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OK. We already have Franck Ribery joining up Real. Before that it was Cristiano Ronaldo. If it Tuesday it must be Kaka. Now, it is Alonso.

If you keep shooting BB shots, a duck will fall.

One thing is certain. A number of tabloids and blogs are kept afloat by the Real rumour mill. Yours truly included. It is a gift that keeps giving.

Btw, I take back that duck reference. It would mean that Alexandre Pato is on his way to Real too. Which he might. Which he might. Stay tuned.

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Tout Simplement means "its just that" in French.

It is also the title of the new book by Claude Makelele which has already generated a fair bit of controversy. The former Blues midfielder claims in his book that John Terry's unhappiness with his playing time was the catalyst behind Jose Mourinho's ouster. Essentially, Terry asked Peter Kenyon for an exit after he clashed with his manager over his form.

By now, Mourinho was looked on as a divisive figure, drawing support from some players while alienating others. The club's poor start to the 2007 season and Mourinho's dissatisfaction with Avram Grant's installation as director of football had the owner wavering over whether continuing on with Mourinho was in the club's best interest. Simply put, the potential loss of Chelsea's talisman convinced him that the Portugese was expendable.

There is truth to all this even as John Terry strenuously denies any role in Mourinho's departure and insists that he never asked for a transfer. A revelation like this is potentially damaging and it is significant that his lawyers came out against such claims. It warns parties against future "Turncoat Terry" type defamation.

Terry and Mourinho's deteriorating relationship forcing the manager's ouster was already the topic of intense media speculation. It really took a nosedive after the CL fixture against Rosenborg which ended in a shocking draw against the lowly Norwegian side. Mourinho's departure by mutual consent came after 24 hours of a rapidly developing timeline.

Terry was upbraided by the manager at half time for failing to stop Mika Koppinen's set piece. The defender failed to accept responsibility. Earlier in the day, Terry found out Mourinho had gone to the club's medical team to find out if there were physical reasons responsible for Terry's decline in performance following spinal surgery to remove a disc. It seemed to have disturbed Terry to the extent that at first he refused to join the warm up prior to the match apparently preoccupied "with things on my mind" only agreeing after a team mate convinced him.

Peter Kenyon, in an emergency board meeting brought up the Terry dispute as evidence that the manager had lost his players support which the board accepted prima facie and Mourinho was asked to resign. He refused and "by mutual consent" was agreed upon.

It would be very interesting to hear Mourinho's side to the story. He would probably support Makelele's claim. After his ouster, he supposedly texted Terry "sarcastically thanking him for talking to the club's hierarchy."

I think Terry was really spooked by Mourinho's sleuthing. A physical reason would rule out a transient loss of performance and potentially mean early retirement. Terry had a lot riding that summer signing on with Chelsea on a multi year deal which made him England's most expensive player.

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Guus Hiddink's mandate was clear cut. A short term intervention that would halt Chelsea's spiraling fortunes which at one threatened to undermine their CL spot. In that he succeeded magnificently. Instilling discipline, excising self doubt, and getting the best out of players overlooked or playing below par under Scolari. Next year's CL appearance is assured, they play for the FA Cup final today, and their CL finals spot was cruelly snatched away by Barca. In a matter of months, Hiddink effected a string of singular achievements.

It is serves as a useful reminder that a year ago, another cruel event snatched away Chelsea's chances. The CL was theirs to win if it was not for that fateful John Terry slip on a slick surface. Chelsea went on to lose the finals to Man Utd in a nail biting penalty shootout. A visibly moved Grant had to console his inconsolable captain. More to the point, under Grant, if popular opinion was a barometer, they should not have even been contesting the final. Instead, the Israeli manager managed a feat that escaped even Jose Mourinho. In fact, till the last day Chelsea challenged Man Utd for the Premiership title after Arsenal succumbed to injuries and an inability to put away matches.

Abramovich's decision to saddle a no name as manager of one of the world's biggest clubs was clearly a wrong one. But clearly as the results prove it did not go south either. It was an impressive debut for a little know man with a thin managerial resume. The mass implosion that everyone feared did not happen otherwise Guus Hiddink might have gotten an emergency call up a year before with the exact same mandate. But Grant guided Chelsea to a CL final in some fashion without a bailout.

Grant followed not just a manager but a personality made for TV. Mourinho was a media godsend. The Premiership was all Sir Alex, Wenger, Benitez, and the Special One. Their eye catching verbal sparring was tabloid fodder and fans loved it. Suddenly, a taciturn and little know Israeli had taken over. His media interaction were horror shows. Mourinho was a tough act to follow. Clearly, the Israeli was aware he was not sexy but his football was going to be, an important distinction which he thought would make him more palatable to fans. Whether that qualitative change took place is debatable. Certainly, Joe Cole was given more freedom under Grant than under Mourinho. However from a result standpoint, Grant proved effective. He however, did not become more palatable to fans.

I remember seeing the Arsenal match when the Gunners went up a goal at the Bridge. The boos that chorused down had the commentators shamed into offering a rare defense of the embattled manager. Chelsea went on to win the match, after Drogba, in typical muscular fashion scored a brace. The Ivoirian striker had been so distraught over the departure of Mourinho, that a transfer appeared inevitable. Yet, here he was months later being as effective, just like under Hiddink. Grant may have not been a media darling but he knew a few things about keeping his players together. He gained the respect of John Terry.

"To get to where we are and to still question the manager's the role at the club is unbelievable."

Terry added, "things have been very good and results don't lie."

The CL loss made Abramovich's task of getting rid of the unpopular manager easy. He of course, went on to hire Big Phil Scolari, a huge name, whose arrival was trumpeted by many as righting the ship. Ironically, Scolari's subsequent lack of results and increasing unpopularity with players and fans necessitated the Hiddink transfusion. Its important to note in a perverse way, that Chelsea's cruel run in the CLs was kept intact under Grant. We would not have had any talking points at all otherwise.

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Uli Hoeness shows who is boss in Bayern. Its not the manager for sure, he will always be a figurehead.

"For 50 millions euros, I don't even pick up my telephone," Hoeness told the Bild tabloid. "Because a figure like that doesn't even give you rights, at best, to one of Ribery's legs.

Its all been a bit confusing. Chelsea's bid of £43.7m (50m euros) for the Bayern midfielder has been rejected.

The Times is now reporting that Real's offer of more than £40m has been accepted and Ribery is all set to join the club. Wait, how much is more? And is it per leg?

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The simple fact: Man Utd believed in its invincibility built up by its stunning performance against Arsenal, bolstered by the last moment goal by Barca which saved the champions from an embarrassing semi-final exit, and honed to perfection by the media drumbeat that they only had to show up to play for the inevitable anointment.

It was almost too perfect. While Barca had many questions to answer at the Nou camp after that near loss. Especially on defense. For the first time in a long time, we saw a Sir Alex side, poorly prepared with many players no shows. Where was Carrick and Anderson? Well, its all unraveling a bit. The club are worthy winners of every title there is including last year's best club in the whole wide world shout it out loud from the mountaintop status. However, this was not just a defeat, it was a stylistic showdown. Barca showed that the beautiful game still exists and it can win matches. With Xavi and Iniesta purring on the field, Man Utd's midfield looked like their shoes had been replaced with clogs.

There is nothing like defeat to measure self worth or open up questions. Their midfield remains in transition. Anderson has a long way to go before replacing Scholes adequately. The self centered Nani is a poor option for Giggs. Hargreaves is perpetually injured. Man Utd inherited that injury from Bayern. Carrick and Fletcher are very competent but cannot be considered world beaters by a mile. On attack, Berbatov struggles with consistency. Tevez remains in a strange twilight where the price has to be right. Rooney may define "total football" but he is being marginalized in his primary role. Van Der Saar may have a year or two left but who replaces him as Man Utd's sentinel is unclear. On defense, the right back spot has rotated between Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Rafael, and John O'Shea.

It should all be put in perspective. Man Utd have a soul searching off season to answer these questions but they are still good enough to repeat their domestic success with this squad. It is true, in football we always ask for the level. Are they at the level to reach the top? It is a question that has dogged Liverpool and Arsenal for many years now in the Premiership. Well, Man Utd came off second best on one of the biggest nights in football. It maybe a while before they win another CL.

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Investors complaining of poor customer service relations. Bust ups with investors. Arbitrary rises in housing units, severe penalties for late payments, delayed construction work, and unhonoured site visits.

"Does anyone know of anywhere else in the world where a seller is able to sell an off-plan property without a contract and then a year or two later provide a contract showing an increase the price of what he has already sold? Beware of buying Hydra Village units!"

The problems are partly due to the difficult financial times that is affecting everyone. But it is also not a case of badmouthing that the potential owner of Portsmouth FC claims it to be. The financial problems confronting Hydra Properties is true. The problems are compounded by the fact that Abu Dhabi does not have a regulatory organization that oversees the real estate sector. Most of these real estate investment projects are floated out by big companies on their financial strength and closeness to the royal family. In good economic times, this may not be a problem. But when things go south, it becomes a potential flashpoint between investors bailing out of their commitments and the company that goes to any lengths to keep them in and pad losses.

It maybe a good PR exercise on Suleiman Al-Fahim's part to de-emphasize the Hydra Properties part of the resume when talking about the takeover of Portsmouth FC. That is why he talks up the private investor part of the deal. It also clouds the connection between ADUG which controls Man City and is a subsidiary of his own company.

I am sure Portsmouth FC fans are delighted to have a source of seemingly unlimited transfer funds to propel the club to new heights but they must also be curious to know more about the entity taking over their club. Between oil rich Arab sheiks and billionaire American businessmen, the financial turmoil has taken the shine out of every stereotype.

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Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the prime mover behind the Man City takeover now owns his own Premiership club. He is purchasing Portsmouth for a reported figure of £80m, through the investment arm of his company, Al Fahim Asia Associates. Portsmouth has flirted with relegation all season long and its transfers have not panned out. The club was £65m in debt, of which £25m was owed to the present owner Alexandre Gaydamak.

He also owns a Versace Lamborghini Murcielagos, one of only three in the world and is the host of the reality show, Hydra Executives which pits eight Americans against eight Britons for a chance to work in his company, Hydra Properties, and win $1million for a business venture.

Falcon Equity, the private equity and asset management company which structured and negotiated the Man City deal was behind the Portsmouth takeover. It reportedly raised the funds from Asian and Middle Eastern investors through its network of offices. Al-Fahim in an interview denied any further involvement with Man City after September 2008, and said that his role in Portsmouth is yet to be defined.

He also denied rumours that Hydra Properties was in financial trouble and dismissed them as 'badmouthing" his company. He was at pains to separate out his company, Hydra Properties and the investors who had been tapped by Falcon Equity to put money into Portsmouth FC. In a customary disclaimer, he said that none of the investors were from the real estate sector or were part of the royal family.

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Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez hold the CL trophy aloft

The number 4s are a special breed in Barcelona history:

It was love at first sight, so the story goes. When Barcelona's then-captain Pep Guardiola first clapped eyes on youth team midfielder Xavi Hernandez he turned to a team-mate and said: "This kid will retire me."

Several years later when the veteran Guardiola was now playing alongside Xavi in Barca's midfield, they watched a teenager called Andres Iniesta, and Guardiola turned,this time to Xavi and said: "And this kid, is going to retire the both of us."

La Masia's alum are the proud winners of the triple crown, none more heralded than the CL trophy that they hold in their hands. It is in its 20th year of existence and it could not have asked for a better anniversary.

Leo Messi found his "head of God" goal, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez pillaged the midfield, Victor Valdes, the sentinel kept the Man Utd attack at bay, Carlos Puyol held the defense together, and Pep Guardiola had a dream debut as Barca's manager in his first year.

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In the end it was the heroic Carlos Puyol, overmatched in speed but not in intensity and in desire who held aloft the CL trophy. His Barcelona side turned in a dominating display which overwhelmed the Red Devils. I have to say, watching this match, gave an impression of a sacrificial lamb fattened up before the inevitable slaughter. Man Utd had swept aside Arsenal and Barca had barely survived Chelsea.

The Guardian pundits had all said that it would be Man Utd's to lose. But if the team did not show up to play, what then was there to lose? Could we also rest all charges of a conspiracy because if Barca had not played Man Utd, we would have not known what a circular firing squad the EPL actually is.

Eto'o's subtle trickery yielded a goal against the run of play in the 10th minute cut against conventional wisdom. It was supposed to be Man Utd that would stick the knife in the very counterattack that fetched Barca a goal.

This was repeated ad nauseam by everyone in the world:young, old, infirm, fan, pundit, prisoner, Inuit, despot, midget, and internalized by the Utd players. The goal shattered Man Utd's psyche, forcing it to retreat into a shell, only venturing out to make an occasional foray in the first half. The pendulum had swung the other way in a heartbeat. Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez started moving the ball around effortlessly. Man Utd's bright and domineering start became a distant memory. A spell which saw Victor Valdes tested a few times by Ronaldo. Park Ji Sung coming close after Valdes spilled a cracking shot from Ronaldo into his path. The Korean ballooned the ball over under Pique's challenge. That was the extent of Man Utd's chances.

More was to come in the second half and Van Der Saar and the back four were rocking back on their heels. Barca should have gone up by a few more goals, with Henry muffing a simple chance. A brief interlude of Man Utd possession proved to be ineffectual in attaining the equalizer. The deal was sealed when Evra's sloppy clearance found Xavi who took the ball and chipped it elegantly to Messi, who rose unchallenged, all 5' 7" of him to head the ball past Van Der Saar in the 69' minute.

In doing so, Messi answered the challenge. It was a no contest between him and Cristiano Ronaldo who faded away as the match went on. Man Utd came closest to scoring what would have amounted to a consolation goal when Park Ji Sung failed to meet Rooney's cross. Carrick and Anderson were invisible, and the Brazilian was substituted by Carlos Tevez who failed to provide a spark. The elegant Berbatov could not change the game either when he came on for Park Ji Sung.

Barca's back four widely considered its Achilles heel proved to be physical and very adept at winning the 50/50 chances. Yaya Toure was a force with Pique at the center and won Man Utd's long balls. Sylvinho was industrious on the left and kept Rooney quiet. Puyol had a few problems handling Evra and Park's pace but he did not make any major mistakes.

So Barca go out deserving winners. Congratulations to Pep Guardiola and his men.

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Eto'o's goal (10' minute)

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Barca becomes the first Spanish side to record the triple in a season: La Liga, Copa Del Rey, and the CL final. Messi records his first goal against an English side.

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The fallout escalates over the Curva Sud's fans behaviour towards captain Paolo Maldini. He now says that the club failed to defend him. Its not been the type of farewell that he envisioned, far from it.

The club defended its silence by saying it did not want to give any more attention to those disrespecting Maldini.

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Manchester in the mid 1980s, the mecca of the rave scene and Factory Records. Impresario Tony Wilson brought to life through Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People walks us through The Haçienda, ground zero for the Madchester scene which saw Ian Brown, Shaun Ryder, Mark "Bez" Berry, Martin Hannett and many other names. Fac 51's history was tightly linked to New Order who financed most of the club when it opened in 1982 till it folded in 1997. Two years later Man Utd won its first CL title.

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The will to win. That's what it's going to take. Both teams appear talented, strong, evenly matched.

Will Ronaldo or Messi seize the opportunity to be the world's greatest? Or will someone else - Tevez, perhaps - or Henry - steal the day?

The experts, Lineker for example, say the defense will win the game and give the game to Manchester United. I'm not so sure. If Messi performs up to his Maradona-like promise, we'll see Ferdinand limp off the pitch clutching his calf with 15 minutes to go. If Rooney keeps his cool and takes control, we'll see Barca collapse.

I have no clue, as you can tell. That's why this is going to be a great game. Forget about the money. Bring it.

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Man Utd player touched by Cantona

Cantona's self aggrandizing announcement that he would like to coach his former club was met by a collective loss of bodily functions of acolytes all over the world.

The man is an attention seeking gadfly. At the moment when the world watches the CL final between Man Utd and Barca, Cantona will be attending the premiere of his film in which he utters, " I am Cantona " Great line but that's the problem. It works because those words define his legend. Everything will fall into place when he says that. Man Utd's opponents will be caught in Magneto like force fields in which they mutate into spineless jelly fishes. His players will be set free of doubt and self loathing. Its a bit like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. A parody. Why believe in evolution and its complexity when there is a simple design. Its unthinking and fallacious. Just like when it comes to football, that a fetish for a cult of personality, will work.

Do you think Sir Alex in a million years would hobnob with the Cannes crowd? Good managers are for a lack of a better word, nerds. Even Jose Mourinho who looks a bit like a botoxed telenovela star was ill at ease when dragged into a studio in front of a live TV audience and forced to watch some scantily clad nymphet commit a sideline foul on him. Marcelo Lippi, Guus Hiddink, Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez, Felix Magath, every good coach shuns attention. Except Phil Brown who could have single handedly revived Chrysler's used car division. They can ill afford being egotistic. Or launch some half career. Or kick sand. Or launch some half career in kicking sand.

It means paying attention to details. From transfer budgets to fouls committed. It means remaining focused doing grunt work. Sounds like an accountant but that is what managers are deep down inside. Wenger's thoughts don't turn to love when spring comes around, he is already calculating the transfer market. Sir Alex is worried that Ronaldo might leave, he wants Ribery. Think Cantona can handle all that. Bollocks.

Anyway, his next movie is called "The Pelvis moves". Seems like the right move.

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Barca will field Mali's Seydou Keita, Cote D"Ivoire's Yaya Toure and Cameroun's Samuel Eto'o. If they win, they join a select group of African CL winners. Eto'o would become a double winner.

Bruce Grobbelaar and Craig Johnston (Liverpool FC) in 1984, Rabah Madjer (FC Porto) in 1987, Abédi Ayew (Olympique de Marseille) in 1993, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George (AFC Ajax) in 1995, Samuel Kuffour (FC Bayern München) in 2001,

Benni McCarthy (FC Porto) in 2004, Djimi Traore (Liverpool FC) in 2005 and Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona) in 2006.

Seydou Keita talks about what this win would mean:

SK: Of course it will be a great achievement for me. The Malian people are waiting for this success and a lot of Africans want us to win because there are three Africans at Barcelona. To be named alongside players like Abedi Pele, Kanu and Eto'o is something every African football will cherish and I am keen to join the great group of African players who have won the title.

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Martin Jol stepped up as Ajax manager following Marco Van Basten's resignation.

Jol's former club Hamburg started the season at a furious pace and was favoured to win either the Bundesliga, UEFA Cup or the German Cup but in the end Werder had their number and they lost three straight times to end up empty handed. They managed 5th position, good enough to get a Europa spot but the season ended disappointingly for many fans who believed the club should have done better.

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Juve shows it means business. Today, it went some distance in filling its creative lacuna.

Diego, the Brazilian playmaker joins the squad from Werder on a five year contract worth €24.5m.

The midfielder who began his career at Santos, made his way to FC Porto as a replacement for Deco, and finally found his goalscoring abilities at Werder. He made 84 appearances and scored 38 goals.

Werder has some cash leftover for a quality playmaker. Paging Misimovic.

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Barcelona stands against the trope of English dominance. If they lose, it will be UEFA's last shot at a concerted effort in keeping parity. Well, as per conspiracy theorists. How many times will they rely on Tom Hennings Ovrebro? Then there is Platini's 6+5 argument. Surely, that was hatched to loosen the English death grip on the CL.

Barcelona is still a mystery. There is a feast or famine quality to their play. Sublime against Bayern, ridiculous at the end of season against local rivals. Their problem is that they resemble Arsenal in possession with more attacking firepower but the same suspect defense. They rely on attrition. Very effective against leakier levees which dissolve in a barrage of attacks. But as Chelsea proved, against stronger and physical defending, they have problems creating a swathe.

So the chatter coming out of Spain provides fascinating reading. El Pais weighs in.

Much of the talk is centered around solving Man Utd's Vidic and Ferdinand, by far the best central defending duo in the world. Barca's aerial attack is looking a bit thin.They don't have Dani Alves, out with suspension. The galloping wing back is an attacking threat with his probing crosses. Guardiola acknowledges this: "Without Alves, we lose offense".

On the other side, the loss of Alves and Abidal has forced Pep Guardiola to consider shifting Carlos Puyol to the right flank and possibly Sylvinho mans the left, leaving out the relatively inexperienced Martin Caceres.

Keita could be dropped back from his usual midfield role, to pair up with Pique at the center. The back four's lack of pace exposed by Chelsea on many occasions, could lose another step with this configuration. These open up considerable opportunities for Evra, Ronaldo, Park Ji Sung and Rooney to punch back with rapid counterattacking runs and win set piece opportunities. To seal against such real threats, Barca needs to maintain a tight lid on possession and when they lose the ball to cut off supply: the long diagonal balls or via intermediaries like Carrick and Anderson. Guardiola mentions the duo as the building blocks of Man Utd's game. Carrick almost constantly overlooked in his role as one of the most effective holding midfielders. "He is the lynchpin of Man Utd" while Anderson "shines in his defensive strength."

The matchup of goalkeepers favours Van Der Saar over Victor Valdes, who has looked tentative at times having problems timing his charges from goal and being assertive in set pieces. He was very good against Chelsea but there were unnerving moments against Drogba. VDS has been solid having bounced back from those losses to Liverpool and Fulham. He has povided insurance against the occasional mistakes made by his back four.

Cristiano Ronaldo's maintains a distinct edge over Messi remains in his work rate. He has launched 32 shots on goal scoring four while Messi has made considerably fewer attempts, 11 but been more effective, scoring eight times. Ronaldo needs more open space but shows more versatility with the ways he scores while Messi is much more effective closer to goal, maneuvering out of tight spaces with his foot skills. He also enjoys the advantage of wrong footing defenses cutting in from the right side with his lethal left foot. Its the football version of the crossover dribble. However it also reveals a directional bias which can be used to minimize his forays or render them ineffective.

Like Arsenal, Barca enjoys walking the ball home. So they need to keep VDS honest with some long range efforts. Xavi and Toure can crack a few.

Man Utd's strikers are no slouches at tracking back. They will be very busy. Evra will be bolstered by Park Ji Sung, whose work rate needs no introduction, to manage Messi. John O'Shea's potential weaknesses can be exploited by Thierry Henry who returns to pace after injury but it must be comforting to have Rooney's help with his speed and physicality used so effectively for defensive purposes. In the center Rio and Vidic will keep a wary eye on Samuel Eto'o to stop the Camerounian from slipping in and monitor the movements of the dangerous Iniesta controlling the center.

Essentially, it will come down to Barcelona inventing ways to win but Man Utd looks the more dangerous team.

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Elliott's 13th minute curler was perfectly placed and Paddy Kenny could do little about it.

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Wade Elliott will be remembered: A red letter day in Burnley history

Burnley made its top flight entry after 33 years of steadily falling through the cracks to the second, third, fourth divisions and in 1987, flirting with non-league extinction. They dodged that one by beating Leyton Orient. They do however, enjoy the distinction of winning except for the Premier League; every other division title, a rare feat with just Wanderers and Preston North End matching that record. And yes, they did win the FA Cup in 1914.

Owen Coyle's men beat Sheffield United with Wade Elliott scoring a beautiful 25 yard curler in the 13th minute. After the match:

Asked whether his goal was the best of his career, the midfielder said: "In terms of importance - no contest. It's far and away the best goal I'll ever score, probably.

Mike Dean also turned down two appeals by United for penalties adding to the drama. Burnley join Wanderers and Birmingham in the Premiership from the Championship league. In the process, they enrich themselves by £60m. Not a bad chunk of change. Even more cheering was Coyle's renewed commitment to managing the club after being scouted out as a possible replacement for Gordon Strachan who resigned from Celtic.

So what do we know about Burnley. It is one of the bigger North West towns located in Lancashire, population approx 88, 000 making it the smallest city to field a Premiership club since the league began 17 years ago. It was famous at one time for its textile industry but for many years now has suffered a serious decline in its traditional manufacturing base. It is better known now as a commuter town for cities like Manchester and Leeds.

Shahid Malik, the disgraced undersecretary of state for justice in Gordon Brown's cabinet, the first minister to resign in the expense scandal sweeping England was born in Burnley. Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Magneto, Wolverine's nemesis in the X-Men series is a Burnley native.

Chumbawamba is probably the most notable Burnley band.

Strangely enough, Burnley is well known amongst tipplers for ingesting the most amount of Benedictine, the French liqueur, in the world. The connection is no accident. The liqueur became a favourite amongst Lancashire regiments for warding off the cold while stationed in France during World War I. Apparently, they brought the taste back home.

Burnley's entry is a great story. A celebration of a small blue collared club with strong roots to the community. For the Wembley playoff match, 36000 fans made the trip. That is 40% of the population. Victory was achieved without the additives of enormous amounts of money or foreign players.

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John Arne Riise finally nails one with a blistering shot. Ambrosini answers in the second half as Artur parries Inzaghi's shot into his path. Menez puts the Giallorossi up catching the Milan defense flatfooted. I have to say this was not one of Maldini's best games. Ambrosini responds seconds later as Artur fails to stop Kaka's cross.

Then comes Totti's delectable free kick which swerved away from a diving Dida. How many times have we seen him do this? Berlusconi looked ill by the end of the match.

Roma snare a Europa spot while Milan cling to the second spot being pushed hard by Juve who won against Siena, 3-0. The worst they can manage is third spot, even if they lose to Fiorentina in the final match because the Violas are behind by three points and have an inferior goal differential. It may not mean direct entry to the CL but the more painstaking qualifying round.

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A shocker at the San Siro as Totti's free kick stunned the Rossoneri. It added to the angst and anxiety enveloping the club.

Worse still, Maldini's sendoff was marred by Milan's Curva Sud ultras standing on the terraces mocking the Milan legend by unfurling a banner with the number 6 marked on it with the caption "There is only one captain" a reference to Franco Baresi, Maldini's mentor and former team mate.

More was to follow as a banner read" Thank you captain: On the field you were a never ending champion but you failed to respect those who made you rich". In reference to Maldini's gesture of silencing them with a finger to his lips. Another read, " For your 25 years of glorious service, you should thank those you have called mercenaries and peasants."

Silvio Berlusconi was hit hard by banners saying "Sell Kaka to revive the club" and "For years you bought trinkets and figurines, this year we bought.... tissues?"

The Milan captain responded by saying, " I am glad I am not one of you."

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They won against Stoke, 4-1 with Van Persie scoring twice, Diaby adding another, and James Beattie's own goal rounding of the tally.

But it was all touch and go before the match because a voice from the past had sent doom and gloom through the club. Yes, it was Aliaksandr Hleb, surfacing from a bunker in Barca, like an unwanted boil on the buttcheek to air everything that was wrong with his former club. The modern day version of the woes of the Pharisees. He could not have done better if he were a paid spokesman for Usmanov.

Wenger paid no heed to the carping former Arsenal midfielder with the pretty feet. His concession:

“In the big games, we were still a bit young and played a bit the occasion more than the game, because we were under a lot of pressure and wanted to do so well,” accepted Wenger.

Other than that he was satisfied that the team had made the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the CL. We can debate the measurement of these successes. Wenger's supporters, the majority will point to these achievements and counsel patience. His critics, a vocal minority will highlight the way most consequential matches ended, as a widening gap between the club and the pinnacle.

There is a lot riding on Wenger to succeed. He is the anti-thesis of the big club manager. In fact, he manages Arsenal with the self discipline of a small club. It is very attractive from a football economics point of view which sees skyrocketing expenses to attain titles as the norm. If Wenger wins, he will have won the right way, and his success will be worthy of emulation. In fact, he should be recruited by the Republicans as the one fiscal conservative who practices what he preaches. Yeah, I thought so, that French thing is a problem.

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Nicholas Nassem Taleb will not be writing about this Premiership. It was a tame end to the 2008- 2009 season.

Hull lost to Man Utd, 0-1. Sunderland also lost to Chelsea, 2-3. But the results were inconsequential because their other promotion rivals lost their matches.

The Magpies lost to Villa, 0-1 through a Damien Duff own goal. The loss relegated Newcastle and ended 16 seasons in top flight competition. Boro lost away to West Ham, 1-2, ending their 11 year representation.

So 35 is the new 40.

Meanwhile you can read all about match predictions from a professor of risk management. It is only slightly less risky than betting on the stock market.

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In the end it was easy. Goals from Lafferty, Mendes, and Boyd made it 3-0 against Dundee while Celtics ground out a goalless draw against Hearts.

Kyle Lafferty goes from a scapegoat to a hero in a week and Barry Ferguson makes an appearance after his drunken desecration of club spirit got him suspended. Victory can indeed redeem any transgression.

The helicopter bringing in the SPL trophy has touched down at Tannadice.

Dons latch onto the final Europa spot. They beat Hibs, 2-1.

Congratulations to Rangers. I am happy for Maurice Edu who worked himself into Walter Smith's favour, taking full advantage of his playing opportunities.

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Cesare and Paolo Maldini: Like father, like son

Silvio Berlusconi offered a laconic "Shame" when asked what he thought of Milan's talisman farewell. And Ancelotti? "The same."

Ancelotti should be getting the message loud and clear.

Maldini ends his career against AS Roma in a very consequential match for both. A win will assure Milan's automatic qualifying and Roma would book a Europa spot.

25 years and 901 matches later the number 29 will be retired.

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Kyle Lafferty and Pedro Mendes score against United to keep Rangers in front for the title. Maurice Edu starts the game.

Celtics and Hearts is scoreless so far. Not looking good for the titleholders.

Its raining goals at the Hibs vs Dons game with the latter up, 2-1. At stake for the Dons is a Europa spot. If the match were to end now, Dons would pip Dundee on goal differential and go through.

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On the eve of the Wolfsburg success, Klinsmann had much to say of his former overseers.

"They are all alpha males and also need their space," he said. "They are all personalities you have to work with."

He also said that his departure was premature.

"The most hurtful thing for me was feeling I could have finished the job," he said. "I could have led Bayern to the German league title."

Klinsi, it is not you fault. Your former club suffers from dissociated identity disorder.

The imperious and distant Der Kaiser, the comically upbeat Karl Heinz Rummenigge, the paranoid and angry Uli Hoeness, the skulking and secretive Paul Breitner, and a composite character called Breitnigge. Read all about it >>

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Magath's two years saw the Wolves rebuilding the team almost from scratch adding key players like Josue, Ricardo Costa, Grafite, and Edin Dzeko in the first season. They climbed from relegation zone to 5th place in his first season. The trend continued in the second season with defender Andrea Berzagli and goalie Diego Benaglia.

However, the most influential signing as it turned out would be that of Bosnian playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic who joined in 2008 at a price of £3.9 million.

Misimovic's dazzling passing skills have been instrumental in turning the Wolfsburg attack into a potent force and in no small measure, his contribution in creating so many chances for Grafite and Dzeko, made it possible to set their record 54 goals, the first striker tandem to score over 20 goals each in Bundesliga history. While the media focuses on that attention grabbing stat, Misimovic quietly accrued another record with the most number of assists in a season with 20. He is no slouch when it comes to scoring with 7 goals including the opening one in yesterday's drubbing of Werder that gave them the title.

He is described as a classic number 10 who stays in the middle of the pitch, making himself available to receive passes and in turn waiting for the perfect moment to dish to a sprinting forward. He also takes the clubs free kicks and corners. Misimovic's introverted personality makes him the ideal team player, preferring his precision game to make a statement.

"I think a number 10, i.e. a playmaker, always has to put himself in position to receive passes when his team has the ball and has to set up his teammates, especially the strikers," Misimovic said. "You have to read certain situations, spot the space that opens up and play the ball on quickly. Basically you set the tempo for the team."

The ability to set a tempo, or dictate the flow of play, is very important because Misimovic is not the fastest player, a shortcoming that he is aware of.

"I know I'm not the fastest guy around but there are other players who aren't quick and still play at the highest European level."

He is on contract till 2012 so he will still be with the Wolves next season but his form makes him a huge transfer target. Bayern may seek the return of a player who was part of the 2003 title winning team. Ribery is getting restless in Munich, as his team struggles making any meaningful impact in Europe. Werder is reportedly interested too as Diego has been linked with Juve. His price has gone up and he is currently valued at about £10m.

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Will it be Hull City, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, or Newcastle?

Phil Brown, Ricky Sbragia, Gareth Southgate, and Alan Shearer live in trepidation and anxiety. Sir Alex has had to come out in public to reassure Hull's rivals that he is not short selling them with his eyes firmly on the CL finals three days later.

For the Magpies, the financial stakes are enormous if Mike Ashley wants to sell the club. A drop down to the second tier means certain devaluation of what the club is currently worth. The flip side is that there maybe more suitors lined up who might be willing to buy the club, just that it won't be the price that Ashley wants to get.

Louise Taylor walks us through how these clubs got to shadows and fog.

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Maldini retires.

I would have never imagined those two words together.

The Peter Pan of football seemed so indestructible. Milan knew him and he knew Milan for a quarter of a century when team mate Ronaldinho was but 4 years old and Alexandre Pato had not yet seen one living day.

On Sunday, after 900 matches for Milan, his last match will be against AS Roma at the San Siro. It will be emotional and tears will flow freely. A fin de siecle moment for the Rossoneri everywhere in the world.

His retirement comes at the crossroads of a Milan team that has pushed its few able bodied players to the limits. At Pyrrhic cost, they have till now, managed second place.

Where they do they go now without their talisman?

He is the last of the golden quartet of backs that defined Milan's incandescent rise in the 80s and 90s. Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi, and Tassotti, defined by their longevity, fealty to one club, and suffocating defense. Between them they logged close to 2400 appearances, won eight Scudetti and five CL titles.

Baresi was the canny leader, the visionary who taught them all: Costacurta, the technician, Tassoti, the enforcer. Maldini, the most photogenic of the four, who Maradona infamously said of: " Another great player who chose the wrong profession. He should have been an actor; he's too pretty to play football" turned out to be the most durable. The emotional force in a waning Milan side. A bookend to a yesteryear of beautiful memories and stirring moments.

How many years before someone like Maldini comes along? The answer can be found looking to their crosstown rivals.

The same question was posed to Inter when Giacinto Facchetti, legend; four time Scudetti winner in the 1960s and all around Mr Nice Guy, sent off only once in his 634 matches, retired after 18 seasons. His number three was retired. Seventeen years later on, Javier Zanetti provided the answer, joining Inter in 1995. He recently played his 600th match and on the day Milan lost to Udinese, won the same number of Scudetti as did Facchetti. He is good for another 5 years at the rate he is going.

Goodbye Paolo Maldini. We are sure there will be fewer of you the way the game presently goes. It is left to the pundits to shine accolades on your place in the annals of performances. For us, you will be cherished, on the simple fact that you were never part of the transfer rumour mill and remained faithful to your club.

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This tough cookie should be part of the deal

It as they say, quite complicated. Adebayor has been talking from both sides of his mouth which helps him maintain his options. Does he have the gumption to stick it out with his stock hitting rock bottom or start anew?

Silvio Berlusconi is very keen on landing the Togolese striker but Milan's summer shows a lot of upheaval. Ancelotti in now a certainty for the Chelsea job and his move is likely to be confirmed after the FA Cup. Kaka is being wooed as part of the relocation.

There is going to be a mass retrenchment forced upon Milan with retirements, injuries, and transfers once the Ancelotti era ends. Maldini has announced his last season. Seedorf is on the bubble. Nesta and Gattuso's careers have been undermined by serious injuries. Becks and Sheva will walk away. The new manager will have to shake up the midfield and attack with sub par performances from Pirlo and Ambrosini. Ronaldinho's trajectory is on the wane. Up front, Inzaghi is the lone ranger.

Milan needs more firepower. So getting a striker like Adebayor will be a huge priority. If Milan is serious about getting Ade then Wenger should also press Flamini's return as part of the deal.

Flamini has seen a revised role in Ancelotti's scheme. After being overlooked the first half of the season, he has been pigeonholed at right back. It is not a good situation. Flamini was a natural fit at Arsenal. He is also proven quality. With him holding the middle, he drastically improved Fabregas game. The Spaniard was left free to use his uncanny vision and passing skills. Flamini's work rate was phenomenal. He was also a fan favourite. A Flamini return would sharpen the amorphous midfield that we have at the moment.

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The media drumbeat: Anyone and everyone will join Real. From Kaka to Cristiano Ronaldo. From Wenger to Mourinho. Real is a black hole.

You maybe a unicellular organism and your name Ktoereoteawhehtrheth Sakjwentewthhyte. It does not matter as long as you can kick a ball and score 93 goals in two matches. Anyone who can do that is linked to Real forever. Under Florentino Perez.

Like Don Quixote forever chasing windmills, success in Real terms, is presently a mirage.The greatness of the Santiago Bernabeu yesteryears which spawned the likes of Di Stefano, Puskas, Kopa, Gento, Rial, and Santamaria have become too costly to bear. There are constant comparisons. The pity is that we have not tried seriously to resurrect those days. For that we have Ramon Calderon and Florentino Perez to thank, men who believe that they can pay their way through.

The paradigm shift occurred when Perez did his Galacticos spiel in 2000. The simple premise envisaged a grand scale migration of superstars to Real if the price was right.

Goalactico! La Liga was under blitz with all this attacking talent and Real had its way. Due homage was paid at a pretty price to the attacking talent at its disposal: Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo, Owen, and Beckham. But like 80's music living on a prayer and song, it all fell apart abruptly when Claude Makelele, the underpaid grunt managing the defense, left unappreciated. Perez was left holding his cojones after Real slumped.

He wants to do it again.

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Inquiring minds want to know whether the French playmaker instrumental in Bordeaux's success this season will return to Milan after completing his year long loan. Or will he be open to staying on for at least another year?

Bordeaux is desperate to lure Gourcuff away. The club's president has said:

“I will not comment on Gourcuff but I must say he is a world-class player. We never hid the fact that we want to keep the player. We can afford it.”

The club is on the brink of winning its first Ligue title in 10 years and there are a number of key players who have already talked about leaving including marksman Marouane Chamakh and holding midfieder Fernando Menegazzo. Both are looking to the bigger leagues. Chamakh is in negotiations with Spurs. These developments do not bode well for Bordeaux's long term plans.

The principal figure in this end of season, will he won't he back and forth is Christian Gourcuff, the father of Yoann and career adviser who reportedly said, “The fact that talks with Bordeaux are underway show the mutual intention to find an agreement. Then it is all about a career plan.”

Christian Gourcuff is also FC Lorient's manager. It maybe a bit of a conflict of interest when you have a father who manages one of Bordeaux's rivals advising career moves. Especially when Lorient has been on the receiving end. Yoann Gourcuff also got his career off the ground at Lorient under his father after graduating from the youth system. So it is safe to say that Yoann's father has been a very influential figure in his development as a player.

A lot depends on Carlo Ancelotti's move to Chelsea. Gourcuff was starved of regular appearances there while Ancelotti kept his "old is gold" mantra alive, of playing older players and recycling them. His father in an interview said that his son had not gained the confidence of Ancelotti at a crucial stage in his career.

"You cannot not play a 21-year-old - his career is at stake. We all agreed a loan out was necessary."

If Milan gets a coach who believes that a core group of younger players is crucial to reviving the club's success and Gourcuff is part of that change in philosophy, it might be attractive to return.

If Ancelotti, who is being pressurized by the likes of Beckham, for obvious reasons stays on then the picture gets a bit more cloudy. The Milan midfield has underperformed with Kaka and Pirlo falling way short of form. Clarence Seedorf does not have the legs to go 90 minutes. Ronaldinho and Pato play off the bench. Ancelotti will have to make some hard choices and jettison his policy of reviving the career of players like Becks and Sheva.

I bet you both father and son are watching with very great interest Ancelotti's summer plans.

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Link:

A tired group of defenders react too late and poor goal keeping by Tim Weise lets in Jadson's extra time goal. Shakhtar become the first Ukraine side to win the UEFA Cup. Congratulations to them.

It was an all Brazilian show as Luiz Adriano put Shakhtar up in the first half, again latching onto a pass after a defensive breakdown. Weise charged out half heartedly and then inexplicably flopped down while the chip was in the air. Naldo equalized through a straightforward free kick which Andrei Pyatov ended up parrying into his own goal. All the goal action took place in the first half. Regulation time ended with the teams deadlocked. ESPN's matchcast here >>

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All smoke no fire in that small brouhaha which Peter Hill Wood set off over the weekend with his rant against shareholders asking "disgraceful questions" of Wenger.

Today, Wenger committed himself to staying on at Arsenal. Florentino Perez better look elsewhere.

A comment here:

For some entrenched Arsenal bloggers who pooh pooh the notion that we should go "for Ednkdhfg Dzumbhfgrizo from random Bundelisga side for £4m". These are the same commentators who presently get lathered up over Arshavin. They would have discounted his arrival at the Emirates too. As well as Eduardo. Yep, playing in a random Bundesliga side is reason enough to turn our noses up at them. The disquieting noises that the club maybe putting up a paltry £13m, add to it Adebayor's plus a few others transfer fees, gets you a transfer budget in the vicinity of £50m. Even if the £13m figure is not strictly true; the club even if it does have the money, might choose not to invest in big name players. Wenger's recent signings from smaller leagues show a pattern. Older players who have proven central to their club's success as well have international experience in their resume. Someone like Edin Dzeko who has that profile could very well be on his radar. It all depends on a careful balance between priorities and the money given to them. But lets forget that cheap shot at random Bundesliga sides. We may fault Wenger for his preoccupation with youthful talent but even he is not that willfully arrogant.

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FC Twente's ascent up the Eredivisie has gone a some ways in rehabilitating the image of the much maligned ex-England manager. Steve McLaren's resume now includes a Dutch accent picked up at beer nights. He does a passable impression of Guus Hiddink, which might make him attractive to Boro, his former club who might be walking out Gareth Southgate.

Meanwhile Richard Williams can barely contain himself at the prospect of that rarest of species: A winning English coach. What next, peace in the Middle East?

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Simon Kuper says so. Read on >>

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Mouinho is looking for a second striker since Adriano and the club terminated their contract by mutual consent. It appears Diego Milito presently at Genoa is coveted by Mourinho. He has been in spectacular form scoring 20 goals and leading Genoa to a UEFA spot.

Meanwhile, Massimo Moratti has assured worried fans that Ibra is not going anywhere.

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Richard Caborn maybe embarrassed that a BNP member was allowed to attend the opening of the World Cup bid. A jarring note, potentially undermining a major selling point: England's inclusiveness.

However it is the expenses scandal rocking England that is proving a major embarrassment for the Labour party. It has provided a major fillip for the BNP. Labour's image is so bad, only a few percentage points separate the two parties if a election was held now. The BNP may be excluded from the 2018 bidding table but at this point, their real power lies outside. They can used their increased political relevance to create a backlash against immigrants, stoke tensions, and keep prospective World Cup visitors away.

The scandal also opens up questions as to who benefits from the financial windfall that the World Cup brings? The same MPs shielded by years of government opacity on how taxpayer money was used to finance their lifestyle? A perceived lack of transparency was a factor in sinking SA's bid for the 2006 World Cup, awarded finally to Germany. The same sort of questions are being raised by western skeptics in SA's preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

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Link:

Kudos to Tuncay who was voted Boro's player of the year. He fully deserves it. In the MOTD highlights is the perfectly placed bicycle kick that Daniel was referring to. Boro will in all probability be relegated but Tuncay was one of the bright spots of the season.

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Having a good lafferty at Mulgrew's expense?

Charlie Mulgrew found out after being sent off in a Oscar worthy moment by Kyle Lafferty. The Rangers forward fell feigning injury over a head butt with the Aberdeen defender. The fracas resulted in Mulgrew's expulsion. It would have made (insert here customary cheap pot shot at) Cristiano Ronaldo proud. Lafferty then winked at the bench.

Later, he posted a public apology on Rangers website. The SPL will impose a prospective penalty that kicks in next season. For now, Lafferty gets to play the final match against Dundee.

A controversy that might make Aberdeen vs Rangers matches a bit tetchy in the future but Rangers now have to fancy their title chances. They beat Aberdeen, 2-1.

Celtics lost quite a bit of steam drawing Hibs, 0-0. They fall two points behind Rangers.

It should set up a fascinating last day with Celtics taking on third placed Hearts at home while Rangers travel to fourth placed Dundee. Celtics have been very good at home while Rangers have the best road record. Celtics have a goal advantage over Rangers. It could all come down to goal differential.

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Deja vu all over again for the Crew who seem to specialize in giving away late goals that rob them of wins. This time it was Eddie Lewis celebrating his 35th birthday with a goal in the 91st minute as the Galaxy came from behind to equalize.

Earlier Guillermo Barros-Schelotto took advantage of a defensive mistake by Tony Sanneh to put the Crew ahead.

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McBride's sixth goal of the season in nine games gave visiting Chicago a 2-0 win over Toronto. The Fire are on top of the Eastern division standings and McBride and Josh Wolff lead in league goal scoring.

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Lyon blows by Marseille, 3-1 on the strength of two Benzema goals. Juninho adds another in stoppage time. Sylvain Wiltord scored Marseille's only goal. Jeremy Toulalan and Jean Makoun imposed their physical presence on the midfield and blunted Ben Arfa and Mathieu Valbuena.

Mamadou Niang appears to have been denied two penalty opportunities after Anthony Revelliere charged him in the box. There was a bit of luck as the goalpost came in the way of Niang and Cheyrou.

Marseille now needs a Bordeaux stumble to help to win the title. Bordeaux won against Le Mans, 3-2. With the Marseille loss, Bordeaux move three points clear in the title race. They have two games left. Lyon are in third place and appear to have secured the final CL qualifying spot with this win as PSG lost 2-1 to Auxerre.

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Real Madrid has come knocking and part of Florentino Perez's rebuilding of the club not only includes the potential signing of high powered stars like Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Cesc Fabregas but also getting a quality manager. Real has been linked with Wenger for a number of years but it is usually in the fevered imaginations of publications like Marca. The Frenchman usually dismisses them.

However, he met up Perez in Paris last week in which he was informed about Real's plans. In an interview with a French media outlet, Wenger reportedly said that the Perez's vision would sound attractive to any coach. When it came to the question of commitment to Arsenal he offered a bit more ambiguity saying ""In general I usually stay until the end of my contract." His contract runs till 2011.

I think Wenger has been hurt by the negative feelings of many supporters who see the present club's performance as hitting an impasse.

Frustration bubbled over in recent shareholder meeting where Wenger was put on the spot and reacted with some feeling stating that "You sit here, you are in the last four in Europe, and every day you feel you have killed someone," he said. "It is unbelievable."

The less than unequivocal commitment to the club maybe a bit of a shot across the bow to the fans but it also feels like a warning to the board that they need to open up the purse strings to get some quality players. So far Wenger has been very careful, tightly controlling transfer money so as not to add onto existing stadium debt. What works in the clubs favour is Wenger's mantra that the club needs just a couple of quality additions to the defense and midfield to start winning titles. He will need to honour his contract to prove this theory true.

However you might want to interpret this, a line has been crossed with this meeting.

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Harry Redknapp has not taken kindly to Pavlyuchenko's unsporting conduct. The Russian striker was taken off after muffing a simple goal chance against City. He reacted by storming off into the tunnel. Redknapp had some very strong words.

Its been an on and off season, the Russian did not endear himself when he first joined up complaining about the intensity of the training sessions. He has been injured frequently, most recently with a back problem that has kept him out of the starting line up. But Pavlyuchenko has managed to score goals and his technique has impressed Redknapp. Which has led to the will he, won't he renew situation.

Redknapp also might be selling off David Bentley, who in an Arsenal repeat is missing vital first squad action with Aaron Lennon as firm favourite in the right winger position.

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A pro Silvio Berlusconi paper says it:

"Ancelotti, una sconfitta che sa di addio."

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"Zeru tituli" is a code word in both Inter and AC Milan's history.

It refers to Massimo Ambrosini's two year old Inter taunt when AC won the 2007 CL finals.

On March 3rd, Mourinho threw the taunt back as he said the Rossoneri would win no titles more than two months before the end of the season. The infuriated Ambrosini went on air to ask for an apology. Which set off Mourinho.

The two words have become viral with legions of Inter fans sporting banners. Zero titles has become Dante's inferno for Ancelotti, Ranieri, and Spaletti. None of them might return next season. It has become a verdict without trial. Split rivals, sown dissension, and vitiated club atmosphere.

Yesterday, Milan lost to Udinese, 1-2 gifting Inter their fourth Serie title in succession. It gave the Special One his first scudetto making today's 3-0 win over Siena moot.

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El Pais has a fascinating article (it is in Spanish) about Barca's manager.

He is obsessive, intelligent, passionate, a legend in a legendary city.

His impeccable sartorial style comes from his companion, Cristina Serra, whose family runs a well known boutique. She has cultivated the couple's interest in photography, travel, and reading.

His mother shows a photo of a small boy who was declared the best player in a football tournament but cried when he received his trophy because he had missed a penalty.

That was in 1986. Guardiola went onto win 18 honours with Barcelona as a player, including 6 La Liga titles and a CL championship. By that time he established himself as one of the most important players in Johan Cruyff's dream team. A legend in Camp Nou. Injuries cut his Barca days short and he left in 2001 for a brief stint with Brecia and AS Roma.

By all accounts it was a disaster, with very few appearances because of injuries, and worse still, testing positive for nandrolone. It led to a four month ban. In a measure of his obsessive personality, Guardiola fought to clear his name with a single mindedness for 6 years till the charges were finally dropped in 2007.

Xavi, a Barca product talks about how Guardiola's playing style influenced his own: He was the most mentally agile player in the Barca team. He would see the play before it had developed. "It seemed he had an eye on back of the neck, all the while turning the head, as if it had mirrors."

As a manager, Xavi says that Guardiola has little idea of how intensely he lives and breathes the game. "Es un enfermo del fútbol." Yet strangely, this intensity does not make him a despot as he remains first and foremost a friend to all his players. Football is a fast game and it needs clarity of communication. Guardiola has proved himself a very effective communicator. His success with Barca's B team leading them out of the third tier to the second within a year of joining up convinced Txiki Beguiristain, the sports director and Joan Laporta, the club president to appoint him as successor to Frank Rijkaard in 2008. He now lies at the gates of attaining a treble.

He has Barca in his marrow. A product of La Masia, Barca's youth training facility that shaped the careers of Carlos Puyol, Victor Valdez, Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta, who form the fulcrum of the club's success. An iconic figure to all the children from his neighborhood of Santpedor, who aspire to be the next number four. Guardiola's number.

Guardiola, Celades, Milla: All quality holding midfielders, a unique Barcelona tradition passed down to the present team; to Xavi, Iniesta (who started as one), and Busquets.

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Real Madrid falls to Villareal, 2-3 at El Madrigal. It snuffs out their slim chances of overtaking Barca.

Barca are now La Liga champions, two days after being crowned Copa Del Rey champions and on May 27th fight Man Utd for the title of the best team in Europe in the CL final. A chance for a triple crown.

Marca documents the 12 step recovery program.

Messi, Eto'o, and Henry are duly mentioned but the most intriguing entry is on Joan Laporta (link in Spanish).

Laporta must be the most reviled and at the same time most resurrected man in the history of Barcelona because in the beginning of the season, he lost a popular censure vote by a whopping enough margin but since it did not cross the 66% threshold for new elections, he did not tender his resignation. Barca was coming off a disastrous season under Frank Rijkaard. Ronaldinho had grown heavy and complacent. Henry was only operating sub-optimally. Eto'o had spent almost a whole season out with injuries. The laissez-faire attitude extended to training and physical fitness.

But Laporta managed to survive, withstanding the subsequent pressure of the board of the directors who tried to force him out. When he did not resign, eight of them left in protest. His failure to energize the club's fortunes was complicated by his use of the club to espouse his passionate advocacy of Catalonian independence. The media was not amused by his volatile mix of politics and sports. In short, Laporta cut a polarizing figure.

However he did one thing right, he brought in Pep Guardiola, a local man and kept his faith in him. It was Laporta's only move but it turned out to be the right one.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dzeko cuts a heroic figure

In the alternate world of The True Table or www.wahretabelle.de if referees were perfect, then Bayern would have leapfrogged over Stuttgart and Wolfsburg to a comfortable Bundesliga title. Cold comfort for Juergen Klinsmann indeed.

What do we get out of this exercise in keeping tabs on refereeing blunders. A grand conspiracy to keep Germany's most hated club from winning one more title. A support group for human imperfections. A pointed statement to install video replay technology. Another reason to hate the man with the whistle.

In the real world it is evident that Grafite and Edin Dzeko are having the time of their lives. A 30 year old Brazilian journeyman is teaming up with a 23 year Bosnian wonder boy for the most lethal striking tandem in Bundesliga history. They have scored 51 goals with Grafite up by one goal over Dzeko. Wolfsburg latest victim was Hannover who got their clock cleaned out losing 5-0. Grafite scored a brace while Dzeko recorded a hat trick.

Bayern would have been done in by Hoffenheim if it was not for a last gasp Luca Toni equalizer. Franck Ribery showed why he remains a Man Utd target as he single handedly kept Bayern in the game as they drew 2-2 with Hoffenheim. The French midfielder was outstanding, as the rest of the team muddled through.

The draw most likely means their death rattle in winning the title. They fall behind Wolfsburg by two points and even further in goal differential. But the match was even more damaging to their CL prospects.

They have their work cut out as their last match is against Stuttgart. Only goal differential separate these two. Hertha is in fourth position, a point behind. The first two spots get automatic entry into the CL while the third enters the qualification round. The Stuttgart game is now a must win. That is because they have to assume a Hertha win over relegated Karlsruher. A draw will not suffice.

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Man Utd once again crested the pinnacle. Arsenal played a much improved game and at moments looked threatening but Utd was far too strong defensively to let this game go. The draw was enough for the Premiership title.

RVP had Arsenal's best chance of the match. It should have been a sure goal but he mistimed the header and the ball went sailing harmlessly over the crossbar. Its been a frustrating season for him with injuries and a loss of form. Fabianski was solid, snuffing out Ronaldo and Tevez's dangerous moves in the box. At the opposite end, Rooney could have put Man Utd ahead but his header missed the near post by inches. The Gunners piled on the pressure in the last quarter of the match with Fabregas coming close as his shot hit the woodwork but finally time ran out.

Tevez was substituted and the Argentinian walked off with Old Trafford chanting his name calling Sir Alex to keep him in the club. He could not have asked for a better vote of confidence.

It was Man Utd's 18th title, 11 of them Premiership, and they now equal Liverpool's record. Rafa Benitez can live in a world of denial but the fact is that their challenge came to an end today.

Congratulations to Man Utd. Once again the club as its wont, overcame moments of doubt, pulling themselves up, through sheer force of character and desire, to win. I have to say as integral as Ronaldo is to the club's success, it is Wayne Rooney who is the fiercest spirit of them all.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And to keep Man Utd's title hopes in check for at least another week. Well, we can hope, can't we? Man Utd will come out of the gates with intensity of purpose, to claim what is rightfully theirs.

If the Gunners win, at least the season won't end on a sour note. If not, then Fabregas and men will have to applaud the champions on their home turf in front of their fans. It will hurt this fan to see the team as the sacrificial goat. But not for long, the best team in the Premiership once again will have won. We can step back and let them enjoy the moment that they fully deserve.

Arshavin is back and should bring some meaningful zip back into the attack. Adebayor did not start the Chelsea match and Wenger should keep it that way, because when he did come on, he chose to exhibit his diving capabilities. In that too, he failed miserably. Nicklas Bendtner was far more solid. Almunia is out, so Fabianski starts. Its going to be nervy at the back and with Man Utd scenting blood, the Polish goalie will have to wade out a torrid start.

For an entertaining start to today's match, here is an unrestrained Arshavin speaking his mind about the game.

"I believe that out of the top four English teams, when it comes to football, Arsenal are the best. They have the best style and the best coach. At the moment, young players come to Arsenal because they see it as a very big team, but if we carry on like this without winning trophies, young players will not want to come. Everyone likes the appeal of Arsenal, the football of Arsenal, the young players of Arsenal, but if there is no result they will stop."

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Its been 8 years since Sol Campbell left Spurs for Arsenal. For some fans, this was the final word in back stabbing. They reacted badly. Its been tough for him every time he returns to White Hart Lane.

Campbell might be a bit more relieved that a few of the most vituperative lot have been found guilty of homophobic chants against him.

A somewhat simpler explanation for all the ire. Spurs have never shown any consistent improvement in their defense, their Achilles heel in attaining a higher place in the league. Since Campbell left in 2001, they have conceded 40 goals or less only once, in 2006 when they achieved 5th place under Martin Jol conceding just 38 goals.

2001-2002: Goals against- 53
2002-2003: Goals against- 62
2003-2004: Goals against- 57
2004-2005: Goals against- 41
2005-2006: Goals against- 38
2006-2007: Goals against- 54
2007-2008: Goals against- 61

Posted by Shourin Roy at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first leg resulted in a Atlante 2-0 win and the second leg was a 0-0 draw. Atlante won on aggregate.

It has been a very poor season for all the traditional heavy hitters. Cruz Azul, Club America, Chivas, and Atlas fell by the wayside in the regular season. Azul was the hardest hit finishing dead last in the Primera League, the first time in 47 years. Their lack of success has Ramon Raya and Mauricio Cabrera bemoaning the state of affairs in the big Mexican clubs.

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Adebayor must have really impressed Roman Abramovich in the cameo against Chelsea where he touched the ball twice and dove repeatedly to get a penalty. In keeping with the CL semi-finals, he contributed very little to that match.

He is reportedly a transfer target for the Blues. Didier Drogba is an almost certainty to depart Stamford Bridge. Carlo Ancelotti now a distinct coaching possibility is a big fan of the Togolese striker.

Wenger appears to have no objections to him leaving for one of the big rivals. If there is anyone who knows Ade's weaknesses, it is Wenger. He has probablyl figured out a way to neutralize him. The money from his sale is an irresistible attraction. Ade should go for £25-30m.

Wenger should also seriously consider the transfers of Abou Diaby, Alexander Song, and Denilson. The three of them should net about £20m. We could also offload Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas.

With about £60m to £70m in player transfers and another £30m from the club for a budget of £90- 100m, here is who we should try and get:

Adebayor's replacement should be someone who outscores him in power and speed. Edin Dzeko at Wolfsburg is a big bold presence at 6' 4". He has outstanding stats with 22 goals scored in 30 appearances this season. At 23 years, he is already an outstanding contributor to the Bosnian national team and leads the World Cup qualifiers with seven goals.

You might argue that having another striker is redundant having RVP, Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela, Walcott, and Arshavin who can all score but this is a false notion. RVP is injury prone, , Eduardo's complete return remains in question, Walcott lacks the finishing touch in spades, Bendtner's recent form has been satisfactory but after much profligacy, and Vela has just begun getting some first place looks. Arshavin seems to be the only player who inspires confidence, so relieving him of goalscoring pressure would be extremely important.

Another bold move would be to seduce Mathieu Flamini back. It will take more money but Flamini has been under utilized in Milan and might want to get back to a more substantial role. I really believe Wenger dropped the ball and they should have matched or exceeded Milan's offer. Flamini alongside Fabregas forged the template for Arsenal's midfield potency last season.

We could also target Marcos Senna, Villareal's hard man, as holding midfielder. He brings serious teeth to the game. Senna has expressed admiration for Arsenal's young talent and he might want to move to a bigger stage. At 32 years he is at the older end of the spectrum but his Villareal and Spain performances suggest he is peaking. Without a doubt, he is an inspirational leader who would relieve Fabregas of that burden. For a younger player we could turn to Yaya Toure, Barca's everyday man on defense with some serious attacking chops. Brother Kolo could give him a few words of encouragement to encourage him to come to the Emirates. Xavi Alonso and Gareth Barry remain on the horizon.

Arsenal's central defense has been shambolic. They have also lacked being set piece threats. With an eye towards that, the following central defenders should be seriously considered. Raul Albiol of Valencia who with his 6'3" frame should give the inches that Arsenal's defense needs.

There is Juventus Giorgio Chiellini and Everton's Joleon Lescott, both hard to knock of the tackle and proven set piece goal scorers. If Wenger wants to go a bit cheaper he can try to get Nedum Onuoha at Man City or Curtis Davies at Villa. Both are the highest quality and performing beyond their years. Arsenal needs a central defender duo who can develop the sort of understanding that Toure and Gallas were unable to do.

Tomas Rosicky has just started attending training after 16 months away with injuries to his knees and hamstrings and if everything progresses well, should be back for next season's start. If that happens then the midfield has yet another option.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Mexican Football Federation announced they were breaking all ties with CONMEBOL, canceling Copa Sudamericana, Copa America, and Copa Libertadores appearances. The fallout was set in motion when Nacional and San Paulo refused to travel to Mexico for their third round matches against San Luis and Chivas Gualdajara because of fears associated with the swine flu outbreak.

Nacional and Sao Paulo could not come to a subsequent agreement over alternate venues. San Luis and Chivas Gualdajara then withdrew from the Copa.

The FMF is particularly infuriated because it was given to understand that in lieu, COMNEBOL would give five spots to Mexican clubs instead of the three next year's Libertadores competition. But CONMEBOL seems to have had a sudden change of heart ordering the Mexican clubs to play one off matches at Sao Paulo and Montevideo. Controversy surrounds the CONMEBOL volte face. Were officials on the same page? It appears there is a rift between Julio Grondona, a powerful FIFA vice president and the head of the AFA, the CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz, and Ricardo Texeira, the CBF head and a FIFA member.

Grondona and Leoz's original position in sync with FIFA regulations, was to allow next year's expansion of spots available for the Mexican clubs, which is what Justino Compean, the FMF president received in his first communication. But the decision did not sit well with the CBF, and Ricardo Texeira appears to have exerted pressure on Leoz. In the meantime, Grondona also realized that they were losing money by foregoing these matches, thus there was a volte face.

This has set of a firestorm in Mexico, with CONMEBOL being accused of heavy handed chauvinism and favouritism towards the South American clubs. There is a feeling that the Mexican clubs have been shut out because the South Americans also feared an upset. The CONMEBOL decision came a day after Mexican health authorities had declared stadiums safe to reopen to the public. Meanwhile, an internet war has broken out between Mexican and Argentine fans.

I have a solution: Smithfield's public relations have taken a beating. Preliminary investigations show that pig farms operated by a Mexican subsidiary of the Virginia based Smithfield company, the world's largest producer of pork and pork products could be the probable locus of the epidemic. How about Smithfield rehabilitating its image by footing the costs of playing the matches here in the USA? Everyone walks out happy.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

A truly sad moment for Reading fans as the club failed to make it to the Premiership losing to Burnley in the playoffs. It should not have come to this as the Royals had a number of chances for promotion but their miserable home record proved their undoing, as they lost their last nine matches in a row.

Steve Coppell resigned with minimum fuss, great dignity, and no excuses. It was quintessential Coppell. They are a vanishing breed as finger pointers have taken over the game.

I became a big fan of Coppell when the Royals were promoted to the Premiership in 2006 and their success that season lighted up the league. Their first match was a 3-2 win against Boro. Dave Kitson was injured in that match and was out till January but players like Kevin Doyle, Seol Ki-Hyun, Leroy Lita, and Steve Sidwell stepped up admirably.

Apart from a Steve Hunt moment where he attempted a prefrontal lobotomy on Petr Cech (the Chelsea goalie now wears protective headgear), the club preferred to make news with their performances. The Man Utd encounters provided some choice moments. Reading refused to go away in both Premiership matches. The highlight was the FA Cup fifth round that gave Sir Alex some very anxious moments as Reading fought back through Kitson and Lita after Man Utd had seemingly wrapped up the match in a three goal blitz in 6 minutes.

The Royals ended in 8th position with Doyle and Lita combining for 27 goals. The season threw up Steve Sidwell as a player to be watched for. Chelsea came knocking. Coppell was deservedly voted as manager of the year. The achievement was accomplished with the most minimal of sideline shenanigans as Coppell's stoic and unflappable visage became an enduring image.

A reason for their strong first season was Reading's super efficient scoring. They were the most accurate of all clubs. They scored a goal every three attempts. The number was significantly better than Man Utd, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Doyle, Lita, and Sidwell were not just goal scorers, they were snipers.

So thanks for all the great memories, Steve. Here is hoping this is a brief interlude and you come back to coaching again.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Seattle Sounders are the hottest team in the MLS right now.

The club is accommodating the demand for tickets by increasing seats by 4000. This increases the total capacity for MLS games to over 32,000. The Sounders also play Chelsea and Barca in the summer and Qwest will open up all its sections to increase seating to 67,000.

For more info on how other clubs are faring >>

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Yaya Toure, Kolo's younger brother shows why Arsenal should get this man. Brilliant footwork, great balance, and a killer finish. It all began at the half line. Yaya was shifted to the center back position because of Abidal's suspension and Rafa Marque's injury.

His goal scored the equalizer for Barca who went on to demolish Bilbao through goals by Messi, Krkic, and Xavi. The perfect scoreline was spoiled by Gaizka Toquero's 9th minute header which briefly put Bilbao up.

Barca won the Copa Del Rey for the first time after 11 years. Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry did not play because of injuries but both are going to be back for the CL final against Man Utd.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Arseblog uses Jabba the Usmanov which I think is a perfect moniker. Well, the Uzbeki metal king wants to use his depleted bank balance to help the Gunners cover some of the debt associated with the stadium, so as to open up the transfer budget. It is as Arseblog says, a clever move, taking the side of the fans when he mentions that raising ticket prices is not the answer.

Nice populist gesture. But what is the quid pro quo? A takeover obviously. Of course, if that happens, ticket prices will be raised nonetheless, this time to pay him back. Yes, your money will go to a numbered account in the Cayman islands. There is no way a businessman who lost 74% of his wealth is going to hand out freebies.

I think all parties interested in the future of Arsenal need a way forward to reduce the debt. Which means setting aside personal ambitions for the summer and working together to get the players needed. It is going to be difficult what with Arsenal's byzantine boardroom politics calling for George Mitchell like negotiating skills. I think Ivan Gazidis will be a very busy man.

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For all its parity with the other three big European leagues, the Bundesliga coaches have had considerably less sway in influencing other European big leagues.

Felix Magath's success with three Bundesliga teams should have seen his stock rise across Europe but has Chelsea come knocking? He is moving to Schalke. Juergen Klinsmann mentioned as a successor to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea finally landed up at Bayern before being fired. He is now being touted as Ralf Ragnick's successor at Hoffenheim. Ottmar Hitzfeld surely one of the biggest names in coaching circles is managing Switzerland after a lifetime spent coaching in the Bundesliga. Otto Rehhagel spent 14 successful years heading Werder where he built up the club as a force that challenged Bayern. Despite that enviable resume, Rehhagel never coached another big league club, taking up as Greece's national coach in 2001. Bernd Schuster's exit from Real last season, ended German representation in the top three European leagues.

The flip side of all this insularity is the inveterate parody of the itinerant globe trotting German coach. Jupp Derwall in 1984, after retiring as the German national coach headed down to Turkish club Galtasaray, revolutionizing the sport in that country. Over the years Berti Vogts, Bernd Stange, and that most recognizable of names, Otto Pfister have made a career of coaching teams all over the world. These modern day versions of Sir Richard Burton have struck out over the global terrain with little political compunction and financial compensation to coach a polyglot of teams.

The relative invisibility of German coaching success is remarkable when you consider other countries and their coaches. Italy's national team success seems to be rooted in home soil ardency. Their players are loath to leave but the coaches seem to have embraced the rigours of English football. West Ham lured Gianfranco Zola away from his coaching duties as assistant manager of the U21 Italy team to install him as manager. Zola was a favourite amongst Chelsea fans in his playing career under Gianluca Vialli, another Italian. Carlo Ancelotti is now being mentioned as a replacement for Guus Hiddink, a Dutchman, who built his reputation at PSV. Hiddink's success with Chelsea is a rebuilding process started under Claudio Ranieri in 2001, a base that Roman Abramovich could build on and Jose Mourinho perfected. Arsenal is coached by Arsene Wenger, a Frenchman, who previously coached AS Monaco. Rafa Benitez, a Spaniard, spent five years at Valencia before leaving for Liverpool.

The situation in La Liga and the Serie is no different. The foreign representation is less overall but the Liga employs coaches like Hugo Sanchez of Mexico and Manuel Pellegrini of Chile, arguably because of linguistic connections. Barca broke a recent stranglehold of Dutch coaches with Pep Guardiola and before Schuster, Real Madrid employed Fabio Capello and Carlos Queiroz. The Serie has been traditionally tough ground to break so it is not surprising to see Jose Mourinho as the only foreign representative. Mourinho, Hiddink, and Wenger, each of them started their coaching careers in smaller European leagues to reach its upper echelons underscores the paucity of German equivalence.

Here I end with a caveat: If it is any cold comfort, English coaches are infinitely worse off in any meaningful representation and impact outside of the Premiership. Even that is due to borrowed Scottish lustre. The big English moment ended when Bobby Robson left Barca in 1997.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The comedy of errors that led to Frank Baumann's goal against Hamburg. The culprit has been identified and it will be installed in Werder's hall of fame.

Werder had Hamburg's number this season. Make it three of three. Baumann's goal ended their UEFA aspirations. They also lost the German Cup. And this weekend Martin Jol's squad crashed out of title contention after being beaten by Hugo Almeida's brace.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Link:

Wolfsburg bounced back from the Stuttgart drubbing last weekend. It was the Dzeko- Grafite combine yet again which sank Borussia. Dzeko opened the scoring with his 21st goal. Lovely one touch football!

Grafite added one more and Dzeko rounded of the rout with yet another. Grafite leads the league with 24 goals. Wolfsburg maintain their formidable home form and Magath is unbeaten against Juergen Klopp.

The 3 goal spanking was crucial as they remain in first place ahead of Bayern on goal differential who took apart Leverkusen by the same scoreline. Hertha also won, 2-1 against Cologne and remain on third, a point behind. Today Stuttgart take on Schalke in another must win game for them.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tim Vickery, passionate follower of Brazil's hallowed sport, observes that some big time players were MIA on opening day of the national championship.

He cautioned against reading too much into the return of these stars to the domestic game. It does not mean that the Brazilian league have found the magic elixir. And if Wenger is looking for cheap talent (cue eye roll) to bolster the defense, then he should pursue Boca's Juan Daniel Forlin.

Meanwhile Brazilian sports medicine gets a shout out with the amazing job that they do with rehabilitating injured stars that Europe has given up on. Ronaldo appears to have been reborn.

I can vouch for this approach. I go back to India every year to find an extra inch in my trousers and the tailors there always find it. My waistline has burgeoned but its the same trousers that I partied in 1999.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Carlo Ancelotti is probably going to come to Chelsea after all. He can play coy. The fact is that his boss wants him gone.

"E 'tutta colpa di Ancelotti."

Silvio Berlusconi has laid the blame (link in Italian) on Milan's fading chances to win the scudetto squarely on Carlo Ancelotti. He believes with the quality of personnel on the field, Milan should have been ahead of Inter comfortably. He questioned Ancelotti's tactic of using Ronaldinho from the bench. The defensive woes which see Milan give up easy goals late in the game.

It was quite extraordinary, given that the outburst took place in Egypt where Berlusconi was attending a summit with Mubarak. Obviously the draw with Juve weighed heavily on his mind when Milan was unable to take advantage of Inter's stumble against Chievo. The Italian premier gave his opinion on Ancelotti at a dinner at the Sharm El Sheik with Italian dignitaries and tourists in attendance.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The most fascinating league this season has huge matches today and tomorrow with huge implications.

Three top clubs meet up today. Bayern meet Leverkusen, Wolfsburg encounters Dortmund, and Hertha tangle with FC Cologne.

Tomorrow another top club Stuttgart takes on Schalke.

Five points separate six clubs. Wolfsburg nosed ahead of Bayern in goal differential. Hertha and Stuttgart round up the top four. Borussia and Hamburg are leaning on them hard.

Wolfsburg is suffering a slump in form at the worst possible time in the season.

They have had to deal Felix Magath's rather tastelessly timed decision to announce his departure from the team at the end of the season to coach Schalke. A big distraction which might have led to their embarrassing 1-4 loss all at the hands or rather legs of Mario Gomez.

Borussia brings its seven game winning streak to VW Arena. The good news for the Wolves is that they are impregnable at home. Their big men, Grafite and Edin Dzeko combined have scored 43 goals. So offensive output should not be a problem. More tellingly, Juergen Klopp has never won against Felix Magath.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Looks like a steady procession of injured and suspended players is complicating Pep Guardiola's preparation for the Cl final. He has a depleted back four with Abidal and Alves out through suspension. Rafa Marquez is injured.

However the bitterest blow could be Andres Iniesta who suffered a suspected muscle tear in his right thigh. Further investigations will be done Monday to ascertain the extent of the tear.

Not sure why Guardiola wanted to expose his best player to the rigours of the Liga. The title win is a just a matter of time. Iniesta will definitely miss the Copa Del Rey final against Atletico Bilbao but he is also doubtful for the CL final.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The long time Bolton midfielder who joined Ipswich Town in 2008 was released by Roy Keane.

Ipswich ended its season on a high note winning the last two games since Keane's takeover.

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Barca was comfortably on its way to a win and the title but Villareal fought back to draw the match, 3-3. Sir Alex might be video reviewing this a lot at as Villareal made Barca look very vulnerable on the counter attack.

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The Sounders and Toronto FC are filling their stadiums to capacity. Their combined attendances contribute to little more than 30% of the total MLS attendance in the present season. The Sounders got off to a flying start when 32, 253 fans showed up for their inaugural match against the Red Bulls. Since then attendances have averaged 29,536 fans. A very impressive start. Toronto FC in their third year are averaging 20180 fans. The above graph shows they are boosting total MLS attendance substantially.

A very telling statistic: When Qwest and BMO are the venues as in week 4, the total attendance went up to 127,389. The next week both clubs were on the road, attendance fell to 84,577, a significant decrease of 34%.

The red bars represent average attendances while the blue bars represent total seating capacity. I have not given the seating capacities of RFK, Giants, and Gillette stadiums because these were basically designed for the NFL which are now also being shared by soccer teams.

As you can see the Sounders and Toronto FC are doing fantastically well with Qwest Field actually overflowing. Smaller soccer specific stadiums like Buckshaw and Community America, homes to the Earthquakes and Wizards are also operating at capacity.

The Texas based teams have one of the worst records when taking into account seating capacity. The Dynamo are averaging about half the total seating capacity of 32,000 at Robertson Stadium and Dallas is doing the same with 20,000 seat Pizza Hut Park.

There are dangerous signs that DC United and the Red Bulls are going to have a hard time filling seats when their soccer specific stadiums finally open. DC United has a 24,000 seat stadium in the works while an average of 14,561 fans attend home games at RFK. The picture is even more dismal for the Red Bulls who are struggling to fill 10,000 (9829) seats in cavernous Giants stadium. Next year, they move to Red Bull Arena which seats 25,000 plus. The same fate might befall the Revolution if they firm up plans to move to a smaller venue as they barely exceed 10,000 fans.

Stan Kroenke whose energies seem to be consumed by an Arsenal takeover might want to take a second look at his club, the Rapids who are not energizing their home base at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Even impressive performances by Chivas and Fire with a loyal Latin American fan base are not enough to fill Home Depot Center or Toyota Park. They are filled to about 60% capacity.

A few more observations: East coast teams fare poorly compared to the West coast teams in attendances. Seattle, the home of Microsoft, is a hub for young technocrats who come from culturally diverse backgrounds. Soccer with its global emphasis is a natural fit. There also appears to be a suggestion that cities with an entrenched history in other major league sports like baseball, basketball, and especially the NFL, may be more impervious to soccer even with large immigrant populations from Latin American countries. A corollary, those exposed to good soccer in their countries might find MLS below par, which means that the MLS has to find ways to drive up quality by encouraging young foreign talent like Steve Zakuani in larger numbers.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Against Chelsea, Walcott had about 6 shots on goal. 3 clear chances, only one which was saved by Cech, the rest of them were "how in blazes did he miss that" opportunities. This has become a pattern.

Walcott gets caught between responsibilities of goal scoring and supplying. As a winger he is supposed to do the latter but with injuries to Eduardo, Adebayor and RVP and a drought in goalscoring, he has had to step up as a second striker under Wenger's shuffling of positions.

His shots are tantalizingly close to being considered crosses but they have too much power and are not carefully timed for other players to take full advantage. It also appears that he is taking shots at goal but the angle is wrong and has no bearing to where the posts or the goalkeeper is situated. In the end it really is neither one nor the other. The great tragedy is that with his pace and on ball skills he is always going to give you chances. He just has to make better decisions.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Arsene Wenger and Pat Rice have that familiar pinched look on their faces.

All that beautiful possession from Fabregas and Nasri, Sagna's and Gibbs forays up front, Theo Walcott's innumerable whacks at goal, can only mean one thing.

Chelsea is up at half time.

The Blues needed just two opportunities as Alex overpowered the defense to head the ball home off a Drogba free kick and then Anelka bulled his way through, firing a muscular shot which swung away from Fabianski.

Overpowered. Bulled. Muscular. Meanwhile, Abou Diaby is a fruit fly on the ball, easily flicked off.

Chelsea are in great position to win their first game in the Emirates.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Chelsea meet Arsenal at the Emirates.

Two clubs licking their wounds. Nothing materially changes with a result but there are old favourites to play for, like the satisfaction of seeing Ashley Cole's nose caked in mud.

More interesting are the words of advice that Hiddink has for a recalcitrant Wenger.

He is a big admirer of the Arsenal system with its emphasis on long term planning. However, the Dutchman thinks its time for Wenger to invest in some experienced oomph up front. Sage words.

A Drogba like arrival would mean we can finally end Adebayor's on and off relationship with Arsenal.

Note: I said, a "Drogba like arrival" as in the power not the personality. Amy Lawrence believes that we need to go for the original which could mean Wenger spending more time with the shrink. Or spending good money on a PR firm just for Drogba.

Theo Walcott penned a new contract with the club, a good start to a rebuilding summer. Of course, all this may pale with what lies ahead in the boardroom drama of who finally gets control of the club.

As for the match itself, Clichy's season is over and Gibbs should get the start. Arshavin may not recover from the flu in time for today's match which means Diaby will likely get playing time.

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Maurice Edu's team wins the most celebrated derby in the world and goes two up on their rivals. The win left the Ibrox faithful rocking and Rangers in great position to claim their fifth SPL title.

The match winner was scored by Steven Davis in the 36th minute. Edu acquitted himself well as the match report shows.

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These players are central to their clubs fortunes but they always manage to live in the twilight zone with their questionable commitment and/ or their behavioral issues. In between they throw up tantalizing glimpses of their undoubted potential.

Emmanuel Adebayor:

On one of the biggest encounters in club history, the Togolese striker was AWOL against Man Utd in both legs of the CL semi-final, enhancing long held suspicions that his commitment to his club is skin deep. Milan should take note. One of the most infuriating thing about Adebayor: For all his size and strength, the striker plays like the incredible shrinking man. He is terrible at playing with his back to goal and is easily dispossessed of the ball. Unless this improves he is not one of the best strikers in the world, as he likes to brag. He still remains Arsenal's most productive goal scorer because RVP can't buy himself an injury free season.

Didier Drogba:

It remains a coin toss as to what keeps the Cote D'Ivoirian prima donna purring. The right manager? But even that may not be enough as Guus Hiddink found out in the CL semi-final against Barca as Drogba went Ovreboard. Drogba's form has been one of the keys to Chelsea's late season revival but his temperament is more tightly wound than one of Roger Federer's racquet strings. Drogba could have won them the game but his affinity for remaining parallel more than perpendicular robbed Chelsea of a much needed second goal. As it turned out it was Iniesta who cornered all the glory and Barca that goes to the CL final.

Robinho:

Greed lured the Brazilian to a club he probably did not know existed after Chelsea failed in its bid. The most expensive signing in club history was heralded as a player that City could build around and yet in the months past, Mark Hughes finally had to resort to benching him to get a pulse on the field. He has shown a bit more ambition in the last few games after a huge gap from scoring his last goal in December. In between he became more well known for his off field behaviour including charges of statutory rape. Robinho's commitment on the field remains a huge concern. His up and down performance have Hughes squarely in the management's firing squad.

Amr Zaki:

What can you say about the granite faced Egyptian? He had the Wigan fans salivating and the rest of the Premiership on tenterhooks every time he took the field. Wigan began its season as if a mule had kicked its behind and the mule was Zaki. Virtually unstoppable with treadmills for legs, Zaki was on a tear when he suddenly disappeared after national team duty in late March. Was it a hamstring injury, a lack of quality shisha cafes, or the miserable winter? It was all a mystery. Steve Bruce had had enough. He resurfaced again working his way back into Bruce's favour only for his season to be cut short with a knee injury.

Dimitar Berbatov:

The target of Man Utd's unrequited love finally made it to Old Trafford after what appears to be an Italian Job on Spurs. When not on his game, even a cardboard cutout shows more alacrity. The nadir came when Berbs did some fancy exaggerated footwork before lazily slugging it straight to Tim Howard in the FA Cup semi-final. The quintessential Berbs conundrum: He makes goal scoring effortless, if he can be bothered to show up at all. Man Utd fans work themselves into a frenzy in wonderment. That he has not been a target of sustained wrath is because, despite him, the club remains on target to win the Premiership.

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It turns out that this wasn't the first time that Andres Iniesta scored a last-gasp winning goal against Chelsea.In a Nike Cup match between the youth teams of Chelsea and Barcelona ten years or so ago a 16 year old Iniesta scored a late winner to see Barca knock Chelsea out of the tournament.It would have been a complete deja vu thing if a 16 year old Drogba and a 16 year old Ballack had also been around and had given the ref a hard time at the end of the game.But that unfortunately is asking for too much.The whole story here..( you have to know spanish)

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Setanta is now negotiating a lower contract for the TV rights to the SPL matches as a way of moving away from financial fragility.

The SPL will probably have no choice but to accede because the Irish broadcaster's payment for TV rights injects crucial cash into the clubs. Even with lowered rates the SPL stands to pick up about £100m.

There also appears to be no other sports broadcaster in the horizon to telecast the SPL package, with Sky Sports only showing interest in the Old Firm rivalry, the most followed of all league matches, with the highest attendances. If the SPL decides not to re-negotiate the contract, then the league maybe in a fight for its survival.

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An Arabic metaphor is misunderstood by South Korean football officials and sets the tone for the poisonous state of affairs that Asian football finds itself in.

The AFC is becoming increasingly fractious under the weight of its 46 constituent, the largest regional group with a varied cultural, economic, and political background adding to the complexity. On the eve of the elections to the FIFA executive committee, divisive factors are coming into play which will decide whether the AFC truly serves Asian football in the best possible way or needs restructuring to accommodate more manageable regional aspirations. There seems to be a gathering sense that the AFC could be partitioned into West Asia and East Asia entities.

The simmering feud between two antagonists, Mohammed Bin Hammam and Chung Moon-Joon is expected to take center stage and influence the outcome of the elections.

Mohammed Bin Hammam, present AFC president and FIFA executive member who is said to be close to Sepp Blatter and whose personal initiative in professionalizing clubs and Vision Asia programs have been widely acknowledged in improving Asian standards. Opposing him is FIFA vice president Chung Mong-Joon, who was seen as a prime mover in the successful organization of the 2002 World Cup because of his powerful connections to the Hyundai conglomerate who took over the entire operation.

Both men have alleged ambitions to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president and have engaged in a war of words to marginalize the other. Bin Hammam accuses Chung Joon-Moon of being a soccer ingenue whose sole purpose is to unseat him to gain the FIFA presidency whereas Joon-Moon issues broadsides which question the Qatari's mental competence and accuse him of financial mismanagement. Moon-Joon believes that under Bin Hammam the AFC is run as a dictatorship.

The South Korean is supporting the candidacy of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a Bahraini royal to succeed Bin Hammam in this election. It appears the Gulf royal families are coalescing to undercut support for Bin Hammam. Peter Vellappan, a former Bin Hammam protege and ex- AFC general secretary, whose relationship has soured with his former boss is the public voice of opposition.

However, Sheikh Salman also does not seem to be above board and is being investigated by FIFA's ethics committee for using development funds to buy votes.

Bin Hammam has vowed that he will also step aside as AFC president, if defeated.

In the end, the campaign to oust Bin Hammam as an out of touch overlord who treats the AFC as his personal fiefdom and goes against FIFA regulations may not be enough because the timeline of Asian success and his own personal ascension are quite tightly interlinked.

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The Frank Baumann winner was a comedy of errors as Michael Gravgaard's clearance hits a piece of debris and bounces out for a corner. Frank Rost is unable to deal with the header adequately and the ball deflects of his hand into the area of Piotr Trochowski and Baumann. Trochowski standing on the line gets to the ball but his kick only manages to tattoo the forehead of the charging Baumann and the ball bloops over for the goal. Werder go up, 3-1.

Olic puts Hamburg up, 1-0. Diego finishes his work with a cheeky little chip for the equalizer, 1-1. Frank Rost is wrong footed on a Pizarro blast for Werder to overtake Hamburg, 2-1. Olic scores a late header sparking hopes of a Hamburg comeback, 2-3.

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The Norwegians are not taking this too kindly.

Today, Drogba's apology was posted on the Chelsea website.

"I was very upset at what happened during the game, but having seen the pictures on TV I accept that I overreacted."

Good for him.

Ovrebo had to be smuggled out of England, switching hotels. On landing at Oslo, he avoided the media. Norwegian police have been patrolling his house. Hate groups have formed on the internet targeting the Norwegian referee and his family, including a group called Kill Tom Henning Ovrebo.

The creator of one group states: “We group dedicated to the hunt for (and brutal murdering of) the second-leg champions league ref of Chelsea vs Barcelona.”

Ovrebo was pursued into the players' tunnel by Drogba and Ballack with the Ivorian hitting the wall with his fist as abuse was screamed at the official.

No less than Graham Poll, surely, as controversial as they come, weighs on this issue.

Poll blamed the players for stoking the fans' anger. He added: “When you see players acting like that, fans are called fans because they are fanatics — they may feel it's time to take action themselves.”

The Norwegian Football Federation defended Ovrebo's game management.

They will now take over UEFA and review the game. Further action could be taken against Ovrebo but they expressed confidence that he would be cleared. However, if cleared, the NFF also stated that the decision to continue officiating would be left to him probably keeping in mind Andres Frisk affair after a similar situation four years ago, left Chelsea fans issuing death threats against the Swedish referee and his family, forcing his retirement.

Ovrebo is a trained psychologist, so maybe he can start by giving himself some much needed therapy.

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In the first leg of a 2005 second round match against Barca, the referee Andres Frisk sent off Drogba, which prompted Jose Mourinho's launching of yet another bizarre conspiracy theory that the referee had met up with then coach Frank Rijkaard before the match.

The Swedish referee was forced to retire after he and his family received death threats.

UEFA keeping that context in mind is going to be less charitable towards Chelsea's over the top reaction which might encourage fans to do the same with Ovrebo and his family.

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If Hiddink was looking for a graceful exit back to Russian national team duties, he is not going to get it now. His players were a disgrace.

Both Drogba and Michael Ballack could face substantial bans for their over the top behaviour. Drogba as this video shows went bats**t insane.

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The NFL has been revenue sharing for decades and because of it American football has become the most highly attended and anticipated major sport in the US.

Andy Burnham's most controversial proposal if implemented will have the top four Premiership clubs share their revenues with the league have nots. The idea is to break the stranglehold at the top.

The TV money right now is skewed in a 1:6:1 ratio which means that Man Utd received £49.3 million from the Premier League last season. Arsenal got £47 million; Chelsea £45.5 million and Liverpool £45.4 million. Reading, relegated from the Premier League received £30 million for its efforts.

The NFL model essentially guarantees a pot of $430million (£268million) to the bottom echelon teams from the top earning teams for the next four years. With the NFL draft and salary caps, low revenue teams like the Ravens and the Rams have won the Superbowl in recent years.

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The hit of the Tribeca Film Festival opens May 8th and follows Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal as two feuding brothers, working in a banana plantation who end up being recruited as big time soccer players in Mexico City. The film was written and produced by the same people responsible for the hit Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Here is an interview with Carlos Cuaron, the director who also wrote the script for Y Tu Mama Tambien and Gael Garcia Bernal.

If it is anything like Y Tu, then it will be worth a watch.

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Adebayor was virtually non-existent in the CL semi-finals. His lackadaisical performance was roundly panned (its not just Arsenal fans who were unimpressed, but future employers too, including Milan, might now be less interested). He seems to have realized that his commitment is in question.

"Arsenal put me where I am today. They made me one of the biggest strikers in the world. I have to pay them back.

“How am I going to pay them back? Make them win trophies. That’s what I am here for and I have to fight for that. Next season, 100 per cent, I am an Arsenal footballer.

Hold back on the biggest striker a bit. We needed you on one of our biggest nights and you disappeared.

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Drogba's eyes zone on the ground, his best friend all night

Drogba spent a lot of times flopping and at the end going ballistic at Tom Hennings Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee. He faces UEFA disciplinary action for that classy move as well as a invective filled tirade facing a camera.

Then there was Michael Ballack who pursued Ovrebo in an apoplectic fit after the referee turned down his appeal for handball. Replays showed that the call was correct, his shot struck Eto'o on back of the shoulder.

Dominic Fifield and Amy Lawrence, of course, highlight all the calls that seemed to go against Chelsea.

The only clearly wrong call was Anelka's flick that Pique blocked with his hand.

Yes, football is a cruel sport and cuts both ways. Eric Abidal can attest to that. Ovrebo gave the Frenchman marching orders for allegedly tripping up Anelka on his way to goal. Replays showed that it was very doubtful whether he had anything to do with it. Barca was a goal down and reduced to ten men.

Yes, it is a conspiracy to keep English clubs out of the finals. Cry me a river. This is just a lot of projection at the golden opportunities that Chelsea missed to put the game away. The chief culprit was Drogba who muffed two clear chances. Then cried the hardest.

Its a reminder that money can buy titles but not grace.

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Chelsea lost a heartbreaker in the 93rd minute due to a fabulous Iniesta strike. The aggregate was 1-1 but the away goal advantage applied in Barca's case and they will meet Man Utd in the final on May 27.

Michael Essien was involved in both goals.

The equalizer would not have been possible if Essien had not whiffed on Samuel Eto'o's heavy first touch, helping the ball along to Messi who collected and side passed to Iniesta who lined up and cracked the ball past all that heavy traffic and over Cech. It was Essien however, who came out of nowhere with an amazing volley that got Chelsea the goal which brought them so close, so tantalizingly close to their second consecutive CL final.

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The reaction is varied:

Arseblog:

"My solution is simple and it's something I've said all season long: Arsene needs to spend some money on experienced, quality players."

A Cultured Left Foot

"Let me ask you one question. When talking about experience, how many Arsenal teams who had that commodity in abundance, won the European Cup in its various guises?"

Goodplaya:

"Equally though, I didn’t see before last night why we should fear next season that much and I don’t see why the events of last night should change that opinion."

Goonerholic:

"The time to properly reflect is probably a few weeks away, but I will express a desire at this stage to see the level of experience topped up in the summer window."

Arsenal Insider:

"I think the priorities are a world class goalkeeper and centre half. Possibly another centre-forward if Emmanuel Adebayor goes – frankly I hope he does. His continued public dalliance with Milan shows his head isn’t in the club, despite his massive pay rise."

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I feel very badly for Gibbs. He looked so gutted. Almunia was a trifle too late in reacting to Ronaldo's free kick. The third goal was a great give and go between Ronaldo, Ji Sung Park, Rooney, and finally Ronaldo for the finish. Arsenal's goal came from a controversial decision give by the referee to award a PK after Darren Fletcher brought down Cesc. Fletcher misses the CL final with his red card.

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It was all over in 11 minutes.

It must have been bewildering and frightening to find the team down by a couple, before your bum had warmed the seat. With Man Utd playing like this a weather advisory was called for so that fans could have stayed home.Yes, Wenger could not have foreseen Gibbs losing his footing or Almunia being beaten by Ronaldo's 40 yard free kick.

We can console ourselves as if these mistakes were the reasons for the loss but the overwhelming sense was that of a team comprehensively and utterly outplayed. Man Utd could have won in any combination of ways even if they were not bestowed these gifts. Even Kafka could not have written this better. Ronaldo was Gregor Samsa, a terrifying figure whose unstoppable presence turned Arsenal's legs to jelly every time he touched the ball.

Think of all the blighted young players on the team after this match and Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final. Lukacz Fabianski and Kieran Gibbs, in particular. Wenger's cause is noble but it can also be very cruel. They will undoubtedly bounce back from that bloodied nose but there may be sleepless nights, dry mouth, restless legs, and nightmares. Yes, nightmares.

I do hope with all my heart that Wenger does not sugar coat this loss. To his credit he did not do so in the presser. He was quite pensive but justified his approach with the usual noises about experience being over valued and the quality of this young team. The precocity of talent is indisputable but we have had many iterations where it is has proven not enough to take us to the next level. Wenger in the end supplies the answer to that conundrum.

"Tonight we were caught by a team who has the art to kill and take advantage of mistakes."

This will continue to happen if we turn our nose at proven quality. Arshavin has already become invaluable. We need to stiffen our defense, especially at the center. Another quality central midfielder to complement Fabregas. A proven goal scorer of the highest caliber. Wenger of course needs the support of the board which I fully expect will happen but the attitude needs to change. We need to pay good money, even exorbitant money for those players. It takes a certain amount of courage to do that. Frankly, we have gotten so used to the basement bargains, that a brazen offer like that of Man U for Ribery might leave us in need of therapy but Wenger and the board need to start the process of bringing that quality to our team.

As for Man Utd, it never continues to amaze me, with all the titles in hand, the hunger and intensity never dissipates for yet one more. We might talk of moments of inattention which the rest of the league celebrates as a sign that this year might finally prove different but they come right back up, eyes once more firmly on the prize. When it comes to match preparation, Sir Alex remains unparalleled. They fully deserve their place in the finals.

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Arsenal v Manchester United
UEFA Champions League
Tuesday, May 05, 2009, 19:45

Go Gunners! An appeal to all the fans on one of the biggest games in club history. Get behind the team and make life harder for Man U.

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A familiar face returns to Marseille.

Deschamps was part of the Bernard Tapie revolution of the late 80s and early 90s that saw L'OM dominate Ligue football culminating in their CL triumph over AC Milan in 1993. The squads became a virtual who's who of the international game.

He takes over Eric Gerets who resigned a week ago. Deschamps can finish off Gerets work by winning L'OM their first Ligue title in 17 years. Quite a role reversal for someone derided by Cantona as a "water carrier" during his playing career.

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The ladies. So don't get your knickers in a twist.

They are the best in the land and have been for a long time. This time they dispatched Sunderland. This makes it 10 out of 10 in FA Cup finals.

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Edu played all 90 minutes in Rangers win against Hearts this weekend. The former Toronto FC man is relishing his starting role in the club and has turned in some solid performances.

He is now looking forward to the coming weekend's Old Firm rivalry in a huge match that will most likely seal the SPL title for one of the clubs. Only a point separate second placed Rangers from Celtics.

"Against Celtic next week, we're going to have to come out and deliver. We know what we're capable of and what kind of game it's going to be."

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The weekend misery for all the drop zone clubs continued with Hull losing to Villa after John Carew scored his 10th Premiership goal.

Phil Brown's club is in huge trouble after their brilliantly bright start to the season. They were in third place after 9 weeks and in sixth after 18 weeks before beginning their steep descent into relegation horror.

There were no surprises in the tale of two Premierships. The toffs went eight for eight.

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What is Man U using? AIG bailout money?

Ribery is definitely not worth £63m.

Great on and off the ball but he is not a goal scorer. You need a 20+ goalscorer to match Ronaldo's production. Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov generate 30-35. The rest of the squad chips in another 15-20. Any less will be fatal to their chances. Unless Kiki Macheda lives up to the George Best hype.

Its unreal to see these football valuations when the financial world has crumbled with pennies on the dollar offered for all those CDOs that caused this recession.

Ribery is probably about half that amount, if that. In the unlikely event bumbling Bayern does achieve a title by him kicking the winning goal on the final day, throw in another £5m.

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Arseblog has more on the war brewing between Usmanov's Red and White Holdings (the dark forces) and the Stan Kroenke- Danny Fiszman axis (the good guys).

City regulators have stepped in to investigate aspects of Kroenke's share buying at the behest of Usmanov. The AST has issued a statement disapproving of Usmanov's actions and urging the club shareholders to work together.

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Good read. I have always wondered why Newcastle resorts to inspirational figures in its past to pull its way through a crisis.

Shearer was courageous to take on the managerial position but he is a novice given the onerous task of staving of relegation. An outside figure with the experience of playing hard nosed football should have been made manager. Its not romantic or newsworthy, the Gary Megsons of the world roll up their sleeves and do their jobs to keep their clubs afloat.

The impression is of a club that yearns for its past glory but is unwilling to do anything against the grain to reclaim it.

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The upper echelon had its way with the lower echelon. There were no spoilers this weekend. It got bleaker for all the drop zone candidates.

Sunderland went down to Everton tamely, 0-2.

The relegation dogfight also saw Stoke, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, West Brom, Newcastle, and Portsmouth going down. Even Bolton who dreww against Wigan should not count themselves out of the woods.

Its left to Phil Brown and Hull to see if they can spring a surprise tomorrow against Villa.

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After the Chelsea's win over Fulham, the English media indulges in some false equivalence to try and take the wind out of Barca's sails.

Of course, the real test would have been Chelsea replicating Barca's score against Real. But since that is unlikely, we have the come from behind 3-1 win over Liverpool in the CL first leg quarterfinal for a similar comparison against top rated opposition. Even then the most optimistic reading is that Chelsea is half as good as Barca.

Dropping back 9 men every time Barca attacked is a pretty good indication that Hiddink is aware that it could have easily been Ricky Hatton vs Manny Pacquaio.

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9+ minutes video. Good stuff from mostly the youth squad. Carlos Vela getting his first goal in the Premiership. However, the impact of the older and more experienced Arshavin on the game is the key factor. He provided the team's steel. Wenger's winning it all with younger players is a beautiful fantasy. But you need a mix of older players to win titles.

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Tyrone Marshall half volley jab of a Ljungberg corner scored a late equalizer for Seattle against the Fire. The ex-Arsenal player now has a goal and one assist for the season.

Steve Zakuani who cut his teeth in the Arsenal youth system also has two goals and two assists.

The match also saw and end to Kasey Keller's record breaking shutout performance.

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With the Barca vs Real El Clasico, the world comes to an end.

But the real news is that the Galaxy finally won thus closing out employment opportunities for Juergen Klinsmann to take over Bruce Arena. Or not? The Galaxy won against the equally inept Red Bulls, 1-0.

Arena also won the "which manager would end his zero win record" sweepstakes.

Robert Warzycha continues Crew's search for their first win this season. The title holders are at the bottom of the Eastern standings.

Landon Donovan's PK was the difference. It was also veteran Chris Klein's 300th MLS appearance and he is 7th on the MLS list of all time appearances.

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Anish's video of Barca vs Real has been posted below. But we can't get enough of how Barca pulverized Real at the Bernabeu. Is the gap so yawning?

The end result is mind boggling considering Real's emphatic start. Higuain's header should have sowed some seeds of doubt in the Barca camp but it looked like this was part of a grand scheme to systematically deflate their rivals. We have to go back 36 years to find proof that Real was that fallible. In 1973 they lost to Barca, 0-5 at the Bernabeu with Johann Cruyff at his peak. The results are pouring in with fans overwhelmingly voting this as the worst defeat.

Sure, this is all emotional and one can sleep over it and rationalize. But soccer is emotional and the pain, real. (pun not really intended but very apt in this case).

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Mohammed Bin Hammam, AFC president is thumbing his nose at FIFA directives that reinstate the voting rights of five countries in the AFC.

He had stripped these countries of their privileges at the behest of the ad-hoc legal committee's recommendations. As per the committee four countries did not deserve representation because their participation in tournaments do not meet AFC standards.

The countries falling foul are Laos, Timor Leste, Mongolia and Afghanistan. The fifth country, Kuwait has an interim association not recognized by the AFC.

FIFA has recognized the tournaments and the Kuwaiti association as legitimate. They however, have questioned the AFC's legal committee's jurisdiction. As per FIFA "it has no competence to take any decision with legal effect” and secondly it’s up to the AFC Congress to decide about voting rights of member associations.

Mohammed Bin Hammam has been Asian football's caretaker overseeing its revival since 2002. However, his increasingly authoritarian streak is causing many to throw their support behind Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa, from Bahrain who is challenging Hammam for a seat in the FIFA executive committee.

It is under Hammam's watch that Australia was admitted to the Asia zone which has been acknowledged by them as a major factor in improving their game. He obviously has a stake in improving football in Asia but the standards applied to these five countries appear very arbitrary and in contravention of FIFA rules.

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Timid. The first 25 minutes were a self appeasing display of tackles being missed, players left unmarked, passing lanes left uncontested. The result, Man Utd had ample space to roam. Credit goes to them as they seized the moment. Tevez was an absolute beast. John O'Shea was left totally unchallenged to score his goal as the Arsenal defense reacted either ineffectively or remained rooted to the spot. It could have been much worse if it was not for some stellar keeping by Almunia. In contrast, Van Der Saar was rarely challenged.

Man Utd gets the win but what makes it more challenging for Arsenal is how they got the win. This is not good for an Arsenal team that struggled with self assurance throughout the match. Adebayor was horribly ineffective, Fabregas was wasted in the second striker role, Nasri was invisible, and Gibbs had his hands full with Ronaldo and Tevez.

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Its all happening in the Bundesliga. Minnows are mowing down mammoths.

Wolfsburg falls. As does Hamburg. Bayern's loss to Schalke sends Klinsi packing. Who will stand in the end?

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Der Kaiser, Hoeness, Rummenigge, Breitner, Breitnigge

Its all over for Klinsmann.

"After the results of recent weeks the management saw that even our minimum goals for the season were now in danger and decided this was the obvious course of action," Bayern said in a statement. "

Jupp Heynckes who last led Bayern 18 years ago, returns to the club to salvage the season.

Spare a thought for Klinsi, it was never going to be easy with Bayern's many headed Hydra.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An atrocious piece of refereeing by Webb and atrocious goalkeeping from Gomes keep Spurs from scoring their first win at Old Trafford since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Only a force of nature or divine intervention can keep Man U's anointment as Premiership champions once again.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Klinsi is in deep, deep trouble. With the loss to Schalke, Bayern slips to third and is now in danger of falling out of CL contention altogether. Wolfsburg meets lowly Energie Cottbus today and can move six points clear of Bayern. The top of the table is getting crowded. Hertha is in second, a point clear. With Stuttgart and Hamburg, tied with Bayern but behind in GD, a fascinating finish to this Bundesliga season is guaranteed.

Klinsi might not get to see the end. He is being crucified by the media, his support amongst fans is slipping and more ominously for him, Der Kaiser is showing signs of real impatience. This follows his tongue lashing of the team's CL performance.

"What I saw in the first half is, without doubt, the worst football in Bayern's history," said Beckenbauer. "It was a demonstration, almost a humiliation. They gave us a lesson."

It is easy to blame the coach. Just ask Felix Magath. Or Ottmar Hitzfeld. Outsiders who never wore the badge of Germany's colossus. The real culprits are actually its cabal of ex-players who run the club with an iron fist: Der Kaiser,Uli Hoeness, Karl Heinz Rummenigge and his alter ego Paul Breitner, the last two so intertwined, they are popularly called Breitnigge. The club floats along a constantly shifting confluence of these disparate personalities. Actually one would argue that the cabal are the three faces of Eve. Magath would agree. After giving Bayern, three successful seasons, he was axed. He has now come back to haunt them.

Following Klinsi's resignation from the national team, Der Kaiser seems to have become his surrogate agent advising alternative employment away from German shores, including coaching their bitter rivals.

Despite all the meddling, Klinsi decided to take on the Bayern job, a move which seems to have caught Beckenbauer and the media, especially Bild by surprise. It did not go down well, with Beckenbauer as club president openly questioning Klinsi's durability extending deeper underlying doubts he seems to have harboured from the 2006 World Cup. Even as he muted his criticism recently after the Schalke loss, Bild seems to have dialed up the boot out Klinsi volume, a reflection of their cozy relationship with Beckenbauer.

Beckenbauer with his less than equivocal support provides the underpinning of the club's deeply pessimistic and neurotic persona. Rummenigge, as the CEO with his gung ho pronouncements, is its polar opposite. The club reverts to his personality under stress which has helped it cope this season. He has provided Klinsmann with obdurate support since Bayern slipped to 11th with variations of the following statement:

""We are convinced Jurgen is the right coach for Bayern. He is a very modern and innovative coach, and we are convinced of the fact that we will celebrate plenty of successes with him."

By now Klinsi might be forgiven as to which voices in his head he should hear. This is nothing compared to Uli Hoeness, the Dick Cheneysque presence constantly seen by Klinsi's side. Hoeness is the man on the ground. He is easily one of the most emotionally labile and territorial personalities of the game and his interactions with Klinsi have been of the Jekyll and Hyde variety. During the run up to the 2006 World Cup, Hoeness accused him of psychological terror when he did not pick Oliver Kahn to start in the squad, which he said so unnerved the Bayern goalie that his domestic form suffered. Other rants included being overrated, an egoist, an actor, and someone who sold his soul. All this changed once Klinsi joined Bayern. Hoeness regularly resorted to vocal and thin skinned reactions against criticism by fans and even ex-Bayern midfielder Lotthar Matthaus as the club struggled through the season. This should not be misconstrued as support of Klinsi. Hoeness is a true believer who constantly scours the media for slights against the club.

He is being rewarded for his service by succeeding Beckenbauer as club president next season. Hoeness was responsible for papering over much of the club's objections to circumventing tradition with Klinsi coming on board. A lot is riding on Klinsi's vision with the emphasis on new training techniques and a holistic approach towards match preparation while imparting Bayern's historicity to the new players, and at the same time gradually phasing out the influence of former players. Without Klinsi, the success of the experiment appears bleak, and Hoeness tenure as the club president begins with uncertainty. The thought seems to have changed Hoeness once again, into morose tight lipped silence. This picture does not bode well for Klinsi.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember Warren St John's article in the NYT about soccer being played by immigrant children of families resettled from war torn countries by legal means into small towns like Pleasantville, USA or in this case, outposts like Clarkston, GA.

Soccer becomes an extended metaphor of a foreignness creeping into American society, as delineated by Clarkston, one which usurps an established way of life, creating divisions between people that embrace diversity as a way of moving ahead and others who look upon it, if left unchecked, as the last throes of a civilized society, already stretched to its limits. As a Malthusian device, its at the heart of the immigration debate playing out in the country right now.

Those who want the Fugees to succeed are pro-immigration reform and want amnesty for the undocumented, as long as they remain above the law, paid their dues, and have contributed to the economic well being of the country, as have previous generations. Those who do not, see the influx of immigrants, documented or otherwise as a death rattle in a country beset by tough economic times.

Well, Warren St John's article is now a full fledged book and you can now read it or wait for the movie which should be out end of the year. St John also wrote the highly regarded book Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, on the Crimson Tide, the Univ of Alabama football team.

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Spurs travel to Old Trafford to take on Man U. They have been in good form against the top four remaining unbeaten, which is what the Reds are hoping will happen by match end. The Reds face Hull, and unless their defense decides to make this interesting, this should be three easy points.

Rafael starts at right back in place of the injured Gary Neville, an advantage that Assou-Ekotto and Luka Modric should try and exploit. Darren Bent has had a good streak. Pavlyuchenko is injured but Defoe should be ready.

Redknapp could make this more interesting by introducing Frazier Campbell, the Man Utd striker on loan, who could use his talent to embarrass his old club.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lest we believe Ellen Cardoso will pay for Adriano's caipirinhas.

He does want to get back to playing soccer and earning a paycheck. Indications are that he will join Flamengo, his former club in August in time for the Brazilian Championship.

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Paul Scholes plays for a personal milestone as Man U takes on Portsmouth. Scholes ranks fourth in all time appearances for his club. In the first five, Giggs and Neville, who are still playing, a testimony to the trio's staying power.

Congratulations to Scholes who has been in the thick of things of a team that is synonymous for millions with the Premiership. An impressive array of past and present players pay tribute to Man U's midfield maestro.

Today Man U also increased the ticket prices by £1 per game with effect next season. The only club to raise prices contrary to the deflationary spiral swirling in Europe. The most expensive ticket will now cost £49 per match with the cheapest £27.

10 years ago, ticket prices were £20 for the most expensive seats and £14 for the cheapest.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Freddie Ljungberg's rocking first start resulted in a goal that continued the Seattle Sounders red hot streak. They have cooled off with two consecutive losses against the Wizards and Chivas . They have no goals and have conceded three.

Ljungberg and Colombian striker Fredy Montero are not linking up as well as Sigi Schmid would like and it is an issue that he needs to address on the field. This is what he says:

"(Freddie) Ljungberg and (Fredy) Montero have played together now a total of maybe 180 minutes. Once they got like 700 minutes together, I think they'll understand each other a lot better. So an awful lot of that depends on guys getting to know each other better ."

Seattle meets San Jose this weekend, a club that is leaking goals. Ljungberg and Seattle should be able to get back on track.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The history of soccer balls starting from 1963 when Adidas first thought it would be a good idea to make them and came up with something that looked like this... It was the first ball used in the World Cup that had 32 black and white panels.It was called "The TELSTAR " and was more visible on black and white televisions - (possibly because more people had black and white TV's than colour TV's in those days).More such fascinating facts and intriguing trivia here...

Posted by Anish at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Anders Limpar was a handful for the Red Devils. His blistering run set up Ridout's goal. In the second half Everton had to turn back Giggs and Scholes.

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The first time in 14 years. Today they beat Man U on penalties.

Berbatov makes a Robinho like hash and Tim Howard saves Rio Ferdinand's effort.

Everton won the 1995 FA Cup beating Man Utd in the final. Paul Rideout scored the winning goal. Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, and Paul Scholes were part of the losing team.

Man Utd were also beaten to the Premiership title by Blackburn. They also crashed out of the CL in the group stage missing out to Barca on goal difference. It was a rare bad year for the Red Devils.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some welcome closure for the families affected by the tragedy.

The Home Office in consultation with the South Yorkshire constabulary will release documents waiving aside a 30 year rule.

Answers have been sought regarding police evacuation plans and the reported denial of emergency medical attention. Doubts have also been expressed at the blanket inquest that found all 96 victims dead, or brain dead by 3:15 PM.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wenger's criticism of the pitch might have merit. Yes, the Wembley stadium operators could care less as long as it holds the weight of 15,000 standing fans attending a concert by some aging rockers but it should not deflect from his puzzling selection choices.

The pitch was the same for both clubs. Chelsea had figured out that they would win in the air.

No game on the left without Arshavin and Nasri. Arshavin's omission was most glaring. The most expensive player in club history sitting on the bench for most of the match.

Fabregas was left without Song, his deputy. Song is having his best season, he's been physical and his defensive help would have been much appreciated in this game. Wenger mentioned in his press conference that Song needed a break. Nasri had not fully recovered from the flu. Diaby was brought in to offset Chelsea's physicality.

Lukasz Fabianski's mistake proved costly. He covered Silvestre's lack of pace against Rossi in the Villareal match by effectively timing his runs but he picked the wrong player this time. Our defensive woes really showed up. I think Fabianski is a good goalie and is very ambitious but Almunia can feel safe after this display.

Wenger may have his explanations but his match selection was debatable. It might reflect his opinion of the FA Cup in the grand scheme of things when weighing out priorities. But the FA Cup was our best chance and the most egalitarian of silverware.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This season's Premiership was lost long ago and today our chances of winning the FA Cup ended. We now have the CL left and our road goes through Man U. Are our boys hungry enough?

Let me say this. I have no idea what Wenger was thinking when he signed on Silvestre. It is a mystery, just like the cure for the common cold. But Silvestre is a convenient excuse for another edition of the soft underbelly of the Gunners which gets exposed repeatedly in games that count.

It is a matter of seizing a wisp of a chance like Drogba did and pounding on for what it is worth because somewhere down the line, a ruthless striker like he, figures out there is a great chance of a breakdown occurring with an out of depth defender and a hyperventilating goalie. Which is what happened.

Arsenal is not feared even as it wins matches because of moments like these.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

When Andrei Arshavin takes the field against Chelsea, chances are that he will make lots of eye contact with Guus Hiddink, his national coach. After all it was under the Dutchman that Arshavin, late at 28 years and with hitherto unknown powers, became the hit of Euro 2008.

Clubs came clamouring and in the winter he made his move from Zenit St Petersburg to the Emirates. He has been a large part of Arsenal's revival. But this could have been an entirely different story if it was not for a couple of Dutch coaches who sought to change his
lackadaisical approach to the game, even as they saw brilliance on the field.

First, Dick Advocaat at Zenit St Petersburg and then Hiddink as the Russian team manager took it on themselves to teach him to play 90 minutes. As the Dutch in Euro 2008 found out to their detriment coming unglued against Arshavin's omnipresence on the field.

Arsenal's splurge on Arshavin would have never happened if these two managers had not imbued his talent with discipline. Hiddink will be grateful if the older version of Arshavin shows up tomorrow.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Making a mountain out of a molehill is par for Sir Alex.

Then channeling Allardyce to air his grudges is even better. He knows Big Sam and Rafa have a history. Its a bit like this. Rafa's description of Everton being a 'small club' is to challenge them to win against Man U. The media then picks up on the meme of a stumbling club and the players internalize it. SAF is a bit worried about his club's psyche at this delicate juncture.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A tragedy that killed 96 LFC fans. In the aftermath, it bought an end to perimeter fencing, over crowded terraces, reformed policing practices, and improved medical services. The changes have bought safety and comfort to the English football fan even as other European nations struggle with regular breakdowns.

Strangely enough even after 20 years many details of that day remain unknown because the British government's inquiry never went public with its findings increasing the anguish of those who lost loved ones in that tragedy and wanted answers. Despite many appeals and campaigns, the government's 30 year moratorium on declassification means that another decade will pass before the truth is revealed. That maybe about to change as calls for transparency have gotten louder within the government.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Even George Steinbrenner in his heydays could never match Ramon Calderon in his contemptuous disregard of managers. Exhibit A is Fabio Capello who actually won them the Liga in 2007 after Fiorentina Perez's expensive set of superstars went three seasons without a title. The Italian with his unimaginative style but effective style of soccer was fired even as Juande Ramos, the present coach emulates his approach.

Bernd Schuster became Capello's replacement largely because of his heroics in getting Getafe, a perpetually under rated team to the 2007- 2008 UEFA Cup after humiliating Barcelona, 4-0 in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey semi-final. He joined Calderon's Real paying out of pocket to break his contract. Under him Real got back on track playing attractive and attacking soccer after Capello's defensive dourness and they won the 2007 Liga. This set up the off season conflagration with Man Utd over Cristiano Ronaldo. The 2008 season began with Robinho, a prime mover in the Liga success making his dramatic move to the Premiership.

In the end, for all his Kaa like efforts, Calderon was unable to beguile Ronaldo to Real. The one track mission proved dear as the club did not land any other notable players like Villa, Fabregas, or Cazorla. Schuster in essence was shafted. A bad loss to Valencia at the Bernabeu had the media chattering. Then came his fifth column moment when he went public stating in essence Real would never beat Barcelona in the Clasico. That was the end. He was terminated last December. He left the club quietly until now.

He calls Ramon Calderon "Gomina" which is hair gel in Spanish. I think he means a slick shyster. He defends his so called traitorous moment by saying that he wanted to motivate his players against Barcelona. He was never given the players he was promised because of Calderon's all consuming pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is easy to see why Schuster became a favourite of Maradona. They are larger than life personalities who never hold their tongue when going up against authority. Real might be running a steadier ship under Juande Ramos last seen struggling with self esteem issues under Daniel Levy at Tottenham but with Barca running away with the Liga title and Real crashing out of the CL, there is talk that his days are numbered. Now we have Senna imploring Wenger not to join Real.

Ramon Calderon should be exiled in the Island of Elba.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Will the Gunners injury woes on defense expose them or will Villareal's similar problems on attack prove to be their downfall.

Villareal's injury problems are probably more significant in their overall impact to their game as compared to the Gunners.

Both Senna and Cazorla are out and especially without Cazorla's energetic forays wide on the left, the Villareal attack became patchy and predictable against Arsenal in the first leg. They have been on a bit of a swoon without the services of Cani and Mati Fernandez through injuries in their weekend loss to Malaga. The midfield duo are expected to start against Arsenal.

Arsenal are without Almunia, Gallas, and Clichy. Djourou starting for Gallas went down in the Wigan match with a knee injury. He was replaced with Silvestre. Almunia's place has been taken over by Fabianski.

Therein lies some potential for the Villareal attack.

The matchup that one worries most about is Silvestre against Rossi. It was Rossi's clash with Gallas that caused the ankle ligament injury and ended his season. Before that Gallas was having all kinds of problems keeping the fleet footed Rossi at bay before the Italian striker ran out of steam. Silvestre will find it difficult to match Rossi's speed and outside help will be needed to cut off the strikers supply from Cani and Ibazaga. We can hope that the damage done will be limited.

Fabianski lapses in judgement against Wigan did not prove costly as the Gunners scored enough goals and in the Villareal match he was inconsistent with his clearances, although never really seriously troubled.

Manuel Pellegrini will look to his players to exploit these potential weaknesses.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Senna's interview was supposedly all about how the Arsenal young guns would dominate Europe one day. Cuddly enough but not original at all.

However, the overwhelming feeling is that Senna, the first leg goalscorer is playing a bit of a headgame with Arsenal's goalscorer who was widely praised for his spectacular equalizer. Senna was not as impressed.

"I have scored more beautiful goals than that one," the 32-year-old said. "At the end of last season I scored one from near the halfway line against Real Betis."

"Adebayor didn't impress me. At my age, and with everything I have seen in football, it is very difficult to find a player who impresses me."

Senna won't be there because of a hamstring injury but he is making sure that his presence is felt in other ways.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Michael Essien is an athletic beast. He got his head down in time for a goal line save in the 90th minute as Cech was beaten all ends up. The Blues would have gone to the semi-finals on goal aggregate even in defeat. It was a pulsating encounter with end to end action.

But Liverpool was riding on emotion with the observance of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy this week. The odds were stacked against them. Away from home, a two goal deficit to surmount, without captain and talisman Steve Gerrard, and Chelsea's stingy defense. But two goals early in the first half had their faithful fans daring to dream. Could they pull off a win with a large enough goal margin to keep their CL hopes alive? Fabio Aurelio's free kick minus power but enough angle caught Cech by surprise. Soon after Alonso was pulled down by Ivanovic in the penalty area and the resultant PK was converted. The stands became a sea of red with fans waving flags and jerseys.

Hiddink's recent faith in Drogba has paid dividends with the physical centerforward providing a lot of the impetus in Chelsea's charge late into the season. He was right there to change the complexion of the game in the second half. Drogba's touch off an Anelka sideline cross changed the trajectory enough causing Reina to deflect the ball into his own goal. A period followed when Liverpool seemed to be penalized for every tackle with Drogba squarely in the middle. His dramatics paid off as Alex continued a Chelsea trend of defenders scoring from set pieces, blasting home a rocket of a free kick that evaded Reina. It was Drogba again who had a hand the third goal, his sidefooted pass finding an onrushing Lampard who slotted the ball past Reina. Fans who had been subdued in the first half, came alive waving flags and chanting Chelsea Chelsea. Hiddink suddenly animated, punched his fist into the air. The Blues were up 3-2 and were coasting to the semi-finals.

Liverpool did not give up and it was Benayoun's nifty feet and pass which isolated Lucas with enough time to snap of a shot which was fortuitously deflected into goal by Essien. A minute later Reira who had come on as a sub to Mascherano ran wide on the left and centered a cross which found Kuyt muscling in for the header. The pendulum had swung all the way back. This was a slugfest going all 10 rounds and the ebb and flow seemed to have drained the fans. Stamford Bridge eerily fell quiet. It was left to Lampard to score off an Anelka pass and secure the draw.

Two teams came to play. Chelsea moves on. Liverpool goes back to what will be an emotional day tomorrow. If there is to be a source of comfort to the team, it is in this, they did not let down the 96 fallen. They would have been proud of their team.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The day that changed forever how football was played in England.

On 15 April 1989, 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives and 788 were injured. Amongst them was Steven Gerrard's 10 year old cousin, whose untimely death proved to be the inspiration for his success.

Gerrard recalls that day and says he will never forget:

"I was completely and utterly shocked whilst wondering if there was anyone we knew really close at the game. And then going to bed that night, lying there praying and keeping your fingers crossed that it didn't get any worse to what we had already heard. Unfortunately for myself and my family we got the dreaded knock the next morning to say a member of our family had been tragically killed."

Living in India at that time, I heard about the tragedy from newspapers and on radio. The news that 96 fans had lost their lives crushed against fences seemed so reminiscent of the bus falls into the ravine type of tragedy that we had grown accustomed to at home, it was inconceivable that it had taken place in the UK.

Even the Indian public that was agog in those days over Ayotallah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing Satanic Verses stopped in disbelief as the body count went up and up.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have no idea how Mark Hughes does this.

Manage a club with so many players who are no shows. The club with the most bloated transfer payroll with very little to show for it. His star player is the Lindsey Lohan of the soccer world with his fair share of entries in the police blotter. Even his countrymen have washed their hands of Robinho. This fate might have befallen Jo, another double digit million pound acquisition but he found himself Everton where he and Louis Saha have rejuvenated their careers.

Hughes Blackburn teams were defensive moats, now City can't throw down the drawbridge soon enough. Micah Richards has fallen way below in Capello's depth chart after Steve McLaren could not do without him. Piotr Trochowski torched him in the Hamburg match.

More kudos to Steven Ireland, their best player whose legacy could have been defined in an entirely different way but who chose to prove his worth on the field. He rightfully questioned the courage of his team mates.

Previously I had argued that Hughes was the perfect manager for a scrappy, chip on the shoulder type of a club like Blackburn, where he served as manager. The club regularly bench pressed far above its capability with no name players. A club very much like the one he faced last night.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Maurice Edu took full advantage of his start against St Mirren to score the winning goal in a 2-1 win. Marcus DaBeasley also started the match but left the match after 15 minutes with an injury to the ribs.

Walter Smith is being a bit coy about Edu's chances of replacing Barry Feguson who is out of the Rangers line up after the SPL ban. However, Rangers are running out of midfield options with Lee McCulloch also out with an ankle injury. Edu's noteworthy performance should open up the door for more starting minutes.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Its presently about £650m. But Man U should pass the stress test.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A spate of injuries dog Arsenal yet again. The Villareal draw proved Pyrrhic.

William Gallas season ended with a medial collateral ligament injury when he collided with Rossi. In his place, Wenger will start Djourou.

Rossi was also involved in a collision with Almunia which resulted in the Spaniard's suffering a bruised ankle bone. Gael Clichy strained his back. Both are doubtful for the match against Wigan. Fabianski will get a start but Clichy's left back position is harder to fill. Wenger could start Kieran Gibbs who has already come on as a sub for Clichy.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Der Kaiser has taken an exceedingly dim view of Bayern's shellacking at the hands of Barca.

"This is a catastrophe," Beckenbauer told Premiere Television after the 4-0 defeat against Barcelona. "This is schoolboy stuff. The first half was the worst I have ever seen Bayern play."

Ouch.

Bayern now wait at home for Barca to nail the coffin shut. More problematic is their insipid form in the Bundesliga. They lag behind VFL Wolfsburg, SV Hamburger and Hertha Berlin in the race for the title with Stuttgart and Hoffenheim breathing hard down their neck. They face Eintracht Frankfurt this Saturday, a club which seems to showing signs of revival.

If Klinsi slips up against Eintracht, he could be out of a job. Sunil Gulati may still be very, very interested.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It never works when a national coach is so openly contemptuous of the domestic league. Even as the national team does well.

Pim Verbeek's success has the FFA and the media swooning but it has left the A-League owners fuming. They point to his Eurocentric attitude in encouraging talented young players to leave the A League and at the same time discouraging Socceroos from returning home from Europe.

The yawning talent gap was cited as a factor in the 5-0 thrashing of Central Coast by Kawasaki Frontale in an Asian Champions League match. Central Coast signing of Scott Chipperfield fell through in the 11th hour as he decided to extend his FC Basel contract. Chipperfield was apparently convinced by Verbeek that remaining in Europe would be better for him.

There are two points to this story. First, there were already a number of overseas players like Mark Viduka, Brett Emerton, and Lucas Neill from sports programs established by Australian Institute of Sports (AIS). More importantly, the success of the 2006 Socceroos shone a spotlight on these players who competed in the European leagues. The A-League established in 2005 did not incubate this talent. Thus, national success has very little to do with the establishment of the A League. Pragmatic coaches like Guus Hiddink and now Pim Verbeek know that. They are brought in for the short measure and their job is to ensure the 2006 success. The best way to replicate this is to use the talent already present and eschew a national development scheme which might bear fruit many years later, if at all. Graham Arnold might have entertained the crazy notion of using Oz based players but his teams performance led to a national hangover.

Unfortunately what happens to A-League club players is that national selection then seems contingent on European exposure. Hence the desire to leave and a reluctance to come back. A message Pim Verbeek seems to have articulated quite vocally and is now taking heat from the A League managers.

This is the reverse of the J League established in 1992. Their first international star was Hidetoshi Nakata who started in that league. Shunsuke Nakamura, the Celtic standout played for five years for the Yokohma Marinos. It took Japan ten years but the 2002 World Cup squad that tasted quarterfinal success was the outcome of indigenous talent exclusively nurtured by the J-League. It continues to this day. The fortunes of the national team is inextricably linked with J-League success.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dean Ashton has been out for ever. The West Ham striker started in blazing fashion and then suffered a crippling ankle injury which will keep him out for the rest of the 2008-09 season. A huge blow for goal strapped West Ham. It maybe blasphemy to say this but a few more strikes and the club could be challenging Arsenal just like Villa and Everton for the last CL spot.

Ashton has Os Trigonum Syndrome.

The Os Trigonum is a small extra bone formation behind the ankle bone (talus). It is the result of a failure to fuse with the talus although it remains attached through fibrous tissue. Approximately 7% of the population is born with this condition, making it rare. Usually the extra bone remains asymptomatic but in active athletes and ballet dancers where the ankle is subject to repeated stress, especially with downward pointing of the toes (plantarflexion) the Os Trigonum can be crunched between the talus and the heel bone (calcaneus) and pulled loose. This stretches or tears the fibrous tissue connecting the Os Trigonum and the talus resulting in pain especially on downward pointing or pushing off the toes ground when walking. There is also tenderness and swelling behind the ankle. Careful history taking and radiological tests can establish this condition and rule out other similar ankle and foot conditions like an Achilles Tendon injury, ankle sprain, or ankle fracture.

Conservative measures include protracted periods of rest, immobilization with a foot brace, ice packs, and pain medication like NSAIDs or cortisone injections to reduce inflammation. If the condition proves intractable, surgical procedures involve removing the Os Trigonum.

Whatever measures Ashton takes, it remains a condition that keeps players away for protracted periods, and in West Ham's case, a major factor to cement an UEFA spot.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Liverpool is Steven Gerrard and Steven Gerrard is Liverpool.

Wait a minute, they have Torres, Alonso, a bloke called Riera who is having a pretty good season, and Pepe Reina whose ICBMs have led to Kim Jong- il offering him North Korean citizenship. They are multifaceted and multitudinous after bashing Man U and Villa as per pundits.

Its not working as long as Stevie G takes the day off. Chelsea proved it as they reduced Liverpool's heartbeat to a guest appearance. He was an onlooker when Branislav Ivanovic, the Serbian defender rose unchallenged to score the decisive second goal. The rest of the time was spent in disastrous Hindenburg like endeavours to airlift the ball to Torres or Kuyt.

Chelsea ran out easy 3-1 winners at Anfield. I have no idea what Rafa plans at Stamford Bridge but at this point Chelsea coasting to a semi-final berth is a done deal.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I fear for soccer. I fear for soccer as long as Barca plays like it played today. To cast aside a proud Bayern, 4 times CL winner, like an irritating gnat with a contemptuous flick of the wrist. At moments of the match, I had the irrational thought that Pep Guardiola would like Ashoka, the great Indian emperor after the Kalinga war, survey the carnage and have an epiphany: "Lord, what have I done?"

But Guardiola looked like he wanted Howard Webb's head on a platter after the referee turned down Messi's pleas for a penalty when brought down by Oddo. All thoughts of a second life of ceasefires and diplomacy evaporated. By the time the first half finished, Barca were up four goals. 4, 6, or 20. It would have made no difference. The scoreboard could have been a random number generator and it still would have made perfect sense. Bayern were outclassed.

It must have been after Eto'o's goal that Bayern fell in love with its captors as it understood Barca's mission. The entire second half was entirely played in a small patch of land before Butt. And Messi, Eto'o, Henry, Iniesta, and Xavi proved to be exemplary advocates of that mission. We call it the Stockholm Syndrome. Luca Toni could have been the loneliest human being on the earth. Franck Ribery, the most futile. They both could have exited the stadium, gone to a pub, commiserated over a keg of lager, while watching the game on Setanta and would not have been missed an iota.

If Cristiano Ronaldo wanted any affirmation of why he wanted to join Real, this would be the match he would point to. To go mano a mano with Messi. To stop Barca in their tracks, is now the dream of every player worth their salt.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Not a goal old and we already have mind boggling comparisons.

Right, and it was said that Beckham was going to become the saviour of US soccer.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Arsenal looked at sea in the first half and it was a wave of yellow jerseys that swamped their half with crisp, aggressive, and adventurous matchplay. Ibazaga and Cani ran up the possession stats as Rossi and Llorente softened up the Arsenal defense. The backpedaling Gunners were unprepared for Senna's thunderous shot which reverse swung its way into goal. Senna is a compact player sparing with his touches but all have a purpose. He showed it through the match with his laser like shots at goal and his organizational capacity in midfield. He reminds one of a more powerful Gilberto.

Almunia already shaken up with a knock looked ashen after that. He departed and Lukacz Fabianski came on for the most important match in his Arsenal career and was tested right away. He proved decisive in his collection of corners and free kicks. Almunia was not the only casualty with Gallas limping off too and Djourou replacing him.

Wenger must have given the youngsters a talking to because they looked a lot sharper in the second half. Their passing picked up in confidence and they looked more incisive. Villareal has a penchant for giving up late goals and it was a beautiful little play in the 66th minute that gave Arsenal the equalizer. Fabregas looking up saw Adebayor in between two out of position defenders and lofted a perfectly placed pass that the Togolese striker chested down and effortlessly volleyed into the back of the net. It was majestic.

A good spell for the Gunners ensued as Villareal had trouble holding onto the ball. Nasri wasted a few opportunities to go ahead and Walcott's sizzler just went over the crossbar. Otherwise it looked like the Gunners were playing for a draw and their waning urgency almost let the Submariners back in the last 10 minutes.

There was a lot of energy in Sagna and Clichy's forays down the flanks but I wish they held onto the ball a bit longer for more bodies to arrive into the box before crossing. As it is many sailed harmlessly into no man's land. Clichy also needs to put more air into his crosses as many of them caromed off Villareal defenders.

A special moment when Robert Pires came on late in the second half and El Madrigal erupted in thunderous applause from fans of both clubs. He showed flashes of familiar creativity on the ball but otherwise had a quiet game.

The draw sets up Arsenal perfectly for the second leg to be played at home.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Giuseppe Rossi is the marksman that Arsenal will have to keep an eye on. He has scored a dozen times in the Liga and three in the CL. Argentinian Ariel Ibazaga is Villareal's playmaker along with Cani, who gets back to squad duty after injury.

However, Joseba Llorente is the X factor. He has proved to be a super sub providing four goals including a hat trick against Danish side, Aalborg. His link up with Ibazaga scored the winner against Panathinaikos marching them to the CL quarterfinals.

Marcos Senna's defensive organization was a major factor in Spain's Euro win and he has proved that Villareal are tough to beat at El Madrigal. In the Liga, they have won nine games and lost just two.

There is a silver lining for Arsenal.

Villareal have conceded a number of late goals which have resulted in victory snatched away from them. Defensive lapses cost them wins against Osasuna, Atletico Madrid, and Malaga.

Arsenal should take note of that and keep applying attacking pressure even if they do go a goal down. If Arsenal can come up with a draw then they are in good position in the return leg because Villareal are not a good road team and have the worst record amongst the top four Liga teams with just four wins and 23 goals conceded.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The last time Robert Pires played for the Gunners was in the 2006 CL semi-final against Villareal.

He was substituted by Wenger following Lehmann's red card. It was a defining moment in his career. Now he faces fans that remember him fondly from those wonderful seasons of sublime football that he gave to the club that he still loves.

Pires says that if he scores a goal, he will not celebrate in deference to the club and its fans, who have meant so much to him.

A bit of a jaunt down memory lane. It reminds us of Pires amazing finishing abilities, of an Arsenal that provided an exclamation point to all that intricate play.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RVP is out and so is Eduardo and Abou Diaby.

A number of attacking players have match fitness concerns.

Walcott will play but his knee is still tender and a cause for concern. There is worry that the speedster's knee could be susceptible to some of those crunching tackles. Fabregas got back after 4 months from knee ligament injuries. Adebayor played his first game after two months. Samir Nasri just shrugged off the flu.

Arshavin is ineligible because he played in the group stage with Zenit St. Petersburg.

I think Wenger will go for a 4-5-1 formation with Adebayor, the lone striker and Nasri in the left winger position. Denilson, Fabregas, Song, and Walcott, will round out the midfield. Arsenal will protect the back through Clichy, Toure, Gallas, and Sagna. The defense has stepped up its performance recently and has been quite watertight.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Santi Cazorla, Villareal's versatile presence in the midfield will miss the Arsenal match with an ankle fracture sustained in the Liga encounter with CD Almeria. In fact, the Spanish international will be out for four months or more.

In better news for the club, Marcos Senna and Cani are back, in time to help their squad in this crucial encounter.

Robert Pires talks about how he looks forward to playing his former club. He was voted as Arsenal's sixth greatest player.

Arsenal will also see Pascal Cygan, who did yeoman duty as a makeshift left back following injuries to Ashley Young and Gael Clichy in the 2005-2006 season. He joined Pires in a transfer to Villareal in the summer of 2006.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Barry Ferguson, MBE will not play as a Ranger and will not represent Scotland anymore.

For drinking and flashing V signs no less. What is a footballer to do? Drink ginseng tea and curl up with a book?

Joey Barton can stub out a lit cigar in a youth player's eye and still play for Man City and get an England call up. He can assault a team mate on the training ground and then flee the country. This strangely increases his transfer worth when moving to Newcastle.

Sometimes it makes no sense.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dick's Sporting Good Park, home to the Colorado Rapids can seat about 19,000 fans. Their matches are averaging a shade below 12,000.

Max Bretos just brought up an important point.

Two years ago, Rapids owner Stan Kroenke used his share holding position to build an alliance with Arsenal which would be used to exchange commercial and marketing information. The agreement also includes developing an Arsenal Center of Excellence and an Arsenal Cup for US based youth soccer clubs.

So strong was the brand attachment that the Rapids had considered changing their names to Colorado Arsenal or Arsenal Colorado and actually registered these websites to prevent cybersquatting. A change to Arsenal's famous red and white colours was even considered. Just like Beveren, Arsenal's Belgian based feeder club, it was natural to assume that these development could mean that the Rapids could be groomed to provide Arsenal talent. At the other end move Arsenal reserve players to the Rapids on loan. All these exciting developments should have translated into more fans coming to watch Rapids matches.

But it is not happening. In fact, fan attendance has been falling. Instead, Kroenke seems to be devoting more time to acquiring Arsenal and not to his own team and its mediocre record and attendance.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AIG has an image problem with executive bonuses that resemble the GDP of a small country (a very small country)?

You should see what Sven Goran Eriksson is getting paid for his services. Not bad for 11 months of pretty awful results.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It finally happened and Ramon Calderon has won the battle against Alex Ferguson if reports are true. Ronaldo could be off to Real in the summer bringing his career to Old Trafford to an end. The price £75m, a world record.

Ronaldo's cousin, Luis Felipe, added: "He's won everything with United and he needs new challenges with a new team."

I wonder if Man Utd will even bother to match that. Something tells me that they will not be so keen to distract the whole team again with last summer's shenanigans.

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Brian Clough's ill fated 44 days at Leeds United. The legend even had Muhammad Ali talking on TV about him. But true to Clough's nature, he was going to fight even that passing reference. Tearing down institutions. Shaking up the cozy old boys club that ruled football. Leeds United was just that. Its ironic to see that 20 years later, it did happen as United went bankrupt. That was Clough, his genius and his untimely end through alcoholism. The movie opened on the 27th of March. I hope I get to see it in the US.

A fantastic cast and a screenplay written by the writer of Frost/ Nixon.

Simon Kuper's review >>

Posted by Shourin Roy at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)