Mad Brit Diary

There is no one more lethal than van Nistlerooy despite the snubs.

(Sunday, May 11, 2003) -- Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solsjaer might be the "baby-faced assassin" but his sidekick, Ruud van Nistelrooy, is surely "the great executioner."

Van Nistelrooy is a goal-mouth killer. The Mad Brit thinks the flying Dutchman, who can turn on a sixpence in the box and make the opposition pay dearly, is the greatest goal-scorer machine to play for an English club, since, well, Gary Lineker roamed the green pastures of fair England with Tottenham from 1989-1991. Like Lineker, Ruud will scoop up any loose ball and bury it decisively in the netting.

Lineker was always consistent and so is Ruud. In United's demolition of Charlton last week, van Nistelrooy notched his 43rd goal of the season in his 100th game for the Reds Devils as Man. U. claimed its eighth title in the English Premier League's 11-year history. Against Charlton, van Nistlerooy scored his third hat trick of the season. He has now scored 13 goals in the club's last nine games and 79 goals overall in his 100 games for Manchester.

Van Nistlerooy closed the Premier League season Saturday by putting away a penalty kick in the 77th minute for the decisive tally in a 2-1 decision at Everton. Including club and country, the Dutchman has 47 goals this season.

Not bad, you say -- this is all pretty remarkable stuff. Still, the Football Writers' Association chose Arsenal's Thierry Henry as "Player of the Year" on May 2, less than a week after his peers had voted him the Professional Footballers' Association "Player of the Year."

So the writers and the players left Ruud with nothing. He was even left of the PFA's "Team of the Season." What gives? The Mad Brit is shaking his head. Something stinks in England and it's not the Fish and Chips. Henry finished the season with 24 goals, 32 in all competitions.

Van Nistelrooy, on the other hand, helped his team win the championship and caused all sorts of havoc in the Champions League with his lethal finishing. Finding net in his last 10 outings, van Nostlerooy helped Man U. go undefeated in its last 18 EPL contests.

Scoring goals in the EPL is one thing, but Ruud not went on to notch a record 14 goals in the tough Champions League against some of the greatest defenders and goalies in the world. Maybe it was just bad timing. The PFA was told to vote for the players performance from February 2002 to February 2003 and early March was the deadline. Votes were probably cast before his fantastic late flurry.

Some are convinced that Henry -- the fourth Frenchman to lift the Writer's award, after Eric Cantona, David Ginola and last year's winner, Robert Pires -- has more flair and sets up more assists than Ruud. Henry is certainly a great provider of the ball. But van Nistelrooy's footwork is as just as good as Henry's and his runs are just as crisp. The snubs didn't worry the Dutchman. He kept on scoring while Henry and Arsenal let the title -- the Gunners once had an eight point lead over United -- slip out of its hands."

"I don't pay too much attention to these things," said van Nistlerooy's coach Alex Ferguson. "But the greatest compliment I can pay Ruud is that he is on his way to becoming one of the best strikers of all time. . . I knew he was going to become a great player. But I didn't know quite how good he was going to become. I must say that because he has surprised me almost every week."

According to reports, van Nistelrooy has put a goal past every one of the 22 Premiership clubs he has faced, except Leeds United. Meanwhile, Barcelona's Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert, 26, has been linked to a move to English champion Manchester United and could be an ideal link for van Nostlerooy. Kluivert recently equaled Dennis Bergkamp's record of 37 goals for the Netherlands in a 1-1 draw with Portugal.

Mark Viduka's winning goal for Leeds United against Arsenal which clinched the title for Manchester United cost the champions a pretty penny. The goal was worth $1.2 million for Leeds. As part of the Rio Ferdinand's $48 million move form Leeds to Manchester last year, the Red Devils agreed to pay a $1.2 million every time the talented defender helps them win the championship during his five-year contract.

The BBC, that left-wing anachronism, that still churns out some good TV shows, reports that the nutty Bookmakers in England are offering odds that Tony Blair - the British Prime Minister -- will become the next manager of Newcastle United.

Ladbrokes has the PM at 500-1 to succeed the 70-year-old Sir Bobby Robson. Blair, who hails from Newcastle country is a big fan of the Magpies.

Finally, Arsenal unleashed an English player and he scored a hat trick in his debut. Remember the name Jermaine Pennant. The 20-year-old marked his first EPL game for the Gunners scoring three times in Arsenal's 6-1 destruction of Southampton.

Mighty star-studded Real Madrid was stunned 5-1 by middle-of-the-table Real Mallorca last week. It was Spanish League leader's first home loss in 50 games. At least Ronaldo netted his 300th goal as a professional in the game.

Ton Doebler says: "A very interesting article on Bolton and their lack of British Blood. As a Manchester United fan, I am proud that they won the ENGLISH Premiere League with English players! Unlike Arsenal, Man. U. does resemble an English squad with the likes of Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, the Neville brothers, Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand. And, with Ryan Giggs (Wales), Roy Keane and John O'Shea (Ireland), this just adds to the flavor.

Knapp again: "What's (Arsene) Wenger's problem. He seems to be the poster boy for every bad French stereotype. Gracious and suave when doing well and a cowardly crybaby looking to blame anyone but himself when things are going poorly. He does have an eye for talent, but Sir Alex would knock him out with one punch in fight."

Pat Ward says: "My beloved Columbus Crew has shown flashes of brilliance this season. They need to find some consistency. Anyway, I'd like to lob out the ridiculous assertion that the reason Man. U. isn't playing an American club in its much anticipated tour of the U.S. this summer is that it is afraid. You heard it here first -- Columbus would thrash Man U."

Michael Jouini writes: "I can agree with your sentiment, but the football realities don't agree with British tokenism There was a Bundesliga outfit that didn't play any German players (Energie Cottbus) and there was an outcry similar to yours in Deutschland. With localization and the desire to sell merchandise abroad, as well as gaining lucrative television contracts, the major European football leagues have become even more of a global all-star league.

Rick says: "Wake up! The world has changed, its not 1966. Bolton is a suburb of Manchester just like in America. Its stadium is an American replica and the nearby mall is another copy of suburbia. The Bolton soccer fans want entertainment, the best team money can buy to stay afloat in the Premier League. . . English players are not good enough. The training methods of English coaches particularly in the middle and lower division have been too slow to change with the world's modern game."

Tom Emerson says: "I could definitely see Beckham coming over here. In another six years. he'll be well past his prime, but they'll want to use his name to generate interest and his wife will certainly be amenable. . . Localization in sport is affecting Major League baseball and the National Basketball Association.

Knapp says: "England's youth system is an absolute joke. It teaches outdated garbage -- football out of the 1960s and 1970s. English players are physical, hard-nosed, tough and fast -- very little tactical ability and limited ball skills."

Joe Santos writes: "From what I read, the financial status of professional soccer in Europe is rapidly deteriorating to a very precarious conditions. Player salaries are too high relative to revenue and as a result players and coaches are paid (if at all) on a delayed basis."

Ted Occhialino says: "How could anyone in their right mind say that Ronaldo is the best player in the world? Match-in, match-out, if I need a striker, I'll take Raul every day, thank you very much."

SpudChuck writes: "Successful English football teams have always been heavily dependent on foreign players; it's just that they used to be Scottish, Irish and Welsh instead of "Continentals.". . . Is Munich a nicer place than Bolton?"

Owen Hargreaves' dad is a Bolton fan so maybe he'll wind up there.

Heard a rumor, have a gripe or a tip? Feeling lonely? E-mail the Mad Brit at themadbrit3@aol.com.