Best performances…..

Barcelona followed up a five goal Champions League performance away to Basle with a repeat on Saturday in Liga against Almeria. It brings their Liga haul to twenty-four goals in eight games and they have now won six straight in which have scored twenty-two of their goals.

Beating Chelsea is noteworthy, winning at Stamford Bridge even more so but the capper for Liverpool was the relative ease by which they took three points back to Merseyside.

What a turnaround in the fortunes of Sporting Gijon.  A win away to Deportivo La Coruna was their third straight and next week they play Numancia who are another of the newly promoted clubs in Liga.

And another promoted team goes top of the table in Germany. Hoffenheim are perhaps the biggest story in Europe this season and this weekend they continued their fantastic run with a 3-0 win over Hamburg. The three points takes Hoffenheim above Hamburg and now seventeen teams are looking up to the newcomers.

Atletico Madrid and Villarreal went one goal better than the 4-3 game in the Vicente Calderon last season. El Madrigal was the venue this season. Atletico took a two goal lead only to have Banega sent off before half time. Villarreal then scored four times in a twenty minute spell early in the second half. Goals, two minutes apart, from Simao and Raul Garcia in the last seven minutes tied the game. Villarreal had only let in three goals before this match.

Best forgotten…..

Toronto FC completed their second MLS season and the apologists will point to 2008 as a season of improvement.  Ten more points, two more wins, four fewer defeats, more goals scored and less conceded is certainly a better showing than twelve months before. However, a reliance on better stats can’t hide the fact that the team missed the play offs.

And what’s more is that although they remained mathematically in contention for a play-off spot until late in the season, few believed during the second half of the campaign that Toronto was worthy of a top eight finish.

Sixty percentage of their total points came in the first half of the season and Saturday evening’s final game against newbies San Jose Earthquakes provided an interesting contrast and perhaps a benchmark as to where each team is heading next season.

San Jose finished two points behind Toronto in the consolidated standings but their season ran counter to TFC’s. The first half of the season showed San Jose to be solid in defence but lacking a lot in the scoring department. Ten goals in fifteen games brought only twelve points. Reinforcements were called in to plug the gaps and the acquisitions – from within MLS and other leagues – were remarkably well suited to the jobs that they were asked to do.

Twenty one points and a nine game unbeaten streak resurrected the Earthquakes post-season hopes although three consecutive losses in October brought their unlikely run to an abrupt end.

Compare that to TFC’s additions and the Canadian team comes up short. While Amado Guevara and Chad Barrett were acquired through MLS trades and both improved the team, it almost seemed like a Newcastle postal code was a basic criteria for the consideration of others. While San Jose’s pick-ups were imaginative and creative, Toronto’s moves or attempted moves were too often either uninspired, damaged goods or nothing more than hot air.

When San Jose sit down to finalize their protected list before the expansion draft some difficult decisions will have to be made as to who might be made available. On the other hand Toronto’s tricky choice will be how to come up with a solid list of eleven players worth protecting. If you can come up more than six players then you are a step ahead of me.

After two years of existence Toronto remains without a plan and a base to build from. In less than half that time San Jose have both and have much brighter prospects for 2009 and on.

Best goals….

Kieron Richardson’s free kick that gave Sunderland a win against Newcastle almost took the net with it.

It was the stake through the heart of DC United’s play-off hopes – a beautiful curling left footer from around thirty yards from the Columbus Crew’s Brad Evans.

Simao’s opener for Atletico against Villarreal was spectacular.

 Best Players….

Samuel Eto’o is showing signs that his summer non-move from Barcelona might turn out to be one of best things that has happened to the club in sometime.

His distribution is often problematic but if you had to pick a defender to protect a lead then you could do no better than Jamie Carragher.

This is worth a mention for performances season-to-date. Hoffenheim striker Vedad Ibisevic took his goal tally to ten in the Bundesliga this season with the second strike in Hoffenheim’s 3-0 win over Hamburg.  Ibisevic, who is the leading scorer in the Budesliga, was Bosnian refugee whose family settled in St. Louis. He played for Roosevelt High School and then moved to France before heading to Germany.

Goal feast……
Thirty-six goals in eight games in Champions League on Tuesday including six for Villarreal and five each away from home from Arsenal and Lyon.

North American F.C.….

Canadian striker Ali Gerba hit a double for MK Dons as they beat Cheltenham 3-1 in League One in England. The result moves Roberto do Matteo’s side to 5th spot.

Clint Dempsey scored his first Premiership goal in his last twenty-three appearances on Sunday against Portsmouth. The US player came on as a substitute and scored a late equalizer to give Fulham a share of the points.

Stat facts…..

On April 5, 1980 in the old Second Division Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0. Until Sunderland’s 2-1 win on Saturday Newcastle had won seven and drawn five of their twelve away games at Roker Park and the Stadium of Light.  

Chelsea’s unbeaten streak at Stamford Bridge ends at 86 games.

Now that Harry Rednapp has relocated to North London perhaps he will look to some of his former Portsmouth players who have spent time in the same neighbourhood. By my count Younes Kaboul, Noe Pamarot, Sean Davis, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Lauren, Lassana Diarra, Jerome Thomas, Kanu, Sol Campbell, Armand Traore have all turned out for Arsenal and/or Spurs before moving to the south coast.

What was said….

Legal World Cup potions.

An interview with USSF President Sunil Gulati brings together economics and soccer. 

Not a soccer book but one that looks to be worth picking up.  Simon Kuper reviews “People’s History of Sports in the United States” by Dave Zirin.

Facilities for inner-cities?

The man that finds buyers for Premier League clubs.

Former Scotland and Sunderland manager and Rangers great Ian McColl has died.

And finally - "You can change your wife, your house, your car but you can never change your team. Chairmen come and go, boards come and go but the fans remain. They are the one true constant. I've just been a custodian of the club." - Eddie Thompson, the late Chairman of Dundee United who was laid to rest last week.

Coming up this week…..

It will be a busy midweek in Europe. There are full Premiership, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue Une schedules with Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Fiorentina vs. Inter and Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen the pick of the bunch. The Scottish League quarter finals are also set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Are we 45 minutes away from a sensational draw.....or will ####mp;T recover to win?

I'm sure that all the old doubts about England are beginning to float to the surface of even the commited England fans.

Rooney and Lennon are up and warming up.

This England performance is so lifeless someone should call a priest.

Crouch has taken the robot dance to heart has decided to incorporate it into his play. He's having a stinker and it's not limited to him.

Free kick to England and a yellow card for Cyd Gray. Best chance for England as Owen gets free from the resulting free kick and fails to hit the target.

Rooney is on -please feel free to comment SAF - and so is Lennon. Owen and Carragher are off.

Thirty minutes to go.