The UEFA Champions League 2017 final in Cardiff between Real Madrid and Juventus brings the year's football fixtures to a close in grand style. In tonight football, there is Ronaldo and no Messi.
The analysis of football tonight will centre around different brands of the game the fast defensive Italian football with swift precise counter attacking and the solid systematic attack of the Spanish.
It must be said that Real have a lost a second or so in their speed of attack and became a calculating force of destruction. This is due to the aging of the Ballon' Dor winner who now plays more with head than feet.
Without the brute force of Athletico Madrid, the cunning nature of FC Barcelona, both protagonists ooze confidence as their capability to dish out the two elements is common knowledge.
This Champions league brings few things to the fore. Zinedine Zidane, like many Spanish managers fast-tracked into greatness, has people talking of him as a great coach already. Winning this will make his fans happy.
Personally, a great manager is not one who is able to stick when thrust into luxury. That is not bad either, as many managers have failed to develop staying power in those positions. To me, it is a sign that one is not a bad manager, than to confirm as a good manager, and there is a huge difference.
The good thing is that many, like Pep Guardiola, develop in that environment to be good managers due to coaching the best players who earn thew most money, by default of course. The managers coaching the worst squads with minimum budgets and bring them to greatness, usually go back to find another situation of a rescue mission perennially. Back to the match tonight.
A lot of experience comes to the party, with Cristiano Ronaldo making his 136th appearance, the only players with more than 50 with two different clubs (52 with Manchester United and 84 with Real Madrid) and Gianlugi Buffon (39) making it his 104th appearance.
Buffon's case is a sad one. He is one of the two centurions (with Zlatan Ibrahimovic) to have not won it. H e has been there many times and sentimentally, he deserves the winners' medal. However, Ronaldo has to put the Ronaldo or Messi argument to bed.
Already, the Portuguese has honuors with his country and record hat-tricks under his belt. Still, there is an army of doubters of who is the greatest. This is not a blatant support for him, but as a team player, he has no equal. Lionel Messi has incredible individual brilliance.
Without making this a poll of who is better, I leave it in your hands and look to Gareth Bale. Consider that the match is in Cardiff and Gareth Bale, born in a hospital a few minutes away from the stadium, may play only part of the match from the bench. It is never rosy even for the best.
Who is your money on, and why?
Showing posts with label Gareth Bale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gareth Bale. Show all posts
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Monday, April 29, 2013
Gareth Bale star of the game as Luiz Suarez embarrases
We grew up knowing rugby players have leather balls. In dressing room pep talks, we encouraged players to develop leather skins, and now literally, players need leather skins.
The trouble magnet in Luiz Suarez made it irresistible for fellow professional to boo him at a function to honour England's best performers. I am not sure how proud he was to be among them but man who stoop that low don't care an inch.
Thanks to his dentsist, because his teeth are not that sharp as we saw. Suarez faced racist accusations before, among other small issues in England. In Holland, he also bit an opponent. He is football enemy number one in Africa after his 'Hand of the Devil' blockage of Asamoah Gyan's 2010 South Africa Fifa World Cup quarter-final winner.
This could be the beginning of his end, a man-made end that can only be described as self-destruction. While he is recycleable, Liverpool seem to honeycoat the whole saga, presumably to wipe away the shame and make him a good disposable material.
This must not take the shine off Gareth Bale's deserved PFA and YPFA accolades, but many won and faded. His big money move, like many others before, may put the final nail in that coffin.
In the recent past, the years of Tottenham Hotspur's ascendance, he was the catalyst of their ruthless slaughters. By design or by default, it became the death knell to Arsenal's beautiful but sterile game.
One hopes that Bale keeps his feet on the ground, stays at White Hart Lane and gets a good paycheck from Mr Levy. For all that to happen, Spurs need to pull off some stunts and acrobatically land in the Champins League.
Unless the Londoners do that, which they need to by hook or crook, the Welshman's future will never be the same. I am not convinced of his potential to blossom elsewhere, unless it is at Manchester United, and Sir Alex Ferguson has not jotted his name on his shopping list, but the man is known for his aces up the sleeves.
That said and done, congratulations to you Gareth. See you soon.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Highlanders and local football must learn
As Liverpool face Tottenham Hotspur today, many see it as a Luiz Suarez versus Gareth Bale, the same way it becomes a Messi v Ronaldo in La Liga El Classico. The inconsistent Liverpool can beat anybody but Spurs are buoyed by incredible performances that have made the world stop and watch, in most cases, Bale.
Statistically, it is with good reason given how Bale scored incredible goals of high importance. Suarez for Liverpool has been a revelation for comparably the same reason, but in this fixture and in all Spurs performances, if one watches football, there is one man of incredible quality and work-rate.
In the whole league, I can only think of his rival as one Yaya Toure but only just. This top-class performer is Mousa Dembele. Bale's individual brilliance is God-given, but the tactical freedom permitting his versatile escapades are a result of the solidity provided by the Belgian. You may have noticed that by now, and if not, take note.
The Orlando Pirates visit to Kaizer Chiefs at the National Stadium (FNB/Soccer City) will be beamed to over a 110 million homes this afternoon. This takes both brands around the world and soon other planets will be interested. It is the work of the clubs, Supersport and the ABSA Premier League marketing ventures that have seen this product in demand or marketed this well.
Pirates need the points much more than Chiefs but their recent form has been questionable as to whether the quest to retain the title is feat achievable. For the neutrals, that is not even important and that is right. I do not want to dwell on the possibilities there but rather admire the abilities of the people from whom neighbouring country leagues could copy and paste.
Highlanders Football Club of Zimbabwe particularly need to take notes. Not all the money generated will be banked by Chiefs as the home team, nor be shared between them and Pirates. There is an individual making a killing as a man. The process, contrary to Bosso beliefs, is not milking. It is called 'busibess'.
Highlanders are perennially broke and have been beggars for time immemorial. They spend most of the time negotiating the structuring of payment or scrapping the bills with debtors. Many years back, we suggested that they engage money-hungry and success-loving people with a strong business acumen to harness the small potential the brand 'Highlander - Bosso' has.
Many of us have tried to approach the club Executive committee with ideas requiring no input from the club, team, players or leadership. The negative responses were that people wanted to take advantage of the club. That is very true and that is exactly business. If a man used Highlanders name to make $10, it surely cost over $7 to make that $10 anywhere in the world, whatever the product. Sharing the remaining $3 with Highlanders on a 50-50 basis is no robbery and that is exactly what the club does not understand.
The Highlanders Executive committee wanted the whole $10 banked in their coffers, a comical understanding of the business mind. Nothing works that way in the world and the 50-50 is the extreme best. The astute businessmen would come up with deals whereby the club benefited 50 cents out of the $3 profit considering the running costs of a business empire. That one enriches himself by banking as much as the team at $1,50 is being naive.
Now, Bosso is not getting $1.50 per item of anything anywhere. They could be getting 10, 100 or 1000 of those, or 10000, a 100000 or even 1000000 from many sources. That should be irrespective of what the source is getting, but in known cases, that has been made clear but the born of contention has always been that people wanted to enrich themselves using the club name.
I would be a billionaire and make Bosso a millionaire and if that is bad, let the woes continue.
Statistically, it is with good reason given how Bale scored incredible goals of high importance. Suarez for Liverpool has been a revelation for comparably the same reason, but in this fixture and in all Spurs performances, if one watches football, there is one man of incredible quality and work-rate.
In the whole league, I can only think of his rival as one Yaya Toure but only just. This top-class performer is Mousa Dembele. Bale's individual brilliance is God-given, but the tactical freedom permitting his versatile escapades are a result of the solidity provided by the Belgian. You may have noticed that by now, and if not, take note.
The Orlando Pirates visit to Kaizer Chiefs at the National Stadium (FNB/Soccer City) will be beamed to over a 110 million homes this afternoon. This takes both brands around the world and soon other planets will be interested. It is the work of the clubs, Supersport and the ABSA Premier League marketing ventures that have seen this product in demand or marketed this well.
Pirates need the points much more than Chiefs but their recent form has been questionable as to whether the quest to retain the title is feat achievable. For the neutrals, that is not even important and that is right. I do not want to dwell on the possibilities there but rather admire the abilities of the people from whom neighbouring country leagues could copy and paste.
Highlanders Football Club of Zimbabwe particularly need to take notes. Not all the money generated will be banked by Chiefs as the home team, nor be shared between them and Pirates. There is an individual making a killing as a man. The process, contrary to Bosso beliefs, is not milking. It is called 'busibess'.
Highlanders are perennially broke and have been beggars for time immemorial. They spend most of the time negotiating the structuring of payment or scrapping the bills with debtors. Many years back, we suggested that they engage money-hungry and success-loving people with a strong business acumen to harness the small potential the brand 'Highlander - Bosso' has.
Many of us have tried to approach the club Executive committee with ideas requiring no input from the club, team, players or leadership. The negative responses were that people wanted to take advantage of the club. That is very true and that is exactly business. If a man used Highlanders name to make $10, it surely cost over $7 to make that $10 anywhere in the world, whatever the product. Sharing the remaining $3 with Highlanders on a 50-50 basis is no robbery and that is exactly what the club does not understand.
The Highlanders Executive committee wanted the whole $10 banked in their coffers, a comical understanding of the business mind. Nothing works that way in the world and the 50-50 is the extreme best. The astute businessmen would come up with deals whereby the club benefited 50 cents out of the $3 profit considering the running costs of a business empire. That one enriches himself by banking as much as the team at $1,50 is being naive.
Now, Bosso is not getting $1.50 per item of anything anywhere. They could be getting 10, 100 or 1000 of those, or 10000, a 100000 or even 1000000 from many sources. That should be irrespective of what the source is getting, but in known cases, that has been made clear but the born of contention has always been that people wanted to enrich themselves using the club name.
I would be a billionaire and make Bosso a millionaire and if that is bad, let the woes continue.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Today Spurs represents
For a moment tonight, friends and foes gather in spirit from several parts of the world at White Hart Lane. Many are in high spirits after Tottenham Hotspur beat 6 time UEFA Champions at the San Siro. Spurs are having their first shot at the Cup in modern times. The others are of heavy spirit after a dismal Arsenal performers who bowed out to superior Barcelona 24 hours ago.
For all Engish football lovers, Spurs have to revenge the Gunners tonight. All the hype and fuss is not unfounded. Spurs are capable. After so many doubts of their abilities, they pulled off a string of astonishing results and records. With their last victory coming in the absence of Gareth Bale, there is no doubt that their abilities are anchored on team work. Bale may play a part tonight, byt Rafael van der Vaart is the man to do the damage.
Spurs have been very unlucky with injuries and for them, this fixture is a fun game and that relieves all the pressure to perform. AC Milan have a reputation to prove. Some men can stand up and be counted when it matters the most and there is nothing to suggest this will be their moment. Spurs have a crawd, the ground and the players behind them. Not to reward evil, there is no way Gattusso's antics will be unpunished by the Creator.
At the end of the day, Harry Redknapp has all the keys and buttoms he needs to land the Londoners on the moon tonight. All ye Spurs, can you feel it?
For all Engish football lovers, Spurs have to revenge the Gunners tonight. All the hype and fuss is not unfounded. Spurs are capable. After so many doubts of their abilities, they pulled off a string of astonishing results and records. With their last victory coming in the absence of Gareth Bale, there is no doubt that their abilities are anchored on team work. Bale may play a part tonight, byt Rafael van der Vaart is the man to do the damage.
Spurs have been very unlucky with injuries and for them, this fixture is a fun game and that relieves all the pressure to perform. AC Milan have a reputation to prove. Some men can stand up and be counted when it matters the most and there is nothing to suggest this will be their moment. Spurs have a crawd, the ground and the players behind them. Not to reward evil, there is no way Gattusso's antics will be unpunished by the Creator.
At the end of the day, Harry Redknapp has all the keys and buttoms he needs to land the Londoners on the moon tonight. All ye Spurs, can you feel it?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
UEFA Champions League Results - As cruel as It can be, Baile rocks.
Incredible as it began, it finished in a historic and incredible Gareth Bale hat-trick. Champions, Inter Milan of Italy hosted rookies, Tottenham Hotspur of the Barclays English Premier League at the famous San Siro Stadium. As Murphy Law would have it, everything that can go wrong at any match actually went wrong for Spurs as they suffered a first minute goal, conceded an early penalty that earned goalkeeper Gomes a red card and a conversion by Samuel Eto'o in the 11th minute. It was 3-0 by the 14th minute and with 10 men and less than 35 % possession, the first ever English team to win the European Cup were down and out when Eto'o scored the 4th after just 35 minutes.
Just as it started with the Eto'o show, Gareth Bale was a gear up with an incredible hat-trick of two mirror goal of top drawer quality and sheer determination that you will not see anywhere in a long time. The Bale show started in the 52nd minute before it lulled for the entire half, In injury time, Bale accelerated from the centre line on the left channel, running the entire length of the pitch to blast a sizzling hot shot below the body of sprawling Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar, exactly the way he scored the first goal, step for step and stride for stride in injury time. Aaron Lennon was set on his bike as he attacked his marker to about the D-area before releasing Bale on his left, exactly on the spot he pulled the trigger for the first 2 goals. His classic precision took wind out of Inter and thank God, time ran out.
In a memorable match for the Bale performance in particular, as was the Manchester United come back against Bayern Munich in the year Samuel Kuffor cried several barrels of tears in 1999, the disastrous start by Spurs looked set to be historic in the other direction and for the wrong reasons. As any coach would tell his players at half-time, it was not about how Spurs began, but how they ended. In the dressing room, Harry Redknapp was at pains trying to solicit eye contact after heads dropped due to the defense that went to sleep early and were punished. Frankly, the officials were not even there for Spurs.
His words were definitely in the line of 'Let us take ourselves from the mess we just put ourselves in. Good teams will be judged from how they come out of trouble that how they ride the crest'. With 10 men against the champions who are 3rd in their league and have been perennial performers at the same level, and given the circumstances of the match, a final 4-0 score would have been respectable for the Englishmen. The 4-3 final results, which had both the fans and referees panicking in the dying seconds, underlines the battered team that has 2 key players in Rafael van der Vaart and Gomes suspended and top scorer Jermaine Defoe injured. Spurs showed the class that many didn't know possible, though a lose is a lose.
While this was a performance of character out of this world was happening in Italy, Manchester United were being even more average at Old Trafford against Bursaspor whom they beat 1-0. Nani scored a well taken goal for the valuable points. Barcelona also won 2-0 at home with Lionel Messi scoring a double. Rangers and Valencia drew 1-1 as did FC Twente and Werder Bremen. Shalke 04 beat Hopoel Tel Aviv of Israel 3-1. Lyon were 2-0 victors over Benfica in France.
What do you think went wrong for Spurs and what is your opinion of Gareth Bale?
Just as it started with the Eto'o show, Gareth Bale was a gear up with an incredible hat-trick of two mirror goal of top drawer quality and sheer determination that you will not see anywhere in a long time. The Bale show started in the 52nd minute before it lulled for the entire half, In injury time, Bale accelerated from the centre line on the left channel, running the entire length of the pitch to blast a sizzling hot shot below the body of sprawling Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar, exactly the way he scored the first goal, step for step and stride for stride in injury time. Aaron Lennon was set on his bike as he attacked his marker to about the D-area before releasing Bale on his left, exactly on the spot he pulled the trigger for the first 2 goals. His classic precision took wind out of Inter and thank God, time ran out.
In a memorable match for the Bale performance in particular, as was the Manchester United come back against Bayern Munich in the year Samuel Kuffor cried several barrels of tears in 1999, the disastrous start by Spurs looked set to be historic in the other direction and for the wrong reasons. As any coach would tell his players at half-time, it was not about how Spurs began, but how they ended. In the dressing room, Harry Redknapp was at pains trying to solicit eye contact after heads dropped due to the defense that went to sleep early and were punished. Frankly, the officials were not even there for Spurs.
His words were definitely in the line of 'Let us take ourselves from the mess we just put ourselves in. Good teams will be judged from how they come out of trouble that how they ride the crest'. With 10 men against the champions who are 3rd in their league and have been perennial performers at the same level, and given the circumstances of the match, a final 4-0 score would have been respectable for the Englishmen. The 4-3 final results, which had both the fans and referees panicking in the dying seconds, underlines the battered team that has 2 key players in Rafael van der Vaart and Gomes suspended and top scorer Jermaine Defoe injured. Spurs showed the class that many didn't know possible, though a lose is a lose.
While this was a performance of character out of this world was happening in Italy, Manchester United were being even more average at Old Trafford against Bursaspor whom they beat 1-0. Nani scored a well taken goal for the valuable points. Barcelona also won 2-0 at home with Lionel Messi scoring a double. Rangers and Valencia drew 1-1 as did FC Twente and Werder Bremen. Shalke 04 beat Hopoel Tel Aviv of Israel 3-1. Lyon were 2-0 victors over Benfica in France.
What do you think went wrong for Spurs and what is your opinion of Gareth Bale?
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