Titanic tussle in store at OT

Sir Alex versus Arsene Wenger. Schmeichel versus Wright. Vieira v Keane. Van Nistlerooy v Keown. Manchester United v Arsenal returns to our screens on Sunday as two of the Premier League’s mainstays go head to head in the latest chapter of this compelling duel.

Not so long ago, this fixture was the stand-out game in the Premier League calendar as the footballing community paused for 90 minutes to watch these two juggernauts go at it hammer and tongs.

This contest was formerly given great attention as Sky counted down the days to kick-off. This time there’s no ‘Grand-Slam Sunday’. No ‘Face-off’. No booming sinister voiceover as the two captains ride into a ghost town, chewing on grass stalk with the only sound the rustling of bales, agitated saloon doors and the clicking of boot spurs as they dismount for a standoff. Sunday’s encounter shares the billing with two other contests in a rather modest ‘Super Sunday Hat-trick’. After a lull of around eight years, there is much to suggest the titanic battles of the mid to late nineties and early naughties are about to return.

Arsenal are currently benefitting from a three-pronged attacking midfield three of Mesut Özil, Santi Cazorla and the reborn Aaron Ramsey. The trio are finding pockets in between the opposition’s backline and midfield, yielding great success. Ramsey alone has already scored 11 times in all competitions. Compare his tally to his two strikes from last season, and you can understand why various pundits expect him to reach 20 goals - and why he’s an early frontrunner for Player of The Year.

Wayne Rooney has dismissed talk of United’s title defence going up in smoke should they lose on Sunday. However, ten games in and there’s much to suggest the league is beginning to take shape. This game carries with it huge significance; especially where Arsenal are concerned.

November has recently proved to be a graveyard in picking up points. Good starts have been derailed:

                 P   W   D    L   WIN %   WIN % SEASON

2006/07    8   3    2     3    38%             47%

2007/08    5   2    2     1    40%             60%

2008/09    8   4    1     3    50%             54%

2009/10    5   3    0     2    60%             60%

2010/11    8   4    0     4    50%             52%

2011/12    6   3    2     1    50%             57%

2012/13    7   2    4     1    29%             53%

Indeed, Wenger was correct to flag Rooney up on his assertion that Arsenal have traditionally faded away. Wenger’s charges have relied heavily on strong finishes to recover winters of discontent.

As Arsenal recovered from the opening-day defeat to Aston Villa, Wenger could’ve be forgiven for having one eye on the month that has proven so often to be his team’s Achilles heel. A much-improved Liverpool were to travel to the Emirates, while the Champions League group stages sandwiched a visit to Borussia Dortmund in between this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford. Wenger will also have envisioned quicker than most the work being done by Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton, Arsenal’s visitors to the Emirates after the international break.

Brendan Rodgers’ side were beaten 2-0, while a 1-0 success at the Westfalenstadion in midweek avenged the home defeat to Dortmund last month. Arsenal have negotiated the above challenges so far, and travel to Old Trafford five points clear at the top of the league. They are arguably favourites ahead of the game, a far cry from the embarrassing 8-2 defeat they suffered at Old Trafford a little over two years ago.

Arsenal have also learned to cope with the absence of influential holding midfielder Mathieu Flamini in their last two games. When the Frenchman was forced out of the first Dortmund game owing to concussion, Arsenal missed his presence and fell to their first defeat in 12. Flamini’s latest groin injury hasn’t been felt as hard, with the team picking up wins over Liverpool and Dortmund; Mikel Arteta providing the shield to their back four. Should Flamini miss out, Arsenal’s fans won’t be as concerned as they may have been four weeks ago. Notwithstanding this, Flamini has been an unsung hero for Wenger this season and, if selected, will need to be at his best to keep an increasingly influential Rooney quiet.

As for United, David Moyes will be encouraged with the shoots of recovery after a jittery start to his tenure. Despite rumours Rooney wanted out in the summer, he has, along with Adnan Januzaj, been their turn-to guy. Since United lost at home to West Brom in September, they are on an eight-game unbeaten run. A Januzaj-inspired 2-1 success at Sunderland acted as a catalyst for this sequence, and Wenger will be weary of the threat posed by the Belgian teenager.

The two sides’ contrasting styles will make for intriguing viewing. Arsenal’s midfield protagonists will hope to keep things congested through the middle, while United will look to profit on the counter in wide areas. It will be interesting to see who Moyes opts for on the right wing. Nani has enjoyed previous meetings against Arsenal, while Antonio Valencia scored in his last outing against Fulham, and will hope to retain his starting berth.

History dictates Arsenal success over United leads to greater success for the North London club over the course of the season. In their three Premier League triumphs, Arsenal stand unbeaten in six league encounters including four wins. Their two successes at Old Trafford provide iconic mementos to Arsenal fans, as images of Marc Overmars and Sylvain Wiltord wheeling away in celebration secured the league title on both occasions.

Although success at the weekend won’t seal their 14th league title, nor end their nine-year wait for a trophy, it will give Arsenal great self-confidence as the nights draw in and the season really cranks up. Rooney’s assertion that defeat won’t be a season-ender may be true, but it will severely dent Moyes’ mojo as he looks to justify his tag as the Chosen One.

Expect fireworks, if not flying pizza.

nicogrounds@aol.com

Football cult heroes: Andrei Kanchelskis

Procrastination is a dangerous game. Several wars were probably born out of leaders’ inability to remain happy with their lot; their hedonistic pursuits inadequately placed in a world full of riches.

I’m easier pleased, and four days off work moved me to set my brother and I the task of writing a short self-indulgent piece on one player who has lit up our 20 or so years of supporting the club we love.

Evertonians haven’t been blessed with trophies in recent times. Indeed it is 18 years since we last won a piece of silverware. In that time, the club has flirted with relegation, meandered in mid-table mediocrity, and punched heavily against the proverbial ceiling separating ourselves from dining at the Premier League’s top table.

We have, as with most clubs, acquired heroes along the way. Despite Everton’s inability to create a credible indentation on the Premier League’s 21 title races, we remain one of seven clubs to have featured every year since its inception and therefore Ben and I have a relatively decent pool of players to choose from.

To the steel so evident in the ‘dogs of war’ side that lifted the FA Cup in 1995, to the midget gems of David Moyes’ 11-year tenure, there is no shortage of players who could feature in this piece.

Duncan Ferguson will forever be immortalised as Everton’s talisman in the grey days of the nineties, when relegation battles became as common place as a Steven Gerrard raking pass. But there was one player whose arrival was so timely and unexpected. His stay on Merseyside akin to a steamy love affair so sweet it lent itself to the short-lived fling it was. Andrei Kanchelskis, Evertonians’ very own summer romance.

His arrival was anything but expected, or straightforward. A dynamic winger integral to Manchester United’s cause, he hit 14 league goals in 1994/95 as United narrowly missed out on the league and lost in the FA Cup final, ironically to Everton.

Rather than ready himself for a season in which United would eventually wrestle back the title, Kanchelskis found himself on the wrong side of Sir Alex Ferguson, and ousted from the club.

Various schools of thought exist as to how he came about swapping Manchester red for Merseyside blue. Sir Alex claimed in his autobiography Kanchelskis was unhappy about being left out of the side during times of injury. Ferguson claims the decision to sell the then 26-year-old was made before he was verbally threatened by the player’s agent to sell his client, while Ferguson also revealed he turned down a £40,000 bung delivered in an ornate Russian tea urn to his office.

Once several weeks of transfer wrangling between Everton and United had been sorted out, with the latter eventually agreeing to take the £1.5m tab payable to the winger’s former club Shakhtar Donetsk, Kanchelskis arrived as Everton’s club -record signing at £5m.

As a young Evertonian in London, I had to contend with Gooners who had no shortage of icons to choose from. But I had two – Ferguson and Kanchelskis, and that was enough for me. Their impact on my burgeoning relationship with the beautiful game telling, as I turned up to Arsenal soccer schools with Ferguson 9 etched on my back, and our blue and black stripy home socks pulled right up to my knees a la Kanchelskis (thus probably accounting for the rather unfortunate shaping of my feet today).

In just 18 months at the club he managed to tick all the boxes a cult hero should. He scored twice in his first derby against Liverpool. At Anfield. In the Kop. Everton running out 2-1 winners; their first league win at the rivals’ home in 10 seasons.

His first season yielded 16 league goals from midfield, including a hat-trick in a 5-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

Kanchelskis' impact on Everton’s fortunes was remarkable. The sixth-place finish he inspired in his first and only full season with the club was Everton’s first top half finish in five years and our best points tally since 1988 when we were challenging for the title. Indeed, his impact was more evident in the three years following his sale, when the club struggled to surpass the 40 points traditionally needed to remain in the division.

It was by no means a love affair to the death; his sale to Fiorentina during the second half of 1996/97 a result of a dip in form from the player and fortunes for the club. Kanchelskis’ final game in a blue shirt was a disappointing cup exit at the hands of Bradford City at Goodison. His last act of note a misplaced pass finding Chris Waddle before a beautiful chip sailed over the stranded Neville Southall and into the net. Everton 2-1 down, and out.

Manager Joe Royle explained Kanchelskis wasn't right in the head and his behaviour was having a detrimental effect on the team. Rumours also suggest the Russian Mafia who intruded on the player’s life were seeking money from a potential sale. The uncomfortable air of inevitability saw Chairman Peter Johnson sanction his £8m release to Florence.

Royle has since lamented letting Kanchelskis go without a fight:

“He had a succession of niggling injuries and knew the Italians wanted him. I could see it was getting to the other players. In the end I felt it was really getting on top of him. In hindsight, if I was in the same position again I’d probably just send him on holiday for a few weeks.”

At the time a ten year old Evertonian was not privy to the finer nuances surrounding Kanchelskis’ final months in blue. He was left inconsolable and baffled by the sale of an icon. A cult figure whose dalliance with Everton will always be much more than a summer romance.

The Moyes Question

Onwards and upwards: Moyes wants progression, but will it be at Everton?

David Moyes’ contract situation is a subject that has been bubbling under the surface in recent weeks. It cannot be culpable for performance levels dipping, neither can it be discounted.

 

Everton’s league record in the 2012 part of this season reads: Played 20. Won 8. Drawn 9. Lost 3. Goals for 33. Goals against 25. Points 33. Points per game 1.65. Win percentage: 40%.

 

For 2013, read: Played 6. Won 2. Drawn 3. Lost 1. Goals for 7. Goals against 7. Points 9. Points per game 1.5. Win percentage: 33%.

 

Sure, the fitness levels of Kevin Mirallas and Seamus Coleman may have had a bearing on performances, as the free-flowing attacking football has unquestionably been hit by their absences.

 

And, although it is difficult to start drawing up comparisons six games into 2013, since Moyes let it be known in December he harbours hopes of one day managing in Germany, Everton's win percentage has fallen and performances levels have dropped despite retaining the bulk of the first-team squad.

Kenwright and Moyes will hold off on contract discussions until the summer

While many Evertonians want Moyes to stay, every appointment has an expiry date. Bill Kenwright and Moyes have spoken of five-year cycles in the past, and it is unlikely Moyes would be willing to buy into another five years should the uncertainty over investment linger. Nor would he be expected to work indefinitely under such financial restrictions.

 

Flavour of the month can move pretty quickly in football, and it is testament to the stability and longevity of Moyes’ tenure he is rightly celebrated in footballing circles. At Everton, the majority of fans trust his management implicitly, but three or four negative results in succession, and Moyes’ moaners will become more vocal.

 

With Everton's limited budget and strong core of players limited to 12 or 13 bodies, that is not beyond a possibility. Approaching 11 years in charge, whether privately or publically, Moyes appears to be casting his net elsewhere. This is to be expected.

 

The fast turnover of management in the Championship this season is an example of how quickly things change in football. And despite the changes at Blackpool, Nott’m Forest and Blackburn extreme examples, they are endemic of how football can be cruel to managers.

 

Managers are judged purely on results. When they are struggling for points, they are removed. Therefore while they are held in high esteem, it is equally right they take opportunities when they arise.

 

Although pure speculation at this stage, Moyes courting a new challenge in the Bundesliga is understandable while he is revered relatively highly in football.

 

In many ways, this season is a watershed moment in Moyes’ Everton reign. And it appears he sees it this way as well.

 

Before the Oldham game, Moyes revealed all talk of extending his current contract will be left until the summer when it expires.

 

It is highly unlikely Moyes will renew his contract should Everton finish outside the European places and trophy-less. He may argue he has taken the club as far as he can, and that another manager deserves the chance to propel Everton to the next level.

 

Alternatively, should Moyes win the FA Cup, he may also chose to walk away, leaving on a high and with something tangible for his time at the club.

 

It therefore appears Everton's league standing will dictate whether Moyes renews his contract. Should they qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, you can take it as read his time at the club will be extended.

 

A fifth or sixth-place finish resulting in the Europa League is an intriguing scenario. Four European quests have left him wanting more, and I should think he’d want to stay. It is two years since Everton were in the Europa League, and would therefore constitute short-term progress.

 

But, this situation will present more though-provoking, and further challenges. Moyes will consider this secondary to Champions League qualification, and may walk away on the premise he has been unable to break through the glass ceiling of qualification for Europe’s elite cup competition.

Crown jewels: Fellaini and Baines are vital components in Everton's top-four ambitions 

It will also result in a summer of uncertainty over two of Everton's biggest assets. Marouane Fellaini will almost certainly kick up a fuss either via his father or the Belgium media, while Leighton Baines may be tempted by Champions League football should a club come calling.

 

The prospect of losing marquee players isn’t new to Moyes, but it may well be one that he feels he has outgrown.

 

Sure, Moyes has a decision to make. In the meantime, it is up to the players to ignore speculation over his future and ensure Everton's season is played out right until the final kick in May. I for one hope it is enough for the manager to extend his 11-year association with the club.