Bayern meet Barcelona!

If there are two teams that social media has compared the most with the cliched 'unstoppable force' tag this year, they would be Bayern Munich and Barcelona. After the draw, I'm seeing a lot of 'Oh no Barca!', 'Oh no Bayern', 'we'll easily beat them' messages from both sides of the fence. Mostly, many fans of both teams wished they didn't meet each other for the Semis.

When the draw for the Semifinals was made, I was kind of hoping it would come to this - both as a fan of Bayern and as a fan of the game.

As a fan of the game, I can see Dortmund play Bayern every year. At least twice. Out of Madrid and Barcelona, Barcelona's system is considered the more superior by a majority of the critics & media worldwide. Hence, it'd be great to see this 'deutscher-meister' Bayern side take them on over two legs, when the odds are even (home & away) and both teams have two legs to play to-and-fro strategy, in addition to the brilliance that evolves during the period of the game.

Why not Madrid? 

Much as I'd like an all German final, I expect Real Madrid to leave Dortmund behind this time. During the 'group of death' matches, Real would have spent the lowest amount of time preparing for BVB, focusing more on Barcelona at home and getting the better of Man City in the CL. This time around, Dortmund have Mourinho's complete attention. He's very good at destroying an inexperienced side at this level - even with a slightly above average, upcoming squad (Porto!). With a squad like Madrid's, Dortmund have an Everest to climb. All due respect to Dortmund, though. They have been brilliant and have it in them to see Real off, but I don't see that happening over these two matches.

But wait, this post is about Bayern, right? 

It'd make perfect sense for Bayern to meet Real in the final. We know, saw and cried over what Mourinho did to Bayern with his Inter. He's exceptionally good at strategising for one-off matches. I have been amazed time and again by the stuff he comes up with for these matches - at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Madrid. It is WAY more difficult to beat Madrid in the final as against meeting them in the Semis. As a fan of Bayern, this makes it the most difficult way to winning the League.

You can't expect me (and my kind) to survive yet another final or SF loss, no? 

But yes, I prefer this fixture. I want Bayern to win the Semis. I want Bayern to win the Final. If we do it, though, there's not a damn way in hell Bayern can be put down in any argument.

There can't be a 'German Champions? That's not a competitive league!' even from the most ignorant among idiots. There can't be a 'But you didn't meet Barcelona, no? That's the best team out there'.

No. Bayern will be the best team in Europe, across leagues.

Why do I have this crazy wish for difficult fixtures? 

Because I am what I am.

When you see a Bayern match and see fans holding a big banner that says, 'Mia San Mia!', that's what it means.

UEFA Champions' League - Group Review

Yes, yes, I have to talk about the UCL.

Probably my worst prediction in the last 10 years, this had a 50% accuracy - pathetic for group stages. See Group G for the hilarious double miss, but then, I did put in a line calling it the most competitive group (thank God!).

Now that I missed the Group of 16 preview, we move on to the Quarters. We have an excellent set of teams, but I do miss the danger that a certain Manchester City would have brought to the table. I will wait for the draws before putting my cards on the table, though.

Chelsea vs Newcastle United - Dec 3, 2012

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

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

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

Run, Forrest! Run!

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.