Since their marvelous triumph of Euro 2008 Spain have been dominating international football. They have won match after match except for that Confederations Cup semi final against USA. Spain are currently the bookies and also a lot of pundits and fans favorite for glory in South Africa even ahead of Brazil. This writer is a huge fan of Spain. They are one of the teams he strongly supports and want to see do well but he does not share this enthusiasm. No matter how he sees it he just cannot see Iker Casillas lifting the trophy in Johannesburg.
Now before you think that this writer is either drunk, drugged or bitten by a mad dog, he has a long list of reasons to believe this and he will elaborate them here. It does sound strange that this writer claims that the team which has been winning match after match and is currently number 1 in the Fifa rankings has no chance of winning the world cup. Unfortunately that's how he thinks it will pan out. Let's elaborate on the reasons.
1. Absence Of A Suitable Defensive Midfielder - Not for a second is this writer saying that he does not rate Marcos Senna high. In fact this writer will be the first one to say that Senna did a superb job in Euro 2008 and was almost indispensable in Spain's triumph. The problem now is that by the time the world cup starts Senna will be almost 34 years old. To expect him to show that kind of energy and fighting spirit continuously for several matches is just too much. By this age even the decade's best defensive midfielder Claude Makelele had decided that his time with the French national team was up. The big problem is that Spain has not even prepared a replacement for Senna. Xabi Alonso is just not that type of player. He is a wonderful possession player and a great passer of the ball but he just cannot play the role of the tackling midfield hard man. The other player being kind of groomed for this is Barcelona's Sergio Busquets who again is more like Alonso than like Senna. He has played this role for his club and will make a decent attempt but when push comes to shove it's clear that he would lack the physical toughness required for this role.
2. Unable To Break Down Rigid Defenses - Spain have maximum problems trying to break down teams who sit in front of the goal line and defend in numbers. In such a situation Spain maintain a very high percentage of possession but there is a clear lack of cutting edge. Since Spain hardly has tall players or players who are good in the air they just rely on their ability to pass the ball well and create goal scoring chances. Against teams that defend for their lives this often doesn't work. Any African team is bound to give Spain problems and also some of the predominantly defensive European teams.
3. Poor At Set Pieces - Spain just don't have that one world class free kick taker who can score a goal from a free kick when their is no other way to score one. Xavi is a very decent free kick taker but he is not lethal. It's almost guaranteed that in each match they play Spain will win lots of free kicks and waste every one of them. Also players not being very tall or that strong in the air will hurt in this aspect.
4. Suspect Defense - Spain's central defense is likely to be made up of Barcelona's pairing of Puyol and Pique. Now Barcelona's defense is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. Yet Puyol will be 32 years when the tournament comes on and will have gone through a very rigorous season just before that. It might be difficult for his aging legs to come up with one brilliant performance after another. Pique is no doubt promising but he must not let enthusiasm get the better of him. Nevertheless it's the full backs which are a bigger cause for worry. Sergio Ramos, who has always been seen as very promising, and who in fact has been playing quite well the last few weeks, is well capable of the most catastrophic of gaffes in the most crucial of moments. Joan Capdevila is not really world class and while he does a decent job he could be exposed by the best of the right sided attackers.
5. Villa And Torres Do Not Combine Well - If you consider the opinion of those who matter in the football world it's almost sure that their vote for the best striker in the world would go to Fernando Torres. And if you look at other equally good ones David Villa is sure to be included. Unfortunately both are very different kinds of players and are not able to adjust to each others game. Torres' game is about playing off the shoulders of the last defender and making dangerous runs towards goal whenever possible. Villa's game is about combining with the midfielders as if he were a midfielder himself and then after exchanging several passes looking for the right moment to score a goal or create a chance for someone else. When playing for Spain alongside Villa, Torres just does not get the space he needs to make his runs. Is this not absolutely shocking that a striker of Torres' unquestionable capability did not score even one goal in the WC 2010 qualifiers? The sensible option no matter how crazy it sounds would be to play only one striker in a 4-2-3-1 or a similar formation. Unfortunately the two strikers are the world's very best. It's not easy for any coach to drop either of them. Villa is Mr. Consistency and just does not stop scoring. Torres is so lethal that we can call him a one chance one goal striker. Still they just don't combine well and when playing for Spain Torres hardly gets chances to score.
6. Over Reliance On Xavi ( Lack Of Plan B ) - Every single potential opponent of Spain knows that their entire game revolves around Xavi. After beating Spain in the only match they have lost recently USA coach Bob Bradley told the world media that the key to beating Spain was to mark Xavi out of the game. Many teams are likely to employ the same tactic. If Spain's pass and move game is disrupted they just don't have any other style of playing. In other words they just don't have a plan B which is crucial for any team in a tournament like the world cup.
7. The History Factor - Since Spain won Euro 2008 people seem to have forgotten that they do not have much pedigree in the world cup. In a world cup as the tournament reaches the later rounds the results have an almost mythical way of favoring the teams with pedigree. That means you will hardly ever get a world cup finalist who hasn't been there before. Spain has never even been to the semi finals of a world cup. They did finish 4th once in 1950 but there were no semi finals then and even there they were 4th by some distance. Other than that they have never finished in the top 4 in any world cup. Expecting a team with that kind of record to go on and win the tournament itself is a very big ask.
If right now this writer is to gaze into his crystal ball and predict where Spain will finish in WC 2010 he would say that after crossing the group stage and entering the second round Spain is virtually certain to meet either the physicality of the Ivory Coast, the enthusiastic determination of Portugal or the power of Brazil and in any case that will be the end of them.
If this writer's predictions come true he will feel vindicated but also saddened that such a talented group of wonderful players could not win the ultimate prize in football. On the other hand if his predictions turn out totally wrong he would feel foolish for sure but also glad to see that a team which plays in such an aesthetically pleasing manner is able to lift the biggest prize of all in what surely would be a victory for the beautiful game.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Reflections : UCL Draw Review
This reflections article is being posted in advance for next week. Most probably there will be no reflections article posted next week. However given the nature of the subject in hand it made more sense to post it now rather than two days later.
Before starting with the analysis there is something personal that this writer would like to share. Friday 18th December was the date of the UCL second round knock out draw. And this writer was having a terrible day in office with even the most minor of issues taking ages to resolve and one or more altercations with some colleagues. This had reached such a limit that by 4:30 PM IST he had even forgotten about the UCL draw. Fortunately he remembered half an hour later and upon connecting to the Uefa site, decided to replay the draw to enjoy it as if it were live rather than looking at the resultant fixtures. At the end of it his day had changed. He couldn't have been happier or have asked for more from the draw. The primary reasons for this were that his club were handed a really good draw and the two major heavy weight clashes that had resulted were exactly the ones he had wanted to see. In these two clashes no matter which heavy weight loses this writer will still win because he has an axe to grind against one or more persons from each camp.
As far as Inter is concerned, that's a team he would have ideally wanted to see go far and re-establish the quality of Italian teams in European football. However two things have happened which have soured his sentiments. The appointment of Mourinho as coach is the most important. From his thoroughly reprehensible behavior towards almost everyone else to his excessive hype, it's just too much fun to see the loud mouthed Portuguese taste defeat. And the second reason of course is their purchase of Eto'o. This writer doesn't really have much against Eto'o. However when the Ibra-Eto'o swap happened during the summer transfer window, Barcelona were scoffed at big time by a considerable section of pundits and fans, almost exclusively English for having bought a "big match flop" and that too for such a huge price and sold a proven goal scorer instead. Now if Inter with Eto'o were to claim their first major victory in UCL knock outs in a very long time, the naysayers would feel that they have been vindicated. Of course it would be extremely short sighted of them to ignore that Inter have improved as a whole with a playmaker like Sneijder, another great goal scorer like Milito and some improvements in defense and midfield as well but still they would find a way to link virtually everything with Eto'o somehow.
However in spite of all these issues that this writer has with Inter it's nowhere near the antagonism that he's had for Chelsea right since the time they came into limelight. A club without a worthwhile academy to boast of which created a team purely by buying the best for all positions and then hired one of the most or even the most arrogant coach the world has ever seen. To this add the lack of any refined playing style and an annoying ability to eek out results when they have done little to deserve it. That's not all though. They even find a way to hire the most world class of coaches like no other club can and then show them the door like they were never needed. A world cup winner and erstwhile considered one of the world's top coaches namely Luiz Felipe Scolari has been turned into a nonentity by Chelsea.
Milan used to be one of the favorite teams of this writer. However they bought Ronaldinho who has been on this writer's hate list for his on and off field behavior during WC 2006 ever since that tournament. To that add the short sightedness of Berlusconi and Galliani who have continued to rely on an age old team for years when no other club in the world does the same. Finally this writer must also say that he was among those who predicted an absolute disaster of a season for Milan and their recent resurgence has left him very perplexed. If they were to get the better of one of the most fancied teams in world football, all theories of their decay would be thrown out of the window for good.
Now that he has stated his feelings about Milan, is this writer going to root for ManUtd? Certainly not! Since the time he started watching club football ManUtd have been number one on his hate list. Later they became second to Chelsea but the reasons for that have already been elaborated. ManUtd is a typical English club and this writer has a distaste for all things English. In EPL he always supported Arsene Wenger's stylish Gunners to get the better of old fox Fergie. The English media and it's habit of hyping up it's teams and players to nonsensical extents have irked this writer no end. This summer after the sale of C.Ronaldo and lack of reinforcements in midfield, he predicted a lack luster season for ManUtd. Of course he made the same prediction last season as well but was proved horribly wrong. ManUtd's talisman is now Wayne Rooney a player who just in the views of this writer in spite of being extremely hard working is not really one of the world's top most players in terms of ability and performance. This writer sees him as somewhat hyped and overrated. If Rooney without C.Ronaldo were to carry ManUtd to glory or nearly there, he would have finally earned a right to be considered with the very best.
Yes so far this article has concentrated on elaborating this writer's sentiments rather than starting the actual analysis. This has been done just for a change and will not be the norm in other reflections articles. Any way let's start the match by match analysis now trying to keep the perspective as neutral as possible.
1. Olympiakos vs. Bordeaux - Most would agree that after having been the best team of the group stage Bordeaux deserved an easier draw. And they have got just that. A club of their size will get the chance to progress to the quarter finals of UCL very rarely. Their future could be in turmoil since it's very likely that the extremely impressive Laurent Blanc will leave his position as head coach next summer. Marouane Chamakh has said repeatedly that he cannot wait to move to a bigger club. Yoann Gourcuff too may not want to stick around for too long. This is Bordeaux's time in the sun and they must take it - quite simply it's now or never. In front of them stands an opponent who they are well capable of beating but must not take lightly.
2. A C Milan vs. Manchester United - It may seem slightly surprising but Milan will not be very unhappy with this draw. Above all they wanted to avoid Barcelona and then also former manager Ancelotti's Chelsea. ManUtd is a team which they have a psychological edge over having beaten them several times in the past in somewhat one sided contests. Of course this is not the great Milan of those days but a closer look would suggest that ManUtd are not without their problems either. Their midfield is still run by veterans since the young players have not yet proven themselves to be up to the mark. The wide players have not yet come close to replicating what the earlier combo of Giggs and C.Ronaldo used to produce. And most surprising the water tight defense of the last few seasons has begun to leak goals with Rio Ferdinand's form being particularly called into question. ManUtd fans will not fancy this match up due to the history between them but the old war horse Ferguson would also see this as a chance to finally get the monkey off his back.
3. Lyon vs. Real Madrid - Real Madrid most incredibly have not made it to the UCL quarter finals for five consecutive seasons. In their defense they have always had very competent opponents and this one is no different. However with the biggest shopping spree of any summer in football, Florentino Perez will not accept failure this time. Lyon themselves aren't going through a good phase. Bordeaux is taking the Ligue 1 title further and further from their eyesight every week. And their defense is an Achilees heel for sure. However Lyon may see this draw as just what they needed to get back their morale. In the words of their president they wanted to avoid Barcelona after the hammering suffered last season and also avoid Chelsea. Real instead is a team which they would see themselves well capable of beating having got the better of them in the past few seasons. Having said that all concerned with football know that the squads are not even comparable on paper. With Alonso, on fire Higuain, old Lyon favorite Benzema, the classy Kaka and of course superstar C.Ronaldo, Real Madrid will be fancied to win this one and end their miserable run in UCL knock outs. Once that is done they may even see this as their year in UCL all the more given that the final will be held on home ground.
4. Inter Milan vs. Chelsea - Undoubtedly this just has to be the tie of the second round. Jose Mourinho would want to show that Chelsea have become a lot worse since his exit. He would also want to prove that he is a superior coach to Carlo Ancelotti in spite of having won fewer UCL titles and reached fewer finals than the former Milan manager. In Mourinho's glorious coaching career laden with trophies if this writer is asked what his biggest failing has been the answer would be his being outwitted by several tacticians in major match ups in knock out competitions. Rafael Benitez has got the better of Mourinho several times in the past in spite of not being half the manager at league level that Jose is. Then we need to look at Inter's recent history in UCL. Off hand this writer is unable to think of the last victory that Inter have had against a major team in UCL knock outs. On research it seems to be their victory against the then formidable Valencia team in the quarter finals of UCL 2002-03 which must sound like an eternity. Given all these considerations this writer would go so far as to say that this is the biggest challenge in Mourinho's coaching career. If Inter still continue to be out of their depth in European competition then Mourinho's detractors would have enough reason to claim that he has added little or no value to them since they were still continuously winning Serie A before he took over and the league is becoming even more one sided every passing year. Most pundits and even the bookies see Chelsea as very strong favorites but it's high time Inter showed they deserve to be counted with the very best. Also a personal challenge for Samuel Eto'o to show that he can excel in Europe without having his illustrious former Barcelona team mates along side him. For Ancelotti one more UCL win would put him right there with the all time greats since this is something even Sir Alex has been unable to accomplish. Beating Inter would set the tone for just that. As for Chelsea it's been a case of so near yet so far during these last few and many fans see this season with the appointment of Ancelotti as the one which will finally see them lay their hands at the most coveted prize in club football.
5. Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina - If you are a Fiorentina fan you are bound to be feeling hurt now. The nature of the draw was such that having finished top of their group ahead of Lyon and being an Italian team the only big team that Fiorentina could have been drawn against was Bayern Munich. Sadly the devil wrote their destiny and that's exactly what they got. Bayern look like a continuously improving side with Louis Van Gaal finally looking like the right man for the job. If stalwarts Ribery and Robben could somehow both be 100% fit at the same time they have an attack to give almost anyone a run for their money. However once Fiorentina have recovered from this temporary depression they must not forget two things. First that Fiorentina were the second most impressive side in the group stage after Bordeaux. And secondly that Bayern no matter how powerful in squad strength are a very beatable team with the defense not looking convincing at all. There isn't much reason to treat this as a one sided encounter since Fiorentina have one of the best tacticians around in Cesare Prandelli. An added edge to this tie is provided by the small matter of the Uefa coefficients contest between Italy and Germany given that most pundits are predicting the remaining Italian and German sides to lose their matches with this tie deciding who out of Italy and Germany will be left standing.
6. Stuttgart vs. Barcelona - Yes everyone including fans and haters alike are saying that Barcelona couldn't have been given a better draw. A club with very little pedigree in European competition. A team not at all in form. Barcelona can have problems against lesser sides who are well organized and have tight defenses but Stuttgart is nothing like that. Besides Stuttgart could be involved in a relegation battle which could see them not even put 100% effort in this tie. In such a scenario the Blaugrana's biggest enemy is bound to be complacency. In a tie that they are expected to blaze through, a failure, if it happens would be just what all those whose eyes are growing increasingly greener with envy seeing the Catalan club win title after title need to finally afford themselves a laugh at the expense of the defending European champions. As for Barcelona no club to date has yet won the UCL consecutively but they remain the odds on favorites to do just that.
7. CSKA Moksva vs. Sevilla - Yes Sevilla have gotten a good draw. Two problems cannot be ignored though. One is that it's always difficult to play an away tie against a Russian club. Secondly Sevilla can sometimes produce their very best against the biggest of clubs and then astonish their supporters by failing against the less fancied ones. Having said that this is just the chance they need to be thought of as more than the double Uefa cup winners that they have been in the past. Given the strength in depth of their squad and the firm establishment of Manolo Jimenez as an able leader they should be well capable of meeting the challenge successfully this time.
8. Porto vs. Arsenal - Like Barcelona Arsenal too have been granted just the kind of draw they wanted though Porto have much greater pedigree than Stuttgart. Last season they even gave ManUtd a real run for their money and this time gave Chelsea a more than considerable fight in the group stage. However what Arsenal want above all is teams which play an open game that allows them to play their own eye catching stylish game and with Porto they get just that while they would not get that with many others who they could possibly have been drawn against. Not many fancy Arsenal to lift the UCL trophy but a quarter final appearance is the least that would be expected of them.
Before starting with the analysis there is something personal that this writer would like to share. Friday 18th December was the date of the UCL second round knock out draw. And this writer was having a terrible day in office with even the most minor of issues taking ages to resolve and one or more altercations with some colleagues. This had reached such a limit that by 4:30 PM IST he had even forgotten about the UCL draw. Fortunately he remembered half an hour later and upon connecting to the Uefa site, decided to replay the draw to enjoy it as if it were live rather than looking at the resultant fixtures. At the end of it his day had changed. He couldn't have been happier or have asked for more from the draw. The primary reasons for this were that his club were handed a really good draw and the two major heavy weight clashes that had resulted were exactly the ones he had wanted to see. In these two clashes no matter which heavy weight loses this writer will still win because he has an axe to grind against one or more persons from each camp.
As far as Inter is concerned, that's a team he would have ideally wanted to see go far and re-establish the quality of Italian teams in European football. However two things have happened which have soured his sentiments. The appointment of Mourinho as coach is the most important. From his thoroughly reprehensible behavior towards almost everyone else to his excessive hype, it's just too much fun to see the loud mouthed Portuguese taste defeat. And the second reason of course is their purchase of Eto'o. This writer doesn't really have much against Eto'o. However when the Ibra-Eto'o swap happened during the summer transfer window, Barcelona were scoffed at big time by a considerable section of pundits and fans, almost exclusively English for having bought a "big match flop" and that too for such a huge price and sold a proven goal scorer instead. Now if Inter with Eto'o were to claim their first major victory in UCL knock outs in a very long time, the naysayers would feel that they have been vindicated. Of course it would be extremely short sighted of them to ignore that Inter have improved as a whole with a playmaker like Sneijder, another great goal scorer like Milito and some improvements in defense and midfield as well but still they would find a way to link virtually everything with Eto'o somehow.
However in spite of all these issues that this writer has with Inter it's nowhere near the antagonism that he's had for Chelsea right since the time they came into limelight. A club without a worthwhile academy to boast of which created a team purely by buying the best for all positions and then hired one of the most or even the most arrogant coach the world has ever seen. To this add the lack of any refined playing style and an annoying ability to eek out results when they have done little to deserve it. That's not all though. They even find a way to hire the most world class of coaches like no other club can and then show them the door like they were never needed. A world cup winner and erstwhile considered one of the world's top coaches namely Luiz Felipe Scolari has been turned into a nonentity by Chelsea.
Milan used to be one of the favorite teams of this writer. However they bought Ronaldinho who has been on this writer's hate list for his on and off field behavior during WC 2006 ever since that tournament. To that add the short sightedness of Berlusconi and Galliani who have continued to rely on an age old team for years when no other club in the world does the same. Finally this writer must also say that he was among those who predicted an absolute disaster of a season for Milan and their recent resurgence has left him very perplexed. If they were to get the better of one of the most fancied teams in world football, all theories of their decay would be thrown out of the window for good.
Now that he has stated his feelings about Milan, is this writer going to root for ManUtd? Certainly not! Since the time he started watching club football ManUtd have been number one on his hate list. Later they became second to Chelsea but the reasons for that have already been elaborated. ManUtd is a typical English club and this writer has a distaste for all things English. In EPL he always supported Arsene Wenger's stylish Gunners to get the better of old fox Fergie. The English media and it's habit of hyping up it's teams and players to nonsensical extents have irked this writer no end. This summer after the sale of C.Ronaldo and lack of reinforcements in midfield, he predicted a lack luster season for ManUtd. Of course he made the same prediction last season as well but was proved horribly wrong. ManUtd's talisman is now Wayne Rooney a player who just in the views of this writer in spite of being extremely hard working is not really one of the world's top most players in terms of ability and performance. This writer sees him as somewhat hyped and overrated. If Rooney without C.Ronaldo were to carry ManUtd to glory or nearly there, he would have finally earned a right to be considered with the very best.
Yes so far this article has concentrated on elaborating this writer's sentiments rather than starting the actual analysis. This has been done just for a change and will not be the norm in other reflections articles. Any way let's start the match by match analysis now trying to keep the perspective as neutral as possible.
1. Olympiakos vs. Bordeaux - Most would agree that after having been the best team of the group stage Bordeaux deserved an easier draw. And they have got just that. A club of their size will get the chance to progress to the quarter finals of UCL very rarely. Their future could be in turmoil since it's very likely that the extremely impressive Laurent Blanc will leave his position as head coach next summer. Marouane Chamakh has said repeatedly that he cannot wait to move to a bigger club. Yoann Gourcuff too may not want to stick around for too long. This is Bordeaux's time in the sun and they must take it - quite simply it's now or never. In front of them stands an opponent who they are well capable of beating but must not take lightly.
2. A C Milan vs. Manchester United - It may seem slightly surprising but Milan will not be very unhappy with this draw. Above all they wanted to avoid Barcelona and then also former manager Ancelotti's Chelsea. ManUtd is a team which they have a psychological edge over having beaten them several times in the past in somewhat one sided contests. Of course this is not the great Milan of those days but a closer look would suggest that ManUtd are not without their problems either. Their midfield is still run by veterans since the young players have not yet proven themselves to be up to the mark. The wide players have not yet come close to replicating what the earlier combo of Giggs and C.Ronaldo used to produce. And most surprising the water tight defense of the last few seasons has begun to leak goals with Rio Ferdinand's form being particularly called into question. ManUtd fans will not fancy this match up due to the history between them but the old war horse Ferguson would also see this as a chance to finally get the monkey off his back.
3. Lyon vs. Real Madrid - Real Madrid most incredibly have not made it to the UCL quarter finals for five consecutive seasons. In their defense they have always had very competent opponents and this one is no different. However with the biggest shopping spree of any summer in football, Florentino Perez will not accept failure this time. Lyon themselves aren't going through a good phase. Bordeaux is taking the Ligue 1 title further and further from their eyesight every week. And their defense is an Achilees heel for sure. However Lyon may see this draw as just what they needed to get back their morale. In the words of their president they wanted to avoid Barcelona after the hammering suffered last season and also avoid Chelsea. Real instead is a team which they would see themselves well capable of beating having got the better of them in the past few seasons. Having said that all concerned with football know that the squads are not even comparable on paper. With Alonso, on fire Higuain, old Lyon favorite Benzema, the classy Kaka and of course superstar C.Ronaldo, Real Madrid will be fancied to win this one and end their miserable run in UCL knock outs. Once that is done they may even see this as their year in UCL all the more given that the final will be held on home ground.
4. Inter Milan vs. Chelsea - Undoubtedly this just has to be the tie of the second round. Jose Mourinho would want to show that Chelsea have become a lot worse since his exit. He would also want to prove that he is a superior coach to Carlo Ancelotti in spite of having won fewer UCL titles and reached fewer finals than the former Milan manager. In Mourinho's glorious coaching career laden with trophies if this writer is asked what his biggest failing has been the answer would be his being outwitted by several tacticians in major match ups in knock out competitions. Rafael Benitez has got the better of Mourinho several times in the past in spite of not being half the manager at league level that Jose is. Then we need to look at Inter's recent history in UCL. Off hand this writer is unable to think of the last victory that Inter have had against a major team in UCL knock outs. On research it seems to be their victory against the then formidable Valencia team in the quarter finals of UCL 2002-03 which must sound like an eternity. Given all these considerations this writer would go so far as to say that this is the biggest challenge in Mourinho's coaching career. If Inter still continue to be out of their depth in European competition then Mourinho's detractors would have enough reason to claim that he has added little or no value to them since they were still continuously winning Serie A before he took over and the league is becoming even more one sided every passing year. Most pundits and even the bookies see Chelsea as very strong favorites but it's high time Inter showed they deserve to be counted with the very best. Also a personal challenge for Samuel Eto'o to show that he can excel in Europe without having his illustrious former Barcelona team mates along side him. For Ancelotti one more UCL win would put him right there with the all time greats since this is something even Sir Alex has been unable to accomplish. Beating Inter would set the tone for just that. As for Chelsea it's been a case of so near yet so far during these last few and many fans see this season with the appointment of Ancelotti as the one which will finally see them lay their hands at the most coveted prize in club football.
5. Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina - If you are a Fiorentina fan you are bound to be feeling hurt now. The nature of the draw was such that having finished top of their group ahead of Lyon and being an Italian team the only big team that Fiorentina could have been drawn against was Bayern Munich. Sadly the devil wrote their destiny and that's exactly what they got. Bayern look like a continuously improving side with Louis Van Gaal finally looking like the right man for the job. If stalwarts Ribery and Robben could somehow both be 100% fit at the same time they have an attack to give almost anyone a run for their money. However once Fiorentina have recovered from this temporary depression they must not forget two things. First that Fiorentina were the second most impressive side in the group stage after Bordeaux. And secondly that Bayern no matter how powerful in squad strength are a very beatable team with the defense not looking convincing at all. There isn't much reason to treat this as a one sided encounter since Fiorentina have one of the best tacticians around in Cesare Prandelli. An added edge to this tie is provided by the small matter of the Uefa coefficients contest between Italy and Germany given that most pundits are predicting the remaining Italian and German sides to lose their matches with this tie deciding who out of Italy and Germany will be left standing.
6. Stuttgart vs. Barcelona - Yes everyone including fans and haters alike are saying that Barcelona couldn't have been given a better draw. A club with very little pedigree in European competition. A team not at all in form. Barcelona can have problems against lesser sides who are well organized and have tight defenses but Stuttgart is nothing like that. Besides Stuttgart could be involved in a relegation battle which could see them not even put 100% effort in this tie. In such a scenario the Blaugrana's biggest enemy is bound to be complacency. In a tie that they are expected to blaze through, a failure, if it happens would be just what all those whose eyes are growing increasingly greener with envy seeing the Catalan club win title after title need to finally afford themselves a laugh at the expense of the defending European champions. As for Barcelona no club to date has yet won the UCL consecutively but they remain the odds on favorites to do just that.
7. CSKA Moksva vs. Sevilla - Yes Sevilla have gotten a good draw. Two problems cannot be ignored though. One is that it's always difficult to play an away tie against a Russian club. Secondly Sevilla can sometimes produce their very best against the biggest of clubs and then astonish their supporters by failing against the less fancied ones. Having said that this is just the chance they need to be thought of as more than the double Uefa cup winners that they have been in the past. Given the strength in depth of their squad and the firm establishment of Manolo Jimenez as an able leader they should be well capable of meeting the challenge successfully this time.
8. Porto vs. Arsenal - Like Barcelona Arsenal too have been granted just the kind of draw they wanted though Porto have much greater pedigree than Stuttgart. Last season they even gave ManUtd a real run for their money and this time gave Chelsea a more than considerable fight in the group stage. However what Arsenal want above all is teams which play an open game that allows them to play their own eye catching stylish game and with Porto they get just that while they would not get that with many others who they could possibly have been drawn against. Not many fancy Arsenal to lift the UCL trophy but a quarter final appearance is the least that would be expected of them.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Reflections : Ballon D'or 2000 to 2009
Now that the Ballon D'or results have been announced, this writer thought it would be a good idea to look back at the top three finishers of each year from 2000 to 2009 and make some comments about how much each individual deserved the honor they got. While reading this article, please note that such an article is bound to be very subjective. While posting comments and debating the pros and cons of a decision, please keep in mind that this writer is not trying to insist that this is how the world of football in general sees this. Having said that let us get the ball rolling and proceed in reverse chronological order.
2009 - Lionel Messi was bound to be the winner and he did so by a landslide. However Cristiano Ronaldo finishing second is really hard to justify. He did have some great moments and carried ManUtd at times in UCL but Xavi was consistently excellent and at almost 100% perfection through out the year and before while being the lynch pin for two of the most successful sides in world football - Barcelona and Spain. It's hard to find any reasons for his not finishing second except that the world is obsessed with goal scorers and flashy stars. A more debatable question is whether C.Ronaldo deserved to finish third or should have been replaced on the podium by Andres Iniesta. San Andes suffered due to his time out with injuries and he is not a known goal scorer. Yet he was involved in some of the most decisive moments in Barcelona's treble triumph, particularly their UCL victory. These awards are known to take key moments into account. Perhaps Iniesta deserved to be chosen as the third player also due to the fact that Barcelona deserved the same recognition that Bayern Munich got in 1972 and A C Milan got in 1988 whereby all three of their players finished on the podium since the club's achievements were at least as magnificent as the other two clubs mentioned. Overall this remains a more debatable point with this writer clearly favoring Iniesta's inclusion while also admitting to being a huge fan of the anti-galactico.
2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo was the outstanding winner. However the other two positions were debatable. In spite of being a die hard fan of Lionel Messi this writer believes that he did not deserve to finish in the top three in spite of having an excellent second half of the year because titles are decided in the first half. Along with Fernando Torres who finished third, the other two most deserving players were Iker Casillas and Xavi. While the latter was named player of the tournament at Eruro 2008, his club side had been disappointing that season. Still San Iker just had to finish in the top three because he was outstanding with excellent performances for Spain in Euro 2008 and a comfortable La liga win for Real Madrid along with the Zamora trophy.
2007 - Kaka was a very deserving winner having been responsible for the key moments which led A C Milan to the UCL title. Cristiano Ronaldo also deserved to finish second for having an outstanding season with ManUtd. The third position was more debatable. While Lionel Messi was one of the deserving candidates, there was a very strong case for Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was outstanding in Inter Milan's march to the Serie A title.
2006 - Not many people agree with this writer but he thought Fabio Cannavaro's award was completely justified. Not only was it very pleasing to see the award go to a defender for a change but as a defender who stood out at a world cup with one of the most legendary performances of all times when the world's eyes are completely focused on the attackers, he deserved to be recognized. To that add titles with his club Juventus and consistency throughout the season. The only valid criticism put forward was the drop in his performances since joining Real Madrid. However in the views of this writer the performances post the season end when the titles have been decided should not be given too much importance. Gianluigi Buffon finished a deserving second. A lot of people insisted that Thierry Henry should have won the award due to the fact that he had been nominated several times before and never won and also that he made it to both the UCL and the world cup final. This writer does not agree with that since such awards should not go by emotions or sympathy vote. Contrary to what some people may have said this was not near Henry's best years of his heydays and while he did reach the two big finals, he was underwhelming in both. So a third place seemed like a very justified finish to this writer.
2005 - Perhaps one of the best decisions ever in terms of all three positions. Barcelona did not win the UCL but were widely acknowledged as the best team on the planet and had won La Liga as well. Ronaldinho was at a different level and a very deserving winner. Frank Lampard was a deserving second having taken Chelsea to the EPL title after ages. Steven Gerrard had to be there and he came third. He had been the inspiration behind Liverpool's surprising victory at the UCL.
2004 - Andriy Shevchenko won the award but it was not entirely justified even though he did win the Serie A title since there were other equally strong candidates. Deco who finished second may have had a stronger case for being the key player in Porto's shock triumph at the UCL. Perhaps he was let down by a disappointing performance at Euro 2004. And while Ronaldinho finished third and was recognized as the most outstanding upcoming talent, perhaps Thierry Henry who was so brilliant in Arsenal's undefeated season in EPL deserved the spot ahead of him.
2003 - The winner was very well chosen. Pavel Nedved had been extraordinary throughout the year winning Serie A and extremely unlucky to miss the UCL final. Thierry Henry came second in spite of not winning EPL that season. Perhaps he should have been taken into greater consideration in the better years for his club. Paolo Maldini came third when he should have probably finished second. Ruud Van Nistelrooy who had been prolific in ManUtd's EPL victory may have also deserved a position in the top three. And then there were the stars of Real Madrid's La Liga win - Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
2002 - Ronaldo was virtually the unquestionable winner. Oliver Kahn came third but he deserved to come second because of his extraordinary performance at WC 2002 where he even won player of the tournament. Roberto Carlos came second. Perhaps he should have come third instead.
2001 - A lot of people have still not been able to accept the fact that Michael Owen won this year's award. He was brilliant throughout and won all three of the Uefa Cup, FA Cup and the League Cup but it's common knowledge in club football that the titles that count are UCL and the league titles of which Owen didn't win any. Raul who came second may have been a more deserving winner since he was at his peak then and Real Madrid had won the La Liga title. Oliver Kahn came third which was more than justified to celebrate Bayern Munich's UCL triumph. Other significant options could have been David Beckham for his EPL triumph with ManUtd and Franceso Totti and Gabriel Batistuta for Roma's Serie A victory.
2000 - This is supposed to have been the closest race for the top spot. Luis Figo eventually won it but this writer feels that Zinedine Zidane who finished second deserved to win instead. Figo had won no titles that year. Zidane had not just won Euro 2000 but was also player of the tournament. Besides he is arguably the best player of the decade. The third position went to Andriy Shevchenko who did not win anything major either. Perhaps Raul could have been chosen for Real Madrid' s UCL triumph.
Here is the deserving top three for each year in this writer's opinion. As far as possible he does not wish to choose players who did not win anything major that year.
2009 - Messi, Xavi, Iniesta
2008 - C.Ronaldo, Casillas, Torres/Xavi
2007 - Kaka, C.Ronaldo, Messi/Ibrahimovic
2006 - Cannavaro, Buffon, Henry
2005 - Ronaldinho, Lampard, Gerrard
2004 - Deco, Henry, Shevchenko
2003 - Nedved, Maldini, Zidane/Ronaldo/Henry
2002 - Ronaldo, Kahn, R.Carlos
2001 - Raul, Kahn, Owen/Beckham/Totti/Batistuta
2000 - Zidane, Figo, Raul
On the whole this writer would say that the Ballon D'or has done quite well in choosing the overall winner but could have been much more consistent with the second and third place selections.
2009 - Lionel Messi was bound to be the winner and he did so by a landslide. However Cristiano Ronaldo finishing second is really hard to justify. He did have some great moments and carried ManUtd at times in UCL but Xavi was consistently excellent and at almost 100% perfection through out the year and before while being the lynch pin for two of the most successful sides in world football - Barcelona and Spain. It's hard to find any reasons for his not finishing second except that the world is obsessed with goal scorers and flashy stars. A more debatable question is whether C.Ronaldo deserved to finish third or should have been replaced on the podium by Andres Iniesta. San Andes suffered due to his time out with injuries and he is not a known goal scorer. Yet he was involved in some of the most decisive moments in Barcelona's treble triumph, particularly their UCL victory. These awards are known to take key moments into account. Perhaps Iniesta deserved to be chosen as the third player also due to the fact that Barcelona deserved the same recognition that Bayern Munich got in 1972 and A C Milan got in 1988 whereby all three of their players finished on the podium since the club's achievements were at least as magnificent as the other two clubs mentioned. Overall this remains a more debatable point with this writer clearly favoring Iniesta's inclusion while also admitting to being a huge fan of the anti-galactico.
2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo was the outstanding winner. However the other two positions were debatable. In spite of being a die hard fan of Lionel Messi this writer believes that he did not deserve to finish in the top three in spite of having an excellent second half of the year because titles are decided in the first half. Along with Fernando Torres who finished third, the other two most deserving players were Iker Casillas and Xavi. While the latter was named player of the tournament at Eruro 2008, his club side had been disappointing that season. Still San Iker just had to finish in the top three because he was outstanding with excellent performances for Spain in Euro 2008 and a comfortable La liga win for Real Madrid along with the Zamora trophy.
2007 - Kaka was a very deserving winner having been responsible for the key moments which led A C Milan to the UCL title. Cristiano Ronaldo also deserved to finish second for having an outstanding season with ManUtd. The third position was more debatable. While Lionel Messi was one of the deserving candidates, there was a very strong case for Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was outstanding in Inter Milan's march to the Serie A title.
2006 - Not many people agree with this writer but he thought Fabio Cannavaro's award was completely justified. Not only was it very pleasing to see the award go to a defender for a change but as a defender who stood out at a world cup with one of the most legendary performances of all times when the world's eyes are completely focused on the attackers, he deserved to be recognized. To that add titles with his club Juventus and consistency throughout the season. The only valid criticism put forward was the drop in his performances since joining Real Madrid. However in the views of this writer the performances post the season end when the titles have been decided should not be given too much importance. Gianluigi Buffon finished a deserving second. A lot of people insisted that Thierry Henry should have won the award due to the fact that he had been nominated several times before and never won and also that he made it to both the UCL and the world cup final. This writer does not agree with that since such awards should not go by emotions or sympathy vote. Contrary to what some people may have said this was not near Henry's best years of his heydays and while he did reach the two big finals, he was underwhelming in both. So a third place seemed like a very justified finish to this writer.
2005 - Perhaps one of the best decisions ever in terms of all three positions. Barcelona did not win the UCL but were widely acknowledged as the best team on the planet and had won La Liga as well. Ronaldinho was at a different level and a very deserving winner. Frank Lampard was a deserving second having taken Chelsea to the EPL title after ages. Steven Gerrard had to be there and he came third. He had been the inspiration behind Liverpool's surprising victory at the UCL.
2004 - Andriy Shevchenko won the award but it was not entirely justified even though he did win the Serie A title since there were other equally strong candidates. Deco who finished second may have had a stronger case for being the key player in Porto's shock triumph at the UCL. Perhaps he was let down by a disappointing performance at Euro 2004. And while Ronaldinho finished third and was recognized as the most outstanding upcoming talent, perhaps Thierry Henry who was so brilliant in Arsenal's undefeated season in EPL deserved the spot ahead of him.
2003 - The winner was very well chosen. Pavel Nedved had been extraordinary throughout the year winning Serie A and extremely unlucky to miss the UCL final. Thierry Henry came second in spite of not winning EPL that season. Perhaps he should have been taken into greater consideration in the better years for his club. Paolo Maldini came third when he should have probably finished second. Ruud Van Nistelrooy who had been prolific in ManUtd's EPL victory may have also deserved a position in the top three. And then there were the stars of Real Madrid's La Liga win - Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
2002 - Ronaldo was virtually the unquestionable winner. Oliver Kahn came third but he deserved to come second because of his extraordinary performance at WC 2002 where he even won player of the tournament. Roberto Carlos came second. Perhaps he should have come third instead.
2001 - A lot of people have still not been able to accept the fact that Michael Owen won this year's award. He was brilliant throughout and won all three of the Uefa Cup, FA Cup and the League Cup but it's common knowledge in club football that the titles that count are UCL and the league titles of which Owen didn't win any. Raul who came second may have been a more deserving winner since he was at his peak then and Real Madrid had won the La Liga title. Oliver Kahn came third which was more than justified to celebrate Bayern Munich's UCL triumph. Other significant options could have been David Beckham for his EPL triumph with ManUtd and Franceso Totti and Gabriel Batistuta for Roma's Serie A victory.
2000 - This is supposed to have been the closest race for the top spot. Luis Figo eventually won it but this writer feels that Zinedine Zidane who finished second deserved to win instead. Figo had won no titles that year. Zidane had not just won Euro 2000 but was also player of the tournament. Besides he is arguably the best player of the decade. The third position went to Andriy Shevchenko who did not win anything major either. Perhaps Raul could have been chosen for Real Madrid' s UCL triumph.
Here is the deserving top three for each year in this writer's opinion. As far as possible he does not wish to choose players who did not win anything major that year.
2009 - Messi, Xavi, Iniesta
2008 - C.Ronaldo, Casillas, Torres/Xavi
2007 - Kaka, C.Ronaldo, Messi/Ibrahimovic
2006 - Cannavaro, Buffon, Henry
2005 - Ronaldinho, Lampard, Gerrard
2004 - Deco, Henry, Shevchenko
2003 - Nedved, Maldini, Zidane/Ronaldo/Henry
2002 - Ronaldo, Kahn, R.Carlos
2001 - Raul, Kahn, Owen/Beckham/Totti/Batistuta
2000 - Zidane, Figo, Raul
On the whole this writer would say that the Ballon D'or has done quite well in choosing the overall winner but could have been much more consistent with the second and third place selections.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)