Damn, in this next two weeks will be (was) the final day of either of these two model professional's career at their respective clubs - the most significant to me being Mr Humility himself, Sami Hyypia. Didn't think it had been 10 years since Gerard Houllier bought him for £3.5 million, then the captain and relatively unknown at Williem II. From there onwards his partnership with first Stephane Henchoz plugged the leak in the notoriously porous Liverpool defence, then with Jamie Carragher to form a solid partnership that was airtight. Everybody thought it was over for him last year when he turned 36 this year and boy did he prove everybody wrong. Never had the pace but his positional awareness is so good, pace became a insignificant as pacey attackers had trouble skinning him. With his powerful play in the air, Sami guarded the Liverpool six yard jealously together with his team mates who came and go. Always the professional & gentleman - when Houllier took the armband off him to give it to Gerrard, many would've thought it was a massive vote of no confidence and yet, the Big Finn carried on without a single complaint ever in his career in the red shirt and put on a tremendous show of defensive acumen one after another. His swansong wasn't yesterday's game vs Spurs, it was a month or so ago when the Reds went to Old Trafford, pillaged and plundered - subbed in the second half, he put on an imperious performance that defied age, Ronaldo, Tevez and Co. It was just a great pity that he won't be leaving Anfield with a league winner's medal, the only thing that eluded him in this decade of excellent service in the red shirt. Going to miss the big man, I will. Always one of my favourite Reds, ever. --- And last but not least, Mr AC Milan himself - Paolo Maldini. I always liked this man - him and Sami aren't so different - in fact they're so similar; perfect gentlemen, model pros and superb defenders. 26 years now for one single club - undivided loyalty that would put many to shame. Compare that to his achievements; 7 Serie A titles and 5 European Cupswinners medals in eight finals appearances, making a grand total of 900 (901 on the 31st) games for the Rossoneri. Always humble in the face of victory, always graceful in defeat. Another one of my faves, Arrivederci Paolo.
bye Maldini, bye Hyppia.....Newcastle, Middlesbourgh & West Brom see you guys in 2010-2011 saeson if you guys do return...
Bring it on! . Next on the list: an orange Messi and this years yellow Iniesta . Ironed on the letters & numbers myself last week after carefull getty images studying . Think it's about perfect . Still have to replace the La Liga patch with a Champions League starbal patch on the yellow Xavi . Side-news: The men who make Barca beautiful
The new home shirt is gorgeous. Will surely get it myself as well, good choice . Still have to buy the one for Iniesta . Henry I was saving for my France jersey and he's not from the barca youth squad anyway . Maybe if he scores the winning goal tomorrow . Otherwise on some Arsenal shirt I can pick up cheap, like the blue barca that was only 15 euro in the Nike outlet .
Anyhow, Newcastle is going down. How about Michael Owen? Where will he go? I think it's a shame that his career has always been overshadowed by injuries...
Mickey Owen's run of injuries has had put a great dent on his career, stealing one of his major abilities - pace; he's still got the skills but not the fitness to go with it. At this age very little number of clubs who are rich (& clueless) enough would splurge the cash for him. He might come in cheaper - say 8 million this time but his wages would still be astronomical. Would you spend that much for a player who is injured half of the time? Michael's a good lad - Gerrard thought he was one of the most talented player's ever had the chance to play with, was head and shoulders ahead of everybody else knocking on the first team door loudly when he was still in the reserves. If you follow trends, I'd imagine he'd go to boyhood club Everton as they often sign former Liverpool players - Rush, McMahon, Beardsley, Ablett etc. If anything, he needs to lower his expectations this year to rebuild the reputation and hopefully gain even half of that form he used to have. Owen can still score - just too unfit to do it often. You will find many Kopites 'sneering' at the thought of him for the perception that he's more interested in his England career and self advancement - left for Madrid when Rafa needed him the most, for nothing. It went downhill from there onwards. Many had the joke that he joined Newcastle just to keep fit for England. I hope he's learnt his lesson this time as many players who went down his path rarely recover from such a setback. Off the pitch though, Michael's bought an entire street worth of houses for his family - mother, father, himself, his sister, brother etc. -- As for the Barmy Army - the top four are now 6 pts behind already next season! Barring Chelsea - the only team that Newcastle would show any kind of fight against - the Toons had been an almost certain 6pts in the bag every season in the league. Sorry to hear about them and the crazy Geordies - their sudden charge up the title against Man Utd was a little premature in hindsight, having been promoted just a couple of seasons ago. The fans became impatient, expectations skyrocketed. The biggest problem? Impatient and disrespectful owners (Mike Ashley, yes I'm talking to you) who tinker too much and not giving enough time for the managers to do their job. In a perverse sense, it's karma to them for treating Sir Bobby Robson like that - Newcastle was a steady ship with him in charge but they forced him out with unrealistic expectations. With golden son Shearer poised to take on the challenge to bring them back up, this should be a lesson learnt - Liverpool and Man Utd spent some time in Division 2 in their past, but the major difference is how patient their supporters and board in investing for long term success, giving undivided support to the manager. Them, and before this, Leeds, are examples of what is wrong with the football world right now - cutthroat football business driving unrealistic expectations over the roof. Chelsea seems to have not heeded the same warnings - Jose, Grant, Felipao and now Hiddink in such a short time. The fact that Guus doing well as the interim manager but decided not to stay beyond this season speaks volumes of how unstable the managerial seat is : success now or die. Alex Ferguson went 7 years without winning a league trophy (26th since their last) and was in deep danger on then. Rafa was in trouble with the board until the fans forced the owners to back off. Successful teams are built upon stable foundations made up of the tripod of manager, players and fans. Bring down one, the rest will fall. You can try to buy your way to success ala Manchester City and Chelsea, but will end up with nothing but a hefty wage bill and sporadic success.
"Who has won the European Cup? Check out our map of all the winners of the European Cup and the Champions League since the competition began in 1956..." [From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8068984.stm]
That map forgot one - Paolo Maldini; 5. Gooooooooo youuuuuuuuuuu Catalan -beeeeeeeeeeep-ers!!! Hope Man Utd dominate play and overwhelm Barcelona but still lose 0 - 1 to 88th minute Messi penalty.
"Keys to the game Barcelona 1. Get the strikers (particularly Henry and Messi, as Eto'o always runs his butt off anyway) to work hard and press United in its own half when you don't have possession. 2. You have an edge in tight spaces; use it. This means push the back four up and congest the middle. Xavi, Messi and Iniesta can thread the needle with the best of them. 3. Don't get sucked forward. United is devastating on the break and, if it sits back, you'll be tempted to bomb on. If you do, keep your shape at the back or you'll pay a hefty price. Manchester United 1. You have an enormous edge on set-pieces. Ronaldo, Vidic, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Rooney -- there is no way Barça can pick up everybody on corners and free kicks. Make sure you exploit this. 2. Don't raise the barricades. In last year's semifinal against this same team, you went ultra-defensive. You may be tempted to do so because it worked for Chelsea in this year's semis (at least to some degree). But this would be a mistake. You're not built to play that way and, besides, if you go a goal down, it will be that much harder to react. 3. Get physical. Not dirty, just physical. Henry will be hobbling anyway. Xavi and Iniesta don't measure up physically with your midfielders. Messi can be rattled, too. Just make sure you keep your discipline." And more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...arcotti/05/26/champs.final/index.html?eref=T1
Possible lineups (only one I've seen so far and this was from 7AM): Barcelona: Victor Valdes (1); Carles Puyol (5), Yaya Toure (24), Gerard Pique (3), Seydou Keita (15); Sergio Busquets (28), Xavi (6), Andres Iniesta (8); Lionel Messi (10), Samuel Eto'o (9) en Thierry Henry (14). Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar (1); John O'Shea (22), Rio Ferdinand (5), Nemanja Vidic (15), Patrice Evra (3); Park Ji-sung (13), Michael Carrick (16), Anderson (8), Ryan Giggs (11); Cristiano Ronaldo (7) en Wayne Rooney (10).
Only one change from above: Sylvinho instead of Keita which you would have expected in the first place.
Wilfred: Michael Owen game was pace. The injuries didn't neccessarily steal this, they stole his best years. Age kills pace. Without it he is nothing. His lack of finishing, skills and thinking are now exposed whereas at one point they were masked by the pace. IMHO he was always overated. Looking at the Map Fergie must seek to get a few more in before he retires. To elevate the club up with Milan, Real & Above liverpool should be his main goal.
