FIVE OF THE BEST - MESSI DOESN'T DESERVE FOUR

FIVE OF THE BEST

“WHY MESSI DIDN’T DESERVE TO WIN

 FOUR TIMES IN A ROW”

1.         Xavi and Iniesta have been integral parts of Barcelona’s run of multiple league trophies, domestic and European Cup successes while also leading Spain to two European Championship trophies and a World Cup.  What more can either of them do to deserve a World Player of the Year trophy??  Yes, Messi scored 91 goals in 2012 and deservedly won out, but he has not scored 91 goals in each of 2011, 2010 and 2009.  Let’s look at the World Cup Years of 1998, 2002 and 2006.  Fabio Cannavaro won World Player of the Year in 2006 based primarily on Italy’s winning of the World Cup.  In 2002, Brazlilan Ronaldo won the award based on Brazil’s winning of the 02 World Cup.  In 1998, French midfield wizard Zidane won the award due to France being crowned World Champions during that year.

2.         The English Premier League (while in recent decline) has been the best European League in terms of European success during the recent 4 year period.  So why have no players from the English Premier League been rewarded for their European club successes with a World Player of the year award like Christiano Ronaldo received following Manchester United’s previous UEFA Champions League triumph?

3.         The stats are clear at club level in that there is a greater chance of Barcelona losing a game when Iniesta is absent from the team than when Messi is missing from the line-up.  So if the World Player of the Year award is designed to name a soccer player as the most valuable to his team then it is clear that for both club and country, Iniesta is more valuable to Barcelona and an integral part of the European and World champion Spanish national team.

4.         Messi has underperformed in World Cups.  How are you the best soccer player in the World for four years running, but every four years you continuously underperform at the premier event of the sport.  It’s like saying Michael Jordan was the best basketball player ever even if he never won a NBA Championship.  Claims for greatness are made by sportsmen who perform on the greatest stage.

5.         Christiano Ronaldo does not deserve to be ignored by the World Player of the Year voters for four consecutive years.  Yes, he is a drama-queen.  Yes, he is not everyone’s cup of Rooibos tea.  But what cannot be denied is that during the last four years there have been lengthy periods in which CR7 has outperformed Messi only to see the Argentinian walk away with the World Player of the Year award at the end of the year.  More curiously, Ronaldo was voted best player in the Spanish League for the 2011/12 season, yet Messi won the World Player of the Year trophy.  Seemingly, Messi is the best soccer player on the planet, but not the best player in the football league where plays week in and week out.  The ignoring of Ronaldo is most evident when Ronaldo broke the Spanish League goals per season record in 2010, yet Messi received the World Player of the Year award based on Barcelona’s success during that year.  This year it was Ronaldo holding the league trophy and Messi breaking goal scoring records, yet the argument was turned upside down and Ronaldo was ignored due to Messi’s individual stats which contributed nought to his club’s trophy cabinet and in spite of Ronaldo’s Real Madrid outdoing Barcelona in winning a Spanish league trophy. 

Heyneke Meyer adoption of Merit Selection policy

HEYNEKE MEYER’S BRINGING BACK MERIT SELECTION

In the year’s following South Africa’s first democratic election the sporting landscape and average sports fan in South Africa became accustomed to a new term that became prevalent due to the changing political atmosphere in the land.

The term “Merit Selection” was one that made athletes of colour cringe, cause coaches to wine and was often spoken amongst fans in hushed whispers.  For the uninitiated, a merit selection was the sporting equivalent to the commercial concept of affirmative action whereby a sporting player or coach of colour who had equal or near equal ability and qualifications to their whiter counterpart was to be selected and/or preferred ahead of the whiter contemporary.

Just as with affirmative action, the concept of merit selection received waves of criticism from the whiter parts of South Africa as its implementation meant that whiter players would be ousted if a player of colour had equal or near equal ability in the specific field of sport.  For most part the outrage and attitudes of whiter South Africans was an exaggeration of how the process of both merit selection and affirmative action was implemented as most workplaces and sporting arenas were not whitewashed, but rather sporting teams became sprinkled with one or two players of colour as the obvious impact of the apartheid era meant that sportspersons or businessmen of colour with equal or near qualifications and developed ability were a rare bread.

Amongst South African persons of colour, both the concepts of merit selection and affirmative action, though attempting to promote diversity and integration on the sports field and in the business arena, were viewed in a negative light.  This negative view of these concepts was grounded on the fact that suitably qualified businessmen and proven sportspersons of colour were viewed by the whiter colleagues as being placed into a specific working or sporting role because of the colour of their skin rather than their suitable qualification and proven ability.  This view was promoted by the South African media which at the time had whiter South Africans in senior positions.  The impact of these two concepts on the South African businessman and sportsperson of colour was that these athletes and individuals had to do more and be better than an average person in the same position in order to prove that their selection and/or appointment was based on their more than suitable qualifications and proven ability, rather than simply due to the colour of their skin.

Fortunately as South Africa has grown as a fledging democracy and integration though slight has occurred in all facets of daily life, the terms of affirmative action and merit selection have to a large extent become irrelevant as both on the sporting field and in the business world it has become apparent to white South Africans that people of colour can, if given the opportunity, do the same job and sometimes even better than a whiter South African.  In the sporting arena individuals like Josia Thungwane, Gibbs, Radebe, McCarthy, Amla, Habana, Chester Williams, and many, many others are indicators of this very rarely admitted fact.

So why is Heyneke Meyer bringing merit selection back at a time when it does not appear to be needed in the South African sporting arena with superstar sportspersons of colour producing brilliant results on a consistent basis???

Well.... the merit selection policy adopted by Heyneke Meyer is not the same in nature adopted previously.

In Heyneke Meyer’s merit selection system, there are two overwhelming principles:

1.            If Meyer has coached the player before then the player will be selected ahead of an equal or better player;

2.            If the player’s surname has an Afrikaans twang to it, then the player will be selected ahead of an equal or better player.

Okay, in seriousness the second principle is said more tongue in cheek and in support of the omission of Western Cape players such as Aplon, Grant and other players blessed with an un-Afrikaans surname, but the first principle is a fact and has been admitted as such by Meyer who has publicly stated that he will be giving preference to players he knows are comfortable with his style of coaching.  This begs the question as to how Meyer will know if a player is comfortable in his system if he has not coached him previously.

The irony in Meyer’s merit selection is that players are not being selected to represent their country due to their proven superior ability over other players, because of a political policy to advance integration or transformation.  No, Meyer has adopted this line of thinking because its one that makes him comfortable as he will be able to live a vacuum of players that have nothing but admiration for the only South African coach to win the Super 12-13-14-15-16 competition. 

The adoption of this policy by Meyer has also had another “knock-on” effect in that Meyer has revealed to be a hypocrite in the strictest sense of the word.  When he was introduced as Springbok coach, Meyer stated that he wanted to bring value back to the green and gold jersey by not awarding caps to a large majority of players and while this line of thought hits all the right notes, it reveals Meyer to be a hypocrite in that how does one bring greater value to the Springbok jersey by deliberately selecting players that you know in preference over players with equal and better ability???  To represent one’s country on any sporting field is an honour which indicates that an individual is the best in his or her country at the given sport.  How is ignoring better and more skilled sportsmen in favour of others with less ability (proven or otherwise) a way to bring pride back to the national jersey. 

When the political merit selection was made public, it was a system that, while understood by non-South Africans as being necessary for transformation of a racially divided nation, was also ridiculed internationally as compromising South African coaches into selected teams that did not comprise the best sportspersons in the country.

Meyer’s merit selection policy is undoubtedly being similarly mocked on the international stage as the Springboks have been transformed into Meyer’s Springbulls.  A team that does not represent the best South African rugby players, but rather a team that represents South African rugby players who Meyer knows, has coached before and ofcourse.... who have that special twang of Afrikaans in their surnames.

Until death do us part

There was a time when marriage was a commitment for life.  Until death do us part, for richer or poorer and all those classic clichés.  In present times with the divorce rate western countries continuing to escalate, it has become apparent to the majority of sporting fans that there remains just one position in all of sports that is now officially harder to lose or get out of than marriage.

Welcome to the South African national Protea test cricket side...

The Proteas side has for ages seemed set in stone.  In most cases more former Protea players have left the side by retiring rather than being dropped.  Don’t believe that? 

Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Dave Richardson, Gary Kirsten, Makhaya Ntini are all examples of South African cricketers who announced their retirement before their final game for the national side.  In fact we may never know whether  these players would still be playing for the Proteas had they not retired, they clearly were not going to be dropped.

(Side Note:  Hanse Cronje was never dropped.  He was suspended and subsequently banned.  Go ahead, look it up.)

The lack of authority in management and the rise in player power has led to players who are in the Protea line-up playing no matter how poor their on-field or off-field performance, there is a better chance of them retiring as national players than there is of their being dropped from the national side. (Have you read Herschelle Gibbs book or noted that Jacques Kallis played soon after a motor vehicle accident)

Case in point:  AB de Villiers has refused to play wicketkeeper for the Proteas.  Imagine that, a player saying that he won’t play where the manager or coach may want him to play.  De Villiers made this statement with the confident knowledge that he would not be dropped from the national side.

In recent times, the only on-field success that Mark Boucher and Paul Harris have had is that they have played so poorly that it can be said with reasonable certainty that their mere presence in the Protea line-up has single handedly kept South Africa at number 2 in the world in international tests...  Just to clarify, that is Number 2 as opposed to Number 1.

The ardent sporting fan may now be thinking that the reason why Protea players are hardly ever dropped from the line-up is that there are no alternative good players to replace the present incumbents.  WRONG!!

South Africa have not one, but two wicketkeeper-batsmen who are far better batsmen than Mark Boucher and who could keep wicket just as good as Mark Boucher.  Is Boucher really a better option than A.B. De Villiers or Morne Van Wyk?

Though South Africa are not the best spin bowling nation in the cricketing world, there a many bowlers of spin in the country that are both willing and able to bowl and bat better than the present incumbent Paul Harris...  Also, Johan Botha, Tahir, Van der Merwe, Peterson can all... wait for it...  wait for it... ready... actually spin a cricket ball.  Why is Harris still in the team?  Give us one good reason?  One reason please...  I sense the silence.

After watching the third and final test match between South Africa and India (2011), I changed the channel and caught a re-run of the first and best Mission Impossible movie.  As I saw Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt break into the impenetrable CIA computer room, I began to wonder if even Ethan Hunt could break into the Protea side.  If Ethan Hunt had the glove skills of Gilchrist, the batting prowess of Lara and the bowling skills of Warne, he just might be able to break into the impenetrable Protea test side and get an opportunity to prove himself.

Yes, he just might...  if someone dropped himself and retired.

Goals for both clubs

It has often been said that football is a simple game made complicated by managers.  At the most basic level, football is a game played by a group of 11 players against an opposing 11 players where the primary goal of both teams is to get a round ball between the opposition’s goal posts.

During the latest English Premier League transfer seasons, we’ve witnessed the priority that all managers place on acquiring and retaining football players whose ultimate skill is to get that round ball over the opposition’s goal line.

Before the season began, the longest serving EPL manager, Alex Ferguson, successfully acquired the services of the young Mexican striker Hernandez and kept Rooney in his squad.  We also remember that it was just last season when the Manchester United manager spent a large fortune in order to have Berbatov play in the red half of Manchester.  It is no surprise that United are top of the EPL table then, they have refreshed their squad with new goalscorers who have done what they were bought to do... Score goals.

The January transfer window has now seen players such as Carew, Gudjohnson, Bent, Martins all change clubs in an effort to provide the buying clubs with the most treasured of football skills – Goals.

It is therefore no surprise that two of the biggest EPL clubs spent the larger part of yesterday finalising a deal that saw both clubs strengthen their strikeforce department.  Liverpool and Chelsea have much in common this season and the deals that saw Torres go to Chelsea and Suarez + Carroll arrive at Anfield surprisingly can be seen as good news for both clubs.

Both Chelsea and Liverpool are in severe slumps.  Both slumps are due in part to the loss, for sizeable parts of the current season, of a great attacking midfielders (Lampard for Chelsea, and Gerrard for Liverpool).  The loss of these integral players has seen a decline for both clubs in goals, and in the words of so many armchair critics, if you can’t score goals, you can’t win matches.

To remedy the situation, Chelsea raided the paper thin strikeforce of Liverpool and took one of Anfield’s most prize possessions Fernando Torres to Chelsea.  Consider these stats:  Torres has scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for Liverpool.  The fee of 50 million pounds may seem steep for a player that has only scored 9 goals in 26 goals in the current season, but such a negative outlook has a major flaw in that it overlooks the fact that in the last season of 2009/10 Torres hammered in 22 goals in 32 games when he missed portions of the season through injury.

The acquisition by Chelsea of Torres will see the Spaniard pair up with the Ivorian Didier Drogba, who is quite possibly the best striker in European football in recent years.  Drogba’s goal ratio for the Blues is eye-popping.  In 286 games, the strength of Drogba has seen him score 141 goals for Chelsea in all competitions.  Can Drogba and Torres co-exist on the same team?  And what role, if any, is there for Nicolas Anelka whose 13 goals this season is more than both the Ivorian and the Spaniard? 

Perhaps the answer to these questions lies with Drogba getting to the twilight of his football career and a recent statement by Chelsea’s Frank Lampard.  For many years the elephant in the figurative room has been how will the Blues replace Drogba...  In acquiring a 27 year old Torres who should have his prime footballing years ahead of him, the Chelsea management seem to have emphatically answered that question.  So what now?  If Torres is to be Drogba’s ultimate replacement, then what happens in the years before Drogba’s eventual departure from the Bridge?

Going back to Lampard’s statement where he said that he will never be the same player after suffering a sever groin injury, the move by Chelsea to acquire Torres and pair him with Drogba takes us back to the most fundamental objective of a football team to score goals.  If Lampard, who has scored 103 goals in 161 games for Chelsea is not going to be the same player anymore, then clearly the goals that he provided the side in the past needs to come from other avenues, maybe even a Spaniard avenue.

It seems that as Chelsea have slowly drifted into crisis mode during this recent slump that their Italian manager Ancelotti has gone back to his Milan roots.  At Milan, the Italian manager often employed a flexible 4-4-2 diamond that morphed into a 4-3-3 at times.  The Torres signing could see Ancelotti use this formation at Chelsea with Anelka/Malouda, Drogba and Torres forming a deadly front three and being supported by a midfield of Lampard, Essien and Mikel/Ramires/Zhirkov.

Recent times have seen the rare sight of Drogba sitting on the bench at the start of matches.  Whether this is due to lack of form or the draining effects of his recent malaria infection is an answer that can only be answered by the Chelsea management.  Drogba has recently found his scoring touch oncemore and there have been signs that Torres too has regained the competitive fire that so suited his El Nino nickname.  What the future holds for the Blues is unknown, but what is known is that for now, Chelsea will have the most feared attacking strikeforce in the footballing world, and this should see many round balls crossing opposition’s goal lines.

At Anfield, the acquisitions of Suarez and Carroll fall in the shadow of the departure of the ex-Liverpool favourite Torres, but fans of the Reds should not be disheartened.  Although losing a world class player such as Torres should negatively affect any top flight club, Dalglish and the Liverpool management have done a remarkable job in negating the loss of the Spaniard.  The prices may have steep, but take heed of these goalscoring stats.  The Uraguayan Suarez has scored an incredible 111 goals in 159 appearances for Ajax Amsterdam and though he is more well known for “that hand ball”, Suarez is a goal poacher who will surprise many EPL fans in years to come. 

During his successful managerial career at Blackburn Rovers, Dalglish employed a standard 4-4-2 formation and paired two lethal strikers together (Sutton & Shearer), which eventually resulted in a Premier League trophy being deliver to the Ewood Park trophy cabinet.  The next few months will show us whether Carroll and Suarez can form a similar striking partnership although all the signs are there that their playing together should be successful for the Reds.  Similiar to Sutton, Carroll is a tall centre forward who has the ability to score the ugly goals.  The additional attributes of energy, competitiveness and work-rate that the young Carroll possesses will surely see him as a regular 20 goal a season striker during his time at Anfield.  Carroll already has 11 goals in 19 games this season.

What Liverpool fans will have to digest over the next few weeks and months is whether anyone in their side can provide goals on a scale of a Shearer...  For now though, it appears that Liverpool may not need such a player as the recent spike in the form of Gerrard (8 goals in 19 games this year) and the clear natural ability of Suarez to score goals on a consistent basis is sure to see Liverpool continue to climb the league table despite a Champions League place been out of their reach for this season.  The tandem of Carroll and Suarez should see the Reds compete for Champions League positions for years to come...  Whether the tandem can bring the much sought after League trophy to Liverpool is doubtful for now, but similarities between the League winning strike pair of Sutton and Shearer is immediately apparent.

Yesterday’s transfer developments will have many consequences.  Fans have already begun to burn Torres shirts and Newcastle fans will call for owner Mike Ashley’s head, but what should not be overlooked by both Liverpool and Chelsea fans is that the most sour and glum faces on this Tuesday morning will not be the faces of fans of these clubs, rather when the EPL games kick-off tonight and tomorrow evening, it will be clear by looking at the reactions of the 18 managers of the other clubs in the EPL that both Liverpool and Chelsea have swung deals that show their intent to fill their trophy cabinets and fill opposition goal nets.

Let's review the weekend - 21 January to 23 January 2011

The Weekend that was...

In interest of establishing a routine and since Monday is the rest day for most sporting fans, I've decided to begin a column that will be posted every Monday wherein I review the past weekend of sport.  I will note the sporting match-ups that caught my eye and note my view on how the sporting fan should interpret the weekend events.  As you get settled into at the workplace on a Monday, I'm sure a few good laughs and reviewing the weekend that was will help you ease into the working work.

Without further ado..

What I watched?

Blackburn v West Brom

Manchester Utd v Birmingham

Wolves v Liverpool

Australian Open

La Liga

ODI series - South Africa v India

AFC & NFC Championship (the semi-final of American Football)

Only Murray can stop a Federer v Nadal final

As much as I hate singing the praises of anything British or Australian (which is why I never watch the Ashes), I must put it on record that a Nadal v Federer final at the Australian Open seems like a virtual certainty unless the Scot, young Andy "Braveheart" Murray performs a semi-modern miracle and somehow causes an upset.  This is not though as impossible as you may think.  Murray has beaten both Nadal and Federer in recent times.  He is a great baseline player and has shown more BMT than any British tennis player in the last two decades ("yes Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, I am referring to you").  With all that said, the average tennis fan will probably be rooting for another Nadal v Federer final.  Who can blame them?  I'd hate to see the pompous British hooting and hollering if Murray were to win the tournament. 

Quick Note #1:  How sad to see Maria Sharapova leave a tournament early again.  The tournament is not the same without you Maria...  Please do not become another Kournikova.

Quick Note #2:  How sad to see Venus Williams in a ridiculous short skirt.  I seriously thought of poking my eyes out.  This is in no way a mock at Venus' looks.  I'm sure many men that I don't know find her to be gorgeous.  But playing tennis in a skirt that barely covers the junk in your trunk while wearing a flesh coloured underwear really got my stomach in twists and turns.  Oh great, I just lost my appetite again.  Thanks Venus.

Barcelona are unstoppable as long as Iniesta is healthy

I have refrained from commenting too much about the recent FIFA World Player of the Year drama.  The drama aside, how is it possible that the three supposedly best players in the world all play for the same club side.  Barcelona are currently on a 14 game winning streak.  If you ask me if Real Madrid have a chance in a million to win La Liga this year, I'd slap you in the face and then say NO!!!  Madrid have actually done very well to only be about 4-7points behind the juggernaut Barca.

To all the Messi is the greatest fans... Wake up please!!!  Messi didn't play all the 14 games during Barca's latest incredible streak.  The Most Valuable Player in the Catalan locker room is Iniesta.  If Iniesta doesn't score the goals at the World Cup, Spain would not be the World Champions.  Last year with Iniesta injured and Messi playing, a ten man Inter Milan team eliminate Barcelona.  Two years ago, Iniesta scores a stoppage time goal in the semi-final against Chelsea...  So with Messi Barca couldn't win the Champions League last year and Argentina couldn't win the World Cup.  With a healthy Iniesta, Spain won the World Cup and Barca won the Champions League.  It's a no contest match-up.  Messi is a fantastic and brilliant player, he just is not as important to his club or country as Iniesta.  FIFA gave Messi the World Player of the Year to Messi.  FIFA also gave the 2022 World Cup to Qatar...

Manchester United will win the Premier League and Liverpool won't get relegated

Every year I say it, and every year it comes true.  No!!  I never say that Manchester United will win the league every year, but I do say that the premier league side with the best wing players and defence always win the League.  Nani, Giggs and Park have been definitely been the best wing combinations in the EPl this year.  Yes, Bale has been great, but he has not had a decent right-wing to compliment his play with Lennon being average and often off colour in big games.  Vidic has been a rock.  A really big rock.  If you picked a world team right now, would you rather pick Vidic and his cloned twin to play centre back or anyone of Pique, Puyol, Carvalho, Terry, Ferdinand, etc.?  Yip, I thought so, I'd go with Vidic and a cloned twin too.

Liverpool surprisingly played good football against Wolves.  Playing good football against Wolves may be expected, but this Liverpool side has lost two games against Blackpool this season and already lost Wolves before... so baby steps people.  What would have been more surprising to Liverpool fans was that the absence of Gerrard enabled other midfielders to play in attacking positions and express themselves to the benefit of the club.  I've often said that the now old Gerrard is a liability to Liverpool in an attacking position and his ego will prevent him from playing the defensive holding position that Paul Scholes masterly does at United.  It will be interesting to watch how Liverpool perform when Gerrard comes back.

American Football - Superbowl

The American Football Superbowl will take place on the 6th of February in a 100 000 capacity stadium in Dallas, Texas.  The game will now officially be between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.  If Pittsburgh win, it will be their third Superbowl in 5 years.  The Steelers have the better defence and a two time winning Quarterback who is trying to rub off the stain of being accused of rape before the season.  The Packers last won the Superbowl in the 90's but are a traditional powerhouse in American Football.  The Packers have the hottest Quarterback in the playoffs and a defence that forces turnovers.

The game should be an exciting event, and the halftime show is always worth watching (See Janet Jackson..)

Lesson learnt

The lesson that I learnt from this weekend of sport is that the real great teams plan for the future.  They develop younger players when they are winning with an established side.  They then blood the younger players when they're ready and can make a great team even greater.

I will post a blog about the South African cricket side and their chances in the upcoming world cup during the course of this week.