Sunday, May 29, 2011
BARCELONA AT SOCCER'S SUMMIT
by Wayne Robins
Two shots of Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager and embodiment of a quarter century of Manchester United dominance, told the story of the UEFA Champions League final Saturday at London's Wembley Stadium.
With about five minutes left in regulation, Sir Alex was wound tight as a tourniquet. With his team down 3-1 against Barcelona, the camera closed in on the manager's hands clenching, his jaws chomping chewing gum, his feet anxiously tapping. The agony of the competitor, unable to alter the outcome, each final moment an endurable burden. Manchester United, under Sir Alex, has won an enviable bounty of trophies, including just last week, that of the English Premier League that they have taken to worldwide prominence.
But they weren't winning this one.
And so when it was over minutes later, Barcelona not just victorious but undeniable in their dominance, Sir Alex gave the customary handshake to the triumphant opposition manager, Pep Guardiola. It was not the grimacing handshake of bitter defeat. Sir Alex showed a broad sincere grin, quite nearly the involuntarily laughter of one who had been through a rather spectacular experience. This loss had no pain, no Sting, no Sting singing "King of Pain." Sir Alex knew his team was good, played with effort, intelligence, and heart.
The two best teams in club soccer over the last few years, Barcelona and Manchester United, their high profile coaches, multimillionaire superstars and multiethnic, multinational casts of outstanding players, had met on British territory, London's Wembley Stadium, and each brought their best game. And when it was over, Sir Alex and the proud, the strong, Manchester United, had experienced the privilege of losing a very good soccer game to one of the greatest soccer teams of the last 100 years.
For once, the duel of these modern titans lived up to its billing. The stars of both teams were both spectacular: Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney each scored goals. So did each of Messi's partners on Barcelona's ridiculously formidable front line: Pedro (Rodriguez), who opened the scoring in minute 27 on the right flank, on a sweet pass from Xavi. Just seven minutes later, Rooney kicked through the equalizer.
Rooney, who had begun the season as a potentially fatal distraction to Man U—hurt, ineffective, and so disengaged and isolated that he was widely expected to leave the team—played his heart out. Even as the minutes ticked away from his team, Rooney ran down the ball at both ends of the field, competing fiercely, trying to turn the tide by any legal means necessary. (But one wonders: What were Rooney and Sir Alex arguing about on the sideline in the 43rd minute?)
Manchester United began the game with an aggressive full field press, hoping to keep Barcelona off balance and perhaps strike an early goal that would create a little doubt in the Spanish team. As a sign that Barcelona might have been overconfident, there were two or three times in the first 10 minutes when the Spanish goalkeeper Victor Valdes came exceedingly far out of the box to intercept the ball. A lapse in timing, touch or balance might have led to easy, early Manchester goals.
But Barcelona, known for its lightning strike counterattacks when pressed, held ground, and after withstanding the Manchester push without really allowing even a close shot, went on the attack. From then on, the statistical domination told the tale: Barcelona held the ball for about two-thirds of the playing time, much of it in Manchester territory.
Nevertheless, at the half, it was tied 1-1, and Messi, by acclamation the game's most gifted, exciting and dangerous player, had been held in check. Man U's strategy was to use a box defense: keep four men in position around Messi in the hope of keeping him out of Barcelona's pinpoint passing game. But in the 54th minute, the agile and speedy Messi got the ball, and the defenders blinked: Instead of closing in, they went back on their heels, thinking Messi too distant to strike. Messi, instead of doing one of his sensational dribbles through the defense, took a step sideways, and kicked the ball high with his left foot into the right corner of the Manchester net. "Corner" actually, is an exaggeration: The ball was about 15 yards inside the right post, but Manchester goalie Edwin van der Sar had already committed to covering the left side and had no chance.
Both teams played hard. Manchester defender Antonio Valencia seemed in constant danger of a yellow card as the team's physical enforcer, occasionally with a forearm or elbow. Barca's Dani Alves drew a yellow at 59, followed by one for Man U's Michael Carrick at 61. But they were for rule infractions rather than dirty play. The tough but fair Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai allowed this one to be settled on the field. And when David Villa put Barcelona ahead 3-1 in the 69th minute, it was settled. And a very good Manchester United team needed no excuses, no apologies, no hard feelings. "I think they're the best team we've played," Sir Alex said after the game. "(We were) well-beaten."
Google News
Two shots of Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager and embodiment of a quarter century of Manchester United dominance, told the story of the UEFA Champions League final Saturday at London's Wembley Stadium.
With about five minutes left in regulation, Sir Alex was wound tight as a tourniquet. With his team down 3-1 against Barcelona, the camera closed in on the manager's hands clenching, his jaws chomping chewing gum, his feet anxiously tapping. The agony of the competitor, unable to alter the outcome, each final moment an endurable burden. Manchester United, under Sir Alex, has won an enviable bounty of trophies, including just last week, that of the English Premier League that they have taken to worldwide prominence.
But they weren't winning this one.
And so when it was over minutes later, Barcelona not just victorious but undeniable in their dominance, Sir Alex gave the customary handshake to the triumphant opposition manager, Pep Guardiola. It was not the grimacing handshake of bitter defeat. Sir Alex showed a broad sincere grin, quite nearly the involuntarily laughter of one who had been through a rather spectacular experience. This loss had no pain, no Sting, no Sting singing "King of Pain." Sir Alex knew his team was good, played with effort, intelligence, and heart.
The two best teams in club soccer over the last few years, Barcelona and Manchester United, their high profile coaches, multimillionaire superstars and multiethnic, multinational casts of outstanding players, had met on British territory, London's Wembley Stadium, and each brought their best game. And when it was over, Sir Alex and the proud, the strong, Manchester United, had experienced the privilege of losing a very good soccer game to one of the greatest soccer teams of the last 100 years.
For once, the duel of these modern titans lived up to its billing. The stars of both teams were both spectacular: Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney each scored goals. So did each of Messi's partners on Barcelona's ridiculously formidable front line: Pedro (Rodriguez), who opened the scoring in minute 27 on the right flank, on a sweet pass from Xavi. Just seven minutes later, Rooney kicked through the equalizer.
Rooney, who had begun the season as a potentially fatal distraction to Man U—hurt, ineffective, and so disengaged and isolated that he was widely expected to leave the team—played his heart out. Even as the minutes ticked away from his team, Rooney ran down the ball at both ends of the field, competing fiercely, trying to turn the tide by any legal means necessary. (But one wonders: What were Rooney and Sir Alex arguing about on the sideline in the 43rd minute?)
Manchester United began the game with an aggressive full field press, hoping to keep Barcelona off balance and perhaps strike an early goal that would create a little doubt in the Spanish team. As a sign that Barcelona might have been overconfident, there were two or three times in the first 10 minutes when the Spanish goalkeeper Victor Valdes came exceedingly far out of the box to intercept the ball. A lapse in timing, touch or balance might have led to easy, early Manchester goals.
But Barcelona, known for its lightning strike counterattacks when pressed, held ground, and after withstanding the Manchester push without really allowing even a close shot, went on the attack. From then on, the statistical domination told the tale: Barcelona held the ball for about two-thirds of the playing time, much of it in Manchester territory.
Nevertheless, at the half, it was tied 1-1, and Messi, by acclamation the game's most gifted, exciting and dangerous player, had been held in check. Man U's strategy was to use a box defense: keep four men in position around Messi in the hope of keeping him out of Barcelona's pinpoint passing game. But in the 54th minute, the agile and speedy Messi got the ball, and the defenders blinked: Instead of closing in, they went back on their heels, thinking Messi too distant to strike. Messi, instead of doing one of his sensational dribbles through the defense, took a step sideways, and kicked the ball high with his left foot into the right corner of the Manchester net. "Corner" actually, is an exaggeration: The ball was about 15 yards inside the right post, but Manchester goalie Edwin van der Sar had already committed to covering the left side and had no chance.
Both teams played hard. Manchester defender Antonio Valencia seemed in constant danger of a yellow card as the team's physical enforcer, occasionally with a forearm or elbow. Barca's Dani Alves drew a yellow at 59, followed by one for Man U's Michael Carrick at 61. But they were for rule infractions rather than dirty play. The tough but fair Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai allowed this one to be settled on the field. And when David Villa put Barcelona ahead 3-1 in the 69th minute, it was settled. And a very good Manchester United team needed no excuses, no apologies, no hard feelings. "I think they're the best team we've played," Sir Alex said after the game. "(We were) well-beaten."
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Labels: Barcelona, futbol, Manchester United, Messi, Sir Alex, soccer, UEFA, Wayne Rooney
Sunday, March 06, 2011
AMBUSH AT ANFIELD: KUYT'S FAB THREE LIFT LIVERPOOL
by Wayne Robins
Two thousand years ago (give or take a year or two) Arminius forged an historic ambush as his Germanic warriors surprised and slaughtered the invading Roman army in the Teutoburg Forest. Manchester United must have felt like that Sunday afternoon in Anfield as they showed up the favorite for a match at Liverpool. Liverpool had other plans, and throttled Man U 3-1. The game wasn't as close as even that lopsided score suggests.
Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt was credited with all three goals; his new teammate, Luis Suarez, set up the ball perfectly for him on two of the goals. It could have been four nil had a late surge by Liverpool not been turned back. Man U didn't score in the 90 minutes of regulation; a header by Hernandez in stoppage time enabled the world's most famous sports franchise avoid a clean sheet, or shut out.
By that time, the Liverpool crowd was singing the loudest version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" since Megadeth performed it at a Monsters of Rock tour sound check in the 1980s.
In terms of soccer relativity, Liverpool's manhandling of Manchester essentially changed the outcome of Saturday's tie between Arsenal and Sunderland. That match ended nil-nil thanks to the heroic goalkeeping of Sunderland's 21-year-old Simon Mignolet, whose stops were often spectacular.
With Sunderland having lost four in a row, and heavily favored home team Arsenal needing to keep from falling further behind Manchester United in the Barclay's Premier League standings, yesterday the tie looked like an Arsenal loss. Instead, Arsenal gained a point on Man U; while a win would have closed the gap between Man U and Arsenal to one point (60-59) in the standings, the Gunners trail by three, (60-57) recoupable in one game. Saturday, March 12, Arsenal is at Manchester United. How big will that be? Well, not that big: It's not a Premier League match, but part of the FA Cup, yet another distraction for the two leading teams.
Yet one still wonders which Arsenal and which Man U show up. The Arsenal that lost the Carling Cup to Birmingham and tied Sunderland? Or the Arsenal that weeks ago beat Barcelona in the EUFA Champions League? Perhaps Arsenal was tired and distracted Saturday: the road to Manchester next week goes through Barcelona in the EUFA round of 16 home-and-home on Tuesday. Last year, Barcelona trampled Arsenal, 4-1 in Spain. Carling Cup, EUFA—isn't the Premier League tough enough without those distractions?
And whither suddenly vulnerable Man U? Earlier in the week, it lost a fierce battle with erratic Chelsea, and Sunday was cold-cocked by Liverpool. The ambush by Arminius stopped the spread of the Roman Empire into Central Europe; will Liverpool's turning back Manchester similarly alter the course of this Premier League season?
Google News
Two thousand years ago (give or take a year or two) Arminius forged an historic ambush as his Germanic warriors surprised and slaughtered the invading Roman army in the Teutoburg Forest. Manchester United must have felt like that Sunday afternoon in Anfield as they showed up the favorite for a match at Liverpool. Liverpool had other plans, and throttled Man U 3-1. The game wasn't as close as even that lopsided score suggests.
Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt was credited with all three goals; his new teammate, Luis Suarez, set up the ball perfectly for him on two of the goals. It could have been four nil had a late surge by Liverpool not been turned back. Man U didn't score in the 90 minutes of regulation; a header by Hernandez in stoppage time enabled the world's most famous sports franchise avoid a clean sheet, or shut out.
By that time, the Liverpool crowd was singing the loudest version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" since Megadeth performed it at a Monsters of Rock tour sound check in the 1980s.
In terms of soccer relativity, Liverpool's manhandling of Manchester essentially changed the outcome of Saturday's tie between Arsenal and Sunderland. That match ended nil-nil thanks to the heroic goalkeeping of Sunderland's 21-year-old Simon Mignolet, whose stops were often spectacular.
With Sunderland having lost four in a row, and heavily favored home team Arsenal needing to keep from falling further behind Manchester United in the Barclay's Premier League standings, yesterday the tie looked like an Arsenal loss. Instead, Arsenal gained a point on Man U; while a win would have closed the gap between Man U and Arsenal to one point (60-59) in the standings, the Gunners trail by three, (60-57) recoupable in one game. Saturday, March 12, Arsenal is at Manchester United. How big will that be? Well, not that big: It's not a Premier League match, but part of the FA Cup, yet another distraction for the two leading teams.
Yet one still wonders which Arsenal and which Man U show up. The Arsenal that lost the Carling Cup to Birmingham and tied Sunderland? Or the Arsenal that weeks ago beat Barcelona in the EUFA Champions League? Perhaps Arsenal was tired and distracted Saturday: the road to Manchester next week goes through Barcelona in the EUFA round of 16 home-and-home on Tuesday. Last year, Barcelona trampled Arsenal, 4-1 in Spain. Carling Cup, EUFA—isn't the Premier League tough enough without those distractions?
And whither suddenly vulnerable Man U? Earlier in the week, it lost a fierce battle with erratic Chelsea, and Sunday was cold-cocked by Liverpool. The ambush by Arminius stopped the spread of the Roman Empire into Central Europe; will Liverpool's turning back Manchester similarly alter the course of this Premier League season?
Google News
Labels: Arsenal, Barcelona, Barclay's Premier League, Fab, Liverpool, Manchester United, soccer
Sunday, October 17, 2010
MAN U LOSES TIE TO WEST BROM
By Wayne Robins
Or, to put it another way, West Bromwich Albion defeated Manchester United Saturday afternoon, 2-2.
This is one of those results that makes some Americans soccer phobic: Americans find unbearable: How can you play for 90 minutes and enjoy a tie? Manchester United, the mighty mights of the English Premier League and on some level the world's premier sports franchise, was well favored playing at home in front of more than 75,000 of its loyalists against the surprising West Bromwich Albion (WBA). And game adhered to the script almost from the beginning: After five minutes, WBA goalkeeper Carson blocked a Man U shot, but made the mistake of deflecting the ball, which bounced in front of the waiting foot of Man U's Hernandez for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead.
WBA's defense was porous, Man U poured on the pressure, and when Nari scored a too easy goal as the 24th minute ticked to 25, the 2-0 lead for Manchester seemed so insurmountable that I switched from ESPN2 to Fox Sports Channel, where Birmingham City's Nikola Zigic, a 6' 8" Serbian, popped a header past the Arsenal keeper for a goal that seemed inevitable: As the announcer put it, "From the moment it left his head, that ball was destined for the far corner" of the net.
Arsenal has been underachieving so far this season: the Birm City goal ended any chance of Arsenal achieving a "clean sheet" or shut out, as we Americans call it. One nil Birm City.
But some reprehensible refereeing changed the course of the match. The ref, Martin Atkinson, called a penalty on Birmingham defender Scott Dann near the goal as Arsenal's Chamakh fell to the ground despite what the replays showed was no contact. "I have to say Martin Atkinson made a mistake; he (Chamakh) simulated the situation," was the polite way the Fox announcer described it. But the damage had been done: Arsenal's Nasri easily beat the goalie on a free penalty kick, and it was 1-1. A few minutes later, Chamakh, the Moroccan striker, hit the ground again, and the announcers began to mock him outright. "Let's call it a low pain threshold," they said. At this point, their accusation was literal: "Birmingham is disgusted. Every player to a man knows Chamakh was guilty of diving." It ended 2-1 Arsenal.
At halftime, I went upstairs to play Snood.
This always takes longer than planned, and so when I came downstairs, it was around the 60 minute mark, and Arsenal had scored another goal. Birmingham did not seem able to overcome the sense of futility Atkinson's call had instilled in them, so I switched back to the Manchester United - West Bromwich Albion match. And it was 2-2!
Late in that game, around the 80th minute, another extremely dubious call favoring Man U, the home team, gave them a penalty kick. The kick was taken by one-time Mr. English football Wayne Rooney, who reportedly will be sold by Man U in January. He's not getting along with team manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Something about Rooney cavorting with two prostitutes while his wife was five months pregnant. And not playing well at all. Rooney's kick was way wide and his effort, like much of his play this season, seemed subpar. Ian Darke, the soccer announcer whose articulation and knowledge is to Man U matches what the great Vin Scully is to Dodgers baseball games, described the home team mood in one word: "Consternation."
Hardly any visiting team ever comes back from 2-nil down at Manchester United's turf. But uncharacteristic bad bounces and misplays around the goal had allowed WBA to tie it up, freaking out Man U and its supporters, who feel quite the sense of entitlement when they have a lead at home.
When it was over, the Man U fans throatily booed, while West Bromwich Albion rooters were overjoyed. In Premier League football, a team gets three points for a win, no points for a loss, and one point for a tie: League standings are based on such point accumulations. So West Bromwich got a point it did not expect to receive; Man U did not get the three points it expected, settling for the one point tie.
Psychologically, Man U felt like it lost two points, WBA felt like it gained one. As Ian Darke said post-match: "A great point for Bromwich, a worry for Manchester United."
Which is why it is easy to see that in the game ending 2-2, West Bromwich won—and Manchester lost. Just do the math.
Google News
Or, to put it another way, West Bromwich Albion defeated Manchester United Saturday afternoon, 2-2.
This is one of those results that makes some Americans soccer phobic: Americans find unbearable: How can you play for 90 minutes and enjoy a tie? Manchester United, the mighty mights of the English Premier League and on some level the world's premier sports franchise, was well favored playing at home in front of more than 75,000 of its loyalists against the surprising West Bromwich Albion (WBA). And game adhered to the script almost from the beginning: After five minutes, WBA goalkeeper Carson blocked a Man U shot, but made the mistake of deflecting the ball, which bounced in front of the waiting foot of Man U's Hernandez for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead.
WBA's defense was porous, Man U poured on the pressure, and when Nari scored a too easy goal as the 24th minute ticked to 25, the 2-0 lead for Manchester seemed so insurmountable that I switched from ESPN2 to Fox Sports Channel, where Birmingham City's Nikola Zigic, a 6' 8" Serbian, popped a header past the Arsenal keeper for a goal that seemed inevitable: As the announcer put it, "From the moment it left his head, that ball was destined for the far corner" of the net.
Arsenal has been underachieving so far this season: the Birm City goal ended any chance of Arsenal achieving a "clean sheet" or shut out, as we Americans call it. One nil Birm City.
But some reprehensible refereeing changed the course of the match. The ref, Martin Atkinson, called a penalty on Birmingham defender Scott Dann near the goal as Arsenal's Chamakh fell to the ground despite what the replays showed was no contact. "I have to say Martin Atkinson made a mistake; he (Chamakh) simulated the situation," was the polite way the Fox announcer described it. But the damage had been done: Arsenal's Nasri easily beat the goalie on a free penalty kick, and it was 1-1. A few minutes later, Chamakh, the Moroccan striker, hit the ground again, and the announcers began to mock him outright. "Let's call it a low pain threshold," they said. At this point, their accusation was literal: "Birmingham is disgusted. Every player to a man knows Chamakh was guilty of diving." It ended 2-1 Arsenal.
At halftime, I went upstairs to play Snood.
This always takes longer than planned, and so when I came downstairs, it was around the 60 minute mark, and Arsenal had scored another goal. Birmingham did not seem able to overcome the sense of futility Atkinson's call had instilled in them, so I switched back to the Manchester United - West Bromwich Albion match. And it was 2-2!
Late in that game, around the 80th minute, another extremely dubious call favoring Man U, the home team, gave them a penalty kick. The kick was taken by one-time Mr. English football Wayne Rooney, who reportedly will be sold by Man U in January. He's not getting along with team manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Something about Rooney cavorting with two prostitutes while his wife was five months pregnant. And not playing well at all. Rooney's kick was way wide and his effort, like much of his play this season, seemed subpar. Ian Darke, the soccer announcer whose articulation and knowledge is to Man U matches what the great Vin Scully is to Dodgers baseball games, described the home team mood in one word: "Consternation."
Hardly any visiting team ever comes back from 2-nil down at Manchester United's turf. But uncharacteristic bad bounces and misplays around the goal had allowed WBA to tie it up, freaking out Man U and its supporters, who feel quite the sense of entitlement when they have a lead at home.
When it was over, the Man U fans throatily booed, while West Bromwich Albion rooters were overjoyed. In Premier League football, a team gets three points for a win, no points for a loss, and one point for a tie: League standings are based on such point accumulations. So West Bromwich got a point it did not expect to receive; Man U did not get the three points it expected, settling for the one point tie.
Psychologically, Man U felt like it lost two points, WBA felt like it gained one. As Ian Darke said post-match: "A great point for Bromwich, a worry for Manchester United."
Which is why it is easy to see that in the game ending 2-2, West Bromwich won—and Manchester lost. Just do the math.
Google News
Labels: Arsenal, English Premier League, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney
