Indy Eleven records our first win of the season

If you haven't watched this video yet, you really, really need to.  Sergio Pena scored a fantastic, late winner for Indy Eleven against the San antonio scorpions last night . The tall honduran struggled against the imposing Marcos Senna last week, but helped control the midfield last night, in front of a sparse crowd at Toyota Field.

From the kick off, the game was scrappy, but Indy XI seemed to have the better of the opportunities. Rugg and Brown continue to have good individual plays up front, but will have to develop some interplay if Indy is to maintain it's 2nd place spot. The biggest improvement continues to be in defense, as Norales and Janicki continue to be impressive in defense, with the ever-improving displays of Frias at left back.

A huge shout out to the Slaughterhouse Indy folks at Union Jack, who make the away games experience very enjoyable for fans like me.

Cannot wait for the Railhawks game this Saturday at the Mike. Cannot wait for Kleberson to be back. Cannot wait because Indy is Red and Blue!

Raul touched my shoulder; recap of Indy Eleven's first home game

I was just about to find my seat in Section 103 in the East goal end; where the Cosmos forwards were practicing shooting. Soccer balls were flying everywhere. As I sat down, I heard a scream from a little girl. She had just been struck in the face by a wayward strike. Luckily for her, she hadn't rolled down the bleacher stairs and her dad was quickly trying to check on her. I ran down to help her and made sure she wasn't bleeding and concussed (For the record, she was fine) and held her hand for a few moments as she wept - probably thinking to herself - "I hate soccer!"

Suddenly a hand rested on my shoulder and spoke to the young girl - "Are you okay?" It definitely wasn't your regular Midwest draw. In fact, it had a bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I looked up and realized that the man whose hand was on my shoulder was devilishly handsome and frighteningly familiar. 

I stood up immediately and realized it was Raul! Within two minutes of being at the stadium, I was standing side by side by one of the greatest European forwards of all time. Raul had jumped the bleachers to come check on this little girl and spoke inaudibly to  her. While her dad had no idea who this man was, people around us were starting to take pictures of Raul (if any of you reading this has one with me in it - I'm wearing a Man United jacket - PLEASE share it with me), and the spanish forward gave the little girl a kiss on the cheek and went back to warming up.

Seriously- RAUL!

I remember watching Raul play for Real Madrid against Manchester United in the early 2000s. In a team comprising of the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo, the young spanish trequartista stood above the rest. Admittedly United's defense that day (and that season) was rather inexperienced - A young Rio Ferdinand was supported by error-prone Wes Brown, up-and-comer John O'Shea and the simplicity of Gary Neville. However, I doubt that even a Maldini lead AC Milan defense could have stopped Raul that day. He scored a brace, and was involved in the build up for every single attacking foray by the Spanish conquistadors.

History will look at that Madrid side as one of the all-time best XIs. And, even though some will focus on the galacticos (Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Ronaldo, Carlos), Raul's contribution and leadership is beyond doubt. 

What made Raul such a good player? It was his speed of thought, rather than his foot speed. It was his ability to play one-twos is tight areas and allow his intelligence to create chances for others. His heading ability was vastly underrated, as was his work rate. I remember watching him run back 70 yards to make a tackle on an impressive Ryan Giggs; when Figo decided to forego his defensive duties.

Here are some of his goals from YouTube. If you are just getting into football, you should spend some time watching his goals in other videos on YouTube as well. Trust me, it's worth your time. Golazos

All of these  aforementioned attributes were on display - albeit momentarily - in tonight's game between Indy Eleven and the New York Cosmos. Youth coaches should show replays of Raul's goal as it was an example of how forwards should get free of man-marking on set pieces. During a corner a few minutes earlier, Raul checked back towards the near post. This time, he made the same run, but checked again and found just enough space to slot the ball home. 

The game itself was largely dominated by Cosmos. Although Raul scored the goal, the best player on the pitch tonight was Marcos Senna. Cosmos played the ball out of the back - perhaps due to the poor kicking ability of their keeper Maurer (who bravely put up with some insults from my section behind the East end goal) and the ball inevitably landed at Senna's feet. Senna was omnipresent all over the pitch, and was clearly asked to play the deep-lying playmaker role; a role he thrived in during his time at Villareal. 

As for Indy Eleven, I was impressed by our defense. Erick Norales continues to be the leader of the defense, and excelled playing alongside Greg Janicki. The Michigan-born Janicki has played in all the North American soccer leagues and brings some much-need physicality to this Indy Eleven back line. On-loan Marco Franco was impressive on his debut as well, but will need to improve his positioning; the way his compatriot on the other wing, Jamie Frias, has been able to do since his shaky start last season.

Although the technically superior Cosmos dominated possession, we were very impressive on the counter attack. Debutante forward,  Brian Brown held up the play well, but found himself isolated for the vast majority of the game.  I don't think we break as quickly when Kleberson is on the pitch; as the Brazilian maestro likes to possess the ball. Coach Sommer will have to find a way to include his marquee player without affecting our counter-attacking prowess.

My biggest concern is the tactic that bothered me last season - Sommer seems to ask his full backs to not overlap past his midfielders. Admittedly, we were on the back foot today, but there were possible 2 v 1 opportunities that were not availed due to the defensive mindset that coach Sommer seems to have. I hope that changes as the season progresses. 

Certainly, last week, I was encouraged by Indy Eleven's ability to switch play and possess the ball. In some ways, Sommer's tactical decisions will influence the success of this team. Charlie Ruegg and substitute Don Smart will have crucial roles to play in this team as well.

All and all, a fantastic outing on a beautiful spring day. A packed stadium. NOT a loss. A goal by one of my favorite all-time players. And, being able to be less than a foot away from him. #ManCrush

Indy is red and blue. 

In support of the proposed Indy Eleven stadium

Yesterday, the Indianapolis Star posted an opinion piece by writer Erika Smith, that flippantly dismissed the planned soccer stadium for local NASL team Indy Eleven. Before I write out why the stadium is a fantastic idea, let me address The Star and my own biases.

First of all - my own biases. I am a season ticket holder for Indy Eleven and love the sport of soccer. That is my bias. But, I have no economic or social relationship to Indy Eleven or any of it's players and staff. Well, I know their community relation's director, but, at this point, we are acquaintances more than friends. This is as unbiased as you're going to get.

 In my day job, I am a scientist. And, as such, I care deeply about the truth. And that is what this blog post (My first in years) attempts to do - to understand the impact of this stadium. I genuinely don't even want you should subscribe to this blog - because I won't really update it. Anyway, here goes.

(at Indy Eleven's first home win with good friends)

To those of us who still read newspapers and magazines, print media is the most sacred of all journalism. Articles in print media are well-researched and not-reactionary. This is why an article in the New Yorker/Wall Street Journal has more gravitas than anything HuffPo or Gawker will publish. The Indianapolis Star is our local newspaper and has upstanding journalists such as Jill Disis, but has, of late, been devolving into click-baiting. There has been a preponderance of unsubstantiated opinion articles that belong in poorly-crafted blogs rather than in a reputable newspaper.

Ms. Smith's article falls into that category. We are told that the stadium is a terrible idea, yet, no evidence is given why that is true. We are told that the money would be better spent on multiple other things. Yet, the author does not care to cross-check whether money devoted to the stadium would take away from money for those other things. The author does zero research for this article. So much so, that she does not even fact-check how many wins the team had all season; something a simple google search would have answered.

In researching my blog post, I was able to directly email the GM of Indy Eleven - Mr. Peter Wilt. I have no relationship with the man, other than that I follow him on twitter. Yet, he immediately forwarded my questions to an Indy Eleven spokesperson who replied to me within 24 hours. Did the author or Indy Star try to reach out to Indy eleven at all? Of course not. Let me reiterate - as a nobody blogger - I was able to get answers to my questions. I tweeted The Star to ask them if they would be willing to post my "well-researched other side of the stadium story". There was no response. I submitted a letter to their editor this morning - I doubt that will get published either.

At best, the Indy Star article was unsubstantiated. At worst, it was intentionally incendiary.

(in case you haven't seen the proposal yet)

Now, back to the question at hand --- Is this stadium a good idea? Let's split this answer into two sections: 1. The socio-cultural impact and 2. The fiscal impact (which includes a Q and A with the indy eleven spokesperson).

1. The sociocultural impact - I will keep this section short, because most people are in agreement over the benefits of having soccer in Indianapolis. Soccer is hitting it's exponential phase in popularity across the country. From being a marginal sport 10 years ago - being shown on paywall channels such as Setanta Sports - to being a mainstream money churner on NBC these days. Closer to home, in Indianapolis, soccer has taken off as well. As the Indy Star article pointed out, Indy Eleven sold out all of their home games. And, each week, fans would travel to cities across the country to support the team.

Soccer is the sport of the masses. As a child, you can play this sport anywhere as long as you have a ball. You don't need helmets, you don't need bats, you don't need sticks, you don't need hoops. You don't even need grass. The reason I regurgitate these cliches is this - minority communities rally around the sport of soccer. If the city of Indianapolis is serious about increasing it's diversity, a thriving soccer scene is a massive selling point. Will a new stadium galvanize communities? Absolutely! A beautiful new stadium is a fantastic way of attracting good players. Attracting good players is an ideal way of winning games. Winning games is the best way to start a "dynasty" - a word that the Indy Star article throws in our faces. In the science-world, we call this a positive-feedback loop. And, socio-culturally, a new stadium would be the start of a tremendous positive feedback loop.

The fact that the stadium would also be used for other 'non-mainstream' sports such as Lacrosse is fantastic. And, frankly, a lot of good musical artists skip Indianapolis as a venue. Perhaps, the opportunity of performing at a unique novel stadium would attract excellent bands that would normally head to Louisville instead of us (I'm looking at you, Death Cab for Cutie). From an architectural standpoint as well, the stadium would be stunning.

2. Fiscal impact - This is the area most Hoosiers are concerned about. It was clear from her article, that Ms. Smith did not read the proposal or the FAQ section before her article. So, let me summarize what it says ---

a) Over time, the stadium will pay for itself - by ticket sales and taxation.
b) It will cost 82 million to build and be ready in 2017.
c) Neither Carroll stadium (too small, not enough facilities), nor Lucas Oil (scheduling conflicts, too big) would be a long-term solution to the problem.

Admittedly, the succinct nature of the FAQ section, necessitated some follow up questions. I got in touch with an Indy Eleven spokesperson and asked him some obvious questions. I am copy pasting the entire Email, for full disclosure. My questions are in red, his email and responses are in Blue. I have highlighted portions that I deem to be crucial. But, I encourage you to read the entire interview.


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First, let me say thank you for taking the time to dive into this issue. And especially for taking the time to write a proper response to the Indianapolis Star in regards to the recent column. 

1. The quoted 82 million is described as " if you don't go, you don't pay". The organization makes it clear that the money will be generated from stadium ticket sales/tax/etc. Forgive my ignorance, but would you be essentially be taking a loan from the city for the construction and then paying them back? 

Before I get into the answer, just know that the current bill language and the financial mechanism to fund the stadium is still in discussions and will likely change as we progress through the legislative process. With that said, as to your question about a loan from the city for construction - We are proposing a government-financed loan that would be secured by taxes captured at the stadium - these are user taxes paid for only by those who attend stadium events. They are taxes such as admissions tax, food and beverage tax, and income tax on employees (such as stadium employees, Indy Eleven players and even players from opposing teams). What government entity we are talking about is still to be determined - but likely to be a mixture of state and local issue of bonds with the potential for some kind of back-stop from Indy Eleven.

We continue to have productive talks with lawmakers and various stakeholders to create a final proposal that will responsibly finance the construction costs of the facility without raising taxpayer dollars and provide measures that will not leave them on the hook for any potential shortfalls in revenue generated from the stadium. With this structure in mind, the stadium would be owned by a public entity with Indy Eleven serving as a primary tenant.

2. The FAQ on the website says that the proposal "nor will it divert taxpayer dollars earmarked for services or programs funded by the City or State.". Where exactly would the 82 million borrowed (as I assume it will be) come from? The city doesn't have 82 million sitting around, I assume.

Per my answer above in Q1 ... These taxes Indy Eleven is proposing to capture to pay down the debt service for the stadium's construction is new revenue. These tax dollars are currently not captured at the local or state level. So, that's what we mean when we say we're not diverting taxpayer dollars - because the tax revenue generated from the stadium will be new revenue. And again - who we are paying back will be determined as this bill progress through the legislative process.

3. (and this is tied to #2) - How do you address the criticism that the money would be better spent on infrastructural improvements (road repair, improved transportation)?

Again - since we're talking about capturing new tax revenue, we're not diverting any funds away from municipal services. In fact, Indianapolis’ new sports and entertainment hub will grow the local and state economies through the attraction of visitors to the Circle City and the creation of jobs through the construction phase and full-time employment once operational. Ultimately, the State and City will benefit from substantial new revenue streams that could not be realized without the existence of the stadium.  And those revenue streams help fund the kind of infrastructural improvements that people expect.

Indy Eleven has already shown the team is drawing new visitors to downtown Indianapolis. Wherever the stadium is located will see more tax revenue from all the development and business that come with attendance at events. Hotels, restaurants, bars and retail shops all stand to gain as we bring in fans who otherwise would have stayed home. And the new tax revenue generated from these fans outside our stadium will go toward the City’s budget to pay for infrastructure and public safety. 

4. Would any increase in sponsorship be put towards the stadium?(The reason i ask this is b/c I think soccer is still an untapped resource for sponsors - so, indy eleven will hit the exponential phase soon - as far as marketing goes.)

Potential sponsorship revenue streams generated by the stadium will be part of the discussions to be had with the public entity that will own the facility and Indy Eleven, which will be determined by the legislative process.

Regarding sponsorship revenue created solely by the club, the more revenue the team can generate the greater the resources it will have to build both on and off the field (and let's be frank, on-field success absolutely ties in to a club's fiscal success). Indy Eleven is committed to paying 10% of ticket revenue from all taxable events at the stadium back towards the building's construction costs, so the club has shown the willingness to put some "skin in the game" from its revenue streams with the current funding mechanism.

5. What happens if the organization is unable to generate enough ticket funds - what if interest in the sport drops after the initial bump of the debut season?

The 18,500 figure for attendance at the stadium is by design – we fully believe that capacity figure will fit the area’s appetite for Indy Eleven games at a world-class venue. While we are confident in our ability to attract soccer fans to this new home for the sport, we also realize the need to assure taxpayers that they will not be “on the hook” should projections not be met.  Discussions are currently ongoing with legislators on the best method for this measure, but it will likely include Keystone – the owner of Indy Eleven – having some responsibility.  (see update below)

Very few bills at the Statehouse are passed without any changes during the legislative process, and we anticipate this bill to be no different. We look forward to working with the General Assembly on finding the most responsible funding structure possible that will not put Hoosiers on the hook.

As the discussions on the stadium proposal and legislation continue, I’ll be sure to reach out and update you on any changes. I really appreciate your engagement and willingness to take on the reporting in question.

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Update - This afternoon (February 2nd), I was contacted by the spokesperson, and he asked me to make the following change to the highlighted statement in Q5. The statement should read - Discussions are currently ongoing on the best method for this measure, and Indy Eleven will continue those conversations to ensure the team has “skin in the game.”

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Let me add a couple of points. I do not think that the support will die out. Having loved this sport all my life, I know that soccer fans are the most loyal fans out there. There is a camaraderie among soccer fans stateside as well - probably from being continually asked to defend the merits of the sport. More than that, Indy Eleven boasts arguably the best set of supporter groups - Brickyard, Slaughterhouse, etc. Having befriended a few of these people, I can assure you that they will stick by this team through thick and thin. Besides, I think the increased revenue generation is a huge benefit. Although I don't have the statistics for it (and I tried to look them up), based on anecdotal evidence, I can assert that the games at IUPUI were a huge boost to the economies for the restaurants/bars around Mass Ave/downtown/IUPUI.

The only concern that remains is the EXACT source of the original loan. And, honestly, we can only wait and watch as that develops. But, to denigrate the proposal before it has taken off - based on a bunch of straw-man arguments - is just juvenile.

So, is this stadium a good idea? Yes, I think so. I am cognizant of the risks of taking a loan. Any loan for that matter. But, I think in spite of the risk, the eventual socio-cultural and fiscal benefits outweigh the risks. And, I for one, whole-heartedly support the proposal for the new stadium.

I hope you will share this with your friends and get in touch with your legislators. Let's help make this happen. If you want to find me on twitter, you can do so at @nipunchopra7.


***Emily Neitzel (@emilyneitzel) contributed to the research of this article***

Why did United miss out on Lucas Moura?

Lucas Moura, one of Brazil's most promising youngsters, recently signed for Paris St. Germain.  His transfer fee stands at a whopping 45 Million euros; making him the most expensive teenager of all time.  There is no doubting the potential of Lucas, but should United have attempted to match the transfer fee?

Maybe.

Sir Alex declared that he was astounded that a teenager could cost that much money, stating that football had gone mad.  He has also previously cited City and PSG's ability to outspend everybody as a problem in the game.  Is he being a bit hypocritical - given that United have spend big money on players like Veron, Berbatov, etc. previously?

Yes and no.

Yes - A transfer fee converter reveals that Rooney's (who was 19 at the time he signed for United) transfer fee would be equivalent to ~60 million in today's transfer market.  So, when Sir Alex claims he cannot understand how PSG could spend massive money on the young Lucas, he is clearly being a touch disingenuous.

No - And this is what other fans do not understand.  No United fan believes that big-money signings have not been a big part of United's success.  All we are saying is that United is different in that the big signings supplement an already established set of players that united have developed.  Let's look at some examples -

1.  While Van Nistelrooy (19 million) was a big part of United's success in 2002-2003, there were already established United players present - Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, the Nevilles, etc.

2.  While the likes of Berbatov (30 million) helped United win the premier league, United already had developed Ronaldo, had Giggs and Scholes from the golden generation and had Fletcher, OShea, Evans, etc. from within the club.

This is what makes United different from Chelsea - who do not develop their own players and from Arsenal - who win nothing.


So back to the Moura thing.  Why have United missed out on him? I think a lot of United fans have said that it's because of the Glazers.  However, the evidence does not support this claim - United have spent big money on Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves and Berba since the Glazers took over.  It has also been revealed that United had agreed fees for both Moura and Hazard - which is the part of the transfer for which the Glazers are immediately accountable - the approval of transfer fee.

So, having ruled out the Glazers, we are left with SAF, Gill (the chief executive) and agents.  It is my opinion, that is is the combination of those three that has lead to our inability in the transfer market.  It is widely accepted that the role that agents play has gotten out of hand.  Agents continue to demand incredible bonuses for brokering deals and it seems like this will only continue to get worse.  SAF's fault is his stubbornness.  While he is willing to approve large transfer fees, he balks at the idea of paying 5 million to an agent - yes, he is probably ethically correct - but he has to live and operate within the times.  And the times are - the more marketable the player - the more his agent is going to make.  Gill is a decent enough fellow (despite what the MUST people will tell you), but he must improve his negotiation skills if United are going to succeed in the transfer market.


Now we are left with the whole RVP saga.  I certainly hope that RVP signs - but, I must admit, I remain very pessimistic about it all.

EPL/CL 101

I have had a few requests from friends who are just getting into football curious about how the premier league and the champions league work.  So here goes:

Premier league:
The overall message is - whoever has the most points at the end of the season, wins the season.  There are 20 teams in the premier league, and each team plays every other team twice - home and away.  In other words, each team plays 38 games in a season.  The way the points are tallied are as follows - 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss.  So, yes, it is possible that the team who wins the premier league loses multiple games in a season.  In fact, that is very often the case.

The top four teams in the league enter into the following year's Champions league competition (explained later), the next couple of teams play in the UEFA league (a knockout format) and the bottom three teams (18th, 19th and 20th) get relegated into the lower division.  Similarly, three teams from the lower division, called the N-power championship, are promoted to the Premier league for the following season.  Here is an example of what this year's table looks like -

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league?cc=5901

If you noticed, this season ended with the top two teams (Manchester united and Manchester City) on the same # of points.  In a situation like this, the team with the better goal difference (GD) wins the premier league.  Goal difference is simply = Goals scored - Goals conceded.  Since City had a far superior goal difference, they won the Premier league.  In the case that the GD is also the same, the team that has scored more goals wins the premier league (as was the case back in 1989 - although it was not called the "English Premier League" back then.  In researching this article, I learned that in case the teams cannot be separated at goals scored, a playoff is provisioned between the two teams at a neutral venue.  To my knowledge, this has never occurred to date.

The Champions League
The top three teams fromm the EPL in a season play in the champions League the FOLLOWING season.  Let me embellish - if you click on the above table, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal will be playing in the Champions League in the 2012-2013 season.  Tottenham Hotspurs (team in 4th) is also technically qualified for the champions league, BUT there's a caveat here.  Chelsea FC (in 6th place) are playing the Champions League final on Saturday (for a preview of the game, please visit my podcast site - http://unitedandliverpoolfans.podbean.com) and if they were to win, they would bump Spurs out of that final Champions League spot.

Now, let's talk about how the Champions League actually works.  For simplicity, we will skip the qualifying stages.  The top 3 or 4 teams from various European Clubs (from England, Spain, Italy, Holland, Turkey, Germany, etc.) are entered into a group format.  Each team plays every other team home and away, and yet again, the two teams with the most points enter the knockout stages.  There are 3 knockout stages (2nd round, quarter final, semi-final) and then a final.  Now here's the confusing bit - how are the knockout stages decided.  Instead of a dry explanation, I'm going to use an example:

There are two teams - Manchester United and Barcelona and they are playing in the quarter final of the champions league.  The first game is at home at United.  United wins the game 2-0.  The game at Barcelona ends with Barca winning 2-1.  In this situation, both teams have the one win each.  But, United's goal difference (+1) is better than Barcelona's (0), and therefore United goes through.

But, what if the following situation presents itself - United wins 1-0 at home and Barca wins 2-1 at home.  Now, both teams have one win, both teams have the same goal differential (0) and both teams have scored the same # of goals (2).  In this situation, the team to have scored more AWAY goals, wins the tie.  Barcelona scores 0 goals away from home, while United has scored 1 goal away from home.  Therefore, United goes through to the next found.

Just some practice problems for you to work out - answers at the bottom:
1.  United wins 6-0 at home Barcelona wins 5-0 at home.  Who goes through?
2.  United ties 1-1 at home, Barca wins 2-1 at home.
3.  United draws 1-1 at home, Barca draws 2-2 at home.
4.  United wins 2-1 at home, Barca wins 3-2 at home.


1.  United - better GD.
2.  Barca - they have won more games (1) than United (0).
3.  United - More away goals.
4.  United - more goals scored away from home.

If teams cannot be separated on the away goals rule, they play extra time (2x15 min halves) and a penalty shootout after that.


Please let me know if you have any questions! Enjoy the Champions league final!

Review of the Arsenal-Norwich City game.

Well, the FA cup is done and dusted (and I might argue that the premier league is as well).  Let's look at the best game from the weekend.

Arsenal - Norwich City


What a game to watch.  Benayoun scores in less than 90 seconds, but Arsenal could not capitalize on that excellent start.  Norwich started to control possession and scored two well-worked goals.  One would expect a mid-table, newly promoted side to sit back and play for a 2-1 against the mighty Arsenal.  However, for 30 mins, Norwich City continued to attack and created multiple chances.  Similarly, Arsenal actually played on the counter and created chances via Gervinho and RVP.  The game moved rapidly from end to end.  In what proved to be one of the talking points, Aaron Ramsey was very lucky to not get a second yellow card and get himself sent off.  But, in typical Arsene We(hi)nger form, the manager focused his ire on the 'tackle' that lead to Sagna's leg break.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/shocker-bacary-sagna-is-ruled-out-of-euro-2012-after-breaking-his-leg-arsenal-norwich/

I encourage you to check out that link and explain to me how Wenger could make the assertion that Bradley Johnson intended to hurt Sagna.  In fact, I would argue that, if anything, he trips over a poor attempted clearance from Sagna.  But, of course, the blogospheres lit up with Arsenal fans discussing how this is another example of premier league players targeting Arsenal.

Back to the game - Gervinho was having a good game and was a constant threat down the right, however, Norwich City were throwing bodies in line to block shots from distance.  Cue the brilliance of Alex Song.  The ball came out to the Ivorian star, and as he has done so often this season, Song plays the ball over the defense.  Inch-perfect.  Perfectly volleyed by RVP.  Goal.

At this point, Arsenal were completely dominant and they looked like taking the lead.  Despite some herculean defending by the City players, a deflection off Anthony Pilkington, fell at the feet of RVP, and the premier league's leading scorer tucked it away to give Arsenal a 3-2 lead.  With only about 10 minutes to go, one might have been forgiven to believe that that was game over.

Of course not.  A ball over the defense by the excellent Howson, found Morison pushing down the right hand side.  Seeing that he had no support, Morison struck a powerful and low strike across the face of goal.  It might be easy to criticize the Arsenal goalkeeper for letting it in, but I cannot see how Szczesny could have anticipated that strike.  Either way, the game was now at 3-3 and ripe for some late drama.

That did arrive.  RVP missed a couple of sitters and despite Wenger's whinging, the penalty shoutout was correctly not given.  Moreover, it is a mute point as Gervinho was clearly offside and CLEARLY involved in the play (contrary to public opinion, whether or not he touches the ball is not the deciding factor).  Arsenal continued to attack and despite an improvised backflick by Song and a good strike by Gibbs, Arsenal could not win the game

Man of the Match - Alex Song - what a player.


For reviews of the FA cup final, the premier league race, etc., please listen to our second podcast.
Thank you for reading!

Preview of the FA cup final

This Saturday, Liverpool and Chelsea fans will pack Wembley for the final of the oldest footballing competition in the world - the FA cup.  Liverpool has won the FA cup 7 times, while the Stamford Bridge outfit have won 6 times.  Both teams rested key players in their respective midweek fixtures and will be looking to play their strongest available XI on Saturday.

Predicted line-ups

Chelsea - I expect Chelsea to line up in a 4-3-3.  The backline will consist of Bosingwa, Terry, ivanovic and Cole.  The midfield will comprise of Meireles, Lampard and Ramires.  Drogba, Sturridge (NOT Mikel, Mr. Uday Jhala - as Mikel cannot play out wide) and Mata will be the attacking options.

Liverpool - Enrique, Carragher, Agger and Johnson will be the four in the back.  Gerrard, Henderson and Spearing will match the Chelsea midfield.  Bellamy, Downing and Suarez will play up-top.

Analysis

Chelsea definitely have a height advantage, as Liverpool's forward line-up (minus Carroll, of course) is not very good in the air.  However, I do not see that as a problem for Liverpool, as King Kenny tends to play through the middle anyway.  Both teams will rely heavily on their full backs to provide overlapping runs.  In Carragher and Agger, Liverpool have the perfect central defenders to nullify the in-form Drogba.  They are both good in the air and very hard to push off the ball.  However, they are not particularly quick, so I expect Torres to have an impact coming off the bench.

Torres will be playing against his old club and will be hoping to continue the good form he has shown of late.  An interesting match up will be Mata against Johnson.  While Johnson is really good going forward, he can be suspect on defensive positions.  Similarly, Mata is known to switch off when opposing full-backs are making overlapping runs.  I predict that at least one goal will involve the brilliance/fault of the duo.  DiMatteo will be also hoping that young Sturridge tracks back the overlapping runs of Liverpool's signing of the season - Luis Enrique.

Readers of the blog will know that I'm a big fan of Craig Bellamy.  I think he might trouble Bosingwa.  Bosingwa is a very quick full back, but he struggles against players who cut inside.  Bellamy will cut-in towards the middle, onto his favored right food, and try to unleash some shots at goal.  In accordance with that, the overlapping Enrique will be constantly looking for the reverse ball from Bellamy into space.

Tactical surprises

1.  Either manager could possibly switch to a 4-4-2.  But, especially in Chelsea's case, I find that nearly impossible unless they are down a goal.

2.  Play Ramires on the wing - drop Sturridge to the bench - play Mikel in the middle.  Mikel, had an excellent couple of games against Barcelona.  But, I consider this to be unlikely as Ramires' thrusting runs from midfield are an x-factor that would be lost if he were to be played on the wing.  I certainly cannot see Meireles being dropped for Mikel.

3.  Start Torres instead of Drogba.  Torres started the mid-week game, suggesting that the Ivorian striker would be preferred at the weekend.  But, just perhaps, RDM is trying to throw off Dalglish's tactical prediction; playing Torres against Carragher would be fun to watch (as a United fan at least).  But, I personally think it will be more likely that Drogba will soften the defenders up for 65 minutes before El Nino comes on.

Prediction

The game will end 1-1.  And Chelsea will win on penalties.  I must admit, the thought of John Terry lifting any sort of trophy makes me want to gag.  But, I would not begrudge him that because it would mean that Meireles, Ramires and Ivanovic would be involved in winning a final this year.



Also - I predict both United and City will win this weekend.  City will win comfortably despite Newcastle's form of late.  Sigh.

Pilot podcast!

Here's our first ever podcast! We review the Manc derby and preview the FA cup final.  I hope you enjoy it! If you are on the move, you can download it and listen to Jhala and my drivel on your IPOD-

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United - City review - What was Fergie thinking?

Three weeks ago, United were eight points clear of City.  Cue the collapse - losses to Wigan and City combined with a draw, at home to Everton, and the Manchester clubs are now even on points.  City, however, have a far superior goal difference.  The game was a tense affair; let's examine the tactical breakdown.

Starting line-ups - United set up in the expected 4-3-3 and Fergie brought back Park from the wilderness.  Smalling replaced Evans at center back with Phil Jones as the wing-back.  Giggsy and Nani were on either wing with Rooney up-top by himself.  There has been much ridicule of Fergie for his decision to not pick Valencia.  Although, I admit, I was very surprised when the line-ups were announced, I can see what the legendary scotsman was thinking.  The United players were asked to force City wide - with the realization that Rio and Smalling would beat Tevez and Aguero in the air.   This meant that United played very narrow and for this reason, Valencia was dropped to the bench.  Valencia is most effective when flying down the wing and continuously stretches the play.  Therefore, having him in the team would allow City to play through the middle and Fergie wanted to eliminate that possibility.  With that idea, he played Nani on the right - with the knowledge that Nani would continuously cut inside and therefore give City the ability to only attack through the wings.  And it almost worked.

As for City, Mancini set up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 with Barry and Yaya playing in holding positions, and Tevez, Aguero, Nasri and Silva playing in interchangeable forward positions.  Mancini has been ostracized for perceived defensive tactics, but in this game, it was clear that he was trying to win the game outright.  The italian matched the United midfield by setting up Barry and Toure against Scholes and Carrick respectively.  For the first few minutes, Park found himself in space as the extra-man, but shortly, Lescott was picking up his runs and the korean forward was invisible the rest of the game.  Zabaleta's runs beyond Giggsy were absolutely breath-taking.  The argentine defender, possibly buoyed by the presence of Maradona, played with incredibly passion and speed and caused Evra all sorts of problems.

For the first 10 minutes or so, United controlled the game.  But, at no point did it seem that United would  score.  It was almost as if they had set up to play out a 0-0 which is in itself disappointing.  The entire first half was a tactical battle played out in midfield - Carrick and Barry stood out for their respective teams - mostly because of their defensive play.  And then came the goal.  City's captain, Vincent Kompany, had been sent off the last time the two sides met.  His retribution was powering a header past DeGea that it may have won City the title.  Most of the media blamed Smalling for the goal.  However, I think the blame lies on the shoulders of the older, more experienced, Rio Ferdinand.  Rio was guilty of getting in Smalling's way; which allowed Kompany to out-jump the ex-Fulham defender.  As the half-time whistle blew, I was convinced that Fergie would take Park off and put Valencia on.  That did not happen.

Kompany scores possibly the most important goal in City's history.

As I have mentioned earlier, I can sort of see why Fergie benched Valencia.  I have absolutely no explanation for why he came on in the 79th minute.  Valencia is joint-leader in the assist table with David Silva - despite the fact that he has played in 8 less games than the Spanish forward.  He is undoubtedly United's most lethal attacking option.  If your team needs a goal, you would think that he would the first sub onto the field? Fergie gave Valencia just over ten minutes to impact the game.  Even as a United fan, I cannot comprehend what the reasoning was for that decision.

While I have defended the decision to bench Valencia, I cannot defend the decision to start both Scholes and Giggs.  Don't get me wrong, they are two of my favorite players.  But, surely, at 37 and 38 years of age, they do not have the legs to compete against one of the most powerful midfields in Europe? Besides, by playing Giggs and Nani on the wings, Scholes' greatest asset - his distribution into space - was completely nullified.

But, anyway, credit also goes to Manchester City.  There were multiple occasions where they counter-attacked and could have scored more goals.  Apparently, getting past  Patrice Evra is the easiest thing in football these days.  In particular, Yaya Toure was a monster carrying the ball forward - and helped City control the midfield.  Yaya has flourished into one of the top midfielders in the world, and at 28, is reaching the levels that Barcelona expected of him.

Battle of the managers - Sorry, Sir Alex, but the Italian just jobbed you.

There was also the off-the-field battle between Fergie and Mancini, which I admit seemed to have been started by the old Glaswegian legend.  Sir Alex' temper is well-publicized and it was certainly on-show while he berated Mancini for 'complaining'.  Sir Alex - how many times have we watched you remonstrating with the referee?

With this loss and the subsequent two games, I certainly expect City to win the title.  If both teams win their respective games, it will be the first time that the title will have been won on goal-difference; and that would be pretty amazing.  Mancini's pressure-deflecting tactics are working wonders, and surely the Italian should be (along with Brendan Rogers) a strong candidate for manager of the year.  For those of you who have recently started watching football, this would be only the second time, in the premier league era, that a team other than United, Arsenal or Chelsea has won the league.  The only other time was Blackburn - under the tutelage of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.  And Mancini deserves some serious credit.  This is also the first time in about 5 years that City has done the league double over United.  Noisy neighbors indeed.

As for United - it's time to revert back to 4-4-2 and hope that City has an off-day against Newcastle.

Next up - preview of the FA cup final and the big league games at the weekend.

Manchester City vs Manchester United - preview

This is it! This is the game that will decide it all.  Tomorrow, Manchester United will make the short trip across Manchester to the Etihad stadium to battle Manchester City for the title.  For those of you who have been living under a rock, here's the scenario - United are currently 3 points above City in the table with three games left before the end of the season.  City and United have one tricky away fixture left - to Newcastle and Sunderland respectively and a home game they should both comfortably win - QPR and Swansea respectively.  So, yes, it comes down to this game.  It's pretty simple - whoever wins this game will win the premier league.  A draw would suit United more.

Likely starting formations

City - Mancini is likely to flood the center of midfield and set up with a 4-3-3 formation.  This is the formation that destroyed United 6-1 earlier this season and is definitely City's best formation.  Although it can seem defensive at times, it is a formation designed to be flexible and powerful.  Moreover, it can be switched to a 4-3-1-2 during counterattacks.

United - SAF will probably try and match the formation and go 4-3-3.  This is the formation United use when playing away in Europe, and it will be how they set up at the Etihad.  It is definitely not United's most effective formation.  United would definitely switch to a 4-4-2 if a goal is required.

Probably starting line-ups

Keepers - Hart and DeGea.  These two pick themselves and are both in good form.

Fullbacks - Richards and Clichy vs Rafael and Evra.  Although Richards is coming back from injury, he is a shoe-in at right back because of his excellent positional awareness.  Plus his speed may set up some counterattacking opportunities.  Clichy will be preferred to Kolarov for the same reasons plus the fact that he can match Valencia for speed.  Besides, Kolarov could be the best defensive sub in the league when a goal is required! Although Rafael was terrible against Everton, his match fitness will see him selected ahead of Smalling.  Also, Rafael tends to do well in the big games (don't remind me about Bayern though).  United's captain, Evra, will be an automatic selection although, in my opinion, this has been his worst season as a United player.

Central defense - Lescott and Kompany vs Ferdinand and Evans.  Joleon Lescott and Johnny Evans have a lot in common.  They are both defenders that are lauded when playing well.  However, they are both capable of defensive lapses and Evans, in particular, will be looking to set things right after he was sent off at Old Trafford in 2011.  In Kompany, City have the best central defender in the premier league.  Ferdinand has been in good form, but may struggle against the speed of City's defense.  He is definitely going to play the sweeper role and sit back and gobble up anything Evans messes up on.

Yes, that actually happened.

Midfield - DeJong, Toure and Milner vs Scholes, Carrick and Jones.  De Jong will be selected ahead of Gareth Barry to nullify the influence of Paul Scholes.  I expect Nigel to man-mark Scholesy and simply play the ball to the other midfielders to distribute.  Toure, as I will talk about later, will be City's key player.  Milner had a good game against United last time and I expect him to be selected for his movement off-the-ball.  His speed will be difficult for United to handle.  Scholesy's distribution puts him ahead of Giggsy in the pecking order; although Giggsy's movement would be a huge asset.  I expect Giggsy to replace Scholesy at about the 60 minute mark as the ginger prince cannot last the full 90.  Carrick has had his best season in a United jersey and will play the quarterback position.  He will be responsible for tracking the runs of Milner and will hopefully make some crucial interceptions.  Jones will be selected for one reason and one reason only - competing with Toure.  Neither Scholes nor Carrick would be able to win headers in the air or track Toure's gut-busting runs from midfield.  Phil Jones has the muscle and speed to do both.  The disadvantage to play Jones in midfield is that he could not make a pass at Pamela Anderson.

Outside forwards - Tevez and Silva vs Nani and Valencia.  Tevez has been in fine-form since his return from the wilderness.  Back in December, Kartik Krishnayer, from EPL talk soccer, predicted that Tevez may be the catalyst that takes City to their first title in decades.  This is the game to ensure that that sentiment is true. Let's not forget that it was another ex-United player that sent United down to the old first division.  United legend, Denis Law, scored the goal for City that relegated Manchester United three decades ago.  Perhaps history will repeat itself and Tevez will score to win City the premier league.  Silva's creativity is stunning and he has been coming back into form of late.  I expect him to trouble Rafael at right back.  Ashley Young is defensively aware and may be selected against Nani.  But, Nani tends to play well against City and I think the Portuguese midfielder may score after cutting in from the left.  Valencia is an automatic selection on the right.

Strikers - Aguero vs Rooney.  Both strikers have been in fine form lately.  City's forwards will be more flexible - with Aguero and Tevez switching positions.

Achilles heel

United - Right back - Rafael, Fabio, Jones, Valencia, Smalling have all played on the right with varying degrees of success.  Sir Alex will be hoping that Rafael will have a good game, or else City's forwards will have a field day.

City - handling the pressure - Such is the strength of City's team that it is difficult to think of a weak link.  However, they have shown that they struggle to handle pressure at times.  When City were odds-on to win the premier league, they experienced their worst form of the season.  To counter that, once United were 8 points clear and Mancini started to declare that the Old Trafford outfit would win the league - City started winning games by five goal margins.  This is a high-pressure game and Mancini will be trying to take the pressure off his players.

Trump cards?

United - Play Park JiSung - Park is a big game player who has been used to nullify creative players in the middle of the park (refer to AC Milan and Chelsea for a perfect example of this).  However, his lack of match fitness and height make this an unlikely scenario.

Will he play tomorrow?

City - Go 4-4-2 - If Mancini decides to throw caution to the wind, he could play Adam Johnson and Silva on the wings and completely throw off united's tactical setup.  Again - an unlikely but fascinating scenario.

Key Players

Yaya Toure - Yaya is one of my favorite players in the premier league.  Strong, fast and tireless, he is a more muscular version of Chelsea's Ramires.  It is very difficult to track his runs from midfield and he will undoubtedly be involved in many counter attacks for the Etihad outfit.

Jonny Evans - Evans has had his best season in a United shirt.  Let's not forget, however, that he got himself sent off at Old Trafford and will need to have a near-perfect game to nullify City's potent strike force.

Key substitutes

Balotelli - He scored twice against United and the mercurial forward will be looking to repeat that form at the Etihad.

Chicharito - Last year's super-sub will undoubtedly be brought on if United find themselves a goal down .  Welbeck may be brought on if a little more ball-retention is required.

Prediction - 2-1 City.  I expect City to win this one as united will be cagey and likely to make some defensive lapses.  I certainly hope I'm wrong!

Is Barca on the decline?

Is it over?

One of the aftermaths of the loss to Chelsea was the story that Barca were on the decline.  Guardiola's decision to not renew his contract is seen by some as confirmation of the same.  In my opinion, this idea is absurd.  Let's go through some of the most common themes pervading through the internet:

1.  Barca's squad is getting old.
This one is just demonstrably false.  Here's a link to the respective age of Barca's first team squad -
http://www.footbo.com/Teams/Barcelona/Squad

As you can see, other than Xavi, Abidal, Keita and the goalkeepers, all of Barca's first team squad is in their mid to early twenties.  So, let's count this as debunked.

2.  Barca do not have quality substitutes.
There is some truth to this.  But, it's not because Barca's squad lacks quality; it's because their first team squad is absolutely phenomenal! Let's not forget, Messi, Iniesta and Xavi are three of the top 5 players in the world! Obviously replacing them is never going to be easy.  It's like arguing that United suck because no one can step in for Rooney, or that Arsenal are terrible because no one can replace RVP.  Yeah - it's true - but that's because they are incredibly good players.  It's just a pointless criticism.

3.  Guardiola's resignation proves that he does not see a future for the squad.
Again- demonstrably false.  Ever since Pep took over, he has only signed rolling one-year contracts.  He has been hinting at his desire to take a step away from football since early last year.  Yes, even when Barca had won every single thing they could win.  If he did not see a future for the squad, he would not have signed young players such as Sanchez and Affelay.

4.  No one can replace Xavi, Messi and Iniesta
This is somewhat tied to #2, but I consider it a slightly different point; in that Barca actually do have excellent substitutions for all of the above.  In Fabregas, I believe Barca have a ready-made replacement for Xavi.  And, yes, he has not had the most stellar of seasons; but that is because he has been playing on the right hand side in order to accommodate Xavi.  Once Xavi retires, Cesc will undoubtedly replace him and go on to become the best central midfielder in the world.  Messi is the best player in the world.  Period.  But, Barca actually does have players that can complement him/give him a rest - likes of Villa, Affelay, Sanchez, Pedro and the young Tello.  These are all excellent players in their own right, and can be rotated in for either Messi or Iniesta.

5.  They've lost the desire to win.
Yup - the team that is 2nd in the spanish league and reached the semi-finals of the champions league - no desire.  Stupid.

6.  Messi has grown too big for his boots.
Yes, Messi has a slight dark side to him.  but, for someone who literally has the world at his feet, Messi continues to be a model professional off the field; he's rather Scholes like.  He shies away from the media and focuses on football.  He constantly praises his teammates and famously declared that Xavi, and not Messi, should win the world player of the year.

7.  They do not have a Plan B
I mentioned this in my analysis of the Chelsea-Barca game.  But, although true, this is not applicable to a comment on Barca's decline, because this has been true for years now - Barca only play one way.  They will never be able to boot the ball upfield and score.  It's just that, sometimes, the brilliant plan A gives out. And i would argue that that is okay.

So - for all of you prematurely predicting Barca's demise - please go back into your parents' basements.

The end.  Thank your for reading.

Next up - preview of the united-City game.

Chelsea-Barcelona/Madrid-Bayern REVIEW

Champions league madness! Both games this week were thrilling and nerve-wracking.  As you might already know - my prediction of a Madrid-Chelsea final came undone.  Surprisingly, however, it was not for the reason many predicted.

Barcelona vs Chelsea

Let me start off by congratulating DeMatteo.  The man came into the Chelsea job with the unenviable task of sorting out the mess left behind by the tactical ineptitude of AVB combined with the paranoia of Abramovic.  Let me also denounce all of those denigrating Chelsea's performance as 'anti-football'.  Let's get this straight - NO ONE beats Barcelona playing Barcelona's game.  No one.  Why would Chelsea try and have 50% possession? It means absolutely nothing.  Chelsea had one goal - to get through to the final of the Champions League.  They were not trying to appease the football purists and why the hell should they be? You lot are a bunch of pedantic morons who consider 'beautiful' football to be more valuable than winning.  If beautiful football is all that matters, why exactly do Arsenal fans ever moan? Surely there has to be a balance between beautiful football and winning.  Anyway, I digress.

Once Chelsea were 2-0 and a man down, I was sure that it was game over.  Readers of my blog know how I feel about John Terry.  I am absolutely thrilled that he will not play in the final because he is pound-for-pound the most reprehensible man in football - and that coming from me - a Wayne Rooney fan.  Regardless of what he may have claimed later on, there was no 'accidental lifting of the knee'; that was a blatant disregard of an opponent's safety.

Ramires, my second favorite Chelsea player, scored an excellent goal and Chelsea were going through on the away goal rule.  Although the goal was against the run of play, it was emblematic of the Chelsea's combative performance.  After a good tackle, Frankie Lamps played in young Ramires who chipped the on-rushing Valdez to stun Camp Nou.  From that point on, Chelsea played with all 10-men behind the ball.  Other than Messi's missed penalty and his strike that hit the upright, for all of Barca's possession (~80%), they did not create too many clear-cut chances.  Besides, Cech was smothering all shots from distance and all crosses into the box.  With Pique having gone off injured, Barca were really finding it difficult to find anyone to aim at in the box, and Chelsea allowed them to have tons of width.  The fact that Barca do not have a Plan B to complement their admittedly brilliant Plan A, ended up being their undoing.  They huffed and they puffed, but they could not blow Chelsea's house down.

Although my heart goes out to Ramires for picking up a yellow that will see him missing the final, NOTHING compares to how I felt when I saw Meireles being booked.  That guy, above every single Chelsea player, deserves to play in the final.  He was fantastic over both legs - his workrate, distribution and tackling were a pleasure to behold.  And if I can make a bold prediction, it will be his absence that will lose Chelsea the final.  As a United fan, I am reminded of when Darren Fletcher received an unfair red in the semi-final against Arsenal.  His absence is the key factor to why United lost to Barcelona in 2008.  Poor Meireles - seeing him beg the referee to not give him a yellow almost brought tears to my eyes.  Oh, and if you haven't figured it out by now - he is my favorite Chelsea player.  I'm glad he left Liverpool because now I do not feel guilty cheering for him.

Despite Ramires' excellent goal, the highlight of the night was yet to come.  Although Chelsea were winning on the away-goal rule, there was an anxiety present because Barca were one goal away from securing their place in the final.  Cue a certain Mr. Torres.  As soon as he was introduced, I asked myself (and facebook) whether he would score against Barca.  He sure did.  Picking up the ball from a long clearance, he rounded the hapless Valdes to secure both Chelsea's place in the final and his name into Chelsea folklore.

But - please don't start singing 'He scores when he wants'.  Because that shit is demonstrably and laughably absurd.

Projjol "I'm sexy and I know it" Banerjea 

Shoutout to my good friends Projjol 'muscle-man' Banerjea and his beautiful wife Hickie 'she-wears-the-pants' Chatterjee/Banerjea for these recently acquired pictures from the Camp Nou.  

Madrid-Bayern

Madrid were favorites to go through after scoring an away goal.  And once they had gone 2-0 up with two quick goals by Ronaldo (and some brilliant vision by 'Avatar-eyes' Ozil), it looked like Madrid were going to run away with the game.  When i saw Ronaldo score, I was reminded of how he is often criticized as someone who goes missing in big games; especially when compared to Messi.  He had a brilliant game overall - and despite his eventual PK miss - should be proud of his overall performance.  Mourinho has added a dimension to Ronaldo's game that was non-existent during Cristiano's time at Man United - defensive awareness.  Ronaldo tracked back throughout this game and helped keep Ribery/Robben at bay.

Soon, it became increasingly apparent that Madrid's defense was shaky.  The first signs of it was a bursting run by Austrian defender Alaba.  Alaba tore past three players and hit a great cross to Robben who should have scored against his old side.  Madrid gave up a penalty via Pepe, who was lucky not to get sent off, and Robben duly dispatched the PK into the side netting.

Both Robben and Ronaldo were guilty of wasting some free kick chances in the second half, but the game was fairly even at that point.  The best chance of the game came when Alaba played in Robben.  Robben's first time pass found Gomez and the 40+ goal striker was odds-on to score.  He flubbed his first touch and found himself crowded out before he could get a decent strike away.  I thought Kaka's introduction during the 75th minute would prove to be catalytic - but the brazilian 'star' was at his disappointing best.  Extra time was uneventful and the game was finally decided by the lottery of penalty kicks.

Oh Ronaldo.  The kid never misses penalties during the game.  The kid never scores penalties during a shootout.  Neuer had a good game and Bayern were through - thereby denying Mourinho the chance to avenge Abrahomivic's mistreatment of him.  The final will be a brilliant affair and I look forward to it.

Next up, I will be previewing the United-City game.  Thank you for reading.

Review Manchester United vs Everton

What a game! This was a perfect example of how the Premier League is undoubtedly the most competitive league in the world.  While Madrid and Barca stream roll their way through the other 18 teams in La liga, the likes of City and United have been dropping points for fun.

Everton lined up like they SHOULD have against Liverpool and United were unchanged except for Nani replacing Ashley Young - a diver for a diver.  Right from the start of the game, Fellaini and Jelavic's movement caused the United defense all sorts of trouble.  Evans was consistently beaten in the air, and Jelavic was running behind Rio for fun.  It was no surprise to see Everton take the lead when an excellent cross found Jelavic at the far post.  Jelavic's header was perfectly placed over DeGea and Everton went up 1-0.  Rafael, not for the last time in this match, switched off and was responsible for the goal.

United started taking control of the game and after a couple of half chances, Rooney scored.  There was some excellent, intricate passing involving Carrick and Evra which lead to an early Nani cross that found the noggin of a diving Wayne Rooney.  1-1.  While Nani was finding joy on the left, Valencia was finding it difficult against Sylvain Distin who matches Valencia in both speed and strength.  To counter this, Sir Alex allowed Nani to play a free role - which is why nani kept popping out on the right. This completely threw off Everton's marking and directly contributed to the 2nd and 3rd goals.  For the second goal, Nani's knockdown found Welbeck and his first touch completely took Heitinga out of the game.  His finish was excellent and United found themselves taking the lead.

For the third goal, Nani was played in by a perfect first time ball by Welbeck - after the young striker had been fed by carrick.  Nani  chipped the on-rushing Tim Howard, and United were 3-1 up and looked to be sailing.

Not so fast.  Against the run of play, Fellaini scored from a volley after a good cross from the excellent Hibbert.  In my opinion, Fellaini is the most under-rated player in the premier league, and I am amazed that bigger clubs do not try to sign him.  I've said this before - I hope United sign him this summer - as he is just the sort of player that would strengthen United's midfield.

United took the lead again - scoring my favorite goal of the game.  A beautiful dummy by Welbeck allowed Rooney to play the 19 year old in, and his return ball found Rooney one-on-one with the keeper.  Rooney did the rest, and once again it looked like United had done enough to secure the game.

Again, that proved to be wrong.  Jelavic scored his second and Pienaar scored a goal involving Barcelona-esque movement to bring the game to 4-4.  Yet again, young Rafael was at fault for both those goals.  Just a few days after Sir Alex had praised the Brazilian defender - highlighting how his positional awareness had improved - Rafael's marking contributed to three goals that United conceded.  the dilemma for Sir Alex will be who he should pick at right back for Monday's game.  Phil Jones has experienced a marked drop in form and Smalling has had minimal game time of late.  As for Rafael, Balotelli/Silva would probably pick-pocket him all day.  So it will be interesting.

Another problem was how quickly Scholesy tired.  By the 60th minute, Everton players were running past the 37-year old for fun.  Against the likes of Toure and Milner, Sir Alex may have to play a three-man central midfield.

Speaking of City - clearly they now have the advantage.  If they win on Monday, they will be level on points with United, with a better goal differential, and that might be enough to take them through.  Big, big game on Monday.

Good luck to Chelsea today - I sincerely hope they can do the business against Barca at the Nou Camp.  Remember - I predicted a Chelsea-Madrid final a month ago!

My next post will review the champions league games and preview the weekend's fixtures.

Thanks for reading.

How can Chelsea beat Barcelona? (1st leg)

On Wednesday, Chelsea play the most important game of their season so far - the first leg of the semi-final against the mighty Barcelona.  Barcelona may go down ass the greatest club team in football history (and, yes, I'm including AC Milan), but surely they are beatable, right? I would like to hope so.  The following is my opinion of how Chelsea can win the first leg at Stamford Bridge.


1.  Play a flexible 4-3-1-2 formation. 
Assuming that both Luiz and Cahill are missing for the game, the back four will pick itself - Terry and Ivanovic in the middle with Ashley Cole and Bosingwa as the full backs.  The midfield will have to be Meireles, Essien and Ramires.  The reason for Lamps' omission would be that the midfield will have to make continuous tracking runs and Lamps would be found wanting in that situation.  Besides, he may have a huge impact on the game coming off the bench. Mata would play the attacking midfielder role and up-top, I would have Torres and Drogba.  My reasoning for my forward selection will be clear later in the post.  Also, the above formation can be used as a potent counter-attacking option by switching to a 4-3-3.

2.  Accept that Barca will score at Stamford bridge.
Let's face it, at some point, Barca will score.  At some point, Messi will sneak past the defense and place the ball beyond a hapless Cech.  Chelsea should NOT set out looking for a clean sheet, because Chelsea cannot keep a clean sheet.  If deMatteo accepts that Chelsea will get scored on, he can focus on Chelsea's strength; offense.  The Stamford Bridge outfit should be aiming for a win - whether it's by one goal of three - there is no way they will not concede an away goal.  And, that is perfectly okay.

3.  Play a deep-line on defense
As Chelsea have found out earlier this season (refer to the Arsenal game), they are poor at playing the offside trap.  Besides, with the foot speed of the players and the incision of their passing, no one should play the offside trap against Barcelona; it just would not work.  By playing a deep-line, Barca should be able to nullify Messi and Iniesta running behind the defense via chipped/dinged passes played by their brilliant midfield.  The flipside to this will be - it will give Barca a lot more time on the ball.

4.  Let Barca have the ball in their own half + Run Ramires Run
Yes, Barca will have possession.  But, as long as Chelsea pressure in their own half, Barca will find it difficult to feed Xavi.  And Xavi is the heart of that team.  Also, this will allow Ramires to drive at the heart of the Barca midfield.  For as talented as Mascherano, Xavi and Busquets are, they are not particularly fast.  Facing the young, dynamic midfielder will be something different from anything they have experienced in La Liga.

5.  Stop Messi
This one is obvious.  But how? In my opinion, it is pointless to man-mark Messi.  With the exception of Luiz and Bosingwa, no defender on Chelsea's defense can match Messi for foot speed.  And, unfortunately for Chelsea, those two are the team's most positionally unreliable defenders.  So, yeah, no man-marking.  It would be preferable to play a stopper-sweeper formation with Terry sitting deep and Ivanovic playing stopper; distributing the ball to Meireles.

6.  Essien to man-mark Xavi
As mentioned earlier, Xavi (along with Busquets) is the heart of that Barca team.  Essien will have to prevent Xavi from running the show.  For one night, he will need to be the hard-tackling, no-nonsense monster that he was before all his injury troubles.  By playing the ball-winning role, Essien can free-up Meireles to distribute the ball into space behind Puyol, or directly to the target man-Drogba.

7.  Get Drogba on Pique and Torres on Puyol
Both of Chelsea's strikers have found some form recently and will need to be on top-form to score against arguably the best central defensive partnership in Spain.  Pique (for any gossip queens reading this - he is the lucky bastard waka-waka-ing Shakira) has blossomed into a brilliant defender.  His reading of the game and his distribution has earned him comparisons to the legendary Beckenbauer.  However, his one weakness is a physical battle.  That is exactly what Drogba can provide; Drogba should isolate himself against Pique in every dead-ball situation.  Also, Drogba is the best in the world at holding-up the ball (and winning cheap fouls) and this will give Chelsea the chance to get a breather/some possession.

Similarly, Puyol is an excellent defender.  His achilles heel is a slight lack of speed.  This can be capitalized on by El Nino.  As for picking Torres, I believe that this is just the sort of game that he would thrive in.  He is a big-game player and will have a point to prove while playing against many of his spanish compatriots.  Besides, I would argue that the alternative - Sturridge - has a poor work-rate and would not be able to handle the big occasion.  He would be best as a good option off the bench; where he can play without pressure.

8.  Capitalize on set-piece situations
Barcelona are fast in every sense of the word.  However, they also have a lack-of-height throughout their team (with the exception of Pique and Busquets).  Chelsea should be looking at making the most of every corner and every set piece.  Similarly, they should be wary of Barcelona taking short corners, as they will be hesitant to cross the ball into the box.  Also, while on defense, they should leave Mata and Bosingwa at the half-way line.  This will force Barca to stay vigiliant against the counter attack; given Mata and Bosingwa's speed.  And, let's be honest, neither of them can defend corners.

9.  Play narrow while defending
If Chelsea play narrow and force Barca to play wide, any balls crossed into the box would be comfortable dealt with.  Moreover, it would force a certain dani Alves into overlapping positions.  Dani Alves is excellent going forward, but his positional awareness on defense is suspect.  In other words, having Alves in Chelsea's half may provide the best counter-attacking possibilities for Torres and Mata to exploit.

10.  If needing a goal, get Lamps on for Essien, Malouda/Kalou on for Mata and Sturridge on for Torres.
This one explains itself.  Also - only use Mikel if someone is injured.  The guy is pants.


What do you guys think? Anything you would add/subtract from the list?