Another Pyrrhic Victory? - Panorama "Bungs Scandal"
The BBC thought they had scored a hit with their recent documentary supposedly exposing the kickbacks involved in English football but was it the opening salvo of hope in the fight to reclaim the Beautiful Game or just another blank being fired?
The Panorama documentary "Football's Dirty Secrets" was much billed in the national press as the exposé that would lift the lid on a can of worms that is Premiership football and precipitate a major clean sweep of the top division with some top-level casualties along the way.
While it was alarming to realize just how ingrained the tradition of managers seeking to cream off a percentage of a transfer fee is now, thanks to the connivance of unscrupulous agents, what was revealed really ought not to surprise us one jot.
After all, Arsenal's George Graham was forced to resign back in 1995 after it was revealed he had profited to the tune of £425,000 from transfer dealings involving a bent Norwegian player representative called Rune Hauge.
Fast forward eleven years and we are still dealing with exactly the same issue; in this case Bolton Wanderers' boss Sam Allardyce accused of pocketing pounds on transfer fees with his son as the broker [Allardyce has claimed he is "utterly innocent" of any wrong-doing and is planning to sue the BBC].
Harry Redknapp, the alleged prince of bungs, had expected to be shot to pieces by the Panorama programme and had issued a pre-emptive statement in the press, but he need not have worried as his involvement in the documentary was limited to expressing interest in signing a player under contract elsewhere.
Alas, the latest exposé of wrongdoing will fail to clean up the game unless powers from beyond football intervene to enforce the law. Football has shown itself to be spectacularly incapable of policing itself so many times before and has operated more like a private betting syndicate in the back of a pub than an open and above board industry that involves millions of participants and 360-degree media coverage.
Let anyone complacent about the morality of the sport merely take a look beyond Italy's fourth World Cup triumph in 2006 at the astonishing scandal that engulfed their domestic game in the run-up to the tournament.
Now soccer is a multi-billion pound global business, it behoves governments to treat it as such and apply the laws that are enforced on similar concerns.
This entails not only scanning the industry for under the table payments but also enforcing competition laws which would place restrictions on the amount of money any club can spend on wages and possibly the number of foreign players they can employ. If it means the European Union, via UEFA, must impose a salary cap across the continent, then what are we waiting for - ten consecutive Premiership titles for Chelsea?
Regulation of this out-of-control wildfire is ever more pressing now clubs in the English top division are being snapped up by random international venture capitalists, who often unashamedly admit to having no roots or interest in the game, in a 21st century version of the Scramble for Africa in the 1800s.
Talking of Africa, the protracted battle over Nigerian Jon Obi Mikkel's signature, an unseemly squabble eventually won by Chelsea over Malcolm Glazer's Manchester United plc, saw Rune Hauge's name surface again after all these years, still working as an agent and still apparently tricking his way in a fight for a slice of the cake (Hauge was one of several agents who claimed to represent Mikkel)!
Another young African, Freddy Adu, in the news ever since he debuted in Major League Soccer aged 14, has reportedly been the target of Reading FC this week. That a player aged 17, with no national team caps or European Union passport could even be considered for a work permit in the UK speaks volumes of football's sell-out to the morality of the free market.
There is a school of thought that says this is all a storm in a teacup, that fans simply do not care what happens to their gate money as long as there is a team to cheer about on the field and who appear to be playing for the shirt.
How anyone can entertain thoughts of player loyalty in 2006 is ridiculous enough, but there is some mileage in the apathy of fans in the face of exploitation, which allowed characters like Newcastle directors Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall, in 1998, to laugh at fans forking out a fortune for polyester replica shirts.
In Newcastle's case, the fans must shoulder some blame for turning out in such huge numbers and buying so much merchandise no matter how unscrupulous or inept the owners have been.
Boycotting a product is one way to punish its makers, but in the case of the "Geordie Nation' amongst others, this course of action is unrealistic.
I attended Arsenal's first home game after George Graham's stunning resignation in February 1995, and watched as the home fans really took exception to the traveling Nottingham Forest supporters taunting them about their corrupt former employee.
The Gunners' fans had enjoyed such a golden age under Graham they were prepared to turn a blind eye to his creative accounting with their money.
So where do we go from here? The FA have announced yet another enquiry in the wake of the Panorama programme, but no one with more than a toe in reality thinks that will solve anything.
Until governments realize there are no votes to be lost in interfering with a popular public pursuit, the solutions lie elsewhere. More football chairmen like the outspoken Simon Jordan would help. No one has tried harder than the Crystal Palace boss to fight back against agents' hijacking of player loyalties, to the extent that Jordan has refused point blank to deal with them:
"I see so many of them happy to sow division if it means they get a better deal, often working against the interests of clubs, players and supporters - and yet the game still opens its arms and embraces them," he told The Observer in 2005.
The other source of hope could be an unlikely one: FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Whereas his predecessor, ‘the great dictator' Joao Havelange, happily encouraged all manner of commercialism and profiteering in the Beautiful Game, Blatter is increasingly critical of the mishandling of the sport by unregulated markets.
While he is still in many ways the man with "50 ideas a day, 51 of which are bad," such as enlarged goals or women players wearing skimpy outfits, the Swiss soccer chief may yet surprise us with a decision from the heart that will help stop the commercial rotting of the game.
Make no mistake, with the top Premiership teams fielding eleven foreigners with a foreign coach and foreign owners swanning in to buy up the ‘franchise' for marketing or vanity purposes, we are living in strange days in football's history.
As Simon Jordan aptly put it, "This isn't the real world - it's a banana republic. And if people in the game can't see that - and think things can't get any better, fairer or more decent - God help us."
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Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Bedding Zinger
I’m not the sentimental type. The only time I’ve ever cried as an adult was when the wife threatened to leave me; I was absolutely devastated when she changed her mind at the last minute. Somewhat embarrassingly, I have to admit to being moved by the story of ‘Beenie’, the little furry horse that saved Stuart Pearce from the chop. I can only imagine how embarrassing it must have been to have a little animal beside you on the touchline, but Beenie coped with the situation remarkably well.
The only way that Man City will get a result at Goodison Park is if Beenie can persuade possible relation Ruud Van Nistelrooy to offer a helping hand; get involved with the Toffeemen at a beatific 5/6.
Paul Jewell’s decision to spend the majority of his summer transfer budget on Emile Heskey is proving to be the most outrageous rick since ‘The Young Ones’ first aired. Blackburn have never lost to Wigan in a competitive match, the Rovers are a confident call at even money.
Robbie Savage stripped down to his pants in Blackburn’s win over Boro last week; that type of behaviour should really be confined to the caravan. Savage’s name has gone into the referee’s book in exactly half of the Premiership matches he’s played this season; the 6/4 on offer for another yellow is quite tempting.
Liverpool always struggle when they travel to Bolton, they’ve only taken three points on one of their last six visits. There’s more chance of Sam Allardyce paying his license fee early than there is of the Scousers taking liberties at the Reebok. Bolton are worth a nibble at a perm-flattening 3/1.
It’s an unwritten law in football that players always score against their former employers. I think El Hadji Diouf netted in this fixture last season, (I’m not 100% sure as my notes are in shorthand; I don’t even know why i got Jeremy Beadle involved.) the Senegalese hitman is a 4/1 shot to repeat the feat.
With only one win under his belt in his managerial career, Gareth Southgate has taken to his new role like a duck to slaughter. Boro face a tricky looking trip to Sheffield to face the Blades; I like the draw at 9/4.
The last time these teams met in the league, Dean Saunders netted the winner for United. It’s fair to say that in his prime, Deano would be a greater goal threat than Ade Akinbiyi. In fact, feel free to remove ‘in his prime’ from that sentence. This one has nil-nil written all over it; back no goalscorer in the match at a truly delightful 17/2.
One complaint often levelled against Arsenal is that they hate to win ugly, poor old Iain Dowie has literally no choice. Ashley Cole claimed that there was a lack of team spirit in the Arsenal dressing room, it appears to have improved dramatically now he’s gone. The Gunners are the weekend nap at 4/7 to leave the Valley victorious.
It’s widely believed that Isaac Newton was inspired to formulate the theory of universal gravitation as a result of an apple falling on his head. However, I prefer to believe that he saw a mediocre Watford team win last season’s play-offs and declared, “Wat goes up, must come down.’ Fulham struggle to win away as a rule, but that’s only against Premiership teams. Back the Cottagers at 2/1.
With a three point deduction hanging over their heads after the Ashley Cole shenanigans, the Chelsea board must have been literally cowering throughout Panorama. (Even Seth Armstrong didn’t poach this much, allegedly.) The Champions have only won two of their last six meetings against a David O’Leary led Villa; an unbeaten Martin O’Neill team should definitely be backed at 11/1 to pull off a shock.
It’s all going wrong at the Lane. Spurs have only scored in one league match this season, their supporters are booing the players off the pitch and Jermaine Jenas missed the easiest opening since Helen Chamberlain. Portsmouth can leave North London with a point at 12/5.
Call me a mad conspiracy theorist, but is it simply coincidence that Wayne Rooney’s dip in form has coincided with KFC introducing a new spicy chicken range? I fear not. Looking on the bright side, the big lad enjoys playing against Newcastle more than he enjoys socialising with antiquated ladies. (United have completed a double over Newcastle for the last two seasons, with Rooney netting in all four matches.) I fancy the round one to return to form as United romp in at 4/11.
The acc of the week:
This week’s accer is so attractive; Pete Doherty is considering binning Kate Moss as a direct result. Pete may have quipped, “Sure, Kate’s a looker; but this acc is absolutely gorgeous.” Arsenal, Everton, Blackburn, Man Utd and Fulham are the pretty young things; the payout is a colossal 20/1.
The weekend specials:
“A little Scotch” - Paul Dickov to score with a header 7/1
“A Johnny Walker” - John Terry to be sent off 50/1
“Jim Beam please” - Beattie to score the last goal 11/2
“A large Bells” - Craig Bellamy to score with a header 6/1
“A double JD” - Jermain Defoe to score two or more goals 13/2
“A wild turkey” - Robbie Savage to be sent off 20/1
The quote of the week
“I'm enjoying being at Arsenal, it's great to be in a side which plays such an attractive game.”
Big Willy Gallas embraces subtlety.
The lay man:
There are exchange customers lining up to back Watford at 13/8. In the immortal words of Sammy Jackson, ‘It’s our duty, to snatch that booty’.
Weekend Betting:
Bolton v Liverpool Saturday 30th September 12:45 Live on Sky
Bolton 3/1
Draw 9/4
Liverpool 11/10
Get on: Bolton
Match Special:
Kevin Nolan to score at any time 9/2
Charlton v Arsenal Saturday 30th September 15:00
Charlton 11/2
Draw 13/5
Arsenal 4/7
Get on: Arsenal
Match Special:
Thierry Henry to score a hat-trick 18/1
Chelsea v Aston Villa Saturday 30th September 15:00
Chelsea 3/10
Draw 4/1
Aston Villa 11/1
Get on: Aston Villa
Match Special:
Angel to score the only goal of the game 135/1
Everton v Man City Saturday 30th September 15:00
Everton 5/6
Draw 12/5
Man City 7/2
Get on: Everton
Match Special:
Everton to score a penalty 5/1
Sheff Utd v Middlesbrough Saturday 30th September 17:15 Live on Premiership Plus
Sheff Utd 13/8
Draw 9/4
Middlesbrough 13/8
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Boateng to be booked 11/8
West Ham v Reading Sunday 1st October 14:00
West Ham Evs
Draw 9/4
Reading 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Match to finish 1-1 11/2
Blackburn v Wigan Sunday 1st October 15:00
Blackburn Evs
Draw 9/4
Wigan 3/1
Get on: Blackburn
Match Special:
Blackburn to win and keep a clean sheet 2/1
Man Utd v Newcastle Sunday 1st October 15:00
Man Utd 4/11
Draw 7/2
Newcastle 10/1
Get on: Man Utd
Match Special:
Louis Saha to score the first goal 7/2
Tottenham v Portsmouth Sunday 1st October 16:00 Live on Sky
Tottenham 10/11
Draw 12/5
Portsmouth 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Tottenham to score a goal 1/4
Watford v Fulham Monday 2nd October 20:00 Live on Sky
Watford 6/4
Draw 11/5
Fulham 2/1
Get on: Fulham
Match Special:
Fulham to score three or more goals 11/2
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
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The only way that Man City will get a result at Goodison Park is if Beenie can persuade possible relation Ruud Van Nistelrooy to offer a helping hand; get involved with the Toffeemen at a beatific 5/6.
Paul Jewell’s decision to spend the majority of his summer transfer budget on Emile Heskey is proving to be the most outrageous rick since ‘The Young Ones’ first aired. Blackburn have never lost to Wigan in a competitive match, the Rovers are a confident call at even money.
Robbie Savage stripped down to his pants in Blackburn’s win over Boro last week; that type of behaviour should really be confined to the caravan. Savage’s name has gone into the referee’s book in exactly half of the Premiership matches he’s played this season; the 6/4 on offer for another yellow is quite tempting.
Liverpool always struggle when they travel to Bolton, they’ve only taken three points on one of their last six visits. There’s more chance of Sam Allardyce paying his license fee early than there is of the Scousers taking liberties at the Reebok. Bolton are worth a nibble at a perm-flattening 3/1.
It’s an unwritten law in football that players always score against their former employers. I think El Hadji Diouf netted in this fixture last season, (I’m not 100% sure as my notes are in shorthand; I don’t even know why i got Jeremy Beadle involved.) the Senegalese hitman is a 4/1 shot to repeat the feat.
With only one win under his belt in his managerial career, Gareth Southgate has taken to his new role like a duck to slaughter. Boro face a tricky looking trip to Sheffield to face the Blades; I like the draw at 9/4.
The last time these teams met in the league, Dean Saunders netted the winner for United. It’s fair to say that in his prime, Deano would be a greater goal threat than Ade Akinbiyi. In fact, feel free to remove ‘in his prime’ from that sentence. This one has nil-nil written all over it; back no goalscorer in the match at a truly delightful 17/2.
One complaint often levelled against Arsenal is that they hate to win ugly, poor old Iain Dowie has literally no choice. Ashley Cole claimed that there was a lack of team spirit in the Arsenal dressing room, it appears to have improved dramatically now he’s gone. The Gunners are the weekend nap at 4/7 to leave the Valley victorious.
It’s widely believed that Isaac Newton was inspired to formulate the theory of universal gravitation as a result of an apple falling on his head. However, I prefer to believe that he saw a mediocre Watford team win last season’s play-offs and declared, “Wat goes up, must come down.’ Fulham struggle to win away as a rule, but that’s only against Premiership teams. Back the Cottagers at 2/1.
With a three point deduction hanging over their heads after the Ashley Cole shenanigans, the Chelsea board must have been literally cowering throughout Panorama. (Even Seth Armstrong didn’t poach this much, allegedly.) The Champions have only won two of their last six meetings against a David O’Leary led Villa; an unbeaten Martin O’Neill team should definitely be backed at 11/1 to pull off a shock.
It’s all going wrong at the Lane. Spurs have only scored in one league match this season, their supporters are booing the players off the pitch and Jermaine Jenas missed the easiest opening since Helen Chamberlain. Portsmouth can leave North London with a point at 12/5.
Call me a mad conspiracy theorist, but is it simply coincidence that Wayne Rooney’s dip in form has coincided with KFC introducing a new spicy chicken range? I fear not. Looking on the bright side, the big lad enjoys playing against Newcastle more than he enjoys socialising with antiquated ladies. (United have completed a double over Newcastle for the last two seasons, with Rooney netting in all four matches.) I fancy the round one to return to form as United romp in at 4/11.
The acc of the week:
This week’s accer is so attractive; Pete Doherty is considering binning Kate Moss as a direct result. Pete may have quipped, “Sure, Kate’s a looker; but this acc is absolutely gorgeous.” Arsenal, Everton, Blackburn, Man Utd and Fulham are the pretty young things; the payout is a colossal 20/1.
The weekend specials:
“A little Scotch” - Paul Dickov to score with a header 7/1
“A Johnny Walker” - John Terry to be sent off 50/1
“Jim Beam please” - Beattie to score the last goal 11/2
“A large Bells” - Craig Bellamy to score with a header 6/1
“A double JD” - Jermain Defoe to score two or more goals 13/2
“A wild turkey” - Robbie Savage to be sent off 20/1
The quote of the week
“I'm enjoying being at Arsenal, it's great to be in a side which plays such an attractive game.”
Big Willy Gallas embraces subtlety.
The lay man:
There are exchange customers lining up to back Watford at 13/8. In the immortal words of Sammy Jackson, ‘It’s our duty, to snatch that booty’.
Weekend Betting:
Bolton v Liverpool Saturday 30th September 12:45 Live on Sky
Bolton 3/1
Draw 9/4
Liverpool 11/10
Get on: Bolton
Match Special:
Kevin Nolan to score at any time 9/2
Charlton v Arsenal Saturday 30th September 15:00
Charlton 11/2
Draw 13/5
Arsenal 4/7
Get on: Arsenal
Match Special:
Thierry Henry to score a hat-trick 18/1
Chelsea v Aston Villa Saturday 30th September 15:00
Chelsea 3/10
Draw 4/1
Aston Villa 11/1
Get on: Aston Villa
Match Special:
Angel to score the only goal of the game 135/1
Everton v Man City Saturday 30th September 15:00
Everton 5/6
Draw 12/5
Man City 7/2
Get on: Everton
Match Special:
Everton to score a penalty 5/1
Sheff Utd v Middlesbrough Saturday 30th September 17:15 Live on Premiership Plus
Sheff Utd 13/8
Draw 9/4
Middlesbrough 13/8
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Boateng to be booked 11/8
West Ham v Reading Sunday 1st October 14:00
West Ham Evs
Draw 9/4
Reading 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Match to finish 1-1 11/2
Blackburn v Wigan Sunday 1st October 15:00
Blackburn Evs
Draw 9/4
Wigan 3/1
Get on: Blackburn
Match Special:
Blackburn to win and keep a clean sheet 2/1
Man Utd v Newcastle Sunday 1st October 15:00
Man Utd 4/11
Draw 7/2
Newcastle 10/1
Get on: Man Utd
Match Special:
Louis Saha to score the first goal 7/2
Tottenham v Portsmouth Sunday 1st October 16:00 Live on Sky
Tottenham 10/11
Draw 12/5
Portsmouth 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Tottenham to score a goal 1/4
Watford v Fulham Monday 2nd October 20:00 Live on Sky
Watford 6/4
Draw 11/5
Fulham 2/1
Get on: Fulham
Match Special:
Fulham to score three or more goals 11/2
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
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Japanese Soccer News
Yamazaki Nabisco League Cup
Semi-final, second legs: September 20
JEF United 3 - 2 Kawasaki Frontale (after extra time)
JEF United will have the chance to defend their League Cup title, after seeing off Kawasaki Frontale in a dramatic semi-final second leg clash. With the scores locked at 2-2 deep into extra-time, captain Yuki Abe stepped up to convert a hotly disputed penalty which sealed JEF United's place in the final.
Yokohama F. Marinos 2 - 1 Kashima Antlers
In the final JEF United will meet three time League Cup champions Kashima Antlers, who saw off Yokohama F. Marinos. Holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, Kashima advanced on the away goals rule after losing 2-1 in Yokohama on the night. Atsushi Yanagisawa scored the crucial goal for the Antlers.
Japan National Teams
Gamba Osaka striker Ryuji Bando may be in line for a call up to Ivica Osim's squad for the Kirin World Challenge match against Ghana in Yokohama on October 4. Bando scored again at the weekend, taking his tally to 14 goals from 23 J-League games this season. He is the highest scoring Japanese player in the J-League. Japan's strikers have scored just twice in four games under Osim - both times as substitutes.
Japan's under-17 national team were crowned Asian champions on September 17. They came back from a two goal deficit to defeat DPR Korea 4-2 after extra-time at the AFC Under-17 Championship Final in Singapore. Substitute Hiroki Kawano was the hero, scoring a brace in extra-time. Cerezo Osaka's Yoichiro Kakitani, who also scored in the final, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Japan have now qualified for the FIFA under-17 World Cup, along with fellow Asian nations DPR Korea, Syria and Tajikistan.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
Semi-final, second legs: September 20
JEF United 3 - 2 Kawasaki Frontale (after extra time)
JEF United will have the chance to defend their League Cup title, after seeing off Kawasaki Frontale in a dramatic semi-final second leg clash. With the scores locked at 2-2 deep into extra-time, captain Yuki Abe stepped up to convert a hotly disputed penalty which sealed JEF United's place in the final.
Yokohama F. Marinos 2 - 1 Kashima Antlers
In the final JEF United will meet three time League Cup champions Kashima Antlers, who saw off Yokohama F. Marinos. Holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, Kashima advanced on the away goals rule after losing 2-1 in Yokohama on the night. Atsushi Yanagisawa scored the crucial goal for the Antlers.
Japan National Teams
Gamba Osaka striker Ryuji Bando may be in line for a call up to Ivica Osim's squad for the Kirin World Challenge match against Ghana in Yokohama on October 4. Bando scored again at the weekend, taking his tally to 14 goals from 23 J-League games this season. He is the highest scoring Japanese player in the J-League. Japan's strikers have scored just twice in four games under Osim - both times as substitutes.
Japan's under-17 national team were crowned Asian champions on September 17. They came back from a two goal deficit to defeat DPR Korea 4-2 after extra-time at the AFC Under-17 Championship Final in Singapore. Substitute Hiroki Kawano was the hero, scoring a brace in extra-time. Cerezo Osaka's Yoichiro Kakitani, who also scored in the final, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Japan have now qualified for the FIFA under-17 World Cup, along with fellow Asian nations DPR Korea, Syria and Tajikistan.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Marc Fox talks exclusively to Scot Gemmill for Soccerphile
Former Nottingham Forest and Everton schemer Scot Gemmill is the latest former Premier League player to succumb to the growing temptation of prolonging his career with a stint down under. For Gemmill, the location is Auckland on New Zealand's north island, home of the Knights, last season's wooden-spooners.
But whereas in times past, playing 'soccer' in an Australian league would have signalled your intentions to wind down in the sunshine, the newly refreshed Hyundai A-League is prompting quite the opposite.
Gemmill's move to New Zealand on a one-year-deal was based on pure footballing reasons and ended up being a straight swap between that and life in England, or Scotland's lower leagues.
Following over 250 Premier League appearances with Forest and Everton, the 35-year-old's most recent employers were Oxford United in League Two where he had been enticed by the opportunity of working under managerial legend Jim Smith in a player-coach capacity.
But within a fortnight of arriving at the relegation-threatened club, he soon realised that, by his own admission, his heart wasn't in it. By then discussions with Knights boss Paul Nevin, who was well aware of Gemmill after eight years in the employment of Fulham including reserve team coach, were already underway.
"I just wanted to come down here and experience living abroad but still doing what I love to do," explains Gemmill. "To come to the other side of the world and live a different life but at the same time play football, I really couldn't have asked for more.
"There are thousands of footballers that would love to come and play in the A-League but they don't all get the opportunity. I keep saying it but I do realise how lucky I am, I really do.
Dwight Yorke was the first well-known player to take a risk by accepting terms with eventual champions Sydney FC last year. Yorke eventually fought his way back into first-team reckoning with Trinidad and Tobago, captained his country at the World Cup and last month was offered the chance of another two year's in England at Roy Keane's Sunderland.
But he is not the only one. Before the second season started at the end of August, current Socceroos Stan Lazaridis, Tony Vidmar and Joel Griffiths all returned home while former Australian national team captain Paul Okon also made the switch. Dutch winger Bobby Petta has linked up with the premiers Adelaide United, former China international striker Yuning Zhang with Queensland and Grant Brebner joined Melbourne.
In the latest Socceroos squad, eight of the 26 players selected by interim coach Graham Arnold call the A-League home.
"Without doubt there are some great players," Gemmill responds without hesitation to the question of the league's standing. "There are some standout individuals in each team and the level is high. That's something people around the world don't realise yet. But they will do when the league gets the chance to grow."
The Scotsman has just landed in Brisbane ahead of New Zealand's round four clash with the Roar at Suncorp Stadium when we chat. He admits he's still coming to terms with the players being greeted by stony silences when they disembark and retells a story of how one man, noticing the tracksuited players leaving the arrivals lounge, innocently asking what the A-League to prove his point.
"It's weird when somebody doesn't know what the A-League is," he says. "If I'm being honest, nobody knows me really and I'm fine with that. I mean in England I lived the normal life. I'm not a recognised famous face - I don't pretend to be.
"I'm very grateful to be given a chance to part of it. I could easily be at home unemployed right now if I'm honest. I'm at that age where I'm just grateful to be still playing and I intend to repay the manger's faith by playing my part in the team. He's given me a chance to come down and play and I don't want to let him down.
"I haven’t got any pressure on me from supporters to do well. But I feel I put myself under pressure. I've had a good career, I'm extremely proud of what I've achieved and I don't want to spoil it now. I'm not under any financial pressures. If I really thought I couldn't play my part in the team, I wouldn't be here."
Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com
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But whereas in times past, playing 'soccer' in an Australian league would have signalled your intentions to wind down in the sunshine, the newly refreshed Hyundai A-League is prompting quite the opposite.
Gemmill's move to New Zealand on a one-year-deal was based on pure footballing reasons and ended up being a straight swap between that and life in England, or Scotland's lower leagues.
Following over 250 Premier League appearances with Forest and Everton, the 35-year-old's most recent employers were Oxford United in League Two where he had been enticed by the opportunity of working under managerial legend Jim Smith in a player-coach capacity.
But within a fortnight of arriving at the relegation-threatened club, he soon realised that, by his own admission, his heart wasn't in it. By then discussions with Knights boss Paul Nevin, who was well aware of Gemmill after eight years in the employment of Fulham including reserve team coach, were already underway.
"I just wanted to come down here and experience living abroad but still doing what I love to do," explains Gemmill. "To come to the other side of the world and live a different life but at the same time play football, I really couldn't have asked for more.
"There are thousands of footballers that would love to come and play in the A-League but they don't all get the opportunity. I keep saying it but I do realise how lucky I am, I really do.
Dwight Yorke was the first well-known player to take a risk by accepting terms with eventual champions Sydney FC last year. Yorke eventually fought his way back into first-team reckoning with Trinidad and Tobago, captained his country at the World Cup and last month was offered the chance of another two year's in England at Roy Keane's Sunderland.
But he is not the only one. Before the second season started at the end of August, current Socceroos Stan Lazaridis, Tony Vidmar and Joel Griffiths all returned home while former Australian national team captain Paul Okon also made the switch. Dutch winger Bobby Petta has linked up with the premiers Adelaide United, former China international striker Yuning Zhang with Queensland and Grant Brebner joined Melbourne.
In the latest Socceroos squad, eight of the 26 players selected by interim coach Graham Arnold call the A-League home.
"Without doubt there are some great players," Gemmill responds without hesitation to the question of the league's standing. "There are some standout individuals in each team and the level is high. That's something people around the world don't realise yet. But they will do when the league gets the chance to grow."
The Scotsman has just landed in Brisbane ahead of New Zealand's round four clash with the Roar at Suncorp Stadium when we chat. He admits he's still coming to terms with the players being greeted by stony silences when they disembark and retells a story of how one man, noticing the tracksuited players leaving the arrivals lounge, innocently asking what the A-League to prove his point.
"It's weird when somebody doesn't know what the A-League is," he says. "If I'm being honest, nobody knows me really and I'm fine with that. I mean in England I lived the normal life. I'm not a recognised famous face - I don't pretend to be.
"I'm very grateful to be given a chance to part of it. I could easily be at home unemployed right now if I'm honest. I'm at that age where I'm just grateful to be still playing and I intend to repay the manger's faith by playing my part in the team. He's given me a chance to come down and play and I don't want to let him down.
"I haven’t got any pressure on me from supporters to do well. But I feel I put myself under pressure. I've had a good career, I'm extremely proud of what I've achieved and I don't want to spoil it now. I'm not under any financial pressures. If I really thought I couldn't play my part in the team, I wouldn't be here."
Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
J League
Gamba Osaka defeated one of their closest rivals Frontale Kawasaki in emphatic fashion to stay top of the J-League table, three points ahead of nearest challengers Urawa Reds, who edged S-Pulse at Saitama Stadium in front of a full house.
Frontale are now in 3rd place - a distant 8 points adrift of Gamba - and surely out of contention.
Shimizu S-Pulse remain in 4th but their 1-0 loss to Reds virtually puts paid to their title hopes.
At the bottom Kyoto Purple Sanga and Cerezo both lost as Sanfrecce put some breathing space between them and the bottom three after a 1-0 home win against Omiya.
Saturday 23 Sept
Jubilo 2 Oita Trinita 3
Gamba Osaka 4 Kawasaki Frontale 0
Avispa Fukuoka 1 Cerezo Osaka 0
JEF United 2 Kyoto Purple Sanga 0
Yokohama F Marinos 2 Nagoya Gampus Eight 1
Urawa Reds 1 Shimizu S-Pulse 0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Omiya Ardija 0
Leading Positions
Gamba P24 Pts 55
Reds P24 Pts 52
Frontale P24 Pts 47
S-Pulse P24 Pts 44
Antlers P23 Pts 42
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Frontale are now in 3rd place - a distant 8 points adrift of Gamba - and surely out of contention.
Shimizu S-Pulse remain in 4th but their 1-0 loss to Reds virtually puts paid to their title hopes.
At the bottom Kyoto Purple Sanga and Cerezo both lost as Sanfrecce put some breathing space between them and the bottom three after a 1-0 home win against Omiya.
Saturday 23 Sept
Jubilo 2 Oita Trinita 3
Gamba Osaka 4 Kawasaki Frontale 0
Avispa Fukuoka 1 Cerezo Osaka 0
JEF United 2 Kyoto Purple Sanga 0
Yokohama F Marinos 2 Nagoya Gampus Eight 1
Urawa Reds 1 Shimizu S-Pulse 0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Omiya Ardija 0
Leading Positions
Gamba P24 Pts 55
Reds P24 Pts 52
Frontale P24 Pts 47
S-Pulse P24 Pts 44
Antlers P23 Pts 42
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Friday, September 22, 2006
Premier Bet
Premier Bet
Walker's Word - Weekend 23-25 September 2006
By David Walker
This could be the weekend Arsenal break their Emirates Stadium duck while it’s also a good opportunity for both Liverpool and Manchester United to get back to winning ways. Expect Manchester City’s dismal run of form to continue and there could also be a shock on at Crave Cottage writes David Walker.
Saturday 23 September
Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool have a great opportunity to follow up on the midweek win against Newcastle United at lunch time on Saturday. Opponents Tottenham Hotspur have had a poor start to the season, winning just once in their five Premiership matches so far and Liverpool’s record in this fixture speaks for itself. The last time Tottenham won at Anfield in the league was during the 1993/94 season and since then it has been eight wins and four draws for the Reds, including eight wins in the last 10 meetings.
Walker’s Word: Tottenham’s misery to continue at 8/11 (UK Betting)
Arsenal vs Sheffield United
Arsenal won their first match of the season last weekend against Manchester United and are set to continue in that vain against rock-bottom Sheffield United. The Gunners will not get a better opportunity to win their first match at the new Emirates Stadium against a goal-shy Blades side who have scored just two goals in five matches so far this season.
Walker’s Word: Arsenal to break their Emirates duck @ 1/5 (Coral)
Aston Villa vs Charlton Athletic
Unbeaten Aston Villa tackle a struggling Charlton side languishing in the bottom three. This fixture is usually a close affair but the Villains have enjoyed the best of the results, winning five out of the last six meetings, the other being a goalless draw. Under Martin O’Neill, Villa have won both games at Villa Park so far this season and there is real confidence at the club. Juan Pablo Angel also scored two morale boosting goals in the midweek Carling Cup victory at Scunthorpe United.
Walker’s Word: Villa’s 100% home record to continue @ 4/5 (Bet365)
Fulham vs Chelsea
Chelsea are the overwhelming favourites for this match, but you should take into account Fulham’s record against the Blues in recent years before ploughing your money in favour of Jose Mourinho’s side. Last season Fulham won this match 1-0 and indeed Chelsea have only won two of their last five encounters at Craven Cottage. After a solid win over Liverpool last weekend, a slip up against Chris Coleman’s side could happen.
Walker’s Word: Fulham to nick a point @ 10/3 (Paddy Power)
Manchester City vs West Ham United
Both teams have struggled in recent weeks but City more than most. The midweek Carling Cup exit to Chesterfield saw Stuart Pearce’s side lose their thirteenth match in 16 played – relegation form by anybody’s standards. City have the better record in this fixture, winning four out of six in the Premiership but that just makes the odds on an away win even more appealing.
Walker’s Word: A Hammers win @ 9/4 (UK Betting)
Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers
Middlesbrough suffered the humiliation of being dumped out of the Carling Cup at the Riverside Stadium by League Two outfit Notts County in the week. That result saw four matches without a win for Gareth Southgate’s side following their magnificent victory over Chelsea in August. They may fall deeper into trouble against an improving Blackburn side which has won on three of their last five visits to the North East.
Walker’s Word: An away win at good odds @ 13/5 (Totalbet)
Wigan Athletic vs Watford
Wigan have had a mixed start to this season with their only win so far a 1-0 victory over Reading. Win number two should come against another promoted side in Watford who are struggling for goals and have managed just two draws since making the step up to the top flight.
Walker’s Word: A win for Wigan @ 5/6 (Totalbet)
Reading vs Manchester United
The evening offering pits newcomers Reading against former champions Manchester United. Alex Ferguson’s side were poor against Arsenal last weekend but should have too much for Reading, especially if Wayne Rooney decides he wants to play.
Walker’s Word: United to get back on track @ 4/7 (UK Betting)
Sunday 24 September
Newcastle United vs Everton
Everton are flying high in fourth place at the moment and are capable of staging a smash and grab raid in the North East. The loss of goalkeeper Shay Given is a major blow, especially as stand-in Steve Harper was beaten from 60 yards by Xabi Alonso in midweek. Everton have not won at St James’ Park for six seasons bar a League Cup victory on penalties in 2002 but may be able to take all three points on Sunday afternoon.
Walker’s Word: Everton to shock @ 21/10 (Totalbet)
Monday 25 September
Portsmouth vs Bolton Wanderers
Typical Monday Night Football fare if ever there was. Portsmouth sit proudly at the top of the Premiership but could run out of steam against a stubborn Bolton outfit which could be galvanised further by the bad publicity surrounding manager Sam Allardyce this week. The last two meetings at Fratton Park have ended as 1-1 draws and more of the same is expected here.
Walker’s Word: A third low scoring draw in a row.
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Walker's Word - Weekend 23-25 September 2006
By David Walker
This could be the weekend Arsenal break their Emirates Stadium duck while it’s also a good opportunity for both Liverpool and Manchester United to get back to winning ways. Expect Manchester City’s dismal run of form to continue and there could also be a shock on at Crave Cottage writes David Walker.
Saturday 23 September
Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool have a great opportunity to follow up on the midweek win against Newcastle United at lunch time on Saturday. Opponents Tottenham Hotspur have had a poor start to the season, winning just once in their five Premiership matches so far and Liverpool’s record in this fixture speaks for itself. The last time Tottenham won at Anfield in the league was during the 1993/94 season and since then it has been eight wins and four draws for the Reds, including eight wins in the last 10 meetings.
Walker’s Word: Tottenham’s misery to continue at 8/11 (UK Betting)
Arsenal vs Sheffield United
Arsenal won their first match of the season last weekend against Manchester United and are set to continue in that vain against rock-bottom Sheffield United. The Gunners will not get a better opportunity to win their first match at the new Emirates Stadium against a goal-shy Blades side who have scored just two goals in five matches so far this season.
Walker’s Word: Arsenal to break their Emirates duck @ 1/5 (Coral)
Aston Villa vs Charlton Athletic
Unbeaten Aston Villa tackle a struggling Charlton side languishing in the bottom three. This fixture is usually a close affair but the Villains have enjoyed the best of the results, winning five out of the last six meetings, the other being a goalless draw. Under Martin O’Neill, Villa have won both games at Villa Park so far this season and there is real confidence at the club. Juan Pablo Angel also scored two morale boosting goals in the midweek Carling Cup victory at Scunthorpe United.
Walker’s Word: Villa’s 100% home record to continue @ 4/5 (Bet365)
Fulham vs Chelsea
Chelsea are the overwhelming favourites for this match, but you should take into account Fulham’s record against the Blues in recent years before ploughing your money in favour of Jose Mourinho’s side. Last season Fulham won this match 1-0 and indeed Chelsea have only won two of their last five encounters at Craven Cottage. After a solid win over Liverpool last weekend, a slip up against Chris Coleman’s side could happen.
Walker’s Word: Fulham to nick a point @ 10/3 (Paddy Power)
Manchester City vs West Ham United
Both teams have struggled in recent weeks but City more than most. The midweek Carling Cup exit to Chesterfield saw Stuart Pearce’s side lose their thirteenth match in 16 played – relegation form by anybody’s standards. City have the better record in this fixture, winning four out of six in the Premiership but that just makes the odds on an away win even more appealing.
Walker’s Word: A Hammers win @ 9/4 (UK Betting)
Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers
Middlesbrough suffered the humiliation of being dumped out of the Carling Cup at the Riverside Stadium by League Two outfit Notts County in the week. That result saw four matches without a win for Gareth Southgate’s side following their magnificent victory over Chelsea in August. They may fall deeper into trouble against an improving Blackburn side which has won on three of their last five visits to the North East.
Walker’s Word: An away win at good odds @ 13/5 (Totalbet)
Wigan Athletic vs Watford
Wigan have had a mixed start to this season with their only win so far a 1-0 victory over Reading. Win number two should come against another promoted side in Watford who are struggling for goals and have managed just two draws since making the step up to the top flight.
Walker’s Word: A win for Wigan @ 5/6 (Totalbet)
Reading vs Manchester United
The evening offering pits newcomers Reading against former champions Manchester United. Alex Ferguson’s side were poor against Arsenal last weekend but should have too much for Reading, especially if Wayne Rooney decides he wants to play.
Walker’s Word: United to get back on track @ 4/7 (UK Betting)
Sunday 24 September
Newcastle United vs Everton
Everton are flying high in fourth place at the moment and are capable of staging a smash and grab raid in the North East. The loss of goalkeeper Shay Given is a major blow, especially as stand-in Steve Harper was beaten from 60 yards by Xabi Alonso in midweek. Everton have not won at St James’ Park for six seasons bar a League Cup victory on penalties in 2002 but may be able to take all three points on Sunday afternoon.
Walker’s Word: Everton to shock @ 21/10 (Totalbet)
Monday 25 September
Portsmouth vs Bolton Wanderers
Typical Monday Night Football fare if ever there was. Portsmouth sit proudly at the top of the Premiership but could run out of steam against a stubborn Bolton outfit which could be galvanised further by the bad publicity surrounding manager Sam Allardyce this week. The last two meetings at Fratton Park have ended as 1-1 draws and more of the same is expected here.
Walker’s Word: A third low scoring draw in a row.
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Thursday, September 21, 2006
A Bung, Bung, Bungalow in Baghdad
I’m not the type of man who makes disparaging comments about a person’s individual beliefs, but anyone who visits a psychic should be institutionalised. The wife is a prime example, when I questioned why she regularly throws her money away on such an obvious scam, she screamed, “It’s not a con, Zelda doesn’t even charge, she just asks for a voluntary £10 contribution.” If she was any slower she’d stop.
I’m a huge cynic of all things ‘supernatural’, although I have to admit to being slightly nervous when I received a videotape that was accompanied with a warning: ‘Watch this, and within 7 days you will die’. It turned out it was an entire episode of Soccer AM, and boredom related deaths were a genuine possibility.
There are a few people like the wife who believe that Arsenal’s new home is cursed. Even if the Emirates stadium was built on an Indian burial ground, with a tribe of Indians actually visiting at the time, there’s only one possible result when Sheff U roll into town. Back the Gunners at a spooky 1/5.
If anyone should be charging for psychic visions, it’s Roy ‘I see dead people’ Keane. The former United hard-man announced before the Arsenal match that Rooney had done nothing in the game; Wayne’s performance placed an exclamation mark at the end of his sentence. The tubster will be looking to regain his form when United travel to the Madejski stadium to face Reading; Man U will win at a knee-shattering 8/15.
Steve Coppell famously completed an economics degree while playing for United; a hugely impressive feat, most modern day footballers can’t count to 21 without thinking of Maria Sharapova. (I get to 20 ½.) Even the numerically gifted Reading manager could have a problem keeping score, United are a worth a nibble at 5/1 to score four or more goals.
Jose Mourinho’s decision to play Ballack, Lampard, Essien and Makelele in the Chelsea midfield has even upset the wife, I overheard her on the phone to her mother complaining about a serious lack of width. Ballack’s suspension for marching over Sissoko may be a blessing in disguise for Chelsea, I fancy the Champions at 4/9 to leave Fulham with three points.
After claiming the press were wrong to criticise Lampard, Mourinho then stripped him of his penalty taking duties. The last time a Lamp was rubbed up the wrong way in a similar fashion was when I had a small part in Aladdin. We’d both had a few. With Ballack out of the frame, Lampard is a 6/1 shot to score from the penalty spot.
You can’t fancy Tottenham to leave Liverpool with anything but a beating. Spurs have only scored in one league match this season, yet Popeye look-alike Martin Jol refuses to start goal-getter extraordinaire Jermain Defoe. Tottenham haven’t won a Premiership match at Anfield since ’93, a bet on Spurs to reverse that trend would be the costliest mistake since Chris Tarrant offered a school teacher a 4th lifeline. If Tottenham win this, i’ll give up betting and move to Iraq; the Pool are the weekend nap at 4/6.
It’s a bit of a lottery for first goal scorer bettors, but the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind: Kuyt is a tasty 5/1 shot.
Blackburn played Boro three times last season, and won them all. (Two of those were at the Riverside.) Be warned though, much like with women, previous results should not be used as a reliable indicator for future prospects. I’m happy to make an exception with Blackburn at a huge 5/2.
McCarthy looks the call in the first goalscorer market. At the age of 29, you could say that Benny’s at a crossroads in his career; you’ll get a decent run for your money at 8/1.
Glenn Roeder had to apologise to West Ham fans this week, and surprisingly, it wasn’t for relegating their team of superstars. Everton have conceded 18 goals on their last 6 visits to St James’ Park; another Newcastle win appeals at 5/4.
I feel a little bit sorry for Harry Redknapp, he’s been the subject of more enquiries than the 118-118 guys, but it hasn’t affected Pompey’s start to the season. Bolton have left Fratton Park with a point on their last two visits, another draw should be backed at 9/4.
It’s confession time; I’ve backed the USA to regain the Ryder Cup. I’m not a great fan of the Yanks as a rule; their national sport is rounders, they call British Bulldogs ‘football’, and most annoyingly of all, their sportsmen have a tendency to thank Jesus 37 times whenever they put a ball in a hole or run 100 yards without falling over.
For all their faults, it’s an undisputable fact that American golfers are superior to European golfers. Europe are favourites for the Ryder Cup thanks to recent history; but if school has taught us anything, it’s that history is unimportant. The USA are still available at 11/8; that’s the actual definition of value.
The acc of the week:
The accer this week is so indisputable; Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams, George Galloway and George Bush are considering uniting to voice their support. Liverpool, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Blackburn and Man Utd are the chosen five, the payout is an eye-catching 20/1.
The quote of the week
“To be 13 points behind United after 4 games would have been a disaster.”
Lee Dixon shows off on MOTD2.
The lay man:
If you can’t score, you can’t win. The exchanges were invented so we could lay Tottenham at 5/1.
Weekend Betting:
Liverpool v Tottenham Saturday 23rd September 12.45 Live on Sky
Liverpool 4/6
Draw 13/5
Tottenham 9/2
Get on: Liverpool
Match Special:
Liverpool to keep a clean sheet 6/5
Arsenal v Sheff Utd Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Arsenal 1/5
Draw 5/1
Sheff Utd 16/1
Get on: Arsenal
Match Special:
Fabregas to score at any time 10/3
Aston Villa v Charlton Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Aston Villa 4/5
Draw 5/2
Charlton 4/1
Get on: Aston Villa
Match Special:
Aston Villa to win 2-0 7/1
Fulham v Chelsea Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Fulham 15/2
Draw 10/3
Chelsea 4/9
Get on: Chelsea
Match Special:
John Terry to score with a header 8/1
Man City v West Ham Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Man City 5/4
Draw 9/4
West Ham 21/10
Get on: West Ham
Match Special:
West Ham to score three or more goals 13/2
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Middlesbrough 11/10
Draw 9/4
Blackburn 5/2
Get on: Blackburn
Match Special:
McCarthy to score the only goal of the game 50/1
Wigan v Watford Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Wigan 10/11
Draw 23/10
Watford 7/2
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
No goalscorer in the game 8/1
Reading v Man Utd Saturday 23rd September 17.15 Live on Premiership Plus
Reading 6/1
Draw 11/4
Man Utd 8/15
Get on: Man Utd
Match Special:
Rooney to score two or more goals 9/2
Newcastle v Everton Sunday 24th September 16.00 Live on Sky
Newcastle 5/4
Draw 9/4
Everton 9/4
Get on: Newcastle
Match Special:
Martins to score the first goal 13/2
Portsmouth v Bolton Monday 25th September 20.00 Live on Sky
Portsmouth Evs
Draw 9/4
Bolton 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Match to finish 1-1 11/2
The Ryder Cup Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th September Live on Sky
Europe 8/11
Tie 11/1
USA 11/8
Get on: USA
Special:
Phil Mickelson to be the USA’s top scorer 13/2
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
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I’m a huge cynic of all things ‘supernatural’, although I have to admit to being slightly nervous when I received a videotape that was accompanied with a warning: ‘Watch this, and within 7 days you will die’. It turned out it was an entire episode of Soccer AM, and boredom related deaths were a genuine possibility.
There are a few people like the wife who believe that Arsenal’s new home is cursed. Even if the Emirates stadium was built on an Indian burial ground, with a tribe of Indians actually visiting at the time, there’s only one possible result when Sheff U roll into town. Back the Gunners at a spooky 1/5.
If anyone should be charging for psychic visions, it’s Roy ‘I see dead people’ Keane. The former United hard-man announced before the Arsenal match that Rooney had done nothing in the game; Wayne’s performance placed an exclamation mark at the end of his sentence. The tubster will be looking to regain his form when United travel to the Madejski stadium to face Reading; Man U will win at a knee-shattering 8/15.
Steve Coppell famously completed an economics degree while playing for United; a hugely impressive feat, most modern day footballers can’t count to 21 without thinking of Maria Sharapova. (I get to 20 ½.) Even the numerically gifted Reading manager could have a problem keeping score, United are a worth a nibble at 5/1 to score four or more goals.
Jose Mourinho’s decision to play Ballack, Lampard, Essien and Makelele in the Chelsea midfield has even upset the wife, I overheard her on the phone to her mother complaining about a serious lack of width. Ballack’s suspension for marching over Sissoko may be a blessing in disguise for Chelsea, I fancy the Champions at 4/9 to leave Fulham with three points.
After claiming the press were wrong to criticise Lampard, Mourinho then stripped him of his penalty taking duties. The last time a Lamp was rubbed up the wrong way in a similar fashion was when I had a small part in Aladdin. We’d both had a few. With Ballack out of the frame, Lampard is a 6/1 shot to score from the penalty spot.
You can’t fancy Tottenham to leave Liverpool with anything but a beating. Spurs have only scored in one league match this season, yet Popeye look-alike Martin Jol refuses to start goal-getter extraordinaire Jermain Defoe. Tottenham haven’t won a Premiership match at Anfield since ’93, a bet on Spurs to reverse that trend would be the costliest mistake since Chris Tarrant offered a school teacher a 4th lifeline. If Tottenham win this, i’ll give up betting and move to Iraq; the Pool are the weekend nap at 4/6.
It’s a bit of a lottery for first goal scorer bettors, but the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind: Kuyt is a tasty 5/1 shot.
Blackburn played Boro three times last season, and won them all. (Two of those were at the Riverside.) Be warned though, much like with women, previous results should not be used as a reliable indicator for future prospects. I’m happy to make an exception with Blackburn at a huge 5/2.
McCarthy looks the call in the first goalscorer market. At the age of 29, you could say that Benny’s at a crossroads in his career; you’ll get a decent run for your money at 8/1.
Glenn Roeder had to apologise to West Ham fans this week, and surprisingly, it wasn’t for relegating their team of superstars. Everton have conceded 18 goals on their last 6 visits to St James’ Park; another Newcastle win appeals at 5/4.
I feel a little bit sorry for Harry Redknapp, he’s been the subject of more enquiries than the 118-118 guys, but it hasn’t affected Pompey’s start to the season. Bolton have left Fratton Park with a point on their last two visits, another draw should be backed at 9/4.
It’s confession time; I’ve backed the USA to regain the Ryder Cup. I’m not a great fan of the Yanks as a rule; their national sport is rounders, they call British Bulldogs ‘football’, and most annoyingly of all, their sportsmen have a tendency to thank Jesus 37 times whenever they put a ball in a hole or run 100 yards without falling over.
For all their faults, it’s an undisputable fact that American golfers are superior to European golfers. Europe are favourites for the Ryder Cup thanks to recent history; but if school has taught us anything, it’s that history is unimportant. The USA are still available at 11/8; that’s the actual definition of value.
The acc of the week:
The accer this week is so indisputable; Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams, George Galloway and George Bush are considering uniting to voice their support. Liverpool, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Blackburn and Man Utd are the chosen five, the payout is an eye-catching 20/1.
The quote of the week
“To be 13 points behind United after 4 games would have been a disaster.”
Lee Dixon shows off on MOTD2.
The lay man:
If you can’t score, you can’t win. The exchanges were invented so we could lay Tottenham at 5/1.
Weekend Betting:
Liverpool v Tottenham Saturday 23rd September 12.45 Live on Sky
Liverpool 4/6
Draw 13/5
Tottenham 9/2
Get on: Liverpool
Match Special:
Liverpool to keep a clean sheet 6/5
Arsenal v Sheff Utd Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Arsenal 1/5
Draw 5/1
Sheff Utd 16/1
Get on: Arsenal
Match Special:
Fabregas to score at any time 10/3
Aston Villa v Charlton Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Aston Villa 4/5
Draw 5/2
Charlton 4/1
Get on: Aston Villa
Match Special:
Aston Villa to win 2-0 7/1
Fulham v Chelsea Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Fulham 15/2
Draw 10/3
Chelsea 4/9
Get on: Chelsea
Match Special:
John Terry to score with a header 8/1
Man City v West Ham Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Man City 5/4
Draw 9/4
West Ham 21/10
Get on: West Ham
Match Special:
West Ham to score three or more goals 13/2
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Middlesbrough 11/10
Draw 9/4
Blackburn 5/2
Get on: Blackburn
Match Special:
McCarthy to score the only goal of the game 50/1
Wigan v Watford Saturday 23rd September 15.00
Wigan 10/11
Draw 23/10
Watford 7/2
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
No goalscorer in the game 8/1
Reading v Man Utd Saturday 23rd September 17.15 Live on Premiership Plus
Reading 6/1
Draw 11/4
Man Utd 8/15
Get on: Man Utd
Match Special:
Rooney to score two or more goals 9/2
Newcastle v Everton Sunday 24th September 16.00 Live on Sky
Newcastle 5/4
Draw 9/4
Everton 9/4
Get on: Newcastle
Match Special:
Martins to score the first goal 13/2
Portsmouth v Bolton Monday 25th September 20.00 Live on Sky
Portsmouth Evs
Draw 9/4
Bolton 3/1
Get on: Draw
Match Special:
Match to finish 1-1 11/2
The Ryder Cup Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th September Live on Sky
Europe 8/11
Tie 11/1
USA 11/8
Get on: USA
Special:
Phil Mickelson to be the USA’s top scorer 13/2
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Japanese soccer news
J-League news: Gamba still on top
A typhoon bearing down on Kyushu failed to help the locals as Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuoka went down to Gamba Osaka and Yokohama F. Marinos respectively. The tricky conditions in Oita failed to halt Gamba striker Ryuji Bando's recent good form, as he struck twice before half-time to lead Gamba to a 2-0 win.
Urawa Reds kept hot on the heels of the leaders with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Substitute midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada scored an 86th winner that pulled Urawa two points clear of Kawasaki Frontale, who lost 4-3 at home to Jubilo Iwata.
One of the matches of the round took place at the National Stadium in Tokyo, where fourth-placed Shimizu S-Pulse took on fifth-placed rivals Kashima Antlers. It was the Antlers who came out on top in this one, as wonder strikes from Fernando and Takuya Nozawa gave Kashima a two goal advantage. Takuma Edamura pulled one back for S-Pulse but they must be rueing their decision to play the match away from Nihondaira Stadium, which has been a fortress for the Wingheads in recent weeks.
At the foot of the table, Kyoto Purple Sanga occupy the promotion/relegation place despite scoring a 1-0 victory over big-spending FC Tokyo. Kyoto remain in 16th on the ladder, five points behind Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Cerezo's 3-2 win at home to JEF United failed to improve their league position and they look unlikely to retain their J1 status.
Vissel Kobe and Kashiwa Reysol remain deadlocked at the top of J-League Division Two, as both clubs posted victories at the weekend. Yokohama FC remain one point behind the two former J1 teams, after defeating Mito Hollyhock away from home.
Controversy at Kanagawa derby
There was controversy following the clash between Yokohama F. Marinos and neighbours Kawasaki Frontale on September 9, after it was alleged that Liberal Democratic Party used the match to promote itself . The distribution of political literature and the bearing of political slogans is forbidden at J-League grounds, however it is alleged that LDP members filled one section of the Nissan Stadium and raised a banner depicting an LDP politician. Yokohama F. Marinos are continuing to investigate the incident.
Players overseas
A week of mixed fortunes for Japanese players around Europe. While Nakamura and Takahara excelled, neither Mitsuo Ogasawara or Masahi Oguro saw action in the Serie A at the weekend. As expected, Takayuki Suzuki failed to make the squad for Red Star's mid-week UEFA Cup trip to Slovan Liberec however Junichi Inamoto fared better, starting in his first ever Istanbul derby on Saturday.
Shunsuke Nakamura: Celtic
Nakamura became the first Japanese player to score at the top level of European football since Yasuhiko Okudera did so for 1.FC Köln in the 1979 European Cup. Nakamura scored Celtic's second goal with a trademark curling free-kick in a 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Naohiro Takahara: Eintracht Frankfurt
After scoring in his first game for Frankfurt in the German Cup last week, Takahara made a dream Bundesliga debut. Having lobbed narrowly wide in the 27th minute, Takahara executed a textbook header in the 55th minute to cancel out an earlier Leverkusen strike and send Frankfurt on the road to victory.
Daisuke Matsui: Le Mans
Any hopes Daisuke Matsui had of making an impression on new Japan coach Ivica Osim may be on the wane, as he was left on the bench for Le Mans away win at Sedan at the weekend. He replaced injured striker Ismael Bangoura in the 72nd minute.
Koji Nakata: FC Basel
Koji Nakata did little to assist his struggling team, scoring an own goal in a shock 2-0 defeat to last-placed FC Luzern at the weekend.
Junichi Inamoto: Galatasaray
On the same weekend that Inamoto's nemesis Brian Robson left his old club West Bromwich Albion, Inamoto was starting in his first ever Istanbul derby for Galatasaray against arch-rivals Besiktas. Inamoto's team won the match 1-0.
FIFA Club World Cup 2006
FIFA recently announced a prizepool of USD 15 million for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, with USD 4.5 million going to the winners of the annual event. Each participant in the tournament is guaranteed a payout of at least USD 1 million. The six teams competing for this year's prize are: FC Barcelona (Europe), Internacional (South America), Club América (North America) and Auckland City FC (Oceania), as well as the champions of the Asian Champions League and the African Champions League.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
A typhoon bearing down on Kyushu failed to help the locals as Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuoka went down to Gamba Osaka and Yokohama F. Marinos respectively. The tricky conditions in Oita failed to halt Gamba striker Ryuji Bando's recent good form, as he struck twice before half-time to lead Gamba to a 2-0 win.
Urawa Reds kept hot on the heels of the leaders with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Substitute midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada scored an 86th winner that pulled Urawa two points clear of Kawasaki Frontale, who lost 4-3 at home to Jubilo Iwata.
One of the matches of the round took place at the National Stadium in Tokyo, where fourth-placed Shimizu S-Pulse took on fifth-placed rivals Kashima Antlers. It was the Antlers who came out on top in this one, as wonder strikes from Fernando and Takuya Nozawa gave Kashima a two goal advantage. Takuma Edamura pulled one back for S-Pulse but they must be rueing their decision to play the match away from Nihondaira Stadium, which has been a fortress for the Wingheads in recent weeks.
At the foot of the table, Kyoto Purple Sanga occupy the promotion/relegation place despite scoring a 1-0 victory over big-spending FC Tokyo. Kyoto remain in 16th on the ladder, five points behind Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Cerezo's 3-2 win at home to JEF United failed to improve their league position and they look unlikely to retain their J1 status.
Vissel Kobe and Kashiwa Reysol remain deadlocked at the top of J-League Division Two, as both clubs posted victories at the weekend. Yokohama FC remain one point behind the two former J1 teams, after defeating Mito Hollyhock away from home.
Controversy at Kanagawa derby
There was controversy following the clash between Yokohama F. Marinos and neighbours Kawasaki Frontale on September 9, after it was alleged that Liberal Democratic Party used the match to promote itself . The distribution of political literature and the bearing of political slogans is forbidden at J-League grounds, however it is alleged that LDP members filled one section of the Nissan Stadium and raised a banner depicting an LDP politician. Yokohama F. Marinos are continuing to investigate the incident.
Players overseas
A week of mixed fortunes for Japanese players around Europe. While Nakamura and Takahara excelled, neither Mitsuo Ogasawara or Masahi Oguro saw action in the Serie A at the weekend. As expected, Takayuki Suzuki failed to make the squad for Red Star's mid-week UEFA Cup trip to Slovan Liberec however Junichi Inamoto fared better, starting in his first ever Istanbul derby on Saturday.
Shunsuke Nakamura: Celtic
Nakamura became the first Japanese player to score at the top level of European football since Yasuhiko Okudera did so for 1.FC Köln in the 1979 European Cup. Nakamura scored Celtic's second goal with a trademark curling free-kick in a 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Naohiro Takahara: Eintracht Frankfurt
After scoring in his first game for Frankfurt in the German Cup last week, Takahara made a dream Bundesliga debut. Having lobbed narrowly wide in the 27th minute, Takahara executed a textbook header in the 55th minute to cancel out an earlier Leverkusen strike and send Frankfurt on the road to victory.
Daisuke Matsui: Le Mans
Any hopes Daisuke Matsui had of making an impression on new Japan coach Ivica Osim may be on the wane, as he was left on the bench for Le Mans away win at Sedan at the weekend. He replaced injured striker Ismael Bangoura in the 72nd minute.
Koji Nakata: FC Basel
Koji Nakata did little to assist his struggling team, scoring an own goal in a shock 2-0 defeat to last-placed FC Luzern at the weekend.
Junichi Inamoto: Galatasaray
On the same weekend that Inamoto's nemesis Brian Robson left his old club West Bromwich Albion, Inamoto was starting in his first ever Istanbul derby for Galatasaray against arch-rivals Besiktas. Inamoto's team won the match 1-0.
FIFA Club World Cup 2006
FIFA recently announced a prizepool of USD 15 million for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, with USD 4.5 million going to the winners of the annual event. Each participant in the tournament is guaranteed a payout of at least USD 1 million. The six teams competing for this year's prize are: FC Barcelona (Europe), Internacional (South America), Club América (North America) and Auckland City FC (Oceania), as well as the champions of the Asian Champions League and the African Champions League.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
Pim Verbeek interview
When were you offered the job?
We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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K-League soccer football Pim Verbeek Korea Park Chu young Lee Young-pyo Lee Chun-soo
Copyright © John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Read an interview with Pim's younger brother Robert Verbeek, presently coach of J-League Omiya Ardija for the 2007 Season.
Robert Verbeek Interview
Canon Word Tank V30
We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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Copyright © John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Read an interview with Pim's younger brother Robert Verbeek, presently coach of J-League Omiya Ardija for the 2007 Season.
Robert Verbeek Interview
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Japanese soccer news
J-League news: Gamba still on top
A typhoon bearing down on Kyushu failed to help the locals as Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuoka went down to Gamba Osaka and Yokohama F. Marinos respectively. The tricky conditions in Oita failed to halt Gamba striker Ryuji Bando's recent good form, as he struck twice before half-time to lead Gamba to a 2-0 win.
Urawa Reds kept hot on the heels of the leaders with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Substitute midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada scored an 86th winner that pulled Urawa two points clear of Kawasaki Frontale, who lost 4-3 at home to Jubilo Iwata.
One of the matches of the round took place at the National Stadium in Tokyo, where fourth-placed Shimizu S-Pulse took on fifth-placed rivals Kashima Antlers. It was the Antlers who came out on top in this one, as wonder strikes from Fernando and Takuya Nozawa gave Kashima a two goal advantage. Takuma Edamura pulled one back for S-Pulse but they must be rueing their decision to play the match away from Nihondaira Stadium, which has been a fortress for the Wingheads in recent weeks.
At the foot of the table, Kyoto Purple Sanga occupy the promotion/relegation place despite scoring a 1-0 victory over big-spending FC Tokyo. Kyoto remain in 16th on the ladder, five points behind Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Cerezo's 3-2 win at home to JEF United failed to improve their league position and they look unlikely to retain their J1 status.
Vissel Kobe and Kashiwa Reysol remain deadlocked at the top of J-League Division Two, as both clubs posted victories at the weekend. Yokohama FC remain one point behind the two former J1 teams, after defeating Mito Hollyhock away from home.
Controversy at Kanagawa derby
There was controversy following the clash between Yokohama F. Marinos and neighbours Kawasaki Frontale on September 9, after it was alleged that Liberal Democratic Party used the match to promote itself . The distribution of political literature and the bearing of political slogans is forbidden at J-League grounds, however it is alleged that LDP members filled one section of the Nissan Stadium and raised a banner depicting an LDP politician. Yokohama F. Marinos are continuing to investigate the incident.
Players overseas
A week of mixed fortunes for Japanese players around Europe. While Nakamura and Takahara excelled, neither Mitsuo Ogasawara or Masahi Oguro saw action in the Serie A at the weekend. As expected, Takayuki Suzuki failed to make the squad for Red Star's mid-week UEFA Cup trip to Slovan Liberec however Junichi Inamoto fared better, starting in his first ever Istanbul derby on Saturday.
Shunsuke Nakamura: Celtic
Nakamura became the first Japanese player to score at the top level of European football since Yasuhiko Okudera did so for 1.FC Köln in the 1979 European Cup. Nakamura scored Celtic's second goal with a trademark curling free-kick in a 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Naohiro Takahara: Eintracht Frankfurt
After scoring in his first game for Frankfurt in the German Cup last week, Takahara made a dream Bundesliga debut. Having lobbed narrowly wide in the 27th minute, Takahara executed a textbook header in the 55th minute to cancel out an earlier Leverkusen strike and send Frankfurt on the road to victory.
Daisuke Matsui: Le Mans
Any hopes Daisuke Matsui had of making an impression on new Japan coach Ivica Osim may be on the wane, as he was left on the bench for Le Mans away win at Sedan at the weekend. He replaced injured striker Ismael Bangoura in the 72nd minute.
Koji Nakata: FC Basel
Koji Nakata did little to assist his struggling team, scoring an own goal in a shock 2-0 defeat to last-placed FC Luzern at the weekend.
Junichi Inamoto: Galatasaray
On the same weekend that Inamoto's nemesis Brian Robson left his old club West Bromwich Albion, Inamoto was starting in his first ever Istanbul derby for Galatasaray against arch-rivals Besiktas. Inamoto's team won the match 1-0.
FIFA Club World Cup 2006
FIFA recently announced a prizepool of USD 15 million for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, with USD 4.5 million going to the winners of the annual event. Each participant in the tournament is guaranteed a payout of at least USD 1 million. The six teams competing for this year's prize are: FC Barcelona (Europe), Internacional (South America), Club América (North America) and Auckland City FC (Oceania), as well as the champions of the Asian Champions League and the African Champions League.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
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World Soccer News
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Soccer Books & DVDs
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A typhoon bearing down on Kyushu failed to help the locals as Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuoka went down to Gamba Osaka and Yokohama F. Marinos respectively. The tricky conditions in Oita failed to halt Gamba striker Ryuji Bando's recent good form, as he struck twice before half-time to lead Gamba to a 2-0 win.
Urawa Reds kept hot on the heels of the leaders with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Substitute midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada scored an 86th winner that pulled Urawa two points clear of Kawasaki Frontale, who lost 4-3 at home to Jubilo Iwata.
One of the matches of the round took place at the National Stadium in Tokyo, where fourth-placed Shimizu S-Pulse took on fifth-placed rivals Kashima Antlers. It was the Antlers who came out on top in this one, as wonder strikes from Fernando and Takuya Nozawa gave Kashima a two goal advantage. Takuma Edamura pulled one back for S-Pulse but they must be rueing their decision to play the match away from Nihondaira Stadium, which has been a fortress for the Wingheads in recent weeks.
At the foot of the table, Kyoto Purple Sanga occupy the promotion/relegation place despite scoring a 1-0 victory over big-spending FC Tokyo. Kyoto remain in 16th on the ladder, five points behind Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Cerezo's 3-2 win at home to JEF United failed to improve their league position and they look unlikely to retain their J1 status.
Vissel Kobe and Kashiwa Reysol remain deadlocked at the top of J-League Division Two, as both clubs posted victories at the weekend. Yokohama FC remain one point behind the two former J1 teams, after defeating Mito Hollyhock away from home.
Controversy at Kanagawa derby
There was controversy following the clash between Yokohama F. Marinos and neighbours Kawasaki Frontale on September 9, after it was alleged that Liberal Democratic Party used the match to promote itself . The distribution of political literature and the bearing of political slogans is forbidden at J-League grounds, however it is alleged that LDP members filled one section of the Nissan Stadium and raised a banner depicting an LDP politician. Yokohama F. Marinos are continuing to investigate the incident.
Players overseas
A week of mixed fortunes for Japanese players around Europe. While Nakamura and Takahara excelled, neither Mitsuo Ogasawara or Masahi Oguro saw action in the Serie A at the weekend. As expected, Takayuki Suzuki failed to make the squad for Red Star's mid-week UEFA Cup trip to Slovan Liberec however Junichi Inamoto fared better, starting in his first ever Istanbul derby on Saturday.
Shunsuke Nakamura: Celtic
Nakamura became the first Japanese player to score at the top level of European football since Yasuhiko Okudera did so for 1.FC Köln in the 1979 European Cup. Nakamura scored Celtic's second goal with a trademark curling free-kick in a 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Naohiro Takahara: Eintracht Frankfurt
After scoring in his first game for Frankfurt in the German Cup last week, Takahara made a dream Bundesliga debut. Having lobbed narrowly wide in the 27th minute, Takahara executed a textbook header in the 55th minute to cancel out an earlier Leverkusen strike and send Frankfurt on the road to victory.
Daisuke Matsui: Le Mans
Any hopes Daisuke Matsui had of making an impression on new Japan coach Ivica Osim may be on the wane, as he was left on the bench for Le Mans away win at Sedan at the weekend. He replaced injured striker Ismael Bangoura in the 72nd minute.
Koji Nakata: FC Basel
Koji Nakata did little to assist his struggling team, scoring an own goal in a shock 2-0 defeat to last-placed FC Luzern at the weekend.
Junichi Inamoto: Galatasaray
On the same weekend that Inamoto's nemesis Brian Robson left his old club West Bromwich Albion, Inamoto was starting in his first ever Istanbul derby for Galatasaray against arch-rivals Besiktas. Inamoto's team won the match 1-0.
FIFA Club World Cup 2006
FIFA recently announced a prizepool of USD 15 million for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, with USD 4.5 million going to the winners of the annual event. Each participant in the tournament is guaranteed a payout of at least USD 1 million. The six teams competing for this year's prize are: FC Barcelona (Europe), Internacional (South America), Club América (North America) and Auckland City FC (Oceania), as well as the champions of the Asian Champions League and the African Champions League.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
Bet with Bet 365
World Soccer News
Soccer betting tips
Soccer Books & DVDs
Tags
Soccer News soccer football J-League
Pim Verbeek interview
When were you offered the job?
We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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We started talking seriously around the World Cup, before the game against Togo. At the time, we had the first meetings because officially Advocaat told the KFA on 15th June that he was leaving. I think that was three or four days after the Togo game. Before that he had a meeting with the KFA and told them that he would definitely leave the Korean national team.
That is when they came to me and said “he is leaving and we would like to go on with you.”
What was your reaction?
To be honest, my plan was to go to Europe. I had been away from my family for so long and I had more or less decided to go back to Europe and spend at least five or six months there and see what is happening.
Then this came and my family knows very well how much I like it in Korea and what I think about Korean football so they could understand that this was an offer I could not refuse. This is perhaps the only foreign job I would take because I know the country so well. I really think we can have great success.
It’s an obvious question but what are the main differences between being the assistant and head coach of South Korea?
Working with Hiddink and Advocaat is not so difficult because they give you all the freedom to organize the training sessions, to prepare team meetings and analysis and things like that. In the end, they take the final decision. You can have so many ideas yourself but in the end you always have to go to somebody who makes the final decision.
The good part is that with Hiddink and Advocaat, I never had a problem with the line-up, selection or whatever. You do a lot of the work but you never had the responsibility, that’s the biggest difference. If we win, I am responsible. If we lose, I am also responsible but that’s just a feeling.
How about the day-to-day things, the social side?
You know I always refuse interviews because of the limited time we have and also because I wanted to first have some results, know the players better and people know me better before I start talking about what the plans are.
The second part is that it is not so easy to go outside any more. Is that a big problem? For me it’s quite a big problem to be honest. I’d like to be outside and see something of the Korean culture and be among the people -drink a cup of coffee and visit a nice place. It is not so nice any more to go out and if I go out I wear a hat and sunglasses and that works but… it’s good that I have already seen a lot of Korea as now I spend my spare time inside.
The price you pay…
Yes, I knew that. I saw it with Hiddink and Advocaat. I always thought that that is the least interesting part of the job. I understand that everyone wants pictures and autographs and I try to co-operate as much as possible but it keeps you more inside and away from the social side than I like.
Has that aspect changed a lot since you became head coach?
It’s very strange. I was already here nine months and people recognize you and they say hello and take pictures but the moment they knew I was the new head coach, it was like I had scored ten goals in the World Cup!
It’s very strange but it keeps my feet on the ground because it has nothing to do with me but it’s all about my position. As the national team coach I am on television more than I was before. It’s not because I am a nice guy or because of my blue eyes but because I am the national team coach.
You are popular in Korea but after a few bad results, that could change. Are you prepared for that?
That’s the responsibility you take. I have the idea that the coaching staff and me do everything to make the team better and the players better and to win games. So as long as I have the feeling myself that I have done everything I can then I will accept everything. I have no problems at all with that. I started my coaching career in 1987 so after 19 years, nothing surprises me.
I didn’t come here to be the most popular and nice guy in Korea, I am here to get results from the national team and build up the national team.
The situation is different than the last two times you were here. Then, everything was focused on the World Cup but now there is a real chance to start from scratch.
Yes, it’s very different. We have a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I have tried to mix both but it depends a little bit on the results. It would have made my plans a lot easier if we had already qualified for the Asian Cup because then we could look toward the Asian Games, the Asian Cup and the Olympics but still now we need to get a point from the last two qualifying games.
It’s not easy to go to Iran and you know in football that everything is possible. People say “it’s only Syria at home” but in football everything is possible. We have to concentrate and bring in the best team we can find. This is no time for taking risks because that is what I’ve heard from left and right that some people still think that I don’t take enough risks.
I am not here to take risks. I am here to bring in the best players or bring in those who have a future and bring them in at the right moment like I did last week with Choi Sung-kuk. He had a very good training camp and is doing very well at Ulsan.
Who are these people who say you don’t take enough risks?
There are always people around in every job who think they know better than you – what you should and shouldn’t do. I don’t care about that as I think that is a strong point of football also. Everybody has an opinion; everybody speaks about it and is blaming players, coaches or referees. I am not stressed about it.
In answer to your question though I am trying to qualify for the Asian Cup and give young players a chance to show what they can do and also give the young players a chance to train with the best players we have in Korea. For every young player to train and play with people like Seol Ki-hyeon, Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung is great and not only in training as they hear so many stories about how it is in Europe and how you can get there.
What is the main difference between you and Advocaat?
Advocaat was here for the World Cup and everything was geared towards that. He didn't have time to think about the long-term development of the game and the players but wanted good results – that was his job – though he did help young players like Lee Ho, Kim Dong-jin and Cho Won-hee.
He always wanted good results, even in friendlies because it not only helped confidence but because he knew that in Korea, results mean everything. I think that sometimes it is more important to give young players a chance in a friendly but Advocaat’s job was the World Cup. I have more time.
In the friendly games I will use some players and let them get some experience because that is the only way that they will become better players. It is also possible to make mistakes. I think that people in Korea have some problems to accept that, they think that if you are a national team player then you cannot make mistakes.
Last Saturday (in the 1-1 draw with Iran in which Iran scored in the last-minute to earn a 1-1 draw) we brought in one of the youngest and most talented young goalkeepers that we have in Korea (Kim Young-kwang). He played two very good games for us and we had no complaints at all. He did very well in training and he’s involved in one goal. I think there are three other players involved in that situation who made the first three mistakes. But people ask ‘why didn’t he play Woon-jae?”
In that situation where a mistake leads to a goal, what do you say to the players after a game?
After the game I didn’t say anything because I know from my experience that there is too much emotion. If you win there is a lot of emotion but it’s different but last week the level of disappointment was so high for everybody.
Nobody expected that we would concede a goal – nobody, because they had no chances at all. I told the players that I would say what I wanted to say on the next day. First you have to let the emotion slide away and then the next day they are more open to what I have to say.
So what did you say?
Of course, it was all to do with concentration, like it was in the World Cup. Without blaming Choi Jin-cheul but we knew exactly how Switzerland take the free-kicks and the corner kicks. When they take a free-kick and their most important player scores a goal then it has to do without concentration.
At that moment we were chasing the game and the consequences of losing concentration and playing for themselves are serious. Nam-il said that to the media, I never knew it but he said it anyway and I think everybody agreed with it and even the players agree. We showed them video analysis and we showed them what we didn’t do well. It’s nothing to do with the result but if you want to be a better team we need to avoid things like that.
So you agree with what Kim Nam-il said? (the new captain criticized overseas players such as Seol Ki-hyeon and Park Ji-sung for not playing for the team)
I fully agree. The players agree also with me. I can understand because I have been in Korea a long time already. The moment some players get the ball, the fans go crazy so the players always want to show how good they are and they want to entertain. I told them “do that when it is 6-0” and even then I think you should still play for the team.
We gave examples when everybody was there, I know it’s not really Korean style to confront players with what they did wrong but they know me well enough to know that we have to learn from our mistakes.
I’m not hiding. I think that everybody can make mistakes but you have to be alert and aware enough to know that you have made a mistake and the next time you should not make a mistake. If you make the same mistake three times and then you’re out.
The European-based players are used to getting criticised by the coach. I think I was fair; I showed them and didn’t say anything stupid after the game by yelling or shouting. That’s useless.
What about the World Cup? What were your thoughts on the team’s performance in 2006?
We still think and everybody thinks that the players could have done better. That’s easy to say but afterwards you need to find out what the problems are. For me it was easy because we had too short preparation time – that’s one.
Secondly, the players who are the most important players in your team at that moment, all of them came unfit – through an injury or not playing games for their clubs for the last four, five or six months.
For example Ahn Jung-hwan, Seol Ki-hyeon, Park Ji-sung –he came with an injury, he missed the first three weeks and he is a key player for us. So, the pressure and responsibility fell on the shoulders of players who are not the kind of players who can take it.
We knew that because of the lack of preparation that the players would get better as they played more games and we were 100% sure that it we reached the second round then the players would get much, much better – Park Ji-sung was much better in the final game than he was in the first or second game. He hadn’t played for four weeks. That was bad for him, the pressure on his shoulders was so big, he’s playing in Europe and everybody expects so much. You know how many commercials they made over here.
That was one of the most important reasons why we didn’t go to the second round. The first game we were under a lot of pressure, everybody expects us to win against Togo but it’s the first game for a lot of players in the World Cup. In the second game against France, we did much better and against Switzerland it’s all or nothing.
We gave an unnecessary goal away then you know you have to score a minimum of two.
What about the second Switzerland goal?
I still think it’s offside but I’ve seen so many times in football than a goal is 100% offside for one referee and the next referee doesn’t even look at it. I think that nobody knows what the exact rules are.
Many in Korea felt that the tactics and formations were too defensive, especially against Togo when Korea were leading 2-1 and against ten men and Switzerland, what would you say to that?
I don’t agree – at all. The only thing that matters in the first game is winning -three points. It was the same situation last week against Iran. We are winning 1-0 and the three points are very important. You can do two things and say ‘OK, we are going for 2-0 and then the game is finished but if that is not possible you say ‘OK, take the three points’.
I still think that Togo was dangerous in the counter-attack so why make it stupid for yourself and allow them a chance to make it 2-2? Three points is most important. Even with the next game against France, we always knew from the start that the Swiss game would be the most decisive game.
It’s easy to say three games afterwards that we should have scored more goals –if, if, if. Afterwards, I also know exactly what went well and what went wrong. I have no problems if people think that way but only one person makes the decision.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for some of Korea’s players. For example, you omitted Ahn Jung-hwan from the Iran squad as he is currently without a club. What advice would you give to him to get back in the national team?
He knows also that he was gambling. He must have been gambling, I am not involved and I am not his agent but I am 100% sure that there were some teams interested in him and probably they were not at the level he had in mind to play at for the rest of his career.
That’s gambling – he took a risk to wait for a better possibility. Everybody is responsible for his own decisions and I think this is the wrong decision. I am sure that he thinks the same. Even if he doesn’t play in the biggest league in the world he is still playing football and he is still at an age where he can play for another two or three years. Put yourself in one of those leagues and if you score 20 goals in one of those so-called ‘minor leagues’ then you are still an interesting player.
What are the chances of him playing for the national team again?
At this moment –absolutely zero. There is no chance. I really like him as a player because he is a player that can decide any game. I was really thinking about using him in the Iran game because even in the last 15-20 minutes, he can do a job and score a goal.
It is impossible. I can’t defend my decision to the outside world to take a player without a club who hasn’t played a game for two months. Secondly, I knew that Jung Jo-gook was playing well in Seoul and if you leave out a talented player like Park Chu-young saying that he’s not playing so well then how can you select a player without a club?
I can still think about his qualities but you can’t take a player who is not playing and has no future.
If he joins a team, it doesn’t matter so much what kind of team and what kind of league, as long as he’s playing football?
Yes, for me it doesn’t make a difference. There are no players in Korea at the moment with his qualities. Jo-gook is a good player for the future but we don’t have players like Ahn who can decide the game out of nothing. He is an experienced player and really wants to play in the Asian Cup.
Why do you think he has such problems with his club career?
If I am the coach of a club then I would look at his resume and to be honest, he didn’t have so many appearances in France and then he went to Germany and played twice in five months. He is 30 years old and coaches start thinking that maybe he isn’t one of the cheapest players and then they think he’s too risky.
I still think that for a lot of teams that he can be an interesting player. If any coach calls me I will tell him Ahn’s qualities.
I would also say that he was not lucky in Germany. He arrived at a bad time. The moment he arrived in Duisberg, the team started winning without him. For a new player, that’s a disaster, it’s good for the club but not for the player. I understand the coach, he’s winning without Ahn so why change?
He was unlucky because I spoke with the director and the coach before they bought him. I explained to them exactly what kind of player he is and they said that desperately needed a type like that – they were so positive and so enthusiastic so they took him but then they started winning without him, then it’s difficult.
For us he was a starting member but he didn’t show in the three weeks before the World Cup that he was fit enough, mentally fit enough and that he was sharp enough to start in the World Cup.
It was the same with Seol Ki-hyeon. I think nobody in England could foresee that Seol is playing as well as he is doing now. If you look at his time with Wolves, especially the last six months, he was never in the team. Could you have told anybody that a player who couldn’t play in a second division team in England is now one of the most attractive players in the Premiership?
How about Lee Chun-soo? He had a chance of a trial in England but he turned it down.
I didn’t know that until last week. I haven’t spoken to him about it but I can understand as he wants to go abroad.
Would he do well in England?
I think Chun-soo can play in any game, anywhere in Europe because he has many special qualities though he still has a lot to learn. A lot of coaches and teams would be very happy to have a player like that who is left and right footed, he can score goals and he can score free-kicks. He’s willing to work for 90 minutes. A fit Lee Chun-soo is for any team, except perhaps the top three in the big leagues, a good player.
Many Dutch teams would be very happy to have a player like him. The only problem is that we don’t have the money to have a player like Lee Chun-soo. That’s a pity because I still think that the Dutch league is for any player, especially from Asia, to show themselves and get used to the European level, is a good league.
Also there was Lee Young-pyo and his near move to Roma, what was your take on that?
I saw him play for Spurs recently in the right-full back position. I saw that the left full-back they bought from Lens in France was doing a very good job. I think that Young-pyo also knows that the left-sided position will not be easy for him.
I don’t know. I spoke to him and said “if you your future is at Spurs then you have to focus on the right full-back position because I think the left back is doing a good job.”
I have no idea why he didn’t go to Roma. He told me that it had nothing to do with his religion. But what the real reason was, he said ‘I will keep it to myself.”
Spurs bought a new right-back, a very promising, talented, right full-back ..
And expensive…
And expensive and I know the coach is really happy with his new signings but I also know that he was really willing to keep Young-pyo. I don’t see many players who can play left-back and right-back and have such a fantastic mentality.
How about Park Chu-young, do you think too much pressure was placed on his shoulders too quickly?
Yes – we knew that last year. Even last year we had our doubts but every ball he touched was a goal – he had the golden touch. Everybody knows also that after such a year it will be difficult – not only now but it already started in March.
From March to the World Cup he didn’t do well but we took him because he still had something special – he’s fast, he’s hard-working and he can score goals. We had our doubts before the World Cup?
What kind of doubts?
He wasn’t playing well; he didn’t score goals any more. He started not to play for the team but to go for his own chances which if you are feeling well is good but if you are not feeling well then you have to look a little bit more for your team-mates.
It was difficult for a 20 year-old player to continue at the same level. It’s not bad at this time for him to be out of the squad line-up and return to do what he’s always done, scoring goals for his club and getting his confidence back.
I’ve always said that we can use him for the next few years because he is one of our promising players. The question is how long he will stay in the deep hole that he is in at the moment. He knows – he’s intelligent. That’s the good part, he’s not acting as a star – at all. He just hangs around with the other players, working hard in training. The difference is that last year that everything he touched was a goal but this year it is going over and wide and to the goalkeeper.
One problem is that he is not a player for a three-striker system. He’s a two-striker system player where he has a free role and can run everywhere and be dangerous in front of the penalty area. So we have to change our system and use his qualities or he has to change.
Also Lee Eul-young has retired from the national team…
He said to me in the training camp that “there are so many good players – it is time for them now, they are good enough and getting better all the time, I want to focus on my own club.”
I told him that I respected what he said. I still think that technical-wise that he is one of our better players; he never makes a mistake when he has the ball. I said to him: “stay with us this week and let the young players learn from you.” He said no problem.
I respect his decision and I think he is right. The younger generation is growing very fast. He had a great career, he played in two World Cups and he played in Europe. He was a technical and very intelligent player.
Will the team miss him?
He is not a starting member any more because the younger players are coming. Everyone knows about the qualities of Baek Ji-hoon, Jung-woo, Lee Ho so they all have to fight and Doo-heon is showing himself. We have some 16 or 17 year-old players in FC Seoul, we have Oh Beom-seok who can play in several positions so it would have been difficult for Eul-yong to be a starting member but I always like that kind of player to help the younger ones. Especially in training, players like Ji-hoon can learn a lot from him.
What are your plans for the rest of the year apart from qualifying from the Asian Cup?
We're focusing on the Asian games. We have to make a quick decision about the Asian Games selection.
Are the Asian Games a big deal?
I think so. If you look at the possible selection then there are a lot of national team players, the more international experience they get, the better it is. A lot of these players will be in line to play in the Asian Cup and if you look at their age then they in 2010 they will be around 27 and the main part of the national team. Even if it isn’t the highest quality tournament, you still have to play international games and I like to have the team together.
But first we must qualify for the Asian Cup.
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