ENGLAND CAN ONLY ENVY THE GERMAN FOOTBALL BLUEPRINT

by Joey Davies

@theonejoeyd

I watched Schalke 04 against Hannover 96 on a Friday night a few weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great crowd, lively atmosphere, plenty of choreography and creative banners, and the on the pitch action lived up to my hopes.

The home side won 5-4 and while some of the defending was at best questionable in its standard, some of the attacking football was more vibrant, dynamic and skillful than anything I've seen in the Premier League or even La Liga this season.

German football has come a long way. It used to be about ruthless, robotic efficiency. The 1990 and 1996 sides bored its way to major international titles. After humiliations at the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, Jurgen Klinsmann and his then assistant, current Nationalmannschaft head coach Joachim Low, underwent a project aimed at improving the national team's fortunes. 

They visited kids in schools and football academies and asked them all what style they would like to see the national team play- the answer was a dynamic, fast-paced technical attacking game. And all levels of German football adopted this blueprint in its coaching, from the children upwards. The results of this project have been there for all to see at the last three or four major tournaments.

Yes, Germany have not won any of them. But they have come remarkably close, and have entertained the footballing fraternity with some exhilarating attacking performances in the process and it won't be long before that brand of football delivers another international trophy to the Vaterland.

All this has occurred while English football and its dinosauric approach lag behind. There is no point building St George's Park if they do not use it in the proper manner. By that I mean the coaching setup- coach the coaches in the right manner. Put talent first- technical ability over physical strength. That is why England cannot challenge for major tournaments because they do not have the technical skills to retain possession and take on the big nations such as Germany, Italy and Spain in a legit footballing contest.

Learn from how German football has evolved from the Dark Ages- decide on a way of playing, bring in coaches who can teach that style and then allow them to coach our young, aspiring coaches so they can teach our youngsters to be artists first- then any ugly bits can be the cherry on top.

THE FINANCIAL INEQUALITY AFFECTS ALL LEVELS, NOT JUST THE TOP DIVISIONS

by Joey Davies

@theonejoeyd

Swindon Town's financial situation had me intrigued yesterday. Not just because they are a serious adversary to Tranmere's attempts to reach the Championship, but because of one particular transfer deal that took place even after a new consortium purchased the club.

Matt Ritchie, arguably one of League One's best players, left the County Ground. Not for a higher level, but to promotion rivals Bournemouth, a side just a point behind the Robins in the table. Swindon, one of the most expensively assembled outfits in the third tier, had lost its best player to an even more expensively created one!

Bournemouth were a club in administration just four seasons ago and started the 2008-09 campaign in League Two on -17, miraculously avoiding the drop into non-league and then recovering to win promotion the season later with a shoestring team. Eddie Howe was hot stuff in managerial terms, and Burnley picked him up halfway through the 2010-11 season when he had guided the Cherries to second spot- rubbing shoulders with much bigger spenders.

In the time he was up in the Championship with the Clarets, a bunch of Russians have got involved at Dean Court and I'd imagine Bournemouth's wage bill is now way above the £6m mark. Indeed, these huge resources are almost certainly what convinced Howe to drop down a division and return 'home'.

Maxim Demin - the man behind the investment, wants to have a bit of fun as one of his mates did the same thing in Germany taking Fortuna Dusseldorf up from the lower divisions to the Bundesliga and it seems a repeat here is the primary goal- however Darragh MacAnthony wanted to have the same fun at Peterborough and is finding that the lower reaches of the Championship are a ceiling for clubs of that size unless ridiculous pounds, or roubles in this case, are thrown in the manager's face.

This demonstrates what clubs like Tranmere are up against- Bournemouth have gone from a Portsmouth to a Man City in the space of three years and holding them off for promotion would be a miraculous triumph in the background of a huge disadvantage.

For Cherries fans' sake, I hope these investors do not get bored because without them that wage bill would be simply unsustainable, and the risk of them following a road parallel to a club not too geographically far away would become a very realistic scenario.

DAVID FERRER HAS MY ADMIRATION, BUT I'D RATHER SEE SOMEONE ELSE IN THE TOP FOUR

by Joey Davies

@theonejoeyd

Rafael Nadal's inactivity since his shock second round beating at the hands of Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon has enabled David Ferrer, the second ranked Spaniard, to move above him into number four in the world.

Ferrer is like a 'Duracell bunny'- he runs, grinds and fights for every ball and has maximised every ounce of his ability, of which in terms of overall tennis weaponry, is quite limited. His forehand and backhand are quite limited and only his return of serve could be classed as being comparable to any of the real top four (if you consider Nadal as part of that quadruple)

Unfortunately, these limitations were exposed in an ominously vicious manner in the first Australian Open semi final by Novak Djokovic in a brutal 6-2 6-2 6-1 scoreline. Ferrer had come through a very straightforward draw due to his seeding and he made use of it.

But this is what I'm getting at- there are guys ranked below him such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych, all guys with huge powerful groundstrokes- weaponry that can trouble a Djokovic, Murray or a Federer. Ferrer can't, those guys only overpower him.

Ferrer deserves his number four ranking for the points he has accumulated- but for the sake of having two competitive semi finals at grand slam tournaments, I hope someone with more firepower can oust him from that position, because while he is there, one of Novak or Roger will be punching the air in delight at the draw ceremonies while the other mulls over seeing Murray's name in their section instead, creating an imbalance.

MURRAY LOST- BUT THE SIZE OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS JUST GOT BIGGER

by Joey Davies

@theonejoeyd

The last two sets were 6-3 6-2. It suggests to the casual tennis or sports fan that Andy Murray was beaten down in the third and fourth set of the Australian Open final by Novak Djokovic. But it was a lot tighter than that.

Djokovic edged set one and had the break point chances, Murray survived and won the tie break. Djokovic, frustrated after a few errors in that breaker, swore angrily in his native Serbian. The second set Murray was the better player and created the break points, did not take them and Djokovic made him pay in the tie breaker.

The third set went with serve until the eighth game when the Serbian slayer broke. Murray began to wilt, as his four hour semi final win over Roger Federer began to catch up with him as he limped around in the fourth set- Djokovic punishing him with the right tactics, moving him around until he could run no more.

But that does not take away from a phenomenal Djokovic victory- it is his sixth grand slam title, moving him level with the great Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. If he wins the next Slam, Roland Garros in four months time, he would become the seventh man in Open Era history to have won all four Grand Slam trophies. Two of those, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, are still active and this shows how tough it has been for Andy to triumph at the very biggest tournaments.

But what these statistics do is emphasise just what outstanding accomplishments his Olympic gold medal and US Open title were. He beat the very best in the business- Djokovic and Federer, to unlock the doors to immortality. Quite often the British media and public will label unrealistic expectations on its sporting performers but whatever happens from here, Murray contributed immensely to a memorable two weeks in London for Team GB,  the first British male of the Open Era to win a grand slam, and the first in 76 years.

Wherever Andy Murray goes from here, he has secured his rightful place in the pantheon of British sporting legends.

THE SHAME IN SPAIN

by Joey Davies

@theonejoeyd

Cycling has been on the map in recent weeks for unsavoury reasons- mostly involving someone who was once a hero to his nation and to sufferers of the terrible disease he defeated admirably.

The bravery of the US Anti-Doping Association (USADA) cannot be understated in taking Lance Armstrong on and winning, especially after the vicious persecution campaigns the disgraced former US Postal rider and his followers launched against his critics, as the likes of Armstrong's former masseuse Emma O'Reilly, his team-mate's ex-wife Betsy Andreu and journalist Paul Kimmage will testify.

USADA risked offending not only Armstrong's sycophants and members of his cancer charity Livestrong, but an entire nation, of which he is, or was, one of the most iconic sporting figures.

This brings me to a trial that is taking place in Madrid of a Spanish doctor by the name of Eufemiano Fuentes. His home was raided in 2006, and various blood bags and plasma bags were uncovered. Eight of the 92 plasma bags contained traces of EPO, the same steroid that Armstrong successfully injected during his now stripped Tour de France victories due to the lack of a legitimate test for the drug at the time. HGH (human growth hormone) and testosterone were also discovered at his premises in a police probe codenamed Operacion Puerto (Puerto meaning mountain pass).

Now 58 cyclists were named as having worked with Dr Fuentes and one of them, Armstrong's ex-US Postal teammate and EPO user Tyler Hamilton- has successfully been added to the witness list on request by WADA. Hamilton once described Dr Fuentes as a 'one-man Wal-Mart of doping.'

But you see the case becomes a whole lot deeper when taking into account Dr Fuentes' admission on Tuesday that various other athletes including footballers, tennis, boxers and those participating in athletics were among his clients.

However, this is where the situation descends from revelation to downright whitewash. A legal protocol established before the trial limited the case to cyclists only, sparing athletes from the other sports I have mentioned. The Italian doping authority requested the judge order Fuentes to identify the list of non-cycling names. Even the Doc himself was prepared to blow the whistle when yes, the judge refused to request them.

Spain is a country with some of the most lackadaisical attitudes towards doping you will ever encounter. One of its most successful riders, Alberto Contador, was banned by the UCI for testing positive for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France. He has since returned to a triumph at the 2012 Vuelta race (one of cycling's Grand Tours) and was hailed as a hero despite the previous ban. But that's not even the worst of it.

Roberto Heras tested positive for EPO when he won the Vuelta title in 2005. The UCI, despite all of the recent criticism in its direction that it does not do enough to combat the use of PEDs, stripped him of the victory and rightly so. Well guess what. A few weeks ago, a Spanish court restored the cheating Heras as the winner of the race. It's enough to make you vomit.

And now, the Spanish authorities are seemingly doing their utmost to hide the names of all of Eufemiano Fuentes' non-cycling clients. I smell a rat, and it doesn't smell good. Cycling and doping have been inter-twined for a long time even before Lance Armstrong's fall from grace. Football and tennis however, despite their hopeless testing regulations, have never been historically tagged with the performance enhancing drug culture.

Are they afraid that a few Spanish sporting heroes' reputations could be under threat if they name Fuentes' clients and allow WADA access to his 200 blood bags? 

This is not an attack on Spain or its people, it is a criticism of its attitude towards drug cheats. The country made the utilisation of PEDs illegal in 2006, the same year Dr Fuentes was caught out. If El Reino wants to gain some respect and admiration from those with fair play and honesty instilled in their veins, then the power people in Madrid should do the decent thing and show a bit of transparency in this trial.

Otherwise Operacion Puerto- and Spain's 'efforts' to stamp out doping, will forever remain clouded in a smokescreen of doubt.