Gary Neville gets it wrong (again): La Liga is the best soccer league in the world

Quiet weekend in US sports news (unless of course you were ‘glued’ to the NBA All Star game, and who wouldn’t be transfixed by ten multi millionaire playboys jogging up and down a court tossing each other alley-oops ad nauseum). Sunday in particular was an extremely lazy day in terms of sports across the Atlantic, so more American eyes than usual were trained on coverage of the English Premiership, with Arsenal entertaining Tottenham in a wildly entertaining 5-2 Arsenal come-back win.

The game had a bit of everything, great goals, plenty of passion, and some truly terrible, and I mean terrible, defending. Former Manchester United great Gary Neville was Sky Sports pundit for the day, and as the goals flowed, Gary exploded, saying that people can say what they want but the Premiership is the best league in the world.

Neville is on something of a roll. Last week, as Italian side Napoli picked Chelsea to pieces, destroying them 3-1 (it could have been 7-1), Neville dead-panned that Napoli were no great shakes. Apparently Neville had forgotten Napoli’s incredible destruction job on the expensively assembled Oil Money Globetrotters otherwise known as Manchester City.

Napoli are enjoying a tremendous season. They are daringly playing three up front, and remaining disciplined and organised at the back. On Sunday they easily dispatched former Italian giants Inter Milan, 1-0 (and in that case, it could have been 5-0 but for some heroic goalkeeping).

Neville triumphing that the Premiere League is the best league in the world is nothing short of redundant. There are so many easily-picked holes in his statement that you could write a 3,000 word article on same. How better to retort, however, than a couple of quick glimpses at what happened in La Liga on the weekend.

First, to the Rayo Valecano v Real Madrid encounter. Rayo are real minnows by anyone’s standards, but they are playing some neat, attractive football this season and charging up the Spanish league. They fenced back and forth with the Spanish giants Madrid for 52 minutes, and then this happened…



That was just the entrée. The match of the weekend didn’t happen in London, instead it was in Madrid, as Barcelona travelled to Atletico, in the hopes of clinging to their La Liga title challenge. The match was an incredibly passionate, skillful encounter. Madrid threw everything at Barcelona, and with 10 minutes to go, a 1-1 draw looked on the cards, then, this happened..



The goal itself is a thing of technical beauty. The great Messi himself could try this sweeping, curving shot 10 times and only catch the back of the net on 2 or 3 of the attempts. It was an almost impossible attempt, pulled off by a pure genius. Whatever about the technicality of it all, the reactions are brilliant to watch. The Madrid goalkeeper flaps his arms in complete dismay, whilst one of the defenders just kicks the goal post. Messi’s team mates react with a mix of ‘Oh my god did he just do that?’ and ‘Unbelievable, he just did that!’

Gary Neville’s boring, inane comment that the Premiere League is the best soccer league in the world did nothing but show him up to be a blinkered commentator. This is backed up by his insistence that Napoli, enjoying a fine season, are ‘no great shakes’. It is sad when a man talking to millions upon millions of viewers hasn’t even bothered to check out the alternatives, before a jingoistic comment that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Hey, everyone is fully entitled to their opinion, but at least taste the other dishes before you go telling everyone that Fish and Chips is the best meal available.

Racism in sports in the USA: The Jeremy Lin addendum

At this stage there has been basically no stone left unturned when it comes to New York Knicks rookie sensation Jeremy Lin. As each shot hit nothing-but-net in his incredible 38 point destruction job on the Lakers a couple of weeks ago, his burgeoning stardom went ballistic. It broke a hole in the stratosphere. The carpet bombing campaign of rushed articles that followed almost broke the Internet. We know everything. He came from Harvard, nobody in the NBA wanted him initially, he likes ice cream, puppies and is possibly more religious than Timmy Tebow. If the tidal wave of good-will articles written are to be believed, Mr. Lin would appear to be a talk-you-down-off-the-ledge kind of chap.

As the swirling tornado of his fame faded slightly with a couple of pedestrian outings, things took a dramatic turn with two events. ESPN published a disgraceful headline with a serious racial slur in the form of a schoolyard play on words, while a Fox journalist made even dirtier, more disgraceful references on Twitter.

Jason Whitlock of FOX sent out a couple of subsequently deleted Twitter messages that were nothing short of shocking. They alluded to race and sexuality, and put it this way, if they had been written about a Caucasian or an African American, Mr. Whitlock would probably be in jail.

The response was, well, meh. The response was relatively loud. It wasn’t a nuclear storm of rebuke and anger, as it should have been. It was, in a word, meh. ESPN fired a no-name (in that they didn’t name him or her) headline writer. The Fox journalist, who doesn’t even deserve to be named, is still in a job (no, seriously, he is) and the world went on turning. Apart from a couple of articles saying ‘Hey maybe we should have another look at this whole racism thing’, we would appear to have stood-down to normal alert levels.

The bottom line would appear to be that for certain groups in the United States, you may not even suggest a hint of a thought of the beginnings of a suggestion of a racial slur. For some, you can do it, get your wrists slapped, but ultimately get away with it. For other, hey, knock yourself out, and here’s a shovel!

Let’s break it down like a fraction

• Group A: The untouchables – Caucasians (rare as it is) and African Americans. There is no wiggle room here. Instant metaphorical death for the career of anyone who comes close to even touching a racial slur against these two groups.
• Group B: The Whitney Houstons (It’s not right, but it’s OK) – Asians, Asian Americans, Japanese and natives of Pacific or Caribbean Islands. Joke about this group, and whilst people will show some indignation, you will probably be OK. If you are Jason Whitlock or other FOX journalists, you can make a seriously offensive joke about anyone in this group and get to keep your job.
• Group C: The Knock yourself outs – Your American Indians, your Irish, your Italians. Anything Aborigine or Native basically, most minority ethnic groups. Knock yourself out. Fair game. The racial slurs and stereotypes against these types are freely evident in modern American sports. The mascots, the nicknames and even the logos. Leprechauns are offensive to most Irish people. Lumping all Italians in with the Mafia is wildly racist but widely accepted. Let’s not even get started on American Indians. Apparently mass genocide wasn’t enough.

One final little addition to the Group C section. If you take a step back and think about it for a second, how completely insane is it that we have a team called ‘The Washington Redskins’. It is so mind numbingly stupid and racist that it appears to have slipped past the censors. Imagine for a second a team called ‘The Seattle Yellowskins’. Stunningly racist, and completely unacceptable, right? Well, if that wouldn’t be socially acceptable, how come we have a team called the Redskins, and no one gives a single damn about it?

The Redskins - pretty offensive

You could go on all night. Imagine the ‘Brookyln Blackskins’. It is almost scary to even type it, as a team with that name would basically start riots up and down the United States of America.

Well why aren’t we all up in arms about the Redskins?

It is disgusting, racist and needs to go away.

Like Jason Whitlock.

It needs to go away yesterday.

The Redskins - offensive!!

James McClean left out of Irish squad - Here we go again...

Okay first things first, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way. We are all suitably delighted the Irish soccer team have qualified for the European Championships. The qualification for same harkens back to the glory days of the Charlton era and no doubt will give Ireland a much needed national boost when the tournament comes around. The inevitable hard fought 0-0 group round draws, the feisty performances and the lovable underdog tag will undoubtedly be a blast. The heart breaking tournament exit after a penalty shoot-out will give us all a reason to knock back a few brews. Fabulous.

The problem is, you can pretty much write the script months ahead of the event itself. How come? Because the Irish manager, Gio Trapaphoney, is a stubborn old man.
----------------------
Read more: 
More Irish sports news from IrishCentral 


Anti-immigrant group Numbers USA mobilizes to stop Irish visa bill


The Titanic last meal is re-created for first time for Irish fundraiser - VIDEO
----------------------
To continue the disclaimer before we head into the rant, whilst it is a fantastic achievement to qualify for the Euros, and whilst we will all put our reservations to one side and get behind the boys in green when it starts, this doesn’t mean we have to agree with the method and style in which we achieved said qualification.

James McClean - good enough for the Premiership, not good enough for Trapaphoney

Trapaphoney has announced the Irish squad to face the Czech Republic in a friendly, and amongst several other notable absentees, he has perhaps most glaringly omitted one of the hottest, most energetic and most exciting prospects in one of the if not the biggest leagues in the world. Leaving Sunderland’s hard working, enterprising young winger James McClean out of the squad should be a shock to anyone who has seen McClean literally change the fortunes of the team that has finally given him his chance.

However, it is no shock to anyone who is used to Trapaphoney’s tired old schtick. He has his trusted few and he is going to stick with them, the future of Irish soccer be damned. The style and development of Irish soccer be damned. The ability for the Irish team to do something special, be damned.




Mark my words, this team is a fantastic, gritty bunch of over achievers, however we all know they lack that something special. They will inevitably play some hard working, tough tackling soccer and we will all be proud of them, but there is no way they will be doing anything special.

We need someone with a creative spark.

Enter James McClean. Buried by Steve Bruce, McClean got his chance when Martin O’Neill became Sunderland boss and had the Cajónes to play the young starlet in the making. The rewards have been plentiful. McClean has goals and assists to beat the band, and Sunderland are a completely different team since his inclusion. He has a few tricks as a winger, delivers a great cross, has an eye for goal and, most impressively perhaps, tackles back. He protects the fullbacks and works very hard both in and without possession.

Finally, he has youthful energy, gallons of it. He rampages around the park looking for something to to.

Watching Sunderland beat Stoke recently, watching Glenn Whelan, one of Trapaphoney’s most trusted soldiers, fight his personal battle against falling down while walking, it was painful to think, no doubt Whelan will be in the team ahead of McClean. Worse news would follow of course, now that we know Trapaphoney doesn’t even deem a place in the squad necessary for one of the most exciting prospects in Irish soccer, nay, Irish sports.

You know what, one giant **** you to Trapaphoney. Seriously, it can’t be said strongly enough. This is like some kind of Brugellian nightmare, one you can’t wake up from. The Irish team are on the cusp of a once in a lifetime opportunity, and yet ‘the man who got us there’ is determined to scupper our chances of actually doing anything when we do begin play. **** you Trapahoney, you stubborn old fart. **** you for screwing with our hopes and dreams of shock wins and a surprise run into the latter stages of the tournament.

It cannot be said strongly enough, we are not going anywhere with the likes of Glenn bloody Whelan, as he stumbles about the pitch like a disabled baby deer, falling over himself and swiveling around to play the ball backwards at every opportunity. McClean offered a wonderful opportunity to bring some pace, some attacking energy and some youth into a tired, limited old squad.

Instead we’re going to go ahead and ignore the chance to be progressive.

One more time, with feeling, **** you Trapaphoney. **** you because I love the Irish team, and I hate to see it held hostage like this.

We can only hope for the future of the Irish National team that young, gifted, up and coming players like McClean are strong enough of mind and character to wait Trapaphoney out, and eventually get their chance to shine when a more enlightened manager takes over.

That time can’t come soon enough.




Linkage

• Follow Boston Irish by email - get notified when new material published
• Contact Cormac
• Boston Irish blog @ Twitter
• Tweet this
  
• Boston Irish blog
• IrishCentral.com