Liverpools injury woes

I've worked out why so many of Liverpools players are getting injured. It all boils down to the Latinos and their darn love affair with tradition! On last count there were approximately 14 of them at the club... don’t believe me?.. the list is below.
Fernando Torres, who has scored seven goals in 13 first-team appearances for Liverpool so far, is the most recent victim of this passion. Injuring his adductor he’ll be sidelined for three weeks and may miss Spain’s final Euro Qualifier against Sweden on November 17. He joins the list of others injured trying to tame the beasts of the wild: Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Jermaine Pennant; And whilst the rest of the team slammed back shots of Tequilla and tested the patience of ‘natures steam rollers’, Harry Kewell opted to give it a miss and will be making ‘yet another’ come back from injury... let’s see how long it takes him to join the walking wounded again.

Coaches:
Rafael Benitez - Manager
Angel Vales - Reserve Coach and Head of Technical Analysis
Xavi Valero - Goalkeeping Coach
Eduardo Macia - Chief Scout
Victor Salinas - Physiotherapist
Paco De Miguel - Fitness Coach
Antonio Gomez - Fitness Coach

Spaniards:
Xabi Alonso
Fernando Torres
Pepe Reina

Argentines:
Javier Mascherano
Sebastian Leto
Emiliano Insua

Reserves:
Mikel San Jose Dominguez

Source: Liverpool FC squad

Chelsea's back...

...and they're climbing up the table,
hey now, hey now, Chelsea's back!

So it seems a new manager, Avram Grant, and a new technical coach, Henk ten Cate, is all Chelski needed to turn the corner and get back to winning in style; and boy did they do so against a Man City side that has been playing some very attacking football!
When Henk signed on he revealed his determination to help Chelsea win in style by putting emphasis on entertainment rather than 'not losing'. Mourinho was all about results, regardless of the way they came... it took two years for other managers to figure out his style and once they did, it brought his demise... Chelsea are back in a big way and will definately make a big impact at home and in Europe over the coming weeks!

Champions League - Matchday 3 Predictions

Here are my predictions for the remaining games:

Beşiktaş 1 v 2 Liverpool
Marseille 2 v 1 Porto
Rosenborg 0 v 2 Valencia
Chelsea 3 v 2 Schalke
Bremen 1 v 1 Lazio
Real Madrid 1 v 2 Olympiacos
Benfica 0 v 1 Celtic
Milan 2 v 2 Shakhtar

Domestically, Olympiacos are firing and are proving to be a handful in Europe as well. Madrid slipped up on the weekend and have had disciplinary issues with Robinho and Baptista, so I feel that the Greeks may come away with the 3 points tonight.

All eyes on Didier

Drogba caused a storm at Stamford Bridge last week when he announced, in an interview with France Football magazine, that he wanted to follow former manager Jose Mourinho out of the club. He later insisted he was committed to the Blues but would sit down and discuss his future at the end of the season.

"Didier opened his heart in his interview but the main importance for the players, the club and the fans should be the fact that on the pitch he has always been brilliant and fighting 100%. Every player has the right to say what he thinks. For us the most important thing is that he plays on the pitch for the team. You can see that in any game, he is 100% for us and wants to score goals and win and that is the main thing."

Lyon have admitted interest in Drogba and its a deal he might consider come the end of the season. He loves France... but then again who wouldn't, the food is great, the weather in Lyon is nicer that London and the French pounani is by far better than any English variants. The deal I'm more concerned about is that one that came from Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath... after hearing about Drogba's desires to leave Stamford Bridge, Dre thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to market Didier like the new 50 Cent, although instead of being shot 9 times... Drogba would be doing all the shooting. And on a plus side he already looks like Snoop, so he's pretty much a gangster anyway!
Ps. I really like Chelsea's training jackets (above)... big'up to Adidas!

Champions League - Matchday 3

With all the football action of the last two weeks, this UCL matchday just crept up on me... never the less; there were some stunning performances over night! And by stunning I mean Arsenals 7 - 0 romping of Slavia Prague... it quite simply was some of the best football matches I've seen in a very long time!

Match highlights:

The unlucky 13

So is the number 13 really unlucky, or is it just a myth? Decide for yourself.
Both Kristian Sarkies and Kaz Patafta, talented attacking midfielders in their own right, have donned the number at Melbourne Victory yet never really showed their full potential. We know they're talented, they were both invited by Guss Hiddink to join the Socceroos while the squad prepared for its 2006 World Cup campaign in Germany.

In the first two seasons of the A-League, Sarkies wore the number for Victory and got far more game time than what young Kaz has had this season, yet was unable to make the impact that many fans and commentators expected of him. In 33 season appearances for the Victory, he scored 2 goals and got 6 assists. In most matches he was used sparingly or subbed off and midway through the second season it was rumored that he'd had a falling out with coach Ernie Merrick about his lack of game time.

Patafta on the other hand, is currently on a one year loan deal from Benfica and came to the A-League with expectations of playing first team football. Since his arrival, he's been subbed on 5 times and has yet to break into the starting 11, although he has shown glimpses of the talent that experts and coaches alike identify about him. Most notably his performance against Sydney in the pre-season cup.

You could argue that both players are young and that both were competing against more experienced individuals, the likes of Fred and Hernandez, for their spots, but I think it's more than just pure coincidence that they both wore the 13 and both found it hard to hold a regular spot. I just hope that this season doesn't send Patafta into obscurity as it did Sarkies!

The article that got me thinking about this:
Patafta runs to a slightly different beat [The Age]

Becks season over... for now!

Lets face it, even though his move to the MLS is making him a mint every week, I don't think he his happy at all with his current fooballing situation. He looks miserable on and off the pitch and has not played well at all since his move to LA. He's been injured for the last 7 weeks, which put him out of contention to play for England, when they really needed some inspiration... and to top it all off, his season is now over till April next year. APRIL NEXT YEAR!! Becks won't know what to do with himself till then!
Surely there's a release clause in his contract that'll let him practice with the Spice Girls while they prepare for their world tour in December... God knows they'll need all the help they can get!.. and he needs to keep up his fitness somehow!?

Highlights of this weekends match against Chicago Fire:
Notice how Becks gives the ball away cheaply in the midfield only for Chicago to break and score the winning goal.



Other David Beckham news:
Galaxy lose duel with Fire for final spot
Becks out to keep busy
Becks facing season of discontent

Pics from the weekends game:

World Weekend Wrap

Victory gets the edge over Glory... just [MVFC Blog]
Aloisi will run a muck in the A-league [The World Game]
Liverpool win Merseyside derby [The Round Ball Analyst]
Rooney and crew breeze past 9 man Villa [Footytube.com]
Milan struggling domestically yet always tough in Europe [UEFA]
Mourinho doesn't want England job [Eurosport UK]
Premier League Team of the Week [ESPNsoccernet]

The Pride of Russia

"Russian media has hailed Dutch coach Guus Hiddink for masterminding Russia's historic 2-1 win over England in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifier that kept alive their chances of reaching next year's finals." [The World Game]

Whether it was Guus' tactics on the night, bringing on striker Roman Pavlyuchenko who scored 2 goals in four minutes, or his lead up work weeks before the match, choosing the biggest stadium in Russia and a pitch made of artificial turf, it's fair to say that Steve McClaren was way out of his depth going into battle against the genius that is Guus.

To commemorate the historic event, Part-time Pundit has released a limited edition Guss propaganda poster for every comrade to add to his collection. Inspired by this, the image titled "Generals Orders" is a distinctive football poster and promotes Russia's first win over a major football power since June 1999.
Hiddink declared "I'm very proud of tonight's win, not so much for myself but for the team and my staff". This is testament of his respect for mother Russia and his influences on its modern football.


Text on poster:
Австрия - Швейцария здесь мы приезжаем!
Austria - Switzerland here we come!

ГЕНЕРАЛЫ ЗАКАЗЫВАЮТ
Generals Orders

HIDDINK

Euro Links

Greece is the word round Turkey [The World Game]
England's hopes hang on a thread [BBC Sport]
Henry scores two, but can you count the first as his? [Footytube.com]
Czechs upset Germany to reach finals[UEFA]
Scots knocked off the top [Eurosport UK]
Holland's chances boosted by win [ESPNsoccernet]

Euro 2008 - Qualifiers

While Europe prepares itself for winter, the Euro 2008 Qualifiers are just starting to heat up! With a host of matches being played tonight, there are three that have caught my eye for their significance to the qualification into next years finals.

Russia v England
The political debacles started weeks ago when the two teams met at Wembley Stadium. England won that affair 3-0 and if they win tonight they would've secured their spot in next years finals. With a draw, Russia will still have a mathematical chance, but if they win, then they'll really be putting the pressure on England. Just to frustrate th English even more, Russia have chosen to play the match on UEFA approved synthetic turf... ah Guus and his mind games. Just brilliant!
I predict Russia to win 2-1.

Turkey v Greece
The Turks haven't been playing well at all recently, winning only 1 of their last 5 matches, but they are claiming that they'll put up a fight in front of a packed Ali Sami Yen stadium in Istanbul. Greece on the other hand are in the driving seat and are putting all the pressure back on the Turks by saying that they need a result more. Last time they met, 2 goalkeeping errors by George Clooney look-a-like Antonios Nikopolidis cost Greece the match. Greece have since turned things around, but look out, cause this will be a hostile affair!
I predict a 1-1 draw.

France v Lithuania
France are 1 point behind Italy and 2 points behind Scotland who play against each other next month in what will be a crucial round. France need to win to keep their chances alive but Lithuanian coach Algimantas Liubinskas has warned them not to take the game too lightly, cause they'll be out to make things difficult for the cheese eating surrender monkeys.
I predict France to win 3-1. And that Thierry will score.

Thierry missing the Premiership?

Im not really going to comment much on the results of this weekends Euro 2008 Qualifiers... you can read all the news and reviews here.

What's got my attention over the last week or so regards Thierry and the Gunners:

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has admitted his presence in the Gunners line-up towards the end of his spell with the club sometimes proved more of a hindrance than a help.
"Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on."

Now the Frenchman has predicted double success for Arsene Wenger's young team, telling the Evening Standard: "I have been watching Arsenal and see that they are playing entertaining football and winning every game home and away."
"I know the young players there very well and they can definitely win the Premier League and Champions League this season. I watched how they beat Sevilla in the Champions League and I think they sent out a big message to the rest of Europe. Sevilla is not an easy team to play, but Arsenal played a great game."

Just like Beck's over in LA LA Land, I think Thierry is suffering a severe case of the "Maybe-I-shouldn't-have-made-that-move's" in the LA LA Liga. Only thing is, Becks is being paid WAY TOO MUCH MONEY to say anything about it. Sorry to break it to ya Thierry, but this thing ain't curable with creams or vaccines and your old missus has been cured of you. Lets just hope that your new missus doesn't catch hold of it cause she's ruthless and will spit you out quicker than you could say "There's no place like the Premier League!".

On a birghter note though, Thierry has equaled Michel Platini's 41 goal record for Les Blues and will soon beat it... only problem is, France may not qualify for the Euro 2008 finals next year, so Thierry score all the goals your heart desires; unless Scotland and Italy lose their remaining matches, we'll be kickin' back next year on some Mediterranean coast watching the tourni and drinking to times that could have been... Oui, Oui!

Braseal's next best thing

He is a center forward known for his ability to flick the ball up onto his head and run with it during matches. It is known as the seal dribble, and is very hard for the defending team to challenge legally. Flicking the ball up from the turf onto his head, Kerlon then proceeds to run past opponents, whilst bouncing the ball on top of his forehead. The speed at which he travels when doing this, coupled with his ability to change direction as he runs with the ball above his head, often makes opponents resort to simply pushing him over and fouling him. He is said to have learned the move from his father, Silvinho, who was stunned when Kerlon mastered the seal dribble move.
Kerlon has created a lot of noise and has drawn much attention to himself, he has already been called by many the next Ronaldinho, so as expected he has been linked with a number of clubs all across Europe.

"It's just a skill I have, though it's not meant to be a mark of disrespect for my opponents. Opponents say they will snap me. But this doesn’t scare me it just motivates me even more".

Wow! Every time a young player posses a unique ability to do something, automatically they're proclaimed the next best thing and compared to the player previously 'best at' whatever skill they posses... Calling this kid the next Ronaldinho would be like making him sit in a waiting room amongst other potentials for his chance to meet the Oracle, but this kid deserves more props than that! He needs to be compared to someone of equal uncanny ability and someone who has been immortalised in pop-culture word wide... For this reason I will call this kid the next 'Flipper'!

Look at the similarites in their ball handling abilities:

A-League - Review

Another mediocre round of matches saw Queensland's young guns shine in a confidence boosting first win at Suncorp since December last year, while Melbourne kept up their unbeaten start to the season with a win in Sydney. The Mariner's came from behind to earn a valuable point in the derby match of the round, where as Perth's inability to put the ball in the back of the net could prove costly as they lost further ground on the rest of the pack and are currently bottom of the table.

Queensland Roar 2 - 1 Wellington Pheonix
Sydney FC 0 - 1 Melbourne Victory
Central Coast Mariners 1 - 1 Newcastle United Jets
Perth Glory 0 - 0 Adelaide United

It's fair to say that this A-League season has been about as interesting as listening to David Basheer’s commentary on SBS, (I think he should stick to cycling). It is lacking something... Excitment!? Quality matches? The amount of goals being scored!? Maybe it's testament to the strengthening of all the teams, maybe it's the higher expectations of the fans?.. whatever it is though, it needs to improve. Does anyone feel the same about this?

Nike's Carbon Boots

For my entire life I have wondered the face of this planet aimlessly reading and writing about guys that get paid the big bucks to design garbage like this and this. On one fateful afternoon though, I was going about my day-to-day business, dreaming of a time when black football boots reined supreme and contemplating what makes up the ultimate boot (i've designed several concepts over the years), when I came across the phenomenon that will soon be the Nike Mercurial SL.

I don't know what struck me first - the flash of the offset fluro pink swoosh, or the fact that an aesthetically simple black boot was about to be unleashed into the market. What I know is that suddenly my purpose in life had taken a major deviation from it's mundane existence and now my ultimate goal in football was to get my feet into a pair of these boots!
Made up almost completely of carbon fibre and weighing just 180g, this is the kind of boot that you'd expect a crack-pot team of designers and sports scientists from around the world to develop, given an open brief and all the money they could possibly need… and to top it all off, they’d first be donned by Didier Drogba, of Chelsea, whose fluro yellow and black away strip would be a fitting match up to the fluro pink swoosh on the boot.

Sadly though, only 2,000 pairs of these beasts will ever be released into the world… and it’d be safe to assume that every football star would want a set of their own. Before pulling out you’re cheque books though, you may need to consult your financial planner or even crack into your baby sisters trust fund because these beauts are expected to be retailing at the whopping price of £400!! (AU$917, US$815 )… which in my opinion is a slim price to pay for the privilege… chances are that unless my middle name is “Rooney” I don’t think I’ll even get close to a pair… but heck I’ve got my AK loaded and i'm ready to jump into the front lines if that’s what it takes to get myself a set!

So I have now undertaken a journey to get my mits on a pair of these boots! I hope you enjoy following my progress!

Source: Wallpaper*, October 2007

Didier Drogba wearing the Nike Mercurial SL

McCeltic burger with the lot...

In what was a slightly improved second half for both teams, Celtic's pint-sized Australian striker, Scott McDonald hamburgled the winning goal in the 90th minute of the match to send the packed house at Parkhead into delirium. His celebrations and Celtics win however, will be marred by the theatrics of Milan keeper Dida after being attacked "bitch slapped" by a Celtic fan.

"He's been hit by a flare before, so he's been through the works. I didn't see what happened, I was too busy celebrating, but Dida has gone down as if he's been shot."

Acting, dramatics, enactment, feigning, hamming, histrionics, improv, mimicry, pantomime, performing, play-acting, posing, posturing, pretending, simulating, stagecraft, stooging, theatrics, thesping... call it what you like, but this shit makes my blood boil and Dida should be punished for making a mockery of the sport and it's ethical foundations! I think it's fair to assume that Celtic won't get out of this lightly either... but UEFA should also make an example out of Dida, plus it'll give 'Big Spider' a chance to step up for a while.

I ain't no boxing referee but this "slap" makes Rick James look like Tyson!

Liverpool: Rotating out of control

I saw this in a movie once, although it took place in Somalia, some 20 years ago. What was meant to be a routine flight by the Americans, ended in a couple of their helicopters being shot out of the sky with several days of unrest to follow...
1 unexpected loss to Marseille, 1 draw to Porto and only 1 point means that Rafa's player rotation policy, like those fateful Black Hawks, may soon come crashing down to an angry mob who want answers; especially if they lose to Besiktas in a fortnights time and more importantly at home to Tottenham this weekend. He may be a god to the Liverpool faithful, but it'll be interesting to see the responses over the coming weeks.

Champions League Matchday 2 Goal Round-up

Comments to follow shortly.

Tuesday


Wednesday

Champions League - Matchday 2

Games of interest:
Lyon need to bounce back after a thrashing at the hands of Barcelona two weeks ago, so nothing less than a win will do... although they are coming up against a resilient Rangers outfit who are coming off a confidence boosting win against Stuttgart.

Inter beat Roma convincingly on the weekend and Ibrahimovic is read hot at the moment, so this should be an interesting match up against PSV, who also won last match day.

Celtic v Milan; Always a tight affair... I don't know if The Hoops can do it again at Parkhead. It'll be intriguing none the less.

Valenica are playing well and currently third in the Primera, whereas Chealsea are against the ropes and praying that they come out of this one unscathed.

This weeks match ups are:
Tuesday
Lyon v Rangers
Stuttgart v Barcelona
Man. United v Roma
Dynamo Kyiv v Sporting
CSKA Moskva v Fenerbahçe
Internazionale v PSV
Steaua v Arsenal
Sevilla v Slavia

Wednesday
Liverpool v Marseille
Beşiktaş v Porto
Valencia v Chelsea
Rosenborg v Schalke
Lazio v Real Madrid
Bremen v Olympiacos
Celtic v Milan
Benfica v Shakhtar

Roma was re-built in a season

During the night of April 10, 2007 AD, a fire broke out in the east end of Old Trafford stadium in the city of Manchester. Fanned by 70,000, the cheers quickly spread through the revamped, modern structures of this architectural marvel and in the 12th minute the fire took on a life of its own consuming all Romans in its path for the remaining 78 minutes. When the conflagration finally ran its course it left seven goals and the Romans in smoldering ruins.

Italians love revenge almost as much as they love their herb breads and the Godfather Trilogy, which means that they'll come out in Manchester tonight hungry for blood. Even though they were beaten 4-1 on the weekend by Inter, it doesn't deny the fact that along with Arsenal, Milan and Barcelona they're playing some of the more attractive football in Europe at the moment.
United on the other hand are struggling to find their form, in all competitions and have only scored 8 goals in 10 matches. So this will be a far cry from the 7-1 result the world witnessed in the quarter finals earlier this year and Sir Ferg knows it.

"I can see it's a big occasion for them after the defeat they suffered last year. They will want to turn that scoreline around."
"But it was a one-off - it won't happen again. European football is just not that way nowadays, and it will be a very difficult game for us, Roma are playing very well at the moment."

This man has been around for a long time and will be cautious of his approach on this match. He will need to attack though and that's when I think Roma will pounce!
I think that Roma might get up 2-1... it's just that United don't lose too many games at home... so Im gonna predict a 1-1 draw.

United in training yesterday:


The burning of Roma... April 2007 AD: