Nfl 2010 - mock draft

1. St. Louis Rams pick Sam Bradford of Oklahoma
2. Detroit Lions pick Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers pick Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma
4. Washington Redskins trade down with Buffalo Bills - Buffalo Bills pick Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame
5. Kansas City Chiefs pick Russell Okung of Oklahoma State
6. Seattle Seahawks pick Trent Williams of Oklahoma
7. Cleveland Browns pick Dez Bryant of Oklahoma State
8. Oakland Raiders pick Eric Berry of Tennessee
9. Washington Redskins pick Bryan Bulaga of Iowa
10. Jacksonville Jaguars trade down with New York Giants - Giants pick Rolando McClain of Alabama
11. Denver Broncos pick Demaryius Thomas of Georgia Tech
12. Miami Dolphins pick Dan Williams of Tennessee
13. San Fransisco 49ers pick Anthony Davis of Rutgers
14. Seattle Seahawks picks C. J. Spiller of Clemson
15. Jacksonville Jaguars pick Earl Thomas of Texas
16. Tennessee Titans pick Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech
17. San Fransisco 49ers pick Joe Haden of Florida
18. Pittsburgh Steelers pick Mike Iupati of Idaho
19. Atlanta Falcons pick Brandon Graham of Michagan
20. Houston Texans pick Kyle Wilson of Boise State
21. Cincinatti Bengals pick Jermaine Gresham of Oklahoma
22. New England Patriots pick Carlos Dunlop of Florida
23. Green Bay Packers pick Jason Pierre-Paul of South Florida
24. Philadelphia Eagles pick Sergio Kindle of Texas
25. Baltimore Ravens pick Devin McCourty of Rutgers
26. Arizona Cardinals pick Sean Weatherspoon of Missouri
27. Dallas Cowboys pick Bruce Campbell of Maryland
28. San Diego Chargers pick Jared Odrick of Penn State
29. New York Jets pick Arrelious Benn of Illinois
30. Minnesota Vikings pick Ryan Matthews of Fresno State
31. Indianapolis Colts pick Maurkice Pouncey of Florida
32. New Orleans Saints pick Daryl Washington of TCU

No way Jose

NO WAY JOSÉ

Like Cinderella, who broke out of the shadows of evil stepsisters, Barcelona FC have been a welcoming breathe of fresh air to the football world over the last decade. (If you don not regard Barcelona as a Cinderella club, consider the fact that before 1990 they had never won the European Cup before) Breaking out of the shadow of the evil stepsister and fellow La Liga giants Real Madrid, Barcelona have shown the wealthy European clubs that true footballing beauty and talent can be found from within.

Also, like the fairytale Cinderella, Barcelona arrived in Italy last night by coach (albeit it not by their own choosing). The reason for their venture to Italy was a not to attend a ball. Barcelona were attending a celebration of football. A semi-final vs Inter Milan, the winner of which seems destined to be crowned as the new royalty of Europe.

Awaiting Barcelona in Italy was the ultimate Prince Charming, José Mourinho, who has charmed the footballing world since the day he dragged his F.C. Porto side to the summit of Europe. A fairytale match-up it seemed. A night that had been eagerly anticipated. A game filled with character. But this was to be no fairy-tale for Barcelona. The coach turned into a pumpkin long before the clock struck midnight. This Prince Charming did not chase after Cinderella and search for her after he found a glass slipper. Rather, he ripped the glass slipper off of Cinderella, put it on his mantelpiece and threw Cinderella out town. This is the footballing world. There are no happy ever after stories.

Barcelona were beaten 3-1 last night in Milan. A scoreline that will resonate around Europe and the World. The reigning UEFA Champions League Champions. The darling Cinderella’s of world football. A side that the world thought was unbeatable having only lost a single meaningless league game this season vs Athletico Madrid. A side with the very best players in the footballing world who play the game the way it was meant to be played. This Barcelona side are now on the brink of being tossed off their European throne.

Anyways, enough of this silly fairy-tale parallels and catchy phrases. Let’s review the tactics in the Barca v Inter game last night. For the fanatical football fans (like myself) last night was not about Barcelona being soundly beaten. The game was all about the tactics. We had all waited for this night. The pitting of two of the young tactical football minds against each other. Mourinho v Guardiola. We wanted to know the answer to the ultimate sporting question. Who is the best?

As the sides lined up and the game kicked off, the differing formations and styles of the two sides became apparent. Barcelona began the match with Guardiola’s expected approach. We saw Barca in their 4-5-1 formation with four midfielders playing off the target man Ibrahimovic. Xavi quarterbacking the sides attacks. Busquetes covering the back four. Possesion of the ball would be typically handled like gold by Barca (they would eventually finish the game with 67% of possession. In defence Barca would institute their most underrated tactical weapon. Barca would press in defence, with a hybrid 3/4-trap system and high back four press up the field. (Quick note: The 3/4-trap is a system of defence used in NBA Basketball. It involves the defending side allowing the other side to advance ¾ of the way up the playing field and then sending two defenders to attack the man with the ball. One will try to tackle the ball carrying player, while the other will be on the lookout for interceptions. Barcelona play a hybrid 3/4 –half trap system where one defender attacks the ball carrying player while two additional players stand off and wait for an intercept) This tactic allows Barca to secure the ball high up in the opposing side of the field and catch the opposing defence out of position. Sure enough, Barca’s first goal arrived via this defensive system. The ball was intercepted in Inter territory. Maxwell drove to the Inter goal as the Inter defence was in disarray. He squared the ball to Pedro, who drove the ball into the back of the Inter goal. 1-0 Barca.

What about Inter’s tactics? Mourinho is often referred to as a tactical genius and has the stats to back up such a lofty reference. Tutored under tactical legends Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal, Mourinho has combined the man management of Robson with the tactical brilliance and overflowing self-confidence of van Gaal. That combination has seen Mourinho conquer Portugal, England and Spain over the last decade. The Special One is truly special. Last night was no exception.

Inter fielded the now popular hydrid 4-5-1 formation. (The hybrid 4-5-1 formation features a target man to spearhead the attack, two defensive midfielders and two attacking players playing in the wing position. It is hybrid because on defence it remains 4-5-1, but in attack it morphs into a 4-3-3, with the attacking wingers often interchanging positions with the target man)

So what was different about Inter’s tactics last night. Back to basketball and it’s tactical contribution to the football world. Inter unlike Barca do not man mark on defence. While Barca aim to trap a ball carrying opponent in position, Inter employ the now standard Italian zonal marking defence. The Inter players marked space. What was new was the full court press and attacking wingers coming back to defend. We had seen a hint of these tactics when Inter brushed Chelsea aside earlier in the knockout phase. Inter would press the Barca ball carrying player deep in Barca territory. As soon as the ball crossed the halfway line, Inter then reverted into their ¼ press. These tactical explanations may seem silly. All I’ll say is watch the game... It’s there.

When two tactical masterminds meet in the footballing world, the tactics and gamesmanship is often loosely referred to as “a game of chess”. Last night was no different. Mourinho and Guardiola had stacked the board and Inter’s victory owed much to simple chess tactics. A basic chess strategy is to balance your pieces around the board. All pieces should be able to be defend and ready to spring into attack. A chessmaster will neutralise the strengths of the opponent and then attack the opponents weak side.

The strength of this Barcelona side is it’s dynamic centre midfield (with Xavi quarterbacking the side’s attacks) and lethal right-side attack featuring Messi and Daniel Alves. To neutralise the centre midfield, Mourinho employed the full court press, which forced the defence and goalkeeper to play long balls thus bypassing the centre midfield. This tactic cannot be understated. Barcelona do not kick long balls out of defence. The usual Barca tactic is to have Xavi or Busquetes collect the ball from a defender and then dazzle the opposition with a myriad of passes. By forcing the Barca defence to play long balls 50% of the time, Mourinho had achieved one goal – the Barca centre midfield was neutralised for 50% of their attacks.

Moving onto the lethal right side pairing of Alves and Messi. Here similiarly Mourinho kept the tactics simple. He had the experienced Argentinian mark his countryman Messi. The fact that Messi did not register a single shot on goal in open play speaks volumes for the often underrated brilliance of Zanetti. Also, by constantly playing deep diagonal balls into the right side of Barca’s defence, Mourinho ensured that Alves could not expose the right side of Barca’s defence by joining attacks with his usual wild abandon.

With the Barca strengths adequately contained, Mourinho moved his pieces to the weak left side of the Barca team. Now, the Barca goal came from their left-side, so the argument could be made that it is not weak, but what needs to be remembered is that root cause of the goal was an Inter mistake. The left side of the Barca side features Maxwell and Pedro. Their opposition for the night would be Pandev and Maicon. In a man of the match performance, Pandev (who later left the field with cramp) attacked Barca’s left side and assisted Maicon in defence. Whenever Maicon joined in Inter attacks, it was Pandev that would have to opt out of the attack and cover the vacant right side of Inter’s defence. All three of Inter’s goals came from the Barca’s weak left side. It is no coincidence that when Pandev was replaced by the lazy Boletelli and Maicon was forced off by injury that Barca began to take control of the game in the final 10 minutes. If Wesley Sneijder had not scored a goal and had an unintended assist, the man of the match performance surely should have gone to the little noticed Pandev.

The injury to Maicon looked serious and may be crucial in Mourinho’s tactics for the return leg at the Nou Camp. Zanetti is an able cover for Maicon at right-back, but that leaves Messi to be marked by the Romanian captain Christian Chivu, who is more a centre half than a fullback. The whole balance of Mourinho’s tactics will be upset. The tie is still in the balance. The tactical masterminds will meet again at the Nou Camp. The board will be stacked once more. The question now is whether Mourinho, with the loss of Maicon, can balance his side while neutralising Barca again. For now though, take a bow José... Once more you’ve proven yourself to be special.

Messi - The claim to be the greatest

Messi - A new Maradona or the greatest ever

When the sporting world begins a sentence by saying, “he could be better than Maradona,” there better be a multitude of facts to substantiate such high praise.

Well, the stats on Lionel Messi are jaw-dropping! For the uninformed here’s a quick reminder. He is a 22 year old first team player for argentina, his won the champions league title twice and la liga several times. In 2009 he was awarded both the FIFA World player of the year and European player of the year awards. Messi has scored more than 100 goals for Barcelona. (Remember these are the stats of a 22 year old)

In this current 2009/10 season he has currently scored 40 goals for Barcelona in all competitions (there are still a good two hands full of games left before the season is done). The man is great, of that there can be no doubt or debate. To properly comprehend Messi’s goal scoring heroics this season we need to understand that in the greatest year of his legendary career, the superb Brazilian Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games. Messi is just 8 goals away from overtaking that mark. The question is no longer if Messi will eclipse Ronaldo’s single season scoring record. Rather the question is when he will do it.

Claims of being the new Maradona? Goal scoring statistics that surpass the legendary Ronaldo (not Christiano). Is Lionel Messi laying claim to being the greatest footballer ever? The new Maradona???? Really...

Diego Maradona has reigned supreme atop the greatest ever throne since 1986. For 24 years, through the Figo’s, Romario’s, Klinsmann’s, Ronaldo’s and Zidane’s eras, his title has remained unchallenged. Maradona made his full international debut for Argentina at the age of 16 years old. The great Argentinian took an ordinary Argentina side to two World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990. At club level Maradona pushed little known Napoli to the Serie A crown. Napoli and Argentina have never achieved such lofty heights again.

Maradona infamously scored the “Hand of God” and “Feet of God” goals in one World Cup game against England at the 1986 World Cup. The feet of god goal is lesser known than the now notorious hand of god goal. Brief summary – Maradona received the ball at the centre line. He bears down on goal while beating Englishmen Glenn Hoddle, Peter Reid, Kenny Sansom, Terry Butcher and Terry Fenwick. When 1 vs 1 against the mythical goalkeeper Peter Shilton, Maradona rounds the keeper and slots the ball between the posts.

(I will never understand the great gripe that the English have over the whole hand of god goal incident. If Maradona really needed his hand to cheat so as to beat the English, then why minutes later would he decide to run from the centre line, beat 5-6 English players and score a goal without using his hand then? The English were simply not good enough to beat the Maradona’s Argentinians in 1986. Nobody was.)

So is the claim that Messi is the new Maradona justified? They are both Argentinian. Both are short and strong on the ball. Messi did score a hand of god type goal in 2007 vs Espanyol in La Liga. Messi also scored a feet of god type goal in 2007 vs Getafe in a Copa del Rey semi-final. Although these two goals seemed to conjure up a feverish comparison between Messi and Maradona, perhaps it is the context of the Messi goals that provides the greatest difference between the two Argentinians.

Maradona made his name in the international arena and scored both his feet of god and hand of god goals vs England in a World Cup game. Messi has made his name at club level for Barcelona. His comparative goals coming against Espanyol and Getafe respectively. (In fact, Messi has played terribly for Argentina. He is often booed off by Argentinian fans when he is substituted, and he was in that Argentinian side that lost 6-1 to Bolivia in 2009)

The question that hangs over Messi is whether he can be as good as Maradona on the international stage, or is he merely a great player that benefits from playing in a world class Barcelona side? The conclusion is straight forward. While we might marvel at Messi, his ability on the field and his amazing career stats at only the age of 22, there remains a cloud over his career. Or perhaps more appropriately there hangs a shadow over Lionel Messi. The long shadow stems from the feet of the great Diego Maradona.

The 2010 World Cup will provide Messi with a chance to step out of Maradona’s shadow, however, let us not forget that the 2010 Argentinian side will be coached by none other than Mr. D. Maradona. How does one step out of your coach’s shadow?

There really can be no argument that L. Messi is a great player. But is he really the new Maradona? Is he the greatest of all time? Truth be told, if Messi is ever to be considered as the greatest, then he will have to shake off the tag as the new Maradona. He cannot be both.

The famous line that, “the real great ones remind us of no one else”, says it all. At the moment, Messi is reminding us of the great Maradona, and that is the one thing that stops him claiming the crown as the greatest.