Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

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

Cheating Doesn’t Pay for Stoke City

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They call themselves a rugby team and sing Swing Low. Whilst Stoke City are not the physical side they were under Tony Pullis, they still have a nasty side with Mark Hughes. And for once, their blatant cheating did not pay.

Timewasting at every opportunity, questions have to be asked of the referee as to why goal keeper Lee Grant was not book in the first half for taking over 30 seconds to take a free kick. Fans pay a lot of money to watch a football match. Not to watch a goal keeper take a sip of his drink, dry his hands, kick his boots on the post, change where he is taking the goal kick from and then wait a few more seconds before kicking it.

Stoke City clearly went out with a game plan. To waste as much time as possible. And it ended up catching up with them.

A couple of times during the game Stoke City players went down, crying wolf, pretending to be injured in an attempt to slow the game down and take the intensity out. To waste time.

2 minutes into the second half, they were at it again. Erik Pieters going down holding his hamstring, his back, and his head. He could not decide which one he had hurt. 1 minute of treatment on the pitch in an attempt to get time and intensity taken out of the game.

And then Arsenal got their revenge. With Pieters off the pitch, having had to walk from behind the goal to the half way line to come on, Mesut Ozil drifted in unmarked and unfollowed to lob the keeper with a header. At this point Pieters was barely in his own half. Had he not faked injury, he would have been on the pitch and likely the man to follow Ozil back in.

The fact that Pieters remained on the pitch for the entire game showed how little he was injured. He was not. And his cheating ended up costing his side a goal. 2-1 Arsenal.

Arsenal’s third goal made history.

At no point in the history of the game have a side surrounded the referee due to him NOT giving a free kick. And that is exactly what Stoke City did.

Alexis Sanchez was crudely bought down on the edge of the area, following up was serial offender Charlie Adam who stamped on the Chilean. As Stoke City players stopped waiting for a free kick, Alex Iwobi appeared clear in the box slotting it past Lee Grant, whilst Lee Mason waved play on.czvzez2wqaapdvaWith Arsenal players celebrating the goal that would take the club top of the table, Stoke City plays surrounded the referee. Demanding to know why he waved play on. Why he did not give a free kick AGAINST them. It was hilarious to watch unfold.

Stoke had attempted to time waste, foul and kick Arsenal off the pitch. And it was a foul which was not giving that was their undoing.

Back in 2007, Cesc Fabregas approached Mark Hughes at the end of a drab 0-0 draw against Blackburn. Hughes takes over the story: “When we shook hands at the end, the young man asked me a question which I thought was disrespectful. He asked me if I had played for Barcelona and when I said yes, he shook his head as if in disbelief. Then he said, ‘Well, that wasn’t Barcelona football’.”

And he is the same again at Stoke. Their cheat at all costs football ended up costing them.

Karma.

Keenos

Alexis Sanchez’s 3 year itch

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Fact 1: Alexis Sanchez has never spent longer than 3 seasons at a club

Fact 2: Alexis Sanchez has never signed a second contract at a club

I have recently come to terms with the fact that Alexis Sanchez will leave Arsenal in the summer. He will not be signing a new contract. He will move elsewhere. I am not happy with it, as he is a World Class player who is the sides talisman, but it will be Alexis Sanchez’s choice.

Throughout his career, he has not stayed anywhere very long. He came to Europe in 2008 signing for Udinese. After 3 years in Italy, Barcelona came sniffing. No one would turn down Barcelona. He signed a 5 year contract with the Catalan giants.

Just 3 years later, he was on the move once more. This time to Arsenal. Having failed to establish himself as a superstar in Spain, and with Neymar, Lionel Messi and newly signed Luis Suarez ahead of him, he joined Arsenal.

All his moves were justifiable. You can see why he left each club, but the facts remain that he has never spent longer than 3 years at a club, nor signed a second contract.

He has also never played more than 100 league games for a club – 95 at Udinese, 88 at Barcelona, currently 79 at Arsenal.

alexis-sanchez-2

Sanchez has unfinished business in Italy. Whilst at Udinese he failed to pick up a trophy. I can see a move to Juventus materialising.

At 28, he perhaps has 6 more years left in him at the top level. So another two clubs. I can also see him going to PSG. They will pay big wages, and he will be guaranteed silverware. He then would have had some success in Spain, England, Italy (if he wins something for Juvenuts) and France. And would have experienced great cities throughout Europe.

He will then probably return to Chile as a hero.

And that is a key point as well. He will always struggle to be a club legend due to him moving, but he is a Chilean hero. An Icon. A legend. He has always put country before club, and it has previously infuriated managers as he puts his body on the line, with no regard to who pays his wages.

Sanchez reminds me a lot of Carlos Tevez. Both came from poverty to become global superstars.

Tevez also struggled to stay at any one club for very long. His longest stint was at Manchester City, where he played for 4 years.

The writing is on the wall, Sanchez will leave Arsenal this summer.

Keenos