|
|
THE ROCKLIFFE FILES - BOLO'S BACK 14-11-06
Toby Higgins
He's class, he's bald, and this is what he's called, Massimo! Massimo!
I can't help it. I just love the guy. I know that as a football writer, I should write the words 'Massimo' and 'Maccarone' and follow them with words like 'failure', 'disappointment' and 'not good enough'. And were I to do so, not many would argue.
But I don't. I feel compelled to disobey. Instead, I follow the words 'Massimo' and 'Maccarone' with the words 'saviour', 'gladiator' and 'hero'. Disillusioned? Probably. Biased? Certainly. Why? I don't know.
My fear is that Massimo's time at the club is coming to an end. His contract is up this summer and, with common sense screaming that we should look to replace a player who has scored 24 goals in 94 appearances (55 starting, 39 as sub), Massimo is likely to be looking for a new employer come next May. This is why I'm snatching desperately at every opportunity I get to mention his name.
He showed the none-believers a glimpse of what the real Maccarone can do on Saturday. Reacting first to a flick, he sped onto the ball, before his perfectly weighted touch allowed him to round the onrushing keeper and fire home from a near impossible angle. Pure brilliance.
He gives the crowd a lift every time he enters the field, and every time he touches the ball; that, my friends, is undeniable. The fan's buzz upon hearing his name, and seeing his follically challenged noggin appear from the tunnel. Whooh, Massimo.
Despite the nature of this article so far, you'll no doubt fall over backwards with surprise when I admit to you what I'm about to. Saturday wasn't all about Mass.
Not only were there fifteen others players, a chairman, and 25,898 fans in that stadium, but also a manager under pressure. The win provides Gareth Southgate with a huge lift, considering the prospect of playing Liverpool, Villa, Manchester United and Spurs in the next four games.
While I still hold my reservations about Southgate's ability to manage a club like ours, one aspect of his approach to management has impressed immensely. The way Southgate speaks honestly after a game makes a nice change from the lines fed to us by Steve McClaren over the previous four years.
His honesty in admitting that after the defeat at Manchester City last month we deserved little from the game and that the performance was "not something I expect from us", and that while we might have had something from the game, it would have been "questionable" regarding whether or not we deserved it.
Similarly, after the Watford defeat, Southgate said, "We are in this together, we win and lose together" and "the players know I wasn't happy and we know it wasn't acceptable". He went on to add, "We didn't pass the ball well enough and you have to match the battle and we didn't do that, we didn't create enough chances and allowed them to dictate the game and there is a lot for us to go away and think about".
And finally, of the win against West Ham on Saturday, he said, "I am not going to sit here and say it was enjoyable to watch, but sometimes when you are on the back of two defeats, it is important you show the character we did today. I want to do both, play well and win well. Today we got the win, but we didn't play well".
What impresses me the most is that he sees the game, and talks the game, like a fan - one of us. He says it how he sees it. When we are bad he's not afraid to say it, and he'll admit it if we're lucky too. I much prefer this style of talking to the press, than McClaren's "everything's magnificent, as always" approach. I think we all do.
There was even a word for Massimo. "It was a great finish. He's a good kid. You want him to do well. He gives the crowd a surge of energy when he comes on". Here here, Gareth.
The 1-0 win over the Hammers means that we have now recorded three straight home wins, which is a surprising and remarkable record given our 'patchy at best' form. Another record which could also be filed under the heading 'surprising and remarkable' is Liverpool's.
Indeed, the five away League defeats in a row suffered by Benitez's men is the worst record to come out of Liverpool since the Beatles's 'Ob-la-di, ob-la,da', and if I know anything at all about Boro (which, based on the Maccarone spiel earlier, I'm sure you'll concur I don't) teams have a nasty habit of breaking their duck against us.
The game will see the return of Bolo Zenden for the second time since he took a leaf out of Judas' book and betrayed those who had stood by him. Boro, the club and it's supporters, helped him through a time when his career had hit a brick wall.
Had he stayed, I'm convinced he would have become a legend on Teesside. While to many of us, that is surely a dream that no amount of money can replace, to Zenden the idea of a place on Liverpool's bench most weeks was enough to prize him away from a set of fans who once adored him.
The frustrating thing is, here we are, two years on, and we still haven't found an adequate replacement for Zenden in the middle of midfield. He and Boateng formed a partnership which saw us qualify for Europe through a league placing, and Zenden even carried the can alone to great effect when Boateng was injured.
With Fabio Rochemback looking less likely to fill Zenden's boots with every passing minute, Southgate will surely have to try dipping into the transfer market to find a replacement for Zenden.
A better replacement than someone like, oh I don't know, say, Jason Euell.
Same time next week
UP THE BORO!
BACK TO ROCKLIFFE FILES INDEX
|
|
|
|
