Politics 1 - 0 Sport

In my previous post, I talked about how the focus was shifting from sport to politics. Now, the focus has truly shifted to politics leaving the sport to suffer, right where it hurts the most.

Now, Rio Ferdinand has been named captain and Steven Gerrard vice captain following the sacking of John Terry as captain - because Terry had an affair.

Mr. Ferdinand has a fantastic reputation (what with missing the drugs test and banned for nine months) and Gerrard has a pretty decent brawling experience as well. Fabulous replacements. Who's next on the list? Wayne Rooney? I'm pretty sure he has a clean reputation under his belt.

John Terry being axed as captain of the English Team is a ridiculous decision in my opinion. Hey, who am I to question? But all I want to know is, was Capello's hands forced? If yes, Capello - I'm sorry to say your reputation has just flown out of the window. If no, well, your reputation stays, but England has flown out of the window.

As the title suggests, Politics 1 - 0 Sport

From sport to politics

The other day, I was reading the newspaper when I found the article about Henry's handball against Ireland and that FIFA is going to decide whether to punish Henry or not. I was aghast. But, I thought it would be a one-off and I promised myself that this will not show up in my blog.

Today, I read about John Terry's affair with Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend and whether he should continue as England captain or worse, should he be pulled out of the squad altogether. There are too many things wrong with that statement that I don't know where to start.

But after reading this, I had to bring up the Henry scenario too. I've never heard something as ridiculous and outrageous as FIFA going to rule on a handball. The referee did not see it and the goal stood. Big deal. If every single "wrong" decision made by a referee gets into FIFA's to-do list, I have lost my utmost respect for them. If Henry was playing for Ireland, would this have happened?

Coming to John Terry, I don't care what he does off the pitch as long as he delivers on the pitch. If you even begin to start that he has lost the respect of the dressing room, I, personally will have lost respect for the dressing room. Now, according to many "people", he should be stripped of the captaincy and pulled out of the squad. What happened when Steven Gerrard was facing jail time and had to rely on the jury/judge to say "Not Guilty". Did anyone say Gerrard should not play for England? Or Liverpool?

Has it really come down to this? Football fans are suffering. Newspapers/Journalists - Peace sells, but who's buying eh?

Argh!

It has come to a sorry state of affairs that it has to come down to this. Read the despair.

me: yo
Krishna: yo
me: dont you feel like jumping off from your coll terrace?
Krishna: i've thought about it lol why?
me: i am not even motivated to write my blog man. what you mean why? you know why.
Krishna: oh Pool haha used to it da
me: torres out for 6 weeks, gerrard out for a fortnight, benayoun for 3 weeks, languishing in 7th "fighting" for 4th
Krishna: http://www.divineheadbutt.com/Liverpool/Mid%20season%20Meandering.html
me: can it get any worse? i aint reading
Krishna: hadn't written for a month
me: i will only get more depressed
Krishna: there's nothing in it. same shit only
me: hmmm
Krishna: i don't even get depressed da. it's like a lost cause.
me: and now maxi joins...whats he going to do now? its just sad that liverpool are being thrown to the dogs
Krishna: imagine what he was thinking watch the game
me: ya i know atletico was much better
Krishna: lol i'm not really laughing out of humor
me: i know the feeling. its so bad that its funny
Krishna: haha anyway screw this season. 4th place maybe possible. next season only. i wanna see Pacheco now that Torres is out
me: next season i might not be able to watch also. pacheco? dream on
Krishna: yeah i know
me: bugger will play ngog and kuyt, with maxi on the right and somebody on the left
Krishna: it'll be Ngog. Maxi on the right? no da why would be take Kuyt off the right? it'll be Ngog up front
me: then pacheco will come on in the 87th min and will get rave reviews for his performance in "3 min"
Krishna: Kuty right, Maxi left
me: remember gerrard also injured who will he play then?
Krishna: Lucas Masch and Aqua
me: man, i wanna see tomo's team. he'll be a fool to do that
Krishna: who else can he put? lol
me: lucas, masch and aqua i believe
Krishna: who else ra? cos Bena also gone
me: god freaking knows
Krishna: Spearing haha
me: jesus how the hell did lucas become a "central" figure in this team. accordign to me, thats the reason liv have underperformed
Krishna: he's been playing well da
me: playing well in what way
Krishna: he doesn't give the ball away as much as he used to = big improvment
me: bugger is too slow, doesnt have the long passing game, takes the ball from one defender and gives it to another defender. you become too predictable
Krishna: well he's not going anywhere. you think Gerrard's played better than Lucas? i think not
me: what do you think is the reason? the reason is lucas. see
Krishna: no da that's bull
me: lucas has to be "THE" man to get the ball rolling forward. gerrard is so freaking isolated that he's running but the ball doesnt come, so he comes deep and makes it congested, if he goes wide, he's in kuyt's way. same with torres
Krishna: team has to revolve around Gerrard and Torres but that hasn't happened. gone are the days when Gerrard could pick him out
me: he makes a run, nobody has that long range passing game...aqua did some decent passing day before. for gerrard to pick him out, he should have the ball in a decent position and torres should make a run since both of them are so deep, how do you think thats gonna happen from front to back, the passing is too slow...and lucas is the main reason... because i dont think he has the vision of passionm *passing
Krishna: write all this on the blog.
me: ya right i've said enough about liverpool there it makes me sick to write about them like this
Krishna: there's hardly anything about Pool on your blog
me: wanted to discuss with someone and see how he felt
Krishna: i can't think now. i'll watch tomorrow's game and then we'll talk. truth is i haven't seen a game in a long time. i think last was Arsenal
me: dont worry...you aint missed much
Krishna: true and this season you can;t even blame Rafa
me: i aint
Krishna: there was no mad selections except his inexplicable love for Lucas
me: and you know what the worst part is...before, some of his mad selections used to win us matches
Krishna: haha
me: rafa will stay for years to come for sure...they wont sack him the ques is will torres? gerrard will stay i think
Krishna: yeah he will da. him and Gerrard won't leave
me: we'll see and why is our beloved babel refusing to move?
Krishna: that swap for Jones should happen
me: i dont care about swap also. just go man. he's just a passenger
Krishna: You wanna see new players? Makes no difference anyway.
me: 9 mil for that guy is too much. the way he has been playing
Krishna: Hmm my best friend is also a Pool fan. he saw the Reading game and said he'll become a Man City fan instead
me: i dont think i'll reach that level ever
Krishna: haha he was obviously not serious. i hope that might result in a strained friendship as well
me: lol

P.S. I really do apologise for this.

"Leed"ing the way

What a way to start the New Year. No, I'm not talking about Reading vs Liverpool.

There's a new Becks in Manchester. And by god, is he a rising star. This was the first time I witnessed Jermaine Beckford play after hearing a lot of "rumours" about how good he is. After his performance at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Third Round, in my opinion, they are not "rumours". He gave Wes Brown and Johnny Evans a run for their money and even more. What's more - he even came out on top. Don't be surprised if he's on his way to the Premier League come summer time.

As for Leeds United performance, they were quite magnificent. Their attitude was marvelous. I am out of superlatives to define their hard work and passion. The result that they earned at Old Trafford justified all of the above said qualities. People might say this was a one-off from Leeds United but they are run-away leaders in League One and should earn promotion to the Championship comfortably.

For a League One team to come to Old Trafford and play two up front till the 87th minute, even after going one nil up in the first half, speaks volumes about the manager. I agree, it might have turned out to be a collossal mistake, but the attitude to go for it even at the risk of getting beat was refreshing for the neutral fans and spectators.

It is a real pity, especially for football lovers, that Leeds United are in League One. They have a team to be more than match for any team in the Premier League. Lets hope this is a sign of things to come for Leeds United in their quest to get back their suspended status of being a top club in Europe.

Million miles per hour

It was a fabulous weekend of football for one and all in the English Premier League. Most of the matches if not all, provided glorious entertainment and drama. Right from the Stoke-Wigan game to the Liverpool-Arsenal game, there was fantastic entertainment around the grounds in the Premier League. The televised matches produced some stunning/shocking results for all to see.

We might have possibly seen the goal of the season from Figueroa when he scored from his own half against Stoke. If that was David Beckham, I bet it would have been on the front page of every newspaper. Well, the back page doesnt look bad either.

The world then witnessed some comical defending/comical goals from Everton and some brilliant finishing from Chelsea as that match ended in a 3-3. Another 3-3 encounter between Bolton and Man City almost had Gary Megson and Mark Hughes at wits end.

At the same time, Spurs was left spurning their chance to consolidate their position in the top 4 again, by losing to Wolves. However, this time, they never looked like coming back. Hats off to Wolves. I'm sure Shebby Singh was one of the few who was watching this one ahead of the Chelsea game.

In the late kickoff on Saturday. We witnessed Aston Villa sneaking past United in an encounter which promised goals, but delivered only one. Nonetheless, some of the football on display was magnificent and the only thing missing was 6 minutes of Fergie time.

Sunday promised a mouth watering encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal. Well, my mouth did start watering at Liverpool's display in the first half where they should've finished the game off. As it was, they didn't and my mouth dried up in the second half when a barrage of deflections meant the ball ended up in the back of Pepe's net. Super cross from Nasri I have to say. Then some Arshavin magic ensured my mouth remained dry for the rest of the night (possibly rest of the season). Arshavin at Anfield seems to be a goalscorer unleashed.

All said and done, the pundits were baffled with the results as their predictions for the entire weekend had gone haywire. But it was an advertisement for English Football like none other.

The players/fans of certain clubs might be ruing their missed opportunities. But there was one clear winner in Asia - ESPN Star.

Spurning Spurs

Last weekend might just give an indication on why Spurs, try as they might, may not gatecrash into the top four this season.

Anybody who saw the match between Spurs and Villa will tell you that Spurs deserved to win, in fact, ought to have to won it. But, they failed to do so. Villa was in the game for 10 minutes and for the rest 80 minutes, Spurs managed to score just the single goal.

Anybody who saw the match between Everton and Liverpool will tell you Everton did not deserve to lose, maybe ought to have won it even. Liverpool were in the game for a measly 15 minutes and was absolutely battered for 75 minutes. Yet, Liverpool managed to come out winners by a two nil margin.

Spurs had spurned their opportunity to consolidate their position in the league table in my view. You might say it was one of those days for all the four clubs, but I see this as evidence as to why Liverpool will finish in the top four and why Spurs will not.

From almost to almost

I apologise for the increasing number of posts dedicated to Liverpool, but no other club seems to be making as much news as Liverpool Football Club.

Liverpool's demise in the UEFA Champions League with a game to go has been seen as a shock for many. Liverpool's struggle to keep up with United, Chelsea and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League has got many shaking their heads. And why not. Liverpool have made it to the knock-out stages in every season under Benitez. Liverpool were top of the English Premier League after Christmas last season.

Benitez keeps saying that there is not much difference between last season's team and this season's team. Save Alonso. So, there should be no reason to doubt the team this season.
But I think the fact that there has not been much difference between last season's team and this season's team has contributed to Liverpool's struggle. Lets be frank, Liverpool were lucky last season with all their last minute goals/equalizers. I seem to agree with Sir Alex's comments - "This particular Liverpool team peaked last season." Most of this Liverpool team were playing at their best last season even without Gerrard and Torres. That seems to be part of the problem.

Club finances are a whole other issue. The fact that Liverpool are not willing to spend in the transfer market seems to be incurring the wrath of a few players themselves. You can say, Liverpool are in debt, but, so are United. That doesn't stop them from spending if they want to.
Last season, Liverpool "almost" won the league. This season, I hope, Liverpool dont go on to "almost" finish fourth.

This post is about problems. To think about a solution, there needs to be a change. Where? Who? I do not know. The question is, does Hicks, Gillete, Purslow, Benitez know?

P.S. It has been one year that The Kop End has been alive. Thanks to one and all who have been reading.