batas psikologis kita

Pada suatu masa berlari sejauh 1 mil dibawah empat menit adalah kemustahilan, tidak cuma itu mencoba berlari secepat ini dianggap membahayakan kesehatan. Namun demikian Roger Bannister membuktikan bahwa kemustahilan ini hanyalah ilusi. Ia tempuh 1 mil dalam tempo 3:59 menit dan sejak itu sudah lebih dari 1500 orang mengikuti jejaknya.  Impossible is nothing !

Yang masih belum berhasil ditembus diantaranta adalah berlari marathon dibawah tempo dua jam.  Eliud Kipchoge, pelari dari Kenya, sudah berhasil memecahkan rekor ini namun catatan waktuya tidak resmi diakui karena dilakukan dalam setting macam laboratorium. Kipchoge berlari dibelakang sekumpulan pacer yang berlari dibelakang truk yang memancarkan sinar laser demi membantu para pelari tetap pada pace mereka. 

Pada Marathon Berlin baru-baru ini Kipchoge berhasil mendekati batas psikologis 2 jam itu dengan finish 2:01:09 atau 30 detik lebih cepat dari rekor sebelumnya yang ia sendiri cetak empat tahun yang lalu. Secara statistik sebuah blog memperkirakan bahwa rekor dibawah dua jam akan berhasil dipecahkan sebelum 2032. Sepuluh tahu lagi. Namun rekor Kipchoge di Berlin kemarin memungkinkan bahwa -secara statistik- rekor dibawah 2 jam akan pecah tahun depan.

Kiranya bukan soal mungkin atau tidak melain soal kapan. Dan sekali lagi kita diingatkan bahwa impossible is nothing! Potensi kita adalah diluar batas yang kita sangkakan. Bahkan batas-batas itu bisa jadi tempurung yang membuat kita bahkan tidak mau mencoba dobrak.

   

The risk of being a fan

A fan, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, is "an ardent devotee, an enthusiast." Fanatic is defined as "a person marked by an extreme unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause." The distinction, then, apparently rests on whether the enthusiasm is ardent or unreasoning.

Too bad that the team that I supported lost in the Champion League final. A week ago they did not win the Premier League because the team that has one point advantage also won on the last day of the competition making the one point advantage remained. Two weeks ago the fans are dreaming of quadruple titles and now we should accept the reality of winning double (both domestic competitions).

Of course I was disappointed. I thought my team had a chance to win the Champion league final, But of course the reality is the lost. They tried hard but one goal is enough for the opponent to seal their 14th titles. 

I did not bother to read news, nor watching the highlight. What's the point? I know that I still support this team. But I do need time to be away. Time is the great healer they say.  It is not the end of the world. Two titles is still better than none and of course next year we would compete in Champion league anyway. There is no reason to despair. It is only football anyway. Yes, I am a fan, not a fanatic. 

Walk on

Reference
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/fan-or-fanatic

I'm so glad that Ulla loves scouse

Jurgen Klopp revealed that his wife Ulla Sandrock was one of the reasons he decided to extend his Liverpool contract for a further two years on top of his existing deal. The news means the German manager will remain at the helm of the Reds and in Merseyside until 2026. The Anfield faithful are so overjoyed that their manager has opted to extend his stay in Merseyside for a further two years they have even have changed the lyrics to a song that was originally dedicated to the Liverpool boss. 

"I'm so glad that Ulla loves scouse, I'm so glad that she's not moving house. Ulla said to Jurg you know, she doesn't want to leave you know, I'm in love with her and I feel fine."

Jürgen Klopp married Ulla Sandrock on Dec. 5, 2005. The two met earlier that year at Oktoberfest, where Ulla was working as a waitress. At the time, Klopp was head coach of Mainz. Ulla has one son Dennis; 30, from a previous relationship. Her hubby Klopp has his son of his own, Marc, 28, from his first marriage to wife Sabine

Ulla Sandrock is a former teacher in Kenya  turned children’s book author. Her first book is titled "Elli und Pit oder Wer ist der beste Torhüter von Mainz 05?" (2005). After that she wrote two more children books "Tom und der Zauberfußball (2008)" and the sequence "Tom und der Zauberfußball in Afrika (2010)". The story revolves around an eleven-year-old boy from Mainz; who finds in the attic an old ball with which anyone can play perfect football. Jürgen Klopp wrote forewords on those two books. About her books Klopp said : "It's like Harry Potter but about football. There’s no flying on his f****** stick." Sandrock was more graceful when she told the press that the book illustrated the "fascination of football" and "the longing for a distant hero world".

During Klopp's time at Dortmund she was even referred to as the 'First Lady of Bundesliga' due to her philanthropic work and marriage to Jurgen. She also worked as a nurse whilst in Nairobi and helped starving children recover whilst there. Ulla also made headlines in April 2020 when she handed out £1,000 food vouchers to supermarket staff at a Waitrose branch in Formby, close to their family home.

Klopp was touted as the successor to David Moyes when he was sacked by United in 2014, but he did not want to leave at that time. When Liverpool came calling it was a completely different situation and Klopp’s wife had a huge influence.

Back in 2019, Reds legend Phil Thompson told ITV2: “I interviewed Klopp for Sky, and I asked if he and Liverpool were created for each other. He looked at me and asked why. Then Klopp told me he could have taken over Manchester United, but his wife said it wasn’t right. When Liverpool arrived, his wife said it was right. There is something strange there. It is as if he’s created for Liverpool.”

Klopp added: "The most important contract I signed in my life was the one with Ulla. And that's why it start again, because actually we sat at the kitchen table and Ulla said 'I can't see us leaving in 2024'. I said 'what?'. That's how it all started and when that started I thought let's have a think. Ulla wants to stay and as a good husband what are you doing when your wife wants to stay? You are staying,"

I'm so glad that Ulla loves scouse

References
https://the18.com/en/soccer-entertainment/who-is-jurgen-klopp-wife-ulla-klopp

https://fabwags.com/ulla-sandrock-klopp-coach-jurgen-klopps-wife/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12195303/jurgen-klopp-wife-ulla-sandrock/

https://talksport.com/football/1097329/jurgen-klopp-wife-convinced-liverpool-over-man-utd-contract/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-klopp-wife-contract-chant-26834344

The eye of Klopp

Peter Krawietz had spent effectively all of his adult life working with Klopp. A native of Mainz, Krawietz began his career in football in a role as video analyst for his local club, joining the German outfit in 1996. That came after earning a degree in sports at the University of Mainz. When Krawietz joined Mainz, Klopp was still a player, and it was Krawietz’s job to analyse his performances at right-back, singling out areas to improve. Klopp promoted his then-colleague to chief scout upon assuming the manager’s role in 2001, and he then brought him with him to Dortmund and Liverpool.

The 51-year-old’s job title at Liverpool is assistant manager, but while Lijnders regularly takes training sessions and is a vocal figure on the touchline, Krawietz works more behind the scenes, focused on analysis, scouting and set-pieces. If Klopp was ‘The Heart’, Krawietz ‘The Eye’ and Lijnders ‘The Brain’. Krawietz is ‘The Eye’ due to his expertise in visual analysis; he gives Klopp the vision, Lijnders the knowledge. 

Despite his long association with Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool, Krawietz has never managed a game of professional football, nor has he ever played professionally. Krawietz detailed the duties he fills on a daily basis: “I’m analysing, thinking about football. Pep is preparing training sessions and I’m the part who is thinking about our game constantly. So preparing the next game is the main part. We have a look at the next opponent we face – what we can expect, what we will have to do, where are our solutions. Preparing this, preparing the team and leading up to a video meeting, where we want to be precise and want to show our players exactly what will be our solutions for the next game. This is the main part.This keeps you busy, I can tell you!”

References
https://www.thisisanfield.com/2022/01/who-is-peter-krawietz-the-liverpool-coach-standing-in-for-jurgen-klopp/

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/first-team/staff/peter-krawietz

https://anfieldindex.com/44290/pepijn-lijnders-shares-some-insights-into-being-part-of-the-lfc-backroom-team.html

https://www.transfermarkt.com/peter-krawietz/profil/trainer/6524

Klopp's very own Pep

Pepijn Lijnders, referred to by many as ‘Pep’, joined Liverpool family as Liverpool U18 Youth Coach in Aug 2014. Later he worked under Brendan Roger as assistant Manager. Previously he has worked in PSV, and Porto FC. He returned to Liverpool after a short, unsuccessful spell at NIC Nijmegen, during which they missed out on promotion to the Eredivisie.

Lijnders is integral to the Reds’ philosophy and knows the club inside out. He is responsible for the training process. Klopp himself said that he really enjoy working together with Lijnders. Obviously the feeling is mutual as Klopp is the type of manager that "brings in really good people and then let them flourish". He said his trick is to listen to people. “It doesn’t mean that I tell them all the time ‘no, no, no – we did it like this in the past’. No, I listen. I listen because they are much closer.

Klopp sees Lijnders as a real energiser. "this man is on fire and our connection is beyond football things. I have been lucky enough to meet many, many people in football during my time in the game and I don’t think I have ever met anyone with the energy and enthusiasm he has for this game.”

Many tout as Lijnders Klopp’s potential successor. Mikel Arteta’s success at Arsenal has proven that assistants can take center stage and succeed. Whether that is possible at an elite club like Liverpool remains to be seen. Some would consider him as Merseyside hero Steven Gerrard's No.2. 

The Dutch name Pepjin is a variant of the name Pepin, which is of several origins. Pepin derived from the name Joseph and is of Frankish and Old French origin. Besides, Pepin is a diminutive of the names Wilbert or Wilbrecht. Pepjin means “he will add” and “God increases” (from Joseph) or “awe-inspiring” (from Frankish “bib” = to tremble). In Old French, Pepjin means “seed of a fruit” and “grower or gardener of fruit trees”. Besides, Pepjin has the meaning “bright will” (from Wilbert“). Which ever meaning we take it seems the name is well-selected for Klopp's very own Pep

Reference
https://www.transfermarkt.com/pepijn-lijnders/profil/trainer/23095
https://www.si.com/soccer/liverpool/opinions/can-pep-lijnders-beat-steven-gerrard-to-the-liverpool-job

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2022/04/jurgen-klopp-has-no-concerns-pepijn-lijnders-will-leave-to-take-managers-job/

https://anfieldindex.com/44290/pepijn-lijnders-shares-some-insights-into-being-part-of-the-lfc-backroom-team.html

farsightedness without any perspective

Jürgen Klopp graduated from Goethe University in Frankfurt with a degree of diploma in sports science (MSc equivalent) in 1995. In an interview Klopp said this his education: "At the time I didn't know exactly where I was going, but if you look at my current job, you can say that I had farsightedness without any perspective". He was the coach of Borussia Dortmund during that interview.

When asked about his thesis about walking (in English the title would be 'Walking – an inventory and evaluation of a sport for all") he replied "as a professional soccer player (with Mainz) and a young father (a son, Marc born 1988), I didn't really have much time for a diploma thesis. I thought I'd get it done quickly, and I told my supervisor, Professor Bös, that". Interestingly this topic was suggested by his professor. He professor said that there is a new trend sport from the USA. People walk through the malls there in the morning.” Klopp wasn't at all enthusiastic at first. But then he did a proper investigation. In the end Klopp said "I think it was the first diploma thesis in Germany on the subject of walking"

Of course back then Klopp would not have any idea that someday he would manage to clubs which share the same anthems: Borussia Dortmund (2008–2015) and Liverpool (2015-today). The fans of both team would sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' on matchday. Dortmund fans knew that the song is Liverpool's anthem but yet they love it. Indeed, when Dortmund traveled to Anfield to face off against Liverpool in the Europa League quarter-final in 2016, the two sets of supporters combined to create one of the most memorable renditions of the anthemic classic.

After watching Arrigo Saachi’s (AC Milan coach of 1987-90) training drills Klopp was convinced that anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics. Klopp is a notable proponent of Gegenpressing, a tactic in which the team, after losing possession of the ball, immediately attempts to win back possession, rather than falling back to regroup. Klopp’s tactical analysis is supplemented by his man management skills and ability to galvanize his team. Klopp is also an advocate of ‘Life Kinetik’, a type of exercise program designed to enhance motor skills in athletes, allowing them to react more quickly to movement.

On Thursday 8 October 2015, Liverpool announced Klopp as Brendan Rodgers' replacement at Anfield. He led the Reds to the UEFA Europa League final in 2015/16 and the UEFA Champions League final in 2017/18, although both matches ended in defeat. Klopp was back in the Champions League final the following season, however, and this time guided his side to a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. It was also an impressive domestic campaign for Klopp's Reds, who finished a point behind champions Manchester City despite losing only one Premier League match in the entire 2018/19 season. Better was to come the following campaign as Klopp guided Liverpool to their first Premier League title. The Reds triumphed in style, setting a new record for the earliest title success, clinching victory with seven matches to spare, and equalling the 32 wins claimed by Man City in 2017/18 and in 2018/19. 

Liverpool are still chasing history in 2021-22, seeking an unprecedented quadruple of titles. The Reds have won the Carabao Cup (League Cup) and are battling on three competitive fronts this season: the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup.

Recently Klopp has agreed a two-year contract extension committing him to the club until 2026. Klopp's decision to confirm his intention to stay at Liverpool to 2026, setting up the Premier League's longest-serving manager for a decade-long tenure at Anfield, is even more of a cause for celebration because only a few weeks ago he was talking once more about fulfilling his pledge to complete his current contract until 2024 and then walk away.

Klopp is now the next manager likely to build a dynasty at a club in the manner of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. He, self-evidently, cannot match their trophy haul or anywhere their longevity yet but Klopp's extended presence at Liverpool - to 2026 at least under the terms of his new contract - is as much of a guarantee of success as it gets.

Klopp's middle name is Norbert – It really doesn't get much better than that! Depending where you look the name can mean anything from "hero", "shining from the north", or "shines like the seas". Either way it sounds ominously good for Liverpool fans. 

Klopp said his wife Ulla was instrumental in his decision to extent the contract. "The most important contract I signed in my life was with Ulla. We sat at the kitchen table and she said: 'I can't see us leaving in 2024.' That is where it all started". Ulla Sandrock, has authored a couple of kids books. 'Tom and the Enchanted Football' is a tale about a child from Mainz who finds a ball in his attic that allows anyone to play perfect football.

We know where did she get the inspiration of the story. 

References
https://aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de/menschen/herzlichen-glueckwunsch-liebe-goethe-universitaet/

https://www.goal.com/en/news/why-do-borussia-dortmund-sing-youll-never-walk-alone/113l8335ztn8y1kez94ty61eis

https://punditarena.com/football/thepateam/liverpool-kloppology-i-want-to-believe/

https://talksport.com/football/331490/liverpool-manager-news-all-you-need-know-about-jurgen-klopp-151005169254/

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/liverpool-quadruple-chase-2021-22-reds-man-united-treble/pmwqorelovih6pge6xnpv3av

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61262331

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61264441

Heading for trouble

'Is there a time bomb ticking in my head?' one goalie asked such question related to the risk of suffering from dementia. For a long time that repeated blows to the head, such as those suffered by boxers, can make people more susceptible to degenerative neurological conditions such as dementia. What we're now seeing is clear evidence that heading footballs can also significantly increase those risk factors.

For goalkeepers the neurodegenerative disease risk was similar to general population levels. In contrast, the risk for outfield players was almost four times higher than expected and varied by player position with risk highest among defenders, at around five-fold higher than expected. Neurodegenerative disease diagnoses increased with increasing career length, ranging from an approximate doubling of risk in those with shortest careers to around a five-fold increase in those with the longest careers.

Former professional footballers had an approximately three-and-a-half-fold higher rate of death due to neurodegenerative disease than expected.

English football is also driving reform on this point. In February 2020, the FA — with the Scottish and Northern Irish associations — issued new guidelines that children up to age 11 should no longer be coached in heading and that headers should be a "low priority" for under-18 teams. Last July, the FA, Premier League and lower league associations also advised adult teams to cut back on the intensity of header training: "It is recommended that no more than 10 higher-force headers are performed in any training week." This refers to headers after long passes, crosses, corners or freekicks.

In 2022 a new dementia study has been launched to investigate ways to reduce risk of the disease in former footballers. The study will be led by Dr Willie Stewart, whose previous research showed ex-professionals are three and a half times more likely to die of dementia than the general population. The new four-year, £1.3m BrainHOPE study will build on that research.

References

https://www.dw.com/en/the-risk-of-dementia-in-football-a-ticking-time-bomb/a-60172421

https://www.headway.org.uk/news-and-campaigns/news/2021/study-reinforces-link-between-dementia-in-professional-footballers-and-heading-the-ball/

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61220186

The distance between two clubs

The distance between Anfield, home of Liverpool FC is a mere 970 Meters from Goodison Park home of Everton F.C. Yet the distance between them in current table is much more significant. Liverpool is currently second on the table and chasing the unprecedent quadruple while Everton is risking being relegated. The irony is Liverpool was formed following a disagreement between the directors of Everton Football Club and its president, John Houlding, who owned the club's ground, Anfield. A dispute over rent resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park, which left Houlding with an empty stadium. Thus, he founded Liverpool F.C. and the rest was history. 

Financially the distance is also huge. Liverpool is valued $4.1B while Everton is about 1/6th of it at $658M. Comparing position in EPL table since 2016 (first full season of current Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp), Liverpool lowest position is 4th, won once while Everton highest was 7th. During Klopp (full season) era Liverpool always compete in Champion league while 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the last time of Everton compete in Europe. 

The meeting between the two is called Merseyside derby. During Klopp (full season) era only once did Everton beat Liverpool in Merseyside derby. Everton manager then Carlo Ancelotti had the honor to lead Everton to beat Liverpool at Anfield for the first time since 1999. Of all 240 derbies to date Liverpool won 97 of those (40%) to 67 of Everton (28%). 

Jurgen Klopp insisted he would miss the Merseyside derby next season if Everton fail to survive their relegation battle. Everton are one of six English clubs who have never been relegated from the Premier League since its creation in 1992. The others are Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea, so they are part of an elite group. The last time Everton were relegated was in the 1951 campaign while Liverpool were relegated in 1954.

One last trivia, Everton dropped the Latin motto "nil satis nisi optimum" - meaning 'Nothing but the best is good enough' - back in 2013. The club said the updated version - a 'next evolution' - formed 'a concise, modern and dynamic representation of Everton', and was produced after consulation with various stakeholders, including fans. However an online petition on the change.org website was started after its unveiling this afternoon, and it swiftly garnered more than 6,000 signatures, while the new crest drew a largely negative reaction on social media.

Looks like they should have kept the motto.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Liverpool_F.C._(1892%E2%80%931959)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_F.C.

https://www.forbes.com/teams/liverpool/

https://www.forbes.com/teams/everton/

https://www.premierleague.com/tables

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C._in_international_football

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_F.C._in_international_football

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56033685

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merseyside_derby

https://talksport.com/football/1059166/everton-premier-league-relegation-record-frank-lampard-manchester-united-chelsea-arsenal-liverpool-tottenham/

https://theanalyst.com/eu/2022/04/when-were-premier-league-teams-last-relegated/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10742815/Liverpool-boss-Jurgen-Klopp-insists-miss-Merseyside-derby-Everton-relegated.html

Mercedes are waiting for Godot

Lewis Hamilton wrote off his chances of winning this year's World Championship after a dispiriting performance by his Mercedes team in the sprint race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The seven-time champion finished 14th, losing one place from his qualifying position, while team-mate George Russell was 11th, fighting back to where he started after he, too, lost ground at the start.

The 2022 season was already looking difficult for Mercedes after the first three races in which they were nearly a second off the pace of the leading Ferrari and Red Bull cars. But Imola, as team principal Toto Wolff admitted, "marks the low" of the year so far. "We stick together," Hamilton said. "We try to motivate everyone. This is the situation we are faced with.

"We are obviously not fighting for the championship. But we are fighting to understand the car and improve and progress through the year. That's all we can hope for right now." There may still be 20 races to go, but Hamilton said he had to be "realistic" about Mercedes' position.

In a sense Mercedes and Hamilton are waiting for Godot. A situation where they are waiting for something to happen, but it probably never will. 

The concern for Mercedes right now is that while they know what is wrong with the car - too much drag, not enough grip and terrible aerodynamic bouncing on the straights - they don't know how to fix it.

"We have a direction to unlock the potential in the car to bring us much closer but at the moment we haven't got the key," Wolff said. "So we just need to grind away and rely on the science and physics before spiralling into some kind of negative momentum, which we are not."

Wolff sounded like talking about cracking a password to unlock the car's potentials. a Hacker could apply a method of brute-force attack by submitting many passwords or passphrases with the hope of eventually guessing correctly. The attacker systematically checks all possible passwords and passphrases until the correct one is found. 

Brute force method certainly would take time. Password with 10 characters long has 1,188,137,600,000 combinations. It takes 23.05 hours or 0.96 days to crack your password on computer that trys 25,769,803,776 passwords per hour.

Certainly the Mercedes team would be too smarter to just pick a brute force methodology to solve their problems. The question would be the remaining races of the season. Would they have enough time and resources to crack the puzzle? 

Mercedes have dominated the constructors' championship in the turbo hybrid era and secured an unprecedented eighth consecutive title in 2021. But this season's regulation changes have not worked in their favour, with both cars experiencing serious 'porpoising', a phenomenon caused by an increase - then a sudden decrease - of downforce.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton on team radio at the end of the race. Wolff described their car as "undriveable". Obviously there is so much a driver could do with his car but even the seven-time world champion could not do magic.

 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute-force_attack
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/61202423

https://tmedweb.tulane.edu/content_open/bfcalc.php?uc=0&lc=5&nu=5&sc=0&ran=0&rans=0&dict=0

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/61211221

United Lucky 8th?

Manchester United incoming new manager, Erik ten Hag, is unlikely to compete in next year Champion league competition. The interim boss Ralf Rangnick had given up hope qualifying for next season's Champions League.  Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Arsenal moved the fourth-placed Gunners six points clear of United, who are sixth. 

The last time United lifted the Champion League trophy was in 2008. They beat Chelsea in Moscow, 6-5 on penalties after 1-1 draw. The soonest for United to compete back in Champion League competition would be in 2024 which 16 years had passed by.

The brutal reality of what Ten Hag is letting himself in for can be illustrated by the fact he is inheriting a bigger, more problematic task at United than Jurgen Klopp did when he succeeded the sacked Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool in October 2015. At least Klopp inherited a unified dressing room devoid of players who thought themselves better than they were, who actually wanted to be at the club, and a base of decent characters to launch Liverpool's road to redemption. In contrast, Ten Hag will be taking on a dysfunctional dressing room inhabited by players who do not want to be there, who are not good enough to be there and a team that embarrassed the club's good name in the 4-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.

In terms of valuation, United  is leading the other premier league clubs. Forbes 2021 ranked United at no. 4 (below Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich) above (Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur). Hence United has the resources to improve their performance. Of course the question would be how? (or who?)

Real Madrid could be used as the template. The club had won 13 Champion League Titles. To be fair the first title, 1955–56 European Cup was without and English club participation (interestingly there was one Scottish club among the 16 participants). The second time Madrid won (1956-57) United was one of the 21 participants. Hence we might use 12 Madrid titles to United 3 titles in this comparison.   

If money could be titles it looks like Madrid could be one of the proofs. Real Madrid CF (La Liga) Total Gross Salaries for the 2021-2022 Season is £5,296,643 per week. Manchester United FC (Premier League) Total Gross Salaries is £4,119,423 per week. Certainly there is some room to sign expensive footballer stars. Of course the question would be who? which position?   

United did spend more than Madrid in season 21/22. United net spending (Total market value of arrivals minus departures) was €170m to Madrid €90m. But Madrid has a better position in terms of local competition table. They were second in 20/21 and 1st in 21/22 (still 5 games to play with 15 points gap to Barcelona on 2nd). United were 2nd last year and now 6th with 4 more games to play. The gap to 1st place Manchester City is 26 points. 

Sir Fergusson was the manager the last time United won Champion League trophy, He retired in 2013 and since then there are seven managers/care takers: Moyes, Giggs, Van Gaal,  Mourinho,  Solskjær, Carrick and Rangnick. Would Ten Hag be the lucky 8th?

staying optimistic

Lewis Hamilton of  Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team said he "prefers to stay optimistic" but added: "It will not be easy. The gap is really big but there is a long way to go.". He is chasing for the elusive 8th championship title this year unfortunately his car is nowhere near the top two teams : Ferrari and Red Bulls. 

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

It’s crucial to be clear that optimism isn’t, and shouldn’t be confused with, toxic positivity—or pretending everything is perfect even though there’s information to prove otherwise. What optimism really is involves an attitude of hopefulness about the future and that's the key—if you believe there's a real possibility that things will get better, then you're willing to put the work in that's needed to make things better.

Being optimistic doesn’t mean pushing down the negative emotions—because that borders on toxic positivity, which is unhealthy.  As hard as it seems to pull ourselves out of the negativity we have to do so whenever possible because the anxious negative simulations about the future really affect our bodies in a big way.

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice — you're creating a new habit, after all. 

Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.

Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.

Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.

Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Get enough sleep. And learn techniques to manage stress.

Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.

Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Back to Hamilton, there are more than 20 races to go for the rest of the year.  Based on historical performance Mercedes for sure would come up with some solutions one way or the other. Of course the question is if it would be too late as both the competitors would do the update themselves. Of course the season is still young and there is no reason to succumb to negativity

 

Sportswashing

Sportswashing is the practice of an individual, group, corporation, or nation-state using sport to improve their tarnished reputation, through hosting a sporting event, the purchase or sponsorship of sporting teams, or by participation in the sport itself. At nation-state level, sportswashing has been used to direct attention away from a poor human rights record and corruption scandals within government

People from nations accused of sportswashing often argue that they simply want to enjoy sporting events in their home nations and that sporting boycotts and event re-location are both unfair on sporting fans and ineffective in changing government policy.

Sportswashing is considered a potentially costly form of propaganda. For example, In March 2021 human rights organization Grant Liberty said that Saudi Arabia alone has spent at least $1.5 billion on alleged sportswashing activities.

Sportswashing isn't a new problem. In fact, it's one of the oldest tricks in an autocrat's international relations playbook. Students of European history probably remember Adolf Hitler's reasons for hosting the 1936 Olympic games.

Does it work ? The takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has been labelled a classic example of sportswashing, but will the deal really improve the country’s reputation? For one thing many football fans who may have been ignorant of charges against the Saudi government may now be aware of them for the first time. The so called Streisand effect 

Even tough we might ask "if Newcastle United start winning trophies, will the conversation continue to be about human rights in Saudi Arabia?” But in general it is almost impossible to measure how effective, or not, attempts at sportswashing are.

The difficult question that we don’t really have the answer to yet is: now what? Is there anything the average fan can do to strike back against it? The easiest and most often suggested answer is a boycott of events.  But it’s hard to believe that a fan boycott large enough to affect the bottom line of either event is possible, since at the end of the day, people’s love for what happens on the field is too great to be bothered by what happens off it. If there’s anything we can do to stop that, it’s to make sure that when autocracies host sporting events and buy sports teams, it doesn’t improve their reputations, but rather shines a light on their human rights abuses.

Fundamentally, sportswashing is a bet that fans can be bought off by the allure of glamorous stadiums and big-name sports clubs, and ignore the human rights violations that lie behind that façade. While we might not be able to fully take back control of sports any time soon, it is imperative for athletes and their fans to use their power to redirect the spotlight towards those crimes against humanity, and make the bet a losing one for undemocratic regimes.

No Salah in FIFA Word Cup 2022

We won't see Salah playing in the upcoming FIFA world cup 2022 as Egypt was defeated by Senegal in the second leg game recently. Loosing a game of football is not news. It could happen to any team however the way the fans acted during the game were disappointing if not a disgrace. The fan attacked the Egyptian players with laser pointers. 

FIFA officially prohibited lasers in a football stadium because the maximum soccer organism considered lasers affected the players on the pitch. However during the game referees did not do anything at all.  The referee didn't stop the game, and neither did FIFA speak about the problem. I guess the Egyptian players could themselves walked out from the game to protest. Too bad they did not do that and continued with the game. They did log an official complaint about the incident and FIFA promised to analyze the official match reports.

I would seriously doubt if FIFA would do anything other that reprimanding - but in any case Senegal would play in Qatar 2022. Winning at all cost like so is simply unfair. Of course the world is an unfair place but we should do anything within our reach to make is a fairer place. If FIFA does prohibit laser in a stadium then the referee  should stop the game and ask security to ensure no more laser being used. I would doubt the referee or FIFA official would had the nerve to do so.

Of course we could "blame" Egyptian team for not winning the game in normal time despite having one goal advantage from the the first leg. But of course the should have the right to have fair game until the last minute.

I guess my immediate reaction is to wish an instant karma to whomever that have done such a terrible act. I hope I am not having wishful thinking

Disastro

One big news for Italian Football lovers is that Italy is out of world cup after missing it back in 2018. This would be the first time for the Azzurri to miss successive World Cups for the first time. The last time they missed out from World Cup was back in 1958 in Sweden. Since then they won the title twice (Spain 1982, Germany 2006) and twice as runners-up (Mexico 1970, USA 1994 both lost to Brazil)

In competitive one country could not afford to stand still while the rest of the world strive for improvement. This apocalypse of Italian football is ironically only a year after they were crowned as the champion of Europe. Hence the title of 'disastro' in some Italian sport newspapers is pretty appropriate. Newspapers stress a loss of identity, suggesting Italy have reverted to an older version of themselves; they have shown a lack of creativity, their most experienced players short of self-confidence.

Of course life goes on. Many nations never made to world cup ever but of course for them the world does not end as they know it. Football game could be addictive and for some could be treated as a form of religious ritual but I would argue that Jurgen Klopp comments would best summarizes what football is all about : 

“The most important job of football is entertaining the people. It’s only football. We don’t save lives, we don’t plant anything, create anything, are not good in surgeries. We only play football, so if we don’t entertain the people why would we play then? It’s not always possible, but it’s a really important thing. That’s why we have to try to create constantly, or as often as possible.”

placebo effect?

Anyone who believes in God will never lose to someone who believes in Buddha

The above was quoted from Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian goal keeper of the team that beat Italy in World Cup 1994 final penalty shoot out. The person Taffarel referring to Roberto Baggio  a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism. Tafarrel was a member of  evangelical churches of Brazil which promote the Athletes of Christ movement

Of course logically Baggio would not miss his penalty just because he is Buddhist. Anybody could missed a penalty for myriad of  reasons but one's religion should not be one of them. But for Tafarrel it was the sole reason. I am not sure if his belief could affect Baggio as if Tafarrel had some kind of telepathic power. 

Looks like Tafarrel religious experience could be classified as placebo effect. The word "placebo" comes from Latin and means "I shall please." And "please" it does. In study after study, many people who take a placebo show improvement in their symptoms or condition. Such effect had been studied in the context of religious beliefs and practices

I do not think we could judge Tafarrel conviction as that would be his personal belief. People would be entitled to have his/her personal faith. If you were Brazilian supporter I guess you would be happy seeing Brazil won the trophy regardless of Tafarrel rather arrogant faith. But again the game was played fairly and after the normal time no one could score any goal.

Back to the story of Brazilian footballer. When Bayer Leverkusen striker Paulinho scored for Brazil in a 4-2 win over Germany at last year's Olympic Games. Paulinho celebrated his goal by making the gesture of an archer in homage to Oxossi, his orixa (a spirit deity) in the Candomble religion. Clearly he is no evangelical. Different religion but looks like similar placebo effect.  

citius armstrong

This morning I was listening to a podcast about Lance Armstrong the winner of 7 tour de France that was found to used illegal substances (doping) so that his achievement was stripped and he was banned for professional cycling for life. I got the impression that Armstrong is convinced that everyone in the tournament were using one substance of the other. He mentioned that all he did was to manage the lactic acid which is naturally produces by the body during exercise. His statement sounds like saying that during the tournament he did experience all the hard work but of course his body did not react like normal human being. The accumulation of lactic acid would certainly affect our performance. We would feel pain, hence tend to slow down and we could not perform at top level in endurance  event like Tour de France.

I am sure that there is limit to human performance. Current world record of 100 m sprint is 9.58 seconds. Would it be broken ? If so how much is it going to be attributed to pure human capabilities ? I guess stronger people with certain type of bodies would be able to sprint faster, long legs might help, etc. but after all of these factors are explored we could enter into unethical realm. If that is so would we consider the achievement as pure human effort ? But one might argue that using drug enhancing performances is after all human effort too. What if all athletes would be allowed to use certain drug enhancing performances? Would it make the race more fair ? 

Citius, Altius, Fortius the motto of Olympic express the spirit of humanity to achieve the limit. Of course  the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well but still all of us dream of winning. These days the Olympic glory would also means money from sponsorship etc. 

I guess we should still draw a line somewhere. OK  we might debate about the drug enhancing performances but I guess anyone would agree that robotic arm or leg or eyes would be out of question. That would simply be too far as the competition would no longer be about human - unless of course human would also consist robotic assistance performance

  

 

Football magic

I haven't written about football for a while now but the lost of ManUtd  to Boro - specifically the question of what next for Manchester United has made ponder about professional football. I have been working in Oil and Gas  business for more than two decades and I completely understand that it is business and nothing but business. Yes we do care about environment, employee safety etc but those are part of business necessities. We do that to comply with regulations as failing to do so means loosing license to operate which means loosing money

So money is the driver of all professional clubs like both United and Boro. There is a pretty wide gap between the two. United is pushing to the 4th position of premier league while Boro is currently 7th in the Championship which a league below Premier League. The game was played in United's home and the most expensive of Boro player is less than 10% of the most expensive player on United side. The odds were of course against Boro and yet they were drawn and United lost on the sudden death part of penalty shoot out. United fans would certainly complained about the equalizer but of course they should know better than United should simply kill the game by the end of the first half. 

Why would United fail to win the game ? Boro's supporters would not care how but they might say it was magic or luck. Human beings do believe such thing as luck - otherwise how would you explain Ronaldo -of all players- missed the penalty? but of course human made mistakes and that would be more plausible to explain the lost of Giants like United. There is uncertainties and randomness, but human brain would resist to see that and instead believes that somehow order would prevail. 

This uncertainty if favors minnows like Boro would certainly gives impression of magic, being lucky and believe in fairytale. If the game were to be replayed in another alternative universe United might simply won it easily. Statistically they should but of course there is always chance for the unthinkable. And that would makes life more interesting, isn't it - specially if you were no fan of United 

     

The Unwanted One

Waktu diminta berbaris menerima penghargaan juara, Benitez masih nampak sibuk menghibur pemain-pemain Benfica yang tewas 2-1 dalam laga Piala Eropa. Tim biru dari London lebih baik satu gol dan untuk kesekian kalinya Benfica dipaksa menelan kepahitan. Ketika giliran mengangkat piala sampai padanya Benitez nampak tersenyum, Tidak terlalu nampak meledak suka-citanya dan ia seperti mengangkat piala itu untuk dirinya sendiri. Kamu bisa!  Maklumlah ia bukan pelatih favorit para boboth Chelsea yang tidak bisa lupa bagaimana Liverpool dibawah Benitez mengandaskan tim biru ini lewat gol hantu (Luis Garcia tahun 2005).

Sepanjang persinggahan tujuh bulannya di Stamford Bridge Benitez sudah kenyang dihujat, dilecehkan, tidak dianggap dan litani negatif lain yang ditimpakan pada dirinya. Ia adalah The Interim One, The Unwanted One, yang apa boleh buat menjadi pelatih Chelsea sepeninggal Di Mateo November tahun lalu. Bagi Benitez yang pengangguran Chelsea jelas adalah sebuah kesempatan membuktikan diri, sementara bagi para fans Benitez adalah skandal.

Dari sisi lain, cerita keberhasilan Benitez dan tim Chelsea meraih juara Eropa (meski tetap adalah piala kelas dua dibanding Champion League) dan tiket ke laga Champion musim depan (meski masih harus menang di laga terakhir) adalah satu cerita bahwa garis lurus bisa ditarik garis bengkok, God draws straight with crooked lines. Atau seperti bait lagu kebangsaan Liverpool yang sudah ratusan kali didengar Benitez.

At the end of the storm
There's a golden star
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Jika sesekali hidup mengambil jalur yang tidak biasa, diluar harapan, diluar sangkaan mestinya cerita itu mengajarkan bahwa lebih bijak buat tetap melangkah dan percaya bahwa diujung sana ceritanya tidak sejelek yang kita sangka. Bahkan ada orang yang sampai berkata - tidak ada kegagalan atau kepahitan, yang ada adalah pelajaran. Dan dari kepahitan kita bisa belajar banyak, lebih banyak bahkan dari keberhasilan.

Benitez mungkin tidak pernah akan mendapat tempat pertama dihati penggila Chelsea. Mungkin tidak jadi soal pula baginya. Yang jelas ia boleh meninggalkan Stamford Bridge dengan kepala tegak. Kamu bisa !  and you will never walk alone...

Tiger Would

Demikianlah Tiger Woods yang jawara main golf bertekuk lutut dihadapan skandal. Seorang teman mengatakan Tiger would and could and so he did. Maka kita baca peribahasa melayu yang saya temukan hari ini : "Biarpun kucing naik haji, pulangnya mengeong juga" yang maknanya : pembawaan yang tidak dapat diubah.

Tentu kita tidak tahu apakah memang begitu pembawaan Mister  Woods ini atau dia menjadi begitu akibat kondisi (kaya raya, pergaulan selebriti, etc). Kita juga tidak bisa menghakimi dia lebih jelek dari kita (bahkan Yesus pernah berkata : mengapa engkau mengatakan Aku baik ? hanya Allah yang baik).

Hanya Allah yang 100% spirit, kita manusia punya daging dan DNA. Kata Dawkins -bahkan- kita cuma sarana gen untuk menggandakan diri. Dalam pandangan gen-etik Mister Wood tentu sebaiknya ber-prokreasi dengan lebih banyak wanita - supaya gen nya lestari. Demikian strategi gen yang mungkin tidak sejalan dengan aspek etika, moral, agama, dsb.

 Tetapi kiranya satu hal yang cukup pasti: Tiger tidak bisa menyalahkan siapa-siapa selain dirinya. Jika sudah tahu bahwa manusia itu terdiri dari daging juga maka jangan main api. Lagi Yesus kita dengar : spirit itu penurut tetapi daging lemah. Lemah dalam makna: mudah terbawa agenda biologik. Maklumlah -kalau percaya biologi- manusia tidak terlalu berbeda. Konon beda DNA manusia dengan simpanse cuma 4% saja. Maka dorongan hormonal simpanse juga kita alami sama kuat.

Tetapi tentu otak kita yang 3x lebih besar dari kera afrika ini mestinya tidak cuma kita biarkan saja dikendalikan arus deras lendir hormonal. Kita punya "free" will. Kera tidak punya pilihan: kita jelas punya. Karena menjadi manusia itu konon meski could but not necessarily would.

Dalam lautan bisa diduga, dalam Thierry siapa tahu?

Dizaman modern ini kejujuran ditentukan oleh wasit. Thierry Henry yang sempat jadi ikon kesebelasan kondang dari London, Arsenal jelas-jelas main tangan dalam partai "hidup-mati" play off kualifikasi piala dunia antara Perancis dan Irlandia Utara. Aksi main tangan ini mengantar Perancis menyamakan kedudukan dan mereka menyingkirkan Irlandia Utara. No luck for the Irish, but Thierry Henry is the greatest cheater menurut majalah times

Henry konon mengaku dia main tangan - tetapi kalau wasit tidak menyatakan itu salah (lantaran tidak melihat atau alasan lain) maka kecurangan itu menjadi sah. Lepas apapun konsekuensinya (kesebelasan lain tersingkir,  etc). Peristiwa curang kita lihat juga saat orang perancis lain bernama Ngog pura-pura diganjal dan membuat kesebelasannya berhasil dihadiahi penalti. Seorang blogger menulis bahwa hal seperti ini konon lumrah dalam sport

Wasit dan pemain memang manusia dan sepakbola yang menjanjikan hadiah, uang dan ketenaran tidak pelak adalah godaan (bagi siapa saja) untuk meraih kemenangan, at all cost. Tujuan menghalalkan cara. Memang tidak semua. Robbie Fowler pernah memprotes wasit justru karena memberinya hadiah penalti. Fowler bilang dia tidak dicurangi, tetapi wasit berkeras pada keputusannya. Penalti disepak dan goal. Apa boleh buat

Demikianlah human is human - kalau anda menemukan dompet berisi uang ribuan dolar apakah anda akan iklankan : ditemukan dompet pemilik silakan ambil ? atau anda tinggalkan dompet itu tergeletak begitu saja ? atau anda ambil dan gunakan 90% untuk amal ? pilihan yang sulit kalau tidak ada yang melihat kejadian ini.

Sudah tentu tidak ada komunitas yang bisa bertahan tanpa kejujuran. Bagaimana kalau pesawat terbang tidak taat jadwal ? kalau orang tidak membayar hutang ? kalau 1 liter bukan 1 liter ? kalau makanan kaleng expired dijual ? Maka bisa dimengerti kalau muncul yang namanya etika, pulisi dan neraka. Supaya manusia didorong untuk tetap jujur sebisa-bisanya

Tetapi disisi lain tidak realistis juga kalau kita berharap semua orang sejujur kita. Kalau anda dijalan raya anda perlu hati-hati terutama karena ada orang yang tidak sehati-hati anda. Selalu ada moron yang mengemudi seenak dengkulnya. Tidak guna memaki atau mengutuk. Kalau cilaka anda juga kena getahnya. Persis demikian dalam kasus Henry versus Irlandia Utara ini.

Keane yang asli dari Irlandia menandaskan dengan bagus bahwa yang salah adalah Irlandia sendiri. Jika mereka membuat selisih goal tak terjembatani (misal 2-0) maka kecurangan Henry menjadi sebuah lelucon yang lebih memalukan lagi.

Konon orang bijak mengatakan bahwa kita perlu lebih takut manusia daripada sama macan. Karena macan jauh lebih jujur dari manusia. Macan lapar menerkam - maka sediakan kandang besi, tetapi manusia? Hati manusia siapa yang tahu ?