The Crazee Life in Words

bah Humbug!

2009-09-30T23:03:00.002+08:00

I just love the magic of cup competitions.

Its not everyday that we see big teams falling to the less established clubs in Europe's biggest competition. I think it is the do or die, the make or break of such knock -out competitions that the newer teams thrive on as a source of inspiration.

A case in point can be taken from Liverpool. After flying high with a 6-1 drumming of Hull City, they crashed 2-0 to Fiorentina just 3 days later. Amazing dont you think? Stuggurt themselves also drew with FC Urzizeni and Standard Liege drew AZ Alkmaar. Teams havign their debut in this season's competition are showing their mettle against the pedigree clubs, the creme de la creme. But honestly, soccer is soccer and the ball is round so anything can happen. The golden rule would probably be that the team who wants it more will do more to get it.

My main focus tonight would be whether or not Man United can get a good result againsta fired-up Hamburg, German Champs thanks to the prowess of their front attacking pairing. We've seen how in the past weeks, the resurgent Giggs and Scholes have provided inspiration if not the goods themselves and created the wins. But it really is time for the youngsters to step up to their plate and show their real worth with solid steady performances. So far over the last few years, only Darren Fletcher and John O'shea have impressed and proved to be integral to the club. Tonight shall decide one half of the battle between the kings of England and Germany.

One other thing I really feel strongly about would be the damn fact that there isnt any more Champions League soccer on SCV. Its just nonsense that another cable operator has got the rights. Absolute nonsense i tell you. I may just upgrade my internet connectiona nd subscribe to pay-per-view for my sports fixes.

CHELSEA STOPPED

2009-09-30T21:16:00.003+08:00

IT has finally happened.. WIgan broke their Jinx against the top 4 sides with a 3-1 victoru over 10 man Chelsea. Take nothing away from Wigan though who went into the half 1-0 up with all 11 players in tact. You know its not your day when Bramble notches one against you as the Wigan defender continues his maturity with better displays by the day.. Been a while since the lessons he learnt in Newcastle have kicked in.

Liverpool and Spurs had big heroes to thank. Namely Torres and Keane who notched 7 goals amongst them. Hull look certain to o down under Phil Brown who cannot deny that he let his good start last term get to him and with the demise of players like Boateng. He hopes Bullard can be his messiah.Burnley as usual are a Home team. All i can say is try keeping your 100% record Mr. Owen as thats the only hope of survivial I can see at the moment. Fortress Turf Moor.

United and Arsenal notched up crucial wins. Giggs turned 18 as he gave away 2 assists while new birds Valencia and Nani failed to impress. Rooney was overshadowed by Scholes as well. Apparently they shud start illegally signing youngsters and start looking at the old folks home. Arsenal grabbed an impressive 1-0 win over Fulham with stand in keeper Mannone looking..dare I say.. better den ALmunia!Where does Arsene get this guys? Toys R us?

BLackburn did well against VIlla down to 10 man and deserve mention as Allardyce's rollercoaster season begins. They are doing very well with limited resources unlike their compatriots like Pompey( tick tock tick tock Mr Hart) and Bolton.

Here are the top 5 performances this week:

1. Wigan(10 points)
2.Blackburn (8 points)
3.Liverpool( 6 points)
4.Tottenham(4 points)
5.Man Utd/ Arsenal (2 points shared)

Chelsea unstoppable?

2009-09-26T19:39:00.003+08:00

Are Chelsea on fire or what?,.. Even Platini's efforts are not helping..

This week they face Wigan, who frankly should be an easy 3 points. Losing points here would be taboo. Wigan have looked weak. None of their new signings have yet impressed and they seem to be scraping points rather than earning them. Martinez has a long way to go.. If given such a time. Chelsea would thank the gods for such a start with the African Nations Cup taking away their best players come January.

Only Arsenal and ManUtd face tricky ties away to lesser oppositions with a knack for doing well at home. Stoke made their stadium a fortress for most of the top 4 last season( cue Delap for throw ins) and Vidic was key for United in both games. Arsenal were a tad unlucky but were aweful against Fulham when Hangeland tapped one in. But den again, against Fulham you have to muster your A game. Arsenal should be able to knowing Fulham's form has not been great but United have an uphill task. They were lucky against a resillient Stoke side last term and a Tevez goal late on spared their blushes.

Porsmouth.Blackburn and Bolton face a race agiainst time to collect points. This surely is Paul Hart's las weekend to deliver. He has not done well but will be given time since they sold all their best players(Crouch,Johnson,Kranjcar,Distin,Campbell etc..) and hired less than impressive replacements. Only Vanden Borre has impressed so far and Dindane and O'hara are less than impressive replacements.

We see how it goes but keep an eye out for all the games this week as I sense there will be goals aflowing...........

LAst week's Soccercrazee Top 5

2009-09-26T18:33:00.001+08:00

Herez last week's Soccercrazeee top 5:

1. Chelsea(10 pts)
2.Everton(8 pts)
3.Burnley(6 pts)
4.Arsenal (4 pts)
5.Wolverhampton Wanderers(2 pts)

Cheers

BPL Week 7

2009-09-26T12:17:00.002+08:00

We're now into the 7th or so match of the 09/10 Barclays Premier League and the big question we have here at Soccer Crazee is whether or not Chelsea can maintain their perch at the top tonight against a flamboyant Wigan side coached by Martinez. Odds on that an on song Drogba and Anelka partnership should see them easily through the fixture. Chelsea also remains the only unbeaten "top" team.

Man Utd face a tricky away fixture to Stoke but after a thrilling derby match last week and a convincing midweek win over Wolves in midweek with a Reserve side with more than a few seniors in it. Ben Foster looks set to get another run out despite a few howlers that almost threw the match against City. I personally think that Kuzchek should get the nod but consistency in goal is most important as well. I believe that Owen might get rewarded with another start and should work well with Rooney.

The London derby between Arsenal and Fulham should be another thriller with lots of goals to come and Arshavin and van Persie look set to start which would add to an already potent swash buckling Arsenal side.

Everton should probably get back some sort of winning rythmn after being bouyoued by their previous win. Moneys on them to win!

Stay tune for our post match report where we will give the low down on this week's matches.

Apologies for the Absence

2009-09-25T16:00:00.005+08:00

Dear Readers, First up we'd like to apologise for the Absence. We've been experiences some technical difficulties but no worries because we're back!

Man Utd had managed to go through a pretty tough away fixture in Turkey with a 1-0 win to show for their efforts and nothing like a Paul Scholes header to settle it for us. Over the weekend, more exciting things were to come as it took an injury time winner from ex-scouser Michael Owen to finish it up for us to allow united to win 4-3 after Rooney and Fletcher has twice put us up in front.

In my opinion, the match was a classic derby, possibly the best ever Manchester derby in history yet to come. Rooney had put United up early in the 3rd mon after a whiney Micah Richards reaction. However, it took the hero in Fletcher to give us a brace and override the howlers made by Ben Foster. And in the end, it took the effervescent Michael Owen to come provide us with a goal at the death to give us bragging rights after the double losses from last season.

The talkign points of the match would undoubtedly come from the extra 2 minutes of extra-time played but even then, even manager Mark Huges had little reason to make much noise. More words may be spilt however on the edgy performance put up by Foster. Hes increasingly showing that despite his enormous potential and quick reflexes, he doesnt seem to possess the big game mentality.

The League Cup.

WBA failed to capitalise on the sending off of Fabio for a professional foul midway into the first half. A well rounded united performance with a team consisting of the reserves. In the end, a classy finish from local boy Danny Welbeck provided by Owen gave United a goal to cap off a strong finish. The up and coming youngsters in the team are really impressive and i dare say, we may see a new superstar being born in the near future.

Stay tuned once again for the pre-match updates for the weekend's matches.

LOOK MA! CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009/2010!

2009-09-16T02:02:00.002+08:00

THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IS BACK

HERE R MY TOP 5 MUST WATCH GAMES!!!

1. INTERNAZIONALE vs BARCELONA(D-uh)

2.JUVENTUS vs BORDEAUX

3.MARSEILLE VS MILAN

4. PORTO VS CHELSEA

5. STANDARD VS ARSENAL

Internazionale play Barca in what could be the clash of all the superstars. Sneijder,Lucio,Eto'oo come against Henry,MEssi and Ibrahimovic.. ONly Real Madrid have more stars than these teams and with a squad like that Inter must fancy their chances.. Take a bet on them this season? Well we shall see after this game

Juventus are renewed. New signings and a new coach brings new believe and a straying towards youth while Berdeaux are full of playaers trying to fulfill their potentials. Milan reject Gourcufff, Man Utd rejext Bellion and the unsigned despite scoring like crazy CHamakh will be out to prove a point..lets jez hope they don settle for a point..

Marseiile may prove the shock of the week and make or break Leonardo's job. Milan not doing well and Marseille proves a big test... That said Leds Say a big HELLOO! to Milan..welcome back

Porto and Chelsea? Mourinho will be watching this but hu cares bout him? Carvalho will be relishing while Porto who lost all their best players in the summer may just spring a surprise here..hmm..

Standard Leige.. Wad took u guys so long? A great team from Belgium and will give the demoralized(thanks to the MAnchester tours) Arsenal a test... Will they pass it? Or will they fail?..Its time they stop the rot.. I say go crazy Arsenal..

ManUtd,Real Madrid, and Liverpool have easier opponents this time round so I shall not dwell on them but don be too sure.. Surprises usually happen most frequently on day 1..leds see..

Chel setiing sail towards Sea?

2009-09-16T01:52:00.003+08:00

So the week ended with Utd.. down to 10 men and a comfortable win over Tottenham who quite frankli were told by Harry Redknapp that they were gonna lose so y bother? Modric was clearly missed But extraordinarily Anderson capped a brilliant game with a goal. Sureli not a world class performance but a stellar one. Nani,Anderson,Park,Carrick and Owen have to be on their toes this season for Utd to have a chance.

Man City 's Adebayor wins the idiot of the day award for his foolishness and brashness. Stamping on Van Persie was shockingly ignored by the referee and going to the rival fans to celebrate is pure disrespect to the team that made him what he is. Arseanal's Wenger got it wrong by taking of Song Billong from where he belonged and the swansong was sang two times for a 4-1 derubbing before a respite to 4-2. Only positive for Arsenal? Rosicky looked like as though he never was injured..

Sunderland were impressive in their 4-1 victory but Chelsea were great to get a 2-1 win awya to stoke? Y? Koz Stoke at home is tough and Chelsea proved themselves in the title race... For now.. Leds see wad happens wen the african cup of Chelsea players starts..

ANyways Guru's top 5 r as shown( I don necessarily agree except for number 1):

1.ManUtd(10)
2.Chelsea(8)
3.Sunderland(6)
4.Liverpool(4)
5 Man City/Aston Villa (2) - tie means 1 point each

Premier Action

2009-09-12T12:11:00.004+08:00

Now that England have qualified for the World Cup and France and Argentina have made life miserable and complicated for themselves, we can once again turn our attention to this weekend's Premier League Action.

Buzzword of the day is "Transfer".

Chelsea having been banned for the next 2 transfer windows would definitely have to use their game against Stoke to pin point areas which they can work on building given that the squad can only now be strengthened internally with the improvement of their stars. Its actually hard to consider how much those ageing stars can improve but for others, there is marked progress and amazing talent. It'll be interested to see if Rory Delap has anything to say about another Chelsea win. Really, its to be expected.

Will Liverpool stumble against the giant slaying Burnley? With Glen Johnson on form for England, it may help shore up their defence. But success rests on the shoulders of El Nino, their spanish matador Torres to deliver the goods. I must admit that it would be hard for Liverpool to not win this one.

Arsenal face another trip to Manchester where hopes must be high from the blue-siders for Arsenal to self-destruct again. With Arshavin injured for a fortnight or so, it might prove to be an open game.

And lastly, will Darren Fletcher be the cog in a hard battling midfield where languid Huddlestone faces off with even more languid Berbatov? Its crunch time for Tottenham to live up to their billing of being the best outside the top 4 and challenge for the title. But if Manchester United has anything to say about it, it would be yet again a clash of heads between two veteran managers. On song Rooney will surely demostrate the notion of what it means to carry the club on his back like the Titan Atlas. Only in the modern football world of Red side Manchester, his name is Wayne Rooney. I'm tipping Rooney to nick it for us.

So folks, do stay tuned for an exciting weekend of football and keep your fingers crossed for the team you support.

Oh Come on Ref!

2009-09-06T13:13:00.002+08:00

To all Arsenal fans, damn UEFA for that ban on Eduardo for diving after reviewing his dive on camera. It will definitely set a precedent for future controversies. The power vested upon a referee as match official is to allow how to judge a game on his judgement during the moment and his decisions should be final. To have to resort to video evidence for every incident of clouded judgement would be riduculous! Imagine clubs digging up and showing evidences over every little thing and questioning the decision of the man in control. It creates a farce. The referee will lose respect, authority and power. I believe that the governing bodies should really reconsider such things liek allowing video evidence for trivial matters. Eduardo dived, got booked and thats it. He has picked up an offence and that yellow card might inconvenience him in the future. Such petty claims should be limited for the sake of the game else it get so complicated, it removes the passion and beauty of it.

On another note, a transfer ban seems real harsh for Chelsea and potentially Man United over their apparent poaching of young talents. The fact that they can do so stems from their accumulated wealth. Unethical yes, and i fully agree that it does a grave injustice to the nurturing club in terms of potential profits fromt he sale of the player. The game is slowly becoming seedy with the satellite industries bringing the game down into the gutters as they chase for profits wrought from the lives of others. Something needs to be done. Bring on dystopic Orwellian control and fan run companies instead of privately owned clubs, the latest fad amongst the mega wealthy.

I miss and long for the past where passion and loyalty to club ruled the game instead of the passion and hunger for the dollar/pound/euro etc etc.

Was the player's dream to play for the club? Or the money and cash rich status that he gets from playing for the club.

Role Reversals

2009-08-31T19:39:00.002+08:00

ManUtd and Liverpool were disappointing this weekend as they both slumped to narrow..well.. Victories!...

ManUtd played terribly at Old Trafford and were dominated in the first half. hardly sniffing out chances, Arshavin put Arsenal ahead when Antonio Valencia seemed to lose his man and he bulleted a shot into the top left hand corner. What a signing he has been. Foster should have done better you would feel but he redeems himself in the second half. Arshavin is proving to be a giant killer..If only he could get his fitness right..

Second half and Arsenal came out flying. Not what you should be doing away to ManUtd and were duly punished. Van Persie forced an unbelievable save from Foster. A through ball to Rooney, brought down, and it was a penalty from nowhere. 1-1. Rooney duly obliges. The ball was going out of play but would Rooney have hit the ball out of play if he wasnt challanged by Almunia. To me, it was not a penalty...

Diaby, a secret 1million pound signing the night before, settled matters with Utd's second from Gigg's delicious freekick. He had to take a bite. Van Persie went gaga on him but frankly he doesnt cut it as a captain. Nani and Berbatov shoudl have settled matters and Bendtner almost caused a stir when he came on. Van persie cannot say anything bout the 95th minute offside goal. Frankly I do not know where the 5 minutes came from!Valencia, Carrick and Giggs had bad games. Arsenal were unduly punished.

Liverpool 2-1 down at a terrible Bolton team came back resiliently to win 3-2 when Bolton went a player down. Benitez has to stop making excuses and start making changes and force his team to perform at their best. Glen Johnson has hit the ground running and Torres is in good form. I still wonder why he chose to sign Kyrgiakos instead of Sol Campbell.. terrible defending by both teams but no one can question the result. Could have been 4-2 or 5-2.

Chelsea,City and Tottenham are still winning. Tottenham were less impressive this week but sniffed out a win with the new dimension in Peter Crouch. Robbie Keane seems to be struggling with life though. City's defence has been their strongpoint and Chelsea went easy on Burnley at the Bridge..

My aplogies for more talk on The Utd Arsenal match but to be frank it was the game of the week.

This week's points are as follows:

1. Aston Villa (10 points)
2. Chelsea ( 8 points)
3.Everton (6 points)
4.Tottenham(4 points)
5.Man City (2 points)

Pizzagate Part 2?

2009-08-29T19:51:00.003+08:00

This is possibly one of the biggest games this season where two rival managers, veterans of the BPL mangerial circuit face off once again early in the season. Winning this fixture this early on in the season would be pivotal for both teams and I am definitely anticiapting an eventful clash of talent and skill. Arsenal lead with precocious young talent that has since lighted up their season. United, having lost 2 important figures also have a balanced squad although a little weak in defence at the moment. I am just looking forward to an exciting late night, characteristic of a Man Utd Arsenal clash.

On another note, there is immense speculation about the internal strife in the United dressing room where Anderson and Carrick are reported to have had a bust up with the manager. While many of us would be glad to see the back of Anderson, many more are yet surprised by the report on Carrick. A somewhat mild mannered hard worker, Carrick's place was never really under threat. However, it must be noted that he does struggle to impose himself in games and this would cost the team a valuable supply line, a characteristic of his excellent passing vision. I believe that the press had deliberately read too deeply into an established squad rotation system as we have to bear in mind Carrick's England participation. The big tie with Arsenal should take importance over the press' wild reports.

Elsewhere, Burnley would face a stern test at Stamford bridge where they face an on song Chelsea side just coming to life and with a budding partnership of two world-class strikers. I doubt that they will be able to maintain their giant-slaying antics. A huge win for Chelsea should be in order.

Liverpool and Tottenham should also win their respective matches against Bolton and Birmingham. But it would be in the prayers of any other supporter that Liverpool stumble yet again. Their manager has immensely weird tactics that can suddenly undermine the stability of a working model. Another bad result would surely have fans baying for Rafa's blood. Contrastingly in London, Tottenham are finally living up to their potential of being the strongest club outside the top 4. They finally have a team that is gelling together and working hard under the maestro Redknapp.

We see Portsmouth take on Man City tomorrow along with Everton vs Wigan and Villa vs Fulham. Man City should win it easily as with Villa especially, both teams have sky high confidence after their last games where Tevez scored for City and Villa trounced Liverpool 3-1. It would be great to see Everton gain some stability with a win against Wigan at home unless their hotshot manager Martinez has anything to say about it.

Top 5 teams week 2

2009-08-26T10:45:00.000+08:00

Here are the list of Top 5 teams from this weekend. Do note that midweek games were not included as only 5 games were played..

1.Burnley (10 points)
2.Chelsea(8 points)
3.Man Utd(6 points)
4.Arsenal(4 points)
5.Hull City(2 points)

The intial Reactions

2009-08-26T10:29:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, we saw surprises a plenty but we are getting a clearer indication of the top teams and the bottom few..

Bolton and Portsmouth look way weaker. I was disappointed to hear that one of Portsmouth's main defenders was going to Division 4 just so as to pocket 60 grande a week. I was also very puzzled by the fact that they have signed no replacement and not even a proper manager. Bolton seem to have a problem in the striker department with Johann Elmander prolli leaving his finishing boots behind in Toulouse..

United managed to outclass Wigan by 5. A fair indication? I don think so but Luis Nani has stepped up with 2 assists and 1 goal in 3 games. Anderson on the other hand has been getting more flak with his lack of focus in games and costing us the Burnley game midweek.

Burnley's Turf Moor has become a fortress of somesorts. By some magical spell penalties just don go in there. Everton felt it this time and I am sure many more will feel the same in the coming weeks.

Liverpool without Xabi Alonso means Gerrard plays centre Midfield. The last seasons he played there (All except last season) they won squat. He needs discipline and brains to make the correct runs and position himself well even when attacking to be ready when there are counters. Lucas is utter nonsense at the moment joining the growing list of players like Babel,Alonso,Aurelio and many more who have come with a lot of potential but end up playing best in the substitutes bench. I say sack Rafael Benitez...

Arsenal may have beaten Portsmouth but I am not convinced. Portsmouth are rubbish and if Diaby scores 2 goals in a game.. You know something is really wrong. That said losing Toure and Adebayor has made this team stronger. Gallas scoring in every game so far this season and Eduardo looking good..

Lastly, Chelsea are my pick for the best team this season so far. Defensively sound and looking good in attacking options but will it last? I guess that will be Ancelotti's true test because traditionally Chelsea always start very well.

Our new guest columnist

2009-08-22T10:46:00.002+08:00

Weekend number 2 and game day 3. There ahd been so many twists and turns, thrills and spill in such an infant stage. Its been exciting, yes, but not altogether pleasing for the fans of many teams. Inconsistency may now be a result of a stronger league, bereft of stars, the playing field has somewhat levelled.

On to more important matters, in this weekend's pre match, we have a guest columnist who has kindly contributed his take on the weekend's fixtures. Wethinks that they are spot on and he would be an important addition to this blog.

Arsenal Vs Portsmouth

New Pompey boss Paul Hart faces a race against time to get his squad up to the rigours of the premier league. Having lost their best players one by one Pompey are slowly slipping into trouble as news of administration loops. Never a worse time to face an on song Arsenal, which despite losing two key players will somehow not sacrifice their beautiful passing game. Expect Pompey to be chasing shadows as their squad is simply not up to the challenge yet. You know, though they say Chelsea are the real contenders, I feel Arsenal might just nick it this season. No more negative influences in the squad goes a long long way.

Sunderland Vs Blackburn

Sunderland's problem lies in a porous defence. They have been steadily building on their attack with new signing Darren Bent making an immediate impact. However the current team have more experienced legs than pace. Their game play has been easy to counter and are too slow off the ball, allowing Chelsea to exchange no less than 13 passes without touching the ball leading to Deco's goal is a big worry for the entire team. Blackburn, at the very same breath, face the same problems as Sunderland and have a poorer attack to boot. But can the long ball tactics of Big Sam blow a hole in Sunderland's defence?

Wigan Vs Man United

We solemnly welcome Wigan's new boss Roberto Martinez to the foil, don't speak too soon is what you will learn in the EPL. Facing EPL champions Man Utd who are thirsty to get back on track after a morale zapping defeat to lowly Burnley, it will be another lesson for Martinez. Man Utd have problems of their own. Owen is less than match fit and their wing play has frozen out of the danger zone suddenly; keeping passes from the wing back to the centre midfield to try and create something is not very Man Utd. For sure they miss their best player in Ronaldo who easily draws 3 defenders to himself and leave the others free, notwithstanding all his goals and threat from set pieces. Antonio Valencia will be keen to impress on his return to the JJB. A fast pace exciting match awaits, but lets put your hands together than Man Utd convert their chances or suffer the consequences.

Man City Vs Wolves

Who says money can't buy success only have to look at Chelsea and boy do Man City go even further. Though their squad is less than complete, Man City now boost a squad of players who can win games by individual brillance. Think Adebayor and Robinho and there you have a safe pair of hands in Shay Given, probably the best shot stopper in the premier league in my opinion. Wolves is on the other hand bringing an extremely average squad to the Eastlands. Expect Wolves to struggle throughout the season and this game against Man City will kickstart their fortunes.

Birmingham Vs Stoke

Both have made decent starts to the season and are still in the midst of adding to their squad. Birmingham do have a slight edge here as their defence has seem less shaky thus far. Stoke will need to boost their strike force or they will have problems overcoming mid table team's defence. Birmingham has an extra edge going forward too with Christian Benitez and James McFadden threatening and a midfield of experienced legs.

Hull Vs Bolton

Hull have been trying to add to their strikeforce and have loaned one time highly rated teenage striker Altidore. There are still rather weak in other areas and may struggle to put through dangerous balls should star player Geovanni gets mark out of the game. Expect Bullard and Hunt to string some moves together to try and break through defences. Bolton have added another South Korean to the Premiership ranks in Lee Chung Young but don't expect some instant miracles in what is a simple, stable and hard to break Bolton. Perhaps it is time for Elmander and Davies to contribute more goals to push Bolton further.

West Ham Vs Tottenham

Both teams now have the squad to push for Europa places with Tottenham making a fantastic start to the season under veteran manager Harry Redknapp. What a turnaround having suffered a torrid start to the season last year. Both good squads well placed with gifted and steady players. It will be an interesting battle to watch. Tottenham could just push along with City this season for all we know.

Burnley Vs Everton

A team doesn't turn bad overnight and they showed their mattle with a good game in the Europa league. Expect motivating boss Moyes to rally his players to respond to their dismal start on the domestic front. Lescott has proven to be a distraction but with his imminent departure Moyes faces gapping holes in defence with Jagielka still to return. But with players like Fellaini, Arteta, Cahill and exciting prospect Rodwell; a strike force of Jo and Saha, it is time to get started. Burnley enjoyed a dream return to the premier league by beating the champions. Giant slayers they are, all seems to be gone when they face the average teams. Let wait and see.

Fulham Vs Chelsea

Chelsea's centre midfield is simply strong. One of the best if not the best from Portugal, Germany, Ghana and England. Now stepping into the frame is master tactician Carlo Ancelotti. Chelsea's new diamond formation seems to have exposed their defence a little but so far they always come back to win in a stylish fashion. It has been an impressive start to the season and I think they should continue. Fulham is a tough cookie at home and have added Duff to their ranks. Fulham has been traditionally hard to beat at the cottage but there is no stopping Chelsea so soon, as they keep their momentum with their hearts on their sleeves.

Cross your hearts guys for another mouth-watering clash!

Lets get this started.

2009-08-19T14:06:00.002+08:00

The first weekday clash for the season and this really excites me. Wolves beat Wigan 1-0 (who beat Aston Villa 2-0 over the weekend) and Chelsea again came back from 1-0 down to beat Sunderland 3-1. This really sets the tone as the supposed bottom tier clubs are going for wins against the more established teams and winning matches against each other. The tone is thus set for a really exciting season in England, at least now theres fun all over instead of just looking at which of the regular top 4 teams will win it.

Manchester United travel to face newly promoted Burnley and while they may appear to be whipping boys, we should bear in mind the narrow 1-0 win on Ssunday against the yoyo-ing Birmingham. They had their chances and did not do too badly themselves. As much as i would like to see a goal fest, caution should not be thrown to the win. On-form Rooney should be sharp enough to complete his century of goals and i'll be eagerly watching tonight.

Two other fixtures worth looking at tonight would be Stoke vs Liverpool and Hull City vs Tottenham. Stoke had drew Liverpool 1-1 last season in the same fixture and being biased, i would definitely like to see that happen again, but objectively speaking, there is immense pressure on pool to add weight to their title claims with a win against surprise survivors Stoke. Tottenham, having beat Liverpool despite a couple of blips should look to continue their fine form unless Hull City can capitalise on their chances. They were decent against Chelsea on Saturday, but they would need to get results. All that matters is just results.

Surprise performers Arsenal have once again shown us what they are capable of with a comfortable 2-0 in Scotland despite it being touted as a tough fixture. We shall continue keeping tabs on them for interest's sake.

Till kick off in 12.5 hours time, i'll be getting excited.

The big Kick..Sorry Lift off..

2009-08-17T18:20:00.005+08:00

For all the class shown on the football pitch, Arsenal showed the ultimate class act by their tribute..Thumbs up we say!

The season kicked off with a bang! Debutants had a good day. Darren Bent,Stephan Hunt,Seb Bassong,Vermaelen and Adebayor getting on the scoresheet. However it is only day 1.

The match of the week had to be Chelsea vs Hull. Hull gave a good account of themselves while chelsea showed glimpses of brilliance. Both teams fought very hard and it was an ideal way to start the season. Chelsea won it by Drogba's class while Hull's game finished when the ref awarded 6 mins of extra time. Turner turned away and Didier obliged.

Manchester United do not look very impressive come day one but Nani stepped up once again to provide an assist for Rooney's goal. Berbatov and Rooney still have issues to work out while Valencia seemed unconfident and lost. Evans was brilliant in central defence and overall with Scholes' beautiful passing a well deserved victory but not title winning quality. Birmingham had a few plus points. New signing Chuco looked good while Larrson ran his socks off and Mcfadden looked a brilliant player. barry ferguson was surprisingly rubbish while Roger Johnson will have to up his fitness

Arsenal battered Everton so badly they looked like badly moulded toffees all puns intended. Fellaini didnt look the player he was and Bentner and Fabregas did well for the Arsenal. Wenger delighted as even Denilson got a goal while Arshavin was purely unstoppable.. Eduardo getting on the scoresheet showed that without Adebayor the parnership of Eduardo,Arshavin,Bendtner and Van Persie looks,well, more scary!

Liverpool sorely missed midfield link Xabi Alonso. There was no midfield for them vs Tottenham. Lucas was horrible. Mascherano had no ability to split any defence. Higher chance of splitting an atom. The lack of creativity was shown when Benitez brought Gerrard back to centremid to try to inspire. Alas he could not. That said, missing Riera,Aquilani, and Benitez not starting Benayoun caused a bit of a problem.Benitez to be blamed. Spurs had Modric and Palaciios to thank. Both had brilliant games and if Keane had more luck the game could have been 4-0 at half time. Gomes still the weak link but the undoubted man of the match was Ledley King.

Heres a new feature. The Soccercrazee top 5 teams of the week. Every week,we will choose top 5 teams. No.1 gets 10 pts, No. 2 gets 8 etc.. till No. 5 gets two. It will be decided on performace of the team with regards to opposition and how they do. This can provide us with the more consistent teams. here are my top 5 for this round:

1. Arsenal(10 pts)
2.Tottenham (8 pts)

3.Wigan Athletic (6 pts)

4.Sunderland (4pts)

5.Fulham (2 pts)

Special credit to Hull who almost got in.. Till midweek.. see ya crazeeeeeeeeeeee

drumrolls And Manchester United Kick off!

2009-08-15T23:35:00.003+08:00

The anticipation is heavy for us Man Utd fans to see how they would begin their title defence this season in the post Ronaldo era. Blah blah blah. While it is doom and gloom for some, we here at Soccer Crazee personally think that it would be an excellent opportunity for the new generation to step up and show us what they're capable of as well as the unearthign of some new fine gems. What do you, my dear reader think about this?

The season kicks off with the first round of games tonight and we have already seen Chelsea concede a goal in their 2-1 win over Hull City. An expected result against a team we deem to be relegation battlers unless their new striker Stephen Hunt has anything to say about it. Drogba will be challenging Anelka to the golden boot given his brace. At the time of writing, Aston Villa have slumped to a 2-0 deficit against Wigan which is a real shock as i have expected them to improve on last year's performance. They must be really hit by the departure of Barry, leaving a gaping hole in central midfield.

Elsewhere, Man City are still far off from their target as their team have yet to gel despite having new boy Adebayor score a nice goal in the 3rd minute of his debut. Blackburn, in my opinion should be able to nick one from them and draw the game. Their only obstacle would be Shay Given, arguably one of the best, experienced and most consistent keepers around in the Premier League. Its a pity that his clubs stink. It would be interesting to see how Arsenal's youngsters deal with Everton's grit and physical prowess and should prove to be an interest watch. Liverpool and Tottenham tomorrow night would be a it of a bore given Torres' taunt that he will settle for nothing less than being a champ. Who gives a damn right?

The highlight as usual is on Manchest United and their match again the newly promoted roller coaster that is Birmingham. The players would be raring to go and would definitely want to vent the frustrations of the defeats against Barcelona and more recently, Chelsea on a poor Birmingham side. I would personally like to see a goal fest in the region of 3-0 or 4-0. Nani's injury scare has also been laid to rest which is a tremendous relief and with Owen hungry to play for England again, Rooney on form and Berbatov wanting to prove his critics wrong. Man Utd possess a blood thirsty frontline supported by a stable supply from their wingers and guarded by the Fletcher and the usual almost water-tight defence. It looks to be an exciting title defence. Only worry i have would be in goal. Foster has of late been a bit of a clown and should have done better last weekend.

Glory Glory Man Utd!

Uncharitable Shield

2009-08-12T11:59:00.004+08:00

For 90 minutes on Sunday night, we were treated to good football. Free flow and maybe at times we saw players being human afterall with their lack of match fitness showing from time to time. Players like O'Shea,Lampard and Drogba( to name a few) did not look sharp and were coming in and out of he game

The referee chris foy foiled what would have been a good game. He foiled it. Double standards were shown when ManUtd were breaking and he stopped play to attend to an injured Michael Ballack and did not do the same when Evra was clearly fouled by Ballack himself. Terrible. I wouldnt disagree that Man Utd's second goal was offside but to me it was justice served for such terrible refereeing.Ferguson furious and rightly so. Ancelotti calm as ever and Evra steps up and its Chelsea's Shield

Evra has had a tough pre-season but his lack of assists and goals in his time in United seem to be affecting him. After all, his defending is very effective for United but Ferguson would need his wing backs to contribute more in attack with the loss of Ronaldo. It is probably why Evra has been asked to take penalties in the last 2 games and his terrible misses vs Huangzhao Greentown did not help.

DId Chelsea deserve it? Did United deserve it? I think a draw was a fair result but Chelsea may have won this battle but the war is very much still on

It Finally Begins...and our Weekends are Saved!

2009-08-09T12:44:00.002+08:00

This harks the beginning of entertaining weekends again. Finally! Formula 1 honestly just isnt a suitable substitute.

This year, Manchester United are pitted against rivals Chelsea and while the match is considered a friendly on paper, there is much pride at stake and this year, the match seems to hold more tension to it. The performances would mark the pace, desire and hunger of the winner and it will be a show for the competition out there, stating the intentions of the respective teams. And i say, "Let the show Begin!"

Manchester United will be going into the match with a bit of a crisis at the back. No. 1 goalkeeper is out injured and Ferguson will have a selection headache choosing from the 2 excellent backups. I believe that Foster will get picked. Wes Brown's curse has returned to haunt him once again and Vidic is still out. That leaves Evans and O'shea to deputise and this would be an area that CHelsea would hope to capitalise on. In the other departments, UNited are looking really sharp with their attackers in good form and the youngsters making contributions in pre season.

Chelsea are looking as stable as ever at the back and with their captain Terry highlighting his desire to remain with the london club, they couldnt be stronger at the back. Their addition of Yuri Zirkov will adda new attacking dimension as with Ancelotti's Diamond formation. But would Anelka and Drogba blend as well as Owen and Berbatov or Rooney? we shall find out tonight.

Our pick is on a game with 2,3 goals that would either go 2-1 either way or end with a draw. Whatever outcome after would be dependent on who lady luck wishes to favour.

In Wild Anticipation, We Await the Genesis of 09/10

2009-08-09T12:20:00.004+08:00

"Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"

Just like the highly charged start to a motor race, we here at SoccerCrazeee have been eagerly awaiting the commencement of the coming 09/10 season on the back of the post/pre season drama involving Real Madrid, Club talismans and a whole load of money that rivals economic stimulus packages.

We shall not gloss over what you already know about the transfer market soap operas, but we will now offer your our Guru's top picks for the coming season.

England.

The country with the best league in the world. But is it still? Following the departure of Liverpool maestro Xabi Alonso and Christiano Ronaldo to warmer climes, it seems to have lost much of its lustre. The only main action in the transfer market seems to be the Blue side of Manchester dangling juicy carrots in front of greedy soccer players only to have a few bites. Its a tad boring now aint it?

So anyway, the odds are for a transitioning Manchester United to gun for a 4th title win with fierce competition from Chelsea whose team are looking more established than last season. Liverpool honestly have lost too much quality and possess little depth. Imgine them without Torres or Gerrard, no bite eh?

Arsenal seem most vulnerable in the top 4 with limited experience in the side, but you never know with Wenger, he does have many rough uncut diamonds in his gradually maturing side. I am a keen admirer of his belief in youth, and it'll be interesting to see how Arsenal fend off the challenge from a Redknapp Tottenham with a stabilised squad eager to fulfill their billing as a strong team.
Man City honestly have a long way to go even though they have spent so much on so many. Would 150 grand a week really create miracles? There is only so much they could do and i would definitely enjoy their waste of money.

Lets also not forget about Villa and Everton to push for Europe. AT the other end, relegation battlers on my mind could be Hull City and the newly promoted sides. It'll be a stern test in the cauldron of fire where the gap between the Championship and Premier League is a very wide one.

Over to Spain.

Real Madrid have bought the world's stars from the major footballing countries to add to the already start-studded lineup that they had before. It'll be a mammoth task to manage all those egos but they would have high expectations to meet after their multi hundred million sprees on mortals. My bet is for Barcelona to retain their title while Real hopefully dont do themselves in.

In Italy,

Inter Milan and Juventus should fight it out for top spot while AC Milan try not to end up too low given their history and tradition of winning. Losing Kaka in a somewhat ageing team puts them at a severe disadvantage. We shall see how they fare domestically and in Europe.

Champions League Picks.

Our picks of the top teams in the Champions League would probably be the same as last year but i would not rule out Inter Milan in the final against Manchester United or Chelsea. Real Madrid are definitely serious contenders if their stars can gel together and operate as one. Im really keeping my fingers crossed for Manchester United's young stars.

Let up now await the kick off for the season opener which is the Charity Shield tonight.

A new beginning signals a new End

2009-08-08T00:49:00.002+08:00

Let me first start with an apology as the soccercrazee team has been away from our computer for a bit but we are back... and hopefully our posts will be better than ever..

A new Season brings new challanges,hopes,aspirations,hunger and drive and most of all... romance of football..

But heres to last season

It would be wrong to talk about last season witholut the mention of barcelona. Oooh Ahh Catalonia they say. Sublime football and really they insulted the footballing fertinity without even breaking sweat. A class apart any other footballing team they were last season. Alas The champions league victory sealed it but one couldnt help wonder what made the difference. Samuel Eto'o's goals? Pep Guardiola's "Pep" talks? Xavi and Iniesta's brilliance or was it simply Lionel Messi?.. Thrashing teams with ease they waltzed into a soccer heaven people have dreamt of since 1999 but noone thoght possible. The treble.

But like a true fairy tale.. Eto'o gone. Real Madrid's anger shown by money splashing. Will it be this season?

The story of the year is undoubtably Wolfsburg. A Brilliant victory as bayern were collecting the best players in Germany, Wolfsburg went for class. Zaccardo and barzagli strongholding their defence. Once World Cup Champions I might add. The masterful Dzeko and the deadly Grafite in attack. Oh How Bosnia has risen. And players like Dejagah so promising and coming in the ranks where their less significiant players like Khedira seem masterful as well. Well earnt and best of all they have not committed a footballing sin by selling themselves like Supermodel whores. They built their status but kept their virgins away from the grasps of the real wolves howling to take the likes of Dzeko away.

Bayern have responded with great signings like Olic,Tymoschuk and Gomez but losing the likes of Lucio a great leader.Quietly teams around are also building slowly but surely this is becoming the most competitive league out there right now..

Manchester United. Champions of England. 3 in a row. Some say it was all Ronaldo. He was the saviour. Freekicks deft. last ditch goals but it takes 11 men to win a game. Nemanja Vidic consisted of another 12.A defender to take the plaudits he deserved it. Liverpool were at their best last season. Playing good football and taking chances and killing opposition and getting their defences sorted. Alonso was a masterful player and Gerrard found his new support striker role a marriage that was untried but oh so blissful..

United lost tevez and Ronaldo but with Valencia and Owen in have they made it up? With the lost of Xabi Alonso will Liverpool still be the same team as next season?But quietly some corner Chelsea are surely snickering and wondering when people will realise they have formed a team with the teamwork that the other 2 may not have come next season as they adapt to change..Man City's money? Can it buy the league or will Wenger's nursery kids upset money. I say this is a season where all the soccer myths will be unveiled..

Internazionale got the title last season in Serie A wothout much of a fuss. Italy is in turmoil and noone is rising up. At least not yet. They got the title without a story and with just Mourinho hogging headlines for his spats...

AC Milan are weakened. Juventus have remade a new team. Genoa, Fiorentina and Sampdoria hopeful but is it just to easy for Inter after the scandals. Money seems to be in their pockets and football has been for gajilion of years. For the sake of Serie A shake ups must happen..

Wad a season lets sit back for a new 1

Money Money Money...

2009-06-19T09:23:00.001+08:00

Look at all that hype and fussReal Madrid is kicking up.
80 million pounds for Ronaldo (christiano), 65 million pounds for Kaka and more to come! Possibly 50 million for Ribery and 40 million for David Villa. How astronomical these figures are. Is this soccer my friends? It seems a bit like cattle trading to me.

For one thing, Ronaldo will not be no.1 freekick or penalty taker and he will be limited to a left wing role or at most as second striker. No more number 1 status. Money really does make the world go round. On the other hand, soccer seems to be the only industry that bucking the downturn trend and is in fact profitable. Maybe thats because its the only thing we cash strapped individuals are actually looking forward to now. But how i miss the days when loyalty was first for players and managers.

Clubs should be for the fans and not be owned toys for the rich!

BEST MANAGER 2008-2009

2009-05-23T21:07:00.003+08:00

Our Winners for Best Midfielder 2008-2009 were as follows

1st place: Cristiano Ronaldo (MANUTD) - 45%

2nd place: Steven Gerrard (LIVERPOOL) - 36%

3rd place: Frank Lampard (CHELSEA) (By virtue of ACTIM) -9%

Hmm.. Intresting results. Seems that his current form may have influenced his win. Anyways thats done and now the winners for the best Manager 2008-2009. I have limited this one to those who exceeded expectations rather than anything else. This is how it goes:

1) Tony Pulis (Stoke) - They are in the BPL. They still are in the BPL. Holy cow.. They not goin at all!. Yup. He made Stoke into a fortress to go to and the hardest place to claim points from. Just ask Liverpool and Arsenal. His peculiar tactics like the Rory Delap throw it 1 is also somethin to entertain. Good job. and Good entertainment.

2) David Moyes (Everton) - Plagued by insecurity over his future at the start of the season. He rushed together a few buys in the last 5 days of the summer transfer windows and who did he get? Saha,Fellaini,Jacobsen etc.. All of whom are now important team players. Furthermore he saved the team in all its insecurity and brought them up to 5th boayed by a result vs ManUtd (1-1 draw). Surely deserved more. This manager is one of those you can truly respect. Kudos.

3) Roy Hodgson (Fulham) - Did a good job last season to keep them up and what did he do this term? 1 better. He made them a top 10 team for the first time in ages. Finally someone knows what to do with Al Fayed's money. Finally replaced Van der Sar with a brilliant Schwarzer and offloaded Bullard, an indisciplined and injury prone midfielder and rebuilt his squad to make a chance forthe all new Europa League. Kudos.

4) Harry Redknapp (Tottenham Hotspurs) - Juande Ramos was shite. Pure Shite. Bought an F load and sold the others. Harry shut up the F load and brought back the others. And from 20th they are now chasing Europa League places.Kudos to that. Beating Liverpool in that process is also a big point as only 2 have ever won there in the BPL this season.

5) Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) - This man wins everything all the time and anytime. Everyone less ManUtd fans must be sick of him. Won the BPL,World Club Cup, League Cup, FA cup unbeaten semifinalist, Champions League finalist and I heard he is submitting the team to play the martians next season.. Nuff said..

Vote on Crazee..

Auld lang sighhhhhhh

2009-05-23T20:51:00.002+08:00

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?

HELLL NO IF UR A GEORDIE!

for the first time in a looooong time one of the biggest clubs in English football are facing relegation. The last time was probabbly Blackburn rover's remarkable downfall. The factor that seemed to have been uniform for both this clubs was a certain Alan Sherer. He left..They fell..Hmmmm..talk bout a talisman

So dats prolli wad Ashley was thinkin when he put on Shearer to save the magpies from becoming maceroni pies.. rite.. well lets see what happens there ,like..

Hull,Sunderland and Boro.. ALL these clubs if u can remember were trying to get relegated for quite sum time now. and they r doing a good job. All 3 could not muster anythin last weekend and Sunderland, and their "Ricky Sbragia is beter than Keano" thoughts are fading. The lad could be rubbish for all i noe. Last weekend they shud have confirmed safety vs Portsmouth. I am stunned they lose a game against a few players like Armand Traore who just wanted to prove a point. No drive and a terrible team choice n selections. Chelsea this weekend could win them in 2nd gear but expect youngsters.

Boro, less Tuncay deserve to go down. Alfonso Alves has become a hate figure in my book and lets face it Mr Southgate was made to sell everyone else for him. The cattermoles,woodgates,schwarzer was not kept(Don ask me how come) and so on. Southgate made terrible replacement signings and either then Sanli I think they will still struggle vs West ham this weekend with their hungry loan signings like Kovac(wad a goal last weekend btw) and Stanislas and Tristan.

Hull have the easy task they say. ManUtd away. ManUtd nothing to play for. But seriozli. Even Utd's reserve team can surely win this. This boys drew with Everton in an FA cup semi and won the League cup! Gibson,rafael,tosic,macheda,welback,evans,Kuzczak. 4 of em are alreadi internationals. Plus Manucho the man for Hull's last known victory to man kind is unavailable. Ronaldo may even wanna a run out for golden boot.

Overall I expect Sunderland to stay but Hull may just offset Newcastle..lets wait n see...

MANCHESTER UNITED- CHAMPIONS 08/09

2009-05-18T00:24:00.002+08:00

ONCE AGAIN MANCHESTER UNITED ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND

For those who missed the celebrations due to TV probs.. Heres a sampler:

Manchester United-Arsenal Celebration Premier League Winner
Uploaded by BradGX - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.

KUDOS TO THE WHOLE TEAM AND GLORY GLORY MAN UTD AS THE REDS FO MARCHING ON ON ON ...to Rome.. and beyond?

:>:>

If ur free you might wanna check this out.. A bit of after partying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXeVNTQT10I

The time is now.

2009-05-16T19:33:00.002+08:00

Enough said. All eyes on whether United can retain the Legue title after some heart stopping breath taking moments. Its a classic United vs Arsenal match tonight with Arsenal trying to save themselves some dignity and United trying to maintain their glory. Let the match speak for itself. Seriously, nothing else matters for now.

So diz is it den?

2009-05-13T19:54:00.002+08:00

Just a reminder to Tevez on why Berbatov is kinda 30millionish

The only significant thing that happened in terms of changing places in the league table was Newcastle putting one over their riverside neighbours and all of a sudden Geordies Believe. Hull are in shock but Hey! thats the BPL for u. Hull with aweful form recently are showing that they are genuine division 1 favourites. They will also be praying ManUtd have an easy run in versus Arsenal and Wigan in order as to survive their last game v them. Cue West ham v Sheffield Utd and West ham's last game v ManUtd

A Liverpool fan told me. "Hey I Think Utd will lose to City this week"

After a 3-0 win.. Liverpool for the 1000000th time this season thought.. My oh MY! we are top of the table we gonna win the league yadda yadda yabba dabaa doo.. den came Carlos Tevez. He decided he didn wanna end up playin for a team like Liverpool so went to a derby to prove a point. Boy o Boy did he prove a point. The arguement still stands. Is he worth 30mil. If u ask me. I think Berbatov was the focal point that day. Bringing defenders towards him as if he was about to show them a magic trick. As they observed his trickey he passes the ball to Tevez to score. That said I have always been critical of Tevez's lack of striker instincts but his har work and ability is unquestinable. Its just a matter of whether or not Ferguson needs him right now.

I said, " I think Liverpool may win this week..maybe even next...but OMG i don care as much as you do.."

Arsenal has their lives sucked by Utd. Now they r just lifeless souls who either go clubbing, think they are too good for the team, still have their manager change their diapers, and still atre under the illusion that they can play sexy football in diapers. All who watch em are ,thus, kinda paedophiles.

Talking bout Paedophiles, Chelsea did their job right. Came back from heartbreak to break young little hearts. They raped arsenal like horny cockroaches at the gabbage disposal place at Zirca on ladies night.

Lets see what happens next..

Man Utd not champions yet..nowhere close.. Arsenal and Hull are tough fixtures and Liverpool with the easy peasy lemon squeezy run in make this an intresting battle and I feel that Liverpool just might be able to.....be suckered into spending more by Rafa" I need more money" Benitez who apparently would onli like working with Bill Gates or the London mint. Torres after all cost him 2 million. and Aurelio,Arbeloa etc.. were 10 cents a pop. right...

BEST MIDFIELDER 2008-2009

2009-05-12T22:26:00.003+08:00

First of all a big congratulations to Edwin Van der Sar who bagged the best Goalkeeping award. I guess beating records kinda did it for him. Here are the eventual winners:

1.Edwin Van Der Sar -Man Utd- (41%)

2.Mark Schwarzer- Fulham Fc- (16% by virtue of Actim index)

3.Jose Reina -Liverpool Fc - (16% by vitrue of Actim Index)

Kudos to all.

Now the time has come for the Best Midfield general in the league this year. A very close fight and hard to seperate them by Actim Index as many play improper amount of names but here are the deserving few:

1) Cristiano Ronaldo (ManUtd) - But of course the best player in the world. Gets it good for his "diving" antics but its usually just a case of sour grapes for a player so talented. Goalkeepers have tried diving like him to save his freekicks but to no avail. He has added more freekick techniques to his game and has become better as the season progressed. Not as good as the last but hey top scorer of the BPL from midfield is something huh?

2) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - Liverpool's captain fantastic or their "get out of jail free" card. has rescued the team time and time again single handedly and has been a fan favourite for ages. Loyal and very hardworking he also has notched up a staggering 15 goals from midfield this season. Assists as well, this boy just loves his club.

3) Luca Modric (Tottenham) - This may surprise a few but after a shaky and terrible start to his season, he has clawed up the ACTIM charts with his brilliant assist rate and his knack for scoring goals. He seems to be getting better and better as the game goes on and the boy who rarely smiles may start smiling more next season if things go on like this.

4) Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - Hardly misses games and also wears his heart on his sleeve. Top of the midfielders ACTIM scores, this boy is Chelsea's MR. Reliable and has notched many a time crucial goals for the team. A player that is a role model to many he also wants to win the lot more than many in the league.His assists freekicks and corners have also been a massive influence fot the team.To think he was signed before Abramovich.

5) Stephen Ireland (Man City) - Captain Underpants here is whack. Seriously the boy is crazy but that probably what makes his so good this season. While his teammates were performing poorly expecting to be sold. He put on his fav undies and notched up goal after goal. A few neutrals that came to a game actually though he was Robinho. 30 million like play. Robinho can learn a thing or two. Rep of Ireland's best player since the o'shea and Robbie Keane era.If only he can keep his shooting shorts on..

6) Ashley Young( Aston Villa) - For the first half of the season he was undeniably the best midfielder/winger in the league. His crosses turned into goals. His pace was electrifying but he has died off like a china branded battery in the last quarter of the season. Has to work on his shooting and has proved wasteful. Not quite in the same class as the messis and Ronaldos but with a bit of work lets hope this boy does better. A victim of a team with little midfield options.

7) Xabi Alonso (Liverpool) - My oh my this boy has probably been the heartbeat of Liverpool this season. Soft spoken and underrated he has risen from the ashes to become a major strong point for Liverpool this season with his pinch perfect passing and his occasional love for scoring very important thunderous goals. One of the players that has make the BPL home. Truly.To think they wanted to sell him start of the season. kudos to the lad

Vote on crazeeeee......

Its not me.. Its my new German Accent

2009-05-09T02:19:00.003+08:00

"Look MA! A trophy" - Ballack came in second in the German Accent competition. Finally proper silverware for the lad.

YA.. I mean Yesh, U she i mean seee i beensh learningsh german reshently and thush beensh ushing more ssh in my langusghe so pleashe try to forgive me.. Danke..

Firsht up we shall talk bout Mancheshter United Vs Mancashter Shitty. I mean Shitty.. ShSHHSHsHSHH CITY. Shorry. And I don mean Nicky Shorrey I mean Shorrey as In Shor..ah Shrew it.. I mean..Nvm.. Mancasheter Shitty is Away where they sheem to be shitty but in this game their in the same city..WOW! I didsh it I said Shitty..crapsh.. Battle between tradition and wealth. Both teamsh have shomething to play for above europe and the title. Pride. U Shee pride is what runsh derby games. I don mean derby county games I mean derby games. Derby County gamesh are just shad.Bashicly I am sho hoping for a good game with fireworksh and A United winsh. I hate Shitty I mean SHitty..demmit.. koz they just put the game is disrepute and Im a Utd fan. Mosthly koz their owners pee oil. Hopefully Ronaldo v Robinho turns up to be a battle but is important to note that the lasht time thish two met Rafael did a great job on robinho. Letsh hope for goalsh for thish one. United need goalsh jezt in cashe of a pointsh leveler wif Liverpool.

Arshanal play Chelshe. Arshavin'sh back and Arshanal are playing for pride if I think bout it. Adebayor will be hoping to get a goal while Bendtner may not be able to make it ash he hash plans at the opening of a new club in London.Kieran Gibbsh shtill in depresshion will one to show his worth vershus Cashley Cole,Malouda and friends. Esshien and Didier " I keel u ref,I make love wif Mourinho" Drogba will want revenge. Fire in the eyes of the two opponents. Sho much anger and frushtrathion over their mid week woes. There will be hunger. There will be frushtration and there will be Ballack who finished shecond plashe in a German accent competittion which took palsh last week againsht me. The judgesh shaid that she I mean she..nvm she wasnt relli winning material.

Wonderful ties like Evertonsh av Tottenhamsters. To ten hamsss htr..demit.. Diz is aweful People are gonna shay im biashed.Den there are mammoth ties like Hull vs Shtoke.zzzzzz Sorry I am confushed how the hellsh ish diz not a divishion 1 tie again . Speakin of Division 1 tiesh The devil himself will den bring some poor hell slaves to Watch Middleshbrough vershus Newcashtle. Hu should be No cash le come next season if relegated and Middlesbrough will be raishing funsh with a new Circush act that is driving rivershite.. I mean Rivershitee... (D'oh.. Nvm all teams from there are pretty shite anyways) wild. Yesh. The Alfonsho alvesh hit the back of the net trick. He will actually skore a goal every time 12 million ish raished againsht a choice div 4 reserve gk. Quite a godd return rate. But i got a bad feeling he'll missh still.

Am Shorry for my terrible Acshent. Don ashk me why but I just think all my lessonsh were worth it shince i can call Mancashter Shitty.

Shoccergundu as I am.

Out.

And the Reds go Marching On! On! On!

2009-05-08T00:35:00.002+08:00

And the Final match up is out! Hot news! It wont be the widely predicted all English Final which is a replay of last season's final but it is going to be a mouth watering clash between the English and Spanish Champions. Spanish dazzle versus English grit and industry. Who will prevail?
Stay tuned for the Match of the season between FC Barcelona and Manchester United.

With an emphatic 4-1 aggregate win over teenage Arsenal, United have once again shown their European pedigree and domination. Early goals by Park and a Ronaldo sizzler stuck the nail in Arsenal's European coffin and swift counter attacking football sealed their fate in the 61 first min courtesy of Ronaldo and Rooney coupled with good work by Park. It was a pity that the referee made a harsh decision to send off Darren Fletcher causing him to miss the final. But that said, Man Utd have produced a vintage performance with all players on form and exposing a injury ravaged inexperienced Arsenal side. Van Persie had given them a consolation goal from the spot. Ronaldo was really impressive as he appeared all over the pitch to wreck havoc onto Arsenal. Wayne Rooney as always was a fantastic pain in Arsenal's behind. 3-1 to United and they are on their way to defending the title in Rome! And the Reds go Marching On! On! On!

Barcelone were very lucky to have made it through at the death with Iniesta cancelling out an excellent Essien goal early in the first half during injury time. Chelsea are majorly disappointed by the referee's blindness but in actual fact, they deserved to be in the final. After 2 superb displays against the free scoring Barcelona side, it was luck that undid them. But ot be frank, they wouldnt be in their position had they been more clinical in front of goal. That was something that United have finally found after 3/4 season and they are firm favourites to be the first team to retain the Champions League in its current form.

Lets stay tuned for an awesome final. Till then, do check back on Saturday for our weekend preview!

The Final Champions League Semi-Final

2009-05-05T23:15:00.003+08:00

Alrighty folks, the long awaited 2nd leg of the Champions League Semi-finals are here and its now do or die for the 4 remaining teams in the competition. Barcelone face a trip to Stamford Bridge and im sure it'll be a tough away fixture. Based on what i saw the last match, it really looks like it would be a full on Barcelona assault or else it would be another all English final. (Boring!). Can the likes of Messi, Eto'o and Henry deal some damage to Chelsea? Following their 6-2 rout of local rivals Real Madrid, i think its highly possible. But we should not discount the quality in Chelsea's side. Terry, Lampard and Essien form the backbone of the Chelsea side that would surely do all they can to win it at home. Drogba, Malouda and Kalou would surely add the firepower to win it convincingly for Chelsea at home. So the big question remains, who will make it through? Barcelone just need to make it at least a 1-1 draw to qualify. The questions remain, the action is about to unfold.

In the more importantly regarded fixture here at Soccer Crazee, we see our pet team Manchester United travel to the Emirates where Arsenal are at their strongest. However based on the pretty one-sided first leg performance, this tie is Man Utd's to lose. They just needa remain focused, disciplined and try to kill off the game fast. Do not doubt Arsenal's potential, especially with live-wire Van Persie back. We can expect more end to end football which is characteristic of the long standing 115year rivalry between the sides. Do not discount the deep respect the two sides have built up in recent years for a mellow match. Arsenal can still twart Alex Ferguson's dream of being the first team to become back to back European Champions and the quest for the premier league glory coem the final game of the season.

One of the most exciting Champions League seasons is drawing to a close but the climax is just approaching. Any of the 4 teams here can still progress. But which two will be able to? Will it be another all English Final? Or would it be a replay of the same fixture last season? Could history remain? Or would it be another record in Sir Alex Fergie's CV? All will be made known over the next 50 odd hours. Stay tuned.

Relegation fight??? or too much courteous teams?

2009-05-05T16:19:00.005+08:00

I tell you what this weekend that passed was about. It can be summarized in this talk between Portsmouth,Hull,Newcastle,WBA,Blackburn,Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

Boro : It seems we are in the relegtion zone

WBA: We live there

Newcastle: Oye! What am I doin here?

Portsmouth : Been a while but I think I feel at home here

Hull: Wow! I'm in the premier league!

Blackburn: We Inced I mean Inched our way here..

WBA : We usually take a train to and fro this league. Its called the yo-yo express.

Newcastle: Yea You guys are Shite

WBA: Oye.. Shut it Geordies! We may still survive

All: AHAHHAHAHHAHAHA.. You know how far away u guys are from safety

WBA: We live there

Sunderland: We kinda thought Keano was screwin us but I think we were wrong. Sbragia's quite a donkey

Hull: We are too poor to rent dressing rooms in away games. Phil Brown tends to give his HT teamtalks on the pitch

Boro: We had money. Den someone suggested we sign some Alfonso Alves dude

Hull: I say we deserve to go.. We'll lose this week

Sunderland: Same 'ere. We probably gonna go down to Ipswich next season and ask Keano stuff.

Blackburn: We got Big Sam.. We measured ourselves during his medical. Its big i tell you...

All:.....

Liverpool: Hey Little Sam is here with us.. But.. Holy shite u are right

Awkward silence

Newcastle: Aye! Anyway I don wanna go down!

Boro: Nah.. Yall are jez Shite But We will lose too. Touched by your self sacrifice there Hull and Sunderland.

Portsmouth: Hey we make it interesting. U guys dont fight. We will outdo you guys. We will not only lose. We will get hammered by Arsenal! HAH! So who gonna go down now?

Hull: Oooo BIG deal We will freakin lose to Villa.. After a gajillion years since they last recorded a win!

Boro: We got ManUTd. We will just turn up.

Sunderland: Everton are playing for Europe. We will give em what they want

Newcastle: You do that guys. We wanna stay here next season

All: But you guys are Shite!

WBA: haha.. yea u guys kinda bad

Newcastle stunned. Attempts to kill itself using a 5.56mm "Shearer Geordie" bullet.

Rest don give a rats ass..

Boro,Portsmouth,Hull,Sunderland : May the best team go down..

Man City: Your goin down in four minutes
Down in four Minutes
Your goin down in four minutes.

BlackBurn: Ah Shut it! We'll send Diouf there to spit on yea!!

WBA: HEy you guys selling Robinho?

BlackBurn: We all are diced. Sam Allardyced?..ahhaha

Awkward Silence

Boro: Southgate will steer us South.

Hull: We are in the Premier League!

Sunderland: Wonder if the boy Ferdico Macheda and Welback are available. HEck we want their whole reserve squad demmit. Div 1 will be easier

Portsmouth:Ill give you guys 10 bucks if you can name our current manager?

WBA: Cya next next season guys..Cya next season NEwcastle..BWahahhaaahha

Blackburn: We won the Premier league before you know

Awkward Silence

Its about time they start fighting more for their lives and less about giving each other hope. Worst performance by a relegation group in ages..

BEST GOALKEEPER 2008-2009

2009-05-04T16:38:00.006+08:00

Before we get to that lets pay tribute to the man who won best defender of the season. The results were as follows:

1st - N.Vidic (Man Utd) -58%
2nd - J. Bosingwa (Chelsea) -16%
3rd - J. Carragher (Liverpool) -8%( was a 3 wat tie with Jagielka and Terry but he win in regardsActim index ratings)

Kudos to Vidic. The most clear cut winner thus far. Now back to our next Soccercrazee award.. And the nominees for best GK areeee??

1) Edwin Van Der Sar (Man Utd) - The man who broke all longstanding goalkeeping records this season. Having his time of his life to be frank. After that 16 game clean sheet run and his brilliant penalty shootout records stemming from last season's champions league final and this season's charity shield. The man is on cloud 9. Vidic and Ferdinand should also take credit for this nomination and it is also to be noted that he played way less than the other nominees.

2) Jose 'pepe' Reina (Liverpool) - Not only ahs he played in all of Liverpools BPL games this season but he has gotten many clean sheets. Plus he has actually recordded ASISSTS!! against Man Utd most notably but his distribution is what makes him so good and he is a safe pair of hands as well. Rarely gets a foot wrong. One of Benitez's best signings.

3) Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) - A remarkable keeper for Fulham this season. The 36 year old has been Fulham's best business in the transfer market. Their high position and home domination is credit to him and his fine string of saves. He has saved more shots than any keeper in the Barclays Premier League and stands guard at the Fulham goal like a beast protecting his master in a castle.

4) Tim Howard (Everton) - They call him Mr. Tourettes but this boy has defied all logic. Diagnosed with the disease that makes you do funny things at awkward moments. He doesn do that too much it seems. He has had blips that Moyes has ignored but a boy so good at his job and makes acrobatic saves week in week out for the Toffees. An inspiration to people diagnosed with the disease this man is a worthy ambassador of both the people suffering from the disease and Everton football club. Europe is where he belongs.

5) Robert Green (West Ham) - Not the most impressive of goalkeepers but he gets the job done. Has cemented the goalkeeping position in West ham sending players like Ex Man Utd Gk Caroll into taking drugs. Safe hands. Reliable. I tend to wonder why he hasnt been called up to the England first team more often. Sooner rather than later ay Robert?

6) Petr Cech (Chelsea) - Another good season for Chelsea and the team with the best defensive record in the league can thank this boy for it.Many have said he has become a different player after a clash with a Reading player a couple of seasons back. Well I just do not see it. Headgear in tact on his day this boy can give you a migraine if you happen to be a centreforward. A jigaw puzzle with very little gaps to squeeze and impossible to solve.

7) Manuel Almunia (Arsenal) - Jens Lehmann might not enjoy this nomination but we at Soccercrazee disagree. Arsenal's fine goalkeeper and a good upperstudy to the young Fabianski.Well Arsenal fans wouldnt really appreciate Fabianski once rated Poland's top talent but he has big shoes to fill. This man has made fine saves in his day and like Robert Green is a Mr. Reliable. Will not let you down. Consistent and everready. Arsenal appreciate him and his maturity

Vote on Crazeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......

Nemanja Vida... boy..man..monster

2009-04-30T22:53:00.003+08:00

Now heres to the Best Defender 2008-2009 for Soccercrazee. Quite unanimous the man Nemanja Vidic. Aged 27, this boy has maturity that makes people think hes probably older or as old as his defensive partner Rio Ferdinand.. Starting his career at Red star Belgrade where most Serbians or Montengrans would be honoured to play for, he made his way in Spartak Moscow. He impressed and even captain Red Star at a young age and came of age when he played for the now defunct Serbia and Montenegro football team.Spotted by a man called Ferguson.. He was soon on his way to Man Utd who won the bidding was vs Liverpool for this boy. by 2 million pounds..

Who can forget the disasterous debut vs Blackburn? David Bentley wont.3-5 Blackburn. A certain Nemanja and Patrice looked terrible they say. They blamed them. A flop was expected. But den in the 70th minute. Nemanja Vidic put in 1 challange. A sliding challange of pure class. A time where no1 thought United needed defenders. Ferguson was spoiling the mix? Someone picked Nemanja Up.. But did he rise?

My oh my.. it wasnt until the 2005-2006 season proper did Vidic put his foot down on his poor start. He grew accustomed ot Manchester and he was ready. He and Vidic put on impressive shows in his first season. He won the BPL that season and scored his first goal. But he was hungey he wanted more.. Last season was probably the best in the Serb's life so far as he wont the Champions League and Premiere League in 1 season. But he outdid himself.The more this boy plays it seems the better he becomes. He learns from everything. Once upon a time Adebayor used to make him twist and turn and go crazy now he calmly handles him like a small hurdle in an Olympics hurdle event. He even made goals come easier with crucial ones in all leagues especially that goal v Inter Milan in the latter stages of the champions league. The season belongs to Vidic and though he has yet to reach the same class as Cannavaro in a world cup few years back, his style in different and I do believe his hard work and brilliant work ethic as well as his tackling ability and goals means he is way more effective and an asset.

He has paves the way for more Serbs in ManUtd like Tosic,Ljajic and a few more trialists that have come in and out of old trafford. The 1 season it takes to get accustomed to their new home seems a good investment for Ferguson. For Serbia, 39 appearances and 2 goals. He made his name in the "famous 4' defence that only conceded 1 at a world cup and he gives his 120% for country and club.. Red cards are in his game but who cares if he dares?

Kudos to Nemanja..

Vote on Crazeeeeeee.

Hmmm..Mixed signs and feelings

2009-04-30T22:18:00.003+08:00

In my humble opinion, i think the best big game player Man Utd have at the moment is none other than the versatile and sometimes forgotten John O'Shea. Hes the man whos so versatile, he often is relied upon to get the team out of trouble by filling up any available position. Hes played and scored as striker, Goalkeeper (made a fine save too) and every other position you coudl think of. Last night, he once again did what 90 million dollars worth of striking power couldnt, that is to score and with such aplomb too. Reminscent of the match against Liverpool some time back where he popped out from the right side of the penalty box to score the winner just liek he did last night against Arsenal. Goals aside, hes also helped them keep the defence tight and his committment to the cause is nothing short of fantastic.

But to be frank, United did really well against an Arsenal that were lacking in flow and creativity. Attribute it to United's pressure or the jeering home crowd, it was really end to end stuff from Man Utd stopping every Arsenal attack and counter attacking so swiftly. No thanks to the horrible blind Dutch referee for being plain lousy and not awarding the proper freekicks.

Special mention to Giggs, Fletcher, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez for excellent contributions.

Chelsea vs Barcelona was a feat for Chelsea as they managed to hold the hottest team in the world to a stalemate away and one can only wonder if it will be an all English final. No comments from me there except that Cech had done fantastic to deny Barcelona the final touches to magical attacks.

Till the next week where it will be crunch time and advantage to the home side.

The Big Midweek Preview

2009-04-28T23:01:00.002+08:00

The Big Champions League Showdown is about to begin. This season's Semi-Final clashes are proving to be mouth watering, showcasing the hottest team in the world and the quality of the English League. Let us take a look at which are the 4 teams left to fight it out to make it to the finals. Barcelona, red hot and spicy are thrilling even opposition fans all over the world with their rendition of heavenly football. Manchester United the comeback kids of the tournament, never failing to provide nail-biting moments. Young Arsenal are fast maturing and coming into a rich vein of form with Arsene Wenger looking to add the final punch to his already impressive CV. Chelsea, with their work horse attitudes and steel mettle have prioritised this competition ahead of domestic aspirations.

Chelsea vs Barcelone.

With the Dutch meastro Hiddink at Chelsea's helm, and the potent threat in a resurgent Drogba, Chelsea have the quality and strength to match free-flowing and free scoring Barcelone. Pundits have said that Drogba will be the key element that will cause Barcelone problems. Coupled with combative midfielders in Lampard and Essien, Barcelone would need the wiles and skills of Iniesta and the potent triumverate of Messi, Eto'o and Henry to finish off Chelsea. Truly this will be a clash of the titans, worthy of being a final in itself. Methinks that it will be a draw with the second leg the key decider. Advantage to the team who scores first and may that be the away team.

Man Utd vs Arsenal

The Old English rivals, Ferguson and Wenger, two managers sharing the longest managerial reigns in the current Premier League renew their old time rivalry that has been overshadowed in recent years by Chelsea and Liverpool's Mourinho and Benitez. It looks to be an old time clash with more at stake than Anglo-centric prizes. This is the continental prize, one that both managers are hungry for. Notice how this clash is more about the old geezers in the hot seats rather than the players? That is because both teams are in a bit of a defensive rut but boast quality players that like in a game of chess, can be used to win or lose a game. This is one mouth-watering clash between old time rivals with epic proportions. The prize at stake has never been so attractive. Expect pizza and soup wars, old men acting a tenth their age and fantastic talent on display. A single masterstroke could change the match so do keep your eyes peeled. Rooney, Berbatov and PFA winner Giggs would pose an immense threat to Arsenal. But Febregas and Nasri would be dishing out servings of danger if given the chance. Im getting so stoked.

Keep your fingers crossed and eyes peeled for one of the most exciting seasons in recent times and stay tuned for our post match comments.

Yours truly,

The Guru.

Come what...May

2009-04-27T15:03:00.003+08:00

What the..Soemthinz not right with this pic.. Berbatov chose not to celebrate vs Spurs. but den again who does he celebrate against?

At the start of the season, many were saying that Liverpool are the come back team of the West Village. I agree. They top the lot when it comes to wins from the brink of defeat. Man Utd got the memo about that. They thought.. O well.. We'll give this 1 a go.

United are doing it the hard way this season. Going 2 goals down in a 5 minutes of madness where Rio and Rafael da Silva were the main culprits for gifting spurs 2 goals. Ronaldo had missed a wonderful chance before this and also tested Gomes on a freekick.All United fans,head down were thinking who to blame at halftime. They totally ignored the commentators reminder of the time United came from 3-0 down to win 3-5.Man Utd came out in the second half and only said 1 statement as they walked out on the 90th minute."This is Old Trafford".

Wayne Rooney always has a big game during the crunch period for Man Utd. He is your go to boy. Ronaldo scored 2 but Rooney was awesome. 2 goals and 2 assists. The 4-3-3 was working. Especially with Berbatov preferring to do a Scholes most of the time and sitting in an attacking mids role. Utd looked 4-4-1-1 at Halftime. Not Home team tactics. They say Howard Webb gave United the Victory when he gave them a penalty. They are Neutrals and Liverpool fans. Gomes got the player before ball and lets face it. We have seen them given. No point debating. United were still 2-1 down. 5-2 came from Rooney. The boy is class. Did he ever miss a cross. Did Ronaldo or Berbatov not oblige. It was Wayne's word in the second half. The words of a man who wants to ensure his hatred for a red Scouse team remains in his hands... A man on a mission..

Liverpool.. Well well well. For all the shit United took on a "Penalty that gave them 5 goals in a match". Mascherano wins an accolade that many Pool fans been pushing for Cristiano Ronaldo to win. Dive of the Season. A awful dive. Disgusting. A referee that never once blew in favour of Hull despite Hull's dominance den Alonso with a beauty. A red card Folan deserved but the scousers were pretty fortunate. Unlike ManUtd they were rubbish. Just like ManUtd were vs Sunderland recently when they won 2-1.Absolutely astonishing nobody even uttered a word about Javier "Aregentina's Captain" Mascherano's dive.

Arsenal gave out a footballing lesson to Middlesbrough. Fabregas marked his return since returning with a well taken brace. Probably the most all round performance of the top 4 this week. They deserve the kudos against a team that are fighting for their dear lives in the BPL. Fabregas back. They will be pumped up for their midweek tie vs Utd. Chelsea.1-0.Job done. Should have been more. But the biggest shock is for once. Drogba did not score! They looked like a team that had all but give up on the BPL.

WBA's 3-0 win thanks to the on fire Chris Brunt was enough to send them into a tussle with Hull,Boro,Newcastle,Sunderland and maybe not so much Blackburn for the relegation tussle. That has been producing more action than the top of the table.. Come what May.. The action only starts In MAY.

Match Previews

2009-04-25T12:57:00.003+08:00

The end is drawing near with teams having approximately 5 games left to either win their championships, stay in the top flight, or just earn gate receipts.

Its pedal to the medal now if Man Utd or Liverpool want to win their Premiership crown. Not much in store for Fulham except to continue earining gate receipts for new players next season after a great performance in this one. They really imposed themselves this season. Shearer's Newcastle will have to do all they can in the next 5 matches to save their season though it'll be a really tough fight with lots of luck needed.

Man Utd take on red hot Tottenham tonight and after having beaten both Liverpool and Chelsea at home this season, they will definitely fancy their chances against a at-times-stumbling Man Utd who are playing like the Arsenal of old, creating plenty of chances but not converting them. They are sorely in need of a regular character up front, someone clinical to score goals in any way. 20 years of history stand in Tottenham's way but i fancy a United win at home. They have to if they want to go 6 points clear of the chasing on-fire-in-front-of-goal-but-with-a-woeful-defence Liverpool. Eyes on Ubnited's right side of defence. Will it be Rafael or Brown tonight?

Liverpool take on Hull City who have honestly been stuttering and showing their true potential. Its a long 38-game season to keep up big wins against the other Premier League Clubs. Its not the best league in the world for nothing. Liverpool however face a challenge in keeping their leaky defence shut tight so Hull may just unsettle them. Benitez would definitely be hoping for a win to keep the pressure up on United.

I'm definitely going to be looking forward to see how Arsenal do against Middlesbrough. With a Champions League semi-final away at Old Trafford slightly more than 48 hours later, it'll be interesting to see how Arsenal do, especially with a bit of an injury crisis. However Arshavin is in fine form and looking extremely sharp and considering being cup tied for the Champions League, we can expect him to feature and nick it for Arsenal. That is, if they can bolster their defence and not give away goals like they did against Liverpool in a match they should have won.

Poor poor Newcastle. They seem to be tugging on every neutral's heartstrings. Can they actually start their much desired turnaround and get a result for their fans? I really think that those really affected by all this are their fans. Such dedication but yet, such massive disappointments. They have lots to do against Portsmouth come Monday.

Plenty of other matches going on as well,

We see Bolton vs Villa, Man City take on Everton, Fulham host Stoke, WBA and Sunderland and West Ham take on Chelsea tonight.

Also playing tomorrow, Blackburn against Wigan.

Plenty of action at both ends of the table so do stay tuned for it and vote for your SoccerCrazee Best Defender of the year for they have been the men keeping the goals safe.

Baby Agbonlahor

2009-04-24T13:44:00.002+08:00

Okok.. So its Gabby but this boy.. aged 22.. Is one of England's best attacking prospects since Wayne Rooney burst into the scene 5 years ago. Its been barren for England since then with only Walcott going close..

Gabriel "Gabby" Imuetinyan Agbonlahor has been at Aston Villa.. well forever.. Born in Erdington, this boy has had loan spells in clubs like Watford and Sheffield Wednesday. Both were unsuccessful. Many tipped big things about him and Luke Moore at Villa but Martin o'Neill must have been the key to his brilliance..

This season has been his best ever as he notched 13 goals in all competitions including 12 in the BPL! His returns rate on scoring may not be the best in the world averaging 0.29 goals per match. But He does get assists and also provides a lot of pace up front.

He has also thwarted the like of Man Utd and Arsenal with goals. He can be a big game player. The scary part is that he is not yet the end product as strikers usually peak at 25. Englang called him up this season though it has to be said that his criticism is his lack of fitness as he started to cool as the season went into its latter stages just like the rest of his small Villa team.This however is a key learning area for the lad.

he has mostly featured for England at u21 levels rather effectively but has yet to prove himself big enough for the senior team only gaining 2 caps with 0 dividence there. In his defence they were not easy games but lets hope for more from this boy next season in the international arena. He was also eligible to play for Nigeria and Scotland before this. Lets hope, much unlike players like James Beattie and Micheal Bridges he proves a big player for England

Kudos to Gabby..

BEST DEFENDER 2008-2009

2009-04-21T22:44:00.008+08:00

Every time u think of a classic.. U think of the goals.. 4-3 thrillers..3-2 thrillers.. Den we forget the bore draws..0-0.. the 1-0 wins.. But the men behind these scorelines earn it.. the way strikers earn their money scoring goals.. Today Soccercrazee celebrates the almost forgotten men..

First things first.. We shall congratulate the winner of best youngster 2008-2009..

1st : G.Agbonlahor 41%
2nd : Denilson 25%
3rd : J.Evans 14%

Kudos to Gabby on a deserved victory.. You will hear more about him soon..

Now lets look at our nominees for best defender..

1) Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd) - One of the strongest and most feared defenders in the BPL this season. Ferdinand or Evans alongside, 1 of the main reasons for the Clean Sheet run ManUtd went on and how they kept notching up 1-0 wins. Had some blips but he deserves more youtube video clips...unless he slips..If Manutd Win the lot.. thank him for it.

2) John Terry (Chelsea)- A rock for Chelsea and one of their most crucial players once again this season. Be it Alex,Ivanovic or the more familiar Carvalho, this boy sticks to his job. Injuries have been his archilles' heel and also Scolari but we should not forget his contributions. Actim Index says so as well..

3) Jose Bosingwa( Chelsea) - A hardworker. Brilliant defender and has good attacking abilities. One hell of a signing by Chelsea this season he has outran himself on the Chelsea right flank. One of the more consistent performers be it Scolari or Hiddink in charge and very professional. Really a respectable player who gets you assists and hits mean shots

4) Joleon Lescott (Everton) - If we kept talking about the top four.. Den its no point having a BPL list. Everton have shown great defensive abilities. He has notched up a few goals even though the corner burden has been lifted of his..erm.. head since Fellaini came in and Cahill became fit. He sticks to his job well and the games against the big boys has never deterred him.Kudos.

5) Phil Jagielka (Everton) - A huge risk when Moyes brought him in last year. Then again he is the man who has made steals out of some Championship players like Lescott(Wolves),Cahill(Milwall) and now Jagielka who came from Sheffield United. Started the season shaky. Lacked pace and all. Now covers it up with beautiful defensive skills. Bicycle kicks and last ditched tackles and interceptions. He also spots a mean pass being an ex midfielder. He gets better by the game and is coming to terms with BPL life finalli. Kudos to him and Everton for having both Center backs in the list.

6) Brade Hangeland (Fulham) - A brilliant defender and Norway's finest continues to impress with big clubs hovering around him like vultures. Scored some remarkable goals (winner vs Arsenal etc..) and is a ROCK in Fulham's defence. Solving their previous woes and adapting to the BPL this season like it was a plate of Ice kacang on a Sunny afternoon in Singapore. Underrated and too Underappreciated. Soccercrazee salutes him.

7) A B Faye (Stoke) - He actually pipped the likes of Rio for this spot so that alone is an achievement. Actim index brought him here although it has to be said that he has operate in the DM role more den a centre back. However he does deserve mention especially for his performances at home and Away. Away when no other Stoke player turns up. He does. Has scored the most CRITICAL goals for Stoke this season and deserves a spot here in our book.Cheers.

8) Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) - How can he not be here? He has played almost every game for Liverpool this term and while Gerrard absorbs and masterbates on the plaudits, he continues to work tirelessly for his beloved Liverpool. Puts in trademark badass challanges and is 110% in his commitment to anywhere in Liverpool's backline. Also to note that he entered the top of the ACTIM boards with very little goals this season so a man who derserves his spot he is.

Shocked that Rio Ferdinand(Man Utd) is not here but his injuries meant that he played a lot less than our current list and we found that to be rather unfair on the rest. Also accepting plaudits would have been Laursen(Villa) and Toure(Arsenal) had they been playinf more. Also Ledley King(Spurs), Aaron Hughes(Fulham) and Glen Johnson (Pompey) would be disappointed to not make the cut. But overall the listing is statistically fair and Hughes omitted as he was there more for Hangeland's presence than anything else in our book. Vote on.. Crazee...

My oh My..Show me da money..

2009-04-20T22:36:00.003+08:00

Yes,its been a while since Everton got silverware..

Looking at the team sheets for the FA cup semi finals I was very glad that Chelsea and Everton made it through. For 2 very different reasons..

Arsenal decided to leave out two first team regulars that would stroll into almost all the big sides. Nasri and Arshavin. Why? I felt that it was tactical.However this should not be to blame for the Gunner's demise. The main reasons came through. Denilson is not the player he is supposed to be. A centre midfielder who cannot handle big challanges. Was eaten up like a free sausage mcmuffin in the morning by Micheal Essien. The other blame goes to Eboue. His primary role to stop Malouda. I have never seen Malouda so free on the left Chelsea flank. It was as if he had bought that part of the Wembley field pre match and told Ebou to move out ASAP. He obliged. Should Fabianski shoulder the blame? I do not think so. He is young and Silvestre should have rubbed off his influence on him. Instead he left the boy exposed when it mattered most and Lukaz's dash to Drogba similar to that which got him plaudits midweek vs Villareal. The irony of football. Fabregas back from injury hasnt look the player he was. From a Chelsea point of view I do not know bout the golden goose but Micheal Essien is a Midfield magician. On his day the best in the world and I thoroughly enjoyed his maturity and positional knowledge.Together with a hungry Drogba, the carried Chelsea derservedly to the Final of one of the oldest Domestic cup competitions in the world. Kudos. While Arshavin and Nasri wonder..well why?

The end of Manchester United's 5 trophy quest. Deservedly so. Berbatov,Giggs,Scholes,Evra,Van Der Sar,Ronaldo,Rooney and Carrick visibly missing. Why? Well to br fair the young ones did brong them thus far and deserved their spots but the toffees are no pushovers and I was disappointed with Tevez and Berbatov who did not step up for Man Utd when it mattered. Berbatov is one mistake away from probaly being a flop. He has not been the player he was start of season for Man Utd. Carlos for all his influence was overshadowed by Macheda and Welback who seemed to prefer to bypass his influence. Fabio Da Silva ,to me, the only positive for Man Utd. So why did United deserve to lose? Hunger.Passion.And maturity. When it came dowwn to penalties you wouldnt have expected any other result. The only mature heads to take penalties were Rio,Vidic and Berbatov. Less the magnificent reborn Vidic, Rio and Berba proved non penalty takers with weak attempts. Especially Berbatov's arrogant and showy attempt which summed up Man Utd that day.Everton had Jagielka to thank for his awesome performance in a game where the art of defending shadowed attacking arts. He won everything and his bicycle kick clearance showed us how much he had grown fro the man who made plenty mistakes season start. Another looker was Jack Rodwell. I was impressed by the young gun when he came on and he looked very mature.. ok that is a bit easy considering the Utd team put in but still for a cup semi final he looked mentally prepared. Saha would have felt he could influence the game more and Fellaini the constant threat was a handful. I was proud of Evertons they proved justice and promised one thing Ferguson did not. A good, ol cup final that my oh my they really want. 2 big boys down.. Bring on Chelsea?

A new cause for Oversleeping and a Sunday remedy

2009-04-18T22:40:00.003+08:00

Arsene stares down Chelsea. But are they intimidated?

The cause.. BPL Matches this week. SeriouslY! Can anyone imagine watching Stoke v Blackburn and going "WA!!!". All the games this BPL weekend have one thing in common. Everyone (except maybe West Ham) really needs to win. Coupled with less than impressive teams. They will surely cancel themselves out. Pure focus and mistakes will be punished. However the pressure isnt on full swing. A win today doesn mean that a draw next week will help.Every game changes things. The incentives will only become clearer in 2 weeks.

As the smaller teams like Stoke,Man City(Yup! Sheikh it boys! smalll...), and West Brom play BPL or wait for the big boys.. THE FA CUP gets dramatic

My O MY! The best cure for sleeping in all the BPL matches on Saturday..

CHELSEA v ARSENAL- Arsenal the cup side. As I said before in previous rounds this boys want the cup double and the forgotten giants clawed their way back initially and are now taking big strides. Doing magnificently on all cup fronts. They are the form team at the moment especially with their defensive problem childs finally coming on well. Chelsea the ever strong finishers. Through the years we have seen how CHelsea always end the season a different team from how they started. Why? I would say maybe new signings,manager changes,Drogba's love for Mourinho etc.. But they once again have the FA cup in sight and will be hungry for it.They have to solve their defensive frailties but attacking wise expect Drogba to be a handful and the midfield battle will have to be fought harder from this Chelsea team to win this.

MAN UTD v EVERTON- The toffees earned this spot. Beating Liverpool was no easy feat. Furthermore they are aching for something for Moyes to have his hands on. Luis Saha will be a good focal point for them. He is a great player when fit and expect Fellaini,Lescott and Timmy Cahill to exploit the shaky (as of recently) Utd defence. Rio will have to stabilize the back four for United and they will need to make their team work. Some rotations by Fergie this season have surprised while some have failed miserably. I expect Scholes to get a game and maybe Rafael may return.Berbatov will hold key as he has been having off days recently and will do well to come back strong here.Do not underestimate Everton because if they show hunger and desire ans ManUtd's players burn out. We could see an upset on the cards. The pressure is on United here. Quadruple? My o My.. What a lot of games..

This week will show us more clearly who are on form and who are not. Will the old Man Utd return? Will Arsenal finally crumble their unbeaten run? Will Chelsea stay strong and not succumb to their defensive lapses.. Only time will tell..

Chilli padi semi finals

2009-04-17T17:05:00.002+08:00

BOOm goes the Dynamite.. Ronnie's back

Spicy..

Barcelona v Chelsea

Man Utd v Arsenal

Spicy..

BArcelona went into their game expecting to come out with 0 injuries. So i guess it was a good day for them. Respect to Pepster who stuck with first teamers as if to teach his team a lesson about football. Even when u are 4-0 up you can still lose it against any opposition. And we were talking Bayern. Good werk Ribery. Hope he joins Utd nekz season. Niice.. God noes wad happened 2 Tosic and Nani. Barca can only be stopped by 1 team so far. The team that beat em last season. But that said Eto'o is a tough nut to crack.

Chelsea have conceded 7 goals in 2 games. And yet they have been happy. Koz they scored 8. Liverpool shouldn be so happy as Cech was aweful.Reina made 1 mistake as well but Cech was on a Al Qaeda insipred suicide mission. I swear he came into stamford bridge with bombs. Koz he was the BOmb. Aurelio would agree. I wouldn. I wanted a Man Utd Pool final. Blooodeee hell u liverpudlians. Anyways same ol' Liverpool rubbish. get out of all competitions early n concentrate on 1(BPL). n still struggle to get there. They do not deserve champions status. Que finishing 5ht in BPl n winning CL. RUBBISH! Nice werk Chelsea. Surely screwed by Scolari. hard nut to crack emselves.

Arsenal the cup side eh?...3-0 Villareal. At home. Ok impressive. Now for the big test. W/O Arshavin. Man Utd. Can they do it? I dunch noe. But when Man Utd play Arsenal. It is without a doubt the best game of the season. Both play enjoyable football and i do care bout the other teams in rthe world when this 2 take the field. A classic. If only Giggs was 10 years younger.. eh Wenger?

Man Utd were the best story this CL week. 1st English team to win in Dragao. Biased English cock sucking commentator said it is koz finally a team HAD to win at Dragao. I say ferguson read the story last week. Bookmarked the best pages. Den editted it. Hulk,Gonzalez,Lucho taken care of. Lisandro threatened but he didn get the space he needed. Everyone but Berbo and Anderson (Back from long layoffs) had a good game. Rio also despite a layoff. Good to see Nani get a good few mins. he has been dwendling in a BBC documentary called "The forgotten souls of football". I respect his contributions last season. I hope for more to come..

Im feeling...messed up

2009-04-14T21:57:00.004+08:00

"I have scored against you..you.. you.. and you.. you..and you.."-Lionel messi

During the press conference of Barca Bayern. 1 man asked Klinsmann.. (hey that actually rhymes man).. (Omg rhymed again).. who was this man who ran and ran(im on a roll here!).. He said "Im feeling Mess-ed up"

Lionel Messi.Van Bommel said that the only chance Munchen have of reachin the last 4 of the CL now is if Barca only field 8 players. I sure hope he doesn have to face that koz if Messi is in the 8 u may wonder if Barca can actually ..well still win it. He is the top scorer of the Champs League and for once he is having a relatively injury free season and has been the best player for this years UEFA CL. It was prolli his Pre season Pep talks. Yup. The talks with manager Pep Guardiola.

Liverpool,demolished 3-1 at home by a certain Ivanovic. A few people who said, " Wa lan! Ivanovic playign.. Ho seh la.. Chelsea sure kana swee swee!" got a lorry HEADed towards them at 80Km/Hr.Chelsea deadly in the air and Pool namely Alonso and the zonal marking contingent with Steven gerard and benayouns etc.. Are often left confused from corners.Chelsea on the contrary do look the most vulnerable when they are comfortable cue last weekend's 4-3. So I will NOT say this is a forgone conclusion. If you choose to miss this you may wake up with a headline like Liverpool defy the odds at the Bridge or cornier like " Chelsea Hiddink out of the UEFA CL". What I say is Liverpool have a tough time and Chelsea are not very impressive at the moment. I say Benitez shoudl give White heart lane a call before this but this is gonna be a CRACKING game.

Man Utd play porto. Fun and games. You see for the first time in 5 months. United have fallen back down to planet earth. Ronaldo facing the bench. Carrick realising he has problems scoring and Injuries ACTUALLY affecting the team and Evans no longer a Rio ferdinand in disguise. Rio maybe back. Porto do very well defensively at the Dragao. Atelico Madrid would say. I would put United a firm underdogs against an unfancied but severly underrated Porto side. Lucho and Hulk will prob be the show stealers. less Lethargic performance, Porto should be able to sneak one or 2 in. The qn is can United so goal shy( When did they last win 2-0 or more?? in the CL or BPL?) score at the dragon's lair or will the face the flames at the mouth of the dragao.

Arsenal-VIllareal. Both this teams are considered less illustrious. Boy oh Boy my friends yall are being lied to. Arsenal the cup side and Villareal English killers. BOth can play attractive football. Arsenal's so called sexy football condomised a long time ago but don tell their fans.. shh..they still dreaming. Villareal with the brilliant Santi Cazorla,M.Senna,G.Rossi, and the man who knows more bout arsenal den..well half of arsenal's first team.. Robert Pires. The play good football. The neglected Llorente.. Not the Nando type and may spring surprises. Their problem. Their defence. Even more leaky than Geylang Serai's resident rodents. I say lets have a goalfest unless we get to very cautios managers.

PFA player nominees are out

1) Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd)
2) Steven Gerrard(Liverpool,i tink)
3) Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd I think)
4) Van der Sar..( Erm..hmm also Man Utd)
5) Nemanja Vidic ( Ahah..Nope still Manutd)
6) Ryan Giggs ( Ok who the hell decides this?)

Seriozli wherez Xabi Alonso,Jose Bossingwa,Robin Van Persie and even Mark Scharzer. The thwarter of so many. I only can imagine they voted when Utd were on a run. I do not disagree totally but what says you to variety?

Premier League Spices

2009-04-12T12:16:00.003+08:00

Bang Bang Boom! The goals get knocking in. Wham Bham Alakazam. Lets hear it for Macheda and Manucho! M2M power!

One of the most exciting weekends with almost there amazing fight backs, tension, pure carnage and broken hearts. 8 matches played so far and 30 goals scored. Awesome made even more so with the goal replays flashing instead of text updates. Im finally getting my money's worth.

Liverpool swept aside a Blackburn side that was just all over the place with no direction and scoring 4 goals with ease. so much for all that talk about emulating Chelsea and exploiting defensive frailties. I think Liverpool's season has been great as a result of one thing, their delivery. Its something that just requires clinical finishing, hence the goals and last grasp winners. It all boiled down to supplying the tip of their attack. Torres just proved that Gerrard is not such an important cog in his scoring mechanics and that all that hype was just Liverpudians love for a dedicated player who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Bolton were brought to life after that realisation that they were 4 nil down and Andy O'Brien led a 70th minute fight back that was a tad too late. They shoudl have kept that tempo and pressure from the start instead of doing so after giving Chelsea a 4-0 lead. Drogba marked a return to action with his third goal in 2 games since the thumping of Liverpool. Final score, 4-3. Credit to Bolton for their hearty fightback.

Portsmouth drew 2-2 with West Brom with goals by Kaboul and Kranjcar. Greenig had earlier equalised for WBA and Brunt gave them a lead but they soon lost it.

Tottenham beat West ham 1-0 courtesy of a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal. The man is really proving his worth after a slow dismal start. Credit to Redknapp for his tactical brilliance. A team like Liverpool would do well to have such a brilliant manager instead of an eccentric spaniard.

And one of the most off form clubs found their form against an improving Man Utd whose manager just showed the rest of the league how much winning is all about having a united SQUAD instead of teams around a STAR. Its squads that win things, not a man. Soccer is a team with 11 players not 9 protecting one and supporting the other 1. Credit to Sunderland for giving United a hard fight in a match that saw Rooney hungry and Scholes magical. However, it took a special teenager to strike the final nail in the coffin and seal off the game. United however, should learn from Hiddink and hurt when they can, especially after scoring the first goal. In an interesting point in the match, Ronaldo was playing like a man, no whining, no nonsense, he just shut up and got on with the game. Though his impact and contributions were minimal.

Finally, more heartbreak for Newscastle as they put up another shabby performance. No doubt they had an injury ravaged squad, but from what i saw, Stoke were really giving them a hard time. However a 1-1 draw, fought back after goign down 1-0 early on would be a boost for greater things.

Did i forget Arsenal? Oh my.. Arsenal also fought back in emphatic style after going a goal down early to Wigan. Goals from Walcott, Silvestre, Arshavin and Billong won it for them 4-1. They really are in fine scoring form showing character. From boys to men? We shall wait and see.

Midweek brings us to the seconbd leg of the Champions League Quarter Finals and next weekend, FA Cup action.

Stay tuned to Soccer Crazee for the updates, commentary and analysis. Do remember to vote for your favourite young player of the season!

Big boys gone small..

2009-04-11T02:35:00.004+08:00

Gerrard looks unsure when Benitez affectinately asks him if he can play tommorow.

As the season reaches the last 6-7 weeks we have reached a small calm for the Premier League big boys in the competition. The press seems more interested in developments in Europe and are not very much concerned about their abilities against the smaller clubs come this weekend. For our title chasers. Chelsea,Liverpool and Manutd have ties against Bolton,Blackburn and Sunderland. On paper Man Utd and Liverpool have the trickier of the ties. They have relegation battlers on their cards and with both teams showing awful home form midweek they will do their best to gain confidence from their ties.That said, Overconfidence can take a thing out of Chelsea and if Bolton do turn up and make their life difficult they could have a chance of getting points with Davies in hot form and Drogba probable to be rested.Gerrard injured,Rio Injured bla bla..But who cares about the big boys?.. Well I am sick of em especially for this week so lets look at the BIG GAMES THIS WEEK!

1) Aston Villa v Everton - How do you decide this? I have no idea. One team has not had a win in ages and are aching to start getting wins. The other is in a reasonable form guide but are hit by many injuries. I have identified the on fire Carew(Villa) to be the main weapon if the Villans one to nick it. Milner as well. However their defence needs to be shored up by players like Shorey as they have been leaking many goals as their wingbacks and wingers keep on attacking. Everton will be relying on Fellaini and Osman in attack to provide them with power but do not expect Villa to klie down and With no Arteta nor Cahill,Anichebe nor Howard. This could be very hard for them and I reckon Villa have got to win it. The prize.. A spot in Europe. This game is A CUP FINAL!

2) Middlesbrough v Hull - Psychiatrists all over the world have noticed that patients are using different images to identify to words. Firstly, when asked to express the term "impotent" , petients have been using the emblem of a certain Middlesbrough FC while they seem to relate to the term "welcome back to earth" to Hull City. Hull had a fairy tale start and by midseason someone(Man City) sounded the alarm and they had a wake up call and they have yet to brush their teeth while every other team are taking showers. Boro have a strike force that well.. hasnt got out of bes as yet. A must win for both so your guess is as good as mine. Expect the unexpected. Hopefully goals from Boro and Hull to show what they are made of. Tuncay(boro) and Zayatte(Hull) will have an interesting battle. Expect an encounter.

3)Stoke v Newcastle - Stoke are in my eyes the best home team in the premiership so far. only 3 losses all season and a certain James Beattie. Up step Alan Shearer. Injury ravaged Newcastle. Very confident Stoke. Both fighting for relegation. This game is 70% in favour of Stoke. Can Newcastle snatch at least 30% and nick a win with MR. Shearer. Watch to find out..

oooweeeeeeee..

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui.. A journey begins

2009-04-11T02:12:00.003+08:00

At age 21, this boy already has had 6 clubs. Most prominent at his club Standard de Liege in Belgium. He is part of the exceptional talents that have come from there in the past couple of years like Tom de Mul,Vertonghen,vanden Borre,dembele and from a place that has brough out players like the Mpenzas,Kompany and many more..

For Everton Fc this season, he has notched a cool 8 goals in all competitions and has been a popular figure amongst the bkue merseysiders. He became an instand favourite for answering the call by many Evertonians at season start to become a big signing and a boost to their squad when many were turning their backs. He also never shies away from challanges.Holding the current 2008-2009 season record for the most fouls committed by a player and most yellow cards. However, he understands that tackling is not one of his strengths and has maturely aplogized to his teamates publicly and vowed to correct his indiscipline.At 1.94m, he is joint fourth for tallest player in the premier league. A box to box player he is an asset with his high stamina and more importantly for using his height for an advantage on corners especially for a team like Everton reknowned for players deadly from set pieces and heading like Cahill and Lescott and master deliverer Arteta.

For Belgium this boy has a cool 15 caps under his name at such a young age,scoring twice and being part of a Belgian Olympic team in 2008 that went further than expected and showed their character. He was reknowned for his weird hairdo and did get sent off there but showed enough quality for the world to take notice. For Liege he has been a vital player for a few seasons before that and was very much 1 of those you could see one day running the club captaincy but alas it was not to be. It is important to note that he was initially allowed to play for Morrocco also but chose Belgium as he was born there. Kudos to that.

Accolades is wat makes a champions. Not goals,Not wins,Not draws and Not even ability. Its what you have inside of you that carries you forward. The Belgium League win by Liege was creditted to his wonderful performances in 2007/2008 and he did well to be a vital member for their Belgium league win and it would prove to be his best season to date and since then it has just gone uphill for the lad. He won the Belgium Ebony Shoe that year for being the best african-Belgium player. An accolade that some best African players have won including Amokachi(ex evertonian himself),Mido,Kompany,Mpenza Eric and Babayaro have had their hands on.

Come what may for this lad. He is one to truly look out for. Congrats to our 2008/2009 BEST BPL YOUNGSTER as crowned by the good people of Soccercrazee. God Bless. And remember he once did have normal hair. Before he became more n more successful so I guess we all now noe why?... or maybe not.. I mean..Nvm

Champions League Q-finals

2009-04-09T22:32:00.003+08:00

Justice is served!

In the two quarter final fixtures just played, we've seen a turn around and football from the heavens. Amazing end to end stuff that really mad ethis season's Champions League Quarter Finals one of the most eventful in recent times. All the hopes, dreams, goals, heartbreaks and surprises. Really awesome stuff.

Liverpool vs Chelsea

Chelsea have avenged all Man Utd fans by dishing out a 3-1 thrashing of irritants Liverpool. All that hype about Gerrard and Torres and their magical partnership failed to save their sorry asses. Chelsea was on task to avenge past defeats and once again prove their mettle as well as mark their intentions to add the elusive Champions League trophy to their cabinet. An early goal by Torres seemed to jolt Chelsea's Ivanovic, (no, not the Russian tennis starlet but the defender!) into action and he was on hand to head in an equaliser and another goal to seal Liverpool's fate. The returning Drogba was also on the scoresheet for Chelsea. Liverpool now need to win by 3 goals in order to progress. But at Stamford Bridhe, its a dream they can only hope to chase. So much for that hype and credit to Terry's mind games.

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich

A heavenly performance by Barecelona in the first half gave us a glimpse of what football must be like in the heavens. League leaders Barcelone were just brutal in the way they tore apart Bayern Munich and the goals just seemed to flow endlessly like their movement of the ball. It was just amazingly fast and Barcelone seemed to always be a step ahead of Bayern. Lionel Messi opened up the scoring in the 9th minute and again later on in the 38th min. Eto'o was there with Henry to each claim a goal which made them all smile and be happy. However, Henry's goal came amid a Van Bommel challenge on Messi which would have seen him sent off had Henry not scored. That characterised Bayern's night where they had to resort to overly physical challenges to stop the free flowing football Barcelona were playing and they had absolutely no chance of clawing their way back. Anyone fancy them winning their home leg by 5 goals? No chance in hell if Barcelone keep up their form. Definitely favourites to enter the finals.

With such drama and action in leg 1 of the Quarter Finals, we can only rub our hands in anticipation in the second leg which would see teams like Arsenal and Man Utd step up their game if are to have any chance of progressing to the next stage. This is especially so for Man Utd who were just awful and face an extremely tough trip to the Dragon's lair which is Porto's homeground where no English team has ever won at.

BEST YOUNG PLAYER 2008-2009(FLEDGLING!!)

2009-04-08T22:18:00.004+08:00

An Honourable mention will be done for the winner/runner-ups of Our best new signing which are as follows:

1.M. Fellaini (EVERTON) - 38%
2.D.Berbatov(MAN UTD)-27%
3.J.Bosingwa(CHELSEA)-22%

Be sure to hear bout our winners during our awards grande finale..

Here are the criteria for best young player:

1. Must be below 23 years of age(23 does not qualify)
2. A Big feature for the team
3.Decent Actim index rating

Before I lost the nominees let me sympathize with those who almost made the cut. David Wheater(Middlesbrough) and Vincent Kompany(Man City) are the main 2 who may have done well but not good enough and find themselves part of flailing teams.Jo (Man City/Everton) has not had the desired impact in city but its changing at Everton but has been too inconsistent. A Big "watch out for them in the future" goes to the following, Junior Stanislas(West Ham)- a nice name..well at least better den Higginbotham.. and very special West Ham lad. You will see more soon. The Manchester United players of Macheda( only 1 game this season) and Rafael (not significant enough). Arsenal's Clichy missed out being 23 but watch out for Wilshire while Ramsey had torrid outings.Plessis and Insua all missed out for Liverpool for uneventful seasons as well and will do well to get into next year's. So here are the nomineess...

1) Ryan Shawcross(Stoke) - Very much a mainstay in the Stoke team. This young lad has done a decent job for Stoke especially his vital goals at home. The Manchester United reject has taken his job well and done brilliantly at the heart of a rather weak defence and for that he deserves to be here.

2) James Tomkins (West Ham) - Now I tell you this boy edged Jo out of this race with his superb performance last weekend and his brilliance since jumping out from the reserves in recent weeks. He has been a mainstay since West Ham confirmed safety and his actim index scores are off the hook!Big one for England. But Spain got Pique so Oh wells.. try harder young Englishmen.. But this boy could be a big one.

3) Gianni Zuiverloon (WBA) - He is here solely beacuse of his name.Ok fine, not really but thie dutch youngster has been a pacy and impactful winger down the WBA flanks. Among those who don derserve to be condemned to that club.oops. However, his newfound experience will make him valuable should better clubs come knocking or ringing WBA's doorbell IF WBA can afford a doorbell, that is.

4) Aaron Lennon(Tottenham Hotspurs) - One of the main reasons for the Spurs revival. his electrifying pace has given players like Evra,Clichy,Ashley Cole etc.. problems and they are decent defenders. Called up to Capello's squad and if he can improve his crossing, at 21, he could make a big money move to a big club.. O wait I forgot.. Spurs are not a selling club.. Carrick,Robbie Keane,Chimbonda etc.. were flops when they were sold?..right?.. Or could they just use him the Keane wat to earn more bux in 6 mths...hm..nvr noe..

5) Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) - He is a striker. He scores goal and looks constipated 24/7. When he misses he begins to feel like he has a bitta diarrhoea and tends to cringe koz of that. Nothing else. One of Actim's top ranked strikers this season so why not??Plus has popped goals vs Arsenal, ManUtd etc.. Big game player.Good lad.

6) M.Fellaini (Everton) - Was terrific last weekend and has quite a rep now in England. A clear front runner here after last week's win. Good big lad who can play upfront,Center mid and if you think bout it he may be a decent Defender(who gets booked a lot).I shall refrain from any hair jokes koz he has done enough to deserve respect from the soccer community and the Bird's nest growing fund.You are welcome Marouane.

7) Jonny Evans (Man Utd) - Very close fight with Jo for this berth but he gets in just because he became a part of history with a part to play in their remarkable clean sheet spree. Not entirely convinced though. Needs to improve his passing skills and as of recently, his clearing skills.But hey he is young. Best player in N.Ireland and their future captain no doubt.

8)Denilson (Arsenal) - When Flamini left, many thought Arsenal were finished. It sure looked that way. This boy however took the most out of even that slump. Not the most disciplined lads ina positional sense but hey neither are Steven Gerrard,Anderson,Ballack and Eric Djemba-Djemba.A clear favourite here and its apity I could not add more of this young Arsenal proteges. His Actim Rating makes him part of the elite midfielders and the best in Arsenal and the moment.Hm.. interesting for a lad so young..

Vote ON!!

Champions League Roundup

2009-04-08T18:59:00.002+08:00

Heartbreak. That says it all for United fans as Man Utd drew 2-2 with Porto who were played down by the media that made us all underestimate them. They had threatened from the start and could have got more goals had it not been for improved defending from United and the heroics of Van de Saar.

Evra and Fletcher had been United's best performers all night and the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Carrick and Vidic were quiet. O'shea was quiet by his own standards as well. Early defensive errors had led to C. Rodriguez capping a fine Porto move that saw him draw first bloody in the 4th min. It was just the jolt United needed to put an end to their arrogance. Honestly Porto looked the better side all evening. A silly defensive error saw a back pass fall to rooney in the 15th minute and he made no mistake by putting calmly slotting it into the Porto goal after wrong footing the keeper.

Substitute Carlos Tevez looked all set to rumble and looked very sharp compared to a tired performance on Sunday. He linked up well and scored from Rooney's flick on from the byline to once again highlight his worth in the 85th min. That shining moment was one of the best from United and sent the crowd into relieved ecstacy as they had given it up to a draw. Another hero looked to be worshipped until a defiant Porto side oozing quality and constantly threatening equalised in extra time after capitalising on yet another defensive error by United and equalised through substitute Gonzalez.

United will now be licking their wounds as they face a tough away tie in Portugal. Heartbreak. Period.

Over in spain, Villarreal as expected, put up a spirited performance and led through a Senna goal early in the first half and dominated the match until a Adebayor equalised for Arsenal and scored his 3rd goal in 2 games since returning from injury. It was a hard fought result for Arsenal. The match eventually ended 1-1.

Tonight we'll see Chelsea take on Liverpool and Barecelona fight it out in fixtures that are good enough to be finals in their own right.

Champions League Quarter Finals Preview

2009-04-07T18:55:00.003+08:00

Its Champion League action once again and we have the Big 4 English teams still in the tournament, as well as perrenial favourites Barcelona, and Bayern Munich. Porto and Villarreal make up the other two teams.

The fixtures are as follows:

Villarreal vs Arsenal

Man Utd vs Porto

Liverpool vs Chelsea

Barcelone vs Bayern

These matches sure look set to keep us at the edge of our seats and hope for comfortable wins for the teams we support.

Tonight's Preview:

Villarreal vs Arsenal

Villarreal would surely fancy their chances against a red hot Arsenal at home especially after experiencing a rocky weekend when key man Corzola came off injured with a broken leg in their la liga match. The mood is bullish despite having lost 3-0 to Almeria over the weekend and Corzola. But if there was any time to face an Arsenal side boosted by the return of captain Febregas and Adebayor from injury, it would be at home. Arsenal have shone in recent times with a 15 game unbeaten streak and Adebayor marking his return with two well taken goals as they beat Man City 2-0. It looks to be a battle of heart against form. The Beatles hit song Yellow Submarines would surely by playing in the background tonight in more than one household.

Man Utd vs Porto

On the back of a 3-2 comeback win where player of the year Ronaldo scoring a brace but did little else, the mood at Old Trafford has been revived. Confidence has been restored and boosted by the return of key men Scholes, Vidic and Rooney, Porto would have their work cut out for them against a Man Utd side looking to put their devils to rest and claim both the the Premier League and successive Champions League trophies. Although Porto won their 8th successive away win, and coach Ferreira promising that Porto will be no push-over, their fans would just be praying that they do not succumb to the red tide by too big a margin.

Playing Tomorrow:

Liverpool vs Chelsea

These two teams have met in this competition for the past 5 seasons in a row and as Chelsea skipper John Terry dreads the meeting of the two sides, we can imagine the mind games starting. Both teams have won their weekend games although Liverpool were very lucky to do so. The competition's top scorer Gerrard and his potent strike partnership with Torres bundled with the home crowd would probably give Liverpool a boost but i reckon that Dutch magican Hiddink has something up his sleeve. This fixture is surely good enough to count as a final.

Barcelona vs Bayern

This is another fixture worthy of a final as well. Spanish giants Barce are on top of the league but seem to be losing steam. Bayern would do well to capitalise on that too with the form of Franck Ribery and Lukas Podolski. Podolski and Messi both have 7 goals apiece. Definitely will be a great match where end to end stuff can be expected.

Look forward to the next Soccer Crazee poll as we await the tabulations of the votes for best new signing.

The Guru has spoken. Ohmmmmm...

The man they call Kiko

2009-04-06T22:09:00.007+08:00

When you watch a movie, you see a story unfold,the plot thickens, and the movie gains direction but that all comes to waste if you do not have an ending to match..At the recent Asian Awards Ceremony celebrating the best in Asian cinema or the recent Oscars. Noone could have written a script like this. Which started 2 years ago in Rome.His name was Kiko as he is affectionately called.. and this is his story..

Manchester United. Fans could proudly say never lose two games at home in a row. That changed for 75 minutes yesterday night.The first half was Villa's. If they were playing at their beloved Villa Park they would have probably been 3-1 up at halftime. Milner, once upon a time the youngest ever goalscorer in the premiership passed the ball to Friedel. Friedel, like a man who was just thrown a lifebuoy at sea grabbed hold. It was a bait. Much like what they use for fish for a brutal terrorist attack on the top right hand corner of Friedel's net.Sometimes baits work better than fishing nets.Villa duly responded. The Ship's Carew went ballistic on Manchester. Poor ol' Captain Neville for Battleship Manchester missed a sight of him from the corner of his eye and Carew obliged with an "Arr".United's only other chance till the 75th minute would fall to Ronaldo who's header from Nani's freekick to close to keeper.Tevez like a fish out of water thrashing about but nowhere near the goalpost,his sea without which he ceases to do anything in games.Carrick looked Car sick. The only positive came from a John O'shea. Irish sailors know best ayeeee

" Mum, Dad.. It will be an opportunity for me of a lifetime. Sure i am just 15 but I want to and i believe its the way for me ".

Villa barraged. Ashley young told the story on how he became a left winger from a striker yesterday in detail when he showed his terrible finishing ability.But sometimes things are meant to be. An out of form Agbonlahor. 2 wrong offside decisions just before to say "Nope! not yet." until Aggie header home the second. The linesman said that's more like it. Commentator's words at the start on the out of form Aggie disolved. The story unfolds..

" Thanks Brandao! My first few games and I did it things are looking good for me eh?"

"Who knows maybe one day we will go somewhere. You came for Walsall and I from Rome.. haha.. We never know!"

No more decisions would go United's way. Aston Villa took a 180 degree turn and became a defensive team. Ronaldo not given another freekick. Giggs as well as Tevez. Mike Reilly said, "This just would not be a good movie". United fans beginning to lose faith. The fans did. Then a sudden pang in the stomachs of all United players. A desire. A hunger. A rage. Tevez off.. The plot thickens..

" So how does it feel to score a hatrick in such a game?", Asked the correspondant.

" I shocked. Thank my teammates all good crosses I just finish. We win 3-0 so it is important."

" I see. With so many strikers out and only Tevez and Welback ahead of you at the pecking order do you feel you have a chance here?" Asked the correspondant.

" We will see"

Substatution Manchester United Player number 17 for player number 41. A cheer from the side. Manchester United losing 2-1. A cheer from the side. A Man who not so long ago thought about his son's journey here. Now he was just happy to see his son play. He came on.He played.Ronaldo brilliant finishing bottom left of Friedel. 2-2. Out of nothing. It was a wake up call. Carrick recovered from Car sickness.Was the cure a striker?.United attacked. The gained direction. Mike Reily said lets show the world where this game si going. 5 minutes of added time. Pass run Pass INTERCEPT. WHo is going to win it. WHO!! What is going to happens? then suddenly..

" GOAL! I SCORE!! GOAL GOAL GOAL!!.. GOAL!... DAD!! LOOK AT ME!!"

Unbelievable. Would you believe it.. At Age 17..

" I Just take the ball I come to the game all i want to do is score"

Just play simple lad. You are a finisher. Keep it simple. I am sending you on koz we need you.

" Ill turn and curl. It is my day! I will score"

I am just grateful to him. Back after a few months. Probably my fault Carew got ahead of me. I am grateful to him. Kiko has done things in training you see it today.

"Greatest day of my life!"

We shall see bout that;>

Fredicio Macheda. A star is born

Elsewhere Fellaini struck gold for Everton. 3 assists and 1 goal as Everton showed their resillient play against an aimless Wigan side. Arteta and Cahill less they still have the reserves and are going to push Villa all the way to the end. Good to see him getting more votes probably because of that. Jo was brilliant as well in his finishing though easy as it was to score number 2. The MSI owned player did well and would surely want to make his stay in Merseyside wothwhile

The Movie has not ended yet. There's still a long way to go my friend. The ending must match.. the ending must match..

A New Beginning: Fergie's New Brood of Fledglings

2009-04-06T10:22:00.006+08:00

It is time once again, the transition period in the great club that is Man Utd, where in the mighty reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, we see a change. More than a decade ago, he introduced to the world, the youngsters from the youth academy, dubbed his fledglings, Giggs, Scholes, The Neville brothers, Beckham and Butt formed the backbone of his sides that eventually captured the elusive treble. Now, as those players have aged and departed, we see the dawn of a new brood of Fergies Fledglings.

Players like the Da Silva twins, Rafael and Fabio, Johnny Evans, Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck and new cult hero Fredrico Macheda have been thrust out into the fray this season and have all impressed and have in some cases be integral to the current campaign where United are chasing for domestic and European glory. These youngsters are of age to go out there and make their mark on the game. Last night's match against Aston Villa saw the debut of latest teenage sensation, 17 year old Fredrico Macheda.

For the debut of a boy barely legal to consume liquor, he stood up tall and strong against a youthful and physical Villa side. Holding up the ball and running into space so well with skills and a maturity that belied his age, it made for an exciting nail biting moment. Any initial doubts from the lineup featuring Evans and the the introduction of Macheda and Welbeck towards the end of the match gave way to a fervent hope that the youthful energy and hunger of youth would be able to save the game and possibly the season for Man Utd. And our prayers were answered, they delivered! Welbeck had threatened from the moment he got the ball and was well denied by Brad Friedal. But it was the young man in Macheda that nailed it for United.

With the rest of the season heating up now, and the youngsters blooded, the future looks especially bright for Man Utd. And yes, there are more precocious talents waiting their chance of a break from the academy. Just you wait and see. We will give youth a chance, that is soccer the Man Utd way.

Glory Glory Man Utd!

And thank you to all our faithful followers of this blog as we have hit out 51st post. It wouldnt have been possible without your support!

The Gundu has spoken.

This Sums up the feelings of Man United, Fulham and Newcastle Fans

2009-04-05T18:27:00.003+08:00

Saturday Night Roundup

2009-04-05T18:03:00.002+08:00

What an exciting Saturday night of soccer action with heartbreak in Tyneside and Craven Cottage and lots of luck shared around.

Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea

Shearer couldnt do more than wach his team stumble to another lost against title contenders Chelsea. Having watched the match with the Romanticism of having a club legend on mission impossible try to glean a result off a very consistent Chelsea side, the result was a routine one with Lampard and Malouda capitalising on defensive errors. Harper was the busier of the two keepers and did well to keep Chelsea at bay.

Blackburn 2-1 Tottenham

As expected, Big Sam was able to put more distance between Rovers and 18th place with a well deserved win against an in-form Tottenham. A Palacios red card had allowed Blackburn back into the game with goals from Ooijer and McCarthy.

Arsenal 2-0 Man City

Red hot Arsenal were once again proving too hot for the monied City to handle with Adebayor notching two top quality strikes which oozed confidence and determination. Mark Huges will definitely need to dip his hands into the bank and do some serious work in post season. Robinho really should do more. The most costly player in the world is looking like the costliest flop ever.

Fulham 0-1 Liverpool

Liverpool once again came lucky against a resilient Fulham with a lucky 90th minute goal by Benayoun. Fulham were saved on 3 occasions by the goal which denied Alonso and Torres on more than one occasion. Really lucky for Pool and unlucky fo Fulham. They now find themselves top of the table unless Man Utd can do something against it.

Elsewhere, the results are as follows:

Bolton 4-1 Middlesbrough
Hull 0-0 Portsmouth
West Brom 0-2 Stoke City
West Ham 2-0 Sunderland

All eyes will be on tonight's match where Aston Villa take on Man Utd with both teams desperate to win the 3 points.

English Premier League Weekend Preview

2009-04-04T16:11:00.002+08:00

After a fortnight of International Football action that left us here at Soccer Crazee in a depression, the Premier League is back on track with the title race heating up. Can Liverpool go top? More importantly, can Man Utd put the Villa test to rest and step up the race? All shall be revealed this coming weekend.

Tonight,

Newcastle vs Chelsea

Newcastle take on Chelsea with Alan "Saviour" Shearer in his first game in charge. With the mood in and around Tyneside lifted upon his return dubbed the "Shearer Factor", can he stage a miracle to save Newcastle's season and keep them in the top flight? For the sake of the talent there, and the passion of fans who really love the club, I sure am hoping for a win against Chelsea. Not that Chelsea will be easy push-overs, they will definitely be looking fo 19th league win of the season. Hiddink and Co will definitely make it happen.

Blackburn vs Tottenham

In form Spurs will be looking to cement their position in the top half of the table and keep extend their unbeaten run at Ewood Park to 5. That said, Rovers under Big Sam will be desperate to open up some breathing space between them and Newcastle who are but 2 points apart. Soccer Crazee worst player of the year, Bentley could just do enough to help Blackburn. We cant say for sure.

Fulham vs Liverpool

In what could be the most important game of the weekend, this season's Giant Slayers Fulham take on league challengers Liverpool. Can they repeat the feat of killing another Big 4 team? I sure hope so. Should they succeed, Liverpool will face a tougher run to the top and give United some breathing space. All eyes will be on the outcome where respect and credit is due to Roy Hodgeson and his men for coming this far. Both sets of United and Pool fans would be keeping their fingers crossed here.

Arsenal vs Man City

Arsenal are clicking into gear at the right moment but speculation over key man Febregas may affect team morale. Unless the Gulf Money circulationating in City an effect in galvanising the team and inspiring Robinho, they look likely to be gunned down.

Other games being played tonight are

Bolton Wanderers vs Middlesbrough
Hull City vs Portsmouth
West Bromwich Albion vs Stoke
West Ham vs Sunderland

Playing tomorrow (Sunday),

Everton vs Wigan

David Moyes will surely tell his side to go out all guns blazing and try to improve their position. Coming on the back of a 2-1 defeat by Portsmouth, the side will have to recover to maintain their position against a Wigan side still harbouring hopes of displacing Everton. Wigan have to decide if bad boy Amr Zaki will start following his late return from International Duty.

Man Utd vs Aston Villa

2 defeats in a row for United, a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool for Villa. Both teams will be going into the match desperate for a win to set the pace for the last leg of the season. United have an injury ravaged squad and with 3 key players out due to red cards, are lacking the services of Rooney, Vidic and Scholes. Ferdinand is in a race to shake off a groin strain while Berbatov joins the growing list of walking wounded with ankle injury that will sideline him for weeks. Ferguson's only available striker is the jet-lagged "emo" Carlos Tevez back from a Bolivian whipping.
The pressure is on United to pull through the slump and get back to winning ways. Villa should take their chances if they hope to come out of the Theatre of Dreams with anything.

An exciting weekend awaits. Till the post match reports, the Gundu has spoken.

The Worst New Signing of 2008/2009

2009-04-02T10:54:00.005+08:00

And Soccer Crazee now presents the award to... David Bentley, for being the Worst New Signing in the current 08/09 Barclays Premier League Season.

Personal information

Full name: David Michael Bentley
Date of birth: 27 August 1984 (age 24)
Place of birth: Peterborough, England
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position: Right Winger, Second Striker (Pretty Lousy at it)

Club information

Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
Number: 5

Youth career

Wormley F.C.Arsenal

Senior career

Scored 16 goals in total for the clubs hes been at.

Norwich City (2)

Arsenal (0)

Blackburn (13)

Tottenham (1)

National team

England U21

England B

England

Statistically, quite a pathetic show from someone rated so highly and costing so much. We here think that he could do more to improve to justify his high salary and transfer fee.

Photo credit: rovers.uk.co
Info credit: David Bentley. (2009, March 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:36, April 2, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Bentley&oldid=280735285

Best Signing 2008-2009(Nice 1 gaffer!)

2009-03-31T20:36:00.007+08:00

At the end of the WORSE SIGNING 2008-2009(RETARD) poll.. results are in

2nd runner up -P.Degen(Liverpool) 18%
1st runner up - Xisco (N'castle) 27%
Grand Retard - D.Bentley(Spurs) 50%

Be sure to catch the write up at our grand finale on our winner.

From the Worse now we go to some of the BEST business this season. Before I start out would like to mention players that almost made the cut, Steinsson(Bolton),Cisse(Sunderland)/Figueroa(Wigan)(on loan/late signings),Robinho(Man City) (wait a sec..wasn he also almost on the worse?????!!!Wadz wrong wif da fella..not enough importance actually),Corluka(Tottenham)(best player in Spurs this season but not that good), Robert Koren(WBA)...wrong club mi frend!

and the final nominees are...

1) Steed Malbranque (Sunderland) - A STEAL Malbranque! The only downside he has are his injuries but his assists(Top in the BPL as of now) and his important role in crucial games for Sunderland thus far makes him worthy of this nod. Now all he has to do is safe them from relegation..hmm.. tough luck fella..

2) Keith Andrews (Blackburn) - Who?? what?? Well I tell you brought in by manager/mistake Paul Ince, from MK Dons 2 runks down and has scored 2 absolutely CRUCIAL goals for em thus far. His performances have also been pretty decent so why not? Also A great spot considering where he came from the the risk of taking a 28 year old .Back down in Div 2 they call him the lucky B**tard who befriended a good mistake..i mean manager..

3) Mark Scwarzer (Fulham) - Was at Boro,I think single handedly...sometimes literally.. keeping them in the premiership. Now they are in trouble turning to a bull called turnbull while this boy has made more saves than any keeper this season in the BPL. YES! even more than Paul Scholes!!

4) Geovanni (Hull City) - Man City sell players and buy players that are marginally better they say.. SO much for oil eh?.. But Geovanni has proved a mistake. His long range efforts are being closely examined by a certain Tiger Woods who claims he needs to trade his golf clubs for this boys boots!Crucial goals as well..

5) M. Fellaini (Everton) - tall, lanky and most importantly..Young. Back in Belgium he has won accolades already like the ebony shoe and is performing like a veteran in his first season. All he needs to do is cut down on the yellow cards. But crucial goals have come his way and is already a fav in merseyside's blue side. A few kids even picked up wigs from his Halloween stash for halloween this year.. After all anything more frightening than what he has got.. U gotta say will get ya candy..

6) Curtis Davies ( Aston Villa) - A rock. You see every ship needs and anchor. because or else it will drift away. Sometimes it may even sink to the bottom if anchors are not fitted due to instability. Worse still some ships without anchors lose direction and position.The ship-A.Villa. The anchor-the boy Davies. Sure he cheats a little being on loan last season but hey..how often do they fade away after a while on loan?..eh Amr Zaki?

7) Bosingwa(Chelsea) - Brilliant piece fitted in by Chelsea using their chief transfer advisors(Man Utd) to get emselves another gem? Only this time.. It was all Scolari if you ask me. A brilliant wing back and probably one of the best in the world at the moment. For 16 million I think he will be paying back sooner rather than later. To me, Chelsea's most consistent man as well..

8)D. Berbatov( Man Utd) - I must admit I was pretty much on the fence with this fella. For 30 million, he just seems to be doing his job right? But well he is top in assists and has scored many crucial 1-0 winners and most importantly many crucial 1-0 Assists. Without him Man Utd wouldnt be sitting pretty on top would they? and vs Robinho he has come up when it counts.. Once in a while.. When he is not taking a nap at the corner flag..

Vote on Crazee... :>

2009-03-29T16:55:00.004+08:00

"Hey Joleon, someone said you may actually play for us one day!"..Lescott and Becks have a laugh

David R.J. Beckham. 109 England caps. 0 English accolades.1 hella hot wife. 3 sons. The question everyone has been asking. Does he derserve to have 109 caps?

There are major differences between John Terry(current Eng capt) and David Beckham. 1 is struggling to stamp his mark in a team full of Rios,Stevens,Waynes,Franks etc.. who can walk in to captain any side. While last night I saw Beckham get respect without even trying. The other difference is Beckham played for LA Galaxy to try a Hollywood career, while John Terry would need to go to another galaxy to even be considered for a Hollywood suppotring actor. Does he deserve it? I dont know but the English players sure do. They know best. An assist last night and frankly I still regard him better than Phillips,Lennon,Bentley etc.. 2 of em run very fast but cant cross to save their lives while the third crosses but takes a taxi to save his life..Media influences as with their less than 45 minute rants but yesterday Becks was employed as the more feasable option for a broken down Lennon. He injected something no Carrick,Lampard and Gerrard could. That killer pass when you are surrounded by 6 defenders. His crossing was mind blowing and is probably what many try to emulate but never can. Sure its a bold statement and I know a few Liverpool and Chelsea fans will disagree but I am adamant to it.

The commentator last night had Steven Gerrard's crown jewels in his mouth as he talked bout him in the first half. Was he good. Yes.The boy is considered by experts as to ill disciplined to be a midffielder koz lets face it. He runs a lot but he doesn need to and times quietly compromises his team. Something like what Anderson,Arteta etc,, do in the BPL from time to time. Capello spot on. That boy cannot be a midfielder. He is just not good enough. Winger or Striker and we have a right mix.Rooney scored 2. Was I impressed as a United fan? No. koz lets face it Slovakia aint that tough and Skrtel looked like a bag of skittles yesterday. Its did please the commentator who immediately rushed for Rooney's crown jewels in the second half. He was a happy "man".

Spain,Italy,Holland and Germany. All winners. Italy and Spain in joy as young ones blossomed. Pique and Pazzini getting on the scoresheet. Oh Pazzini, the man once dubbed saviour of Florentia Viola now Sampling himself in Sampdoria and Sampling Italy with a goal.Pique, too slow for Man Utd? They say he is fast becoming a number 1 for Spain and more or less is for a certain Barcelona. But it was Holland and Germany that deserve the plaudits. Huntelaar doing magnificently for the dutch and they themselves will be pleased because lets face it. Since the Euro they have come under scrutiny.Sexy football. Made famous by an Arsenal team a looooooong time ago. They forgot how to do it now Arsenal play like three whales having a treesome in the Straits of Malacca.Without adult supervision. Many predicted that is how the dutch may crumble after the Euro. This 3-0 shows that this boys are still coming of age.If Huntelaar can keep the goals flowing with Van Persie. van Nistelrooy will be invited to "Jensen" to perform ball tricks on international weekends for dutch tv. Germans are ecstatic not due to that same reason but because they needed a win badly following some awful results. Lucas " I dont belive he is going back to Cologne" Podolski again on the scoresheet while oldy Ballack too. Marcell Jansen scored as well and is quite a player this season if i reckon. Doing well for his home club Hamburg I have been much impressed with his performances . Even more so than Lahm.

Finally, My idea of the big match was Bosnia vs Belgium. Bosnia's 4-2 win confirmed something I suspected. they are the team to look foreward to. If they can outdo Turkey and follow Spain to the World Cup I will be ecstatic. A certain club in Hoffenheim would agree with me I am sure. They are a young team and should come to age in the next couple of years and like Russia boast some skillful players like Musimovic and currently injured Ibisevic. Given their best, if they can outdo Turkey in their next tie, look out for this lads. They have beaten a Belgium side with many up and coming players as well who did well in the Olympics mind you but their older lads are weighin them down and Bosnia could be a team we hear more of soon. Spain and Turkey probably know that a trip to Sarejevo later on could well decide their group placings.. Watch this space..

Vote on and God bless David Bentley. Wad an idiot! and opps.. did i forget France?... I think i must have done. They got that Ribery and Benzema guys right.. Wait who was I talking bout was it Bayern Munich?...Lyon.. Ah heck it.. they'll be winning Somalia 1-0 next week again for all I care..Not the most enteratining thing on planet earth.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid say they are buying Ronaldo. Al-Qaeda said they are taking over the world on Al-Jazeera, Mas Selamat is reportedly still in Singapore,Apes have their own planet and Real Madrid claim they have won the champions league many times in the last 5 years.Just that noone listens to rubbish anymore..dem!

Are Players managing themselves?

2009-03-26T12:49:00.002+08:00

As the headlines in The Straits Times show Liverpool's Stevie Gerrard issuing a public plea for Capello to give him a free role up front in order for him to achieve his best, most effective performances. I could'nt help but wonder just how much managing managers themselves get to do.

With the amount of clout some of these big players have, and their inflated egos and attitudesreaching all time highs, how much say would an average manager have in actually picking his team sheet following his own real decisions? One thing is for sure, the media is ever ready to lap up on spilt comments, slurping up every single rumour and blowing them way out of proportions.

I would say that it now takes a manager of superhuman strength and confidence in himself to deal with the pressures from board, influence from media and whining from players to decide for himself how he wants his team to play and who to play out that tactic. Looking at the top teams, the men in charge have been where they are for years and have weathered many a storm to make the bold decisions that they do. Ferguson, Wenger, O'Neil, Benitez and Moyes are all strong men making their own decisions. Although i cant help but actually wonder if Gerrard includes himself or is his appearance his manager's decision.

I really think we should have another poll, which player is most likely to take on a managerial career?

Anyway, do keep up the voting for your worst signing of the season so we can present the awards in a few days!

The Guru has spoken. Ohmmmmm... but feel free to comment on the issue at hand.
How much does the average Manager actually manage?

Manchester United will bounce back.

2009-03-25T19:42:00.002+08:00

The days when opposition teams cringe at their upcoming fixture against the Red Devils will be back. The cartoon below will soon reflect the sentiments of opposition. All will wither away at the might of Sir Alex and his team. Yada Yada.. That day will come.
However, i know for a fact that with all that money those players are earning, some of them are actually more interested in the following:

Then again, who wouldnt be? But it should be left for post season where they can go on vacation and have all the sex in the world. For the moment, they need to focus on the tasks at hand. Especially when Liverpool are showing off their asses and getting cocky. Time kick them out of the race and back home into their holes where they belong.

On a hindsight, i sure wonder why Ferguson declined the offer to play Villa a day earlier. It woudl give him so much more time for the next match. One cant help but wonder what goes on in that mind of his. Any comments on the post season offload by United?

I for one will gladly accept any bids for Anderson. Lelong Lelong!

SOCCER CRAZEE AWARDS 2009 - WORST BUY 2009(RETARD)

2009-03-23T13:15:00.009+08:00

The criteria for the category is based on 3 things:

1)Expectations from player

2)Cost and Final Value of player
3)On field performances and desire to win games

1) XISCO(NEWCASTLE) - Brought in for up to 7million pounds

to help Newcastle's forward line. Spanish U-21 international almost immediately found himself behind Owen,Ameobi,Andy Caroll,Martins,Lovenkrands and Viduka.That is right, 7th choice!To be fair his injury has the big say but for that money you expect more when he is fit as well..

2) BORJA VALERO(WBA) - WBA's club record signing at 4.7 million pounds. Crazy Money for them.Started of well but faded of very fast and was even dropped recently for a certain Doorens..durians wtv he is called.. That is sad if you ask me.Mowbray says he will come good.Soccercrazee wants to know in which division?

3)PETER HALMOSI(HULL CIY) - Another record signing at 2 million pounds for Hull(poor as they are) but compared to the likes of Ashbee,Boateng,garcia and even the past prime Nick barmby, has not looked at all up to standard. 2 million shouldnt get you much but players like Ashbee and Barmby should cost less dont you think?

4) PHILIPP DEGEN(LIVERPOOL) - A supposed bargain by Benitez. Free transferred from Borussia Dortmund he still ended up making losses for the club! By eating wages and not even playing a single first team game. Injured all season.Came back and got injured again. An exeptionally intelligent defender as we saw in past world cups for Switzerland and solid performaces in Dortmund but he let us all down.

5) DAVID BENTLEY (TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS) - Bot of course one nominee that actually was supposed to be a star player. He ended up counting stars. 17 million pounds. Missed a penalty in the League cup final. Looks like Berbatov did last season at the same club and plays like a man who just got home from Hooters and was told he has to play a game. What else can I say?

SoccerCrazee would like to gove honourable mentions to those who almost made the list above like Marvin Emnes(Middlesbrough) was "given chance" because he was young. Robinho( Man City) for being the highest played footballer and most expensive and not reaching his heights. Even missing penalties and disappearing in big games.Players like Zoran Tosic(Man Utd), Hugo Roddallega(Wigan),N'gog (Liverpool),Bischoff(Arsenal)Smolarek(Bolton),Savio(West Ham),F di Santo(Chelsea) all not considered due to being mid season signings or young guns. Players like Gomes(Spurs) are actually not flops! True. according to Actim Index scores and proficiency.Loans were not considered as well...

HAppy Voting..

Weekend Soccer Roundup

2009-03-23T10:43:00.003+08:00

Following the big news of Fulham's scalp of United, Tottenham inflicting Hiddink's first Premier League defeat and talk of a really wide Title race, Liverpool have once again come out strongest chasing the United trailer.

If any team outside the top 3 could have achieved a score against Liverpool, it would have been Martin O'Neil's Aston Villa with their talented squad with John Carew, Gabriel Abonglahor, Ashley Young and Gareth Barry. However on the night where 4th place as a dream. they faltered iserably, giving Liverpool the ball and allowing their flashy captain to net 2 penalties and a goal from open play for a damned hat-trick. Dirk Kuyt and Riera also added a goal apiece to tear apart Villa 5-0. Oh how woeful that must be. The result will surely get them fired up for UNited in a fortnight. No worries as it'll have to be another lost, this time away at Old Trafford.

Wigan beat Hull City 1-0 courtesy for a swinging freekick from Watson to notch a win against sputtering Hull.This surely heats up the competition at the bottom of the table to reach the safety zone of 40 odd points.

And Man City have also beat Sunderland 1-0 at home despite Robinho missing a penalty earlier on in the match. The only goal came from young right-back Micah Richards, once highly rated as the best upcoming talent for the Right-back position. Hes never been the same player after the injury sustained at teh start of the season. Im a keen admirer of him so i do hope he comes good.

Now as the International break comes into place, the managers must all be scurrying to their drawing boards to prepare for the final third of the season which is most crucial giving the turn of events. United for the record are still 4 points ahead with the league theirs to lose. I admit complacency and cockiness, but do not write them off just yet.Liverpool have just been voodoo-ing their opposition so dont raise them up too high just yet. All in all, we shoudl never count our chickens before they hatch.

Stay tuned for the first poll coming out in just a bit. Remember, vote for your favourite nominee now to see them win the Soccer Crazee Awards! This is the Gundu speaking.. have a great Monday!

Thinks get Interesting..Very Interesting

2009-03-22T17:10:00.006+08:00

Top:Brilliant Arsenal. Bottom: Bad boy Scholes

2 weeks ago, Many were thinking that the premiership was a forgone conclusion.Many except Sir Alex Ferguson. He knew the importance of the next 2 months but his players apparently weren't listening..

Any excuses about the Liverpool game last week were mildly entertained but United were comprehensively and derservedly beaten by a Fulham site that did something noone has been able to do this season against manchester United. For 1 half, Fulham OUTPLAYED Manchester United..Scholes handball and penalty/red card was just a boost for a team that derserved a goal anyways. Zamora to be frank,was horrible. Missing clear cut chances.Fulham could have put the game to bed by halftime.United's main culprits wee Giggs,Berbatov and Evans up to that point.Scholes was no miracle worker as well. Fulham's Etuhu took the lessons he learnt the last time these 2 met in his heart and did flawlessly well.Man of the match would go to Danny Murphy. A salt rubbing in Manchester United's wounds as he spent some time in Liverpool playing for their "Best Friends Forever".However, I felt that Fulham's whole team from Goalkeeper to Striker was magnificent.No 2 ways about that(except maybe Zamora).United did threaten in the 2nd half as champions(even with 10 men) should but all in vain. Rooney's sending off summed up the day. His body language all over the place. An unneccesary action. Whether the referee looked too much into it we will never know but Hodgson's man deserved it.

I want to take time to state what an awesome job Hodgson has done at Fulham since saving them from relegation last term. The old mastermind has not made any big signings but has been able to garner victories over Chelsea,United and Arsenal. He has also made craven cottage into a sort of fortress. I feel Fulham have been given the least credit of all the improving clubs like Villa,Hull etc..Ferguson fell into his mind games trap yesterday.He thought it would be an easy victory,he rested Tevez,Rooney,Nani and Carrick. Those who can get you goals or create some.He thought wrong.

Arsenal continued their marvellous run of form with a comfortable 3-1 win over an all over the place Newcastle side. Their players give the impression as if they did not "sign up" for a relegation fight and look like players who know that whatever happens to Newcastle, we will be playing in the top divisions come next season. The big boys are not doing their jobs.Shambolic.It is no wonder lesser named players are being chosen ahead of bigger names.Arsenal,Marvellous as they have been for the last few games, seem to be a new team with Arshavin around. I have my mixed view on Bendtner.His finishing is not there but like Carlton Cole for West Ham and Kevin Davies for Bolton, at 20 he may become an asset given the right nurturing.

Chelsea lost to Tottenham again.Apparently a sourcerer came down a season or so back and told Ashley Cole,"If you ever give Cheryl(his wife) pain, I shall give you the punishment of never winning against Tottenham when it matters..MUahahaah". Cole den offered him a beer and asked him if he would want to go clubbing.Modric Was awesome. Beyond man of the match he did his job when it was needed by scoring against an equally unrelanting Petr Cech. Gomes on the other hand, had a shaky but efective game. drogba and Anelka would consider themselves unlucky but more so Robbie Keane.For all the brilliance in Liverpool for the last couple of weeks,they should only be regretting selling him.

Everton's lost to Portsmouth was a sign that Pompey need to get out of the bottom few.Like Newcastle,managerless, the return of Kranjcar, and the goal scoring form of crouch may just help them while Stoke once against did well at home to overcome a goal-shy Boro. Letting Mido go may just have been a big mistake.West Brom did salvage a draw but it should be a case of too little too late. They are one of the best West Brom teams that ever entered the BPL but once again,not good enough.

The weeks to come will deliver good games(except for teams like West Ham who seriously are just playing for fun this days) and expect a twist in the plot maybe as United are yet to face Arsenal,Villa and Boro(away) while Pool and Chelsea have easier run-ins.My oh My.. Here we go..8 weeks.

The Big Match: Man Utd vs Fulham

2009-03-21T22:58:00.002+08:00

As United face off with Roy Hodgson's Fulham for the 3rd time in 5 weeks, we can only anticipate how they will perform tonight. Will it be a goal glut in response to the beating meted out by Liverpool or will it have affected United adversely?

Mark Schwarzer is actually statiscally the best keeper in the league so far and could be determined to not leak any more goals against United. Danny Murphy would be the man to watch as well and his Liverpool links may see him doing his best to get a result against United.

Park Ji Sung can hopefully look to add to his scoring record against Fulham and likewise, the rest of the team would be looking to rebuild a winning run. Neville and Rafael may be available for selection following their respective layoffs. Berbatov would start for sure after missing the Liverpool match. Defensively, Johnny Evans will start in place of the suspended Vidic and he should have a decent game. Given how well the team is playing, with the players all workign together collectively, it should be an exciting game.

The Gundu predicts it to be a 2,3 goal United win tonight. Harrods would not be having a sale for sure. It cannot be.. we shall wait till Christmas for that.

The Soccer Crazee Awards 2009

2009-03-19T23:36:00.003+08:00

And the Ultimate prize is the Soccer Crazee Awards 2009.

With the Premier League season ending in 9 weeks or so, it is time for the inaugural Soccer Crazee Awards to honour the greatest and best in the league for the season about to pass. We will be letting you, our wonderful readers vote for who you think is the best fromt he list of nominees in weekly polls for our 9 awards.

The awards are:

Best Goalkeeper
Best Defender
Best Midfielder
Best Striker
Best Player of the Season
Best Manager
Best Young Player
Best New Signing
Worst New Signing

Bonus Poll: Best WAG *grins

Nominees for each award will be selected based on statistical information from the League, with performance, contributions and importance to club being a factor for consideration. Form is of cause an important factor in the consideration as well as number of matches played. We cant have players who had impressive performance in only 2 games winning an award can we?

So stay tuned for the weekend when we commence our polling. Vote for your favourite player now!

The Ultimate prize..

2009-03-19T16:56:00.002+08:00

20 teams...

40 players per team

800 players..

N many more hu dream..

4 the ultimate prize..

Is it the Barclays premier League..

Think again..

The Time has come.. The greatest award of all..

Coming soon..

a weekend for the Anti-United,and new "TRENDS"

2009-03-16T17:33:00.004+08:00

New hairstyles: Ekotto and jo..God bless em.Apprently lost a bet with Fellaini so here they are

It was a night everyone was waiting for and as expected it finally came. greame Souness once said "nothing is guranteed in football either than disappointment". United felt the pinch of the mans words this weekend

Over the years the undoubted stars of all United-Pool derbies were defenders. Carragher,Hypia,Brown and now once again Vidic.They star for all the wrong reasons. Be it own goals(Brown,Carra) or red cards(Hypia,Vida). Once again Vidic took the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

At Old trafford,the mighty manchester United humbled by the ruthless Liverpool. United's penalty was debateable. Was Park going anywhere when he was challanged illegally be Reina? I thought no. Referee thought so..1-0 and everyone thought oh well here they go again..Not quite.

Vidic,Evra and Ferdinand and even van der Sar looked a far cry from their usual selves. Evra,Carrick,Rooney,Vidic,Ferdinand and Ronaldo pulled in lethargic performance.Anderson was under par and the only bright spots for United were Tevez and till the final minutes John o'Shea.For Liverpool, noone excelled as well but Torres was sharp as a knife. piercing a dagger into Rio and Vida time and time again though it was Gerrard who finally killed Vidic off.Pool's penalty was spot on.Evra mistimed.Aurelio's freekick showed why Benitez signed him. Exquisite and taking advantage of shellshocked United.Dossena's goal was salt i the wounds for United.4-1.FT. game set match and well deserved for Liverpool.No 2 ways about that. i always say that class prevails and United lacked it. Liverpool stood firm. Hypia was Brilliant in defence,Torres took his chances well as a good striker should,mascherano stayed on the pitch,there was no way United were coming back.

Final stats United 17 shots on goal,55% possesion. Liverpool 9 shots on goal, 45% possesion.United taught a footballing lesson. All these could say was arrogance.

Samba football had a mixed day for if it wasnt for Aurelio, Brazilians Anderson and Lucas were horrendous. Mascherano covering for Lucas time and time again while Anderson making Carrick play god by leaving him alone oh so often. Benitez's tactics were spot on and Liverpool's 5 man midfield raped Carrick.Gerrard and Mascherano playing pivotal roles.Excuses can be given by Pool too they also had a midweek match and sure they had no FA cup commitments but great teams do not make such excuses. Why not play Fletcher,Nani,Evans etc.. when they were fresher. Sorry Fergie this was your bad. benitez outdid you.

Chelsea recorded a 1-0 win in the cash fight. Essien is one of the players in the world that have deserved recognition but never got it. He is awesome. Mourinho even texted him at Inter saying he would love him there and I can see why. He is class and probably the best centre midfielder in England right now on his day.Time and time again he has shown versatility and his class reaks on how he got his national team to the world cup and gave them his all.

Tottenham edged Aston Villa 2-1. What's wrong with Villa? I got the answer. Emile Heskey.Ever since his arrival wins have been scarce.Goals Scarcer and Agbonlahor firing blanks. He does not seem to have that pace that Carew has early season to help Gabby get goals and is often seen in no man's land. Is he a flop? I shudder to think so. I say he needs time. Villa just have to be patient.Carew will have to play more though if they want to be in the champions league next season because he derserves a place in the line up and he scores important goals. Tottenham,take nothing away from them, showing signs of class. Bent may get criticised but unlike some other strikers,the boy gets goals.Woodgate had a good game.King was a rock as usual. But the last few minutes once again showed that time wasting maybe a thing of the past. A freekick for taking the ball in the corner? The FA must explain soon.Overall the best thing of the day were the goals and Benoit's new hairstyle.he n Felliani apparantly had hair transplants.

Notable mentions go also to the brilliant Andrei Arshavin.Player of the weekend in my book.Beautiful 2nd goal(If you are giving him the 1st).Arsenal raped Blackburn to put their allardyce curse further away.Play of the day goes to fellaini for changing his hairstyle.Jo takes over.FINALLY!And God bless Newcastle who are in trouble!

Man Utd vs Liverpool Post Match

2009-03-15T20:02:00.003+08:00

Yes yes.. the headlines all show 4-1 to Liverpool and how United were undone at home and how the title race is now once again wide open.No doubt that it was a very embarrassing result for King Ferguson and his players and it is a smarting defeat. But then again, please look more closely at the facts surrounding the matter.

Liverpool were not that fantastic themselves, United gifted it to them, while it is a morale boosting result, especially after all that arrogance from Man Utd, with Ferguson starting with Anderson and resting the on form Giggs/Scholes. To be frank, Anderson just doesnt cut it.

And in response to the goals Liverpool got, Evra was at fault for his challenge, Torres being the world class player, has got to capitalise on that mistake by Vidic, hes considered world class. That goal was just routine. Anything other than scoring would mean hes pathetic. Dossena was lucky there, though Arbeola had taken a good freekick. I boil it down to United giving up and conceding stupid goals after Vidic's sending off.

And to the crux of the matter, it was ok for Vidic to make a mistake, just that it was a bad time to make it, considering how much hes saved United's skin with winning goals or crucial tackles, having a bad game that led to the initial equaliser does not make him a villain. Nonsense to label him so. The media can go kiss my ***. Bringing Gerrard down when he was clear on goal was the only other alternative he had apart from outrunning him, so i guess tough times call for crucial measures. Just too bad it had to be a red card. Protecting the goal is priority since Van de Saar was just under par.

United were undone by their open midfield where Liverpool had strong players who could capitalise on the space which Anderson had left open. Carrick was powerless to do anything and i felt that Fletcher should have started instead.

Remember that United are still 4 points clear at the top with a game in hand. While Liverpool have claimed a scalp, its still theirs to lose. Enough talk and more action. Congratulations to Liverpool on their win. But the season is just getting exciting.

In the other matches,
Fulham beat Bolton 3-1
Arsenal cemented their 4th place with a 4-0 win over Blackburn
Boro drew Portsmouth 1-1
Wigan beat Sunderland 2-1
Newcastle drew Hull 1-1
Everton are putting pressure on the top 5 spots with a 3-1 win over Stoke.

Thank god the Gundu didnt offer his predictions this time round. The season is warmed up and getting hotter. I sure can't wait for Formula 1 racing action to get underway!

Forgone conclusions..forgone.. for a game like this

2009-03-14T07:26:00.004+08:00

Over the years, one of the biggest rivalries in English football has been between two of the most successful clubs in England. Liverpool, the 80s powerhouse that dominated the league through time and has always been up there with the big boys. Failure has rarely been associated with the club unless you ask a Manchester United fan. Manchester United are the epitome of modern day football. They took the success reigns from Liverpool in the late 80s and never gave it back..

That brings us to todays match. Manchester United play Liverpool at Old trafford,Manchester. Great footballers and coaches would always emphisize the importance of being the home team and getting the first goal. But when Man Utd play Liverpool. All that logic goes down the drain. These two teams will rather choke to death then to lie down even after 90 minutes. Over the years we have seen the best football played by one or the other in this game. This season though, the game is a bit bigger.. Oh yes.. the premiership is on the line

Say what you want I still think Chelsea and Liverpool have a chance to get the BPL crown.United's fixture list still boasts Arsenal,Aston Villa and Boro (Away). Boro(Away) is equivalent to playing Spain's national team sometimes for all the big clubs in BPL.Peculiar but true.Anyways Benitez is not going to lie down,Ferguson is not either. In recent events, Vidic has shown some arrogance by saying United can step it up another level. Liverpool boosted from the returning Gerrard and Torres are also pretty pumped.The thrash talking has started. Ferguson talking up Rooney like as if he was a hound on a leash told to sniff out anything Liverpooldo out of lapses of concentration. Benitez showing no regret or fear of United for his verbal slurs on Ferguson making himself heard as if to say,"The only respect I have is of my own side". Steven Gerrard wants to quench is hunger for the BPL and his hatred for United will ensure he is the most fired up player in the world. Even if he needs painkillers,even ecstacy pills, he will not lie down.Ferguson can talk up Rooney but knows inside that Gerrard has a bigger grudge than anyone...

Elsewhere this weekend, We have the clash of the cash, Chelsea enteratining Man City. Most teams playin this week are rather evenly match and expect there to be no match that has a forgone conclusion. Blackburn Arsenal as well. I would expect Arsenal to have a very tough time and am looking there to a potential upset.Chelsea may not be to pleased that Robinho is back but then again, when has he upped his games against any of the big boys this season. Koz once again I say, he aint that big physically. His talent is there though and he may up his game to try to push for Roman to splurge a bit of his Roman Empire on him come season's end.

Old trafoord will come alive, and if the score is 1-0 with 10 minutes to go to whoever it may be, if its 2-0 with 8 minutes to go.. I can ensure you it will be the most rivetting 8-10 minutes of football and One will understand why football is more than just a game.. Its a religion and devout fans starve as the clash of football's two dominant gods..God bless the angels..

Man Utd vs Inter Milan Highlights

2009-03-12T15:34:00.001+08:00

Man Utd v Inter Milan
Uploaded by Gretna2008

The Gundu strikes again!

2009-03-12T15:31:00.003+08:00

And with Man Utd beating Inter 2-0 last night, the Gundu's 1,2 goals for a United win prediction is once again spot on! Lets hope I can get it right against Liverpool this weekend. Stay tuned for more Soccercrazee updates!

Soccer a game for winners,whinners and superheroes..

2009-03-12T09:16:00.007+08:00

Top: Giggs was remarkable. Bottom: Hulk gets angry,Porto go through

The return to the wife Old trafford commenced a few hours back with Manchester United hosting Internazionale at the theatre of dreams. Pre-match people were saying Maybe Ibrahimovic will turn up tonight,maybe Mourinho will work his magic, Maybe he is born with it, maybe its maybelline, maybe..just maybe Inter would win it.

However, as maybelline's rivals Lorea'L would say.."because I am worth it", United proved their worth at Old trafford.That said, United players never stood to their gameplan which was simple. 4 defenders, 2 man midfield( Scholes,Carrick),1 Attacking Right forward(Cristiano Ronaldo),1 Attacking midfielder( Giggs) and Roo and Berbo up front. Clearly Giggs doesn follow instructions to well koz it ended up being 4 defenders, 3 man midfield(Giggs,giggs,giggs), 1 attacking mid(giggs) and 2 strikers (giggs and giggs). The man was a starbucks out let last night..All over the bloody place. Vidic laughed when he entered the pitch for the 2nd half when he heard " glory glory man United" playing.. He laughed at the fans! he thought.. "what a bunch of idiots.. we wont be marching on.. We will be buldozing on.."

To be fair, it was a pretty even game. However life is usually unfair so United took the game. And did not give it back. No splitsies. Dejan Stankovic lived up to his name in the game. He had 3 clear cut opportunities that went begging though. He also ventured up to support Ibrahimovic and Balotelli a lot but could not deliver that killer finish. As I said,he lived up to his name.. Stankovic.. He stanked. To be fair, inter huffed and puffed and to be fair, they played very well away from home but as I said life is unfair..

Last night, Someone asked me. Imagine if there was a tornado and you put the ball on the penalty spot at a stadium. If the tornado gets to the ball, what are the chances of it hitting the back of the net instead of flying all over the place. I calculated. 30% chance. The same friend looked at me and said are you sure such a high chance and I replied " that depends did u say tornado or tonetto? koz the former surely can do better"..

Max Tonetto skied his penalty so high it wasnt funny as Roma fell to Arsenal on penalties. A few journalist was wondering what happened and asked him. Apparently it was a mix up.He was listening to some music before the penalty shootout and the only song that was playing on radio when he was hearing it was S -Club 7's " Reach for the stars". Totti was stunned and we felt for him. How the man would have loved to be in Rome for the Champions League Final once and for all... Wait a second.. HE WILL BE IN ROME! good on ya mate! I am sure he will be getting front row tickets as well. I have never seen people so disappointed they could not travel to their own country. They played well and so did Arsenal. The youngsters pulled through and showed composure. Its a pity though.. Would have loved Manchester United vs Roma in the quarterfinals. At least we can start worrying about the semi-finals easier..right?.. that said 7-1 seems to be in fashion anyways.

Barcelona were the next to progress. 4-0 down at one point people were wondering. 3 questions were asked..

1. What went wrong for Lyon?

2.How could Lyon be broken down so easilly?

3.What should Lyon fix?

4.What were Lyon thinking?

The answers are here EXCLUSIVELY for soccercrazee readers and here they are:

1.Henry

2.Eto'o

3.Messi

4.Wonder if the gaffer is gonna let me join Barcelona next season

4-2 was a decent fightback for Lyon. 2 away goals are tough at the nou camp. But Juninho whined, Lyon unwhined. Bacelona hit them in their behind. 5-2. No way lyon wanna rewind..

LAstly, Porto and Atelico played. The match was a forgone conclusion with the Madrid men not even turning up. In an interview given exclusively to soccercrazee, Maxi Rodriguez had this to say..

Q: Maxi wad went wrong out there?

A: I saw him.. He was big... He wasnt GReen... He WAS ANGRY?

Q: Sorry?..NVm So Maxi why were you subbed for Forlan at halftime.Was it tactical?

A: Hez coming.. HEZ coming...(Runs off)

Q: ?.. Ah a porto player. hello Givanildo, how was the game? You looking weird today dude?

A: I angryyyyyyyyy...(turns green and devours journalist)

Bless..... If only that really happen. No disrespect to Maxi who was subbed of tactically and knew how to get away from Givanildo who in case you are wondering.. is also called.. The Hulk..

Glory Glory Man United.. As the gundu goes marching on on on..

Champions League Roundup

2009-03-11T10:22:00.003+08:00

In what is probably the biggest aggregate win recorded in the Champions League, Bayern Munich have thumped Sporting left, right and centre with a 12-1 win. No, you are not seeing things, this is a soccer score and not hockey or some other ball game. Goals from Podolski(2), Sweinsteiger, Bommel, Klose and Muller and an own gold by Polga gave them the record win with a consolation for Sporting by Moutinho to bring the score to 7-1.

Elsewhere, Liverpool stamped their mark on Real Madrid by knocking them out with a 4-0 win with goals from Torres, Gerrard(2) and Dossena.

Chelsea progressed despite drawing 2 all with Juventus as a result of their first leg win. Goals came from Iaquinta and Piero. Drogba and Essien scored for Chelsea. Chelsea have again maintained Hiddink's perfect record so far by winning again and the inclusion of Essien from the long layoff showed how much they missed him though im sure if United were to play Chelsea, it would be a different ball game altogether.

Panathinaikos couldnt do enough to hold off Villareal where goals by Ibagaza and Llorente won it for them even though Mantzios had equalised earlier. I wish Pananthinaikos well in Greece and look forward to seeing them improve and hit back with a venegeance.

Champions League Preview

2009-03-11T09:55:00.002+08:00

As we wait in anticipation for part 2 of the battle between Lord Ferguson and Special Mourinho, I cant help but feel a buzz in the air. Technically, the advantage is to Inter as they only need to score and draw the game to go through on away goals whereas United have to either win the tie or win the match in extra time/penalties. Penalties shouldnt be much of a problem with Van de Saar in goal. Otherwise, up step Ben Foster!

The Special One thinks his Speciality will put him in consideration for the United helm once Lord Alex decides to retire and race horces instead (think the Rock of Gibraltar which caused a huge hoo-ha years back). But i and my brudder the Guru feel that the essence of a United side will be finished with him in charge, for all hes worth, hes not a United man, it takes something magical, a vision, a goal, a aim to make it as United manager. So his Portugese backside is better for the stool to sit on while making eggtarts.

United will be able to call on the services of Rio Ferdinand to partner Vidic in the heart of defence with him shaking off an ankle knock suffered against Fulham. O'Shea would also be fit to start the match. In midfield, Sir Alex will be able to take his pick from the whole arsenal of quality midfielders though i expect Giggs and Scholes to start with probably Ronaldo and Park. Either 2 of the 3 strikers would be playing and i see Tevez sitting the match out on the bench. Alternatively, he could play Rooney out left and let Tevez and Berbatov play up front and Ronaldo will be on the right. Either combination would still be a great blend. I've also yet to mention the bench where Nani, Fletcher, Gibson among others add to that strength in depth.

Sulley Muntari will continue to try to shackle United in midfield with Viera. In defence, Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, Maxwell, Maicon, Nelson Rivas and Walter Samuel may start and United will have to be wary of Ibrahimovic and Adriano ( the fatty).

Other fixtures tonight include Roma and Arsenal with Arsenal looking to progress, Barcelona and Lyon and lastly, Porto and Athletico Madrid.

The gundu looks for a 1,2 goal United win. Current updates on the betting status stands at 3 wins and a lost. Bet on!

Parallels of life in Soccer n in Electronic Arts...

2009-03-10T20:55:00.004+08:00

If soccer is a game.. Why cant it be like Fifa Online 2?.. Wont thinks be much simpler?

1) In Fifa online 2, when a team wins by a score of more than 4 goals, the difficulty of the game increases. So if you beat Arsenal 4-0, you may struggle at West Brom in your next game.... IF this was real life.. Manchester United would have had 2 pay a big price for beating Fulham 4-0 last weekend..OH yes they will..

2)In Fifa online 2, you can control all 11 players of a team so that they can play as their manager would like to get the best of the players ability... In real life we have Titus bramble who cannot control himself from well... himself!

3)In Fifa online 2, a players contract only costs a few thousand and lasts for approximately 1 season worth of games and the player never complains!.. In real life we have players who sign 5 year contracts worth millions.. and after 6 months into it.. THEY STILL COMPLAIN!!

4)In Fifa online 2, you know about your players form before the game may it be up or down so you will know who will play better.. In real life if we had that technology then probably Bramble could be castrated before he did anything silly or maybe H. Gomes for Spurs!wont dat be just dandy!?

5)In Fifa online 2, the ref never misses an offside decision at all!!... In real life that would mean Pippo Inzaghi could end up selling himself for money rather than palyin for Milan at 35!

6)In Fifa online 2, the more a player plays, the better he becomes.. In real life that would mean Jens Lehmann would have had a point when he sayed he was better than Almunia.. ok fine.. this might have deceived us more...

7)In Fifa online 2, Martin Fulop can score goals for Sunderland!!... In real life, Sunderland Strikers cant even get a goal at times...

8)In Fifa online 2, you get teams like West Brom boasting the likes of T.Henry, C. Ronaldo and L.Messi... In real life you have West Brom boasting the likes of.... erm...what colour jersey do they wear by the way?

9)In Fifa online 2, games like Manchester United vs Arsenal may lag if you play with a person with a laggy internet connection.. In real life the only game you will find lag happens every Friday at 745pm on channel 5.

10)In Fifa online 2,you have fun for many hours... In real life, the andranaline lasts a mere 90 minutes..

try it out at http://fifaonline2.iahgames.com/site/index.aspx . The Gundu endorses anythign that can make Manchester united the best team in the world... Although its much tougher in the game that it is for them in real life...;>

4 English,4 Spanish,3 Italians and the forgotten 5

2009-03-10T20:30:00.004+08:00

Its not a novel by Charles Dickens, Its more like the UEFA champions League round of 16. Today I shall touch on the forgotten 5 more because personally I think its time for a change

The forgotten 5 consists of 2 portugese teams, Sporing Lisbon Portugal and the ever popular F.C. Porto, Bayern Munich,Panathinaikos FC,and Lyon. While Sporting destroyed their chances in Portugal, the other four teams have kept their bids very much alive.

Panathinaikos Fc have traditionally been the "whipping boys" of the UEFA CL. Time and time again they have been written off. However the 1st leg in Spain against Villareal showed something we knew was coming from Greece but chose to look the other way. Talent. Evengelos Mantzios was outstanding against them and produced delecate skills that stunned the Spanish opposition. Nobody expected Greek teams to produce that often dubbed "Boring". I was entertained. The team consists of mostly greek players but the Brazilians in the team seem to be influencing the rest to a good extent.

FC Porto and Bayern Munich are traditional success stories of the league. Porto seem to be picking themselves up from their steady decline since the departure of their ex talisman, a certain Jose Mourinho.Lisandro has put the portugese team in an advantegeous position against Atelico madrid with 2 crucial away goals. However capitalising on athat is tough especially beacuse Atelico produce better away from the Mestella.Bayern took a 5-0 lead at the expense of Sporting who in truth showed lack of ambition. They are a team of non-fighters to be critical and seemed resigned to their fate after the 1st goal went in for Bayern.

Lastly Lyon, a team that was once miles away from others in France Ligue 1. However with Cavenaghi and Chamakh powered teams from Les Girondins and also PSG resurgence their life has been made tougher. The league is getting better but the team is still as powerful. Barcelona at the Nou Camp is the worse possible thing that can happen to a team but Lon have the task and if there are teams that can win there, Lyon are surely one of those surprise packages who can cause an upset.No matter what Lyon will give a good account of themselves even in defeat..

There wil be big games this weekend, But lets hear it for the forgotten 5 because as teams like Red Star and more recently FC Porto have shown. Talent from elsewhere can sometimes be easilly overlooked and it would be wonderful to see a new power emerge from Europe this champions league season as we make our way to Rome.

Luck,Talent or just a very strange hairdo

2009-03-09T19:38:00.003+08:00

I have always maintained that great things make their own luck to the brilliance in their players. But a certain belgian ebony shoe winner by the name of Fellaini has put another theory in my mind.. If you have so much of head on you.. you are bound to score more headers..right?..I calculated 50% of the pic above is his head! Maybe its a talent to keep such a hairdo koz U got to sacrifice ur pride,dignity and be the laughing stock of many. Not to forget the number of electronic live wires you have to put ur hair on to make it that way. Its the type of dedication that made Everton go into the last four of the FA cup...

3 of the top teams,less Aston Villa and Liverpool are already in the semis. Arsenal and Hull will fight for the last spot. Chelsea,Manchester United and Arsenal recorded easy victories this weekend. 1 thing to look forward to is the return of a certain Didier Drogba. His performances since Hiddinks arrival show dedication and hunger. Something the whole Chelsea team lacked in the latter part of Scolari's era. Chelsea at the moment look like the best team in England.traditionally they come to live at this stage and it seems like we are going to see the best of them in times to come.Arsenal destroyed Burnley. Burnley are like the Arsenal of division 1. Full of flank play and pace and goalscoring midfielders. So 3-0 was probably just a small showing of the difference between the two leagues. Carlos Vela provided us with probably one of the best FA cup goals thus far this season with a composed finished from a move that sayed pure talent.

Everton had Moyes' brilliance to thank. A halftime sub of Saha for Rodwell and it payed dividence as Everton came back from 1-0 down to rally a hard fought 2-1 victory. Poor defending and bad goalkeeping calls made it possible but in a game of 90 minutes and 2 halfs, the team that want it more tend to lose their concentration less and tend to stray away from the game less. Take nothing away from the toffees.Boro's lack of firepower also showed. Lastly, Manchester United won 4-0 at Craven Cottage but lets face it Fulham just didn turn up. Etuhu was probably United's man of the match. He was terrible while Dacourt came on thinkin injuring Park or Carrick may get Mourinho thinkin of playing him next season...

1 thing that we should notice recently is how time wasting techniques are being squeezed out of games by officials. Last night the toffees had a decision against them when Cahill was shielding a ball in the corner.Recently, Bosingwa kicked out at Benayoun in an attack on Israelis that actually went unpunished! Palestinians rejoiced and made Bosingwa a cult. It seems that referees are against such behaviour because lets face it it takes away the fun in the game with time wasting. It also does not seem very sporting at times. But then again there is reason for referees to give the decision as you are obviously blocking players from getting the ball on purpose. Either way you look at it its a true professional's secret that seems to be wiping out in the English game. If you ask me its another evidence that the FA are more into entertainment value than the old secrets of the game..Football is ever changing. Time will tell if its going the right way

MAnchester United play Everton next. Arsenal/Hull play Chelsea. Saha thinks the toffess can win it. I think he wont be fit to start. Manchester United v Chelsea final again? or maybe the two teams that probably deserve it more EVerton v Arsenal. Any permutation it will surely be the right combination

Man Utd vs Fulham FA CUP Highlights

2009-03-08T17:56:00.000+08:00

FAC QF - Fulh v Manu

FA Cup Roundup

2009-03-08T17:36:00.002+08:00

Following the hype surrounding Chelsea's visit to Conventry City, they emerged 2-0 winners over Chris Coleman's men and suddenly Chelsea are once again a force to be reckoned with Dutch Voodoo magic. Drogba is a renewed force even though Cashley Cole (CC) is still as problematic as ever. Sad bugger.

And elsewhere in the Premier League, Tottenham managed a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light despite Sunderland leading. Its hard to think of the mood those Tottenham players must be in, having been kicked out of Europe and losing the League Cup final to Man Utd and now still battling relegation, for all Redknapp is worth, it may be a situation where there is too much to do with too little time. It is especially difficult when it comes to mending broken hearts in the soccer war.

It is getting increasingly difficult to remain as objective as possible with Man Utd stating their intentions to win 5 trophies. The side they sent out against Fulham would not be considered their flashiest without trumps Ronaldo and Berbatov, but they still put up a fantastic performance that undermined Fulham's strength at home. A total of 4 goals were put past Mark Schwazer and there was just little he could have done about it. Fulham were just simply outplayed although credit to them. Ferguson billed Tevez as fantastic with 2 goals for him and Wayne Rooney still on fire since coming back from injury, it really doesnt matter who he chooses up front anymore, all of them are out there scoring! 3-lung Park also capped an impressive performance with a goal, something hes been seekign all season despite many other contributions in the games hes played in. Good one Ji-Sung! The comfortable scoreline saw the United defence back to routine maintaining clean sheets and the youngsters Eckersly and Welbeck even managed to come on for a run out. I felt that Eckersly was pretty promising and hes 5th choice in United's deep Squad. I still feel that Anderson is horrible for someone that costs 18Million. At least get a goal from open play. The media really ought to shut up and face up to his horrendous reality instead of talking about how composed he is for having taken the last penalty in the League Cup win yabayaba.

The Guru really is gettin swept away by the Red Tide from Manchester. Someone save him!

FA cup weekends like no other

2009-03-07T17:47:00.003+08:00

Been a while since we had an FA cup weekend with premiership action going on as well. Its actually insulting to the BPL.Playing in the BPL doesnt mean progress anymore in the FA cup. The romance has kicked in

The team that probably deserves the FA cup more den anyone this season has been wothout a shadow of a doubt Everton. Arsenal come a close second. Everton took on the biggest task of beating Liverpool which is no easy feat. To be frank Liverpool look jaded that day and if it wasnt for a silly Arbeloa error they would have probably had a better day but Everton showed true grit that day.

Arsenal on the other hand have been doing pretty well themselves and will probably prioritise this to get back to winning ways.For all the talk of a certain Manchester United, we cannot deny that in all competitions less the league cup Arsenal look the better of the cup teams. Keeping cleansheets has been their forte and the biggest part of any cup tourney and they have been doing so. Lets hope they can forget their early season problems and win this trophy.

Manchester United,Fulham,Boro,Burnley,Coventry and Chelsea are the other four teams contesting. Coventry flying high with Coleman winning manager of month for the championship. Tough nut to crack. They also have giant killing sprees most recently knocking a certain Manchester United out of last seasons League cup.United will find Fulham tough and if fatigue kicks in things may not go their way. That said Chelsea and United are on paper, stronger than their opponents. But hey lets have some upsets yea?

Tottenham and Sunderland play in BPL action this weekend. A fiery contest of two rather evenly matched teams. To be frank its gonna be a cracker this 1. So it wouldnt be a bad idea to catch it. Both fighting for relegation and lets face it both know they have the ability to do one over each other. Expect the ex-spurs players to try to do one over their ex club. Malbranque comes to mind. This will be a true grudge game. Expect a war..

The Big Match: Man Utd vs Fulham

2009-03-07T16:15:00.004+08:00

With the previous meeting between the sides a mere fortnight ago, the 3-0 thrashing by Man Utd would still haunt a Fulham side who have just their previous match against Hull 1-0.

However, Craven Cottage has been a bit of a stronghold this season with Fulham having a pretty good season winning and drawing important home matches. But can they cope with the Red tide? a 20man strong team in the bodies of 11 men. While other managers in the league talk about bring their squads of abt 17-18 players on away games, Fergie brings a full 20 or even 22. Now, while he may not need to have all his stars, i believe that the defence of Rio, Vidic, O'Shea and Evra with Foster in goal will do well enough to shut out Fulham. I will not even mention the midfield and attacking combinations with the evergreen Ryan Giggs terrorising in central midfield. On paper, its as good as a one-sided match with United taking the win and heading to Wembley for another final.

The magic of the FA CUP is still ever present where minnow teams can and will continue to upset favourites. So Fulham are nto to be written off. I believe that it would be a game worth watching as Roy the Hog Son's men will be hungry for their chance to win some silverware. Im sure Harrod's will have a huge celebratory sale should that happen.

The Gundu Betting Centre predicts a 3,4 goal encounter with United winning 3-1.

its still a 2 win 1 loss record!

And another thing, i once again curse the organisers for giving United yet another late game. Its been 7 late matches already.. Disgusting. Horrible!

Fun Facts

2009-03-07T16:02:00.002+08:00

Here are some facts about 1500s in England.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and would still smell pretty good by June. However, they would start to smell, so brides would carry a bouquet of flowers to hide their body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, followed by the women and finally the children. Babies were last and by then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained,, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping out. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying "thresh hold." (Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content>>caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning which lead to death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust." Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

Soccer teams field 11, Great teams field...erm..20?

2009-03-05T17:35:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was a day all Manchester United fans can be proud of. It was the start of the FA's need to spice up the premier league. As I sat there watchin Steve Banett making strange decisions throughout 90 minutes he made it clear that noone was going to make it easy for United to win 3 in a row.

Up step Lovenkrands, Schalke reject/Glasgow Rangers cult hero. Mcleish still missing him down in division 1. The fumble by Van der Sar made him human again but the sheer anticipation of Lovenkrands showed his hunger and desperation to secure a permanent name for himself in the Newcastle history books. Martins was a thorn. For two reasons. His constant desire to score and his terrible hairstyle which was an eyesore. To be frank, after the first 20 minutes in each half,they evaporated.

Rooney loves Newcastle. In his dating profile he once wrote " loves boxing, being sensitive off a football field and scoring against Newcastle United". So it came to no surprise that he equalised thanks to brilliant work by John O'shea on the right. Park then hounded a certain Steven Taylor to do what all Newcastle defenders are taught in the training ground graced by "legends" like Bramble,Boumsong,Jose Enrique etc etc..Yup! you guessed it cock up when it matters most. berbatov bang 2-1. Game Over.

So what seperated the two sides. Newcastle gave prob one of their better performances this season so what do you need to bring down the Manchester juggernaut? I derived it. You need 22 players. Whenever Fletcher flinched in midfield, Carrick would come in and get the ball and say "I got ur back buddy", Whenever O'Shea felt a doubt in defence Park would say " I got ball por lou.. I eat DOg meat YUMM yUMMMM". Whenever Vida felt nervy Rio would say " Hey dude.. Hows ur cheekbone..Nahh don werry got it covered". Only Evra had to deal with his job alone koz he can and Ronaldo doesn defend but Berbo tried and Ronaldo makes his presence felt.So the equation is simple 11 x 2 - ronaldo and vandersar =20. U are playin 20 players when u play United. Ridiculously enough. TO be Franck, Ribery that is he says in B.Munich he feels unsupported scurrying down the left flank. In other words he wants to join Manchester United. Because his job is to supply for Klose and Toni but he wants a give and take? MAnchester United. Simple as that. Benett left Martins unpunished for assaulting Vida and asked Vida to leave when United had a corner. He tried his best. Even Coloccini looked at the ref as Berbo scored as if to say," hey bro they have 20 players at least get our back also?" but Benett gained respect at that moment he knew that this team is special. This team are legends. This team play as a team. This team are UNITED. This team are brothers.......

Manucho Goncalves got his first goal for Hull.. HULL-LE-LU-JAH! da boy scored at last. Good signs for United after Ljajic also stated his intentions to be a United regular next season. We are well equipped for the future also. After all Fulham ae a toughie at the Craven Cottage where they will be made into Cottage cheese come FA cup weekend this 7th of March...

66th minute at the Newcastle ground was special. United fans could be singing it comes season end.. will be singing it till 7 march..

"as the reds go marching on! on! on!"

20 players on a field. 2 managers. Ferguson and the fans.. im letting freddie symbolise this..lol.

Gundu tellin the rest of the premierleague how United can do it week in week out weeks after the week out in the week in.

2009-03-05T13:52:00.000+08:00

Newcastle V Man Utd

The days gone by... Massimo Taibi

2009-03-04T22:41:00.003+08:00

Remembering the days of Massimo Taibi.

Poor guy who made such big bloopers to become the butt of the EPL and shame of all keepers. The Gundu remembers Massimo Taibi.

Midweek Results 1

2009-03-04T22:23:00.003+08:00

And so following the 3 matches last night which pitted West Brom against Arsenal, Portsmouth against Chelsea and Liverpool against Sunderland, there were no surprises as the top 4 sides continued to pile on the pressure on Man Utd although any reverse decision would have gifted United the BPL crown.

Arsenal beat West Brom 3-1 with Nicklaus Bendter scoreing a brace and Kolo Toure adding one to seal the win for Arsenal, once again somewhat resurgent. Brunt had earlier levelled the score for West Brom but they couldnt do enough against Arsenal.

Chelsea were lucky to get a goal against languishing Portsmouth courtesy of the revived Didier Drogba to give them a slim 1-0 win as Chelsea continue to pressure the league leaders Man Utd.
How long will the Dutch magic last?

Liverpool put up a convincing performance at home against Sunderland to win 2-0 with goals by N'Gog and Benayoun. Just the needed result to back Rafa Benitez's claim that the Reds are still in the title race.
The opinion shared here is that its at most a 2 horse race between resurgent Chelsea and Man Utd.

We shall see how United do tonight against relagation battlers Newcastle. With all due respect, the Georgies should be doing better with all their resources.

Racist slurs..wad bout homosexuality?

2009-03-04T18:02:00.005+08:00

Yesterday was a bad night for all Manchester United fans.. but I got reports coming in that Petr Cech may just be a tad Merry for a man.. Mancienne totally felt it..OMGOSH! Thats Why United should win the league.. FOR THE CHILDREN I SAY FOR THE CHILDREN

thanks to teamtalk.com for the picture but seriozli couldn they do it in the dressing room?

The gunduuuuu..OUT

Soccer Live scores by ESPN

2009-03-04T00:09:00.001+08:00

Crunch Time

2009-03-03T23:14:00.003+08:00

Everytime I have a crunch, it tastes beautiful yet the crisped rice and nuts make it interesting and its always an adventure going through it. I call this era the Cunch Time.. A lot like what most premiership things are going through now for the 2008/2009 season

Midweek madness occurs this week. Games like WBA vs Arsenal which had forgone conclusions when 1 looked at the fixture list not too long ago noe become almost close to a cup tie.Points must be scored. Positions 12-19 up for grabs this week and with Blackburn looking stronger the Stokes and Hulls have reported sightings of the ghost of end last season that ran through their stadiums singing " You are going straight back downnnn woooo..." Phil Brown has been going church more often but the Pastor who baptised them at the start of the season named Geroge Boateng seems to have his tank empty.Injuries and tiredness have made them the easiest meat around this past few weeks. Fulham at home seems so harmless yet like a cute dog with rabies they never fail to bite when necessary and floor their opponents. Brown is in trouble and he knows it. Sometimes 1 player can make a difference 20 cant. Stokes home points mean they do pick up the points from time to time. They are a tough nut at home but often draw peanuts away.

Tottenham,fresh off their cup defeat have 2 fixtures to contend with this week in the BPL. Playing at home to Boro would be points lost and a significant match for them. It also tests the resolve and the strength of the players. Harry has a job to do. Houdini woud not want that kinda job. Believe me.Newcastle play host to league leaders Manchester United and frankly if there was anytime to play United it would be now. Their defence seems very very jaded recently and playing 120 minutes would not have helped much. Newcastle aka the team of 7 men ( koz they just don seem to have a midfield do they?) are in stellar need of points and more importantly they need Europe come next season or else the once brilliant players like Ginola,Shearer,Woodgate etc.. who played for them would be replaced with David Edgars,Andrew Carolls and Shola Ameobis. Yes a transition from the premiership team to division one outfit. You woudnt see it first den it hits you...in the groin area.

Arsenal should fancy their chances of cementing their position of FIFTH. While Everton have a daunting task at Ewood that may slow down their bid for that position. Villa will find it tough at City which will be an interesting tussle of the underachievers vs the overachievers. Villa not going through a rich vein of form and City may just turn up for this game but its up to them you see.. koz they get paid anyhoos. Portsmouth still managerless play hosts to Chelsea. The first away test for Hiddink and one to look at as a gauge of the job he is doing. Portsmouth will find it tough unless Crouch can get a goal and the once terrifying defence of Portsmouth, closes their mouths rather than opening up James's goalpost time and time again. James is probably saying " You tell em GURU!.. Its not all my fault".. well aren't you supposed to make saves instead of making your defence struggle more?

Finally Liverpool. I was utterly disappointed but Riverside is not an easy place to go to. They must win at home and stop their habit of draws koz lets face it, someone should make it harder for United to win the lot. Expect Gerrard to start and a few players maybe rested but the problem lies up front and Babel and El Zhar must deliver because N'gog is living up to his name as the sound of when someone suffocates you. "Ngoggarghgrgrgh". painful. Gerrard up front and probably El Zhar partnering will help but players like Benayoun and Aurelio provide key for this sorts of ties. Sunderland in Sbragia's words will make it " difficult". Not an ambitious statement but boy if you do not bring a gameplan. They MAKE IT difficult..aye Fergie?

Special thanks to the good people of Nestle Crunch.. If you guys are really good that is..

SOccer Guru..Out..

The Guru Post Match Report: Man Utd are Champions again!

2009-03-02T11:11:00.004+08:00

And with the 4-1 penalty win over Tottenham, Manu Utd are once again Champions, racking up their 2nd trophy this season with the team still in it for 3 more trophies, namely, the BPL, Champions League and FA Cup.

Ferguson had kept to his promise of fielding the youngsters who had set up the final with a mix of the seniors to keep some balance. Redknapp himself fielded the talented Jamie O'Hara who missed out last year's team in the same fixture.

United had burst forth from the start letting their actions underline their intentions to put the game to rest. The combination of Ronaldo and Nani was fantastic in midfield with their zipping zig-zagging runs and long balls in. It was a pity Welbeck was not his best. Credit due to Tottenham themselves as they proved resilient in defence and created chances themselves through the livewire Aaron Lennon.

In the end, it became a tiresome game of Ping-Pong as both sides drew level with the heroics of keeper Ben Foster and the jinxed upright of the Tottenham goal that prevented either side from getting the better of the other. The extra 30 mins on top of the regular 90 made it a very tiring game which neither manager would have wanted but alas, it went all the way down to the penalty lottery where the young Jamie O'Hara would have been very disappointed with himself for letting Ben Foster brilliantly save his shot.

All in all, it was a very fair match with no major incidences and i respect the resolve of Michael Dawson who refused to go off despite being unable to carry on ue to fatigue. Thank goodness he didnt for he intervened with many crucial blocks to deny United. Anderson's introduction only proved hos much progress needs to be made because as of now, he has flopped. Nani's bright promising start was dimmed towards the end by silly decisions and supposed lack of committment. Personally, until he does things that win over fans, his immense contributions and talent would be overshadowed by his immaturity which would be a waste. I think that the youngsters have proved their mettle and will go on to greater things.

In another respect, would'nt you agree that Fergie is very similar to the Curious Case of Benjamin Button? He may be hitting 70 but hes acting like a kid in a candy store, picking and choosing which trophies he wants and which soccer star he wants to bully or acquire. Amazing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald would be really intrigued by this.

Till the next time. The Guru has spoken. Ohmmmmmmmm.

Retrobank Carling Cup Final Predictions

2009-02-28T19:04:00.003+08:00

And here is the Carling Cup Final Predictions by the Gundu. Remember remember that i am the Gundu and that even though my record stands at 2 wins in 2 bets, i bear no respondsibility to your stupidity.

My prediction is on a 2,3 goal game what could go either way. My immense bias tells me United will win it with Welbeck scoring. Gogo becks!

May the luck be with us. And i be a Slumdog Millionaire. Its an immense feel good show in case you guys have yet to catch it. Love the standard Bhangra at the end. This is the Gundu, have a jolly weekend.

LEAGUE CUP FINALE 2009

2009-02-28T18:26:00.005+08:00

The event that happens once a year.. Probably not the biggest match you will ever anticipate. I mean you wont hear Real Madrid,Juventus or even Hoffenheim fans staying up for this yearly but hey! its still better then Gombak vs Home on channel 5 right?

Manchester United face off with defending champions Tottenham. Tottenham qualify for europe via this and United erm.. get another trophy. I hear the League Cup goes straight in the trophy cabinet in White Heart Lane while Utd give it to the canteen tea-lady to hold Nemanja Vidic's protein shake. But the beauty about this is that United will field youngsters wanting to prove themselves to the nation while Tottenham one more silverware. Is Ferguson mad for fielding the likes of Gibson and Welback tonight? I think not. They have the hunger to win that piece for Vidic so that they to can claim a place in the team with him and boast a defensive record.. more than the other regulars like Carrick as compared to Tottenham. Tottenham need this..badly. They risked a UEFA cup for this mind you. United clear underdogs for this but expect the romance of the cup to come through. Its a win-win situation for United in both ways. Either the kids learn to lose or the kids morale heightens with a trophy.Both valuable lessons.Players like Bentley and Modric have to show mettle tonight as well to win this to prove their critics wrong for they ho-hum season so far. The script is ready. The kids will be picked up from nursery by Fergie at about 2pm Uk time. Will they get to feed on the big bottle is another question altogether. Redknapp will take his first team off their recharging cables where they have been the past week. 1 thing is for sure. There will be a winner,there will be a loser and there will be a hero.

In BPL, two of the top 4 play tonight. yes I have excluded arsenal! OMG! How could I.?? I didnt Arsenal themselves did..helooo..All games seem pretty straightforward but do look out for Boro who look more desperate recently as they host the Anfielders. Both teams will have something to play for and with Boro at home. And their disgusting fetish of troubling big teams. Quite perverted if you ask me. Expect there to be drama, goals and alfonso alves may just touch the ball from time to time..Downing due a BPL goal, Kuyt in good form and Gerrard is back. Alonso looked magnificent as well against Real Madrid.Expect a cracker.West Ham and City could also big another one to look forward to with Bellamy the soccer player/Club slut. i heard he once played for a school boy team when they offered him pre-school education whilst he was thinkin of joining city. Robinho thrives against smaller teams koz lets face it he is a small lad after all.. with a biiiiiggggggg wallet. Sometimes he just falls down on the pitch a lot. Not koz the BPL is too phycical.. Its just his wallet in the pocket.. Really heavy. Expect hammers to do their best and try to get back on the better side of results and with Parker playing brilliantly lets hope the fireworks are big enough that we can see em from Irelands ball head

Soccer Guru Out.

What in the world goes on in this man's head

2009-02-27T23:56:00.002+08:00

I must ask, what is the man thinking?

Following his rant on Fergie a while back, we have come to wonder about the sanity of Rafa Benitez. Given his erratic team sheets and weird tactics, we sometimes cant help but wonder what goes on in his head.

So anyway, Mr Benitez has a remarkable habit of letting his result speak for themselves and he no doubt has done a fantastic job with Liverpool and won them European glory. But, what is up with his latest oddity? He has apparently cast his own future in doubt by stalling on a new contract. Reasons given are that the terms were different from what was verbally agreed.

Infighting within the ranks up in the boardroom have not helped matters the least with owners Gillette and Hicks not on speaking terms and having a divided opinion on the man.

The Gundu must comment that the guy is a great manager although a little queer at times but a good one nonetheless. One man who has proved himself time and again. Not only can he get the best out of his charges, he is also a crowd pleaser, not surprising since hes won them trophies unlike his predecessors.

Oh well, i must say that soccer coaches and managers should be allowed to carry on with their jobs with full autonomy without interferences from the board or anyone not in a tracksuit and jumper with the words coach printed on the back. Bloody ignorant fools should just stick to what they're good at- Nothing.

We wish Liverpool all the best in their quest for glory.

Yes! Wheeeee...

2009-02-26T19:31:00.002+08:00

credit: cartoonmotivators.com

Champions League Roundup

2009-02-26T12:38:00.002+08:00

The Champions League Round of 16 is a elimination round for the winners and runners up from the Group Stage. Each team will play 2 legs, Home and Away. Group winners will play against the Runners up with no two teams from the same Group or Country playing each other. However, the draw for the next opponent would be open from the Quarter-finals on.

And on the the roundup of the first leg results.

Athletico Madrid(H) drew past winners FC Porto 2-2 with Porto gaining a slim away goal advantage. Athletico would need to win away to progress.

Lyon(H) also dug in deep at home to hold the swash- buckling Barcelona to a 1-1 draw. Could this drop in form from Barce be a result of fatigue? We can only wait and see.

Hosts Arsenal displayed one of their best performances of the season to beat Roma 1-0 courtesy of a Van Persie penalty. The score itself is not a accurate reflection of the match in which Arsenal dominated and should have scored more to extend their lead.

Jose Mourinho's record of only one lost against Sir Alex Ferguson continues on as Man United failed to capitalise on their first half dominance despite having the lion's share of possession and the team laying seige on Inter's goal only to be denied by the keeper. Final score: Inter (H) 0-0 Man Utd

Liverpool surprised with a 1-0 win over hosts Real Madrid amid speculation over Rafa Benitez's future at the club following his turning down of a new contract. Rumour has it that he will be heading towards the Bernabau by week's end.

Chelsea(H), following the lead of the other English Clubs also won 1-0 against visiting Juventus to show that their strength as Champions League Runners-up.

Villareal drew with Greek side Panathinaikos 1-1 at home. Panathinaikos should make it hard at home in the return leg.

In Portugal, Sporting Lisbon have their work cut out for them after crashing 5-0 to German heavyweights Bayern Munich who exhibited their Champions League pedigree. Coach Bento will have to work on damage control for their away tie.

The next leg of the knockout round will be played on the 10tha nd 11th of March and i do look forward to an exciting time as the clubs come under pressure to progress to the quarter finals.

The Guru has spoken.

Fortress San Siro..or Mistress San Siro

2009-02-25T06:42:00.006+08:00

They say The San Siro is a fortress for any team in Europe. A couldron of pure intimidation where opposition of Internazionale were supposed 2 tuck their weeners in between their legs n hop back to defend for their lives.

The home of Manchester United, The theatre of Dreams, OLD TRAFFORD but for just 1 night.. Manchester United cheated on her.. found comfort in the mistress San Siro..

United away from home settled into their stride from the 4th minute and dominated the first half.Ronaldo carrassed at times gently at times at full force the full length of the right flank of the san siro.There was a moaning sound every time he got the ball from the San Siro. Some say he likes it rough. Carrick cajoled the fortress with intricate passing n defending together with fellow seducer Fletcher. Giggs almost penetrated an opening in the mistress when a sublime through ball to him caught the internazionale defence awein in amazement but alas Julio Cesar like a true demon outside the gates of heaven blocked off what could have been.. If only giggs had a strong right than a strong left..maybe a cut in..maybe the San siro would have caved totally and gave in and enjoyed the true pleasure of United's Sensual Seduction. The san siro was kept back from reaching a climax with Manchester United by the husband Internazionale.. or should I say Manchester United's father, Sir Alex saying "there there now..easy..its impotent..I mean important not to conceave..sorry concede..safety first". He employed a condom called the 4-5-1 formation.

The second half they say belonged to the home team. Ronaldo castrated by Santor and Muntari combined and Park and Evra made to do the running but alas Park lacked that cutting edge ability to deliver and Evra just had a weight on his shoulders.Not enough of the mojo.Adriano dejected by the high maintainence San Siro who realli had no place for the obese. His high surface area made even a primary four Science idiot see how it is that it could hold more as he won many high balls by breasting..sorry chesting it down.. but Evans was always there swallowing up the ball when it hit the ground. Ibrahimovic showed his class.. I would say primary six..maybe EM3. Next to a toilet in San Siro and two classes away from Mourinho's. Stankovic and his deadly shots would not have disappointed..if the San Siro was the goal post rather than the stadium. Julio Cruz came on.. Wise move from Mourinho considering the man needs twenty tries to get a reaction from Manchester United's mistress for the night.. I would call him.. a bit off in ability if you get what I mean. Alas Esteban somed up Inter's night..Someone told him that soccer matches are not about goals. They are about how many yellow cards you can try to make the referee give.. He actually belived the fella. Toldo saw Julio Cesar's marvellous display and thought if he got a yellow card someone might remember him. I wonder what position he plays in. Is he a coach now?He should be a teacher as he taught Ibrahimovic the word "Irony" when he sat back on his seat labelled "respect".

Alas, a goalless draw. Mourinho says he will bring the home team home to see his "special one". Koz it werked when he used it on drogba. Ferguson gleefully anticipates a night in Old trafford because for all the hype the mistress was just a one night stand and there can only be one theatre of dreams where dreams take off,unfold and just happen..

Special thanks to teamtalk.com for an image of Giggs to summarize what could have been

Soccer Gundu out.. of the mistress.. Coming home to the wife

The Big Match: Manchester United vs Inter Milan

2009-02-24T11:35:00.003+08:00

Its not so much United against Inter but more of King Fergie of English Soccer vs The Chosen One Mourinho. Compared to their previously encounters from years back, they have a record of 6 draws and 1 win each which is pretty decent except that Fergie has been in the business longer than i have been alive. I must say that there has been an increased show of respect between the two and less of the fireworks that made us all dislike Mourinho with perfect hatred. Looks to be a juicy clash between the 2 top sides. Will United pull off the Italian Job or get caught trying?

Looking at their league standings, both teams occupy top spots in their respective leagues with very comfortable point buffers. United have 7 points ahead of loserpool and Milan are comfortable against AC Milan and their Goldenballs. There is Ibrahimovic and Adriano against the triumverate of Berbatov, Rooney and Tevez. Down in defence, Christian Chivu is in a struggle to get fit just like how there is a gap in United's defence. Seems like a pretty even match to the gundu.

My odds on are for either a goaless draw or a slim 1 nil win to either side. 0,1 goals for the gundu for the match and lets see how it turns out.

On another note, I would like to comment on Becks a.k.a Golden Balls. He has been one of the most dedicated High Profile English players of late who puts in tons of effort and never gives up doing his best. Few other Englishmen exemplify such dedication apart from Frank Lampard and to a certain extent, John Terry. What happened to the youngsters? Have they let fame and success and the free sex go to their heads?? So anyway, Golden Balls is a really fickle-minded whiney little man who lets his wife rule his life. From L.A Galaxy, where he still has quite a fair bit of his contract to fulfill, he now wants to move to AC Milan on a permanent basis. Seems a bit like Larsson a while back except that he didnt turn tail on his Swiss club. SO while the world spectates on the Becks wrangle, lets us go to bed early and rise for the battle of Reds against Blues.

Who will prevail tonight? A good head or a passionate heart.

The Gundu has spoken.

The special one..s

2009-02-23T16:03:00.002+08:00

No I am not talkin bout Mourinho koz lets face it..thats his job.. N no I still have to wait n see on the Golden goose called guus but I am referrin to every team's special 1

Liverpool has Xabi Alonso,Manchester United have Carrick,The toffees have Cahill,Chelsea have Essien,Arsenal have Cesc,Bolton have Kevin Davies,hammers have Parker,Stoke have Delap,Villa have Reo-Coker...and the list just goes on.. Basicalli The unsung Fulcrums of the teams who give the team the cutting edge..

For the big 5..yes I have included Villa.. All players did not play this week which was disappointing.. Wait a second I thought I saw Carrick play.. U did?? Well he was aweful in probably his worst performance this season vs Blackburn. Ferdinand might have been a defensive blurblock but Carrick just didn show up. However, the final score still read Manchester United 2-1 Blackburn and Guess who but Crissy "I want my Mummy" Ronaldo scoring an absolute beauty of a freekick. Among the top 5 only Chelsea and Utd showed strength in dept to cut the troats of their advesaries without their special ones and deserve special mention this week.Lampard and Anelka provided the piece of magic for Chelsea A la nani n Rooney intially for United. Did both teams play well? Not entirely though Chelsea looked more hungry then they have been this season. Some say those who play badly and carve up the luck win games.. I say those who lose their better players and yet have the strength to do "sumthin special" deserve to win game..

Overall I was most impressed with Bolton and Stoke this week. My heart goes out to Shawcross who really lacked composure when it mattered but the hammers will be wonderin what went wrong in 12 mins but they can take a little away that Savio finally turned up for them after his 9 million pound move but he doesn look exceptional as yet.If he does not score soon it could go horribly wrong for Zola. Pool were down 1-0 when Benitez Shouted " F*** the premiership I wanna beat Real so they will pay me more next season!" . You didn hear it but you saw it when he brought Nabil El Zhar on when they were 1 down. Man City were not impressive and a draw a fair result.Arshavin impressed on his debut as Arsenal go back to basics with their clean sheet streak.. With goals comin up they should be a better team come season end..

The guru..The Soccer guru..and his 2 cents werth..

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