The Sampdoria Reunion at Eastlands

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Adam Bate

For some folk, it hasn’t taken long for Manchester City to supercede Chelsea in symbolising all that is wrong with the English Premier League. However, for viewers of a certain vintage, when the television cameras pan to the Eastlands bench and the faces of Roberto Mancini, David Platt and Attilio Lombardo, a somewhat different emotion surfaces. The mind drifts back to that glorious Sampdoria team of the early 90s and, more specifically, the 1993-94 season in which the three players were joined by Ruud Gullit to form an attacking quartet that set Italian football alight. The top scorers in Serie A that season they capped the campaign with a memorable 6-1 Coppa Italia victory over Ancona. This is the story of that team…

The summer of 1993 was a big one for Sampdoria. Sven Goran Eriksson had finished a disappointing 7th in his first season in charge and as a result the club missed out on European football altogether just 12 months after reaching the European Cup Final. Having won the Scudetto in 1991, this was quite the fall from grace and there was some cause to think the club was set to rejoin the also rans of Italian football. Spirits were lifted, however, by the signing of superstar Ruud Gullit. Alberigo Evani also arrived from Milan and, with David Platt coming in from Juventus, a new team was being built.

Ruud Gullit

The signing of Gullit was a masterstroke by owner Paolo Mantovani. The Dutchman’s relationship with Milan coach Fabio Capello had completely broken down in the previous season. Capello had little faith in Gullit’s fitness and froze the player out – famously asking Gullit why he was getting on the coach for an away trip when he had neglected to tell him his services were not required. For the player, the final straw was being left out of the squad for the European Cup Final against Marseille. He of the famous dreadlocks decided to leave and nearly joined Bayern Munich before plumping for Sampdoria. Gullit was outspoken in his relief to be away from the Milan goldfish bowl and the strict regime of Capello. Now it was the family atmosphere of Mantovali’s Sampdoria and the more relaxed coaching style of Eriksson:

“They had not given me a [squad] number yet. They asked me which number I wanted. ‘Give me number 4, I have never played with number 4 yet’. They all laughed and so did I. None of the players made any objections. I just put on the shirt and played the whole season up front with the number 4 shirt on my back”.

David Platt

The signing of David Platt was perhaps a more low key purchase but it was a hugely significant one. After making a big impact in an ultimately disastrous season for Bari, Platt had earned a move to Juventus but failed to make much of an impression to justify his price tag. The Bianconeri took the opportunity to move the player on and, like Gullit, Platt was to immediately make himself at home in Genoa. Both players grabbed their first Serie A goals for the club in a 2-1 opening day win at Napoli and a memorable season was underway. Gullit went on to score 17 goals that year in league & cup with Platt contributing 11 goals from midfield.

Roberto Mancini

Clearly, the new additions had a huge impact on improving Sampdoria’s fortunes but that is not to say the players already at the club did not make a significant contribution too. Roberto Mancini had been one half of ‘the terrible twins’ at Sampdoria with Gianluca Vialli and he was already established as a club legend. When given the chance to link up with Gullit, they formed arguably one of the most cerebral forward line the world had yet season – two players of impeccable control and stunning vision. Mancini scored 12 goals in 30 Serie A games and featured 7 times in the successful Coppa Italia run.

Attilio Lombardo & Ruud Gullit

Of course, Mancini and Gullit’s remarkable ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play provided opportunities for midfield runners like Platt to steal the headlines. Lurking out on the right-wing was the unmistakable figure of Attilio Lombardo. A pacy dribbler with an eye for goal, Lombardo had arguably the season of his life scoring 8 goals in Serie A. However, it was in Sampdoria’s successful Coppa Italia run that Lombardo really came into his own, scoring 5 times to help win the trophy.

There were other stars in the team. Alberigo Evani, the former Milan midfielder, would go on to score in the penalty shoot-out at the World Cup Final at the end of the season. Gianluca Pagliuca, their charismatic goalkeeper, also played for Italy in that final. Then there was Pietro Vierchowod, the ageing but pacey defender who had already spent a decade at the club, and Vladimir Jugovic, the brilliant Serbian midfielder. As Gullit himself observed: “the team was a good one: they had experienced men as well as a whole group of promising younger players”.

The season began impressively but the death of owner Paolo Mantovali after 7 games of the season hit the family club hard. Defeat to Roma was perhaps inevitable given that everyone surrounding the club was in mourning but game week 10, and the visit of the champions Milan, was to prove a cathartic release for Sampdoria:

For Gullit in particular this was an emotional game – hitting the winner against the club that had made him famous the world over. However, the match was a significant one for the whole of Italy. It was the first time the all-conquering Milan had been knocked off the top of Serie A in an incredible 72 weeks. For the remainder of that season there was no doubt who Italy’s most exciting side were. Sampdoria scored 64 goals to Milan’s 38. Unfortunately, the boys from Genoa also conceded 39 goals compared to the Rossoneri’s miserly 15. Too hit and miss to claim the title, Samp were able to have a tilt at the Coppa Italia that year.. but they did it the hard way..

Things began in ignominious fashion with a penalty shoot out victory over Pisa after two 0-0 draws. There was another struggle against Roma where goals from Lombardo and Platt took Samp to another shoot-out where they edged through 7-6 on penalties. Next it was Inter, with Lombardo securing a 1-0 win at home before Gullit scored to earn the draw needed in the San Siro. Wins home and away over Parma in the semi-final, with Lombardo, Platt & Gullit grabbing the goals, meant Sampdoria had negotiated a tricky path to the final where they were huge favourites to defeat midtable Serie B outfit Ancona. A 0-0 draw away was not quite part of the plan but there was to be a glorious finale:

It was only appropriate that there should be some silverware for the club at the end of a thrilling and emotional season. Unfortunately, this particular team was not one that would stay together and go on to reach greater heights. Gullit, after a brief return to Milan, exited for good in the summer of 1995. Platt and Lombardo also moved on. The side was broken up, seemingly for good, but the memory of that team has been reignited by Mancini’s reign at Manchester City. As a coach, he has a reputation for his cautious approach. Maybe this will serve City well, but if a more progressive approach should be required then Roberto will only have to glance across the bench to his old friends Platty and Attilio to be reminded of how exciting a team can be.

Top 5: Backflick Goals

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Adam Bate

Roberto Mancini

Mancini was arguably past his best when his old buddy Sven took him to Lazio. He still had time to win, just as he had at Sampdoria, the Italian League & Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup… but there was no moment better than this impudent little flick against Parma.

Johan Cruyff

The Phantom Goal. Cruyff’s gravity defying effort against Atletico Madrid became a thing of myth almost from the moment it hit the net. This camera footage captures the moment better than most.

Gianfranco Zola

A magic moment from the little Italian. Great reactions too.

Lee Sharpe

Ok, technically it isn’t the strongest. A pretty standard flick that doesn’t even go in the corner. Come on though.. it’s Man Utd vs Barcelona. It’s Lee Sharpe. He does his snazzy little dance and he made Jayne Middlemiss cry on the appalling Celebrity Love Island. I know, I watched every episode.

Rafael Van Der Vaart

I don’t think there’s ever been a backheel goal quite like this one. More of a cartwheel than a backflick, it is worth a few replays to get your head round it. Ajax vs Feyenoord too. Great stuff.

Matt Murray… What If?

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Adam Bate

Today, August 26th 2010, Wolves’ goalkeeper Matt Murray has announced his decision to retire from professional football.

In football, there are always those players that leave you wondering: What If? What if they had not had such attitude problems.. What if they had made better career choices.. Or, as in Matt Murray’s case, what if they hadn’t struggled with injuries..

For me, Matt Murray is both the best and worst example of this. The best example because it is hard to think of a single player in the history of the game who battled on for so long with such chronic injury problems – he has retired at the age of 29 despite efectively playing just 2 seasons of professional football. The worst example because, for anyone who saw him play, there isn’t really a question to answer – Matt Murray would have played for England.

Murray’s reputation as a formidable young keeper was well established even before he made his first team debut. He had major injury troubles in these formative years, suffering a cruciate knee injury on loan at Kingstonian, but was eventually able to make his debut in August 2002 at Selhurst Park in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Wimbledon. Things were to improve quickly, however, and the season was to end in triumph for both Murray and Wolves as the club were promoted to the top flight for the first time in nearly 20 years and Murray was awarded the Young Player of the Year award.

Wolves fans understandably have fond memories of Matt Murray in that campaign. For a 21 year old goalkeeper to come into the side and be so comanding is rare. The lofted corners, free-kicks and long throws that are such regular features of football in the Championship were rendered virtually redundant up against a man with exceptional agility, height and handling skills. Even at such a young age his only real weakness was his kicking but the impact of this was lessened by his powerful throws from the back that could spark a counter-attack in a matter of seconds.

Matt Murray’s finest hour arguably came in the Play-Off final – Wolves 3-0 Sheff Utd, May 2003. Murray was voted man of the match for his efforts in saving Michael Brown’s penalty early in the 2nd half and subsequently pulling off a string of high-class saves to prevent the Blades getting back into the match. He was voted Wolves’ Young Player of the Year that season and – having established himself as the successor to Paul Robinson as England U21 keeper ahead of Chris Kirkland and Robert Green - there were high hopes that a Premiership campaign would bring full England recognition.

Sadly, Murray was to embark on a scarcely believable run of injuries. He was restricted to just 1 Premiership match and 2 appearances in total in the 2003-04 campaign after suffering a fractured foot. Wolves were relegated as even a respected keeper like Paul Jones had the fans mumbling ‘if only Matt was in goal’ throughout much of that top flight campaign. The following season was to be little better – a solitary league game and an FA cup appearance was all Murray had to show for his efforts as his foot problems continued. In 2005-06, he did managed to fight his way back to fitness, making 2 appearances on loan at Tranmere before returning to make 1 appearance for Wolves at the back end of that campaign. It seemed his troubles were finally over.

The 2006-07 season was the Second Coming of Matt Murray and not a moment too soon. Glenn Hoddle had abandoned the club in pre-season and the playing staff was reduced to a dozen as Mick McCarthy took over. A ragtag bunch of free transfer signings were assembled, many of whom now find themselves playing in League One and below… and yet incredibly the side was able to make the Play-Offs, largely thanks to the heroics of Murray in the Wolves goal. He was voted Wolves’ Player of the Year, the PFA Championship Fans’ Player of the Year and, of course, was in the Championship Team of the Year. Ray Clemence was asked about the player’s chances of a full England call-up: “We’ve had Matt Murray watched since he has come back from injury and he has done very well. The game at Birmingham was the first time I’ve seen him this season and his goalkeeping was exceptional. He played for the Under-21s two or three years ago and did well there and looked to show lots of potential. Can he challenge for England? It’s not for me to say at this moment in time but, yes, he is playing well”. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder injury in training before the Play-Off semi-final. As it turned out, Murray had played his last competitive game for Wolves. He had just celebrated his 26th birthday.

Murray was now on the slippery slope. His shoulder injury was followed by another cruciate knee injury to his left leg in pre-season and he missed the whole of the 2007-08 campaign. Then, in November 2008, Murray earned rave reviews in his first 2 games on loan at Hereford and hopes were high that he was finally on the comeback trail. In the third game, Murray collapsed in a heap having ruptured the patella tendon, this time in his right knee. 21 months later, following several more abortive attempts, Matt Murray had reached the end of the road and announced his retirement at just 29.

It is always a sad time when a player so young retires from the game through injury. However, Matt Murray’s retirement is more difficult to take than most simply because his talents never received the audience they deserved. The announcement today will cause barely a ripple in the sports world and this won’t just be because it was on the cards but will more likely be down to the fact that many have not even heard of the player. Martin Swain, chief football writer of the Express & Star, has been good enough to note that Murray stands alongside Mark Bosnich as the finest keeper he has seen on the West Midlands patch in 20 years of covering the region. However, Fabio Capello certainly has little reason to be aware of his existence. And yet if Murray had been able to maintain his fitness for any length of time it seems a fair bet to say he could have made a difference to England’s fortunes at this summer’s World Cup. If that has us wondering ‘what if?’ then one can only imagine how Murray himself must be feeling today.

Everton 1-1 Wolves: Analysis

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Adam Bate

A strange game this one..

Everton completely outplayed Wolves for the first half and were looking like the side many people expected them to be this season. The hallmarks of a typical Everton performance were there - fiercely competitive, high tempo football with Mikel Arteta pulling the strings. For their part, Wolves had decided to stick with the 4-4-2 that secured an opening day victory over Stoke. The problem for them at Goodison was that the combative Tim Cahill dropped into the midfield where appropriate as the home side’s 4-4-1-1 swamped Karl Henry and David Jones leaving the visitors unable to get hold of the ball for any length of time. Jones in particular could not get the time he needed to bring Wolves’ wide men into the game and the result was that Matt Jarvis – often the side’s major threat – was simply not involved in the game:

Matt Jarvis, right-winger. Passes up until 53rd minute when he was switched to the left.

McCarthy changes it

The key moment that changed the course of the contest was the arrival of Algerian midfielder Adlene Guedioura to play on the right side of midfield. McCarthy withdrew left-back George Elokobi, moving Stephen Ward from left-midfield and switching Jarvis to his favoured left-wing. Thereafter, the game swung in Wolves favour and this is shown bluntly by the shots on goal:

1st Half: Everton 11, Wolves 1
2nd Half: Everton 4, Wolves 9

The substitutions were clearly a major factor in this. The 2nd change came in the 71st minute when Greg Halford came on to play down the right flank with Guedioura replacing Jones in the centre of midfield. The Algerian’s busier approach helped wrestle control of the game and his dubious tackle on Heitinga set up the attack for the equaliser. Another key advantage was that Ward’s superior passing ability at left-back could now bring Jarvis, playing ahead of him, into the game. The speedy winger had the run on Tony Hibbert and his increased influence is shown on the chalkboards:

Matt Jarvis, left-winger. He enjoyed much more of the ball in the 2nd half

Conclusions

It was hard to see anything other than 3 points for Everton at the half-time interval. However, a couple of substitutions by Mick McCarthy emphatically changed the pattern of play and this was reflected in the scoreline. Perhaps David Moyes could have done more as he made only like-for-like changes. Perhaps McCarthy got it wrong initially. Whatever your view, this game showed that even those games in which the gulf in quality seems all too apparent can be altered by seemingly innocuous rejigging.

Top 5: Headers

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Adam Bate

In the wake of Chicharito’s sensational *ahem* header in the Community Shield, Ghostgoal takes a look at our Top 5 headed goals …

Javier Hernandez

The Mexican clearly wanted to put on a show at Wembley and did so in fine style. Not satisfied with simply tapping into the empty net, Chicharito blasted the ball into his head as he dived forwards all in one motion. Bravo, sir.

Martin Palermo

The daddy of headed goals.. a 40 yard behemoth from everyone’s favourite Argentinian bruiser Martin Palermo. Just think of the neck muscles required to pull off this feat.. All Hail Saint Palermo.

Henrik Larsson

Euro 2004 was one of those rare tournaments where a headed goal was one of the most celebrated. Larsson’s gymnastic dive was sublime and almost poetic – head intercepting ball in a moment of sheer perfection.

Graziano Mannari

Not a name that springs to mind when thinking of Sacchi’s great Milan side of the late 80s but Mannari was the man who had the pleasure of finishing off this move from one of club football’s greatest ever sides. You know that Goal of the Month candidate that is all about the move rather than the strike.. the one where you like to look clever in front of your friend/dad/son/wife/dog by claiming it was your favourite.. yeah, this is it.

Jared Borgetti

A deft goal of real class and beauty against one of the finest goalkeepers of all-time. This is a classic.