BLOG POSTS ARCHIVE - March 2007
Posted Mar 20th 2007, 4:19pm
That Lad Ronaldo
... in the words of the song he's been making English footballers look pretty shite all season.
I have to admit, when it was rumoured he could be on his way in the summer my first reaction was, so what?
Not for any little Ingerlunder reasons, you understand - England were woeful in the world cup and deserved everything they got and quite a bit they didn't.
For some reason Cristiano's peculiar mix of sheer ability, gauche cockiness and the downright continental cheek of loving every minute of beating England wound the British media up.
I was more concerned with how Ronny fitted into the team: his tendency to dwell on the ball limited United's counter-attacks - where once we'd flow from end-to-end, now we'd get the ball out to the right wing and then have to wait to see if the Portuguese could beat his full-back a few too many times before crossing.
Rumour had it that Ronny was one of the reasons behind van Nistlerooy's fall-out with the coaching staff, in particular Queiroz who RVN accused of being Ronny's dad (an unfortunate expression considering that Cristiano's father had died earlier in the season).
So Fergie's brave decision to back a stuttering, buck-toothed Portuguese wing wannabe over a proven Dutch goal hound looked dubious to say the least in the light of the World Cup fall-out. Like many others I wondered who would fill the 30 goal-a-season void left by the defection of the horse-faced Netherlander.
Step forward Ronny.
Put simply Ronaldo has stopped messing about. Some put this down to the failed attempts of his agent to secure him a deal with either of the Spanish giants last summer, when both player and agent assumed he would be persona non grata in the Premiership and sought moves to the Camp Nou and the Bernebeu. Some believe that Ronny has been in the shop window all along. If so the recent talks over a massive wage rise and the continued speculation emanating from Spain would indicate that, so far it's mission accomplished.
I prefer to believe that the lad's grown up. Contrast his professionalism with Wayne Rooney. Both are under immense pressure to live up to massive contracts but while Wayne never gives up a lost cause, he also expends far too much energy on seeking revenge for one thing and another. He tries too hard, seeking to appease the odd miss with improved work rate and ire which usually land him in the book.
In contrast Ronaldo will rarely chase an opponent having lost the ball, although he's stopped sitting on the floor for lengthy periods with his arms raised up in supplication to a disinterested official. Rather Ronny doesn't get mad, he gets even - as his late penalty winner proved yet again last night. He bided his time, waited for the cover to look elsewhere and lured Boro's best defender into a challenge that gave the ref little option.
One thing's for sure, United won't let Ronny go without a struggle - he has to be the hottest property in world football at the moment, any offer under £50m should be laughed out of town.
Yet it would be churlish to boil down what Ronny has given us this season to mere figures. His performances of late have been a joy because he is so clearly enjoying beating the English. The one blot on his copybook is his lack of goals in the Champions League, a statistic I expect him to put right in early April in Rome.
Posted Mar 15th 2007, 3:11pm
The Gambler
It's an uncomfortable fact that the longer a gambler enjoys a winning run, the more likely he is to lose. As the great Kenny Rogers said, 'you've got to know when to walk away'.
Both Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho have eyeballed each other at the top of the (league) table for a good six months now and, while it appears that the Portuguese's chips seem a little lower than the Scots the game is far from done.
United's recent form suggests that sooner or later a bollock (or points) will be dropped. Having seen the reds lose just two and draw three of the 22 games they've played in all competitions since November's draw with Chelsea, the feeling lingers in red circles that the team have been riding the kind of outrageous run of fortune that turns trailer park trash into Vegas millionaires.
Back in August few would have put money on a league record that read played 29 won 23, drawn 3 lost 3 and those that did assumed that they would at best be level with or just behind Chelsea. Instead United enjoy a six point lead, the kind of advantage that, if it were the other way round, would have the press pronouncing the title race over.
Yet it's just as likely that Fergie's prowess as a gambler could suffer at the hands of one of the Premiership's arch-pragmatists before the month is out.
Fergie is best pals with big Sam while the signing of Mark Hughes was one of the reasons the Scotsman was spared the axe during his Old Trafford nadir in '89. Either or both could conceivably be in line to replace the great man once he leaves and if either dealt a mortal blow to United's title ambitions the odds on them succeeding Sir Alex in the Old Trafford hotseat would surely shorten.
United have enjoyed their slice of luck in recent weeks, Yet this up-and-down form isn't all from one side. Just as United have found last minute winners to cement their lead at the top, so Chelsea have trailed in four of their last six games drawing two and winning the rest. Each time Mourinho has found the words to turn around lacklustre performances and somehow keep the Blues on course for the quadruple. An interesting statistic this season is that Chelsea are more vulnerable when they have the lead (the Blues led in losses at Spurs and Middlesbrough and the drawn home games with Aston Villa, Fulham and Reading) an indicator perhaps that the pragmatic mindset of settling on a one goal lead has lost out to United's British approach of killing the game in the first half of games.
In a recent spat, Mourinho accused Ferguson of riding his luck, yet at both Craven Cottage and Anfield his players instinctively went for the win against teams who had more than shaded the contest but had pragmatically settled for a point. Someone at Chelsea has also been busy getting the local travellers onside: how else to explain a Portuguese goalkeeper who couldn't catch and a Spurs defence falling asleep after a late night UEFA Cup tie.
Yet having got this far on good fortune with injuries and suspensions, perhaps the old bluffer is due a streak of bad luck (the absence of Saha, Solskjaer and Scholes this weekend has most reds fearing the worst) and with Chelsea getting back to full strength perhaps six points plus goal difference won't be enough but at the very least Ferguson will have proved he still has what it takes at the very top, a fact not universally acknowledged at the season's start.
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Posted Mar 12th 2007, 11:03am
The Treble
Found these vids on Youtube - enjoy
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Posted Mar 9th 2007, 12:26pm
Premier League Darts
Watching this on Sky last night I was struck by the realisation that darts is actually making a strong comeback. Having fallen asleep watching snooker's equivalent, played in virtual silence and before negligible audiences - the sight of 5,000 or so students getting leathered on cider being held back by a phalanx of yellow coated stewards and cheering 56 year-old Dennis Priestly to defeat was an eye-opener.
I think the Prem League format needs extending, perhaps have two divisions (including the guy - forget his name - who insulted Phil 'The Power' at the World Champs in January) and Sky could broadcast highlights of the lower league in between the Premier matches.
Watching the enthusiastic crowds, two questions arose: Do Sky give tickets away to the local student union or is it pay on the gate? Where were the darts dollies marking off the scores as they go in with massive indelible markers? Are you allowed to watch darts with a beer in your hand or have Sky sanitised this aspect of the ultimate pub game? And what percentage of the crowd actually knew/cared what was going on?
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Posted Mar 8th 2007, 4:58pm
Knocks
Louis Saha, man of glass, balsa boy, whatever you like to call him, he's done it again. I've always thought the guy was class - witness his performance at Anfield on Saturday when he touched the ball twice but should have had a clear penalty and then assisted in the mayhem that led to O'Shea's money shot. But he's as injury prone as Trevor Francis ever was.
If you compare him with a robust sort like Drogba, there's a difference in class - Drogba will never skin people or bother taking them on with the ball at his feet, he prefers to beat people physically, which is probably more wearing if you're a centre-half.
However the Drog is never going to get injured, although hopes have been raised that he has a bad back from shouldering the entire Chelsea attack this term.
The Saha blow isn't necessarily a death blow to United's chances, indeed I think Alan Smith will recapture the form he showed in 04/05. In the seasons since he's been tried as a holding midfielder and then a utility player before nearly losing a leg at Anfield and battling back.
Smith's is characterised as a trier but he's a bit better than that. He's an old-fashioned blood and guts centre-forward who should never have been tried in midfield.
I fancy him and Rooney to form a quality partnership based on snarling savagery, the very thing we've been missing in recent weeks with Larsson upfront.
Henrik's anonymous performances away from home have been a big reason in United's loss of form if not results.
So the loss of the man with porcelain legs might actually turn out alright for the reds and he should be back in time for the CL QF's as well.
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Posted Mar 5th 2007, 10:05am
Scousers robbed
Well, I suppose it's time to eat a slice of humble pie. John O'Shea came up trumps with a stoppage time winner at Anfield.
In truth United were dire in the second half having threatened to tear Liverpool apart in the first. Once again Fergie got away with dodgy tactics (in this case playing for a point) when Van der Sar pulled off a fine stop from Crouch and once again we somehow robbed the scousers of the least they deserved.
Yet there's a case for saying we deserved to win. Liverpool had loads of possession but could do little with it - Bellamy had Vidic 'on toast' as Lawro would say, but showed a lack of composure - his failure to play in Kuyt summed up his contribution. Had Ronaldo had that much success against Finnan and Carragher it would have been an entirely different game.
They had the one chance and missed it, we had one chance and took it.
I went in to the day thinking that a 7 point lead by the end of the Chelsea game was still a good advantage and ended it believing that we can now only lose the league at home.
Ok, Scholes is out for two league games and Rooney may miss the cup match after picking up a knock and Evra and Vidic have finally shown signs of frailty at the back but you'd trade all that in for a win over the old enemy and it's all the sweeter for being totally undeserved.
Now, the game against Chelsea is the least important league fixture remaining; win the five home games and the two of the other three away and there's nowt Jose can do about it. In fact if I was Fergie I'd be tempted to send out the second string at Stamford Bridge and keep the big boys fresh for the other fixtures.
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