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[WC2006] The English Team formation

2006-05-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

With Rooney needing a miracle to even get a match at the World Cup, most of us are scratching our heads as regards to what would be the formation of the English team.

There are three options that are coming out, none of which is the diamond formation of Sven. If Owen can pull it through to the World Cup, then he would be the automatic choice up front (with Robinson assumed to keep his GK position). Assuming that he pulls through lets look at the options (I'm only listing down the playing 11):

4-4-1-1

Robinson - Cole/Terry/Rio/Neville - Downing/Lampard/Gerrard/Becks - Cole - Owen
With Cole in superb form, it could be worthwhile playing him as a centre-forward just behind Owen. The midfield would then be comprised of Downing, Lampard, Gerrard, Becks (Left to Right). The defense would be Cole, Terry, Rio, Neville (Left to Right). Might just pull this one off but am still a lil' doubtful about Downing right now.

4-3-3

Robinson - Cole/Terry/Rio/Neville - Lampard/Gerrard/Becks - Cole/Owen/Lennon

It could be worthwhile to throw Lennon in the ring (could be too soon) but Lampard, Gerrard and Becks haven't played together. The former too look to go forward a lot and with short passes while Becks prefers the long balls through. Depending upon him to play a holding role might not be the best idea. This is my least favourite formation.

4-1-4-1

Robinson - Cole/Terry/Rio/Neville - Carrick - Cole/Lampard/Gerrard/Becks - Owen

This is my first choice as Carrick's done so well recently and Cole can run down the left as he has already done for the qualifiers. Owen has always played alone up front and when you have a midfield (including Carrick) where everyone's been scoring a lot of goals.

But my question is that by strengthening the midfield can you dream of winning the Cup? A Brazil which keeps on attacking can haunt England. Is Crouch, Defoe, Harewood a good substitute for Rooney (last reports suggest Vasell is out with a hernia operation)? I personally don't think that they have the attacking quality needed in a tournament where each game counts and you win by scoring a few.

What would be your ideal formation and who would you keep on the bench? We would love to hear your thoughts regarding the same. Assume Rooney isn't in the 11.

Crossposted at BlogFC

If it's April, it must be playoffs

2006-05-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

This one was reputed to be the best ever even before it started.. It is definitely proving to be close. It definitely is the closest race I have seen. I am talking about the NBA playoffs.

For a few years now, we have seen the usual suspects fighting it out in the conference semis. The Kings-Lakers-Spurs rivalry around the turn of the century was all that mattered. Trailblazers and T'wolves in the early 2000s and Mavericks and Suns in the last few years were the other teams which would occasionaly feature in the semis. You could almost always pencil in the first 3 seeds in the conference semis, even before the season started. There would be a small fight amongst the 4th and 5th seed.

Similarly, in the East, you could pencil in New Jersey, Indiana, Detroit as the teams which will be there in the Conference semis. Last year, with the addition of Shaq there was Miami. Everything worked to a plan.

There were no upsets. It was the Wimbledon rather than the French Open.

This year, it is refreshingly different. Although my favourite Heat is in difficult waters against the Bulls, I am loving it. At the half-way stage in the first round, any of the teams have a decent chance of making the conference semis, except maybe the Grizzlies. Every other team has got a win at least. 4 out of 8 matchups are tied. Lakers are 3-1 up against the second-seeded Suns. Hell, even Bucks have managed a victory against the Pistons - by 20 points. Kobe's last second shot today was poetry. Now, in the second round, we just might get to see Clippers vs. Lakers in LA, though Steve Nash would want to spoil that party. It is great drama.

Are you watching?

Crossposted at 22nd floor.

[WC2006] Fan Interview - Germany

2006-05-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

With the World Cup so close, I got in touch with a close friend of mine in Germany and got his thoughts on the German team and the tournament.

Tell us a little about yourself: Name/Age/Profession/Hobbies

Arne Schepker / 25 years / Marketing Manager / Sports (triathlon, outdoor), traveling, movies

Club Supported?

Werder Bremen

Well, we are almost there. How much pressure is the team under to win the cup as the host country? What do you think are the chances? Realistically.

The pressure has been enormous throughout the past 2 years and rising! Especially since the German team did not play any “serious” games without the qualifiers, there is always doubt about where we stand. I believe, the pressure will mount even higher during the world cup but so far – thanks to Klinsmann – it has been very positive pressure which will help the team more than harm it. Our chances are very good – we are playing at home, have the whole country of 82 million supporting the national team, have a young & hungry team, none of the favorites are in incredible form (except Brazil maybe) and in the world cup anything is possible.

We will win it all! (quite realistically)

A lot of people say Germany doesn’t play attractive football. Moreover it isn’t that effective anymore. What do you say about that?

That is the old prejudice… but wrong and outdated. 1.) Looking at 2002, we were highly effective and advanced to the finals and played quite attractive soccer in the final against Brazil. Germany simply does not show it all until the world cup games. 2.) Klinsmann has the team playing more offensively than his predecessors. The ConFed cup games showed where this is leading – fast, direct & offensive soccer mixed with the traditional tactical & physical German strengths.

Germany always had a great team at world cups. They have been lucky in the last couple. Will we see a team like we did back in 1990?

No, the current team is completely different. It is much more “team” than a number of stars (Matthäus, Völler, Brehme, etc.). They are also much younger and thus more “hungry”. I believe, they could be THE surprising team in the world cup.

Germany won in ’74 and then in ’90 after 16 years. Its 16 years from then. Fancy your chances mate?

Any host country has increased odds to win the cup – with the incredible fan support, the comfortable climate, accustomed stadiums/grass/balls, etc. I am looking forward to it already…!

Is Klinsmann the man? How would you compare him to the erstwhile world cup managers for Germany?

Klinsmann is the man! Absolutely. He managed to turn around the atmosphere not only in the team but the whole country with his vision & positive thinking. It has been a while since the Germans where so strongly rooting for their team.

His training methods are state-of-the-art and he brings in experts from outside football frequently. He has a good team of professional assistants in Löw (ass. coach) & Köppke (goalkeeper coach) and works well with Bierhoff (team manager). Slowly but surely, he has kicked all the old “buddies” out of the DFB structures (from the event manager to the cook). It was about time… This will pay large dividends in the long run – we now have capable U21 & U19 coaches and an experienced technical director in Matthias Sammer.

A large number of the German players are from the Bundesliga? Is that good or bad?

Generally, that is good – it shows that the good German players can stay at home in a strong league (unlike the Dutch & French). On the other hand, the German league does not have the same structural financials & ultimately (at the very top) not the same level that the Spanish & English leagues have.

We think of Germany and we think of Ballack. Who is the unsung player in the squad according to you?

Miroslav Klose – one of the best strikers in Europe (see the Golden Shoe standings), when Bremen played Juve Fabio Capello was afraid of only one player… guess who.

Have you got the squad to take on the rest of the world? Are you one of them who wants Scholl to come out of retirement and play in the world cup (your manager doesn’t want him)?

Yes, the team is young, strong & hungry.

Scholl is still a good player but well past his prime. With the small world cup rosters, we cannot afford to bring along players that cannot play 90-120 minutes. I am sorry, but this time the BILD magazine will not be successful in “pressuring” the coaches into bringing a dinosaur on-board for the world cup (see Matthäus in 2000).

What would the perfect starting 11 for the German team?

Lehmann – Janssen, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Owomoyela – Kehl, Frings, Borowski, Ballack – Klose, Podolski

Is Lehmann the better choice than Kahn?

Yes, he is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world right now. Simply look at how many games with 0 goals against Arsenal played this season in the Champions League (with a couple of 20-year old interior defenders). Don’t get me wrong, Kahn is still a world class goalkeeper and would play in any other national team. Germany has always had world class keepers throughout the history. This is a decision for who is in better shape.

I wouldn’t ask you who would win the Cup as chances are you will tell me it would be Germany. So let me ask you who do you think would be the four teams in the semi-finals?

Brazil, Netherlands, Italy, Germany

Would a Japan or a Korea or Serbia do the unthinkable?

Not even close.

Who would be the three players to watch out for?

Germany: Klose, Podolski, Borowski

Young players: Robben, Fabregas, Messi

Overall: Ronaldinho, Henry, Lampard

Which would be your ideal match of the tournament?

Brazil-Germany

(Brazil-Netherlands would be OK as well… seeing the Dutch get their asses kicked.)

Being a German how frustrating is the ticket lottery? If you don’t end up getting a few, where would you be watching the matches?

The lottery is/was unbelievably frustrating – a lot of my friends got tickets, I did not. The tickets on the open market are either crappy games or (see eBay) prices are sky high!

Tell me something I didn’t ask but you wanted to talk about it anyways.

Did I already say that Germany will win the cup!! :)

Cross posted at BlogFC and Freewheelin

Is Arsenal going to do a Liverpool (at the expense of Spurs)?

2006-04-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

While I do think that Barca has a team which is superior to the Gunners, the latter might just decide to suprise us at Paris next month. If that happens and the English Premier League also plays out like what it is as present we would have the same situation like last year where Liverpool didn't qualify for a Champions League spot but were allowed to compete in the qualifiers as a 5th team from England. I have had discussions with various people regarding the same happening this year too for the next season and unfortunately a lot of people have got it wrong. They think there would be 5 teams again like last year if Arsenal end up winning the Champions League but not qualify for it. So let me draw your attention to the UEFA regulations (point 1.03) where this has been clarified:

1.03 At the request of the national association concerned, the UEFA Champions League title-holders may be entered for this competition, as an additional representative of that association, if they have not qualified for the UEFA Champions League via the top domestic league championship. If, in such a case, the title-holders come from an association entitled to enter four teams for the UEFA Champions League, the fourth-placed club in the top domestic league championship has to be entered for the UEFA Cup.

The regulations document can be downloaded here.

The above also puts the FA in a spot and I do not think that makes it any easier for them. If Arsenal win and they are to play in the Champions League next season the FA would have to ask Spurs to play in the UEFA Cup.

The debate is while a winner is given a chance to play the qualifiers why should a team in the country's league which has played the whole season to qualify for Champions League and have qualified as a 4th team be asked to relinquish the same spot? I would say let both play out a home and away tie to decide who makes it as the 4th team.

Update:

I find there's still some confusion regarding which teams qualify automatically and which teams play the qualifiers provided Arsenal win CL. For the benefit of those who haven't opened up the regulations document I'll quote the earlier section (1.02) which precedes 1.03.

1.02 These rankings (Annexe Ia), drawn up in accordance with the stipulations of Annexe II, points 5-10, determine the number of representatives per association, as well as the stage at which they join the competition.
Associations are represented on the following basis:
a) One representative: winners of the top domestic league championship.
b) Two representatives: winners and runners-up of the top domestic league
championship.
c) Three representatives: winners, runners-up and third-placed club in the
top domestic league championship.
d) Four representatives: winners, runners-up, third- and fourth-placed clubs
in the top domestic league championship.

This means that if Arsenal win - Chelsea, ManUtd and Arsenal qualify automatically to the group stage while Liverpool will play the qualifiers. Read point 1.02 and 1.03 alongwith Annexe Ia.

Crossposted on BlogFC

Rio Ferdinand can sing

2006-04-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

Rio sings in the Six Million Dollar Man drama in his school in London in early 1990s. He's a few more millions now though! :)

The Scouse win but are also losers!!!

2006-04-23T01:10:00.000-07:00

Chelski got dumped out of the FA Cup and 13thpsycho talks about Mour-the-Bore's stupid rants again. Poor losers - they prove that again.

I found the game last night quite interesting. Till the second Riise had that blip and headed the ball to Drogba for him to head it into the goal, Liverpool was playing amazing compact football. Great shape. Except the part which concerned Crouch, Cisse or Morientes (the last 2 came in as subs and were of harddly any use). All Crouch does is just win headers and lay them up for his mates. Thats all. He's a complete sham of a striker. But coming back to the rest of the team, they played well - short passes, crowding out Chelski, not giving them any space. Actually Mourinho is a complete idiot (I guess you knew that already). Bordering on arrogance he started with Paulo Ferreira as a midfielder (someone commented that he had done that in Porto under Jose) leaving out Robben, Duff and Cole out of the starting 11 - why is my question when all these three love playing wide and give you options from the wings. Going down the middle is not always the best option and Jose realised that after being 2-0 down early in the second half. And what do you know - all three were on the pitch! Idiot! And the scousers shat in their pants - they were tentative, pushed back into their own half. Made for some great football for the last 20 minutes but they held their defense well to see out the match and the victory. I'd say it was a good hard-earned victory and they go from under-dogs in this one to a fave in the final against either the Hammers or Middlesbrough.

Update:
Richard Williams of The Guardian casts his aspersions on Jose's acumen, voicing similar thoughts.

When Cole finally came on, his side were 2-0 down. Having started the game with no wide players, suddenly Chelsea had three on the pitch.

On a different note, the scousers defaced OT last night at the game. See it here and here. Not winners here exactly eh? What a shame!!!

Crossposted on Freewheelin

Mournin' hore...

2006-04-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

I seriously cannot believe this guy is a real person. Seems like one of those WWE wrestlers who act and speak according to their "Bad Guy" image. Read what he had to say after Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final:

"Did the best team win today? I don't think so. In the last 30 minutes we deserved extra time."
(Oi dumbass, the game is 90 minutes long. Therefore, Liverpool played better for the most part.)

"In the first half nobody was better. They had a good start to the second half but then we dominated the game. I cannot wish them luck in the final. Middlesbrough and West Ham will be there and I must respect them."
(Rafa: Hmmm...he will not wish me luck. Hmmm.....for me, that is finally something to laugh about. Hahahaha...)

"But in 10 matches against us they have won twice. In the Premiership the distance between the teams is 45 points over two seasons. We beat them in a final, they beat us in two semi-finals. A psychological advantage? I don't think so."
(Psychological advantage? What advantage? Is he talking about next season already??? And hey, whats the difference in points, prestige, fame, fan support, etc., etc., etc. over, say, the last 10-15 years?!?)

I only have this to say: Chelski - Worst Winners and Worst Losers. Pathetic. Bring on next season!

Football Bloopers - Pts 1 & 2

2006-04-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

P.S. A few of 'em are repeated in the second one, but good compilations overall! :D

FIFA Rankings: A joke surely!!!

2006-04-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

Please have a look at the FIFA Rankings and tell me you think its a joke with USA ranked as number 4th while Argentina, Portugal, England, Spain don't get that spot!!!
I'm not exactly sure of the ranking mechanism but I'm quite shocked.

Rank	Team	+/-Rank Mar 06	Pts: Apr 06	+/-Pts: Mar 06
1	Brazil	0	830	-5
2	Czech Republic	0	779	-10
3	Netherlands	0	774	-14
4	USA	1	760	-4
5	Spain	1	759	-4
6	Mexico	1	758	-4
7	France	1	754	-6
8	Portugal	2	753	-2
8	Argentina	-4	753	-12
10	England	-1	744	-12
11	Denmark	3	738	2
12	Nigeria	0	737	-1
13	Turkey	-2	733	-10
14	Italy	-2	731	-7
15	Cameroon	0	723	-3
16	Sweden	0	717	-8
17	Japan	1	709	-3
18	Egypt	-1	708	-6
19	Greece	2	699	-5
19	Germany	3	699	-1

And for the record India's at 117. Singapore's at 92.

Crossposted at Freewheelin

Doin a Ronaldinho

2006-04-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

I posted this Ronaldinho Nike Ad a while back where he tried a new pair of shoes and kept hitting the crossbar and controlling the ball time and again. And I asked if anyone could do this?

Well, looks like someone tried. In a very funny way!!! Hahaha.

Crossposted at Freewheelin

Most number of misses....all within 10 seconds!

2006-04-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk!

A lil' faith

2006-04-18T00:29:00.000-07:00

ManUtd's turned the corner pretty well coming into the last lap of the season.

Bottomline: Still not good enough, considering the history.

Here's my take on the team this season:

Goalkeeping:
Van der Sar has been the best buy of the season - he's made quite a many crucial saves which had kept the team in the hunt. Tim Howard looks like he is leaving to join Wigan (unconfirmed reports) and that could be a good option as he is not going to get a game unless Van der Sar is injured.

Defense:
I'm still worried about the defense - Vidic is still settling in and could be forgiven for a few misunderstandings but Evra hasn't impressed (he needs to play but surely he doesn't think he needs 20 games to show what he's got!), Silvestre is like a lottery everytime - could be made to look quite foolish. Neville's been outstanding at this stage of his career carving out Beckham-esque crosses from the right everytime he goes up. Maybe he needs to show Ronaldo how its supposed to be done. Ferdinand has had a drop in his form and while he loves to play the cool-calm defender he's made more mistakes this season. Maybe he also needs to learn how to clear balls (like Robert Huth) without being cute. How I would love a Terry in this team! Bardseley has done well with his limited chances and so has Pique. I'm looking forward to first team starts of Pique and Spector (on loan to Charlton) and also the return of Heinze (he adds an attacking option to the left wing when he goes up).

Midfield:
What I'm really surprised at is how this make-shift midfield with Giggsy and O'Shea has played so well lately. I didn't have my hopes too high and I personally thought making it to 2nd would be a huge challenge. Ronaldo has had a decent season - brilliant at times but still quite selfish with the ball - he needs to learn to pass the ball more. Park has looked better with games under his belt. But we would definitely need a midfielder if not two during the summer. The likely ones would be from Diarra, Makoun, Mascherano. There's rumours of a Joe Cole raid - I think thats unlikely but Mourinho has said he would offload 3 players (who wouldn't fit into the first team or have a problem) to get 3 more. So we will see. Downing would be a good option as a left winger!

Attack:
The team's scoring goals - only 1 less than Chelski and Saha's done well since he got back from injury. Nistelrooy has scored 1 less than Henry but has looked out-of-sorts for the last few games. A stint with the Dutch side at the world cup should help him out as he feels he plays better under Van Basten (where he has been encouraged to build up plays instead of being a penalty-box poacher). That has been seen in his game in the ManUtd matches too - as Saha does that so well (winning headers, holding the ball up while the rest of the team moves forward). Rooney has been the talisman for the team and though he might be battling on and scoring he looks quite tired. But you can bet on him to come back next season and start off from where he would leave this season. David Bellion is being sold to Nice. Good idea! Quinton Fortune is also heading somewhere else this summer as his contract will not be renewed.

All in all while the season comes to a close, with the midfield strengthened ManUtd should be able to give Chelski a run for its money next season. Rooney, Ronaldo, Pique, Rossi, Spector - we should be seeing them in the ManUtd colours for some years to come.

Team to look out for next season: Liverpool (if they can solve their striker issues!!!)

Germany '06: Aufzupassende Spieler #1

2006-04-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

A glance at:

LUKAS PODOLSKI

Shirt #: 20
Date of Birth: 4th June, 1985
Nickname: Poldi/ Prinz Poldi
Current Club/ Since: FC Köln (Germany)/ 2003-04
International Debut: Against Hungary (6th June, 2004)

Excerpt from fifaworldcup.com:

“Podolski appears to have touched a nerve among the population at large. He possesses the character and poise of a Rudi Voller, and the marketing potential of a David Beckham. He is the sole German player chosen to join Javier Saviola, Arjen Robben, Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet in promoting a new Adidas boot.”

Ever since breaking into the German senior team (which made him the 3rd youngest debutante in German history) against Hungary around two years ago, Lukas Podolski has become one of the most talked-about players on the German Soccer circuit. He played in Euro 2004, as well as the 2005 Confederations where he was Germany second-highest goal-scorer (Ballack had 4) with 3 goals in 4 matches (Interesting to note that he had just 7 shots in total, 4 of which were on goal, out of which 3 were converted!).

Podolski will be out to impress this summer, with clubs like Bayern Munich hot on his trail. The Polish-born striker stayed loyal to his club when Köln/ Cologne dropped down to Bundesliga 2 after the 2003-04 season; interestingly Podolski scored 10 goals in 19 appearances that season. Köln made an immediate return to the top-flight next year thanks to Podolski’s efforts, who netted an impressive 24 goals in 30 appearances! Although this season has been a struggle against the Bundesliga big boys (8 goals in 27 appearances; Cologne, themselves, are currently languishing in the relegation zone), his lightning pace and effective finishing abilities ought to make him an automatic choice in Klinsmann’s starting eleven.

Germany’s hopes are pinned, to a large extent, on a surprisingly young side which has been criticized, for lack of experience, by football pundits. It will be interesting to see whether key players like Podolski can rise to the occasion and deliver, circumstantiating Klinsmann’s belief in the vigour and fire of youth (something sorely missed in France ’98 for instance), and silencing critics once and for all.

A town's desperate fight against porn

2006-04-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

They have taken off the porn channels, they have removed the provocative pictures from the spa, they have removed the bibles from the hotel rooms, they have also banned art showing naked boys wearing wings... In fact, even the women working in the hotel will only wear trousers, even in summers!!

Bad Nauheim, a small resort town is pulling out all stops for the Saudi team, which will reside there during the first round of the World Cup (till they are eliminated, that is).

""We're very excited to be hosting Saudi Arabia," said Prokop (hotel's GM). Saudi Arabia flags will be hoisted atop about 30 public buildings in the town in honour of the visitors.
Despite Bad Nauheim's meticulous preparations for their visitors, this is still Germany where nudists sometimes frolic in corners of public parks on hot summer days. There is always the possibility of running into naked men and women.
"No, I don't expect any complications like that," said Prokop. "I don't think there will be any nude sunbathing here in Bad Nauheim. We're a decent town.""

The question I have is whether they have taken off all Danish products from the kitchens.

Rush for cash makes for bad cricket

2006-04-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

TimesOnline has this extract from Wisden, where Mathew Engel (Editor) argues that the rush for cash is merely producing more bad cricket. Expansion looks like the furthest thing from ICC's mind. How do you explain how the Zimbabwe debacle was handled, how new countries keep qualifying for the World Cup? Since Sri Lanka's slow and steady rise no other minnow has been able to replicate it. Especially when the focus is on expansion now. Expansion wasn't officially happening when Sri Lanka was coming through the ranks. Its basically about grassroot cricket and developing that in new countries, than getting new teams and letting them get hammered and as such destroy any confidence they might have had. When did you last see a Kenya match on TV? They hardly get an opportunity to play bigger teams. Bangladesh has still not played India at home, because BCCI does not think there's too much moolah in it. So they keep postponing it. I hope they win against Australia - which would prove that they can fight at the test cricket level. We care about the fight and not the results initially. You can't expect wonders with a minnow. Something that even Kenya showed initially, but then there's hardly any cricket for them other than African tournaments against a weakened Zimbabwe or South African A sides. Is this how you develop a potential test playing unit?

Engel's full interview is at Cricinfo
Link to another article about ICC's greed

Crossposted at Freewheelin

Cricket highlights on the web

2006-04-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

If you are abroad like me, having to dish out $30 per game and don't want to and are happy with seeing highlights of the game on the net you should head to Cricket Videos Uncut. Well the videos are cut so don't quite understand the title. But it gives you a quick wrap of the day's play.

Crossposted at Freewheelin.

Blue Devils??

2006-04-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Man U has signed a new shirt sponsorship deal. Since Sharp and Vodafone both had red logos and AIG has a blue one, would we see Man U become the Blue Devils? Seriously though, now Man U will get 14 million pounds, which compares well to 10 million pounds that Chelsea gets from Samsung. Will Man U get Ballack now?

The Great Escape?

2006-04-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Starring: Bryan Robson, Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce.

Last year Robbo did the unthinkable. Taking a team who was in the bottom three during christmas and staying in the Premiership at the end of the season. The relegation battle was decided in the last round of matches. Kieran Richardson scored one of the goals to keep Brum in the premiership. At the beginning of this season, he decided to stay and fight for a first team place in ManUtd - which he is getting and doing decently well so far. In contrast Robbo has been struggling with his team and its slowly going down under. Specially so in the last couple of weeks where the much-maligned Redknapp and Brucie have some re-kindled something which is making these teams start beating the teams in the top 10.

Portsmouth fixtures and results. Their current form is W-W-W-L-L
Birmingham fixtures and results. Their current form is W-D-L-L-L
Brum fixtures and results. Their current form is L-L-L-D-L

So the basic question is - who would be the last man standing? I would hate to see Robbo go down but it looks like he would. And I have a sneaky feeling that B'ham just might have enough to get away this year. A month will tell for sure.

Wouldn't a beer barrel be better?

2006-03-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

Mr. Pique is my first memory of football, that and my cousin and father getting excited about the Laudrup brothers in 1986. I was still too young to stay up and night and watch football.

However, Mr. Pique was exciting enough. A friend from far away. In fact, I made his counterpart in Red, called him "lonka". Mr. Pique, the mascot for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, is amongst my three favourite mascots of all time*. And he was cute.

Unfortunately, cuteness is not the only criteria while designing the mascots for World Cup. Obviously, the mascot should be related to the culture of the place. I support that. It should also look fairly energetic and sporty, if it represents the football World Cup or the Olympics. I can live with that. However, some organising committees also think of other criteria. For example:

"GOLEO VI has set himself one overriding task and has made it his sole priority: he wants the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany to be one huge, joyful and unforgettable party, spending his time as the "King of Parties" celebrating, singing and dancing with fans from all over the world for four whole weeks. He's as cool as they come, an attribute he's likely to need as his fame and stardom inexorably increase."

Then, after having confused the matter and brought in 'cool', they give the designing duties to some corporate design firm instead of a children's book illustrator or children themselves. Firms like Jim Henson Company, which neither have any background in local culture, nor are told to think cute. The result: Ugly shaggy lion with no pants.

Okay, Goleo is not as bad as Olympics 1996, when nobody could even figure out what it was, sorry, What'sit or 1990, when the best of Italian design came up with Ciao. But, I am sure even a cute beer barrel would have looked better. In fact, come to think of it, that's a very good idea. Nothing like beer to represent Germany, is there?

* The other ones are Hodori and Misha from the Olympics.

The Beautiful Game...

2006-03-28T23:16:00.000-08:00

72 days left!

Concept: Dibesh Saha
All individual images are the property of their respective owners.

Crossposted at psychkick.

Instant Replays

2006-03-22T22:37:00.000-08:00

Cross posted at 22nd floor.

Knowledge quizzers will ask about the claim to fame of Jamea Jackson in the next few years. Good quizzers will ask, "Jamea Jackson watched her groundstroke land close to the sideline, and when it was called out, she sensed a chance to make a little history. What happened next?"

What happened was the start on instant replay in professional tennis at Key Biscayne. The start was interesting as the Jamea appealed, even though she knew that the call was right. For the chance to make history.

The match went on smoothly even though four appeals were made.

Obviously, there are detractors: "It sounds like a good idea, getting every line call correct. But think about it: Most incorrect calls even out in a match; the pros will tell you that. Meanwhile, turning contested line calls over to a supposedly infallible eye in the sky penalizes the stronger-willed player who can absorb a bad break and remain composed and resolute. Maybe this is why Roger Federer, the cool Swiss, is opposed to using the technology." from here. But I am all for it. If we can use technology and it doesn't slow down the game (how can it if there are already so many breaks in play and all you are doing is preventing a longish argument and grumbling?), let's go ahead. Damn the Luddites.

Now, if only they will do the same in football. This experiment is an interesting first step, though it won't be present in the World Cup. Go here for an informed view on the debate. Come back if you want to debate this further.

League Standings as of 16th Mar 2006

2006-03-15T20:29:00.000-08:00

It was high time I updated the league standings. So I was surfing through the web, looking at tables. What I thought was quite interesting, is that the Spanish, Italian and Dutch leagues have fewer draws, if you look at the top 5 teams in the table. Spanish sides, except the top two have goal differences in single digits. I can only infer that they play for wins but their defence leaks or the lower teams are quite inferior. I don't think the latter's the case in La Liga. While the English Premiership teams are getting better at playing 4-5-1 and strengthening their defenses, most end up with drawn games. Liverpool though looks to have ended their hunt for the elusive back of the net by scoring 5 times last night against Fulham; Crouch, Morientes, Fowler getting one each.

Europe
English Premier League
Spanish La Liga
Italian Serie A
German Bundesliga
Scottish Premier League
French Ligue 1
Dutch Eredivisie
Portugal

Americas
Argentina Primera Division
Mexico Primera Division

Asia
Singapore S-League

Let's go shopping...

2006-03-13T23:30:00.000-08:00

Chelski wants to go shopping again this summer. The players in the list are:
1. Ronaldinho
2. Ballack
3. Nedved

All the above three are mid-fielders/playmakers. I wonder how Jose plans to give them regular games with Lampard, Makelele, Essien, Maniche, Joe Cole already in the team. In the past he has had picked up players for only a year to either sell them or send them on loans viz. Tiago, Kezman, Smertin, Jarosik. Crespo was the only exception who got back from his loan spell in Milan to get into the playing 11 with regularity. If Chelsea wants to win the Champions League, it would be better off focussing on Strikers, which they have lacked sorely. If you follow the game, then you will notice a large percentage of goals are scored by the midfielders (which in no way is bad, but the strikers have just not been upto the mark). But with Roman's deep pockets you wouldn't be surprised if they go ahead and overhaul the whole team!

Here we go again...

2006-03-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

Mourinho just can't stop crying. I had posted this a couple of weeks back. But he insists on eating sour grapes. I can't help it can I? Chelsea was outplayed last night and while Jose can crib about not finishing the Stamford Bridge game with 11 players, what was his excuse last night? Wine not too good? Or maybe the weather? How about you don't have a Ronaldinho in your team eh? And inspite of the 85 million minimum tag for his sale, Barca wouldn't be interested. Ask Ronnie himself! Bugger off Jose.

Cross-posted at Freewheelin

A cup win, finally!

2006-02-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

ManUtd thrashed Wigan at Cardiff last evening in the Carling Cup Final to take home a trophy in almost 2 years. Thats not a ManUtd fan is used to. But hey, its better than ending the season yet again with no silverware. Inspite of missing midfielders, ManUtd played a full strength team (considering the injury list) and decided to drop Nistelrooy for Saha. And the latter made it count with a goal and assists. Rooney slipped in a brace while Ronaldo scored too. I expected it to be more of a fight as I like Wigan's fighting spirit. The fact that they have reached a cup final on their entry to the premier league and that they are at 40 points when most had written them off before the seaon began is victory for them! Hope that this victory leads to more silverware in the near future. Immediate goal: finish in 2nd place and qualify for Europe.

Cross-posted at Freewheelin.

Grapes, them sour Jose?

2006-02-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here we go again. This is the post match interview clip with Jose Mourinho after last night's defeat (Chelsea lost 2-1). He is mumbling something about Messi play-acting and the game wasn't 'pure' after the sending off of Del Horno.

"I don't think we should talk about it as a game, because after that the game was not a game.

"It was a pure game until that moment, it was 11 against 11, two good teams tactically thinking a lot about the game, not many mistakes, not many chances but an open game.

"There is no point talking about the game after that."

Oi Jose! Where the f*** were you when Robben (who was shielding Messi in the build-up to the foul last night) got Jose Reina sent off not too long ago??? That game was pure eh? Robben looked like he was murdered a 'few times' when there was hardly any contact. So is it the case of the pot calling the kettle black? Grapes in Stamford Bridge are sour I guess. Maybe they grow more potatoes in that shocker of a football field!

But on a serious note, FIFA should take a hard look at 'Playacting' which is getting notorious as days go by. I can understand if you do that to waste time at the end of the game, but to do that and influence referees to send other players off? Thats a complete shame. I'm quite sure such controversial incidents could be referred to an off-field referee (with the help of replays). Lit bit of technology never hurt anyone.

Here is the wrap-up of last night's games. Barca, Bremen, Inter look favourites to go through to the next round. We will know in a couple of weeks. For the roundup of games played Tuesday night, click here.

Cross-posted at Freewheelin.

Mohun Bagan AC - The National Club of India

2006-02-20T02:28:00.000-08:00

Wanted to post on this blog, but somehow managed to bungle up and post on mine instead.

Anyway, the website is just what I would expect from Mohun Bagan. Amateur, emotional, earnest, full of trivia, self-compliments and a few mentions of roshogollas. Just the way we would want it to remain!!

As we used to say in B-school - Ki Daroon!!

Man in the middle...

2006-02-16T06:07:00.000-08:00

...is where the game is won or lost.

Ask ManUtd or Arsenal this season and they might agree.

While Viera has been a loss that Arsenal has been struggling to cope up with, ManUtd has just been not able to get a replacement for Keano and is struggling to put a midfielder in the team. Scholes is out for the rest of the season. Fletcher, Smith, Rooney and Ferdinand have both played in that position and haven't looked the part. Rumours are that Aldo Duscher and Franck Ribery are the new targets. Ballack is still in the horizon, but not sure for how long as he has expressed a desire to join Madrid. Arsenal's on the way down and I think it would take them a couple of seasons to be back at the top 3. They have some good prospects and players like Fabregas and van Persie augurs well for the ex-champions. It'll be a major setback if Henry leaves for Barca in the summer, if rumours are to be believed.

Both Arsenal and ManUtd bought players who were not part of the solution. Theo Walcott came to Arsenal to beef up the offence. Vidic and Evra were picked up to help the ailing ManUtd defence. Vidic looks good so far. Evra still needs to impress.

If there was one player I could have bought, it would be Riquelme for sure. I think he is going to be one of the stars of the Argetine side, which looks quite good to go all the way.

And yes. Middlesbrough! Its just out of the bottom three but its the only team that has beaten Arsenal, ManUtd and now Chelsea. And they did get hammered 7-0 by Arsenal in the return leg. Rijkaard has been on the phone to find out how to beat Chelsea in the Champions League game next week. Hmmm. Wouldn't everyone like to know. Ask Fergie too! :)

Fantasy

2006-02-14T22:53:00.001-08:00

I play the Fantasy NBA league religiously every year. This year, I started with two teams. One, called Hindustan Heroes which got a rather raw deal in the draft. The second called Tokri Stars, which is currently top of the league (just checked, it's second, but the team which is first has played 50 games more than me).

Once I am sure of winning, I start jibing the others in my league. They are all strangers and come mostly from the US or China. While not being patriotic in many ways (any way), there's pride involved for me. I can do better than Americans whose sport this is.

Dibyo and Maverick are similarly playing fantasy football. And so are thousands across the country. Which begs the question? Can Indians be better at fantasy sport compared to other countries? We have always been passionate and knowledgable about following football. I remember seeing an idol of Diego Maradona during the 1994 World Cup finals in Keshtopur! I also remember huge debates on whether Garrincha got his due and whether Cantona stands a better chance if he leaves Alex Ferguson's scheme.

Now, should we take it to the next level and win every fantasy sport league in football. Can we take fantasy NBA and win that as well?

When'll the world championships be fought? Will we be ready by then?

The fall of the old guard

2006-02-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

Its happening. And in Italy, Spain and England. Milan, Real Madrid, Man Utd. A couple of years back and all these teams would be challenging for the league's top spot all the way to May.

What's happened this year? Lets see.
In Spain, Real Madrid languish 10 points behind Barcelona.
In Italy, Milan are 12 points behind Juventus.
In England, Man Utd are a sorry 15 points behind Chelsea.

So is it just a case of a cycle of ups and downs or is there something more serious in it? While Milan has played decently well so far in the season and has lost a few close encounters, both Real and Man Utd have been taken to the cleaners in a few matches. Heavy defeats. The last one being a 6-1 thrashing of Real by Zaragoza. Real's got an aging midfield and a frequently chopped and changed team. They sold Solari who is doing pretty well at Inter. Gravesen isn't playing. Owen got sold. Ronaldo was out due to injury. Zidane can't make up his mind whether he wants to retire or not. Man Utd just doesn't have a midfield due to various reasons. Ferdinand and Rooney are the current choices. But even with Fletch and Smith back, its not something to write home about. They need a holding midfielder and a left winger. The defence in both teams leaks goals. Woodgate has cost Real a lot but he isnt in double digits in 2 years! Hmmm. Silvestre is atrocious. Neville is getting old. Evra needs to work hard if he wants to hold on to his spot when Heinze is fit.

Such disparity between top teams isn't great for the game. You need games close to the final weekend to decide the league, not in March/April!!!

coming soon...

2005-12-13T00:57:00.000-08:00

this blog needs more attention. will do more during my vacation.

Some answers, lots of questions!

2005-11-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

For people who have not been following football for the last week, England beat Argentina 3-2. It was a friendly but the match was anything but that. While the result would give joy to all English supporters and Sven's going 'I told you so' what did this match really tell us?

1. No Rooney? Can't play. He's like the Tendulkar of the side. Without him, the team becomes rudderless - do great teams behave like that? What if you took out a Ronaldo or a Riquelme? Brazil and Argentina still have enough to destroy any given team. Can the same be said of England. I have my doubts.

2. Gerrard - An abundance of riches. Anyone who has seen him play can tell you he is a magician in his Reds shirt while in his Whites he is just a mere mortal! Where does he play nowadays? He is not a holding mid-fielder, so thats a no-no. Up ahead and shooting pile-drivers? Erm, what is Lampard's role then? Going up on the right and sending across sharp passes to Owen and Rooney? What is the role of Becks then? Sven's got a headache - he might have to bench him as a substitute.

3. Left winger. Joe Cole fills in this role but is he a Giggs or a Duff? No. So would Downing be a better choice there? Maybe. Headache here too.

4. Full backs. While Luke Young's been a perfect cover for Neville there is no one in sight for Ashley Cole - Bridge has been wasted at Chelsea and he's been very poor lately (could be because of lack of match fitness).

England is like the Indian cricket team. On paper, there are one of the star-studded teams ever. Unfortunately that comes a cropper on the pitch where they fail to click as a team. On their given day, they can thrash any team. On their worst anyone could defeat them. Northern Ireland/Denmark were lessons that will not be forgotten easily and soon.

The Red Devils do it again!

2005-11-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

ManUtd won 1-0 against Chelsea - after a horror of a week. Last year they broke Arsenal's unbeaten record, this year they did the same to Chelsea (ending their 40 games unbeaten record). More to come.

Update:
Where did this performance come from? Is this the same team that lost to Middlesbrough and Lille in the last week? What was different?

What I saw immediately was the effort and the desire, to win balls, to close and keep pressing, keeping it tight. Then the shape - ManUtd changed from their 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 where everyone was familiar in their roles - O'Shea and Brown as left and right full backs - places they have played earlier, Smith was just smashing with Scholes a poor cousin - but both went up and down tirelessly, Fletch was on the right and Ronaldo was on the left (where he plays for Portugal) with Nistelrooy up front with Rooney just behind him. ManUtd's midfield played well and as such they were more effective. They did look a little hassled and disoriented in the second half but it was still a way better performance than the last couple of weeks. Ferdinand and Smith had been abused and criticised and they made up for it with a superb effort; Fletch answered Keano's comments with the only goal of the match. Even Keano stood up to applaud the same! I wish Keano fires them up even more if these are the results we would get as a result! Fergie was a pleased and a much relieved man after the game I'm sure! ManUtd sprung new hope in the premiership - the league champions might not be decided by Christmas after all!

Haha! Funny Link...

2005-11-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

Someone forwarded this to me, funny shit, this.... the dude doing the Mourinho voice is hilarious. It's a link to another web-board sort of thing.

Part One

Part Two

Caption it!

2005-11-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

If pics could tell a thousand words! Is Fergie thinking about 1986, when the club was as poor as right now? I wish I could tell.

Shake it baby.....shake shake shake!

2005-11-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

That's what Djibril Cisse seems to be saying, and doing(!) even before he puts the ball into the net in Tuesday's Champions League match against Anderlecht. Liverpool 3-0 Anderlecht. Yay. Me biased! Go Liverpool go!!!

Kung-Fu Owen!

2005-10-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

I think I just saw the funniest soccer pic in quite some time. I'd heard of Shaolin-Soccer but this is even better! Take a look for yourself!

RIP: Man Utd

2005-10-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the worst game that Man Utd has played since a long time, definitely since I have been following the club. Closest was losing 1-4 to Man City in 2004. Everything has gone horribly wrong. There was no coordination, no desire, no ideas. Absolutely nothing. Ferdinand might find his place in the squad in serious jeopardy if Brown puts a few good games in. He really needs a good kick up his backside. Atleast 2 of tonight's goals were due to his horrible mistakes and they stem from an air of over-confidence and over-coolness that has been a part of his game suddenly. Incidently the same has been a cause for his axing from the English playing 11. The league is surely out of grasp now. I'm more worried about the long term future. Scholes is well past his prime, right now he is absolute rubbish (and it pains me to write that about him). Fletcher is just not gonna do in mid-field as he lacks the muscle. Smith is good, but most of the time its his mouth that does the talking and not his play. It doesn't help if you get a yellow card per game does it? I'm actually clueless for a change. I've always been optimistic about the team, but tonight was the pits. Rooney does not a team make. I wonder if Glazer's tearing his hair (or whatever is left of it) regarding his decision to buy the club. He makes money when the club wins. And that does not look too promising at the moment.

League Standings as of 28th Oct 2005

2005-10-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Europe
English Premier League
Spanish La Liga
Italian Serie A
German Bundesliga
Scottish Premier League
French Ligue 1
Dutch Eredivisie
Portugal

Americas
USA MLS
Argentina Primera Division
Brazilian Serie A
Mexico Primera Division

Australia
Australia A-League

Asia
Singapore S-League

Carling Cup: Wednesday Round-up

2005-10-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday as compared to Tuesday threw a few more EPL teams out of the competition, the biggest being Chelsea. They lost to Charlton 4-5 in penalties after the game ended at 1-1 after extra time (Robben,Darren Bent). Huth missed the penalty and Andersen was the hero for Charlton, keeping out the penalty. Thus ended Chelsea's dream of a quadruple for the season. Bolton won at home with a Borgetti winner in the second half. Everton's cup of woe runeth over with another loss, now to Middlesbrough. ManUtd gave starts to most of their young brigade and Rossi, Ebanks-Blake, Miller and Kiren on target after Barnet's goalkeeper was given marching order after just 2 minutes (due to handling the ball outside the penalty area). Shearer assured Newcastle's progess in the Cup with a winner 10 minutes from time.

Scores: (Click on Scores for Match Reports)
Birmingham 2-1 Norwich
Bolton 1-0 West Ham
Cardiff 0-1 Leicester
Everton 0-1 Middlesbrough
Chelsea 1-1 (4-5 P) Charlton
Man Utd 4-1 Barnet
Grimsby 0-1 Newcastle Utd

Double Standards!

2005-10-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

It smells of that for sure. When Rooney got sent off against Villareal by Kim Nielsen, it was due to the same action (applauding sarcastically to the card) which got Becks sent off last weekend against Valencia which saw Real go down 1-2. Now Becks has won his appeal. Maybe the sending off was harsh, but look at what the committee says:

A statement from the committee, who fined Beckham 60 Euros (£40) over the incident, read: 'The player does applaud, but with his back to the director of the game, it is not in a confrontational attitude, but as he goes back to take up his position on the pitch.

'It is without doubt an attitude worthy of reproach, but which proceeds from the original protest,' continued the finding, contradicting Dauden Ibanez's assertion in his post'match report.

'In the 87th minute the player David Beckham was sent off for applauding in a mocking way after being booked,' wrote Ibanez.

But the committee stated: 'We appreciate in what happened, that there was no desire to insult or show disrespect to the referee, which leads us to sanction what happened as just one infraction.'

This is just too much! So facing a referee and clapping will get you sent off but if you do the same if you have your back to him it will not! Give me a break!

Carling Cup: Tuesday Round-up

2005-10-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

The Tuesday matches had its share of thrills and spills, most notably that of Liverpool and Fulham from the Premier League. Liverpool got undone by Marco Reich after Gerrard had equalised. This leaves the Reds without no away wins this season which is absolutely shocking! Keep in mind that their form was horrific last season in the league but they won the Champions League nonetheless with their fighting spirit. Pretty sure, Rafa wants some of that pretty soon!!!
Arsenal's young brigade shone with Van Persie getting a brace as they outclassed Sunderland easily. Fulham were stumped with a Inamoto special (against his former club) in extra time.

The scores: (click on score to read match report)
Aston Villa 1-0 Burnley
Mansfield 2-3 Millwall
Reading 2-0 Sheffield United
Crystal Palace 2-1 Liverpool
Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal
Doncaster 2-0 Gillingham
Wigan 3-0 Watford
Fulham 2-3 West Brom
Blackburn 3-0 Leeds

Oh God!

2005-10-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Oh God,
I pray to thee.....please save Liverpool from relegation this season. All the strikers suck! Especially Mr. 7-million-pounds...Peter Crouch himself. Lose to Chelsea...ok. Lose to Fulham....bad,but can be forgiven. But lose to Crystal Palace in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup...that's it. I'm rooting for Charlton instead. Atleast they know how to WIN once or twice....not just DRAW or LOSE!!! As for Liverpool I'm just hoping they don't get relegated this year, which by the way seems like the year of the "underdogs". Go Charlton! Go Tottenham!

God have mercy....

Welcome to the ball game!

2005-10-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new abode for soccer news and views. As an afterthought, this would not be limited to only soccer but to all ball-games, though expect to see less of American football and Baseball. If you are interested to join the party, shoot off a comment and you would be posting here soon. While extreme and contrasting views are allowed (even to the extent of team/player bashing), use of profanities would not be allowed. That said, lets blog!