MY WRITTEN WORDS

[abhithewriter]

IS ANGE POSTECOGLOU THE RIGHT MANAGER TO TAKE TOTTENHAM FORWARD

It has been a little over 18 months since Ange Postecoglou’s arrival at Tottenham, and things seem to be going drastically wrong after a decent first season. He arrived at the club to not much fanfare, as not many had heard of him and not many were aware about his performance as a manager with the Australian National Team nor with Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. But a month into his tenure as Tottenham manager, people started believing in his process. Their football, which had become stagnant and boring, started becoming fun to watch. The players were looking more energized, and the manager himself was becoming popular amongst the fans, the players and the media because of the positive and fun way in which he conducted himself after a match, whether Tottenham won or lost. He finished his first season in 5 th place, but there was a lot to get feel positive about and everyone expected the club to kick on and finish in the top 4 next season quite comfortably, but sadly things have completely fallen apart since the start of the new season. They are currently in the bottom half of the table and the fans have turned against him and the owner Daniel Levy. There are many reasons for their downfall this season. The first being the poor transfer window. He bought in Dominic Solanke in the summer, but people expected more business to be done. The second being their mentality during a football game. While their style of play is to play attacking, their defence is all over the place and as a result, they are not able to defend a lead or keep a clean sheet. It is like they say, attack wins you games, but defence wins you titles. The third reason is injuries. They have lost important players like Vicario, Van der Wen, Bentancur, Richarlison and Solanke to injuries and as a result, they have not been able to play their full-strength team for a lot of the season. While this may draw a little bit of sympathy for the manager, other teams like Arsenal and Bournemouth have been plagued with injures as well, yet both those teams are in the top 5 of the table. Injuries have impacted them more due to a poor transfer window, which is on the manager and the owner. They are out of the FA cup, Carabao Cup, they are in the bottom half of the table, but they are still in the Europa League and are one of the favourites to win it alongside Manchester United, who have their own problems, so the Europa League is only thing keeping Ange Postecoglou from being sacked now.

But if he fails to win that, or fails to show any signs of progress, and seeing the history of the owner when it comes to sacking managers, it becomes difficult to see how he keeps his job going forward.

[abhithewriter]

THE FALL OF ALEXIS SANCHEZ

In 2014, after a stellar league season with Barcelona and a good performance in the World cup in Brazil, Alexis Sanchez was considered as one of the players in the world. His stamina, technique, speed and hard work made him a favorite, not just among the fans, but amongst the pundits and clubs as well. Cut to 2021 and the Chilean superstar is an unwanted man in his club. How did this happen?

There are several reasons for his downfall. In 2014, he joined Arsenal from Barcelona. There was a lot of hype around his signing and the fans were optimistic about his impact on the English Premier league and he did not disappoint. In his first season, he scored 25 goals in all competitions and won the FA cup and community shield in his first season. He was named as one of the players of the tournament and helped Arsenal finish 3rd only behind Manchester city and winners Chelsea. One month later, he won the Copa America with Chile as well. Over the next two seasons, sanchez managed to score 47 goals, 17 goals in 2015/16 and 30 goals in 2016/17. In the 2016/17 season, he was the leading goal scorer for the club and helped them win the FA cup. When the 2017/18 season started there was speculation about him leaving the club and joining one of the Manchester clubs. But the Chilean forward stayed at the club until for the first half of the season, but performed underwhelmingly, scoring only 8 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions.

 In January 2018, Alexis Sanchez moved from London and joined Manchester united who was swapped with then Arsenal player Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Sanchez was reported to be on a wage on 505,000 pounds per week, making him the highest paid player in the premier league on a weekly basis. There was a lot of hype surrounding his signing and there were a lot of expectations as well. But after that, things started to fall apart for him. He played 18 games in that season in all competitions for Manchester United and only scored 3 goals. There was speculations that he was unable to adjust to the new environment. The next season was even worse for him. In the start of the season, he failed to find his footing again as he only scored 1 goal in his first 10 games of the premier league before picking up a hamstring injury which kept him out of action. Things did not get better for Sanchez as he completely fell out of the plans of the newly appointed manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer. He finished the season playing 27 games and scoring 2 goals in all competitons.

The next season, he was sent out on loan to Inter Milan, which was a sign that he was not needed by solskjaer. His form did not improve as he scored 4 goals in 32 games in all competitions, but it seemed like he liked his time in Italy during that season and it looked like he was in the plans of Antonio Conte, who was the manager of Inter Milan at that point because Alexis Sanchez moved from Manchester United to Inter Milan on a permanent basis. In the 2020/21 season, he managed to win the Serie A title and finished the season with 7 goals in 38 games in all competitions. But things fell apart again for him when Antonio Conte left the club. Inter appointed Simone Inzaghi as their new club manager. Since then Sanchez has only started three games for the club and has played less than 20 minutes in all of the champions league games that he was involved in.

He then went to Marseille, played for one season and went back to Inter Milan, a club he left after one season as well.

Now he has joined his new club Udinese, who are struggling in the league. Alexis Sanchez and Udinese are in similar situations. Both have had a rough 4 to 5 years and are hoping for a turnaround. The form of the 36 year old has dropped many levels over the last few years, but hopefully his old club can turn his fortunes around.

[abhithewriter]

ENDRICK – STORY OF THE NEXT BIG FOOTBALL SENSATION

Many aspiring footballers dream of playing for a Real Madrid. They consider it as the ultimate goal. While very few achieve this goal, there are fewer that get to play for the club at a very young age. One such case in Endrick, a teenager from Brazil, that caught the eye of the Real Madrid recruiters and signed him at 16.

Football ran in the young boy’s blood at a very young age. Growing up in a football crazy country like Brazil, it became easy for him to fall in love with the sport. In addition, his father was a football player who played for many small clubs in Spain.

But life wasn’t always easy for Endrick. While his father was playing football, his mother was unemployed and homeless during his early years and because of this, Endrick and his sisters had to live in an orphanage in Sao Paulo.

Being separated from his parents at such a young age traumatized him and as a result, his father came back and took them home after 6 months. His parents finally started working in a café, before his father got a job as a janitor for the Palmeiras football club.

Endrick’s love for football grew after that and his father wanted to help him get a career in this sport. He started posting videos of his football skills on YouTube to get him attention and he succeeded.

When he was 8, he was selected to train at the Real Madrid training camp, at Aguas Claras.

From there, it was a career that started to take off. He was noticed by the Palmeiras football club, where his father worked and became a part of their youth academy.

He went on to play for the youth team for the next 6 years. His career would take off at an incredible pace as he scored 165 goals in 169 games for the club at youth level, but it was in 2022, where he caught the attention of famous players like Ronaldo and clubs like Chelsea and Real Madrid.

In 2022, he participated in the Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior, an under 20 tournament in Brazil, where he scored 8 goals in 7 games and was the player of the tournament. After the tournament, many major clubs started showing interest in him.

After this, he was finally drafted into the main team and he was the youngest player to debut for the club at the age of 16 years, 2 months and 16 days. He continued his impressive performances and was named the most promising player of Serie A, that year, but this would only be the tip of the iceberg.

In December 2022, just 2 months after making his debut in the main team, it was announced that Endrick was signed by Real Madrid.

There was interest from Chelsea Football Club as well, but Endrick and his parents thought that Madrid would be the best destination for him to grow. Real Madrid announced that after discussions with Endrick and his parents that he would be transferring to Real Madrid when he turns 18.

Over the years, there have been many young talents that have been touted as the next big thing in football, but very few have managed to live up to those expectations. Only time will tell if Endrick will prove himself or crumble, but one thing Is for sure, he has started his career with a lot of promise and hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

[abhithewriter]

K L RAHUL  - ALL TALENT AND NO CONSISTENCY 

There are very few cricketers in the world that can impress you and frustrate you at the same time. Kl Rahul is one of those players. When he burst onto the international stage in 2014, with a 100 against Australia in Australia, the expectations were sky high. 11 years later, he is a talented player, who has still not lived up to his potential and this infuriates many cricket fans around the world. 

He is player who is almost the complete package. He has the defensive technique of Dravid, the attacking capability of Sehwag, the shot selection of Tendulkar and the elegance of Kohli. But these players had once quality, that made them the greats of the game, which is consistency, and this is something Kl Rahul has been lacking his entire career. Every time he plays a good knock, he follows it up with 5 bad ones.  

When he started, everyone was sure that he would be a fully established player in all 3 formats. But instead, he is now out of the T20 setup, he is the second-choice keeper to Rishabh Pant in ODI’s and has been in and out of the test teams for the last 6 years. 

There are several reasons for this. One big reason is his negative approach to the game. and this is the main reason he has been axed from the T20I squad. For some reason, he plays with the fear of getting out, instead of playing his natural game, which is to attack.  

Another reason is his inability to step up in pressure situations. There are several examples of this such as the semi-final vs New Zealand in the 2019 world cup, the semi-final vs England in the 2022 T20 world cup and most recently the final of the 2023 world cup which infuriated many around the world. He came to the crease in the 12th over of the match, batted 107 balls, which is nearly 18 overs and scored 66 which included only 1 boundary. This is also the case of him being overly negative and going into his shell. Many believe that his innings cost India at least another 30-40 runs.  

But it must be said that it is not always his fault either. Ever since he debuted, he has played in every position from opener to batting in the middle order, because of which he has never been able to cement his place in any position, like Rohit Sharma has as an opener or Virat Kohli has as a two-down player. The recent test series against Australia summed up this problem perfectly. He started as an opener, went down to number 3 in the batting order for the next test to accommodate Rohit Sharma, and went back to open again in the last test. This has been symbolic of his career. He keeps getting shifted up and down the order and because of this, his consistency has also been affected. 

The fact that a player of his quality averages below 35 in test after playing more than 50 test matches is something that flabbergasts many around the world. Every time he comes to the crease, he plays like a player without any confidence and something that is genuinely concerning is that instead of becoming an important player for the Indian team, there is a worry that he could become the next Vinod Kambli. 

While there is that fear, there is still time for him to get better as he is still only 32 and still has the backing of the Indian selectors. Hopefully, he gets some more confidence and finally becomes the player we all thought he would become when he first burst onto the scene. 

[abhithewriter]

HOW THE ENGLAND FOOTBALL TEAM WENT FROM CHOCKERS TO CHALLENGERS IN 5 YEARS

A few years back, the English football team was considered a joke by many of the fans and the pundits. This occurred due to the disastrous performance of the team, not just in Internal fixtures, but in the major tournaments as well. The standard and the quality of English football had been deteriorating since the start of the century. Since 2000, there have been several low points in English football, with each being lower than the last one like not qualifying for the Euros in 2008, early elimination in the 2010 world cup and the 2014 world cup, just to name a few. In the latter, they scored just two goals, secured a solitary point in 3 games, and got knocked out in the group stages. But the moment when England hit rock bottom was in the 2016 Euro tournament.

When it came to the qualifiers of the 2016 Euro’s, there was optimism among the fans. This was due to their performance in the Qualifiers where they topped their group by winning all 10 games, scoring 28 goals,  and only conceding 3. Another reason why the qualifiers was a big plus for England was because of the introduction of fresh faces such as Danny Drinkwater, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and the performances of John Stones, Danny Rose and Keiran Trippier in defense which resulted in England conceding only 3 goals in 10 games in the qualification stages.

But their performance in Euro 2016 of one of their worst in their entire tournament history. The finished second in a group consisting of Wales, Russia, and Slovakia, three teams who England should have beaten comfortably on paper. Instead, they drew to Russia, just got past Wales and drew 0-0 to Slovakia. There was optimism about England reaching the quarter finals as they had to face Iceland in the round of 16. But their tournament got worse as they lost 2-1 and crashed out of the Euro’s. The backlash from this tournament was heavy as several players such Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane were criticized for their poor performance and Roy Hodgson had resigned after a 4-year reign.

There were several theories formed by fans and pundits as to the reason for the poor performance of England in major tournaments. The problems were made clear from their Euro 2016 debacle. Many people felt that the team selection was wrong and people who were in the team did not deserve their place in the squad. Players such as Danny Drinkwater was left out of the Euro squad after a good performance in the league leading to a title win for Leicester city. The inclusion of Jack Wilshere had not gone down well amongst the fans either as he spent 8 months of the 2015/16 on the sidelines with an injury and had played only 141 minutes in the entire season. England had appointed Sam Allardyce as the new England manager, but he was sacked after one game after he was charged with corruption.

England appointed Gareth Southgate as their caretaker manager, following the sacking of Sam Allardyce and was made the permanent manager on 15th November 2016. This did not make England fans optimistic. The reason was because he had previously managed Middlesbrough who got relegated and he was the coach of the England under 21 team who had not been performing well under him.

Under him, they had performed well in the World cup 2018 qualifiers finishing toppers of their group with 8 wins and 2 draws out of 10 games and conceding only 3 goals. The pundits and fans were not excited about their chances in the world cup.

In the tournament, they won all 2 out 3 group games, losing to Belgium 1-0. They won in the round of 16 against Columbia in the penalty shootout and won the quarter finals against Sweden. When it came to the semifinals, England got the lead in the 5th minute through Kieran Trippier but eventually lost 2-1 to Croatia who went on to lose in the finals to France. England finished the campaign in 4th place after they lost their 3rd place playoff game against Belgium 2-0. Despite losing in the semifinal, players like Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier and Jordan Pickford drew a lot of praise for their performance in the tournament with Harry Kane winning the golden boot.

Following this their next stage of preparation was for the 2020 Euro. In the qualifiers, they had a strong performance, topping the group with 7 wins out of 8, conceding only six goals but scoring 37 goals. Fans and pundits lauded Gareth Southgate for giving chances to players who did not just play for a top six club. Players like Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish, Dominic Calvert Lewin and Conor Coady were given their chance to shine in the qualifiers. Southgate also gave chances to youngsters such as Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho were given chances in the tournament.

Going into the tournament they had an squad with an average age of a little over 25. They had a mix of experience and talented youngsters. They topped their group in Euro, won in the round of 16 against Germany, brushed aside Ukraine 4-0 in the Quarter finals, won 2-1 against Denmark in extra time through a Harry Kane goal in the 104th minute. In the final against Italy, they went ahead inside two minutes through Luke Shaw but eventually conceded from a corner which was scored by Leonardo Bonucci. The game eventually went into penalties. Pickford had made two saves in the shootout, but Italy cliched the final after misses from Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.

England finished the tournament as runners up, but there was a lot of appreciation from the fans and the pundits for the performance of the manager and team players, especially the youngsters. They were a laughing stock in the 2016 Euro and nearly won the 2020 Euro.

There has been steady progress that has been taking place in English football and Gareth Southgate deserves a lot of the credit for much tough decisions and giving chances to player to shine. The Euros are taking place in Germany this year and Gareth Southgate has a chance to take the England team one step further and guide them to the title before leaving his job as England Coach. England go into this tournament with a little bit of negativity, considering their performances against the big teams in the last 2 years, but this tournament is a chance for them to but these negative talks to rest.

[abhithewriter]

MY TIME DURING COVID

It was four years ago, when the world came to a standstill thanks to the presence of a virus called COVID-19. I was in Leeuwarden when I heard about this virus. It was present in China at the time so nobody in my university was worried about it. But as time passed by, the virus started to spread across several countries, people started to get concerned.

I was away from my parents, so we were in constant communication as to whether I should go back to Qatar or stay in Leeuwarden. But as the cases started to rise in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, we thought it would be safer for me to go back to Qatar. On the 17th of March 2020, I travelled from Leeuwarden to Qatar, but then another problem raised. Qatar was not allowing entry to anyone who was not a Qatar Citizen and at that moment, we decided that the best thing to do if for me and my mother to travel to India and stay in my relative’s home. In our opinion, this was the best option as we thought the lockdown would not last more than a month. So, we travelled to Mumbai while my father stayed in Qatar where my mother’s sister had vacated her house so we could stay there and quarantine.

My mother and I struggled in the initial stages as we always had to wear masks and gloves while going downstairs to buy fruits, vegetables, and other essentials for the house. My mother was away from my father which was very difficult for her and much like the world, my mother and I found entertainment through social media and TikTok reels. The chores in the house were distributed between my mother and me as I oversaw washing dishes, watering plants and laundry while she was doing the cooking and the cleaning of the house. Matters got worse when the lockdown was extended for another month and none of our family members could stay with us at the time. Outside our house, all we could hear was negativity as nobody had any clue as to when the lockdown was going to end.

Two months into the lockdown, things felt like they were easing because people were allowed to travel within their state, which meant our family could stay with us. This made things a little better for my mother and me as we had people to help us and keep us company. Another advantage of the family staying with us was there was someone to help us with the chores at home. Another positive was that sports matches were coming back, albeit in an empty stadium. It looked like we were starting to get some sort of respite. But just then, there was the news about Sushant Singh Rajput committing suicide and because people were already frustrated with the lockdown, this news just pushed people over the edge. Social media became a negative place, and the next month became difficult for everyone.

On the studies front, I was attending classes and writing exams online and this was a different challenge for all of us as a lot of us were in different parts of the world in different time zones. We had to give our written examinations with the cameras turned on in our laptops to make sure that we were not cheating. I was working on group projects with my team members who were in different parts of the world, and this had its disadvantages like having to agree on a particular which was not always easy due to the time difference and there was the problem of the internet connection which was not always stable.

Five moths into the lockdown, we got news that we would be allowed to travel back to Qatar and when we heard this, my mother and I were ecstatic when we heard this news. We had to wear a mask and a face shield while travelling in the plane but that did not matter to us because we just wanted to get back home. When we landed in Qatar, we had another challenge where People had to quarantine for one week inside a room before they were allowed to go home and it was a lot to take for my mother and me as we had already been though a lot.

On the 7th day, we were allowed to travel back home and the three of us were finally together after almost half a year. This was an experience that I will never forget and hopefully never want to go through ever again.