Back to Square 1

So losing 5-0 to the UAE is apparently a huge shock to Malaysia. Apparently we were supposed to do better than that. Apparently we expected the players to put up a better fight. Apparently not.





Everything went wrong against the UAE. Or rather everything went according to plan. B. Sathianathan is right, the M-League "is not football". Sure we can have committed players but if they're not good enough what's the point? Then again should anyone really have expected more? As usual the administration is not good enough, organisation is not good enough, structure is not good enough etc etc. In short it was coming. And yet very few seem to have seen it.

When I met Soh Chin Aun, currently national team manager, he said standards were improving. If what he meant by standards was commitment and attitude, then yes he's probably on the money. Anything else though and it's a completely different story. In the video above the fans vent their anger towards the players and administration. Maybe that was crossing the line because at the end of the day, most people agree that this is the fault of the current FAM setup.

It doesn't help that the team is painted in a better light than they should. People get caught up the in the hype when they read about "improving standards" and aims to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and other such nonsensical dreams. Why give us hope instead of the truth? Fans get worked up unnecessarily because they actually believe that we are better than we are. Kaka will move to Man City before Malaysia get involved in any high profile tournaments. There really isn't much to argue when all the facts point to one thing - we are not good enough. Maybe that should be reworded - we are not good AT ALL.

One fan criticised the state of the Malaysian league claiming players were pampered. I'm in full agreement. Players are happy to be winners among themselves and staying well within their own comfort zones. As if that breeds anything good. You only get inflated egos and false belief. Hence you get a national team with greater opinions of themselves than they should. Malaysian fans do have unrealistic expectation of their players but we are no fools. We love our football and we know exactly what's wrong when we see it. From the setup of FAM to the unbelievably low quality of our league, we know it's all pointing in the wrong direction.

No change, no results. Simple as that. Perhaps Sathianathan's attack on local football will shake up things and hopefully bring about change. Then again we get this crisis every single year and nothing new happens. It's a shame because with our infrastructure and facilities we really should be churning out quality footballers. This was meant to be a fairly long rant with me voicing my concerns and frustrations with everything and pinpointing problems but then I realised we suck. That's all there is to Malaysian football. We suck.

We need people like Sathianathan to stick around. People with realistic views and who aren't afraid of venting them. Everything he said was spot on. Hopefully he won't lose his job because of it. We have however lost our pride in the national team a long time ago. Time to give us a reason to get it back.

Farce? Maybe but it's for the good of the game

So we have the usual complaints from the champions of Europe at this time of year again as well as all the media criticism. This is a Mickey Mouse tournament, the gap in class is massive ie. we don't feel like playing here cause we'll win anyways etc.

Of course all these arguments only apply to the European champions. For the rest of the world, it is their opportunity to pit themselves against greater opposition. Gamba Osaka may have lost 5-3 but they treasured the experience greatly and will have a great story to pass down to their kids. Have a look at Hashimoto's fine strike. His face tells the whole story.




Yamazaki's placed finish was a well worked goal too but I can't be bothered to find it. Back to the topic. Gamba were 5-2 down. Hashimoto lashes a fine effort past van der Sar. Cue celebrations. Sure United were only in third gear and Gamba couldn't defend a sandcastle from a wave if they had to but the fact is such games are needed to gauge and close the gap between football's confederations. One game may not change anything anytime soon but eventually some team outside of Europe and South America will win this tournament and make the world sit up. Of course everyone will say the champions of Europe were not motivated etc etc but that's an argument for when it actually happens.

I know it is a farce and the gaps in quality are huge. But for the sake of the rest of the world it must go on. Only the Europeans don't like it. Well live with it. The rest of us would like some sort of stage to get global recognition thanks.

Meanwhile Juande Ramos checks in and suddenly decides to bring the future English team with him. Or at least that's his plan for now. Papers have mentioned Adam Johnson, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Ashley Young. It will probably remain paper talk but the link is intriguing nonetheless. Hard to see Bentley at Madrid though. It just doesn't feel right.

On the upside at least Ramos is getting support within the Madrid camp already. Robben has already declared he prefers life under Ramos and the new man in charge has also received support from Higuain. Signs are already positive that Ramos will take Madrid forward instead of back as clearly shown under Schuster this season. Time will tell and it should be a pretty interesting show as well.

And the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League has been made. I may be a bit biased but United vs Inter certainly looks like the tie of the round. For the most part the big guns have all been drawn against each other. Other significant ties include, Real vs Liverpool, Chelsea vs Juventus and Arsenal vs Roma. Of course in today's world any tie involving Premiership teams automatically qualifies as significant but this time they are all facing opponents capable of knocking them out. I see five potential winners of the Champions League this time around - United, Inter, Liverpool and Barcelona. Chelsea just don't seem like they will be thereabouts this season but should they comprehensively beat Juve, you can add their name to the list. Inter may be inconsistent in Europe but their side is undoubtedly filled with matchwinners, Ibrahimovic and Mancini to name two. United have a rock solid defense and perfect ammunition going forward in Rooney and Ronaldo. Liverpool under Benitez have always been strong in Europe and their form this season suggests they will be around come the end of the Champions League season. Barcelona have been scoring for fun and Eto'o looks like a player transformed, sitting pretty at the top of the La Liga scoring charts.

I'll be very surprised if none of those four win the Champions League this season. But at least you'll be able to say the team that wins it deserves it. For now it is to be forgotten till February. More Premiership saturated news and transfer rumours till then. Ugh.

Just filling in

I've been busy with more uni and work so forgive me for not posting much. For now I'll just post my feature writing assignment for my journalism class. A bit dated maybe but it's something to fill in the gap. Feel free to comment and let me know how I can improve. My lecturer gave me a distinction for this piece but he's not exactly a football fan.

What next for Malaysian football?

The small legion of faithful supporters tries earnestly to create an atmosphere in the stands. A couple of Malaysian flags drape over the rails in a show of support. The rain seems woefully symbolic. There are less than five hundred people watching the game between Malaysia and Nepal on a soggy pitch reduced to a mud patch. Malaysia has just scored their fourth goal and Nepal look like a team who do not have the motivation to continue. The disjointed passing from both teams sums up the night. The stadium is more than three quarters empty and tells the whole story.

For years, Malaysians have abandoned what used to be a popular pastime – watching the national team. Only the hardcore fans continue turning up. And signs are that even they might be getting fed up of the mediocrity. Despite beating Nepal 4-0, there is a very obvious sense of dissatisfaction among the fans. The rain certainly did not do much to lift their spirits. All the positives cannot hide the fact that there is something very wrong with Malaysian football at the moment.

Gone are the days when Malaysia routinely beat South Korea and Japan. Once a formidable force, feared all over the continent, they were a true giant of Asian football. Nowadays, the stories of yesteryear crop up all too often. There is a sense that Malaysians are living in the past, not taking sufficient measures to improve for the future.

Questions have been posed over and over and the answers are all the same. There is a distinct possibility, almost a certainty that something much deeper is at the heart of the problem. Is this only a phase or can the rot be stopped now?

Politicians within the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) establishment have always been looked at suspiciously by the fans. Their presence within FAM has always been a topic of debate among fans. Some think that they are merely there to add another accolade to their CV. Some feel that they only use their position to put themselves in the spotlight. However, the general consensus is that they do not need to be on the board.

“FAM is not a political association. The only thing is there are people who are involved with the football and it so happens that they are politicians,” says Datuk Soh Chin Aun, current Malaysian team manager and former captain.

However he does concede that there may be politicians with agendas of their own. “Whether they are really for the development of football or not for the development of football, I don’t know,” he admitted. The pauses in between his answers suggest there is a lot more that he knows than what he is willing to divulge.

He quickly changes the topic and comments, “There needs to be better coaching available.”

“I think coaches must have had playing experience at a certain level so they can pass on their experience and knowledge to the younger generation. The input is currently lacking.”

He blames the current state associations for not developing better players for the national team to utilise. “There are a lot of people talking about how FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) is not doing their job which I think is wrong,” he grumbles. “The state associations and the clubs are the ones who have to produce good players, and then we can bring them to the national team.”

“If you give us A, we will have A in the national team. If you give B, then we will have category B in the national team, as simple as that. Say I am cooking and you give me the wrong recipe, so what? I can’t do anything.”

To him, people in the country now are blaming the officials even though they have nothing to do with the problem. His exasperated reply epitomises his views on the matter. He also puts the blame on foreign coaches and expensive foreign players.

“You see all those years we were thinking of using ‘mat salleh’ coaches and I think they were a letdown. Just because they can talk. If only I can talk like them, I can be a greater coach,” claims Soh, clearly wound up merely talking about the issue.

“They all come here to bullshit and when the players fart, they say it’s very nice. But we were footballers before. We know what is happening. We know what is good and bad.”

The recent decision to ban all foreign players from the Malaysian league was a move that perplexed many. Pundits rubbished the decision and the media continually poured scorn on the head of FAM. The simple truth behind this was that Malaysian football was not getting their money’s worth from mediocre talent. According to Soh, over RM30 million was spent last season alone on foreign imports, most of them admittedly poor. He believes the FAM made the correct decision and that it also helps clubs from promising to pay players more than they can afford.

“We just don’t want them anymore. They were a key reason for many teams being in debt,” reasons Soh. “We need to have good foreigners here, so they can help our local players. But to me, not many of the foreign players are good. Why should we spend this kind of money on them?”

He claims that some of the local players are better than the foreigners, a view not necessarily shared by the fans.

“Despite officials claiming the foreigners are average, they are still better than the majority of our players,” says Eddie Gnaniah, who has been watching the national team for the past forty years.

“The top three goalscorers in the Malaysian league this year were all foreigners! Explain that to me. I don’t understand how they can say that the foreigners don’t add anything to the league because I believe they do.”

He acknowledges the lack of funding but believes this is merely due to mismanaged funds. “Why would you agree to pay someone what you don’t have? That’s the only reason why clubs are in debt,” argues Gnaniah.

The lack of quality opposition and exposure is another factor for Malaysia’s decline in Gnaniah opinion. Malaysia has only scheduled five matches this year, excluding the ongoing Merdeka Tournament, of which only two are not regional rivals – India and Pakistan.

“Playing against such mediocre opposition is not going to help us improve. In fact it will only help our opposition improve as we are technically better than most of them,” he laments.

“This ongoing Merdeka Tournament is another example of how low the standard has dropped. We used to have the best in Asia playing here as well as teams from Europe. The best team in the competition this time is Mozambique and they didn’t even bring their first choice squad!”

The lack of quality competition is something Datuk Soh has come to accept and puts the blame on the international schedule today. “Most of the countries cannot accommodate this tournament as they have their own agenda. Secondly, today, teams like Korea and Japan are a different class compared to Malaysia. Even if you invite them, they won’t come. There is nothing for them to gain,” he argues.

“So many people are asking why we didn’t invite better teams. It’s not that we want to win but we can only take what is available.”

He believes it is not all doom and gloom for Malaysian football and that there have been improvements made in the last two years. A combination of a well educated coach as well as hungry young players has resulted in improvements in various areas, according to Soh. He is certainly well-placed to judge being the current national team manager.

“Before when we used to play, even before we played we knew we were going to lose already. Since I am with the team, somewhere or other I know there are improvements,” claims Soh.

Gnaniah shares Soh’s optimism but believes there are still sensitive hurdles to be cleared, prejudice and racism included. Today’s Malaysian team is predominantly made up of Malays with one or two Indians and Chinese in the squad. In their heyday, the national team was a multi racial set-up with members of all races featuring prominently in the squad.

“There are Chinese and Indian boys who can play very well today. The Malay players are undoubtedly good but there are definitely Chinese and Indians that can be in the national squad,” he says.

“Obviously this is never covered in the media nor can it be proven but I feel it’s definitely a factor. It’s a sensitive topic, but we must confront the issue sooner rather than later.”

Former Selangor youth player, Chris Mun agrees. “I believe Malaysia does have many good players, but that they were not selected because of certain biases. I know this because I've been through the selection sessions before,” he says with a slight hint of regret.

“Often it's for show only as the manager or selection committees already have the players they wanted in their mind.”

In contrast to Soh, he also suggests that the blame does not lie with mediocre foreign coaches, but the managers that select the team to play matches.

“Even when we have some very good coaches from overseas coming to coach our national team, we still can't perform,” he grumbles.

“This is because the manager of the national team interferes with the selection of the team when they are not the one training the team. Most of the times they tend to choose players who may not be suitable but are their favorites.”

Whereas Soh is reluctant to acknowledge the effect politicians have on the local game, Mun openly discusses the subject with no qualms. He believes the non-existent knowledge of politicians only serve to cause confusion and harm to FAM, not least when it comes to choosing players.

He claims that, “Most of them don't play or know anything about football, but all want to have a say about how to run FAM.”

“Their decisions are not for the good and advancement of FAM. The coach trains the players, but it is usually the manager, who knows nothing about football, that does the choosing.”

In his opinion, Malaysian football needs to have a complete overhaul of their current system in order to improve. He is adamant that politicians must be removed from the hierarchy and that coaches and managers be left to handle team affairs without interference. He also urges the FAM to have an open mind when it comes to trials.

“Only the best should be selected. If they are good, pick them to represent the country. Don't go by color, preference and quota,” he advises.

“Most of our players are spoilt with too many benefits. They need to be pushed outside their comfort zone.”

His final words seem almost symbolic as the players trudge off the pitch looking very satisfied with their night’s work - a 4-0 victory against a Nepal side offering little resistance. Even the muddy bogged down pitch could not disguise how easily Malaysia dominated the game – well within their comfort zone. FAM are likely to not heed Mun’s words or Soh’s suggestions anytime soon. They could do worse than try.

For now Malaysian football remains in the doldrums, the shadow of politics and poor performances looming like a dark cloud over its shoulder. It is widely known that improvements and changes need to be made. The question that has yet to be answered is when?

2-2

So Portsmouth had a victory snatched from them thanks to the close control and quick feet of Inzaghi. For a 35-year-old that was some finish. Have a look at it.



His fabulous close control and finishing has made him one of European football's greatest strikers and he merely reemphasised that notion against Portsmouth. Ronaldinho's freekick was also a thing of beauty.



Such displays of individual quality are what make Milan the odds-on favourite to win the UEFA Cup this season. This squad should really be playing in the Champions League but this is the consequence of their inconsistency last season. Fiorentina are now out of the Champions League and are likely to parachute down into the UEFA Cup. It just shows how they are not ready to take on the best of Europe yet.

Anyways back to the UEFA Cup, another result showing a team on the way up was Man City's surprising win over Schalke 04. The Germans are no pushovers and City's win will certainly give them some confidence. The fact that they managed such a victory without their star striker, Robinho, goes to show that they have the quality in their squad to go far in the competition. It also should show the rest of the Premiership that City's ambitions could be realised far sooner than first thought possible. Of course it will take a few more million to refurnish the club but that's another story for another time. For now, City fans can look back and be proud of a performance worthy of such adulation. Stephen Ireland in particular has been in a rich vein of form and he certainly will have a pivotal role in City's future endeavours.

Another stunning result was Olympiakos' 5-1 victory over Benfica. The Greeks played the Portuguese off the park and banished the memory of their opening day defeat to Galatasaray. However, I wasn't so interested in those results as I am in beautiful goals. To add to Ronaldinho's freekick, here is Gonzalo Colsa's fine equalising effort for Racing Club against PSG.



Ronaldinho or Colsa? Take your pick. The Manchester derby is on this weekend and although it may not rival some of the world's greatest derbies, it certainly will grow and intensify. Especially if City continue to make progress. Who knows? It may one day live up to the Glasgow, Milan or Buenos Aires' derbies. For now we'll just have to watch Robinho and Rooney go head to head. Should be an interesting match this weekend.

I've been thinking about something to rant about for awhile now. Nothing really came to mind. I can't be satisfied with the way football is as there is always a major talking point somewhere, somehow. There's the ever boring topic of the EPL, crap refs, fourth officials, club vs country etc etc on and on. Yet I can't seem to find anything recently that makes me feel like speaking out on the matter. Maybe it's because no answer will solve anything completely. We will never go without controversy in football.

Take the issue of club vs country for example. My personal opinion on it is that the line is far too fine for both sides to be able to come to a decent compromise. Theo Walcott dislocated his shoulder whilst training with England and is now out for 3 months. What to do for Wenger and Arsenal fans? Arsenal may be eligible for compensation but what good is that when they can't replace him with a similar player to cover for him while he's injured? Players should play for their country if fit and available, that's my personal opinion. But it's impossible to predict how or when a player will be injured. Who knew Walcott's brittle shoulder would fall out of place? Clubs have every reason to be wary of these friendlies. On the evidence of England's second string win against Germany, international friendlies are extremely useful for coaches to gauge and judge their player's abilities. Clubs protest against this simply for their own benefit. Obviously they'd rather let a player recuperate for a whole week rather than fly off somewhere and play for their country. Both club and countries have reason to be wary of each other. And any player with any sort of dream and ambition would love to represent their country.

This leads to another stalemate in terms of compromise. Clubs don't want to release players for friendlies for fear of injury, serious or otherwise. Valid point. Players, understandably, want to impress their international manager and cement their places on the national squad. Valid point. Countries want the players to see whether they can do a job for the millions of fans who pin their hopes and dreams on them. Valid point. So what's the answer? Compensation does little for the club who have lost one of their key players (although in Arsenal's case they probably have a fresh faced teenager ready to fill in). (Normal) Players will get annoyed if they are prevented from joining up with the national squad (unless they think it is their God-given right to do their country a favour. By the way that is way over the top for me). National teams will be annoyed because they can't alter the international calendar as the rest of the year is too jam packed with club football to fit in any other dates. So with all three parties having valid arguments and the compromise not able to accomodate the wishes of everyone what happens now? Nothing quite frankly. Just more and more time devoted to people voicing reasons for and against international friendlies. And me feeling jaded and bored with the whole issue.

That's just one example. Take refs as another one. You get the whole "refs need to be of a better standard" etc etc and the other side's defending them with "they are only human" etc etc. No decent compromise either. Many other issues with the same debate and answer like salary caps, Beckham to Milan, Liverpool to win the Premiership and why Ryan Babel raps. Incidently have a look at it below.



Click HERE to go to the page where you can get the translation of this ludicrous attempt at integrating talking with weird beats.

That's that for now. Catch highlights of Brazil mauling Portugal if you can. There's an issue with a clear conclusion. Brazil are better. Period.

Ronaldinho's back!

He's back! Ronaldinho finally looks like he's on his way back to the top of world football. Granted he won the game for Milan in the UEFA Cup against a team unknown to most of the world (Braga), but there is no denying that he is playing much better this season with his new club. Although I didn't watch the game, the reaction of the goalkeeper after Ronaldinho's screamer flew in says it all. Braga deserved a point. Ronaldinho's moment of magic robbed them of it. Not that many of us care. It's good to see Ronaldinho back on form and his winner last night was not unlike this one.



Another last minute winner. Moments like those seemed like an eternity ago as Ronaldinho struggled at Barca for the past two seasons. The good times seem to be back. Hopefully it won't be a flash in the pan. It'll be like WWE, never as good as it was a few years ago. Somehow, you get the feeling that Ronaldinho is here to stay.

Moving onto another Brazilian, have a look at Robinho's fantastic strike below. It's a highlights package so be patient. It's not that long anyway.



I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of how Robinho would fit in at City when he first signed. I thought he had a bit too much talent to fail miserably but there's always the lingering doubt that accompanies South Americans to the Premiership. Brazilians have evolved over the years but Robinho isn't exactly tall and stocky. I'm pleased that I've been proven wrong for now but then again Juan Sebastian Veron promised so much when he first signed for United, especially in Europe. There's still a slight doubt in my mind but for the most part I've gladly accepted that Robinho has settled in nicely in England and with the extensive media coverage of Premiership clubs, I can easily watch one of my favourite players regularly.

On a completely unrelated matter what's up with Werder Bremen? These guys score for fun in the Bundesliga, yet always seem to udnerachieve in Europe. They scored five goals again on the weekend. I think I've seen them do that twice before but I'm a bit lazy to check up on that. What I do know is that they're underachieving in Europe and it's getting to me. Maybe they attack too much for their own good. Whatever it is they need to sort it out. They were expected to qualify from their Champions League group comfortably behind Inter. Instead they find themselves behind Cypriot wildcards Anorthosis and Panathinaikos. I still expect them to qualify but it's won't be a smooth path to the last 16. Anorthosis have proven to be no mugs and Panathinaikos showed what they were capable of by beating Bremen. Should be an interesting end to Group B.

I just previewed the layout of this post and I have to say the preview picture of the first video of Ronaldinho fits in perfectly with the title. RONALDINHO 80. Brilliant. Of course should you choose to watch it, the artistic nature of it will disappear. However, it is a sacrifice worth making. When did anyone prefer looking at a picture as opposed to a video?

Refs and others

I have attached the Roma Chelsea highlights above. If you don't like them you can go look for your own or pay for TV. Keep an eye out for Vucinic. His goals last night were both of top quality.

However the night was soured by the sending off of Deco. I have seen some truly horrific decisions by referees (including a goal given when a goal kick was appropriate), but last night the decision was simply wrong. Deco who was already on a yellow, took a freekick quickly which released a teammate on the right flank. The referee trying to look like he fit in the cool crowd then pulls out a yellow and sends Deco off. For what? A genuine piece of creativity and invention. That is just criminal to say the least. Even if he had warned Deco to wait prior to taking the kick, was a yellow necessary? It's not like anyone was harmed or a serious foul occurred. This sort of performance from refs make the Respect campaign look utterly ridiculous. Or in less formal jargon, retarded. I know the Respect campaign is only ongoing in the Premiership and doesn't apply to Europe but there have been some truly bad decisions being made week in and out in the Premiership and Europe. Poor refs in European football aren't going to help the reputations of refs in general either. Sure refs make mistakes but there was no excuse for any mistake or misjudgment in this case. Taking a freekick early is not a yellow card offense in any part of the world. Ok maybe if the player constantly ignores the ref's orders to wait five times in a row then that's asking for it. Deco was not guilty of that particular offense. The fact that he was sent off as a result of his creative genius is even more difficult to fathom. If you're going to give an inexplicable yellow, at least make sure the person receiving it is not already booked. It just makes the stupid decision twice as bad.

Moving on to less retarded matters, I am going to comment on Dimitar Berbatov. Yes I'm biased but I can't help it. The guy looks like he is settling in and is displaying his wide array of skills, tricks and flicks. Pure class. Have a look at his assist for Ronaldo's goal below.


Stunning. That's all I can say. My jaw doesn't usually drop a lot when it comes to football but that took my breath away. He looks more comfortable in the side and is beginning to show why he commanded such a high price. He's been getting goals as well as his fair share of assists, not to mention the various tricks and skills he pulls off in matches. His first touch is first class and I think his form can only get better as he still isn't at his best. Scary. The only downside to his brilliance is that Tevez has been benched a lot. Hopefully Fergie will find a way to keep him happy because I would not be pleased if he left.