The Round Football Column 01.27.09: 175th Edition - FA Cup Fourth Round, plus more
Posted by on 01.27.2009
Kaka turns down Man. City then destroys Bologna, the trailer for 'The Damned United' is unleashed, Messi keeps getting better, Tony Adams keeps getting worse, plus more. One Click Away.
Sup bitches.
24 has started well, hasn't it? I've been impressed, anyway.
You're not here for that, though...
Photoshop is playing up, so no fancy FA Cup banner. We'll only discuss Prem teams, so it doesn't get weird, right?
Anyway, the tie of the round was obviously The Merseyside Derby: Part Deux, and it was reasonably enjoyable. That was mainly because the chewy toffees scored first and the atmosphere was obviously good. Liverpool looked horrible in the first half and the thought of them as Premier League champions seems weirder and weirder when you see performances like that. However, a mixture of El Nino's cheeky flick, Gerrard's run and Howard's ineptitude forced a replay.
Cardiff showed grit, determination and moments of quality to grab a replay at The Emirates in nine days. Arsene Wenger reportedly turned down bids for Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue last week, so the players repaid that faith by giving solid 2/10 performances in Cardiff. Vintage.
The Villa gave themselves an unnecessary extra fixture by only drawing at Doncaster.
Tony Adams is one of my boyhood heroes, but his management skills seem to be in urgent need of life-support. Portsmouth's Prem form has been poor and a result like the Swansea knockout was always coming. Jermaine Pennant said at his press conference that Adams was so crazy in training it was like he was "drunk or something" (most awkward quote EVER), and it seems as if his Keegan-esque methods of being mates with the players isn't working so well. The signings of Mullins and Pele look so ridiculously inadequate, too. He's in trouble, which sucks because he's a legend.
Well done to Swansea, though. It was a great result for a fast-progressing team.
Frank Lampard thought he would take some risks – being the FA Cup and all. I like risk-takers:
That's magic.
Millwall fans enhanced their usually-exaggerated reputation by ripping Hull's KC Stadium to shreds. They lost 2-0, also. Quite the day for the League One Londoners.
Kettering did well against a full-strength Fulham side, but Prem class shone through with two minutes left and the Northants non-leaguers crashed out.
It looked as if Middlesbrough bagged a good result at Championship table-toppers, Wolves, but on further inspection it seemed as if Mick McCarthy got a little bit rotational. Well done anyway, Gareth. Well done.
Neil Warnock went mental about Crystal Palace's 4-3 defeat at Watford, but no one listened. Poor Neil.
Jeff Stelling FC lost 2-0 to a West Ham side who haven't lost since December 20. No one seems to mention The Hammers when they're not shit.
Here's the nowhere-near-complete fifth round draw:
Sheff. United v Hull
Watford v Chelsea
West Ham v Middlesbrough
Sunderland/Blackburn v Coventry
Derby/Nott'm Forest v Man. United
Swansea v Fulham
Liverpool/Everton v Doncaster/Aston Villa
Cardiff/Arsenal v West Brom/Burnley
Raul is now only one goal away from the great Di Stefano's Real Madrid goalscoring record, after the Spaniard's solitary strike gave Juande Ramos' team a 1-0 win over Deportivo at The Bernabeu.
"Only one goal?" will be the cry from Barcelona's fans after last week's whitewash, and rightly so. Arjen Robben's form is even better than his first six months at Chelsea and Gonzo Higuain will be a superstar soon, but they're still a million miles away from Barcelona right now.......and we're not just talking about the points gap.
As for Barcelona, well it was only four goals for them this week. What a bunch of losers!
Leo Messi was absolutely rampant again, Daniel Alves continues to make me question what the hell he's on, Thierry Henry scored again, and Samuel Eto'o put aside his midweek training ground expulsion by bagging one himself. Everyone's just running out of superlatives for this team.
Osasuna must be the best bottom-placed team in La Liga history. They continue to look decent in 2009 – this time getting a point at Villarreal. They're still bottom, though. Still bottom.
Atletico Madrid may as well just hope Kun Aguero can make them the "surprise package" in the Champions League, because it's becoming a pretty nothing domestic season for them. Yet another poor draw at the weekend.
The Valencia team flew to sunny Mallorca, got carried away with all the hot women, ate too much ice cream and lost 3-1.
Racing Santander were absolutely brilliant at Sevilla, and won 2-0. The scoreline could have been slightly different if Luis Fabiano wasn't so painfully wasteful in front of goal, but Racing still deserved it. The gangly Zigic, in particular, was just brilliant. I always thought a partnership with David Villa could have worked brilliantly for Valencia, but alas it wasn't to be, and now he's showing his ability elsewhere.
Kaka celebrated his Man. City rejection by bagging a brace in Meeeeeeeeeeelan's 4-1 win at Bologna. Some ancient todger called David Beckham scored a good goal, and here are the highlights:
There's something about Meeeeeeeeeeelan right now. Whether it's the intense media attention during the Kaka stuff, the Brazilian's decision to stay, Alexandre Pato's form or something else, they're starting to look like dark horses for the Serie A title. No one is saying anything, but it could be worth keeping an eye on.
One more thing about that game, and that's the continued form of Bologna's Marco Di Vaio. It's great to see players rediscovering form and rolling back the years. Di Vaio is certainly doing that.
Roma's superb form accelerated once more, with yet another big win ahead of their Champions League second round match with Arsenal. Napoli were the latest victims and 3-0 was the scoreline.
Their neighbours Lazio lost 4-1 at home to Cagliari. WTF?!
At the top of the table, Juventus went top of the table for 24 hours with a 1-0 win against Fiorentina.
Inter went back to the summit, though, with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria. Adriano celebrated like a pumped, crazed man. That's what happens when you're threatened with a move to West Ham! Hey! Hey! Now we've started.
The Carling Cup semi-final, second legs were more interesting than anyone would have guessed.
The Man. United v Derby game had six goals, a screamer from a player that no one ever questions for being ridiculously overpriced, and a brace from Giles Barnes.
That was nothing compared to the drama at Turf Moor, though. Honestly, if Burnley went through it would have been one of the top three moments of 2009, whatever takes place over the next 11 months. Pure knockout drama and excitement, with a killer twist at the end. Spurs did well to turn things around late-on, but the whole rule about away goals needs serious re-evaluation. How can it be fair for Burnley to only have 90 minutes to score away goals if Tottenham have 120?
It's a stupid rule, but the drama of the game was unbelievable.
Michael Sheen has played Tony Blair and David Frost quite brilliantly, and now he's portraying Brian Clough. Check out the trailer for The Damned United:
Elsewhere, the transfer window is obviously dominating the headlines.
In quite shocking yet brilliant news, Bolton are allegedly talking to highly-rated Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso about a £13 million move to The Reebok. That would be epic.
Robbie Keane is not worth £20.3 million. He never was. Rafa Benitez has finally worked that out and could try to sell him back to Tottenham. The Reds could have a chance. Harry Redknapp is that stupid. He really is. Why has he got this reputation for being such a whiz in the transfer market? He's not. AT ALL!
Apparently Arsenal turned down bids from Hoffenheim and Atletico Madrid for Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue, respectively. All it needs now is news of an Alex Song bid being rejected to complete the trilogy of rubbish news for Gooners.
On a positive note, the Andrei Arshavin deal may or may not have gone through by the time you read this.
Emile Heskey has joined the Villa, and although it's easy to laugh, it could be a worthwhile coup for O'Neill at £3.5 million.
West Ham have signed Savio from Brescia. He gets really good in my Sunderland team during the 2009/10 season on Football Manager, so be patient Hammers fans.
Juventus want Florent Malouda, so hopefully it happens. The French winger can rejuvenate himself and stop being so shit.
THE WEEK AHEAD...
Premier League
Tuesday 27th
Portsmouth v Aston Villa 1-4
Sunderland v Fulham 1-0
Tottenham v Stoke 2-1
West Brom v Man. United 1-2
Wednesday 28th
Blackburn v Bolton 3-1
Chelsea v Middlesbrough 2-0
Everton v Arsenal 1-1
Man. City v Newcastle 2-1
West Ham v Hull 2-2
Wigan v Liverpool 0-1
Saturday 31st
Arsenal v West Ham 1-0
Aston Villa v Wigan 1-1
Bolton v Tottenham 1-1
Fulham v Portsmouth 2-0
Hull v West Brom 1-1
Middlesbrough v Blackburn 2-3
Stoke v Man. City 2-1
Sunday February 1st
Liverpool v Chelsea 1-0
Newcastle v Sunderland 1-1
A massive week of football, loads of live games (although not the right ones in midweek), and a chance to test the resolve of teams up and down the table.
Liverpool face a tough trip to Wigan on Wednesday, then host Chelsea on Sunday. With United facing West Brom, then not playing again until Monday's home game against Everton, Liverpool's title hopes will be clearer this time next week.
Arsenal have bagged a lot of points since the 3-0 defeat at Eastlands, but they're still not playing great football. West Ham at home should be comfortable, but a trip to Goodison on Wednesday will really test any credentials they may or may not have.
Newcastle v Sunderland should be a riot. The game at the S.O.L was superb earlier in the season, mainly for the atmosphere, and it should be quality again.
There's quite an interesting game in the Championship with the top two squaring-off. Wolves have looked great in spells this season, but Reading are on fire and should win this.
