matchverdict.com

My apologies for being unable to write after the first article published in this site. The reasons are plenty but I have no excuse for my tardiness.  I have been meaning and wanting to write on the sport that I love but work committments have me tied up in an endless web.

The reason for coming back here was this article that I read. You can read the same by clicking here.

We all know what state the sport of football is in India. Like the writer in the article clearly mentions, the administration is doing nothing about it either. The point I want to make is that we are not living in the past. The fact is that we are not even thinking about the future. Like a wise man said, “The future is the present”. If the AIFF would just take a step back and see what they have achieved the last ten years would be a great start. Once they assess their shortcomings, they need to concentrate on building Indian Football.

We may never go on to win a FIFA World Cup, but can’t we at least try being at one? Can a nation of a billion not produce a few more Bhutia’s? I don’t want the nation to attract the world’s greatest talents to play on our soil but we should try unearthing or producing some gems that may shine at the world stage and make the nation proud.

I understand the we are a cricket crazy nation but we need to encourage other sports too. So if you have relatives, friends or even friends of friends in places that matter, put in word so that somthing is done.

At times I do feel that football can wait. Hockey needs to be rejuvenated first. At least there we have a past.

Last EPL weekend was built around two derbies, Manchester and London. Coincidentally all the previous champions of Premier League except on one occasion have been from these two cities. So the incidents taking place in these derbies are followed with great interest all over the world.

Sunday’s Manchester derby between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford was mother of all Manchester derbies I have ever seen. It had goals, feisty challenges, tactical battles, everything. City settled really well after conceding an early Wayne Rooney goal. A former Red Devil, Carlos Tevez showed good composure throughout the game, especially after getting a hostile reception from United fans. Though City showed great character to comeback thrice in the game, one can not deny that at least two of those goals were gifted by United’s defensive blunders. But the real drama came in the injury time when the score was 3-3. Though the added time shown by the fourth official at the end of regular 90 minutes was four minutes, the game was extended by two more minutes and of all people it was Michael Owen who popped up with the winner in the 5^th minute of injury time to celebrate his first goal at the Theatre of Dreams as a United player. Not surprisingly, it left City manager Mark Hughes and fans angry. I was completely baffled to see how on the earth those two minutes were added. Yes, Sir Alex made a substitution in the injury time, but that does not mean that you have to add so much of injury time. I am very sure that we would hear a lot of comments over this issue in the days to come.

The other derby i.e. London derby in stark contrast was a total one sided affair. Chelsea just dominated the proceedings from the word Go. One would have expected Tottenham Hotspur to offer more, but once Chelsea scored the opener, they bossed the entire game and kept on scoring at regular intervals. Once again they showed they are “The” team to beat this season, as I have mentioned in my previous posts.

If there was any other game which came closer to the excitement levels of Manchester derby, it was the game between West Ham United and Liverpool. Upton Park has now become a difficult place to go and get the right result and much credit goes to Gianfranco Zola and his West Ham team. They play the right brand of football which is pleasing to watch. They have some terrific youngsters in their ranks, who are always up for the big games. But on this occasion, they were undone by the double strike of “Anfield Messiah” Fernando Torres, which helped the Mersrysiders to win 3-2. It was very important for Liverpool to continue their winning streak, having already lost two games so early this season.

The game at Emirates Stadium was a “Walk in the park” for Arsenal. Gunners were all over Wigan Athletic. Though the 4-0 score line described the nature of the game, it could have been worse for the Lactics, if Robin van persie would have converted his easy chances. This result was very important for the Gunners, as it helped them revive their Premiership campaign after two painful trips to Manchester.

Elsewhere, Burnley have continued to impress with their 100% home record with 3-1 victory over Sunderland. Everton’s season seem to have come back on track with 3-0 demolition of lowly Blackburn Rovers. Aston Villa piled more agony on Paul Hart and his pointless Portsmouth side by beating them 2-0. Portsmouth, for me, are in real danger, if they are waiting for the transfer window to reopen in January to change their fate, may god bless them.

REAL MADRID VS FC ZURICH ( CHAMPIONS LEAGUE )

The new season of the premiership has begun and how…  There have been some great results, some great matches over the last few weeks. Its pity that there won’t be any EPL matches in the first week of this month because of international matches but this provides a great opportunity to look back on the start of the new season

The Usual Suspects

Of the famous “Big Four”, Chelsea really looks like “The” team to beat at this moment of time. They have the team which looks settled and above all they have not lost any key player. They managed to keep “Mr. Chelsea” John Terry and Didier Drogba at the club. Their new manager Carlo Ancelotti seems to have found the most effective system to play. Hence, at this moment my money would be on Chelsea.
When Manchester United kicked off the season, everybody knew that they would be light weight in front of goals this season in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. But The Red Devils recovered pretty well especially after the shock defeat from the hands of newly promoted Burnley, to thump Wigan and beat the in form Arsenal. I think Manchester United would be a bit inconsistent this season considering their lack of depth in the strike power.
If Xabi Alonso would have stayed at Anfield, I would have tipped Liverpool to be the strongest contender for the premiership crown. But his departure has disrupted the Rafael Benitez’s entire system. Steven Gerard can not play freely in that midfield because there is no Alonso. It was Alonso’s vision and his ability to see the runs Gerard and Torres that made Liverpool so dangerous. But this season, like Manchester United, Liverpool too would be inconsistent. Also the fact that they have already lost against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, puts more pressure on them.
Nobody would have expected Arsenal to start the season, the manner in which they have done. They destroyed Everton on the opening day, made the meal of Portsmouth and were too good for Celtic in Champions League play-offs. But their juggernaut came to a halt at Old Trafford. They Lost to Manchester United in a very tight match. They were better than their title rivals for most of the match. But it was that period of ten minutes, for which United were superior, rattled the Gunners. They lost it in the physical battle and not in the footballing battle. Its how Arsenal can handle such physical challenges thrown towards them by the opposition teams, will decide their fate this season.

Dark Horses

Manchester City with their star studded squad are looking good.   Though they have just edged past their oppositions in all the games, the important thing is they are having 100 percent record until now and that’s what matters in this tough league. But their big test will be on this weekend when Arsenal will visit blue half of Manchester.
Harry Redknapp has revolutionized the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur. This season he has really a fantastic squad with two good players available for each position. This change can be seen in the performance of Spurs this season. Aaron Lennon is really looking in menacing form. If they can continue their current form, they can really push “Big Four” all the way.
One would have expected Everton and Aston Villa to really challenge the others for the Champions League place. But both have started slowly and don’t really look the threats to “Big Four”.

Rest of the pack

Burnley have really caught the eye with the upsets against Manchester United and Everton. Stoke will again be a hard team to beat. I think the battle to avoid the relegation would as intense as the battle for the title. I think seven to eight teams would be involved in the Relegation battle. Wolves and Portsmouth really look in danger.

Channel: ESPN
Date: 29th August 2009
Time: 21:40 

It’s the third week of this years Premier League campaign and we are already treated to one of the feistiest encounters in the history of English Football. Match Verdict brings you an in depth preview in to this game between the two giants of the modern game. I’m sure most readers would beg to differ on me calling Arsenal FC a giant but if their record against United and the ‘Big 4’ in the last few years is anything to go by, I’m sure this will culminate in to a thrilling game of football.

Both the teams play a certain type of football that other teams in the planet can just watch in awe or try their hardest to emulate, with the exception of Barcelona, of course. Talking about Barcelona, Arsene Wenger has copied their treble winning formation to the T. Playing a 4-3-3, a formation, which according to the Professor suits the personnel at his disposal and brings out the best in his team, has already worked wonders. Arsenal have had a good pre-season losing out only to Valencia in their last friendly. Their start to competitive football is one of envy. Three wins in just as many games, the team has banged in 12 goals while conceding only two. The two goals conceded will not matter as long as the team scores an average of four goals a game. But the concern for most Arsenal fans is the lack of goals from the strikers. Eduardo is the only attacker on the score sheet with a single goal against his name – a poke in against Everton.

Man U on the other hand, lost to new boys Burnley by a solitary goal but responded brilliantly by decimating Wigan last weekend. Rooney, Berbatov got themselves on the scoresheet, while Nani and new recruit Valencia provided the much needed assists. Sir Alex has yet to decide which his mid field combination will be, having changed the entire playing four that played Burnley at Wigan. But trust the wily old fox to get it right in the big games. Ferguson will not be too pleased that he will not be able to select Ferdinand who will only be able to watch from the sidelines while his teammates take the stage at Old Trafford. Another talking point in most English newspapers in the last week has been the fact that even Evans has joined the injury list leaving Ferguson with little cover in defense. It will be intriguing to watch the formation and the players put out by Sir Alex this weekend. It is an important home game for him and Manchester’s record against the ‘Big 4’ hasn’t been that great according to the standards that the Scotsman has set for himself. His record against the lesser lights has been much better than those of Arsenal and Liverpool combined, which more than tilted the title in their favor.

But this year is a new campaign and they will have to sparkle against the monetary power of their city rivals without the help of their talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo. Much depends on Rooney and he has taken up the mantle from Ronaldo quite well and in is a known fact that Ferguson, Cappello and the most of the Man U’s fans hold Rooney in high regard. And we all know that these big games are the ones that Rooney relishes and comes good in. Arsenal too has lost two experienced players in Toure and Adebayor, but I don’t think any Arsenal fans are complaining about Adebayor’s departure. New boy, Thomas Vermaelen has made the fans quickly forget about Toure with his displays in defense. Arsenal may also have to make do without their captain Fabregas who is 50-50 for the weekend clash.

MatchVerdict Prediction: Scintillating draw. Arsenal will be hoping for some revenge after the footballing lesson that was dished out to them at last year’s Champions League semi-final. Manchester, I feel, are light in their midfield area. So, expect both the sides to score goals but cancel each other out.  

Pick up your beers, put on your scarves and favorite player’s jerseys and sacrifice that little animal that helps your team win every weekend. Oopps! Those are my pre-match rituals; you may have your superstitions and do just as you like to make your team win. Do not follow mine, I have a special license to do the things I do. You never know when it’s Manchester United vs Arsenal. Gone are the days of pre and post match brawls but the football played will still be just as entertaining. The atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams will be just as electrifying. Here’s to a good game! May the best team win!

Cheers!

*Update: The latest news is that Cesc Fabregas will not feature at Old Trafford because of his hamstring.

Ferrari finished on podium at hungaroring last Sunday, but that wasn’t good enough for them to celebrate their hard earned points,  why..??, because their lead driver Felipe  Massa was in the hospital fighting for breathes, it’s a courage of Ferrari that made them go racing with a single car and finish 2nd, Kimi did it for them and did it in fashion, that wasn’t a fighting approach but a cool headed drive by the ice man, but first question that popped up in everybody’s mind was “Are Ferrari guys gonna race with a single driver in future races till Massa gets recovered to his full strengths?”..or “are Ferrari guys gonna bring in young guns..??”..striking questions and the answer from Ferrari was so simple to guess..they just had to turn around and the legend was standing behind them..Michael Schumacher - 7 times world champion was ready for his come back..!!

A news flashed on AutoSport and hearts of MS fans pounded at a speed of 320kmh, they were and are still exultant to see MS sitting in that fierce scarlet car, they are ready to chant his name, Go Michael Go, but will it be the same MS as we all have witnessed way back in early 2ks, back to back championships, only wins, only podiums, only records after records and red was the color shining all over the world of formula 1, that was a golden era for scarlets, now things have changed, this Ferrari is no longer a championship winning car, it’s lagging behind the Brawns and Red Bulls, no one ever thought about it but it’s a reality and sometimes it sounds cruel to Ferrari fans, that is why they all are looking forward to the grand comeback of MS, they still believe that MS will lift the Ferrari up as he did it when he joined hands with them for the first time - way back in 90s..!!

It’s going to be difficult for MS as well, being not in a racing car for so long needs some sort of revision again,  Ferrari is ready for that and planning to arrange a training session for MS, to make it easier for him to be in a comparatively inferior car, KERS will be a new experience for MS, pressure will be there, whether to perform or to outperform, this time around podium could be difficult for him but with no mistakes he can certainly help Ferrari gaining some points, all a motor world can see is a legend coming back to his own arena..arena where he lived thousands of moments of his life..arena where he became Michael Schumacher..now he is ready once again to race in an F1 car..will he succeed..??..will it be a new chapter in the history of motor sports..??..will this old horse leave the young bloods behind..??..who knows..Valencia certainly has the answers and only time can lead us there..

The start of the English Premiership is still couple of weeks away. But a mad EPL fan which I am, just couldn’t resist him self from writing about it. In these coming weeks we would look at the teams involved in the EPL. We will see how they set up this season. So, Lets begin the journey.

Whenever, you talk about any game most of the times you talk about the best in the business and Manchester United have been simply the best for the past three seasons. But I think their title defense this season would not be easy at all. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid has left a void which is almost impossible to fill. Also United fans’ beloved Carlos Tevez has now joined arch rivals Manchester City.

One would have expected United to make some major signings after the departures of two of the world’s best players. But strangely they have bought Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic, a player who has never played for a big club and also they have signed a player who has played for many big clubs like Liverpool and Real Madrid but just fails to play even 80 percent of the games of the season .Yes you are right, we are talking about once one of Europe’s most feared strikers, Michael Owen.

I, in fact almost all of us would have no doubts over the abilities of Michael Owen. But over the past five- six years he has lost his sharpness. So how he lives up to the demands of playing for such a big club remains to be seen. Also being an injury prone, very rarely he would last full 90 minutes. So, manager sir Alex Ferguson would have to use him very carefully, if he wants get most out of him.

This season in the absence of Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney will be their key player. Past records have shown whenever Rooney doesn’t play United find it very difficult to win a football match. He along with Dimitar Berbatov would be lead the attack for the Red Devils and United will rely heavily on both of  them for goals .They haven’t lost any other players, so rest of the departments don’t need any change .Especially their defense which for me is the best in Europe if not in the world. Really it is this rare guard which has been their secret of success over the last few seasons.  Though, they still have enough talent up their sleeves to go all the way, it will be very interesting to see how Sir Alex uses his options and how they will shape up this season especially up front.

 Season’s predictions: This might just be the season when United’s winning streak might come to an end. If you ask me where they would finish this season, I would say 2^nd. ( I know United fans will have different opinion, comments are welcome).

A few days back, I read in the newspapers that Rahul Dravid had been thrown a “lifeline” by the Indian selectors regarding his one day career. Lifeline to a legend, how stupid does it sound? However that’s not what this post is about.

Apparently miffed at the lack of spine in the Indian batting lineup when it comes to short pitched bowling, they decided to include Dravid in the list of 30 probable players for the Champions trophy. A classic case of taking one step forward and 2 steps back. Just because the Indian team didn’t make it to the final of the T20 world cup, you bring back a senior player. Guess they still feel that the boys haven’t turned into men. And while one may argue that you need another senior player in the side, what is also to be seen that unlike Tendulkar, who is an automatic selection for a series, Dravid hasn’t had that sort of luck. And God forbid, if Dravid does not land up in the playing eleven, then I can only imagine what must be his thoughts to sit on the bench.

Coming back to the point, as everyone knows, T20 is heavily loaded in the favor of batsmen, who can whack bowlers out of the park at will. However, they will not allow these same batsmen to be tried in the test arena, instead allowing one day and T20 series to be the only place where they can play.

At the other end of the scale is the Indian Test Team, which has all the senior players who have shouldered the burden for ages now. What are the selectors waiting for? To let all these players hang their boots at once and then thrown the younger players into the cauldron without any sort of guidance or support. Of course, one may point out that a couple of players have retired and hence a younger player has been included in the side, the selectors still don’t have enough confidence to allow him to play a full series without keeping the sword of dropping the player after 1 bad innings, let alone a match.

This strategy seriously needs a re-look else the same story of 1 step forward and 2 step backwards will keep continuing.

If cricket is a crazy sport, then tennis should be called a gentleman’s sport, isn’t it ? A crazy fan of Sachin Tendulkar that I am, I equally admire Roger Federer.

With a legendary win at Wimbledon Tennis Championship against Andy Roddick of US, a history is created in this gentleman’s sport, by the elegant and my favorite player Roger Federer.
Roger surpassed Pete Sampras’s record of 14 championship. Sampras acclaimed Roger as the best player, which is no wonder, looking at the records. Federer had previously been at position at No. 1 for record 237 consecutive weeks. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, for four consecutive years and holds many such records.

“Andy (Roddick) played an unbelievable tournament. He’s a great guy but there has to be a winner sometimes.
I didn’t hold the trophy last year. But it feels great after such a crazy match which could have gone on for a few more hours. My head is still spinning.

Getting 15 Grand Slam titles is not something you dream about when you are a little boy, but I’ve had a great career.
It’s been quite a month winning the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back just like Bjorn Borg did.

I don’t play to break records but it’s great to have them.” says the winner.

Even after Federer’s struggle  in matches against Nadal, Roddick and Sampras hailed Federer as the greatest player of all time.
No doubt, along with the Wimbledon title, Federer has won hearts of millions of fans.

I am sure we will see many more titles and records from Roger in coming years. Amen.

The “Galactiocs” era is back at Santiago Barnabeau Stadium. Newly elected president Florentino Perez has carried forward  his policy of signing high profile players during his second stint at the club.During his first stint, Real splashed the money on signing the likes of Ronaldo, Luis Figo ,Zinedine Zidane,David Beckham.

Major Arrivals:

This time around they have already spent over 300 million dollars for the signing of  superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo ,Kaka  and  Karim Benzema.

The signing of  Cristiano Ronaldo  finally  put the fullstop on probably the most dramatic transfer saga in football history. Ronaldo had his eyes set on the move right from the day the offer came. It was the success that he achieved at Manchester United that was stopping him from expressing his desire publicly  to leave Old Trafford. But finally Real made an offer that was hard to resist for United. Though , United lost their most influential player they made very good business. The arrival of  Ronaldo will provide Real the natural width on the right wing ,which was their major area of concern.

The transfer of Kaka from AC Milan on the other hand was not so dramatic.AC Milan off late has not attracting the superstars once it used to,but it has more to do with Italian Serie A. Milan team need the complete squad revamp and the money earned by selling Kaka will only help the cause. Kaka is a terrific addition to that central midfield of Real which lost creativity in the middle of the park after the retirement of Zinedine Zidane.

More to Come?

Though Real have spent so much money , I do expect some more players to arrive in White part of Madrid. Frank Ribery has reiterated his desire to join “Real Revolution” by leaving Bayern Munich. Also with Raul and Ruud Van Nistelrooy aging, it wont surprise me at all if see the prolific David Villa staring the first game for them. Also Real are linked with the likes of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

What all this means?

The arrivals of all this superstars signals the exit of other players, mainly Dutch the likes of  Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart ,Arjene Robben and Klass Jan Huntelaar.

Well if you ask me about the Real Madrid’s chances this season of silverware, I would say if all these “Galacticos” can gel well they would be a major major force on both domestic and European front. But if they fail to do so, you know better than me what can happen.