Stars fail to shine at the Nou Camp

 

Barcelona 0- 0 Manchester United

 

The two giants of the European stage met tonight at the first leg of the Semi Final of the Champions League.

After all the pre-match build up and hype surrounding the tie, the game itself was an anti-climax. Considering the attacking style of both teams; there were no goals, few chances but plenty of penalty appeals, mainly for Manchetser United.

 

A penalty was rewarded to United after just 2 minutes and perhaps the pressure of the occasion finally got to Ronaldo as he side footed it high and wide.

 

Although the whistle happy referee was determined to stop the flow of the game at every chance he got, he turned down some pretty strong penalty appeals by United. He also appeared to favour the home side and awarded every free-kick to Barca.

 

Barcelona dominated possession throughout the match and United saw little of the ball however these were the exact tactical manoeuvres which Sir Alex had executed, intending to keep a clean sheet but at the expense of scoring no goals either.

 

Barcelona looked a side lacking a cutting edge and ran out of ideas and couldn’t get passed United’s solid defence.

 

Paul Scholes won his 100^th European cap tonight and played magnificent in midfield,

His passing accuracy and surprisingly his tackling were among his finest traits in a game which he didn’t dictate with his passing.

 

Ronaldo was United’s only hope of a threat as Rooney was forced out right, practically playing as a right back at times. The Portuguese prodigy and no doubt the best player in the world played alone up front and caused havoc when he could.

 

It was a defensive, professional and disciplined performance by United but they hardly troubled a weak Barcelona defence and must score at Old Trafford to commence to the Final in Moscow.

 

I must confess, European nights at Old Trafford at knock out stages are notoriously nervy and with a team like Barcelona coming to town, they may just cause an upset.

 

I think Sir Alex got his tactics wrong and was way too defensive, should have started with either Giggs or Nani instead of Park and played a traditional 4-4-2 attacking formation.

 

Hopefully come next week, Ronaldo wont live to rue that penalty miss.

 

 

Ginger Genius

 

Paul Scholes is a perfect player, a professional on and off the pitch, he embodies the traits of players such as Bobby Charlton, Roy Keane and is a credit to English football. A fantastic ambassador of football and I am an intense admirer of the man.

 Why you may ask?

 

Because he is a world class English player… yes ladies and gentleman an ENGLISH player whose technique, vision and natural ability rivals the greatest players to ever graced a football pitch.

 

Because much similar to issues in real life… it’s the small unnoticeable things that matter, the small things which are not noticeable to the “human” eye. Or should I say Sven Goran Ericson’s so called footballing eye. Don’t get me started on that idiot.

 

Looking back four years ago at Euro 2004, when the entire country had jumped on the “Lampard & Gerrard” bandwagon (courtesy of most of my peers of course) even I had disregarded the Manchester United soon to-be-legend.

 

But I see the quality the man possesses.

 

His first touch is damn near perfect, his vision, passing range, movement and not to mention he’s got a rocket of a shot and a catalogue of goals which prove it.

 

My argument is this; how rare is it to see a world class footballer who is not tempted by the flares and glares of modern day football, a player who stays loyal to one club throughout his career, a player who consistently performs week in week out for years on end. Few come but so many go; Diego Maradona, Paul Gascoigne and more recently Ronaldinho have all self-destructive.  Just look at Ronaldinho a man so talented it could actually make you cry yet he lacks the passion and mental strength to deal with the pressure of top-flight football to the point where he is looking to play in an Italian league!

 

Paul Scholes has been an established first team player sine 1997; he has won 13 major trophies for Manchester United including seven Premiership titles and now it looks as though he will win 8.

 

Paul Scholes is a player with such endless talent and yet such modesty, respect and possess natural passion for the game, he shuns the media spotlight; he does not have an agent and lives a humble life off the pitch.

 

A player so underrated by the Media but true football fans, ex-players and pundits agree he is the most gifted England player since Paul Gascoigne; however he has achieved so much more and in my opinion is a much greater player.

 

He retired from the international stage at the age of 29, which broke my heart but I could understand why, Scholes is a huge family man and knew that England were going nowhere with Sven.

What manager would sacrifice getting the best out of Paul Scholes in order to play Frank Lampard?

Scholes was fished out on the left of midfield even though he isn’t left footed or a particularly quick, the words “retard” come to mind when I think of Sven Goran Eriksson.

 

I remember Sven’s final press conference after the 2006 World Cup where he said sorry a thousand times. If only he could apologise for inadvertently shortening the international career of Paul Scholes. 

 

What a player, what a man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gunners have run out of Ammunition.

 

After another Super Sunday win for Manchester United over their arch rivals Arsenal effectively ending the gunner’s title bid. The Arsenal have now gone four seasons without a title and you have to wonder why is that?

 

Once again the Gunners went ahead but could not win in another big game, perhaps lacking a leader. (William Gallas is a man who lacks credibilty and natural leadership qualities) And also lacking experienced high quality players who have contested in these important high pressure games before like Thierry Henry or Robert Pires.

 

Wenger in a post match interview hinted that there was some kind of refereeing conspiracy against his team which made him look even more pathetic and self pitying than ever before.

 

Arsene Wenger is no doubt a great coach but he has never been a great man to man manager.

 

He avoids buying big-name players with egos and reputation to avoid confrontation; he has no discipline over his players, which is why throughout the years Arsenal have had such awful disciplinary records.

 

Wenger cannot blame anyone but himself for his team’s lossess.

 

In my opinion, this “young” Arsenal side have over-achieved and if they want to succeed anytime soon, they need to invest in some quality experienced players as opposed to buying players when they are in their teens and then raising them as youth players.

 

If you look at Arsenals first eleven you’ll see their average age is  25 which isn’t as young as Wenger and Arsenal fans like to think.

 

Thanks to Arsene Wenger’s “youthful” fetishes, Arsenal have no become a selling club and you have to wonder how long before world class players like Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie are sold to bigger clubs.

 

Almunia (30)

 

 

Cliché (22)                  Gallas (30)                 Toure (27)                           Sagna (25)

 

 

Hleb (26)                     Flamini (24)                 Fabregas (20)              Rosicky (27)

 

                                               

                                    Eduardo (25)               Van Persie (24)

 

Arsenal’s first eleven lacks experience, natural leaders and big strong players. (Both mentally and physically)

 

Wenger needs to buy and buy big.

Super Sunday? Super for Sir Alex

 

Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 win against Liverpool on Super Sunday and made the gap at the top even bigger with 5 points now separating Fergie’s men with their nearest challengers.

 On paper; United have the best players but after their shaky start to the season and questionable away form, some critics were right to predict Arsenal to keep their lead at the top, however after their shocking slump in recent weeks, the gunners are now third.   The game at Old Trafford saw more controversy surface with this new “respect” issue with refs.

RESPECT THE REFS!

Javier Mascherano was sent off for decent after getting on referee Steve Bennet’s nerves. After all the hoo-haa with Ashley Cole incident midweek, this was no doubt a direct backclash. Cole should have seen red for the challenge on Hutton and the FA should have taken extra action on his ass for his blatant arrogant disrespect for the ref in the aftermath of the tackle.

The FA need to remember that these stupid footballers are role models to millions of kids across the globe.    Even though footballers haven’t been showing respect to refs since as long as I’ve been watching the game. I couldn’t help but notice a particular incident with Steven Gerrard, effin n blindin at referee Steve Bennet, but the Liverpool Skipper wasn’t even spoken to,

CERTAIN PLAYERS PROTECTED!

God forbid any England golden boy would receive a yellow card in this day and age, talk about protected, yeah sure… Bennet didn’t hesitate flashing a second yellow at a foreign player who barely grasped the English language; the Argentine quite simply enquired “why” Fernando Torres was booked even though he was the player fouled. Mascherano should have stayed clear but Steven Gerrard did a lot worse and went unpunished.

FOOTBALLERS VS RUGBY PLAYERS?

 Footballers should look at rugby players for examples of professionalism and respect, for a game so brutal and aggressive; rugby players sure show respect to the umpires and referees, its bout time footballers did too.  

CHELSEA VS ARSENAL

Now back to real football issues.  Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 at Stamford Bridge after going a goal down and after their amazing unbeaten record at home being in threat, Didier Drogba made a nuisance out of himself and scored two scrappy trademark goals, the Arsenal defence just couldn’t deal with him. So Chelsea climbed to 2^nd place whilst Arsenal lost only for the second time all season but the North London side are yet to win in 5 premier league games.

WHINING WENGER

 Wenger this past week admitted the Eduardo incident had affected his players but I think that that Wenger’s team have run out of steam and excuses. They may be young but definitely lack experience and after their eventful 2-2 draw at Birmingham, it became evident they lack a leader too.

WILLIAM GALLAS – CAPTAIN PATHETIC!

 I wonder what was going through William Gallas’s mind during his reaction to the penalty. Why he decided to act like a stroppy teenager who was refused his weekly allowance is beyond me? It was pathetic and no doubt sent a message to Arsenals title rivals that they had cracked under the pressure.  

  No doubt that this was a major turning point in Arsenals season but Eduardo incident is now 6 weeks old, the lad himself has gotten over it, come on Arsene… just admit it; your team is full of tired kids who has over-achieved and should now focus on the Champions League.  So after this weekend, what did it tell us, Manchester United are hitting form just at the right time and are favourites? Are Chelsea serious contenders? Is it just a one-horse race now? Are Arsenal totally out of it? With seven games to go, I wouldn’t bet against Manchester United now, The Godfather Sire Alex has been there and done it 9 times and nobody would begrudge him of his 10^th title. 

Love him or loathe him…. He is a legend.