John Terry-the Captain, the Leader, the Legend...

                Almost everybody seems to have an opinion over England manager Fabio Capello's decision of handing the Captain's armband permanently to John Terry,just 13 months after he was unceremonious sacked as England skipper on moral grounds.And many of them are publicly expressing their dismay over the decision already,but for me,and I don't just say it as a Chelsea fan,it was the most obvious thing Capello and England should have done.I can already sense people ready to throw stones at this,but I firmly stand by my belief,.Whatever be the off-field issues,there is no better player in England at the moment than Terry to lead the country.Period.

Terry has been lifting many trophies with Chelsea,even after being removed as England skipper

                                                
                                      
                   I do not wish to enter into the controversy that erupted last year,but on the field,where it matters most,John Terry has been a Maverick.He has been,and remains, one of the most reliable defenders in World Football,along with Vidic and Pique.Just look at his Club level form at Chelsea for that sake.The ever reliable Ricardo Carvalho was sold away to Real Madrid this summer.David Luiz has just come in,but Alex has been missing through injuries for long periods this season.Still Chelsea boast the Best defending record in the Premier League this season.There should be no doubts where the credit goes most.
                    They say it took Capello 12 minutes to sack Terry as the captain last year,after all those lurid allegations.But it didn't take Chelsea even a few nanoseconds to stand behind their skipper.And John Terry paid the full value of that faith.Handsomely.Chelsea romped (No pun intended) to a Historic League and Cup double last season,breaking all kinds of records on the way,even as a toothless and leader-less England failed miserably in the World Cup.People criticised the performances of Terry most at that time,which was a conveniently easy thing to do,but it doesn't change the fact that Terry has been one of the Best defenders on the planet for last few years.

Absolute fearlessness while going for the ball,to the point of madness.
But this is what has made John Terry a footballing Great.

                     The thing that sets Terry apart from his counterparts in World Football is his passion about the game.Never in his life,has John Terry hesitated to go into a tackle or fighting for a header,fearing for his personal safety.In fact,his outright determination to win every tackle,and the readiness to always put his body on the line for the team's gain was what made Capello eat his words,and hand the armband back to Terry. "For John Terry,dying on the field would be glory.In order to stop him from playing,may be you will have to kill him,and may be even then he will still play!" These were the thoughts of the former Chelsea coach "Big Phil" Scolari about his club captain.Looking at Terry's some terrific,and almost madly tackles sometimes,you can't help but believe that.I have seen that guy trying to head the ball,while lying on the ground,without having the slightest fear about the Oncoming player's studs cracking his head.You can all crack jokes about the allegations with Terry's private life,really easy thing to do,but it takes real courage,to throw yourself on the ball,when there's every chance that the opponent's tackle may break your bones,perhaps can even end your career.Even when all those allegations came out,even when he was booed everywhere while playing,Terry did not go into hiding.His first reaction to all the abuse was to score the late winner at Burnley,the place where Manchester United,Arsenal,and Liverpool failed to win.In his first England game,after the Champions League final in Moscow,which left him heartbroken,he scored the winner vs USA.That was the game that made Capello make him the England Captain. He was targeted almost every time he entered the field last season,but he still emerged holding the EPL and FA Cup aloft in the end.

Perhaps tackles like this made Capello change his mind over the Captaincy issue

                                            
                                                          
                   I am in no way trying to support all the misdeeds he carried out,it was a disgraceful thing to do,especially at the time,when young kids see these footballers as role models.He should have been,and has been punished for that.But then who do England have as the "Mr. Clean" leader? Even Steven Gerrard has been involved in drunken fights.England's captaincy was handed to Rio Ferdinand after Terry,a player who was banned for 8 months for missing a Drugs Test (How many of us remember that?) ,and who had just been banned 3 games in EPL for "Violent Conduct" at that time,a ban which was extended to 4,because the appeal committee termed his appeal as "frivolous".Not the most moralistic thing you could do,was it?
                     People have been saying making Terry captain will cause divide in the team.Rubbish.Young players like Joe Hart,Wilshere and Carroll are going to be more interested in cementing their place in the team.In the seniors section,the Chelsea contingent are unlikely to have problems with having Terry a captain,Steven Gerrard knows Terry was Capello's first choice when he took over,and Wayne Rooney is said to be among Terry' allies.So fearing whose wrath, should Capello refrain from his decision? Gareth Barry?

That's what Terry's status is,at Stamford Bridge!

                                                                                                                                                                               
                        Rio Ferdinand is never going to be fit enough to lead England consistently.Even Alex Ferguson testified to that by handing Club captaincy to Nemanja Vidic ahead of Rio.Steven Gerrard may be an exceptional player,but he is not a leader,he inspires by his own performances,but he isn't influential enough in England's system,as compared to his heroics with Liverpool.On the contrary,John Terry is a born leader of men.A host of managers,who have a World Cup,Six European Cups,2 Club World Cups, and dozens of domestic titles amongst them,have chosen Terry to be the man to lead their team.Yes,he has been involved in many controversies,including infidelity and fraud.His dad was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine and such stuff.He has been in headlines many times for the wrong reasons.Yet,these managers,considered to be some of the most genius footballing brains in the world,put their faith him.They still dare to look beyond all those headlines.For what lies beneath,is one hell of a Footballer!

UEFA, the Referees & Contoversies etc etc...

             Now we have heard and read enough from both the Arsenal and Barcelona camps,about how they truly deserved to progress to the Quarterfinals of the Champions League.Listening to any one's side of the story,you can't help but feel they are right in their place.But then, I do not wish to take any sides on that.But has anyone noticed that such controversies happen almost every year in Champions League these days? It's supposed to be the most coveted prize in World Football,alongside the World Cup itself.We would tend to expect quite high standards of Officiating,wouldn't we? But then, we have always been disappointed.Right from Luis Garcia's "Phantom Goal" that took Liverpool to glory in 2005 (Mind you,there would be no Istanbul,had that goal not been counted!),to some horrible performances from Tom Henning Ovrebo for last 2 years,right to the last week's disgusting decision making by the Swiss ref Massimo Busacca,we have always had such avoidable controversies.                                 

Robin van Persie was sent off at Camp Nou,for not hearing the whistle,amidst the roaring 95,000 fans

                                                
                 Robin van Persie may have been sent off for not playing to the whistle at any other stadium in the world than Camp Nou.Hundred thousand fans baying for his blood,surely he can't be penalised for such thing there.How is he even supposed to hear the whistle? His actions suggested indeed he failed to hear it.I mean, you can understand if a player is trying to waste time.If someone is 40 yards away from goal,and still shoots from such position after the offside whistle,it's clear what his intentions are.No such thing appeared on Van Persie's mind.As I already said, I don't want to sponsor a particular team here,but that decision from the referee killed the game for Arsenal.Till that moment,Barca may had dominated the game,Arsenal may not have had a shot on goal,they may not even have touched the ball for the entire 56 minutes,but for heaven's sake,they were leading 3-2 on aggregate.And for all their so called domination,Barca had only managed to make the scoreline 1-1 till that moment.I'm not saying Arsenal would have gone and surely destroyed the Catalans,but they were denied the chance to attempt such a feat at least,for no fault of theirs.Of course, Arsenal shouldn't whine too much about it.Even Barcelona had a perfectly legitimate goal denied for Offside in the first leg.Wenger didn't seem to remember that.But,that doesn't make it any better for UEFA.Two Wrongs don't make one Right.
               I should remind all of the infamous Tom Henning Ovrebo here.2 years ago,after he denied Chelsea 4 stonewall penalties (yeah, FOUR!!),there were accusations of Conspiracy and Corruption in UEFA. I remember reading an opinion of a Respected Football Pundit on that;" I don't believe in all these Conspiracy theories,but if Tom Henning Ovrebo ever officiates again in a game more important than an U-13 match outside Switzerland,then you can be sure,there's something rotten in UEFA."
               Well,just one year later,Ovrebo was the man in charge for the Bayern Munich vs Fiorentina match in Champions League knockout stages.If that's not outrageous enough,he awarded Bayern Munich a blatantly offside goal in 93nd minute,which proved decisive in the outcome of the tie.Miroslav Klose was in an offside position for entire building of the move that led to the goal.Just see the image below to understand how pathetic the decision was.What should we say on this?

How much more clearly Offside can a player be ???

                                              

                  UEFA Champions League is perhaps the most coveted competition in the world.It also generates a huge revenue for UEFA,which is so important to them,while wielding their authority.So, we are entitled to at least expect decent refereeing in such competitions.Some may say,such errors are only human,and so much fuss shouldn't made of them.But, Champions League is serious business.Damn serious.Players are willing to put their careers on the line to win it. If you still don't understand the passion, just go and ask John Terry.He will tell you how much it means.

John Terry says his penalty miss which cost Chelsea the Champions  League title,still continues to haunt him

                                                   

Chelsea vs United : Five things we learned...

             Okay.This is not an attempt just to celebrate Chelsea's win over Manchester United on Tuesday night,nor it's just another platform to defend the team or the refereeing decisions after all the controversies.I'll try my best to remain impartial here.But,then you have to take one stand on some matters,even at the risk of refuting others.So forgive me,if I have strong opinions on few things,but here are Five big things I noticed after the Showdown at Stamford Bridge.

1. Fergie may be a Genius,But we shouldn't bother much about his Post-match comments :
     It was almost comical,Ferguson calling for the referee's head,just 2 days after his Right hand man publicly said "We should not interfere too much with refereeing,and let the Powers that be take the control of the game." Yes,David Luiz deserved to be sent off for that tackle on Rooney,but Ferguson had no moral right to talk about it,after shamelessly defending Rooney's antics vs Wigan.And whatever he calls the Penalty decision,from 'Soft' to 'Simulation',It WAS a penalty.Smalling was unlucky there,with the ball ricocheting off Zhirkov after he had successfully intercepted Lampard's pass,but he did clash with Zhirkov,causing him to go down.I know he can't just vanish from there,but that's not an excuse to deny Zhirkov a run towards the goal.Even Ball-handling BY MISTAKE results in penalties,and referee had no choice but to point to the spot.But then Fergie knows all this too well.He has done it for years,taking the focus away from his team's defeat.And guess what,most of the times,It's worked.Will it work even this time vs Liverpool,we will find out by Sunday.

2. David Luiz: A Legend in the making,but he needs to control himself :
          David Luiz was outstanding versus Manchester United,apart from one moment of madness.That could've cost him and his team the match,but, it didn't.Just one month into the EPL,and the guy has looked terrific from the beginning,solid in defence,with brilliant Ball-playing qualities,and an amazing finishing technique too,as we witnessed on Tuesday.I guess the Brazilians are just born with it.But the lad should've got red-carded,after the late challenge on Rooney.It was cleverly disguised,and yeah it seemed totally intentional.Luck will not favour him always in future,but he deserves some appreciation for a brilliant performance versus the League leaders.

David Luiz already looks a future Superstar

3. The Old Guard still has Life left in them :
          This is not just about Chelsea,but also for United.Van der Sar showed his class with that superb triple-save to deny Ivanovic in first half.Scholes was the orchestrator again in the first half,as United dominated the Opening period.John O'shea looked comfortable too on the right,as Malouda failed to trouble him much.As far as Chelsea were concerned,Terry was fantastic alongside young Luiz, Drogba was menacing ever since he came on,and Frank Lamapard showed why he's still so vital in that Chelsea set-up,with Ice-cold nerves to slot the wining penalty.You just don't save those.Well,not unless you are daring enough to just stand in the middle,and prepared to look utterly foolish,if the taker shoots even two inches to either side.

4. Come May,the Title is heading to Old Trafford :
           Now,this looks a strange conclusion to draw,after watching them falter in the Second half.Bu,still there were signs that United were returning to the deadly form they have missed so far this season.Honestly,United have almost played pathetic at times this season,but they still lead so comfortably because others have been even more pathetic.But,United did show flashes of the brilliance we all know they posses.Rooney is getting back among goals,which is a massive bad news to EPL defenders.And don't forget, they were playing versus a team fighting to save their season.All teams will not offer the same intensity,nor the kind of quality that Chelsea posses.So even though,it's a setback for ManUnited,anyone still willing to bet on the "Barcelona-beating-Birmingham-losing" unpredictable Gunners?

Rooney is getting back to his devasting form

5. Carlo is here to stay :

        People may find it foolish to talk such things just on one big performance.But the reasons for which I make this statement are much deeper.Carlo Ancelloti dared to keep the Dynamic Didier Drogba (Triple D,we can say!) on the bench for arguably club's biggest game of the season,and He did not suffer any backlash.It's quite an achievement at a Club like Chelsea."Big Phil" Scolari was sacked because he tried to sideline the Big Stars at Chelsea like Drogba and Ballack(I suspect the horrific results under him were also a reason!!) .Even the "Special One" Jose Mourinho fell out with the Chelsea hierarchy over his treatment of the then record signing, Andriy Shevchenko.When Scolari kept Drogba on the bench, he looked totally uninterested even after coming on as substitute.That was Scolari's downfall.After coming on versus United on Tuesday, Drogba looked as hungry as ever,as he virtually threw Nemanja Vidic into submission late in the game.Finally,Chelsea seemed to have found a man, unafraid to take bold decisions,and still having his team's full support behind him.After 3 months of utter craziness,finally it seems, exciting times are nearer for Chelsea.