Tag Archive for 'fernando'

Chelsea: In Torres We Trust

Published on February 5, 2012 in Sports. 0 Comments

It’s been an year since Torres joined us and even he would agree that it has not been a rosy 12 months experience. He has struggled for goals. And just when we thought he was getting back to his best, he got himself red carded and sidelined for a whole month. Torres has failed to live up to his standards set at Liverpool. His first goal for us is something I always go back to. I remember that night. I was jumping up and down with madness. I was watching the game live on TV and could hear the 40K crowd of Stamford Bridge go “Torres Torres!!”. Even the heavy rain could not dampen their spirits.

Twelve months in and even today the Chelsea fans are fully supportive of our number 9. There are flashes of his brilliance. On his day he torments the defenders – doesn’t score is a different matter as he compensates it by creating lots of chances for others. But then the very next match he once again becomes that lonely man roaming around without any purpose.

I’d like the Chelsea fans to disagree but I feel that our midfield is partly responsible for Torres’s extended goal drought. With Lampard aging, Essien injured we do not have any good player to play the through ball to Torres. A striker feeds off his midfielders. Torres does not have anyone feeding him those balls on a regular basis.

I was watching the Arsenal vs Blackburn game tonight. Arsenal demolished the Rovers 7-1. Do you know how those goals were scored? Walcott received the ball at the edge of the penalty box and he played a wonderful cross to Van Persie who was right in front of the goal. All Persie had to do was to tap the ball in. Sadly for Torres though Sturridge is way too selfish to play him such crosses. On the right we have Ashley Cole who these days just lofts his final ball into the air and hopes someone from Chelsea will head it in. The third goal that Chamberlain scored today was because of an incisive pass by Persie right at the edge of the box. When Torres provides such passes to Ramires or Mata, they just flash their shot wide. No quality finishing.

The lack of ability to finish or create forces Torres to run deeper into the midfield and receive the ball himself. That is something you’ve seen Rooney do last year. The lack of service forces your striker to become a midfielder. And yet you expect goals from him!

I think the manner in which Chelsea play their 4-3-3 doesn’t suit Torres. Chelsea takes the easier option of running down the flanks – supported by Cole and who ever is right back for that game – and then loft the ball into the penalty box for your striker to score. This worked with Drogba because he was that strong bullish presence in the center who could brush aside his markers. With Torres the same does not work. With Torres you need to pass him the ball along the ground through the midfield. And this is exactly why I think a change in formation might just help Torres.

If Chelsea were to go into a 4-4-2 formation with Torres and Sturridge as the two central strikers and Mata playing just behind them, then I think our strikers will have better chances of conversion. Sturridge likes to come inside into a more central position and this formation will help him. For Torres having Mata in the attacking midfield position will help as Mata can provide those passes Torres used to get off Gerrard.

The 4-4-2 system logically should have been the preferred one. I don’t know why AVB still insists with the 4-3-3 when it’s clearly not working for your strikers. I so want Torres to succeed. I will him to score every time he walks onto the field. If Torres were to spend the next 6 months just as hopelessly as the last 12 Roman might not be so forgiving. It’s Abramovich’s unpredictability that freaks me out sometimes. I so want Torres to come good.

PS: I started following Chelsea only after the Shevchenko era. I do not know if there were people just like me then willing him to score every time he came on. That story ended badly. I do not want a repeat of the same with Torres.

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I Want A Torres Jersey

Published on March 8, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments
Torres Jersey
Torres Jersey

I have waited so long to buy a Chelsea jersey, and now that Torres is here, I want one! So this weekend I went to the nearest Adidas showroom – the one at Koramangala, near Sony World. They have had one on display for a long time now. But the originals always come without any name printed. I asked the guy if he could get it customized for me. Even though he was reluctant at first, he agreed. He called up the Brigade road showroom to inquire about the possibility. The reply – they do not have the font for printing! I have been told to wait some 10-15 days after which they might have the fonts – which ships from Delhi apparently.

I suppose I’ll give them 10 days time after which I’ll buy the jersey – customized or not.

 

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F1 2010 : Disgraceful Act Of Ferrari In German GP

Published on July 26, 2010 in Sports. 0 Comments

I have been a Ferrari fan for as long as I have watched F1. But I cannot condone the way Ferrari shamelessly asked Massa to give up his lead and let his team mate win. It was so blunt and straightforward message that even a fool would understand it.

Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

They did not even try to hide their intention. And since the transmission radio is now open to public, everyone heard it. And our very professional Massa slowed down his car and let Alonso pass.

Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.

Was how the Ferrari pit crew appreciated this cowardly act.

A lot of things happen behind the curtains in F1. Although team orders have been banned after the Michael Schumacher [Ferrari, Australian GP], teams do send out coded messages which reveal such intentions. However, these are usually done towards the end of the season, when only one of the drivers have any chance of winning the championship. Such a decision is understandable. But to enforce such ordering at just the mid season is just wrong.

But I refuse to point the blame at only Ferrari. Everyone, including Alonso and Massa, were guilty of showing us a manufactured race. Just a few laps ago Alonso had tried a passing move on Massa. However, a couple of corners and Massa was able to regain his lead. Alonso’s reaction to this on his radio was

This is ridiculous!

Clearly, Ferrari must have set the driver orders even before the race started, and when Massa overtook Alonso, whereby defying the team order, Alonso was irritated. And if we couple this incident with Luca Montezemolo’s statement just a few days ago saying Ferrari were still aiming to win the championships leaves no doubt that Massa had been made the scapegoat. This does not augur well for a F1 fan.

Alonso might have been quicker than Massa, but that does not mean he has the right to be ahead of him. The highest paid driver should have fought for the position, and given a faster car, if he really had superior skills he could have forced Massa into an error and taken the lead.

I blame Massa for not having the balls to stand up to the order. He has been with Ferrari for so many years, and yet gets treated like a secondary driver. I am no Massa fan. His response to the media saying he is a professional just doing his job, cuts out a sorry figure of a guy who just the last year was made a Ferrari hero. He should have spoken out like Webber did in the last race when the team favored Vettel.

Ferrari is set for a hearing with the WMSC. Whatever the ruling of the committee is I hold Ferrari guilty of fixing a brilliant race. Massa had started the race well, and he did deserve to win the race.

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F1 2010: New Season, New Expectations

Published on March 10, 2010 in Sports. 0 Comments

I have been watching F1 regularly since 2006 and this is the first time that 4 world champions will be on the grid at the same time! No wonder I am so excited and eager to get the season started. My ears have tired of waiting to hear the commentator say – “And the Bahrain GP is GO“. And just like the millions of fans across the globe, I too have lots of expectations from this season after the boring last one.

What makes the 2010 season fantastic is the return of God of Racing – Michael Schumacher. The seven time world champion is desperate to get started again. His enthusiasm shows his want for F1 racing again after a break of 3 years. And who better to have as team principal than Ross Brawn. The duo have won seven championships. I don’t care if it is not Ferrari they represent now. Schumacher is great at developing the car, and I am sure that if not this season then the next one will definitely be his.

The pre season testing for Brawn has not been as awesome as last years. The last year they had the fastest car and it showed right from the first lap of testing. This year though Brawn has accepted that they might be slightly off the pace. In the longer runs Mercedes car has managed to show consistency and speed, but it is with the lower levels of fuels that they are not sure about. The other cars seems to be quicker than Mercedes when running on fumes.

Speculations and rumors though refuse to die down around Brawn and Schumacher. Apparently Brawn has declared that they have a piece of technology which did not require testing and to design it they went till the limit of rules. Obviously reporters have been buzzing about the possibility of a new design of diffuser which would boost the performance of their car by a second or two per lap. And if this turns out to be true, then the championship is already Michael’s.

The testing though showed Ferrari to be the pick of the lot. They have got the pace to challenge for the championship. And Alonso is a shrewd driver. He is just as good in developing his car and extracting that last bit of performance. People have already tipped him to be clear favorite for drivers title. I just want to see Alonso and Michael battle it all out just the way they used to earlier. I just cannot make up my mind who to support – Michael or the team I have always liked, Ferrari. Michael was the reason I started watching F1, and Ferrari the reason I continued watching it after Michael left. Picking one is tough.

The return of Massa after the tragic accident is being highlighted too. He was quick during the practice sessions. But how competitive he will be compared to Alonso is doubtful. Alonso might perhaps carve out a place for himself just like Schumacher did. Alonso has already declared that he would like Ferrari to be his team when he retires. Also Luca Montezemolo has declared that all great drivers ultimately end up at Ferrari. I think if it comes to choosing between Alonso and Massa, Ferrari might prefer Alonso.

A lot of focus is being put on Hamilton and Button. I am given to understand that the Hamilton-Alonso saga, which nearly destroyed the McLaren team a couple of years ago, has been a valuable lesson for the team in management of resources. However the Hamilton-Kovaleinen partnership suggests otherwise. McLaren has been Hamiltons’ team and I think it will continue to be his. A few measure like shuffling of staff has been made to make Button happy regarding equality of driver, but pretty soon Button will realise that perhaps it was not for nothing that Alonso cribbed so much while at McLaren. How soon will trouble emerge could be an interesting bet.

But the most promising rising star on the grid has been Seb Vettel. The German has won lots of accolades for his driving in the wet. The last season with Red Bull, he did mount a serious challenge to the championship despite his car not having the double diffuser. Horner is a great designer of car, and it was mostly his ability that pushed RBR to the front. This year they have gone a step forward. With refuelling banned for the races, pit stops shall only have a change of tires, adjustments to the wing and a few minor changes if required. RBR has gone on record saying their pit crew has worked hard the whole winter and they have come up with a modified methodology which enables them to complete the pit stop in less than 2 seconds. Less than 2 seconds !!! You got to be kidding me. Thats lightening quick.

Last but not the least, with Max Mosely gone, politics should see a drastic reduction. Jean Todt is more than able person to be replacing him. A joke I read somewhere -

What could be the worst thing that Jean Todt does in the first year of his office?

Cry his tears out when Schumacher wins his first race.

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Who Deserves The Formula One Crown

Published on October 22, 2008 in Sports. 2 Comments

Another season has come to an end. The top two contenders have set for themselves a title shootout at Brazil. The chances are however skewed towards Hamilton who has a comfortable 7 points lead over Massa. All Lewis Hamilton has to ensure is that he needs to finish atleast 5th if Felipe Massa goes on to win the championship. And considering all the things he has done this year, its a small feat to achieve. For Massa though, it is an uphill task, not entirely in his hands. He needs to win to maximise his chances and hope for Lewis to commit a blunder, something Lewis hasn’t done this season.

So what hope does Massa have? If we look back in time, an year earlier, Lewis was under similar predicament. He had a seven point lead over Kimi Raikkonen when they arrived for the final race in Brazil (deja vu for Hamilton ?). But Alonso was the one challenging him then, and the top two contenders self destructed each other and allowed Kimi to claim the glory with a margin of just a single point.

Who are Massa’s allies? Well, ofcourse team mate Kimi for one. Alonso has vowed to help out Massa in his fight against the McLaren driver (few grudges last longer than expected). But not many to fill in the 5 places between Massa and Hamilton. I still maintain the best chance for Massa is to have Kimi smash into Hamilton at the start of the race (Raikkonen could argue that he just out-braked himself and couldn’t have done anything t avaoid the unfortunate disaster). Otherwise, Massa will just have to put in his best efforts and pray tothe gods to for once let Lewis’s car malfunction.

So who amongst these is the worthy candidate for the no. 1 driver in F1 position? I argue none!

Both Massa and Lewis had been awarded the best cars present on the grid. They had the best people working along to ensure that they go on and win each race possible. They had unlimited funds available to sustain the development of the 2008 car (most of the teams had switched to the next years cars long time back, while McLaren claims it has enough funds and crew members to develop both the cars – present and the future). So if these two are at top of the things, then its not only their effort, but the good fortune they have been blessed with of driving for their respective cars.

Take a look at drivers just a few places lower into the grid and you’ll find two champions. Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso. They are the ones who have driven perfect races and extracted the most out of their cars, race after race.

Right from the beginning, Kubica maintained a good chart position performing consistently in each race. Finally, when he won the Canadian GP, he was viewed as a serious contender. But due to limited funding, BMW decided not to continue development of the present car and to actually switch to the new car. This was a big blow for Kubica who had a few words with the team principal. However, it is understood that things settled down, and Kubica continued his good run throughout the season. The BMW was not fast enough to out pace McLaren or Ferrari, yet he always mainted a gap which gave him a shot at the title.

Take a look at the double world champion and you’ll realise the stuff he’s made out of. He was shunted in McLaren for the rookie Hamilton, and decided to not continue. They parted ways and he returned to the team with which he had won the two championship titles. But this time Renault had been struggling. The freeze on engine development had hit Renault the most and it lost its footing. Infact, it was having to fight off the second tier teams. This was the team which welcomed back Alonso. And now take a look at what Alonso has achieved with the same team. No one ever predicted a podium finish for the spaniard this season, but instead he proved everyone wrong by claiming two races successively. He was amongst the points in nearly every race. Ranault now finishes the season fourth in the constructors championship – well ahead of their predicted position.

Had Kubica or Alonso driven in Ferrari or McLaren, they would have accumulated far more points than what Lewis and Massa have done. Alonso and Kubica have outclassed everybody on the grid. I would love to see them drive for Ferrari someday – they might go on to achieve (or perhaps better) what the legendary Michael Schumacher has done.

I would rate the drivers worthy of being the champions in the following order -

  1. Robert Kubica : He performed consistently with a car whose development was halted midway.
  2. Fernando Alonso : A very strong comeback in the later part of the season.
  3. Kimi Raikkonen : Worst hit by mis fortunes. He surely deserves to win, evident from the fact that he has most number of best lap times.
  4. Felipe Massa : Also hit by problems not his making. But whatever, I feel he doesn’t have the attitude to carry the championship tag. He needs to be more aggresive and think by himself instead of taking orders and doing whats safe.
  5. Lewis Hamilton : The least deserving candidate. Extremely arrogant. Known to make mistakes under pressure. Put him in a BMW and you’ll see him cry. He’s just riding on good fortunes to have actually start the career with a McLaren.

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Lewis Races From Pole To Chequered Flag

Published on October 19, 2008 in Sports. 0 Comments

Lewis Hamilton overcame the demons of his past to complete an almost perfect weekend, leading from the pole to the chequered flag. It was complete dominance on his part, and at no point of time were the Ferrari seen as competitive.

Even before the race started, the confidence level in Ferrari paddock was low. Hamilton appeared to be under no such pressure. The reason was to become clear in the next 15 laps. Massa had fueled lightest and yet failed to beat Lewis’s qualifying time ! The writing was on the wall – it would be almost impossible to beat Hamilton unless the rookie driver made a mistake.

But Hamilton drove a great race, zooming ahead from the start. He was pulling away on the harder set of tyres leaving the Ferraris of Massa and Kimi (who were both on the option set of tyres) behind by about 2 tenths a lap.

Kimi had a good, rather uneventful afternoon, in which he made no mistakes and completed the laps without ever challenging Hamilton. However, as was obviousy anticipated, he handed over the second position to Massa in the dying moments of the race to settle for a third place. He now stands fourth in the championship, trailing Kubica by 6 points.

Massa looked tired in his Ferrari. Evidently his car wasn’t handling as well as he would have liked it to. He was off the pace the whole afternoon. Aloso completed the race distance to take a complimentary fourth position. Having had back to back successes, he was content to play the safer game and settle for the fourth place. Renault now sits comfortably at the fourth position in the constructors championship.

Hekki suffered the most when his tyres deflated and later on the damage caused to the car while getting it back to the pits forced him to retire. Thus Ferrari now have a 11 point advantage over McLaren in the constructors championship.

The procession now moves to Brazil for the season finale in two weeks time. Lewis is pretty sure to be crowned champion. For Massa, there is little to fight for. All he can do is try to win, but the ultimate victory will depend on where Lewis finishes. A seven point deficit is too much to feel confident about. Unless somehow miraculously Hamilton commits a grave error and Massa finishes amongst the top two drivers, Hamilton has become the champion. Ferrari were the undoing of themselves. Questionable decisions from the pitwall, and unreliability issues plagued the chances of their drivers successes. I hope to see better performance by the prancing pony team in the next season.

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Alonso – Yet Again

Published on September 20, 2008 in Sports. 0 Comments

Twelve months ago, the two times reigning world champion, Fernando Alonso had the transfer market  buzzing with rumours. He was unhappy at McLaren. A rookie, who went by the name of Lewis Hamilton, had the pace to out run the defending champion. To make matters worse, towards the later stages of the season, Ron Dennis decided to throw his weight behind Hamilton. Alonso’s fall from grace was nothing short of spectacle. He became the whiny self, always complaining – so uncharacteristic of a leader.

The alliance shattered and Alonso became a free agent. He finally returned to the team which gave him his two world championships – Renault. The struggling team has hardly managed to impress any one this year. Full credits to Alonso for gathering all the points to put Renault besides Toyota in the championship.

With the season finale in sight, Alonso is rumoured to switch the team once again ! So ,what options does he have?

The first would a move to Honda. Ross Brawn has already dedicated his campaign for the next years car development. It would be repeating Michael Schumacher’s feat if Alonso can get Honda to where Michael put Ferrari (remember, Michael won the first championship for Ferrari after a drought of 7 years).  Alonso being great at developing a car, it is very much likely that Alonso – Ross – Honda partnership could be the one to beat in a few years time.

Having tasted the glory of being a champion, Alonso might not want to wait for another year before being back in the title hunt. He desires to be counted as a front runner, and not as a driver making up the mid field. The latest buzz in the market is that BMW has shown an interest in signing Alonso. Though not at par with Ferrari or McLaren, BMW does have what it takes to get Alonso on the podium next year. But then, this deal will put Alonso in the same dilemma he was an year ago – Kubica won’t sit there in his cock pit and let Alonso win the races. Alonso will have to fight his team mate, something he failed at in McLaren.

Renault would definitely want to retain Alonso for the next year. Having neither the car, nor Ross Brawn, the only way they can lure him into signing a contract is offering the best possible contract (financially and with a clause to leave the team if he wishes to). Otherwise I see no reason why Alonso should put up with a struggling team yet again.

It’ll definitely be interesting to watch how the stories evolve. For now, I am going to recline on my sofa and enjoy the end of the season as Hamilton and Massa make a last dash for the glory. Can Hamilton fight the demons which drowned him last year at this time ? Can Hamilton keep his nerves and the Brazilian ? Lets have some fun.

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