They Did It, but Beware!

Hello all,

Everything happened the way I WANTED it to happen in three of the four contests during this week's Champions League matchups. To start, there is nothing that can please me more then shutting the Roma animals up. Scoring the precious away goal and going into Old Trafford with a 2-0 lead (3-0 with the away goal) is just precious. Sure, they didn't have Totti but Roma FOLDED the way they always do against Manchester United. My joy is complete beyond measure.



In Turkey on Wednesday the underdogs had their way with the woeful Chelsea. Chelsea don't deserve to be this far in the CL and the loss, which will have them scrambling at home, is just one more foot in the grave for Mr. Grant. I fully expect Fenerbache to hold out to a penalty shoot-out at the Bridge and end Chelsea's fortress forever. And, if not, I'll just let United do it in a few weeks! He He!

At the Emirates, I really didn't want anyone to win so NO ONE DID! Liverpool started out the triple header with a draw with the advantage in their hands due to the away goal. And anything to wound Arsenal's psyche is good for me especially since six points is just not enough to make me comfortable in the League.

As for Schalke. . .well. . .who really thought they would win. But I prayed! I fully expect the quarterfinals to be United/Barca and Fenerbache/Liverpool. Is that an out there bet? We shall see you next week. Go United! Go Fenerbache!



Thanks to ESPN for the images!

What's More Important?

I was reading Champions League magazine today and they had a massive pull out of the last 12 or so champions. And I saw Sir Alex with Beckham and Giggsy and Ole and the likes and I got a chill. Now, since I became a soccer fan in 2004 I can't claim the Treble year of 1999 as anything more than ancient history. I can respect it but I can't really use it as weaponry when defending my team. I wasn't a fan then so the title isn't really mine.



So I asked myself, what's more important this year: the Premier League title or the Champions League trophy? Well, sure, Manchester United has won both before but, as a fan, I have only witnessed the winning of the Premier League. In my time as a fan Manchester United has won the Carling Cup, the Community Shield, and the Premier League. Not a bad run since 2004. I also saw them reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and the finals of the FA Cup. Now this year I really wanted the FA Cup for some reason but I am actually quite happy someone who isn't in the big four and possibly not even in the Premier League will win it. I can wait. But that semi-final loss to AC Milan was rough. I cried. It was the first time I cried watching soccer. I wanted to taste getting to the final.

But to be fair the Premier League this year is crazy. After months of being second place and only tasting first for a week or two, United finally has control in the Premiership. Or do they? Suddenly the two-horse race of the Premier League is now a four horse race again as Liverpool and Chelsea have picked up the pace and Arsenal have sucked wind and lost momentum. The excitement is unbearable! With the big four all meeting up in the last 9 games of the season the Premier League is just rocking the house.

As a result I tend to put that Champions League dream aside. In all honesty, Manchester United have layed fairly weak this year and though I hate AS Roma with a passion mightier than anything I can imagine the momentum is all in their favor. Am I giving up? No. But I am seeing how the wheels work. Our amazing form in the group stages of the CL has worn off. A team as horrible in Europe as Lyon should have been dealt with easily but they weren't. But as the CL form dips, the League form has gone up thanks of course to a pathetic Arsenal.

So what is more important? I'll say Premier League for now.

Another Draw to Remember

Friday's Champions League draw has me enraged. After Totti's understood call for revenge after last April's drubbing I was made quite uncomfortable by the fact that my boys, Manchester United, had to play Roma twice more in the Champions League this year. But after a tough win and an unexpected draw in Rome I figured the worst was over. Roma was forever put away and I'd never have to worry again. But as the draw for the quarterfinals drew near I had the feeling of all feelings the two would meet up for the fifth and sixth time. And I called it. The ratings boards could not have been happier: two hated rivals in only the infancy of their hatred (the teams' only six matches will have taken place within ONE YEAR) will meet at the same stage as they did in the last tournament. I, of course, do not expect a 7-1 turn around. The teams are too good for that to happen and the fact that United did that to Roma, of all teams, in the first place is unbelievable. But revenge is so sweet and with Roma kicking serious arse right now I fear the season of the potential Treble could end up being the year of the Community Shield!



In other Champions League news, the Liverpool/Arsenal draw has me salivating as well. Arsenal, currently second in the Prem, have been absolutely tragic lately and if Liverpool, who are on the rise, can inflict some damage on their little psyches then I'll be happy. But I hate Liverpool. . .so. . .it's sort of lose/lose. It's been awhile but as things heat up I tend to be back here more often!

The Defenders!!!!!

It's been almost two weeks since my last post so for anyone who is reading, which probably isn't much, sorry for the delay. I am sure you were just waiting on pins and needles for this next post. Well, for all you anti-United fans the UNITED Front is all smiles. Smiles? Smiles? 'You can't score more then one goal a game?' 'You have virtually no youth system?' Smiles?

Yes, I am all smiles because for one I can relax until December. The ultimate revenge that was supposed to be Totti and his Roma Revengers ended up being not only a dud of a game but immensely dissapointing for those who feel a real rivalry was building. Take away the fact that I have a Roma fan at work who always taunts me about how horrible United are even AFTER what he dubbed the 'worse loss in the history of Rome', this could have been a bloodbath! An absolute BLOODBATH!!!! Did anyone see Totti's face during the pre-game handshakes. He was a frickin' HULK! He was going to smash United into pieces with pure intimidation. He even said he wanted to win the next game 7-0! But one lackluster performance later we get a 1-0 win for United and a continually beaten Roma team. Totti should be ashamed.



I even said that Roma were going to beat United due to the fact that Roma was basing it's entire season on destroying United while United had bigger issues and didn't really care. But does this 1-0 win show that Roma and in turn the middle-to-near-top Italian sides stand no chance against the Premiership OR is it that the under pressure Red Devils are in fact WAY better then people think.



This leads to my second reason for smiles! THE DEFENDERS! That is goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar and defenders Wes Brown, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, and Nemanja Vidic. These guys are the foundation of a title-defense United. I was at first dissapointed with United's play. Hell, anyone who witnessed 7.5 months at the top of the Premiership while scoring 3-5 goals a game last season would be dissapointed with 1-0 affairs. But these guys have made me fall in love with boring defensive football and made me see past the glean of the aging midfielders United glorifies.



Please don't get me wrong: Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are legends and I LOVE them but Giggs is getting a little slow and Scholes is losing his field vision. Meanwhile, big time signing Nani is throwing passes to the opponents on purpose (and then making up for it by setting up goals) and Anderson can't control the ball if he was playing one on one with the keeper. Oh and Michael Carrick. . .do you know how many times I've said 'is Carrick playing today?' while watching games. His lack of presence is shocking.

The midfield is causing the defenders more headaches then most of the opponents' offense. Forget the fact that the striker's can't score. It's the midfielders who can't get the ball to the forwards. Save Cristiano Ronaldo, the Red Devils are severly lacking in the middle NOT the front. But, enough sadness. The DEFENDERS are keeping opponents and bad passes at bay! They are here to serve the loyal fan! To protect Old Trafford from perilous goals! To keep clean sheets for man kind, for MAN UNITED! I always love to see a clean-sheet now and if we win it by one goal I am happy as long as my defenders keep their clean sheets.

I have been lucky enough to see eight United games this year and seven of them were victories while only one was a draw. Now, put the goals on paper and you may seem a bit dissapointed but give me seven wins ANYTIME. I am all smiles!

--Will (thanks to ESPN.com for images)

Fifteen Goals! Four Games! Two Fights! One Implosion!

It was indeed a great weekend for scoring. . .but the shocking thing is that of the four games I watched and the fifteen goals that were scored in them, three of the games were CLEAN SHEETS! So that was a lot of scoring by one team in each game. Let's start with all the good stuff. . .United!!!! (Thanks for all the pictures ESPN.COM.)

The UNITED Front

United 2-0 Chelsea

Well, I was a little worried about the match between ManU-Chelsea being a little dull with the departure of Mourinho and for the most part it was. Chelsea still have the quality and it made United a little slow. But it goes both ways. ManU and Chelsea, at least last year, cancel each other out. But today's game, in which United won 2-0, was a rather dirty game. Chelsea looked desperate and their tackling was absolutely menacing. But ManU didn't fall down and dirty play went down on both ends. For Chelsea, Joe Cole was the worst committing two horrendous, possibly injury causing tackles. He got lucky because one was in the box with no call. The sentenced player was John Obi Mikel whose red card turned the tide for United.



Wayne Rooney was United's aggressor. He kneed Makelele in the face and simply beat the hell out of Ashley Cole. Actually United as a whole beat Ashley Cole senselessly but it's Ashley Cole so its not really a big deal. In the end, the play was dirty but United pulled through. Was I dissapointed in the match? No. . .United finally have beaten Chelsea twice in a row. But some of the charm was gone. But three points is three points and ManU move to second in the table just ahead of Man City and just behind Arsenal.



The Games I Watched

Arsenal 5-0 Derby County

Speaking of Arsenal, it was Derby time and Arsenal looked to beat Liverpool's 6-0 destruction of the newly promoted (and soon to be demoted) team. And though they could only pull out five (Only. . .I mean. . .come on!) Arsenal continued the form that United had last year. Now that United is second it could be a two horse race for the title. But, as a mate of mine pointed out, if Fabregas or Adebayor get injured (both combined for four goals in this game) then Arsenal may be out of options.



Fulham 3-3 Man City

This was a great game for two reasons: there were four lead changes and I can now hate someone with a passion! Regarding the game, Man City were flimsy and not up to the same form they have been showing (even in losses). Fulham have been consistenly shotty at defense but amazingly adept at offense which is keeping them afloat. But it was the loss of control of Micah Richards that cost City two precious points. After being beaten in the air THREE times by a much smaller Clint Dempsey (and by beat in the air I mean out jumped and knocked to the ground) Richards decided to get revenge and push Dempsey. The he snarled in his face for a few minutes before being pulled off by teammates. Richards is on my shit list now. Once you mess with my favorite Yank you are FINISHED!

To add insult to injury, about six minutes later Richards gets beat badly by Murphy in the box and Fulham equalize. Ouch. . .bad day for my new enemy!



Aston Villa 2-0 Everton

I have watched four Villa games this year and Villa lost two, tied one, and won this one. They have amazing depth but are wishy-washy on the pitch. Today was their second best game they've played all season behind their 2-0 win over Chelsea. Last year's Gameball winner on this blog, Ashley Young, played superb but it was Gabriel Agbonlahor who was the man today. I'd give some Villa love to the Gameball category for the second time in a row if not for Agbonlahor's quite shocking verbal fight with a fellow teammate. As the whistle blew Agbonlahor continued to go on a tirade. Phil Neville of Everton had to break them up. . .a great team but do I smell a meltdown from the dressing room?



YANK of the WEEK



Benny Feilhaber. Granted, a weird choice considering his team, Derby, conceded five goals. But Feilhaber, who was a late substitute for Derby, came out with an intensity. He showed that, even in a 5/nil disaster, he wanted to earn a place. My kudos to him for showing amazing effort in a dismal situation.

GENERAL THOUGHTS/AWARDS

My gameball nominees for the week were Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal, Martin Petrov for Man City, Louis Saha for Man United, and Gabriel Agbonlahor for Aston Villa.

My shameball nominees for the week were Stephen Bywater for Derby, Micah Richards for Man City, Joe Cole for Chelsea, and Martin Laursen for Aston Villa (he actually played well but since Everton and Villa didn't field any bad players I chose Laursen as a default because he is horrid most of the time).

The winner for gameball is Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal. Sure, the opposition was Derby but a hat trick is a hat trick.



The winner for shameball is Micah Richards. His attitude was shameful and it cost City two points.



'Til next time. . .

Does ManU-Chelsea Hold Any More Power?

The UNITED Front



Hello Mates.

Tough day here for me with the whole Jose thing hitting the fan. This week is the BIG game; Manchester United vs. Chelsea. I have to say that Mourinho's presence made this clash exciting. My need to beat Mourinho outdid the need to beat Chelsea. In fact, I hated Chelsea mainly because of Mourinho. Don't get me wrong. . .I love the old Portugeezer for his antics and fun but nothing felt better then beating HIM at the game he was so damn good at.

So what is ahead for this week? Is this now a game I'd like ManU to win just for the points? Is the rivalry dead because Chelsea are just not that special anymore without Mourinho? I am truly conflicted. I will cheer for United against anyone but playing Chelsea and Arsenal always had a special place? Is it only Wenger I have to enjoy beating (well. . .hopefully anyways. . .last year didn't go so hot!)? I guess I'll check the atmosphere of the game but I can already feel my need to beat Chelsea deflated a tad.



In the ten games ManU played Chelsea in the Mourinho era, Chelsea were clearly the more dominant team. ManU only won two games, tied three, and lost five. But for a change the always dominant ManU was the underdog against Chelsea. Those two victories, one being this year at the Community Shield, were victories I savored! I relished them! Because, unlike against, say a Tottenham, Everton, or others, Chelsea was always EXPECTED to win and clearly they did win half the time.

But what will the post-Mourinho era provide for this short rivalry. Will it continue to exist with the same fanfare or will it fade overtime like some rivalries do when a team loses a strong part of its character? I am praying to God that the future matches, including this Sunday's clash, will continue the fun I've had for the last ten meetings. And this is coming from the guy cheering for the side on the losing end.

SHIRT OF THE WEEK

Just thought I'd post this shirt I found on TShirts365.com (thanks to Steven Cohen of World Soccer Daily for pointing out the website!). Enjoy!

BREAKING NEWS: THE END OF A (SMALL) ERA????

Hey mates. . .just polished up that last post and read this shocker on foxsoccerchannel.com. Here is the link. Is this to be believed? Is Jose Mourinho gone?????

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7244188