"It's always been a shortcoming of football that it only last 90 minutes." -- Martin Tyler.
Or, if you're Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United 96 minutes.
Before delving into the grassy knoll at Old Trafford, let me make a point of contrast. As I type this I'm watching the New England Patriots/New York Jets NFL game and feel my brain power slowly being sapped by the constant drone of analyst Dan Dierdorf. So if me spelling get worse than it usually be, you have reason why.
Okay, obviously my lousy grade-10 level syntax isn't the byproduct of an aging, beefy, blowhard, but his continual employment rankles me, though not nearly as much as Manchester United conspiracy theorists in light of the 'Godfather II-esque' running length of stoppage time Sunday vs. Manchester City.
As a counterweight to that argument, referee Martin Atkinson did need to add time for Craig Bellamy's injury time equalizer and Sir Alex's savvy sub of Michael Carrick for Anderson which added another 30 seconds. Granted, those two incidents make it a five minute stoppage time, not six.
And by the same token, it took an amazing pass from "Sir" Ryan Giggs, threading the needle to Michael Owen and Owen had to pretend it was the 1990s again and slot it past Shay Given. Even if it should never have transpired, it was a 1 in 100 shot. (But probably a shot only Manchester United would have the chance to attempt.)
Either way you want to look at it, this was an amazingly insane match.
Here are some things to consider:
* Wayne Rooney is pretty much unstoppable right now, even with his patchy beard.
* Carlos Tevez might look like the Hulk, but Craig Bellamy plays like him, since you don't like him while he's angry. Just ask this fan who he appeared to striker. He and John Arne Riise ought to form a support group.
* Premier League stadiums must be required to have a tattoo artist/parlour on the premises.
* Rio Ferdinand is officially back to Mr. Casual status.
* What happened to Ben Foster? Wasn't he fairly spry at Watford? That "play" that allowed the first City goal from Big Book of Gaffes co-written by Mr. James & Gomes.
* Add the previous two statements and it spells trouble long term for United, at least until the Dutch Giant returns.
* Darren Fletcher ... once, nay, twice? The "Really?" moment of the weekend, for certain.
For a long time in my mind, at least, I've equated Manchester City with the New York Mets. It's not the greatest comparison in the world, especially since the Mets ownership group got taken by Bernie Madoff, while City has more oil-bucks than it knows what to do with.
This result, with its stunning finish, reminded me of that game earlier this season when Luis Castillo dropped a routine pop fly hit by Alex Rodriguez allowing the Yankees to win.
You can spend all the money on earth, but Manchester City is Manchester City for a reason.
A Modest Proposal:
* It goes against the ethos of everything soccer is about, but in light of the United/City finish and then the bizarre injury timeouts at Stamford Bridge when Tottenham's Sebestien Bassong and later Chelsea's Didier Drogba needed to be carted off, shouldn't the officials have the discretion to blow the whistle and stop the clock? You had over 10 minutes of dead time while guys were being strapped to gurneys, yet the clock keeps ticking. This is 2009. It shouldn't be that difficult to stop the clock, guys like Jackie Milburn and Alf Ramsey wouldn't roll over in their graves if this happens.
Einsteinian Statement of the week:
* Chelsea is good. Scary good. Spurs looked completely overmatched and when the Robbie Keane/Ricardo Carvalho penalty didn't go in their favor, they seemingly gave up.
The only blemish -- and it could be a big one -- is the status of Drogba. It's doubtful too many will miss it if the Ivorian is sidelined a few weeks, not that the Blues ever suffer for goals.
Goal of the week:
* No arguments here, Thomas Vermaelan's second goal was a cracker.
Other stuff:
* Welcome back to the land of the living David Nugent.
* Unwelcome back to the ESPN desk to Tommy Smyth. Guess it was only a matter of time. Luckily they cram in a ton of commercials, so there's not much time for the wee Irishman to add his "insight."
* Lot of empty seats at the Emirates, or maybe just a lack of Wigan fans in London, or anywhere for that matter.
* Not to rely on bad stereotypes, but my god, Alessandro Diamanti looked like the guy that Christopher shot up heroin with when Tony and the Crew travled to Italy for "business" in season two of 'The Sopranos.'
* That double-tap penalty? Not sure what to make of that assertion, other than Jamie Carragher didn't have his best game.
* Is it too early for a team to checkout on its season, because Portsmouth seems to be trying. Then again, when you construct a team by a) selling your best players and b) acquiring a cast of misfit toys, it's a recipe for disaster. Harry Redknapp isn't walking back through that door again to perform another second-half miracle.
Really sucks for Pompey fans, at least you'll always have that FA Cup.
* Aston Villa is little better than I thought at the beginning of the season. Richard Dunne and James Collins seem like savvy pickups at the end of the transfer window.
* Important wins for Birmingham City and Wolves.
* Burnley clocking in with a healthy -5 goal differential, but are 3-for-3 at home. So there you go.
Fantasy team o' the week:
* The Cyrically themed Черноморец of Michael Goldenberg put up 96 points through Ashley Cole, Darren Fletcher and captain Torres. (Nice goals.)
Looking ahead:
Not a great weekend on the horizon, best of the bunch is Fulham hosting Arsenal at Craven Cottage in the late Saturday game.
One last thing:
* If you're a gamer or specifically a soccer gamer, the demo for "FIFA 10" is out on XBox Live. You get a 3-minute half option at Wembley Stadium using either Chelsea, Bayern, Marseille, Chelsea, Juventus or the Chicago Fire. Honestly, for all the improvements they've talked about, I wasn't blown away by the gameplay. It was FIFA. You still can run into guys and steal the ball with ease and can't shoot from anywhere outside the box and expect to score.
I'm curious to see if the manager mode is much better, or realistic.
In the upset of the weekend, the "PES 10" demo was also out, and I found myself having more fun with it than FIFA. (Teams are Liverpool, Barca, Spain, France, Germany and England.)
I wish we could get an alliance and merge the two games and take the presentation of "FIFA" and the on-field graphics and gameplay of "PES." (The PES presentation is still on 8-bit levels.)
Oh well, Electronic Arts wants to give us the Polish and Czech leagues instead of varying up the gameplay so different teams actually play with different styles.
Or, if you're Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United 96 minutes.
Before delving into the grassy knoll at Old Trafford, let me make a point of contrast. As I type this I'm watching the New England Patriots/New York Jets NFL game and feel my brain power slowly being sapped by the constant drone of analyst Dan Dierdorf. So if me spelling get worse than it usually be, you have reason why.
Okay, obviously my lousy grade-10 level syntax isn't the byproduct of an aging, beefy, blowhard, but his continual employment rankles me, though not nearly as much as Manchester United conspiracy theorists in light of the 'Godfather II-esque' running length of stoppage time Sunday vs. Manchester City.
As a counterweight to that argument, referee Martin Atkinson did need to add time for Craig Bellamy's injury time equalizer and Sir Alex's savvy sub of Michael Carrick for Anderson which added another 30 seconds. Granted, those two incidents make it a five minute stoppage time, not six.
And by the same token, it took an amazing pass from "Sir" Ryan Giggs, threading the needle to Michael Owen and Owen had to pretend it was the 1990s again and slot it past Shay Given. Even if it should never have transpired, it was a 1 in 100 shot. (But probably a shot only Manchester United would have the chance to attempt.)
Either way you want to look at it, this was an amazingly insane match.
Here are some things to consider:
* Wayne Rooney is pretty much unstoppable right now, even with his patchy beard.
* Carlos Tevez might look like the Hulk, but Craig Bellamy plays like him, since you don't like him while he's angry. Just ask this fan who he appeared to striker. He and John Arne Riise ought to form a support group.
* Premier League stadiums must be required to have a tattoo artist/parlour on the premises.
* Rio Ferdinand is officially back to Mr. Casual status.
* What happened to Ben Foster? Wasn't he fairly spry at Watford? That "play" that allowed the first City goal from Big Book of Gaffes co-written by Mr. James & Gomes.
* Add the previous two statements and it spells trouble long term for United, at least until the Dutch Giant returns.
* Darren Fletcher ... once, nay, twice? The "Really?" moment of the weekend, for certain.
For a long time in my mind, at least, I've equated Manchester City with the New York Mets. It's not the greatest comparison in the world, especially since the Mets ownership group got taken by Bernie Madoff, while City has more oil-bucks than it knows what to do with.
This result, with its stunning finish, reminded me of that game earlier this season when Luis Castillo dropped a routine pop fly hit by Alex Rodriguez allowing the Yankees to win.
You can spend all the money on earth, but Manchester City is Manchester City for a reason.
A Modest Proposal:
* It goes against the ethos of everything soccer is about, but in light of the United/City finish and then the bizarre injury timeouts at Stamford Bridge when Tottenham's Sebestien Bassong and later Chelsea's Didier Drogba needed to be carted off, shouldn't the officials have the discretion to blow the whistle and stop the clock? You had over 10 minutes of dead time while guys were being strapped to gurneys, yet the clock keeps ticking. This is 2009. It shouldn't be that difficult to stop the clock, guys like Jackie Milburn and Alf Ramsey wouldn't roll over in their graves if this happens.
Einsteinian Statement of the week:
* Chelsea is good. Scary good. Spurs looked completely overmatched and when the Robbie Keane/Ricardo Carvalho penalty didn't go in their favor, they seemingly gave up.
The only blemish -- and it could be a big one -- is the status of Drogba. It's doubtful too many will miss it if the Ivorian is sidelined a few weeks, not that the Blues ever suffer for goals.
Goal of the week:
* No arguments here, Thomas Vermaelan's second goal was a cracker.
Other stuff:
* Welcome back to the land of the living David Nugent.
* Unwelcome back to the ESPN desk to Tommy Smyth. Guess it was only a matter of time. Luckily they cram in a ton of commercials, so there's not much time for the wee Irishman to add his "insight."
* Lot of empty seats at the Emirates, or maybe just a lack of Wigan fans in London, or anywhere for that matter.
* Not to rely on bad stereotypes, but my god, Alessandro Diamanti looked like the guy that Christopher shot up heroin with when Tony and the Crew travled to Italy for "business" in season two of 'The Sopranos.'
* That double-tap penalty? Not sure what to make of that assertion, other than Jamie Carragher didn't have his best game.
* Is it too early for a team to checkout on its season, because Portsmouth seems to be trying. Then again, when you construct a team by a) selling your best players and b) acquiring a cast of misfit toys, it's a recipe for disaster. Harry Redknapp isn't walking back through that door again to perform another second-half miracle.
Really sucks for Pompey fans, at least you'll always have that FA Cup.
* Aston Villa is little better than I thought at the beginning of the season. Richard Dunne and James Collins seem like savvy pickups at the end of the transfer window.
* Important wins for Birmingham City and Wolves.
* Burnley clocking in with a healthy -5 goal differential, but are 3-for-3 at home. So there you go.
Fantasy team o' the week:
* The Cyrically themed Черноморец of Michael Goldenberg put up 96 points through Ashley Cole, Darren Fletcher and captain Torres. (Nice goals.)
Looking ahead:
Not a great weekend on the horizon, best of the bunch is Fulham hosting Arsenal at Craven Cottage in the late Saturday game.
One last thing:
* If you're a gamer or specifically a soccer gamer, the demo for "FIFA 10" is out on XBox Live. You get a 3-minute half option at Wembley Stadium using either Chelsea, Bayern, Marseille, Chelsea, Juventus or the Chicago Fire. Honestly, for all the improvements they've talked about, I wasn't blown away by the gameplay. It was FIFA. You still can run into guys and steal the ball with ease and can't shoot from anywhere outside the box and expect to score.
I'm curious to see if the manager mode is much better, or realistic.
In the upset of the weekend, the "PES 10" demo was also out, and I found myself having more fun with it than FIFA. (Teams are Liverpool, Barca, Spain, France, Germany and England.)
I wish we could get an alliance and merge the two games and take the presentation of "FIFA" and the on-field graphics and gameplay of "PES." (The PES presentation is still on 8-bit levels.)
Oh well, Electronic Arts wants to give us the Polish and Czech leagues instead of varying up the gameplay so different teams actually play with different styles.
Labels: Chelsea, manchester city, manchester United, Monday recaps, Premier League, Soccer, Wayne Rooney
About that added time - OK for adding time for the goal celebration (about 30-45 seconds, a minute at most), but for the sub? United brought on Carrick purely as a time-waster with the hopes that the free kick they were taking would be the last chance for either team to score. City cleared the ball, and the rest is history. Credit to both Giggs and Owen for a nice goal but that seemed like a lot more extra time than there should have been.
Howard Webb definitely missed that call on Carvalho -- wonder if that will keep him from going to South Africa 2010? I would definitely recommend Seeing Red by Graham Poll. Good stuff, there.
As for Drogba, I've been reading that it was just a cramp. That would certainly go along with his standard reaction to injury. Hopefully it's nothing major and he will be fit before the 10/2 Liverpool game. He probably wouldn't have played on Wednesday v QPR and is suspended for next week's trip to Cyprus.
In fairness to Tommy Smyth, you may want to mark down September 19th 2009 in your calendar as the one day he said something correct. He blamed Bent's goal on the defender who didn't pull up, which was definitely correct.
Thanks for followiing through on listing my team name as Fantasy Team of the Week. I thought the cyrillics would deter you from doing so (you know -> the whole copy/paste thing):) Just as an FYI 0 it's not a offensive word anything - actually just a team name - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Chornomorets_Odesa
Extra time or not, City just played bad defense (pretty much all game). Given bailed them out a million times and the defending on Owen's goal was unforgivable.
Play to the whistle.
I am not usually much of a conspiracy theorist when it comes to sports. I generally think the better team wins most of the time and it seems that happened over the weekend in Manchester.
The Guardian published this breakdown of who gets how much extra time - and it doesn't seem all that striking to me. Home field is home field, right? And if everyone gets it ...
The biggest thing for Man United this year seems to be that Ryan Giggs is good again. I was convinced that Giggs was old and on his way out, but if he plays like THAT for the rest of the season Citeh can get 32 minutes of extra time and it won't matter.
"No arguments here, Thomas Vermaelan's second goal was a cracker."
Really? It was good, but I think Bellamy's first goal was the very definition of a cracker.