When Owners Barreling At The Front of The Door

It's the Scolari case over and over again 5 years ago. I was counting on the case where Villa-Boas would be fired at the end of the season as what happen to Carlo Ancelotti but it happened prematurely, with barely 2.5 months towards the end of the season. This assumes that the club has been knocked out of European football but still having to play the remaining Premier League games and continuing their FA Cup challenge.

The problem is that Roman Abramovich is a living example of people in the football industry that is barreling at the front door. No patience. Many failed to see the need to understand long term of having a great depth of squad before mounting a challenge of trophies. Instead, the approach was the opposite - buying great players at the start hoping to go past the post instantly. There have been a few clubs that really actually understood the value of long-term projects, like Man Utd and Everton. These are clubs that show the close and strong relationship with manager and the chairman; there's an acknowledgement of making a good team will take years on. It took Alex Ferguson 6 years to win his first Premier League trophy, 12 years to win his first European Cup. (they came agonizingly close to final in 1997 when they lost to Dortmund in both legs in semis)

By this barreling at the front door attitude, Abramovich had to spend millions to compensate Villa-Boas (28 months remaining of the 3 year contract). And it is 8 managers in 9 years, average of one per season. It's similar the rich mega-spending club in Russia, or a few clubs where the owner attempts to interfere with the manager's work on team selection, thus the manager will be complaining about how he's unable to have autonomy on work. Abramovich is not the only person or parties that adopt this attitude. Fiorentino Perez's first spell at Real Madrid was also case in point. His mistake was not to keep Vicente Del Bosque while at the club even if Del Bosque won 2 European Cups in the space of 3 years (2000 and 2002) and then going through lots of coaches. Fabio Capello's second stint at the club lasted only a full season, having left even if the team won the league trophy. Sates the club and fans satisfaction of winning trophy, yet being unappreciated and get thrown out? It really scratches my head really.

It's more frequent to see this problem and attitude of the owners / fans in Middle East football. Take Saudi Arabia for instance, where a coach's job hangs on the balance in no more than a dozen games unless the team either qualifies for the country-level continent competition. If one condition is not met, expect the man to be shown to the door. For the owners, their nigh-infinite amount of money from oil can be splashed in bringing in coaches here and there as they please. But it will be the squad that will suffer for each coach has a different way of traning and strategy and thus the struggle to adapt to the system desired. Until today most Arab-club owners and FAs still barrel in front of the door, impatient, expecting a magic pill to happen.

Still it's not as severe as in Brazil's famous Dance of the Coaches syndrome - coaches go in and out after a few games within a season. Much of it is because of intense fan pressure and owners' impatience - even a slight setback in form a league game defeat means of people taking offense and unable to accept it. In fact, it can - if overuse - drive players and coaches mad as hell. Can you imagine, like in 2002, at the end of the first month of the Brasilla state championship that 12 coaches were replaced? In Brazil, coaches are made scapegoats and if a team is elbowed, the coach gets it first.

Abramovich never has the passion of the game. His is strictly on the business and expecting the magic pill with no patience and no finesse. The passion component is missing and will never happen with his impatience and barreling at the front of the door. Only crazy money can really tempt a potential coach into joining Chelsea. A coach potential coach offered to join Chelsea should first hand know the history of the club of the last 10 years before taking the risk. Otherwise, it's best to snub any offer Abramovich would offer and let him keep searching and searching around. Then we can see who's laughing the last.

Barcelona vs Man Utd

The much awaited game between these two giants at the Roman gladiatorial arena will get to kick off at in an hours time. This once in a lifetime event, since the World Cup 1990 final will see everyone including Saints Peter and Paul coming over to the circus to watch the game that everyone is watching.

There was night that I saw in dreams of the dramatic moments of the match whereby victory was decided between the two teams with the jerseys exactly what I saw. That was sometime last week. I held believe that it was a sign from God (once of a lifetime) that it will happen eventually. I would tell some few friends that I knew who would win.

I held firm believe that Man Utd will win the match 1-0, with Berbatov to score in injury time.

Oooh Ahhh Cantona! Oooh Ahhh Cantona!

Monsieur Cantona is 43 today, born on May 24 1966. He's now starring as himself in Looking for Eric - a contender in this edition's Cannes film festival.

Hmmm...can we see a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for him? Maybe...


Speaking of, Paul Ince used to say of him in a hotel wearing a shirt collar up and Eric said to Paul, "I am Cantona and I can do whatever I want."

"After his first training session in heaven, George Best, from his favourite right wing, turned the head of God who was filling in at left-back. I would love him to save me a place in his team - George Best that is, not God"

Why Cristiano Ronaldo Should Not Go To Real Madrid

The guy has stated that his wish is to play for Real Madrid. But it is not the right time to do so.

Numerous reasons:

1. He can't get the consistency that is seen in Man Utd. Wesley Sneijder said before that he will try to outdo him at everything if he happens to move to the club. Learn the lesson from David Beckham. He achieved great success at Man Utd. When he moved to Madrid, he won nothing, sometimes at bench and only won one league title.

2. Madrid has a chairman that doesn't really understand football totally like the Glazers / or Martin Edwards. Ramon Calderon made some fatal mistakes in the past, including throwing coaches like Fabio Capello, Vincente Del Bosque and Guus Hiddink despite leading to club to silverware like league titles and Champions League.

3. They still do not learn the lesson from the Perez mess. Fiorentino Perez spent a lot of money to build Galaticos but they get nothing...no silverware but stardom.

4. Ronaldo still has more medals to be added. Coming in December, he will get his chance to win an Intercontinental Cup medal / World Club Championship (so to speak) and he has the chance to win more.

5. 42 Goals and the chance to become European / World Footballer of the Year...very good! He'll be needed badly for the next campaign to hold off challengers like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

6. He has signed a deal until 2012 since 2007. He should commit himself until 2010 and then move. Doing so is violating your promise to the club. By the time 2010, the contract protection period is over and he is welcome to talk to other club without asking permission.

Here You Are, Guys and Girls, The Kings of Europe!

I was betting the score would be 2-1 with my colleague yesterday and we were discussing the starting lineups for both teams. I thought United will try to jam the midfield but they opted for the attack from the start while Chelsea decides to jam the midfield.

I actually remembered stumbling upon an article somewhere that said of a soothsayer in England's prediction that United will win since the astronomical signs showing of Capricorn and say that it will be all English final. But wait, the soothsayer initially said of a United vs Liverpool final. No, it didn't happen since Chelsea beat Liverpool in semis, but what he said correctly though is that the game goes to penalty kicks.

The soothsayer also said that luck was in United's favor and viola, they survived a few close calls with shots from Chelsea either being denied or hitting the goal posts.

In the end, United did it. Good riddance for Drogba who got red-carded.

Man Utd: Champs Again!

Bite my shiny metal ass! (Bender's catchphrase)

Now that's what is called D-Day in Premier League, just as the recently concluded Dutch League! Before the game began, Man Utd and Chelsea were level on points following a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge last month. United came to Wigan for one thing: win at all costs.

While the score is fated to end 0-0 at half-time, Wigan defender Emerson Boyce fouled Wayne Rooney at the box, giving Utd a penalty and Ronaldo converted one to make it 31 league goals of the season, tying with Alan Shearer who did the feat many years ago. At Steven's Corner in Setapak, the whole crowd went nervous when Andrei Schevchenko scored at Stamford Bridge.

Ryan Giggs tied with Sir Bobby Charlton's record of appearance of 758 by coming on as a sub for Park-Ji Sung and scored the winner, giving them a sure win for the club regardless of the outcome at Bridge. He will break the record of appearances if he appears in the European cup final in Moscow.

After the match, it was learned that Bolton striker Kevin Davies scored an injury-time equalizer to hold Chelsea and let United clinch the title, thus tying with Liverpool of 18 league titles. After the match, everyone was jubilating, some in relief for the match was critical in their quest of double (next one's the final vs Chelsea in Moscow). Also, everyone was cheering when John Terry had to be taken off following a three-man collision between Petr Cech, himself and Davies in the first 15 minutes.

Tension at the bottom:

At the same time, three teams are competing to beat the drop (read: relegation) alongside Derby County. They were Fulham, Birmingham and Reading. The grim situation is that Birmingham and Reading will be relegated regardless should Fulham win their away match at FA Cup finalists Portsmouth.

And they did, winning 1-0 with Danny Murphy scoring the goal. Reading and Birmingham also recorded big victories but the 1-0 win at Fratton Park was turned celebration to sorrow. I wonder whether they won because of the motivation of impressing Daniel Radcliffe being their own hometown folk hero? Note: according to the biography, he's from Fulham.

Sven's Final Song Not Good

If Sven Goran Eriksson is leaving the club, the match against Middlesbrough was showing Thaksin Shinawatra that the players and supporters are against the notion of Thaksin asking Sven to leave due to bad blood. Man City were mauled 8-1 by Middlesbrough because of Alfonso Alves hattrick and a Richard Dunne being red-carded - and the defence broken down badly.

Patrick Stewart was kind of crazy in the third act of the film Masterminds, tearing off his shirt to show a Man Utd t-shirt and was shouting "You Got It! You Got It"

One down, one more to go..."We are Champions!"

I'm Sorry For The Pathethic Display

Dutch: Are you the boss? Your subordinates are a real waste.
Alfred: I'm sorry for the pathetic display.

Black Lagoon : Moonlit Hunting Grounds

Out of two matches, they put in only one goal, but conceded 10.

These two matches that Malaysia played in the Asian Cup matches against China and Uzbekistan respectively shows how pathetic they are no matter where they play. Home or away.

The question now is who are the parties to be blamed for the kind of pathetic display. The players? The coach? The management?

Not one party but everyone.

The players: They kind of playing attitude and mentality even off the pitch is totally unacceptable. Maybe this is because of our way of living and the mentality that they adapt is carried altogether into the playing field. They couldn't even do a simple task of defending the area when the opposition is playing on a counter-attack. The motivation and the principal of winning at all costs is missing. I remembered part of the philosophy of "let God determine" it is putting too much fear into them. But amazingly, our Arab football players from the Gulf never carry that thing when playing. They clearly know the difference of playing in competitions and the living culture.

They could have push faster in the Cooper Test and watch their kinds of food they take. Wenger always motivate his players to go for low-fat and high-energy food for them to move all around the pitch for the full 90 minutes. But our guys here tend to have more nasi lemak, nasi kandar and all of those favorite Malaysian food against proper nutrition.

How pathetic of some people: the skipper, and defenders in particular.

The coach: Norizan Bakar should know better to determine who are the all-rounding players who are capable in doing all the essential tasks like passing accurately, defending well, man marking and all sorts of things. He could have done better against China by putting the good players in the starting 11.

I remembered that Wan Jamak Hassan did very well when he was coaching Malaysia in the 90's. Tiger Cup runners up, Sea Games runner up. He could do that. Shebby Singh was one of those players in the 80s that did very well in the international field. He was the host of the UPB team - he knows the minimum requirements that a player should have before you can touch the ball in competitions. Some who are playing in the field failed in some aspects.

Norizan misses out a few things: man management, judgment and most important of all the motivation needed to drive the players.

Throw him out and go for full-time footballers, not part-time footballers as most of them are now.

The management: There are some senior officials in the national football association or the state association that knows how to do the pencil-pushing but never understands football.

Coaches and players are picked mostly base on favoritism and creed but never on the capabilities, mentality and the mastery of other disciplines of football. And worst of all, there is corruption in the management that appears in every nook and cranny of all corners of Malaysia.

The rot will have to be stopped - at all costs.

The Calderon That Brews Mistakes

Current Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is like a kind of guy that is above the law. No, it's not like the typical 'hand me down judgements type' but he has the right to decide who gets promoted up and down in the club's middle and lower hierarchy.


Yesterday's sacking of Fabio Capello, who also had a spell here in 1997 and also despite winning the primera Liga title would be the umpteenth time where he decides the fate of coaches in a split second. However, his decision sometimes would backfire and sadly, he makes bad decisions.

Take the instances of the following:

1. Jupp Heynckes was sacked in 1998 despite winning the European Cup, with current sporting director Predrag Mijatovic scoring the winner against Juventus. It was Calderon who would be the first man to speak out and seconded by former president Lorenzo Sanz. John Toshack was briefly brought in but he walked out of the club less than a month after that with a spat with Sanz and Calderon.

2. No less than one year after Guus Hiddink was brought in to replace, he was sacked despite leading the team to the Intercontinental Cup victory. Who was behind it? Calderon.

3. Despite leading the club to Primera Liga titles and two European Cup titles between 2000-2003, Vicente del Bosque was asked to leave when his three year contract expired. Despite the success achieved. Who was behind the idea? Calderon, seconded by Fiorentino Perez.
4. From that on, the club mired into problems where they could not win a league title since 2003. Number of coaches go in and out including Wanderley Luxemburgo, Juan Lopez Caro and etc.. But the fact is that Fiorentino Perez sacked coaches based on the influence of Calderon, not by himself.

Parallel Scenario

The problem right now is there are cases where the management never understands the mechanics of the lower echelon. Movie-making business is also a case that falls into this. Ridley Scott' s film Kingdom of Heaven would get better ratings had they release the complete 194 minute cut. However, Fox co-chairmen, Tom Rothman and Jim Gianapolous insisted on having a butchered 150 minute cut. Their decisions backfired though as the film had mixed reviews
and earned $211 worldwide - considered a flop despite recouping the film's cost.

All Hail The King

May 24 is something special:

1. At World's End is out in Asia Pacific
2. It's my Aunt Helen's birthday.
3. Some other people's birthdays.
4. It's Monsieur Cantona's Day.

Yes. Monsieur Cantona was born on May 24 1966. And today, this post is specially dedicated to the greatness of the Man Utd Legend who is known as The King to people in Old Trafford.

A little history of Cantona:

1. His first club as a professional is at Auxerre in France.
2. He is no stranger to indiscipline:
3. In January 1989, he threw away his shirt after being substituted in a friendly game vs Torpedo Moscow.
4. At Montpellier, he threw his boots at fellow player Jean-Claude Lemoult's face. Many demanded him to be sacked but he was defended by Carlos Valderamma and Laurent Blanc.
5. In 1991, at Nimes, he threw the ball at the referee having being angered by one of the decisions. He was summoned for a hearing at the FFF. When it was announced that he would be banned for a month, he walked up to each of the three hearing committee members and said "IDIOT" directly at them. His ban was extended to two months.
6. He was ultimately persuaded by Michel Platini to play in England.

In January 1995, he infamously assaulted racist Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons by "the kung fu kick". Subsequently he was banned for eight months on all competitions. The surprising thing that no reporter has heard before would be this comment. He made one line in a press conference and then left the table:

When the seagulls... follow the trawler... it's because they think... sardines will be thrown into the sea.

He famously chastised the current Man Utd squad for not having those maverick entertainers like himself or George Best. He calls the current squad assholes.

He has a larger-than-life figure and he goes around with his neck collar up.

His personality is what made him the best player in the EPL and Man Utd. After his retirement he went into acting - something which he trained during his suspension period in 1995. He made numerous Nike ads and appeared in some French movies, the best being The Overeater and appeared as Monsieur Du Fox in Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett. It was Man Utd fans, actors Christopher Ecclestone and Angus Deaton who persuaded him to make his appearance in the film.

The KING. No whining, No Mercy, No Judgement calls.


Famous quotes about or by Cantona:

1. I am GOD.
2. France does not deserve Cantona. England deserves Cantona
3. The Irish public should bow to the feet of Roy Keane, not slate him as he is the best player they will ever have to boast.
4. Didier Deschamps is "the water-carrier". Deschamps only exists to pass the ball to more talented players.
5. After his first training session in heaven, George Best, from his favourite right wing, turned the head of God who was filling in at left-back. I would love him to save me a place in his team - George Best that is, not God."
6. Paul Ince about Cantona before he entered court: 'We stayed at the Croydon Park hotel. So we got up in the morning and I've got me suit on - the nuts, know what I mean? I knock on Eric's door and he's standing in jacket, white shirt, long collars like that [he gestures to describe long, pointed collars], unbuttoned so you can see his chest. "Eric, you can't go to court like that", I told him and he says, "I am Cantona, I can go as I want"'.

The Losers Go Home. BYE! (How Luis Figo and his gang got cheated)

Don't Look Back At Jose Now

Sunday's Premiership game between Arsenal and Chelsea ended with a 1-1 draw, thus giving Manchester United the first league title since 2003. The result means that United are ahead by seven points with two games remaining and cannot be caught by Chelsea.

The loss of the title to Man. Utd literally means that amount of prize money from this season is cut substantially. Early of the year, Chelsea club owner Roman Abramovich had to surrender half of his assets to his now divorced wife as part of the divorce settlement. Therefore, it means that Chelsea will not have much money to spend on buying new players for the club. There is a possibility that some players that do not perform well might be sold to other clubs to recuperate the amount of losses.

In 2005/6, Irish comedian Mario Rosenstock, parodied Jose Mourinho in attempting to motivate the players to play as champions. In the spoof track, Rosenstock said:

"Last week, we beat Arsenal..." Don't Look Back At Wenger...

Now it's "Don't Look Back At Jose". Who's laughing now?

Sacchism - Straining, Precision, But Effective

It is never a doubt that Milan advanced to the European Cup Final at Athens coming 23rd of this month after edging Man Utd 5-3 on aggregate with a comprehensive 3-0 win at the San Siro Stadium. But it is not about what happened in the match that interests me in this post, but instead the way of playing the game. Consistency is one thing but the method of playing tactically on the field is somewhat deem very effective but the cost is that it is straining and can be effective only for a few years.

AC Milan employs the tactic called "Sacchism" named after legendary and former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi (who led the team to the 1994 World Cup Finals). Sacchi coached Milan in the early 90s and led the team to back to back European Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 1989 and 1990. When he was in charge of the team, the team never lost a single home game. This was because of his methodology. Sacchi remained the only Serie A coach that has no playing experience to achieve great success. Being Sacchi means being totally committed into studying, coaching and demands a lot from the players. Sacchi brought a unique dimension to Italian football. Italian football is well known of having a tight defence and relying on counter-attacks to score goals. Sacchi doesn't rely on that but on his unique culture of engagement introduced. Unlike a player turned coach that uses memories and playing experiences, Sacchi had to invent his own tactics - and worked.

Current coach Carlo Ancelotti is Sacchi's understudy. He was the captain of the European Cup winning squad of the early 90s together with great players including Franco Baresi, Frank Riijkaard, Ruud Guillit, Marco Van Basten and current Italy coach Roberto Donadoni. In the first few years of his coaching, he employs the Sacchism and led his first coaching club to a solid UEFA cup spot in the domestic league.

Playing Sacchism is basically a 4-4-2 zonal formation but with the following rules:

1. Your baseline of defense is at the half-line of the pitch.
2. One of your center backs, as a sweeper will be responsible for setting up the offside trap. He must be in the right position and the right moment to catch a person offside. In Sacchi's time, Franco Baresi is the best person who did that as a sweeper.
3. A very compact midfield that sets up the moves and holds the opposing midfield. In Sacchi's time, it's Donadoni, Riijkaard and Ancelotti. When Ancelotti is in charge, it's Gattuso - the defensive midfielder and Kaka the playmaker
4. All players must move at the same direction in sync with the ball's direction. The distance among themselves must be at least one meter apart.
5. You pressure your opponents to their penalty box and force them to commit mistakes.

The fourth rule is by far the most straining and frustrating thing ever. All players will have to move in sync and this tactic literally means to have all the players fit and moving together as a clock. In other words, a clockwork routine. However, after a few years, the tactic might not work as according to captain Paolo Maldini, you might lose the rhythm and playing that methodology results in faster tiredness. Another thing to watch out though is that should your sweeper is not in the right position to start the trap, your opponent's striker might seize the advantage and race all the way to your goalkeeper and perhaps score.

This came evident in 1996 whereby Sacchism did not work in Euro 96. Sacchi insisted on playing his conventional 4-4-2 but Italy were eliminated in the first round. Sacchi then quit and succeeded by Maldini Sr, Cesare. Cesare changed the play back to the cattanacio type but it resulted in less goal-scoring opportunities for the team. Italy eventually lost to France in sudden death at France 98.

In Sacchi's time in Milan, he is totally defended by club president and former PM Silvio Berlusconi or VP Adriano Galliani even though the players might criticize him for his methodology in case the team was losing a vital game. Unlike the traditional principal of club protecting the player, it's one of the few cases where the club protects the coach as what is in England today.

Having a good quality of players forms only one part of Sacchism, you need to have players who are constantly fit and fresh and willing to work in synchronization. With those three things, they never lost a game at home. You can say that it is like Chelsea - never losing a game home, but Jose Mourinho is starting to feel the pressure of playing like Sacchi, as a friend of mine told me.

Arrigo Sacchi at Istanbul - the 2005 Liverpool vs Milan final

Now Who Says Romans Are Invincible?

Quite tiring today. I just didn't feel like going to exercise and really wanted to sleep. All the time, my mind kept thinking that today is Friday. Huh...another day to go. Maybe this post and then some cleaning - before going to bed.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and felt some sort anxiousness to see what was the scoreline between Man Utd against Roma. I thought it's some sort of 1-0 or something. Instead, I turned to the Net during breakfast and wow...7-1. I always have the believe that the Italians have the tendency to have a very tight defense and then hit back with counter-attacks. The conventional game of cattanacio.

Check one of the videos here of how Romans are blown off.



Roma captain Francesco Totti made claim to the press during the first-leg of the tournament that Man Utd missed him out as the one of the men to watch. But then when the Romans came to Old Trafford, they were blown away. Now who is the one laughing out loud? It's no longer Totti, but Ronaldo and Carrick. I had a talk with a few friends on the big chance of Man Utd to win the League title. Mainly it's because you have Ronaldo and Vidic. Vidic provides a very stout defense for the team. People criticize Michael Carrick because he didn't score goals. But what not many people understand is that he starts some of the moves that leads to a goal. Eric Cantona called Didier Deschamps as the water carrier, but Deschamps provides the moves to Del Piero, Vialli, Vieri and some people on way to goal.

You know some people think that Italian game is good, which was why they won the World Cup. The Premier League is much more intense. Not many foreign players adapt well to the game. One of the worst cases would be like Carlos Tevez. In England, a player has less than 5 seconds to decide and play the ball or else he would likely be dispossessed by an opponent. Okay, I think that the Italians had their turn already. The biblical prophecy do say that the seven-hill city - Rome will fall soon. Yes, and so does the Italian teams this year. I have the confidence that it will be an All-England final at Athens.