It’s About the Bite

Are you, as I am, intrigued by the bite Jermain Defoe gave to West Ham’s Javier Mascherano?
The UK tabloid The Sun carried pictures of Defoe seeming to bite the Argentine’s upper arm as they sat on the ground following a challenge at White Hart Lane. The Tottenham Hotspur striker was apparently frustrated by a series of rough challenges in the previous ten minutes. Both Mascherano and Defoe were booked and the incident escalated into a mass bout of shoving.
Football fans, including me, are worried. The Times of India was quick in delivering a sharp witticism. It said – First the butt, now the bite.
Tottenham coach Martin Jol has been infinitely ridiculous describing it as ‘part of the game.’
What do we expect in the near future then? More Evander Holyfield moments? Substitutes charging on the pitch with boxing gloves? Players coming on the field armed with cutting instruments in their pockets?
Tottenham coach Martin Jol has been infinitely ridiculous describing it as ‘part of the game.’
He said, “They kicked Defoe thrice in 10 minutes and he wanted to show his frustration in a nice, comical way.”
I would rather have action on the pitch than such divine comedy.

Postscript – By the way, what’s happening to West Ham? They played some sensational football last season, and were only denied the FA Cup by a piece of Steven Gerrard magic. The arrival of Tevez and Mascherano was expected to light up Upton Park and propel this wonderful club with its very dedicated fans into the big league. Quite the opposite has happened – the club slumping to its eighth consecutive defeat and rumours of a takeover. I, for one, am hoping for resurgence.

Getting Real

Enjoyed watching Real Madrid thrash Barcelona in the el clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu. The resurgence of Real holds good not only for Spanish football, but European football in general. For far too long, they have been reduced to a cosmetic outfit boasting of massive talents but delivering little. Barcelona has played some fantastic football meanwhile, running away with the league title for the last two seasons. But as much as I admire Barcelona, I believe they have come winners in a largely one-horse race, with Real in tatters and the likes of Valencia not offering much resistance.
Getting back to the match, I thought Real played some fantastic counter attacking football. The star of the night for me, without a doubt, was Robinho. His swift runs (along the wing and cutting inside towards the centre) tore the Barcelona defence apart – the likes of Puyol and Thuram rendered helpless. Raul and Van Nistelrooy put the Catalans away with clinical finishes in the early minutes of either half.
This resurgence has to be attributed in a large way to Fabio Capello. Arriving this season from the wreck that was Juventus, he has swiftly dismantled the star system. The likes of Beckham and Ronaldo are no longer first-team fixtures, the latter not even getting a look-in from the bench. The defence has been strengthened with the arrival of Cannavaro and Emerson from relegated Juventus. More than anything, they now look like a team at last – prepared to slug it out for each other. Capello warned at the beginning of the season saying he wanted ‘eleven warriors on the pitch.’
The galactico nonsense firmly ended, we might finally have the Real Madrid of yore.

The Red Devils on Fire

Manchester United hammered a listless Liverpool 2-0 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have been on fire this season taking the fight to Chelsea. Not even the most fervent Man Utd fan expected such a thunderous start to the season, with the lack of summer signings and the controversial decision to offload van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid.
Paul Scholes made it perfect in his 500th United game by opening the scoring, getting easily past a snoring Liverpool defence. Later Rio Ferdinand scored a cracker in the second half to all but end Liverpool’s title hopes. Rafael Benitez though thinks he can still win the league. His own players seem to disagree, with keeper Reina warning in the prelude to the game that a defeat at Old Trafford would finish any title hopes for another season.
However it is getting exciting in the EPL, with the battle for the top spot all set to become a triangular battle. Chelsea is being as boring and as firm as ever, not losing sight of United. Arsenal are not far behind, in fourth spot, with a game in hand. They are finally getting in the groove and playing some delightful football, ridiculing Reading with a 4-0 mauling at the Madejski Stadium.
The stage is getting hotter.

Smashing TV’s for Fun

If you had any doubt that footballers were cranks, here is more proof. Cristiano Ronaldo smashes TV’s in his spare time. In an interview to ManUtd.com, he talked about how he unwinds at home, away from the pressures of top-flight football.

He said: “When I was mad once I put a television set up in a tree in my garden and tried to knock it down by kicking a football at it. And it worked! I was mad, really p***** off.”

For us lesser souls, such ways of de-stressing would cost us a fortune within a month.