Entries Tagged 'Football' ↓

Just like that it snapped, the ankle gave way and positioned itself awkwardly, maybe because he jumped and tried too hard and landed badly, and immediately the players reactions were to gesture for a call — an ambulance.

It arrived duely, not after the unfortunate player had spent 20 odd minutes lying in the middle of the pitch, under the unforgiving hot sun.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you see it, a few guys flanked him and did their best to provide shade as well as fanning a piece of cardboard for air.

And that was how my 2nd game in two days ended, prematurely, and on both occasion, my team conceding 6 goals.

Oh, it sucks badly to lose, but it happens now and then, but the manner of this morning’s loss felt less weary than yesterday’s league game with Skopets FC.

This morning, it was a team, playing for each other and pushing each other, and how miserable it felt yesterday after the team disintegrated and whined internally, cos we were 5-2 up and in control before losing everything in the second half.

That feeling of thinking that everything’s going to be okay, but in the end it’s all screwed up, and its beyond your control, well it’s beyond terrible.

It’s terrible, horrendous and catastrophic when Men gives up, and Skopets FC gave up yesterday.

Ironically, it was a haphazard collection of bunch of uncles and young men from all walks of life and nationalities that enlightened me, during this morning’s game, where even though we were losing, it was a graceful loss.

There were no whining, no finger-pointing, no rush-of blood to the head tackles (unless you count the events that led to the ankle breaking) and it was a fun social game of soccer, the way it was meant to be.

I really don’t know what the future holds for Skopets FC, following this dejection, and I think someone mentioned about us taking a break from soccer, just to straighten out our minds and, hopefully, our team spirit.

If there’s anything that wins or loses games, it is team spirit.

Without the team, there’ll be no spirt and without the spirit, there’s no team.

Oh well, another loss, another knock on the chin, but gotta look forward to the final league game of the season now, and that’s next week.

And I have no idea what I’m gonna be spenind my Saturday afternoons with when it’s over.

Maybe I could write a book.

“What to do when someone breaks an ankle during a soccer game.”

Poor chap. Wish you recover well, and on the bright side, if any, he’ll be getting a lot of MCs.

In Rafa we foolishly steadfastly trust.

.

Read more at ARedThing.wordpress.com.

You’ve seen it by now and you’ve probably heard all about it, but for the uninitiated, Aaron Ramsey, 19year old Welsh international prodigy, broke his leg. Warning: not for the faint hearted.

2 years ago, Eduardo broke his leg, and even Diaby suffered similar injuries.

How cursed can Arsenal be with such a horrendous injury history — not that they’re asking for it or anything — but this time round, there’s a difference in the situation.

Eduardo was on the end of a very bad challenge, from a player tilting towards the malicious side of the game, while Aarom Ramsey, I believe, is simply unlucky.

Yes, unlucky that he broke his leg in a 50/50 challenge with Ryan Shawcross, a recent fresh entrant into the England Squad by Capello, and who has gone on to apologise profusely for the predicament befalling the young Welshman.

In football, if you don’t go in for a challenge, one might as well sit at home and enjoy a game of Monopoly, and in this case, it’s definitely an accident.

A hugely horrific accident, but does Shawcross deserve the red card?

Judging by the situation at hand, yes he does, to simmer any potential emotions and to prevent any triggering of ‘revenge’ tackles from Ramsey’s teammates.

I do believe and am not saying that there’ll be such a tackle, but what would you do when you see your buddy getting kicked with a broken leg?

There’s simply a chance that tackles get harder and tougher, and bringing the perpetrator out of the game, simmers it.

Referee did the right thing, but does Shawcross deserves to be branded ‘Thug’ or ‘Malicious’ player with that tackle?

No, he does not.

That lad’s an immense talent, and he’s a strong, hard tackler and there’s definitely nothing malicious about the intent in the play that builds up to the injury, and there was plenty of grievances as the big lad trudged off the pitch in tears, after checking on Ramsey’s condition with a comforting palm.

It’s just unfortunate that Ramsey’s leg buckled, as his was planted onto the ground.

It begs the question of what if it was Shawcross that suffered the broken leg?

By any means, it was a possibility as even Ramsey had went into the challenge himself, with both players attempting to kick away the ball.

What makes it even less malicious is that there wasn’t even any lunging or jumping into the challenge by both players.

It’s a sick injury, a horrific accident, and sure that Shawcross takes the blame for that injury, but for certain he is to be vindicated of any thuggery or malicious claims.

It’s purely bad luck, and it could happen to anyone, anywhere, and I hope Ramsey realises this and recovers as fast as he can to get back to enjoying the game that he loves.

Is it just me or is has the well of criticism gone dry?

Only 1 or 2 weeks back, immediately after the draw against Stoke City, we were under attack from all angles, from all corners of the web.

It seemed inevitable that Rafa Benitez was heading towards Juventus, for a new lease of life and for, arguably, a decent amount of respect too.

But Benitez never walks away from a battle, he never backs out, and as his usual calm, assertive and witty self, speculations of his future are brushed off and forgotten.

He’s just signed a 5 year contract, overhauled his backroom staff, realigned the youth academy, and in stout belief of his players, so why would he…. [Read more @ A Red Thing].

You’ve seen Avatar in Real3D (and shame if you haven’t), and did you enjoyed it as much as I did?

Well apart from getting dizzy from the ‘man-made’ 3 dimensional visual perceptions, I think it’s a great entertainment tool for the future.

It won’t be cheap, and I certainly won’t be able to afford it, but just the thought of revisiting Pandora nightly before you sleep, it’s simply out of this world.

Um, pun intended.

Anyway for a football fanatic, like I am, it doesn’t get any bigger, ahem, than watching your English Premiereship stars in Real3D, as reported here by Marketsaw.

It will be as if you’re right there running and jumping beside them.

So what if there aren’t any flying banshees or lean and tall blue humanoids on the screen, but instead 22 (23, if you count the referee) sweaty, athletic men chasing a single white ball around a grass pitch.

It will still be awesome-tastic!

But too bad I won’t be catching my idol, Steven Gerrard, or Torres in Real3D anytime soon.

English Premiereship in Real3D not yet available here. T.T

Have you read his article where he mentions Liverpool’s Aquilani as a flop, and this after watching just a handful of performances?

A flop would be disected as somethingthat failed badly or is totally ineffectual — so does Aquilani warrants such an insult?

If really he does deserve then certainly I’ll be forgiven for labeling Oliver Holt’s writing credential as a flop too, this after reading a few posts of his, because they failed in their accuracy and are also ineffectual especially in judging a player’s worth.

Am I too harsh on Holt then?

So what about Holt’s judgement of Aquilani, a player whom I value highly, where even though he has yet to cement himself as a key player in the squad, he definitely has a dormant bag of deft touches, glimpses of crafty vision and a definite sense of nimble mobility with his off the ball runs.

One thing for sure, and one which I strongly support, is that Aquilani is not a flop — or at the very least, not yet and not so soon, especially if you compare him against the likes of, say, Lucas.

Sure Aquilani is no Alonso, but it took Alonso a few seasons, where Rafa Benitez even tried trading him off, before he became a key player in the team.

Holt, it’s not that Liverpool is missing Alonso (okay maybe partly) but rather the lacklustre attacks is due to a certain consistently deep lying, backwards-running and shot-shy midfielder, known as Lucas.

What lucas does provide though, instead of an extra depth to Liverpool’s attack, is an extra dearth to Liverpool’s attacking plays.

And Oliver Holt, where  just like Lucas, your comments on Aquilani, especially given the pitiful number of games involving the Italian, they pose a sense of inaccuracy, poor technique in execution and dearth in vision.

I’ll give Aquilani till the end of the season, more playing times and resist labelling anything just because there’s an impulse to do so.

And for goodness sake, play fair will ya?

I am not stunned at all at the result: Singapore 1 – Oman 4.

Seriously, our ‘professional’ footballers are living in a lucid dream of glory after all these years, and to think that a campaign, Goal 2010, was put out years back to enhance our chance of getting a slot at the South Africa 2010 World Cup, it’s embarassing.

Big, fat, dreams.

As sponsors and fan turnouts dried up, so did the dream of watching Singaporeans playing at the world cup finals.

Okay, so we tried and indeed we have to dream big to achieve big things, but sooner or later, you’ll always have to wake up.

Unless FAS or whoever it is that takes the lead in building up the quality of our players and our game by sending a team to recce how the real professionals do it in Europe (it’s gonna be costly of course), and until then Singapore’s football will probably never evolve from it’s current pitiful state of ’schoolboy soccer’.

‘Schoolboy soccer’ is a state of mentality whereby players aren’t proactive enough to think on their own and instead wait and hope for others to make the difference, while lamenting at their current sorry state or finding glory at their newfound status as a ‘Pro’ player, thinking they’ve made it and then stop developing or improving themselves.

But thankfully there are players that take initiative and seek to improve themselves and their game.

These players try, and try, and try and try, but sometimes along the way, a better opponent comes along and you’ll simply have to concede defeat — but not without trying of course.

So Iran is next on Singapore’s schedule (6th Jan), but they thrashed us convincingly by 6 goals to 1, earlier in the round robin league, so it’s going to be a tough game.

Perhaps there’s still a chance for Singapore to qualify for the Asian games, by holding out for a draw or beating the Iranians on home turf.

Beating them, sounds like a really long shot, and holding out for a draw seems achievable, by our standards (and thankfully the wet weather too).

But seriously, I really don’t mind if we end up losing the game, just as long as we don’t lose it by playing with 10 men setting up camp and bonfires in the penalty box.

Now that’s just wrong.

These days, not often do I get the chance to blow the trumpet whenever Liverpool plays, so here’s not just to trumpet blowing, but trumpet blowing’s family and everything trumpet blowing advocated with.

Liverpool, playing at home and as usual, had the lion’s share of possesion and shots on goal. Too bad that the clean sheet was not to be, but 3 points is enough to give Rafa Benitez some room to breathe.

If wind of Gillet and Hick’s sale of american clubs, respectively, bears good news, then the back-to-scoring form of Fernando Torres and the extended appearance of Aquilani within an almost disintegrating-yet-proud footclub club, is MORE than just good news.

It is SWEETSPLENDIDAMAZINGLYSATISFYINGLYMORETHANGREAT NEWS. Yup.

Pretty much self explanatory.

Btw, without Torres what would we do? Anyway, you wonder what his hands were doing in the area of which shall not be named, of the person with the face of which shall not be spoken any further of.

Sadly I missed watching the game this morning, as all I managed to do was to hit the snooze button 10 times at 4am in the morning, before finding myself waking up at 9.30 am. Oh how time flies.

KTHNXBAI.

The weekend certainly felt longer than it should, or maybe I wasted it all on gaming and movie watching too much, and if i’m guilty, then luckily I’ve a partner in crime (yes, that’s you Bangau, or should I say BigBird?).

Anyway I topped my lazy weekend with a gloomy dose of Liverpool’s loss, at home to Arsenal — but I’ll accept the loss this time because Arsenal deserved their victory.

Arsenal were more inventive and definitely showed plent of hunger in winning the 50-50 ball.

It was not all surprising that they reacted swiftly and efficiently to Arsene Wenger’s half time pep talk when he challenged them that they did not deserve to wear the Arsenal jersey — and what a comeback it was.

Almost 5 months since Xabi Alonso, who was at the stadium to watch the game, left the Reds and it shows how vital his playmaking skills are, and Liverpool truly misses his presence, or the lack of it.

You never know what you’re missing till it’s gone eh?

So I have a come back to attend to as well, this coming Sunday, because that is when Dad and Mama comes back from their Haji  or Pilgrimage trip. Pilgrimage trip, did I mention it correctly?

My to-do lists would probably look something like:

1. Wash the toilet
2. Sweep/Vacuum the house
3. Unmess their bedroom.

I’m going to miss the last bit most of all, as I get to sleep on a super comfy king-sized bed all to my own, nightly, as after this it’s back to my own room, where Bro shares with me. Good to note that 2 felines are in there as well.

But it’s great that they’ll be back, cos I miss them both already.

It’s more than just cliche but one really never know how much we can miss our family, until they’re away from us.

I suppose absinthe absence does make the heart grows fonder.

Disappointment, sadness, grievances and regrets might be associated at the wake, pun intended, of Liverpool’s Champions League exit, but in my eyes it is actually more of a boon than a bane.

I welcome the exit with welcome arms, not because I harbour no reservations of being the Champions of the UCL again ( I do want them to win, next year perhaps~), but mostly due to the fact that I get to see the Liverpool players as mere humans again.

This exit did not turn Rafa Benitez into a bad manager or the Liverpool players into bad footballers, and if anything it goes to show how beautifullly unexpected the beautiful game can be, and how magnificient and feet-firmly-rooted -to-the-grounds Liverpudlians can be.

Nothing can be taken for granted, and certainly in Liverpool’s case, their entry into the Europa league cannot be regarded as a misadventure, but instead as an opportunity to put in the right foot at the right time.

Blessed (thankfully) with the sudden lack of boardroom drama this season, the teamsheet for Liverpool is suddenly blighted with injuries and the sudden bountyful visits of lady luck to opposing teams, where non other than the beach ball incident comes to mind.

There are plenty more games of football to be played and we’re not even halfway into a season and shoddy calls of a disaster / crisis period looms over Anfield, and I strongly disagree.

If a team plays badly without conviction nor determination, and where the Manager goes into a press conference with his hands held up surrendering and spouting weakness in his every words, and when the Board of Directors starts praising other Managers, and until then, there is nothing remotely resembling a crisis at Anfield.

Imagine Manchester United without Rooney or Berbatov, Giggs or Scholes, and Vidic or Ferdinand.

Imagine Chelsea without Drogba or Anelka, Essien or Lampard, and Terry or Carvalho.

Imagine Arsenal without Van Persie or Arshavin, Fabregas or Denilson, and Vermaelan or Gallas.

Then imagine Liverpool without Torres or Gerrard, Riera or Aquilani, and Johnson or Agger, except for the fact that there are games when all of them have not featured at all.

It’s not as if the players aren’t trying as you can see how they grimace and despair over loss oppportunities and inexplicable setbacks such as a mistimed injury.

The severity of injuries to key first team players have affected the results and until everyone plays together on the same field at the same time, it’s an unfair judgement that’s being passed around the walls of Anfield at this moment.

Remember the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover?

Well, perhaps for now, try not to judge a team by a 4 monthed scorecard.