The 2010 Champions League Draw

Tottenham has been drawn into a group with... Inter Milan.

(Image courtesy of inquisitr.com)

You would probably be aware that the draw for the group stage of the Champions League took place early this morning. The results of the draw, and who each of the 32 clubs will face in Europe’s top football club competition, is given in this BBC Sport website story today.

Being English-based, the website naturally focused on the competition’s English representatives. This is evident because apart from the bit about Real Madrid being pitted against AC Milan, most of the story has an English connection. Even the managers of other continental clubs are interviewed with an English twist, such as Marseille’s chairman saying that he’s looking forward to welcoming Chelsea to France, rather than whether Marseille themselves will progress from their group. It would definitely make the story more balanced if there was a wider representative of non-English clubs talking about their own prospects.

But the headline focusing on Tottenham facing Inter Milan is quite appropriate because amongst the four English representatives, Tottenham are the only ones who are making their debut in the Champions League. So most BBC Sport readers, including those who are not Tottenham fans, would be interested in finding out whether the draw was fair to the London club. Thus, using the photograph of Tottenham celebrating their entry into the Champions League group stages, is relevant because it ties in with the news angle.

But the article lacks a comment from either Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp or Tottenham players about their prospects. As Tottenham is the angle of the story, at least one Tottenham quote should have been obtained.

Overall though, the story is pretty informative, providing not only information about the draw, but some background history, such as the fact that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has a good relationship with Scottish club Rangers manager, Walter Smith, because the latter was the English club’s assistant manager six years ago. However, the amount of background research could have been more extensive.

Arsenal’s approach to spending

Wenger prefers to buy youngsters. (Image courtesy of The Telegraph)

We all know about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s policy of choosing to develop young talent rather than splurging on big-name players. According to this article by BBC Sport's Editor David Bond in his blog, other big clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are so inspired by this policy that they have decided to implement it too – because of the financial benefits. This indeed is a timely topic as many Premier League clubs are now tightening their spending because of reducing income sources.

Bond’s research is adequate and this helps to back up his interview with the Arsenal Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis. For instance, he includes figures to make the story more sound, such as the fact that Arsenal’s turnover is now more than 300 million pounds per year. But he should have included the sources of these figures to give credibility.

Bond’s article focuses on a single interview with Gazidis about how he supports Wenger’s approach, so it might have helped if Bond had a quote from Wenger himself to verify the statements made about the Arsenal manager. Perhaps comments by other Premier League managers on the merits of Wenger’s approach may have given differing viewpoints too.

Bond should have explained more about Uefa’s new ruling though, and how it supports Wenger’s policy, rather than just bringing in a single sentence that says the ruling limits “the amount owners can invest in their teams.” The writer definitely assumes that readers know what he is referring to. Those who did not read about the new Uefa ruling might be confused at what is being discussed.

It is also interesting that Bond has actually embedded the actual interview footage into his article rather than just having say, a picture of Gazidis. This highlights his interactivity with his online readers and shows that he is embracing the new forms of technology that are available to him.

But overall, this is a pretty well-written article.

Official Premier League ball unveiled

The 2010 English Premier League ball. (Image courtesy of soccerlens.com)

The match ball for the upcoming season’s English Premier League (EPL) has recently been launched. This is designed to be the world’s most accurate and consistent ball, reports the EPL news portal www.premierleague.com.

The article is well-researched and consists of detailed information about what makes the new Nike ball superior to last season’s one. The story is short and simple – nothing too complicated. One point though – it may be interesting to have said how the ball was tested and by whom.

There are two sources mentioned in the story – one was a goalkeeper – Stoke City’s Thomas Sorenson. His view is useful because a goalkeeper needs to handle the ball quite often and so having him say that accuracy of the ball is the “best yet” provides some valuable input to the story. The other source was the General Manager of Nike. However, his comments extolling the virtues of the ball, may be biased, as Nike developed the ball. Perhaps a quote from another player or manager may be beneficial - maybe someone who talks about a weakness of the ball.

The first picture, which is a close-up shot of the ball, is good. But the other two pictures displayed are not so relevant - these show Javier Hernandez and Aaron Lennon, who are not even featured in the article. A photo of Sorenson might have been more appropriate instead, because he was the player who was quoted. But it is good that the author presented the pictures in the form of an interactive slide-show format to engage the online reader.

It is interesting that the article includes a link to a gallery of Nike balls for the past 10 seasons. The gallery includes information such as how many goals have been scored with each season's Nike ball. Such interesting facts would engage avid football fans and entice them to click on the link.

New 25-man squad in EPL

Will Tevez be axed at Man City? (Image courtesy of top-footballer.com)

The English Premier League (EPL) in football (soccer) is enforcing a new 25-man squad rule where each club can use only a maximum of 25 players above the age of 21 this season, according to this article by The Mail Online. This ruling would definitely affect the league’s rich clubs, which have big squads. Quite simply, they would have to sell off quite a few of their millionaire players. This is an important news story - it affects the cream of English football.

What the new rules are and how these would affect the league’s wealthiest clubs, such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, are explained in detail. The story is also presented in an easy-to-read style with the interesting use of colours and visual images. However, a recap of why the rules are necessary has not been explained. This would have been beneficial to readers.

The story could also have used more sources. Apart from Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and another unidentified manager, the journalists do not appear to have approached other parties for interviews. A quote from the English Football Association (FA) or a football pundit like ESPN’s John Dykes would have helped give more interest and credibility. Also, a comment from FIFA’s Sepp Blatter, the originator of the rules, would have added more value. However, the fact that a leading tabloid newspaper in Australia, The Daily Telegraph (which has a large sports fan base) has a similar online article, shows that the story has substance.

The big, eye-catching action-oriented pictures used also helps to reflect the mood of the story. For example, the photo showing injury-prone Manchester United’s Owen Hargreaves looking on anxiously, while his manager, Alex Ferguson, is checking his watch, implies that perhaps Hargreaves' time is up - and so he should start looking for a new club - as he may be axed from the team.

Overall, a good story.