Managers to the Fore

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

The English Premier League 2012-2013 is now history. Sir Alex Ferguson has passed on the baton to David Moyes who will be second guessed to death if Manchester United in 2013-2014 is not off to a roaring start. This summer, football enthusiasts will monitor closely the perennial movement of coaches/managers. Rafael Benitez ended with a bang as Chelsea won the Europa Cup and edged Everton to close out the season. Benitez has indicated that he would like to land a coaching position in the EPL. If Abramovic had any sense, he would keep Benitez but the Chelsea owner is renown for his love of discontinuity.

The rumour is that Mourinho will make his second coming to Chelsea. Mourinho has a history of success but he does not wear well as after a couple of seasons, he becomes a divisive figure.

Wenger is safe as Arsenal by the skin of their teeth made it into the Champion’s League. As an ESPN commentator pointed out recently, in the five years that he has observed Arsene Wenger from the sidelines, he has not seen him issue instructions to his players but has been preoccupied with excoriating the referee and the fourth official.

Brendan Rogers made progress with the Liverpool experiment. The acquisition of Sturridge and Coutinho has added to Liverpool’s offensive potency. With the retirement of Carragher, they must now acquire an outstanding central defender. Liverpool should be a contender in 2013-2014.

Mancini slipped after winning the previous year and has been shown the exit door. The Malaga coach is set to replace Mancini who will pop up somewhere in Serie A.

The role of the manager/coach has become deterministic to a team’s success or failure. The management of highly paid stars requires a special tact. This summer we will not only pay attention to the movement of players but also the movement of managers.

Demba Ba’s Moment of Magic

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

Demba Ba’s moment of magic eased Chelsea into the semi-final of the FA Cup. This season Chelsea failed to challenge Manchester United down the stretch for the EPL title. The defending champions for the UEFA Champion League were knocked out quite early and to salvage what’s left of the season, Chelsea can win the FA cup and are still competing in the Europa Cup, not to mention finishing in the top four to play Championship soccer in 2013 to 2014.

Sir Alex Ferguson pulled out all stops to get an equalizer once Manchester found themselves down a goal from early in the second half. He inserted Van Persie for Cleverly, Giggs for Nani and subsequently Young for Welbeck. But those astute substitutions precipitated chances but no end product. Van Persie has been off-stride as the season comes to a close and Giggs who can still produce magical moments, was unmagical against Chelsea on April Fool’s Day.

Chelsea were beaten by Southampton over the weekend in a League game as Rafael Benitez, the besieged Chelsea manager, rested most of his starters and against the lowly regarded Southampton looked second best. With the starters somewhat rested, Chelsea played like the talented team that they are. Hazard, Mata and Oscar looked dangerous at times but Smalling and Ferdinand held them at bay.

In his Chelsea career, Demba Ba started at full throttle but the injury to his nose slowed his progress. Against Manchester United in a big game, the former Newcastle striker showed his class by scoring a glorious goal from an adroit pass from Juan Mata.

Chelsea’s dilemma is what do you do with a $50 million striker whose value has dropped as precipitously as the stock market in 2008? Muddying the waters is Lukaku, a Chelsea striker on loan to West Brom who has made great strides in his development as a big league striker.

Roman Abramovic has some important decisions to make at the end of the season. Rumors are that Jose Mourinho, presently the manager at Real Madrid, is destined to return to Stanford Bridge. Abramovic will also have to seek new acquisitions as Ashley Cole does not seem to be his energetic old self and Bertrand, the understudy, is not really a threat going forward. Nonetheless, Chelsea has a surplus of diamonds in the rough and should bounce back as a rival for the EPL title in the 2013-2014 season.