On a weekend when Lyon, Celtic and Inter sew up their respective league championships, PSV and Barcelona decide to make what looked to be straight forward tasks much more difficult.
A late equalizer by Utrecht against PSV means that a win for AZ Alkmaar next week against Excelsior will give AZ their first title since 1981. It could be the first time in 26 seasons that the big three of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord have failed to lift the title. Quite the triumph for Louis Van Gaal.
Robert Pires gains a measure of revenge for being substituted in last season’s Champions League Final against Barcelona after Jens (short for Jennifer I understand) Lehmann was sent off. Pires scores the first goal and Barcelona’s miserable away form continues. They still lead Seville by a point and Real Madrid by two (and Sevilla and Real Madrid have still to play each other) but you have to think that Barca’s inability to kill off the chasing pack only gives the likes of Sevilla and Real Madrid more hope and confidence.
Cristaino Ronaldo and Shunsuke Nakamura pick up player of the year awards in England and Scotland.
And finally the last word goes to Nigel Winterburn the former Arsenal full back and colour commentator for Saturday's Manchester United vs. Boro match. "Rio touches his groin and shakes his head."
On Sunday Guiseppe Rossi scored his seventh goal for Parma since he moved there on loan. Rossi's goals have been the difference of 10 points for Parma and if they do stay up then much of the credit must go to Rossi who could hardly get a look in at Newcastle. The five games left for Parma are aagainst Cagliari, Chievo, Messina, Lazio and Empoli.
Bobby do you think maybe Rossi will leave for Italy. He has already made it appearant that he wants to play for Italy over the US, and maybe his style is more at home in Italy. What do you think?
Redondo ex RM and ACM, and Paulo Sousa ex Juventus These were two excellent players who just seemed to vanish, where are they now, are they still playing or retired?
Hi Bobby,
Scott Carson the Goalkeeper for Charlton,(on loan
from Liverpool)came from a team called Cleator Moor
Celtic. Do you have any info on this Club.
My guesses (without cheating):
1) Scottish Cup. Seeing as the FA Cup is the longest (or is this a trick?).
2) Copa America. Seeing as the WC was first organized by Uruguay.
3) No clue. Though I'm sure there is much argument over which clubs came first.
1.Bobby do you feel united are favoured by referees, l think so because it is scandalous how they have escaped with penalties yet you see the on they get,l understand that they are bound to get more because they attack more most of the time but some the penalties were as soft as it gets.l think now chelsea will win the tittle to be honest
I was thinking about the kroenke thing and managed to see that a takeover is not as bad as people out there make it to be.the guy is willing to pay $1.4B to get the club so surely he has to care otherwise he would not put himslf in debt, secondly these guys will ensure that the club is always deep in all competions because they are intrested in money and to be frank the only money than fans care about is transfer and securing good players to contracts , otherwise the rest quite frankly we do not care were it goes.my problem with kroenke is that no one know why he is buying shares and if he opens up then the board can change their stance and small shareholders will benifit.
Anyone else think that Man United having 8(!!!) players in the team of the year is beyond ridiculous.
I agree with h14 about the penalty thing. Middlesbrough SHOULD have gotten a penalty toward the end of that game and would have if they were playing any of the other 18 teams.
About the lack of skill shown by English youngsters:
1) Foreign ownership of English teams and eligibility of foreign teenagers to attend English academies won't help the alleged problem with English youngsters.
2) In the USA we cannot agree on an approach to build our own soccer programs, we are probably in a bad place to offer hope to the English game. However, the recent trend to coach 4v4 soccer at youth levels can only help.
3) In this era of millionaire football players, the importance of the national teams has diminished. If football continues to be about revenue streams, then there is nothing that can be done about a group of youth from one nation, as players can just be imported from anywhere.
4) England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales should combine to form one national team system, from the national youth teams up. IMHO, this is one way to make the national team more competitive, though it doesn't address the youth question.
5) Perhaps all that can be done is to admit that top soccer skills are no longer an English trait and never will be. For, until there is real financial incentive to work with English youth and push English youth, I cannot see the best intentions of even a well-organized program working.
There will NEVER be a combined GB team,other than for the 2012 Olympics.
And you will not find anyone from England,Scotland,Northern Ireland or Wales who wants one,right,Bobby?
I may be wrong, but it wouldn't be a good idea for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales to combine as a 'national' team. There will almost undoubtedly be an English bias, regardless of the quality of players.
I've been to a few MLS games...crowds are awful. It was better than nothing, and 2 of the 3 I went for free; but it had the feel of a pick-up game at a local park.
Bobby, I enjoyed the article by Brooking. It has been a source of debate at our local club as to the best approach in coaching the youngsters---position and passing (argued by a man from Winchester, England) or individual footskills and 1v1,2v2, by the senior trainer--a former professional footballer and futsal player from Sao Paulo, Brazil. You sacrifce winning at the early ages as they develope their footskills. However we are seeing the Brazilian's determination pay off in the U-12 group. The problem is you lose a lot of would-be players due to the losses and the amount of practice it takes to develop quality footskills. Question: As the American game continues to develope do you see it taking on a more South American look or a European-English look? It seems that the Yanks overseas lean towards the Anglo-countries rather than the Latin ones. But MLS seems to have an easier time getting the Latin players to come over. Your views?
I've been to one MLS match, just about exactly 10 years ago. I watched NY/NJ at Colombus, for the sole reason of getting to watch Donadoni play. There was a decent crowd, but the quality of play was dissappointing. It was the only time I had ever seen a goalie (Meola), in a professional match, be part of a double switch and moved to an outfield position during the match (and it appeared to be a strategic substitution.)
Bobby my first question is about something that Verbal has mentioned about The Epl team of the year. I have always wonderd why the hell does the team of the year have to be dominated by players of the team that is likely to win the title. I thought the team of the year is composed of players who have been the best at their positions, kind of like it is in the C.L. and W.C. team of the year?
Why are they forming a U.K team for the Olympics? Can't every country just rep. itself?
With all their defenders out what should Sir Alex do for the 1st & 2nd leg play D like crazy and keep the clean sheet, then make it a goal feast at Milan or Just try and win the game at home? Coz personally I would worry if I was Man U fan coz Oshea and Brown just can't handle Kaka and that so organized Milan offense unless the gods of football are on Man U's side.
Ruud boy scored a cracker this weekend for Real and a great perfomance from Cesc. And Becks and Pires showed as they still have what it takes to play at the highest level. Good to see Pires back on the field one of my all time favorite Arsenal players still hurts me that him and Viera couldn't stay at Arsenal to the end of their careers.
As ofter happens in the latter stages of the UCL, I expect two very cagey affairs this week.
Bobby: Without asking for score predictions (which are fun but meaningless) how do you see these four teams tactically approaching these first legs?
In the first legs all teams, both home and away, typically need a goal but would rather keep a clean sheet. Milan would rather score a goal in the first leg, than be forced to win at home, but don't want to have to play from behind at Old Trafford.
Bobby, if you were an Arsenal fan, would you stand against the possible takeover by Stan? He is not rich yet he is said to have powerful financial clout and can inject funds into transfers albeit a larger debt. Is this the number one positive for a takeover? Do you think ManU have benifitted and Liverpool will benifit from their American owners? How strong do think these three big clubs would be against possible decline in income from economic downturns and awful performances on the pitch? Will the Americans invest in the clubs out of their pockets like Abromvich?
Re UCL. I'll try to sneak out to watch today's game, which I predict will be 0-1 to Milan. Tomorrow's game? Don't give a damn. Will be a tense and boring drag to end up with 90% probability 0-0.
My mouth is watering over the Chelsea-L'pool tie, considering Chelsea's goal record at Anfield recently, don't you think they have to go for it. Is Ballack available, if not big loss for Chelsea.
Chelsea 2 L'pool 1
Mas, everything is relative, but who knows how rich you are? You see, nobody has put in a bid for Spurs yet...
2-2 would be rewarding for my adventure in a few hours, but I doubt if that many goals will be scored even for the two entertaining sides. Even more so for tomorrow's game...
Ballack is going to play me thinks. Jose will give him a pep talk like "I can sell you on Ebay!"
Verbal, I mean b/c they haven't scored at Anfield, I think I heard several games or 2 as you say, that at the bridge they will have to try and go for it.
RINGO- I saw that he got his ticket a 5:15 am, nice one, Essien, he is such a machine he could probably still play a full match after one of those nights.
I hope you have all have heard that the Queen is a gooner and a Fabregas fan.
sorry for the misinterpretation. I think it will be tight because Chelsea will not want to give up an away goal and first legs are "usually" tighter games early on.
I don't understand why anybody with money and in the media spotlight wouldn't hire a driver if they're out drinking. Does Essien really want to end up wearing an ankle tag during a game like Pennant.
I saw that about the queen. At least Liverpool have Cherie Blair on their side.
PS: Everytime I visit the blog, the Rio groin comment gives me a laugh.
I can personally attest to the fact that Essien was NOT drunk.He only had one glass of Shampoo...I drank all the rest!
And as for The Old Bill..."It was all a frame"!....They were Gooners!!
I presume from my English gangster movies that the Old Bill refers to the cops.
And I cannot agree more with the statement about hiring a driver, it just doesn't make any sense, if you are gonna have more than one drink get a driver, that's what my social group does and none of us are millionaires.
Uh oh 11:30, er ah gotta run some errands on my ah lunch break, back at the office around 2.
Bobby, Milan looked flat today aside from Kaka and Gatusso to some extent. Most dissappointing had to be Pirlo. (goalkeeper aside.) They were not on the same energy level. Age? Form? They wanted to keep possession but simply couldn't. What do you think of the second leg?
Great match,first of all kudos to Sir Alex for some great coaching coz for me putting Scholes on Pirlo and making him shadow Pirlo for almost the whole game till Gattuso went out really put Pirlo out of synch. And Pirlo runs the show for milan. Usually if you take him out of the game Milan are not able to control the game and that was a great coaching move.
Why the hell did the milan sub Maldini off? The Gattuso injury also hurt Milan i think. But overally like foxcube said Milan were flat and will have to play way better than that to make the final.
Kaka continues to proove to me that he just on another level 2 fantastic goals especially the 2nd one where he made Evra and Heinze to look like to complete idiots. Amazing player.
If the Denver guy buys Arsenal and has money to spend two players I would recommend Kaka and the drinking Essien. And no RINGO I don't think gooners were involved we have nothing to play for, probably liverpulians or the Mancs.
IS THERE NO MANCHESTER UNT. FAN ON THIS BLOG. I guess all there fans are in Asia and Africa coz I here all the English fans left them after the Americans took over.
There are a few Manchester United fans that frequent this blog, myself included.
You obviously don't watch many Man Utd matches because all of their home matches are full of what appears to be very vocal English fans. I say that because they certainly sound like English fans.
Are all of the Liverpool and Arsenal fans that bashed Man Utd's American ownership going to bash themselves now?
The Man Utd haters love to criticize everything we do, but you also try to copy everything we do. You talk about how big of a club you are, and how many fans you have around the world, blah, blah, blah. But then you bash Man Utd for being so successful and having a global fanbase.
Arsenal didn't build a new stadium because they hated Highbury. Liverpool isn't interested in a new stadium because they hate Anfield. They want more people in the stands, just like Man Utd.
This ongoing contest of who's club is the "Most English" is STUPID. Football is the world's game.
What a match! I am impressed with ManU. If Rooney plays like that and Scholes and Giggs are lively and Ronaldo is himself, watch out.
-Without Gattuso Milan are no match for United.
-ManU has enough serious talent to beat Milan at home, still anybody's tie.
-No guarantees but I have to think ManU have the edge, they can score at any time on anyone. All they need is Vidic back on defence and if Rooney is world class UTD are world class.
The fact that Man Utd were ecstatic at the final whistle after a 3-2 win at home in the first leg says a lot, especially since they are tournament favorites. Milan also played a bad game overall, and Man Utd probably deserved a more flattering score.
Kaka took advantage of Man Utd's difficulties in defense, and could've had a hattrick, but that's about it. Milan uncharacteristically gave up an early goal on a set piece, and then gave up a mindless goal on a counter attack in injury time at 2-2. Dida was very questionable throughout, and in hindsight maybe should've sat out. He was badly at fault on the first and third goals, although he did make a couple of nice saves.
All in all a 3-2 away loss in the first leg against the tournament favorites is a positive result. Milan are in much better shape than they were after the 2-2 home draw against Bayern in the previous round. Milan showed they can play with Man Utd, and obviously anything can happen next week. I wouldn't mind seeing Super Pippo get the start because, yet again, Gilardino had an awful match.
l think the media is underestimating milan they are talking of man u scoring and with fergie being happy with scoring , l just feel that they needed 2 clear goals and l do not see them winning in milan , l do not think ronaldo had his best game and united do not have a natural defensive midfilder to seat on kaka coupled with the fact that they are not so strong away from home in the cl milan to go through
I was just hating on Man U i wasn't serious about the whole fan thing my friend RedDevil. It just that Utd fans that I know are so arrogant and just never shut up about how great they are so suprised to see how silent Utd fans are on this blog.
And yes Inzahgi should start. I don't think Gillardino even had a short on goal he was terrible. But I also think Milan will go through coz of their experince and that Man U defense will probably be worse than they were, away from home.
I have hope for the second leg because Milan definately showed how important experience is at this stage of the competition. Milan held their composure well after conceding an early goal, whereas Man Utd were unrecognizable after conceding the the first goal. Milan played an average game even by this season's standards. They let Man Utd off the hook in this one, just as they did with Bayern, and this time it may cost them dearly. I hope Man Utd continue to struggle on the road in Europe and Milan can find a way to Athens.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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