Pakatan, Mourinho juxtaposed

Praba Ganesan, Malay Mail Online

Of course they are indifferent to it. Politics is not in the school curriculum. Can’t fault people confused by developments in Pakatan Rakyat or is it Pakatan Harapan or is it “Pakatan-ish plus Pribumi minus the bigotry and watch this space for Borneo”?

It’s confounding even for political pundits. Since football analyses are more accessible than politics, here you go, a primer to understand opposition politics in Malaysia through the travails of present-day shambolic Manchester United Football Club.

Football fans are aware Manchester United are heading nowhere, which also summarises the opposition’s present prognosis.

A decent start to the season gone mad, just like the opposition in 2016. Manager Jose Mourinho is presently besieged by media, fans and owners — all of whom want to know what and when is the uptrend. Trust him not to answer.

Mourinho is Mahathir Mohamad, has no clue about personal failures but is certain that he is not at fault.

So used to winning, whichever team he is at, however many assistant managers — Musa, Ghafar, Anwar or Badawi — he let go, he remains convinced that neither the club nor players decide his success, for only he decides victory. After all he is the “special one.”

No Football Einstein is necessary to figure that part out, he would add.

While, he has never failed to win a league title before with every team he has managed, no matter what the odds, this might be where he fails comprehensively. With Pribumi — a Frankensteinian meddling of the Umno formula intended to surgically strike at some seats and not alter equations in other seats meant for other partners who are not as race-committed as them.

Not that it was great before they showed up.

Pakatan are not serial winners, in fact they’ve never won Parliament. They have captured states, which is like making it to the Champions League by finishing fourth — akin to winning a major title if you ask Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger.

Which is what they did in 2008 and 2013 — the general elections; finished stronger but no title. [Incidentally, Man U won the titles in those years.]

Mourinho’s bought-United — Paul Pogba (£89 million or RM458 million), Eric Bailly (£30 million), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£26 million) — coupled with the jewel bought by his predecessor Louis Van Gaal — Anthony Martial (£35 million), Hender Hererra (£29 million), Memphis Depay (£25 million) Bastian Schweinsteiger (£14.4 million), Marcos Rojo (£14 million) and Matteo Darmian (£12 million) — means the club has a bevy of stars.

Mourinho is Mahathir Mohamad, has no clue about personal failures but is certain that he is not at fault. — Reuters pic

Just like the opposition, adding personnel for the sake of personnel. Desperate for a grand coalition of any person not Barisan Nasional (BN) without considering balance, focus or synergy. With the simplistic analysis that enough superstars leads to electoral win.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, voters don’t just rush to one side based on personal CVs stacking up. For every former minister Pribumi lines up, BN has a sitting one.

It’s about the starting eleven with even care for all spots.

A club can be 50 players, but the roster can have only x-numbers and match-day squads are whittled down further, before the first eleven is picked. A team needs a centre-forward as much as a midfield dynamo as much as a goalkeeper, even if all the other positions differ with preferred formations.

Formation from hell

Pakatan’s formation is just about beating others on cumulative reputation.

Glaringly, it is disallowed from having a creative midfielder, the fulcrum of the team, the Zinedine Zidane, Zico, Roberto Baggio or club favourite Paul Scholes, because that is Anwar Ibrahim’s spot.

Anwar, in prison, is the rallying point of the club players. Playing with a caveat that they will win when their number 10 is released, which then means his release supersedes the efforts to prepare for the general election. What about the game at hand while your only galactico is away?

For now, the team plays with no creativity out of choice. The manager can only look on saying that the match would be won without creativity but won’t allude to how.

Players get injured and games are decided by who is available, a little bit of that thinking would not hurt the opposition. To use what is available because the easiest thing for BN is to not let out the player their opponent build their team around.

Still, one position is certain, with no competition, defensive midfielder Saifuddin Abdullah. As a former deputy minister disillusioned with Umno, he is now assigned to resuscitate what is possible as the now Pakatan without having all the guarantees of who’s in or out. It is completely a thankless rear-guard action, expecting a man to perpetually negotiate with changing dance partners in order to choreograph a winning routine.

PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli is — being more Joey Barton before prison rather than — Anthony Martial. Overpriced but convinced he is better than everyone in every position, he can’t understand why he is not number 10 but rather plumped in right midfield. In and out of the team, conventional wisdom is he is too much of a gamble in a team already struggling for balance, with a reputation for discord and expectation to be the focus of all efforts.

Which contrasts with Azmin Ali, Selangor mentri besar and in this juxtaposition, the goalkeeper David de Gea. Solid as ever, stays out of coalition bickering, sure of starting position, and should be captain all things considered.

He might envy club captain Wayne Rooney or in our alternate universe, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the leader of the opposition for now. Can’t fit into a Mourinho system but always been around, it is difficult to stomach him being club captain without being good enough for the first eleven. Wan Azizah is a round peg with square holes in every direction.

Can’t lead a team on the pitch, if you are not on the pitch. Wan Azizah is a Rooney without a position, and when the position is created only manages to cause more complications to team play.

Then the player who divides supporters, Marouane Fellaini, which fits PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. So many feel he is useless in a fluid system, but as a short term solution always called upon, especially when all the other plans have failed. Route one Fellaini. Maybe it is the directness, the seasonal need for him and most certainly his faith — Hadi won’t be upset being linked to a professional Muslim sportsman. Be sure that when Bersih 5 comes closer, more and more pressure will grow to get Hadi to bring out PAS supporters.

The rest are clichés resting on other clichés.

Lim Guan Eng, the cavalier right back like Antonio Valencia. All solid, but won’t dream of being the playmaker.

His father, Lim Kit Siang, is certainly head of the fan club. Queasy about the shape but wants to offer the manager, Mahathir, the space necessary to set things right.

Zaid Ibrahim, the former minister, just like former player Gary Neville claims he has a plan and not just Mahathir’s confidante. Mindful that he has the Eric Cantona temperament without the talent, always one argument away from walking away from his latest initiative.

Raja Petra is the sportswriter who won’t let up because he was a fan now turned number one critic. Waiting to bait them, claims to always have the inside story, which is usually a lengthy fantastical story. Read him, with a punch of salt.

As for Borneo?

Borneo is Liverpool. Don’t get fussed up by who has knocked who off the perch or regained their place on the perch, it is suffice to say Liverpool is no way the same as Manchester United. Parliamentary majority is like the UEFA Champions League draw, everyone sees the balls in four big jars but no one understands why Ludogorets are in it.

Unclear still? So are we. Borneo will take a few more months to figure out where is the real support after all the hypes have run their course.

Eye on the game

A team is about balance, and deciding that balance is far more important than having stars. You cannot fit all you want in an eleven but you have to have a winning eleven.

Not to be distracted by the League Cup, Europa Cup or the FA Cup as holders. In the big game, it is the title that matters, the 112 seats in Dewan Rakyat necessary to govern.

Not all players fit, and this is not a volume game. The only volume necessary is votes. For that an attractive team of 11 players who complement each other is necessary. Not a crowded field. It is likelier people will trust a team with an effective game than a large squad with the potential of greatness.

Mourinho is not the only one who should heed that advice.