Soccer Maniacs!!!!! Its time to tinker around with the old think box again….. cant you see it??? Where is your soccer brain!?!!?
That being said our journey through soccer mania has once again brought us to an EXTREMELY critical part of the season. As a manager you’ve been coaching since the beginning of September (some mid August). Its nearly March and beyond the halfway mark for the year’s soccer campaign. Now comes the part of the season where the country wide tournaments begin to wind down, the chase for the league title heats up, and if your team is still in either the Europa Tournament or the Champion’s League, you’ve GOTTA produce wins and stay healthy on all fronts……. If you’re in England, it’s the FA Cup, and the English Premier League. In Germany its Bundesliga, and the German Cup, in Italy is Serie A and the Coppa Italia, in France there is Ligue 1 and the French Cup, and we’ll conclude in Spain with La Liga, and the Coppa del Rey. The bonus tournaments are the Champion’s League (the best of all teams in Europe play there) and the Europa (all of Europe plays there as well, just not filled with champions from each league unless of course they are parachuted down from the Champion’s League Tournament.)
What does this mean to an owner??? Bottom line: no games, less money; more games, more money. More stands to fill. More beer to sell. More fans to root on their teams. More cannons to sound, flares to ignite, team songs to sing, more competitive soccer atmosphere to take in and be played! To a manager it can mean a plethora of other questions altogether. Who to start for which contest? How much does this victory (or loss) mean to the season? Which formations to run? Which lineup can jell together long enough to pull out a win? WHO DO I SUB IN MINUTE 69 TIED 2-2!?!?!?! I NEED THIS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being a manager, you’ve definitely got your challenges. Let’s just consider Tottenham, who just came off one of the biggest victories in its club’s history: A win at the San Siro vs. AC Milan in Champion’s League play with a final score of 1-0 and a critical away goal. The team played solidly and won one. This week however they were badly beaten by English Premier Side Blackpool 3-1 dropping three points in EPL play that would have allowed them to jump into third place over Manchester City.…..Then consider Chelsea’s recent elimination from contention in the FA Cup by fellow EPL club Everton in penalty shots (congrats Everton). They followed that loss with a 2-0 victory in Champion’s League play over FC Copenhagen picking up two critical away goals…. What about AS Roma who are currently struggling through the Serie A campaign trailing behind the league leaders by a lengthy 16 points? In Champion’s League Play, AS Roma ran into Ukrainian Champions Shaktar Donesk at home and were throttled 3-2 in the Stadio Olympico…utterly embarrassing...three away goals is pretty amazing and almost an instant pass into the next round headed back home to Ukraine. Shaktar Donesk is currently in its off season due to understandably seasonal frigid weather during the winter months. This team is healthy, well rested, young and hungry…. Say what you want, but I’ve got the Ukrainian team as a dark horse for the final four for the Champion’s League this season… so back to AS Roma… In their last Serie A game on Sunday, AS Roma blew a 3-0 lead to Genoa, losing 4-3. Following that heartbreaking loss, coach Claudio Ranieri after four crucial losses in a row, 3 in Serie A and 1 in the Champion’s League promptly handed in his resignation and stepped down from the manager’s position…..
The letdown after pivotal wins and losses while maintaining what I coin the “Victorious Intensity” is crucial at this point in the season. If only you could start your favorite lineup all season long! If only there was a way to make sure that your star players weren’t worn out or tired and healthy!!!!! Pressure bursts pipes ladies and gentlemen. By the end of the season, you compete for all of the championship hardware available. You play to win as many games as possible. This separates the best teams from the top teams. Top Gun (starring Tom Cruise) called them “the best of the best.” What do the best of the best do? THEY WIN IT ALL. No questions asked, no quarter given, no mercy shown. AND THEY FILL THEIR HOME SATDIUMS WITH SATISFIED FANS. They take all the hardware you thought you wanted at the beginning of the season and put it in their trophy cases to display….and make championship edition jerseys for the year to come…
Which brings me to the one and only Indomitable Lion: Samuel Eto’o? Clear cut, BEST OF THE BEST. In the past two seasons, Eto’o has accomplished a feat that managers drool about being a part of. In the 2008-2009 season, with Barcelona, under Pepe Guardiola, Eto’o won the Spanish Cup (Coppa del Rey), won the Spanish league (La Liga), and won the Champion’s League Crown, scoring the only goal of the championship match in a 1-0 victory over Manchester United(2009). The manager was given greatness. Contract extension, and all the happy fans an owner could want. With his amazing team consisting of an all star cast of great players, they figured that the striker position was replaceable. At the end of this amazing season, Eto’o was traded for then Inter Milan superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Check out these highlights whilst he played with Barcelona...Sammy In Barcelona
The following season (2009-2010), amazingly there was Samuel Eto’o, with Inter Milan, and guesses what: He won the Serie A crown, the Coppa Italia, and the Champion’s League. Coach Jose Mourinho is dubbed “The Special One.” This year however, with an allstar cast at Real Madrid, Mourinho was badly beaten by Barcelona in a 5-0 loss. Real Madrid trail Barcelona by five points in La Liga this season, and after a 1-1 draw to French side Lyon who ousted Los Blancos from the Champions League last season, its not looking likely that Mourinho will produce results much different from now fired coach Manuel Pellegrini who’s currently coaching Spanish side Malaga. Mourinho with Eto’o beat the Barcelona side looking to repeat as champions of Europe last season... Check out these highlights from his first year's campaign with Inter Milan & Cameroon Sam I Am (Inter)
But just to top what he had done the year previous, Eto’o went on to capture the Super Cup Crown (without Mourinho). You know the one that plays all the champions from all of the continents on Earth: Europe, Asia, North & South America, Australia. You know, the best of the best from around the world? Not only did he win that tournament, he was named player of the tournament…. The only pieces of hardware Eto’o has yet to claim exist in leagues that he has not played in or the World Cup.
This season, Eto’o has 28 goals in 40 matches with Inter Milan and leads the Champion’s League in scoring with 7 goals ahead of Leo Messi who has six. He has lightning speed on the pitch, is unselfish as a player, always hustles and plays hard, is a one touch wonder, and he rarely turns the ball over. He has deadly range, whether taking a free kick, a strike from long range, finishing corners, burying penalty shots or up close and personal with brilliant stylish finishing. Did I mention that he is unselfish? He will just as likely score on you as pass the ball to a willing teammate who can finish with relative ease. He commands the attention of two defenders in the forward position because of his presence and literally opens lanes for teammates. But perhaps the most amazing thing about Samuel Eto’o is that he does it all while staying HEALTHY ALL SEASON!!!!
This season, Eto’o still remains in competition for all titles available to him with Inter Milan. His team stands in a good position, only 5 points behind Serie A leader and hated rival AC Milan. Inter are still alive in the Coppa Italia, and are still competing to repeat as champions of Europe.
In a year that has been filled with various threes in different ways, why shouldn’t Eto’o threepeat three ways in three years? The Lakers in the NBA are threatening with their third tittle in three years and they boast the best of the best in Kobe, why not Sammy? He has daunting challenges ahead in the Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Champion’s League with FC Hollywood, aka German Giants Bayern Munich next on the menu. With the combination of Arjen Robben & Franck Ribery, dubbed (ROBBERY), zee Germans will look to take revenge on the team that beat them in the European championship last season. They’ve won their last six matches with a healthy Robben, and the force that is Robbery, oh yeah, dont let me forget the one and only Super Mario, aka Mario Gomez, world class striker.... a combination that Inter Milan did not have to face last season due to a suspension of Frank Riebery….I can hardly wait to see how it all unfolds…. Perhaps Samuel Eto’o will do it again. Who knows? What is for certain is that the Special One may just be the Indomitable Lion we find roaming pitches all over the world snatching victory after victory from the jaws of defeat and returning to faithful fans championship hardware that they can be proud of, no matter the coach.….. GOT ETO'O?
- The PHANTOM.
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