Game Plan - Aston Villa v Arsenal

Well on boxing day, all the crazy fans of Premier League will going to see one of the hot matches of the season between Arsenal v Aston Villa. Itz the battle between two of the finest football managers Wenger and O'Neil. Already Arsenal lost to Villa by 2-0 at Emirates and Villa will be looking towards to make it double on Wenger side. Arsenal will be without Fabregas and Adebayor which will cost them dearly. For Wenger and Arsenal fans the big real question is who will run the show in the absence of Fabregas and how Arsenal are going to stop the rocket speed pace from Ashley Young and Agbonlahor. Barry will be the man who will supply the huge number of balls to Young and Agbonlahor and Petrov will be doing the dirty works. Villa have a commanding defence in Cuellar, Davies and Laursen. So here i've a game plan for Arsenal...

I would definitely go with a 4-5-1 formation for this game. If we go out with just two centre midfielders, neither of them Fabregas, then we will be over run in the centre by Barry, Sidwell and Petrov who bossed us last game around. I actually think playing Diaby behind van Persie, with Denilson and Song sitting deeper, we would have a pretty combative midfield force, both physically and also in terms of skill and vision. I'm not leaving Bendtner on the bench because I prefer Eboue or anything like that, I just think it would be naive to go with a four man midfield without Fabregas to Villa Park, also Bendtner was totally 100% owned by the Villa centre halfs at the Emirates.On the wing, playing Eboue is necessary to provide Sagna with much needed cover against one of, imo the most dangerous players in the league in Young. We'll need Eboue tracking back against him the whole time, and Nasri will have to work hard too. Up front, van Persie is going to need alot of support from Diaby because Laursen and Davies have formed an excellent partnership, one that we will struggle against, so RvP is going to have to be at his sharpest to get anything out of them, imo. Nasri is going to have an important part to play because he up against Luke Young who he could cause alot of problems for, in theory, causing the CB's to pull apart, leaving space for Diaby.

Defensively, I don't think I need to point out how dangerous the likes of Young and Agbonlahor can be and Agbonlahor's performance at the Emirates is evidence of this. Djourou's pace should prove to suit us better than Silvestre's lack of when facing quick opposition such as Agbonlahor and Young. Also, his strong aerial pressence should prove an advantage in what will be a tough test against Carew. Another thing I notice is that Ashley Young does go down easily tbh, I'm not having a go at him, though I don't respect it, I'm mentioning it as a potential problem for us, especially as we are prone to making tackles that although aren't necessarily fouls, force the ref to make a call. Its something we need to watch.Overall, I can't say that I'm particularly confident about this game tbh. I know we're capable of winning but really it depends on which Arsenal team shows up mentally on the day. This is already a really tough game, but without Fabregas and Adebayor - obviously two of our most important players, we could struggle. But, I have faith in Wenger and there is alot to be positive about from the performances of Song, Diaby and Denilson after Fabregas and Ade went off and I know we can win... just really important that we play like a top four team because anything other than a win here leaves Villa three, or even six points ahead of us and also would leave us potentially 12 points off the top. Biggest game of the season?

My line-up would be:
Almunia

Sagna - Gallas - Djourou - Clichy

Eboue - Denilson - Song - Nasri

Diaby

van Persie

Where is The Home Grown Players ?

While on Manchester United's foray in Japan for the World Club Championships, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has once again reiterated that he would like to see a limit on foreign players in the starting XI's in the Premier League, with the United boss all in favour of having to field 6 British players in the starting XI.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's match against Gamba Osaka Ferguson said: "I think it should be a concern when local and national players are not given opportunities, so therefore eventually there have to be limitations on foreign players. That way clubs' youth systems are protected. Progress is progress and the future has to protect the national game."

Even though we all know this contravenes EU law and is highly unlikely to be introduced. What would happen in the Premiership if it, was introduced today?

The first club that springs to mind would be Arsenal, having fielded an entire team of foreign imports on more than one occasion. However, they do have 11 players from the British Isles in the first team squad, though not one of these players is out of their teens yet. So while they have youngsters coming through they would struggle to have six British players start for them in the Premier League and be competitive. Leaving them to field their Carling Cup kids to meet the quota.

Chelsea, don't even have the option of fielding British youngsters, because they simply don't have any. While they do have 5 England Internationals at Stamford Bridge if you look further than that they only have 2 other English players in the first team squad. Yes they also have Michael Mancienne on loan at Wolves, but with Luiz Felipe Scolari willing to send a player out on loan that has pushed himself into the thoughts of England boss Fabio Capello, with his performances for the Under-21's. What message does that send to the British schoolboys at the club?

You then look at Liverpool and it would appear that Rafa Benitez's side would struggle immediately if this quota was introduced. Only 8 English players and Irishman Robbie Keane in the squad, with only Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher along with Keane likely to be in Rafa's starting line-up on any given match day. In fact no British talent has emerged from the Red half of Merseyside and been used by Liverpool consistently since Gerrard and Carragher along with Michael Owen burst on to the football scene many years ago now. They have 7 British players out on loan, but we all know these players are highly unlikely to feature for the Reds in the future.

So now to Blackburn, who you might have thought, would have a British heart and soul? Not at all, only 6 English players, 3 Irish and a Welshman and of these they could just about scrape together the required 6. For 3 of these 10 players are goalkeepers and Danny Simpson is on loan. So Blackburn would struggle to as they are now anyway if this quota were to be introduced.
So is it any surprise that Ferguson would like to see this quota introduced, with the knowledge that as it stands now it would severely impair his three closest rivals, while having little effect on his own side. If you go through the rest of the squads in the Premier League most clubs would be ok, with all the other clubs having enough British players on their books that either play for the first team or have a realistic chance of playing in it. Tottenham might have the best of it, with Spurs able to field 7 England Internationals, 3 England Under-21's, 2 Welsh Internationals and a Scottish International if all fit. Although one of the Under-21's is on loan, but could still field a very strong side as they have the players there to choose from. Aston Villa would find it very easy to, with their current crop at Villa Park.

So regardless of whether a quota is ever introduced shouldn't clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Blackburn and to a lesser extent Arsenal as the Gunners have a crop of English youngsters coming through, be looking to produce some real home grown talent and not be looking abroad every time, when trying to find new recruits for their clubs? Not just for their progression, but for the progression of the game in England.

Is It Clubs or Players

The last day of the transfer window was really, really exciting it has to be said. September 1st 2008, Man City announce they suddenly have all the money in the world, Robinho ends up at Eastlands and Dietmar Berbatov has to choose between the two Manchester clubs while the whole world looked on, excited.

Berbatov of course chose United in the end. That day did bring up the age old question about player-power, as both Robinho and The Berb had adjitated for a long time to get their transfers done. Robinho had come out 24 hours before and announced his objective was Chelsea, and

Berbatov refused to play for Spurs untill they let him go north.

So as the next transfer window rolls around, it got me thinking, are we really living in an age for player power? Or, are the clubs starting to take it back?
Because, I don’t think its quite as cut and dry as the players being in control. Sure, The Berb and Robinho left their clubs with no choice but to sell them off - but Robinho didn’t end up where he expected. And Berbatov had to take matters into his own hands, and drive to Manchester himself.
The last day might have been really exciting, but remember the rest of the transfer window? They all really long sagas, where the players ended up going nowhere. Gareth Barry is still at Aston Villa even though he said in the press he wanted to join Liverpool, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t complete the “dream” move to Madrid, Xavi Alonso handed in a transfer request and is still at Liverpool, Frank Lampard stayed in London despite the The Special One trying to woo him to Milan and Didier Drogba stayed put even though he made absolutely no secret of the fact he wanted to hell out of West London.

It was mostly the same story abroad. Samuel Eto’o didn’t go anywhere despite being told by Barca he could, David Villa neither came to the Prem or moved to Madrid, and despite rumours to the contray, Kaká stopped talking about wanting to play in the Prem.
So a very large percentage of those seemingly unhappy players didn’t move at all? So do the clubs actually have the power afterall? Barca could have been held to ransom by Eto’o. but they weren’t. Drogba didn’t do a Berbatov and fly to Milan to negotiate with Mourinho himself afterall, and Ronaldo didn’t have the bottle to burn his bridges alá Robinho.

The truth is for the players, is that largely they aren’t in control anymore, especially in the Prem. Because some of the owners are absurdly rich, they can’t be held to ransom anymore. If Drogba had tried to get out, Roman could have concievably just left him in the reserves complaining. He can afford to. He did with Shevchenko afterall.
But with the Credit Crisis looming, I think we need to turn the question around. The people who have the power now, are neither the club that owns the player, or the player adjitating for a move. The people with the power are the buying club.

Gareth Barry would have gone to Liverpool if they would have paid the £18m Villa valued him for. So Villa have a bit of power there, in that they put the pricetag up, but Liverpool were the ones in control, as they could have got him if they got behind the deal as they did with Robbie Keane. They basically picked Keane ahead of Barry. Looks like a mistake now.The same is true of Eto’o. The only people willing to pay for him were the retirement homes, and he still wanted to play at the top. So he had no choice but to stay. Drogba too - Milan didn’t want to pay Chelsea’s asking price, and neither did Inter.

Ronaldo, it seems wasn’t convinced enough that Real would actually stump up the money. He could have sat out alá Berbatov, he could have gone on strike, but if Real wouldn’t have paid the money that United wanted, he’d be left completely in the lurch.
Just look at Robinho. It’s lucky for him that City did suddenly have loads of money to throw around, because Chelsea seems disinterested in paying £30m for him. If City hadn’t suddenly become richer than God, then he would have been stranded. Not wanted by Madrid, not wanted by anyone else.

So while players can still weild a bit of power and talk about moving all they like, really they have to be sure that the interested club is that interested. Perhaps this is why we have yet to see the big clubs initiate the ‘Webster Clause’ (where players can buy out their contracts and move abroad). Theoretically it’d be easy for clubs to pay the contract for the players and let them move on, but the player would have to be 110% sure the club actually would do it, or they could end up without a club.

Ronaldo - Form is Temporary and Class is Permanent...

Well, Ronny finally got a job today. But it’s not Milan or Man City or Sampdoria or even Siena. It’s Corinthians, a club with a big history but one fresh out of the doldrums of second-tier Brazilian footballer. Hardly the type of club you’d think would be in for the likes of Ronaldo. Injured and a bit past his prime, but as the old saying goes: form is temporary, class is permanent. So this brings up the obvious question: is Ronaldo done in big time European football? Or could this just be a launching pad as he attempts to regain even a shred of the greatness he once had?

Given his injury history - four major, major problems - you’d have to think this is the end of Ronaldo at the highest level. His knees must aspire to bone-on-bone at this point, and though his pace hasn’t been a factor for a couple years, you’ve got to wonder how mobile he is anymore. Plus look at that picture. Yeah, he’s injured, but his weight issues have only been growing for years. Can’t imagine he’s going to look too svelte when the Brazilian Serie A kicks off.

Almost a sad day as, at only 32, one of the true greats from this generation has seemingly played his last game at the highest of high levels…or has he?

Serie A Week 15 Wrapup

0-1 CHIEVO VERONA v AS ROMA (Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi)

In the 69th minute a goal from Jeremy Menez sealed fifth successive voctory for Roma after they had disaster start to the season. Menez left-footed gave credibility win despite of late sent-off of Matteo Brighi just five minutes from the time.

0-3 SS LAZIO v INTER MILAN (Stadio Olimpico)

Home side Lazio were crushed by league leaders Inter 3-0 at Stadio Olimpico to stay comfort at top of the league table. Lazio's Modibo Diakite gifted them a second in first-half stoppage time thru his own goal after Walter Samuel put Inter into the lead in the 2nd minute. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (55) added a third for Inter, who are gaining momentum with this, their sixth consecutive win in Serie A.

3-0 ATALANTA v UDINESE CALCIO (Stadio Azzurri D`Italia)

Christian Vieri and Cristiano Doni struck late on after Jaime Valdes had broken the deadlock with his second goal of the season. A loss for Udinese remain in tenth on the table with five defeats in trot and Atalanta grab the seventh place. Atalanta were without injured midfield duo Antonio D'Agostino and Luca Cigarini they just dropped four points in seven home games.

1-0 CAGLIARI v US PALERMO (Stadio San Elia)

Cagliari bagged a barely deserved win over Palermo 1-0 at Stadio San Elia. In the 34th minute Michele Fini stuck a controversial goal to see the victory. Palermo players screaming for offside but the referee waved their complaints away. Palermo took the game into the oppositionin the second half but they failed to find the equaliser. Now both teams sitting on 11th and 12th on the table with same points and goal difference and both were 8 points clear from relegation zone.

1-2 US LECCE v JUVENTUS FC (Stadio Via del Mare)

Juventus snatched a late win over Lecce to beat them 2-1 at Via del Mare through Amauri goal just one minute from time. A win for Juve are sitting second on the table along with Milan on better goal difference. Juventus took the lead 12 minutes into the second period when Giovinco's perfect free-kick from the edge of the box found its way into the Lecce net via the fingertips of Benussi. In the 83rd minute, Daniele Cacia latched onto Guillermo Giacomazzi's cross and volleyed a neat left-footed effort past Alex Manninger. Amauri had the last laugh heading home Paolo de Ceglie's cross a minute from time to secure the points at the Stadio Via del Mare and keep Lecce just one point above the drop zone.

1-0 AC MILAN v CATANIA CALCIO (San Siro)

Kaka's 65th minute gave Milan a very narrow win over Catania 1-0 at San Siro to stay third on the table with 30 points, a 6 points shy from league leaders Inter. Milan came to face Catania with terrible defeats at the hands of Palermo and knocked out of Coppa Italia. Milan, having to do without the injured Ronaldinho and Pirlo.

2-0 SSC NAPOLI v AC SIENA (Stadio San Paolo)

A goals from Christian Maggio and substitute German Denis saw off Siena and took Napoli back to the winning ways. With this win Napoli sitting on the fourth spot with 27 points, three points away from Juventus and Milan and nine points from Inter.

2-2 REGGINA CALCIO v BOLOGNA FC (Stadio Oreste Granillo)

Clash of the Serie A basement table at Stadio Oreste Granillo as both relegation teams ended the match 2-2 draw. Both the teams failed to take the advantage to climb back from the basement level. Bologna were the most happiest team of the two as thet came back twice in this match thru Francesco Valliani-53 and Marco di Vaio-61 goals. Bernardo Corradi and Edgar Barreto scored for Reggina in the either half in 40th min and 56 th min.

1-4 TORINO FC v AC FIORENTINA (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Fiorentina registered an emphatic win over struggling Torino 4-1. Hosts took early lead in 2nd minute from Adrian Mutu before Alberto Gilardino doubled the visitors' advantage before break. Zdravko Kuzmanovic made it three after the break but Alessandro Rosina pulled a consolation goal from penalty and Gilardino completed his brace late on to restore Fiorentina's three-goal cushion. With this win Fiorentina are in fifth place with 26 points.

0-1 UC SAMPDORIA v GENOA (Comunale Luigi Ferraris)

A 50th minute header from Serie A top goal scored Diego Milito gave Genoa a win. Sampdoria had two goals disallowed in an action-packed second half after the first 45 minutes had disappointed. The statistics for the first half told the story of the opening 45 minutes - three yellow cards for Genoa, two for Sampdoria and almost a foul every minute punctuated a combative derby in which both sides looked nervous.

La Liga Week 14 Wrapup

2-5 SPORTING GIJON v ATLETICO MADRID (Estadio Municipal El Molinon)

Atletico booked their only second away win of the season by overwhelming Sporting 5-2 at Muncipal El Molinon. With this Atletico Madrid are just two points behind their city rivals Real Madrid and Sporting Gijon left at 12th in the table. Atletico super stars Sergio Augero and Diefo Forlan both completed their brace along with Maxi Rodriguez. Before this match Atletico were heavily questioned with last three successive draws on the road and in the last two matches against lowly Osasuna and Numancia. Gijon's Mate Bilic put the home side in fron in 3rd minute and David Barral in the 61st minute.

3-3 VILLAREAL CF v GETAFE FC (El Madrigal)

Just seven minutes from the time Getage were clebrating the likely win with the lead of 3-1, but Villareal tormented them to stuck a two late goals to level the score 3-3 at El Madrigal. Otherwise Villareal would have been faced second successive home defeat. Early goals from Esteban Granero, Jaime Gavilan and Javier Casquero saw Getafe race into a three-goal lead after just 30 minutes in the first half. But Robert Pires began the Villarreal fightback 10 minutes after the interval, Sebastien Eguren pulled another goal back eight minutes from time before Giuseppe Rossi bagged the equaliser shortly afterwards to compete an extraordinary comeback. Villareal is second on the table with 6 points shy from leader Barcelona and two points ahead of Valencia and Sevilla with 29 points.

4-0 FC BARCELONA v VALENCIA CF (Nou Camp)

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry scored hat-trick at Nou Camp in an exhilarating contest to dismantle Valencia 4-0. With this win Barcelona are sitting on to of the table with 35 points, 6 clear of second placed Villareal. Henry netted first in the 20th min and added second after 8 minutes. Dani Alves put Barcelona three up just after the break and Henry completed his hat-trick late on to wrap up a highly impressive Barcelona win.

3-3 OSASUNA v REAL VALLADOLID (Estadio Reyno de Navarra)

Osasuna received a major setback draw against Valladolid when they were 3-0 until the hour mark as Valladolid came back to settle the game 3-3 at Reyno de Navarra. Goals from Dady who scored brace and Javad Nekounam ensured Osasuna second victory of the season but Valladolid spelled dooms on them by scoring three goals in the last 30 min of the game. Henok Goitom scored the goal on the hour mark and then Miguel Flano gifted Valladoild through own goal and then Bartholomew Ogbeche did the rest and leveld the game. Osasuna have the nightmare fixtures ahead after taking on fellow basement team Recreativo and Getafe. And in January 2009 will be the hell fixtures for basement team when they are going to face Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villareal.

2-1 NUMANCIA v ALMERIA (Estadio Nuevo Los Pajaritos)

Ten men Numancia pipped Almeria 2-1 at Los Pajaritos to stay 1 point away from drop zone and a point below to Almeria. Almeria failed to take the ten men advantage of Numnacia when sent off for a second yellow card after a foul on Palazon Juanma Ortiz. Almeria coach Gonzalo Arconada came with vote of confidence after five defeats in seven la liga games. Esteban Solari gave Almeria a lead in the 12th minute thru controversial penalty. Numancia hit back thru Javier del Pino goal from Juan Querro cross. Then Asier Goiria gave victory to Numancia when he collected Bokero's header. Overall this match produced 10 yellow cards and one sent-off.

2-0 DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA v MALAGA CF (Estadio Riazor)

In the space of four minutes Lafita and Omar Bravo saw off Malaga 2-0 at Riazor as Deportivo collected their third successive win in la liga to grab the 7th place. Malaga frustrated Depor in hard fought match. Malaga drop into the bottom half, but remain comfortably clear of the relegation zone in 11th place.

2-3 REAL MALLORCA v RECREATIVO HUELVA (San Moix)

Recreativo's Javi Fuego gave the finishing touch to beat Real Mallorce 3-2 at San Moix as they came back twice. With this win Recreativo remained in the drop zone still. In the 16th minute Mallroca took the lead thru David Navarro but nine minutes later Marc Ruben leveled for Recreativo. Mallorca's Jose Manuel Jurado restored the lead 10 minutes before the interval. Adrian Colunga equalised for visitors second time just three minutes from the first half break. Javi Fuego struck eight minutes after the break to seal a much-needed victory for the struggling Recreativo.

1-1 RACING SANTANDER v ATHLETIC BILBAO (Estadio El Sardinero)

Racing were draw the game 1-1 against Athletic Bilbao at El Sardinero. Athletico who were in search for their first away victory but denied by Racing. Athletic went right way when Francisco Yeste put them ahead with a deflected free-kick early in the second half but the tide turned against them when Pablo Orbaiz was dismissed for his second yellow card in the closing stages. Racing hit back to steal a share of the spoils when Gorka Iraizoz spilled a cross from Gonzalo Colsa into his own net with seven minutes left on the clock.

1-1 REAL BETIS v RCD ESPANYOL (Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera)

57th minute goal from Achille Emana put Betis into the lead and to a sixt win in eight matches but Espanyol's substitute Coro beat the offside trap to silence the crowd at the Estadio Manuel Luiz de Lopera with an unlikely equaliser on 71 minutes. With this draw Espanyol ended their four successive defeats.

3-4 REAL MADRIS v SEVILLA FC (Santiago Bernabeu)

This match produced high electrifying entertainment and action packed in front of 70,000 fans, they got to see eight yellow cards and one sent-off and seven goals. Sevilla beat Real Madrid 4-3, a huge blow to the home side. Inside 40 minutes Sevilla killed the game with 3-1 lead but Madrid came back in the second half but its not enough to escape the defeat. But the 77th minute sending-off of the hugely-impressive Arjen Robben was a massive setback for Madrid, and seven minutes after that Renato Dirnei headed home Sevilla's winner. Madrid welcomed back Fabio Cannavaro, Robben and Gonzalo Higuain after injury. Sevilla took the lead through Adriano after Iker Casillas had failed to cut out a right-wing cross in 3rd minute. 16 minutes later Madrid's Raul long-serving striker got on the end of Guti's curling free-kick to glance a header low past Palop. In the next 20 minutes Ndri Romaric and Frederic Kanoute did the damage to Madrid. In the 65th minute, Fernando Gago headed home Guti's free-kick. Five minutes from the time Kanoute did the hard work down the right and his cross into the middle found Renato completely unmarked and he had the simple task of heading past Casillas.

Ince Would Be Wise To Patient..

Roy Keane may be grabbing all the headlines at the moment but he isn't the only former Manchester United player-turned-manager who has found the going tough lately. While the former Sunderland boss has now resigned after his club's poor start to the season, Paul Ince's Blackburn are a place below the Black Cats in the Premiership table having lost five of their last six league games.Rovers take on top-of-the-table Liverpool on Saturday and are 5/2 to go down in the football betting. They last won against Newcastle in September, coincidentally the last game in which Roque Santa Cruz scored, and are now in something of a crisis. Blackburn haven't had any realistic title ambitions for a number of years but are an established Premiership club and it would be a disaster for them to be relegated.

Ince deserves more time though. He's learnt his trade in the lower leagues and impressed at the clubs he's coached so far. He managed to save Macclesfield from relegation and won the Football League Trophy and League Two title with MK Dons. The Blackburn board deserve praise for giving him a chance at the highest level but it is a huge transition moving from League Two to the Premiership. Ince's experience of playing at that level is not a guarantee of success, as many other former great players have found, including of course his former midfield partner Keane.
Ince is refusing to panic however, insisting his side have been playing well enough to win but haven't been taking their chances and have made some bad defensive mistakes. They could have done without the League Cup game at Old Trafford, with the Premiership being such a priority. A win could have lifted the whole club and provided an impetus to start climbing the league, but conceding five goals, despite scoring three, just compounds the negativity around Ewood Park. Ince isn't being helped by injury and illness in his squad, but is determined to prove he can cut it at this level, and should be given the time to do so.

Is FA Growing Pair On Chants Investigation...

I think a lot of FAs and other governing organizations believe that if you just investigate things long enough, and if you keep telling everybody that there’s an investigation in progress, people will eventually lose interest in the result.

This seems to be the case with the English FA’s investigation of chants directed towards Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mido. Chants were directed against the Egyptian striker as he came on as subsitute at the Riverside in Saturday’s goalless draw. The FA wrote to the Tyne and Tees clubs last August after a similar outburst from the stands and issued Newcastle with a final warning. But no banning orders have been handed out and the FA has simply promised a new investigation into the repeat incident.
Final warning? Uh-huh. Sure.

The FA’s statement?
‘Last season we wrote to Newcastle and made it quite clear we did not want a repetition of this incident. We have written to them again and await their response.’
Because hell, yeah. That’ll stop it.

In the FA’s defense, they continue with:
‘In the meantime, I would repeat that we condemn any racist abuse or chanting and are determined to stamp it out. We will also help focus on identifying the individuals and support the club and police in taking the strongest possible action against them.’

This sounds good, on the surface. Except that if I’m reading this right, rather than doing anything themselves, the FA is supporting the club in its obviously diligent attempts to root out abuse among their own ticket-buying, money-paying supporters.

Yup, I’m pretty sure that’ll work.
Other countries and organizations have shown that this kind of abuse doesn’t just stop on its own. It requires that strong actions be taken, and that the strong actions actually hurt. Do we really think that Atletico Madrid fans are going to be tolerating racist chants again any time soon after their two-match Champions League stadium ban? And are any of the rest of us going to forget how eerie it was to watch these games being played in that empty stadium? That’s the kind of thing that makes even the most racist fans think twice before they act.

I believe it’s time for the English FA to grow a pair.

Ribery Unhappy on Ballon d' Or

The Ballon d’Or is nothing if not a lightning rod for controversy and year-long verbal sparring matches with inflatable gloves. Yes, some deserving players win it. Others not so deserving also win it. In short, it’s like nearly every other award handed out by any other organization in the world.

But perhaps worth the debate is to get inside the minds of the journalists who vote on the award through the actual point totals. A bunch of journalists who have pissed off Franck Ribery.The “shortlist” of 30 was whittled down to 26 because four players didn’t receive a single vote (nor a lovely parting gift, which is equally as cruel).
The points list:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester Utd), 446 points

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), 281 pts

3. Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), 179 pts

4. Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), 133 pts

5. Xavi Hernandez (Spain, Barcelona), 97 pts

6. Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Zenit St Petersburg), 64 pts

7. David Villa (Spain, Valencia), 55 pts

8. Kaka (Brazil, Milan), 31 pts

9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Internazionale), 30 pts

10 Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool), 28 pts

11. Marcos Senna (Spain, Villarreal),16 pts.

12. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Arsenal), 12 pts.

13. Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United), 11 pts.

14. Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Atletico Madrid), 10 pts.

15. Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea), 8 pts.

16. Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), 7 pts.

17. Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, Barcelona), 6 pts.

18. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus), 5 pts.

19. Michael Ballack (Germany, Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal), 4 pts.

21. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), 3 pts.

24. Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands, Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands, Real Madrid), 2 pts.
No votes: Karim Benzema (France, Lyon), Pepe (Portugal, Real Madrid), Luca Toni (Italy, Bayern Munich), Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands, Real Madrid), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia, CSKA Moscow).

And this list doesn’t please Franck so much. And here what i said after the results :

“Frankly, I am disappointed by my ranking. I should have deserved better. Last year, I finished seventh having played six months for Marseille and six months at Bayern, without having won any titles. Here, I am 16th in the list at the end of a massive season with Bayern. We were champions of Germany, won the national cup and reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup. I also picked up a number of individual awards, for example the best player in the Bundesliga. I achieved something amazing but you have to accept the verdict.”

Almost refreshing to see an athlete spout off at not being given his due credit for his individual performances. Almost. But the rank of Ribery at 16 is criminal, and really does nothing to help give this award any sort of credible legitimacy. He was an immense success at Bayern as far and away the best player for a team which cruised to the title and only lost 2 league games all year. Some even thought he was the deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or.

Even more, though, is that this reflects poorly on France, the country which produced France Football (duh), the award organizer. Only one with a vote and he comes in 16th place. Doesn’t appear there was any hometown rigging, does it? Which, I suppose, is one of the few good things we can say about the Ballon d’Or.

On my one side is really Ribery turned a non-story into sour grapes, in my opinion. the top 5 are SPOT on ha most probably - and some may cant really cares about the rest - do we think the sportswriters really started paying attention at no 15 or no 20 - and is there really a huge difference between 12 and 17, etc…

Premier League Week 15 Wrapup

0-0 ASTON VILLA v FULHAM FC (Villa Park)

Fulham Villa both ended their second successive goalless draw at Villa Park. Gareth Barry could have had a hat-trick easily, but he squandered the chances but his lack of finishing touch deserted him. If Villa won then they would have been leapfrogged Man Utd. Yet again Villa failed to beat a side who is out of the elite bunch. Fulham havent win in away games in their 7 away games of this season.

0-0 MIDDLESBROUGH FC v NEWCASTLE UNITED (The Riverside)

Newcastle missed the chance to register their first away win of this season when Obafemi Martins hit the bar 10 minutes before the break. hich leaves to goalless draw at Riverside between M'brough and Newcastle. In a first half of few clear-cut chances - neither Ross Turnbull nor Given had a single save of any note to make.

1-1 STOKE CITY v HULL CITY (Britannia Stadium)

New boys of the Premier League Stoke and Hull settled for 1-1 draw at Britannia Stadium. This is Hull's thrid successive draw after loosing three consecutive matches and left them six games without win after they made dream flying start. Marlon King curled Hull in front on the stroke of half-time but Jamaican international team-mate Ricardo Fuller equalised from the penalty spot after the break.

1-4 SUNDERLAND FC v BOLTON WANDERERS (Stadium of Light)

Bolton bolted Sunderland withing the first 40 minutes of the game when they won 4-1 over Sunderland at Stadium of Light. Bolton are now inside the top ten with this win and Sunderland left at the relegation zone. Sunderland are ahead when Djibril Cisse finished off a fine 11th-minute move involving Kieran Richardson and Steed Malbranque to give his side a deserved lead. In the matter of next ten minutes Bolton begin to raid on Sunderland when Matthew Taylor and Gary Cahill put Bolton into 2-1 lead. In the 39th and 55th minute a brace from Johan Elmander took advantage of two horrendous defensive blunders to send Bolton soaring to their second win in the north-east in seven days in some style.

2-1 WIGAN ATHELTIC v WEST BROMWICH ALBION (JJB Stadium)

A first ever back-to-back win for Wigan under Steve Bruce when they beat Premier League basement side West Bromwich by 2-1 at JJB Stadium. Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland put WBA under cruising to find the net. Two minutes after the break Bramble made mistake when he tried to chest the ball down but he released to WBA's Miller who wasted no time to put the ball into the net. Henri Camara leveled for Wigan after scoring the goal in successive matches. Two minutes from the time, when Emmerson when Boyce thundered a header beyond Carson following a corner from Koumas.

0-1 MANCHESTER CITY v MANCHESTER UNITED (City of Manchester Stadium)

Wayne Rooney's goal in the 42nd minute which fetch him 100th career goal for Manchester United is enough to win the City derby by 1-0. Whole Man City looked dull and cluless in the first half and struggled for posession. Rooney scored the goal when Michael Carrick whose stinging angled drive was too hot for Hart to hold. Stationed alone, inside the six-yard area, Rooney could not miss, reaching three figures. Man City made rite away two changes at the second half when Elano and Zabaleta came in. They they begin to dominate the posession. In the 68th minute, Ronaldo's temper has been threatening to boil over for some time now but his decision to push his hands towards Rooney's corner.

3-2 PORTSMOUTH FC v BLACKBURN ROVERS (Fratton Park)

This match produced five second half goals in thrilling entertainment at Fratton Park. Portsmouth booked their first home win under Tony Adams. For the second time they blewed up the 2-0 leads but this time its luck escape and both at Fratton Park. Home side were in comfortable lead thru brilliant goals from Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe but Matt Derbyshire and class Turkish veteran Tugay leveled for Blackburn. Just 12 minutes from the time Sean Davies took a cool finish.

0-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS v EVERTON FC (White Hart Lane)

Steven Pienaar goal gave gift to his coach David Moyes for his 300th match as manager for Everton to beat Tootenham by 1-0 at White Hart lane. Pienaar who started a bit late in the second half after wearing wrong shirt but six minutes later he found the net with his cannoned shot off from Vedran Corluka. This is Tottenham first home defeat under Harry Redknapp and third successive win at White Hart Lane for Everton.

1-2 CHELSEA FC v ARSENAL FC (Stamford Bridge)

A second half brace from Van Persie in the space of two minutes Arsenal send Chelsea crushing 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took the first half lead in the 30th minute through own goal from Arsenal center back Djourou. The first goal from Van Persie is clearly off-side but the goal was at sheer class finishing. Chelsea dropped to the second spot with 33 pts on the table and this is second home defeat and overall in this league. So far Chelsea have dropped 12 home points. Arsenal's season, dogged by dressing-room unrest and five league defeats, looked in danger of imploding completely.

0-0 LIVERPOOL FC v WEST HAM UNITED (Anfield)

Liverpool clearly missed the bus to go 3 pts further from Chelsea when they dominated the entire 90 mins of the game when they settled for goalless draw at Anfield. This is first point for West Ham at Anfield in 9 years and no win in the last 45 years. With this draw West Ham stretched their third unbeaten game in a trot. Welshman and former Liverpool man Craig Bellamy, came close to breaking the deadlock with a 30-yard shot which crashed against a post. Liverpool had two early penalty appeals turned down by referee Peter Walton when both Benayoun and then Dirk Kuyt drove the ball at Herita Ilunga from close range.

La Liga Week 13 Wrapup

3-1 GETAFE CF v REAL MADRID (Coliseum Alfonso Perez)

Spanish giants suffered yet another blow in the La Liga as they lost to Getafe by 3-1 and slumped into third defeat in this season so far. With this defeat Madrid left six points away from La Liga leaders Barcelona. Getafe booked their second home win of this season as they moved into 9th position. Before this game Madrid were without Fabio Cannavaro, Higuain, Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, and adding to the worst Real Madrid made first substitute in the first half when Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres got injured. Getafe's Juan Albin scored at the beginning of each half and set up Ikechukwu Uche for the third near the end, after Real had briefly threatened a comeback with a Javier Saviola strike.

0-3 SEVILLA FC v BARCELONA CF (Ramoz Sanchez Pizjuan)
Barcelona dream flying continues and it will be. By beating Sevilla 3-0 they were 4 pts away from Villareal and 6 pts away from their rival Madrid. In the 20th minute Messi lost possession on the edge of the Sevilla area, but the rebound fell kindly to Eto'o, who clinically smashed the ball past the helpless Andres Palop and into the top right-hand corner. In the 78th minute Barce went up 2-0 Messi unleashed an unstoppable left footed shot. Sevilla got into struck with major blow when Luis Fabiano sent-off for elbowing Sergio Basquets. In the death Messi messmerised Sevilla by making 3-0 and his brace as he ran into Hleb pass and he rounded Palop and blast the empty net.

1-2 RECREATIVO HUELVA v VILLAREAL CF (Nuevo Colombino)
Villareal retained their second spot by beating Huelva by 2-1. First-half goals from Santi Cazorla and Ariel Ibagaza saw Villarreal move into a comfortable lead at the break and they never looked to loose the lead despite a late reply from Adrian Colunga thru penalty just seven minutes from the time.

4-2 MALAGA CF v OSASUNA (Estadio La Rosaleda)
A heart breaking match played at Estadio La Rosaleda where Malaga beat Osasuna by 4-2 which ended in highest thrilling. In the last 11 minutes both team produced 4 goals. In the first half, both the teams ended without scoring. At the start of the second half a quickfire goals from Antonio Apono and Nabil Baha to put Malaga 2-0. The lead was intact till the last ten minutes of the game. But Osasuna erupted with two goals in two minutes to level the score thru goals from Javad Nekounam and Miguel Flano. Just five minutes into the game, Malaga substitute Albert Luque and Pereira Eliseu sealed the win in injury time for Malaga. Osasuna ended the match with tears. In the end this match produced six goals and all in the second half.


2-0 ATHLETIC BILBAO v NUMANCIA (San Mames Stadium)
A first half brace from Fernando Llorente is enough to seal the 2-0 win over Numancia at San Mames. With this win Bilbao were lifted themselves out of relegation zone and booked their only thrid win of the season. It was the same Llorente who made debut for Sapin against Chile in this month. At the death Bilbao reduced to ten men when Xabier Etxeita dismissed in stoppage time after collecting two yellow cards.


0-1 RCD ESPANYOL v SPORTING GIJON (Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic)
Carmelo Gonzalez's excellent first-half strike gave a hilarious win over Espanyol 1-0 at Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic. This win put Sporting Gijon into the top ten in the La Liga table and fourth defeat in row for Espanyol who are just a point away from relegation zone.


0-1 ALMERIA v DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA (Estadio Mediterraneo)
La Coruna beat Almeria by 1-0 at Estadio Mediterraneo when Joan Verdu became from a Villain to real hero when he missed the penlaty in the 68th minute and then scored 6 minutes later. Almeria were in control of the game till 51st minute when Negredo was sent off for violent conduct following a bad tackle on Alberto Lopo, leaving them down to 10 men for the second game in succession. Then 16 minutes later Almeria conceded penalty when Carlos Badias fouled Ivan Riki, but Verdu crashed his spot-kick off the crossbar. Almeria's relief at the let-off was to be shortlived as Verdu atoned for his miss seven minutes later by smashing Andres Guardado's cross into the top right corner from six yards.


3-0 REAL VALLADOLID v REAL MALLORCA (Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla)
Hapless Mallorca lost the match to Valladolid by 3-0 at Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla. A win to Valladolid gave them their third successive win and inside top ten in the la liga. Now Mallorca are two points from the relegation zone and Valladolid stretched their four unbeaten home game. Jose Antonio Garcia Calvo, Angel Manuel Vivar Dorado and Henok Goitom were all on target for Valladolid.


3-2 VALENCIA CF v REAL BETIS (Estadio Mestalla)
Valencia showed gutsy performace to overcome Betis to beat them by 3-2 at Estadio Mestalla. Real Betis made life difficult for Valencia, but they held their nerve to dig out them to stay a point behind second placed Villareal on the table and a point above Real Madrid. Valencia were 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes thru David Villa and Mata goals but Juanma pulled a goal back for Betis 11 minutes after the break and Achille Emana equalised from the penalty in the 64th minute when Carlos Marchena suspended for his foul and made it 2-2. In the 73rd minute Ruben Baraja turned the twis around.


4-1 ATLETICO MADRID v RACING SANTANDER (Vicente Calderon)
Mohammed Tchite gave battling Racing the lead from the penalty spot in the 7th minute but Simao drew the teams level in the 20th minute. Atletico took the entire advantage of Cesar Nevas sent-off in the 31st minute with a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Paulo Assuncao. Then Sergio Augero and brace from Diego Forlan put Racing out of the race in this game.

Serie A Week 14 Wrapup

1-1 CATANIA CALCIO v US LECCE (Stadio Angelo Massimino)

Catania's Michele Paolucci 61st minute low drive goal Lecce's Jose Castillo screamer in the 69th minute gave a 1-1 draw to their respective side at Stadio Angelo Massimino. Gennaro Sardo and Cristian Terlizzi are back to action for Catania side who dropped just two points in home in this season.

4-0 JUVENTUS FC v REGGINA CALCIO (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Two two goals on either half gave Juventus a comfortable win over Reggina by 4-0 at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino under difficult wintry conditions. With this win Juventus side moved to second on the table. In the 28th minute Mauro Camoranesi put hosts infront from the setup of Del Piero and Nedved. A minute to go in the first half, Amauri showed his goalscoring instinct to poke the ball home as he lay on the floor. On the hour mark Juve center back Giorgio Chiellini scored third goal for hosts from his head and provided by Marco Marchionni. Del Piero was then gifted the chance to score his 250th career goal when Sebastian Giovinco fell dramatically under a non-existent challenge from Bruno Cirillo inside the penalty area. He struck the penalty into the roof of the net to add the icing on the cake for Juventus in the 74th minute.

2-0 ATALANTA v SS LAZIO (Stadio Azzurri D`Italia)

Lazio brilliant start to the season begin to struggle out ever since they lost to Roma and today they looked again a different side altogether as they gifted both the goals to home side Atalanta to loose the game by 2-2 at Stadio Azzurri D`Italia. Defense is the name of the game from both the side until when the deadlock was broken by Jaime Valdes just nine minutes into the second half and 14 minutes later Sergio Floccari find the net from Lazio's glaring error. Lazio were without injured Goran Pandev.

1-0 CAGLIARI CALCIO v UC SAMPDORIA ( Sant'Elia)

Three minutes after the break Neves Jeda gave valuable lead and a victory over Sampdoria by 1-0 to leapfrog them on the table. Home side recent improvement is continued as they bagged ten points from their last five games. Now Cagliari are sitting 6 points clear of the relegation zone and Sampdoria five points away from relegation zone.

1-1 GENOA CFC v BOLOGNA FC (Stadio Luigi Ferraris)

Bologna ended home side Genoa 100% home record in this season when both were settled out at 1-1 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Before this Genoa had 6 out of 6 wins in home. Giuseppe Sculli put the home side in front in the 55th minute but Bologna were good value for their equaliser, scored in the 63rd minute by their top goalscorer Marco Di Vaio, who was a Genoa player last season. Heavy rain poured down to the ground as both teams took entire 45 minutes to get used the condition.

2-1 INTER MILAN v SSC NAPOLI (San Siro)

In the first 36 minutes the score had been settled out from both the teams as Inter beat Napoli 2-1 at San Siro. Inter win put them six top of the table with 6 points clear from chasers Juventus and AC Milan. Sulley Muntari set-up the first goal for Ivan Cardoba and scored himself in the 24 th minute. Ezequiel Lavezzi reduced deficit for Napoli before half time. Napoli are nine points behind league leaders.

1-0 AS ROMA v AC FIORENTINA (Stadio Olimpico)

Roma registered their third successive win in this season as they beat Fiorentina by 1-0 at Stade Olimpico. Its Francesco Totti's 59th minute goal when he converted from Rodrigo Taddei cross as he scored fourth of the season and helped Roma to climb to the 14th spot on Serie A table. Fiorentina, on the other hand, went into the match on the back of a poor run of form that had seen them drop to sixth.

1-0 AC SIENA v TORINO FC (Artemio Franchi Montepaschi Arena)

Its 19th minute Massimo Maccarone's goal which put Siena's unbeaten home record to stay intact when they narrowly beat Torino by 1-0 at Artemio Franchi Arena. Torino pressured hosts in the second half after Siena dominating the first half. With this defeat Torino left a point behind relegation zone.

0-1 UDINESE CALCIO v CHIEVO VERONA (Stadio Friuli)

Chievo booked their first away win of the season when Udinese defender Felipe gifted own goal just two minutes from the time as Chievo beat ten men Udinese 1-0 at Stadio Friuli. Basement boys Chievo moved to within three points of safety and Udinese have gone from challenging for top spot to ninth in less than a month. Before this match both side came with number defeats at their disposal, Chievo came with 6 defeats in a row and Udinese with four defeats in a row. In the 57th minute Udinese reduced to ten men when Di Natale was shown a red card for putting his hands in Fabio Moro's face. The own goal came in the form of as Chievo looked to be running out of time and Udinese like they might escape with a hard-earned point, the hapless Felipe settled the contest. Brazilian tried to clear the ball as keeper Mandelli came rushing off his line, but only succeeded in knocking it past his stranded keeper and into the net.

3-1 US PALERMO v AC MILAN (Stadio Renzo Barbera)

Milan lost to Palermo by 3-1 at Stadio Renzo Barbera as they lost ground further on Inter at the top of the table. All the way from a minute of start to till end of the game it Palermo who dominated in and out. 5 minutes into the second half Palermo took the lead from Fabrizio Micoli. Edison Cavani added a second in the 59th minute before Fabio Simplicio sealed the win 10 minutes from the end. Ronaldino got the consolation from the penalty just seven minutes from the time. In the first half Ronaldinho missed the penalty when he hit the crossbar.