Best performances…..

Making their Champions League debut FCR Cluj beat Roma 2-1 in the Olympic Stadium.

Manchester City dismantled Portsmouth 6-0 at Eastlands on Saturday and inflicted on Pompey their biggest ever Premiership loss – the previous worst was a 5-0 loss away to Birmingham on January 21, 2006.


Best forgotten…..

The goal Chelsea conceded to Manchester United should be a considered a catastrophic defensive failure. The Chelsea defence broke down in almost every position. As the move formed on the United left side Alex got pulled out of position as Berbatov and Rooney dropped back into midfield.

Evra, Berbatov and Rooney exchanged passes and when the United full-back sprung forward Joe Cole failed to go with him. The diminutive Evra then outmuscled Chelsea full back Jose Boswinga inside the penalty box before squaring a pass to the unmarked Berbatov who had rejoined the play.

Berbatov was allowed to shoot and Petr Cech failed to hold what looked to be a fairly routine effort. Instead the ball spilled to Park – also left free – ten yards out and United were 1-0 up.


Best goals….

Some cracking goals in the match day one of Champions League play. Florent Malouda finished of####reat build up involving John Obi Mikel and Frank Lampard to score Chelsea’s third in a 4-0 rout of Bordeaux.

Fernandinho of Shakhtar Donetsk scored an absolute screamer from a free kick against Basel to help his side to a 2-1 win.

Another classic free kick came from Alessandro Del Piero against Zenit St. Petersburg. The ball was hit with power,  dip and swerve from a distance where most players would not have even have attempted a crack at goal. It proved to be the only goal of the match.

Juninho Pernambucano’s ability from a dead ball position is renowned throughout the world. But the Lyon midfielder threw in something a little bit different against Fiorentina. Instead of having his usual crack from a free kick just outside the penalty area the Brazilian played a perfect pass around the defensive wall for Benzema to run onto and score.

Finally Steven Gerrard’s goal from open play for Liverpool against Marseille was as sweetly struck a shot as you are ever likely to see.


Goal feast……

Atletico Madrid are scoring almost at will at times this season. Three goals away to PSV Eindhoven in midweek were followed by four against Recreativo Huelva on Saturday – all without conceding a goal.


North Americans in Europe….

US international Michael Bradley made his debut for Borussia Monchengladbach in a 1-0 loss at home against Hertha Berlin.


Biggest Howlers……

A reasonable explanation as to why referee Andre Marriner cancelled Steven Gerrard’s  second minute goal for Liverpool against Stoke has still not been forthcoming.  

Boro keeper Ross Turnbull nearly pulled off one for the blooper reel as he was caught in two minds (neither of them particularly smart!) at the edge of his own penalty area. He recovered after fumbling the ball while under little pressure and managed to avoid handing Sunderland a golden scoring chance.


Stat facts...

Jo and Ched Evans (Manchester City), David di Michele (West Ham), Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal) and Michael Turner (Hull City) all opened their Premiership scoring account this weekend.  
 
On Saturday evening Real Salt Lake played in Rice-Eccles Stadium for the last time before their move to new digs. After going unbeaten in a dozen home games in MLS this season it was a case of unlucky 13 as Chivas won 1-0.

Even after only a handful of games there are only two teams that are pointless in the top five leagues in Europe - in Italy Cagliari and in Spain Sporting Gijon.


What was said….

Paul Wilson considers Spurs’ transfer dealings this past summer and is left unimpressed.


Tony Cascarino suggests that Manchester United should sign Emile Heskey.


Roy Keane hates ABBA! No comment from ABBA about Roy Keane.


Simon Kuper talks with Michel Platini.


Coming up this week…..

The 3rd round of the Carling Cup is on Tuesday and Wednesday, CIS Cup in Scotland on the same days and a there is a full schedule of games in Serie A and La Liga. Matches to look out for include:

Newcastle vs. Spurs
Portsmouth vs. Chelsea
Manchester United vs. Boro
Blackburn vs. Everton

Celtic vs. Livingstone

Lazio vs. Fiorentina
Napoli vs. Palermo

Getafe vs. Atletico Madrid
Espanyol vs. Sevilla.







 

Chelsea v Manchester United

It is true that if Manchester United does lose on Sunday to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season’s Champions will trail their opponents by nine points with September not even over. By a similar token - but less repeated – a United win would leave them three points in arrears with a game in hand.

United also started last season’s campaign poorly.  A scoreless draw at home to Reading, another draw at Portsmouth and a humiliating derby day loss to Manchester City generated only two points from the first three games. At least this season they have doubled that total after three games.

Much of the build up to last week’s game against Liverpool centred on the debut of Dimitar Berbatov. Apart from a cut back to Tevez for the opening goal the Bulgarian was as effective as a banker trying to flog off sub-prime mortgages.

After the opening spell during which United settled more quickly Liverpool gradually took over the game the United midfield was found badly wanting. Carrick’s early injury did not help United’s cause but Scholes and Anderson were easily handled by Alonso and Mascherano to the point of domination. The fact that a fit Scholes was substituted with a full quarter of game remaining was highly unusual and Ferguson will have to make sure that control on Sunday is not ceded to the powerful Chelsea in the same way.

With Ronaldo available again after surgery and Vidic suspended Sir Alex looks to have a few key decisions to make as far as his line-up is concerned. Each decision has a domino effect.

1.    Who replaces Nemanja Vidic at the heart of the United defence? He could go for Jonny Evans who stepped into the position in midweek against Villarreal and played competently or Wes Brown could move from full back with Gary Neville the replacement. The final decision may rest on Ferguson’s take on whether or not Didier Drogba will start for Chelsea.

2.    Where will Rooney play? After stating during the summer that he had perhaps been unfair in not playing Wayne Rooney through the middle more often – a position Fergie believes brings out the best in the England striker – the United manger stuck him out on the right side of midfield against Liverpool. Let’s just say that it didn’t work.

3.    Will Ronaldo start? With Ronaldo available after injury it seems highly unlikely that Fergie will opt to keep his powder dry by entrusting the Portugal international’s rear to the bench. The mere presence of Ronaldo may put some doubt in the mind of Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari about the advisability of unleashing full back Ashley Cole down the United right. (It’s also worth noting that Cole has played Ronaldo better than most over the last five years.)

4.    Who will anchor the centre of the midfield? The battle in the middle of the field will be key and United will have to subdue Lampard and Deco (almost definitely) and Michael Ballack (most likely). Lampard has been excellent in the last two Chelsea games (inspired after the Croatia win?) while Deco’s ability to orchestrate the attack has given Chelsea an added edge this season. With Carrick out the primary choices come down to Scholes (playmaker), Hargreaves (bull-terrier), Anderson (patchy), Fletcher and O’Shea (journeymen). If the decision is to play three in the centre of midfield then Ryan Giggs also comes into the equation.

5.    Who starts up front and how many? If United goes with five across midfield then that leaves a lone striker with three players vying for the position and each with substantial credentials. Berbatov, Rooney and Tevez – a tough decision.

Stat Fact – After United started last season with 2 draws and a loss they went on a run of 8 straight wins; the first 6 without conceding a goal.


Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen

Bayern Munich has long dominated German football and this decade is no exception. Six Bundesliga titles and five Cup wins (all helping to complete domestic doubles) puts Bayern lengths ahead of any other German club.

This season two draws in the first two starts may have given the other Bundesliga teams some hope that the transition from Ottmar Hitzfeld to Jurgen Klinsmann was not going smoothly.

However, wins over Hertha Berlin (4-1) and Cologne (3-0) are likely a better indication of what is in store over the remainder of this season.  The fact that their best player last season Franck Ribery has yet to start a game this season only serves to reinforce the depth of the Bayern squad.

Werder Bremen have been the one team to consistently challenge Bayern’s supremacy but even then they only have a domestic double of 2004 to show for their efforts. The one thing Bremen have rarely been short of is goals. In four of the last five campaigns Bremen have finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorers with 75 goals or more each time.

The goals scorers may have changed – Ailton to Klasnic and Klose to Markus Rosenberg – but coach Thomas Schaaf’s commitment to scoring goals has remained.

Based on Werder’s capacity for conceding goals (games involving Werder Bremen more often than not generate the most goals each season)  it could be argued that more emphasis on the defensive side of the game might have brought more silverware.

Werder trail Bayern by three points and leaders Hamburg by five and so a loss would open a considerable gap when you consider the season will only be five games old. What is more travelling to play Bayern has not been a rich source of points over the years.

In forty-two Bundesliga visits Bremen have only won six times and drawn nine. Bremen are also coming off a disappointing match day one performance against Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta.

But if you are looking for a silver lining it would be that at least last season’s Bundesliga runners-up did not lose – something that has happened in the last four seasons. In that spell Bremen have lost 2-0 three times and 2-1 last season.

Stat Fact - Michael Rensing took over the full time position in the Bayern Munich goal after Oliver Kahn retired at the end of last season. Rensing would step in from time when Kahn was injured and before this season Rensing had started 23 Bundesliga games. Add another four games this season and Rensing has yet to finish on the losing side in the Bundesliga. 



Milan vs. Lazio

Only two teams can boast 100% records in Serie A after 180 minutes of play – Lazio and Atalanta. Likewise only two teams are without a single point – Milan and Cagliari. Milan dominated much of their first match against Bologna and could rightfully claim some injustice at the eventual 2-1 scoreline in favour of Bologna.

However, the same case could not be made last week in losing 2-0 to Genoa. Genoa were better in every department and thoroughly deserved the win. What was probably most disconcerting for Milan’s fans was how dreadfully slow and pedestrian Milan looked in everything they attempted.

The reliance on experience has been a common criticism of Milan over the last few seasons and each time they have bounced back. Can they do it one more time?

The young Argentine striker Mauro Zarate has fuelled Lazio’s race to the top and with three goals in two games he has made a great first impression on Italian football.

Stat Fact – Lazio have not beaten Milan in Serie since February 1998 – twenty-one games ago. Since that Lazio win in February 1998 Milan have won 11 and the other ten have been drawn.  

Not surprisingly Monday’s furour about the Luzhniki Stadium pitch appears to have died away as we now hear that it is going to be just fine. From the equivalent of a neglected public park pitch to no problem in 48 hours – a miracle indeed.

Perhaps the field condition was more a product of a journalist or two who found themselves in Moscow on Monday with nothing to write about until the teams arrived later in the day.

Now comfortable in the knowledge that billions of dollars of talent will not disappear down a sink hole in Moscow I can now safely turn my attention to the game this afternoon.

The problem is that with less than five hours to kick off and I am no closer to deciding who I think is the going to be the 2008 Champions of Europe. I have had a sneaking su####ion about Chelsea since the draw for the last sixteen was made but on the other hand I treat Manchester United in a final as I do the Old Firm – never bet against them.

So in an attempt to come to a decision of Chelsea or Manchester United here are the advantages that each side brings with them to the battle.

Chelsea
1. Didier Drogba – even more so than Ronaldo, Drogba has an unerring ability to lay low for most of a match but to still step up and decide the outcome. His strength and pace makes it impossible to ignore him.

2. Michael Ballack – Player of the Year in England if it was based on the last eight weeks. His positional play has been excellent and when not arguing with Drogba over free kicks the timing of his runs into the penalty box are reminiscent of former United great Bryan Robson.

3. Frank Lampard – criticized for the apparent high number of deflected goals he should be praised for adhering to old adage that if you don’t shoot you don’t score. What’s more when Lampard gets within 30 yards of goal watch how many defenders try to shut him down – no wonder he gets goals from deflections as well as creating gaps for the other Chelsea players to take advantage of.

4. Aerial power – Ballack, Carvalho, Drogba, Terry are all excellent in the air and every set piece for Chelsea will present and real and present danger to United.

5. No other English team has enjoyed a better record against Manchester United than Chelsea and that holds true even before the arrival of Roman Abramovich’s interest free loan.

Manchester United
1. Ronaldo – if United can get him the ball early in the game and he can settle into a rhythm then he can be the match-winner. Cole has played well against him in the past so it will be interesting to see which wing Fergie starts him on.

2. Rio Ferdinand – simply the best defender in England over the last season.

3. Patrice Evra – With a license to get forward that Chelsea appears to be unwilling to give to their full backs the Frenchman can exploit the spaces that the normally narrow Chelsea formation provides.

4. Edwin van der Saar – the Dutchman’s kicking skills have been identified as a weakness by many but it is his ability to find players with quick long throws that might be more pivotal.

5. Mobility – The constant movement used by United means that an opposition defense cannot drop concentration for a moment.

Line Ups
Michael Essien at right back appears to be the way that Chelsea will go with Malouda or Kalou a tactical decision and Cole or Bridge a fitness decision.

The speculation on the United line up is whether or not Ferguson buttresses his midfield with Owen Hargreaves. Bringing Hargreaves in would in my opinion be a clear signal that Ferguson would be happy to accept a saw-off in midfield and rely on his wide players and Rooney to win it for him.

A more aggressive strategy - and gamble - would be to start Tevez and Rooney in attack with Tevez being asked to hassle and upset Makelele as he sits just in front of the Chelsea back four. The downside of starting Tevez is that it takes away an option to change the game by way of the substitutes bench.

Decision – still unknown!

Craigy_f – 1. Many see the CL in the last few years as a tale of PL dominance. It's hardly that in the UEFA Cup. How to you explain the difference in the two comps for PL teams (or other leagues) in the last three odd years.
2. Do you like the playoffs?
3. The last noise the Liverpool Supporters Who Want To Buy Liverpool made was about having the clout to actually have a dialogue with Hillette and Gicks. Apparently they wanted to talk ' intentions'. Will this happen?
4. Will Ince be given a bigger club or stick with much moved Wimbledon?
5. Tevez's stock must have gone up with that late goal at Blackburn?
6. Gimme your top five footballing flops this weekend, please.
7. What; off what goes on on the pitch; gets your goat when watching football.
8. Who will finish fifth? (In the PL, Serie A and La Liga)
9. Scottish Managers seem to do well darn sarf, why do you think that is?

Bobby –1. Many would seem to have a very poor grasp of what constitutes dominance. One win this decade hardly represents dominance.

2. Yes.

3. Until they have money in the bank they are trying to bluff their way in the door. There is a large chasm between fans expressing a willingness to put money up and actually writing the cheque. There again 100,000 of them could borrow the money from the bank which is no more ridiculous than what Hicks and Gillett pulled off. (Couldn't resist the notion that the ESPN commentator missed a golden opportunity at the end of the game today when the cameras panned over to Hicks. The comments was something like "owner Tom Hicks must now take his Liverpool team to Stamford Bridge next week..." Should it not have been "owner Tom Hicks must now take his half of the Liverpool team to Stamford Bridge next week..."

4. There are always teams on the lookout for a savior so I cannot see Ince staying with MK Dons much longer. He could take a shorter route to the Championship I am sure.

5. Three late equalizers doesn’t hurt but I think that after what he showed for WHU late last season there are not too many people surprised.

6. You get 1 and 1 a – Clyde losing to Hamilton and Queen of the South beating Dundee.

7. What?

8. Villa, Milan, Racing Santander.

9. If I knew sarf meant then I might be able to answer.

Gorn – 1. Your opinion on whether Fake Ronaldo's PK technique is caution-worthy/unsporting? Seems to me that it's not much, if at all, different than if he just took a shorter run-up. Is there another line of thinking?
2. What sources do you use to do yer research (ie: top away goal scorer in BPL in 07-08, etc.)? Any links appreciated!
3. By how many goals will LFC beat Chelsea in both legs of the CL semi?
4. There appears to be a few quality strikers available this summer (Berbatov, Huntelaar, Villa, Henry, Crouch & hell even Ronaldinho). Do you think this will create a bit of a market correction in transfer prices? Or will this be the priciest market in years? I know you don't like to speculate on things like specific transfers, just wondering yer general feeling on what you anticipate happening, especially w/so many top teams rumoured to be changing managers....
5. Do you think MLS needs a marquee team or 3 to stimulate rivalries/dynasties like the BPL has? Not advocating a class system exactly, but maybe more along the lines of brand development & recognition. Beckham helps, but if his team is pants, it doesn't help MLS. Further, MLS seems not yet able to simply throw $ at players to solve the problem like NASL did.

Maybe MLS would be served by having more than one team in a big city like NY to create a derby. Thoughts?

6. Dis/agree that there are at most 3 Canadian cities than can support an MLS team?

Bobby – 1. Nothing wrong with it whatsoever.

2. I hunt through stats sites. There is not one that has everything and in some cases the information doesn’t seem to exist. Most of the time it is a case of getting raw information and adding things up. I don’t think I use any sites that I or others haven’t referenced before; BBC, Fox, Telegraph, Soccerbot (probably my favourite), soccerbase.com, premiersoccerstats, RSSSF, channel 4 are the normal haunts. I also buy the European Book of Football each year which contains a statistical recap of every league in Europe plus international games.

3. Leading the witness – can’t have that. And do you now wish to rephrase the question after today?

4. Prices aren’t necessarily dependent on supply but are more influenced by money in the system. In the last few years that has been Premier League money and there is no indication that the money will dry up. I would also suggest that managers are not looking for strikers per se they are looking for specific types of strikers depending on their needs.

Berbatov is going to give you imagination, silky skills, and the ability to lead the line. Crouch is going to provide you with a lethal five yard pass back towards his own goal and ….come to think of it how many goals has your list of quality strikers actually scored this season?

Huntelaar 34 goals – we know from experience that goals in the Dutch league do not necessarily translate into goals in bigger leagues and he his coming up on 25 years old and nobody has made a real move for him yet. Wonder why? Berbatov 15 goals but also offers more. After that there have not been many goals from the others.

 5. Use the words “brand development” and you are not off to a very good start. Rivalries do not come from plunking a team or two down in the same city. They come from years of games, incidents and shared history.

Rivalries cannot be manufactured and it is not just about location. After all if your theory was right we would be watching the Greater London League every week. One more thing – the NASL did not solve any problems by throwing money at them; they just caused more problems.

6. Vancouver I have no doubt. Montreal is a strange market and I don’t know enough about it. The others - not a hope of being considered let alone being given a chance. It is after all an US league.


Ursusarctos - "Should the Moscow [CL] final turn out to be an all-English affair this season, there will be plenty of talk about the Premier League being the best in the world. It isn't. Torres is right [that La Liga is tougher than the Premier League because matches are more competitive all the way down the league, and that English football is really all about the top four.]" Yes. And it is too bad.

Do you agree with Wilson's (and Torres') analysis? How would you rate Serie A? Does it resemble the PL, in terms of the quality being consistently concentrated among the top (6 or so?) teams, or is it more similar to Spain? Leagues appear to tend to develop a quasi-permanent group of "haves", with the quality dropping off rapidly after-- Scotland's Old Firm and Portugal's Big Three are other examples.

Which major leagues would you consider to have the most turnover amongst the top group of teams, and the most competitive depth, over time (recent decades)-- and which the least? What factors might be responsible for differences between leagues? Or does the competitive depth of leagues go in cycles, with England at the lower end of the scale and Spain at the higher at this point in time (and Scotland doing its own thing)?

If so, will increasing financial rewards, such as CL prize money, tend to fix "elite" teams in place, or are there contrary factors that might help to promote intra-league competitiveness?

Bobby – I don’t care one way or another. You may as well argue about the greatest ever heavyweight boxer. At the end of the day it is what excites and engages you – it has nothing to do with a subjective definition of best.

(I notice another MLS is #### discussion has broken out. We have been around this one before but someone has yet to tell me what constitutes great football that they will watch and bad football that they won’t. Fans relate through building allegiances and they have no idea whether or not they will enjoy a game or will want to throw up when they pay their money or sit down in front of a TV. There is no such thing as all games in X league good; all games in Y league bad. When fans dismiss a league as being rubbish what they mean is they don’t relate to it. It has nothing to do with the standard of play even though they make it out to be.)

In terms of parity England use to be the exception in that there were a number of clubs that had a real chance of picking up silverware every season. The advent of the Premiership killed that extended era and the Premiership took on the same character as Europe’s other main leagues.

Take a look at the teams who have won leagues and cups in each country – it will closely follow the 80/20 rule. Eighty per cent of the silverware will have been won by 20% of the teams. The difference between success and failure long tern in soccer is the same as in business – the access to capital.

No guarantee of success but if you don’t have access to money through a large fan base (which normally means a team from a large city) you cannot compete in the long term. It works the same for leagues – that is why countries with large populations generally have better teams and more of them.

There are a couple of exceptions but they are exceptions, not the rule. I haven’t done the research but my guess is that the French league has probably enjoyed the broadest range of winning sides until Lyon started their domination.

The Champions League is installing or in some cases ingraining what could become a perpetual cycle of relative success for a relatively small number of clubs. Win their league and make it to the CL group stage generates money that their domestic rivals do not have access to; spend the money to improve the squad and qualify for Europe again etc etc.

Rosenborg had it down to an art for over a decade. Platini’s initiative to extend places in the group stage to more countries is in theory good and noble but it may also lead to a greater distortion at the domestic level.

MasMaz - I assume that tonight you will give us your opinion about Rooney being given free reign to do whatever he wants. If not I'd like to hear it.

Bobby – I can’t say that I have noticed any difference in the way that Ferguson is playing Rooney. He has been granted a lot of freedom all season from what I can see.

However, if you are trying to make some ridiculous comparison with Mascherano’s sending off against United then you will have to make a better case. If you can show me an example of Rooney running 40 yards to get in the referee’s face when he has already been given a yellow card and had no involvement in the incident then you might have a case – oh and your teammate has just been carded for yapping at the referee. Otherwise you might want to wait until you have a more credible comparison.

Neophyte - Did you see the Toronto FC/ Real Salt Lake match? It looked like the match ended with only one minute of injury time instead of the three minutes posted by the 4th official. Home cooking or poor clock management and communication from the center to the 4th official?

Bobby – You hit a sore spot. I opted to watch the Blackburn game, tape TFC, go out for the first kick about of the new season and then come home and watch three MLS games. Tape malfunction on the TFC game so the only part I saw was when I switched over at half time in the Blackburn match. I did catch the other two MLS games though.

Maybe the 4th official did as good a job programming his board as I did programming my tape machine!

Aldoray - Football clubs have a Manager and Assistant Manager and coaches. What are the roles each of them play? Does the manager give the overall plan and then the assistant and the coaches carry it out or is the manager always hands on with the squad and everybody else is just peripheral. Or is it different for every club.

Bobby – Unfortunately the answer is the old standby – it depends. Some mangers are out there with the squad every day, some occasionally and others hardly at all. I remember reading a feature on Martin O’Neill during his Celtic days and his view was that a manager can maximize his impact if he limits his contact with the players.

His theory was that with a lot of daily contact the messages that the manager wants to communicate are blunted and the motivational effect is dampened. I can only assume he still feels the same way.

There is a certain irony because that is a view from many years ago. Prior to Busby, Shankly, Stein etc. popularizing the idea of the “Tracksuit Manager” the preparation was left to a coach (rarely coaches!) and the manager would come in on game days to give the team talk. Otherwise he dealt with other things during the week.

JayAlves - Arsenal fans can sleep easy knowing Usmanov /=/ Abramovich from a money standpoint. Last time I checked Usmanov was worth 1/3 or 1/4 of Abramovich and considering how Arsenals profits are going might become an unrealistic team for him to buy assuming the board keep entering no sale agreements.

They floated this theory on WSD not long ago but they were off the mark on one point. They said maybe the board is being cheap on purpose to keep growing the club financially so they can’t be taken over. Thing is though the board on several occasions have dropped the huge money figures that Wenger has if he wants so you could hardly accuse them of being cheap.

Bobby – I don’t think that theory stands up. First off being debt free and enjoying the relative luxury of a fully paid for stadium did not save Manchester United from a highly leverage buy out from the Glazers. The same would hold true for an Arsenal club that is in a poorer position than United were because it still carries a huge stadium debt.

A case could be made that by improving the net financial position (not spending money) Arsenal are actually making the club a more desirable takeover target rather than turning the opportunists off. Companies that enjoy great balance sheets and hoard gobs of cash are often bigger and better targets for raiders than companies with huge debts.

Think about it from a lenders point of view and what would give you greater security –  your money to pay off someone else’s debt or go towards buying cash generating assets with a pile of cash already sitting there?

Footie fan - Do you think Tevez and Rooney combo will work upfront?

Bobby – We discussed this topic on Monday’s show and I don’t see how these two can’t play together. Both attract multiple defenders when they get the ball so I can see lots of opportunities being created. More importantly I can’t see how any coach worth his salt would turn down having two players like that on your team.

Ulsterson - Heinze (or his agent) seems to badly want the move to Liverpool and first team football, but I'm not sure Heinze would start in that back four. Would he move to the middle? Riise?

Bobby – I think Heinze’s versatility as well as his aggressiveness is what Benitez likes about him. Riise has often pushed forward into the midfield as well so overall it gives Benitez a lot more options to pick from.

CIAO - I'm not sure if you read Atleti's blog, but we from her blog, were wondering if you would participate in a fantasy footie league with some of us? That I know of Atleti, gabemar, Verbal, LGB, VVV, ulsterson and last but not least, the crowd favorite, Ringo were also interested in the idea.

Bobby – You can forward details to fsr@mts.net and the e mail should reach me. No promises.

LetsGoBuffalo - Why doesn't Liverpool build the new stadium to full capacity? After seeing United draws in 3 million pounds per match, what are Hicks and Gillette thinking?

In the same article it talked a little about Man U's transfer activity. First, are most deals between clubs now performance based with escalators? Secondly, seeing as two of United's signings have a hard time with injuries(Anderson and Hargreaves) Who do you see as doing the best with their money out of England's top five?

Bobby – Sorry can’t help you on the stadium issue. In terms of transfer deals there are certainly a lot more incentive based deals than you would have found even five years ago. Re best with their money – it would be Chelsea. They needed more depth in certain positions and they have achieved it.

CIAO - will you also have a review of the upcoming Serie A season?

Bobby – A Serie A preview will be up the week of August 20.

CIAO - Since you will not review the Bundesliga can you please give us your opinion on how Bayern, Stuttgart and Werder Bremen prepared for the new season? I know that Stuttgart added Basturk (a big +), but lost Hildebrand and replaced him with a goalkeeper named Schafer. Do you know anything about him? Bremen lost a defender to Real and Klose to their main rivals. Speaking of, Bayern hit the jack pot with all the talent coming to Munich. What do you make of these three teams in their domestic vs UEFA/CL cups?

Bobby – I haven’t had time to look at the Bundesliga yet so I don’t think I can be of much help. Here’s what I know. Stuttgart was the youngest side to win the Bundesliga for 30 odd years so I’m not surprised that they have not made many moves. Schafer was with Nurnberg and played in the side that beat Stuttgart in the German Cup Final in May. Werder Bremen is one of these teams not somehow find a way to replace players when they move on – almost seamlessly. They have signed Carlos Alberto who played and scored when Jose Mourinho’s Porto side won the Champions League in 2003.
Bayern has splashed some serious dollars this summer and none to early. They should have done this a couple of summers ago instead of allowing the team to grow stale.

Neophyte - What do you think of DeMarcus Beasley at Glasgow Rangers? This seems to be in complete contradiction to his slight frame and easily bumped off the ball style. Do you see this working out? Ally McCoist has been complimentary of him so far. Your thoughts....

Bobby – It was DaMarcus Beasley’s performance for the US against Scotland in November 2005 that set the move to Ibrox off. Walter Smith was managing Scotland that day and in the press conference he was very complimentary about Beasley’s performance and remarked that he was the type of player Scotland use to produce but no longer. Beasley needs a shot of confidence and if he gets it you won’t find him being bumped off the ball so much. I don’t think it has anything to do with his “slight frame.”

Henry14 - 1 What happened to Nakamura, he looked like a guy who had a big club waiting to take him?
2 Who do you think are favourite to win the champions league?
3 Do you understand the ac milan transfer policy because they have money and are linked with everyone but are not buying

Bobby–1. He plays in front of 60,000 every second week, how much bigger can it get? I doubt that there are another ten clubs in the word that attract crowds like that.  2. The bookies say Barcelona. 3. They are linked with everyone because that is how it is with big clubs. There is still over three weeks left before the transfer window closes so it is a bit early to draw the conclusion that because they haven’t spent money they won’t spend money. 

Craigyf - So Bobby, love to see if you have any opinions you can publish or share on the coverage of the MLS, how it's packaged, what it could learn from the more established football broadcasters (if anything) and do you have broadcasters/commentators you like.

Also we have had the Beckham stuff play out a little - what is your take on the whole pulava so far?

Bobby – Because there are multiple MLS broadcasters there is no standard presentation. I have seen good and I have seen awful this year. However, the MLS site is excellent and MLSTV is great. To be able to sit down and watch a game on the laptop or to grab the highlights is fantastic. In terms of broadcasters/commentators in general there are a lot more bad ones than good ones unfortunately - particularly in the area of colour commentators. There are far too many that seem to think that their job is to (a) second guess the officials courtesy of replays or (b) act as back-up play-by-play announcers. The colour guy’s job is to tell us why something happened not to repeat what we can see for ourselves.

As for David Beckham – I have a self imposed Beckham embargo in place until he kicks a ball in anger. Until then I don’t care.