Sunday afternoon at Goodison
Park. Hardly the proper time for football but
nonetheless. Tense game with some
expansive and beautiful Everton play.
Pompey’s very own Diddy man evades his markers to grab an equalizer for
the visitors and the home side is discombobulated for a while. Normal service resumes and Tiny Tim gets
Everton’s second whilst the Yak scores the third of the game and his eighteenth
of the season.
A convoluted trip limits the
number of away fans although the home fans turn up in decent numbers for what
is a European six pointer. The weather
and pitch are fine and the Panto Dame predicts a bore draw. Hardly serious football journalism from Lawro
when both sides have only managed two (home/away) draws from league play this
season. The stakes are high and at both
teams are unbeaten in three so something has to give.
Moyes is starting to encounter
the problems of having a full and functioning squad coupled with the need to
drop or change players. Difficult but a
nice problem to have.
Howard keeps goal, Hibbert occupies
the right back berth after a solid performance against Petrov, Yobo and
Jagielka continue their strong partnership in the centre and Lescott stays at
left back. Carsley and Neville sit deep
with Pienaar Osman and Cahill getting licenses to attack with Yakubu as the
main forward. This is very firmly an
attacking 4 5 1.
"IT'S OK LADS! MOST OF THEM ARE ONLY THIS TALL!"
DAVID JAMES ON THE MIDGET GEMS!
Redknapp has plenty to chose from
and opts for a large 4 5 1. James
continues his long streak in goal the back four has the energy at the flanks in
John son and Hreidarsson and solidity in the middle with Campbell and Distin. Strung across the middle are Bouba Diop,
Diarra, Muntari and Krancjar with Defoe and Kanu up front as a little and large
partnership.
"IS THE BIG GUY ENGLISH?"
CAPELLO, HOT OF THE HELICOPTER FROM BOLTON.
PLENTY OF ENGLISH TALENT ON SHOW!
Before Capello has even taken his
seat (the Italian is hot off the helicopter after watching Bolton
lose) Yakubu has duly scored the opener.
A brisk Everton attack and a clumsy challenge see Pienaar deliver a
nothing ball into the area. Distin is
too slow, John son just watches and the rest of the defence barely moves as
Yobo flicks the ball on for his countryman to stoop and head beyond James. Clocked at fifty seconds.
"FEED THE YAK AND HE WILL SCORE!"
JOHN SON AND JAMES CAN DO NOTHING TO STOP NUMBER SEVENTEEN
Before it’s even begun the game
has turned into a major challenge for Portsmouth. One which in the first half they barely rise to.
Huge swathes of the first half
see some delightful Everton passing and movement which bamboozles and befuddles
Pompey.
My highlight is Pienaar and Cahill
passing to each other as they advance down the left ignorant (seemingly) of the
Pompey defenders they leave for dead.
Nothing comes of all the fancy footwork but a few good saves and
clearances from a stout Pompey back line or a wayward strike from Phil
Neville.
Osman and Cahill have chances and
James gets away with one of his trademark Calamity’s ™.
The Everton player with the
hottest boots is Irish; Carsley has a free kick and two more chances, none of which
find the target.
"EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING
THOSE GUYS ARE FAST AS LIGHTENING
SOMETIMES IT'S A WAS LITTLE BIT FRIGHTENING
EVERYBODY IS KUNG FU FUGHTING
LA LA LA LAAH!"
THE KUNG FU OF KUYT IS PRACTISED AGAIN AT GOODISON PARK.
John son skinned Pienaar early on
but produced a poor cross and Kranjcar briefly sputtered into life in a half
that until the thirty eighth minutes the visitors looked practically dead and
buried as they foundered on a calmly wonderful Everton back six.
The ground goes into that stunned
away goal silence when from out of the blue John son lays in a lovely ball
which Howard should be rushing off his line to claim. The big yank doesn’t and the little Englishman
slips between two vastly bigger but static defenders to graze the ball with the
faintest of touches beyond a flailing Howard for the equalizer.
Who picked up Defoe’s run and why
didn’t Howard move. For a normally solid
defence that was shocking.
"SILENCE IS GOLDEN"
UNLESS IT'S THAT GHASTLY SILENCE THAT FOLLOWS AN AWAY GOAL
POMPEY'S VERY OWN MIDGET GEM GETS AN UNEXPECTED EQUALIZER.
Everton still press in the last
five but some of the conviction has slipped from their play.
Moyes keeps things the same and
Harry must have given some sort of fire-breathing-barnstorming-Churchillean
monologue to inspire his players.
The visitors emerged from the
tunnel with their proverbial tails up, Defoe and Yakubu were swapping goal
celebrations and everyone was happy.
Ten minutes into the half and
Everton had barely gotten into second gear.
The champagne had gone flat and it took a determined team effort to haul
their sorry arses back into the game, they were just getting going and starting
to move forward with some purpose when the key managerial input came.
Moyes switched to a 4 4 2 and
brought off Hibbert for John son, Neville slotted in to the right back role and
John son caused immediate mayhem.
A rapid and ball hungry outlet
pulled the Pompey defence all over the park.
The interplay between the front
two was nice to see and effective, Pompey retreated back into their shell and
even the addition of Utaka’s pace and skill made little difference to the
Blues’ dominance.
Things were still tense though as
without a goal Pompey could sneak one or the game could end drawn.
Tensions eased and the noise
level rose after some neat play on the left produced a classic Cahill headed
goal.
SOMEWHERE IN TIM CAHILL'S LINEAGE IS A WALLABY!
THE EXCELLENT OZZIE LEAPS TO GET HIS TENTH OF THE SEASON
The Australian played a ball out
to the left from deep, Yakubu got on the end of it and played in Pienaar, the
South African whose crosses the ball into the six yard box, Cahill has
continued his run and not been picked up and rose magnificently to bury one,
his tenth of the year.
John son scored but the goal was
called back for a tight offside and James had another Calamity ™ yet got way
with it.
The icing on the cake (albeit not
a clean sheet) was Yakubu’s second goal.
Portsmouth lost the ball in the Everton
half and John son picked up the clearance, his crossfield ball flew fourty
yards and caught Campbell in an indecisive mood,
the ex-Gunner let the ball go behind him and the Yak took the gift, turned Campbell inside around and
hammered the ball beyond a stunned James.
FEED THE YAK AND HE WILL SCORE!
NUMBER EIGTHEEN IS ABOUT TO BEAT JAMES AFTER YAKUBU BAMBOOZLES CAMPBELL.
Everton finished
professionally.
Everton played well; they dug
themselves a hole, blundered around in it for a while before pulling themselves
out of it and playing even better.
Happy with the goals, unhappy
with equalizer and the twenty minutes of mental lethargy.
Happiest with the mental
toughness that turned the game around in the second half.
Loved the changed from 4 5 1 to 4
4 2.
EXHIBIT B - HOW BEING A FOOTBALL MANAGER WILL SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR COMPLEXION!
The first half was an intimate
exercise; football in microsm; play well but don’t score and you leave yourself
vulnerable.
2008 is becoming a good year for
Everton in the Premier League.
Seems the defeats in the two domestic
cups were forgotten in the cold of Norway and the team was celebrated
in the six-one European Night.
Thursday will be the toughest
test for the team of the season so far.
Fiorentina are good, hungry, and unfamiliar. To repeat the efforts and enjoy the
performances of the 1984/85 season the team needs to play very well against one
of Italy’s
best sides. Tough but eminently
dooable. COYB
Pompey weren’t in the game for
long periods but could have gotten three points.
"OIY LADS! QUICK! OVER 'ERE - LOOKS LIKE HARRY"S GOING FOR THE HIGH NOTE!" MR REDKNAPP's URGING HIS TEAM ON WITH SONG!
On small things games turn, for
example Defoe. On another day Pompey
score a second and kill the game. Today
they weren’t good enough to do that but good enough to frustrate and get at
Everton without causing Howard too many worries.
Mariner. Pretty good game lah!
Note to Andre: check the video of
the game, notice that Distin had his arms all over Lescott whilst holding him
down, and notice the pushes John son applied at crucial moments to Lescott and
Yakubu. All three offences happened in
the penalty area. Penalties, maybe I’m
not an expert, I’m just mentioning them in case you didn’t see them.
Cracking game; great crowd; open, attacking play from both sides with Liverpool lucky to grab two points away from Spurs; 2-2.
A sunny Sunday afternoon at
Anfield with a delicious game in prospect.
Two side really needing a win, both able to score, one side weak at the
back another coming off an atrocious midweek loss in Europe. Two managers under pressure for different
reason, Jol; his side in the bottom three; needing a good performance to
silence his critics, Benitez need to avoid a repeat of Wednesday’s poor
showing.
Benitez keeps Torres up front
alongside Voronin; a midfield four of Mascherano, Gerrard, Pennant and Riise
provide a nice balance of bite and attack; Carragher anchors a back four with Hyypia,
Arbeloa and Finnan; notable absentees being Leto and Aurelio; Reina stays in
goal.
Jol started his strongest
attacking pairing, Keane and Berbatov up front; Tainio and Bale work the
midfield outside Zokora and Jenas; Robinson is protected by a back four of
Dawson, Kaboul with lee and Chimbonda on the flanks.
The early going is hesitant, both
sides getting the measure of their opposition; Pennant’s running on the right
allows him to find Riise with a back post cross which flies wide; Torres
combines with Gerrard who cushions a pass into the path of Voronin, Robinson
saves well; the midfield play is attacking and the open spaces are used well by
both teams; Liverpool are using the ball better but Tottenham aren’t giving in
without a fight.
A quick Riise throw in for Torres
to run onto is well marshaled by Kaboul; Tottenham’s long ball causes problems
all day, Keane gets beyond Carragher and almost brings the ball down but the
chance evaporates; the ball goes forward and Gerrard is manhandled by Jenas,
the home team get a free kick in a dangerous position, the Captain takes it,
the hard shot goes through a poor wall, Robinson can only parry and Voronin is
quicker to the ball than Keane for a poacher’s goal and a one nil lead.
Spurs get a second chance after
their first free kick is poorly delivered; Jenas whips it in at the near post
and Keane flicks it on, no Spurs player can get to the back post and the chance
goes behind; Jenas, Chimbonda and Keane combine, Liverpool half clear but Spurs
recycle the ball and Keane’s through ball into the area is met by Zokora but
Liverpool block the shot; the ball comes out to Gerrard who plays a long ball
for Torres, Kaboul beats the Spaniard to the ball but concedes a corner; Bale
comes inside with a mazy run and when Liverpool open up for him he displays his
one footedness, doesn’t take the shot and goes down looking for a foul; the
tempo is fast and the game is pretty open with chances coming at either end;
Gerrard dispossesses Lee too easily and Keane wounds Hyypia but shoots
over.
Torres and Riise work a nice one
two but the cross goes behind; the middle opens up for Torres with some soft
Spurs tackles, he fires wide, Voronin tries the same, running at Spurs and
falls over but is given a free kick which Gerrard fires against the foot of the
post; justice done.
Spurs are working the Liverpool
defence as well, Zokora finds Bale who lays it off to Keane, the Irishman’s
flick finds Berbatov who beats both Carragher and Reina and flicks the ball
goal wards, the shot lacks weight allowing Carragher to clear off the line;
Dawson finds Jenas who turns and shoots high; Mascherano starts a move, Voronin
works the ball to Arbeloa who finds his compatriot with a good cross; Robinson
smothers the shot; Gerrard put a ball up field for Torres, the striker lays it
invitingly for Voronin who doesn’t shoot; he lays the ball back to Gerrard who
shoots, the delay gave Spurs time to get back and Dawson blocks. Liverpool clear a Bale cross then Dawson does the same with
a useful pennant delivery.
Spurs start to believe and press
the home side; Jenas forcing Pennant into giving away a corner kick from about
forty yards out; Keane fashions a chance for Tainio but Hyypia is able to
block, the final flourish for the Spurs lets them go to the dressing room
level; a trademark Robinson long clearance is found by Berbatov who out jumps
his marker to head the ball on; Keane slips between Carragher and Finnan and
slots it beyond Reina.
Neither Jol not Benitez make any
changes at the half.
Liverpool are asleep for the
whistle and get caught out with another Robinson long clearance; Berbatov beats
Hyypia in the air and Keane is the quickest in the area, acrobatically burying
the knock on for a 2-1 lead.
That was a home crowd silencer!
The game is scrappy in the middle
but Zokora is a man with a mission, flinging himself for everything and winning
more often then not; Gerrard has gone; mostly; AWOL in the middle; Torres
attacks but Kaboul is able to clear; Pennant beats Lee but Dawson; gaining in
confidence; heads clear under pressure from Riise; Finnan picks up a lose Spurs
ball and attacks, he finds Pennant who crosses, Kaboul clears behind; then Pennant
is poorly offside onto a neat Voronin through ball; Bale does well to keep the
ball when pressured by Mascherano; he slots the ball inside to Keane who finds
plays the ball into a late arriving Jenas; nerves or something gets the better
of the England man and he fluffs the opportunity wide.
Voronin is all over the park for Liverpool; attacking and defending; mirroring the efforts
of Zokora.
Reina must come out of his area
to stop Berbatov getting in a cross when through onto a long ball; Torres gets
onto a long ball and Voronin is wayward with the shot; Spurs loose possession
in the middle and Torres comes forward but is pushed wide, he finds help in
Voronin who lays it off to a very late arriving Gerrard only for the England
man to skank his shot over.
Babel comes on for Arbeloa as
Benitez looks for the equalizer; Dawson gets an unfathomable yellow; Spurs look
unconvincing from a corner kick but clear their lines; Babel backs into Jenas
for a Liverpool free kick; Kuyt comes on for Pennant; Lee combines well with
Bale who runs inside at the Liverpool defence, they back off leaving Voronin to
come back and win the ball; Mascherano dives in the area but gets no card.
Things are hotting up, Spurs
haven’t gone into a 4 5 1 and tried to hold onto their lead; they keep at
Liverpool looking for the killer goal; Dawson is good at the back aided by
Kaboul; they are sitting back somewhat as when Bale find Berbatov with a
scrumptious cross field ball the Hungarian is totally isolated so decides a
shot is in order; Malbranque comes on for Tainio, a sign Spurs aren’t going to
merely defend their lead; Zokora gets beyond Voronin deep on the right but
slips before he can get his cross off; Finnan fires one at Robinson and there
England number one spills another ball; Dawson is quicker to it than Torres but
only by a whisker; Benayoun comes on for Voronin.
Liverpool frantically search for
the equalizer but the final ball or shot lacks the quality of a calm mind,
chances are grabbed at rather than stroked; Riise shots high when a pass would
have been better; Mascherano can’t beat Robinson at the near post from a Kuyt
cross; then the Argentinean fires wide from distance.
Chimbonda gets forward and finds
Bale, Reina is forced out of his area and is lucky to get a foul; Finnan isn’t
closed down on the right and delivers a back post cross; Dawson was drawn in a
touch and Torres had just drifted further out, they both go to the ball but the
young Spaniard’s movement and leap is better than Dawson’s and he buries the
equalizer.
Reina will be thankful for a
point; Liverpool looked good in the first half
and played some expansive passing football; Voronin eschewed a chance and they
had a couple more good opportunities, Gerrard’s free kick onto the post the
stand out. Some refs wouldn’t have given
the free kick for Liverpool’s first.
The defence was poor for both
goals and they were often overwhelmed in midfield; a single moment turned the
game rather than a concerted team effort.
Things don’t look too bright in L-987-987-987-987-987.
Jol looked unhappy at conceding
the late goal and dropping two points; Liverpool
could have gone two nil up in the first half but his team showed good spirit,
excellent tactics and sharp finishing to score either side of half time. Then instead of sitting back and trying to
absorb pressure; something this Spurs side aren’t suited to; they took the game
to Liverpool; mostly dominant in midfield during the second half they fashioned
some half chances and Jenas should have at least troubled Reina; the late goal
was scrappy defending and class from Torres, Dawson will learn.
Halsey mostly refereed well, but
he gave a few soft decisions to the home side; some referees wouldn’t have
given the first free kick; he booked Dawson for an ball winning challenge yet
didn’t book Mascherano for a dive in the Spurs area; Babel was ferociously
backing into Jenas yet won the free kick and Liverpool got a couple of soft
corners.
For a home game the Liverpool fans were consistently out voiced by the
vibrant traveling Spurs supporters.
Plenty of possession can’t hide Manchester
United’s striking woes; Manchester City put up a stubborn defence and grab a winner, 1-0
at the City of Manchester Stadium.
This Manchester
derby was different, two wins and a chance to top the fledgling Premier League
table saw a packed house with vociferous support from both the red and blue
halves of Manchester,
an overcast August day made conditions ideal for football.
Eriksson made some changes as he
tries to integrate all the new signings he’s made over the summer, Bianchi was
replaced up front by Bojinov, Elano was alongside; a midfield of Geovanni,
Johnson, Hamann and Petrov provided a touch of steel and a touch of guile, a
back four saw, Corluka and Garrido on the flanks with Richards and Dunne as centre
backs, son of Schmeichel remained the stand in for the injured Isaksson.
An injury hit United saw van den
Sar in goal, Brown, Ferdinand,, Vidic and Evra provided the back four, Nani
started on the left with Giggs occupying the right, Hargreaves and Carrick
occupied the midfield, one to sit the other to go forward, Scholes and Tevez
made up the front two with the expectation that the Englishman would be playing
behind the Argentinean.
The opening few moments were a
cagey affair, United started well, easily keeping the ball with fluid passing
and crisp delivery, they seemed concerned with possession more than attack. Brown fouls Petrov on the left as City gained
some rare possession.
Nani makes space on the left but
looses possession. When the opening
appears United pounce; Tevez finds Scholes on the edge of the area, the ball is
played into the path of Nani, he goes near post allowing Schmeichel to parry
the ball away, poor choice of shots for the Portuguese winger.
Tevez wins a corner kick off a
Scholes through ball but City clear their lines; Brown goes forward on the
right, City clear; Scholes finds only the ‘keeper with his through ball.
Bojinov is brought off for Mpenza,
his knee injured after an awkward landing.
Corluka and Geovanni combine on
the left, United clear easily and retain possession; Tevez works the ball with
Nani on the United left and finds Carrick with a deep ball, he looses
possession and City clear; Nani fires in a promising cross which goes behind
for a goal kick.
On the left Petrov makes a
touchline run, he dives as Brown challenges for the ball and earns the England man a
talking to; Richards delivers a ball forward into no one.
Giggs cuts inside and plays in
Scholes, Nani receives the ball but takes one touch before he shoots and is
closed down, he should have hit the ball first time; a beautifully crafted,
flowing, passing move covering both flanks and several United players comes to
nothing.
Scholes is sitting deeper in a
five man midfield and City are just sitting back, they can’t get more than a
sniff of the ball in the early going.
Scholes plays in Giggs who drops
a ball to Tevez and runs into space on the left, the Argentinean doesn’t see
the Welshman’s runs and gives the ball away, Giggs is furious; he does better
when running onto a through ball, his pace takes him past Dunne but Richards
times his tackle to perfection and takes the ball away for City to clear. Nani, creating lots of trouble on the left;
gets the ball from Scholes and wins a corner off Corluka, the first delivery is
cleared behind at the far post and the second is played short to Giggs to
Hargreaves who delivers an angled ball in, Scholes' header is too soft to take
advantage of the flailing Dane but City clear their lines and get the ball out
to Petrov who promptly wastes possession.
Nani and Evra work the left flank
and a delightful back heel from Nani puts Evra through on goal, a last minute
tackle as Evra is pulling the trigger forces the shot to be shanked
behind.
Hamann gets a foot on the ball
and passes to Mpenza, the Belgian is robbed by Carrick and United surge
forward, Tevez gets the ball but is pushed wide by Richards; retaining
possession United switch flanks, Evra and Nani combining to win a corner, City
clear the area and hand United back the ball, Scholes finds space on the edge
of the area after drifting around Hamann but he takes one too many touches and
is closed down.
City have their first shot when
Johnson fires high from 35 yards out.
Geovanni drifts past his marker
but has his run baulked, Richards flings himself at the ball to keep it in play
and City retain possession, they work the ball back in the centre; through
Hamann; back to Geovanni and he takes a shot as Ferdinand back off him, a
wicked deflection of the defender takes the ball past a diving van den Sar
inside his left hand post for a shock City opener.
Brown gets space and time on the
right but decides to foul his marker for a yellow card.
Evra works the ball inside to
Nani and it finds Scholes who gets a pass off to Tevez, the striker drops a
ball back out to Hargreaves who delivers a poor cross behind for a goal
kick.
City enjoy a brief spell of
possession; Hamann, Petrov, Garrido, Elano and finally Mpenza combine in a
fluid and resilient passing move which sees the Belgian’s shot blocked and
Tevez break up field only for Dunne to clear.
Corluka works the ball to Elano
but the flat cross is gathered up by van den Sar.
Giggs get on the end of a Nani
cross and stabs the ball goal bound, Schmeichel parries it, Richards clears it
as Scholes looks on in befuddlement.
Hamann is starting to get into
the game, he tracks Scholes and limits the influence of the United midfielder
and disrupts the United rhythm as well as steadying City.
Petrov gets the ball again on the
left and this time is fouled by Nani.
Brown combine with Nani on the
right flank but the play is snuffed out by Schmeichel’s smart pick up; Tevez
delivers a ball for Carrick which is too narrow; Scholes, Carrick and Evra
combine to fee the ball to Giggs, Corluka wins the ball and clears for City;
Dunne clears the next Giggs ball in for a corner, Evra uses his skills to find
space in the area and fires a pass to Nani but the shot is wide from 25 yards
out; Ferdinand gets forward and works the ball with Brown and Nani, Carrick
looses the ball and ends the promising move.
Both managers keep the sides the
same.
Hamann and Scholes continue their
tussle and the German gets the better of the Englishman with a free kick.
Garrido concedes a corner after
tracking back a long Nani run. The pacy
ball in is met well by Vidic but crashes against the bar; Schmeichel didn’t
clear his lines at all and merely flailed his arms at the shot, grateful for
the woodwork saving his bacon; Scholes fires the rebound wide from close in;
inexplicably.
Petrov gets to show his skills
with a great ball delivered into the heart of the United area from the right,
United manage to clear.
Dunne clears up an attack
involving Giggs, Tevez and Nani down the right; Tevez wins a corner off Dunne
and City clear; Tevez plays in a central Scholes who can’t find Giggs with his
pass to the flank; Hargreaves and Scholes combine to play in Nani City hold
firm and United retain possession, they come at their neighbors again with
Vidic, he delivers a great ball in for Giggs, the winger delivers the ball into
the box for two of his team mates, but Dunne’s reading of the situation was
lightning quick and he clears the ball between two red shirts.
Hamann gets a yellow for a cynical
trip on Giggs; Corluka gets a yellow soon after.
Carrick cuts through the middle
and flashes the ball wide to Nani, with space to work the winger can only send
a ball high and behind the three United players at the far post; Carrick works
the ball to Scholes, he play in Hargreaves, Brown gets the next ball and feeds
Nani and again Richards clears.
Giggs feeds Tevez on the edge of
the area, a neat back heel finds Scholes but his #### is poor, high and
wide.
Nani must be tired, he is taken
off for Eagles and was by far the most threatening of the United front
players.
Tevez finds Scholes who play in
Giggs out wide on the left, a signature Giggs ball is played in but Scholes and
Eagles can’t get the touch that would give them a goal and the ball goes
behind.
City continue to defend and
struggle to get any meaningful possession going forward.
Schmeichel claims a cross in from
Nani; just like his dad.
City bring out Elano; largely
superfluous and bring in Bianchi to act as the lone front man.
Giggs; having freedom to roam;
runs at City through the middle, he flashes a pass out to Eagles on the right
flank he continues to run in but the cross is put behind for a corner, Hamann
clears up field to Petrov and the Bulgarian holds the ball up then plays in the
German, Hamann finds Geovanni a poor touch allows Evra to clear.
Scholes puts in Hargreaves who
sees a shot blocked, the ball comes out for Tevez and he then has a shot
blocked.
Hargreaves needlessly fouls
Geovanni and City get a free kick 28 yards out.
The Brazilian gets the ball over the wall but it’s too soft to trouble van
den Sar.
Carrick works the ball to Giggs
then sends the return pass to Eagles whose early ball in is cleared for a
corner; Dunne clears the subsequent ball in despite the big three coming
forward again.
Ferdinand and Bianchi play
handbags in the byline and the referee is imminently sensible.
Carrick feeds Scholes who
delivers a great chip forward but Tevez is offside.
Hamann plays in Geovanni who
feeds Petrov who delivers a long ball to Mpenza, his cross is cleared and
United come away with the ball, it goes long to Eagles but Schmeichel is
quickly off his line to smother the ball.
Corluka holds up Giggs but the
winger recovers to deliver a cross which goes wide. United try to change things up with the
inclusion of O’Shea; in at right back and Campbell
on as a striker; Brown and Carrick come off.
Ball and Geovanni combine briefly
before the Brazilian loses the ball.
Campbell gets one wide to Giggs but the return
ball in is cleared by Richards, Tevez gets it and sees his shot go wide.
City are slowing up and showing
definite signs of tiring.
Carrick and Mpenza clash and the
balls pops loose, Corluka sees an opportunity and drives one in from range just
over van der Sar’s crossbar.
Hargreaves, Evra and Giggs
combine in right only to get a goal kick decision.
Mpenza gets onto a long ball on
the right and fires in a cross for Bianchi, Ferdinand steps in and clears;
Mpenza fouls Evra giving United a free kick in a dangerous area, City clear
their lines without the help of a flailing Schmeichel.
Giggs puts in an early ball for
Tevez which simply has too much pace for the Argentinean; Hargreaves wins the
ball from a dithering Petrov and launches United forward but Tevez is held up
by Hamann and Corluka; Evra feeds a ball to Eagles on the flank the cross comes
in and is cleared by Dunne; Tevez fires the clearance wide.
Petrov makes some time and space
and gets the ball out to Mpenza; he cuts inside and fires over from a tight
angle.
Evra puts in a ball which City
clear behind, Schmeichel flaps as the ball sails past him and a surprised Tevez
can only head wide from two yards out at the near post with the goal gaping and
open; van den Sar joins in the attack as United have a corner kick from Giggs’
deflected cross, Dunne clears.
Ferdinand gets a yellow for
gobbing off and Dunne clears the ball out from United’s final attack.
Grabbing a goal against the run
of play and holding off your local rivals for 90 minutes will please the Swede,
an Injury to Bojinov will cause concern but overall the endeavour of the
players was excellent, particularly Dunne and Richards who kept their heads and
handled everything that was thrown at them; Schmeichel showed his inexperience
but came up with a couple of key saves their wasn’t much to shout about going
forward but Hamann was good and the team was focused on defence. Tonight
City sit atop the Premier
League.
United are playing like Arsenal,
plenty of lovely possession and passing and movement but very little in the way
of an end product. Ferguson even had to use a young untried
striker in order to create something.
Dominance of possession and nothing to show for it will probably mean
some new hairdryers at Old Trafford. For
a team not to pepper the opposition goal when a ‘keeper has shown he’s
vulnerable is awful, Rooney and co. are so well needed. A pretty terrible start to the season; two
points from three games.
Clattenburg had another excellent
game, he kept things flowing, made correct; mostly; decisions and used common
sense when things went askew. If he keep
on like this he’ll be going deep into a Cup competition.
Well it’s finally arrived,
Beckham’s LA Galaxy debut; supposedly.
Yallop and Lalas gambled, and it
paid off.
Commentary team for the game is
Tommy Smith, Dave O’Brien and Eric Wynalda.
Show anchors are Rob Stone and Julie Foudy and the man on the sidelines
is Allen Hopkins.
Red carpet and the huge media
presence aside what is going on? Its
football, Jim, but not as we know it!
Let’s get to the game first,
actually not a bad one.
Chelsea were much better than the
Galaxy, better passing and choice of passes and much better at winning the
second ball, this is what led to their goal; a static Galaxy defense couldn’t
clear effectively and Terry hammered it home off both posts.
Other highlights for Chelsea FC
include Florent Malouda; new French winger looked good on the ball and
dangerous with crosses, his shot early on from Perreira’s cross was made to
look like an easy skill. The defending
and midfield of Chelsea
was dominant throughout; Essien is class; tackling tough and winning more of
the 50 50 balls than LA; for a team on a warm up tour they played reasonable
but were lucky not to concede two.
The LA Galaxy had two wonderful
chances spurned; Cobi Jones, who struggled in the first ten minutes but then
got into the game delivered a pin point accurate, far post cross off his left
boot but an onrushing Martino could only fluf####olden opportunity to
score.
The second chance came in the
second half when Donovan was the recipient of a perfect cross from substitute
Kirk; alone in the box and with time he fluffed badly and the chance went way
over the bar; Donovan flourishes out wide, not in the middle. Xavier was decent at the back and Gray had a
good first half. Beckham will have some
competition for free kicks, a Donovan delivery was well met by Xavier and Cech
saved well.
One nil was a fair result.
For this game summary I really
wanted to examine the commentary; who did it; was it accurate and did it do the
game justice?
Tommy Smyth has done commentary
on games for the UEFA Champions League, MLS, World Cup, La Liga and Serie A,
he’s actually not a bad commentator, just a bit too much of a caricature for my
tastes; after all he was born Scottish. His
commentary during the game was average, just too much chat about hairstyles and
not enough about what was going on down on the pitch, he also talked about
Cech’s protective headgear being about superstition.
Eric Wynalda was a top US professional
football player, 34 goals in 107 appearances for the MNT so he knows a thing or
two. His credentials in broadcasting include
a World Cup and a number of MLS games, including the play offs, he wasn’t in
the sort of form that earned him a 2007 suspension though. His game comments were top drawer, always
relevant and informative; he kept the focus on the pitch and would have helped
the novice viewer understand the game.
He talked about Chelsea’s dominance at
winning the second ball, the on field relationship between the two Chelsea forwards, Drogba
and Shevchenko; he described their body language as being uncommunicative and
moments later a sweet pass from Drogba across the box didn’t connect with
Shevchenko; the Ukrainian forward went to the wrong place. .
Dave O’Brien; cited by World
Soccer Daily as the worst football commentator ever; brings his unique style of
personalizing the game and players for the American fans. Basically he talks tosh and isn’t actually
very good, but that’s OK, the US public doesn’t want to actually understand the
game through the consumption of excellent play-by-play or a detailed analysis
of the tactical nuances of the game, it; apparently; is more interested in off
the field social aspects of the game or players. Tonight he was not terrible; although I’ve
never met anyone who had trouble differentiating the Scottish Champions and
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. He does have
trouble identifying the man on the ball, they are called referees not umpires
and you can’t blame him for the crappy voice overs on the in game
advertizemnets; it’s his job.
Allen Hopkins has been around
football for a while and played as well, his in game interviews are usually OK
but do we have to miss sections of the game to listen to and watch him?
Bonnie Bernstein has been around
all the major US
sports, she’s a well known reporter around the game. Schwarzenegger, Hewitt and Carey can give me
their comments outside the play; I don’t want to miss a thing.
It was truly beautiful when Drew
Carey was ignoring Bonnie and her microphone to watch the play. She’s fine but please, not during the
game.
The anchors for the game were Rob
Stone and Julie Foudy; an interesting combination. Stone has a history of broadcasting football
and is actually not bad, a tad too eager to drop the celebrity name but maybe
the occasion demanded it, he does have the American inability to grasp nil nil
though.
Foudy; great US WNT player; 271
caps; plenty of trophies and commentated for a while. She kind of grounded Stone, asked a few
pertinent questions and was OK.
Star of the show for me was Alexi
Lalas at half time. Brutally honest and
direct, I love it. He was candid about
being under prepared for the sheer volume of media intrusion after Beckham’s
arrival; teasing enough with a large hint that Beckham would play in the second
half and funny when describing his first half viewing partners; two aging
rockers.
ESPN gets a C for their
coverage. When the game was on the
screen it was good, some nice and unusual camera angles; the blimp and the
overheads; and a generally sound coverage.
What bring them down are the constant interruptions; 30 on 30 sucks,
interviews during the game sucks and adverts during the play suck big time; any
interruption to the viewing pleasure really sucks. It is s major issue US TV will have
to work at, it won’t be long before some irrelevant touchline reporter is
blabbing away at a live game and we miss a goal.
As to Mr. Beckham, well fifteen
minutes isn’t much time to make an impact, a couple of good balls and a dodgy
moment when he went to ground; c’mon what did you expect, he obviously wasn’t
ready to play but it was a friendly, the world was watching and it was
expected. Giving a recovering player a run
out in a meaningless game is sound tactics, nice one Frank.
