Football Crazy

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Is anyone following Serie A here?

[ycr007]

Chelsea have one hand on the Premiership trophy as they won at

Tottenham as rivals Arsenal crashed to a defeat against Bolton.

Manchester United won at Anfield thru a Wayne Rooney Strike.

The Points Difference between Arsenal and Chelsea is now 10 points

with only 15 more matches to play.Man Utd meanwhile move to within

1 point of Arsenal.



I saw both matches simultaneously and I must confess that ManUtd's match

was interesting only until the first half.Second half was overtly defensive.But

ManU did'nt give up even after being reduced to 10 men-Wes Brown collecting

a second yellow card.



Arsenal were led to Doom by Greek midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos

who sealed the points for Bolton with a first half header after goalkeeper

Manuel Almunia misjudged a cross from El Hadji Diouf.



Frank Lampard was Chelsea's hero, adding a last-minute strike to a

hotly-disputed, first-half penalty to give his side a priceless victory.

[Sharjeel]

SIGs Posht Number 15001!



Me does follow Serie A, but not soo regularly.



I gotta question: Is Raul as good as he is made out to be?

[ycr007]

EPL Standings:



Chelsea 61

Manchester United 53

Arsenal 51

Everton 44

Liverpool 40





I was Busy Lately so Did'nt see the ManUtd Vs Arsenal Game or the

Chelsea Vs ManCity One.....Any Reviews????

[ycr007]

Gudjohnsen fires Chelsea twelve points clear



Match-winner Eidur Gudjohnsen offered no solace to Chelsea's title rivals

after his goal condemned 10-man Everton to a 1-0 defeat at Goodison

Park on Saturday and sent the leaders 12 points clear at the top of the

Premiership. Everton were down to 10 men after just eight minutes

following a moment of madness from six-million-pound striker James

Beattie.

[*]

I was watching the Real madrid Vs Athelic bilbao match and was left wondering all the time. It was the 8th match following the 7 successive wins they registered in the L A liga , and the play wasnt in the league they are capable of. everybody was a shadow of himself.



Beckham couldnt clear the wall in any of his free kicks.



Figo missed a sitter, with only the goalkeeper to beat he hung on to the ball too long and lost it to the keeper in the end.



Guti never looked like a striker in the whole match.



Zidane came on a bit too late.



Ronaldo also missed an easy one for his standard.



Raul looks totally out of form. He plas nothing like he did a couple of seasons ago.



Casillas never believes in holding the goal line , he was well and truely beaten by a 40 yarder from Iraola. The score line should have been 3-0.



The defence was as disorganised as ever , Exteberria ran through it time and again.



I really wonder sometimes what happens to the Real madrid players ,,



> Is it too much hype or too much talent in one team that the game suffers as a result ?



Although disappointed by the Real performance,, the match was worth watching for that one long range shot by Iraola.

[Jaszalcatraz]

I'm also a Real fan and the best defence I can give is that it was the Law of Averages that was smoothening itself out. 7 wins with quite a helping of luck (dont deny that) and we needed 1 loss to knock the overconfidence outta the Madridesta players just days before the Champions League game.

And if Luxemburgo plays his field right, we can kick Juve ass.



IMO the real line for Juve shud look like this

----------------Casillas--------------------

--Salgado----Helguera----Samuel--Carlos

----------------Graveson-----------------

--Beckham------------------Figo----------

-----------------Zidane-------------------

-------Owen-----------------Ronaldo---------

[ycr007]

Saw on the Sporscenter that Chelsea were beaten in the FA cup 5th Round by

Newcastle United.......Any Reviews of that match??

[*]

its on Espn right now ,, just 15 mins over in the retelecast but the goal has been scored already.

i havent seen it earlier either.

[ycr007]

its on Espn right now ,, just 15 mins over in the retelecast but the goal has been scored already.
i havent seen it earlier either.

Read in the Newspaper that Patrick Kluivert has scored it....



Poor Chelsea.......Now they gotta only 3 cups left

[Jaszalcatraz]

Would ya see the nerve of Chelsea's Arjen Robben talking shit about my men from Madrid

"There are no Beckhams nor no Ronaldos at Chelsea and it is for that reason that we are so strong. Our unity is our power. Madrid does not work like a team, despite having great players. Here we all work for eachother.

"Obviously, Chelsea has sufficient money to pay the Beckhams or Ronaldos and also to buy them. But the decision of Mourinho has been to reject them and the results justify that.

"Lampard, Drogba and Cech are grandísimos players, but not stars in the sense of others."

[ycr007]

Would ya see the nerve of Chelsea's Arjen Robben talking shit about my men from Madrid

"There are no Beckhams nor no Ronaldos at Chelsea and it is for that reason that we are so strong. Our unity is our power. Madrid does not work like a team, despite having great players. Here we all work for eachother.

"Obviously, Chelsea has sufficient money to pay the Beckhams or Ronaldos and also to buy them. But the decision of Mourinho has been to reject them and the results justify that.

"Lampard, Drogba and Cech are grandísimos players, but not stars in the sense of others."

True in a sense.....

After all it is results that matter and not having Stars in ur team.....

Barca for one have only half-stars in Ronaldinho & co...but look at their

results.Even chelsea's results speak for themselves....



But they gotta be careful...otherwise the aggresiveness may turn out into

arrogance and that may cost them dearly.....



Mourinho's as arrogant as the devil,one can see but Real madrid are

not arrogant coz of their Star Value...but they tend to underperform

coz every star thinks "there are 'Others" to finish off the job...Why shud

i Toil??"......IMHO Only Raul is bereft of this kinda attitude

[Sharjeel]

Mourinho's as arrogant as the devil,one can see but Real madrid are not arrogant coz of their Star Value...but they tend to underperform

Madrid depend too much on their midfield (Zidane). They have stunning midfielders (Zidane), so whenever they (Zidane) have a bad day, all their star power cannot muster a goal. It is only now that Becks and others have come into the picture.



If Becks can stay fer more seasons, I think he will become the superstar and will replace Zidane. He just need one or two more seasons.



I think the acquisition of Gravesen did wonders to them.

[ycr007]

I think the acquisition of Gravesen did wonders to them.

But I doubt whether he'll make the starting eleven...

and that wud surely dent his confidence....



Even Owen may perform Off colour as Raul is given more prominence



The ONLY member of RM who is Consistent enuff is Ikr Casillas IMHO

[Jaszlacatraz]

I think Owen has been pretty consistent too, although not starting games might affect him if he doesnt move or someone else isnt sold.

I definetly think Gravesen will make the starting 11 in 75% of the games because he's more defensive than Guti and we all know how badly RM need a good defensive mid-fielder.

But maybe when Woodgate comes back and takes Helguera's place Gravesen will give way to Guti.

[Sharjeel]

Methinks Gravesen shud start with Becks in the middle, Zidane to the left, while Figo goes out to the right wing.



If need be, Becks can move to the right, Zidane goes in the middle nd Figo to the left.



They do not really need two strikers IMO. They shud off with Ronaldo and buy Totti (or someone like him).

[*]

I think Gravesen is better choice than Guti anyday coz atleast he plays his position well. I have never seen Guti have a good game, and the only reason I think Real still holds him and Portillo is bcoz they are home grown players. Otherwise they wouldnt even find buyers if they wanted to sell them of. One player Real dint do justice to was Morientes, who is anyday head and shoulders above either Guti or Portillo.



I think if Guti doesnt start which he usually does that gives a lot more playing time to Ronaldo, Owen or Raul whoever starts that day. Personally i prefer Ronaldo and Owen with Raul substituting Owen midway .

The rest of the players are all good enuf to play as per their fitness and form.

[Jaszalcatraz]

I hate to admit it but I agree that the only reason Guti plays so many games is bcoz of his home-grown hero status. But saying that he's not a deserving player would be wrong bcoz he, like any other midfielder, contributes so much in those little battles to keep the ball and possession.

I also agree with the idea of selling one of the 3 strikers. Although I love em all and wished they'd play with a bit more passion and dedication(Ronaldo esp).

But I think things will settle down by the time Real buy Adriano or Rubinho.

[Jaszalcatraz]

While generally looking at the Teams for tommorrow's Champions League, I came across this player called Vikash Dhorasoo. Curios about the name I googled it and found that this guy is French player of Indian Origin.



I also found this site which gives a pretty decent list of players of Indian Origin playing in various leagues of the world.

http://indianfootball.com/pio.html



Among the players, the most high profile is Vikash while there are quite a few who are presently in the junior teams of big clubs like Newcastle, Ajax Amsterdam, New England Revolution (USA), FC Utrecht (Netherlands), Coventry City and Leeds United.



There are others who are playing in the senior teams of clubs like AIK Stockholm, Viking Stawanger(Norway), AFC Caversham (New Zealand).



Players of Indian Origin are playing in national teams of France, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands.



Besides Karthikeyan doing well, my other dream is to someday see an Indian (pure blood) playing for any European First Division Club.

[Jaszalcatraz]

BTW......Vikash Dhorasoo plays for AC Milan and is a preferred substitute.







That's him on the left beside brilliant Brazilian Kaka.

Vikash's nickname happens to be Vishnu

[ycr007]

Mourinho: Say sorry or I'll sue





Jose Mourinho was today threatening to sue UEFA for defamation as his

war with European football's ruling body took a dramatic new twist.

The Chelsea coach insists he is not responsible for referee Anders Frisk's

decision to retire and is considering legal action against Volker Roth,

UEFA's head of refereeing, after he blamed Mourinho for the Swede's

decision to stand down.

Speaking for the for first time about the Frisk affair, Mourinho said: "In

regard to Mr Roth's words he has only two ways out: he apologises or he

will be sued."



Batistuta announces his retirement

Argentina's record goalscorer Gabriel Batistuta has announced his

retirement at the age of 36."Im announcing my definitive retirement from

football and I thank everyone who has helped make my career so

successful," said the former Fiorentina and Roma striker.

The decision came two days after Batistuta ended his contract with Qatari

club Al Arabi following an injury-plagued year in which he played only

three matches and failed to score.

Batistuta, who hit 56 goals in 78 internationals, said he was planning to

coach in the future.

[ycr007]

Late Milan collapse hands Juve the title



Juventus won the Serie A title without kicking a ball on Friday after their closest rivals AC Milan were held to a 3-3 draw at home to Palermo.



Playing their penultimate Serie A match two days early to give them more time to prepare for next Wednesday's Champions League final against Liverpool, Milan needed to win to keep their Scudetto hopes alive.



And despite fielding a weakened side, everything looked rosy for the defending champions when they went in at half-time 3-1 up thanks to a double strike by Serginho and another from Jon Dahl Tomasson.



But Milan sat back and Palermo scored twice in the last 13 minutes - their second goal a very contentious penalty converted by Luca Toni - to ensure the championship ended up in the Old Lady's hands for a 28th time.



A draw left Milan four points behind Juventus with only one game left to play.

[ycr007]

Arsenal make United pay penalty in Cup final thriller



Arsenal won the first FA Cup final to be decided on a penalty shoot-out, beating arch-rivals Manchester United 5-4 in a dramatic spot-kick climax at the Millennium Stadium here Saturday.



Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira drove in the decisive kick after 120 minutes action saw the teams locked at 0-0, only the second time in FA Cup history the match has finished goalless, the other time being in 1912.



The result was tough on United, who dominated the game but failed to take their chances.



Only one penalty in the shoot-out was missed, Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann diving to his right to push away Paul Scholes's effort with the scores level at 1-1.



The result meant United had failed to win a trophy this season, Arsenal moving to 10 FA Cup wins one behind United's record 11.