Torres and Johnson were back in the starting line-up for this match, which was a good thing.  Andreas Dossena was also in the starting line-up, which wan’t so much a bad thing as it was baffling.  Could Liverpool do the seemingly impossible and string together back-to-back wins?  Don’t be silly.

The pitch at Fratton Park looked awful – like a ploughed field that had been frozen solid.  Suprisingly, given the conditions, the Reds actually started the match OK and passed the ball around quite nicely.  For all their possession, though, they didn’t look in the least bit dangerous.  Very worrying.

I was right to be worried – Portsmouth took the lead on 33 minutes.  Nadir Belhadj struck an unstoppable shot from an extremely acute angle.  If you’re going to be beaten, then you’d want it to be like that.  Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool on 44 minutes when Mascherano was sent off for a reckless challenge.  It was one of those fouls where you couldn’t argue that he was sent off, but also you wouldn’t have been that surprised if he had stayed on.  Either way, it was an absolute disaster.

Liverpool’s recent form suggested that they wouldn’t be able to get anything out the game – even if they had 11 men on the pitch.  After the break, it could be argued that Liverpool were slightly more dangerous than they were in the first half, but only because they actually forced a save from the Pompey keeper.  It’s no exaggeration to say that Portsmouth were in complete control of the match.

Their dominance was made even more emphatic on 82 minutes, when Frédéric Piquionne steered home another terrific strike.  If Liverpool looked dead and buried at 1-0, they certainly did at 2-0.  That’s how the humiliation ended.

This was a sadly ignominious way to mark Jamie Carragher’s 600th match for the club.  Where next for Rafa Benitez?  I’m too pissed off at the minute to be able to make a sensible comment.

What is a bromance? A couple of definitions from Urban dictionary (cos lets face it, it’s not going to be in Oxford):
1. Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.
2. A non-sexual relationship between two men that are unusually close.
3. A close relationship between two bros to such a point where they start to seem like a couple
4. The intense love shared between heterosexual males. A form of male bonding and usually invisible to the naked eye. This bond is normally only shared between two males that have a deeper understanding of each other, in a way no woman could ever realise

Football has given the world some of the greatest Bromances ever. Here are a few of my personal favourites:

• Xavi & Iniesta
• Steven Gerrard & Jamie Carragher
• Cesc Fabregas & Gerard Pique
• David Villa & David Silva
• Frank Lampard & John Terry
• Cristiano Ronaldo & Kakà

Take a look and enjoy the pictures!

“Xaviesta”

 Not only do these two have an amazing relat. on the pitch, they are very close friends off it too. Xavi, being the older of the two, made his appearance for Barca and Spain before Iniesta. But once Iniesta was introduced to the teams, Xavi played the role of a young mentor for him. These two are so close to being one person that they even share the same shirt numbers. Seriously. Xavi wears ‘8′ for Spain and Iniesta wears ‘8′ for Barca. Xavi wears ‘6′ for Barca, and Iniesta wears ‘6′ for Spain.

“Gerragher”

The Bromance of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher is somewhat of a late bloomer. The both of them were part of Liverpool’s youth academy, so they go way back. But Carra had always regarded Michael Owen to be his BFF. And when Gerrard burst into the first team, he formed a close relationship with Danny Murphy. But as Gerrard explains in his autobiography, once both Murphey and Owen left Anfield, Carra and himself bonded as they has each lost their best mates. But since then, the two have become a Bromance institution. Gerrard calls Carra “a captain without an armband” and the two leaders of Liverpool have a firm understanding.

“Fabrique”

Okay these two are so close, it’s almost sickening. Almost

They grew up together at the Barcelona cantera, won titles together, but were then unceremoniously torn from each other when Cesc packed up and left for Arsenal. Gerard was grief striken. He decided to move to Manchester United to deal with his plight. Pique then returned like the prodigal son, but sadly Fab is yet to join him. The two often get together when away on national duty for Spain and when Cesc is on holiday in Barcelona. Just last summer, they went public when Pique accompanied him on a visit to “Camp Cesc” a football programe for children:

Since then Pique has taken it upon himself to constantly suggest that Cesc could be on his way to Barca, while Cesc coyly denies all rumours. We are all waiting for the happy ending to this bromance (ie Cesc moves to Barca).

could they be more in love?

Okay, one more because they’re my faourite Bromance:

“The Davids”

The Davids of Valencia and Spain. They form the core of Valencia and both are extremely talented footballers individually. Together, they’re explosive. So with that kind of chemisrty, it’s only natural for a Bromance to develop. Rumours are constantly flying around of the futures of these two stars, but for now, we’ll just enjoy them while the’re still together.

“Lamperry” (or Terrampard? either way, it sounds awful)

I’ve always thought that these two look like brothers anyways. But Frank and John are clearly moe than that. Here’s the damning evidence:

They are really the epitome of Chelsea and England. Its good to see that team mates are such good friends, on and off the pitch

Kakà & Ronaldo (I wasn’t going to attempt to “Brangelina” their name, but if you want to do it, drop me a note!)

This is a fairly new Bromance in the public eye, but these two have been woo-ing each other for longer than you think. Remember this?

That was almost 2 years ago, when Kakà won the World Player of the Year.
And last year:

Ah, but as fate would have it, they were brought toghether to play for the same team: Real Madrid

They seem to get along like a house on fire..

And apparently they live on the same street. The only thing that could get in the way of a full blown Bromance is Kakà’s love of the Backstreet Boys, but that shouldn’t be a problem anyways! 

Future Hopefuls:

Bojan Krkic

Poor Bojan, thought he found love with Pique only to be let down, and even Henry seems to be losing interest in him.

Hopefully he will find his other half soon. Word in the Blogosphere has it that Messi is available!

Michael Owen

He’s been floating from club to club, we almost forgot he existed when he was with Newcastle. Had a very close bond with Carra like I mentioned earlier. Now that he is back in the big time, we are sure of a Bromance. My hopes are pinned on Giggs.

Fernando Torres

Nando has never really found his fish, he’s been too busy being awesome and having a family etc. He has always been close to captain Stevie, but it’s not really a Bromance.Maybe newboy Alberto (aka Frodo) Aquilani could help?

Whose your favourite Bromance? Let us know!

What you missed while jellyfish were ruining the Coogee Island Swim…

• Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 thanks to a) Glen Johnson sucking b) Superior use of the ball during possession c) Arsene Wenger screaming at them during halftime d) All of the above.
• When your team’s vice-captain is saying that all he can do is  “pray to God that at the end of the season there will be something worthwhile for what we’ve gone through”, than you may be in it deeper than you want to admit.
• The first title in history has arrived at Banfield; even though this is about an Argentine team, Liverpool fans can probably squint and pretend.
• The short list of people made angry by referees this weekend includes Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez, and Mark Hughes.
• Petr Cech was surprised that Chelsea fans booed him at Stamford Bridge during the 3-3 draw with Everton Saturday.
• Manchester United might have to face Wolves without Ryan Giggs.
• Algerian national team manager center back (Edited; thanks, Dave Foster!) Madjid Bougherra thinks Algeria can beat England because England lack heart and evidently every sporting event plays out exactly like “The Mighty Ducks” in Algeria.
• Andres Iniesta calls the World Cup “the most important title”; it’s also the only one he hasn’t won. Yet.
• Lionel Messi (ankle, indifference) is doubtful for Wednesday’s Club World Cup semifinal.
• Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o, Seydou Keita, Michael Essien, and Didier Drogba have all been shortlisted for the African Player of the Year award.
• Virginia beat Akron on penalty kicks to win the NCAA College Cup.
• The LA Galaxy claim that Everton isn’t the only club interested in Landon Donovan; the loan deal is still being finalized.

The show, unexpectedly, started with a video clip featuring Alan Hansen, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Kenny Dalglish, so I was never going to actively dislike fellow Red, John Bishop.

The first half of the gig featured some off the cuff stand up, which he later said tended to change every night.  As he was brought up in Runcorn, he was able to use his local knowledge to get some good laughs.  The first thing that he did was to confront, head on, his making fun of Warrington on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.  You have to admire anyone who uses their big national TV break to slag off a town that most people in the country won’t have heard of.  It paid off though, Bishop revealed that this gig had been his fastest selling on the tour.   I guess that it’s nice to be recognised, even if you are being teased.

Because of its fairly ad hoc nature, the first hour was amusing rather than hilarious, but he really moved up a gear in the second half, as he performed his Edinburgh show, Elvis Has Left The Building.  The material was much tighter, and, as a result, was much funnier.  This bore out in the audience’s reaction; it was titters before the interval and guffaws afterwards.  The show was themed around Elvis and living your dream, but these were illustrated through his family life, appearing on Skins, and playing in the Hillsborough Memorial match.  The climax of the show might be ruined a bit if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Evertonian or Manc, but I loved it.

John Bishop will be returning to the Parr Hall in March – I guess the Warringtonians must love to be slagged off.  He was honest enough to say that we shouldn’t come back, as the second half would be the same, but if you didn’t go to see him last night, then I recommend that do.

What happens when you get knocked out of the Champions League group stages? Come third and you get to spend the spring travelling around far-flung places in the Europa League. Last season even the likes of Spurs and Aston Villa decided this was more hassle than it was worth so goodness knows how Liverpool will react when they have a go. Their future adventures forms this week’s Guardian Photoshop theme.

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In the land of submarines, Captain Benítez and his crew sets sail to places unknown. Full speed ahead!

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The rest of this week’s gallery is here.

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T.

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Archive.

Jag bad en nära vän lista de bästa Liverpoolbiografierna:

1. Carra (Jamie Carragher) - one of the best recent autobiographies from a top premier league player.  Carragher is a self-proclaimed football nerd and he uses his analysis and understanding of the game to give lots of great stories both on an off the pitch from LFC over the past 10 years.  Recommended food to be consumed whilst reading this book: definitely a Worcester Sauce Walkers crisps book, possibly with a Belgian Lager on the side.

2. Fowler (Robbie Fowler) – LFC’s prodigal son, and still cherished by fans the world over.  Fowler never quite lived up to what he could and should have been.  A local lad, brough up on football, Fowler’s story was something of a roller-coaster ride, never far away from scandal (punch ups, snorting the goal line, etc).  His open-feud with Houllier (LFC manager) gives voice to many revelations of behind the scenes dirty tactics and back stabbing.  Food: Monster Munch crisps (preferably cheese and onion flavour) and a kit kat. 

3. Dalglish (Kenny Dalglish) - not only a hugely talented player but also one of the most successful LFC managers of all time.  Dalgish’s story takes all in all the highs (‘the double’, league wins), and the lows (Hillsborough), and introduces the reader to the personalities behind stars such as Rush, Grobbelaar, Souness, Hansen and more.  Food: Prawn Cocktail Walkers crisps, the last remaining chocolates from a Quality Street box, and a wee tipple of Drambui (since Dalglish is Scottish).

Jamie Carragher conceded that Liverpool’s chances of progressing to the last 16 are pretty slim. He also said that if Liverpool don’t make it through, they will focus their energy on the Europa league:

“If we don’t make it through, then we have to accept it and move on,” said Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher. “Stevie Gerrard and myself won what was the UEFA Cup back in 2001 and it was a great moment. It is still a chance to win silverware [this season] and there are some great teams in that competition. Benfica looked really strong against Everton, and Valencia are in it too. Obviously, we are all still hoping we are in the Champions League come Tuesday night.

Liverpoll will need Lady Luck tonight when they take on Debrecen. A win alone is not enough to see them through. Lyon will need to do Liverpool a favour by beating Fiorentina. If Lyon and Fiorentina draw, Liverpool will have to beat the Italian club by 3 goals.

“The hardest thing is our destiny isn’t in our own hands. When we have been in situations like this before, we have been able to sort it out ourselves. We have to concentrate on our own game and hopefully things will go our way. We have to look after ourselves and get the three points. We just have to concentrate on what we can affect and make sure we do our job. Nobody is thinking about the other game yet because we have to make sure we win first. There would be nothing worse than Lyon doing us a favour and we haven’t managed to get the win we need,” said Carragher.
Source: FIFA.com

The Big Four – a term as eponymous with lazy journalism as it is with the whole overblown (and shockingly insular) best-league-in-the-world nonsense that has saturated our mindset when we think of English club (and national) football. We appear to have lost all perspective and the demarcation of an elite, closed group of what are, admittedly, the most (currently) successful clubs in England, is symptomatic of a nation’s football culture that has been irrevocably changed by its overt-marketisation.

Promoting the product

Yet this season’s apparent on-pitch frailties are not only exposing the footballing shortcomings of these teams, but also a British (and particularly English) tendency to overhype our own sporting representatives whilst simultaneously dismissing the hopes of unfavoured domestic and almost-all overseas rivals with an arrogance that befits a nation that has yet to fully accept its loss of grandeur.

It seems odd to highlight the fallacious categorisation of the Big Four at a time when only Liverpool appear to be suffering any serious decline, and the remaining triumvirate inhabit the top three positions of the current Premier League table. Yet, all four sides have over-documented problems that have been covered so tediously (Chelsea’s transfer embargo and loss of players to the 2010 African Cup of Nations, Manchester United’s loss of Christiano Ronaldo etc…zzz) that this post will make only the slightest of passing references to them. Basically, this is a somewhat-belated excuse for making predictions for the oncoming football season (and the 2010 World Cup).

British football has been in decline for years, though you really wouldn’t know this from even the most cursory of glances towards the UK media’s coverage. Never the most technically adept, British players are becoming hopelessly outclassed by their international rivals. This applies even to the most basic skills, where British players appear to struggle to complete simple passes and often fail to retain possession, regardless of the degree of pressure applied by the opposing team.

Much has been written regarding the discrepancies between British and European youth football training yet nonetheless these are mainly accurate. UK football culture is blighted with favouring physical strength over technical subtleties, rapid attacking over patient buildup, and, when all else fails, ‘kicking lumps’ out of more proficient players. Rather than learn from our continental cousins, we choose instead to attribute most of the failings of British football to the influx of overseas footballers over the past 15 years or so.

Thinly veiled xenophobia is an undoubted feature of British society, yet appears especially prevalent amongst the football fraternity. Cheating is a foreign disease, gamesmanship the British equivalent. Eduardo was vilified for what was clearly a false attempt to win a penalty, yet Steven Gerrard does little else these days other than clumsily trip himself up in order to gain the same unfair advantages.

The style of football in the Premier League is generally rough and fairly violent, with extensive periods of play where no-one has control over the ball. Should overseas players unfamiliar to this strange style of play fail to adapt fast enough, they are torn apart mercilessly by the UK media and fans for ‘not being good enough’ to grace the glorious games that make up our domestic leagues. Conversely, very few British players ever attempt to play in other countries. Even fewer prove anything other than an abject failure. The much-maligned David Beckham serves as an interesting exception to this rule.

Repeated talk of limiting the number of overseas players in British football teams is quite widely supported by the UK public, on account of the belief that cheap foreign imports are restricting opportunities for our talented youngsters. This is much the same argument as is made by those who wish to protect British industry and the same reality applies. It’s not simply about finances – there is simply less talent in the UK than in other nations. As a nation that once had an extensive empire, this reality has forced most of the UK populace into a state of denial. Unfortunately, we really are just that useless. We’re often unproductive, untalented, and yes, we are expensive too. Globalisation of course has not been a wholly negative force for the UK. We have found niches where we are particularly adept. It’s just that these don’t fit alongside those areas where most people wish we were talented, such as manufacturing and football.

The truth is there is a weak talent base in British football and, looking at the past without rose-tinted spectacles, it was never there. From the footballing lessons taught to England by Uruguay and Hungary, to the overhyped (and usually disastrous) World Cup campaigns of Scotland in 1978, and England…well pretty much anytime, but especially in 2006, British footballing success has been spectacularly thin on the ground. But what of the obvious elephant in the room that is 1966? It was a tournament fundamentally won by a particularly lucky England side playing with home support and some extraordinarily dubious officiating. An anomaly on a par with Denmark winning the European Championships in 1992 or Greece in 2004.

We don’t have the cultural sensibilities of much of Europe or South America. We can’t hope to have the level of facilities or potential capital thrown at the British game as the US could, and our persistent lack of egalitarianism continues to undermine success. However, we shouldn’t expect so much from British football. The Premier League is a fantastically marketed product of huge appeal all over the world. But so are Coca Cola and McDonald’s. Without the more talented overseas players, the Premier League would be little better than the SPL.

Although at a clearly more elevated level than Scottish football, the English game can look North of the border for an insight into what the future of the game will be like. Both nations have been on a persistent downward trajectory (albeit with small blips) over the past few decades, yet Scotland is further along this line than England as of present. They are, however, very similar footballing cultures. Indeed, there has long been a strong Scottish influence within English football and, although the English national team is brilliantly managed by Capello and the brighter talents are in the English game, the general standard of English and Scottish footballers is not too dissimilar and will tend to converge (downward) over the coming years.

So where does this leave us with the Big Four? In recent years the lack of British talent has barely affected these teams, given that they mainly comprise overseas talent, with a smattering of the top British players available. However, the global recession, and the concurrent shifting exchange rates, which have led to a relative devaluation of the Pound against the Euro in particular, have resulted in a UK football market which is of reduced financial appeal. It is noticeable that many of the greatest talents in football ply their trade in Italy and especially Spain. This movement of talented overseas players away from the Premier League has resulted (and will continue to result) in a far greater reliance on domestic players. So Carragher’s brainless thuggery and lack of pace are being brutally exposed, Rooney’s propensity to disappear in a game has become more apparent, and a general lack of diversity in play amongst many British players is increasingly evident. Arsenal and Chelsea remain relatively successful. The former due to Wenger’s foresighted approach in ignoring most British youth and looking all across the globe for his future players, whilst the latter arguably have the pick of the domestic bunch, albeit heavily assisted by some astonishingly gifted overseas players.

Just another example of Carragher's 'defending'

For a blog that tends to hold a degree of scepticism over the apparent importance of economics in explaining most things that matter in the world, the changing nature of British football is pretty much entirely due to the machinations of the global economy and with all that said and done, time for some predictions. The only thing this blog is confident of predicting is that most of these will be wrong, accepting the advantage that making such predictions part way into the season provides!

English Premier League:

1. Chelsea

2. Arsenal

3. Manchester City

4. Manchester United

5. Tottenham Hotspur

6. Aston Villa

7. Liverpool

8. Sunderland

9. West Ham

10. Everton

11. Fulham

12. Wigan

13. Portsmouth

14. Stoke

15. Bolton

16. Blackburn

17. Birmingham

18. Wolverhampton

19. Burnley

20. Hull

Various other European champions:

La Liga: Barcelona, though Real Madrid and Sevilla will be close.

Serie A: Inter Milan (albeit their performances are somewhat underwhelming), AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina the next three.

Bundesliga: Werder Bremen, followed by Hamburg, Leverkusen, and Bayern.

SPL: who gives a shit…

World Cup 2010 various predictions:

1. England will not make it out of their group (although this may be revised if they get an exceptionally easy group. Slovakia, Tunisia, and New Zealand for example.)

2. Brazil will make the quarter finals at best.

3. Paraguay, Chile, South Korea, Ukraine (assuming they make it), and the USA will be much better than people expect. All will get through the group stage. At least one of these teams will make the last eight.

4. Spain won’t win it.

5. But Russia might (assuming they qualify).

6. Italy have a real chance and are far better than people assume (as per usual).

7. An African side will make the semi-finals (most probably Ivory Coast).

8. Maradona might just lead Argentina to an incredibly improbable victory, and will most likely then tell the entire world to take it up our collective arse.

Weekend thoughts and observations

• Liverpool could not sustain the momentum from a big win against Manchester United, falling 3-1 to Fulham on Saturday.  Both Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen got sent off for the Reds (the first red cards since the 2007/08 season, I believe).  The squad was without Steven Gerrard (again) as well as Glen Johnson.  Pretty much the lone bright spot for the Reds has been Fernando Torres, who leads the league with 10 goals in 11 games.  The team’s struggles highlight the lack of depth, but that’s a story for another time.  It seems as if most of the team is injured and/or sick going into this week’s Champions League clash away to Lyon, which is a must-win if they want any chance at advancing to the knockout stage.  Things are not looking positive for Liverpool right now.  The team has already lost five games, more than double the number they did last year!  Barring an epic collapse from Chelsea/Manchester United and ridiculously improved form from the Reds, you can kiss any title chances good-bye.
• Speaking of Chelsea, they are pretty much kicking ass right now.  The Blues have won four straight and have been beating the crap out of their opponents, including a 4-0 thrashing of Blackburn at the weekend. 
• West Ham and Portsmouth are struggling mightily.  Both teams have a mere seven points.  Hull City isn’t faring much better as they sit 18th with eight points.
• FIFA10 is awesome.  I’ll admit that I’m a newcomer to the video game scene, but it’s a pretty easy game to pick up and it’s really fun to play.  Although, it’s slightly frustrating to see my FIFA Liverpool doing much better than the real team.

Cesc Fabregas Was Player of the Month for October

There were plenty of goals around in the Barclays Premier League this weekend, but it was the record number of red cards that everyone was talking about. After their win last weekend over Man United, Liverpool lost at Fulham and had two players sent off to make it a very unhappy week for Rafa Benitez. Chelsea and Man United both won, Portsmouth picked up a very good win over Wigan, and Arsenal took the spoils in the North London derby.

Did you have a good weekend?

Aruna Dindane (32 pts) was the man to have this week as he scored a hat trick and had a hand in the fourth in Portsmouth’s 4-0 win over Wigan on Saturday. It was a good week for you if you had Graham Alexander (29 pts) too as his two goals fired Burnley on their way to another home win. It wasn’t such a good time to have Liverpool defenders however, especially Jamie Carragher (Evieton’s Gingerbread Men -6 pts) and Philipp Degen (-6 pts) who were both shown red cards in the 3-1 defeat at Fulham.
Elsewhere, two goals from Robin van Persie (Flash in the Pan 17 pts) helped Arsenal seal a 3-0 win over rivals Spurs, a goal and a key contribution from Frank Lampard (Flash in the Pan 16 pts) and Deco (FC Jazz 16 pts) put Chelsea in control at Bolton, and two goals from Wolves defender Joey Craddock (21 pts) earned a draw at Stoke.

Well, it’s the morning after Halloween and I will assume that many of you, like myself, are nursing wicked hangovers. Therefore I’ll try to keep it simple – bright lights and big words are the enemies right now.

Football:

If this sight makes you drool, you might be a Scouser.

Fulham 3-1 Liverpool – Well, it seems that the scousers are back in the soup (see lobscouse), having been roundly trounced at Craven Cottage by ultra-defensive enemies of everyone, Fulham. Diomansy ‘Yes that is his name’ Kamara gave the home side an early lead on 24′, which Fernando Torres would cancel out (by virtue of a terrific volley) just before the half. The second half would begin inauspiciously, but in the final 20 minutes it all began to unravel for the visiting Reds. Substitute Erik Nevland restored the Cottagers’ lead on 73′, and Liverpool’s efforts to first back to level terms took a couple of swift successive blows when Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen were sent off within two minutes of eachother. If that wasn’t enough, the killing blow would come on 87′, when Clint Dempsey netted again to put Fulham two up and send Scousers everywhere into fits of despair. Is it time to begin a Rafa Benitez unemployment countdown?

Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur – Well, the Spurs have made a positive enough start to this season under Harry Redknapp, but they weren’t good enough to beat an in-form Arsenal side at the Emirates Stadium in the North London derby this weekend. Robin van Persie bagged a brace, one on either side of the half (42′, 60′), while captain Cesc Fàbregas added his own goal just after the Dutchman’s first on 43′. Tottenham simply had no answer for the Gunner’s swift, fluid football – especially since they were missing the important trio of Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe. Not a result that will much please ‘Arry, but at least Arsene Wenger had a banner evening; besides putting Arsenal right at the heels of United in the table, it was also the Frenchman’s 1000th point as a Premiership manager.

Chelsea 4-0 Bolton – Déjà vu, much? Yesterday’s victory was the second time in one week that the high-flying Blues have absolutely dismantled Bolton by a score of 4-0. Carlo Ancelotti’s side haven’t been scored upon since they dropped points against Aston Villa several weeks hence, but their opponents’ nets have been absolutely overflowing. Chelsea have established something of a rhythm of starting late, and stayed true to that form: Frank Lampard opened the scoring two minutes into first-half added time, and even then only on a spot kick after Jlloyd Samuel hauled down Didier Drogba in the penalty area. However, Chelsea would come to life in the second half, and the Wanderers were helpless to watch as Deco, then their own man Zat Knight and the finally Didier Drogba all found the back of the home side’s net. What utter destruction – next weekend’s fixture against Manchester United should be one to watch.

Manchester Utd 2-0 Blackburn – The Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov were on target for United as Ferguson’s men blew past the Rovers this weekend. It’s nice to see the oft-invisible Bulgarian show up for a match every once in a while, and he made his presence known early in the second half with a strike that put the Red Devils ahead on 55′. That lead would be enough to see them through to the dying moments of the game, when Wayne Rooney would add his name to the scoresheet and simply put the game out of the Rovers’ grasp.

Futbol:

Barcelona 1-1 Osasuna – If the last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that Barcelona and Real Madrid, the Giants of Spanish football, are anything but invincible. Barcelona faltered yesterday in their quest for La Liga dominance, drawing away at Osasuna. The match was a fairly sparse affair with Seydou Keita only opening the scoring in the 72nd minute after some extended and very Barca-esque build-up. However, the night was not to be Barcelona’s, as deep into injury time Javier Camunas raced up the left flank and launched a low, hard cross across the mouth of the net. Gerard Piqué, rushing back to defend his goal, inadvertently collided with the end of the cross, deflecting the ball past a scrambling Victor Valdés and into the back of his own net. A hugely disappointing result for Barcelona, who seemed well on their way to 3 points until the unfortunate, and costly, error. Piqué’s couldn’t do much about it, and shouldn’t really be held responsible – but lord knows he will.

Higuain would make the difference for Madrid at the Bernabéu.

Real Madrid 2-0 Getafe – It is remarkable that despite every match being (at least) 90 minutes, and every match (starting, at least) with 22 players on the pitch, often it only takes one player and a very short spanse of time to completely change the course of a match. Such was the case in Real Madrid’s victory over Getafe at the Bernabéu, in which Gonzalo Higuaín scored twice in the span of 3 minutes to give his side a commanding lead over their visitors. Los Blancos were forced to play for the majority of the match with only 10 men after defender Raúl Albiol brought down Getafe striker Soldado on the edge of the penalty area. However, Higuaín’s efforts ensured that the 10-man Galacticos would nevertheless come away with 3 points – with Barcelona’s misfortune, Manuel Pellegrini’s men now trail by only 1 point.

Calcio:

Mazzarri's comeback kids celebrate their namesake.

Napoli 3-2 Juventus – Forget Partenopei. Forget Vesuviani. Forget Azzurri. Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli are the comeback kids. Behind Juventus 2-0 in Torino, with 30 minutes left in the game, most teams would simply lose hope – give up, close up shop and try not to concede any more goals. Not Napoli – or at least, not this reincarnated Napoli. A pair of goals from David Trezeguet and Sebastian Giovinco had seen Juventus get ahead of their visitors in the first hour of the encounter. Defensive errors had proven costly for the Southerners, as it was Matteo Contini’s mistake that provided Juventus with their second goal. However, the substitution of Jesús Alberto Dátolo for Hugo Campagnaro would revitalize Mazzarri’s side, and in the span of 6 minutes, the deadly combination of Marek Hamsik and Dátolo were able to draw their side level with La Vecchia Signora with 25 minutes left to play. This sudden leveling of scores seemed to have Ciro Ferrara’s men reeling, and they were very much on their back heels as they wondered what had happened to their comfortable lead – the tactician’s solution was to bring on Amauri, who did so well in i Bianconeri’s dismantling of Sampdoria in midweek. Unbelievably, it would be Napoli who would break the deadlock with just 9 minutes left in the match – it would be Hamsik who would grab his second of the evening, crashing a poorly cleared ball into the roof of the net and all but securing victory for his side. Juventus would come back to life in stoppage time, and seemed on the verge of undermining Napoli’s glorious comeback, but ultimately the only thing they would come away with would be a red card for their Caveman Brazilian striker Amauri, who went crashing headlong into Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis in hopes of equalizing, only to boot the netminder in the face and be sent off. A result which should have Napoli fans absolutely rapturous and should shut up Juventini quite nicely for the time being. Che bella partita!

Nice to have you back!

AS Roma 2-1 Bologna – He’s back, and we’re back. For now. It seems that Mirko Vučinić has finally found his lost form – the Montenegrin put in a man of the match performance this afternoon to ensure that Roma snapped their losing streak and grabbed all 3 points against lowly Bologna. It seemed like a familiar story – Roma had the lion’s share of the early chances and dominated the game from the outset, but it was Bologna who took the first lead in the match when Marco Di Vaio got behind the Giallorosso defense and set up Adailton for an easy tap-in on 32′. We’ve got no Francesco Totti, no Daniele De Rossi (suspended) and, it seems, no hope. Here’s where the story changes though; Roma didn’t roll over and die, but rather equalized not 3 minutes later when Mirko Vučinić found himself, the ball and a golden opportunity, and (this time) duly buried it. It was the first time in recent memory that Vuči has been what he should always be (except in the presence of Er Pupone): the best player on the pitch. Boy, did it make a difference. Jérémy Menez also had a good match, though he was anonymous at times; it would be his shot that would rebound out of the arms of Emiliano Viviano and straight into the path of Simone Perrotta, who buried the sitter. That’s right, Perrotta, King of doing the exact opposite of that, buried a sitter. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. Anyways, we won the match, and should take heart from it – Vuči had a good one, Menez had a good one, Mexes had a good one, heck even Motta had a good one. Let’s just hope the next few can be good ones too.

AC Milan 2-0 Parma – Another man who found this form this weekend was Milan’s Ronaldinho, who ran Parma ragged and provided Marco Borriello with both of the goals that would separate their squad from what has been an impressive Parma side this season. The first game in only the 12th minute, as ‘Dinho executed a masterful zigzagging run before slotting the ball through to Borriello, who coolly finished. That lead would last most of the match, but the pair weren’t finished yet, and deep into second-half injury time, Ronaldinho would send an arcing cross through the penalty area; Borriello, having acres of space, met the end of the pass with a perfectly timed bicycle kick, completing his brace and a solid afternoon for i Rossoneri. AC Milan now moves up to 4th place and it seems that Leonardo, whose job looked so imperiled just a few short weeks ago, has finally gotten into the swing of things. Good for Milanisti, I suppose.

Inter 2-0 Livorno – Inter was able to do this weekend what Roma couldn’t on Wednesday – beat a team that is seemingly destined for relegation, and do it comfortably at that. Diego Milito and Maicon found the back of the net for i Nerazzurri, the former scoring his second goal in 2 games since returning from injury. Gotta make up for lost time, right? With this victory, Jose’s men sit 7 points clear atop the Serie A table – same old, same old.

Fußball:

Bayern München 0-0 VfB Stuttgart – Mario Gomez’s return to his old Bundesliga stomping ground was a quiet affair, a goalless draw marked by very even play, despite the home side firing on all cylinders early at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Neither side created any clear-cut chances, and so neither side was able to best the other.

Seeing Red: Jamie Carragher was sent off this weekend away to Fulham

 

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

This weekend’s Premier League fixtures mustered up a record number of red cards – an impressive 9.

Here’s a list of the culprits:

• Jlloyd Samuel - Bolton Wanderers 0-4 Chelsea
• Geovanni – Burnley 2-0 Hull City
• Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Everton 1-1 Aston Villa
• Carlos Cuellar - Everton 1-1 Aston Villa
• Philipp Degen – Fulham 3-1 Liverpool
• Jamie Carragher – Fulham 3-1 Liverpool
• Kenwyne Jones - Sunderland 2-2 West Ham United
• Radoslav Kovac - Sunderland 2-2 West Ham United
• Barry Ferguson - Birmingham City 0-0 Manchester City

Is it a case of the referees being told to clap down on physical contact altogether, whether it be a whack to the knee or a peck on the cheek? Or could it boil down to the English game becoming too aggressive?

Right or Wrong?

Carragher, Kovac, Cuellar and Geovanni can all feel hard done by with being sent off.

The Liverpool captain’s tug-of-war with Zamora could easily have gone either way, and both Kovac and Cuellar can feel unlucky with the referee’s decision to hand out a second booking for what looked like challenges worthy of just a foul.

And what can you say for Geovanni? The second booking was rightly awarded to the Brazilian, but the first!? Who wouldn’t be aggrieved with having a perfect goal ruled out for…well… I’m still not sure exactly why it wasn’t allowed.

However, a cynical last ditch challenge from Samuel on Drogba, as well as an eye-catching high flying two footer from Swiss Degen, were rightly punished.

Laughable

A last mention for the Kenwyne Jones red card incident.

Yes it was a sending off offence – simply because the striker raised his hands. Time and again, whether you whack a player straight on the nose, or flick their ear, it’s a straight red.

As the Sunderland manager Steve Bruce pointed out, however, Ilunga’s histrionics were so appalling it was laughable. The West Ham defender needed a miniature ice pack to nurse the fatal tickle to the chest/face from the Trinidadian International.

Rising Star

From the turbulence of defeat in Fiorentina, and the following meteor shower of on and off the pitch failings which led to the must win scenario against Man United, one star has shined bright for scouse followers, pointing them in the direction of stability and reinstating some faith. Liverpool’s new North Star, David Ngog.

No media circus greeted David Ngog’s arrival on Merseyside . Nor has his recent run of excellent performances raised any eyebrows. Dave’s on-pitch heroics have been eclipsed by take-over rumours and an inflatable plastic satalite. In turn the youngster has cast shadows over those he orbits.

If Ryan Babel was to assert himself like Ngog, the Dutchman would be a mainstay on the reds left side. Possessing all the raw materials, he lacks the one thing the Anfield terraces and more importantly, Rafa, demands, Work ethic! That “never say die”, “it’s not over til I say it’s over” , “what would Dirk Kuyt do” attitude that Ngog has in abundance. So much so he could bottle it, sell it to the reserve squad, bathe in it twice a day and still be less lethargic than Babel.

Burning out in Babel’s neighbouring galaxy is Pluto, also known as Andriy Voronin. Like Pluto, Voronin will soon be declassified as an important part of the Reds solar system. His ever shrinking importance has been sped up light years recently, with the absence of Torres and Gerrard, the light of a million suns shone on Voronin, exposing his increasing weaknesses and fading purpose in a team that won’t survive another trophy-less season. This has been the Ukrainian’s chance to prove he deserves to keep Torres’ seat warm on the bench, and take his spot on the pitch for the last 15 minutes of a game when the points have been secured.

Jamie Carragher, or Old Yeller as I like to call him, is playing in a parrallel universe to Ngog. Retaining the young French Striker’s drive and ambition, Carra’ lacks only one vital piece of  genetic make-up …. fresh legs. Unfortunately no amount of pressure from the manager or encouragment from the fans can turn this around for the 31 year old Red Dwarf. A black hole beckons for Jamie and as sad as it will be to say goodbye to the number 23 shirt, for the greater good, I hope it comes sooner rather than later. Before the team starts to suffer and the incredible memories Carragher has instilled become tarnished.

So in a team riddled with “has beens”, “never weres”, and “only if I’m in the moods” David Ngog has been given an opportunity, grabbed it with both hands and refreshingly made the most of it. Surely master of the universe Benitez will include Ngog in his future plans, but then, he has been known to pick is team with a handfull of darts.  When the wave of injuries has receded perhaps a new alignment will glow in the Anfield sky. A 4-4-2 constellation is what most would like to see and an Ngog, Torres partnership would harness so much speed and determination it’s hard to think of a European defense equiped well enough to contain them. With the arrival of other young stars like Jay Spearing and Damien Plessis into the first team it is an exciting time for the club. Opportunities for the new arrivals, as well as forcing the regulars to earn there place on the team sheet. Although both Spearing and Plessis have shown signs of potential they are still rough around the edges, for now, it’s iN-Gog we trust.

Liverpool gave its title campaign a huge boost with a 2-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday.  It was the best performance that I’ve seen from Liverpool so far this season.  They did a wonderful job controlling the ball and the passing was excellent.  It was also a great showing from the back four.  Granted, there were some testy moments, namely involving slide tackles from Jamie Carragher, but overall, they did a good job of shutting down the United attack and closing down the passing lanes.

There were questions going into the game about whether Fernando Torres would play, but luckily he did and it was his goal in the 65th minute that separated the two sides.  He held off a challenge from Rio Ferdinand before rifling the ball into the top of the net.  Typical, wonderful goal from the Spaniard.   With United pushing forward for an equalizer, Torres’ substitute, David Ngog, added an insurance goal in stoppage time. 

In other fun news, United defender Nemanja Vidic was sent off for the THIRD STRAIGHT time against Liverpool.  According to Yahoo! Eurosport, he’s the first player in the Premier League era to be sent off that many times against the same team.  Unfortunately, Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano joined him in the locker room early after earning his marching orders a few minutes later.

Overall, a fantastic effort from a Liverpool side desperate for a win.  Hopefully the momentum of beating United will carry over to their other fixtures and give them the boost they really need to stay in the title race.

Thank god for that.

I’ve complained that I’ve been nervous before every game this season, so I don’t really need to tell you how I was feeling before this one.  Last night, I had a dream in which Rafa had picked a completely new starting 11 from the reserves, and knowing Mr Benitez, there was always a remote chance that this might happen.  Luckily it didn’t, and the return of Torres and Johnson made up slightly for the loss of Gerrard.

I’m not going to be able to give you a blow-by-blow account of the game, not because I didn’t watch it, but because I was far too nervous.  Suffice to say, it was all as frantic as you would imagine.  The first half ended goalless and fairly evenly, with Liverpool possibly having the better chances.  The Manchester United players remonstrated with the referee on the stroke of half time as they felt that some decisions hadn’t gone their way.  No further comment necessary.

Things really heated up in the second half and the breakthrough for Liverpool came on 64 minutes; an exquisite through ball from Yossi Benayoun was threaded to Torres who smashed it home.  From that point on, I felt totally sick with nerves.

United managed to create some pressure towards the end of the match and Jamie Carragher could have been sent off for a professional foul on Michael Owen.  It wasn’t entirely clear cut as Owen was headed away from goal and there were other players present, but you wouldn’t have been shocked if he has received a red card instead of yellow.  A few minutes later, Vidic received a second yellow card for bringing down a quickly breaking Kuyt, and, incredibly, it was the third league game in a row against Liverpool in which he’s been dismissed.  Mascherano also saw red after a second booking for a sliding tackle on Van Der Sar.  The game was settled five and a half minutes in to injury time when Kuyt and Lucas broke and slid Ngog in for a good goal.

I feel like I’ve just gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson, so I’m not going to make any in depth judgements about what this result meant.  The main thing, other than the result, was that the team put in a performance and every man played his part.

Wright on the Money is a sporadic look at the former England and Arsenal striker’s forays into the world of the written word.

Today, Wrighty previews Liverpool vs Manchester United (kind of), sets out his plan to improve Liverpool’s season and then goes mental.

Original article in bold, my comments in normalz.

LIVERPOOL’S season could blow up right in front of their faces this week – and I am not referring to that blooming red beachball.

Blooming heck! Putting aside for one moment whether or not Wrighty has used three superfluous words with ‘front of their’ when ‘blow up in their faces’ would seem to be the more common usage of the phrase, this metaphor (or joke, or…whatever) doesn’t work:

1)The beach ball didn’t work as a kind of grenade that was thrown on to the pitch and then detonated, destroying their defence and allowing Darren Bent’s shot to tamely roll over the line amidst the scenes of devastation and destruction.

2)The only other perceivable meaning is that the Liverpool players will use ‘their faces’ (or mouths) to blow up another beach ball and, presumably, stealthily roll it onto the pitch when they are attacking, thus hoping to neutralise the flow of karma and claim their own freak goal. I don’t think this is very tactically sound or, indeed, likely.

Just saying, it’s not the blooming strongest opening paragraph.

All jokes aside now.

Ok, sorry.

The loss at Sunderland, not helped by an inflatable, has left boss Rafa Benitez staring at a defining point in the season – and it’s still only October.

Agreed, although in the sense that a game against Manchester United will always be a somewhat defining point of Liverpool’s season, whether or not a beach ball affected their result the week before and whether or not Wrighty can believe it’s still only blooming October!

…

Ask Liverpool fans – and I have and I know quite a few of them – and they will tell you the Premier League is the trophy they want above all others.

Great to see some good old fashioned research went into this piece, if you need to back up your point get on the phone and use your face to ask some questions:

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mark Lawrenson? It’s Ian Wright. Oi Oiiiiiiiiii!”

“urgh nurgh, what do you want?”

“You’re a Liverpool fan, right?”

“Not really, no”

“Great! So, as a Liverpool fan, do you want to win the Champions League?”

“But…I just said…urgh…not really, no. It interferes with Coronation Street”

“Just as I suspected! Bye!”

“Never call this number again”

Then it gets really good.

…

At Anfield you have Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher – two fine English defenders.

But then you have Lucas and Fabio Aurelio – to be honest I don’t really know who these players are.

There’s the money shot, right there! The upshot of this article is that Liverpool should not bother with the Champions League and try and win the Premiership and to back up this superb piece of strategic thinking we get this.

Just read that again

to be honest I don’t really know who these players are.

yep, it definitely says that. There’s no hidden meaning or joke there I’m not getting.

So, the formula for…errm…winning the Premiership is:

1)Forget about Europe! Not gonna happen! You can’t be competitive in Europe and win the league, no way!

2)Pack defence with ‘fine’ English players such as Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher.

3)Sign players Ian Wright has heard of and not bloody foreigners!

Players Ian Wright has heard of:

Ian Wright

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Bradley Wright-Phillips

Theo Walcott

Paul Merson

Thierry Henry (foreign)

Jamie Carragher

Glen Johnson

Roon Wayney or something

There you go, I think if we look at the teams who have won the Premiership in recent years, and the two teams who look most likely to win it this year, we can all agree that they’ve basically followed this formula. It’s not blooming hard!

This is before we get to the fact that Ian Wright is a football pundit who, I assume, gets paid and it’s perfectly reasonable, therefore, to expect that he might have heard of Fabio Aurelio and Lucas. I mean, when you think about it, the fact that he claims to not really know who these players are is actually pretty fucking astounding. It’s not like I said ‘hey, Ian Wright, who plays left back for Chester City’ and he was like ’sorry, I’m not really sure on that one’ it is, when you think about it, kind of akin to writing a shit plan to win the Premiership that is just so patently incorrect and then putting in the middle of the article ‘by the way I don’t really know who any of these people I’m writing about are, please disregard this’, it’s actually not that much different from just writing that! And! LUCAS ISN’T EVEN A FUCKING DEFENDER!

Wrighty then, inexplicably, went on to talk about how the FA are responsible for Theo Walcott’s injury but my head exploded trying to work out what on earth that had to do with what he’d previously written in the article.

It has been a nightmarish few weeks starting with the loss to Fiorentina, then Chelsea, which I had all predicted, and then now it looks likely we will struggle to even get a draw at the Stadium of Light when Sunderland tries to use the same tactics they bombarded on Manchester United on us. The week or so when England went on to secure their own qualification for the World Cup and Spain played a pair of meaningless qualifiers now looks to have stabbed the final nail into our human coffins as we look set to be totally destroyed even before taking the field against Sunderland. Why is that so? Stevie G and Torres will be out of the game, confirmed by Rafa and even though they have not looked the same devastating pairing this season yet, they have still produced the goals required when the rest around them have not exactly fired on all cylinders. Liverpool’s luck has clearly deserted them and we all know that if you want to win a league title, in this case our precious 19th, you still have to have large doses of luck to go with whatever substance you have – we proved that when we dominated two and three decades ago, and also now those really time conscious Mancunians are benefiting from it having flown our coop. Even Kyrgiakos has decided to go crock his knee although he will only be out for about 10 days and isn’t first choice but he is important cover if Rafa needs to pile on the defenders to guarantee our one nil wins.

Now I really hope we still manage to pull it off on Saturday against Sunderland because if we don’t, it will surely be all over for us. even a draw would not be useful because United look all but have sewn up the win even before they play since it would be Bolton who are really rubbish now. Spurs are also running away from us and that’s a real disgrace. Back to my original train of thought – I pray that we will win, but I’ve been correct on most counts on Liverpool’s games so far and this time there’s nothing coming out of this except a draw at most, and that will only be if Sunderland decides to do another Anton and shoot themselves in the foot. Take out Stevie G and Torres and there’s really a Liverpool lineup bereft of quality. There’s Benayoun yes but precious little else. Who else can score the goals or even create them? Benayoun has been great for us make no mistake about that but he really does struggle to make an impact -consistently- when called upon from the start, and I can see why Rafa is hesitant about putting him on unless he has no other choice. But he’s still better than having Aurelio in midfield in place of him oh my goodness. Babel continues to frustrate and his number is surely up before too long. I just can’t see where the goals are going to come from and we need them.

Add to that the whole host of players returning from the qualifiers, the make or break Champions League tie against Lyon this coming midweek, and something has got to give. Some positives could be Agger coming back to start – with little to choose from upfront, I can see Rafa putting up a wall in front of the defence. But he has been more adventurous the past two seasons so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I also hope that the break would have given Carra some time to get his act back together – he has been atrocious even with his unquestioned effort on the field. It is clear now that his lack of pace is starting to really tell and Rafa might need to consider some changes in terms of how Carra should be viewed in the back four. He can still go on, much like how Hyppia was used in tandem with him in the early years. Perhaps it could still have something to do with both Agger and Skrtel yet to mature in a way that Carra did when partnered with Hyppia. But we need to develop a real, more consistent and balanced central pairing – I don’t care if it’s Agger or Skrtel because both of them are good and have their own good points – Agger is quick and can offer some options moving forward, Skrtel is a more traditional gritty defender, no nonsense and I really love his spilling his guts out on the field each time. He looked dodgy in his first game if everyone remembered, but then really flourished when given the chance to settle. Agger has real injury problems though and I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that he can overcome all that and come out stronger, but back problems can be a real pain in more ways than one and hard to come back from with extended periods of play.

So what can we expect later? I still think we can just tap out a draw, but the rest of the players will have to really step up and shoulder the burden of the missing Liverpool Golden Double Act of Stevie G and Torres. Masch and Insua might also be left out since they had to play two emotionally and physically draining games with Argentina plus the long distance flights. Masch has also been worryingly off his game – alright he played well against Chelsea but still was made the fall guy for the mistake that led to the opening (killer) goal. But I saw him for Argentina against Uruguay and he looked far from comfortable. Of course most of them looked far from comfortable under Maradona that classic clown act, even Messi, but Masch was panicky and made several stray passes. He has been not much different this season for us. Agger also played both games for Denmark and he might have to be given a rest. In fact most of our players were involved. They would be one tired bunch while Sunderland will be just gnashing to get back in action after that amazing draw against Utd. It really looks ominous at the Stadium of Light.

What you missed while wondering if “Eye of the Beholder” is really the best “Twilight Zone” of all time…

• Wayne Rooney thinks it would be nice to not see Portugal at the 2010 World Cup.
• Wales – who can’t qualify for the World Cup – will only have 13 fit outfield players for their next two qualifiers.
• Fulham’s Eddie Johnson would like to spend the remainder of the season on loan to improve his chances of being selected by Bob Bradley for the U.S. squad; books decrying Johnson’s commitment to the Premier League and the failed “Johnson Experiment” not expected to be forthcoming.
• Speaking of Beckham, the LA Galaxy would like him to just get his loan deal with AC Milan over with already.
• Why Cheryl Cole is still with Ashley Cole is more confusing than Stephen Hawking theories.
• Will someone just please sign Marouane Chamakh already?
• “Sad Gunners, take it slow, it’ll come together fine…all you need is just a little patience…”
• Rafa Benitez would like Denmark manager Morten Olsen to “be sensible” with Daniel Agger; presumably, this is because Jamie Carragher’s admitted that he hasn’t been playing well for Liverpool this season. Agger expected to be wrapped in bubble wrap prior to each match.

Dimitar Berbatov is useless. Someone explain what Dimitar Berbatov does on the pitch to make him worth £30m, because I am perplexed. His work rate is negligible. He makes no effort to stay onside. He scores too rarely to account for the times he flubs linkup play. Berbatov will occasionally play a deft ball to an oncoming Rooney, but only if he’s not required to move. He was involved in Carrick’s goal, if you term an errant pass to Ryan Giggs “involved.” He makes United toothless and predictable.

Olympique Marseille have been impressive. Yes, they lost the first two games to A.C. Milan and Real Madrid by a combined score of 5-1. OM probably weren’t progressing through that group anyway. But, they attacked. In both matches they were bombing down field and fouling, trying to win. They nearly got a result against Milan, and the Madrid match was close, for the first half. Regardless of the results, it was more entertaining than having them put ten men behind the ball to secure a Europa League place.

A.C. Milan should still get through the group. The 1-0 upset by Zurich at home was woeful, but don’t count out Milan. We are now seeing how reliant that team was on Kaka. Ronaldinho is a mess. Huntelaar has not panned out. Someone (Pato?) must step forward to incite the goal scoring, as the team is dangerously reliant on the ageless Inzaghi. There are flaws, problems and infighting, but I still think talent and experience will win out.

Liverpool need some help. Mascherano is crucial. Lucas and Aurelio could not account for his absence. It exposed how slow and ineffective Liverpool’s back four is. Jamie Carragher has lost what little pace he had.  He’s as fluid as a Sex and the City pun and no longer the every-match stalwart he once was. Liverpool need to reinvest, perhaps with some Saudi investment. They clearly don’t have a homegrown replacement for Xabi Alonso.

• Manchester United defeated Manchester City, 4-3, thanks to a late stoppage time goal from Michael Owen.  There’s been a lot of debate that the ref allowed too much stoppage time, but you learn when you are five to play to the whistle.  The United win spoiled Man City’s perfect start to the season, but clearly Man City has the ability to compete with every team in the league.
• Chelsea remains the only team with an unblemished record (6-0-0).  The Blues have looked nothing less than stellar so far this campaign.  They’ll face their first big test when they host Liverpool on Oct. 4.
• Speaking of Liverpool, what the heck is going on with the defense?  I really didn’t think the back four would be a such a weak spot for the team this season.  Jamie Carragher had a terrible game against West Ham on Saturday.  The center partnership of Carragher and Skrtel is lacking in the basic skill of communication (as evidenced by their head-to-head clash opening weekend).  The Reds were able to mount a comeback thanks to a pair of sweet goals from Fernando Torres, but against top-tier competition, they are going to need to solidify that back line.
• Poor Pompey is still without a point six games into the season.   Supposedly, they aren’t going to try to buy any new players til the summer.  At this rate, they’ll be looking for Championship players.
• This upcoming week, we have Premier League on the weekend and then the Champions League group stage continues Tuesday and Wednesday.  I love mid-week soccer.  It makes work so much better.

Ærefuldt nederlag; igen!

Weekendens kamp mod Liverpool endte som så ofte før med et ærefuldt nederlag til drengene i claret’n'blue. West Ham gjorde ellers en glimrende figur mod Rafael Benitez’ mandskab, men i sidste ende blev Fernando Torres’ klasse udslagsgivende.

Ikke desto mindre startede West Ham kampen rigtig fornuftigt: Efter kun 2 minutter hamrede Zavon Hines bolden på stolpen efter at have snuppet den fra Jamie Carragher på kanten af feltet.

Efter omkring tyve minutter bragte Torres i stedet Liverpool foran efter flot at have sat James Tomkins og fra en spids vinkel hamret bolden op i målet i Robert Greens korte hjørne. En situation hvor Tomkins kom til at se temmelig tung ud, men hvor man på den anden side også måtte undre sig over hvor i alverden højrebacken Faubert befandt sig. For at føje spot til skade udgik Matthew Upson med en skade efter at have forsøgt at tackle Torres i sidste øjeblik. Den engelske landsholdsspiller fik kort efter selskab af stakkels, stakkels Valon Behrami som måtte udgå fra sin første kamp fra start efter et halv års pause som følge af en knæskade. Heldigvis er meldingerne foreløbig at begge deherrrer snart vil vende tilbage. Ind kom i stedet Danny Gabiddon som stadig blot er på vej tilbage efter sine to år på sidelinjen og Radoslav Kovac. Førstnævnte imponerede enormt med mange gode indgreb i centerforsvaret alt imens Kovac igen viste at han fungerer godt som stopklods men elendigt som offensivt indslag på midtbanen. Herita Ilunga gjorde i øvrigt comeback på venstrebacken, hvor den normalt så rasende sikre congoleser havde visse startvanskeligheder, men ikke desto mindre var en markant fremgang i forhold til de forskellige vikarer.

Kampen markerede også Alessandro Diamantis første start for West Ham, og den italienske angriber gjorde da også et hæderligt indtryk, omend det var ganske åbenlyst at tempoet var meget højt for ham. Han markerede sig imidlertid rigtig positivt efter 29 minutter. Zavon Hines fortsatte sin svingom med tunge Carragher og løb let fra ham på kanten af feltet, hvilket fik Liverpoolforsvareren til at skubbe Hines omkuld i feltet. Dommeren pegede på pletten til Carraghers store fortrydelse, omend den langsomme gengivelse tydeligt viste at Carragher bruger hele armen til at verfe den tydeligvis for hurtige Hines væk. Liverpoolfansene på puben følte sig dog stadig mægtig uretfærdigt behandlet da Diamanti gik til pletten, snublede, og glidende på røven fik sat bolden i kassen midt i målet. Sidenhen er der ydermere bygget en beskyldning op, om at den snublende Diamanti rammer bolden to gange ingen den får netmaskerne til at blafre; italieneren skulle således sparke bolden med den ene fod via den anden, hvilket er i strid med reglerne. Den langsomme gengivelse kunne tyde på at der er noget om snakken, men skideværd med det: 1-1.

Liverpool svarede dog hurtigt igen, da Dirk Kuijt reagerede kvikt ved bagstolpen efter et hjørnespark, og rettede Steve Gerrards hovedstød i mål bag en sprællende Robert Green. 41 minutter spillet: 1-2.

West Ham var dog ikke tilfredse med denne udvikling, og svarede prompte igen. Mark Noble lagde et perfekt hjørnespark ind i et forvirret Liverpoolforsvar hvor Carlton Cole steg op mellem tre forsvarsspillere og pandede bolden i kassen helt ude ved stolpen. 2-2 efter 45 minutter. En morderligt underholdende første halveg, hvor Liverpool havde haft bolden mest og skabt et par store chancer, men hvor West Ham anført af en sprudlende Scott Parker og en dybt imponerende Zavon Hines hele tiden så farlige ud. Skrtel brugte således flere gange noget der mindede om værtshusslagsmålsteknikker til at stoppe det lille, hurtigte academy-talent, mens Carraghers kvaler allerede er beskrevet.

I anden halveg blev forskellen på toppen og resten af engelsk fodbold tydeligere. West Ham spillerne begyndte at hænge, og det høje pres som havde virket rigtig godt i første halveg kunne ikke fastholdes. Man forbandede i sit stille sind de to skader i første halveg, som gjorde at kun en frisk mand kunne sættes ind, alt imens West Ham mødte Liverpools angreb længere og længere tilbage på banen. Da der var spillet cirka en time smed West Ham Kieron Dyer ind for den fuldstændig færdige Diamanti, alt imens Liverpool skiftede Ryan Babel ind. Førstnævnte spillede rigtig, rigtig dårligt, mistede flere dumme bolde og gjorde ikke noget særligt for at vinde dem tilbage, alt imens sidstnævnte blev afgørende for kampens udfald.

Med et kvarter tilbage forsøgte West Hams bagkæde således at spille bolden ud af forsvaret efter et massivt Liverpoolpres. Zavon Hines fik desværre ikke fat i en sløset aflevering på egen banehalvdel. Tidligere hammer Glenn Johnson forsøgte sig fra distancen, Gabiddon blokerede, bolden havnede hos Babel som tog et par træk og sendte den perfekt ind i panden på Torres som eminent headede den i kassen.

Mod slutningen forsøgte de smadrede West Ham spillere at skabe noget, men rigtig farligt blev det aldrig. Ikke mindst fordi Carlton Cole åbenbart begår frispark hver gang han går op i en hovedstødsduel. Men der skal ikke lyde dårlige undskyldninger. Liverpool vandt kampen ganske fortjent, omend West Ham spillede godt nok til med en hvis berettigelse at kunne have håbet på et point.

Ærefuld nedrykningskamp; igen?

Status i tabellen er nu noget værre lort. West Ham har fire point for 5 kampe, og har ikke vundet siden sæsonpremieren mod Wolves. Både kampen mod Tottenham, Wigan og Liverpool kunne med lidt mere held have givet point, og i stedet ligger holdet nu næstsidst i tabellen (delt med Blackburn, Bolton og Hull). Sæsonen er selvfølgelig lang endnu og alt det, men der skal helst snart nogle point på bordet, hvis ikke den skal komme til at føles rigtig, rigtig lang. Hvis et hold først bliver trukket ind i nedrykningskampen kan det ofte  være meget svært at komme fri igen.

Næste kamp byder på en tur til City of Manchester Stadium, mens programmet for oktober heller ikke ser videre behageligt ud: Her venter kampe hjemme mod Fulham og Arsenal og ude mod Stoke og Sunderland. City og Arsenal er der ikke nogen grund til at tro der bliver taget point imod, omend Citys angribere nærmest alle pusler med skader eller karantæner. Kampene mod Fulham plejer at kaste mange point af sig, mens det aldrig er sjovt at skulle til Stoke eller Sunderland. Sidste år vandt West Ham dog på Britannia på et brag af et frispark af store tykke Tristan. I år kan Diamanti passende vise prøver på sin højt besugne sparketeknik.

På tide med et cup run; igen!

Zola har udtrykt stor tillid til at pointene snart kommer. Sidst han sagde det – efter en serie på ni kampe uden sejr – begyndte holdet at spille drømmebold. Forhåbentlig det sker igen. I aften er der Carling Cup-kamp ude mod Bolton. Endnu et stadion hvor West Ham sjældent får noget med hjem. I aften er forhåbentlig en undtagelse. Bolton har fået en (lige så) dårlig sæsonstart, og Gary Megson er lige så upopulær som nogensinde før på Reebok Stadium.

Guillermo Franco kan få debut på toppen for West Ham, ligesom det forventes at Manuel Da Costa, Jonathan Spector, Radoslav Kovac og Kieron Dyer skal spille en rolle. Ikke videre opløftende perspektiver. Carling Cup’en er imidlertid en turnering der er al mulig grund til at tage seriøst, da det kan vise sig at blive en relativt ukompliceret genvej til Europa. Guderne må vide, at ligaen ikke ser ud til have sådanne perspektiver for West Ham i år. Det er også ved at være på tide med et cup run…

Come on you irons!

Bolton – West Ham – 0-1

0-1: 89. Selvmål.

In Liverpool’s last match, against West Ham, I couldn’t watch live, but provided a blow-by-blow account of the game.  In their latest match, against Leeds United in the Carling Cup, I watched it in glorious HD, but this report will be drawn mainly from memory.  I actually wanted to sit and enjoy the match for once.

On paper, playing a team from two divisions below you should be a walk in the park, but this never seems to be the case.  Liverpool started with a much changed line up including peripheral figures such as Dossena, Ngog, Spearing and Degen (yes, really), but, despite this, they still should have have enough quality to win the match comfortably.  But, with only two starters from the previous match (Carragher and Mascherano), and a strange formation, the performance was always going to be disjointed.  I’m also interested as to how players get themselves mentally correct for playing against a team from a lower division.  Leeds, on the other hand, have been on a roll of late and when you’re playing against one of the top teams you always raise your game; you’re being presented with the chance to claim a massive scalp.

In the end, one goal was enough to clinch it for the Reds, but this doesn’t tell the whole story.  For two-thirds of the match it played out as these kind of games always do; Liverpool struggled for any consistency in their play and Leeds played out of their skin.  Beckford and Snodgrass looked lively up front for Leeds and they were unlucky when a first half goal was harshly judged offside.  If that goal had been allowed and Mascherano had been sent off for a petulant slap in the second half then the result could well have been different.

The game was settled on 65 minutes with a great turn and tidy finish from David Ngog, and, after the goal, Liverpool finally settled down.  The young French striker was well deserving of his goal which capped off an excellent performance.  He had the thankless task of playing up front alone with little support, so he’s done his chances of playing more no harm at all.

Through to the next round, job done.