Thursday, March 26, 2009
The BEST league in the world
The EPL is looking very interesting at the moment. A few weeks ago, Manchester United looked to be cruising to another title. Who would have thought that it's main rival, Liverpool, would only be a point behind, at this point in time, after Man United's back to back defeat. The race to the title is going down the wire. That is why the EPL is the best league in the world.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Football lookalikes
After Man U's disappointing loss to Liverpool tonight, it's time for some laughs! Here are a few cases of pelanduk dua serupa
VS. 
Lucas Leiva and Craig Bellamy. Watching Liverpool playing tonight, i couldn't help but notice that Lucas looks suspiciously like Bellamy.
Carlos Tevez
VS.
The Incredible Hulk
VS. 
Anderson and The Predator
This one was brought up by a friend, Jerry. I wonder how the hell did he manage to come up with the comparison.
VS. Lucas Leiva and Craig Bellamy. Watching Liverpool playing tonight, i couldn't help but notice that Lucas looks suspiciously like Bellamy.
Carlos TevezVS.
The Incredible Hulk
VS. Anderson and The Predator
This one was brought up by a friend, Jerry. I wonder how the hell did he manage to come up with the comparison.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Post-Saturday showdown (Man U vs Liverpool 1-4)
Let's get it straight firsthand. I am a Manchester United fan and have been so for as long as I can remember. But i do think that i am objective enough to be able to accept defeat and to give credits to the opponent whenever they're due.
No doubt, it was a painful defeat tonight. Liverpool, one of the contenders for the title this season, beat Man U with a flattering score of 4-1, at Old Trafford. It was a exciting game throughout. Fast-paced with both teams attacking, and a little bit of drama thrown in to add spice to the game. But in my opinion, it was not a match of brilliance (except for the free-kick by Aurelio), but rather a match of two fair penalty kicks and defensive errors. I can't remember any clear cut chances or brilliant saves. Attempts on goals consisted of mostly 50-50 chances. But Reina did make the most of what should have been routine catches (or some people would call it goalkeeping practice). Enough to put someone on the brink of a heart attack.
Like i said, all of the goals could have been avoided. You could argue that if the two penalties (one each for Man U and Liverpool) were not conceded, there was a high chance of the impeded moves ending up in a goal anyway. So penalties aside, let us analyzed the other 3 goals (all for Liverpool). Two of them were results of defensive mistakes by Nemanja Vidic. Vidic has been a defensive stalwart for Man U for the past two seasons, and I have never seen him play this badly before. His first mistake allowed Torres to burst through on goal. As the last defender, i think Vidic was trying to chest the ball back to Van der Sar. But it ended up with him misjudging and miscontrolling the ball. The third Liverpool goal resulted from a similar mistake by Vidic. In a similar fashion, he misjudged the ball, which allowed Gerrard to break through. Only this time, he (Vidic) hauled Gerrard down. And to make matters worse, Vidic was rightly red-carded for being the last man and stopping a goal opportunity. What resulted from the direct free-kick conceded was a wonderful goal by Aurelio, which i think was the only moment of brilliance throughout the match.
By then, Man U were already 3-1 down. And a desperate Fergie had already thrown in three substitutes (Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov) in order to launch a full-fledged assault on Liverpool's goal. So Vidic's sending off meant that Man U had to play the rest of the match with only 3 true defenders. It was really not Man U's night when Dossena (a full back!) manage to score a lobbed goal against Van der Sar for Liverpool's fourth goal and thereby driving the final nail down Man U's coffin. With 10 men, Man U was already fighting a lost cause.
The showdown between the top two teams in the EPL tonight really shows that football can be a game of avoiding mistakes as much as it is a game of brilliance and attacking prowess. If you don't believe me, try asking the Italians who perfected the art of catenaccio and sitting back after a one goal lead and avoiding mistakes. However, as previous seasons have shown, losing points to your main rivals is less of an influence to winning or losing the title race compared to dropping points against smaller teams. Something which Liverpool have been guilty of too many times this season. After all, Liverpool once led Man U by a handsome 10 points. Man U still has a game in hand to restore the 7-point lead at the top. The battle at Old Trafford ended up with Man U on the losing side and they probably deserve it. You cannot commit so many mistakes against a team like Liverpool and expect to get away with it. Nevertheless, the season is far from finished. No points for guessing who i am rooting for for the title.
No doubt, it was a painful defeat tonight. Liverpool, one of the contenders for the title this season, beat Man U with a flattering score of 4-1, at Old Trafford. It was a exciting game throughout. Fast-paced with both teams attacking, and a little bit of drama thrown in to add spice to the game. But in my opinion, it was not a match of brilliance (except for the free-kick by Aurelio), but rather a match of two fair penalty kicks and defensive errors. I can't remember any clear cut chances or brilliant saves. Attempts on goals consisted of mostly 50-50 chances. But Reina did make the most of what should have been routine catches (or some people would call it goalkeeping practice). Enough to put someone on the brink of a heart attack.
Like i said, all of the goals could have been avoided. You could argue that if the two penalties (one each for Man U and Liverpool) were not conceded, there was a high chance of the impeded moves ending up in a goal anyway. So penalties aside, let us analyzed the other 3 goals (all for Liverpool). Two of them were results of defensive mistakes by Nemanja Vidic. Vidic has been a defensive stalwart for Man U for the past two seasons, and I have never seen him play this badly before. His first mistake allowed Torres to burst through on goal. As the last defender, i think Vidic was trying to chest the ball back to Van der Sar. But it ended up with him misjudging and miscontrolling the ball. The third Liverpool goal resulted from a similar mistake by Vidic. In a similar fashion, he misjudged the ball, which allowed Gerrard to break through. Only this time, he (Vidic) hauled Gerrard down. And to make matters worse, Vidic was rightly red-carded for being the last man and stopping a goal opportunity. What resulted from the direct free-kick conceded was a wonderful goal by Aurelio, which i think was the only moment of brilliance throughout the match.
By then, Man U were already 3-1 down. And a desperate Fergie had already thrown in three substitutes (Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov) in order to launch a full-fledged assault on Liverpool's goal. So Vidic's sending off meant that Man U had to play the rest of the match with only 3 true defenders. It was really not Man U's night when Dossena (a full back!) manage to score a lobbed goal against Van der Sar for Liverpool's fourth goal and thereby driving the final nail down Man U's coffin. With 10 men, Man U was already fighting a lost cause.
The showdown between the top two teams in the EPL tonight really shows that football can be a game of avoiding mistakes as much as it is a game of brilliance and attacking prowess. If you don't believe me, try asking the Italians who perfected the art of catenaccio and sitting back after a one goal lead and avoiding mistakes. However, as previous seasons have shown, losing points to your main rivals is less of an influence to winning or losing the title race compared to dropping points against smaller teams. Something which Liverpool have been guilty of too many times this season. After all, Liverpool once led Man U by a handsome 10 points. Man U still has a game in hand to restore the 7-point lead at the top. The battle at Old Trafford ended up with Man U on the losing side and they probably deserve it. You cannot commit so many mistakes against a team like Liverpool and expect to get away with it. Nevertheless, the season is far from finished. No points for guessing who i am rooting for for the title.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Hairy footballers
Don't you just love big hair?
Paul Breitner
Rudd Gullit...ok, his is not technically big hair, but oh well
A young Diego Maradona
Kevin Keegan
Marouane Fellaini, currently playing for Everton
And the king of all big hairs....Carlos Valderama
Paul Breitner
Rudd Gullit...ok, his is not technically big hair, but oh well
A young Diego Maradona
Kevin Keegan
Marouane Fellaini, currently playing for Everton
And the king of all big hairs....Carlos Valderama
Vintage football outfits
Football like everything else is subject to ever changing fashion. Here are some images of football greats of yesteryears and the outfits of the time. Personally, i think nothing beats the pinaccle of tight shirts, short shorts and big hair of the 1980s.
Ryan Giggs, escaping from 3 Liverpool players in the double-winning year of 1996
Brazil, captained by Socrates, were the tournament favorite for the 1982 World Cup only to be upstaged by Italy and one particular Paolo Rossi in the semifinal
Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer in the 1974 World Cup final
A legend while playing for Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish played for Celtic in the 1960s
A young Sir Bobby Charlton of Manchester United in the 1950s
Ryan Giggs, escaping from 3 Liverpool players in the double-winning year of 1996
Brazil, captained by Socrates, were the tournament favorite for the 1982 World Cup only to be upstaged by Italy and one particular Paolo Rossi in the semifinal
Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer in the 1974 World Cup final
A legend while playing for Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish played for Celtic in the 1960s
A young Sir Bobby Charlton of Manchester United in the 1950s
The Saturday showdown
The rout in Anfield against Real Madrid recently was the best I've seen Liverpool played in a while. I remember the Reds being in such top form early in the season, beating Man United and Chelsea, among others, but somewhat characteristically faltered toward the closing of the season. I'm hoping that they can maintain the same form this coming Saturday for a showdown with Man United at Old Trafford.
Can Man United be easily toyed with like Real Madrid? Highly unlikely. It is rare nowadays to see Man United plays such a mediocre game like they did with Inter Milan yesterday, and after a good tongue-lashing from Sir Fergie in the locker-room I'm sure the lads will bounce back this weekend. Both managers will put in their best and strongest eleven out on the pitch and it will be a ferocious battle until the final whistle is blown. There will be plenty of sweat, blood and tear left out there on the pitch. I expect nothing less!
What's my prediction? Is this a rhetorical question or what? Of course I'm hoping for a sweet Liverpool's victory and thus sweeping the series this season but I think it'll most likely be a 1-1 draw. It'll be a tight and close game with plenty of emotions and tempers flying all over the pitch. There will be a fierce battle in midfield but the game will soon open up on the flanks as both teams try to exploit each other's perceived defensive weakness. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a fast-paced and free-flowing game and this game certainly has all the elements to be an entertaining one. It might even become a classic as there's nothing less at stake in the game than the Premiership itself. Spoiling Man United's quest for the improbable quintiple can also be sweet!
Can Man United be easily toyed with like Real Madrid? Highly unlikely. It is rare nowadays to see Man United plays such a mediocre game like they did with Inter Milan yesterday, and after a good tongue-lashing from Sir Fergie in the locker-room I'm sure the lads will bounce back this weekend. Both managers will put in their best and strongest eleven out on the pitch and it will be a ferocious battle until the final whistle is blown. There will be plenty of sweat, blood and tear left out there on the pitch. I expect nothing less!
What's my prediction? Is this a rhetorical question or what? Of course I'm hoping for a sweet Liverpool's victory and thus sweeping the series this season but I think it'll most likely be a 1-1 draw. It'll be a tight and close game with plenty of emotions and tempers flying all over the pitch. There will be a fierce battle in midfield but the game will soon open up on the flanks as both teams try to exploit each other's perceived defensive weakness. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a fast-paced and free-flowing game and this game certainly has all the elements to be an entertaining one. It might even become a classic as there's nothing less at stake in the game than the Premiership itself. Spoiling Man United's quest for the improbable quintiple can also be sweet!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
You'll Never Walk Alone
If you have ever watched matches involving Celtic F.C., you would probably have noticed the crowd singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", a song which is synonymous with Liverpool. So which club actually first adopted the song as its anthem? And, apparently, Anfield and Celtic Park are not the only football grounds where you can hear the fans singing this song to the top of their voices.
After doing a bit of online research, here are some information regarding one of the most famous football anthems ever.
1)The song is also sung at football clubs around the world, where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on matchday; this tradition began at Liverpool F.C. in the early 1960s and later spread to several other clubs (WIKIPEDIA)
2)In England, the song's most famous outing was recorded in the early 1960s by Liverpool Merseybeat group Gerry & the Pacemakers, which reached #1 in the UK charts on the 26 October 1963 where it stayed for 4 weeks. It quickly became the club anthem of Liverpool Football Club [1] and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of the game and when the team was doing well or doing badly to inspire them to victory. [2] The words You'll Never Walk Alone feature in the club crest. In recent years the fans of various other clubs have attempted to claim that they sang it first, but Liverpool has the stronger claims [3]. In Scotland the song was later adopted as the anthem of Glasgow football club Celtic.
The song is also sung by other association football crowds, where it is sung variably, such as:
England: Ipswich Town, Liverpool Football Club.
Austria: SK Rapid Wien.
Netherlands: FC Twente, Feyenoord Rotterdam and Ajax Amsterdam.
Germany: FC St. Pauli (also Borussia Dortmund and Alemannia Aachen).
Greece: AEK Athens FC (AEK fans adopted a Greek version of the song).
Japan: F.C. Tokyo.
Italy: Hellas Verona F.C..
Scotland: Celtic FC.
(YAHOO! ANSWERS)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Keano Beano & The Super-Subs
By: Nick Gani
A few musings on last night’s round of games. First of all, nothing extraordinary about Chelsea’s win over Coventry City in the FA Cup 6th round. Everything about the game, down to the score (2-0 to Chelsea), and Drogba scoring, was predictable.
The only Premiership game last nite was Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur. What a remarkable comeback by Spurs after being 0-1 down for a huge part of the game! Sure, they probably didn’t deserve the result, and Sunderland was probably guilty of not killing off the game earlier, but it was an amazing strike from a player who must be dizzy from his own ups and downs this season.
It makes you wonder, how a player of Keane’s calibre and talent flopped with Liverpool, but upon returning to his former club, he’s back on top form again. Goals in consecutive games and downright an important one in last night’s game. A last minute (normal time) goal gives Spurs a valuable point in their fight to avoid the drop in what have been a hugely disappointing season for them (they were, after all, predicted to be the team to break the Big Four monopoly this season). In my opinion, Rafa Benitez was probably a little bit too quick to offload Keane. But now, we are left to wonder, would Keane have turned out to be an important player for Liverpool, had he been given more time to settle in? (Remember how Drogba sucked in his first season at Chelsea, but returned with a bang the following season and have been an important player for them ever since?) After all, we did see a few glimpses of his talent during his short time with the Reds. Goals against Arsenal at the Emirates immediately come to mind.
Fulham vs Manchester United. One of the reasons for Man U’s success in winning the league and the Champions League last season was the triple attack of Ronaldo, Roonie and Tevez. However, with the arrival of Berbatov this season, Tevez has unfortunately been relegated to the sub’s bench. I pity Tevez, really. He could walk into the first eleven of any big clubs in the world, and based on last night’s performance, Tevez really deserves to play more often. Even with Ronaldo rested and therefore missing from the game, Tevez’s link up play and understanding with Rooney was apparent. Imagine what it would have been like if Man U’s triumvirate were to start together.
Sure, I can understand Fergie’s reasoning. Ideally, you would like to have excellent cover in every position. And with Fergie’s attacking philosophy which employs two strikers, that means you need to have four quality strikers in the team (Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez, Wellbeck, and ocassionaly, Ronaldo or Giggs would play upfront too). I remember a time, specifically the treble-winning year of 1999, when Man U had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke starting, and Solskjaer and Sheringham coming off the bench. Now that’s what I call a quality bench! At that time, there were no problems whatsoever, selection-wise and in dealing with the player’s ego and desire to play in every game. Solskjaer was contented enough to play the supersub role, and Sheringham was already
at the beginning of the end of his career. With interest from Real Madrid and other big clubs, I wonder how long would Tevez remain a Man U player.
A few musings on last night’s round of games. First of all, nothing extraordinary about Chelsea’s win over Coventry City in the FA Cup 6th round. Everything about the game, down to the score (2-0 to Chelsea), and Drogba scoring, was predictable.
The only Premiership game last nite was Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur. What a remarkable comeback by Spurs after being 0-1 down for a huge part of the game! Sure, they probably didn’t deserve the result, and Sunderland was probably guilty of not killing off the game earlier, but it was an amazing strike from a player who must be dizzy from his own ups and downs this season.
It makes you wonder, how a player of Keane’s calibre and talent flopped with Liverpool, but upon returning to his former club, he’s back on top form again. Goals in consecutive games and downright an important one in last night’s game. A last minute (normal time) goal gives Spurs a valuable point in their fight to avoid the drop in what have been a hugely disappointing season for them (they were, after all, predicted to be the team to break the Big Four monopoly this season). In my opinion, Rafa Benitez was probably a little bit too quick to offload Keane. But now, we are left to wonder, would Keane have turned out to be an important player for Liverpool, had he been given more time to settle in? (Remember how Drogba sucked in his first season at Chelsea, but returned with a bang the following season and have been an important player for them ever since?) After all, we did see a few glimpses of his talent during his short time with the Reds. Goals against Arsenal at the Emirates immediately come to mind.
Fulham vs Manchester United. One of the reasons for Man U’s success in winning the league and the Champions League last season was the triple attack of Ronaldo, Roonie and Tevez. However, with the arrival of Berbatov this season, Tevez has unfortunately been relegated to the sub’s bench. I pity Tevez, really. He could walk into the first eleven of any big clubs in the world, and based on last night’s performance, Tevez really deserves to play more often. Even with Ronaldo rested and therefore missing from the game, Tevez’s link up play and understanding with Rooney was apparent. Imagine what it would have been like if Man U’s triumvirate were to start together.
Sure, I can understand Fergie’s reasoning. Ideally, you would like to have excellent cover in every position. And with Fergie’s attacking philosophy which employs two strikers, that means you need to have four quality strikers in the team (Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez, Wellbeck, and ocassionaly, Ronaldo or Giggs would play upfront too). I remember a time, specifically the treble-winning year of 1999, when Man U had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke starting, and Solskjaer and Sheringham coming off the bench. Now that’s what I call a quality bench! At that time, there were no problems whatsoever, selection-wise and in dealing with the player’s ego and desire to play in every game. Solskjaer was contented enough to play the supersub role, and Sheringham was already
at the beginning of the end of his career. With interest from Real Madrid and other big clubs, I wonder how long would Tevez remain a Man U player.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Football blogging as a therapy
Taking up Nicky's advice I'm starting a new blog about my life-long obsession of and my undying love for football. This blog stems from my endless discussions about football with Nicky until wee hours in the morning, especially the English Premier League, and simply serves as another avenue for discussing the beautiful game from an amateur point of view. Also I guess Nicky was sick of listening to me whining constantly about my emotional problems hahaha...
The past few weeks have been very emotionally-taxing for me as my heart was broken to a million little pieces and I was at the lowest point in my life. I was a total emotional wreck despite my friends' attempts to shake me out of it. But I found that playing and talking about football can be soothing to my troubled soul (not a permanent cure though), so I decided to start blogging about football as a way to distract my mind from thinking about her, at least temporarily. Football has always been there for me in my time of need, usually acting as an emotional outlet, so this blog will be no different. I hope my football-crazy readers can contribute to the discussions in here.
I'll see you all in the next post!
p/s: The reason I create a separate blog for football is that I want to keep my old blog strictly for other topics and I don't want to mix them up. I still like to blog about politics, and given my current emotional state, relationship.
The past few weeks have been very emotionally-taxing for me as my heart was broken to a million little pieces and I was at the lowest point in my life. I was a total emotional wreck despite my friends' attempts to shake me out of it. But I found that playing and talking about football can be soothing to my troubled soul (not a permanent cure though), so I decided to start blogging about football as a way to distract my mind from thinking about her, at least temporarily. Football has always been there for me in my time of need, usually acting as an emotional outlet, so this blog will be no different. I hope my football-crazy readers can contribute to the discussions in here.
I'll see you all in the next post!
p/s: The reason I create a separate blog for football is that I want to keep my old blog strictly for other topics and I don't want to mix them up. I still like to blog about politics, and given my current emotional state, relationship.
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