Monday, June 18, 2007

Season to forget...in review



How many times in life have you been pondering over superfluous questions like “what could have been?”, “if only….” or maybe the idiom “so near yet so far”!! Well, it has been a season of these for my beloved Barça, a season which began with so much hope and optimism, a season which could have been unprecedented in our history, 7 titles!!! “World Champions”, “Greatest team in history”…ah…all that is but a distant dream now!! Coming into the season as Champions League winners and two time La Liga champions, having the most fearsome attacking trio in world football, and a defense which had finally learnt the art of being miserly in crucial situations, and as mentioned, 7 trophies to fight for, to end the year winning only 2 (not to mention, the least important ones) of them, has really crash landed me and all the faithful blaugrana supporters. Disappointing as it is, the dominant feeling I, and most of the Barça faithful including the “faithful” players, have is a lingering sense of disbelief. How can we have the best attack by far, in terms of number of goals scored, the joint best defense, only 33 conceded, and still not win the title hands down? Well, agreed we were caught with our pants down too often in critical moments this season. Player ratings now:

Valdes – 7, got better this year, stayed on the line more often than dance around like a clown in the area, a couple of near post blunders, definitely one of, if not the best, shot stoppers in the world, hopefully will get better…stay
Jorquera – Played too little, but whenever he did play, seemed to concede goals by the buckets
Zambrotta – 4, So much hope on this guy, was supposed to strengthen one of the two weak area in the team, a perfect signing, well he kinda flopped…with rest and some preparation, hopefully will fulfill what we expect from him…stay
Beletti – 4, One of the weak points of last season, he did not play much this year, and he did not look too bad when he did play, but still doesn’t add to the strength of the team….go
Oleguer – 3, lot of mistakes, slow, was better at right back last season…go
Puyol – 6, my hero, looked probably the worst I’ve ever seen him, please get back to old form…no question..our captain..stay
Marquez – 2, he was slipping more and lying flat on the ground rather than running around and making crucial tackles…what a contrast to last year, when he was so solid….really don’t know if he should go or stay…will he get back to form? If he does, he’s one of the best in the world
Thuram – 6, good game, bad game, good game, bad game…looked really solid in all his good games…anyway I suppose this will be his last season…so can stay, gives good experience…but hope he doesn’t complain about playing time and give the coach a headache
Gio – 4, The weakest link last season, looked better this year…same case as Beletti…go
Sylvinho – 4, I like this guy, but go
Edmilson – 2, Very few good games, and that too when he came on as a substitute…a definite must go
Motta – where was he?? Can be so good, but learning too many bad habits and starting to look like Edmilson….looks like he’s gonna go, but I wish he would stay and the staff works on him
Xavi – 5.5, Not the same since the injury, looked back to his best in a few games here and there, but needs to control the game more and keep hold of the ball like he used to….stay
Iniesta – 8, Player of the season for us according to me, only one to look good when everyone seemed to have lost form, still doesn’t give the De La Pena killer through balls though, needs to be played in a position suiting his skills to fully utilize all his talents….stay
Deco – 4, Biggest disappointment of the season for me, gave so many balls away it was untrue, had a couple of good games here and there, made a few goals, but now seems to be living more on reputation than on performance. For all his skills, what appears to be a sheer lack of desire and commitment is seriously hurting us. Heart says stay but head says go…and I want to listen to my head
Giuly – 4, Played quite a bit due to Messi’s injury, was very ineffective, missed some open goals, I like him and there was a time when he scored every other game, but not doing too much now, go
Messi – 7, Injured for a long part of the season, showed he is ready to become the best player in the world, gave moments of joy for us. Now, If only he can keep himself fit. Future of the team, I wish he stays for many, many years to come
Ezquerro – Played too little to be commented upon, should leave for his own good
Gudjohnsen – 5.5, Replacement for Henrik, I believed he was the ideal man for the job. Didn’t play as much as he would have liked, I believe he was made a scapegoat for the team’s failures. He did not play all that bad, could have been better. I want him to stay…but looks like he will be made to go.
Saviola – 5, Was in good form in the middle of the season, but somehow, even though I like him, he is from the dark years, he’s decided to go and I’m not too sad, really don’t want to feel anything about it!!
Ronaldinho – 6.5, Much has been written about his performance this year, to the extent, his weight also came into question. Yes, he is not the same Ronaldinho of last year. He’s lost his acceleration and pace, maybe due to a lack of desire and commitment after winning everything last year. He was not as bad as people made him out to be, huts not as good as everyone wanted him to be. He had some bad games early on where he was non-existent. However, he did score 20 odd goals!! He did produce his moments of magic, but they were more of a standing and great pass variety than beating four defenders with scorching pace. Have we sent he best of him?? I’m not sure, he’s too young to be finished. I still hope, I hope he stays and he is the global symbol of our club, which is important also.
Eto’o – 6, why does he have such a head? He is probably the most important weapon in our attacking arsenal, but he has such a nose for trouble, it’s unbelievable. Probably the dressing room problems that were created by our man were a major cause of the season that was. How do we control a loose cannon like this? He seemed to have changed, but now everyone is wary of him. I can only hope he adopts Buddhism and calms down. I’m really grateful to this guy for the number of goals he’s scored over the 2 magical years…yes grateful. He is the greatest striker in the world without a doubt; I pray he brings positive energy to the team if he stays next year.
Frank Rijkaard – 5, I respect him, he has been a major part of the turnaround, but I’ve always maintained that tactically, he is not that great. His man management skills were his forte, but this year, that too has suffered some major blows. Neeskins is not anywhere near Ten Cate. He tried the 3-4-3 and surprised Zaragoza, but why do it against Real with Oleguer at the back?? Don’t want to him to stay or go, completely undecided on him.

Some thoughts on people we’re looking to sign and youngsters:
Henry – Didn’t want him to come last year, still don’t know how his ego will fit in, If Eto’o or Ronnie go, it might be good if he comes.
Chivu – Don’t know how good he is. Hope he is good individually also and not only in a tight 4 man defense.
Abidal – Want this guy, may not be great, but will reinforce the left side
Yaya Toure – Absolutely clueless on how good he is
Mutu – why?
Boran Krikic – The reason for the why above
Gionanni Dos Santos – About time he came into the team
Crosas – Hope he is good

To sign off, my team for next year would be ( indicates to be determined, Enough of 4-3-3, I’m going with 4-1-2-1-2):




Wednesday, June 6, 2007

The Gods were in town

I live in a land of Gods, some mythological, some human, thousands of them to give a billion people hope and belief. Setting the ones whose address is not recognized by the postal department of any country aside, and the Gods suffixed with "men" and "women" also aside, there are still a few hundreds left. These Gods dominate our everyday influences which determine what we eat and drink, the way we walk, talk and act, our emotions and ideas of love and life in general and also provide fodder for hours of conversation and debate. What do these Gods do?? Movies and entertainment, politics, sport!! Growing up in an society that worships its heroes, and in an era that had people not being satisfied with your average next door God, and expanding their God-radar to include international figures, I had my own entertainment/sport-God list, and my Gods of rock music were in town on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 to quench the thirst of a 15 year wait.


It's been 10 years since they professed to love the sweet taste of India, and when they finally decided to take the plunge and sample it first hand, I just had to be there!! Waiting for the show to explode and the band to appear on stage, I kept telling myself to get a grip and that I have waited for 131490 hours to see this, what’s in a couple more? Then, it happened!! The lights went out, the screen lit up and the Aerosmith logo engulfed the world leading up to a fluttering tri-colour of saffron, white and green, which made the crowd go crazy and pop in approval. As expected, the Gods started off with “Taste of India”, and then the as they say, the rest was history. I always get pumped when I hear “Dream On”, but listening to it live makes me calling it amazing an understatement. Alicia Silverstone lit up the giant screen as they power ballded “Cryin” and had the crowd eating out of their hands. Amidst all this, Tyler did not fail to perform his nefariously delightful antics with ejaculating water bottles from the hip down, giving the middle finger to Kramer during “Falling in love is so hard on the knees”, or revealing his lick me tattoo in a convenient place. It all concluded with their more commercialized, but nevertheless awe-inspiring “I don’t wanna miss a thing”. One unforgettable goose-bumpy evening I went later, the only regret I had was that we weren’t close enough to the stage, which led to the sound not being loud enough for me, but gave me a valuable lesson “Always buy the ticket with the highest price!!”


pic courtesy: www.aeroforceone.com

Friday, June 1, 2007

Is an idle mind really a devil's workshop?

All these years I've just accepted the proverb "An idle mind is a devil's workshop" as something that was very obvious. I'm sure someone had explained the meaning of it to me at a very young age and I faintly remember it to be along the lines of "you should be working always and never be idle, cos being idle will lead you to think and do evil". Today my mind was pretty idle and which got me thinking about this thought-provoking .... well...thought. I realized pretty soon that this proverb is laced with contradictions of preposterous proportions. Did I just type that?? "contradictions of preposterous proportions"???? Oh well, moving on ... the first contradiction it that anything that is idle cannot possibly be in a workshop, at least not doing work in a workshop!! So just staying idle in a workshop, albeit the devil's is not really a problem is it?? The second problem I have with it is the mere insinuation that the devil's workshop is for idle minds. Isn't the devil's workshop usually the one where people are whipped and they are worked harder than they ever would possibly have been on earth, and the devil sits on his throne and checks the temperature of the oil boiling in different pots on his new, swanky corporate dashboard (the idea which btw was probably the suggestion of the consultants who landed up in hell and built by low cost offshore employees whose sin counts just missed the cutoff to the pearly gates). Getting back to the point, it's rather insulting to the devil don’t you think? Also, the fact the sheer generalization that step 1 (idle mind) means step2 (bad stuff) clearly shows the light with which the human race was held before the statement was made. I mean, maybe not an act of genius but something useful might just come out of an idle mind, say like while idly meandering through a garden, some innocuous concept called gravity might be discovered!! Or why go so far back for genius? Take this blog for example, came out of an idle mind!!!!

Now that I've managed to introduce this blog, I really do not need to blabber on about the idle/devil concept anymore. I hereby welcome myself to this new world!! This blog will inspire its readers, make them think twice about opinions they had formed over years and years, make them question their inner soul, connect with a world they never thought existed...YES!!! This blog will do that....hmmm..on second thought...crap it... I'm gonna write about sports, movies, travel, entertainment and fun...and what i like and dislike about all that!!! woohooooo...here goes nothing....