The Champions of England

Source: soccernet.com and Empics.

So Chelsea have won it. It was a forgone conclusion some time ago, it's just that they confirmed it now, mathematically uncatchable, and a thumping victory over their nearest rivals. Though many would say the result does not justify the game, the league table wouldn't lie that they are by far the best team in the Premiership.

Alex Ferguson claimed before the game that next season they would be challenging closer for the title, and so claim the members of Liverpool FC. But that was before the crushing defeat handed out by the blues with the greens on the Red Devils.

Blues with the greens indeed, with Mr Abramovich assembling a team of world-class players. He did inheriet indominable captian John Terry and midfield general Frank Lampard, who are undoubtly the key players in the squad, but you need players around them to finish the job. Joe Cole has been a revelaton at the bridge, and others are beginning to play their part to perfection. Drogba is the big target man, Makelele is the ultimate stopper (defensive midfielder), Gallas is the versatile ultility defender who can score vital goals. That makes the championship team - a team who work together and not a team of super-star individuals.

It seems like the bigger picture can be seen now. Although, we find that the Chelsea strikers don't score as much as a say Theirry Henry, but they are winning games with deadly efficiency. That is because, though each player in the team can buy a nuclear bomb, the players are picked for team-work and Mourinho has imbued a sense of team-spirit and the want to work hard for another. And these players themselves are world-class, so they can change the game all on their own.

Imagine Arsenal have Henry, Liverpool have Gerrard, to name a couple of big-name players with the ability to change the game all on their own. Chelsea has, if not 11, then at least 5 in the starting line-up who can do just that. That why Chelsea paid so much for these players. They are "big" players, who can play "big" games. Not merely players who are good at soccer and have names up in lights.

Well, it's hat's off to the Champion of EPL. They truly have been the best team over the course of the season.

EPL Weekend

It's a big weekend this week with Chelsea VS Manchester United. And of all things, if Chelsea even just draw, they would win the title against another powerhouse of English football.

I must admit that this weekends matches are really tough calls. Because it's mostly mid-table teams playing each other or relegation-threatened teams fighting for survival. I did get most of the winning teams right last time, but the scores were not as predicted. So this week I'll just put my tips down on the final outcome.

And again, this weekend's matches are tough to call, so I will not be held responible for any monetary, or otherwise, loss as a result of gambling.

-saturday-

CHELSEA v MAN U
All Chelsea needs is a draw, that's how I think it would end.

WIGAN v PORTSMOUTH
Wigan has stopped firing the way it did at the start of the season. Jimmy Bullard though would love to put in a good performance to celebrate his deal with Fulham. Portsmouth, though, have been on a roll recently. So the teams look balanced on paper, I would predict a draw. Though a narrow away win wouldn't surprise me.

BIRMINGHAM v NEWCASTLE
Another relegation-threatened team to battle it out till the end. I would go for a draw for this game as well on the back of Birmingham's 0-0 draw with Everton last week.

MANCITY v FULHAM
This one is another close call. But I don't think Fulham can win away in the league this season. There is always a first time though, because Manchester City are struggling till they sank Villa mid-week. I'll go for a home win, possibly 2-1.

MIDDLESBOROUGH v EVERTON
Another tough call. Boro has the ultimate confidence after pulling off 2 extreme come-backs in their last 2 european trips. However, they might rest those players against Everton today. So draw or away win.

LIVERPOOL v VILLA
Liverpool should win this one comfortably given that Villa has had trouble scoring. I just hope a certain Milan Baros doesn't decide to inflict revenge for this Anfield exit. Home win.

CHARLTON v BLACKBURN
Charlton hasn't had the best record of scoring except for a marvellous Darren Bent. Blackburn look to acheive a European spot. Away win.

-sunday-

TOTTENHAM v BOLTON
As much as Bolton are strong at home, so are they weak away. A Tottenham side determined to keep 4th spot should be too much for them. Home win.

-monday-

SUNDERAND v ARSENAL
Who is going to bet on Sunderland against the potential Champs of Europe? I would put my head instead of my heart to the test by saying it would be an away win.

MAN U v MIDDLESBOROUGH
Boro might just collapse and die here after playing so many games in such a short time. Though it remains to be seen on what effect the Chelsea game will have on Manchester United. Home win.

WESTBROM v WESTHAM
West Bromich are fighting for survival and pride. West Ham have been playing good football all season, but West Brom might just scrape this. Home win or draw.

Champs League Semi 2

And as I predicted, Barcelona is through to the final.

Though I expected Barcalona to at least score that home, but nevertheless they are through comfortably. Their goal was rarely threatened, with the defence superbly marshalled by Rafael Marquez and Carlos Puyol. AC Milan, with all their top-name strikers have failed to break down a class act in the Barca defence.

For all the big names the top club in Catalan have, Ronaldinho, Eto'o etc, it was the defence that was a master-class today. Even the most experienced and highly-rated strikers of Shevchenko and Inazghi and the youthful talent of Gillardino barely had a sniff.

In fact, considering that Milan were chasing the tie, Barcelona were the better attacking side, when Eto'o and Ronaldinho were brillantly foiled by Brazillian World Cup 'keeper Dida. With an AC Milan 'keeper and a Barcelona defence on form, it was no surprise it ended 0-0 at the final whistle. Barcelona are through to meet Arsenal, and Milan would have to go back to Italy to realise that they simply weren't good enough.

As for the final in Paris, it's the two teams that have deserved to be there. Barcelona and Arsenal, often hailed as the best two attacking sides in Europe, have often fell short of the top honour in club football. It would be a real spectacle for the neutral. In my opinion, the two best players in the world with flair are Ronaldinho and Henry, and there is a large possibility of both of them sharing the field barring injury.

It would be a great game of football. It would definately drag in more fans than compared to the finals of Juventus VS Milan and Monaco VS Porto in the two seasons before the previous. Be prepared to be entertained! Whoever wins, its a victory for soccer.

For now, congrats to Arsenal and Barcelona for making the final.

source: GettyImages, from soccernet.com

Champs League Semis and Cheating

Villareal 0 Arsenal 0

Arsenal are doing what Liverpool did last season, going to the final on the back of strong defensive displays and playing games just to get results like goal-less draws. It is boring, but efficient. And credit to them, they played their tactics to perfection.

Arsenal did well to keep the game goal-less and advance through to the final in Paris thanks to a 1-0 aggregate win, thanks to some poor finishing by the opposition and a world-class penalty save by Lehmann. I would have put my money on Riquelme to put that penalty away, but Lehmann did all so well. When you have big games and big moments, it's the big players with stand up, and Lehmann did just that.

One down side of Arsenal's team was Gael Clichy I feel. He was the worse Arsenal player on the pitch. And I was thinking that even before he gave away that clumsy penalty. There is good reason why Wenger plays Flamini - a natural midfielder - in the void left by Ashley Cole instead of a natural left-back in Clichy. But since he is just coming back from injury, I would hold back much of the criticism.

So Arsenal will march into the final and I predict will play Barcelona - as most people would - but AC Milan is no easy time for the Catalans. But home advantage on top of their 1-0 away win should see them through. I wouldn't go as far as trying to predict the score, but I would just say Barcelona should win. Barca-Arsenal in the final would be a real spectacle of class attacking football, though on paper Barcelona look to be the team with the edge thanks to the more experienced players. But talk of a Barca-Arsenal showdown is a bit premature. We shall find out if Barcalona indeed overcome Milan in 24 hrs time.

And thing to address is cheating in soccer. There are many ways to cheat, the one under the microscope recently is diving and whether or not to kick the ball out. Both had a part to play in this morning's game. I feel the Spanish players are too theatric when it comes to falling down. One example is Gilberto's lash out at - was it Arruaberrana? - and true you shouldn't lash out at your opponent, but the Villareal player went down like he had been shot.

If I was the referee, I would have booked half te Villareal players for simulation, if not diving. They roll on the ground for as long as possible, and hope the opposition will kick the ball out and they can regroup. Reyes did that a couple of times too, is it something about Spain and theatre?

To be fair to Arsenal, they had to kick the ball out of play quite a bit because of that even though they were having the run of play. And they should well have done so because of the incidents in the London Derby against Tottenham, when the latter scored whilst two Arsenal players will struggling on the pitch. A soccernet.com poll asked if Tottenham cheated, or did nothing wrong. I didn't know what to vote for, because technically, they didn't cheat, nor did they do anything wrong. They were merely unsportsmanlike.

But given the number of players who roll on the ground due to the slighest touch, it is no surprise that some teams get impatient with these kind of players; and knowing that if they kick the ball out of play, the opposition can regroup sufficiently. So I don't really blame them for playing on sometimes, but it was cruel on Arsenal though, who looked to have players genuinely injured.

It wouldn't matter though if Arsenal win the Champions League and Tottenham finish fourth, because Arsenal will still go to the Champions League next season ahead of Tottenham.

We'll see though how things unfold in the next 4 games for Arsenal. For now, it's well done for making the semis!

FA Cup Semi-Final

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 2

[I could only find copyrighted photos of this match, so I can't put anything up without permission, but you can see the photos on thesun.co.uk or soccernet.com]

I was laughing when the read reports about the match when they said Luis Garcia knocked Chelsea out of the cup competition – and this time the ball crossed the line (soccernet.com). That tells the story of how Liverpool have beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final to face either West Ham or Middlesborough in the final.

Chelsea didn’t play well at all, or maybe it was a mistake of tactics by ‘the Special One’. Before the game I was telling my close friend that Chelsea should deploy their wingers to catch out Liverpool relatively slow full-backs. To no surprise, Liverpool fielded Steve Finnan, who isn’t the fastest full-back and John Arne Riise, though skilful, would also lack pace against the young Arjen Robben. However, Mourinho decided to leave his wingers Duff, Robben and Joe Cole on the bench. And expectedly changed his tactics to accommodate his wingers in the second half.

But take no credit away from Liverpool. Harry Kewell, before he broke down for his groin – we have yet to know how bad the injury is – had an outstanding game, beating players, cutting inside and delicious long passes, one that comes to mind is the cross-field pass to Gerrard who cut the ball back to an unmarked Luis Garcia, but he fired over that time.

The little Spanish attacking mid-fielder did make amends though by scoring the winner in a game Liverpool thoroughly deserved to win. It was expected to be a tight game, and mistakes were what were going to be the difference. And in truth, that was what happened. First the free-kick given away by John Terry was needless, and arguably a bit harsh, but Riise made them pay with a freekick that went through the wall. 2 more mistakes lead to the other 2 goals. A mistimed header by Gallas, leading to Garcia’s eventual winner; and Riise’s poor headed clearance leading to Drogba’s scrambled goal.

Chelsea could have sent to the game into extra time though when Joe Cole found himself free in the box in injury time, but he lacked the composure to finish it off. It can be argued that Chelsea didn’t have the luck to finish off that move, or 2 of Drogba’s earlier misses, but the day belonged to Liverpool, who were criticised for their poor scoring form a month ago, to put away the chances that came their way. (Other than that Luis Garcia miss).

As a Liverpool fan, it would be no surprise to you that I think Liverpool deserved to go through. It would be unfair for Liverpool not to win the FA Cup after having such a good season. They improved from 5th in the league to 3rd, with a slim possibility of finishing 2nd. If Man United fall to Chelsea, and lose another game, and Liverpool win their last 3 games by ten goals more than Man United, they could go second. But like I said, it is a slim chance, but anything is possible.

To think of Liverpool going from Champions League Winner to trophy-less is unthinkable, so I hope that whoever Liverpool face in the final, they can pull off that one more Istanbul miracle.

Weekend EPL Predictions

Here are my tips for this weekend:

Arsenal-Tottenham:
Home 2-1
Tips: Home, D-H

Bolton-Charlton:
Home 1-0
Tips: Home, H-H/D-H;

Everton-Birmingham:
Home 2-0
Tips: Home, Home -1.5, H-H;

Newcastle-WestBrom:
Home 2-0
Tips: Home, Home -1.5;

Portsmouth-Sunderland:
Home 1-0
Tips: Home, H-H, Goals 1/2;

FA CUP
Chelsea-Liverpool
Draw 0-0 ; Liverpool to win after regulation time.
Tips: Draw, Goals 0,1 (after full-time)

Should We Keep Robbie?

3 games to go in the league, at most 2 more games in the FA Cup. That is the time frame for Robbie Fowler to earn a new contract at Anfield.

I believe the stats right now read 4 goals in 7 starts. It is a similar stat to what Fowler had when he was in Anfield for his first stint. It goes to show that when he plays for a club he loves, his strike-rate will never fail to show the efforts he puts in. In Leeds and Manchester City, he did have decent strike-rates for a bench-player, but the lack of consistency didn’t make his name glow like it should.

Also, there is this quality about Robbie Fowler which all great strikers have/should have. It is the fox-in-the-box quality. He is always lurking around in the penalty box, usually not picked up, and in the right place and time to slot the ball home. Van Nistelrooy, for such a big man, strangely has that same quality, and they go to show that these instincts bring goals.

I can name a few other prolific strikers with this quality – “Pipo” Inzaghi, Michael Owen, Andy Johnson, and the list goes on. Though Andy Johnson doesn’t play at a big club, I’m still a fan of his game. He scores prolifically for Crystal Palace in ever division he has played in. Don’t look down on a player from palace I can tell you his strike-rate is much better than a lot of highly paid strikers I know – (16goals/34games, 21/38, 32/47, 14/33 in seasons in reverse chronological order.)

But the subject of the matter is Robbie Fowler. He is the type of player every club needs. Someone to stay in the box, and not be picked out, and tap the ball home. He does score his spectacular once in a while to show his quality, but stats don’t lie – when you score the way he does, he know you got a quality player already. One reason I can think of that he didn’t score that many in Leeds and City is because of the lack of service. Like I said, he is the type of player who merely puts the ball in the net, rarely creating something for himself like a certain Thierry Henry. In Liverpool, he is getting the service he deserves from a creative midfield quartet of Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Kewell and Luis Garcia. Combine that with the pace of Cisse, or the ball-winning ability of Crouch, then Fowler is the man to complete the job.

His age is catching up with him though, he is no longer the fox-in-the-box we once knew when I first supported the club as a boy. He’s experience does count, but if Rafa can find a young talent with the qualities of Fowler, like he is good at doing, then by all means get the youngster instead. But Fowler would always be held in high regard personally, he is the reason I wear the number 9 on my jersey!

Source of pictures: pic1 - famousmales.com, pic2 - GettyImages

Chelsea

Pictures by Empics



I was reading a friend's blog about Chelsea and I do disagree to a large extent. Ever since the billionaire Russion tycoon Roman Abramovich bought over the club, it has been under intense scrutiny and pressure to perform. If money can buy success, this club will prove or disprove the statement.

I would think that the club is becoming a Real Madrid, they buy the big names, the superstars, but not neccessarily the best players. True, Essien was the African player of the year, but it was more because he played for a good club on the biggest stage. Also, he has alot of flair, pace and enery in his game to be eye-catching. Taking nothing away from his achievements, Chelsea still paid too much for him.

Their other overpriced buys include Didier Drogba, Shawn Wright-Phillips, Asier Del Horno in recent times. Drogba isn't as useless as some people describe him to be. He wasn't bought for scoring goals, as much as he was bought for a physical presence upfront. All teams need a huge strong target man. It would be great if he can score goals as well, but Drogba wasn't bought to do that. They have wingers such as Damien Duff, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and SWP to do that; and if they need forward men who can score, look no furthur than Hernan Crespo and the much-under-rated Eidur Gudjohnsen.

The issue about target man is evident from some of the top teams in England. This is because England has such a physical league, and long balls are also played often. Liverpool, for example tried to solve that problem with Peter Crouch. Again, his goal tally isn't good, but he is not there to merely score goals such as the likes of Micheal Own or Robbie Keane to name a couple of big names. If you have a tall, strong, target man who can score, you have potentancy upfront - an example would be Ruud Van Nistelrooy of Manchester United. If you have a tall, strong, fast target man, who can pump goals in by the truckload, and has the flair of the best dribblers in the world you are blessed as a club - two such players are the famous Theirry Henry and Adriano.

However, not all big target man are blessed with quick feet, so I would defend Drogba on this one, that he doesn't score many, but he is still an asset to the team. But having said that, he is still overpriced, because if they needed just a target man to score a handful of goals, they could have gone for a 7-million-pound Peter Crouch.

SWP is an exciting player when I watched his games for Manchester City. The reason why he doesn't seem to be playing well is not because he is not a good player, it is because he doesn't have enough match-time. It's a fact that the less you play, the poorer your form. Training is different from matches in terms of intensity, concentration, pressure and many other factors. So a lack of match-time would effectively mean a poorer performance in the long run. I don't blame SWP for wanting to move to a bigger club given that his former club has been under-acheiving for seasons. But I believe he chose the wrong club with well-established wingers like Robben, Duff and Joe Cole. So it is not that the player is crap, it is the club that isn't good for him. Having said that, however, he is still too expensive for a player the club intends to be a bench-warmer.


The last player I speak about is Del Horno. I haven't been impressed with this player since his 14milion-pound move from Spain. He was much better playing in his former club Athelic Bilbao, but I suppose you have to give a player team to adapt in a new country. Unfortunately, that cannot be used to defend him against the red-card he received against Barcelona (Champions League 05/06 last 16) which effectively cost Chelsea the tie. Against Spanish opponents, he should have been familiar with their style of play, and yet disgraced the team by 'cleaning up' Leo Messi, and when they lost at home, no one expected them to beat a on-form Barcelona team in the Nou Camp.

Chelsea on the hold are doing well this season, lying the first place though they have a neck of screwing up simple games. The games against Middlesborough in the Riverside and the 0-0 draw against Birmingham spring to mind. However, other than their effiency to win, they have failed to impress me with flair, and a team with flowing football to take the breathe away. They used to be that when Arjen Robben was on form a season back. But seems like Robben has been forced to take dives now that he is heavily marked.

In my opinion, Robben is a diver, he goes down way too easily and we all remember his theatrics when he got tapped in the chin by Jose Reina of Liverpool. Okay, maybe sometimes he is taken down unfairly, but you've won the free kick, stand up and take it rather than rolling on the ground for 30seconds!

I would sum up my entry by saying that Chelsea are an efficient team, but not a team I would pay to watch. And also, their millions better buy them a title, I just don't think that they are doing it in the most effective way. With the 200million pounds more they spent than Manchester United, they should be more than just 7 points ahead in the league - which could easily reduce to 4 should the latter beat them in the showdown later this season.

Man Utd 2 Arsenal 0

The scoreline says it all.

Source: Empics

Man United beat Arsenal to stay in the hunt for the premiership. Being a Liverpool supporter, I had mixed feelings about the result. I wish someone would catch that bloody arrogant Chelsea team, and proof that money is not corrupting the sport. But on the other hand, Man United are occupying Liverpool's targeted 2nd spot. And even if they manage to overtake Chelsea by some miracle, I doubt Liverpool can do the same and relegate Chelsea to 3rd. So the more Man United screw up, the better it will be for Liverpool and Chelsea.

But Arsenal was not the team to do it unfortunately. To have all the hype in the media, they failed to produce the form which sees them tear through the Champions League. Goal-less. Is it just coincidence? Or are they nothing without Mr Thierry Henry?

Henry's introduction to the game was a little too late I feel, and I think I speak for most of the Arsenal fans. But unfortunately playing so many games already this season, and back to back high-energy games against Aston Villa and Juventus, he deserves a rest. But indeed in a crunch match against United was not the time to be resting him.

Rooney stole the show instead, but scoring a classy goal and setting up another. Even Ruud Van Nistelrooy, restored to the line-up after a long rest could not produce a showing like Rooney against one of his great opponents - we all remember the incident when he got mauled by the Arsenal players after missing a penalty and getting Viera sent off.

I had predicted a 1-1 draw for this game, but tipping hasn't been going my way recently, so I wasn't surprised I lost. I just hope Arsenal can bounce back, because they are deserving to claim 4th spot from Tottenham. In all honesty, Tottenham have played well this season, but I would like the best 4 teams from England to qualify for the Champions League. Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool Arsenal. Those are in my opinion the best four teams in England right now. And except for Arsenal, the league table is showing it.

But do not forget that Arsenal has a game in hand over Tottenham, and another game against their London rivals. They are 5 points behind now, but can overtake them if they win those two games in question. Only Blackburn is another barrier for the Arsenal team as the season draws to a close.

I'm more interested in Arsenal's fight for fourth, but do not disregard a Manchester United team determined to chase Chelsea to the very end of the race!

Talking Soccer

This is a new blog by Chris Chau. I will use this as a place to talk soccer - including world news, and local news and my very own Kismis United club. Though the part about my club can be used for the Official Kismis Weblog.

There will be much to talk about - I would cover all the leagues in Europe, but focussing mainly on the English league which I'm most familiar with. And then there's the World Cup to talk about soon! So drop by often!

I will code up this page asap with a background and a more personal style of text and sidebars. I would also install a tag-board soon, but I'll recommend using the comments key. But do remember to drop by and drop your comments. I invite comments, predictions, tips anything to do with soccer!

Spread the word, 'cause Chau is talking soccer.