May 13, 2010
Finally after three years the tittle is back to the blues...it hard to imagine from far it was hard to imagine three years have passed where bay the man utd have been dominating the league in such a way that it start to look as a comfort the to the reds faithfully as much as i would like to have new blood to be introduce to the club butt there is a fact that player such as joe cole and michael ballack seam to be the undervalued at this time of the season , everyone would agreed that perhaps joe cole should have played more this season ..but let take a look at the fact that despite being available mainly during the second half of the season but he manage to have 14 assist ...and that in general is by far the best Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Juliano Belletti and Paulo Ferreira will all be allowed to leave as the club seek to reduce their wage bill and create space in the squad for new players and emerging talent from the youth team.Ron Gourlay, the chief executive, said yesterday that in an ideal world future signings would be funded by player sales, and although that seems a remote prospect, the decision to trim the squad is a sign that the club are at least making some efforts to operate as a self-sustaining business.Of the quartet who have been told they can leave Carvalho is the only player with any significant resale value and attracted strong interest from Inter Milan last summer before opting to stay at Stamford Bridge.Chelsea now accept that their determination to keep hold of Carvalho was mistaken, as his performances have dropped during a season ruined by injuries. Although there are no new offers José Mourinho may make another move for one of his trusted lieutenants, particularly if he leaves Inter to become the coach of Real Madrid, who have also bid for Carvalho in the past.Chelsea value the defender at £10 million, but have little hope of gaining any fees for the other players they want to offload and will be happy simply to reduce their wage bill. Belletti is out of contract and can leave on a free transfer, and Deco has one year of his contract remaining, but will be allowed to leave for nothing if he wishes to return to Brazil. Ferreira has three years left on his contract, but with José Bosingwa and Branislav Ivanovic also at the club Chelsea will even consider paying him off to secure his departure.Chelsea have also made it clear that Ashley Cole is not for sale after interest from Real. The England left back said yesterday that Chelsea’s Premier League title triumph had vindicated his decision to leave Arsenal four years ago, for which he was widely vilified.“It has been a long time and this is my first title at Chelsea and now people will realise why I came here,” he said. “I came here to win the big ones, the Premier League or the Champions League. Hopefully we can get the Double and make history for this club. I am happy and hopefully there is more to come.”
i would like to keep on writing but i have to prepare for my TB classes tomorrow...lugwaja
Posted by Paul.
May 28, 2009
It is difficult to question the tactics of a manager who has won more than thirty trophies, but it looks like Sir Alex Ferguson got it all wrong in Rome last night.Chelsea – and United in the past - have proved that the best way to play against Barcelona is to be physical and strong. Give Barcelona time and space and they will destroy you.For some reason, Ferguson decided to try and play Barcelona at their own game in the Stadio Olimpico and United’s fate was sealed when Samuel Eto’o scored after only ten minutes.To make matters worse, Ferguson gambled at half time by bringing on Carlos Tevez, switching his formation and making the game even more open.United did not turn up last night. They did not compete. There was no passion. There was no fire. There was no spark.Manchester United deserved what they got. If you cannot expose that vulnerable Barcelona back four with all the attacking talent at United’s disposal in Rome, something is badly wrong. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side simply didn’t gel. They underachieved from back to front. Cristiano Ronaldo was frustrated and no wonder. United cannot expect Ronaldo to win games for them single-handedly all the time. He needed others to chip in. But where was Wayne Rooney? Defending, mostly — one of the greatest attacking talents on the planet was modelling his game on Park Ji Sung. Ferguson was understandably desperate to nullify Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, because you cannot allow them to take on defenders one on one. An early example of the danger came when Messi got half a yard on the defence and blasted narrowly over the bar.So Rooney found himself doing defensive duties. He’s more willing than most forwards to track back and help out — perhaps too enthusiastic. He struggled to get into the game and didn’t offer enough up front. There are times when a player must ask for help from a team-mate and say: “You keep an eye on him, I’ve got to push forward.” On such a big stage, United couldn’t afford Rooney drifting in and out of the contest. He needs to learn to be braver. There comes a point in a match, if your team are losing or you’re anonymous, when you have to make your own mind up. Great players make great decisions. They don’t need to rely on a manager telling them what to do on the touchline. Rooney should have placed less focus on his defensive duties early on, even if Ferguson hadn’t given him permission to do so. It was especially frustrating because Barcelona looked so vulnerable at the back. Carles Puyol was a red card-in-waiting if United had only run at him more often. United started strongly — but they were knocked out of their stride by Samuel Eto’o’s goal and lost confidence, appearing to be panicked because they were looking to get rid of the ball too quickly at the back. The main problem was that United stood off again and again. Without the suspended Darren Fletcher and the injured Owen Hargreaves, they did not have a protector to patrol the space and make tackles in front of the back four — the role that Michael Essien performed for Chelsea in the semi-final against Barcelona. Still, it was strange after the terrific season that United have had for them to be showing an opponent so much respect. And bizarre that they did exactly what everyone knows you mustn’t: give Barcelona’s playmakers the time and space to pick their passes. United will look back on last night with huge regret .Ferguson does not owe United anything but if he had taken Barcelona more seriously last night the result could have been very different.
Posted by Paul.
May 25, 2009
Goalkeepers. That is my one-word answer to those people who believe that it is impossible for free markets to value something incorrectly for any length of time. Many of the transfer and wage figures that make it into the public domain make sense to me. Sometimes individuals seem a bit pricey or too cheap, but that may be because we haven't seen the full deal or we don't understand the cost of the risk being taken. So English players may seem overpriced, but they come with a smaller risk that they won't adapt to English football. But this isn't true of goalkeepers. Keepers come cheap. And our figures suggest that they shouldn't do. Over years of working on player value, the Fink Tank has reached the conclusion both that a very good goalkeeper makes a huge difference and that a poor one is a massive disadvantage. Of all the players, buying a good 'keeper is among the most important. Yet the price is low. Go figure.hese thoughts were prompted by this year's Fink Tank Player of the Year. As we do at the end of each season, Dr Henry Stott, Dr Ian Graham and Dr Mark Latham have taken every on-field action and tracked the relationship between these actions and the points that each team obtain. Then they have simulated the Barclays Premier League campaign again and again, each time removing a player and seeing the difference to the outcome without them. The final result is a table of the number of points added by each player compared with an average player in the same position playing for an average team. A significant component of the rankings we do is the time spent by each player on the pitch. We could eliminate this element and you would do if you wanted to see who was the most valuable player at any given time. But we want to see who did best this season, so ability to stay injury-free and be picked is important. The ranking is on the graphic. The clear winner is Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, someone who hasn't been mentioned by other pundits but who has finished near the top of the Fink Tank table year after year. Just behind him is Frank Lampard. The England midfield player finishes near the top every season and over a five-year period has certainly been the Premier League's best player. Let's have a look at the different areas of the field. Just behind Cech in the goalkeepers' rankings is Mark Schwarzer. Next comes Heurelho Gomes, in whom Tottenham Hotspur fans had so little faith not too long ago. Tim Howard is fourth, edging out Edwin van der Sar partly because he has played more. Nemanja Vidic heads up the defenders' ranking, with John Terry second (relatively poor for him). Bacary Sagna is third, followed by Rio Ferdinand and Jamie Carragher. Lampard tops the midfield players, narrowly beating Steven Gerrard. Cristiano Ronaldo is next, followed by Xabi Alonso. Denilson, perhaps controversially, comes fifth. Then there are the forwards. Nicolas Anelka is the winner and Robinho is runner-up. If Robinho had played more, he would have been top, an answer to those who think he has been a disappointment. Next comes Wayne Rooney, then Dimitar Berbatov. Finally, even in his relatively poor season, Emmanuel Adebayor comes in fifth among forwards. A couple of other interesting points. Carlos Tévez was one of Manchester United's weakest players. And Deco did pretty well when he was playing. Finally, the great (consistently so) Martin Laursen was Aston Villa's best player. He'll be missed.
Posted by Paul.
May 25, 2009
One of the most coherent articulations that something fishy occurred on Wednesday night came from a source least expected: an opinion piece in a Spanish paper.
To be honest, the paper in question is 'As`, usually the Real Madrid comic. On the surface, this week 'As`, like its cousin 'Marca` has been waving the flag for the Spanish team … whilst also reporting the polemic involved in Barça`s win. Particular glee has been reserved for the assessment of the performance of Jordi Henning Ovrebo, the hapless (and that`s keeping it polite) Norwegian ref who took time off his day job as head of the Norwegian FC Barcelona fan club to toot his blaugrana whistle exclusively towards players in a blue shirt.
The analysis, in an opinion piece by heavyweight contributor Alfredo Relaño, goes like this. According to the variety of sources, Henning managed to blow NOT ONE penalty, forgiving anything between two and five penalties. Relaño considers that there were three definite penalties (according to the parlance, these are 'stonewall` penalties) not given. But what is particularly bizarre is that all the penalties not given were in the away area, where it is much easier to blow. Furthermore, it has been the case for decades that European referees are always more favourable to the home team. That`s not normal.
In fact, whatever way you look at it, Henning`s refereeing of Wednesday`s game was utterly improbable, all the more so when you see the faults in question. 'As` helpfully publishes a scrapbook of these. You can see, for instance, that when Gerard Pique mistakes the sport for basketball, the referee has a very clear vision of what happened, he`s looking straight at the action. Hell, Pique himself admits he handled the ball.
What is more, Henning is a referee who, whilst he doesn`t give penalties that often, certainly does award them. So how did it happen that he didn`t on Wednesday night, therefore significantly altering the result of the game?
There are people who are pointing to a conspiracy. UEFA doesn`t like Chelsea, they have had a bone to pick with us since all that 'death of football` rubbish. Let`s not make it 'personal` and about Chelsea.
Let`s not even make it about ensuring the 'dream` final of Barcelona versus Manchester United. That`s a load of guff and a sophistication beyond UEFA bureaucrats. The two best teams on the continent playing the most attractive football? Please don`t insult us by suggesting that that is the case, and that therefore the competition will be contaminated.
No, the real disaster for UEFA was another all-English final, moreover a repeat of last year`s billing. We`ll pass on the fact that Michel Platini doesn`t like English football, it`s about something a lot more basic than that. It`s about maximising revenues.
Last year`s final was already an all-English affair. It was magnificent for the English fans (because even those that weren`t fans of either team had an interest). But outside the UK, it was a bit of a turn-off. The English markets would have been covered by just the one English team, having two simply saturated the UK-based advertisers. On the other hand, it was hard to reach out to sponsors or broadcasters in other countries. We are guessing that, say, selling the broadcasting rights in Spain or France to last year`s final was not so easy. After all, all countries offer Premier League football, mostly on pay per view, so a Chelsea - Manchester United game is seen at least twice a year, and usually (with the various cups) more often. The attraction for the average football fan of a Chelsea - ManU game, even as a Champions League final, is somewhat limited. Not as exciting as a game pitching together two of the best teams in two different Leagues (preferably big ones, mind, nobody wants to see another Porto - Monaco final).
And the prospect of repeating an all-English final again, moreover with the two same teams, was worrying for UEFA. There is a worry in terms of selling and marketing the final, but also an additional worry about the format of the whole competition. The Champions League is supposed to pitch the very best of the continent, offering exciting matches between clubs that rarely get to play each other. Its marketability is part of this. But UEFA`s money-making capacity is rather reduced if one country dominates the proceedings. Some bright spark could carry out an analysis of the origin of the semi-finalists the last 5 years, they would probably reveal that half of the clubs were English. Hmmm, that`s a potential bottleneck for UEFA in lucrative markets such as Germany or France, not to mention the turn-off in Spain and Italy, who still like to consider themselves as rightful guests at the very top table, and unsatisfied at usurpers from across the channel.
So we can all concur that the prospect of an all English final, what`s more with exactly the same clubs as last year, was not greeted with joy in UEFA`s headquarters. Manchester United already qualified the night before, the idea that it could be Chelse again probably filled them with dread. But from there to dreaming up a conspiracy? Did UEFA ask Henning to alter the result?
Let`s look at it another way. Contrary to what John Terry has said, Tom Henning is an experienced referee. He`s been blowing the whistle at Champions League games for over 4 seasons now. Granted, he had an incident at last year`s European Cup, which caused him to be bundled home. But that was one incident, and he admitted the mistake. It cannot be compared by the conduct in the semi-final whereby his catalogue of (non-) decisions changed the outcome of the game. Maybe the key factor (and this is the idea of Mr Relaño) is that a top referee gets to his position not when they don`t make mistakes, but when they know how to make mistakes in a way that benefits the system. You don`t see, in a World Cup, mistakes being made against Brasil or Germany or the host country, because the referee errs in a way that helps the organisers provide a happy ending to the tournament, the one that is going to be the most beneficial to them.
So if Henning didn`t point to the spot in the Champions League once (and he certainly had the opportunities to practice not doing that), it wasn`t because somebody had explicitly asked him to doctor the result. It was because Henning knew full well how things are. He`s on the payroll of UEFA, he is young enough to have a few more years of whistling ahead of him. Maybe if he was considered as helping deliver to his paymasters a result that they wanted, they would use him for more high-profile games.
Of course it was rather unfortunate for the hapless Norwegian that, contrary to what was expected, Barcelona were making such a meal out of it. They were on the back foot, and under any 'normal` refereeing of the game, Chelsea could well have been 4 up against 10 men. The best and most attractive team on the continent was simply not delivering. Maybe nobody wouldn`t notice his one-sided tooting.
One can imagine his relief when Andres Iniesta`s 93rd minute cannon went in. After all, he`d been doing everything he could to deliver UEFA a favourable result. No wait, one last penalty to refuse before blowing the final whistle.
And so, that`s how this particular conspiracy theory is articulated. Of course, like all conspiracy theories, it`s a crock of rubbish which happily twists the facts to the theory, rather than the obverse. Let`s not give any bandwidth to this kind of childish guff.
After all, it`s hardly probably that, in a Champions League semi-final a ref fails to blow 5 possible (and 3 certain) penalties to the home side. I mean that`s never going to happen, so we don`t have to consider why.
Do we?
Posted by Paul.
May 25, 2009
There was no way of restraining Didier Drogba's anger as Chelsea was denied a spot in the Champions League final in stoppage time by Barcelona on Wednesday.Four security officials and interim manager Guus Hiddink struggled to prevent the finger-jabbing striker from venting his fury at the referee after Andres Iniesta's 93rd-minute equaliser sent the Spanish club through on away goals. A 1-1 draw followed a scoreless first leg."Disgrace," he shouted on the Stamford Bridge pitch while swearing at the television cameras.For Drogba, the semi-final should have been over by halftime - and like Hiddink and captain John Terry, he put the blame entirely on Norwegian official Tom Henning Ovrebo.The first penalty appeal came when Florent Malouda was brought down by Daniel Alves in the 24th minute a meter inside the area, but it was deemed to be on the edge. The Ivory Coast international was denied a strong claim two minutes later after being dragged back by Eric Abidal, who would later be sent off, and again in the 57th after being hauled down by Yaya Toure.Even after Iniesta canceled out Michael Essien's ninth-minute volley and with the clock ticking, the Blues thought Samuel Eto'o had given them a chance to claim a winner from the penalty spot when he appeared to handle."There is an overall feeling of being robbed, injustice," Hiddink said. "That's why the players were so hot and angry and I could understand the emotion of them."If you have seen three or four situations waved away then it's the worst I have seen (from a referee). At this moment I have to think if I have seen worse."Terry issued a staunch defense of Drogba's abuse of the referee."I'm fully behind Didier, the way he reacted," Terry said. "You can see the passion he played with in the game and afterwards. But the fact is the referee is the one who should face the consequences, not Didier and not us by not going through."Players come into these games hoping and praying they don't make mistakes but referees are the same - only they get away with it."Hiddink came to the post-match press conference with meticulous notes of the penalties that never were and clutching a DVD of a match he will struggle to watch again when his four-month tenure ends after the May 30 FA Cup final against Everton."It's not just one decision in doubt but it's several not made decisions," Hiddink said. "In big games like this you need top-notch referees who have had big experience in the leagues of Spain, Italy, England and Germany."For Terry the defeat was even more painful because he was so close to being given a chance to avenge last season's loss to Manchester United in the final and banish memories of his miss in Moscow's penalty shootout. Instead, Barcelona will face United on May 27 in Rome."We did exactly what we needed to do," Terry said. "Not one player made one mistake in the two legs. The referee has made big errors and now we're out. It's a big game with big players and he simply wasn't good enough."Why did we get a referee who has officiated in 10 games in the Champions League in his career? To be given the Champions League semi-final, that's not good enough."Even Barcelona defender Gerard Pique acknowledged that the ball struck his hand when under pressure from Nicolas Anelka in the closing minutes."To be fair the ball touched my hand but I didn't want to touch it," said Pique, who will face his former United teammates in the final. "The ref can decide what he wants and he decided not to say it was a penalty and you have to respect the decisions. Sometimes the decision is wrong but I am just happy to qualify for the final. The other things we cannot control."It wasn't only Chelsea which could leave the ground with a grievance toward the referee. Abidal was sent off in the 66th for a challenge on Anelka in the penalty area despite appearing to make minimal contact with the French striker. That red card rules the defender out of the final......Actual it was all displayed on the uefa website that the final result will be 1-1 and the ame prediction of the yellow card.....my only question remain what if we could have take our chance someone told me once that sometimes you have to push your luck a little bit harder and today we didn't and we pay for that..........
Posted by Paul.
May 25, 2009
helsea are through to the Champions League semi-finals after a 4-4 home draw – 7-5 on aggregate – against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. An incredible game in West London saw Chelsea and Liverpool share eight goals, as The Reds threw away a two goal lead, but then rallied only for the home side to respond in kind and progress through to a semi-final meeting with Barcelona. On the 25 occasions that an away team have won the first leg of a Champions League fixture, only once has a team failed to progress. Liverpool nearly made it two. If Liverpool dominated the first half against a nervy looking Chelsea side, then the second half, if not belonging to the home side, they showed great character in taking the game to the visitors. When Fernando Torres missed an early chance it seemed as if Liverpool would struggle to score the three goals necessary to progress into the semi-finals of the Champions League. But Chelsea seemed uncertain how to cope with a 3-1 first leg lead and handed the initiative to the Reds. On 19 minutes Liverpool pulled a goal back with an audacious free kick from Aurelio. With Chelsea stopper Petr Cech expecting a conventional delivery he left his post unmarked and the Brazilian drove home from 25 yards. Nine minutes later and the visitors had deservedly drawn level on aggregate. This time Aurelio's free kick drifted into the penalty area and Ivanovic is spotted by Spanish referee Luis Medina holding down Alonso – penalty. Alonso sends Cech the wrong way and blasts Liverpool two goals to the good. Still Chelsea failed to respond and on the stroke of half time the Reds almost get a third. First, Dirk Kuyt's header is clawed away by Cech, then when the ball is returned a goalmouth scramble ensues which the home side are fortunate to escape without conceding. Within a minute of the restart and Cech raced out of his goal almost gifting a chance to Liverpool. But then Chelsea began to claw their way back. On 50 minutes Anelka's low cross was met with the faintest of touches by Didier Drogba and keeper Reina fumbled the ball over the line. A thunderbolt free kick from Alex brought Chelsea level as Liverpool began to wilt. Then, when Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead with 15 minutes remaining it seemed as if Liverpool were down and out. Yet this game still had more twists to come. Lucas shot from distance took a deflection and it was now 3-3. Two minutes later and Liverpool were back in front; Riera crossed and Kuyt powered home a header. With eight minutes remaining The Reds just needed to score one more time to knock Chelsea out at the quarter final stage. But it was Frank Lampard who had the final say, as Liverpool pushed forward, Chelsea broke quickly and Lampard curled in his second of an unbelievable night to make it 4-4. Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink admitted harsh words were said at half time. "We got angry, and why not? "We only started playing just before the break. A few tactical tweaks were necessary but mainly we gave Liverpool too much respect. "That's what I liked about the second half, the way the team reacted. "We sat too far back defensively and asked for problems which we got."
Liverpool chief Rafa Benitez was proud of his team and supporters. "We are disappointed to score four goals away in an unbelievable game and not get anything. "I'm disappointed for the player's and for the fans. "When we scored the second goal I had confidence, but there was no rush to score a third goal. "Even when they scored we still controlled things but against top class players if you make a mistake you get punished, and that's what happened."
Posted by Paul.
May 25, 2009
It might sound harsh but I believe it's fair to say that Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was the architect of his club's downfall in their 3-1 quarter-final first league defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League in his adherence to zonal marking at set pieces.Chelsea took maximum advantage of the inherent flaws of the defensive system he deployed at Anfield but they helped themselves because Benitez got it wrong on two other counts.Not only did the Spaniard opt for the wrong defensive strategy but also chose the wrong team and failed to properly gee up the ones that played so they failed to rise to the challenge of protecting their early lead.he zonal marking system at corners and free-kicks is a dangerous ploy because it means that the attacking team's command of the situation is strengthened as their players are given the freedom to make runs on goal.The defending team's best headers of the ball will be stationed around the six-yard box but the problem for Liverpool is that Benitez's best headers of the ball - Sami Hyypia and Daniel Agger – were on the substitutes' bench when the goals were flying in.They should have been in the thick of it because everyone would have known that Chelsea would have been at their most threatening at set-plays thanks to the aerial power of John Terry, Alex, Didier Drogba and Branislav Ivanovic.The zonal marking system shows that the manager is confident in his team's ability of repel set pieces but it creates too much uncertainty for my liking.Defenders lose their grip on what is already a threatening situation because of a lack of contact with their opponents who are able to use the element of surprise to their own advantage.The opposite is the case with the man-for-man marking system which I favour.When you go man-for-man the responsibilities are crystal clear, confusion minimised and the room for error is reduced.That's because you simply put you best header of the ball against their best header of the ball and so on. It's not rocket science.If your players aren't strong enough or quick enough to get to the ball first then they should do everything in their power to make sure their man doesn't make a clean contact.To do that you've got to show plenty of aggression when you're not up to it and that is a quality that was conspicuous in its absence in the Liverpool defence against Chelsea because the defenders didn't seem determined enough to get their heads to the ball first.They just didn't seem to be in the right frame of mind which is something the manager should take responsibility for. The chemistry was all wrong
Posted by Paul.
March 22, 2009
My first thought would be that it seems like it was made at Old Trafford - I
don't think they could have hoped for a better outcome.My second thought is that there is a really strong sense of deja-vu about all
of this. Villarreal played Arsenal in the semi-finals three years ago and
United and Porto feel like they have played a million times before. Maybe
they haven't, but the memorable tie was the one that launched Jose
Mourinho's career in 2004.
Chelsea and Liverpool have played each other an incredible amount of times in
the past year and, although Barcelona and Bayern Munich don't have too much
recent history, they will be rather annoyed that they have drawn each other.I think Bayern Munich certainly have the tools to win - they would have been
one of my outsiders at the start of the season.Complicating things for Bayern is that after assembling such a strong squad in
the summer, they thought they were going to walk the Bundesliga, but instead
things are incredibly tight. Hertha are top of the league, but Wolfsburg,
Hoffenheim and Hamburg are all putting them under pressure. So in their
minds Bayern would have hoped to lock up the league and devote all their
time and attention to the Champions League. That's not the case at all so
that goes against them.I think Arsenal are the favourites, but I don't know that they are strong
favourites. I think the way Arsenal play means that they are always going to
be open to conceding goals. They are not a clinical side and they are
certainly not a side that puts ten men behind the ball.But Villarreal are a side that can hurt you. In Marcus Senna they have one of
the better holding midfielders and Giusseppe Rossi, one of the better young
strikers on the Continent. So I think the tools are there.Villarreal have already shown that they are a threat this season, drawing with
United twice. And since everyone over in England is going crazy about
United's chances and proclaiming them as the best team since I don't know
when, Villarreal have to be seen as realistic outsiders, they are a tricky
customer.Having said that, I think the edge has to be with Arsenal since by the time
they play I expect Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor to be fit.I think it's going to be very tough. Jesualdo Ferreira, their manager, is a
guy who has endured so much criticism from day one but he and his team have
overcome that and as a result Porto have a wonderful resilience about them.
By hook or by crook they get the results.Certainly they have had a little bit of good fortune on their side this
season, but they have real flare. In Lisandro Lopez they have a player who
although I am not in love with him, many others feel is the best striker
outside the major European leagues. Lucho Gonzalez is an absolute bad-ass in
midfield and I am sure a lot of tabloid headline writers will have a lot of
fun with the fact that Porto have a centre forward named Hulk.I think this is a very tough one to call because you have to balance this tie
against what might happen in the league. I don't know that Hiddink has
necessarily transformed anything, certainly he wouldn't say he has, he's
just not Scolari. He's very good at managing short-term situations, as he
has shown in the past.It's hard to find a way to knock what Liverpool are doing. People have said "you
can't win without Torres" and they did. People said "you can't win
without Gerrard" and they did. And people said "you can't win
without Gerrard and Torres" and they went to the Bernabeu, without
either of them, and won.Liverpool are tailor-made for knockout football and I don't think that there
is a better manager in the world in this two-legged situation. So I think it
is going to be absolutely fascinating to see Benitez cross swords with
Hiddink.On paper, United have to be favourites because it's almost as if Sir Alex
himself has made this draw.On the other hand, I have to stick to my belief that the favourites rarely win
in knockout football. So with that in mind, I will lean toward whoever comes
through the Liverpool v Chelsea semi-final.I think if Bayern get past Barcelona they will be very tough and I also think
Villarreal are capable of springing a real surprise but i still fancy my chelsea to go for treble in fact am more optimistic now after double slip by man utd thou am disappointed we didn't capitalize on their recent loss to fulham but still we can sneak it up....tell me what you think.....lugwaja
Posted by Paul.
March 16, 2009
Brawn GP proved its stunning Barcelona pace was no fluke by comfortably topping the times again as the final pre-season test got underway at Jerez.While six teams completed their track preparations for the new season at the Circuit de Catalunya earlier this week, McLaren, Renault, Williams and Brawn have headed south for one final test before the Australian Grand Prix.And following on from its remarkable performance with its new BGP 001 car at Barcelona, where it headed the timesheet by over 0.8s on the final two days, Brawn GP was at it again on Sunday as Rubens Barrichello led the way by over half a second.Indeed the team has already shattered the benchmark time for a full-spec 2009 car at Jerez this winter, with Barrichello’s best effort of 1m19.236s almost 0.6s faster than Toyota’s Timo Glock managed at the circuit earlier this month better watch out next week for the mclaren and ferrari just like man utd should do on the brinks of chelsea come back ....great work by Gus hiddink and Ross brawn
Posted by Paul.
March 16, 2009
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around,went out to the forest, and started catching them.
The man bought thousands at $10 and as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further
announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys
again.Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to
$25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The
man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business,his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. "Look at all these monkeys in the big cagethat the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys.Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market really works.
Posted by Paul.
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