OFFSIDE

Chelsea vs Newcastle United - Dec 3, 2012

2011-12-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

This is St. James Park! The banners around the ground read 'Gary Speed - LEGEND'.

The commentary box expects a draw. And the Game is on. Lovenkrands instead of a suspended Gutierrez. Romeu keeps his place ahead of Obi Mikel.

Terry blocks what would have been a splendid cross. Ramires takes a good run to give it back to Coloccini.

Luiz gets a yellow. A couple of yards away from being a penalty. RTaylor's freekick met by the Chelsea wall.

9': Guthrie advanced threateningly only to be stopped by Terry.

9' RTaylor passes his second freekick of the day to Cech's hands.

10': STaylor heads a ball to safety. Chelsea look positive.

11': Drogba is ^OFFSIDE^.

So far, everything is very awesome.

12': NUFans stand up for the 11th minute. Gary Speed.

13': Ba pulled off a nice trick. Wasted later on.

13': Cabaye 's attempted tackle on DanSturr leads to a Penalty. Lampard misses what would have been his eighth goal against NUFC. In fact, KRUL freakin' SAVES it.

16': Sturridge hits the post. He looks very, very dangerous right now.

17': The balls goes into no man's land and wait, why is Luiz there??!

St James' Park sold out for the first time this season, it seems. I expect more sold out games in the following weeks.

20': The commentator feels Sturridge nearly found the goal. I disagree. It was never going there.

22': Brilliant work by Mata to pass to Sturridge. Krul saves.

Ryan Taylor is missing Jonas for sure. He's almost lost. Not sure if Pardew would sub Lovenkrands or RTaylor later on but surely one of the two!

23': Sturridge - side netting. You know. The usual. He is a box of energy, that lad.

24': First AWESOME effort from #NUFC. Brilliant cross from SuperCabaye to Lovenkrands. To Ba. Flicked. Saved by Cech. Only just.

Perch looks ready to come on. Not sure if #NUFC can hold on without Coloccini (thigh injury?)...

Yes. Subbed. Perch looks more scared than excited.

30': BRILLIANT cross from Mata to Drogba. Even more brilliant defending from RTaylor.

34': He's intelligent, this Krul.

35' Demba Ba heads onto the post! RTaylor takes a wide shot! Eventful minute for NUFC.

36': Nice tackle from Cabaye. Many brilliant moments in this match. Rest of the game's been quite flat.

38': That's a Chelsea throw in? LEads to a headed goal for Drogba... Set up by Mata.

Damn, damn, damn.
Hopeful that this will turn the Newcastle magic on. Missing so far.

41' Sturridge denied for the third time today by Krul.

Newcastle's defence looks very ordinary without the Captain. Newcastle's saviour can only be their attacking element now. SuperCabaye, Lovenkrands, Goal Machine Ba - DO something!

44' Four blue shirts surround Ba everytime he gets the ball at his feet.

Two added minutes.

47' Newcastle gain a corner. Can something happen?

Chelsea 1 - 0 Newcastle HT.

All those people on TV say, if Luiz's rubgby-ing was an offence to the ref - which it was - it should have been a red card. Not sure.

I feel RTaylor's not fast enough to contain Sturridge. Apart from that, Ryan's been cool. How fast is Santon?
My First half review would be that #NUFC midfield just isn't doing enough and the defence is getting it all in its face. Coloccini made it look easy initially, but we see now that it isn't. Buck up, guys!

Not going to update for Second half. Want to watch and scream for NUFC. Chelsea always do well when I try live updates.

-
Yes I'm near an awesome Television set.

Champions League draw 2011-12

2011-08-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

An Allianz arena finals in the offing. I sure as hell hope Bayern make it to that game this year. Getting Vidal would have almost confirmed it, but let's see.

Group A
FC Bayern München (GER)
Villarreal CF (ESP)
Manchester City FC (ENG)
SSC Napoli (ITA)

Group A is tough, yes, but I'm over 90% sure that Bayern and City can see Villareal off. Napoli, on the other hand, is screwed.

Group B
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA)
Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR)

Inter's playgroup, and Lille's best chance in the past few years. Lille vs Moscow should be interesting!

Group C
Manchester United FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Oţelul Galaţi (ROU)

Benfica may give it their all but ManU can safely top the group here. More like practice for the big rounds.

Group D
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

An improved Dinamo is all set to be destroyed by the other three. Lyon - Madrid has seen some awesome matchups in the recent years but I expect Madrid to safely keep Lyon at bay. Ajax, probably one of the fastest teams in fray, still has very few chances of causing upsets. It'd be awesome to see what they can do to Lyon.

Group E
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Valencia CF (ESP)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
KRC Genk (BEL)

While Chelsea can be expected to scrape through to the next round, it is most difficult to score 12 in this group. Valencia and Leverkusen will fight it out for the second spot. Leverkusen without their best player from last year might fall short, but I expect much from their Arsenal-ish side. Their problem, however, would be Valencia's equal strength.

Group F
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)

I expect a lot from Dortmund this year, despite losing the most influential Sahin from their fairytale season. They are the biggest threat to Marseille's progress. With the Greeks expected to raise their walls and earn some draws, it would be crucial for the other teams to win against Olympiakos. Arsenal don't look very promising, but surely they should progress from this group?

Group G
FC Porto (POR)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
APOEL FC (CYP)

To me, this is the most competitive group out of the eight with any of Porto, Shakhtar or Zenit capable of topping the group. Porto's weakness would come from the travelling and the other teams' local game concentration - or the lack of it. With Zenit's home advantage lost against Shakhtar, I expect Zenit to drop crucial points there. Given all this, Shakhtar should get into the next stage and I expect Porto to continue their progress from last season. Needless to mention, APOEL doesn't stand a chance, but can make a difference like Olympiakos.

Group H
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

The Barca - Milan ties would be awesome to watch, but no surprises on who're progressing from this group, are there?

3+ Rounds

2011-02-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

Met the daily target yesterday. 3+ rounds. Should keep that up at 4 rounds for the next few days.

Run, Forrest! Run!

2011-02-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

Second day on the ground. Could easily cover more ground than the day before. Completed 2 rounds of slow jogging / fast walking (~750 metres) followed by about 500m of ground coverage in a micro game of football. Remembered the good old days when I did all this to warm up.

Should cover 3 to 4 rounds tomorrow.

Here's hoping whoever reads this eggs me on to keep running!

PS: I am not a complete 0 / 100 in the game. Let's say I'm at 0.01/100 now. Should start with that once I can run without getting into a breathing frenzy!

Champions' League 2010 - 2011... Group A

2010-08-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Now that the draw is done, let's take one group at a time and (since this is my blog,) I'll share a few words on how I want things to go about and if the odds are on my side for that.

Urm, Group A to begin with!

Inter Milan
SV Werder Bremen
Tottenham Hotspur
FC Twente

My pre-draw wish was to see Inter-Real-Spurs-Twente (the strongest possible group? - taking the English and Spanish teams out in Pot 1 for Real & Spurs) in the same group. Three fourths of it coming true isn't that bad, is it? Now that I think about it, this is a better group. Much as I'd like to see what Mourinho will do with Real, Werder Bremen's game is something I've loved (in the past). Results (I don't see many games anymore...) don't seem to favour them after Diego's Italian transfer - they needed a high-voltage surge to end up third last season. Struggling to beat Sampdoria and a 1-4 loss to Hoffenheim is a bad start, but Werder Bremen are a strong team even without Mesut Ozil, no doubt - and have it in them to run through Tottenham or Twente.

FC Twente are strong (supposedly) and on a roll, and since I don't know much about them, I'd rather wait and watch what happens. It'd be interesting to see how Inter fare without the One - it is still an awesome team anyway. One part of me wants Inter to die out in the group stage while another wants Inter to progress and get butchered by Bayern (as Capt.Haddock would put it, "Revenge! Revenge! REVENGE!"). Tottenham, urm, completes this awesome set - and hence most of us will get to watch the other three teams on TV! It is a strong team and can even beat Inter on their day, but yea, that still sounds like a fairy tale to me, given their off-the-scale unpredictability.

Who I want to progress: Bremen, Spurs
Who will (prediction) : Inter, Spurs
Underdogs: FC Twente
What's awesome about Group A: Four strong teams

Idho vanduten...

2010-08-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

When I stopped playing football by the end of 1997 (yea, a couple of years after I started - not like a career or anything, he he), I knew what I was getting into. My instructor had asked me to keep exercising and if not, I would become fat, especially around the belly portion, once I finished growing taller.

Anyone who has seen me in the past four or five years can say whether I worked on his advice. :)

I was back on the field today after seven years (thirteen, if you count playing for a team) and realized a lot of things.

a) I have a serious respiratory issue I am planning to overlook for the moment.
b) I am planning to run and explore as much as possible.
c) I can still bend the ball.
d) Most importantly, I was of the opinion that my football 'skills' (if I may use that word) would have gone down exponentially since '97. I was either wrong about the exponential function back then, or we have reached infinity. Yes, I am back at zero. In fact, zero is over rating it.
e) I can't run continuously for even five minutes now.
f) I should.
g) Total distance covered was at least four kilometres (including the 8-6 end-to-end on the basketball court).
h) This is just as fun as it was.

Much thanks to Lian and Devabasu for letting me in first.

Bayern beats Lyon, reaches UCL 2010 finals

2010-04-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Bayern beat Lyon with what I'd call a clinical precision to reach Bernabeu. As Munich, and for that matter, the whole of Germany want Bayern to lift the trophy, one thing that runs in their favor is the improvement in their game over the course of UCL. For one, they've stopped losing second legs.

Moving on to my rater,

Lyon:
Lloris - He wasn't at his usual best
Reveillere - Clubs out there, buy him!
Cris - Poor guy. But why do a Sreesanth?!!
Boumsong - Who?
Cissokho - Boy was he in a dangerous mood! bad!
(Gomis 46 - Good)
Gonalons - Good
Makoun - Missed the chance to create an impact.
Govou - Awesome a minute. Awful the next.
Delgado - Is this the Delgado we knew? No.
(Pjanic 69) - Not good.
Michel Bastos - Well, u miss that kick at that position, u go home.
Lopez - Shouldn't cry. Not his fault they lost. He didn't even see much of the ball.
(Ederson 79) - What miracle could he have possibly done?

Bayern Munich:
Butt - Wait. Did he save that? Did HJB save that?!
Lahm - Uber cool. With Robben, the combo that the opposing UCL finalists shud study in detail.
Van Buyten - Play around for 45'
(Demichelis 46) - The next 45'
Badstuber - Didn't get too many chances to live up to his 'name'
Contento - Ich bin contento with his performance :)
Robben - Not at his best, but still dangerous.
(Klose 76) - Match practice
Schweinsteiger - Awesome
(Alaba 78) - Match practice
Van Bommel - Awesome
Altintop - Whatay pass for the second goal. A2wesome.
Muller - Good game except for the early miss
Olic - Hattrick. Need I say any more?

Off to sleep. Have a really bad shoulder. Thanks for the game guys.

~Peace~

Bayern - Lyon, 1st leg, Semifinal UCL 2009-10 - review

2010-04-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

I came home at 1.15 AM (90 minutes back) after a rather long work-day, just in time for the second half of the first leg Semi between Bayern and Lyon. Tymoschuk was replacing Ivica Olic while Muller was already in. Wondered what tragedy would want a forward to be replaced by someone not-so-forwardish. Three minutes into the second half, I was wondering why Schweini had to run so much and be everywhere and still have too many Lyon players around him. Only when Toulalan got his first yellow, the commentator mentioned the Red card for Ribery. What?

From the replays, looks like he deserved it.

Ten on eleven is a scary prospect. van Gaal made one correct substitution after quite a while. Muller playing a lone CF with Schweini moving to his natural position was another positive move. But clearly, the day belonged to one Arjen Robben from the Netherlands. Beating one of the world's best keepers in Lloris isn't easy, even if aided by luck. He deserved a goal for his play, though. There was talk in the commentary box about Bastian missing chances in the first half but turning around so effectively in the second. I'd say that happens when there's no Ribery he has to adjust to.

Bayern just showed other teams how to play with ten men against eleven...and not lose and blame it on the card later. Superior possession with I think three to four times the no of passes, great running except for a coupla losers, really good overall. I want to know the distance covered by Schweini. He was freakin everywhere today. 'Supreme presence on the field', as the commentator put it.

Gomez, the worst forward in the history of the game, played at his best and had so many Gomez moments that I lost count of them. Bayern and Germany are probably the only teams in the world who could have such a joker on their side and still win. Robben would cry for two days at the 'shockingly innovative' Gomez header. Schweini passed a perfect ball to him around 70'. Any striker in the world would have turned around. Gomez back-passed it to a LYON player. Repeated it again at 83' or 85'. After a save by Lloris off Robben, the ball was well on its way to get Bayern a corner. But oh yea, Gomez flew in to save the ball and try to score. He saved a corner for Lyon as the bloody guy was offside. I was like FTW! And hey Barca fans, you call Ibra's performance bad?? If Ibra's bad, this guy is tragedy to the power of catastrophe. Why Gomez would come on with Klose on the bench is something only van Gaal can answer. Why gomez would come on in the first place is for everyone to solve. Is he related to Gerd Muller or Beckenbauer?

Anyway, I couldn't have picked a better half to watch this week. Here's hoping I watch both matches completely next week. Lyon's a scary side with amazing talent. Didn't know they had Delgado, Toulalan, pjanic, Makoun, Lissandro and Lloris. No wonder they beat Madrid.

Player rater (for second half alone):

22 Butt - Not as bad as usual. There was this one time though, when he thought he was a spectator and did nothing when Lyon attacked. Thankfully, nothing happened.
05 Van Buyten - Good. Wasn't threatened at all.
06 Demichelis - Awesome.
21 Lahm - Awesome.
26 Contento - Not much to do
07 Ribery (red) - Didn't see him play
23 Pranjic (yellow) - Didn't see much of him (Gomez 63 - He deserves a separate post)
31 Schweinsteiger - God
10 Robben - God 2.0 (Altintop 85 - Not much to do)
11 Olic - Didn't see him play (Tymoschuk 46 - Good. Especially the assist)
25 Muller - Had a couple of Gomez moments. Btw, that's an insult. How much more could Lahm have done there??? Trying to move back that way? Gimme a break.

01 Lloris - Awesome
03 Cris - Good
13 Reveillere - Didn't know who he was
20 Cissokho - Good
06 Kallstrom - Not bad
08 Pjanic - didn't see much of him (Makoun 55 - Good)
10 Ederson - Didn't see much of him (Michel Bastos 71 (yellow) - Average)
28 Toulalan (yellow, red) - Unlucky chap
41 Gonalons - Who?
09 Lopez - He didn't have much attacking to do today
19 Delgado - Awesome any day (Govou 79 - had a good chance towards the end. Mis-hit.)

C ya next week! Cricket till then.

Arsenal vs Chelsea Feb 7, 2010

2010-02-07T08:09:00.001-08:00

And we begin. (Popular demand) :))

Warning: Updates are quicker than that of BBC or related sites. But definitely not as detailed.

The first five minutes have largely been Chelsea's...

8th min. DROGBA scores. Superb corner. Superb flick. Arsenal is indeed Drogba's bunny.
10' Strong interception by Chelsea. Drogba wastes it. Stamford bridge sure'd look ominous to Wenger now!
11' Arsenal are visibly shaken, just like what happens whenever a major team scores against them.
12' Can Arshavin and Cesc do anything to turn this around?
13' The way Chelsea play reminds me of the Champions league Semifinal against Barcelona last year. Pure class. Not something I've seen from them since then. How did this happen?
15' Nasri sure doesn't look like the man for the job. Malouda looks like the one.
16' Drogba's offside by an inch. Arsenal survives... Meanwhile, Cesc is no match for Cech at the other end.

Hi to our first visitor Ivan :)

17' Cech saves the day for Chelsea. Arshavin almost scores.
19': @Ivan's comment. Personally, I don't care about his personal life. He plays like God.
20': Cech is too much to take for Arsenal. Got a feeling the Blues have slowed down. Their defence is coming into play.
21': Arsenal has been having the ball for the last 5 minutes.
22' DROGBA SCORES. Lampard begins the journey , takes it through and pushes it to Drogba who fires it, yes, literally fires it past Almunia. Almunia is not good enough for this. He was clueless.
25': Arsenal are figuring out what's happening. Cech on the other side and the score would have been a different story.
26': Chelsea lead 2 - 0 and that only tells us how strong Arsenal's defence is.
28': Sixty seconds of possession for Arsenal after a while
30': There's a replay of that Drogba tornado on TV. The cameramen can't get enough of it, we can't get enough of it. Awesome finish. Great job by Frank Lampard too.
32': Ashely Cole almost scores. Again. Corner.
33': Malouda takes the corner. It's looming around the Arsenal goal and oh, Anelka is... you know, offside.
34': Ivanovic and Carvalho have been the only defenders tested today. terry's been having it easy and Ashley Cole is almost playing LW.
36': lampard is handling too many roles with elan there. Seriously happy at this performance from the Blues. Still a bright chance for a Champions' League victory for an English side, I must say. If only they had Rooney alongside Drogba, I wouldn't have even a doubt.
38': @Ivan. Walcott runs behind Ashley Cole. This game is one example of how good Ashley cole can get.
39': Malouda magic. Not much follow up.
39': Ballack is surprised at Arsenal defenders bumping into each other and Drogba almost places it at Anelka's feet to fire. Another time, it would be a goal.

Would love more followers. Seriously.

41': Nasri gets the better of Ivanovic for the first time today.
42': Now we know why Chelsea bought Malouda. Devastating. He could be. He spins like Shakthimaan and ta da, he is already beyond you.
44': Arshavin doesn't come close to even teasing Terry. Is this the Andrei we knew?
45': The commentator says it all. Terry reads Sagna's mind.
46': Ivanovic brings Cesc down. Intentionally. Lucky to get away without a card.

2 extra minutes before the break.

47': HEAD ON COLLISION. Malouda and Vermaelen. Blood. Gore. Malouda was just too fast / very dangerously daring and Vermaelen was just too complacent. Vermaelen's floored. Malouda walks on with blood flowing from his head.

HT Chelsea ahead by two goals.

John Dykes: Arsenal swept aside! When have we seen that before?
Fellow commentator: Last week, against Manchester United...

Really, what happened to Arsenal? Andrei is not at his creative best. Walcott and Diaby look silly, Gallas and Vermaelen are the only defenders, Sagna is a pushover. What is going on, Mr.Wenger?

For England in SA, Terry (despite all the news around him) and A.Cole are a must! Combine that with Rio and we have an unbreakable defence of 3. 3 - 4 - 3 is an option Capello should consider strongly, perhaps? or 3 - 5- 2, going by Rooney's form...

46': Second Half is ON
46': Walcott gets the ball out of play from his own possession. Silly or what? Slipped, actually.
47': 46th was an Arsenal minute. A snake without its teeth would be a good analogy. No?
48': Gallas could have easily hit the ball anywhere he wanted. Instead, it's a corner. Brilliant corner by Lampard. No one utilizes it.Headed away.
49': Chelsea not playing as a team yet in this half. Arsenal couldn't have it any better.
50': Cech still looks impossible for Arsenal.
51': Drogba is down. Perfect start for Arsenal, seriously.
53': Too many fouls from Chelsea in eight minutes, me thinks.
54': Ashley Cole stops what would have been a killer pass.
55': Almunia is lucky. A rolling ball and he struggles to latch on to it. He does it at the end though.

@Mayil Arsenal are confused.

56': Anelka humiliates great play from Ivanovic and lampard. Lampard especially. Humiliates is the word.
58': Strange that Almunia hits a long shot to terry on the right half with all Reds on the other half...
59': Moments of brilliance from Drogba at one end and Ballack at the other.
60': The ball is in Chelsea's half. No, not joking. Nasri hesitates at teh crucial moment and loses it.
61': Terry's injured there or what? Limps.
62': Ballack's good at interceptions. Too good in this match, at least.
63': Drogba's passes are all killer. ALL of them. Chelsea haven't been good enough to use em. Lampard was running too fast for that pass. A second slower and it would be at the back of the net. Only a matter of time beofre it's three, if it goes on like this.
64': Walcott's off. Bendtner's in. And yes, terry's injured.
Much needed change for Arsenal. but Bendtner?
66': Nasri's not giving Cech any problems.
67': Interception header by Diaby. Yes.
67': A limping Terry's faster than Arsenal. #quote
68': What was between Drogba and Cesc? Was typing and missed it.
69': Carvalho brings Bendtner down just outside the box. Free kick from the line. Cesc vs Cech.
69': PETER CECH is the DUDE of the hour.
70': AGAIN. CECH saves AGAIN. He is beyond Human. A few saves in this match have been of the "How in the world did he stop that?" type.
72': Clichy proves he is equal to Anelka.Not a great achievemnt looking at how Anelka's been playing today.
73': Almunia's brave enough to walk outside the box. Ha.
74': Rosicky for Diaby and Eboue for Sagna. Now Wenger's talking! Wait a minute, did he read my blog?
76': Corner for Chelsea. Malouda. ballack heads it into the stands. Wenger's been a busy man today shouting at people.
77': Super pass from Eboue to Bendtner, and like all passes to Bendtner, wasted.
78': Eboue beginning to threaten Chelsea. They should look at isolating him.
79': Zhirkov's ready to come in.
80': Arsenal had a chance there. Pucca header from fabregas. If only it hadn't been Bendtner!
81': Like I worried, Bendtner's as much of a problem for Arsenal as is Mikel. Zhirkov on for Ballack. Ovation.
82: Good recovery from Lampard after a stumble. Free kick for Chelsea.
83': OFF THE POST!!! BRILLIANT SHOT!! ALMOST A HATTRICK. Almunia could do nothing there. Noone else could have.
85': Another freekick. cesc feels chelsea doesn't deserve it. I didn't see. Anelks misses again.
86': Eboue and cesc are the only good things Wenger can take away from this match. and someone remind him, Bendtner's a waste.
87': Good one here. J Cole for Anelka. Another goal on the cards now, I think.
88': yellow for Zhirkov. Deservedly. Vermaelen will have that first half souvenir from Malouda for a while, I think.
89': Lampard and Gallas push each other. Whatay fun.
90': Fabregas comes close. Was twenty inches from taking a clean sheet away from Cech.
91': Kalou for Drogba. Standing Ovation.
92': Zhirkov's not a great replacement for Ballack. Yet to see him at his best for Chelsea.
93': Brilliant attempt to get the ball to Rosicky from Arshavin, but the name's Cole, Ashley Cole.

Hullo visitors?

94': Wenger's upset, and he has been so for a while now. Ashley Cole stops anything that comes in to the box. Saves a lot of trouble for Cech.
96': Er. How many added minutes are there, by the way?

CHELSEA WIN 2 - 0 largely due to an amazing display of football in the first half that left half of Arsenal wishing they weren't there.

Arsenal - Liverpool, Sunday Dec 13 2009 - Live updates blog

2009-12-13T08:16:00.001-08:00

13 minutes into the game.

Torres has missed a golden chance to go up front.
The referee has possibly screwed up another (very silly attempt by Gallas on Gerrard. That was a penalty!).
Liverpool are the better side so far. Usually, Arsenal wouldn't want Denilson to jump into Mascherano and roll down to get possession.

18': Aurelio practices his shoot. Way off target there, mate.
19': Kuyt gives it away for the third or fourth time there, all within twenty minutes. Arsenal threaten. Good defending from the Anfield side.
22: Mascherano has decided on a physical game.
23': Kuyt has received some beautifully sent passes so far. Nothing has come out of it. One click and it'll be a goal.
24': Yellow for Denilson. Intentional kick, that?
26': Mascherano is still down. Badly hurt?
29': I have a feeling Denilson falls down whenever possible. Freekick taken by Fabregas.

Arsenal are not at their best now. That, according to me, is because Liverpool hasn't let them get in to the groove. Though I wanted Arsenal to win at the beginning, I can't help clapping for Liverpool at times.

Arsenal is letting me down here.

32': El NiNo is offside.
34': Sagna waits till Liverpool have eight defenders in the box. Beautiful run up to the moment wasted.

36': Arsenal begin to show glimpses of settling in, Liverpool take their feet off the accelerator here.

Is the TV transmission signal itself bad or what?

38': Alonso in the stands. There's a guy Liverpool will always miss.
40': Gerrard gives Denilson a taste of his own medicine. Freekick for liverpool
41': Kuyt scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almunia punches out what he should have caught.
Kuyt slots into a net protected only by Gallas.
43': Wenger looks like he's frustrated. He should be.
44': Yellow for Aurelio. Cesc takes the freekick again.

Two minutes of added time.

46': Torres gets all aggressive here.
47': Everyone's defending for Liverpool. Let's see Arsenal crossing that!

HT
Arsenal 0 - 1 Liverpool

A win here will mean a lot for Liverpool. Their sign of arrival. All wins from here and who knows? They might win the league. Uh, that sounds improbable.

Liverpool might not lead by the most incredible of goals, but Liverpool should be leading in this game anyway.

If there's any visitor at all here, tell me if Arsenal's demand for compensation from Netherlands is justified. Looking at the first half, it sure looks justified to me!

Second half underway. Arsenal need to improve vastly to get away with a point or three.

50': Johnson - Own goal. Johnson makes up for the missing Arsenal striker. I was just thinking that Arsenal were getting into place and RVP would have made it perfect. Too many defenders spoil the broth for Liverpool. Nothing much that reina could have done.

53': Almunia gets his hands on the ball in this half. 'Round, is it?' he asks the attacker.
53': Long and good runup by Torres. The ball ends its journey in Almunia's hands.
56': Missed a couple of minutes reading up on the info provided by the only visitor on this blog. :)
57': Torres is offside.
58': ARSHAVIN Scores and how! Killer shot! A long pass missed by the defenders comes to pappa and it'sshot past Reina! 2 -1 for Arsenal. All odds have changed in a matter of minutes.
61': nasri is down after taking a Gerrard kick. He should be ok in a while.

Three entirely avoidable goals so far. The third was avoidable till Arshavin locked it on target.
63': Johnson is behaving like every other guy who has scored an own goal. Angry.
64': Aquilani gearing up to get some action.
64': Yet another offside - Torres.
65': You should have seen that take by Nasri.
65': Aquilani in before Cesc takes the kick. In for Mascherano. More of an attacking mood.
66': Arshavin tried a stunner of a pass, and failed.
67': Wenger still doesn't look particularly happy.
68': Loads of back passes from Arsenal. Not exactly Arsenal-ish.
69': Arsenal take back possession of the ball...and give it back.
70': Walcott off. Diaby in.
72': Will Arsenal take it till goal? Yes, but Reina blocks like Chetan there.
74': Change in possession over n over n over again.
74': corner for Liverpool after a near comic take by Almunia.
76': Torres would have fired that in, had Almunia not run in to take it.
77': Liverpool play with the ball for a while before taking it forward.
78': Five Gunners take it away from Gerrard. Nice wall there.
78': Would that Denilson mis-header prove costly? No.
80': Ngog for Yossi.
81': Yellow for Arshavin.
82': Nasri yellow for fouling Aquilani. Johnson out, Insua in. Eight min + injury time left.
83': Good start from Insua. Bad cross. I would consider that a missed goal.
84': Francesc with tha ball. Feels like near magic.
85': Lucas yellow.
86': A forward surge from either sides made up that minute.
87': Traore out, Silvestre in.
88': cesc vs three defenders. Crosses line for a liverpool throw in.
89': Wide header from torres.
90': Is Arshavin injured? Better not be... Four added minutes.
91': Beautiful effort to keep the ball in play by Ngog.
92': Starts with an Almunia kick.
92': Foul by Aurelio again. Arshavin out. Ramsey in.
93': Starts with a Reina kick.
94': gerrard fouls. Freekick Arsenal.
94': last chance for Liverpool. Nothing there.
95': Arsenal fans celebrating here, as Arsenal win 2 - 1 today.

FT Arsenal 2 - 1 Liverpool. Sure didn't see that coming midway through the game! Brilliant game for Arshavin and Arsenal. Liverpool's second half jinx continues...

Ivan: So it ends.
Me: For Liverpool, the saying's "So it ends again!"

Arsenal - Chelsea - Live text and updates!

2009-11-29T08:10:00.001-08:00

Emirates, November 29 2009

One game I cannot take sides for. May the best team win.

Quick words:
Seven minutes into the game and Arsenal are in full control.
Arshavin, Song, Cesc, Cech and Essien are doing their job pretty well.

10:47 - Mikel gets a warning for targeting Cesc.
13th: Nasri wins a throw in from a fine position.
14th: Drogba is offside.
15th: Ashley Cole is still settling in.
16th: Arsenal look dangerous. Chelsea is clueless as people in red and white assume important positions all over the place.
16th: Drogba tries to sneak one in.
17th: Essien and Carvalho have a handful to handle, as Arsenal take a corner.
18th: Cech takes an easy one from the corner.
18th: Chelsea threatened one and HOW! Mikel takes one, pushes to Lampard, wonderful pass past Drogba to Anelka, who was, I think, tugged down just in time.
20th: Sagna's been having a busy day near the Chelsea box.
20th: Looks like Gallas pushed Anelka down. lampard takes a free kick, defenders clear it for a corner.
22nd: Lampard takes the corner as well, Essien taking what I call the central header place.
23rd: Drogba and Almunia's header/catch practice session.
24th: Nasri fires into Cech's hands.
25th: Essien's proving to be a big obstacle for everyone in Arsenal.
25th: Ivanovic runs faster than Traore. Traore doesn't like it, pulls Ivanovic down, and gets a yellow card.

Funny, but Chelsea get better with time.

27th: Essien misses one, takes Cech to stop an Arsha-win.
28th: Sagna believes Cesc's pass was too fast. I believe Sagna wasn't fast enough.
29th: Offside - Arsenal. Would have been a penalty if not an offside.
30th: Mikel's too...casual? Arshavin's literally taking the ball away from Mikel's feet.
32nd: Joe cole has been warned. 'No, you can't have Nasri's trousers'
34th: Drogba apologises to Anelka for picking a packed up Joe Cole instead.
35th: Confusion in the Chelsea box.
36th: Ivanovic is getting the bettrer of Nasri today.
37th: Yellow for Drogba! Medicos for the defender.
38th: ESPN shows the foul each team committed in its own D and how well they got away with it. Sagna definitely was the culprit there. (refer minute 18)
40th: Eduardo would have scored had Peter Cech not run in to scoop the ball!
41st: Traore can't understand what he should be doing anymore.
42nd: DROGBA SCORES. Terry to Ashley. Ashley to Drogba. Amazing followup. I can't decide which of the three is better. Terry's superb pass or Ashley's superb cross or Drogba's neat finish. I'll go with Ashley.

Ancelotti punches an invisible demon to show his happiness. Eleven appearences for Drogba against Arsenal; nine goals! And some people wonder why I am beginning to like Drogba!

43rd: Gallas ensures that Drogba doesn't get two in two minutes!
44th: When Mikel wins the ball from two Arsenal players, you can say Arsenal is shaken.
45th: GOAL TWO for Chelsea. Wonderful cross from J Cole. Vermaelen puts it in (OG) before Drogba can get anywhere near! Arsenal are repeating the same mistakes they did against ManU. The rule's "Don't get shaken so much!"

HT: Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal

Aswin's HT Analysis:
Outstanding first twenty minutes from Arsenal. Equally good performance from Chelsea in the next twenty five. Arsenal's last five minutes of the half was poor despite some valiant attempts; and these five minutes have been the difference.

SECOND HALF underway. Theo Walcott's here. Arsenal's in a definite attacking mood, no doubt.

47th: Good defending to stop Eduardo da Silva.
48th: Nasri hits in to the D, Terry heads it out. Arsenal try again. Essien's here.
49th: Commotion all around. Many hits. Many saves. Arshavin slots one. Not a goal.

Chelsea need time to settle in. Just like ever.

51st: free kick for Arsenal.
53rd: Arsenal want to attack. Chelsea's still 'analyzing', except for Carvalho, Essien and the man, John Terry.
54th: Anelka's the "name of the blog". Offside.
55th: Corner for Arsenal. Absolutely sorry, but no time to write about the finer details of the moments on screen (or I'll miss them! At least I get to watch this way!). If only I had a speech to text converter!
56th: Cleared just in time by John terry. JUST in time.
57th: Eduardo out. Vela in. Arsene's going for it on one hand, and saving Eduardo for the rest of the season on the other.
58th: Arsenal discover that beyond Terry, there's a man named Cech.
59th: Traore's not happy, I think, with his game.
60th: Lampard and the pass of grace.
60th: Anelka's offside, yet again.
61st: Arsenal freekick. Punched out by cech.
62nd: Freekick for Arsenal. Fabregas is wondering why the rest of Arsenal didn't put that into the net. Gallas is not able to reach the ball before Cech does.
64th: Almunia saves it one second before the ball creeps into the net off a Lampard deflection.
65th: Joe Cole thinks he deserves a free kick too.
66th: Terry's complaining that Vermaelen hugs him tight whenever he's in the Chelsea box and rightly so (TV replays show Terry's right). That's not football. This is not how you 'mark' people.
67th: Rosicky in for Nasri.
68th: Arsenal says Sagna can attack. Chelsea says anyone can defend that.
69th: Deco in for Joe cole.
70th: Free kick for Arsenal from close range. Yellow for Essien.
72nd: Ashley Cole is out. Ferreira's in.
73rd: People think they can jump on Drogba and push him down. Small boys.
74th: Deco gives it away. Arshavin threatens. Carvalho saves the day.
75th: No one knows who owns the ball.
76th: Two men down. Play continues. (Denilson and Drogba). Play finally stopped.
77th: Vela needs to realise that falling inside the box does not mean a penalty would be given. Someone needs to push him down!
78th: Desperate game from both sides. A little funny at the moment.
79th: The ball's stayed in the Almunia half for more than two mins now.
80th: Ivanovic's doing a great job out there. Nasri didn't read him. Vela's finding him difficult too.
81st: Goal kick for Arsenal.
81st: Lampard and Sagna play Shaolin soccer.
82nd: Noone knows who owns the ball now. How would they calculate possession percentage for this match?
83rd: Deco gives it away, yet again!
84th: Essien's thinking of attacking...finally!
85th: Some people start leaving the Emirates. They didn't come to watch this!
85th: Fabregas brings down Essien near the box. close range free kick for Chelsea.
86th: DROGBA fires it in! 3-0 Chelsea! Far end of the post. Almunia didn't have much of a chance there. Ten goals in eleven appearences for Drogba against the Gunners. People are walking out of the Emirates now.
88th: Deco does the first good thing of the day, wins a freekick. Drogba out. Malouda in.
88th: Gallas marshals the Arsenal. They begin to look good when Sagna fires it into the stands which are becoming increasingly empty now. Wait, is it the Chelsea crowd I am hearing?
91st: Essien's faster than anyone else on the ground now.
93rd: Why is Arsenal defensive now??
94th: Malouda misses what would have been a fourth for Chelsea.
95th: Fabregas is frustrated and eventually gets an yellow.

It's all over. Chelsea 3 - 0 Arsenal.
Chelsea have beaten the rest of the big four season so far and is on top of the table for good reason. Arsenal did not have it in them to convert efforts into goals and that's a reason they're going further away from the top of the table today.

FT words:
Barcelona or Madrid can not come up with anything better than what Arsenal did in their moments. if Arsenal had stuck to that attack and played like Gods, I doubt if things would have been different. The bottom line is that Chelsea survived, and they are all set to survive any further attacks. If only Deco improves his touch vastly, Chelsea need not worry about the African cup of nations. Losing Essien and Drogba will be hard, and Chelsea will look at extending their lead considerably before that.

Nobody visits this blog for live updates. I am just wondering why I am doing all this. :)
Heck, who cares?

Chelsea, ManU and Gabriel Obertan

2009-11-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

Chelsea 1 - 0 ManU, Sunday Nov 8 2009

It wasn't the great game people thought it would be, at least in my opinion. It was a game that was full of energy channeled into all the wrong departments, tempers flying high, happenings that did not meet the referees' eyes, so on and so forth. It was a match right out of Bundesliga, what with all the hits and pushes.

To begin with, the blues deserve the lead they have at the moment, not for the effort they put in yesterday but for the effort they have been putting in all season. Yesterday though, they were mediocre compared to what they can do. Without Vidic and Rio, Chelsea should have ideally annihilated the Manchester United defence. Instead, they were left with problems in their own, unable to contain Antonio Valencia in many situations. ManU midfield was having a field day passing the ball into the Chelsea box at will. Terry and Carvalho had a tiring day clearing the ball by all means possible. Overall, it was no impressive performance from Chelsea, although credit has to be given to Ivanovic for a fine attacking(?) display.

To ManU's credit, they kept the opposition's defence busy, limited Ashley Cole's running time & space (worked wonders) and came up with an artistic midfield display. Fletcher, Rooney, Obertan and Giggs were impressive. I have a feeling Terry's goal can be attributed to missing Vidic and Rio. It wouldn't have been that easy with them around. Another positive point for ManU is that they did not concede a single corner. The number of shots off target is something SAF should look into. Only two of them even threatened to be a goal if hit right (esp the Rooney one).

Next, I must come to the case of Gabriel Obertan. The French Winger is clearly an amazing talent with an amazing Arsenal-ish style of play. He is still settling in, with his performance against Chelsea much better than his Blackburn outing. I am sure he would be a force to reckon with, post January, given time and importance. With Chelsea losing players to the african cup of nations and Obertan fitting in the ManU first team with Rooney and Fletcher, my opinion is that five points will not be a good enough lead. Hope SAF gives Obertan more playing time in the first team in local cups before that. He is clearly better than Macheda.

And oh, shouldn't forget an Arsenal waiting to swwwishhhh past the two teams. Arshavin & Fabregas together can create more opportunities than any other combo in England at the moment.

Chelsea
# 01 Cech - got the job done with one superb save
# 02 Ivanovic - Brilliant performance
# 03 A Cole - good, as usual
# 06 Carvalho - one amazing block, man-marked rooney very well, but had his bad moments.
# 26 Terry - Ref's eyes did not see him tugging Valencia. Saw Chelsea through.
# 05 Essien - Was all over the place. Very intelligent passes.
# 08 Lampard - The freekick that decided the result. Go Frank!
# 13 Ballack - A really wonderful cross into no man's land is what I remember of him from yesterday's game.
# 20 Deco - Lot of effort but ineffective due to many reasons. Will be the difference as the season progresses.
# (J Cole) - Nothing much to say
# 11 Drogba - Nothing much to say
# (Kalou 83) - Did not have enough time to prove anything
# 39 Anelka - Surprisingly good
# (Alex 90+3) - Did not have any time at all

ManU
# 01 Van der Sar - Good game. Had his moments.
# 03 Evra - Tried much to prove his talk off the pitch. Couldn't.
# 06 Brown - Good enough to block Chelsea yesterday
# 22 O'Shea - Nothing much to say
# 23 Evans - I really did not like the way he played
# 08 Anderson - lot of tricks. no results.
# (Owen) - Nothing much to say
# 11 Giggs - Very good. Except that I believe he should have taken on Cech initially when he had a go. Cech was clearly tensed when Giggs had the ball at his feet with no defender in between.
# (Obertan) - Very very impressive style of play.
# 16 Carrick - Somehow don't like him as much as I like Fletcher. Not half as impressive.
# 24 Fletcher - Developing into something solid.
# 25 Valencia - Brilliant stuff. In amazing touch.
# 10 Rooney - Lone fighter yesterday. Berbatov's presence would've unleashed rooney on Chelsea. If not for the harsh offside, ManU would have been ahead early.

India beat Syria to lift Nehru Cup!

2009-08-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Bhangra boys 1 - 0 Fate :) :) First step for Indian Football!

Arsenal vs Manchester United , Old Trafford, Aug 29, 2009

2009-08-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Not sure if it was a due for irritating Adhi, but I missed the first 30 minutes of the match. :(

But, heck, who cares, I got to see that magic shot. Arshavin rox!!

Manchester United beat Arsenal at Old Trafford and Emirates last year as Arshavin watched from home. Wow, Revenge sure is sweet! :)

Here we go!

Two super chances for Arsenal so far.. One saved, by luck or whatever!

Silly mistake from Almunia! Penalty!

Rooney scores from the spot! 1-1... So, this gets tense after all. How I wish eduardo would come on and save the match like RVP did two yrs back.

Brown gets a yellow. I've lost count here.

Free kick from not very far... POST! POST! Rotten luck!

64' : Own goal from Diaby .. under NO PRESSURE whatsoever. ManU 2 - 1 Arsenal

90': I want Magic!

It ends in defeat. Damn.

Chelsea 3 - 0 Burnley : Aug 29, 2009

2009-08-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Awesome display by Chelsea!

Awesome, but not perfect. Chelsea had so many shots on target not because of an imperious setup; it was just weak defence. Caldwell was heavily missed by Burnley defence today and they know it. They had no answer to Didier's speed or Essien's long passes. And boy! Essien was just on fire, sending in superb passes the likes of which I haven't seen of late. His excellent performance was matched only by the amazingly resilient brian jensen, who kept out too many good shots, which could have gone in, even past Van der Sar. The difference, here, is that VDS will never be alone with Vidic and Rio. Jensen was at bay.

Chelsea - Amazing team, this. On track for the title :)

* 01 Cech - Had nothing much to do today.
* 03 A Cole - Awesome. Superb enthu. His goal was a stunner, if I ever saw one.
* 06 Carvalho - Had a practice outing.
* 17 Bosingwa - Very good performance and involvement.
Belletti 66 - Practice game. Looked a little outta sorts.
* 26 Terry - Couldn't stay away from the ball too much that he lunged into an attacking mode as often as he could.
* 05 Essien - God.
* 08 Lampard - Amazing amazing passes. Two stunners to Ballack (one of which was a goal) and an amazing corner, again to Ballack, somehow saved by Jensen.
* 13 Ballack - Very good !
Mikel 83 - Practice run.
* 20 Deco - Superb involvement, great game. Will be an asset when we meet the rest of the big four.
* 11 Drogba - Super enthusiasm, missed one awesome pass from Essien, and made sure the second went in, deflected of carlisle/anelka. Good game overall.
Kalou 75 - Had a good game, given that he wasn't on the field for long. Got the ball past Jensen once intelligently, only to be saved on the line by Myers.
* 39 Anelka - Probably the slowest of the lot, rivalled only by Belletti. Took a pass in great style. A run or two. Nothing much apart from that.

Burnley - Forgettable day

* 12 Jensen - The best keeper in the league by far so far. Saved Burnley from sure hell.
* 02 Alexander - Tried a lot. Wasn't up to the standard.
McDonald 74 - Good show.
* 05 Carlisle - Again , tried a lot. I think the incoming passes were too much for him.
* 14 Mears - Good take off the line.
* 21 Bikey - Injured?? He was the only one in the Burnley defence who could match Drogba.
* 23 Jordan - Didn't notice.
* 11 Elliott - Didn't notice.
* 16 McCann - Good show.
* 09 Fletcher - Got frustrated towards the end. Let it go.
* 10 Paterson - Too much of a defensive outlook. More back passes than otherwise.
Gudjonsson 58 - Good show.
* 20 Blake - good show.
Guerrero 78 - good enthu.

If we forget the defence, Burnley wasn't so bad.
They'll be ready when Chelsea visit Turf moor. I could see that in Coyle's smile. ;)

UEFA Champions league draw 2009 - 2010

2009-08-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa
Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, Zurich
Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL
Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen
Group F: Barcelona, Inter, Dynamo Kyiv, Rubin Kazan
Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni
Group H: Arsenal, AZ, Olympiacos, Standard Liege

Source: goal.com.

My favorites, as in, teams I like:
Group A: Bayern Munich
Group B: Manchester United, Wolfsburg(I'd forget all my hate for this club if they beat ManU :) )
Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid
Group D: Chelsea
Group E: Liverpool
Group F: Barcelona, Inter
Group H: Arsenal, AZ

Of course, I am already on google reading about debrecen and apoel :)

The Anfield Diary

2009-08-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Three points in three games. Beat Stoke, lost to Spurs and Villa. This is almost unacceptable even for relegation teams, but we're talking Liverpool.

A few quick points before I get back to work.

a) Shouldn't Voronin start? I saw many of his goals and games last season for Berlin. He should start for Liverpool's sake. he just can't find his feet coming in at 75'.

b) Babel and Benayoun should be in action at the same time. Substituting one for the other doesn't work. Benayoun should play his natural position behind the striker as much as possible, and Babel should be substituted for Kuyt, not Yossi. Makes sense?

c) I just can't understand Rafa's plans this season. I am sure he means good, but I just can't see it. Do you?

Burnley at it again!

2009-08-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

A recent equation doing the rounds in forums around the World.

Burnley at Turf Moor = Liverpool at Anfield.

They sent ManU crying, and how! Even without Caldwell and half of the team's "Moor" defence. (The new guy's cool, though.)

Recent scalps : Arsenal, Chelsea and ManU.

Go on Coyle!

Forums believe that ManU lost because of :
1. Lack of pace.
2. lack of width.
1+2 = 3. In short, Lack of CR7.

I wouldn't say that. Though Cristiano was an incredible "presence" against weak teams, I still think ManU missed Carlos Tevez more.

Just wait and see what Tevez does for ManC when they visit Burnley. You'll see what I am talking about.

May the best team win!

2009-04-18T08:41:00.001-07:00

=Arsenal vs Chelsea=

This is one fixture for which I have never managed to take sides for a few years now. It was Arsenal before Mourinho and Chelsea under the Special One. No particular side now. But then, I want the winenr of this match to take the FA Cup Home.

And much as I am crazy about this match, It sucks to think I won't be watching it. I need to check the news tomorrow morning...

All the best everybody!

Bayern Munich - Barcelona [Round 2] Ding!

2009-04-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

As a fan of Bayern Munich, I have never seen a worse performance (or mindset) from the German Side. I couldn't watch the screen after the fourth goal. I was sooo down. Only a Chelsea victory kept me from crying.

At the end of Round 1 in this amazing match-up of a quarterfinal in the European boxing championship, Barcelona had punched four teeth out of its opponent Bayern Munich in the first half of the round, and the second half was more like Bayern saving the rest of its teeth from falling, rather than trying to exact some revenge.

Round 2 is gonna start and Bayern is well aware of all the criticism it has been getting from the World Media and old players, which all claim round 1 as the worst ever performance in Bayern's History. Bayern will not mind losing teeth anymore, and Round 2 will be about saving its face (figuratively) in the eyes of the World Media. A meek surrender of a German Champion has never been heard of in the past. Bayern will put its life on the line to get through this one. One hand of Bayern, which fans call Ribery, was of the mindset that it could never get to Barca's face in Round 1. Hope its confidence increases and reaches Van Bommel's. Oh yes, the left eye, Schweini, will be very keenly looking at let ups from Barca. Mind you!

Barcelona is a proud team. It had fun teasing, punching and seeing Bayern's blood in Round 1, and will look forward to repeating it. At the best form of its life, Bayern should be push overs, or so it thinks. All it needs to do is play safe and by the rules to get through Round 2 and emerge the winner.

Will it be able to? Or Will Barca's Mess(i)y Hand knock Bayern's jaw this time? Whew, Can't wait.

cool ! Shearer, Boss of Newcastle United!

2009-04-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/7975700.stm

Possession Football

2009-03-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

Possession football is a style of play that puts me off more often than not. For a huge fan of the counter-attack style, I hate to admit it. But Possession football has its own huge advantages, most importantly at the School level.

When I used to play at School, ahem, rewind many many years, my school team coach (read PT master :D) was singularly cross with me for not playing possession football even when he compelled me to. I was always looking to attack and run down the left flank, and possibly into the box. I never thought about anything else. Because I got to see so less of the ball. I remember being made to sit on the bench for the rest of the day. And the subsequent match against the Rajalakshmi school kiddos. (Are such matches still held? :))

Now that I think of it, I can blame neither. Every child wants to have the ball for a longer time. That's a natural urge. Whenever I had more of the ball, I was extremely confident with my passes. And whenever I had very few touches of the ball, I used to be shaky and was relieved to send it to someone in the D at the earliest.

I read one blog by BBC's Gavin Strachan recently (find the link a few posts below) questioning if it was really necessary to have long 11 on 11 matches on a full sized pitch for kids. Nail on the head. Not at all necessary. While it gives a realistic feeling, playing on a smaller ground would mean more of the ball. And subsequently more competition. And yes, more confidence.

The tricks that people learn during practice can never be tried on the field most of the time (Am not talking about Club football. This is School football). This is because we find it hard even to play a natural straight-forward game with the pressure of a real game. If only you have a lot of possession, you can even think of playing all those tricks on the opponent defence and check for ourselves if our tricks hold water.

Mindless Attacking and Counter attacking may work out at big leagues and clubs, but I believe possession football and trying your opponents' patience is the best choice for School team coaches in practice sessions. Making the guys more confident. Say, in a 30 minute game, the guys should mandatorily stick to holding the ball (well, maybe except the CF) and attacking only when absolutely necessary. This phase would be called Confidence-building. Defenders should be alerter during this phase. Atleast half of the midfielders should be in a defensive role. The CF and possibly one winger at a time can surge ahead. After this phase, In the next 15 minutes, the game will Evolve, no doubt. People will try their tricks out and start showing flashes of their free-flowing game. Goals will follow.

This is what I think. If there are any school-level football coaches, let me know if this thing can work for you. Of course, I am not that strong with the coaching terminologies.

PS: A lot many of you have asked me in the past why Schweini (Bastian Schweinsteiger) is among my most favorite players. Because he's a winger (and a left winger at that), and is everything I ever wanted to be. The difference is that, though a left winger by choice, I was played on both wings for my ability to drop crosses better than my team mates. (I can see you imagining how badly they'd play :P)

Liverpool 4 - 1 Manchester United : Old Trafford 2009

2009-03-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

The title should actually read "Liverpool thrashes ManU : 4 goals to 1".

Whatay performance from the Anfield side.

They have proved again that they are an under-rated side. It was sheer torture meted out to the Old Trafford side's defence and Except Rio, the rest couldn't handle it at all.. The anger due to his helplessness got the better of Vidic, who hasn't been put to the test this hard in recent times..

Torres.. Running through a strong defence has become an habit of his, of late, and we are enjoying it! Gerrard was almost as good as he can get. Liverpool did their homework right, and ManU had it coming at them. And yes, I couldn't even spot ManU's midfield in this game.

An interesting point would be ManU's complacency. All Credit to Liverpool, but seriously, this was NOT the best that ManU could have done. A 7-point lead with a match in hand would be a comforting enough fact for anyone, and it did get to their head. The lead is 4 points now, and not very out of reach for Anfield or Stamford Bridge.

Yet, ManU can still run away with a league, even with mediocre performances. Performances against the relegation teams has been the difference this season, and if Manchester United wins, it will stay that way.

Happy for Liverpool!

Milan 2 -2 Werder Bremen (agg 3 - 3 ) --- Werder through on away goals

2009-02-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

One word. Shock.

If talent was the only criterion, AC Milan is the Strongest team in the world today.

Milan Lineup against Bremen - Second leg (Age in brackets)
* Dida (35)
* Gianluca Zambrotta (31)
* Philippe Senderos (23)
* Paolo Maldini (40)
* Giuseppe Favalli (37) (Sub : Jankulovski (31) 77')
* David Beckham (33)
* Andrea Pirlo (29)
* Massimo Ambrosini (31)
* Clarence Seedorf (32)(Sub : Flamini (24) 54')
* Pato (19)
* Filippo Inzaghi (35) (Sub: Shevchenko (32) 62')

The average age of the players on field is 31, even with a 19 year old Pato on the field. Only two persons in the starting XI were under 25 and one of them is on loan from Arsenal. Sad story, but true. The team may boast of some of the greatest talents in the game and it was also evident by the way they went up 2 - 0 in the first half, but age gets up with people, however fit they may be. Diego, Frings and Rosenborg running through Milan only proves the same. Pizarro just had to head in a perfect free kick and a straight forward cross. The Milan wall is not something that can be broken by a newbie future-star like Diego Ribas da Cunha, but he did manage to do that on more than one occasion. Werder Bremen outplayed Milan, no doubt.

It is great news on one hand that yet another German Club is making waves in Europe, but Milan! Milan is one of my favorite teams and after this match, I would strongly vote AGAINST securing Beckham for over 10M. Milan needs young talent, people who can run 90 minutes and look for more (more people like Pato, that is). Beckham is immensely talented, no doubt, but he is 32 already and would be a waste of time and money, to say the least.

Let's see where the leak is.

To begin with, Ronaldinho (28). He is most definitely a great signing. Fits in well with the laid back style of Milan. Someone who can be brutal in counter attack. Great free kicks. Clap Clap Clap.

Dida (35). He's old. But he's still good. The point of great concern here, though, is that Abbiati is 31 and Kalac is 36. The only way out for Milan, now, is to sign a great keeper from another club once Dida decides to go. No other options.

Gianluca Zambrotta (31),Philippe Senderos (23), Paolo Maldini (40), Giuseppe Favalli (37), Jankulovski (31), Nesta (32) :
A defence with an average age of 35, and a loaned defender who's 23. Not a great sign either. Jankulovski is good, Zambrotta is terrific. Maldini and Favalli are Legends, but they are too old and should be utilised only for a max of 50 or 60 minutes in a game for greater efficiency. Senderos has to be signed if possible and another young defender needs to come in, depending on which of the two (favalli & Maldini) are leaving sooner.

David Beckham (33). Great talent. Fits in well, but we don't need him for that money. Unless, of course, if he decides Milan is his last club. It's not like there are no other great right wingers in the game.

Andrea Pirlo (29), Massimo Ambrosini (31), Clarence Seedorf (32) :
The Three Mid-skateers. Great Midfield. No doubts.

Flamini (24), Gattuso (31), kaka (26) :
Gattuso should feature in the previous list, but he is yet to be the presence in Milan that he is for Italy. These three are the future Legends of the club and should be treasured.

Pato (19) : Great talent. looking forward to seeing more of his tricks in the future. :)

Filippo Inzaghi (35), Shevchenko (32) :
These two players sharing 90 minutes of field time is most acceptable. The two styles are entirely different from each other and they can define Milan's counter-attacking / attacking mood respectively. A replacement like Sergio Aguero (Atletico) would be great for this position in the future.

Defence is where I see a leak. What do you think?

And we missed one Kaka in the midfield a lot at San Siro. Let's at least chuck Juve out of the top 2 in serie-A and save some face.

Any Milan fans out there? Your views please!

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

2009-02-27T06:27:00.000-08:00

Sheesh, this is more boring than I thought. Happens.. Especially when there's no one who's gonna read it :P So, I am going to keep this short. If Someone at any football site is reading this, contact me! Most interested to write my life away. :)

Okay.

To begin with, Barcelona will definitely make it to the QF. Anyone who sees how they are performing as a team in La Liga will agree with me.

I do not know much about either Villareal or Panathinaikos to talk in length about their encounter.

Porto can get through if they can only manage to stop Sergio Aguero.

And yea, well..

First Leg : Liverpool 1 - 0 Real Madrid

Rafael Benitez has (once again) been hailed by the Media as the European Gold master, while I guess the same people were agreeing with the "Rafa has to go" campaign as recently as a week ago. Just a quick reminder. He has to put together his Premier League side too. And yes, another news in his favour would be parry leaving Anfield.

The Gates of Anfield have scared every major European team that walked through, and Madrid would be yet another one. Anfield on an European night is so Red that the visitors who come there don't even search for a win. And this time too, it will be no different.

If any man can make a difference to this equation, it would be Arjen Robben. Raul has been great as usual. But Liverpool can handle him with ease. I have lost any faith in Juande Ramos if at all I had any. But then, he needs more time to get his act together, and Anfield would be the most important match of the season for him. A win may not mean anything, but a loss would send him out crashing for sure.

Torres limping is NOT good news, on the other hand. Gerrard getting some taste of the ball is a good sign, and he has always been a great presence in European outings, much larger than life. Alonso has been exquisite with his long shots, and is a pleasure to watch, even when you don't support Liverpool.

Prediction? Tough one. Unless Robben runs through Liverpool, it's another 1 - 0 for the Anfield side. And the goal may come from Hyypia or someone. More prediction? A header, probably. :P

Gimme a treat if this turns out to be the case.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

2009-02-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

First Leg : Bayern 5 - 0 Sporting

Bayern rules! And it is the perfect time to show the world what they are capable of doing. The Germans are back on the European map and how!

The biggest concern for Bayern would be consistency. They lose one match miserably and dominate the next. This is not a great sign for a world class team. Given the immensely talented squad and an impressive home record, the Second leg would be more of a formality...Bayern's through!

I sincerely hope that this year, Bayern will do enough to get this bad feeling away from me.. The feeling that I am the only person in Bangalore who follows Bundesliga results.

Ribery's form reached its peak in the last match. Something I have not seen before from him. Klose, his usual composed self, Schweini & Rensing under performing a little, Lahm at his usual best and Luca Toni finally finding his feet. In the second leg though, my bet is that Klinsmann will give more field time to Altintop, Podolski and Borowski, and less time to van Bommel, given his booking status. Resting Toni would do their Bundesliga quest a world of good.

No comments about Sporting. There's no way out of this.

Prediction? It's a certainty.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

2009-02-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

First Leg: Chelsea 1 - 0 Juventus

One Straight point. I did not expect this first leg result. I was expecting a 0 - 0. Drogba put in an early goal, and that could just manage to take Chelsea through to the next round.

Guus Hiddink will be a happy man. There is always the fear of Juve squeezing a draw back home. And this victory will put that fear behind. Juve will have to attack now, atleast in the last 30 minutes. And judging by the first leg, blocking delPiero and Nedved could be an easier assignment to take care of for Guus than we'd have imagined. But then, accept the bitter piil, Chelsea were more unconvincing than ever before at Stamford Bridge, and that is a point of concern for the English Club.

That could well be the case Ranieri will be dreaming about.. Yet another such display from Chelsea. He has a biggg task on his hands, and unless Chelsea fail to deliver miserably, he can kiss this league Goodbye. Add to it the not so convincing recent home record for the Italians. The only thing he can harp on is the second place in Serie - A, ahead of AC Milan. If they can manage that, why not this! Also, Nedved will be ready to give his best ahead of his retirement. So, Juve can turn out to be that magic pot which doesn't even know what it will throw up next!

My Prediction. Chelsea's through, either with a draw or with an Anelka brace.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

2009-02-27T05:13:00.000-08:00

First leg : Manchester United FC 0 - 0 FC Internazionale Milano

Manchester United, going by reviews, looked every bit the better side at Milan, but the fact is, it could not get that elusive away-goal. Several media reports claim SAF won the first round against Jose Mourinho in this bout, but I seriously doubt it. Going by the game, yes. Going by results, No. Because at the end of it all, Results are all that matter.

Starting with Mourinho's side. Inter has got a consistent away record of late, winning all of their recent matches. Mourinho has been there at Old Trafford and done that before. Zlatan, for the second leg, should be in a freaking kicking mood, after he was criticised for failing 'again' against an English side. He's netted 14 times in the Serie-A this season so far and that's not bad by any yardstick. If I were SAF, I'd watch out. And I bet he will, too. Other people who could prove decisive are Zanetti and Cesar, with Cesar widely believed to be on top of his game, and a better bet than Edwin van Der Sar at the moment. One match of importance, leading up to the second leg, could be the upcoming Roma - Inter match this week.

ManU has been equally consistent of late too, if not better. Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov should prove a very tough challenge for the Inter defence, but given that Inter would look at drawing the match, if they get away with an early goal, it is ManU's defence that comes under the scanner. Again here, we are looking at consistency and a team that is setting a record of sorts with the number of clean sheets this season. Van der sar will be the key on the European Night, one more time.

ManU are comfortably placed, but one shocker of a strike from Zlatan or Adriano or the solid old Inter horses in the Midfield could just seal it then and there.

Prediction? Fingers crossed, that's all.

All the Best to Jose Mourinho, though. If he can pull this rabbit, he is most definitely "the Special One" out there.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

2009-02-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

First leg : Arsenal 1 - 0 Roma

We start with Arsene Wenger's side. A side, I'd say, that is very low on Morale and confidence, whatever you may say. A match without Fabregas or Arshavin will not be their pick, but it has to stay that way. Bendtner, though better than Ade, is misfiring more often than not, and that should remain on the top of Arsene's to-do list before sending the team out for the second leg. Arsenal's defence has been outstanding, to say the least. But their strikers find it increasingly difficult with every game. Eduardo's return match was the only saving grace. If he's in shape for the second leg without any further injuries, Arsenal could walk away with the away goal and the progression. If not, it's going to be a tough encounter.

Roma, on the other hand, have lost one and drawn one match out of the last two games away from home in Serie-A, but have convincingly won their home fixtures. This should be their confidence booster. When a club like Atalanta (the last game away from home) could beat them 3 - 0, Arsenal could manage only a 1 - 0. Oh, but I am not sure if they played their full strength in that league match. Roma has proven in the past that they could be deadly in set pieces, and given Chelsea found it hard at Rome last time it went there, we are in for a Roma Special!

My Prediction for the Second Leg.

It's either

Arsenal 0 - 0 Roma
(or)
Arsenal 1 - 1 Roma

Either way, We can hope to see more of RVP this year in Europe.

Gavin Strachan - Kids training

2009-02-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

One useful post from Gavin Strachan for BBC..

Check it out

Arsenal 4 - 0 Cardiff

2009-02-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

Eduardo : I am back!

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Manchester United, December 13, 2008

2008-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

TOTTENHAM VS MAN-U : Second half : A minute by minute attempt...

Fantastic first half. All credit to Tevez, Rio, Ronaldo, Modric, Huddlestone, Dawson and Lennon. The rest of them, let's say, were just running around.
Brilliant moments in set pieces, so typical of Tottenham games. Hope Roman puts the numerals on the charts!

Tottenham looks vulnerable. ManU defence looks solid. But things don't work out that way all the time.
Van der Sar makes difficult saves look like routine practice moves.

51': Rafael looks like a lost school kid.
53': Dawson saves the moment yet again.. Yet another corner for ManU.
53': Wonderful Ronaldo shot. Wait, is that NOt a goal? Damn.. Superb shot, by the way.
57': yet another ManU corner wasted. Where the heck is Modric?
58': Berbatov is taking things to his heart.. nah, that takes his cool, composed style away..
60': Tottenham throws the possession away.
61': Park shoots into Gomes!
62': rafael gives a good positional Xmas gift to Tottenham.
63': If that isn't a great save from Van der sar!! Classic tap.
64': tevez takes charge.
65': every time te ball touches your feet, you can hear a "Boo" from the crowd... Ask berbatov how this is done..
67': Modric is in great touch. bad news for united.
68': Rafael gives it away.. yet again. ManU regains possession, Ronaldo mistakes a pool of rain water for a swimming pool. No foul against tottenham as expected.
69': giggs the great is in for Tevez.
71': ManU threatens..
72': great save, Gomes. Spurs holding on..
74': Ronaldo is trying to score, Berbatov is, too, but he's trying fans' patience.. :D Rioooo! Great attempt.Missed by a few millimetres.
75': Spurs' corner
76': No, Lennon. That's not how you do it.
77': Dawson rocks. Probably the tenth block of the day. Carrick shoots! Gomes disposes..
78': Bent is offside. There goes the possession again.
79': Tottenham is getting bored with ManU corners.
80': Weak shot from Bent?
80': Dawson rocks. Stops Ronaldo one more time with a cool tackle. Whoa, that's rare.. Ronaldo admits it.
81': O'hara(spurs) keeps the ball.
82': Park gets a throw in for ManU.
83': Great shot from Park! Better save from Gomes.
83': giggs corner , to Gomes, to Lennon, . A Zokora throw in. To Scholes! Rafael gives it away..
84': Modric hits the top of the net!!!!!!
85': Bentley, Lennon, O'hara , throw in, Bent, goal kick..Good show anyway, guys! Few more minutes!
86': A typical ManU buildup! A berbatov offside takes some pressure off Spurs.
87': Ronaldo falls. Dawson pleads innocence. Referee not convinced. Decides on Guilty. Ronaldo free kick.
88': Deflection! Away! Corner. Cleared. Scholes takes the ball back.. Shows why he's an expert!
89': ManU plays around centreline, right end, Ronaldo. Good ploy to take Ronaldo to that position. Giggsie free kick. or Ronaldo's?
90': GOMES PICKS A RABBIT OUT OF THIN AIR! Great save, corner.
91': bentley clears.
92': Spurs clear the ball.. Back in the D. Cleared. Great cross from Rio. Carrick gives it away. A typical ManU late 'spur'. ;)
93': There's Dawson, two more defenders. Clear. Tottenham's happy with just clearing the ball. Gomes stops a potential 3 point mega-blunder.
Pheee.. Whistle blown. White Hart Lane's full of smiling faces!

0-0. That puts ManU alongside Liverpool & Arsenal who've also drawn today against Hull and Boro respectively..

We are closer to El Clasico now. Two more hours :)

Ronnie Ronnie Yes Papa...

2008-12-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I can survive without air, but I sure can't without Football. Reading football news (epl and bundesliga, in particular) is like breathing to me, and the air of late, is polluted..

Wherever I go, whatever I read. It's been a case of CR7 and the Golden Ball. "Is it justified, is it not?" "Doesn't he dive?" "Does he eat Chicken?" "Does he sleep with his thumb in his mouth?" Sheez, guys. Let him do whateva he likes! There are so many beautiful things to discuss about in Football, folks. Why is everything filled with him? But then, I wanted to write this out.

Is he comparable to the likes of Pele? - A BIG NO.
Is Messi? - Maybe, but not yet. He's got the class, but he's got to play the top games and influence 'em. And he's the most promising player on the cards.
Is Kaka? - he is God, but he isn't consistent.

Back to Ronnie, in the "Hand-of-God" match as it is known now, the referee should have handed him the red card when he clapped at the referee for giving a foul against him, which he thoroughly deserved. As far as the Handball is concerned, Whether he tried to gain an advantage or not, he had to be given a yellow according to rules. Posts by some major news networks on why the Referee didn't use "common sense" to realise he didn't gain anything out of it, should realise one thing. He is not Special. Rules DO apply to him.

I absolutely adore the way he moves the ball as if it was just another part of his body, but heck, the expressions that he wears on his face as if he was 'wronged' everytime a decision went against him (while he deserved it in at least 90% of the cases), are despicable, to say the least.

What amuses me most is how he's got so many fans out there who'd actually go to the extent of trusting his "whistle-story" and scorning anyone else who wouldn't.. I am sure he and other players would have just headed the ball in, whistle or no-whistle. This is just one incident that doesn't deserve any media-hype, but then, the way people defend him is sick.

Fergie is rightly criticised everywhere, but for the wrong reasons.

He's done nothing wrong in backing Ronnie's story. Every Manager should and would back his players in public and take him to task only inside the walls of Old Trafford. But he doesn't seem to be getting anywhere behind the walls. CR7's antics are only on the rise.

Ballon D'Or. 42 goals in one season. Forty-two! Throw in his selfishness, diving, penalty taking, no-assist-I-am-Scoring attitude, 42 is still BIG. He deserves the award this year, at least for that number.

But the best in the world? Nah.. 'Look at his skills, Look at his skills', shout the fans. Skill makes you skilled, not Great. A player's greatness comes not only from how many goals he scored, but from how he plays, how he treats his fellow players, how he fits into the team, how he treats his opponents (maybe not this ;)), how he respects the rules, the referee and how honest he is. For all Ronaldo is and is not, he is not "Best-player-in-the world" material to me.

I'd rate atleast 5 players above him at the moment. At least.

He's the best in the world , if Football had been a One-on-One game instead of a team game where scoring goals and earning awards were much more important than playing the game for the love of it.

Heck, many think awards, money and goals are all Football is about. A corporate view, perhaps. Ends justifying the methods.. That's why they support him so blindly and can not understand why some people don't rate CR7 among Legends.

Lo, the method is the Game. And some players stamp on it.

Of Burnley and Arsenal..

2008-12-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

There are better things to talk about than if CR7 deserves his Golden Ball.(though I will come to it later. :D)

The Lancashire Clarets, Burnley, for instance. Whatay Run!! I didn't see any of their matches to glorify the club, but give it to them, all sites report them to be the better side in all three games against Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal. If I remember correctly, they shocked Liverpool a few years ago in the Cup.

When you think about it, I really cannot imagine why a 'youthful' second string side should be used by Wenger against a team that has shown Chelsea the door. Yea, yea, premiership and Champions league are more important and players need rest, but heck rotate 'em. The Cup is NOT a silver imitation. Gotta be more serious about it, especially when you are meeting Burnley at Turf Moor. Not the best of stadia in England, you cannot dive in that grass facedown and keep all your teeth. Wenger, better luck. Arsenal is one of the better teams out there, and it really sucks when it loses periodically. I don't mind Arsenal losing, but I, for one, believe that EPL shines becoz' of Arsenal. The style of play, the speed, the beauty. That is sooo lacking of late, and that doesn't give me the best of feelings. I really miss pre-injury RVP. All Wenger had to do was send him in in the 71st minute against ManU when they were trailing by a goal, and ta da! Arsenal wins 2-1. As the only guy in that room supporting Arsenal, you know the feeling! An year later, i call it "Ol' times.."

All the best to Burnley and Coyle (and Kevin McDonald :)). It cannot be an 'upset' if Burnley lifts the Cup now. They deserve it.

Be a Sport.. Aswin ban gaya Columnist!

2008-11-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/13-be-a-sport

This is where you will see all my updates and news regarding sports in Bangalore..

The rest of teh stuff, i'll update here if i get to write :P

Bayern Munich to set up an Academy in Kolkata, India

2008-11-14T02:31:00.000-08:00

Vielen Danke Bayern!

The Links say it all!

Goal.com link

Yahoo! Sports

Reuters

Thaindian

Guardian

Old news link:
Express India

Guest Column, indianfootball.com

2008-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

I have written on two topics:

>Getting Kids interested

>Coaches

Read there and post your comments here. Thanks!

Liverpool 2 - 1 Manchester United, Anfield, September 13, 2008

2008-09-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Man, did i miss posting on this last week!!!

For the first 20 minutes, it was the regular finish-the-job playing from ManU, with that ultimate combo of Tevez - Berb making the liverpool defence look like a pack of school kids.

I'd probably put it down to Mascherano, he was just beginning to run, kind of.. He kept looking on, as Tevez fired. Nothing he could have done in the last moment. But he shud have started running about 20 seconds prior to his actual start time. He started running properly in the game only after 20 damn minutes. Pretty long for a warm up, i'd say. But then, did he make up for it? Yes! In a big way!

The own goal from ManU gave a super human confidence to Rafa's side, as they started creating chances, though not much, until minute 71, when the impressive debutant Riera was subbed. In came the Football God, Ryan Babel. (Riera's got style. Needs to adjust to the EPL ways, though).

Whether it was Babel's zeal, i do not know. But Alonso & mascherano had "sprung to life", and there's not much that ManU could have done after that. The duo were to the midfield as the Corleones were to NewYork. Two words: Total Control.

And Babel was indeed the wind. Unstoppable.

ManU was at the receiving end. Yes, they struggled. Not that they played poor soccer. Just awestruck by the Wind of Anfield, i guess. It was just one of those days for Liverpool. Wasn't it?

Super Star: One Sun, One moon. Only one Ryan Babel.
Other stars: Mascherano after minute 27. Xabi Alonso. Carlos Tevez

Chelsea 1 - 1 ManU , Stamford Bridge, September 21 2008

2008-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

7 cards in one game for ManU..

Now, Is that a new record? ManU rocks. Somethin's gotten into SAF for 3 seasons now.. The team is a far shade of the late nineties.. I Miss the style.

Saw in an orkut community in a post match discussion thread : "All teams try to foul CR7, don't blame him"..

Oh puhleez.. see this match's replay for CR7's dramatics. His dramatic effort deserves red. Same goes to every other diver in the sport. This is a sport to show your football skills. Only that. Neither acting nor diving. when is the guy ever going to learn that???

Let's say "u dive one more time and u get banned foreva" to mista cr7. i have a feeling that he wont concentrate on his amazing football abilities till then.

Same to Mista Drogba..

Say, Did Anelka have a crazy idea that he was the referee in this match??? He moved away from the ball whenever it came to him.

OMG, It was the cross of the season from Joe Cole.
And Sir Anelka! He gets the MISS of the season award.

LFS, U dont put Anelka as a lone striker unless u wanna lose. Guess u got the point today.

Chelsea: Missed Deco
ManU: Missed tevez

Star performers: JOE COLE, Salomon Kalou, Alex, Rio Ferdinand (except for the kalou header), JS Park.

King Keegan leaves! :(

2008-09-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

The One hope that the Magpies had to reach the top four. You don’t have to do anything as the owner of NU. Just let Keegan be there at the top, and the fans will be happy. Such is the respect NU fans have for King Kev, who took NU to the Premiership from the Championship twice, as a player and as a manager.

No one expected a blasting turnaround in January 08. But the Magpies made news and did surprise its critics. Aided by ManU’s poor performance or not, but NU did draw its first game of the season, with no names to match the opponents’ lineup, except for maybe Owen. Yes, Keegan didn’t work wonders this time so far, but I guess no one else could have, either.

To me, all this transfer-window-concerns look like a stunt to get someone else into the job. Dennis Wise didn’t agree with Kevin on many things, and that we all know. So, they need a new guy and Keegan can’t go just like that. So, there’s this atmosphere that restricts King Kev’s authority and all this hoopla over nothing. Keegan promises three great signings for the season. Xisco comes in, and note Aston Villa was working out if he’d ‘fit’ their team. Come on, NU and Villa are poles apart! When NU should look at top players, they sign Xisco! Ignacio is another bet, though. It’s a gamble that could pay off, but I have this strange feeling it was not part of Kevin’s plans.

And top it, Milner leaves. Milner was a talent who could have been the future at NU. And this one.. Keegan wants Joey Barton in, no one else behind St.James Park does. He does not have the team he wants. Keegan is beyond the stage when he is ‘given’ a team. He is no more an entry level coach! And the bosses damn well know it.

“This is the last day I officially support Newcastle United”, claims a fan on BBC. And I’ve heard that NU doesn’t have mere fans, the club has sheer fanatics. For such a club, this is a totally embarrassing statement to earn from a loyal.

And Ashley! If Mike Ashley doesn’t go through with the same rate of victories NU enjoys this season.. Man, he's done for! 4 points from 3 games (Check this! Beats Bolton, Draws ManU and loses to Arsenal). This is a result card that’s acceptable with the likes of Liverpool or Chelsea. And out goes Keegan. This is a pattern that was bound to shake a few clubs. And if NU doesn’t do that this season, Oh well, I can’t imagine what’s in store. But if they do, Mike Ashley will have to work out a miracle and will be remembered and glorified as a Magician. It all depends on how it turns out from here.

To the top or to the Dungeons. There’s no midpoint.

Whatever, I still adore the way Keegan went about his job these 8 months.. Absolutely adorable. No one else in the history of the Club deserves the place Keegan does. And it’s time Mike Ashley & Dennis Wise realise it.

And hey, it seems the club plans to sue Keegan for not staying through the three point five years mentioned in the contract. And 2 million euros at that! I am sure Keegan has given that and much more to NU in the last twenty years. So, I guess HE should be claiming the rest of the value given by him to the club over the years!

NU is not about getting to the top anymore. And for someone who said Keegan can work wonders way back in January, I have lost hope in the Club and its management, and so will its investors.

The name’s Terry, John Terry

2008-08-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

Back to Socco-Blog with great news!

Fabio Capello, the coach of the English football team, finally announced Terry as his choice to lead England into the 2010 World Cup campaign. A lot of rumours of late pointed in the direction of Rio Ferdinand and that Capello would prefer the Manchester United Star over Terry.

The other names in the fray were Steven Gerrard and David Beckham. All four of them were given the armband on a rotational basis in England’s international friendlies during the past eight months under Capello. After many rumours and months of silence, Capello settled with the inspirational Chelsea Skipper Terry, and the reason: Terry’s big presence in the team. Terry, arguably the best defender in the world, has two League titles to his credit and also had a fabulous season with Chelsea last season, which unfortunately ended on a disappointing note.

Capello took over as coach from Steve McClaren after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Every club Capello has coached in the past has won at least one league title under him, not to forget one European Cup. Now, the major question about England’s performance has never been the quality, but the teamwork and the ability to deliver under mammoth pressure. With his reputation for disciplined approaches to the game, We are only too eager to see how he manages to build the team under Terry, as England faces Andorra, taking its first step towards World Cup 2010.

Preview, Spain vs Russia – June 10 2008

2008-06-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

If there’s one team you got to watch out for and NEVER underestimate, we are talking about Russia. We all know how South Korea headed to the Semis of a World cup in 2002, under Guus Hiddink. I, for one guy, never expected that from them. They played beyond their capability, if you ask me. Hiddink exploited the home advantage and familiarity of conditions there, to give the super-human confidence to the South Korean team. I will be learning a thing or two from him this time, from what he does with Russia.

Arshavin and co, just back from a UEFA cup triumph, will be more confident than ever. They’ll be looking forward to proving a point in this game. If they can beat Spain, I’ll back them all the way at least to the semis. All the best guys!

Spain, the team tagged as the perennial under performers, would be raring to shrug that reputation off, and Torres will play a very important role, if that be the case. One thing to note here is how Spain literally struggled to beat the United States of America in their last warmup. It took 78 minutes and some lucky charm of Xavi to avoid an embarrassment. While it is 100 percent sure that Hiddink would have pages on how and where the Spaniards went wrong in that game, the Spaniards would and should try and get a lot of things straight. They are going nowhere if that’s how they are going to play. I wish them luck again!

Key Players:

Russia – Arshavin, the keeper and another key is the absence of Pogrebnyak!
Spain – Xavi, Fabregas, torres, Villa

Prediction:
A 2 GD in favour of spain…

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PREVIEW :)
Russia did nt have its strikers.. A point to note. I still say the goals were moments of brilliance, and for a team like spain, they made too many mistakes. Russia wasn't good enough to exploit them, but Sweden can. I only hope Spain improves for the next game.

Preview – Romania vs France, June 9 2008

2008-06-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, say 8 years old, I had no idea what football is, which are the countries that play it well. All I knew were a few names, and I’d support them like hell. One of them, I could remember, was Lothar Matthias, the German Football demi-god. And among countries I’d support two countries which weren’t exactly at the top of their game.. Romania and Bulgaria. No idea why I rooted for them, but I did.. Romania has this “yay” feeling around it, taking me back a few years. And I am looking forward to seeing them fight till the end in the Group of death. If they get through this group, they most certainly are one classic side. Good luck to them!

France will be looking to steady its boat. We all know what happened when it met Senegal a few years back. We all know it struggled in the initial matches of a few recent tournaments. Romania will be hoping it is one of those days, and there’s every possibility of it turning out to be one. The English world will look at the star material that is Karim Benzema, and let’s see if the Lyon striker lives up to expectations. And oh, the expectation from him for this match will be a goal. If there’s anyone in the team who can do something about steadying the boat early, I’d give it to Mathieu Flamini or Franck Ribery. Flamini, with his arsenal-speed-game can bring that life to the lineup and Ribery.. Well, he is said to be in Magic Touch at the moment. It will be fun to see if he does a Lampard (remember the great form leading up to the world cup and failing miserably there?) or does it well. If France puts in half the effort they did during their France 98 victory, Euro 2008 is in their pockets already. Great defence at the back and some great names up front.

Key Players
Romania – Chivu, Mutu
France – Benzema, Flamini, Ribery

Prediction: A 1 or 2 GD victory for france

Preview – Austria vs Croatia, June 8 2008

2008-06-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have no comments on this match.. a straight forward victory for Croatia. To be frank, I have no idea about any of the Austrian players and I expect the likes of Luka Modric to run through the Austrian defence. Watch out for him in this match, while I study the other Croatian players to see if there’s another golden boot possibility!

Bilic is very confident about his players and I’ve heard he doesn’t speak for the heck of it. This is one team that has not been tagged favorites by many, but a dark horse, nevertheless.

Fans in Vienna will be in for a rough time.

Key Players:

Austria – I haven’t heard of one guy in this line up before!

Croatia –Kranjcar, Modric, Bilic!

Prediction:

2 – 0 to Croatia!

Preview Germany Vs Poland, June 8 2008

2008-06-04T22:03:00.001-07:00

Poland’s opening match would be against one of the strongest teams in the tournament, minus the King Kahn. But that should make no difference, as Lehmann will not be tested much in this match by the Polish attack, or so I expect. One interesting fact about the Polish squad is the quality lineup in front of the net. I am talking about the keepers. Two reserve keepers for top quality sides in the Premier league and another outstanding keeper in Artur Boruc, who deserves to start. Against Germany, they can afford to substitute the keeper after 70 minutes, when Boruc will be real tired. Fabianski / Kuszczak can hold on for twenty minutes with ease. That really is something the coach can think about. I should see this match before I can come to a conclusion about the other players in the side.

Germany should be looking at experimenting in the first half, and putting in their best team in the last thirty minutes. While Odonkor and Gomez can start, Podolski or Kuranyi can be rested for this game. Putting in Ballack after 65’ would also be a good option, just to keep him sharp for Croatia. The German defence could still do with the likes of Lothar. It is not as star studded, but I expect it to be effective and adaptive. And yay! I am looking forward to seeing Bastian Schweinsteiger in action after a long time. You know, following Bundesliga matches isn’t the craze here, yet!

Key Players for this match:

Germany: Forwards , Substitutes for the forwards

Poland: Boruc, Boruc, Boruc

Prediction:

1 – 0 or 2 – 0 in favour of Deutscheland.

Preview – Portugal vs Turkey, June 7 2008

2008-06-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

Turkey will be looking forward to finishing this game without much ado. Their hopes may be high, and they may be confident of proceeding to the next round, but it’s got to be by beating the Czech Republic. This, I expect to be a very lopsided match. Turkey should look at minimizing the goal difference, if you ask me. Turkey is not a bad team. They have got their own style coming into Euro, but there are certain teams which are not capable of getting ‘upset’. Emre should look at monitoring his team in this encounter and learning from the experience. It’s the other matches that they should be thinking of, just to feel confident.

The team from Portugal is among the favourites tipped to win the title, given the in-form players and that they’ve played with each other before. Scolari should be having nightmares thinking about picking the starting eleven. Deco, Gomes, Postiga.. aaah, now how long has it been since I saw them play together? Personally, I do not like the player that Ronaldo is, but I must admit that he’s one of the rarest talents available at the moment. Post-worldcup-rooney-incident, the referees will have a pre-conceived notion about his diving skills, and that should be a matter of concern. Otherwise, here’s someone you can rely on to produce 1 goal every match, at the least. But, even in the extreme cases of players getting carded time and again, no sweat. There are many more playmakers in the lineup! And the defence shall be a Chelsea trio, protecting the goal and making it all the more easy for the star keeper Ricardo. Portugal should be having a warm up match against the fast playing Turkey. Getting past turkey would ensure that Switzerland will no more be a concern.

Unless the stars wish to lie, It’s Portugal on top.

Key Players:

Portugal – You got to name at least 7 of them here

Turkey – Emre (the captain, in case u wonder which of the three), Tuncay, Altintop perhaps?

Prediction:

Turkey should do all it can to minimize the goal difference as every Portugal player will be expecting to showcase his ability to put the ball past the keeper. A 3 GD in favour of Portugal is my prediction.

Preview – Switzerland vs Czech, June 7 2008

2008-06-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

The Host begins its European Glory hunt at Basle against the formidable Czech Republic. Though I see no avenues for a Swiss victory, it is true that the Swiss defence is capable of keeping the Czech army at bay. I am eagerly awaiting the opening day to see how the dual Gunners (Senderos and djourou) manage at this level without the rest of Arsenal. This is their time to prove a point to the world that they can do a Shevchenko! (taking their team to the next stage single-handedly, hee hee).

The defence at the other end would largely rely on one man, Petr Cech, who’s “been there and done that” in all forms of the game. Their line up consists of consistent and steady players with the likes of Jan Koller and Milan Baros up ahead who can net the ball at the opposition’s every mistake. Much will be expected of Koller in the games to come.

This is the game that will decide if Switzerland can make it to the next round. And as of now, that possibility is .. well, not much of a possibility.

Key Players

Swiss – Djourou, Senderos (let them play this. I need to see the others in action first!)

Czech – Petr Cech, Jan Koller

Prediction: A clean sheet for Cech, and anywhere between 0 and 2 goals for the visitors.

Preview - Italy vs Netherlands, June 9 2008

2008-06-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

Here i begin...

“Fabio Cannavaro will say goodbye to our European adventure, before it has even begun..” comes out a statement.

And you’re like whoa, what the hell… The World Cup triumph had got the Azzurri a good number of fans from India, who do not have an English team to root for , come Euro. And this should go as a shock to all those Italian fans who have been dreaming of a second cup in two tournaments. It is almost an unwritten fact that Italy won the World cup on the fantastic defence marshaled by Fabio. And yeah, of course, the Zizou stunt. But it is too plain.. No Cannavaro, No Roman wall...

The real test for the Azzurri begins from Day 1 of their European adventure, with the Dutch hungry to prove a point. Italy without Fabio, and I see a man with a broken leg, bleeding to add to it, surrounded by 11 hungry wolves. The Netherlands, on the other hand, is one of the strongest teams on paper and yeah, they ain’t on full strength either. They’ll be without the Liverpool star Ryan Babel. But Marco van Basten has other recipes up his sleeve.. so many options that Huntelaar was not even subbed in the friendly against Wales.

The heavily anticipated Italian defence will now look like a few big boulders rather than the Wall that they are famous for. And they can consider themselves lucky if the likes of Nistelrooy, Robben, Kuyt and Huntelaar fail to deal with the boulders. Not to mention the much touted return of R.V.P for the opener.

I was for one behind the Azzurri even before the World Cup started, and it was on their defence that I banked, and it was precisely that defence that saw them through. They can only hope that Gattuso , Pirlo & Luca Toni make up for it this time though, or they may end up eliminated!

This match will be the most important match of the tournament as the winner of this tie will be tagged as the favorites immediately.

Key Players:

Italy: Gattuso, Buffon, Luca Toni

Netherlands: RVP, Nistelrooy, Sneijder

I’ll be back to post on the results! Man, I don’t have a prediction for this game.. Absolutely unpredictable. Though instincts tell me that the Dutch will score, a 0-0 draw seems to be the most practical outcome from 90 minutes of play.