Is Terry Henry The Coolest Man in the World?

Advert of the year - settled.

Mike

Pretty good footballer too (apparently only the second best in the world).

Semi,

You sound like the sort of football viewer who has worn out his Brazil '82 video tape waiting for the world cup or euro championship to come around again.

Can you not get a good deal on cable so you can watch the UEFA Champions League?

Matthew

Matthew,

Good timing. Tomorrow, ESPN Deportes becomes available in the US. It's a 24/7 Spanish language sports channel that will broadcast Argentine, Spanish, Mexican, etc football/soccer (UEFA too ), among other sports.

Of course we won't see real football until ESPN Brazil is available or ESPN and others ditch the US "pro" league in favor of the Brazilian league.

PS- I see Rivaldo decided to stay in Brazil as opposed to going to Saudi Arabia(!).

Oh, I also liked the advertisement. Does Mazda not have a similar theme in the UK though (zoom zoom vs. va-va-voom)?

And I hear Thierry Henri isn't too bad either...

Cheers,

Tim
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Os nid Campagnolo yw hi, dyw hi ddim yn werth ei marcho...

Ludwig,

EPSN Desportes sounds like essential viewing. Especially South American World Cup qualifing (in Brasil they are convinced its now harder to qualify for the WC than to win it) and La Liga (Spanish football) which has been arguably the best league in the world for some time.

In La Liga this year it has been fascinating to watch David Beckham at Real Madrid and how rapidly he has improved as a player.

Matthew

Juan Pablo Angel is the coolest man in the world

"In La Liga this year it has been fascinating to watch David Beckham at Real Madrid and how rapidly he has improved as a player."

Poppycock! It's only because he's the only one stupid enough to run around like a headless chicken before the season really gets going. Judging from their media reaction the Spanish appear to be as shallow as us when it comes to celeb worship. I predict he'll be subbed or dropped during crunch games in Big League.My brother who lives there and watches most games says he's crap. Mind you he's an Athletic Bilbao fan and the very mention of Real Falange gets him apoplectic.

John

TH looks as comfortable in front of the camera as he does in front of goal. He's a true star. Its a good time to be a gooner, especially with Spurs now occupying a relegation spot!
Simon

John,

Now Tony has admitted that he was wrong and that Ken is in fact one of the great politicians and leaders of our time, surely you can do the same with David? Besides if you continue to cling to this self-consciously iconolclastic "Beckham is crap" view people might start to get you confused with Vuk.

Matthew

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Originally posted by Guadalupe Semillon:
Matthew,

By international standards, he is barely an above-average football player. Indeed, very fast, but speed is ultimately not a substitute for talent, even though it will earn you some goals.

Semi

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Sorry, don't mean to be rude but this is simply bollox. Have you ever seen him play? He's an exceptional player by any standards although Zidane gets my vote for number 1.

The lady's not for turning! Matthew as you know I've held these views about your Becks (odd your admiration of him reminds me of the egg chasers Jonny Wilkinson love in) for some time and anyway as an afficiando of Leeds circa 1970-71 noone could ever confuse me with Vuk.

Nick you may scorn a team when they're down don't go counting those uefa chickens just yet!

John

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I've watched most of the RM games on TV and I hate to admit this, but I've gone from thinking that Beckham was a one-trick pony to actually being worth a lot of his hype. His range and accuracy of passing from centre midfield has been an eye-opener

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But this was what he was doing at Manu week in week out.

Is Terry Henry The coolest Man in the world ?

No he is French. Speaking as an englishman, it is just not possible to admit this.He is a very talented footballer and will score goals a plenty in Euro 2004.
Renault cars are not cool.

Do you think TH drives one ? On the money he's on, I doubt it.

Rud van Nistlenuts is the most complete striker in the premiership. (I do not support MUFC).
TH Misses far too many chances with his flash stuff.


Zidane is not cool either and he is also bald, but it's still his name first on the French teamsheet.ZZ is the best player in the world.

Best thing Beckham did was to leave MUFC. He has become a much better player at Madrid. Giggs should have gone to Italy to stretch and extend himself when he had the chance instead of settling for the easy life in the Manchester rain. But hey, he's welsh so I couldn't care.

I hope Michael Owen follows Beckhams lead and stops arseing about up at LFC, especially if he wants any medals to show his kids when he retires. After the 1998 World Cup he was a really exciting prospect - he has stagnated since.

The most promising England prospect for Euro 2004: Frank Lampard (has become a really good good player).
Talking of cool......Frank Lampard senior...when beards were cool.

Regards
Adam

count.d said "But this was what he was doing at Manu week in week out"

Erm, at Man Utd. Beckham played on the right of midfield where his range of passing and influence on the game was limited compared to the central role he now occupies.

He is a better player for being at Madrid not just from the positional change but from being away from negative influences like Ferguson and the Nevilles. We are beginning to see how much of his talent was wasted at Man Utd.

Matthew

"Rud van Nistlenuts is the most complete striker in the premiership"

He is a better striker than Henry but he could never single-handedly beat Inter-Milan 1-5 at the San Siro the way Henry did.

Zidane is the world's most naturally gifted player and the world's best when playing for France in a major competition. For a lot of the rest of the time he doesn't seem to be too bothered.

Matthew

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Erm, at Man Utd. Beckham played on the right of midfield where his range of passing and influence on the game was limited compared to the central role he now occupies.

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Beckham stood on the mid right as the whistle was blown, but I would hardly say he stayed there. He was one of the few players that actually ran.

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"Rud van Nistlenuts is the most complete striker in the premiership"

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Totally agree. I also like his new name.

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Talking of cool......Frank Lampard senior...when beards were cool

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That was when football was football, just like the Brazil '82 team. Falcao, Eder, Zico, Socrates, Junior.... football what..ohhh

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Originally posted by Matthew Robinson:
EPSN Desportes sounds like essential viewing. Especially South American World Cup qualifing (in Brasil they are convinced its now harder to qualify for the WC than to win it)

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As a casual spectator, I might agree with the Brazilians. I spent a few months there last year and regularly watched games on TV. The skill level was unlike anything I'd ever seen (which included Premier League, MLS, US Div I college, Mexican league, and World Cup at the time). Truly remarkable. In fact, the talent of young kids (say 10-14) playing under lights in dirt lots late at night was also very impressive.

PS- What Premier League team might fit my tastes (developing young talent, hardworking, acceptable payroll, etc)? Like baseball where you are, we get one game per week.

[This message was edited by Ludwig on WEDNESDAY 07 January 2004 at 20:09.]

WC qualifying for Brazil is hard becuase the whole of South America now plays in one big qualifying tournament that lasts the best part of 2 years and everyone plays everyone home and away. In SA Brazil have a problem in that everybody wants to beat them and raises their game considerably and also becuase a number of SA teams have huge home advantages from playing at altitude. Brazil lost something like 6 games in qualifying for the Japorea WC even though they ended up winnning it.

"What Premier League team might fit my tastes (developing young talent, hardworking, acceptable payroll, etc)?"

West Ham would have been perfect except they got relegated and had to sell most of their good players. They would be sort of Chicago Cubs equivalent (ie abject failures or gloriously romatic depending on your POV).

Otherwise the Premiership is made up of the following sorts of teams:

-- Big clubs competing to win major honours (Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea). This is the Yankees option and supporting these clubs is only acceptable if you live near the stadium or have strong family ties for some reason.

-- Big clubs competing to nearly win major honours (Liverpool and Newcastle). These are both acceptable choices: Newcastle are lots of people's second favourites, have lots of exciting young players, some old hands, a fantastic manager who is about 75 and keeps fogetting his players names, etc.

-- Small clubs depsparetly competing to avoid relegation by scraping for every last point (Bolton, Wolves, Leicester, etc. etc.). These have a certain romantic attraction but you have to be prepared to sit through lots of gutsy 1-1 away draws and learn to appreciate a center-half who can put it in Row Z. Bolton would be the pick here (comedy manager, have a bona fida eccentric genius in Jay Jay Okocha)

-- Medium clubs who are happy being medium clubs for a variety of reasons from being naturally a mid-table club (Middlesborough, Blackburn, etc) to being resigned to mediocrity after years of under-achievement (Aston Villa).

-- Medium clubs who are convinced they are big clubs if only the chairman would realise this and provide £200m for new playes (Tottenham, Everton)

-- Clubs like the above but with a chairman who actually did provide £200m and are consequently about to go bankrupt (Leeds)

-- Overachieving little clubs. Lots of fun following these but could go pear shaped if they loose key players or a manager. E.g. Southampton, Fulham, Charlton. Charlton are the pick here (play nice football as well). Southampton are ok but dull. Fulham are flattering to decieve and are owned by an Egyptian crook.

-- Comedy failures but not without charm: Manchester City. Basically the Red Sox option.

So If I was picking as a neutral I'd probably go for Newcastle.

Matthew

((((((JOE GIBBS BACK IN WASHINGTON))))))

Alex,

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll keep an eye on Charlton, but the fact that they could fall apart with a few changes worries me.

Matthew,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Newcastle does sound interesting (particularly the coach). But I do have follow-up questions ():

- Does Newcastle consistently obtain among the best young talent? (similar to the Expos and Marlins)

- Is Newcastle known for operating its club with class? (similar to the, oh I can't believe I'm saying this- Cardinals)

Depending on your answers I may adopt this as my (English) team. With any luck I'll get to watch them once per year on TV.

(((Stephon Marbury Back In NY)))

"Thanks for the thoughtful reply"

I am typing in between hands of Poker. Its a great game but there is a lot of dead time where you just keep folding.

(Profits in Decemeber £525).

"I'll keep an eye on Charlton, but the fact that they could fall apart with a few changes worries me"

They have a very talented young manager and a key central midfielder but could lose one or both over the next year or so and, parciularly if they lose the manager, could well slip back into mediocrity.

"Does Newcastle consistently obtain among the best young talent? (similar to the Expos and Marlins)"

I don't think anyone does that consistently in football. Apart from West Ham (known as the Acadamy of Football for that very reason) but its going to be hard enough following a Premiership team let alone Division 1 team.

Newcastle do have a lot of good young players at the moment though -- epsecially Kieron Dyer who would be something like Soriano in prosepct terms. They also have Alan Shearer who would probably translate as a Roger Clemens (i.e. Future Hall of Famer still playing at an amazing level given his age).

Overall though Football is not quite like US sports as it has no College or minor League equivalent so lots of young players come from lower division or smaller clubs rather than from thier own youth teams. To find Expos or Marlins equivalents you'd need to pick a lower divsion team -- the obvious one being Crewe -- but that would be like me supporting a Divsion 1-AA college team or soemthing.

"Is Newcastle known for operating its club with class?"

Well a number of the players were allegedly involved in a recent high profile, erm, situation that was about as bad as it gets but cannot be discussed for fear of legal action. And their Chairman (nearest thing to owner I guess) once famously described the girls from Newcastle as "slappers" and said their fans were stupid for buying replica shirts at exhorbitant prices.

But generally they are a good club and well liked by neutrals with a reputation for attacking football. Thay have fantastic fans who fill one of England's biggest stadiums and remain incredibly loyal.

Manager Sir Bobby Robson is a living (barely) legend having coached England to a WC semi-final in 1990, won major domestic and Euopean honours in England, Holland (PSV), Spain (Barcelona) and Portugal (Benfica). He is deeply loved by everyone and is known as Uncle Bobby. He once told me and my mate Stuart to "Bugger off" in a bar in Cascais Portugal (no doubt we desevered it). US equivalent would be like Dick Vermeil crossed with Dusty Baker.

Matthew

Matthew

This is way too complicated. I'll just pull for the team with the best beer sponsor whenever a game's broadcast.

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Originally posted by Matthew Robinson:
"Thanks for the thoughtful reply"

(Overall though Football is not quite like US sports as it has no College or minor League equivalent so lots of young players come from lower division or smaller clubs rather than from thier own youth teams. To find Expos or Marlins equivalents you'd need to pick a lower divsion team -- the obvious one being Crewe -- but that would be like me supporting a Divsion 1-AA college team or soemthing.

Matthew

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An honourable mention for the Railwaymen. Hurrah ! (Just don't mention Telford United at the moment)

regards

Richard S

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"Does Newcastle consistently obtain among the best young talent? (similar to the Expos and Marlins)"

I don't think anyone does that consistently in football. Apart from West Ham (known as the Acadamy of Football for that very reason) but its going to be hard enough following a Premiership team let alone Division 1 team.

Newcastle do have a lot of good young players at the moment though -- epsecially Kieron Dyer who would be something like Soriano in prosepct terms. They also have Alan Shearer who would probably translate as a Roger Clemens (i.e. Future Hall of Famer still playing at an amazing level given his age).

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Of course Matthew (and most other non fans) may be biased against Manchester United but the fact reamains that their success in the last 10 years has been founded on a group of players from the Youth team all of whom have been key elements to their success (Scholes, Giggs, Neville, Neville, Butt, Beckham, etc) and although this trend has diminished they still bring more player than most (Brown, O'Shea, Fletcher etc) through their reserves/youth setups.

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- Is Newcastle known for operating its club with class?

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For a cultural fit, think in terms of the Minnesota Vikings but with a lot more drinking involved.