Daniel Sturridge Walks Alone

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

Liverpool vs Manchester United is one of the great rivalries in British football. The game played at Liverpool on September 1, 2013 is by far the best game played in the English Premier League to date. The two teams played with great intensity for ninety minutes. As against Aston Villa last week Liverpool on a Daniel Sturridge goal scored in the first half. Liverpool dominated possession in the first half and that dominance frustrated the Manchester United players that three of them ended the first half with yellow cards including Van Persie.

Just as in the Aston Villa games, Liverpool wilted in the second half and Manchester United had them backing up and defending desperately. This failure to maintain the same level of intensity in the second half has to be an issue of stamina. As the season advances, Brandon Rodgers will have to do something about that lack of conditioning.

Manchester United was without Wayne Rooney who suffered a gash to his forehead in practice. Manchester United continues to rely on the old geezer, Ryan Giggs, rather than giving younger players like Anderson, to develop their true potential. The telling question at this juncture is Giggs still a great player or was he a great player and simply running on fumes and his reputation? Giggs needs to take a seat beside Scholes.

Ashley Young started and Nani was brought into the game as a substitute. Both displayed their wares as top class players. But in the end Manchester United lost and that could be the omen for the season that they will have. Van Persie was closely marked and lost his cool a number of times. He has a steep hill to climb to replicate his incredible performance last season.

Does Wenger Know Best?

Arsenal started the season rather shakily and Wenger was being blasted by the fans for not bringing in top transfer players. But Arsenal showed in their game against Tottenham that they have a nucleus that can compete with the top tier teams.

Soccer evidently is a team game where the chemistry among the players must be like clockwork. Teams like Newcastle or Sunderland which made sweeping changes fail to develop an effective esprit d’corps. Arsenal has and the players who came in last year like Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud are now fitting in with the team.

Tottenham was unafraid to spend money and they brought in a new midfield. But it takes some players a year before they find their stride in the English league. Tottenham devoid of Bale is yet to score a goal in open play. They attack with great uncertainty and one wonders if Soldado can make it in the English league. Dembele looks lost and will lose his place to players like Erikson.

AVB is supposedly an astute student of the game but his trades do not seem to have a grand design. Nonetheless the season is young and one should wait until the half-way mark before being too definitive.

Chelsea vs Manchester United

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

In the quarter-final of the F.A. Cup at Old Trafford, Manchester United and Chelsea gave soccer fans a special rendition of what Pele calls, the beautiful game. Prior to the Manchester United/Chelsea game, the other F.A. quarter-final game, we witnessed an example of how ugly the game can be played when Milwall and Blackburn played to a nasty nil all draw.

The Manchester United vs Chelsea game started with great tempo. For the first forty-five minutes, Manchester United played like the league leaders on their way to another EPL championship.

Garrick, Cleverly, Rooney and Kagawa controlled mid-field and before Chelsea could blink, Chicharito was on the scoreboard and Rooney from a free kick had Cech retrieving the ball from the back of the net.

For the first half, Chelsea was outplayed and outnumbered in mid-field. Nani, Rooney and Hernandez seemed unstoppable as they kept Chelsea on the back foot.

But the game is not for the swift but for those who can endure it to the end. In the second half, Manchester United lost their dominance. Their mid-field faded. The much maligned Chelsea manager, Rafael Benitez made a deft change in the second half. He brought in Hazard for the ineffective Victor Moses. The aging Lampard was replaced by Mikel and that allowed Ramires to push forward.

The Chelsea mid-field took control of the game and the substitute Hazard wreaked havoc on the Manchester backline. It was Hazard who opened the Chelsea score with a curling beauty that beat DeGea. Later the rampaging Brazilian, Ramires, teamed up with playmaker Juan Mata and Chelsea was level. In the waning minutes of the game Juan Mata should have scored but De Gea made a game saving stop with his outstretched legs.

The ninety minutes of soccer was simply scintillating. Ferdinand and Evans, Manchester’s two central defenders, were outstanding. David Luiz was heroic and indefatigable as Chelsea’s central defender Hazard coming on in the second half changed the game. He showed incredible guile and at the age of twenty-two has a great future in the world of soccer.

Milwall and Blackburn will go at it again as will Manchester United and Chelsea in the span of ten days.

In the other F.A. match up, Manchester City ran rough-shod over Barnsley. Wigan shocked Everton, scoring three goals in the first half in the space of three minutes. Wigan and Manchester City wait in the wings.

The semi-final and final at Wembley will provide us with more renditions of the beautiful game.

Soccer Stars @ Carnivals

Happy Carnival, Mardi Gras, J'ouvert or whatever you want to call it. At Futbolr we condone letting loose with loud music, beautiful people and some fancy footwork. It looks like the revelers at the Carnivals have footy on their minds. In Nice, France they have including a haunting, oversized Zinedine Zidane with a "coco" on his head, possibly from a certain headbutt. As expected, Rio de Janiero includes soccer in all that they do with costumes for Wayne Rooney & Ronaldo in their oompah loompah stylings. On & Off the pitch, it's a lifestyle thing, be safe and enjoy the festivities Futbolrs.

VIA

The Manchester Derby

By Bagga Wilks

Both Manchester teams have made moves to improve their respective squads. Mancini of Manchester City still thinks he needs two or three more players to round out his squad while Sir Alex made his moves early and spent the pre-season integrating the new players into his squad.

In the Community Shield game on Sunday, August 7, 2011, the match-up between Manchester City and Manchester United was a preview of what we can expect from the EPL for the 2011-2012 season. Chelsea with their new coach Vilas-Boas has also been busy filling in gaps in their over laden squad. Arsenal seems likely to start the season much weaker than the previous season. Rather than gaining key players, Arsenal is poised to lose key players. Clichy is gone, Fabregas is partly out the door and Nasri’s future is undecided.

The big Serbian, Dzeko, showed his worth when he picked up a dribble and from outside the box, let loose a scorcher that beat the new Manchester United goalkeeper. That spectacular goal put Manchester City in front with a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time.

The game was far from over as Manchester United aggregation of Rooney, Young, Welbeck, Anderson and Nasri discombobulated the usual impregnable Manchester City’s defensive line. Smalling scored a header from an Ashley Young spot kick and a combination of passes from Cleverly, Welbeck, Roooney and Nasri ended up with Nasri tying the score. In the last minute of the encounter, it was the Nasri show as he outhustled Kompany and dribbled around the keeper to give his team the 3-2 victory.

The chemistry of the Manchester United players will only get better as the season progresses. Welbeck and Cleverly have been out on loans and they have returned to their host club with renewed confidence and maturity. Ashley Young was quite an acquisition and Anderson with the retirement of Scholes seems all set to be the ball maestro in center field. And then there is the balding but not aging Rooney, playing behind the striker, working his intermittent magic. The only possible weakness is the replacement of Van de Saar. The goalkeepers in the wings will be in need of protection from the likes of Evra, Smalling, Vidic and Ferdinand. I would not be surprised that the youngster, Phil Jones could wrest the starting position as central defender from the oft-injured and aging Ferdinand.

Manchester United are the defending EPL champions. Barcelona showed in the Champion League Final that they were a cut above Manchester United. This year, Manchester United is an improved team and should be far more competitive against Barcelona if fate brings the two teams to the Champion League final in the 2012 season.

FIFA x Young Money

What Do Wayne Rooney, Kaka, Lil' Wayne & Drake have in common?

How Great is Barcelona?

By Bagga Wilks

There is no question that Barcelona is the best team in football at this juncture. They do not have the best defense. Pique is an excellent central defender and Mascherano showed his versatility as a defensive player by partnering with Pique. Playing as a central defender is not Mascherano’s natural position. Danny Alves is more an attacking full back and Abidal’s quick return from cancer surgery was heroic. When Manchester United attacked, Barcelona’s defense looked shaky and Rooney’s masterful curler gave United hope and signaled that Barcelona’s defensive perimeter could be breached.

Other than Rooney’s goal, Manchester United looked incredibly ordinary. Barcelona plays against great teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid and treats the game like a training exercise.

Coaching is significant but the aggregation of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Alves, Abidal, Villa and Pedro make them into passing wonders. They short pass, they move, they turn, they mesmerize and then they strike like vipers.

The Manchester tactic was to pressure the ball and not give Barcelona time to dominate possession. It worked for a couple minutes in the first half but as Barcelona stepped into a rhythm, Sir Alex’s contingent was running in circles and when they got the ball, were immediately dispossessed.

A central aspect of Barcelona’s ability to dominate is their capacity not to allow their opponents to put passes together. What is unique is not the art of the short passing but the use of space and the nonstop running off the ball.

Champs vs Chumps

By Bagga Wilks

The logical prediction for Arsenal vs Manchester United on Sunday, May 1st, 2011 would be that Arsenal’s lack of shooting power would be easy pickings for Manchester United’s two defensive stalwarts, Vidic and Ferdinand and that United’s fire-power of Rooney, Hernandez and Nasri would extinguish Arsenal’s porous defense line. But that Sunday at the Emirates, the opposite occurred.

For the first 45 minutes Arsenal’s mid-field of Song, Wilshere and Ramsey overran Manchester United’s invisible mid-field. Walcott, Van Persie and Nani mounted raids on Manchester’s backline. Arsenal dominated the mid-field play to the extent that Arsenal’s defensive line spent more time on attack than on defense.

Manchester United is not only fighting for the EPL title but during the week they “toyed” with Shalke of the Bundesliga for the semi-final of the Champions League and even though there is a second leg coming up on Tuesday, the odds are clear that the Champions League final will be between Barcelona and Manchester United. Shalke looked like a light-weight in the same ring as a heavyweight. The Champion League not only puts the best European teams in the gladiator ring of world football but it provides us with an insight to the respective strength of European Leagues. The E.P.L. is vastly stronger than the German League. It is not surprising that no Italian team qualified to advance in the semi-final of the Champions League. It signifies the weakening state of Serie A and in a larger context, the decline of Italian football.

Winning Championships and the Management Factor: Man U 4-2 West Ham

Coaches are not on the pitch playing the game but they are a huge factor in the final result. A soccer game is two forty-five minute halves and what adjustments are made at half-time can determine the final outcome of the game.

At the end of the first half, West Ham was leading the English Premier League leaders, Manchester United, two goals to zero. Avram Grants’ men had another forty-five minutes to secure three points, an upset victory, and to put them in a more competitive position to avoid relegation. Grant’s team began the second half with no adjustments. They had secured the lead by the referee granting them deserved penalties. But even before the first-half ended, Manchester was already asserting their superior class. West Ham’s best chance of winning was to insert another player who could withstand United’s relentless attacks.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who has to be considered one of the more astute managers in the game, made adjustments in the second half. He inserted “Chicharito” Hernandez and Berbatov to join with Wayne Rooney in the attack. Ferguson not only makes the right moves at the right time but he selects players who are match winners, very much aware that although mid-field play is dominant, having players who are specialized goal scorers is critical to winning matches and winning championships. Rooney scored a hat trick in the second half and “Chicharito” converted the fourth. West Ham went down to defeat 4-2.

Arsenal and the Mountain Top

By Bagga Wilks



Arsenal entered the game against Sunderland with their three scoring machines, Fabregas, Van Persie and Walcott, out of commission. Bendtner and Rosicky were expected to provide some punch in the offense and Arshavin in recent games is back to being an explosive player.
Unsurprisingly, without their three guns, Arsenal outplayed Sunderland as the team on the pitch adhered to the ball possession system that Wenger has instilled but for most of the game, no one had the creativity to step out of the system and unleash the unexpected.

The Sunderland game highlights that Wenger is an exceptional coach and an unexceptional tactician. Since Fabregas is hurt, it means someone has to step into the role as the playmaker. Wenger keeps hoping that Rosicky will rise to the occasion but Rosicky in the last two years has been a goal-less wonder and a non-playmaker.

Why wouldn’t the Arsenal coach give that responsibility to the creative and in-form Nasri? Nasri has been scoring goals, beating defenders in the last third and providing numerous assists. That responsibility was not given to Nasri until the second half when Nasri was brought in from the right wing position. He immediately began to work his magic and were it not for bad refereeing his through ball to Arshavin would have meant victory for Arsenal. Arshavin and Nasri combined well and if Nasri had a ninety-minutes crack as the playmaker, the outcome would have been different.

Arsenal faces Barcelona devoid of their scoring machine and if Arsenal is going to go forward in the UEFA Cup, Nasri has to start as the offensive mid-field playmaker.

The danger Arsenal faces, as was obvious in the Sunderland game, is that the two Polish players, Szczesny and Koscielny, seem to have a language problem. That failure to communicate cost Arsenal the Carling Cup. The persistence of that failure to communicate could result in Arsenal making an early exit from the UEFA Cup.



MANCHESTER UNITED FALL FROM GRACE

Sir Alex Ferguson went with his old reliable senior citizens in the match against Liverpool. He started Scholes, Giggs, and the younger crowd of Berbatov and Rooney. In the absence of the suspended Vidic, he brought back Wes Brown to anchor the defense with young Smalling.

As the season enters the final months, Scholes and Giggs are looking like heavyweight pugilists who have discovered that the punch and the reflexes are no longer what they used to be. Rooney, despite scoring a spectacular bicycle kick a few games back, was missing in action against archrivals, Liverpool.

Suarez was the impact player even though Kuyt was the Liverpool player who scored all three goals. Torres is yet to find himself since transferring to Chelsea while Suarez and Carroll have bolstered the Liverpool team offensive capabilities. Dalglish, the new Liverpool coach, who took over from Hodgson, has really made a difference. But if Liverpool is to re-emerge as a powerhouse in the English Premier League, at the end of the season, management has to go shopping for some central defenders and a creative mid-field player.




A.C. MILAN AND INTER MILAN

The race in Serie A is virtually over. Both Milan teams are rolling along like unstoppable juggernauts. Leonardo has managed to turn around Inter Milan’s season and Allegri has done a fine job with A.C. Milan. A.C. Milan squeezed a 1-0 victory over the lackluster Juventus and got a goal from of all persons, Gattuso.

Leonardo and Allegri have different coaching styles. Leonardo emphasizes finesse whereas Allegri places great emphasis on hard non-stop running. Pato had a slight injury and did not play against Juventus but if they are going to have a chance to turn around their 1-0 deficit playing against Tottenham at home in the UEFA league, Pato, Ibrahimovic and Robinho will have to convert and not squander opportunities. Tottenham showed on Sunday against Wolves that they can score spectacular goals but also give up a lot of goals.

The Serie A and the EPL have come down to a two-horse race respectively. In the Serie A, it is Milan and Milan. In the EPL, it is Manchester United and Arsenal. Dortmund seems a runaway in the Bundesliga as Bayern Munich lost again. With Ronaldo out with a hamstring for at least a fortnight, Barcelona is on track to win La Liga. Real Madrid trails and by the time Ronaldo returns to the starting line-up, Barcelona may very well be unreachable. Yet it is only March and spring could be replete with surprises.

Fergie confirms Wayne Rooney Exit from Man United

What team would you like Wayne Rooney to go to?

Soccer on TV this Week Nov. 6th-12th

U17 World Cup, MLS Playoffs, EPL, and College Soccer. Enjoy!
All games are EST
Soccer on TV this Week

Friday, November 6
2:30pm Bayer Leverkusen vs Eintracht, GolTv, Germany
2:45pm Derby vs Coventry City, Setanta, England Championship
11:00pm Santa Clara vs. U of San Francisco, FSC, Men's College Soccer
11:00pm San Diego vs Portland, ESPNU, Women College Soccer

Saturday, November 7
7:45am Swansea vs Cardiff, Setanta, England Championship
10:00am Tottenham vs Sunderland, ESPN2, England Premier
10:00am Manchester City vs Burnley, Setanta, England Premier
10:00am Blackburn vs Portsmouth, Setanta Xtra, England Premier
10:00am Aston Villa vs Bolton, FSC, England Premier
12:00pm Getafe vs Deportivo La Coruña, ESPND, Spain La Liga
12:30pm Wolverhampton vs Arsenal, FSC, England Premier
2:00pm Barcelona vs Mallorca, GolTv, Spain La Liga
2:30pm Atalanta vs Juventus, FSC, Italy Serie A
3:00pm Sochaux vs Lens, Setanta, France Ligue 1
4:00pm Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid, ESPND, Spain La Liga
8:00pm Tigres UANL vs Atlante, Telemundo, Mexico
8:00pm Indios vs Jaguares, ESPND, Mexico
8:00pm Chicago Fire vs NE Revolution, FSC, MLS
8:00pm San Luis vs Santos Laguna, Telefutura Mexico
9:45pm Atlas vs Chivas Guadalajara, Telemundo, Mexico

Sunday, November 8
8:30am Hull City vs Stoke City, Setanta, England Premier
8:30am AZ vs Feyenoord, ESPND, Netherlands Eredivisie
8:30am ADO Den Haag vs PSV, ESPN360.com, Netherlands
9:00am Lazio vs AC Milan, FSC, Italy Serie A
9:00am Genoa vs Siena, ESPN360.com, Italy Serie A
10:00am Colombia vs Turkey, ESPN360.com, Galavision, FIFA U-17 World Cup
10:30am Twente vs Ajax, ESPN360.com, Netherlands
11:00am Chelsea vs Manchester U, FSC, England Premier
1:00pm Valencia vs Real Zaragoza, ESPND, Spain La Liga
1:00pm Fluminense vs Palmeiras, GolTv, Brazil
1:00pm Maritimo vs Porto, ESPN360.com, Portugal
1:00pm Morelia vs Pumas, UNAM, FSE, Mexico
1:00pm CD Toluca vs Pachuca, Telemundo, Mexico
1:00pm Switzerland vs Italy, ESPN360.com, FIFA U-17 World Cup
2:30pm Inter Milan vs AS Roma, FSC, Italy Serie A
3:00pm Sevilla vs Villarreal, GolTv, Spain La Liga
3:00pm Lyon vs Marseille, Setanta, France Ligue 1
3:00pm Houston Dynamo vs Seattle Sounders FC, Telefutura, MLS
5:00pm West Ham United vs Everton, FSC, Delayed, England Premier
5:30pm América vs Monterrey, Univision, Mexico
6:00pm CD Tecos UAG vs Queretaro, Galavision, Mexico
6:45pm Hull vs Stoke, Setanta, Delayed, England Premier
7:30pm LA Galaxy vs Chivas USA, Playoffs, ESPN2, MLS

Monday, November 9
3:00pm Liverpool vs Birmingham City, ESPN2, England Premier
3:45pm Barnsley vs Sheffield United, Setanta, England Championship

Tuesday, November 10
2:00pm Real Madrid vs Alcorcon, GolTv, Spain Copa del Rey

Wednesday, November 11
3:00pm Athletic Bilbao vs Vallecano, GolTv, Spain Copa del Rey

Thursday, November 12
3:00pm Almeria vs Hercules, GolTv, Spain Copa del Rey