All-England...

It appears that Man U have just gotten their form back in time. We thrashed Southampton 4-0 in the FA Cup today, but I missed the first hour of the match in which three goals were scored.

I didn't want to watch it. After going out so disappointingly to Milan in the Champions League, this was just such an anti-climax. It was the first time in years that I felt such an apathy towards a Man U game (barring those League Cup ones), and Peter Schmeichel echoed my sentiment afterwards. He remarked to Gary Lineker that it was somewhat disappointing to see United play so well this afternoon but not trying as hard as they did today on Tuesday night. Then Alan Hansen and Graeme Le Saux chipped in and talked about the "gulf of class" between Milan and Southampton. But I see Schmikes' point. They were showing replays of how hardworking Wayne Rooney was in tracking back and helping his defenders out. Schmikes said Rooney wasn't doing this at all against Milan. I told Zhengnan my housemate that I'll only be interested in any football again this season if Chelsea were to lose their next Premiership game (and United win theirs).

So I tuned in to the online-streamed version of RTM 2 to watch the All-England semi-finals instead. And after having not watched live badminton for so long a period (as I recall the last live badminton telecast I watched was the World Championships in mid-2003), I've gotta say it it was like a welcome breath of fresh air, like falling in love with an old flame once again. I reckon that if I can have another month of serious practice, badminton would still be my best sport of all those that I play. The only pain in the arse about watching streamed programs was that they always get blur after a while and you'll have to reconnect. And it was not easy getting connected to RTM at all. But Zhengnan told me that RTM's streaming can already be considered good. Just that it was far from as good as the BBC's streaming of the Masters Snooker a few weeks back.

So there I was, watching all the matches shown. I've got nothing to say about the Chen Hong - Lee Chong Wei match, because, close though it was, you always felt like Chen has always got that bit extra to step away from Lee if it got too close for comfort. The other matches didn't interest me much, but I would love to have caught the Zhang Ning - Hirose Eriko game, which went to 3 sets. I would like to see how Eriko-chan looks like! Oh and by the way, Gail Emms has the kind of body I like on a woman. Fleshy and solid.

Now every Malaysian who is interested in badminton would just be waiting to see if Wong Choong Hann can turn the apple cart on Lin Dan, the world no. 1, and meet Chen Hong in the final after Chong Wei's loss. Sad to say, it was two defeats in two for Malaysia, and after the first two very exciting games, with Choong Hann winning the second one (and you thought the momentum was with him), it was a walkover in the decider, with Lin winning 15-1.

What happened? I don't know. RTM's streaming was giving me problems almost throughout the entire third game (didn't I tell you it was a pain in the arse?), so I didn't really see if it was Lin Dan who stepped up three gears, or did Choong Hann went into Reverse. Either way, I don't suppose it would have looked very different.

Again, our badminton players are showing that Malaysians don't really possess that tough mentality to be consistent winners on the world stage. Okay we're always thereabouts at badminton, but we don't win anything, at least not consistently enough. But think deeper. This may not be a bad thing. Why are we so apparently weak up there? I think one of the major reasons is because our country is a peaceful place to live and to grow up in. We have had a more stable childhood compared to maybe some of these children from other countries. Growing up in a comparatively peaceful society does not give us a chance to develop a tough mind. Like Thierry Henry once said in a paper, growing up in Paris taught him how to hate. Malaysians are generally not the sort who beat themselves up over failure. We're upset for a while, but then get over it very quickly. And when we're winning in the first couple of rounds at a tournament, our media goes all out and tells everyone that we'll be able to win it this time...only for us to later fall flat on our faces yet again.

You'll see this phenomenon mirrored in the situation of the England football team. They win a couple of rounds at a tournament, and then their media goes and tells everyone "England have the biggest chance thus far to win the World Cup/Euro 2xxx" or something along those lines. And what happens? They go and lose yet again somewhere later.

I think the BAM should continue to work with the coaches they've got now without trying to change anything anymore. The problem obviously does not lie with the coach. It's all in the players' heads. And maybe some fault of the media as well. I suggest they hire a psychologist for the players instead.

Really.



P/S : Even if Lin Dan were to lose tomorrow, he's done enough to prove why he is the world no.1 this past year.

Where do we go from here?

I just went to the movies to catch a quite impressive French half-musical, if you can call it that, with my two Mauritian classmates, Vic and Ash. The movie was about this middle-aged, male new teacher who was placed in a class of unruly students, and how he got them to share with him in his passion for music, and eventually he turned the whole class of naughty boys into a very good choir. The movie's name? Les Choristes, or in English, The Chorus. Funny, I should think that it should be named The Choir.

So after the movie, Vic and I were discussing about the disappointing Champions League game of the night before. To my surprise, he wasn't really pessimistic about anything today, but in fact offered some encouraging views. But as you would have expected, any "reviews" of any event at all will always contain the phrase "if only".

So Vic started with an "if only". If only Roy Carroll hadn't let in that first Milan goal at Old Trafford, things could actually be very different. The reason would be because at the San Siro, as a consequence of Carroll's mistake, United were forced to adopt a special strategy, as they were in desperate need of a goal. They were compelled to go on the attack as often as possible and as a result, might not have been able to settle into their natural rhythm. Good point, because while not exactly threatening Dida before Carroll's error, I'd say United were in the tie as much as Milan were. If it had been 0-0 in Manchester, United would then be able to play more to their strengths, and might not have been so nervous or hurried in their attack in Milan.
"If only" Ruud van Nistelrooy hadn't suffered such a serious injury, no one would've bet on Dida not needing to pick the ball out of his net at least once over the two legs.

But that was that. So where does this leave us? The FA Cup now seems to be our only realistic chance of a trophy this season, and it seems like last season is repeating itself, though my brother would disagree with that, as he thinks there is still chance for us to win the Premiership if we win all our remaining fixtures. But let's set our sights further here. What have the young players like Ronaldo and Rooney learn on this defeat by Milan? What have we, the fans, learned? More importantly, what have Sir Alex learned? Vic agreed with Sir Alex that this United team are technically better than the '99 side (emphasis on "technically"), and that the only weakness in this team is in the goalkeeping department. But then again, the most glaring irony of football is that, most of the time, the worst player on the pitch is always the one stuck between the posts, but people always forget that he is indeed the most important player of the team. If you don't have a good keeper, you can forget about winning anything at all.

If history does repeat itself, I see United winning the European Cup again in 2-3 years. But the ship must not be rocked. The team must first get a goalkeeper they can trust (either by Tim Howard or Carroll suddenly improving to Peter Schmeichel's level or by buying another keeper), they must remain united, they must not let any Malcolm Glazer nonsense affect their performance on the pitch, Wayne Rooney must check his temper, and Cristiano Ronaldo must realise football is also about using your brains as well your feet. Oh yeah, and if we got a chance at all, we can either nab Steven Gerrard or Rino Gattuso.Or both.

Muted...

To say I was gutted would be an understatement. When I left the Student's Union building I was feeling deflated all the way until I was back at the flat. This really hasn't been a kind evening for Man. United, but more so for me.

I've got to hold my hand up and say Milan were far better than United tonight. All the hype about 1999 and the spirit of Turin and stuff, they are just right where they are, six long years ago. No sign at all of them returning. United couldn't hold on to the ball for two seconds the whole night, sometimes making me wonder if this was really the Manchester United that I've grown so fond of over the years.

Granted, Ryan Giggs did miss a very good opportunity to score for United in the first half but hit the post, and Ronaldo, who could've benefited had Giggs opted to square the ball instead of having a go himself, was unlucky not to get any sort of a rebound off the post. Ruud van Nistelrooy shot just wide off the mark when presented with a chance in the 2nd. half, but to be honest, that one, even if he had hit the target, it would be straight at Dida anyway, who had the shot covered.

Those two chances aside, Milan were very, very comfortable and also had a few good chances themselves and scored one from a beautiful Crespo header. So comfortable in fact, that they make Manchester United, the biggest football club in the world, look extremely ordinary. And it's like they're just content sitting back letting United have a go at them, but when they got the chance to go forward, they seem to be able to create chances at will.

Roy Keane, Ronaldo, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Paul Scholes, and Wayne Rooney, all members of the first team at United, were all ineffective. It's quite hard to try to remember how many, if any, meaningful contributions they made to this match. Okay van Nistelrooy is the one that supplied Giggs with the pass for his chance in the first half. Anything else?

Sir Alex mentioned before the game that he thinks this United side were technically better than the one which won the Treble in 1999. But the '99 side played with far, far more cohesion. You can't find many faults with a team that won the Treble can you??

And to top it all off, Barca had to lose a late dubious goal to "smelly shit" Chelsea, resulting in the Blues going through. Is there no one brave enough to stop the arrogant sore loser Jose Mourinho?? And it seems to me that Chelsea are beginning to emerge from their slump, if you can call a few draws and defeat by Barca in the Champions League "slump" at all (okay, they did lose to Newcastle in the FA Cup, which is all the more surprising...Newcastle?? ). And United are the ones entering into what seems to be yet another mini-slump.

Phuck...

The new Keano?

Now this piece of news from Soccernet comes as a welcome surprise after yesterday's huge setback in our title chase. Gennaro Gattuso of AC Milan has expressed his desire to join United, as soon as "the next year or two." He's not saying he's coming for sure because "Milan is very good to me..." and bla bla bla, but he did mention that he'll be ready to come if the chance fell to him, as early as next season I presume. And he also said he prefers United over Chelsea because of the stadium and because United are the biggest club in the world.

If the chance presents itself, I figure United should make their move right away, given Steven Gerrard's reluctance to join United if he ever leaves Liverpool (and knowing he might most probably go to Chelsea). We need another world-class anchor midfield player to take the mantle from our great Keano, and with Gattuso on our side, I believe our chances of winning the Champions League will be that much better. Fancy him doing his (possible!) future employers a favour at the San Siro on Tuesday night then??

How wrong...

I'm not in a particularly good mood right now. Roy Carroll, United's goalkeeper, has spectacularly proven me wrong, and now I feel like a fool for having spoke too soon. United were going so well before his mistake, and now we're left with a big job on our hands in Milan in a fortnight's time. United really do not need something like this to knock them off their good form. I can't predict anything now...I'm stumped.

Can RvN recover his match fitness in time to rescue us in Milan? Can he score at least once? Can Roy Carroll recover from his mistake and combine with the defence to deny Milan a goal at the San Siro? Can we come back like how we did against Juventus in '99? Oh, I almost forgot the small matter of Andrei Shevchenko and Jaap Stam returning for that game.
I'm stumped...

Fortnight recap...

I've been saving this post until now instead of writing it last week as I felt okay to lump last week's Premiership result with this week's FA Cup action. And it's been a helluva week. And with the Champions League resuming this week, we footie fans are in for treat after treat right up until the end of May.

We'll start with everyone's favourite team, Man U, also known in Cantonese to be Man Luen. We're certainly on a roll, and yesterday's comfortable victory over Everton in the FA Cup just sums up how well we've been playing since our last defeat at Fratton Park. Okay, we did suffer another defeat to Chelsea in the competition that Liverpool have the best chance of winning, but that aside, we've been strolling past opponents with apparent ease. If we didn't score in the first half, you could have counted on us scoring in the second, and sealing the victory with a rock solid display by Carroll and Co. Gordon Strachan, the former United winger and ex-Southampton manager, charted in one of the major papers the strategy that we employed on our way to the win at Man. City. We started the first half against City with Darren Fletcher (who should be given the Scotland captaincy right NOW, instead of letting it remain with the Rangers weakling) on the right and Quinton Fortune on the left, and finished the first half with a scoreless stalemate. While both are good players, Strachan pointed out, neither were the sort of players who would run with the ball and drag opposition full backs out of position. Enter Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs in the second half. More dribbling, more running with the ball, and the rest, as they say, with a cliche, is history. In fact, it's not hard to see where Strachan got that idea from. The first goal just confirms what he says. Giggs, while on the right, came in to the centre and brought his full back marker along with him, lest the ball should be passed on to him. That freed up the space on the right for which Gary Nev could, and normally would, run into. Roy Keane threaded an excellent ball through to the rampaging Neville, who dutifully floored in a square pass to Rooney for the goal. The second goal, well, just unlucky really for Richard Dunne...

At Everton this week, I'd have predicted a 2-0 win, and it was quite a stroll too as I thought. Funny that such a likely result was given an odd of 7/1 by the bookmakers. We weren't really in much trouble at all, but the first goal was another statement of just how important a player Ronaldo is to us. Easily beat two Toffee statues, and then flighted in a delightful cross for which Fortune, a much improved player from last season, headed home. The second goal just underlined how sharp United were, in particular our Portuguese whiz kid, to react quicker than any of the Everton players to stab home the loose ball. Wayne Rooney, to his credit, managed to stay clear of any "Judas" trouble on his return to Merseyside, albeit having a relatively quiet game. This is what is and will be beautifully frightening about United. One week it's Rooney, another week it's Ronaldo. There's no stopping those two! And what if they're unavailable? Scholesey, Giggs, Keano, Smith, Saha, and of course...Ruud. And forgetting a fully fit Ole too!

Now, Roy Carroll was again the subject of conversation following his being an unlucky missile target for some moron. United were always saying they're on a look-out for another keeper. Why need be I wonder? In my opinion, Roy Carroll is our no.1 and he's good enough for that position. He did drop a clanger against Spurs, but who doesn't? He's human after all! Even the Peter The Great experienced the odd mistake or two in his glorious time with United. I say we just offer him a new contract and let the matter rest. It works well for the defence anyway if they know they've got a familiar and reliable keeper behind them. So now we can really look forward to a realistic multiple trophy campaign, given the winning form that we're on right now. I still believe we can catch Chelsea for the Premiership, and I certainly won't put the Champions League and the FA Cup beyond our reach. By no means!

Now, on to Arsenal. Much has been said about Arsene Wenger fielding an entirely foreign team in their impressive 5-1 win against Crystal Palace, but this time I'm siding with Wenger. His job is not to make sure that England (or any of the other Home Nations) have enough young players to take over the mantle from the seniors. That is Sven Eriksson's job (for which he is being paid GBP 3 million a year for, and is very often receiving fair criticism for it). Wenger's job is to make sure Arsenal secure a win, every week if possible. I find it hard to see why the British, who often pride themselves about wanting to be "professional" on their job (a really convenient excuse for being calculative and lazy if you ask me), are having trouble with Wenger just plainly going all out to make sure his team win! Making sure English youngsters develop is not his job, so why should he do it. I think he's absolutely spot on when he said that he does not pick teams based on passports, but rather on quality and attitude, and that when you've trained with these players so often, you forget where they come from most of the time.

I'd have said that Arsenal were right back in form had they won yesterday against a Sheffield United side who's obviously trying to kick Wenger's men off their own park, but they didn't, so I won't say they're back in form. This time I feel it's Wenger's and Dennis Bergkamp's fault. He totally omitted Thierry Henry from the side, chose instead to play a largely second-string side (though I can understand why), and then Dennis Bergkamp got himself sent off. To me, 11 against 11 to an underdog side can sometimes be more than a handful, never mind 10 against 11 for more than a half. Sheffield have really got nothing to lose, and they came at Arsenal like a bunch of hungry bull dogs.

And of course, our review has to end with "Smelly Shit" Chelsea. Lucky but predictable win against a 10-man Everton, but not so lucky today. Mark Lawrenson was spot on with today's result when he predicted a Newcastle win, though he wasn't with the scoreline. I felt it was quite possible too myself, not because Newcastle were playing great, but that Chelsea themselves weren't as fluent as they were a couple of months ago, or more accurately, not as fluent as they were before Arjen Robben got injured. But, just this time, I just felt Jose Mourinho has been too cocky for himself. I know he's a bold man, and he's earned the right to be as brash and arrogant as he is, but he's really made a mistake this time. Okay, he was unlucky, but when he made the three subs at half-time, I was thinking to myself...isn't three the maximum number allowed? Is he really so desperate as to bring on all three at the same time with a whole second half remaining? No cover for any possible injuries later? Well, he had it coming, didn't he. But I guess everyone's entitled to the odd error or two. No more Quadruple (haha!), and no goals against any 11-man side since the injury of Arjen Robben (yeah, remarkable but true). And I won't be surprised if Liverpool were to deny them the League Cup next week. Liverpool, being so consistently inconsistent, that you really just won't know what to expect from them, but I've got a feeling they will turn up for the Carling Cup final. And suddenly, Jose Mourinho doesn't look so dashing anymore on Soccernet, does he?

9 points...

Chelsea have today drawn against their bogey team of this season, Man. City, and as a result, we've closed the gap to 9 points, with 12 games to go. Cause for celebration? Of course not, we're still far from it. No one's entitled to remove that champagne from the ice just yet, not us, not the Chelsea fans, and definitely not the Arsenal fans. But the draw is just a timely reminder, to Chelsea especially, that the title is not won yet, however conclusive the pundits on all the Premiership coverage programs around the world might sound.

We will ourselves be playing Man. City away next weekend, and this actually just gives them the opportunity to either really help us, or negate their influence on the destination of the Premiership title from this week. The thing is, Arsenal seemed to have returned to form after having beaten another of those perenially mediocre Premiership teams, Villa. Villa seemed to show up only at the second half, that I joked with my mate they might be having a hangover in the first half. So whether you look at it from the top or the bottom, we can't afford to slip up. Arsenal are closer to us than we are to Chelsea.

The question on everyone's lips, is this going to be the start of the so-called "blip"?? I hope so! Chelsea, in case you didn't notice (but the pundits and football writers did), only started flying when Arjen Robben arrived. And now that their Dutch winger (who's supposed to be ours but for some fudgery on Peter Kenyon's part) has had his wings clipped, albeit temporarily, does it actually signal something of a problem for them? By the way, Drogba is out as well...so! I doubt that they'll slip up as dramatically as Kevin "I love it!" Keegan's Newcastle of 1996, but...we do hope. For hope is a beautiful thing (quote Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption)...