A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE
By releasing their unusual and angry statement attacking the behaviour of William Gallas after he was transferred to Arsenal, Chelsea left no doubt as to their repugnance for players who go on strike to force a move. They added, with disgust, that “the issue was purely one of money”.
Unquestionably, Chelsea have been horrified in the past when players have acted in this way. They would feel only loathing, for example, towards the Lyons midfield player who responded to his club refusing to let him leave by saying that “from now on I will not take part in any first-team matches for them”.
And they must detest the Real Madrid midfield player who — breaking two parts of Chelsea’s moral code — refused to attend training unless he was paid a “decent wage” or allowed to leave. Chelsea’s statements condemning Michael Essien and Claude Makelele are awaited eagerly.
Advertisement
JOINT ENTRY
Assuming a footballer’s career lasts 15 years, the odds on two team-mates having been born on the same day are about 5,500-1, yet Gallas and Thierry Henry, his compatriot and new Arsenal colleague, entered the world on August 17, 1977. The same applied to two pairs of Holland players. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert were born on July 1, 1976, while Edwin van der Sar and Philip Cocu were born on October 29, 1970.
MISSING MEMORIES
In his dotage, as he looks back on his footballing life, Steve McClaren may regret his tardiness, having missed two of the biggest goals of his managerial career because he was slow out of the dressing-room.
Advertisement
On Wednesday, in his first away match in charge of his country, he was still in the players’ tunnel shortly after half-time when Peter Crouch secured England’s victory with the only goal. Two years ago, McClaren missed the second-minute goal by Joseph-Desiré Job that set his Middlesbrough team on the way to the first trophy in their history with a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final.
WASTE OF TIME
Germany’s streaky 13-0 win against San Marino last week prompted objections that the outcome of such mismatches were a foregone conclusion and meaningless. “At least,” you might say, “there is interest in seeing which of the strong nations can gain an advantage in their qualifying group by scoring the most goals against feeble opposition.”
Sadly, though, teams finishing level on points are divided by their head-to-head record before their overall goal difference is considered.
Advertisement
Thus, the Czech Republic could beat San Marino 1-0 in Germany’s group and probably be no worse off in the race to reach the finals. This rule achieves the rare distinction of being (a) unfair, (b) confusing — with head-to-head calculations, the permutations towards the end of the qualifying phase are often too baffling to comprehend properly — and (c) are a discouragement to positive play. Well done, Uefa.