Oh boy did Liverpool turn up the heat and top the league once more since that Christmas period, and in what style. One can be forgiven for taking an excitement at the bottom end of the table, but who can blame you given the performance of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace against Chelsea last week and this week, and a scare Fulham gave to Everton? At least up to 34 points, any team can still be sucked in there. The Cottagers were denied by the heroics of Tim Howard to dispatch Everton. Palace could have put away 4 clear balls past Petr Cech.
At least Arsenal turned up and put up a fight against real contenders in Manchester City. They gave us a show that was displayed by Manchester United against Aston Villa earlier on. Villa were also victims of their finishing as the usually lethal Cristian Benteke was lethargic. United's 4-1 win was refreshing just to shake up the mid-table fight with poor Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.
The Liverpool 2-1 win over Sunderland made me feel I was watching champions. For the first time, the Reds feel they have their destiny at their feet. They carry themselves around the pitch like they have won it already and that should worry City. It may be easy to think Chelsea are out, but as with Arsenal, their story is still being told. The Kop was that cathedral of football of old as they slaughtered hapless Tim Sherwood's sorry Spurs.
When it come to the Gunners, I always preached my stale gospel of Benteke. I used to drive the Demba Ba version too. Let me be fresher; Arsene Wenger should shop for Mousa Dembele from Spurs. His usefulness under Tim Sherwood has passed its sell-by date as did Emmanuel Adebayor under AVB. He is the solid Patrick Viera they have lacked in years. Mikel Arteta is a good holding player who can have a role elsewhere in that team. He may be released to forward positions where he can score as he did at Goodson Park.
As for the log leaders, they now impose their play and their attitude is one of arrogance and bullying, synonymous with champions. They have their records but we are for the analysis here. We think it could be decided by the visit of Man City to Anfield. Many factor Chelsea but The Reds do not need to beat Chelsea if they can overpower City and win the remaining fixtures. It is in their own hands, I meet feet.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Highlanders, Bulawayo football needs Delma Lupepe
They destroyed him, and the whole Southern region killed his passion and desire. They murdered football when they chucked out Delma Lupepe out of football and we danced. It was an emotional and miscalculated move borne out of selfish motives and uneducated belief that he was an unnecessary evil.
I will tell you the truth. He was not evil at all and to appease a few, I would admit he was a necessary evil. His demise spelt a bad era for the game, tribe, politics, the region and the nation as much as the disappearance of Zimbabwe Saints was to Bulawayo. If you know or remember, there was never a passion like when Highlanders was playing against Saints. The rivalry was a result of the history of the clubs.
The tribal tension sandwiched with the Shona language in Matebeleland spiced the events. Besides, there was always a political connotation of Bosso (PF-ZAPU) and Chikwata (ZANU (PF)). Remember that Highlanders went as Matebeleland Highlanders for a long time during the peak of the political tensions and the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe. Zim Saints Chiwororo was Mashonaland United. That made for the exciting times in the game and overplayed itself in times of peace.
Either way, the power and excitement of the Saints teams that dominated the scene in the 1988-89 era overpowered the dominance of Bosso in Cup ties even though Tshilamoya recaptured the glory days by the dominance of the league thereafter.
The times of Zimbabwe Saints came to an end with the emergence of Amazulu Football Club which was immediately followed by the re-introduction of Railstars. At the best of times, the four teams were in the top league simultaneously. The financial muscle of Amazulu intimidated other teams as Chikwata lost focus getting attracted to the money Lupepe flashed cash to acquire the best talent. That process was neither evil nor flawed.
The Saints leadership began squabbles that dragged the team down the drain and it looks like for good. They jostled to bleed their team dry and their success at that resulted in the biggest football tragedy of our time. For many, Delma's money was evil, but it was not. It was rather the root of the evil. In many times in history, one finds that the nature of Highlanders' structures did not allow people of his calibre close by, unfortunately.
The first time I heard of Amazulu, I was at Highlanders training grounds as a fringe reserve goalkeeper. The late Cleopas Dlodlo was having a private conversation about a group of people that included himself and Ezra Tshisa Sibanda being part of it. The truth of that was never established, but if true, the wisdom of those people was in taking Delma along as he became the sole proprietor of the franchise.
Outside football, Mr Lupepe was known as an astute businessman with a strong passion for what he did and his assets. He guarded everything he had jealously. After all, I should know. Many times I found myself negotiating with him personally, bypassing the team's management executive. I must admit this had its own flaws.
I first met him in trying to establish a joint football academy. My KFA needed a sponsor and we agreed on so many aspects until his business manager failed to honour our agreement and proposed to change KFA to AFA, with me a 20% shareholder. The deal fell through. At the high demand of the then unknown Farai Mujokoro, we had to sit and discus fees as he wanted to have the player for free since he had no official contract with the academy. We set a fee which he paid without fuss.
My last contact with the man was during the days before I joined Bosso as a Technical Advisor. We had many options tabled and agreed on. The club's executive threw the spanners into the works. He later chased me for my services through Jerry Mafripa, at a time I could not take his job. Then I contacted him when I wanted to have Mujokoro follow Thabani Masawi to Albania.
That call made us enemies for a moment. He asked me why I thought that was possible. My response was that I thought as a friend of mine, we could do business. That was the worst choice of words from me. He flipped and was very frothy. "There are no friends in business.", he said and banged the phone.
I knew the man who was passionate and fond of the game, that he was a Highlanders fan. He was a life-member of the club. In all their pain and trouble, Highlanders need Delma Lupepe. They have needed him all along. It is not that he will hijack the club. For a period of time, his tested acumen in the cooperate world would benefit him and the club. My experience with Highlanders is their disgust at the thought of an individual benefiting using the Bosso name and logo. They must get over that.
One man told me that his business empire was in doldrums and was slightly above water. That cannot be a better excuse to ramp him in and let him harness and harvest the club's potential. He will greatly benefit of course and the club will remain at a higher level long after he is gone.
Delma Lupepe will stretch that brand to the maximum. In my book, What Highlanders Need Right Now! available on Amazon.com, I explained how Bosso needed some very selfish and yet astute business people with a passion for the team and the game to utilise the massive size of the brand. Brushing the stupid inferiority and timid excuses away, this is one clever man who can be very useful for the love and worthy cause of iBosso. At the end of the day, at least he may be motivated enough to bring Amazulu back, if not Saints.
I will tell you the truth. He was not evil at all and to appease a few, I would admit he was a necessary evil. His demise spelt a bad era for the game, tribe, politics, the region and the nation as much as the disappearance of Zimbabwe Saints was to Bulawayo. If you know or remember, there was never a passion like when Highlanders was playing against Saints. The rivalry was a result of the history of the clubs.
The tribal tension sandwiched with the Shona language in Matebeleland spiced the events. Besides, there was always a political connotation of Bosso (PF-ZAPU) and Chikwata (ZANU (PF)). Remember that Highlanders went as Matebeleland Highlanders for a long time during the peak of the political tensions and the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe. Zim Saints Chiwororo was Mashonaland United. That made for the exciting times in the game and overplayed itself in times of peace.
Either way, the power and excitement of the Saints teams that dominated the scene in the 1988-89 era overpowered the dominance of Bosso in Cup ties even though Tshilamoya recaptured the glory days by the dominance of the league thereafter.
The times of Zimbabwe Saints came to an end with the emergence of Amazulu Football Club which was immediately followed by the re-introduction of Railstars. At the best of times, the four teams were in the top league simultaneously. The financial muscle of Amazulu intimidated other teams as Chikwata lost focus getting attracted to the money Lupepe flashed cash to acquire the best talent. That process was neither evil nor flawed.
The Saints leadership began squabbles that dragged the team down the drain and it looks like for good. They jostled to bleed their team dry and their success at that resulted in the biggest football tragedy of our time. For many, Delma's money was evil, but it was not. It was rather the root of the evil. In many times in history, one finds that the nature of Highlanders' structures did not allow people of his calibre close by, unfortunately.
The first time I heard of Amazulu, I was at Highlanders training grounds as a fringe reserve goalkeeper. The late Cleopas Dlodlo was having a private conversation about a group of people that included himself and Ezra Tshisa Sibanda being part of it. The truth of that was never established, but if true, the wisdom of those people was in taking Delma along as he became the sole proprietor of the franchise.
Outside football, Mr Lupepe was known as an astute businessman with a strong passion for what he did and his assets. He guarded everything he had jealously. After all, I should know. Many times I found myself negotiating with him personally, bypassing the team's management executive. I must admit this had its own flaws.
I first met him in trying to establish a joint football academy. My KFA needed a sponsor and we agreed on so many aspects until his business manager failed to honour our agreement and proposed to change KFA to AFA, with me a 20% shareholder. The deal fell through. At the high demand of the then unknown Farai Mujokoro, we had to sit and discus fees as he wanted to have the player for free since he had no official contract with the academy. We set a fee which he paid without fuss.
My last contact with the man was during the days before I joined Bosso as a Technical Advisor. We had many options tabled and agreed on. The club's executive threw the spanners into the works. He later chased me for my services through Jerry Mafripa, at a time I could not take his job. Then I contacted him when I wanted to have Mujokoro follow Thabani Masawi to Albania.
That call made us enemies for a moment. He asked me why I thought that was possible. My response was that I thought as a friend of mine, we could do business. That was the worst choice of words from me. He flipped and was very frothy. "There are no friends in business.", he said and banged the phone.
I knew the man who was passionate and fond of the game, that he was a Highlanders fan. He was a life-member of the club. In all their pain and trouble, Highlanders need Delma Lupepe. They have needed him all along. It is not that he will hijack the club. For a period of time, his tested acumen in the cooperate world would benefit him and the club. My experience with Highlanders is their disgust at the thought of an individual benefiting using the Bosso name and logo. They must get over that.
One man told me that his business empire was in doldrums and was slightly above water. That cannot be a better excuse to ramp him in and let him harness and harvest the club's potential. He will greatly benefit of course and the club will remain at a higher level long after he is gone.
Delma Lupepe will stretch that brand to the maximum. In my book, What Highlanders Need Right Now! available on Amazon.com, I explained how Bosso needed some very selfish and yet astute business people with a passion for the team and the game to utilise the massive size of the brand. Brushing the stupid inferiority and timid excuses away, this is one clever man who can be very useful for the love and worthy cause of iBosso. At the end of the day, at least he may be motivated enough to bring Amazulu back, if not Saints.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Free-kicks not free at all
Having watched a few sending off offences of the last few weeks, I must say there must be some sympathy for the offenders who genuinely duel and combat for the ball as well as the victims of the potential crippling tackling. At this day and age, the professionals understand the need not to end fellow professionals' careers. There few cases now see the attacking players taking advantage by diving, like Daniel Sturridge did a few days ago.
Instead of dwelling on the many individual cases, I wish to draw your attention on the heart of the matter. For most red-card fouls, all include excessive force especially in the attacking zone of the victims. The attacker will have the most difficult job of evading defenders and clearing their path and charging at goal. This includes executing the most difficult skill of the game. The chief end is to score the goal and enjoy the ecstasy of that moment.
Besides, the match starts with the ball at the centre and it has got to be manoeuvred through a forest of legs and traffic of bodies to be in the final third. That feet is not easy to achieve. Usually, at that point, there is one or two defending players between the attacker and the goal. The attacking player is in full flight and in stride to strike the ball towards the goal. His body and mind is set to unleash venom. The team mates are either ahead or behind in positions of support to assist in ending this attack successfully. There is great momentum of both the attack and the player.
The defending team are obliged to legitimately stop the attack and the player. By hook or crook, they succeed. In a case of a brutal or illegal means, the attacker's charge is halted, and he gets knocked down and has to receive medical attention. The officials usually asks the medics to do this outside the pitch.
The ball which was running is then placed still and usually in a wrong spot. Then the defending team gets the opportunity to bring all personnel behind the ball and form a wall. The rest of the team choose the best positions and have the luxury of even pushing the opponents down. They can set up an offside trap. At this moment, they gain a numerical advantage as the injured striker is ordered to receive treatment outside the pitch. The goalkeeper picks up his co-ordinates and gets his bearings right, chooses the best position and pinpoints all possible dangers.
In some cases, the player who was on the offensive gets hacked down, receives a yellow card for diving and has to be treated off the ground and play continues in their absence until the officials signal for his re-entry. All the hard work of building an attack is lost and the goal-scoring opportunity minimised or blown away by the rules of the game. In a case where a defending player is red-carded, the attacking team still does not immediately gain advantage as the offender and the victim leave the pitch.
So what would be fair? One scenario would be to ensure all serious fouls to be punished by a red card and a penalty awarded, regardless of where the foul is committed. Less serious fouls would have to be yellow card cases and the offender will have to leave the pitch if the victim is receiving medical treatment. Any infringement of the rules should benefit the opposition in such a way that there is no offside resulting from the restart of the match and that the defending team should never have players ahead of the ball, or behind the ball from their perspective.
That would make redundant the wall and off-sides from all dead ball situations and the offended teams would never suffer numerical disadvantages at any time. FIFA tell us they want to encourage attacking football and ensure many goals are scored by giving the benefit of the doubt to the attacking teams, but the rules suppress this and the good players suffer the indiscretion of the bullying defenders.
Instead of dwelling on the many individual cases, I wish to draw your attention on the heart of the matter. For most red-card fouls, all include excessive force especially in the attacking zone of the victims. The attacker will have the most difficult job of evading defenders and clearing their path and charging at goal. This includes executing the most difficult skill of the game. The chief end is to score the goal and enjoy the ecstasy of that moment.
Besides, the match starts with the ball at the centre and it has got to be manoeuvred through a forest of legs and traffic of bodies to be in the final third. That feet is not easy to achieve. Usually, at that point, there is one or two defending players between the attacker and the goal. The attacking player is in full flight and in stride to strike the ball towards the goal. His body and mind is set to unleash venom. The team mates are either ahead or behind in positions of support to assist in ending this attack successfully. There is great momentum of both the attack and the player.
The defending team are obliged to legitimately stop the attack and the player. By hook or crook, they succeed. In a case of a brutal or illegal means, the attacker's charge is halted, and he gets knocked down and has to receive medical attention. The officials usually asks the medics to do this outside the pitch.
The ball which was running is then placed still and usually in a wrong spot. Then the defending team gets the opportunity to bring all personnel behind the ball and form a wall. The rest of the team choose the best positions and have the luxury of even pushing the opponents down. They can set up an offside trap. At this moment, they gain a numerical advantage as the injured striker is ordered to receive treatment outside the pitch. The goalkeeper picks up his co-ordinates and gets his bearings right, chooses the best position and pinpoints all possible dangers.
In some cases, the player who was on the offensive gets hacked down, receives a yellow card for diving and has to be treated off the ground and play continues in their absence until the officials signal for his re-entry. All the hard work of building an attack is lost and the goal-scoring opportunity minimised or blown away by the rules of the game. In a case where a defending player is red-carded, the attacking team still does not immediately gain advantage as the offender and the victim leave the pitch.
So what would be fair? One scenario would be to ensure all serious fouls to be punished by a red card and a penalty awarded, regardless of where the foul is committed. Less serious fouls would have to be yellow card cases and the offender will have to leave the pitch if the victim is receiving medical treatment. Any infringement of the rules should benefit the opposition in such a way that there is no offside resulting from the restart of the match and that the defending team should never have players ahead of the ball, or behind the ball from their perspective.
That would make redundant the wall and off-sides from all dead ball situations and the offended teams would never suffer numerical disadvantages at any time. FIFA tell us they want to encourage attacking football and ensure many goals are scored by giving the benefit of the doubt to the attacking teams, but the rules suppress this and the good players suffer the indiscretion of the bullying defenders.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Spurs football is too sterile
The English Premier League has been a see-saw affair of performances at the top and bottom and the individual team comics in terms of form and consistency. Liverpool and Chelsea do have a better record of late, so do Arsenal. As for Manchester City, the unpredictability is a worry for the gaffer and fans alike.
What catches my attention is the flatness of Tottenham Hotspur. This comes after comments by Tim Sherwood that they had a better game than the Gunners in the London derby. Passing and attacking are one thing and then penetration and scoring another. Spurs play a game flatter than unleavened bread.
The lack of the final telling pass leaves all their work redundant. The killer pass eludes them. For all the ball they see and lay, their entry into the final third causes minimum threat and there is very little to worry the opposition, It is that mode that see them fail in Europe and struggle to threaten the top four sides in the league.
Spurs are a team of interest to the neutral if you consider their run under Harry Redknapp during their days with Gareth Bale. Bale was a great player but the Londoners were a finer unit until the arrival of Andreas Villas Boas. Sherwood has not added value to their play save for team selection. I wonder if the players feel they are undone by the results but there is nothing the football gods can do to reward an uninspiring play.
There is so much regress in their game and one day, they will wake up and smell the coffee. Sherwood needs to upgrade, and fast.
What catches my attention is the flatness of Tottenham Hotspur. This comes after comments by Tim Sherwood that they had a better game than the Gunners in the London derby. Passing and attacking are one thing and then penetration and scoring another. Spurs play a game flatter than unleavened bread.
The lack of the final telling pass leaves all their work redundant. The killer pass eludes them. For all the ball they see and lay, their entry into the final third causes minimum threat and there is very little to worry the opposition, It is that mode that see them fail in Europe and struggle to threaten the top four sides in the league.
Spurs are a team of interest to the neutral if you consider their run under Harry Redknapp during their days with Gareth Bale. Bale was a great player but the Londoners were a finer unit until the arrival of Andreas Villas Boas. Sherwood has not added value to their play save for team selection. I wonder if the players feel they are undone by the results but there is nothing the football gods can do to reward an uninspiring play.
There is so much regress in their game and one day, they will wake up and smell the coffee. Sherwood needs to upgrade, and fast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)