What could have been.

Ok, Footie nuts,

Hands up, who remembers the Total Football that was invented by Ajax Amsterdam? The very famous 3-4-3 formation? The breeding ground of some of Hollands most talented footballers?

The thing that Ajax have done better than any other team out there dating back since the 80's, was develop. They never went out and bought their stars, they developed their youth.

Ajax's youth system is clearly something that has not just been effective, but it has really set the bench mark that   many other European clubs are still trying to emulate.

In 1995, the year they were crowned European champions, the national dutch team was littered with Ajax Amsterdam players. The likes of Edwin van Der Sar, Reiziger, Frank De Boer, Danny Blind, Ronald De Boer, Edgar Davids, Seedorf, Kluivert and Overmars all came through the Ajax youth system. Legends like Johan Cruyff, Denis Bergkamp, the Great Marco van Basten, were also part of this amazing program. Current stars that have graduated through in recent years include, Rafael Van De Vaart, Stekelenburg, Nigel De Jong and the ex Liverpool winger/misfit Ryan Babel. Add to this, that they don't just try and develop homegrown dutch players. They have satellite clubs around the world. The most famous one (To us Saffers) is obviously Ajax Cape Town. A club that has given them Benni 'KFC' McCarthy (argued that he was the reason Ajax branched out in South Africa) Steven Pienaar, and most recently Serero. Even the Ajax Arena was one of the first football stadiums that has a retractable roof. What we notice here is that Ajax really have an eye for the future. No doubting that.

So the question is, with all this talent and forward thinking...where has it gone wrong for Ajax? Why has it taken them so long to win the Eredivisie? It took them seven years to win their 30th league title. Will they ever be the European giants that they were in the past? I don't think they will. Here's why:

1. Money
2. Money
3. Money

The lack of money that the Eredivisie generates is minute compared to other countries whose clubs dominates the current European club competitions. Their current crop of players are probably the best they have had in the last 5 seasons. Current Liverpool front man Suarez was instrumental in helping them win the league last year. Another player who is getting a lot of attention from "bigger" teams across Europe is Eriksson. Still young, great touch, good eye for a pass and he gets goals too. The sad part is, Ajax knows that he won't be around at the Ajax Arena next season. And there is nothing they can do about it. But I feel, that they are "happy" to be a feeder club to other European teams. This way, they get to survive financially. 

It was nice seeing Ajax in this years champions league. And I feel that they will be there next season again...to fill the numbers. The days of total Football is long gone. Doubting it will return again.

Bandwagon jumper or true admirer?

Whenever a football conversation pipes up, I always seem to hear from someone in the company "Barcelona! That's my team!" My response to that comment is always "since when?" And their reply, "Since Ronaldinho" uhm, hold on there? Do you know who was the coach at the time? Do you know who was instrumental in getting him there? Do you know there were hundreds of players before him one of them being the great Diego Maradonna? No? Piss RIGHT off sir!

I wonder how many of these Barca fans know that Barca are the only team to play European football every year since 1955? How many of the Bandwagon jumpers, realise that this Football club is one of the few Football clubs to be OWNED by the fans. That this was the first season EVER that Barcelona actually had paid for Sponsor on their playing kit. Not many? Didn't think so. 

When it comes to admiring football teams, there are only three teams that really stands out. One would be my beloved Reds of the late 80's and very early 90's then there is the "total football" of Ajax in the 90's and lastly the Barcelona teams of 90's and 00's.

My fondest memories of the Blaugrana were the days of Romario, when Figo was boss of La Liga, when the Dutchman Ronald Koeman bossed the back line, the Laudrap, Stoichkov and the emergence of the brazilian Ronaldo. These were MY fondest memories of FC Barcelona. This is the reason why I ADMIRE them. Not support them, admire them. I don't jump on Bandwagons. I admire. Having a Barcelona top, doesn't make you a fan...it makes you look like a bit of a douche really. Because I know (and anyone who knows their Football) that you don't really know "your" team. You don't know the history, the culture....the way of life that is Barcelona.

FC Barcelona "Més que un club" (More than just a club)

A short post, but I hope I made my point.

FA Round 5 Round-up ... sort of

Not for Wenger...again! 

'Sup footie nuts.

First off, Apologies for the intermittent posts. I'm Really struggling to juggle, blogs, home life and day job all in all (Insert Indian Accent for effect)

So this weekends Round 5 of the FA Cup threw up 2 REAL surprise results.

UPSET NO. 1 Norwich 1 - 2 Leicester

To be honest, I was hoping that Leicester would win this game for two reasons:

1. After all the money The Foxes have spent in the UK summer and FINALLY getting rid of the the utterly USELESS Sven as a coach/manager/money spender. I really do feel for them. I have always had a soft spot for them, since MON brought them up to the Premier league. They have been improving over the last few weeks and getting some good results. And some really tough results too. This result, must give them a HUGE boost and I hope that it could start a run that could see them end up in the play off places come the end of the season. 
2. I like the Canaries style of football. And more than that, I like that there is a team nick named "The Canaries" in the premier league. So why would I want them to relegated? This loss means that The Canaries now ONLY have the EPL to focus on. I'm sure it would have been nice for them to be in the quarters, but it will be a hell of a lot nicer for The Canaries to be in the Premier league draw next season. 

UPSET NO. 2 Chelsea 1 - 1 Birmingham

A late Second half  Daniel Sturridge strike saved AVB's blushes at The Bridge against a resilient Chris Houghton managed Birmingham City. Whatever Chelsea seemed to throw at them, they countered...and effectively. From the first corner, Chelsea looked uneasy. I'm not to sure where the problem lies at the moment for Chelsea. Is it AVB's tactics? Or has he lost the dressing room? One thing we do know about Chelsea's middled aged stars is this: If they don't believe in you, they won't play for you. Another huge problem could be that, more than half of Chelsea's squad is about the same age as AVB...respect, elders and all that. A replay at St Andrews (not the Golf course stupids) is not what they need right now. 

PS. Fernando who?

So I hear you asking, is the Sunderland 2 - 0 Arsenal result not an upset? Well, my answer is...NO! Under Martin O'Neil, Sunderland have become somewhat of a decent Football team. And we've seen the The Gunners usually fire blanks (See what I did there) against any decent team. With all due respect Gunners fans out there, I saw this coming. Sunderland are on the up, and after the AC Milan mauling the group of youngsters that Arsenal have at the moment, just wouldn't be able to show the metal needed to bounce back. Hate me now...I don't care. 

And to The Spurs fans:

Stevenage 0 - 0 Spurs

I don't care...so there

Other results that caught the eye:

Blackpool came unstuck at the Toffees (Intended pun)

Everton 2 - 0 Blackpool

A game where the blue half of Liverpool dominated from start to finish. Nothing special to report except for maybe Kevin Phillips' penalty miss. Other than that....a yawner. 

Liverpool 6 - 1 Brighton Hove and Albion

This one get's the mention for 2 reasons

1. I am a Liverpool fan
2. 3 own goals

Another strange thing to come out of this one was Stewart Downing's assist. No misprint, Downing FINALLY gets an assist! 

FA Cup Quarter Final draw as follows:

Liverpool vs Stoke

Chelsea/Birmingham vs Leicester

Spurs/Stevenage vs Bolton

Everton vs Sunderland

As an added bonus, please see below for some of the goals of this last round FA Cup goals.

Enjoy! 

Unrelated Football story:

Richard Levi...that is all. 

How Beautiful is this Game?

Jo'burg, the city of gold. Finance capital of South Africa...home to the three giants of PSL football. Orlando Pirates FC, Kaizer Chiefs FC and [of late] Motsepe driven Mamelodi Sundowns FC... call it four and include even Supersport United

The lure of playing for one of these powerhouses continues to attract local [Cape-based] players. Of course the footballing ability of many of these Cape players cannot be questioned, which leads to the interest from the 'big boys' of the PSL. Couple that with an attractive financial offer, the probability of more recognition from SAFA and it seems a no-brainer.

If we have a look at the success rate or lack thereof of these players then we'd note that moving upstream isn't always the easiest thing. Big fish, small pond now having to contend with other big fish in quite a body of footballing water.

Casting my mind back a good decade, I recall the likes of Shaun Permall, Carlo Scott and even Thomrick October making the move inland...Permy and Scott enjoyed a reasonable time there, but were no sooner settled when they found themselves having to turn up for Vodacom outfits such as Battswood. Thomrick didn't have much difference in his experience.

There's lately been the likes of Thando Mngomeni, son of Thabo 'Rasta'...one of few to do damage at Pirates after coming from the townships, who after an exceptional spell for Santos cracked the nod of Sundowns in a season where the Brazilians signed as many as 11 players in the summer. That relationship didn't last long and he was on his way out. Kurt Lentjies is another example of a short-lived high followed by a humbling return to earth. Signed in a very 'rags to riches' way from Ikapa Sporting to Sundowns, but now finding himself running out for Maritzburg United.

Even more recent is the reality check given to former AjaxCT lad Sameegh Doutie who moved swiftly to the Buccaneers only to be off-loaded half a season later to SSU.

A catch 22 if ever I've seen one. There's always the desire to be bettering one-self and i'm sure this [and that lovely financial carrot] is what many have had in mind. Some of them no doubt just plain greedy and allowing this greed to blind the reality they soon will need to face.

I'm well aware that loyalty no longer has the prevalence in this sport. Players jump ship in a heartbeat to earn add one or two zero's onto their pay cheque...let the realisation then occur that coaches and club-owners are [now] no different. If you don't perform, you don't survive...and sometimes, even if you do, you may no longer be the flavour of the month.

Football is the Beautiful Game, however, it has given many a good reminder of how real this game can get.

Tuesday night round up 21/01/2012:

So let's kick off with the shock result of last nights English premier

Everton 1 - 0 Man Shitty

City came unstuck at Goodison Park AGAIN last night following Ex Man United player Darren "I'll shoot from anywhere" Gibson's strike. It wasn't 1 for masses I must be honest, but the crowd were clearly up for this 1 along with the Toffees players. Off the pitch Everton were really busy bringing in players and letting some go. So I think they deserve an extra point for multi-tasking. Mancini put his hand up and took the blame for the loss, he should have taken his hand and smacked himself really. The biggest news was Steven Pienaar return after only a year at Spurs. This saw Saha move in the other direction. Add to that the Toffees capture of Jelavic I think they did some good business this winter transfer window.

Swans ground Chelsea (see what I did there?)


Swansea 1 - 1 Chelsea

Another home game for the Swans, another great result. If only their away form were as good as their home form hey? If only James Dean didn't die so young. If only if only.. Swansea have lost just 1 game at home this season. And Chelsea are as schizo as Helen Zille at a DA rally in Mitchells Plain. To make matters worse, Scott Sinclair scored against his former employers. Cashley Cole got his marching orders in the second and Bosingwa got the equaliser in stoppage time. So all in all a rather bizarre game. I think that Rogers has done an excellent job with the Swans this season, making them play some really attractive football BUT getting the results at the same time. I don't see them being relegation contenders this season at all.

Spurs 3 - 1 Wigan

Something needs to be done at the DW stadium and fast. Wigan are destined to go down to the championship and now that the transfer window is closed I don't see this opinion changing. Granted Spurs are 3rd in the league, the way Wigan were pushed over last night was somewhat embarrassing to watch. Bale opened the scoring, Modric scored the second and Bale completed his double and Wigan's misery. McArthur pulled 1 back for Wigan. Which meant little really. They were just to kak.

Man United 2 - 0 Stoke

A converted penalty in each half saw United win this 1 quite comfortably. It could easily have been 4 or 5 to be honest. But for some good defending and near misses. Hernandez converted the 1st spot kick after Pennant went to ground but only managing to make contact with the little Korean, Park's leg. 2 things here
1) Why are you going to ground in penalty box Mr Pennant?
2) Why did Seal leave Heidi Klum?
Berba took the responsibilty for the 2nd penalty, which looked a bit soft in my humble opinion, after Valencia was "bundled" over. He dispatched the penalty in typical Berba fashion. Slowly, with little fuss and perfect placement. Following City's loss to Everton, this Premier league title race has just been blown a new one.

Wolves 0 - 3 Liverpool

So firstly the list of Scorers: Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy and Kirk Kuyt (Kite) let that fester a bit. No! No error there. Andy Carroll did in fact score! The 1st half was what we have come to see of Liverpool this season, good possession, chances a plenty, scoreless at the break. The second half was the same story, except that Liverpool managed to score 3 .... that's right 3! A pin point cross from Adam (please see no 'S') knocked in by Carroll, Bellamy scored the second after being allowed to walk to the edge of the box from the half way line and Kuyt finished after some nice interplay with Adam for the 3rd. Good away result. Let's see if we can the same at home eh?

Look out tomorrow for the rest of the fixture reviews...told the only way I know how....my way.