Just when we thought the feud was over Wenger reopens old wounds with some choice words for Sir Alex and his team. Now, we all know the Frenchman likes absolutely loves to whinge, but this has to be some sort of joke:
“I have seen today a player who plays on the pitch only to make fouls. For me, this is a point that is more urgent than diving. The players who are never punished. Who get out of the game without a yellow card. I think it is more anti-football than a player who did what Eduardo did.”
Wenger also went on to say:
“But I like the stance the English take towards diving. In some countries it is a quality to dive. I’m still more proud to be part of England where they fight against that.”
Some interesting comments from Mr. Wenger to say the least. Let’s break them down.
Another United v. Arsenal clash, another exciting, drama-filled afternoon. After reaching the break 1-0 up, Arsenal broke down and gifted United the victory. Arsenal had a late goal correctly disallowed, and Wenger got sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle.
I think all United fans would admit the side was outplayed today, however, they would also tell you that doesn’t really matter. What matters is the result, and the team were able to get it. That’s why we are defending Champions: We know how to win ugly and we know how to win when we’re not the best team on the day.
Time for a reality check. After notching up 10 goals in their first two premier league games (first time in history) and destroying Celtic to qualify for the Champions’ League proper, people were high on Arsenal and Arsene Wenger’s ‘project’. They were scoring goals for fun, and looked unstoppable, perhaps this would finally be the year?
It all sounded pretty good, but let me tell you what really happened. First, Arsenal played a severely, severely depleted Everton side. In addition, their rock at the back, Joleon Lescott, pleaded not to be picked for the match, as his move to City was imminent. This was ignored, and Lescott rewarded his manager’s faith by not showing up. Two of Arsenal’s 6 were gifts from set-pieces: Vermaelen and Gallas waltzed in and got free headers right down the middle. Wait, isn’t that where Lescott plays? But still, 6-1 is pretty good no matter the circumstances – I can give them that. Then they went to Parkhead and were extremely lucky to come away with a 2-0 advantage. An own goal and a deflection off Gallas’s arse (who was trying his best to move out of the way of the ball). Flowing football. Then they beat Pompey 4-1. Pompey can barely field a team, so that was nothing to get too excited about. The return leg of the Emirates was marred by Eduardo’s theatrics, which unfairly squashed Celtic’s chances of progressing. I’m not trying to take anything away from them, but this is what happened, is it not?
United were Arsenal’s first test and they failed it. The Gunners outplayed the hosts but they continue to show that they have yet to learn how to grind results out. Playing pretty doesn’t win you the title. It was the same old Arsenal (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), so let’s hold off on the excitement for now, o.k?
With the season set to kick off at 12:45 GMT on Saturday, 15th August 2009 (that’s tomorrow), here is a brief look at each of the Premier League’s 20 teams. I’ll try to stay clear of the cliché-fueled drivel you may find on other sites that are just paraphrasing more ‘reputable’ news sources and their so-called experts (whom many I suspect collude with one other as to not sound foolish). In my attempt not to sound as foolish, I will also steer clear of making outright predictions of where a team will finish. I’ll leave that to the ‘professionals’. Nonetheless, I will try to capture where a club stands and where they may be heading.
With each of the big 4 clubs undoubtedly weakened and the emergence of a new challenger, we should be in for another exciting season.
I know this was technically pre-season, but this defeat really hurts. After a summer void of football (the Confederation’s Cup doesn’t quite cut it, despite Team USA’s admirable run), I was craving a full-strength United taking on proper opposition. I wanted United to prove to everyone that they could get on fine without that what’s-his-name who went to Madrid. Maybe it was because they proved just that and could have been up 3-0 before letting Chelsea back in with two scrappy goals and some shoddy goalkeeping. Perhaps it was the injustice of their second goal, and the Chelsea fans’ ensuing abuse of Patrice Evra. The poor penalties didn’t help either. One thing is for sure though; this match was no friendly. And if there is anything positive to take out of this match, United fans can come out knowing that Fergie will have a not so quiet word with the appropriate bodies, and Chris Foy will probably not be officiating United for a while.
I won’t bore you with any match report, because you all know what happened. However, here are a few things I noticed. (highlights below)
The severity of injury should not impact the length of a suspension
The English FA’s disciplinary panels are to take new elements into account when deciding the severity of punishment for a red card offense. These new elements include the severity of injury, intent shown by the ‘offender’ and force of the challenge. These changes have come after the horrific and high-profile injuries of Arsenal’s Eduardo Da Silva and Hull’s Craig Fagan – both of whom were on the receiving end of red card challenges and in both instances, the tacklers (Martin Taylor and Danny Guthrie) were given the standard three-match ban. This new law will allow clubs to challenge the rulings and hopefully act as a further deterrent to those Joey Barton types who like to go around kicking people.
Now, it is obvious that the FA’s heart is in the right place, but I think these new rules are flawed. Here’s why.
Who's going to replace Ronaldo as the best Fantasy player?
With the 09/10 Premiership campaign fast-approaching, I am pleased to announce the ‘BleacherBums Classic’ fantasy football (soccer) league. This is a head-to-head league and is open to all challengers. Last season, yours truly ran away with the title thanks to a certain Portuguese ’winker’ . However, his departure to Madrid has cast a shadow of doubt over fantasy owners. Who’s going to step up at United? Who’s going to be the player to join the ‘holy trinity’ of Lampard, Gerrard and formerly Ronaldo, this year? His absence makes this fantasy season the most challenging and interesting to date. It’s time to put away those grudges, declare your man-crushes, and reveal your sleepers. Fantasy Football is back.
My fantasy football league recently held its draft and here’s a brief explanation on why I picked who I did and the starting rosters of the other 9 teams in the league. Sure, we opted to draft a little on the early side (right as training camps are starting) but we just couldn’t wait any longer. And just for clarification, our scoring is slightly different from the standard Yahoo League -who does standard scoring now anyway? We get .5 points per reception (instead of 0), 1 point for every 50 passing yds (instead of 25), 1 point per 30 return yds (instead of 0), 3 points per field-goal regardless of distance, 4 points per punt/kickoff return touchdowns and kinder penalties for defenses.
Click on to read about some draft strategy, how I ended up with Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb and to watch some awesome highlights (including one of the best catches you will ever see) which I now watch in an effort to convince myself that my team has the talent to make the playoffs.
Seahawk’s wide-receiver T.J Houshmandzadeh has announced he’ll boycott the new Madden game until his player rating is changed. He first broke the news on a radio show but has since been invited on ESPN First Take to voice his displeasure with some of the Madden creators – this is the video above. I think these two geek-a-zoids (who probably have one of the best jobs ever) held their own quite well and Housh is coming out of this looking a little bit dumb.
First Housh is rated 91. He’s complaining about being rated a 91. That puts him as the 10th best receiver in the entire game! I would argue that the rating is extremely generous and Housh should be more than happy with it. He is 32 after all and his career is on the decline. He’s one of the most reliable receivers around but he’s got no speed, no downfield threat and doesn’t score a lot of TDs. He can place all the blame he wants on the offense in Cincinnati, but the numbers don’t lie. And in the world of video games, your numbers are what makes your rating – there are no intangibles.
Anyways, he says he’ll prove himself in this new Seattle offense and they’ll be forced to up his number. But can’t he just get the game and change his rating if he really feels so strongly about this?
I was lucky enough to snatch up some tickets before they were all sold-out and attended the match last night. Liverpool is the most loved club in this part of the world and the seats were filled more than two hours before kick-off. An hour before the game, the Liverpool squad came out into the middle of the pitch and did the traditional Thai greeting led by Sammy Lee (who got a great reception for putting out cones for training) which sent the crowd into raptures. However, Peter Reid’s Thailand (remember him?) were able to fend the reds off, and the scores finished 1-1, leaving Liverpool winless in each of their pre-season games thus far. On a more significant note, Martin Skrtel looked to pick up a bad hamstring injury and limped off 10 minutes into the second half. Shortly after, fringe first-teamer Nahib El-Zhar was substituted after injuring his knee attempting a ludicrous bicycle kick from outside the box. Liverpool looked pretty dull and rusty for the majority of the contest but they surely got a workout as the humidity was high and the conditions unforgiving: after having endured a muggy climate for the majority of the match, the skies opened up 10 minutes from the end, and a rainstorm of epic proportions drenched players and fans alike.
Read on for brief match analysis, more pictures and the highlights.
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