Jimmy Bullard - The World's Most Under-rated Footballer?

Jimmy Bullard. Born twenty-third of October 1978. He's currently thirty years old. Has he had the career he deserves? Hull City have just smashed their transfer fee record to sign this wonderful character at a price of £5 million. Definitely a deal worth their money.

Who can honestly say they don't like Jimmy Bullard. The guy is a fantastic person. He is a spark in the dressing room and a real character. Someone who you'd love to have in your life, someone who'd brighten your day any day of the week. So yeah a fantastic guy with a fantastic personality.

Now I bet you're thinking, so what if he's a nice guy, he has to be good at football. The thing is, he is! He is a great footballer. Someone worthy of wearing that England shirt. Someone who deserves to play for the best clubs. Someone who should be playing for a top team. He is someone who really should be at the very top.

He dislocated his kneecap in a game against Newcastle in September 2006 which threatened his career. Bullard was out for nine months and only made his return at the beginning of last year. Jimmy Bullard saved Fulham from relegation last season after returning to first team football. His influence was un-precidented at the end of the season and received a lot of recognition but nearly the amount he deserved.

Bullard chose to sign for Hull City recently and you just wonder why? Everton were interested in signing him and I'd have loved to see him play there. A team that's cemented its place in the Premiership as opposed to a newly promoted team that are still seen as a lowly club in the league despite having a wonderous debut season.

Bullard has been called up for two England matches but did not feature against Andorra nor Croatia. This makes you think, do you have to be a money grabbing, flashy player to get into the England side. Is there no hope for the likes of Jimmy Bullard who plays football because he loves the game and has a great personality as opposed to those currently in England shirts. Bullard is someone who'd take real pride in wearing that shirt and I hope to see him in it in the very near future.

Maninder signing out.

Paul Ince - A Case Of Black And White?

Paul Ince was sacked by Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday the 16th of December after less than six months in charge. He left the club at second-bottom in the Premier League. His sacking caused a lot of talk from managers and players. Now my question is, was it a case of black and white?

How long the Premier League has waited for a black, English manager. I've bolded the word black to emphasise that as it's very important. It has waited a very long time and finally got one, cue Paul Ince. But after less than six months, he was given the axe. Was this fair?

Ince had a fantastic record at Macclesfield Town and MK Dons at the very beggining of his managerial career. He got the job at Blackburn, the fans expected a lot. What they didn't realise was that there is a huge, huge gap between the Premiership and the Championship. Macclesfield and MK Dons were in League One, so there's a bigger gap. It's a completely different ball game.

Now it's Christmas time, the time for giving and of course receiving. It's the same with Football Clubs. The January transfer window approaches us and Blackburn want the person spending the money, to know what to do. Paul Ince's Blackburn were left at second bottom. Were Blackburn going to take the risk? Were they going to give Ince more time, give him the money to spend and see if he could turn it around? No. They were going to go for a change, they needed a change. They had to do it.

How many managers and players are complaining about this? How many are complaining that Ince wasn't given enough time? Quite a lot. Dare I say it but had it been a white manager in charge and given the sack, would they be complaining? Sadly no. They are complaining because he is black and the media has twisted it to make it look as if it was a racial thing. It wasn't! Blackburn made the right choice. They had to give him the sack. It was the only way forward.

Now this is a bit irrelevant to the article but I may as well talk about this as well. Sam Allardyce. The new man in charge. The right step forward? I grudgingly admit, yes. He can grind out results. He can get lowly players in bad form, make the opposition work for the win. He may not get his team to play glamorous football but he gets the results. It may not work with bigger clubs e.g. Newcastle. But with lower clubs like Bolton and currently Blackburn it works.

Now back to Paul Ince. It was not a case of black and white. It was the right decision. It was justified. It was the only step forward. The Blackburn board are currently only concerned about survival in the Premiership. They will not lay back, relax and see how it goes with Ince. They will take immediate actions to get a change in results. Once again, no, it wasn't a case of black and white.

Maninder signing out.

My England XI

OK after England's game against Germany, what better time to post my very own England team. We all know I'm going to be England manager very soon. *Cough* in Football Manager *cough*. So anyway, without any further ado:

England have a serious goal keeper dilemma. We all know it. It's not as if they have bad keepers either. David James, Scott Carson, Paul Robinson, Robert Green and Joe Hart. You can't tell me that none of them goal keepers are capable in ability at international level. Paul Robinson is a no no for me. He just loses concentration too ofter and messes up. He over reacts to easy shots and needs to improve his keeping. There are better options available. Robert Green and Scott Carson have potential, I'll give them that. They need to improve as well though. I have to go with David James for the number one keeper. He's the best option available. He is a brilliant keeper, just occasionally does something wrong. Joe Hart would be the number two. In a few years he'll easily take the number one spot but he needs to improve on crosses. He looks very bad when they come in.

The back four is next. For the full backs the options include Gary Neville, Micah Richards, Phil Jagielka, Wes Brown, Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole and even possibly Gareth Barry. I have to go with Micah richards on the right and Ashley Cole on the left. I don't like Ashley Cole, I think he's a pathetic idiot. However, he is a brilliant defender. I have to admit it. Gary Neville doesn't deserve to start for Man Utd let alone England. Phil Jagielka is in great form for Everton but is beaten by Richards because he's not that good to be quite frank. Wes Brown has been injured recently but even if he's at full fitness, he'd be a sub. I feel sorry for him though because he hasn't put a foot wrong. Wayne Bridge doesn't even play for Chelsea.

The centre backs are quite simple. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. Now I hate John Terry as much as the next guy. I think he's a cheating, dirty little runt. With that in mind, he's still a brilliant defender. Rio Ferdinand is class. Do I need to say more? He's gone through a bad patch but he is still a world class defender. David Wheater is an up and coming name. I'd like to see him as a starter in a few years time. He is a very promising player.

Now for the wingers. First of all, I'll start off with the left as it's not as complicated. For me it has to be Ashley Young. The kid has deserved his place for a few seasons now. He's a great player. A genuine left footer who's got talent. He has to play. Stewart Downing can't. He has potential, that's all I can say good about him. He's in terrible form. No one can defend him. He doesn't deserve his place. On the right it's Jimmy Bullard. I know he's not a winger so before you start having a go at me, hear me out. There isn't place for him in the middle but he has to play. So put him on the right hand side but get him to run into the centre. The attacks don't have to come from the right wing. He can cut inside and play what is currently the Gerrard/Lampard role.

In the centre there are quite a lot of options. Let's see, there is Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and others. Owen Hargreaves isn't reliable enough. He's way too injury prone. Then again, when he's fully fit he's brilliant. During the last world cup he proved that. Let's face it, the almighty Stevie G has been useless in an England shirt for yonks. He is a brilliant player for his club no doubt. For England he's been poor. Frank Lampard is just the same. A brilliant player for his club. I wonder why? Let's see, he has the likes of Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel doing the hard work. He's just in the right place at the right time. I have to go with Michael Carrick for the first central midfielder. Arguably the best passer in the world. Definitely the best passer for England. He is just sublime. Gareth Barry is the second central midfielder. He hasn't put a foot wrong in an England shirt. He's been great when he's been given the oppurtunity (which is very rarely). He isn't an arrogant idiot like other players in the team. He is a role model for young footballers.

Now the strike force. There is a huge list of possible strikers. So what's the problem? With the likes of Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor in the mix and many more, why can't England win with ease? Michael Owen isn't fully back yet. He needs to get back fully for his club (which I doubt he will due to injuries). He's way too unreliable. Peter Crouch has a brilliant international record. No one can take that away from him. Yeah he may not be the most talented but his record is great. Wayne Rooney is a must. Probably England's best player. He has the most heart, desire and passion. He may go a bit wayward sometimes but still a brilliant player none the less. Now for the second striker. I have to go with one of my favourite players. Gabriel Agbonlahor. He has been the best English striker for the past two seasons, been good before that as well. If that's not good enough to get into the squad, I don't know what is.

So after all that, here's the squad:

-----David James----
Micah Richards--John Terry--Rio Ferdinand--Ashley Cole
Jimmy Bullard--Gareth Barry--Michael Carrick--Ashley Young
Wayne Rooney--Gabriel Agbonlahor

Subs:
Joe Hart
Wes Brown
David Wheater
Theo Walcott
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Joe Cole
Peter Crouch

Well that's all from me, Maninder signing out.

Arsenal vs Man Utd review

Final Score:

Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd

Nasri 22 Rafael Da Silva 90

Nasri 48

OK so at some points I really wanted to break my T.V. in half I was that annoyed. We were totally disappointing. We had some wonderful chances but did we take them, no? Even Arsenal had a lot of chances to be honest and if everyone took their chances it would've been about 5-3 to Arsenal.

A good start for the Reds:

We got off to a great start. We were passing it about, moving around, playing allround great football. The chances came already and we should've buried them to be honest. Wayne Rooney had an excellent chance at the start of the game. There was some great passing play and can you guess who was at the centre of it? Dimitar Berbatov. He passed it back to Wayne Rooney who unmarked but Rooney skived it over the bar.

Wayne Rooney wastes his first chance and what a chance it was. It should have been 1-0 to United but he just stuffed it up. I've been saying for quite a while now that Wayne Rooney is too inconsistent and has too many of "those days". This was one of "those days" for Rooney.

Arsenal score, some would say against the run of play:

OK I went on about the poor defending in my previous blog entry, this one won't be any different. Arsenal had a free kick on the right hand side. It was swerved in to the back post. No one in an Arsenal shirt was there and Berbatov, unbalanced, headed it out. The header went to Samir Nasri and he controlled it and smashed it goalwards. It took a deflection of Gary Neville and went in the back of the net.

First of all, it wasn't Berbatov's fault. All Berbatov was doing was clearing the ball from the area. Secondly, it was infact Gary Neville's fault. He should've been marking Samir Nasri. Was he? No. He was in the box lollygagging and when suddenly he realised Nasri was unmarked and had a chance he came running out. The ball hits him and goes in. Terrible defending by Gary Neville.

Utd's poor defending continues:

Man Utd continued with the poor defending. All four of the defenders played their part in terrible defensive play. One attack I'll point out is in the fourtyth minute. Arsenal had the ball on their left hand side of the pitch. Nicolas Bendtner and Theo Walcott were in the box. The defenders in there were Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.

Ferdinand and Evra were just standing in the middle where as Bendtner was behind them and Walcott was at the far post. The cross came into the box and Bendtner was incredibly close to getting a head onto the ball, if he did it would've been a sure goal. Evra and Ferdinand were both in the middle with Bendtner, yes both of them, but neither marked him.

The ball went to the far post where The Walcott was after missing the head of Nicolas Bendtner. Patrice Evra should have had this covered but did he? Of course not. He was still holding hands with Rio Ferdinand in the centre of the box. Walcott shot it and narrowly missed.

Arsenal start second half perfectly:

OK so after going into the changing rooms knowing you're 1-0 down and playing very badly, I thought Alex Ferguson would give his team a bollocking and turn the game around. Instead Arsenal start attacking a few minutes into the second half.

Cesc Fabregas had the ball at his feet and made a great pass through to Samir Nasri. Nemanja Vidic should have been marking him though. He had run off to some other place and Nasri was on his own. Nasri smashed the ball into the back of the net for the second.

Nemanja Vidic took the blame for that goal. It was just terrible, terrible defending throughout the game. I was shocked, I honestly was. The Man Utd skipper and three of the best defenders in the world, defending so badly was just shocking.

Neville is finally taken off:

After sixty three minutes of terrible defending, and even attacking, Gary Neville was put out of his misery and taken off by Fergie for Rafael Da Silva, a young Brazilian full-back whose twin plays on the other side of the pitch.

Gary Neville had been incredibly poor throughout the game in both attacking and defending. He was the cause of the first goal, he failed to mark Samir Nasri who struck the ball hard at goal and then it was deflected of Neville and went in.

When attacking, Man Utd had many chances but Gary Neville wasted quite a few. The ball went to Neville and instead of keeping possession, passing the ball on to the attackers, he thought he was superman and shot from about thirty yards out and gave the ball to Arsenal.

His replacement Rafael Da Silva got off to a great start. He made a couple of great tackles, already the second best player of the game for Man Utd which said a lot.

Fergie comes to his senses and replaces Rooney but it's too late:

As much as I love what Fergie's done for the club and I think he's one of the best ever managers of all time, he is just adamant that Wayne Rooney will do well every game. The fact of the matter is that he won't and he doesn't deserve to start based on current form.

Carlos Tevez should be starting in every game but why isn't he? Fergie is brainwashed into thinking that Wayne will play well every game. When Fergie finally brings Tevez on it's too late for him to make a difference.

I think that Tevez is a superb player who hasn't put a foot wrong this season. I fail to see why he starts on the bench where as Rooney is in the starting eleven every game, based on current form. Tevez was brought on with thirteen minutes to go. He can't really make much of a difference then. Man Utd are 2-0 down and his team mates are low on energy. How is he going to do well then?

Man Utd start to play well but it's too late:

Man Utd did start to play quite well for the last ten minutes but they left it too late again. Well attacking wise when they finally started to pass it about again and show that bit of elegance that they hadn't done all game.

Rafael Da Silva was playing very well in my opinion. He was making some great tackles and winning the possesion and turning the run of play. He was also making some good runs down the wing and being good support to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Utd score but it's already over:

Man Utd did finally score and it was Rafael Da Silva who did it. He pulled one back in injury time with a cracking left foot volley into the corner from the edge of the box.

Rafael was Man Utd's best player for the game despite only playing twenty seven minutes. He made such great tackles and attacking wise he was aware. He's already looking so much better than Gary Neville.

Even in injury time when Man Utd were finally looking good, Nicolas Bendtner had a chance to bury the game for the Gunners. Poor defending from Man Utd (again!) meant that Bendtner was unmarked and dribbled his way past Ferdinand and Vidic who just fell to the ground to easily but his shot went over the bar as he was off balance.

Conclusion:

It was a poor performance by Man Utd. Attacking wise, we had enough chances to win the game easily but we were unable to get that finishing touch, that finishing shot and get the goal. I was pleased that we created chances but very disappointed that we didn't make the most of them.

Defensively we were awful. With the exception of Rafael Da Silva who came on as a sub late in the game, the back four were atrocious. They weren't marking the Arsenal players which were the cause of the Arsenal goals and many goal scoring chances. They didn't close down the attacks either. Terrible game for the defenders (bar Rafael.)

Player performances:

Edwin Van der Sar: He conceded two goals and was very shaky at times again. I think Van der Sar may be past his best by date now. He's been too shaky at times to be Man Utd number one. He was Utd's first good keeper for a long time but his time has come to an end and it may be time for Foster to take over.

Gary Neville: The worst player on the pitch. What more can I say? He lost the ball. He gave away possesion. He didn't mark the Arsenal players when he should have and that's why the first goal was scored. He gave the ball away and ended Man Utd attacks when he went forward as well.

Nemanja Vidic: He had a very bad game as well. It was his fault for the second goal. He should have been marking Samir Nasri when the attack happened. That wasn't the only time he left his player unmarked. He also fell to his feet to easily and went in for too many sliding tackles unnecessarilly.

Rio Ferdinand: He had another bad game and as well as the rest of the defence did very bad. He also was not marking players when he should've been and he made some poor passes which went to Arsenal players.

Patrice Evra: I'm just basically repeating what I said for the other three defenders. He was very poor and wasn't marking players when he should have been. He was easily beaten by Theo Walcott on the left hand side and was not very good today.

Cristiano Ronaldo: He had an OK game. He had a great chance from a Park Ji-Sung pass but wasted it. He didn't have his elegance he usually has and that's probably why he didn't do too well.

Anderson: I think he had a good game to be honest. He ran around trying to get involved and made some solid passes. The only reason he was subbed was to get the breakthrough and he was just unfortunately the only player that could've been.

Michael Carrick: He wasn't really involved in the game. He was quite quiet to be honest and therefore had an average game. He also had a great chance early on in the game from a corner clearance. He should have taken the shot and took his chances.

Park Ji-Sung: He had a great game. He was the second best player for Man Utd, behind Rafael. He was running up and down all game as usual. I just love his determination and will. He is such a brilliant player. Maybe not brilliant like Ronaldo but brilliant in his own way.

Wayne Rooney: Again, he had a bad game. He had two wonderful chances early on in the game that he should have finished but he didn't. He's having too many off games and wasting his chances. He should be stripped of his starting place. That may sound harsh but Tevez should start ahead of him.

Dimitar Berbatov: I think he had a good game. He was getting involved again and was at the centre of the attacks at the beginning. He was making some great passes and runs. He was very unfortunate to be offside for two of them. The only thing I can say is that he's going to wide. He needs to be in the middle for the finish along side Rooney.

Rafael Da Silva: He was Man Utd's best player despite being on the pitch for only twenty seven minutes. He made some great tackles in defence, something none of the other defenders did today. Attacking wise he was very impressive as well. He was very aware of his surroundings and gave some great support to Ronaldo. His finish for the goal was sublime. A very impressive prospect.

Ryan Giggs: He wasn't on the pitch for long and didn't really do much. He had an average game as he didn't get involved to be honest because he wasn't on for long enough. Not much to comment on.

Carlos Tevez: I feel that he was trying too hard. He was running up and down the pitch and calling for the ball in every position. He wasn't being greedy, he just wanted to prove himself. He needed to stop for a moment and think about his runs and positioning. He's no use to anyone if he runs to the corner flag and calls for the ball there.

Wow that article took long. Well that's all from me for now.

Maninder signing out.

Man Utd so far.

In this article I'll talk about how the Man Utd team and players have done thus far in the season. I think we've been quite shaky so far and we need to up our standards if we want to win the league.

I'll start off by talking about the defence. Patrice Evra was the reason why we conceded a goal against Hull. Gary Neville is way too late with his tackles now. We're getting exposed on the right as Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't get back (don't want him to) and Neville has been totally off it. Wes Brown is injured at the moment, we need him back ASAP. It's good that Rafael is getting some Premiership games. Rio Ferdinand is a quality player, no doubting that, but he's been losing concentration at key times. We can't keep doing that. Nemanja Vidic has been great IMO and hasn't put a foot wrong.

I don't think they've been good though as the Utd standard of good has to be much higher. They should be playing at a much higher level. Especially at the moment as Chelsea are in class form. Don't get me wrong, Evra and Rio are two of the best players in the world in their respective positions but based on current form they've been poor.

Our key players have had too many off games to be honest. Ronaldo may have scored two goals at Hull but he still could've, nay should've scored a few more. He had some great oppurtunities that he just wasted. Yes he played well but not as good as he was last season. It's the same for everyone, we've just dropped our performance levels.

Wayne Rooney, to me, is very inconsistent. One game he's on fire, better than Ronaldo throughout and does so well. The next, he's just being aggressive, wasting his chances and just not doing anything useful. I think that Carlos Tevez should start ahead of him for the time being.

Another player I'd like to point out for being poor this season is Nani. He's just been very bad this season. His crosses have been poor and he keeps losing the ball when he gets it. Anderson however has been as solid as a rock thus far.

Edwin Van der Sar has been very shaky this season and we need to find a good replacement fast. Ben Foster and Thomas Kuszcak are very good back up keepers but I just can't see them either of them being the first choice keeper for Utd. We need to raise our performance levels a lot if we want to compete with Chelsea.

Here are the players I think have been solid this season:

Darren Fletcher- best player for us this season and I'm not a big Fletcher fan.
Anderson- He's made some great passes this season and hasn't done anything wrong.
Dimitar Berbatov- settled in brilliantly. Making some key runs and passes and getting involved.
Nemanja Vidic- He's been a rock in the defence which we've really needed as Neville, Rio and Evra have been off for a few games. He's a great player.

As you can see it's not a long list. If I were to list the solid players from last season it'd be literally the whole team. As I've said throughout the article, we need to raise the bar for performance if we want to win the league.

Thank you for reading my article. Please post your views on the article and where you agree/disagree with me. That's all from me for now.

Maninder signing out.

Welcome to my blog

Hi readers, this is my first ever blog so I'm new to this. However, I'm not new to writing, nor am I new to football. I'm passionate about both things. I'm going to be writing articles on football in this blog and hopefully it can be sucessful. That's all from me for now.

Maninder signing out.