Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:09 pm
Jae wrote:I don't know if Drogba was "born" for British football, he did struggle massively when he first came to Chelsea. If you remember they almost sold him back to a French club. I'd give Shevchenko some time aswell before writing him off.
Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:31 pm
Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:39 pm
Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:16 pm
Jae wrote:Not every successful EPL striker has been big and strong though, look at someone like Michael Owen for example. I think Shevchenko just needs time to adapt, but personally I've always found him overrated anyway.
Fri Oct 20, 2006 3:18 am
Fri Oct 20, 2006 3:31 am
Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:13 am
Jugs wrote:Agreed, Shevchenko is over-rated. I'd take Pršo over Shevchenko anyday. But that's because I'm biased
Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:26 am
Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:17 am
Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:19 am
Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:18 am
Drex wrote:Colo Colo was winning 4-1 against Gimnasia, in the Sudamericana Cup, and some fucker had the brilliant idea of throwing a piece of the seats to some Argentinian playerStupid asshole. Luckily, Conmebol will only fine the club and suspend the Monumental for 2 games.
Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:09 am
skysports.com wrote:RED DEVILS RULE OVER LIVERPOOL
Paul Scholes marked his 500th appearance for the club with a goal as Manchester United ran out 2-0 winners over Liverpool in front of a record Premiership crowd at Old Trafford.
Scholes put United ahead on 39 minutes as he poked Ryan Giggs' ball across the face of goal home at the second attempt.
United were dominant for much of the game, with Liverpool very rarely troubling Edwin Van der Sar, and Rio Ferdinand scored a superb second mid-way through the second half.
The England defender took advantage of a poor Jamie Carragher clearance to fire a first-time shot into the top corner from 12 yards and give Sir Alex Ferguson's men a lead they did not relinquish.
The game lived up to its billing right from the off, with both sides allowing for a lively and open affair and chances aplenty at both ends.
John Arne Riise tried to catch out Van der Sar early with a Xabi Alonso-type effort from just inside the Manchester United half, but the ball sailed comfortably over the Dutchman's crossbar.
United were soon into their stride and the Liverpool fans will have had their hearts in their mouths inside 10 minutes as a poor decision from Jose Reina almost let the hosts in for the opener.
Darren Fletcher beat Reina to a loose ball on the right wing but fortunately for the Spanish keeper, The Reds had enough defenders back to bail him out.
Giggs was causing umpteen problems for the Liverpool defence with his delivery from set pieces but the United attackers could not take advantage.
Liverpool's defence was struggling to cope with set pieces and Reina had to be quick to get down to Louis Saha's snap-shot from the corner of the six yard box.
The Frenchman was again denied by Reina soon after as his ferocious attempt from 20 yards was kept out by the Liverpool keeper.
Wayne Rooney had a sniff of goal on two occasions just after the half hour mark as first he mis-controlled Michael Carrick's brilliant ball over the top, before being beaten to the ball by Reina after Saha's mis-timed header looked to have put him in.
In between Rooney's two openings, Liverpool created their best chance of the half and Dirk Kuyt should have done better than head straight at Van der Sar when Mark Gonzalez's perfect centre found the Dutch striker at the back post.
Gonzalez then spurned no less than three opportunities to give Liverpool the lead in the final ten minutes of the half as he saw a shot blocked on the break and twice shot wide from good positions.
Liverpool were certainly enjoying their best spell of the half but United made them pay for not taking their chances as Scholes popped up to send the home fans into raptures.
Rooney played in Giggs down the left and his first-time ball cross the six-yard box found an unmarked Scholes who poked home at the second attempt after Reina had saved the midfielder's initial effort well at his feet.
Saha was superbly denied United's second minutes later when his 25-yard shot looked like finding the bottom corner until Reina tipped the ball around the post.
Alonso went close in stoppage time with a shot from the edge of the area but United were full value for their lead going in at the break.
United started the second 45 in a similar manner to the way they ended the first half, with Saha and Scholes both shooting wide from the edge of the area.
Liverpool were continuing to struggle to trouble Van der Sar, with Luis Garcia's tame header from Steven Gerrard's dinked ball over the top the best they could muster in the early stages of the second half.
United, meanwhile, continued to bear down on Reina's goal and Saha saw a shot blocked before Ferdinand's magical strike double the hosts' advantage.
Carragher had earlier taken a knock to his ankle and his poor clearance went straight up in the air in the Liverpool penalty area. Ferdinand took the ball down exquisitely before sending a first-time shot with his left foot into the top left-hand corner of Reina's net for his first goal of the season.
United slowed the tempo after the second but Giggs was clearly keen to get himself on the score sheet as he rolled back the years with a dazzling run from the left, but the veteran winger could not find the finish the run deserved.
Gerrard headed over and fired wide late on but the Reds' day was summed up when Luis Garcia sent a disappointing effort high and wide in the final embers of the match.
Liverpool's chances of challenging in The Premiership have taken a further dent with the result as they now find themselves 11 points behind United, who go back above Chelsea on goal difference.
Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:44 am
skysports wrote:Rampant Real topple Barca
Real Madrid stunned Barcelona with a thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory at the Bernabeu.
Fabio Capello's side came flying out of the blocks and took the lead in just the third minute when Raul peeled off his defender and headed Sergio Ramos' right wing cross expertly past Victor Valdes.
The veteran striker almost added a second soon after as his shot crashed onto the crossbar via a deflection off Lilian Thuram, following a delightful run and cross from Robinho.
The young Brazilian was causing havoc and, after being denied by an acrobatic save from Valdes, he opted to release Ruud van Nistelrooy on his next thrilling dribble. The former Manchester United player went to ground as he rounded the keeper, but his appeals for a penalty were waved away.
Less than a minute later Barcelona finally joined the party, but Lionel Messi's brilliant skill in cutting between Fabio Cannavaro and Roberto Carlos was undone as Eidur Gudjohnsen latched onto his pass and fired wide from close range.
Barca probed away in pursuit of an equaliser as they ended the first half on top, but Real opened up a two-goal cushion six minutes into the second period.
Guti sprayed the ball wide to Robinho as Real started a swift counter-attack, and van Nistelrooy kept his eyes on the ball to turn his cross into the net as Valdes rushed out in Kamikaze style.
Van Nistelrooy was then denied by the width of the woodwork when he cleverly chipped Valdes from 20 yards, as Real turned on the style.
Ronaldinho had two free kicks in dangerous territory but failed to find his range, while Javier Saviola posed some problems after his late introduction.
But the night belonged to the home side, with the result taking Real to within just two points of their fierce rivals and Liga leaders.
Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:36 pm
Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:41 am
Updated: Oct. 19, 2006
Worth the wait in goals?
As Chelsea bounced around their in-no-way-contrived post-match huddle after beating Barcelona, it was hard not to notice a rather sheepish-looking Andriy Shevchenko, whose side continues to grind out results despite his eighth game without a goal.
Will Sheva ever find the net again? Of course he will. Even the truly woeful Robert Fleck scored the odd goal for Chelsea.
But will he return to the goalscoring force he was at Milan, the player that persuaded Roman Abramovich to splash £30million on a player who was three months short of his 30th birthday? I doubt it.
He is a player in physical decline who has to adjust to an entirely new playing style and a new group of team-mates. He clicked perfectly into the Milan system, while clearly Mourinho's direct, physical side suits Didier Drogba down to the ground, not Shevchenko.
This is not to say that the ex-Milan man isn't good. He is one of the finest goalscorers of the last decade, a player with intelligence, technique and tremendous decisiveness.
But Juan Sebastian Veron and even Hernan Crespo were also deemed to have 'too much quality' to struggle for long in the Premiership. Neither ever really cut it although, by the by, the extent to which Veron failed is greatly exaggerated.
The Ukrainian got his big chance ten minutes into the second half on Wednesday, when Frank Lampard fed him with a great first-time ball, but the striker's first touch was heavy and he ended up shooting over.
The consensus was that it was a chance he would have snaffled in an instant for Milan (probably true) and that it demonstrated his lack of confidence.
The second point might also be true, but how come this is an excuse we allow strikers but not players in other positions? When Titus Bramble drops yet another clanger, it is not because he is short on confidence. It is because he is rubbish.
We like to mythologise the art of scoring goals - for starters, it is considered an art, whereas heading clear from corners is considered donkey work. It is a duel between the striker and the goalkeeper, a test of the player's coolness and ability to deliver under pressure.
But when it comes down to it, scoring goals is a case of whacking the ball into a fairly large area nearly 18 square metres in size. Of course it isn't easy, but neither is the rest of football.
Well, not unless you're Henrique Hilario who, despite making his Chelsea debut, would have had a tougher night picking splinters out of his backside on the bench.
Barcelona failed comprehensively to trouble the third-choice goalkeeper, who was called into action following the injuries to Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini.
The sickening injuries suffered by those two men made goalkeeping seem like the world's most dangerous profession.
After four days of hearing dire warnings from his manager that a fatality was inevitable, Hilario breezed through proceedings without even once requiring a helmet or a protective coat of armour.
In fact, the game only went to show how unimportant the men between the sticks often are. Victor Valdes has no chance with Drogba's brilliant winner, and neither keeper was forced into anything more than a routine save for the rest of the night.
UEFA statistics show that so far this season the teams have managed anything from two (Bordeaux) to nine (Real Madrid) shots on target per game.
In all there have been 498 shots and 120 goals, meaning that a whopping 24% of shots on target end up in the onion bag. Or to put it another way, goalkeepers save three out of every four attempts that come their way.
In fact it isn't even as good as that for keepers, who are forced into phantom saves just to pad out their statistics. Just about the only intervention of note Hilario made, other than booting the ball repeatedly into the crowd, was to turn Xavi's shot round the post after a brilliant Barcelona move. The replays clearly showed the shot was going wide anyway - but it was deemed 'on target' because a save was made.
The typical Champions League goalkeeper is called into meaningful action a shade over five times each game, and only has to make four saves to put in an above-average performance.
Yes, there are other measures of a goalkeeper's performance. There is the way he deals with crosses, his ability to command his area and whether or not he barks obscenities at defenders when they fail to mark up properly.
Oh, and there's kicking, which Hilario did so badly he suffered just about the ultimate schoolboy indignity late on, when he had to entrust on goal kick to a defender. But he kept a clean sheet, and by just about the only statistical measure going had a great game.
Of course, being football fans we don't really concern ourselves with this kind of thing. We have a natural suspicion of facts and figures, presumably on the age-old basis that 'there's only one statistic that counts'.
But try telling that to Americans, who will happily argue all day about whether On-base Plus Slugging or Runs Created Per 27 Outs is a better way of measuring a baseball player's productivity.
We could learn a lot from US sports and their statistical obsessions. Football stats are on the rise, but they are still treated with caution, while the good stuff (ProZone) comes at a price and is mainly used by coaches and scouts.
Part of the difficulty comes in the flowing nature of the game. American games have frequent, natural breaks in play (whether American football, baseball or basketball), whereas 'soccer' does not.
There is no objective way of measuring whether a pass is short, long or a cross. Can a ball be deemed successful if the recipient gets to it but can't bring it under control? Was that a tackle or an interception? What exactly happened in that goalmouth scramble?
Football is a matter of degrees, whereas if you want to know how many times a baseball hitter has grounded into a double play with no outs and men on first and third bases, you can do that. Obviously it asks profound questions about you as a person, but you can do it.
If we were Americans, we would be able to analyse Andriy Shevchenko using about 35 different statistical categories, from Penalty Box Control Efficiency to Headed Passes Per 90 Minutes Index.
Sadly, we are not, so instead we have to make do with the pundits' assertions that he is much too good not to start scoring.
Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:27 am
Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:30 am
Bari youth player murdered
Written by: Michiel van Blommestein
BARI, Oct 30 (Sw) - Bari youth player Giovanni Montani has been murdered by motorcycling gunmen while driving his car.
The 18-year-old forward was shot at from both sides by the two gunmen, according to Gazetta Della Sport. The car came to a halt in a garden, and Montani died shortly after.
Montani is the grandson of former Maffia boss Andrea Montani. It is as yet unclear whether this had any connection with the murder.
Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:16 am
It is as yet unclear whether this had any connection with the murder.
Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:48 pm
Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:13 am
Zoom wrote:Arsenal lost 1-0 but... Chelsea lost 3-1 right???
Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:43 am
Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:10 pm
Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:01 pm
Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:32 pm
Zoom wrote:There's been talk of the MLS becoming the retirement league for many players, wat do u think dada?
And will Landon Donovon ever play in Europe again?
bbc sport wrote:Starlet Adu to train with Man Utd
Freddy Adu will train with Manchester United for two weeks in November.
The 17-year-old American forward has long been tipped to become one of football's hottest prospects and has repeatedly hinted at a move to Europe.
Adu plays his football for DC United in American Major League Soccer and club spokesman Doug Hicks stressed that the spell in England was not a trial.
"This is a great opportunity and we support his decision to seek additional training opportunities," Hicks said.
DC United's domestic season came to a close at the weekend following a play-off loss to New England Revolution.
After the game Adu said there had been "some serious talks" that could lead to him playing elsewhere next year and heightened speculation over his future.
"I'd like to be back, but my ultimate goal was to go overseas, and if it comes sooner rather than later, I'll take it," he added.
Adu has played three seasons for DC United, having joined them at the age of 14.
The midfielder-cum-striker, who is contracted to MLS rather than the club, has one more season to serve but there is an option for two more for the Ghana-born player hailed as the great hope of American soccer.
Any potential move to Europe will be permissible under international transfer rules when he turns 18 in June 2007.
The Washington Post reports that Adu will link up with United on 18 November.