Ronaldo does it again !!

Was watching ManU's home match against Bolton Wanderers Yesterday. The game was 0-0 almost a third into the 2nd half. Though ManU had a lot of possession, Bolton were holding them quite well.
At that time, Ronaldo was in the penalty area. An opposition defender took the ball away from him cleanly. This would of course unbalance him, but he decided to take a theatrical dive. The referee also decided that it was a deliberate foul and awarded ManU a penalty.
Ronaldo scored from it and that was all ManU needed and they scored another thorough Rooney to win the game.
Though I am a Man United fan, the penalty decision was definetely wrong. Ronaldo has been winning dodgy penalties from 3 years. Yet referees continue to point to the spot. The sooner they stop it the better. Also the sooner Ronaldo stops his theatrics the better. The day is not far when a referee will deny ManU a genuine penalty.

Liverpool win

So Liverpool have finally won against Man U in some 8 Premier league games. Though the result is not to my liking, I did expect it.
For starters, Man U have bought only one player in the transfer season. That too at the last minute. Secondly the Ronaldo transfer saga would have unsettled the team. All this has resulted in the team not being fully motivated and in some doubt.
As for Liverpool, they really played very well in the second half and kept testing the United defence and Van Der Sar. Vidic was good as usual and Van Der Sar did all he could to keep Utd in the game.
But ultimately, you have to score goals to win and the attack was disorganized. Possession was given away easily, there were a couple of clumsy tackles also.
So United have only 4 points from 3 games. Though this is bad, its better than the 2 points from 3 games last season. Here's hoping that they recreate the form of last season and go on to win the League.

A twist in the tale?

Yesterday's drawn match between Bolton and ManU has given Chelsea a good chance to capture this year's EPL. After the draw, Chelsea are just 3 points behind ManU with 3 matches to go. Add to this the fact that the next match of ManU is away at Chelsea, and we might just have an exciting end to this season. Though speaking of Chelsea and exciting in the same breath might be exaggerating to say the least, it cannot be denied that this season has provided its share of thrills and spills.
A team that had the worst start of the season since many years (2 pts of 3 games) , now is in the position of capturing its second successive title and is also in the line for a double.
Talking of which the match at Nou Camp is very important for ManU as Barca are a strong team and it is vital that ManU try to score at least one away goal and prevent Barca from scoring too many. Also Barca's defence is a bit suspect at the moment. So the differential factor will be how Vidic and company handle Messi.

Red Devils almost there

Man Utd have taken another step to repeat their EPL victory of last year. They did this in the best possible fashion for a ManU fan by beating Arsenal 2-1. Though they were not at their best and failed to produce the big match form that has been their style this season. But thankfully they did not have to pay a price in terms of points, though their performance will require some thinking if they have to really win this.

Arsenal begin as they did against Pool last week, by firing on all cylinders. They put the United defence, missing Nemanja Vidic under a lot of pressure. This ploy would have worked if they were some more accurate with their finishing. United, it appeared were in a disarray by the constant attacks but somehow held their nerve and began counter attacks of their own. It made for fascinating stuff and by half time the honours were even.

Arsenal stuck quickly in the second half through Adebayour and it looked like United would have to really pull their socks. But like it happened against Pool, after Arsenal took a vital goal, they conceded a penalty. Amidst high drama when he was asked to take the penalty twice, Ronaldo scored. 1-1

This brought the crucial time in the game, the time after a hour. ManU made two changes. Tevez and Anderson brought an attacking nature to the game. Arsenal were stringing passes but were no longer appearing too threatening. United kept attacking and got a free kick just outside the Arsenal box. Hargreaves scored the goal through a wonderful free kick. 2-1!!

Wenger brought on Theo Walcott and suddenly there appeared a new edge to Arsenal. Wonder why he is not starting games though. ManU did well to prevent the gunners from scoring and ended high and dry.

All in all, a wonderful game and no one deserved to lose. Arsenal threw away the lead yet again and ended second best.

So ManU are truly on to winning their second consecutive title after the worst start to their season in many years while Arsenal who started on a dream note are to end their season empty handed.

Time FA did something....

I watched the match between Manchester United and Middlesbrough on Saturday. As a Man Utd fan, I am happy that the win took us 6 points of Chelsea. But the manner in which the first goal was scored left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Initially, I thought that there was contact, but replays showed clearly that there was no contact and the only reason I can think of Ronaldo diving is that he had lost the ball and thus the chance to score the goal. So he dived, ManU got a penalty and the rest is history. I for one thought that the boos he got were deserved. And to follow this, he dived again to get a free kick.
Now comes my question? How can the FA stop this? It has become imperative in light of the recent happenings where players from the top clubs resort to such tactics to get penalties, free kicks or get opponents sent off. And in my opinion, such behaviour from clubs like ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool send a signal to the other teams that "this is the way to win" . So more and more teams will do so, thus reducing the game to a farce.
Some suggestions so that the FA reduces this:
1. Have a match referee who can annul goals or cards after the match. This referee should disallow a goal scored to a penalty or a free kick got from a dive. Similarly cards, given if any should be rescinded.
2. The player should be warned once, and for the next occassion, given a yellow card. For subsequent offences, the player should be banned from a couple of games. The only catch is that this should be done consistently to avoid charges of bias.
3. The club should be fined for repeated occurences. If they can be fined for the conduct of their fans, surely they can be fined for the conduct of their players too.
4. The club should be penalised by deducting a certain number of points for such behaviour. This may be harsh but putting pressure on the clubs is the only way to have any effect on the game.

I just hope that I do not get to see a match where the winning goal was scored by cheating.

-Winz

So it begins

WC 2006 is finally here. Only half a day to go before the WC starts. I am expecting a great display of football that should keep us mesmerized for a month.
I will be making some observations of my own (When a WC start, everyone is an expert :-) ) .
Here are my pre-world cup predictions. Putting them down so that I can compare when it is done.

1. Winners: Brazil.
2. Losing finalists: Argentina
3. Semis: Germany and England.
4. Suprise of the tournament: Serbia
5. Disaster of the tournament: Holland.
6. Most goals scored: Klose.
7. Golden Ball: Ronaldinho.

Ok lets wait and watch as the drama unfolds in Germany

-Vinayak

What is Mourinho thinking?

Chelsea had a great season last year. They won the EPL etc etc. They are also the favourites this season. But going by what their manager, Jose Mourinho is doing, they may not last for too long at the top.

1. Buying good players does not make a good team: A team is a collection of souls and not just individuals. Buying good players may make the team strong on paper, but some time or the other, it will come crashing down. A team has to gel well and there should be a feeling of oneness among the players.

2. Having too many players will backfire in the long run: All players want to play as much as possible. They are annoyed if they are made to sit on the bench for a long time. Dissent will creep in. Players would want to leave the club. The end result is that the team and the club suffers.

3. Did he not look at Real Madrid?: Real Madrid also did the same thing that Mourinho is doing. They bought the best players and built a formidable team. But they have not performed up to the expectations since a couple of years. They also lost the premiership to Barca. Their players are leaving the club (Owen, Morientes etc) ...

Okay this is my hypothesis but I feel this is what will happen in a couple of years.

Chelsea show why they are champions

Yesterday, I watched a match between ManU and Chelsea. Well, Chelsea had already won the title and ManU were playing for pride. I had an idea that this would be a cracker of a match and happily I was proved right.

First half

The match started on the right note with both teams making moves. ManU was slightly attacking and Chelsea were defensive. But the action was to begin soon. ManU broke the deadlock in the 8th minute with a Van Nistelrooy goal who got a fine pass from the sidelines.
This sudden goal charged the atmosphere and the exchanges just got better with each minute. But Chelsea are not the champions for nothing. They equalised in the 17th minute by a fine shot by Tiago which ManU keeper Carroll could do nothing about.
Then started the fireworks, both teams trying to wrest the initiative but not succeeding. Both teams had their chances but failed to capitalise. But I felt that the ManU defence was a bit shaky and allowed lot of chances if someone could get the ball beyond a point. But Chelsea's defence was very solid allowing few shots at the goal for ManU. Thus at the breather, both teams were evenly poised.

Second Half

If the first half was a breeze, the second was a storm. Both teams went to the attack immediately after the restart, with as many as 5-6 chances in the first ten minutes. The fast pace kept the viewers busy and also the referee ( 3 yellow cards in the second half and many fouls). There were also frayed tempers with Rooney involved in a couple of incidents.There were a couple of missed chances from both teams.

I mentioned that the ManU defence looked a bit shaky. In the 61st minute Gudjohnsen got past a defender and he just had to beat the keeper. And he did not miss it to put Chelsea 2-1.
ManU got into overdrive after this. Saha was brought in place of Fletcher to put more strength in the attack but the Chelsea defence held firm. ManU were trying hard for the equaliser when J Cole made it 3-1 for Chelsea in the 82nd minute. The goal was offside but these things happen in football and there was nothing to be taken from Chelsea for the hard work they put.
Final score: Chelsea 3: Manu 1

In hindsight, the main difference between the teams seems to be the confidence level. Chelsea did not flinch even after conceding an early goal. ManU were not that solid and this can be due the "chopping and churning" policy of Sir Alex and this does not help to gel the team.

Hope the wily Scot gets it right the next time. And thanks Chelsea and ManU for a wonderful game. I really enjoyed it.