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Greetings footiecall faithful.

International break, done and dusted. Back to the business of league football.

Before we get there though, 

This article suggests that Gordon Igesund will be looking to a few 'foreign-based' Saffers to further strengthen his squad. Players who were born in RSA, but who have never worn the colours of Bafana Bafana...some of these players may even have opted to play for their new 'home' countries before.

The news made me cast my mind back to that French national side of '98. So many in that side were of African descent. Marcel Desailly [Ghana], Patrick Vieira [Senegal], Zinedine Zidane [Algeria] etc...

There is a bit of a back story to Desailly though. Adopted by a French diplomat, who would marry his mother...Odenke Abbey was just 4years old when he arrived in France 
[and subsequently changed his name to Marcel Desailly]

Les Bleus have been benefiting from Africa for many years though, we can go as far back as Jean Tigana, a fantastic talent, who could have chosen Mali over France...or further yet to Just Fontaine, one of the finest marksmen the game has seen, who was born in Morocco. 

Besides their 'World XI' winning team of '98, they've relied on neighbours for other talent too. Raymond Kopa [Poland], Michel Platini [Italy] and Robert Pires [Portugal].

Of course, France is not the only nation to benefit from "forced" movements of our African brothers and sisters, seeking a better life in these 1st World countries.

Independent tests prove that 3 of 4 Dutch players come from Suriname

Quite interesting to look at the amount of players Holland have 'grabbed' from their former colony Suriname
Davids, Bogarde, Hasselbaink, Kluivert, Seedorf, Winter and Rijkaard to name a few...

Portugal have also drawn strength from their colonial links to Mozambique...their greatest 'import' is certainly Eusebio, while the little maestro Deco hails from Brasil [so too Pepe].


Now then to ze Germans. It's well known that Jerome  Boateng has chosen his new home Germany as the country he wants to represent, while his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng is more than happy to don the colours of the Black Stars.
There are also a few Polish lads running out for Die Mannschaft, Poldi, Klose and also Trochowski of the current crop.
Then there are those who are ethnically Turkish, like Mesut Ozil and Serdar Tasci...
So naturalisation has happened for many years and continues to be the order of the day.

What are your thoughts on this? 


Should players be allowed to choose their allegiance based on length of stay, where they feel most comfortable and/or the football jersey that fits better?!




After all...HOME, is where the heart is.

Which league dominates the UEFA Champions League?

Last season I noticed an increasing feeling on social media platforms and amongst the tv pundits, that La Liga is the best performing league playing in the UEFA Champions League. Now in the past few years with Barcelona dominating, it can be understood. Yet if you took a look at Real Madrid’s past few years in the UCL, you’d notice that they were rather disappointing. I decided to go back into the record books and see which league really does dominate the Champions League.

As a kid growing up in the early 90’s, Serie A was the dominant force in Europe. It was clear to see in this competition too, with a Serie A club involved in every final for 7 straight years: 1992-1998.

Although the Champions League was rebranded in 1992, it didn’t resemble the current tournament until the 1997-98 season. This was the first season where teams could enter the UCL without the need to win their league.  In my research I aim to see which league is consistently in the final KO rounds of the UCL and if 1 league has more than 1 team, they get more than 1 point. So to keep everything as fair as possible, here were my guidelines for this test:

• I’ve taken the date range from 1997/98 – 2011/12
• I consider teams in the QF stage and onwards only (final KO rounds)
• 1 point per team
• I’ve only taken into account the top leagues:
• EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Primeira Liga, Eredevisie

Quarter-final stage

So let’s see who really does dominate the Champions League as we know it. The consensus seems to be La Liga, but let’s see who’s dominated the past 15 years of the QF stage:

Over the past 15 seasons, the English Premier League has been an ever-present in the quarter-final stage. Aside from that, they’ve made a total of 32 appearances at this stage. This is more important since it is a reflection of the strength of the league. An example is the 2007/08 & 2008/09 seasons which both had 4 EPL teams reach the QF stage. That’s 8 appearances in the QF over 2 years for the EPL. No other league has had 4 teams from their league in the QF at this stage, yet the EPL managed it in 2 consecutive seasons. La Liga trails in this regard with 27 appearances over 15 seasons.

Semi-final stage

It has to be said that the QF stage of the Champions League has been dominated by the EPL teams for nearly 2 decades, but if we think about the Semi-Finals over the past few years, one team springs to mind – Barcelona. An ever-present for half a decade in the semi’s, and possibly the main reason many believe La Liga to be stronger in Europe. It’s quite true though. The last time Barca failed to reach the SF stage was 6 seasons back. They are clearly the best team in Europe based on UEFA coefficients. But what about the rest of La Liga?

Even though the past 6 seasons saw 11 appearances by EPL teams in the semi’s against the 9 from La Liga, the Spanish league pips the Premier League since the EPL made most of their SF appearances in the past few years.

One of the most striking facts one can take from this table is the gulf between the EPL/La Liga teams when compared against the rest of the European Leagues. None of the other leagues have made 10 appearances at this stage, yet the EPL & La Liga might make their 19^th & 20^th appearance this season if more than 1 team reaches the SF. It speaks volumes as to why many foreign players are choosing the EPL & La Liga over Bundesliga & especially Serie A. There seems to be more chance of glory in those 2 leagues.

Having said that, there has been a Bundesliga team in the semi’s for the past 3 seasons. Italy’s last appearance in the semi’s – 2009/10. In fact, out of the past 15 seasons, a Serie A team has only been present in 7 of those 15 tournaments at this stage. And what of the Eredivisie? 1 appearance in the semi’s in 15 seasons? It’s little wonder that the youth of Ajax choose to move to the giants of Europe.

Of all of these numbers & figures, the 3 year stretch by the EPL between 2006 & 2009, has to be the most impressive. 3 EPL teams reached the semi’s 3 years in a row. 9 appearances in 3 seasons.

La Liga takes the prize for the best semi-finalists, edging out the EPL for now at least.

Finals

It’s very easy to count who has won the most titles over 15 years, but dominance doesn’t always result in titles. Chelsea vs Barcelona/Bayern last season. The dominant team didn’t win. Simply reaching the finals is a massive achievement. Things can go wrong within the game, but reaching the final is no accident. Having said that, which league has had the most appearances in the Final since 1997/98?

The EPL slightly edges La Liga, having made 9 appearances in the finals over 15 years. The graph roughly states that there’s currently over a 50% chance that a team from the EPL will reach the finals. However, if you look at their run before 2004, you’ll notice the stark contrast. Simply 1 final before 2004 – the famous 1999 victory from Manchester United. It clearly shows how far the EPL has come over the past decade. Over the past 8 seasons, there have been 8 appearances in the finals by an EPL team. That is ridiculously good. In comparison, the past 8 seasons have seen 3 finals from La Liga teams (all 3 appearances from Barcelona). La Liga had more of a presence in the finals in the years building up to the 2002 Galacticos victory.

Winners

La Liga has taken more UCL titles than any other league in Europe. Currently sitting on a 75% chance of victory if a La Liga team reaches the final. All 6 of the La Liga titles have been won by either Real Madrid or Barcelona, whereas 3 of the 4 EPL titles have been won by different teams. A shock to the Bundesliga (recently rewarded with 4 UCL spots) is their success rate over the past 15 seasons. 1 title (Bayern Munich). Even more worrying for the rest of Europe is that there have been no winners over the past 8 years other than Serie A, La Liga & EPL. A total domination of titles shared amongst 3 leagues.

Bear in mind that all of these stats are taken from the 1997/98 season – 2011/12. The reason is that 1997/98 was the first season to invite other teams apart from the league winners. This means we can grade the league and not just 1 team from the league (as pre-1997/98 tournaments were structured). Since UEFA have invited more than just 1 EPL team into the UCL, I would venture to say that they have dominated. Using the tables above, we can take the following info:

This is a table based on presence – basically, who was there in the final stages over a period of 15 years. There has been more of a presence in the final stages by EPL teams rather than La Liga. The difference is that the La Liga teams go on to win the trophy when reaching the final. Well 6 out of 8 times, that is. At the end of the season, the winners are always remembered & rightfully so. Hopefully this article shows that the EPL in recent years has dominated. It also shows the vast gap between EPL & La Liga teams when compared to the rest of Europe.

Cheers.

@thembasweet 

Liverpool Crisis? Not one dam bit!

'Sup footie nuts? No premier league Football this weekend. How will we survive!? I know... Footiecall!

So Liverpool's current lack of strikers at the club is a worrying concern to all involved. Be it fans, coaches, journos and according to an open letter, the principal owner John Dubya Henry. I, like many, was left frustrated, angry, shocked and even embarrassed at our inactivity on the transfer deadline day (a pubic holiday in my life). Adding to this were rumours floating around that Liverpool were about to "put in a bid for almost everyone". Annoying to no end. There was even a point, when I was HOPING we had signed Clint Dempsey. We all know my feelings about him. I don't think (and still don't) that we need him. What we needed was a striker. Yup! An out and out striker. A goal scorer. We never got that. We never got anything. Not even a mean cup of instant coffee.

Waking up the morning after transfer deadline day, I felt shattered, gutted really that we embarrassingly missed out on Dempsey, Sturridge, Hunterlaar, Rob Sneijder and Bane from Batman. In my mind, Liverpool NEEDED a striker! I went so far to suggest that we should get Michael Owen. To possibly keep Henderson company on the bench. Yes, that's right. I was calling for Michael Judas Owen to come in and be our saviour. WHAT was I thinking!? Following the loss to Arsenal at Anfield. I made up my mind again, that a striker is needed. We are doomed for mid table AGAIN if we don't sort it out. Get Owen in BR!

However after the rage at the loss to Arsenal, I sat down, had some lavender tea and decided, "Let's think about Liverpool's options up front." This is what I came up with:

Realistically, we only have two first team forward men. Luis Can't close my mouth Suarez and Fabio I miss when I want Borini (more on him later). Liverpool have recently purchased an u/21 Yesil from Bayer Neverkusen. He was, however, bought with the intent of playing in the newly formed u/21 league. We do have three promising forward men in the reserve team though. Dani twitter freak Pacheco, Adam get me 10 000 followers Morgan and also Big Mike Ngoogle. Pacheco hasn't been a managers favourite since Rafa Benitez left Anfield for  unemployment. Kenny Dalglish? He wasn't British. And now Brendan Rodgers, who tried to send Pacheco on loan to some team outside the top two in La Liga. Anybody who isn't Brendan Rodgers, won't know the real reason why Pacheco is out of favour at Melwood. All we can do is speculate. And, if anything, Liverpool fans are GREAT at speculating. Embarrassingly so. Mike NGoogle hasn't really been tested in the first team. In fact, I'm not sure if he has played a competitive game for the first team. He has been prolific for the reserves though. So maybe he is worth a shout? Morgan, we have seen. He looks determined. Looks like he loves the crest on his chest. At 18 years old, he needs to be a bit more composed in the box. But that will come with more playing time in the first team. Here's a thought, put him on the bench and leave one of Carra, Kelly or Coates out of the match day team? With the lack of strikers, it makes much more sense to do that no? Yes.

Back to Borini. I always believe, that a striker's form shouldn't be judged on the chances he misses or converts. But rather, that the striker is in that position in the first place. If I had a striker in my team who wasn't scoring OR missing chances, I would be VERY worried. But with Borini, he has missed at least 3 sitters and 3 half chances this season. We can sit back and mock him for that. But just the fact that he was in a goal scoring position at least 6 times so far this season in league and cup competitions is at least some sort of positive to take out of this situation. He will score. He should be played up the middle. Like all strikers should.

Liverpool are NOT in any sort of crisis. We are a bit light up front (Leave the Suarez racism jokes alone) but a crisis? Almost entering into administration is a crisis. This... this is nothing.... this is Anfield...

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