Forgotten Teams: Leeds United, 2000-2001

With all the usual talk about "Arsenes and Fergies Kids", everyone seems to have forgot possibly the best young side assembled in recent memory. This Leeds United side was a team which burnt very brightly but not for very long, after it was discovered that the clubs finances were built on foundations of sand but we won't go into that and just enjoy the football for what it was.

Subs: Robinson, Woodgate, Radebe, Kelly, Wilcox, McPhail, Bakke, Huckerby, Bridges

In the league Leeds finished 4th just outside the Champions League places which was below the clubs expectations. Where they really excelled in this season was in the Europe's elite competition. They qualified for the tournament under the stewardship of Irishman David O'Leary by finishing 3rd in the 1999-2000 season ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool, and slightly behind Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.

In the Champions League they were pitted in a group containing Barcelona, AC Milan and Besiktas. No-one expected them to qualify from this "group of death".  They kicked off the campaign with a away tie against Barcelona and as expected they were soundly beaten 4-0. It looked like Leeds were at the beginning of a miserable and short time in the tournament.

Things get heated during the heavy defeat against Spanish giants Barcelona

Leeds needed to bounce back after the defeat to Barcelona and they did it in the best possible way by beating AC Milan at Elland Road, with Lee Boywer scoring the winner in the dying minutes. They went on from this confidence boosting win to hammer Turkish side Besiktas 6-0 in a memorable night at Elland Road. Leeds had now truly began their European adventure. Following this they drew 0-0 away at Besiktas, 1-1 with Barcelona at home and finally a very good 1-1 draw at the San Siro with Milan.

Memorable image of Dominic Matteo heading Leeds into the lead against Milan (Source www.mightyleeds.co.uk)

The draw in Milan was enough to help them finish 2nd behind Milan and ahead of 3rd place Barcelona. This was after a disappointing opening game an excellent result...

Source: Wikipedia

These were the days when the Champions League had two group stages and Leeds passed through the first stage...

Again they started with a defeat to a Spanish club this time it was reigning champions Real Madrid who were 2-0 victors at Elland Road with a certain Raul getting on the scoresheet. As in their previous group they responded to a convincing defeat with a brilliant win, this time it was 1-0 away at Italian giants Lazio. They then went to register two victories over Belgian Champions Anderlecht who had defeated Manchester United in the earlier round and topped their group. 

They went on to finish second it their group after another defeat to Madrid at the Bernabeu and a exciting 3-3 draw with Lazio at home.

Source: Wikipedia

Leeds surprised everyone by reaching the knock out stages of the Champions in there first attempt. The first team they played? You guessed it, it was a Spanish side and this time it was Deportivo La Coruna. Leeds pulled one out of the bag this time at Elland Road by battering the Spaniards 3-0, with left back Ian Harte opening the scoring with a trademark free kick, Alan Smith and Rio Ferdinand followed by getting on the scoresheet, they had one foot in the semi final...

The second leg in Spain wasn't as simple and Leeds were defeated 2-0 with goals from Djalmina and Diego Tristan making the difference. Ultimately Leeds went through to the Semi-Finals.

Rio Ferdinand and Olivier Dacourt celebrate going through to the semi finals of the Champions League

In the the semi-final Leeds continued their one team war against La Liga by facing Valencia. This Valencia side at the time was recognised as one of the top sides in Europe. This showed at they held Leeds 0-0 at Elland Road and them followed this up with a convincing 3-0 victory over the Yorkshire side. This was the end of the road for young Leeds. They got further in Europe than all the other English sides at their first attempt in the Champions League.

In the following years due to financial problems this side was dismantled and Leeds spent the following years languishing in the lower tiers of English football. I'll leave you with a video remembering the good times...

Wenger: Vela Can Leave

Arsene Wenger has said that his Mexican striker Carlos Vela will be allowed to leave Arsenal in January... on loan.

The 21 year old has started only 3 Premier League games in the last three seasons, as he is mainly used as a substitute. But now, he has fallen behind Robin van Persie, Marouane Chamakh, Andrey Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott in the attacking positions, and Wenger believes a loan move would do him good.

"Some of our offensive players aren't getting many chances - like Carlos Vela. Maybe he can go out on loan but we won't sell him.

"He needs to play and he's a top quality player. If there's a possibility, I have promised him I'll let him go out on loan somewhere."

The Mexican International has played 33 times for his country, scoring 9 goals, and rumours circulating suggest teams in Serie A are interested in signing him.

It's Not All Hodgson's Fault

WARNING: The below article will be deeply unpopular with the majority of Liverpool fans' current views. Read at your own risk.

The latest Liverpool defeat has only magnified Liverpool fans anger with the manager Roy Hodgson. If ever there was an example of a football manager under pressure, it is Hodgson at this very moment. Nothing he does pleases Liverpool fans. Nothing that he says Liverpool fans like. No decision that he makes is agreed with. Not because they are all wrong actions, wrong things to say and wrong decisions, but simply because the majority of Liverpool fans have made up their minds about him. They don't like him.

I have massive sympathy in this respect for Hodgson. The blame seems to be solely heaped onto him, with even players performances blamed on his tactics. In my opinion, the players should be taking far more of the stick that Liverpool fans are dishing out. They are simply not playing well enough. That is a fact. They have the ability, but are not showing it, and because of this, results are very poor, leading the fans to look for someone to blame. They can blame the players, but that would achieve nothing. Blaming the manager could get him sacked, and a far easier option for everyone. Solution? Blame the manager. For everything. Get him sacked. Get a new manager. Liverpool will be great again.

It doesn't work like that. But at the moment, that's all I see happening. He needs a chance to be given money, bring in some players, and stamp his authority on the team. Liverpool were hardly the best team at the end of Bentiez's reign, and turning around a club in the situation that Liverpool were in was never going to happen over the course of a couple of months. Anyone who thought that were deluding themselves.

In relation to the Wolves loss; Wolves were bottom of the league. Man for man, Liverpool are a better side. Liverpool had Gerrard and Torres - world class players. Unless Hodgson's tactics involved "lose the game" or something to that effect, the players should have done a whole lot better and won the game. There was a lack of togetherness, and very few players showed any sign of leading the team - standing up and being counted but we all know that the players are capable.
Hodgson said after the game:

"We are not deliberately losing matches. You know what these players are capable of. All I can say is that it is time for people to help us along. We lacked quality and confidence."

In my opinion, there are a few things that the Liverpool team need.

Firstly, they need the support and backing from the Liverpool fans. Abusing the manager isn't going to make his job any easier, and having him sacked will not only cost the club money.

The team needs some new faces of quality. For that to happen, the board need to give the manager money to spend and prove that he has their support.

The players must come together, as a team, and fight for their club, for their fans, and for their manager. They must show their quality, and they must prove that they are worthy to wear the red of Liverpool and play at
their famous ground in front of thousands of expecting fans.

Finally, the manager. Although he has had  rough start, it is up to him to turn it around. He knows that his reign so far has been disappointment, and he would have hoped that it would have gone better, but he is a very good manager. He knows his football, and he is certainly good enough to manage Liverpool.

The only way Liverpool get out of the mess they are in is if they pull together and start to play as well as we all know they can. Lest Liverpool fans forget the famous song that they sing; it seems to me as if Liverpool fans are letting Hodgson walk through the storm by himself.

Akhir Musim Luton Town 2012/2013

Sebuah prestasi besar tim Luton yang luar biasa, karena saya sendiri pun memang hanya menargetkan untuk bisa masuk 10 besar dan ternyata tim ini bisa promosi setelah menang melawan sheffield wednesday di babak playoff, dan berikut hasil fikture lengkap bersama table liga dan statistik pemainnya.

Kalah 5 kali dan seri 2 kali,, dan sering kehilangan momentum seperti saat melawan rotherham yang mencetak gol terlebih dahulu eh malah kalah,, 

Dan berikut pertandingan Playoff nya

menang agregat 5-9 saat melawan rival tim luton yakni mk dons, dikandang Mk Dons luton menang 5-4 lalu menang 4-1 di kandang sendiri dan difinal Luton menang 2-0 tanpa balas dan cukup mengantar untuk promosi.

Dan berikut klasemen akhir League One

Dan ini statistik pemain-nya

Cristian Tiboni masuk juga sebagai daftar topskor dan capdevilla dan Mehdi menjadi salah satu assist terbanyak

Dan terakhir, saya mendapat gelar Manager terbaik nomor 2

Oke nantikan postingan saya di Championship league yang akan dilalui Luton, dan apakah saya masih di luton atau tidak ?? nantikan selanjutnya.

Five Of The Worst: Big Money Transfers

Don't you love it when the big clubs flashing the cash mess up with a signing? They spend most of their time blowing smaller clubs out of the water with huge transfer bids, but sometimes this can come back to haunt them. So now it's time to highlight when big money transfer go wrong...

Gaizka Mendieta - £29 Million, Valencia to Lazio

In England he's remembered as a half decent midfielder who played for Middlesborough. But before his move to England Mendieta had a dark past... He was an extremely talented and successful midfielder who made his name playing for Valencia in the Champions League. After these successes, Lazio - one of the giants of Italian football at the time, came in and spent €48 million (£29 million) to acquire his services. However, he only managed 20 league games for the Italians and was soon sent out on loan firstly to Barcelona and then to Middlesborough, who he eventually moved to on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - £39 Million + Samuel Eto'o, Inter to Barcelona

The sight of Ibrahimovic kissing the Barcelona badge is cringeworthy in itself... Ibra lasted one season at Barcelona playing 42 games and scoring 22 goals. That is a perfectly decent scoring record, but Ibra's performances for Barca is not what makes this transfer so bad. The fact is that this was a terrible piece of business by Barcelona as they parted with a huge amount of money along with goal machine Samuel Eto'o for a player who would only stay for one season. He is currently on loan at AC Milan who have a clause in the contract allowing them to sign him for £24 million which leaves Barca with a loss of £15 million...

Juan Sebastian Veron £29 million, Lazio to Manchester United

This signing showed Manchester Uniteds intention to buy some of Europe's established talent. My word did it go wrong. From the very beginning it appeared as if Veron seemed uncomfortable in the Premier League. He was undeniably a very talented and skillful player but his slow relaxed style of play clearly didn't suit the hustle and bustle nature of the Premiership. Veron played for two seasons at United but he failed to win over the supporters and the media.  It appeared as if his only fan was Alex Ferguson who famously defended him by telling reporters "Veron's a ******* great player. Youse are all ******* idiots".  In 2003 Veron was sold to big spending rivals Chelsea but once again he failed to make an impact.  He spent a year at Chelsea before heading back to Serie A and joining Inter Milan.

Andriy Shevchenko - £30 million, AC Milan to Chelsea

 

The signing of Andriy Shevchenko remains a mystery.  Who signed him? Was it the manager Jose Mourinho? Or was it the owner Roman Abramovic? One thing that is for certain is that neither of them is going to own up to it anytime soon... Yes it was that bad.

He played 47 league games for Chelsea over 3 years and scored 9 goals. For a multimillion pound striker this was never going to be an acceptable return. Before he joined Chelsea he was one of the most feared strikers in Europe but by the end of his spell at the club no-one wanted him and he left on a free transfer...

Adrian Mutu - £15.8 million, Parma to Chelsea

Another Chelsea player. The transfer fee in the grand scheme of things isn't too much but what he gave the club in terms of performance was probably worth about a tenth of what they paid for him. He played 27 league games in the year he was at the club scoring 6 goals. That's a very poor return but what made his signing even worse was the fact that he failed a drugs test which found cocaine in his system. Chelsea ended up sacking him and the FA banned him for 7 months and fined him £20,000.

Conclusion

So there you have it.  These are, in my mind, five of the worst big money transfers. I know that there have been many others at various clubs and if you know of any, feel free to share them with us at I Luv Football. As usual thanks for reading.

Watch Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal

Watch the goals below:

Wigan 1 - 0 Arsenal

Watson (Penalty)

Wigan 1 - 1 Arsenal

Arshavin

Wigan 1 - 2 Arsenal

Bendtner

Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal

Squillaci (Own Goal)

Barclays Premier League Table

Chris Samba is what Arsenal & Wenger are Looking For

Arsene Wenger's latest comments in relation to the January transfer window seem to strengthen the speculation that Chris Samba of Blackburn may be on his way to the Emirates.

Wenger said:

“As January approaches, I’m often asked about transfers. There is no definite situation either way, but first of all it depends if we find on the market what we think would really give us a plus.

“But I would advise you not to expect miracles in January – a high number of people have played in Europe so wouldn’t be able to help us in the Champions League, while clubs that have good players don’t necessarily want to sell them.

“So it’s highly unlikely that you just find a player you need in January. It’s not about spending money – it’s more about finding the right players to strengthen a squad that, in quality and numbers, is already very strong.”

Who has not played in Europe and is therefore not cup-tied to play against Barcelona? Who is a powerful, strong, athletic defender with vast experience as a natural leader - and a captain in the Premier League? Who has expressed his desire to leave his current club with the club seemingly resigned to letting him go? Yes, Congolese international Christopher Samba. Most of Wenger's issues with the January transfer market do not apply to this defender who would slot in nicely in Arsenal's back line and strengthen their squad depth.

Despite Wenger saying "It's not about spending money", Samba wouldn't cost the Arsenal manager a huge amount, with around £8 million the price being circulated.

There is that other possibility that Arsene Wenger doesn't feel like additions are needed, and after the 3 - 1 mauling of Champions Chelsea on Monday night, it is easy to see why. However, there are still critics who believe strengthening the sometimes suspect defence wouldn't do Arsenal any harm, especially when they will be up against an attacking force which has trampled the Arsenal defence with ease before, and is probably the best in the world. Barcelona.

Follow me on Twitter @DBSFootball

The Away Draw Returns - Birmingham 1 - 1 Manchester United

Another late goal, another two points dropped, another disappointment for Manchester United.

[View Higlights Below]

Away to Birmingham is a tough game with their defence so tight and their defensive tactics to spring on the counter attack if they can, but Berbatov seemed to have wrapped up the points with his 58 minute goal - the Bulgarians' 14th of the season. 

This was not the case however, and after a ball was played into the box, the giant Zigic knocked it down (with his arm) - to Lee Bowyer who was in a borderline offside position, and Bowyer poked it home. No official spotted the illegality and Birmingham duly celebrated their point as if they had won, while United trudged off at the end with a familiar sickening feeling. For this has happened before. Manchester United had once again dropped vital points at a vital time when the situation could have been avoided.

The first half was very tight, with chances few and far between - a fluky Giggs cross scooped above Ben Foster in the Birmingham goal only for him to tip it onto the post, and this was the most threatening of chances. United were able to control possession in general without creating many chances as Birmingham defended closely.

After the beautifully worked United goal in the second half, the game opened up much more. Birmingham had to push forward leaving space in behind their defence, but they were able to cope well with Uniteds attack. There wasn't much cutting edge, and United missed their pacey wingers like Nani or Valenica as well as the recently departed Park, who has left for the Asia Cup.

The result isn't much to worry about for the Red Devils, as they stay top above noisy neighbours City, have their two games in hand and maintain their unbeaten record this season. However, conceding yet another late goal and drawing away from home for the seventh time in eight away matches this season is a problem that must be addressed. The away record could cost them the title.

Birmingham 1 - 1 Manchester United Highlights

Arsenal Show Steel To Defeat Chelsea...

Well, well what do we have here? Arsenal beating Chelsea 3-1 now that result classes as a collectors item. How did they do it? Well I hope I can answer that for you.

Subs: 46mins Ramires > Mikel, 57mins Kakuta > Malouda, 61mins Bosingwa > Ferreira

Chelsea lined up in their standard 4-3-3, but today Alex and Anelka were both injured, so Ivanovic was moved into centre back with Ferreira brought in to play on the right side. With Anelka absence there was a like for like replacement with Solomon Kalou coming in. If I'm honest only one played had a decent game for Chelsea and that Ivanovic. He was powerful at the back, made some storming runs forward and got on the scoresheet. Other than that no Chelsea player stood out. But that's enough of Chelsea today because this game truly belonged to Arsenal...

Subs: 72mins Diaby > Walcott, 75mins Chamakh > Van Persie, 88mins Rosicky > Fabregas

Arsenal dropped Arshavin for this fixture which was understandable as the Russian has been in poor form, which especially showed in their previous game against Manchester United. Walcott was brought in as his replacement. There were also changes at the back and up front with Van Persie starting instead of Morrocan international Chamakh and Frenchman Sebastian Squillaci was replaced by Johan Djourou.

Throughout the game Arsenal were playing their now standard high line but what made this performance stand out was the amount of pressure they were putting on Chelsea when they didn't have possession. Fabregas played almost like a second striker to help Van Persie put pressure on Terry and Ivanovic with the midfield pushing Chelsea into their own half. This tactic worked as it led to Walcotts goal, Malouda lost the ball deep in his own half after pressure from Walcott.

I think that they were able to play the high line due to Chelsea unwillingness to exploit the space behind due to a shortage of pace and a clever runner. Their lack of creativity in midfield may have contributed to this as their was no-one who could thread the "eye of the needle" passes needed to take advantage of the space.

As usual Arsenal hogged the possession having 61% of it but what was noticeable was that the Arsenal players matched Chelsea physically. At points in the game it look like the Gunners were dominating play physically as well as possession wise. Part of Arsenals aggression was also footballing aggression with Theo Walcott making piercing runs in behind Ashley Cole when he left space on his raids forward. Van Persie when he wasn't coming deep was playing off the shoulder of the last defender which made Terry especially wary due to his well documented lack of pace.

All in all I feel that Arsenals pressure and Walcotts willingness to run into spaces behind led to Chelsea being on the back foot for the majority of the game. This was especially the case once Arsenal had taken the lead through Songs driven finish and Chelsea were left to chase the game. Top performance from Arsenal...

Pertengahan Musim Luton Town (2012/2013)

Wonderkids Lenny Nangis

Akhirnya sampai juga di pertengahan musim, dan mengapa saya menampilkan foto Lenny Nangis, yuph pemain ini dipinjamkan dari chelsea sebagai pihak parent club dan fantastik dia mencetak 10 gol di 15 pertandingan, dan berikut screenshotnya

walaupun secara skilas gak ada yang special tapi yah begitulah,, di fm segalanya bisa terjadi, dan berikut daftar para pemain di luton selama pertengahan musim

bisa dilihat pemain yang subur ada 2 yaitu bradley Wright Phillips dan Lenny Nangis, dan berikut formasi terbaik tim

Oke dan berikut hasil League One, tak disangka kita berhasil menduduki peringkat 6 besar dan bisa bersaing untuk bermain di Championship League musim depan jika beruntung dan performa apik

dan ini statistik pemainya,, kayanya pemain luton gak ada yang masuk nominasi

Walaupun begitu saya gak segampang itu bisa menepati peringkat 5 dan bisa di cek dibawah ini,, tim ini sempat terseok-seok di peringkat 19 

di pertandingan pertama dan ketiga langsung kalah banyak dan selama setengah musim sudah kalah sebanyak 6 kali, lain dengan pertandingan cup,, tim luton lumayan tangguh, terbukti dapat mengalahkan tim sekelas Newcastle

Hanya piala FA kami belom kalah, namun menurut board tim kami patut di ancugi jempol karena sudah melampaui keinginan board.

Oke nantikan postingan selanjutnya.

Awal Musim Luton 2012/2013

Oke akhirnya kita tiba juga di League one, tinggal 2 strip lagi tim ini bisa berlaga di Premier league, oke menurut para pengamat tim kita hanya bercokol di posisi 19 namun untuk menghindari dari peringkat ini maka saya pun membeli banyak pemain karena banyak juga yang keluar seperti kerrea gilbert, Degre, james dan philip younghusband

Dan saya diberi dana sekitar 40 k dan untuk pembayaran gaji sebanyak 53 k lalu saya pun berinisiatif untuk membeli pemain yang dibutuhkan

seperti bisa dimana ada pemain baru maka ada yang keluar, dan ada nama yang familiar seperti degre, andy drury, chris james, phill younghusband, kerrea gilbert dan pavel besta.

Oke inilah screenshot siapa saja yang datang

Corry Evans

Salah satu pembelin terbaik karena Corry Evans adalah salah satu pemain timnas Irlandia Utara dan masih muda.

Bradley Wright Phillips

Pemain ini merupakan mantan pemain Plymouth

Rhys Taylor

Mantan kiper yunior chelsea, siap mengantikan posisi degre

Capdevilla

Pemain ini saya dapat dari penawaran agent dan memang saya butuh dia untuk posisi sayap kiri

Junior Livramento

Pemain muda ini saya datangkan dari free agents setelah kontraknya habis di Willem mantan klubnya

Mehdi Touli

dapat beposisi di setiap lini tengah

Frimpong

Akhirnya kali ini frimpong resmi milik Luton karena kontraknya di arsenal telah habis

Mark O'brien

Bek ini merupakan pinjaman dari derby country karena posisi bek di tim luto hanya satu setelah besta dijual

Riccardo Taddei

pemain ini saya butuhkan untuk beposisi di sayap kanan

Jack Mills

Bek ini merupakan pinjaman dari reading sebagai back-up

Steven Caulker

Bek pinjaman dari tottenham

Chalwe

dan ini pembelian terakhir bek yang berpengalaman di afrika,
dan berikut daftar pemain inti tim

Dan semoga dengan tim ini bisa menjuarai League One dana nantikan postingan berikutnya