Readers have asked why I reckon David Beckham will come.
I just think it’s logical, for him and for Arsenal, who need a leader with experience. They need a big English player.
Of course, Beckham says he is staying in Madrid. He likes it there and they want to keep him. That is the official line. And if he wasn’t mates with Henry it would be preposterous to suggest Beckham might move.
Apparently, pop svengali Simon Fuller plans to re-launch Becks. In our wonderful world of fame and spin, this could be one of the masterstrokes of the twenty first century. Fuller apparently aims to kill off Beckham the Celebrity and launch …….Beckham the Footballer !!!!!
How daring ! How original ! To launch David Beckham the Footballer ! I’d never have thought of that in a thousand years.
Still, I reckon summer 2006 is the right moment for Becks to come home. It’s his last World Cup and he has been a success at Madrid. The club has failed to win trophies because it was run by an indulgent Florentino Perez, who undermined his coaches by allowing the galacticos to ring him up for a moan.
Sky’s Spanish pundit Guillem Balague was funny on this topic. He said that when Zidane first went there he wasn’t getting enough of the ball, so he called Florentino and told him to tell the coach to sort it out. And when Ronaldo told Luxemburgo he was going to get married on a Monday the manager said “No way !” So Ronaldo called Florentino and got him to sort Luxemburgo out.
To English football fans that scenario looks weird. That is not how we operate over here. In England the manager is bigger than the striker, except at Newcastle. Last week’s explanation on Realmadrid.com was under-reported in the UK.
Of course, president Perez may have been pushed. He says he jumped but he could have been pushed. The other directors may have said, “Enough ! This is a disgrace and it’s your fault !” But, for the sake of the sponsors and members, the resignation of Florentino Perez was presented as a noble act of self-sacrifice, an own-up, a mea culpa.
Perez talked a lot about how “confused ” his players were.
He was shocked when Sergio Ramos scored the first goal at Mallorca and the other players didn’t congratulate him. That was the last straw. That shocked the president more than the two goals Mallorca scored. Perez realised that the 1-0 defeat by Arsenal had demoralized his already decadent team.
Real Madrid never lose at home to English clubs, so that was a colossal downer for everybody, especially the directors.
The following quotes probably lose a lot in translation.
Perez said, “I’ve had a wonderful six years here, but thinking of the greater good, I submitted my irreversible resignation. I am high spirited, but after Sunday’s match I felt a change was necessary and this time it was my turn. To put it simply, when a player scores a goal and his teammates don’t congratulate him, it means I’m doing something wrong and rectifying is the trait of men.
“We had tried to correct a situation that had been veering off course from the sporting aspect we desired. We’ve replaced several coaches. When everything translates into the team’s lack of spirit, like we witnessed on Sunday, it means I’ve made a mistake somewhere. The players are confused because what’s most important here is the Club, not them or the Directors. That’s the message I wanted to get across and there was no better way of doing so than having the President, me, leaving.”
Do you think that is bizarre ?
ARSENAL are 1-0 up against Real Madrid but it’s not over. If Madrid score first it could be interesting. If they score two, Arsenal have to score three.
Having won over there Arsenal will be much more confident than if they had lost 1-0.They didn’t go wild at the final whistle in the Bernabeu. They reacted maturely, realising it was only half-time. Now they have to defend really well as a team. They have Lehmann in fine form, as he showed when he held that fierce Malbranque shot after having nothing much to do in Saturday’s 4-0 walkover at Craven Cottage.
It’s rumoured that Ronaldo will be dropped for Highbury. Cassano played in the 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid on Saturday. If so, did Perez have to resign before Ronaldo could be dropped? Please, can you run that by me again? A fat centre forward refuses to run, so the big boss has to quit ?
New president Fernando Martin’s message was clear enough. He said, “All the players will be treated equally, and they will know what they need to contribute and what we require of them.We must treat people how they deserve to be treated, congratulate them when they do well and know when to correct them.”
All the players will be treated equally? At Real Madrid? I’ll buy tickets for that.
On Wednesday night I expect Arsenal to win the tie, just as I expected them to win last Saturday. Fulham was one of the games I gave them three points for when adding up the 61 points I have predicted.
WITH ARSENAL WINNING, Spurs had to go for it against Blackburn on Sunday afternoon.
Fourth v sixth shaped up like an exciting game and I was looking forward to it. Robbie Keane, new captain of Ireland, against Craig Bellamy. Would Paul Robinson save if Bellamy had a couple of one-on-ones?
Robbie Keane scored in 9 and 41 minutes. The first came from a throw that should have gone to Blackburn. He flicked the ball over Savage, waltzed round the lumbering Todd to within handshaking distance of Brad Friedel and buried his shot.
His second came when Friedel parried a shot against Keane’s arm and Keane rammed it in for 2-0. Replays did not prove it was hand to ball because it happened so fast. It was lucky, but reflex players make their own luck. Keane is 25, fizzy, cocky, cheeky – an Irishman who can make his own goals from nothing
Clearly, Blackburn had worked hard and didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down. Suddenly, Bellamy outpaced Ledley King and crossed for Sinama-Pongolle to score with a diving header.
Could Spurs defend a 2-1 lead for 45 minutes? Or could they score again? Robinson tipped a 25-yard thunderbolt from David Bentley over the bar and pressure built to the point where Blackburn had 86% of possession in a ten-minute period.
Then Ledley King made a mistake in the left back position, misheading the ball to Pongolle, who cut it back for Bellamy to rifle home. Spurs had lost a 2-0 lead and there still was half an hour to go and I thought : Blackburn will win now ! But within 30 seconds Keane released sub Aaron Lennon on the right and his low cross gave Mido the winner at the far post.
Spurs are fourth with 49 points, Arsenal fifth on 44. Ten games remain.
If Spurs finish fourth, Arsenal will REALLY need David Beckham.