6 Wins out of 7 Games Played for chelsea this season... Well Mr.Ancelotti couldnt expect anythin better from his team.... People said they have had the best possible draw... May be yes they did, but what chelsea did right is to hit the ground running........ After a tiring world cup it would have been easy for any team to loose points playin against lowly teams as the opposition players are likely to have got more rest as very few were on national team duty......Considering these intricacies Hell yes it is difficult to get a result against any team in the premier league..Credit to Mr.Ancelotti and team !
Chelsa had been on a rampage since last season.... At the end of a gruelling season in may this year chelsea was still able to bamboozle opponents with succesive 7-0 wins.... This year they started where they left off last season by recording 6-0 wins... Flourent malouda has been the reason they were able to do that so consistently... The 31 year old french man had been a revelation the past year....after his initial struggle to impress scolari and Grant he got his chances once Ancelotti took over.... He grabbed his chance with both hands.... He is not only creatin goals but scoring goals for fun at the moment. His form was such that no body noticed frank lampard goin avol in the chelsea engine room.... Malouda coupled with the old horses drogba and anelka have propelled chelsea to top of the table... The signing of 'Nicolas Mersenary Anelka' has proved to be a shrewd one... He did hop around plaayin for many clubs but not only did he add firepower and creativity to chelsea attack he also brough the much needed balancle on the right hand side for chelsea.....
In defence the departure of carvalho to real did not effect chelsea much.. Alex had been as solid as ever and terry seems finally out of his off the field problems.... With ancelotti using Branislav Ivanovic on the right hand side of defence previously a problem area for chelsea had been solved..... Ancelotti is mixing his tactics well and introducing solomon kalou and Danny sturridge well when their speed could be best used...
Michel essien had proved what an asset he is on his come back this season.... The box to box - All action midfielder whas sorely missed last year...All in all chelsea r firin on all cyclinders this year and only time can tell if they will continue the mometum...
Friday, October 15, 2010
What a Mess !
Gerrard Houllier recently claimed his reign at liverpool was better than the reign of rafa benitez... Well what can one say.... one thin houllier did is to consistently finish in the top 4 of EPL ! By liverpool standards thts definetly not enough........ Rafa was brought in to change tht....... but in the end i mus say he messed up big time !
Rafa Benitez would be placed alongside mourinho as one of the best tacticians in football... but in his time at liverpool the area he failed big time is transfers ! inspite of spening over 200 million pounds all he did every season was crib that he did not have enough funds..... though he made a few out of the world signings like Torres n xabi alonso, i mus say he failed to use them properly... rafa had one of the best visionaries of the game in xabi but all rafa did is to make xabi warm the bench for most part... no one can deny the quality of alonso.... but some time lucas leiva was preferred to alonso... would you believe it ?
what rafa failed to do is to find a decent strike pairing for torres..... not that he did not try, but vorobin n Ngog simply did not fit the bill.... torres being the leadin marks man needed a support striker and the work rate and bent of mind of durk kuyt would perfectly fit the bill ! i honestly do not understand why rafa played him on the right wing instead of his natural strikin position.... another blunder by benitez is his handling of wingers... he bought and completely demoralized Ryan babel who was once regarded as one of the most talented youngsters in europe... given a chance he did show his brillance by scoring winning goals against the likes of macnhester united... and yet again for some reason no one can comprehend why babel could only find himself on the bench ! then came riera to fill the gap on the left flank only to get fed up and leave liverpool in one season ....
And rafa some how did not manage to do in 5 years what roy hodgson did in 2 weeks... buying paul konchesky.... the former fulham left back is solid in defence and deadly with his crosses.... if you remember konchesky scored a belter against liverpool in the FA cup inal of 2006..... i jus cant understand why dossena n string of other left backs were tried by benitez only to leave the liverpool defence vulnerable....
inspite of havin torres, gerrard, alonso and reina in his side how rafa benitezs mistakes caused liverpool to go only back ward... and we all would end up thinkin Mr. Houllier is right !
Rafa Benitez would be placed alongside mourinho as one of the best tacticians in football... but in his time at liverpool the area he failed big time is transfers ! inspite of spening over 200 million pounds all he did every season was crib that he did not have enough funds..... though he made a few out of the world signings like Torres n xabi alonso, i mus say he failed to use them properly... rafa had one of the best visionaries of the game in xabi but all rafa did is to make xabi warm the bench for most part... no one can deny the quality of alonso.... but some time lucas leiva was preferred to alonso... would you believe it ?
what rafa failed to do is to find a decent strike pairing for torres..... not that he did not try, but vorobin n Ngog simply did not fit the bill.... torres being the leadin marks man needed a support striker and the work rate and bent of mind of durk kuyt would perfectly fit the bill ! i honestly do not understand why rafa played him on the right wing instead of his natural strikin position.... another blunder by benitez is his handling of wingers... he bought and completely demoralized Ryan babel who was once regarded as one of the most talented youngsters in europe... given a chance he did show his brillance by scoring winning goals against the likes of macnhester united... and yet again for some reason no one can comprehend why babel could only find himself on the bench ! then came riera to fill the gap on the left flank only to get fed up and leave liverpool in one season ....
And rafa some how did not manage to do in 5 years what roy hodgson did in 2 weeks... buying paul konchesky.... the former fulham left back is solid in defence and deadly with his crosses.... if you remember konchesky scored a belter against liverpool in the FA cup inal of 2006..... i jus cant understand why dossena n string of other left backs were tried by benitez only to leave the liverpool defence vulnerable....
inspite of havin torres, gerrard, alonso and reina in his side how rafa benitezs mistakes caused liverpool to go only back ward... and we all would end up thinkin Mr. Houllier is right !
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Dark Horse
Finally the most awaited tournament on the planet kicks of on june 11th...... N sports pages in newspapers r full of predictions ! Well well.... Every body is mentionin the names of usual suspects brazil, Argentina n blah blah..... But no body has spoken abt a dark horse yet... let me do that :)
My pick this time for the dark horse is "Serbia".......... Well i can hear the scratching of your heads :) now why have i said that ? Read On
Whos the defender from serbia tht any team would like sign this summer ? Subotic........ He has made his name at dortmund........... especially in the past year he has become some what a cult figure in germany...... that even propelled his club pesident to remark "Any club who wanna buy him will have to come wid 2 truck loads full of money !"
Subotic will pair up Manchester United Hardman Nemanja Vidic at the back....... This central defensive partnership can stand against wave after wave of attacks and forms the bed rock for serbian success........ Not to mention Vidics thunderous headers from set pieces will contributed to scoring as well... Coming to the full backs serbia bosts the likes of Branislav Ivanovic who was regular in the premiership winning chelsea team this season... He made the pemier league team of the year too ! Ivanaovic along with Lazios Aleksandar Kolarov can definetly be dubbed good full backs if not the best....
Coming to midfield... Serbia has one of the most creative and stylish play makers in all of europe in the form of Milos Krasic who ran rings around defences in the champions league this year... he along with Manchester United wide man Zoran tosic can unlock even the most stubborn of the defences... Tosics fortunes have been revived in the second half of the season after movin to german side cologne on loan... I still cannot understand why Sir Alex kep such a talent in the United Reserves ! Krasics trickey combined with the calm presence of Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic will mean Serbia has one the best midfields among the 32 teams... The midfield will definetly strike balance with either Jovanovic who earned a move to liverpool or stuggarts Kuzmanovic in the frame...
Serbia's troops will be spear headed by Valencia's Giant striker Zigic (Hes 6'8) ........ Speculation suggests Rafa Benitez could sign him as well this summer.... In my opinion he will have jovanovic playin just behind him in the hole instaed of another striker givin him a chance to exploit spaces created by the new liverpool recruit !
As i previously pointed Serbia have 2 of the sweetest dead ball specialists in Krasic and Tosic which means we can expect planty of goals from free kicks as well !
Now do u agree serbia will give all the big heads a run for their money ? :) I told u tht din i ..
My pick this time for the dark horse is "Serbia".......... Well i can hear the scratching of your heads :) now why have i said that ? Read On
Whos the defender from serbia tht any team would like sign this summer ? Subotic........ He has made his name at dortmund........... especially in the past year he has become some what a cult figure in germany...... that even propelled his club pesident to remark "Any club who wanna buy him will have to come wid 2 truck loads full of money !"
Subotic will pair up Manchester United Hardman Nemanja Vidic at the back....... This central defensive partnership can stand against wave after wave of attacks and forms the bed rock for serbian success........ Not to mention Vidics thunderous headers from set pieces will contributed to scoring as well... Coming to the full backs serbia bosts the likes of Branislav Ivanovic who was regular in the premiership winning chelsea team this season... He made the pemier league team of the year too ! Ivanaovic along with Lazios Aleksandar Kolarov can definetly be dubbed good full backs if not the best....
Coming to midfield... Serbia has one of the most creative and stylish play makers in all of europe in the form of Milos Krasic who ran rings around defences in the champions league this year... he along with Manchester United wide man Zoran tosic can unlock even the most stubborn of the defences... Tosics fortunes have been revived in the second half of the season after movin to german side cologne on loan... I still cannot understand why Sir Alex kep such a talent in the United Reserves ! Krasics trickey combined with the calm presence of Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic will mean Serbia has one the best midfields among the 32 teams... The midfield will definetly strike balance with either Jovanovic who earned a move to liverpool or stuggarts Kuzmanovic in the frame...
Serbia's troops will be spear headed by Valencia's Giant striker Zigic (Hes 6'8) ........ Speculation suggests Rafa Benitez could sign him as well this summer.... In my opinion he will have jovanovic playin just behind him in the hole instaed of another striker givin him a chance to exploit spaces created by the new liverpool recruit !
As i previously pointed Serbia have 2 of the sweetest dead ball specialists in Krasic and Tosic which means we can expect planty of goals from free kicks as well !
Now do u agree serbia will give all the big heads a run for their money ? :) I told u tht din i ..
Thursday, April 15, 2010
We were always going to blow it....
Blackburn -0, Manchester United 0....... That pretty much summarized how we(Manchester United) played this season......... Inconsistent is the word i would choose.............. In the first 50 minutes aginst bayern it looked as if we came from another planet considering the way United dictated the pace of the game...... And after Rafael's sending off we just sat back knowing its hard to prevent bayern from scoring....... Well well we can now say Carlo Ancelottis men will win the title..... There is always a next season.......... Will we win next time out with the same squad ? Of course no
Where do we need reinforcements ?
Well it looks like every where....... Talkin about the strikin department first.... as its quite evident We are over reliant on wayne rooney...... not that master berbatov is a bad player......... but we have to say hes just not fitting into Uniteds style of play....... Fergie is playing a lone striker in all the big games and the lanky bulgarians lack of pace and lack of intent to breathe down the necks of opposition defenders is not helping the cause......... Berbas deft touches and tricks and flicks are a delight to watch but with him easily giving the ball away every now and then we are not able to capitalize on our opportunities........
Watching berba play i actually understood modern day strikers cant afford to live with out the pace element in their game.... but berbas lack of pace coupled with fergies decision to play him in the hole behind rooney is just not workin out at the moment...... if the gaffer doesnt wanna change his role he better sell the 30 million pound man ! Who can fill the gap after all ? ive been cravin to watch united play in 4-4-2 for a long time.... With classy wingers like valencia and Nani having 2 strikers in the box will definetly help........ R u listenin Mr. ferguson ? :)
For now we could do with a tall , strong and pacy striker in the mould of boudeaux's maroune chamakh or Wolfsburgs Edin dzeko........ well fergie has already bought mexican nick named "little pea" ....... he seems to have pace, quick feet and a spring too........ but considering fergies tendency to ask strikers to defend as well certainly wont help such players to blossom........the man from molde biram diouf is also a similar striker to chicharito......... don knw wts in fergies head ........... the amount of strikers who were bought and then not used properly in the past 3 years is incredible......... Manucho, Owen, Rossi and even Berba is not started regularly....... Owen looks set to leave as well...........Well well its for sure fergie will buy a striker in the summer... lets just hope he gives this new striker a chance to play atleast leaving aside makin him a hit ! The rumor is Benzema's comin to united this summer :)
Except the rise of darren fletcher to prominence and consistency in the central midfield there has been no cheer to those who are expectin to see a creative/attacking replacement to paul scholes....... the old fox cant go on for ever obviously........ fergie will have to break the bank again to snap up someone in the mould of Marek Hamsik, Luca Modric, mikel arteta (I regard the spaniard very highly) ..... after all we badly need one.... but fergie look unlikey to sign a midfielder... hes impressed with darren gibson it seems... his long rangers are a sight to watch... but his short passing and vision are things which he definetly needs to work on.... and we simply cant give him games because of his long rangers ! Wake Up Great old fox (Fergie) !
Aaah defence.... Is Chris Smalling the solution ? Well yeah... at 6'5 Smallings towering presence is going to be of great help to united in the coming years..... I do think he will step into the shoes of great Rio Ferdinand when he eventually retires....... That is exactly why Roy Hodgson has been repeatedly sayin United have got themselves a Gem in Chris Smalling............ Well we all are right......... But that wont change the fact that hes not a finished article yet... we cannot throw smalling in directly next season... hes still raw i think.......... With Johny Evans, smalling and Wes Brown around central defence should not be a problem unless theres an unprecedented defensive crisis....... But the full back areas are something we need to address... While rafaels fantastic displays are a big positive (The way he shackled Ribery in the champions league was amazing and he looks like hes working well in the Gym to make up for his short frame....Roberto carlos in the making :) ) .... we definetly need cover both for evra and the inexperienced rafel.... I am a known admirer of Bayern Munich's Philip Lahm and i simply cannot understand why fergie didnt sign him ! He has 80 Million Pounds in the bank for gods sake........... With Marauding evra at left back we do not have a problem... what if hes injured ? Look at Ashley cole and Yuri Zhirkov for chelsea...... They r both fantastic left backs... and one performs when the other is injured....... We could do with Gareth Bale i think .. Fegie can even use him on the left wing if he needs......... SO heres the Wish List Mr. Fegie
1. Benzema
2. Hugo Loris
3. Philip Lahm
4. David Silva
5. Gareth Bale
6. Marek Hamsik
If he signs atleast 2 of these i would be happy !
Good Day folks :)
Where do we need reinforcements ?
Well it looks like every where....... Talkin about the strikin department first.... as its quite evident We are over reliant on wayne rooney...... not that master berbatov is a bad player......... but we have to say hes just not fitting into Uniteds style of play....... Fergie is playing a lone striker in all the big games and the lanky bulgarians lack of pace and lack of intent to breathe down the necks of opposition defenders is not helping the cause......... Berbas deft touches and tricks and flicks are a delight to watch but with him easily giving the ball away every now and then we are not able to capitalize on our opportunities........
Watching berba play i actually understood modern day strikers cant afford to live with out the pace element in their game.... but berbas lack of pace coupled with fergies decision to play him in the hole behind rooney is just not workin out at the moment...... if the gaffer doesnt wanna change his role he better sell the 30 million pound man ! Who can fill the gap after all ? ive been cravin to watch united play in 4-4-2 for a long time.... With classy wingers like valencia and Nani having 2 strikers in the box will definetly help........ R u listenin Mr. ferguson ? :)
For now we could do with a tall , strong and pacy striker in the mould of boudeaux's maroune chamakh or Wolfsburgs Edin dzeko........ well fergie has already bought mexican nick named "little pea" ....... he seems to have pace, quick feet and a spring too........ but considering fergies tendency to ask strikers to defend as well certainly wont help such players to blossom........the man from molde biram diouf is also a similar striker to chicharito......... don knw wts in fergies head ........... the amount of strikers who were bought and then not used properly in the past 3 years is incredible......... Manucho, Owen, Rossi and even Berba is not started regularly....... Owen looks set to leave as well...........Well well its for sure fergie will buy a striker in the summer... lets just hope he gives this new striker a chance to play atleast leaving aside makin him a hit ! The rumor is Benzema's comin to united this summer :)
Except the rise of darren fletcher to prominence and consistency in the central midfield there has been no cheer to those who are expectin to see a creative/attacking replacement to paul scholes....... the old fox cant go on for ever obviously........ fergie will have to break the bank again to snap up someone in the mould of Marek Hamsik, Luca Modric, mikel arteta (I regard the spaniard very highly) ..... after all we badly need one.... but fergie look unlikey to sign a midfielder... hes impressed with darren gibson it seems... his long rangers are a sight to watch... but his short passing and vision are things which he definetly needs to work on.... and we simply cant give him games because of his long rangers ! Wake Up Great old fox (Fergie) !
Aaah defence.... Is Chris Smalling the solution ? Well yeah... at 6'5 Smallings towering presence is going to be of great help to united in the coming years..... I do think he will step into the shoes of great Rio Ferdinand when he eventually retires....... That is exactly why Roy Hodgson has been repeatedly sayin United have got themselves a Gem in Chris Smalling............ Well we all are right......... But that wont change the fact that hes not a finished article yet... we cannot throw smalling in directly next season... hes still raw i think.......... With Johny Evans, smalling and Wes Brown around central defence should not be a problem unless theres an unprecedented defensive crisis....... But the full back areas are something we need to address... While rafaels fantastic displays are a big positive (The way he shackled Ribery in the champions league was amazing and he looks like hes working well in the Gym to make up for his short frame....Roberto carlos in the making :) ) .... we definetly need cover both for evra and the inexperienced rafel.... I am a known admirer of Bayern Munich's Philip Lahm and i simply cannot understand why fergie didnt sign him ! He has 80 Million Pounds in the bank for gods sake........... With Marauding evra at left back we do not have a problem... what if hes injured ? Look at Ashley cole and Yuri Zhirkov for chelsea...... They r both fantastic left backs... and one performs when the other is injured....... We could do with Gareth Bale i think .. Fegie can even use him on the left wing if he needs......... SO heres the Wish List Mr. Fegie
1. Benzema
2. Hugo Loris
3. Philip Lahm
4. David Silva
5. Gareth Bale
6. Marek Hamsik
If he signs atleast 2 of these i would be happy !
Good Day folks :)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Tale of Golden Pigs!
U Must be thinkin what a weird title :) Go On and after u complete readin ud agree with my title :)
It was 7.30 AM and a fine mornin..... I was havin a nice cofee and watchin NDTV...... There comes the news...... The remainin two clubs in the Indian premier league were auctioned...... And my mouth fell open when i heard the sum one of the clubs went for.... A staggering 370 Million US dollars..... What in the name of God ?
I have been supporting Manchester United for just over a decade now..... Well they own a 75000 seater state of the art stadium and training ground and the players of the club are valued at around 350 million US dollars....Inspite of having a flurry of assests and generating profits to the tome of 49 million pounds a year United is valued at around 1 Billion Dollars !....... The brand image is such that the shirt sponsorhip deal they landed recetly with AON was worth 80 million pounds ! IPL franchisees can never even think of that kind of money........Man Us valuation is a reality only because of its 130 years of history and 330 million fan base with people going mad all over the world with its brand of football.......
So obviously i was thinkin how can a brand new cricket club in pune which is going to be a part of IPL which is still in its nascent stages be sold for 370 Million Dollars ? And what surprised me is this valuation is with out a stadium, No existing Brand Value, No Players.... Nothing at all....In addition to buying the club the owners have to invest huge sums if they want to build a stadium and training facilities... players, commercials etc and the interest burden on the loan which they would take to buy the will be atleast 30 Million US dollars a year..... Well well have they even thought about braking even ? at this rate they would break even in some 70 years !
The Bottom line is Mr. Lalit modi is succesfully makin fools out of every one and sellin these undervalued franchisees to corporates showcasin them as golden pigs......... But the truth is they would never get a return on this huge investment made :)
It was 7.30 AM and a fine mornin..... I was havin a nice cofee and watchin NDTV...... There comes the news...... The remainin two clubs in the Indian premier league were auctioned...... And my mouth fell open when i heard the sum one of the clubs went for.... A staggering 370 Million US dollars..... What in the name of God ?
I have been supporting Manchester United for just over a decade now..... Well they own a 75000 seater state of the art stadium and training ground and the players of the club are valued at around 350 million US dollars....Inspite of having a flurry of assests and generating profits to the tome of 49 million pounds a year United is valued at around 1 Billion Dollars !....... The brand image is such that the shirt sponsorhip deal they landed recetly with AON was worth 80 million pounds ! IPL franchisees can never even think of that kind of money........Man Us valuation is a reality only because of its 130 years of history and 330 million fan base with people going mad all over the world with its brand of football.......
So obviously i was thinkin how can a brand new cricket club in pune which is going to be a part of IPL which is still in its nascent stages be sold for 370 Million Dollars ? And what surprised me is this valuation is with out a stadium, No existing Brand Value, No Players.... Nothing at all....In addition to buying the club the owners have to invest huge sums if they want to build a stadium and training facilities... players, commercials etc and the interest burden on the loan which they would take to buy the will be atleast 30 Million US dollars a year..... Well well have they even thought about braking even ? at this rate they would break even in some 70 years !
The Bottom line is Mr. Lalit modi is succesfully makin fools out of every one and sellin these undervalued franchisees to corporates showcasin them as golden pigs......... But the truth is they would never get a return on this huge investment made :)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
England & The Injury Curse !
Its 2 Months before 2006 World Cup.....England Golden Boy Wayne Rooney was dubbed the next phenom and bookies chose him as their man to carry Englands World Cup Dreams ! All this was ended by one horrific tacke from Chelsea's Paulo Ferrera..... Man United lost that match 3-0 but all of england was cursing their bad luck.... They lost Wayne Rooney after all........ Inspite of the Injury to Rooney he was in the world cup sqaud and the Incredibly stupid Sven Quarterfinal Ericson chose 3 other strikers and among them were a fading Michel Owen and 16 year old Walcot !
Sven's say was that walcott would gain experince....Well His stupid selection cost england the world cup...... While we build up for 2010 World Cup in south africa Half of englands defence is already on the treatment table....... Ashley coles ankle is a worry while Wayne Bridge took himself out of contention after going through much pain in his personal life...He cant play along side JT after all that happened......
The usually Influential John terry seems lost.....well lets hope he gets over thins n gets back to his brilliant best before the world cup........ Of course only god knows what will happen to Rio ferdinands back every now and then...... As he stated lets hope hes got over his injury..... West Ham's Mathew Upson is the only man who has a clean medical record in the recent past.....Gary Cahill's season ended in a way no england fan would prefer..He looked solid for bolton this season and would surely have been called up by Fabio Capello...
And while Capello almost had his 30 men in mind Wes Brown lost his footing too...... The versatile United Defender would have made a difference being cover to both Right Back and Central defence....... Ah fergie says hes only out for 4-6 weeks...We'l have to wait and see what happens.....
Though Glen Johnson whos has been capello's choice at right back is fit now i have never been convised by the defensive side of his game..... Old horse Gary Neville is far better than him defensively.... This is only choice of Mr.Capello i disagree of...... After all we cant go to world cup with some one inconsistent.... Hmm The right back slot for me is a real problem where we dont have any one to fill in... Comparitively teams like brasil and Germany are very strong in this position...
Any manager in the world would be glad to have a man like Bayern Munich's Philip Lahm on his right side of defense while the brazilian pair of Maicon and Dani Alves have terrorized opposition defences with their marauding runs while being solid in defense...Joleon lescott seems to have lost his form which earned him an insanely costly 23 million pound move to mega rich manchester city.......
Lets hope we get Ashley cole back before the biggest tournament on the planet kicksoff... With Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch firing all cylinders in attack lets hope we get our defense right !
Sven's say was that walcott would gain experince....Well His stupid selection cost england the world cup...... While we build up for 2010 World Cup in south africa Half of englands defence is already on the treatment table....... Ashley coles ankle is a worry while Wayne Bridge took himself out of contention after going through much pain in his personal life...He cant play along side JT after all that happened......
The usually Influential John terry seems lost.....well lets hope he gets over thins n gets back to his brilliant best before the world cup........ Of course only god knows what will happen to Rio ferdinands back every now and then...... As he stated lets hope hes got over his injury..... West Ham's Mathew Upson is the only man who has a clean medical record in the recent past.....Gary Cahill's season ended in a way no england fan would prefer..He looked solid for bolton this season and would surely have been called up by Fabio Capello...
And while Capello almost had his 30 men in mind Wes Brown lost his footing too...... The versatile United Defender would have made a difference being cover to both Right Back and Central defence....... Ah fergie says hes only out for 4-6 weeks...We'l have to wait and see what happens.....
Though Glen Johnson whos has been capello's choice at right back is fit now i have never been convised by the defensive side of his game..... Old horse Gary Neville is far better than him defensively.... This is only choice of Mr.Capello i disagree of...... After all we cant go to world cup with some one inconsistent.... Hmm The right back slot for me is a real problem where we dont have any one to fill in... Comparitively teams like brasil and Germany are very strong in this position...
Any manager in the world would be glad to have a man like Bayern Munich's Philip Lahm on his right side of defense while the brazilian pair of Maicon and Dani Alves have terrorized opposition defences with their marauding runs while being solid in defense...Joleon lescott seems to have lost his form which earned him an insanely costly 23 million pound move to mega rich manchester city.......
Lets hope we get Ashley cole back before the biggest tournament on the planet kicksoff... With Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch firing all cylinders in attack lets hope we get our defense right !
Thursday, February 25, 2010
All Hail "The Wise men" !
Its 24th Feb 2010 and the Man Called "Little Master" by many (Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar) has crossed 200 runs in an ODI ! My Mind couldnt stop drawing comparisions with a Certain welsh wing wizard....... yeah u guessed it right.......Its Ryan Joseph Giggs...... Both these men are 36 years old........ They are nearing the end of their careers and yet their performances make the audience stare in awe and say "How can he do that" and prove people like me wrong ! After all i have to accept......they proved me wrong :)
Both of them were exciting youngsters when they burst on to the scene........ Giggs a product of the famed Class of 92 from the manchester united academy has made Uniteds left wing his own........ He is the most decorated footballer in the history of premier league...11 Premier league titles and 2 champions leagues...Wow Man Thats some collection of trophies..... The missing peace in the jigsaw is The World cup winners medal which would have placed him right beside the likes of Pele, Bobby Charlton and Doego Maradona ! But Giggsy as the united faithfull call him has had his bad patch too...... He seemed to have lost his pace and venom after 2003.....Even with his lack lustre performances in europe and EPL marring his contribution to the cause fergie never lost his faith in him leavin many like me cursing "Why in the name of god do u still have Ryan Giggs on ur left flank" ....... But The Wise man has come back with fantastic performances in the last 2 seasons......At 36 he is still at the top of his game.......9 assists and the string of awards he recieved this season beating the likes of cesc fabregas proved he is still a top DOG....
Sachin is widely regarded as crickets greatest alongside Bradman has won many trophies with India....... Yet the World cup eluded him too....While no one doubts his talent and dedication he had his critics..... Sachin was often criticized for not performing when India needed him most...his big match temperment was questioned and left many scrathing their heads... But the wise man proved every one wrong......93 centuries in all forms of the game....5 centuries in the last 2 months and a double hundred yesterday says it all & the ease with which he dispatched enigmatic Dale steyns deliveries for boundaries was unbelievable.........Can anyone ever break his record of 93 centuries(Hes not finished mind u) ? Well only time will tell us that but it just looks impossible at the moment.........
Publishing this post as a tribute to the heroics of these two great athletes ...........
All Hail "The Wise Men"
Both of them were exciting youngsters when they burst on to the scene........ Giggs a product of the famed Class of 92 from the manchester united academy has made Uniteds left wing his own........ He is the most decorated footballer in the history of premier league...11 Premier league titles and 2 champions leagues...Wow Man Thats some collection of trophies..... The missing peace in the jigsaw is The World cup winners medal which would have placed him right beside the likes of Pele, Bobby Charlton and Doego Maradona ! But Giggsy as the united faithfull call him has had his bad patch too...... He seemed to have lost his pace and venom after 2003.....Even with his lack lustre performances in europe and EPL marring his contribution to the cause fergie never lost his faith in him leavin many like me cursing "Why in the name of god do u still have Ryan Giggs on ur left flank" ....... But The Wise man has come back with fantastic performances in the last 2 seasons......At 36 he is still at the top of his game.......9 assists and the string of awards he recieved this season beating the likes of cesc fabregas proved he is still a top DOG....
Sachin is widely regarded as crickets greatest alongside Bradman has won many trophies with India....... Yet the World cup eluded him too....While no one doubts his talent and dedication he had his critics..... Sachin was often criticized for not performing when India needed him most...his big match temperment was questioned and left many scrathing their heads... But the wise man proved every one wrong......93 centuries in all forms of the game....5 centuries in the last 2 months and a double hundred yesterday says it all & the ease with which he dispatched enigmatic Dale steyns deliveries for boundaries was unbelievable.........Can anyone ever break his record of 93 centuries(Hes not finished mind u) ? Well only time will tell us that but it just looks impossible at the moment.........
Publishing this post as a tribute to the heroics of these two great athletes ...........
All Hail "The Wise Men"
Monday, February 22, 2010
Have United Lost it ?
Well................ any one who saw United at goodisan park would ask this question ! After all United very terrifying in the last 2 seaons...... They look so ordinary now..... A win at San Siro is always a great thing...But we seem to have lost that "United Spark" off late...... Creativity which was a trade mark of the Red Devils once looks lost ! We miss scholesys thunderous shots from 30 yards and gigssy running rings round the opposition defences... What will set us right now ?
The Goal Guard ! has to be set right first....... Rio looks hes past his best and Vidic almost seems out of his mind ! Regarded the best defensive partnership in the world the duo have been on the sidelines for most part of the season.... And Wes Brown once hailed by fergie as a Natural center back looks out of confidence and looks certain to miss the plane to South Africa....... Johny Evans nervy performances are adding to the mess... Well Well... Fergies decision to let Gerrard Pique leave for Barcelona cost him dearly... And we cannot expect Chris Smalling to directly bear the burden on his young shoulders...And i have no clue whats happening at right back...... While i think Captain Neville should take his coaching badges and join Fergies back room staff.. Young rafael is still a Raw diamond..
All this calls for Buying 2 experienced defenders... Philip Lahm of Bayern has all the pre requisites to slot in at Right back.... And @ 20 Million Pounds he adds defensive solidarity and his crosses from the right can be an asset too ! Subotic,Simon Kjaer and David Luiz are some young sholders which can shine for us if signed...... But some how fergie doesnt look like hes interested in signing any one at the back !
The Creative side of uniteds Engine room needs a definite reinforcement....."Mest Ozil, Steven Defour, Diego" are some names which can solve the problem........ What fergie does in the summer remains to be seen........
The Goal Guard ! has to be set right first....... Rio looks hes past his best and Vidic almost seems out of his mind ! Regarded the best defensive partnership in the world the duo have been on the sidelines for most part of the season.... And Wes Brown once hailed by fergie as a Natural center back looks out of confidence and looks certain to miss the plane to South Africa....... Johny Evans nervy performances are adding to the mess... Well Well... Fergies decision to let Gerrard Pique leave for Barcelona cost him dearly... And we cannot expect Chris Smalling to directly bear the burden on his young shoulders...And i have no clue whats happening at right back...... While i think Captain Neville should take his coaching badges and join Fergies back room staff.. Young rafael is still a Raw diamond..
All this calls for Buying 2 experienced defenders... Philip Lahm of Bayern has all the pre requisites to slot in at Right back.... And @ 20 Million Pounds he adds defensive solidarity and his crosses from the right can be an asset too ! Subotic,Simon Kjaer and David Luiz are some young sholders which can shine for us if signed...... But some how fergie doesnt look like hes interested in signing any one at the back !
The Creative side of uniteds Engine room needs a definite reinforcement....."Mest Ozil, Steven Defour, Diego" are some names which can solve the problem........ What fergie does in the summer remains to be seen........
Will they Break the Jinx ?
And the award for the best perennial underachievers in the world cup goes to "England" (Spain is right up there though)....With all its history and love for the game England could only manage only 1 world cup…… Boasting of Super star footballers it couldn’t get past the quarterfinals in the recent past……
But I see light at the end of the tunnel…..Finally England Could break their Jinx this time Out.....
What will propel them to success this time? In 2006 they failed miserably with Steven Gerard, Lampard and Rio in the peak of their powers... What’s different this time?
Fabio Capello!
After all he’s far better than Sven “Quarterfinal” Erikson (Why do I even bother to compare: p)! I was both surprised and frustrated to see Sven as England Manager for So Long….. Aah finally the FA has made a right decision :)
What is so right about Capello? He and Sir Alex have one trait in common… Players respect them and don’t cross the line they draw! This helps them in playing exactly how they plan …. 9 Wins out of ten in the qualifiers! Wow Man... Is this the same England which couldn’t make it to the Euros? Hell Yes !
And Unlike the Last Time England’s Golden Boy (Wayne Rooney) didn’t break his leg as of now and he’s firing all cylinders….. And at last Capello got him to play more in the box and Leave the “Chasing Opposition forwards” Job to his defensive colleagues….. That clearly made a difference this season…. And this time Rooney’s strike partners are strong too…. Defoe is giving everybody a run for their money this term; Crouch has after all "headed" Robbie Keane to Celtic! And Darren Bent looks Rejuvenated at Steve Bruce’s Sunderland! Agbonlahor is also in contention with fantastic performances against the Big 4 in the premier League… And Don’t forget the Old war Horse Heskey…..So its “All is Well” at the Moment for England in the Striking department .......Gosh Capello will break his head on whom to pick…..
England’s Engine room looks equally good…..Lampard old legs are still going strong and Barry has been performing consistently for city….Steve Gerard seems a lil out of gas though…… we can only wish n hope he gets back to full fitness by June……. Only Fergie knows if Owen has a chance of being on the plane to south Africa…. He was England’s best player in the last world cup….. On the wings Lennon did well for spurs this season and charismatic Joe Cole seems to have lost some of his charisma under ancelotti……. Adam Johnson surprisingly is stealing the lime light at city among his 200 million dollar team mates…… his crosses are a delight to watch…… Though he’s not currently in the frame if he keeps his good work going at city am sure Capello will consider him…… Carrick is doing himself some good with his recent performances….His distribution is going to be an asset for England if he plays in the 11.
The Defence looks a relative week point at this point in time for the "Three Lions"...... Captain Rio is yet to prove hes completely injury free and the usually rock solid JT looks off track after being sacked from captaincy.... Ashley coles ankle fracture is a worry. And england at the moment can only manage a fragile Johnson at right back.... Wil the usual back ups Wes Brown and lescotts shaky performances capello has some work to do to put a solid back four together....... I hope he does a wayne rooney with Rio & JT though :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)