Holy Zombie Jesus, did a lot go down since the last time the Premier League kicked off a fortnight ago.
First and foremost, my assumed title chase between Chelsea and Arsenal got thrown a wicked Barry Zito circa-2002 curveball. (Ok, for Brits, a wicked Googly.)
Chelsea is going to have to play at least a couple matches -- and almost certainly the Nov. 29 match with the Gooners -- without midfield fulcrum Frank Lampard. Chelsea without Frank the Tank? That's like trying to pull off a Seinfeld reunion without Jerry. Sure other guys (Drogba, Anelka, Essien, etc.) provide highlights, but like a quality rug, Lampard ties the Chelsea machine together.
Like Jerry, Lampard had the perfect sense of timing/being in the right place at the right time. Other guys might set it up, but those two knock them down. Throw in a bad haircut scenario, too.
It doesn't help matters than the already width-deprived Blues are also without Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa. (Factor in the African Cup of Nations and Chelsea is suddenly teetering.)
The lack of Lampard is a bigger loss than Arsenal missing Robin van Persie. Sure RVP had been playing out of his gourd this year, but it's almost expected that the Dutch ace is going to miss some time in a given year. The guys bones are made out of glass.
Don't weep for Arsene Wenger just yet, though. It's not like he doesn't have Andrey Arshavin and Eduardo in reserve to step in and replace van Persie and Nic Bendtner.
I'll probably write about this one of these Fridays, but what is it about soccer that soooooooooooooo (see, emphasis) guys end up getting hurt during the course of a season? Do they have physical therapy in Europe? It just seems like if a guy nicks his foot he's out a standard six-to-eight weeks, minimum.
Anyway, here are a couple other Twitter-y type bullet thoughts to chew on before picking the games....
* What is it with French players lately? Thierry Henry's already infamous handball certainly took the focus away from David Ngog's "shameful" dive against Birmingham last Monday. Basically everyone hates the French, is what it seems to boil down to. I'm not saying I agree with it, it's just the perception.
Just watch this incident galvanize the notoriously disparate French team. Maybe they'll rally around the fact they nearly the entire globe will raise a cocked eyebrow about the fact they're in the World Cup finals.
* By the same token, Ireland, you lost. Sure it sucks, but you lost. The game is over. Yes, Henry admitted he used his hands, but it happened. Stamping your feet like an upset kid and demanding a replay of the match isn't going to happen. Crappy decisions by the officials is, unfortunately, part of sports. It's the human element. Do we really want robots and sensors and what-have-you deciding the games we care about? Think about it before answering.
* Don Garber probably has an answer, but the cranky Mike Francesa part of my personality wonders why on earth MLS would schedule its championship game for an 8:30 p.m. start on a Sunday night? Perhaps it was the only time it could get clearance on ESPN during its non-stop, incessant college basketball games. Then again, is it worse than going up with a midday NFL game?
* Wondering if showering Landon Donovan will the MLS MVP award will deter him from dipping his toes into Europe in 2010? As a U.S. fan, this might be the worst thing for him at this point, which seems crazy, but do we need Donovan to cram in four, five months in Europe right before a World Cup. He's made a leap from the 2006 version of himself already. Let's just keep him happy and healthy ahead of South Africa. Trying to crack a lineup with a new club in Europe? Does he or the U.S. team need that headache in a World Cup season?
* The Guus Hiddink watch is officially on. I'll leave it at that.
* Should I feel bad that I played an online match in "FIFA 10" and my opponent chose the USMNT, so I picked Mexico and won in overtime thanks to a hat trick by Guille Franco. I'm very conflicted. Oh well.
* My goodness, imagine if Yugoslavia never broke apart in the wake of the fall of communism and Marshall Tito?
Imagine what kind of a national team you'd have with Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia lumped together?
Who wouldn't want this possible starting XI, which I threw together based on form, injuries, etic as of Nov. 19, 2009, so no Luka Modric:
GK -- Handanovič (SLV)
DEF -- Ivanovic (SRB) -- Vidic (SRB) -- Corluka (CRO) -- Pranjcic(CRO)
MID -- Kranjčar (CRO) -- Misimović (BOS) -- Stankovic (SRB) -- Srna (CRO)
FOR -- Džeko (BOS) -- Novakovič (SLV)
That's a pretty nice offensive little team right there. Guess it would be impossible to factor in if they could get along. Maybe we could get Hiddink to coach it.
* After those two miserable friendlies, the USMNT better find a way to bribe Sepp Blatter (what, this doesn't happen?) and land in a World Cup group with New Zealand, North Korea or South Africa.
With the final 32-nation field complete, the one trend to notice is the overall strength of the African countries, sans the host. If there's a weaker group, it might be Asia. I don't put too much stock in Japan and or Australia. The U.S. would fare a lot better getting lumped in with an Asian team as opposed to African.
We'll obviously discuss this a lot more in the next two weeks.
Let's see if David Stern is available to pull the U.S. ball, at least.
Saturday:
* Liverpool v. Manchester City -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) No Torres or Yossi. A questionable strength Gerrard? No, it doesn't look good for Liverpool. That said, City has fallen into a similar malaise, so this is a huge game in the race for fourth place. Liverpool -- at Anfield -- is simply due a strong performance, especially with what figures to be a tired City team with players returning from internationals. ... Liverpool 2, City 1
* Birmingham City v. Fulham -- Brum will have a lot of matches like these, needing three points at home to gain some breathing room. Maybe Carson Yeung's amazing fur coat will serve as something of a good-luck charm. David Putty would have been proud. Dr. Zaius indeed. Viva Chucho! ... Brum 1, Fulham 0
* Burnley v. Aston Villa -- Remember when "movie star" Dwayne Johnson was the wrestler known as "The Rock"? Yeah, it happened.Now he's starring in Disney comedies. Crazy world. Well, ol' Burnley would gain the Rock's (and by proxy the N.O.D.'s) approval since they "know their role." From the Aston Villa perspective, they haven't beaten Burnley in the league since 1966. Now you can sleep easy tonight. That's the same year "Light My Fire" was released by The Doors. ... Burnley 1, Aston Villa 1
* Chelsea v. Wolves -- (Live, Setana 10 a.m.) Last time, Wolves vs. Arsenal was one of the most non-competitive matches in the Premier League not featuring Derby County I've ever seen. ... And that was at home. Chelsea doesn't know the word mercy, even without Lamps. ... Chelsea 3, Wolves 0
* Hull City v. West Ham United -- Maybe Hull City is pointed in the right direction. The Tigers haven't allowed more than two goals in a match since Sept. 26. West Ham? Though Gianfranco Zola's team was pointed in the right direction. Maybe Katy Perry's Irons inspired brassiere. That ought to at least make some kind of "point." Hi-oh!(Sorry for the gutter humor, couldn't resist.) ... Hull City 1, West Ham 1
* Sunderland v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) I do know this, I'm adding Arshavin to my fantasy team. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 2
* Manchester United v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Hey, whaddya know? Perhaps all the problems swirling around Chelsea and Arsenal open the door back up for boring ol' United? I do know that Wayne Rooney is apparently very popular in both Egypt and Slovenia, at least in television ads. Guess looks -- or brains -- aren't everything. Two pertinent facts on this one -- United haven't dropped points from a winning position this season and more importantly, the Toffees have only one win vs. United in their last 26 league meetings. ... United 2, Everton 0
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Blackburn -- (Live, Setanta, 8:30 a.m.) Pass. ... Bolton 1, Blackburn 0
* Tottenham v. Wigan Athletic -- (Live, Fox Sports en Espanol, 10 a.m.) Spurs need the three points, but Wigan isn't going to roll over and give it to them. Maybe a pissed off Robbie Keane shows up and makes the difference. ... Spurs 2, Wigan 1
* Stoke City v. Portsmouth -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Kind of funny when you look at it, Stoke City has only two more wins (4) than last-place Portsmouth, which despite nine losses is only four points away from the safety zone. Portsmouth has looked frisky in recent weeks, but on the road against a good defensive team like Stoke isn't a good recipe for them, that is unless Thomas Sorensam decides to give away a goal like he did for Denmark vs. the U.S. on Wednesday. ... Stoke City 1, Portsmouth 0
Last time: 4-6
Season: 61-55
First and foremost, my assumed title chase between Chelsea and Arsenal got thrown a wicked Barry Zito circa-2002 curveball. (Ok, for Brits, a wicked Googly.)
Chelsea is going to have to play at least a couple matches -- and almost certainly the Nov. 29 match with the Gooners -- without midfield fulcrum Frank Lampard. Chelsea without Frank the Tank? That's like trying to pull off a Seinfeld reunion without Jerry. Sure other guys (Drogba, Anelka, Essien, etc.) provide highlights, but like a quality rug, Lampard ties the Chelsea machine together.
Like Jerry, Lampard had the perfect sense of timing/being in the right place at the right time. Other guys might set it up, but those two knock them down. Throw in a bad haircut scenario, too.
It doesn't help matters than the already width-deprived Blues are also without Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa. (Factor in the African Cup of Nations and Chelsea is suddenly teetering.)
The lack of Lampard is a bigger loss than Arsenal missing Robin van Persie. Sure RVP had been playing out of his gourd this year, but it's almost expected that the Dutch ace is going to miss some time in a given year. The guys bones are made out of glass.
Don't weep for Arsene Wenger just yet, though. It's not like he doesn't have Andrey Arshavin and Eduardo in reserve to step in and replace van Persie and Nic Bendtner.
I'll probably write about this one of these Fridays, but what is it about soccer that soooooooooooooo (see, emphasis) guys end up getting hurt during the course of a season? Do they have physical therapy in Europe? It just seems like if a guy nicks his foot he's out a standard six-to-eight weeks, minimum.
Anyway, here are a couple other Twitter-y type bullet thoughts to chew on before picking the games....
* What is it with French players lately? Thierry Henry's already infamous handball certainly took the focus away from David Ngog's "shameful" dive against Birmingham last Monday. Basically everyone hates the French, is what it seems to boil down to. I'm not saying I agree with it, it's just the perception.
Just watch this incident galvanize the notoriously disparate French team. Maybe they'll rally around the fact they nearly the entire globe will raise a cocked eyebrow about the fact they're in the World Cup finals.
* By the same token, Ireland, you lost. Sure it sucks, but you lost. The game is over. Yes, Henry admitted he used his hands, but it happened. Stamping your feet like an upset kid and demanding a replay of the match isn't going to happen. Crappy decisions by the officials is, unfortunately, part of sports. It's the human element. Do we really want robots and sensors and what-have-you deciding the games we care about? Think about it before answering.
* Don Garber probably has an answer, but the cranky Mike Francesa part of my personality wonders why on earth MLS would schedule its championship game for an 8:30 p.m. start on a Sunday night? Perhaps it was the only time it could get clearance on ESPN during its non-stop, incessant college basketball games. Then again, is it worse than going up with a midday NFL game?
* Wondering if showering Landon Donovan will the MLS MVP award will deter him from dipping his toes into Europe in 2010? As a U.S. fan, this might be the worst thing for him at this point, which seems crazy, but do we need Donovan to cram in four, five months in Europe right before a World Cup. He's made a leap from the 2006 version of himself already. Let's just keep him happy and healthy ahead of South Africa. Trying to crack a lineup with a new club in Europe? Does he or the U.S. team need that headache in a World Cup season?
* The Guus Hiddink watch is officially on. I'll leave it at that.
* Should I feel bad that I played an online match in "FIFA 10" and my opponent chose the USMNT, so I picked Mexico and won in overtime thanks to a hat trick by Guille Franco. I'm very conflicted. Oh well.
* My goodness, imagine if Yugoslavia never broke apart in the wake of the fall of communism and Marshall Tito?
Imagine what kind of a national team you'd have with Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia lumped together?
Who wouldn't want this possible starting XI, which I threw together based on form, injuries, etic as of Nov. 19, 2009, so no Luka Modric:
GK -- Handanovič (SLV)
DEF -- Ivanovic (SRB) -- Vidic (SRB) -- Corluka (CRO) -- Pranjcic(CRO)
MID -- Kranjčar (CRO) -- Misimović (BOS) -- Stankovic (SRB) -- Srna (CRO)
FOR -- Džeko (BOS) -- Novakovič (SLV)
That's a pretty nice offensive little team right there. Guess it would be impossible to factor in if they could get along. Maybe we could get Hiddink to coach it.
* After those two miserable friendlies, the USMNT better find a way to bribe Sepp Blatter (what, this doesn't happen?) and land in a World Cup group with New Zealand, North Korea or South Africa.
With the final 32-nation field complete, the one trend to notice is the overall strength of the African countries, sans the host. If there's a weaker group, it might be Asia. I don't put too much stock in Japan and or Australia. The U.S. would fare a lot better getting lumped in with an Asian team as opposed to African.
We'll obviously discuss this a lot more in the next two weeks.
Let's see if David Stern is available to pull the U.S. ball, at least.
Saturday:
* Liverpool v. Manchester City -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) No Torres or Yossi. A questionable strength Gerrard? No, it doesn't look good for Liverpool. That said, City has fallen into a similar malaise, so this is a huge game in the race for fourth place. Liverpool -- at Anfield -- is simply due a strong performance, especially with what figures to be a tired City team with players returning from internationals. ... Liverpool 2, City 1
* Birmingham City v. Fulham -- Brum will have a lot of matches like these, needing three points at home to gain some breathing room. Maybe Carson Yeung's amazing fur coat will serve as something of a good-luck charm. David Putty would have been proud. Dr. Zaius indeed. Viva Chucho! ... Brum 1, Fulham 0
* Burnley v. Aston Villa -- Remember when "movie star" Dwayne Johnson was the wrestler known as "The Rock"? Yeah, it happened.Now he's starring in Disney comedies. Crazy world. Well, ol' Burnley would gain the Rock's (and by proxy the N.O.D.'s) approval since they "know their role." From the Aston Villa perspective, they haven't beaten Burnley in the league since 1966. Now you can sleep easy tonight. That's the same year "Light My Fire" was released by The Doors. ... Burnley 1, Aston Villa 1
* Chelsea v. Wolves -- (Live, Setana 10 a.m.) Last time, Wolves vs. Arsenal was one of the most non-competitive matches in the Premier League not featuring Derby County I've ever seen. ... And that was at home. Chelsea doesn't know the word mercy, even without Lamps. ... Chelsea 3, Wolves 0
* Hull City v. West Ham United -- Maybe Hull City is pointed in the right direction. The Tigers haven't allowed more than two goals in a match since Sept. 26. West Ham? Though Gianfranco Zola's team was pointed in the right direction. Maybe Katy Perry's Irons inspired brassiere. That ought to at least make some kind of "point." Hi-oh!(Sorry for the gutter humor, couldn't resist.) ... Hull City 1, West Ham 1
* Sunderland v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) I do know this, I'm adding Arshavin to my fantasy team. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 2
* Manchester United v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Hey, whaddya know? Perhaps all the problems swirling around Chelsea and Arsenal open the door back up for boring ol' United? I do know that Wayne Rooney is apparently very popular in both Egypt and Slovenia, at least in television ads. Guess looks -- or brains -- aren't everything. Two pertinent facts on this one -- United haven't dropped points from a winning position this season and more importantly, the Toffees have only one win vs. United in their last 26 league meetings. ... United 2, Everton 0
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Blackburn -- (Live, Setanta, 8:30 a.m.) Pass. ... Bolton 1, Blackburn 0
* Tottenham v. Wigan Athletic -- (Live, Fox Sports en Espanol, 10 a.m.) Spurs need the three points, but Wigan isn't going to roll over and give it to them. Maybe a pissed off Robbie Keane shows up and makes the difference. ... Spurs 2, Wigan 1
* Stoke City v. Portsmouth -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Kind of funny when you look at it, Stoke City has only two more wins (4) than last-place Portsmouth, which despite nine losses is only four points away from the safety zone. Portsmouth has looked frisky in recent weeks, but on the road against a good defensive team like Stoke isn't a good recipe for them, that is unless Thomas Sorensam decides to give away a goal like he did for Denmark vs. the U.S. on Wednesday. ... Stoke City 1, Portsmouth 0
Last time: 4-6
Season: 61-55
Labels: English Premier League, odds and ends, Prem League, Soccer, USMNT
I am already exhausted by the Irish. Are they aware that they could have still drawn France (or Portugal or Russia) even if the draw had not been seeded? Are they aware that they would not have automatically won the recent game (more ET and PKs were scheduled) if Henry didn't get his Tony Parker on? Do the ROI fans really believe that Keane would *not* have handled the ball in the very same way, given the opportunity to put his team through to the WC? This drama is so much fun, can we make ROI and France play again - maybe adding in Algeria and Egypt for a a round robin 4 way play-off for the last two spots?
'Cheat' is a powerful word, especially in soccer - but people seem to throw it around so easily. Is it 'cheating' to come in a fraction of a second late on a tackle? It's a foul, but is it the all-encompassing 'eeeee-vill' that is cheating? What about dribbling the ball towards the corner flag and holding it as your team tries to protect a lead in the final minutes of a match? That isn't a foul but is it in 'the spirit of the game?' I understand being angry at the refs and wanting the system of calling fouls (like super obvious Double Dribbles) over-hauled - but expecting players to not do whatever they can to gain an advantage seems silly. Excoriating athletes that DO step over the line (or reach over the line) comes across as childish.
Cardillo, you are spot on, that Jug-o-saliva all star team would be a killer. But would UEFA lose multiple qualifying spots because there would be significantly less nations in Europe (Ukraine and all those former Soviet satellites, Czech Rep and Slovakia, etc). Maybe THAT is how the Irish make it in ...
"Do we really want robots and senors and what-have-you deciding the games we care about?"
No, I want the matches decided by the players, not the inability of an official to see what's happening.
Isn't it a bit hypocritical of FIFA to trot those little kids out onto the field waving those "Fair Play" flags after the bullshit that went down this week?
Sure, its quite possible that Ire would have drawn France. But it the fact that the re-seeding was done in the first place that is what is troubling.
And yes, no self-respecting fan would ever seriously expect a replay. (And Henry is a douche for suggesting it after the fact.)
It's easy to complain about the Irish being upset when you follow a team that has millions to grease FIFA with and/or ply the opposing team with hookers and booze (see: Confed Cup final day of group play).
But the Irish are being systematically shafted.
All one has to do is look at the UEFA seed pots for the upcoming draw. How does Ireland end up in the THIRD pot? After making the playoffs in the WC quals?
The problem is larger than one bad call in one game. Failing to qualify for the WC means the inability to move in the FIFA rankings for at least 6 mos, essentially freezing them. For France (or the US for that matter) its no big deal, but for Ireland, who is better than their ranking would suggest, the non-qual for the WC is a critical problem.
It's a fucking shame, what they are doing to Ireland. Those guys play hard and mostly overachieve, and guys like Shay Given will probably never see a WC match.
It's sad and unjust.
Brad, I don't follow your logic. But maybe the 120 minutes of MLS Cup snooze-festing has dimmed my brain-power.
The way I understand it, UEFA/FIFA never officially announced that the Europe play-off draw would be unseeded - rather, they had hinted that it would likely be unseeded. I find it far more weird that the rules for this process are NOT carved in stone months ahead of time but left open for change at the last minute. Same with the seedings for Dec 4th. How is that process/formula not completely transparent? This happens every four years - with the formulas rising from the mists like Excalibur. No more or less shady this time around, but it seems like announcing that a full house no longer beats a flush during the deal of the cards.
Why is a seeded draw for the European play-off spots 'unfair' but it is acceptable that the main draw (on Dec 4th) is seeded? Neither seeded nor un-seeded is 'right' or 'wrong' - just different ways of getting either the 'best teams' into a tourney or 'giving everyone a chance.'
But back to Ireland. ROI fans claim that the WC play-off draw was gonna be unseeded but then when FIFA/UEFA saw that big teams were involved they decided to switch up the process. This theory makes no sense. Of course one or more 'big teams' was going to be involved in the play-offs - the law of averages says so. It makes no sense that the rules were changed to screw the Irish - since it was just as possible that the play-offs could have included Germany or Italy or the Dutch rather than France and Portugal. Some big team(s) was gonna be in that draw, and some smaller team was gonna be bummed they drew them.
BTW - if a nation with a large population is always able to bamboozle their way in over the deserving good/little guys by using huge stacks of illicit money - why is Russia gonna be at home next summer?
Please note that none of this is me suggesting that FIFA and UEFA are fair or above suspicion - but rather that the seeding issue is not an example of that.
The Henry handball was a terrible non-call on the field - but after that happened, what were the FIFA officials gonna do? Choose to screw the other country out of their win on the field?