The difference between wingers and wide midfielders

I have always pondered upon the differences in terms of technical attributes between wingers and wide midfielders.

Players like Robben, Joe Cole, C. Ronaldo, Overmars, Ribery, Lennon, Quaresma are widely regarded as wingers but rarely (probably never) as wide midfielders but players like Beckham, Giggs, Downing, Nedved for example are always classed the other way around.

One of my theories is that wingers are players who can comfortably play in either flank and will be ready to 'cut inside' from the 'other flank' which they're not 'used to'. (Ie. Cristiano Ronaldo playing on the left and cutting inside to shoot with his favoured right foot) but said theory does not apply on most wide players. (Ask Beckham to play Left Midfield he'll probably end up with more back passes than crosses; although Giggs may be the only exception I can think of to this rule)

Could that be an English mentality which, down the years, have discouraged its wide players the freedom to roam about final third of the pitch or is that the case of English players not possessing the required technical skills in order to beat defenders and to play on the 'other flank' as comfortably as most orthodox wingers do.

Your thoughts.

伤心的歌

我在朋友的名片夹中看见了你的名字 于是拨了这通电话

很高兴就真的是你 很高兴我完全不知道该向你说些什么

很高兴你的电话始终没有换过 很高兴今天我居然有这样莫名其妙的冲动

还是一样跟他在一起吗 虽然我知道五年前的愚蠢祝福是如此坦白的言不由衷 但是 还好你也从来没有接受过

毕业典礼结束之后的聚餐 一客沙嗲牛排 一张照片 一个拥抱 一个微笑 一路顺风

然后你终于可以顺理成章的失去联络 然后这些年来我才渐渐从伤心的歌中离开

你出了国 你念了MBA 你抽了烟 你剪短了头发 你习惯穿起了高跟鞋 你在二十世纪最后一个夜晚喝醉

你开始了忙碌的工作 你似乎换过了几个男朋友 你画起了妆 换了张新电影

你一个人住在都市里 买了张双人床的房间 你开始享受成人动物的基本生活

只是一切都只是听说 借着揣测和不确定的口气他们这么说

现在 穿着和衣的套装站在街角等着红灯 讲着电话的你 到底还憧憬爱情么

在经过了这些年之后 你听到了么 FM频道正在播伤心的歌 很巧 不是吗

男人的声音在经过这些年之后 当时泛滥的激情现在却沉淀出低回的甘美 曾经冲动的勇气现在也释怀成心底的涟漪

你听到了吗 并不是想让你觉得有压力 只是因为这首歌是属于你的回忆

在过了这些年之后 伤心的歌实在太多了 却只能消磨KTV里头盲目的丧志和伤痛

而真正伤心的歌 却在心里氲开成微笑的感伤

我在朋友的名片夹中看见了你的名字 于是我下定决心拨了这通电话

真的很高兴 这真的是你 真的很高兴 我可以在过了这些年之后可以再和你聊这么多

只是 伤心的歌 似乎太不伤心 依赖着电磁波的声音 总是太过冷静

所以我任性的在你接起这通电话之前 自私的就将电话挂上

FM频道正在播着伤心的歌

The Teams I want at the 2010 World Cup

Dear Santa,

In addition to the 6 already qualified countries (South Africa, Australia, Netherlands, South Korea, North Korea, Japan), I would like the following countries to make it to the World Cup in South Africa next year: (in no particular order)

Brazil
Argentina
Paraguay
Chile
Ecuador
Denmark
Greece
Northern Ireland
Germany
Spain
Serbia
Italy
England
Russia
Portugal
France
Republic of Ireland
Nigeria
Cameroon
Egypt
Ivory Coast
Ghana
USA
Mexico
Costa Rica
Bahrain

Sincerely,
Dom

European Football Round-up this week. Of champions, relegation dogfights, retirements and much more

This weekend's league matchday in Europe saw Manchester United, Internazionale and Barcelona all emerged as champions of their respective league.

Manchester United, who needed just one point to seal a third consecutive league title welcomed Arsenal at Old Trafford. Facing a team whom they have just beaten twice in the last two weeks, Sir Alex Ferguson and his team must have fancied their chance of another comfortable victory in front of a capacity-filled 75,000 crowd. However, a much-improved Arsenal side took the game to United, but the match was a midfield battle with both sides constantly closing each other down and chances were few and far between. At the end of 90 minutes, United walked away with the single point they needed and were awarded a well-deserved 18th English league title. Also, an emotional Carlos Tevez may have well played his last home game for Manchester United after admitting that 'it would be tough to STAY at Old Trafford'. His future remains unclear as of writing this.

Elsewhere in the League, troubled Newcastle United dropped back into the relegation zone after a defeat at home to Fulham, with Senegalese striker Diomansy Kamara scoring the only goal which saw them retain their 7th spot, with only a point needed to secure a place in next season's Europa League (the old Uefa Cup). Also in Tyneside, Middlesborough are doomed after only managing a home draw against Aston Villa who were already guaranteed a European spot. With only 1 game left to play, they found themselves 3 points off safety. Sunderland have 2 games in hand. They visit Portsmouth on Monday night and welcome Chelsea next weekend in their penultimate game of the season. A win in either of the match will see them retain their Premier League status.

Next week, Newcastle United travel to Aston Villa, where they face the cruel truth that even getting a maximum 3 points will not be enough to guarantee survival while Hull City have got their fate in their own hands. Victory against a Manchester United team will see them staying for another season. A draw may still be enough, providing that Newcastle United fail to win at Villa. Newcastle United must win next weekend to hold on to whatever survival chances they have.

Meanwhile the league matchday in Spain and Italy saw Barcelona and Internazionale both became champions of their leagues respectively without even playing. In Spain, 2nd placed Real Madrid fell 3-2 to Villareal, with Joan Capdevilla scoring the winner in the last minute. In Italy, Inter's cross-city rival Milan also failed to win at Udinese, with la Zebrette triumphing 2-1 at Stadio Friuli.

With at least 2 rounds left to play for in Serie A and La Liga, we could well be seeing the relegation dogfights continue as we go into the final rounds in a few weeks' time.

In Germany, Wolfsburg opened up a 2 point at the summit after thrashing Hannover 96 5-0 in Hannover, with Bayern Munich only managing a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim. A point against 10th place Werder Bremen next week could see Wolfsburg winning their first Bundesliga title ever since... I could ever remember. (They have yet to win anything since I started following football) Bayern Munich need a victory against 3rd place Stuttgart (who are still in the title race themselves) and hope that Wolfsburg lose at home to Bremen at the same time to have any chance of winning the league.

This weekend in Ligue 1 saw Olympique Lyonnais finally dethroned after 7 consecutive seasons. Bordeaux 3-2 win over Le Mans saw them 10 points clear off third-place Lyon, with only 3 games left to play. Lyon play Marseille today, where a victory for the Velodrome side will see them closing the gap on Bordeaux.

And finally, former World Footballer of the Year Luis Figo has announced his retirement from professional football. The news came in after Internazionale secured their 3rd consecutive Scudetto. The 36 year old finally calling it a day after 20 illustrious years where he has won numerous titles and personal awards as well as playing for some of the world's biggest clubs. Goodbye Luis Figo.

ウルトラマン!!!!

Greetings dear readers, first off I apologize for the lack of posts for the past month or so. The reason for my blogging inactivity (apart from the background change) is none other than laziness and also the fact that my writing inspiration is at a drought at this moment (in simpler terms, I do not know what to post most of the time).

What I have decided to write today is all in the title of the post. ウルトラマン! It translates into Ultraman in English. Doesn't that sound all too familiar? Yes it does. Although shot way back in the 60s, kids like me who was born in the late 80s literally grew up watching these series when they were aired on Malaysian TV channels in the early to late 90s. (Along with Power Rangers)

The storyline of the series generally depicts giant monsters (or Aliens, usually one per episode, although there can be more than one of these villains on some occasions) threatening civilization (Japanese civilization to be exact, as they only seem to want to attack Japan). The only Earth organization equipped to handle these disasters is the 'Monster Squad', a special police force equipped with high-tech weapons and vehicles, as well as extensive scientific and engineering facilities. The team always consists of one captain and the Ultraman's human counterpart would ALWAYS be part of the team (never as captains though) And for some reason, the team ALWAYS finds itself overmatched by the monsters. This is when the main protagonist would transform secretly into the amazing, super-humanoid-powered giant from space—Ultraman. And at the end of each episode the Ultraman would almost without fail blow the bad guys into pieces by simply crossing his hands and emitting a deadly laser ray like this:



The most outstanding features in this series are, in my opinion, the monsters. As a kid I would get an orgasm in my brain seeing exotic monsters appearing in each episode. And I would be delighted if there were 2 or more monsters (3 being the highest number of monsters appearing in one episode as far as I can remember) because that would give Ultraman a tough time which he would usually end up in despairity. (I loved that, ALOT. Was that the very first signs of my sadistic nature which would come into surface in the future? Perhaps) Usually when the Ultraman is defeated another Ultraman from a previous season would then make a cameo appearance as the current Ultraman's saviour, and together they would beat the cr*p out of the monsters living life as usual. When you were about 4 or 5 I guess those were the defining moments in television which you would regard as epic and memorable. I'd probably post some pictures of monsters I remember seeing when I was younger, but that would take alot of googling, researching and recalling as I don't really remember their names at this moment.

That's all for now then.

Battle of Britain - a random footie match analysis

One of my earlier intentions to have a blog running was to provide myself with an easily-accessible medium to ramble about football, which is literally my other religion. Unfortunately I've not had many posts about footie. The last one being a preview on the clubs for the Champions League last season, which was truly a long time ago. But after witnessing what was the most shocking of games I decided to give my thoughts and views here. It was a game between Manchester United and Liverpool - two of the most successful clubs in Britain with a long history of rivalry between them.

Pre-Match
The build up prior to kickoff has been tensed as usual. Something which is only too familiar when it comes to games involving the big four of the Barclay's Premier League. Both teams were in great form, having turned out victorious in their midweek Champions League first knockout stage clashes. Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, who have not tasted defeat since last November when they lost 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates overcame Jose Mourinho's Internazionale Milano, who are on top of Serie A by two goals to nil, while Rafael Benitez's Liverpool came up with a vintage display to thump Real Madrid 4-0.

Off the pitch there was drama too in Wayne Rooney's interview where he claimed that growing up as an Everton fan he 'has always hated Liverpool'. And Benitez's press conference in January in which he infamously claimed the league fixtures have been pre-arranged to give Manchester United an added advantage and accused Premier League referees of constantly favouring the English Champions further intensified things. But since that notorious rant his side has gone on a streak of bad results, and they have gone from leading United by 7 in January to trailing by the same number in March. There is therefore no doubt that Benitez would like nothing but a victory against his side's fiercest rivals to prove a point. A victory for Manchester United at Old Trafford today will see them 10 points clear of Liverpool with a game in hand, which would ultimately knock the Reds out of the title race surely.

So at lunch time kickoff here in Manchester, England, Manchester United made a few changes to the side which knocked Inter out in midweek, with Park Ji-Sung coming in for Ryan Giggs on the left. Paul Scholes is replaced by Anderson in the middle of the park and Carlos Tevez preferred to Dimitar Berbatov who picked up a knock during the Inter game to partner Wayne Rooney up front.

---------------------van der Sar------------------

O'Shea-----Ferdinand------------Vidic-------Evra

Ronaldo-----Carrick-----------Anderson-----Giggs

-------------Tevez------------Rooney-------------

Liverpool lined up a with 4-5-1 formation. Fernando Torres is playing alone up front with Steven Gerrard right behind him. Albert Riera returned from suspension to play on the left of midfield.

---------------------Torres--------------------------

---------------------Gerrard-------------------------

Riera--------Lucas---------Mascherano---------Kuyt

Aurelio-------Skrtel---------Hyypia--------Carragher

----------------------Reina---------------------------

Match Report
A Ronaldo free kick 30 yards out deflected off the wall and was heading goalwards. Reina had the ball but the pace on the ball saw him bundling it before smothering it on his 2nd attempt to deny the rushing Carlos Tevez a simple tap in. That aside few chances were created early on, as both teams tussled out in midfield. Then on the 23rd minute Carlos Tevez played a delightful pass from the left to release Park Ji-Sung which caught the Liverpool defense off-guard. Pepe Reina left his line to come for the ball, Park nudged it away from the goalkeeper, and Reina's gloves, instead of getting the ball only managed to send the Korean tumbling. Penalty for Manchester United! Up stepped Cristiano Ronaldo to send it to the keeper's right. Reina went the right way but the shot was too powerful, and it ended up in the back of the net. 1-0 and first blood to United!

But the home side's joy was short-lived. 5 minutes later after the first goal Steven Gerrard sent in a long ball from the left hand channel. It looked like a tame pass and was too far for Fernando Torres to latch upon but Nemanja Vidic made the mistake of letting the ball bounce instead of clearing it with his head. In came Torres. Vidic tried to chest it back to his keeper but was outmuscled by the Spaniard, who went clean through on goal! Edwin van der Sar came out from his line to try and stop the Liverpool striker but Torres cooly finished to equalize the score.

Then the match pretty much went Liverpool's way as they looked the more likely to score. Right before the stroke of half-time Manchester United's defense was caught napping again. This time it was Evra at fault as he mistimed his tackle on Gerrard and conceded a penalty which Gerrard duly converted.

Manchester United came out with greater intentions in the 2nd half, as they dominated the final third of the field. Carlos Tevez thrice came close with half chances to draw the scores level. Then came the turning the point of the game in the 75th minute. Gerrard was played clear on goal, Vidic held him back and tumbled the Liverpool captain to the ground. There was only one thing in the referee's mind. Last man. Red card. And van der Sar was left standing by Fabio Aurelio's resulting free-kick. 3-1 to Liverpool.

Gerrard almost and should have made it 4-1 when Ryan Babel's instinctive backheel found him unmarked but the Englishman ballooned his shot well over the bar. Substitute Andrea Dossena then inevitably scored a fourth for Liverpool on the 90th minute to make it a goal-fest for the Merseysiders.

Post-Match Analysis
As it was in Anfield earlier in the season when Liverpool came out with a 2-1 win they had dominated in the middle of the park. Carrick and Anderson had no room to maneuvre what-so-ever. Carrick in particular gave a woeful display. Made a few mistakes in the first half which almost gifted the opponents goal-scoring opportunities. That said full credit to Liverpool who opted for a 5 man midfield formation. Lucas and Mascherano did a great job of closing down their opposite numbers. And Stephen Gerrard was his usual impeccable self. He was at the centre of all Liverpool's attacks and had a hand in all 3 goals before being substituted. My man of the match. Manchester United thought they've got everything under control after scoring the penalty. I thought that was the case too. To let in 4 goals and lose in such a manner was unthinkable, particularly when you know that all 4 goals came from their own mistakes and were therefore preventabl.

I think this could well be the first time Manchester United have conceded 4 goals in a match in recent years as far as I can remember. I have been trying to remember when were the last times they conceded so many. You've got the 5 nils to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge back when Massimo Taibi used to be goalkeeper which was probably 9 or 10 years back. And then a 4-3 defeat at Newcastle. 4-1 to Middlesbrough at Tyneside etc... Those were all played away from home.

At home you've got Real Madrid visiting a few years ago and won that scincilating Champions League tie 4-3 courtesy of a Ronaldo (the fat one) hattrick. That was probably the one and only time I've seen Manchester United conceded 4 in a game AT Old Trafford. But fair play to them. Real Madrid were at its peak back then and United had no answers to whatever Zidane, Figo and co threw at them. But at least the scoreline was respectable.

But I just could not believe what I saw today. To lose 4-1, at home, to your closest rivals was... quite literally unimaginable! It was not a bad team performance to be fair to the team, because like I said all the 4 goals were preventable because they were all conceded due to individual erros. I thought Nemanja Vidic had possibly one of his worst games for Manchester United. 2 mistakes and how dear they proved to be. The first one was erraticism of the highest level. For a defender of his calibre you'd be wondering time and time again why did he not choose to jump and head the ball clear. You simply don't let the ball bounce off your shoulder when there's a striker coming in at you. And then I think he was caught napping by the Liverpool through pass which led to his sending off. Usually you'd count on him to intercept those passes, but this time he allowed the ball to slip beside him and after making his turn Gerrard was already clean through on goal. He pulled Gerrard down. He was the last man. Inevitable red card. If he have had concentrated more you'd expect him to read and intercept those kind of passes. Simple as that.

The same can be said of Patrice Evra in the build up to Liverpool's 2nd goal. He read the pass a fraction too late and allowed Gerrard to come in for the through ball. That made him mistime his tackle to give away the penalty. Still, it was completely preventable nonetheless.

If there is one problem with United at the moment, it will be the fact that they've got too many players at their disposal to choose from. It's a good thing to have a big squad when you're playing in all 4 competitions in a season. But sometimes you can't make all your players happy, especially not when you've got 3 world class strikers to fill in for 2 starting positions. So far Sir Alex Ferguson has been using the rotation policy. But sadly it backfired today. Allow me to explain why I think so.

Sir Alex left Tevez on the bench for 90 minutes in favour of Rooney - Berbatov. But he knows that Tevez wants to play. And since Berbatov picked up a knock playing against Inter Tevez's selection to start alongside Rooney became fully justified. In other words, we all know that his first choice remains to be Rooney - Berbatov. But to keep Tevez happy he's decided to do field the Argentine against Liverpool. That plus the fact that Berbatov was not fully fit further aided his cause. First of all don't get me wrong about Tevez. He's a model professional and is anything but egocentric. On top of that he's a world class striker who can easily walk into any sides in the world. His contributions last season were immense. You never leave those kind of players on the bench. But unfortunately Tevez has found stiff competitors for the striking berths this season in Berbatov and Rooney, both who are of the same quality as Tevez is, if not better. Sir Alex would never let any of them leave the club. He'd be stupid if he does. But to make sure they all stay happy you got to have to play them regularly.

Back to the game. At 2-1 down it was sensible to make a few changes. And you don't leave your 30 million striker on the bench for 90 minutes when you're losing. In came Berbatov. And joining him were Scholes and Giggs. That was before the sending off. 3 attackers came on at the same time. Sir Alex's intentions were clear - to go all-out on the attack. And at that point I was thinking, bad idea. I was telling my mate these substitutions will affect the equilibrium of the team. After the trio came on Manchester United had 3 strikers and 3 midfield players. And tellingly all 3 midfielders were attacking players. It was a massive gamble indeed to be playing with NO holding midfielders. And Liverpool made them pay. When Lucas made the pass to Gerrard no one was closing him down. Had Carrick and Anderson still be on the pitch one of them would have been tracking Gerrard closely and that would have probably helped Vidic a little (who was still largely to blame for missing the interception the first time). After the red card and even before Fabio Aurelio had dispatched his freekick I properly announced to my mate that surely, surely there's no way back now. They were forced to play with only 3 at the back (with only 1 CB in Ferdinand). And then before the final whistle the fourth goal inevitably came. Manchester United have made it very very easy indeed for Liverpool.

To sum up this dreadful day, it will be an ugly combination of costly individual mistakes, questionable substitutions and selection dilemma. The first time Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov and Ronaldo all started together Manchester United lost 2-1 at Anfield. The next time they played together was against Stoke or Hull, when one of them came on as a substitute when they were 1 or 2 up. Sir Alex was hoping to play fantasy football in search of more goals. And yet the fantastic quartet failed to yield a goal in the remaining half and hour or so on the pitch. And this afternoon was the third time they have been playing together. And it ended up in a massive defeat. If you ask me, it may only be so coincidental that the team have not had much luck when all of them were on the pitch together. Although personally I would love to see all 4 play together but the truth is I haven't got the slightest idea myself on how to accomodate them in a starting 11. Do you play Berbatov up front with Tevez and Rooney and Ronaldo behind them, or Rooney and Tevez with Berbatov in a withdrawn role, maybe Ronaldo and Berbatov up front with Tevez and Rooney flanking in... What about in midfield? Where does Park play? What about the likes of Hargreaves and Anderson and Nani, not to mention Carrick, Fletcher. What about playing away in Europe, do you still insist on playing 5 across the midfield, and against a weak team, let's just field a starting 11 of attacking players so we get to win 10-0... Endless possibilities on how to line up. But for now let's leave that to Sir Alex to ponder upon. He will know what's best for the team.

As for Manchester United's season, it's far from over, despite today's heavy defeat. They're still 4 points clear, with a game in hand. Winning that one will see them go 7 clear again. Hopefully what happened today does not hamper their confidence. It will be disastrous if it does. See Arsenal for good example of crumbling on all competitions after losing 1 match. (2002/2003 v Bolton, 2004/2005 v PSV, 2006/2007 Champions League knockout v Liverpool) Anyway, I'm positive that Manchester United will retain the league title this season. And let's hope for more luck in both knockout competitions. (FA Cup and UEFA Champions League)

Doing the quintuple is not impossible!

The first ever 'tagged'.

1) The person who tagged you is:
Val.


2) Your relationship with him/her is:
Not too sure to be honest.


3) Your first impression of him/her is:
What a shy kid hey!


4) The most memorable moments with her:




5) The most memorable thing he/she has said to you is:




6) If he/she becomes yr lover, you will:
Never let her go.


7) If he/she became yr lover, what should he/she improve at:
The way she thinks. Can't blame her though. She's 5 years behind. Was back then and always will be.


8) If he/she becomes yr enemy, what would you do:
Don't think that will happen but I'll probably just ignore her.


9) If he/she becomes yr enemy, the reason will be:
I've never made any enemies my whole life, not least with her! And I hold no grudges against anyone so I don't know the answer to this really.


10) The most desired thing you want to do for him/her now is:


11) Your overall impression on him/her:
Shy. Childish. Lanky!


12) The characteristic you love most about yourself:
My adventurous streak.


13) The characteristic you hate most about yourself:
The fact that I don't always stand up to defend my POVs as frequently as I'd liked, even though they may prove to be substantially correct at times.


14) The most ideal person you want to be is:
Dom Ow


15) For people that care and like you, say something to them:
One love to all! High FIVE! It's NICE!


16) Pass this quiz to 10 ppl who you want to know how they feel about you.
I'm not full of myself but I really can't be bothered of what other people think of me these days.

To the person who 'tagged' me, cheers! It's my first time doing these kinds of questionnaires, and they're actually quite fun! The real reason for doing this though is to let you know more of me, since you filled in my name for number 16 on your blog.

I'm being really honest with the answers, and the truth can sometimes be a hard thing to swallow. I just hope you've become more matured and will not easily get offended by the answers I gave. Also, although I've been trying my best for the last half hour to remember the things to be filled in for 4 and 5... well, they just proved to be things that wouldn't spring to mind. I might have already forgotten about them subconsciously, or they were never meant to be part of my long term memory anyway. And 10. Well 10 is possibly just something I've never thought of in years, literally! But there's one last thing though which I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you. It's something I used to think about alot a long time ago. One of those crazy things that would naturally play about in your mind when you get blinded thinking about one person. I used to think about getting a wish. I'd use it. I'd wish for you to be born 5 years earlier, or me 5 years later.

Then you think it'd work. The next thing you wake up realising that there is so much more to do in life than to just think of one person all the time. And then you move on.