Tag Archives: Bayern Munich

Proof that the Champions League draw is flawed?

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So Arsenal get Bayern Munich in the Champions League knock out stages again. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

At least it has saved me £500 on tickets, flights, hotels and booze. But whilst watching the draw, I noticed a massive flaw which could lead it to be fix and / or flawed.

The runners-up are drawn first from a single bowl. Once the runners-up are drawn, some UEFA suit picks out balls from the bowls of the teams they can face. These balls are then put into a bowl that is infront of Ruud Gullit, who is drawing the winners.

A courtesy mixing of the balls round the bowl, and Gullit then draws the side.

So Gullit can see which balls are taken from which bowl, sees these balls go into a bowl infront of him, and then watches as they are ‘mixed’ up, remaining in the order they were in the bowl.

Anyone who has ever been to Spain and play the “find the ball” game with a lookielooklie man will know how it works.

As the ball go’s under the cup, you keep an eye on that cup. And as long as your eye speed is quick enough, you can almost always find out. Of course, they are usually a scam, with a quick slight of hand trick removing the ball. Or whilst you are watching what is going on, pick pockets work the outside stealing wallets and phones whilst you concentrate on the cups.

We all know the game.

So back to the Champions League draw.

The balls go in the bowl infront of Gullit. He knows which ball is which, keeping an eye on the one he wants as they spin around the bowl, and can then pick out the ball he chooses. Made even easier in a situation like Arsenal’s where there were only 4 balls in the draw.

The UEFA Champions League draw is badly flawed and it is no surprise we got Bayern Munich once more.

Keenos

Arsenal show tremendous bouncebackability

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“But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” ~Rocky Balboa, 2006

In football, you will lose games. It is part of the game. Even during Arsenal’s unbeaten season of 2004, we lost games. We lost both legs of the League Cup semi final to Middlesbrough. And in April, we were knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League in the space of just 3 days.

It is not about losing games, it is how you bounce back from losing games and keep moving forward.

In 2004, we did not let that double cup disappointment damage us. We got up and continued fighting, and ended the season with a gold Premier League trophy.

This season we have had some horrendous results.

  • An opening day loss to West Ham
  • Double Champions League disappointment to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos
  • Cheated at Chelsea
  • Smashed at Sheffield Wednesday

But after each defeat, Arsenal have bounced back.

The West Ham loss saw us go to Crystal Palace and win – how long ago does signing “we are staying up” feel?

After the Chelsea fiasco, it was a mid week destruction of Spurs. Our greatest night so far this season. And after Olympiakos, We went on a run which saw us beat Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

It is only the Zagreb game where we failed to win again straight after – the defeat against Chelsea.

Iain Dowie first coined the word bouncebackability in around 2004. It was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the same year as greats such as ASBO and Chav.UntitledOver 10 years on from Dowie creating this word, it could become out buzzword for the season. For after every great defeat, Arsenal have a great victory.

And we showed it once more this weekend.

After our lowest point of not just the season, but a few years (probably since Bradford), we bounced back with a tremendous victory against Swansea.

OK, we rode our luck, Gomis bottling a one on one, and under other circumstances the 2nd goal would have been disallowed for a foul on a goal keeper, but 3-0 certainly did not flatter us.

It seems to be our new away tactic. It worked against Watford, and it worked again Saturday against Swansea. Defend. Let the opponents exhaust themselves, then hit them.

Whilst the pre-mentioned luck did play a part, it was world class goal keeping by Cech, and Bellerin running from London to Swansea quicker than it took my train to get home yesterday to get in to tackle Gomis as he rounded the goal keeper was not luck. Brilliant by both players.

Hector Bellerin could become Arsenal’s greatest ever right back.

And up next is away to Bayern Munich.

Arsenal can go to Munich without fear. Despite having been knocked out of the Champions League in both 2013 & 2014 against the German giants, they failed to beat us at the Allianz Arena on both occasions. An Arsenal victory and a draw the respective results.

The fans heading out there can expect a great week. Many of whom would have done an over nighter at Swansea, which in itself followed up a 3am return from Sheffield. These are the hard miles. And hopefully they are rewarded with a good performance on Wednesday.

And hopefully the fog does not delay their flights today too much!

Even if we go down the negative route, and end up getting spanked at Munich, we know this side has the mental strength to bounce back.

At Spurs in the League Cup, the discussion was “I would take the defeat against Chelsea to win tonight.” And it could be the same again. Would I take a defeat against Bayern Munich to guarantee a victory against Spurs? Of course I would. But let’s be positive.

Level on points with Manchester City
4 points ahead of Manchester United
8 points ahead of Spurs & Liverpool
14 Points ahead of Chelsea

We will lose more games this season. As will Manchester City. But remember, it is not how you lose, it is how you lose and move forward.

Keenos

 

Barcelona ban proves cheats prosper

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Barcelona have just been handed a transfer ban by FIFA for breaking rules on the signing of international players aged under 18. Alongside the ban, they have also been fined £300,000. Whilst the size of the fine is negligible, the ban, if upheld, could be a disaster for the Catalan side, with Victor Valdes and Carlos Puyol both set to leave this summer.

Barcelona were not the only side to hit the headlines this morning for being a little bit naughty. The Dutch FA announced that they were to launch an investigation about the link between Chelsea and Vitesse Arnhem – with former officials of the Dutch club claiming that Chelsea coercing them to not qualify for the Champions League to ensure UEFA rules were not breached.

What does this mean for world football? Well it shows that whilst cheats may get caught, they also prosper.

The Champions League Semi-Final could well line up as:

Barcelona
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Bayern Munich

Barcelona

Real Madrid

  • May 01: Sold training ground to Madrid Regional Council for inflated rate of £170m, allowing them to wipe out all debt.
  • April 2013: European Commission launch investigation into Real Madrid after council paid Real Madrid €22.7m in ‘compensation’.

Chelsea

  • Sept 2005: Forced through a deal to sign John Obi Mikel, despite him already having signed a contract with Manchester United
  • Sept 2009: Banned for 2 transfer windows (later reduced to one) over Gael Kakuta deal.
  • April 2014: Investigated by Dutch over link with Vitesse Arnhem.

Bayern Munich

Despite what you think of Gazidas and Kroenke. At least they are not crooks and cheats. Saying that, with the current song being about ‘doing it The Arsenal Way’ maybe we should get involved in bribes, brown envelopes, et al as we have a good history of that!

Keenos