The Best…..

Some may focus on a sub-par performance from Manchester United but nonetheless Sunderland played some very good soccer on Saturday at Old Trafford. They moved the ball nicely with an impressive midfield of Malbranque (my man-of the-match), Cana, Cattermole and Reid doing the spade work. With Bent and Jones meshing nicely up front this Sunderland should have no trouble finishing in the top half of the Premier League this season.

Didier Drogba was the difference once again for Chelsea. His delivery from the left to Nicolas Anelka for the opener against Liverpool was exquisite. Two weeks he did the same from the right side to set up Ashley Cole.

Palermo inflicted a first Serie A loss on Juventus by a score of 2-0 and it could have been a lot worse. The Sicilian club entered the game with only one win in six games but they controlled the match for long periods.

The highlight was the second goal. It was a product of a beautifully timed run by Simplicio when he got on the end of a free kick delivered by Fabricio Miccoli. It was only the third time that Palermo has scored more than one goal in a Serie A game against Juventus at home. The others time were 1949 and last season.

The Sevilla - Real Madrid was a fantastic spectacle. Both teams were committed to attack and there were some great individual performances. Casillas had two of the best saves you are ever likely to see. 

The second was a point blank effort from Perotti after he had been played in at the back post. Immediately Real went up the field and equalized. However, Sevilla was not to be denied and the winner came from a right wing cross which was not unexpected given that Adriano and Navas had led the left side of the Real defence a merry dance all game.

I doubt many Spurs supporters would recognize the Didier Zokora who is playing for Sevilla. Zokora spent most of his time at White Hart Lane showing all the composure of a headless chicken. At Sevilla his positional play is much improved as his composure on the ball.

Honorable mentions...

A well worked goal by Bolton gave them a 2-1 lead against Tottenham Hotspur. Kevin Davies scored the goal but the lead up work was excellent. Tamir Cohen gives Bolton a penalty box threat from midfield, much like Stelios did some seasons back.  

Six goals from Arsenal will get the headlines but Paul Robinson deserves credit for keeping the score down to half a dozen. Robinson has now conceded 47 goals in 15 matches against Arsenal but on Sunday he kept Arsenal’s tally in single digits.

Sidney Govou opener for Lyon against Lens was an absolute cracker and well done to the ****istant who correctly judged the ball to have crossed the line after rebounding from the underside of the crossbar.

An impudent effort from Dimitri Payet sealed a 3-1 win for St. Etienne over previously unbeaten Bordeaux.

Best forgotten…..

Has anyone ever been presented with two worse job offers in the space of only a couple of days than Gary McAllister? Last week he turned down a chance to join the coaching staff of Scotland and then Portsmouth.

A major faux-pas by AZ Alkmaar in their Champions league match versus Standard Liege. Sitting on a 1-0 lead with added time being played AZ backed off on m**** and allowed the Liege keeper to move from his own penalty area to just his own side of half way.

Sinan Bolat was then able to launch the ball into the heart of the AZ penalty box and a poor defensive header only compounded the problem. Eventually Traore latched on to the loose ball and Liege secured a point.

Last Sunday Milan was extremely fortunate to escape with a draw against newly promoted Bari. Things only got worse on Wednesday when they lost at the San Siro to Swiss champions FC Zurich 1-0.

And on Sunday it took a goal with seven minutes remaining from Ronaldinho to grab a point against an Atalanta side that has yet to win a Serie A game this season and that had to play for over half the match with ten-men after Radovanovic was sent off.

Stat facts…..

On Wednesday Raúl  broke Manuel Sanchís's appearance record for Real Madrid. Raul recorded his 709th competitive match against Olympique de Marseille.

The Columbus Crew’s unbeaten streak at Crew Stadium came to an end with a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. It was their first loss at home since San Jose won in June of last year. Since the Crew had won 16 games and drawn six.

The Times looks for reasons as to why we are seeing more goals in the Premiership. Unfortunately they give close to negligible coverage to the main driver of the increase.

After Sunday’s results there has been an increase in scoring of 22% compared to all of last season. However, the scoring rate of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea combined is up 44% leaving the other 16 teams with an increase of only11% or around one goal more every nine games.

When Kharja opened the scoring for Genoa against Bologna from the penalty spot it was the fifth such kick awarded to Genoa in Serie A. In seven games so far they have been successful from the spot four times while missing the other against Chievo. Kharja’s opener set up a 3-1 win and it was only the third time that Genoa has won a Serie A game away to Bologna.

What was said….

This is a podcast from CBC radio’s Q and the first segment includes their Monday sports panel discussing the thirty anniversary of ESPN and the impact the station has had on sports.

James Calder with a very intriguing thought on how the Champions League may change.  

A report states that the Real Madrid business model is not sustainable.

Simon Kuper on athletes and fans growing old.

Coming up this week…..

With World Cup qualifiers set for next weekend there is not much on the calendar this week.

Tomorrow Manchester City plays Aston Villa. There is the round of 16 at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. On Wednesday FC Dallas visits the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS.

A Thank You…

I was privileged to be the guest speaker at the 100th anniversary dinner of United Weston (a local Winnipeg team with a storied history) on Saturday night. Former players traveled from all areas of the country to attend the event which was well attended and flawlessly organized.

Two teams that should know each other inside out go at it again this weekend. Liverpool and Chelsea have faced each other twenty-four times in the last five years and they have in the process built a rivalry that just didn’t exist during the first ninety-six years of competition.

With Chelsea emerging as an English powerhouse in the middle of this decade an uptick in games against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United would have been expected.  

But the sheer scope of the rash of Chelsea – Liverpool meetings dwarfs the others by a considerable margin. Over the same period Chelsea has played Arsenal 13 times and Manchester United 15 times so it is difficult to put the greater frequency down to anything else except the luck of the draw.  

Over the five seasons the games have covered the gambit of the good, the bad and the ugly with a couple of greats thrown in.

In assessing the performance of Chelsea so far a lot comes down to whether you are a glass half-full or half-empty type.

Chelsea’s only points stumble so far was last week’s loss to Wigan and of their other six games, four of the wins have come by a two goal margin or better. Didier Drogba has being hitting the twine with six goals so far and Nicolas Anelka has scored two game winners in Chelsea’s Champions League matches. However, as well as losing to Wigan Chelsea also lost the services of goal keeper Petr Cech who was sent off.

Some folks question how much can be read into Chelsea’s performances when you consider their opponents - only Sunderland and Spurs are in the top half of the table.

In the goal scoring department Frank Lampard has been quiet with a penalty kick against Sunderland in round two his only tally so far. By nature most goal scorers are streaky but Chelsea have become use to Lampard contributing 10-12 league goals each season and if they are going to challenge for silverware they need him to rediscover his touch in front of goal.

The loss to Wigan and two less than impressive Champions League wins over Porto and APOEL Nicosia have tarnished the initial luster of manager Carlo Ancelotti. Much was made of Ancelotti successfully instituting a diamond formation but any change in the midfield set up may just be a temporary papering over of the cracks.

The natural width once offered by the likes of Robben and Duff was largely sacrificed as one Chelsea manager after another attempted to accommodate too many similar central midfield players into the line-up and this is only the latest attempt.  

Since Mourinho arrived Chelsea has played with at least one holding midfield player and although John Obi Mikel was seen as the heir to the “Claude Makelele” position he has been marginalized this season. Ancelotti has generally opted for Michael Essien to play in the deeper role.

Essien is often described as a defensive midfield player which is a totally inaccurate depiction of the Ghanaian. The multi-talented Essien is a well rounded player who, amongst other things, can sit in front of defence to provide extra cover but he can also push on and launch attacks with an ambitious arsenal of passes currently beyond Mikel. Essien in a deeper role is an upgrade on Mikel but his talents are still being under employed.

Ballack, Deco, Essien and Lampard are all at their best when pushing forward into attacking positions from the middle of the park. Over the last year a workable solution has been arrived at with Ballack playing on the right side while Florent Malouda’s improved form (and the fact that he provides balance being left footed) has cemented a regular place for him in the line-up.  

Deco seems destined to be odd man out when Ancelotti has a full squad to choose from which leads us back to Frank Lampard. Over the years Lampard’s best performances have come when has been allowed to pick the ball up in deep positions, spread the ball and then get into and around the penalty box to finish off chances.

Ancelotti seems convinced that Lampard can be more effective playing further forward in a more restricted role but so far performances and goal production doesn’t support that view.

If Lampard’s goal scoring doesn’t kick in within the next few games don’t be surprised if Ancelotti’s midfield diamond is taken out and buried.

Who is hot and who is not…a weekly look at the form teams over the last five league games - good and bad.

Premier League
Manchester United – 15 points
Portsmouth – 0 points

Ligue Une
Lyon and Bordeaux -13 points
Grenoble – 0 points

Bundesliga
Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim - 13 points
Hertha Berlin – 0 points

Serie A
Fiorentina, Inter and Sampdoria - 12 points
Livorno – 1 point

La Liga
Barcelona and Real Madrid – 15 points
Xerez – 1 point

SPL
Celtic – 13 points
Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone – 2 points

MLS
FC Dallas, Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wizards - 10 points
New England Revolution – 4 points

The Best....

Only seven games into the season and Wigan have already experienced some incredible swings in performances and results. Saturday was certainly one of the highs when they put previously unbeaten Chelsea to the sword.

A couple of weeks ago Vito Mannone had to pick the ball out of his own net twice in the first four minutes of Arsenal’s Champions League game away to Standard Liege. But since then the young Italian keeper has turned back all comers. On Saturday he was the difference between a three points for Arsenal and possibly none at all. He pulled off a handful of excellent saves that left Fulham frustrated.   

Louis Saha goal against Portsmouth was a great example of lethal finishing. Saha took a long pass down – it looked as if it was with his cheek – and in one flowing motion he sent the ball past David James in the Portsmouth goal.  

Fredy Montero’s opener for Seattle against New England Revolution was spectacular. Over twenty five yards out and wide on the right side the young Colombian’s effort left Matt Reis rooted to the spot.

Honorable mentions

Fernando Torres – eight goals so far and he is red hot.

This is a difficult one. Was Pat McCourt’s solo run and goal against St. Mirren a piece of magic or atrocious statuesque defending? The benefit of the doubt is given to the former.

Two impressive performances from promoted clubs in Serie A. Bologna stuck to the task and took advantage of a lapse in Juventus concentration to grab a very late equalizer. Bari was unlucky not to take all three points from a trip to the San Siro.

Best forgotten…..

Calen Carr had what must be one of the worst misses of the season in the final seconds of the Chicago Fire’s match against Toronto FC. With the game tied at 2-2 Patrick Nyarko fed the ball across the face of the TFC goal and a sliding Carr managed to miss from less than a yard with the goal at his absolute mercy.

Stat facts…..

Antonio di Natale has scored eight of Udinese’s nine Serie A goals.  

Rangers have not scored for 293 minutes in SPL and have recorded three consecutive 0-0 draws against Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen. The draw also means that Aberdeen have not won at Ibrox since 1991.  

Didier Drogba scored in a losing cause against Wigan but still became the ninth player to reach the 100 goal mark for Chelsea.

With four goals against Burnley on Saturday Robbie Keane became the 16th player to achieve such a feat in a Premier League match.

Xerez is five games into the Liga season and are still winless and scoreless. One 0-0 draw is all they can claim to so far.

Sampdoria’s win was their first since the 1998/99 season against Inter. It was means that Samp boss Luigi Del Neri has gotten the better of Jose Mourinho for a second straight season. He was in charge of Atalanta last season when Inter lost 3-1.

Wigan had never beaten one of the “big four” in 34 Premier League games but final broke their duck when they beat Chelsea on Saturday 3-1.

Two weeks ago Bolton finally recorded their first away win of 2009 when they beat Portsmouth 3-2. A 2-1 win away to Birmingham made it two-in-a-row.

It was the first time in over a decade that Sunderland scored five goals in a Premier League game. Prior to Sunday the last last time Sunderland went nap was in September 1999 when they beat Derby County 5-0.

What was said….

Gabriele Marcotti contributes a piece on UEFA President Michel Platini.

Whatever happened to Francis Jeffers?

Adidas and Puma bury hatchet after more than 60 years

The Daily Telegraph asks if this is the most exciting Premier League season ever when the question should be is the most exciting start to a Premier League season.

Some shenanigans going on in Bulgaria.

Patrick Barclay pulls no punches on the roots of the game. When you see a reference to a "bitter Scotsman" in the comments section then you know the truth has hit home.

Coming up this week…..

Here are this week’s Champions League and Europa League fixtures.

There are also CONCACAF Champions League matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The group stage of the FIFA 2009 Under-20 World Cup continues.

In MLS FC Dallas is at home to the New England Revolution on Wednesday.

The FIFA Under-20 World Cup is bill boarded as the place to see the stars of tomorrow and last Friday we looked at where 11 of the players who competed in 2007 are now. This week we complete the piece with players 12-22.

Alexandre Pato signed for Milan in September 2007 but was unable to make his debut until January of 2008. With Kaka being sold to Real Madrid this past summer the young Brazilian seems to be the heir apparent. He has speed and a great shot and only a certain amount of youthful inconsistency is holding him back.  

By the time the 2007 tournament was held in Canada Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani was already in Italy. Signed by Palermo in January 2007 Cavani quickly settled in Serie A and has become a regular starter for the club. He has also gone onto to play for the full Uruguay side and is closing in on double figure appearances.

Hugo Arismendi is now with Stoke City of the Premier League after completing a $5M move from Club Nacional just as the recent transfer window was closing. The defensive midfield player has already appeared for Uruguay at the full international level.

How Luis Suarez is still with Ajax is one of soccer’s mysteries. Another player who started off at Nacional, Suarez was spotted and signed by Dutch side Groningen after only one season in professional football.

Groningen’s investment of around $1.2M was repaid in spades in a year when Ajax paid close to nine times as much to sign the youngster who scored 10 goals in his debut season in European football.

Since his arrival he has scored at a clip of close to two goals every three games.  His only drawback seems to be a red mist that descends on the Uruguayan on a regular basis. At 22 he is captain of Ajax. 

US midfielder Michael Bradley left the Metro Stars as an 18-year-old when he was transferred to Heerenveen of the Eredivisie. By the time the 2007 competition rolled around Bradley had gained his first full international cap.

In 2008 Bradley moved again, this time to Borussia Mönchengladbach of the Bundesliga where he quickly nailed down a regular starting spot. Bradley is also a regular starter for the USA.

After winning the Adidas Silver Ball at the FIFA Under-15 World Cup in 2005 and having achieved a regular spot in the Barcelona squad Giovani Dos Santos arrived at the 2007 Under-20 World Cup marked as one of the players to watch.

Dos Santos and Mexico were eventually knocked out in the last eight by the eventual winners Argentina and the Barcelona player was awarded the Bronze Ball. However, the award was probably more down to reputation than performance and the last two years have seen his cache slip considerably.

Dos Santos was sold to Spurs in 2008 but despite great expectations the Mexican has struggled to settle in English football.  He has, however, regained much of his spark at the international level. He was voted the best player at the 2009 Gold Cup and he has also played a leading role in resurrecting Mexico’s bid to make next season’s World Cup Finals.

Costa Rica’s Celso Borges has flown under the radar so far but over the next few seasons he could well step up and play in one of Europe’s major leagues. He only recently finalized a move to Fredrikstad of the Norwegian league from Deportivo Saprissa at a bargain price. Nonetheless he has settled quickly and has already made his mark as an attacking midfield player.  

Gerard Pique left Barcelona to sign for Manchester United as a 17-year-old in 2004. He was loaned out to Real Zaragoza in the season before the 2007 World Cup and arrived at the tournament with a fair amount of Liga experience.

However, the centre back was deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and Barcelona quickly moved to resign him in 2008. His first season at Barca was marked by winning the domestic double and the Champions League as well as cementing a position with the full national team.

Esteban Granero failed to make much of a mark when Canada hosted in 2007 but it looks as if he has a very bright future. Real Madrid spent hundreds of millions of dollars on bringing some of the biggest names in the game to the Bernabeu this past summer but they also exercised a buy back option that allowed them to buy Granero back from Getafe. Kaka and Ronaldo will garner the headlines but Granero is one to watch.

The Portuguese keeper from 2007 Rui Patrício has already established himself as the starter at Sporting and has been called up to the full international squad but has yet to start. 

Erwin Hoffer initially gained attention in 2007 because he had shaved the name “Jimmy” into his hair after an Austrian coach had given him the nickname. However, it was to be his goal scoring exploits that left the more permanent memory.

Hoffer scored three goals (even though his participation was limited due to injury) and helped Austria to a surprising fourth place finish. Since then Hoffer has become a full international and played at Euro 2008 co-hosted by Austria. At the club level Hoffer scored around a goal every second game while at Rapid Vienna and this past summer he signed for Napoli of Serie A.

In Canada the CBC will be carrying games from the quarter finals on.

The Best…..

Francesco Totti was the architect of Roma’s much needed win over Fiorentina.  He scored from the spot to give Roma the lead and then added to the lead after the ball broke to him after a corner kick. He then help to set up De Rossi with a header from the edge of the penalty box and Claudio Ranieri’s side went in with a 3-0 half time lead and from there on a Roam win was never in doubt.

In two seasons at Portsmouth David Nugent managed just three goals. For a striker who had edged his way into the English squad it was a meager return. Just as the transfer window was closing earlier this month Burnley was able to secure his services from Pompey on a six month loan.

Nugent spent little time repaying Owen Coyle’s faith when he scored a double on his home debut against Sunderland. The first, a goal that restored Burnley’s lead, was a terrific header and the capper was even better.

It was some four days for Arsenal centre back Thomas Vermaelen. He grabbed a controversial equalizer against Standard Liege in the Champions League and followed it with a double against Wigan on Saturday. The first was a powerful header from a corner, the second a cracking shot from just outside of the penalty box after he played a one-two with Emmanuel Eboue.

The West Ham - Liverpool was a cracking match and although Liverpool took all three points the first half performance of Zavon Hines will give Hammers fans confidence that they have a great talent on their hands. In the end, however, it was one of today’s greats that swung the game Liverpool’s way. Two goals from Fernando Torres was the difference.

Wolfsburg’s Brazilian striker Grafite definitely fits the profile of a late developer. His midweek hat trick against CSKA Moscow was the sixth by a player making his Champions League debut.

Use whatever adjectives you like but the Manchester derby will go down as a memorable match. In normal circumstances doubles for either side from Darren Fletcher and Craig Bellamy would have been worthy of man-of-the-match awards but Ryan Giggs stole the show.

Didier Drogba played the role of provider and scorer for Chelsea. The set-up for Ashley Cole’s opener was the archetype of a perfect delivery into the penalty area.  His goal showed his strength, speed and ability to finish decisively.  

Honorable mentions

Half way through the first half of Sunday’s PSG-Lyon match the visitors contrived the most amazing save and goal line clearance. Lyon keeper Lloris started it all off when he did remarkably well to tip a Ceara free kick on to the cross bar.

The rebound was then headed goalwards only for Cissokho to clear the ball while facing the open goal and finding himself right on the line. An astonishing double save.

Veterans Pippo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf engineered Milan’s away win to Marseille. Seedorf’s vision set up the chances and Inzaghi’s predatory instinct did the rest.  

I don’t think you could say that Rangers’ Madjid Bougherra and Jerome Rothen exchanged passes in the lead up to Rangers equalizer against Stuttgart. Bougherra played the play to Rothen and then took the ball off his toe as he followed his initial pass. The centre back’s instincts were spot on as he completed his run with a powerful shot that eluded Jens Lehmann in the Stuttgart goal.

Dynamo Kiev put in a stirring last twenty minutes to come from 1-0 down to beat Rubin Kazan 3-1 in the Champions League.

Four games into Serie A and newly-promoted Bari is still unbeaten. They started with draws against Inter, Bologna and Palermo and collected their first win on Sunday with an emphatic 4-1 win against Atalanta.

Best forgotten…..

Mathieu Flamini of Milan was fortunate to stay on the park after an atrocious “tackle” against Marseille. Flamini’s two-footed lunge on Stephane Mbia could have caused serious injury.

We were all looking forward to it but the Inter-Barcelona turned out to be as engrossing as some of Chelsea v Liverpool games of a few seasons ago.

It is not the most horrific of starts but even so Roberto Donadoni must be treading on thin ice at Napoli. A scoreless home draw means that his side has only one win (against promoted Livorno) in four games and of their next seven Serie A games they have Inter, Roma, Fiorentina, Milan and Juventus.

Another coach who must be mighty nervous is Atletico Madrid’s Abel Resino. The fans were restless going into match against Barcelona at the Nou Camp and a 5-2 pasting will not have eased their discontent.

Rio Ferdinand and Ben Foster can thank mental lapses by Manchester City for getting them off the hook. Foster was responsible for City’s first goal and then only he will know what he was trying to do when Bellamy took advantage of a Ferdinand howler to equalize late in the match.

However, City didn’t just make one mistake in allowing United to score a winner deep in to added time. First of all Tevez gave away an unnecessary foul, and when the United free kick was cleared, he then gave the ball away needlessly.

But there was more to come. Micah Richards and three others were caught in the centre while Michael Owens went unmarked at the edge of the penalty box while no City player felt the need to apply pressure to Ryan Giggs as he had time to look up and pick out Owen.

Stat facts…..

After losing 2-0 to Aston Villa Portsmouth became the first Premier League side to lose their opening six games of the season. It is the worst start by a top-flight team in England since Leicester City 26 years ago.

Sunderland’s 3-1 loss was their first to Burnley in fifteen meetings between the sides.

Livorno lost 2-0 to Juventus and have not beaten the Turin side in Serie A since the 1941/42 season.

The New England Revolution failed to beat the Red Bulls but the 1-1 draw on Friday extended their unbeaten streak against the New York side to thirteen games.

Manchester United fans must have felt confident when Darren Fletcher scored against City. United have never lost a Premier League game in which Fletcher has scored and that now encompasses fourteen games – 12 wins and 2 draws.

What's more United have only lost one league game over the last two seasons that Fletcher has started – 30 starts, 24 wins, 5 draws and the single loss came away to Fulham.

Wolves led Fulham 1-0 at half time on their way to a 2-1 win. The score line after 45 minutes would not have come as a surprise to either side. Between the two sides they played 11 Premier League games so far and all have been 1-0 at the half.  

Circle your calendars - November 29th at the Nou Camp Barcelona plays Real Madrid.

What was said….

Patrick Barclay takes us back to a time when Manchester was home to the best two sides in England.

French fans are trying to make sure that national team manager Raymond Domenech gets their messages loud and clear.

An article on Liverpool joint-owner Tom Hicks’ other sporting interests.

Theo Walcott discusses the first time he saw Gianfranco Zola’s bum.

The last career goal scored by Denis Law got more than a few mentions during the lead up to the Manchester derby. Many referenced it as the goal that relegated Manchester United but that was not the case. United would have been relegated whether Law had scored or not.

Something else that is often overlooked is that Law was a Manchester City player well before his time at Old Trafford. The fact that Law is revered by both sets of supporters says much about the man. However, if Bill Shankly had had his way Law would have been a Liverpool player. Law’s first club was Huddersfield Town and when Shanks left to take over at Anfield he wanted to take a 19-year-old Law with him. But the funds were not available at what was then an impoverished Liverpool.

Peter Lowry scored a couple of goals for the Chicago Fire against the Columbus Crew. However, there is something a bit fishy about his Wikipedia entry!


Coming up this week…..

The Carling Cup and the CIS Cup

There are also CONCACAF Champions League matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a full slate of games in Serie A and Liga. In Italy the feature matches include Fiorentina v Sampdoria; Inter v Napoli; Palermo v Roma; Udinese v Milan all on Wednesday and Genoa v Juventus on Thursday.

Liga feature games include Racing Santander v Barcelona and Villarreal v Real Madrid both on Wednesday.

The second round of the German Cup is scheduled as is the round of 32 in the French League Cup.

There is an important game in MLS with San Jose Earthquakes away to play-off chasing Colorado Rapids on Wednesday evening.