IS WENGER RIGHT ABOUT £13MILLION GIROUD?

'IN Arsene we trust' is the celebrated catchphrase of Arsenal fans.
But is Monsieur Wenger right in paying £13million for Olivier Giroud?
For years Gunners fans have urged him to splash the cash during the closed seasons.
Well, now he is doing just that but I am not sure Giroud is good enough and that he will fit into the Arsenal style of play.
Of course, it looks like he has bought him because Robin van Persie is on his way to Man City (I was told yesterday that the Dutchman has already been sizing up potential homes in the Cheshire suburbs).
But while I am convinced Arsene spent well on £11million Lukas Poldoski - a German international and confirmed deadly striker - Giroud leaves me full of doubt.
He is a straight up and down big hitman and he looked far from impressive in Euro 2012.
Do Arsenal really want to have to launch long balls to get the best out of him?
And can he provide the quality and goals to justify his signing?
Or is he just a more expensive Marouane Chamakh?
We shall see.
 

FRANKIE'S FLUTTERS

FRANKIE’S EURO 2012 FLUTTERS

This week I predict that Portugal will beat Spain and that Germany will see off Italy.
At the start of the tournament I said that Germany would win the trophy and I see no reason to change that view right now.
Germany have had more days' rest than Italy and the Italians will surely still be feeling the effects of that gruelling 120 minutes plus penalties after their win over England.
As for Spain, they are simply not as good without the wonderful David Villa's goals and the stability of Carles Puyol at the back.
I believe Cristiano Ronaldo will wreck their dream of becoming the first team to win three tournaments on the run.

(For more information on Frank and his bestselling sports books, see www.frankworrall.com)
Weekly Sport readers can buy Frank’s insightful book on Sir Alex Ferguson for the special price of only £2.74 on Kindle (retail price £17.99 for the hardback)…go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Fergie-Wonderland-Biography-ebook/dp/B00603XJB8/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326291046&sr=1-7

SACK DINOSAUR ROY HODGSON AND BRING BACK GLENN HODDLE?

SO it all ended in tears and frustration - but we weren't surprised one little bit.
Roy Hodgson asked for our patience and a spell without criticism; a tournament we would not judge him upon.
Well, he got all that - but now the honeymoon is most certainly over.
He led England through to the last 8 of Euro 2012 and he is adamant he did as well as could be expected.
After all, he was parachuted into the job with barely a month of preparation before the first match against the French.
And he had to make do without a handful of key men - Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry among them.
And he made a point of stressing both factors again and again.
Well, yes, he didn't have much time and he did have to make do without some injured stars.
But I ask you this...would Jose Mourinho have done any better in the same circumstances?
And I tell you this...of course, he would have!
Mourinho would have made England hard to beat but would also have set them up differently tactically so that we
were not as predictable, so that we were not as dull and dour, so that we would have had more of the ball and so
that we would have got the ball to the strikers more.
And I reckon Mourinho would have had the balls to have dropped Rooney for the Italy match when it was clear that
the Man United striker was unfit and off form.
Mourinho would also surely have made room in his team for the talented Phil Jones - or at least have brought him on as a sub instead of the journeyman Jordan Henderson. How England could have used Jones' wild runs from midfield to attack.
So what does all that tell us about Hodgson?
It tells us what I said before the tournament - that he is the FA's Recession England manager for a time of recession.
A steady hand who will not rock the boat; who will steer the ship off the rocks but will never have the genius or audacity to win the ultimate prizes.
While Mourinho is a tactical genius and an excellent manager of footballers, Roy is a nice guy from a different era who keeps a happy unit because he is a nice guy, a sort of genial, benign uncle figure.
Roy is also, unfortunately, a dinosaur tactically and a defensive coach rather than an offensive one.
That is why England were so good defensively but so ugly and horrible in midfield and attack.
They were outnumbered in the middle of the park and did not have the flexbility to change shape and formation because they were doing their job: working to the rigid formula of their defensive manager.
It is all very well keeping West Bromwich Albion out of the relegation zone with an all-hands on deck approach, but that same approach did not work at Liverpool who had greater ambitions and greater designs on positive play and creativity.
It is the same with England.
Roy Hodgson smothered the opposition - and his own team - and made it to the last 8 of the Euros.
If that is good enough for you, then fair enough.
But now the honeymoon is most certainly over, he needs to show an inventiveness and willingness to embrace flair and imagination that I fear he simply does not possess.
This is the man the FA have entrusted to point the way forwards for the England team and the revolution at all levels, from youth upwards, via the new multi-million pound centre of excellence that will open shortly at St George's Park in Burton-upon-Trent.
The real fear is that the man the FA have empowered to enfore the revolution is too conservative and limited - that he is indeed a dinosaur and that instead of reaching the promised land, we will end up in a cul-de-sac more appropriate to the dark ages.
If that is the case, and we struggle to beat the likes of Poland and Ukraine in our World Cup qualifiers, I hope the FA have the guts to put us all out of our misery - and show Roy the door.
Would we then get Mourinho?
No...but we could bring in Glenn Hoddle.
Yes...I know he had the job once and blew it. But that was because of some wacky view - not because of his football brain. Hoddle is tactically brilliant and 13 years wiser than back then.
He could be the answer if Roy does prove to be the problem.

FRANK WORRALL

ANDY CARROLL FRIGHTENS THE ITALIANS

I am told that England boss Roy Hodgson is seriously considering springing a surprise tonight by starting with Andy Carroll rather than Danny Welbeck - as the Italians are frightened to death of Carroll's physical and aerial presence.

VAN PERSIE WILL SIGN FOR MAN CITY

Sources say that Robin van Persie will sign for Manchester City before the end of the transfer window for a fee of around £25million.

FRANKIE'S EURO 2012 FLUTTERS - RIGHT AGAIN, CHAPS

FRANKIE’S FLUTTERS

RIGHT ON THE NAIL LAST WEEK –AGAIN

Last week, I wrote….

‘This week I predict that England will beat Sweden 2-1 or 3-2, with Andy Carroll among the goals. I also think they will then at least draw with Ukraine. I don’t hold out much luck for the Irish, though. I fear they will lose to Spain and to Italy, and end up bottom of their group.’ 

And at the start of the tournament I was the only Fleet Street hack to predict that the Dutch would exit at the group stage.

This week I predict that England will beat Italy, probably in extra time or on penalties and that Greece will prove a much more stubborn obstacle against the Germans than people expect – as will France against Spain – and that Portugal will beat the Czech Republic. 

I also predict that Portugal will reach the final – they have the best player in the tournament in Cristiano Ronaldo, and the boy is just coming into magnificent form.

(For more information on Frank and his bestselling sports books, see www.frankworrall.com)

Weekly Sport readers can buy Frank’s insightful book on Sir Alex Ferguson for the special price of only £2.74 on Kindle (retail price £17.99 for the hardback)…go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Fergie-Wonderland-Biography-ebook/dp/B00603XJB8/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326291046&sr=1-7

WHY UGLY ENGLAND WILL BEAT UGLY ITALY – WITH BALOTELLI SENT OFF!

ROY HODGSON has done a magnificent job in his first five matches as England manager. He has won four and drawn one – and the wins over Sweden and Ukraine and the draw against the French amid the tension of Euro 2012 convince me that he can take England to their best Euro finish since 1996.

Back then, of course, England, under Terry Venables made the semis – only to lose, inevitably, on penalties to the Germans. Fast forward to now, and England will face either Germany or Greece in the semis if they beat Italy on Sunday.

And I don’t really see why Roy’s boys should not beat the Italians. Let’s be honest, both England and Italy are ugly, functional teams to watch. Both defend brilliantly and hit you on the counter attack, both have players full of passion and determination. Watch the Italians sing their national anthem before the match against England and you’ll know exactly what I mean. No other team in world football are so passionate when it comes to belting out the words to their national tune. 

I can see both teams cancelling each other out in defence and midfield but I do feel that England have the edge in attack and in the quality of the subs they can bring on from the bench. Italy have Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano up front while England have Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck. But we also have the ingenuity of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott and the brute strength of Andy Carroll and the diminuitive potency of Jermain Defoe to come on from the bench. The Italians have no such permutations.

So I can see England winning an ugly match against a similarly ugly team with a goal from one of those subs late on. I can also see them getting a lucky break with Balotelli blowing a fuse. It’s high odds that he’ll be taking an early bath on Sunday – especially if John Terry winds him up and gets him to lash out. We saw the two sides of Balotelli against the Croatians. Coming on as a sub, he scored a sublime goal and then went and spoilt it by shouting abuse at his manager for not playing him from the start. In terms of quality, Balotelli has it in him to be one of the top five players in the world, but his temperament is questionable, to put it lightly.

The aforementioned John Terry has proved me wrong. He has had a fine tournament, apart from the odd occasion when he has looked laboured, and has justified Hodgson’s faith in him.

England’s star man so far has been the captain Steven Gerrard, who is finally showing his Liverpool form in an England shirt. That is also down to the efforts of Scott Parker, a play who does the dirty work for Stevie G that Frank Lampard never wanted to do. Lampard and Gerrard were always the star duo for England in tournaments but never worked well enough together. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to now see that only one could be the star man; with whichever one chosen needing a workhorse like Parker to make them shine.

Rooney was off the pace and off form against Ukraine. His face and neck looked bloated and he is surely overweight and unfit. I would have brought on Carroll for him after 70 minutes, but Hodgson decided to give him a long run so that he could get some match time under his belt. You or I could have headed home the Rooney goal, so Wayne has a lot of work to do to convince us he should be in the starting line-up. I also still have my doubts about Danny Welbeck; he tends to drift in and out of games and seems a bit fragile. I would start with Rooney and Carroll against the Italians – let big Andy give them a bruising and a battering to wear them down.

Who will England play if they do make the semis? Well, on paper you would have to say the Germans. But this is a tournament that has thrown up some big surprises – Russia and Holland eliminated early on and Sweden beating France when everyone thought they were nailed-on losers being prime examples – so I am not so sure. The Greeks are like England; stubborn and ugly and boy do they have a major motive to beat the Germans. Nothing would give the Greek nation more delight than seeing them eliminate the country they believe want to tell them what to do, effectively running their economy from Berlin, in the current Eurozone crisis.

So don’t be surprised if that match turns up at least a battling fight by Greece and even extra time - or maybe even a win for the Greeks.

Of the rest, Spain are not the team they were. They are missing David Villa and their defence looks rocky. I can easily see Portugal beating them in the semis, assuming they manage to get past the dogged French.

The tournament is shaping up for a fab finale and it’s great that England are still in the mix. As former England boss Graham Taylor once famously said, ‘Sit back, put yer feet up – and watch us win it!’ Not totally sure about that...but we’re certainly in with a shout…

FRANK WORRALL

(For more information on Frank and his bestselling sports books, see www.frankworrall.com)

Weekly Sport readers can buy Frank’s insightful book on Sir Alex Ferguson for the special price of only £2.74 on Kindle (retail price £17.99 for the hardback)…go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Fergie-Wonderland-Biography-ebook/dp/B00603XJB8/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326291046&sr=1-7

(For more information on Frank and his bestselling sports books, see www.frankworrall.com)