Comments on: Anfield’s great and Chelsea and Liverpool are NOT s***

By: Liverpool_Fan

Liverpool_Fan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:19:19 +0000

Oh well i guess shit hanging from a stick just went and won the champions league five times wow what a great work of art !!!!!

By: Liam

Liam — Thu, 24 May 2007 07:10:35 +0000

I’m a Chelsea fan and the man was right two drab games.
Chelsea v Liverpool games are always crap, with both sides
defensive tactics strangling the game.

By: Liverpool 1-2 AC Milan, Champions League Final 2007 | Soccerlens - Football News

Wed, 23 May 2007 20:51:59 +0000

[...] the other half of the ’shit on a stick’ duo did its fans proud. They were smart, they gave it their best and in Europe, are the better team [...]

By: Redondo

Redondo — Thu, 10 May 2007 05:45:21 +0000

To Peter Gil: Except for the Ex-President Martin that wanted for 6 weeks, no one from Real Madrid contacted Benitz .. He plays awfull football and is certainly not wanted at Madrid.

TO SteelScouser: Capello vertainly plays more better football then MOurinho & Capello, thats without a doubt.

By: abbas

abbas — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:53:19 +0000

great article

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=428836&root=europe&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:51:28 +0000

avrv – as much as I appreciate your input, you’ve got to re-read the article again I think. The only comment I made about Valdano is to compare him to ‘out of style managers’ and the fact that he’s a well-respected indiviudal does not, in any way, make him automatically correct.

I’m not attacking Valdano, however I do criticise his article. The focus of THIS article is to highlight the phrase and how it will be part of our vocabulary for a long time.

Even the brightest and best people are wrong when they let personal emotions get in the way of their judgement. Valdano is wrong to attack Benitez and Mourinho the way he did, and not only that, he’s wrong about them.

Assuming that I don’t have any idea of who Valdano is OR that I need to get some perspective is unfair, I think, and you know me better than that. The comments attack Valdano, I’m just dealing with the article – one, it doesn’t matter who he is if he’s wrong, and two, his status and background (which I spent time researching because I didn’t have a good handle on him initially, hence the delay in getting this post out) should have no influence.

To use Valdano’s own words:

If you put a shit on a stick in front of a great, passionate audience, some people will tell you that it’s a piece of art.

It’s not, it’s still a shit on a stick.

The same applies for Valdano’s rant. We as a society seem to think that because someone respected or someone who has achieved a lot in a field says something, it must be true. That’s not the case.

If he’s wrong, he’s wrong regardless of his standing. If he’s talking shit, it’s not insightful, it’s still shit.

Mind you, I agree with some of what he says, but not with his personal attack / analysis of Rafa and Jose. It’s incorrect, regardless of his standing (which I’m aware of).

By: avrv

avrv — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:15:51 +0000

Heh and again re-reading the comments I get the impression some of you have no fucking clue who Valdano is either. He was a great player, and the short time he dedicated to coaching, he was quite good (League winners over the “Dream Team” playing very nice football in 1995).

By: avrv

avrv — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:12:42 +0000

Ah and Ahmed. Re-reading your article, I get the impression you have no clue who Valdano is, or the weight his opinions are given. The Guardian opened a blog piece on his Marca article and I suggest you read it to gain some perspective.

By: avrv

avrv — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:11:20 +0000

Oh and one more thing.

As a fan of Real Madrid, Peter, I wouldn’t want to see Mourinho and especially never Benitez, coaching my team. Mourinho I could deal with because he teams don’t ALWAYS play crap football and he has a lot of qualities. Benitez, despite his links to Madrid, I despise as a coach, I despised him at Valencia and the football they played there and I hope I’m never subjected to it. Capello is more defensive than Madrid is used to but compared to Benitez he’s a f-cking Victor Fernandez.

By: avrv

avrv — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:07:56 +0000

SteelScouser, is that supposed to make sense? Valdano never had anything to do with Capello, in any way.

Another thing to mention. Valdano doesn’t work for Real Madrid and hasn’t for years. And he’s equally critican of Capello.

Some bitter pills are being swallowed, but I think he’s spot on.