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Rafa & Ferguson in happier (not that much) times

2nd Half of Season Begins

England never stopped, Spain returned last week, the Italians are just back and the Germans don’t get back to action until the end of January.

When it comes to football in January, the major leagues in Europe do it very differently but while the German fans are left kicking their heels with no competitive league action to cheer, the rest of the main European footballing nations have been creating a lot of talking points.

With the transfer window open for business, fans and pundits have plenty to read and write about but it’s the action on the field that should matter the most.

Rafa Loses the Plot with Ferguson
Of course, that’s not always the case and in England, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has managed to get a lot of attention from launching into a rant about Alex Ferguson and how Manchester United get all the decisions and that Alex Ferguson is the only manager to escape FA punishment.

Mind games are an inevitable part of football, especially when dealing with Ferguson but there is a feeling that Benitez has made a mistake in attempting to go head to head with Ferguson so soon.

Liverpool’s passionate fans are unsurprisingly behind their manager but for those who aren’t clouded with a hatred of Manchester United or a belief that everything Scouse is always right, Benitez’s outburst was full of inaccuracies and made the successful manager come across as a petulant teenager.

Of course, after launching such an outburst on a rival, a manager really needs his players to perform in their next match to keep the heat on their challengers. Liverpool could probably consider themselves lucky to leave Stoke with a point as a strange team selection by Benitez hampered the Merseysiders chances of winning at a ground where a tough test was always on the cards.

United Respond in Best Possible Fashion
United responded as they know best by trouncing Chelsea 3-0 in a game that may cast great doubts about Chelsea’s chances of winning the English Premier League and Scolari’s long term survival chances.

Manchester United now play two games at home before Liverpool next kick a ball in anger and if they win both games, they will be top of the league.

The next league game Liverpool have after that will be a tough Merseyside derby against an Everton team who are showing great form and who will be determined to put a dent in their neighbours title chances.

Perhaps next time Benitez will consider hiding behind that goatee beard of his for a bit longer rather than giving his most dangerous opponent encouragement to take them on.

Raul Takes Plaudits
Barcelona have built up an impressive lead at the top of La Liga that they can afford the odd slip up from time to time but the recent round of Spanish fixtures placed the spotlight firmly on Raul.

The Madrid star was making his 500th league appearance for the club and became the sixth player to reach at least 500 games in Spain. Unsurprisingly, the striker marked the occasion with a goal as Madrid ran out convincing 3-0 winners.

At first glance, the goal was a simple tap in from a yard or two but upon viewing the replay, Raul performs an intricate flick as the ball was arriving behind him and provided further evidence of the class he has shown consistently throughout his career.

At only 31 years of age, Raul is likely to have a few more years at the top but regardless of all the honours Raul has achieved in his career, there is probably the sense of grievance about being omitted from the Spain squad which finally came good at Euro 2008.

It is unlikely that even an in form Raul will be enough to help Madrid win the league this season but the forthcoming Champions League ties against Liverpool could present Raul with another chance to remind people of what a supreme goal scorer he is.

All Eyes on Beckham Again
The football action has only just resumed in Italy and, as usual, all eyes have been on David Beckham. There has been a considerable amount of talk this week regarding how long Beckham will remain with Milan for and there seems to be a stronger argument that he will stay beyond his initial loan contract.

A return to the United States and Los Angeles was always planned for March but there now appears to be the opportunity for Beckham to remain with AC Milan until the end of the season.

This will undoubtedly delight the finance manager at Milan with shirts to sell and glamorous friendlies to arrange but it may well be that manager Carlos Ancelotti will be pleased with this arrangement too. AC Milan have a few injury problems in midfield at the moment and surprisingly, Beckham was included in starting line up for his team in their away match to Roma.

Wearing the number 32 shirt and starting in between Ronaldinho and Kaka, Beckham saw his team trail 1-0 at half time thanks to a Mirko Vucinic goal. Things looked bright for AC Milan when two Pato goals them the lead but another strike from Vucinic levelled the score at 2-2 with just under twenty minutes to go. Beckham was replaced on 89 minutes by former Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini but there was no further change to the score and the match ended in stalemate.

The Special One Still Top
City rivals Inter Milan could only draw 1-1 at home with Cagliari and with Juventus winning 1-0 over Siena thanks to a Del Piero goal; the Turin club narrowed the gap at the top of Serie A to four points.

Inter Milan had been on a great winning streak before the Winter shutdown so perhaps Jose Mourinho will be aggrieved at the pause in proceedings possibly derailing his team slightly.

That said, it was reported that Mourinho was present at Old Trafford to watch United dismantle his former team Chelsea and whilst the Portuguese manager will likely have a slight smirk at how the fortunes have dipped for Abramovich and his team since his departure, an on form United will offer Mourinho a massive obstacle in the forthcoming Champions League fixtures between the two teams.

With some time before the Champions League resumes, domestic duties are the focal point for the big clubs in Europe at the moment and the points won in the cold weather and on difficult pitch conditions can go a long way to securing the title celebrations in May.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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