Mourinho’s Notebook – January 10
THE BEAST!
Adebayo Akinfenwa isn’t quite a household name, but he’s a lot more famous than any 32 year old League Two battler should be.
Maybe infamous is the better word. He’s renowned as the strongest man in professional football, a title bestowed by the FIFA series, where the 2015 version rated him a 62 overall… but with 97 strength! NINETY SEVEN! If you don’t believe that’s accurate (like EA Sports don’t do their research or something), then here’s the man himself.
He’s played for 12 different clubs over his career, 10 of them in the English leagues and never higher than League One. He was in the news this week as he played (and even scored!) against his boyhood club Liverpool in the FA Cup. Liverpool still came through to win thanks to a certain Stevie G, and Akinfenwa topped off a memorable day by getting Gerrard’s shirt, signed and everything. Living the dream.
He’s 1.80m tall (5ft 11in) and weighs over 100kgs. For a footballer. His diet is enough to kill a horse, while he can also bench 180kgs. That adds up to two and a half Raheem Sterlings.
Szczesny’s Ciggy
You know the phrase ‘Smoking Gun’? Well, this isn’t quite that.
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny is in a fair bit of trouble with Lord Wenger these days. He got slammed by folks all over (Wenger included) for his performance in the 2-0 loss to Southampton, where he was at least partly at fault for both goals. Szczesny responded to the criticism by retreating to the dressing room where he allegedly lit up a cigarette in the showers. Logistics of that aside, that’s a big no-no in Arsene Wenger’s side and Szczezzie found himself promptly dropped for the FA Cup win over Hull the following weekend.
Along with a £20,000 fine, there are reports that he’ll never play for the club again. Smoking, not our future, eh kids?
Oh, Mario…
Sometimes Mario Balotelli gets hard done by because of who he is. Sometimes he just asks for it. Here he is creeping on a couple of Icelandic teenagers on Instagram. This became public when the boyfriend of one of them tweeted the convo out with the message:
"The moment Balotelli tries to steal my girlfriend :( #WhatShouldIDo?"
A second Icelandic (why always them?) girl followed course by also releasing a Mario courting she’d been subjected to.
Also, there’s this unexplainable oddity.
Big Ronny
This recently unveiled statue of the great Cristiano Ronaldo… is very, erm… let’s say ‘well-stacked’ in the, ah, crotch area. Way to go, big fella.
Social Media Stunners
The above husband in question? That'd be Stoke forward Peter Crouch. Elephants are afraid of mice, Peter Crouch is afraid of baby hamsters.
Sampdoria kick off in strategic fashion against Lazio
On a similar note, here's a young Steven Gerrard.