Silverware or Empty Vessels ?

It was 1999 and football was starting to be broadcast in India. I never liked watching football and kind of found it boring. This was after all the peak of our obsession with cricket. Sometime after India's dismal world cup, I was randomly browsing channels and happened to switch to ESPN. A football match had just started. It was an older match being shown as part of some classics series. I thought - what the hell let me see this match through and see what all that fuss is about. about 100 minutes later, I had experienced one of my best sports viewing moments. In case you were wondering what the game was it's embedded below.

It was my footballing birth. I eventually found more info on Liverpool and read about Shankly and all the league titles and the European cups and Hillsborough ( I used altavista.com !! ) and all the other pieces history. This was also the time when Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher were on their way into the first team. It was a club with history, with young players making it big. It epitomized everything  good about football. I couldn't be anything but a Liverpool fan. It's been an emotional roller coaster ever after. We haven't had the luxury of buying whoever we wanted to, but we've chugged along and fought for some memorable wins and silverware. Arsenal and Manchester United were similar teams. Maybe a different football match on a different day and I may have supported one of them. I guess it's destiny. But all three clubs were gritty, hungry and ambitious and they were and still are doing it the hard way.

Which brings me to the two modern day irritants. Chelsea and Manchester City. Both clubs have virtually no limits as to who they can buy. They are never constrained in the transfer market by where they finished in the league. Now with Manchester City, as there was with Chelsea, is a sense of inevitability that they will retain the league and eventually be champions of Europe. While money doesn't translate into immediate success, the ridiculous kinds being put into these clubs facilitates success sooner rather than later. Sport is one of the very few areas where success must be earned not bought. When I see the likes of Man City, Chelsea and PSG, I feel sad for the rest of the football clubs who know that no matter how good their infrastructure and academies and coaches and first team are it's just a matter of time before they fall behind. I wonder how a Chelsea or Manchester City fan ( and I mean specifically those outside the UK with no obvious ties to the clubs ) can feel proud of their clubs successes. After all who are we kidding. Sure the players in question might have earned it, but the club as an entity has had no role in that success. Behind it all is some rich guy indulging a childhood fantasy of playing FIFA football manager with unlimited cash. It kind of undermines the whole point of forming associations and clubs and ultimately the spirit of the game.

Even if Liverpool were relegated to the championship for a decade, I'd be a Liverpool supporter.Tomorrow if Abramovic or Sheikh Mansour bolted, leaving their clubs to live a mortal existence, I'm pretty sure all the newly anointed Chelsea and Man City supporters would be gone with the wind. That would never happen to Man Utd or Arsenal or Liverpool or even Spurs. I just don't get how Man City supporters can be ecstatic at the sight of 4 or 5 Ex Arsenal players starting a game for them. And as Malaga, Portsmouth and Rangers have recently found out, the sudden withdrawal of an uber rich benefactor is the prelude to what is surely a gruesome gutting of the clubs assets and players.

I do not have anything specific against City or Chelsea. I would have written the same thing had it been any other club like say Villa or Sunderland or anybody else trying to buy their way to success. Spurs and more recently Newcastle have shown that it's not about money, that good old scouting and coaching and team work can also get you to the top.

What's next ?

Yeah Rafa's gone. I feel kind of sad. I don't think it could be called a firing or a sacking. It's got to do with the money available(or rather not available) to buy players.

Liverpool are not the financially strongest club in the EPL. ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City can all easily outspend Liverpool. One can make an argument that even Spurs have a better purchasing power than Liverpool. I think it makes it that much more impressive that he has done what he has.

2005 - EPL(5th), Champions League (W), League Cup (Runner Up)
2006 - EPL(3rd), Champions League (16),FA Cup(Winners), UEFA Super Cup(Winners)
2007 - EPL(3rd), Champions League (F)
2008 - EPL(4th), Champions League (SF)
2009 - EPL(2nd), Champions League (QF)
2010 - EPL (7th), Champions League (Group), Europa League (SF)

People tend to criticize RB's transfer policies. I think he's brought in quite a few undeniably good players. I would put his transfers into 4 categories.

Good Transfers : Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Mascherano, Alonso, Kuyt, Torres, Skrtel, Agger, Ngog, Lucas

so-so Transfers : Babel, Aquilani, Riera,

Oh God what was I thinking : Robbie Keane, Dossena, Voronin, Pennant etc

Why did I let them go Transfers: Crouch, Bellamy, Alonso, Sissoko etc.

The total loss incurred on these players was about £15M. That's really not bad. (He made a profit on selling a lot of players like crouch, bellamy, alonso, gonzalez etc). Considering how other clubs have Purchased and had flops

ManU - Ferdinand(£33), Rooney(£26M), Anderson (£20M), Berbatov (£32M), Hargreaves (£20M), Carrick (£20M), Nani (£18M), Valencia (£16M), Ronaldo(£15) (That's a £200M).

Chelsea - Well Chelsea kind of went ahead and bought a whole new team. Shameless actually. I don't understand why anybody supports the club.

I think Liverpool's big problem was not Rafa, but those clowns in the board room. Dicks and Guillotine (Yeah that's what I call em jokers). In case you are wondering what the hell has happened and how did a stable club get into financial trouble.... Dicks and Guillotine took a £200M loan to buy Liverpool. They haven't been paying the loan off and interest accumulates on that loan @ 14% per annum. That interest clubbed with existing debt has helped reach a grand figure of yes .... hold your breath..... £350M. Under the previous owner David Moores Liverpool had a debt of £80M. I am sure that had David Moores taken a £270M loan to invest in players we would have been much better off. But not to worry. Other clubs are not that well off either. ManUre has debts worth £750M and Chelski has £500M worth of debt.

I am sad to see Rafa leave. Interestingly RB's stay at Liverpool coincides with my stay at IIIT. 2004-2010. Lets see what the world has in store for Rishabh and LFC.

Rebuilding for the next season

Ok. That was a disaster. Can we look ahead please ? If I was Rafa

Out - Riera(5M), Babel (10M), Degen(3M), El-Zahr(2M),Aquilani(15M),Aurelio(free) Total : ~ 35M

In

1. Joe Cole(Chelsea) : He is out of contract at Chelsea. Would fit brilliantly into the Liverpool Starting line-up. Liverpool should pay him what he wants and get him (Replaces Babel)

2. Stephan Wornock (Aston Villa) : Former Liverpool player. Had a really good last season with Villa. Would love to see him back at Anfield. Approx ~ 10M (Replaces Aurelio)

3. Raul (Real Madrid) : Raul doesn't seem to fit in at Madrid. It's hard to make a case for playing Raul when you have Higuain, Benzema and obviously Ronaldo. I don't think Madrid would look for a fee if he wanted to leave. I can see him forming a good partnership with Torres. Raul's game was never based on pace and he's hit 20 goals in the last two seasons before the previous ones.(He scored in his last game but came off injured). Free (Replaces El-Zahr)

4. Martin Petrov (Man City) : Petrov is out of contract at City. I've always liked Petrov and thought his finishing and power were really good. Would be a straight swap for Riera.I think he would make a good squad player. Free (Replaces Riera).

5. Higuain(Real Madrid) : He is good. Higuain has been Madrid's top scorer for some time and his presence has saved them once too often. For some strange reason Madrid seem to want to get rid of him. Liverpool should pull out all the strings to sign him.Torres + Higuain = Lots of Goals. Approx ~ 30M.

I think that all this might end up costing Liverpool as much as 10M, but it's a better shaped squad with a better starting XI and a better bench strength.

So How does Liverpool line up ?

Reina(GK) - Johnson(RB), Carragher (CB), Agger (CB), Warnock (LB) - Mascherano(DM), Joe Cole (LW), Maxi Rodriguez(RW), Gerrard (AM) - Torres, Higuain.

Subs : Random-GK, Skrtel, Lucas, Benayoun, Petrov, Kuyt, Raul.

Squad Players : Another-Random-GK, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Ayala, Shelvey, Ngog, Pacheco, etc etc

Come on .... .give Rafa a break....

Today's game against Fulham would have left many reds fans seething and cursing Rafa. I just think that Liverpool are really unlucky at this point of time. the squad has been decimated by injury. Normally Liverpool's first team would be:
What Liverpool's team ended looking up like today is below
When you are missing a 6 of your starting 11 in Aurelia, Skrtel/Agger, Johnson, Riera, Aquilani, and Gerrard and need to field half fit Torres and Benayoun, with 4 matches in 10 days, it's going to be bad. No normal team could recover from such a loss of players. I think all that is left for Liverpool is the Champions league. Hope to see the reds do well on matchday 4.

The Best Modern Strike Force

After Real Madrid beat ManUre 3-1 at the Bernabeu, Sir Alex Ferguson said the the Madrid might have all the big galacticos, but Raul is the true jewel in the crown. That was a team that consisted of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Casillias and more. I think that was the last time the King of Spain was really considered a real threat. True he might have started scoring again (22 and 26 in the last two seasons) but he can no longer lead the line. The years have not been kind to him either. Amazingly the teams he has been used to playing for have found exquisite strikers and it's anybody's guess how long he is going to last.

I first remember reading about Raul before the 1998 world cup. A special edition of the statesman had describe Raul as a brilliant but playboy-ish player. Two Champions league finals later I was convinced of the brilliant part. In fact my admiration for Raul and his fellow Madrid strike partner, was the primary reason for my support for Spain at all major tournaments.

Raul's strike partner was Fernando Morientes. Most people new to football will perhaps always remember Morientes for his poor spell at Liverpool. But for years prior to his disastrous spell at Anfield, Morientes was a striker of undoubted quality, who at times outshone even the great Raul in terms of pure goal scoring statistics. Ironically his greatest influence was while he was on loan at Monaco and virtually single handedly dumped Madrid out of the champions league scoring in both the home and away ties. I still remember watching him score what looked like a consolation goal after Madrid went 3-0 up. It was perhaps the only time the Bernabeu crowd applauded somebody for scoring against Madrid. What has happened to his career afterward is a pity. But he along with Raul will remain one of the great European strikers.
When in their prime this was perhaps the most potent strike force I have ever seen. People may rave about Villa/Torres or Cole/Yorke or Ronaldo/Rivaldo or whatever. For the 5 years that they were the first choice strike pair for Madrid they scored 28,52,46,41 and 47 goals between them. In those 5 seasons Madrid won 3 La Liga titles, 3 Champions Leagues, 3 Spanish Super cups, A UEFA Super Cup and 2 World Club Championships. I don't think there has been a better strike force in the Modern Game. And it is perhaps more than a coincidence that Madrid were no longer the threat they were once considered after the demise of this partnership. True Ronaldo was eventually signed from Inter, but he never formed the kind of partnership with Raul that Morientes had.

Heart Break

Of all the players Rafa has signed, Xabi Alonso is perhaps the classiest. There hasn't been a deep lying midfielder that good since perhaps ...... wait !! There hasn't been anybody like Alonso in the EPL! I think the closest person to Alonso in terms of impact is Seedorf at Milan. It'll be sad to see him go. I think Liverpool's chances will leave with Alonso. He was the difference between winning and losing so many times last season.

Despite good reviews I had a paper rejected. I did however have another one accepted but fuck the PC for halving my joy. A big Thank you to K.Kothapalli, Suhail, SKP and PJN for all the kewl work that went into the paper that got accepted. Who ever thought you could mix parallel computing, cryptography and GPU's!! The paper that got pawned was perhaps a victim of some rather shoddy writing on my part. Lesson: never write a paper that is double column, 9pt font and 12 pages long in one day even if you are Shakespeare.

This week I Shall be leaving my home of 17 years at Lab Quarters in Hyderabad. For the ignorant it's a DRDO colony and is an extremely beautiful one at that. We will be shifting to a place nearby. I will miss the lawns and Grounds and Badminton courts and the squash courts and all the pretty girls. No matter where life takes me, it'll always be *the* place I'll call home. I grew up there, met my best friend there, and did a lot of other firsts there too. Alvida.

Today also starts my last semester at IIIT. I think I'll spend this semester doing what I can, to help IIIT. This is a unique place in India, and after a few months when I am gone, I will dearly miss the slow, BC filled tension-less life that IIIT offers. Unlike many others I will not hate this place because of some differences with the people who run the place or their lame ass antics. I will remember IIIT for the friends it gave me and the things it taught me.

PS: Rafa Benitez you snobbish little panzie !! Look what happened when you didn't sign Arshavin, look what happened when you didn't sign Owen. Please Please Please sign Huntelaar. Dont make me sad.

80 Million Pounds

The first Champions league final I watched was in 2000 when Real Madrid played Valencia. It was a classy performance by madrid. My then favorite player McManaman scored a goal and Redondo made what was the best move in a CL final till Zidane struck the sweetest of volley two years later. I watched madrid win again with their "Galacticos" in 2002. Both these teams had good attacking players but even better defenses. Madrid had Hierro and Helguera at center half and Roberto Carlos and Salgado as full backs. Makelele used to sit in front of them like a rock. Fast forward to 2009. Madrid have the worlds best central midfielder Kaka (zidane then) and winger Ronaldo (figo then). But at the back they have Cannavaro, Pepe and Metzelder all of whom can be described as bullshit. The only really quality players that madrid have at the back are Casillas and Sergio Ramos (for whom defending is an afterthought).

Looks like Senor Perez has learned nothing in his years out. The Galacticos were quite good for a few years. Then one fine night they sold both Hierro and Makelele. And that was the end of that. Madrid have still not recovered from that sale. In hindsight the sale of Makelele to Chelsea was one of the defining moments of World football in this decade, much like Fergie talking Keane into joining ManUre.

As for Ronaldo, he will be a big miss at ManUre. I think Ronaldo's greatest contribution to ManU was to be able to absolutely demolish mid table and lower teams. Don't get me wrong, Ronaldo is a fantastic player, but he was most effective in "taking out the trash". I can remember him winning at least 4 matches this term (Villa, Blackburn,Porto and some other game i don't remember), where ManU were drifting, with just one brilliant swing of his boot. ManU will miss him next season and that is just the start of their problems. ManU look to be losing Tevez as well. Hargreaves looks to be done and dusted and Giggs, Scholes and Neville are not 25 anymore. ManU have 4 world class players. Rooney, Ronaldo, Ferdinand and Vidic. Without Ronaldo that's a pretty lightweight midfield. A midfield of Fletchers and Carricks and Parks and 35 year old Giggs and Scholes is not going to threaten the likes of Gerrard-Masch-Alonso or Lampard-Essien-Ballack. Up front Berbatov seems to have his issues and wants to leave (Will he be allowed?) Fergie has his task cut out.

Onto Liverpool and Rafa Benitez is in a spot of bother. He has assembled the best Liverpool team since the days of King Kenny, and he cant spend a pound because to utterly incompetent Yanks have screwed up. What a pity. I think he might get to sign a player but not more than that. Actually Liverpool really only need one player and that is somebody to partner Torres. Rafa missed great chance to fill that void when he failed to sign Arshavin(apparently Liverpool's interest was what took Arsenal so long to finish a deal with Zenit). He has come to regret that 4 times in 90 mins already last season. If I were Rafa I'd be closely looking at a certain Ruud Van Nistelrooy's situation at Madrid. He might be a good bargain. So might Michael Owen or Trezeguet and even perhaps a look at Saviola. What's clear is that there will be no Torres like signings this year. It'll have to be bargain shopping. I'm also happy Liverpool didn't sign Gareth Barry. He's crap and nowhere near as good as the pass-master Alonso.

PS. A post after a long time. Feels good to write about football.

The one with the arbit things

I have not written a post since god knows how long. I could blame this on the standard guinea pig for all postponed tasks: research, but I will not. Yes I'm lazy.

I have been at home for the last 3 days and it gave me some time to catch up with the news. I think it's become fashionable for politicians to get arrested and have a shit load of cases filed against them. Also I find most political parties to be lame. I am also really pissed with the TDP spamming my phone inbox with loads of unsolicited SMS's. Grrrrr

I will now step into more pleasant territory :D Liv 4-0 Madrid, ManU(re) 1-4 Liverpool, Liverpool 5-0 Villa. w0000000000t!!! I must admit I have never seen Liverpool play this well. I must also admit that I have never seen Madrid or ManU(re) or Villa play that bad. I think Benitez is trying to build a team that will outdo everybody just on brute physical presence and pace. Not a bad ploy. I just hope Villa can get something out of their ManU(re) game so that the league really opens up.

While at home I have been downloading DVD rips of SouthPark. It is the most awesome series I have ever watched. Watching it in high quality all over again is great fun. (Yes ORB, you can take all 12 seasons in DVD quality, in exchange for your PS3 :P)

I also played my last competitive role in the IIIT football team. I have been part of 2 great football teams. Firstly our batch team and secondly the 2007 IIIT team. It has ben awesmoe to play with talented people like Raja, K.Rahul, S.Rahul, Shukla, Kochar,PP, Rakesh,Kabir, Abhilash etc.. I will miss playing with you fellows. It's also good that the present 2nd years like Adhyan,Yasir and Parikshit have been playing in the college team for some time now. I hope Satish can lead them to better things next year.

PS1. I wrote my first research paper this year !!!!
PS2. The new sysadmins are being kept really busy by the server room staff :O
PS3. I loved Button and Barrichello finishing on the Podium for BrawnGP. New life to F1
ps4. I hope Sachin scores some 2nd innings runs today

Zidane Vs Ronaldinho Vs Ronaldo

Three truly great players, lots of fun, lots of eye- popping tricks and some uber-cool moves. Zidane is retired, ronaldinho is in a super slump and ronaldo is setting the world on fire right now. Who do you think has been the most prolific player at their peak?













My personal favourite is Zidane. He just made people look stupid with his skill. Ronaldinho and Ronaldo have a lot of pace but Zidane was about elegance, daft touches and some awesome 360 degree spins! Ronaldinho's flip flop is something out of this world and Ronaldo's eye for goal is
outstanding but nothing quite matches the creativity of Zidane!