Futbol: Últimas noticias de Hoy

Similar to the current season, the last season was also a case of the total domination of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two teams are considered as the only real competitors for the league title in the La Liga which may be a tad bit too harsh as Valencia, Levante, and Villarreal are all excellent sides and can give a tough time to the two Spanish giants on any day. However, their performances are and have been largely overshadowed by the two giants of La Liga.

It is amusing to see that the more competitive battle in the La Liga is at the other end of the table. The majority of the teams in the league fight hard each season to avoid relegation and this is perhaps the reason that La Liga has gained the reputation of being a duopoly. You can take an idea of this from the fact that Osasuna – the team which finished at the 9th place last season – was not safe from relegation which means that the last 11 teams of the league were contesting to avoid relegation. It can be said that this has gone worse in the current season with the last 13 team currently being apart with only a difference of 9 points.

The last season started off with a lot of hype as Jose Mourinho had become the coach of Real Madrid who had been without a league title for two years. There were many speculations about the great one to lead his side to the league title and put a stop to the ever growing dominance of Barcelona. Jose Mourinho had earlier defeated Barcelona in the Champions League with Inter Milan and the fans of Real Madrid were hopeful that he will humiliate Barcelona again in all the contests against Barcelona.

Both teams prepared well for the highly anticipated contest for the title. Barcelona loaned out Ibrahimovic and signed the top scorer of the 2010 world cup, David Villa where as Real Madrid made two big signings – Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil. It wasn’t a surprise that the first Clasico was highly anticipated affair with the Barcelona Tickets and Real Madrid Tickets in extreme demand. It can be safely said that the rivalry of Real Madrid and Barcelona can never be underestimated as the game turned out to be an absolute shocker. Barcelona came out with all guns blazing and humiliated Real Madrid to a 5-0 defeat and in the process, Guardiola took his revenge from Jose Mourinho from the earlier defeat in the Champions League.

This had a huge impact on Jose Mourinho as he radically changed the tactics of his team for the rest of the season. Barcelona went on to the win the league comfortably with a margin of three games and Real Madrid managed to regain their glory when they defeated Barcelona to win the Copa Del Ray.

The rest of the battle was amongst Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao Sevilla, Atletico de Madrid & Espanyol in the quest of the acquiring a place in the Champions League. Valencia and Villarreal turned out to be the ultimate victors with the former qualifying directly and the latter to the playoff round.

Before arriving at Barcelona, Rijkaard had played in the Dutch and Italian leagues, as well as appearing in Holland’s national selection. His appointment as manager of Barcelona caused some surprise as he was considered to lack experience.

Football career

Rijkaard’s professional footballing career started at Ajax when he was given his first team debut in 1980 at the age of 17. Scoring in his first match, he went on to play a total of 24 league matches in his first season with a total of 4 goals. Two years later the team went on to win the league trophy, a feat that the team repeated the following year.

The second half of Rijkaard’s time at Ajax was spent under manager Johan Cruyff, but in 1987 Rijkaard stormed out of a training session and vowed he would never play for Cruyff again. Signing to Sporting Clube de Portugal too late in the season to play, he was immediately loaned to Zaragoza in Spain, where he played for a single season.

At the end of the season Rijkaard was signed by AC Milan, where he stayed for five years. Moving from a central defence to midfield, his aggressive play helped the team win both the Italian Serie A and the European cup on two occasions.

He returned to Ajax under Luis Van Gaal in 1993, and helped the team win the Dutch league on two occasions. His final match saw Ajax beat AC Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final in 1995.

Internationally Rijkaard won 73 caps for Holland and scored 10 goals, although his success was sometimes marred by his temperament, such as when he spat at Germany’s Rudi Völler several times during the 1990 World Cup.

Coaching

After acting as assistant coach to in the Netherlands national squad he was appointed manager to the team in 1998, and although he was not considered to have enough experience for the job his team was able to make it through to the semi-finals of Euro 2000.

After losing to Italy on penalties Rijkaard quit immediately but took on the role of manager for Sparta Rotterdam for the 2001-2002 season. The season went disastrously for him and saw the team relegated to the second division for the first time in its history. He and the directors didn’t get along and with this final straw he was forced out.

His appointment as manager of FC Barcelona in 2003 caused plenty of raised eyebrows, but with two league wins and a Champions League title to his name he has firmly proved the doubters wrong.

This season mirrored many others of the previous few seasons, as Arsenal again displayed beautiful stylish, flowing football and they produced some memorable nights at the Emirates Stadium, including the defeat of Barcelona in the Champions League group stage and an emphatic victory over Chelsea.

The optimism of the early season was short-lived as Arsenal again finished the season without a trophy, the Gunners finished in fourth place in the Premier League, which will now require them to qualify for next years Champions League group stages.

Like so many of the previous seasons in recent years, the Gunners season was full of promise and they looked certain to win their first trophy for six years when they faced a lowly Birmingham side at Wembley Stadium in the Carling Cup Final in February, but Arsenal were surprisingly defeated by a determined, tough tackling Birmingham side, who showed a resilience that Arsenal have sadly lacked over recent years. The defeat in the Carling Cup Final appeared to shock the team and their confidence evaporated, as their season finished with a whimper.

Even the most fervent Arsenal fan must now begin to question the policies and management of Arsene Wenger, who enjoyed so much success during his early season with the club. Failure to correct obvious problems within the central defence and a lack of tenacity within the team, took its toll as the season progressed. Many fans have refused to criticise the manager in previous seasons, but now most realists will admit that any criticism are justified.

Wenger has vowed to continue with the club’s policy of developing their own players and refusing to spend huge amounts in the transfer market, unlike many of their Premiership rivals. This decision will place the manager under huge pressure next season, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and even Liverpool set to spend large amounts on players during the summer months.

Arsenal are still credited with playing beautiful football and have continued with the development of several young players, including Jack Wilshere who is set to become a leading player for both club and country in the years to come. Wojciech Szczesny is proving that he has the talent to become the reliable goalkeeper that Arsenal have been seeking for several seasons.

Arsenal’s activity in the transfer market this summer will be closely watched, failure to make the right signings could be a defining moment for their manager, as the fans who pledge their allegiance to the manager and display banners around the stadiums reading «In Arsene we trust» they may finally lose patience.

Consistency: Once we have started an initiative, project, programme or a process that we are convinced of its impact on our lives, and it is certain to take us to our destiny, and becomes our legacy, we must perfect one particular aspect of our behaviour and that is consistency in the execution of our plans. This does not need to be formal and in writing. This is more in our mindset and attitude. If you have clearly defined and/or understood the logical steps toward the objective, there is no debate, argument, doubt, or self-betrayal about it. You must just go for it. Be unscrupulous on yourself. The results you have envisaged are so fundamental that you cannot imagine the opposite, namely failure. The universe will never disappoint you. It gives you back what you give it. So, do not give it ego poison, but ego food. It will take care of you. Be consistent in executing all the logical steps you have either identified or are given by practice for you to achieve the set goals. Be consistent at all times. Do not find yourself being caught in debating with yourself as to whether you must wake up or sleep longer, or wanting to delay implementation of the action to the following day. Do what is due today, for tomorrow has its own activities, and deserve your full capacity and full attention.

Repetition: as you pursue your life and/or professional goals, you will commit mistakes and disappoint yourself. This is how we learn in life. You must never be too critical to yourself to an extent that you are discouraged from trying again. I grew up in Jane Furse, in Sekhukhune Region, in Limpopo Province, South Africa. There is this football club at Ga-Sekwati Mampuru village, called Sekwati Try Again FC. I like them very much because their name is very motivational. Life is about repetition and trying again. If you fail in doing something, you must try again. You grow from your mistakes. All what you need is positive attitude and self drive to try again. I think it is Jimmy Cliff that sung the song, Second Time Around. There is always second time and many more times in life. We must take the opportunity to try again, and take second time opportunity. Sekwati Try Again FC was a very good football club. They never gave up. You win against them, they will be coming for you next time. They would have studied the previous game, identified your strength, and their weaknesses, and figured out how to approach the game second time around. This time round, they will beat you satisfactorily. So, repetition is the master of success.

Staying Power: success in life depends on your stamina, i.e. your staying power, tenacity and drive to hang on. Nothing come easy in life. You better get used to the practice of staying on course until the end of the journey. I have never heard of anyone that was killed by persistence. What kills people is the dislike of their work and problems that are caused by fellow human beings at the work places. It is also caused by our inability to deal with the complexity that is brought by fellow human beings, or our attitude toward it. So, you must have staying power. Never take problems personal. Otherwise, that is what will cause you stress and ultimately kill you. Be on the rational mind at all times. Do not be emotional about the challenges and problems brought to you by your colleagues, managers, leaders, and/or subordinates. Be aware of the language that your superiors are using when they are engaging with you. Respond to them using the same language they are using. If they are using the language of command or instructions get it right first time and respond accordingly. Do not respond with the language of emotions, for it will irritate them and they will view you as a cry baby and spoiled rat. If they are using the language of facts, make sure that yo get the facts and stick to them. If they use the language of reason, make sure that you get the rationale why they communicate the way they communicate with you. So, be always aligned with your leaders, colleagues and stakeholders language of communication. So, your staying power is not only physical, but emotional and mental as well. You can condition yourself accordingly.

Hard Work: at the end of all, it is about working hard. This does not suggest that your life must stop, no. You must just understand that every action requires a bit of a push if you want to be better than others. Nothing can beat hard work, especially if hard work is accompanied by creativity, innovation, and smartness. We must love what we do. We must condition ourselves to plough and invest first before we can harvest. Once we find ourselves wanting to harvest where we have not ploughed, we are on a dangerous road, that will lead to self-destruction. It is beautiful to reap the fruits of our sweat. You enjoy such fruits without any guilt.

So, work ethic according to the above input, is about consistency, repetition, stamina (staying power), and hard work. Nothing less, nothing more. You must develop work ethic to achieve success. That is the winning formula. Of course your natural talent come in handy at all times. But as John Maxwell wrote in his book: Talent is not Enough, indeed talent is not enough. It requires the right personality, attitude, hard work, determination, etc.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Everton Mint, it is a black and white mint flavoured sweet with a delicious toffee centre. Everton is also a district of Liverpool in the United Kingdom and the name and home of a famous English football team; Everton F.C. Now, in the late 1800’s there was a sweet shop called ‘Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House’ which was owned by a lady called Old Ma Bushell. ‘Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House’ was situated near to the Queen’s Head Hotel in Everton. Old Ma Bushell created a sweet she called the Everton Toffee which she sold to people on their way to watch Everton F.C. play their football matches; this turned out to be hugely successful and popular among the Everton F.C. fans.

Unfortunately for Old Ma Bushell Everton F.C. moved to a different football stadium called Goodison Park. Goodison Park was situated very close to another sweet shop called ‘Mother Noblett’s Toffee Shop’. Mother Noblett realised there was a lucrative opportunity for her to sell her toffee’s to the Everton F.C. fans just as Old Ma Bushell had, however she could not use the name Everton Toffee as Old Ma Bushell had already patented it. To overcome the problem Mother Noblett invented a sweet which was a mint candy on the outside but with her toffee in the middle and named it the ‘Everton Mint’. Mother Noblett also had the idea to make her Everton Mints black and white which at the time was the colour of the Everton F.C. football kit. The combination of the name and the very well made toffee sweet helped to make the Everton Mint hugely popular amongst fans and locals.

Mother Noblett’s ingenuity did not stop there; she met with the Everton board and agreed with them that before each football match a girl would walk around the outside of the football pitch tossing Everton Mints to the crowd in the stands, free of charge! This helped make Mother Noblett and her Everton Mint the famous name it is today. Mother Noblett’s granddaughter was given the honour of being the first ‘Toffee Girl’ and this tradition stayed with Everton F.C. for many years even after Everton changed their football kit from black and white to royal blue.

Mother Noblett made such a success of her sweet and the crowd loved the ‘Toffee Girl’ so much that the club and fans decided to nickname the club the ‘Toffees’, a name which has stuck with Everton throughout it’s history and is still recognisable today.

Unfortunately not much is known of what happened to Old Ma Bushell or her ‘Everton Toffee’; however Old Ma Bushell must be given the credit for the initial idea of the Everton Toffee/Mint. Credit must also go to Mother Noblett for having the vision and the tenacity to take Old Ma Bushells idea and make it a big success. The Everton Mint now falls under the umbrella of sweet giant Barker and Dobson and with their help has managed to stay just as popular now as it was over 100 years ago.

The club’s formal name is Manchester United Football Club, or Manchester United FC.

They are also referred to, popularly, as the Red Devils. Founded in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR FC, the squad train at their home venue of Old Trafford, with its capacity of nearly 76,000. Owned by the Glazier family, the squad have Joel and Avram Glazer as co-chairmen, and Sir Alex Fergusson as manager.

Manchester United have won the most league titles, 18, a record they share with Liverpool. However, unlike Liverpool, who haven’t won a single Premier League, the Red Devils have won in 11 of the 17 Premiership seasons, so far.

In the ongoing season, United have won two of three matches played and are currently third on the League table behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

Early Season Preview:

Manchester United would want to win the Premiership this season, for more than one reason. Apart from the obvious need to establish themselves as the best team in the fray, the squad know that this could be Sir Alex Fergusson’s last year, at the helm. And that the Premier League title could be the perfect parting gift.

In fact, this is Fergie’s 25th year, and even after a quarter century in charge, his motivation is intact. The Community shield, the traditional curtain raiser to the season, saw United lifting the trophy, by beating Premier League defending champions, Chelsea. Was that a teaser trailer of bigger things to come?

This is the Red Devils’ current line-up: Van der Sar, Vidic, O’Shea, Evra, Jonathan Evans, Scholes, Nani, Giggs, Fletcher, Rooney, Berbatov, Kuszczak, Smalling, Owen, Hernandez, Carrick, Valencia and Rafael Da Silva.

Wayne Rooney has returned to the League after a forgettable World Cup, and he will want to put those memories behind him, the best way he knows — by scoring goals. Rooney’s form, as ever, will determine how the Old Trafford outfit shape up in their Premiership campaign.

Sir Alex has had the legendary knack of spotting little known players who have gone on to do brilliantly in top flight football. Javier Hernandez, signed this summer, belongs to this breed. Hernandez did well in South Africa, and has looked good in his short tenure with the Red Devils. Apart from Javier, Fulham’s defender Chris Smalling is another summer signing of promise. In departures from Old Trafford, United have sold Ben Foster.

The Premiership, in recent years, has become a two-horse race, between Chelsea and Manchester United. This year, I expect it to be a three-pronged affair, with Arsenal providing the third side to the triangular contest. From the evidence of the matches played so far, I would back the Red Devils to mount a serious challenge for the title.