Compare this to the formidable Dortmund who swept aside Bayern Munich 3-2 in the semi-finals and also beat the tough Bundesliga 6th placed club, Hertha BSC, in a Round of 16 clash. Critics felt that The Black and Yellows could have fared even better in the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions league had it not been for the unsettling events surrounding the bombing of the team bus in which defender Marc Bartra was injured.

Eintracht, who had just 3 Bundesliga wins in 2017 will depend on the shock value their twin strikers Marco Fabian and Branimir Hrgota can possibly create in Berlin on Saturday. With seven and five goals respectively this season they are the club’s highest scorers. There was a clear effort to redeem themselves towards the end of season, which ended on a high note thanks to a surprise 2-2 draw against Bundesliga runners-up, RB Leipzig. For the Eintracht defence, the Dortmund forward trio of Pierre Aubameyang, Marco Reus and Ousmane Dembele could prove to be a handful at the Olympiastadion Berlin. The Gabonese striker Aubameyang has already notched up 39 goals for his club this season which is equal to what Eintracht as a team have scored. Manager Thomas Tuchel will opt for his usual 3-4-2-1 formation that has got him so much success in the recent past. Eintracht Frankfurt will probably go in with a 3-4-1-2 formation with Ante Rebic and Branimir Hrgota as strikers.

Both sides had won their home games in their 2016-17 Bundesliga fixtures, but going into Saturday’s DFB Pokal clash at Berlin few give the Frankfurt club any chance to get past Dortmund, who will be eyeing their 4th Cup and the first once since 2012.

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The media is a way for organisations to communicate in code, since illegally speaking to players behind other Club’s backs will see them in trouble with the authorities. When Jose Mourinho spoke recently of how he admired Wayne Rooney as a great player but obviously he respected the fact he was a Manchester United player, what he was really saying was – Wayne! I love you! You will be loved here at Chelsea! Do anything you can to force a move out of there, and I do not respect the fact you have a contract with United.

It was reported this week that Rooney was “angry and confused”, but this could easily have been because he was trying to open a tin of beans that didn’t have a ring pull, as much his feelings on the current situation with Man United’s new manager, David Moyes.

Moyes is a manager who is acutely aware of the linguistic nuances of football’s media machine, and so his response’s to nearly every journalist for over 11 years have been deliberately measured and contained. His remarks about Wayne Rooney being the back-up striker to Robin Van Persie, however out of context they may have been taken, must be read as a significant indication that Rooney is surplus to requirements at Old Trafford.

Moyes is not so stupid. He did not make a naïve comment about Rooney playing second fiddle to the Dutchman and having to prove himself to the United fans again, and has then been unfortunately misquoted. He knew what he said would be blown up out of proportion by the media, and that’s precisely why he said it.

Rooney’s management team will now advise him to play the innocent and hurt figure, as both parties will be looking to maximise the financial aspect of the vastly increased impending transfer bid from Chelsea. Expect a very large offer from the West London Club in the near future and a very considerable wage packet for the plucky scouser.

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Nigeria’s poor finishing cost them dear as Spain punished their high defensive line and came out as 3-0 winners. Italy were encouraged to try a similar high pressing game in the semi-final, and should have really taken the lead against Spain after missing a plethora of guilt-edged opportunities, but the template of how to play the Spanish was set; don’t let their defenders settle on the ball in their own half and push your own players forward in numbers at every opportunity.

Spain have proved that they are a team that looks extremely confident when taking the lead in matches, and they also rely on the complicity of the opposition who are usually too afraid to attack them and so just allow them to pass the ball at will while sitting very deep in their own half.

Football is not like trying to find the Higgs-Boson particle though, it is a very simple game; if you put your opponents under pressure they will begin to doubt their abilities and their confidence will be effected. Brazil Boss, Luiz Felipe Scolari, realised that his Selecao side must score first in the final and the Brazilians started with incredible dynamism on Sunday, taking the lead inside one minute, and ratcheting the already intense atmosphere into delirium.

It must be said that Spain had played 120 minutes against Italy, while Brazil also had an extra day’s rest. Vicente Del Bosque chose to pick virtually the same team in the final as well, and the Spanish did seem visibly less energetic than the highly motivated and driven Brazilian side. However, the theory of how to beat the Spanish still applies; you must be brave and take risks in the commitment of men into forward area’s while also making the right pass selection which requires confidence and ability.

The argument against defensively minded football is, that by sitting back and being organised, you never have the chance to build the confidence and momentum required to play good football. This kind of structured rigidity is exactly what the FA condemned England to when they appointed Roy Hodgson. Instead of being brave and naïve and finally being eliminated in the quarter-finals of a tournament, we are now destined to lose in a more sensible way at World Cup Brazil 2014.

The Nations to watch at next years tournament will be the ones who play forward thinking, risk-laden football; Belgium and Argentina have the individual skill and maverick sensibility to trouble the big guns of Spain, Italy, Brazil, Holland and Germany. The second bracket of teams are the likes of France, Croatia, Portugal, Colombia and possibly England. From Japan’s excellent performance in their Confederations Cup 4-3 defeat by Italy, I’d say they could be one of the most surprisingly entertaining teams in Brazil because they are able to play a high energy game in the stifling heat.

The post World Cup 2014 Preview appeared first on Football Betting Master.

Roberto Mancini’s City side remain undefeated but are merely grinding out results without any style or flair. The Italian coach may need to call upon the vast reserves of Abu Dhabi cash at his disposal for a January transfer raid to rejuvenate his stale looking squad. The obvious target is the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao (rated at £65m) who is also on the top of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s wish list. If the predatory Atletico Madrid striker can replace Fernando Torres as the spearhead of Chlesea’s attack, behind the lusciously talented trio of Oscar, Mata and Hazard, then maybe we will see a more interesting three way battle for the Championship in 2013.

Chelsea recorded another dour 0-0 versus Fulham on Wednesday night, with Torres again looking woeful and registering just two child-like attempts at goal.

It is almost as if the peroxide-haired Spaniard is being controlled by a toddler on a computer game, a toddler who fails to hold the shoot button down long enough to gain sufficient power for his shots on goal. Torres averages just less than two shots per game (1.92 to be precise), for a £50m centre-forward this is truly appalling, only 6 of the 27 strikers (who start games regularly) in the league have a lower average.

Changing the manager at Stamford Bridge was not the issue for Abramovich to deal with, he simply needs to replace his main central striker with one who is confident and can score goals, rather than persist with one whose status as one of Europe’s top forwards has now been completely eradicated, it seems sadly, forever.

The Chelsea fans politely saved their boos until after the final whistle on Wednesday night, the main brunt of the vitriol was aimed directly at Rafael Benitez, a manager they will never accept as their own, and who will do well to survive the remainder of this campaign if he keeps setting his team up in such a soul-despairingly cautious way.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table, QPR are now supposedly the bookmakers favourites to sign David Beckham from LA Galaxy in January. This really wouldn’t surprise me as the club is a comical shambles of an organisation, run by charlatans like Tony Fernandes who have no experience of running a football team.

There is a certain kind of mad logic behind their pursuit of the former England Captain though; new boss Harry Redknapp wants to bring Beckham in because of his superb professionalism regarding attitude in training and general positive approach to health, fitness and working hard for the team.

That’s all very well and good, and it would be nice to see Beckham shame all the other mercenary band of misfits at QPR into performing well on the pitch, but to pay someone (a 37 year old, who will be way off the pace of the Premier League) £200k a week to effectively be a life-coach for a bunch of spoiled, self-pitying footballers is surely too extravagant, even for QPR.
Beckham will surely be heading for Australia; where can still actually play a few seasons worth of games, and maintain his excellent sun-tan.

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Liverpool FC’s decision to air a Channel 5 documentary called “Being Liverpool” – a programme aimed at their fan base in the USA, which features some very slick production values – is starting to become increasingly embarrassing for all concerned with the club.

Liverpool supporters are a very loyal and tolerant bunch, but even they are hoping the series draws to a close soon. Rodgers is clearly a man with strong footballing principles which most fans would have to agree with; he favours a stylish, possession based game with the focus on organisation and individual skill rather than direct, physical play.

The problem with the TV show is it reveals Rodgers as a kind of David Brent figure – chilled out entertainer first, football manager second – who tries to befriend the players with relaxed banter, while being very aware of the cameras following him everywhere.

At one point he pulls a young player (Flanagan) aside and starts to “man motivate” him by whispering little phrases in his ear like “I know what you can do” and “that’s you, that’s your game, you don’t cross the halfway line, that’s what you do” while grabbing the youngsters cheeks affectionately.

More revealing still is when the cameras come back to his home in an affluent Liverpool suburb. Rodgers is talking about the importance of keeping extended family close by, while the camera pans across and we can see a giant red and black pop-art style painting of his face hanging on the wall in the background.

Rodgers also speaks at length about how this project at Liverpool is going to take time, and that he has the full backing of the board in that respect. The pressure he is now under cannot be helped by the broadcast of this show. There could well be a ludicrous situation in the near future if results don’t improve; where Rodgers could be dismissed from his position whilst still appearing on television talking about his inspiring Liverpool project.

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