Mad Brit Diary

Debate heats up over Blackburn breaking Liverpool bones.

(Saturday, September 20, 2003) -- Alert: Blackburn is breaking bones.

If you're a Liverpool fan, you might be just a bit upset, to say the least, with Blackburn Rovers this week. Liverpool's Jamie Carragher is out for six months with a broken leg and Czech star Milan Baros suffered a broken ankle. Both injuries came in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Rovers.

Now, the Mad Brit is not going to criticize the Blackburn Rovers players. Have you see how big Brad Friedel is? The Yank is a giant! But the foul by Australian defender Lucas Neill on Carragher was a horror tackle of the first degree. The Baros collision with Markus Babbel (who is on loan to Rovers from the Reds) didn't look too bad. Let's hope the Czech striker will be back for Euro 2004.

The injuries at Liverpool have sparked a word of wars between Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and Blackburn manager Graeme Souness. "Carra was injured at 3:10 p.m. on Saturday and the apology came 48 hours later," said Houllier. "It was absolutely pathetic. . . Maybe Souness is a good manager, but he should put aside his bad feelings for Liverpool."

". . . bad feelings for Liverpool" That last part got Souness boiling. Remember, Souness, a brilliant player in his time, was a legend when he played for Liverpool in the 1980s. He also coached the team from 1991- 94 where his tenure badly. At the time, Souness fired Liverpool assistant Phil Thompson who is now Houllier's loyal sidekick and took charge of the Reds when Houllier had his heart attack.

Souness fired back at the Liverpool coach, attacking Houllier for not having "played at the top level" which is a little unfair. Houllier never played at the highest level in France during his career, but that's the case of a lot of good coaches out there. The problem with the English Premier League is that it's extremely fast, which contributes to serious injuries, but it's not as "dirty" or dangerous as back in the "old days."

Ken Jones wrote in the Independent that "any number of players now at work in the Premiership would struggle to defend their front door against a salesman." Putting the "boot in," when the Mad Brit once played, was a rite of passage.

The Mad Brit, who by the way has suffered two fractures, including a broken leg which kept him off the field for six months, remembers a high school game where six of the players on his team had bloody shins. Part of the problem was the rotten football boots kids wore -- thick leather with hard leather studs. Games could get ugly.

Thankfully, referees today protect players more. Perhaps the great Dutch star Marco Van Basten could have played for longer if refs had kept more of an eye on the thugs out there who were hacking his ankles. In the 1980s, England captain Bryan Robson suffered 12 major injuries, including three broken legs, two broken noses, a hairline fracture, and numerous hamstring injuries. He was dubbed "Captain Marvel." But "Robbo" also gave out his fair share of two-footed tackles.

The nastiest injury to date that the MB remembers was Roy Keane's premeditated and infamous tackle a few years back on Manchester City defender Alf Inge Haaland who was left with badly damaged knee ligaments. After advice from the knee specialist Dr. Bergfeld in Cleveland last month, Haaland decided to retire. He never really recovered his old form.

Are you listening Roy Keane? Let's play soccer and not break bones.

The latest news on Freddy Adu is that cash-loaded Chelsea is willing to ante up $4.5 million to bring the 14-year-old American striker to London.

Mighty Arsenal looked mighty weak as it lost 3-0 to visiting Inter Milan in Game One of the Champions League this week. And star striker Theirry Henry failed to convert a penalty kick. It was a stunning loss for the French-loaded Gunners. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger now wants his player to vent their frustration out in the battle against Manchester United this weekend.

United, on the other hand destroyed Greek side Panathinaikos 5-0 in its opening Champions League game at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Bill Forbes writes from Denton, Tex.: "Mr. Mad Brit, thanks for your article 'Little nations make world soccer compelling' (Friday, September 12, 2003). Being a geography major, I am fascinated by this subject. A year or two ago, I quickly ran ratios of FIFA world rankings per capita. The Faroe Islands came out on top. They regularly get amazing results and not just in this latest Euro 2004 qualifying round.

'I believe Andorra's team comes mostly from a restaurant-sponsored team. Not exactly Vodafone! Among the more successful "big" nations, Uruguay has done remarkably well over the decades (frequent World Cup qualifier, won it twice!) with a (current) population of only 3 million.

Idan Tzur of the Bronx, N.Y., says of the same topic: "I found your article interesting. I would have to say that there definitely is a greater risk involved now when you play such teams as Cyprus and Malta. While Israel has been a strong European team that can produce surprises (knocking France out of qualification for World Cup 1994), these smaller nations have joined the pack in countries that can be a thorn in the side. Cyprus, while yes, losing recently to France 5-0, is gaining momentum and has closed the gap considerably on Israel, and Slovenia.

'Malta meanwhile is coming off a 2-2 draw with Israel. While Israel is not a European power, it did have on the field Manchester City star Eyal Berkovic, Fenerbahce's 2000 MVP, leading scoring, and former captain Haim Revivo, and up and coming star midfielder for Racing Santander, Yossi Benayoun, not to mention the wealth of stars from Maccabi Haifa which played in last years UEFA Champions League and upset Manchester United 3-0 in group play."

Clarke Cummings of Columbus, Ohio, writes: "Hello, Mad Brit, Since you got me hooked (and my wife too) wondering if you could provide an update on the status of the show on Fox Sports World? Did Lynda get a bullet in the noggin'? It sure looked like it. Also was that the season finale cliffhanger? (She does not die.)

Ray Coupland asks: "Can you give me some info on how and where to watch English games clubs on web sites, etc. I live in New Jersey\New York area. I usually go to the local polish bars to get a taste of what a European game day would be like but usually get a beer bath if I'm wearing the three lions badge. I want to hang with my own! Any info would be great. . . COME ON ENGLAND!"

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