Ahead of the times as always here is my two penneth on the probably unfounded rumours we want Robert Green.

Rob Green is a player i know very well having watched him alot when i lived in Norwich and he rose through the Norwich Goalkeeper production line (Joe Lews, Andy Marshall).

He is a good shot stopper and reasonable in the air, however his distribution (another ncfc goalie trait) and decision making can be poor particularly the distribution.

Should we buy him?

As a no.2 he would be a good choice, but this hot air over Cech is annoying to be honest, best defence most clean sheets, do not mess with something just because of a minor blip.

We all know Cech hasnt been at his best since the Stephen Hunt injury however I do not think Robert Green could be our number 1.

The average chelsea fan by now is happy and even satisfy when our first place on the EPL table, but that is not who I am. One can call me a quibbler when it can to Chelsea FC affairs, yes I argue and criticize about the small things because I’m a firm believer in preemptive actions. Chelsea this season have dropped 11 points to teams “we” were expected to beat. All the goals we conceded in these dropped points games with an exception to the penalty against Wigan has come from dead ball situations, be it free kicks and corners. Chelsea defense, which has been the team’s anchor seems to be lossing it hold on the sea bed when it come to dead ball situations and Petr Cech isn’t making things any easier.

More often than not in this season Petr Cech has been in no mans land  exceptionally  when it come to corners. He mostly misjudge the path of the ball which a goalie of his stature should be doing, and also I do know whether is a language barrier issue. What happened this weekend against Everton shouldn’t have occurred. To my best of knowledge from playing backyard and school soccer, most it not all defenders call of a ball they are about to clear especially with dead ball defense. So what was Cech’s business leaving his goal whiles Drogba was already in the air going for the clearance.

If Chelsea will win the Premiership this season they need to revamp their defense, Carlo doesn’t necessarily need to go to the market to find the right players because Chelsea has them all. What Carlo needs to do is to find the right combination of players to defend the Chelsea goal, because left to Cech and the present back four, Chelsea will not win the premiership.

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.

There is really only one result I care about this evening, and I reckon I’ll give it its own post in the morning – so you’ll have to excuse me if it seems like I’m phoning this one in.

Calcio:

Juventus 2-1 Inter (Derby D’Italia) – Perhaps the most important game either of these teams have played yet this season, the Derby D’Italia is always a heated and highly-anticipated match between two of the peninsula’s best-supported sides. This match in particular had the potential to have an immediate effect upon the scudetto race; either consolidating Inter’s position atop the table or reviving Juventus’ flagging title hopes. What resulted was an intense and exciting match by which Juventus managed to steal a crucial 3 points from i Nerazzurri; ensuring that this year’s scudetto race is well, a race. La Vecchia Signora opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a set piece when Felipe Melo inadvertently volleyed a Giorgio Chiellini header past the fingertips of a flailing Julio Cesar and across the line. Juventus went up 1-0 and to top it off Jose Mourinho got himself sent to the stands after this play for sarcastically applauding the referee for awarding the free kick. It didn’t take long for the visitors to equalize though, with Samuel Eto’o leaping onto the end of a Dejan Stankovic cross to head past Gigi Buffon and restore parity in Torino. The sides went into halftime level and would remain that way until the 58th minute, when Claudio Marchisio scored what I wouldn’t doubt is the greatest goal we have seen from Juventus yet this season. Momo Sissokho fired a speculative long-range effort at Julio Cesar, who parried but couldn’t hold on to it. Enter Marchisio, who dashed to the loose ball, turned Walter Samuel inside-out with some slick footwork and then buried the ball neatly overtop of Cesar and into the back of the net. In the remaining half-hour of play, tempers flared, with Mario Balotelli elbowing Felipe Melo and then going to ground when the Brazilian retaliated, drawing the midfielder the red card. Balotelli’s ugly side showed through with the constant jeering from the Juventini and perhaps the crowning moment of the match for the home crowd was the young striker lining up to take a free kick and falling firmly upon his behind. Even Gigi Buffon, normally the most level-headed man in the Bianconeri shirt, allowed his temper to get the best of him at the match’s end, nearly getting into a quite physical altercation with Thiago Motta. In the end, Juventus grabbed the 3 points, while Jose’s men merely grabbed some added incentive for these sides’ next meeting at the San Siro.

Gigi descends from the heavens as Juve celebrate their Derby D'Italia win.

AC Milan 3-0 Sampdoria – Speaking of the San Siro, the Rossonero half of Milan were able to reassert themselves among the top of the table by drubbing Antonio Cassano & co. at Milan’s famous stadium this weekend. Marco Borriello, Clarence Seedorf and Alexandre Pato each found the back of the net to pile misery upon i Blucerchiati, who began the season in red-hot form but have fallen upon hard times lately. By cruising to this easy victory, il Diavolo rise to second place in the Serie A table, and with the favour done to them yesterday by Juventus, they are only 4 points adrift of the league leaders. A far cry from the Milan squad who struggled so profoundly at the beginning of this season – Leonardo and his men have grown into themselves as a consistent and dangerous squad – and it’s all because they beat Roma 2-1 a couple of months ago. Froci.

Fiorentina 2-0 Atalanta – The funny thing about calcio is that due to the nature of the language and the culture, sometimes two different teams will share the same nickname. Therefore, while one Nerazzurri squad tops the table, the other Nerazzurri are the league’s veritable whipping boys. Last week Atalanta fell at home to Roma (woo!) and this week they provided an easy three points for La Viola in Firenze. Juan Manuel Vargas and Alberto Gilardino provided the pair of goals that separated i Gigliati from their visitors – the Tuscans now sit in a 4-way tie for 5th place with Roma, Genoa and Sampdoria. They trail Parma by a point.

Football:

Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea – All good things must come to an end. Carlo Ancelotti’s men had been flying high in the Premiership, having sealed victories over each of their fellow ‘Big Four’ teams with a 3-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend. Who would’ve thought that it’d be the Citizens, who had not been able to do better than a draw in their previous 7 league fixtures, that would finally burst the Blues’ bubble and bring them back down to earth. However, things initially started off pretty well for the visitors in the Eastlands. Only 8 minutes into the match Frank Lampard fired on Shay Given’s goal only for the Irish keeper to deny him and then Nicolas Anelka; on the third rebound, however, Given’s parried ball struck the back of Emmanuel Adebayor, defending on the touchline, and this time the keeper was helpless to keep the ball out. 1-0 Chelsea. The big striker got the chance to atone for his sin just under half an hour later, however, when Shaun Wright-Phillips’ shot took a deflection in Chelsea’s box and fell at the Togolese hitman’s feet – this time he directed the ball into the right goal to make it all square at the City of Manchester Stadium. Things really started to go south for the visitors when Carlos Tevez’s rather tame free kick was able to beat the wall and Petr Cech to give the home side the lead on 56′. But the disaster was not complete yet. On 81′ Didier Drogba was fouled within City’s area – as always, Frank Lampard stepped up to the spot. By this time, however, tempers were flaring and Lamps was visibly unsettled as he took the kick. His effort ultimately was poor, and Shay Given saved it quite easily. Manchester City went on to hold out for the remaining 10 or so minutes and Chelsea dropped three points that would have given them a commanding lead of the Premiership table. If there are two things that are costing Chelsea right now, they are: a) conceding on set pieces and b) failure to convert penalties. And believe it or not, those two factors are costing the team in a way that not even Roman Abramovich’s bottomless pockets can repair.

It was a battle of the big spenders, and who'd've thought that Chelsea would lose?

Manchester Utd 4-0 West Ham – With Chelsea stumbling it the front of the pack, it seemed almost as though United smelled blood; they were quick to capitalize on the league leaders’ mistakes by doing their very best to catch up with them. While the Blues were facing defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium, the Red Devils were completing a rout of Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham at Upton Park. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men knocked four goals past a sorry Hammers side, with Paul Scholes, Darron Gibson, Luis Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney each finding the back of the net to keep West Ham hovering just above the relegation zone and cut Chelsea’s lead to only 2 points.

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City – Arsenal bounced back from last week’s defeat to Chelsea and a midweek loss to  Manchester City that saw them knocked out of the Carling Cup by defeating Stoke City 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners had a chance to take control of the match on 20′ when Andrei Arshavin was taken down in Stoke’s area, but Cesc Fábregas failed to convert the resulting penalty. Arshavin would nevertheless put his side ahead just a few minutes later, when on 26′ he completed an angled run into the box and slotted a low strike home to beat Thomas Sorensen. The home side nearly doubled their lead minutes later when a shot from Fábregas rattled off the post. It would be substitute Aaron Ramsey who would finally put Arsenal two up in the 79th minute, again with a run into the box followed by a low shot to beat Sorensen. This victory sees Arsenal retain their 3rd place spot above Tottenham Hotspur by a single point.

Liverpool 0-0 Blackburn – Liverpool failed once again to get themselves back into the Premiership race by drawing what is an admittedly difficult fixture away at Ewood Park. Sam Allardyce’s men were able to grab a valuable point off the visiting Merseysiders, with Paul Robinson playing the hero for the home side and rejecting the myriad chances that Liverpool were given to attack the Rovers’ goal. It’s difficult to say who provided the Reds’ best chance on the evening (though Daniel Agger’s late 30 yard screamer is a contender), but easy to say that England-hopeful Robinson was at the very top of his game and simply would not be beaten. Seriously, Rafa Benitez unemployment watch anyone?

Futbol:

Messi bagged a brace to secure victory for Barca

Barcelona 3-1 Deportivo – It was the Lionel Messi show as the Blaugrana dismantled Deportivo La Coruña away at the Estadio Riazor. The diminutive Argentine proved that they don’t hand out the Ballon D’Or for nothing by scoring twice and menacing the home side’s backline throughout the entirety of the match. Messi opened the scoring on 26′ with a supreme individual effort before Deportivo were able to equalize after defensive errors saw Adrián through on goal. The deadlock would last until the 79th minute, when again it was the Ballon D’Or winner, this time scoring from a strong header to restore his side’s lead. Zlatan Ibrahimovic would put the icing on the cake, blasting into the top corner of the net on 87′ to seal victory for Barcelona and secure their position atop the table.

Real Madrid 4-2 Almeria – Both Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo had a bit of a rollercoaster night at the Bernabéu on Saturday. After Sergio Ramos opened the scoring for the home side on 30′, Almeria were able to respond with Soriano and Kalu Uche scoring twice in the span of 5 minutes to put their side ahead of Los Galacticos. Ten minutes later, a goal from Higuaín assured the home crowd that Manuel Pellegrini’s men were not finished yet. Near the 80th minute, Madrid were offered the chance to get ahead again when Cristiano Ronaldo was downed by keeper Diego Alves. CR9 stepped up to the spot, but failed to convert the penalty, and in a display of poor showmanship was seen to be sulking even after Karim Benzema tapped in the rebound to put his side ahead. Ronaldo would make up for his error on 85′ when a beautiful play from Higuaín gave him the perfect opportunity to put his side up 4-2. The game wouldn’t end on a high note for Ronnie, however, as he was sent off just minutes later for his second yellow of the match. As I always say, all’s well that ends badly for Cristiano Ronaldo!

Fußball:

Bayern München 2-1 Mönchengladbach – Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber were able to provide the difference for Bayern as they worked back to their winning ways at the Allianz-Arena on Friday evening. Gomez gave his side the lead on 19′ with a well-executed turn and shot into the bottom corner of the visitors’ net. However, Roel Brouwer would equalize for die Fohlen less than 10 minutes later, when a bad defensive mistake allowed Michael Bradley’s pass to slip through the Bayern backline; Brouwer only had to slot home past Hans Jörg-Butt. Butt was Bayern’s best man on the pitch for large stretches of the evening, pulling off a string of incredible saves to stop the likes of Juan Arango and Jean-Sébastien Jaurès. Arjen Robben made a substitute appearance in the second half and was immediately effective; his daring runs won a free kick for the home side just outside the 18-yard box which Holger Badstuber duly launched into the back of the net on 75′. Friday’s victory sees Bayern at 4th in the Bundesliga standings and finally starting to gain ground on the leaders after Die Roten got off to a dismal start to the season.

]]> http://voetblah.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/waar-zijn-de-echte-doelmannen-gebleven/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:30:32 +0000 mazuro http://voetblah.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/waar-zijn-de-echte-doelmannen-gebleven/

Deze post heeft als doel te achterhalen waar de echte mannen zijn gebleven?! Het wemelt van de plakplaatjes, Simsonische kapsels, korte mouwtjes en stoere baardgroei. Een sarrend saai ballenvangend exemplaar is tegenwoordig al evenzo zeldzaam als een kopduel zonder elleboog. Types als Romero slaan eerder de hand aan zichzelf dan aan de bal. Voetblah moest hieraan denken toen Vitesse-doelman tevens Oranjecliniclown, Piet Velthuizen, vroegtijdig afzwaaide. Dát nog wel! De toch altijd al wat potsierlijke Piet was allesbehalve zachtzinnig in aanraking gekomen met Jan Verthongen. Werd ogenschijnlijk weer opgelapt, maar liet zich even later toch vervangen.

Wij zagen Frans Körver, Piet Schrijvers en Joop Hiele al meewarig hoofdschuddend voor de buis zitten. “Wat een watje”, heeft De Beer Van De Meer naar verluidt uitgeroepen. Frans, bolle Piet en Jopie zijn of waren, althans voorzover wij weten, tatoeage-vrij en langmouwig. Zoals het hoort. En de enige frivoliteit die Het Lek Van PEC(Zwolle) zich qua coiffure ooit permitteerde was een, dat weer wel, pervers permanentje. Maar wars zijnde van uiterlijk vertoon, etaleerden zij immer strijd en onverzettelijkheid. En een onvermijdelijke, maar ook doelbewuste botsing viel veelal in het nadeel uit van de opponent.

Maar het veld ruimen? Geen gezeik, over mijn lijk! Misplaatste stoerheid? Wellicht. Volgens slechte ervaringsdeskundige Jan Mulder is het spel vele malen harder geworden. Weer zien wij Schrijvers, Neeskens, Suurbier, Van Hanegem en Wouters meesmuilen. Maar Jan heeft een punt, zeker wat de elleboog betreft. En doodschoppen mogen van alle tijden zijn, met het huidige, opgejaagde tempo is de beschermingskans aanzienlijk kleiner geworden. En ja, hoofd- en nekletsel: je kunt er niet voorzichtig genoeg mee zijn. Petr Cech heeft niet voor niets de ouderwetse baanwielrenner tussen de palen geëintroduceerd. Hij heeft er een, gelukkig wel lange, mouw aangepast.

It seems as though derby season is upon us; there have been quite a few this weekend and next weekend the most anticipated match in Roma’s season (and the greatest derby in Italy) gets underway. But, before we can start our countdown to a good Biancocelesti thrashing, we have to deal with all the derbies (and mundane regular matches) going down this weekend. Shall we?

Football:

Somebody get this guy a Red shirt.

Liverpool 2-0 Everton (The Merseyside Derby) – Well, the Scousers went head to head today as strugglers Everton took on strugglers Liverpool. It was a battle of the underachievers, with both Rafa Benitez and David Moyes’ sides badly needing the points and morale boost that come from a derby win. In a season when both sides have fared so poorly both in league and European competitions, it comes as no surprise that today’s match was decided not by a particularly heroic individual effort but by a particularly atrocious performance. A pair of grievous mistakes from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gifted the Reds a 2-0 victory, much to the dismay of the Toffeemakers’ fans at Goodison Park. Yobo put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, putting his foot out and tipping a long-range effort from Javier Mascherano (which was veering well wide of the net, I might add) past Tim Howard and into the back of his own goal. It was a typically scrappy derby match, and Russian wiz Diniyar Bilyaletdinov nearly leveled the score 6 minutes later in the beginning of what was a very back-and-forth first half. Everton found the back of the net twice and were twice disallowed, but the home support were buoyed by their side’s performance and were left singing at the half despite the score remaining 1-0. However, they wouldn’t be singing at fulltime – their side failed to equalize in the second half with Pepe Reina denying the Blues over and over again, seemingly through sheer determination and a bit of luck. When it finally occurred on 81′, the second error from Joseph Yobo would all but put the game out of Everton’s reach. The Nigerian whiffed on an aerial clearance, leading to a shot from Albert Riera before Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, it was the away support who were singing as another Merseyside derby came to pass.

Manchester Utd 4-1 Portsmouth – Ah, our first non-derby match of the weekend. Still though, there is a bit of history here – the last time Avram Grant came up against Sir Alex Ferguson on the touchline was in the 2008 Champions League final, with Chelsea just one slip away from being crowned Champions of Europe. Despite being runners up in that competition and in the EPL, Grant was sacked as Chelsea manager, left to ponder what could have been. Yesterday he made his (unofficial) return to coaching, this time as manager of strugglers Portsmouth, who are looking to turn their fortunes around after going through 3 owners and 2 managers already this year. Fergie himself had to watch the match from the stands, as he is currently serving a touchline ban – luckily the match was quite a spectacle, abundant with soft penalties and controversy. On 25′ the visitors were awarded a somewhat questionable penalty which Wayne Rooney buried from the spot. The Fratton Park crowd could not complain too much, though, as 6 minutes later their side was awarded an even more inexplicable penalty which Kevin Prince Boateng was able to convert – apparently awarded for some rather run-of-the-mill shirt tugging by Nemanja Vidic. The teams went into the half level, but it would not take United much longer to find their stride. Within the first 8′ minutes of the second period Wayne Rooney would complete his hattrick with a low shot on 48′ and a second penalty on 53′. Ryan Giggs would top it all off on 87′ with the 100th Premiership goal of his career, making it 4-1 United and ensuring that Avram Grant will have Fergie-related nightmares for a while yet.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa – It’s always difficult to come down after an incredible high. No, I’m not referring to my own struggles with substance abuse (fictional, I assure you), but rather the 9-1 victory which the Spurs were able to achieve over Wigan Athletic last weekend. Instead of repeating that incredible feat, the Lilywhites were held to an unremarkable draw at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the home side an early lead on 10′, but Michael Dawson was able to level for Tottenham late in the match to earn his side a point and lift them to 3rd place in the English Premier League. Not an overly impressive performance from Harry Redknapp’s side, but they did just enough to keep themselves in the Premiership race.

Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (The London Derby) – Realistically, there are more intense traditional rivalries in London town; historically Chelsea and Arsenal have been less concerned with each other than their other London neighbours. However, the rise of Chelsea into the big four of Premiership football means that in recent years these two sides have been forced into competition with one another at the top of the table and as a direct result their rivalry has become much more intense. Today’s London derby turned out to be an absolute rout from the Blues, who have been in tip-top form all season under Carlo Ancelotti, decimating Arsene Wenger’s depleted side who have been just shy of top form of late. It was another episode of the Didier Drogba show at the Emirates, with the big Ivorian grabbing the brace to all but destroy the Gunners and keep his fantastic record against Wenger’s side alive – Drogba has found the net in each of the last 9 matches played against Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring on 41′, firing from close range into the top of Almunia’s net after some impeccable service from Ashley Cole. Just 4 minutes later Cole would again play the role of provider, but this time it was Arsenal man Thomas Vermaelen who turned the ball into his own net – giving the home side plenty to think about as they retired for the halftime interval. Just after the break Arsenal should have made it 2-1 when Andrei Arshavin blasted a rebound past Petr Cech and into the Blues’ net, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged foul on the Czech keeper by Gunners man Eduardo. Despite some dangerous efforts, Chelsea dominated play for much of the second half; their persistence paid off on 86′ when (guess who?) Didier Drogba struck again from a free kick just outside the area, blasting past the wall and away from Manuel Almunia into the back of the net. Ultimately, Ancelotti’s side would cruise to a relatively easy win, taking advantage of a depleted and demoralized Arsenal side to further their dominance atop the Premiership table. Chelsea have now recorded wins this season against all of their fellow big four sides – a positive omen if there ever was one.

Manchester City 1-1 Hull City – Oh, and City drew their 7th straight game after Shaun Wright-Phillips’ opener was cancelled out by a late penalty converted by Jimmy Bullard.

Calcio:

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina – Oh, Inter. I am growing to hate you so. In a game when Jose Mourinho’s side played poorly and were well-met by an organized outing from Cesare Prandelli’s men, it would be a penalty kick which separated the two sides in the end and allowed i Nerazzurri to go 8 points clear atop the Serie A table. It’s so typical of this side to underachieve thoroughly and then get by on the skin of their teeth that I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet I am disappointed each time a more deserving team outplays them and ultimately falls, especially due to this sort of misfortune. I’m not saying that the penalty wasn’t there, but had it not been for Gianluca Comotto’s hotheadedness, or had Alberto Gilardino buried his one-on-one chance against Julio Cesar instead of hitting the post just moments earlier, then Inter surely would have dropped points on the evening. In the end, Diego Milito’s penalty made the difference in a match full of could’ve-beens for La Viola that was perhaps ultimately a shouldn’t-have-been for La Beneamata.

Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria (il Derbi della Lanterna) – The Genovese derby, or il Derbi della Lanterna, as it is known, always produces some fireworks. This year’s was no different, as i Grifoni demolished i Blucerchiati in a game that had as many goals as it did red cards. Omar Milanetto opened the scoring for Genoa on 10′ with a spot kick after Reto Ziegler executed a clumsy tackle in the box. Genoa’s Giuseppe Biava was sent off for handling the ball as he fell to the ground, Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi received two yellows, and his teammate Fabrizio Cacciatore received a straight red late in the match. Meanwhile, Genoa’s Marco Rossi (yes, there are two of them) scored on 53′ and Raffaele Palladino capped off the victory with a spot kick on 75′. An eventful and exciting derby, and also a hard-fought one, which I’m sure an inspection of Antonio Cassano’s shins would tell you. They really don’t like that guy, eh? I bet Lippi calls up the whole team come June.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus – La Vecchia Signora ha perso contro… gli Isolani? Cagliari managed to pull one (better yet, two) over on their visitors at the Stadio San’Elia today, snatching all three points from a rather toothless Old Lady. I think I’ve waited long enough to say this – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has certainly been a huge flop at AC Milan this season, but realistically, what has Diego done for Juventus’ offense lately? I’ll tell you what he did today: not enough. Their confidence shattered by a midweek loss to Bordeaux, Juventus fell about play clumsily and were victimized by a sharp and determined performance from the Sardinians. The home side opened the scoring on 30′ when Nenê unleashed  35-yard screamer that blasted into Buffon’s top corner. Juventus struggled to respond, and with their own Brazilian Diego firing well-wide before the half, went into the break with a much-deserved 1-0 deficit. After the interval, Amauri thought he had grabbed a quick equalizer for his side, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside, leaving Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti more than happy to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Cagliari also had fair claim to a spot kick after Martin Cácares handled the ball in the area, but the referee adjudged it ball-to-hand and play continued. A late goal would come to pass, but it would not be the strike that Juventus needed: substitute Alessandro Matri turned Fabio Cannavaro absolutely inside-out before slotting past Gigi Buffon in the 89th minute. Both Diego and substitute Alessandro Del Piero would miss absolute sitters for the visitors in added time and Juventus were forced to swallow their second humbling defeat in 5 days, dropping to 8 points behind league-leaders Inter.

Vucigol had me praising the heavens with his 44th-minute header.

AS Roma 2-1 Atalanta – An ugly, nervy, but ultimately deserved away win. I couldn’t be happier. Though dominations at the Stadio Olimpico like the one last weekend over Bari are a joy to watch, they are expected – those are the games that we will always win, because the magic of the Olimpico rarely fails us. However, it is matches like today’s at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia that are must-wins for i Giallorossi, because they are the ones where we so often lose our nerve and drop points against teams we would easily beat at home. It’s not called an advantage for nothing, you know. Luckily, Roma was able to pull out a comeback win against gli Orobici today after Fabio Ceravolo gave the home side the lead on 13′. Roma looked decidedly lackluster for huge spells during the first half, but were able to grab a set-piece goal just before the half as Mirko Vučinić nodded home a corner from David Pizarro on 44′. Simone Perrotta was able to give his side the lead 20 minutes later, ghosting into the box unnoticed to head home a cross from Vučinić. After gaining the lead, i Lupi simply fought to maintain it. The substitutions of Jérémy Ménez for Rodrigo Taddei and Roberto Acquafresca for Cristiano Doni changed the entire complexion of the game; suddenly Roma were on the backheel and fighting only to maintain their lead while the home side heaped on piles of offensive pressure. For the most part Roma held up nicely under the waves of attack; Riise almost scored an own-goal on 85′ but instead cleared the ball nicely, while Atalanta had a legitimate appeal for a penalty on Juan two minutes later which was happily waved off. Finally the fulltime whistle blew and Roma were able to take a much-needed 3 points home to Trigoria. We’ve finally cracked the top 10! Rejoice ironically – but only for a second. We have il Derbi della Capitale to think about.

Udinese 2-0 Livorno – The other Bianconeri were able to achieve a much better result this weekend than Juventus. A cracker of a free kick from Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring on 29′, bringing his total for the season to a round 10. 7 minutes later, Antonio Floro Flores doubled his side’s money, heading home after a build-up that was again largely the work of Di Natale. The one-two punch was more than enough to subdue the Tuscan visitors at the Stadio Friuli and le Zebrette ran away with the 2-goal win. I almost feel bad for Sersi Cosmi, fervent Romanista that he is, until I remember that it was his cursed side which sent us on the downward spiral earlier this season from which we are just now recovering (ie, getting Totti back). But then again, Udinese was a part of that spiral too… Aw, to hell with the both of them.

The Hunter finally found his gun!

AC Milan 2-0 Catania - AC Milan were given a golden opportunity to leapfrog Juventus in the standings this weekend, with i Bianconeri dropping points at Cagliari and i Rossoneri overcame Catania in Sicily to make the most of that chance. Leonardo’s side were held to a goalless draw by the Rossazzurri for 93 minutes, but Milan ‘flop’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally made good on his promise to score an added time brace and catapult his side into second place. First the Dutchman sent a low strike in after some lovely control by Filippo Inzaghi, and then only seconds later after the restart he struck again, chipping Andújar beautifully to make it 2-0 for Milan. Well, the Hunter certainly took his time, but it seems that he has finally found his form for his new side – and his timing couldn’t have been better.

Futbol:

Ibra done good.

Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (El Clásico)- Well, it might be called El Clásico, but there was nothing ‘classic’ about Spain’s biggest derby this evening. Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a scrappy game in which neither truly came into their stride or were able to showcase their own particular brand of football. Despite injury concerns, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all able to feature in the game, but the big Swede would be the only one to make his mark on the match. The Camp Nou was buzzing with energy as 98,000 of los Culés welcomed their most hated rivals to their home ground. Madrid, however, were not daunted, and were the first to impress, with Xabi Alonso and Kaká putting in perhaps their most impressive performances in the shirt of Los Blancos to date. Cristiano Ronaldo played for a solid hour, but was clearly not at full fitness and unable to terrorize the Barcelona backline as he might have wished. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi caused all sorts of trouble but was ultimately kept fairly quiet by Real Madrid’s defense, who put in a surprisingly solid performance. It was the combination of the substitute Ibrahimovic and Dani Alves which would prove deadly, as the diminutive right-back put in an inch-perfect cross which Ibracadabra struck home with authority to put the home side ahead on 55′. However, that would be the only goal of the match, and besides red cards for both Sergi Busquets (63′) and Lassana Diarra (90′), there was not much other action to speak of. In fact, in light of the last Clásico, in which Barca drubbed Madrid 6-2, tonight’s match was a bit of a dud.

Sevilla 2-2 Málaga (Andalusian Derby) – Sevilla’s closest (and fiercest) rivals are Real Betis, against whom they contest the Derby of Seville. However, with Real Betis currently languishing in Segunda División, Sevilla’s closest rivals in the interestingly-named Autonomous Community of Andalucía are perhaps their neighbours in Málaga, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the Primera División. So, we have the Andalusian Derby; and while the rivalry might not be as intense as El Clásico, I personally found the game itself to be much more entertaining. At the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán Sevilla were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat in midweek to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, but they certainly did not get off to a good start. Although in a bizarre incident Málaga substitute Albert Luque was shown the red card from the bench, it was still the visitors who took the early lead. Fernando opened up the scoring for the visitors on 22′, and Duda made it 2-0 just before the half after being set up by Fernando. It seemed as though Málaga were headed towards all three points, but a spectacular second-half performance from Luis Fabiano ensured that the spoils were shared in Seville this weekend. The Brazilian struck first on 58′, heading home past Gustavo Munúa, and then on 72′ struck again, smashing the ball into the lower corner of the net to bring his side level. Both sides fought hard for an equalizer, and Sevilla came closest right at the death with a point-blank header from Fernando Navarro that Munúa probably saved by accident. In the end, each team would come away with a single point in a 2-2 draw that was anything but uneventful.

Fußball:

Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96 – Well, it seems that die Roten have finally regained their lost form, overcoming midtable side Hannover 96 with ease in a match that featured goals from two of their most talented young stars. Thomas Müller tapped in from close range on 19′ to open the scoring, but Bayern looked shaky at times and were not convincing in their possession of the ball. Constant Djakpa caused all sorts of trouble for Phillip Lahm up the flank, and drew a good save from Hans-Jörg Butt, but was unable to affect the scoreline before the stroke of halftime. Ivica Olic made sure that the visitors got off to a good start in the second half, rising at the far post to meet a Danijel Pranjic cross with his head and double Bayern’s lead. For the rest of the half the home side did everything they could do to reduce Bayern’s lead, but to no avail – it would ultimately be Mario Gomez who would get the last laugh, beating the offside trap on 90′ and slotting home to make it 3-0 for his side. This victory sees Bayern rise to 4th in the Bundesliga standings, while Hannover 96 sit at 12th.

Someone control this guy!

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfB Stuttgart – Leverkusen exit this weekend sitting three point clear atop the Bundesliga table, and it can largely be contributed to one man: Stefan Kießling. The 25-year old striker has been absolutely on fire for his club of late and bagged a hattrick this weekend at the Bayarena to cement his place atop the German scoring charts as well. Kießling struck on 22′, 59′ and 87′, while Eren Derdiyok added a goal of his own on 38′ to complete a 4-0 drubbing of a lacklustre Stuttgart side.

Werder Bremen 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg – Edin Dzeko’s double was not enough for the reigning Bundesliga champions to grab all three points away at the Weserstadion. Each time the young Bosnian scored to give his side the lead, the home side were quick to equalize, and ultimately the two squads cancelled one another out and had to settle for a point apiece. Hugo Almeida and Per Mertesacker were on hand to restore parity for their side, with the latter scoring at the very death in the 91st minute of stoppage time. The sharing of points means that Werder Bremen now sit at 2nd place in the Bundesliga standings, while Wolfsburg remain 8th.

]]> http://rallyblues.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/chelsea-fc-porto-fc-champions-league-matchday-5/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:04:32 +0000 Michael Wiegand http://rallyblues.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/chelsea-fc-porto-fc-champions-league-matchday-5/

Another matchday, another Chelsea victory. (Photo: uefa.com)

Nicolas Anelka Buries Header, Porto

Anelka stepped up in the suspension absence of Drogba, carrying Chelsea to two sluggish victories in the early-going of this 2009 UEFA Champions League campaign. But the French striker hasn’t let up since Didier’s return.

Nicolas now has 3 tallies in 5 champions league matches – all 3 of them game-winning goals. And the Portuguese champions must think Anelka has it out for them, because 2 of his 3 game-winners have come against Porto.

Last Line In A Stingy Defense, Čech

Sure, the finishing has been clutch from his teammates, but when you win enough 1-0 games, most of the credit has to be given to the tremendous defensive play. The last bastion for Chelsea has been Cech this season.

The Czech Republic keeper has conceded just 0.4 goals per match in Champions League play.

Yesterday’s win was no different. Cech faced 14 shots from Porto, 8 of them on frame and he dealt with them superbly, even in dire circumstances. Porto’s Fernando Belluschi hit the crossbar on a shot that looked sure to find net, but on every ball within his reach, Cech was marvelous with diving saves.

Next Up, Arsenal

Chelsea have been rolling of late, in English Premiership and Champions League play. But this weekend, they get their biggest test of the season against the gunners of Arsenal – the only other team in the EPL (save maybe Tottenham) that’s been healthy and consistently in form all season.

Rally Man of the Match:

Petr Čech (1)

Ancelotti says:

“It is important because now we have to think back to the Premier League and it was our objective to get first in this group. It’s not easy to win here. The team didn’t play fantastic – just good. We took some risks in the first half, but the second was much better and we deserved to win.”

Proseguimos hoy con la cuarta entrega de la serie Narraciones de Goles Históricos™ que aunque la tenía bastante abandonada no la he olvidado

Hoy le toca el turno al Barça. Yo personalmente soy del Real Madrid pero llevo un tiempo rindiéndome a esa máquina de buen fútbol en la que se ha convertido el FC Barcelona algunos de estos últimos años…

En el caso particular del gol que hoy nos ocupa la máquina de fútbol la engrasaba y ponía a punto un tal Ronaldinho Gaúcho, cuya belleza física es inversamente proporcional a su belleza futbolística. Me costaría contar con los dedos de una mano jugadores con un nivel técnico similar.

En fin, nos trasladamos a los octavos de final de la Champions League de la temporada 2004-05 que disputaron Chelsea y Barça y que fueron narrados en Canal + como siempre por El ‘Lobo‘ Carrasco y Michael Robinson.

Con tres a uno en el marcador los azulgranas necesitaban un gol más para lograr la clasficación y de repente el balón llega a los pies del Ronnie:

Espectacular dónde se pone a bailar samba y cómo deja rotos y con caras de tonto a los pobres Ricardo Carvalho y Petr Čech… Aunque el tanto no sirvió para mucho puesto que el partido finalizó con el resultado de cuatro a dos.

Al año siguiente lograrían por fin la ansiada Champions pero eso es otra historia

Why do I always type a little blurb here? It never really says anything; I just feel weird diving straight into the match results themselves without any preamble. It’s too… impersonal that way. So hello, hi, here we are, so let’s get down to it:

Calcio:

AS Roma Totti 3-1 Bari – Romanisti always repeat one thing when Er Pupone is sidelined: No Totti, no Party. But sometimes we get so caught up in our own negativity that we forget the flip-side of that equation: Totti = party. Er Capitano made his return today against Bari, back from over a month out after going into knee surgery earlier in the season. And just to remind us why we miss him when he’s gone, he scored a hattrick. In the first half hour. The first came on 7′ – a spot kick after Jean-François Gillet downed Mirko Vucinic in the area. Then, only 7 minutes later, Totti launched a searing free-kick into the back of the net to make it 2-0. On 28′, he scored a world-class – and seemingly impossible – goal, beating Bari’s defense, Gillet and firing an acute-angle shot into the far corner. Beauty. Roma did their usual thing in the second half, sitting comfortably back on their large lead and letting i Galletti tire themselves out. However, the visitors finally pulled one back when youngster Marco Andreolli nodded the ball into his own net on 73′. A bit of a blemish, but a pretty good party nonetheless. To Gillet’s credit, he was outstanding for most of the match (those stretches when Totti was not destroying his self esteem), as was Julio Sergio, who was very solid behind the Roman back four. Mirko Vucinic was phenomenal, back to his old self again, while the only real black spot for Roma was Nicolas Burdisso, who was an absolute horrorshow at right-back. Also, the own goal was unfortunate. But all in all, a very good party with Er Capitano back at the helm. I can’t wait until we get Danielino back – then we can really party.

Inter 3-1  Bologna – The Inter Offside webpage referred to this match as a ‘Mortadella Speedbump’ — that pretty much sums it up for me. The reigning champions probably felt as if they could simply stroll into the Stadio Dall’Ara and come back out with three easy points, and their hosts failed to prove them wrong. There was a bit of tension early in the match; Diego Milito put Inter ahead on 22′ off of a corner from Maicon, only for Marcelo Zalayeta to equalize within 60 seconds, smashing the ball past Julio Cesar and into the top corner. The next 20 minutes saw both teams get really into the game, but Mario Balotelli should have put his side ahead when he beat the Bologna backline and dummied ‘keeper Emiliano Viviano – only to waste enough time that Viviano was able to get up and rob him of his much belated shot. One could see Jose Mourinho rise from his bench, flailing in anger. However, Supermario was able to atone for his sins just before the half; another Maicon corner saw the young striker rise powerfully in the air and head home to make it 2-1 for the Nerazzurri. He picked up a knock in the process, however, and was subbed off for Samuel Eto’o, who made a rare start on the bench. The visitors would make their lead more comfortable midway through the second half, with Esteban Cambiasso, who was in excellent form, burying a left-foot strike on 72′. To be honest, the hosts never looked like they were going to get back into the game, and Inter cruised to a comfortable win over the Emiliani.

AC Milan 4-3 Cagliari – It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the San Siro this afternoon, but i Rossoneri came out on top. Clarence Seedorf gave the home side an early lead on 5′, but gli Isolani weren’t interested in falling behind and Alessandro Matri equalized just 3 minutes later. The visitors would take the lead on 30′ when Andrea Lazzari found himself completely unmarked at Milan’s back post and gave his side a 2-1 lead. This time though, it was Milan’s turn to come from behind, as Marco Borriello and Alexandre Pato bagged a pair of goals in quick succession to put their side up 3-2 by the 39th minute. Pato’s goal was particularly nice, a rocket-powered blast into the top shelf which sent the San Siro crowd into an uproar. Milan would further consolidate their lead after the break, with Ronaldinho stepping up to the spot after Borriello had been felled in the area and burying it, sending Federico Marchetti the wrong way. He seems to score all of his goals that way, doesn’t he? More on him later. Cagliari was able to reduce Milan’s lead to a single goal when Nenê beat Dida on 68′, but Milan would hold onto their rather precarious lead and edge their visitors 4-3 in what turned out to be an exciting goalfest. Now, Ronaldinho. He was quite possibly – I’d almost say easily – the man of the match; back to his Barcelona form and full of tricks and flicks. That he only got onto the scoresheet via PK is misleading, as he was the creative force behind Milan’s devastating offense all night. That being said, their defending was quite shoddy, and against a better team (no offense, Cagliari, I like you guys) they might have come away with a rather different result. That being said, an excellent high-scoring match to put il Diavolo into 3rd place. Who says Serie A is boring?

Juventus 1-0 Udinese – Oh that’s right, Juventini say Serie A is boring. Because Juve is boring. I Bianconeri edged, well, i Bianconeri in Turin to keep their Scudetto hopes alive tonight. After the kickoff, it was all Juventus; Diego and Mauro Camoranesi both came close in the first quarter of an hour. After that though, the game went into a bit of a lull, and neither side looked dangerous (or did anything important) before the halftime break – unless you count a Udinese goal rightly disallowed for offside. After the restart, it was once again Juventus who set the pace, and this time it paid off. Summer signing Martin Cácares set up summer signing Fabio Grosso, who beat Samir Handanovic with ease to put the home side up 1-0 on 51′. Udinese fought hard throughout the remainder of the half, and both Handanovic and Gigi Buffon were called upon to make class saves, but ultimately the most exciting thing to happen before the fulltime whistle was Alessandro Del Piero’s appearance as a substitute. Juventino or not, you gotta love that guy.

Football:

A hattrick? No, that was just a warm-up.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic – Stop the press! What in God’s name do they put in the water in Tottenham? The Spurs recorded the second-biggest Premiership blowout in history at White Hart Lane over a hapless Wigan Athletic, with Jermain Defoe grabbing 5 himself in the second half. Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the home side on 9′, and believe it or not, that was it for the first half. Defoe got started right away after the break though, netting on 51′ and 54′, before Paul Scharner (who may have also pulled a Thierry Henry) pulled one back for the Latics to make it 3-1 on 57′. Defoe wasn’t done yet though, and to complete his hattrick restored the Spurs 3-goal margin just seconds later. Aaron Lennon got in on the action with a goal of his own on 64′, and then Jermain Defoe topped off his hattrick with a brace on 69′ and 87′. Chris Kirkland put the ball into his own net on 88′ to make it 8-1, and then Niko Kranjcar scored in the 4th minute of stoppage time to make the scoreline a whopping 9-1. To put this into perspective, didn’t table-toppers Chelsea lose to Wigan this season? Holy shit, dude.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton – Speaking of Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti’s men took part in a rout of their own this weekend, though it seems rather paltry in comparison with their London neighbours’ rather excessive beatdown. The Wolves simply had no chance at Stamford Bridge, and with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike on 5′, it seemed a cricket score was imminent. Michael Essien furthered that notion, bagging a brace within a 10 minute span by finding the back of the Wolves’ net on 12′ and 22′. The visitors simply had no response to the dominant Chelsea play, and their ill-advised 2-5-3 formation left plenty of gaps for the Blues to exploit. The teams went into the half with the score 3-0, but not before Sylvain Ebanks-Blake forced a class save from Petr Cech. As the game progressed, Wolverhampton reverted to a more solid 4-4-2, it was not enough to stop Joe Cole from scoring his first Premiership goal in over a year, making the score 4-0. Another quite impressive blowout/shutout from Ancelotti’s men, but until they score 9 goals I think they’ll feel that their crosstown rivals have the upper hand. Then again, they’re leading the league, so who cares about the Spurs?

Liverpool 2-2- Manchester City – Every time a Koppite cries, and angel get its wings. Or so I’ve been led to believe. Either way, both the Reds and the Blues (no, no, other Reds. Other Blues too.) dropped points and further away from the top 4 with a 4-goal draw at Anfield on Saturday. Martin Skrtel gave the home side the lead on 50′, only for Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland to respond on 69′ and 76′ respectively to give the Citizens a 2-1 lead. A loss at this stage in the competition would have meant disaster for the Scousers, but luckily Yossi Benayoun cut any Mancunian celebrations short by responding with a goal of his own on 77′ to equalize and make it 2-2. And 2-2 the score would remain. This result is neither a complete disaster for Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, but you gotta think that the two of them, and their grossly underperforming squads, have gotta be feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Manchester Utd 3-0 Everton – As for the other Reds and Blues of Manchester and Liverpool, a draw was not in the cards. The Red Devils trounced the Toffeemakers at Old Trafford to stay within five points of Chelsea in the table. Darren Fletcher opened the scoring for the homeside on 35′ with a beautiful goal that has been compared (somewhat hyperbolically) to the work of Zinedine Zidane. After the half Michael Carrick and Luis Antonio Valencia would add a goal each, while David Moyes’ men could do little but keep the scoreline respectable. I gotta say, the Merseyside derby is going to be downright depressing this year…

Pictured: Arsenal player not fit for today's match.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal – Oh, Arsenal. The Gooners had gone over a dozen games without a loss, but as usual Arsene Wenger’s men got a little too close to the sun and their wings simply burned up. Also, they had a lot of injuries. The Londoners put in an unfocused and ramshackle performance against a determined Sunderland side who clearly wanted the result more. And they got it. Sunderland simply rode out wave after wave of potent Arsenal attacking play, though admittedly, it didn’t seem like the Gunners wanted to do much other than controlling the ball in midfield. On 71′, the home side finally got their chance and Darren Bent buried it to make the score 1-0 for the Black Cats. Wenger’s men had simply no will to get back into the game (perhaps their minds were occupied with thoughts of next week’s clash against Chelsea) and ultimately fell to a steely Sunderland side. This is the second time this year that the Black Cats have beaten a top 4 side – and this time it can’t even be blamed on a beach ball.

Futbol:

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander – Well, Los Galacticos are still without their biggest star – Cristiano Ronaldo – and they’re still not playing as ‘Galacticos’ perhaps should, but they’re finally where Galacticos should be: on top. Gonzalo Higuaín provided the difference that Manuel Pellegrini’s men needed to take down mid-table residents Racing Santander, with a strike from close range on 22′. Both sides had second-half goals disallowed for offsides, with both Karim Benzema and Sergio Canales putting the ball into the back of the net only to be notified by the referee that they need not celebrate. As has been the norm this year, Madrid did not completely convince, but their narrow victory was nevertheless enough to see them go top of the table for the first time this season after Barcelona picked up a similarly unconvincing result in Bilbao.

Because Bear Country is more frightening than Basque Country.

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao – Treble Champions they may be, but at times this season Barcelona have failed to look the part. They faltered again in their title race during this weekend’s trip to Basque Country. Though many of their starting 11, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were out with knocks, one could still expect Barcelona to produce a result against midtable opponents such as Bilbao. Early in the match, Los Leones put pressure on their visitors, peppering them with corners and free kicks, while Barca looked simply content to play on the counter. Soon however, Barca wrested control of possession from their hosts, and began to look like the side to score, though when it came to finishing they came up empty – at least in the first half. However, after the restart the Blaugrana got off on the right foot, with Daniel Alves running on to the end of a perfect throughball from Xavi and finding the back of Bilbao’s net. Athletic immediately responded by bringing Toquero into the game; a move that would prove very effective as the substitute would equalize for the home side within 10 minutes of coming onto the pitch, running onto a long ball and smashing it home. All that was left to do for Bilbao was to park the bus and ride out the waves of Barcelona attacks – which they did – in order to gain a point and drop the reigning champions down to second place. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s men?

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Well, Die Roten haven’t sunk any further into their slump, but they haven’t de-slumped either, achieving a draw against league-leading Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz-Arena this weekend. Mario Gomez and Stephan Kießling each netted for their respective sides early on in the match; both goals came within the first 15 minutes of play. Bayern started off energetically, with their aggressive attack leading to Mario Gomez’s opener on 8′, which he sidefooted in on an advantage play after Miroslav Klose was fouled. However, their visitors soon caught up to them in pace and were able to exploit the home side’s defensive weaknesses; Kießling easily beat the offside trap and slotted the ball coolly past Hans-Jörg Butt to make it all square on 14′. Each team had spells of pacy and bright looking attack, but neither could capitalize during those stretches; Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler saved his side time and time again with world class saves to prevent Bayern from getting out in front. Even Thomas Müller, who has so often been Bayern’s ace-in-the-hole this season proved ineffectual, and was subbed in the second half for Ivica Olic, returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The chances petered out towards the end of the game, and a 1-1 draw it would remain – a result that sees Bayer reclaim 1st and Bayern languish in 7th.

Werder Bremen 6-0 SC Freiburg – Poor Freiburg. On more than a few occasions this season they have found themselvesin situations where they are simply out of their depth. The home side suffered a humbling defeat to Die Grün-Weißen in their own Badenova-Stadion, falling 6-0 in an all-out slaughter. Hugo Almeida opened the scoring for the visitors on 33′, Marko Marin added a second on 55′, Almeida doubled his money on 57′, Mesut Özil netted on 67′, Naldo on 73′ and substitute Markus Rosenberg made it 6-0 with 8 minutes left to play. Freiburg once again made a case for having the worst defense in the Bundesliga (they have the highest number of goals against; 30) and sit 13th in the league table, while this victory propels Werder Bremen to second, just a point behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. I guess the English aren’t the only ones who know how to have a good blowout!

Chelsea Meet Carlo...

The Borough of Chelsea and Kensington is home to a number of the wealthiest people on earth, the most sublime of gastronomic delights, and is a practically unrivaled locale for a shopper on the hunt for haute couture. Yes, Chelsea is undoubtedly one of London’s crown jewels, though its extra sparkle of late can be solely attributed to one man… and his influence over their infamous boys in blue.

Several years ago when ‘The Special One’, Jose Mourinho, left the club due to a prolonged and aggravated dispute with the powers that be, Chelsea was once again thrust into football limbo. Granted this limbo included a trip to the Champions League final in 2008, but it also included player dissatisfaction, off field escapades and falling short in their quest to win the EPL, the Carling Cup, the FA Cup, not to mention losing to bitter rivals Manchester United in the aforementioned Champions League Final.

It was obvious that Avram Grant was not the answer, and it became painfully obvious to everybody, except perhaps the man himself, that Luiz Felipe Scolari was not the man for the job either. Such dissatisfaction with the team’s management had Chelsea fans in London, England, and indeed the world over, clamoring for Chelsea’s billionaire sugar daddy, Roman Abramovich, to put aside his squabble with the gifted Portuguese. With typical Russian stoicism he declined their requests and delivered unto them a saviour that has footy fans who worship the blue and white asking… Jose Who???

He knows the stakes. He knows the odds. He knows his competition, and more importantly, how to dissect and frustrate them. He is the master of the four man defensive system. Champions League? He has won it 4 times… twice with his own two feet and twice with a pad and a pen. His name is Carlo Ancelotti, and Chelsea fans, you can thank Roman later.

Of course the majority of Ancelotti’s success came while at the helm of Italian giant AC Milan. He took one of the world’s true football dynasties and restored them to the glory of the star studded Milan teams of the late 80s and early 90’s. Chelsea  fans should be honoured that he has selected their club as his next project. That is not to say that he is charged with building The Blues up from scratch. On the contrary, this is a team that is far and wide unrivaled in its collection of talent. However, much like Milan, talent counts for little if the squad does not move uniformly towards one ultimate goal. The goal, the only goal according to Abramovich, is for Ancelotti to replicate his successes with Milan at Chelsea, and to become the Champions of Europe.

Of course, like all great Italian football strategists, Ancelotti focuses on building from the net out. In Peter Cech he has arguably one of the greatest keepers of the past decade, and in John Terry he has found a captain and defensive workhorse reminiscent of a certain Milanese defender of note. Paolo something I think his name is. To that end, the Milan comparisons are numerous. A midfield previously reserved for wide attack play has been substituted for more through the middle action, focusing primarily through the artistic conduit that is Frank Lampard (Kaka anyone?). Furthermore, strong play and deft passing from Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi has allowed for more freedom of movement on the wings and of course down the middle to the strike duo of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba. That’s right, a strike duo.

For years, Drogba has patrolled Chelsea’s opponents’ 18 yard box on his own, the tip of Chelsea’s attacking spear as it were. However, upon reflecting on his ‘modest success’ utiziling Andrei Shevchencko and Filippo Inzaghi simultaneously at Milan, Ancelotti has decided that perhaps using two of the deadliest strikers in Europe in the same starting XI would increase the team’s killer instinct in front of goal.

Lets have a look the results thus far. EPL rivals Liverpool and Manchester United have come calling to Stamford Bridge and both have been turned away by scores of 2-0 and 1-0 respectively. Chelsea currently sits supreme in the Premiership with a mighty 10-0-2 record, both losses coming away from London’s west end. Moreover, it was not until last week that Chelsea allowed a goal in this Champions League season, again in an away match.

Cech Please...

Granted the scoring touch of Drogba and new pal Anelka is ever present as is the high flying wing play of Florent Malouda. It should be noted that many teams in the premiership have proven scoring capability. Take Arsenal for example, a team of  chock full of young phenoms who like nothing better than to find the back of the net, often rely solely on this ability in order to eek out wins in their matches. Their defense, however, has for some time been a point of contention, and this year’s incarnation has not put that unease to rest.

In this writer’s opinion, much of Chelsea’s early success this season can be attributed to the stonewall goal keeping of Petr Cech and Ancelotti’s movable fortress of John Terry (et al) manning the barricades in front of him. Together this defensive unit has amassed 6 clean sheets in 12 premiership matches, and 3 clean sheets in 4 opportunities in Champions League play.  All in all a considerable improvement on the campaigns of years previous. If Ancelotti can continue to find ways to mesh his Italian style defense with a traditionally opportunistic Premiership style attack it will be next to impossible for their opponents to knock them off track en route to perhaps the greatest season in club history.

Attention football clubs of Europe, Chelsea’s Carlo Ancelotti Era has arrived. Beware not only the fortress he has built at ‘The Bridge’, but also the heights his squad can reach once he irons out their away game and takes it with him on the war path.

Didier Drogba puts up two goals in his UEFA Champions League return and Chelsea advance to the knockout stage with a 2-2 draw in Madrid. (Photo: uefa.com)

Atlético Madrid came out hot in front of their home crowd, carrying the run of play with 56% possession in the first half. And when an errant defensive header by John Terry fell to the foot of Madrid striker Sergio Aguera, Chelsea fell into a 1-0 hole.

Drogba Stages The Rally

After clanking the post on a free kick in the 51st minute, Drogba seemed more determined than ever to make an impact in his first game back from a multi-game UEFA suspension – and when The Blues faced a deficit, his resolve culminated in two fantastic strikes.

The first came on a Lampard corner to even the score, and minutes later he ran in unassisted for a determined rebound goal to give Chelsea the lead.

With 12 goals in just 13 appearances, the Ivory Coast forward is on pace to have a monolithic year – even better than his career-high ‘06-’07 campaign where he netted 33 goals in 60 appearances.

Madrid Fire Back In Stoppage Time

Not discouraged by the fine play of Didier and some great first half saves by Petr Čech, Atlético found redemption from yet another Aguero marker. The young Brazilian took a brilliant, curling free kick over the Chelsea wall in the 91st minute that Čech didn’t have a prayer on.

Despite the late heroics, Chelsea will advance to the next stage of Champions League and Madrid will fall to some heated competition in the Europa League.

Rally Man of The Match:

Didier Drogba (1)

Carlo Says:

“I want to keep him [Drogba] and I don’t want to change him with another striker,” said Chelsea’s Italian coach Ancelotti. “He is in a good moment, I’m very happy. I hope he can continue.”

Rally Blues Champions League Predictions

Atlético Madrid 0:3 Chelsea FC [Result - 2:2]

APOEL 0:4 Porto [Result - 0:1]

Olympique de Marseille 1:1 FC Zürich [Result - 6:1]

AC Milan 2:3 Real Madrid [Result - 1:1]

Maccabi Haifa 0:1 Juventus [Result - 0:1]

Bayern Munich 1:2 Bordeaux [Result - 0:2]

Beşiktaş 1:3 Wolfsburg [Result - 0:3]

Manchester United 1:1 CSKA Moskva [Result - 3:3]

Matchday 4 Record: 5 correct (1 with scores), 3 incorrect.

I am not the greatest match analyst in the world particularly when I have attended the game as my view is usually distorted by my favourite pair of beer goggles, however this weekends 12.45am start meant that unfortunately when i took to the stand I was in a far better position to analyse the match.

Chelsea started the game well with a starting line up containing no suprises, in the first half an hour of the game Chelsea were defensively strong with Cech looking dominant in the air for the first time in months and Ashley Young and Gabriel Abonghlahor looking lost up front.

When Friedel was foxed by a lucky bounce from a Didier Drogba shot to open the scoring and the Chelsea fans celebrated it appeared that Chelsea were set to reinforce last years result and break the Villa Park hoodoo once and for all.

However this was not to last on 32 minutes Carvalho failed to connect to a clearing header from a corner and Richard Dunne powerfully headed home the deflected cross everything changed at Villa Park. Whilst Chelsea continued to dominate possession the complexity of the game had changed, suddenly Ashley Young and Gabriel Abonglahor seemed to have the measure on their markers and suddenly the game was afoot.

Second half another set piece led to James Collins connecting to a header putting Villa ahead and bringing their fans to life. Chelsea were chasing the game dominating the possession but looking vunerable to the pacy counter attacks and crosses of Abonglahor and Young, with Petr Cech’s aerial game seemingly collapsing in front of our eyes.

Chelsea however did create chances with both Deco and Malouda fluffing their lines with just Friedel to beat, Villa however held firm under pressure for the result of their season so far.

So overall Chelsea played averagely with defensive errors costing the points when on another day we would now be celebrating a Chelsea victory.

This post is fairly belated – and it’s not really gonna be as comperehensive as most Sunday 360° articles – think of it as more like a Sunday 45°. This is partially because I had a really, really long week and I’m just not up to reporting on a bunch of games that I really am not all that interested, and partially because I wanna focus on a handful of very interesting results this week(end). Also, I’ll include videos as an apology for the late/shortness. Perhaps 2009 will be the year of the underdog – this week certainly has been.

Calcio:

Sampdoria 1-0 Inter – I know what you’re thinking I’ve got that score backwards. That’s what I thought as well, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was I was incorrect and that little Sampdoria had indeed overcome the mighty Inter. It seems that Jose’s men simply could not get ahead in the match, with Sampdoria net-minder Luca Castellazi making several brilliant saves throughout the course of the match to deny La Beneamata the advantage. Neither side was brilliant, though i Blucerchiati more than held their own against the reigning Serie A champions and both sides had several chances to take the lead. Sampdoria would eventually have that honour as Giampaolo Pazzini netted in the 72nd minute to give his side an advantage that would be enough to see them take 3 points from i Nerazzurri at home before a capacity crowd at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. This is a result which sees Sampdoria flying high atop the Serie A table in one of the best starts to a season they have had in recent years, and one that will leave fans of Inter scratching their heads after finding themselves trailing both Saturday’s victors and Juventus in the Serie A standings.

Udinese 2-0 Genoa – What  a week for Le Zebrette!! First they defeated struggling giants AC Milan 1-0 in midweek play, and now they have defeated Genoa to leapfrog the struggling Grifone (who have taken just 1 point from their last three outings) and rise to fourth place in the Serie A standings. The leading light for the Friulanese side has been current-Capocannoniere Antonio Di Natale, who leads his squad, along with the rest of Serie A, with 8 goals. Di Natale scored in the 82nd minute to put his side ahead, while Simone Pepe sealed Genoa’s fate just six minutes later. Perhaps not an underdog victory to the extent of Samp’s over Inter, (as Udinese finished in a respectale 7th place last season) but a pleasantly surprising result nonetheless for Italy’s other Bianconeri.

Juventus 1-1 Bologna/AC Milan 0-0 Bari – Okay, not underdog victories – but I wanted to acknowledge the performances of these two small teams nonetheless. I’m of the opinion that Bologna should take a 1-1 draw as a moral victory, considering they are a team which finished the 2008-09 season just one place out of relegation, whereas Juve finished just one place out of winning the scudetto. That’s without mentioning the fact that Bologna only managed their draw by fighting hard and winning an equalizer in the 93rd minute of play (though they were helped no doubt by the fact that goalscorer Martins Adailton was left completely unmarked by Cristian Molinaro). Juventus had gone ahead on a strike from David Trezeguet. Bari pulled off a similar result in Milan this weekend, drawing AC 0-0 at the San Siro, and though frankly speaking Milan are a shadow of the team they once were, it is nonetheless an impressive and important result. Both smaller teams should have no small amount of pride after this weekend’s away results, while both larger teams will no doubt be shaking their hands and wondering what has happened – an interesting weekend for Italy’s big three. I’ll post a video of the Juve/Bologna game, because who wants to watch highlights of a no-score draw?

Football:

Wigan Athletic 3-1 Chelsea – In a weekend that saw Liverpool and Tottenham both blow away their opponents (Hull City and Burnley, respectively) by a five-goal margin, it came as a shock to me and most Blues fans, I’d assume, that Chelsea had lost away at the DW Stadium to Wigan Athletic. Wigan went ahead early in the 16th minute on a corner, which, upon replay, was shown to be taken outside the circle and therefore Titus Bramble’s goal should have been disallowed. Chelsea fought hard to equalize through to the half, but were unable to best a determined Wigan side. However, after the break the deadly combination of Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba finally managed to break down Wigan’s defense and the Ivorian equalized for the Blues. The equal footing would be short-lived, as Petr Cech was sent off on 53′ for taking down Hugo Rodallega in the box – the Colombian converted the penalty Chelsea were forced to play the last 37 minutes down a man and without their keeper. It was a blow that the Blues would never really recover from, and when Ashley Cole was forced off the pitch through injury, reducing his side to nine men in the games final minutes, Wigan was able to add insult to injury as they poured men forward and Paul Scharner found the ball at his feet to slot home in injury time. Needless to say, Chelsea’s impressive winning streak has been shattered in the worst way – the Blues have tasted defeat for the first time this season and we’ll see how they react next weekend in an all-important fixture against Liverpool. For a ridiculous 14 minutes of highlights which I refuse to embed, click here.

Fußball:

Hamburg SV 1-0 Bayern München – I’m gonna call this an underdog victory because I remain unconvinced that there are other teams in the Bundesliga which can truly rival the quality of Bayern on a consistent basis (Hamburg haven’t even finished as Bundesliga runners-up since 1987). Nonetheless, this was something of a battle between giants of North and South – two highly technical and tactical sides squaring off in the HSH-Nordbank Arena in Hamburg. Both Bruno Labbadia of Hamburg and Louis Van Gaal of Bayern made numerous tactical changes throughout the game, though largely to no avail as neither side could get ahead in the first hour of play. On 72′ it would be ex-Bayern star Ze Roberto who would truly be his former side’s undoer, feeding a low cross to Mladen Petric who duly slotted home. The 1-0 lead would be enough for the Northern side, whose midfield was able to shut out die Roten in the final stages of play and secure 3 points for die Rothosen. Couldn’t embed the video, but you can watch the highlights (only 1:15, don’t worry) here.

All in all, a fairly good weekend for some of Europe’s smaller teams – and a fairly baffling one for some of its larger ones. Better luck next time, big guys!

Ritmsiz ama geniş kadrosuyla maçları idare ede ede kazanan Chelsea bu sefer çetin cevize çarptı ve “skor” olarak rüya gibi başlanan sezonda %100′lük istatistik Wigan karşısında bozuldu. Wigan ilginç takım cidden. Asansör takım kimliğini taşırken Steve Bruce ile kademe atladılar, Bruce giderse eski kimliği tekrar çıkartırlar derken eski oyuncuları, yeni menajerleri Martinez ile sezona başladılar. Henüz gözlem aşamasındayız belki, hatta bu değerlendirmeler şimdilik olumsuz da gözüküyor, istikrarsız bir gidişat göze çarpıyor ama dünkü galibiyet alkışların en büyüğünü hakediyor. Utd maçında devreyi 0-0 bitirip bir devrede 5 gol yemek Steve Bruce‘un Wigan‘ında olmazdı belki ama dün gördük ki kadro yavaş yavaş da olsa oturuyor. Maçın adamına geçeyim; tüm İngiltere‘nin en çok makara yaptığı oyuncu Titus Bramble 26 yaşında geldiği Wigan‘da adeta yeniden doğdu. Kabus gibi bir Newcastle kariyerinin ardından bonservissiz geldiği Wigan‘da kaptanlık bandını da koluna geçirince kendini buldu dev stoper. Anfield‘daki 1-1′lik Liverpool maçında, Newcastle‘la 2-2 biten maçta attığı harika gollerin yanına bir unutulmaz gol daha ekledi ve galibiyette büyük rol sahibi oldu.

Drogba‘nın ikinci devrenin başındaki golü gelince “Bu adamlar nasıl sürekli en doğru zamanda golü buluyorlar” diye düşündüm. Gerçekten de öyleydi, sıkışmış bir maçta daha bitime 40 dakika varken gelen beraberlik golü ilaç olabilirdi Chelsea‘ye ama bu sefer şans yoktu Londra ekibinin yanında. Cech‘in kırmızısı, penaltı derken son saniyelerde gelen tastik golü ile seri bozuldu.

Sen puan kaybetme, %100 ile ilerle sonra ilk kayıpta anında liderliği kaybet. Sanırım lig’deki tüm takımların en büyük şanssızlığı Utd‘ın varlığı. Sabırlı takip, akıl oyunları içerikli demeçler ve hooop gelsin liderlik. Ancelotti objektif bir şekilde haketmediklerini, Wigan‘ın daha iyi olan taraf olduğunu söyledi. Hedef Apoel maçı ama bir üzücü haber var, sakatlanıp çıkan Ashley Cole‘un durumu ciddi olabilirmiş.

What you missed while taking a time out from robbing a house to check your Facebook page…

• Roy Hodgson is claiming that he’s not blowing off the Europa League and that his team selection for the CSKA Sofia match – which features only two regular starters – is going to win because it’s got a lot of international players.
• Petr Cech says that Ancelotti reminds him of Mourinho; this will probably irritate Mourinho somehow.
• Hey, good thing they overturned that Eduardo ban, huh?
• Phil Neville’s going to be out of Everton’s squad until Christmas with a ligament injury.
• Zico, formerly of CSKA Moscow, is now the manager of Olympiacos.
• Xabi Alonso will be out a minimum of two weeks with an Achilles injury.
• Fiorentina have been fined €600,000 over the signing of a teenage player from Le Havre, the same French club that’s complained about Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba.

Razem z innymi redaktorami postanowiliśmy zorganizować na naszym blogu mały plebiscyt. Mianowicie chcemy, by czytelnicy Concordes wybrali najlepszą jedenastkę złożoną z obecnie grających zawodników w angielskiej lidze.

W każdym wpisie wybierzemy inną pozycję na boisku, przedstawimy Wam nasze propozycje, a do was będzie należał wybór.

Dzisiaj postaramy się obsadzić pozycję bramkarza. Tak więc, drodzy czytelnicy, zapraszam do lektury!

1. Jose Reina (Liverpool FC)

Naszą pierwszą propozycją jest osoba Jose Reiny. Ten sympatyczny Hiszpan na co dzień brobi barw zespołu z miasta Beatlesów – Liverpoolu FC.

Pepe urodził się 31 sierpnia 1982 roku w stolicy Hiszpanii, Madrycie. No i właśnie. Jest ze stolicy, a przygodę z futbolem zaczynał, można rzec, na zupełnie innym biegunie. Dlaczego? Bo te dwa miasta, jeśli chodzi o futbol, grzecznie mówiąc nie przepadają za sobą. Pepe zaczynał w FC Barcelonie.

W latach 2002 – 2005 grał w „Żółtej łodzi podwodnej”, czyli zespole Villarreal FC. Zaraz po przybyciu do The Reds został pierwszym bramkarzem zespołu wysyłając Jerzego Dudka na ławkę. W reprezentacji zagrał na razie 13 razy. Był między innymi w kadrze Hiszpanii na Mistrzostwa Europy 2008 w Austrii i Szwajcarii.

2. Petr Cech (Chelsea Londyn FC)

Kolejna pozycja na naszej liście to czeski golkiper Petr Cech. Jest on pierwszym bramkarzem londyńskiej Chelsea. Gra także w reprezentacji Czech. Petr urodził się 20 maja 1982 roku w Plzen. Jego wcześniejsze kluby to Viktoria Plzen, Chmel Blsany, Sparta Praga oraz francuskie Rennes. Petr mierzy 196 cm wzrostu. W sezonie 2004/2005 został wybrany najlepszym bramkarzem Ligi Mistrzów. 14 października 2006 roku spotkała go wielka katastrofa. W meczu z Reading FC przy wyjściu do piłki zderzył się ze Stephenem Huntem, dostał kolanem w głowę. Natychmiast trafił do szpitala, gdzie przeszedł skomplikowaną operację czaszki. Cech wrócił wtedy do gry stosunkowo szybko, bo w styczniu 2007 roku. „Pamiątkę” z tamtego zdarzenia Petr ma do dziś – w każdym meczu gra w kasku chroniącym czaszkę.

3. Manuel Almunia (Arsenal Londyn FC)

Kolejny w naszym zestawieniu bramkarz z Hiszpanii. Kolejny bramkarz z klubu z Londynu. Tym razem mówimy o blondynie z kanonierów, czyli Manuelu Almunii.Urodził się on 19 maja 1977 roku w Pampelunie. Tam też zaczynał z futbolem, konkretniej – w miejscowej Osasunie. Później grał między innymi w Celta Vigo czy Eibar, a do Arsenalu trafił w 2004 roku. Początkowo był rezerwowym, jednak po odejściu Jensa Lehmanna Manuel otrzymał bluzę z numerem 1 i został pierwszym bramkarzem Arsenalu. Almunia nie wystąpił w żadnym meczu reprezentacji, i otwarcie mówi, że

kiedyś chciałby grać w bramce „Synów Albionu”. Jego żona jest Angielką, więc ma spore szanse na otrzymanie brytyjskiego obywatelstwa.

4. Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)

Najlepszy od kilku lat bramkarz Manchesteru United. Holender ten urodził się dnia 29 października 1970 roku w Voorhoout. Ma 197 cm wzrostu. Swoją karierę piłkarską rozpoczął w zespole Foreholt grając… na obronie. Trafił do Noorwijk, gdzie przekwalifikował się na bramkarza. W wieku 20 lat przeszedł do

amsterdamskiego Ajaxu. Później grał w Juventusie i Fulham Londyn, lecz jego kariera nie była wybitna. W 2005 roku trafił do zespołu Czerwonych Diabłów, które od momentu zakończenia kariery przez Petera Schmeichela nie mogły znaleźć dobrego bramkarza. Kibice uważali, że Edwin będzie kolejnym od kilku lat przeciętnym golkiperem. Jednak „Latający Holender” zachwycił wszystkich. Obecnie jest pierwszym golkiperem ManUnited (we wrześniu nie gra z powodu kontuzji). Kibice już teraz zamartwiają się, kto zastąpi Edwina po odejściu na emeryturę. Wszak za miesiąc van der Sar kończy 39 lat. W reprezentacji zagrał 130 razy, co w Holandii jest rekordem.

5. Shay Given (Manchester City)

Długo zastanawialiśmy się, kto wybrać jako kolejnego kandydata. Shaya Givena czy może Davida Jamesa z Portsmouth? Zdecydowaliśmy w końcu, że ostatnią kandydaturą w naszym głosowaniu będzie Irlandczyk. Seamus John James Given urodził się 20 kwietnia 1976 roku w Lifford. Obecnie jest graczem Manchesteru City, wcześniej grał w Celticu, Blackburn (gdzie był wypożyczany do Swindon i Sunderlandu) i Newcastle. U Srok grał przez 12

lat i zagrał 354 mecze. Do The Citizens przeszedł pierwszego dnia tego roku, a zadebiutował 7 lutego w meczu z ekipą Middlesbrough. W reprezentacji rozegrał 98 meczy.

PS Jeśli masz pomysł, kogo możemy wybrać w kolejnym głosowaniu swoje kandydatury możesz wysyłać na e-mail: concordes@o2.pl. Swoje propozycje możecie także przedstawiać w komentarzach. W najbliższym głosowaniu będziemy wybierać najlepszego lewego obrońcę!

autor: damians10

Yossi Benayoun leads the way in this week’s Barclays Premier League Actim Index after collecting the third hat-trick of his Liverpool career in the 4-0 victory over Burnley. Benayoun’s treble haul earned him a staggering 74 points – the highest total of the season so far. As a result, the Israel international has stormed up the overall standings, moving from 221st place to 16th. Dirk Kuyt also scored against the Clarets, moving him up to seventh overall and making him the second highest-ranked Liverpool player behind full-back Glen Johnson.

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor made the headlines for all the wrong reasons this weekend, but his goalscoring performance against former club Arsenal saw him leap to the top of the overall standings. Adebayor was involved in an unsavoury incident with former teammate Robin van Persie and also sparked controversy with an inflammatory goal celebration which saw him run the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the visiting Arsenal fans. However, his tally of 33 points was enough to take him above Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon at the top of the rankings with a total score of 139.

It has been another good week for Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney. The 23-year-old firstly helped Fabio Capello’s Three Lions secure qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 5-1 victory over Croatia at Wembley. And Rooney was then on hand to crown a fine Manchester United display with his side’s third goal as the Red Devils came from behind to beat Tottenham 3-1 at White Hart Lane. Rooney’s all-round display earned him a total of 47 points – making him the joint highest-scoring striker in this week’s Index alongside Blackburn’s Jason Roberts. The former Everton striker is also up to third in the overall standings with 128 points.

Hull suffered a miserable 4-1 defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, but one of their defenders has still managed to make it into the Team of the Week. Kamil Zayatte brought the Tigers back on level terms towards the end of the first half, but his afternoon took a turn for the worse when he inadvertently diverted Michael Turner’s header into the net for Sunderland’s fourth goal. However, despite that setback, Zayatte was able to accumulate 26 points – his best score of the season to date.

Zayatte is joined in the Team of the Week by Damien Duff, who scored his first goal for Fulham to secure a 2-1 victory over Everton at Craven Cottage. Duff endured a difficult 2008-09 season which culminated in relegation from the Premier League with Newcastle. But the Republic of Ireland international appears to be relishing the opportunity of reviving his career with Roy Hodgson’s side and picked up a healthy 36 points for his efforts at the weekend.

Chelsea maintained their 100% record in the Premier League courtesy of Florent Malouda’s last-gasp goal against Stoke. And the table-topping Blues have the most representatives in the current Team of the Season, with no less than four of their players involved. Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba heads the list with 129 points and he is joined by Ashley Cole (103), fellow full-back Jose Bosingwa and goalkeeper Petr Cech (both 80).

View the latest Actim Index >

Nummer 1: Chelsea FC

Stiftet: 1905

Stadion: Stamford Bridge (Kapacitet: 42.055)

Kælenavn: Blues, Pensioners

Seneste tre ligaplaceringer: (07/08/09): 2/2/3

Første fem kampe: 15/8 Hull (H), 18/8 Sunderland (U), 22/8 Fulham (U), 29/8 Burnley (H), 12/9 Stoke (U)

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti (Siden juni 2009)

Efter Big Phil Scolaris rædselsregime og Guus Hiddinks heroiske genrejsning af Chelsea i sidste sæson fortsætter Roman Abramovich sin heftige shoppingtur blandt alverdens største trænernavne. Italienske Ancelotti er således blevet lokket til efter en lang og mestendels succesfuld årrække i italiensk fodbold. Her har Ancelotti nået at stå i spidsen for såvel Parma som Juventus og Milan gennem de sidste 13 år, og mange vil særligt huske ham for de sidste 8 år i Milan, hvor det ganske vist kun blev til et enkelt mesterskab. Til gengæld blev det til to eksemplarer af det trofæ som Chelsea tørster mest efter – pokalen med flyveørene: Champions League-trofæet.

I Milan var Ancelottis varemærke desuden at formå at få hold bestående af aldrende spillere til at fungere som et godt og stabilt godstog, som måske ikke altid var prangende på afstand, men som til gengæld ydede det nødvendige. I Chelsea får italieneren en utrolig stærk trup, som oven i købet er lidt yngre – og antageligvis noget mere sulten.

Truppen generelt: Skræmmende

På kassen har Petr Cech tilhørt den absolutte verdenselite på målmandspladsen de seneste år. I sidste sæson vaklede den store tjekke dog helt usædvanligt, og leverede en række tvivlsomme præstationer. Det rokker dog ikke ved indtrykket af at Chelsea har en absolut topkeeper som sidste skanse. Backupen Hilario har imidlertid ikke vist nogen udpræget grund til hverken at råbe hurra eller æv-bæv, når han har fået chancen. På henholdsvis venstre - og højreback er Ashley Cole og José Bosingwa i verdensklasse, alt imens anfører John Terry og Ricardo Carvalho er en meget stærk stopperduo.  Alex, Branko Ivanovic, Juliano Beletti og Paulo Ferreira er alle aldeles glimrende breddespillere, som desuden er ganske alsidige.

På midtbanen er alsidighed ligeledes et nøgleord, og mange spillere kan bytte plads på kryds og tværs alt efter omstændighederne. Kraftværket Michael Essien en fremragende fodboldspiller, mens viceanfører Frank Lampard aldrig stopper med at løbe og desuden har en næsten paranormal evne til at lave mange mål fra sin plads på den offensive centrale midtbane. En lignende rolle vil portugisiske Deco vældig gerne indtage, uden dog for alvor at slå igennem i sin debutsæson. Chelseas ofte kompakte midtbane kan desuden bestå af Michael Ballack og he-manfiguren John Obi Mikel. Dette bevirker ofte den luksus at enten Ballack eller Essien får en rolle på højrekanten, hvor også Salomon Kalou kan benyttes. På den modsatte kant har Florent Malouda været et fast indslag i sidste sæson, uden på noget tidspunkt at imponere undertegnede. Kloge hoveder hævder dog han er fremragende, så det tror vi delvist på. Nu er Joe Cole imidlertid så småt på vej tilbage efter en særdeles slem knæskadde, og den lille engelske troldmand kommer givetvis til at spille en rolle inden sæsonen er omme.

Helt på toppen råder klubben over to stærke og meget målfarlige herrer i form af Nicolas Anelka og Didier Drogba. Begge spillere er utrolig træfsikre foran mål, og særligt Drogba kan reducere de fleste forsvar til randen af tårer med sine begavede løb og overmenneskelige fysik (så glemmer vi for en gangs skyld hans utrolige fysiske svaghed når først han tackles i feltet). Salomon Kalou kan tilbyde et mere listigt alternativ, hvis Ancelotti får lyst til at forsøge sig med stor-stærk/lille-hurtig kombinationen.

Væsentlige transfere: Stille og roligt

Udover at benytte sommerne til at udlåne, hvad der minder om et helt ungdomshold – mest nævneværdigt forsvaren Michael Mancienne til Wolves, angriberen Franco Di Santo til Blackburn og offensivtalentet Scott Sinclair til Wigan – har Chelsea endelig fået skilt sig af med kæmpefloppet Andriy Shevchenko, som er taget hjem til Dynamo Kiev på en fri transfer. Det er de sikkert glade for i både London og den ukrainske hovedstad. En anden eksotisk angriber som aldrig slog igennem i Chelsea, Claudio Pizarro, er ligeledes smuttet fra the blues. Peruvianeren er taget tilbage til Bundesligaen, hvor han fremover skal spille for Werder Bremen.

Der har været rimelig stille ved indgangsdøren til Stamford Bridge. Chelsea største indkøb denne sommer – og måske et af de bedste indkøb overhovedet i dette vindue – kom i form af venstrekanten(/backen) Yuri Zhirkov som kommer til fra CSKA Moskva. Zhirkov var en del af det russiske landshold som imponerede røven ud af bukserne på alt og alle ved EM 2008, og kommer med både fart, teknik og fremragende blik for spillet til at kunne blive et kæmpehit i engelsk fodbold. At han så oven i købet har en snert af lighed med Christian Dailly bør blot fremme en hurtig og succesfuld integration. Yderligere er to unge talenter Boro-keeperen Ross Turnbull og Man City angriberen Daniel Sturridge blevet tilknyttet efter kontraktudløb i deres tidligere klubber. Særligt sidstnævnte er en spændende breddespiller pt, og potentielt en fremtidig stjerne.

Forventninger: Nu tromler Chelsea-toget…

Chelseas trup er skræmmende. Holdet råder over klassespillere til alle pladser, og ofte mere end en. Ydermere rammer en række af holdets profiler deres formodede allerbedste år i disse sæsoner, og motivationen har næppe været større for at vinde alt hvad de kommer i nærheden af efter et par lige-ved-og-næsten-sæsoner. Ancelotti er en begavet, forsigtig og kompetent træner som meget vel kan bibringe noget stabilitet og ro til det cirkus som ofte har omgærdet holdets omklædningsrum de senere år.

Derudover har holdet den fordel i forhold til sine umiddelbare konkurrenter, at man ikke har skiftet særlig meget ud i truppen, og derfor kan lade den samme maskine som sluttede sidste sæson rigtig stærkt tromle videre i denne. Hvis man dertil ligger at den særlige os-mod-verden attitude som bliver stærkere og stærkere på Stamford Bridge jo mere modgang holdet møder – ja så fremstår Chelsea godt gammeldags frygtindgydende. “Fucking-disgrace”-gate og den nylige transferban har kun skabt endnu mere sammenbidte miner hos Chelseas bundrutinerede verdensstjerner, og hvis spillere som Terry, Cole, Essien, Lampard og Drogba bliver endnu mere trodsige i deres vindermentalitet, er det næsten uhyggeligt.

Derfor vinder de Premier League 2009-2010. Med mindre egoerne eksploderer, Ancelloti fejler totalt i engelsk fodbold, knalder Abramovichs kone i frustration og russeren i stedet indsætter sin hemmelig kammersjuk Ole Mørch på trænersædet. Det er heldigvis aldrig kedeligt i vestlondon…

Tip: Forventet placering: Nummer 1 Supersæson: Nummer 1.

Epilog:

Dermed slutter den syge og muntre gennemgang af Premier League holdene. Det trak tænder ud – og trak i det hele taget bare ud. Nu kan mine fikse ideer og forudsigelser så bide mig i røven resten af sæsonen. Buddet på sluttabellen ser jo allerede ud til at være helt i skoven, og jeg er ved at formulere flere hundrede dårlige undskyldninger. Tottenhams købe af Kranjcar gør dem endnu stærkere, Portsmouth al for sene take-over ser ud til at blive dyr, Burnley har allerede gjort det bedre end antaget, og Arsenal tog vel røven på de fleste i første spillerunde. Anyways. Jeg håber i har hygget jer med det. Jeg kan se der er tusindevis af folk der har kigget ind, og jeg har da endnu ikke modtaget dødstrusler, så det tolker jeg som en munter succes…

Nu skal bloggen tilbage på sporet med selvmedlidende vrøvl fra the wonderfull world of West Ham, hvor der er sket mere de sidste tre uger end der sker på fem sæsoner af Glamour. Det er nemlig heller aldrig kedeligt i østlondon. Først skal skribenten dog på en tiltrængt restitutionstur ud i efterårslandet. Watch this space osv.

Después de ganar la Liga de Campeones de París, en el 2006, la UEFA también galardonó al equipo azulgrana. En aquella ocasión el Barça acaparó casi todos los premios, con Puyol como mejor defensa, Deco como mejor centrocampista, Eto'o como mejor delantero, y Ronaldinho como jugador más valioso (MVP). Sólo Víctor Valdés, que era candidato a mejor portero, no fue premiado durante la gala celebrada también en Mónaco.

El FC Barcelona, campeón de la Liga de Campeones 2008/09, es el club con más candidatos para los premios que la UEFA entregará este jueves por la tarde en Mónaco. La entrega de premios, que se llevará a cabo durante el sorteo de la liguilla de Champions en el Forum Grimaldi, premiará a los mejores futbolistas de cada posición durante la competición europea, además de revelarse cuál ha sido el jugador más valioso (MVP) de la pasada Liga de Campeones.

Seis candidatos azulgranas

Hace unos días la UEFA ya dio a conocer a los candidatos que optan a estos premios, entre los cuales hay seis jugadores que la pasada temporada formaron parte del equipo campeón de la tercera Liga de Campeones de la historia del Barça. Se trata de Valdés, como mejor portero, Piqué, como mejor defensa, Iniesta y Xavi, como mejor migcampista, y Messi y Eto’o (ahora en el Inter), como a mejor delantero.

Estos seis jugadores lucharán también por levantar el título de jugador más valioso (MVP) de la pasada Liga de Campeones.

Mejor portero del año 

Mejor defensa del año

Mejor centrocampista del año

Mejor delantero del año  

El club con más representantes

El FC Barcelona es el equipo que más candidatos (6) tiene en los premios que la UEFA entrega cada año coincidiendo con la disputa de la Supercopa de Europa. El Manchester United, el otro finalista de la Liga de Campeones, sólo tiene tres. Los dos equipos ingleses que llegaron a las semifinales de la máxima competición europea también están representandos. El Chelsea, equipo que fue eliminado por el Barça, tiene dos futbolistas entre los candidatos, mientras que el Liverpool sólo tiene uno.

Votación de los entrenadores

La elección de los ganadores se ha hecho después de la votación realizada por los 16 entrenadores de los equipos que se clasificaron para los octavos de final de la Liga de Campeones. Ésta es la primera vez que los mejores jugadores de la pasada Champions League son escogidos por los técnicos europeos.

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Tony Meola, the fifth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?

It is often said that soccer goalkeepers are a different breed. One way in which they stand-out from the crowd is by the “unique” kits they don on the pitch relative to their teammates. And “unique” can sometimes mean strange or just plain ugly.

I was reminded of this after watching the Chris Kirkland clad in all white (including a cap) let in five versus Manchester United on Saturday. Kirkland had no forehand, no backhand and certainly no style.

Then I was cued again while watching a giant leprechaun or Brad Friedel if you prefer play splendidly in yesterday’s upset of Liverpool. So, I thought I spend some time scouring the net for the most “unique” kits I could find.

A different breed, indeed.

Let’s address keepers wearing caps first before moving onto the ridiculous jerseys and the king of hideous penalty box attire…Jorge Campos.

Tennis anyone?

Ted Doig...I blame you.

It seems as if keepers wearing caps has some history behind it as Ted Doig wore one with a plastic chin strap way, way, way back in 1890s for Sunderland. Somewhat odd considering Sunderland’s lack of affinity for any sort of sunny weather.

Now, I’m all for awarding someone a cap when they play for an international team. But wearing it during the game! It’s just not a good look, from Kahn to Kirkland to Cech, but at least Cech has a reason for looking like he is going to be in the next Tron movie. For a very special treat, see what “Crazy Legs” once donned around his cabeza here.

I am guessing Oliver Kahn was driving a convertible at the time.

(note from Matt: Is Miroslav Klose wearing a Miami Dophins uniform? Bizarre.)

Leaving the skull section, let’s go to jerseys. For a great history of the wicketkeeper shirt, head over to Goalkeepers Are Different. (Fitting, and somewhat complimentary name for the site, no?) As for the jerseys, the funny thing is that after seeing so many hideous ones you start thinking, “well that one isn’t that bad.” So, here we go with the most hideous! Hope you didn’t just eat.

If we missed any of your favorites, please post a link in the comments.

The Human Traffic Cone

Allegedly, Petr Cech moonlights in construction. (2008)

The Q*bert

Welcome to David Seamen's nightmare. (1996)

The Cosby

Somebody give Mark Bosnich a Jello Pudding Pop already. (Early 90s)

The Spidey

Unlike the rest of us, Jeremie Janot never outgrew his underoos. (2005)

The Grandma

Ian Walker, Hotspurs: Nana would not be happy that I raided her closet

The “Hey, Kool-Aid!”

Rumos has it Apoula Edima Bete Edel went straight from his Fruit of the Loom audition to the pitch. Talk about a hard worker. (2008)

The Look-Ma-No-Hands

This Sunderland jersey is pure stupid or you may have just gotten blackjack. (1994)

The Safari

I'm guessing the designer of this Liverpool shirt was an Everton supporter. (Mid-90s)

The High School Auditorium Curtains

The fact that it was probably fire retardant brought Les Sealey some comfort. (1993)

The John Travolta

Rene Higuita is secure enough to rock a jheri curl and shiny hot pants.

(I think I am required by law to mention the infamous Scorpion Kick.)

And the undisputed Godfather of the Keeper Kit…ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for…the one…the only…

Jorge Campos

Jorge Campos...sponsored by Crayola.

"What?! What?! I'm on vacation."

Hey Jorge...are you color blind?

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So what if Manchester United lost the Community shield game to Chelski? We are still the Premiership champs and have also won the Champions League three times, something the Blues haven’t managed even once. Of course, there was Evra and his penalty kick. Makes me feel I coud guide the ball past Cech with a broken knee. But then there was also blind Mr. Chris Foy. It would be easy to argue about his decisions but it would be wise to say it was an evenly contested game that could have gone either way. Only a fool would play down United’s chances in the Premiership after this loss; the Shield after all only decides who gets to own up the initial bragging rights.

The Red Devils will definitely go into the league as favorites even without Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. Sir Alex may not have shelled out £50 million on transfers, but Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia will be eager to prove themselves. The signing of Owen on a free transfer is probably the best move this season so far in the Premiership. He has so far hit top form in the pre-season games. An early introduction of Owen could have swinged United’s fortunes against Chelski. Ecuadorian Valencia is by no means Ronaldo, but his last season at Wigan was nothing short of exceptional. Then there is also the yet to be tested Zoran Tosic. He played a few games for the senior team last year but was largely involved in reserve fixtures.

I really can’t wait for the Premier League to start. I have already started making my presence felt in Fantasy Premier League games on various sites. Like any other Red Devils faithful, I too am praying for another successive title not just in England but also Europe.

Entre los mejores alicientes para seguir el fútbol inglés se encuentra que, como mínimo, hay asegurados 12 partidos -los correspondientes a la Premier entre los 4 grandes de los últimos años- que enfrenten a equipos del máximo nivel mundial. Si le sumamos los que aparezcan entre FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League y Community Shield tenemos un buen puñado de partidazos a lo largo de cada temporada. Precisamente este último torneo ha sido el que ha abierto el telón, no sólo de los grandes duelos, sino del fútbol británico en esta temporada que se aproxima. Manchester y Chelsea, los protagonistas del primer acto.

Para aquellos a los que Community Shield les suene a chino, cabe aclarar que es el correspondiente a la Supercopa en el resto de ligas europeas: el campeón de la Premier y el campeón de la FA Cup se enfrentan, en este caso a un partido y en terreno neutral, el mítico Wembley. Sin embargo, hay una diferencia esencial con respecto, por ejemplo, a lo que representa la Supercopa en España. Cuando aquí se toma como un torneo serio en Inglaterra el partido es como un comienzo de fiesta. Es más un amistoso que algo oficial. De hecho, durante muchos años, en caso de empate se compartía el honor entre los finalistas – salvo que los capitanes decidiesen lo contrario-. Hoy en día, se decide el ganador en los penaltis, sin prórroga y se permiten hasta 6 cambios. Sobra decir que la intensidad brilla por su ausencia, pero el espectáculo está garantizado.

Manchester United y Chelsea han revivido la final de la Champions de 2008, aunque esta vez han sido los blues los que se han alzado con el título. Ha sido, como en aquella ocasión, en la tanda de penaltis. Ha sido un partido igualado, con una parte para cada equipo. Empezó golpeando el Manchester, que salió más enchufado al partido, con un gol de Nani. El portugués, que fue el mejor de los diablos rojos, volvió loco -con la ayuda de O’Shea- a Ivanovic durante toda la primera parte. En una de sus internadas por banda derecha, se fue del serbio y conectó un latigazo que hacía el 1-0. A tal punto llegó el sufrimiento de Ivanovic que en el descanso, Ancelotti tuvo que cambiarlo por Bosingwa. El cambio logró el objetivo y, en la segunda parte, el Chelsea fue capaz de mantener a raya a los atacantes del United para poder irse a por el empate.

Y acabó llegando en una pifia de un desafortunado Foster, que sustituirá a van der Sar los próximos dos meses. El inglés, no acertó a despejar un balón muerto en el área pequeña y el balón le cayó a un omnipresente Ricardo Carvalho, que remató de cabeza a puerta vacía. Con la inercia del gol, y llevados por un gran Drogba, llegaba el segundo del Chelsea por mediación de Frank Lampard, que acababa una buena contra con un polémico gol, ya que Evra estaba tendido en el suelo. Parecía que el partido llevaba en mismo destino de la final de la FA, cuando Frank culminaba la remontada ante el Fulham.

Pero quedaba el último arreón red. Los cambios introducidos por Ferguson dieron sus frutos. La banda derecha volvió a generar oportunidades con la entrada de Fabio -qué buena pinta tiene este chaval de 19 años- por O’Shea. En contraste a la descarada juventud del brasileño, apareció la experiencia y el temple de Ryan Giggs. El eterno galés se inventó un pase de gol magistral para que Wayne Rooney, destinado a llevar los galones de este equipo una vez que se ha liberado de las restricciones que le imponía la presencia de Cristiano Ronaldo, cruzase el balón superando a Petr Cech. Empate justo al final de los los 90 minutos.

Al final, el Chelsea fue más efectivo en los penaltis y se lleva el primer título de la temporada en Inglaterra. Y parece que no será el último. A falta de que se cierren por completo las plantillas, el Chelsea parece el mejor colocado para reconquistar el trono perdido de la Premier. La solidez de un grupo que se conoce, más la incorporación del genial Yuri Zhirkov -al que nos quedamos con las ganas de ver en el partido de hoy- deberían ser bazas suficientes para asaltar la que, en mi opinión, sigue siendo la mejor liga del mundo. La próxima semana empezaremos a descubrirlo.

Community Shield 2009

Manchester United 2 – 2 Chelsea

Nani (11′), Ricardo Carvalho (52′), Lampard (70′), Rooney (91′)

Tanda de penaltis

Lampard (gol, 0-1)  -  Giggs (parada, 0-1)

Ballack (gol, 0-2) – Carrick (gol, 1-2)

Drogba (gol, 1-3) – Evra (parada, 1-3)

Kalou (gol, 1-4)

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