Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Manchester United, December 13, 2008

TOTTENHAM VS MAN-U : Second half : A minute by minute attempt...

Fantastic first half. All credit to Tevez, Rio, Ronaldo, Modric, Huddlestone, Dawson and Lennon. The rest of them, let's say, were just running around.
Brilliant moments in set pieces, so typical of Tottenham games. Hope Roman puts the numerals on the charts!

Tottenham looks vulnerable. ManU defence looks solid. But things don't work out that way all the time.
Van der Sar makes difficult saves look like routine practice moves.

51': Rafael looks like a lost school kid.
53': Dawson saves the moment yet again.. Yet another corner for ManU.
53': Wonderful Ronaldo shot. Wait, is that NOt a goal? Damn.. Superb shot, by the way.
57': yet another ManU corner wasted. Where the heck is Modric?
58': Berbatov is taking things to his heart.. nah, that takes his cool, composed style away..
60': Tottenham throws the possession away.
61': Park shoots into Gomes!
62': rafael gives a good positional Xmas gift to Tottenham.
63': If that isn't a great save from Van der sar!! Classic tap.
64': tevez takes charge.
65': every time te ball touches your feet, you can hear a "Boo" from the crowd... Ask berbatov how this is done..
67': Modric is in great touch. bad news for united.
68': Rafael gives it away.. yet again. ManU regains possession, Ronaldo mistakes a pool of rain water for a swimming pool. No foul against tottenham as expected.
69': giggs the great is in for Tevez.
71': ManU threatens..
72': great save, Gomes. Spurs holding on..
74': Ronaldo is trying to score, Berbatov is, too, but he's trying fans' patience.. :D Rioooo! Great attempt.Missed by a few millimetres.
75': Spurs' corner
76': No, Lennon. That's not how you do it.
77': Dawson rocks. Probably the tenth block of the day. Carrick shoots! Gomes disposes..
78': Bent is offside. There goes the possession again.
79': Tottenham is getting bored with ManU corners.
80': Weak shot from Bent?
80': Dawson rocks. Stops Ronaldo one more time with a cool tackle. Whoa, that's rare.. Ronaldo admits it.
81': O'hara(spurs) keeps the ball.
82': Park gets a throw in for ManU.
83': Great shot from Park! Better save from Gomes.
83': giggs corner , to Gomes, to Lennon, . A Zokora throw in. To Scholes! Rafael gives it away..
84': Modric hits the top of the net!!!!!!
85': Bentley, Lennon, O'hara , throw in, Bent, goal kick..Good show anyway, guys! Few more minutes!
86': A typical ManU buildup! A berbatov offside takes some pressure off Spurs.
87': Ronaldo falls. Dawson pleads innocence. Referee not convinced. Decides on Guilty. Ronaldo free kick.
88': Deflection! Away! Corner. Cleared. Scholes takes the ball back.. Shows why he's an expert!
89': ManU plays around centreline, right end, Ronaldo. Good ploy to take Ronaldo to that position. Giggsie free kick. or Ronaldo's?
90': GOMES PICKS A RABBIT OUT OF THIN AIR! Great save, corner.
91': bentley clears.
92': Spurs clear the ball.. Back in the D. Cleared. Great cross from Rio. Carrick gives it away. A typical ManU late 'spur'. ;)
93': There's Dawson, two more defenders. Clear. Tottenham's happy with just clearing the ball. Gomes stops a potential 3 point mega-blunder.
Pheee.. Whistle blown. White Hart Lane's full of smiling faces!

0-0. That puts ManU alongside Liverpool & Arsenal who've also drawn today against Hull and Boro respectively..

We are closer to El Clasico now. Two more hours :)

Ronnie Ronnie Yes Papa...

I don't know if I can survive without air, but I sure can't without Football. Reading football news (epl and bundesliga, in particular) is like breathing to me, and the air of late, is polluted..

Wherever I go, whatever I read. It's been a case of CR7 and the Golden Ball. "Is it justified, is it not?" "Doesn't he dive?" "Does he eat Chicken?" "Does he sleep with his thumb in his mouth?" Sheez, guys. Let him do whateva he likes! There are so many beautiful things to discuss about in Football, folks. Why is everything filled with him? But then, I wanted to write this out.

Is he comparable to the likes of Pele? - A BIG NO.
Is Messi? - Maybe, but not yet. He's got the class, but he's got to play the top games and influence 'em. And he's the most promising player on the cards.
Is Kaka? - he is God, but he isn't consistent.

Back to Ronnie, in the "Hand-of-God" match as it is known now, the referee should have handed him the red card when he clapped at the referee for giving a foul against him, which he thoroughly deserved. As far as the Handball is concerned, Whether he tried to gain an advantage or not, he had to be given a yellow according to rules. Posts by some major news networks on why the Referee didn't use "common sense" to realise he didn't gain anything out of it, should realise one thing. He is not Special. Rules DO apply to him.

I absolutely adore the way he moves the ball as if it was just another part of his body, but heck, the expressions that he wears on his face as if he was 'wronged' everytime a decision went against him (while he deserved it in at least 90% of the cases), are despicable, to say the least.

What amuses me most is how he's got so many fans out there who'd actually go to the extent of trusting his "whistle-story" and scorning anyone else who wouldn't.. I am sure he and other players would have just headed the ball in, whistle or no-whistle. This is just one incident that doesn't deserve any media-hype, but then, the way people defend him is sick.

Fergie is rightly criticised everywhere, but for the wrong reasons.

He's done nothing wrong in backing Ronnie's story. Every Manager should and would back his players in public and take him to task only inside the walls of Old Trafford. But he doesn't seem to be getting anywhere behind the walls. CR7's antics are only on the rise.

Ballon D'Or. 42 goals in one season. Forty-two! Throw in his selfishness, diving, penalty taking, no-assist-I-am-Scoring attitude, 42 is still BIG. He deserves the award this year, at least for that number.

But the best in the world? Nah.. 'Look at his skills, Look at his skills', shout the fans. Skill makes you skilled, not Great. A player's greatness comes not only from how many goals he scored, but from how he plays, how he treats his fellow players, how he fits into the team, how he treats his opponents (maybe not this ;)), how he respects the rules, the referee and how honest he is. For all Ronaldo is and is not, he is not "Best-player-in-the world" material to me.

I'd rate atleast 5 players above him at the moment. At least.

He's the best in the world , if Football had been a One-on-One game instead of a team game where scoring goals and earning awards were much more important than playing the game for the love of it.

Heck, many think awards, money and goals are all Football is about. A corporate view, perhaps. Ends justifying the methods.. That's why they support him so blindly and can not understand why some people don't rate CR7 among Legends.

Lo, the method is the Game. And some players stamp on it.

Of Burnley and Arsenal..

There are better things to talk about than if CR7 deserves his Golden Ball.(though I will come to it later. :D)

The Lancashire Clarets, Burnley, for instance. Whatay Run!! I didn't see any of their matches to glorify the club, but give it to them, all sites report them to be the better side in all three games against Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal. If I remember correctly, they shocked Liverpool a few years ago in the Cup.

When you think about it, I really cannot imagine why a 'youthful' second string side should be used by Wenger against a team that has shown Chelsea the door. Yea, yea, premiership and Champions league are more important and players need rest, but heck rotate 'em. The Cup is NOT a silver imitation. Gotta be more serious about it, especially when you are meeting Burnley at Turf Moor. Not the best of stadia in England, you cannot dive in that grass facedown and keep all your teeth. Wenger, better luck. Arsenal is one of the better teams out there, and it really sucks when it loses periodically. I don't mind Arsenal losing, but I, for one, believe that EPL shines becoz' of Arsenal. The style of play, the speed, the beauty. That is sooo lacking of late, and that doesn't give me the best of feelings. I really miss pre-injury RVP. All Wenger had to do was send him in in the 71st minute against ManU when they were trailing by a goal, and ta da! Arsenal wins 2-1. As the only guy in that room supporting Arsenal, you know the feeling! An year later, i call it "Ol' times.."

All the best to Burnley and Coyle (and Kevin McDonald :)). It cannot be an 'upset' if Burnley lifts the Cup now. They deserve it.