A Coq and Ball storyJanuary 25th, 2007

Le Coq Sportif will be City’s shirt manufacturers from next season, I’ve been reliably informed. I’m told the deal is worth around £1m a year, though I haven’t yet established how long it is for or how it compares to the current deal.

Reebok City, which the club sold to unnamed buyers and leased back a few months ago, looks likely to be renamed as part of the deal while the official store has now cut the price of this season’s home shirt from £39.99 to £25.00.

Judging from this season’s Sheffield United kit the new shirt will hardly stand up to this all-time classic, but hopefully we can avoid an entry into the football shirt Hall of Shame

~ News that PSV left back Michael Ball is on a week’s trial at City has got the creative juices flowing on the talkboards. The MEN story is here, but I prefer Throb’s take on it at Citymancs.

Patrick Barclay wrote this fascinating profile of Ball in the Daily Telegraph last April, but for some reason the story of Martin “Buster” Phillips springs to mind.

Phillips was signed from Exeter in November 1995 for £500,000, but was sold to Portsmouth three years later for just £100,000. According to this story in the McVittee archives, he was given his nickname by Exeter teammates because of his similarity to a certain Viz cartoon character.

He was, of course, signed by Alan Ball.

Reyna joins the Beckham Circus

Does Claudio Reyna’s move to Red Bull New York tell us anything about the future of football in the America?

Like Beckham, Reyna will be a “designated player” at his new club, allowing him to earn more than the previous maximum of $300,000 (£151,400) per year. But that’s where the similarity ends.

According to Sports Illustrated, Beckham will be paid a salary of $10million a year for five years and will also earn “40-to-50 percent of Galaxy jersey sales and an undisclosed share of ticket revenues”. Considering that Major League Soccer will earn just $20million from TV deals in 2007, Beckham’s salary is the equivalent of a Premiership player earning £450million next season. Quite where that money will come from is unclear, as new shirt sponsorship and extra season ticket sales will be nowhere near that figure (Galaxy’s Home Depot Center only holds 27,000 and last season’s gates averaged 20,814)

LA Galaxy is owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz’s AEG who, until recently, owned six out of the 12 MLS teams (the league will have 13 clubs next season with the creation of Toronto FC). He now owns four teams and has a 50% stake in the Red Bulls’ stadium. AEG’s president and CEO, Tim Leiweke, made this mysterious comment to Sports Illustrated:

“There are certain aspects of the deal that are ultimately about the upside value of the league as a whole that David can participate in,” says Leiweke. “Our partners all had to sign off, and they did. We had a couple of interesting board calls, but they did.”

As the billionaire Anschutz also owns a Hollywood film studio and the biggest cinema chain in the US, getting the money back through movies is a distinct possibility. But all of that rests on Beckham’s star not being eclipsed.

While the Beckham deal has fuelled speculation that other stars will follow, my suspicion is that no team will sign any player who might overshadow him. In that context Reyna is an ideal choice. As former US captain he is no doubt respected in his own country, but neither his style of play nor off-field activities are likely to be making too many headlines.

And this is my main fear about the future of football in the US. I’m in America right now, in Portland Oregon where the local team is called Portland Timbers. I expected the crowd here to be made up of Soccer Moms, but not a bit of it. The hardcore fans are called the Timbers Army and gleefully ignore requests from the club not the chant obscenities at matches. Their most famous fan is Timber Jim, who cuts a log with a chainsaw every time Timbers score.

Timbers also have a long-standing connection with City. Jimmy Conway and Willie Donachie both joined the club from City and the fans sing “Rose City ‘Til I Die” at games. For me they show that the spirit of football is alive and kicking in America, but not yet with a voice that’s being heard. Portland haven’t been invited into the clique that is MLS, but still averaged 5,575 last season and drew a sell-out 20,000 for a friendly against Sunderland last summer.

I suspect Major League Soccer doesn’t want clubs like Portland right now. They want the Soccer and Tennis Moms (the Galaxy stadium is in a middle-class suburb of LA, next door to a large tennis centre) to passively consume their product. And with one man, Anschutz, exerting so much influence over the league, and with other clubs standing to profit from the “Beckham effect” the temptation must be to run the league for the benefit of their new cash cow.

Galaxy have already announced its kit will change colour for Beckham’s arrival and its badge will be redesigned. “We have a good name. Galaxy works. But we need a more legendary, traditional kind of look that’s more of a soccer look,” said Lewieke, without a hint of irony.

Not only could the whole Galaxy team be coached to make Beckham look good, but other clubs are hardly going to be incentivised to make Beckham look bad.

Whether this will work for the clubs’ owner will be fascinating to watch. Not only do you have the problem of jealousy and resentment from team-mates paid a fraction of Beckham’s wage but forced to do his legwork, but the question of whether Beckham will cope with the physical demands of Major League Soccer is also worth examining.

Football is a summer game in America. And boy does it gets hot here.

Looking through last year’s fixtures at LA Galaxy’s website shows the average temperature at games in July and August is 83°, and probably a lot hotter than that at pitchside. When Galaxy visited Houston last year the temperature was 96°, while temperatures at the tastefully named Pizza Hut Park, home of FC Dallas, are regularly in the 90s.

I mentioned this to my girlfriend, who is American. “Oh it gets a lot hotter than that,” she chuckled. “Texas has 100% humidity during the summer.” Considering how the milder heat of 2006 World Cup made him throw up with dehydration, you have to wonder how long the thin crusted Mr Beckham will last in these conditions.

David Beckham’s football career won’t be buried in America. It will be cremated.

~ Last month I suggested that Anschutz might be the American billionaire who held discussions with City about a takeover (link). I’ve since been informed that he is not the person in question, but I’ll bring you more information about the mystery American’s identity as soon as I have it.

~ There seems to be some disagreement about how much Reyna actually earned at City. The Daily Mirror put his wage at £30,000 a week, while The Guardian claimed it was £37,500. As the Guardian’s figure is so specific you suspect there some truth in it, though I’m guessing that his basic salary is around £25,000 a week rising to £30,000 with maximum bonuses, and the rest is the signing-on fee / loyalty bonus.

City’s real formation revealed


(City’s formations home & away: click on graphic to view full details)

I’ve always wondered how useful descriptions such as 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 actually are. Well according to an analysis of Premiership tactics by Bill Edgar in the Timesonline last week (part 1 and part 2), they mean very little nowadays. In fact, judging from this graphic Pearce’s typical formation is more like a 2-8.

The Times also reveals that City play less long balls than most sides (and only slightly more than Liverpool), but have conceded more fouls than anyone else, while the analysis of where and how goals are scored and conceded is also well worth a look.

I also came across some staggeringly detailed player analysis at Eurosport.com. The site has graphics showing how many times players pass to each other and how long they play in each part of the pitch, and even shows which part of the net goals are scored in.

~ Later this week I’ll be looking at the software City use to analyse performance, and comparing it to the software other clubs use.

Reaction, stats & ratings: City v Blackburn

A poor performance and an awful result, but given the weakness of our squad sudden reverses like these are always likely. All it took was the loss of Barton and an energy-sapping midweek FA Cup tie to make us look very ordinary indeed.

Pearce’s “dogs of war” style may have pulled off a string of vital victories, but when you lack any cutting edge in attack there are only so many times you can bludgeon your opponent to death with the shield.

The frustrating thing is that with a few astute signings we could have a pretty useful side. Half our team is top-six material. It’s just a shame that the other half is pure relegation fodder.

So from now on I’m going to put my thumb over the bottom half of the teamsheet each matchday and imagine what a great side we might have if we had players of skill and creativity to build on the defensive rockbed of Dunne, Distin, Richards, Onuoha and Barton.

With just one week left in the transfer window, a replacement for Thatcher is probably all we can now expect. But we live in hope.

~ Pearce’s post-match interview
~ Rtfract photos; Getty Images
~ Latest Premiership table

Match stats

The stats (below) are compiled from the live commentary and differ slightly from Sky’s stats here:

Match reports

Pedersen takes wing to keep Rovers climbing (Independent)
“When we got into the top half of the table this time last year we stayed there and qualified for the Uefa Cup. I feel we are on course to do it again,” Mark Hughes said. City’s manager, Stuart Pearce, probably had something similar in mind for his team when the season began, but even though they are only a point worse off than Blackburn they look significantly under-resourced, particularly in attack.

Rovers shrug off Neill’s departure (S Telegraph)
The loss of an inspirational captain would normally leave a team deflated but this Blackburn side shrugged off the departure of Lucas Neill with style, turning in a performance of guile and aggression to condemn Manchester City to a first defeat in seven. The loss of the rugged Australian to West Ham will clearly not diminish Blackburn’s thirst for combat: this was a powerful, convincing victory.

Pedersen in his pomp (Observer)
Stuart Pearce’s decision to play five at the back led to a stifling first half, although Micah Richards’ header from a corner was scrambled off the line by David Bentley, who may have handled.

Pedersen sets Rovers rolling (S Times)
Manchester City supporters got a glimpse of what the future would be like without Joey Barton on Saturday and it was not a pretty sight.

Man City 0 Blackburn 3 (The People)
Pearce realised the error of his ways by bringing on two subs at half-time and going to a 4-4-2 formation.

Man City 0 Blackburn 3 (Sunday Mirror)
Morton Gamst Pedersen took Blackburn above Manchester City in the Premiership with two stunning goals at Eastlands.

Player ratings

Sinclair’s lowest ever rating of 3.8, Jordan’s 3.6 (his second lowest rating) and Corradi’s 3.5 are a pretty clear indicator of who our weak links are right now.

Ratings come from (in order): Grob, blue man dan, bluemoon, (Mancityfans), marcusb, blue tones, (Citymancs), H (Wookie’s Lair), Richard Tucker (rtfract), Sunday Times, Sunday Mirror, Sky and Sky Your Rating.

Weaver: 6, 7, 5, 6, 4, 4, 6, 5, 5, 8, 5.4 (av: 5.6)
Don’t like seeing keepers get beaten on their near post like Weaves did for the free kick. 3 shots 3 goals. People used to hammer James on here for stats like that. (Grob)
Couldn’t do anything about 3 world class finishes. (blue man dan)
3 shots and 3 goals says it all, about time Issakson got a chance. Weaver has made some good saves this season and kept us in games, but his command of the area when crosses come in, is awful as we’ve seen time and time again. (bluemoon)
Poor performance, too many punches that should have been caught and arguably could have saved the third goal. Looked unusually wobbly at times. (H)

Richards: 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6.5, 5, 6, 6, 6.1 (av: 6.6)
His foul set up the free-kick, but at least he cares. Great defensivly, great offensivly. A fine player. (Grob)
Incredible, created a great cross from a nothing ball, defended well , my motm. (blue man dan)
Only player on the pitch who gave his all throughout the game and also made the only surging run in the 1st half for us! (bluemoon)
Did OK without really shining. Problems particularly in first half playing with Trabelsi and Sinclair, which meant he didn’t get forward enough when needed. (H)

Dunne: 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5.6 (av: 6.2)
Didn’t really have a lot to do or do anything wrong which looks strange when you have lost 3-0. (Grob)
Normal day in the office for Dunne. (blue man dan)
Solid generally, but passing let him down at times. (bluemoon)
Solid and dependable. (H)

Distin: 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5.7 (av: 6.3)
Same as Dunney, and he contributed well by getting forward in the second half. (Grob)
Normal day in the office. (blue man dan)
Solid, didn’t do much wrong really. (bluemoon)
See Dunne! Had to cover constantly for Jordan’s errors. If Onouha is fit for next Saturday, Distin must play LWB. (H)

Trabelsi (Miller 75): 5, 5, 5, 2, 5, 4, 5, 4, 4, 5, 4.7 (av: 4.4)
Below par. Asleep for the first goal, although the ball in was fantastic. Not much of a threat going forward. Poor crossing. Looked a player nowhere near full fitness. (Grob)
Unfit which wasnt his fault. Big fuck up for the first goal. (blue man dan)
Worst performance in a City shirt, I’ll put it down to lack of fitness. Passing was piss poor and should’ve been much tighter on Pedersen for their first goal. (bluemoon)
His worst game for us yet, by a long way. Clearly not fit yet but I suppose the run-out will help to get him fit for the next game. (H)

Sinclair (Beasley 46): 3, 4, 3, 3, 5, 0, 5, 4, 4, 6, 4.6 (av: 3.8)
Out of his depth. He’s got to go. It’s sad but he is no longer up to Premiership standard. (Grob)
League 1 material now I’m afraid. (blue man dan)
Hate to say it, but he’s lost it and doesn’t have what it takes anymore. Awful game yet again, time to hang up the boots Trev. (bluemoon)
Didn’t turn up. I thought there might be a chance of turning him in to a central midfielder. I was wrong. I like him but this was probably his worst game for us yet. Sorry Trevor but the time has come for you to drop down a division and move on. (H)

Ireland: 7, 5, 7, 5, 7, 7, 7.5, 4, 5, 5, 5.3 (av: 5.9)
Worked hard, nice passing, looked lively and dangerous. A plus point. (Grob)
Not impressed today. Cost us A LOT in the box today, perhaps even the game. (blue man dan)
Great passing, vision and awareness. Impressed yet again. (bluemoon)
Looking better every game. Has helped to improve Vassell’s game tremendously, as he understands how to give him the right kind of service.
Worked hard and combined well with Ireland. Unlucky not to score at least twice. Absolutely no understanding or partnership however with Corradi. (H)

Dabo: 5, 4.5, 5, 3, 6, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4.7 (av: 4.7)
Outclassed by Tuguy and out hustled by Savage. Missed Barton like he would miss having a hole in his arse. Passing was hit and miss once again but at least he put himslef about in vain. (Grob)
Who? (blue man dan)
Looked lost today, let himself down with his passing, which was abysmal at times. (bluemoon)
I thought he did OK but obviously at fault for the second goal. He is essential to the 3-5-2 formation but the lack of Barton meant we played 3-4-2 in the first half and 4-4-2 in the second so he had to do more and go further forward than normal, which did not suit his strengths. (H)

Jordan: 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 2, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4.2 (av: 3.6)
Too slow, can’t pass, can’t defend, can’t cross, can’t run, can barely tackle. He was as bad here as he was at Wigan. We need a left back pronto and if one doesnt appear, blood Williamson because this guy is a fucking joke. (Grob)
Worst defending I have seen since I was in school. (blue man dan)
Wank as ever. Not good. (bluemoon)
Clearly targeted as our weak link. Needs time out to get fitter, quicker and stronger. If he can’t do that, sell him in the summer. (H)

Vassell: 7.5, 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7.5, 7, 5, 7, 6.6 (av: 6.7)
Missed a golden oppotunity but ran hard, was a threat and didnt deserve to be on the losing side. (Grob)
Worked his balls off, good instinct shot but Friedel was on fire today…. (blue man dan)
Does everything else right, but shooting constantly lets him down. Needs to spend the week on shooting practice! (bluemoon)
Worked hard and combined well with Ireland. Unlucky not to score at least twice. Absolutely no understanding or partnership however with Corradi. (H)

Corradi (Samaras 46): 3, 1, 1, 3, 4, 3, 5.5, 5, 4, 5, 4.3 (av: 3.5)
A waste of time, space and energy. Get rid. Please get rid of him Stuart. He’s fucking hopeless. (Grob)
My lowest ever rating. It would have been 0 but he didn’t score any own goals or get sent off. (blue man dan)
Foooking useless again, may as well have been playing with 10 men from the start. Had high hopes for him after the first couple of performances, but let’s face it, he’s shit and will never succeed for us. (bluemoon)
Looked lost and uncomfortable. Offers no threat in front of goal and showed no signs of working out how to play alongside Vassell. (H)

Subs:

Samaras (Corradi 46): 6, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, - , 5, 6, 6.0 (av: 6.1)
Infinitely more effective than Corradi. Didnt get much luck but deserves to be treated better than he is by Pearce. Playing second fiddle to Corradi is taking the piss. (Grob)
Played really well, very pleased, took a ball down well and was unlucky not to score. MUST start. (blue man dan)
Looked threatening whenever he got the ball, SP is putting great talent to waste and having Corradi start before him, can’t be doing the poor lads confidence any good. (bluemoon)
A huge improvement on Corradi but was a bit too selfish at times, running in to brick walls when he should have been looking to pass to Vassell or a midfielder. (H)

Beasley (Sinclair 46): 6.5, 6.5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, - , 5, 6, 6.2 (av: 6.4)
Lively, direct and NEEDS TO BE IN THE FUCKING SIDE (Grob)
What Grob said…. “Lively, direct and NEEDS TO BE IN THE FUCKING SIDE” (blue man dan)
How the fuck does he not start, only player who looks like he can take players on and cross the ball in at the moment. Must start in the next game! (bluemoon)
Looked lively and effective, causing their full-back constant problems. If we don’t get a new LWB signed this week, we must revert back to 4-4-2 and play him. (H)

Miller (Trabelsi 75 ): 5, 5.5, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, - , - , 6, 4.9 (av: 5.6)
So Miller’s now a right winger eh. Pearce you are clueless. (Grob)
Out of position. Manager has no idea what the fuck to do with his players. (blue man dan)
Yet another player wasted, Pearce get your head out your fucking arse! (bluemoon)
Should have had a longer run-out as he clearly offered a threat and frightened their defenders. (H)

Subs not used:
Isaksson, Johnson

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Entry Filed under: Features