Upton Park Hosts Soutgate's Strongest XI

Thats right lads and lasses, life is about flesh!
Under fire manager Gareth Southgate has recieved more than frowns from his contemporaries in the leauge for playing a weak squad against floundering Man City. His squad was then dumped out of the FA Cup as karma collected its retribution. With eight games to play eight points from safety, West Ham prepaired well for a home game against captain G. Boateng n' company.
Tevez may not be running himself a ground in the Championship next season as the Hammers win an emphatic victory in front of the East Enders. Zamora's starting role over that of Harewood was vindicated in the matches second minute as Bobby, first to score in the Prem this season, scored his ninth. Tevez not only supplied the cross, but then netted on the stroke of half-time; three goals in three games. Alright U.K. professors, start work on equating Tevez's work rate and we just might have found another alterate energy source.

P.S. Manchester United weigh good news with the bad, winning a physical match 4-1 over Rovers while adding Vidic to injury list. (thanks GettyImages)

Welcome to European Football

As someone who actually spent time in Greece during my honeymoon (and, subsequently, during the heart of World Cup 2006) I can say with confidence that I might actually know the guys who did this. Greek football fans are a rare breed, and with the 'Champions of Europe' crown still on their heads from Portugal 2004 they think they have a right to get pissed when they get run over by the Turks. Note to Greecian footy fans: your team=not good at all. This story is a must read by the way:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/03/27/bc.soc.greece.earbitten.ap/index.html

MAN'S EAR BITTEN OFF IN GREEK SOCCER BRAWL

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Four men have been arrested on the island of Crete after part of a man's ear was bitten off during a brawl after Greece's 4-1 loss to Turkey in a European Championship qualifier.

The incident occurred Saturday near the town of Ierapetra during a fight between Bulgarian workers and local Greek men who had been watching the match on television, police said Tuesday.

Local businessman Dimitris Tsimbibakis was hospitalized after a man bit his ear. He told authorities he had intervened to try and break up the fight but was beaten by four Bulgarian men.

The fight apparently started after the Bulgarian men cheered Turkey's goals.

Greece travels to Malta on Thursday, while Turkey hosts Norway in Group C

King Landon and his Court take on the Jesters

Damn, those new jersey's are too pretty.

Yesterday, my two home countries battled it out on the pitch, and the country in which I reside kicked the snot out of my second home, Ecuador. Now, I watched this game with impartiality and think that I can analyze this game with all fairness.

This game was over before it started, but when it started, Landon Donovan scored a scorcher with his weaker foot due to a terrible clearance from an Ecuadorian defender. But there was hope for the Ecuadorians. Gonzalo Salcedo scored a nice goal off of the counter attack, but after this, the game was over. Both teams played out the rest of the first half in somewhat boring style. The second half started, and Landon Donovan decided to step his game up. He used his world class speed (I think he might be faster than Beasley) to beat the entire Ecuadorian back line after a beautiful through ball from Brian Ching and slipped the ball past helpless Ecuadorian keeper. Then, about a minute later, Damarcus Beasley charged up the left flank and cut a ball back to Donovan who was charging through the middle of the final third. He hit the ball first time just outside of the box and it went screaming into the net. Hat trick completed, and the game ended 3-1.

VERDICTS
USA- Awesome result. Ecuador is a tough team to play against due to their physicality, but the USA played them exactly right. Donovan was terrorizing the Ecuadorian back 4 all day. They just weren't fast or fit enough to keep up with him. Now, I offer a plea to Sunil Gulati... LET BRADLEY KEEP HIS JOB!!! I know that I was one of Jeurgen Klinsmann's biggest supporters for this job, but since you f&$%d that up, don't make another mistake. This team is responding to Bradley, and his player picking for these matches so far has been impeccable. Give the guy the Gold Cup and the Copa America. Let him show what he can do. As for the friendly on Wednesday against Guatemala, give me a break. I like this game to go over the 3 goal mark, with all of the goals coming from the US team. Prediction: USA wins easily 4-0.

Ecuador-Heading down a slippery slope. With Agustin Delgado (the greatest player in Ecuadorian history) now retired, they are having trouble in the attack. Also, the back 4 is aging. The average age of LB Reasco, CB Espinoza, CB Hurtado, and RB De La Cruz is 31.25 (now that's some research for you folks). Ecuador has had the same back line since the 2002 world cup. In terms of solutions for these problems, I have no idea. See, Ecuador is a third world country, and they just don't have the resources to be a consistent national power in futbol. Hopefully, coach Suarez will be able to solve some of these problems. Look for Ecuador to play better against Mexico on Wednesday. Prediction: Ecuador over Mexico 2-1

St. Patrick's Day Post to the Delight of Most

If you’ve been keeping an eye on this blog you’ll know that West Ham is a topic that I touch upon. Coming into this game the Hammers were the only top-flight team to be without an away win.
Under Pardew’s reign West Ham snapped an eight game losing streak at Ewood Park with a goal from Steady Teddy and Hayden Mullins, breaking droughts of seven and eight months, respectively.
As of EPL round 30, 3/17/2007, Blackburn Rovers scored on their first corner two minutes into the second half. The fragility of West Hams back line stood in stark contrast to Blackburn’s miserly defense, being tested inside the first three minutes. Slack pressure allowed the likes of Gamst Pederson and David Bentley roam free, causing havoc.
Lucas Neil, back from three months of injury, didn’t appear bothered by the constant jeers of his former clubs fan’s. Neil, like Boa Morte, had yet to taste victory in a West Ham shirt.
Credit the Argentine international for his drive and effort ( winning the first corner ); a brain wave the team eventually joined him on. Boa Morte subbed on for Tevez who had run himself into the ground.
The east London club leveled with a penalty from Tevez on a foul from Emerton. When the Hammers scored their second goal my television lost broadcast for two full minutes.
As four minutes of stoppage time were tacked on many were wondering if the lessons of a loss against Tottenham were learned. Curbs kept his back to the pitch, pacing during injury time.
Howard Web the referee had a quite first half, to say nothing of the rife controversy of the second. This game will press, like others before it, goal line technology and the debate for integration of instant replay.
Eleven games without a win drowned by the disgust of fans in Ewood Park, music to my ears.

Champions League Quarterfinal Preview

Apparently, this finger is directed towards the former Castillian empire, aka Spain, because C-Ron is currently in contract talks with United to probably make him the highest paid player in the world. Hopefully he can help shoulder the load from the loss of Larsson.

Now for my preview of the quarters. The draw was a little bit more disappointing then I thought it would be, but it is still a good draw:
Bayern vs. AC Milan: Clearly, this is the best tie of the group. These are two European powerhouses, and I look for this to be a great series.
Chelsea v. Valencia: Ehhh, this one is okay. I think that Chelsea should dump Valencia easily, but I keep picking against Valencia and they keep winning. So we'll see.
Liverpool v. PSV: This is an intriguing tie. I would like to see PSV continue the Cinderella run, but Liverpool are a better squad than Arsenal were, so good luck PSV
Man United v. Roma: If I were Sir Alex, I think that this would have been the team that I would have avoided. They are on a hot streak, and you have to play them in Rome for the first leg; where the fans are absolutely nuts. It'll be tough, but the Reds should have enough.

The winners of Bayern/Milan and Man United/Roma will play each other one semi, and the winners of Chelsea/Valencia and Liverpool/PSV will play in the other semi. These ties are going to be fantastic. Another Champions League semifinal between Chelsea and Liverpool would be awesome, and who could forget the history that Man United and Bayern have against each other in Europe's elite club competition. Come back here for all your predictions, and they will come on the eve of the next fixtures.

Reaction to Champs League Round of 16 (both legs)

Wouldn't it be nice to see this again, but that's another sport for another day...

Now that the Round of 16 is over, let's see how I did with my predictions. As with the first legs, in the second legs I went 5-3 to bring my overall total for the Champions League to 63-49 and my accuracy rate stays at 56%. Hopefully by the end of the competition, I can get that up to over 65%. Now for my Impressive and Disappointing teams.

Impressive: Roma- First of all, I have to say this team. They embarrassed Lyon at the Stade Gerland. Totti and crew should be considered a dark horse for the rest of the tourney.

Liverpool: knocked out the defending champs Barca... nuff said.

Valencia- held their own against a very stacked Inter Milan, good for them.

Bayern- put Los Galacticos in their places. Capello isn't safe anymore. I wonder if Beckham would have helped Madrid in the second leg?

Celtic- even though they got knocked out, they held AC Milan scoreless for 180 minutes. That's pretty impressive.

PSV- knocked out Arsenal. Mendez had a peach of a goal in the first leg. Another dark horse due to a tenacious defense.

Disappointments: Inter- you got dumped by a so-so Valencia. Shame on you. Now go win the Italian double.

Real Madrid- Bayern flat out outplayed you. You gave up two goals at home, and that is why you lost. Capello might get the ax for this one.

Manchester United- Yes you moved on, but it wasn't easy. What are you going to do without Larsson. What about the month that Solkjaer is out for. What about Saha's injury. A lot of questions to be answered. Step your game up in the next round.

AC Milan- Celtic held you scoreless for 180 minutes, and if it wasn't for a Kaka wunderstrike, you might not be in the quarters.

Lyon- wow, you SEVERELY underestimated Roma and severely overestimated the talent of Milan Baros. There was a reason that he was playing for Aston Villa.

Now, the quarterfinals are coming upon us. My next post will be after the draw for the quarters and semis, which takes place tomorrow.

Champions League Preview Round of 16 Day 2B (2nd Legs)

This is a picture from the Fanfest in Munich during the 2006 World Cup taken by me, and yes, that is on the side of a hill. Some people tried to play a game on it, but the ball kept going in the water and this one crazy deutchebond kept jumping in the lake to get it.

Now for the predictions for today:


AC Milan v. Celtic: Sorry Celts, Milan just has way too much Champs League history over you. Celtic is going home.

Bayern v. Real: No Beckham for Real, and he has been a key asset for them for a while, but I still see them doing enough to progress. REAL moves on, Bayern stays home.

Arsenal v. PSV: I kind of see this one like the Bayern/Real matchup. I see PSV doing just enough to move on. Therefore, PSV moves on, Arsenal stays put at the Emirates.

Man Utd v. Lille: Henrik Larsson's last ever Champions League game (unless Helsinborgs makes a run to the Champs League...). I see Man Utd winning this one pretty easily, sending Lille home.

Real dissapointing day yesterday, but I'll get to that later.

Champions League Preview Round of 16 Day 2A (2nd Legs)

But Zidane, there is some good news. I just saved a bunch on money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.
Now I don't have a lot of time today so I am going to get right into the predictions. It's crunch time, and after today and tomorrow, we will be in the quarterfinals. Today, four teams go home and those four teams will be...


Lyon v. Roma- Roma's going home. Lyon are just too strong at the Stade de Gerland

Chelsea v. Porto- As much as I want to pick Porto, I can't; they're going home

Inter v. Valencia- Inter are firing on all cylinders right now (except for the last time they played Valencia), and this game is at the Mestalla. Inter are going to have to have a huge game, but I have been high on them since the beginning, so VALENCIA is staying home, INTER move on

Liverpool v. Barcelona- tough one, Barcelona need a 2-0 result to win on aggregate, what they'll get is a staunch Liverpool defense. Who goes on? I think Liverpool can hold this one out, and unfortunately BARCA goes home.

I didn't actually predict the winners and losers of the games, and let me explain. See, at this point, the individual game results don't matter as much because these are the 2nd legs. The total aggregate score is what's important now. That's why I am picking who advances/goes home.