Team England's Left Flank Conundrum..

Well, it’s been too long since England won the FIFA World Cup. I wanted to write the phrase “last won” but refrained from doing so considering the fact that the Three Lions have just one title to their name. And that too in 1966 in their own backyard, which can’t help but exude the sad truth that it might actually take another hosting to win the prestigious trophy. And with 2018 and 2022 going to Russia and Qatar respectively, this indeed is a sign of grave concern.

Let’s take a minute and analyze the problem that we have on hand. It’s not that England lack quality players. Oh No. They have players who can challenge even the best on any given day. They have players who play in the supposedly the “greatest league in the world”. They have players who have the unsung ability to go face-to-face with any challenge that is thrown their way. They have players who shake the world. Too much “biased” praise you say? I guess you’re right.

But talking in an earnest frame of mind the problem is not with the players. The players actually put in their best. The fact that they’re not challenging enough to face a fortified team like Spain, Germany, Italy or even Uruguay for that matter is a completely different problem all together. The problem is that the English team does not have players to match the positions on the field. To put the predicament more subtly – England’s left flank is completely handicapped.

 Looking at the situation objectively one can easily make out that it’s a classic case of flooding too many players on one flank and thereby leaving the other flank completely desolate. In the present day scenario, England has Arsenal’s Theo Walcott and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend, Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling and Man United’s Wilfried Zaha at their disposal to fill in the right flank. However when it comes to filling in the left flank, the team’s choices are pretty scarce. Options include Adam Lallana (Lone Ranger), Ashley Young (No Form) & Stewart Downing (No Impact).

We have 6 very talented players who are fighting for one position on the field. And on the other hand there aren’t enough players to even support the left side, let alone stabilizing it. Southampton’s Adam Lallana has been the greatest thing to have happened to English midfield ever since Joe Cole. But let’s get one thing straight shall we? Lallana cannot win things on his own. He needs backup. And on that front all he has is Young and Downing – neither of whom is in any form.

The permutations and combinations to fill that “elusive” void on the left-hand side have been going on for ages now. But all sincere efforts have gone in vain.  There are two things common between Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello, Steve McClaren and present England coach Roy Hodgson – first is the exasperating detail that they have all poured their heart out in trying to build/develop a player for that left flank; second that they have all terribly failed.

Now I’m no expert when it comes to team formation or chemistry, but when coaches go to the extreme extent of playing world class midfielders like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard on the left just for the sole purposes of filling that void, then something is appallingly wrong with the team. Also, call me a cynic but I draw the line between intelligent insight and immense idiocracy when dynamic strikers like Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen are “pushed” to the wings.

And probably the greatest impalement in England football history occurred when Paul Scholes, who without a shadow of a doubt was the greatest midfielder of his time, was literally pressed on towards the left touchline to incorporate the enterprising Gerrard-Lampard combination during UEFA Euro 2004. None the less England was knocked out of the tournament. And quite frankly that seems to be the story every time that England plays a match. As a football fanatic, I’m literally on the edge of my seat grasping my sweaty palms with chewed up fingernails just hoping that the opposition does not see the exposed left hand flank.

But unfortunately they always do. Be it a minnow team like Chile or a prodigious team like Germany, every team always exploits the fact that England is completely “Shite” on the left flank. Therefore, in addition to a dedicated left winger, what’s indispensable for the Three Lions at this point of time is to find a coach who can create a left winger out of the existing lot, if not find a new one. On that note, a certain example of a Joe Cole and a Jose Mourinho comes to mind.

What Mourinho will undeniably go down in history among the England fans for, besides being a ruthless character who likes to win at any cost by creating stupendous strategies, is that he created Joe Cole out of nothing and made him indispensable for the England football team. Cole was the greatest thing to be running on the left flank ever since the days of Steve McManaman. If only Cole had not been injury-prone, he could have been an undying star.

No one can forget the immaculate volley that Cole hit from 35-yards against Sweden in the group stages during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. England fans especially cannot forget that match for two reasons. One was the desirable and prudent fact that their answers had finally been answered on the left flank front. Finally there was a perfect blend between a player and a position. The other was the horrifying injury that Owen suffered that would eventually end his career.

All in all, it’s high time that a change be implemented. It’s high time that ambidextrous players like Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Townsend and maybe even Jack Wilshere be exploited more in order to expand their horizons for the future. Maybe a new coach with better strategies and a face that is not always “yawning” needs to be at the helm of things. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is just months away; But at this stage, with England being in the group of death along with Italy and Uruguay, the only discomfiting thing that fans can be disturbingly certain about is that England is going to return home sooner than expected.

'Hitman' Cristiano Ronaldo silences his critics..

There can be numerous superlatives used to define the genius and the remarkable exploits of a man called Cristiano Ronaldo. But what can be said? Watching him exhibit his phenomenal talent in destroying oppositions night after night just encapsulates the mind and heart of the footballing fraternity, nay the sporting fraternity.  It’s plain and simple. You want goals? Dial CR7.

And it’s not just goals against small teams or weaker defences. You name the time and the place and Ronaldo will be there ensuring that he is without a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest, if not the greatest, footballers on the planet today. Life is simple for Cristiano Ronaldo. He lives by his ever-lasting policy that there’s no problem in being arrogant as long as you can pull it off with your superb talent.

The FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off against Sweden was being termed as probably one of the great classics weeks in advance. It was hyped for the unfeigned reason that it will pitch two “gladiators” (Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Cristiano Ronaldo) against each other. Only one team was supposed to make through to the World Cup. It was “Ibra vs. CR7”. The pre-match analytics wrote itself. No one needed to build up the scintillating contest that was on the cards. All that people could do was to wait for the night.

It has often been the case that “big names” always either choke under pressure or fail to perform at the international arena when a match is as hyped as the Sweden-Portugal clash was. But, not for Ronaldo. He single-handedly took upon himself the duty for which his country had sent the whole team out there. He single-handedly carried the unabridged hopes of an entire nation when he walked out to the center of the field. And he single-handedly made FIFA president Sepp Blatter choke on his words.

No other player would have had the audacity to stand up to a phenomenon called “Zlatan” on a cold wintry night in a stadium known as “Zlatan Arena” in Sweden. But that’s what Ronaldo did. He chose that night to make believers out of non-believers. He chose that night to proclaim that he’s the best ever when it comes to getting the job done in crunch situations. And he chose that night to show to the world that if one gets the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic to applaud their game in his own backyard, then one can be assured of having achieved something really special and magical. No arguments there!!

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A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick overshadowed a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace to power Portugal to the FIFA World Cup Finals in less than a year’s time. And quite frankly, it is really great for the sport that a person of Ronaldo’s mind-boggling aura and prodigious ability is going to be in Brazil. Don’t get me wrong. It’s really sad that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would not be there. If it was in my hands, I would take both. The sport needs to be represented with great talent. But Ronaldo was just that damn good on a night when he showed that his versatility on the pitch to change flanks within minutes is nothing short of breathtaking.

One would think that finishing second twice in a row to Lionel Messi for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d'Or would play a toll on the Real Madrid playmaker’s mind. Especially after hearing comments like “Ronaldo is the luckiest guy in the world as he always has a front row seat to watch Messi win all the awards.” But he’s been living up to the expectations night after night without fail. He’s been proving himself to people worldwide that he indeed has what it takes to go down in history as one the greatest “legends” to have ever graced the beautiful game. 

Ronaldo’s scored 225 goals in 216 appearances for Real Madrid and to top it all off he's scored 66 goals already in 2013. The closest that anyone or any team is to that extraordinary number is “Liverpool” with 61 goals. He’s undoubtedly the number 1 choice for the Ballon D'Or. And if his stats are not enough to substantiate his claim, there’s another reason. He’s Cristiano Ronaldo… He Comes… He Scores… He Conquers… End of Story!!