Filed under: Results | Tags: Benfica, Celtic, Europa League, Everton, Hamburg, Results
With sixty seconds remaining in a game where Fulham looked the more professional, the more collected and the more clued-up, Andreolli scored a far post equaliser for Roma to wreck what would have certainly been the West-London side’s greatest European night. Brede Hangeland gave Fulham the lead in a first half that saw the Whites move the ball around the tight Craven Cottage pitch as if Roma didn’t have a right to be there. The second half evened out with Roma starting to see the better of the attacking play, before John Arne Risse was felled by Gary Kelly on his way to goal. A penalty and a red card for…Hangeland? The experimental fifth official shrugged his shoulders before sensing the unforgiving stare of Michel Platini from somewhere across Europe, a minute or sos consultation saw the red card rescinded and attributed to the guilty Kelly who used the farcical situation to eat up a few extra minutes for Fulham and increase the pressure on young Menez who would take the penalty. Take it he did, fantastically saved by Schwarzer to keep Fulham in the lead. A variety series of last ditch clearances and standing tackles frustrated the Roman club until their eventual equaliser. Fulham were a moment away from forgetting all the unfashionable Sunday and Monday fixtures, the random exhausting trips around Europe on a Thursday night and embracing the magnificence of European competition in a way Aston Villa seem to have refused. It’s hard not to look at tonight’s result as some kind of defeat with the win so close, but on reflection I think Fulham fans and staff will look on tonight as the culmination of a great season last season and an incredible job done by Roy Hodgson since arriving at the club. Nights like tonight, win, lose or draw, are what Europe is all about.
EVERTON
David Moyes may not quite see the bright side of Everton’s absolutely disgraceful 5-0 defeat this evening. While I predicted a win for Benfica I didn’t expect that, I don’t think the most optimistic Benfica fan in the world expected that. Inexperienced full-backs contributed to a mess of a performance from the Merseysider club but the eleven they sent out were more than capable of claiming at least a draw tonight. Moyes has seen his side fall by big margins one too many times this season and may start asking questions of a few defensive players.
LAZIO CONFIRM DECENT WEEK FOR SORRY-AH
Before watching the Fulham game I caught Villareal’s trip to Lazio and was quite delighted to discover that neither team had any clue how to keep the ball or defend. A post-Cygan Villareal defense traded the ball with Lazio’s Matuzalem and Julio Cruz for sixty minutes (until Cruz came off for being shit, only after missing an open goal header though), Lazio’s defense seemed to dance about in the box at every opportunity, losing almost every time to a grateful Rossi who unfortunately didn’t have anybody alongside him with anything like the tenacity, pace or power to make his hard work pay off. Robert Pires’ sorry performance on the left-wing was a horrible thing to witness from a former-great (imagine last year Figo). Lazio were reduced to ten-men when Matuzalem was given a second yellow card for diving despite replays clearly showing that he had in fact been clipped in the box (fifth referee?) but still went on to win the game with a late winner from Rocchi which left La Liga’s bottom club dumb struck. A pitiful example of two recently worthy Champions League sides.
Let’s see how my predictions worked out…
EUROPA LEAGUE
(predictions in brackets)
Celtic-0 Hamburg-1 (1-2)
Fulham-1 Roma-1 (2-2)
Lazio-2 Villareal-1 (1-3)
Benfica-5 Everton-0 (2-1)
I’m going to do my League One and League Two predictions for the weekend tomorrow.
Filed under: News | Tags: Hugo Rodallega, Manchester United, Matthew Upson, Nemanja Vidic, Robert Huth, Stoke, West Ham
Robert Huth has been rightly banned for three matches today after striking Matthew Upson’s eye in Stoke’s 2-1 victory over West Ham last week. Although an argument could be made for centre-back on centre-back violence being an acceptable part of the game, Huth’s deliberate and nasty attack deserved to be punished. The question is though, where is Vidic’s ban for punching Hugo Rodallega last month? The referee didn’t spot it, the cameras did and a couple of newspapers called for action but nothing has happened. It could be argued that Vidic was in fact trying to hit Rodallega’s chest when the Ecuadorian lowered his head and received a blow to the face but there is surely no place for the clenched fist in the modern game? Is this the Fergie factor at play? Why was the case never taken on by the FA or highlighted to the extent that Adebayor’s or Huth’s were by the BBC or Sky?
Filed under: Lists | Tags: Liverpool, Michael Owen, Momo Sissoko, Rafa Benitez, Robbie Keane, Stephen Warnock, Xabi Alonso
1. XABI ALONSO
It goes without saying at this point that losing Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid in the summer was the most crippling loss to any Premier League team this season. While many speculated that in fact, the losses of Christiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor from United and Arsenal respectively would damage the title hopes of said teams more, both sit in leading positions in the league early on. Xabi’s awesome passing, tireless work-rate and a reputation for raising his game when Fergie’s men are in opposition will be sorely missed this weekend. When you consider that he was already an Arsenal player in everything but contract the season before his departure you really do have to question the logic of Benitez. This entry could just as easily have been Gareth Barry though, who Benitez didn’t even gesture towards this summer as his fruitless attempt to convince Alonso to stay backfired.
2. MOMO SISSOKO
Rafa’s ace up the sleeve in his early Liverpool days, most Premier League fans counted Sissoko as their secret crush, as much of a threat going forward as tracking back, it was probably right that behind Gerrard, Mascherano and Alonso he would be fourth choice but with the subsequent shift of Gerrard to striker and the loss of Alonso, I don’t truly believe that Alberto Aquilani is any better a player than the dynamic and committed Malian and with Aquilani injured until next week at least (next manager?) he’s not a factor.
3. STEPHEN WARNOCK
Liverpool’s defensive frailties this season have been pinned on the generally overrated Jamie Carragher and the potentially brilliant Martin Skrtel (who appears to have lost a touch of class and borrowed a pair of Carra’s lead-boots) not unfairly, but Rafa’s obsession with buying full-backs has never lead to him finding a player at left-back who’s genuinely made that position his own. Meanwhile, local-lad Stephen Warnock (their last Academy player to show anything like Premier League quality) has gone from strength-to-strength since leaving Anfield, first at Blackburn where the fans counted him as one of their most important players and now at Aston Villa who forked-out a healthy £8Million for his services this summer. Warnock’s solid, no-nonsense approach to Villa’s ever-changing back-line has supplied the metal and experience to support Young and Gabby from the front and Dunne or Collins at the back.
4. MICHAEL OWEN
Something of a novelty on this list, I don’t believe Owen’s gone on to prove his worth to Rafa Bentiez since leaving, an undeniably impressive record for Newcastle (when fit) aside, the sparkle in the corner of Owen’s eye has diminished year-on-year since being sold by Liverpool. Still, he’s a star and he’s a big game player and going into Sunday’s game, a potential lack of leaders would easily be remedied by the once (and maybe again) World Class striker who will instead line-up for the opposition. Benitez will be praying for another off day for the striker who still seems to be finding his range slowly in a United shirt (he’s missing and mishitting the ball a lot at the moment. Anybody noticed that?). A winner late (after the game) against City earlier in the season could prove an ominous sign for Liverpool on Sunday.
5. ROBBIE KEANE
The details surrounding Robbie Keane’s time at Liverpool remain unclear, did Rafa ever want him? Did he ever want to play him? Did he facilitate his speedy return to Spurs? There’s no doubting that Keane failed to match his almost £20Million transfer fee but there’s also no doubting that in six months he was never given the chance. Seven goals in that short-time, including a crucial equaliser against Arsenal at The Emirates was an acceptable return, with the season panning out as it was for Liverpool Keane would have provided at least another seven and probably more, the difference come May? Very possibly. With the weight of Liverpool’s goal-threat balancing uniquely on Fernando Torres’ shoulders, a second goal scorer and one with the awesome football brain of the Irish international would come in very handy. Lord knows David N’Gog and Stone Cold Steve Voronin don’t have what it takes.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
1. Peter Crouch, always did a job for Benitez.
2. Craig Bellamy, proving this season that he really does have the potential we saw under Bobby Robson at Newcastle.
3. Jermaine Pennant, the perennial under-achiever Pennant crosses the ball like very few in the game, another player blocked by Benitez despite the Spaniard signing him.
Filed under: Predictions | Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Benfica, Celtic, Europa League, Everton, Fulham, Hamburg, Predictions, Roma, Sir Alex Ferguson, Stan Kroenke
The father of modern British football, Arsene Wenger turns 60 today. Having revolutionised the game in just about every way imaginable, Wenger’s greatest off-pitch achievement to me, came in 2002 when he forced Sir Alex Ferguson to reconsider retirement by winning the domestic double in what would have been the Scotsman’s final season. English football owes a lot to Arsene Wenger, he’s destined to change and further the game in this country for as long as he remains. He is of course, much discussed and much admired so I don’t need to remind you of his achievements or his memorable moments I’ll just say happy birthday and hope he enjoys it.
KROENKE
Arsene Wenger looks set to receive a gift of a new owner today, as American sports-tycoon Stan Kroenke’s scooping up of shares has lead neatly to Arsenal’s AGM this afternoon. No official word has come from the Arsenal board or Kroenke that he is in fact the club’s next owner, but the 29% shareholding that forces an outright bid for the club will soon be surpassed (it may have been yesterday). I doubt Arsenal would hold an AGM and ignore the elephant in the room (no, not Uzmanov) despite reports. Arsenal fans appear split on the news that an American billionaire will soon own their club, but the friend of Jay-Z is already a multi-franchise owner in the states (St Louis Rams-NFL, Denver Nuggets-NBA, Colorado Avalanche-NHL, Colorado Crush-AFL, Colorado Rapids-MLS, Colorado Mammoth-NLL) so will bring a serious level of experience to The Emirates.
A man who went toe-to-toe with notoriously hard-headed juggernaut Vince McMahon over the use of Pepsi Centre (double booked for a Denver Nuggets game and a WWE television show) Kroenke saw McMahon back down and move his show to Staples Centre only to attack a look-a-like in the ring during the event. Look-a-like or no, it was clear who had won the battle. Kroenke’s other warming point for Arsenal fans is that he clearly represents the current board and Arsene Wenger’s preferred choice of owner since David Dein’s backer Alisher Usmanov has consistently insisted on pumping endless finance into Arsene Wenger’s warchest (he’s never needed it) which smug Arsenal fans have always looked down on as buying success (they’re right). It would be fairly typical of Arsenal for us not to hear anything official today (much more likely in an international break or as late as May 2010) but the time draws near for the last locally owned side in the top 4 to be scooped up by a foreign billionaire (only Everton remain in the top 6).
UEFA CUP
Last night’s European games seem to have passed with little hangover (although I’d love to be in Madrid today) so I’ll move on to a selection of tasty looking UEFA Cup fixtures for this evening. Celtic host Hamburg, two bi-polar sides so far this season, Hamburg have had injury problems but easily have the quality to turn over Mowbray’s side, the Celtic Park factor can never be underestimated though. A Roma team managed by Claudio Ranieri visit West-London to play Fulham in the game I’ll endeavour to watch this evening, Hodgson and Ranieri are bother wiser than they’re often given credit for and Danny Murphy at the speed of the Italian game on a European night (when he always seemed to excel for Liverpool) could be a thing to behold. Lazio are a pale imitation of their former selves but still boast undeniable quality in their ranks while Villareal are still a side proving doubters wrong at every turn. I expect a Spanish victory today. Benfica are a fledgling side that seem to boast favour across Europe exemplified by their unbelievable potential in the loan market and Everton are capable of sending out an eleven that could reach the knock-out stages of a modern Champions League competition. Whether those players rise to the occasion is always the question though, they’ve been known to collapse under expectation.
Predictions…
EUROPA LEAGUE
Celtic-1 Hamburg-2
Fulham-2 Roma-2
Lazio-1 Villareal-3
Benfica-2 Everton-1
