King said they need people with brains to run the cup

First let me share my joy due to our wonderful display at Stanford Bridge- and as usual when called for duty Maxi and Bellamy do not disappoint- which is a pleasure to watch. Lucas has a painful injury but no one can say more on it except that we need to see what happened. This is a blow to us- I hope Lucas is OK, if he is out for a while it's fine as long as he comes back at some point this season and plays well. Chelsea held back again- it's good for us. Arsenal was playing well, looked good but somehow managed to loose the game to Manchester City. Sad but my take is that Arsenal is in Champion's League and they need to put all their focus on that- Arsene has a talent and I think he has a really good shot in bringing Gunners to victory. Blackburn are just week- losing to a team from another division is tough- possible but hard to justify. Their manager should be worried any time now. Kenny points out the scheduling issues with the cup. At least 3 teams will have issues because it will conflict with games in another league- not sure how they are going to fix it- I will be curious to watch as I am sure every other fan. But otherwise, it's good to see Reds marching in and i do hope to see more of it. Looking forward for second part of quarterfinals. Wishing the best to my sister's team.
And on closing, do read Pepe's book- it's pretty good and if you are REDS fan, you will appreciate it a lot.

EPL Week 13. Sad news and lots of draws

The football world mourns Gary Speed who so suddenly is no longer with us. R.I.P. It saddened many especially those who new Gary Speed and played for him. Many like Bellamy and Giggs, and others. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and the soccer community. Of course it makes other events secondary but the show must go on.

Liverpool was hosting Manchester City, we all knew that it was possible for us to stop Manchester City's run to the top and even though we did not stop them, hopefully we've slowed them down. The game was good very busy and Liverpool managed to threaten City plenty, but Hart proved once more that he was superb goalkeeper and hold off efforts others would have hard time with. Last 8 minutes Manchester played with one man down but we could not make it 2. I still think Kenny should have gone with Maxi but the Argentine found himself on the bench again. Maybe he is going to play Curling Cup this Tuesday? Not sure, his presence would most likely help to secure 3 points and now we are chasing Chelsea 2 points behind. But we are not yet 1/3 part through in the season so many things might change. And I have to agree with Kenny- at the end we were the better team. However, only 3 points matter. Mario was a little baby, and his confrontation with his manager was priceless. But at the end, Mancini showed himself as a week link- defending Mario and saying that he did not deserve a card and that he did not have any issues with him. Very week and scandals continue around his club. If he cannot get his squad into order, he should not be winning.

The 1:1 draw at home was the fate awaiting other reds as well. Red Devils found themselves leading at 49' but 15 minutes Newcastle scored and evened it out and though United was picking up the pace, there is a reason everyone calls Newcastle's defense the best in the league and Hernandez was great, but he could not capitalize on that.
Gunners suffered the same outcome, also at home, with two goals from Vermalen they found themselves at 1:1 draw and with 1 point now they are fighting for the same spot with LFC. There are just too many at the top and it's getting hot up there. So far the team which amazes me the most is Tottenham because they have one game less but steadily stay in top three - I think this should make Sir Alex and other think- and think hard.

But at this point it would be easier to predict who will be relegated than who will take the cup. The game continues and we will be all watching. In I know the score my tactics of picking the top teams to win did not work. next week, I will be trying pick underdog technique - there is still some time left to experiment.

Now shortly to La Liga, Real Madrid is 6 points clear off Barcelona, and they are doing ay better against stronger teams then Barca is doing against weaker ones. Can this continue? It would be really nice to see Real and Marihno's men to take the league cup. Valencia is just one point behind though the goal difference is gigantic and at no point can they win with the same spots. But that's of course are only speculations. There is too much time and only time can show who will win this time around.

In Champions League so far only Arsenal can show off and others take this as opportunity to gloat about EPL but it's just TOO early to say anything. And I do hope that an English team claims lifts the cup and if not, then I do hope that Uruguayan striker will teach others where the gates are. Does Napoli have a chance? Maybe....

Hm, hm UCL brings some unexpected results...

Manuel Friedrich scores in stoppage time against Chelsea and it's over.... Does that mean Chelsea might not qualify beyond group stage? This is not good for Chelsea but then again this is UCL anything can happen. Valencia is their next opponent and they will need to do everything in the power to win. Not sure what's going on with Chelsea- they have strengths and quality in the squad, they have young but experienced manager but it seems that psychologically they are week. Mostly they remind me now of Torres, who- everyone knows it- can do it but because he thinks he cannot he would not be able to succeed. Not sure if this makes sense but what I am trying to say is that Chelsea needs to have the winning attitude and not look overwhelmed and then maybe they will go back to their winning ways, but since I am an LFC fan I have no issue with them being down and not winning- if they just could stay like that for another week until we are done with FA cup.

Arsenal and their dear RVP- Julia knows whom to pick- he has been able to star and they were able to win another game. Wenger is back. Arsenal's defense is still week and they seem not to be able to get a clean sheet yet... But at the end 3 points look like 3 points whether they won 3:0 or 8:2 you know what I am saying... So stay strong Gunners, we are all looking up to you.

Barcelona vs Milan was my game to watch, but I got caught up in the office and it seems like Milan got caught up by Barca. 3:2 and Barca did it again. Lots of cards, surprisingly no red cards (that's weird) it seems that is a team plays against Barca, they are doomed to get one. But oh well, they march on. As i type this, I see that they are showing the replay of the game. I am wondering if they are going to win at replay?

Yesterday's games were interesting as well. Seems as if Manchester City might not make it- they will require something more then skill and a win now.

Manchester United is slowly fighting- failing to beat Benfica, they draw- this means they have to play next game better then ever. But unlike their noise members- they are in charge of their fate. Man City needs the other teams to win in order to qualify- and that's just nothing to do with football but all to do with luck. Let's see if they've got it.

Well it seems for may teams in EPL - all but Arsenal - nothing is decided yet, no easy qualifications and the drama continues.

real Madrid wins with confidence and move on- let's just home that is we are to see another EL Classico we would be spared all the ugliness and Real can kick Barca out, or can they? Only time will have an answer for us.

On unrelated note, juts wanted to say that all fans who dare use hate language should be ashamed! Clubs are so diverse that saying anything like that would automatically offend not only the other team but the teammates as well. So please hold off your bias, unintelligent comments and let us enjoy the game!

Wee bit about week 12, EPL

Another week in EPL and interesting results all around. Of course, i would like to start with Liverpool's win over Chelsea- away. I was glad to see King Kenny put Maxi to start, as I said before many times- Suarez and him just click well, something Carroll was not able yet to deliver. As commentator from LFC said about Maxi "he is a goal scoring machine, that's 8 goals in 4 last appearances" I think that just says how well he plays with Suarez. Another smart choice was Bellamy. He has produced goals in his appearances, he is strong and fast and moves ball forward- that's an attacking option we need. Kuyt did not impress in his this appearance but did not disappoint either. Overall the line up was very good and though in second half everyone seemed pretty worn out and it looked like Chelsea was going to teach LFC a lesson, Johnson came with a wonderful winner and the victory was sealed. Now fans hope that the magic lasts and we can repeat this performance with Mancini's men. Though our record away is surprisingly much more impressive than home count. All talks about Vilas' resignation are unnecessary, Abramovich is impulsive but hopefully he is not stupid and will let the young Portuguese work with the team and try to get their so desired UCL Cup.

Arsenal seems to be back and kicking. Besides that fact that RVP is a scoring machine and in a good form, it also seems that everyone else in the team have stepped up the game. Whatever virus caught them early in the season and gone and cured. I still think that Wenger needs a better defensive coach for his team, because the only defensive quality they have is their young goalkeeper who becomes better and more skillful from game to game.

Tottenham is scaring me and other because they are the team which have played one less game but somehow they find themselves third in the table, and that says something about strengths of their squad. Impressive and I wonder who will stop them from going up, because there are lot of contenders for those 4 spots up top.

Everyone is watching Manchester City and it feels as if they wrote off Manchester United. I would like to say - not so fast. It would be silly to disregard the best team in the league. Sir Ferguson is dealing with the newer squad and a new goalkeeper- plus they were hit with injuries but I think that they can come back better and stronger than ever. It's good to see Chicharito back and in form, things will happen- so stay tuned.

And now, I have to go and work. Looking forward to watching AC Milan vs Barcelona game. A lot is at stake and I think that the only team who has nothing to loose and should go all forward is AC Milan. This is gotta be an interesting battle. All bets are on Barca, can a girl dream?