
We will miss you- Edwin Van Der Sar. The big dutch keeper enjoyed arguably his best season since joining the club, cementing his place as a fans favourite and leaving us with plenty of happy memories.
Season of two halves- Dimitar Berbatov. With Rooney carrying his England form into the start of the new season, it was left to Berbatov to pull the team through. However, once Rooney started to find form, Berbatov seemingly lost his, cumulating with him losing his place in the squad for the Champions League final.
Hats off to- FC Barcelona. There is no shame in losing to a team that could easily rank as one of the best club sides of all time. Fergie was brave with his tactics and picked the team that most of us wanted him to, but we were still outplayed. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta play football with such ease that you can only admire.
Comeback of the season- Antonio Valencia. Came back from a horrific leg break, arguably a better player than he was pre injury. His return offered the team more balance, and enabled the rotation of Giggs and Nani.
Remember me – Owen Hargreaves. After a single 4 minute appearance in 2010/11, United decided not to renew Hargreaves’ contract. He will now surely figure on every ‘big money flops’ list that the tabloids spew out, but rememeber that without Hargreaves there would have be no Moscow.
Bizarre fans moment- In Ibrox, Rangers fans singing ‘England’ with United fans singing ‘Argentina’.
Don’t mention- FA Cup Semi Final
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A legend- Gary Neville. A lifelong United fan who made over 600 appearances for the club winning domestic, European and world honours, and despite a couple of shaky years at the end, has proved himself as United best ever right back. If that’s not enough of a ‘schoolboys dream’ career, he got Ian Brown to sing for him at his testimonial. Legend.
Hopes for next season- With a couple of players already on the way, and a few more seemingly packed and ready at the exit door, it looks like we might be looking at a bit of an overhaul at Old Trafford this summer. A keeper is obviously vital, and a goalscoring central midfielder is needed. It would be nice to see a few youngsters given a chance, Cleverley and Welbeck have both had decent seasons out on loan and deserve an opportunity. Fergie says there is money available but it needs to be spent wisely and I would be happy with a couple of solid players and a couple of exciting youngsters rather than one big marquee signing.
CONCACAF acting president Lisle Austin has been provisionally banned from the federation for allegedly violating rules.Austin – who is deputising for the suspended former president Jack Warner – will be the subject of a hearing in July, but details of the case were not specified on Saturday.
“Mr. Lisle Austin, is hereby provisionally banned from taking part in any kind of football related activity within CONCACAF and at the national level,” a CONCACAF statement said.
Austin only assumed the interim presidency on Sunday and quickly made an enemy in CONCACAF general secretary, Chuck Blazer, whom he suspended from duty before the pair traded insults through the week.
This provisional ban can be appealed, but Austin would have to file a written notice of appeal to the CONCACAF Executive Committee before June 13.
Warner, alongside Asian Football Confederation chairman Mohammed bin Hammam, are the subject of an alleged bribery investigation, with Blazer the whistle-blower in that case.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has stated that he hopes highly rated Jose Enrique will remain at the Tyneside club.
The Spanish full-back has been subject to transfer speculation after an impressive 2010/11, with Arsenal and Liverpool reportedly interested in the ex-Villarreal defender. However his boss knows that it will be difficult to convince the 25-year-old to stay at St James Park.
“No-one is more keen for him to stay than myself. He was a terrific player for us last year and he has been terrific for the club,” the former West Ham coach told BBC Radio Newcastle.
“We are trying to persuade him to stay, but with a year running on his contract and his desire to play Champions League football at his age, it’s going to be difficult to keep him. It’s one of those situations where we just have to keep watching and hoping that it falls our way,” he stated.
The 49-year-old is also hoping further success on the pitch in 2011/12 will be the key to keeping his starmen, as the northern club are struggling to compete with the top six financially.
“As it stands financially at the moment, we can’t compete with those top teams in terms of trading players. But of course we can compete on the football pitch, so what we have tried to do is bring in players that we feel have an improvement in them and a desire to play for Newcastle, and that’s why we targeted the players that we have.
“Now the most important thing to keep those players is to put success in front of them. When you are building a new side, it needs to have progression, and that’s something we are going to need this season, we are going to need to see a progression in our form, in our consistency and get as close as we can to those top teams.
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“If we see that, I think we an keep them another year, and then when we go into that second or third year, then you really, really need to be very, very close because then they are going to start looking, as Jose is now, for those trophies, and I think we can do that. The likes of [Cheick] Tiote, Cabaye and people like that, we are going to have to have success on the pitch to keep them, 100%,” he concluded.
Pardew also stated that he has a good working relationship with Joey Barton, and hopes the midfielder remains in his squad for the forthcoming season.
With all the talent on display at Manchester United, it can be very easy to overlook some of the players who have stayed out of the media limelight, yet have made a huge contribution in helping the club achieve the success that it has. One player who undoubtedly falls into this category is Park Ji-Sung.
It has recently been announced that Sir Alex Ferguson has offered a two-year contract extension to the South Korean, who retired from international duty back in January in order to focus on his club career. This is a just reward for a player who has worked tirelessly during his time at Old Trafford, helping the club to 4 League titles and 3 League Cups. And yet he has not always been given the credit that he deserves. He may have played alongside some of the world’s greatest and most renowned midfielders, such as Christiano Ronaldo, Nani and Paul Scholes, but he has quietly gone about his job, not created anywhere near as much controversy as his counterparts and, throughout his career at United, barely put a foot wrong.
When you look back at the highlights of Park’s career at Manchester United and with South Korea, it is difficult to see why there has not been more of a fuss made about him:
14 June 2002 – Scored a memorable goal for South Korea against Portugal in the World Cup to help them through to the knock-out stages of the tournament for the first time in their history.
9 April 2006 – Scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester United in a 2-0 win over Arsenal
29 April 2008 – Voted Man of the Match in United’s Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona
21 September 2008 – Scored for United in a 1-1 draw against title rivals Chelsea
13 December 2008 – Made his 100th appearance for the club in a 0-0 draw against Spurs
5 May 2009 – Scored against Arsenal in a 3-1 win the Champions League semi-final
27 May 2009 – Became the first Asian player in history to play in the Champions League final
31 January 2010 – Scored a crucial goal in a 3-1 win at Arsenal in the Premier League
10 March 2010 – Scored for United in their 4-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League
21 March 2010 – Scored the winner in a 2-1 win over Liverpool
12 June 2010 – Became the first Asian to score in 3 consecutive World Cups, scoring in South Korea’s 2-0 win over Greece
November and December 2010 – Won the club’s Player of the Month award 2 months in a row
13 December 2010 – Scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Arsenal
25 January 2011 – Made his 100th appearance for South Korea in their Asian Cup semi-final match against Japan
12 April 2011 – Scored in United’s 2-1 Champions League quarter-final win over Chelsea
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These highlights prove that Park is a player who loves the big time and has played a pivotal role in some of United’s biggest matches of the last five years.
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He is also one of the most versatile players in English football, with his ability to play anywhere across the midfield. He works well in both defensive and attacking positions and his work ethic and movement off the ball are superb. He also has very high fitness levels and his discipline is exceptionally good. He may not be one of the most glamorous or celebrated players in United’s squad, but he is undoubtedly one of the most useful. He is arguably the greatest Asian to have ever played in the Premiership.
As a new season approaches and now that Paul Scholes has retired, competition for places in United’s midfielder will be greater than ever. Ashley Young has been drafted in and youngsters such as Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley are proving themselves to be stars of the future. Park may have a difficult time convincing Sir Alex that he is good enough to play in the first team on a regular basis. But given his track record at United thus far, his versatility and his commitment to the club, it will be impossible to ignore him. A regular first team spot is the least a player like Park Ji-Sung deserves.
Read more of Sam’s articles at http://diamondformation.wordpress.com/. Also follow him on Twitter: @DiamondFormat.