StamfordBridge is falling down...

... falling down, falling down

Stamford Bridge is falling down

My Fair lady

Oh yes! How easy is it to blog when the Mighty Reds of Liverpool march into Stamford Bridge and take all three points! King Kenny pushed all the right buttons for Liverpool. He left big money signings Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing all on the bench for the start. King Kenny inserted Craig Bellamy and Maxi Rodriguez into the lineup.

Bellamy and Maxi proved their worth by combining on the first goal. The play started with excellent work by Charlie Adam to pick John Obi Mikel’s pocket. He fed Bellamy who played a one two with Suarez. Then Bellamy unselfishly passed back to Maxi Rodriguez who coolly chipped Petr Cech.

Chelsea started too slow and they didn’t look a true threat until the second half. New England International, Daniel Sturridge came on for the Blues after the break. He brought a smile to Andre Villas-Boas face when he netted the leveler. Pepe Reina then made a brilliant save from a point blank John Terry header to keep the game a 1 a piece.

The game was won in the 87th minute on a brilliant run by the England Right Back Glen Johnson. Charlie Adam again started the play with a 30 meter cross that Glen Johnson expertly took in stride. Johnson then nutmegged England Left Back Ashley Cole, outran Florent Molouda and cut inside the box to shoot past Petr Cech and John Terry. What a finish. A great team effort by the Reds. King Kenny made all the right moves and the Reds fully deserved the three points. Well done lads.

But what the hell is wrong with Chelsea? They have lost their last two home games to Arsenal and Liverpool. They have lost 3 out of the last 5 league games. Fernando Torres only saw ten minutes on the pitch on Sunday. John Terry makes mistake after mistake in the back. And David Luiz looks immature and often lost out there. Luiz looked for any reason to shove and bicker with a Liverpool player Sunday. He lost his nerve and it showed. Roman Abramovich is known for the quick hook when it comes to getting rid of managers so AVB better be watching his ass right now.

Chelsea plays 6 games in the next 20 days! Their upcoming games include Champions league fixtures against Leverkusen and Valencia. They also play a Carling cup match at home against Liverpool. And in the league they play Newcastle and league leaders Manchester City. If Andre Villas-Boas doesn’t figure out his squad quickly and get them playing some decent footy he will be out on his well dressed ass faster than you can say "Didier is a diver". Or faster than Roman Abramovich can say "Oligarch". Or fatser than John Terry can say...well, you get the point

My apologies to Toon Army...         

As soon as I go singing the praises of the Newcastle they turn around and get beaten by Manchester City. Damn. I was hoping Newcastle would take a few points from City. Actually Newcastle were not that far off of City.

Joe Hart made some excellent saves early, especially the one against Demba Ba. Hatem Ben Arfa then hit the post. It looked like Newcastle were trying to outmuscle Manchester City but The Citizens are proving they can pay any style of football. Two penalties and a Micah Richards goal proved too much for as Newcastle lost their first match of the season

Ooooh there was a good game this weekend in the Bundesliga!!!

I watched current title holders Borussia Dortmund take on current league leaders Bayern Munich. I have been looking forward to this match all season! These two teams are loaded with talent and play such attractive football. This game was played in Munich. When I saw FC Hollywood's starting lineup I thought Dortmund were going to be played off the pitch. Check out Munich’s starting 11 in Saturday's fixture:

1  - Manuel Neuer

28 - Holger Badstuber

17 - Jerome Boateng

21 - Philipp Lahm

13 - Rafinha

30 - Luis Gustavo Dias

39 - Toni Kroos

33 - Mario Gomez

25 - Thomas Müller

7  - Franck Ribéry

10 - Arjen Robben

7 German, 1 French and 1 Dutch international. I mean this with all seriousness… When I look at their starting 11 I truly believe that they have what it takes to beat Manchester United and Barcelona in the Champions League this year.

But as we all know games are not won on the team sheet....

This was a feisty affair from start to finish. I actually thought the Bayern players were spared a few cards by the ref. Some of their challenges were nasty and they played with all the venom of a cobra. However, all their tough tackles did not turn into goals. League leader Mario Gomez was routinely stifled by the Dortmund defense.

I give much of the credit to Brazilian center back Felipe Santana. This guy played like a champ for 90  minutes. He was a step faster than Müller and Gomez all day. He anticipated all the attacks and tackled as tough as any of the Bavarians on the day. With Neven Subotic out of the lineup Dortmund needed a big effort form Santana and they got it.

The game winner was provided by the young German international who I have mentioned a few times already in my blog posts. Mario Götze. Götze was excellent on the day. While Munich controlled much of the possession, Dortmund counter attacked well with link up play from Götze and Robert Lewandowski.

Dortmund has now won three Bundesliga games in a row against FC Bayern - for the first time ever.

Borussia Mönchengladbach continued their hot streak by hammering Werder Bremen. Gladbach are tied with Dortmund with 26 points. Marco Reus inspired Gladbach with a hat trick. The attacking midfielder now has 7 goals in his last three games. Keep an eye out on Reus. He has drawn the interest of Arsenal, Manchester City and of course Bayern Munich.

Both Dortmund and Gladbach are now Bayern's closest challengers in the table with just two points separating the Bavarians from the two Westphalian sides with four games to go before the winter break.

Champions League football this week! Tune into FSC Tuesday and Wednesday for all the action.  Thanks for following BigTimeFootball

YNWA,

Scouser in St. Louis