John Carlin, a New York Times writer said he was “shocked” at Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez’s refusal to come onto the football pitch against Bayern Munich in their Champions league match at the Allianz Arena, Munich. Tevez has been unhappy with life in Manchester had publicly stated in the summer that he wanted to leave Manchester City to be closer to his family.
Manchester City was trailing Bayern Munich 0-2 when manager Roberto Mancini asked the Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez to warm-up to get onto the pitch around the 59th minute of the match. Tevez refused to obey the manager’s orders. “He will never play for me again.” said a disgusted Mancini in the post-match conference. “He is finished.” Tevez followed that by saying he was not in the “right frame of mind” to play.
“Footballers get paid such a ridiculous amount of money.” said British football journalist Sean Mullan. “That compounds the problem.” Tevez earns an estimated £250,000 a week.
Two days after the incident, Tevez said that there was a gap in communication and he had “refused to warm up, but not refused to play.”
“I don’t know if Tevez is right and there was a misunderstanding.” said Carlin. “I doubt it. Mancini was so angry that he seemed genuine”. Mullan said that Tevez’s refusal was a spontaneous decision and not something he planned.
After enquiry and trial, Tevez was found guilty of five serious breaches of contract. He was suspended for a fortnight and fined two weeks' wages. He was ordered to train by himself and then with the reserves. Tevez’s problems compounded in November when he left for Argentina and failed to appear at the training sessions.
Dario Weitz called the 27-year old Tevez as the “player of the people” because he “never forgot where he came from.” Weitz, who lives in Rosario, Argentina and is a fan of Boca Juniors said Tevez was “born in the slums” in the “dangerous” neighborhood of Fort Apache. “His life, like other people in Apache, should go in misery, except for football.” said Weitz.
Mullan said that the Brazilian club Corinthians had made an offer of €40 million but Manchester City wanted €56 million and €16.5 million in a first installment to release Tevez from his contract. “Corinthians wanted to wait till 2012 when they get their new television rights and hence the deal did not go through.” he said.
“Can the Corinthians pay £250,000 a week?” said Carlin. “How many teams can pay even two-thirds of his salary? He bought himself out of the market.”
“I read an article by an Argentine journalist who called Tevez his ‘own worst enemy’. His own national coach does not want him.” said Carlin, who recently co-authored with Raphael Nadal on “Rafa: My Story” and spent over two years covering football and politics in Argentina. “I sometimes feel sorry for him. He has made a mess of his life. Some players come from extreme poverty and violence in childhood. But then so do players from Africa, some of whom are so well-behaved.”
Both Carlin and Mullan wanted a salary-cap to be enforced in football but could not see it happening.
Showing posts with label EPL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EPL. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2011
Friday, May 21, 2010
Arsenal Next Season
In Arsene we trust!
Lets start off with the Goalie issue. WE DESPERATELY NEED A HIGH CLASS GOALIE. There is no alternative to that. From what Wenger is saying it looks as though he might put the Pole (Fabianski) between the poles and make Almunia the 2nd choice. That very thought makes me nervous. I am not sure what Wenger sees in him. He may be a good shot stopper and he may have good reactions. But, what we need is a steady presence in our box. Someone who cannot collect (or punch) the corners effectively and efficiently. There are about 20 to 25 corners+freekicks to defend in a game and about 1 or 2 or sometimes up to 4 shots which require quick-reaction/ diving/ spectacular stops. (Arsenal-Barcelona was an exception). It is quite clear that to do the simple things efficiently is more important than to pull-off the spectacular. And this is what Wenger should look at. We know that Arsene will not bring in someone like Buffon or Toldo. I am hoping if he can persuade Lloris from the French team, that would be awesome. But, I think Wenger could go for someone really low-profile. Can he find another Lehman from somewhere? Over to you Arsene........
Gallas' wants and Arsenal/Wenger's policy means that the Frenchman could be on his way out. I have never been a big fan of Gallas ever since he came to Arsenal. Even though he formed a great partnership with TV earlier this season, I wont mind letting him go. BUT, that would leave a huge hole in the defence. We missed out on the Fulham youngster (Smalling). Can we get the Blackburn youngter? Jones? But then again, that would mean too many youngsters. So, in short, if Gallas stays, then TV + Gallas in the center with Djourou and Sol as backups. Otherwise, we need a well established center back. Would be awesome if we could get in a beast in the mould Lucio or Alex.
Over to you Arsene........
Left and right backs?
Clichy and Sagna backed up by Gibbs and Eboue. That is solid for me. There is talk that Clichy might go to Madrid or Barca. If he does, the Gibbs backed up by Armand Traore makes me concerned.
1) Gibbs, (even though, I like him as a player) is coming back from injury.
2) Traore is not a good defender.
Now the big one. The fab-skipper. This is what I think:
a) Fab wants go to Barca "some day". Some day is important.
b) Does he want to go now? Only Cesc knows the answer to that.
Why he would want to go
------Barca will probably win more trophies than Arsenal.
------Barca is his childhood club.
------Barca is in Spain
Why he would not want to go
------Papa Wenger. The person who has almost brought him up
------Feeling of almost there in Arsenal, just a little bit more to go. For a few seasons, we have been "almost there". If we sign a decent goalie and defender, (and having already bought the Morrocan), we should hopefully BE THERE next season instead of almost.
------Skipper at Arsenal, 3rd choice in Barca. Fab can dictate his terms over here. In Barca, Fab will only play if one of Xavi or Iniesta is unavailable.
Rest is upto AW.
There is a possibility that he might still go. But, I say he wont.
Since Cesc is not going, our mid field is pretty strong. We dont need any more re-inforcements in mid-field contrary to the pouplar belied. Song, Diaby, Nasri, Fab and Vin backed up by Walcott, Denislon, , Eboue and Rosicky is awesome, the best mid field in England.
RVP and Chamakh up-front backed up by Bendtner and Eduardo/Vela is still a little weak. But, if Jay-Emmanuel Thomas has matured enough, then we dont really need any more strikers. Jay-Emmanuel Thomas is a tall strong lad. May be just what we need.
Lets start off with the Goalie issue. WE DESPERATELY NEED A HIGH CLASS GOALIE. There is no alternative to that. From what Wenger is saying it looks as though he might put the Pole (Fabianski) between the poles and make Almunia the 2nd choice. That very thought makes me nervous. I am not sure what Wenger sees in him. He may be a good shot stopper and he may have good reactions. But, what we need is a steady presence in our box. Someone who cannot collect (or punch) the corners effectively and efficiently. There are about 20 to 25 corners+freekicks to defend in a game and about 1 or 2 or sometimes up to 4 shots which require quick-reaction/ diving/ spectacular stops. (Arsenal-Barcelona was an exception). It is quite clear that to do the simple things efficiently is more important than to pull-off the spectacular. And this is what Wenger should look at. We know that Arsene will not bring in someone like Buffon or Toldo. I am hoping if he can persuade Lloris from the French team, that would be awesome. But, I think Wenger could go for someone really low-profile. Can he find another Lehman from somewhere? Over to you Arsene........
Gallas' wants and Arsenal/Wenger's policy means that the Frenchman could be on his way out. I have never been a big fan of Gallas ever since he came to Arsenal. Even though he formed a great partnership with TV earlier this season, I wont mind letting him go. BUT, that would leave a huge hole in the defence. We missed out on the Fulham youngster (Smalling). Can we get the Blackburn youngter? Jones? But then again, that would mean too many youngsters. So, in short, if Gallas stays, then TV + Gallas in the center with Djourou and Sol as backups. Otherwise, we need a well established center back. Would be awesome if we could get in a beast in the mould Lucio or Alex.
Over to you Arsene........
Left and right backs?
Clichy and Sagna backed up by Gibbs and Eboue. That is solid for me. There is talk that Clichy might go to Madrid or Barca. If he does, the Gibbs backed up by Armand Traore makes me concerned.
1) Gibbs, (even though, I like him as a player) is coming back from injury.
2) Traore is not a good defender.
Now the big one. The fab-skipper. This is what I think:
a) Fab wants go to Barca "some day". Some day is important.
b) Does he want to go now? Only Cesc knows the answer to that.
Why he would want to go
------Barca will probably win more trophies than Arsenal.
------Barca is his childhood club.
------Barca is in Spain
Why he would not want to go
------Papa Wenger. The person who has almost brought him up
------Feeling of almost there in Arsenal, just a little bit more to go. For a few seasons, we have been "almost there". If we sign a decent goalie and defender, (and having already bought the Morrocan), we should hopefully BE THERE next season instead of almost.
------Skipper at Arsenal, 3rd choice in Barca. Fab can dictate his terms over here. In Barca, Fab will only play if one of Xavi or Iniesta is unavailable.
Rest is upto AW.
There is a possibility that he might still go. But, I say he wont.
Since Cesc is not going, our mid field is pretty strong. We dont need any more re-inforcements in mid-field contrary to the pouplar belied. Song, Diaby, Nasri, Fab and Vin backed up by Walcott, Denislon, , Eboue and Rosicky is awesome, the best mid field in England.
RVP and Chamakh up-front backed up by Bendtner and Eduardo/Vela is still a little weak. But, if Jay-Emmanuel Thomas has matured enough, then we dont really need any more strikers. Jay-Emmanuel Thomas is a tall strong lad. May be just what we need.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
arsenal this season
In wenger we trust!
Oh buoy! yet another season! yet another year! do i need to say .....same old story.....there is a sense of frustration growing around the emirates.....so where the hell did we go wrong?
it could be any one of the following:
no pre-season buys??
.....in fact, our pre-season buys were negetive......we sold traitor ade and kolo habib toure.........and bought in vermaelen....we thought eduardo and rosicky's come-back will fill the adebayor's slot.....vermaelen, along with fabre and sir alex was one of our players of the season and probably would make it to the premier league IX of the season......so i would say pre-season buy was not something where we went wrong.....
injuries?
we lost nasri for first 3 months, rvp for about 5 months, fab for about 2 months, bendtner for about 3 months and of course aaron the ramsey....so, that would definitely be a factor I would say.......i dint follow shelski so closely......but they lost essien and cashley cole for 2 or 3 months......but no one else really......hope the injury gods are good to us next time.....
big-match losses??
......we lost home and away to shelski and manure......which is losing 12 points....and almost equivalent to 24 points......considering that they are our title rivals......so if we had even drawn those games or won our home games.....things could have been so different.....but considering that manure lost to loserpool both their matches last year and yet won the title means that we could have still made up for the lost ground.......
no january transfer buys
.......possibly......coz arsene knew we dint have rvp and bendtner......and he asked vin(arsha) to play up front as a lone-striker.....the dimunitive Russsian did a reasonable job.....and also scored a couple of wonder gols......the one against loserpool comes to my mind first......probably maruanne the chamakh boy at this time would have been ideal for Arsenal.....as much as Bendtner tried.....he is not more than a squad player, an impact player....who could come in the last 20 mins.......if you ask nick to lead the line against Barca at camp nou......oh buoy....you are asking way too much of him..... we did get sol in January who was a revelation really....but thats all we did
goal keeper???????
oh yes.......this is where we lost the title......
remember the manure again early in the season......we were leading manure 1-0 comfortably .......when manuel stupid almunia charged wayne rooney when there was no need to......rooney dived, made the most of it, got a penalty and united not only got out of jail, they went on to win the game 2-1.......against porto in CL, 2 horrendous flapianski errors cost us the game.......its a different story that that game dint really affect us much.......but its the confidence (or the lack of it in this case) that you instill in your defence as a keeper that was the problem......Verminator tried hard to be the leader.......but with flapianski and silvster arround......oh buoy!........u are asking too much......
against Birmingham......almunia could have punched the ball over but instead let kevin phillips equalize in the 91st minute.......
against wigan......again flapianski was found flapping........
i remember i used to not like leheman......because he used to shove the opposition off .... i remember when he used to rise to catch a ball he used to have his studs up.......so any striker near him would get a knock or two on their shins and knees if they dared to go near him......how we miss him now.....
david seaman says that wenger should trust in these 2 glovers......but as much wenger i trust.......i cant take these to flappers......i can even take bendtner......and trust wenger on that........but not on flapianski or almunia please......
Oh buoy! yet another season! yet another year! do i need to say .....same old story.....there is a sense of frustration growing around the emirates.....so where the hell did we go wrong?
it could be any one of the following:
no pre-season buys??
.....in fact, our pre-season buys were negetive......we sold traitor ade and kolo habib toure.........and bought in vermaelen....we thought eduardo and rosicky's come-back will fill the adebayor's slot.....vermaelen, along with fabre and sir alex was one of our players of the season and probably would make it to the premier league IX of the season......so i would say pre-season buy was not something where we went wrong.....
injuries?
we lost nasri for first 3 months, rvp for about 5 months, fab for about 2 months, bendtner for about 3 months and of course aaron the ramsey....so, that would definitely be a factor I would say.......i dint follow shelski so closely......but they lost essien and cashley cole for 2 or 3 months......but no one else really......hope the injury gods are good to us next time.....
big-match losses??
......we lost home and away to shelski and manure......which is losing 12 points....and almost equivalent to 24 points......considering that they are our title rivals......so if we had even drawn those games or won our home games.....things could have been so different.....but considering that manure lost to loserpool both their matches last year and yet won the title means that we could have still made up for the lost ground.......
no january transfer buys
.......possibly......coz arsene knew we dint have rvp and bendtner......and he asked vin(arsha) to play up front as a lone-striker.....the dimunitive Russsian did a reasonable job.....and also scored a couple of wonder gols......the one against loserpool comes to my mind first......probably maruanne the chamakh boy at this time would have been ideal for Arsenal.....as much as Bendtner tried.....he is not more than a squad player, an impact player....who could come in the last 20 mins.......if you ask nick to lead the line against Barca at camp nou......oh buoy....you are asking way too much of him..... we did get sol in January who was a revelation really....but thats all we did
goal keeper???????
oh yes.......this is where we lost the title......
remember the manure again early in the season......we were leading manure 1-0 comfortably .......when manuel stupid almunia charged wayne rooney when there was no need to......rooney dived, made the most of it, got a penalty and united not only got out of jail, they went on to win the game 2-1.......against porto in CL, 2 horrendous flapianski errors cost us the game.......its a different story that that game dint really affect us much.......but its the confidence (or the lack of it in this case) that you instill in your defence as a keeper that was the problem......Verminator tried hard to be the leader.......but with flapianski and silvster arround......oh buoy!........u are asking too much......
against Birmingham......almunia could have punched the ball over but instead let kevin phillips equalize in the 91st minute.......
against wigan......again flapianski was found flapping........
i remember i used to not like leheman......because he used to shove the opposition off .... i remember when he used to rise to catch a ball he used to have his studs up.......so any striker near him would get a knock or two on their shins and knees if they dared to go near him......how we miss him now.....
david seaman says that wenger should trust in these 2 glovers......but as much wenger i trust.......i cant take these to flappers......i can even take bendtner......and trust wenger on that........but not on flapianski or almunia please......
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
2 days to go!!
We are almost there.......Its the 8th of August and in a couple of days, when referee Graham Poll, puts his whistle to mouth, Tottenham and Sunderland will set the ball rolling to start off one of the most eagerly awaited English Premier League ever.
Yes, every time it looks like--"This" time is the most awaited EPL. But, to me there have never been as many contenders to the EPL. Well, speaking from my brain, I would say Chelsea are favorites--simply because of the depth in their squad. There have
been very few notable exclusions apart from Robben(Has his transfer to Madrid finalised?), and yet they have signed Florent Malouda, Sidwell, Telal Ben Haim. And I wont be surprised if Ballack and Sheva have a bigger impact this time round.
Generally, the foreign players take an year or two to settle down in the EPL. Everyone do their normal business. Terry will be a rock, Cech will be reliable as ever, Dargar,oh sorry Drogba will continue from where he left last season.....etc etc. But, to me, what puts them ahead of Man Utd is, the one year of English football experiance that Ballack and Sheva will carry. No one ever doubted the quality that these two possessed. I think these 2 are too good players to perform badly for two season in a row. (Lots of 'to's eh!!)
Manchester United to me, are second favorites, marginally behind Chelsea. While they will welcome with open arms, the Paul Collingwood of English football--Owen Hargreaves
and the highly talented Nani(I assume he is highly talented since he is from Portugal and the Brazilians speak Portugese right!!) and Pederson(was that the other guy's name?), they will be praying that their solid back four of Vidic, Fedinand, Evra and Neville carry on from where they left last season. I thought, the form and more importantly, the injury free'ness of these four was a reason often overlooked because of the huhaha behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
No doubt, Mr.Basu had a great season, but defence is such a non-glamorous part of football, that I wont blame people if they forgot the United back four.
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that it is very very unlikely that these four will be as injury free as last season and hence the defence might just struggle.
Liverpool......well I thought I would leave this for Raja or Abhishek to complete. Anyway, I will make an honest attempt to assess their chances. On first sight, it looks like they are too much dependent on Gerrard. But they have made a couple of decent signings, in Babel and Benayoun. While Babel brings some fresh legs into the Liverpool strike force, Benayoun's experiance of playing in England and the
creativity he posesses might just be what Liverpool may be looking for. Solid defence and disciplined football has always been their forte, and i dont expect that to change. Like Shave and Ballack, I expect Kuyt(probably Liverpool's best player last season) to improve and the arrival of fellow dutchman, Rayen Babel, might just make him feel better. I think Torres will be a flop. Big statement?? May be. But, anyway.....lets see.
Totenham look good, with the ever improving Berbatov threatening to replace Henry as premiership's best striker. They have been improving consistently over the past few years. This might be the season, where they might break into the top four.
Last season's surprise package was Portsmouth. Remember, they were second in the league for a couple of monhts into the season. And to finish in the top 10 after almost being relegated the previous season was a commendable achievemnt. This season's surprise package could be West Ham. Yes, they have lost Tevez. But a look at their strike force of -- Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole and the midfield of Freddie Ljungberg and Scott Parker tells me that they could be a force to reckon with. Dont be surprised if they make a top 8 finish
I will come to MY team in another post!!!
Yes, every time it looks like--"This" time is the most awaited EPL. But, to me there have never been as many contenders to the EPL. Well, speaking from my brain, I would say Chelsea are favorites--simply because of the depth in their squad. There have
been very few notable exclusions apart from Robben(Has his transfer to Madrid finalised?), and yet they have signed Florent Malouda, Sidwell, Telal Ben Haim. And I wont be surprised if Ballack and Sheva have a bigger impact this time round.
Generally, the foreign players take an year or two to settle down in the EPL. Everyone do their normal business. Terry will be a rock, Cech will be reliable as ever, Dargar,oh sorry Drogba will continue from where he left last season.....etc etc. But, to me, what puts them ahead of Man Utd is, the one year of English football experiance that Ballack and Sheva will carry. No one ever doubted the quality that these two possessed. I think these 2 are too good players to perform badly for two season in a row. (Lots of 'to's eh!!)
Manchester United to me, are second favorites, marginally behind Chelsea. While they will welcome with open arms, the Paul Collingwood of English football--Owen Hargreaves
and the highly talented Nani(I assume he is highly talented since he is from Portugal and the Brazilians speak Portugese right!!) and Pederson(was that the other guy's name?), they will be praying that their solid back four of Vidic, Fedinand, Evra and Neville carry on from where they left last season. I thought, the form and more importantly, the injury free'ness of these four was a reason often overlooked because of the huhaha behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
No doubt, Mr.Basu had a great season, but defence is such a non-glamorous part of football, that I wont blame people if they forgot the United back four.
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that it is very very unlikely that these four will be as injury free as last season and hence the defence might just struggle.
Liverpool......well I thought I would leave this for Raja or Abhishek to complete. Anyway, I will make an honest attempt to assess their chances. On first sight, it looks like they are too much dependent on Gerrard. But they have made a couple of decent signings, in Babel and Benayoun. While Babel brings some fresh legs into the Liverpool strike force, Benayoun's experiance of playing in England and the
creativity he posesses might just be what Liverpool may be looking for. Solid defence and disciplined football has always been their forte, and i dont expect that to change. Like Shave and Ballack, I expect Kuyt(probably Liverpool's best player last season) to improve and the arrival of fellow dutchman, Rayen Babel, might just make him feel better. I think Torres will be a flop. Big statement?? May be. But, anyway.....lets see.
Totenham look good, with the ever improving Berbatov threatening to replace Henry as premiership's best striker. They have been improving consistently over the past few years. This might be the season, where they might break into the top four.
Last season's surprise package was Portsmouth. Remember, they were second in the league for a couple of monhts into the season. And to finish in the top 10 after almost being relegated the previous season was a commendable achievemnt. This season's surprise package could be West Ham. Yes, they have lost Tevez. But a look at their strike force of -- Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole and the midfield of Freddie Ljungberg and Scott Parker tells me that they could be a force to reckon with. Dont be surprised if they make a top 8 finish
I will come to MY team in another post!!!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sports Updates
I would define the later half of the july as dull period for sports, one big event was the awesome European F1. I saw for the first time race being red flagged all due to the rain gods which are angry on whole of the world of sports it seems specially in Europe, England is reeling under floods first it was Wimbledon now its India-England Test Series.
But off the fields there is lot of happenings going on.
Talking about Football : Pre season tours of EPL teams are in the last stages ManU , Liverpool
all came down to South East Asia and China for expanding the EPL and may be money for pre season team builds up. All thanks to the professionalism of EPL organizers who have expanded the popularity of EPL to almost whole of Asia and now its have become profitable to be compared to American NBA and NHL leagues, EPL is far ahead in terms of viewership.
Transfers is in full flow with last 2-3 days left. Tevez saga has not yet been cleared if he stays in WestHam he will be joined by another Arsenal great Freddie Ljungberg who has left Arsenal another big exit after Henry. Mourinho is trying to avoid Robben from going to Real Madrid, Kaka has made it clear that he will remain in AC Milan.
Manchester city has been brought by ex Thailand Premier Shinowatra and has pumped in 100 million dollars to Sven Erricson new manager for transfer. Big money spending is done by almost all the teams in the EPL.
Beckham made his lackluster debut in LA-Galaxy against Chelsea, he is injured and will miss the initial 2-3 matches of LA, Giri can give more updates on the Beckham from US.
In the AFC whole of Iraq has been united by its splendid performance in the competition , it has
reached the finals and will face Saudi Arabia. Big teams of Asia Japan, Korea have been kicked out, even Australia has not felt that its not easy playing football in Asia as the team studded will players who play in EPL also couldn't do anything.
Indian football is also trying to improve its game, team is touring Portugal and is playing matches against League 3/2, thanks to fine display by bhutia it has won 2 matches also.
Moving over to India's religion Cricket:
Star Cricket, they are saying they have reached 75% of ESPN-Star Sports coverage, i don't know how, my cable wala is not showing it. Its not in half of haryana and many parts of UP. Cable guy said they are demanding 8 Lakhs, he said its not worth spending for test matches only as the ODI's will come on DD1 itself. Great :)
India's famed line failed again in Lords, dk has already written about that. In second test bowlers have performed well despite of rain England is on backfoot at 167/7 .
Off the field ICL is slowly bulding up. Lara is coming Warne and McGrath are also expected to join. Sportscenter rumors say Fleming has also been offered a lucrative deal to join. With the league being run by ex-players and professionals not by unknowledgable politicians in case of BCCI we can expect it to promote cricket and provide good players for Indian cricket. Some of the lashings players are also expected to join. If planned properly i feel the T20 T20 format can become very popular and we can expect like county and even like WI, T20 leagues.
T20 world cup has been launched in SA. The 13-day event will have 12 nations compete in 27 matches for one trophy. It starts from September 11 with matches being played in Johannesburg, Capetown and Durban. I am looking forward to the cup as my interest in 50 overs format is at all time low. Music, cheer boys and girls it will be all exciting. To the top of the excitement India has been placed with Pakistan in group D, other team being Scotland. Australia are in Group B along with England and Zimbabe, while hosts South Africa have been teamed up with West Indies and Bangladesh in Group A. New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Kenya constitute Group C. India play Pakistan on September 14.
F1
Mclarean is cleared of all the charges of stealing Ferrari's documents, there will be no punishment and points deductions.
18 race calender for 2008 has been announced by FIA with two new entrants Singapore and Valencia and there will be no race in USA.
Last race was awesome though i couldn't watch the whole race, Hamilton was without points for the first time, ups and downs do happen to all. Alonso showed why he is still the best when he overcame Massa with only few laps remaining.
Kartikeyan chances of driving again for spyker were dealt a blow when Sakon Yamamoto was signed by spyker, money is the only reason seems to me as he has given around 33 crores rupees to driver the Spyker car and spyker needs money badly.
In other sports Tour De France has become Dope De France, doping has again affected the event, I reckon the event to be the toughest in the world, cycling association should take some stringent measures to stop the doping saga affecting the event every year. If Armstrong can do it 7 times without doping (though charges were also raised against him but not proved) why can't others do it.
In tennis hard court season has begun Sania is participating in tier 3/4 events and performing well. Great ..... Do you see any chances of here getting into top 10 in coming year ????
In other sports political news IOA is fighting with sports ministry over some sports policy which the ministry is framing to encourage the sports. IOA is complaining that ignoring it is unethical. Well to me the policy will not do anything IOA supremo Kalmadi who has been at the helm for the past 2 decades has done nothing and with meagre 500 crores sports budget the ministry expect to win golds!!!!! hahahhahhaha. We hire cheap coaches and many are not upto the marks , we compare ourselves to china LOL china spends millions and millions in sports and you will see China pipping USA handsomely in 2008 Olympics.
Comments expected!!!!
I have written about 4-5 sports so a small check of interest of readers
Technorati Tags
Cricket T20Cup Football EPL F1 Tennis Cycling IOA Olympics 2008 Lords
But off the fields there is lot of happenings going on.
Talking about Football : Pre season tours of EPL teams are in the last stages ManU , Liverpool
all came down to South East Asia and China for expanding the EPL and may be money for pre season team builds up. All thanks to the professionalism of EPL organizers who have expanded the popularity of EPL to almost whole of Asia and now its have become profitable to be compared to American NBA and NHL leagues, EPL is far ahead in terms of viewership.Transfers is in full flow with last 2-3 days left. Tevez saga has not yet been cleared if he stays in WestHam he will be joined by another Arsenal great Freddie Ljungberg who has left Arsenal another big exit after Henry. Mourinho is trying to avoid Robben from going to Real Madrid, Kaka has made it clear that he will remain in AC Milan.
Manchester city has been brought by ex Thailand Premier Shinowatra and has pumped in 100 million dollars to Sven Erricson new manager for transfer. Big money spending is done by almost all the teams in the EPL.
Beckham made his lackluster debut in LA-Galaxy against Chelsea, he is injured and will miss the initial 2-3 matches of LA, Giri can give more updates on the Beckham from US.In the AFC whole of Iraq has been united by its splendid performance in the competition , it has
reached the finals and will face Saudi Arabia. Big teams of Asia Japan, Korea have been kicked out, even Australia has not felt that its not easy playing football in Asia as the team studded will players who play in EPL also couldn't do anything.Indian football is also trying to improve its game, team is touring Portugal and is playing matches against League 3/2, thanks to fine display by bhutia it has won 2 matches also.
Moving over to India's religion Cricket:
Star Cricket, they are saying they have reached 75% of ESPN-Star Sports coverage, i don't know how, my cable wala is not showing it. Its not in half of haryana and many parts of UP. Cable guy said they are demanding 8 Lakhs, he said its not worth spending for test matches only as the ODI's will come on DD1 itself. Great :)
India's famed line failed again in Lords, dk has already written about that. In second test bowlers have performed well despite of rain England is on backfoot at 167/7 .
Off the field ICL is slowly bulding up. Lara is coming Warne and McGrath are also expected to join. Sportscenter rumors say Fleming has also been offered a lucrative deal to join. With the league being run by ex-players and professionals not by unknowledgable politicians in case of BCCI we can expect it to promote cricket and provide good players for Indian cricket. Some of the lashings players are also expected to join. If planned properly i feel the T20 T20 format can become very popular and we can expect like county and even like WI, T20 leagues.
T20 world cup has been launched in SA. The 13-day event will have 12 nations compete in 27 matches for one trophy. It starts from September 11 with matches being played in Johannesburg, Capetown and Durban. I am looking forward to the cup as my interest in 50 overs format is at all time low. Music, cheer boys and girls it will be all exciting. To the top of the excitement India has been placed with Pakistan in group D, other team being Scotland. Australia are in Group B along with England and Zimbabe, while hosts South Africa have been teamed up with West Indies and Bangladesh in Group A. New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Kenya constitute Group C. India play Pakistan on September 14.F1
Mclarean is cleared of all the charges of stealing Ferrari's documents, there will be no punishment and points deductions.
18 race calender for 2008 has been announced by FIA with two new entrants Singapore and Valencia and there will be no race in USA.
Last race was awesome though i couldn't watch the whole race, Hamilton was without points for the first time, ups and downs do happen to all. Alonso showed why he is still the best when he overcame Massa with only few laps remaining.
Kartikeyan chances of driving again for spyker were dealt a blow when Sakon Yamamoto was signed by spyker, money is the only reason seems to me as he has given around 33 crores rupees to driver the Spyker car and spyker needs money badly.
In other sports Tour De France has become Dope De France, doping has again affected the event, I reckon the event to be the toughest in the world, cycling association should take some stringent measures to stop the doping saga affecting the event every year. If Armstrong can do it 7 times without doping (though charges were also raised against him but not proved) why can't others do it.
In tennis hard court season has begun Sania is participating in tier 3/4 events and performing well. Great ..... Do you see any chances of here getting into top 10 in coming year ????
In other sports political news IOA is fighting with sports ministry over some sports policy which the ministry is framing to encourage the sports. IOA is complaining that ignoring it is unethical. Well to me the policy will not do anything IOA supremo Kalmadi who has been at the helm for the past 2 decades has done nothing and with meagre 500 crores sports budget the ministry expect to win golds!!!!! hahahhahhaha. We hire cheap coaches and many are not upto the marks , we compare ourselves to china LOL china spends millions and millions in sports and you will see China pipping USA handsomely in 2008 Olympics.Comments expected!!!!
I have written about 4-5 sports so a small check of interest of readers
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Cricket T20Cup Football EPL F1 Tennis Cycling IOA Olympics 2008 Lords
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Torres moves to Anfield
Benitiz's three years at Liverpool have been full of signings, the shopping bills more than any other manager in Liverpool history. The items in shopping bag have been little more than exciting and their performances have not been the same either. Especially Liverpool I have always felt has been into a de-glammed shopping mode which obviously produces less excitement than buying stars. Finally it seems to have made the right choice by picking up Fernando Torres from Athletico Madrid with a 20 Million pounds price tag.Torres is undoubtedly the best of Spanish next-gen lot. Last year ManUtd had a chance to catch hold of this guy but talks failed to materialize. Although I am happy that he chose Liverpool as this makes EPL a more level playing field, Liverpool for sure needs to rise above the Steven Gerrard influence and have more players other than him running the game. Players like Crouch and Kyut have shown promise but nothing more than that. Winning EPL requires a year long performance which Liverpool has failed to deliver.
Torres sure has the potential to be Liverpool great like Alan Hansen or Gerrard what he will require is a great team support. Good that after Henry going to LA Liga EPL finally has something to compensate for him, but I am sure he will be lot more than a mere compensation, putting my money on Torres to be the Bestest Player in the coming years.
Torres gives hope to Liverpool Fans, and he for sure will never walk alone now.
Technorati Tags: Fernando Torres, Liverpool, EPL
Friday, March 30, 2007
And all the roads lead to Anfield....
Amidst all the cricketing action, we are all set to face a sudden splash of an expectedly great contest, when Liverpool takes on Arsenal at Anfield tomorrow. While Manchester United and Chelsea play their 'jump-avoid-six-points' at the top of the table, Gunners and Reds tussle for the still very respectable third place in the premiership. As always, these two teams raise the expectation bar to some level and its always a treat for the fans.
For the gunners, this match is of utmost importance, after getting knocked out of the champions league, losing to Chelsea in the league cup final and facing crucial injury issues time and time again for last few months now, they would like to win this one and end the season on a positive note and on the podium as well.The reds have their eyes on the upcoming quarter final contest, which is for obvious reasons on the top of their priority list. Driven, by the football field's ubiquitous master Steven Gerrard, Liverpool looks good to win this match on current form, but such games are never meant for prediction and betting, they'd rather be fit as the showcased events of the season.
In last few encounters, Wenger boys have had the better off the Rafa boys; we all remember how they humiliated them 6-3 in league cup on their home ground earlier this year. And won against them 3-0 playing back home at the Emirates Stadium on 12 Nov. in the first of the two premiership matches.
Give cricket some rest, soccer season is now on a high, go go go!!
Image src: google, bbc
Tech Tag(s): Arsenal, Liverpool, EPL
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Why do people like Chelsea and jose?
The blog could also have been like “Why do people hate Chelsea?”, but for many of the so- called "regulars at the EPL", the question is unanswerable, very instinctive, visceral, something that is as trivial vis a' vis the process of breathing itself. Whenever a newcomer(a viewer that is) starts to feel the heat of the premiership, the natural instincts drive his loyalty towards the stronger teams having good players. For me, an Indian by origin, who had all the options to choose from, chose to be a partisan of Manchester United F.C. only because it had the great names like David Beckham,Ruud Van Nistelrooy and the legendry Roy Keane. Manchester United is not a team that was built in a day. ManU like other great teams has a history to be proud of. It took a couple of months for the interest to metamorphose into passion.
The most challenging part vis a' vis managing a football team is to build the team. Manchester United, Arsenal,etc. are already have elite ranked players. The job of managers of the teams who come in place of the relegated teams are perhaps the most difficult. They are not rich clubs. Perhaps their full year’s tranfer budget is less than a week’s wage budget of a rich team like Chelsea. Managing such teams is a challenge. Even teams like ManU and Arsenal have budget restraints.
Ever since Chelsea was bought by Roman Abramovich for 60 million pounds in 2003, the clubs fortune has changed. The club’s gaffer has invested over 300 million dollars and has incurred losses of 100 million dollars to the club. As far as Mr. Abramovich is concerned, it is no more than buying his children peanuts on a hang out. So forget the fact that Jose Mourinho is no businessman. The prodigal gaffer has time n’ time again created new records in the transfer market. The Andriy Shevchenko transfer has topped all EPL records at 30 million pounds. No other manager in the world will pay 30 million pounds for a 29 year old striker. Then again, with Ricardo Carvalho -27 million dollars, Essien- 24 million pounds, etc. and there are records still to be broken. There is nothing in the transfer market that money cannot buy, for everything else there is Mr. Roman Abramovich.
The real fans of football want to watch good football. We want to watch players who have a talent to develop into world class players. But what happens when a talent goes in a team where it is not recognised.Chelsea, undoubtedly, has one of the most deadliest squads in the world. But in the process what it is doing is keeping talented players away from the field. An epitome of the same is Shaun Wright Phillips. One of the main reasons of his exclusion from the England world cup squad is because Sir Sven Goran didnt have enough of his on field performances to look at.
Having the world’s best coaches to teach the world’s best talents, having the world’s best scouts to find the world’s best raw talents.Keeping world class players at every position and for also for the back up positions of the team doesnt test the manager’s skills.All you have to do is let them out in the field and there is always a very low probability that they’ ll loose. Even a ten year old can manage a team like that.
So where does Jose Mourinho come in…??? The prodigal gaffer!!!All in all, for a team like Chelsea,whose wage budget exceeds many team’s transfer budget,it is not the manager but the perennial river Moolah flowing that manages and wins matches.
Technorati Tags
Chelsea Arsenal ManchesterUnited EPL UEFA
The most challenging part vis a' vis managing a football team is to build the team. Manchester United, Arsenal,etc. are already have elite ranked players. The job of managers of the teams who come in place of the relegated teams are perhaps the most difficult. They are not rich clubs. Perhaps their full year’s tranfer budget is less than a week’s wage budget of a rich team like Chelsea. Managing such teams is a challenge. Even teams like ManU and Arsenal have budget restraints.
Ever since Chelsea was bought by Roman Abramovich for 60 million pounds in 2003, the clubs fortune has changed. The club’s gaffer has invested over 300 million dollars and has incurred losses of 100 million dollars to the club. As far as Mr. Abramovich is concerned, it is no more than buying his children peanuts on a hang out. So forget the fact that Jose Mourinho is no businessman. The prodigal gaffer has time n’ time again created new records in the transfer market. The Andriy Shevchenko transfer has topped all EPL records at 30 million pounds. No other manager in the world will pay 30 million pounds for a 29 year old striker. Then again, with Ricardo Carvalho -27 million dollars, Essien- 24 million pounds, etc. and there are records still to be broken. There is nothing in the transfer market that money cannot buy, for everything else there is Mr. Roman Abramovich.
The real fans of football want to watch good football. We want to watch players who have a talent to develop into world class players. But what happens when a talent goes in a team where it is not recognised.Chelsea, undoubtedly, has one of the most deadliest squads in the world. But in the process what it is doing is keeping talented players away from the field. An epitome of the same is Shaun Wright Phillips. One of the main reasons of his exclusion from the England world cup squad is because Sir Sven Goran didnt have enough of his on field performances to look at.
Having the world’s best coaches to teach the world’s best talents, having the world’s best scouts to find the world’s best raw talents.Keeping world class players at every position and for also for the back up positions of the team doesnt test the manager’s skills.All you have to do is let them out in the field and there is always a very low probability that they’ ll loose. Even a ten year old can manage a team like that.
So where does Jose Mourinho come in…??? The prodigal gaffer!!!All in all, for a team like Chelsea,whose wage budget exceeds many team’s transfer budget,it is not the manager but the perennial river Moolah flowing that manages and wins matches.
Technorati Tags
Chelsea Arsenal ManchesterUnited EPL UEFA
Monday, January 22, 2007
Ooooooooohhhhhhh wat a FINISH !!
It's Henry with the head...into the nets..and thats 2-1 to Arsenal...the ManU fans cant believe it....
Arsenal fans had a reason to smile though their team was put on the back foot by their opponents earlier in the game.
Manchester United started off well trying to create chances in the initial part of the first half, but not after much time switched to a defensive approach.
The first half saw some good shots countered by some equally good goal keeping, especially by Lehmann in the injury time after the first half.
The start of the second half showcased the rising energy levels of players from both the sides and it was in the 53rd minute when Ronaldo's pass sent Evra away down the left who curled it in the box followed by a brilliant header from the United Striker Rooney putting his side upfront..
ManU 1 Arsenal 0..
Arsenal tried hard to get back into the game but failed to get past the United defence. Rosicky fired in shots from outside the box at several occasions but all flew away from the goal. It seemed that despite all the hard work Arsenal would not be able to equalize.
Arsenal fans had some hope when v.Persie came in as a first substitute replacing Hleb.
It was in the 83rd minute when Fabregas whipped in a cross and Henry dummied it to v.Persie, who scored the much needed equalizer..
ManU 1 Arsenal 1
Man fans seemed disappointed unaware that there was more in store for them.
The game was heading towards a draw with ManU getting to extended their lead over Chelsea to seven points.
But it was in the last minute of the 4 minutes injury time when
"It's Henry with the head...into the nets..and thats 2-1 to Arsenal...the ManU fans cant believe it...."
Thierry Henry directed Eboue's cross with a powerful header into the nets giving van der Sar no chance and it was ManU 1 Arsenal 2...
Ooooooooohhhhhhh wat a FINISH !!
Image Source : FOX Sports and espnstar
Arsenal fans had a reason to smile though their team was put on the back foot by their opponents earlier in the game.
Manchester United started off well trying to create chances in the initial part of the first half, but not after much time switched to a defensive approach.
The first half saw some good shots countered by some equally good goal keeping, especially by Lehmann in the injury time after the first half.
The start of the second half showcased the rising energy levels of players from both the sides and it was in the 53rd minute when Ronaldo's pass sent Evra away down the left who curled it in the box followed by a brilliant header from the United Striker Rooney putting his side upfront..
ManU 1 Arsenal 0..
Arsenal tried hard to get back into the game but failed to get past the United defence. Rosicky fired in shots from outside the box at several occasions but all flew away from the goal. It seemed that despite all the hard work Arsenal would not be able to equalize.
Arsenal fans had some hope when v.Persie came in as a first substitute replacing Hleb.
It was in the 83rd minute when Fabregas whipped in a cross and Henry dummied it to v.Persie, who scored the much needed equalizer..
ManU 1 Arsenal 1
Man fans seemed disappointed unaware that there was more in store for them.
The game was heading towards a draw with ManU getting to extended their lead over Chelsea to seven points.
But it was in the last minute of the 4 minutes injury time when
"It's Henry with the head...into the nets..and thats 2-1 to Arsenal...the ManU fans cant believe it...."
Thierry Henry directed Eboue's cross with a powerful header into the nets giving van der Sar no chance and it was ManU 1 Arsenal 2...
Ooooooooohhhhhhh wat a FINISH !!
Image Source : FOX Sports and espnstar
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
sports review -part1
This is my first Blog...last few days were quite interesting for the whole sports fraternity.India's awesome performance in South Africa,England faces reality test in Australia,Asif-Shoib once again proving true an old saying "Every law has a flaw", Barca facing the test of the season so early in the season and lastly Sania Mirza creating more headlines than the whole Asian games contingent.
Starting with our national obsession(mine too) Cricket, i just keep on wondering wat the hell has happened...last season we were chasing everything...and now we are not even batting our full quota of overs and suddently an image flashes in front of my eyes of Yuvraj singh gettin bowled by Dwayne Bravo slower full toss.I still feel that defeat is hurting us..even after so many other defeats..The Greatness Of The Character is How u bounce back from a setback and I think we just lag in that department...coming to greatness aussies show us why they r considered as best in the business ...that ashes defeat hurts them and hurts them badly...they just galloped the England In the first Test and then stage a remarkable comeback to win 2nd test too...
so lets leave it here for now...today night its barca vs Bremen and i have a gut feeling that those people who will be watching this match live(not me offcourse) will be in for some great piece of Footballing action.
Starting with our national obsession(mine too) Cricket, i just keep on wondering wat the hell has happened...last season we were chasing everything...and now we are not even batting our full quota of overs and suddently an image flashes in front of my eyes of Yuvraj singh gettin bowled by Dwayne Bravo slower full toss.I still feel that defeat is hurting us..even after so many other defeats..The Greatness Of The Character is How u bounce back from a setback and I think we just lag in that department...coming to greatness aussies show us why they r considered as best in the business ...that ashes defeat hurts them and hurts them badly...they just galloped the England In the first Test and then stage a remarkable comeback to win 2nd test too...
so lets leave it here for now...today night its barca vs Bremen and i have a gut feeling that those people who will be watching this match live(not me offcourse) will be in for some great piece of Footballing action.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Jose Quotes !!!
After the 1-1 draw between the premiership match between the current leaders of EPL Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho predicts that it will go down the wire. He states :-
"To go to the end of the season with a difference of six points maximum is the reality of the Premiership and the reality between two big teams," said Mourinho, whose side are still three points behind United."
"For me the surprise is what we did last season, with 10 or 12 points difference. For me, this is not a surprise - but I think we are ready and we can go all the way."
"The good thing for me was the mental point of view. We came here and go home with the same distance. No way would a six-point gap kill the Premiership with five months to go, but six and three is a difference."
"I think the result is deserved, because in the first half they were the best team and they scored - and in the second half Chelsea were best team."
"When the game had finished I exchanged quick words with Sir Alex and we agreed the result was very, very fair."
"What was wrong in the first half was maybe the mental aspect of the game, and we were waiting for things to happen. We did not show a lot of ambition, but it looks like a new game in the second half."
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
EPL – My 5 picks
The Fives that kept us talking, for highs or for downs, for expectations and for under performances, for stunners or for the misses, this is the pleasure and this is pain. Penning down my five and you are welcome to tell about your fives.
5 Clubs
1. Portsmouth: From 17 in the table to a respectable (but not threatening) 6, Portsmouth does a good job this season so far. Report cards smiling.
5 Clubs
1. Portsmouth: From 17 in the table to a respectable (but not threatening) 6, Portsmouth does a good job this season so far. Report cards smiling.
2. Manchester United: Right at the top of the table, celebrating success and eras. The stars need to shine and currently they are. Watch out Chelsea, EPL isn’t dead.
3. Liverpool: As unpredictable as the line ups thrown per match by Rafa Benitez, the 05 European champions have a lot to prove, for no one else, but for their innumerable fans all over the world. Come on Stevie wonder.
4. Reading: Right in right there, beating spurs lately, fighting it out with both the current table toppers, this new kid on the bloc looks far better than a "right in from relegation" team.
5. Newcastle United: 4 times landing in top three in last decade or so, the club looks too tired to continue at the top level. Testing times, for the team and for the manager.
5 Managers
1. Jose Mourinho: Dare take this name of any list of managers. The good, the bad and the ugly. And my favourite question is “Hey, when is he giving his next interview”.
5 Managers
1. Jose Mourinho: Dare take this name of any list of managers. The good, the bad and the ugly. And my favourite question is “Hey, when is he giving his next interview”.
3. Arsene Wenger: See Arsenal recent games and you’ll have all sympathies for one person and that’s Mr. Wenger. Sometimes it looks that in one of the matches when after all the amazing-goal-making by the arsenal team, no one scores, Mr wenger will substitute himself in, just to try.
4. Steve Coppell: This guy is looking after a kid amazingly. Keep the players happy and they keep you smiling. An A in the grade sheet.
5. Alan Pardew: Now when we have strated playing well, why shouldn’t I be exited, someone explain this to Mr. Wenger. Big and controversial transfers, hollow results. West ham, surprise us.
To be continued…..
To be continued…..
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