Tag: soccer

The Beautiful Game

Celebrating the festival that is the Football World Cup

The official World Cup books from yesteryears to today- all collector’s items!

The Football World Cup is a month the full universe comes together- to celebrate ‘The Beautiful Game’. For us football fans, it means sleepless nights, as we navigate the tricky match timings. It brings back lots of nostalgia for me. As a kid, growing up in a middle-class joint family in Kolkata, we looked forward to the month-long extravaganza. A giant screen would be put up for the main matches at our ancestral home. Reunions would be planned over this period. The family would have endless fights on who will win the Cup- Brazil or Argentina! The circumstances may have changed, but the madness remains.

This post celebrates the Football World Cup- which is the epitome of ‘The Beautiful Game’.

This World Cup confirms that age old saying that ‘Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent. Messi has been enthralling us with his magic- the joint top scorer in this edition already and the highest goal scorer across World Cups ever. The dribbles, free kicks, one touch finishes- the full Argentina team revolves around him and he is doing a great job so far at carrying them. If Messi is doing well, Ronaldo has to do better. He has had an average World Cup so far with a brace in just one match. But normally Messi’s success fires him up- so let’s see how CR7 does in the knockout rounds. Mbappe has been going great guns too. He will surely break Messi’s eventual record as he has at least a couple of more World Cups left in him. Kane has been going great guns in his attempt to ‘Bring the Come Home’. Haaland has carried his goalscoring EPL form into the World Cup and Vini has brought the old school dribble and magic back into this World Cup. The fight for the Golden Boot is surely heating up.

I was a little sceptical of the new format- 48 teams and almost 40 more matches- I thought that it will lead to lots of one-sided matches. The underdogs have surprised everyone though. Cape Verde, an island with just over half a million population, shocked Argentina and Vozinha became an overnight icon. Paraguay knocked out Germany. Japan almost upset Brazil. Morocco’s success is not a surprise anymore. Uruguay could not even get out of the group. South Africa reached the last 32 against all odds. The Egyptian kings reached the knockouts for the first time and the Australians shocked everyone. In fact at an overall level, the African and Asian teams have stepped up to really give a tough fight to the traditional super-powers from Europe and Latin America.

What has made this edition memorable so far are the nail-biting finishes. The crazy end to the Austria vs Algeria match. Morocco’s last-minute goal to tie the game vs Netherlands. The VAR check which gave joy to Ronaldo but broke Modric’s heart. England’s late goals to prevent DR Congo’s rearguard action. The injury time penalty that won Belgium the game vs Senegal– there have been so many twists in the tail. And with knockout matches, the promise of the extra time and tie breaks mean that the fun is just starting.

The hosts have added to the fun and created the right atmosphere. For the first time in the history, three countries are co-hosting the World Cup. Mexico look really strong and I am looking forward to seeing how they play vs England today- they have an exceptional record and will be helped by the home advantage. USA has been doing great too and can surprise Belgium. Canada had a great run and though they got knocked out by Morocco yesterday, they gave lot of joy to their supporters in the last few weeks with their run to the last 16.

What has added to the excitement has been the plethora of goals- this has been a free scoring cup with an average of almost 3 goals per match so far, almost 20% higher than earlier modern day World Cup editions. The VAR introduction has also meant some thrilling moments- joy for one set of supporters and disappointment for the other. And the fans have surely had some fan- whether it is the Norway fans celebrating with the ‘Viking Row’ or the ‘Tartan Army’ from Scotland who finished all the drinks in Boston- it has been a ‘fan’tastic tournament!

As we continue the last 16 matches today, it promises to be an epic finish. France has looked the favourites so far. Argentina and Spain have the quality to go far. And Brazil have the maximum stars on their jerseys for a reason. Don’t count out the upsets. The race for the Golden Boot is heating up too- will anyone be able to challenge the Messi-ah?

Only one thing is certain- more excitement, more goals. May everyone enjoy ‘The Beautiful Game’ and may the best team win!

Guns N’ Roses

Navigating the hopes and frustrations as an Arsenal fan

One from the archives- outside the Emirates

I have been a Gunner for almost thirty years now. My maternal grandmother gifted me a radio in the mid 90’s after I did well in an examination. Those were the days of no computer or mobiles- it became a ritual to tune into BBC Sports Roundup on Saturday evenings and listen to the live EPL commentary. Wenger was just starting to create his charm then and the ‘Invincibles’ season soon followed- it was easy to fall in love with the Arsenal team.

I have been a Gunner right through and experienced the downs after those heady days- with Henry making way for Van Persie, Fabregas, Sanchez, Ozil, Aubameyang over the years to now Saka and Odegaard. Arteta came and gave us hope but there’s still more frustration than hope as a club fan.

I do think that it’s not all gloom and doom- coming second in the current EPL table and third in the Champions League revamped first round format is not a bad starting point.

Arsenal has a young squad- they surely have the DNA around which they can rule England and Europe for the next ten years. The team age average is amongst the lowest in EPL. Also, the way that the team was fully resurrected by Arteta when he came in was praiseworthy- all the deadwoods were driven out with agility- Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil and the shambolic defence. We brought in youth to revitalize the team. We also possibly have the best defence in Europe- the Gabriel and Saliba partnership is easily the most solid going around. You win a match with a good attack, but good defence wins you titles! The defence very often does not just get us clean sheets but they have also made Arsenal ‘set piece monsters’- with Arsenal scoring the most goals from set pieces so far this season. Watching Gabriel score from corners has become a common sight in Arsenal matches– so much so that the set piece coach Nicolas Jover has a mural in Emirates already to recognize this new found prowess. The ‘Next Gen’ are also coming through so well- not just the Sakas but this season has seen the emergence of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly- truly showing the possibilities for the future. Our performance with the other biggies in the EPL- the so called Top 6- has also been super! We have won or drawn against the Top 6 for 15+ matches now- gone are the days when we folded under pressure in big matches!

But it has also been 5+ seasons of lot of hope under Arteta but a lack of final results- Arsenal fans are becoming impatient and not ready to wait anymore. Arteta became the Gunners head coach in December 2019 and we won the FA Cup that year but it has been all expectations and no end result after that. The second place in 2022-23 was surprising but after leading the league for 90% of the time, we should have sealed it. The 2023-24 performance was gritty- we kept chasing Manchester City till the end but dropping points against lower teams hurt us. With City dropping their level this year, this could and should have been the year of the Gunners- but it has been a repeat of all too familiar story again. So, what ails us?

The biggest one to me is the ‘cost avoidance’ mindset vs. an ‘investment’ mindset- we have strengthened the team but still don’t have a squad that can win big titles. The EPL is unforgiving- even the 20th team can surprise the table toppers- you need a deep squad to seal the deal. The biggest gap in the team is obvious- we do not have a no.9. Arsenal has been rumoured to be in talks for a transfer with many a name- Gyokeres, Sesko, Isak, even a Cunha! Till the time we have a good no.9 who can score 20+ goals in a season, we can forget becoming champions. Last week was so illustrative- when Liverpool was chasing the game vs Brentford, they brought in Nunez from the bench. When Arsenal were chasing the game vs Villa- they brought in Sterling as a sub! I rest my case. Man City have already got Haaland to sign a new ten year deal and have brought in Omar Marmoush to replace Alvarez- but Arsenal are still contemplating. Arteta needs support from the board to spend on a good finisher. Having said that, our transfer strategy in general, has not been up to the mark. We kept buying defenders and midfielders without strengthening our forward line. Arsenal also does not have decent back-ups in key positions- with a good team of around fourteen players but with gaping holes in the second team- Saka played week in and week out and it was almost a case of ‘when the next injury will happen, not whether’- and now we are without our most influential player for three months. This also explains how we do so well against the big teams (when the adrenaline gets you over the line) but consistently drop points against weaker oppositions (when the tired legs give way)- we have become the ‘Robinhood’ of EPL.

Under Arteta, Arsenal seems to have also developed a ‘complaining’ mindset vs a ‘winning’ mindset- always bickering about the VAR decisions and the ‘could be’s’ as opposed to focusing on their circle of influence and closing down games. The style of play has also evolved- from the free-flowing style we so loved (check out this special goal by Wilshere– one of my most favourite ones in the Wenger era) to a boring style overly dependent on set plays. Getting a good no.9 now will help us move back to the attacking style we Gunners fans so adore!

So, quite a few good things are happening for the Arsenal team, but equally a lot of quick and big fixes needed to move from a good team to a great team that wins big titles again.

Arsenal is the rose that we Gunners fans love- but it comes with the thorns which prick us. But all said and done- Love it, or hate it- we are Gunners for life!