Life is a Game…

Many people who are new to football would be wondering what exactly the “Offside rule” is. You’d have seen a goal being disallowed by the linesman’s flag. Or in some cases, a player through on goal would be flagged offside. Let me clear the air with this post.

FIFA’s official rulebook states the following. “Offside is a law in association football which effectively limits how far forward attacking players may be when involved in play. Broadly, a player cannot gain an advantage by waiting for the ball near the opposing goal when there are fewer than two opponents between him and the goal”.

In the image shown, the red player is past the last defender (in blue). Now the blue player is in an Offside position. But since the ball is not with him, he’ll not be flagged. When the blue player in the middle of the field passes the ball to this player in the offside position, then the linesman will flag it offside and the opposite team will be awarded the free kick. So a player who moves to an Offside position after the ball has been played is deemed to be ON and can continue the play.

There is a concept called “Offside trap” in which all the defenders maintain a line so that the striker is deliberately forced to be offside. This requires concentration of the highest order and any error will open up the field and let the striker free through on goal. Generally, Offside trap is considered as a negative strategy by many.

Hope I’m clear. And there are so many incidents of wrong Offside decisions changing the course of the match. The best example is the 2006 World cup where South Korea reached the semi-finals riding on luck. But without the Offside rule, football would be a mess!

Florentino Perez, the President of Real Madrid FC doesn’t really look like a construction billionaire. He looks more like a Paediatrician. He’s the architect of the Galactico era in Real Madrid and he’s back to repeat or may be rewrite the history again.

He has signed the FIFA world Player of the year 2007, Kaka for a world record £60 million and the FIFA world Player of the year 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo for another world record £80million and he wants ‘El Guadje’ David Villa too. Ronaldo’s contract is a six-year deal which, including his salary, could add up to £150 million while Kaka’s contract is worth £125 million.

But that’s OK with him for many reasons. First of all, he isn’t a typical chairman or CEO. He’s highly unorthodox in his working style and he doesn’t care too much about the future. As far as he’s concerned, if £50 million is lost, never mind – Try to earn £75 million the next day. It’s as simple as that.

Secondly, Perez won’t last longer than 3 or 4 years. A year as distant as 2015, is a redundant concept in the electrifying, cruel world of football. He will not be president of Real Madrid six years from now. He will be long gone by then.

Obviously, any ludicrous risk-taker will be a news-churner. And no doubt he’s one such personality!

Newcastle United or the Magpies have a rich history and tradition. They have one of the biggest stadiums in England with a capacity of 55000. They had been consistently vying for a top four spot and have won six FA cups. But now they are relegated from the EPL and they are to play the likes of Peterborough and Doncaster United. So what exactly has transpired behind this downfall?

First of all, poor man management by the owner Mike Ashley. Kevin Keegan who was a pioneer in reviving the fortunes of Newcastle United in the late 90s was unceremoniously dumped. This infuriated the players and the fans alike. In fact, this triggered the sudden demise of the Tyneside outfit. Secondly, the players were overpaid. For example, Michael Owen earned 120 million Euros per week but he played worse than a third division player. The debt was mounting but Ashley continued to spend and they were not studious in the transfer window too.

As a result, their defence was exposed and they were no longer a confident side. Diffidence had set in and the players weren’t a motivated lot. Defeats followed and like winning, losing is also a habit and it was difficult to get the monkey off their backs. When they realized that they could be relegated, it was too late. Even the inspired appointment of the club legend, Alan Shearer as their manager could not revive their fortunes and now they are languishing in the Coca Cola championship.

The need of the hour is to revamp the entire organisational structure at the club and appoint a new manager. But the stark reality is that, at present none would like to be in the shoes of a Newcastle owner, player or even a fan!

The world of Formula one is cruel and Webber is the perfect example of that!  Before the German Grandprix the veteran Australian had started 131 races but he never won a race. Despite his best efforts he never saw the chequered flag waving at him first.

But then everything has an end and the wait was over in the German Grandprix. Webber claimed the first pole of his career thanks to a rain curtailed qualifying session that saw many favourites not venturing out on track. It was all set and when the five red lights went off, Webber made a brilliant star but the Brawn GP car of Barrichello was breathing down his neck. Webber drove aggressively and he flied past the other cars to emerge as P1. That saw defending champion Lewis Hamilton braking late and losing his left wing.  Webber tightened the screws and began to lap 1 second faster than his nearest rival. But then the misfortune struck him. The race stewards adjudged his opening race move to be a tad violent and imposed a drive through penalty. Barrichello gleefully took the lead and Webber’s race was gone. But it proved to be a blessing in disguise. Kubica in his underperforming Wlliams held the pack and did not allow the faster cars to pass him thanks to his KERS enabled system.  Meanwhile Webber was cruising and lapping atleast 2 sec faster than everyone. Webber was on a two stop strategy and when Barrichello made his third stop, Webber regained his lead.  Despite the late drama behind him, he managed to win his first race after 10 years of his debut and his team mate Vettel made it double sweet as the Red Bull completed a 1-2 finish in the German GP to cut down the lead of the Brawns.

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