Building A Dynasty

‘At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.’
- Bill Shankly

Another weekend of premier league fixtures awaits us and as us Liverpool fans glance upon the league table, we can’t help but think of what might have been. What did exactly go wrong this season? During the same time last Christmas we were deservedly joint top (with Chelsea) and looked forward to the new year with optimism never before seen at Merseyside since we last won the title in 1990. Indeed Senor Rafa guided us to best ever league campaign in 20 years. We were arguably playing the best football in the country and would have been worthy champions. And yet with almost half of the current season gone by, we’ve already lost 7 matches. Dumped out of the champions league and are out of the title race, we’re all sitting here staring at the league table and wondering what did exactly go wrong!!?

I must confess, too often have we been resting on our past accolades. The rich and glorious history of Liverpool as a football club and as a culturally enriched city is undeniable. But the fact that the league title hasn’t arrived for 2 decades now cannot be ignored. I for one would want Manchester United to win it this season and take that monkey off our back. Too often have we comforted ourselves in knowing that we’re still the most successful team in England despite our north-western counterparts racking up the league year after year. Maybe that’ll act as a kick up the backside of our boardroom staff who’d realize that in order for us to return to the summit of football in England we have to change our ways and embrace the 21st century.

I take proud in knowing that we are a very traditional club. We support our manager, his ideas, his philosophies and back him with all our heart. We are not a club, and never have been, with sudden managerial changes in quick successions such as the Real Madrids or Chelseas of this world. But we have been lagging behind in other areas for far too long. Our 42’000 seater stadium cannot compete with the matchday revenue that Old Trafford and now Emirates Stadium generate. The whole system of our youth and training facility was disjointed while a certain Frenchman in a north-london club was producing quality young talent year after year. And only now has Rafa been given a proper control over our youth academy while Wenger has been molding his players with the way he wants his team to play for well over 10 years now. Don’t even get me started on the bottomless pit of transfer money available to clubs like Chelsea or Manchester City.

The most important thing however is the support from the board room. No manager can succeed when his own senior staff has been undermining him all along. The American owners are a tumor at our club. Had they backed Rafa appropriately in the summer to build on the promising season gone by, maybe us fans wouldn’t be pondering over the league table right now and pulling the hair off our head in frustration. There is big misconception between some people when Rafa’s transfer money is mentioned. He always had to sell old players before buying new ones. The total purchases though amount to £228,976,000 in his 5 year tenure, the net spending is infact around £83,876,000. That’s an average of £16.6m a year. Here we are trying raise a few million dollars from here and there to chase potential targets but end up settling for a free-transfer in Voronin and a £2m kid in Ngog as our backup for Torres. Rafa has been working with his hands tied behind his back and expected to work miracles while on the other hand the likes of ManUtd go on and spend £30m on Berbatov without a care in the world. That is the size of the task that awaits him. I mean lets put it into perspective here. Even Arsenal had only managed to displace ManUtd from the top only 3 times in Wenger’s 13 years in charge. And that is before he had to compete with Abrahimovich’s Chelsea and the ever-increasing threat of Man City with the Arabs backing them.

It is worth noting that Arsenal were in the same mess last year. Out of the title race and fighting for 4th place. What do they do? They go on and sign Arshavin for reportedly £13-18m who turned their season upside down. Can we say the same for Liverpool right now? I don’t think so.

An even more depressing thing is that despite considering all the injuries, the once-in-a-lifetime goals (Birmingham anyone?), bad luck and beach balls this season, if we had won the last 3 matches that we dropped points in (i.e Birmingham City, Arsenal and bottom of the table Pompey), we’d be right up there in the mix (above Le Arsé) and competing for the title. That is despite us being in our worst form for ages and playing with virtually a new XI every week because the last one had been injured in the previous match. In two of those matches (esp. against the gunners) we attacked from the first whistle, controlled the game and resembled the side that pushed ManUtd all the way last season. The minute we took the lead we reverted to our same piss-poor tactics that had troubled us this season all along, and proceeded to drop unnecessary points again when we should’ve killed the game off. The hunger and the desire to win that was the hallmark of our last season is missing. Maybe some of our players think that last season was the best chance they had at winning the damn thing and they wont come closer to it again. The attitude needs to change.

I think Rafa Benitez has been victim of his own success. His side overachieved in his first two seasons in charge and that raised the expectations of our fans and the players alike. We cant demand instant success. Slowly but surely we are getting there. The thing this club needs the most is support for the manager and the team right from the very top to the backroom staff to the fans in the stadium. It’s a cliché that is being thrown around far too much these days but it is true that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

If we are to to return the pinnacle of English football and build a "bastion of invincibility" as our great Shankly envisioned we need unconditional support and patience from the fans. I really dont care what our rival fans think, the saddest thing is that some of our own fans have given up and that to me is the greatest tragedy of all.

Olè

Olè Amigos…I am back! Its been exactly one month since my last post. Frankly I was busy and uh, couldn’t think of anything to write about too :p As they say I was suffering from that blogger’s block. Even the latest incidents such as the collapse of the bridge in Karachi or the political tension brewing in my country couldn’t get my creative juices rolling either. But most importantly I was too occupied with football again :) My obsession with this sport just grows and grows. I spent a fortune in the last few months buying all the jerseys and memorabilia I could get my hands on, wasted a lot of time on the internet trying to download the latest soccer dvds, not to mention being glued to the tv all day watching the football matches (live, the repeat telecast, the analysis show, the repeat telecast of the analysis show…blah blah). Crazy? I know!

That trip..

I just came back from a tiring bus trip from Khairpur. What was supposed to be a peaceful 1 hour flight to Karachi turned out to be an exhausting 12 hour bus trip. I’m feeling nauseated, have a backache, headache and every other ache imaginable. The reason I was visiting that land far, far away was because of my uncle’s insistence. The weather was extremely hot there and the constant power breakdowns and load shedding didn’t help either; especially when I paid a visit to a relative of mine who was hospitalized in an ICU and the light went out for countless hours without any backup power source. You can imagine the nightmarish situation at night when the poor patients have to endure the unbearable hot weather. Such is the condition of the govt. local hospitals in the various small towns across the province. A shame, really :(

But this journey wasn’t all bad. For one, I got to witness how much friendly people were with each other compared to their urban counterpart. The warmth, the friendliness and hospitality that these people bestow on you is remarkable. Secondly, every morning began with the tasty "desi-ghee-ke-parathes"! You cant find those in Karachi! It felt good to escape for awhile from the tensions and the stress that comes when you live in such a city like Karachi.

PS.  the above pic was taken in Khairpur 2 years ago.

Bump!

It’s been a week since I last posted and a lot has happened since. I went to watch that Emraan Hashmi's "Awarapan" movie at the Cineplex with my friends. Though I havent watched a Bollywood movie in almost 3-4 years now (i hate 'em); I wasnt disappointed with this one and had a decent time but i'll get to that later. I should probably tell you about how I was involved in a car accident (my first actually). It happened last wednesday at the traffic signal near Boat Basin, Clifton. I was heading towards Agha’s supermarket with my mom. Approaching the traffic signal (I remember I was at 80km/h) I reached for the brakes but for some apparent reason they refused to work at that moment! Frankly I didn’t really panic (atleast not that much!), I just squinted my eyes and expected the worst. The car not wanting to slow down hit another car from behind completely wrecking its rear-bumpers. The funny thing about this whole incident is that the estimated cost of the damage of the other car was 3000/= but somehow my car survived it all! I had to go to the mechanic to fix my car’s bonnet and it only cost my 50 bucks! Pretty lucky..eh? Well anyway, the driver of that car was unusually calm and cooperative during this ordeal which is rare to see when accidents happen here in Karachi. I explained to him how the ‘brakes’ failed and gave him my phone number. In a few days I’ll pay the damages but I really wonder now, why do people lose their patience so easily. I have seen countless times people quarrelling, fighting and resorting to violence when the whole situation could be handled peacefully. Even my mom who has a habit of getting anxious over trivial matters didn’t get too worried and we went to that supermarket as if nothing had happened.

So little so late

“Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.”
                                                      -Amelia Burr


People live, people die, the circle of life continues. We enter the world with hope and a promise to blossom into a perfect human being. That promise is short lived though as the filth and animosity of the world grasps us soon. Our soul, the epitome of purity, is congested in our body. The demons and the devils are residing in our hearts; rotting away the very essence of our life!

We’ve become more devoted to this fake world rather caring about the life hereafter. Like ruthless animals feeding from the blood of others. Its times like these one wonders; what is the reason of our existence? Our sole purpose in this world? The level of hatred for one another has gone to extraordinary heights. Why can’t we realize that our journey here on earth is brief? Don’t we have to face that inescapable moment.

“Gaily I lived as ease and nature taught,
And spent my little life without a thought,
And am amazed that Death, that tyrant grim,
Should think of me, who never thought of him
                                                      -René Francois


We can fight it all we want, maybe even prolong it but the inevitable moment arrives soon. The body weakens. A cloud of dread encloses the body. A chilling fear begins to flow, within the soul from head to toe. There is no turning back now. In a single moment the entire life flashes before the eyes. The last breath escapes from the lips and the angel of death takes the spirit above the horizon. It’s the end of the tunnel, but there is no light. Instead the darkness clenches our soul. A fitting finale for the type of life we’ve spent in this world.

Ask yourself; who knows, tomorrow could be your day?

Work of the Devil ?

"The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb.
This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses."
                                                                             - Albert Einstein



Do you sometimes get the feeling that you’re constantly being watched? An eye in the sky looking over your shoulders? No you’re not delusional, its just part of the human nature. I guess this idea may be too far-fetched for most people but not all. Conspiracy theorists argue that every step of ours is monitored, every aspect of life being observed by a shadow entity, a government within a government pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Nothing is really what it seems. It is their actions triggering the major events in our world. Their scheming methods covering up the truth. The alleged cover up of 1947 Roswell incident, Apollo Moon landing hoax accusations, the JFK assassination, 2000 US elections being rigged, the 9/11 tragedy and more recently the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami conspiracy (which proposes that the disaster could have been caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated); are all these allegations really substantial or just myths cooked up by people with cynical minds without any corroborative evidence to support their claims?

We do have the tendency to be quite curious. I guess it is understandable that when the authorities don’t really rationalize most of their ‘controversial’ decisions, one simply draws his own conclusions. More often than not most of those conclusions suggest that the government goes through the trouble of using elaborate methods to hide the truth. Maybe the recent viewings of “The X-Files” has my juices rolling, I don’t know, it sounds cliché but the truth is really out there but probably not on your daily newspaper ;)

The Beautiful Game

"'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.
I'm very disappointed with that attitude.
I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."
                                                                     -Bill Shankly



It’s almost the end of summer of 2006. Italy has been crowned the world champions of football. I have just watched an entire Fifa World Cup for the first time and what is about to follow is more than just a love for this beautiful game from me.

There is nothing like it. A dash of adrenaline rushes through your blood when your immortal stars step onto the pitch, emotions flying high as they play for the honor of the team and fans around the world. The match gets underway. It’s really a battle. Reminiscent of the gladiators in Rome fighting amidst the noise of the spectators. It’s like a war. They’re the knights charging towards their opponents with menace. It is the ‘beautiful game’. It’s more like a symphony, really. Players moving across the field in such harmony, passing the ball with such elegance for 90 mins. Beautiful. Soon a player hits a shot towards the target. Thousands of fans hold their breath collectively, the ball flies past the goal keeper, hits the back of the net like a rocket! BANG! Goal! The stadium erupts with cheers. As the players celebrate, a touch of invincibility surges through their veins. A feeling almost orgasmic. A sigh of relief. The culmination of their effort.

Not everyone appreciates the art of this game. Living in a country where cricket dominates the imagination of the common man and especially our esteemed government, it is really depressing to see any other game being completely ignored. Why only cricket? It was heartening to see Ahsam-ul-haq’s incredible Wimbledon (tennis) campaign but unfortunately he had to finance his trip to UK all by himself because all our resources were allocated to Cricket alone! Again, Why only Cricket? It’s such a boring game. Face it, it’s the only sport in the world where the players actually stop for tea!

But ahh.. Football! Week in, week out, cheering for your favorite team. True, there is nothing like it. A game adored by millions, played by many and won by few. I don’t know when will the authorities wake up and promote a worthwhile sport. But I know one thing, my love for this game isn’t going to end anytime soon. ;)