Total Annihilation

Week 3 from the EPL and week 1 from La Liga offered up some serious beat downs! Have a look at all the highlights below and then leave a comment as to which beat down you either enjoyed or loathed the most. Have fun. And if your an Arsenal fan, cover your eyes.

Manchester United humiliated Arsenal 8 - 2!! This smack down at Old Trafford prompted young Gooner Ryan Walsh to mysteriously lament, "I need a hair cut".

OK... so this is the only highlight that sucks. Because of copyright laws this is the best I could get from YouTube. It's a video from Fan Zone and its pretty awesome. if you havent seen FanZone it's a show that has a supporter from each club watching the game live and commenting on it. Enjoy

Manchester City crushed Spurs 5 - 1 with Edin Dzeko knocking in 4 goals!

Barcelona started their season off brilliantly by hammering fellow Champions League representatives Villarreal 5 - 0.

Real Madrid knocked in 6 against La Liga bottom feeders Real Zaragoza

Lastly, the Red side of Merseyside were thrilled with the display their boys put in over the weekend. One fluke goal after the 80th minute kept this game from being a clean sheet for Pepe Reina and co. Despite a little Bolton luck, this game was all Reds. Have a look

My personnel vote for beatdown of the week goes to Barca. No Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol or Pique in their side and they still ran riot. Coach Pep Guardiola rolled out a 3 - 4 - 3 formation and Barca never missed a beat. New boys Fabregas (sorry again Gunners) and Alexis Sanchez knocked in their first league goals. Villarreal fielded a stronger side then Arsenal put up against United.

Enjoy the highlights and let me know what you think!

YNWA

Champions League Draw and EPL Weekend Preview

"City handed tough UCL draw ". That's the headline gracing the front page of ESPN Soccernet. Are they kidding or do they just think the casual fans are morons?

I agree that Man City have landed in the toughest group but with the squad they have they should steamroll the opposition. With their most recent signing, Samir Nasri, now complete they have a side that is absolutely bursting with talent. David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and Adam Johnson! That's just their forwards! I haven't even mentioned the depth in holding midfielders and England keeper Joe Hart! Enough with the drama ESPN. Man City will be just fine.

Here is the complete group breakdown:

Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli
Each of these group games will be entertaining. Villarreal and Napoli do not have the complete squads that Munich and City possess, but they do have a enough stars that the fixtures will be fun.

The Bavarians and the All Stars from Eastlands will crush the Yellow Submarine (Villarreal) and Napoli.

Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor
Of course I like Inter in this group. But you know what.. They just lost Samuel Eto'o and this roster is starting to look old. How many good years do Javier Zanetti, Lucio and Diego Milito have left in them? It's a good thing this is a weak group. If they were selected to Group A, I would pick them to be knocked out.

Lille and CSKA Moscow will fight for the second spot. Keep an eye out for Edin Hazard at Lille. He is crazy talented. He might be the reason the French champs sneak into the knockout rounds.

Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati
United and Benfica .. of course. United will not play a meaningful game in this entire group. Expect to see a lot of United's Young Guns.

We might as well call it right now. United win this group easy and then get either Lille or Donetsk in the next knockout round.

Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb
This group should provide some high scoring football. Madrid, Lyon and Ajax all play attacking football. Madrid is clearly the class of the group. I will be rooting for Ajax to upset Lyon for the #2 spot, but that just won't happen. Lyon has an excellent squad

Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen,Genk

This is another group where the real fight is for second place. And seeing as Chelsea just bought Juan Mata from Valencia, I like Leverkusen to make it through to the knock out rounds. Keep an eye out for two of Leverkusen's young attackers, Eren Derdiyok and Stefan Kiesling. These kids are fun to watch.

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund

I like this group. The Arsenal v Dortmund fixtures will be excellent! Throw in Marseille and this is now a group where no one has the night off. teams will bring their A Game every week. I like The Bundesliga champs to win this group. That could spell serious trouble for Arsenal in the second round where they will likely face, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Madrid or Inter. Good luck Wenger...

Group G: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit, Apoel FC

Porto won their league title and the UEFA Cup last year. Since then they have lost their head coach, AVB, to Chelsea. High scoring forward Falcoa left for Athletico Madrid. However, as long as Porto has Brazilian striker HULK, I like them in this group. Donetsk will again make it out of the group stages.

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen

Barca and Milan will be able to play reserve sides against the minnows of the group and they should still win 5 - 0. The matches between Barca and Milan will be fun. Barcelona should win this group easily.

What do you think? Leave a comment and lets us know who you think will advance.

EPL Preview:
FSC starts the weekend off right with two EPL games and the start of the Serie A on Saturday:

9 .. Chelsea v Norwich City
11:30 .. Liverpool v Bolton .. The mighty Reds will keep a clean sheet in this victory. Look for Suarez and Carroll to hit the back of the net in this one!
1:30 ..  Cagliari v AC Milan

FSC really spoils us on Sunday with the marquee games of the Premier League:
7:30 Tottenham v Manchester City ... If Luka Modric is in the lineup for Spurs they could make a game of it. Otherwise City will crush em.

10:00 Manchester Utd. v Arsenal ... Too much United. Arsenal is just not strong enough. United will be 8 points clear of The Gunners after only three EPL weeks. Sheesh!

1:30 Inter Milan v Lecce

GOLTV brings us the start of La Liga this weekend!
Saturday:
8:30 Kaiserlautern x Bayern Munich
1:00 Valencia x Racing

Sunday:
10:30 Schalke 04 x Bayern M'gladbach
1:00 Zaragoza x Real Madrid
3:00 Sevilla x Malaga

Scousers + Mancs = England XI

Listen up Fabio Capello! If you're interested in fielding and winning with a tough Three Lions side, you better focus... and focus right now! Throw on your spectacles and get your tired ass out of London and head northwest.
There exist two cities in northwest England: Liverpool and Manchester. Separated by only 33 miles, these two working class cities boast two (and only two) historical football clubs. The Mighty Reds of Liverpool FC and the Red Devils of Manchester United. They have combined for 37 league titles, 18 FA Cups and 8 European cups between them.

Mr. Capello. If you are interested in winning Euro 2012 stop hanging around the manufactured atmosphere in Stamford Bridge. We've all seen Frank Lampard and John Terry a thousand times. They are fine professionals and top class but their time has come. If you want to win Euro 2012 you can ignore White Heart Lane, The Emirates and Eastlands (some one please smack my face if I ever refer to it as Etihad Stadium).
Currently, Sir Alex Ferguson's and King Kenny's rosters are loaded with young British talent. So much talent in fact, that you could leave former England captain's Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard on the bench. Here is a Starting 11 in a 4-4-2 formation featuring all the "Young Guns" that can win Euro 2012!

Wayne Rooney / Andy Carroll
Ashley Young / Tom Cleaverley / Jordan Henderson / Stewart Downing
Glen Johnson / Phil Jones / Chris Smalling / Martin Kelly
Subs: Danny Welbeck/ Jay Spearing/ Steven Gerrard/ Rio Ferdinand/ Michael Carrick/ John Flanagan

Where's the Keeper?

The only thing Liverpool and Manchester United currently lack is a top flight British keeper. Currently, both sides have Spaniards in the nets. So, who will guard the ol' onion basket for the team above? Jaime Carragher! Writer Brian Reade once referred to Jaime as "pure Scouse granite". A perfect assessment. A team player to the end, Carragher would put life and limb on the line for any team he played for.

Disagree? Leave a comment and let me know what you think? Is it ridiculous to put together any England national team without Jack Wilshere? Let me know what you think.

YNWA

Football Jambalaya

Spanish Supercopa … Hell Yeah!

It’s almost like the Champions League never ended. Real Madrid and Barcelona were back to do battle over the two legs of the Supercopa. The Copa managed to outshine the Community Shield as this fixture featured two legs of fantastic football.

The first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu saw Madrid fight back from a 2 – 1 deficit to claim a 2 – 2 draw. The opening goal was a beautiful exchange between Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil. Watch this combination this year. These two are dynamic footballers whose partnership looks to be blooming.

David Villa and Messi scored before half time to give the Catalans the lead before the break. David Villa’s goal reminded me a bit of the goal he scored in last years Champions League Final. Only this time it was Iker Casillas left grasping for air as the ball settled in the top right corner of the net. Former Red Xabi Alonso scored a scrapping goal at the 54^th minute tow draw the home side level.

Barcelona new boy Alexis Sanchez made his debut for the club and looked lively down the wing. This contest was without the venom we saw last year from these two sides. The only exception being Madrid’s left back Marcelo who tried to sever Leo Messi’s Achilles tendon with his Adidas.

The second leg of the Copa was a very entertaining game. The first half saw some excellent goals including the opening Andres Iniesta score. Iniesta coolly chipped Casillas after he was picked out beautifully by non other than chameleon eyes Leo Messi. Messi was then set up nicely by a clever back heel from Shakira’s boyfriend Gerard Pique.

Benzema scored a goal to tie the game at 2-2 before Cesc Fabregas set up Messi’s stunning winner. Revenge on Cesc was swift as Marcelo delivered a karate Kid style sweep of his legs. Marcello was shown straight red and the benches cleared in a “Brawl” that would make most baseball “fights” look tough.

You could see this coming. The second half was a very chippy affair. Madrid center back Pepe was throwing elbows at anyone who would get near him. Barcelona was doing more acting than a Wesleyan Arts College. And to top it all off we had “The Special One”, Jose Mourinho, tugging on one of the Madrid coaches ears. Then when he gets shoved for his school boy antics he gets a look on his face like, “What did I do”. What a prick!

These two sides are clearly the most talented in Europe. If they stay on opposite sides of the draw they should meet in the Champions League final.

EPL Week 1:

Manchester United win like they always do. They get an 80+ minute goal that bounces in off two defenders. Classic United. Ashley Young looked excellent in this game. He is going to have a terrific season. Rio Ferdinand and Nemja Vidic pulled out with injuries. Rio will be back soon while Vidic will miss 5 weeks. I see a Lou Gehrig situation coming on here. If SAF starts Phil Jones this week, the lad may never see the bench again. He is that good.

Manchester City pummeled new boys Swansea City 4 – 0 with their blue chip signing Sergio Aguero scoring two goals. Something excellent happened this game and I hope Man City coach Roberto Mancini was paying attention. When he substituted “The Human Yellow Card” Nigel De Jong for Sergio Aguero, his side sprang to life and scored four second half goals. Mancini can not play a midfield that contains both Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry. They are two similar in style and both play the game so slow.

Chelsea and Arsenal both played out 0 – 0 draws.

Liverpool were held at home by Sunderland 1 – 1. Luis Suarez missed from the spot before redeeming himself with an excellent set piece header. Andy Carroll had a goal disallowed and new man Stewart Downing rattled a laser off the crossbar. Liverpool had 4 players making their home debuts in front of the Anfield crowd. I think they can live with the 1 -1 scoreline this week.

Whats coming up this weekend?

ESPN2 is showing Liverpool v Arsenal Saturday morning at 6:45 CST

ESPN2 is also bringing us some Monday afternoon football, showing Man Utd v Tottenham

Fox Soccer Channel is showing Everton v QPR and Chelsea v West Brom on Saturday

FSC is then showing a Sunday doubleheader featuring Wolves v Fulham and Bolton v Man City

Premier League Preview 2011-2012

You don’t mind if I start with a baseball analogy do you? Bare with me, you just might agree.
Growing up here is St. Louis I was naturally baseball Cardinals fan. One night in the late 90’s I was up past my bead time to watch a west coast game against the San Diego Padres. When your dad is a shift-worker you can get away with staying up late on school nights and a variety of other misfit adventures. Anyway … Watching the Cards play the Padres never meant anything in terms of league titles or drama. In the 80’s and 90’s, baseball fans only watched the Padres for thing…Tony Gwynn. More specifically, we had to watch Tony Gwynn hit. 

For anyone that doesn’t know, Tony Gwynn is a lifetime .338 hitter, sure fire hall of famer and the owner of one of the great left handed swings in the history of baseball. I will always remember this night and more importantly this particular at bat because of the call from the Redbirds announcer Mike Shannon. Gwynn was his typical self this at bat. He carefully eyeballed everything every pitch that was a whisker out of the strike zone. He playfully fouled off a few pitches just for fun. And when Gwynn got the high and outside fastball he was looking for he simply lined a base hit to the opposite field. 

This wasn’t a game winning hit or some steroid induced 550 ft shot into the bleachers at ‘The Murph’ that made this at bat memorable. It was Shannon’s call. When Gwynn did what he did over 3,000 times in his career Mike Shannon laughed and said, “Boy, he sure does got this league figured out doesn’t he” … And that quote makes me think of Sir Alex Ferguson. He sure does have the Premier League figured out… Doesn’t he. 

SAF may have put in his best performance as a manger last season. He navigated injuries to his captain (Rio), he weathered the storm that was Hurricane Rooney last year. How quickly we forget that Rooney publicly stated he wanted out of Manchester last year!

Just when it looks like Arsenal and Chelsea have knocked United off their perch (yes it’s theirs now), SAF’s men turn on a gear that no other team has and they glide into their 19^th league title. Those Bastards! I will never root for Man U, but I have to respect them. And now United are back with a new look youthful side. Ashley Young, David De Gea and Phil Jones join Rooney and Hernandez into a side looking for their 20^th league title. As much as this pains me to say, Manchester United are clearly the team to beat.

Challengers…

Now that my eyes have stopped bleeding from reading my previous paragraphs, I can write about the sides that will be looking towards the title.

Let’s start with the most successful club in the history of English Football, The Mighty Reds of Liverpool. I love what king Kenny has done this offseason. The attacking duo of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll are going to give EPL teams fits this year. Suarez ran riot over Man U and host of other sides last season in 5 months of electric football. He followed that up by winning the Player of the Tournament award at this summers Copa America. Suarez was at his attaching best as the Uruguayans brought the trophy home to Montevideo. New signings Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam bring excitement and depth to Liverpool’s midfield.

Some detractors say that these signings crowd the midfield and that King Kenny is mad. I don’t see it that way. One of the problems Liverpool faced last year was a sever lack of depth. When Captain Steven Gerrard returns, KK will have a host of talented options to choose from. With no European football to distract the Reds this year I fully expect a top four finish. I actually expect more… that’s right. You’ve read it here first, Liverpool will do the Double this year and bring home the League and FA cup Trophies!!!  As a great man once said, "Mark it down Dude"

Man united and Liverpool will be strongly challenged this year by Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. Manchester City have spent like oil rich sheiks who don’t give a damn what a player cost. Oh, that’s right… they are oil rich sheiks who don’t give a damn what a player costs. Tottenham have so far held on to their two brightest stars, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. The transfer window is not closed yet so don’t be surprised to see Spurs bring in a last minute Striker. 

Chelsea’s big addition is new manager Andre Villas-Boas. This dude has a hyphenated name and he coaches a bunch of overrated, diving d-bags. I hate him already. I actually thought that a summer without a major international competition or qualifying would be a good thing for Fernando Torres, but he suffered a concussion the other day and may miss the first game. I am thinking that the Reds got rid of him just in time. 

Arsenal’s summer has been highlighted by the swirling rumors surrounding Cesc Fabregas and Samir nasri. It looks like Cesc will finally be heading to Barcelona. Thank God! I am tired of hearing his crap. Send him on his way and re-invest those 30 million Euros. Samir Nasri leaving has got to be driving Arsenal fans crazy especially if he goes to Man U or Man City. Nasri was the best player in the league during first half of last season before Arsenal did their usual nose dive. 

This season promises to be a great one. Clubs like Sunderland, Everton, Stoke, Bolton and West Brom will provide the occasional upset. The idea of a Big Four is long gone. With Manchester City spending like drunken sailors and the emergence of Liverpool and Tottenham mean that the EPL now has a big 7!

Predictions:

League Title – Liverpool

FA Cup – Liverpool
Carling Cup – Manchester United

Player of the Year – Luis Suarez.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Feel free to leave your own predictions in the comments section!

YNWA

They do what they want…

“We're Man United We'll do what we want” … that’s the way the Red Army sing it. Those words can be heard loud and proud from Old Trafford to Wembley, and in away stands at stadiums all over Europe. “We're Man United We'll do what we want”... When I hear that chant I really think it means, “He’s Alex Ferguson and he’ll do whatever the hell he wants”

 In todays Community Shield, Alex and the United players did do whatever they wanted. Did Nemja Vidic throw Mario Balotelli completely off his game in the first 20 minutes? Of Course. Did they want to give up two goals in the second 25 minutes? Of course they did. Those two goals will be all fuel David De Gea needs the rest of the season. He will now add bulk so he can throw himself into challenges like he should have done against Joleon Lescott. And he will not hesitate again when strikers like Edin Dzeko launch long bombs at him. His jitters are officially gone!

No one will argue that Man U did exactly what they wanted in the second half of the match. Sending out young boys Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Johnny Evans was just the enthusiasm that United needed. The way Cleverley mixed with Young, Nani and Rooney must have Premier League managers already reaching for their Advil.

David Silva was the only bright spot for City this afternoon. Their back 4 looked shaky. Their midfield (other than Silva) looked incapable of creating a goal. All in all City was outclassed and played off the pitch

Three Stars:

3. Chris Smalling:

 His goal was picturesque. He looked more like a fleet footed striker than a right-back on that play. His speedy runs up the pitch game the City defense fits in the second half

2. Ashley Young:

He set up the first United goal with brilliant cross to Smalling. He played a part in the second goal that looked more like training pitch stuff.

1. Nani:

His touch was excellent today. Both of his goals came under intense pressure and buildup. He could have easily scuffed both chances, but he kept his cool and showed how awesome of a player he can be.

Community Shield or Royal Rumble?

When the dust settles Sunday afternoon will Sir Alex have shut up his “noisy neighbors” or will Mancini’s men party till the cops come knockin. Both managers have reloaded their guns with high priced signings. We all know Sir Alex will have his boys playing his brand of football but Mancini showed last year that he is also capable of bringing together top talent.

Both teams finished last season with hardware. United won the league and lost out in the Champions League Final. While City won the FA Cup and snuck into the last champions league spot. The two sides met a total of three times last season with each side claiming one victory and sharing a draw at Eastlands. You could argue the one City victory was more important as they saw off United in the FA Cup Finals

I am seriously looking forward to the matchups in the one. City will be without Carlos Tevez and new boy Sergio Aguero, but they can still throw out Mario Balotelli, David Silva and Edin Dzeko. I am saying a prayer tonight that Sir Alex throws out new signing, 19 year old defender Phil Jones to match up against the size and strength of Dzeko and Balotelli. Phil Jones is as tough as they come and won’t take any of Balotelli’s diving whining crap. Rooney said that Jones was the toughest defender he faced last season when Jones was still at Blackburn. This kid could be the future United captain and possibly wear the armband for England as well.

This has all the makings of a street fight. One tough challenge early on from Dutch whack job Nigel De Jong (he is the guy that karate kicked Xabi Alonso in the world cup finals) could be the spark to light this fire.

 I am hoping for 1977 levels of Charity Sheild excitement, where Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan went toe to toe with Leeds hardman Billy Bremner.

Keegan Lands a right!!!!

My Call … United 3 – 1 City.

Fox Soccer Channel is showing the match live at 8:30am CST.