Forget the days of famous football feuds in the press, fuelled by often-misconstrued statements from warring parties to the media. We are no longer in the days of the Sir Alex Ferguson – Arsene Wenger verbal spats, or the famous tussles in the tunnel between Ian Wright and Peter Schmeichel. Or even in those when referees had to pull Newcastle teammates Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer off each mid-game. Move over Jose Mourinhio and Roman Abramovich. The age of the Internet war is here.
It's Diwali week and the Tottenham Hotspurs couldn't have asked for a better present. Wednesday night at White Hart Lane saw them claim a historic Champions League fixture against defending champions Inter Milan. To give credit where credit is due, Rafael van der Vaart predicted the win for his home side, during a much publicised, hugely entertaining Twitter duel with his close friend and Oraanje teammate, Inter's Wesley Sneijder. It is heartening to see such a close relationship between the two. Once teammates at Ajax and Real Madrid, Sniejder has always overshadowed the older Van der Vaart, even beating him to a permanent spot for Ajax and the Dutch.Yet, they've remained friends. The players have bantered since the first leg of the Spurs – Inter game. While Inter won the first round (four goals to the Tottenham's three), Van der Vaart warned Sneijder he would expose the absent and cheese-like Inter defense. And expose he did. Van der Vaart scored early, followed by two more goals for the home side. Spurs won 3-1. Sneijder may be wishing he hadn't run his mouth about the similarities in Van der Vaart and his six-year-old cousin's ability to find the back of the net. The sparring between the two brought the light-hearted side of football banter back to the game.
Unfortunately, not all Tottenham players exercise the 140-word twitter limit with as much humour or wit. In 2009, former Tottenham and current Sunderland player Darren Bent made use of this most public of forums to rant about his unhappiness with Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy. Bent felt Tottenham were trying to block his move to Sunderland, and made sure the world knew how he felt, using particularly flowery language. In the end, he did get his transfer, and his twenty-eight goals for Sunderland last season saved the side from relegation, though Bent's manager suspended his Twitter account to help him focus on the relegation battle. Fabio Capello used the striker's communication-lockdown model this summer and banned the team from using any social networking sites during the World Cup. We all know how that worked out for them in the end.
Ex-United and Blackburn player Robbie Savage could learn a thing or two from the Dutch boys. How can anyone ever forget the blonde hell-raiser who holds the record as the Premiership's most booked player? Another Twitter feud that's been making the news for a while is the Savage – Rio Ferdinand tweet fest. From juvenile pot shots at each other's equally offensive hairdos, to the comical belittling of their respective shoe lines (who would buy either?), to jibes about who has a more ridiculous tattoo or hair-iron collection, their budding 'bro-romance' comes as a surprise. Rewind to a 2006 tunnel fight where the two had to be pulled off each other after a Blackburn-United game. Now? They wish each other good night instead.
My online stalking of English Premier League football players, specifically their Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts, has left me marginally dumber. If there's one thing that bothers me more than dial-up Internet it is atrocious spelling and bad grammar. Footballers trade insults like they're in middle school. Even then, I just can't get enough. The increasing number of football players on social networking sites and age of the hilarious Internet war are chances for fans to develop an almost real connection with their favourite player, or the opportunity of a lifetime to be a ringside spectator to player rivalries. Nothing quite makes my day like helping Jack Wilshere with a restaurant recommendation or discovering my favorite Frank Sinatra song on Nicklas Bentnder's I-tunes playlist.
No comments:
Post a Comment