A good start before Japan

The last league match before the FIFA World Club Cup gave Barça the boost they needed. A score of 1 – 0 against Real Sociedad consolidated their position on the La Liga table.

As mentioned, final score was 1 – 0 with Barcelona winning.

Barcelona chose to use the 433 formation with three forwards. It is quite clear that Barça chose to play their usual offensive style. Everyone thought that this match should be a walk in the park for the Catalans. Afterall, this is the top team against the second bottom team. How hard can it be? But it was an awful drawn out match with kooky linesmen, several denied goals and a dramatic finish. Let me take you through this match.

Note: The video coverage for this match isn’t good, but we have to make do. I’ve already placed time markers to help you all know exactly which moment in the video is being highlighted.

Xavi, my man
(Watch: 0m0s to 0m54s)

This match is undoubtedly Xavi’s. There were several occasions that Xavi displayed some amazing decision making skills and lightning reflexes. Almost as though tired of being in Iniesta’s shadow, Xavi was all ready to show his midfielding skills.

In the 18th minute, Xavi was on the left side of the pitch. A decisive cross by Xavi had the ball slicing between the four Real Sociedad defenders. The breadth of the gap was so narrow it really takes some guts to attempt it. Gudjohnsen was on the receiving on for the ball. He attempted a shot on goal but was ruled offside. The ball actually found the the net, but it denied.

Barely 3 minutes later, Ronaldinho attempts a shot on goal but the ball was deflected by keeper, Bravo. Xavi tried to send the rebound shot into the goal post. Once again, the ball found the net but he was ruled offside.

What goes round, comes round
Much of Camp Nou was howling in disagreement at the seemingly harsh offside rulings. Perhaps, it’s karma or perhaps the sight of Giuly up close frightened the linesman too much. In the 25th minute, the linesman was found hopping on one foot. Giuly was caught on camera doing the “It’s got NOTHING to do with me” motions. Replays proved that the linesmans simply twisted his own ankle by himself. How Mrs. Ronaldinho laughed.

Ronaldinho failed to recreate history
(Watch: 0m7s to 0m24s. Angle 2: 0m25s to 0m30s)

In the 31st minute, Ronaldinho attempted to do a trick again. While the shot was beautifully set up. From Xavi, who tossed a sideways kick to Deco. Deco picked up the ball effortlessly. Belletti then dashed through the edges of the Real Sociedad defence. Then a long, elegant overhead cross from the right side of the field reached Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho reacted perfectly with a scissors kick, reminiscent of Iniesta’s earlier efforts against Villareal. But it failed to find the net. It would be SO dramatic if it had found the net.

Real Sociedad in the first half
While I was not overly worried about the results of this match, I become more and more aware of how Real Sociedad could be a force to reckon with. They might have lost the match to Barcelona, only because they lack that essential teamwork that was beautifully displayed during the setting up of the Ronaldinho scissors kick attempt. On their own, Real Sociedad has more a few quality players moving in the true Totall Football spirit.

In the 24th minute, midfielder Mikel Aranburu assisted Jesuli of Real Sociedad. While the goal flew wide, it highlighted the less than stable Barça defence. Perhaps Barcelona was trying to find balance as Carles Puyol had just left the field for Oleguer Presas to come on due to injury. If so, Real Sociedad displays a sharp eye for making the best of the situation to their benefit.

Winning goal: Ronaldinho’s eleventh goal in the league

This a night of long, accurate passes. The ball hurtled in from midfield and found Giuly. Giuly, who had a poor showing the whole night finally made good. He fired a tight, deadly pass to Ronaldinho who immediately converted it to goal. The ball fired past 3 stunned defenders and a brave keeper. It’s not the most prolific or jaw dropping of goals, but a goal’s a goal nonetheless.

Giuly, poor showing?
Yes, I do mean that. Giuly had fluffed many chances to either assist or score simply because he was too slow or hesistated far too long. For Giuly, playing in the position that many have come to recognise Messi for, a comparison is inevitable. While Giuly and Messi are two rather different strikers, one still cannot help noting that the younger striker has a greater thirst for goal as compared to Giuly. Put Messi on the pitch and he’d move so quickly and surely that the defenders end up running into each other. For Giuly, he tends to be unable to decide if he wants to go head on or attempt a bypass. But Giuly does shine when he doesn’t have to decide between two routes, as illustrated in the previous video.

Xavi, the second showing
In the 57th minute, Deco tried to set Xavi up for goal, but unfortunately, Xavi fired his effort directly into Bravo. Later, closer to fulltime, Ronaldinho tried assist Xavi, but his right footed shot was just offmark. Though in the second half, Xavi did not find the net but it is the first time I’ve sat up to notice Xavi. He had always been a bit of shy midfielder i.e. not of the attacking stock. This night’s performance gives us more food for thought as Rijkaard has found himself another midfielder that’s more all rounded than we ever imagined. The choice to not start with Iniesta brought out some interesting elements in Xavi.

Valdes’s heroics

As thought to prove Shiren wrong that he is no world class keeper, Valdes performed a world class save in stoppage time for Barcelona. Without this save, Barcelona can probably only content with 31 points and tying with Sevilla for top point on the table. Imanol Agirretxe’s header from the centre of the box was staunchly punched away by Valdes with such calm and force, the commentators all went crazy. Mrs. Ronaldinho and I agreed vehemently that Valdes truly performed wonderfully under this pressure. Just watch the video and be convinced.

Hat’s off to you, Valdes for securing the three points for Barça.

Sylvinho’s sending off
Frankly, it makes scant sense to me. I usually don’t like to wax lyrical about sending offs, unless it’s of gross injustice like Motta’s sending off in the recent Zaragoza match. But do feel free to discuss and analyse. That’s what commenting is for.

What do you think?
I found this match one of the more drab matches my short experience of watching La Liga matches. There were indeed spectacular moments like Xavi’s showings and Valdes’s amazing save. But in comparison to the previous matches that had Ronaldinho’s awesome bicycle kick, Iniesta’s kungfu styled scissors kick, it pales. It is extremely apparent that Rijkaard had told his team to play offensively, but conservatively. Afterall energies (and possibly injury risks) are better deployed in the upcoming FIFA World Club Cup.

What’s next?
Expect reports for the Chelsea-Arsenal match. I sure did not enjoy that match, but by special request from Mr. X, I sat through that match and shall do ‘civic’ duty in a day or two’s time.

Oh, just read the news about Alan Pardew’s sacking. Looks like West Ham is in for rough time. I swear…. Tevez and Mascherano had just made the worst career move in their lives. I’m a little upset about this.

Source of report: FC Barcelona, EPSN Soccernet,

Gunning their way through

When I saw that it was Arsenal vs Liverpool of the EPL, I had to watch it. Afterall, both Arsenal and Liverpool were once in the running for THE Club I was seeking to support. And they were neck to neck too. Those were fun days… Anyway, enough reverie. Back to present and I present the scores.

Arsenal vs Liverpool: 3 – 0

It is a score that would make any Gunners’ fan proud. And they played well too.

Steady Toure ignites trail of goals for Arsenal

The match kicked off with Liverpool playing strongly. They had an impressive defence, alert forwards and an attitude raring to go. Arsenal, on the flip, had a loose defence, sloppy midfield and overeager forwards. It did seem like the match was in Arsenal’s disadvantage due to several factors. Lehmann was out with a sore throat leaving Almunia to hold fort. Rosicky was out with an injury and substitute Flamini started.

Denied Goal #1
Van Persie kicked off the night of denied goals by handballing the first goal. From the first look, it wasn’t clear that it was a handball. When he charged up to the net, Reina suddenly ran past Van Persie screaming and gesturing. At that juncture, Van Persie had slotted the ball into the unguarded net. But the referee immediately booked him for a yellow card. I was a little baffled too and thought he was booked for dissent. But later, during the match recap at half time, the scene was replayed from a different angle and it was clear that Van Persie’s fist had propelled the ball ahead JUST before Reina dashed past him. Reina had seen it and was protesting vigorously, thus giving Van Persie the chance to ‘score’ the first goal.

Finnan’s impressive defending
At 6 minutes, another crack on goal was attempted by the Arsenal side. While it got pass Riise, it could not get past Finnan. He was SO fast… he just nipped right before the ball and send it whittling away with quick kick. I’ve never quite seen such accurate defending before. Letting the ball bounce off the body, yes. Clearing the ball, yes. Tucking the ball off with a impeccably timed kick, not quite.

Gallas saves
At the 35th minute, Mark Gonzalez attempted a shot on goal, but was foiled by an alert Gallas. For this match, Gallas would show that he was indeed one of the world’s best defenders. His performance was sorely disappointing for the past two matches I watched briefly.

Gerrard and Zenden waste chances
I felt Gerrard was a little disappointing in this match. His passes were mistimed and his shot on goal flew so widely offmark, I wondered if he even bothered to aim. Where was the man that was once declared one to be stopped if any chance at beating Liverpool was to be made? I can’t say.

At the 28th minute, Zenden had a good chance to translate the freekick to goal but misjudged the angle and it bounced off the wall. Should he had scored, it might have been a different picture for the Reds.

Denied Goal #2:
At 14 minutes, Liverpool had just managed to toss the ball over to underrated striker, Peter Crouch. Crouch seized his chance and eagerly flipped the ball into the net past Almunia. But he was ruled offside and the goal was denied. On replay, Crouch was clearly offside and there was no denying to it.

From then on it was a tight fight with little chance for goal on either side. There were several players that stood out very clearly. On the Liverpool side, Riise played for all he was worth. He defended so ferociously, it was almost like he was an attacking defender. I told Mr. X that Riise was a dangerous man. He scoffed me by saying Riise was a mere defender. I trust what I see, Riise is fearsome… He is the most fearsome defender on the field that night other than Gallas.

Arsenal goal #1
The other player that caught my notice was midfielder, Cesc Fabregas. At the 40th minute, Hleb (another remarkable player) had just won the ball from Liverpool and was steadily advancing to goal. He then sent the ball to Fabregas, who is adept at freeing himself from being tied down by his opponents (something that Messi should learn). Upon gaining the ball, Fabregas wove himself parallel to goal. He chose to deliver to straight pass to Flamini who was directly in front of the goalpost. Flamini did not disappoint, despite being very nearly offside and having Riise on his back, he scored.

I had a discussion with Mr. X on Fabregas’ seemingly risky move to pass the ball to Flamini. I likened his maneuver to what Messi did in World Cup 2006. Messi was about forty degrees behind Tevez. He could have chose to try to score or pass to Tevez. He passed to Tevez before he was swarmed by defenders from the other side and Tevez took that chance to throw the keeper offguard and scored. Mr. X said a lesser player would have tried to score on his own. I concurred.

Arsenal goal #2
In the second half, Toure took a rare chance to score a truly gorgeous goal. Van Persie had just lost his chance to score. Toure was behind him. As Van Persie was embroiled in the tangle with superman Riise, Toure took the chance to run pass the fiasco. Van Persie managed to get the ball out into the clear and Toure calmly took up his position behind the ball and sent it sedately from the midfield penalty area past Reina (who could have done better at this point). Even Toure was pleasantly surprised that he scored. His calmness was impressive. If he were more agitated, his shot goal on goal would have most likely be over the crossbar because he would have kicked it too hard.

Arsenal goal #3
Gallas, the other multi-tasking defender other than Riise. Van Persie had just returned to the ball to play from the corner. I really wonder why Gallas was at where he was. The ball came flying down onto the mad scramble in front of the goalpost. Gallas took his chance and headed the ball past the hapless Reina. It was a neat header. This instance of the defender scoring reminded me of this Barcelona match that saw Puyol scoring against Ath. Bilbao. Puyol backpedalled and scored. Both incidents left me wondering what were the defenders doing so near to goal? Either ways, it was to good effect.

Adebayor disappoints
Nearly end game, Adebayor came on for Van Persie. He had managed to run free with the ball and was one on one with Reina. He took too long to try to score and once again, superman Riise came barraging up and knocked the ball away from the indecisive Adebayor. He had a good chance to make the Arsenal goal tally to 4 but squandered it

Denied goal #3
End game, Bellamy came on. I remember Bellamy from my last Liverpool match that was against Chelsea for the FA Community Shield (Yes I know that was SO long ago but I’m not a bigtime Liverpool supporter). And I also remember Bellamy for the wrong reasons that I shall not discuss here, for it may further detract from my already unprofessional reviews. Anyway, the ball had found Bellamy was behind Reina and at the mouth of the net. He was did another nice header; after Gallas, only to be ruled offside.

Most people would say that Liverpool played poorly. But in reality, should all the denied goals; aside from the handball by Van Persie, were not ruled offside, the scores would have been different. I still think the two teams are well matched. Tonight was Arsenal’s night for teamwork and for seizing the right chances. On the other hand, Liverpool should have exploited Arsenal’s loose defence more. Almost as though to guard against Arsenal, too much emphasis was put on the Liverpool defence. Should they have played a more attacking style, I’d daresay despite the denied goals, Liverpool would not have walked away with a zero to their name.

With this match ends all hopes for Liverpool to go near the EPL title. This win is the perfect salve for the Gunners’ embarassing performance and lost to West Ham previously.

Barcelona vs Zaragoza: A preview
Well, the next match review will be for Barcelona vs Zaragoza. A brief preview here, Barcelona scored a resounding victory and once again claimed their rightful place on top of the Spanish League table. Zaragoza got whipped by Barça with 3 – 1. Ronaldinho did some great work scoring 2 goals. Up and coming Saviola scores 1. It does look like this long undermined Argentine is starting show some serious promise.

EPL Miscellany: Chelsea vs Watford and Reading vs Tottenham
Oh yea, before I forget… Chelshit had given Watford a whipping with 4 – 0. To me, Watford deserved it for playing so badly. Platypus faced Drogba scored a hat-trick… Looks like this sickening person will be on the radar for a while to come.

Reading shocked everyone by beating Tottenham with a 3 – 1. 3 – 1! What happened to the Tottenham that bested Chelsea?! I was too baffled to even see the match to fulltime. That’s why I don’t like watching EPL, you can’t never know which are the truly strong teams. Some say this adds to the fun of watching, I say this adds to the uneasiness of the supporter. Mind you, I am not say be predictable, I’m saying be consistent.

Source of report: ESPN Soccernet, TEAMtalk

So you think ham is a kind of meat.

(In case you missed the earlier posts:
- When fines are not enough
- Barcelona vs Deportivo: A night at the penalties)

Under the fire by the Gunners, the ham turns out well baked.

Harewood slips the ball past German keeper, Lehmann late game

Final score: 1 – 0 with West Ham claiming the victory.

The only reason why I watched this match was to see my beloved Tevez on the field. After it’s been a long time since I last saw him play. But there was no Tevez tonight. Since I already am in front of the TV and kind of keen to see who will emerge winner, I watched on.

The match started with West Ham strong on the attack. Kind of like how Deportivo pressed on the Barça defence. But West Ham lacked the discipline of Deportivo… many chances were not carried to fruition by sheer lack of teamwork. Arsenal was very fast in tonight’s clash. Kind of like many little Flash Gordons blitzing on the field. Arsenal played their usual pounding style, fast and furious but accuracy was greatly missing Thus giving West Ham many chances of snagging the ball from the Gunners and pushing towards goal.

Because that cycle kept repeating, Arsenal’s midfield had to keep running up and down, wearing themselves out. I get the impression that Arsenal seemed to be too slack as compared to West Ham. West Ham never tired or gave up. They just kept going for goal again and again. Their tenacity was most impressive. Particularly Benayoun of West Ham, he was the epitome of being everywhere on the field. Along with Spector, the two of them had the most contact with the ball from the West Ham side.

Arsenal had no problems going for goal. But when they had chances, they fumbled it up. The most classic missed chance was by Rosicky in the first half. Boy was that some regret. Rosicky tried to fire a long shot but missed by a small margin. Everyone stared in disbelief. Later Toure had a similar chance, and he THOUGHT he scored until the replay showed that ball was bouncing OUTSIDE the net. What a terrible disappointment for Arsenal. Van Persie, too, had many chances to score but just lacked that magical finishing touch.

Tonight’s keepers for both sides were highly impressive. Early readers of my blog will know I do not have much love for German keeper Lehmann, but that was because he was shaky keeper. Since World Cup till now, he has improved vastly. Tonight he saved Arsenal from heartache more than once… But just not enough.

During the 80-something minute, these three West Ham players (not familiar with their names) worked together to form the Triangle. From the midfield, one of them dashed forth then passed the ball to the player in the middle who took a moment to see his surroundings before giving it good kick to the striker (Harewood). The moment the ball touched the striker’s foot, he sent it flying to goal. The entire sequence happened in less than seven seconds, Lehmann just had no time to react. It was a shock goal for everyone in the stadium. Arsene Wenger lost his temper and started railing at Pardew.

I feel that Arsenal was definitely capable of dominating the match. A lot of chances slipped by when they kept sticking to long passes. They did not seem to realise they were playing against a side that was very good in picking up chances to gain the ball. Another thing about Arsenal was that, they had the speed but neglected to use it to their advantage. If the players were more attuned to each other and tried to work together… it would have been much better. Like what Mr.X said, it was a collective of individuals rather than a team. The only obvious partnership on the field was between Fabregas and Rosicky. The two of them worked well together.

The forwards were one gang, the midfielders alone in their own game, the defenders did the job erratically. Gallas is definitely capable of better results. During the match against CSKA, already he let slip the blue-haired CSKA striker due to a moment’s negligence… I thought it would never happen again. But it did. Once again, a lone West Ham striker found his way out the Arsenal defence and happily started towards goal. Thank goodness, Lehmann did a beautiful job by stopping the ball.

West Ham played pretty gruesomely too. Their attacks lack bite. Barcelona on the attack might be akin to a magnificent lion for the killl, West Ham appeared more like dozen of pesky mosquitoes. But even mosquitoes can bring a T-Rex down. I feel that West Ham should sharpen their attacks and finishing. While their defence held up against Arsenal’s attacks, it was more due to the utter confusion that the ball gets bobbed away rathe than tight defending.

West Ham’s best feature was their midfield. Very lively and ever ready to win the ball. They sent Arsenal in a quandary more than once with their quick actions. Ultimately it was also because of this midfield that West Ham managed to steal the ball, set up for goal and take the goal.

Another thing was West Ham’s fans. These people have no manners at all. When Van Persie was about to do a throw-in, he suddenly collapsed onto the pitch clutching the back of his head in agony. I was shocked to see that happen. I thought he had some brain injury suddenly. It didn’t make sense to me until I saw a policeman come onto the pitch to retrieve some object near where Van Persie fell. Apparently, a fan threw something onto the pitch and it hit Van Persie at the back of his head. That was fucking ugly and bad behaviour. Inexcusable.

Overall, I felt like the match was damn messy, lacked coordination and somewhat frustrating. It also showed me a side of Arsene Wenger I wish I did not see. It’s probably just a bad run for the Gunners.

Source of Report: Based on personal reflections.

A bloody fight in Madejski

On Saturday, I managed to catch the EPL match for Chelsea and Reading. Chelsea won the game, but suffered some serious injuries.

Match Recap
Chelsea was playing in their usual manner. A little disconnected but ever hawking for chances to seize free kicks and thief balls. Reading was a so-called new team for me, entirely because I’ve never watched them play before. Reading plays fast. A little disorganised with poor ball possesion rate. But they do have some quality players like the wretched Stephen Hunt and Ibrahima Sonko.

Hunt moves very fast and decisively. His style reminds me of Messi when Messi is going for the kill. During the match, there was this incident where there were 2 Chelsea defenders determined to clear the ball. Only Hunt was in the way. It looked like Chelsea would suceed, afterall there were 2 defenders closing on a corner. But Hunt seemed to have the ball glued to his feet. He wove his way around the two defenders and manged to break free from them just before the ball was out. Then after that, he dashed towards the goalpost and delivered a pass to his team-mate which unfortunately was not converted to goal.

The decisive and swift manner he tackled the defenders was very Messi-esque, but his pass to his team-mate was shaky and lacked the power that demands your gasps and utmost cheering.  Despite that, no one can deny that fine piece of footwork he gave. But poor Hunt, early in the game, he knocked Cech unconscious. People would rather remember his misdeeds than that amazing piece of work he did for Reading.

Onto Chelsea’s goal. It was sheer horrible-ness. Excuse my English, but it was just horrible. Frank Lampard was the person who showcased how despicable Chelsea can be. It was near the Chelsea goalpost and Lampard was trying to get a piece of the action when he decided it would be better to get a free kick. So when he was near Sonko, the bastard just leapt and fell on Sonko’s feet, yelling that Sonko tripped him. Sonko saw the falling Lampard and tried to skip out of way, all the while with his hands in the air but it was too late. The referee awarded Chelsea the free kick, which was taken by Lampard. He took the shot, it was close but not close enough…. until Ingimarsson tipped the flailing ball into the net. Accidentally, of course. It was an own goal.

The heads come falling down
I stopped watching the game at about the 80th minute. Apparently, Cudicini was also busted up in the match. Petr Cech is seriously injured with a fractured skull. It does seem likely he will be out for the Barça match. Not sure if Cudicini would recover in time. Even if he does, Cudicini is no Petr Cech. Or we could be seeing Hilario; Chelsea’s third choice keeper. He could be Chelsea’s wildcard.

Barça is on a roll here. Ronaldinho looks like he is well on his way back to form, scoring 2 elegant goals against Sevilla in the recent Primera Liga match.  Messi topped it off with what ESPN called, a virtuoso goal in the 81 minute (Messi seems to come to his his peak very late in a match). Valencia lost their game against Celta Vigo (surprisingly), hence Barça officially tops the table for now. It is a good time now for Barcelona. With Chelsea’s Petr Cech out of action and Ronaldinho coming back to form, Barça looks set to be a winner in the upcoming Champions League clash. But the ball is round, we will not know how it goes.

I am not exuberant at all about Chelsea’s injuries. In fact, I did wish it would be a fair game. The Barça supporter in me was more than a little happy when I heard that Cech was down. But he is seriously injured and from one person to the other, we do not gloat.

Only 2 days more to showdown.

Source of report: ESPN Soccernet, TEAMtalk, FCBarcelona