Straight from the heart

Gunners and Red Devils move on

2007-12-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

In the most anticipated showdown of the season, where Liverpool hosted Man Utd and Chelsea traveled to the Emirates to face Arsenal saw Man Utd and Arsenal move on the top of the Barclays Premier League.

First coming to the Liverpool match where it was a must win situation for Liverpool for closing the gap to 3 points between them and United but the past records were all against Liverpool. Liverpool hasn’t won a single match against Man Utd for the past 5 seasons in the league and the trend continued last night. After a satisfying mid week performance against Marseille, Liverpool were brimming with confidence but these local rivalries are always tough to handle. Even a lion would succumb to this kind of a pressure. When Fergie was asked about Liverpool’s title chances this season he replied saying that he would love to see Liverpool relegated so there was a mind game going on. Man United had a chance to widen the gap to 9 points and end Rafa’s career. Liverpool started the game quite well creating a couple of opportunities in the starting half an hour. Both Kuyt and Torres were completely off beam and out of form. Their first touch said it all. Harry Kewell was in particular was trying too hard but couldn’t get things going Liverpool’s way. Torres missed a simple header and Evra saved United the blushes when there could’ve been an own goal by Ferdinand.. Ronaldo, as usual was seen diving near the goal to get the free kicks but wasn’t awarded any. Just before the half time United scored through a corner when no one picked up Rooney, who played Tevez and it was bread and butter for Tevez . Liverpool have had a history of spectacular come backs but this one was the most tough one. Liverpool started the second half quite positively having a shot on target quite immediately but couldn’t pierce the heart of United’s defence, which saw Ferdinand and Vidic battle, their wits out. Babel was introduced in the 65th minute who tried to continue his goal scoring form but couldn’t. It wasn’t Liverpool’s day. Babel’s shot went agonizingly close to the post but that was closest Liverpool got. Rooney had a chance to put the game beyond Liverpool but the England striker lacked composure in front of the goal. Though Liverpool dominated many long spells , couldn’t salvage anything from the game. United took their only chance which came their way like true champions. Now this loss means Liverpool trail United by 9 points and the league leaders Arsenal 10 points. Liverpool’s title chances were put to bed. This loss was a major blow this season. Rafa’s place right now is like a cat on the wall.

In another London derby , which saw Arsenal face Chelsea , the gunners had to win to regain their position on the top of the table. Chelsea didn’t have the liberties to choose their squad in the mid field as they were forced to play Makelele as Essien was suspended and Ballack still struggling with an injury. Fabregas , Hleb and Van Persie were all back in the Arsenal team which was a real boost. Shevchenko was the only option up front for Chelsea as Drogba had to undergo a knee surgery. Arsenal dominated the first few minutes of the game before Wright Phillips broke free of Arsenal’s defence and had a vicious shot on target but Almunia saved it quite well. Asrenal as usual had a lot of passing near the goal but couldn’t get any shot going their way.Shevchenko had couple of good spells during the game Terry was involved in a rough tackle with Fabregas and was obviously booked and later injured Eboue , gave back Terry what he had given to Fabregas. Terry hurt his Metatarsal and had to be replace immediately by Ben haim. In the dying seconds of the first half , Arsenal opened the scoring through William Gallas , a mistake by Petr Cech. In the second half Chelsea had a couple of bright moments. Wright Phillips missed a simple chance in front of the goal. Arsenal had a bag full of chances but souldn’t score in any. The game ended in a nasty fashion when Fabregas and A.Cole were involved in a tussle. It was more like a wrestling match last night which saw 10 yellow cards totally . So this means that Arsenal regain their position on the top of their table. Chelsea lost their second game of the season under Avram Grant. Chelsea had never lost a single game to Arsenal under Mourinho.

Not so special

2007-11-09T04:35:00.000-08:00

"Jose Mourinho has been involved in a playground spat with a 12-year-old boy. The former Chelsea boss was not so special when he was forced to write a formal apology to one of his daughter's classmates after pulling the child's hair"........... BBC

Injuries worry Benitez

2007-10-29T02:50:00.000-07:00

Liverpool’s injury list is getting bigger by the day and few of the players who have just recovered are again injured. Six of the main players are down with injury. Its time for the younger players to step in. And yesterday’s match against Arsenal saw another 3 of them limp off the field. The following list sums it up so far

Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano are nursing knocks and Xabi Alonso is again having some problem with his metatarsal. Jermaine Pennant will need a surgery for s stress fracture in his right leg and will be out of action for at least 10 weeks. Harry Kewell is still recovering from his broken toe and toe infection. Daniel Agger, Liverpool’s full back is having some problems with his metatarsal. So this leaves the entire mid field in the injury list.

Shevchenko being sharpened

2007-10-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

In a bid to sharpen up, Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has been secretly training with British sprinter Darren Campbell on a tennis court at his house after former Blues boss Jose Mourinho banned it from the training ground.... BBC

Tottenham move on

2007-10-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

Jol had done a great job at the club but now club has to move on

Can he change the fortunes of Spurs ?

After a series of poor results, Tottenham board decide it was finally time up for the Dutchman Martin Jol.This sacking was confirmed after Spurs lost to Getafe at home in the UEFA cup group stage. Martin Jol had a disappointing start to the season after a spending spree over the summer. All the fans stood up and chanted Jol’s name.He has been at the club since three years and finished 5th for the last 2 seasons but couldn’t break into the top 4.This season everything backfired. Now, the club is in total disarray and needs someone experienced to fill Jol’s shoes.Juande Ramos has resigned as Sevilla coach and is poised to become Martin Jol’s successor. The 53 year old Spanish is all excited about the new job and he told the Spanish press that ,

“ For my family and career it is impossible not to leave for London “

The Spanish has agreed on a 4 year deal and will be joining the club on Monday. He would be paid 25 Million pounds over the length of his contract. Ramos says ,

“ This has been the hardest decision of my life. My time at Sevilla has been the most important period of my life personally and professionally”

Ramos wants , Leeds assistant boss Gus Poyet as his assistant at the club

Jol said goodbye to all the players during the training on Friday and all the players wished him luck.

Facts about Ramos:

Ø Full name : Juan De La Cruz Ramos Cano
Ø Age: 53
Ø Former clubs: Alcoyano, Levante, Logrones, Barcelona, Leida, Real Valicano, Real Betis, Espanyol, Malaga, Sevilla
Ø Trophies: Uefa cup [ 2005,2006 ] , Super Cup [2006], Copa Del Ray[2007],Spanish super Copa[2007]. All trophies with Sevilla

Now can Ramos change the fortunes for Spurs ? now that is a million dollar question

Liverpool's Euro misery continues as they crash at Istanbul

2007-10-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

Liverpool have had their problems in Europe since the beginning of this season and yesterday was their worst European nights ever. In the city, Istanbul, where they won the Champions League 2 years ago, they were beaten by a daring Besiktas side shall we say. The fond memories were erased and this defeat has left the 5 times winner at the bottom of group A. Liverpool have only 1 point so far from the played three games. Now qualifying to the knockout stage has become an uphill task. Liverpool began the match quite positively creating a couple of quick chances. A very good opportunity went begging in the 5th minute, as Voronin couldn’t find the back of the net. The hosts were gifted their first goal when the veteran defender, Sami Hyypia, deflected in Serdar Ozkan’s strike, who scored an own goal during the weekend merseyside derby. After that it was all Liverpool. They had plenty of possession but things weren’t going their way. Passing was sloppy and sluggish. They were missing the likes of Alonso and Torres in the squad. Babel came close to scoring twice but it just wasn’t their day. Gerrard struck the bar once in the second half and came close to scoring twice. Bobo doubled the lead in the 82nd minute as he slid the ball through Reina’s feet. Gerrard revived some hope as he scored a beauty through a flying header but it was too late for Benitez’s side. Liverpool just lacked the spark last night. Now this leaves the English giants at the brink of exit. If they need to qualify from here on, they will have to win their remaining three games. Goal difference matters a lot from now on. Well , both the captain and the manager were positive about the club making it to the knock out stage . They have 2 home games at hand . Liverpool face a confident Arsenal side this weekend in the Barclays Premier League.

Liverpool's 2005 champions league squad had less quality but more passion. Right now the passion is missing.

Jol under heavy pressure

2007-10-23T23:46:00.001-07:00

Jol looks dejected

Monday’s late night kick off in the English League saw New Castle beat a lack luster Spurs side who were still looking for their first away win. The under fire manager Martin Jol failed to get anything from the match yet again, and now they lie in the relegation zone, 18th in the table managing to get just 7 points from their 10 games. Both the teams started the match quite slowly and both the teams were sloppy in their passes. Bale’s injury in the 18th minute added on to Martin jol’s woes as he was forced to take him off the pitch. Many defensive errors by Spurs cost them the match.. Cerny, the reserve goalkeeper replaced Robinson but even he couldn’t turn the fortunes in favor of Spurs. Martins scored in the 44th minute just before half time, the ball sneaking through the legs of Cerny on the way to the goal. Cacapa , New Castle full back , scored immediately after the break trough a corner as yet again there were lapses in the defense. Keane revived some hopes as he got back a goal in the 57th minute but a wonder strike by the substitute Milner sealed the game. Darren Bent was lacking confidence and wasn’t at his best.
Martin Jol still says he can get things back on track. Now this could be his last match and the board have started their search for their new manager.

A typical merseyside derby

2007-10-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

It was the 177th merseyside derby. Everton got all 4 points from the available 6 last season beating Liverpool at their home ground 3 0. They were hoping for a repeat performance. Rafa had again used his rotation policies and started with Kuyt and Voronin up front as Torres was injured while on international duty. Tim Cahill wasn’t included in the Everton line up so Neville and Jagileka too their places in the midfield. Gerrard started on the right as Pennant was on the bench. The stage was set for another of the classic clashes between the neighbors. Liverpool dominated the first 20 minutes of the game creating 2 good chances. Sissoko was a weak link in the team at times as he gave away possession easily. Everton got into their rhythm after 25 min. They got a couple of chances and a really good one when Yakubu gave a back flick to Lescott. Liverpool were defending in depth. Eventually Everton got a couple of corners and during one of them, Everton took the lead, courtesy Sami Hyppia. An own goal. Beautiful finishing by the veteran Liverpool defender. Liverpool started the second half quite positively and their hard work paid off when Voronin gave a beautiful pass to Gerrard , who was about to score it himself but was fouled inside the penalty area by Hibbert , who was obviously sent off and Liverpool were awarded a spot kick. Kuyt scored easily and they got things back on track. Then the 10 man Everton side were put to tremendous pressure by their rivals. Riise missed a simple chance , Voronin missed one and Sissoko missed a sitter. Gerrard was taken off the pitch in the 72nd minute much to the surprise of all the fans and Gerrard himself . Leiva entered the field. It was almost time. 4 minutes of stoppage time were given. A goal mouth scramble by Liverpool and Leiva got a sight of an open goal and almost scored when Phil Neville handled the ball on purpose. He was sent off and a second penalty came Liverpool’s way. Kuyt stepped up and got the winner. Within seconds Carragher pulled back Lescott in the penalty area when Everton were awarded a free kick. Referee didn’t notice that and that was the last play of the match. Everton were furious and the game ended in controversial circumstances. Liverpool wont mind that and got their league campaign back on track.

Well, you can download all the goals through the widget box in the side.

4 minutes of magic

2007-10-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

Roman Pavluchenko

Russia, have a brilliant chance to qualify for the Euro which is to be held next summer after they defeated England on Wednesday night. After this defeat their qualifying chances look very meek. Russia on the other hand have a bright chance to qualify along with the group leaders Croatia as they have 2 more matches in hand. Rooney opened the scoring for England in the 29th minute with a screamer, which was slightly offside though. England were in complete control of the game. During the start of the second half Gerrard got a very good chance to score but the England skipper failed to find the back of the net. 4 minutes of magic by Russia changed the match. England would call those four minutes as 4 minutes of madness. Rooney committed a foul just outside the penalty box but the referee awarded Russia a penalty. The assistant referee didn’t give the decision but the main referee who was quite a distance from the incident spotted the foul . The substitute Pavluchenko eventually scored from the spot kick. Next within 4 minutes he scored again as Robinson failed to grab the ball. It was a simple tap in goal. Poor goal keeping cost them their match . Mclaren was furious after the match and said that England were in complete control of the game and the Russians were running out of ideas and the penalty changed the match. He said that the referee should shoulder responsibility for this defeat. Well, he never mentioned a word about Rooney being offside during the frirst goal. Gerrard’s error proved costly at the end. Mclaren would be kicking his fate for this defeat. Now England’s Eoro 2008 hopes and Mclaren’s job rest in the hands of Israel .

" Disgraceful penalty decision cost us "
Mclaren , Steve

"England not qualifying , unthinkable "
Gerrard , Steven

Some important facts...

1.Rio Ferdinand had gone 1021 minutes without conceding a goal for his club and country before Pavluchenko scored. the next spell lasted for 4 minutes

2.If England fail to qualify it'll cost the economy atleast 1.25 billon pounds

3. Mclaren would lose his job for sure if England fail to qualify

4. Paul Robinson would be the first on the casualty list if Mclaren quits

5. It would be the frist time since 1994 that England fail to qualify for a major tournament

6. Jose Mourinho , Arsene Wenger and Klinsmann are all linked with the England job

Here's the highlights of the match.[ Print isn't that good ]

Sammy Lee quits

2007-10-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

The 48-year-old former Liverpool mid field player, Sammy Lee, who took over Bolton from Big Sam at the end of last season has been struggling to live up to the expectations. He quit the job by a mutual consent .Bolton’s General Manager Frank Mcparland has also left the club. Its difficult times at the club but the team need to stick together. The new boss is yet to be announced. The trotters find themselves in the relegation zone lying 19th in the table.

Sleepy Babel snubbed

2007-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

Liverpool’s Ryan Babel lost his spot in the national squad during their match against Romania this weekend due to oversleeping. Marco Van Basten had to take this step to bring Babel on track. Real Madrid’s Arjen Robben was picked instead of Babel. The Liverpool man had already missed two of the team meetings. Once he arrived late for the team meeting and the next time he arrived late for a team meal. Van Basten says this is not the way he handles things but he was forced to do this. He says that all the players have to obey the rules. The coach says that

“ It is very possible that Babel feels deflated by the snub, but I expect the players to obey the rules during the match “

Babel came in as a sub for Robben in the closing stage of the second half but could not get anything from the match as they lost to Romania 1 0. Holland are second in their group just 2 points ahead of Bulgaria.

Three lions roar back

2007-10-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

England defeated Estonia in a crucial fixture last evening and got the important 3 points. Rooney returned to the national squad after a 2-month lay off due to an ankle fracture. Michael Owen started alongside Rooney, which made the striking combination even more fierce. Rooney admitted that he hasn’t been playing well for his country and it was 1211 days since he scored a goal for England managed to score one against Estonia. Sol Campbell returned to the national squad to replace the injured Terry.Gareth Barry retained his spot in the mid-field alongside Gerrard, which left Lampard on the bench. Wright Phillips scored the first goal in the 11th minute, a mistake by Poom and Rooney blasted home Joe Cole’s low cross to get England in a comfortable position. Rahn’s own goal completed the icing on the cake as England won their 5th consecutive match. England weren’t impressive at all. Though they scored 3 goals, their football wasn’t catching the eye. England suffered a big setback as Ashley Cole was stretched off the pitch early in the second half due to an Ankle injury. It would be impossible for him to play against Russia. This leaves Mclaren with a fewer options at the back with Terry also out injured. Now England have a crucial fixture on Wednesday against Russia, and a win there would make sure England would qualify for the Euro 2008 at Austria and Switzerland. But England have a tough task ahead as the Russian pitches are all artificial and are totally different from the pitches back home.

Who's going to win it ?

2007-10-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

FIFA, the governing body of world football has short listed 30 names for the world footballer of the year award. The award will be given on December 17 in Zurich. The top three would be announced. All the national team managers, Coaches and Captains are eligible to vote. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and AC Milan’s Ricardo Kaka are leading the race. The full list goes like this

Goal Keeper's : Buffon , Cech

Defenders : Terry , Nesta ,Marquez, Thuram , Gattuso , Lahm , Canavaro

Mid Field : Gerrard , Lampard , Viera , Essien , Deco , C.Ronaldo , Pirlo , Kaka ,Juninho ,Riquelme , Ronaldinho

Strikers : Drogba , Torres , Rooney , Messi , Henry , Tezez , Van Nistelrooy ,Eto'o , Ribery , Klose

I’m amazed why isn’t Fabregas’ name included in this list

Torres adds late twist to the tale

2007-10-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Torres proved his worth in front of the home crowd yet again. The last minute strike from Torres ensured that Liverpool were still in the title race. In a game that was completely dominated by Liverpool , Keane managed to score 2 times within a span of just 5 minutes. Liverpool took the lead in the 12th minute as a result of Robinson’s mistake but Spurs bounced right back. An injury time goal from the 26 million pound striker made sure that Liverpool were still undefeated in the league. Gerrard struck the cross bar once in a free kick and another chance was squandered when Voronin and Gerrard were in front of the goal .According to me it was a 2 point drop for Liverpool . Gerrard has urged the Liverpool fans not to panic and said that things will get going in the right direction. He said that all teams go through a lean period and this is their period. Legendary Ian Rush has laughed off suggestions that Liverpool are in crisis and insists that Liverpool should only be judged when it really matters. It was not the result everyone wanted but its much a better performance than in the mid week.

“ I’m a great believer in judging everything at the end of the season – not now – and this is still an awfully long way off “ says Rush

“ In my experience the main thing everyone at Anfield must do is stick together as one “

YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Dida's cheap tactics

2007-10-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

Celtic had one of their fantastic nights when they beat the defending champions AC Milan in the east end of Glasgow last week but the their hardwork was undermined by the Dida incident. Celtic took the lead during the second half in the 60th minute through McManus and the defending champions bounced right back within 5 minutes and equalized via Kaka . When the match was about to end in a draw , a last minute defensive error by aided Celtic to score the winner. A last minute goal by Mcdonald was enough to ensure Celtic the victory. But when Celtic were celebrating , a fan broke loose escaping the barrier behind Dida’s goal and patted Dida on the face . The Brazilian goal keeper chased the fan for quite a distance and then caught his face and fell down. It was crystal clear that Dida faked the incident and tried to get something out of the match. These were obvious signs of frustration. Fan control could’ve been better but these kind of things are bound to happen on a football field and these type of reactions are least expected form a professional football player. Dida collapsed as if he had fractured his face and was stretched off the field and the game finished in controversial circumstances. Due to these jokers the beautiful game is stooping to low levels. The football field is to play the beautiful game and there is no place for these actors and divers. UEFA is investigating in this matter and I hope some severe and serious action is taken against these incidents. Hollywood awaits these actors. The bottomline is Dida faked the incident

Take a look at these videos

Champions League- Review

2007-10-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Another week of Champions League gone and there were quite a few ecstatic wins and quite a few upsets. It was a mammoth of a week for the Scottish clubs as both Rangers and Celtic recorded their win in their respective matches.

The big story of the week was Rangers beating Lyon. None expected Rangers to get anything from the game but they exhibited the quality of Scottish football. Lee McCulloch opened the scoring for Rangers in the 22nd min and Daniel Cousin doubled the lead, as soon as the second half kicked off. Demarcus Beasley scored the third goal and sealed the game. Juninho led a one-man army on the Rangers goal. The Brazilian was in superb touch especially in the first 45 min with his free kicks getting more and more on target. The French Champions, who lost their opener to Barcelona fortnight ago, are already close to elimination.

Barcelona visited the German Champions Stuttgart, and there was quality football all over. Though Barcelona won the match 2 0, the Germans played really well . Barcelona Goal keeper, Victor Valdez was in awesome form. The Spanish giants scored through an unusual source, Carlos Puyol who returned after a 3-month injury lay off. A well crafted goal. Messi, 15 min later, put the Catalan giants level to Rangers in the Group E. Ronaldinho, returned in this match and showed that he’s still the best. There was excellent Chemistry between Messi and Ronaldinho

Roma visited the Old Trafford and the 7 1 loss to Man U a couple of months back was lingering behind their minds. Totti lead Roma again and the veteran Italian Striker played really well coming really close to scoring a couple of times. In the second half , Rooney finished things of with a sublime finish. That was the only goal of the match and that was enough to get them the 3 points and send them at the top of the group.

Sporting Beat Dynamo Kiev 2 1 and the 3 goals were scored in the first half. Sporting showed real character as their lead was cut short immediately , but they got back their lead in no time.

In the other matches this week , Moscow drew with Fenerbahce 2 2 and the Italian Giants Inter beat last year’s quarter-finalist PSV 2 0 with only 9 men on the field as two of the Inter players were sent off.

Arsenal carried their fine domestic form to Europe and a superb goal by RVP sealed the match against Steaua Bucuresti. It took 75 minutes to get the match going. Sevilla bounced back from their defeat to Arsenal 2 weeks back by winning the match 4 2. Kanoute , the Mali striker got things going for Sevilla in the 8th minute.

Liverpool , at their Fortress Anfield hosted Marseille. Cisse returned to Anfield , not as a Liverpool player though. Liverpool played sloppy football and couldn’t even complete a pass successfully. Sissoko was especially weak in the mid field. He proved to be the weak link in the squad and gave away possession in the 75 th minute which resulted in an awesome goal form Valbuena. Reina didn’t even budge. Liverpool 3rd in the group right now , face a tough task ahead. They are quite close to elimination as Porto recorded a last minute goal form Quaresma to defeat Besiktas to move into the second place.

Avram Grant faced his first match in Europe and had a great start as his Team Valencia yet again. It was 2 1 this time. Villa opened the scoring just after 8 minutes. Joe Cole was instrumental in both of their goals. Scoring the first and being an architect for the next. Drogba scored the 2nd to finish things off.

In other matches , Schalke beat Rosenberg 2 0 & Shakthar beat Benfica 1 0.

Olympiacos beat Werder Bremen 3 1 at the German’s home. And a double strike by RVN wasn’t enough to get Real Madrid the 3 points against Lazio who fought back for a 2 2 draw.

Celtic had an awesome time against AC Milan beating them 2 1. Milan’s form has been a bit slack all over. Mcmanus scored first in the 61st minute. Kaka equalized through a penalty 7 min later but a late goal from Celtic left Milan thinking what went wrong.

BPL : This weeks' review

2007-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Total of 33 goals scored this weekend during the BPL matches and 19 of them coming just form 2 games.

The match, which caught the eye on Saturday, was Portsmouth vs. Reading. A high scoring game at the Fratton Park. Portsmouth came out as the winners winning the match 7 - 4 with Benjani getting his first hat trick at Portsmouth in English Football. He was in his top form. Poor defending by both the sides.

Man city visited the St. James Park to take on New Castle and the absence of Owen again proved costly resulting in a 3 1 defeat. Martins opened the scoring for New Castle scoring the first goal of the match, but Man city’s handwork paid off as they won the match with Elano finishing things off in the 90th minute with a wonderful free kick.

Wigan entertained Liverpool at the JJB. Though having a poor record with Liverpool not getting a single point from the past 5 games they went in to the match with high confidence. Liverpool again lacked creativity and Torres had trouble finding the back of the net, missing 2 simple chances. Benayoun came in as a sub and scored a beauty. Individual skill paid off and Liverpool got the three points. Wigan deserved a point though.

Arsenal played West Ham and Freddie Ljunberg was far from happy man following West Ham’s home defeat by his former club. A beautiful goal by RVP got Arsenal 3 points extending their lead by 7 points over Chelsea. Noble should’ve been sent off after his horrible tackle on Hleb, who was the architect of the only goal.

Roy Keane’s side took on Blackburn at the Stadium of Lights. Sunderland have had a mixed start to the season and they needed a win. Blackburn on the other hand yet to lose a match away from home were high on confidence. Bentley and Santa Cruz scored for Blackburn. Sunderland as usual scored in the last minute courtesy Leadbitter but couldn’t get anything from the match.

Derby and Bolton faced each other as both the managers are on the casualty list. Kenny Miller opened the scoring for Derby with a beautiful strike. Anelka equalised in no time but the match ended in a draw as none of them could get another.

Chelsea, under Avram Grant were frustrated by Fulham at the Stamford Bridge. Shevchenko came close to scoring twice but luck wasn’t on their side. The ball striking the crossbar once. It wasn’t Chelsea’s day as their captain John Terry fractured his cheek bone and Drogba sent off for getting his studs on the Fulham’s defender. Fulham, should consider themselves lucky as they got something form the match.

Man United as usual winning with a one-goal margin. C.Ronaldo was the scorer today. Birmingham played really well but couldn’t penetrate the United’s defence . Fergie got his three points and is just behind the leaders Arsenal.

Everton took on Middlesbrough on Sunday at the Goodison Park , Yakubu facing his former club. Everton had a comfortable win . Lescott and Piennar got on the scoring sheet with assists from Yakubu and Arteta respectively.

Under fire manger Martin Jols’s side faced Aston Villa, who were eliminated from Carling cup during mid week action, on Monday. Robinson still had his slack form. His mistakes proved costly and he gifted Aston Villa 2 goals. Berbatov started the scoring getting spurs on the scoring sheet first. Aston Villa equalized and got the lead through Laursen and increased the lead to 3-1 through Agbanlahor. Gardner scored early in the second half for Aston Villa getting them to 4-1 but they couldn’t maintain their lead. Chimbonda got things going for spurs and Keane’s penalty raised hopes. Kaboul gat a last minute tap in to finish a cracker of a match. The 150th anniversary of Spurs was well celebrated.

Incident of the week: When Macha was asked whether Wigan had any chance against Liverpool, he said “ I don’t think Wigan can get anything from this game because they’ve got Titus Bramble on their side “

Click here to see the latest Table

Cesc = Sesh

2007-09-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

The month of May 1987 is an important month because 2 football players of the same style and wavelength were born. On May 4 it was Cesc Fabregas and 4 weeks later Sesh, Varun. Only the name differs nothing else. Varun , born in London , did his elementary schooling there and shifted to India at the age of 4. If he had stayed there for some more years, we could’ve seen him playing alongside Cesc for Arsenal. Varun is passionate about the game and he’s being compared to Cesc for the right reasons. The two of them, same age, same height (nearly 6 ft) and almost the same looks have an Elegant and Grand style of playing. The passing is spot on and the shot selection clever. We play football every weekend and I love to play against Varun and win the tackles. The following incident tells you more about him. We had sports hour in college a couple of days back and we were not given a football due to some crap reasons. We just had a rubber ball. Varun started dribbling and doing tricks with this small ball and was playing on his own. It’s a treat to watch him play. He never accepts that though. Is that modesty? Right now both of his knees are in bad shape but as soon as he sees a football he forgets about his injuries and starts playing the beautiful game. I complete this with a beautiful saying which was made for Varun I guess. This is how it goes

Soccer is a game in which everyone does a lot of running around. Twenty-one guys stand around and one guy does a tap dance with the ball. ~Jim Murray, 1967

Take a look at this video. You'll know who Varun is

Arsenal better off without Henry

2007-09-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

A true legend

The dynamic Fabregas

Arsenal, sitting at the top of the table until now can make the arsenal fans forget the departure of the superstar Henry who moved to Barcelona during the summer.
''We're playing more collectively, more as a team, and this is important’’ says the wonder kid Cesc Fabregas whose mere presence in the team motivates the side. Arsenal, after the 2003-04 season had become a one man show and depending too much on the output from Henry, but now this season it’s a collective team effort. It’s a good step forward. It’s a massive step in the right direction. Many people questioned Arsene Wenger’s decision of selling Henry, but here’s the result. A single player no longer binds the team. Arsenal’s dynamic No.4 Fabregas said: "Thierry was an important player, but now he's gone we have to play more as a team. We're playing more collectively, more as a team, and this is important." We should never curtail the importance of Henry as he was absolutely brilliant for the past 8 years but the team was beginning to stagnate and it was the right time for him to move. Wenger is trying to build a squad for the future and everything’s going on perfectly well with young talent budding in the academy. Arsenal do not believe in keeping players who felt their time had come to move on and this list includes Patrick Vieira, Marc Overmars, Manu Petit and now Henry & many other important players who were let go because no single player is bigger than the club. Instead of mourning the departure of Henry , fans need to understand the importance of change and this might prove to be the key to success.

Whatever it is Henry still supports Arsenal and we all support Henry. He is a true legend
Take a look at this video. Sheer Brilliance

Fabregas' compilation

Manchester United Winning Ugly.

2007-09-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

" Misfirng Duo "

" Hurray , I got Tevez "

Manchester United, last season’s champions have had a poor start this season with a couple of draws and losing during the Manchester derby. Other than that though they’ve won 4 of their matches they were not impressive. Currently the type of football they’re playing does not catch the eye. Agreed that they didn’t have Rooney and Ronaldo for the first couple of matches but they had many other players who joined the team this summer as a result of Man United’ heavy investment in the transfer market. With the likes of Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Argentine Tevez joining the team they shouldn’t have had any difficulties in replacing the injured and suspended lot but they couldn’t do anything. Hargreaves played only a single match so far who is down with an ankle injury , Nani and Anderson struggling with their form , and Tevez though working very hard on the pitch is struggling to find the back of the net scoring only 1 goal in his 5 starts. Right now nothing is going on track for Man U. The new additions to the team are misfiring and are having some problems to cope up with English football. Though they beat Chelsea last weekend, their last season’s form is still missing. Coventry City added on to their miseries by beating them 2 0 at Old Trafford during their Carling cup 3rd round encounter on Tuesday and eliminating them from the competition. Coming back to the Premier League , Ferguson is a happy man because he’s been getting his 3 points in each of the previous 4 matches. But I’m not talking about the points , I’m talking about the type of football they’re known for is missing .

King of Tactics.. Getting it wrong for the time being

2007-09-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Rafa Benitez, known as the tactical king is famous for his rotation policy in the club. He never plays with the same team for more than one match. But this rotation policy is getting Liverpool nowhere. Unless and until the players are given ample opportunities there’s no way they can gel in the team. Before they can even adjust themselves in the team he changes the team. Last season he played nearly 20 games with 20 different teams. Again this season after wonderful start to the season, losing only 2 points during august has had a poor September and this is due to the rotation. His tactics are really puzzling because he keeps the 24 million pound striker, Torres on the bench. What for? To keep him fit for the next match? Well, he was transferred this season to Liverpool due to the sole reason that Liverpool was struggling to score and Torres so far has been brilliant in all those games in which he has started. So why keep him on the bench when he is in a good form? The results were eventually poor during the previous 2 matches. The week before last week Liverpool drew with Portsmouth, a boring 0 0 and again the same mistake last week by not starting Torres resulted in another stalemate . These drop in points may prove to be costly later. This is causing a serious set back in this seasons campaign and the pressure is on Liverpool since they haven’t won the English league since 17 years. Liverpool need to play their strongest squad in every match if they have to win the BPL. Rafa’s tactics sometimes works on well and people praise him for that calling him the Tactical king but some times he gets it horribly wrong. Anyway all the best Rafa and Liverpool.

“ YOU”LL NEVER WALK ALONE “

The special one sacked...

2007-09-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

The sacking of Jose Mourinho comes as no surprise as the relationship between the owner Abramovich and Mourinho was rocky for quite some time now.Everyone's gutted but yes he's gone. The Portugese manager who was appointed in 2004 has done an exceptional job at Chelsea winning 6 trophies in 3 years , but could never get his hands on the priceless Champions league as they were eliminated twice after reaching the semi final by Liverpool. This fact troubled Abramovich and the tensions were rising between the two. Chelsea lost their title to Manchester united last season and haven’t impressed the owner with their performance this season so far. Finally the fiery relationship came to a halt after a disappointing 1-1 draw in the hands of Rosenberg in the Champions League on Tuesday at he Stamford Bridge. When Jose was appointed he called himself “ The Special One “ and he has proved to be one by achieving great heights at Chelsea . Many players were devastated with the sudden departure of Mourinho and quite a few have said that they would be following him. Mourinho had hinted an exit this summer after he claimed that certain things weren’t all right at the club. What more does Abramovich want from Mourinho ? Was he sacked just because of a couple of draws or because he couldn’t get the Champions League ? Ballack and Shevchenko's addition to the squad increased the tensions at the club as they couldn't gel into the team. Their wages were too high , more than Lampard's and Terry's . Both of them were expensive flops.In my view Mourinho was the best manager in England and I would him call him unlucky because he was sacked for no good reason. Abramovich knows what Mourinho can do if he takes over another English club , so to prevent that he paid him a good compensation to keep him away form England for at least a season. Avram Grant was appointed as the new boss , who has got a lot of work to do after Mourinho had set such high standards at the club. It was always tough for a new manager , managing such a big club and their loss to Man United comes as no surprise. Its going to be really tough for anyone to replace Mourinho. Fergie spoke to the press saying that he enjoyed every moment on the field with Mourinho and says his exit was a big loss. Keane said that Mourinho has raised the bars in the English league. There are already speculations that he might be taking over Barcelona next season and a series of other clubs are after him. He has said that he enjoyed every single moment at Chelsea and said that he would again coach Chelsea some time later in his career. All the Best Jose.

Take a look at this funny video

Referees : I know my job. . Do they ?

2007-09-24T04:38:00.000-07:00

The standard of refereeing in the English premier League is going down. This is quite evident this season during two of the most intriguing games. Whenever the top 4 play against each other the standard ought to be even higher. But on the contrary the referees succumb to pressure and give away decisions, which turns the course of the match. The first big game of the season was Liverpool vs. Chelsea that took place on the 19th of August. Torres opened the scoring with an awesome goal and Liverpool had things under control until Mr. Rob Styles awarded a penalty to Chelsea for Malouda falling on Steve Finnan . Mr. Styles was just 2 feet away from the incident spot and still he couldn’t give a correct decision. So that game eventually ended in a draw. Liverpool not only lost 2 points but their rivals earned a point . Thanks to the brilliant work from Styles. That incident seemed to die down when again the issue of refereeing came up in yesterday’s match when Man United played Chelsea.This time it was Mike Dean . John Obi Mikel , Chelsea midfield player was sent off for a “ so called bad tackle “on Patrice evra , just after half an hour of play, but it was quite evident that he just won a clean tackle and had won the ball. Some say Evra over did it but it’s the referee’s duty to put tabs on such incidents. Next was when Joe Cole made a real hard tackle on C. Ronaldo. He caught his ankle from the behind. This tackle deserved a red card but surprisingly he got away with it. Poor refereeing just spoils the healthy rivalry between the teams and the game goes one sided. Next one was when Man united was awarded a penalty in the dying minutes which was really harsh on Chelsea.These people are called professionals, but I doubt whether they even know the spelling of professional. If they are unsure why don't they take the help of the TV referee as its done frequently in Cricket? The standard has to improved if a healthy football game has to be played.

Just take a look at this video. You'll know it yourself

Tributes to Antonio Puerta.

2007-09-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

None of them would have thought that on the first day of Spanish league , the football world would face a huge loss. On the 25th of august Puerta was just as fit as anybody looking sharp on the field . One of the best players in the team , suddenly fainted just after half an hour of play. Nobody even thought in their wildest dreams that it would be the last time he'll be seen on the pitch . Brave fellow walked back to the changing room giving his team high hopes of him returning soon but god almighty thought the other way. Again fell down unconscious in the dressing room. He was rushed to the hospital was given the best of medical attention. He had suffered a cardiac arrest . He was put under the intensive care unit for 3 days. He was under the ventilator was 3 days but could not get back as he was getting weaker and weaker. He suffered multiple cardiac arrests and multiple organ failure. The versatile left sided mid-fielder died and this was a shock to the footballing world. His body was later brought to the field with the club sevilla's flag and Spain's flag covering the coffin. People gathered around the field and filled the roads of the city. He got the highest respect . Real betis , dead rivals of sevilla , gave up the rivalry for the time being and paid tributes to Puerta. On that night there were no sevilla and no betis. They were all united. All the rivalry gone for the time being. He was about to become a father in a months time. Puerta died during such a great profession . He deserved to live longer.
Tributes to Antonio Puerta ( 1984-2007 )
Take a look at this touching video. His last game for Sevilla.
Rest in Peace

Welcome to my blog..

2007-09-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I was thinking of starting a blog for quite some time now and at last i'm starting it today. What better topic to write about other than football ? Football has been my passion throughout. Its the only game which pulled me towards it as soon as I watched it for the first time. So here , in my blog , I will be discussing about the latest happenings in the world of football , along with all the major stories and gossips which makes the game even more interesting . Welcome to my blog.