It may seem like the inevitable Marcelo Bielsa stumble is now in full effect. In the early part of the season Marseille were playing some of the best football seen at the Stade Velodrome in years. Bielsa's high octane pressing game was baring excellent results as L'OM stormed to the top of the Ligue 1 table. After 10 rounds, Marseille were already seven points clear of PSG at the top of the table.
Then Bielsa's men visited Lyon on the 26th of October and lost for the first time since the second weekend of the season. Since then Marseille haven't won a single game on the road. It's now two points in the last seven away matches for L'OM. The only solace for the club was that PSG were having an inconsistent season as well, so Marseille remained top of the table for another rounds by virtue of their perfect home record. You can get by with a bad run away from home if your rival is also struggling, but if a third contender emerges then it's hard to get away with inconsistency.
Lyon's sudden emergence and renaissance resulted in the former champions rising up the table and taking top spot from Marseille. As L'OM continue to struggle away from home, it was only a matter of time before a blip occurred at the Velodrome. It came earlier today, when Marseille conceded a last minute equalizer against Reims. The problem with a bad away run means the pressure increases a notch every time you play at home, and if the three points are not secure early enough you're likely concede a late goal as the nerves wrack up towards the end of the match.
It's not hard to see why Marseille have gone off the boil since late October. As many players from other Bielsa teams will testify, it's no good playing beautiful football if the ball doesn't find the back of the net. Droit Au But is the motto of the club - Straight to Goal, but Marseille have been anything but that on the pitch. Chances have been wasted despite complete dominance. It's hard to see Marseille reversing the trend, unless they find their finishing boots soon. Bielsa has to get his players behind Andre-Peirre Gignac to start scoring, or an improving PSG and a Lyon team with the firepower of Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fakir might just make Ligue Un a two-horse race with Marseille cut adrift.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Cricket World Cup starts with exciting clashes
Cricket fans all over the world are counting down the hours to the sport's blue ribbon event - The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. Over the tournament this blogger hopes to write about a variety of different aspects, but for now everyone can look forward to three cracking matches on the opening weekend. It all kicks off in Christchurch, where hosts New Zealand take on Sri Lanka. Die hard fans won't have any rest as Ashes rivals Australia and England square off just as the first match nears its conclusion. Then on Sunday, we have the marquee match between India and Pakistan. What a way to whet the appetite for the tournament!
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Paul Lambert sacked by Aston Villa
It's been coming. How did it last so long one may ask? 12 goals in 25 games, thats 10 lower than then the next worst team. A team that has played some of the worst football in the last three seasons despite having talented enough players to at least play with some verve. Perhaps its the fact that Aston Villa are finally in the relegation zone that has made the board wake up. Whatever the reason, it is the right decision to. Now, two questions come to mind:
A) Is it too late?
B) Who will replace Paul Lambert?
A) Is it too late?
B) Who will replace Paul Lambert?
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Premier League signs record TV deal
5 billion pounds! Once again - 5 billion pounds! That's how much the Premier League broadcasting rights from 2016 to 2019 in the UK cost. This doesn't even include all 380 league matches. It obviously means that the clubs involved are going to get a lot more money. In Britain they are already talking about how this should help grassroots football through greater investment and there is also reasonable talk about making match tickets cheaper for the average fan. These are indeed genuine points of discussion. One can only assume the international rights are going to be just as lucrative. As this writer doesn't support illegal streaming, the hope is increased cost of subscription at least bares out in the teams actually playing football with good players and a modicum of ambition. It gets tiring to watch the drudge served up by clubs like Aston Villa, Hull and Sunderland in recent seasons, not to mention the various mediocre teams that have been relegated and promoted since the last television rights deal was signed. Let the quality of football be the ultimate barometer above the marketing of the product.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Afghanistan with the new ball
Watching India's World Cup warm-up match against Afghanistan right. Its a flat pitch with small boundaries so India are on track to get a big score, but boy was it fun watching the Afghans with the new ball in the first ten overs. There is some serious zip and movement that these boys are generating and if they get better conditions, it wouldn't be a surprise if they skittled out one of the big teams for a small score. Here's hoping Hamid Hassan, Dawlat Zadran and Shapoor Zadran crank it up even more once the World Cup gets underway.
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