Over the top with Field Marshall Lord Kitchener

Image via Wikipedia

Over the top
In mid-week Nani went in over the top for Man U against Aston Villa and was sent off in the 28th minute. His manager said he was naive (rather than malicious) with a two-footed late tackle. Unfortunately I am now minus three points as I had just brought him in to my Fantasy League team.

Your country needs you!
Martin Keown on BBC Television´s Football Focus today commented on whether Wayne Bridge would play alongside John Terry in England's World Cup tournament this summer given recent personal causes of friction. Keown echoed the words of Lord Kitchener.                     
"His country needs him," declared Keown.

I think that M. Keown was being naive in using these words when calling on W. Rooney to put aside personal grievance with J. Terry and play for his country. The words he echoed were from Lord Kitchener on a poster with the Lord's likeness, his pointing finger, and the words: Your country needs you! The purpose was to stir men to face death and disfigurement by volunteering to join the army in the First World War. And if you survived you then faced unemployment on your return from the war.


I think Martin was over the top. A red card from me for going in with this phrase on this occasion.
(The photo is a screen grab from Football Focus, copyright owned by the BBC . I consider that it  is used here fairly  for identification and comment)  All that Wayne Bridge would sacrifice would be a summer holiday - in return for extra money, honour and the chance of greater fame if England won the World Cup.

• Aston Villa 1-1 Man Utd: Ten men grab point (soccernet.espn.go.com)

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• Ashley Cole Breaks Ankle: Will Wayne Bridge Play with JT for Egland? (bleacherreport.com)

Celebrity Soccer, the film?
I am looking forward to watching David Beckham  on Tuesday night when he will surely play in Milan against his former team Man Utd in a Champions League match. Wayne Rooney, the Man Utd striker, is reported elsewhere saying that another member of the Milan team is the best footballer he has ever played against. The man in question also appeared in video footage on BBC's Football Focus this morning. Who was he? He has won three Champions League medals, one with Real Madrid last century, the other two with Milan. He also played in that famous final in Turkey against Liverpool in 2005 when his team were beaten after leading 3-0. He returned to the final the following year to win his third medal. Against ............. Liverpool, of course!

The drama of the football game is hard to match in any soap opera or other fiction -  as is the career of this admirable Dutch player called Clarence.

You'll recall his surname and remember his achievements if you follow the link: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/13022010/63/rooney-salutes-supreme-seedorf.html

The Italian press are reporting that Clarence is going out with George Clooney's former girl-friend. I look forward to hearing that George will play the part of Clarence in an upcoming film.

The Manchester Soap Opera (or not just Coronation Street)

"Fantastic! Tevez is ripping a hole right through Manchester United... as I predicted he would. Just blowing them seven ways from Sunday and Ferguson is looking at his shoes, chewing and looking most  glum. What an idiot; first for letting him go and more for not utilizing his extraordinary talent.
Go baby go!"

The above gem is from a friend watching (in Japan) last Tuesday's Carling Cup first-leg  semi-final between the Manchester teams, City and United. During the summer Ferguson, Man Utd manager, decided not to keep Tevez at  United. A substantial fee to keep the player was needed and there may have been other contractual factors involved. Fortunately for Tevez, City's new owners had plenty of money to splash on top players and they bought him. At the core of the hostility described in the links below is the fact that the United players were training together just months ago plus the fact that on parting Ferguson implied Tevez was not good enough for his squad. So Tevez scores twice in Tuesday's match and.............bring on the second leg at Old Trafford! Can't wait!
Photo of Tevez, CCA 2.0 Generic Licence with attribution to photographer Gordon Flood 

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• United have 'no regrets' over losing Carlos Tevez, says Ryan Giggs (guardian.co.uk)
• You: Neville disrespected me, says Tevez (guardian.co.uk)
• Tevez defends gestures, slams 'disrespectful' Neville (soccernet.espn.go.com)
• Manchester United have quality to overcome city rivals, says Ryan Giggs (telegraph.co.uk)

Note the Ryan Giggs quote above in the Telegraph piece. Why do newspapers and television reporters do this? Of course, Giggs would say that his team will win next time. He is the captain most of the time nowadays and a senior player. But even the ball-boys would say this. How can it be news?