Jose Mourinho's departure from Chelsea is without doubt the biggest story in the world of football today. It came as a surprise to everybody but Roman Abramovich. The Chelsea supremo knew this was coming. Now looking back to it, I think it may have even been planned.
Who would want to sack a coach like Mourinho. A coach who brought five trophies in three seasons. A coach who handled mega stars in his club without any problem and a coach who had no problems with his staff. A coach who handled all media problems perfectly (even though he made a fool of himself at times). Mourinho was almost a perfect manager. A manager which any club board or club owner would like to have. But Abramovich had other ideas.
Abramovich was always a keen admirer of Frank Rijkaard. Reports once said that he was keen on bringing in Rijkaard as manager even before Mourinho. As Abramovich was impresses after Netherlands' Euro2000 performance. If Abramovich had to part ways with Mourinho, he would have done it at the end of last season when Chelsea finished with "just" the FA Cup and League Cup. But, Abramovich had no good replacement. All of Europe's top managers were with the big clubs and both Marcelo Lippi and Guus Hiddink said they did not want the job. Abramovich had no other manager in his list. He then brought in Avram Grant as Grant was supposed to bring out the best from Abramovich's new found love, Andriy Shevchenko.
But what really carved the way for Mourinho's departure except for the cold war with Abramovich was Henk Ten Cate's departure from Barcelona. Barcelona played "sluggish" football after Cate's departure and Rijkaard was supposedly getting the sack after not winning any trophy last season. But Joan Laporta backed Rijkaard and made him stay.
Cate will do a good job in getting Chelsea good results this season, but, Avram Grant is the manager and has the last say. Chelsea will recover very late to win the Premier League, and with the likes of Internazionale, Barcelona, Milan and even Real Madrid and Liverpool along with Arsenal and Manchester United, winning the Champions League is very far from easy. Grant should know that winning the FA Cup and League Cup will not reserve his seat for next season.
I think Abramovich had this in mind. If not early, then towards the end of last season. This may be the pathway to lure Rijkaard to Chelsea. Getting Rijkaard is not easy, but with the money Chelsea have and spend, nothing in football is impossible. And if Barca fail to win a trophy this season, then Laporta will make things easier for Chelsea. Ronaldinho may not follow Rijkaard but who knows? Chelsea can easily make him the highest earning footballer in the world by far. Abramovich may then get what he wanted, but yet, still, he will have to wait for atleast one very long and unsatisfying season.
Sacking the Special One or letting him leave by mutual content, is truly, an act of extreme stupidity.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Clever Henry
Thierry Henry, a legend at Arsenal and highest goal scorer, surpassing Ian Wright's record. Now, he is level with Michael Platini as highest goal scorer for France. We remember Henry as a great player and a prolific goal scorer at Arsenal, but looking back at his last few seasons at Arsenal, Thierry Henry was clever and cunning.
I remember when Henry signed a new contract after Arsenal lost the Champions League finals to Barcelona. I even recollect Henry once saying that he would love to play for Arsenal until he was 60. But less than a year later, Henry moved to FC Barcelona and claimed that uncertainty over coach (and mentor) Arsene Wenger's future was the main reason why he left.
Wenger then revealed a few months later that Henry had left because he beleived Arsenal would not win anything big in the immediate future, and that he was growing old, so he should move to Barcelona to win something big. Arsene Wenger understood Henry's problem and let him leave. Wenger has a record of supporting his players even when they go against him (like Sol Campbells' incident after the loss against West Ham).
Now, Arsenal are flying high in the Champions League and the Premiership. They have won all their matches but one in all competitions and drew Blackburn after an absolute howler by Jens Lehmann. Arsenal are very good, because Henry is no more there. When Henry played, he carried an ego in his face and movements which always said that he is the best player in the world. There is no doubt in the fact that Henry is a great player, but he is not as great as he thinks. I still think that one day, Jose Antonio Reyes will reveal that he left Arsenal not because of the weather but because of Henry. I remember they never got along in the pitch. Henry often scolded him and hardly expressed support towards Reyes. Even after Reyes left, Arsenal played football around Henry. If they passed him it was bad for the team, as Henry not always scored goals, and if they did not pass him, they were scolded by their captain (with no leadership) in front of over 60,000 people at the Emirates.
But what makes Henry clever us the time he planned his escape to Barcelona. If Henry had to move to Barca, he would have left for Barca after that Champions League finals. But Arsenal lost the finals, and thanks to Henry. Henry missed two easy chances when he was one on one with Victor Valdes. Eto'o or Adebayor would have burried those balls in, but Henry failed too (I wonder why) and Henry understood this. Had he left Arsenal then, he would not be the same hero he is now. He knew that Arsenal could have won the Champions League had he scores those two goals, but he missed, and Arsenal went home with silver medals. Had Henry scored, he would have left immediately as people would remember him for the victory. Therefore, Henry left after one injury ridden season. A season when the Gooners would have quite forgotten about Paris and would remember other times with Henry.
Henry is attached to Arsenal, but does not love the Gunners as much as he claims to. Love for the clubis what Buffon and Batistuta did when their clubs were relegated. All top teams wanted them, but they stayed with the club in lower divisions. They never said that the uncertainty of thier manager made them want to leave or went up to their manager and said that they wanted to win titles somewhere else.
I am not saying that Henry is not a great player. He is a world class player who deserved the Golden Ball a few seasons ago, but Henry is clever and cunning. I think Barcelona fans will be happy as Henry will bring in a lot of goals, but do not expect Henry to score often against Real Madrid, Valencia, or other European giants in the Champions League. Henry will get plenty of goals against the likes of Valladolid, Levate (like his recent hattrick), Athletic Bilbao and may score often against Athletico Madrid or even Seville. But Henry is not a big match performer like Ronaldo, Raul, Drogba or ex-teammate Bergkamp or present-teammate Eto'o. The only 'big' matches Henry has performed was against a hopeless Real Madrid defence at the Bernabeau and a lucky goal agaisnt a lzy Roberto Carlos in the quarter finals of the World Cup in 2006. i do not write Henry off. He will get the goals and help Barca win trophies. But the majority of the goals will come against smaller opponents. On the score sheet against Real, Valencia and other big teams in the Champions League, the name "Henry" will very seldom be seen (not never), and "Messi", "Deco", "Eto'o", "Ronaldinho" and other names at Barca will be seen in these big matches.
Henry has been clever to save his status as an Arsenal icon. Had it been another humble and rash decision making (but great) player like Totti, he could have earned a bad name. But Thierry is more clever and cunning than he looks.
I remember when Henry signed a new contract after Arsenal lost the Champions League finals to Barcelona. I even recollect Henry once saying that he would love to play for Arsenal until he was 60. But less than a year later, Henry moved to FC Barcelona and claimed that uncertainty over coach (and mentor) Arsene Wenger's future was the main reason why he left.
Wenger then revealed a few months later that Henry had left because he beleived Arsenal would not win anything big in the immediate future, and that he was growing old, so he should move to Barcelona to win something big. Arsene Wenger understood Henry's problem and let him leave. Wenger has a record of supporting his players even when they go against him (like Sol Campbells' incident after the loss against West Ham).
Now, Arsenal are flying high in the Champions League and the Premiership. They have won all their matches but one in all competitions and drew Blackburn after an absolute howler by Jens Lehmann. Arsenal are very good, because Henry is no more there. When Henry played, he carried an ego in his face and movements which always said that he is the best player in the world. There is no doubt in the fact that Henry is a great player, but he is not as great as he thinks. I still think that one day, Jose Antonio Reyes will reveal that he left Arsenal not because of the weather but because of Henry. I remember they never got along in the pitch. Henry often scolded him and hardly expressed support towards Reyes. Even after Reyes left, Arsenal played football around Henry. If they passed him it was bad for the team, as Henry not always scored goals, and if they did not pass him, they were scolded by their captain (with no leadership) in front of over 60,000 people at the Emirates.
But what makes Henry clever us the time he planned his escape to Barcelona. If Henry had to move to Barca, he would have left for Barca after that Champions League finals. But Arsenal lost the finals, and thanks to Henry. Henry missed two easy chances when he was one on one with Victor Valdes. Eto'o or Adebayor would have burried those balls in, but Henry failed too (I wonder why) and Henry understood this. Had he left Arsenal then, he would not be the same hero he is now. He knew that Arsenal could have won the Champions League had he scores those two goals, but he missed, and Arsenal went home with silver medals. Had Henry scored, he would have left immediately as people would remember him for the victory. Therefore, Henry left after one injury ridden season. A season when the Gooners would have quite forgotten about Paris and would remember other times with Henry.
Henry is attached to Arsenal, but does not love the Gunners as much as he claims to. Love for the clubis what Buffon and Batistuta did when their clubs were relegated. All top teams wanted them, but they stayed with the club in lower divisions. They never said that the uncertainty of thier manager made them want to leave or went up to their manager and said that they wanted to win titles somewhere else.
I am not saying that Henry is not a great player. He is a world class player who deserved the Golden Ball a few seasons ago, but Henry is clever and cunning. I think Barcelona fans will be happy as Henry will bring in a lot of goals, but do not expect Henry to score often against Real Madrid, Valencia, or other European giants in the Champions League. Henry will get plenty of goals against the likes of Valladolid, Levate (like his recent hattrick), Athletic Bilbao and may score often against Athletico Madrid or even Seville. But Henry is not a big match performer like Ronaldo, Raul, Drogba or ex-teammate Bergkamp or present-teammate Eto'o. The only 'big' matches Henry has performed was against a hopeless Real Madrid defence at the Bernabeau and a lucky goal agaisnt a lzy Roberto Carlos in the quarter finals of the World Cup in 2006. i do not write Henry off. He will get the goals and help Barca win trophies. But the majority of the goals will come against smaller opponents. On the score sheet against Real, Valencia and other big teams in the Champions League, the name "Henry" will very seldom be seen (not never), and "Messi", "Deco", "Eto'o", "Ronaldinho" and other names at Barca will be seen in these big matches.
Henry has been clever to save his status as an Arsenal icon. Had it been another humble and rash decision making (but great) player like Totti, he could have earned a bad name. But Thierry is more clever and cunning than he looks.
Real Madrid: The scape goat era
Real Madrid, arguably the biggest football club in the world, were in a title drought for 3 seasons under the Presidency of Florentino Perez. Perez decided that he should bring in a famous player every season to make Real an even bigger team. It started in 2000 with the arrival of Luis Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona. Zinedine Zidane followed the next year from Juventus and then Ronaldo from Internazionale. Mega star David Beckham was next and was another Englishman Michel Owen. Real did not perform as expected. Or maybe they could have as the Figo and Zidane brought Real their 9th European Cup and Ronnie brought in the 29th Spanish League. Then Perez did the biggest mistake of his tenure at Madrid. He sacked the highly ambitious and succesful coach Vicente Del Bosque. With Del Bosque went away Fernando Hierro, a legend and a true leader at Real. Real were without a true leader now and without a coach which could handle egos and produce fine results. The next coaches of Real included assistant coaches and Goal keeper coaches who could never guide Real to first place.
During these three years till the time Florentino Perez resgined Real were without a trophy. But Perez and the rest of the Madrid board never blamed anyone except themselves. Perez never said how Claude Makelele harmed the team or how Owen's short stint made others play badly. The board accepted their faults and took the blame. Even when they sold Figo (for a discount of around 45 million dollars), Perez did not blame Figo for the poor results, nor did he blame the trainers, all he did was say that "There was something wrong".
In July 2nd, 2006, lawyer Ramon Calderon pipped Juan Palacios and was elected President of Real Madrid amidst controversy which almost even saw his loose his seat. At that time Calderon promised arrivals of Kaka from Milan, young Fabregas from Arsenal and Arjen Robben from Chelsea. Calderon promised three big names, but brought in none. He and his sporting director, Pedrag Mijatovic (former Real player) appointed Fabio Capello as the new trainer.
Capello brought in boring and defensive football at the Bernabeau. Fans jeered, but results were produced. Madrid were unlucky to lose out to Betis in the Kings Cup and Roberto Carlos' mistake cost them heavily in the Champions League, but else, Madrid did put on a good league performance. But, now, under Calderon, the scape goat era began.
The first scape goat was Ronaldo. I agree that Ronnie's performances have deteriorated in the past two years, and he is no where close to the player he once was, but ever since Ronnie arrived at Los Blancos, he had been their highest goal scorer. Ronnie was then blamed by Capello (and Calderon) for influencing younger players like Robinho (who has never performed well for two successive matches since his big money move from Santos) and even Marcelo (who played almost no part last season) towards not helping the team. All Calderon said was that he saw Ronaldo as a Real Madrid player but never backed him. Never did we hear once saying he had faith in Ronaldo. Ronaldo was eventually sold to AC Milan and we then saw glimpses of the old Ronnie. How could Ronnie come back in form in just two weeks after leaving Madrid? The problem was not with the player, but with the club. Now, while helping Ronaldo recover, Milan found out that Ronnie has a metabolism disease. Surprisingly, Madrid never found this out for 4.5 years when Ronnie was with them.
The second scape goat was Emerson. Puma arrived from Juventus with Capello. Madrid's lacklustre performance was blamed directly on Emerson. Mohamadou Diarra was an overly expensive buy, so blaming him would make not help Calderon in his Presidency era, so he simply blamed Emerson. This even cause the Bernabeau faithful to jeer Emerson during games. No wonder Emerson was so eager to leave Real this summer.
Third scape goat, was David Beckham. As Calderon saw that Real's performances were not consistent, he decided to disgrace Beckham by giving him an insulting contract, so instead, Becks signed with LA Galaxy of USA. Calderon then anounced that Beckham would join Galaxy in the nest campaign, and also announced, through Capello, that Beckham would never play a match in for the whites. Madrid, never won, Becks was called back, and he led Madrid to the 30th title.
Antonio Cassano was next. He did fall out with Capello, but how come they never made up? Every club sees player and coach have disputes, but Real thought that Cassano would be no help to them. A genius like Cassano would always help. But why didnt Madrid use Cassano even after firing Capello. All Real fans can hope for is, that they recall Cassano after his stint at Sampdoria. Don Fabio was the next scape goat. I agree Capello brought very boring football to Real, but he did manage producing results. After tow years, Real were not beaten by Barcelona, and Real outplayed Barca at both the Bernabeau and Camp Nou. Capello had a hand in selling Ronnie and seeing Becks on the bench, but unlike Calderon (who saved himself), Capello tried saving Real. When he showed he could bench Ronnie, Becks and Madrid's son - Raul, players fought hard for their spots and Capello installed the winning spirit in the Madrid boys. Finally, only 11 days after helping Real win the title, Capello saw the end of his second stint at the Spanish Capital.
Calderon did fulfil one of his promises this summer, by buying Arjen Robben. But Robben, was sold by Chelsea only after they bought Florent Malouda from Lyon. Malouda has proved in recent seasons that he is a better winger than many others, and after Chelsea secures his services and were frustrated by Robben's injury woes, they sold him to Real. Otherwise, it was impossible to get Robben from Chelsea.
Getting Kaka and Cesc Fabregas seems more and more impossible by the day. Calderon has to look for new set of players to save his name at Real and has to look for other players to make scpae goats of. Splashing out around 30 million euros on Pepe (from Porto) made no sense at the start and seeing his performances now, it maked half as much as sense as it made before. So far, Pepe looks like an understudy at Real Madrid Castilla. What is more sad for Real is that both Chivu and Milito could have been bought if Madrid would have paid around 7 million euros more on what they bought comical Pepe for. What I can see is Pepe and Baptista being the next scape goats at Real and maybe followed by Saviola and Soldado.
During these three years till the time Florentino Perez resgined Real were without a trophy. But Perez and the rest of the Madrid board never blamed anyone except themselves. Perez never said how Claude Makelele harmed the team or how Owen's short stint made others play badly. The board accepted their faults and took the blame. Even when they sold Figo (for a discount of around 45 million dollars), Perez did not blame Figo for the poor results, nor did he blame the trainers, all he did was say that "There was something wrong".
In July 2nd, 2006, lawyer Ramon Calderon pipped Juan Palacios and was elected President of Real Madrid amidst controversy which almost even saw his loose his seat. At that time Calderon promised arrivals of Kaka from Milan, young Fabregas from Arsenal and Arjen Robben from Chelsea. Calderon promised three big names, but brought in none. He and his sporting director, Pedrag Mijatovic (former Real player) appointed Fabio Capello as the new trainer.
Capello brought in boring and defensive football at the Bernabeau. Fans jeered, but results were produced. Madrid were unlucky to lose out to Betis in the Kings Cup and Roberto Carlos' mistake cost them heavily in the Champions League, but else, Madrid did put on a good league performance. But, now, under Calderon, the scape goat era began.
The first scape goat was Ronaldo. I agree that Ronnie's performances have deteriorated in the past two years, and he is no where close to the player he once was, but ever since Ronnie arrived at Los Blancos, he had been their highest goal scorer. Ronnie was then blamed by Capello (and Calderon) for influencing younger players like Robinho (who has never performed well for two successive matches since his big money move from Santos) and even Marcelo (who played almost no part last season) towards not helping the team. All Calderon said was that he saw Ronaldo as a Real Madrid player but never backed him. Never did we hear once saying he had faith in Ronaldo. Ronaldo was eventually sold to AC Milan and we then saw glimpses of the old Ronnie. How could Ronnie come back in form in just two weeks after leaving Madrid? The problem was not with the player, but with the club. Now, while helping Ronaldo recover, Milan found out that Ronnie has a metabolism disease. Surprisingly, Madrid never found this out for 4.5 years when Ronnie was with them.
The second scape goat was Emerson. Puma arrived from Juventus with Capello. Madrid's lacklustre performance was blamed directly on Emerson. Mohamadou Diarra was an overly expensive buy, so blaming him would make not help Calderon in his Presidency era, so he simply blamed Emerson. This even cause the Bernabeau faithful to jeer Emerson during games. No wonder Emerson was so eager to leave Real this summer.
Third scape goat, was David Beckham. As Calderon saw that Real's performances were not consistent, he decided to disgrace Beckham by giving him an insulting contract, so instead, Becks signed with LA Galaxy of USA. Calderon then anounced that Beckham would join Galaxy in the nest campaign, and also announced, through Capello, that Beckham would never play a match in for the whites. Madrid, never won, Becks was called back, and he led Madrid to the 30th title.
Antonio Cassano was next. He did fall out with Capello, but how come they never made up? Every club sees player and coach have disputes, but Real thought that Cassano would be no help to them. A genius like Cassano would always help. But why didnt Madrid use Cassano even after firing Capello. All Real fans can hope for is, that they recall Cassano after his stint at Sampdoria. Don Fabio was the next scape goat. I agree Capello brought very boring football to Real, but he did manage producing results. After tow years, Real were not beaten by Barcelona, and Real outplayed Barca at both the Bernabeau and Camp Nou. Capello had a hand in selling Ronnie and seeing Becks on the bench, but unlike Calderon (who saved himself), Capello tried saving Real. When he showed he could bench Ronnie, Becks and Madrid's son - Raul, players fought hard for their spots and Capello installed the winning spirit in the Madrid boys. Finally, only 11 days after helping Real win the title, Capello saw the end of his second stint at the Spanish Capital.
Calderon did fulfil one of his promises this summer, by buying Arjen Robben. But Robben, was sold by Chelsea only after they bought Florent Malouda from Lyon. Malouda has proved in recent seasons that he is a better winger than many others, and after Chelsea secures his services and were frustrated by Robben's injury woes, they sold him to Real. Otherwise, it was impossible to get Robben from Chelsea.
Getting Kaka and Cesc Fabregas seems more and more impossible by the day. Calderon has to look for new set of players to save his name at Real and has to look for other players to make scpae goats of. Splashing out around 30 million euros on Pepe (from Porto) made no sense at the start and seeing his performances now, it maked half as much as sense as it made before. So far, Pepe looks like an understudy at Real Madrid Castilla. What is more sad for Real is that both Chivu and Milito could have been bought if Madrid would have paid around 7 million euros more on what they bought comical Pepe for. What I can see is Pepe and Baptista being the next scape goats at Real and maybe followed by Saviola and Soldado.
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