In the November issue of Four Four Two, columnist and Daily Telegraph football writer Henry Winter had this entry during the 2003 European Cup when Manchester United rallied in stoppage time to stun Bayern Munich 2-1 with some late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“Solskjaer’s late winner certainly had an impact on the media. It caused meltdown with reporters yelling down phones to offices to stop the presses. Never has one goal triggered such frantic turnaround. Not even David Beckham’s free-kick against Greece forced as much re-writing.
“Needing a restorative San Miguel (wow --- SMB!) afterwards, I joined forces with some United fans and we eventually found a quiet darkened bar. We pushed open the door and there were some 30 Bayern supporters sitting at their tables drowning their sorrows in complete silence.
“They looked up saw the red shirts and did not know whether to burst into tears or applause. Eventually one began to clap and the others joined in showing commendable respect in the circumstances. ‘Solskjaer,’ one kept muttering. ‘Solskjaer.’”
In previous columns and predictions (see Ingredient for an NBA Championship for the possible NBA winner), I said that the Spurs could possibly win the NBA title because of non-US college x-factors in Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Beno Udrih, and Francisco Oberto.
And in the World Game Part 1, I wrote that Arsenal’s fortunes would largely depend on how fast Francesc Fabregas asserted himself with the departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona. Well, the EPL is months away from completion, but the way they’re pacing the league is no surprise. However, the year’s biggest disappointment is Liverpool.
In 2005, Rafael Benitez landed Paolo Morientes to play for the Reds. Sadly he said that he couldn’t adjust to the more physical game of the English (where even the defenders are tackled). Then Benitez said he was thinking of getting Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt to augment their strike force, but three years later, Liverpool and his recruits are struggling with his system. So what’s wrong considering Benitez won with that system in Valencia and in his early Merseyside years?
I think it’s good for its first couple of years as players are trying to integrate themselves into the system and they give their all. After the honeymoon period, it leaves everyone frustrated. In the case of Steven Gerrard, his natural position is in center midfield but Benitez has him in the right. Granted Gerrard is good when he makes diagonal cuts and sprints into the gap. But I think that the Liverpool captain is better when he’s a playmaker. The problem is Xabi Alonso’s there as well.
He’s coming to the end of his four-year contract extension with Liverpool, Gerrard is. Unless Liverpool wins any significant hardware this year, I don’t see him re-signing with the Reds.
Liverpool’s problems can be distilled into two words: Benitez’ system.
For the uninitiated, it’s that he never has a fixed starting eleven. Of course that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work and he’s saving his line-up for the Euro campaigns and the long grind up ahead. But you have to give your players minutes. And to replace Gerrard during the Everton derby? Sorry, Rafa. One bad decision after another.
Well, Rafa has brought in some pretty good players in Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina and a lot of others, but he has to get them the minutes. To say that Liverpool is a notoriously slow starter isn’t good enough. What if they never recover? Luckily, they’re only six points away from Arsenal and Manchester United. And they kicked the crap out of Besiktas 8-0 last night with Yossi Benayoun scoring a hat trick.
Liverpool, which lost last year's final to Milan, improved to four points in Group A of the Euro Champions League play, three fewer than Marseille and four fewer than leader FC Porto. That means it has to beat both teams above it in its remaining two games if they want to advance.
But it sure was nice to see these familiar names in the starting XI: Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyppia, John Arne Riise, and Steven Gerrard. How long have these guys been at Anfield? Will they still be around for Stanley Park?
You Never Walk Alone!
Bumped into Rob Johnson yesterday at Robinson's Galleria. We chatted for a few minutes and it turns out that Rob's not playing anymore and is back in school to finish his studies. Good for you, man! God bless! Thanks for giving your 110% every time out, dude.
In the meantime, Asi Taulava was raking in all those tickets at Tom’s World. What prizes did you exchange those tickets for, Big Man?
For local collegiate hoops, I wrote in Business Mirror’s college ball predictions that La Salle and San Beda would win their respective leagues. For the UAAP Final Four, I nailed the four teams right: DLSU, UE, UST & ADMU.
“Solskjaer’s late winner certainly had an impact on the media. It caused meltdown with reporters yelling down phones to offices to stop the presses. Never has one goal triggered such frantic turnaround. Not even David Beckham’s free-kick against Greece forced as much re-writing.
“Needing a restorative San Miguel (wow --- SMB!) afterwards, I joined forces with some United fans and we eventually found a quiet darkened bar. We pushed open the door and there were some 30 Bayern supporters sitting at their tables drowning their sorrows in complete silence.
“They looked up saw the red shirts and did not know whether to burst into tears or applause. Eventually one began to clap and the others joined in showing commendable respect in the circumstances. ‘Solskjaer,’ one kept muttering. ‘Solskjaer.’”
In previous columns and predictions (see Ingredient for an NBA Championship for the possible NBA winner), I said that the Spurs could possibly win the NBA title because of non-US college x-factors in Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Beno Udrih, and Francisco Oberto.
And in the World Game Part 1, I wrote that Arsenal’s fortunes would largely depend on how fast Francesc Fabregas asserted himself with the departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona. Well, the EPL is months away from completion, but the way they’re pacing the league is no surprise. However, the year’s biggest disappointment is Liverpool.
In 2005, Rafael Benitez landed Paolo Morientes to play for the Reds. Sadly he said that he couldn’t adjust to the more physical game of the English (where even the defenders are tackled). Then Benitez said he was thinking of getting Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt to augment their strike force, but three years later, Liverpool and his recruits are struggling with his system. So what’s wrong considering Benitez won with that system in Valencia and in his early Merseyside years?
I think it’s good for its first couple of years as players are trying to integrate themselves into the system and they give their all. After the honeymoon period, it leaves everyone frustrated. In the case of Steven Gerrard, his natural position is in center midfield but Benitez has him in the right. Granted Gerrard is good when he makes diagonal cuts and sprints into the gap. But I think that the Liverpool captain is better when he’s a playmaker. The problem is Xabi Alonso’s there as well.
He’s coming to the end of his four-year contract extension with Liverpool, Gerrard is. Unless Liverpool wins any significant hardware this year, I don’t see him re-signing with the Reds.
Liverpool’s problems can be distilled into two words: Benitez’ system.
For the uninitiated, it’s that he never has a fixed starting eleven. Of course that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work and he’s saving his line-up for the Euro campaigns and the long grind up ahead. But you have to give your players minutes. And to replace Gerrard during the Everton derby? Sorry, Rafa. One bad decision after another.
Well, Rafa has brought in some pretty good players in Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina and a lot of others, but he has to get them the minutes. To say that Liverpool is a notoriously slow starter isn’t good enough. What if they never recover? Luckily, they’re only six points away from Arsenal and Manchester United. And they kicked the crap out of Besiktas 8-0 last night with Yossi Benayoun scoring a hat trick.
Liverpool, which lost last year's final to Milan, improved to four points in Group A of the Euro Champions League play, three fewer than Marseille and four fewer than leader FC Porto. That means it has to beat both teams above it in its remaining two games if they want to advance.
But it sure was nice to see these familiar names in the starting XI: Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyppia, John Arne Riise, and Steven Gerrard. How long have these guys been at Anfield? Will they still be around for Stanley Park?
You Never Walk Alone!
Bumped into Rob Johnson yesterday at Robinson's Galleria. We chatted for a few minutes and it turns out that Rob's not playing anymore and is back in school to finish his studies. Good for you, man! God bless! Thanks for giving your 110% every time out, dude.
In the meantime, Asi Taulava was raking in all those tickets at Tom’s World. What prizes did you exchange those tickets for, Big Man?
For local collegiate hoops, I wrote in Business Mirror’s college ball predictions that La Salle and San Beda would win their respective leagues. For the UAAP Final Four, I nailed the four teams right: DLSU, UE, UST & ADMU.
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