The Best…..

Arjen Robben repaid some of that large transfer fee with a two goal debut for Bayern Munich against last season’s Champions Wolfsburg. That should take a little pressure off manager Louis van Gaal if only for a short time. 

There has never been a question about Robben’s ability but there have been justifiable concerns about his capacity to stay fit or to play when not exactly 100%.

After an impressive opening day showing against Siena Milan were destroyed on Saturday by a rampant Inter side. Inter tore into their city rivals and had too much power, strength, movement and pace – Milan could not live with Inter.

Many of Jose Mourinho’s new signings were prominent with Thiago Motta scoring a peach of a goal, Milito thundering home a penalty and Wesley Sneijder effortlessly filling into the playmaker’s role.

However, the best performance was by Samuel Eto’o. He didn’t show up on the score sheet but his mobility and intelligent running sent panic through the Milan defence.

A word of praise as well for Milan keeper Marco Storari – he may have picked the ball out the Milan net four times but without him the score would have been a lot  worse.

Real Madrid ran out 3-2 winners against Deportivo La Coruna but it might have easily been four. After failing to hold an Alonso drive the Depor keeper Aranzubia recovered from a prone position to parry Benzema’s follow up effort on to the crossbar and to safety. A stunning and brave save.

The best game of the weekend was perhaps Roma v Juventus. Diego was again the star for Juve as he scored their first two goals. The first was of particular note as he ran from the half way line before pocking the ball past Roma keeper Julio Sergio.  De Rossi equalized with a terrific blast from 25 yards+ after being set up from a quickly taken free kick. All-in-all a terrific game of football.

Perhaps it should not fall under the category of “best” but the resilience of Manchester United showed through again on Saturday. United struggled for lengthy stretches of the game but waited for their opportunities to come around. Giggs did little except play a splendid pass that led to the penalty award and then floated in the free kick that Diaby inexplicably headed into his own net.


Honorable mentions

We don’t get many opportunities to watch Maccabi Haifa play but even with Red Bull Salzburg providing disappointing opposition there was much to admire in the Israeli champions 3-0 win on Tuesday in the Champions League play-off second leg. Katan was outstanding in midfield – he has just been recalled to the national team squad – while 18-year-old Mohammad Ghadir looks to be an exceptional talent.

Thursday’s Champions League draw matched Maccabi Haifa with Bayern Munich, Juventus and Bordeaux and it seems unlikely that the Israeli side can move on to the last 16 by finishing in one of the top two group spots.  However, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Bordeaux should approach their games in Tel Aviv with caution.

The San Jose Earthquakes defence was certainly culpable as they backed off New England midfielder Wells Thompson. Nonetheless, Thompson’s left footed curler from the edge of the Earthquakes penalty box to the far corner was an absolute cracker.  Thompson’s goal turned out to be the game winner in a crucial 2-1 win.

Michel Bastos is enhancing his reputation with some great long range shooting. The Lyon midfielder was on target again scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win against AS Nancy.


Best forgotten…..

In the end it did not cost his team points. But Dimitar Berbatov’s miss, with only the keeper to beat in the second minute of added time, as United tried to hold off Arsenal, was shocking. As it was only an eagle-eyed assistant referee who flagged William Gallas offside saved the Bulgarian from ridicule.

A rookie coaching mistake by Milan’s new boss Leonardo against Inter in the Milan derby on Saturday? With Gattuso on a yellow card and injured Leonardo asked him to keep playing until Clarence Sedoorf readied himself for action.  Before the substitution could take place Gattuso slid in late on Wesley Sneijder and another card ensued. Milan were down 2-0 and reduced to 10-men with no way back.

How did Mike Dean manage to issue 9 yellow cards in a Manchester United v Arsenal game that hardly contained a bad foul?

Any groundskeepers out there looking for work? If so you might want to apply to the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The pitch looks like a turnip patch. 

Stat facts…..

Before their 3-1 loss to Aston Villa, Liverpool had gone undefeated in the Premier League at Anfield since December 2007 – a run of 31 games. 

Stoke’s 1-0 win against Sunderland was the 9th time in their last 17 meetings that the same final score was produced.

After beating Portsmouth 1-0 Manchester City took their run of clean sheets in this season’s Premier League to three. Combined with a 1-0 win at the end of last season this is the first time they have managed to keep the opposition off the score sheet for four straight Premier League games.

Juventus’ 3-1 win over Roma means that it is over four years since Roma last tasted a victory in this bitterly contested match. Roma’s last win came in February 2004 and in the nine matches since they have lost seven and drawn two.  

Ligue Une has earned the handle as the lowest scoring league in Europe over the last few seasons. However, it took until round four this past weekend to record the first scoreless draw of the season as US Boulogne and AJ Auxerre played to a stalemate.

What was said….

Maccabi Haifa's return to the Champions League group stage was engineered by head coach Elisha Levy.

Paulo Bento, Sporting coach - “Sometimes I give this example – what made me nervous about [the film] Titanic was when a lifeboat was going down with women and children and a man jumped into it. Courage is something that I don't miss at this moment. I feel better in the difficult moments. “
It is rarely a good idea to work the Titanic into a conversation when discussing your team’s poor start to the season.

“Ginners ease into group stages of Champions League
Arsenal eased into the group stages of the Champions League on Wednesday by outclassing Celtic 3-1 to enter the draw where they will be joined by Fiorentina, VfB Stuttgart, Olympiakos and APOEL Nicosia.”
Headline from Today’s Zaman. I wonder if Wenger knows that his youngsters have been hitting the G&Ts.

Paul Doyle writes about the outstanding player of the Champions league play-off round – Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez.

Between segments of the FSR on Friday we were having a bit of fun with what might be a commentator’s nightmare – that would be Guingamp facing Sporting Gijon. Derek Taylor has now gone a step further and come up a four team friendly tournament that would test the wiliest of play-by-play men. How about Honka and Cucuta joining the aforementioned Guingamp and Sporting Gijon?

“Five things I have learned from writing this column
1 Scots do not like being referred to as Jocks. Some see no harm in it and a few even support the view that it is a relatively chummy, semi-descriptive and non-pejorative term that can be used without malice, though the ones that think otherwise do so with a vengeance. While I still do not believe it is necessarily abusive or racist, as long as others disagree it is best avoided.

2 A slighted Scotsman is a ****cat next to a slighted Scouser. Liverpudlians are the most easily offended people in the world, but do not mind being called Scousers.

3 Rugby union aficionados never refer to their sport as rah-rah and take a dim view when anyone else does. Even in jest. Especially people who cover chav-ball for a living.

4 Some people actually take the trouble to cut out and keep your predictions for the season, and post them back to you in April or May, suggesting you are a muppet. Don't believe anyone who tells you that today's newspapers are just tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers. For a section of supporters who take football just a bit too seriously, this year's newspapers are next year's ammunition.

5 There is never a good time to suggest football deserves a pat on the back for offering honest, wholesome, family entertainment. But especially not in a week when West Ham are due to meet Millwall. Back to the 70s sounded about right, except that now fences are down, post Hillsborough, and police inside grounds have largely been replaced by stewards, pitch invasions are silly breaches of trust rather than real acts of boot-boy bravado.

One hesitates to glamorize the old ultraviolence, and what happened outside the stadium was far more sinister, yet watching the action inside the Boleyn Ground it was almost possible to feel nostalgia for the days when hooligans were leaner, meaner and better looking. I'm not sure I should say that. I'm not even sure I mean it. I just did not anticipate football proving so graphically that life is becoming uglier. Even our hard boys are flabby, out of shape and all too plainly not boys. If I were a 70s hooligan, I think I might sue."

Paul Wilson with more than a few true words from his Observer column.

Paul Wilson one again, this time on the Eduardo diving controversy. Michael Grant suggests that the truth about diving and cheating comes down to one basic fact – whether your team is a victim or perpetrator. Given Aiden McGeady’s dismissal for diving on Sunday versus Hibs, Tony Mowbray’s comments very much anticipated this exact situation.

An interview with Viv Anderson and his work to help recognize football's first black professional Arther Wharton. And here in a similar vein is the story of the first balck international player Andrew Watson who played for Scotland but whose story was, like Wharton's, lost.

Coming up this week…..

Barcelona opens their defensive of the Liga when they face Sporting Gijon on Monday. With WCQ scheduled for this coming weekend there is little else of note.