on a day when liverpool drew, all we managed was not to lose at everton.

when van persie scored, it was a very good goal, we celebrated as though we have won the title. when all we got was one point. you are happy with one point? what good is a bloody point?

watching arsenal this season, i can only cringe. because there is only one word that can describe our football. SHIT. shit in attack, shit in defence. we can go through the whole game without threatening their goal, if we don't get dominated by them first. and if you think i am talking about being dominated by manchester united, you are wrong. i am talking about being dominated by teams like everton, wigan, whatever.

i don't understand how arsene wenger can describe this team as the best team he has assembled, as the team with the most potential and talent.

if i were a defender and i see adebayor playing, i will be laughing all the way to the bank, because the moment the ball comes, the whistle is going to go- either for offside or a foul by him on me.

diaby can't even control a ball. clichy can't cross. face it, none of the players are world-class and don't ever look like they are going to be.

mind you, the 2006 team managed to turn on the style once in a while to beat teams 4-0, 5-0. and they got to the champions' league final.

now, we win 1-0 and celebrate as though we have won the title.

that tells you a lot about our ambition, hunger, desire, motivation and ability. or the lack of.

and i don't see what's the big deal about a 9-game unbeaten run. it's not a 9-game winning streak, and it will bring you nothing.

there can only be three outcomes this season
1) we don't qualify for europe
if this happens, everyone can go and shoot himself.

2) we qualify for champions' league
if this happens, lady luck must be smiling damn widely at us, because we don't deserve it at all.

3) we qualify for uefa cup
i thought we have gone through enough humiliation. seems like we are hungry for more. and att the moment, that is what we are going to get.

a few songs are stuck to my head:

from laura pausini
-ascolta il tuo cuore (listen to your heart)
-it's not goodbye
"and what if i never kiss your lips again"

glen hansard, once soundtrack
-trying to pull myself away
"bang bang down on the piano till i smash the keys"

a fine frenzy
-lifesize
"All for love we become
Larger than lifesize, wondersome
great in the eyes of someone"
-whisper
"But if you keep real close
Yeah, you stay real close
I will reach you"

power station's 地老地老天荒天荒
"再一杯喝到我心碎, 为了你怎么喝都喝不醉"

shin's 天高地厚
"因为我有我想要的朋友"

how deep is your love
"I know your eyes in the morning sun"

about 2009

i feel that the world will be a better place if there is more sincerity, something i have been reiterating for a few years now. unbelievable how time flies. but i do feel that if we were to stop thinking about how much we can get out of someone, and start thinking about what we can offer him in return, there will be more goodwill and less suspicion. if everyone were to be interested only in maximising his own gain at the expense of others, the only environment that would arise is one filled with mistrust.

macchiavelli said, "the best way to get information is to give it, because a man who wants others to tell him what they know must tell them what he knows."

2009 started in the worst possible way with the financial crisis and the conflict between israel and palestine.

as outsiders, we can perhaps say things that will be derided by the parties involved as wild fantasies detached from history, reality and any understanding of the issue at hand. nevertheless, i still must say this:

if we were to close our eyes and put away our prejudices for just a moment, stretch out our hand to the other side, what we will find will be another hand just like ours. a human hand.

whatever your religion is, whatever food you eat, whatever language you speak, at the end of the day, we are all the same, aren't we?

i feel that the saddest thing is not missing out on opportunities, but not having the guts or the conviction to seize the opportunity. guts and conviction are two different things. guts is not holding back because you believe in it. conviction is about whether you want it or not in the first place.

i always feel that the people in the position to make decisions that will have far-reaching repercussions do not make such decisions either because they are afraid, or because they deliberately choose not to.

unresolved problems can be advantageous to a small number, although only at great detriment to others.

a crisis is a terrible thing to waste- paul romer.

and in times of crisis, what we need is composure.

and in times of crisis, will you shirk away or rise to the occasion?

i realise that whatever i have done before the break counts for nothing, because the season has only really just begun.

so come on!

dutch cabaret song honouring cryuff

En Vincent zag het koren
En Einstein het getal
En Zeppelin de Zeppelin
En Johan zag de bal
En ik de vrouw

and Vincent saw the corn
and Einstein the number
and Zeppelin the Zeppelin
and Johan the ball
and I, the lady

the last line is added by me, of course.

quote of the week

To put it in gentleman's terms if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they're good looking and some weeks they're not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She weren't the best looking lady we ended up taking home but she was very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much, let's have a coffee
- ian holloway, on ugly wins

THAT pretty much sums up the victory over bolton.

i was watching the valencia-villareal game. i felt a shiver down my spine when the mestalla roared on the couple of occasions valencia almost scored after some wonderful work. it was a pity that the game ended 3-3. it was the kind of game that could have ended up 5-5, but when you consider that we went 2-0 up, then 2-2, then 3-2, and their equalising goal came from a soft penalty, you are left rueing what it could have been. especially when a victory would have really dealt villareal a crushing blow.

but that roar was just amazing. the smile is back at the mestalla this season. mata, villa, silva, joaquin. delicious is the word.

and lastly, another quote from holloway.

"I don't see the problem with footballers taking their shirts off after scoring a goal? They enjoy it and the young ladies enjoy it too. I suppose thats one of the main reasons women come to football games, to see the young men take their shirts off. Of course they'd have to go and watch another game because my lads are as ugly as sin"

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Holloway

"10 minutes to go, we are pinned back in our own half. you go in and wait for the counter. the ball goes up, you go. none of them will be able to come up to support you, so you will have to go alone. take on the whole defence and score. maybe you will have only one chance. maybe none. can you do it? can you score that goal? look, even if you don't have the confidence in yourself, have confidence in the people in the stands, because they are putting all their faith in you; they can't be wrong. so go in there and win the game."

renault and nespresso, what else?

renault
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-4nPpeBf6o
i bought it because it looked good on the model in the advert
i bought it because she smiled at me
i bought it because i like it.

nespresso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8RtUJwLl-s&feature=related
i just like the way camilla belle routh go "huh?"

from paul krugman's article on the quality of food in london
http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/mushy.html
"how can you keep them eating bangers when they have had foie gras?"

i am quite sick of the bias in the commentary nowadays, especially with regards to the term "a victory for football"

if you want an example of a victory for football, look to the man city-nottingham forest game. THAT is a victory for football. football triumphed 3-0 over money.

and i have heard of the rumours that juventus are willing to sell buffon to man city to finance the transfer of messi.

money has turned this whole damned world upside down. the irony when you consider the mess we are in right now. of course what we need now is not to shirk back, but to spend to stimulate the economy. if everyone holds back, we are going to stay stuck.

but still, you have to look at the amount you are spending, and whether or not it is really within your means. of course i don't doubt the spending prowess of man city, but at such a time, it certainly reeks of extravagance, excessiveness and largesse. and it is rather disgusting.

which also sums up my opinion of juventus' rumoured intent. maybe buffon himself wants that money, but let's leave that aside for a while. you are talking about a player who stayed with you when you got relegated because of calciopolis, and this is what you repay him?

and i think barcelona will be crazy to sell messi anyway. the same goes to xavi. xavi is barcelona through and through. i hope both sides recognise that. i think we need one-club men again. on one hand, we want to seek new challenges, get out of our comfort zones, but on the other hand, people need us as bastions, as a rallying point to assuage their identity. in xavi's case, i think he is already at one of the best teams in the world, and he is needed there, as a talisman. so he should stay.

i watched david silva cap his return with two goals as valencia defeated atletico madrid. and i wonder if people can just leave silva, villa and joaquin alone. why in the world would david villa want to go to a club like man city? i think they are happy in valencia. the only problem is the club's financial problems. but if the board wants valencia to challenge barca and real madrid again, they have to keep the players at all costs.

amidst the fluctuating rates and all, i wonder if the one thing whose value will remain constant regardless of what happens is time.