Football Rants

Liverpool's fixtures for the 2011-12 (Premier League)

2011-06-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

Fernando Torres First Training Session With Chelsea FC

2011-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

(Source: Daily Mail UK)

I am still gutted!

Betrayal!!

2011-01-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

"One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope"

That's what all Liverpool fans all around the world are saying when it was confirmed that Fernando Torres has signed for Chelsea. When it was first rumored that Chelsea came in with 35m Pounds for him, I thought to myself no way he will ever join Chelsea because of the rivalry between the two sides, but reality came and bit me right in the ass. It is now confirmed that he has joined Chelsea for 50m pounds and has now also confirmed his status at Liverpool as a traitor. "I will never join any other English club, Athletico Madrid was my club in Spain and Liverpool is my club in England", those we his exact words in his autobiography and well guess what Torres? you lied!

We all could accept that you will leave Liverpool someday but to leave for Chelsea is not acceptable in any shape or form. You could of ask Liverpool to let you go to any other big club outside England and we would of thanked you for your great service to the club, we would have put you down as a forever Liverpool legend and would have sang songs of your past glories until we die.But that's all gone now. You have (in our hearts) sank lower then Micheal Owen did, he left Liverpool hanging for Real Madrid and after that his career just went down hill.

Yes I understand that you wanted to win trophies and for any footballer, he wants to be judged by the amount of trophies he has won in his career and not for the money he earns. Again I say this Torres, you could have gone anywhere across Europe but you chose Chelsea, big mistake mate! We would have done anything for you to make sure that you are happy and comfortable but you still couldn't see it and couldn't have waited. You say that Chelsea has great fans, think again! this was the same shite fans that wanted Carlo Ancelotti out after some bad results and this was a proven manager with a magnificent CV that won two trophies for them last season. Lets see how they treat you Fernando, they are all smiles to your face when your scoring goals but wait until one or two bad performances and see them stab you in the back. Feels like Deja vu doesn't it Torres?

We all should have seen this coming, I personally felt something fishy was going on in your head, everybody else said that wait until you gain full fitness and we will start to see the goals flowing again but like everybody else,I was not fooled, I've been studying your body language for a few months. You were not working as hard when you first arrived, you we much more selfish, you were not the the same person that arrived 3 years ago. You sulk when nothing is going your way. You never appreciate your team mates efforts.

Some Liverpool fans would argue that how could Liverpool let him leave for Chelsea? well lets get something straight, the Liverpool hierarchy would have never allowed Torres to leave for a rival club, but because there was a clause in his contract that said that if a bid of 50m pounds is offered, then he would be aloud to speak to the bidding club but to our bad luck, Chelsea actually came in and offered that audacious amount of money.

Oh yeah! and one more thing my dear Fernando, I hope you choke and die at Chelsea because you will never get the same treatment you got from us at Liverpool.You were never the biggest thing at Liverpool and you will never be. You claimed that you would never play for any other club in England besides Liverpool.Everybody is replaceable, even you.You thought that You were a big fish in a little pond, no way man! You were a small fish surrounded by smaller fish in a big pond my friend. Because no one not even Fernando Torres is bigger then Liverpool. You are replaceable like everybody else. Good luck with life at Chelsea mate, hope you crash and burn.......

Love,

LIVERPOOL FC FAN

YNWA

Man United vs Liverpool FA Cup 3rd Round (The Verdict)

2011-01-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the verdict in my view from last night's match, first of all I would like to congratulate Man United for winning the match and progressing into the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Now lets get down to business, did Man United deserve to win that match? certainly not. Based on the performance as a whole they did not threaten Liverpool much after they were reduced to ten men and dare I say that if Steven Gerrard was still on the pitch we could have won it, that was how poor man United were last night. Did Liverpool deserved to lose the match? well perhaps, after Steven Gerrard was sent off for a reckless tackle and he did deserve it to. That was not called for, I know that you are 1-0 down and creating little chances in the match, but as captain of your team, you of all must keep a cool head. If there is aggression building up inside you, you must control it but he didn't and he was sent off and effectively lost the game for us and I applaude the referee for making the right decision, that was the right call. For the 2nd minute penalty decision, that was the most bullshit decisions I have ever seen, it was clear to everyone watching that he went down far to easily. The dive was so perfect that I was already holding my score card to give him a perfect ten. The Bulgarian Olympic team scouts were surely watching the match and saying that they have a talented individual that they could add to their diving team come next year. If the referee's sight was blocked off, why didn't the linemen see the dive that SHITE made? Agger barely touched him and he went down 5 seconds later like someone in the crowd shot him right in the head and then again I wish there was.

Credit must go to WoopaTV for producing this brilliant clip & John Paul Francis for finding it on You Tube.

Anyway, what's done is done and Liverpool have to keep their chin up and take the positive from the match. The first positive that they can take is that the team finally worked their socks off, they closed down the United players when they were high up the pitch and limiting their play. The second is that I now know that in Kenny Daglish, the players have a manager that knows how to man manage. Which is very important in football and he will get the player playing for him which was evident last night. Believe me, if Roy Hodgson was still in charge for last night's match, it would have been much worse. I would like to thank Roy Hodgson for his contribution to the team (which was little or nothing) but if you're not performing then it's just time to go.

Yes there were positives to take from the match but there also were negatives. The first negative was that we lost the match and are now out of the FA Cup and the second negative is that Steven Gerrard is now banned for three matches and will miss crucial games for us and the third negative is the attitude of Fernando Torres, when everyone else was working their socks of to try and help the team, he just didn't fancy it at all. He played over 70 minutes and and contributed nothing, this type of attitude is not called for. This is where Kenny needs to stamp his authority onto the team, if you're not performing then you are dropped or even shown the door if your attitude is still the same, because no one is bigger then the club. Either shape up or be shifted out.

There is no need to dwell on what might have been, we just need to look to up and look to the coming games and try to win as many as possible because surely Liverpool have to make it into Europe.That's the minimum target and if they don't,then they will lose out in terms of money generated into the club.

Now is the time Liverpool, pull your socks up and start producing. There are no more excuses, you have a proven manager who has done it in the past and you have passionate fans behind you, cheering you on. Please don't disappoint us.

YNWA

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima

2011-01-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

Better known as RONALDO, was one of the most prolific strikers the world has ever witnessed. In a time when the world idolized the no.10 jersey made famous by Pele, Marodona, Bobby Charlton and many more, he was the guy that dared to dream and make his own mark on the World of football when he made the no. 9 jersey his own. Known as the true no.9 he was the type of player that's only produced ones in a life time.

Born 18th September 1976, He currently ply his trade in Brazil with a football club called Corinthians but lets take a journey back to when it all started, He first became a professional football at the age of 17 when he started to play for Cruzeiro in Brazil where he scored 12 goals in 14 appearances. This was an astonishing feet considering that he was initially rejected by his boyhood team(Flamengo). After the 1994 World Cup he choose to move to Europe with PSV being his preferred destination from the advice of Brazilian legend Romario. In his first season there he scored an astonishing 30 goals in the league but his second season was marred by his first of many serious knee injuries, even then he still managed to score nearly a goal per game for PSV and he finished with 12 goals in 13 appearances. It was here that people were starting to take notice of his abilities and the most noticeable of this was Inter Milan and Barcelona but it was the Catalan club who managed to persuade him and after his two seasons with PSV, he followed his manager who at the time was Sir Bobby Robson to Barcelona for a fee of USD17 million. Even though he only had a brief spell with the Catalans, he still managed to win three trophies with the team and also became the youngest ever player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year and in the same season he finish runner up for the European Player of the year award.

In that season alone, he scored a remarkable 47 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions and was the top scorer in the Spanish league with 34 goals in 37 appearances. From that year till the 2009 season, no one has scored more then 30 goals in the league in one season. A magnificent feat for a then 20 year old.

After contract negotiations broke down between Ronaldo and Barcelona, Inter Milan came and snapped him up for a fee of 19 million Pounds. He adjusted to life in Italy really well, this is where he started to develop into the complete forward we all know now by not just scoring goals but assisting in them as well. In his first season with Inter he won his second FIFA World Player of The Year in a row and also sweeping the European Player of the year award. His second season for Inter was marred by another serious knee injury and only managed a couple of games for the club. In his third season, he only managed to play 7 minutes when his knee buckled under him once again and that required surgery and intensive rehabilitation which would put him out for the rest of the season. Considering that the World Cup was close, many people has lost all hope that he would play. But behind the scenes and behind closed doors, he was secretly undergoing an intense fitness regime to get back to full fitness so that he could make the Brazilian squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. With hard work, dedication and determination, he did make the squad and not only that, he managed to end the competition as the top scorer with 8 goals and also help Brazil win their 5th World Cup title.

After the 2002 World Cup, Real Madrid who be building a super team went in to sign Ronaldo from Inter Milan for a fee of 38 million Pounds and his jersey sales broke all records on the first day alone. His debut for the team was postponed because he had a minor injury. But when he did he did it with swagger, he scored two goals on his debut for Real Madrid and went on to score 23 goals for the club and he also helped the team win the Spanish League and Champions League titles hence confirming his status in the club's history. His form continue for another two season until injuries and weight issues forced then manager at the club Fabio Capello to show him the door.

He later joined AC Milan for an undisclosed fee. But with more injuries and more weight problems reoccurring, this was the main reason for his fall from grace. He only managed to score a hand full of goals and is behind the pecking order at the club in his two seasons there and there was only but one option for him and that was to leave the club.

A not so glorious end to tremendous football genius that on his hey-day, this guy could score against any team. And he won't just score any goal,he will do it with style. He would beat four defenders with his pace and skill, play a little one two with Zidane and after all that is set and done, all is left to do is just to take the ball around the goal keeper for him to put it in the back of the net. It was just that simple for him but it was so freekin' brilliant for us.

Thank You Ronaldo for the excellent football memories...

WE SALUTE & HONOR YOU.

What is wrong with Chelsea FC?

2011-01-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

Well, at the start of the season this team was flying high, they were unbeatable and scoring goals for fun.Now they lay 5th in the table, six points adrift off Man United who lay first with a game in hand mind you. So what went wrong with this team? Their slump started when the board of directors of Chelsea announced the shock sacking of Carlo Ancelotti's assistant. Ray Wilkins was sacked from Chelsea for no apparent reason and it certainly came as a shock to me. He was Chelsea thru and thru. The players looked up to him as a mentor and as a person who could guide them thru thick and thin, but now he is know longer at the club. This could be one reason for Chelsea's fall from grace.In my opinion, the manager at Chelsea football club is merely there to make up the numbers. When Roman Abramovich took over, yes the clubs enjoyed success for more then 50 years but it all comes with consequences. Basically what he wants is to control all aspect of the club. From it's transfer dealings right thru to the pre and post match team talks. For him, money will never be an object because the can afford to buy any damn thing that he wants so when he bought the football club he wanted to run it like a football manager's game. Hiring and firing people is just a part of his fantasy world. Since his take over in 2003, no less then six managers have been booted. A person who is not in the same wave length with him will surely feel his wrath.Well, going back to Chelsea's situation, it's clear that the players are protesting to the handling of Ray Wilkins harsh sacking. They feel that the decision to sack him without any warning is hard done by and this is the best way they feel that they can get back at the people responsible for it. By not performing well on the pitch they are sending a clear message to all involved that they just can go sacking people here and there, they are not just a piece of meat that the owner can just throw around.

But things are going to be OK. It seems that they are slowly coming out of the recent slump in form and they can only look forward to a bright future.

ps: Make some new signing cuz your current squad just needs some
fresh faces to give the team strengths in debt.

What now for Malaysian Football?

2010-12-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, the Malaysian national team won a match against Indonesia in the Suzuki Cup Final 1st leg. It's a massive feat considering that the Indonesians are considered superior to us. To win itself is a massive achievement but to win 3-0 is impressive. But, one advice to all Malaysian, lets not get carried away. Yes, to be in a cup final and to have 1 hand already on the trophy is a proud feeling for any Malaysian, but lets get back to reality and face it people, this Competition is nothing more then a mickey mouse competition compared to others and why does a cup final needs to be a two legged affair is beyond my thinking. Anyway, back to the main topic, by analyzing the performances of the team in this competition it shows that our football has progressed and our future looks bright. If we do eventually win the competition and I hope we do, we can use it as a steeping stone to further develop our football. What impresses me the most not the fact that Malaysia are in the final of a competition nor that they are close to winning it but actually that the team that has Malaysians talking is that the team itself is made out of youngsters. The average age of the team is 23 to 24 years of age. Praises must go out to the manager Raja Gobal and his coaches for developing a young team that is well disciplined mentally, physically, tactically and also for changing their character from a lazy bunch of buggers to individuals who works hard for the team. That means that something is going right somewhere and please don't let politics get involved in this. It will only make thing worse for ourselves. One thing that I am worried about is that these youngsters might get big headed and think that they are already superstars regardless of what happens. If they do then we will be right back where we started, it has always been that way in Malaysian football, we take one step forward and then two steps back.All the hard work done will go down the drain. As for the Suzuki Cup, one advise to the players, It's not over yet! you still have to go to Indonesia and perform. You guys still have 90 minutes to play and I do hope you give it all the best and make us proud by bringing back the Cup.If you do win, congratulations! Enjoy it while you can but there's a lot more work to be done.

Manchester City VS Manchester City

2010-12-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

Things are looking bright for the blue half of Manchester, they are the wealthiest football club in the world, they sit 3rd in the league with two points adrift of the leaders and they have already progressed into the knockout stages of the Europa Cup. Who can stop them now from dominating world football? Because the makings are there for them to do so. As I look at it, no one could stop them from sweeping every competition that they enter in but them selves. They could buy any football player at any price, the manager is practically given a blank checkbook by Mr Sheikh Mansour who is the owner of Manchester City and is worth an estimated 20 billion Pounds. So you see, money is not an object here. They will entice players with lucrative contract that any football player anywhere on earth will have trouble refusing.

As it's shown in the past, money isn't the answer. Don't get me wrong, an injection of funds into a clubs will help immensely. As a club, you wish to create success rather then buy it. That is the opposite of what Manchester City is doing. For them, buying success is the best option because they want results and titles quick but if you have been a student of the game and have been studying it for a long time, you will know that success doesn't come overnight as the saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day" and that my friends is true.

But some people don't get it, players need to gel together and create a calm and friendly atmosphere. They need to have a feeling of togetherness and a feeling of mutual respect for each other and also to have a feeling of love for everything connected to the club. Saying all this, Manchester City does not show any of this as they have demonstrated in recent weeks. Lets take and example of Mario Balotelli, a young and talented footballer with promise but with mush anger in his heart. Since he has signed for the club, he has cause nothing but trouble from being sent off in his first league game to having a training ground bust up with a team mate. Balotelli is not the only problem faced by the manager, their captain Carlos Tevez is another trouble maker, everyone knew the reason he left Manchester United to their bitter rivals was for the cash. Even though his performances on the pitch has been good and being handed the armband by his manager, with that type of aggression and attitude in the dressing room, the club can only go so far. This guy has been holding the club ransom for the pass week declaring that he wants out of the club for family reason and stating that his relationship breakdown with certain club executives is also one of the reasons for him to want to leave Manchester City,which i think is bullshit. But here is the funny thing,Manchester City are insisting of holding on to him. They just down get it, if a player wants to leave then just allow him to leave because if they don't, the player will only sulk and won't preform for the club and it will cause dressing room unrest and this will only lead to bad results on the pitch. The two players that I have mentioned are not the only one's with over sized egos, there are a few more in that dressing room, believe me.

I would like to give an advise to Manchester City, please learn from Real Madrid's mistakes when they went through the "Galaticos" era where they struggled to get world class individuals to preform with each other and went on to only win a handful of titles.You guys should follow the path of Barcelona FC and create talent rather then splashing cash for overrated ones. Get rid of players with bad attitudes that could disrupt the squad's harmony. If you insist in buying talent, buy player with good attitude and respect for everyone in and around the club.

When this is done, then you will slowly but surely start to reap the rewards of you success. If not, you will not progress and internal problems will still exist.

A letter to Roy Hodgson

2010-12-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr Hodgson, we the Livepool fans ask if you would please quit your post as the Liverpool Manager. If you would retire all together it would be even better for the game of football. You should kick back and relax on an island somewhere because you are old and have no passion for the game anymore. What was the Liverpool board(at that time) thinking of when they hired you as successor to Rafa Benitez? who knows. Here's what I think went down, they just sacked Rafa,and Rick Parry turned to Tom Hicks n George Gillet and said, "All right, that's done,what now?" Tom Hick came out with a suggestion "how about we put random names into a hat and pull one out, whoever's name is pulled out will be our manager", Rick then says"I haven't heard a more brilliant idea in my life, lets do it, George, go get me a hat".George then says, "yeah I know". After the hat was given to them, they then continued to insert random names into the hat.Names including from the kitchen chef to the groundsmen right up to the club's janitor. Tom Hick then said:"we need to put one real manager in there, just to make up the numbers in the hat. Lets put Fulham's Roy Hodgson in to the mix because he has experience.He managed many clubs across Europe and he even took Fulham to the Europa Cup Final, He mush be the best top class manager and a candidate for the hat, if he is the lucky draw winner, he will surely bring the glory days back at Liverpool, right guys?" . Rick and George than nodded as approval of that idea. The lucky draw was then conducted and the winner was actually Mr.Roy Hodgson.Congratulations!!!

Then the process of bull shitting him into taking the job at Liverpool began with promises of unlimited funds available. With that kind of guaranty, any manager would be a fool to turn it down. Ultimately Hodgson agreed and was handed the job at Liverpool.Everyone at Anfield was excited as the knew with the appointment of Hodgson that the glory day will surely come back, But the fans were not fooled, particularly me, a life long Liverpool fan which saw Roy Evan come and go, which saw Gerard Houllier come, had a heart attack and then au revoir and even saw Rafa Benitez come and vamosed to Inter Milan. When I heard that Roy Hodgon was appointed, I wasn't convinced. He was well short from the type of manager that could change a club that is in turmoil. What happened was that the previous owners of the club knew that someone else will eventually buy the club and they appointed Roy Hodgson as a parting gift to the Liverpool fans so we could endure the misery that Hodgson would bring to the club. Have we progressed since his appointment? certainly not! we are actually going backward..Even though last season was a disaster, at least we made it into Europe. But, with this current playing style and form we would be lucky not to be relegated from the league. I say this with sadness in my heart when I mention Liverpool with relegation. If it does happen, I will be sad but I won't be surprised.

I know saying Liverpool could be relegated is harsh, but considering the way they are playing at the moment, it could happen, any one remember Leeds United? whom were playing in the Champions League semi final back in 2001 and was even challenging for the league title. That was only 9 years ago and where are they now after they went through the same thing that Liverpool are currently going through? they are now playing their trade in the second tier of English football. For Liverpool to be relegated would be a long shot,but it could happen.

It's easy to blame the manager for the players poor form, but its the manager who picks the team, it's the manager who rallies the players, it's the manager who sets tactics for a match and it's the manager who will give the motivational team talk before, during and after a game. Those are the simple things that could win or lose a football match. Football players are not an intelligent bunch of people but they do appreciate a little pat on the back and a little motivational talk to put fire in their bellies for them to have more impetuous to go out and win the game for the fan and especially for you, the Manager.Ian Holloway is an excellent example, a Manager of a club from a small little town by the seaside called Blackpool.How could a small team like that go to Anfield and win? and go to other places and win as well? because they play with passion for the Club, Manager and their fans. Ian Holloway is the type of person who commands respect from the players in the dressing room and all around the club, that is plain to see in his character and his players duly oblige. I don't think Mr Hodgson offers any thing as such because if any of you get chance to see a football match involving Liverpool, when the camera switches to Roy Hodgson, you will not see him walking up and down the touch line barking orders to players when they are not performing. You will not see him giving instructions to the player to change the their tactics when things are not going well. He will just sit on his chair and bite his nails thinking what pie the misses had cooked up at home for him to eat. He shows no passion, no desire, no hunger and no belief for the the Football Club. These sort of thing tend to rub of on the players as I am witnessing with the current crop of players in every match. I give one advise for all the Liverpool Fans out there, here's a stat for you, Roy Hodgson has only won 1 game away from home in 28 attempts. Well, that is just embarrassing really, if you are ever planning to sleep late at night(here in Asia) to watch a Liverpool away match, please think again, You will just waste you time and energy. Kenny Dalglish came out recently and said that we all have to be patient with the manager and give him more time. Well King Kenny, if we do, I think that the Club will be in much more trouble then it already is.

It sad to see my beloved Liverpool being conducted in this way by an old dull Manager who doesn't have a clue on what he should do and he actually doesn't have a good CV to begin with. If the new owners want to improve things at Anfield, they will have to get rid of Roy Hodgson now. Things will only be worst with him still around. Get in a fresh face that will turn things around in the dressing room. Get someone who will get the players playing again because under Hodgson, It's clear in the players body language that they are not enjoying their football at the moment, full stop.Might I suggest Louis Van Gaal!? Anyone!?

The Ballon d'Or

2010-12-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

Well, the time of year has come to name the best football player on earth. The 3 shortlisted for the award is Lionel Messi (not surprising), Andres Iniesta & Xavi. Also not surprising is that all 3 shortlisted players are from Barcelona's Football Club. What's also amazing is that all 3 players are also from Barcelona's youth academy. This is why I respect this football club, they nurture talent from a young age rather than buy it and aspect them to win thing right away(pun attended Real Madrid).

Don't get me wrong, Barca has the money to compete with any rich club in Europe or in the world for that matter, they can attract any big name to their club without even being interested in the player, but why they dont' follow in their rival's footsteps and just by talent? for one, to cut cost which is the obvious. Second, Barca knows that a team can't be built in a day and a team can win titles in overnight. Footballers are humans after all. We need to adapt to our surroundings, get to know your staff and other players and everyone knows that that can't happen right away. Barcelona has set this in motion behind close doors without anyone knowing what was about to come. Then suddenly with out warning, in 2009 they we unleashed. Winning a Treble of titles under Pep Guardiola in his first season as manager, a beloved son of Barcelona FC. Footballers at Barcelona are not just players, they are family, they would die for each other and this shows with every football match. The team spirit at that football club is second to none. If there is one bad apple among the group of player with could ruin the team spirit, that bad apple will be shifted out and there are a few in recent years.

When we talk about these 3 shortlisted players for the FIFA Player of the Year Award coming through the youth ranks with in Barcelona, we are not talking about only these 3 players , 7 players out of a possible 11 came trough their youth ranks. These same 7 also went on to represent their National team at the 2010 World Cup and won it after years of under achievements.Going back to Barca's youth academy, I believe that there are many more to come as we all witnessed when Barcelona put out a second string starting 11 in the Champions League last week. All 11 players we from the Club's youth academy and actually won the match convincingly. I do believe that this second string players will also one day be known to the world as magnificent football players, trust me.

I don't have any connections to the club nor do I support it, but by what their philosophies are and sticking to what they believe in is what makes me respect this football club.Owh yeah! and the style of football they play is not bad at all and is a joy to watch. Magnifico!!