12th Jan 2015
Anyone else bored by the upcoming Ballon D’or and all the fuss surrounding it? I know I am.
Personally I felt it was much better when it was decided by journalists and was fairly low key. Now it’s just another excuse for Fifa to bask in its self-perceived glory as it hands out a series of trinkets and everyone has a good jolly up, probably paid for by Fifa’s gargantuan “rainy day” fund.
Football is a team game so why are we now so obsessed with the individual?
We can all agree that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the best two footballers on the planet but neither of them would have had the success they’ve had without their team-mates.
The World Cup was the biggest tournament of 2014 and it was won by the best team: Germany. Coincidently, they beat arguably the second best team in the final, Argentina, starring Messi but his individual genius wasn’t enough to match Germany’s collective excellence and they lifted football’s biggest prize.
Manuel Neuer, goalkeeper of that Germany team, is the other man on the shortlist (not that you’d know it) and sadly won’t even get a look in. That said he has now won almost everything that really matters in the game so I suspect he’s not that bothered about it.
Related to this matter, have two footballers ever polarized opinion as much as Ronaldo and Messi? It seems that few people are capable of enjoying both players for what they are: world beating footballers.
A quick glance at fan forums and most fans, it seems, are either firmly in Messi’s camp or are a Ronaldo fan. Their almost fanatical support leads them to mock the other player’s success – “penaldo” and “penassi” (come on folks, grow up) – and abuse anyone whose opinion doesn’t match their own.
For perfect example of this see the disgusting tweets that The Times journalist Rory Smith received when he suggested that some are turning from Messi in light of his recent dummy spitting.
Personally I think Messi is the better all round player of the two but can appreciate Ronaldo for what he is too: a phenomenon as an athlete and footballer.
We’re lucky that we’re in an age where we can say we witnessed two of the greatest players to have ever graced football fields in their prime; why not just enjoy it?!
Big fuss made over Sterling’s Jamaican break
The day before Liverpool beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, Raheem Sterling posted a picture of himself on holiday in Jamaica.
Sterling had been granted leave by Brendan Rodgers to return to the country of his birth and it was met with astonishment. Why? Seems like sensible management to me: protect your best asset. England (foolishly) doesn’t have a winter break so what else is Rodgers to do?
Despite having recently turned 20, Sterling has played more minutes than any outfield player in the Premier League this season and apparently just 188 minutes less than he played ALL last season. That’s also coming off the back of a summer (ok, a small part of it) spent with the England team.
Rodgers had earlier in the season spoken of wanting to protect Sterling from burnout but, in the wake of Liverpool’s disappointing form this season, has been forced to play the young star far more than he wanted.
Other managers, namely Sir Alex Ferguson, have sent important players away midseason, being of the view that they would be fresh for the second half of the season. From what Rodgers has said it would appear this had been the plan all along.
If Sterling comes back refreshed and raring to go, as he should, then it’s no big deal.
One area where it might cause consternation is if other players feel aggrieved that Sterling has been given preferential treatment by being granted an additional break but what it has done is given members of the squad on the fringes of the first team a chance to step up in his absence.
Lazar Markovic did just that in the 1-0 win at Sunderland, scoring his first Premier League goal and he looks like he’s ready to kick on in the second half of the season which will boost Liverpool’s chances of making the top four and challenging in the cups.
If Liverpool had failed to win their two games then perhaps questions could have been asked but they didn’t, end of story.
AFC Asian Cup 2015 off to an excellent start
Asia’s biggest football championships got started in Melbourne on Friday and if the first four days of football are anything to go by, we’re in for a fantastic tournament.
The hosts got off to a great start last Friday, dispatching Kuwait 4-1 despite going a goal down. The match was played at a great tempo in front of a passionate home support and set the right note for what’s followed.
The crowds have been good and will no doubt increase in volume as tournament fever starts to grip the nation.
The Aussies know how to stage big sporting tournaments and really get the locals involved. This is another reason it is so frustrating that the 2022 World Cup is heading to Qatar rather than Australia.
The atmosphere at the Iran vs Bahrain game was superb and there was some great football served up by Carlos Queiroz’s team. That was followed by an effervescent performance by the UAE as they dispatched Qatar 4-1.
I will be heading to Australia to cover the latter stages of the tournament and am looking forward to getting involved on ground level.
As a sport, football is on the increase in Australia but will always be up against the stiffest of opposition in the form of AFL, rugby league, rugby union, and cricket.
That said, a successful tournament on home soil, coupled with a Socceroos win would really establish football in the Aussie psyche and that can only be a good thing for the world game.