Coaching For The Brave

As with everything that surrounds "Golden Balls" there has been outrage over the last week since Stuart Pearce announced that there would be no place for Beckham on the Team GB Football squad. Most of the outrage focuses on the fact that David deserves his last hurrah and that a sentimental approach should have been taken to the squad selection. So let's look at the argument... Beckham has done so much for the Olympic bid Well he's done some things but how much deserves a place on the squad? I'm not sure, he's been pictured with the flame quite a lot and has lent his presence to certain events. Is this enough or if he had done more would he have been guaranteed a place? Also, Craig Bellamy seems to have done sod all for the Olympics so how did he get his place? This argument is seriously flawed because the only reason it can be used is if by doing what he did for the bid David thought he would automatically get a place. Now, if he th...

Euro 2012 - How was it for you? After 31 matches, 76 goals only 3 red cards and a total of 35 attempts on goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, Spain were crowned the kings of Europe.  The comprehensive victory over Italy has cemented Spain's place in history as the first team to win 3 major tournaments consecutively. This morning, the team are rightly being talked about as one of, if not the best team ever. Pubs up and down the land will be full of fans debating whether  Brazil's sheer exuberant skill, Holland's Total Football, Germany's efficiency or Spain's pass and move is the greatest. In hindsight, Spain seem to have dominated Euro 2012. Winning at a canter with reserves in the tank. But, how they have made us "feel" is not that clear. As the tournament progressed, many pundits started to say they found Spain's style "boring". Mark Lawrenson even called them "a bad advertisement for football" Strangely, few continued the bad...

The transfer window will soon be open and we thought it would be good to look at the Premier League's big boys and dissect it's transfer needs. As ever feel free to disagree.  We love to hear from you. Arsenal Most Gunners will agree that last season would have been a disaster without RVP. That's why they are so frightened at the prospect of him leaving this summer. After losing Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy the loss of RVP would signal a club in decline. However, let's work on the assumption that Van Persie stays and is assisted by Podolski. In that case, Arsenal then need to be sure Wilshire is going to be back from injury. If so, they should spend money on some top quality defenders. having missed out on Cahill they should make a quick move for Jagielka.  Chelsea Be careful. If Di Mateo is in place he needs to guard against upsetting the ageing, but crucial superstars. That done, and with Hazard in the bag they need to replace Drogba. There are plenty bein...

live4footy end of season Awards As the dust begins to settle we thought it was time to take a look back at the season and hand out our Annual Awards. As ever, we hope you will let us know if you agree or disagree. We look forward to your comments. Team of the season . It's easy to say this should just go to the League Winners but there are a few contenders: How about a joint award to all three promoted teams who managed to avoid relegation? It's only the second time this has happened. Norwich  and in particular  Swansea  have played some fantastic football while  QPR  can probably count themselves lucky. Newcastle United  had massive problems as a club and have probably had the most dramatic turnaround. Many of their own fans predicted a terrible season and few fancied Alan Pardew. Shrewd signings funded by the sale of talisman Carroll and a "never say die" attitude have seen the Magpies punch way above their weight. Manc...

Every season throws up some interesting statistics so here's this seasons. If you have any other's, feel free to contribute. Liverpool's Stewart Downing had 72 shots without scoring (more than any other player) and created 55 chances without supplying an assist (more than any other player) in the Premier League. He also hit the woodwork five times. Great buy! Liverpool were the only team to convert fewer than 10% of their shots into goals this season. If all shots were goals, Liverpool would have finished third, behind Chelsea and Manchester City. Sacked Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas had a higher win percentage in league games (48.2%) than Roberto di Matteo (45.5%). Tottenham's Jermain Defoe became the first player in Premier League history to reach 20 (career) goals as a substitute. We hope England take him. Aston Villa recorded their fewest wins in a top-flight season since 1890/91 (seven), when there were only 12 teams in the division. Villa were ...

Mancini with his reward This is why we love Football and this is why we love the English Premiership! Manchester City have been crowned champions of England after an unbelievable afternoon of high drama. Back in August 2011 many pundits backed the title race to be a contest between United and City but no one could have imagined how close that contest would have been.  For years the Premiership has been labelled as predictable and  boring and when fans look back at 2012 they'll just see the headline: League Champions Manchester City but the days events, the twists and turns and the knife edge outcome should not be forgotten.  Anyone who tuned into the TV or radio broadcasts will have sat riveted as Football gave us the very best it has to offer. At the start of the day most opinions were clear cut. QPR were woeful away from home and City awesome at the Etihad Stadium. A home win was assured. So with that result sorted we also knew were the league wa...

After a packed, hectic weekend of football we now look closer to having to place a new chair at the Top Table. Manchester United's noisy neighbours are one game away from crashing the party. Worryingly, they also have the means to stay there for years.  City looked to have blown the title race a month ago but after United's very own wobble the Blues have taken charge and could seal a famous victory over their local rivals on Sunday. City fans will revel in their victory and rightly so. Fans elsewhere will bemoan the unfairness that money brings to the game.  Michel Platini will use the win as vindication of his quest to "level the playing field"  Something he never cared about when he played for the most successful and wealthiest clubs on the continent.  This is a modern, regular gripe that raises it's head at times like this. The argument goes something like this: "Out of touch Sugar Daddy, usually foreign, invests heavily in team that i...