It's possible this is turning into a monologue rather than a debate, but I must take a moment to point to how strong my predictions look at this moment in the season.
Chelsea, after a strong start (per usual) utterly push the self destruct button and allow Wigan their first big-Four defeat ever. Ever. Is Ancelotti pulling a Scolari (starts out strong, peters out dramatically mid season, is replaced by a lackey who pulls together a boring but successful end to the season with a nice little third/fourth place finish, as predicted by yours truly)?
Torres takes top spot as leading scorer in the prem (who said that might happen? hmmmm...) and is discussed in many circles as "the greatest striker in the world at the moment". Barring a massive injury , I think my golden boot prediction is not absurd by any stretch.
Now, I'll admit Arsenal don't look well on paper, but if you watch them play it's another story. They have same problems as usual, but their foundational play is much, much stronger than last year, and if they can avoid gorgeous own goals and absurd penalties they will be rampant.
Anyway, hope you are alive, watching the scores and are just quiet because you are so sheepish about your terrible predictive abilities.
Much love,
Jon
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Chelsea Ban and Etc.
Good to have you back, Mike. I hear that Phil Greene may also be checking on this blog, so we'd welcome his presence in the dialogue once he signs an agreement that Arsenal are the greatest team in English football and Tottenham are merely nouveau riche who spend oodles of money every year and underachieve like the best of them. Their resurgence under 'Arry is just a blip on the radar.
Anyway, it is stunning about Chelsea and I really really hope it goes through. As you predicted in your comment below, Man U are now being investigated for like crimes and I would be absolutely thrilled if that happened to them as well.
Well, the game against Slovenia was quite something. It was absolutely Hilarious to read a massive article in Guardian detailing John Terry's strong feelings about diving and about how English players honesty cost them games because, dagnabit, they just refused to dive under any circumstances. 50 minutes later Rooney perpetrates the most outrageous, egregious dive I have seen in international competition; and I'm not exagerating. As they line up to watch the penalty Rooney and the boys are having a big laugh about how they got away with it.
Typical English football hypocrisy. When it's Croatians (like Eduardo who was a large part of humiliation a little while ago (4-1 tee hee hee)) they go crazy about diving, talk about long term bans, etc., but when their own low talent hack goes over it's all about how there may have been some contact, no wait it was actually Rooney who kicked the other guy, and then oh yeah the other guy actually got injured on the play, and um, yeah, after further review Rooney could have gotten a yellow card for EITHER the foul on the defender OR for diving in the box; but instead he gets a penalty in his favor. Nice....
England are quite deluded actually about their football. Massive recrimination when they don't play well, massive elation to the point of disconnection from reality when they beat Slovenia in a friendly; their players can do no wrong.
Aargh!
Anyway, it is stunning about Chelsea and I really really hope it goes through. As you predicted in your comment below, Man U are now being investigated for like crimes and I would be absolutely thrilled if that happened to them as well.
Well, the game against Slovenia was quite something. It was absolutely Hilarious to read a massive article in Guardian detailing John Terry's strong feelings about diving and about how English players honesty cost them games because, dagnabit, they just refused to dive under any circumstances. 50 minutes later Rooney perpetrates the most outrageous, egregious dive I have seen in international competition; and I'm not exagerating. As they line up to watch the penalty Rooney and the boys are having a big laugh about how they got away with it.
Typical English football hypocrisy. When it's Croatians (like Eduardo who was a large part of humiliation a little while ago (4-1 tee hee hee)) they go crazy about diving, talk about long term bans, etc., but when their own low talent hack goes over it's all about how there may have been some contact, no wait it was actually Rooney who kicked the other guy, and then oh yeah the other guy actually got injured on the play, and um, yeah, after further review Rooney could have gotten a yellow card for EITHER the foul on the defender OR for diving in the box; but instead he gets a penalty in his favor. Nice....
England are quite deluded actually about their football. Massive recrimination when they don't play well, massive elation to the point of disconnection from reality when they beat Slovenia in a friendly; their players can do no wrong.
Aargh!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Chelsea Transfer Ban?????!!!!!
Hey,
Sorry have been traveling a lot to field locations over the last week or so, so haven't made any recent postings. But I just saw this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8236187.stm
I am sure you have noticed already. Apparently due to a signing Chelsea made two years ago they now cannot sign anyone for two transfer windows as a result. If this is true (and of course if it is upheld after they inevitably appeal) than it could be huge. Chelsea are old and have generally done very poorly in bringing in youth players with potential to step in. So if they can't sign anyone until January 2011, it will create some serious problems for the start of next season. Most likely any big names left will go over the next summer window (Ribery, Villa) so not to be able to use that to purchase anyone will help strengthen the rest of the teams hugely, while Chelsea will be left behind. I don't know all the details, but it seems very odd to me that Chelsea got nailed with this, and not just a huge fine (maybe FIFA finally realized that huge fines mean nothing to some teams). But surely Chelsea couldn't have done anything different or more extreme than Man U when stealing Macheda or the most recent 16 year old? I didn't hear about this court case until now, while at least three of Man U's youngsters have created court cases. Surely if Chelsea get nailed like this so should Man U? I would love to see both of them get frozen out of the transfer window like this, especially since both failed to sign any big names over the summer. Man City and Real Madrid would eat up all the rest of the players and it could have long term effects on the table. I still think Chelsea will win the league this year even if this goes through. And honestly I don't think the transfer window ban will stick. FIFA is notoriously lacking backbone and will most likely reduce it to a fine, but we can always hope!
Sorry have been traveling a lot to field locations over the last week or so, so haven't made any recent postings. But I just saw this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8236187.stm
I am sure you have noticed already. Apparently due to a signing Chelsea made two years ago they now cannot sign anyone for two transfer windows as a result. If this is true (and of course if it is upheld after they inevitably appeal) than it could be huge. Chelsea are old and have generally done very poorly in bringing in youth players with potential to step in. So if they can't sign anyone until January 2011, it will create some serious problems for the start of next season. Most likely any big names left will go over the next summer window (Ribery, Villa) so not to be able to use that to purchase anyone will help strengthen the rest of the teams hugely, while Chelsea will be left behind. I don't know all the details, but it seems very odd to me that Chelsea got nailed with this, and not just a huge fine (maybe FIFA finally realized that huge fines mean nothing to some teams). But surely Chelsea couldn't have done anything different or more extreme than Man U when stealing Macheda or the most recent 16 year old? I didn't hear about this court case until now, while at least three of Man U's youngsters have created court cases. Surely if Chelsea get nailed like this so should Man U? I would love to see both of them get frozen out of the transfer window like this, especially since both failed to sign any big names over the summer. Man City and Real Madrid would eat up all the rest of the players and it could have long term effects on the table. I still think Chelsea will win the league this year even if this goes through. And honestly I don't think the transfer window ban will stick. FIFA is notoriously lacking backbone and will most likely reduce it to a fine, but we can always hope!
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