Does an international player have the right to retire when he wants from international football or not? Domenech, the French coach says this:
For me it would be unthinkable to see a great player playing for a great club not playing for his national team. A player who refuses to accept a selection is liable to a two-match suspension.
If the law did not have the provision of a player retiring from international football, you have to follow logic rather than the last word of the law. I don’t always agree with Mourinho but when he says Domenech is being treated as a slave, I agree.
Makelele has tried to end the controversy by saying he will play for France but this is as weird as it gets. Next thing you know, Zidane can be ordered to play again for France. I wont blame him for head butting Domenech then.
Given the recent history of Chelsea and Barca, the newspapers are hyping Barca facing Chelsea again in the Champions League. However, the two meet in round 1 which means that both can advance to the knock out stages. Barca did have Milan in their group two years back and Barca and Chelsea would rather face each other in round 1 than meeting each other early in the knock out stages like the previous couple of years.
What Barca and Chelsea will not like is the toughie group A is. You have Werer Bremen as the third team. Even if you forget how distracting it can be to face a team wearing orange and green, you cannot discount the quality side that Bremen is. You keep giving Miroslav Klose the ball and he will keep on scoring. Bremen can score a lot of goals in matches given the right setting. Add to this, you have the scenario of facing a Bulgarian club in Levski Sofia. Despite being professionals, I do not believe Barca or Chelsea would be accustomed to playing in Bulgaria.
If Chelsea slips up like they did in their recent premiership game, or Barca are not upto it’s best, or for that matter if Bremen puts on some inspired performances, there is a very real chance of an upset. Compared to the other groups, group A is far more tougher and intriguing. The Champions League always brings across new teams and players you get to know of along with the thrill the competition gives you. If we aren’t satisfied with that, we can always fall back on some juciy quotes from one Mr. Mourinho.
In Visitors, I invite one person around each month to share perspectives on a sport, a sporting event, sporting aspects or any thing in between. Ahead of the EPL season 2006-07, Ravi Gurnani joins us to give an indepth preview. If you would like to contribute for a future edition of Visitors, do not hesitate to e-mail me.
Put away those national flags for now and bring out your jerseys and scarves. For those still hungover from World Cup disappointments, worry not, football redemption is round the corner. Depending on the club you support ofcourse.
The 4 horse race I anticipated last season didn’t quite materialise. However it should be much closer this time round.
Chelsea
Beginning with the champions, Chelsea. Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko and Ashley Cole, probably in the waiting. That is some quality. However, all the money in the world has not bought happiness at Chelsea. Witness Jose Mourinho’s continuous whining and William Gallas’ revolt. Out went Asier Del Horno, Damien Duff and Hernan Crespo. 2 league titles after, the holy grail for Abramovich is the Champions League. So I wouldn’t be surprised with a slip up or two in the process. Shevchenko’s goal in the Charity Shield last week should assure them of some clinical finishing upfront, something that they lacked last season. Also watch for some unhappy faces on the bench as a result of an overcrowded central midfield.
Manchester United
Let me make it clear that my support lies with Manchester United. Not the best of times for a club perpetually in transition since the glory days of 1999. Forget the new Roy Keane, we haven’t seen the new Nicky Butt yet! Michael Carrick’s signing should allay fears about the lack of quality in the midfield. Look beyond and the options are thin. Marcos Senna or Owen Hargreaves should add depth in the middle that they seriously lacked last season. van Nistelrooy’s departure will be a blow. Nobody has crossed Ferguson and survived at Old Trafford. Ideally another striker and midfielder would complete the jigsaw for United. Also the much hyped Rooney Ronaldo spat hasn’t materialised. Good riddance to that!
Arsenal
Emirates FC… err sorry Arsenal FC. The new stadium will give them the much needed financial boost. Their young squad continues to develop in the absence of veterans Patrick Vieira and now Sol Campbell under Thiery Henry’s leadership. Tomasz Rosicky is one of the players to watch for this season. If the WC was an indicator, he should ease the loss of Robert Pires. A striker to support Henry and defender at the back would complete the picture for them. Also the sooner A Cole and Spanish misfit Jose Reyes decide their futures the better for them. A title might be a season or two too soon for them.
Okay Jose Mourinho is saying how he has won 4 domestic league titles in a row - titles first with Porto and now with Chelsea:
This is my second in England and my fourth consecutive title if you include Porto.
So, a nice reminder seems apt right now of events of a few days earlier for the Chelsea fans and their manager, who a year ago, said Rijkaard was not a prolific manager.
Since then, Rijkaard has won 1 league title, is soon going to win a second one and is one game away from adding the Champions League to his kitty.
We all know it was psychological talk but reminders are always nice. :)
If you believed the press hype a few days ago, Man U were going to give Chelsea a good run for their money for the title. 82 minutes are over in the Man U-Chelsea game. A 3-0 drubbing shows what the difference between a clinically and technically proficient team and a Man U - talented, yet just that still, is.
Barcelona won the first leg 2-1 after dominating possession and could have scored more than they did. The header from Eto’o sealed it. So that should have been the end of it with all the focus on March 7.
Well this is Barcelona versus Chelsea. The clash which has developed into the biggest game in club football. Of course there was more.
How do you say cheating in Catalan? Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He’s learned play-acting.
Of course he forgot, as Jonathan Stevenson from the BBC points out:
It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter. There is little doubt that Robben’s acting was greater than Messi’s, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis.
Step back in time at this juncture. Chelsea was down after the first leg similarly. In a few minutes of inspirational football in which they caught Barcelona napping. Chelsea capitalised and took the tie away from Barcelona. Did Barcelona fans cry over the fact that Barcelona dominated possession for much of the two matches last year and still lost?
Step back further now. Mourinho attacked the referee Anders Frisk of talking to Barca coach Frank Rijkaard at half-time in Chelsea’s 2-1 first-leg defeat at the Nou Camp last year. This followed Frisk announcing his decision to retire from the game because he had received death threats, and Mourinho was fined and banned for two games for his comments. So in that light the comments which directly implicate the referee Terge Hauge of wrong doing were unwarranted.
Even if Messi did play act to an extent (if he did - we can never be sure either way) isn’t it a part of football. Players from most teams do it despite the rules hoping not to be caught. I do not see why such a big deal has to be made out of it.
Even if it was a gross error from the referee, aren’t errors part of the game? Isn’t it all about facing adveristy and triumphing or at least trying to triumph in the face of it? I can understand Mourinho making as much of an issue out of this as he can. There is still one match to go. So the more he tries to show the loss was undeserving, the more he can avoid his players from going into a shell or thinking negatively. He did it last year and his players came out triumphant.
What I do not understand is why fans, who act neutral need to do it. Chelsea and English Premier League fans who wanted Chelsea to win have been speaking loudly over the red card since it happened. The attitude will not deny Barcelona any thing. But a better attitude and applauding Barcelona for playing well could have probably meant these fans themselves getting more respect.
The much anticipated encounter between Barca and Chelsea has meant the usual war of words between the managers. No use going into that.
Barca decided to take the sensible approach of practising on the poor pitch yesterday as they are to play the match there itself. Chelsea were bemused Barca wanted to practise on that pitch despite compaining about the obvious poor pitch and offering Barca their own facilities. Well was it that difficult for Chelsea to understand Barca wanted to adjust as much as possible to the difficult conditions?
Chelsea went out of their way to complain to FA when Barca wanted to practise 15 minutes extra and denied Barca practising more than an hour. I do see the concerned Chelsea over the obvious Barca threat in all this.
Barca plays a free flowing game and uses one touch passes. This means the smoother the pitch, the better it is for the club. As Puyol said:
The state of the pitch will affect us more. We like to move the ball quickly and play at a high tempo. We’re not used to playing in these conditions. If we concentrate hard and not give the ball away in midfield where Chelsea are strong we should be able to cope. There are no excuses. We are experienced enough to play on all kinds of surfaces.
Chelsea made sure the pitch was further watered on Tuesday. So the conditions will very tough for Barcelona despite Rijkaard taking the diplomatic route in his response:
Chelsea will be affected by the pitch just a much as ourselves. They have quality players with good technique and skill and they would prefer a better pitch. We are not complaining.
As a Barca fan I will be rooting for the Catalanians. But it will be very tough in the first leg.
