A fairy-tale story is being hatched in the Bundesliga
Few in Germany had ever heard of tiny Hoffenheim before this year. Now, though, the village club team is at the very top of the country's professional soccer league. On Friday night, they clash with powerhouse Bayern München.
Ello all,
Today at least...
Watch Bolton v Chelsea in Sports Online | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
I cant really comprehend why so much controversy has been surrounding William Gallas for simply speaking his mind.
Toronto FC's new kits were unveiled today.
These ones have a collar! And one of those "sweet" embossed images (in this case a maple leaf) on the front of the shirt, a sartorial flourish which ceased to be stylish around the time when Eric Cantona was ninja-kicking Crystal Palace supporters.
Here are the new shirts, modeled by Rohan Ricketts and Greg "Not Protected in Expansion Draft" Sutton:
Meh. They're alright- a little underwhelming. I was hoping for something a little more audacious and bold, something closer to the Jorge Campos look. Or the MLS of old.
Well, it was inevitable.
Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the best Dutch player still in the Eredivisie (and Ryan M fave), was signed by Real Madrid yesterday for a cool 27 million Euros. Huntelaar will replace the injured Ruud van Nistelrooij at Madrid, and will join countrymen Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben, as well as fellow Ajax alums Rafael Van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder, at the Bernabeu. Madrid has officially supplanted Barca as the home for crazy Dutch talent in La Liga. Meanwhile, my beloved Ajax continues to serve as a nursery squad for the big clubs in Europe...
Anyways, this is why Huntelaar was signed: SWEET GOALS
Good evening my friends. I've been on this thing called Facebook. And somehow I think the guys who run the place have finally started leaking all my personal information to companies. Yeah, like we didn't all see that coming from a mile away. Either way, I have been getting frequent requests for my Premier League Picks.
Keeping with Mondays silly post on Rory Delap (well not that funny if your an Arsenal or Villa fan), I scrounged up some more football bloopers.
I think its much better to look at this stuff mid-week than all the lame transfer drama and managerial jargon. If you notice, I don't concentrate on that stuff. Never have and hopefully never will.
I found these all on viralvideochart.com, which is one of my favorite new websites. Its great for finding whats popular on Youtube.
Here are some of this weeks favorites:
1. Stupid Silly Goals
2. 2 Goals in 30 Seconds
3. Chris Iwelumo misses open goal
If you haven't been looking at Stoke City, and haven't seen there secret weapon. Let me bring you up to speed:
Seeing how its Monday morning and I have a super busy day I am going to share with you some funny photoshop jobs on Mr. Rory's muscley arms and absolute throw-in power. Enjoyeeee!
PHOTOS THAT MAKE YOU LAWL
Earlier this week, Michael Essien publicly criticized Arsenal, say they were all style, no substance. Couldn't agree with you more, sir. You called it!
Enough about Arsenal though, lets talk about Villa.
Villa played this game very well. In all aspects they looked like a great team. Offensively they were all over Arsenal, comfortable playing the game in front of the Aresenal goal as well as maintaining a rock solid defence. An early attempt by Gareth Barry showed the strength and versatility this team has.
Everyone talks about how "beautiful" Arsenal's passing is, but today Villa look much more stylish and displayed way more strength in the midfield. And nothing is more ugly than sloppy defending, which was the cause of both of Villas goals:
Its a shame Villalost to Newcastle a couple of weeks ago because this team has so much potential of breaking the top 4.
Top of the Mornin' to you.
Ahead of another weekend of Premier League action, I want to discuss some of the best of the best foods to pig out on while watching a game. These are a list of the top 5 foods to eat out at a pub, in a stadium or standing on a street corner watching the game through the window of a local television store.
5. English Breakfast / Pint of Ale / Cup of Coffee
This is the favorite of the North American soccer viewer. In order to catch lots of games, we have to drag our ass to the pub early in the morning. Arriving as early as 8am on a Saturday sometimes a greasy breakfast + a coffee + a pint of beer is perfect for watching any English or Scottish league game. Coffee does wonders in cleaning your pallet each time for a wonderful taste sensation of a piss-warm English ale. MMm mmm good!
4. Burek
Whether you are preparing for a football riot on the streets of Belgrade for the next Red stars game, or sitting in with your Nana having a cuppa tea and watching the game on the flat screen, this eastern-European treat is a versatile and delicious snack. Again greasy as hell and probably goes well with beer. The best thing about this is that its shaped like a pizza, but the ingredients are so plain "meat, pastry" that you wont be distracted by the wacky colours that a pizza offers. That means more time analysing every touch Arsenal's midfielders have on the ball so you can perfect your Fantasy League score.
3. Kebab
Meat on stick with the spice for life. No matter where you are in the world you will be able to find it. Whether you're asked to watch your wife's little cousin play at some pitch out in the suburbs, or if you are downtown Munich I guarantee there WILL BE A KEBAB PLACE within 5km.
2. Big Chicken Salad
Trick your friends and make them think you are concerned about your weight and health! Hell, they might even think you are a decent soccer player. Say something like " Yeah, I gotta playoff game this afternoon" or "There's like 30g of protein in this shit".
1. The Beef Dipper
Beef on a baguette has been my favorite football-watchin' food for a long time. Its simple, bland, full of great useless carbs and is served with a side of the juices it was cooked in. It is also very contagious. Usually whenever someone orders this, 2 or 3 other people queue in to get one. This meal is defiantly a team player.
After suffering a near-fatal head injury during a game with Sheffield United, the Soctland-born and Brampton native is getting better. He has moved out of the high dependency ward of Manchester Hospital yesterday and all our hopes and prayers are here for him
Get well sir.
I was having problems at the start of this years EPL season trying to figure out who was going to be this years top scorer.
I mulled it over. Surely it will be Torres. Last year he made such a dazzling debut with Liverpool and by the end of the season last year it seemed that he had some unfinished business to take care of. Then he began a lengthy stint of riding the pine.
Okay, so its not Torres. Well, it must be Adebeyor! With his cheetah-like speed with sniper rifel accuracy I was sure he would net at least 10 or 15 by now. Then Arsenal got into a rut, lost some games and he got injured.
Who else Drogba? No wait, he's injured. Rooney? Was looking hot for a while but Man U is in some weird transition phase.
Let me get to the point.
I never thought Anelka would be top of the table right now. BUT HE IS. He has manged to put together 10 goals thus far and although none of them have been sensational or jaw-dropping, his consitancy remains somewhat of a mystery to me.
I had a full beleif in this Chelsea side this year, but I always though the goals would be comming from the middle with players like Lampard, Joe Cole, Deco and Ballack. When the Robinho transfer saga was over, I was sure that Chelsea were doomed up front. But some how, some way, Nick Anelka has been consitently pulling through and has creeped to the apex of the EPL top goals list.
I think the reason why so many people have overlooked Anelka in the past is because he doesn't show off. He isn't the guy who is going to crack the ball into the back of the net.
Here is a perfect example of Anelka's cool, calm scoring style (while he was back at Bolton):
Not the net-shattering stuff you will see from players like Wayne Rooney, but you have to hand it to the guy. He is clever. He knows when to turn on the gas, how to keep his cool when a keeper charges out and has the restrain to finish without a bang.
He scored a hat trick against Sunderland the other week with his sneakyness.
So the sneaky Frenchman has not brought the kind of shwashbuckling football players like Drogba, Torres and Adeybyor do but has showed that a striker can play with sly positioning cunning intelligence to bring himself and his team to the top of the table.
Videos for your life.
I missed the game today, but I heard it was a great match and that Arsenal are back into their swing!
Arsenal 1 - 0 Man U
Arsenal 2 - 0 Man U : This is what happens when you give the Gunners time to dance around outside the box:
Arsenal 2 - 1 Man U
MAMA MIA!
If you are like me, you are doing absolutely brutal in Fantasy Leagues, then I want to share a link that i just found.
Its called physioroom.com and it provides a list of all the injured players, when they are scheduled to return and the likelihood of them making it to the next big match.
Woot!
Even when you aren't nerding it up in a fantasy league, its still great to know who is going to be playing on your team. It even shows the injury!
Michael Essien out till March!?
Ugghhhhhhh....
Good day folks,
This weekend showed us a number of key upsets in the EPL, but at the same time restored the kind of order at the top of the table that we are used to.
With Spurs continuing their resilient streak and ousting Liverpool in the last minute, not only has the premier league showed us how unpredictable things can be (in the sense that Spurs were bet to loose or lucky to tie) but also how predictable the dominance of the top 4 can be.
Let me explain further. Hull 3 -4 Man U. Hull really has been what Reading was last year. They have been eating up points from all the mid-table hacks, stunned Arsenal and gave it to Man United for most of this game. Teams coming up from the Championship are so scrappy and have really been giving it to there bigger clubs, but in the end Manchester came away with 3 points. Hull certainly brought the drama to Man U, but at the end of the day the super club was able to salvage 3 points from these rapscallions.
Even Fergie himself said this week that Villa may were the only ones capable to nick a place in the top spot. They had the chance to today and lost to the most unlikely of opponents . Wasn't expecting that!
Oh yeah and if things couldn't get any worse for the gunners they lost 3 points to Stoke. In a game that can only be summed up by this video:
So. Lots of crazy stuff happened this week. Too much to handle. But what isn't exciting is this: the big 4 somehow are still at the top.
Drum roll please..
The winner will be announced January 12th so plenty of time for debate.
So here is the list in all its glory. Marked in different shades of red are my favorites and my reasons why below:
Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Just when I thought my photoshopping skills were at least decent. I have been put to shame by the guardian's readers.
I found this one of the better photoshopping galleries on the Guardian, featuring none other than Lady's Love David B:
Beckham Photoshop Extravaganza
Lampy boy did this today as well.
He's still got it! Or meant to cross it to Anelka...ughh you be the judge.
The MLS's newest expansion team: the Seattle Sounders just signed the ex-Arsenal man for around 20 million bucks.
Further proof that the only way the MLS will ever entertain anyone is by sending soccer moms into a Hagen Daas-like state of sexual explosion by watching the latest MLS stars promote American products.
And thats all I have to say about that.
Everything you could ever want in a football match. This was an absolute barn burner!
Where do I start.
Ahh yes. Definitely goal of the season: David Bently cracks one over top of the keeper from about 40 yards out. There was no way Almunia could have ever seen it coming, or could have ever prevented it even if he did.
1 - 0 Spurs.
Moments later Arsenal used their physical prowess to score this textbook header off a corner:
...and then went to do same thing again:
Spurs are so brutal at simple defending. Redknapp, get these boys to work!
From here on, Spurs were looking absolutely frightened. Clichy was taking complete control of the midfield. Modric and the entire Tottenham team could not get a single touch on the ball for what seemed like eternity. And then...
GAME OVER SPURS. It seemed impossible for Spurs to come back from this. Arsenal was out classing them, out muscling them and Harry Redknapp's team was really being put to shame. It seemed as though Arsenal could have scored whenever they felt the need. Spurs were damaged goods at this point. Such has been their season.
And then some tricky deflections outside the box and spurs had another one! Seemingly out of nowhere!
Just when Spurs were making some forward momentum and starting to get out of their rut Hutton makes a horrible defensive mistake that ends up with Van Persie sending the ball Sccrreeeaming into the back of the net:
I think there was some weird Buddhist Karma thing going on at the Emirates tonight. Because what came around, went around for these teams tonight. Another Defensive blunder, this time by Clichy. This must have been an act of God for spurs. Followed by an absolutely lovely goal by Jenas:
By no means did Spurs look good tonight. In fact, most of the times they looked horrible. But after this goal Arsenal were definitely not playing with the same kind of confidence they were throughout the rest of the game. They seemed a shell of what they once were at the beginning of the second half. It seemed like a lovely pipe dream that Tottenham could come back to tie it up. But when 4 minutes of added time were put on the clock and Arsenal looking cold on their feet. Luka Modric's shot hit the woodwork and was tucked away by Lennon.
This was the best damn game I've seen in years. Holy....fuck. With all drama surrounding spurs and the way they have been playing lately no one could have fathomed such a wonderful display.
The absolute talent that has been wasting away in this team always pops its head up now and then. I cannot imagine what would happen if Harry Redknapp could harness the star power Spurs has and turn it into a well functioning tactical team.
In case you haven't seen this floating around.
In light of Liverpool's ascent to the top of the Premier League and perhaps in memory of Peter Crouch who is now left without his big Brother Harry Redknapp.
Robinho.
If it was ever possible to have more contempt for the pretty-boy-wonder millionaire in football, its hard to surpass Christiano Ronaldo. But ever since September, I have had a hard time getting myself to fathom the story of Robinho, but I think we have ourselves a contender for the top scorer of the Prem this year.
In case you were too busy watching the top 4 all weekend, there were actually some games on with more than two goals being scored. Three coming from the wonder boy Brazilian this weekend against Stoke:
Lets take a look:
1st Goal: Pretty basic. He's in a great position and places the ball perfectly. This is what Chelsea is having problems with. Anelka and Malouda are finding themselves in these kinds of positions and botching them constantly. Robinho keeps his cool and delivers.
2nd Goal: Please, close your eyes for the celebration: hes one cocky little bugger and its annoying. But look how well he sambas around his defenders in order to get into position for goal. This is the kind of fluid play you would expect from a player who has just been snatched up from La Liga.
3rd: Not afraid to pull the trigger from distance. Pure class. Pure power.
With Drogba and Torres being benched substantially this year, and with Berbatov, Keane and Adebayor being lukewarm and inconsistant so far, I really think Robinho has contention for top scorer this year. Shame on Chelsea for not shelling out the big bucks for this guy.
Love him or hate him, he is pulling off results and has a unique passion for the game which is beautiful and entertaining. His dramatics are pulling in great results for City already, but without the support of a well rounded team, it will be difficult for them to compete in the top four positions.
Chelsea's 86 game unbeaten streak at home was ended today by a little bit of luck on the side of Liverpool, and a lackluster performance by Chelsea.
Now I want to concentrate on this man: 
I think Ronaldinho might have some competition for the ugliest man in football, but despite his rapist-like exterior, Mr. Bosingwa has all of a sudden become the center-pin for Chelsea's offensive movements. But has this really benefited the squad? Ever since Scolari showed up he has been praised for their stylish Brazilian theme.
But are they really that stylish? All I saw today was the Chelsea defense and midfield just passing it off to Bosingwa to lob the ball into the center of the box? Is the Brazilian creativity or a step back to the English long-ball game?
And without Drogba in the center there really wasn't any clear targets for Bosingwa to connect with today. Each delivery turned out to be an awkward game of pachinko within the Liverpool penalty area.
There has been much praise over the Brazilian's new style, but what really made Chelsea special was their ability to slug out and come out with at least a tie *hence the unbeaten streak*. Perhaps this game really shows an example of the way Scolari's Chelsea will look; flashy, younger more stylish but in the end: beatable and breakable.
So the wonder boy is at it again. When he isn't posing for advertisements for sharpie or kids cough medicine he is taking serious moves to improve his game.
Okay, so here's the deal. Milan want him on a free loan come January. Hrm, I wonder why? Maybe the surge of jersey sales from Ronaldinho and other endorsements got the Italian Giants thirsty for more.
This is all fine with me, people have to make their money but what I am concerned about is it's effects on the MLS and the LA Galaxy. Beck's vision of coming to the United States to become an ambassador for soccer worked brilliantly, especially here in Toronto where you could here the buzz of becks coming to town months in advance. Not only does this get all the soccer mom's hot and bothered, the guys pulls in a guarantee sell out at BMO field.
VP of Milan, Andriano Galliani stated
"Football today is about full stadiums and sponsors and superstars like Beckham fill them up. With him, Kaka and Ronaldinho, it will be a dream team"
