Forever Football

Rafa Running Out Of Time ?

2008-02-21T18:39:00.004+11:00

First things first, congratulations to Rafa Benitez and Liverpool for securing an improbable but convincing victory over the aristocrats of Italian football, Internazionale who has swept all before them in the Serie A. Tactical genius or very, very lucky? Credit has to be given when its due to Benitez whose side came out of the blocks early to harass and put pressure on the Serie A side who unashamedly were playing for draw.

Liverpool on Tuesday looked nothing like the side who were knocked out by Barnsley, displaying attacking intent and vigor and finding spaces for the midfield and the front two to attack. Replacing Babel with J. Pennant when Benayoun probably looked like the better option when it was still deadlocked at 0-0 with Inter a man short, I thought surely this tactical blunder was going to bite Rafa in the ass but little did I know (with my couch and Championship Manager knowledge) that Rafa knows best when Pennant set up both goals.

Benitez is a good man with some impeccable, even brilliant qualities, but there are also flaws which make it increasingly improbable that even that convincing victory, will do much more than prolong what is becoming an agony. Kudos to fans for making a stand against the Americans Gillett and Hicks and the 5000 club (where by every member would commit GBP $10,000) but I feel its only a matter of time before Rafa would be another high-profile casualty in the cruel world managing top-flight Premier League teams.

Certainly, Benitez should know better than most the folly of believing his Champions League triumph in Istanbul still bestows the job security of a senior civil servant. Yet still he clings to a remarkable but ageing victory, all the time failing to grasp that football, no more than any other competitive business, has the notion 'you are only as good as your last match in charge'.

No, the game will always be concerned with today and tomorrow, a truth the Liverpool manager ignored when he declared, on the day he lost to Barnsley: "I don't know too many managers who have won the European Cup." As a fellow Spaniard, he among all people should remember Vincente Del Bosque who even after winning the UEFA Champions League not once but TWICE was still sacked the following season.

The harsh truth is that Benitez, with ever diminishing success, appears to have been attempting to impose his own increasingly bizarre version of reality. The more emphatic he becomes in his self-belief, the further his team seems to slip away. But then let's be honest. Rafa is not building a team. What he has been quietly organizing is an assortment, a series of options. An endless jigsaw puzzle if you will.
Benitez believes in the ever shifting jigsaw game. He has made rotation a personal creed, supported by nothing more substantial than a belief in his own powers to play the master puppeteer. The result was shocking against Barnsley. It ran far deeper than the unrest of the fans. The body language of the team announced dismay even before Jamie Carragher, a bulwark of central defence who was recently asked to play at right-back, went public with his belief that the team is just not good enough to win the title.

Hearing the comments of the zealous Carragher brought a specially biting sadness for anyone who was around on that Istanbul dawn when Benitez so impressively outlined his plans for Liverpool's future.

This constant rotation and 'tinkering' has done nothing of which has encouraged the fundamental ambition of every great manager – a sense of growth.

Benitez's predecessor Bill Shankly never won a European Cup but he did lay down the principles of an empire which, at one point, gathered it in as though it was not a challenge but a right.

Shankly signed players like St John and Yeats and Hughes and nurtured players like Tommy Smith and made them gods. Benitez doesn't make gods – he makes squad members and bench warmers to be deployed when the fancy takes him.

He has been trying to win while ignoring the most basic aspect of building a winning team. However many winners of Europe's top prize Benitez does know, he has clearly failed to see an instinct that links them all, from Sir Matt Busby and Jock Stein to Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho..

The problem is increasingly plain. There has been no development. Some tactical triumphs, no doubt. But no evolution. Benitez juggles his players without the merest acknowledgement of another school of thought, which points out that every great team has thrived on familiarity and mutual respect in the dressing room.

When Sir Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles became the only Englishmen to win both the World Cup and European Cup (in the space of two years), they did it while playing more than 60 games a season, most often on pitches which the modern player would dismiss as so many ploughed fields. Shankly made a change in his team as a last resort rather than a first instinct. He won a title with only 13 players.

Yes, we know times change, along with diets and scientific input and equipment, but some things are eternal.

One of them is the need of a professional footballer to feel secure in his role – and his ability. That can only be reinforced by seeing his name on the team sheet. Fighters fight and footballers play football, even if they are rich beyond most dreams.

Liverpool now have to count the consequences. Most discouragingly, they include the breaking voice of Jamie Carragher and his manager's desperate belief that a great club once familiar with serial success can be sustained by not much more than an old deposit made in the bank of Istanbul.

"A Gift from Heaven"

2008-01-31T15:33:00.000+11:00

My goodness... this just has to be shared. They didn't show this game (along with all the other games this midweek) in Singapore. I read the match reports - all raving about that goal (direct link).

Truly. Amazed.

Link to a clearer version here.

McLaren destroys England

2007-11-22T09:52:00.000+11:00

It may seem harsh to rest the blame squarely on McLaren's shoulders as the England players are largely to be blamed as well.

Leaving out David Beckham for a start was a very unwise move. With Wright-Phillips and Richards on the right, it was easy for Croatia to defend them as they both couldn't cross well and only relied on their pace.

Sure, Robinson should be dropped, but the experience of James would have been better suited for England's biggest game. Carson is a good keeper on his day but his inexperience showed by misjudging Kranjcar's shot. It could have happened to any keeper, but surely James' experience would have been better suited for this occasion. Plus, he has been keeping clean sheets for Portsmouth.

Having said that, England were missing Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Rooney, Owen and Neville. The experience of these players would have aided England's cause. Lescott looked uncertain the whole night. Croatia were always attacking Bridge. England resorted to long balls to Crouch due to the lack of attacking options.

McLaren has come out and said he would not resign. He would be sacked. Surely. Perhaps, hiring Wenger as a part-time manager would be a better option. Giving the reigns to Alan Shearer? At this point, anyone is better than McLaren.

England has to produce more flair players if they are to compete with the world's best as they lack the discipline of Italy and Germany. So far the only flair players they have are Joe Cole and the injury-prone Rooney. Brazil, Argentina and France have an abundance of flair talent. Ronaldinho, Kaka, Messi, Riquelme, Henry and Ribery to name a few. Even if they are injured, players like Diego, Robinho, Tevez, Aguero, Malouda and Nasri are capable of stepping up. For England, two Tottenham reserve strikers were their only option of the bench minus David Beckham. They needed another Beckham (England's 2-2 draw with Greece) to grab the game by the scruff of its neck but no one stepped up. England can't forever rely on Beckham and Rooney.

Lampard was anonymous throughout the game apart from the penalty. Gerrard has trying to force the situation too much. Often misplacing passes. Only Joe Cole looked like someone capable of creating something. He ran himself to the ground and had to be substituted. Campbell covered up for Lescott and Bridge's incompetence more then he should have.

England is a mess. They need a good manager to steer the ship. Hopefully, not qualifying would be an eye opener to the state of English football. Hopefully, the English would realise that the English Premierleague's high standard does not translate to a world class English team.

England player ratings:

Carson 5 Howler from first shot of the game.
Richards 5
Campbell 7 Played well.
Lescott 5
Bridge 3 Weak link. Constantly exploited.
Wright-Phillips 5
Gerrard 5
Barry 5
Lampard 4 Missing in Action.
Joe Cole 7 England's only lively player.
Crouch 6 Good goal.
Beckham 6 Assist.
Defoe 3 Only contribution was diving to win the penalty.
Bent 5 Too little too late.

French League Phenomenon!

2007-11-14T01:24:00.000+11:00

Guess who the French League latest phenomenon is? No, it's not Nasri. No!!! It's not Benzema. Sheesh... how can you not know this. It is David Bellion. Huh?! No way! The Manchester United reject? You're absolutely spot on.

"Their points don't smell of sweat, but they smell of skill and technical superiority," wrote France Football. For that they can thank midfield trio Johan Micoud, Fernando and Alejandro Alonso, while up front David Bellion can't stop scoring. He netted twice and set up the third against Rennes. Cynics have suggested that Bellion's record this season of 10 goals in 14 appearances says more about Ligue 1 defences than anything else. While that may be a little harsh, Bellion shouldn't be awaiting the call from Raymond Domenech just yet.

His most recent "virtuoso" performance with 2 goals and 1 assist.

Platini is nuts

2007-11-01T09:05:00.000+11:00

"I do not like the system of Arsène Wenger," the former France international said. "In France, Italy and Spain it is easy to buy with money the best players at 14, 15 or 16. I don't like that. If the best clubs buy the best 15 or 16 players, [then it] is finished for all the clubs in Europe. If my son is playing at Millwall and at 16 Manchester [United] come in for this player, then when will Millwall have a good team?" -Michel Platini-

When everyone has been praising Wenger for grooming a young Arsenal into potential champions, Platini has condemned Wenger's methods. Maybe he is just bitter that Henry broke his goal scoring record for France. Poor Platini wanting people to notice him.

Why shouldn't Wenger snap up young talent if he can groom them into Fabregases? Platini's argument is that teams like "Millwall" can not improve if they have their potential future star taken away. Put Wayne Rooney in Millwall and Millwall will be Premierleague champions? I think not.

If Millwall do have a potential Rooney or Fabregas, he has a better shot of realizing his full potential if he joins a youth programme and go up against talented youngsters on a daily basis. Or playing at a top level against top level opposition to improve. How often does a Fabregas comes along? If say Millwall have a potential Fabregas, who is going to support him? How long does Millwall have to wait for another potential Rooney or potential Terry to come along and improve the team? 50 years?

Point is, as good a player Platini was, he doesn't know what he is rambling about half the time. Wasn't he the guy who is proposing that FA Cup winners be let into the Champions League? Seriously.

Would Lampard be the player that he is if he stayed at West Ham? Would Joe Cole be the player that he is if he stayed at West Ham? They stayed at West Ham but didn't win a thing. Were regarded as players with unlimited potential but not realizing half of it. Enough said.

The new Arsenal team

2007-11-01T03:49:00.000+11:00

Goalkeeper problem:

Jens Lehmann
- lacking class recently by his outbursts
- easily provoked by opponents
- temper problems
- silly errors in his 2 games in the premiership

Manuel Almunia
- let in 2 goals near post that cost Arsenal the Champions League
- frequently out of position..running around like a headless chicken out of the box at times
- world class goalkeeper?

Fabianski
- who the f*** is he?

Solution :
Robin Van Persie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsdhAjIFLZ8

Other than that, it's also good to see the young players having a good time together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2rLFnQWqUw

Wenger's winning eleven

2007-10-20T17:42:00.000+10:00

Wenger mentioned his Arsenal all star line up...and NOT to my surprise, Ray Parlour and Fredrik Ljungberg were included in the team.

Team : Seaman, Lauren, Keown, Toure, Ashley Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Parlour, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp

The full article can be seen at http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=61452
but here are the highlights of the article.

On Ljungberg
"I became a fan of his the moment I saw him play for Sweden against England. He took on Martin Keown and got past him. When he loses a game he is sick for two days."

On Parlour
"LOOK at his medals. It tells you he is one of the biggest-ever players for Arsenal.
"He is better in the last minute than the first. Ray's an engine that never stops."

On Keown
"MARTIN had a tremendous appetite for winning. He was unbelievable in one-on-ones and had the technique but not always the confidence."

'My name is Benjie and I'm addicted to fantasy football'

2007-10-18T16:57:00.000+10:00

For those who didn't read this on Guardian Football, check this out.. (sounds familiar?)

When your Saturday evening includes wondering if Leighton Baines created any goals earlier in the day, then you know you're in trouble, writes Benjie Goodhart

There is a reason most men don't like being asked the question "what are you thinking about?" It is because the answer is almost never the right one. Instead of "how much I love watching Dirty Dancing with you, my angel" or "when we could next go shoe shopping" it tends to be more "what your sister would look like in a bikini" or "who would win a fight between Mr T and Arnold Schwarzenegger". The problem is, we're quite sad creatures. At least, I am.

One day a couple of weeks back, the missus asked what I was thinking. Twice. This wasn't a wistful, romantic, dreamy, "let me see the inner-you" question (thank God) but rather more one based on the fact that I'd frozen, a forkful of pizza inches from my mouth, and started to stare into the middle distance, perhaps drooling absentmindedly. The problem was, I had to admit I was wondering if Leighton Baines had been named man of the match on Saturday. She was deeply impressed.
Hours later, on a train, she asked why I'd been staring at the luggage rack for several minutes. It's quite interesting to discover just how irritated a woman can become by the seemingly innocuous phrase "I was just thinking about whether Gareth Barry will create any goals this afternoon, or whether he'll be exhausted after his England games."

So here we go. In an effort to ensure that my unborn child does not grow up fatherless, I need to tackle my demons: my name is Benjie Goodhart, and I'm addicted to fantasy football.

I first discovered fantasy football when I was 22, young, naïve and foolish. I'm not proud of what it made me do: I ended up buying a newspaper whose political stance made Enoch Powell look like Clare Short, just so I could play its shiny new football game. Indeed, I actually appeared to be quite good at it. In my second year, I finished the season 81st. OK, that hardly makes me Carl Lewis, but I was happy.

For a while. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, fantasy football has taken more out of me than I have out of it. The games changed, were refined, improved. They became cheaper and easier to play, more involving, more exciting and more time-consuming. The Premier League brought out its own, official, free online version. You no longer had two transfers a season, but one or two every week. And before I knew it, I was hooked, drowning in a flood of transfers amid an ocean of statistics.

It has changed me, changed the way I watch my beloved football. I no longer live for the moments when athleticism and genius combine in a moment of sublime aesthetics: the 30-yard strike, the balletic, weaving dribble. Of far more importance is whether the ball hit the arse of one of my attackers on its way into the net. If someone were to pick up the ball in their own area, beat 11 players and slot it home for the greatest goal ever, my only concern would be that it was one of my defenders who had initially passed them the ball.

And when you get involved in a mini-league - that's where things really start to get out of hand. Winning is everything: fantasy football is more important than life and death. And it doesn't matter what principles are sacrificed along the way.

At the start of every season, I pick a team devoid of Chelsea players: as a QPR fan, it is a matter of principle. Except that, sooner or later, you notice that Frank Lampard is scoring regularly, or Shaun Wright-Phillips looks a bit tasty. And suddenly they're in, because beating your friends, grinding them into the dust, means more to you than any tribal loyalty. To my shame, I have cheered Chelsea goals. If not wanting them to win, necessarily, I have wanted them to lose 7-6, with a Lampard double hat-trick.

And I'm not even the worst offender. I spoke to a friend recently who said he'd had a bad weekend, football-wise. He's a Gooner, and they'd just beaten Spurs 3-1 away, yet he was traumatised by his fantasy team's poor performance. This is the same man who has been known, towards the end of the season, to sit at home with the team line-ups of his rivals and a pen and paper, listening to the radio and keeping a running tally of scores.

Most tragically of all, this is the man who spent a large chunk of New Year's Eve in an internet cafe in King's Cross, planning his transfers. Why? Because he and I had a £10 bet riding on that season. At the end of the season, he won. He won £10. His total internet cafe expenditure was £30 for the season. And the saddest thing of all? He considered it money well spent. Then again, I'm hardly in a position to pass judgement. If it had cost me three times that to beat him, I'd have jumped at the chance.

Benjie Goodhart is a journalist and fantasy football expert. He is currently rock bottom of the GU Sport Pick the Score league.

China Men

2007-10-14T18:19:00.000+10:00

Saturday, I got an sms from my captain, asking me and my bro to play football in Princes Park.

We happened to be near a bunch of dudes from China. According to a teammate, they were 'quite' good, but rough. Yes, we have been warned. After sticking two poles in the ground on each side of the pitch, we had ourselves a game. One in wo-shi-Jun-Gua-lai-de (I'm from China) FC was wearing a Spain jersey with MASTER printed on the back. Initially it was 8 on 8 and we went up by 5-1. Halfway through the game, typical China men, illegally imported their fellowmen into the game. Soon we were playing 2 men short. After two own goals from a teammate, we won 6-4 in the end.

Throughout the game, we were physically harassed by them China men. One of ours had to go back early as a China-kia injured his ankle. He was 6 feet tall and had to be carried off by three of our players. These China men would just follow through their tackles with studs showing. Soon, our players started going down one by one. At one point of the game, we only had two people attacking with three people sitting down behind goal and the remaining three in defense up against an army of irritating sore losers. Being typical shameless China men, they had the nerve to ask us, are we still playing?

I was left with bruises on my right leg and a sprained ankle. Today, I can't walk and have just been hoping around the apartment on my left leg.

And I wonder why I'm not affiliated with anyone from China in my Facebook.

Quote of the day:
Sean: "Watch out for the Master at the back!!!"
Lawrence: Just started laughing and left the GK to go one-on-one with "Master"

The Ever Amazing Dida

2007-10-13T05:56:00.001+10:00

My 3 favourite Dida pictures, taken with gratitude from the Guardian.

Dida vs Celtic fan Round II

What 'really' happened...

Alves? Who is Alves?

2007-10-08T09:07:00.000+10:00

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Brazilian international Afonso Alves underlined his scoring credentials when he hit seven goals for Heerenveen on Sunday to set a Dutch first division record.

The striker, who wants to join a more high-profile club, hopes his effort in a 9-0 thrashing of Heracles Almelo would have been noted by some of Europe's elite.

Source: football.guardian.co.uk

The talk this week would definitely be off the one Brazilian, Elano. 2 goals. Man City chants of 'we are champions'. What is the world coming to you say? In the division where most people only know of Ajax and PSV. Another Brazilian has scored 7 goals in a game. Nuts. Samba-power I say. Would Malaysia ever produce a player worthy to share the same table as them Brazilian stars for Curry Laksa? If number 10, Hardi, is the yardstick. I guess never. Actually, I gurantee never.

42 second clip of the 7 goals

Damn you Crouchie!!!

2007-10-03T20:26:00.000+10:00

Adverts

2007-09-12T13:28:00.000+10:00

Check it out .. Some of the new ads for Rooney's new boots

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fqPkmgOGhkM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1ToDTdM5-Y&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DHTLXrw-v0A&mode=user&search=

---------------------------------------------------------------------
And lets not forget Arsenal FC. Pre-season competition

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BTlwR-Ag5L0

P. Sanderos and Alex Song are my favourites

And post WC06 - Materazzi Special: http://youtube.com/watch?v=f0Pms_rY7Ls&mode=related&search=

2007-09-11T16:40:00.001+10:00

Where is Gilles Grimandi?

2007-07-19T20:55:00.001+10:00

Described as the unsung hero of Arsenal a few years back by Soccernet.com, Gilles Grimandi continues to hold that role for Arsenal.

One of the reason for Arsenal's success in recruiting young players who are unheard of and then made into superstars is because Gilles Grimandi is the club's talent scout! A true Arsenal 'legend.'

He is also one of the nominees for Arsene Wenger to handpick to take over David Dein role's in the club. Good luck Grimster!

Movie of the month

2007-06-29T15:24:00.000+10:00

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939)

"The film is a murder mystery set, as the title suggests, at the Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London, home of Arsenal Football Club, who were at the time the dominant team in English football. The backdrop is a friendly match between Arsenal and The Trojans, a fictitious amateur side; one of the Trojans' players drops dead during the match, and when it is revealed he has been poisoned, suspicion falls on his team-mates as well as his former mistress."

Arsenal New Tactic To Make Henry Stay

2007-06-21T10:08:00.000+10:00

I guess Arsenal is desperate in their attempts to prevent Theirry Henry from leaving. I must say, I will definitely stay if Arsenal tempt me to stay with Gisele Bundchen. What Champions League trophy? Who cares?! I have the ultimate trophy in Gisele!!!

Henry 'HAMSAPly' looking at Gisele...

Fuck! *Hotness~

Hammer blow to the market as Upton Park spending inflates prices

2007-06-15T19:31:00.001+10:00

"The West Ham effect has put the fear of God into football. This is how it works: A player is poised to sign for a new club, let's say Newcastle, when the Hammers move in at the last minute and offer £15,000 a week more.

To avoid losing the player, Newcastle agree to match West Ham's £75,000-aweek wage, which will cost them an extra £2.34million over the course of the player's three-year contract.

The player did not want to move to London anyway, is happy in the north, but happily accepts the improved offer and signs for Newcastle as planned.

This actually happened. The player is Mark Viduka, who moved to Tyneside from Middlesbrough on a Bosman free transfer last week.

This time, Hammers missed their target but they still left their mark on another deal in a summer transfer market destined to be remembered for West Ham-led inflation.

And that's not all. Darren Bent met West Ham representatives yesterday, despite previously seeming intent on joining Tottenham to play in Europe.

Eggert Magnusson dug into his Icelandic coffers, slapped a £17m deal on the table and offered to pay Bent £75,000 a week over five years.

Spurs, a club renowned for their financial prudence, had two options — compete financially, shattering their pay structure, or pull out of the deal.

Whatever the outcome now, with Bent last night apparently snubbing the Hammers, the episode showed the east London club's effect on the transfer market.

Magnusson dismisses claims he is driving football towards ruin with his strategy: He said: "The bottom line is that we are an ambitious club with a very sound financial base and as new owners we are determined to move forward.

"As we do that we can expect criticism from others but the most important thing is delivering the true potential of this great club.

"I know we are moving in the right direction as a club and I also know the fans share our ambitions for the future."

If Spurs had even tried to match Bent's expected salary at West Ham, they would then have been forced to treble Dimitar Berbatov's salary just to keep him on a par with the new boy.

Robbie Keane and Ledley King would also be examining their contracts. So Spurs, the club closest to breaking into the Big Four, can no longer compete with the wealth of Upton Park.

A similar round of inflation was triggered when Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea four years ago.

Manchester United were forced to raise the stakes if they wanted to compete for the same players but West Ham's new money is about to load pressure on more vulnerable clubs.

Can Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton compete on a pay scale where England fringe players like Bent, Scott Parker and Matthew Upson (12 caps combined) command a similar salary to Jamie Carragher (34 caps) and considerably more than Paul Robinson (36)?

The deal which took Lucas Neill to Upton Park in January was a real eyebrow-raiser because it declared Magnusson's intentions to pay decent players a basic wage of £60,000 a week, much more than Liverpool could offer.

Lavish promises have been made this summer to try to lure Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy and Andrew Johnson to London's East End.

How long before Johnson asks David Moyes for a raise, explaining that the going rate for a player of his calibre has now doubled to £90,000 a week?

Dean Ashton, one of West Ham's better players, earns £25,000 a week. It is a very good wage but he is entitled to wonder why he is so far behind the Bent benchmark.

There is general fear and unrest within the game. Many are shifting uncomfortably but very few are willing to go public.

One leading agent, however, told Sportsmail of his fears that the West Ham effect was a symptom of a wider problem which is leading the game into meltdown.

He said: "It's 'think of a number and double it' time. Transfer fees are going up in leaps of £5m, salaries are going up in leaps of £10,000.

"It's dangerous, it's unsustainable. People with no football knowledge and no industry acumen are sailing this ship on to the rocks."

Clubs may be aware of this but eating away at them from a different direction is the fear of relegation.

What is an extra £20m on the wage bill compared with the drastic losses incurred if they slip out of the Premiership?

In the Championship, clubs are gambling to reach the promised land. For instance, Leicester, backed by Milan Mandaric, are offering big salaries as they aim for promotion.

So, with West Ham and others prepared to pay over-inflated fees and wages to achieve their goals, it may not be long before Deloitte Touche's prediction of Premiership wages of £200,000 a week becomes a reality.

TOP 10 ALL-BRITISH TRANSFERS

1 RIO FERDINAND Leeds to Man Utd £29.1m

2 WAYNE ROONEY Everton to Man Utd £27m

3 SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS Man City to Chelsea £21m

4 MICHAEL CARRICK Tottenham to Man Utd £18.6m

5 RIO FERDINAND West Ham to Leeds £18m

6 DARREN BENT Charlton to West Ham £17m

7 DAMIEN DUFF Blackburn to Chelsea £17m

8 ALAN SHEARER Blackburn to Newcastle £15m

9 JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON Man Utd to Chelsea £15m

10 LOUIS SAHA Fulham to Man Utd £12.8m"

source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/

Freddie

2007-06-14T17:48:00.001+10:00

David Suazo

2007-06-14T13:47:00.000+10:00

Inter Milan's new striker. At the Italian Football Oscars in January this year, he shared the award for best foreign player in Serie A with AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka.

Nicklas Bendtler

2007-06-12T10:48:00.000+10:00

Arsenal will have Bendtler back for next season after spending the whole season on loan last season in Birmingham. Eric, I bet you didn't know that he even existed.

Born: January 16, 1988

Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark

Height: 6' 3''

Weight: 78 kg

Despite being 6' 3", he does not want to be regarded as a target man. He thinks there is more to his game then just being a target man. I have posted a highlight/interview of him. He seems to have a good and calm finish. Plus, more importantly, he seems to fit into Arsenal's way of playing. He likes to attack from the wing and create chances. He seems to have a considerable amount of pace for a big guy and strength.

Oh yea.. Happy Birthday Eric. Hope you are not reading this today, but enjoying your Birthday Sex. hahaha...

2007-06-08T10:26:00.000+10:00

No title is needed. Just watch Fabio Quagliarella score two sensational goals in Italy's recent qualifier game. Enough said.

Fabio Quagliarella

2007-05-30T12:18:00.000+10:00

He is one of the strikers to be linked with Manchester United. A relative unknown, he has made a name for himself this season with a couple of stunning goals for Sampdoria. Man Utd are reportedly tabling a 11 million pound bid for him. He got his first Italian cap this season.

Standing at 182 cm, he has clinical finishing, accurate long range strikers and possesses the knack for the spectacular. He has scored 13 goals in 35 Serie A games this season.

Here are some highlights of this 'future' Man Utd striker, perhaps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh2m2Gu0cQA

In response to Adrian's Vieri long-range strike, our boy here can do it as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhaIq9W_cI

My team

2007-05-21T14:39:00.000+10:00

Some may not be on form but if you ask me to name a team to save my life, this would be it.

4-3-3

Cech

Essien-Carvalho-Terry (C) (Carragher-based on this season)-Gallas (Cashley)

Lampard-Fabregas-Gerrard

Ronaldo-Drogba-Rooney

Sub: Reina, Gilberto, Carragher (Vidic), Berbatov, Henry (Scholes)

( )- performance based on this season who should be in the team

Premiership Team Of The Season

2007-05-21T12:43:00.000+10:00

I thought I'ld start a more interactive blog.

Put in your Barclaycards Premiership team of the season in the comments.
As we all support different clubs, its gonna be hard to be as un-biased but please try =).

11 players in any formation, with 5 substitues and a captain role.
Feel free to expand on your particular choice if you feel the need.

Here is mine:

Formation - traditional 4-4-2

GK: Ben Foster (With defenders like Shittu and a club almost destined for relegation from the get-go, Ben stil managed to NOT conceed the most goals in the Premiership in 06/07. This experience will only make him stronger. Will be a force *finger-crossed* with United next year)
RB: Gary Neville (C)
CB: Nemanja Vidic
CB: Ricardo Carvalho
LB: Patrice Evra
RM: No lollies for guessing. The real Ronaldo
CM: Michael Essien
CM: Steven Gerrard
LM: Ryan Giggs
CF: Diddier Drogba
CF: Dimitar Berbatov

Subs: Van der Sar, Jamie Carragher, Mikel Arteta, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney (23 goals this season, enough said)

Very non-biased selection. =)

I want everyone on the list putting their team selection up.

Why I Know Allardyce Would Be Good For Newcastle

2007-05-17T23:11:00.000+10:00

Yes, yes we all know about Allardyce's achievements. How he worked with a shoe string budget at Bolton yet still manage to transform them into a club challenging for a UEFA Cup spot etc etc.

Discarding Titus 'Clown' Bramble, is the biggest reason why I think he will be good for Newcastle. All the managers which has taken over the reigns at Newcastle, Robson, Souness and Roeder somehow persisted in using Bramble in their starting line-up. Ridiculous. One of the first things Allardyce did as manager of Newcastle was deciding not to renew Bramble's contract which I think is a stroke of genius. I am sure he will make a move for Ben Haim whose contract is running out soon.

Good luck to ALLARDYCE and good BYE to BRAMBLE!

Food for thought #31

2007-05-15T22:02:00.000+10:00

A : Manchester United may have won more silverwares than Arsenal, but did you know that Man Utd actually came from Arsenal?

B : How's that?

A : coz manure comes from the arse

2007-05-14T05:09:00.000+10:00

so the season at the epl is finally over. congratulations to mu, rather deserved champions but that adds to the hatred even more. but this post is not about singing their praises. rather id just like to say that the relegation battle was very interesting indeed, and theres nothing i can add here that you cannot read elsewhere. just glad that westham survived the drop. a club with so much tradition shouldnt be playing anywhere but at the top level. was thinking about napoli, a club of similiar stature, powerhouses of old. am also glad that theyre 3rd in serie b, with a realistic chance of mingling with the serie a big boys and regain former glories. i dont pretend to know the detailed histories of both westham or napoli, but i know enough to consider them as sleeping giants. unfortunately the modern game is obssessed with the bank. these sleeping giants should just jump onto the bandwagon and entice some rich american fucker to buy success. i wouldnt mind that.

*****

so harry kewell is back from surgery by his famous australian surgeon. played against charlton and played well, rather surprisingly. will he make the starting eleven for the athens final and hobble off to make way for better fortunes? hmmm.

Abigail Clancy

2007-05-12T09:27:00.000+10:00

Who is Abigail Clancy? Well... she is Peter Crouch's girlfriend! Goodness man. Lucky Peter Crouch. Damn!

*click picture to enlarge, this pictures are not safe for viewing at work

If you compare Crouchie's girl and Rooney's wife, Coleen McLoughlin (in case you are blinded by Abigail's hotness, Rooney's wife is the last picture in this post), who is more Shio? FUCK YOU man, I can't believe you are even thinking. Of course Crouchie's girl la! Even a blind man can tell.

Buruk la Rooney. She can't even get a job and only spend Rooney's money. At least being a lingerie model offers you good pay for making the world a Happier place.

John Barnes - England's Greatest Goal?

2007-05-10T17:23:00.001+10:00

I was talking to Adrian the other day about John Barnes. So I decided to YouTube him. This goal is amazing. It was as though he was teaching the likes of Pele and Zico how to score.

"The 10th June 1984 will always be a day to remember for Barnes, he scored one of the most breathtaking individual goals ever seen, when he outpaced and out-thought several Brazilian defenders before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into an empty net during a friendly match at the famous Estádio do Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The goal brought him worldwide fame but also a sense of heavy expectation, with unreasonable observers and supporters expecting him to produce moments like that on a match-by-match basis."

Giuseppe Rossi

2007-05-06T21:22:00.000+10:00

In discussions with Manchester United fans, the topic of Man Utd needing another striker was always brought up. In our youth squad we have this kid, Giuseppe Rossi. I'm pretty sure most of you have heard his name. He was loaned out to Newcastle earlier in the season, played 13 games but only started 5 of them with only 1 goal to his name.

Then during the winter break, he was loaned out to Parma. Parma is involve in a relegation battle. However, they now sit 13th in the Serie A albeit being only 3 points away for safety. A huge part of this maybe down to Giuseppe Rossi. Since joining Parma, he has started all 15 games and scored 7 goals along with 3 assists.

He stands at 173cm and has a slight frame in comparison to guys like Rooney or Ronaldo. This begs the question on whether he can survive the physical and lightning-paced nature of the Premierleague. Also, he may be too similar to Rooney for them to start together, as both tend to prefer playing behind a targetman upfront. Despite all that, there is no denying that this 19 year old has talent.

"Rossi's agent, Andrea Pastorello, has admitted that he is a big fan of Milan. Pastorello has also said that Italian giants such as Milan, Inter, Juventus and Roma are all following him. In the past, Rossi himself has exclaimed that he is a great admirer of Van Basten and dreams of wearing the Rossoneri jersey in the future. Van Basten was also a famous Milan striker with Rossi bearing similar technical characteristics to him. He is contracted with Manchester United until June 2010. It is anticipated that he will spend the majority of his career at Manchester United who see him as a great prospect for the future and would not let the circling vultures of the Italian giants to pick the bones of a player they overlooked as not being good enough."

Here are some highlights of him playing for Parma this season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBxOEcxxOA&NR=1

England Football Team

2007-04-23T14:47:00.000+10:00

A long-winded reply to Lawrence's post..

Well said.
Many articles have been written about how individually, England may have man by man one of the best teams in the World capable of winning the EURO and World Cup but somehow when an England shirt is put on, they play just like Liverpool (or Wartford FC) does in the Barclaycards English Premier League.

Nobody seems to understand this phenomenon. Look at Frank Lampard and Stevie G, scoring goals for fun at Chelsea and Liverpool and more importantly, scoring penalties, but when it comes to England ... its an entirely different story altogether.
In all fairness, Makelele, Essien & Ballack are completely different players to Carrick, Hargreaves and Gerrard and it does and it would take a while for players to gel with one another. And Lampard's and Gerrards role in club is different than country.

Personally, I feel that Steve Mclaren has to take some blame/responsibility. The managers' role is to figure out tactics, motivate his team, instill confidence, make tough decisions (for e.g leaving out the so-called bigger name stars for on-form players) and somehow, McLaren has succeeded in doing none of those.

The very odd formations and the unwillingness to modify playing positions and just poor tactical knowledge of the game are just the few aspects of McLaren's regime.
Playing J. Carragher a centre-half at L Back instead of the ever improving Gareth Barry, evergreen Phil. Neville or even the free-scoring Matthew Taylor boggles the mind.
The drama with Wayne Rooney where Wayne was supposedly blamed for a poor performance in an England shirt reiterates the fact that maybe McLaren is just incapable getting the best out of his players.

Players respond to strong characters (Sir Alex, The Special One and Wenger) and if they feel that their current manager is incapable of turning their fortunes around, the end result is their performances on the pitch.

McLaren did a mediocre job at Boro' FC (with only a UEFA Cup Final, I think to show for) and frankly, I did not think much of him as a manager of a Premier League Club, let alone handing over the reigns of the national team to him. (Was it because the FA were pressured to elect an Englishman at the helm of the national team after Sven disappointed? Who knows..) I would much prefer to have seen Big Sam Allardyce leading England. =)

Would Scolari, Hiddink and even Raymond Domenech be as bad as McLaren if they managed England instead? Hard to say, but the smart money is on NO. Everyone knows that McLaren only was chosen because 'Big Phil' Scolari declined the offer in the first place.
Lippi took charge of the supposedbly talented Italian team with much potential but never performed at the biggest level and took them all the way.
Raymond Domenech was harshly criticised for the French playing styles and tactics but took them all the way, narrowly losing in the Finals.

In the end, its all heresay. For us couch football mangers or Football Manager 2007 (or Championship Manager) enthusiasts, only time will tell how long before McLaren is fired.(My money at the TAB is mid-year '08 after the EURO 2008, if England make it anyway.)

2007-04-20T05:09:00.000+10:00

finally managed to figure out this new blogger business.

but back to business.

recently spent a small fortune on a couple of football dvds, and no lollies for guessing that it has everything to do with liverpool. the list includes...

1) 100 greatest moments of the kop
2) liverpool: the ultimate fa cup collection

the first dvd needs no explanation, over 3 hours of literally, greatest kop moments and goals scored at the kop end. from early beginnings right to the modern day. i wouldnt pretend to know anything about liverpools history prior to the 1990s, and this dvd is a nice introduction. and then the second dvd, or rather dvds. COMPLETE prematch, match and post-matches of all victorious liverpool fa cup wins since 1965. total of 8 dvds. am still watching my way through them and the football then and now is very different, though it doesnt take a genius to figure that out. good to see less diving, backpasses to goalies, englishmen actually playing for english teams and dare i say, john motson commentary! love that guy, makes the football match so much more entertaining. like i admitted earlier, i dont know much liverpool history and i watched these games without knowing the scoreline (though i oviously knew who the winners were). orgasm.

just watched the 1989 final against everton. saw legends like beardsley, barnes, RUSH, aldridge etc. very good to see them in action, and i will reiterate, with john motson commentary, orgasm!

and out of goodwill, i told emperor tay about a mu version of this fa cup collection and suggested he should buy it.

and he disappointed me with the following sms...

"no time to watch. am going to enjoy some brazilian steak!" - emperor tay

disappointing.

but thats not the point. sometimes i think its good to have a collection of these classics, not to prove that youre a hardcore fan of the team, but maybe as a football fan so that in the future, when we're all sick of cb ronaldo winning 5 world player of the year awards in a row, we can just plug in a classic dvd and enjoy some pure football.

Premierleague the Best but not the England team?

2007-04-16T19:57:00.000+10:00

There have been countless reviews from manager, players and journalists labeling the Premierleague the best league in the world right now. Rightfully so, as English teams has consistently made it to the last 4 for the Champions League in recent seasons.

This year we have the fluent attacking Manchester United, the gritty Chelsea and the tactical astute Liverpool.

If we take a look at the England starting line-up:

Defence: Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley; Sub: Carragher

Midfield: Lampard, Gerrard, Joe Cole

Striker: Rooney, Crouch

The nine players mentioned were England's starting line-up in the 2006 World Cup. Carragher the tenth player, should have started if England didn't have such a wealth of talent at centre-back.

How can England fail to perform internationally whilst the same batch of players go on and do fantastically for their clubs in the Champions League?!

Bringing Back The Love

2007-02-26T19:17:00.000+11:00

In the midst of my supposed 120-patient Outpatient Clinic and while idlying my hours away in the resident quarters in the hopital, I have been reading the older postings on the Forever Football website from mid-2005 to early 2006.

There have been some amazing things written by the lot of us and not only that, there was a genuine interest and passion to share our views with one another.

I'm ashamed to see the last 3-4 months the blog has disintegrated into a shameful publishing of videos from youtube.com, ridiculous posts and photos of footballers wives.
I'm not excluding myself from the blame as I am the main culprit.

Don't get me wrong, these postings are hilarious and while I thoroughly enjoy 'em enough is enough. It is time to bring back the love.
While I understand that some of us work and the remainder of us are cramming for the exams or last-minute panicking for the completion of assignments, can't we spare an hour or two a week or a fortnight even to post a thought-provoking article on the website.
Heck, even a "I'm alive and doing well and guess what this stupid footballer did" post on the blog once in a while would suffice.

I just feel its a shame, the past blogs had so much potential. Witty, insightful, thought-provoking and funny even...
It would be wonderful to bring the blog back to its glory.

P/S: A very happy Chinese New Year to everyone Chinese, non-Chinese or wishing they were Chinese.

3 + 3 Videos

2007-02-13T14:44:00.000+11:00

More videos fro your viewing pleasure..

Good
Thierry Henry's effort during a friendly pre-season match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NryZDUog2Y

Better
Has anyone ever hit the ball as hard as Ronald Koeman? Check out some of his free kicks..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKA5fU9dD8

Best
The great Maradona scoring from kick-off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od6ESL2SdRY

Funny
Kevin Keegan going-off during the very, very famous 1996/1997 season against Sir Alex and Man Utd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzDakZzA2UQ&mode=related&search=

Funnier
How ChinSiah takes a penalty..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLRz75TrN0

Funniest
Have you ever seen a referee like this ? I would pay good money ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ytqvSAMgM&NR

Enjoy .. =)

Goal of the Season ??

2007-01-18T13:39:00.000+11:00

More technique than G. Grimandi's tackle on Davids is Paul Scholes's outrageous volley against Aston Villa. (23rd Dec '06)
Both equally impressive but I think Scholes shades it just alil.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-I10nZnkAKc&mode=related&search=

And the last English Premiership week we saw a very average Thierry Henry goal. The goal dancing celebration is for his night of passion with Arsene ..
(The French commentary if for Queen)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y4MfA-W13Kg

Enjoy ..

AWESOME tackle

2007-01-17T19:36:00.000+11:00

Check out the video
Part of Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial game...and NO red card.

That's why Gilles Grimandi is the unsung hero of Arsenal.

Youtube here

Anfield Raping..

2007-01-10T16:29:00.000+11:00

Just read a couple of interesting articles after the 3-6 reverse at Anfield by Wenger's very, very special young boys.
Everyone will be mystified as to why Benítez spurned the chance of lifting a piece of silverware, particularly when Liverpool are already way out of Premiership title contention, eliminated from the FA Cup and facing a daunting Champions League tie with Barcelona next month. Surely this was the last occasion when key players needed resting and rotating.
"Yet Benítez treated the Carling Cup with the sort of disdain he might once have reserved for the plain girl who kept demanding his attention at a teenage disco. Now, in the second week of January, he is the one in danger of being left looking like a wallflower, the boy left with no girl to walk home as Liverpool's season dissolves in dashed expectations."

And the best one yet... "Indeed, Liverpool's defensive positioning was so bad that even Jérémie Aliadière looked a world beater."

Portsmouth V Everton

2006-12-12T12:33:00.000+11:00

For those who do not have the luxuries of cable TV.

Matthew Taylor's cracker of a goal..

45 metre dipping volley, 1st time. Beating one of the best keepers of the game, Tim Howard.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=otT5kp5SYqo

And as per requested by ChinSiah: here is Kanu's goal in the same match.
Not nearly as spectacular, still requires great technique.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0Q0WHeDyXXg

Enjoy..

Cashley

2006-12-07T19:37:00.000+11:00

Arsenal fans will welcome Chelsea fullback Ashley Cole with thousands of fake £20 notes for Sunday's clash at Emirates stadium.

Gunners fans are still angry with Cole, dubbed Cashley, over his summer move to the Blues.

A club source told The Sun: "The whole thing is just a bit of banter but it's had a lot of support from the fans.

"Thousands were dished out at the last home game against Tottenham and the plan is to wave them whenever Cole gets the ball.

"People still think the only reason he joined Chelsea was for more money."

The notes are marked Bank of Russia as a dig at owner Roman Abramovich's millions and are even 'signed' by chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Rabona Galore !!

2006-12-07T17:32:00.000+11:00

Anthony would appeciate this the most. The Rabona - crossing the right leg behind the left to strike the ball has been used frequently by Anthony 'The Emperor' Tay do dish out punishment to opposing players in Australia and Singapore (i.e. ChinSiah 10-1)..

Invented by Ascoli striker Giovanni Riccotelli, 'il padre della rabona' (the father of the rabona) in which Pele and Ronaldo (the fake Real Madrid Ronaldo) have since copied to score goals. The great Pele himself said in an interview that he remembered an Italian doing it before him...

Here are a couple of rabonas videos ... Dutch player Dave de Jong scored a rabona goal for VfL Osnabrück (third division) against SpVgg Greuther Fürth (second division) in a German Cup match in August 2005 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO2qqrI-0DQ

To Pablo Aimar's near miss (if he really meant to shoot from there) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsjMS7d4iY8

And finally when describing the legends of the game.. lets not forget the great Djimi Traoré scoring a rabona own goal and a player called Marko Kecman .. Pele, Maradona and George Best, eat your heart out... here comes Djimi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP1h-FM2rQc

Ballon d'Or 2006

2006-11-28T15:58:00.000+11:00

The deserved recepient of the Ballon d'0r. Only the 3rd defender of all time to win the award (after The Kaiser and Matthias Sammer). Even the great Paolo Maldidni and Franco Baresi who were considered the greatest defenders in their heyday did not win the coveted award which is said to be reserved for attacking or creative players.

Wenger and King might disagree but I'm glad Cannavaro won, regardless of the Juve scandal, he truly is an amazing player both on and off the pitch. Leadership by example, he was one of the reasons why Italy won the WorldCup. Henry on the other hand has been amazing for Arsenal, but when it comes down to the big matches and for France, he simply fades away..

Cannavaro's advice for staying in shape "Eating well, getting plenty of sleep and having sex - these are all important things" .. maybe Henry should take his advice.

Beckham advertisement...hillarious

2006-11-13T20:00:00.000+11:00

Beckham ad

This is a good one. Humour with class....

For your viewing "Pleasure"

2006-11-13T17:19:00.000+11:00

Football Icons

2006-11-13T17:11:00.000+11:00

Champions magazine, the official magazine of the Champions League, has compiled a top ten with expert input from a bevy of tailors, none of whom was resonsible for Coventry City’s muchlamented all-brown kit.

1) THIERRY HENRY

Thoma Mahon, of Savile, as opposed to Skid Row, paid tribute to Henry’s inner confidence, which enables him to feel relaxed. Never knowingly seen in a Burberry shellsuit.

2) FABIO CANNAVARO

The Italy captain has turned out for Inter Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and Dolce & Gabbana in an illustriously well-dressed career. Sadly, many of his Premiership counterparts believe D & G is something to do with ice-cream.

3) GENNARO GATTUSO

The inclusion of the AC Milan destroyer is a surprise, but he was credited with making interesting choices. Presumably, that is a euphemism for ditching the whistle-and-flute for the sartorial elegance of Animal, from The Muppets.

4) FABIO CAPELLO

Another intriguing selection, it is to be assumed Capello made the cut because, like most myopic continentals, he wears interesting glasses and has shiny shoes. That is the difference between Capello and Sven-Göran Eriksson, whose own short-sightedness only led to the look of a bemused geography teacher.

5) LUIS FIGO

The experts say Figo knows the look he wants and he received extra marks for his casual, slicked-back hairstyle. This is intriguing, given that the look he wants is evidently that of the Fonz, a mechanic who used to spend most of his time in the toilets before pitching up on Laverne & Shirley, and his hairstyle resembles tumble-dried road kill.

6) RIO FERDINAND AND WAYNE ROONEY

Best to let Ann-Sofie Back, the fashion designer, explain this controversial choice. “The one man representing the essence of a football player is Wayne Rooney. I love his bulldog face and bright red complexion. I would love to design for him and for Rio Ferdinand, too — I like his cruel mouth and Ursula Andress hair.” One thinks Rio should give the hair back and send his mouth out to do some charity work.

7) RIGOBERT SONG

The Galatasaray defender is the utility man of this line-up, capable of carrying off “bling, sleek suits, loud African print shirts and native jellaba robes.” However, that sounds less like a snappy dresser and more like someone who has been playing the hokey-cokey by the washing basket.

8) ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO

Question marks remains over Chelsea’s new boy. Can he make the transition from Milan, fashion capital of the world and home to his pal, Giorgio Armani, to London, capital of England and home to binge drinking and Marks and Spencer? Better in stripes.

9) ARSÈNE WENGER AND JOSÉ MOURINHO

Mahon says both dress as though clothes mean little to them, which seems an odd criterion to use for compiling this list. Interestingly, a metal replica of Mourinho’s coat has been made for the Lisbon Fashion and Clothing Museum. Sculptor José Coelho explained: “José Mourinho is a myth.” He then said Mourinho had a diamond inside him that “needs to be lapidated”. He could be out for several months.

10) DAVID BECKHAM

He is the man, if cross-eyed cross-dressing is your man bag. Mahon believes he has developed a more conservative eye with age, but you still can’t help concluding that Beckham would wear a Paisley bin-liner and a Damart balaclava if it got him on the cover of Marie Claire. “The ultimate fashion victim,” Alice Kodell, Eve magazine’s fashion editor, said.

Van der Vaart

2006-11-10T15:59:00.000+11:00

Truly gifted footballer. I place this picture as I know Lakia would enjoy perv-ing.
We've all heard (maybe except King) how good he was in Ajax and the Youth WorldCup. It was a shame he went to Hamburg SV instead of Bolton FC, but just watch some of his highlights. (especially the last goal, absolutely incredible) - Just click the heading of this post, sit back & enjoy..

Puts S. Gerrard to shame.

Another funny clip

2006-11-07T12:09:00.000+11:00

Here is another funny clip on youtube to add into Siah's collection

Tunnel scene

Ronaldo

2006-11-06T10:58:00.000+11:00

Eric alerted me to Siah's posts on Ronaldo. So I decided to join in the fun. Here is a funny, no funny is not the word, I'll let you guys decide the word to describe this picture.

They are both half naked. And look where Cristiano Ronaldo's hand is.. on Solksjaer's thigh.. Hahaha. Makes you wonder what goes on in the locker room, full of fit, muscular, millionaire footballers. Lemonparty!

Arsenal's New Masterplan

2006-11-03T15:21:00.000+11:00

Arsenal have discovered a new way to compete with Chelski and Romans' $$$. After the opening of their new Emirates Stadium, Arsenal are currently slightly strapped for cash for next season's transfers. Therefore, just like signing Juinichi 'T-shirt' Inamoto a couple of years back, Arsenal are now giving trials and signing players from all across Asia in a bid to sell more jerseys. They currently want to break into the China market and have offered 20-year-old Shanghai Shenhua striker Mao Jianqing a trial with a probability to loan/ sign.

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000+11:00

baby god

jihad

cheat

cheat again

for loo and anthony, since they love him so much.

hilarious!

all in good humour.

P Diddy !!

2006-11-01T19:53:00.000+11:00

Sean 'P Diddy' Combs speaking to Wayne Rooney about an upcoming rap contract..
(Copenhagen 2006)

The Reason Why Lampard and Shevchenko are Ill-Performing ..

2006-10-31T17:10:00.000+11:00

Just read up on Internet porn addiction being a growing problem in players in the Premier League.

Peter Kay, the chief executive of the Sporting Chance clinic revealed that while there have been high-profile cases of gambling, drink and drug problems among professional footballers, an increasing number are now switching on their laptops and accessing pornographic websites to fill their time between playing matches and training.

'When you start going into a porn site it leads on to other porn sites and then maybe more risky material,' Kay told BBC Radio Five Live.

'It must be stressed that if a 21-year-old is scanning a bit of porn and accessing pleasure from it, doing that once then that is not unusual and nor is it a problem.
'It becomes a problem when he is doing it 14, 15, 16 times and then when he stops, he is playing a football game and he is thinking `I can't wait to get back to that site'.' (which also explains ChinSiah's poor form when playing for IH in the InterCollegiate Football Competitions)

Five Live also interviewed an unnamed Premiership player (probably Frank Lampard) who admitted how he had fallen foul of internet sites offering thrills of one description or another.
'You can get hooked on anything, going on one site for two minutes isn't enough,' he said.
'You don't realise how much you're spending until you see it on your bill at the end of the month.
'On porn websites you have got advertisements for the porn and you end up spending more money on there. It's kind of like kids in a sweet shop.

Whats Happening ?

2006-10-25T13:39:00.000+10:00

Whats happening to the world of football ?

Rio scoring what he described as the goal of the month, faking to shoot one way and then placing the ball with his left foot into the top corner against The Kop AND Emile 'SuperStar' Heskey possibly getting an England call-up soon by volleying an opener against Man City within the first 50 seconds.. (volleying??) Emile ??

Who am I?

2006-10-21T19:02:00.000+10:00

"I’m going to tell you a few stories that you’ll probably find hard to believe but they’re completely true. They just prove how this game has changed both on and off the pitch.

For example, if Theo does well in the first-team, but is then rested by Arsene Wenger, you can be sure the boss will take him to one side and explain that it’s for his own good.

When I was in the first-team at Monaco, my first club, the manager Jean Tigana — who succeeded Arsene — would say nothing after dropping me.

He was old school. He felt he didn’t have to say anything.

Having just broken into the team, I scored twice in two successive matches. I was absolutely delighted — until I was dropped.

No reason. No explanation. I just looked at the teamsheet and I was back on the subs’ bench.

I thought Tigana did not like me. In fact, I thought he hated me.

You’d probably think the same having just scored four goals in a week.

Youngsters like Theo no longer have to worry about sweeping the dressing rooms or cleaning a players’ boots. That’s now done by other employees at a club.

I wasn’t so lucky.

Even after the 1998 World Cup, even though I had a winners’ medal and I was 21, Tigana still made me do all those jobs along with my good friend David Trezeguet.

If there was a tough job to do, even though we were by now established first-teamers and internationals, we would still be made to do it. Just because we were the youngest.

In my first few days back in training after winning the World Cup, the boss still made me carry the goals out to our training pitch at Monaco.

The training facilities there were not great and behind one goal there is a massive slope where the balls would always go down.

No prizes for guessing who was always made to get them. Of course, me and David Trezeguet.

Our training ground got very muddy so the footballs were rarely nice and white. Me and David were given brushes to clean the balls but the bristles used to fall out quite quickly.

So, 24 hours ahead of a big French League match against someone like Marseille, Tigana would make both of us clean the balls with our bare hands.

At the airport ahead of all of our away matches, the older players would just dump their bags in front of check-in.

Me and David would have to get the bags, put the tags on, and put each one on the conveyor belt for the person on check-in. Tigana would insist it was always me and David who would have that task.

I was saying to Tigana ‘Why do we have to do this?’

But he would just say we had to, without giving a reason.

Now, when we speak together, we laugh about it. Jean says he was protecting me and wanted to keep my feet on the ground. He said: “You’d just won the World Cup and I didn’t want you clicking your fingers and get everyone jumping.”

I can see that clearly now.

I tell this story to our apprentices and they say ‘Yeah, yeah. Get real. You never had to do that.’

And, come on, could you now expect Alex Ferguson to tell Wayne Rooney to carry all the bags of the Manchester United players in the airport.

And to make Wayne clean balls and carry the balls? Probably not."

Lehmannparty.org

2006-10-04T16:09:00.000+10:00

Jens Lehmann is to auction a crumpled note on the penalty habits of Argentina's players that he stuffed in his sock at the World Cup.
Studying the paper between each kick may have unnerved the Argentinians, however, and helped Germany through to the semi-finals where they lost to Italy.
In translation it reads:
1. Riquelme left high; 2. Crespo long run/right, short run/left; 3. Heinze left low; 4. Ayala long wait, long run right; 5. Messi left; 6. Aimar long wait left; 7. Rodriguez left.

Crouch A Legend In The Making?

2006-09-03T10:32:00.000+10:00

13 caps 10 goals. That is Peter Crouch's record currently. When Crouch was first picked for England, few could predict that he would be such a prolific goal scorer on the international stage. In fact, most were criticising the decision to pick him, let alone start him. He was only known to be a tall guy with good close control. He was too thin, he wasn't a natural goalscorer, were amongst the many reasons that critics gave.

Now Steven Gerrard is asking Crouch to chase Sir Bobby Charlton's goal scoring record of 49 goals. At the rate Peter Crouch is going, who knows what will happen since Crouch has proven many wrong thus far.

Gerrard said: "Peter's goal record is frightening and it's great to see as well. I am sure he will be disappointed not to have got another hat-trick because he had a good chance at the end as well." "If Crouchy gets the right service, he is going to put the ball in the back of the net because he is a great finisher. I hope he beats Bobby Charlton's record."

Personally I have never seen Charlton played. I have only heard of him being a living legend who led England and Manchester United to success. So for me to go out and say that Charlton is a much better player then Crouch would be somewhat unfair to Crouch. However, given Sir Bobby's iconic status, it would be safe to asssume that Sir Bobby can kick Crouch's ass on any given day.

Is Crouch on same road towards iconic and legendary status similar to that of Sir Bobby's? Perhaps not, but doesn't Crouch thrives on proving people wrong? After all, he is still only 25 years old.

Michael Owen Caps: 80 Goals: 36
Wayne Rooney Caps: 33 Goals: 11

"...but I'm not the only one"

2006-08-26T20:53:00.000+10:00

"You may think I'm a dreamer...but I'm not the only one"
- John Lennon in his song "Imagine"

Freddie's blog
Seems like there's someone out there who is a bigger fan!

The way football should be...

2006-08-18T09:20:00.000+10:00

That was what Fabregas said in a recent interview with Soccernet. Sometimes footballers especially the younger ones seem to be blinded by their fame, money and chicks.

A perfect example, Cassano. He was a wonderkid and still is a good player but now is only confined to the Madrid bench because his head got too big. This are the type of people whom we refer to as having a FIGJAM attitude. It just means: Fuck-I'm-Good-Just-Look-At-Me.

Football should be played no differently whether it is with friends or in the World Cup. Enjoy what you are doing and you would be good in it. That is exactly what Fabregas is doing.

Wenger's decision to rely heavily on youth players is brilliant. It creates a unity between a small group of players.

That is what Sir Alex seem to have forgotten. He let the chase for success cloud his judgement and patience on his youth players. Carrick is only worth 7 million pounds but his transfer fee is 18.6 million pounds. What the fuck. Wenger bought Rosicky for only 7 million pounds. Yes yes i know, Carrick and Rosicky are different type of players but still...

The Latest from Circus Tay Production!

2006-07-24T01:28:00.000+10:00

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CHINBAI
Chinbai aka Gerrard Lim Chin Siah The Beast

He wants to be born a true Liverpool star...

or does he want to stay true to his beloved African roots?

or be a Jap samurai for one day?

or he wants to be Valderrama?

... he is already a tv personality in Highbury though!

and you know that you are a legend, when the crowd shows their affection on you!~

CHINBAI, THE REAL LEGEND!

Blame Blatter

2006-06-27T08:39:00.000+10:00

Portugal v Holland should have been one for the ages. Instead it degenerated into a cynical fandango of cheating, skulduggery and rampant play-acting. Veterans from the Battle of Santiago probably shed a nostalgic tear at the 16 yellow and four red cards; the rest of us should be weeping too, but for different reasons.
At this rate, the World Cup final - one of the great events in any sport - will be played between two reserve teams. That can't be right.

Immediately after Portugal's victory, Blatter played the blame game, saying: "I consider that the referee was not at the same level as the participants, the players. There could have been a yellow card for the referee."
He should be looking closer to home. Last night's farce was largely of his making.
Yes, the referee made some mistakes - missing Luis Figo's head-butt, for one. But generally he applied Fifa's pre-tournament directives on foul play, unsporting conduct and timewasting to the letter. He was only obeying orders. Blatter's orders.

The players also carry some responsibility. But footballers are a cynical, conniving, cheating breed; they always have been, they always will be. It's up to the lawmakers to stop them transgressing. But the current rules favour the tumblers and free-fallers over honest tacklers.
The problem, in essence, is this. Fifa has encouraged referees to brandish yellow cards whenever possible at this World Cup but - in the same breath - refuses either to have a post-match court of appeal where poor decisions can be overturned or retrospective punishments handed out, or to embrace technology.
The result is a cheat's charter. Perhaps more than any time in the last decade players are deliberately diving, or feigning injury, in the hope of getting someone booked. It's working too. Meanwhile others are missing games, often after wrongly-awarded yellow cards.
That can't be right.

The answer, is technology. Sceptics claim it would slow down the game, but when it comes to foul play, it would be as much about the threat as the execution: why dive for a penalty when someone in the stands could alert the referee, who would soon be waving yellow in your direction? Why pretend to be elbowed, when in 30 seconds' time you would get a red card for play-acting?
Blatter, though, refuses to help referees because he believes the game must retain the "human element". He has sown the seed, he should reap the whirlwind.

opening game blues

2006-06-07T01:13:00.000+10:00

i was in sitting in the comforts of my own home in downtown KL in 1994 when germany played against bolivia.

i was at the bangsar mamak in 1998 when brazil played against scotland.

i was in IH, melbourne in 2002 when france played senegal.

this year, 2006, i will be fucking on call putting poor patients to sleep when germany plays costa rica. boo hoo.

happy world cup season people. let the games begin.

Long live the king

2006-05-26T21:54:00.000+10:00

Jesper Olsen suffers brain haemorrhage

2006-05-10T17:51:00.000+10:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Manchester United winger Jesper Olsen is undergoing tests in a Melbourne hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage, the club's Web site reported on Tuesday. Olsen, who lives in Australia, spent five years at Old Trafford between 1984-89. The 45-year-old Dane, made 175 appearances for United, scoring 24 goals, and was part of the 1985 FA Cup-winning side under Ron Atkinson. A statement from Olsen's company, Proactive Sports Management Australia, said: "He remains under observation and will undergo further tests. His family strongly request that their privacy be respected at this time."

He was in the United team when I first started watching football. A quick, nippy player, Jesper was well-loved by fans in a time when there were not too many foreigners in English football.

PSV Eye Ruud Return

2006-05-07T00:07:00.000+10:00

Ruud van Nistelrooy could be on his way back to PSV Eindhoven. The Dutch champions have made an initial offer of £5million for their former striker though Manchester United want to hold out for £8m. Van Nistelrooy, 29, is resigned to leaving the club and United are ready to sell. He has fallen out of favour with manager Alex Ferguson who was furious with his top scorer on Monday evening when he missed a penalty against Middlesbrough.
Neil Custis, The Sun

Frankly, I think that is just a load of bullshit. Why would Ruud go to PSV when he was reportedly linked to clubs like Chelsea and Madrid. And for a mere £8million?? That is just absurd. Who else can Man Utd find to replace Ruud now at the moment? With £8million they would be lucky to find themselves a half decent striker.

Other News

United Eye £10m Carrick
Alex Ferguson will launch a £10million bid for Michael Carrick — and Tottenham fear their midfield star wants to leave. Manchester United boss Fergie has targeted the Geordie playmaker as the man he wants to anchor his midfield. And anxious Spurs are already in the market for replacements, with Carrick, 24, reluctant to open talks about a new contract at White Hart Lane. Fergie hopes to recruit two top central midfielders this summer and wants AC Milan’s Rino Gattuso to replace Roy Keane as a ball-winner. Mahamadou Diarra was a target, but Lyon priced him out of the market with a £28m tag.
Dave Kidd, The Sun

Eidur Wants To Be A Red
Chelsea's out- of-favour striker Eidur Gudjohnsen wants to come to United. It is understood that Gudjohnsen has held informal talks over his future at Stamford Bridge and the two parties are due to sit down again in the next fortnight. Tottenham are being linked with the striker as well but United would be his choice of future employer. Gudjohnsen is frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunity and the Reds will be monitoring the situation. 27-year-old Gudjohnsen could be prised from Chelsea for about £4m, leaving more money for Ferguson to bolster his engine room.
Staff writer, Manchester Evening News

If Man Utd can get any of the 3 players they are reportedly interested in, it would definitely represent an improvement to the current team.

Materazzi, not only dirty but stupid

2006-05-03T18:22:00.000+10:00

Materazzi scoring an amazing own goal in the 91st minute from inside the halfway line in Inter's recent match against Empoli.

The clips are not so clear,so,you would need to replay the clips a few times to truly appreciate his stupidity.

Terry, however, is different from Lampard

2006-04-30T14:43:00.000+10:00

Photos and article from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/

Cheat Terry at it again

By CLODAGH HARTLEY
and TONY BONNICI

RANDY England ace John Terry romped in his Bentley with a blonde teenager just hours after they met.

The Chelsea captain let 17-year-old Jenny Barker perform a sex act in a car park.

The England defender — a Champions League bonker — scored with sexy fan Jenny just hours after she asked for his autograph in a car park.

Terry, who complimented the beauty on her skimpy thong, went on to send her explicit text messages begging for X-rated snaps and suggesting a threesome with a brunette pal.

He wrote: “I want to **** both of you . . . Im gonna give you both the best ******* ever.”

And later that day Jenny was pleasuring the sex-mad star in his flashy sports car.

Terry, 25, romped with the 17-year-old just weeks after promising long-suffering fiancée Toni Poole he would never play away again after a string of previous slips.

He first met 30D Jenny as he parked his Bentley Continental in Esher, Surrey, on his way to a bank earlier this week.

Jenny, who was with two friends, said: “He saw us in our car smiling so we got out and asked him for his autograph.

“He told us that if we gave him our addresses he would send us photos of himself.

“He said, ‘Come here gorgeous’ and put his arm round me as my friend took a photo. Then he told us he would send us signed photos and invitations to the Chelsea Christmas party.

“Next he put his number in my phone. As he walked off he smiled and said, ‘Text me’. So I did it immediately to say hello.

“When I got home I got a text from him saying, ‘Hello sexy, hopefully meeting you and the girls if you fancy it? I busy until about 10 but will be free after that. What you doing sexy. Loved your thong by the way’.

“I replied saying I was happy to meet and asked who he was coming with as I was intending to come with my friends.

“He said it might be too short notice to bring someone else and asked, ‘Will I do’? He added, ‘I’m sure the 4 of us can think of something to do? ha ha xxx’.

“Then he rang me and said, ‘Do you want to meet up for a little kiss before we meet later’?

“I said yes and he told me to come back to the car park.”

Jenny and her pals then drove to the car park, where Terry — who yesterday flew to Geneva for England’s friendly against Argentina — met her again.

Jenny said: “I got into his car and he said he liked my thong.

“He asked to see it properly, I was a bit shy and said ‘No’, and he said, ‘Go on, just give me a look’. So I did.

“He smiled and put on sexy Luther Vandross music from a selection on a huge screen in the car. Then he put my hand on his crotch. We were kissing and cuddling and he put my hand down his tracksuit bottoms and under his boxer shorts. One thing led to another but we did not have sex. I didn’t want to give in to him like I can imagine every other girl does.

“When we finished I asked him, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ He looked at me with big puppy dog eyes and said, ‘Yeah I do’. I asked, ‘Is she at home?’ He said, ‘Yeah’.”

Jenny said Terry, who scores a lot for a defender, then began flirting with her unnamed brunette friend. Next day, she said, the texts resumed.

Jenny, from Esher, said: “He wrote, ‘Oh my God I want to **** both of you, I want to watch you ******* each other’s ******* and ******** on my *** ****, then ******* me. I want one of you ****** me and the other ******* ** my ****. I’m gonna give you both the best ******* ever. I want you right now, send me a naughty picture’. He made it clear he wanted me and my dark-haired friend. I said about the picture, ‘Don’t you want to see the real thing’? That’s the last contact we had.”

Jenny’s friend Jess Herbert, 17, confirmed: “Jenny was in Terry’s car for quite a while talking and obviously getting close. We drove off and when we returned Jenny looked flushed. He was obviously keen on her.”
*
Click here to find out more!

In his seven years with beautician Toni, 24, Terry has strayed EIGHT times, but has always been forgiven.

In September he said: “I really regret what I’ve done to Toni. I’m not going to cheat on her ever again and want to marry her more than anything in the world.”

A spokesman for Terry refused to comment last night

Paris makes a play for Lampard

2006-04-30T14:29:00.000+10:00

Hollywood glamourpuss Paris Hilton appears to have taken a shine to British footie star Frank Lampard.

The blonde bombshell made no secret of the fact she thought the Chelsea player was hot stuff when approaching him at many of the Brits after show parties.

Frank, who is engaged to long term partner Elen Rives, was a true gentleman and chatted away to the heiress for a few minutes, but then gracefully parted and left for another party.

Paris obviously wasn't going to let the object of her affections get away that easily, soon after she too left the glitzy bash to do the rounds of the other parties.

After boogying away with Prince then sampling the Cristal champagne at Kayne West's party, the millionairess popped into the EMI knees up at the swanky Baglionio hotel where she bumped into the England midfielder for a second time.

According to reports, Paris quickly produced her diamond encrusted Blackberry then announced she would be back soon and that he should wait for her.

Frank obviously couldn't take much more admiration from the Simple Life star, sources say the second she left he made a quick dash for the front door and legged it before the socialite could collar him again!!

I take my hat off to Lampard for being able to resist.

UBS says...

2006-04-27T11:44:00.000+10:00

Italy will win. [pdf]

I think there's a reason why they are financial, not football, analysts.

Yee haaa

2006-04-27T00:07:00.000+10:00

A Moral Stain on Football

2006-04-26T18:37:00.001+10:00

An article I read in the Guardian recently on the Abramovich revolution at Chelsea and how that came about. Very interesting ..

This weekend sees what is likely to be the climax of the domestic football season, as Chelsea, the wealthiest club in Britain, take on Manchester United, the biggest, and almost certainly clinch their second successive league title.

Nothing better encapsulates this money-dominated football era: the combined salaries of the two squads would probably be enough to finance the average eastern European country. But the crucial difference between the two clubs has been lost because, in their routes to wealth, United and Chelsea are at opposite ends of the morality spectrum.

United have earned the right to be the highest spenders. They became the nation's best-supported club because their dramatic history captured the public imagination: a manager who moulded a title-winning team, the "Busby Babes", but lost most of them in a tragic plane crash, then built another team, which within 10 years became the first English club to win the European Cup.

United's support swelled, so when money did enter the game they could make the most of this support in gate receipts, merchandising and TV money.
Chelsea had none of this, but had just qualified for Europe's Champions League when Russian oil company Sibneft paid out billions of pounds in dividends to its major shareholders, one of whom was Roman Abramovich. It was relatively easy then for a tiny group of well-connected businessmen to exploit their links with the post-communist regime of Boris Yeltsin, and persuade ordinary Russian workers into giving up their individual share vouchers, unaware of their real value.

The obscenity of this is borne out by figures out last week which show that the 100 richest Russians are worth more than a quarter of Russia's GDP. There is vast inequality in Britain, but Russia is another universe: 18% of its people live below the poverty line; the average wage is the equivalent of £2,000. Yet last year Abramovich sold off his last Russian business interest for £7bn, bringing his total wealth, as estimated in this week's Sunday Times Rich List, to £10.8bn.
But what can someone with such wealth spend it on? In 2003 he was flying by helicopter over London when he saw a football ground. Within a couple of months he owned Chelsea. In another few weeks he'd spent £100m on players. In a year, having failed to win a trophy, he'd sacked the manager and brought in the man who'd just won the European Cup, Jose Mourinho, himself lured by the £4m salary. Mourinho spent £100m more on players and went on to win the title for Chelsea a year later - their first in 50 years, and only their second ever.

Of course, wealthy benefactors have often backed clubs - Chelsea had Matthew Harding in the 1990s. But he was a fan of the club and wanted to realise his dream. Abramovich had no previous connection with either England or Chelsea. And no one has had such a distorting effect on the game.

When Arsenal offered to double the wages of their full-back Ashley Cole, Chelsea said they'd triple them - to £80,000 per week. What was already an obscene amount became pornographic. Clubs across the league are having to up their players' wages. So the cash spent by ordinary fans is being eaten up by fewer and fewer super-wealthy people.

At Chelsea they all know where the money has come from. Football agents, of course, don't give a damn about its source. And football pundits and commentators talk about the quality of the players, or the tactics, or the managers' quotes, turning a blind eye towards the mass poverty left behind.

The fact is, Chelsea now stands for nothing but greed; the club has become a moral stain on the face of the sport. The more these injustices are tolerated, the more we are all corrupted.

Wenger the north london derby hero

2006-04-23T16:52:00.000+10:00

http://217.204.41.132/cgi/NGoto/2/139299194?1244

Click on the title above or copy and paste the URL above to see a .gif of Arsene Wenger heat butting Martin Jol at the sidelines...

Tottenham refused to put the ball out of play so that the injured Arsenal players can receive treatment. Eboueu (right back) was lying down injured at the centre of the field...Carrick then played the ball to Davids on the right where it was vacant before squaring it up to Robbie Keane to score.

Just few days ago when Villareal players were diving and pretending to be injured, Arsenal players kicked the ball out of play when they were in a good attacking position.

Back in 1999, Arsenal vs Sheffield Utd in a FA Cup tie...Ray Parlour (another Arsenal unsung hero alongside Gilles Grimandi) threw the ball back in to the opposition as a gesture of sportsmanship but Kanu didn't know what happened so he took the ball off the opposition and square the ball to Overmars to score.

"Kanu is feeling very down. He's very sad. And we all have the feeling we didn't win the game like we wanted to. It was an accident," Wenger added.

"Ray Parlour wanted to throw the ball back to Sheffield United but Kanu didn't know why. He didn't know that the goalkeeper had deliberately kicked the ball out of play so that a teammate could have an injury treated."

Therefore, Wenger offered a replay. Bruce (Sheffield Utd's manager) said of Wenger, "That's very, very good of him."

But that was back then before Tottenham killed fair play in English football

The Taint on Juventus

2006-04-16T16:05:00.000+10:00

It's no secret that Juventus always gets preferential treatment on the soccer pitches. This observation has been around for ages and as disgusting as it is to any soccer fan, the power yet be in Juventus is simply too dark that nothing is likely to change in the future.

Having said that, I chanced upon the match between Cagliari and Juventus that was played yesterday night on TV. Juventus is leading the Serie A table now (any surprise?), although Milan's 1-0 win over Inter cuts Juve's lead to 4 points then, Juve knew that it was never in danger of losing the Scudetto. So one wonders what type of match this will turn out to be.

The match was quite slanted actually. Juventus did most of the attackings and thereby restricting Cagliari to the sporadic attacks led by David Suazo. Interestingly, Cagliari took the lead against the run of play. with Suazo netting a penalty in the first half.

Juve 1-0 down? Not a familiar phenomenon. And you just wonder how they WILL score the equaliser.

And second half begins. A 50-50 high ball in the penalty area caused a Cagliari defender to leap over a Juve's player to head away, sending it out for a corner kick. There was no complain from Juventus, but yet the ref blew for a penalty! And amidst the protests, a yellow card was brandished towards the Cagliari keeper, even though one just didn't see him in the run up to the protest nor the foul! Up stepped Del Piero. But Chimenti saved the penalty kick! One therefore wonders, there must be justice out there. Or really?

So the 'battle' for the equaliser continued. Camoronesi, 1-0 down and frustrated, decided to brandish an elbow towards an opponent. A red-card offence clearly. The ref decided to blow the foul, walked across, intervened the ugly scene, did some PR, and simply awarded the freekick. No yellow card. Nothing. This was followed by another red-card offence by Cannavaro. Again, same thing. No card, but referee blew for it.

Then you realised that the ref called for some but not all the Juve's niggling fouls. You began to have the picture. The referee was smart. By whistling for offences, and not sending people off, the Serie A authority can't accuse the referee of not seeing the incident and thus they can't use the video to punish the culprits after the match. So, in the match report, the referee would have documented Cannavaro and Camaronesi's fouls, but deemed that no punishment is necessary. The authority can't do anything. And for the uninitiated, the authority refers to Adriano Galliani, president of Serie A, and at the same time, vice-president of 2nd place AC Milan.

Get the picture? Welcome to the interesting world of Italian football. Where donkeys can fly.

Back to the refereeing. A smart referee also calls for fouls on either side, but more on Cagliari side. Again, no spectator can say that he is not doing his job. If he is not calling all of Juve's fouls, it's deemed a judgmental issue, not a corruption issue. You wonder whether the referee's black shirt is meant to have a shade of Juve's black and white....

And then we come back to the match. Juventus sent on Zalayeta to partner Ibrahimovic and Del Piero. Things were getting desparate. Cagliari fans were celebrating. 90 minutes were up. But 5 mins of extra time were awarded! You can boil your instant noodles and eat them with that amount of time, and still have some time to wash the bowl. (although Chinbai aka Gerrard can PCC in half that time. The other half, he needs to find it first.)

5 mins. Eternity for some, too-short for others. But it was enough. And guess what? Cannavaro popped up in the 95th minute to score the equaliser from a corner kick. And that was the last kick of the game.

Juventus has done it again, mafia style. The controversy continues.

Interestingly, I remember about 8 years ago, Cannavarro popped up to score a late equaliser for Parma against Juventus. But it was disallowed for no reason. Juve went on to win the Scudetto that year.

Now you know why I disliked Juventus. Possibly as much as my love for Arsenal. Or rather, the lack of it. :D

Winning Eleven 10 trailer

2006-04-13T10:19:00.000+10:00

For all us Winning Eleven fanatics, here is a little teaser before it is released on the 28th April in Japan.

Rooney playing keeper

2006-04-13T00:17:00.000+10:00

This is a clip of Rooney playing goalie during training, not during an important match like Kolo Toure. I think this clip is hilarious. Guess who scored against Rooney when he was goalkeeping. Take a wild guess? OK let me drop you a hint. He's American. Hahahaha. Enjoy!

Materazzi - Dirtiest Defender

2006-04-12T07:52:00.000+10:00

Click on the title of this post and it will bring your browser to a video showing the Ac Milan vs Inter Milan game, and Materazzi's tackles..

He's dirtier than 'son of a bitch' Ruud....

Ronaldinho?Shevchenko?Henry?Riquelme?

2006-04-07T17:52:00.000+10:00

It is almost the end of the season and it comes down to Barcelona, AC Milan, Arsenal or Villarreal. Barcelona and AC Milan were firm favourites to lift the trophy from the start. However, with Arsenal in devastating form, they are looking better each game. Villarreal, they have been the fairytale story of the tournament so far. A town with only a population of 47,000 and one hotel, are so close to having a team in the final.

Theirry Henry, arguably the best striker on the planet right now. A legend in the making who has won everything except for the coveted Champions League. Could this finally be his year? Having drawn a favourable opposition in Villarreal compared to the powerhouses of Barcelona and AC Milan, the footballing Gods might finally be smiling on Henry and company. Henry, a man with lightning speed, superb finishing and a natural leader, has been a subject of transfer speculation all season but he has done well to put it aside by leading his young team this far in the competition. His Arsenal teammates are also peaking at the right time of the season. The defence of Arsenal has been performing solidly despite their relative inexperience, with Lehmann and Toure in command. In midfield, the strings are being pulled by Gilberto, Fabregas, Hleb with the width being provided by Reyes, Ljunberg/Pires and Eboue and Henry acting as the lone striker.

AC Milan, a team who are consistently in the latter stages of the Champions League. A team that has both individually brilliant players and experience campaigners. Despite that, the Milan team seem to struggle whenever teams start to attack them continuously. Who could forget the night Milan surrended their 3-0 lead to Liverpool. Milan did not learn their lesson in the semis where they succumbed to PSV's avalanche of long balls in the box directing at Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, needing a late goal by Tomasson to spare their blushes. Going further back, in 2003-2004, after having led 4-1 from the first leg against Deportivo, they blew that lead by losing the second leg 4-0. This time it was Lyon who was asking questions of the shaky Milan defence. Milan managed to sneak through via late goals from Inzaghi and Shevchenko. However, can their defense withstand the attacking excellence of Barcelona? There are serious doubts but with the likes of Shevchenko and Kaka, there will always be a force to reckon with.

It still remains a mystery why a team with such a rich history and having some of the best players throughout football history like Cryuff, Romario, Ronaldo, Stoichkov, Figo has only ever won the Champions League once. Could they finally be able to repeat their sole success in 1991-1992? It certainly looks that way. Base on current form, it's either them or Arsenal. What a match it would be, as both team plays excellent flowing football. However, they first have to deal with AC Milan. As expected most of Barcelona's plays revolves around the genius mind of Ronaldinho and the darting runs and finishing of Eto'o. Having said that, Barcelona are far from a two man team, with Deco and Van Bommel orchestrating the midfield and the brilliant Messi on the wing giving the opposition defence alot to worry. Their only possible weak point is when the two full backs, Van Bronckhorst and Belleti go up to support the attack, leaving the defence susceptible to counter attacks.

Surprise package of the campaign! Who would have thought we would see them here, in the semis. Without a doubt it has been the brilliance of the ex-Barcelona man, Riquelme, that has carried the team this far. Having got to the knockout phase at the expense of English giants, Manchester United, they were fortunate to draw the weakest team in the knockout phase, Rangers. Many would have thought their journey in the campaign would have come to an end when they faced Inter and losing the first leg further decrease their chances. However, they preserved and got through on away goals. Alot of hype was placed on Riquelme's shoulders when he was playing in Argentina. When he was transferred to Barcelona, the pressure was increased ten folds. Not only was he labelled "the next best thing", he was also expected to replace a Barcelona legend in Rivaldo. Perhaps the pressure from the fans and media got to him. After a season, he was loaned out and subsequently transferred permanently to Villarreal. This enabled him to just concentrate on his football, away from the media and the pressure. Forlan's career was also rejuvenated by Villarreal. Having been a laughing stock in England, he came to Spain with much to prove. He did so in style by winning the European Golden Boot that very season. Will Villarreal be able to get past an Arsenal team who is currently destroying every team in its way? It seems unlikely but perhaps this fairytale still has a few twists for football fans.

Bridge over troubled water ?

2006-04-07T16:37:00.001+10:00

Many newspapers lately have been suggesting that things may not be going as smoothly as Chelsea would have wanted.
First things first, Chelsea will win the English Premier League this year. United has done a great job with its recent run of many, many consecutive victories, but somehow I feel that United has run out of games to catch up.
Personally I cannot see Chelsea losing 3 games out of the next 6 to hand the title to United. It will be close but in the end, Chelsea's run in the beginning of the season and over Christmas has won them the title.

Still there are things going on at the Bridge now that could indicate a change next season at Chelsea FC.

7 Aspects as to where Chelsea are losing it..

Style of play
Even at their best, they are effective rather than exciting.Built on a sound defence with a ball-winner like Makelele and wingers like Duff and Robben, the Blues are at their best counter-attacking but without a natural playmaker, they have found even weak teams difficult to break down.

Style of business
Chelsea fiercely deny they are buying success and rightly point to Cech, Cole and Robben being bargain buys. But paying way over the top for Essien, Wright-Phillips and Drogba undermines their argument and their purchasing power has drastically altered the global transfer market. In other areas, their ticket pricing, virtual kidnapping of young players (John Mikel Obi) and fierce defence of the indefensible - such as the tapping up Ashley Cole saga and ending Anders Frisk career - are not exactly winning many friends in football.

Clash of egos
There are rumours of a major clash opf personalities between Mourinho, Peter Kenyon and Frnak Arnesen. They have disagreed on what direction the club should go and on which players should be signed. The lastes being Beckham - Kenyon would like him signed for the commercial reason whereas Mourinho doesn't for very obvious footballing reasons.

Lack of lustre
Chelsea's best players are workhorses - Terry, Lampard, Makelele and while Cole, Robben and Duff offer something different, they often flatter to deceive. For one reason or another, the A-list stars of world football are refusing Roman's roubles (Henry, Sheva, Trezeguet, Eto'o, Ronaldinho) - and hence there is a visible lack of stardust on Stamford Bridge.

Sore losers
Chelsea NEVER loses a game. There is always a reason why they did not win and seldom does Chelsea end a match without stirring any controversy these days - even when they win. The sight of Mourinho ranting and raving about match official, managers, opponents is getting tiresome - hardly the stuff to win over the neutrals. You never beat Chelsea it seems. You may score more goals but there is always an issue - usually a contentious decision. But no Jose, there is no conspiracy against you..

Hitmen missing
Man Utd have Rooney and van Nistelrooy, Barca have Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi, Juve have Zlatan and Trezeguet, Milan - Sheva and Gillardino even ARSEnal have Henry and Cygan.
Chelsea have Drogba and Crespo who rarely play together and when they are desperate Robert Huth (@#$%?) plays upfront. They are simply not good or committed enough to be the main hitman. It really is a surprising area to neglect when you have all that $$$.

Cunning or conning
The recent diving allegations against Didier and the fact he admitted it on national TV are relatively new. His handball against Man City and celebrating by showing his arm to the Man City supporters after scoring might not be the most ethical thing to do. Robben with his 'severe facial fracture and injury' after being touched by Liverpool keeper Reina has undermined Chelsea's morality.
However, anyone who remember Mourinho's Porto side will know how 'cunning' they were as they dived their ways to wins over Celtic and Manchester United. And let's not forget Ricardo Carvalho's wrestling-like move on Barca keeper Victor Valdes to ensure John Terry would score the winner in last years UEFA Champion's League 2nd Round.
This season Robben and Drogba have turned cunning into conning.

Most hated man in the Barclaycards English Premier League

2006-04-05T12:19:00.000+10:00

A recent poll conducted in a local newspaper asking its fellow readers to vote via a phone poll or Sms on which player they hate most in the EPL revealed quite surprising results. (well not really..)

1. Lee Bowyer (which should come as no surprise whatsoever)
2. Didier Drogba (cheating, diving, lying bastard)
3. Arjen Robben (cheating, diving, lying bastard II)
4. Robbie Savage (which should come as a worry to both Drogba and Robben as to how they manage to pip him to 2nd and 3rd place respectively..)

Many articles have sprung up in the local and international press recently about Chelsea and how they are the new club in which everyone, including Man City fans love to hate.
They represent everything football fans hate - unfettered capitalism, cheating, boring football and contempt for fans.

Reading an article in the Guardian recently I came across a Football Column written by a Man City fan. He finds himself hating the Chelsea "Revolution" and says:
My football fantasy goes like this: Liverpool beat Chelsea in the FA Cup, Chelsea panic in the league, lose to Bolton, lose to United, lose the last game of the season at Newcastle to a John Terry own-goal after Didier Drogba, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben are sent off for fighting each other. Roman Abramovich sacks Mourinho, Chelsea fail to win a trophy under Guus Hiddink, Abramovich walks out to make Dynamo Moscow the richest club in the world, Chelsea are relegated, go bankrupt..

Arsenal to do 'a Liverpool'?

2006-03-29T10:43:00.000+11:00

I woke up catching the 2nd half of the game, expecting to see a 0-0 scoreline. Instead it was 1-0. I was like.. "it's ok, only 1 down, Juventus squad is experienced."

The 2nd half was a let down to Juventus. It seems as though Capello has instructed Emerson and Vieira to sit deep with the only support in attack to Zlatan and Trezeguet were the two wingers, Camoranesi and Mutu. Whenever Zlatan or Trezeguet has the ball they seem to have limited options to pass the ball too with Emerson and Vieira not giving enough support in attack. Hence, making it easy for the Arsenal defence to snuff out the attacks. Although it is worth mentioning that Toure has proven himself to be a rock in defence. Who needs an old ageing, fugly monkey aka Campbell.

In contrast, whenever Arsenal had the ball they look dangerous with overlapping runs from the full backs on the wide strecthing the Juve defence allowing the Arsenal strikers and midfielders alot of space to roam. If not for the timely interventions of Cannavaro, Juve would have been further behind.

Although missing Del Piero and Nedved, it was no excuse for Juventus to throw in such a pathetic performance. With Vieira and Camoranesi missing from the 2nd leg. Blasi should be drafted in the middle with hopefully the mecurial Nedved back and Del Piero.

Vieira's main motive for changing clubs was so that he could stand a better chance of lifting an European trophy. Imagine the irony if Arsenal were to win instead. And what was Owen's motive to move to Madrid again? hahaha.

Famous Prank!

2006-03-27T20:49:00.000+11:00

Hey guys.. this is a must watch! I think it happened during the Man Utd Champions League match against Bayern Munich. This guy, Karl Power, just walked up to the Man Utd team dressed in the full kit and stood beside Andy Cole while the team was about to take the team photo. If you watch it clearly, you would notice Gary Neville pointing out the 12th man in Man Utd.hahaha.Just pay attention to the left side.

Click here on this link!

Enjoy!

Link to a piece done on Karl Power by Guardian

Pascal Cygan's part time job

2006-03-06T23:10:00.000+11:00

Here is a link showing what Pascal Cygan does during his spare time
Arsenal rulez...
http://tiscali.football365.com/features/mediawatch/story_156877.shtml

20 Things You Didn't Know About Pascal Cygan (taken from BigSoccer.com)

2006-02-18T01:14:00.000+11:00

The man destined to replace Thierry Henry

1. Pascal Cygan once killed a man. Twice.

2. Muhammed-Ali used to say ‘I’m the Greatest.’ Then he met Pascal Cygan.

3. Pascal Cygan wrestles bears in his spare time, which is why they are an endangered species.

4. One Portuguese world class prospect: £12.25m
One Central defender playing out of position: £2.5m
Watching Pascal Cygan make Cronaldo his %^^@^: Priceless.

5. Hair has never grown on Pascal Cygan’s body.

6. OJ Simpson only hired Johnnie Cochran because Pascal Cygan was busy.

7. When the leader of the opposition demanded to know how the government planned to fully equip the armed forces following budget cuts, Tony Blair responded by hiring Pascal Cygan.

8. Saddam Hussein did not possess WMDs, just virals of Pascal Cygan’s DNA.

9. Jesus’ prized possession was a shroud he found with Pascal Cygan’s image on it.

10. An asteroid didn’t wipe out the dinosaurs. Pascal Cygan did.

11. Pascal Cygan doesn’t need a partner to enter a three legged race.

12. In 1521, the Pope conferred the title of fidei defensor (defender of the faith) on Pascal Cygan. He sent Henry VIII in his place.

13. Pascal Cygan applies for planning permission before having an erection.

14. The sun really does shine out of Pascal Cygan’s arse.

15. Pascal Cygan taught Medusa.

16. Pascal Cygan stopped the Y2K Millennium Bug just by looking at a computer.

17. The Soviet Union honoured the citizens of the Leningrad who survived the 900 day siege by erecting a statue of Pascal Cygan in the city. It remains there to this day.

18. If you ever have a day where you feel the gods are against, just be glad Pascal Cygan isn’t.

19. God prays to Pascal Cygan.

20. The Terminator was too afraid to say, “I’ll be back” to Pascal Cygan.

2005-12-10T00:51:00.000+11:00

football is a funny ol' game.

score 1 goal in 6 games, and you qualify for mickey mouse cup.

having american billionaires buy over your club can neither get you a place in europe's elite nor bring the backyard quality football of the mickey mouse cup to the theater of dreams.

paying the wages of footballing clowns like traore and biscan can bring you european glory.

funny ol' game.

Me, Myself and Henry (nothing else. period)

2005-11-27T14:42:00.000+11:00

Tributes have been pouring in ever since George Best's death 2 days ago. They come from the government body, to the sporting legends, right down to the ordinary soccer fans.

http://www.goal.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=103850&idSez=12

Irish President Mary McAleese described "George Best was a wonderfully gifted sportsman whose skills on the football field dazzled a generation of soccer fans. He will be remembered as one of the world’s finest football talents."

Maradona praised Best "George inspired me when I was young."

Steve Bruce said "In a lot of people’s eyes he was the greatest British player ever"

But not Wenger, apparently.

In typical Wenger style, he said "What is amazing when you look back is that he stopped at 28. The best years of his career should have come from 28 to 32. You can’t believe a player in the world stopping now - it would be like Thierry Henry stopping now."

I am not sure if there's any significance of saying anything like this. It's hard not to confuse appreciating the passing of a genius, or boasting the lover of his life, on this solemn day.

For Arsene and Arsenal, everyday is a self-appreciation day.

2005-11-26T04:52:00.000+11:00

George Best - A true legend. Thank you.
"George Best was the outstanding British footballer of his generation and that, many would argue, is a gross understatement, for he had plausible claims to be considered the greatest of any generation."

2005-11-25T23:25:00.000+11:00

so the great george best is knocking frantically at death's door. boo hoo. my mum's a fan, she was recalling how she used to adore the man, along with kevin keegan. i'm astonished at my dear mother's ability to churn out footballers' names other than the rapist christiano ronaldo. i'm even more astonished at the ethics of his consulant. handing out predictions of his death in public. dear me. he said he wouldn't survive the last 24 hours, but mr best did. now he's come out and say mr best wouldn't survive the next few hours. and if he does? then what? would the consultant expedite mr best's death himself to save himself some face? goodness. give that man a break.

in a very cynically/sadistic morbid way, manchester united has already lost a "legend" - roy keane. and it's potentially losing another - george best. next will be sir alex. then the theater of dreams will be devoid of it's main actors. boo hoo.

update

that was quick. a moment of silence for the great george best. won't lie that i've seen him that often in videos, but he must be one heck of a player for my mum to remember him. rest in peace.

English Premier League - Team of the Week

2005-11-23T23:01:00.000+11:00

The very entertaining www.soccernet.com - Team of the Week threw in a couple of surprise players for this week's edition. (not being the least bit sacarstic, of course)

At the defence - Titus Bramble performed with trademark composure and discipline in Newcastle's 3-0 defeat at the hands of champions Chelsea, and was desperately unlucky to finish on the losing side.
For how much longer can Sven Goran Eriksson ignore Bramble's international claims? Certainly, Bramble's reliable and thoughtful distribution would go a long way to helping England triumph in Germany next summer.

In attack - Up front, we've picked out two strikers currently performing at the peak of their powers.
James Beattie (£6 million) and Peter Crouch (£7 million) may have commanded high transfer fees when they moved to Everton and Liverpool respectively, but their managers can certainly claim they got value for money from their purchases.

Beattie, unlucky not to have added to his four England caps, battled away manfully in his side's unfortunate defeat to West Brom, at one point coming close to forcing Baggies keeper Tomasz Kuszczak in to a save.

And although Crotch might currently have his critics for a lack of goals, but he can at least claim an assist on Bolo Zenden's first goal, cleverly missing his penalty to allow the Dutch midfielder the luxury of an easy rebound.

Congratulations, everyone!

2005-11-21T02:46:00.000+11:00

what has liverpool winning the champions league final and australia's dramatic win over uruguay to book their berth in germany 2006 have in common? two words - harry kewell. match winner extraordinaire. his substitution in instanbul instigated a winning performance from liverpool, and his botched shot at goal provided a timely assist for bresciano to score the all important goal in sydney. and he plays for liverpool. the kop should be proud.

the kop should be prouder that welsh and winning eleven uncle all star legend ian rush has this to say about our potentially new investors.....anfield should be renamed kraft stadium, i wouldn't mind that.

innocent boys and girls should be spared by offering the rapist christiano ronaldo some fodder in the form of ian rush and harry kewell.

Keane going nowhere

2005-11-19T00:19:00.000+11:00

After 12 and a half years at Old Trafford, the 34-year-old Manchester United captain Roy Keane has officially left his club by mutual consent. The best midfielder player in the world of his generation, he is already one of the greatest figures in the club's illustrious history.
"Whilst it is a sad day for me to leave such a great club and manager I believe that the time has now come for me to move on."
Reports suggested that Keane left because after he had previously critisized the players at Old Trafford through MUTV, there was bad feeling between him and the other players as well as the staff especially sir Alex Ferguson.
His next destination might be Republic of Ireland's vacant manager's role. But who is to succeed him at Old Trafford? Possible candidate: Michael Ballack, Thomas Gravesen, Gennaro Gattuso, Didier Zakora, Maniche, Steven Gerrard and Mahamadou Diarra.

2005-11-17T17:49:00.000+11:00

Pure Class - El Hadji (Liverpool's best player in 30 years) Diouf has been fined �500 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs after pleading guilty to a charge of reckless behaviour, stemming from a spitting incident with an 11-year-old fan. 11 years old ? This really takes the cake ..

ESPN Kick Off!

2005-11-15T07:21:00.000+11:00

This might interest you... if you can be in Singapore on those dates.

----------

Hi friends,

I'm Melissa from The Moving Visuals Co. We are currently doing an EPL quiz show for ESPN, and we're looking for teams of 2 contestants to appear on our show. We're looking for football fanatics who know their EPL games and history.

We would also like your help in passing the word along about this show, as well as recommending some hardcore fans of EPL clubs.

Here's some information about the show, Kick Off!

ABOUT THE SHOW
ESPN Kick Off! is a simple, relaxed, yet exciting quiz show, which sees Asia's most knowledgeable football fans pitting their wits and their loyalties against each other.

Participating teams not only represent their country, but also fly the flag for their favourite club sides.

Each team is led by one of two `resident' captains. Larger than life characters, both of these former EPL stars will add glamour, expertise and humour to each episode.

With spectacular soccer action and Asia's self-confessed `super fans' battling it out for major prizes on every show ESPN Kick Off! will make for compulsive viewing.

BE A PARTICIPANT!
We are looking for teams of 2 from all over Asia. Each team must be football fanatics, well-versed in EPL history as well as have a deep knowledge of the EPL club they support.

The team must be available to come down to Singapore in January 2006, between the 11th and 19th. Flight and accommodation will be provided for. Singapore-based participants must be available to take part in the recordings during the above stated date.

To apply for the programme, please email you and your buddy's full name, age, nationality, current country of residence and contact numbers to
kickoff@movingvisuals.com . Don't forget to tell us which EPL club you both support! Please send us a photo of yourselves too. We will contact you shortly.

Closing date is 28 November 2005.

Best regards,

Melissa Sim / MCM '05

Production Assistant
[O]+65 6333 3051
[M]+65 9620 2694
[E] melissa@movingvisuals.com

www.movingvisuals.com

What Your Team Says About You ..

2005-11-14T00:18:00.000+11:00

Manchester United :

Glory hunter? Far from it. Aligning yourself with the only genuinely poncey team in the North of England is only for individuals who thrive in an atmosphere of simmering resentment and constant, violent abuse. Rarely will a day pass without accusations of a dispassionate, shallow affection for the club. Or of being a corporate bitch to a ruthless capitalist empire (a charge that’s difficult to deny when you own all four of that season’s replica away shirts).

A choice to follow Manchester United is akin to joining a sinister religious cult. Everyone you encounter will regard you with distrust and disdain, and feel that they have the right to voice their concerns loudly and angrily to your face.

If you win a match people will sneer and accuse you of devious KGB style conspiracy and intimidation. Your abusers will point to the fact that only a Paul Scholes tackle and a Rio Ferdinand urine sample arrive later than the final whistle at Old Trafford when United are a goal down.

Analysis:
A United fan enjoys a social challenge and thrives in a hostile environment. All the trophies in the world are no compensation for having your underpants stuffed with stinging nettles by a gang of bitter, 14-year-old, Nottingham Forest fans.

Arsenal :

The team of choice for the classic victims of ‘Only Child Syndrome.' Ask yourself this: As a youngster did your parents furnish you with the full collection of ‘Thundercats’ action figures including both versions of Mum-Ra? Did you strangely never get punished at school despite being less than well behaved? Was this because your dad was actually a school Governor? Are you grossly offended and hugely indignant at these accusations? Congratulations my friend, you’re an Arsenal fan.

Whereas the Man United fan knows that he/she has committed a moral crime and is forced to take the abuse on the chin (and usually to the face and groin as well) the Arsenal fan refuses to believe they have done anything wrong. No accusation can be levelled at a Gunner without them being willing to defend it to the death.

Even though they would sooner complete an unbroken sequence of thirty-five back-heeled passes in the opposition penalty box than score a goal, the Arsenal fan will only see their commitment to entertaining football. If anyone from Arsenal’s extensive catalogue of vicious bruisers scythes someone down with a throat high tackle, the Gunner will praise his side’s water-tight defence. You say: ‘Arsenal rely too much on Henry.’ An Arsenal fan will reply: ‘Does Christianity rely too much on Jesus?’ You can’t win with these people, don’t even try.

What Arsenal people tend not to take too well is criticism. They are sensitive souls and are easily wounded or angered. Beat one in a game of Pro-Evolution and be prepared to soon be wearing a Domino’s Mighty Meat as a cheesy bandana.

To be fair to them, some popular criticism of the Arsenal provokes justified annoyance in the typical Gunner. For example, how anyone can accuse Arsene Wenger of being a voyeur I don’t know. The man apparently hasn’t seen a single incident in a football match since 1997. He hasn’t even noticed Robert Pires’ ridiculous little beard otherwise he never would have let a man with such obvious comic tendencies take the team’s penalties. Didn’t Wenger actually used to wear glasses when he first arrived at Highbury? Maybe he lost them seven seasons ago but was too embarrassed to tell anyone?

Analysis:
Likes: Special Treatment. Unqualified praise. Escaping punishment. Throwing a tantrum.

Dislikes: ‘Being constantly victimised and persecuted just because we play brilliant football! We only play so many games on a Sunday because we are David Dein’s holy children and therefore the chosen people of the Football Association.’ =)

Chelsea:

Again to understand the mentality of the ‘Blue’ we must examine his childhood. This is the time in which the choice to follow a particular team is made. While your dad may have the authority to give you your name, that power thankfully doesn’t extend to his instructing you who to support. For anyone out there named Elvis, Buddy or Englebert this would have been an immense relief. Therefore that choice is yours alone to make and thus says a great deal about the kind of child you were and the kind of adult you will be.

To consider the character of the modern Chelsea fan we must cast our minds back to the rite of passage that is the childhood water fight. These epic bouts of organised combat were usually fought with water-balloons and not-quite-emptied washing up liquid bottles (a cunning tactic to blind your opponent with lemon scented suds). Sometimes someone would use a cheap plastic water pistol that emitted a pathetic squirt but could always be thrown as an effective grenade when it inevitably seized up. Others would invest in the latest Super Soaker, and while they would dominate the fight for as long as it was full, as soon as it was empty they would be subjected to universal bombardment.

Then there was the classic ‘Chelsea’ mentality. Some ruthless joker would produce the hosepipe. Faced with the prospect of an unstoppable range and unlimited ammunition, all the others could do was to skulk further and further away until effectively the game had dwindled out, or carried on elsewhere between the less-well-armed participants. Thus the Chelsea ‘piper was technically victorious but had alienated himself from the fun of the sport. Sound familiar?

Analysis:
People who like to get the actual sport and competition bit out of the way as quickly as possible so they can get on with the serious business of being triumphant. To be fair though, who’d say no to a Russian Billionaire, who’s third favourite yacht is bigger than your entire stadium? Grumble all you want, if Ivan Moneybagski came knocking at your club you’d stick two fingers up to the match itself and just watch the points column add up on Teletext.

Liverpool :

The classic Liverpool fan has lived a life full of surprise. Sometimes the surprise has been good. Sometimes less so. They are the children who would ask for a Sega Megadrive at Christmas and end up with a hairdryer. Similarly they may ask for a bag of cough candy twist at the sweet shop and be given the contents of the till. In short they never got what they expected as a child. Nothing was ever straightforward in the formative years of the ‘Pool fan.

Therefore following the Reds as an adult is the only realistic option. They brace themselves for a season of mediocrity in the league and wind up dusting off their best shell suits and dancing along the Mersey with the European Cup. They invest heavily in boxes of eggs and Google maps to the Chelsea training ground, only for Stevie G to decide that guaranteed glory and fabulous wealth just aren’t his cup of tea.

On the flip side though they must contend with the fact that when a big money England striker arrived at Anfield this summer it was Peter Crouch. While there is undoubtedly more to the big lad’s game than just his ‘Go-Go Gadget’ limbs, Michael Owen’s return may have been welcomed a touch more cheerily. Owen himself is the classic example of the Liverpool fan. One day he’s off to Real Madrid, feeding off the incisive precision and artistry of Zidane and Ronaldo. The next he’s hoping Shola Ameobi won’t clatter into him as they both go up for another big hoof from Titus Bramble. =)

Analysis:
The Liverpool fan is drawn to the peaks and troughs of life. They favour unpredictability and unexplained phenomena over the safety and certainty in life. As long as the club continues to consider bizarre facial hair to be a desirable quality in a £14 million forward, their thirst for chaos is likely to remain satisfied.

Enjoy boys and girls, courtesy of Goal.com .. http://www.goal.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=100223&idSez=12

Friends of ChinBai !

2005-11-08T21:09:00.000+11:00

Xavier Facing Twelve Month Ban

Middlesbrough midfielder Abel Xavier faces a 12 month ban from football after his B sample was also found to contain the banned anabolic steroid Dianabol.

A Uefa spokesman said" The B sample has confirmed he original findings" and Xavier will now face a disciplinary hearing on 17 Nov.

Uefa's guidelines suggest Xavier could face a year on the sidelines as this is his first doping offence.

He spoke in his defence last month saying "I am convinced there is a harmless explanation", but now appears to a real battle on his to clear his name.

----
Oh well, just in time for a hair-cut anyway!

And for the uninitiated, Chinbai aka Gerrard Siah has a habit of making interesting friendly unions with the legendary stars of Anfield. His circus of perculiar luminaries include Djimi, Igor, Harry and Jerzy.

Chinbai, truly the beast he is!

Numbers

2005-11-07T03:01:00.000+11:00

19 years in charge

1 UEFA Champions League Title

8 English Premier League Titles

1 Euro Cup-Winners Cup

5 FA Cups

1 Intercontinental Cup

1 UEFA Super Cup

1 FA League Cup

5 FA Charity/Community Shields (1 shared)

1 goal to mark the 19th anniversary; 1 result to make Chelski pause for thought

1 man

Only one United

Cheers, Sir Alex

Drawing from sportscartoons.co.uk

Keane

2005-11-04T09:44:00.000+11:00

In response to Adrian's article, I would disagree with Keane going public and condemning United. It's true when I read his comments about United I was impressed with his straight forward assessment. However, having seen Nistelrooy say that he will come out and lead United's revival, I now think Keane is quite shit.

True he cares for the club, if he really does then why is he leaving. As a captain you can lambast your players but not suggesting to let go some of the players. That is just not good for morale at all. It will only cause unrest amongst the United players. On the other hand, Ruud said, "We shall all stick together."

As important as Keane is, I wouldn't want him in the United squad anymore. If given a choice between Ruud and Keane, who would you pick now to lead United's revival? I think the choice is pretty obvious. Keane is so slow nowadays that United has to change their style of play to suit the old man.

Do you think if Keane had played he would have made a HUGE difference in the Middlesbrough and Lille game? I think not. I would rather have Hienze back than Keane.

On the rest of Adrian's article like Ferguson switching tactics and idiot Smith playing in midfield I strongly agree.

However, I still think Ferguson is the man to lead United. Faith and loyalty. For the success he has brought us, I think we should give Sir Alex all the time he needs. Screw Keane.

There is only one Roy Keane ..

2005-11-03T23:19:00.000+11:00

Only Roy Keane is capable of doing what he does AND doing it best. Cutting through the crap and bullshit and delivering a damning and very accurate verdict on the recent demise of the Manchester United squad..
After Roy Keane's huge tirade against the current squad was barred off the television by Sir Alex himself, many questions were raised about the Manchester United Football Club.
Are they in crisis ? Is Sir Alex leaving ? Are the Glazers giving $$$ for the January transfer window? (doubt it)

I got myself thinking about the recent happenings and how it all started.

Effectively, Sir Alex Ferguson killed his golden goose. After the glorious, glorious TREBLE of '99 (unlike the Mickey Mouse 'treble' won by Liverpool FC), United were undoubtedbly one of the very best in European football. They always got close but after winning it in 1999, the squad had it all.. experience, maturity, a right balance of youth and senior players and most importantly an abundance in attacking options. United could score at will and were afraid of no one. This mentality delivered the Premiership year after year.. The mentality of we'll concede 2 and score 4 more excited the footballing world (take the Spurs Vs Man Utd match, 0-3 United trailing at half-time, 5-3 the final score).

But unfortunately, losing in the European Cup 2000 semifinals to eventual winners Real Madrid (thanx to that unforgettable back-heel by Redondo to set-up Raul) made Sir Alex decide on buying 1 player who would change United forever - welcome Seba Veron. Having Juan Sebastian Veron in the squad meant Sir Alex had to ditch the very, very entertaining 4-4-2 formation for the 4-1-4-1 formation to accomodate Veron, Kene and Scholes in the line-up. While Veron (Kleberson and Djemba-Djemba have all gone, thank God) the formation stayed. United basically, never recovered from that.

Many formations were tried and tested, the latest, and the very, very hated 4-3-2-1 formation seems to stiffle United and with players like Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, this formation has got to be the stupidest thing since releasing Jaap Stam to Lazio. (and buying Laurent Blanc)
A few clubs can prosper with this 4-3-2-1 formation (? Bolton, Chelsea) Taking the latter, the midfield trio in Chelsea are spectacular as much as I would hate to admit it.
Frank Lampard has got to be one of the best midfielders in Europe at the moment. And comparing Uniteds' midfield of Keane who no longer has the legs for box-box running, Paul Scholes who has lost ALOT of form and goals, Ryan Giggs whose role in the United midfield is limited to the Carling Cup and Darren Fletcher (alot of promise, but not yet the finished article), Alan 'Eminem-look-a-like' Smith (who is a bloody striker for God's sake) United will NEVER win the Premier League with this midfield options let alone the UEFA Champions League.
United need a Keane replacement (someone with leadership and the ability to score goals and take games by the scruff of its neck and win games for United) [ Michael Ballack (somehow doubt he'll come), Javier Mascherano (still unproven in Europe).. ]

Other reasons why United are suffering - Carlos Quieroz is running the show now ..training, tactics and formation.. what does Sir Alex do now ?
Continuous tinkering with the formation (4-3-2-1, 4-4-1-1, 4-4-2.. ) does not help the squad.

Roy Keane has NEVER shirked from his responsibility, as a captain, as a football player and most importantly as a fan of Man United, he's always honest about his performances and others. His words during the interview of "Just because you earn $120,000 a week does NOT make you a superstar". Step up please, Mr Rio Ferdinand. To be honest I was hurt the way he held the club to ransom. A club that stood by him when he was stupid, who never criticized him and yet he waited for more $$$ when the transfer talks came. Nobody is bigger than the football club, never will be.

Roy Keane has been known to Sir Alex's voice both on and off the pitch and is one of the most talismatic and influential captains United have had for the past decade. Ferguson has said publically many times how much he saw a mirror image of himself in the United skipper.

Why has it all gone so horribly wrong ?
Keane's values - the remorseless pursuit of excellence at all costs; the bristling intolerance of the bullshit and excuses of modern sport - have not changed. Ferguson's have. Sir Alex has become resigned to and tolerant of a mediocrity that Keane cannot countenance.

This is not about a lack of respect or gratitude towards Sir Alex Ferguson. What he has done for United will be unforgettable for the rest of many fans' lives. He delivered the Premiership after so many years and the European Cup after more than 30 years. But lets not kid ourselves, with the performances in the last 4 seasons, United have got just progressively worse. (in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League definately) Maybe Sir Alex might not be the one to lead United into the next season after all. Afterall, a great manager knows how to get the best out of his team week in, week out and to bring the team together after a morale sapping loss, but judging from the way United performed in Lille, I'm not sure if Sir Alex has it anymore. Reputation and gratitude alone in this game are just not enough.

The next couple of months will be exciting times for United.. the transition will be interesting, whether Sir Alex is there to lead United into another glorious chapter of our rich footballing history, remains to be seen ...

Free-Kick Specialist

2005-11-03T09:47:00.000+11:00

After seeing Juninho Pernambucano score yet another free-kick against Olympiakos, I recalled a recent article in the May 2005 edition of World Soccer. So I went looking for the magazine.

1. Juninho Pernambucano (as if you guys don't already know)

2. Ugur Yildirim (Club: Herenveen, Country: Holland)
"After all, he won the first Free Kick Master tournament in Marbella last December."
He beat Zidane although Beckham was not present. They duelled to beat Spain keeper Canizarez from 18, 21 and 25 metres.

3. Marcos Assuncao (Club: Betis, Country: Brazil)

4. Andrea Pirlo

5. Rogerio Ceni (Club: Sao Paulo, Country: Brazil)
"With 33 successful attempts, former Brazilian international Rogerio Ceni has now scored more free-kicks than any other goalkeeper in history."

6. Nastja Ceh (Club: Club Brugge, Country: Slovenia)

2005-11-03T00:46:00.000+11:00

Mr. Loo please control yourself when you see this picture. Don't cum over your laptop. Yucks...

Arsene Vs Jose III

2005-11-02T12:10:00.000+11:00

Wenger: "Chelsea's self-belief seems to have taken a knock after the draw with bottom club Everton and a LOSS to Charlton in penalties, regardless of what Mourinho said."

The Special One: "There are some guys, who, when they are at home, have this big telescope to see what happens in other families. He must be one of them. Being a voyeur is a sickness."

The Special One again: "Arsene seems obsessed with Chelsea Football Club and coveting my job as Chelsea manager and I can see why."

Wenger: "Mourinho was 'out of order, disconnected with reality and disrespectful'. When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent."

They should have a pay-per-view Arsene Vs Jose LIVE on TV.
Odds are :
Arsene Wenger by KO - 20/ 1
Jose by cheating - 2/ 1