footballjham

Of Russia and Bulgaria

2009-11-25T20:48:00.002+05:30

This is one of the most amazing football stories I have read recently. There's corruption all over the globe in football, but something about this happening between clubs in Bulgaria and Russia and the mention of the Russian secret service, gives this a Hollywood feel:

http://www.worldsoccer.com/features/mystery_surrounds_the_bogus_transfer_of_four_levski_sofia_players_writes_rumen_paytashev_features_292051.html

Ronaldo a ‘Pagalactico’

2009-06-11T18:36:00.002+05:30

Reports have confirmed that Manchester United have accepted a bid worth £ 80 million for Christiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, bringing to a premature end the transfer saga that was expected to draw out long into the summer.

There is very little in the news that surprises me. Yes, it does leave one awe-struck and almost jaw-broken by the sheer magnitude of the transfer fee and the fact that it has come within days of Kaka’s move to Madrid, but I was convinced since the day United sealed their third successive league title at home that Ronaldo was on his way out. I will go so far as to state that had Real not tabled the bid they did, Sir Alex would still have sold Ronaldo to the highest bidder even at a much lower price than his club is about to receive.

To Go or Not to Go

Ronaldo was never the most loved of footballers in England, but popularity really plummeted for the first time after “Winkgate” at the World Cup in Germany. Even Manchester United fans were expected to boo him out of Old Trafford but such theories were soon put to rest as the man proceeded to play some of the best football seen this side of the millennium. That stunning season placed him in the Pantheon of legendary Red Devils and when Ronaldo expressed his desire to leave for Madrid last summer, the fans and Sir Alex both found the idea unacceptable. And history has shown us that what millions of fans may not to be able to achieve as a collective, Alex Ferguson is capable of achieving as an individual. Persuasion powers worked and Ronaldo stayed put for another season.

The year that has passed since has seen further drama unfold as Spanish papers never ceased reporting about the various deals that had been struck ensuring that Ronaldo would leave for Madrid in the summer of 2009 while Sir Alex went on record stating that he wouldn’t sell a ‘virus’ to the world’s most successful football club. Ronaldo himself kept up an unconvincing pretence of having the desire to stay on with Manchester United.

Yet, for all the words that were spoken and printed, a separate drama unfolded on the football pitch that foretold the events of today without using the crutches of words. There were many defining moments that built up to the time when this writer for one was convinced that whatever the sound bites, Ronaldo was indeed going to leave.

Imminent Departure

Millions of us saw Ronaldo asking to be substituted and then jog straight into the tunnel and questioned his commitment and discipline. We saw him sulk on the bench when substituted in another game and then on a separate occasion almost to our shock and horror saw him turn back and argue with Sir Alex when the boss reacted angrily to a wild shot on goal. In another context and with other protagonists, there may or may not have been too much to interpret, but this was different. Nobody and that means nobody can continue in Manchester United when the red-nosed Knight finds them too big for their boots, and Ronaldo’s were looking big enough to be visible from the moon.

Paul Ince, David Beckham and Ruud V Nistelrooy have all in the past been ‘allowed to go’ when their egos failed to fit in the Manager’s plans even though their games still did and there was no reason to expect the trend to change. One man who is not getting any softer with age happens to be Roanldo’s boss (ex-boss?) and just like he was one of the few who could stand up to Real when he wanted to ‘keep’ his man, he also happens to be one of the fewer who would be willing to axe one of the top 3 players in the world.

Anyway, as the season came to an end and there did begin some murmurs about Sir Alex tolerating Ronaldo’s tantrums a bit more than is expected of him, the gaffer let out his intentions in a half second snub, that surprisingly was not discussed threadbare by an English media that is always on the look-out for stories with a ‘human’ (as against footballing) interest.

Moments after the title was secured, SAF was out on the pitch hugging and back slapping each of his players and looking as excited as any member of a trophy winning team. As player after player was met and held in the affectionate embrace of the patriarch, Ronaldo stood and gazed with a grin next in line and looking happy but unsure. And then without letting the smile wipe off his face and also without giving it a second thought, SAF looked straight through his star player and turned to the next bunch of boys while Ronaldo continued to grin and look on. Imagine the look on a schoolboy’s face who wants to be a teacher’s favorite even as said teacher showers attention all around while ignoring him. At that moment I knew that Ferguson’s mind was made up and Ronaldo was going, all that remained to be settled was the size of the cheque.

Team and Player

Manchester United will move on and while Ronaldo will be difficult to replace as a player who could change a game with a moment of magic, the attacking threat that United will pose over a season should not suffer too much, especially given the players who we may expect to come in.

Ronaldo himself may find the move to be a little bit of a lottery. Madrid have not quite been trophy less for many seasons, but they have never played flowing, pleasing football since the heady days of their last CL triumph with the Galacticos. Even if Barcelona collapse and are beaten to the La Liga title by Real, Ronaldo may find it difficult to display the same spark in a team for whom the only suitable adjective given their recent past is ‘dour’. The possibilities of a merry-go-around of managers combined with the presence of multiple mega-ego players in the squad will provide an atmosphere completely unlike that in which the youngster transformed himself from a show-boating teenager to the most dangerous player in the world. Yes, I am inclined to think that the move will do Ronaldo more harm than good though for the sake of the game and what that man brings to it, I hope it turns out well.

Pagalactico

And what about Madrid, an absolute mockery of everything for which either sports or business stands for! There are ever increasing noises about football being corrupted and ceasing to be a sport and turning into a business, but one club now threatens to take a path unacceptable as either of the two. Two players worth more than £ 125 million and the money going out of nobody’s pocket? Unlike Leeds and other clubs which paid (or may pay) the price for their extravagance, a favorable government and friendly banks will ensure that the Real dream will carry on and the madness of one man will continue to amuse a planet. It will take a separate piece to discuss the incredulousness and impact of this deal, but it is astonishing to see Florentino Perez actually come back to lead the club he so spectacularly butchered at the last opportunity. In Hindi, ‘Pagal’ is the word for a madman, and the only word to describe this new rebuilding of Real is “Pagalactico”.

Chelsea v Barcelona, May 6, Champions League

2009-05-07T18:22:00.001+05:30

Chelsea paid the price for not taking their chances when they got them and a painfully late 94th minute equalizer from Andres Iniesta meant that Barcelona have sealed their date against Manchester United in Rome. There is talk of tactics and strategy, but in the end the only fact that separated the two teams was the away goal. For all Chelsea’s defensiveness they created enough to have won it over two legs. For all Barcelona’s lack of shots on target in the second –leg, they managed to score the goal that mattered and the rest are just split hairs.

The second leg mirrored the first in many aspects and yet had significant differences. The most significant being a 9th minute goal scored out of nothing from a Michael Essien left footed wonder strike. Chelsea may have not had too many attacking thoughts even at nil-nil, but the goal gave them an added incentive to defend in numbers. Before the goal and after it, Barcelona kept possession in much the same way as they had done in the first leg. They also made as little use of it at Stamford Bridge as they had done at the Nou Camp.

From there on till the end, the game was mildly more entertaining than last week’s encounter with more occasions for drama and controversy, though with rather little new in terms of spectacular play. Especially poor was Dani Alves, whose crosses throughout the evening would have been better collected in the neighboring field. Eto was no more visible than n the first leg and Messi just marginally better. Busquet, Keita and Xavi looked like a pale shadow of Xavi, Iniesta and Toure, though Chelsea were so far back that the midfield depletion didn’t really hurt Barca. Iniesta stood out as the only Barca player who looked capable of doing damage, but not really in the manner in which he eventually did.

Chelsea’s single solution for creating attacking positions was to seek out Drogba, and he did do a spectacular job in making life difficult for Barcelona many times through the evening. Yet, he failed to score from a chance not too dissimilar to the one he had at the Nou Camp and in that failure, condemned his team to defeat.

Barca should have conceded a penalty or two and were fortunate, but so had Chelsea been when Henry was denied a penalty and Ballack not dished out a red card. The ref stank the whole night through and yet somehow it is difficult to pin the result to him. Chelsea could have scored more and should have been composed enough till the end, not to concede against ten men. Barcelona kept going for it, even after they lost Abidal and were fortunate enough to get the rewards. Had Iniesta shot wide, Barca would have had only their inability to break down a very resolute and well organized defense to blame.

I would have loved if Barcelona had squared off against Arsenal while Manchester United had taken on Chelsea. It probably would have made for better viewing across all the four games and even though the finalists may have turned out to be the same, there would not have been so much unsettlable debate between beautiful and defensive football and the moral rights to a final.

As it is, Barcelona have got there and will have the right to play, moral or immoral. How well they can cope against Manchester United will be seen on the day, but they will know that their superiority in the Liga will mean nothing against the defending Champions. Especially fragile is the look of their defense and Manchester United can play the counter attacking game even better than Chelsea so Barcelona will struggle to keep a clean sheet. The destination of the trophy will be their ability to do significantly better against resolute defending and in that respect, the Chelsea game could prove to be a huge learning experience for them.

Arsenal v Manchester United, May 5, Champions League

2009-05-06T20:30:00.000+05:30

United should have had their place in the final sealed and settled even before we kicked off at the Emirates. Almunia and profligacy on United’s part had resulted in the Gunners chasing a mere one goal deficit and Arsenal are up there as one of the teams who should not be given a chance to recover. All three outcomes were distinctly possible and home advantage could potentially have had a strong influence in the result.

Arsenal sure started like they meant business. Some very slick passing resulted in a continued siege of the Red Devils’ goal, though Van der Saar was yet to be tested. Then came a moment where Arsenal’s vulnerability became suddenly evident. A long ball clearance found Ronaldo in the Arsenal box and he fended off three defenders before successfully controlling the ball and then setting up play for a half chance at goal. No damage was done but it was clear that whenever Man U did get into dangerous positions, they would have much more teeth. Just then, I remembered an Arsenal-Man U encounter from last season where Asenal kept playing pretty but Manchester United kept threatening on the break with some brilliant crosses into the box. Before too long one of them ended with a finish and for all their pretty play, Arsenal were behind. That game had ended 2-2 with some late drama, but my current thoughts were limited to expecting Arsenal to concede soon.

And soon enough they did. Once more Ronaldo found the ball, centered it for Park and while poor Gibbs slipped, making life easy for Park, Arsenal had invited enough trouble to not have the defense of poor luck. Now Arsenal had to score three and already you could sense a look of helplessness in the players’ faces. After Ronaldo scored from a free kick (which was a debatable free kick to get and which Almunia should have saved ), the Gunners just gave up. Within ten minutes of the second half, the match was beyond their reach and while they put up the charade of a fight, they never looked determined enough for a fight back.

There was a beautiful counter-attacking goal after a Vidic clearance was met by Ronaldo, carried by Park, taken wide and then played in by Rooney and finished by Ronaldo. There was also a consolation goal from a penalty for Arsenal after Fletcher was red carded. He got the ball but he also brought Fabregas down. Opinion has been divided over whether it was a red card or not. Most of the media (English) has been screaming it was so obviously not, while Graham Poll, retired referee and hence with the maximum credibility has apparently said it was. So there.

Wenger later described the 1-3 rout as the worst night of his career, but it was not a night that crept up suddenly. At the beginning of the season, Arsenal produced some good results against their direct rivals but dropped far too many points against the minnows. Now they have been on a great run against teams lower in the league than them, but in the last three weeks have been outplayed by Chelsea, Liverpool and United. Even though they sneaked in a draw against Pool, their fragility against teams that can match them in skill and outdo them in strength is evident. It may require the abandoning of the youth policy and ideology of Monsieur Wenger, but the arguments in favor of such a change are strong and many and oft repeated. And in the abandoning of the Galacticos policy by Madrid, Arsenal do have a precedence where a declared approach to success is abandoned when the targeted success is so obviously out of reach. Will Wenger heed?

Man U and Sir Alex – Just brilliant. It is difficult to pick a Man U player who did not have a great game. Ronaldo was at his best – smaller on the show boating doses and very large on impact, Rooney is just continuing to outdo Vidic’s bid as United’s player of the year, Anderson, Fletcher, Park…name them and they were all worthy of being finalists. Which they all are going to be now, with the unfortunate exception of Fletcher.

I hope it will be against Barcelona, but the outcome of tonight’s game is far from certain. I expect Chelsea to play exactly as they did last week and would not be surprised to see them nick it by a goal. Unless, Barca score early…then it will be fun.

El Classico at the Bernabeau, 2 May, La Liga

2009-05-04T21:42:00.000+05:30

There will be a tendency to go into hyperbole about the class of Barcelona and the entertainment value of this game and a lot of it will be justified. But it is fair to say that throughout the season Barcelona have provided enough evidence to make the eventual outcome of this El Classico encounter, a thoroughly expected proposition. In other words, this result should not elicit any element of surprise. Let’s limit the elements to ‘Wows’.

The Santiago Bernabeau has not so long ago stood up to a man to cheer the genius of Ronaldinho, an act of appreciation so out of character, that even while seeing it live, I was tempted to interpret it as a fans’ way of showing their disgust towards their own team, rather than with the sole objective of praising a phenomenal adversary. On this occasion, they were provided ample opportunity to repeat their act, but they just looked on in amazement. For this time, there was little to berate their own team for and hence little motivation to rile them by praising the enemy. And yet, their appreciation of the beauty of Barcelona’s play would have not been in any measure lesser than that night when the grinning Brazilian had floored them all.

Madrid did not adopt the Chelsea approach to taming Barca. For one they were playing at home, as Chelsea will be this week. Second, they needed the three points to bring the gap down to a single point and give themselves a very real shot at retaining the League and pulling off a stunning comeback. Third, they had already tried the Chelsea approach at the Nou Camp and had failed to shout Barca out for more than eighty minutes or so. Last but not the least, they were on the back of seventeen or so unbeaten games, most of which were wins and had every reason to feel confident.

Barca on the other hand had seen a thirteen point advantage significantly reduced, had drawn two straight games and the world press was murmuring about the true extent of their greatness.
This is how it turned out. Higuain scored from a free header to give Real the lead. Barca responded with Messi finding Henry with the defense left behind and it was one all. Then a free kick was met with a Puyol free header into goal. Then it was Messi’s turn to score and it went into the break at 3-1. Barca came out strong again but it was Ramos who got the next goal and at 2-3, Real could have had a chance. But then Henry scored another and then Messi added another after being set up by Xavi and at 2-5 up, guess who it was that met Eto’s cross to score the sixth? Piquet from central defense, that’s who. That’s how crazy Barcelona are.

But to say so-and-so scored and this is how the game flowed is absurdly limiting. This was more cosmic. Like planetary motions or something pre-ordained by mysterious undiscovered scientific laws or the will of the Supreme, Barca moved in perfect harmony, they thought as a system, an entity and they executed with a beauty that can only be associated with things that are natural.
Real were poor or not, is something that was difficult to register. They did score twice and could have scored some more but it was difficult to notice. What is apparent is that in spite of all the money that they spend, Real has a first eleven that is distinctly inferior to teams that would be in its frame of competitor reference – Chelsea for example.

The same Chelsea who will be Barcelona’s next opponent for a different trophy which is not yet sealed and settled like the Liga is. Man-for-man Chelsea are a stronger team than Real (Casillas, Ramos and maybe Robben excluded) but will that be enough to tempt them to look to take the game to Barcelona at the Bridge? I doubt it. The first leg performance showed that Hiddink is not too bothered about footballing ideals and keeping the purists happy and I expect the script to be the same as the first leg. With a suspect central defensive pairing to be expected for Barcelona, Chelsea’s only ploy to score will be through route one flights to Drogba, and Barcelona will do well to conjure up the goal that they never did at the Nou Camp.

Chelsea v Fulham, 2 May, Premier League

2009-05-04T21:41:00.002+05:30

The surprise that Guus Hiddink offered came in the form of the team sheet, which looked far too strong to be believable. With a second leg tie against Barcelona looming in the mid-week, it was widely accepted that many fringe players would be seen but the Dutchman chose to field almost the same leven that you would expect to see against Barcelona. Ballack did not start and Obi did and for me that represented the strongest midfield trio that Chelsea can play. After half-time Essien made way for Ballack, but that was the extent of rest and relaxation that Hiddink has provided the Blues with.

As a spectacle it helped matters significantly and the Chelsea that turned up were so different in character and attitude than the team that played Barcelona, that it was hard to believe that almost the same eleven had been repeated. For people who debate that strategy in football is overrated and it all depends on the players eventually, here’s proof that the world is grey.

Anyway, a brilliant move involving one touch play between many players was set for conclusion by Drogba with a simple finish for Anelka. This happened in the first minute. By the third minute Fulham had tested Cech for the first time. By the fifth, they equalized – through Nevland, who latched on to a long ball, found himself an angle to shoot under challenge from two defenders (and with no support) and beat Cech with the only shot he could have made.

Stung, Chelsea troubled Fulham again immediately after and Malouda reclaimed Chelsea’s league by finishing off a move that again involved the attacking trio.

The rest of the game did not quite carry the same momentum, but Chelsea did play some nice attacking football and Fulham provided enough of a fight to keep their fans hoping. The second half was topped off by a brilliant through ball played by Anelka to Drogba who made it 3-1, which is how the game ended.

Malouda continues to impress in his new life, Drogba keeps making a case for his continued greatness while Essien continues to show baffling loss of form. The other thing that hits you about Chelsea is there absolute inability to get any youngster to make the grade. Di Santo has made more appearances this season than season ticket holders but has never done anything that will catch the eye. Mancienne may be a possibility but Hiddink fails to show confidence in his ability to start or feature significantly for Chelsea. How come money has no role to play in the development of talent? Surely, the best talent pool, facilities and coaching can be assembled? What makes the economics of having an academy that consistently produces great players different from the economics of producing a winning team?

Fulham for their part will finish the season happy even if they have a bit of a stutter from now on. There are of course no obvious reasons to suspect a blip, but maybe the thought and talk of European action may cause the anxiety of anticipated overachievement. Hopefully not. Well done Fulham and hope Nevland recovers soon from his injury. He was on fire till he had to be substituted in the 35th minute.

Middlesbrough v Manchester United, 2 May, Premier League

2009-05-04T21:34:00.000+05:30

Middlesbrough have consistently taken points off and even beaten top four opposition in the last few seasons so you could be forgiven for setting a degree of expectation from this game. The completely real threat of relegation demands heroic and desperate play and the stage was perfect for an underdog story to be scripted. Only the brutal bully was in no mood to oblige and Manchester United sealed a two goal victory with very little trouble and legs to spare.

The only thing worth remembering from the game is the mood of complete disinterest that it had propagated before the sixtieth minute was played. It was evident that Boro were not going to get anywhere near scoring a goal and the difference in league table positions was clearly reflected in the quality of play.

Giggs scored the opener for United and Park added a second in the second half. Macheda got his first premiership start. As expected United rested players. All this game means is that United are a game closer to winning it three in a row. If there is some late drama in the title-race, it certainly did not start on Saturday.

Manchester United v Arsenal, Champions League, 29 April

2009-04-30T21:32:00.000+05:30

Manchester United failed to turn their massive superiority over the first thirty minutes (and sustained superiority over the next sixty) into a bagful of goals and will travel to Ashburton Grove with a single goal advantage. It is an advantage but ‘what could have been’ may just come and haunt United when the proceedings are completed next Tuesday.

A Rooney lob could have earned United the opener as early as the second minute but a Gordon-esque save by Almunia kept it at nil-nil. Before the half hour was up, Almunia had made yet more superb saves to prevent Tevez (twice) and Ronaldo.

In between though, he could not prevent a John O Shea poke from going into goal though the blame for that would lie with all the defenders who left O Shea alone in space and not the goalkeeper. Thus, in a matter of thirty minutes, United could have on a different day been up by five, but had to be contended with one.

For those thirty minutes, Arsenal were overwhelmed by United’s ability to keep possession at all areas of the field and their spectacular movement and passing. O Shea, Fletcher and Carrick were especially impressive, even as the attacking trio of Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney threatened to make something of every opportunity. Five up after thirty would have been maybe too flattering for United, but definitely a 3-0 score line would not have seemed unjustified, such was their command.

It was after the save off Ronaldo that Arsenal finally got into the game. Song and Nasri finally started finding the ball and keeping it, while Fabregas connected well with the pair (and Diaby) to eventually start getting the ball into difficult areas for Man U. The fifteen minute spell after the Ronaldo save till half-time, consisted of pleasant, attacking football from both the sides with some very fluent passing and movement.
The second half had moments of equal intensity but they were interspersed with passages of play where both teams struggled for ideas. The excitement was provided by a superb Ronaldo kick from outside the box which rattled the bar and was reminiscent of that great goal against Porto and the other was a goal from substitute Ryan Giggs which was correctly disallowed for offside (it was Giggs’ 800th game for United and a goal would have been one mushy story).

There was not too much new to learn from the performances except acknowledging that Arsenal’s young left back Kieron Gibbs has a future at this level. There was also the opportunity to see Nasri has a deep lying midfielder and while he gave a decent account of himself, I think he adds too much value to that attacking line to be withdrawn from it, especially when Arshavin is missing.

So as this goes into Tie-2, there is little room for the claiming of moral victories or making of bold predictions. All outcomes are possible and I suspect, it is going to be a lot of fun.

Barcelona v Chelsea, Champions League, 28 April

2009-04-29T21:08:00.003+05:30

The Game

There was pre-match talk of a goalfest or something similar, but in the end Chelsea replayed Manchester United’s game at the Nou Camp at the same stage last year. Just replaced the kits, changed player names and then set the tactics to “same as last year Barca V MU semi-final”. Wish they got that feature in FIFA Manager.

Essien on the right side of midfield signaled lack of width for Chelsea even before the game kicked off. Their occupation of the pitch confirmed that they would lack width, breadth, length and any dimension needed to really get a game of football going. Goalkeeper plus nine were to be found on a patch of the field no broader than thirty yards and it was less of a game and more of a complicated training drill in which Barca failed to meet the objective.

If Chelsea were ever going to score it would have had to be from a long ball, a set piece or a defensive error and Marquez presented them with one when he handed the ball over to Drogba, who should have scored but was prevented well (twice) by Valdes. Then there was a second half corner which found an unmarked Ballack who used to put them all in, once upon a time. This time he headed over. That was about it from Chelsea.

Barcelona were as good as they needed to be as a team but were let down by some key individuals – Messi and Eto to be precise. Bosingwa was Messi’s marker on the left and there was a whole battalion of Chelsea players on him whenever he went central, but it wasn’t simply the tight marking that was behind Lionel’s poor show. He seemed to lack focus and made too many bad decisions and lost possession far too easily. Maybe he was ill. It’s hard to think of an explanation and while I have seen games where his involvement has been low, I can’t recollect another where it has been poor.

Eto failed to convert the one big chance he had (a combination of Alex and Terry errors presented him with a clear run on goal) and was otherwise completely out-bullied by Chelsea’s defense. Henry was better than the pair of them, but even he was hardly having his best night. A couple of shots on target and a dangerous moment when he should (or could) have won a penalty for being hauled down in the box.

The rest of the lot was almost as good as they are on any other day. Xavi, Abidal and Alves looked completely at ease while Iniesta had a delightful first half. Toure, Marquez and Piquet not only never allowed Drogba to win a Cech long goal kick, they also consistently rid the Chelsea midfield of the ball on the few occasions that the Blues did try and string a move together.

For Chelsea, it was hardly a case of rating one player over the other as they came with a specific purpose as a unit and achieved it as a unit. Still, amidst all the discipline and efficiency, it was difficult not to note the struggle that Essien is having with his passing game. On a positive note, Petr Cech pulled off some great saves and after that penalty save against West Ham, he is looking as assured as a shot stopper as he was at his peak. There’s still some way to go before we can say that about his command of the area, but one hopes that this performance will provide an overall confidence boost to one of those rare goalkeepers who makes his job look very exciting indeed.

A not to forget moment – Frank Lampard getting substituted. That’s a rare one.

To dismiss the game as a non-spectacle would be harsh though it definitely was more interesting than it was exciting. Yet, there were plenty of critical moments which could have changed the score board and turned this into a well-loved 2-2 instead of a boring 0-0. Drogba, Ballack and Eto have been mentioned before but there were also Hleb (who should have done better) and Bojan (who should have scored… period). Defensive mistakes, which have been consistently followed by some superb finishing in the last few weeks, were forgiven time and again and the set-piece boots were all forgotten at home. Piquet found some good passes into the box and on another day Alves would have trapped one and secured a Bergkamp‘esk’ finish. Some days however, are not just for goals.

Chelsea came in with a plan and as far as the result goes, it seems to have worked, if not completely then quite significantly. But I’m sure they’ll realize that their own endeavors had as much to do with the result as the inexplicable loss of form to two of the world’s most dangerous players.

The After Game

As I expected to when I switched off the television set last night, I have woken up to a day where Chelsea have been praised and ridiculed for their approach and where inevitably the talents of Messi on the big stage have been questioned. Also on expected lines, there’s not a word about the penalty kick that Henry may have earned and the fact that for all their talk of superiority, even the best English teams have a single game plan for containing Barca (but they succeed everytime dammit).

As it stands, it is of course a double edged sword for Chelsea. They could hope to face a team of fragile minds next week (especially if Real manage to cause more torment on the weekend) and yet a single Barca goal could do so much more damage at the Bridge than it would have had at Nou Camp. That is why I had expected Chelsea to attack a little more in the second half but it did not happen.

For Barca, apart from the headache of filling in the central defensive gap (created by the injury to Marquez and the suspension of Puyol) will be the challenge of keeping themselves fresh and fit and getting their most important players in the correct state of mind when they reach London. That done, they will always be a team capable of beating anyone anywhere.

Club Cricket in Bangalore: Lessons Learnt over a Working Lunch

2009-04-28T20:07:00.002+05:30

Jupiter Cricket Club

My colleague GT is making a comeback from a nasty ankle injury suffered over a year ago and is back practicing with his club whom he intends to represent again this season. GT the cricketer plays for a club called Jupiter, which fields teams in multiple divisions of the Bangalore club cricket league organized by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

Jupiter has been around for twenty or more years and raises funds by charging its members (the players) a sum of rupees two hundred a month. Assuming a membership of around fifty people that would generate annual revenues of a lakh and twenty thousand rupees. In addition to this, they may receive a cash award from KSCA, if they finish high enough in the divisions that their teams are represented.

The money that the club raises is spent on equipment, logistics and participation fees. Like many other local clubs, Jupiter has minimized the cost for the ground by renting space owned by the local corporation and hence is able to manage sufficiently well within the funds raised. Since a number of players like GT, represent Jupiter more with the objective of staying active in the game rather than graduating to the higher echelons of district/state/national cricket, the objective is well served. Of course, none of the players get paid for their efforts and I suspect all of them would hold some sort of a day job or another.

The Cricketer Career Path

Clubs like Jupiter form one part of the rather intense and broad based local cricket scene. KSCA also organizes school and university level tournaments and has yet another competitive set up for Companies, with many public sector enterprises keeping players on pay rolls to represent them in these tournaments.

There is a degree of inter-play within each of these leagues, with clubs being free to pick players either from the school and university pool or from the pool that represents Companies. For both sets of players, playing for the clubs would probably provide them more exposure as well as competitiveness, though in very rare cases would that be translating into direct financial rewards.

So that establishes a structure where provided you have enough talent and are not horribly unlucky, you could get ample opportunities to get noticed for the bigger stage, while being able to make a living doing what you love best (if that happens to be playing cricket).

Imagine the scenario, a promising school kid gets noticed by a club and is picked up by them to start playing in a division where most of the players are better and more experienced. The youngster’s game improves and when he passes out of school, he lands a job with a prestigious enough public sector company and plays cricket for them. Thus, the young man’s livelihood is ensured while he uses the club league performances to get noticed by state and zonal selectors and then attempts to chart his way into the Ranji, Duleep, IPL or even the Indian team.

I know it does not always work out so simply for all talented cricketers and there are enough holes in the system which sees many players having to drop out of the competitive scene even before they hit their prime. Point is that the basic structure to make the scenario possible exists and maybe that is why this city (and the country) has abundance in numbers and talent with regards to cricket.

Lessons for Others

To explain my point in another way, here’s a question – What percentage of kids representing their school in football, continue to play competitive football at any level at the age of twenty-five? What is the same statistic for cricket?

I don’t have the answers, but my gut feeling is that cricket will outscore football by a fair margin. Therein lies the challenge for football, hockey and any other sport you care to think of. Get enough kids to play the game in school, keep enough of them playing when they are adults and you will get enough raw matter to turn into champions. All other talk of better infrastructure, better coaching, and increased sponsorship is secondary. For me, the problem of Indian sport is the problem of keeping the kid on the field when the kid grows old and that is where cricket has succeeded.

Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League, April 21

2009-04-28T18:57:00.000+05:30

When Liverpool played out that 4-4 draw against Chelsea in the memorable semi-final second leg, many who saw the game hailed it as the best game they had seen in their lives. A few days later, this match presented the same score line and received the same accolades. Personally I found both of the games terribly exciting though I would stop well short of calling either of them classics.

Some memories from the game:

Once again Arsenal took the lead against a clearly superior team (and once again failed to defend it till the end).
At least six out of eight goals were scored because defensive mistakes were made. This should not take anything away from the strikers as in most cases a lot of work had to be done even after the mistakes were made. Arshavin’s second was special!
Apart from scoring the four goals and maybe one more threatening moment, Arsenal were completely outplayed.
Benayoun is a much improved player this latter half of the season.
Liverpool created many great chances but were either cut off by the Arsenal defense or wasted the chance. They could have won this 7-4.
Kuyt was the man of the match for me even though Arshavin scored four goals.
I was not at all surprised to see Arshavin’s class. However, before he scored his first, he had been invisible.

Manchester United v Everton, FA Cup Semi-Final, April 19

2009-04-28T18:33:00.000+05:30

Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson had probably more justification than Arsenal for fielding a weakened team, but even under those circumstances they could have done better than start with Foster, Rafael, Fabio, Welbeck, Macheda and Gibson all at the same time. Surely Nani, Scholes and possibly Berbatov could have been in the mix even with the packed schedule. It’s a Cup semi-final for God’s sake!
Everton refused to take the opportunity to dominate and played with fear. In the end they were lucky to get away with a penalty win.

Chelsea v Arsenal, FA Cup Semi-Final, April 18

2009-04-28T15:59:00.001+05:30

It’s been sometime since the game and a lot has been written about it, so the plan is to keep this short and bulleted:

Wenger didn’t really want to win this. On the bench were Arshavin, Nasri and Song. He does have an abundance of attacking talent but any selection of Diaby over Arshavin or Nasri has to be questioned. In a cup semi-final against Chelsea, one is tempted to start looking for ulterior motives. Not questioning integrity or stuff like that, but WHY???
Malouda has started looking a better player under Hiddink. Not spectacular yet but better.
Arsenal are the one team that I most expect to be leading a game even when they are getting completely outplayed. That they were better than Chelsea when they scored the first goal is not the point. Soon Chelsea were dominant and Arsenal were completely inferior. That Arsenal are often unable to hold on to the lead till the end is also not the point. Not this point at least.
Obi Mikel is quite unlucky not to be starting every game for Chelsea. He was quite good at the job he did. There is a case for putting Mikel in for Ballack and letting Lampard and Essien look after matters up front.
After a bright comeback from injury, Essien looked out-of-form for two straight games. It’s quite a first!
Why is Fabianski taking all the blame for Drogba’s winner? He may not have made the best decisions but Drogba would have been one-on-one with him anyway and would be 95% favorite to score. How about some more focus on Silvestre’s surrender?

Manchester United v Porto, Two Legged Quarter Final, April

2009-04-28T12:48:00.002+05:30

Football is fickle – one day form is your bitch and the next day she is gone. Football is merciless – it guillotines you for the first mistake. Football is a siege – you can prevent your opponent from living a free life. Football is a gentle stream – fluid and adding beauty to the surroundings. Football is a photo album – moments of genius is what you take away with you. Football is happiness – not always… but it was so when the holders met the pretenders from Portugal…not for all of it…but enough to carry the euphoria for some time.

First Leg

There was enough drama, quality, fortune and mistakes on display at Old Trafford but the high point of the game for me was a stretch of play in the second half that may have lasted five minutes or maybe ten or who knows no longer than two. For that period the ball moved gracefully from foot to foot, feet to feet, yard to yard, half to half, right to left, this way and that, one team to the other and just kept moving without being halted. No fouls, no desperately kicking out of play and no thought of deception. Glorious attack after glorious attack was built without a hint of brutality and each attack was rebuffed not by force but through precision and each time was quickly turned into the next attack.

The fact the Porto were the driving force behind this piece of play as well as most of the other great moments that this game provided, served as a reminder that talent is concentrated in the EPL but not limited to it. Till the last whistle was blown Porto dominated the fearsome side that Sir Alex has built and while they did not lead the scoreboard for all of it, they did manage to leave Manchester with enough returns to suggest that their work for the evening was not wasted.

Porto took the lead through Christian Rodriguez but then threw it away when Rooney was sent clear on goal by a perfect pass from one of Porto’s own. Much later in the second half, Tevez came on as a sub and managed to turn a low cross from the right in to give the Red Devils an undeserved lead. But Porto kept hitting back and found a late equalizer to score two huge away goals which meant that Man U would have quite a job to do in Portugal.

Manchester United did have their moments. Even apart from the goals. Helton, the Porto keeper was tested more than once by the likes of Rooney and Vidic and Ronaldo but stood up to the challenge every time. Ferdinand-less Man U struggled to defend properly and apart from Rooney, the forward line did not quite turn up. Ronaldo chose to be lazy and he lost the ball that led to the first Porto goal. Man U played like they expected to win at 80%. Porto were clearly at 100% and you felt that the gap in quality between the leagues of Europe is maybe not quite as large as the results suggest they are.

The final whistle was blown and there was to be a week to prepare for chapter two. However this was one tie where I was not necessarily looking for closure. In one evening I had discovered the flamboyant and almost virginal left back - Cissokho, the unbelievably dominating holding midfielder - Fernando, the fearless and skilful striker - Hulk and the winger with the magnet in his head – Christian Rodriguez. I did not necessarily want a poor second leg performance to ruin my new stars for me, yet the temptation of watching two sets of entertainers would turn out to be too strong to resist.

Second Leg

After a lot of speculation over whether Manchester United would be able to beat history and Porto to become the first English team to win in Portugal, the match that was served to us, turned out to be an anti-climax. While vested interests craved for a preferred result, the world at large would have been happy with a spectacle that matched the first leg.

In the end, the result went the way it always does. Or at least has been doing for the last two to three years with the English team getting the single goal that saw them through to a semi-final against Arsenal. The game itself, secure in inertia for United within the first twenty minutes or so, offered a couple of moments of hope, but largely declared itself a non-dramatic entity once United had scored their goal.

What will be worth remembering from the game is that single goal that eventually separated the victors from the vanquished. Ronaldo found the ball barely into the opposition half and maybe from a corner of his eye noticed a straight line to the corner of the net. He is not my favorite player, but those skills can never be contested and he unleashed a moment that will be a youtube favorite for seasons to come. From forty or maybe more yards out, he swung that right foot and achieved the speed and trajectory that you would expect out of a Tiger Woods drive. Helton was beaten and the net barely survived the impact. One nil to United and just like every other time he has faced intense criticism, Ronaldo responded with a moment that silenced dissenters with a deafening cheer.

After that United just played out the rest of the game without striving for too much glory or allowing Porto to achieve any. The return of Ferdinand at the heart of the defense was a factor, but the truth was the Porto’s stars from the first leg, failed to be shadows of the form they had shown.

There was a moment where Lisandro Lopez twisted and turned and stole the ball from three United players but such moments were rare and never led to significant outcomes. The frontline of Hulk, Lopez and Rodriguez had lost their mojo and even the consistent Raul Meireles neither shot well or passed with efficiency. The only two players to come out with their reputation intact were Cisokho at left back and Fernando as the battling midfielder. Both youngsters will attract attention and there is hope that a lot more will be seen of them in time.

Meanwhile, Manchester United will continue their defense of the European crown against Arsenal and it would be presumptuous to pick one as the more likely winner. Any of the outcomes seems equally likely, but a United win could set them on a path to glory that is unchartered – a successful defense of the Champions League.

Chelsea v Liverpool, Two Legged Quarter Final, April

2009-04-28T12:44:00.001+05:30

First Leg

When Liverpool took the lead within the first few minutes of the kick-off at Anfield, there was little inkling that eleven more would be scored between the two teams over the nearly three hours still left to be played. In years past, that opener from Torres may have been enough for Liverpool to get their ticket for the semi-final, but this season has not been one of known scripts and fittingly there were many many twists in the tale.

Liverpool came off the blocks strong and seemed fluent as their home support warmed up, though they had hardly created so much early pressure to warrant the feeling that a goal was a matter of time. As it was, before the minutes display went into double digits, Arbeloa and Kuyt combined to slip one in for Torres who was dangerously unmarked in the box and once the ball reached his feet, the goal was sealed.

Only after they went behind till Chelsea wake up to the occasion. But wake up they did. Essien as the spoiler, Ballack as the simple passer and Lampard as the creative inspiration began to make the difference visible to the packed Kop and the millions of eyes glued to TV sets. Starting with cutting the supplies out for Gerrard (Essien), to moving the ball into free areas (Ballack) to engineering dangerous attacks (Lampard), Chelsea’s midfield started scripting a comeback.

It would not have taken long for the equalizer to come had Drogba taken his chances but he did not and it was left to backup right back Ivanovic to nod in the crucial away goal (or so we thought) from a corner. The second came in a similar manner and before the night was done, Drogba finally atoned for his previous misses by meeting a cross from the left with immense speed and power and rifling the ball into the net.

It ended 3-1 on the night and it could have been worse for Liverpool. Once Chelsea got into the groove, the Reds looked definitely inferior, thanks in a big way to a missing Mascherano and an off color Xavi Alonso. Gerrard’s imprisonment at the hands of Essien added to many Pool players struggling for inspirational passes choked the fun out of Torres’ game and though he missed one which he should have scored and created another opportunity out of nothing, the marvelous Spaniard failed to have a telling impact on the game.

For Chelsea, Ivanovic was unearthed as a game changer and while his set-piece threat was obvious to note, his pace and strength in defense were also appreciable. Lampard made a couple of stupid defensive decisions but ignore them and he was easily the player who dictated play. Essien nipped Liverpool’s attacking ambitions in the bud, drove forward with fierce power, passed accurately and never gave the ball away. Malouda finally showed himself worthy of an Abramovich shirt but the only disappointment for the Blues was the lackadaisical (yet goal scoring) display by Didier Drogba. He missed chances, made the poorest decisions when he could have created goal scoring chances and showed alarming lack of awareness when off the ball.

Second Leg

With three away goals and the familiar surrounds of London to see off ninety minutes, a suspended John Terry would have been in the mood to hang his boots from the railing and wait for the seemingly inevitable passage to the semi-final at the stroke of the final whistle. At the end of the first half, he would have been desperate to get on the pitch and play his part in a battle to the end.

As it turned out, Liverpool scored four on the night thereby finishing with one away goal more than Chelsea. Chelsea for their part scored four on the night themselves and thus finished with a two goal superiority on aggregate which saw them through to the semi-final. In the ninety minutes where these eight goals were scored, momentum shifted from one camp to another like the swaying of those giant boat shaped joy rides and what the game lacked in defensive quality was more than adequately made up for in terms of entertainment.

Liverpool began strongly just as they had done in the first leg and again before too long they had the first goal. Torres could have had the opener in the first ten minutes but he shot over and it was left to an Aurelio free kick to finally provide the visitors with a life line. This time the pressure had been intense enough and sustained enough for the air of expectation to be heightened and from a long way out, Aurelio embarrassed Cech much in the same way that Ronaldinho had announced himself to the world against David Seaman in the World Cup in Korea and Japan.

Cech had left the near post vacant, prepared to punch out an inviting cross. Aurelio, rated as a brilliant free kick taker on FIFA Manager, chose instead to drive a low ball straight into the unprotected near post on his right and the ball evaded a grasping Petr Cech for the inspirational tonic that Liverpool needed.

A second came a few minutes later through an Alonso penalty and suddenly the Reds were a mere goal away from qualification with almost an hour to go.

It was confounding to see Chelsea’s approach to the game as they discarded the very desire to dominate that had seen them sail through the first leg. They sat too deep and that allowed Mascherano and Alonso all the time in the world to supply their attackers. The injured Gerrard had been replaced by Lucas and though he wasn’t wrecking mayhem, the play was parked in Chelsea’s third for long enough to lead to errors and free kicks in dangerous areas and confusion in the defensive ranks. They did show signs of improvement as the half ended, but one was tempted to think that the Blues’ performance had only one way to go – up.

And up it did go. In fact it went up, up and away with edgy mortals seemingly transformed into super heroes from Krypton in a matter of a half-time dressing down. Anelka, on for Kalou on the right, crossed one from the by line after determinedly holding off the defense and Drogba’s faint touch was enough to cause the ball to deviate off Reina into the goal.

Chelsea then started believing more and began mixing the long balls with strong approach play. Free kick after free kick was won by the Chelsea forwards as their strength and ability to hold on to balls irritated Liverpool and one such free kick after Drogba was fouled, saw Alex score from a bullet that pierced the net from 30 yards out. Then Ballack found space on the edge of the box and as soon as one expected him to shoot, he cleverly played a pass to an unmarked Drogba on the left who cut the ball in for Frank Lampard to easily slot home from a few yards out. It was 3-2 now to Chelsea and could have been worse for Pool, had Ballack not wasted an absolute sitter.

At this stage Chelsea were back to their form from a week ago but the chief protagonist of the night was Drogba, he who had cut such a conflicting figure in Chelsea’s triumph at Anfield. He won every ball played to him, worked hard for the team and was involved in everything that was frightening to Liverpool.

Stung by this reversal, Rafa seemed to throw in the towel with some time to go as Ngog stepped in and Torres stepped out and we will always wonder if Rafa regretted this decision as the final few minutes unfolded. First a wicked deflection saw a Lucas shot land in the back of the net and then a cross was defended poorly to allow Kuyt to head home the goal that put Liverpool one goal away from qualification yet again. With eight minutes to go, the pressure was clearly back again on Chelsea.

There was indeed time for another goal, but the final act of this great entertainer went to the Blue corner as a cross from the right found Lampard through Drogba and Anelka and Chelsea’s most influential player did the job he does so well.

It was madness, it was thrilling, it was unexpected and it was over. For Liverpool, it also ended this year’s European run leaving them with the single prize of the league to aim for. For Chelsea, it ended the period of relative obscurity and they have come roaring back as one of the strongest teams in Europe having left their difficult last days under Scolari way behind. For the rest of us, it begins a long wait for episode six of Chelsea V Liverpool in the Champions League.

Spain v Turkey, World Cup Qualifiers, March 28

2009-03-29T21:11:00.001+05:30

Two of the best teams (indeed one of them the Champions) from Euro 2008 competed in this World Cup qualifier and there was a lot that this game told us about how these teams have progressed (or regressed) since.

Fatih Terim rarely had the luxury of fielding the same squad twice in Euro ’08 and hence the team that played had a touch of familiarity with a face unknown to casual observers thrown into the mix. Mehmet Aurelio, Nihat, Tuncay, Senturk and friends had wowed us all throughout the European showpiece event and they put up a commendable performance against the continental champions in their backyard. In fact, so equal were they in ability and threat to their hosts, that they will be furious that one moment of defensive madness was what led to Spain’s 1-0 win and will be kicking themselves for it.

Both teams lined up in 4-4-2s but how they utilized their personnel had significant differences. Turkey played a more conventional game with Tuncay providing the width on the right and Arda Turan charging down the left. Emre and Aurelio manned the centre of the pitch while Nihat and Sneturk formed the attacking duo. Three of the four in midfield that Spain employed were central midfielders and that is exactly how they played. Xavi, Senna and X Alonso all had a range of passes and were commanding in their roles but were all responsible for relatively small parts of the pitch. Cazorla kept alternating between right and left as the only wide man and Torres and Villa were expected to provide a bundle of goals in front of this strong lineup. A big change for Spain was that their central defensive pairing consisted of Albiol and Piquet and while Marchena had never looked too spectacular for his national team, a personality like Puyol is always going to be missed.

Spain’s win last year was hardly a surprise because not only did they have the best eleven players, but they also had the best functioning team that played with a lot of fluidity and rarely let the opposition trouble them. That was achieved under Luis Aragones, a man imminently difficult to like as much for his personality as for his management skills up until that time. Now, the eminently more affable Del Bosque is in charge who comes across as much more of a winner than Aragones and yet seeing the Spanish team play under him, one was often found to be missing the free flowing Spain of Aragones’ days.

With three players all preferring to stay in deep midfield positions, the fullbacks spent a lot of time pushing forward trying to provide the width. The Turks stayed back in numbers and cut off the long cross field passes made by Alonso, Xavi and Senna and managed to isolate Villa and Torres effectively. In fact, so little threat was posed by the two great strikers that the game was dying for a change in tactics.

Turkey waited patiently to win the ball at the back and then tried to hit on the counter whenever they could. With the Spanish fullbacks spending most of their time upfield, both Arda Turan and Tuncay found enough space to charge forward and bring Nihat and Senturk in the play, often using Emre and Aurelio effectively as link up men. If they were not able to break down the Spanish defense, it was largely down to the fact the Senna and Alonso served as backup defenders for most of the game and the Turkish strikers while being dangerous enough, probably were not in the league to navigate through the obstacles in front of them.

The goal was conceded in the second half in a phase of two minutes of bad defending by the Turks. A long ball played to Torres was held up masterfully by the ace striker and though three defenders tried to take it away from him, he held it long enough to earn a free kick right on the right edge of the opposition box. This was the first lapse that allowed for a set-piece on a dangerous place, but it was pale in comparison to how poor they were in clearing Xavi’s free kick. Xavi floated an inviting ball to the far post and Sergio Ramos was found completely unmarked for a simple tap into goal. Only, Ramos scuffed it and played it right across goal which could potentially have provided two defenders the opportunity to clear the danger. Instead they were both found wanting and the ball reached Piquet who made no mistake with his tap-in (which was quite ferocious for a tap in I must add). Terim was furious and I am sure the players would all be equally disappointed with the effort as after this, though Spain improved with some change in tactics, they did not really come really close to scoring another.

If the championship winning Spanish side had looked good playing in a 4-4-2, they were irresistible when a Villa injury had forced them to go with five in midfield. When Villa was substituted for Mata, the change made Spain more effective. Ramos had been a constant threat on the right but Capdevilla though matching Ramos in energy and ambition had not caused the same amount of trouble to the Turks and hence Mata’s presence on the left added an extra dimension to the Spanish attack. Later David Silva came on for a tiring Cazorla and he provided a similar impetus on the right. Turkey continued to be organized and difficult to break down, but after Silva came on they were pressured enough at the back to find very few chances of going forward.

It ended one nil and Spain managed to sneak it past some very tough opposition. Individually, the players all put in good performances with Sergio Ramos being my man of the match. Though the strikers did not rattle the opposition enough, it is fair to say that a large part of it was down to the good work put in by the entire Turkish team. They will be rightly pleased with the three points and nothing about their results in the qualifiers indicates that they are anywhere lesser than the team that was all conquering last summer. Yet looking at them play last night, it was difficult not to think that something was missing from their armory.

To my mind, the biggest flaw yesterday seemed to be in having not two but three similar players in the middle of the park. Had Xavi been trying to play in the hole behind the strikers, it could have been a different game, but as it was, they seemed to all be playing for the same ball and looking for the same passes ever so often. With Iniesta and Fabregas both being available soon enough for selection, the problem of abundance in that area is only going to grow for Del Bosque. His challenge will be in making hard decisions in keeping some of them on the bench and identifying players who will take some of the load off the full backs as well as be able to get the strikers into play more often.

As for Turkey, they continue to be the team that consistently adds up to more than the some total of its parts. Their performance against Spain confirmed that they are quite capable of rubbing shoulders with the big boys and last year’s run to the semis was not a freak occurring. The goals that Nihat, Senturk and Tuncay score will be critical in ensuring their progress and for the sake of the World Cup, I hope they managed to find those magical strikes again and again and again. They didn’t last night, but maybe if the law of averages means that they miss out on a few games, they picked a good occasion to let it happen.

England v Slovakia, Friendly, March 28

2009-03-29T19:33:00.002+05:30

A lot of the pre-game distractions consisted of debating the merits and demerits of including a rarely training, starting-one-game-a-week Ledley King in the England squad. When the dust settled and Ledley was well home for the friendly against Slovakia, Capello’s England still had a job to do, irrespective of who the individuals gracing the team sheet were. The night ended 4-0 for the hosts at Wembley and while the really serious matter for England has to wait till Wednesday, a number of valuable lessons were learnt that will hold them in good stead when the mood turns to competitive from friendly.

It’s a funny situation to be in, but Capello’s only major selection problems are for positions where he has an abundance of talent, namely the centre of midfield. For all other positions, he either has distinctly superior first choice players (centre backs, left back and one striker) or enough non-exceptional ones who may be switched one for the other depending on fitness, form and strategy (goal, right back, right and left midfield when Joe Cole is not available and the other striker).

The Missing Centre Back

Given Rio’s unavailability and King’s return, Upson came in to support Terry as the second centre back and while the English defense was rarely stretched, it was evident that the Hammer’s defender (or for that matter almost anyone else) will be a backup option only. The real toughie for Capello is to spot and identify at least two potential back-ups who would be able to fill in, in case one or both of his first choice pair are unavailable for competitive games and most importantly for the tournament itself, assuming England get there. Upson is gaining valuable experience but he seems a little slow and prone to being pressured into errors. King can be in the World Cup squad if Rio and John are both fit and available, but if calamity strikes and a player who can start every game has to be identified, then I suspect, Capello’s search is still on.

The Lampard-Gerrard Question

The Lampard-Gerrard question was for once effectively answered in the positive, though I am not sure it has been answered once and for all. Lampard had clear instructions to reign in his attacking instincts to a certain extent and Gerrard though chalked in for the left, was allowed the freedom to roam into the centre like he does for his club. The fact that Rooney does not mind going wide (and deep) allowed this approach to work and the two complemented each other like ballroom dancers for some of that first half. Carrick missed out from the starting eleven but from a team point of view, his and potentially Hargreaves’ availability for the midfield, portents very well for England and Capello. If Capello did achieve anything significant in that first half, it was proving that Lampard and Gerrard could be played together, though I suspect he could have replaced Lampard with Carrick and the game would not have known.

The real point of interest for me would be to see, if Lampard can play the role that Gerrard played effectively enough. Joe Cole is often injured and Downing has good positional sense, but with skills that could be clearly bettered. If Lamaprd can do the job that Gerrard did, then it allows Capello to have better players on the pitch in case Gerrard is unavailable for a game or two. However, that is a question that has not been answered yet and hence, I do not expect to see Capello take that option anytime soon even if an unwanted injury to Gerrard may cry for something more impactful than Downing on that left.

The Target Man and the Striker

Emil Heskey has the role of non-scoring striker in Capello’s plans and though he did score England’s opener, his later miss was enough indication that he can be the target man but rarely the finisher. Heskey is probably the best available option against teams when playing the ball on the ground will not always be the smartest thing to do and England are forced to hoof the ball up, but when the game is easily kept in the opposition third, I would prefer to see someone more clinical. Of course, Carlton Cole or Peter Crouch are not necessarily comparable to some of the greatest finishers in the game, but I would rate both higher than Heskey on that count and I also feel, that the team is begging for Michael Owen’s return to fitness and form. At his best, he will score many against light weight teams and though an opposition like Spain may dictate that Heskey starts ahead of him, against the likes of Slovakia (or even Ukraine) it is the Owen kind of player who is needed more than an ox like worker.

Beckham or the Little Three

The right side of midfield is one that is the most open to interpretation and strong feelings. The great Brian Glanville has been openly critical of Capello for handling Beckham cap after cap in substitute appearances, but for once I am compelled to differ from my favorite football writer’s opinions. Lennon showed pace and the ability to get behind the defense and that is a trait we can expect to see from SWP and Walcott as well. However, all three are miles behind the quality that Beckham brings to crosses and time and again it has been evident that if you need strikers to be set up from the right, then you need David Beckham to be playing there. For a moment assuming that the trio of Walcott, Lennon and SWP are interchangeable based on form and fitness, I would tend to prefer Beckham over the other three as with the current Milan loanee, you can be guaranteed of mayhem being caused in the opposition box through well taken set pieces and precise crosses. With the other three you are guaranteed fancy footwork and lots of speed, but the level of impact can vary significantly from game to game, and selecting them is more of a lottery than the dependable ex-captain.

Rooney at Work

Gerrard’s substitution at half time did allow the Liverpool captain some rest ahead of Wednesday, but personally I was disappointed to miss the opportunity of seeing the Rooney-Gerrard pairing operating from the left, supported by Beckham on the right. Rooney’s own approach to the game changed significantly once Gerrard was gone and he tended to play more down the centre, thereby taking away a very potent threat that England had posed for much of the first half from the left.

Rooney was justifiably the man of the match and apart from his two goals, he contributed significantly by dictating how England played in the opposition third. When Gerrard was around, he looked to link up with Gerrard and either created opportunities for the Liverpool man to get behind the fullbacks, or did so himself while letting Gerrard assume the role of creator. Then, in the second half, he chose to collect the ball in the centre and distribute it to Downing or Beckham, almost choosing which of his support men he wanted to come into play. If there is one complaint that I have with his performance yesterday, it is of his reluctance to pass the ball to Beckham when the right sided midfielder was free and wide and well placed to deliver a precise cross. Very often Rooney chose to go with Downing who was invariably better marked or lacked the tools to do much with those opportunities. On other occasions he looked to bring the play narrow by choosing the ask Beckham to run for the ball in the box, thereby exposing Beckham’s lack of speed.

On Defending

After refusing to be more than obstacles till the very early injury to Heskey, Slovakia got a little more into the game and worked hard to keep possession. When they got the ball they tried to come close to the man in possession and always provide passing options to team mates, but invariably when they reached the business end of the field, they found their passing options cut off. Lacking the pace in their legs, the physical presence of their opponents and the precision in their passing, they invariably handed over the ball to England sooner rather than later and England’s composure out of possession was commendable.

There was no desperation to get the ball back the moment it was lost and nothing stupid was done throughout the game. There was the odd error, but by and large they were always well covered. Against mightier opposition they would need to maybe ensure that even the odd slip here and there (one by Upson when he almost let the ball run free in the box and once after a corner when no one came to close the ball down after a variation was played) is cut out as it could prove costly. However, on the whole, England’s approach to defending and regaining the ball when out of position was admirable and I would not be surprised if they become a very hard team to beat even when playing against the best.

Individuals

Gerrard and Rooney were the highlights of the evening and it was easy to single them out. Having said that, almost every England player was shown in a positive light in what was a great team performance. Lampard was amazing in the manner in which he curbed his game and did the job that was expected of him. Both he and Barry (and later on Carrick) kept distribution simple and made very few errors while using the odd opportunity to make a defense splitting pass perfectly. Lennon, who could have done better in offence, was great when it came to defense and his positioning as well as timing of closing down on the opposition were brilliant and won a number of balls back for England.

Ashley Cole was not devastating but played his part in supporting Gerrard and Rooney. Glen Johnson did not take every opportunity available to him to make forward runs, but he compensated for that with a composed defensive performance and some good balls to his attackers over the opposition. Terry and Upson were largely comfortable and David James was attentive on the few occasions he was required to be. Clearly the goalkeeping question will be preying on Capello’s mind, but till an alternative emerges who is fulfilling Capello’s requirements for selection (i.e. a Ben Foster playing every week?) I suspect he will disregard James’ age and the reputation for calamity and stick with him as first choice.

In spite of missing a sitter after scoring a first where he didn’t know too much about the finish, Heskey had an awesome first fifteen minutes and he was in scoring positions on more occasions in that time, than some others would have been over a full ninety. Cole was comparatively silent over his twenty minutes or so, but the Slovak defense had got a little more organized by the time he came in and though England were always dangerous, Cole really did not get enough of a chance to stamp his authority. Crouch did the job he does and had Terry not off-sided his goal bound effort, his match ratings would have been significantly higher, by the time he limped off with injury as well.

What Next

A lot will depend on the extent of injuries that his strikers suffered on the day, but if even one of them is fit enough to start, I expect exactly the same from Capello and England against Ukraine. I also expect that to be more than sufficient for a win, which may or may not be similar in terms of margin but could be exactly the same in terms of comfort. Of course, my pick would be to have Beckham start on the right but I don’t think that is going to happen.

If the strikers are all out with injuries, then Lampard could play behind lone striker Rooney, like they did for the last few minutes of this one. With Rooney’s natural game taking him to many parts of the field other than the opposition box, Lampard would then have to be on the top of his game in terms of his ability to run into the box as well as dominate in the air against a physically strong Ukrainian side. Also, in this case, maybe a Lennon would be a more definite pick ahead of a Beckham, as quick passing and keeping the ball at the feet in the box may prove more useful then looking for headers.

Another three points would put England very comfortably on the road to qualification and that is the least the Capello’s regime is being expected to deliver. From a longer term perspective, there is clearly room for a better keeper, a truly great striker apart from Rooney and maybe even a far more potent right back. Backup players for all positions apart from the centre of midfield could be an issue and if England do qualify, their fate could depend heavily on how many of their first choice players are able to stay fit.

But that is getting a little ahead of ourselves. For now, the only important game is to be played next week and for once, it is easier to predict an English win than a botch up. What has improved since the McClaren era is that England now play like a sum total of the quality of their players and you would expect them to win every game where they enter with superior personnel. That will not be the case against the likes of Brazil and Spain, but next week, it’s all about being better than Ukraine.

Arsenal v Blackburn, March 14, Premier League

2009-03-24T13:41:00.000+05:30

The Gunners took the lead in the second minute with almost the only piece of beautiful football they played in the entire first half. Bendtner kept possession and then played a great pass which was lacthed on by the speedy Walcott near the by-line and was played in for Arshavin who would have scored had it not been put in by a defender (at least that’s what I think happened and I haven’t bothered to check the facts).

After that it was a horribly boring first half and by half time I was having imaginary conversations in my head where I was arguing with Arsenal fans and telling them that this whole thing about Arsenal playing beautiful free flowing football has been a myth for most of the last season and a half. I still believe in that, though in the second half they did enough to shut me up even in imaginary conversations for the moment.

The big change that Wenger made at half time was to move Nasri to the centre behind the strikers and ask Arshavin to push to the left. With the Russian still very much a threat down the middle as well, Blackburn could not prevent a string of effective passes from the centre of the pitch and Nasri played the Central Advanced Midfielder role to perfection.

It is a joy to see Arshavin on a regular basis and the sight of him cutting in from the left brought a massive smile to my face. In the end it finished four nil to the Gunners and they truly played in the manner that they are reputed for, in that second half.

Causes for concern for them – the fact that Sagna and Clichy are both clearly not at their best. They have been overworked like a dial-up connection streaming porn and it shows in their performances. Also Walcott has failed to improve this season to the level that was expected off him and he is still a bit of a one trick pony. The injury must have made an impact but a large part of what is lacking in his game is in the head and how well he reads the game and I think over the next couple of seasons, it will be clear if he is eventually going to be world class or not.

One big plus for Arsenal that is not being spoken about much is the performance of Almunia in goal. I think he is now amongst the best in the EPL and his decision making is very impressive, especially when it involves anticipating when he needs to step out of the box. I think he is a better central defender away from receiving rave reviews every week.

Now to Blackburn. They didn’t play like a Sam Allardyce team at all and that was stunning. They seemed to have no steel and the most stunning aspect of their game was that they didn’t look to take charge of the midfield. Very often this season, one strong midfielder has been able to dominate Arsenal’s two, but Blackburn never tried to impose themselves in that area. Especially after Nasri moved to the centre they did not know how to react and failed to close down Nasri or Denilson after that.

They have had the reputation of being a dirty team and it was very evident why. Diouf, an Allardyce favorite made a flying tackle on Almunia which could have been very dangerous and deserved a red but got a yellow. It was very ugly and thoroughly unnecessary. Then Pederson, who I have a lot of respect for, took a dive in the Arsenal box which has to rank as one of the worst I have ever seen. Absolutley shocking!

I guess Big Sam will have noticed a number of things and will know that the relegation fight is on. Based on the weekend’s performance, Blackburn are no better than the other teams around them and a lot will depend on how much they are willing to fight to stay in the league because the difference in class is hardly too much when you compare the teams at the bottom.

Chelsea v Manchester City, March 15, Premier League

2009-03-24T13:40:00.001+05:30

Mark Hughes was so good with Blackburn that he was often touted as the natural successor to Sir Alex at United. With Manchester City he’s looked so lost so consistently that I would be not be surprised if he is eased out at the end of the season. Unless he can do something in the UEFA Cup, but more on that later in this post.

This was Chelsea’s game from the beginning till the end. Some of the football they played matched the heights they had reached in the early days of the Scolari reign. Barring Deco, who limped out injured in the first half, every player looked sharp and the team gelled superbly. That they only scored one is from one point of view a mere statistic, but from another a major cause for concern. Which point of view is more justified will be evident in the coming weeks, depending on their ability to start converting more of their chances.

Which calls for a minor correction to the earlier statement where I claimed that all players looked sharp. The strikers did not and while there positional play was great and they were often at the right places at the right time, they didn’t look threatening enough. To be fair, both have them have seen some sort of a revival of form, but I still feel that Anelka needs to show some more leadership while Drogba is a long long way away from his best. For one, his ability to win every ball played to him has waned significantly and the speed with which he used to execute his finishes is at a fraction of what we have seen in the past. What this means is that defenders often find enough time to put themselves in place for a block or get a tackle in.

What I truly enjoyed was Essien’s goal. Nobody raves about Lampard now as they did three seasons ago but the fact is that he has been the heart beat of the Chelsea side this season. He usually tends to disappear a bit between the start of the second half till the sixtieth minute or so and invariably that is when other teams have their best spells against Chelsea. But when he is in the thick of action he is just great with linking up play and creating chances for the wingers as well as his strikers.

Man City’s defense went to sleep for a moment when they left Essien unmarked as Lampard was taking a free kick near the centre circle and Fat Frank saw the opportunity and played a perfect pass to Essien who swung cleverly at the ball to divert the ball into the corner of the net to leave Given stranded. What joy! First Eduardo has made a stunning comeback from injury and now Essien seems to have settled down on the pitch like he was never away. His impact and influence was awesome apart from the goal itself and while I felt sorry to see the very effective Mikel on the bench, he obviously cannot match Essien in terms of sheer ability to control a game.

Michael Ballack has settled down to playing a supporting role in this Chelsea squad and he keeps things simple and focuses on protecting his defense and linking up play. While his contribution is significant, it has taken a little bit of an edge off his game and he looks unlikely to produce moments of brilliance like we used to expect from him in the past. His heading abilities, though not completely vanished, seem a bit blunted but I guess it may be part of the package of his greatness that he goes about doing his job without too many complaints.

It seems futile to comment on City, though the only excuse you can make for them is that they lack quality strikers when Bellamy is missing. Yet they could easily have got one more if they had planned well in January and the fact is that they did indeed significantly bolster their squad. The biggest problem I see with them is that they play ever so often without any determination or motivation and Robinho sort of personifies this attitude. When he’s been brilliant, he’s looked by far the best footballer in this league but those instances have been far too few in recent months. They deserved a spanking but got away with a gentle pull of the ear. Whatever, Hughes must realize internally that the returns he is getting are far from what should be expected from the lineup of players at his disposal and the onus is on him to fix it.

Manchester United v Liverpool, March 14, Premier League

2009-03-24T13:39:00.000+05:30

The final score was 1-4 and Liverpool thrashed Manchester United at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson claimed after the game that Man U were the better team but that has to be a part of some weird media and mind game that he keeps playing. The truth of the matter is that Liverpool were clearly superior on the day and deserved not just the win, but the scoreline as well.

After a Christiano Ronaldo penalty gave them the lead, Man U struggled to create any further chances and Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez struggled to trouble the Liverpool defense throughout. Even after Berba’s introduction late in the game, things didn’t really change for them while Liverpool did exactly what you expect them to. Rafa’s team defended well and took their chances as and when they got them.

Vidic had a horrible afternoon and it was his mistake in defending the long ball that allowed Torres to score Pool’s equalizer. Nine times out of ten, you would expect Vidic to deal with those balls but if there is a striker who would make complete use of any mistakes then it is Torres and he did just that. Gerrard and Torres combined brilliantly for the second goal. Gerrard flicked on a long ball to Torres and made a run into the box. Torres played an inch perfect pass to Gerrard which was just enough for him to reach and just enough to tempt Evra to go in for the tackle which resulted in a penalty that Gerrard duly scored. Then in the second half, when United already looked beaten at 2-1, Vidic made another mistake to lose the ball to Gerrard who would have had a free run on goal had not Vidic then grounded him. Hence a red to Vidic, a free kick to Pool and a great strike from Aurelio to make it 3-1. The 4th again came from a long ball which no Man U player wanted to defend and Dossena chipped it over a stranded Van der Saar to get his second goal in two games (the last being against Real Madrid).

So Man U dropped points, but to say that the title race is now back on again is a little premature. They will need to do so at least a couple more times before mid April while Chelsea and Pool pick up maximum, for there to be any real excitement as we near the finish.

High on Ambition, Low on Thought from AIFF?

2009-03-13T16:35:00.001+05:30

I know it's still after-CL chit chat time, but could not resist this one.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090309/jsp/sports/story_10645795.jsp

In short, the proposal is to take the top 25 Indian players, pay their salaries till 2011 and keep them away from club football, to prepare them for the AFC cup.

Has something like this ever been heard of?

As far as I see, this is too crazy to contemplate.

What happens if after keeping the players isolated for all that time and preparing brilliantly, we have a poor showing and get knocked out with three defeats? Is it a risk worth taking?

Clubs will have moved on by then and if their performance does not attract interest, will there be enough takers to absorb the entire group back into club football?

What if in 2010 a new kid with mega talent emerges? Do you not include him in the group? Do you throw someone out to keep the group limited to 25? Or do you just keep adding to the group and end with 30 players, not all of whom will even make the trip for the Cup?

Personally, while I am excited to see that ambition exists, I cannot get myself to agree that this will work. For one, while the National Coach’s interests may be limited to the National Team only, the AIFF is responsible for the game at all levels in the country and cannot ignore the interests of the Leagues and the Clubs. Second, if the AIFF believes that such a sum of money can be raised, then why not use it for something lasting like good infrastructure development, training of coaches and grass roots level football programs, than for paying the salary of players, an expense that is already being borne by the clubs today.

Sevilla v Almeria, La Liga, March 8

2009-03-09T17:25:00.001+05:30

Way below the suddenly engrossing battle for top spot in Spain, sit Sevilla in third signaling they are again ready to aspire to match the glory days they attained under Juande Ramos’ reign. Surprisingly Manolo Jimenez finds himself under intense pressure to keep his job but that for me is more a reflection of the times than his own or his team’s performance on the pitch.

Sevilla dominated the first half completely and tenth placed Almeria never once threatened the home side’s goal. Sevilla had the lead in the fifth minute, after Kanoute trapped a cross from the left from Romaric and finished efficiently. Later on replays showed that Kanoue had handled the ball but it was too late to change the score by then.

Almeria had a better second half and they threatened a lot more. They fell two behind however, when Kanoute trapped a pass from Capel and set up Renato who managed to steer the ball into the net even though he completely misconnected. He had already missed a sitter before and was fortunate to score on a day when his performance was distinctly average. Fortune though was smiling gently on the entire Sevilla team as it turned out that Kanoute was well offside when the ball was played to him and the second goal should not have been either. Almeria kept pushing on and at least they got a consolation goal through a penalty which was the least they deserved for their second half showing as well as the crushing impact of bad decisions.

Now I come to the part, which had made me eager to write this post since I saw the game.

First, the performance of Romaric, the Ivory Coast strongman. Midfielder with a preference for the left foot who can be found everywhere on the pitch. Tough tacking, hard working and creative. It’s not funny the number of quality midfielders who are out there, and it is stunning to note that none of them is at Arsenal.

Second, Crusat the little known Spaniard playing attacking midfield for Almeria. Made major impact and has the ability to pull his team up. If he ever moves to a bigger club, he could make a name for himself.

Third, Diego Perotti. Twenty year old Argentine forward who switched from left wing to right with ease on debut and seemed very very gifted. Watch out for this guy!

Been a long time since I saw either Barca or Real play ninety minutes but any dose of La Liga is good for the mood and add to that the joy of discovering players you didn’t know about and the weekend seems to have been very productive indeed. One final word, Kanoute plays very much like Anelka and looks a little similar too.

Everton v Middlesbrough, FA Cup, March 8

2009-03-09T17:24:00.000+05:30

If football was like tennis or something then maybe this one would have been a tie. Boro clearly won the first half and Everton the second and no one would have complained. Sadly, no one appointed any judges to score football games and Boro lost this one by the odd goal in three.
There’s not too much to add to that. It was a fun-filled cup game with lots of attacking play.

There were moments of goalkeeping madness at both ends though Boro paid a heavier price as Everton equalized through a goalkeeping blunder and completely took charge of the game after that. And to rub salt into Boro wounds, they scored twice in their period of domination where the visitors managed only one in their supremely commanding first half performace.

The usual suspects looked good for both the teams: Tuncay and Downing for Boro, Fellaini, Cahill, Pienaar for Everton. I think Pienaar is slightly underrated and could be very useful in a top four side, though there does seem to be an obvious lack of vacany in these positions at any of the really big clubs. Maybe that’s why Moyes has managed to keep him and that’s good for him and Everton.

Everton will take on Sir Alex and his boys in the semi-final and I will be rooting for them to win this one. Two non big four winners in two years will be a delightful occurrence in these times. It won’t be easy but you were never going to win this thing without defeating Man U anyway and if Everton do pull that off, they will have put some fear in their opponent hearts come Cup final day in 2009.

Arsenal v Burnely, FA Cup, March 8

2009-03-09T17:23:00.000+05:30

I missed Eduardo’s wonder strike and only saw about the last forty minutes of the game but it was enough to be entertained. I know Eduardo has all the headlines (and deservingly so) but it was hardly the only high point of the game and while I’m disappointed to have missed the first fifty minutes, I was equally thankful for having caught the next forty.

I’ve sometimes gotten irritated listening to people who rave about the ‘beautiful’ game that Arsenal play because frankly over the last eighteen months, glimpses of that beauty have been as rare as a bouncer in the Gunners’ starting line-up. I’m no pundit, but while it is great to pass the ball around slickly between a few players up front, I feel the absence of a sturdy midfield has basically meant a lot lesser of the ball with Arsenal in areas from where you engineer beautiful play. Hence a rare good one two or a smart back heel over a game has been touted of as beautiful play while they have been bull dozed off the centre of the park. Especially after the Cesc injury they have not had anyone capable of consistently making the beautiful passes that really count by freeing up strikers and setting them on their way to goal.

Burnley probably did not pose a similar threat to Arsenal and they prospered. While the front men kept doing the usual things, it was the influence that Diaby and Song and Eboue (after he moved to the middle) had, that made even skeptic me acknowledge that this side was more about fun than frustration. I would love to say that with Walcott and Eduardo already back and Cesc on his way back soon as well, we will see more such performances by Wenger’s boys. However, I am not convinced of that. I think the absence of a muscle man in the centre will continue to hurt them this season, and unlike Burnley, the challenges they face from premier league and Champion’s League season, will not allow them to replicate this fluency week in and week out.

Burnley did their bit to make the game exciting as well. The really cool aspect of Burnley’s play was their confidence with the ball and it was just amazing to see players in England take on the opposition and dribble past obstructions rather than look to hoof a direct ball somewhere. Absolutely delightful! They lacked the final pass and the finish but till Arsenal scored a third through Eboue, they had kept threatening to bring the deficit down to one goal and push their illustrious hosts till the very end.

Fulham v Manchester United, FA Cup, March 7

2009-03-09T17:07:00.000+05:30

Two goals from Tevez and one each from Rooney and Park ji Sung saw United reach the FA Cup semi-final yet again, but 4-0 just does not say it well enough.

Tevez and Rooney started up front and the midfield had Park and Fletcher as the wide players with Anderson supporting Carrick in the middle. Not standard personnel but definitely not unimpressive. However, the performance they put in would put many a great team to shame, including their very own first choice starting eleven (or whatever comes closest to that description).

I’ve been thinking of how to describe the way the Red Devils played and the only word I that comes close to describing it is ‘harmony’. It wasn’t just dominant, attractive and attacking but there was something more. It was as if each team member (in attack) read and understood what the other guy was looking to do and sometimes their passing and movement looked choreographed rather than instinctive and their play was truly a performance rather than a contest.

I have not often been convinced this season that United are anywhere near their peak, but if they keep reproducing this form, all opposition, leave alone Fulham will be swept aside.
Fulham for their part played almost as well as they could. Before the first United goal around the twentieth minute, they had in fact looked the better side. The United defense was often threatened and had multiple shaky moments which with some fortune did not cost them. And yet, it finished 4-0. I think all the Cottagers would have to say about this game is “Wow”.

Bangalore Super Division Again!

2009-03-09T17:04:00.001+05:30

Karnataka Police faced Sports Authority of India as four of us from FC NGV made our way to the KSFA ground opposite the Garuda Mall in Bangalore on a sunny Friday afternoon. Four tickets for four of us was a change from the last time when we were offered two tickets for three people with the remaining twenty bucks going into the pocket of the man behind the counter. There was a slightly bigger crowd than last time and with a couple of female supporters thrown in, the place had a more vibrant feel to it.

The game was far superior to the first one we saw and it was a case of the organization of SAI against the flair of the cops. For most of the first half, SAI had ten men behind the ball and while they were prepared to face a lot of pressure, they never allowed the opposition any opportunity on goal. The policemen passed the ball well and varied their attacks from the centre and the flanks. They were clearly superior in terms of skill but there was enough evidence in the first few minutes that SAI would be difficult to break down.

The outstanding feature of SAI’s game was that whenever they did get possession, they knew how to keep it and while they seemed to lack pace and presence up front, they provided hints of the damage they could cause. The coppers kept the attacks up and in their number 10 they had an experienced attacking midfielder playing just behind the two strikers who was dictating play and trying to set his strikers free whenever he had the chance.

SAI scored the first goal against the run of play late in the first half when a couple of good passes allowed them to cross the ball from the right and a hard working SAI winger (who kept switching sides) was there to head the ball efficiently in. Incidentally the scorer happened to be someone who Anshu has played weekend football with, and it inevitably led to ‘loser’ jibes being directed at Anshu.

We expected the second half to be the same as the first and it started off pretty much in the same vein. The copper’s number ten was less involved and hence if anything, SAI seemed more comfortable in their defensive third. Then all of a sudden a Police player received a second horribly soft yellow card and had to leave the field. It seemed as if the world had turned against the police.

But just like we’ve seen Arsenal do at times recently, the side with the man down turned on the heat after their unjustly received punishment. Not for a moment did SAI’s numerical advantage become apparent over the half an hour or more that they had one. They had to defend wave after wave of attack and seemed vulnerable to crosses with yet another goalkeeper at this level found waving arms wildly every time a high ball came in the box. Yet this same goalkeeper also pulled off a stunning save to keep his side’s lead intact.

By the eightieth minute or so, it seemed unfair that the cops might have to go home without points. Their superiority did however pay off with an equalizer about five minutes from time. I can’t remember the goal at the moment but it had been coming. Not only was the attacking relentless, a number of SAI players had completely run out of steam and were hardly making any contribution on the pitch. Example, the SAI number ten who would not move five feet to receive a pass.

His counterpart on the other team was in a completely different mood all together. After a phase of disappearance from the game, he came into his own again and made a number of attempts to lob the ball behind defenders for his strikers to run into though none proved useful.
The assistant referee held up the sign for two minutes of injury time and as the ball rolled out for a SAI throw-in as the two minutes winded down, we prepared to leave. A foul throw meant that possession changed hands and it the throw reached Cop number ten around ten yards outside the SAI area. A quick look up, a lobbed shot that found the perfect spot in the net to sail into, a pumped fist and the match had been won with the last kick of the match. Simply stunning!
So ended another delightful outing. Hope to catch some more action and a few more teams. Hopefully HAL next.

Two games from the stands is very little experience to pass judgment on the state of football in Karnataka. Speed, stamina and skills all seem to be woefully below any level that the EPL fed spectator is used to. The mission should of course be to discover the story behind the performances and understand the factors that have led to the creation of existing standards. I won’t be surprised if many of the players hardly ever practice with the teams they represent. How these clubs exist, what is their role in player development and access to talent pool etc. are all mysteries which I hope to some day uncover. For the moment I’m looking forward to the next chance to support my local league.

Inter Milan v Manchester United, 24 February, Champions League

2009-02-25T16:17:00.001+05:30

I remember a press conference from Mourinho’s time at Chelsea after a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. Quoting from memory, he said, “It was a very easy game to comment upon. In the first half, Manchester United play well, they score a goal. In the second half we play well, we score a goal.” I had been expecting the CL clash between his Inter and Manchester United to follow the same script and it did. Though someone erased the part about the goals.

The Red Devils lined up in a 4-4-2 (or maybe a 4-4-1-1) and thankfully for them, injury scares Evans and O’Shea managed to start. O’Shea underlining his versatility by now taking up the right back role. A central midfield of Carrick and Fletcher with Ronaldo on the right was the option that Sir Alex chose to go with and it was also little surprise to see Park Ji Sung in the starting eleven, given the responsibility of the left side of the midfield. Park is an amazing battler and has tons of energy and it’s not uncommon to find him engaged in a defensive battle one second and popping up in the box the next. Sir Alex tends to give him a start whenever attacking threat from the flanks has to be nullified and in Maicon, Inter had a potentially dangerous attack minded right back. The big surprise of the evening was Giggs playing the supporting striker role to Berbatov and while Giggs has been immense at times this season, most of those performances have come from the centre of the park.

Inter lined up with a midfield diamond, which was a formation that Mourinho had used rather reluctantly at Chelsea when it seemed he was being forced to pair Sheva up front with Drogba. At Inter, this has been his preferred approach and has obviously paid dividends. Inter’s own central defence was impaired by the loss of the likes of Walter Samuel and Burdisso and so we had an inexperienced Rivas pairing up in central defense with Chivu. Maicon and the young Davide Santon lined up as right and left fullbacks respectively. The diamond had Cambiasso at the base and Stankovic at the apex with Zanetti and Muntari as the right and left midfield points. Up front were Ibra and Adriano, two absolute bulls of strikers.

That Manchester United completely outplayed Inter in the first half is an understatement. The narrow Inter midfield allowed space for Evra and O’Shea to charge forward and link up with Park and Ronaldo but that was to be expected. What was not a result of the tactics was the absolute submission of the ball in the centre of the park by Inter, where they had numerical superiority. Both Fletcher and Carrick not only saw a lot of the ball but were also able to create play without too much protest. Having said that Carrick was brilliant at times and this is coming from someone who almost always feels that Carrick is overrated. The pass that freed Giggs up for a shot on the goal was a beauty and it would be delightful to see him make them more consistently.

Ronaldo was enjoying himself and on many occasions could have scored had it not been for some great work by Júlio César in goal and some narrow misses. Inter’s defence was stretched at the best of times and looked completely disjointed more than once. Rivas especially looked completely out of place and if they had allowed Ronaldo any more free headers, they may as well have started scoring own goals. But for all that Manchester United failed to score and they must have been fuming at half time for not having made their superiority count.

Having said that, I was not at all surprised to see Inter turn it around in the second half. Mourinho’s teams have often played two halves as differently as pink and blue and the Inter that came out for the second half was a completely different opposition to deal with than in the first. Rivas made way for Cordoba and that did improve the confidence at the back but the major change for Inter was in the midfield.

Cambiasso, Zanetti and especially Muntari improved in leaps and bounds and began looking to win the balls for the first time in the game. Within minutes of the restart they had threatened the Man U goal more than once and had come close to getting a penalty which some referees may have been kind enough to award. Cambiasso made a great impact all over the pitch and suddenly the front three started seeing a lot more of the ball.

In Ibra and Adriano, Mourinho has two Drogba clones in terms of strength and the ability to hold a ball. Ibrahimovic was hard working and showed why he is rated so highly by being able to hold possession in dangerous positions under any amount of pressure. Adriano was the striker always around in a useful position to finish anything that looked like half a hance. Trouble was that barring his positioning, he had little else going for him and he managed to embarrass himself multiple times when in a good position to score.

While the second half belonged to Inter, Man U were nowhere as marginal to the proceedings as Inter were in the first half. They did have their good moments but the swagger and the spark had diminished to the point of disappearance. With Inter contesting the balls much more than before, possession in midfield became difficult to come by and with time the fluency in passing was gone which meant that possession was lost far more easily than before. Under such circumstances it was a little surprising to see Wayne Rooney come in only as the game entered into its last twenty minutes but Sir Alex must have had his reasons and it is never wise to question his tactics.

It ended goalless and much like that Chelsea-Manchester United encounter, was an easy match to comment upon. Funnily, while I expected Inter to raise their game in the second half, I also had the feeling that they would not be too desperate for a goal. Mourinho likes to let his CL games be decided in the second leg (sometimes with disastrous results) and I felt that the second half Inter performance was more of a show of strength than a goal scoring endeavor.

And so it goes into the second leg with all outcomes still possible. Manchester United will take heart from the fact that Vidic will be back, Rooney will be available for ninety minutes and the Old Trafford crowd will make life very difficult for Inter. Also while the defensive problems for Inter may be sorted out for the next leg, Stankovic is probably not the greatest player at the top of the diamond anymore and that will make life easier for the hosts. He can still be explosive at times, but I think Ferguson will be happy with the fact that Inter didn’t land Lampard in the summer.

Inter, will know that one goal may mean the world to this tie and I expect their focus to be completely on defence till they find the opportune moment to strike. They may have been outplayed for large parts at home by the same opposition but I do not think that would have created any fear in Jose’s side.

It will again be tight and tactical but being one who rather enjoys such matches, I am already looking forward to leg two. The result I think will be determined by the form of the Inter strikers on the night. Manchester United will get many chances and will probably score. Inter on the other hand will soak up a lot of pressure and create few chances. How they take them will decide who goes through.

We Were There!

2009-02-20T17:36:00.001+05:30

Yesterday, I had a first-time experience. Most of my sports viewing has happened on the idiot box and the internet, mobile, print and radio are strong support media in my sports experience which really leaves one viewership/audience channel that is relatively unexplored and that has to be on-ground presence. Wherever else you may witness sports, there is no denying the fact that watching people play in front of you is a completely different experience all together.

Going with dad to the lovely Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur to watch a domestic cricket match is my first memory of watching live organized sports. Over the years, I have been to the occasional international cricket match at the Keenan and at Kotla in Delhi, a trip to scenic Alleppey for the Nehru Trophy boat race was another divine experience and more recently I have had the privilege to watch football games at the Parc du Princes in Paris, Emirates Stadium in London and the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. But it was not until yesterday, that I had my first experience of club level football in India and what a delightful feeling it was.

The Bangalore Super League kicked off yesterday and Anshu and I had discussed the idea of catching some games this season. So when Anshu called late afternoon proposing that we catch the season opener, there was not much thinking to do.

Kickoff time was at 4:00 in the evening and the venue was the KSFA ground which is located near the heart of Bangalore. Vohra and I had been there once, when our wives were shopping in a mall opposite the ground and I vaguely remember that a game was about to start or had just finished. What I do remember is that we never did see any action that day but that the stadium looked decent and the fact that it had one covered stand and fairly decent seating on three sides was impressive.

And so Tullu and I reached the ground around five minutes late and Anshu was waiting for us having already bought the tickets. Tickets came in two denominations of Rs. 5/- and Rs. 20/- and we had tickets for the privileged gallery. Funnily, the man behind the counter only gave Anshu two tickets insisting that it would not be a problem for us to enter the ground, obviously pocketing the twenty on the third ticket. Scams in Indian football could hardly be expected to be of a bigger scale!

Anyway, so our two tickets did turn out to be sufficient to let three of us enter and we reached the seating area to see the last few minutes of a lower division league game, where Anshu noticed a couple of his friends playing.

The KSFA ground is quite satisfactory as a venue to host games at this level and it’s three stands should comfortably hold a couple of thousand spectators if ever so many turned up to watch local football. There were about 150 to 200 people present with everyone sitting on one side of the ground and a few plastic chairs probably differentiated the twenty rupee seating from the five rupee seating. Anyway, nobody was checking or bothered. The audience consisted of youngsters and a handful of veterans who may have been ex-players or KSFA members or something similar. A set of four occupied chairs and a table roughly in the center of the seating area was marked “Press” and four journalists sat there waiting to scribble the proceedings in their small notebooks. The pitch looked green and welcoming and though the grass felt a little heavy and unevenly cut, I have seen enough worse quality pitches in Indian football games on TV to be disappointed. It will be interesting to see how the ground holds up as a frenzy of matches takes place over the next couple of months.

All preliminaries done and we headed for the Super League kick-off and the score board kept at one lonely corner of the ground told us for the first time exactly who is it that we had gone to see play. ASC versus BHEL was the verdict of the score board. A club representing the Army and one a public sector engineering company! And then out stepped the teams – one in Orange and one in Yellow but for a while it was difficult to say who was who. That was until the ASC goalkeeper’s jersey thankfully gave away the secret that the men in Orange were ASC and ergo, the Yellow team were BHEL.

The teams lined up and pictures were taken and a group of veterans were felicitated. Microphone announcements in Kannada indicated that they had represented India in the 1956 Olympics, though my knowledge of Kannada and the quality of the loudspeaker (as well as the speaker) may mean that I might be mistaken. While all this happened, Anshu chose to support ASC, I decided to back BHEL and together we decided that Tullu should cheer for the referee.
ASC looked smarter as a team, thanks partially to their tall and very athletic looking and smartly attired goalkeeper. They also looked to be significantly more experienced with the BHEL team consisting of a number of players who were almost pre-puberty. The ASC line up also looked more cosmopolitan than their public sector counterparts, whose team seemed to consist almost entirely of local boys.

And then they kicked off. Around fifteen minutes after the scheduled time but nobody seemed to mind that, us included. The first couple of minutes were tentative for both sides but ASC quickly got into the groove and the tone of play was set early. The ASC right back carried the ball forward and played it to number 18 who was the right midfielder in ASC’s 4-4-2 and the wide man crossed the ball into the box. This process was repeated over and over again with a few similar moves from the left being the only variation.

Every cross that sailed into the BHEL box, so their keeper flaying arms and their defenders completely losing track of the ball and yet ASC could not find the net. Within the first twenty five minutes they had missed 5-6 sitters and had hit the post twice or thrice. The chief culprit for ASC was one of their strikers, a short fellow from the north east who clearly had never learnt of the term “finish”.

The words horrendous and hilarious come to mind while trying to describe the spectacle. BHEL were pathetic! They couldn’t kick, pass, defend or hold possession. Their goalkeeper would wave to the skies on every cross and they simply seemed to have no idea of what to do. He also walked funny, but that I noticed much later.

ASC were playing well and they had a clear strategy to attack from the flanks and put crosses in and they had a clearly identified creative force in their number eighteen. They seemed to be superior and accomplished but in front of goal they turned out to be entertaining rather than clinical.

After a number of mis-kicks and blunder-heads, they did suddenly have a very decent shot on goal, but the BHEL goalkeeper who had looked a no-hoper till then, suddenly pulled off a spectacular save.

The drama went on till about the thirty minute mark, when finally true to the spirit of the
encounter, a goal that led to much laughter in the stands was conceded by BHEL. One of their desperate clearance attempts after yet another mis-kicked effort on goal by ASC, rebounded off an attacker and the ball cannoned back into the goal. In a way, it ended the misery for BHEL who were almost looking embarrassed at not having conceded till then.

And from then on the goals kept coming for ASC. Three came in the first half, including one for the short mis-firing striker, which really was the most spectacular piece of play for the evening. He collected the ball, turned, beat the challenge of two defenders and shot from the edge of the box into the corner of the goal for the “play of the day” moment. Meanwhile the second goal had been equally comic with the BHEl defense setting up a finish for ASC by meekly playing the ball to them when they were under almost no pressure.

Three nil at half-time and it finished five nil after ninety. After the break ASC changed tactics and played a lot more through the middle. That allowed us to get a glimpse of their number 7, who looked like a very decent midfielder. Towards the end they relaxed a bit and let BHEL put some passes together, but for whatever little possession, they had, BHEL never came close to scoring.

So the game was done and we got back to the world outside, with strong commitments to be back soon enough. HAL is playing next week and that is a game I would definitely like to watch.

The fun and games were not just restricted to football. Anshu managed to get an offer to play for a lower division club. We suggested that he should charge 25,000 pounds a week and Anshu suggested that the guy who approached him may not have seen 25,000 rupees in his life. Then there was the only ball-boy for the game. A twelve-ish year old who would disappear for long times and then magically appear to change the scoreboard after every goal. And who was found sitting comfortably in the stands well after the second half kicked off.

So that was my first experience of league football in India. Not really top-level even by Indian standards, but these are the foundations on which are 150th rank is built. It is pitiful yet entertaining. The characters involved are few but colorful and I’m happy to finally be a small part of it. Will get back with more on the Bangalore Super League later and will remember to carry a camera next time so that I can also post some pictures.

West Ham v Manchester United, February 8, Premier League

2009-02-09T17:03:00.001+05:30

It’s getting very repetitive writing about Manchester United. Not so about West Ham who have truly struck it rich with an ex-player Manager, which Blackburn and Pompey have so spectacularly not done, but as far as the Red Devils are concerned, every match report seems just like the other.

So first a bit about West Ham. A team with no real stars punching above their weight because they are playing so well as a team. In fact had Carlton Cole taken the one chance that was there for the taking, it would have meant a lot of sweat for United and it would have confirmed the rise and rise of the only under-achieving English Cole. For most of the game they matched Manchester United step for step and had it not been for the mandatory United moment of brilliance, they would have come out of this one with at least a point and many spoonfuls of added confidence.

Noble, Parker and Upson really caught the eye, though there was no player who looked out of depth and that should ensure that this slight hiccup doesn’t really derail West Ham’s impressive run. For a large part of the first half they made it really difficult for Manchester United to keep the ball. If there was one aspect of their game that I felt could prove dangerous, it was their willingness to allow United players space till they got very close to the box.

Sure enough they paid for it and United did indeed get their goal. That they let a very talented player run unchecked into the box was their folly. That no amount of stopping may have prevented this guy from scoring is another matter altogether. Ryan Giggs! Every time you say the name, the sound of it will delight you and to see the veteran get his first goal of the season for yet another season, surely ranked up with one of the magic moments of this campaign.

So I will resist going into the repetitive stories of winning ugly, of another clean sheet, of having the mentality, of not firing on all cylinders and sign off reliving fondly those few seconds after Scholes sent the ball out wide to Giggs.

Tottenham v Arsenal, February 8, Premier League

2009-02-09T17:01:00.001+05:30

Harry Redknapp and Spurs should want to shoot themselves for not ending their winless run in the league against the Gunners in this one and Arsene Wenger and the Gunners should accept that not only are they not playing winning football, they are also not playing beautiful football at the moment.

Spurs not winning was really all about not being able to find the net because for most of the game they were clearly superior – both in terms of their display as well as in numbers. They also had a decent dose of luck when Eboue’s goal was not given, though to be fair to them the whistle was heard before the ball went in and one could always argue about the goal being prevented had the ref’s call not been heard.

The Spurs line-up looked a little centre-heavy to me with no natural left-sided player. That job was given to Modric, who while not always providing lots of width, did benefit from this change because it allowed him to get into play more up-field and make contributions where they are really useful. His impact was clear and he had some great moments, especially one where he found SWP on the edge of the box with a perfect ball only for the speedy winger to let the chance go by. On another occasion, Modric found himself clear and had it not been for a heavy first touch, he may have had a good shot on goal. His worst moment though came towards the end when he shot wide in an almost three-against-one situation. Yet, it was encouraging to see him so involved and he is the sort of player who will be a threat anywhere close to the opposition box, so I would be delighted if Harry continues with this ploy.

The real star for Spurs, especially in the first half was Palacios. The number of times he took the ball off Arsenal was amazing and he also had the energy to get forward and even threaten Almunia. It is clear why he came to Harry so heavily recommended and if Steve Bruce can find a replacement as good, then he too will be snapped up in the summer.

Other thoughts for Spurs, Pavyluchenko is tuning out to be a little bit of a waste because I really liked his look in Austria-Switzerland and though I would have expected him to miss many, his strength seemed to be in getting into scoring positions often enough to finally make them count. Right now, he seems to be just missing the odd chances he gets. And very honestly, I would prefer if someone like Bentley or Bale played left, Modric played in the hole behind Keane or Bent. While both the strikers are different, I think both could work with Modric, who could be amazing on the edge of the area.

Then to Arsenal. True to form, Wenger has gone on to complain about the goal that wasn’t given but he would also do well to see why his team is not banging more of them in. Palacios alone was worth twice more than Denilson and Song put together and one wonders why the Red side of London didn’t look at him as a transfer option. Even Clichy and Sagna are increasingly finding it difficult to keep possession and Adebayor has made friends with Drogba and Anelka. Take away Van Persie and to some extent Nasri and there was very little positive for a large part of that Gunner performance.

What about Eboue? I had expected big things from him this season and finding a settled spot, he seemed to be on the road to gradual improvement. Till his ejection for a second stupid yellow card, he looked sensational. He was involved wide right, wide left, centrally, was found defending and attacking and got the goal that wasn’t. But what use in the end? Such stupidity on your best day is laughable and it is evident why he does not endear himself even to his own fans.

Portsmouth v Liverpool, February 7, Premier League

2009-02-09T17:00:00.001+05:30

Vilified over the Robbie Keane saga and troubled more by the injury to Gerrard than his own gall bladder stones, Rafa Benitez responded in the manner which only he can. Even God dares not predict what Rafa will do with a team sheet and definitely the long list of defenders was not really the expected response to a shortage of strike force situation. But that’s what he did and out came a 3-5-2-1 which was also a 5-2-3 and a 3-4-3 and many other combinations as the game progressed. But the real puzzler was seeing the pubescent Ngog lead the line with not only the fitness question-marked Torres, but even the ever favorite Kuyt only making the bench.

I will not go into analyzing the formation and how it suited the team but what I will get into is the genius of unleashing Torres for the business end of the game. I read somewhere that this is the safest way to keep Torres fit for the rest of the season and if fifteen minutes is all El Nino needs to score, then what a masterstroke it turns out to be.

The drama had started unfolding much before Torres’ winner though. With so many defenders on the pitch, Pool still managed to go behind and though they were soon level, when Portsmouth made it 2-1, Tony Adams would have believed that this time their luck was changing. But every minute has been a minute too many on the pitch for Adam’s Pompey and sure enough they gifted the equalizer on a platter.

Will Sylvian Distin have a telling impact on which side are crowned Champions? Only time will tell, but it was a blunder that stank of ill fate (apart from the usual confidence mumbo) and when Durk “not the greatest finisher” Kuyt took the chance from a very difficult angle, a Pool victory felt a more likely outcome than a draw, even with only some kick-about time remaining.
And then stepped up Torres, again. Like he did against Chelsea. Manchester United have been the masters in getting ‘THAT’ goal throughout this season and that has seen them go to the very top, but Liverpool are now showing refreshing doses of that ability. For after great discussions have been done about a team’s technique, style, depth and all surrounding factors, it is the ability to get those winners that makes Champions.

Quite often I have felt that this particular trait resides with teams as a whole and not individuals in particular, though some individuals manifest the trait more than others in the team. In other words, on the odd days when a Gerrard or a Ronaldo does not turn up a hero, a Vidic or a Kuyt or a Milner steps up and does the job. And till Pool can match United step for step on this one team-trait, they will be in with a chance, no matter how deficient their squad is, how constrained their game is or how puzzling their team sheet is.

Chelsea v Hull City, February 7, Premier League

2009-02-09T16:58:00.002+05:30

The first twenty five minutes or so were Chelsea at their best. Free flowing, attacking, getting into good positions and looking like they’d score any minute. Which was expected because statistics showed us that it was the best attack against the worst defence. Other statistics also showed us however, that Chelsea are on a bit of a struggle and are finding goals difficult to score. Of course, numbers didn’t paint Hull in the best of lights on recent form either, but who said they tell us everything.

This was in essence a clash between a lack of confidence against a lack of confidence. True Hull had a mini-turnaround against the Baggies but their season starting swagger is a distant memory and even on an off day and burdened with their recent history Chelsea would have been expected to win.

And so it began. Frank Lampard was the chief orchestrator, bringing Kalou and the debutante Queresma into play and making some unbelievable passes in the process. Queresma looked lively and was seeing a lot of the ball but eventually very little reached Anelka or troubled the man in the post. And then it petered out. Lampard went off the boil a bit and then the shortcomings became painfully obvious all over again.

Barring Lampard, there is very little creativity in the team and Ballack looks less influential than lowest paid staff in a government office. Kalou alternates good moments with bad (and adds some atrocious moments to the mix once in a while) and the bench is more like a lottery than an assured Plan B. Mikel is good to do a decent job but he is not one to change matches. How Chelsea could have done with a fit Michael Essien and to a lesser extent Joe Cole just now. Bosingwa is not landing his crosses anymore and Ashley Cole is better than before but hardly world class as an attacking fullback on current form.

The biggest loss is up front though. How two strikers capable of scoring fifty goals a season between them can look so benign and threatless is a mystery for which Scolari and the coaching cum support staff have to answer.

And we have been waiting for it to be answered more or less from the day when Drogba made his comeback from injury. Obviously we are still waiting and in the meantime with every passing game, it becomes a game too late for Chelsea. A few weeks ago, Chelsea could have been champions by turning their own form around. Now they have to do that and hope for the others to slip up. Soon even a combination of the two may not be sufficient. Will Scolari have to win in Europe to get another season?

Manchester City v Middlesbrough, February 7, Premier League

2009-02-09T16:55:00.001+05:30

Mark Hughes made his name as manager by making his erstwhile Blackburn Rovers team the best in the business at snapping and snarling accompanied by a constant supply of over-performing or under-appreciated strikers. Such was his impact with Rovers that not long ago he was touted as the man who would step into the shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson whenever the time comes.

To that end Man City is the perfect challenge for Mark Hughes. Responsibility to build a team challenging for the crown in a couple of seasons with the resources to get the best of players. While it is too early to pass judgment on his tenure at Man City, it can be fair to classify it as a non-fairytale baptism into the really big league for Sparky. With one super star and some battlers to make an impact in the first half of the season, Hughes and City fell short of expectations and showed no consistency and very often little steel.

But now that the transfer window is done and dusted and City have come out of it with flying colors, the circus surrounding the failed bid for Kaka notwithstanding, the pressure is truly on to make a surge up the tale and make it to one of the UEFA cup spots. A home game against struggling Boro was the perfect occasion to parade his new boys and to my mind, it turned out to be a little bit of a letdown.

Shay Given and Craig Bellamy had a direct impact on the result and Bridge and de Jong made involved contributions as the new foursome did their thing all together for the first time. And a one-nil result, though not scintillating would be fairly acceptable for all involved with City. But if this performance is going to be repeated, City will find it difficult to put any winning or undefeated streak together. It was uninspiring, unambitious and rather fortunate.

For starters, they seemed to be playing three men in deep midfield – Ireland, de Jong and Zabaleta. Ireland did get forward frequently, but he was often enough way too deep than was really needed against a Boro side that only got dangerous in sudden flashes. For that matter even two deep lying midfielders would have seemed cautious. Hughes could easily have had Zabaleta on the bench and an Elano or a Benjani or a Caicedo lying behind Bellamy. So that left a usually understaffed attacking unit who frequently ran out of ideas when they neared the box and were reduced to looking cute and passing pretty till they lost possession. Credit to Bellamy though, for getting the goal and his form is going to be critical for City.

Near their own flag, the dropping of Dunne had little impact, because they made as many mistakes as they have in any of their recent games. With de Jong in, Kompany will have to re-learn being a central defender soon enough or Hughes will soon start having to answer for not buying someone in that position as well. It was only a great debut performance by Shay Given and some second grade finishing attempts by Alfonso Alves that helped them keep a clean sheet.
Gareth Southgate on the other hand has a completely different set of problems. Every point is a point earned for his team and they did the job 99% of the time. Their goalkeeper was brilliant and had their striker shown anywhere near that form, Boro could have at least drawn this one.

Then again, the point would have come if almost the only momentary lapse of concentration in defence, not been so severely punished. It will not be easy for Boro, but I think they will have to start seeking the points more aggressively rather than chasing them in desperate situations. Getting Tuncay at his best and starting is going to be critical and apart from discipline and courage, they are soon going to need inspiration and finishing.

After Transfer Talk

2009-02-06T20:31:00.002+05:30

The beginning of February means different things to different people ranging from the beginning of the end of winter to the season of ‘Love’. To me it signals the end of the transfer window and though the moment came after some delay this year, it is something I look forward to as assessing madness is a uniquely fascinating exercise. So after the poor weather and confusion over Arshavin has subsided, I sit to take stock of what I said and what they did.

It was a cliché filled window with the now predictable crazy money bid, a superstar caught between staying and leaving, players dropping hints, managers using the press, the press using managers, small clubs suffering and other well known lots and sub-plots developing to their frenzied conclusions come February and I must say that I enjoyed it. There has been talk of the winter transfer window being shelved but I’ll confess that I am a slave to the entertainment and if any alternative is not equally gripping then spare me the change.

Arsenal

Players I wanted in:

Holding midfielder: Sergei Semak or Marcos Senna
Versatile forward: Andrei Arshavin
Left Back: John Arne Riise

Players I wanted out:

None

Actual Players in:

Versatile forward: Andrei Arshavin

Actual Players Out:

Number of reserves sent out on loan

Honestly, I only named Arshavin when I made my wish list because he was already heavily linked and I think he will add real value to Arsenal. But he would have been lowest on my priority list and ergo, I am not Wenger. The www is filled with Gooners voicing their dissatisfaction over the entire package and one can empathize. However, if for a moment we wore the Prof’s football-philosophy hat, we would be forced to raise it to a man who insists he can build a team of only creative players and prefers skills over steel. Trouble is, if his brand does not bring the expected results, he may end up being remembered more as Portnoy than Professor – prioritizing hard-ons over hard facts.

Manchester United

Players I wanted in:

Goalkeeper: Igor Akinfeev

Players I wanted out:

None

Actual Players in:

Attacking Midfielder: Adem Ljajić (joining Jan ’10, Age 17)
Left Winger: Zoran Tošić
Versatile Defender: Ritchie de Laet

Actual Players Out:

Number of reserves sent out on loan

First some dung on my face for suggesting that Van der Saar could be bettered. As it stands he is still in the middle of a record battering run of clean sheets and the thought of another number one for United is laughable for some time at least.

Now to the new comers. First look at them and it is obvious that Sir Alex agrees with my assessment that his current squad needs no bettering but that’s no plus points to me…the world and their uncles all can see that. Three youngsters aged 17, 21 and 20 of Serbian and Belgian descent are in and while they may not all turn out to be Ronaldo, they very well could. While only time will tell whether this winter move will be as course defining as the non-descript captures of Evra and Vidic a few winters ago, something tells me that we may get to know these boys very well in the next few years.

Chelsea

Players I wanted in:

Right Midfielder: Schweinsteiger, Kaziim Richards or Valencia
Left Back: Fabio Gross
Left Forward: Podolski

Players I wanted out:

Paulo Ferreira and Florent Malouda

Actual Players in:

Attacking Midfielder: Gökhan Töre
Left Winger: Ricardo Quaresma

Actual Players Out:

Wayne Bridge and Carlo Cudicini
Number of reserves sent out on loan or sold

For beleaguered Chelsea, I think this has been a winter of mediocrity in management, in attack, in defense and in transfers. Gökhan Töre is a seventeen year youngster and obviously a Frank Arnesen capture, but given the black-hole that Chelsea has been for bright teenaged talent, I will not be as optimistic for him as I was for the Serbians at Manchester United.

The real gamble is Ric Q. Someone who has proven abilities of playing explosive football could not bring out his best in the company of a very accomplished motivator and I find it strange that Chelsea picked someone to give them that much needed width, who is being certified as mentally not up-to-it by Jose himself. Add to that the increased lack of cover at left back and goal and the win-machine now look more lop-sided than at the beginning of January.

Of course, at the moment it seems that any player could start looking ordinary in a Blues jersey and with bigger issues to address, the transfer period would have been a distraction rather than an opportunity for Chelsea.

Liverpool

Players I wanted in:

Right Midfielder: David Silva
Striker: Vucinic or Guiza or Tuncay or Nihat or Michael Owen (if Keane is sold)
Striker: Christiano Lucarelli (if Keane is not sold)

Players I wanted out:

Robbie Keane (as per above conditions)

Actual Players in:

Midfielder: Viktor Pálsson (17 year old for the future)

Actual Players Out:

Robbie Keane
Number of reserves sent out on loan or sold

Pool provided as much comic relief as any other contender this January and the departure of Robbie Keane happened at the very end. That he went back to Spurs at a much discounted price leaves one wondering how everyone has kept their jobs but the impact on the team itself is bound to be significant. It was wishful to think that Rafa would hunt for someone who could eject Kuyt out of the line-up but by having chosen to let Robbie Keane go without getting a replacement, he has opened himself upto just the kind of predicament he now finds himself in – who gets the goals if Torres or Gerrard are not fit?

Accuse me of being dramatic, but this could yet turn out to be the deal that took the photo out of the finish!

Barcelona

Players I wanted in:

None

Players I wanted out:

None

Actual Players in:

None

Actual Players Out:

None

I told you so!

Real Madrid

Players I wanted in:

Versatile left-sided: Yuri Zhirkov

Players I wanted out:

None

Actual Players in:

Striker: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Midfielder: Lassana Diarra
Versatile Right-sided: Julien Faubert (loan)

Actual Players Out:

None

Hey they had done these two transfers before I made my wish list and they did nothing after that so I am not so far off here. Juande’s good start should help them cement their second place in the Liga but the question is if they can come close to winning the Champion’s League, a trophy which the Hunter is not allowed to play for. Yet, I think they could be serious contenders under Ramos, as long as Barcelona are in the mood to let anyone else win anything this season.

Manchester City

Players I wanted in:

Central Defence: Daniel Agger or Dennis Kolodin
Midfielder: Engelaar or Diego or Altintop
Striker: Michael Owen

Players I wanted out:

None

Actual Players in:

Midfielder: Nigel de Jong
Striker: Craig Bellamy
Left Back: Wayne Bridge
Goalkeeper: Shay Given

Actual Players Out:

Tal Ben Haim and Jo
Number of reserves sent out on loan or sold

The names may differ from my pick, but I think City have come out with the most improved squad this winter, significantly better than the champion churners Tottenham. Bellamy is the only player where I think they could have gotten someone better, though maybe not as good as Kaka. Having said that, Mark Hughes now has a very competitive team and though Dunne and the central defense is still not the most convincing this season, Mark Hughes will have little excuses if City can’t make a European push in the coming months.

Defending the Dive!

2009-01-21T13:19:00.003+05:30

I don't generally enjoy just posting links of stories with nothing to add to it, but this defence of diving and other such things and the Italian's expertize at it is hilarious. Notice how well the difference between 'cheating' and 'guile' is described.

http://www.footballitaliano.co.uk/article.aspx?id=113

Tottenham v Portsmouth, January 18, Premier League

2009-01-19T17:20:00.001+05:30

This should be titled “Why Tottenham are not too good to be relegated”. Playing at home with two strikers against a currently struggling Portsmouth side in what was described by commentators repeatedly as a thrilling end-to-end game, they had as much attacking instinct in them as monks in meditation.

But to begin with, balls to all those football experts who called this thrilling end-to-end stuff. Just because the ball travels from one end to the other every forty seconds, never once threatening to cross below the bar, does not make the game thrilling. Poor quality football can be thrilling but only when all the shoddiness leads to chances and excitement. Here it was bad football with little end product with maybe five moments of going “ooh” over the ninety minutes.

Just to dwell on the game for a bit. There was not much happening when Sean Davis mis-passed to Defoe who had only the goalkeeper to beat when he shot wide. Some time later Lennon made probably the only inspired Tottenham run to reach the by-line and cross the ball for Defoe to head a ball which was well saved by James. David Nugent found himself one-on-one against Gomes as Ledley King limped behind him but he shot too close to the keeper who on his worse days would have conceded in this situation but did well to get down and save. Another James save led to a counter where Traore carried the ball across the length of the pitch (the best individual effort throughout the game) and saw Corluka tackle the ball into the oncoming Nugent who fired in his first Premier League goal thanks to a deflection from Bale. Tottenham equalized from a well taken shot from Defoe after he was set up by Modric on almost the only occasion the Croat got to the edge of the box. And then Spurs could have won if Bent would have scored the easiest of headers from a Bentley cross, but that didn’t happen so it ended one-one.

By description a standard premier league game between two typical English sides but I guess that’s why I don’t rate English football too highly. But not too much point discussing a very ordinary game. Which brings me back to my original point about Spurs not being too good to go down and here’s why I think so.

I think that for the players they have they have the formation and system all wrong. Then again for the formation and system they do have, they have the approach all wrong. After experimenting with a 3-5-2 which seemed like a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1…(11 times over) they switched back to a 4-4-2 but did it so pathetically. Playing at home against a team which is also in some shit, they chose to never let their fullbacks move forward and had their wide men bombing poor crosses as soon as they touched the ball without a thought of what the cross would do for them.

The central midfielders didn’t know what to do and for long periods, the strikers were hardly involved. That Pavlyuchenko still managed to pick up an injury would be maddening for Harry Redknapp, but given the intent his team has been showing recently I don’t think it should matter too much if it is Pav or Bent or the Queen up front, because there is very little for that guy to do.

The central defenders are ok, even though King got injured again and maybe out again for a few weeks. But between Dawson, Woodgate and King, if they can keep two fit, it should work. Bale and Corluka are also not bad individually (Corluka in fact has been known to be impressive) but unless they go out and support the attacks, their role is very limited and they will always struggle to create good chances, especially as their right and left midfield is so lacking in tooth.
Lennon has pace and can beat defenders but his crossing needs to improve and O Hara works very hard but does not have a clue about what he needs to do when he gets the ball. His solution is to cross it into the box no matter where he is and invariably all crosses are met by defenders because they float into the least lethal of areas.

But the biggest joke is the central midfield. Anyone who has seen Modric play at the Euros knows that he is capable of carrying a team on his own and is very very skilful. He is the sort of player who defenders find difficult to stop and when he gets into the box, he is bound to cause some confusion. For Spurs against Pompey, Modric hardly ever got close to the box until the moment when he finally was there to lay the ball up sweetly for Defoe. For Spurs, Modric seems like a show pony in the midfield who knows some tricks but adds little value. But I’ll blame that on Zokora. Zokora has strength, pace and on occasions works his balls off but he won’t get any life time awards for being a team player. There is no coordination between the two midfielders and it seems that there is no proper role definition done for either. Which is why you see Modric always stuck somewhere playing dribble against opposition counter parts when he should be in and around the box creating chances for his strikers.

What I would love to see Spurs do is move to a 4-2-3-1 making Modric the focal point of their attacks. Jenas or Huddlestone when fit, could partner Zokora with Modric playing behind Defoe. Two of Lennon, Bentley, O’ Hara, Bent, Pavyluchenko or dos Santos could play on either side of Modric and of course, with two men protecting the defense, Bale and Corluka would have complete license to join in attack. It is unlikely though that this will happen. In which case, here’s how they should prioritize:

1. Sell one of Jenas/Zokora and get a top-of-the-line holding midfielder
2. If Bentley is not good enough, sell him and get a better left sided midfielder
3. Sell Bent and get Peter Crouch. At least we know that Crouch and Defoe work well together

But Spurs hardly do what’s logical and though they are out of the relegation zone for the moment, only 10 points separate the bottom fourteen clubs! And on evidence of what I have seen of Spurs this season, I am afraid that when the Men get separated from the Boys, we are more likely to see Tottenham go to boarding school than the army.

Bolton v Manchester United and Chelsea v Stoke, January 17, Premier League

2009-01-19T17:10:00.001+05:30

Stoke, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Wigan and Bolton. These are 5 games which Manchester United have won one-nil since December and three of them have been through injury time winners (one of them was a first minute winner – Wigan and the fifth was a seventieth minute winner – Boro). Also they have made a mockery of my assertion that games in hand would not translate to points on board and they now sit on top of the table and I sit facing cheap thrill smirks from Man U fans from FC NGV.

So am I now willing to concede that Man U are the favorites for the title? I will say yes. But only just. Their game is still miles away from where it was last year and if they are to win playing at the same level, they will have to depend big time on everyone else continuing to suck as well. Also, if one (or more) of the big four get eliminated early in the CL this year, it could actually help them in the title race by allowing them to be more focused and less stretched and could tilt the balance in their favor. Fact is that the lead is still not big for the top two and unless teams drop nine points or more below the pace come April, I will still be saying that they could win the league. Even if it is just to keep my options open for a ‘told-you-so’ moment in case the improbable becomes real – i.e. Villa or Arsenal nick it at the post.

Having said that, you have to be impressed by their ability to get those injury-time goals. This week against Bolton, it was a lucky roll of the ball that let Tevez keep possession, run with it to the by-line and cross it low for Berbatov to head in. But you can’t credit luck for this happening over and over again and you can’t credit luck for every Man U player having the composure to score when they know it’s the last opportunity even though they may have been shit for the rest of the game).

Chelsea also had a happy ending to their weekend but even though their come-from-behind last-gasp victory may make you think that they are getting back to their best, if you saw the game, you would not be so convinced. From win-machines of a few seasons ago, Chelsea have now turned into slick midfield passers. Though there is always a chance that the two can co-exist as we saw in the beginning of the season, too many stars in the same positions and a complete lack of confidence up front and at the back have meant that Chelsea rarely look like scoring and always look like conceding.

While Man U’s ability to conjure up winners in struggling games inspires awe for their determination and resilience, Chelsea’s comeback against Stoke felt more like a drug that would keep a dying man alive for a few moments more. Yes, for a change they showed some fight which was strangely lacking from their 3-0 capitulation against the Red Devils, but the confidence seems so drained from Chelsea that any long ball played into their area means wet underpants for their defenders and any chance to score for their forwards makes them as shiver like a school kid facing a stern class teacher without his homework done. For evidence, see how easily Beattie was allowed to chest the ball into Delap’s path for Stoke’s goal with none other than Ricky Carvalho standing and watching three feet behind. See also the header that Ballack glanced wide when he should have scored saying hello to a Japanese tourist.

While Man U as I said earlier, can still harbor hopes of retaining the title by continuing with their current form, Chelsea will need to improve dramatically to stay in the hunt. For starters, they will have to last a few matches without conceding silly goals to any ball played in the air and that needs to be addressed in training. Secondly, they will have to make some tough decisions and one of these may mean playing only one of Ballack, Lampard and Deco in the starting eleven and pairing Drogba (after some good motivation sessions) and Anelka up front. If they intend to stick to a lone striker formation, they will need better players out wide. Whatever it is, they need to address it over the next couple of games and get a run of six to seven games going where they pick up all the points or else….

Transfer Talk

2009-01-16T18:46:00.002+05:30

Mad money is being offered by Man City for Kaka as I write this and yet another transfer season has brought the same old set of gazillion rumors with occasional true activity. Since I am desperate to add my two bits to the transfer season I think I will try and see the players I would have bought in and/or shipped out if I were the manager (of Director Football…as and where applicable) at these clubs. Will restrict myself to clubs I have seen a bit.

Arsenal

The Gunners’ injury list and lack of depth have become repeated stories these past few years and it feels like déjà vu this January. And then there is the whole philosophy of getting them young, keeping them versatile and making them play fluid etc. which often means that a number of players sought after by other clubs do not fit the Arsenal profile.

Arsenal’s search is for some players who are required to beef up the first team and then a few to provide cover (and very decent cover) to some of the other positions where the regular getting crocked leaves a gaping hole.

For the first team, the first player I would look for is a strong holding player who can not only mould to the passing game but provide the perfect foil for Fabregas and a lot of steel. Now you can look for a very good young midfielder to do it or look for someone with a lot of experience while one of the current crop (Diaby/Denilson) gets more time to grow into the role. My pick – Go with a veteran and a man of unquestionable experience. Without a scouting network (and this is a problem I will have throughout the post and hence the last time I am mentioning it), my pick is one of Sergei Semak (captain of Russia, currently with Rubin Kazan) or Marcos Senna (Spain international, captain of Villareal).

There are no other obvious first team spots available, though many may talk of a right sided midfielder and a creative midfielder and a centre back. But if and when Walcott, Fabregas and Gallas+Toure are available, they are strong contenders for the first team. The question is about shipping Gallas out and getting a replacement. I think there are enough other holes to fill and it would be better to see if Gallas wishes to continue after the end of the season rather than now. The Fabregas hole can be filled (though not adequately of course) by Denilson, though after his cameo in the last game against Bolton, I would think Nasri would probably be the best choice to replace Fab, which in turn would leave a gap on the left.

Arshavin, being pursued so actively, does present a versatile option but that could been displacing one of the current squad. I think he could do really well in the Fabregas (centre-creative), Nasri (left-attacking) or Van Persie (behind the striker) role, but it is to be seen if he can adapt well enough in England to be able to displace any of these players when they are fit and available. If Arshavin can also play right midfield then I think, he may pip Walcott to the position, because good though Walcott is, I think he is still at least one season (if not two) away from being a really class player.

The full back positions need cover (and better cover than the Hoytes and others around). For the right, I would suggest letting Eboue develop and evolve. He is not such a bad player but he has not had any position for himself these last two seasons and while he may not be an immediate threat to Sagna, I think a stable position will make him a more consistent performer when he gets the chances. For the left, again I would look at a senior citizen who wouldn’t mind being on the bench for periods but who could be relied upon when called on an emergency. Silvestre does meet the requirements but since he is also a cover for the central positions, I would be looking out for players like John Arne Riise.

That leaves the Arsenal attack and with Eduardo coming back, it is one of the areas of least concerns for Arsenal. However, an injury to Adebayor or Van Persie could be critical. However, the Arshavin signing will provide a new dimension here as well and Vela and Bendtner are evolving back-ups and with so many other priorities, there is not much need to tinker around here.

Manchester United

Very very difficult to improve this team. Maybe, you could think of getting in a cover for Evra, a youngster, though John O Shea is not too bad a cover. And maybe you could think of a better central defensive cover than Johnny Evans (very good for someone with his experience though a little inconsistent). In terms of a squad, even Barcelona are nowhere as good.

The one position where they probably do not have a current best-of-line is in the goal. Van der Saar is probably still amongst the best in the game, but since we are speaking about Manchester United and ‘probably still among the best’ is sometimes not good enough for them, step forward the goalkeeper number two of last year (Casillas obviously number one) – Igor Akinfeev (Russia and CSKA Moskva).

Chlesea

Clearly Frank Arnesen who was supposed to bring in players to the youth team who should have been breaking into the first team by now, has not done a great job. Of course there’s the young defender who was out on loan to a championship team and who made it to Capello’s England squad, but there’s some saying about exceptions telling you what the rule is and that applies in this case.

Of course Chelsea’s problems of the moment are not down to the players they have but more to what these players are doing. Yet, it cannot be denied that the balance is quite lacking in the squad and with Wayne Bridge’s departure, the fullback positions look not so well covered if Ashley Cole breaks a leg or so. Balletti as cover to Bosingwa may not be the greatest, but right back is still not such a problem.

The most glaring weakness is out wide and though Joe Cole is a more than decent pick for the left, he is not the player who provides true width. Then there is the right flank, where Kalou is really the only real option at the moment and the best thing you can say about him is that he can be dangerous on his day.

So here’s my Chelsea prescription: One of Schweinsteiger (German International, Bayern Munich), Kazim Richards (Turkey, Fenerbahce) or Antonio Valencia (Ecuador, Wigan) for the right flank. Kazim Richards is a little iffy but he has premier league experience and if you can get the performance out of him which we saw at the last Euros, he will be a much celebrated player in a line-up like Chelsea.

Then of course is the cover at left back and if no youngster is in sight, how about Fabio Grosso (Italy, Lyon)? Only problem with Grosso maybe that he’s 31 and Italian defenders want to be in the first team till they are 92, so he may not like being second choice, but if the money can be shown, then Chelsea could end up with a kick-ass defender who could match any of their other stars move for move.

That leaves one more player to get and that for me would be Lucas Podolski (Germany, Bayern Munich). It’s true that he seems set to go to his childhood club Koln, but I think he is just the player Chelsea need. A striker who can also play on the left. That means you have intense competition with Joe Cole for that left midfield position and someone who can easily step into the shoes if Drogba and/or Anelka is not available.

Unlike Arsenal, Chelsea are in a position to offload some players and Paulo Fereirra and Florent Malouda have to be top of that list (especially if someone like Podolski comes in). There are talks about letting Drogba go, but I think that would be stupid as when he is the mood, he is easily one of the best in the world. Keeping him in the mood is a managerial challenge and what’s a manager who doesn’t like some challenge!

Liverpool

Another very settled team with few glaring weaknesses when their first eleven is fit. Yet, it would be farfetched to compare them to Manchester United who I feel are clearly superior.
The most invisible players in the Liverpool team are the fullbacks and while I wouldn’t rate Arbeloa and Aurelio as amongst the best in the world, I think it’s unfair to say that they are not good. Benitez uses his fullbacks quite like Mourinho did in England, and if you tell your fullbacks to be very restrained all the time, they can look very average. E.g. Ashley Cole who seemed half the player he was at Arsenal until Scolari came in at Chelsea. So I wouldn’t hurry to get new fullbacks for Liverpool (though second choice left back Dossena seems not so up to it on first evidence).

The position I would be looking to ring in a change is the wide right player. Yes, Kuyt is a work horse and he does chip in with the occasional useful goal, but seriously, if you want to win the title, you need a player with a better touch than a ping-pong table and more creativity than an excel sheet. Of course, the set of options present for Chelsea are also available for Pool (Valencia/Shweinsteiger/Kazim Richards) but given the Spanish factor, I think David Silva could be someone who could fit right in.

The other hole in the shape of a misfiring Robbie Keane and a virginal Bruno Ngog is the replacement striker. I would think that in Ryan Babel, there is someone who can be called as backup for both Riera on the left and Torres up front (if all trust has been lost in Keane).
But in case you want to be more covered, how about one of two options? One – sell Keane for what you can get and get an A-plus in his prime striker like Vucinic (Montenegro, Roma) or Guiza (Spain, Fenerbahce) or Tuncay (Turkey, Middlesborough) or Nihat (Turkey, Villareal) or indeed Michael Owen (England, Newcastle). Two – keep Keane but also get a supporting veteran like Christiano Lucarelli (Italy, Parma) now 33. Parma is currently in the second div in Italy and Lucarelli is still as prolific as ever and should not come for too much money.

Who not to get? Emil Heskey. Not another strong hard working player who can’t score goals.

Barcelona

If they get any better, it will be unfair on everyone else. Yes, they may have some chinks in defense and al that, but hey let the playing field be level. Also, for the players they have, there is no cover. Who can be a replacement for Messi? Thing is their backups might not be as good but even then are some of the best in the world. Henry backing up Eto is any manager’s dream. And if your bench can be Iniesta, Bojan, Gudjhonsen, Busquet, Marquez, Keita etc., you really need to save on agents' commission for the year.

Real Madrid

I thought Madrid sucked as the Schuster era ended and Juando Ramos, the Tottenham failure has come in and started well enough to make observers believe that the squad itself is not inadequate. The Hunter and Diarra have come in for valuable roles and the only positions you could really think of improving personnel wise are left back and the wide left player in the 4-2-3-1. Heinze (not bad but not Real Madrid standard anymore) and Drenthe are good but lacking and a player in the name of Yuri Zhirkov (Russia, CSKA Moskva) could easily improve either of those positions. And that’s where I think Madrid’s January exercise should end.

Manchester City

They may spend a 100 million on Kaka now, but that won’t help them too much this season. Man City are many players short of being title contenders which is undoubtedly what the objective is. Bringing on 7 players in the winter might not be a great idea because if they fail to bed in quickly enough, given their current position, a relegation struggle might be a distinct possibility.

So my objective for this season would be to remove glaring weaknesses for the remaining half of the season and try and climb up the table before going in for complete overhaul and celebrity shopping in the summer.

Clearly the central defenders are a problem and clearly Man United won’t sell Ferdinand or Evra. My pick would be Daniel Agger (Denmark, Liverpool), especially as he is looking unsettled and has proven English experience and quality. Denis Kolodin (Russia, Dynamo Moscow) may be a good option who could chip in with frequent goals as well.

The other priority positions are a good midfield partner for Stephen Ireland and a striker who is an improvement over the likes of Darius Vassell and Jo. Orlando Engelaar (Holland, Schalke) could be a great option as well as someone like Altintop (Turkey, Bayern Munich). If they want to spend really big, they should go for Diego (Brazil, Werder Bremen).

Of course Kaka is an option which they are pursuing and is preferable over the others, but without the defenders and other players around him, don’t expect him to change Man City into a consistent winning unit just yet. Which would mean that by summer the media could well be on Kaka’s throat and prompt a panic sell-off in these days of opinion-forming in ninety minutes. And what an unfortunate dent on Kaka’s reputation that would be!

As for a striker, well they have the money to of course try and get anyone from Torres to Drogba to Eto himself, but it is highly unlikely that a Champion League playing striker would want to come here mid-season. My choice be Michael Owen (England, Newcastle) who is itching for yet another big money deal at a high profile club.

And then leave it at that till the summer, when they can build the latest Galactico collection on the planet and go after the likes of Ribery, Kaka and others from that planet.

Manchester United v Chelsea, January 11, Premier League

2009-01-12T18:21:00.001+05:30

Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello and Diego Maradona were some of the people supposedly at the venue for this one and Alex Ferguson thumped Scolari to let everyone know that big as the manager legends on the stand (as indeed in the opposing camp) were, the knight from Scotland is probably the first among equals in this elite group.

The final score was three nil with goals from Vidic, Rooney and Berbatov humiliating a Chelsea team, whose ex-Manager must have not recognized the same players that he made almost unbeatable a few seasons ago.

There are of course two parts to the story: Man U were better than they have been recently and Chelsea were appalling.

A midfield of Giggs, Fletcher, Park and Ronaldo was being considered a bit lightweight by the TV pundits but it more than did its job in holding as well as attacking. The Red Devils were not really vastly superior over the ninety minutes, but they were definitely more clinical and less error prone than their opponents. They used the wide areas well and Giggs-Fletcher brought to the central-midfield pairing something that Fletcher-Carrick does not – creativity. Finishing off the opportunities was something that has been lacking for Manchester United but not this Sunday night as they found the net four times of which three goals were given.

We know what we get from Rooney and today was no different, though good plus points to him for scoring in such a critical game. Ronaldo and Berbatov in spite of this thumping are far from their best, but today they had more good moments than they have been having on a per game basis recently. Berba in fact seems to be just one good game away from hitting top form while Ronaldo may be just a little humility away, though I think last year’s heights may be too unattainable even for him.

Chelsea though have lost it. It’s a crisis of confidence in the defense which has now spread up the field. Add to that a problem of one striker too many to choose from and Scolari is not sure of the formation to use or who to start and who to leave on the bench. It’s no use analyzing their performance too much because it was clearly a case of players not being able to do their jobs rather than some tactical deficiency. The only plus in their performance was some neat mid-field passing, but even Arsenal have never looked so unsure of what to do with such skills. Drogba had a nightmare and the easiest way to score against Chelsea now is to float balls into the box. How times change!

So can Chelsea, keep their challenge alive? Yes, they can but they don’t have too many games to do it. More than the points lost in this game, it is the confidence that has drained out, that may be a bigger issue and they don’t need new players to solve it. What they need is great work behind the scenes to fix their defense, strong decision making by the manager which could begin with a clear preferred formation and starting eleven with players kept on merit and no other criteria and the strikers finding form.

Wigan v Tottenham, January 11, Premier League

2009-01-12T18:18:00.000+05:30

It’s very frustrating when you go through full games without getting to know the names of some players because commentators just don’t mention them. So if it’s not a team that you follow every week and if you miss the pre-match show…and owing to domestic pressures – the half-time analysis, then you need to spend considerable energy on post-match research to figure out exactly who the delightful right back was, or other such details.

And so it is with Wigan. Let’s see who is it that I remember: Zaki, Heskey, Palacios, Valencia, Melchiot, Bramble, Figeroa, Kirkland and a balding mid-fielder who I am familiar with but whose name I can’t recall now. And yet this team of little-knowns or not-top-of-the-heads has taken 18 points of their last 21 (or something crazy like that), including three against a Tottenham display which can only be described as Redknapp’s presentation to the board to get transfer funds.

But this was really not about the players that Harry does not have. This was about how little the players he does have did throughout the game and whether the manager is really trying to make the best use of the team he currently has. There was a lot of discussion from the commentators regarding some invisible “revolutionary tactics” that HR was using but I couldn’t figure out what they are at that time and I don’t care if I never do. For all he achieved was a big zero.

It was a typical ordinary English game and there was really nothing to really marvel at apart from sporadic instances of going ‘wow’ if you were managing to pay attention. Most of them involved Valencia, the very talented Wigan left winger and some came at seeing Ledley King playing a quite superb holding (and holding only) role. The highlight however, had to be Heskey who wins every…I repeat every...ball that is played his way. If Zaki finds his beginning of the season form then Wigan will be scoring a lot many more. Zokora’s work rate caught my eye for a few fleeting seconds and Palacios had some great moments until Figeroa finally gave Wigan the win they deserved, heading in an injury time corner.

Wigan were impressive because they believed they could win and tried to make things happen. Tottenham, in spite of Harry’s protests about the squad, a much stronger team on paper, kept their superiority to the paper. Modric, Pavlyuchenko and Defoe hardly saw the ball and whenever they did, they had little to offer. It was supposed to be some 3-5-2 formation for Tottenham but it seemed more like a don’t-know-what-to-do formation. O’ Hara added nothing, Bale was outplayed and King too defensive.

Spend or not, I think Spurs are better than relegation candidates but just being better does nothing to save your season. Playing better does and that is the manager’s challenge, or at least a challenge more important than the transfer market. The transfer market will give you an over-priced Jermaine Defoe and teams don’t become title contenders by having Jermaine Defoe as their lead striker.

Wigan: Europe was something that was mentioned and with such form why not? I think they will hold on to Heskey as unless a big club is looking for a non-scoring striker, there’s not too much value he has for them. Valencia could be a problem keeping hold of and may end up with some big guy or Tottenham by the summer if not February. By the way, I checked and the three players I could not remember the names of are Scharner, Cattermole and Taylor. Ordinary individuals, impressive team.

Arsenal v Bolton, January 10, Premier League

2009-01-12T18:14:00.001+05:30

There is a lot of discussion and debate about the tactics that teams in the EPL employ on their travels and especially against the stronger sides. Arsene Wenger has been a long standing critic but clearly he is not causing a change of heart amongst his manager rivals since they love taunting him by doing it to his team over and over again.

If Bolton had any plans to score, they ended with the injury induced replacement of lone striker Elmander. Bolton did not earn a reputation for being Arsenal’s bogey team by keeping it nil-nil, but how they would ever score even if they kept a clean sheet for eight days is beyond me. The only attempts to get the ball forward were through desperate clearances, greeted by chants of “Hoof” at the Emirates. And the lone striker who scores from such chances would not last seven days with Bolton in a transfer window!

For the attacking team, the challenge in this situation is clear and there are approaches to reaching the objective but media comments criticizing the strategy is not one of them. Yes, in the ideal world, all teams would play all games to win them, but idealism these days exists in only Wenger the team tactician (Wenger the witness of fouls is another case all together). Football Managers today have clear cut objectives and as long as they are developing strategies permitted by the laws of the game, their approach and tactics are a matter of personal choice. No one gives them the flexibility to address ethical and spiritual issues when it comes to results. Give them the job security that Wenger has and then demand an end to anti-football.

Having said that, some time before Bendtner’s late winner was scored, as a spectator you wished that Arsenal would score. For a long time there was no fire power in the Gunners but that changed once Nasri moved into the centre of mid-field after Vela came on for Diaby. Adebayor had been having an ordinary day and though Van Persie is continuing the good form, there was nothing in midfield. That changed when Nasri got there and his pass to Adebayor should have been finished, but Ade took the amount of time I take to cover 100 meters before he shot and it was blocked off. It seemed bleak for Arsenal when their last hope for three points was in the shape of Bendtner but the tall Dane (who looks Romanian to me) for once scored after having nodded a similar chance to the goalkeeper with his first touch. It all felt all the more like an exhibition by Lady Justice as the crowd had started to semi-boo Bendtner for some mis-passes.

It may end up being a critical goal in the larger scheme of things and in spite of yet another not so great performance, they still quietly keep themselves in the title race. Yes, I insist they are still in it and dropped points for Chelsea and Liverpool over the weekend strengthen my argument. It’s a five team race to the finish and should stay so, depending on Villa keeping their form and Arsenal getting in some players. To begin with a holding mid, a creative mid, a wide right, a central defender…

The Away Ground Syndrome: January 10, FC NGV

2009-01-12T18:05:00.000+05:30

FC NGV has been around for a little over three years and that has meant spending time on the ground kicking the ball fairly regularly for a decent amount of time. My game though seems to have taken a few steps backwards.

Here’s the problems I continue to have with my game: can’t trap, can’t pass, can’t dribble, can’t shoot, can’t finish and can’t move. I think I was a much better passer two years ago and there have been phases in between when I have been able to finish moves with some consistency, but other than that I seem to have no footballing skills. Worse still, I seem to show no capability for improvement. Funnily enough, I think that’s a problem with our entire team, with hardly anyone having improved over the years. Some though don’t panic near a football like I do and are decent players even though they are on the same no-growth path as me.

But this post is not about how to improve. This is about how the ‘worst’ players can get ‘worster’ in unfamiliar conditions. Take me. Saturday we played at the RSI ground on MG Road and it was a proper 5/6 a side on the best field that we can get. And what happens when there is space, some grass and a stage set for a contest? I play like I have loosies and left my diapers at home…shitting all over the place and stinking the game for my team.

The funny thing is that more than any other factor I think it was the ground that did it to me. Somehow not seeing the NGV dust bowl and a million cricketers surrounding my teammates took away any little comfort I have in the game. Everytime I looked up the surroundings seemed uncomfortable and alien and before I could say NGV I would have fucked up whatever I was doing. Maybe if I have people cheering against me if I’m playing, it may make me collapse with pressure.

On another note, the value of dictating the area of play in our type of 5-a-sides is immense. Somedays its better to sit back and let the opposition come on to you so that you can score on the counter. Somedays you need to stop their attacks before the goalkeeper completes a pass or you will never get the ball out of your own half. Depends completely on who’s on the team and how many players can hold the ball and not lose possession but it is the most important thing to be keeping an eye open for.

A start of two-halves

2009-01-05T18:07:00.007+05:30

Early morning on the first of January, I left with a group of friends, wife and mum-in-law for an extended weekend break. Whistle thrushes, bee-eaters, fly catchers, deer, wild boar, elephants and more kept the mind and body off football as the year kicked in, though there was time for some entertainingly contested pool. But the seven hour drive back through increasing traffic and the first few seconds of channel surf brought me back to mundane planet and football. One I dread and the other is joy. Let’s stick to the joy.

Southampton v Manchester United, FA Cup, January 4

Sony Pix shows movies and out-of-the-blue football games. Just as the drive and dust and the dawn wakeup effect were putting me to sleep, Man U walked out at Southampton. Andy Penders of ESPN Star Sports described these two as the best and worst teams in the world in his blog and though the Saints were not THAT bad, they were definitely not looking like the genie who makes the Cup magical.

Nerves, lack of ability and a complete mismatch is talent were enough for Southampton to be in deep trouble, they also got a very non-controversial red card which the commentator kept insisting was controversial. All that in the first half. But by the time of the red card, Danny Welbeck, a very decent looking striker had already put United ahead. He looked offside though. There would be moments when the home team would attack but not know what to do after a while. For most of it though, it was the red Devils game.

Without Ronaldo, Rooney or Tevez, Berbatov led the front line and did it brilliantly. Went deep to collect the ball and start attacks. Touched and flicked around the box to set up finishes. Dribbled and beat men to bring a smile. Anderson, started out in the middle then went to the left and was creative. So was Giggs, who moved from left to the centre and tried to reach the flanks or play through balls. Carrick continued to fail to impress me with his creativity though he hardly ever lost possession and showed some good movement. Welbeck had pace and looked a decent enough threat. The defence all did their job, though Evans clearly is not at the level of others…and justifiably.

This ended three-nil eventually and Riley gave a penalty to Man U when there was none. Didn’t see any of that because at the same time that half-time happened in Southampton, it was also half-time in Madrid.

Real Madrid v Villareal, La Liga, January 4

Robben had already scored and Madrid led one-nil at half time. It was difficult to believe if you only saw the second half. The Yelllow Submarine dominated for a long long period even though Marcos Senna was not at his best. But Cazorla, Pires and later on Cani were very impressive. If de Rossi had been on fire, Villareal would at least have equalized.

But in the end Juande Ramos, continued the feeble turnaround, eeking out another win, almost Mourinhoesque in nature.

For the first ten minutes of the second half, new signing Huntelaar was paired with Raul up front. Apparently he had a decent first half though he missed an easy chance. But from minute 46-55…when he was substituted…Hunt did not have too much to do and was substituted by Drenthe. Real improved after that and Juande Ramos’ 4-2-3-1 style was a little easier to evaluate.

Gago and Diarra lined up in deep midfield and L Diarra quickly showed that he was an addition of value. Produced a great moment when he relieved Senna of the ball and looked more energetic than all Madrid players put together from a few weeks back. Gago played a slightly more adventurous role. The key for this pair will be to balance attack and defence and keep the supply lines open for the front four, because up front Real could have the potential now to play with some fluidity.

Raul played as the target man and did a decent job of winning long balls played by Casillas and setting up Sneijder, though he may be better off playing behind the target man. Sneijder, who was in that role, was active and involved but lacked the finish. Robben on the right was enjoying himself when he got the ball and Drenthe tried to the best he could on the left but he is quite obviously not so much a wide player.

The Real defence was appalling and as usual Casillas had to play savior. Individually they range from decent to very good but as a unit they are a disaster. Definitely a coaching challenge to get this one right.

I think the formation is fine and offers a lot of scope for creativity as well as the option to defend tightly, though some positions need shoring up. The defense can certainly be improved, namely through a centre back and a better left back than Heinze. Then there are Diarra, Diarra, Gago, Guti, de la Red and Van der Vart for the two central positions and the competition for the places should improve performances here. I think Drenthe is also suited to this bucket of players, though I’m not sure how well he marks and tackles.

In the forward line, you have Ruud, Huntelaar, Raul, Robben, Higuain and Sneijder and ignoring the injuries again for a moment, the quality is there. The problem is that the injuries are real and with Ruud absent, it is critical that Huntelaar quickly settles down as target man and excels, because Raul I feel will be better playing behind the target man. How many of these are suited to the wide right and left positions is the question.

Signing off with some pics from my trip.

Year End Thoughts

2008-12-31T18:20:00.001+05:30

England
I’m not a Reds supporter and have never really liked the team. But this season I wouldn’t mind them winning the league. There are two reasons for this.

For one, I had mentioned to friends last season that if someone like Rafa is given 10 seasons in charge, he will definitely win the league at least once (was building a case for giving managers lots of time in the job). So I would be very pleased if the one title was over and done with and I can do some told-you-sos (it’s another matter that no one may remember I told them...).

Secondly, it is obvious that Steven Gerrard wants to win the league more than any other player. While Gerrard is a great midfielder with a couple of world beating skills, there are and have been many better midfielders. But no one else carries a team like Gerrard. And every time he wins a game all by himself, I think well it’s just one game. Now it’s been one game many times over and that has regularly included cup finals. But can he win a league all by himself? We’ll know the answer in a few months but if Liverpool have to be Champions, Gerrard will have to come up with magic moments again and again and again. Will this be the season to separate the Gerrard from the Lampard?

Spain
It sucks that La Liga games played so late in the night. Have seen so little of the good stuff that it feels like I’ve never known any football other than the English. Barcelona in their current form must be framed and stored for eternity. The pessimist says that one day this form and flow will be gone and even champions will be made of half the stuff that this Barca team is made of. The optimist believes that for years and years to come, Pep and his pipers will play on. Messi for sure will. I asked my then boss to get me a Messi jersey from Barcelona in the beginning of 2006. Everyone else wanted Ronaldinho. But I felt then that he would be the greatest and he is. And whatever anyone says, I’m in no mood to listen and try and justify his greatness.

Italy
Not all my friends agree with me on the importance of the manager on team performance in a game. My answer is Mourinho who seems to be playing the game on PlayStation. Every team just like the other doing just enough to win. Having said that, the Champion’s League will be the real show of strength time. If Inter can eliminate Man U then it will boost the self-obsessed one’s ego no end and will be quite a remarkable feat. Rational thinking though, heavily favors the English to win all three of the CL matches against the Italians. It won’t be as easy as the rational English press have made it to be, but it does seem the most obvious outcome. Unless you have actually seen Juventus play – on their day they can hammer anyone. Beware Chelsea!

FC NGV
Today we were taught a lesson in football in a 4 a-side game. The other team treated us like dirt and I felt that I was in a non-league team playing in the premiership. Sobering thought for 2009!

Manchester United v Middlesborough, December 29, Premier League

2008-12-30T16:33:00.002+05:30

Dimitar Berbatov scrambled a shot into goal circa minute seventy for an unconvincing one-nil win for Man U keeping them within touching distance of Liverpool. Winning 1-0 and winning ugly are often cited as critical traits of would-be champions, but I say balls to that. Again and again United have come out lucky rather than deserving winners in the premier league in the last few weeks and I don’t care if they end up champions or not, they will need to pull up those socks a great deal more to come close to being the force they were last year.

Of course, the biggest difference is Ronaldo. Given his injury troubles and the missed pre-season, it is unfair to question his goal scoring form which though not as sensational as last season, is still very impressive. It is his overall impact which has diminished. Last year, he was making things happen and when the ball was at his feet, defenders were wetting their expensive chaddis. This year, they tend to be cautious but wait for him to screw it up and so many times he dutifully obliges. Gives the ball away, fumbles in position, makes a bad pass or tries to run through and is bullied off the ball. He will have games where everything will be perfect for him and he will look like the greatest thing in football, but he seems a bit swollen in the head to notice that on days when its not happening for him, he’ll need to be smarter than before to be as effective. As of now, I think Robinho outscores him in the most skilful player in the EPL ranking.

The Berbatov plugin, is the other improper installation in this unit. Last year’s floating front three has been replaced with a more predictable ‘role based organization’ (it’s some organizational jargon that’s being implemented in my company). Which would not have been a problem had Berba been scoring two in three. But he isn’t. He has scored three premier league goals for Man U heading into 2009 and that is a cause for concern. Again he may improve, but then he may not. The thing last year was that it was the team’s responsibility to score. This year it seems more like the strikers’ job and when they are not doing it, the whole team looks sterile.

Which brings me to Rooney. The Dirk Kuyt of Man U? Maybe a little harsh, because Rooney does seem obviously more gifted and dangerous, but he spends way too much time down deep to be a goal threat as often as you would want him to be. Park is another high work rate forward player and in the Englsih league that translates to spending a lot of time chasing balls when you could be waiting to latch on to them.

The other winger is a little bit of an issue. Park is good but no Ronaldo and we had been expecting Nani to be the second Portuguese wonderboy this season but that hasn’t happened. So what could have been a spectacular winger-striker line-up is looking more like Liverpool (Rieira/Ronaldo, Kuyt/Park, Gerrard/Rooney, Berba/Keane) but since that is good enough to be leading the league, it’s not surprising to see Man U close to the top.

Then there is Carrick. Apart from the pass that eventually got deflected to set up Berbatov for the goal, there was very little of value that he provided yesterday. Everytime he had the ball, he passed it to Fletcher and when he joined the attack, it was in positions of least responsibility. He’s no Fabregas and if he weren’t playing for Man U, a few million people across the world would not have known too much off him.

Here’s what I think Man U should do. Play 4-3-3. Settle on 1 right back (any of Rafael, Brown or Neville). Have Fletcher/Carrick as the holding (and not the creative) midfielder. Get Scholes in midfield and pull Rooney in there as well. Then leave Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez up front and let them move all around and see them massacre opposition.

Christmas Round Up

2008-12-26T16:39:00.001+05:30

With most leagues around the world at the half way stage, thought I would just find out the who’s who from some major ones and the I-League. Of course, in some countries the season has ended and Champions have been crowned and some of these are being mentioned as well.

India I-League

The I-League is 10 games old, though four teams have played nine games each with a couple of games having to be postponed owing to the great terror tragedy in Mumbai. Sporting Club de Goa lead the table with 22 points from ten games, four points clear of Fed Cup Champions Mohun Bagan. Churchill and Air India are third and fourth.

Churchill not surprisingly are the most prolific in the goal-scoring department with 17 goals. 11 of these have been scored by the Nigerian Odafe Onyeka Okolie. Wikipedia stats tell me that the 23 year old has as of now scored 99 goals in 88 appearances for Churchill over three seasons! World Player of the Decade for Odafe?

England Premier League

Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Arsenal are the top 5 going into Boxing Day in England and it is a 1 point gap at the top after 18 games. (Man U are 7 beind Pool but with 2 games in hand and so Man U supporters in Bangalore have been heard to say…we are just 1 off…haha).

Chelsea have scored 36 goals in their 18 games and have conceded just seven, emerging as the most prolific offensive and most miserly defensive team. In fact their seven goals conceded at this stage is the best across all major leagues in Europe. Anelka has scored 14 and is comfortably on top of the scorers chart.

Hull presents an interesting case with a ranking of six, with 27 goals scored and 31 conceded, thereby being one of the highest ranked teams with a negative goal difference anywhere on the planet.

Germany Bundesliga

A Christmas fairytale for TSG Hoffenheim, sitting on top with 35 points after 17 games. Its all very close though and only 3 points separate the top 5 and it will be interesting to see if Ralf Rangnick’s boys can hold on till the end of the season.

Hoffenheim have not just taken the points, they have done it well as clearly proven by their 42 goals. Bosnian Vedad Ibišević heads the scoring charts with 18 goals and Hoffenheim’s ability to keep hold of him in the winter and keep him fit till the summer may be crucial to their title challenge.

French Ligue 1

It’s all predictable in France with Lyon (38 points) at the top albeit with only a three point lead over Bordeaux. Stade Rennais and PSG are third and fourth.

Marseille are the top goal scorers with 33 in 19 games and you can see that this season Ligue 1 is a little subdued.

Toulouse are seventh and have scored 19 goals as a team but 12 of them have been scored by Frenchman André-Pierre Gignac, which will certainly make him hot property in January as well. FYI, Karim Benzema is on 10 goals and justifying all the hype that surrounds him.

Spain La Liga

If there is one team in Europe that stands head and shoulders above all others, it is Barcelona. 41 points in 16 games, ten points clear at the top, 48 goals scored and 10 conceded. That’s how you dominate! They also have the Liga lead scorer in Samuel Eto (15 goals) and then there is Messi with 10 and Henry with 8 and you have to just go wow! What a Pep!!!

Sevilla, Atletico, Valencia and Real come in next but they are all way behind the leaders. Among the other noticeable scorers in the Liga you have David Villa (12 goals) and Kun Aguero with nine.

Mention must also be made of Sporting de Gijon, who have the worst defensive record in the league having conceded 35 goals but are ranked 11th which is a rarity as in most other leagues, the teams with the worst defence are struggling in the relegation zone.

Italy Serie A

Its Jose’s Inter playing almost like Chelsea did under JM who lead the table by 6 points, with 42 points secured in 17 games. Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina follow but true to reputation, Serie A leading scorers are not so leading when compared across Europe.

Inter have 31 goals for and 11 against while Juve have 30 for and 13 against, thereby illustrating Mourniho’s ability to get his team to do just enough (and nothing more than that), consistently. Chievo meanwhile are ranked last and with only 9 goals scored are the least prolific team across Europe’s big 5 leagues.

Gilardino (Fiorentina), Marco d Vaio (Bologna) and Diego Milito (Genoa) have scored 12 each. Inter’s Ibrahimovic who is having greatness thrust upon him by his manager is at 10 goals and Juve’s Brazilian-Italian Amauri is at 11.

Turkey Super Liga

Sivasspor and Trabzonspor may not be household names, but they are the top 2 clubs at this stage in Turkey. The usual suspects Galatasaray and Fenerbahce come in next and it is all very exciting with 2 points between the top 4. (The leaders have 34 points from 16 games).

Galatsaray have scored 38 which is the best for the league. Interestingly the Super Liga has teams which match the best defensive and worst offensive performance across Europe. Kayserispor have conceded only seven goals (like Chelsea) and are ranked 7th and Hacettepespor have scored only nine goals (like Chievo) and are in a troubled 17th (out of 18) position.

Away from England, Milan Baros is showing his worth leading the scoring with 14 goals for Galatasaray.

Holland Eredivisie

Its AZ, Ajax, Steve McLaren’s Twente and PSV in that order in Holland. AZ have 38 points from 16 games and are 3 clear at the top.

Ajax have 38 goals, 2 more than AZ. What Ajax don’t have is Mounir El Hamdaoui, the Dutch-Moroccan star of AZ who has scored 14 times this season. Also Huntelaar, soon to be of Real Madrid has got only 6 goals for Ajax this season, and on current form he may or may not be the answer to Madrid’s problems for the season.

Portuguese Liga

Its Benfica, Porto, Leixoes Matosinhos and Sporting Lisbon in that order after 12 games in Portugal.

Brazil Serie A

Sao Paulo won their sixth Championship after amassing 75 points from their 38 games in Brazil. Scolari’s old team Gremio came in second, three points behind, followed by Cruzeiro and Palmeiras. Washington (of Fluminense) was joint top-scorer with Keirrison (Coritiba) with 21 goals.

Argentina Primera Division

The Apertura leg of the complicated Primera Division in Argentina (they have another leg called Clausura and I’m not entirely sure of the structure) ended in a three way tie with Boca Juniors emerging champions after a three-way playoff. The stunning news from Argentina is that River Plate finished 20th and last. Jose Sand from 4th placed Lanus scored 15 goals to emerge top scorer from the Torneo where each team plays 19 games. BTW, San Lorenzo and Tigre were the other two teams in the three-way playoff.

Russia Premier League

Rubin Kazan, my favorite sounding team from the entire world won the Russian Premier League with some weeks to spare a few months ago. They finished with 60 points from 30 games, 4 ahead of CSKA Moskva. Dinamo Moskva and Amkar Perm followed. UEFA cup holders Zenit St. Petersburgh finished 5th, though they do have the satisfaction of scoring more goals than any other team (59).

Vagner Love, the Brazilian at CSKA Moskva scored 20 times to lead the tally in Russia.

El Classico at the Nou Camp, December 13, La Liga

2008-12-15T18:25:00.000+05:30

So that Saturday morning I woke up at seven and went and played some football. Then, spent the rest of the day running around getting things read at home for an evening with friends and then spent the evening getting drunk and fed. So when the game kicked off at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning (my time), I needed some object to prevent my eye lids from shutting themselves up.

And so the game I had waited for, for the last few weeks was seen in between nodding off to sleep and waking up from gentle snores. I think I would wake up every two minutes or so, watch the action for thirty seconds or so and then repeat.

What a waste!

Anyway, still managed to figure out that Messi was fouled at every possible opportunity. That Real basically had planned to defend and would have been happy with a draw but would have been very pleased if they could score on the counter. That when Barca pass the ball around, it sweetens up your dreams.

Finally decided to call it a night and head to bed after Casillas first saved Eto’s penalty and then made two saves that he had no business of making. This will end zero-zero I must have muttered to myself as I rolled into bed.

Serves me right! Goals by Sammy Eto and Lionel Messi in the 83rd and 93rd sunk Real and whatever happens to Real from here on, I was the biggest loser of the night!

Middlesborough v/s Arsenal, December 13, Premier League

2008-12-15T18:11:00.002+05:30

Earlier last week, Arsenal played Porto and turned in the worst Gunner’s performance in the last few years. They fielded an almost reserve eleven and failed to pass hold or do anything with a football. I thought then, that even though the win may not have been critical for Wenger, the performance they produced must have been confidence shattering for some of the kids.

On Saturday, it was the first team on the pitch, or at least the first team available and fit to play. And while the depths of the Porto encounter were left behind, it was still light years away from the Londoners’ best.

For the first few minutes though, Porto felt like a distant bad dream. Some slick passing, Fabregas consistently splitting the defense and Adebayor being a pain in the ass for defenders. The goal was coming and it duly did, through a corner which Ade finished with ease. Terrible marking though, as the striker didn’t even need to move an inch as he headed the ball into the net. Arsenal continued to keep possession well for a few more minutes but then all of a sudden they lost their mojo.

For Boro, it was their equalizer that started it. They had threatened a little before that, but when Cliclhy gave away the ball on the right flank, Tuncay curled a great cross in which was bettered in quality by Aliadaire’s finish. Three defenders and a goalkeeper between the ball and the net and a diving header that no one could do anything about. Brilliant stuff!

From then on it was Boro, Boro, Boro. They attacked and dominated and easily overpowered Arsenal all over the pitch. For long spells they kept the ball in the Arsenal third and made the Gunners look like some kind of relegation battlers. They should have got something from it too, at least a penalty, but Clichy was lucky to get away with a blatant foul in the box.

The Boro dominance continued till mid-way into the second half, till Arsenal finally got their act together again and the Boro legs tired and then again it was the Gunners who pushed for a goal. But while they kept the ball a lot, they did not threaten much and the game ended at one goal a piece.

For Boro there were some fantastic performances. Tuncay is excellent and I am surprised none of the big clubs have shown too much interest. Spurs or Pool might both find him useful and I won’t be surprised to see that happen. Aliadaire, Arca, Digard, Pogatetz, Downing and Johnson all put in 7+/10 performances and a 2-1 win would not have been too flattering for Boro.

For Arsenal, it throws up some further questions. The bench we know has been weak for some seasons but now the consistency of the first teamers is in serious question. Van Persie can be magnificent one day but off color the next. On Saturday, he seemed to be thinking of someone else. Fabregas started the game well but was invisible when Boro were in control. Gallas, Djourou, Clichy and Diaby all had good moments and many many bad ones. Denilson on the right flank was a massive misfit and another of Wenger’s experiments of developing players who can adapt to many positions, looks completely baffling when it does not come off.

There are two positives though for the Gunners to take away from this one. First, in Adebayor they have someone who has now matured into one of the very best in the world in his area of expertise. Second, if there is going to be one season in ten where you can get away with losing points to experiments, then this could be it. With Pool, Man U and Chelsea all drawing on the weekend, Arsene can still believe that the title may yet end up at the Emirates.

Chelsea v/s Cluj, December 11, Champion’s League

2008-12-10T17:06:00.001+05:30

Chelsea needed to win this to ensure qualification and given their recent home form, it would not have been surprising if they had spent the last few days wishing this was an away tie. In the end the Blues finally won again at home, but it wasn’t easy and Chelsea are still far far from their best at home.

First Half

Nothing much happened for the first twenty minutes or so, with Chelsea lacking any real rhythm and Cluj making sporadic forward runs with little effect. Then Chelsea (minus Frank Lampard) settled down and started keeping possession of the ball. Mikel was instrumental in controlling play and they passed it around rather well, always falling flat when the ball reached the opposition box.

Defensively they were not tested too much. Bosingwa, a good player prone to a lapse per game, lost the ball dangerously once and then a moment of communication breakdown between Ashley Cole and Bosingwa (I think) led to a dangerous cross from wide right from the Argentine Culio which led to a bad decision from Cech which needed a goal-line clearance from Mikel before Chelsea could breathe again. Pereira was allowed to shoot speculatively a couple of times and I say allowed because the Chelsea back line tended to stay deep without looking to close down the Cluj attackers.

Cluj were efficient and always in position, allowing Chelsea to pass but not penetrate. They had a defensive approach but were not averse to attacking and they build their attacks down the flanks by playing in neat triangles involving three players.

Kalou, got the Chelsea opener but he should thank John Terry for it. Three Cluj defenders jumped on Terry while trying to defend a lobbed free kick from the right and in doing so let the ball drop to an unmarked Kalou. In true Kalou style, he swung at it and missed but the ball dropped favorably and he had enough time and little difficulty in sending the second effort to the back of the net.

And that really was all there was to talk about in the first half. None of the Chelsea players could have been given high ratings and it was typical of their last umpteen home performances – good play with little impact. Lampard was missed, especially when half chances to shoot were not being taken, but most importantly, they seemed to have surplus resources in midfield. The situation was crying out for a 4-4-2.

Second Half

Chelsea came out and played some beautiful football. They would have got something from it too, but for Claro in the Cluj goal who stopped a bullet from Anelka. And then against the tide, in the blink of an eye Cluj equalized. It was a brilliant goal. Quick passing and movement to leave the left back reeling and a brilliant cross finished equally brilliantly leaving Cech with no chance. Maybe Alex could be blamed for not dealing with the cross, but then it was placed perfectly and there’s only so much that even a well-paid defender can do.

Stunned, Chelsea laid the siege again and again they lost to Claro, who saved brilliantly when Joe Cole seemed certain to finish. Scolari waited 65 minutes before going 4-4-2. My pick for player to be substituted would have been Ballack, who was the least impressive on the night, but out went Kalou and in came Didier Drogba.

Immediately Chelsea looked more threatening and they started using route one to get the ball into the opposition ox, but we know all that… that is exactly what Drogba does. But it was his finish which drilled home the point that he is a superstar in this team of superstars. So many times in the evening we had seen players take that fraction of a second longer to get into position and the moment to score had passed. I’m dropping names like Deco, Ballack, Joe Cole, Anelka etc. who all could have scored had they the speed of lightning. But they didn’t and that takes nothing away from them.

But then Mikel found Joe Cole in some space who lobbed it to Drogba who was charging towards goal. Before you knew it the ball was in the back of the net. In no time at all, the guy trapped the ball had it neatly on his feet and drilled a power shot before anyone could say whoa!

Final Whistle

Cluj bow out with heads held high and players on display. Claro, Panin, Trica, Dani, Culio, Pereira and the goal scorer Yssouf Kone all succeeded in creating an impression. For Chelsea it was job done and relief but life will not get any easier for Scolari.

Anelka is a class act but even he is no Drogba. And with Lampard back in contention and after some time Essien as well, he will have a tough time keeping everyone happy.

Personally I would like to see them play with two strikers (4-4-2). Essien, Deco, Ballack and Lampard present themselves as the obvious midfield but this would mean sacrificing width. Then again Joe Cole is too good to be sitting on the bench for long and ditto Mikel (what a performance he gave last night). It’s not easy being Scolari. The paycheck would be helpful of course!

Arsenal v Wigan, December 6, Premier League

2008-12-08T20:52:00.003+05:30

Last year for the same fixture, I happened to be at the Emirates. I sat with my friends Joshi (Arsenal supporter) and Madhur in the Wigan stand as no other tickets to be found. Joshi in fact, was walking right into the stand with an Arsenal jersey on his back, but was thankfully warned by a steward. Not surprisingly most of the away stand happened to be filled by people like us and there were only a handful of passionate Wigan fans.

Looking across the stadium, it was evident that the percentage of die-hard Gooners in the crowd was no better. Barring one stand, which was on some other side of the massive stadium, the rest was strangely subdued. I don’t happen to be any kind of expert in stadia atmosphere, but it was evident that for a 60,000 odd-seater packed to capacity, there was very little lung power going around. Most spectators (with self guilty as accusing) were more interested in taking pictures and feeling good, rather than being ‘one’ with the game.

For the record, that one ended two-nil with two late Arsenal goals sinking a resilient Wigan.
In terms of the game itself, it was a little similar and somewhat different to the affair from the last season. This time it ended 1-0 for the hosts with Adebayor scoring a first half winner and Wigan again putting up a plucky show.

In terms of the crowd, it’s gotten much worse over the last twelve months. Much, much worse. Other stuff happened in the game as well, but Eboue being booed off the ground by his own fans has to be one of the worst cases of home-support I have witnessed – in person or on a television.
Nasri’s injury saw Eboue being brought on as left winger. The man was himself making a comeback from a long spell out injured, and then was put on to play in a position that he is not used to. For sure Wenger knew what he was doing, but then it wasn’t exactly a shocker to see Eboue have a shocker! As the game ended his performance turned from shocking to pathetic to hilarious and by then it was obvious that he had no confidence remaining. Taking him off seemed to be a wise thing to do and that’s what Wenger did.

None of it warranted the booing. This wasn’t a pathetic team performance that demanded a show of dissatisfaction. This wasn’t a guy who had publicly let the club down. At the best of times, Eboue has not been much loved by Arsenal fans but approaching this game, there had been nothing from him that should have made him a target for the fans. If anything, with the team leading and a player clearly out of confidence, a small cheer would have helped him a great deal.

I try and visualize the stadium and I can’t put a finger on the stand which could have produced such a distinct sound in a stadium where anything more than a din seemed difficult to raise. Were the tourists, there for the first (and maybe only) time taking a break from watching others in amusement and taking pictures to realize that Eboue was being substituted and he had been shite? Were the prawn-sandwhich brigade involved enough to know or care?

I keep getting the feeling that it could have been neither. It is quite likely the new-age Arsenal fan, a regular follower of the team who knows his football but who does not know how to be a supporter. One who is fed by today’s media and sees his (and indeed her) football in black and white like newsprint. The old English football fans are a commendable species and Emirates has clearly put up the endangered sign for them.

Other things: Fabregas had a beauty, Arsenal are still scoring one out five that they should have and Emile Heskey is the best target man but the worst goal-scorer.

Homeless World Champions Head Home to Afghanistan

2008-12-08T18:35:00.002+05:30

Lately I have often wondered about how the sports industry can give people a reason to play. Well: here’s an example. The Homeless World Cup that just concluded its sixth edition in Melbourne gives people a better life through playing and is an outstanding effort in the field of changing lives.

World Cup 2008

Fifty-six countries (including India) participated in Melbourne and the team from war-torn Afghanistan emerged as the Men’s Champions thereby emerging as the first non-European champions. The Women’s Championship, instituted for the first time was won by Zambia.
More than 500 players and coaches attended the event and as they return to their native lands (but not their homes), many will hopefully see better lives and better opportunities for having been world cup participants.

Who are the World cuppers?

This is quoted from the tournament’s website and lists the eligibility criteria for participants of this year’s event:

Are male or female and at least 16 years old (must have turned 16 before 01.12.2008) and
Are or have been homeless at some point after 1.12.2007, in accordance with the national definition of homelessness or
Make their main living income as street paper vendor or
Are asylum seekers currently without positive asylum status or who were previously asylum seekers but obtained residency status after 1st December 2007 or
Are currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and have been homeless at some point in the past two years (post 01.12.2006)
Have not taken part in previous Homeless World Cup tournaments.

The Story Behind the World Cup

The story of the Homeless World Cup is the story of Mel Young and Harald Schmied. The following excerpt is taken from Mel Young’s profile on www.changemakers.net. (http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/user/9124/view)

Mel Young, 53, is recognised as one of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

In 1993 he co-founded The Big Issue in Scotland, with Tricia Hughes. The weekly magazine is sold by homeless people in the streets of Scotland and now has a circulation of 40,000. With the success of The Big Issue in Scotland, he helped set up the International Network of Street Papers, a global network of over sixty street papers sold in every continent, of which he is Honorary President. The combined annual circulation of these papers is over 30 million helping 100,000 homeless or long-term unemployed people throughout the world every year.

It was in Cape Town, at the end of the 2001 INSP conference, that Mel and Austrian born Harald Schmied attempted to invent an international language to enable homeless people to communicate with each other around the world. When they realised one already existed – football – the Homeless World Cup was born. The first tournament was held in Austria in 2003 with 18 teams attending from around the world. This was followed by Sweden 2004, Edinburgh 2005, Cape Town 2006 and was staged in Copenhagen in July 2007 with 48 teams taking part.

The Impact

According to stats collected by the people behind the show, 77% of all participants see a positive change in their lives. According to a write-up on FIFA.com:

Post event research, done six months after the Edinburgh tournament, showed that, of 217 homeless competitors, 38% were in regular employment, 40% had improved their housing situation, and only 18% were still selling street papers. And a whopping 94% declared that they had 'a new motivation for life.'

Moreover, the Homeless World Cup has led to grassroots football programmes in over sixty countries with over 30,000 homeless people involved.

The Indian Chapter

Prof. Vijay Barse from Nagpur has driven slum football in India and got his inspiration watching some slum dwellers kick a bucket as a football one rainy afternoon. As founder of the Krida Vikas Manch he began by organizing slum football tournaments for Nagpur dwellers. The scale of his efforts grew significantly over the years and now Vijay is responsible for the Indian team’s presence in the World Cup. For the record, India is ranked 45th out of 48 countries in the Homeless Football World Rankings.

Closing Thoughts

The success and growth of the Homeless World Cup is a salute to the individuals who go beyond the thought of seeing a change and take it upon themselves to make the change. Individuals like Prof. Vijay Barse and Mel Young succeed because they do not give up on an idea in a weak moment and carry it through to its conclusion.

But to give kudos only to them will be to leave the real ‘stars’ out. Some of the real stars are:

Sayeed Reza, who has been begging on the streets of Kabul for five years and scored 3 of his team’s 5 goals in the final
Patrick Mbeu - former national team player for Rwanda, Mbeu lived in a shelter for political refugees in France before playing in the 2007 Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark. This year, Mbeu is coaching the French team and earning his training certificate with the soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.
20-year-old Dehkontee Sayon from Liberia. Sayon is unemployed and technically homeless -- she lives with a friend in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia -- having previously studied accounting at the United Methodist University. "I stopped because of a lack of financial support," she told IPS.
David Duke: Personal problems led to alcoholism which led to homelessness. Now this Scot is getting his life back on track after playing the homeless world cup and finding a reason for pride.

Also Check

Street Soccer Zimbabwe: A documentary film, which follows Tawanda Karasa, Manager of the Zimbabwe team through his efforts in using football to empower homeless and marginalised people in his home country, as well as the logistics of organising passports and travel arrangements for the players in the squad
Goal: The Story of the Homeless World Cup is a book authored by Mel Young
www.slumsoccer.org
www.streetfootballworld.org
www.homelessworldcup.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeless_World_Cup
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/03/sports/hwcup.php
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/homeless-world-cup-kicks-off-in-melbourne.html
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44980
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/news/newsid=706376.html

A Reason to Play

2008-12-05T14:00:00.001+05:30

I was in Jamshedpur on vacation last week and driving around town with the family in tow, we saw an archery event taking place in the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Intrigued and excited, Arti (my wife) and I returned to the scene of action a few hours later and it was a thrilling sight.

More than a hundred kids with bows ranging from the wooden to the coolest taking aim at targets placed 30-120 meters (or was it yards ??) away. This was the national junior archery championship and teams from all across the country were there to do battle. We had encountered the archers before the actual competition had started and what we saw were some practice rounds.

What a sight!

And then I wondered how many of them would still be shooting arrows in five-ten years time! Arti herself had played basketball for her state and then it never occurred to her to continue to do so after school was done. How many of these kids I saw would be in the pool of players still aiming for the Olympics when they reach the age?
The answer sadly is not many. Like Arti, for many travelling for camps and national level meets as a school kid will become memories in adulthood with not enough real relevance. One cannot blame them as a living will have to be made and the bread earned and the mortgage paid. The answer has to be in the direct linkage of livelihood with sports.

Take the example of Biwani and the boxers that are made. If you box well you can get a job with the army. This has created a large pool of boxers and the facilities to train them. And form this large pool have emerged one Olympic medalist and two who got close.

If similar solutions can be traced for more and more disciplines and similar pool of sportspersons can get created for each of them, I’m sure in a country as large as ours we will still be producing champions in spite of a lack of infrastructure and the best coaching. The trick is to make sure that they do not stop playing.
And the answer for football will also lie there. Yes, footballers probably have more of a future economically than archers even today, but then it is a sport that the whole world plays and hence the critical mass requirements for football are that much larger.

So here’s in search of a solution that gives youngsters an economic reason to play football. If anyone reads this and has an idea, let’s discuss and implement it. If it’s not for football but for any other sport (say shooting or swimming or wrestling or anything else) let’s hear about it and do something about it. There are many things that Indian sports is need of, but the biggest of them all is – a reason to play.

Salaam Stanley Matthews

2008-11-14T18:51:00.001+05:30

‘Brain Drain’ is a term that I have not heard used too often this first decade of the millennium. Instead ‘global economy’,’ world citizen’, ‘cross-cultural’ and ‘international exposure’ are doing the rounds. Wherever you travel to, Indians are found in abundance. From Hunslow or Slough around London to La Chapelle in Paris, you walk into areas that feel like Delhi or Coimbatore. You may be far away from home, but you are rarely an alien.

I guess it must have been different in the 1950s…very, very different. This is the time when Subrata Dasgupta’s father, a doctor from Kolkata (then Calcutta) set sail to practice in the Blighty. Reaching the shores a few months after his father as a six year old, Subrata Dasgupta spent the next seven years of his life in various parts of England and until the elders decided that the call of the motherland was too strong to resist anymore, he grew up quite like an English lad.
“Salaam Stanley Mathews” is Dasgupta’s recollection of those days and the time he spent in England. But with a name like that, of course there’s more to it. The book is a tribute to the legendary footballer, it is an insight into the middle class life of the fifties in England, it is a guide on English football of that period and though it is not really “Oliver Twist”, it is a gripping read about the adventures and times of a schoolboy.

The book begins with the story of a little Bengali boy with little grasp of English trying to find his feet in a world which views him as a novelty. Towards the end, the little boy is old enough to understand that in many ways he is indeed a stranger and touchingly describes the realization that he, even on returning to his parents’ home, would be a stranger.In between the beginning and the end, is the life that the small Dasgupta family of three led through those seven years and young Poupee’s journey through neighbors, schools, friends, crushes and football.

A goal-keeper’s polo neck jersey and a description of the ’53 FA Cup final was what made the author fall in love with football, before he had seen or played too much of it. The pictures in a book of Stanley Mathews and Mortensen captured the nine-year old’s imagination and Mathews and Blackpool became ‘his’ in the manner of any passionate football fan. And it is the football that lords over Poupee’s childhood.

There are uprooted unhappy Indian dadas, there are neighbours - stiff upper-lipped and the more friendly type, friends who like a good fight, a father who loves creating models and is obsessed with Everest and a mother who could have been a professional singer but pines for her large joint family back home. Then there are the bigger issues that he sees with his child-eyes – If England is home, why do all the ‘dadas’ celebrate when they lose in cricket? Why do they force catechism at school? How can the English schooling system be so unfair as to decide a child’s future at the age of eleven?

Yet, for a boy obsessed with football and living his childhood, all bigger issues of life and world take a back seat on Cup Final day. Having the ability to hold a conversation about the League and who the best players are, are a prerequisite to making friends. The pain of seeing an idol fail to light up the stadium is far greater than any caused by displaced roots. The joy of seeing the idol win a cherished prize is equal to any personal success.

For Poupee, football became a religion and Mathews its God. When his family moved to Derby he grappled for a bit with the problem of being a Blackpool supporter while living in Derby, but he solved it amicably by adopting his new home town’s team as his second team and loyally followed them till his days in England came to an end. A doting father took him to his first game and till the very end he regularly went to the Baseball Ground (then Derby’s home ground) to cheer on is team. He lived the victories and suffered the defeats. He stood waiting in the cold with adults for the Saturday evening paper to arrive at the stores, so he could know all the results. He spent hours discussing and debating football with his friends. He spent hours at neighbours’ homes in front of the TV watching all live football that he possibly could. And one day, when on a summer vacation in Blackpool, he got the chance to meet (and get a picture taken with) Sir Stanley Mathews!

Exhibiting child like curiosity, Dasgupta peppers the book with questions racing through Poupee’s mind. With years of wisdom added to his childhood experiences, he provides thought provoking answers to some of them. Here’s one - Why does cricket writing have Neville Cardus while football is written like pulp fiction?

You may have your opinions on whether you found the book fluidly written or not and if there were points where you lost interest, but if you are a football fan living in India, trying to construct a picture of what it would be like to be there cheering your team on, you are bound to love this. True, fifty years have passed and a lot has changed in England, in India and in what it means to be supporting a club, yet the game remains as beautiful now, as it was then.

A number of Premier League fans from England, write all over the Internet about how fans in foreign countries are fair weather supporters who choose the flavor of the season as the team they support. Having seen a number of friends pledge loyalty to clubs and remain with them through thick and thin, I find Poupee’s love for Blackpool beginning with a match report and pictures, not very different from the circumstances in which we in India have chosen our favorite clubs. True, a lot of us did not live Poupee’s life, but in our imaginations, we do.

The Silhouette at Montmartre

2008-11-12T16:47:00.009+05:30

One of the most captivating spots for a traveller to the French capital city is Montmartre - mountain of the martyr. Perched high on a hill not far from the famous Moulin Rouge and a short walk from the Parisian sleaze hub of Pigalle is this towering monument, which I reached as the sun made his first moves towards the horizon one Friday evening.

Paris has the ability to make you smile even if you are a lonely, homesick and somewhat disinterested traveller, by providing an ambience of music and festivity around well advertised tourist infested destinations. Personally, after having experienced the jungles, I have found it hard to get excited or awed by monuments - including the best of them. Yet I was looking forward to Montmartre as multiple trusted Parisian friends had vouched for its effect to cast a spell.

And true to the promises, I was spell bound. There was something special about sitting on the steps that led to the Church and taking in Bob Marley songs performed by a young Frenchman bathed by a very gentle sunlight in perfect weather. There was something special about being alone in a calm crowd and observing people who were observing people. There was something special about walking inside the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur while the prayer service was in progress (some of the text on the walls inside was in Malayalam). And it was a special feeling of calm when you walked behind the dome to suddenly lose the crowd and find a lone musician practising on a saxophone in a quaint garden!

And then there was Iya. Stood precariously on a 3ft * 3ft platform, ready to roll down the hill, Iya was making a football do all that he wanted it to do. Depending on where you stood, you could see Iya lord over the city or be blessed by the sun. For once my trusted Olympus lay in Bangalore when I needed it with me. Used my phone to get some pics and video which I am posting here.

Learn more about Iya on http://www.iyatraore.com/. He can also be found on youtube and may be seen at PSG. And if you happen to be in Paris, expect to find him at Montmartre (or other not too tough to find places), juggling away with his cool black cap beside him filling to the brim with coins of appreciation.

Arsenal v Manchester United, November 8, Premier League

2008-11-10T19:02:00.003+05:30

It was a great night for Arsenal who finished 2-1 winners against the Champions on a night when any other result would have led to more tut-tutting and comments about the wisdom of Arsene. Personally I don't think that this win has provided any new proof regarding Arsenal's title credentials and if they had a one in four chance of winning it before Saturday then the odds should be no better or worse today.

We all know that Arsenal can win against the best and can do it in diapers and that's just what they did. The question is, how many times out of 38 will they do it this season and whether their own inconsistency will be exceeded by that of the other contenders.

"Entertainment" is the word that summarizes the 90 minute thriller with chances and openings and moments of brilliance. Trappings of a Saturday evening social life made me miss the first twenty odd minutes and the Nasri opener. A delayed start to my half-time smoke break resulted in me missing Nasri's second. And so, as I saw it, it was a game dominated by Manchester United with very impressive resilience from Arsenal supplemented with counter attacking punches.

For Arsenal, Nasri caught the eye even though I didn't actually see him score and Diaby has impressed me every time I have seen him. Bendtner clearly is not cut out for the lone striker role and they really need to work on their crossing. And while I am all for the beautiful football, I can't understand their reluctance towards retaining possession as the game draws to a close.

Alex Ferguson and his team will be furious at not having at least taken a point from this one. The problem with having such a star studded front line is that someone needs to sit on the bench and on days when the goals don't go in, questions will always be raised about why the star on the bench didn't play. And even with that understanding I too am tempted to blame the absence of Tevez for the lack of bite.

But here is why I'm really in bliss after the game. Rafael, coming on as a second half sub for Gary Neville is the type of player who spreads joy. In the few minutes he was on the pitch, we saw him hold the ball under pressure from a herd, we saw him make a brilliant tackle to stop an attack and then we saw him score for the Red Devils - a left footed wonder strike from the right back. He may be a while away from playing ninety minutes week in and week out, but he should get there.

While Neville will slip into the veteran's super sub role, I expect Wes Brown to be looking for clubs in a season or two. This was my second sighting of the Brazilian and there is a special happiness in seeing a potential phenomenon in his very early days. This week I'll be basking in that joy!

Fenerbahce v Arsenal, October 23, Champions League

2008-10-23T16:48:00.004+05:30

This one in Istanbul contributed seven out of the 34 goals scored across eight games this Champion's League night (Villareal v Aalborg saw nine goals and Steaua v Lyon had eight). As the stats suggest this was not a day for defenders, but even so the 2-5 scoreline shows them in better light than their performance deserved.

Had Fenerbahce (specifically Danny Guiza...pronounced Geetha I think....is he a babe from South India?) punished Arsenal for all their defensive errors like the Gunners did to them, maybe this one would have ended 5-5. But it didn't and Arsenal deserve all the praise for making this one look like a thumping.

This was an entertaining Champions League game. Open, attacking and of course with lots of goals. This was also like our weekend 5-a-side game. Flowing this way and that with only the scoreline at the end being the difference. And so many goals scored that it even that being difficult to keep track of!

I'm not trying to imply that Arsenal were not the better side. They were miles ahead and deserved the win. It was also evident that if the two sides played ten games between themselves, the Gunners would end up winning eight of them as their personnel are so obviously more talented.

But as a team Fener did not look inferior. They passed the ball around equally well and exploited the Arsenal Achilles heel as many times as they suffered the same. The difference was in the finishing. The difference was in the number of players who could make an impact. The difference was in the ability to turn position and possession to goals.

With Song and Silvestre responsible for protecting the goalkeeper and Eboue at right back, the Gunners defence was a question mark and within the first five minutes Almunia had to make a critical save. This will be a toughie I thought...but not for long.

Ninth minute, Fabregas plays that pass from the middle of ht epitch splitting the central defenders, perfect for a striker to run on to. The pass I love to watch. Adebayor gets to it and is easily stronger and faster than the men expected to stop and scores. As soon as the replays get over and we are back to live action, Fabregas does it again. Only this time it's Theo Walcott who receives it, lets a touch take it wide of the diving goalkeeper and with the next touch the ball finds the back of the net. Then a Silvestre own goal gives Fener some hope but in the twenty second minute a long ball is played and Diaby manages to hold off a number of defenders and score!

That to me was Arsenal's strength. It wasn't as if they always had to look out for Adebayor and depend on him to do the job. They had so many guys involved and willing to exploit the situation. By contrast, the Turks seemed to have only Guiza to turn to. Sentruk was trying hard to do some hero support work, but was not in a difference making position often enough when it mattered. And Guiza? Well he was like Luca Toni at Euro 2008. Making life difficult for defenders but not goalkeepers. Yes, Almunia was great. Not just with the blocks and stops but his reading of the situations as well. But it is also true that everytime Guiza got the ball with the defence beaten, his first touch let him down. Never did he manage to get wide like Theo did. When he did score it was off a bouncing ball which was gifted to him by Song. On the grass, his form wasn't smoking!

For the Gunners, it was yet another shuffled line up that delivered. Diaby's performance was outstanding and if the defence was a concern, the attacking potential of the defenders was not. It seems sad that even in the Champions League you have teams with such a mismatch in quality. Player-on-player all Arsenal players were better than their Fener counterparts thought the defenders ran each other close on that one.

A final thought on this one. Arsenal may have won comfortably and will top the group and make it to the next rounds of the Champions League for sure. They also have some very good players. Yet some of them are not finished products. Walcott has some amazing skills but needs to get smarter. Nasri can be more threatening. An interesting situation. If they are so good now, how will they be as they get better? Also if they don't get better soon enough, will Arsenal yet again end up falling just short in the league. For Arsenal, the learning curve cannot be fast enough.

Espanyol V Villareal, La Liga, October 18

2008-10-22T18:49:00.000+05:30

As I reached home numbed from a ten hour flight and switched on the TV, La Liga was the tonic I needed to take me through till the early morning hours when sleep would eventually come thanks to jet lag. The first image I saw was of Drenthe fouled in the area deep into injury time and then Higuain step up to convert the penalty to give Real Madrid a 2-1 derby win over Atletico.

Worried that I might have missed all the football action for the night, I was pleasantly surprised to see Espanyol and Villareal kick-off within moments of the final whistle sounding in Madrid. This was a game that ended nil-nil and yes I did fall asleep just as injury time ended in the second half, but it was definitely not the football that put me to sleep.

This was one of those scoreless games that can be a treat to watch and though a few days on, a lot of the details have been erased from my memory, I remember going oooh and aah many times over the course of the game. The great thing about this game was the way it changed its course and style every few minutes. From languid passing to scrappy to counter attacking to through balls to moments of dullness.

What I distinctly remember are two great passes from two great midfielders. In the first half de la Pena, the heart of Espanyol played a lovely through ball between the defenders which Luis Garcia failed to spot on time and did not make a run for. The second a similar, though even better pass from Marcos Senna which was latched on to by the Villareal right winger Javi Vente (I think) who in turn was brilliantly blocked out by a home defender. I remember thinking that Senna’s pass was like an invitation to a party you would never want to miss! Just beautiful.

Of course, it was great to see Robert Pires in action after a long time and he had a good though not great outing, playing behind the striker instead of out wide. It was also great to see the Estadi Olimpic, one of only three European venues where I have been at the venue not just in spirit but in the flesh as well. Espanyol will be moving to a new stadium next season and rightly so, as this one is too large for the 25K fans o so who turn up to cheer the second team from Barcelona. A number of stands are kept empty and the home crowd though loud and supportive, find it hard to create the home atmosphere that their team would love.

The thing about watching Espanyol is that you can’t fail to notice how much of their play is down to one man – de la Pena. Almost everyone looks to get the ball to him and then let him decide how he wants the move to develop. And by God he is good. Amazing awareness, delightful passing but what stands out is his ability to keep hold of the ball under immense pressure. He’s a joy to watch.

Which was partly the reason that Espanyol’s deployment of a lone striker drove me crazy. Tamudo is fast and all records suggest that he is a very decent finisher. But, he is not Didier Drogba. When Riera was around a lot of the balls were played to him and the left wing was a source of creativity for the team. I had a feeling that Pena does not have the same level of trust in Nene, the Brazilain playing wide left in the 4-3-3/4-5-1. Very often the only option the midfield maestro had was to look for Tamudo amongst a host of defenders and the ball went to the Yellow Submarine who then built an attack of their own. My point is, if you are really relying on one player in midfield then why not take someone else out and provide more passing options up front? There must be good reasons for Tintin Marquez (yes that’s the manager – Tintin) to adopt the strategy that he does, but then I failed to see it.

On Villareal and their play, my memory has been wiped out. I swear I made mental notes but can’t remember a thing now. Apart from the pass and Pires and that Vente had a great game. And once in between I do remember thinking that the reason the game was end-to-end was that both teams were receding quickly to their boxes when they lost possession – so that includes Villareal as well. There..pearls for you.

Italy v Montenegro, October 15, World Cup Qualifier

2008-10-16T19:18:00.003+05:30

This was my first look at Italy post the Euro '08 shambles and this game saw Italy under Lippi reach a run of 30 unbeaten games which puts him at par with the legendary Vittorio Pozzo and though Lippi has one World Cup lesser to his credit, the achievement is still remarkable. The Italian performance though, was anything but remarkable.

This Italian team is not the same one as Doandoni's European misfits. Amelia in goal, Dossena at left back, Pepe at right mid-field, de Natale on the left, Aquilani as number 10 and Gillardino as the striker were all either not in the squad or were starting from the bench just a few months ago. Add to that the return of captain Cannavaro to the back four and this was a new team all right.

I haven't bothered to do any research on this but three players from the Euro team who impressed me most were all missing and if it was not because of injury, then I cannot understand why. Grosso and Camoranesi had provided the team with some spark and Pirlo had showed glimpses of why he is a great player but all three were gone.

Anyway, the game kicked off and in no time it was apparent that Montenegro would struggle to get anything out of this. Three or four times in the first seven minutes, Italy threatened to score but were just about kept out. Not so in the eighth minute. One of Aquilani, de Rossi or Gattuso (not sure which one at all) played the ball wide right to Pepe from the centre of the field and the Montenegrin left back panicked and dived on to the ball rolling it towards Pepe and removing himself out of the equation. Pepe crossed to Gillardino who thought he could finish it. The goalkeeper parried the shot and it fell nicely for the oncoming Aquilani who finished it with ease. Another day, another goalkeeper, it may have not been so, but Italy had looked good for the lead up until then.

Following that opener, the Italians were strangely subdued. They defended deep and allowed the opposition to come to the box which was quite unnecessary as on the evidence of what had been seen so far, they could easily have won all the battles in midfield and hardly allowed the visitors a sight on goal if they so wished. Instead they sat back and invited trouble.

Montenegro were playing something like a 4-3-3 and had clearly identified Dossena as the weakest link. They played the ball wide right when they got the chance and one such move led to a cross that should have ended in goal but was blocked off the line by Zambrotta.

When Montenegro did score it was on the counter, which was strange because it was one of the rare occasions when Italy did have so many men forward. And the goal itself must have made Lippi tear out his grey hair.

Vucinic had the ball and carried it to the edge of the Italian box with a couple of team mates in support. Doing defensive duty were Chiellini, Cannavaro and one more with Chiellini the player on Vucinic. Then when he reached the edge of the box, the Montenegro skipper seemed for a moment to have run out of ideas and could not find a pass to his team mates and you thought that the counter was over, till he suddenly played the ball a little wide on the left, made space around Chiellini and shot into goal. No way should Chiellini have allowed him to create that space and get that shot, especially as he seemed to have his man well covered.

Italy again went on the offensive and regained their lead soon after, with Aquilani's shot (from de Natale's cross) getting deflected into goal. And there were no more goals after that so, Italy won 2-1 on the night.

The Italian's preference for defending deep is something I have already mentioned, but their approach to attack was something that baffled me as well. Player-on-player they seemed far superior and I expected them to play the ball through mid field, have full backs forward and generally keep the ball in the attacking third all the time, but that was far from what happened. Every time the Italians started a move, you saw Gattusso or de Rossi approach the centre line (the other stayed back) and then try and pick out one of the four players in the opposing half with a longish pass. With the wide men really wide and with Aquilani placed somewhere near the edge of the box, there was no flow in the play and whether the possession turned into attack was dependent upon the quality of the pass and the opposition's defence.

The fullbacks and the second midfielder did eventually get forward but it would only be if their teammates had managed to collect the ball and keep it there for some time. Then when the ball was lost, they would all go and collect again around Amelia and wait for the opponents to arrive with the ball.

I expected the second half to be different. I expected the Italians to fight for every ball in mid-field and defend up front rather than at the back but it did not happen. By the time, I returned from my grilled fish and risotto dinner (consumed in the hotel restaurant at breathtaking speed at half-time), Dossena had been substituted (for Bonera) but that was about the only thing that changed for the Italians.

And while they were never, for the remainder of the game under any serious threat, I just could not understand why they left the possibility of the threat open. Montenegro managed to spend much more time in attack than the quality of their players and play deserved and I hoped a free-kick or a defensive error would lead to an equalizer to change the Italian approach. Vucinic was their main man and if something was to happen, it would have to be him but on some occasions he fell just short. When he was substituted in injury time he received a very well deserved applause from the visiting fans and he acknowledged them with some dejection at not having completed the job, but by then he must have been tired enough to drop dead.

And so Pozzo's record was equalled. Lippi is undoubtedly a great manager and their approach reflected exactly what we have always heard and expect from an Italian team. I'm not convinced though, that he has the team to pull it off against tougher opponents though. The defence is not looking good enough to withstand a continuous onslaught from a more accomplished team and the target man and the wide men may also lack the ability to create much without additional support. If the strategy remains the same, he needs a stronger man up front, more creative players on the wide and defenders who can play every minute of all games like Zambrotta. Or, he could keep more or less the same players, be willing to expose his defence just by letting the fullbacks go up in support, look at shorter passes and maybe a more creative approach. But either ways, he needs a new striker!

England v Kazakhstan, October 11, WC Qualifier

2008-10-13T18:04:00.002+05:30

In front of a packed Wembley crowd, spurred by the 4-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb, England were faced with Kazakhstan, ranked lowly but with lofty ambitions. For the first two minutes the visitors passed the ball around in the English half but after that the game settled into the expected pattern. Which was the Kazakhs defending deep and in numbers and the English looking to find a path for the ball into goal.

England had lined up in a 4-3-3 with Barry in the holding role and the Lampard - Gerrard pair entrusted with the task of dictating the play from mid-field. Heskey played as the lone striker with his back to the goal for most of the game. Walcott was on the right and to my surprise, Rooney lined up on the left. Even with the same set of players I would have expected Rooney to play just behind Heskey, especially as it is fairly obvious that the strong man Wigan striker is definitely not a big goal threat.

To me this formation suggested that England were to build their attacks through the centre. Gerrard and Lampard would play the ball wide and Walcott and Rooney would either
· Beat the defence and play the ball into the box for the oncoming Lampard/Gerrard, or
· Cross the ball to Heskey who would then nod it into the path of the oncoming Lampard/Gerrard

Wes Brown at right back and Ashley Cole at right back were of course to get forward as well to create extra pressure from the flanks all of which should have culminated with deft passes on the ground or crosses in the air into the box.

As the first half was played, England showed little evidence of managing either of the two routes to goal. The Kazakh backline was organized and deep and never let the ball and the man get pass them. This resulted in Rooney and Walcott seeing a lot of the ball but not really being able to create a play with it. Walcott was especially involved but without impact and Rooney seemed wasted on the left. All that England could manage in terms of attempts were some speculative shots from Lampard and though Gerrard was not getting forward like he would have been expected to, it is a fact that there wasn’t much space provided for him to run into balls. Heskey did the job he was supposed to, but so limited is his role in scope that it has little meaning if the forward men around him can’t create chances.

As for Kazakhstan, they did their job at the back and sowed some good movement, but it was clear that they were slower, weaker and less technically gifted than England. Anytime they tried something which required some level of skill (a through pass, a long ball) they would get outrun and outpowered and lose the ball.

Which led to some very interesting discussions at half time. I was convinced the game was England’s for the taking. Firstly, you could expect the Kazakhs to tire as the game progressed and secondly and more importantly, England would definitely be testing them with a weapon they had left untouched throughout the first half – the cross. I expected Beckham to come on for Walcott as the first change, though the other question was the need to have Barry against this opposition. There was hardly any shielding that the back four had needed and even though Barry’s absence would leave spaces for the Kazakhs to attack, even two centre backs looked well and truly sufficient to handle anything that their opponents could try and create.

Capello did take off Barry to put in Wright Philips on the left. The idea was to move Rooney to the centre but Rooney seemed to move to the right until the breakthrough finally came. While Wright Philips was lovely, it wasn’t really the change that led to the first goal. It was a good proper cross from Frank Lampard into the box which found Rio Ferdinand who was left unmarked to head into a near empty goal with no defenders covering the posts. That it came from a corner which was won from a SWP effort was a coincidence. The fact that it was England’s first good cross of the game and it got them a goal was not a coincidence.

They got three more goals from crosses. One more from a Lampard free kick which resulted in an own goal. Then one from Brown (this cross from the right, the other two had been from the left) which found Rooney. Then one more when Rooney finished after a Beckham (on for Walcott) cross late in the game could not be defended by the visitors. The last goal was Defoe latching on to a Heskey pass and beating the defence to score, but by then Kazakhstan were just too tired and seemed to have no legs.

The moment of the match though was a blooper. Ashley Cole played the strangest of defensive passes right into the feet of the Kazakh striker who showed calm and composure to score the visitors’ only goal from the resulting one-on-one. It made the score 2-1 then, but that was all to change and it finished 5-1 for England.

While England did score all five goals in the second half, I don’t think it was the change in formation that mattered so much. I think had they tried the option of crossing in the first half, maybe they would have seen some result. Yes having Rooney in the centre did help to convert them but then the first two came from set-pieces and it was strange that the English width had not tried that route before.

Mathew Upson’s performance was going to be a matter of interest for England and as it turned out we did not find out much about his potential at this level. Neither did we get any convincing answer about the Lampard-Gerrard pairing. Two thoughts on this. First that if Heskey is the target man, a second striker needs to play because he is not going to be a goal threat. That means Rooney can’t be sticking on the left and that means Joe Cole or in his absence Ashley Young or Downing or whoever. Second, the holding midfielder can be dispensed with against the minnows like Andorra and Kazakhstan. It is only then that Lampard-Gerrard can play as the central midfield pair. If the manager is going to take it as a challenge to always play Gerard and Lampard together then against a good team (say Croatia etc.), one of them will have to take the Joe Cole role with Hargreaves or Barry partnering the other. But then Joe Cole is the best player in that position for England and Walcott, SWP and Beckham or Bentley all are good for the right (with different types of impact).

So what’s the summary? When the opposition is playing with 10 men in defence, play Lampard and Gerrard together, else not. Another thought – against the minnows play Crouch instead of Heskey as he can win the balls AND be a goal threat.

Good win for the English though. Looking good to qualify and Capello delivering just like you would expect him to. Clearly a very wise and free thinking manager willing to do his thing and play a game over two halves. McLaren would never have done the things he has – not the least keeping Heskey in the playing eleven and leaving Owen at home.

Ring Rust

2008-10-03T14:05:00.002+05:30

For the first time in a month I played yesterday. Six a side. It was a miracle I turned up after finally going to bed at four in the morning.

I reached late (0185 hrs) and the game was in flow. Luckily I didn't have to wait on the sidelines for long as one of the boys left and I subbed in. Just like that. One month layoff, no warm up, no stretching, straight in. Add to that my boots are a size too small for me and have hardly anything left inside them leaving me very uncomfortable throughout.

I played a central box-to-box role and was by my poor and fluctuating standards, a failry decent outing. I managed to win posession many times and started some attacks. Our team had one player in a red jersey who seemed capable of carrying the ball and posing a threat and I tried to play as his feeder. Unfortunately we never got any great understanding going and he seemed to lack a bit of trust in me. We could have done better, but as it was it wasn't too bad.

My regular teammates were all on the opposing side and were off colour themselves. Easy to take the ball off and not passing like they can. In the end it finished around level on scores (we didn't keep count) with no one team really playing better than the other.

Speaking of myself, I thought my trapping and tackling were okay but I was really slow on the turn and the passing was a bit of a disaster. I did manage to score once from a goalmouth scrap, but apart from that got into very few scoring positions and messed up one good chance. The fitness of course is far from its best and I hope I don't have many more long periods of absence.

Tomorrow we play again :-). The problem now is going to be with weekday games. Tullu's apartment at NGV next to the ground used to be our regular changing room after the mid-week game. Will have to figure out how to shower before getting into work after a weekday morning game pretty soon. But before that...new cleats!

News Links

2008-10-01T19:42:00.003+05:30

I will try and keep updating this as frequently as possible. Here I will try and rovide links for articles and news on football that I come across that is beyond the headlines and the match or quote reports.

October 1: Polish Football Federation in Crisis
Polish football faced its latest crisis Monday after the national federation was suspended by its court-appointed chief for allegedly failing to tackle corruption in the domestic league. Click Here

October 13: Cuban Footballers defect
Cuba got drubbed by the USA in a World Cup qualifier recently. But that wasn't the worst of their problems. Two Cuban players, including the team captain saw their chance and ran away, i.e. defected. Click here.

Aalborg v Manchester United, September 30, CL

2008-10-01T18:34:00.006+05:30

There may not be many whipping boys around in this Champions' League, what with the impressive performances seen from Cluj and BATE, but Aalborg played this one as if they thought they would get whipped.

They would have been too had the Red Devils shown the desire for a demolition rather than use this as a practice session to build up confidence and get match fitness. In any case, when the final whistle blew, the defending champions were ahead by three goals without reply and it was a very well deserved win.

It was not as if Aalborg did not try to play. They did try and get some moves going buy they had no clue what to do with the ball once they reached the final third. Their defence, led by a very spirited first half goalkeeping performance by Zaza, was not in shambles, but was stretched and error prone. In all it was a performance that betrayed a complete lack of belief and for it to come in front of the home crowd, does not bode well for the Danish club.

For Manchester United, it's three points in the bag and three players in the infirmary. Scholes, Rooney and the delightful Brazilian right back Rafael all had to be substituted before the 70th minute and the loss of the first two will be a blow for them as they look to climb up the Premiership table. Other points of interest were the performance of Rafael and the first goals in red for Dimitar Berbatov.

The Manchester United think tank had obviously not over estimated the threat posed by Aalborg and started with Tevez on the bench as well as Wes Brown, allowing match time to Rafael and the not-too-in-form Berbatov or still-recovering Ronaldo. They eased into the passing and attacking routine quickly and should have gone ahead soon enough, only for Berbatov to shoot over when he should have scored with eyes closed.

It was the injury to Scholes, that brought in Ryan Giggs in central midfield and he played a superb pass to Rooney in the box which was finished well by the England striker. Rio Ferdinand's role in the build up to the first goal should be mentioned, for it was he who shrugged aside an opponent, carried the ball into the Aalborg half before handing the ball to Nani who played it to Giggs in the hole behind the strikerr.

The second goal was a howler from an Aalborg defender, who literally set it up for Berbatov to shoot into the net with the goalkeeper out of position, and the third was good work from Ronaldo from the right to set up Berbatov at six yards and Berba finished spectacularly a chance that was tougher than some of the others he had in the game.

Rafael the young right back entertained with his skills and showed great attacking drive. He was very involved in the game and showed great positional sense though his defensive skills did get expose once. May not yet be ready for starts in the premiership but not far away from it either.

Berbatov's two goals would give the impression that he is back to where he should be, but I feel he is still far from it. Against better defending both those chances may have been unlikely and the other elements of his game like the first touch and passing are no where near his Spurs days. He could of course, look to play as a poacher with the support cast that he has, but we all know that there are other aspects to his game as well and it would be great if he can show more of his old form.

The Ronaldo rehabilitation continues and he did seem to improve even as the minutes passed, but he too is a few steps away from his peak. Expect this Manchester United team to look more dangerous sometime soon. Even with players injured, they still have Hargreaves, Anderson, Tevez, Park and others to call on, so it is only a matter of time for them. What did rankle about their performance was the lack of intensity and an appearance that bordered close on disinterest. Even at one nil up they seemed to be focusing on experimentation and allowing their off form players to excel rather than going for the kill. The goal celebrations were definitely muted, almost like something seemed to be at the back of their minds.

But then they have Sir Alex. If it needs fixing, think he will do it.

Football Museum in São Paulo

2008-09-30T19:11:00.004+05:30

50 years after Brazil were crowned Champions of the World for the first time, Museo de Futebol has been inaugurated in São Paulo by Pele. Located in the Corinthian stadium stalls the first theme exhibition is dedicated to...who else but Pele! This link also has some pictures of the Museum.

This of course is not the first football museum on the planet. The Telegraph article points to the existence of the National Football Museum in Preston, England since 2001. Scotland has its own Scottish Football Museum at Hampden park in Glasgow which has amongst its exhibits, what is claimed to be the oldest football related letter ever written.

Then there is the Japan Football Museum in Tokyo dedicated to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Nou Camp Football Museum inaugurated in 1984 at FC Barcelona's home and dedicated to the club is a concept that I would not be surprised to find repeated across other clubs with history.

Guess where else I found a football museum....Oslo! Fotballmuseet displays the belongings of Norwegian greats and is located at the Ullevaal Stadium. If you ever happen to travel there, don't forget to have a pizza meal at a place called Dolly Dimple's next door :-) In case you are interested, Norwegian football's premier league is known as Tippeligaen and Lyn, Rosenborg and Lillestrom are some of the better known clubs. There are also the more interestingly named clubs like Ham-Kam. Tore Andre Flo, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and more lately John Carew are some of the well known players. But they do have history. The most capped (104) Norwegian international is Thorbjorn Svensson who played for the country between 1947 and '62 and the leading international goal scorer is Jorgen Juve (1928-37) who scored 33 times in 45 appearances. Deserving of a museum indeed!

Karen Brady: The first woman of football

2008-09-30T15:25:00.002+05:30

Karen Brady is the managing director of Birmingham City football club. This is a position she has held since 1993. She was 23 then. And no, just in case you were wondering, she wasn't related to anyone who owned the club.

For someone who didn't go to University, so that she could start earning young and learn the ways of professional life, she defintely has achieved enough to show that her 'education' taught her what her 'studies' may not have. She was into advertising when she managed to sell ads worth over 2 million pounds to a single client. The client, John Sullivan hired her and made her a director at his firm. Karen was 20 then.

Then Birmingham FC went for sale and Karen persuaded Sullivan to buy the club and let her run it. From a club in administration, Birmingham was turned to a profit making enterprise in no time and has enjoyed some years in the Premiership in Ms. Brady's 15 year spell in charge. She has faced some controversies as well, being arrested for suspected financial irregularities not so long ago, but no charges were pressed and no further questioning has happened. She has faced the ire of fans, and in her interviews shows an appreciation of the special relationships (and hence say in policy) that fans of a club have.

Now faced with a market where clubs need billions and not millions to compete, she is ready to move on once the future of the club is secured in the hands of a magnate looking to play "My Club is Bigger". All the best to her!

Stories abound about her toughness in a male dominated world and how she has dealt with the challenges. A player once commented that he could see her tits and she replied by telling him that he would not be able to see it from Crewe and got him transferred. Don't think too many players would be getting cute with her anymore.

It's difficult not to admire her. For breaking into a male bastion. For doing a bloody good job of it. For doing it at an age at which B-School tagged 'bright young people' like me are management trainees. For not eating out of a silver spoon.

The Aiyo League!

2008-09-26T20:39:00.008+05:30

The second I-League kicks off today. A word like 'professionalism' has been associated with Indian football in recent times, more in hope than conviction and the I-League is supposed to be the vehicle for change.

As things stand today, the I-League needs more change than it can think of bringing about. Most of the 12 teams do not fulfil the AFC requirements (for what??? I'm not sure...but some requirements) of having age-group teams, their own stadia etc. The AIFF have also been unable to appoint in time a CEO for the league and the recruitment process is still on. Needless to say one can expect a lack of any professionals, leave alone professionals with professional beahvior, in more executional roles as well.

Its frustrating that everytime our sportspersons take a few forward steps, the establishment just slips further behind. In the year that we have qualified for the Asia Cup and our club team has made it to the semi-final of the AFC cup, our national league refuses to mature and we stage international matches on swamps.

By the way, the winning club will receive a whopping 5 million Indian rupees for their efforts. That's 125,000 USD. That's for the I-League Champions. How much did the IPL winning team make: 1.2 million USD.

Continental Giants in our backyard?

2008-09-26T19:48:00.006+05:30

Dempo becomes the first Indian team to make it to the semi-final of the AFC Cup by beating Home United of Singapore (spectacular 4-3 away win to clinch the tie). After India's qualification for the 2011 Asia Cup, this now becomes a second cause for cheer for Indian football in a couple of months. That's more footballing success than we are used to experiencing in years and yet, the celebrations must be on hold as we are still light years away from where we should be.

The AFC Cup can be partially described as the UEFA Cup equivalent of Asia though there are some clear differences. Keeping in mind the possibilities of lop-sided encounters and the likely prospect of clubs from weaker footballing nations almost never experiencing international club football competitions (like Faroe Islands clubbs in Europe maybe), the AFC have divided the affiliates into three categories: Mature, Developing and Emerging. The top 14 Asian countries participate in the AFC Champions League and the 'Emerging nations' particpate in the AFC President's Cup. India falls in the middle-rung of fourteen (or fifteen) teams and hence our champion club competes for the AFC Cup.

While the structure ensures that Dempo are not pitted against Asian giants like Urawa Reds or the like, it is in all fairness a tough competition and Dempo's achievement should hence not be taken lightly. Clubs from Bahrain, Qatar (easily the moneyed league amongst the lot), Iraq, Singapore, Thailand etc. may not be world beaters, but most will have more claims to fame than their Indian counterparts in recent years.

This is the fifth edition of the competiton and prior to Dempo's win over Home United, no Indian club had made it past the quarter-finals. East Bengal lost to eventual champions Al-Jaish of Damascus in 2004 and last year Mahindra United lost to Lebanese club Al-Nemjeh.

The Goan outfits next opponents are another Lebanese club called Safa, who defeated Malaysian giants Perak 7-0 over two legs. If Dempo can emerge winners from this 'toughie' then they will play the winner of 2006 runners-up Al-Muharraq (Bahrain) versus Al-Nahda (Oman). The tournament has been dominated by teams from Lebanon (champions 2005-2007) and whatever happens, a club from a country that has never won the tournament before will be crowned champions this year (Al-Jaish of Damascus won it in 2004).

Dempo coach Armando Colaco has made his priorities clear by openly limiting his I-League ambitions to survival for this season with complete focus on the continental prize. It won't be easy but with players like Climax Lawrence, Clifford Miranda, Samir Naik, Chidi Edeh (5 goals so far) and eight-goal hero Ranty Martins (3rd highest scorer), it is definitely possible. We'll see. At least there's been progress and that is good.

Sporting Dijon v Barcelona, September 21, La Liga

2008-09-22T21:02:00.000+05:30

If Real have failed to look beautiful even when good, Barcelona have retained a sense of flair even through their toughest times. The Barcelona of Rijkaard and after that is. The difference (with Real) has largely been in the mid-field and forwards looking to take control of the game rather than waiting for the balls to be fed into them. When they have struggled, it has been through being fragile at the back or wasteful in the front and not because of being choked by opposition tactics.

But on days when they get everything right, it is entertainment guaranteed, as seen in the 1-6 thrashing of newly promoted Dijon. The score line may not tell the whole tale as Dijon did give a decent account of themselves and played with ten men for most of the second half, but Barcelona were great with their finishing and unstoppable in their creativity.

The very fluid front three of Iniesta, Eto and Messi backed by a very forward-minded midfield of Xavi, Keita and the youngster Busquets understood each other brilliantly and executed to perfection. They tried outrageous stuff and ever so often pulled it off. Messi the catalyst, Eto the trouble maker, Xavi the controller, Iniesta the threat, Keita the power house and Busquet the punchbag. It was like a play.

Got a first good look of Keita and he may not be in the same mould as Xavi when it comes to floating around the field but his presence looked good and he was the macine that the team needs. The young Busquets, picked ahead of Bojan and obviously Pep’s pick-of-the-bunch from his youth team squad, has potential but will have to mature. He is good with the ball butalways guilty of keeping it longer than needed. I play with a few such guys in our five/six a sides and they drive you mad. At this level it must be making Puyol and co want to tear their hair away but they showed a lot of patience and he didn’t look out of place.

It will be interesting to see the starting eleven when Henri is back and I think it would depend more on Henri than anyone else to make it work as well as it did yesterday. I would expect Iniesta to move into mid-field and Henri to play wide left up front, but he will have to bed himself well into a truly flexible front three. He ended last season well and it would be great to see King Henri fit and doing crazy stuff on the field.

A word on Sporting Dijon, a team that spent 100,000 EUR on summer transfers. If I’m ever called to vote on the greatest home support ever, I will have to mention this one. As their team kept letting goals in, not a single fan moved. Not a single fan stopped singing and the chants grew louder and more celebrative as the game slipped further away from them. They deserved a better chance at retaining their Liga status next year than the miserly investment into new players suggests they are going to have.

Racing Santander v Real Madrid, September 21, La Liga

2008-09-22T20:59:00.001+05:30

This one I saw for the last forty minutes. In the fifty-fifth minute Real scored to take a lead. Then around the seventieth (or so I remember) they scored another. And that’s how it ended: two-nil.

Real sneaked to the Liga in Capello’s season and then won a lot more comfortably under Schuster. And while it hasn’t been the perfect start for them this season, one can safely assume that they will be close to the top (if not at the top) by the end of October or earlier and should be favourites to retain the title.

And yet when you look at this team, it is difficult to say they are the Champions. Schuster replaced Capello for what was to be a transformation to free flowing football but the one thing that Real distinctly fail to do, is look attractive. They do enough to win on most occasions and did enough against Racing on Sunday, but if you missed the goals, yu would be forgiven to think that you were watching a group of slow paced strugglers who had assembled for a game for the first time.

They have enough players of brilliance combined with flair but the onus of exhibiting on the pitch seems to lie on individuals and not the group. The last time I saw Real really being magical was under Carlos Queiroz before they suddenly collapsed after the Champions League defeat to Monaco. Since then under a host of managers and with different results, they have looked a set of individuals rather than a team.

There are still the moments of brilliance though that make Real compelling viewing. Both the goals against racing came from counter attacks. For the first, Higuain started the counter by easily outrunning two Racing defenders to get deep into the attacking third and floating the ball in to the centre of the box. Raul who had run in the line of the ball brilliantly dragged the only chasing defender to the far edge of the goal allowing de la Red to meet the ball in space and finish with ease. A frustrating glimpse of fluidity in an otherwise uninspired display.

The other goal again scored on a counter attack was a genius of a different nature. I think it was Diarra who played a perfect ball from the deep to Ruud on the edge of the box. With the Racing players high up in the Madrid half, there were a couple of defenders left to stop Ruud from doing damage. The Dutch striker looked around for arriving help and was well placed to lay the ball up to an oncoming teammate. Suddenly he dragged the ball wide as if ready to shoot in the far corner of the goal but a second later the ball was in the near post through the defender’s legs and beating the goalkeeper comfortably. Super strike from Super Ruud! Barring these flashes all you saw Real do was try and kick the ball out of their box desperately and at times with great difficulty. There was a comment in the post-match analysis that we should expect Real to be largely a counter attacking team this season without the influence of Robinho and with no major creativity added. Their approach indicated the same but one wonders if it can’t easily be very different. With more of a focus on the collective it is not too difficult to imagine a team that plays through the middle, passes, flicks, steps over and enjoys the game a lot more than the current lot seems to be doing. Maybe it is too early to judge them for this season. In which case I’ll not flinch if I have to change my opinion. In fact, will look forward to it.

Manchester City v Potsmouth, September 21, Premier League

2008-09-21T23:51:00.000+05:30

Only saw the second half of this one with the first half overlapping with Chelsea v Man U and by then City were already two-nil up. In the second half, Pompey folded to conceded four more and City ended with a massive 6-0 win.

For City, Jo seems to have done the job in the first half and on today’s evidence their line-up seems irresistible. Elano and Ireland in midfield and SWP and Robinho on the flanks with Jo as striker. When things go well, they Samba. There was a lot of class on display in the second half and Mark Hughes has a team which already has a very impressive line-up. Assuming the Arabs turn out to be smart owners, expect them to cause a lot of problems for the big four next season. For this season they should look at achieving consistency and getting results every week. How well they do on that front might determine how many of the current crop remain when the churn starts.

What stunned me was the Portsmouth performance. True their opponents were on fire, but it cannot explain why Pompey gave up all the fight. Even when you are down five-nil, the manager would expect the players to be trying hard enough to save further humiliation which Portsmouth clearly were not. The shoulders had dropped to the ankles and they let City do whatever they wanted. Harry Redknapp will have learnt a few things about his players today and it will be interesting to see how Portsmouth bounce back from this.

Chelsea v Manchester United, September 21, Premier League

2008-09-21T23:36:00.001+05:30

The pressure in my view was largely on Manchester United for this one with game coming a bit too early in the season to cause much impact making momentum swing. A defeat to Liverpool followed by a draw against Villareal and Alex Ferguson could have done with a softer fixture than this to ease their way back into form. However their status as Champions of England and Europe demands that they take what is thrown for them and they had to be ready.

For Chelsea, there were the points, and the unbeaten streaks to lose. Over 4 years and 84 games without defeat at home and almost ten months without any league defeat. But a manager like Scolari would not get flustered by the loss of streaks if indeed Chelsea did lose. It’s a record that you can feel proud of as long as it carries on but when it does it get over, you just say “had to happen” and move on.

The world expected Ronaldo to start but he didn’t. Neither did Tevez and instead of the fearsome foursome you had Rooney and Berbatov up front supported by Scholes, Fletcher, Hargreaves and Park ji Sung in midfield. Not quite so ‘fearsome’ but more pragmatic and dare I say, the smarter decision.

For Chelsea, the major selection headaches have been avoided till now thanks to injuries and the line-up could have been predictable. But Deco injured himself in the warm-up and that meant that Ballack, himself recovering from fitness and slated to be on the bench, now had a starting role. Drogba was on the bench too and it couldn’t have been too soon for Chelsea for good as Anelka is, Drogba in the team is a different level of impact altogether.

I didn’t expect the game to be of the highest standard and it was not. But it was more engrossing than most other games because so many players of such quality can bring an added dimension to scrapping which other teams can’t. And it was a scrap. Almost from kick-off till the final whistle and at the end of it you could not decide if a draw was a fair result or if Man U were lucky to get a point. Had they held on to a win, some might have even felt that was justified and it would be an opinion you could easily argue for.

The commentators insisted that Man U had been the ‘dominant’ team leading upto their goal around the 20th minute but I disagree. I think Chelsea had had the better position and Bosingwa and Joe Cole looked to be the most threatening combination on the park. Not that Chelsea were dominating either. It was just a little yo-yo game made interesting by the willingness of all players to go for every loose ball. Anelka nodded the ball for J Cole for the first clear cut chance of the game which Cole uncharacteristically shot over. Today though, barring a few good moments, this was more typical of how he played.

If Manchester United did dominate, it was for a brief period just after Cole’s miss. Maybe it had more to do with Carvalho having to go off with an injury (replaced by Alex, one of the best bench options for central defence in the Premier League). The goal was scored by Park after Cech failed to hold on to an ordinary Berbatov shot and the defence had completely lost its shape. But I felt Chelsea’s frailty at the time was their central midfield which was failing to assert. For a few minutes they were completely shackled by Fletcher and Scholes and could not push the play beyond the half line allowing Rooney and Berbatov to get involved and play the ball on to oncoming midfielders.

Manchester United were doing their job and for some time seemed to have remembered Sir Alex’s displeasure at being out-hassled by Liverpool. They were definitely out-hassling Chelsea for a spell in between and even before the goal Chelsea were finding it difficult to clear the ball properly. Added to that they were failing to spot Man U movements and that allowed Rio Ferdinand a simple shot on goal which Cech did well to save. But when moments later Evra got the ball from an attempted corner clearance, Man U were presented with a second chance and they didn’t fail. Evra was allowed to bring the ball to the box (Bosingwa found wanting) and play it to Berbatov. And Cech, not the great keeper he once was spilled it and Park had to tap in. Noticably their was no Chelsea player tracking Park.

After the goal it was Chelsea who woke up and Man U while not quite going to sleep, seemed to lose the desire to get creative. The big difference was made by Mikel, Lampard and Ballack who started winning a lot more balls and finding the gaps to get it to the feet of J Cole and Malouda.
Chelsea ended the first half on the up and continued the pressure in the second. Drogba came on for the again-ineffective Malouda. In some ways it was like watching Pool v Stoke, only this had a lot more edge and flashes of skill. While Man U did do a fairly decent job of holding Chelsea and not giving them too many chances, they were far from assuring. Van der Saar tried to play through injury but withdrew before he made a serious blunder. Kuszack’s reliability looked suspect and with no Vidic available, Rio Ferdinand had to put in a commanding performance to protect the lead for as long as possible.

And yet Chelsea will have no one but themselves to blame for not taking three points out of this. Joe Cole missed another but then set Anleka up for the easiest of tap-ins which he missed with an empty goal and barely any distance between him and the line. There were other wasted chances too. Man United were threatening to break occasionally but there was nothing truly worring for Chelsea. The equalizer came eventually through sub Kalou from a set-piece which Man U should really have defended better.

It is difficult to describe precisely the nature of the game if you didn’t see it. Till the very end it was a ‘fight for the ball’ contest with some good touches, passes and blocks. It also had some of the worst touches by premier league footballers that you will see, culminating in a series of four different players failing to kick the ball properly. It was competitive but not violent, though ref Mike Riley went bonkers and booked seven, yes seven, Manchester United players. It was competitive but not great. Neither was it boring...

Ronaldo got a run in the second half, and an attempted bicycle kick and an embarrassing dive apart, he did not make much of an impact. But he is bound to be rusty and it will be a good few minutes under his belt. Ballack and Drogba were the Chelsea players making their comebacks and while Ballack was decent after the first few minutes till he got substituted, Deco’s presence was missed by Chelsea. Drogba like Ronaldo did not set the stage on fire and will need some time to be back to his best.

For Man U, the worries continue. They failed to get their strikers involved often enough and they will need to start showing more authority. Maybe they will need time to bed Berbatov into the equation and figure out a stable first choice central mid-field player. The quality is evident but it hasn’t started flowing for them yet.

For Chelsea, Malouda is clearly below par. Game after game he shows that he is missing that last 5% which could place him at par with the rest of the team. Ashley Cole’s resurgence a great left back continues and Bosingwa can make a lot of impact but needs to get better with his crossing. Not too many problems to worry about, except maybe cutting down their defensive errors.
Both managers should be happy enough with a draw though Alex Ferguson will be anxious to get some wins and bags of goals soon. This draw leaves Arsenal one point clear at the top and to my mind if I had to pick the best team on form, the table seems to be pointing its fingers right. Exciting days ahead!

West Brom v Aston Villa, September 21, Premier League

2008-09-21T23:30:00.001+05:30

Villa have the team this season to expect to win home and away against a whole bunch of opposition and then some more against more direct competition. This is a team that has progressed over the years and are close to reaching their reasonable peak given the football eco system of England. Martin O Neil backed by Randy Lerner have formed one of the best owner-manager pairs to achieve the more traditional step by step improvement which is more an exception than the norm today.

It took two sleepy minutes from West Brom to allow first John Carew and then Agbenlahor to score. Villa’s efficiency in making full use of their chances illustrated the confidence that the team has and even though it was the home team that dictated play for the rest of the game, Villa were deserving winners.

It was a display of good old “English football” with two teams using pace and power to create chances and regularly look for the finishing touch. West Brom don’t wear the look of a team that has just been promoted (unlike Stoke) and they played positive and at times good looking football. It was ninety minutes of a competitive battle and thoroughly enjoyable. There were however few moments of genuine class and a lack of ideas to finish. Yet again most of the thinking revolved around putting the ball in the box and hoping for magic or blunder to happen.

John Carew stood out in attack and his physical presence caused persistent headaches to the West Brom defence. In fact Carew making a nuisance of himself without even touching the ball is what resulted in the error which then led to the second Villa goal (within 45 seconds of the first).
West Brom themselves pulled one back pretty quickly but were not able to repeat the act with Villa keeping excellent shape till the very end. Martin Laursen was fantastic and totally in charge of all situations.

Ashley Young is a player who gets talked about a lot and though he’s been around for a bit, I must confess this was my first good look at him. He does take a lot of responsibility and has the creative urge, but was a little off on execution today. The first goal though came from his free kick and he definitely is an exciting looking left sided player.

This was Villa’s third away win in 6 days and they will need to continue this efficiency to stay in touch with the leaders so that come the end of the season they can feel comfortable enough of a UEFA Cup spot to aim for something much higher. West Brom will not roll over easily but they need some creativity to add to their grit to push for a top ten. They look positive enough to stay clear of the relegation zone when the time comes.

Bolton v Arsenal, September 20, Premier League

2008-09-21T03:15:00.003+05:30

Arsenal’s Bolton jinx is definitely a matter of the past. It left well and truly when Big Sam did and today was just confirming the trend. An emphatic three goals to one victory for the visitors and they are top of the table at least till Chelsea have played United tomorrow. And it’s a position I am not yet willing to bet is one they can’t hold on to. For all that the unbelievers will say about last year’s ‘lack of depth’ problem catching up with them again this year at some stage, I think that barring a few positions, they are reasonably well covered. That they might have it in them to challenge on all fronts (the great Big Four cliché) this year. That Arsene knew all along.

Today he started without Van Persie and Walcott and of course somewhere in the horizon are Eduardo and Roscisky. But the players he did use did their job fabulously. Bendtner partnered Adebayor up front and it was a midfield of Denilson and Song to partner Eboue and Fabregas and what a fine job they did.

Bolton did take the lead through a set piece and Kevin Davies and Arsenal’s fragility to lobbed balls was exposed many times through the game, but in the first half they were thrashed by the Gunners. In the few minutes before they scored the equalizer, Arsenal ripped the Bolton defence apart their usual slick pass and move play, as well as more direct feeds to Adebayor. Ade had a brilliant chance to score but he hit the post with the goalkeeper to beat and Song found the other post from a corner soon after. Bendtner could have scored but eventually it was Eboue who did. And even though the goal should have been disallowed for offside, it was clearly coming with all the mayhem that was created in the Bolton area.

The second came soon after with a Bendtner finding the striker’s instinct on a low cross from the left from Denilson. The Arsenal performance of course went beyond the goals. There seems to be a little bit of Cesc Fabregas in all of them. Each man can make measured passes, get involved, move, create, anticipate and the Arsene Wenger Project 3 is up there with some of the best football projects in terms of quality. The Oscars are what remain to be picked by this one. Of course, Cesc Fabregas has more of himself in him than the others and it shows. He was as usual everywhere: making plays, collecting passes, keeping possession, defending and controlling play.

Adebayor is maturing in the role of a target man and he is the closest to Drogba in terms of sheer box-presence. Arsenal have added the ‘ball to Ada’ as a new dimension to their game and are served well by having it. And they keep it well mixed to not get predictable or lose their essence. There are a lot of things about their play that you just have to love.

Bolton came back well in the second half and used their own lon ball expertise to good effect. Looked dangerous from set pieces and cosses but they also played the ball around well around Arsenal’s box. With better finishing abilities they would have found the equalizer. Sub Vaz Te had a great chance to draw them level but he scoffed it when he had enough time to set himself upo and shoot from six yards.

And Arsenal went a little off the boil as well. Clichy was lost through a bad Davies tackle just before half-time. That created a little more hesitancy at the back and Sagna also lost consistency to allow Bolton some dangerous possession. Song, Denilson and Eboue all became just a bit subdued before Wenger made the change that sparked some life back into them.

Walcott has been the talk of everyone connected with English football and his dozen and a half minute presence on the pitch justified the billing. The third goal came through his burst of speed and a well set up pass to Adebayor on the right who curled in a brilliant ball for Denilson to finish. Walcott played in the centre today and his utility in the hole-role is no less to his impact on the right and with so many versatile players at disposal, there is a lot of options for Wenger to move players around with few specialists.

Eboue is one of the most versatile having played centre, right and left (today) midfield having started in Arsenal as a full back. I think he will e the preferred central midfield partner for Fabregas in the long term. What he needs to add to his game is ninety minutes of drive like Fabregas for he definitely calmed down in the second half after an inspired first fifty minutes or so.

Other notes for Arsenal: Clichy got injured and one hopes its not for long. Defence is the one area where Arsenal truly seem to lack adequate cover, though their saving grace may be their ability to win with a less than clean sheet on most occasions. The other question mark will be their ability to cope without Fabregas at some stages this season and I would like to see Wenger try out a Cesc-less midfield one of these days.

For Bolton, there’s hope and it was a good second half performance. They’ll need to continue doing that at the Reebok and away. Their big problem will be finding the next Anelka because someone apart from Davies has to chip in with goals. The January window could decide which league they play next season.

Liverpool v Stokes, September 20, Premier League

2008-09-21T01:33:00.002+05:30

The pick was between West ham v Newcastle and this one (great being back home...the joys!) and I must say I gave the first a long thought before picking this. Zola’s debut as Hammers boss and Newcastle in their continuing state of chaos: very tempting indeed. And more promise of entertainment. But I picked the Liverpool game to get more of a look at Riera and with the obvious curiosity of seeing the follow-up to the impressive win over Man U last week.

When Gerrard scored from a free kick in the second minute I felt vindicated and expected a few more in the game but the linesman raised the flag for offside and it was disallowed. Ungoal!

The Kop will argue forever that this was two points snatched away and the linesman should be hanged. It was a ridiculous decision alright. Not only was no player actually offside as the ball was kicked, there would have been a strong case of no interference even if someone had been. But the decision stood and it was the last time the ball went into the net in this one.

Even though they were robbed, Rafa’s team were also given 88 minutes to do it again and set things right. Against a team that played a 10-1 formation with no midfield. Much like they themselves had done to Marseille just a few days ago. Okay the last one was an exaggeration but Liverpool know a thing or two about holding on to a score and also about being held. And with all the seasons of having dropped points against teams they had no right to, you would expect them to have one season of getting it right. For the sake of a multi-horse race to the finish I hope they will be in the hunt till the end, but with performances like this, that will only happen if other contenders have enough equally shitty nights to match the Reds.

When faced with a team defending in the box, the deadlock can be broken in many different ways:
1. A wonder strike through a maze of players beating the goalkeeper (set pieces included)
2. A wicked deflection (mostly off a defender) from an attempted wonder shot
3. An inspired individual beating a number of defenders and causing confusion leading to creation of space and opportunity for a close range effort
4. Lots of movement from attackers again leading to above mentioned outcome
5. Defensive errors ( many different forms and personnel)

The only real approaches that Pool had were looking for a wonder strike and hope for defensive errors. There was maybe half an attempt from sub Benayoun to create something in the box but it was largely up to Gerrard or Torres to make it happen. There were of course a smattering of attempts from Alonso and Kuyt and even Carraghar but there were too little ideas to my liking. And Riera made no more impact than any other team mate till his substitution.

Stoke did the job they set out to do (and which I believe is what they have been doing game in and out through the last season as well resulting in a ground out promotion) and are a team that like Liverpool, may depend on other teams being poor rather than see their own performance carry them through to achieving their season objective. The one statistic to look at for Stokes will be the number and percentage of their goals that will be created (or scored) through Rory Delap long throws (play of the day material).

Two comments before winding up on this one. First Rafa started the game witout a defensive midfielder (Xavi and Steven in midfield) showing a surprising change from last season when he was accused of being too defensive against weak opposition at home. Look how that turned out! Second, it got so boring that I fell asleep for twenty minutes in the first half. By what I saw in the half-time report I didn’t miss much. By what I saw in the second half, I wished I had snoozed some more.

Marseille v Liverpool, CL '08-'09, Sep 16

2008-09-17T19:27:00.003+05:30

Goals! Set yourself goals and achieve them. That's how you progress, that's what makes you successful, that's what is most important. Heard it often from teachers, bosses, corporate trainers and anyone who cares to impart the wisdom of life. Wish things were different...wish football was just a bit different.

It was a Steven Gerrard wonder strike that gave Liverpool the equalizer almost immediately after the French club had taken the lead. And not too much later a Steven Gerrard penalty that put Liverpool ahead for what would be enough for a 2-1 win.

Apart from that from Liverpool we had some fine runs and dangerous play from Ryan Babel and some great work by Pepe Reina. But it was Marseille who played most of the football.

What was amazing about Marseille's effort was their refusal to play the long ball even when they had pushed men forward and were getting desparate. They always chose to play it through the field, were not afraid of taking on Liverpool defenders and showed some amazing ball control, passing and dribbling abilities. But they did not score. Lot of method but no Goal.

And when it was all over you felt for them because against one of the better teams in Europe they chose to play. Yes it was at home and the onus was on them once they fell behind, but many a richer team (Liverpool included I dare say) would not necessarily have approached the problem similarly.

Kone, Niang, Taiwo and others may have ended up on the losing side but there were moments worth remembering. In the end, it was good defending, missed chances and great goalkeeping which won it for Liverpool. There was a moment where a lovely pass was played almost to the byline just beating the Liverpool defender (not sure who...French commentary...really small TV screen...seen from a distance) and Kone back heeled it to set up a super shot on goal which the Marseille player (Karim Ziani i think) shot over. Then there was another moment when 3 Pool players converged on a Marseille attacker on the edge of the box and a twist and a turn later all three were beaten only to be followed by a tame effort on goal.
It went on till the very end, with a glanced header just about being clasped by Reina before it would have found an opponent's boot and be guided home. Of course, Liverpool could have scored twice more with both chances falling to Babel...one saved brilliantly and one just missing. But for all of the second half Liverpool lobbed the ball into the opponent third when they had the chance.

Yes they did enough, yes it was efficient in a hostile place and yes Gerrard's super strike deserved what it got them. But this is not about denying Liverpool. This is about crediting Marseille. But that doesn't help them. Zero points is what they get and there are no consolation prizes. Missed your goals - failed. Simple. After all they all said so....

Down, down, down....

2008-09-17T19:12:00.002+05:30

And I read about some Spurs' fans complaining that they can't stand following the team anymore after they lost to Villa on Monday. Think of the fans of Santa Cruz - the club that gave Rivaldo to the world.

Three straight relegations...1st to 4th division before a teenage kid got time to outgrow his football cleats....To the fans of Santa Cruz...May God give you the strength.

Read this to find out more.

Of Heartbreak on Business Travels

2008-09-16T17:42:00.006+05:30

Watching football can sometimes be like brushing your teeth – Not just a necessity but a matter of habit as well. You follow the same motions, need a toothbrush you are comfortable with and if you are picky enough, want the same toothpaste everyday. And if you don’t have these, while you do not give up brushing your teeth, you definitely are not satisfied (taking your morning dump on your favourite pot with the newspaper is another analogy and maybe a better one but...)

It’s the same with watching football for me – while I will watch a game when I can and where I can, nothing compares to watching it in Bangalore at home (or the other place which felt like home – the no more available NGV apartment where for generations the bachelors in our group stayed but have now all moved away). So much so that I find it easier watching European football in faraway India than sitting here in Europe (as keeps happening with me ever so often... what with mundane stuff like a job disturbing the spiritual pursuit of all things football).

For one, the timings of European games are better suited for an Indian audience, especially an audience which has an aversion to hitting the pubs on Saturday evenings. Secondly, TV channels and their programming staff (God bless ESPN Star) have made me a dedicated follower of some leagues (England and Spain) with occasional glimpses of others (Only 2 sports channels...hence the occasional Serie A when the cable guy decides its time for Ten Sports). And while it does limit one’s breadth of perspective, it is great to develop vertical expertise. And having followed the two leagues for years on an end now, it feels strange when a weekend passes and you don’t say hello to the same clubs, the same players and the same presenters (btw John Dykes and co have to be close to the best in the business....the ones in this region who speak in English are caught between having to do a job and having to meet people they might criticize the next day).

And while weekends come and weekends go and the existence is blissful there comes a sudden turn of events that shakes things up and unsettles you. Like travelling on work. I’ve found myself first in France and then in Spain and then in France these last few days and guess what, with a combination of the TV available in the hotels, my lack of awareness on what channel will broadcast what program at which time and just an inconvenient (read not the same as Indian) schedule, I’ve seen less of the teams that I love to follow than I would have bargained for.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of football all over and I do watch whatever I can find – lots of highlights from the Dutch league, a very poor broadcast of some Ligue 1 games, many many internationals (with German commentary by Ollie Kahn) and some games between teams I still don’t know of (ARE vs JUV..not Juvenetus... last night on a channel whose name I can’t recollect). And while they are fun and sometimes better than mid-table clashes from the Premier League, the heart still pines. I guess for all its charms, Paris will never be home like Bangalore...huh?

My travels have given me the chance to watch games in-stadia (Parc du Princes, Olimpico in Barcelona and Emirates till now...) but the fates contrive to ensure that most weekends when I am in these parts, the local teams play away. I know it is quite a privilege to get to see the world on company expense no less, and I should not complain so much, but let not my travels get in the way of my football life is what I ask for. Amen!

Sep 10 qualifiers, WC 2010

2008-09-12T22:00:00.002+05:30

Caught glimpses of stuff happening here and there. Some thoughts on what I saw:

France v Serbia: Two splendid goals from Henry and Anelka helped France to a 2-1. However, having seen Henry in recent internationals I still think France will be better served with a newcomer who wants to get involved more and stand by my stance that Henry should retire from internationals and return only if France are in serious trouble. Of course, he is Henry and he can (and hopefully will) prove me wrong. The flip side is that the win gives Raymond Domenech more breathing space. And while I’m all for managers having longevity (and definitely one who has taken the team to the final of the last World Cup), Domenech’s decisions and lack of ideas makes one feel that France would definitely have better alternatives around.

Portugal v Denmark: This match for me summarized Carlos Queiroz’s last spell as manager – of Real Madrid. The Galacticos had an excellent first six months playing some of the most beautiful football I have ever seen, and then suddenly (after the Champions’ League loss to Monaco) collapsed just as the season finished. Portugal were much the same. Dominant and beautiful till they allowed the Danes to equalize. After that they struggled. And while a penalty let them go into the final 5 minutes with a one goal lead, there was a feeling that the game was far from over. When Denmark equalized in injury time, you did think that the night was done, only for a second Danish injury time goal to leave the hosts beaten 2-3. If Queiroz has self-doubts, he didn’t let it show after the game, even affording a smile for the press. But lack of finishing and catastrophic defending against the long ball and crosses (a trait shared by almost all teams on the day) cost them heavily.

Croatia v England: As I struggled to watch an unauthorized internet video stream of the game on a really poor internet connection in my hotel room, Theo Walcott and England had another one of those nights which will give them goose bumps many years hence (like 5 goals against Germany in Munich). And while I’m in no position to put in my two cents on the performance, I do have the pleasure of enjoying the wild swing in reaction from the media and fans alike. Hats off to Fabio Capello though, his genius never in doubt...but this was an occasion to deliver. A defeat would have forever had him compared to Steve Mclaren (an insult given what the man has achieved in life) but victory and the manner of it has suddenly made a nation sceptical after the cagey but ‘job done’ win over Andorra believe in ‘their’ man. Bilic has now faced some music but that again is a testament to the times rather than the man’s abilities and it would be as interesting to observe how the Croats bounce back as it would be to see if England sustain the momentum.

Finland v Germany, WC 2010 Qualifiers, Sep 10

2008-09-12T21:57:00.002+05:30

This ended 3-3 with Klose thrice having to get the Germans level after the Finns had gone ahead. It could have been different had he not missed the chance for the fourth, which came when the score was nil-nil as he stunningly shot a simple header wide.

It was the most unusual of games. A game of defending any cross or lobbed ball poorly, a game of crossing well and heading the ball home brilliantly. It also had a goal that came from a bicycle kick but which really was a goal because of bad goalkeeping.

Credit to the Finns for scoring thrice and really taking the game to the Germans. In fact they had a few chances to score a fourth and a fifth themselves. And it was great to see the fans celebrate even after it ended in a draw in spite of thinking what could have been. Hope to see more of them and learn more of them.

But what's become of the Germans? Yes, they have that fighting spirit intact and it is too ealry to press the panic button for a team that just ended a major as the Runner-up. And yes with or without Ballack they have goals in them...if it is not Podolski, then its Klose. Schweinsteiger, Hitzspelsberger and of course Ballack have a few in them as well. But their defence is a nightmare, especially for a team that will be expecting a near championship run in South Africa 2010 (it will be 20 years since their last WC trophy and they would think it's about time).

I thought at Euro that the Metzelder Mertesacker combination was the weakest link in the German team. Guess what...they got worse. Two guys called Tasci and Westermann had the central defensive roles and they were bad. At least Metzelder tried to push forward like a libero, these guys were doing...well nothing. But none where as bad as Lahm. There has to be a strong case for Lahm to be playing in midfield in stead of the back four. He gets caught out of position and while he is fast, often sees attackers go past him. And let's not even begin mentioning his performance against the crosses. A disaster. Fritz as right back was surely an improvement over Friedrich. He gets forward more often and that encourgaed Shweinsteiger to attack from the flanks becuase he knew he had support.

Enke in goal after the Lehmann era's end, was not great either. And letting that bicycle kick get into goal is not something that Ollie Kahn (commenting in German on whatever channel I was watching on) would have allowed. Not Jens Lehman either. I was surprised that Lehman had been first choice for Euro and after looking at Enke am still left surprised that there are no better German goal keepers in the Bundesliga or elsewhere. Maybe, he had an off day. We'll see.

It will be great to see the Germans play the Russians (if I get the chance to see it of course). This is the Euro semi-final that should have been (had not Russia already played Spain in the group stages?). I expect goals in that one. mmmmm....

Russia v Wales, WC 2010 qualifiers, Sep 10

2008-09-12T20:41:00.003+05:30

I checked in to my hotel in Paris having returned from a three day trip to Spain and switched on the Tv to find that the stars of Euro '08 were fifteen minutes into hosting the Welsh for this one. Before I could get over the excitement of having the chance to once again witness the free flowing Hiddink boys in action, Semak fouled Gareth Bale quite stupidly in the area to concede a penalty (BBC in its live text updates described the foul as 'clattered' I discovered later...not true).

Bale tried to slot it into the corner but kept the hight confortable enough for the keeper who dived to his right and saved. Akinfeyeev has to be amongst the best keepers in the wrold and based on what I have seen of goalkeepers in the last few months, at present I rate him second only to the great Iker Casillas. Given that he is young and has a long career ahead, I completely expect him to be seen at a big spending club in the more prominent leagues of Europe in the next few seasons.

With the commentary in German, it was difficult to identify all the players at all the times and without internet access till after the final whistle, I was left with no knowledge of the Welsh team. Not that it mattered...till half time at least.

Russia were soon back on track and the Welsh conceded a penatly immediately afterwards replicating almost precisely the Russian effort. And up stepped Pavulychenko...he of Spurs and did the job. It wasn't the greatest penalty ever and a more fortunate goalkeeper would have stopped it. But he didn't and Russia were in the lead.

For the next twenty minutes or so, till the half ended, one struggled to spot the ball at Welsh feet. The Russian magic was back and the familiar faces of the Euro semi-finalists were doing the thing. But while they dominated completely, they did not score for two reasons - Wales kept their shape and defended well and for large periods the Russians seemed happy to dominate feeling almost secure about the fact that they would get a second whenever they needed it.

At half-time I started freshening myself up after a tiring day of travel and almost assured of a Russian win myself, turned three fourths of the eye away from the telly. The game seemed to have gone off the boil as well and though Wales seemed more determined and the Russians less so, there seemed to be no danger of a upset.

Until we got to see an absolutely atrocius piece of defending. I'm not quite sure who the three Russians were on the left corner of the box...maybe Anyukov, Semak and one more but they did nothing as Bale took the ball went through them almost to the by-line. They stood and watched. And then as Bale crossed, I am not sure who the two or three Russians were who stood and watched Joe Ledley prod the equalizer.

And while this did wake the Russians up, they struggled to find the rythm of the first half. Their winner came late through a brilliant lobbed cross from the left from Arshavin which should have been headed home by Zyrianov. He found the keeper but Russia were fortunate enough that it fell to Pogrebnyak, brought in as a sub for the off color Semak and he scored. 2-1 at full time and heavy weather in wet weather made of the exercise by the Russians.

Some thoughts...Pavulychenko showed that his Euro display was clearly true to his real self. He's a guy who will get into great positions and miss many. And then he will once in a while create space and produce astonishing shots on goal (and still miss). I think he could be great with Spurs and create a lot of trouble to the opposition though he may depend on form for goals. Modric to create, Pav to be there to exploit the situation and force the save and if Bent can be ready to pounce, Berba may be a happy but not necessarily missed memory at WHL.

Arshavin, priced out of the transfer market thanks to his own success, perhaps now is convinced that he is a star. Make no mistake, he indeed is one. So much of what is dangerous in Russian attacks comes from this guy. Before he crossed for the goal, there was another exquisite lob for Pavulychenko who had he been in the Germany Finland game, would have scored. The problem it seemed was that he was either trusting his team mates too little or over estimating his own ball skills, contriving to give away the ball while trying to take on defenders when not needed.

And Guus...the brilliant Guus. Like Wenger a champion of flowing attractive football. True, twice in the Euro and in the second half here, his team went off the boil, but he can get them to entertain is without a question. And while Wenger is happy moulding players into the style he wants, Guus does it with players already moulded into different styles and gets them to play his way. Saw it with Holland in '98, saw it with PSV when they made the semis of the CL a few years back and seeing it now with Russia. Billionaire owners take note of Guus, he is the guy who can make your superstars play the beautiful game. Guus take note of billionaire owners, they may turn you from the semi final man into the Gold winner.

Arsenal v Newcastle, August 30, Premier League

2008-09-10T23:01:00.002+05:30

I know I am very late with this but a couple of points from the game have been at the back of my head from long and so am finally getting down to posting them here.

So without beating about the bush here are the two main takeways from that comfortable Gunners victory over the Toon:

Passing, Movement and identifying the "Moments of Truth" (like all great Dutch teams) is what makes this Arsenal team so special
Emanuel Eboue showed that he could be the midfielder that Wenger did not buy this season

As the season goes on I am looking forward to having many more chances to discuss both these points.

Chelsea v Spurs, Aug 31, Premier League

2008-09-01T18:20:00.001+05:30

It’s amazing how at times Chelsea’s bench can look ordinary, especially when they fail to deliver. Players like Kalou and Malouda who can admittedly be match winners, are inconsistent enough to seem unfit for the team with the classic short-termisim glasses on, just after they have had a bad day. For Malouda it is clearly is the last chance to prove himself before the next transfer window. Kalou may have more longevity because he does come up with the occasional late winner and is a player who can be afforded to ‘sat’ on the bench in the company of stars. Today both failed to come and have the impact and in the absence of Ballack and Drogba and even SWP, Chelsea may have been left thinking about who wasn’t, instead of who was.

Most of the game went as per plan for both managers. The pattern of the game remained possession from Chelsea and resistance from Spurs much as you would have anticipated. Yes Belletti as holding midfielder was an anomaly but irrespective of the circumstances in which it happened, it shows Scolari’s trust in Essien’s attacking prowess, an aspect that both Mourinho and Grant had largely suppressed.

As the Scolari era unfolds, it is a pleasure to watch fullbacks in blue advance forward. Another big change again from the days past. Unfortunately, Ashley got conquered as the game progressed and Bosingwa thought well but executed poorly throughout, else there would have been more spectator joy.

The first half was action packed but largely Chelsea. The one good move Spurs had, saw Belletti beaten for speed by dos Santos and Bent managing a shot, but apart from that Spurs were happy to keep Chelsea out. Modric saw little of the ball, Zokora was involved but erratic with his passes and Jenas and dos Santos were without much impact. What was good from Spurs was the shape that the defence kept and the drive that Bentley showed.

There were moments of brilliance in the first half – Frank Lampard chips on goal, Deco passes, a beauty from Balletti that landed at the feet of Anelka who trapped beautifully and missed shockingly. And then Essien’s brilliance from deep within his own half, the ball taken to the edge of the Spurs box through brute force and exquisite skill and a glorious shot on goal which hit the bar. Fittingly Chelsea’s goal came through the corner that followed through Darren Bent missing the ball completely and Balletti putting the ball into a mysteriously empty near post. Spurs had been momentarily positive before the goal and were completely bogged down after it, till they scored a freak goal as the first half ended. A 50-50 ball which Lampard won over Modric got deflected to the feet of Bent who did his job by putting it past the goalkeeper in the only one-on-one Spurs had during the game. Chelsea could have won it if they had been equally efficient. Kalou missed another in the second half to add to Anelka’s folly from the first.

With Chelsea it was apparent today why they will find it very hard to play the Arsenal game. With each player willing and indeed able to take charge of the ball every time, their eventual success is driven quite often by moments of individual brilliance, which surprisingly enough are not hard to find. I’m not implying that Chelsea don’t play as a team. Their passing and understanding is brilliant. It is great to see them attempt the most outrageous of long passes and make them successfully. The first touches and the trapping are exquisite and so is their shooting prowess. Today we also got to see a number of dummys and back-heels. There are a number of distinct strengths they have over a team like Arsenal, not least being their ‘strength’ itself, but what they lack is the movement.

And as the game progressed in the second it became more and more apparent that the individual moments of brilliance had drained from the starting eleven and they needed either to move and pass their way around the Tottenham defence a la Arsenal or get a new miracle maker. And this is where Malouda and Kalou fail(ed) to inspire confidence. Ramos on the other hand got on Huddlestone in the centre who had a positive impact and the shuffle that brought around saw Spurs create a little more in the second. But by and large it was largely up to Chelsea to get a second which they failed to do.

The Spurs equalizer was down to a piece of luck but the Chelsea reaction was unimpressive. Apart from injury time in the second half they didn’t look like they wanted it too bad which could be a change that the team does not want to see. As for Spurs, they’ll be happy with the first point of the season, but they’ll know that there wasn’t much more than that they gained. Away from home, against big name opposition, they’ll not always be able to not stay behind. Now that they have a point on the board, maybe they will look to win when such a fixture comes up next.

Mandatory Season Preview

2008-08-27T17:39:00.005+05:30

When is a good time to do a season preview? After the season starts? Definitely not, both you and I would think. But then the world of football is crazy. Games have been played, points have been scored and lost and some managers are already feeling the heat even before the transfer window has closed. So if we can have people getting unemployed even before they form a team, why can't I do a preview, after the view? More so becuase I've hardly seen any of the action yet.

Of course, if you follow the game, there is not much I can give you now in terms of information, so I will stick to opinions and maybe even general rambling. Let's see.

First up the big four. My beard if not my hair has gone grey and I'm wise enough not to claim to be a prediction expert, but it will be a real rocket up my a**e (yes, I edit my own profanities..one day I'm looking at millions of readers including kids) if we do not have the same four comfortably ahead of the rest of the pack when the season closes. And though I'm tempted to further bracket them into two and two (Chelsea - Man U and Arsenal-Liverpool) I will resist the temptaion.

Why? Because I don't think that either Chelsea or Man U will be stronger than last year (not that they need to be) and the title will be decided by tactics, form and fitness rather than obvious superiority. I expect Liverpool to challenge more than before, though their success could depend on how easily the new fullbacks can gel with the squad and how fit the first choice striking pair remains. As for Arsenal, I believed it before and I do so now...we can all predict doomsday but Mr. Wenger is a little smarter than all of us, and I won't be surprised to see the Walcotts and the Diaby's step up and provide us with an entertaining four-way contest.

In the pack that follows, i.e. Villa, Everton, Pompey, Spurs, Hammers, Man City and maybe even the Toon, it is again difficult to predict a stronggest contender. Spurs have the most new faces and perhaps the biggest stars, but the loss of their strikers coupled with the lucky draw that is involved with bringing new players, might see them struggle before they hit the stride. Force me to pick a winner from this lot, and I would go for Portsmouth - I like the fact that they have Defoe and Crouch up front and if their squad is not too shallow, they may be the team to beat in this group.

The more I get into this, the more I realize that the exercise though not futile, demands predictions which I'm wary of making (unless there is money involved of course). So to cut a long story short (or make it more readable), I'll end this with a few things I'm most curious to observe in the coming season:

Managers: Scolari, Ramos and Moyes. Scolari and Ramos are obvious, but can Moyes yet again repeat the Everton story? If yes, I'll nickname him the 'Far More Entertaining Allardyce'
New Players: Many...all actually. Specially look out for Modric.
Old Players: Alves (Boro), Keane (Pool) and Crouch (Pompey)
Surprsie Team: Maybe Sunderalnd???
Fantasy Football favorites: Santa Cruz again, maybe Jenas
...

This is also rather pointless...will just enjoy the football and then talk!

A silent prayer!

2008-08-27T17:31:00.003+05:30

The season is two weeks on and I have watched all of one game (Arsenal's defeat to Fulham) and that too distracted by the demands of hosting friends at home.

Barely aware that Chelsea and Liverpool have won both and Spurs are struggling and other such stuff. Is footballjham turning to footballsham! God let there be more football in my life.

Gold for Albicelestes!

2008-08-27T17:14:00.003+05:30

I'll be honest, I did not watch too much of these Olympics and even lesser of the football that was played. In betweeen shifting homes and hosting colleagues from far-off, I managed to catch a few glimpses here and there.

Of course, for me the stars of these Olympics are not about Phelps or Bolt or the Chinese, but the far more closer to home names of Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender. But these were the Olympics and whatever else was happening all around me, I couldn't have lived through them ignoring the football.

And so I saw the American ladies beat Brazil in extra time for the women's gold, though I admit it was lucky that the pub I was in, chose to show the game and not models walk up and down on F-TV.

And equally fortuitously I managed to see the second half of the final between Argentina and Nigeria, being telecast right after I had finished my own Saturday morning game. As we all know, a Messi inspired Argentina scored the only goal to clinch gold with the Africans settling for silver. But it definitely was not Argentina all the way. While the blue-and-whites kept most of the posession in that second half and Messi entertained every time he touched the ball, the Nigerians waited patiently for their chance and whenever they did get the ball, they produced something dangerous.

It was sublime stuff and difficult to believe that most of the players were under-23. How I wish the leagues and the continental club tournaments could serve the same quality - skilful, artistic and clean. I have read many English fans moan about the irrelevance of international football, but on the evidence of the last few months, there is definitely more joy there, than the "don't beat me even if you don't lose to me" club fair that is served. And with my favorite intenational team emerging champions, I had a happy Beijing '08.

AFC Challenge Cup Winners!

2008-08-22T17:52:00.002+05:30

I'm a few weeks late with this...I was 70 minutes late getting in front of a TV so missed most of that spectacular final. At least I did catch Sunil Chetri complete his hat-trick.

Shifting the final to Ambedkar in Delhi proved to be a sensible move and though the pitch was hardly Old Trafford, it was a big improvement from the stables at Hyderabad. Bob Houghton had gone on record in Hyderabad with hope for rain and more rain, as he felt his team was more suited to the Rugby-style goal getting than competition, but the display in the final showed that the men in blue were definitely the superior outfit in this battle of the minnows.

Bhutia - MVP and with an international goal-scoring record that would put the biggest strikers in Europe to shame, continues to be our talisman and though come 2011 he will be 35, one expects that he would still have a role to play when we reap the rewards of this amazing triumph.

It was Chetri however, who warmed the heart. Even before his sensational performance in the final, he had established himself as the goal-scoring successor to captain Bhutia, and the shifting of focus from BB to SC as the tournament progressed, is very good news for Indian football. Add to that his excellent media presence and I'm left surprised why a few weeks on from that triumph, we have not seen him being signed by some agency or another. Wonder if we can get Chetri a few years in a good league and I don't mean League One in England. A chance in the J-League or A-League would be good enough. I'm sure he has the quality, hope we can find a path for him before it is too late.

We now have three years to prepare ourselves for the bounty that this tournament win has provided us with - Asia Cup '11. We've won and celebrated and it's now time to buckle up, pull up our socks and set our sights on that tournament. It is important to keep focus and not get lost in cries of "Why are we not in the World cup" come 2010. In between we will play many more international games and will be able to blood many new players. We should meet stronger (much much stronger) opponents, and use any distractions like WC qualifiers as preparation for this event. In between we may also participate in the next AFC Challenge Cup and there we can field our juniors to see who could make the cut.

I don't know when Indian football was last in for such excitement. A major tournament to look forward to and three years to hone your skills. We have the perfect platform to get it right. At the end of the Asia Cup, I hope that we will have progressed far enough to break into the top 8 in Asia and will not need to play any more challenge cups. You may say I'm a dreamer.....

The Beautiful Gold!

2008-08-12T19:51:00.002+05:30

On August 11, 2008 we lived the single greatest moment in Indian sports.

Abhinav Bindra won gold at the Olympics. We have had world champions and team golds but the fact that this moment took a 112 years of Olympic time to arrive, shows just how unbelievable amazing this is!

This may have nothing to do with football and yet feels like the most beautiful goal ever scored...

Argentina v/s Australia (Group Stage)

2008-08-12T19:27:00.002+05:30

I've felt before that Argentina are Arsenal in slo-mo (or Arsenal are Argentina fast forward). The thoughts and feelings came back when I caught some of the second half from the Argentina v Australia game. It wasn't just the short passing and movement, it was also the inability to convert...

Australia had ten behind the ball and in the box, and while that let the Argentine's get close to the box, it was the spaces they found and the runs they made in that crowded space, which left one speechless. Riquelme at the top of the box played the 11 to 1 o'clock angles and Messi though not at his best in the dribble or the pass, caused panic all the time. Yet, somehow for almost 80 minutes, it stayed one-nil before the Argentine goal came.

The youngsters looked great though thanks to Doordarshan taking a 25 minute detour (yes, in between the second half), I was unable to see enough to pick specific favorites.

At the same time on another ground, Ronnie from Brazil scored two in a thumping victory for the five-time world champions. Yes, it's largely under-23 and yes it's New Zealand, but don't tell me just now that the toothy Gaucho isn't back.

Trumpet Time!

2008-08-08T19:57:00.004+05:30

If I'm planning to do this often enough, it may make sense to just list all the stuff that I write and that gets printed elsewhere (with my knowledge and permission of course) in one place. So here it goes and any future links will be added to this post:

Let the Games Dribble!

2008-08-08T17:54:00.002+05:30

Today on 8.8.8 at 8 past 8 local time (approximately 8 minutes before I have started typing this), the opening games ceremony for the Olympics would have kicked off in Beijing. The Olympics though started a few days ago with the ladies and men both starting off in their quest for the football gold about the time the other athletes were beginning to pour in.

It has been a routine procedure now for clubs to groan in protest every time their players get called for national duty. While the Olympics would not be the tournament that pains the clubs the most, given the under-23 with three over age players rule, the run-up to these games have seen the club v country debate raise its head again. This has partly been due to the star status of the players involved (both under and over 23 years old) but largely due to the clubs taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and the subsequent ruling in favour of the clubs.

It appears that FIFA had over-stepped its authority in dictating to clubs that they cannot prevent an under 23 player from representing their country in the games. CAS ruled that since the Olympics were not covered under the official fixture calendar of FIFA, they were not in a position to dictate terms to the clubs, who after all pay the salaries and risk losing their players to injury and fatigue.

While Blatter expressed disappointment and invoked the ‘Olympic spirit’, it is the reaction from the clubs so far that has been encouraging and positive. As of now, none of the clubs have recalled their major stars with Barcelona chief Laporta even wishing Messi the best of luck, now that the point has been made to FIFA.

One hopes that all other clubs follow suit and let their stars remain at the games. Messi has already scored and Ronaldinho seems to have had a decent first competitive outing, which raises our hopes of seeing him back at his best before long. The clubs, having scored one over FIFA can now completely gain the upper hand in this debate by winning public approval. And for FIFA, it is a window of opportunity to resolve the issue before it raises its head again in London ’12.

Will they take decisive action and incorporate the Olympics into their official fixtures list or utilize their time in getting any required new regulation approved is to be seen. One thing’s for sure, if the clubs find themselves in a similar position again, it will be hardly surprising if they pull their players out mid-way through the first half of a game.