I certainly don’t want to over simplify our role, but for me PR has always been about;
1. Understanding the story
2. Understanding the media
3. The relationship that you have with the journalist
From a personal perspective, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some fantastic journalists (many of whom I still deal with) and some great brands and clients. While this doesn’t automatically make me the next Matthew Freud, it has allowed me to gain an important understanding of the media beast, what components need to be present to make a good story and the angles that the media will be interested in.
Like any good agency, Lineup Media has to be fully aware of the daily news topics and what the media are covering (club news, player speculation and match incidents). We get our daily news intake from the national newspapers, online sites, Twitter and the radio.
Having a news overview allows us to make a decision on what relevant PR opportunities we have at our disposal and how we can turn these into coverage opportunities.
In the case of clients like FFC, we work closely with them to create PR-able stories, which follow the current news agenda and focus around stories we think are of interest. A good example of this are the Fan Polls created on the FFC site. These not only reflect topical footballing issues but also give us a true indication of what real fans are thinking.
So how do we work with the media?
As you’d expect from the World’s favourite sport, football is covered in all of the UK’s main national media – print, broadcast, online, social – and thanks to the likes of David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, the sport has migrated from being purely back page news, to a more favourable position within the national news agenda.
The ‘celebrity’ footballer has also allowed PR’s an even greater opportunity, being able to target entertainment pages, fashion sections and gossip columns.
Targeting the online media, some stories can now go live within 20 minutes of being first sold in!
Our ‘pitch’ technique is all about understanding the media you are speaking to, ideally knowing the journalist you are about to call and knowing what the key points of the story are – meaning you grab the journalists interest from the start. There is nothing worse than having to ask if a journalist is still on the other end of the phone (which of course has never happened to me).
Knowing the above will allow the journalist to make a quick decision on whether it’s something that would be of interest. Just because one media isn’t interested, it doesn’t mean that another one won’t be!
With all of that said, we are only human and sometimes don’t always hit the sweet spot. It’s at these times we are happy to discuss with the journalist what it is they are looking for and what would work best for them – let’s not forget, a bit of give and take is how all good relationships work.
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Whether we’re working with online journalists, national newspapers sports desks or men’s magazines, it is all about offering them content that their readers will enjoy reading and engage with.
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Ali Sheik is the founder of Lineup Media, a national PR agency specialising in sports, consumer, food, digital and travel clients. A calm and logical Arsenal fan, he is happy with Arsene Wenger and knows that success is only a season away.
The Roman Abramovich versus managers’ circus, continued ten minutes after Chelsea’s final day defeat against Everton, with the Russian’s widely criticised decision to sack Carlo Ancelotti. Naturally such a high profile job will link all the top managers across the world of football, with Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola and former interim manager Guus Hiddink just a couple of examples said to be on the short list for the vacancy at Stamford Bridge. However, rather surprisingly in recent days it is Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Harry Redknapp, who is said to be favourite, but should the former West Ham manager really leave White Hart Lane, to take over one of football’s hardest jobs?
Abramovich is now looking for his seventh manager in eight years since taking over Chelsea, would Redknapp accept working under an owner who demands success every season? The current Tottenham manager is very experienced, so working under pressure and stress is nothing new, but with all due respect to previous employers’ of Redknapp none of them have carried the expectations that such a club as Chelsea desires. The sixty four year old has always achieved great things with the clubs’ he has managed, West Ham established Premier League side, Portsmouth F.A Cup winners and Spurs reached the Champions League quarter finals this season, so it wouldn’t be unexpected for Redknapp to give Abramovich his desired Champions League final victory, so why would taking this job be a mad gamble by ‘Arry?
It is widely speculated that Redknapp will be the man to lead the three lions after Fabio Capello leaves after Euro 2012, but football is a fickle ol’ game. If Redknapp did become the manager of Chelsea and fail, it will see a huge negative backlash from the media and fans alike. Would we still want ‘Arry if he is out of the Stamford Bridge hot seat after six months? As much as we all want to say ‘of course’, I have my doubts. Luis Felipe Scolari was a well respected manager and the first World Cup winning manager in the Premier League, less than a season later, the former Portugal manager left with his reputation hindered; my point being it really doesn’t take a lot to be on the verge of managing England to then being rejected for a job at Suwon Bluewings!
When you look at the big picture, ‘Arry has spent years building a reputation at ‘lesser’ teams but has always been trying for that ‘big club job’, and with Spurs he has achieved it. However at sixty four a team of Chelsea’s stature will more than likely not come around again for the former Bournemouth manager. Should he take a risk that will see him either end his managerial career at Chelsea or be on the managerial scrap heap in six months? A job that will ultimately end his chance at the prestigious job that is England manager.
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Fulham manager Mark Hughes will sit down with the club to discuss a new deal in the summer, ending speculation he could move on.The former Manchester City boss has taken the Cottagers from relegation candidates to the brink of their best ever top-flight finish and that has attracted a number of clubs.
But Hughes is focussed on continuing his work at Craven Cottage.
“I’ve been speaking to the club for a number of weeks but we have not actually sat down and discussed the fine details of it,” Hughes said.
“Conversations have taken place and I am sure we will get where we want to get.”
“What I have been trying to reaffirm to everybody is that I am very happy here.”
“I have a good support network that allows me to do my job well and that is not something you walk away quickly from.”
On the subject of Sunday’s opponents, Hughes has pinpointed the moment he thinks Arsenal went from quadruple contenders to Premier League also-rans but he is aware of the threat they still pose.
“The League Cup final affected them and they haven’t seemed to have recovered from that,” Hughes said.
“They still have the potential to create chances and win Premier League games. I know in recent weeks results haven’t gone their way but they still had the ability to beat Manchester United.”
The final game of the season could give Hughes the chance to prove to striker Andrew Johnson, who has been linked with a move away in the summer, that he still has a future at the club.
“He is contracted to the club and Andy is playing really well now,” Hughes said.
“The end of the season has probably come too soon for him because he is probably looking as sharp as I have seen him.”
One striker that will not be featuring is Mousa Dembele who has been ruled out of the final game with a knee injury but midfielder Simon Davies has a chance of playing after recovering from a calf injury and making a successful return to training after missing the win over Birmingham.
Birmingham City have given notice of their intent to report Aston Villa’s alleged tapping up of Alex McLeish to the English Premier League.The Midlands rivals are engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over McLeish, who resigned from Birmingham in dubious circumstances on Sunday and is now being openly courted by Villa.
The Blues have suspected coercion from Villa since McLeish abruptly emailed his resignation to acting chairman Peter Pannu, who has demanded the club be compensated 5.4 million pounds as set out in McLeish’s contract.
Villa took the unusual step of publicly announcing their intention to interview McLeish ‘imminently’ for their vacant managerial role on Tuesday.
Feeling their suspicions have been confirmed, Birmingham have announced their forthcoming complaint to authorities in a bid to block any deal for the Scot’s signature.
“Birmingham City football club finds Aston Villa’s announcement today (Tuesday) to proceed with an interview with Alex McLeish a contempt of Premier League and FA rules,” a statement on Birmingham’s website read.
“The club feels this will taint football and give the game and the footballing authorities a bad name if this is allowed to materialise.”
“The club will do what is within its powers to prevent this and will lodge a formal complaint to the authorities tomorrow as there is now not the slightest doubt remaining about this tap up attempt.”
“Birmingham City stresses that this conduct, if condoned, will open up flood gates and set a very bad precedent.”
“This is also an attack against the intelligence and integrity of not only the Villa fans, but most importantly our fans who are badly let down after having just been relegated.”
“It is definitely a bitter pill to swallow for all fans concerned, both here and across the city.”
“Never have the two clubs seen such a strong unity between their rival fans and this unity is based on humility and integrity and what is right and fair.”
The club also responded to allegations from the League Managers’ Association that McLeish quit due to a lack of support in the transfer window and the sacking of his chief scout at St Andrews.
“The LMA’s announcement today is refuted as the club has a very rigid approval system where only players formally identified, and with approval forms signed and sanctioned by the manager personally are brought in,” the statement read.
“The chief scout was sacked only after Mr. McLeish was informed who at that time had chosen not to comment.”
“The allegations against the club, president Carson Yeung and the board are frivolous excuses and without foundation. The matter is now with Birmingham City FC’s lawyers and no further comments will be made.”
The last week saw another example of fan revolt, as the seemingly ridiculous rumour that Alex McLeish was to become the new Aston Villa manager actually came to fruition. Without knowing every single Aston Villa fan, it felt like they were all disgusted by the move.
A demonstration at the ground ensued, fans expressed their disgust on message boards, TV screens and with threats of non-attendance in the future. Nevertheless, Randy Lerner ignored the swell of opinion and made the appointment. Was he right to do so?
In theory, yes. Clubs are sadly businesses (not all would agree, as will be mentioned later), and like it or loathe it, those who sit on the board make the decisions, for better or worse. Clubs can’t be making player and managerial decisions on the whim of fans, as the fans can barely agree on anything anyway. It took some Manchester City fans two years to work out Nigel De Jong was a great footballer. There will never be a consensus on how good/bad Mark Hughes was, or even how good/bad Roberto Mancini is now. How can such a group make such important decisions? But fans are the lifeblood of a club, and when their opinion forms such a broad consensus as the Villa fans displayed last week, then perhaps they should be listened to. On the whole however decision-making must be in the hands of a few, as the bigger the number becomes, the harder it is to agree on anything. The world of politics proves that.
Fans’ power over player acquisitions should certainly be non-existent. In England, the almost unanimous system is one whereby the manager alone decides which players to buy (supported by his staff, especially scouts). Abroad, directors of football take up that role and the manager is more of a coach. Whichever system you may think is best, there can be no other way. Fans influencing buys is almost as bad as the owner deciding. It would only end in tears. Especially when the tears are crocodile tears because this particular player once had the nerve to play for THEM.
Of course for many clubs, fans already have a say directly in the way clubs are run, and this is a more logical route to follow. This involvement was brought home by the loss recently of funding to the Supporters Direct organisation by an offshoot of the Premier League, after some fruity tweets from its Chief Executive Dave Boyle led to his resignation and an excuse for funding to be withdrawn.
The examples of fan involvement in clubs are there domestically, though more widespread abroad. Supporters’ trusts sprung up after the 2002 collapse of ITV Digital, but while their intentions are always noble, they often struggled for success against teams with wealthy owners. And supporter-led ownership does not of course guarantee the best decisions or an imprint for success. Notts County’s supporters’ trust voted overwhelmingly in July 2009 to give away its majority stake to the Qadbak investment fund – not the best decision in hindsight. Stockport County, supporter-owned since 2005, went into administration in April 2009 and have finally fallen out of the Football League. Chesterfield and York City were also previously owned by supporters’ trusts, which saved their clubs from extinction in hideous crises, but then found they couldn’t take the club forward, and thus relinquished control.
A different approach can be found at myfootballclub.co.uk, where Ebsfleet United of the Bluesquare League are owned by the fans, as explained on the site:
Ebbsfleet United is owned by thousands of members, who each contribute small amounts annually, and vote on key management decisions like the budget, transfer deals, kit supplier contracts, kit design, election of Club officials, and even approve the Manager’s contract!
Abroad, supporters matter more. Barcelona and Real Madrid (amongst others) are fan-led in Spain. In the Bundesliga, most clubs are more than 50% owned by fans. Many a director would no doubt love to change this scenarion, with only 2 German teams owned by companies, but the fans’ power in maintaining this system has been impressive.
Back at home, Supporters Direct itself has also worked with supporters of the biggest clubs to form trusts either campaigning against damaging ownership or seeking a more active role.
And the aforementioned Dave Boyle would disagree about my earlier assertion that football clubs are businesses. He once said. “We believe very firmly that football clubs are community, sporting institutions, not private businesses.”
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The thought of clubs being run by supporters is also something Uefa back strongly, as they see it as the ideal model for football clubs, and they funded Supporters Direct to extend its work to fans in other countries. This is not surprising when we consider that UEFA believe that fan-led clubs will help achieve the objective of financial fair play, where clubs do not make repeated losses every year. And anything that Uefa believe promotes their idea of financial fair play was always going to be popular. They have a point though. Whilst wealthy owners will bring a greater chance of success, and bigger and bolder buys, a club run by its members is mor elikely to be managed within its means.
AFC Wimbledon are proof of the power of fans. So too are Exeter City, rejuvenated by their own fans, and Swansea City, dying on its feet a decade ago. Swansea are still 20% owned by the supporters trust, which has an elected representative on the board. Fans are the biggest constituent of a football club, and should of course be involved in its operation, direction, and whole ethos. But the only way to do that successfully sometimes is with direct involvement. All fans are entitled to their opinion and to demonstrate when they feel aggrieved, we are not robots or clones designed to turn up and accept whatever is served up in front of us, but it seems the route to greater success by fans can only be achieved by getting right inside the corridors of power. When Aston Villa fans allegedly caused Randy Lerner to abandon the idea of appointing Steve McClaren, they ended up with a far more unpopular choice. Most fans are simply hostages to their clubs’ fortunes, and you just have to hope for the best.
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The Daily Mail is reporting that Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore is on the verge of joining Chelsea.
Gugliemlo Micciche, Vice-President at the Italian club, has claimed that the Argentine midfielder is on the verge of moving to Stamford Bridge.
Despite renewed interest from PSG, Micciche claimed that the 22-year-old will be playing in the Premier League next season indicating Chelsea could be his destination.
He said: “We are talking about a great player who, in my opinion, is extraordinary.
“There is no doubt that he should be sold for several reasons. He wants a big club and negotiations are well advanced with a very important team.
“His agent is working well and if someone pays the right amount we are happy to let him go.
“Very likely he will go to Chelsea but I think there are many other clubs of that level looking at the boy.”
Micciche is a huge admirer of Pastore but seems resigned to losing the Serie A clubs midfield lynchpin.
There is speculation that a deal has already been struck and if the player does move to West London it will be a huge boost to Blues boss Andre-Villas Boas.
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He is looking to add young, vibrant players to his ageing squad and Pastore would provide an attacking threat from midfield that was lost due to Frank Lampard’s injury lay-off
A late goal from Ryan Shotton has helped Stoke City to a 1-0 win over Hajduk Split in Europa League qualifying on Thursday.The visitors defended bravely in Split before Shotton popped up to score a fortuitous 90th-minute goal and seal passage to the play-off round with a 2-0 aggregate win.
Chances were few and far between in a tepid first half with Stoke simply happy to keep the partisan home crowd at the Poljud Stadium quiet and Hajduk lacking the quality to break them down.
After the interval the match initially followed largely the same pattern with Hajduk trying to dictate the game in the midfield and Stoke content to sit and try and break down the flanks.
As the half wore on, however, Stoke’s defensive line began to drop deeper and deeper and front men Kenwyne Jones and Jonathan Walters were reduced to the role of spectators as Hajduk repeatedly prodded and probed the visitors’ backline.
Time and again, though, the Potters’ committed and organised defending denied Hajduk space in the final third, and the Croatians were reduced to tame efforts from outside the box.
There was no late rally from the home side, and instead Tony Pulis’ side confirmed their place in the next round with a late winner.
Substitute Shotton heading home from Dean Whitehead’s inviting right wing cross, despite the best efforts of Split defender Ljubo Milicevic.
So is this the year when Manchester City became title contenders?
Roberto Mancini will always be a manager under pressure at Manchester City, though he does well to hide it, grey hairs apart. What the press think and say should be irrelevant of course, but with unlimited funds available (in theory, if not in practice), his team is expected to (soon) rule the world. But as he said to the press last week:
‘This year will be different, but we want to improve on last year. We had our targets then and maybe we could have done better in the league because we were in first position [at one point]. But the players were together last year and that’s why we will be better this time.’
Over the summer he also repeatedly dismissed talk of challenging for the title. But little should be believed that comes from the mouths of managers in press conferences, and the general feeling is that City should be title contenders this season, which is reasonable. They have the investment in players, but not the experience. The question is how will they react? Last season, it was felt that Mancini had to finish in the Top Four to retain his job. Having done that, and captured the first trophy for the club in 35 years, the pressure on him and the team is reduced, but only very slightly.
What does he have to do this season? Another trophy would keep the fans happy. For the owners, who knows? A semi-educated guess would assume they want to see a challenge for the title, successful or otherwise. They, and the fans, will expect to see improvements year-on-year.
The Community Shield showed glimpses of the old City – a calamitous last-minute gaffe, a last-minute winner for Manchester United, an underwhelming performance from the men in all-blue. Very little should be gleaned from what was a friendly, albeit an ultra-competitive one, in the same way that City’s destruction of Inter Milan the previous week told us precious little either. The missed opportunity for Vincent Kompany to hold aloft the world’s biggest 50p will have been disappointing, but will soon be forgotten, along with most Community Shield results. Who won last season? No idea.
Behind the scenes, if you believed everything you read, there is anarchy, chaos, poor team morale, in-fighting, backstabbing and unprofessional behaviour on an industrial scale. Somewhere in there is an element of the truth – there seems little doubt Mancini has had a problem relationship at times with Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, over who wealds power at the club. We are used to a system in Britain of the manager having that power – of deciding who to buy and who to sell, though not always on the scale Alex Ferguson controls his club. And this is how Mancini wants it too – absolute power, his decisions, his team. Unfortunately Brian Marwood sees things a little differently. Mancini wants complete control – down to the hiring of medical staff, and what milk to have in the canteen (Cravendale, if he’s got any sense).
The team itself is strong, the squad is strong. Mancini has repeatedly said over the last week or two that he still wants a couple more signings. The rumours clearly point to a central midfielder, a right-sided midfielder and perhaps an extra central defender too. City struggled last season to mount challenges on numerous fronts, tiring in late-winter until elimination from the Europa League cleared the calendar somewhat, boosting energy levels as a result. The season ahead will be no different, and Mancini will be aware of the need for a deep squad if the team is to keep going at the business-end of the season, as they did last time around.
For City, the Champions League will be a new and exciting experience. As for what City can hope to achieve, it is hard to say – their first objective will be to progress from the group. As 3rd seeds, it could be a tough draw, especially when you consider that the German Champions Borussia Dortmund are 4th seeds. A group of death is on the cards, every sport writer’s ultimate wet dream. Secretly, Mancini would probably rather finish 4th in the group than 3rd.
Continued on Page TWO
A fairly young squad will enter the season a year older and more experienced, strengthened with three defensive signings, possibly Samir Nasri (or Wesley Sneijder, though that looks unlikely ) and a wide-man (Fiorentina’s Alessi Cerci is repeatedly mentioned in press rumours) in midfield, the exciting Sergio Aguero up front with possibly another defender on the way too.
The defence, which was the joint meanest in the Premier League last season has lost the underwhelming Jerome Boateng, and gained Gael Clichy from Arsenal, and the Montenegro defender Stefan Savic, whilst 6 foot 8 inches goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon has come in as back-up to Joe Hart, replacing the departed Shay Given.
Midfield is as you were with the odd arrival or two imminent. No one has departed but the future of Shaun Wright Phillips is up in the air, with a number of other Premiership clubs keeping a close eye on the situation (Bolton or Stoke being the likely destination should he leave). His ill-advised twitter comments this week suggest he wants to stay, but that any departure will be manager-led. Only time will tell, and an impressive pre-season has helped his cause, when two months ago his future at City looked non-existent. Elsewhere it is settled, and varied. The pursuit of Nasri will take away the reliance on Silva, De Jong will continue to protect, Yaya Toure bomb forward, and hopefully the English trio of Milner, Barry and Johnson will offer a bit more this time round (not that Barry did much wrong, despite what you may have read).
But it is upfront where the doubts persist, and the squad seems in a permanent state of flux.
The signing of Sergio “Kun” Aguero is as exciting a signing as City could have made. Comparisons with Tevez will be inevitable, but he is his own man, less trouble (hopefully) off the pitch, with a superb shot, dribbling skills, close control, and the ability to play up front or drop deeper. A stable family man married to Diego Maradona’s daughter with a young son, he will make every attempt to adapt to his new life and succeed.
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As for Carlos Tevez, who knows? Back in the Manchester drizzle that he so adores, Mancini has said that he is happy for him to stay, and that he might well do just that, as no one wants him. Not at the price City demand anyway. His departure was inevitable just a month ago, but now it seems almost unlikely. Only if Inter come up with the money does a move look possible this summer. Alternatively, a deal with Corinthians could be resurrected in the winter or next summer. Whilst him staying at City is on the surface a huge bonus, the thought lingers that perhaps it would be best for him to leave, and for him and the team to move on. Argentina is never going to get any nearer, a third restaurant in Manchester has only just reached the planning stage, and the weather won’t improve for decades.
Elsewhere, much of how City progress this season will depend on Dzeko and Balotelli having more settled seasons. Dzeko’s first touch has disappointed, and concerns continue on whether he fits into a Mancini side, but the goals will come, and he should propser with a pre-season behind him. Balotelli’s contributions on the pitch will depend on controversy avoiding him for a change – if he can concentrate on playing football, his talent will destroy many a team.
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Last season, City’s home form was generally ok, but it will need to become a fortress if the team is going to challenge for titles. It is often mentioned that titles are won and lost according to teams’ records against the other big boys, and whilst I have always felt this argument to be deeply flawed, City will certainly have to improve in this area. Their record last season against the relegation rivals was better than anyone’s. But against the other Top 6 teams, it left a lot to be desired, and Mancini attracted much of his criticism and accusations of negativity when “parking the bus” against Arsenal at Highbury, and to a lesser degree at home to Manchester United. Both times though, City avoided defeat. Perhaps next season they will have to push on and think more about winning these games.
For all of Alex Ferguson’s snide barbs about noisy neighbours, it is clear now that Manchester City have arrived, with expectations to match. If last season was about breaking into the Big Four and challenging for a trophy, then it was mission very much accomplished. Now the team is expected to move on. The Etihad stadium will welcome on Monday a team bustling with talent, the best of a generation, and trophies will now be expected as the norm. The only question remaining, with the world and his wife still watching on waiting for the fall, will be whether the talent, or the pressure on that talent, ultimately prevails.
As a Newcastle United fan it was painful viewing on Saturday watching Jose Enrique maraud down the left side of Anfield wearing the deep red of Liverpool. It felt like he was cheating on the club that brought him to prominence and gave him the chance display his talents in the biggest and most popular league on the planet
Ever since it became public knowledge that Enrique wanted out of St James’ Park and Liverpool wanted to bring him to Merseyside his departure was a foregone conclusion. Now lets get this straight I don’t hate Enrique and I certainly don’t blame him for having the ambition to challenge for trophies, play in Europe and ultimately represent his national team. His chances of achieving these goals will be greatly enhanced at Anfield. But is he the man to finally fill the left back problem that has existed at Anfield ever since John Arne Riise left the club?
I’m not going to sit on the fence regarding this matter and frankly I don’t think he’s the man to plug that gap. His performances over the last four seasons have definitely endeared Enrique to a lot of Geordie fans, myself included. However a lot of people look at the Spaniard with rose tinted spectacles and disregard his lack of ability to operate in his specialist position. In my Enrique is hugely overrated. The fact is that for a defender he isn’t actually the best at defending. When faced against a winger with tricky feet and the ability to bamboozle then Enrique will get beaten very easily. He doesn’t have the discipline to just stand his ground and force the winger to back track. Too many times he will try and put his foot in or use his body to shield the ball from the winger giving away a free kick in a dangerous area. The Arsenal 4-4 game provides the best example with three of the crosses for the goals coming from Enrique’s side. Theo Walcott had him in his pocket during that first 45 minutes until the famous second half capitulation. Heading is also another weak part of his game and he doesn’t fair well when an aerial challenge comes about.
In fact the only reason Enrique’s defensive frailties are overlooked is because of the work Jonas Gutierrez puts in to help him when he’s under assault. The Argentinian grafts his socks off to get back and help Enrique out and is usually the man to regain possession and alleviate any pressure on the defence. Now that Enrique is at Liverpool this will mean Stewart Downing will have to finely tune his defensive duties although I’m sure the England winger won’t track like Gutierrez does which will put Enrique under pressure he hasn’t experience for a few years.
You could say that his defensive game is weak because he is part of the new breed of attacking full backs. Whilst he is great at going forward and charging to the by-line he’s only scored one goal in his entire Newcastle career whilst his assists count isn’t anything to shout home about. His crossing is okay at times and he can whip a delicious ball into the box when given the space too. But more often than not when he has to cross the ball under pressure he either over hits it or checks back and tries to find another route to goal subsequently losing the ball. There’s also his erratic passing to contend with which Liverpool fans will get frustrated with. For a man possessing a superb left foot he lets himself down with his lack of accuracy when making a simple five-yard ball. It seems his concentration deserts him when he has to make a simple decision. I will say that when it comes to delivering long balls he does have superb accuracy but is often let down by teammates misjudging the ball or possessing poor control.
Enrique does have some positives to his game with his unbelievable strength and speed that making it nigh on impossible to beat him using the long ball. But due to the many negative aspects I don’t think he is the man to fill the left back slot at Liverpool. Their agenda over the next few seasons is to get back into Europe, the title race and to win some trophies. Enrique, for me, doesn’t have the abilities or the experience to help them achieve that. I honestly think he’ll be Liverpool’s weak link especially in Europe and at 25-years-old is way past the learning curve.
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An uncomfortable truth has been creeping up on Manchester United over the last two games, and on Tuesday night at Old Trafford, it finally hit them full in the face. The champions are not yet settled defensively, and it’s time to do something about it.
Sir Alex Ferguson put last night’s dropped points – for a home draw with Basel is, unquestionably, two points dropped for a squad of this ability – down to defensive “carelessness”. He pointed out that while the team’s forward options guarantee United goals, they need more time to get everyone fit at the back and figure out their best starting back four. David de Gea has already played behind so many different defenders he must be starting to wonder how many more are hiding around Carrington.
United can score, there is no doubt about that. Powered up front by Wayne Rooney, and last night by the emerging Danny Welbeck, the Red Devils have fired 32 goals in their opening ten competitive fixtures of the 2011/12 season, including the Community Shield. That end of the pitch, then, appears sorted. But the other end is where Ferguson has problems to address: despite a far-from-disastrous 11 goals conceded in the same ten games, United know it could have been worse. Chelsea, for instance, created almost 20 shots at goal at Old Trafford last weekend. On Saturday, Stoke had the better of the game and de Gea was forced into a couple of spectacular saves to earn his side a point.
Ferguson has already deployed ten players in his defensive line this season, though admittedly two of those were Ezekiel Fryers and Michael Carrick in the League Cup win over Leeds. Every senior defender in the squad, apart from the injured Rafael, has had at least one start. Injuries to the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, coupled with the summer sales of stalwart duo Wes Brown and John O’Shea, have forced Ferguson to throw Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans into starring roles earlier than he might have liked.
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All three have impressed, but of those three, Jones has drawn the most praise. His swashbuckling forays upfield have drawn rave reviews from all quarters, and provided another goal on Tuesday night, this time for Welbeck. (Surely Jones will eventually start shooting himself?) United hero Paddy Crerand, now a regular pundit on MUTV, recently went so far as to compare Jones to the legendary Duncan Edwards, who is widely considered to have been one of the best players England has ever produced.
High praise indeed, then. But one wonders how necessary it really is, just a few games into Jones’ debut season at Old Trafford. The centre-back is, after all, just 20 years old, and if there is one nation who know exactly how to ruin a footballer’s career with unreserved hyperbole in the infancy of their career, it’s the English. Besides, one key area of Jones’ game could still do with polishing, and that, unfortunately, is his defending.
The youngster showed some of his lack of experience against Chelsea, particularly when he was left for dead by Fernando Torres late on as the Spaniard raced clear only to round de Gea and miss an open goal. Tuesday night’s second-half collapse again displayed frailties in Jones’ play – he was caught out of position for Alexander Frei’s equaliser and his poor pass to stand-in right-back Antonio Valencia led to the penalty from which Basel briefly took a shock lead.
This is not to say that Jones will not be the player that everyone expects him to develop into, or that United made a mistake. The biggest strength a defensive unit can have is steady playing time as a five (including the goalkeeper), and United are in no position to achieve that. Ferdinand and Patrice Evra were also poor on Tuesday, and after Fabio went off (yes, another injury) Valencia demonstrated again that he is a willing but suspect full-back.
Jones cannot be held responsible for United’s current defensive frailties, and certainly should not be. But too much expectation, too soon, has overwhelmed too many players in this country in the past decade or so. Perhaps laying off the hype would help Jones’ career more than the endless praise he has received in the past few weeks – but I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.
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