I loved the Olympic Games. I loved watching it, I loved
going to see it for myself (at five different venues), and I loved the
atmosphere of hosting it and enjoying the success of Team GB. However, I have
missed football, and the idiosyncrasies of it. So may I whole heartedly welcome
back the game that intrigues like no other, causes controversy like no other,
and of course is lambasted by every corner of the population like no other.
Lambast it we might, but we cannot help but fall in love with it again every
year, not least because it gives people like me something to write about.
Subject 1 – Arsenal Fans.
I can understand them being upset about the loss of key
players, year in, year out, but putting this aside, they provide hilarity and despair
in equal measure. When a side drops points at home to a club perceived as being
weaker, whispers often come of ‘parking the bus’. This is only natural, because
everybody looks for an excuse for their team failing to beat one that they were
expected to. Arsenal fans manage to take this to whole new levels though. All
sorts of phrases regarding ‘anti-football’ and ‘negativity’ are thrown around
as they desperately search for a reason to blame the opposition.
My question is a simple one. Why should a visiting team, in
this case Sunderland, go and play an attacking game at the Emirates if they
know this will benefit Arsenal. Sunderland do not need to win every game they
play, but a point could prove very useful in May. Logically speaking then, they
should play for this point in the way they feel they are most likely to get it,
and Arsenal fans only begin to moan about this style of football as a 0-0 draw
approaches, and Arsenal’s frailties are highlighted. When a team like Sunderland
go to Old Trafford and play like that, if anything, I’m quite pleased. It means
Man United are able to focus entirely on attacking, without having to worry
about the threat of conceding on the break. Then, if the game finishes 0-0 it
is simply a case of this… The supposedly better team, were not good enough on
the day. When this as accepted, both by the fans of the club, and in Arsenal’s
case, by Mr Wenger, everybody can move on, and Arsenal can focus on scoring
some goals, rather than telling Sunderland they should gift them some.
In Preparation for the beginning of the new Premier League season, (that starts tomorrow!?!!), I have prepared my review of last season. Below are a series of 'alternative' awards, for key contributions to the Premier League season. Some of these categories are uncharacteristically sensible, and others are suitably obscure.
The
Richard awards are my take on an end of season ‘Player of The Year’ awards
ceremony. Rather than organising a huge dinner and inviting the ‘Who’s Who’ of
English football, I thought I’d keep things small and upload the awards to my
blog.
As
well as traditional awards like ‘Player of the Year’ and ‘Goal of the Season’,
I’ve also awarded some titles for less appreciated fields.
However,
it’s probably a good idea to start traditional and then get a bit more
unconventional later on.
Player
of The Year: Robin Van Persie
Even before it became apparent that he would be joining my team, Manchester United, I should come as no surprise that I have chosen this man as the best of the bunch
for the 2011/2012 season. Scoring 30 league goals and dragging an inconsistent
Arsenal team into next season’s Champion’s League, Van Persie stayed fit and
stood out as a world class player. Thriving as a captain, and as the main
striker, Van Persie wasn’t in anybody’s shadow this year, and won Arsenal games
with individual brilliance on more than one occasion. I’m yet to be 100%
convinced he actually does “score when he wants”, but it’s pretty close.
Honourable
mentions for Aguero, Silva, Kompany, and Toure at city, Rooney at United and
Demba Ba for his performance up until the Africa Cup of Nations, but for me it
was all about Robin, and this season he proved he’s not just a side-kick.
If I was to then try and put some of the key performers last season into a Team of The Year, it would probably look a lot like this:
Hart
Walker
Kompany
Coloccini
Assou-Ekotto
Valencia
Tiote
Yaya Toure
David Silva
Van Persie
Aguero
Each of these players shone above their rivals for one of/ or both of the following reasons; they were the best at what they did, or that they played a vital role in their teams success across the season, and without them in the team, their results were likely to have suffered.
Transfers of The Year: Best - Papiss Cisse
Worst - Stewart Downing
The business achieved by clubs during the transfer windows often work as a guide to whether the club will progress or regress over the course of the season. Some transfers are exciting straight away, and others require a year or two to determine whether they have been a success or not. Papiss Cisse's move to Newcastle was an instant success. His arrival, and subsequent goalscoring exploits, made sure Newcastle's surprise start to the season turned into a long term push for Europe, and ultimately secured them a place in the Europa League for this term. Not only did he score regularly, he scored spectacularly, showing prowess with both feat and his head, as well as an eye for the spectacular.
I have highlighted Stewart Downing as the worst piece of transfer business for a number of reasons. During his spell at Aston Villa, I came to respect Downing as a player, and during his second season he managed to add an end product to his promising build up play, scoring 7 league goals and assisting more as he played all 38 games. Having moved to Liverpool though, the previous worries about his inability to pick the right pass, or finish himself resurfaced. Numerous jokes have surfaced regarding Downing's first season at Anfield, and whilst Henderson's first season there didn't set the world on fire, and Charlie Adam struggled badly too, it is Downing who has been picked out by the kindly folk of Twitter. Another thing to consider is the fee paid for Downing's Services. Whilst transfer fees are rarely fully disclosed these days, it would appear Downing's move to Liverpool cost more than his Villa team mate, Ashley Young. Young was more highly rated at Villa, and subsequently settled better at his new club too, making the Downing deal look even worse.
Commentary of The Year: Martin Tyler - Ji Dong Won v Man City
Commentary can either make or break a football match. For example, upon hearing Niall Quinn, I suddenly no longer want to watch the game and tend to busy myself with something else. However, when Andy Gray was in the hot seat, if a great goal flew in from range, or an important late strike had major repercussions for a title race, it was time to turn the set up and enjoy an outpouring of the highest standard. This year some of the best/ most humorous commentary came from those who have in part replaced Gray at the heart of Sky's coverage of live football. Ray Wilkins always draws a response from Twitter through his continuous use of the phrases; 'My Word!', 'Nice Young Man' and 'Get On With The Game', and Gary Neville split opinion with his loud moaning reaction to Chelsea's dramatic Champions League campaign. Without a doubt though, my favourite commentary extract was from Martin Tyler, and his vocal gymnastics.
Comedy Moment of The Year: Charlie Adam v Cardiff
Having watched the first two penalties of the shoot-out fail to find the net, it was up to Charlie Adam to set the tone. Instead of calmly stroking the ball into the corner, showing the technical ability for which Liverpool paid more than £10 million for, Mr Adam opted for power. What followed was a truly hilarious metaphor for his season at Anfield.
There were other challenges to Charlie's crown, including the invasion of Anfield by a cat, and the protest of the Blackburn fans at the running of the club, that included the release of a chicken onto the field of play, but animal antics can't compete with footballers being rubbish. Talking of rubbish, there was also Martin Atkinson's bemusing decision to give a goal in the FA Cup semi-final, because the ball went NEAR the line, and I should probably also mention Joey Barton's one-man assault on Manchester City on the last day of the season. In terms of footballing hilarity however, Charlie Adam leads the way for me.
Worst Hair of The Year: Emmanuel Adebayor
Finally, a less serious, but equally merited award. Over the course of the season, several Premier League stars appeared sporting weird and wonderful hairstyles. Both Benoit Assou-Ekotto and David Luiz attempted to rock the Sideshow Bob look, and Wayne Rooney even posted a picture of himself on Twitter of the results of a hair transplant. Nani decided to have an N shaved into the side of his head, presumably as a reminder of his name in he forgot, and Salomon Kalou had a spider shaved into the back of his head for reasons known only to him. The clear winner for me though was Adebayor. On the last day of the season he decided that he would celebrate the end of the year by turning ginger. Take a look at it, and then attempt to describe it, because words failed me, and frankly, they still do.
Some of the best things about the Olympic Games are less
obvious than Usain Bolt’s record breaking and the enormity of having the world’s
greatest sporting event take place 25 minutes up the road. One of these things
became obvious as I sat watching the Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade on
Wednesday.
The atmosphere in the stadium was already very good with the
weather playing nicely and a day of sport being enjoyed by all. Suddenly though
there came a strange chant from the far side of the ground, that sounded
remarkably like “Wiggo, Wiggo, Wiggo”. I immediately reacted by getting my
phone out and checking Twitter, (how clichéd of me), and found to my delight
that Bradley Wiggins had added a Time-Trial Gold Medal to his Tour de France
exploits. Without hesitation I loudly announced this, breaching all unsaid laws
of British-ness, and to the general pleasure of those around me. As I was
excitedly informing a man in the row in front that Chris Froome had also taken the
Bronze, the result was announced over the PA system to a cacophony of cheers.
The exploits of Wiggins and Co. have united a normally reserved nation in a way
that only sport, and tournaments of this nature do, and everybody there at HGP
felt a part of it, even though we were at an entirely different venue, in a different
part of the city.
Secondly, I was struck by the way the Olympics seem to
result in loads of things happening at once. Social networking, and the BBC
coverage of the Games, allows this experience to be even better than normal.
Even when I found myself enthralled by the Double-Trap shooting, and the chance
of a British Gold Medal there, news filtered through that there was something
happening in the Canoe – Slalom Doubles too. With three Medals, (2 Golds and a
Silver), confirmed within a couple of minutes, it really did feel like anything
could happen next, and if possible my attention increased.
The reality of hosting an Olympic Games can only be as good
as you let it. But if you’re willing to put aside scepticism and accept the
rough with the smooth, there is the opportunity to really enjoy these two weeks
in which the world watches and we experience the best sportsmen and women in
the world.
