David Warner loves batting in Australia

David Warner maybe below-par outside Australia but in Australia, he is simply invincible…..

  

Four years ago, a fan on Twitter requested David Warner a triple hundred in Test cricket at which Warner replied, “Have you seen my patience haha”. Indeed, Warner is famous for essaying flashy hundreds rather than the composed ones like Steve Smith. He did score a double ton at The WACA four years ago, but, perhaps, that was the only time, he showed the patience to occupy the crease "a bit more" period and chase for something big.

It could have been something bigger if he calmed down "a bit more". Runs came at a brisk pace – 253 runs off 286 balls created havoc and entertained all. The crowd demanded more than a triple ton. Well, Warner walked for the pavilion, happy with a double ton.

The opportunity cropped again after 4 years - this time against an under-strength Pakistani unit, who were taken to the cleaners mercilessly by Warner from the word go. On the first day, Marnus Labuschagne hogged the limelight with his fluent hundred, but on the second day, it was the raging bull from Australia, who gave the Pakistani bowling attack a run for their money.

Warner went on to script a triple ton and it was possible because he did not have the intention to score run a ball, but play with a bit more composure. Yeah, a bit more composure was what needed against a Pakistani team, whose captain did not know how to set an attacking filed for his bowlers. Warner was fed with the stuffs he loved. The young Pakistani pacers provided width outside offstump like hell, which they would not provide throughout their life to any other batsmen if they learn their lessons from Adelaide.  Warner relished those things and once he was set, runs leaked, leaked and leaked.

It was great moment for Warner and his fans. He joined the elite club of those Test batsmen in the history, who scored a triple hundred. He did not have faith in his patience four years ago, but now he has and paid rich dividends.

In all, Warner batted for more than 9 hours and smashed 39 fours and a six.

Warner joined Sir Don Bradman (twice), Matthew Hayden, Taylor, Bob Simpson, Bob Cowper and Clarke as Australians to have scored a Test triple ton and is the 27th man overall to reach the mark, the most recent of which was India's Karun Nair in 2016.

Warner's knock is the highest-ever Test score at the Adelaide Oval, surpassing the unbeaten 299 that Bradman scored against South Africa in 1932.

Warner is also just the second man to score a triple hundred in a Day-Night Test, joining Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali, who scripted it three years ago against West Indies in Middle East.

Of course, Warner loves batting in Australia. The Australian tracks never frustrated him and always played a key role from getting out of the lean-patch.

Outside Australia, Warner’s numbers are below-par. In 41 Test matches and 80 innings away from home, he averages 34.50 (63.78 at home) and scripted just 6 hundreds (17 at home). The numbers are pretty mediocre, when we talk about someone like Warner, who burst into the scene as one of the flag-bearers of Matthew Hayden. At home, Warner does remind us about Hayden, but as soon as he leaves the Australian shores, he consistently proves that he is nothing but a home track bully.

A few months back in Australia, Warner was undone by Stuart Broad and co. In five Tests, he scored just 95 runs at an awful average of 9.51. Had someone like Smith and Labuschagne not been around, it would have been tough for Australia. The English pacers, Broad in particular, exploited Warner’s weakness outside offstump and beat his defence couple of times. In this age of videos and modern technology, it is easy to get an idea about how to outweigh the opposition players. Teams like India, England and New Zealand learn while the rest just watch.   

Anyhow, Warner knows he would be able to get back to rhythm in this summer and returned with a bang. After scoring the triple ton, each and everyone – especially those from subcontinent, demanded for a 400, but the Australians are never attracted by personal landmarks. In their culture, winning matters more and at one point the Australian captain declared. Warner left the arena with 335 not out.

It was a bold and professional decision from Paine and Australian think tank, which a bunch of emotional fan base from subcontinent won’t be able to understand. With the Adelaide weather showing poor forecast in the coming days, it was very important to allow Australia enough time to set jitters in Pakistani batting line-up. It worked. Pakistan are in shambles at stumps. Definitely, winning a Test is more important than someone’s personal landmark.   

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 30/11/2019 David Warner loves batting in Australia 

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Faisal Caesar  

Arsenal sack Unai Emery: It was inevitable, but finding the ideal replacement would be a tough task

Arsenal fire Unai Emery

Unai Emery went to the training ground as usual. But he was still not prepared for what was coming. Emery is someone, who is not new to lean-patches and know how to overcome them, but during his reign as the manager of Arsenal, things were not improving, but each day, it was turning worse. The result against Frakfurt last night in the Europa League tested the patience and faith of Arsenal hierarchy. The fans lost faith long ago, but still the Officials kept it. In the end, this morning, at the training ground, Emery was told about his fate. Freddie Ljungberg took over.

Emery’s immediate staff, including the assistant manager, Juan Carlos Carcedo, and another first-team coach, Pablo Villa, have also left.

According to BBC, “There has been obvious concern at Arsenal’s results from within the club for a number of weeks now. It was felt after last night a decision had to be made. Emery reported to the training ground with his coaches this morning and was told face-to-face. Freddie Ljungberg will take training this morning.

There is confidence in Ljungberg and huge respect for him at the club. He was the obvious choice to take the club forward and his presence will allow the club time to make what they feel will be the right decision as next coach”.

Hey days at Sevilla and PSG

At Sevilla, Emery earned the accolades for his style of football, and shrewdness in the transfer market. He achieved an unprecedented three consecutive Europa League victories, which earned him a move to (PSG) in 2016.

In his first year managing PSG, he led them to a domestic treble, winning the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions, while finishing second in the year-end tables for Ligue 1. He exceeded this with a quadruple in his second season, winning all four domestic trophies for 2018: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions.

The tough time at Arsenal

After the expiry of his contract with PSG, Emery was appointed head coach of English club Arsenal. Even though, back then, according to Daily Mail, “fans favourite Mikel Arteta was '90 per cent certain' to replace Wenger and take his first step into senior management, after learning under the wing of Pep Guardiola.

Time went on, and the board stalled. Arsenal came under huge criticism from the likes of pundit Gary Neville, who accused the Gunners of having no coherent plan despite knowing well in advance that Wenger was to leave”.

Wenger's long-term second in command and club legend Steve Bould warned of a tough scenario to the Arsenal hierarchy. Relieving the 57-year-old of his duties would not have been taken kindly by an already angry fan base. Later on, Bould switched roles with Freddie Ljungberg. The Arsenal coaching-staff was restructured.

The Emery regime started with a new ray of hope: Lucas Torreira arrived from Sampdoria and started to bore fruits. Emery also made the bold move of signing a high-price goalkeeper in Bernd Leno and informing Petr Cech his days were over. After his arrival, Emery could notice that the club budjet had been hampered due to the new contract linked to Mesut Ozil – it created issues. All of a sudden Aaron Ramsey would not be signing a new contract. He waved goodbye recouping precisely zero pounds in transfer window. The whole saga was poorly managed.

Then, the fragile defence required long-term plans, but Emery opted for short term solutions – Experienced, but ageing defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was brought in from Borussia Dortmund for £14million, while Emery also opted for the free-signing of 30-plus old defender Stephan Lichtsteiner. It backfired. The loan-signing of Denis Suarez, was made in haste and it failed.

Arsenal opted for young defenders like 22-year old Kieran Tierney and 18-year old William Saliba.

Lesson learned from mistakes. But money had been wasted.

The alarming bell was ringing!  

Under Emery, Arsenal, never really got going.

3 wins from 17 games against fellow top 6 teams across all competitions. 7 winless streak from October to November 2019. 8 Premier League victories away from home with just one coming this season. 9 teenagers played under Emery without any impacts. 15 errors leading to goals for the opposition in Premier League games under Emery - more than any other top-flight club in that time. A staggering 19 points dropped from winning positions. And then came the defeat against Frankfurt.

Then there were those non-footballing events as The Guardian stated, “A series of off-field events, including the carjacking incident experienced by Sead Kolasinac and Mesut Özil in July, did not help what Emery referred to as the “emotional balance” of his team. But his handling of the squad’s captaincy, belatedly awarded to Granit Xhaka only for the midfielder to have it removed within weeks after a serious fallout with the Emirates Stadium’s fans, cast serious doubts over his control of the squad and there was also widespread criticism of the way he dealt with the mercurial Özil’s in-out role in the team”.

Well, the regime fell apart in just 18 months. Filling the big shoes of Arsene Wenger was certainly a tough task. Premier League is an unforgiving area. All is well when you are delivering the goods, but as soon as success fries up, the exit becomes inevitable. Ask Pochettino, the fortune-changer of Spurs, about his experience.

There were brighter sides too during the Emery regime. 22 matches unbeaten during a fine run of form between August and December. 42.1 - Percentage of Arsenal's goals scored by either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette under Emery - 64 of the 152 managed during his reign. 43 victories from 78 games in charge with a winning percentage of 55.1 whereas the legendary Arsene Wenger’s were 57.2 from 1235 matches. But these numbers become  irrelevant when the strings of failures and failed strategies loom large.

The sacking was inevitable, even though many of this Premier League colleagues did not want to agree that this move inevitable. Sadly, reality speaks something else.

What’s next?

The chapter of Emery has ended. This was an easy task. But who would be the ideal replacement of Emery should sweat the Arsenal hierarchy. There are many contenders. Legendary names like Patrick Vierra, Marcelino, Brendan Rogers, Massimiliano Allegri, Pochettino and even Jorge Jesus’s names are heard. But would signing a big name fix things? It’s hard to tell. Right now, Arsenal are in a mess and what they would need is a calm and composed tactician who would work on gelling the team at first hand and then make them believe that they are capable of winning from any positions. Such a worthy manager or coach definitely exists, but it would require an expert eye to recruit him. 

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 29/11/2019 Arsenal sack Unai Emery: It was inevitable, but finding the ideal replacement would be a tough task  

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Faisal Caesar

Robert Lewandowski: The best number 9 in the world right now

Scoring goals is his habit. In fact, he is addicted to it. Robert Lewandowski is the best number 9 in the world right now and very few would disagree with that.....

 Since the great Ronaldo O Fenomeno left the stage, the days of those flexible but prolific number 9s seemed to have ended. Yes, someone like Luis Suarez did show up, but is more about pressing and possession rather than the flair of an Andriy Shevchenko. In this decade, the beautiful game almost forgot the ture nature of a genuine number 9.

We witnessed the return of false 9 – a reminiscence of Magnificent Magyars using  Nandor Hidegkuti as such at Wembley in 1953 and Brazil using Tostao as such in Mexico in 1970. Football’s technical experts had to ploy such because when you are dealing with two extra-ordinary talents, you cannot but go for false 9 idea. Wingers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi took goal-scoring to such a level that it completely undermined the value of a striker and centre forward in a team.  

But in recent times, people like Karim Benzema, Jamie Vardy, Crio Immobile and Robert Lewandowski are bringing back the concept of genuine number 9 again. Neither are they O Fenomeno nor Andriy Shevchenko, but their flexibility in front of the goal is aiding the number 9s to thrive again. Certainly, they are not all about pressing and posession.

Among these few gentlemen, Poland and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is becoming one of the best number 9s in Europe if not in the history of the game. Recently, he has been in a rollicking form. In the Champions League group match encounter against Red Star Belgrade, the Polish striker smashed 4 goals in just 14 minutes and 31 seconds. Such insane displays are nothing new for Lewandowski, who smashed 4 six years ago against Real Madrid. Meanwhile, in 2015 at Bundesliga in 2015, he plundered 5 goals in 9 minutes against Vlf Wolfsburg.  

After scoring 4 goals the other night, Lewandowski also became the club's all-time scorer in the tournament - the same record he holds with Borussia Dortmund as well - and the fastest player in tournament's history to do.  

For the club and country this year, Lewandowski has scored 51 goals in 53 games – 10 goals from 7 games in the Champions League. According to the statistics of Daily Mail, Lewandowski’s  goal-scoring run leads to a goal approximately in every 57 minutes.  

Interestingly, this stellar run is about seven minutes quicker than Messi's best ever La Liga and Europe season in 2012-13 where he scored 46 goals in 32 appearances.  Barcelona won the La Liga title with historical 100 points with the Argentine proving a prolific best. Ronaldo, on the other hand, had best minutes-to-goal campaign in 2013-14, where he scored every 73.6 minutes for Real Madrid. These feats have now been beaten by Lewandowski with 24 Bundesliga matches remaining.  

With the increase of age, Lewandowski is relying more on scoring from long-range shoots and set-piece headers like Cristiano Ronaldo in his 30s rather than those chicky ones in front of the goal. His ability to use both the feet aids him to score more gaols at which he is just addicted to. In fact, he has become an all-round performer – other than possessing the abilities of a cool finisher like Vardy and Benzema, he can score in variety of ways. As Gerard Pique stated, “He can use both feet and he’s good in the air. It’s really tough when you have to mark a player that can do everything”.

The 31-year old Polish star is the best number 9 in the world right now.

Still a lot of time left in this season to end and the kind of form Lewandowski is in, he is expected to achieve greater feats.

Note: This ariticle has been posted at Cricketsoccer  as CSdesk on 29/11/2019 Robert Lewandowski: The best number 9 in the world right now 

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Faisal Caesar 

A classic at Mestalla: Chelsea and Valencia offer a lot of fun

There was a lot of fun, excitement and adventure in 98 minutes at Mestalla......
 

In football if two teams attack from both ends, automatically the match becomes exciting. When a sense of adventure prevails among both sides, the match transforms into an insane show Since Frank Lampard took over as the manager of his former club, his young guns come out with such an attacking intent that it leaves the defence unsecured, but what they offer is adventurous football, which becomes a part of football’s folklore.

Nothing can beat the 4-4 draw against Ajax this season so far, but the dogfight on last night at Mestalla, comes close to that. Yeah, just closer as somehow, RB Leipzig’s stunning late-strikes against Benfica in the 90th and 90+6 minutes gave the dramatic show at Mestalla a tough contest.   

If the match against Ajax had been nothing but an insane display then the encounter against Valencia could be termed as madness – the madness to win everyhing at the cost of defensive solidity. At Mestalla, when Chelsea were taking the match to that level of madness, Valencia joined the party and in the end, spectators all around the globe witnessed a basketball match, where teams were attacking at both ends.

In the age of pragmatism, such level of attacks are a rarity.

Chelsea have offered such twice so far.

Carlos Soler gave Valencia the lead. Then they attacked against which Reece James and full-back Cesar Azpilicueta were caught out of position more often. Valencia missed opportunities -Maxi Gomez had missed two gilt-edged chances. Then they missed a penalty - captain Parejo was denied from the spot by Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, spurning a second penalty in the competition after also missing in the defeat to Ajax.

Chelsea were surviving. But they did not just wish to spend the night surviving this way – they wished to advance and search for goals. The Blues equalised 108 seconds after Valnecia’s first goal via Mateo Kovacic, who scored his first goal for either club or country since January 2017 – a rather unlikely source indeed.

They lost Tammy Abraham, who was stretched off, but their spirit was not down. Chelsea’s Captain America, Christian Pulisic essayed an instinctive finish from Kart Zouma’s knockdown triggered an endless video analysis by VAR. Initially the goal was ruled out, but VAR overturned the decision and from nowhere Lampard’s boys were leading.

Chelsea shifted to fourth gear. Their defence was left lonely, which offered a lot of pressure on Andreas Christensen and Zouma, who conceded 9 goals in their last four games. What Chelsea needed was get behind the ball and earn points when Valencia were catching them in the counter. Valencia wasted chances and at one point it seemed, it might not be their night.

But in the 82nd minute, a mishit cross from Daniel Wass flew into the net of Chelsea. Valencia survived. Chelsea were left heart broken. It was a 2-2 draw, which could have been a win for Lampard if his defence concentrated a bit more on solidity.  Again, Arrizabalaga’s misjudgement of flight that decisive moment could also be pointed out.

But in the end, all those little ifs and buts, juts become irrelevant, when the value of entertainment is measured.

“We nearly won it, nearly lost it. It was end to end, not that we wanted it to be”, Frank Lampard said.

Valencia coach Albert Celades said, “The sensation in our dressing room is that we have missed a very good chance to qualify for the next round. But to get to the last game with our fate in our hands is not bad”.

The draw means that both sides are on 8 points after 5 games but Valencia have a better head-to-head record. Valencia would visit Ajax in their final group game and a victory would ensure a qualification to next round, while Chelsea will book their place in the round-of-16 if they beat Lille at home.

Lampard’s men are vibrant, full of fighting spirit and everyone possess the intent to advance forward – go to hell with defence! For the lovers of faiytale stories, it sounds romantic and exciting, but to take the sting out of the big boys in Europe, a defensive solidity is a must.  

But a bit of flaw can trigger a wave of thrill and chill among the football fans.

98 minutes fun at Mestalla kept the fans at the edge of their seats.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 28/11/2019 A classic at Mestalla: Chelsea and Valencia offer a lot of fun 

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Faisal Caesar 

The impact of Neymar at Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid came out all guns blazing against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) last night. Two of their pivots – Fede Valverde and Casemiro kept things tight in the centre, whil Isco added an extra-bit of flair to that diamond-shaped midfield. It allowed freedom for the attackers, which kept PSG at bay for the most part of the game.

One of Thomas Tuchel’s main men in the centre of midfield rhis season have been Marquinhos and Idrissa Gueye. But an Isco man-marking of Marquinhos, while Casemiro and Valverde cutting-short of Gueye prompted Tuchel to take drastic measures in the second half. Gueye was substituted and Neymar was brought on.

Neymar looked rusty at the start. But as the time progressed, he started to gather momentum via unleashing an array of depth touches –  typical Brazilian body movements, chicky dribbles, flicks and short-passes, from deep. He was not fully fit, but the only way he could create an impact on the match was by his ability to dictate the game from behind via these depth touches. Remember when Diego Maradona was struggling through fitness during Italia 90, he relied more on such skills rather than running with the ball at pace. Neymar was doing the same last night.

Neymar was actively involved in PSG’s comeback. He outweighed the marker of Real Madrid with body movements, advanced forward, then got involved with one-to-one touch with one of PSG players and from the centre passed it to the left-flank from where the cross was deflected at which Pablo Sarabia latched on to a loose ball and score.

It was a low cross and Real Madrid defence just did nothing to stop it and even they were not up to their mark when Mbappe scored one of the easiest of goals. There are problems with Real defence, but let hat not undermine the build-up of Neymar from the deep.  It helped the team to move forward. It was a half-chance, which was converted, but it all started from that Neymar-move.

Dictating games from behind despite being a forward is one of the hallmarks of a legendary customer and someone like Neymar possesses such qualities and for which, still despite not fully involved on the pitch actively, big clubs want this Brazilian on their side because they are well aware of his talent.

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 28/11/2019 The impact of Neymar at Santiago Bernabeu  

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Faisal Caesar