Sunday, 30 September 2007

Once, twice, three times Thierry

So it turns out that Thierry Henry is an avid reader of this blog and took offense to what I wrote a few days ago. Yet, being the pofessional that he is, chose to prove me wrong on the park instead of posting a comment and dissin' me in front of my peeps... Respect!

Highlights: Levante 1 - 4 FC Barcelona

Saturday, 29 September 2007

Melbourne: My First Win

Watching the Melbourne vs Queensland match on Friday was more painful than sticking pins in my eyes or even watching under 10's run around a field aimlessly for that matter. In all fairness to under 10's though, even they'd be trying to impress their adoring parents standing on the side line barking out commands by attempting a back heel pass or an overhead kick.
Seeing as this was Melbournes first win of the season, I though I could compare it to a description of a toddlers activity book aptly named My First Words:

It is very hard to find a good educational game for toddlers...until now!
It is very hard to win a game since pre-season for Melbourne...until now!

My First Words is a simple, but wonderful matching game for toddlers. It is safe for toddlers because there are no small parts. It gets a toddler's attention because the graphics are cute, bright, and appealing. And toddlers can relate to the game because it features familiar objects from everyday routines such as play time, bath time and bed time.
My First Win was a difficult, and woeful game for Melbourne. It wasn't safe for Melbourne because of one small part; they didn't score till late. It gets Melbournes attention because there's no other football team in Victoria and that's appealing. And Melbournians can relate to the game because it features familiar objects from their other loved sports such as goal posts, a grass pitch and half time.

Toddlers will find the game easy to play. They match the picture tile to the corresponding object on the game board. But as they progress, and the toddler gets older, you can use the game to introduce word recognition, letter sounds and more...all it takes is a little imagination.
Melbourne will find the game easier to play when Muscat scores a penalty in the corresponding net of the football pitch. But as they progress, and the match goes on, Thompson can score another, plus you can use the game to introduce new players, like Caceres, Ryall and Hernandez...all it takes is a little imagination.

The game includes six double sided game boards, eighteen matching picture tiles, game rules and a parent guide.
The game included a combined seven yellow cards, four match officials, eleven players per team, game rules and a muppet coach to guide each team.

For ages 2 and up.
For ages 2 and up.
1 to 6 players
22 players; 25,622 spectators

Friday, 28 September 2007

More problems in Barcelona!

There's a problem other than Ronaldinho down at FC Barcelona... And no, it's not Puyol's hair; Henry is struggling to score! He is destroying defenders with his pace and first touch but seems to freeze up when he sets his sights on goal. The last goal he scored was in the Champions League and that was a tap in from a blocked Giovani strike. I think Barca's president, Joan Laporta, should bring in the aliens that are helping Inzaghi and van Nistelrooy score at the moment to sort him out... either them or Jude Law cause even he seems to be scoring some nice goals lately.
Messi, on the other hand, is averaging approx. 2 goals a game, which is a phenominal achievment, considering his age and all the other superstars around him. It makes me wonder how much more this kid has to offer. Whatever that is, it's garunteed to be brilliance!

Highlights: FC Barcelona 4 - 1 Real Zaragoza

These pics were taken when Henry couldn't stop scoring... on the pitch!

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Ronaldinho to the Premier League??


When Messi scored his first against Seville on the weekend, he ran to the corner giving the standard Ronaldinho 'ridgy-didge' celebration while looking into the stands. So I figured that he was paying his respects to the great man cause Ronnie wasn't even in the squad. Later reports indicated that Ronnie had been ruled out with a calf strain but somehow, the Kojak in me wasn't too convinced... so I did what all good TV detectives do and went on a hunch.
I re-asked the question that everyone's been asking for a while now: Could Ronaldinho be on his way out of Barcelona?

Since the weekend, Spanish papers have been full of stories speculating the former Paris St Germain play maker had been punished for too many late nights with his response being to instruct his agent, and brother, to start negotiating a move to Chelsea.
Source article: www.theworldgame.com.au


Be$ide$ the blatantly obviou$, why would he want to move to Chelski?
Most recently, it has lead to the demise of some talented individuals, eg. Ballack and Shevchenko and is now in reset mode without it's charismatic manager Mourinho.
He'd be better suited to the more flowing football and pace of the Italian or French leagues... or Arsenal!?

I would have thought nothing less of this cause AC Milan have been trying to entice him forever and a day, but all the speculation surrounding Ronnies future got me thinking and then I read this:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been promised a mammoth £70million (A$187million) transfer kitty after Arsenal revealed themselves to be one of Europe's richest clubs.
..."We had over £70million (A$187million) of cash at the end of the year and if Arsene wants to spend that money we will make it available."
Source article: www.theworldgame.com.au


It makes perfect sense! Arsenal are cashed up to the eyeballs at the moment, they're playing "French football" in the exciting and overly-paid Premier League and as extra incentive they have a few Brazilians, in Gilberto, Denilson and Eduardo, which would make the move that extra bit cozy. I know it's a big call, but that's how I roll!

Ronaldinho at Arsenal FC?:

Let me know you're thoughts on this topic. Add a comment below.

Sunday, 23 September 2007

Bring on the 'Young Gun-ners'


Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester City
Arsenal 3 - 1 Manchester City Portsmouth
Tottenham 1 - 3 Arsenal
Arsenal 3 - 0 Sevilla
Arsenal 5 - 0 Derby County
They've scored 15 goals in the last 5 matches and have only conceded 2. They currently top the Premier League and are playing some of the most attractive football in Europe and the suprising thing is that the average age of the entire squad is: 23.5 years old.
Obviously the mastermind behind the teams success is Arsène Wenger, but credit must go to Cesc Fabregas, who can't stop scoring at the moment and to Emmanuel Adebayor who seems to be finding his lanky legs in front of goal.
It's still early days, but it would be a great achievement if their young and inexperienced squad, could hang in there and go all the way.

Saturday, 22 September 2007

Misfiring Melbourne


5 games, 5 draws and 5 points. The Victory are currently sitting in fourth and are 1 of 3 teams not to have lost yet, even though they came very to close to it last night. In what was a lackluster first half, Newcastle dominated almost all areas of the match and were generally quicker to everything than the lethargic Melbournians.
Victory were caught sleeping on several occasions and were lucky that Newcastle failed to convert several other chances.

Did your family ever get around in one of those old rust-buckets that would take a while to start up, then hop instead of take off while leaving clouds of smoke in it's trail? Well I sure as hell didn't! But I'm starting to feel as though it may have been less embarrassing than watching Melbourne's performances this year. Clearly they haven't discovered their championship winning form of last year... maybe cause it's in the USA... and clearly they're still cruising in first gear.
There was plenty of buzz in the pre-season about their signings, yet they've failed to make an impression so far... which brings me to my next point, why isn't Patafta seeing more game time?
Hernandez still looks like he's carrying his baggage from Costa Rica and even though he's only been playing sporadically, he hasn't really impressed (me) much.
Thankfully for Merrick and co, it's still early days and there's time for change... heck I just want to see them play the free flowing football again, that destroyed so many teams last year! Is that too much to ask!?

Thursday, 20 September 2007

Scoring from another planet!


Im convinced that aliens visit the Earth every fortnight, between the months September and May, and take the form of strikers like Inzaghi, Shevchenko and van Nistelrooy. They probe the football stadiums of Europe in the hope of learning about the erratic behaviour of fans when the ball is placed in the back of a net, then they run to the corners while pointing to the sky. It must be some ceremonial thing cause they can’t stop scoring at the moment… respect!

Champions League goal scoring stats

Mourinho waves good-byski


Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has sensationally left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent, the club has confirmed.
Mourinho still had three years left on a contract, worth a staggering £6.5million (AUS$15.18million) a year, but the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is prepared pay a huge slice of that in order to end their relationship.

Wow! It was only yesterday that I mentioned how I didn't think Chelski had much of a chance in Europe and that that would lead to the demise of Mourinho... I didn't actually think that a genie in the form of a Russian billionaire could grant my wish so quickly!
I just love it when owners or presidents for that matter, think they can manage a team…it just reeks of a tragedy in the making… kind of like “Hairspray: The Movie”. I think it's obvious whose fault this is though… Shevchenko’s. It’s well known that the Ukrainian is Abramovich’s favourite player and well his form hasn’t been stellar lately… put two and two together… that’s all im saying for now oh…and good luck to the next manager that takes on this mogul job!

Champions League Matchday 1 Goal Round-up

I know...the commentary is a bit outta left field, but hey, they're highlights and unless you're an Olympiacos fan you can un-mute the sound to listen to the crowd when goals are scored.

Tuesday


Wednesday

Wednesday, 19 September 2007

Hyper coloured football!


I don’t know about you, but I want to know what ever happened to the traditional colouring of jerseys and boots in this sport we love and call football. There was a time when football boots came in any colour you like, so long as it was black.

Today though, It seems that brands are trying to appeal to the 'inner female' of every football player by customising their gear.
Everywhere you turn it’s ‘Tune this’ and ‘Bend that’! And football equipment is starting to look like a fashion item you could parade down a neon catwalk and accompany with a matching handbag and sweat-bands.

Sure, commercialism and big dollar figures are at the helm of this farce, but does that mean players can prance around wearing pink jersyes, pastel coloured shorts with matching socks and fluro coloured boots!? It's a combo that could bring out the epileptic in all of us!

Legends of the game like the Adidas Copa Mundial and Adidas World Cup's hardly see the light of day compared to the multicoloured monstosities worn today. And just like mens multi-blade razors, you have to ask yourself, when will this circus act ever end!?

Let’s bring back the black boot and traditional jersey!




Paying homage to the away jersey, as witnessed by millions world wide during matchday 1 action of the Campions Champions League:

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

UEFA Champions League - The beginning


The richest tournament in club football kicks off this week and every billionaire wants a piece of it. Oh, and we can't forget about the 32 teams competing for a place in the May final in Moscow.

Winning the final in Moscow would be a nice incentive for Mr Abramovich's men at Chelski. Not only would they be lavished with extraordinarily expensive gifts but the man himself would be inflating his ego in front of his Russian comrads... somehow, I don't see Chelski being much of a threat this season and this may lead to the demise of Mourinho.

This weeks lineups are:
Tuesday
Marseille v Beşiktaş JK
Porto vs Liverpool
Chelsea vs Rosenborg
Schalke vs Valencia
Real Madrid vs Bremen
Olympiacos vs Lazio
Milan vs Benfica
Shakhtar vs Celtic

Wednesday
Rangers vs Stuttgart
Barcelona vs Lyon
Roma vs Dynamo Kyiv
Sporting vs Man. United
PSV vs CSKA Moskva
Fenerbahçe vs Internazionale
Arsenal vs Sevilla video
Slavia vs Steaua

Friday, 14 September 2007

Puppa England Vs Mumma Russia


In a match where even Jar Jar Binks aka Rio Ferdinand was able to score for England, you could tell that things were a little off centre. I guess it's testament to how far the team has come in the McClaren era... it seems that the defenders are scoring as frequently, if not more often than the strikers!

Actually, going into this match I thought Russia had a chance of getting a result at Wembley. They had little to fear from 'an injury-ravaged English side' missing key players such as Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. And with the great tactician Hiddink at the helms of Russia, anything could have been possible.

Turns out that 'The Boy Wonder' and crew had other plans. Full credit to England for turning it on when it really mattered and burying Russia in the first half. There's no doubt that England can perform even better, it's just a matter of when!?
Had Russia been a stronger attacking team, things would have been different in the second half, as the highlights show.

Game highlights:

Monday, 10 September 2007

The Pundit's Whirlwind Euro-Trip!

In what eventuated as a bazaar turn of events, the forces that be placed the pundit on hiatus so that I could go and indulge in some European football action! It was one hell 'of a ride spanning from England, Holland, France, Spain and then coming to an end in Greece. The aim was to catch some rays during the northern summer and also a number of high profile pre-season matches... in the end we did a bit of both and had a great time while doing it! [pictures and story to follow soon]