What will happen of Chelsea?

For those of you who know, yesterday Chelsea (2nd in the EPL was only able to gain one point in their home match against West Ham United (16th in the EPL). The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Anelka scoring for Chelsea and Bellamy for West Ham.
To Chelsea's standards, yesterday's game was definitely a poor effort. This can be seen through Scolari's concern he expressed after the game. With their 4th tie this season, Chelsea has officially dropped 14 points in home games. What is to be blamed for their home performance? Is it the coaching? the players? or maybe the fans? Whatever it happens to be, Scolari and his team better figure it out soon before the get knocked out of the title race.
While being one point behind league leaders Liverpool and five points ahead of Manchester United, there is little room for error. For you Blue's fans, you better hope your team pulls it together real soon or you can say by-bye to another title.



















2006 - Last time Chelsea were champions of the EPL

Champions League

Today, Premier league teams Manchester United and Arsenal each had their own respective games that would be important for continuation. Manchester United played Aalborg in which the game was not taken over by either side. It finished 2-2 with goals from Tevez and Rooney. Although ending in a tie, Manchester United still will finish in their group at the top. Arsenal played a very determined FC Porto side in Portugal where they were handed a 2-0 defeat. Porto clearly capitalized on their chances and stayed at the top of Group G. This now gives FC Porto plenty of cushion as it seems impossible for them to drop down.
Make sure to watch for the round of 16 drawings next Friday.

Other scores in the UCL today:
Celtic 2 - 0 Villarreal
Steaua Bucuresti 0 - 1 Fiorentna
Lyon 2 - 3 Bayern Munich
Dynamo Kiev 1 - 0 Fenerbache
Juventus 0 - 0 BATE Borisov
Real Madrid 3 - 0 Zenit St. Petersburg

*ESPNsoccernet

Manchester City

To much surprise, Manchester City is a rising club. With already signed international Brazilian Robinho, City is looking to further add to their team. With the transfer season beginning next month, the team looks to spend up to 70 million euros for big names. City's top two choices right now are AC Milan's Kaka and Barcelona's Messi. Also on the list are Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo (surprise?!).
At this rate, City is definitely a club that will be staying in the top flight of England's leagues and they are definitely a threat to other clubs for acquiring top level players. Good luck to City in heir venture for building an all around solid team.

Ballon d'Or

Today has been a very happy day for Portuguese star Critiano Ronaldo. After a tremendous 2007 season with the Red Devils, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or; the award that recognizes the most outstanding european footballer of the year. Not only was Cristiano Ronaldo given this award, but he got the highest point total - ever; 446 out of a possible 480. In second place was 21-year-old superstar Lionel Messi with 281 points. Lastly, in third place was Spain's superstar, Fernando Torres with 179 points.

The Ballon d'Or is presented by French soccer magazine, Frace Football. They have given the award every year since 1956 begining with Stanley Matthews of Blackpool. Blackpool FC is currently in the Championship League.

Finally, some much needed Soccer Updates

Chelsea vs. Arsenal
Yesterday, Arsenal had a very big match in which they prevailed against a very strong Chelsea side. Thirty minutes into the game, Arsenal defender Djourou gave up an unfortunate own goal. Arsenal would continue to fight, but they were unable to capitalize on any of their remaining opportunities as they ended the first half.
However, in the second half, Arsenal came out much stronger and more determined than Scolari's home side. It took only fourteen minutes for Arsenal's Van Persie to find the back of the net. Although counted as a goal, Van Persie was actually offside. Three minutes later, Van Persie would strike again. This time, it would be done with style. Arsenal would continue to hold on to the lead as the whistle was blown to end the game. For Arsenal, they can be very happy, but the same came not be said for Chelsea.
In fact, prior to the game, Ballack said that 4th place Arsenal would not be an easy side to defeat. Looks like Chelsea needs to head back to the drawing board and figure things out before their next game against Bolton on Saturday.

Manchester United
Man U's next game will be in Carling Cup competition against a very weak Blackburn side which should be no trouble for the Devils. They follow up the Wednesday game with Sunderland in premier league action on Saturday. Man U should walk away with three points in both matches thus, keeping them in good standings.

Leading in goals
Nicolas Anelka 12
Cristiano Ronaldo 8
Robinho 8
Amr Zaki 8
Jermain Defoe 7

Standings (points as of today)
Liverpool 34
Chelsea 33
Man Utd 28
Arsenal 26
Aston Villa 25
Hull 23
Everton 22
Portsmouth 22
Bolton 20
Fulham 19
Wigan 19
Middlesbrough 19
West Ham 18
Stoke 18
Man City 17
Tottenham 15
Newcastle 15
Sunderland 15
Blackburn 13
West Brom 11

*teams in bold have only played 14 games

source: ESPNsoccernet

Premier League

Unfortunately, on 3/18, Manchester United was knocked out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 loss to Portsmouth. Although Man U lost, they were able to move clear into first in the Premier League; 3 points ahead of Arsenal and 5 points ahead of Chelsea. Just as we thought, Man U would move into first and will be looking to win the league.
Meanwhile, Arsenal drew with Middlesbrough; 1-1 and Chelsea 4-4 with Tottenham.

Just a heads up for all you die hard MLS fans: the season starts up on March 29. Oh yeah, did you hear Beckham might buy the Galaxy? Yeah, check it out at ESPNsoccernet.

This Weeks Highlights

As many of you know, this week was very important as many different competitions were happening around Europe. First off, Man U has finally pulled in within one point of Arsenal (after beating Fulham 3-0) in the premiership and look very capable of wining his year's premiership once again. Additionally, Man U was able to beat Lyon in the champions league which has progressed hem further into the competition. Their next game is this Saturday against Portsmouth for the FA Cup which also looks bright for Man U. As for Arsenal, this year has been an aberration. Things are not looking so swell for them. First, they tied Aston Villa 1-1 in the premiership and will definitely not win the Premiership. On the other hand, Arsenal beat AC Milan 2-0 in the champions league which originally seemed highly unlikely. Other news:

UEFA Champions League
Chelsea 3 - 0 Olympiacos
Fenerbache (win on pk's) 5-5 agg. Sevilla FC
Barcelona 1- 0 Celtic
Roma 2 - 1 Real Madrid
Schalke 04 (win on pk's) 1-1 agg. FC Porto

FA Cup Saturday Quarterfinals
Man U vs. Portsmouth
Barnsley vs. Chelsea

FA Cup Sunday Quarterfinals
Middlesbrough Vs. Cardiff
Bristol Rovers vs. West Brom

Carling Cup Surprise!

Who would believe it, Tottenham were able to beat Chelsea in today's cup. It wasn't just any game, it was 11th placed Tottenham versus third place Chelsea. And to top it off, Tottenham won in the first OT thanks to Woodgate's perseverance to find the back of the net. This game goes to show that anyone can beat anybody on any given day; it comes down to who has worked harder in practice and who wants it more. Well down Spurs!

Man U On Fire!

After yesterday's dominating win over Newcastle, 5 to 1, one thing is for sure; Ronaldo is a major key to success for Man U. If you look at what he did, he was involved in 3 of the 5 total goals; two goals and an assist. Also, Wayne Rooney stepped his game up and accounted for 2 goals himself and an assist. Overall Man U have now pulled within 3 pts. of leaders Arsenal who had a dreadful 2 to 2 tie to Birmingham. Hopefully for Man U's next game against Fulham, they can once again have a dominating game with the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani, and others.

Interesting UEFA Results

After today's 4 games, there was only one game that turned out to be what was expected; Barcelona winning 3 to 2 over Celtic. On the other hand, Man U was only barely able to pull off a tie against Lyon (1-1) - many would expect Man U to win, but Tevez, as a sub, saved them with a late game goal to seal the time. Another game, included Arsenal pulling a tie off against AC Milan - many would expect Milan to win. the final game included FC Sevilla and Fenerbache. Unfortunately, Sevilla lost - once again, many would expect Sevilla to win, but another surprising result.
Hopefully in the second leg's of these matches things will turn out for the better especially for Man U. All the way with MAN U!!!

Is Arsenal Really #1?

After today's FA Cup match between Manchester United and Arsenal it has become clear; Manchester United really are the better team. How can anyone ignore the fact that Man U won 4-0 with scorers including Rooney, Fletcher (2), and Nani. Just comparing stats is also another proven statement of this: United out-shot Arsenal 21-4. Some may argue that Man U won because of Arsenal's Eboue's red card, but clearly not because United only scored 1 of their 4 goals after the red. As you can see, United is clearly the better team and they will probably carry this back to the Premiership were they should win the title for the second straight year. Go United!!!
Darren Fletcher

FIFA Denies Premiership Plans

Today, president of FIFA (Sepp Blatter) has announced his denial of the Premiership proposal to hold games abroad. Sepp Blater, speaking to a BBC representative, said the following:

"This does not take into consideration the fans of the clubs and it gives the impression that they just want to go on tour to make some money," Blatter said. In addition, he told BBC that he will never allow this to happen as long as he is president. Furthermore, he made a good point by pointing out that this could harm England's chances for hosting the 2018 World Cup. For further information about this and to listen to Blatter's interview, go to BBC SPORT.

Personally, I totally agree. And anyhow, wasn't the first reason why people ever began to play professional football was because not only did they want to win, but they wanted to continue to play the sport for why it became popular?; because it was fun?

Season Soon to Be Over/ Premiership Ideas

As we head into the final 12 to 13 games of this season things have finally begun to clear up. The race for the cup this year is truly between Man United and Arsenal. For Arsenal, the remainder of their season relies of three significant matches; Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United. If they do in fact hold out, they will win. Ironically, the year Henry leaves is the year that the Gunners actually look like they may win this title. Hopefully, that is not the case. For the better, Manchester United will win majority of there games (including beating the Gunners) and hopefully winning the cup for the second straight year.

On the other end of the table, it is looking very lugubrious for Reading, Fulham, and Derby. With no surprise, Derby and Fulham are in last place with a whopping 10 point difference. Yet, surprisingly, Reading is almost guaranteed relegation after finishing in 8th place last year. For now, we can only wait as time will tell the fate of the remainder of the season.

Also of major talk right now is the Premiership's idea to have games abroad in other foreign countries by 2010-11. Personal, this is a good idea if these teams come and play in the U.S. to promote soccer, but other than that this idea will take a toll on the players (obviously, i am in support of the U.S. since I am from there). Anyhow, please do respond giving your opinions on what you think.

Games coming up on Saturday:

Birmingham v Arsenal
Wigan v Derby
Liverpool v Middlesbrough
Portsmouth v Sunderland
Fulham v West Ham
Newcastle v Man Utd

predicted winners in black.