IGNORANT FOOTBALL FANS IN INDIA NEED TO RISE

I still remember the morning of 28^th April 2011 when all my friends who were Real Madrid and Barcelona fans were in a tussle on Twitter, Facebook and all social platforms available, all this cause of the sending off of the Madrid central defender Pepe when he had actually not touched Dani Alves. And the social football fight was also there on 7^th May 2009 when Barcelona knocked out Chelsea with Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo disallowing many of the penalty chances that Chelsea should have actually got with Ballack and Drogba leading the race to shout at the ref. But on 24^th of July 2011 everything was all cool why should there be any issue no EPL no La Liga no SerieA so just for my so called football loving friends to know on 23^rd July 2011 UAE defeated India 3-0 in the first leg of the World Cup qualifiers.

Oh please don’t stress your head thinking why is this Jughead making such a hue and cry about a loss as it keeps happening in sports. I am making this hue and cry because India ended the match with only 9 men in blues on the field, with Red card being awarded to Debabrata Roy and Subrata Pal when there wasn’t much of a physical contact in any of the two situations which led to the penalties and also the red cards. Now where are the Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea fans gone come on how can you be a club faithful if you are not even close to being a country faithful?  Every player in the world says and feels there is no better feeling than playing for your national team. Please a humble request don’t start with the age old topic that Indian football is not that great come on how can it be great when their own countries football supporters have no idea about what they are going through.

The referee in that match was Banjar Al Dosari who is from Qatar, just asking the FIFA committee what were they actually thinking when they knew India were suppose to play Qatar before the qualifiers why designate Dosari to take control of the match. Me being very neutral follower of football won’t comment anything more on this but would surely want to bring your attention on to the two Red card situations.

Debabrata Roy Red Card

One of the UAE midfielder sent in a cross which was met by a deflection and was falling in the path of the UAE striker with Roy only chasing him and Subrata Pal in total control to snatch the ball from the air but then the Striker came tumbling down holding his ankle with there being no physical contact from Roy only a defensive pressure. What next? Debabrata was given his marching orders.

Subrata Pal Red Card

Considered to be one the highly experienced and talented shot stoppers in Asian sub continent especially due to his Spiderman style reflexive saves. Almost same situation as the first one the ball crossed in the box and the ball being in the reach of the Indian keeper he jumped caught the ball took a step and raised his knees to his abdomen as all keeper do which is very normal. And with the striker charging towards him Subrata just brushed the UAE striker on the side ribs and the striker who had a good course in play acting and loved the lush green turf started to roll on the lush green turf which I would say surely deserved a yellow card. But Subrata’s past reputation (Junior Incident) came to haunt him and was shown the red card.

Has anyone got any reason that would speak in favor of the mockery made by the referee of the beautiful game? But surely everyone would want to congratulate our coach Armando Colaco who has done a great job with his side, even after being nine men down for most of the match we played much much better than 11 men under Houghton. We were passing well, we were trying to attack and we played as a unit, what more can you expect 9 men to do against 12 men (ref included). We displayed courage, talent and passion to win.

Now my question comes back to all the readers where were all the football followers in India when this was happening why were there no fights on the social network forums? Where had your football following spirit disappeared? If this sought of situation would have happened in cricket I’ll tell you what all would have happened:

1. A group would have been made on Facebook say "BAN DOSARI" with 1 million followers.
2. May be a Candle march may be at India gate.
3. Or if it was a very critical situation say with respect to a match with Pakistan there would have been a massive discussion in parliament with bats and wickets been thrown around.

But in this case what happened NOTHING. For everyone who says India is not a footballing nation but a cricketing nation wouldn’t it be better if we would be known as Sports Nation of the world. If I take the first red card scenario and compare it with Puyol doing the same my Catalan supporter friends would have had the FB status “Puyol was at his amazing best but the ref was biased” and as for Pal’s situation if Casillas would have got red carded my Castilian supporter friends would have had the status “Dosari has no idea what goalkeeping is all about”. Come on guys I know Indian football still needs to develop a lot but come on show some respect, trust and support in your national team Climax holds same importance to Indian football as Dhoni does to Indian cricket.

"THESE ARE MY VIEWS ALONE"

For more of sports related article go to www.isport.in right now.

REAL MADRID THE CLUB OF MADRIDISTAS

I am a Real Madrid fan and people ask why Madrid and not Man U Barcelona or AC Milan and I say nothing and just smile so here I am giving my brain some peace and my heart some love by replying to all those beautiful people who asked me why Madrid??

Alfredo Di Stefano

 Quinta del Buitre

Am I a Blancos fan because we are the best European team with nine Champions League title to our name, which included five consecutive titles. OR is it because we always have the most expensive team line-ups. OR is it because we have Di Stefano’s name engraved on each and every brick of Santiago Bernabeu. OR is it because we brought fashion to the green turf with an all white kit in the early nineties. OR is it because when you think of Real the faces that start flashing in my head are of Stefano, Butragueno, Manuel Sanchis, Rafael Martin Vasquez, Miguel Pardeza, Hugo Sanchez, Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Hierro, Salgado, Raul, Casillas, Ronaldo, Figo, Beckham, Morientes, Van Nistelrooy, Ramos, Pepe, CR7, Ozil, Kaka, Di Maria, Joselu, Jesus, Morata, Sarabia and the never ending Galacticos. Now looking at other side of the coin do I follow Real cause even though we have the brightest or if I can say whitest bright history, in the past 6-7 seasons we have been nothing but just a name a brand and I want to see the old Blancos back?? Or is it cause I am tired of the politics within the club and want the brutal and almost killing news of Del Bosque been sacked removed from my head?? I say I am a Blancos follower cause I BELIEVE. I am a Real Madrid follower cause this is the club which comes to my mind when I think about the most beautiful and magical game in the world. And with this belief and trust comes both side of the coin which I just talked about which gives both immense pleasure & satisfaction and also immense pain & sadness.

And this season again I know we are not the Tiki-Taka maestros or we don’t have the backing of crazy but filthy rich oil tycoon or we don’t have a knighted manager on the sidelines but one thing we surely are and have been in the dry and lacklustre recent seasons is that we are a unit and I am sure this season again all the Madridistas around the world are again going to dream to bring the silverware home and give their 110% support to “the most magical club in the world” i.e. Real Madrid. And on a personal note I do believe we have the team this season to relieve those dreams again which saw Hugo Sanchez scoring goals at will, which saw Di Stefano being the most decorated footballer in the world which saw Zinedine Zidane walking all around Bernabeu with tears of joy in eye and a bottle of champagne in hand.

Zidane with 9th UCL

Many say we are only European glory hungry that is why we keep buying very expensive players and don’t care about our youth. Totally disagree we do have a good youth system may be not as good as La Masia or the Arsenal Football Club academy. And excuse me but don’t make stupid comments that Los Merengues don’t care about La Liga we still are the most successful team in Spain with 31 league titles. Surely agree we have strayed away from our path but we are coming back and when we do my words won’t hold any importance because action speaks louder than word.

So this is to all the Blancos fan all around the world keep the BELIEF TRUST & RESPECT for REAL MADRID stronger than ever cause those 11 players in White kit with gold stripes on the green turf deserve that. 

And a well made video by Galaktyczny1990 for all the Madrididistas do check it out:

SHOWING TONIGHT ON BROADWAY: DISSAPOINTMENT

Being a football aficionado I stayed up late this weekend to watch two of the much anticipated matches of Copa America Uruguay vs Argentina and Paraguay vs Brazil but at the start of the week all I was left with was disappointment and discontent. Uruguay vs Argentina one of the biggest rivalry in International football having played each other numerous times and having the honor to be called the original El Clasico was a lively match with Uruguay being victorious at the end of the game. Brazil vs Paraguay once the super power in World Football Brazil had lots of question to answer and lots of critics to prove wrong but they failed to do all this while Paraguay played like a unit and with the backing of Larissa Riquelme booked their place in Semis.

So here I am writing few points that I felt were responsible for the fall of the South American Giants:

Argentina

Throughout the tournament there was only one question that was being asked why is Messi not playing well? First of all I say Messi, be it his club Barcelona or Argentina he is a winner and gives 200% for all his matches. Second of all did the media or the critics or the fans ever thought the team has ten other players that they were actually ignoring a team might surely be built around a player but that player doesn’t make the whole team. Messi was magical in this tournament also but surely he is more amazing and untouchable when he plays for Barcelona why because he has Xavi and Iniesta to support him where as throughout the tournament I felt the mindset of the coach Batista seemed like oh don’t worry we have Messi we would surely win.

Did he care to see what was in his defense an ever injured Milito no doubt at one stage he was the best they had but come on you don’t win Cups thinking about your past laurels. Uruguayan striker Sebastian Abreu joked “if you want to stop Messi slaughter him” why he only spoke about Messi not Higuain not Di Maria not Aguero why because he knew that is how Argentina was playing.

Why to blame Messi or as a matter of fact why to blame Tevez some other day its possible that Messi would miss a penalty, it wasn’t the fault of La Albiceleste faithful who were impatient they have full right to be specially when you live in the country of world’s most talented and decorated players and still for the past 18 years haven’t seen a silverware return to your country. I solely and tactically blame El Checho for this failure.

A coach is not only supposed to be tactically strong and knowledgeable about the beautiful game he has to have a strong head to make correct decisions. How can you make the team believe in something when you yourself don’t believe in it? Everyone knows that Tevez is going through a bad patch of his career and Batista himself did not feel right to start with the Manchester City striker but he under the pressure of media and public did start with him what was he actually thinking it is not a trial and error round this has to be done before the tournament. El Checho was indecisive that he was just not able to make the right changes that would help the Argentinean side turn the tide around. While the world has been screaming Pastore’s name for his amazing performance for Palermo last season and every big club have been running for his signature and making Zamparini happy you decide to keep him to bench him and give him only 5-10 minutes of playing time.

I am not saying replace Batista but come on you belong to the country of Maradona one of the best of the best footballers I say the players the fans the country deserve much much better. Common no doubt you are an Olympic winning coach but you got to remember you replaced the best player of his time Diego Maradona and when you replace a man of his caliber the benchmark is raised to another level. No doubt that team under Maradona was erratic scoring 10 goals and conceding only two in four matches and then there match against Germany they were crushed 4-0. But what different situation is Argentina football right now there is no goals no free flowing game no beauty and at the end no silverware either.

It was very beautifully quoted by Daniel Edwards in his article, he quoted the words of respected Pagina 12 journalist Ariel Greco "The word failure has been bastardised in the world of football... but for this year's Copa America participation no other adjective fits,"

Brazil

Almost every time they play its expected that they would win and all this because of the standard they have achieved they might be the only team which plays to the beats of Samba music and when they score they show the world the Samba dance. But it was disappointed to see the standard they achieved throughout the tournament in short all they displayed was a dismal performance. I remember watching Brazil’s first match against Venezuela which all pundits had declared to be a goal rout turned out to be a nil nil draw. What I felt seeing that match if given a chance Julio Cesar would forget his goalkeeping and would want to try his luck in scoring a goal. It seemed everyone had forgotten their role the calmness and stability was up in the air. Andre Santos and Dani Alves as if had forgotten what amazing in Box crosser they are and all they knew was how to shoot long range shots if they could have hit them a bit harder would surely have had reached the space.

And that’s what has been happening throughout the tournament every player on the field has a defined and designated role but it was sad how bad Brazilian players memory have been in the past week. The composure to make magic on the field seemed like a long lost past the midfield was in a disarray with Ganso being the only shining star defense was scattered with age showing in Lucio and for god sake where is the era of Claudio Taffarel gone can someone please go ask Julio Cesar to take some rest he must be tired from diving over the ball. Players like Kaka and Ronaldinho were hugely missed and that was made clear by the crowd when they were chanting Kaka’s name these are the mould of players who serve goals for the striker to finish that connectivity from midfield to strikers were just not there.

Average price tag on the available strikers in starting 11 must be around 40 million at the same time average age was 22 years come on you can’t expect them to shine just like that even if they might be an important member of their club. Give them some friendlies, let them feel the heat of the crowd, let them learn to handle pressure for god sake don’t hurry their development. And it was a howler of a mistake not to select talented Hulk in the squad he has the experience and talent that Pato and Neymar really lack. One thing that really struck to my mind was the new generation of Brazilian players lack physical presence. Players like Cafu, Ronaldo & Roberto Carlos are the players with talent muscle strength and speed which is a deadly combo to bring any opponent to your feet. If they want to do something in 2014 home World Cup they better starting building and joining the dots right away because there is still a lot of work left.

If in few words I could sum up Brazil’s performance it would be lack of experience, lack of player’s knowledge to the coach, lack of creativity (beating a defender is not creativity), lack of mental (inexperience) and physical toughness, lack of combinational play, lack of Kaka or Ronaldinho (Ganso is just half of them when it comes to talent), lack of good defensive combination (Dani and Maicon are best but who to choose) and in shorter words these players just could hear the SAMBA tune. Please don’t forget to ask Cesar to take rest I know I am being rude but really really disappointed with him.

And I almost forgot yes the pitch at La Plata was really bad but tell me something if Brazil knew this why in the world they didn’t finish the match in 90 minutes or why in the world each player coming to the spot was taking such long run-ups. Where there is a will there is a way, so stop crying and please everyone out there wants to see the Brazilian magic flow with the hint of Samba dance football style involved.

ON THE SAME NOTE I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE A STANDING OVATION TO MUSLERA AND VILLAR TO SHOW THE SPIDERMAN 3 AND 4 MOVIE AND PLEASE FROM MY SIDE I REQUEST THE URUGUAYAN AND PARAGUAYAN BOARD TO ALLOW THEM TO PLAY WITH SPIDERMAN DRESS IN THE NEXT MATCHES THEY CAN FLY WITHOUT THE WEBS ALSO AND HAVE REFLEXES WHICH IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET.

Pre Season Amazing Goals

Gio Dos Santos vs USA - Goal Cup Final

I think this is what you get if you are a La Masia product. Beating the experienced goalkeeper Tim Howard and dribbling the ball inside the Box and at the end just chipping it over everyone present there. MASTER PIECE.

Thiago Alcantara vs Switzerland U21 - Euro U21 Final

Another description to show why Barcelona are going to be best even for some more years and why they would be cool with Fabregas not joining them. This goal is just a portion on what describes Barcelona youth player and master of Football in the making Thiago Alcantara. Its a 40yards chip over the keepers head from dead ball situation.

Goalkeeper David Bingham vs West Brom - Friendly

This might be the only goal that MLS side San Jose Earthquake keeper Bingham would ever score in his life but he sure has made up even if he doesnt score any more goals. Scoring from his box into the net of the opponent team UNBELIEVABLE.

Yossi Benayoun vs Wycombe - Friendly

After seeing the goal by this Israeli Chelsea midfielder i say every second of this 28 second video is cheeky. Comon you tell me who scores or chips the ball over the keepers head while doing the rainbow trick. But i say good way to impress AVB the new coach.

Theo Walcott vs Malaysia - Friendly

After watching this goal I am sure very small portion of the Arsenal fans must be thinking we are ok if Fabregas leaves only if Ramsey stays fit and Walcott keeps running and both keep displaying this kind of talent then we good to go. Amazing ball by Ramsey and awesome first touch lob by Theo over the keepers head.

Just a small portion of Indian Football

I have spent 4yrs of my life in Sikkim at a place known as Majhitar approx 45min away from the beautiful capital city Gangtok. One of the reason for me choosing Sikkim Manipal as the institute which would give me my engineering degree was that I knew I would be close to my passion of sports which I surely was. 

I say people of Sikkim are born with three passions rest all the other they develop with time first being Music second being good Food and third being Football. You walk on the streets of Sikkim and every second shop is going to be a Momo point and all shops have their own peculiar taste. You make a friend in Sikkim and he surely must be either a master of some musical instrument or would surely have a good taste in music. Every small little gully every small little roof every small little house every small little school you would see a big lot of kids with a spark in their eyes that they just might be the next Baichung to represent their country in the beautiful game football.

But out of the thousand people including people of my age and also small little kid who can dribble the ball like say may be Messi or shoot a ball like Ronaldo does only 20 are able to manage the courage to risk their life for the love of football. And I say they are not wrong why should they risk their life in something you are not sure even if you give your 200% to it all you might end up is say may be a Physical education teacher at some school where you wouldn't be even sure if you be able to cater for your family needs. At the end of the day everyone doesn't have a luck as some of our premier footballers of our country have not everyone is born with the luck of Sunil Chhetri or Jeje who gave their life to this beautiful game and thrived on the concept of 80% perspiration and 20% inspiration to be who they are today.

But for everyone to know footballers like Messi have had a difficult early life, diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at the age of 11 his family didn’t have that much money for his treatment but his family and Barcelona saw what he was capable of and was hence brought to La Masia where he was treated on a daily basis and was also trained and rest all is history now for what he has become. In the same way Didier Drogba who is right now the best centre forward the world would ever seen was born in a poor family in Ivory Coast which is far far behind economically as compared to India which is till date affected by wars and communalism. All the football superstar of the modern football world have one thing in common that they had always someone to believe in them.

Why wouldn’t a boy from Sikkim get into a government job where he would not only be getting good money but would very easily be able to give his family a comfortable life rather than getting in football where his future is not even 5% clear. While my stay in Sikkim I have seen only one good stadium where the infrastructure seems close to being nice that being the one in Gangtok. Surely a footballer is born on the streets but he is developed to come on the world stage if he has the infrastructure to support him. Scouts are not the first stage of finding a star but its their parents and his teacher who go out of their way to bring their child or student to the eyes of a scout or a person who is established enough to move things here and there and show it to their child what he can really do it and what he can grow up to be. I swear I have seen people from around the world but people from India are more down to earth than anyone because they have a strong culture and traditions as the base for their upbringing, which is one of the most important factor cause of which our thinking is not at all out of the box.

But I don’t know if you all would agree to me or not but a budding footballer from India has to have that out of the box thinking to prove everyone around him wrong and show the world what Indians are capable of. We Indians are known in the world of  Engineering, Doctors, Politicians, Scientists, Sports and almost all the professional field so I can’t stop myself but believe we are able enough to bring up 15 footballers to the world stage. For that we need the support of our family, our teachers, our coaches and our government but most importantly the richy rich entrepreneurs who are ranked along with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson to believe that India does have a bright future even in football. So that many of my friends who were superstars in my college because of the talent they displayed on the field who are now working in IT industries or into government job and letting their talent and passion for the game go in vain, they see to that their children get to do what they want in life.

I have huge respect for Dr. Mallya and Venky’s group for what they doing on the football circuit but its time we from within the country bring up our scouting level, infrastructure level and thinking level that would bring Indian football to world stage. Is it necessary that football should have been commonwealth games then only we can have world class infrastructure for the most loved game in the world. For those who think is it worth investing in yes it is cause most of richest human being in the world are in some way or other are involved in sports I think this should be the biggest evidence for all.

I would also contradict those who think the support for football is not that much in India i am sure it is not that much as Cricket is but go look at the sales of football merchandise in our country is increasing exponentially every year. If that doesn’t ring a bell go check out the number of hits www.thehardtackle.com , www.goal.com/en-in and www.isport.in  get every day and most recently the kind of support India’s first football magazine 90minutes (www.90minutes.in ) has received that shows the increasing interest in football in India. Its high time we bring Indian football on worlds map.

And I am very happy to hear that Blackburn Rovers owned by Venky’s group is thinking of opening up an academy in India and Bayer Munich is taking 4 Indian kids to be trained in Allianz arena in Germany. Hope many more steps of this form are taken in coming days.  

The Puppeteers

Its always an honor when you get to write about the great players but it’s a bigger honor and greatness when you get to write about the managers who have made those players great.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United

1986 – Present

Previous Clubs:  Aberdeen, Scotland National Team

Age: 69

The great Scot of English football has been credited to transform how managers look at football in England bringing up new and different tactics for every new opponent and making his presence felt when he enters the Locker room and showing who the Boss is what defines Ferguson. Lets see what else completes the introduction of the great Scot, he is one of the greatest manager that world would ever witness and he is considered to be Master of mind games he is like the Professor X of football world.

Like seeing a blood sucking Dracula is just not possible be it in day light or in the darkness of the night same way Ferguson never plays the same team in consecutive matches as I said he has a different game plan for each of his opponent. This also gives him the edge over the opponent as the opponents have no clue what Fergie is hiding in his mind and whats ringing in his players ears. He protects his players as his own children but as a parent he gets angry when his sons don’t obey which has led to the departure of many great players from Old Trafford most famously being the departure of son of Manchester David Beckham.  But what he means to his players is visible when till date even after his departure from Manchester United Beckham still never fails to express that Ferguson is like a father to him who actually made this English star.

Ferguson’s 2011-12 season would be his 25^th season at the helm of Red Devils so it wouldn’t be wrong to say he is the biggest devil of all. He has transformed how world looks at the Manchester club who were at second from the bottom when he joined in ’86 and now they are the best club in English football with 19 Premier League titles over taking Liverpool last season. Sir Alex has presented the world with few of modern day football’s biggest stars starting from Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Peter Schmeichel, Rio Ferdinand and few other youth team youngster who were later called as “Fergie's Fledglings” which included Neville brothers, Beckham and Nicky Butt and most recently Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez . After their 19^th title it was quoted in newspapers and articles that Fergie has at last helped the City of Manchester get over the 1958 Munich crash.

Achievements:

Aberdeen

• ·        Scottish Premier Division: 3
• ·        Scottish Cup: 4
• ·        League Cup: 1
• ·        UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1
• ·        UEFA Supercup: 1

Manchester United

• ·        Premier League: 19
• ·        FA Cup: 5
• ·        League Cup: 4
• ·        Community Shield: 9
• ·        UEFA Champions League: 2
• ·        Intercontinental Cup: 1
• ·        FIFA Club World Cup: 1
• ·        UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1
• ·        UEFA Supercup: 1
• ·        Premier League Manager of the decade
• ·       Premier League Manager of the year: 10

Jose Mourinho

Real Madrid

2010- Present

Previous Clubs: Benfica, FC Porto, Chelsea & Inter Milan

Age: 48 yrs

Real Madrid voted by FIFA as the most successful club in 20^th century, thirty one La Liga titles and nine UEFA Champions League titles most by any other club but no one can live on their laurels forever so till last season the state of the world’s most illustrious club spoke three simple facts no silverware since 2007-08 season, hadn’t qualified past the Round of 16 in past 6 seasons and most importantly eleven coaches in past seven seasons. So who does Madrid turn to Jose Mourinho so how is ‘The Special One’ so special? What makes him a manger who is today counted as one of the best manager in the world? What makes him a perfect mould of 21^st century tactician?  What makes him a person all other clubs hate except his own?

Most of the coaches have exposure of playing against clubs from England, Spain, Italy, Portugal or Ajax. But Mourinho has not only has this exposure but also the exposure of coaching clubs from Spain where at the early part of his life he was the interpreter for Sir Bobby Robson at FC Barcelona, Portugal where he coached Benfica, Leiria and the FC Porto, England where he came into Chelsea FC during the start of reign of Roman Abramovich, Italy he came at power at Internazionale and now finally back to Spain as the Head Coach for the Blancos. And I believe he very well knows how to convert this exposure into his tactics.

Mourinho has a counter tactics kind of a mindset he researches he digs deep to find the loop holes and faults in opposition and sets up his game plan accordingly which counters opposition’s all possible tactics. Mou is known to be a perfectionist as he knows what he wants and when he wants. He is one of those coaches whose achievement precedes him wherever he goes because these are the coaches who understand their achievements are possible only with the progress of his team. Mourinho has coached 6 clubs in over 510 matches and out of which won 348 matches and drawn 102 and lost only 60 which actually summarizes to a win % of 68.24. Mourinho might be arrogant but his knowledge in football, his game plans, and his decisions right now in the world of coaches is very much unbeatable. He is one of the few coaches to have led two different clubs from different continent to UEFA Champions league glory when no one even considered them as a contender.

Achievements:

FC Porto

·        Premeira Liga: 2

·        Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1

·        Taça de Portugal: 1

·        UEFA Cup: 1

·        UEFA Champions League: 1

Chelsea

·        Premier League: 2

·        Community Shield: 1

·        FA Cup: 1

·        League Cup: 2

Internazionale

·        Serie A: 2

·        Supercoppa Italiana: 1

·        Coppa Italia: 1

·        UEFA Champions League: 1

Real Madrid

·        Copa del Rey: 1

Pep Guardiola

Barcelona

2008- Present

Age: 40 yrs

Pep is like a household name in Barcelona, he joined La Masia at the age of 13 and at the age of 40 he is still the part of La Masia, Barcelona B and Champions League winner Barcelona. He is the man with many faces at Nou Camp started from La Masia played as Defensive Midfielder for Barcelona most of his life and then coached the Barcelona B side and in 2008 came to the helm of FC Barcelona with the senior side. When a coach has seen the good bad and ugly of the club for whom he has played whole of his life he then doesn’t need to find the strengths and weaknesses of the club its already in his heart and soul.

That is the kind of manager he is he treats his team as his fellow team mates cause there are many with whom he has had opportunity to play with at some phase of his career. He doesn’t try too hard to make things possible his plans are always simple his tactics are always straight forward and his head is always calm & composed. On top of that he is the luckiest manager in the world to have players like Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and Messi in the squad.

But one question that keeps an intriguing worm in my head is will he be equally successful in any other club he goes. Most of the first team players he has now he has also worked with them in Barcelona B so he knows what they are best at so all he has to do is find the right missing piece to complete the puzzle. On the other hand you can say he has done what most managers take a long time to do which shows that his presence in Nou Camp in not limited to being a manager but also a person who is involved in all branches of the Catalan Oak tree. But if someone asks me where would he go next I would say he would go to a club where high importance is given to youth system and where he has the freedom to be involved in all spheres of a club.

Achievements:

Barcelona

·        La Liga: 3

·        Cope del Rey: 1

·        Supercope de Espana: 2

·        UEFA Champions League: 2

·        UEFA Super Cup: 1

·        FIFA Club World Cup: 1

Andre Villas-Boas

Chelsea

2011-Present

Age: 33 yrs

Youngest of the lot dreamer by heart, yes Villas-Boas is only 33 years of age and has recently taken charge of Chelsea after the sacking of Carlos Ancelotti. I call him a dreamer because anyone who would see he is career progression would say the same thing, started with a job at the observation department at FC Porto why because he got into a discussion with Sir Bobby Robson. As time progressed Robson was so impressed with this 16 year old lad that under his guidance AVB got a UEFA class C coaching license at the age of 17. With an eye for brilliance he soon became the official scout for Porto and by the age of 21 he was the assistant coach to Mourinho at FC Porto.

As Mourinho is known to be the Special One I call AVB the Chosen One. For the next eight years he learned the ticks and trade of coaching from then budding coach and his mentor Jose Mourinho he followed him to Chelsea also from Porto retaining his position as 2^nd to Mou. This might be a very good reason for him now becoming the head coach at Chelsea as the club wanted someone who could start working right away as they knew AVB was already familiar with Blues system or should I say Abramvich’s system. After Mourinho left for Inter after his much productive stint AVB decided to part ways as he wanted to now concentrate on his own career but till then he had no clue what was in store for him in the near future. He spent the 2009-10 as the head coach for Academica in Primeira Liga where he saved the club from relegation and got them to a respectable 11^th place. Soon after that season he was signed by FC Porto the powerhouse of Portugal or the place where it all began. Jumping directly on his achievement for his one and only season at Estadio de Dragao he won the league with a margin of 21 points, he broke Mourinho’s record  at the club of being unbeaten in all competition by winning 36 games on the trot. More importantly he completed a quadruple while being incharge of his first big European club.

AVB is known for his attractive and attacking style of play. While at Porto he used Hulk and Falcao to their full potential that for the 2010-11 season they managed to score a staggering total of 75 goals in all competition. Brought into a Chelsea side after they suffered a trophy less last season to bring that energy to win matches and hence bring a sense of satisfaction to the supporters club and most importantly to Mr. Owner. Critics consider him too young to cater for the need of Chelsea but I would ask them if a players age is not dependant on how many goals he can score then why should a person who has gained so much knowledge, learned from the best and proved himself to be the best in short time be questioned.

Achievements:

FC Porto

·        Primeira liga: 1

·        Taça de Portugal: 1

·        Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1

·        UEFA Europa League: 1