Chubby Alonso is a sentimental man, so he gets rather introspective when he senses that things might start to end. This Friday’s Burrito spots some stuff from this week that suggests that certain players, clubs and even countries are either edging towards their last leg, or are on the cusp of new beginnings. Who knows? Chubby does, or so he says.
Here’s some of the picks of the week, thoughtfully chosen to go into today’s wrap:
1. Man On A Mission
Steven Gerrard is officially running out of time to take Lucas Leiva back to Wembley. After Liverpool’s difficult loss to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup semi-final, the sobering realisation for Gerrard and for many football fans around will slowly kick in that he has just one last shot left at Wembley glory. It is difficult to put into words what Cup Finals mean to Steven Gerrard and, rather synonymously, what Gerrard means to Cup Finals. As one of the Premier League’s greatest he has suffered the subtle ignominy of living for the Cup while the other Greats fight it out over the Big League Trophy, and his little squaring up to Dirty Diego late into the game was a picture of both resignation and regret. Gerrard’s radio silence after the match was at loud as it gets and he will be saving his breath for the FA Cup replay at Bolton next week – beat them and only Crystal Palace stand in his way to a Wembley return. Of course, last weekend’s cupsets mean that the magic of the FA Cup is very much alive, but in Stevie G, Liverpool might have their very own Wizard of Wembley.
2. Hulk Smash
History may be written by the victors, but it is the defeated who will remember most. What Liverpool and Atletico Madrid fans will remember in the wake of their mid-week Cup exits is how their team’s efforts were ruined by some reserved (Liverpool) and reckless (Atletico) refereeing. Liverpool fans will point to what the referee missed – most glaringly the two Costa stamps that left him eight away from a free coffee and three games in the stands. The Atletico faithful will be furious by what their referee didn’t, effectively end the game by sending off captain Gabi at half-time, allegedly for saying “Jesús, it was a penalty and a red card” – ‘Jesús’ of course, being the name of their sinner, rather than the Saviour.
While the vitriol aimed at the referees are not unfounded, perhaps they are misplaced, and conceal some of the deeper problems in football. It is little coincidence that two of the managers involved in the games are two of the most controversial – Jose Mourinho for his megalomaniacal image of his players and his ways, and Diego Simeone for his infectious, fiery rage. There comes a point when the means will stop justifying the ends. Mourinho may have got off relatively scot-free this time – Dirty Diego’s bit of justice aside – but the same can’t be said for the other Diego. Simeone’s passion has rubbed off on his players to great success – Torres being the latest beneficiary, with all three of his goals for Atletico coming within a minute post-KO, post-Simeone – but it was this same influence that saw a red mist descend upon a bullish Mario Suarez and a petulant Arda Turan, who could have so easily seen red too for his manic moment of boot-tossing madness. If Simeone doesn’t find a way to keep his team’s inner-Hulk under control, Atletico – and football – may soon be counting the cost.
3. Luck of the Draw
The performance of African nations have always appeared to be rather patchy-per-tournament, an impression that has always made the African Cup of Nations almost quite predictable in its unpredictability, and to me, a little more than a distraction from the big lights of the European leagues. This week saw the AFCON get its group stages out of the way, finally with a bit of fanfare. With both Mali and Guinea ‘sharing’ second place in the group having having drawn all three of their games 1-1 (ie. P3 D3 F3 A3), the last qualifying spot went down to a drawing of lots – the third time in AFCON history. Yesterday, on the fourth floor of a haughty Hilton hotel, a representative of each team dipped their hands into a bowl – fresh from the kitchen – and picked out their respective fates. Joy for Guinea, jealously from Mali, and plenty of resentment towards the Confederation. With a bit of foresight, the CAF could have taken a leaf from UEFA’s book: a similar situation played out between Turkey and the Czech Republic in Euro 2008 would have demanded a penalty shoot-out – probably the more sporting solution, even if hoping for the luck of the draw is in fact the most technically fair one.
4. The Boys Are Back
The Bundesliga comes back tonight when Bayern takes on Wolfsburg, still a top of the table clash even if a whole 11 points separate the sides. The weekly headlines in the first half of the season had gone predictably along the lines of a Bayern steamroller to victory, a Dortmund slump to defeat, or surprisingly often, a mix of both. As the second half kicks off it will still be intriguing to see if Wolfsburg can properly lay a claim to top spot in the league outside Bayern’s, or if Augsburg’s impressively inspirational streak can continue through the season; but there will be no storyline quite as gripping as the rise of a fallen European darling. The lengthy German winter break could have done no team more favours than Borussia Dortmund and there is no reason why they won’t come back fresh to the fight, especially with Marco Reus back to lead the charge, and especially with the January window doing little to immediately suggest a change in fortunes for most of the teams. Most, of course, with the exception of VfL Wolfsburg, whose signing of Xizhe Zhang from Beijang Guoan forecasts a sure-fire windfall in the Asian market, and foreshadows an intriguing subplot to keep all Eastern aficionados interested: as Shinji’s star slowly falls, how quickly can Zhang’s spring?
5. Parting Gift
On the eve of what might turn out to be Australian football’s biggest day, big word on the big street is that Asia want Australia out. AFC President Shiekh Salman today confirmed the growing sentiment amongst the Arab nations disgruntled by what they perceive as Australia’s parasitic participation, rather accurately echoing some of the xenophobic concerns simmering around the real world. Australia’s entry into the AFC nine years ago was welcomed under the pretext of increasing the image and standards of Asian football and little has pointed to the contrary. If anything, the A-league’s increasing prominence, as well as the continued presence of Australians plying their trade in the big European leagues, should suggest that the AFC would be worse without the Australians.
At the heart of this gripe appears to be a massive FOMO, or for those above 16 – a Fear Of Missing Out. With Japan and South Korea as fixtures for World Cup qualification, the host of West Asian nations – Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Uzbekistsan et al. – have to fight it out with Australia and China’s irrepressible emergence for the last two spots. Not that this is a sure-win for Australia – the land Down Under are ranked just 10th in the AFC, 100th in FIFA, and have failed to bag the Asian Cup in their three attempts thus far. An Australian win tomorrow may toss more salt into wounds but the last thing the AFC should do is run.
The case for Australia’s participation 9 years ago remains the same today, and perhaps ever more relevant than before; more competition is good competition, and one swallow does not a summer make. The Gulf nations are on the cusp of something great and must do better than to count World Cup appearances as a measure of success: Iran and Saudi Arabia’s meek performance over the past few decades have done little to raise the roof, and if Qatar want to be anything more than a filler host nation in 2022, the unhappy mob from the Middle East will have to stop pointing that finger outwards and start paying attention to the three staring back at them.
Chubby Alonso 