Sunday morning after a home 3:0 win is always smashing. The Hammers jump to 17th after Hitz 'the Hammer' takes the net off with a third to bury Stoke City. Watching a frenetic Liverpool v Man Utd game and reminiscing that the Hammers shut the Liverpool fans up for 60 minutes last week. Jet lag is gone. Spring is on the way. Charlie Sheen is cra-za-zie. It’s not often life is so neatly packaged. Oh, and while I think of it, sorry Stevie (McManaman), West Ham v Stoke was never going to be a draw. ESPN need a pundit who does his homework or cares, or both.
1-0 Liverpool. No Van de Saar, on-side you goat. There isn’t a Fergie controlled set script today. You’re in front of the Kop.
I was wondering where to start after having a daily stream of soccer data while in London. So, here’s the plan. I’ll attempt to write more concisely and knock out a coaching blog mid-week and a more ‘reflective’ blog on a Sunday. Read either, or both while you dip an old fashioned doughnut in your mocha.
2:0 Liverpool. Oops – heading practice at the training ground for the Red Devils I think. So, based on the score so far West Ham should be good for a 5:1 win against Man Utd next week. Go place a bet – and tweet Steve McManaman too.
I should recognize and thank the incredibly diverse range of people reading this blog. Thanks. I really appreciate knowing there are people in Denmark, Taiwan, Turkey, Czech Republic, Mexico etc reading. It’s amazing. Feel free to comment below – are you Hammer fans, or coaches or simply interested in soccer? I hope the coaching blogs get you involved and you all add a little bit. After 7 days at West Ham United I really do have a lot of cracking stuff to share.
Mass brawl at Anfield. Nani needs a diaper / nappy. Nani is crying now – but he ran across the field to complain to the referee. Carragher gets a yellow for a nutty tackle. Hang on; the ref is dishing out cards to everyone now. Nani just walloped one of the first aid staff. He’s lost it. Must have tiger blood or something. Being carried off now…
Anyway, great to be home!
Hang on, another fight. Everyone is in the mix up. More cards – 2 yellows. They’ll be no one left by 90 minutes. It’s like Rollerball – the original with James Caan as ‘Jonathon E’. Last one standing wins the game and the ref has wisely blown the whistle before King Kenny calls a bench clearance.
OK, one ref story for entertainment value. This is true – trust me. Gryphons playing in a high school game two years back – the ball is cleared by a defender but in the wind it loops up over the heads of the back 4 and into the path of my Korean forward Jae. (Jae, by the way, celebrated his first ever ISI goal by getting a yellow card for using foul language). Jae missed but the lino had the flag up. Offside. I ask him – “so, if the ball is played by the defender to an attacker in an offside position its actually not offside, right?” – he didn’t answer, so I got on his back. Ref tells me we’ll talk at half time. By then I’d googled the F.A. website and had the ruling up on my Crackberry. Here’s the conversation that follows…(me v all three officials)
(me) “so, you can’t be offside from a ball played from an opponent”
(ref) “ah, well….”
(me) “because that’s the rule” (while holding the Crackberry up)
(ref) “what website is that then?”
(me) “the English Football Association”
(ref) “oh, that’s an English website then”
(me) “hang on, that’s the rule in England, which means that’s the rule in UEFA, Europe, which means that’s the rule for FIFA (while making a circle action with my arms) and the whole bloody planet”
(ref) “oh, this is Indiana”
I mean, seriously..?
Well, I was there and I saw what you did,
ReplyDeleteSaw it with my own two eyes.
And it was pretty funny, though not at the time. Jae will be pleased of the mention! The worst thing an official can do is be a determinative factor in the outcome of a match. This may have been the case at Anfield and again today at Camp Nou.
I won't defend the official in our match, but will say that I go into every match expecting bad officiating. For all coaches out there, Matthew and I consistently make the effort to get our players to believe that the outcome is in their hands (or feet). An occasion like that is a fun memory...but also a major coaching challenge at this level.
Ah, the memories...