Portsmouth 2 – Liverpool 1

Liverpool fielded a somewhat reserve team against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Rafa wanted to rest most of the players in the first team for the Champion’s League match in midweek.

In this game we can see why Dudek is on the way out of the club. The first goal was totally his fault. His failure to decisively clear a loose ball gave the not-so-prolific Benjani Mwaruwari a free goal.

This game also demonstrates the how useless Momo Sissoko is in an attacking role, and also how ineffectual Craig Bellamy can be on the right wing. I hope Rafa won’t ever put them there again. They hardly touched the ball for Pete’s sake!!

I also have another question. What happened to Mark Gonzalez? Last season he was playing so well in the Spanish league scoring wonderful goals against the likes of Real Madrid. This season he has failed to make any significant impact in Liverpool’s and is hardly ineffective on the wing. He needs to make better use of his pace, he can’t even dribble past the simplest of opponents. His decision making is also pretty awful. Let’s hope he settles well in England and gets his act together next season.

All in all, the Pompey match was an opportunity to blood a few youngsters such as Insua and Palleta in the Premiership. El Zhar also came on as a substitute late on.

- sca1lywag

Dida on EBay

from soccernet : Angry Milan fan puts keeper Dida up for sale

- sca1lywag 

Treble talk: Reckoning at the San Siro

It has been too long since Manchester United were chasing trophies at this stage of the season. Many still talk of a repeat of the historic treble of 1999 but this writer believes that some realism has to be injected at this point.

For the most part of the season, Manchester United have had the most effective and entertaining footballing side in England. However, recent injuries to its first-choice defence have nullified that claim. Let no one forget that it was on the basis of having the best defensive record in the EPL that United propelled to their current position. Without Nemanja Vidic – who must surely lay claim to being the best centre-half this season – United no longer possess that luxury, or assurance. Surely, their season now hinges on their offensive arsenal to win games through sheer onslaught. Or is it?

Just the other night, AC Milan visited the Theatre of Dreams and pierced the hearts of the Stretford End faithful. By half-time, all dreams of that historic treble may have vaporized behind the cheeky grin of Milan’s wonderkid Kaka who sublimely humiliated United’s rear-guard in a classic case of self-implosion. Had it not been for Rooney’s sudden resurrection and intervention, the visit to the San Siro could have been purely academic.

Without a doubt, the question that looms now is: Can United not concede in Milan?

The answer is no.

Surely, even the most optimistic of United fans will know that we have a defensive line-up that would not make the first-team of the top 4 Premiership sides. Kaka has displayed the obvious lack of pace in Heinze, but I believe it is the lack of anticipation and reading of the game that will lead to United’s breach. For all his criticisms, Rio Ferdinand remains one of most intelligent defenders (when focused). His absence creates a void not only of skill but leadership and defensive vision. If one paid attention, there were countless occasions on which Milan defenders intercepted passes before they reached United feet whereas Heinze and co. had to deal with Kaka and Seedorf on the run in possession.

The solution? United need a Roy Keane. Ferguson’s selection of Fletcher deserves merit although the young Scot could never match the calibre of his former Irish captain. Nevertheless, we will see Fletcher in midfield for the return leg, because no other player possesses an engine to chase down players as he.

And now, the definitive question: Will United reach Athens?

The answer is yes.

It is ironic that Milan, 2-3 losers are the slight favourites. But that is what makes the Champions’ League so intriguing. However, there is no doubt that United will want this bad. And they are capable to playing absolutely devastating football when provoked. We will see that at the San Siro.

I said that United will concede. But they will also without a doubt, score. Ferguson’s game plan (if I may assume) will be to play a 4-3-2-1 as he did at Old Trafford. Shackle Pirlo at all costs, close all space for Kaka to roam. United may not have their first-choice defence, but they are still one of the best defensively because they do it in numbers. With United flooding their half of the field and inviting Milan to attack (which they will and must), United’s hopes then bank on the speed and precision of counter-attacking execution. In Ronaldo, Rooney, and Giggs exists one of world football’s most potent counter-attacking trio. If United can nick one, the game is won. Milan will come out and with that space, United can expose and wear down Milan’s aging rearguard. Should Milan score first, then it will be a dangerous uphill climb.

As far as match-winners go, United have two to Milan’s one. Ronaldo may be have been shaded by his teammate and Kaka, but my hunch is that he will rise where it counts. It will be an interesting showdown of sorts between the three.

My prediction? A 1-1 scoreline, with United winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Perhaps it will boil down to resilience and hunger yet again. However you look at it, it will undoubtedly be a crunching 2nd-leg of electrifying, high-paced football. Hence, we all win.

With regard as to whether the treble looks realistic? Slim, it has to be said. But not impossible. Four tough games await in the league; awaiting a fatigued team that will lack rotation luxuries. And with Chelsea laying in wake at the FA Cup Final, one must admit that it’s a long treacherous path to glory. But oh, what Glory it will prove to be. Exciting times people, exciting times indeed.

- JT

Chelsea 1 – Liverpool 0

Chelsea beat Liverpool by a goal to nil at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League semi-final last night. The solitary goal was scored by Didier Drogba after 29 minutes. Drogba led the Chelsea attack well and deserved his goal. However he and the rest of his team are still up to their dirty tactics, which is kind of disappointing for one of the best teams in Europe. Look at the picture below and tell me what’s wrong

Chelsea were clearly targetting Daniel Agger as the weak link in Liverpool’s defence. Drogba was instructed to expose this weakness with his physical presence the way he did with Philippe Senderos of Arsenal. Furthermore, Drogba had some extra “protection” from the referee after some pre-match comments from Mourinho (who else?) pressuring the referee not to show a yellow card to Drogba, ruling him out of the next tie.

After going a goal down and outplayed for most of the first half, Rafa brought Peter Crouch on for Craig Bellamy and Liverpool dominated the second half. Agger fared much better against Drogba after the break, but Chelsea were still dangerous on counter-attacks.

What puzzles me is the lack of initiative shown by Chelsea on their home ground. They just sat back and defended their marginal lead for the rest of the match. Are they that confident of their defensive/counterattacking poweress that they are willing to settle for a 1-0 lead to take the tie to Anfield? Even Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard did not want to leave the tie to be decided at Anfield.

Hope springs eternal. We all know how special European nights can be at Anfield. Hopefully the team will be able to turn things around with the support of the best supporters in the world against a side of world class players.

- sca1lywag

The Berbatov Paranoia

The world paid extra attention on Manchester United’s young Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo as he scooped both the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year award for this season. And while I think he fully deserves both awards (honestly, did you really think it was a surprise given the form he’s been in this season?), I had my thoughts focused elsewhere.

Apart from the announcement of the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year, a PFA Team of the Year was also compiled, as voted by the players themselves. In an 11 heavily dominated by Manchester United (8 of the 11 were United personnel), Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, still only his 1st season in the Premier League, was one of only 3 non United players, with Steven Gerrard and Didier Drogba the remaining two.

While I am obviously ecstatic that one of my favourite players received the recognition that he deserves, a part of me shudders at the thought of the repercussions this might bring. Despite having a slow start to his life in England, his performances have gradually picked up over the months. Not surprisingly his ability and adaptability has sounded the sirens for the big boys (namely Manchester United and Chelsea). Having his talent recognized in a manner as public as the PFA Team of the Year, surely this is giving Berbatov even more attention than us Spurs fans would’ve liked.

It’s bad enough having the press mooting about possible transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea before this (apparently a swap deal involving Louis Saha is in the offing – absolute bollocks if you ask me). Being part of the PFA Team of the Year just attracts more gazing eyes. Think about it, if you were the manager or chairman of a top European club, this is easy meat. A top quality player, playing for an underachieving club with only a rich history to boast. It should be pretty straight forward. Dangle the riches and the success like a carrot stick, it’s as simple as that.

Amidst all the speculation, Dimitar’s agent has delivered a “Dimitar will definitely be a Tottenham Hotspur player next season”. Being the pessimist that I am, I don’t feel entirely comfortable with that statement. Call me negative, but the first thing that came to my mind was “How about the season after that?” It would make sense. Dimitar staying at Tottenham for one more season, and having had one previous season in the EPL would set the league alight in his second. This would most definitely rocket his stock value, and interest in him. Sweet. Time to move on. Win-win situation for both Dimitar and his agent. Dimitar gets to play for a huge team and command a fat salary while his agent gets a bigger chunk of the cake.

Forgive me if I’m being paranoid, but judging at the way the transfer market has been like in recent years, I can’t rule that possibility out completely.

It doesn’t help also that Sir Alex has got his ‘new signing’ Owen Hargreaves doing some PR work for him too. During an interview a couple of days ago, Hargreaves has publicly stated his admiration for the gifted Bulgarian, and has even gone as far to say “I don’t think Tottenham realises how good he is”.

Whether or not Sir Alex has anything to do with this it remains to be seen, but some United fans I know are already relishing the prospect of seeing Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick in midfield supporting the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and yes, Dimitar Berbatov at Old Trafford next season. After all, Sir Alex did try to sign Dimitar last season. Did we really win the race to sign a world class striker, or are we being used as a stepping stone to move on to bigger and greater things?

I think he’s a tremendous player, and possibly even our best signing since Jurgen Klinsmann. But as much as I like him, I’m not entirely convinced on where his loyalty lies. One only has to watch a couple of our matches to see that he likes to complain when he doesn’t get the ball from his team mates, and in recent matches even publicly criticizing the our defence (justified criticism, but not necessarily good for the team).

Will he still be at Tottenham next season? Or the season after? Or the season after? Would a gifted footballer want to spend the peak of his career (he’s 26 now) at an underachieving club?

The Tottenham Hotspur board have a role to play. They need to prove that they’re a club heading places. They can’t draft out a new 5 year plan every year. Great players don’t wait that long. They need to bring in a couple of world class players (starting with Javier Mascherano) to balance out the ego (otherwise Berbatov’s ego would be continuously fed and get too big). And last but not least, Martin Jol and the team need to get the results that big teams like Manchester United do.

Otherwise, it’s bye-bye Berbatov.

- Blinque

Soccer Shorts

Man Utd 3 – AC Milan 2, 1st Leg Champions’ League Semi Final 1

Ronaldo and Kaka, both prodigious in their own mesmerizing way, have excelled in the thrilling encounter between Man Utd vs AC Milan yesterday, with the home side going to the San Siro in a week with a goal in hand.

However, despite these two having good games last night, it was Wayne Rooney who secured the advantage at the death after Milan had constantly threatened throughout the game.

The second leg will be next week.

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Liverpool vs Chelsea, 1st Leg Champions’ League Semi Final 2

Liverpool play Chelsea tonight in what will be a repeat of two years ago, where Liverpool were constantly underachieving in the league and Chelsea was on top. However, it was Liverpool which went on to achieve that win in that dream final when they were trailing 3-0 to AC Milan at half time, only to come back and win the Cup!

Chelsea will be looking to avenge their previous knockout in this game.

Liverpudlians will be constantly comparing this with that season, while the Man Utd fans will comparing this season’s run to their unforgettable treble season.

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Arsene Wenger set to be most powerful manager in England?

With the departure of David Dein, Wenger is set to choose the Director of Football to ‘help’ him in office matters. It is rumoured that Gerrard Houllier is favoured to fill this position after achieving light years with Lyon in the French League.

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Watford goes back to the Championship League

Inevitable, but it remains that Watford are just not good enough to stay on, with a Roy Keane inspired Sunderland ready to replace them in the Premiership through a late surge of wins after Christmas. This will mean renewed hostilities between Newcastle and Sunderland in the Premiership. It is said that Roy Keane will be the future successor to Alex Ferguson when he steps down in a few years, but that remains to be seen.

Other teams still in the danger zone include West Ham and Charlton who need to win their remaining games, while Sheffield United, Wigan and Fulham only needs 2 wins to virtually secure their place in the Premiership.

Remaining games are as follows:-

West Ham – Wigan, Bolton, Man Utd
Charlton – Blackburn, Tottenham, Liverpool
Shef Utd – Watford, Aston Villa, Wigan
Wigan – West Ham, Middlesbrough, Shef Utd
Fulham – Arsenal, Liverpool, Middlesbrough

*If Wigan beat West Ham, WHU are virtually doomed.

Middlesbrough and Newcastle need to win a game while Aston Villa and Man City need to draw to confirm their Premiership status is retained for another season.

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- KarHeng

Amorous Brazilian booked for kissing referee

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=424584&cc=4716

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Hammers 1 – Everton 0

Everton didn’t turn up… As blunt as it sound, that is the simple truth.. Everton stuttered to their first defeat in seven games as they were out-played and out-fought by relegation-threatened West Ham at Upton Park.

In truth, Everton simply didn’t turn up

“Substitution for Everton, coming off number 8 Andy Johnson, replaced by number 11 James McFadden.” “What happened?” Although whatever the case clearly Johnson had gone off injured.  I hope it’s not too serious.Everton started unchanged from the previous game with Beattie given YET another opportunity to lead the line and Fernandes, perhaps surprisingly, only making the bench.A neat backheel by Benayoun found Zamora who looked up and buried a great effort past the despairing dive of Howard.  Hammers 1 Everton 0.

We didn’t really mount a realistic comeback, not just in the rest of the first half, but all game.  West Ham clearly wanted this one more than we did and Everton struggled to respond at all really.  Beattie offered very little by way of an attacking threat and McFadden never really got going.  With the midfield generally anonymous, Everton simply weren’t at the races here and at half time, West Ham deservedly led 1-0.

I hoped for a spirited second half showing from Everton but it wasn’t to be.  The defeat could have been worse if not for some poor finishing by West Ham from three of four separate openings. As the game wore on, we showed in flashes that we might be able to sneak an equaliser but it just didn’t happen.  With 20 mins to go Fernandes replaced Phil Neville. This got Everton going a bit more as at least Fernandes always wants the ball but it was a little too late really and perhaps this change should have been made at half time.As the game wore on an equaliser looked less and less likely. There’s not much to drown on the defeat, just hoping that Johnson’s injury isn’t too serious.

54 pts with 3 games to go. I mean 3 tough games to go. 2 home games and one final away game. The run-in could be very difficult if AJ is sidelined unless Victor Anichebe or James Vaughan is able to comeback because Beatts is simply ineffective.

We could have secured a comfortable 5th place if we win in Upton Park. Looking below; Bolton, Reading, Spurs and even Pompey have a fair shout of European qualification.

Everton 54pts – 56pts
H-ManUtd D
H-Pompey D
A-Chelsea L

Bolton 54pts – 58pts
A-Chelsea L
A-Hammers D
H-Villa W

Reading 51pts -56pts
H-Toons D
H-Watford W
A-Rovers D

Spurs 50pts – 58pts
A-Boro D
A-Charlton D
H-Rovers W
H-Man City W

Pompey 50pts – 54pts
H-Liverpool W
A-Everton D
H-Arsenal L

7th place good enough? Of course, this is from a pessimistic point of view. If we manage to win at least ONE Game, we could very well secure our European spot.
-Ivan J.

Liverpool 2 – 0 Wigan Athletic

Liverpool beat Wigan by 2 goals from Dirk Kuyt to bring them to 67 points in the Premiership. To be honest, I only caught the last 20 minutes of this game. I enjoyed the entertaining exchanges at the end of the game. Wigan was chasing the game after going a goal down, and Liverpool weren’t sitting back but trying to score more to finish the game as a contest.

After the criticism handed to him last week, Kuyt bounced back to score 2 good goals to show everyone why Liverpool paid over 9 million pounds for him last summer. His first goal was typical of him – out-muscling De Zeeuw and beating the keeper to the ball to head the ball into the goal. His second was a good goal, turning neatly in the box and scoring with a good low finish.

The Pennant and Arbeloa partnership on the right is looking good. It caught my eye in the Arsenal game with 2 successive backheel flicks from each player to make the first goal for Crouch. They looked good in this game too. Let’s hope we can see more of it in the future.

Arbeloa hasn’t played many games for the club since joining us in the January transfer window. However he has impressed when he has played. He is a pacey and hardworking right back who can play both right and left full back roles for the team and is not afraid to make darting forward runs. He is not very strong physically, and that might be the reason why he is not starting too many league games as he is settling into the English game. He gives positive competitive pressure to Finnan to perform better for the team in the right full back role.

The best moment of the match for me was when Agger tried to do a Messi when he dribbled all the way from defense to the edge of the penalty box.. only to mess up his shot with his weaker right foot. If only that was a goal..

- sca1lywag 

Messi, SWP, Tevez

Here are a few good goals scored recently handpicked by me Videos from soccerpulse.com forums

Wondergoal by Messi vs Getafe a la Maradonna

A little bit of magic from SWP the forgotten man against West Ham

And the reply by another forgotten man – Carlos Tevez

- sca1lywag