Championship

[mcnamara]

Kanaarilinde pole sel hooajal suurt nägema juhtunud. Täna siis ometi ja peab ütlema, et Paul Lambert on meeskonna päris vahvat vutti mängima pannud. Pall püsib enamasti maas ja väledad kutid püüavad igast suunast vastase kaitsest läbi lipata. Täna tõsi läks Bristol City värava lahtimuukimine hirmus raskelt ja ilma Arsenalist laenatud vahetusmees Henri Lansburyta oleks mäng viiki jäänudki. Aga lõpuks leiti David Jamesi nõrk koht ikkagi üles. 3:1 tähendab hetkel teist kohta liigas! Poleks sellist edu küll julgenud oodata.

[mcnamara]

Jalgpalliliiga aasta mängija Adel Taarabt.

[Jasper]

Jalgpalliliiga aasta mängija Adel Taarabt.

My Favourite Footballer…Adel Taarabt
August 20, 2010 /

by Tom Goulding

A player receives the ball just inside the opposition’s half, drops the shoulder, feints on hitting it long, which gives him time and space to put his foot on the ball and look up. He then glimpses a bustling central midfielder charging at him from the side, ready to plough straight through him. So he taps the ball to the side of his opponent and dances around him to collect the ball and survey his options once again.

This might be what a player of above average skill does 1% of the time, perhaps in the 84th minute when his team are 3-0 up at home, but this is Adel Taarabt’s stock move. His default move. And that is why he is my favourite footballer.

Unfortunately, in England players are coached to hit the big man up front early, the only justifiable exception to that being to hit the channels where the quick guy will run onto it. There’s even a difference between the crowds in England and . When Kaka does a stepover on the half-way line in Spain, the crowd howl with excitement despite him not having made any progress. If you see David Bentley do some stepovers near the byline, you hear 30,000 voices shouting ‘Just put it in the box you ******!’. Admittedly the expected success of each of those players plays a part, but the difference behind the two reactions is remarkable.

There is heavy scepticism towards skill and flair in England. Commentators even criticise it, saying mindlessly that “there’s no need to do that” when a player dances around the ball, not realising that the player is expressing himself artistically (although perhaps not in the case of Heskey and his stepover in the World Cup). Abroad, there seems to be more tolerance, and even welcoming of skill and flair, although it’s important not to band ‘every-country-which-isn’t-the-UK’ together like some fans do.

Taarabt is an artist. Unfortunately, Adel probably won’t make it in the Premier League because of his inconsistency and ill-discipline, but he’s the only player I’ve watched consistently who does things which are awesome, in the truest sense of the word. Taarabt will gain his team an advantage by nutmegging, spinning, flicking or dancing around naive British defenders and midfielders.The majority of players in the UK on the other hand, certainly from the nPower Championship downwards, are rough-and-tumble athletes. Thus it’s the way he stands out from the usual brutish Englsih footballer which attracts me. Maybe, in a parallel universe, I’m watching and playing football in a country where skill was everywhere, and I would be writing this article romanticising about the occasional Lee Cattermole who pops up and says bollocks to it all. But it is this way round with Adel in the UK.

Intelligence is brilliant to admire in the English game, a wonderful interlude to the first time channel hitting, to the wingers with their head down running up and down the touchline. Benayoun is also a favourite of mine because as soon as he receives the ball he turns towards goal, seemingly thinking ‘Can I get there myself? How far can I go without being tackled?’ Taarabt possesses this same intelligence.

Of course there is a personal aspect to my love (no, that’s not too strong a word thank-you) for Adel. I first saw him on his Spurs debut in the great 4-3 win over West Ham at Upton Park in 2007. It was my first time at Upton Park, and my first away London derby, and apart from the racist chanting and coin-throwing from the upper tier down onto us, Adel’s cameo sticks in my mind the most.

West Ham were winning 3-2 when Martin Jol threw him on with 86:48 minutes on the clock. On 87:18 minutes, he receives the ball, turns around Tevez, and slides a through ball with the outside of his foot through the tiny gap between Zamora, Bowyer, Noble and Konchesky to set Paul Stalteri racing down the right wing – you didn’t think I was going to go into this much detail did you? He receives the ball back from Stalteri, rolls it across the path of a lunging Noble, slips it past Blanco with a one-two with Berbatov, dancing across the line of the West Ham defence and then winning a free-kick as Marlon Harewood cynically takes him out on the edge of the box. Berbatov scores the free-kick and Stalteri nets the winner four minutes into injury time.

Six months later Jol is replaced by Juande Ramos, and Adel’s performances were limited to these little cameos which, predictably, didn’t result in such effective performances. As soon as his tricks didn’t work on Joey Barton at White Hart Lane in 2008 when Taarabt was the last man back and allowed Barton to snatch the ball and help Newcastle to make it a 4-1 defeat, Taarabt’s commitment to skill was made a scapegoat. He wasn’t given a squad number for the next season at Spurs, and he has since been at QPR, moving there permanently just last week.

But I don’t care. He’s nutmegged Joe Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Bacary Sagna, Frank Lampard, and a hundred other poor Championship players. And anyway, aren’t these the most enjoyable things to watch in football?

Why not follow Tom on Twitter @TomGoulding

http://equaliserfootball.com/2010/08/20/taarabt/

[mcnamara]

Kanaarilinnud feat. Dani Pacheco

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/norwich-scunthorpe-8942883/

[mcnamara]

Võib vist rahulikult magama minna. Rangersit sel hooajal keegi naljalt ei peata. Täna Routledge x2 ja tõeline iludus Faurlinilt. Sheffieldi poistest pole asja. Turvapuhver Premieri pääsuks nüüd 13 silma.

[mcnamara]

Kaks üpris olulist vooru, kus liidrid mängisid võõrsil. QPR sai laupäeval kaotuse, kuid eile venitas Taarabti esimese minuti väravaga lõpuni ja tiitel tundub nüüd väga lähedal. Teise otse edasi pääseja paistavad otsustavat suurepärases hoos Walesi klubid, Reading, kes hakanud võimsalt mängima ning Norwich, kes kahest raskest mängust sai vaid ühe punkti. Leeds, Forest ja co on maha jäämas.
Scunthorpe küll võitis QPR-i, kuid tundub tagumises kolmikus koos Prestoni ja Sheff Unitediga masendavas seisus. Sheffieldi punt on hooaja suurim pettumus - igal aastal on nad pigem promotsiooni püüdnud, aga nüüd tuleb vist vabalangemine. Ühtlasi oleks huvitav statistikast uurida, millal viimati kumbki vana jalgpallilinna Sheffieldi klubidest kahte kõrgemasse liigasse ei kuulunud. On's seda üldse juhtunud?

[vincent]

Ühtlasi oleks huvitav statistikast uurida, millal viimati kumbki vana jalgpallilinna Sheffieldi klubidest kahte kõrgemasse liigasse ei kuulunud. On's seda üldse juhtunud?

Hooajal 1979/80 mängisid mõlemad kolmandas.

[ChelseaFC]

Krt see QPR-i ülestulek on küll paras õudusunenägu. Veel üks meeskond, kellega rivaliteedilt tuleb tolm pealt ära pühkida. Juba praegu räägivad need wankeritest fännid, kuidas tuleva hooaja 2 mängu Chelsea´ga on justkui karikafinaalid. Eks ta selline uus, kuid pisut lärmakam Fulham ole meie jaoks. Vähemalt saab kaklust ja verd, onju

[Nohik]

Vähemalt saab kaklust ja verd, onju

Millwall voi vabalt üles tulla ja nalja hakkab saama kui West Ham see aasta alla ei kuku. Cardiff voi Leeds ka premmi vot siis saab korraliku liiga :P


Off topic siin teemas, aga keda peavad Chelsea fännid oma suurimaks rivaaliks? Fulham on vist koige lähemal kuid see pole samasugune derby nagu Spurs v Arsenal.

[ChelseaFC]

Off topic siin teemas, aga keda peavad Chelsea fännid oma suurimaks rivaaliks? Fulham on vist koige lähemal kuid see pole samasugune derby nagu Spurs v Arsenal.

Njah...OT OT-ks. Niikuinii see nii rahulik teema Aga raske vastata su küsimusele. Pole sellist otsest vastasseisu nagu sa oma postis ka mainisid. Kohe kindlasti pole selleks Fulham. Neil on üldiselt rahulikud fännid ja minevikus on pidevalt mängitud erinevates liigades nii et see rivaliteet pole suutnud eriti areneda. Ja ei tee see seda ka praegu. QPR on kindlasti pisut vihasem, kuna nad ka mänginud 80ndate õpus, 90ndate algul samas liigas. Aga jällegi mitte midagi erilist. Mina isiklikult pean suurimaks vihavaenlaseks Spursi ja julgen arvata ka, et kui korraldataks mingi küsitlus, siis Spurs seal esireal ka oleks. Arsenaliga pole midagi suurt. WHU on osade arvates ja sellel on ka väheke ajalugu. Samuti nagu ka erinevatel ajaloolistel põhjustel Leedsiga (kellel poleks?), Millwalliga ja Cardiffiga. Eelmine hooaeg peale FA cupi mängu nendega läks staadioni kõrval krralikuks kähmluseks nagu ka QPR-iga. Hiljuti on veel juurde tekkinud Liverpool peale neid lõputuid CL-i madinaid ja nende "you aint got no istrii" chante. Aga jah, kui peab valima, siis mina ütleks Spurs ja ka enamus chante läheb sinna Spursi auku.

Lõpetuseks üks laul, mis seda ka kinnitama peaks:
Double, double, double,
John Terry has won the double,
and the s*it from the Lane,
has won fu*k all again,
and John Terry has won the double.

Ja et nüüd natuke teemasse tulla, siis mina tahan, et üles tuleksid peale QPR-i (pole nagu väga muud varianti vist), Swansea ja Forest.

[mcnamara]

Üle aegade kõigil meeskondadel võrdne arv mänge peetud, 42. Kui natuke liiga melodramaatiline olla, siis võiks öelda, et vaid kuuel meeskonnal - kohtadel 14.-19. Pompey'st Derby'ni - pole enam millegi peale mängida. Kõigil teistel natuke on. Rangers on tiitlist ühe võidu ja Sheff U 1. liigast ühe kaotuse kaugusel.
Homne maakate taplus traktorite ja kanaarilindude vahel avab ühe hooaja põnevama vooru. Reedel Leeds vs Reading. Ning laupäeval Cardiff vs QPR.

[mcnamara]

Taarabt on fabulastic. Cardiffi kuumuses üks hooaja paremaid divarimänge. Millised väravad Boothroydilt ja Adelilt eelkõige! 2:2 tähendab, et Rangers on nüüd Premierile ääretult lähedal ja Kanaarilindudel kõik taas oma kätes. Lahe!

[elevant]

Suvel läheb QPRil ikka väga raskeks Taarabti kinnihoidmisega. Ilma temata läheb aga QPRil Premmis raskeks. Üles tahaks näha tulemas QPRi, Cardiffit ja Leedsi.

[budu]

Suvel läheb QPRil ikka väga raskeks Taarabti kinnihoidmisega. Ilma temata läheb aga QPRil Premmis raskeks. Üles tahaks näha tulemas QPRi, Cardiffit ja Leedsi.

kaks esimest küll aga mida teeks seal Leeds?

[Ekuu]

Andke andeks aga vastuseks eelmisle ? "mida teeks Leeds?" Leeds tooks suvel paar täiendust kui võimalik ja mängiks alles jäämise puhul ?