Oct 10
Ron Writes off Chelsea | Drog Rubbishes Himself | Pique Is Patient | And A Slow Day
Boring day, I am sure, it’s going to be. So is the news. Slow as it could be. I even took a break yesterday from posting anything relevant. But again, I don’t think much was missed by the absence of the daily mandatory post of yesterday.
Anyway, we have to soldier on. I will probably get some posts out discussing about players and other things in the next few days, so we’ll have useful things to talk about. We could also talk about international football, but I wouldn’t be too arsed to have that discussed on this blog. Although, if someone is interested to write a bit on how our lads fared in the international games, be my guest. Of course, I’d expect a certain standard of writing that isn’t necessarily Shakespearean (who writes that kind of stuff these days anyway), but at least conforms to the basic framework of the English language. So there.
Moving on, let’s see what we can talk about today.
Cristiano Ronaldo thinks a Mourinho-less Chelsea has as much chance of winning the title as Rooney has of going a game without mouthing off obscenities. Well, those weren’t his exact words, but he did say that a Chelsea without Mourinho does not have too much of a chance at the title. Fair assessment, I would say. Although, they still have enough quality to finish in the top four if they get their act together.
Meanwhile, Didier Drogba has used his immaculate analytical skills and principles of mathematical induction to say that Ronaldo will not quite match up to his amazing goal scoring record of last season. His reasoning might have been highly complex to understand but he was gracious enough to simplify things to allow us imbeciles understand why he came to said conclusion about Ronaldo.
I do not believe Cristiano Ronaldo has the rhythm to follow up last season’s achievements. He is not a machine.
Quite. He isn’t a machine. Which could, of course, mean either of two things. One, he himself, having scored a hatful of goals for Chelsea last season, wouldn’t be able to replicate his success for them this time round — as he might not be a machine — which is bad news for Chelsea. Or, two, he might be able to score tons of goals this season too, which would make him a machine. Hmm… are there rules that allow machines to play for clubs?
But, of course, the usage of the word machine might have been a rather cryptic metaphor that doesn’t quite appeal to our mental faculty. Didn’t we just say we were imbeciles? Oh well.
Like all slow days, there is the stray conspiracy theory. The latest one being a gem from the Daily Mail (will not link to this one) that said Anderson’s excellent performance came at the back of some harsh words from senior players warning Anderson to buck up or else risk ‘jeopardising his career’. Hmm… I wonder if even Djemba-Djemba was told how crap he was. (In hind-sight, it might have been a good idea — to tell Djemba-Djemba, that is.)
The Sun also links us to another striker, Jeremy Menez, from Monaco whose play-making skill is, however, compared to Zidane. I am sure many of you might be quick enough to point out that the next Zidane was Samir Nasri. But again I’ve heard the same about Yohann Gourcuff and Franck Ribery. We’ll only have to wait a while for the next-next-real-ultimate Zidane. Now that it’s taken us quite sometime to conclude, after much argument and truckloads of candidates, that Messi is the next Maradona.
On to some actual news, Pique is willing to be patient for his chances this season. The kid’s a great talent and he must be given more time. He is also versatile as he can play across the back four. That should help him greatly. While on the subject of youngsters making it big, Eric Harrison, the coach behind the class of ‘92, reckons Simpson has what it takes to challenge skipper Neville at right back. That’s good to know. He did play well, although it came against Wigan — who were a Premiership side after all — so it should be interesting to see if he would be able to, first, push Brown for a starting berth at right back.
And finally good news for us, bad news for England, as Brown rules himself out of the England squad with a knee injury. We hope the time could be used by him to get fit for the Villa game.
And that should be it for the day. Will be back tomorrow, hopefully, with more updates.
Related items from Red Rants:- Man Utd vs Roma: Preview
- Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd: One Point Won, But Two Points Lost
- Rooney Wants Chelsea. Patient Fletch. Wenger Hates Showboating.
- Sunderland vs Man Utd
- A Word To Some Departed Souls
Tags: Daily Roundup
October 10th, 2007 at 12:19
Drogba’s bit on Ronaldo isn’t exactly well thought through imo…a bit too hasty you might say.
Ronaldo will surely reach the same goal tally this season. He’s now at 4 goals in 6 matches, which must be quite scarry to opponents, I’d think. That plus he’ll probably get more space now that Tevez and Rooney start to look comfortable around each other.
Ronaldo’s ability to get in the box and be a threat with both feet and his head will take his tally beyond 25 this season, I think.
October 10th, 2007 at 13:59
I have seen Menez play.Frankly,he is quite good.
He is creative and can score goals too
October 10th, 2007 at 16:41
Ronaldo will do fine, meaning he will have enough impact on the game to match last season.
Like Tomas pointed out Ronie scored 4 goals in 6 matches, simply terrific.
But he is saying that he is still not on top form, so like he always says the best is yet to come.
Drogba should concentrate on his goals.
If the story on DM is true, I wonder who put the fire on Anderson?
October 10th, 2007 at 17:36
I read in the Mail the supposed problem was Anderson’s socializing. Perhaps he is the new Lee Sharpe! But in all likelihood it is just tabloid gossip.
October 10th, 2007 at 18:40
How can any reporter possibly know anything about Anderson’s social life, and wether or not the players have talked to him about toning it down… it’s just plain BS.
He’s had a rough start due to the Copa America (just like Tevez) and an injury, so he’s just starting to find his game again, which we saw parts of against Wigan, where he was one of our best.
Plus you have to add that he’s in a new country getting to know new players, new coaches and a new laguage.
October 10th, 2007 at 20:12
thanks 4 the updates been lying low these days
October 10th, 2007 at 20:50
i wikipediaed that Miguel Veloso lad and bad news it looks like bad news guys It is rumored that he has signed a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal with a view to a January transfer. what do you guys think
October 10th, 2007 at 22:15
Menez has been “on the radar” for a few years now, since his France Under-17 days. Good player, lets see how he develops but Ferguson is on the lookout for the next big thing in terms of an out and out forward.
I found Ferguson’s comments on Simpson interesting at the weekend. He praised his play after coming on and said something like “he’s not short of confidence” which suggests to me that Jonny Evans is a bit short of confidence, maybe a bit overawed at the moment. Evans has loads more experience from Northern Ireland Euro qualifiers, but he was timid against Coventry and I think Simpson has come on a lot more than him recently.
October 11th, 2007 at 1:19
At his young age Ronaldo will only continue to improve for years to come. His goal scoring tally will continue to rise as he works on his already good finishing skills and if he stays healthy. The star are limit with Cristiano.
As for Anderson, I doubt his partying is any greater than that of Nani’s and Ronaldo’s. Seeing as Ronny is baby sitting them and that they don’t speak a word of English. The lad is young and you cannot shut a young man away in a closet until game day. The boy will have some fun. He needs mentoring and I’m sure someone will step up and help him. Queiroz is the man to do this. His maturity and straight talk will prevent Anderson from turning in to George Best or even worse, the the phony and plastic living fashion plate known as David Beckham. Anderson, keep the club life down to a minimum OK!
October 11th, 2007 at 11:25
@Tomas:
“Plus you have to add that he’s in a new country getting to know new players, new coaches and a new laguage” - Don’t forget new GIRLS too
I think Drogba is an idiot. I do however think he has a point in that Ronaldo is not a machine and that opposition players will be on to him this year. However, this is where Rooney and Tevez comes in. Should Ronaldo drag the defenders with, they can pounch. If not, they can give the opposition hell as well. I don’t think Drogba added this little portion of the formula into his calculation.
Regarding Menez: I don’t care how many new Zidanes there are. If SAF can find a ‘new Cantona’, I will be extatic.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:30
RR, I agree with you 100% on the Messi/Maradonna issue. Pitty though because I personally feel that Rooney is a much more silmiliar player to Maradonna.
Ronaldo on Chelsea I believe is aso 100% spot on.
October 11th, 2007 at 16:59
I absolutely hate this constant need to compare star players to
player from the past.
Who only knows how many young talented Argentine
midfielder/Attackers have been given the ‘new Maradonna’ tag and
went on to mediocracy probably in some part due to the pressures of that very tag.
Messi is Messi, Rooney is Rooney and there only ever be one
Cantona!
October 11th, 2007 at 19:08
Didier Drogba is always good for a laugh - normally his diving though - and he does himself proud here. Drogba thinks he is better than Ronaldo but to be honest which one would anyone in the world rather have - there is no debate.
If Anderson did get a dressing down from the senior players then it clearly worked and maybe they should do it more often.