Today's Five to Love marks the first time we start the feature with a quiz, though we promise: This post will get both better and less-gimmicky. After the jump we've got a photographic roast of Samir Nasri, the brilliance of the FA Cup, England's best manager, and 2010's best cup competition thus far. But first, the appetizer.
Five To Love - January 12, 2011: Roy Hodgson’s England Success, Rat Pack Samir Nasri, Ian Holloway And Copa Del Lionel Messi
By now you know what’s happened to Roy Hodgson at Anfield, the now completed 17th stop in a coaching career that started in January 1976. Some trivia accumulated long the way: Hodgson’s shortest tenure was at Inter Milan (three matches) in 1999, while the longest was his first job, 130 matches with Halmstad in Sweden. In an oddity, 13 of the 17 stops Hodgson has made have been in countries with crosses on their flag.
Four of those jobs have been in England, starting with Bristol City before stints at Blackburn Rovers, Fulham and Liverpool. And that (finally) brings us to our quiz:
1. Roy Hodgson’s England Success
Now that his Anfield account is closed, which of Hodgson’s four England stops has seen “Woy” post the highest winning percentage? Bristol, Blackburn, Fulham or Liverpool?
Answer in the poll, below. After the jump, the rest of the Five to Love as well as the answer to today’s quiz.
2. The Many Faces Of Samir Nasri
On the heels of making Ryan Babel and Mike Ashley immortal, The Guardian’s Gallery has turned its attention to Samir Nasri, and while the French international’s skill on the ball is becoming beyond reproach, he makes an almost perfect target for a feature composed of doctored photos. Here is a selection, but I encourage - nay, beg - you to visit The Guardian to see the full feature.
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| Toon Army MIA injects Nasri (and Balotelli) into history | Ross Clayton on strange bedfellows: Sami and Roy | Shaun Wainstein sees a different Rat Pack Sami |
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I don’t know how Mario Balotelli was chosen for Marco Materazzi’s place, but as an excuse to put his face on Super Mario’s body? That alone could be One to Love. At the same time, I have never seen Samir Nasri look as natural - as in-place - as he does between Dean Martin and Peter Lawford. He certainly looks more at home than Joey Bishop, who (let’s face it) never belonged. Nasri may just be the most natural Rat of them all.
How did Ipswich Town go from a 7-0 loss this weekend at Stamford Bridge to beating Arsenal 1-0 three days later? Arsenal played a nearly full strength squad, yet the Tractor Boys got a late Tamas Priskin goal and a result in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal, a final you can look at two ways. If you’re a Gooner you could see a lackluster start portending a match where the attack never really clicks, leaving Ipswich to nick the result. If you’re anybody else, you could look at this as the brilliance of knock-out competitions.
Of course, this knock-out competition has two-legged semifinals, so rather than Ipswich being able to celebrate their long shot coming true, they take a half time lead to The Emirates. Regardless, we’re 90 minutes away from an unlikely run toWembley - a team at the bottom of the second division making a cup final, eliminating one of the country’s three big biggest clubs along the way.
Regardless, Ipswich’s Connor Wickham, very loosely linked with a move to the Emirates, might now rethink a move that would send him to a lesser club.
4. Ian Holloway
With their 2-1 Wednesday win over Liverpool, Blackpool completed the double over England's most historically successful club. While the contributions of Charlie Adam and D.J. Campbell should not be undersold, it's difficult to throw too many plaudits at Ian Holloway, a man who has his club in ninth place entering the second half of their season.
Earning their third win of the season at Bloomfield Road - a venue that was not even Premier League-ready when the season started - Blackpool got back to the beautiful long passes Holloway thought the team had been missing in recent weeks. From Sky Sports, Holloway talks about not only the win but the style:
”It’s a wonderful way to watch people play football. They want it, they want to pass it, in the last couple of weeks we’ve made mistakes by overplaying, so today we had some of those lovely long diagonals which are difficult to play against. Well done to the boys.“5. Copa del Rey
While only one of the big five remains active in England's League Cup, simultaneous action in Spain's Copa del Rey sees the league's top three teams still alive. Atlético Madrid and Sevilla are also quarterfinalists, the latter scoring twice late to draw Villarreal, taking a 3-3 result back to the Sanchez Pizjuan.
But the day belonged to Lionel Messi, as almost any day involving a soccer ball does. While Barcelona's meeting with Segunda-leading Real Betis was supposed to give us a chance to assess lower league leaders against the world's best team, we ended up being reminded what few can reasonably doubt. Rogue Ballon d'Or voters be damned and awakened, Messi celebrated his World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick:
6. BONUS: Trivia Answer
Roy Hodgson’s most successful spell in England, in terms of winning percentage, was with Liverpool. The recent departee from Anfield won 41.9 percent of his (all-competition) matches with the Reds, besting his 39.1 percent rate with Fulham. Though best funded at Blackburn, Hodgson only won 35.5 percent of his matches for Jack Walker, while his short stint Bristol City saw Hodgson win only 15 percent of his Robins matches.
For all those who got the question right, please use the comments to leave your name and address and we'll send you your prize, one of these: 
Courtesy of The Guardian and Pascal Hervey. While supplies last, of course.
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