Super-Sub

I started watching football in the early 90's. I came to know a few football terms like 'hattrick', 'bicycle kick', 'through ball', 'dummy' and many more, but the most significant for me now is 'super-sub'.

Those days, Man Utd will rely on Olle Gunnar Solskjaer to get the important goal in the last minutes of the game, and without fail, he always got it by hook or by crook. He can never play in the starting line up, because he can never deliver as a first 11. He's always known as the super-sub for Man Utd.

Last week and yesterday, I witnessed 2 super-subs for Liverpool in the Champions League semi final. In the first game at Anfield, John Arne Riise was brought in after Fabio Aurelio got injured. It was 1-1 at 90 minutes, but the 4th official called for 4 minutes of injury time. In the 5th minute, Salomon Kalou crossed a ball into the Liverpool penalty box and Riise mistakenly headed it into his own net. Well, the question here is how come the Referee did not blow the whistle at the end of the 4th minute, and amazing enough, why Riise used his head instead of a clearance with his foot? This reminds me of my schooling days, where my 5th former team lost to our opponents 7-1. In this game, our hero scored 2 own goals, one with his foot and another with his head, quite similar to Riise's goal.

Yesterday, everything was well until the 22nd minute. Martin Skrtel got injured and replaced by Sami Hyypia. Chelsea's first goal came in the 33rd minute through the 'bullish' Didier Drogba. Fernando Torres managed to score one goal in the 64th minute, making Liverpool's dream alive. The score was tied at 1-1. Then came extra time. However, few minutes later our 'super-sub' Hyypia made a wrong tackle and felled Ballack in the penalty box. It was a penalty!!! Frank Lampard converted the penalty easily, a tribute to his mom who passed away last week. At the same time, the magnificient Torres was replaced by Ryan Babel, giving me no hope that Liverpool will advance to Moscow. True enough, Drogba score another goal in the 105th minute. Ryan Babel surprisingly shot from ourside the D, and managed to pull one back, but all is over when the referee blew the final whistle. It ended 3-2.

Chelsea advances to their first ever final of Champions League, a feat they never achieve under Jose Mourinho. I'm not saying Avram Grant is good, but the result speaks for itself. They have 81 points in the English Premier League, with 2 games to play, same as Man Utd but trailling due to goal difference. They have been very consistent of late. No doubt about it, but in the final, my money is on Man Utd. Go go Devils.....

As dissapointing as I may be, I'm still thinking with my rational head. What has Liverpool achieved since their last League victory in 1990. Other than their Champions League success in Istanbul in 2005, they have never justified the amounts of money they spent on players and managers. The fans are starting to get fed up, and the new generations no longer support the Kop. I asked some teenagers lately, they told me they support Man Utd and Chelsea. What happened to the glory of the 80's? Someone please do something!!!! We have a good captain in Stevie G, (only) a good stiker in El Nino, a few dependable midfieldiers in Xabi Alonso, Xavier Mascherano and Ryan Babel, (only) 2 good central defender in Jamie Carragher and Martil Skrtel and a good goalie in Pepe Reina. I'd throw the rest into the transfer list. But I bet no teams will bid for them. That's the situation the Kop are facing now. Let's just face it, fighting for 4th place in the League every season is not what we want. Imagine slogging it out against Everton, Aston Villa, Man City in the winter? WTF??? Altho they managed to secure 4th place, it's not enough. Their game is like a women's mood. Sometimes they win, sometimes they loose, even to much lousier teams.

What can be done? Change the owners, change the manager, change half of the players. Who can do that? I don't know...DIC, maybe?