The Thursday Kick-Off: Game 45
Posted by Taareq Elsokari on 04.19.2007
Champions League preview, Premiership title race views, FA Cup views, thoughts on the Championship and more all one click away.
Well hello there my good friends. How are you all this fine morning?
Its officially Spring and weather has just been absolutely fantastic over the last week, its hard not being in a good mood. Its even at the point where when you leave work at about 7pm I'm not at all annoyed and in fact I don't really mind it too much.
In saying that……..
If you guys have any suggestions or any feedback or just want to let me know you're reading this then hit me with an email and it would be very much appreciated.
With that all said lets get this game started:
The First Half:
Ronaldo Seals New Man Utd Deal
This is by far the biggest news to every football fan, well every Man Utd fan that is. The will he won't he saga was getting more ridiculous by the day especially with the reported notion that Real Madrid were ready to tempt Utd's hand with a £54million bid. The fact he has signed a five year deal is great news as it guarantees that he will be at the club till about 2012 and maybe further depending on how the club trophy cabinet fills up.
Oh yeah Real Madrid, used to respect you but now all I got to say to you is F*** OFF
Owen and Pederson to Utd
Pederson at Utd could be cool but from what I can remember Ferguson has only ever gone after one player after he turned them down in the past and that was Alan Shearer. Pederson turned Utd down back in 2005 when he decided to join Blackburn, ironically the same club Shearer turned Utd down for initially. The Blackburn winger has a great left foot that's for sure and with his pace could easily fit into Utd's side. Although not too sure how true the rumours of £8million are as Mark Hughes tried to dampen those by saying that £8million couldn't even "buy his left foot let alone the player".
Owen would be an interesting one since he's basically missed an entire season and embroiled in this club versus country row over payments for his medical treatment. For Newcastle to go through all this headache and Owen to turn and around and leave could make him extremely unpopular on Tyneside. There is apparently a release clause in Owen's contract which would allow him to leave for a fee of around £12million. Now if that figure is true then Newcastle were extremely stupid to allow the release clause to be that small considering they paid around £18million for him themselves.
All in all, this should be an interesting summer since Ferguson has already said he is on the look out for two players believed to be a striker and midfielder.
Terry Contract Negotiations Stall
Not too sure what Chelsea are playing at here. It seems they are trying to make a statement to the squad that they have stopped their past free spending ways but this is really the wrong player to do that with. Terry is the engine that makes Chelsea tick and above all else the club captain. He has proven that they really do need him at the back as their backline are just not as assured and composed without him. We have seen a similar situation arise with Lampard but I honestly do think he is replaceable and there are much better players out there than Frank. If I were the Chelsea board I would put everything into making sure Terry is tied down to a long term contract and Lampard is sold off before the rest of Europe realises how over rated and over priced he may be and his price and demand goes down.
David Dein Leaves Arsenal
This was a shocking revelation considering how much he has done for the club in the past. One of his best decisions was bringing an unknown Frenchman from Japan to manage the club after the sacking of Bruce Rioch. That appointment has lead to Arsenal becoming one of the most attractive football sides in the world; of course the unknown Frenchman is Arsene Wenger.
The reason being given for his departure was described as "irreconcilable differences" which basically means that he obviously opposed the boards stance on the proposed takeover. I'm guessing he was for the takeover and the rest were against it. Now he was Wenger's biggest ally in the boardroom and the questions now must be asked will Arsene extend his contract beyond the remaining fourteen months and how much free reign over the transfer kitty will he be given.
New Manager Name linked to Chelsea Hot Seat
Well it was a matter of time before the World Cup Semi Finalist manager was linked to the job considering everyone in the world has. I am indeed talking about Jurgen Klinsman. The reports are stating that he will be paid £7million a year to take over the from the "Special One". Beckenbauer even chimed in with his moneys worth when he stated that Kilnsman would "fit into Chelsea" and that he should "definitely take the job" if offered it, although he threw in a little joke by saying that "it wont work if he tried to commute" referring to how Klinsman spent most of his tenure managing the German national side from his Florida home.
PFA Player of the Year
The nominees are in and apart from the exclusion of one player it's quite a solid list.
The players up for the award are:
Ronaldo
Drogba
Scholes
Giggs
Gerrard
Fabregas
To be honest with you, Giggs has had a season where he has been effective but not as effective as past seasons. This is why I was extremely surprised to see his name on the list. Fabregas I think had a great start to the season but sort of slipped away in the middle and fatigue really kicked in from February. He has only started to regain his form but to be honest I wouldn't have him on the list for senior award; he's definitely deserving a place on the list for the young player award though.
The player who I would definitely have on that list who isn't there, and it was a massive shock to see him not there was Essien. How he missed out on a nomination is a strange one to me. The lack of a nomination is probably a result of his versatility and timing of his injury. Essien's first half of the season was excellent. He was extremely effective in midfield. After the defensive injuries took their toll on the Chelsea squad he stepped back into defence was again immense. The move to the back probably took a lot of the spot light off of him and he may not have gotten the praise and acknowledgement that he deserved. Another player who may have deserved a spot on the list is Morten Gamst Pederson. He has had an exceptional season and continues to go from strength to strength. I probably would replace Giggs and Fabregas with these two if I was to compile my own list.
The winner will most likely be Ronaldo and deservedly so. Second place will most likely go to Drogba and third to Scholes.
Here's a strange stat, Scholes and Giggs have never won the award, not once. That's a shocking piece of information. Giggs's closest was his back to back young player of the year awards in 1992 and 1993, but since then nothing.
PFA Young Player of the Year
These nominees were also released on Monday. The list is as follows:
Ronaldo
Rooney
Fabregas
Lennon
Richards
Doyle
Right off the bat, I don't think Doyle should be on that list seeing as he is 23. also the I agree with Tim on the fact that the lists should not include players who are over 21. if that were the case then Rooney would not have the opportunity to make it three in a row.
Ronaldo I talked about above and was always bound to be on the list. He will probably walk away with it but not before facing stiff competition from Fabregas who will most likely finish ahead of Rooney in second place.
Lennon has had a decent season but has some way to go before he will be a real threat and Richards is still too naïve defensively to be considered award worthy on a national scale. Doyle has, just as the rest of the Reading squad, had a great season and scored some important goals. This nomination may have just been recognition of that fact.
Champions League Semi Final Preview
I'm just going to put some quick thoughts here as my main thoughts will go into this Mondays Roundtable.
Man Utd vs. AC Milan
A repeat of the 2005 second round showdown but this is a completely different game. At the time Utd needed to recall Van Nistelrooy back from his injury way too early as well as having a pretty young and inexperienced side. Two years later and the side has matured. Ronaldo is having his best ever season for the club Scholes is firing on all cylinders and Ryan Giggs is rejuvenated. Rooney needs to improve his overall contribution as he seems to only want to perform in bursts this season where he will go on a run of about four good games before playing ten poor ones.
A few weeks ago I would have called this a straight forward win for Utd but then that was before the injuries to Vidic and Neville as well Van Der Sar looking shaky. Now Rio has gotten injured and this does not look too good for the Red Devil's defence. The initial prognoses on Rio is good with reports saying he could be fit for the Sheffield Utd game on Tuesday (I'm writing this on Monday). Gary Neville should be back by the weekend which is good news but one would have to wonder how fit and sharp he will be if/when he plays against the Italians. To cope with the Milan front line the Utd defence need to be alert at all times as Kaka, Pirlo and Seedorf have the ability to open up any team and Inzaghi plays so far off the shoulder of the last defender that 8 times out of the 10 he will be called offside, but it is those two times that are the dangerous ones as he usually scored them.
Milan on the other hand will need to find ways to play and cope with the Utd forward line. As good as the trio of Kaka, Seedorf and Pirlo are at opening up defences, Ronaldo, Scholes and Carrick are equally as adept at doing it. Most likely to cope with the pace of the Utd forward line Milan will play quite deep and look to attack on the counter, Utd will need to take advantage of how deep Milan play and look to pin them in and batter them with crosses or even shots from the edge of the area.
This is going to be a great set of games that I really can't wait to see. Hopefully I will be happy after the tie is over and I can look forward to Athens with great enthusiasm.
Chelsea vs. Liverpool
Some people look at this as the prospect of two boring games. I don't see it that way. This is actually going to an intriguing tie mostly played out like a good game of chess. This is one for the purists, people who like to watch great tactical affairs much like a cat and mouse game this is the game for you.
Both sides work off of a solid foundation and a solid midfield where they rarely give anything away. Jose will be looking to get some revenge over the defeat from two years ago as well as the defeat at Anfield in January. Rafa will be looking to show that league positions do lie and Liverpool are in fact the better side. I don't anticipate this to be a high scoring affair, to be honest it wouldn't surprise me if all we got was one goal over the two games and maybe even extra time for the added drama. I really am looking forward to this and am totally glad that we are at a point where we can actually watch both games without missing any of the action.
FA Cup Semi Final Review
Man Utd vs. Watford
Well apart from about 15 minutes in the second half this result really wasn't in any doubt, even then it just looked like Utd would do it but just make hard work of it. Watford tried their best and you can't fault the effort but in the end the gulf in class was evident.
Chelsea vs. Blackburn
Well the first half looked like it was going to be a walkover but the improvement in the second half was amazing. In the second half Blackburn looked a different team and if only Pederson scored that header we would be looking at a Man Utd Blackburn final.
Steve Claridge pisses me off as well, he should really try and get Jose's cock out of his mouth as all he wants to do is praise the shit out of Chelsea and take away from Blackburn's great effort.
Blackburn looked the better team in the second half and should have won it but credit to Chelsea by nicking it late in Extra Time. Ballack was at the right place and the right time and it was a great finish.
All in all, for different reasons they were both entertaining games, and the final that the FA wanted is now a reality. Man Utd Chelsea will be the biggest game they could have gotten for the new Wembley.
I don't think the game will be a showcase of attacking play more like a display for tactical grit and one for the purists. This will be the equivalent to watching a Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit match where it's more about tactical awareness. It will be a great match and extremely interesting to watch especially if there will be a repeat four days later in the Champions League final.
Random thoughts
Well Malbranqe was extremely silly for that first own goal and Kanoute showed Spurs exactly what he has to offer with a sublime goal. Spurs battled hard and in the end got back into the game with two quick goals which made the last half hour edge of the seat stuff.
Fabregas scored an awesome goal against a lacklustre City on Tuesday night. The biggest shocker was, well to me, besides Arsenal scoring (low shot I know) was the quietness of the Emirates. It was shocking to hear that, well not hear anything at all. They did seem to pick it up for the last twenty minutes, according to Tim, after Arsenal scored but it's still a surprise.
Man Utd coped with man to man marking for 70 minutes to beat Sheffield Utd 2-0. all Utd can do is keep winning and let Chelsea worry about everything, as the way things stand Utd are in control and not even defeat at the Bridge will lose them the title. I do think they can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as they have the quality to do so, I just hope they don't go there looking for a draw. Utd were also extremely luck to not concede a penalty and lose a man when Heinze lunged in and brought down the excellent Shelton. Losing another defender is the last thing Utd need right now considering they played nearly 70 minutes with only two recognised defenders on the pitch. I'm sure the Argentinean would have received the infamous "hair dryer" treatment from Fergie in the changing room after that.
West Ham and Chelsea battled it out on Wednesday night and well for about forty minutes West Ham actually looked like they could take something out of the game. Firstly, Wright Phillips's two goals were sweet. The second was easily the best of the two and extremely well taken. Tevez took advantage of some poor defending and scored an excellent goal although Cech was at fault as he made "a hash of it" as Andy Gray put it. The second goal came too quickly for West Ham to have any chance of building on their goal and as I mentioned above it was a beauty.
The second half was pretty much West Ham trying to find a spark but just looked beaten and the third goal for Chelsea was a scramble that was the result of dare I say it a good ball in from Lampard and some poor defending from West Ham after Green saved the initial effort. Drogba also got only his fourth away goal of the season. Now that stat is something of a surprise.
Sunderland have been awesome since Keane took over but even more so since the turn of the year. Their win at St Mary's was immense and put them in pole position in the race to the Premiership. It really is an exciting time in the Championship as there is a true potential for the leaders to change literally after each and every game. Derby and Birmingham are back on track and will definitely push Sunderland to the wire but it all depends on whether or not Roy Keane's side are willing to let their grip slip. It is tense but makes for great viewing. I haven't been this excited about England's second tier since, well ever.
Real Madrid continued their slump and slip away from the top of La Liga with a 1-0 defeat at the weekend. Meanwhile Barcelona were able to open up some breathing space after a last minute own goal and a Valencia victory over their closest rivals for the title Seville.
The Final Whistle
Tim shows his frustrations at recent comments that Ronaldo is the best player in the world. I have to say on current form he's got to be up there and will probably deserve the World Player of the Year award. But I don't think he is the best in the world overall, he's got a long way to go before that can be said about him.
Keep a look out for the Champions League Semi Final Round Table coming soon and in the mean time have a look at the staff predictions for the Quarter Final to see who got the most right cough*not Tim*cough.
Also continue to follow Ash Cairo's wrestling career by clicking here and here for updates and stuff. Check it out people and support his quest to get to the top as he's awesome people, plus if he makes it to the WWE he could get me tickets to Wrestlemania :D
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