Berba, Rooney and Tevez

Manchester United became the champions of Europe and England last season, despite being light in numbers up front. Tevez and Rooney were the star duo leading the line, with Ronaldo banging in the goals from midfield. This season they have added Berbatov to their squad, giving Sir Alex a head ache about who plays, and who warms the bench.

Squad rotation is a fact of life for successful teams in modern football. Bigger squads are needed to cope with longer seasons, more games, and higher intensity. There are though varying degrees of success when it comes to this rotation policy. Rafa Benitez at Liverpool is a huge supporter of the policy and employed it with success during two La Liga winning seasons with Valencia. However there is a feeling that he changes the team a bit too much week in and week out and this is why Liverpool have been great in patches, and poor in others. Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex have done it better.

In United’s best ever season, the 99 Treble winning season, they had four quality strikers to choose from, Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Solskjaer. They all played prominent parts in the season, ending with both Sheringham and Ole coming off the bench to score and win the Champions League final against Bayern.  However, while they four were rotated and used to maximum effect that season, there was still a first choice partnership of Cole and Yorke. So who is Sir Alex’s first choice this season?

Since his arrival on dead line day Berbatov has started in all but one of United’s games. Tevez has been the unlucky one sitting on the bench, with Sir Alex clearly showing the Rooney will start whenever fit, be it up front, or in a wider role. Berbatov is a quality player, and everyone knows that he has a air of class about him, but his performances for United have been poor. Yet Sir Alex’s persistence in picking him suggests that he feels he is lacking in fitness rather than he is his preferred starter. Berbatov, because of his situation at Spurs, arrived at United well behind the squad in terms of fitness. By picking him week in week out at the begining of his United career Sir Alex is ensuring that he gets match fitness quickly, and that his team mates learn about him, and he about them. Coming the busy Christmas period we can be assured that the rotation policy will be in full flow.

Berbatov also needs to learn what it is to be a United player. Right now he is not one. When Rooney or Tevez lose the ball they don’t do a Berbatov, look up to the sky, or down at his feet, and then go for a little walk, they track back and make sure they get it back. It’s not unusual to see Tevez or Rooney filling in at right back when United are defending. You’re unlikely to see Berbatov in his own half much. When United are defending they do so with 11 men. Right now with Berbatov they are doing so with 10. What he needs to learn is that although he is the focal point of the attack he needs to put in the hard work when United don’t have the ball. They fluency of the attack means that at any time Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo, Giggs, Nani, and even Fletcher, are the furthest man forward, occupying the central strikers role. This means that when the forward drops back to regain possession, there will always be someone covering up front. The option is not lost. So Berbatov doesn’t have to lazily walk around, put can and should put in more work. There are few harder working footballers in the game than Tevez and he has been very unlucky to have to miss out while Berbatov gets used to United.

There is no denying that Berbatov is class and will be a great signing for United, but he needs to learn fast, because a player like Tevez is being wasted on the bench week in and week out. He needs to be playing more – for the good of United. There will be times when Sir Alex will play all three, put most games he will employ a horses for courses approach, with the team being chosen for specific opposition and tactics. The sooner Tevez gets back in the starting eleven the better though.

Spurs Struggle Continues

15 to 20 million pounds. That’s the amount that it would cost Spurs in compensation were they to sack Ramos now, according to the British papers. The weekends loss to Hull means that Spurs have now suffered their worst start to a league season since 1912. Each passing game must leave the Spurs faithful wondering if that exorbitant amount is worth it.

Hull City, playing their first season ever in the English top flight, have had a dream start thus far. They currently sit third in the table, ahead of both Manchester United and Arsenal. Last week they beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and they followed that up this weekend with win against Spurs. They couldn’t have dreamed of a better start. For Spurs things couldn’t have happened any worse. They are still winless this season in the league, sit bottom of the table after 7 games, and look far from a happy squad.

What Ramos has going against him is that the rut is not a new one. A closer look at the stats reveals that Spurs have actually won just 3 times in the league since lifting the Carling Cup in February. So while Spurs are too good to be relegated, on paper anyway, they are showing alarming relegation form. Leeds were also too good to go down a few seasons ago and now find themselves in League One.

Ramos feels he can turn things around, and has the reputation and record in Spain of being a top manager. All that matters to the Spurs fans is how their club is doing, and not what happened at Sevilla. Money has been spent, so there is no excuse that the manager is working with Martin Jols squad. That said Martin Jols team finished 5th in consecutive seasons before a slow start last season cost him his job. Ramos is running out of time to show that he is the right man for the job.

There is a need for a manager to be given time and patience to perform their jobs. Alex Furgeson and Arsene Wenger, the two best managers in the league, are also the two longest serving managers. But times are different in the modern game, and with the vast sums of money available and being spent, owners can not afford a bad spell that leaves them too far behind. Just ask Leeds.

Ramos believes he can save Spurs season. The evidence thus far suggests otherwise. Spurs are a team in turmoil and free fall. Things must change quickly if they are to avoid becoming another big team swept away into the battle of the Championship.

T20 Tri-Nations Series

Cricket South Africa announced that a Tri-nations T20 Series will be held next year, featuring South Africa, Australia and India.

T20 continues to be the fastest growing brand in the cricketing world, with more and more of the action packed, fast paced, form of the game being demanded by audiences, TV and sponsors, if not the players themselves. The business of sport has made this growth inevitable, even if purists see it as encroaching on the Test and 50 over cricket. But make no mistake, sport is a business, and in the end money will win, and T20 will continue its rapid growth. There was a time, perhaps in the amateur days, with cricket, and sport in general, was about competition and entertainment. Those aspects still exists, but these days there is the business of sport, and the business of entertainment, where huge amounts of money, especially in India with respect to cricket, will form the basis of choosing a direction for the sport. All of this means that next years already crowded international cricket schedule, one that includes a South Africa v Australia series, a South Africa v England series, an Ashes series, the T20 World Cup in England, the IPL, a Champions League for domestic T20 winners, and a date and perhaps venue for the postponed ICC Champions Trophy still to be found, will now need to make room for a T20 Tri nations Series.

The model for the series is yet to be finalised, but is thought to be similar to the Tri Nations Rugby series, featuring South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, where the three teams play each other both home and away. This years Tri Nations Rugby saw each team play 3 games at home and 3 away.

One potential problem that the series will have to overcome is the ICC’s regulations for international T20 games, which says that each country can only play 7 T20 matches a year.

In the end money will speak louder then those worried about over exposure and too much cricket, and the series should go ahead. The inclusion of India in the series means that incoming money will be at a maximum for a cricket series, and this will be the motivation to get the series the green light.

It has not yet been stated whether or not this is a planned annual series, like the rugby edition, but cricket fans should have more cricket to look forward to next year. T20 is expanding, and the entertainment should be growing too.