The Soccer Blog: Nani Bleats

Saturday, 12 March 2011

Nani Bleats

By: Ivor | March 11th, 2011
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3738313288-soccer-barclays-premier-league-chelsea-v-manchester-united-stamford-bridge-s My good mate Harold, a fanatic Spurs fan, put it all into some kind of skewed perspective the other day after I’d been complaining on the blogs about Carragher filleting Nani’s shin with his studs.
“Who cares? He’s the boy who cried wolf. The chickens came home to roost,” he said, “and I don’t give a shit.”
Of course, Harold has never met a cliché he doesn’t like and, of course, he’d give birth to a heifer if it happened to be his beloved Rafael Van der Vaart or, God forbid, Gareth Bale it happened to.
Indeed, when I was at the pub with my mates on Sunday, absolutely gob smacked by United’s collective passivity and lack of desire in general, I couldn’t help but sneer at the Portagee adonis’ goofy drama-queen up and downage and the tears of rage, pain and frustration that flowed out of him when the stretcher monkeys came out.
“Big bloody baby,” someone next to me said.
“Gutless!” I added, still angry at him for cocking-up while playing defense earlier and heading the ball to an onrushing Dirk Kuyt for the second Scouser goal.
mu-nani-0708-1 Monday morning, however, Manchester United released the photos of his injury. Clearly Jamie Carragher had gone deliberately into his shins, studs up. And, just as clearly, Jamie Carragher, like Norman Hunter and Peter Storey in the days of my youth, files down his studs. Impossible to prove, of course, those boots will have disappeared from the Liversausages legendary boot room as quick as a cockroach in the gob of a venus flytrap.
At any rate, the rest of it comes down to reputation and how we perceive behavior. Let’s face it, Nani is a bit of a pain in the rectum. He dives a lot, as most of you know, and clearly, clumsily and shamelessly, pretends to be hurt when he obviously isn’t. He is not, at least from any English perspective, a sportsman or a gentleman. Like his compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo, he sometimes seems to lack, umm, for want of a better way of putting it, manliness. And, also, like his ex-teammate and fellow Portagee mentor, Nani is capable of moments of sublime, if not sustained, jaw-dropping brilliance.
On the other hand, there’s Jamie Carragher. You may not be able to understand what’s he’s talking about when he gets interviewed by Sky or the Beeb, but he is the sort of salt-of-the-earthy Scouser popular with Liverpool fans the way Gaz Neville was for United. There’s no real skill there, just guts, viciousness and determination. Some may say he’s on a par with Nev or Roy Keane, but those two were footballers first. He seems to have redeemed himself with both the Fleet Street and T.V. pundits, and some of the public, by coming back to play for England when all of Fabio Capello’s alternatives were injured. A gentleman and a sportsman, some might say, although I’ll wager that the same people would rip his goolies off for putting the studs into Wazza or Jack Wiltshere.
Finally, there’s the facts of football life. I know I read that, for some eccentric set of reasons, Nani wears his socks inside out. Why, I do not know, but, if it’s okay with the Gaffer, it’s okay with me. I also hear that Nani has been bleating to the press that he feels let down by the Gaffer and the club when no one spoke up for him. Of course, someone might point out to Nani that that if Fergie were to pick a fight over him after being at war with various refs, the league and the press for the last few weeks, it would not be have been wise to pick yet another one. In other words, if timing is everything, Nani simply could not have picked a worse time to get fouled and the opportunist thug that is Carragher could not have picked a better one.
Finally, there’s me and my dad. I always nag my youngest about wearing shin pads and keeping his socks up to his knees. When I was playing he would tell me the same thing and encourage me to go hard at any one who let any part of their shins show because they were lazy or because their socks were tied off loose.

Some Related Man United Posts:Ask Nani anything (almost anything…)Nani out for a monthWelcome back Nani (vs Stoke)Nani being NaniUnited Do the Right Thing! A Note from a Sentimental Gobshite

Category: Manchester United

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Tweet « Nani out for a month | Home | AntiOnanLiverpool have played that way for 4 decades and it is only because the previous two managers did not like that style that they have been so useless. Dalgleish is old Liverpool and you will now see their most dangerous opponents "taken out" if possible a la Flamini. When THFC were beaten 7-0 at Anfield Spurs played well but not well enough to beat LPool who were at the top of their game. But you should have seen the away dressing room afterwards with open stud wounds and bruises galore. Like Wimbledon a team who are competent and savage will beat a better team who are clean as playing dirty deliberately gives you and extra competence level however unfair and the removal of the best or better players first always helps.BrianessexTottenham fan here,And i must comend you for a really down to earth honest article.Most clubs have there share of fools following them,who seem to think that just because a player is talented,it gives him the right to what most sportsminded people would be considered cheating.In fairness to Nani he is not the only one.At the risk of up setting our near neighbours over at the emeriates.They have Van persie and nasri.Which is a shame because they are extremely talented players.with this unfortunate trait to dive quicker then falling rain drops.Mind you we have had the odd one at Tottenham to be honest,but we shipped him out to spain a couple of seasons back.Thank god as he was an embarressment.Indyfan9As a Spurs fan I admire Ivor's frank commentary: Nani is a cheat, perhaps the biggest cheat in the league, in my opinion. Which is a shame, as he is a brilliant player. Carragher - gotta admit I like the guy. Guts, determination and no small amount of talent. Maybe, just maybe, Nani got what he was asking for.
Anyway, good luck against Arsenal tomorrow!Graeme3Nani is a cheat - Carragher is over the hill & forced to foul where he would once have made a fair challenge. Take your pick - I'd have neither!KING KENNYYOUR A SEX OFFENDER YOU GRAEME3. I HAVE HEARD ALL ABOUT YOU. YOUR'E CARD IS MARKEDSwoozieI say...do goats bleat?MuhurPutting your studs into an opposition player when he's concentrating on controlling the ball is not brave or manly. Having the courage to constantly show for the ball and receive possession under pressure from such thugs shows far more courage.

Nani, like Ronaldo before him, shows fantastic determination and takes responsibility on the football field to continue to not only accept but demand the ball despite the fact that they are likely to get clattered half the time they attempt a dribble.

It's an admirable trait which requires plenty of courage and bravery, but unfortunately it's a concept lost of most football followers in England, who view the cowardly acts of the likes of Carragher to be somehow indicative of the way a 'real footballer' should demonstrate his character.frontwheeldo be quiet,most football fans in England appreciate good football we just get a bit sick of all the diving cheats

AntonioNo you don't. English football has a deep rooted arrogance in terms of telling everyone else how the game should be played and which moral guidelines they should adhere to.

So, diving or going down easily is frowned upon, yet intentionally injuring or fouling a flair player with "a reducer" is part of the game. Indeed, players who employ these tactics are often lauded as ones who best represent what British football is all about.

I think what it all comes down to is an inferiority complex when it comes to the technical and tactical side of the game and English football's shortcomings in those areas. As Xavi said recently, in English football a clearance or blocked challenge is appreciated more than a piece of skill. The lack of other qualities mean there's a need to prioritise other things, ie more physical traits.

The rest of Europe was repulsed by Carragher's challenge. In England, Nani shared 50% of the condemnation. Says it all.

AntiOnanRubbish!! UEFA & FIFA have been French toyboys for decades and as England invented the game how they wish to play it is their right. I agree that there is far less contact in European teams (?Germans excepted) and hence they can survive longer to develop skills.
But sports are vicarious warfare and it is strange how the way so many teams play is a reflection of the way their own soldiers fight.
As for European football being CLEAN??? You have to be joking! Both Spain & Italy were famous for the SLY elbow, the "accidental" trip and every subtle form of dirty football possible.
As for studs up! being an English specialty? Go watch Flamini take out Corluka.

THFC have NEVER deliberately played DIRTY football and we dont even endure those who fall easily but they have had their share of DIRTY opponents and in Europe more often than in England. But HARD clean football that is what you ONLY see in England & that is what the euros cannot handle.blog comments powered by Disqus