DanielMorales

It is not often for one to wish its beloved futbol figures to eventually be completely wrong. Alas, they haven't. As Menotti notes time and time again, this business ridden futbol. Our futbol, finds itself (and I am paraphrasing here) strangled and bereft of the timing that enabled the means by which for a century fluid, imaginative and attacking minded world class elite teams were seen. Except for catenaccio of course. I hadn't thought of all this for a while really, until we saw Liverpool and Chelsea being paired up in the- now being called- "Champions League" semifinals, again. And so we were subjected, again to 180 minutes of predictable and forgettable futbol, plus a more desperate than glowing extra time period which provided three more goals mainly by product of the players' nervous energy than any inspiring action. Dramatic? Absolutely. Beautiful? Uh no. Manchester United did its part to barely eliminate an unhealthy Barcelona side. But still failing to touch any chord aligned with the impressive and sometimes memorable Manchester Utd performances at these stages of competitions. So what are we left with? An all english european final which adds gas to the fire of some of the "analysts" and bloggers who have been for some time now claiming certain english dominion in european futbol. Especially in the last two years when three of the four semifinalists were english. This is nothing new, mind you. Of the "three big" european futbol leagues, the EPL is the last to achieve this all-domestic final. Still, after learning about this superiority I naturally acted with haste to reach my nearest sportsbook and put all my money on England to win Euro2008. Until I found that, uh.... they hadn't qualified. Is it fair not to be enthused about this Moscow final? Is it fair to be a bit worried about the near future of futbol? I've watched futbol all my life, but I seem to be less interested in watching the big match like I was 20, 25 years or even 15 years ago. Especially when teams like today's Arsenal, Barcelona and the like, whose commitment to attacking the opposing net is higher than their commitment to guarding their own, are eliminated by teams with a simpler objective, a more robotic stance and a higher allegiance to their manager's ideas than to their own pure footballing instincts. Of course tactics are part of it, but not that important. Perhaps I'm being hysterically pessimistic about our game's future. I certainly hope so. But what about the 210 minute spectacle that Rangers and Fiorentina gave us? Real horror show, me droogies. Makes me wish I could somehow buy those five hours back. I would rather have spent them watching dogs f......., I mean, grass grow. But i digress. Maybe I'm all wrong about this. We still can certainly enjoy the flavor and pure spirit of a Zenit St. Petersburg team making a fabulous run. Perhaps I'm completely off base and Chelsea along with Man Utd will provide us with a glorious Moscow May evening, like that miraculous night in Istambul three years ago. Maybe these two teams can offer us something more than-enter my other beloved futbol figure-"shit hanging from a stick". Perhaps Avram Grant and Alex Ferguson will have the stones to allow their most skilled and talented players let their imaginations and instincts run free. Or maybe its too much to ask of this English Premier League elite. And maybe, I'll even turn on the telly that night and watch. But don't hold your breath. I'm still waiting for Menotti and Valdano to be wrong. Cheers, Daniel