England are abysmal

I watched parts of England v Andorra, and most of Italy v Scotland this week. Two very bad games, which triggered a wave of the usual self-whipping articles in British media. "Why are we so crap" , "McClaren out", etc.

One of these was an unusually cheap article at GU Sports Blog (link here) which was just worth it for a spot-on comment from a guy called Chariostsofnandralone.

That's the ultimate beauty of blogging - comments that are often better argued, more entertaining reading than the posts themselves.

So I paste down here the guy`s comment. Enjoy.

The reason England can't play slow, measured, possession International football is the same reason Manchester United haven't been able to play the slow, measured, possession Champions League football SAFergie has wanted to since 1999. English football doesn't produce skilful enough players and the Premiership doesn't allow teams to play proper, skillful football.

It's no good kidding ourselves that Lampard, Neville (take your pick), Terry, Lennon, Owen, SWP, Johnson, even the oft-lauded Scholes and the rest have anything like the same individual ball control and passing skill as their Italian, Brazilian, French, Argentinian, Spanish and even Ghanaian or Mexican counterparts.

Without instantly controlling the ball, being comfortable in possession, keeping possession when in tight with the opposition, passing the ball between teammates without losing control English players lose that extra yard and split-second needed to outplay any decent opposition. When you lose posession carelessly in the Premiership you usually get the ball back a few seconds later.

Why do Chelsea and Arsenal and Liverpool buy so many non-English and non-Scottish players. It's not just because they're cheap.

Ray Wilkins has said when he trained with ACMilan back in the day, the game of passing the ball amongst a circle of players would go on forever until himself or Mark Hately in the middle kicked one of the Italian players. In England the ball is frequently mis-controlled or mis-hit and the player in the middle makes the interception.

Never was the gulf more evident than watching Italy-Scotland tonight (Scottish players suffer from exactly the same pell-mell style physical domestic football).
The gulf in individual skill level between the two teams was embarrasing. Every single Italian player looked like a top-class footballer, athletic, fit, comfortable in possession, balanced, two-footed.
For Scotland, apart from possibly Barry Ferguson, every player was a gawky, uncoordinated, clumsy and sometimes slow amateur in comparison who treated the football like some kind of slippery Mexican jumping bean to be chased with all their might but always just out of control. It looked like footballers in Scotland don't practice their ball skills in training but are introduced to an alien spherical object just before kick-off with the same effect as serving raw meat to starving lions in the Colliseum.
Brown, Miller - much perspiration but little skill - and the rest were all shown up by a brilliant 25 minute cameo from Del Piero, a proper footballer, just like the rest of the Italians.

As long as Premiership Academies keep emphasising the physical over the skillful throughout the age groups, there is no hope for England or Scotland.

Recommendation

When in the UK a couple of months ago I first heard Gnarls Barkley, which were kind of hyped there then.

Now I'm addicted. I'd say it adds the modernity and inventiveness of my beloved Flaming Lips with jazzy black vocals.

To know what I'm talking about, click here to check the videos of either Crazy or Smiley Faces in YouTube.

McJob

Here is a link to a great discussion about McDonald's jobs, in the always excellent commentisfree section of Guardian Unlimited.

Best part is the comment of a guy called Unicycle Fascist who is actually defending McJobs, and spanking students of social studies on his way.

It's summertime

To my friend Roberto Sakura.

(The Flaming Lips)

It's summertime
and I can understand if you
still feel
sad…

It's summertime
and though it's hard to see its true
possibilities…

When you look inside - all you'll see...
When you look inside –
all you'll see is a self-reflected inner sadness!

Look outside!
I know that you'll recognize
it's summertime!

Gilberto Silva

Here is a link to an excellent wikipedia article (a featured article, by the way) about this outstanding character who is Gilberto Silva.

A model player, a model person, a pride to my country.

Authenticity

I have engaged on re-reading "On Writing Well" by william Zinsser, which I had taken a look at during universiity. Excellent book, a must-read for any prentense, amateur or wannabe writers like myself.

The book brings a series of commandments useful to any writer: avoid clatter; be authentic; be human. The last thing people need is a series of vague, long, unnecessary words that tell meaningless things.

There is also one powerful message in one of the earlier chapters: writing is not easy, It is hard, toiling, tense, and exasperating. Many people tend to think it is not, and therefore express the wish that they become writers "when they retire" - as if writing was a much less important profession than the others, as if anyone could become a proper writer at the flick of a finger.

I had not realized the power of that statement until a mundane event during dinner last night. I noticed that the starter I ordered was really good: a burrito made of bacon and aspargus. I thought, "hm, maybe next time I have a dinner at home I surprise my guests with this starter. Or, think about it, I can improve it, and make a prsociutto and aspargus burrito, with soy sauce..."

Stop. If you don't know me, I have never - ever - cooked a single meal that did not come out of the microwave or steam pot. Yet recently I have developed a sudden interest for cooking - some form of delirium which arose after watching too much Gordon Ramsay while in the UK. But who am I to think I can go on and create something nice to eat just because I had a whim of 'creativity'?

With writing is the same. Blogs accept anything (as a quick browse thorugh this one will show), but let's respect real writers. Non-fiction writing is a profession, a very difficult one. Fiction writing is a form of art, of craftmanship, and as any craftmanship it takes practice. Let us not fool ourselves that we are George Orwell. Or Will Zinsser.

So the blogger's challenge is to keep it real. Keep it authentic. Do whatever we do in life first, and when we write, let's not invent too much. Let's communicate. Let's be clear.

Anyway, just realized I had that moment of insight while eating an aspargus burrito in a self-proclaimed Argentine Steak House in Samara (interior of Russia), while a local singer went on, his guitar the only background, on a rendition of "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" with a thick, nonchalant Russian accent.

Now talk about authenticity.

Championship

Seriously, now I've been following the English Second Division for a change. In the first division, it seems that Champions League places will eventually fall into the usual suspects, and relegation is waving very strongly to Watford, Charlton and West Ham, so the only race left is between Bolton - Spurs - Pompey - Reading - Blackburn - Everton for a Uefa Cup place - let's face it, not so thrilling.

In the Championship, on the other hand, things are much more contested.

First of all, only 8 points separate the top club now (Birmingham) from the 8th (Cardiff) - only 4 between 3rd placed West Brom and Cardiff.

Second, the season has seen many teams go up and down - though Birmingham and Derby have looked the most consistent (as also observed by Roy Keane), and Sunderland and Wolves are on the rise, in other times Preston, Cardiff and even Stoke and Colchester (now 9th and 10th) were the top tips.

Third, this season has seen some very exciting players - though I can only see hints of them at BBC Sport or at Cup matches, the most promising ones are David Nugent at Preston, Gareth Bale at Southampton, Steven Ward at Wolves, and four Arsenal academy graduates on loan: Larsson, Muamba and Bendtner at Birmingham, and Lupoli at Derby. Also worth mention are the experienced Trinidad pair of Dwight Yorke and Stern John at Sunderland.

Fourth, there are the "friendly managers" - it's always nice to follow Steve Bruce and Roy Keane venturing into coaches (though I'm not a United fan).

Well, to me, it is more interesting than the state leagues in Brazil this month. But many things are more interesting than state leagues. Not Big Brother, but many others.

I got a trick - a magic stick

The W.A.N.D.
(Flaming Lips)

(You've got the power in there
Waving your wand in the air...)

Time after time those fanatical minds try to rule all the world
Telling us all it's them who's in charge of it all

I got a trick, a magic stick, that will make them all fall
We got the power now - motherfuckers, that's where it belongs

You've got that right???
You know that it is???

They got their weapons to solve all their questions they don't know what they're for
Why can't they see that's not power, that's greed to just want more and more

I got a plan and it's here in my hand -a baton made of light
We're the enforcers, the sorcerer's orphans and we know why we fight

You've got that right???
You know that it is???

British sports

"Football is a sport of gentlemen played by thugs, while Rugby is a sport of thugs played by gentlemen"

Not sure where I heard that, or when, or who said that, but I like it.

Menu in Dutch

Actually Flemish. From Belgium.

In the entreés, the gratin de coquille st jacques was sublime.

The second line in the mains block is grilled veal's brain. I went for the first one, veal medallion in red winee sauce.

The last dessert, Ice-cream of Leffe Brune beer, is out of this world.

Worst videoclip ever!!!

Please take some time off your office duties to read this extremely amusing review of Jessica Simpson's new video, "Public Affair". By the Guardian, of course.

In the end of the review, there are links to YouTube where you will be able to enjoy this instant trash classic.

Thanks, Tom, for the link.

Is it hot? Use a mirror to block the sun

This is outreagous.

environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1999968,00.html

US says: Yes, there is global warming, but instead of reducing emissions, we'll point mirrors to the sun.

If true, it is the single most stupid piece of policymaking ever.

This is the kind of stuff people should be parading against.

From the Rockefeller Center

While in NYC, I spent a couple of hours at the top of the Rockefeller Center, gazing at the city's incredibe skyline.

Here are a couple of speculative-nonetheless-beautiful shots taken at different stages of sunset - where you can see the Chrysler building and the Metlife building to the left, and the Empire State Building to the right.

Mongols

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050425fa_fact4

I read this today and found it extremely amusing, though rather long.

It is an account of the Mongol empire, their war tactics, and their destruction of Baghdad in 1258.

To imagine that battle, like they say, think of Athens in the time of Aristotle being destroyed by a nuclear weapon.

A Love Supreme

An unbelievable journey.

That is what this album is.

Raises all kinds of emotions and reactions.

Great for work, great for leaisure, great for drinking, great for thinking. It's the all-weather jazz album.

Definitely my best US purchase.

After the routing

"Any other team 4-1 down at half time would have seen a half empty ground for the second half, and at 5-1 down the manager would have probably been sitting on the bench on his own! Not us though, we stayed to the end and we sang our song. It's what makes us unique and sets us apart from the rest. When the players take a beating like they did tonight we show them that they are not alone and they'll never walk alone. There's no other club like it. "

Chesil, liverpoolfc.tv message boards

Not so New Year

This brilliant piece comes from the excellent blog of Greg Mankiw (author of my macroeconomics textbook and former Economics advisor to Bush).

Which by the way is already in my Internet Explorer favorites for quite a while.

Empanadas

So the bar I frequented the most in 2006 is already the bar I frequented the most in 2007.

2 days in Sao Paulo this year, 2 days going to Empanadas.

This after some 10-15 visits the previous year.

amazing place. Tasty, burining-hot, full-size empanadas for R$ 3.70 (£1), -5C cold beer, big screens, amazing alternative vibe in the heart of Vila Madalena. Priceless. (though really inexpensive).

New York City winter

Prior to arriving here in NYC, I thought, "Come on - there is no way this city is better than Tokyo, Paris or London. Maybe it's just hyped".

Dumb me.

It is so much better than any of the previous.

Times Square can't really be compared to anything - It even dwarfs Shibuya, Champs Elysees and Piccadilly Circus (the closest matches).

The assortment of bars and restaurants is unbelievable.

Shopping is just another piece of entertainment, even for the most crowd-averse of beings.

The vibe, ... oh the vibe. It feels as though the whole city has a beating heart, a living soul, an edge. An overwhelming edge.

But the people live up to billing of being a little bit rude.

2006 - music, for me

Time for the famous "The Best of"

Albums I got ahold of this year, heard from beginning to end and have entered my all-time greatest:

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televied, Gil Scott-Heron

2. At War With The Mystics, The Flaming Lips
3. Carioca, Chico Buarque
4. Under the Iron Sea, Keane
5. His Band and The Street Choir, Van Morrison
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Cartola (2o LP), Cartola
8. The Best of Fela Kuti
9. Perfil, Adriana Calcanhoto
10. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison


Top Songs - 2006 discoveries
- "Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung" - The Flaming Lips
- "Lady Day and John Coltrane" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "What's Happening, Brother?" - Marvin Gaye
- "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "Atlantic" - Keane
- "Dura na Queda" - Chico Buarque
- "Preciso me encontrar" - Cartola
- "Street Choir" - Van Morrison
- "Inverno" - Adriana Calcanhoto
- "Bole Chudiyan" - Kavita


Still heard a lot of:
- "Woman of the Ghetto" - Marlena Shaw
- "Somewhere only we know" - Keane
- "The Hardest Part" - Coldplay
- "Venus in Furs" - Velvet Underground
- "Inner City Blues" - Marvin Gaye
- "Roads" - Portishead

The UK travel journals - part IV

West Ham United 1 x 0 Sheffield United

Upton Park, East London.

The game from which Tevez ran away.

I was there.

The UK travel journals - part III

One of the greatest moments of my trip was a quick yet interesting visit to the headquarters of my favorite paper, The Guardian, so often quoted in here.

That was all thanks to the lovely Liane Katz, now Liane Dabbous after marrying my good mate from Insead, Alex. While in a lunch with them I found out that Liane is the editor of Guardian Unlimited Travel! I could not refuse an offer to visit, which I did on my way back to Heathrow from Luton.

Follows some pics taken to prove!


Me (yes I'm chubby these days)


Liane, thank you!

The UK travel journals - part II

So the first Englishman I talked to on this trip was the driver that went to pick me up at Heathrow. His name is Ken and he drives a Volvo sedan with cream leather interior. Nice.

The 30-minute chit-chat on the way to Harpenden is, as expected anywhere in the world, revolving around weather, football and beer. So the weather is dreadful (it really is, I have to say) in spite of the pilot of my plane affirming it was a 'mildly warm' (sic) morning in London at amazing 12 degrees - yay.

The conversation got going when he noticed I really followed the Premiership. While I got into details of Liverpool's weekend match against Boro, he remarked that he doesn't really follow the first division which, in his words, is getting 'wretched by money'. His football passion was actually League Two (fourth division), in which his hometown team played: Wycombe Wanderers.

Ken also convinced me that Magners cider was the best British drink at the time. I had no argument at first, but later conceded. It is great. Much better than Blackthorne which was till this trip my favorite cider, but which now I rate as too 'gazzy'.

The UK travel journals - part I

Having been to Heathrow twice before, I certainly did not rate it among the best airports I had been to, but until I arrived there once again I wasn't quite sure why that was. Now I remember.

Upon arriving in there, I feel like I'm going to prison. Its tight, cornered walkways are crowded, and the low ceiling makes it hard for the body odor coming from the passengers to escape. And judging from what I smelled, the deodorant in Ghana and India is not of the highest quality - flights from Accra and Mumbai picked up their luggage in the same belt I did.

Architecturally, one can't even say that Heathrow has its moments. There is no grandeur, no spacious lounges, nothing to alleviate the fact that you have just been double-digit hours in a long-haul flight. Colors are dull, with the shades of cement gray, rubber black and unpolished metal only being disturbed by the yellow signs that indicate Flight Connections - in agressive serif font, so uncommon in large banners of that type.

Is it so unpleasant for British people to head back to their country, and be reminded of their dreadful weather, food, and women (not all of them though...), that they had to build an unwelcoming airport too?

Why I've been out

I've been in the UK for work since Nov 20. Scarce internet access. But soon will be back and intend to post my travel diaries.

Google maps

maps.google.com já cobre o Brasil, inclusive com mãos de direção. Também dá pra colocar os mapas de ruas em cima do Google Earth. É impressionante.

Google vai dominar o mundo.

Ou melhor, já domina.

All is not lost...

I lay on the couch at my girlfriend`s place and watched Arsenal v Liverpool while she took a nap on my lap. On one of the occasional waking-ups she had, she witnessed Mark Gonzalez receive a ball from an Alonso steal on the edge of the area, then neither cross nor shoot - just do an utterly shitty kick aimed at nowhere - which prompted her to exclaim "Jesus, why do you support this team? They are so crap"

I did not want to start some ellaborate musings on why I have become such a fierce, addicted supporter of LFC. But she actually had a point - Liverpool played really bad at the Emirates. To be fair, at the beginning of the match, circa Crouch`s disallowed goal, it was not that bad. Finnan cleared brilliantly at Henry's foot and made everyone proud. Kuyt came back to chase balls and a couple of his speculative shots were thrilling. But... still it wasn`t like when we play at Anfield.

So what has been happening?

Truth: Away form has been dire.
Home: Played 6, Won 5, Draw 1, Lose 0.
Away: Played 6, Won 0, Draw 1, Lose 5.

But: Away fixture list was the toughest it gets.
Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Everton and Bolton are, indeed, the worst places to go to. Of course, if you wanna be a champion, you gotta be able to steal some points from the big guys at their homes, but it`s not like we were being outclassed at Watford.

Having said that, Man U thrashed Bolton at the Reebok, and Everton lost at home to Villa. And 0-3 scorelines are always embarassing.

Truth: New squad members are struggling to adapt
This is not the year when we`ll see the best of Gonzalez, Fabio Aurelio, or Paletta. Just see how much Agger has improved from hsi start.

But: What's going on with Gerrard?
The captain is the person of whom it was expected to lead the team in situations like yesterday. But his positioning leaves him as a peripheral, sometimes nonchalant figure.

Truth: We'll miss Sissoko
Any team would miss the best anchor midfield in the world these days (I dare people pointing me a better one. He's fitter and more effective than Makelele, Gattuso, Gilberto, Edmilson....)

But: Who's his replacement?
Oh Rafa, now we curse the day when you let Didi Hammann, the Kaiser, the German Shepherd, leave. He was so important at Istanbul and Cardiff. Now Zenden makes do at the centre, and that way we won't go far.

"America..... f*** yeah!"

www.borgenproject.org

Very Interesting. I stumbled into this while reading

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals

where by the way I ended up while reading

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bolton

which i was reading out of curiosity after getting astonished by

cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/10/bolton.congress/index.html

[browsing is cool].

Some parts that try to link the story:

"THE BORGEN PROJECT IS BRINGING U.S.
POLITICAL ATTENTION TO SEVERE POVERTY.
The plan to end world hunger is underway and agreed to by every nation on earth. Are you ready to force U.S. leaders to achieve the Millennium Goals?"
(from the Borgen Website)

"Bolton, (...) interim U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (...), began his term by laying out a list of wanted amendments to details of the 2005 World Summit to be held in New York City in September 2005. These included stopping the UN use of the term "Millennium Development Goals"."
(from Wikipedia)

"Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (...) said he would block Bolton's nomination.

Sen. George Voinovich (...) read a list of complaints by Bolton's subordinates who said he had a reputation of bullying his colleagues, taking facts out of context and exaggerating intelligence.

Carl Ford, the former chief of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, called Bolton "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" and a "serial abuser" of subordinates."
(from CNN)

So this guy is what Mr Bush is sending to tackle the Millenium Goals. Oh boy. Thank god they just changed the Congress.

Things like this amaze me - how much internal American problems end up impacting the whole world.

This is why I stayed up late watching the vote count live on CNN last Tuesday.

Train stations

I like train stations a lot. They're great for those moments when you wanna remain anonymous among the crowds.
So I was brosing and found some B-side pics on the topic. I mean, pictures I took but probably did not publish before.


Me in Frankfurt Hauptbanhof. Liked that. Huge. But honestly, less impressive than Tokyo's Shinjuku or Paris's Gare de Lyon (no pics from those though, sorry)


Berlin U-Bahn Hallesches Tor.


Main exit of Canary Wharf station. One of my favorite own pics ever. Yes this one is an A-side. Hence the deja vu.

What I'm listening to

"Hamburg Song"
Keane


I
Don't wanna be adored
Don't wanna be first in line
Or make myself heard
I'd like
To bring a little light
To shine a light on your life
To make you feel loved

No,
Don't wanna be the only one you know
I wanna be the place you call home

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
I give much more
Than I'd ever ask for


Will
you see me in the end
Or is it just a waste of time
Trying to be your friend

Just shine, shine, shine
Shine a little light
Shine a light on my life
Warm me up again

Fool,
I wonder if you know yourself at all
You know that it could be so simple

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for


Say a word or two to brighten my day
Do you think that you could see your way

To lay yourself down
And make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for