Chelsea's road to Lisbon looks bright after Galatasaray win

Chelseas's defender Gary Cahill (left), Galatasaray player Umut
Bulut (center)and Chelsea defender John Terry (right) during
a Champions'sleague match on Tuesday 18 Match 2014. Chelsea
won 2-0. Photo courtesy of www.chelseafc.com.

By Kgotso Kennekae

Once again, Chelsea is has proven to be the last English club standing in Europe. Arsenal and Manchester City have eliminated, Manchester United are teetering hazardously on the brink of elimination and Spurs have been knocked out from the Europa League.


Didier Drogba’s much celebrated return to Stamford Bridge was ruined by goals from Gary Cahill and Samuel Etoo. Drogba who was making a return to Stamford Bridge since his final bow on the 19^th May 2012 failed to score on the night.

It was another giant of African football Samuel Etoo who scored the opener against a Galatasaray side whose defense was outshined by Chelsea attack all night. The blues positively started like a side which meant business.
Chelsea seized control of the last-16 tier four minutes into the match when Samuel Eto'o scored with a low shot after a lovely piece of skill by Eden Hazard and Oscar cut the Turkish side open. Etoo’s low shot was too powerful for Fernando Muslera who made an effort to save but the ball drifted into the net. It was a dream start which Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho wanted. Mourinho's team seemed to play with control and knowledge. 
The goal gave Chelsea a total control of the game, with Galatasaray offering little going forward. The first Galatasaray attack came on the 18^th minute as Drogba tried his luck from 18 yards out with a bicycle kick which flew well over.
Galatasaray had not won in eight previous visits to English clubs, drawing three and losing five. The odds of ending that streak were slight after Chelsea scored the first goal and it never looked like Mancini had the experience overturn that. The former Manchester City manager substituted one of his players after half an hour in the first leg but his tactics failed
Drogba frequently played on the side, after failing to outclass the Chelsea center back John Terry. He drifted wide in a bid to unsettle César Azpilicueta or Branislav Ivanovic but he couldn’t offer his team the performance they required because Azpilicueta outmuscled him by the touchline.

Drogba's first chance came from a free-kick and he put it so high. Chelsea’s second goal came from a combination of Britain based players being Lampard who took the corner. Terry headed it into Muslera but Cahill finished it off on rebound. Terry was the player who attacked the ball with the greatest intentions, with no one following his run. Muslera kept out the header but could only parry the ball into the six-yard area where Cahill followed in to volley his shot high into the net.
The second half was a cold and damp affair with Galatasaray looking resigned to defeat and Chelsea intending to finish the game off.

However the Chelsea fans were not to be bothered as they sang Drogba’s name throughout the last minutes of the game. KP

March fever strikes at the Emirates

Above, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
His facial expression tells it all.

By Thusang Gure

March has not been a friendly month for the Arsenal.  The recent defeat to title rivals Chelsea on Saturday 22 March 2014 will hurt for the longest while. Arsene Wenger was leading Arsenal for the 1000th game in charge and it was definitely one to forget. Only 17 minutes in to the game and Arsene Wenger’s boys were 3 nil down and went on to lose 6-0. Their latest 5-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in Anfield started hovering in their minds.  Despite the Red Card no championship daring team should lose 6 nil. Therefore Arsenal has conceded 17 goals against title contenders and scored only 2 in 3 games.

Their defeat to Stoke City on the 1st day of the month was the start of a dreadful fever yet again. In the upcoming fixtures, they will host the free scoring Manchester City and take a difficult trip to Everton the following week. As usual, many people will expect Wenger’s men to collapse at the Emirates. The problem with Arsenal has been their inability to beat their title rivals and they couldn't even beat a dreadful ended Manchester United.

Arsenal have been in top 4 for almost 2 decades now but these consecutive defeats questions their credibility as a top side. They do not just lose to their rivals but they lose with a huge margin. They can’t win at home let alone win any silverware.  Wenger's contract is coming to an end and many people are looking forward to the decision concerning his contract.

Perhaps, a big question an Arsenal fan can ask themselves is “What change will Wenger bring that he failed to give in the past 9 years of trophy drought? At Killerpass we will wait for that killer question to be answered!

Arsenal should instil discipline on and off the field

Arsenal players showing signs of indiscipline on the
field of play.

By Thusang Gure

Arsenal is a team that is well known for their beautiful, mesmerizing and passing football. It’s a culture that is admired by many and has often been linked to their manager Arsene Wenger. Wenger believes that professionalism should be extended to beyond the pitch.

Professionalism has been Arsenal’s reputation but recently one would wonder if they have pulled the foot off the gas. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshire was caught smoking in public and this was heavily criticised by the media, football fraternity and the public at large. Wenger’s real intentions were questioned last summer during the £40 million bid for Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. Suarez has been surrounded by controversy as a result of his unpleasant behaviour on the field of play.

Puma has signed a long term $150 million contract with Arsenal and speculations are rising and linking Mario Balloteli to the Emirates. Nobody doubts the Italian international's ability on the field but it is how he behaves off the field that seems to be the problem.
Recently there have been inappropriate reports of Nicklas Bendtener leaving the camp without permission and arguing with taxi drivers in Copenhagen. These reports show that Arsenal doesn’t have that uniqueness and perception to discipline their players.
 
Arsenal’s trophy drought is stretching to almost a decade now and lack of concentration off the pitch may be one of the contributing factors. The gunners will meet Wigan at Wembley in a mouth-watering FA Cup Semi-final. In 2011, Arsenal was embarrassed by Birmingham City in the Capital one Cup final and they will be looking forward to ending their still trophy drought this time around. If Arsenal is to end their trophy drought they will have to be at the top of their game on and off the pitch. KP

 

Psychologically Readying Players for Critical Situations

By Oganne Samuel

A beMobile encounter between Gaborone United and Extension
Gunners.

The 2007/08 Mascom premier league season came with it arguably the greatest comeback in local football between Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Township Rollers. Mapalastina, Rollers as they’re known in local circles, took a comfortable 2 nil lead earlier in the 1st half. For the better part of the match, it looked so as Rollers were in cruise to victory. Nevertheless, the Kgatleng side recovered from the slight floppiness and ended up netting 2 goals courtesy of their then on form golden boy, Jerome Ramatlhakwane to salvage a point from the game.

Greater sides can easily do that. And every time this comes about, the victorious are spotted while their opponents are left wondering with unanswered questions. In all verity, can most of our local teams, regional or national, imitate the very same conduct? Are our players the eccentrics to remain calm in severe baffling times in a game?

Our players are in all likelihood and probability to experience these hostile states of affairs much during the course of the season. It would rather be helpful for our players to practice the justest way of dealing with these situations well ahead of time.

Typically, when players encounter such beating and difficult conditions, either their ace getting injured or being outnumbered very early in the game, their power to think and act usually suffer. Their perspective constricts, their decision making get subdued. However, with proper rehearsals of such situations in repetition, they become familiar with it.

Coaches, together with their players, need to work out and elaborate potential resolutions for every stressful situation.  This could be just thoughts or discrete actions but playing numbers-down is doubtlessly a minus or disfavour if things are let out of control. But as it is always said, every bad situation brings with it a seed of greater greatness. A handicap can provide some advantages, sometimes such situations makes a team play much better than before. In some settings, players work extra harder and they start getting serious. Each player in this case takes on more responsibility, team spirit intensifies and on the spur of a moment, the team is back in the game.

Mind you, every asperity bears with it both an opportunity and a risk. But when players determine to always watch over an opportunity not the risk, they make the best of every situation that springs up. However, when making come backs players should ascertain to produce severe set plays in and around the penalty box. For example, Derpotivo La Coruna’s 2003/04 Champions league triumph over AC Milan where the Rosenerri led 4-1 in the 1st leg only for La Coruna to reverse it by a 4-0 victory in the 2nd leg. Staying calm, playing simple, keeping the pressure on, maintaining confidence and believing it is not over until the final whistle can also come in handy.

It is vitally profound to examine these ideas at practice first otherwise these procedures discussed might not work accurately. Usually coaches interrupts the infamous 11 v 11 practice game by taking off one of Team A’s players and altering the rules. They canalso increase the pressure with punishments for the losing team or even start one team with a point lead and so forth. Mentally replaying past successes is another thing that should be practiced well ahead of time to instill element of belief in players. KP

Understanding Anti-Doping

By Basadi Akoonyatse      

The use of drugs to enhance performance in sports has certainly occurred since the time of the original Olympic Games. The origin of the word 'doping' is attributed to the Dutch word 'doop,' which is a viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks.  The use of natural performance-enhancers at wars and traditional events has been reported. The Greeks were known to have eaten the sheep testicles to enhance performance. German troopers used testosterone derived from bulls to enhance their aggressiveness at World War II.

The modern applications of drug use in sports began in the late nineteenth century, with preparations made from the coca leaf; the source of cocaine and related alkaloids. A widely used mixture of coca leaf extract and wine, was even called 'the wine for athletes’.  Coca and cocaine were historically known to stave off the sense of fatigue and hunger brought on by prolonged exertion.

Today doping has become a preoccupation of international and national sports organisations and governments. As said above, performance enhancement is probably as historic as man himself. Advances in technology fuelled by over-glorification of victors in sports, in a world where financial gain comes before everything including life itself; doping in sports has become such a complex issue. The fight against doping is at the forefront of every sport federation, government and sport event organiser. This is not a surprise since a positive doping test tarnishes the athlete, his /her nation or government as well as the federation.  In order to keep the sport clean the fight against doping is thus the responsibility of us all; athlete, sports officials, public, media, medical personnel as well as the government.

Doping was historically defined as use of unnatural means to alter the body biochemistry with the intention to achieve some physiological and physical advantage in sports. This is however a limited definition as it describes only a certain portion of what constitutes doping. Doping goes beyond that hence the current definition of Occurrence of one or more of the anti-doping rule violations. Anti -Doping rule violations are numerous as spelt out by WADA and will be a subject of another time.

Worldwide, sports bodies and governments have joined efforts to ensure that they do the rightful to ensure that their athletes do not fall victims of doping; money and energy is put on education, testing, availing appropriate training resources and ensuring that those who are caught doping are exposed and sanctioned accordingly. With all this stringent measures of doping detection and spine breaking penalties and usually the associated embarrassment:  why would one choose to dope?

Athletes may dope for various reasons amongst them the following:

v  In order to gain competitive advantage over the opponent to ensure success.

v  They believe that others are doping hence they cannot excel if they don’t dope.

v  Being put under pressure by those in their entourage i.e. parents, coaches, medical personnel, other athletes etc.

v  Believing that they can get away with it, without being caught.

v  They take banned substance out of mere ignorance; not knowing what constitutes doping and which substances/methods/practices are prohibited.

The last reason above maybe the major reason for doping in countries where sports science and sports medicine is not that well developed and anti-doping education is limited. In a set up where athletes and athletes support personnel are not well informed about doping and its consequences, there is high prevalence of uncontrolled, medically unsupervised doping practised. Poor knowledge can lead to unintentional anti-doping rule violations. It can also render our athletes, coaches, managers and even parents to succumb to the negative manipulations into doping by ignorant influential peers or and  advertisement. There is usually an unsubstantiated assumption that medical practitioners are well conversant with doping issues. This is not always the case as such athletes must always exercise caution when seeking medical assistance to confirm that their medical practitioners are informed. The “Strict Liability Principle” of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, places the responsibility of taking all necessary precaution to avoid anti-doping rule violations on the athlete. Simply put, ignorance, non-deliberate contamination or lack of knowledge of doping method/substance cannot be used as an excuse for anti-doping rule violation.

A matter of fact is that knowledge of what constitutes doping and how to avoid it is notoriously limited and frequently distorted among athletes and those in the entourage of the athlete including coaches, executives and parents. Among the most carried myths in Botswana are the following:

Ø  If  the drug / medicine is prescribed by the doctor or the health practitioner, it cannot constitutes doping.

Ø  Supplements are safe to use especially when the contents do not mention any prohibited substances.

Ø  Medications with the same brand and have been used for years by other athletes cannot constitute doping.

Ø  Athletes who have medical condition or are sick do not have to worry about the prohibited list and can take whatever they want to help them get well.

Ø  Athletes can only get tested during or around the competition time.

Ø  All health practitioners are aware of the prohibited substances and methods.

Ø  Banned substances contained in traditional medicines or brews cannot be detected by doping tests.

Ø  If you take a banned substance days before competition, it cannot be detected.

Ø  Traditional Medicine can be taken without worry of doping.

These are some of the folklores that if are not demystified can lead to having the name of our sports and country dragged in the mud in the international sports arena. A lot needs to be done to redeem the situation of “lack of information” before doping out of ignorance become an institutionalized practice in Botswana. Rigorous implementation of doping preventive and repressive measures like education and sensitization is critically and urgently needed. Let us all rise to the occasion to avoid falling victims of a scourge of poor knowledge induced doping. It is not good for our athletes. It is not good for our sports. It is not good for our country. Education is needed - may we all take the responsibility: the government, national sports federations, media, medical personnel and athletes. 

Botswana should take grass roots development serious or forget the World cup

By Pulane Kelapile



Botswana under-20 national football team

Football and development go hand in hand. there is no how one can survive without the other. The newly appointed senior national team head coach Peter Butler as well as the technical director Benny Kgomelo said they will focus on reviving Botswana Football Association (BFA) development structures.

Interestingly, Kgomelo said he was going to start developing young players as young as the age of six, whereas Butler promised that he was going to use young players in the senior national team.

The main concern however is how they are going to achieve this goal in a country like Botswana. which does not take development seriously. Development should be an ongoing process whereby there are policies and structures which will complement the process.
 

When players are developed they should advance from one stage to another because no one remains young forever. Just like a student progresses from primary until tertiary level, the same must apply with a football player.
 

There is no development taking place if the players cannot graduate from U-12 all the way to the senior national team level. We don’t have development in our structures and clearly there is something we are not doing right.

For example, the under-17 team which represented Botswana at the Africa Junior Championships under the tutelage of Kagiso Kaizer Kobedi is currently in the dark.  We don’t see them shining in the BeMobile Premier League let alone the national first division.
 

Some of them will never grow to reach a level where they can represent Botswana at national team level. In addition, the under-20 team that represented Botswana at the COSAFA Championships in Lesotho comprised of good players like Thatayaone Ramatlapeng, Ogomoditse Sitang, Unobatsha Mbaiwa, Keagile Kgosipula, Entle Bakwena, Andrew Makopo, Kabelano Mooketsane just to name a few. 
 

None of the above mentioned players are playing regularly. If we are serious about football development then we should model it alongside education. In that way, young players will not be lost as they advance to junior or senior schools. All stakeholders should be engaged to make sure we develop the youngsters physically, psychologically and educationally.

Perhaps what should be done is BFA should come up with policies which will bind all teams in the premier League.  Teams should be required to have development structures and each team should have a certain number of these young players in the match day squads. There is no need to bring old foreign players into our teams while we can produce youngsters of our own.

End…….

 

The war between local clubs and their coaches

By Spira-Spira



Former Mochudi Centre Chiefs head Coach Dragojlo Stanojlovic.
The Kgatleng side parted ways with the Serbian after a series of
poor results. 

The role of a coach is very important otherwise clubs wouldn’t spend so much money and a lot of time finding good coaches.

Local clubs go worldwide searching for the most successful coaches who can bring success to their clubs.  However, our clubs do not understand that coaches cannot bring success overnight.The position of a coach is challenging and multi-faceted. A coach has a lot of duties among them parenting, teaching, counselling, disciplining, and organizing the players.

Therefore coaches need time to improve, shape and balance the players into a formidable team. Nevertheless some local clubs do not understand how demanding the role of a coach can be. They want results as soon as possible. They expect silverware to start flowing in immediately the coach has been appointed. They forget that the role of the coach is to develop players. Player development is essential to a coach’s success and that takes time.

Recently local coaches especially in the premier league have been at war with their employers. The main reason behind this warfare is poor performance on the side of coaches. Not a long time ago, Gaborone United suspended their head Coach Major David Bright and the club did not state the reasons behind the suspension.

Just recently, Mochudi Centre Chiefs gave their head Coach Dragojlo Stanojlovic an indefinite leave due to a series of poor performances. The club was knocked out of the domestic cup Mascom Top 8, and the continental cup CAF champions’ league respectively. Drago as he is well known was appointed at the beginning of the season as a replacement for current Township Rollers coach Madinda Ndlovu who won the league twice with the club.

The above mentioned scenarios show that local clubs are impatient when it comes to coaches. They never give coaches a chance to seek new ideas to develop their knowledge of the game and players.

While greatcoaches might often shine through whatever the environment, some need time to adjust to a particular setting. What makes a good soccer coach is not what he achieves instantly but is how much he achieves in long period of time. A coach has to be given time to develop a relationship with his players because that is where results come.

Perhaps local clubs should learn from successful clubs in countries like England. Before he retired, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stayed with the club from 1986 until he retired last year. There were seasons in which he didn’t win anything but the club did not fire him. At the end of his career he won 40 titles including 13 premier league titles which made him the most success manager in British football history.

One other example is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who has spent so many seasons without silverware but the club believes in him. He is the longest serving manager and has been the manager of Arsenal since 1996. Fans have called for his dismissal as a result of poor performances but he is still standing.

There are many other examples of coaches who had coached the same club for more than ten years. Clubs need to understand that if you develop a player at the age of ten, he needs 7-10 years to reach his best. Therefore, if coaches come and go, players can never really develop.

Football is a business, everyone knows that but developing players into a strong team would be better if it was not results orientated. Coaches should be given a chance to apply their tactics without fear of failure. The coach needs many skills and qualities that have to be acquired over a period of time. Botswana football can never reach a level of professionalism if our clubs keep on fighting with the same coaches they hired. 

"Olympus has fallen "

By  Thuso Gure
 

Manchester United players after a 1 nil loss to Newcastle United
on December 2013. Newcastle United recorded their first win at
Old Trafford since 1972.
Photo courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

From Alexander the Great to the Great Roman empire all great armies  have come to an end at some point in their reign and collapsed. Same can be said about Manchester United who  are now known for donating points this  season under the tutteleage of  David Moyes -The Chosen One.

It was always going to be tough for David Moyes to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Scot  man, Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United who in the 27 year reign at the club achieved remarkable things .Lets remind ourselves of his prestigious achievements :

Premier League  : 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
FA Cup  :1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004
League Cup  :1992, 2006, 2009, 2010
UEFA Champions League: 1999, 2008
FIFA Club World Cup: 2008
UEFA Super Cup : 1992
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1991
Inter-Continental Cup   : 1999
FA Charity / Community Shield:  1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011

However, not many people would have predicted that the road for Moyes would have been as rocky as it has been,given that he has broken amazing records on his debut season at old Trafford and here are some amazing facts ;

82: Defeats to Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Sunderland have meant that United have lost their first three matches of a calender year in 82 years, dating back to 1932. Back then, Walter Crickmer's side were beaten by Bradford Park Avenue, Plymouth Argyle and Swansea City.

1974: United have now lost three encounters in the month of January. That hadn't occurred in 40 years.

22: Those matches have also resulted in United losing three matches in one week for the first time in 22 seasons.

2001: Sticking with the three successive defeats theme, that previously happened 13 years ago as Derby County, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur came out on top against the Red Devils.

10: As for Swansea, they had never won at Old Trafford prior to their 2-1 success in the FA Cup - a sequence that dated back 10 matches.

20: Sunderland have also broken a hoodoo this year, having beaten United for the first time in 20 attempts. That triumph, back in 2000, was also in the League Cup.

1992: The year that Everton - Moyes's former club - last won at Old Trafford prior to this campaign. A goal from full-back Bryan Oviedo was enough for Roberto Martinez to do what Moyes had failed to do in his 11 years in charge of the Toffees - win away at United.

41: Yohan Cabaye's strike midway through the second half secured a 1-0 win for Newcastle United at Old Trafford, meaning that the Magpies headed back to Tyneside with all three points. It was the maiden time that they had done so in some 41 years.What was formerly known as theatre of dreams has become a dreadful nightmare for the Red half of Manchester

 

1978: Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis were among the goals when West Bromwich Albion last won at Old Trafford back in 1978. This time around, Morgan Amalfitano and Saido Berahino were the heroes as the Baggies ended a 35-year wait for a win. West Brom had also failed to beat United in 13 prior attempts.

8: Southampton ended an eight-match losing run against United courtesy of Adam Lallana's late equaliser in October.

26: From their 20 Premier League matches so far, United have dropped 26 points. Last season, they shipped 25 throughout the whole campaign.

25: The percentage number of matches that United have lost so far this season in all competitions - 11 from 39.During the previous campaign, Ferguson's men lost 10 of 54.

Having been dumped from the Carling Cup semi final by Sunderland in their own back yard and embarrassed by Swansea by knocking them out of the FA cup and sitting comfortably in 6th position and 11 points from fourth spot and now trailing by 2 goals down in Champions league last 16 the red devils season might be all over before we in March.

Despite cherishing being called the red devils many United fans show feel like in Hell at the moment and the heat isn't enjoyable for a nanosecond !

The big Question is how much time does David Moyes have.Having signed a 6 year contract with the Manchester Club one may wounded  how many records must he break before being shown the door ?

Depression football's big secret

By Dr Tammi

PhD Forensic Psychiatry

 

Referee giving out a red card during a beMobile premier league match.

Football is a tough sport and there really is no support network for those who are troubled or in need of help. Players know that any admission of a problem or a call for help would see them annihilated by their team-mates once they started to feel good again, so as a result there would be a real air of silence when it came to telling people that you needed help.

Furthermore, while changing rooms can certainly be tough places, much of what goes on is bravado and nobody is going to "annihilate" you for revealing you suffer from depression. In my experience there is a team-mate in every dressing room whom you can confide in if you have problems but is this not the time when clubs should employ sports psychologists who sit down for the sort of one-to-one chats with players and technical stuff.

I do not understand why physical training for athletes is not accompanied by cognitive training, rather than just 'positive thinking'. Media training would also be helpful. Because most of the stress is generated by media stories. Running therapy groups or support groups, is the way forward but how many will attend and admit they have a problem which is why teams need to employ services of qualified professionals to identify these signs early in our players.

Being a First lady of football, I have seen so many players and former suffer, we need to try to always see the positive with any player dedicated enough to have made a career from football, as well as try not to even engage with anyone who spews poison towards aforementioned professional footballers.

I know that this attitude will not help move newspapers or add to the sensationalism and hype of professional football, but maybe if more people started acting this way then the next young or old man might not feel that his every motion is being critiqued. And maybe he will feel that the world is actually not a bad place to be. Footballers must be taught to deal with issues that cause depression like long term injuries, being benched week in week out, being loaned out, losing games and end of contracts to name a few. Sadly African football our boys are "used up then dumped" that's a blog for another day.

Depression is an illness; it needs medication to boost low serotonin levels in the same way that Diabetes sufferers need insulin. Then some therapy to challenge the black suffocating isolating negative vortex. To be able to make a step away from a place where there seems absolutely no point to anything. A lot of the stigma attached to mental illness is that the sufferers can somehow just 'snap out of it' with a bit of banter or tough love. That they're not really ill and are simply choosing to be negative. It's very different from that and non-sufferers really don't understand.

In my job I see all the mental health staff. If things get dark you need to talk to someone who will listen and you need to do it quickly. Some people, particularly men, particularly working class men, just aren't going to do that though are they? There’s a social pressure and there's stigmas and it makes it difficult for individuals to get help, or to even admit to themselves that they need help.