A truly magnificent season for Barcelona, who won the Spanish Cup, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
All this after going 3 years without a trophy.
All this while displaying a brand of football which goes back to the Johan Cryuff days. Or so I hear. But this Barcelona side has just revamped the modern definition of "football" and "team". Lets just hope it continues.
10 years ago, Sir Alex famously said "Football - Bloody hell!!". Well, this season, it was "Football - Bloody heaven!!"
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Arsene "Hmmm"grr
Arsene “When”grr comes across as a coach who likes to bring young talent through(as I’ve mentioned before). And everyone praises him for that. They call him a great manager who has done wonders with kids. At the same time, he’s criticized for his reluctance to buy big. He nurtures relatively unknown young talent and makes them into “Big” players. Henry, Vieira, Ljunberg, Fabregas to name a few.
But there might be another angle to this. The fact that he has hardly bought 4 or 5 “Big” players at a time means that he has not managed 4 or 5 “Big”(bought) players simultaneously(above 25 years of age). Yes, he has managed Henry, Vieira etc etc but most of them were with him from a young age. Yes, he did manage a Bergkamp and now an Arshavin(whom he has bought "Big") but look at his other “Big” players. Most of them were already there. Can he be called a great manager without having to manage Big egos? Is this the reason he is reluctant to leave Arsenal and go to a Madrid for instance?
Hmmm, something to think about…
But there might be another angle to this. The fact that he has hardly bought 4 or 5 “Big” players at a time means that he has not managed 4 or 5 “Big”(bought) players simultaneously(above 25 years of age). Yes, he has managed Henry, Vieira etc etc but most of them were with him from a young age. Yes, he did manage a Bergkamp and now an Arshavin(whom he has bought "Big") but look at his other “Big” players. Most of them were already there. Can he be called a great manager without having to manage Big egos? Is this the reason he is reluctant to leave Arsenal and go to a Madrid for instance?
Hmmm, something to think about…
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Red/Yellow menace
Most of you are aware that in the UEFA Champions league, if a player gets 2 yellow cards in the tournament, he is suspended for the next match.
A few years ago, this policy was tweaked a bit in favour of the player. i.e. If a player was on a yellow card at the end of the Group Phase, then the yellow card was scrapped and the players start afresh from the 2nd stage onwards. This was a postive initiative by the UEFA in my opinion. But I would suggest tweaking this policy a little further and scrap all yellow cards for a semi-final.
Nobody wants to miss a UEFA Champions League final(which may come once in a lifetime for a few players). Roy Keane and Paul Scholes for example, missed the 1999 UCL final and Roy Keane did not get another opportunity unlike Paul Scholes. And most recently, Dani Alves will be missing the final of the 2009 UCL final.
Everybody wants to see the best of the best play in the final. Suspending players for the final does not make for a fitting end to the greatest club competition in the world. And frankly, I don't see any positives for anyone in suspending players for the final for suffering 2 yellow cards.
P.S. A red card in the 2nd leg of a semi-final would be the next issue to tweak.
A few years ago, this policy was tweaked a bit in favour of the player. i.e. If a player was on a yellow card at the end of the Group Phase, then the yellow card was scrapped and the players start afresh from the 2nd stage onwards. This was a postive initiative by the UEFA in my opinion. But I would suggest tweaking this policy a little further and scrap all yellow cards for a semi-final.
Nobody wants to miss a UEFA Champions League final(which may come once in a lifetime for a few players). Roy Keane and Paul Scholes for example, missed the 1999 UCL final and Roy Keane did not get another opportunity unlike Paul Scholes. And most recently, Dani Alves will be missing the final of the 2009 UCL final.
Everybody wants to see the best of the best play in the final. Suspending players for the final does not make for a fitting end to the greatest club competition in the world. And frankly, I don't see any positives for anyone in suspending players for the final for suffering 2 yellow cards.
P.S. A red card in the 2nd leg of a semi-final would be the next issue to tweak.
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