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Food For Thought: A Blue Beast, The Hand Of Gaul, And The Death Of The No.9
Venkatesha Sharma ponders over who is Barca's best match in Europe, FIFA's staunch stand on Henry-Gate, and the death of the Classic No.9 in football...
27-Nov-2009 9:53:52 PM
The Blue Beast From London
Chelsea are the team to beat. Besides Barcelona of course, who are favorites for every match they play courtesy the immense talent they have at their disposal. But the only team which looks capable of thwarting the Catalunyan beauty is the blue beast from London. Chelsea boast two world class strikers, a very experienced, physically strong and goal contributing midfield and a rock solid defence covering a back-to-form world-class keeper.
Detractors often base anti-Chelsea arguments on the fact that Roman Abramovich is the cause of the club’s rise to elite status. Of course he is. But where is the connection between that and the fact that they simply do have an astonishingly strong squad, and the ‘sulk’ ridden partnership of Drogba-Anelka is certainly among the deadliest in Europe.
They are always very well organized and now have a handful of youngsters who are making sure the fringe players in the senior squad are on their toes. Borini, Sturridge, Matic, Kakuta, Bruma along with the on-loan Stoch and Di Santo have all had very good seasons so far and that is a much bigger positive for Chelsea than most people like to believe.
The midfield diamond consisting Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Malouda/Cole/Deco is as strong as they come. The trio of Terry, Carvalho and Cech look like they might be steadily getting back to the imperious 2004-05 form, and aided by the athleticism of their full backs, Chelsea also have the fluidity in their play last seen when the Duff-Robben duo mesmerized opponents.
On paper, only Arsenal and Real Madrid look stronger than last season and only Chelsea and Barcelona have maintained their strength, whereas the rest of the European heavyweights don’t really look the part at the moment. So in all likelihood, and if the draw doesn’t work out otherwise, there is no reason why it won’t be Chelsea playing Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
The Hand Of Gaul
I suspect that if FIFA were to decide that a replay was indeed a fair solution to the ‘Irish’ problem, Thierry Henry will be the happiest man. Come to think of it, who is it besides FIFA that doesn’t want a replay? The Irish want it, the French wont mind it as they know it won’t really take much to beat Ireland with another shot. It would restore their pride and they would want to go to the World Cup the ‘proper way’ in any case.
And the neutrals want it simply because they are neutral, they don’t care for either side. Thierry Henry isn’t a bad player, as you all know. We’ll all agree that he is capable of scoring a ‘decent’ goal. However, one must admit though that the first touch to caress the ball dead was classic, wasn’t it?
But the Gaul has touched the ball in ways which have been nothing short of sublime before. He would be the first person who would want to put this record straight and let his feet do the talking, just as they did once upon a time in North London.
Death Of The No.9
At a time when hypocrisy is the norm, the legendary no. 9 is dead. Someone whose job is to score goals. Not to ‘beat players’ or ‘be a target man around whom others may rally’ or ‘play the perfect foil for his partner’, but simply to score goals. Last known names that spring to mind are of Ruud Van Nistelroy and Pippo Inzaghi.
For some strange reason a striker is said to have had a great season if he scores 20 goals. Decent would be a better adjective. 35 goals is what used to be a ‘great’ season for a striker. Anything close to 25 is what is expected of your centre forward. Also, a forward is now congratulated for practically every goal he scores. But that’s precisely his job. There is no need for superlatives after every goal.
Obviously if it’s a special goal or a special moment its different, but for regular finishing in normal league matches, there is no need to glorify the scorer. It’s alarming how none of the elite European teams (with the exception of Eto‘o now at Inter) have a forward who scores for fun. Ronaldo (Original), Stoichkov, Muller, Van Nistelrooy are the kind of names which don’t really bear similarity to any of the elite strikers going around.
Drogba has the strength of a bull, Rooney has a lion’s heart, Torres has the elegance of a ballerina, they all have a nick name. Strangely though, hardly any team has a centre forward who wears no adjective, but just the No. 9.
Venkatesha Sharma
Chelsea are the team to beat. Besides Barcelona of course, who are favorites for every match they play courtesy the immense talent they have at their disposal. But the only team which looks capable of thwarting the Catalunyan beauty is the blue beast from London. Chelsea boast two world class strikers, a very experienced, physically strong and goal contributing midfield and a rock solid defence covering a back-to-form world-class keeper.
Detractors often base anti-Chelsea arguments on the fact that Roman Abramovich is the cause of the club’s rise to elite status. Of course he is. But where is the connection between that and the fact that they simply do have an astonishingly strong squad, and the ‘sulk’ ridden partnership of Drogba-Anelka is certainly among the deadliest in Europe.
They are always very well organized and now have a handful of youngsters who are making sure the fringe players in the senior squad are on their toes. Borini, Sturridge, Matic, Kakuta, Bruma along with the on-loan Stoch and Di Santo have all had very good seasons so far and that is a much bigger positive for Chelsea than most people like to believe.
The midfield diamond consisting Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Malouda/Cole/Deco is as strong as they come. The trio of Terry, Carvalho and Cech look like they might be steadily getting back to the imperious 2004-05 form, and aided by the athleticism of their full backs, Chelsea also have the fluidity in their play last seen when the Duff-Robben duo mesmerized opponents.
On paper, only Arsenal and Real Madrid look stronger than last season and only Chelsea and Barcelona have maintained their strength, whereas the rest of the European heavyweights don’t really look the part at the moment. So in all likelihood, and if the draw doesn’t work out otherwise, there is no reason why it won’t be Chelsea playing Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
The Hand Of Gaul
I suspect that if FIFA were to decide that a replay was indeed a fair solution to the ‘Irish’ problem, Thierry Henry will be the happiest man. Come to think of it, who is it besides FIFA that doesn’t want a replay? The Irish want it, the French wont mind it as they know it won’t really take much to beat Ireland with another shot. It would restore their pride and they would want to go to the World Cup the ‘proper way’ in any case.
And the neutrals want it simply because they are neutral, they don’t care for either side. Thierry Henry isn’t a bad player, as you all know. We’ll all agree that he is capable of scoring a ‘decent’ goal. However, one must admit though that the first touch to caress the ball dead was classic, wasn’t it?
But the Gaul has touched the ball in ways which have been nothing short of sublime before. He would be the first person who would want to put this record straight and let his feet do the talking, just as they did once upon a time in North London.
Death Of The No.9
At a time when hypocrisy is the norm, the legendary no. 9 is dead. Someone whose job is to score goals. Not to ‘beat players’ or ‘be a target man around whom others may rally’ or ‘play the perfect foil for his partner’, but simply to score goals. Last known names that spring to mind are of Ruud Van Nistelroy and Pippo Inzaghi.
For some strange reason a striker is said to have had a great season if he scores 20 goals. Decent would be a better adjective. 35 goals is what used to be a ‘great’ season for a striker. Anything close to 25 is what is expected of your centre forward. Also, a forward is now congratulated for practically every goal he scores. But that’s precisely his job. There is no need for superlatives after every goal.
Obviously if it’s a special goal or a special moment its different, but for regular finishing in normal league matches, there is no need to glorify the scorer. It’s alarming how none of the elite European teams (with the exception of Eto‘o now at Inter) have a forward who scores for fun. Ronaldo (Original), Stoichkov, Muller, Van Nistelrooy are the kind of names which don’t really bear similarity to any of the elite strikers going around.
Drogba has the strength of a bull, Rooney has a lion’s heart, Torres has the elegance of a ballerina, they all have a nick name. Strangely though, hardly any team has a centre forward who wears no adjective, but just the No. 9.
Venkatesha Sharma
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