18 November Preview

I didn't put money on any matches this week because I didn't have time. I've been playing too much. But anyway, here are the previews and predictions of the matches later.

Man City vs Fulham

Man City have Trevor Sinclair, DaMarcus Beasley and Sun Jihai doubtful. But are otherwise at full strength and look strong at home.

Fulham have key man Papa Bourba Diop back in the side. Fulham have not lost away since the first day drubbing at Man United, so this promises an interesting match which is hard to call.

Verdict: Man City.. probably by not more than a goal.

Arsenal vs Newcastle

Arsenal do not have Gilberto, Diaby and Lauren while Rosicky is doubtful. They do have Freddy Ljungberg and Julio Baptista back though. After a comfortable win over Liverpool, it looks like Newcastle should be no problem for the gunners.

Newcastle are without Michael Owen, Celestine Babayaro and Oliver Bernard through injury and Emre through suspension. Shola Ameobi, Stephen Carr, Titus Bramble and James Milner, Shay Given and Obafemi Martins might be back.

Verdict: Arsenal... comfortably.

Chelsea vs West Ham

Chelsea has no fresh injuries. While according to soccernet, Cudicini looks to keep his place in goal.

Are West Ham the team that beats Chelsea in Stamford Bridge? It would be interesting if they do that given that they beat Arsenal and Blackburn after a run of bad form. Beating Chelsea would be a great scalp. West Ham look to have a full squad if Anton Ferdinand returns.

Verdict: Chelsea win.. but hope West Ham wins.

Everton vs Bolton

Tim Cahill is injured as are long-term absentees Hibbert, Pistone, Naysmith and Bolye. James McFadden is suspended. Everton would be hoping to bounce back after a defeat to Aston Vill at home last week.

Bolton have been strong at home, but can they repeat that form at Everton? They might have to do so without Ricardo Gardner and Joey O'Brien.

Verdict: Everton.. possibly 2-0

Portsmouth vs Watford

Gary O'Neil, Benjamin Mwaruwari and Glen Johson are out, while Kanu might return.

Watford have Clarke Carlisle out, along with Marlon King who will be out for the rest of the season.

Verdict: Pompey should be too strong at home.

Reading vs Charlton

Reading have a long injury list: Convey, Mate, Brown, Cox all out injured with Graeme Murty a slight doubt.

Charlton would hope to turn things round under their new 'gamble' of a manager. But have to do so with a number of injuries - Kishishev, Diawarra, Traore, Sorondo, Gibbs are all doubtful while Lisbie is definately out. Amdy Faye is suspended.

Verdict: Charlton with an away surprise.

Sheff Utd vs Man United

Verdict: Why both preview? Man United win.

Boro vs Liverpool

The Riverside has not been a happy hunting ground for Liverpool in recent seasons as they look to recover their loss of away form. Boro have Stewart Downing, Lee Cattermole, Andrew Taylor Chris Riggott and Ugo Ehiogu doubtful while Julio Arca makes his return. Mark Viduka is definately out.

Liverpool have no fresh injury concerns, but the loss of Momo Sissoko could mean Gerrard returns to the center of midfield with Jermaine Pennant filling the right wing spot. The left is open for Bolo Zenden, Riise, Warnock or Mark Gonzalez since Luis Garcia is out injured.

Verdict: Home win.. to add misery on Liverpool's poor away form

Wigan vs Aston Villa

Wigan have every chance of walking away with something from this match. They have to do so without Arjan De Zeeuw, Emile Heskey and Gary Teale while Legton Baines and David Cotteril are doubtful.

Gareth Barry is expected to return, while Gavin McCann is suspended. Villa do look strong away from home though.

Verdict: Draw. Villa are the kings of draws ain't they?

Blackburn vs Tottenham

Khizanishvili (that's a long name) is out along with Lucas Neil, Morst Gamst Pedersen, Jason Roberts, Steven Reid and Ryan Nelson.

Tottenham do not have wonderkid Aaron Lennon. They are also missing Jermaine Jenas, Pascal Chimbonda, Calum Davenport, Anthony Garnder and Paul Stalteri.

Verdict: Draw.

Hope you get lucky with your soccer bets this week!

Reference: soccernet.com - http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=280562&cc=3436

Pool Aftermath

Though it hurts to speak about my favourite team after they get shot down 3-0 by the Gunners, it is nice to know that they are not throwing in the towel yet.

The Reds have been misquoted. The new reports come out that Carra and Reina said that 4th place is the target. While I went on to read the full quotes, Carra actually said "We had big ambitions at the start of the season, which is only right at a club like Liverpool, but we also know it's important to make sure we're in the top four as soon as possible, and then we can start thinking about what's above us."

He is not conceding that fourth is the target, it is just the target for now before they can go even higher. Makes perfect sense if you ask me.

I also read Arsene Wenger and Theirry Henry's comments about backing Liverpool. It seems that 14 points from Chelsea and Manchester United are not too far away. They have mentioned that Liverpool have played poorly away, losing five out of six. That was only because Liverpool have played Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal away. They are arguably the other of the big 4 teams in the EPL. Not that that is an excuse to falter, but it's more undersandable. The other two games which they lost were at Bolton, who we know are very commited, physical and strong especially at home; and Everton, when (Merseyside) derbies can go either way.

I personally think that they got the 5 most difficult away games of the season out of the way already. It is now when you see an upturn in form. Of course there are other difficult away games such as Tottenham, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and maybe even Man City, but they would be arguably much easier games than Chelsea or Manchester United.

I am only addressing the away games because the Reds seem fine at home. They beat a previously unbeaten Aston Villa rather convincingly. They can thrash teams at home, be it in the EPL or Champions League, 2-0, 3-0 and so on. Some might not consider it a thrashing when you restrict your opponents to so few chances they can't score and score two or three past them. Well then, stop saying Liverpool got thrashed by Arsenal then.

I believe Liverpool have the right players to turn their season around, especially after most of the tough fixtures are already out of the way. Finishing first does not look a likly outcome having lost to the big teams already, but Riise quoted some interested statistics. At one point last season, Liverpool were 27 points behind Chelsea, in May, they were only 9 points.

If they can make up the 18-point gap then, why not the 14 point gap now?

11-12 November 2006 Matches

It’s back online to review the weekend EPL matches and put in a few thoughts and predictions.

Man City vs Newcastle

Probably Dietmar Hamann might return, if not only to the bench, while punters are expecting Man City to recall Bernado Corradi. There are not fresh injuries to worry about, but I think no matter how you reshuffle your squad, you shouldn’t have trouble beating a Newcastle team at home.

Newcastle could have Kieron Dyer back, unless he gets injured on the way to Manchester, and Shola Ameobi might play his last game before going in for hip surgery. Shay Given might make his return in goal tonight, while Obafemi Martins remains a slight doubt.

Verdict: Man City win… 2-0

Chelsea vs Watford

Chelsea should face a relatively easy game at home to Watford. I put a few Chelsea players in my yahoo fantasy squad this week. I’m expecting them to have a romp. Ashley Cole and Arjen Robben look set to start after being rested in the midweek Carling Cup. Captain Terry returns from suspension. He’s lucky he only missed a Carling Cup round. I still don’t know if Sheva would return yet though.

Watford only have Marlon King and Clarke Carlisle out, while captain Gavin Mahon looks set to return. But they would have a tough time against Champions Chelsea in any case.

Verdict: Chelsea win… I hope for a 3-0 or 4-0, but it might end up a 1-0 if Watford do nothing but defend with 10 man in the box.

Everton vs Aston Villa

For Everton, James McFadden is suspended for 3 games after his red-card involving under-fire Graham Poll. James Beattie looks set to start along side AJ.

Astong Villa would hope to bounce back from recent defeats to Liverpool and Chelsea, with Gary Cahill set to return to first-team action. Martin Laursen and Aaron Hughes are out, together with Garet Barry who is a slight doubt.

Verdict: Draw… Hopefully 1-1 or 2-2 for a good game to view, but might end up 0-0.

Boro vs West Ham

Middlesborough have their defensive stars returning, so look to strengthen their back line. Chris Riggot, Ugo Ehoigu and Stuart Parnaby are returning to match fitness, but might not feature in this game. While Mark Viduka is definitely out with fractured toes. “Good news” is that Abel Xavier is set to return.

West Ham have since bounced back from their slump, winning two games in a row – against Blackburn and Arsenal. Their Argentine stars might make it back to the starting line-up, as they slowly adapt to English football. There are doubts over Anton Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora though.

Verdict: Draw, or West Ham might just nick it. 1-1 or 1-2.

Portsmouth vs Fulham

Pompey are looking to bounce back after Manchester United and Chelsea ruined their encouraging start to the season. Portsmouth are boasted by the return of Campbell and Linvoy Primus this week. Kanu looks set to return to the starting line-up while Gary O’Neil and Noe Paramot might feature. Glen Johnson is making his loan totally not worth it as he sits out a long injury. Andy Cole joins him on the sidelines.

Fulham have a number of injury problems of their own. Michael Brown, Simon Elliot and Jimmy Bullard are definitely out, whilst Philippe Christanval and Mark Pembridge are doubts. Better news is that Papa Bourba Diop is expected to return.

Verdict: Portsmouth. Convincingly.

Sheff United vs Bolton

Sheffield are without Chris Armstrong, Michael Tonge, Leigh Bromby and Steve Kabba.

Bolton are only without Joey O’brien and Ricardo Gardner. Kevin Nolan might miss this game due to his fiancée due to give birth. Still, Bolton should win this easy.

Verdict: Bolton… 1-0, hopefully more.

Wigan vs Charlton

Lee McCulloch and David Cotterill might come in, while Emile Heskey is out. Not that that would make much of an attacking difference.

Charlton are without Kevin Lisbie, while Djimi Traore, Gonzalo Sorondo, Cory Gibbs and Talal El-Karkouri might return. JFH might keep his place in the Charlton strike-force. I expect Charlton to have a difficult game against a resurgent Wigan though.

Verdict: 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 Wigan, but I don’t think it would be a high-scoring game.

Blackburn vs Man Utd

This is one game which I wasted money on. I put my money on Blackburn to win. It was a tempting 4.55 odds, but it looks as slim a chance as Watford beating Chelsea,(maybe not as bad). Blackburn are without Savage, Steven Reid and Jason Roberts. Brett Emerton could return, though I hope he doesn’t because he is rubbish, and I’m in Australia!

Manchester United would field the same team as last week. I just hope for the sake of my money that the midweek lost to Southend might derail their momentum.

Verdict: Man Utd win, though I’m hoping for a long-shot upset.

Reading vs Tottenham

Another match in which I put my money on the home side causing an upset. The home side are without Bobby Convey, David Kitson, Peter Mate, Aaron Brown and Simon Cox though.

Tottenham look on a high after beating Chelsea in a sensational match last week and hope to continue that good form against Reading, though I hope not.

Verdict: Home win… for my money’s sake.

Arsenal vs Liverpool

Undoubtedly the big match of the weekend. This one is too close to call, but I might have to go for an Arsenal win despite my truest feelings a Liverpool fan. Arsenal have been playing exceptional good football recently, only that they have failed to find the net. What stops them though is ‘anti-football’ like Fabregas calls it. But Liverpool doesn’t really play anti-football. Just like Man Utd doesn’t, it looks as though Arsenal might beat yet another big name. Freddy Ljungberg and Julio Baptista are not expected to feature in the match today though.

For Liverpool, their only ‘anti-football’ star is Momo Sissoko, so his 3-month injury comes at the worst time. Gerrard looks set to move back to the centre of mid-field while Jermaine Pennant might come in on the right.

Verdict: Home win.

Suspension

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few months. I've been busy with exams and all. The last paper is today though, so I hope to continue posting my thoughts and predictions starting with the Carling Cup midweek really soon.

I'll also update the tagboard as it's probably the last tagboard.com tag-board left on the internet! Haha.

Joga bonito..

The Worst Best Team Ever

I just watched the champions league match this morning between Inter and Bayern Munich. And I have to say Inter are the worst 'best' team ever.

For those of you who don't know what I mean, Jose Mourinho tried to take the spotlight of his team by claiming that Inter have the best team in the world. We all know he is an admirer of once-his-player Hernan Crespo which probably lays the foundation of his respect for the Italian club. But watching Inter player, you just feel sorry for all the great players they have.

Starting from the back. I don't know what Van Buyten is doing in Inter. He was a flop at Man City and from this morning's game, isn't getting any better. Partnering him was Cordoba because I hardly saw Materazzi. He's error lead to the deciding goal, and almost gave away a penalty. It was also he's poor marking that let to the first goal. Grosso, a star at the world cup - or so the critics say, though I beg to differ - didn't get forward effectively at all, and his unprofessionalism showed - just like the dive against Australia in the world cup - when he's elbow earned him a straight red. It was so obviously delibrate when he looked Sagnol straight in the eye before sending his elbow across. Right back was Maicon, the Brazillian, who didn't impress me much as the attacking full-back he suppose to be, though he was more steady on the ball.

In midfield, Inter lacked creativity. Too bad I didn't get to see Vieira, but his deputy Dacourt didn't fill his boots at all. Figo reminds me of players I hate playing with. They hog the ball so much, trying to beat every person in the team, then lose the ball though there are team-mates in better positions. Not to mention, annoying when he drops to ground so easily. The sub Marciano Gonzalez was rubbish, as was . In attack Zlatan Ibrahamovic, who I was never a fan of, didn't do any constructive. He was another one to hog the ball, then do nothing with it, while giving away needless free-kicks when Inter were in attack. The red card was nothing less than he deserved. Crespo, for all his class that we know him for, hardly touched the ball. And where was Dejan Stankovic to back-up his forwards? I hardly saw him in the game save for a few shots either off target or easily saved.

The midfield was over-run by a lesser known Andreas Ottl, who was making his champions league debut. He reminds me of Xabi Alonso with his passes and willingness to shoot. He is definately a star for the future, not quite Ballack-like, but nevertheless a great central midfielder. When Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Salihamidzic and Makaay were doing nothing productive, Ottl and Van Bommel took centre stage in conquering the midfield. Though Pizarro's goal was nothing short of lucky, he made space and rusn more than his opposite number Crespo. The sub Lukas Podolski - a real star in the world cup - came on to score his first champs league goal, and it was no less than his cameo warranted, he was full of pace and life, and taking the game to then 9-men Inter.

And as if I'm not done insulting Inter yet, their subs did nothing, with Adriano out of form and out of sorts, never looked to be able to recover his goalscoring form lumbering alone up front, while Solari only touched the ball twice.

Inter better do something quick - like sack their manager or something - before they go down as the worst best team in history.

Poor Old Ashley

Food for thought (this abstract taken from football365.com):

"My worst fears were confirmed when, as Thierry and I sat in the centre circle after the final whistle, his name was sung from the rooftops while my contribution was recognised by a deafening silence" - Cashley Cole, whose 'contribution' last season was appearances in ten Premiership games.

and now that's the excuse why Ashley Cole left the gunners? I think he is just some spoilt brat. He wanted the money and Arsenal couldn't offer it to him. He also blamed everyone for treating Henry so nicely and didn't ask him out for dinner to talk about staying.

F365 - or at least their mediawatch page - got it right when they jipped him for playing only 10 games last season and complaining about a lack of support for his contribution. While Henry, who has scored 30+ goals every season for the last 4 seasons (or more) and maybe of them spectacular and winners, deserves his applause.

It's alright Ashley, Arsenal have got a better deal by signing Gallas - though I think Wenger would make the same mistake as Mourinho, by playing Gallas as the utility man. He doesn't like the left-back position, but is willing to pay there if he is kept there all season, but I think he would move back to the centre of defence once Clichy comes back fit. Then back out on the left again once Senderos gets fit.

Poor old Gallas.

Gallas, I Support You

Amid more contraversy after the long long defender saga between Arsenal and Chelsea, it turns out that Chelsea have now accused Gallas of threatening to score an own goal or make deliberate mistakes if ever selected for the Chelsea team again.

A claim furiously denied by Gallas himself. He is backed up by his french coach Domenech.

And amidst all that, I support Gallas. I believe Chelsea were capable of releasing such a statement to give an excuse to the fans for letting a class defender go. And then blamed Gallas of wanting too much money. Too much money? He went to Arsenal man, he's wages were probably halved when he went there.

Don't worry, Mr Gallas, I support you. I believe it when you said you wanted a fresh challange - and maybe get first team football in your favoured position at centre back. I believe that is your real reason for joining Arsenal.

The claims by Chelsea are just trying to turn the fans against him - to make it look like he was the traitor of that supposed tight-knitted 'family'. The club, not knowing who is the mastermind behind it, claimed this so as to put Gallas at fault and not the club. Who are the fans going to believe though?

I'm a neutral - but, as I have mentioned more than once, I support Gallas on this one!

What? West Ham?

I know I should wait for the transfer window to shut before coming out with my transfers of the summer conclusions. But I just have to announce my shock at West Ham's signings of Argentinian stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano!

There have been many conpiracy theories. One is Roman Abramovich is a shareholder of the company who owns the players' rights, so they couldn't be sold to Chelsea's nearest rivals. Another is they would just be in West Ham for a year to be 'in the shop window' so as to jack up their prices.

West Ham are a team on the up. With players like Reo-Coker, Yossi Benayoun and Marlon Harewood, it is easy to see a team that is moving forward. But to attract super stars like Tevez and Mascherano? The duo has been speculated to go to Arsenal or Manchester United or even once Real Madrid and AC Milan; and they ended up in West Ham? I would believe the story more if they ended up in Portsmouth!

But soccernet has confirmed it, I just have to say I'm very very shocked. West Ham are going to be a formidable side now. More of my money going on them to win matches! Whatever the reason they ended up in West Ham and not the elite clubs will remain a mystery (until maybe next season), but I have to say West Ham got themselves two great players.

I'm just glad Liverpool has already played them once this season!

The Break

I don’t like to talk much about international football – much less friendlies and meaningless qualifiers, where frankly, the smaller nations fail to beat the big guns especially in Europe. There may be a shock in one or two games, but throughout a league system format, the smaller nations just ain’t going to collect enough points.

Hence, after a long introduction, I would be talking about the EPL. And how the teams have did so far. And perhaps evaluate their key players and summer signings, along with the last minute speculation.

Manchester United are sitting comfortably at the top despite not having Rooney and Scholes for two games (and one game more), Ruud Van Nistelrooy who left for Madrid and a holding midfielder (till Michael Carrick decided to make an early comeback as a substitute). Cris Ron has been under much stick because of his role in Rooney’s dismissal in the World Cup, but he ended up rising to the challenge. Saha and Giggs have been in sensational form, but goals are coming from all over the place – like in the last games Fletcher and Silvestre scored! Man Utd look to be strong again this year, as they also prove their doubters wrong.

Portsmouth are a surprise second and no doubt have the best free transfers of the season so far. Kanu and Sol Campbell have driven a club from relegation candidates to a team which conceded no goals in three games, and whacked oppositions 3-0 and 4-0! Only time will tell if Portsmouth can keep up their form, because even the manager, Harry ‘Houdini’ Redknapp is afraid of the lack of strength in depth of the squad. He did manage to get Manuel Fernandes though – the looks to get a couple more players before the window closes.

Aston Villa has been showing good form early. Taking points from Arsenal then winning against Newcastle and Reading. It’s a great start for the new manager – and I’ll like to see how good that ‘Petrov’ dude is after O’Neil chased him and lost him and chased him again the whole summer long.

Everton are tied with third with new signing Andy Johnson heading the way. I’ve always been a fan of this man, and he is proving he can score once again. The only surprise is how come no other clubs came in for him earlier. And if you see the goal against Watford, Beattie and AJ look to have a good partnership forming up.

Chelsea with a record of lost one won two isn’t too bad unless they consider they spend at least £60m a year on new players! I believe Shevchenko is still finding his feet in the Premierhsip and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up there or thereabouts at the top-scorers chart at the end of the season.

West Ham picked up a possible 4 of 9 points which is a decent effort and it sees them sit in 6th in the table. They have been playing good attacking football and have only come undone by a spectacular strike by Daniel ‘the Dagger’ Agger.

Liverpool have done well so far. They sit in 7th with 4 points out of a possible 6. Sheffield United was a blip with early-season jitters kicking in, but a dominate performace against WestHam was a prefect remedy. Signings Fabio Aurelio, Jermaine Pennant and Daniel ‘the Dagger’ Agger have started to impress while Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt have shown glimpses of why Rafa bought them. Riise and Crouch are showing encouraging signs while Gerrard, Gonzalez and Alonso have yet to pick up their form of this season yet though, so I feel the best of Liverpool is yet to come.

Bolton have had a decent start to the season too. With Anelka now in their ranks, they look to have more talent on the field. They can improve though, the only thing good about their performances have been an Ivan Campo wonder strike which will compete with the Dagger for early goal of the month.

Man City overcame a early thrashing by the defending champions to record a draw against in-form Portsmouth and win against Arsenal. Though Arsenal were rubbish on that day, the defensive pairing of Richard Dunne and Sylvain Distin seem to be getting more and more formidable as the season progresses. Good thing Distin didn’t leave!

Fulham somehow overcame a torrid start to their campaign after being walloped by Man Utd 5-1. Jimmy Bullard has been rescuing them – saving a draw and snatching a win. Coleman showed great vision in snapping him up just after last season ended. Let’s just hope the rest of his team can be on par with the on-form midfielder.

That’s the top ten of the league so far. We definitely expected Arsenal and Tottenham to be there, but we’ll have to look at them next time when we review the bottom half of the table while this international break gets moving on!

Week 1 Midweek

The mid-week matches have been concluded. And I'm pleased to announce. Chelsea got beaten! All thanks to Middlesborough's late show. Unfortunately, I was hoping Chelsea won this time for I was going to put my money on Liverpool - with handicap - to win the premiership, now the odds would probably drop.

Anyway, it's good news for the rest of the Premiership that the defending champions have dropped 3 points so early in the tournament. Hopefully, more teams would come out and play against them rather than hoping for a 0-0 draw which - even if you tried - probably wouldn't end that way.. thanks to a deflected Lampard shot or something.

On the other hand, Manchester United are looking really good. Despite injuries to key players like Carrick, Heinze and Gary Neville and suspensions to Rooney and Scholes (the in the second game), they choked up 8 goals in 2 matches and only conceded once! They look like real premiership contenders at this early stage, though Arsenal and Liverpool who fumbled in their first game, have yet to play their second game.

In a day of draws - involving Blackburn and Everton, Fulham and Bolton, Man City and Portsmouth - it was nice to see O'Neil pick up his first win as Aston Villa manager. Right now the only teams yet to register a point are Wigan and Charlton. For Wigan, they only played one game - which they were unlucky to lose. And for Charlton, they just got whacked by an attacking West Ham and in-form Manchester United. Guess what I'm trying to say is that everyone would pick up points soon and we wouldn't see jokes like Sunderland in the Premiership - simply losing every game.

Anyway, the EPL has well and truly begun with new challengers rising and the defending champion faltering. Let's hope it's going to be a more exciting season for the fans!

Comments on Week 1

The first round of EPL games have been concluded with a big Chelsea win. Needless to say, the biggest disappointment was Liverpool being held to a draw at Sheffield United!

They might have done little to suggest that they can challenge for the title, and with the gap 2 points from Chelsea, the race might be over already. But many fail to note that Liverpool weren't playing their top strength team - probably with the Champions League qualifier against Macabi Haifa in sight. With Gerrard playing on the right where he is much less effective - evident with his surging run which lead to the (arguably controversial) penalty when he was playing in the centre - Liverpool also lost top players Carragher and Riise early in the game. That means that very few tactical changes can be made. Also, Finnan, Xabi Alonso and Peter Crouch were missing from the starting line-up. But whether or not they were on the bench is not important because they never made it to the field. I wouldn't write off Liverpool's chances just yet!

Arsenal struggled too against Aston Villa. But they were at home! It can be said, it's not really their home ground because it's a new stadium, and that's the first time they are playing there as well! For Arsenal, I was glad to see Theo Walcott make an appearance. Arsenal played a pretty much full-strength team. With Campbell out of the club, and Swiss Senderos still injured from the World Cup, they had to play Johan Djourou in defence with Kolo Toure. Worse still, Ashley Cole still refuses to sort out his future and so Wenger wouldn't play him yet - Justin Hoyte fills his big boots. Arsenal had full strength in midfield and attack with names like Fabregas, Helb and Henry filling the team sheet. For Vila, Lee Hendrie had an aweful game again - just coming off the bench to receive a yellow card and doing pretty much nothing else. I'm a fan of the old Lee Hendrie and hope he gets more match practice to dispell his poor run of form. And by the way, what's the news on Baros? He is loaned out? Is he injured?

And the rest...

Everton beat Watford with AJ scoring. If you been following this blog, you would know I'm a fan of Andy Johnson - always quoting his stats. Well, he proved he can score in any level! Great buy Everton!

Reading provided the somewhat shock of the round by beating Southgate's Middlesborough 3-2 after coming from 0-2 down. I don't want to talk about this match because I bet on it to end as a draw. Also, I removed Kitson from my fantasy league team just a day before the season started and he scored!

West Ham hammered Charlton with Troare showing exactly why Liverpool sold him. Darren Bent got his season off to a scoring start though. But Zamora and Carlton Cole upstaged last-season's top scorer Marlon Harewood.

Newcastle had a useful win over Wigan at home. Ameobi was having to fill big shoes, and he did by scoring the winner. I've been a fan of Ameobi although he gets alot of stick from the media as not being a good enough Alan Shearer replacement.

Pompski got off to an excellent start with Kanu the hero (and villian at the same time) scoring 2 goals but missing a what-could-have-been-a-hat-trick penalty. Todorov tapped in the other goal in a 3-0 victory over poor Blackburn (with had two players - Lucas Neil and Andy Todd - sent off). Their not going to repeat their 6th in the league with that performance! Though Brad Friedel made 8 saves, he still let in 3 goals, goes to show the domination as a result of the Pompski Revolution under Harry Redknapp (and Russian money spinner).

Bolton beat a poor Tottenham 2-0 with Ivan Campo scoring a fluke goal. Well, I think he did intend to try to strike it from 40 yards out, but he was lucky that England keeper Robinson was caught by surprise. It wasn't a good result for my yahoo fantasy team because I had Berbatov in it. Neither was it for my money as I bet on a draw.

Chelsea had a thumping victory over Man City and the scoreline should have been much more really. I did have Distin in my yahoo team - but good thing he didn't earn me negative points. Terry was a star in defence (and getting a goal as well) while Lamps and Drogba finished the job.

Lastly, is the biggest victory of the first round were Rooney, Ronaldo and Saha were on form firing Manchester United to the top of the league with a 5-1 win over Fulham. Saha showed us exactly why he left Fulham - to score goals past them! Christanval and Ian Pearce absolutely had no answers to the Manchester forwards' questions. Anyone with Rooney and Cris Ron in their fantasy team would have done well this week.

To conclude, I would access my yahoo! fantasy team

Forwards
Rooney - awesome with 33.5 points! Only problem is his value shot up so much, I don't want to sell him though he is suspended for the next 3 games in case I can't buy him back!
Sheva - didn't do anything, so at least his price dropped.
Berbatov - didn't do much but still got 5 points from drawing fouls.

Mids
Gerrard - a disappointing game by his standards, but he can only improve.
Phil Neville - if they allowed me, I might as well have left it blank. He brought in a miserly 0.5 points. Don't buy defensive midfielders, they can't score points - though they are really cheap
Ballack
Rosicky - both didn't play, what a waste. Anyone knows if Rosicky is injured?

Defence
Terry - was a star in the game against City, raked in loads of points!
Distin - was average considering his team got whacked 3-0 by the champions
Carragher - unfortunate to be stretchered off around just 20+ minutes. He did manage to block two shots before that though - earning some points. His price went up, so I can't sell him too though he might be injured for next week.

Keeper
Reina - 0 saves, let in a goal. That's all there is to say.

Season Preview Part III: Blackburn Rovers

The EPL starts in a few days!.. Here I'll look at how the teams would perform in the coming 06-07 English Premierleague Season. This is based on the players they have as of today, and assuming no shock moves expected in the coming days.

A good signing and Blackburn look to be on the way to improvement. I would have like David Bentley to stay, but looks as though he wouldn't be back next season. Florent Sinama Pongolle is back at Liverpool too, but with the arrival of Dirk Kuyt today, it looks as though as he is moving on as well - not back to Blackburn - but to Lyon.

Anyway, back to Blackburn. They look to have a strong defence with Brad Friedel as inspirational as ever, shielded by Ryan Nelson - whom every club wants to chase now - and in front of him is Robbie Savage, the midfielder who defends like his name says. Partnering Nelson in defence this season would look to be Todd or Khizanishvilli and flanked by Michael Gray and the awesome Lucas Neil. It looks though that Brett Emerton is on his way out.

In midfield, they have the creative, if not aging talent in Tugay. They have pace on the wing with Morten Gamst Pederson. Pederson is an awesome talent and we all remember him being the conquerer of Manchester United - scoring against them in 3 of the games played against them last season! Steven Reid on the other flank is also good talent, with excellent skill on the ball, but I'm not so sure about his crossing.

In attack, they have left Paul Dickov go - thank goodness for Blackburn fans - but brought in another joke in "Franny" Jeffers. Selling Bellamy to Liverpool (*smilez*), Blackburn look to be short upfront with only Jeffers and Shefki Kuqi - until they brought in Jason Roberts. I'm a fan of Roberts, and I think he would soon establish himself as first choice striker in Blackburn - if he isn't already. He has been a great acquisition and would do well I predict.

The future looks bright for Blackburn as they build on their 6th place from last season. However, I don't see them challenging the top four teams for their places this year.

Prediction: 6th

Season Preview Part I I: Aston Villa

The EPL starts in a few days!.. Here I'll look at how the teams would perform in the coming 06-07 English Premierleague Season. This is based on the players they have as of today, and assuming no shock moves expected in the coming days.

I was waiting for Villa to sign some players before I write a preview of them. But the season is starting in just 3 days! I don't think they would sign any big name in time for the season to begin. I'll investigate their line up as of now.

After a disappointing campaign last year, Villa have got a new chairman, new fundings and a new manager. I like the headline 'Lerner drives new Aston Martin' (football365.com). Jokes aside, Villa really should be a force this year under the whole new club board and manager. Martin O'Neil was known as one of the best managers around, but the Scottish League and EPL are two very different leagues in terms of class. He might find some trouble in his first season - especially with the current members of his squad.

Goalkeeper: Thomas Sorensen is the undisputed number 1. With reserve keeper Stuart Taylor making only 2 appearances last term, it is unlikly anything would change. Sorensen is an excellent keeper - stats say he made 240 saves in the EPL alone -, but he needs his defence to help him.

His defence need help though. Wilfred Bouma has been looking less than steady while Liam Ridgewell is prone to his mistakes too. Olof Mellberg is a rock in defence, though they need some pace at the back. Aaron Hughes is Villa's best defender I think. He is consistent and stable.

In midfield, Villa need strengthening too. I don't think very much of Gavin McCann or James Milner. Is Milner still there though? The news of him going to the club permenantly or going back to his former club seemed to have died down. Anyway, the more consistent performers in midfield are Gareth Barry (Garry Barry) and young Steven Davis. I was expecting Barry to jump boat, but thanks to wise words from the new manager, he's decided to stay, I can just say it's good for Villa because he is their best player. Davis on the other hand is a good young prospect, but I don't see him playing for a big club anytime soon.

In attack, O'Neil needs to find Phillips' scoring boots, Angels compass on the field and teach Baros how to kick a ball. Phillips is getting old, but he proves to be the only Villa striker who knows where the goal is. Angel is most probably going to be sold while Baros... I hope O'Neil can bring out what Gerard Houllier and David O'Leary saw in him. Don't worry though, if all else fails, they have promising Luke Moore to come off the bench. This is one player I think would go to a big club one day.

Other than their strikerforce, the Villa team look horribly short of depth. Out of everyone NOT mentioned above, only Mark Delaney made more than 10 appearances last term. All the rest like Lee Henderie, Ulises De La Cruz, Patrik Berger, Peter Wittingham have all made at most 7 starts.

I don't see them being a force yet this season, but I would like to see who O'Neil brings in and what he can do with the team. A highly-rated manager with money should be able to transform even the crappiest teams.

Prediction: 10-15th position

Can You Score in the Premiership?

I was reading the comments on this poll on football365.com/forum. The thread was 'Can you score in the premiership?' (if you played every minute of every game)

Quite a number of people actually say they can. Those people obviously haven't played against the best. And then there were some, who claim they play for divisions just a bit lower than conference and say they don't think they can. What makes people think they can score 5-10 a season? Rubbish.

Even Emile Heskey and Djibril Cisse can't do that.

Others claim they can probably put away a penalty. Those humble say they can put away 1 out of 5. I don't even think that is possible. The only way you would score is if you get a penalty, blindfold the keeper and tie his hands round his back!

Otherwise from open play, maybe if you are too crap to even mark; and then the linesman forgets to flag you offside, and Theirry Henry sprints through the entire defence, rounds the keeper and lays it at your feet 1 yard before the line. Maybe you might score then.

I wanted to write that all on the forum, but guess what? You have to wait for a review panel to manually check your registeration before activating your account! Ha. It's alright, I got my talking soccer blog!

For the Community

Final score: Liverpool 2 Chelsea 1.

Sweet goal for Shevchenko, but sweeter victory for Liverpool. In my opinion, Liverpool deserved to win by more than that 2-1 scoreline. But I suppose when you want to compare with the Premierleague champions who spend at least £50million on new players every season, you can't be too greedy.

As expected, Mourinho started complaining about the lack of preparation for his team amidst 'praise' for Liverpool. Quoting from football365.com Mourinho said "...but if you don't think about the difference of condition of both teams they deserved to win because they were better than us." It sounds like putting an excuse to why you lost while praising the opponent so you don't sound sour grapes. And I was about to predict that he would whine about the internationals disrupting his preparations futhtur, but he already did:

"I have to say this is intelligent. They realise players should be with their teams before the season starts not with their national teams."(football365.com) when commenting that his native Portugal decided not to have an international friendly.

Anyway, we all don't care with all the excuses Mourinho makes about his team. The fact is Liverpool beat Chelsea. And Liverpool weren't playing their first XI. The only first-teamers who started were probably Reina, Carragher, Finnan and Crouch. If you want to count Pennant, go ahead, but we all know that key players like Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Bellamy weren't in the starting line-up, while Chelsea on the other hand had the best squad they could put forward minus the injuries.

With Mourinho saying that Liverpool would have a psychological blow if they lost to a 50% Chelsea, then Chelsea must have suffered a blow losing to 50% of the Liverpool first team. Chelsea are still the team to beat this season - mainly because of their money - but Liverpool had sent out a good sign to the rest of the Premiership - that Chelsea are beatable!

I like the quote on soccernet.com: "Crouch's late goal gave Benitez another win over Mourinho and tightened his psychological hold. He has beaten him in the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Community Shield. Now for the Premiership."

It might be a "meaningless friendly", but they did do something for the community.

Crespo to Inter

Chelsea is so rich eh. They just let Hernan Crepo go to Inter for free. But they have an option of taking him back after 1 year. It pretty much is a loan unless Chelsea decide they don't want him.

Inter would be a good team this season with all the additions they made. And they would be looking to "defend" their "title". Lots of inverted commars thanks to the controversial way they won last season.

Anyway, back to Crespo. I'm an admirer of this player ever since he played for Inter in his first spell. I think he is an ideal striker. He can take long shots, and finish when running onto the ball, he is also good in the air and powerful with headers. He has great tap-the-ball-in-van-Nistelrooy-style positioning in front of goal too. But I think the best thing about him is his movement. With him running off a striker partner, he always seems to be able to find space, or make space for his strike partner. I think it's a pity Chelsea had to let him go, because I was picturing in my head how well Sheva and Crespo worked so well together in AC Milan. It was mainly thanks to Crespo's intelligent running.

So all the best to one of the great modern strikers. I hope he finds he settles well where he is, because his football deserves it!

Season Preview Part I : Arsenal

The EPL starts in 2 weeks!.. Here I'll look at how the teams would perform in the coming 06-07 English Premierleague Season. This is based on the players they have as of today, and assuming no shock moves expected in the coming 2 weeks.

Out go 3 veterans and in comes one superstar. Can they really balance the team? Campbell was always a rock in defence till last season, Pires, though now slower has the experience and creativity and Bergkamp was more than special as Mourinho says. Can Arsenal do without them? They did bring in an awesome Tomas Rosicky for a steal of about £7m. He would be an awesome player.

Their first team squad is well-balanced and strong. With Henry up front, they can always be guaranteed goals. Reyes is finding his feet in England, and I expect Hleb to do the same this season. Gilberto is showing good form to fill the void left by Vieira in the 'destructors' role, while Fabregas is magnificient in spraying passes round the pitch. In defence, Toure is becoming a world-class player and when fit again, Swiss Senderos is showing what good talent Wenger knows how to nuture. They might lose Ashley Cole to Chelsea though, and when that happens, I hope to see who Arsenal can bring in to replace him. On right-back, they have the young, skilful and pacy Eboue to challange now-fit-again Lauren for the spot. Between the sticks is the now-consistent Lehmann, who I think has come of age to show leadership and steadiness.

They look like a formidable side - at least their first XI- this season. But with back-up players like Van Persie, Adebayor, Ljungberg and Flamini, it can't be that bad. I just hope to see a bit more of Theo Walcott this season!

Prediction: Top 4

Probably first XI:

Man Utd This Summer

Manchester United suffered a bad summer. I think it was made worse by the press really. They make the bust-up between Rooney and Cris Ron probably worse than it really is. Also, the bust-up with Ruud Van Nistelrooy too. I think Man Utd just wanted an excuse to sell him, they probably wanted a bigger fee though.

Also, they failed to attract Patrik Vieira. It would have been strange to see Vieira in an Arsenal jersey, also giving his previous stand-offs between Keane, Ruud and Neville. Nevertheless, two of the three are not in the club anymore. After Vieira's supposed move to Inter supposedly stalled, Man United looked favourite to land him, but in the end, it looks 99% sure he would land up in Inter.

Man United's only signing this summer has been Michael Carrick so far. Fergie says he was worth it, so we shall see how it goes. I would be very interested in seeing Carrick perform at the highest level though.

If Manchester can perform well in the league after this difficult summer, I would credit it to Ferguson, for knowing exactly what he was doing selling Ruud and getting Carrick. It's a gamble, but we'll see how it goes.

Ruud to Leave Like That

I know it's a bit of old news that Ruud Van Nistelrooy has left Manchester United to go to Real Madrid. But it had been speculation for weeks, and only Man Utd couldn't agree on a fee. The fee turned out to be a paltry 10mill-pounds. Considering they spent 18-mil on Michael Carrick.

I wouldn't even pay 18 mil for Owen Hargreaves, and he is England's first choice defensive midfielder! No doubt Carrick has improved alot in the Tottenham ranks, but even they must be laughing now at the 18mil price tag. I don't know what's going on in Manchester United, but I sure hope Fergie knows what he is doing. Maybe a couple more big name signings would please the fans.

They need them up front to replace the ageing Soljkaer, the injured Smith and someone to partner Saha when Rooney is suspended. They also need a left winger since Giggs is getting way too old. And maybe another central midfielder to partner Carrick. I don't think John O'Shea or Alan Smith would do a good job. Don't get me wrong, I think O'shea is an awesome defender, but we should leave him as a defender.

Man United need a covering right-back as well since the senior Neville seems to be getting old, and he has no understudy. They have got 4 left-backs (or 4 who can play at left-back) in O'Shea, Silvestre, Heinze and Evra. It's a good thing they sold Fortune then. Admittedly, only Evra is strictly a left-back. The others can play at centre-back though I'm not sure about on the right.

If Man Utd doesn't get a few more signings in these key areas, it's hard to see them challenging for the title.

Bad Boys

There have been a tranfer of two of the top wingers in the EPL. One went to Newcastle in the Duffman, the other to Liverpool.

Jermaine Pennant finally completed his move to Liverpool, and if I must say, now everyone is declaring that they are life-long Liverpool fans! Maybe that is Rafa's plan, bring in people who love the club. It's evident in Robbie Fowler, Mark Gonzalez, Criag Bellamy and now Pennant. Before you know it, Dirk Kuyt says he was a life-long Liverpool fan!

Anyway, if Rafa can really do it, he would have changed some of England's bad boys into the best players. Admittedly, Pennant and Craig Bellamy don't have the best track record when it comes to discipline. Bellamy was famous for his Champions League red-card when he went off the field crying, and his bust-ups with Graeme Souness, but then again, every other player has a bust-up with the latter. Pennant was famous for being banned from driving, and than later caught drink-driving and than later caught turning up for training drunk. That really takes some doing.

But as Pennant is young, it looks as though those are the mistakes of a schoolboy and if he matures into a good sports professional, all that could be put behind him. And not only Liverpool fans would agree with me, but I think Rafa is the man to change them. The main incentive for these 2 new bad boys is they were brought from so-called 'lower clubs', so they must take their chance at a top club. Also, taking their chance in a club where they proclaimed they supported all their life.

I hope Rafa's plan works, I have confidence in him though.

More Tranfer Speculations

Nothing much happening in the transfer market so far.

It's been alot of speculation and some of the rumours get the club fans really excited. As a Liverpool supporter, it would be good to see Pennant in a top side and see how he can perform on a troublesome right flank for Liverpool. Rafa also said there might be another player by the weekend. But that's all sepculation.

The only real big-name transfer is Damien Duff from Chelsea to Newcastle. Well done to the Toon for getting him on such a cheap price of 5-million pounds. Considering Chelsea paid 16million for him, and that he is still only 27, and that there was more than one top club chasing his services, Chelsea made a real mess of the tranfer - either that or Newcastle got a great bargain.

Surplus to requirements might be true, but it seems like 5-million for a player like duff is not good business. Take Ruud Van Nistelrooy for example. He might never play for Manchester United again even if he is not sold, even so, Man Utd are demanding an excess of 12million pounds for him. That's good business. I always thought that Van Nistelrooy was a feared name to defenses, I'm surprise how quickly that changed with half a season of injury, Saha showing good form and a reported rift with the manager. Now he is low on confidence and failed to impress in the world cup too.

I would love for Liverpool to take him in, although he do have Peter Crouch to be a target man and Folwer and Bellamy to be the cherry-picker role. But see, Van Nistelrooy is a combination of all of that. He is a strong target, he has presence upfront, and he has great positioning to always tap the ball him at the right time and place. I'm actually quite surprised that only two clubs went in for him, alas Liverpool wasn't one of them.

Back to Liverpool, with 2 strikers out, and only 1 in, it looks as though there is one more striker to be coming in this season. I would like to see someone like Miroslav Klose, but so far there has been no speculation about him, and he looks happy in Werden Breman.

The only other transfer speculation to note is Ashley Cole linked to Chelsea - but which player isn't linked to Chelsea?

Barca's Turn

I speculated that Zambrotta would go to Barcelona. And looks like things are going just the way I expected.

Although Barca do have class full-backs on either side in Gio Van Bronkrost and Belletti, it is hard to see why they need a new full-back. A back-up of Zambrotta's standard would never be happy as a back-up.

Some might argue that Belletti is not first choice right-back. Well, perhaps Zambrotta is better than Oleguer in an attacking sense, but the reason why Oleguer is on sometimes instead of Belletti is because Rijkaard is looking for a more defensive formation. And, I must add that I think Barcelona are under-ultilizing Belletti - though really 21 starts last season isn't too bad.

Back to Zambrotta though. He can play 'winger' you say? Last time I checked Barca doesn't play with wingers. They usually play a 4-2-3-1 formation with 2 holding midfielders - usually Xavi if fit and Van Bommel/Motta and an attacking trio of Deco, Ronaldinho and Guily. With the all too famous assassin Eto'o upfront. The attacking midfield bench includes: Leo Messi, Andre Iniesta, Santiago Ezquerro and the new addition Eidur Gudjohsen. So where does Zambrotta fit in?

Never mind Zambrotta though, where would Lilian Thuram fit in? A player his age and stature should not be sitting on the bench, he should play out his career on a high. But to think that Barca might do away with either Carlos Puyol or Rafael Marquez or Edmilson in central of defense? Or Belleti/Oleguer/Zambrotta on the right full-back? Unthinkable.

You have your own opinions about the great Juve Sale... and the clubs that bought the players.

Super Star Syndrome

Well done Real Madrid in landing Juventus stars Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson.

Obviously Cannavaro is the bigger of the two stars, but really, Real Madrid failed to plug the hole left by Makelele for the last 3 years, and so Emerson is a really important acquisition. The latter - Cannavaro - is undoubtedly a superstar defender, and he did not need the World Cup to highlight that. He is absolutely fantastic and Real Madrid did very well to get him.

Real Madrid are finally going to be back in business if the speculations in the press are to be believed. They have already got the star Juventus duo, and they might land Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben.

I don't think Fabregas and Kaka would go to Madrid in all honesty. Fabregas has pledged his future to Arsenal as they brought him up, and AC Milan supposedly rejecting a 50-million-pound bid from Chelsea for Kaka, it doesn't look like the talented Brazillian is going anywhere soon.

Imagine a starting XI with Casillas, Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos, Cicinho, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Baptista, Beckham, Robben, Robinho and Van Nistelrooy. They would seriously be back in business. Oh wait, I forgot they have to get rid of clowns like Jonathan Woodgate, Thomas Gravesen, Antonio Cassano, Michel Salgardo and the lists goes on. Good thing ageing Zidane is stepping down. Don't get me wrong, I am a great admirer of his skills, but I think it is time for him to step aside for the younger guns, and it would be hard to drop him from the team, he has to do it himself.

More than one name in the starting XI might not be there when the season begins though. Roberto Carlos seems to be attracting the interest of Chelsea. And Beckham might have other plans as well.

And I would take the opportunity to apologise to Mr Jose Mourinho for stating earlier in my blog that he buys crap like Shevchenko and maybe Roberto Carlos. Apparently, it was Mr Roman Abravomich's idea to bring the duo in. In fact, Mourinho doesn't agree with them. Looks to me that Mourinho wants to bring in Ashley Cole, while Abramovich wants to bring in Roberto Carlos. That's way both are speculated to be playing for Chelsea next season.

Then Chelsea would end up like the Real Madrid of past 2 seasons. Having the has-beens stars who cannot perform together. Then they would undertake a total restructuring and splash loads of cash just like Real Madrid is doing now.

That is what I call the super-star syndrome.

Summer Transfers to Date and More Speculation

There has been a flurry of tranfers when the world cup was going on. Some deals were concluded even before the world cup, and there are no signs of things slowing down especially with the teams from Italy dropping to a less prestigious league.

Key players from Juve include Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Buffon, Vieira, Thuram, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Ibrahamovich are all set to leave. They are so well-known you don't have to put a first name to identify who they are. Any knows if Pavel Nedved would still be playing professional soccer? Del Piero would have trouble finding suitors though if he is not prepared to go to a 'lower club'... as though nothing gets lower than Juventus in Serie B with a 30 point deficit.

Florentina might have trouble keeping hold of Luca Toni, promising forward Valeri Bojinov and star defender Ujfalusi. While Lazio.. well, they don't have much to lose.

While Italy is set to lost all their key players to other big clubs, and possibly Inter becoming the most powerful team ever, if all big names who don't want to leave Italy go there, England has been busy with their tranfers.

I'll round off the top clubs.

Liverpool is making the biggest changes in the EPL so far. Craig Bellamy, Gabriel Paleta, Fabio Aurelio and Mark Gonzalez coming in. With they let go of Morientes, Cheyrou, Cisse, Kirkland, Hamann and some others who are not in the first team. They still might bring in even more faces namely a right-winger, while more exits are expected.

Arsenal looks to be making steady progress with the the signing of Tomas Rosicky and letting go of old-timers Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Sol Campbell. They look certain to bring in a a few fresh faces.

Chelsea made some big-profile signings in Micheal Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou and a lesser known Hilario and Jon Obi Mikel. They look like a packed team already, it just seems more people are expected to leave.

Manchester United looks to be in turmoil. Ruud Van Nistelrooy looks set to leave, and seems to be followed by Cris Ron. Departures include Tim Howard, out on loan at Everton, and Quinton Fortune, being released. Other departures involve non-first-teamers.

I'll update the rest of the details in a while... stay tuned as I update all the transfer news!

World Cup Conclusion

I didn't get to update about the World Cup because my best buddy had been in the country to visit me for the last week.

By now the World should know that Italy beat France to the World Cup. I'm not at all excited by it. Germany finished 3rd which was a good result for the team I supported. I was hoping Klismann stays on, but looks like he isn't going to.

This World Cup was a poor one wasn't it? I'll just conclude the entire World Cup series with Chau's talking soccer World Cup XI. This is based on their performances in the world cup, so I dont think you would see the best player in the world Ronaldinho in here.

Keeper: Gigi Buffon
I don't know if he really was the best keeper or if his defence was just awesome, either way, he was only beaten by an own goal and a Zidane penalty.

Left Back: Philip Lahm
Opening the world cup with a goal proved to be icing on the cake for this left-back's excellent performances. He would really be one to watch for the future.

Right Back: Miguel
I was impress with this right backs strong attacking-minded play. He was unfortunate to get injured and had to end his exciting world cup prematurely. The fact that he replaces the first-choice Chelsea right back goes to show his class.

Centre Back: Fabio Cannavaro
Solid in all the games he played, and comes in with the saving tackle in so many occassions. He is undoubtedly the best centre-back in the competition.

Centre Back: Carlos Puyol
I know it may seem a bit biased picking all the big names, but these are the big names that performed this world cup. Puyol was solid as ever and even had a hand in creating goals.

Defensive Mid-field: Torsten Fringes
He proved to be one of the best in his position. A cracker to add gloss to his tournament was well-deserved.

Left Midfield: Juan Pablo Sorin
Although sort of a left-wing-back, Sorin has played well above the strictly left midfielders in the competition I feel. His playmaking skills were great and I really applaud his effort.

Righ Midfield: Arjen Robben
Robben did have a good world cup although Holland were knocked out early. I considered him to be playing on the right though he switches continuously with Robin Van Persie on either wing.

Central Midfield: Stephen Appiah
It might seem the strangest choice of all the XI, but I felt he was the centre of everything Ghanian. He held his own very well when his partner in crime Essien was suspended. Well done to Appiah!

Central Attacking Midfield: Zinedin Zidane
What headbutt?

Striker: Miroslav Klose
I don't know if anyone would disagree with me, but not only was he top scorer, he also showed good work-rate and creativity. Undoubtedly my man to put up front!

Well, the World cup has been concluded.. stay tuned, we talk summer transfers next!

The Finals

The finals have been decided. It is Italy vs France.

I'll rather France win, but I'm not really supporting any of them. I wouldn't be able to stand the sight of the diver's of Italy winning the trophy; wait, didn't Henry dive to get France into the final too? They should knock all diver's out of the game. Italy deserve to go home after Mr Grosso dived to win against Australia, and Henry dived to win against Portugal. But then again, Portugal ain't exactly innocent about diving too.

I think I'll put my money on the underdog, whoever it is, probably France.

I'll be gunning for Germany in the 3rd-4th playoff though. And hope they send those diver's home once and for all. I'll update again once the odds are out!

90 Seconds

Shit... 90 seconds, that's all I have to say for now.

Italy left it late just like against Australia. I'll write up a full conclusion of the match later. I'm off to bed.

And dream what might have become of my Aus$160 bet..

The Odds

The odds for the World Cup semi-final are out and analysized here at Talking Soccer.

Germany	2.25	<1.95>
Draw	2.80	<3.10>
Italy	3.15	<3.68>

* current odds
* <opening odds>

The first semi-final match between Germany and Italy has the Germans to be the overwhelming favourites. Odds for a Italian victory has dropped since the opening odds, but it is still a cool 3.15 for an Italian victory (dropped from 3.68). It could be because many are backing Italy or it could also be due to the loss of Torsten Fringes for Germany. But that shouldn't be much of a problem since Germany do have cover in midfield with the likes of Tim Borowski and Sebastian Kehl.

I hope for my money's sake Germany makes it all the way to lifting the cup. So I would be on them on this match as well. The odds for them going up only help. Maybe you can try a German 2-1 victory (7.50)or 3 goals scored (3.90)

Portugal	3.60	<4.30>
Draw	3.05	<3.15>
France	1.95	<1.77>

The France start as overwhelming favourite to win this game. I think they would make it to the finals too, but I'm not sure if they can do it in 90minutes. 3.05 for a draw is looking to be a good bet. You can also bet on 0 goals (5.00).

That's all for my tips, I hope you are making your WC fortunes!

#odds by Singapore Pools at ~6pm (AEST; GMT +10.00)

First Shock

There has finally been a shocker in the World Cup. World Champions Brazil are out of the tournament! Well, it's not as big a shock had say Ukraine beaten Brazil, but France had been out of sorts in this tournament till this game.

In truth, they were never in the match against France. They looked strangely out of sorts, and perhaps overconfident. But take nothing away from the French. They defended resiliently, and tucked away the chance that counted. Zizou had answered his critics with a storming performance today. He totally commanded the mid-field in which Brazil looked second best.

I swear if someone who didn't know any of the Brazillian or French players but knew the reputation of the countries in terms of footballing terms, he would have thought the France team was the Brazillian team. That is a testimony to how good the Frence were playing. The only downside is that I still think Frank Ribery is over-rated. Besides not being the best looking bloke around, I think he does not have enough craft to be a good player. People who don't know soccer think that a player who can dribble is a good player. It's true that he might be eye-catching and exciting, but in this player, he doesn't posses the craft to create much or skill to put in the final pass or decisions to pass at the right time. Often he dribbles into good positions and wastes the possession there. He also can't finish when Henry put him one-on-one with the 'keeper. I think he is over-rated, exciting as he might be.

Anyway, back to the good points about the French performance. I'm happy that Brazil got knocked out only because I have my money on Germany. But I don't know if I should be happier or feeling more worried - that Germany now don't have to face Brazil, or that Germany might need to face a resurgent French side. If France continue to play the way they did, Portugal shouldn't be a problem for them. I think they would make it to the final, and I hope they meet Germany there.

There might be a conspiracy theory about having only European teams in the last 4, but they have always been the biggest footballing continent in recent times haven't they? Well done to Europe, especially France and Germany!

England Strike Three, You're Out!

I swear if England won the match, I would start thinking of the World Cup as being rigged. They did not deserve to win. And thankfully they did not. But having said that, Portugal played poorly too, and did not deserve to win as well.

Why I say it could have been rigged? Well, someone please explain to me why Big Phil took off his only striker when England were reduced to 10 men? And Cristiano Ronaldo, being his best player on the pitch, going into an ineffective role as centre-forward where he hardly touched the ball. And why, after England had a man down, did Portugal not go for the initiative for the entire half hour of regulation time, and the entire extra-time. I don't remember a decent shot on target by the Portugese! Robinson turned away a Figo cross-shot, but the latter obviously meant it as a pass. The other shots were by Maniche from way outside the area. And Maniche was crap, it's a good thing for Chelsea he didn't sign permenantly, he was a shadow of what I saw of him 3 years ago in the European championships.

Actually to start off, I don't know why Wayne Rooney got sent off. Was it the accidental stamp on Carvalho? Or was it the little nudge on club team-mate Cris Ron? But looked less than a yellow card, but he got a straight red. It really left me bemused. Well, he wasn't playing that well anyway, if you ask me, England might have scored had Rooney not lost the ball in the good areas and even nicking his own team-mate Aaron Lennon when the latter was on for the shot. Rooney scuffed his shot in the end.

Eriksson made a mistake too, when he took Joe Cole off for Peter Crouch after Rooney got sent off. Crouch did play much better than Rooney, at least he saw much more of the ball. But Joe Cole was playing much better than Frank Lampard. And having an ineffective Lamps in the centre, and virtually rendering Gerrard useless in an unfamiliar left winger role, he was never going to win the game. For all of Crouch's and Lennon's toil up front, England were undone by Eriksson's poor decisions.

I also couldn't understand the British media for criticising Owen Hargreaves before the World Cup. Though on paper Michael Carrick looks a better option, given that Mourinho recommends him and so many top clubs are chasing him, but Hargreave was the best England player on the field today I felt. He even outplayed Gerrard - especially when the latter was made to play on the left wing. He was far better than Lampard with his forceful runs and work rate. He sank a few important tackles as well, and in my opinion was unlucky to be called for a few 'fouls'. Thumbs up to Hargreaves - especially after all the stick he has been getting.

Now, bad decisions from Eriksson lost the game for England, but take nothing away from Ricardo the Portugese goalkeeper. He is an excellent shot-stopper and when it came to penalties, he was always favourite to triumph. This time with his gloves on! He famously removed his gloves to stop penalties 2 years ago, and even scored the winning penalty himself. This time though he didn't need to score one himself, because he made three brilliant stops. Robinson looked a far cry from his Portugese counterpart, only with Petit and Hugo Viana missing the target altogether.

Two penalties missing the target? Now you would know, if had England won, why I would have said the match was rigged. Good thing they didn't. And it's about time Eriksson steps down so his mistakes can no longer harm the nation. And to think he said the better side lost.

Heh.

Germany!

We all knew the hosts' will get through wouldnt we? Even when they were trailing in the game till the 79th minute; even when Argentina bombarded their goal after the hosts had equalized. We all knew that didn't we? Now, I'm one step closer in winning my jackpot of Germany winning the cup.

The next task wouldn't be easy though. Italy just demolished Ukraine - a result I'm happy about. If you had been following the comments on this blog, I found Ukraine an ultra boring side, and though I don't like Italian style of football, I was hoping they would win big to get boring teams out of the tournament. It's the beautiful game! If you want to play defensive, go and be the defence team in American football!

On the other hand, Germany and Argentina played out a good draw. I don't know why some reports said it was dull, I found it quite entertaining. Maybe it was because there wasn't much goal-mouth action. But the middle of the park, there was an intensity to behold - evident from the players clashing after the game. It was fast-paced like an English Premier League game I'm used to watching, the passing was crisp and quick around the triangles for both teams, only maybe the dribbling and final pass let them down. But personally I found it thoroughly entertaining.

I though Germany would win it in extra time, having the reputation of being the fittest team in the competition and after Argentina played extra-time against Mexico compared to Germany cruising against Sweden after the first 20minutes. Well, at least I predicted the 1-1 final score correctly, and Germany to qualify.

Next up is England vs Portugal. I'm not an England fan at all, but I'm supporting England on this one. I don't think Portugal have lived up to their billing so far. I mean true they are winning games, but not convincingly by my standards. Besides, a England vs Brazil rematch would be nice to watch, assuming Brazil can beat a resilient France team.

My picks are:
England to win in 90minutes.. possibly 2-1
and Brazil to win in extra-time... something like 1-1 then 3-1.

Qualified for Quarters

Well, all the quarter-finalists have been decided, with France beating Spain to claim their place against Brazil.

So far it has been a predictable World Cup, and France beating Spain, though surprising, was no shock again. The French did answer their critics - myself included - by outscoring Spain 3 goals to 1. Zidane sure answered my questions about him when he played an inspirational game, setting up both goals and scoring one himself. Frank Ribery also had a lively game, another of the players who I had thought was overhyped. He is starting to show what he can do on the world stage, and he and Zidane might just be the inspiration France need.

Now, it is just a small matter of Brazil to get to the semi-finals.

Spain for all their possesion failed to create much. David Villa and Raul were rightfully subbed off because I hardly saw them touch the ball. Fernando Torres had a quiet game too by his standards. Still, Spain have no excuses for losing as they looked to go into extra-time then penalties towards the end.

It's quite amazing how few shocks there are in this competition. Most of the big guns are there in the last 8. 6 of them are former winners. Only Portugal and Ukraine haven't won the World Cup before. Ukraine overcame Switzerland - which isn't exactly a football superpower - by boring them to death. Though it was surprising they got this far, its really no shock if you look at their easy group and easy draw against Switzerland. While ironically, the one who finished top of the group - Spain got knocked out by a better opposition in France. Portugal have done well to reach this far, though they didn't beat Holland convincingly. A game with 4 red cards and was it 20 yellows? That can't be taken seriously...

Now to recap the quarter-finalist and my predictions:
Germany v Argentina
This one could go either way, but I hope Germany wins for my money's sake. Germany 2-1 (could take extra-time)

Italy v Ukraine
I never liked Italian football. I think they are boring and play dirty - as the world saw against Australia. Well, this is one match I would be missing given how boring Ukraine play as well. My call: 0-0 after extra-time. It would go down to penalties, if which I'm sure the Italians are good at taking.

England v Portugal
The English might scrape through this one given the suspensions that Portugal have. But boring boring England will keep pumping their long balls forward. It's not a match that's going to be a spectacle. 1-0 after extra-time.

Brazil v France
This would arguable be on par with the Germany v Argentina match. I don't know who to back for this game, but I guess Brazil would be the favourites wouldn't they? Brazil 2-0 or 2-1.

Penalty Shit-Out

That one one bloody boring game, if I didn't put my money on Switzerland, I probably would have turned the tv off in the 15th minute. Ukraine and Switzerland have played out an extraordinarily boring match. And you know how much I bag Ukraine, and they did not prove their critics wrong.

If someone said Chelsea was a defensive team, take a look at Ukraine. They should ban teams from playing that way somehow. That was dead boring. They hardly attacked, and defended with 11 men behind the ball. They did not concede a single offside goes to how how deep they were defending. In Jose Mourinho's words, "they brought the team, and parked the team bus in front of the goal".

I'm so disappointed Ukraine went through, it would just encourage teams to play nonsense football, or like how another famous manager Arsene Wenger would say, it was "anti-football". They play to destruct not create. I hope Italy thrashes them now, though they knocked the Aussies out.

That was another BS match, the brave aussies getting knocked out by 10 men Italy with an injury time dubious penalty. Manz, that was such a bad way to exit. At least this time the Italians can't say the referees were biased against them! Nevertheless, the socceroos have done Australia proud already. Better luck next time - the next time they qualify for the tournament.

The stage is looking set for a Brazil vs Germany final (again), but there is still alot of time for that to change. Assuming Brazil and Spain overcome their next games, they will face each other and what would be a great encounter. I think whoever wins that game would go all the way to the finals.


My predictions:
Brazil v Ghana... of course everyone thinks Brazil will win. I wouldn't dare say otherwise, but Ghana could be the surprise package. At least they don't play shit football like Ukraine! Brazil 2-1 maybe.

Spain v France... would there be pain for Spain? I think this year they are stronger than their French opponents though, and that should see them through to the next round. But France have players - I mean a player - who can change the game on their own. Mr Theirry Henry, it's time to step up to the challenge! Spain 2-0.

Then the quarter-finals would look like this:
Germany v Argentina
Italy v Ukraine (I hope Italy wins by a huge huge margin!)
England v Portugal (which England have the potential to stuff up)
Brazil v Spain

My guess would be the semis looking like:
Germany v Italy
England v Brazil

That said, you get a final of Germany v Brazil. Something I predicted at the start of the tournament, but I also stress that there is much time for that to change.

Round of 16 part I

The teams into the round of 16 have been decided. There were no shocks at all. Maybe a couple of ‘surprises’, but those weren’t shocking enough. Ghana to qualify ahead of Czech Republic, Australia ahead of Croatia, and maybe if you want to count Ecuador ahead of Poland are the minor surprises thus far. There was no Togo, or Angola or Saudi Arabia to provide a shock was there? All results have gone as planned for the favorites and now we analyze the round of 16.

I would pick out two players from each side. One who I felt was the best player of the side, and the other who is over-hyped in this competition. I stress that it is dependent on the performances of this competition only.

Germany vs Sweden

Germany have been impressive so far this tournament. Winning all 3 of their games and scoring 8 goals in the process. They showed that they can finish off so-called weaker teams, and break down resistant teams like Poland. It has been a good showing by the hosts so far and I think they will beat Sweden were have been struggling to score.

Best Player: Philip Lam
Over-hyped: Michael Ballack/ Bastian Schweinsteiger

Sweden have come through the group unscathed after their disappointing goal-less draw against T&T, but it’s all going to be forgotten now as they head into the second round. I think the 2-2 draw with England was half-planned. It ensured Sweden qualified and England to finish top of the group. But other than scoring 2 goals in that game, Sweden have struggled to score, and must improve to even stand a chance against Germany.

Best Player: Christian Wilhelmsson
Over-hyped: Zlatan Ibrahamovich

Argentina vs Mexico

It is hard to estimate the performances of Argentina. In the first game, they were luck to win; in the second game, they thrashed their opponent, but in their third game – it was probably because they qualified already – they failed to score. But I think the Argentines have enough class to get through this match.

Best Player: Juan Pablo Sorin/ Esteban Cambiasso
Over-hyped: Leo Messi/ Carlos Tevez

Mexico were unconvincing in qualifying, and it would be an upset to bring down Argentina in the second round. But when it comes to knock-out stages, no one reads the script anymore.

Best Player: Rafael Marquez (undoubtedly)
Over-Hyped: Jared Borgetti

England vs Ecuador

England somehow won their first two games, so in the end it didn’t matter they didn’t win their third game. They have got great individual players who have the “match-winning” capability, and that should see them through to the quarter-finals at least.

Best Player: Joe Cole
Over-hyped: (I don’t know where to start) Wayne Rooney? Michael Owen? Frank Lampard? David Beckham?

Ecuador have some really exciting players, but everyone knows that England are favourites to get through to the next round. I was impressed by Ecuador in their 3-0 demolition of Costa Rica, but then that was Costa Rica, it’s no England.

Best Player: Edison Mendez
Over-hyped: Austin Delgado

Portugal vs Netherlands

Portugal have won all three of their games – albeit unconvincingly. They failed to finish off smaller teams in a relatively easy group. They do have players who can change matches in Deco, C. Ronaldo, Figo, Simao just to name a few of the big names, but can they work consistently as a team?

Best Player: C. Ronaldo
Over-hyped: Simao

Netherlands have been showing good form until their 0-0 draw with Argentina. They did well to get out of the group of death and I suppose that puts them favourites to win this match. Van Persie and Robben have been working exceptionally well together despite all the off-field media squabbling.

Best Player: Arjen Robben
Over-hyped: Wesley Sneijder

Round of 16 Part II

Italy vs Australia

Italy have been unconvincing until their 2-0 win over the Czech Republic, but of course the Czechs have looked a different side since Jan Koller stepped off the field in the first game. That Lokvensc guy is hopeless. But anyway, Italy have a much better squad then the under-performers 4 years ago. They brought a proper strike-force this time. But I’m still waiting for Luca Toni to score.

Best Player: Andrea Pirlo/Alessandro Nesta
Over-hyped: Luca Toni

Australia did well to get to the round of 16, performing above expectation for a country who were in football wilderness a few years ago. Their journey might end against the Italians though, but they have to take heart in the fact that Italy have a neck for screwing up simple games. And they need that die-hard Aussie spirit to see them to the next round at least.

Best Player: Harry Kewel
Over-hyped: Mark Viduka (come on, you have to agree on this one!)

Switzerland vs Ukraine

Switzerland feature in this possibly the lowest key second round match of all eight. Nevertheless, Switzerland deserved their place in the round of 16. Like Australia, Switzerland have come a long way in their football too. Earning an easy tie against Ukraine should see them through to the next round.

Best Player: Philip Senderos
Over-hyped: Alexander Frei (I know he scored, he was lucky)

Ukraine are in for big trouble though, they were lucky to proceed because they were up against an easy group. Come on, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia? They whacking of 4-0 at the hands of Spain show they cannot compete against the world super-powers of football. Wait, Switzerland didn’t even fit that bill.

Best Player: Andriy Shevchenko
Over-hyped: Andriy Shevchenko (yes, that’s how sad I rate the Ukrainians)

Brazil vs Ghana

Brazil have finally got a big win under their belt after an initial scare against Japan. Many expected them to do much better in a relatively easy group. I was wondering if Ronaldo to score, but good for him, he silenced his critics (including me). Their ‘B’ team impressed me more though, they should just get rid of Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo. – but it would take a very brave Brazilian coach indeed. But after that ‘B’ team showing they now look like they might go all the way, first up is the underdogs Ghana.

Best Player: Kaka
Over-hyped: Adriano/Ronaldinho (only because so much more is expected from them)

Ghana face a tough test against the world champions. Many have written off their chances; but I agree they would have to improve dramatically to overcome the Brazilians. I like Afrian football for it’s freedom and flair, but they just need more than that to win football matches. But it really is quite unthinkable to see Brazil get knocked-out at this stage of the competition.

Best Player: Stephen Appiah/ Michel Essien
Over-hyped: none (the big names played well, not much to over-hype)

Spain vs France

Spain play the most mouth-watering tie of the second round. And saving the best for last isn’t it? Spain have played tremendously well over the games I’ve watched them in. I missed the Saudi Arabia game, but I heard it was a second-string side anyway. As for the first-teamers of Torres, David Villa and Puyol, to name a few who have been inspirational, they look set to beat a French side who failed to get going.

Best Player: Carlos Puyol/Fernando Torres
Over-hyped: Joaquin

France have stumbled into the second round. Somehow they did so by winning unconvincingly over Togo, a team who we expected to get thrashed 5-0 on paper, and drawing with Korea Rep and Switzerland. Nevertheless, they have class on paper, but if they continue to play that underperforming Zidane, who I’m actually a big fan of, they might suffer against the Spanish.

Best Player: Patrick Vieira
Over-hyped: Zinedine Zidane (never thought I would say this)

I hope you are looking forward to the round of 16 as much as me!

Aussie Aussie Aussie

Australia have qualified for the last round of 16! There is excitment all around here, with people cheering from cars on the streets! And cars parading the Aussie flag. That's the World Cup fever - and it's in a country where soccer is not the number sport. But what is more amazing in the fashion in which they pulled it off. They left it late no doubt - but Mr Harry Kewell scored the all-important equaliser to send Team Australia into the last 16 and Australia as a country into pandemonium!

The other qualifier was of course Brazil, who, as I predicted, dispatched Japan with ease. Though they already qualified, the Brazillians still showed enough attack flair to score 4 past their Asian opponents. Ronaldo certainly proved his point and answered his critics with two well-taken goals. No doubt it was Japan and not some super-power in defense, but that would certainly boost the great Ronaldo's confidence. He is already the World Cup's top-scorer ( adding all the World Cup goals he scored in total), and he looks to score more.

Brazil was in 'good hands' as the commentator Gary Bloom put it. When the rising stars took their chance to shine on the World's biggest stage. Kaka is not young and 'rising' anymore, but he certainly has played well so far in this tournament. But the youngsters Robinho, Cicinho and full-back Gilberto made a real name for themselves playing in Brazil 'B'. Not much of a 'B' team is it? I was always a fan of Juninho Pernabucano and was glad to watch him play today. He scored a long-range belter which pleased me, but I wish I saw one of his long-range free-kicks today. Nevertheless, I hope he will feature more in the Brazil's run to defend their title.

Japan, though they were really crap in terms of teamwork and passing, I believe have good individual players. These players deserve to be given the chance to play for bigger clubs - like how Park Ji-Sung of Korea is playing for Manchester United. Inamoto, Ogasawara, Nakamura, Takahara and Brazillian-born Alex are just some of the names to be mentioned. I hope to see them play for bigger clubs soon.

Other predicts of mine were correct - predicting the exact 2-1 Ghana win over the USA. And Italy beating Czech. Though I predicted 1-0, A late goal by Pippo changed that to 2-0. Close enough. Well done to Ghana to qualify. I always liked African football for their flair and the players don't dive or "play dead" on the ground for half the match. But I feel there is much to be improved in terms of winning football matches. So Italy top the group, with Ghana following behind them.

Tonight's predictions:
Ukraine vs Tunisia... Ukraine 2-0

Saudi Arabia vs Spain... Spain 0-3

Switzerland vs South Korea... Switzerland 1-0

Togo vs France... France 0-2

I yes, I predict Switzerland, France to qualify from group G and Spain, Ukraine to qualify from group H. (In that order). I hope you are having luck in your predictable World Cup!