Baseball professionals and those who follow the sport closely, frequently refer to this time of the season, as the dog days of summer. The reference deals with what is psychologically, the toughest part of the season to get through, as the schedule has another six weeks to go, before the playoffs begin in October. It is not unusual to see some of the best teams in the sport go through slumps at this time of the year. For the teams that remain in contention for a post-season spot, it frequently becomes like the law of the jungle, where it is a question of avoiding major injuries to key players, especially the pitching staff. The games might also become mentally tough, as the top teams might be already thinking ahead to the playoffs,even though they need to be focused on the day to day schedule.
Conversely for soccer, their very long season is just getting underway, and for the elite players who competed in the World Cup, it is a real marathon, as there was only about a month of down time, if that. For those who were dealing with injuries, or perhaps still are, it’s as though the game is year round. It must seem that way for Didier Drogba, the super striker for the Ivory Coast and the Chelsea Blues. Last season’s Premiership golden boot winner, played for Ivory Coast in the World Cup with a cast on a broken arm, so he had to work extra hard to be in top condition, and it seems to have paid off. Drogba scored a hat trick in Chelsea’s first Premiership league game, in last weekend’s 6-0 laugher against West Brom at Stamford Bridge. If Drogba and his team-mates have another good year on the pitch, they will be playing into late May. That’s what you would call a long season. One can only imagine what the pressure will be like for Wayne Rooney at Manchester United. He was one of the England players, taking the brunt of fan disgruntlement, due to the poor showing by the Three Lions in South Africa, and especially with the fact that he verbally unloaded on England fans who were booing the team, after they played to a draw with Algeria. The striker was caught by television cameras saying “Nice to see your home fans boo you, that’s loyal supporters”. To his credit, Rooney apologized for his temperamental display towards their boosters, within 24 hours of the incident. He and his fellow Red Devils always have a lot to live up to, in terms of fan expectations, after a slightly disappointing season at Old Trafford last year.
I wrote yesterday about Nicolas Anelka, and the 18 game suspension handed to him by the French Football Federation, for his lead role in the implosion of Les Blues at the World Cup. Anelka’s halftime tirade against then coach Raymond Domenech during the game against Mexico, which France lost 2-0, and his subsequent expulsion from the team, led to a strike by the rest of the team shortly afterwards. The Chelsea striker won’t have to worry about burn out from playing too much soccer over the next two years. In fact, while he sounds somewhat cynical, his words make it clear that he is thrilled to get away from the national team, as was detailed in the A.P. story.
In an interview with France Soir newspaper on Wednesday, Anelka referred to the suspensions as a “masquerade to not lose face………..These people are real clowns…….I’m dying of laughter………Who said I wanted to play again in Blue ?……for me, after the World Cup in South Africa, the French team is now history.”
Based on their recent performance, and going back to the European Championships of 2008, where Les Blues also performed poorly, Anelka may not be far off in his harsh assessment of the team. For the national soccer team of France and their followers, they can only wish that there worst problem was the soccer equivalent of the dog days of summer.