Two major news items made the main football headlines across the world this morning, one full of the astonishing & simple beauty of football, "The people's game", & the other a story of the tarnished image of the stubborn, out of touch, money chasing FIFA acting like a sect trying to protect itself from criticism & investigation, and the perception that its has sold the "Beautiful Game's soul to sponsorship money.
a. The smallest & wealthiest of the former Yoguslav regions, Slovenia made history by stunning the legendary Gus Hiddink's Russian side & qualifying for the World Cup this morning. In doing so, Slovenia achieved something even more profound, something that stunned the rest of the football world: . It exposed & shattered the legend that was Gus Hiddink!
The "Legend of Gus Hiddink" in no more! The mythical legend "Gus Hiddink"was born when he helped PSV win the European Cup in 1988. He then took Holland to the brink of WC final in 1998 and repeated the same feat with the much lesser footballing nation of South Korea in 2002. He grew even more in stature by taking Australia to the brink of a quarter final birth in WC 2006 in Germany, Russia to the semi final of the European Championships last year, and helping Chelsea back on track by winning the FA Cup final with them whilst missing out on a Champions League birth by a last gasp goal by the magical Inesta.
All the big footballing nations, coaches,clubs & players were in awe of Gus Hiddink & his magic touch, and unable to stop him. The first cracks in the legend appeared when Germany comfortably beat Hiddink's Russia 2-1 in Russia in the first leg, and then again 1-0 last month. But it took the tiny Slovenia this morning to bring joy to true football fans worldwide. They beat Russia & its legendary cooach Gus Hiddink. In the process they demonstrate the intrinsic beauty of the game & its magical moments, and the fact that much love Gus Hiddink is after all human!
b. Whilst the beautiful events above were occuring, the ugly side of the game showed its ugly head & the Republic of Ireland got eliminated, literally in the hands of Thiery Henry, who shamelessly redirected the ball by his hand and created an equaliser for william Gallas & France & its undeserving coach Demenech.
In my view, Ireland lost to the "Hand of FIFA". FIFA is starting to act like an exclusive sect. It fools the fans into accepting what it offers as all that there is, and meanwhile rolls in money & pays its undecisive vote grabbing self serving executives from Sep Blatter down millions of dollars in remuneration & fringe benefits. FIFA is distinctly creating the perception amongst fans that it is ok for crucial matches to be decided in favour of more profitable sponsorship outcomes.
If the above comments sound too harsh, then FIFA must at start clamping down on all forms of chating on the field by threatening to reverse results and/or order a rematch in order to deter players from acting so shamefully. Thiery Henry is not the first player who acted in an unsporting fashion and won't be the last. Players cheat in all shapes & forms, from diving, to throwing themselves on the ground holding their faces when hit by a feather, to handballing & getting away with it. Just ask Maradona and his "Hand of God" in 1986 against England. Remember the shameful behaviour of AC Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida a few years ago in the Champion League?
Players do this totally shameful acts simply because they know they can get away with deceit because they are confident FIFA will not clamp down or punish them! All FIFA has to do is to order a few matches to be replayed & before too long coaches will come down hard on any player who acts in such shameful manner as the infinte examples of the last 15 years or so suggest.
If FIFA continues to hold the line that all is working in the interest of the game & its broader appeal, and it is not hostage to sponsorship money & its greedy self serving executives, then it must acknowledge the short comings of the current model & the need for introduction of technology assisted refereeing.
Otherwise, it is only fair to accuse FIFA of selling out the game to generate sponsorship money & favouring teams/players with more sponsorship dollars appeal.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Liverpool & Bayern struggling in the absence of their creative playmakers & lack of goals against defensive teams
At the beginning of the season, I had great hopes for my two favourite football teams, Bayern Munich & Liverpool. I predicted Liverpool would win their first EPL title and their first since 1989. I had even higher hopes for my beloved Bayern predicting they would recapture the Bundesliga title and would even get to the CL final!
And what disastrous campaigns both are having! Both are suffering from similar problems:
Injuries to Gerrard & Ribery respectively (although good to see Gerrard back in the second half against Birmingham)
Inability to score to win against packed defenses even with the lion share of possession in many crucial matches
Injury to the likes of Torres & Toni
And most crucially, players' inability to adapt to Rafa & Van Gaal's ever revolving tactical variations & player rotation systems (although Van Gaal has only been around this year whilst Rafa is notorious for doing this)
Both teams are now in serious danger of missing qualification to the second round of the CL, and losing too much ground to the leading teams in their respective domestic leagues. (both are quite a few points behind already)
Liverpool fans love Rafa & so far have stood by him, whilst Bayern fans have already started booing their team and murmurs of demands of retribution against the coach are beginning to spread.
In case of Bayern, whilst I was never a fan of Van Gaal & thought Frank Rijkaard was the best man for the job, I believe the legendary management team of Rumminegge & Hoeness got their transfer strategy badly wrong last summer and miscalculated some great opportunities in the process and as a result they should reappraise their strategy going forward.
As for Liverpool, I am not sure what the immediate solution is but Rafa has now had one win out of nine (6 losses) and surely the good will towrds him has its limitations.
And as a die hard fan of both clubs, I am still hoping for a major turn around in form & results by Christmas!
And what disastrous campaigns both are having! Both are suffering from similar problems:
Injuries to Gerrard & Ribery respectively (although good to see Gerrard back in the second half against Birmingham)
Inability to score to win against packed defenses even with the lion share of possession in many crucial matches
Injury to the likes of Torres & Toni
And most crucially, players' inability to adapt to Rafa & Van Gaal's ever revolving tactical variations & player rotation systems (although Van Gaal has only been around this year whilst Rafa is notorious for doing this)
Both teams are now in serious danger of missing qualification to the second round of the CL, and losing too much ground to the leading teams in their respective domestic leagues. (both are quite a few points behind already)
Liverpool fans love Rafa & so far have stood by him, whilst Bayern fans have already started booing their team and murmurs of demands of retribution against the coach are beginning to spread.
In case of Bayern, whilst I was never a fan of Van Gaal & thought Frank Rijkaard was the best man for the job, I believe the legendary management team of Rumminegge & Hoeness got their transfer strategy badly wrong last summer and miscalculated some great opportunities in the process and as a result they should reappraise their strategy going forward.
As for Liverpool, I am not sure what the immediate solution is but Rafa has now had one win out of nine (6 losses) and surely the good will towrds him has its limitations.
And as a die hard fan of both clubs, I am still hoping for a major turn around in form & results by Christmas!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Florention Perez's Real Madrid sequal "Galacticos 2" has so far fared no better than most Hollywood sequals! Big budget & poor results compared to the original!
President Perez's sequal to "Galacticos I" is so far turning out like most sequals in the real Hollywood style! Lots of razamataz, big names, big budget......and poor quality & returns compared to the original!
Yes! I know! It's still early days & a star studded team of so called champion players needs time to mould into a champion team......like Barcelona! (sorry! couldn't help the jibe!)
Real lost 4-0 in a Cup tie to a lower division team this morning. It seems even after the arrival of the new galacticos, Real continue to suffer from the psychological inferiority complex that started during Barcelona's CL win 3 years ago & made them into the panick $400 plus shopping spree last summer after Barcelona's convincing CL final win over Manchester United.
And to makes matters even more strange, Real seems to be simply an ordinary team without Ronaldo! This in fact annoys me! Because the likes of Kaka, Benzema, Raul & co are every invh as good if not better than the pretty boy!
What is going to happen if AC Milan win the return CL match in Milan next week? Will "Berlosconi wannabe" aka PEREZ & his galacticos take the blame? Or will the coach Pellegrini be sacked as a scapegoat?..and then Perez will admit he should have listened earlier & sacked the coach much sooner???
At any case, let's hope for the good of the game Real's sequal to "Galacticos I" at least doesn't succeed on the pitch! They can have the box office in order to pay their stars!
But on the pitch, it's great team spirit, clever tactics, inspirational coaching & a combination of talent, blood, sweat & tears that surely deserve success. Afterall, they are the ingredients of what makes football the "Beautiful Game"!
Yes! I know! It's still early days & a star studded team of so called champion players needs time to mould into a champion team......like Barcelona! (sorry! couldn't help the jibe!)
Real lost 4-0 in a Cup tie to a lower division team this morning. It seems even after the arrival of the new galacticos, Real continue to suffer from the psychological inferiority complex that started during Barcelona's CL win 3 years ago & made them into the panick $400 plus shopping spree last summer after Barcelona's convincing CL final win over Manchester United.
And to makes matters even more strange, Real seems to be simply an ordinary team without Ronaldo! This in fact annoys me! Because the likes of Kaka, Benzema, Raul & co are every invh as good if not better than the pretty boy!
What is going to happen if AC Milan win the return CL match in Milan next week? Will "Berlosconi wannabe" aka PEREZ & his galacticos take the blame? Or will the coach Pellegrini be sacked as a scapegoat?..and then Perez will admit he should have listened earlier & sacked the coach much sooner???
At any case, let's hope for the good of the game Real's sequal to "Galacticos I" at least doesn't succeed on the pitch! They can have the box office in order to pay their stars!
But on the pitch, it's great team spirit, clever tactics, inspirational coaching & a combination of talent, blood, sweat & tears that surely deserve success. Afterall, they are the ingredients of what makes football the "Beautiful Game"!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
What is holding Bayern Munich back from being a serious contender to win the Champions League again?
Bayern Munich are statistically amongst the Top 5 most successful football Clubs in Europe. Only Real Madrid, Liverpool & AC Milan have won the European/CL Trophy more than Bayern. Bayern are also regularly amongst the Top 5 or 10 top clubs in the world in terms of turnover as well as one of the Top 5 best supported Clubs in Europe.
However, unlike the financially reckless owners of some of the big Clubs in England, Italy & Spain who have always been willing to grab trophies & glory at any expense, and in attempting to do so have put their clubs under immense financial pressure and huge debt burden, Bayern Munich have always been too conservative & at times seem to have sacrificied trophies & glory for the sake of remaining financially sound.
This has of course at times irked their demanding supporters who at the very least expect parity with other top clubs in Europe, and made some of their highly sought after players to demand a move to the "glamour clubs" mentioned above.
Bayern have in fact in occasions splashed huge sums in recent years on the likes of Klose, Toni, Ribery and very recently Robben. But these have always been in a much more measured way compared to for e.g. Real Madrid's Galactico mark 2 by Perez & co.
This has meant that Bayern have once again finishedd the decade with only one single European final appearance to show for, the CL final win against valencia in 2001, a life time ago in footballing terms in the eyes of denmanding & passionate supporters.
But in my opinion, the conservative transfer policy has overall been for the long term good of the club and most of the decions have been sound (The poor deciosn to let Lucio & Ze Roberto leave last summer was a major exception. A few more top players and the team is as good or at least as competative as any of the top clubs in Europe.
I believe the major factor that is holding Bayern's progress is its frequent change of Managers & coaching staff & not allowing the head coaches enough time to implement their tactical vision. Just look at what Hitzfeld achieved with Bayern by having the luxury of time! I am talking about employing a world class tactician on a FIVE year contract as a minimum & giving him flexibility, time & space to develop & implement his system, i.e. emulating what the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool & Arsenal have allowed their Managers.
Magath & Klinsman did not have that luxury. Let's hope Van Gaal (although I am not a big fan & personally preferred Rijkaard)gets the support & patience from Rumminegge & Hoeness to develop & implement his ideas.
Bayern have the money, influence, players, support & prestige to be back on top. All they need is patience with their managers!
However, unlike the financially reckless owners of some of the big Clubs in England, Italy & Spain who have always been willing to grab trophies & glory at any expense, and in attempting to do so have put their clubs under immense financial pressure and huge debt burden, Bayern Munich have always been too conservative & at times seem to have sacrificied trophies & glory for the sake of remaining financially sound.
This has of course at times irked their demanding supporters who at the very least expect parity with other top clubs in Europe, and made some of their highly sought after players to demand a move to the "glamour clubs" mentioned above.
Bayern have in fact in occasions splashed huge sums in recent years on the likes of Klose, Toni, Ribery and very recently Robben. But these have always been in a much more measured way compared to for e.g. Real Madrid's Galactico mark 2 by Perez & co.
This has meant that Bayern have once again finishedd the decade with only one single European final appearance to show for, the CL final win against valencia in 2001, a life time ago in footballing terms in the eyes of denmanding & passionate supporters.
But in my opinion, the conservative transfer policy has overall been for the long term good of the club and most of the decions have been sound (The poor deciosn to let Lucio & Ze Roberto leave last summer was a major exception. A few more top players and the team is as good or at least as competative as any of the top clubs in Europe.
I believe the major factor that is holding Bayern's progress is its frequent change of Managers & coaching staff & not allowing the head coaches enough time to implement their tactical vision. Just look at what Hitzfeld achieved with Bayern by having the luxury of time! I am talking about employing a world class tactician on a FIVE year contract as a minimum & giving him flexibility, time & space to develop & implement his system, i.e. emulating what the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool & Arsenal have allowed their Managers.
Magath & Klinsman did not have that luxury. Let's hope Van Gaal (although I am not a big fan & personally preferred Rijkaard)gets the support & patience from Rumminegge & Hoeness to develop & implement his ideas.
Bayern have the money, influence, players, support & prestige to be back on top. All they need is patience with their managers!
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