The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Brendan Rodgers gets it right for Liverpool Posted: 01 Mar 2014 01:21 AM PST
Liverpool visit Southampton in a late kick-off tonight (1.30am, Sunday morning). One for the purists, this fixture at St. Mary's promises goals galore, as Southampton's weaknesses were exposed against West Ham last week. Liverpool's defensive follies have been much documented, but I must commend Brendan Rodgers on two very apt points he made over the week regarding his current Liverpool side. His first statement was regarding the defensive frailties the team has been showing, insisting that it was not an issue of coaching, rather it was an issue regarding the defenders themselves. To put it quite simply, Liverpool defenders lack individual quality. Kolo Toure's arrival, a player who changes clubs quicker than Jack Nicklaus, signifies that inability to attract more adept centerbacks, and Southampton could very well punish them in what is sure to be a shootout. Rodgers' second statement was perhaps more telling on his coaching methods. Reiterating that his Liverpool side will not be like Mourinho's Chelsea - the insistence on playing a certain system and not sacrificing that philosophy (instead of playing reactive football) is sure to resonate well with Liverpool fans. Their successes in Europe were based on supreme attacking talent coupled with individual quality at the back, not backs against the wall "parking the bus" football that has seen unlikely teams emerge champions of Europe in recent times. Southampton at home is no cakewalk, and I expect a score-draw which is sure to entertain any individual who happens to switch channels to this match at any point in the evening. London derby Chelsea are on the road too, but on a much shorter journey across the road to local rivals Fulham (11pm). Coming off a very tactically-draining first leg in Istanbul, Chelsea will be disappointed to have only come away with a 1-1 draw. Galatasaray, coached by Jose Mourinho's nemesis of the moment, Roberto Mancini, proved combative enough to stifle a blunted Chelsea attack, Fernando Torres mastering the art of scoring a goal yet failing to impress; an unfortunate result of failing to meet the stratospheric expectations set for him upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge at the end of January in 2011. The last thing Chelsea need is an away fixture against a side desperately needing three points. A no-nonsense figure, Felix Magath's appointment brings a refreshing attitude to the dressing room which is sure to galvanize struggling Fulham against *pragmatic/tactical/boring (*take your pick) Chelsea. You have players in the modern game who think themselves more knowledgeable than even their managers just because they earn big money. Hence, the appointment of Felix Magath is shrewd, in that Magath will cut them down to size and instill an "us against them" mentality which is crucial for a team embroiled in a tight race for relegation. Or, his methods could very well backfire and a player mutiny might be at hand. Regardless, the players need to stand up and be counted when it matters, and Magath's proven success with VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich should provide them with enough confidence in his methods to put up a stiff resistance against a drained Chelsea side. The return of the midfield maestro All eyes will be on the return of Mesut Ozil as Arsenal travel to Stoke City tonight (11pm). So much, perhaps too much, has been said about Arsenal lately. Arsene Wenger's every word dissected and Ozil's every movement criticised by the "media circus". A visit to Stoke City at this point of the season should be an easy three points for the Gunners but promises to be a far trickier fixture than it seems. Mark Hughes has recently adapted the Tony Pulis method (which was successful in guiding Stoke City into the Premiership and subsequently the Europa League through a runner-up finish in the FA Cup final of 2010-11, falling to Manchester City at Wembley). The battling, better organised side, challenging for every ball is precisely the type of team that can rattle (and shock) Arsenal. In recent years, this kind of matchup has been a classic litmus test for Arsene Wenger's boys - do they have enough steel to take Stoke City apart? We shall see tonight. Comeback for Martinez Meanwhile, Everton will be looking to come back from the injury time defeat last week, to take on West Ham United (11pm). West Ham United's good run of form might come to an end at Goodison Park as they visit Roberto Martinez's Everton. Coming off a painful defeat to Chelsea, Roberto Martinez would feel that his substitutions let him down. The game plan was to soak up early pressure and bring on attacking options to catch Chelsea on the counter-attack, but the introductions of Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley failed to perform on the night. One of the major highlights this Premier League season, Ross Barkley's floundering performance was a rare sight. Do expect him and Everton to bounce back with more venom as they face off a squad which will allow them to dictate the tempo of the match far more comfortably than any Jose Mourinho-coached team. West Ham United seem to have turned a corner this season, racing up to 10th spot on the back of four straight wins (though it must be noted that three of the four victories came against fellow relegation battlers Swansea City, Aston Villa and Norwich City) but the sheer quality and desire of Everton, still very much in the hunt for a European berth next season, should see the Toffees through. Spurred on against sorry Cardiff Finally, Tottenham Hotspur will hope to capitalist on the poor form of Cardiff City tomorrow night (12.30am Monday morning). Following what was a truly pathetic first half performance against Norwich City last weekend, Tim Sherwood's halftime talk only galvanised his team slightly. Tottenham Hotspur improved to merely being poor in the second half as they dropped three points against opposition they should be brushing aside if a European run is on the books next season. Sherwood has his work cut out for him as they seem to be struggling with two 1-0 away defeats on the trot. Cardiff City? There was no doubt that the Bluebirds were going to be in a relegation battle at the start of the season, and Malky Mackay's dismissal neither worsened (nor truly improved, for that matter) the situation at hand. This side simply lacks enough quality to compete in the Premier League right now, and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer will do well to gather a point from this visit to White Hart Lane. Perhaps it would be a good idea for Tan Sri Vincent Tan to start planning for a potentially expensive summer. – March 1, 2014. | |
| Ke Kuala Sedili untuk kemanusiaan Posted: 28 Feb 2014 06:58 PM PST Dinsman atau nama sebenarnya Che Samsudin Othman adalah budayawan, penulis dan sastrawan. Beliau menulis untuk kepuasan dan kebebasan berkarya. Awal Februari lalu, saya bersama Kassim dan Nasser bertolak awal pagi menuju Kota Tinggi. Singgah sekejap di Air Hitam, makan "kari kambing 40 hari", kemudian teruskan perjalanan. Nasser yang memandu. Di Kota Tinggi kami mencari jalan untuk ke Kuala Sedili. Kami bertiga belum pernah ke Kuala Sedili. Dengan bertanya orang akhirnya tengahari itu sampailah kami ke pekan kecil di pinggir kuala itu. Ternampak suatu papan tanda – SK Sri Setia Jaya, Jalan Datuk Usman Awang. Ah, gembiranya hati! Ada orang yang tahu menghargai jasa seorang seniman besar kita, dengan menamakan sebatang jalan utama di pekan kecil itu dengan namanya. Belum nampak tanda nama jalan tersebut. Kami ikuti arah yang ditunjukkan papan tanda nama sekolah tadi, dan sampailah kami ke depan pintu pagar sekolah itu. Terpampang nama sekolah dengan tulisan huruf besar pada temboknya, dan di bawahnya tulisan "Jalan Dato Usman Awang" itu pun jelas terbentang. Seronoklah kami! Kemudian kami bergerak menuju ke pusat pekan, (hanya deretan kedai di kiri kanan jalan yang hujungnya terdapat jeti untuk ke seberang – ke Sedili Besar). Waktu itulah ternampak papan tanda nama "Jln Dato Usman Awang" itu. Agak kecil ukurannya. Dengan latar warna kuningnya, mudah menyebabkan orang terlepas pandang. Tapi tak mengapalah, sekurang-kurangnya ada juga! Jangan sampai tak ada. Kemudian sewaktu makan di sebuah restoran kami bertanya pada seorang gadis pelayan restoran itu – kenal Usman Awang? Dia mengerutkan keningnya dan bertanya semula: "Dia orang sini ke?" Kami balas dengan senyuman, kerana sudah pasti jawapannya dia tidak kenal siapa itu Usman Awang. Tak mengapalah. Dia tak kenal tak bermakna semua orang tak kenal. Ada seorang lelaki yang sedang berjalan, kami tanya dia soalan yang sama. Dia kenal dan tahu siapa keluarga Usman Awang yang masih tinggal di daerah itu. Dan apabila kami berjumpa dengan Ketua Kampung Tanjung Sedili (merangkap pengerusi JKKK), dia bukan sahaja tahu siapa Usman Awang tetapi dia juga telah berusaha untuk membangunkan sebuah Galeri Usman Awang di situ. Hanya malang sedikit ada pula pihak yang berpendapat bahan-bahan mengenai Usman Awang itu lebih sesuai ditempatkan di Muzium Kota Tinggi. Bagaimanakah pengisian bahan-bahan mengenai Usman Awang itu dipamerkan di Muzium Kota Tinggi? Itu mungkin akan kami tinjau pula dalam perjalanan kedua kami ke Kuala Sedili tidak lama lagi. Ya, kami akan hadir lagi di kampung kelahiran seniman besar Malaysia ini beberapa kali lagi menjelang tarikh 12 Julai, kerana kami bercadang untuk mengadakan sambutan ulang tahun kelahirannya pada tahun ini, di situ. Apabila pihak penganjur Anugerah Integrasi Nasional Usman Awang Huazong mengajak saya berbincang bagi mengadakan beberapa acara untuk mempromosi agenda anugerah tersebut, itulah salah satu agenda yang kami bincangkan. Bukan sekadar sambutan ulang tahun yang biasa, tetapi mengadakan beberapa acara sempena tarikh kelahirannya. Dan oleh kerana tarikh itu berada dalam bulan Ramadan, terpaksalah kita awalkan sedikit program ini – seminggu sebelum Ramadan, iaitu sekitar 21-22 Jun. Antara acara yang difikirkan ialah himpunan para penyair Nusantara. Maka ada kawan yang mencadangkan agar himpunan ini dinamakan Hari Puisi Kemanusiaan, mengambil sempena tema yang paling menonjol dalam karya-karya Usman. Satu daripada acara istimewa Hari Puisi Kemanusiaan ini tentulah lawatan ke kampung kelahiran Usman Awang itu sendiri, dan juga apa-apa lokasi istimewa yang ada hubungannya dengan Usman Awang. Baca puisi atau persembahan puisi itu sudah semestinyalah, di samping beberapa perbincangan yang sesuai di sekitar puisi dan tema kemanusiaan. Sempena dengan himpunan penyair Nusantara, yakni Hari Puisi Kemanusiaan itu, kawan-kawan Seniman Paksi Rakyat (Paksi) mengumpulkan puisi-puisi dari penyair-penyair yang berminat menulis puisi bertema kemanusiaan, dan akan hadir ke perhimpunan itu, untuk dibukukan dan dilancarkan pada perhimpunan tersebut. Turut memeriahkan lagi sambutan ulang tahun Sasterawan Negara Usman Awang ini diadakan juga satu pertandingan deklamasi puisi-puisi kemanusiaan Usman Aswang di kalangan pelajar-pelajar seluruh Malaysia, bagi peringkat tertentu (yang akan ditentukan nanti). Mereka yang berjaya ke peringkat akhir akan bertemu di Kuala Sedili, kerana kemuncak penilaiannya akan dibuat sempena Hari Puisi Kemanusiaan itu. Kawan-kawan Paksi yang terlibat dengan teater, khasnya Nizam Yamin dan Nor Amani, sedang meneliti skrip Uda Dan Dara untuk melihat kemungkinan pementasannya "dalam versi kampung", iaitu dipentaskan dalam suasana dan latar kampung – di ruang terbuka, laman sebuah rumah tradisional, dengan gaya kampung – kira-kira begitu. Ideanya ialah kembali ke kampung, ke pangkuan rakyat desa yang memang merupakan masyarakat asal yang melahirkan salah sebuah karya terbaik dalam seni dan sastera Melayu kita. Dan kalau jadi, ini pun akan menjadi satu daripada program pengisian Hari Puisi Kemanusiaan yang dicadangkan itu. (Ah, harap-harap jadilah ya!) Sementara itu, kawan-kawan Usman Awang seramai lebih 100 orang berkumpul di Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kuala Lumpur pada Sabtu 15 Februari lalu, untuk tujuan menubuhkan sebuah yayasan yang akan dinamakan Yayasan Usman Awang. Ia inisiatif Tan Kai Hee, seorang sahabat karib Usman yang kebetulan menerajui sebuah perniagaan, syarikat Hai-o Berhad memperuntukkan sejumlah wang yang agak besar bagi menjayakan usaha mempromosi seni dan sastera untuk kemanusiaan ini. Untuk dana awal menggerakkan yayasan itu misalnya, Hai-o menyumbang sebanyak RM1 juta. Anugerah Integrasi Nasional Usman Awang itu pula, satu agenda utama daripada usaha ini, hadiah utamanya ialah wang tunai RM100,000; dan lima hadiah iringan RM10,000 setiap satu. Di samping itu beberapa aktiviti seperti yang akan dibuat di Kuala Sedili itu, bagi mempromosi integrasi dan kemanusiaan, akan dijalankan dari semasa ke semasa. "Kita berharap aktiviti-aktiviti sastera dan budaya yang bertema kemanusiaan, seperti yang dipelopori oleh Usman Awang itu, akan dapat memberi sumbangan yang bererti kepada integrasi nasional di kalangan masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan pelbagai fahaman politik di negara kita," kata Tan Kai Hee. – 1 Mac, 2014. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider. |
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