Lambs to the Slaughter

Wolverhampton manager and former Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy is no stranger when it comes to controversy. He was at it yet again when he sent out a second string Wolves side for their match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The side that pulled off a famous win against Champions League aspirants Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane were watching their side being torn apart by Manchester United's movement and counter-attacking type of football. When asked about this strange decision Mick McCarthy replied that he had put out a second string team as he wanted to preserve his first XI for a supposedly 'winnable' match against Burnley at Molineux on 20th December 2009. It was as many pundits and fans called 'giving up before the fight'. Even though the Wolves 2nd team would've had a good experience playing against professionals like Anderson, Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic it sort of indicates a prejudice towards the first team on McCarthy's part.Also Burnley aren't exactly the type of team who bow down easily and that can be seen by their position in the league table as compared to Wolves. Speaking too soon is what I'd call it.
The anger of the Wolves faithful could be seen in their songs at Old TRafford. Songs like "Where is our first team?" and "40 quid to watch reserves" just showed how they supported their team.

Last season Manchester United fielded a second string side in their final league matcha against Hull City. But by then United had already won the league title and they had a Champions League final against Barcelona to prepare for. In the case of Wolves things are far from decided. In a scenario exactly opposite to this Everton who were on a bad run of form and also an ever-growing injury list did not send out a second string side to face Chelsea at their fortress Stamford Bridge but instead manager David Moyes sent out his strongest possible side who frequently troubled the Chelsea defence and even managed to get 3 goals and a draw. David Moyes has to be praised for his belief in his squad even though he had a midweek Europa League match and a weekend clash with an in-form Birmingham City side at Goodison Park.
All this has has resulted in people showering praise on Everton and Moyes while heavily criticising McCarthy. The Wolves-Burnley match will surely be a match to watch out for

'Serie A' L attention paid by Premier League clubs

The Italian Serie A has never been quite as popular or publicised as the Premier League but they still boast of clubs that have proud records in both domestic and European club competitions not to mention its fair share of scandals and hooliganism. Usually imports into the Premier League were almost a rarity for the last3-4 years. But lately many Premier League clubs have begun to follow players in clubs like Juventus,Milan,Inter and Roma more closely. Many Italian players like Gianluca Vialli,Pierluigi Casiragghi, Gianfranco Zola have plied their trade in the Premier League and were very successful. The appointment of former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancellotti as Chelsea's new manager and the purchase of Alberto Aquilani by Liverpool has sort of started a wave of interest in the Serie A. Arsenal are believed to be following Juventus youth prodigies Claudio Marchisio and Phillip De Ceglie very closely in addition to Inter Milan's bad boy Mario Balotelli and Liverpool are said to be interested in 'The Atom Ant' Sebastian Giovinco to help them in salvaging some pride this season. The financial revolution at Manchester City has seen them show interest in AC Milan's Gennaro 'Rino' Gattuso and Ignazio Abate, the former not in a comfortable position at Milan. Ancelotti does not remain far behind in this regard when he tried hard to bring his trump cards Andrea Pirlo and Alexandre Pato from Milan in addition to bidding for Roma's Capitan Futuro Daniele De Rossi. The latest Italian to be linked with Chelsea is the Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini. The Premier League heavyweights have tried their hand in buying Italian players but at the same time have trained Italian youngsters within their academies. Examples of such rising stars for Italy are Federico Macheda of Manchester United, Vito Mannone from Arsenal and Fabio Borini and Jacopo Sala from Chelsea. Unless the BPL clubs have other ideas the Serie A may see many of its best players wanting a move out of Italy

liverpool walking alone

"You'll never walk alone". These words are inscribed on the gates to Liverpool Football club, one of the most successful clubs in the world and one with an ever-growing fan base like every other top Premier League club. But lately both Liverpool and non-liverpool fans have been disappointed with the way the Reds have performed this season. Elimination from the Champions League, a tournament which Liverpool were champions,runners-up and losing semi-finalists and quarter-finalists in the last 4 years, struggling at 7th in the domestic league which they had won a record 18-times and financial problems have put the club in a very precarious situation. The loss of key players like Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid and injuries to goal machines Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have seen Liverpool struggling against teams like Blackburn and Debreceni. Rafa Benitez keeps stressing on the fact that they would not be in this current pressure cooker scenario had Torres and Gerrard been fit. It is normal for every top team in the world to have key players but Liverpool just cannot seem to function without them. They have a decent first 11 but the bench lacks quality, something that Liverpool had been synonomous with before this season. Chelsea,Arsenal and Manchester United all have key players like Lampard,Drogba, Fabregas, Gallas,Rooney,Ferdinand etc but they do get the required results in their absence as well. A glaring example of this is the away leg of Manchester United's tie with Wolfsburg. United were missing Vidic,Ferdinand,Gary Neville,Wes Brown, Johnny Evans,Fabio and Rafael in defence which meant that they had no centr-backs or regular full backs with the exception of Patrice Evra. But the makeshift defence of Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, and Park Ji Sung were up against one of the most deadliest goal-poachers in the world in the form of Edin Dzeko and they came away with a very impressive 3-1 victory. this is the sort of stuff that top teams are made of. Benitez's policy of not giving the youngsters from the academy enough exposure has clearly seen them suffer in the transfer market where they are short on cash to buy players. Instead Benitez plays these youngsters in intense matches like the game against Fiorentina in which Steven Derby was handed his first start having negligible first team experience. Also the elimination from the Champions League has been a huge blow on the finances at the club. The prize money for the winners of the Europa League is very close to the prize money for the clubs in the round of 16 in the Champions League. Benitez and Liverpool have to put on their thinking caps and take a fresh look at how they go about the rest of the season. Failure to do this may make Liverpool another Leeds United.