Philosofooty

By Tanuj Lakhina, writing from Delhi

Real Madrid played Osasuna at 12 pm (Madrid time) last Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was an easy and convincing win for the Merengues as they beat their opponents 7-1 with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging yet another hat-trick.

The early kickoff is a concept introduced by Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) to compete with the English Premier League and gain some more eyeballs in South East Asia and far East Asia, where the Premiership attracts far more attention. Rayo Vallecano played host to Espanyol in the first week at 12 PM, Betis hosted Vallecano at 12 PM the next week, Gijon played Bilbao at 12 PM on 30^th October and now one of the big clubs played early on.

While this early kick off may have been a problem for viewers and fans in North America for whom it would have been early morning, it was the perfect setting for fans in countries like Indonesia, China and Japan who otherwise are accustomed to setting alarms for ungodly hours in the middle of the night to see their favourite teams and stars like Andres Iniesta in action.

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By Darshan Joshi, writing from Sydney

Yet another one of these articles relating to Arsenal – as the very thought of this waltzed into my mind, I recalled the dozens of essays, columns, features pertaining to Arsene Wenger’s seemingly ageless boys. This time though, there’s a wildcard with regards to the looming, possibly illuminating presence of Stan Kroenke. No longer will the self-righteous ‘we-aren’t-owned-by-foreigners’ tune be trumpeted in the faces of the Gunners’ rival fans. Still, though, what would it all actually mean for this side who, for so long now, have found themselves in a sticky quagmire of trophyless mediocrity?

Wenger has always maintained that the availability of funds was never an issue. Or the lack of it, maybe. The future has taken amaranthine precedence over the present; the years go by and yet, by some shamanistic power, Arsenal’s starting XI has its average age spiralling downwards. Blogs, messageboards, Twitter, and the rest of cyberspace has seen fans, speculators and journalists contemplate and ponder over the main issues with Arsene’s model. It’s natural. Humans are an inquisitive race; the desire to know the psychological breakdown of Wenger’s mind and the thought processes that embody his very being hold unequivocally. In the way his accent hasn’t lost its French tincture, his philosophy has been maintained throughout his regime, from Highbury to the Emirates. Arsene Wenger is Arsenal; the squad, the setup. Remove him, and it self-destructs like a supernova.

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By Gordon Fleetwood, writing from New York City

It was only a matter of time before it happened. This past week, Muricy Ramalho was finally appointed coach of Santos. The fifty-five year old signed a contract until April of 2012 at his presentation last Thursday. He had left Fluminese in mid-March after aa goalless draw with rivals Flamengo under controversial circumstances. Ramalho complained of broken promises with regard to improving the infrastructure of the Rio de Janeiro club. He gave the impression that it was the quality of Santos as an organization that convinced him to take up the coaching role.

Santos, although not in crisis, have looked a bit rudderless since the start of the year. It was a situation that prompted the sacking of Adilson Batista. Current caretaker Marcelo Martelotte - as he showed last year - is good for steadying the ship, but not much else. Ramalho looks like the perfect replacement. He is the most successful coach in Brazil in recent times, with four of the last five Brasileirão titles going to sides coached by the São Paulo native. For a club like Santos with its history and lofty ambitions, his appointment seems to be an obvious step in the right direction. 

However, there is a contrast of styles that is a cause for concern. One could draw a parallel with  a hypothetical situation most people would be familiar with. Imagine José Mourinho took over as coach at Arsenal. Yes, you probably have a good idea where this is going.

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By Eric Beard, writing from Barçelona. Still with nostalgia.

In part one of The Ajax Experience I told you a little about the history of the club, their recent fall from Dutch and European dominance, and the unparalleled success of De Toekomst (The Future), the club’s youth academy. Now, we move on to the good stuff: the match. Ajax vs. AZ Alkmaar was the fixture that I saw with my girlfriend and our Dutch friend Babette, who was able to secure the tickets being an Ajax member.

We met up for lunch a little after noon at De Drie Graefjes (close to Dam Square) for a quality sandwich. It has to be said that, especially given the “never really filling” tapas culture in Spain, the Dutch impressed us with their love for food. We all got monstrous portions filled with greens (a surprising scarcity in Spain) and meats (not so much). Delicious. From there we headed to Centraal Station to take a 15 minute train ride to the ArenA. As we approached it Babette said, “A lot of people don’t like the new stadium (opened in 1996, definitely worth checking out the video of the opening ceremony). They think it looks like a spaceship.” Well, it did look like a spaceship. But spaceships are awesome. The Amsterdam ArenA cost 140 million euros to build, but it was done so because the old and cozy stadium, De Meer, was only able to seat 24,000 in its prime (19,000 after modern safety regulations). The ArenA seats 52,960, though for the European matches they add a few more temporary seats closer to the pitch. Anyway, where was I? Right, arriving at the stadium!

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By Saheli RC and Kaushik Lakshman. Kaushik is a regular contributor to Real Offisde and can be found on Twitter @_kaushik7.

While Indians are still celebrating India’s first cricket world cup win in twenty-eight years, I woke up a few days ago to find news more akin to my liking: Real Madrid Foundation opened their first academy in Asia; where else but the home of Indian football, and coincidentally my hometown, Calcutta! Football is the second most popular sport in a nation with one billion crazy cricket nuts. Expectedly, though, like most other sports in the country, football has been forced to take a backseat.

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