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.

Back to business

It's been awhile but sadly assignments have to be done. I'm back for the meantime.

At any rate let's focus our attention on the Premiership. Yes the same league that grabs attention every single day and pushes its rivals to the not so glamorous sidelines. Think about it. The coverage of Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga news is an entire galaxy apart from the Premiership. The again we feed the craze so we only have ourselves to blame. But how can you ignore a league in which Robinho joins a mid table team for a British record fee.

Yes, the inevitable topic of ADUG springs up. All I can say is that I went to bed on Monday night and all seemed well. When I woke up, City were suddenly the world's richest club and had broken the British transfer record, signing Robinho for £32.5m. Just 24 hours before, he was declaring his love for Chelsea. Now while most people are getting on his back for following the financially smart option, I thought he had no other choice. Chelsea simply did not want to stump up the extra £4m to get their man. City did. As a result, instead of Robinho aiming to win the Premiership with Chelsea, he's aiming to bring it to City for the first time in their history. Scary. Their owners have already declared their intent on bringing the best football players in the world to this "superclub". Ronaldo, Fabregas, Torres and Messi are just a few names they have made public. This undoubtedly has sparked off rumours of Mark Hughes having no authority over players brought into the club. So far, this has been denied but the situation will certainly crop up again come January 1. It will be interesting to see how Sparky takes control of this cash rich club. He could never have envisaged this situation when he first took over. It's now up to him to deliver, and fast, otherwise we could see a new face in place before the end of the season.

Speaking of sackings and resignations, Newcastle and West Ham have both lost their managers within 24 hours of each other. Kevin Keegan officially resigned from the managerial position at Newcastle yesterday, following Alan Curbishley's example the day before. Both of them cited problems with their clubs' transfer policies leading to their exits. This isn't exactly anything new but it's coming up with increasing regularity. Since when did directors up in the air-conditioned offices bring in players? What good does it do for the club? These directors don't work with the players on the training ground everyday. They don't know their strengths and weaknesses as well as the manager. So why would they have a say in who the club brings in? A manager is the only one who knows his team better than anyone else. Therefore he should be the sole one in charge of bringing in players and moving them out. This relatively simple concept is incomprehensible to many fat men saddled with the uneviable task of carrying chequebooks to offices. If they desperately want to take control of a club, don't hire a manager. Or play fantasy football. Either option works although the former is the most attractive to neutrals.

"I have been left with no choice other than to leave," said Keegan. Some may say this is nothing new from the man who left Newcastle once and England as well instead of sticking it out. But this time you feel it's different. It's like playing Football Manager and not having control over who to buy. What's the point?

We've already seen the consequences of Andriy Shevchenko's nightmare at Chelsea. It took them two years to get rid of him and probably didn't help their objective of breaking even in the coming years. On a completely unrelated note, imagine if Abramovich died tomorrow. Chelsea's reign at the top would end earlier than one cycle of Newcastle's Next Top Manager.

Back onto more pleasant matters (from my perspective at least), Man Utd finally signed Dimitar Berbatov after almost an entire summers of countless stories and rumours. I never really thought they would miss out on him, just a bit frustrated that it took so long to reach a conclusion. They ended up paying over £30m for Berbatov anyway. Why couldn't the deal be reached two weeks ago? We might have a 100% record in the league as well as a Super Cup in our trophy cabinet. Not that it's an important trophy, just for the sake of saying we've won it. At any rate, the goals should start flowing once Berbatov settles in. With support from Tevez/Rooney and Ronaldo, this season should be nothing short of spectacular for Man Utd.

And a slight mention for Amr Zaki here. The Wigan striker has already shown the Premiership what a capable striker he is and Steve Bruce may have got himself a steal. Then again someone else could easily steal him come January. Money is not an issue for most clubs these days. The same can't be said of Wigan.

World Cup qualifiers to look forward to this weekend. Too much for me to keep track off and too much focus on England. So I will talk about neither. However if Andorra do score against England, there's an unavoidable topic to discuss. It would be unheard of. Almost the same as Malaysia stringing 5 passes among themselves without losing the ball.

Did you see that?

Wow! What great penalties. Portsmouth will probably do better at a shootout next time they face one. Jermain Defoe's penalty was the only successful conversion and even that wasn't a convincing effort. Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson were guilty of some truly horrific Beckham-esque penalties (I still hold the man in high regard. It's just a shame he had to miss the important ones!) and essentially gifted the Community Shield to Man Utd.

I don't have satellite television, being the poor soul that I am. I resort to reading reports and watching YouTube highlights so forgive me for not going in depth into matches as I probably won't have watched it. I watched the shootout though and from what I heard, United completely dominated, created the better chances and squandered them, one after another. Only another reminder to Fergie that we'll need a striker. Fast. Anyone who we've been linked to in the papers will do nicely. Berbatov, Villa, Huntelaar, hey even Henry looks attractive right now! Sure he might be past it but I'd like to see that particular move come off just to see what Arsenal fans would make of it. It won't happen but imagine if it did! Either way Fergie has acknowledged the need and is no doubt working on it.

I have two uni assignments to do and as much as I'd like to be writing more about football, I have to write on subjects on which I have half the understanding and motivation for. A big Premiership preview for my next post! Well it depends how I feel on Friday....

Three times a charm

It's almost becoming a formality. Turkey escaped at the death for the third game running, dumping favourites Croatia out of the tournament.

118 minutes of mind numbing football could not have given an indication of how dramatic the final minutes would be. Rüştü Reçber's mistake had allowed Luka Modrić to cross the ball for substitute Ivan Klasnić to head home after 119 minutes of play, sparking wild scenes of celebration among the Croatians. Even Slaven Bilić joined in the celebration on the pitch. This may have taken their minds off the game for a crucial minute, one which proved to be very costly, Semih Şentürk slamming home an equaliser in the 122 minute, the latest goal ever scored at the European Championships. How the mighty have fallen.

Missing three of your five penalties doesn't help either. Modrić, Ivan Rakitić and Mladen Petrić all failed to convert their spotkicks, making Turkey's job much easier. They converted all three of theirs, putting them through to their first ever European Championship semifinal where they will face Germany. All the major talking points were in the last three minutes of play and the penalty shootout. Very few highlights throughout the rest of the match, the best of the lot being Ivica Olić hitting the bar and Mehmet Topal's 30-yard drive that was narrowly off target. Croatia had the game in their hands. With a minute to go, defense should have been their ultimate priority, not to mention the fact that victory was not yet secure. Many of them had already moved on to thinking about the semifinal before the game was up and this clearly had an effect on them in the penalty shootout. They did not believe they should've been there and completely lost focus and thus were dumped out of the tournament. For Turkey, their fairytale continues and they will hope to deal a similar blow to Germany's hopes. They now have the belief that they can go all the way and that destiny may be on their side. I certainly wouldn't write them off. Lightning usually doesn't strike twice, let alone three times. You wouldn't bet against them being fourth time lucky anymore.

Moving on to the sensational, open secret of the day, Cristiano Ronaldo has finally come out of the closet, announcing his desire to "complete his dream" by moving to the world's biggest football circus, otherwise known as Real Madrid. Ungrateful, narcissistic prick. Well a world record fee and a player should suffice for the world's best player. But you'd expect him to show a bit more respect to Sir Alex Ferguson and Man Utd, the two elements in the equation that made him who he is today. Instead he says, "It is my opinion. That is why I don't mind if people get upset. It is my decision. It is what I want." Notice the blindingly obvious constant in that quote. I, me, my. All what he wants. And apparently the decision was taken before the Champions League final. Talk about focus on the season, he was already planning for the next one!

What has he done for Man Utd? In his time they've won an FA Cup, a League Cup, two Premiership titles and the Champions League. Quite an impressive tally of trophies. And he achieved all of this in five years. From an immature 18-year-old, Sir Alex and his team fashioned Ronaldo into a purebred, terrorising opponents on the right wing while maintaining his unnaturally prolific goalscoring rate. For all he's won at Man Utd, he's no legend yet. David Beckham's right foot has done more for Man Utd than Ronaldo. As has Eric Cantona, George Best, Bobby Charlton, Roy Keane, Denis Law and many others I've left out. He may be one of the best players United have ever had, but that does not make him a legend. He certainly has a whole lot more going forward than Keane but Keane is still held in higher regard than Ronaldo. Judging by achievements, he has certainly repaid Man Utd's £12m investment in him. But doesn't he want to establish himself as a legend at the biggest club in the world? Sure if he ends up staying (which he won't), he'll get attacked by fans and the press for a whole season but another standout season and it'll all be forgotten. He's only 23. It's not as if he's heading towards 30 and wants a new challenge. There is still so much more to be achieved at Man Utd.

"It is a dream, a step forward," says Ronaldo. In which world is Real Madrid a step forward? They may be the world's richest club but they are definitely not the best team in the world. He also said, "For me, it is a great opportunity and, as Scolari says, that train passes by only once and we have to take advantage of it." That train may only pass once but would you give up a first class seat on your train to take a second class seat on that train? If Ronaldo had any sense of loyalty and sense, he wouldn't even have thought about leaving for Madrid. Going there would only herald the return of the Galactico era, one in which every player was a global icon but could not pass the ball among themselves. In the end it's his choice and as of now it looks like being an extremely unwise one. Maybe he will return to Manchester in a few seasons' time, with his tail between his legs, making up for lost time. For now, Madrid fans can lick their lips while United fans lick their wounds. However, no player is bigger than any one football club, and it is certainly not the first time United will have sold a key player only to bounce back stronger. Ronaldo may be full of himself but United, or rather Sir Alex will never let him influence them.

A quick prediction for tonight's game between Russia and Holland. Russia are definitely second favourites to win but tonight's game should be full of intricate passing patterns and beautiful football all over the park. Guud Hiddink is not known for dour, defensive tactics. While this may prove to be Russia's undoing against the Dutch, it can certainly work in their favour and in Andrei Arshavin, they have a true superstar. Marco van Basten's team will know what they have to do against the Russians. If they play to their capabilities and in the same manner that they have played throughout the tournament, they will be through. I'm tipping Holland but I wouldn't place a bet on it. Whatever it is, tonight's game promises much for the neutrals and I can't wait to watch it.

He did it again!

Just as he did two years ago in the World Cup, Bastian Schweinsteiger had a hand in all of Germany's 3 goals against Portugal.

Their 3-2 victory last night knocked out one of the pre-tournament favourites who failed to perform to the lofty standards we have come to expect of them. Scweinsteiger's Man-of-the-Match performance atoned for his immature sending off against Croatia and it's hard to wonder why he wasn't a starter for German at the beginning of the tournament. He certainly seems a better all round player than Clemens Fritz, the player who he came in for. Perhaps Joachim Löw went for a more attacking approach to the game and it paid off handsomely. Germany's first goal was a thing of beauty, interchanging passes and weaving a delicate pattern through the left flank before Schweinsteiger finished Lukas Podolski's cross. Pure brilliance. Portugal stunned. The two freekicks from which Germany scored showed an unbelievable lack of man marking by the Portuguese, although Michael Ballack's goal should have been ruled out for a blatant push on Paulo Ferreira. However, the ref missed it and the goal stood. When questioned in a BBC post match interview, Ballack even had the cheek to answer that in a game there are always pushes and that it was difficult to say. Come on you used both your hands to conveniently usher Ferreira's body away from the ball! Then again Germany did deserve their win and will now be confident of beating the winners of the Croatia vs Turkey semifinal.

Portugal simply did not deliver. Luiz Felipe Scolari will not have been pleased by the way his team lost their sense of direction. They may have scored two goals but those were only scant consolation in a game where they were second best. Even Scolari admitted that he had failed. It doesn't augur well for Chelsea fans, a manager admitting he has failed the team with his selection. Although his truthfulness may deserve some applause, it's not heartening to know that a manager cannot find a single reason to justify his selection. Their style of play was easy on the eye but lacked an end product that really mattered. Nuno Gomes' goal came about only because Jens Lehmann couldn't hold onto Cristiano Ronaldo's shot from a tight angle. Luck. He should have squared the ball. And to think he had matured after watching his assist against the Czechs. Perhaps not.

Ronaldo had a poor night by his standards and reinforces many people's beliefs that he cannot consistently perform on he big stage. He may have played well in the Champions League final but that was only one standout occasion. I know I've said you can't keep a player as good as him down but the question is how long will it be before he delivers a superlative individual performance in a game of paramount importance? In other words, he wasn't good enough last night when it really mattered. Nani outshone him when he was sent on, combining the right amount of trickery and passing and created their second goal for Helder Postiga. For all the talk of Ronaldo being completely focused on Portugal at Euro 2008, you can't help but wonder whether his mind was really on his football 100%. If you read this (it's a good read, you get his answer in two days right now!) you may start to agree with me. All this talk of him announcing his intentions in two days is utter rubbish. He wants to leave the greatest club in the world (figuratively and subjectively) for Real Madrid. Actually I'm not going to recommend you read the interview, I insist that you do. He speaks of his dream which will be announced soon. If his dream was to stay at Man Utd he would've announced it earlier. He wants to go to Spain, end story. Man Utd should now focus on getting as much money as possible and a couple of decent players in exchange. I'd say £60m and Wesley Sneijder at the very least. Shame Madrid don't have a decent out and out striker. I doubt Ruud van Nistelrooy would want to go back to Man Utd either. Sneijder's stock has risen during Euro 08 and would fit in perfectly on the right of Man Utd's midfield. Get working on it Sir Alex!