08.30.08
Midweek Matches at 2AM
As proof that I watch other stuff than just the Premier League, I was up to watch a few cup games this week… unfortunately none of them were as exciting as your ordinary EPL fixture.
1. Liverpool 1 Standard Liege 0 (1-0 agg. AET)
I wondered if Liege won the toss, but I’ve always got the feeling that Liverpool always choose to attack right-side in the second-half towards the Kop like their last-minute victory against Boro, and famous triumphs like the 3-1 vs Olympiakos and Neil Mellor’s screamer against Arsenal (and indeed the Champions League comeback was attacking to the right). They didn’t in this game, hence it took so long for the Reds to score. And it was a gift from the left-back Dante who switched off at the far post, that incident blighted all his work up until that point, where I had thought to myself that he’d be a future Brazil international.
It’s a shame because I wanted to watch the Belgian champions in the CL. They look to be a more steady side than Anderlecht who had that undesirable CL record of straight losses.
2. FC Midtjylland 0 Man City 1 (1-1 agg, 4-2 on pens)
I didn’t finish watching the game because Man CIty was so boring, Borring ran rings around them in midfield. Shoving Micah Richards in DM was a bad choice; he had just suffered a head injury against West Ham at the weekend, it was his original playing position but he’d long abandoned that, and there were players like Gelson Fernandes who could play there better. I honestly didn’t think City would go through. Jo didn’t look as impressive as expected of him, but I’d wait for the climate to get colder and see since he’s used to it when he played in Russia.
3. FC Zenit St. Petersburg 2 Man United 1
After the second goal by Danny came in I switched the TV off, even though afterwards United’s game improved. There’s a genuine lack of -something- in United’s game the past few matches. Now that Saha has left I don’t have any doubt that Berbatov will get the Number 9 shirt, seeming that Tottenham are trying to get rid of him, and they’ve already got Pavlyuchenko as his replacement. They should stop stalling and grab the money when it’s there.
Well, overall it was pretty disappointing that United lost the Super Cup but I felt Zenit deserved it. They’re in mid-season (made busier by their backlog of league matches after asking the Russian FA to postpone them before the UEFA Cup final which is horrible since Rangers didn’t have something like that), have impressive players who like to get the ball on their feet and Tymoshchuk had a wonderful game as the holding midfielder (if it was someone else Zenit was playing I’d watch it to the end for his play).
Later on it’s back to the Premier League… gimme the fast-flowing league games rather than the cagey knockout games.
P.S. This just in, Ebi Smolarek to Bolton. That is gobsmacking. Bolton don’t look like relegation candidates anymore.
08.25.08
White Towel Lane
Juande Ramos needs to straighten things out. Instead he came forward and blamed the wantaway Berbatov for his side’s poor start of the season.
I’m not one to think that a football team revolves only on one player. Everyone plays a part – the starting eleven, the subs, the management team, the physios, the tea lady, even the fans. Hence I can only see Ramos throwing the one easy excuse – blaming “instability” caused by the soon-to-be leaving player, pivotal as he is to the team.
I don’t understand Tottenham’s plight. Why are they stalling on Berbatov’s sale? Are they holding out on more money like how they did with Carrick? You could see how greedy they were by demanding £20m for Robbie Keane at his prime. Furthermore, they have a load of other players to sell, risking the scenario of should they fail to find buyers they would have to terminate their contracts and let them go for free.
If they can get the money earlier it would ease their own search for a replacement for Berbatov. Of course, it has to be the right player with the right mentality but if Ramos had done his homework, and had preempted the noise Sir Alex made about Berbatov wanting to leave for United (which was in June) he’d find one already. Surely there’s some Spanish hotshot (read: Sergio Garcia) he could bring in from La Liga. (Valero to Albion in a club record… it’s crazy. Spain are exporting their players really well these days, can’t say the same for England. Ever.)
What matters for Tottenham now is to gel quickly as a team. Faces come and go every year for them, this is probably why they often fail in getting good results from the get-go. I strongly believe Tottenham have all the individual class in the world with their team. But we all know mere individuals don’t make a team.
I declare Sunderland a crazy team. There’s not gonna be space for the recent two new arrivals in Roy Keane’s team in WE2008 (one’s Anton Ferdinand). With all the competition for only 11 places, everyone in that club would be at their toes – that’s good for Keane, but kinda heartless in my opinion.
What an awesome debut for Vincent Kompany. Only two days at the club and he looked like having played there and indeed in the Premier League for ages. He’s real class. Don’t like his choice of club though. Now if anyone could snap up Vanden Borre in the near future… (likewise Kevin Mirallas).
08.18.08
One game into the new season
To be honest I can’t give a wholly clear picture of all 20 clubs right now but some have made it quite clear they’ll be either big hits or sorry misses.
Man United needed a temporary vacancy in Newcastle’s defence to score; Chelsea romped the FA Cup winners who shut United out for 90 minutes just last week 4-0. That gives me a chill in my spine. While the Blues have an assortment of attacking options, United are turning to youth to lead the line in the absence of some key players currently missing in the squad.
While the Hansen theory has long been quashed, and United youth has always been great talents, Sir Alex needs to push through with signing another experienced striker. It’s the exact same outcry this point last season, but the difference now is that Chelsea don’t look like slipping up. Barring a sudden injury crisis (and a severe one at that) Chelsea are too strong for three-quarters of the sides in the Premier League.
Hopefully in the next few days Berbatov’s deal will be finalised. He looks to be moving for more than double the price Tottenham paid Leverkusen. That’s where Tottenham get their money I feel – they do very good business and sell players at a profit. Carrick went to United two times the initial asking price. Their new players in turn need to gel quickly in order to not falter again like the previous three seasons. Berbatov will leave a huge gap up front but bet Daniel Levy to push through signing a relatively unknown but talented striker that may shake the Premier League as much as Berbatov did before the window closes. Ramos has a few unwanted players who aren’t given squad numbers, expect a mass exodus probably at deadline day.
Everton are a really sad side. Too many youths are filling the subs bench so they don’t. No signings this summer despite playing in Europe, that’s a mystery. They’re pushing to buy Joao Moutinho but Sporting is a bigger club than Everton. I would have preferred David Moyes to sign a few who went down last season and develop him – look at Phil Jagielka who rose to prominence in the second half of last season and got his England cap in the end.
Of the three promoted sides I can only see West Brom looking to have a chance in survival. Hull had a really really lucky win against Fulham and a narrow loss against a side like Arsenal would bring a lot of confidence to the Baggies who have the best players out of the three. While Stoke and Hull are racing to fill up their first eleven with Premier League-experienced players, West Brom already have good players in their side. I honestly feel they should’ve gone up last season instead of the very disappointing Derby County.
That’s all I can say for the time being. I again urge Sunderland and Fulham to sell more of their players, and Everton to quickly buy from them or otherwise.
08.15.08
CL Cypriots
The first leg of the final qualifying stage of the Champions League produced one alarming result to me: Anorthosis Famagusta 3 Olympiakos 0.
I should take you back years earlier when I heard Temuri Ketsbaia, the Georgian midfielder who once played for the likes of Newcastle and Dundee United, had took over as player-coach at Famagusta. I started to feel an attachment to the club (Newcastle is my second team).
Cyprus is often what it is to European football as Japan or USA or the Middle East is to the football world: a retirement place. As well as old stalwarts, those who didn’t cut it also sometimes move to the Cypriot clubs. You might remember Mike Walker bringing Chris Bart-Williams and Dean Gordon to APOEL Nicosia a few years ago. Cypriot players themselves move to neighbouring Greece to hit it big – players like Okkas, Charalambides and Konstantinou and others made their names at Greek clubs like Olympiakos and Panathinaikos.
So then, along with having managed the Cyprus national team in one of those soccer management games I began to like Cyprus football and especially Famagusta since they’re strong, they have Ketsbaia managing them and they’ve got the prolific Sosin, a goalscoring machine in Cyprus who scored in the recent game against Olympiakos.
Qualifying for the Champions League would bring a lot of records for Famagusta (first team from Cyrprus to play in the group stages) and the players. One of the leading players in Iraq’s Asian Cup triumph Hawar has come back to Cyprus with Famagusta, and will probably be the first Iraqi to play in the Champions League. Ketsbaia himself would be really proud if he can hold steady in the second leg and go through, a solace for the trouble in his homeland which will hopefully be resolved soon.
08.13.08
This month’s tidbit…
…xD no really. I’ll be writing more I promise.
- It’s been in the cards for so long now but Tottenham looks to be having the right squad and manager to be finishing in the top four next season. They seriously sound like Chelsea, winning the Carling Cup first after a huge shakeup. Top players are moving there too, if they are going to get Arshavin (which sadly doesn’t look like happening) that’d be another coup.
- Roy Keane needs to free up his squad. Coming up last year with 7 recognised strikers, I wonder what’s with having 5 keepers and 3 or more players in each outfield position? To make things worse, they bought Dioufy who isn’t your sort of player to have for good team-bonding… then again if you’re a manager you’ll bring up your skills from your playing days and pass em to the players.
- There’s da Silva lining for United. I watched the two Brazilian brothers in pre-season and they look every bit as good. They first caught my attention when there was an article I read last season about them breaking into the first team pretty soon so I saw it coming already though. Let’s hope Manucho gets his work permit so that Sir Alex won’t have to buy (ridiculous if he couldn’t)… though all indication after the Community Shield game says he must. Please refer to my post last season for selected target-men he could be looking at.
- I’m hoping Twente win against Arsenal in the Champs League qualifiers. Dutch football has been on the down for the past couple of years but I want to see McClaren rise against the odds. And where’s the English signings? Surely you could bring in some of the Boro youngsters you knew, or maybe some old United ex-players…
- Speaking of Arsenal, this Wilshere lad also looks to be such a good player. Can’t believe he’s only 16 but he’s managed to get a first-team number, outperforming every one of Arsene’s fledglings past and present.
- Good thing I’m out of school or work so I can edit WE2008 for the upcoming season. Editing new kits and adding players you’ve never even heard of before are boring. Yes I’m trying to make those new Premier League teams…
