the build up was grand, the fixture speaks for itself, possibly the two biggest teams in world football, going head to head, barcelona one point behind real madrid in la liga, madrid now with jose 'the special one' mourinho at the helm, the expectation sintilating, barca with messi versus madrid with ronaldo......
madrid having spent 300 million euro's on such stars as ronaldo, alonso, ozil, di maria, benzema, carvalho and add into that the already present higuian, casillas, ramos, and you have los galactico's as they have time and time been labelled, probably the biggest in-flux of stars since the likes of figo, van nistelrooy, and the magical zidane, result in the real camp is belief that they are now the biggest club side once again for all to fear, and on top of that they have now aquired the services of undoubtedly the best manager on the planet in mourinho.
surely the calculation for success and this season they have defended like any jose team does, but twinned with the attacking flair of the predisessors such of zidane etc.
they have swept aside almost everyone and went into this game on top of the league and in fine form on the back of the 4-0 drubbing of ajax in europes elite competition.
barcelona, with the quality we all know about in the form of messi, adde into the mix such players like xavi, iniesta, pedro, puyol, dani alves and the new edition david villa and everyone knew we had a real game on our hands.
real and jose were doing all the talking in the build up and rightly so as their form has been impecable, barca and pep guardiola keeping quiet and getting on with preparations.....and the resulting game was stunning.
i hope everyone on earth watched this because i cannot find enough praise for the men from the nou camp, the word dominance does not do them justice, i watched them destroy almeria a week ago 8-0 and the gulf there was evident, but here we are talking about real madrid, one of the worlds greatest clubs, once again rising back to past greatness, and the gulf was still as stark as the previous match.
barca got on the ball from the first minute and racked up a possession of 78% in the first half, and even that statistic doesnt show the ease at which they tore los blancos apart.
only six minutes in the sublime messi tried an audatious chip from an angle which bounced beck off of the post and cleared, but the nou camp faithful only had to wait another three mins as iniesta conjured up a telling splitting pass to xavi, he miss controlled but cooly finished past casillas to put barca one goal to the good.
the next ten minutes were truely irresistable from barca, real trying to get close but never within a sniff of the classy midfield three of xavi, iniesta and messi.
barcelona put together twenty plus passes together at ease with the crowd 'ole' at every completed transaction, this was football being played the right way and everybody should be a barcelona fan after watching this, at the end of the 20 plus passes, pedro was bundled off of the ball but the referee waved play on as xavi looked further that the five yard pass and hit a inch perfect fourty yard pearler out to david villa on the far flank, the new arrival took a touch and beat ramos before firing across the six yard box, to who? pedro of all people, who had just been pole-axed out on the touch line, no rolling around but he had gotten straight up and got on the end of the cross to put barca two up with quality to spare......a scary thought for anyone in the champions league draw for finishing second in their group, no-one will want to face this side i can assure you.
real threatened but very sparse, di maria forced a save from valdes but the home side emphatically bossed it still, where was ronaldo? the contrast between himself, the £80 million world record signing and messi, the fuck knows how many ££££'s worth of argentinian you'd get for your money was so distant as mush as the two teams themselves.
messi started the second half in the same vein, a magical run from the magician set up villa but casillas saved well from the spaniard, the signs were there and two goals in three minutes from villa added a more realistic touch to the scoreline, representing the dominance of the home side over their closest rivals.
both goals were brilliantly set up by messi unsurprisingly, both moves were simple but devistatingly effective as the score reached 4-0 and the amusing chants from the stands of 'you're gonna be on the dole mourinho' and 'come off the bench jose' as the 'not so special today one' sat glum faced in the dug out, painfully watching his team being dismantled by a far superior side.
barca now cruising took their foot off the gas but madrid rarely threatened, but when barca saw an opening they still had the quality to punish a poor madrid with a fith in the 90th minute with jeffren getting it after a cross from bojan as the two substitutes combined.
ramos summed up the entire game for madrid as he was sent off seconds from the end.
summing it up.....words cant describe it.........300million real madrid taken apart by a meagre 80million worth of barcelona signings in contrast in that time.
no less than eight of the barcelona team had come through the ranks at some level which only shows the depth of quality at the club and how they breed the type of players that football should be known for.....
out of the two sides i have always favoured barca personally from days of van basten etc and on this showing they would have converted even some real madrid fans to support the enemy.....
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
holy cow what a weekend........again!!!!!
every weekend i think its been good but no more than the one we've just witnessed!!!!!!
a weekned where every.....yes EVERY premier league team managed to hit the onion bag at least once....and yes that even includes the haphazzard west ham in this stat!!!!!!!!!!
amazing i know!!!!!!!!!
this is the first time ever in the history of the premier league where each team has netted and a record 41 goals in total over the weekends fixtures.
is this a sign of times changing in englands top flight???
frankly.....no.....with scores like 7-1 it only shows the true difference in class between the top top temas and the teams trying to close the gap, a few bizarre results thrown in for good measure of course but the gulf in class shows over the 38 games.....
the illustrious berbatov.......the enigma of brilliance....the lazy fucker.......but still very capable of brilliant football, perhaps this is the reason why he looks so unfased by any game and seeming ease he chooses when or if at all he wants to produce, five goals for the talented bulgarian this week, after not scoring in 9 games, as manchester united put a dismal blackburn to the sword, then took out their bollocks and chopped them off aswell.
it could easily have been double figures in this game, united hit seven and wayne rooney was not even amongst the scorers, blackburn woke up to get a consolation but they didnt even deserve that, on a performance like this a championship side would've given them a pasting. big sam would have been fuming i can tell ya.
united went top, over taking an arsenal team who had earlier in the day gone to villa park and got a vital three points in the race for the title.
arsenal went two goals to the good, much deserved before the villa got a goal back allbeit through slightly dubious offside involving carew, the big man was seemingly blocking fabianski's view of the strike from clark as it flew past carews earhole into the corner.
arsenal then stepped up a gear to make sure they didnt let another two goal lead slip, chamahk got the third and it was pretty much all over until villa got a second and asked quetions of wengers men, in truth they were not in danger and wilshire rounded off the result with a neat finish to make it 2-4 an the 90th min.
manchester city went to stoke looking to hold onto the coat-tails and looked to have managed a great away win until a last gasp etterington goal snatched a point for a fighting stoke side, much to the disgust of mancini who must still be bemused at his teams lack of victories with so much talent in the side, and in turn putting his position back under the spotlight.......
at the other end it was a battle of relegations proportions.....west ham hosted wigan and it looked like the most un-appealing game that would follow.....quite the contrary, west ham looked sharp and adventurous with the return of scott parker giving the home side a back bone, which they have had none so far this season.
the hammers stormed into a three goal lead and even the fans weren't recognising the team they were watching, because it certainly didnt look like west ham!!!!!
wigan got their own consolation but did little to please their followers in an awful display.
west brom took their fans to goodison park to face david moyes' everton, a team who has struggled to come to terms with injuries yet again this season and after their defence had leaked two goals, the aussie goal scoring sensation tim cahill got on the sheet to give evertonians hope, until his partner in crime arteta was dismissed for violent conduct you sensed that the comeback wasn't going to materialize this time, subsequently the baggies got two more and confirmed the toffees were getting nothing to cheer about this weekend, fantastic away win but once again a poor performance from the losing side.
a couple of draws up next, fulham hosted birmingham, a mark hughes inspired fulham is yet to show up to any game as yet and he must still be fuming at his dismissal from city as he watches them make the same mistakes they did with him in charge, birmingham went ahead but fail to make their chances count as fulham were trying but getting nowhere, then dempsey popped up with another important strike to get the london club another valuable point.
the other draw on saturday was bolton at home to blackpool, the vice-versa side of the season, ian holloway is undoubtedly the character in the camp as he is the most animated coach around and with the results they've managed this year already you cant knock him one bit for his approach......just score one more than them.
in this game they were unfortunate to only get a point as they went two goals up at bolton where many teams come unstuck, more illustrious ones than blackpool with all due respect.
but bolton showed why the are in the heights of the division by battling back and pulling a couple of goals out when it was needed most, and dealt the blow to a blackpool side who had deserved all three points.
the last game on saturday was wolves against sunderland at molineux and what a corker it was!
the home side went ahead and kept a good sunderland side at bay until the black cats struck twice in quick succession to look like they were heading for a comeback for their battling manager bruce.
wolves had other ideas and looked to outfight sunderland in the last five mins as the wrath of their own manager would've singed the ears had they not done so, they hit the net twice more and ran out winners in another corking game.
sunday rolled in and the turn of chelsea at newcastle. the magpies have had some amazing results but they themselves have had a yo-yo season results wise so everyone was wondering what side would turn up, as were the travellind chelsea fans as they were hoping their recent form took an up turn.
they could be forgiven to have been expecting the same old story of late as alex's backpass split the ground between his goalkeeper cech and.......no-one, the keeper left hopeless as carroll chased down and tapped into the empty net.
chelsea rallied and to be honest battered their northern counterparts and got back into it on the stroke of half time through wonderful footwork from kalou.
the blues flew out of the blocks in the second half and no-one could deny them of expecting all 3 points as they had two goals chalked off and many chances they would normally be sticking away. newcastle held on and cheleas are now wobbling, but mark my words, in the coming two-three weeks they will absolutely hammer someone.
last up and by no means last was the mouth watering tottenham against liverpool.
spurs had had an amazing week which they were looking to finish off in style whilst the reds were trying to keep their up and down season back on the track....again.
both teams started well with attacking line-up's and chances were not long coming, lennon gave the awful konchesky an afternoon to forget, not once did the liverpool left back get within 5 yards of the flying winger as he crossed for modric to volley into reina's arms.
torres still not hundred percent was showing real class with flicks out of the top of top drawers but his striking partners not firing the bullets.
jamie carragher blocked a certain goal from defoe from six yards and liverpool fans were thinking this could be their day. and the visitors got the break through but not from one of the many attacking players on view but from skrtel!!! his header bounced back off of ngog and the defender showed great reactions to poke the ball home three mins from half time.
the imminent half time talk from harry and once again it worked, what does that man say????!!!!
spurs looked to have the bit between their teeth again and went at liverpool, the reds were now ruing the glaring miss from maxi on the stroke of half time as spurs pushed and pushed.
goal line clearances and missed chances came thick and fast and then david ngog heard a call saing 'who isnt good enough to play for liverpool' he duely put his hand up ala fabregas last week and spurs got the pen, defoe stepped up to miss, he has now missed three of his last four pens.
spurs kept on knocking and modric who was tottenhams best player skipped past three or four liverpool players and passed the ball accross the six yard line, every defenders nightmare, and skrtel had to do something, unfortunately for him it rolled into the net and let spurs back in.
liverpool kept going and chances were at both ends as torres was put through but seemed low on confidence as he took an extra touch instead of dispatching a trademark torres finish.
last chance saloon now and spurs were doing all the pressing, and a ball played straight through the middle, flicked on by crouch and lennon ghosted in past the dismal konchesky and controlled well and kept his calm to give spurs the three points.
the game of the season so far, attacking football from both teams, full of incident and not a red card or bad tackle in sight, everything a game of football should be........
a weekned where every.....yes EVERY premier league team managed to hit the onion bag at least once....and yes that even includes the haphazzard west ham in this stat!!!!!!!!!!
amazing i know!!!!!!!!!
this is the first time ever in the history of the premier league where each team has netted and a record 41 goals in total over the weekends fixtures.
is this a sign of times changing in englands top flight???
frankly.....no.....with scores like 7-1 it only shows the true difference in class between the top top temas and the teams trying to close the gap, a few bizarre results thrown in for good measure of course but the gulf in class shows over the 38 games.....
the illustrious berbatov.......the enigma of brilliance....the lazy fucker.......but still very capable of brilliant football, perhaps this is the reason why he looks so unfased by any game and seeming ease he chooses when or if at all he wants to produce, five goals for the talented bulgarian this week, after not scoring in 9 games, as manchester united put a dismal blackburn to the sword, then took out their bollocks and chopped them off aswell.
it could easily have been double figures in this game, united hit seven and wayne rooney was not even amongst the scorers, blackburn woke up to get a consolation but they didnt even deserve that, on a performance like this a championship side would've given them a pasting. big sam would have been fuming i can tell ya.
united went top, over taking an arsenal team who had earlier in the day gone to villa park and got a vital three points in the race for the title.
arsenal went two goals to the good, much deserved before the villa got a goal back allbeit through slightly dubious offside involving carew, the big man was seemingly blocking fabianski's view of the strike from clark as it flew past carews earhole into the corner.
arsenal then stepped up a gear to make sure they didnt let another two goal lead slip, chamahk got the third and it was pretty much all over until villa got a second and asked quetions of wengers men, in truth they were not in danger and wilshire rounded off the result with a neat finish to make it 2-4 an the 90th min.
manchester city went to stoke looking to hold onto the coat-tails and looked to have managed a great away win until a last gasp etterington goal snatched a point for a fighting stoke side, much to the disgust of mancini who must still be bemused at his teams lack of victories with so much talent in the side, and in turn putting his position back under the spotlight.......
at the other end it was a battle of relegations proportions.....west ham hosted wigan and it looked like the most un-appealing game that would follow.....quite the contrary, west ham looked sharp and adventurous with the return of scott parker giving the home side a back bone, which they have had none so far this season.
the hammers stormed into a three goal lead and even the fans weren't recognising the team they were watching, because it certainly didnt look like west ham!!!!!
wigan got their own consolation but did little to please their followers in an awful display.
west brom took their fans to goodison park to face david moyes' everton, a team who has struggled to come to terms with injuries yet again this season and after their defence had leaked two goals, the aussie goal scoring sensation tim cahill got on the sheet to give evertonians hope, until his partner in crime arteta was dismissed for violent conduct you sensed that the comeback wasn't going to materialize this time, subsequently the baggies got two more and confirmed the toffees were getting nothing to cheer about this weekend, fantastic away win but once again a poor performance from the losing side.
a couple of draws up next, fulham hosted birmingham, a mark hughes inspired fulham is yet to show up to any game as yet and he must still be fuming at his dismissal from city as he watches them make the same mistakes they did with him in charge, birmingham went ahead but fail to make their chances count as fulham were trying but getting nowhere, then dempsey popped up with another important strike to get the london club another valuable point.
the other draw on saturday was bolton at home to blackpool, the vice-versa side of the season, ian holloway is undoubtedly the character in the camp as he is the most animated coach around and with the results they've managed this year already you cant knock him one bit for his approach......just score one more than them.
in this game they were unfortunate to only get a point as they went two goals up at bolton where many teams come unstuck, more illustrious ones than blackpool with all due respect.
but bolton showed why the are in the heights of the division by battling back and pulling a couple of goals out when it was needed most, and dealt the blow to a blackpool side who had deserved all three points.
the last game on saturday was wolves against sunderland at molineux and what a corker it was!
the home side went ahead and kept a good sunderland side at bay until the black cats struck twice in quick succession to look like they were heading for a comeback for their battling manager bruce.
wolves had other ideas and looked to outfight sunderland in the last five mins as the wrath of their own manager would've singed the ears had they not done so, they hit the net twice more and ran out winners in another corking game.
sunday rolled in and the turn of chelsea at newcastle. the magpies have had some amazing results but they themselves have had a yo-yo season results wise so everyone was wondering what side would turn up, as were the travellind chelsea fans as they were hoping their recent form took an up turn.
they could be forgiven to have been expecting the same old story of late as alex's backpass split the ground between his goalkeeper cech and.......no-one, the keeper left hopeless as carroll chased down and tapped into the empty net.
chelsea rallied and to be honest battered their northern counterparts and got back into it on the stroke of half time through wonderful footwork from kalou.
the blues flew out of the blocks in the second half and no-one could deny them of expecting all 3 points as they had two goals chalked off and many chances they would normally be sticking away. newcastle held on and cheleas are now wobbling, but mark my words, in the coming two-three weeks they will absolutely hammer someone.
last up and by no means last was the mouth watering tottenham against liverpool.
spurs had had an amazing week which they were looking to finish off in style whilst the reds were trying to keep their up and down season back on the track....again.
both teams started well with attacking line-up's and chances were not long coming, lennon gave the awful konchesky an afternoon to forget, not once did the liverpool left back get within 5 yards of the flying winger as he crossed for modric to volley into reina's arms.
torres still not hundred percent was showing real class with flicks out of the top of top drawers but his striking partners not firing the bullets.
jamie carragher blocked a certain goal from defoe from six yards and liverpool fans were thinking this could be their day. and the visitors got the break through but not from one of the many attacking players on view but from skrtel!!! his header bounced back off of ngog and the defender showed great reactions to poke the ball home three mins from half time.
the imminent half time talk from harry and once again it worked, what does that man say????!!!!
spurs looked to have the bit between their teeth again and went at liverpool, the reds were now ruing the glaring miss from maxi on the stroke of half time as spurs pushed and pushed.
goal line clearances and missed chances came thick and fast and then david ngog heard a call saing 'who isnt good enough to play for liverpool' he duely put his hand up ala fabregas last week and spurs got the pen, defoe stepped up to miss, he has now missed three of his last four pens.
spurs kept on knocking and modric who was tottenhams best player skipped past three or four liverpool players and passed the ball accross the six yard line, every defenders nightmare, and skrtel had to do something, unfortunately for him it rolled into the net and let spurs back in.
liverpool kept going and chances were at both ends as torres was put through but seemed low on confidence as he took an extra touch instead of dispatching a trademark torres finish.
last chance saloon now and spurs were doing all the pressing, and a ball played straight through the middle, flicked on by crouch and lennon ghosted in past the dismal konchesky and controlled well and kept his calm to give spurs the three points.
the game of the season so far, attacking football from both teams, full of incident and not a red card or bad tackle in sight, everything a game of football should be........
Friday 26 November 2010
so is anyone gonna stand up and be counted????
this is surely the stragest premier league season, most certainly in recent years, for no one team wanting to grab hold of the league and take it under their spell and make inroads into taking charge.
every weekend one of the 'top 6' teams drops points and on these occassions none of the other teams really have taken advantage, to the point where liverpool and villa are still close enough if the teams above them keep slipping up, and that is according to the illustrious mr wenger!!!
so here is my run down of the contenders:
arsenal......great footballing side and the most attractive team in the league, but still have the same problems which they've had since henry etc left, dodgy keeper in comparisson to chelsea, man united, man city, liverpool, no real steel in the middle of midfield, they have fabregas yes, world class but he cant work his magic if he hasnt got someone kicking the shizer out of the oppossition and handing him the ball, and the central defenders cant even begin to be compared to the famous five under george graham's reign......verdict....3rd
chelsea.......so good early season, hammering teams out of sight, now, lost three out of four and 'crisis' is being bounded about.....you gotta be fucking kidding me right? topped their champions league group with maximum points, albeit an easy group, top of the prem, and still got essien, lampard, terry, etc etc to return, they have had 60 odd shots on goal in last two games, someones gonna get a pasting soon and the last couple of games will be forgotten.......verdict.......2nd
man city..........massive promise just not got the consistency, they will win the league, just not this year, so many class players, so many ego's aswell though, they'll probably implode before they settle, can see change of manager before they do but they'll have a say somewhere.....verdict......5th
man united.........unbeaten this season in the league, not playing well whilst doing that, rooney well off the boil but the heat will return and he will fire sooner rather than later, the berb wont go anywhere and will once again pair up with rooney and they'll be the difference, hernandes will fill any void left and scholes is still reminding us what england fans are missing.......verdict.......1st
spurs.........massive achievment already this season, why cant they win it? if one of the above dont take charge then spurs can be in the mix, only thing that will go against them is the champions league/premiership week, harry is yet to really deal with it and hasnt found either rotation or plan b that works, but he will, so unpredictable, but so brilliant at times to, got second best squad behind city...........verdict...........4th
liverpool...............poor start and still capable of stringing a run together which could see them challenge, unlikely as it is, but capable, as are any of the above, a good run will obviously heavilly depend on gerrard and torres and possibly could go either way depending on january transfers but on showing so far...........verdict.........6th
agree?????? be interesting to hear some of your predictions??????
the next quick point is about real madrid in champions league this week, cruised to 4-0 away day victory against ajax and 'allegedly' purposedly got two men sent off to wipe the disciplinery slate clean.......
of course they deny any wrong doing and it is an arguement which cant be won by either side, they didnt break any rules, therefor they have 'played' the system as far as i can see, if it wasnt jose 'the special one' mourinho then there wouldnt have been as much fuss im sure, im not saying it was right because in the name of sporting behaviour its fucking disgusting, but having not broken any rule uefa cant really do alt, genius from jose????? is he the best about??????
every weekend one of the 'top 6' teams drops points and on these occassions none of the other teams really have taken advantage, to the point where liverpool and villa are still close enough if the teams above them keep slipping up, and that is according to the illustrious mr wenger!!!
so here is my run down of the contenders:
arsenal......great footballing side and the most attractive team in the league, but still have the same problems which they've had since henry etc left, dodgy keeper in comparisson to chelsea, man united, man city, liverpool, no real steel in the middle of midfield, they have fabregas yes, world class but he cant work his magic if he hasnt got someone kicking the shizer out of the oppossition and handing him the ball, and the central defenders cant even begin to be compared to the famous five under george graham's reign......verdict....3rd
chelsea.......so good early season, hammering teams out of sight, now, lost three out of four and 'crisis' is being bounded about.....you gotta be fucking kidding me right? topped their champions league group with maximum points, albeit an easy group, top of the prem, and still got essien, lampard, terry, etc etc to return, they have had 60 odd shots on goal in last two games, someones gonna get a pasting soon and the last couple of games will be forgotten.......verdict.......2nd
man city..........massive promise just not got the consistency, they will win the league, just not this year, so many class players, so many ego's aswell though, they'll probably implode before they settle, can see change of manager before they do but they'll have a say somewhere.....verdict......5th
man united.........unbeaten this season in the league, not playing well whilst doing that, rooney well off the boil but the heat will return and he will fire sooner rather than later, the berb wont go anywhere and will once again pair up with rooney and they'll be the difference, hernandes will fill any void left and scholes is still reminding us what england fans are missing.......verdict.......1st
spurs.........massive achievment already this season, why cant they win it? if one of the above dont take charge then spurs can be in the mix, only thing that will go against them is the champions league/premiership week, harry is yet to really deal with it and hasnt found either rotation or plan b that works, but he will, so unpredictable, but so brilliant at times to, got second best squad behind city...........verdict...........4th
liverpool...............poor start and still capable of stringing a run together which could see them challenge, unlikely as it is, but capable, as are any of the above, a good run will obviously heavilly depend on gerrard and torres and possibly could go either way depending on january transfers but on showing so far...........verdict.........6th
agree?????? be interesting to hear some of your predictions??????
the next quick point is about real madrid in champions league this week, cruised to 4-0 away day victory against ajax and 'allegedly' purposedly got two men sent off to wipe the disciplinery slate clean.......
of course they deny any wrong doing and it is an arguement which cant be won by either side, they didnt break any rules, therefor they have 'played' the system as far as i can see, if it wasnt jose 'the special one' mourinho then there wouldnt have been as much fuss im sure, im not saying it was right because in the name of sporting behaviour its fucking disgusting, but having not broken any rule uefa cant really do alt, genius from jose????? is he the best about??????
Monday 22 November 2010
goals goals goals.........
yup thats rite goals galore in the premier league this weekend!!!!! and none for the reigning champions......what is going on this season????!!!
ill start with the game of the weekend being at the emirites as the north london derby rolled into town, spurs going to their rivals having not won there since 1993 where arsenal fielded a weakened side ahead of the cup final those many moons ago........
and today those glory days seem a million miles away for the miserable gooners.
2-0 up at half time they played tottenham off the park and could've been further out of sight had they taken their chances as spurs were lacklustre and to be honest pretty appauling, i feared for them.
i dunno what the fuck harry said at half time but fuck me it worked, spurs flew out the blocks and the illustrious gareth bale got them back into it four mins after the break with a delightful first touch ahead of a sublime finish with the outside of the boot, dunno if he can use his right but if he has risen from obscurity just using his left then i aint gonna argue, van der vart was superb and layed it on perfectly, how he is only worth 8 million i will never know!
then things got worse, spurs leveled through the little dutch maestro as fabregas put his hand up as he must have heard a question come from the crowd...."who wants to join barcelona"......he duely put his hand up and conceded a penalty, van der vart subsequently obliged and spurs were gonna take some stopping.
a poor finish from an arsenal centre back not even good enough to remember his name, from an accute cross from walcott, only to head over from 6 yards and it looked destined to end up square.
a silly free kick conceded from arsenal point of view was perfectly delivered once again from the influential van der vart and kaboul glanced a header sweetly inside the far post and the delirium began.......
wenger outfoxed by harry? players stood up to be counted? master stroke 'throwing' a striker on with the possibility of getting put out of sight? i dunno, made a cracking game for the neutral though, the most entertaining part being wenger furiously throwing his water bottle at the floor and the tidal wave of liquid still in the bottle spraying up into his face, brought me a giggle
spurs real title contenders? i think so, not only on this huge result but in a truely bizarre season they could spring the suprise and this time round i really belive they have the players to sustain it, as long as the champions league hangovers dont ruin it for them.
as for champions.......chelsea, three defeats on the bounce and really deplited, threw everyting and more at birmingham, but fot the immediate world class-ness of foster in their goal it would have ended 1-5, they got their goal and clung like fuck to it and with alot of help from their number one they fully deserved the 1-0, chelsea crisis? possibly, they just are a shadow of the team that flew out of the blocks at the season openers, now they are truely struggling.
man city finally got going on sunday as they faced a tough fulham side with their ex-boss hughes at the helm but in all honesty they were on cruise control and put a poor side to the sword with ease.
their manchester neighbours carried on hteir own annoying form, not playing well, struggling against wigan until the visitors went down to 10, then 9, only then the red devils showed ease, sign of champions?
liverpool 'hammered' west ham in what i called the 'sack race', surely a team that bad, one that made david ngog and maxi look world class can only be going one direction and that isnt up, how long can they stick with avram grant? they really do not have anything, and were the worst team i've seen in the premier league for some time, can only be bleak for the loyal supporters on this and many other showings this season.
bolton carried on their unbelievable for as they stuck 5 past a much rejuvinated newcastle side who on this occassion looked well out of their depth, carroll weighed in with his goal but they looked a poor team compared to the team that demolished sunderland and turned arsenal over, yo-yo form but i think will show enough over the season.......
harry for england........??????
ill start with the game of the weekend being at the emirites as the north london derby rolled into town, spurs going to their rivals having not won there since 1993 where arsenal fielded a weakened side ahead of the cup final those many moons ago........
and today those glory days seem a million miles away for the miserable gooners.
2-0 up at half time they played tottenham off the park and could've been further out of sight had they taken their chances as spurs were lacklustre and to be honest pretty appauling, i feared for them.
i dunno what the fuck harry said at half time but fuck me it worked, spurs flew out the blocks and the illustrious gareth bale got them back into it four mins after the break with a delightful first touch ahead of a sublime finish with the outside of the boot, dunno if he can use his right but if he has risen from obscurity just using his left then i aint gonna argue, van der vart was superb and layed it on perfectly, how he is only worth 8 million i will never know!
then things got worse, spurs leveled through the little dutch maestro as fabregas put his hand up as he must have heard a question come from the crowd...."who wants to join barcelona"......he duely put his hand up and conceded a penalty, van der vart subsequently obliged and spurs were gonna take some stopping.
a poor finish from an arsenal centre back not even good enough to remember his name, from an accute cross from walcott, only to head over from 6 yards and it looked destined to end up square.
a silly free kick conceded from arsenal point of view was perfectly delivered once again from the influential van der vart and kaboul glanced a header sweetly inside the far post and the delirium began.......
wenger outfoxed by harry? players stood up to be counted? master stroke 'throwing' a striker on with the possibility of getting put out of sight? i dunno, made a cracking game for the neutral though, the most entertaining part being wenger furiously throwing his water bottle at the floor and the tidal wave of liquid still in the bottle spraying up into his face, brought me a giggle
spurs real title contenders? i think so, not only on this huge result but in a truely bizarre season they could spring the suprise and this time round i really belive they have the players to sustain it, as long as the champions league hangovers dont ruin it for them.
as for champions.......chelsea, three defeats on the bounce and really deplited, threw everyting and more at birmingham, but fot the immediate world class-ness of foster in their goal it would have ended 1-5, they got their goal and clung like fuck to it and with alot of help from their number one they fully deserved the 1-0, chelsea crisis? possibly, they just are a shadow of the team that flew out of the blocks at the season openers, now they are truely struggling.
man city finally got going on sunday as they faced a tough fulham side with their ex-boss hughes at the helm but in all honesty they were on cruise control and put a poor side to the sword with ease.
their manchester neighbours carried on hteir own annoying form, not playing well, struggling against wigan until the visitors went down to 10, then 9, only then the red devils showed ease, sign of champions?
liverpool 'hammered' west ham in what i called the 'sack race', surely a team that bad, one that made david ngog and maxi look world class can only be going one direction and that isnt up, how long can they stick with avram grant? they really do not have anything, and were the worst team i've seen in the premier league for some time, can only be bleak for the loyal supporters on this and many other showings this season.
bolton carried on their unbelievable for as they stuck 5 past a much rejuvinated newcastle side who on this occassion looked well out of their depth, carroll weighed in with his goal but they looked a poor team compared to the team that demolished sunderland and turned arsenal over, yo-yo form but i think will show enough over the season.......
harry for england........??????
Tuesday 16 November 2010
the strange season continues...............
yup footie fans everywhere are all bemused by the bizarre season in the premier league, and it continued this weekend just gone with once again some fucking crazy results from top to bottom of the table.
the most freak result of the weekend saw a much weakened chelsea beaten at home for the first time for seemilngly decades by sunderland who since being put to the very sharp sword by their neighbours newcastle have had a rejuvinated series of results and performances.
the score......0-3.....not good for any chelsea fan, but a warming feeling for everyone else of course, their heaviest defeat for seven, yes seven years at home, and lets be honest it could've been a fuck sight worse if it wasn't for the world class cech in goal, denying sunderland on more than one occasion, evenm before the visitors took the lead, super sunday for the black cats indeed.
on this showing the reigning champions are going to find it hard to lift themselves with the deplited team having to field such big money flops as ramires and zhirkov.......£18million quid a piece.......and expensive dog shit.
ancelotti really has his work cut out to get these drab replacements up to scratch.
spurs, the yo-yo form side at the minute got off to a flyer against blackbur, storming into a 4-0 lead with another gareth bale inspired performance which instantly reminded everyone how they dispatched of inter milan so comfotably a couple of weeks ago.
not to mention a missed penalty in there to, blackburn rallied and pulled it back to 4-2 but in all honesty tottenham had taken their foot so far off the pedal they could have been biting their own toenails, another reminder that harry 'the 2nd hand car dealer' rednapp is going to get it right......again.
manchaster united went to villa in the early kick off on saturday and struggled to get out of bed as the home side dominated the proceedings with consumate ease, fergies men just do not look the strenght they once were and i think other teams feel they most definately have a chance if they dare attack and take their chances and vill did just that.
houllier has got them going since coming in after the debacle of the o'neil sacking/exit, he has breathed new life into what was threatening to be a faultering season, he has given young players the chance to impress and they have re-paid his faith with some sterling performances and in this game at 2-0 to the good with ten minutes remaining i dont think anyone saw a united comeback.
but come back they did and managed to emerge from a poor performance with a battling point with two late goals which has now become their trademanrk since the champions league final against bayern those many years ago, sign of a title winning side? playing poorly but still not losing? perhaps, but i just dont see it, although they are now unbeaten in 22 games and with rooney to return they will only get stronger and with only arsenal seemingly the only team who has any kind of form could push each other close.
arsenal went to everton, and in many recent years a place where they have struggled to battle the toffee men but on this occassion they match the fight and got the three points with a couple of great moves and a couple of even better finishes. three points pushed the gooners up to second and into a position where i can see them pushing on and going top in the near future and possibly could be the team to overhaul in the long run.
so eyes onto liverpool.....great win against chelsea saw them rise the table quickly, possibly to soon? results would back this up as they then drew at wigan after dominating the first half but not taking the chances, and now a comprehensive defeat away to a stoke side that bullied and completely out-played liverpool and deserved the win all ends up as the reds only managed one meaningful shot on goal, where as stoke looked dangerous with every attack.
west ham travel to anfield thus saturday for what i think called be dubbed 'the sack race' on sunday morning, avram grant supposidly on the brink but being backed by the chairman vs woy the boy hodgson who is in the same boat, albeit sinking a bit quicker under the pressure cooker of the liverpool fans.......
could it be that clear cut? i think so, liverpool have a run of games, including the last two where im sure supporters would have been expecting all three points, and the next few would offer the same dangling carrott.
we will see monday as the imminent axe falls on one of these managers.......mark my words.
spurs go to arsenal........massive game this, the promise against the already promised, many seasons.
i predict spurs will go at arsenal and at home i dont think arsenal have quite got the mind set right when teams are attacking and dont just sit back, so boldly ill predict arsenal 1-2 spurs
birmingham v chelsea........chelsea struggling, birmingham high off of a bore draw at manchester city, ill go for a 2-1 home win.
liverpool against west ham..............3-1, surely liverpool cant miss another opportunity to close the gap on their close rivals..............
monday morning will tell us if i know fuck all or are just hopeful
the most freak result of the weekend saw a much weakened chelsea beaten at home for the first time for seemilngly decades by sunderland who since being put to the very sharp sword by their neighbours newcastle have had a rejuvinated series of results and performances.
the score......0-3.....not good for any chelsea fan, but a warming feeling for everyone else of course, their heaviest defeat for seven, yes seven years at home, and lets be honest it could've been a fuck sight worse if it wasn't for the world class cech in goal, denying sunderland on more than one occasion, evenm before the visitors took the lead, super sunday for the black cats indeed.
on this showing the reigning champions are going to find it hard to lift themselves with the deplited team having to field such big money flops as ramires and zhirkov.......£18million quid a piece.......and expensive dog shit.
ancelotti really has his work cut out to get these drab replacements up to scratch.
spurs, the yo-yo form side at the minute got off to a flyer against blackbur, storming into a 4-0 lead with another gareth bale inspired performance which instantly reminded everyone how they dispatched of inter milan so comfotably a couple of weeks ago.
not to mention a missed penalty in there to, blackburn rallied and pulled it back to 4-2 but in all honesty tottenham had taken their foot so far off the pedal they could have been biting their own toenails, another reminder that harry 'the 2nd hand car dealer' rednapp is going to get it right......again.
manchaster united went to villa in the early kick off on saturday and struggled to get out of bed as the home side dominated the proceedings with consumate ease, fergies men just do not look the strenght they once were and i think other teams feel they most definately have a chance if they dare attack and take their chances and vill did just that.
houllier has got them going since coming in after the debacle of the o'neil sacking/exit, he has breathed new life into what was threatening to be a faultering season, he has given young players the chance to impress and they have re-paid his faith with some sterling performances and in this game at 2-0 to the good with ten minutes remaining i dont think anyone saw a united comeback.
but come back they did and managed to emerge from a poor performance with a battling point with two late goals which has now become their trademanrk since the champions league final against bayern those many years ago, sign of a title winning side? playing poorly but still not losing? perhaps, but i just dont see it, although they are now unbeaten in 22 games and with rooney to return they will only get stronger and with only arsenal seemingly the only team who has any kind of form could push each other close.
arsenal went to everton, and in many recent years a place where they have struggled to battle the toffee men but on this occassion they match the fight and got the three points with a couple of great moves and a couple of even better finishes. three points pushed the gooners up to second and into a position where i can see them pushing on and going top in the near future and possibly could be the team to overhaul in the long run.
so eyes onto liverpool.....great win against chelsea saw them rise the table quickly, possibly to soon? results would back this up as they then drew at wigan after dominating the first half but not taking the chances, and now a comprehensive defeat away to a stoke side that bullied and completely out-played liverpool and deserved the win all ends up as the reds only managed one meaningful shot on goal, where as stoke looked dangerous with every attack.
west ham travel to anfield thus saturday for what i think called be dubbed 'the sack race' on sunday morning, avram grant supposidly on the brink but being backed by the chairman vs woy the boy hodgson who is in the same boat, albeit sinking a bit quicker under the pressure cooker of the liverpool fans.......
could it be that clear cut? i think so, liverpool have a run of games, including the last two where im sure supporters would have been expecting all three points, and the next few would offer the same dangling carrott.
we will see monday as the imminent axe falls on one of these managers.......mark my words.
spurs go to arsenal........massive game this, the promise against the already promised, many seasons.
i predict spurs will go at arsenal and at home i dont think arsenal have quite got the mind set right when teams are attacking and dont just sit back, so boldly ill predict arsenal 1-2 spurs
birmingham v chelsea........chelsea struggling, birmingham high off of a bore draw at manchester city, ill go for a 2-1 home win.
liverpool against west ham..............3-1, surely liverpool cant miss another opportunity to close the gap on their close rivals..............
monday morning will tell us if i know fuck all or are just hopeful
Thursday 11 November 2010
another good mid-week showing
so here we are at the end of another mid-week programme in the premier league......
to start, the biggest game of the week, the manchester derby..........all the build up was tense, excitement ran rife around the city with the sky blue's sensing something in the air that they could put down a benchmark by beating their neighbours and throw the gauntlet down.............outcome 0-0.
city were so defensive it was untrue and if i was the italian in charge id be worried about being shown the door before to long, they have the strongest squad in the league, the 'biggest stars' and of course the biggest wage bill, but as for the performance last night obismal, united were by far the better side and they didnt even get going.
the lazy fucker berbatov chose this wasnt his type of game and only showed an overhead kick for his non-effort, scholes once again reminded every england supporter what they are missing by running the show but united were unable to capitalise, overall 0-0 summed this one up im afraid.............
chelsea at home to a stuttering fulham side once again showed why they are favourites, not playing well but dominating the londoners who only rallied late on, the reason i have said many times already behind chelsea being so good was essien, but even i cant defend the stupid fucking decision to lunge in two footed on 94 mins, twat.
arsenal scored early on against lowly wolves but they really tested the gooners in the second half, with fabianski, yes fabianski, you heard me, making some truely world class saves to keep arsenal in front and as wolves pushed forward looking for the equaliser chamakh got his 2nd of the game and killed to challenge off completely.
arsenal have been critisised in recent years for not winning games like this and as a result play themselves out of title contention, maybe different this year? only time will tell, i think they still struggle with the more physical sides so cant see them close enough this year.
tottenham hosted sunderland, both teams ravaged by injury and it did show unfortunately for both sides, spurs just never really got going in truth and sunderland missed darren bent up top, the little dutch maestro van der vart came up trumps for spurs to pull a point out of the game and tottenham did have chances to win the game and maybe a team that boasted defoe would've capitalised on this, sunderland battled out for a point and a much deserved one from their point of view.
the geordie massive welcomed blackburn to st james' and didnt forsee the outcome after their exploits against arsenal at the weekend. they managed to level through the england bound carroll but to lose out in the later stages to a jason roberts winner, the flash point in the game unsuprisingly came from joey barton.
say what you like and it would all probably be true, barton squares up to pedersen and delivered a right hook to the stomach which one david haye or audley harrison would be happy about getting through this coming weekend, the decision......referee did not see it but all cameras were pointing as they always do nowdays and the prosecution will lap up the evidence once again.
villa faced blackpool....but not as we know it. the hillarious and much agitated ian holloway made none less than ten, yup ten changes to his starting eleven, an end to end match with goals dotted throughout finally ended up 3-2 to the home side and now holloway finds himself in the same position as mick mccarthy did last season for fielding a 'weakened' side against man utd, the f.a will probe his decision, much to his disgust, and i agree with him, if he as the manager feels it is needed to change this amount of personel then as the manager he should be able to make the decision without it being challenged.
liverpool had the chance to climb further up the table on their rescue mission of the season, or thats how it was being portrayed by taking on wigan side languishing in the very position liverpool found themselves a couple of weeks ago. an early fernando torres goal made the result look inevitable at the end of the first half, then meireles came off at half time and liverpool seemed to stop dead in their tracks.
wigan came out and battered at the liverpool goal for probably 35 of the 45 mins.
they equalised and kept going, pinning liverpool in, both teams had a goal chalked off for offside and both decisions were tight but the right ones, then as it seemed a stalemate captain fantastic gerrard was put through pretty much one-on-one and instead of taking a touch then beating the keeper for some reason he took the shot on first time and the ball came back off of the underside of the bar and that was the last chance for either team. a draw was most definately the right result as no team really showed enough throughout to deserve the three points.
the game of the night was at upton park as the battle of the 'w' commenced, west ham took on west brom in an end to end match with flashes of brilliance from both teams. kieran dyer shone for the hammers as they played some truely lovely football that wouldnt have been out of place coming from the emerites.
west ham went behind then were pulled a goal back and then went infront only to see their hard work shattered as they conceded on 70mins ish and the two teams had to settle for a point a piece.
either side could well have won this and a point was not really what either team needed but a point gained is better than none at the bottom.
so the three bottom sides all begin with the letter 'w'.....an omen? will it be those that go at the end of the 38 games? long way to go and at the moment eveyone is still well capable of beating everyone.......
to start, the biggest game of the week, the manchester derby..........all the build up was tense, excitement ran rife around the city with the sky blue's sensing something in the air that they could put down a benchmark by beating their neighbours and throw the gauntlet down.............outcome 0-0.
city were so defensive it was untrue and if i was the italian in charge id be worried about being shown the door before to long, they have the strongest squad in the league, the 'biggest stars' and of course the biggest wage bill, but as for the performance last night obismal, united were by far the better side and they didnt even get going.
the lazy fucker berbatov chose this wasnt his type of game and only showed an overhead kick for his non-effort, scholes once again reminded every england supporter what they are missing by running the show but united were unable to capitalise, overall 0-0 summed this one up im afraid.............
chelsea at home to a stuttering fulham side once again showed why they are favourites, not playing well but dominating the londoners who only rallied late on, the reason i have said many times already behind chelsea being so good was essien, but even i cant defend the stupid fucking decision to lunge in two footed on 94 mins, twat.
arsenal scored early on against lowly wolves but they really tested the gooners in the second half, with fabianski, yes fabianski, you heard me, making some truely world class saves to keep arsenal in front and as wolves pushed forward looking for the equaliser chamakh got his 2nd of the game and killed to challenge off completely.
arsenal have been critisised in recent years for not winning games like this and as a result play themselves out of title contention, maybe different this year? only time will tell, i think they still struggle with the more physical sides so cant see them close enough this year.
tottenham hosted sunderland, both teams ravaged by injury and it did show unfortunately for both sides, spurs just never really got going in truth and sunderland missed darren bent up top, the little dutch maestro van der vart came up trumps for spurs to pull a point out of the game and tottenham did have chances to win the game and maybe a team that boasted defoe would've capitalised on this, sunderland battled out for a point and a much deserved one from their point of view.
the geordie massive welcomed blackburn to st james' and didnt forsee the outcome after their exploits against arsenal at the weekend. they managed to level through the england bound carroll but to lose out in the later stages to a jason roberts winner, the flash point in the game unsuprisingly came from joey barton.
say what you like and it would all probably be true, barton squares up to pedersen and delivered a right hook to the stomach which one david haye or audley harrison would be happy about getting through this coming weekend, the decision......referee did not see it but all cameras were pointing as they always do nowdays and the prosecution will lap up the evidence once again.
villa faced blackpool....but not as we know it. the hillarious and much agitated ian holloway made none less than ten, yup ten changes to his starting eleven, an end to end match with goals dotted throughout finally ended up 3-2 to the home side and now holloway finds himself in the same position as mick mccarthy did last season for fielding a 'weakened' side against man utd, the f.a will probe his decision, much to his disgust, and i agree with him, if he as the manager feels it is needed to change this amount of personel then as the manager he should be able to make the decision without it being challenged.
liverpool had the chance to climb further up the table on their rescue mission of the season, or thats how it was being portrayed by taking on wigan side languishing in the very position liverpool found themselves a couple of weeks ago. an early fernando torres goal made the result look inevitable at the end of the first half, then meireles came off at half time and liverpool seemed to stop dead in their tracks.
wigan came out and battered at the liverpool goal for probably 35 of the 45 mins.
they equalised and kept going, pinning liverpool in, both teams had a goal chalked off for offside and both decisions were tight but the right ones, then as it seemed a stalemate captain fantastic gerrard was put through pretty much one-on-one and instead of taking a touch then beating the keeper for some reason he took the shot on first time and the ball came back off of the underside of the bar and that was the last chance for either team. a draw was most definately the right result as no team really showed enough throughout to deserve the three points.
the game of the night was at upton park as the battle of the 'w' commenced, west ham took on west brom in an end to end match with flashes of brilliance from both teams. kieran dyer shone for the hammers as they played some truely lovely football that wouldnt have been out of place coming from the emerites.
west ham went behind then were pulled a goal back and then went infront only to see their hard work shattered as they conceded on 70mins ish and the two teams had to settle for a point a piece.
either side could well have won this and a point was not really what either team needed but a point gained is better than none at the bottom.
so the three bottom sides all begin with the letter 'w'.....an omen? will it be those that go at the end of the 38 games? long way to go and at the moment eveyone is still well capable of beating everyone.......
Monday 8 November 2010
a brillient weekend for the premier league..................
what a weekend!!!
a brilliant advert for the english league and yet another reminder that it is the best league in the world.....
defeats for three of the top 6 teams in the form of arsenal, chelsea and tottenham respectively.
arsenal, fresh off of a away day defeat to shakhtar donetsk in the champions league arsene whinger's team took on a seemingly re-juvinated newcastle at the emirates, many would have foreseen a comfortable home win in this one but the truth was in all honesty that the might of th gunners were out-fought and the usual class and indeed beautiful fluent football the reds normally ooze just wasn't present in this blood and thunder meeting where unfortunately for the gooner army they were once again beaten by a team who were physically stronger and got nothing less that they deserved for their efforts.
the yo-yo life of one andy carrol has been much documented in the past and more recent weeks but no-one can argue against the form of the young englishman.
stirling performances against many teams already under his belt this season has rewarded carrol with rave reviews and an imminent call up for the national squad, and i cannot think of any reason why he shouldnt be included.
arsenal didnt really have a response to the battling geordie's, yes wallcott hit the bar and they did have chances but you cant take away the performance from hughtons team in a week where his job was reportidly under threat, then they hit five past there north-east rivals and now an away win at the emirates, not such a bad week eh?!
spurs.....magnificent win mid-week against the european champions and due celebrations for a team who does deserve it, but once again they found out that incorporating the elite europen competition and elite league is hard to balance.
welcoming the champion league champions to white hart lane one minute then a grim away fixture at the un-inspiring reebok in stark contrast did look like a stumbling block but ths spurs fans must have been wondering where the team had gone from tuesday night as they trailed 3-0 to bolton who with all due respect shouldn't be causing such ripplies against the quality of a side like tottenham.
a rallying call started by hutton with a sublime curling shot with his 'standing foot' certainly got bolton wondering, then arguably the goal of the weekend by pavlyuchenko, as it dropped out of the air even the most optimistic of fans wouldnt have expected the russian to show the perfect technique to volley hard and perfectly from such a tight angle and suddenly bolton were on the ropes and spurs were back in, but once again the tottenham defence leaked a fourth and the wind was taken out the sails.
so can spurs get the balance right? if anyone can sort it then the 2nd hand car dealer extraodinair redknapp is the man who can put his hand up the puppeteering spurs backside to orchestrate what is needed. time will tell but the fact spurs are even being mentioned as possible title contenders/deciders has got to be enough for tottenham fans for the time being?!
chelsea.....as mentioned in a previous blog i predicted a chelsea victory here, liverpools form and belief was at an all-time low slightly buoyed by the super-sub gerrard in mid-weeks europa league outing, surely the chelsea super-show would roll into town and roll back out in fashion as they have most of this season already....
not the case....instead their talisman drogba was strangely on the bench? supposidly due to a virus? how true we will never know, but if he is fit enough to be on the bench then surely he could have started such a showcase fixture?
no essien, lampard and now the drog on the bench? liverpool fans must now have been sensing the drops of blood leaking out of a depleated stamford bridge side, and that was exactly what panned out.
torres being the main predator on this occassion as he has been so often against chelsea.
the reds flew out of the blocks and early doors got ahead through torres after the 'workhorse' kuyt chipped a delightful ball through to the spaniard, one that captain fantastic or indeed the much missed alonso would have been proud of and el nino duely dispatched into the net passed the on-rushing cech.
chelsea never looked at the races without drogba and the defense had a pretty easy time of it. then a slip just inside his own half from ramires let in meireles who fed torres on the left and as he turned towards goal and one on one with alex everybody in the crowd knew what was coming, just would it come off?
on this occassion it did, he skipped inside and made a yard where he unleashed a curling right foor strike which left cech stranded as it crashed into the side netting putting liverpool two goals up.
the murcurial matador was back.....and football fans everywhere have missed the brillance as is when other top players are off form like rooney and berbatov to name a couple.
chelsea then woke up after the substitution of drogba at half time and suddenly the reds looked more nervous, reina made a point blank save from malouda and then minutes later he let a shot squirm under him to bounce back off the bar into the path of drogba who looked just as shocked as everyone when carragher somehow got his body between drogba and the ball and a dead cert goal.
storm weathered as it turned out and cech himself made a world class svae as kuyt nearly got himself on the scoresheet for his efforts.
but tim ticked down and liverpool cut chelsea's lead over manchester united to just two points.
championship wide open again? who knows, but after this weekend it just shows how wide open the league has become again which can only be good for the genuine football fan.
a brilliant advert for the english league and yet another reminder that it is the best league in the world.....
defeats for three of the top 6 teams in the form of arsenal, chelsea and tottenham respectively.
arsenal, fresh off of a away day defeat to shakhtar donetsk in the champions league arsene whinger's team took on a seemingly re-juvinated newcastle at the emirates, many would have foreseen a comfortable home win in this one but the truth was in all honesty that the might of th gunners were out-fought and the usual class and indeed beautiful fluent football the reds normally ooze just wasn't present in this blood and thunder meeting where unfortunately for the gooner army they were once again beaten by a team who were physically stronger and got nothing less that they deserved for their efforts.
the yo-yo life of one andy carrol has been much documented in the past and more recent weeks but no-one can argue against the form of the young englishman.
stirling performances against many teams already under his belt this season has rewarded carrol with rave reviews and an imminent call up for the national squad, and i cannot think of any reason why he shouldnt be included.
arsenal didnt really have a response to the battling geordie's, yes wallcott hit the bar and they did have chances but you cant take away the performance from hughtons team in a week where his job was reportidly under threat, then they hit five past there north-east rivals and now an away win at the emirates, not such a bad week eh?!
spurs.....magnificent win mid-week against the european champions and due celebrations for a team who does deserve it, but once again they found out that incorporating the elite europen competition and elite league is hard to balance.
welcoming the champion league champions to white hart lane one minute then a grim away fixture at the un-inspiring reebok in stark contrast did look like a stumbling block but ths spurs fans must have been wondering where the team had gone from tuesday night as they trailed 3-0 to bolton who with all due respect shouldn't be causing such ripplies against the quality of a side like tottenham.
a rallying call started by hutton with a sublime curling shot with his 'standing foot' certainly got bolton wondering, then arguably the goal of the weekend by pavlyuchenko, as it dropped out of the air even the most optimistic of fans wouldnt have expected the russian to show the perfect technique to volley hard and perfectly from such a tight angle and suddenly bolton were on the ropes and spurs were back in, but once again the tottenham defence leaked a fourth and the wind was taken out the sails.
so can spurs get the balance right? if anyone can sort it then the 2nd hand car dealer extraodinair redknapp is the man who can put his hand up the puppeteering spurs backside to orchestrate what is needed. time will tell but the fact spurs are even being mentioned as possible title contenders/deciders has got to be enough for tottenham fans for the time being?!
chelsea.....as mentioned in a previous blog i predicted a chelsea victory here, liverpools form and belief was at an all-time low slightly buoyed by the super-sub gerrard in mid-weeks europa league outing, surely the chelsea super-show would roll into town and roll back out in fashion as they have most of this season already....
not the case....instead their talisman drogba was strangely on the bench? supposidly due to a virus? how true we will never know, but if he is fit enough to be on the bench then surely he could have started such a showcase fixture?
no essien, lampard and now the drog on the bench? liverpool fans must now have been sensing the drops of blood leaking out of a depleated stamford bridge side, and that was exactly what panned out.
torres being the main predator on this occassion as he has been so often against chelsea.
the reds flew out of the blocks and early doors got ahead through torres after the 'workhorse' kuyt chipped a delightful ball through to the spaniard, one that captain fantastic or indeed the much missed alonso would have been proud of and el nino duely dispatched into the net passed the on-rushing cech.
chelsea never looked at the races without drogba and the defense had a pretty easy time of it. then a slip just inside his own half from ramires let in meireles who fed torres on the left and as he turned towards goal and one on one with alex everybody in the crowd knew what was coming, just would it come off?
on this occassion it did, he skipped inside and made a yard where he unleashed a curling right foor strike which left cech stranded as it crashed into the side netting putting liverpool two goals up.
the murcurial matador was back.....and football fans everywhere have missed the brillance as is when other top players are off form like rooney and berbatov to name a couple.
chelsea then woke up after the substitution of drogba at half time and suddenly the reds looked more nervous, reina made a point blank save from malouda and then minutes later he let a shot squirm under him to bounce back off the bar into the path of drogba who looked just as shocked as everyone when carragher somehow got his body between drogba and the ball and a dead cert goal.
storm weathered as it turned out and cech himself made a world class svae as kuyt nearly got himself on the scoresheet for his efforts.
but tim ticked down and liverpool cut chelsea's lead over manchester united to just two points.
championship wide open again? who knows, but after this weekend it just shows how wide open the league has become again which can only be good for the genuine football fan.
Thursday 4 November 2010
chelsea....the real deal in europe this time???
chelsea, you either love them or hate them.
either way you cant argue the form they have been in this year, sweeping aside the so called lesser sides at the start of the season scoring plenty of goals in the process, then they faced manchester city, their first real test everyone said, and yes they got beat, and quite comfotably to.
but since then they have gone from strength to strength squeezing tight results out of teams without playing well for the whole 90mins in games, and i do think it is due to the form of their two big players in my book, and maybe the obviuos two? i dont know?
drogba......somewhat of an enigma? big, strong, powerful, scores goals, creates goals, always a handful, yes at times he can be a tempremental prick but then what 'big game' players aren't at times??!!
the guy shoulders alot of the pressure to finish off the sometimes breathtaking moves that chelsea create on a scarily regular basis, but he does always come up with 20 goals in a premiership season, and must be one of the most consistant strikers in the league on stats i would imagine, playing up front with the evergreen 'incredible sulk' the infamous nic anelka, they provide so many options for the 'fat' frank lampard and kalou who often provides them with their service, but with the drog, he also has the ability to give the opposition the run around by himself and also score the goals resulting from himself, granted that doesnt happen much but he is still capable of it.
love him or hate him, he is top top drawer.
the next reason and i think main reason is essien....the complete footballer with the engine that would put a steam train to shame.
nasty, dirty streak yes but that isnt without commitment, the dynamic midfielder epitomises everything that should be right about football, he passes, tackles, scores spectacular goals and makes average players i.e lampard look world class, hence fat frank struggles so badly for form in the england side and is always over shadowed by steve gerrard, englands closest answer to essien for many peoples money.
when essien is missing so is the fight and physical threat of chelsea, they get overrun and out fought, but when he is at the centre of it they are practically unbeatable, and this weekend they go to anfield looking to continue their great early season form.
normally anfield would pose a tricky obstacle but at present the reds are in a fluctuating run, draws, wins and defeats scattered in every week, the feeling on merseyside this week is that of hope rather than optimism like it would normally be in the run up to such a huge game.
i predict a score draw which on paper would appear a good result for both, given the two teams are part of the supposed 'big 6' as it now is, but in reality chelsea would see a point as two dropped given the form of their opponents.
league champions? very possibly, they have the makings of champions in the domestic league.
european champions? jury is still out for me, great results early competition, already through to knock out stages with two games to spare, but when the chips go down i dont think they have enough to compete with the true giants such as real madrid, barca, and probably manchester utd and inter thrown in.
just think the class doesnt stem deep enough for this chelsea side, i dont know whats missing for them, if i did id be in ancelotti's shoes, albeit they'd be a bit big.
chelsea to do the double this year is a sure fire bet, but only premier league and domestic cup in my own un-compromising opinion.......anyone dis-agree??
either way you cant argue the form they have been in this year, sweeping aside the so called lesser sides at the start of the season scoring plenty of goals in the process, then they faced manchester city, their first real test everyone said, and yes they got beat, and quite comfotably to.
but since then they have gone from strength to strength squeezing tight results out of teams without playing well for the whole 90mins in games, and i do think it is due to the form of their two big players in my book, and maybe the obviuos two? i dont know?
drogba......somewhat of an enigma? big, strong, powerful, scores goals, creates goals, always a handful, yes at times he can be a tempremental prick but then what 'big game' players aren't at times??!!
the guy shoulders alot of the pressure to finish off the sometimes breathtaking moves that chelsea create on a scarily regular basis, but he does always come up with 20 goals in a premiership season, and must be one of the most consistant strikers in the league on stats i would imagine, playing up front with the evergreen 'incredible sulk' the infamous nic anelka, they provide so many options for the 'fat' frank lampard and kalou who often provides them with their service, but with the drog, he also has the ability to give the opposition the run around by himself and also score the goals resulting from himself, granted that doesnt happen much but he is still capable of it.
love him or hate him, he is top top drawer.
the next reason and i think main reason is essien....the complete footballer with the engine that would put a steam train to shame.
nasty, dirty streak yes but that isnt without commitment, the dynamic midfielder epitomises everything that should be right about football, he passes, tackles, scores spectacular goals and makes average players i.e lampard look world class, hence fat frank struggles so badly for form in the england side and is always over shadowed by steve gerrard, englands closest answer to essien for many peoples money.
when essien is missing so is the fight and physical threat of chelsea, they get overrun and out fought, but when he is at the centre of it they are practically unbeatable, and this weekend they go to anfield looking to continue their great early season form.
normally anfield would pose a tricky obstacle but at present the reds are in a fluctuating run, draws, wins and defeats scattered in every week, the feeling on merseyside this week is that of hope rather than optimism like it would normally be in the run up to such a huge game.
i predict a score draw which on paper would appear a good result for both, given the two teams are part of the supposed 'big 6' as it now is, but in reality chelsea would see a point as two dropped given the form of their opponents.
league champions? very possibly, they have the makings of champions in the domestic league.
european champions? jury is still out for me, great results early competition, already through to knock out stages with two games to spare, but when the chips go down i dont think they have enough to compete with the true giants such as real madrid, barca, and probably manchester utd and inter thrown in.
just think the class doesnt stem deep enough for this chelsea side, i dont know whats missing for them, if i did id be in ancelotti's shoes, albeit they'd be a bit big.
chelsea to do the double this year is a sure fire bet, but only premier league and domestic cup in my own un-compromising opinion.......anyone dis-agree??
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Gareth Bale......just how good is he??!!
a young welsh footballer playing at left back for southampton, two years after his debut tottenham snapped him up to bolster their starting eleven, last season bale played 23 times for spurs and was on the winning side on not a single occassion!!!! now a year on, the wheeler dealer harry rednapp had to put full faith in the young welsh player by putting him just off the striker during an injury crisis, this seemed to be a stroke of genius allbeit forced by the much loved rednapp. brilliant displays followed playing in a what was thought to be unorthodox position for the long time left beck, but still the performances were there for all to see as he filled the attacking gaps with apparent ease.
now spurs being in the top flight of european football, the champions league, finshing fourth in the league last year in order to do so, he is now arguably the main focus of the entire team! stark contrast to the laughable fun of games spurs and bale had endured the previous season when he was involved....
so it begs the question...what the fuck has changed ??!!! is it brilliance on the part of harry? is it the rejuvinated hunger from bale himself or is it just a pure unadulterated rise of one of the stars of the present and future we are all witnessing in front of our eyes?
my statement is this.....gareth bale is in the top three wingers in the world, yup i said the whole blue and green land that we inhabit....the FUCKING WORLD.
in my opinion and course everyone has theirs, but in my opinion he is only in the company of such players like the demented duck aka ronaldo, not the fat buck tooth brazilian but the portugese master, he is now starting to hit the heights that madrid payed the seemingly crazy £80 million squidlies for in the summer of last year to see, and of course theres no prizes for guessing the identity of one little argentinian magician who for me rates above them both, but on recent showings only just above.
has the world gone crazy? for me no.
two weeks ago bale's tottenham team were four goals down to inter milan in milans back yard, inter being the european champions, allbeit at the hands of 'the special one' who has since moved to pastures new but the quality team still remains, so we had it, 4-0 down away from home against rafael benitez of liverpool fame/shame's italians, they were being completely outplayed, outfought, out manouvered the lot, a complete lesson in europes elite competition, then enter mr bale, he grasped his team and lacklustre teammates by the scruff ofthe neck and proceeded to score three goals to pull spurs within reach of an amazing turn around, it didnt quite materialise but the showing given by bale earned him rave reviews, and rightly so.
was it a one off?
aparrently not, last night i watched and witnessed a performance of attacking flare rarely seen at white hart lane since the mecurial david ginola just without the girlie fucking locks.
bale was up against maicon, a worldly established right back and widely thought of as one of the best in the world, well last night bale ghosted past this 'master' four, five, six mabye more i coulnt keep count the amount of times he raped him time and time again like the right back wasnt even there.
and much like his opposite aaron lennon who did have just as much joy on the other flank but with one major difference, bale can actually deliver a final ball without shitting himself with excitement.
no matter how small a part he plays, everything seemed to go through bale, and everyone looks to him to lift the team, which can only be testiment to him for returning to the spurs first team and actually breaking the voodoo of the defeats by smashing his own best form and to put tottenham into the eyes of the watching world.......
now spurs being in the top flight of european football, the champions league, finshing fourth in the league last year in order to do so, he is now arguably the main focus of the entire team! stark contrast to the laughable fun of games spurs and bale had endured the previous season when he was involved....
so it begs the question...what the fuck has changed ??!!! is it brilliance on the part of harry? is it the rejuvinated hunger from bale himself or is it just a pure unadulterated rise of one of the stars of the present and future we are all witnessing in front of our eyes?
my statement is this.....gareth bale is in the top three wingers in the world, yup i said the whole blue and green land that we inhabit....the FUCKING WORLD.
in my opinion and course everyone has theirs, but in my opinion he is only in the company of such players like the demented duck aka ronaldo, not the fat buck tooth brazilian but the portugese master, he is now starting to hit the heights that madrid payed the seemingly crazy £80 million squidlies for in the summer of last year to see, and of course theres no prizes for guessing the identity of one little argentinian magician who for me rates above them both, but on recent showings only just above.
has the world gone crazy? for me no.
two weeks ago bale's tottenham team were four goals down to inter milan in milans back yard, inter being the european champions, allbeit at the hands of 'the special one' who has since moved to pastures new but the quality team still remains, so we had it, 4-0 down away from home against rafael benitez of liverpool fame/shame's italians, they were being completely outplayed, outfought, out manouvered the lot, a complete lesson in europes elite competition, then enter mr bale, he grasped his team and lacklustre teammates by the scruff ofthe neck and proceeded to score three goals to pull spurs within reach of an amazing turn around, it didnt quite materialise but the showing given by bale earned him rave reviews, and rightly so.
was it a one off?
aparrently not, last night i watched and witnessed a performance of attacking flare rarely seen at white hart lane since the mecurial david ginola just without the girlie fucking locks.
bale was up against maicon, a worldly established right back and widely thought of as one of the best in the world, well last night bale ghosted past this 'master' four, five, six mabye more i coulnt keep count the amount of times he raped him time and time again like the right back wasnt even there.
and much like his opposite aaron lennon who did have just as much joy on the other flank but with one major difference, bale can actually deliver a final ball without shitting himself with excitement.
no matter how small a part he plays, everything seemed to go through bale, and everyone looks to him to lift the team, which can only be testiment to him for returning to the spurs first team and actually breaking the voodoo of the defeats by smashing his own best form and to put tottenham into the eyes of the watching world.......
Monday 1 November 2010
referees eh....who would be one?!
another weekend passed and another spotlight on the man in black and unfortunately for the masses we are not talking about the legendary Johnny Cash......the venue : Old Trafford, the victim, Mr Gomes the tottenham goalkeeper, the man in the middle Mark Clattengurg? dunno if thats the right spelling but either way he is under the spotlight!
the impressive but ultimately annoying potugese winger Nani, who has declared himself 'one of the best' today, danced into the spurs penalty area and took a 9.0 dive in the box, seemingly handling the ball as he tumbled, the keeper, Gomes assumes the ref will/had blown his whistle for seeing the blatant handball by the winger picks the ball up and places it for what he thought would be a free kick and a long punt downfield to put his team back on the attack and looking for the equaliser they had battled for 85 mins to get, but to gomes' and indeed everyone in the stadium and probable millions watching on tv worldwide, as he backs off to take his run up, the cheeky little git in a united shirt seemingly braking the rules puts the ball in an un guarded net???!!!
what the fuck was going on?!!! i dont think anyone in the world really knew and instantly all eyes filtered to the man in black who's arm movements indicated that nani was right to play on and tuck away his arrogant attempt!!
how? why? what was going on here?!?
as to the rules regarding this no-one was to sure, spurs players swarmed round the ref almost dragging him off into the tunnel for the imminent kicking they thought he should deserve, but no, the goal stood and united ran out 2-0 victors and spurs fans left ruing yet anothe refereeing decision go against them at old trafford....
the referee's statement was this......i did not blow for a free kick as the keeper had possesion, therefore nani was well within his rights to play the ball as soon as he had no hands on the ball thus making it perfeclty legal goal....or words to that effect anyways.......more fool gomes
yet perfectly legal and well within the rules, should this kind of goal be allowed to stand in the spirit of the game??
i really dont know, if my team had scored a goal like this id have been patting the striker on the back for being on his toes, if my team conceded one like it then id be fuming, so what is it? right or wrong?
how the fuck should i know? i am a fan like the rest of us, yet another example of why we do it to ourselves i suppose eh? to make a discussion out of anything that makes us fume?
you be the judge....
the impressive but ultimately annoying potugese winger Nani, who has declared himself 'one of the best' today, danced into the spurs penalty area and took a 9.0 dive in the box, seemingly handling the ball as he tumbled, the keeper, Gomes assumes the ref will/had blown his whistle for seeing the blatant handball by the winger picks the ball up and places it for what he thought would be a free kick and a long punt downfield to put his team back on the attack and looking for the equaliser they had battled for 85 mins to get, but to gomes' and indeed everyone in the stadium and probable millions watching on tv worldwide, as he backs off to take his run up, the cheeky little git in a united shirt seemingly braking the rules puts the ball in an un guarded net???!!!
what the fuck was going on?!!! i dont think anyone in the world really knew and instantly all eyes filtered to the man in black who's arm movements indicated that nani was right to play on and tuck away his arrogant attempt!!
how? why? what was going on here?!?
as to the rules regarding this no-one was to sure, spurs players swarmed round the ref almost dragging him off into the tunnel for the imminent kicking they thought he should deserve, but no, the goal stood and united ran out 2-0 victors and spurs fans left ruing yet anothe refereeing decision go against them at old trafford....
the referee's statement was this......i did not blow for a free kick as the keeper had possesion, therefore nani was well within his rights to play the ball as soon as he had no hands on the ball thus making it perfeclty legal goal....or words to that effect anyways.......more fool gomes
yet perfectly legal and well within the rules, should this kind of goal be allowed to stand in the spirit of the game??
i really dont know, if my team had scored a goal like this id have been patting the striker on the back for being on his toes, if my team conceded one like it then id be fuming, so what is it? right or wrong?
how the fuck should i know? i am a fan like the rest of us, yet another example of why we do it to ourselves i suppose eh? to make a discussion out of anything that makes us fume?
you be the judge....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)