Mental managers

'Sup Footie nuts,

It's been a while has it not? It took me 1.5 hours to try and figure out the password for this thing. And then a further 30 mins to make some coffee, use the bathroom and fantasize about beating a co-worker with the blunt end of an ace.

It's the transfer season. It's a perfect opportunity to get excited about transfers that will never happen. Rumours that remain just that and a chance to build your squad on whatever version of FIFA you have by following some of the idiotic ITK (In the know) accounts.

With all the rumours floating about, managers of various teams often have to spend the majority of their time, during press conferences, fielding questions about potential tranfers... which made me think of the most nuttiest interviews ever done by managers... here's my best of all time.

And oldy, but still a proper classic. I think this is the reason 'Arry started doing interviews from the safety of his Land Rover.

This isn't too long, but LVG tells a reporter EXACTLY what he thinks

I remember this cringe fest like it was yesterday. Liverpool (at that time in the season) were leading the Premier League ahead of Manchester United. Rafa, clearly thought that it was a perfect time to derail everything and go on a proper mental rant about Sir Alex Ferguson. As the drunk white girls would say, "I can't even"

What ever you do, please read Alex Ferguson's mind about what you can and can't ask him during a presser. 

Kevin De Bruyne. Some of you might or might not know, was actually a Chelsea player. Shocking right? What's even more confusing is that JM thought he didn't need to be in the Presser because they weren't asking the right questions... Lolly lolz

Part of Kenny's sacking was due to his inability to control the Luis Suarez - Patrice Evra racism incident. Here he loses his top (and lies) about Suarez refusing to shake Evra's hand. 

For good measure, here's a vid of managers losing their shit in different sporting codes. 

See you soon!

Potz

Give me a follow on twitter @_potz_ 
Or look for me on Facebook - Potz Johnson

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 

Euro 2012 Preview Group D

Group D...D for deadly!! More like D for disaster. 2 of the "I have a big name but I under-perform" teams can be found in this group and there's a strong possibility that one of them will be out before the knock-out stage. Sounds sexy. That aside, there are some hidden gems to look out for in this group as well as some key players.
Predictions:

1. France
2. England
3. Sweden
4. Ukraine

_______________________________________________________________________
England

The only team to win the World Cup but not win the Euro's. We wont say they are the most overrated team in the world because I'll be offended if we do say that. We've previously expressed our thoughts on this England team - here! However, England should have enough strength (a nice version of luck) about them to qualify from this group. We expect epic "0-0" battles with the odd "1-0". Rooney's early absence will put the team under pressure to find another outlet for goals. Currently England have managed to injure half of their squad and they haven't even left home. A positive is that this team is made entirely of England based players, who know, play, fight with each other & occasionally play wife-swap. The ability to perform is there, but will the team be able to produce this quality when under pressure?

Prediction: 2nd - #2

Key man: Joe (Joseph) Hart
England will need Hart to be at his best in this tournament. He'll need to do more than just a fireball. He has a great record for England and this will help keep things tidy at the back:
18 games, 13 wins, 9 clean sheets.











My "one to watch": Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The young man has the potential to be one of the brightest young talents in Europe, let alone England. If he gets game-time, he'll perform. Footiecall officially rates him as better than Theo Walcott.








_______________________________________________________________________
France

France are the only team in this group to actually have won the competition, yet possibly the most erratic team in the group. France have been World Cup winners and have followed that success up with an awful exit in the group stages. Similarly, they've gotten progressively worse in the Euro's since winning it in 2000. The 2004 exit at QF stage & a 2008 exit at Group stage show they're due a good run.
This year, however, the French have come to the party! Alors on Danse, France!!

Prediction: The cock will be on top - #1

Key man: Franck Ribery
Can you believe he is the 2nd most capped player in this French team, behind Malouda? His mix of guile & experience will serve France well & many of the younger members of the squad will look to him as the decision-maker.






My "one to watch": Mathieu Debuchy
The right-back isn't a youth anymore (26 years old), but few people know of this super-talent. He made everybody's Ligue 1 team of the year & is rated as one of the best RB's in the world. Currently at Lille, the EPL & La Liga may soon come calling.
_______________________________________________________________________
Sweden

The poor Swedes. A long history of semi's....they just can't go all the way. They pop before the end. Are they not hard enough? Well it seems they are since they are the tallest team in the competition with the tallest player - Andreas Isaksson (GK). Being tall doesn't win you trophies. It's about time Sweden put their foot forward as a European powerhouse & this is a group which they can qualify from if they play to their best. The Swedes have amassed a large 31 goals for the Euro's, which is more than anyone else in the group. Only the Spanish & Dutch have a higher cap average than the Swedish team (an average of 41 caps per player). This speaks to the continuity of this group of players. It also speaks to the fact that this might be the last chance for many of these players. It's do or die, now or never, shit or get off the pot.

Prediction: #3

Key man: Zlatan "the man" Ibrahimovic
If Zlatan is not everybody's key man, then he will be annoyed. Annoying Zlatan makes him angry. An angry Zlatan scores goals! A furious Zlatan wins leagues!! A RAGING ZLATAN OF INFERNO WINS THE EURO...ALONE...WITH AN ALICE BAND OF POWER & WOW!!!

My "one to watch": Emir Bajrami
The FC Twente winger has won leagues, cups & U21 caps. He hasn't featured much for the top team but we believe he should be given a chance. At 24, he is the youngest member of the ageing Swedes. A new Freddy Ljungberg? In pictures maybe.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ukraine

The folk at Footiecall love pronouncing the Ukrainian names. We struggled with the one in the badge above though. MS Word 97 says it's a spelling mistake and we agreed. We carried on to find more mistakes....with the team. The history of Ukrainian football is littered with "Did not qualify" or "Did not enter" notes. Once fooled by the name "Shevchenko" and their only appearance in an actual tournament (World Cup 2006), it now appears that Ukraine would have struggled to even enter this competition if they weren't co-hosts. In fact, Poland & Ukraine have never won a game at the Euro Tournament, ever. Perhaps the Soviet Union (winners in 1960, 3 times runners-up & 4th best Euro Champs team in history) should have stuck together for footballing reasons (Footiecall has no opinion on the political disbandment of the Communist state formerly named the USSR). We do, however, look forward to commentators struggling to pronounce names like: Olimpiysky Complex, Chygrynskiy and of course ex-manager, Mykhaylychenko.

Prediction: rock bottom - #4

Key man: Anatoliy Tymoschuck (Анатолій Олександрович Тимощук)
The midfielder has been a wonderful servant for Bayern Munich since 2009. Used in various positions, he found himself in defense in the 2012 Champions League final. Ukraine will be looking towards him for stability. We'll be looking at his lovely blonde locks.



             My "one to watch": Andriy Voronin (Андрій Вікторович Воронін)
If you've never seen his "highlights" package then you haven't lived. Watch it here!! When I have a bad day, it cheers me up. The possibility of more laughter is something we cannot turn down.