A Week in European Soccer (4/9/10 - 4/15/10)

EPL

- Over the weekend there weren't too many exciting results or much movement in the table. Manchester United wasn't able to get a much-needed win over Blackburn and Man City got a huge 5-1 win over Birmingham. United and City will be facing each other on Saturday. Will Rooney be fit?  Mancini hopes so.

- On Tuesday, Chelsea was fortunate to just barely defeat Bolton 1-0 and go 4 points clear ahead of United. However, on Wednesday, Arsenal suffered a huge 2-1 defeat against Tottenham officially knocking them out of the title race. Wenger certainly wasn't happy about that. Personally, I'd like to give my young, but what I think to be my mature opinion on this: WENGER NEEDS TO BE SACKED! The man isn't bringing the kind of talent into his lineups which can be seen as Arsenal simply haven't been able to produce the much needed results over the past few weeks (as was the case in their loss, essentially, to Messi). However, it seems the  Arsenal doesn't feel this way.

Spanish Premier League
- After Real Madrid suffered their huge 2-0 loss at home to Barcelona, they bounced back with great discipline and athleticism by winning earlier today 2-1 over Almeria. With the win, they are now only 3 points behind league leaders Barcelona. For Real, they are going to have to hope Barcelona slip up over their next six games otherwise Barca will be saying "hello" to another league title.

Photo Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Cleat of the post: Nike5 Zoom T-5 FS...awesome color way!

Manchester City upset Chelsea...Barcelona to Face Málaga

Today, Manchester City came through with a huge upset over number 1 Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In a game that looked as if Chelsea could easily get the win at home, Tevez and his teammates clearly showed a different side of their team; they cause Chelsea to get two red cards and were able to win by 4-2. So, what does this mean for Chelsea and more importantly for Manchester City? First off, Chelsea is now certainly going to have a tougher week a practice however, it will be interesting to see how they respond in their next game against Stoke City in the FA Cup since they clearly don't have much momentum. Terry and Cole will have to be strong in carrying their squad. For Manchester City though, this couldn't have been a better time to get a huge win. With their next game against Sunderland (due to their game against Tottenham being postponed), 2 wins in a row will certainly change the team morale and help them move up in the league to possibly 3rd if things to get well for Arsenal this week. Photo Credit: Alfonso Jiménez

In Spain, Barcelona will be facing 12th place Málaga in an important game. If Barcelona does anything less than a win, Real Madrid could move into first place if they get a win over 19th place Tenerife. To me, it seems quite clear that Barcelona will get the win however after watching what happened to Chelsea today, who knows. This will certainly be a game to watch. (Above is a video of Barcelona vs Málaga from earlier this season)

Cleat of The Post: Nike CTR360 Maestri FG

Robinho loan... African Nations Cup

Manchester City striker, Robinho, has officially been put on loan to his former club, Brazilian side Santos. It is a 6-month deal for a whopping 32 million euros (essentially 45 million dollars - wow!). Essentially two things are being accomplished here: first, Robinho is hoping to increase his chances to be a part of the Brazilian side in this year's world cup and logically, this is an intelligent loan because he will be able to get more play timing in places where the Brazilian coaching staff can watch him more carefully and closely. Secondly, this loan would provide Robinho some more playing time in general so that he can not only be ready for the World Cup but also for when the 2010-2011 EPL season starts up again, he will be in full force and 100% ready to go.

Robinho and his skill dating back to when he first played with Santos at age 15.


In the second African Nations semifinal, Egypt dominated Algeria, 4-0. The game was pretty much deadlocked for the entire first half and about a third of the second. However, once Algeria picked up their first of 3 red cards in the 65th minute, things got out of hand for Algeria and they were simply unable to keep up. Egypt will be playing Ghana in the final this Sunday. Best of luck to both teams!

Cleat of the post: adidas Predator X

The Manchester Derby Roundup and Former Red Devil gets Red

Machester United and Manchester City are taking part in the second half of the second leg of the Carling Cup at this very moment. Thus far, the game has been dead-locked at 1-1 with United leading in shots, 6 to 4. The game really doesn't have a dominating side at the moment and to be brutally honest, a boring game a best. Perhaps the second half will serve better.

As many of us know, Cristiano Ronaldo is now a member of Spanish side, Real Madrid. Although he was a key part of his team in their win over Malaga, he did receive a straight red in the 70th minute to force his teammates to play with only 10 men for the final 20 minutes of the game; fortunately, they were able to hold off Malaga from scoring. However, Ronaldo did receive the red for what he claims was an accident. In the midst of play, Cristiano managed to "accidentally" nail Malaga's, Patrick Mtiliga, in the face and giving Mtiliga a broken nose. Cristiano claims it was accidental and that the La Liga's 2 game ban is excessive but it has been known that Cristiano can be a bit of a cheap-skate when it comes to fouls and the like. Hopefully, things get sorted out and perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo actually may be telling the truth.

Cleat of the post: Joma Total Fit

Beckham will return to AC Milan; EPL Review

After what seems like almost a year now, it has been confirmed that Beckham will in fact return to AC Milan this January where he will hope to once again make a positive difference in the Italian side. However, I once again return to my prior post regarding Beckham's initial move from the Galaxy to Milan last year. Here is the link to that:
http://soccerupdate.blogspot.com/2009/02/things-in-europe-and-especially-england.html

In the EPL, it seems that year after year it is the exact same teams who are in the exact same places and the exact same places in the season. Chelsea is in first with 27 points, Man U in second with 25 points, Arsenal in third with 22 points, and both Man City and Tottenham tied for fourth with 19 points each. I guess, this year, the only real difference is Man City. One thing that can certainly be said about City is that Robinho and Tevez are a duo that are making a big difference for that side and of course along with Adebayor and Wright-Phillips. But as all my avid readers know, I am a true Man U fan and they will always be first in my mind (corny, yes, but needed to be said and clarified).

Man Utd and other Transfers and Ribery/ Real Madrid

Man Utd is now with one less striker as Tevez is now a member of Man City. No one can blame him for he did receive minimal playing time as a Red Devil even though he was able to produce results when he did step on the pitch. We will all certainly be able to see him in the 2010 World Cup as he teams up with Messi to help lead Argentina to victory.
However, Man Utd has now picked up not only veteran striker and now former Newcastle star Michael Owen, but they have also acquired Antonio Valencia from Wigan. He will most probably fill in the empty spot left behind from Cristiano Ronaldo's departure for Real Madrid.

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká already on the move to Real Madrid, another stand out player may be joining them, French international, Ribery. Apparently, there has been much rumor about such a move which has caused tension and disturbance in the Bayern Munich club for not only the coaches but also for Ribery and the other players. If Ribery does end up moving to the Spanish club, Real Madrid will certainly be filled with superstars. Yet, it seems that any time a team is filled with 11 superstars, they suffer. Not because of the quality of play but rather because the team chemistry always seems to lack. Maybe it would be better if Ribery were to stay in Germany.

All Transfers can be found at the following link/page:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/transfers/transfer?cc=5901

A Truly spectacular game... and other news

Amazing!!! First the US beats Spain and now they hold off Brazil for a good 46 minutes. Not only that, but in the first half, they were dominant with goals coming from both Dempsey (3 goals in the tournament) and Donovan. The US truly played some unreal soccer. For those Brazil fans, there was certainly much reason to be nervous yet anxious.
As we all know, Brazil simply never gives up. They play with style and flair and they make up some of the best talent in the world. After only 1 minute into the second half, Luis Fabiano scored to bring the lead down to one. And only 27 minutes later, the game was tied up with another goal by Fabiano (his fifth in the tournament). As time continued to shorten, the energy in the players and the stadium seemed to become more anxious and tense. The teams certainly did not want to be forced to play at least another 30 minutes with five games already under the belt. Fortunately for Brazil, captain Lucio came to the rescue. Although he had picked up a yellow card earlier, he did not allow that to affect his game; he scored an excellent goal off of a corner kick to give Brazil the winner.
However, important to note is that the US has come a long way. Just over a week ago, the US had lost 3-0 in group play to the Brazilians. Yet, the US didn't give up. As we all saw, they came back to defeat Spain and make it into the finals. Best of luck to the US in the World Cup!
Check out these highlights below. (ABD= US and BRE= Brazil)



In the consolation match, Spain barely managed to get the win over South Africa with a 3-2 win in extra-time.
Goals:
Spain - Daniel Güiza (87, 88), Xabi Alonso (106)
SA - Katlego Mphela (73, 90)

Other news in Europe:
Eto'o: Man City has made the biggest offer to buy Eto'o from Barca (to date). The 28-year-old scored 36 goals in all competitions - not bad to also add he scored in the Champions League final which helped lift his team over Man Utd. It will definitely be interesting to see where he heads next season.

Potential Move for Tevez; Spain Truly is Unstoppable

With Cristiano Ronaldo now on his way to the Bernabéu (Real Madrid's home), Manchester United may also see another one of their stars heading out the doors. This time round it's Tevez. the 25 year-old Argentinian international feels that since he is not the most wanted player* by Manchester United, he would be very happy with a transfer. Currently, he has received interest from Manchester City and Chelsea. If he does in fact head to one of these clubs then we will be bound to see home on the other side of what are both intense and emotional rivalries.

Confederation Cup News, Results, Schedule
For those of you who are Spanish supporters like myself, Spain has officially broken and set a new world record. With their 15th straight international win (over South Africa, 2-0) they are now the world record holders. However, more interestingly was what happened during the game. In the 50th minute, David Villa was rewarded a penalty kick due to a ridiculous challenge from South African defender Aaron Moekena. Unfortunately, Villa was denied the game by an excellent save from Khune. Nevertheless, just one minute later, Villa would score and regain the well deserved goal. And exactly 20 minutes later Llorente also helped himself to a goal after subbing out Torres in the 59th minute.
An interesting stat: Together, Spain and South Africa only had fifteen shots.

Clearly, if Spain continues to perform in the fashion they have done up to this point, I don't see why they can't win this Cup to add to their 2008 European Championship. Hopefully, Torres can also put in some goals to help Spain lift up another trophy before they take on the 2010 World Cup next summer.

Other Scores Today:
Iraq 0-0 New Zealand

Upcoming Games:
2:30 PM - Sunday Italy vs. Brazil (ESPN)
2:30 PM - Sunday Egypt vs. USA (ESPN2)
2:30 PM - Wednesday Semi-Final 1
2:30 PM - Thursday Semi-Final 2
9:00 AM - Sunday (6/28) Consolation
2:30 PM - Sunday (6/28) Final

Important Updates in England

Just moments ago, the Liverpool - Man City match just finished. It ended in a 1-1 draw which means that Man U is now 9 points ahead of Liverpool with both teams having played 26 games. Man City opened up the scoring in the second half on behalf of Liverpool defender Arbeloa on an own-goal in the 49th minute. Liverpool was able to tie up the game in the 78th minute with a goal from Holland International forward, Dirk Kuyt. This certainly is not how Liverpool wanted to end the game because now they must work even harder to catch up to Man U to even think about winning the league. There's no doubt in my mind that for the remainder of the season, the importance of every game will continue to rise and hopefully the quality of play will increase. I am looking forward to watching some very great soccer games in the weeks to come.

Other scores:
Fulham 2 - 0 WBA
Newcastle 0 - 0 Everton (currently at half time)

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.

Thatcher = Disgrace for Man. City

When Manchester City played Portsmouth on Wednesday, Thatcher dumbly elbowed Pedro Mendes which resulted in the Portsmouth midfielder being sent to the hospital (no information has been released on the condition of the midfielder. As for the disciplinary for Thatcher, he is currently suspend by his club and the FA has given him until 9/12 to give a conceivable request.