071229: West Ham 2 - 1 Man Utd

West Ham 2 - 1 Man Utd on ManUtd.com
West Ham 2 - 1 Man Utd on Soccernet.com

A costly Ronaldo penalty coupled with the most disappointing display of Man Utd football this season (but not its first) ensured West Ham extended their hot streak of 3 consecutive wins against the Red Devils dating back to Alan Curbishley's first game in charge of the Hammers.

Curbishley was the mastermind of this tremendous and truly deserved victory; the first from any club against the Devils this season and one that Sir Alex Ferguson had to kowtow to.

In a similar display of contain and attack football exhibited by Everton against the Devils last week, the Hammers were more successful.

It was Man Utd, however, who scored the first goal with a wonderful piece of play. Louis Saha played through Ryan Giggs down the left flank with a sublime lobbed pass who crossed for Ronaldo to customarily head in his 18th goal of the season.

That play proved to be Man Utd's first and perhaps only creative display for the match as West Ham hounded for and camped Man Utd's half with the ball, prodding for openings and weaknesses in the defence.

Eventually, it took two set piece goals from first, Anton Ferdinand, Rio's younger brother, and Matthew Upson to break Man Utd down following that dear Ronaldo penalty miss which could have secured the 3 points for Man Utd.

I am just looking forward to the reverse home fixture and see Man Utd tear them apart.

With Arsenal beating Everton with a flattering and 2-Dimensional 4-1 scoreline, Man Utd are now 2 points off the new league leaders. Yet, Man Utd has always been strong after the New Year historically and that bodes well for Devils fans.

071216: Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd

Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd on ManUtd.com
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd on Soccernet.com
It was a cagey and defensive but professional performance from Man Utd and on the outset, it was never likely going to be a high scoring game.

Two Liverpool chances were cleared on the goal-line, one of which was caused by a rare van Der Sar lapse in concentration in handling a cross prompting an outburst from Rio Ferdinand who had inadvertently turned the ball towards goal.

However, a well-worked corner led to the only goal of the game in the 43rd minute of the first half, and as it was again in the game against Derby last week, Carlos Tevez managed to be at the right place at the right time to prod home the winner, although Benayoun seemed rather lazy to close him down.

Man Utd were comfortable with Liverpool taking the initiative with Hargreaves and the lightning quick Anderson breaking down Liverpool's play at times with timely interception and tackles.

Ferdinand and Vidic were marshalling the backline with relative ease and as a result, Man Utd were not seriously threatened.

At the end of the match, Liverpool were left to rue a day of what-ifs and must now be considering how to effectively take their chances against their bigger rivals which include Chelsea and Arsenal as Liverpool have the poorest results amongst the Big Four.

071215: Lazio 2 - 3 Juventus

Lazio 2 - 3 Juventus on Juventus.com
Lazio 2 - 3 Juventus on Soccernet.com

Another great win for Juventus. Seemingly evergreen striker Del Piero is staking his claim for a place in Italy's squad for Euro 2008 by scoring two goals. Trezeguet grabbed the first goal of the match.

071208: Man Utd 4 - 1 Derby County

Man Utd 4 - 1 Derby County on ManUtd.com
Man Utd 4 - 1 Derby County on Soccernet.com
Derby had put up a spirited display till the last 5mins of the first half when they finally collapsed coupled with the pending torrential downpour. The first half ended 2 - 0.

In the 2nd half, I myself collapsed in part due to the two games I had earlier. I had managed to watch till the 55 min, but Tevez scored his 2nd (!) 5mins later. I woke up again and found Derby had pulled a goal back, which they celebrated as though they had just won the league title.

I then slept again and woke up at 1am to find the game had long ended. I discovered then that Man Utd had won 4-1.

Euro 2008 Italy horror

Full story

I was really horrified when I read which teams Italy had drawn for the group phase for Euro 2008. In a severe Group of Death, it was revealed that 3 superpowers in world football (the current World Champions, France and Netherlands (Holland)) will face off one after the other. Rounding out this group (Group B) will be Romania, though from the way the draw turned out, Italy could have face either Germany, Spain and Portugal.

It may be a blessing in disguise in that Italy will get the chance to prove their title aspirations at an early stage in the tournament. This is because they have always had to face rather easier teams in previous competitions but yet they either fail to live up to expectations or struggle to win.

Hopefully, the two other tough teams will get Italy in the groove for the later stages and knocking out one of the dangerous opponents. I am hoping and predicting it will be France.

Group A:
Switzerland,Co-Host
Czech Rep (one of my picks to win but Italy will be Champs anw)
Portugal (another pick)
Turkey
Predictions: Czech to top, Portugal runner-ups but lose on goal difference

Group B:
Austria,Co-Host
Croatia
Germany
Poland
Predictions: Germany top, Croatia

Group C:
Netherlands
Italy (my team)
Romania
France
Predictions: World Champs to top easily with 1-0, 2-1 wins, Netherlands

Group D:
Greece,defending Champs
Sweden
Spain
Russia
Predictions: Spain (finally!! if Spain loses this great chance in an easy group, heads will roll - again), Sweden

I really can't wait for Euro 2008 to come around!

~Akim~

071201: AC Milan 0 - 0 Juventus

AC Milan 0 - 0 Juventus

Two top teams battle out a goalless draw. If only SCV features this game.

071117: Euro 2008 Group B Scotland 1 - 2 Italy

Scotland 1 - 2 Italy

In a pulsating match, Italy stamped their class as world champions are now through to Euro 2008. Hard luck to the Scots, having done what Italy could not do, by trouncing France twice, yet still lost out on a place to the French.

Wearing black bands following the death of a fan at the last weekend of Serie A's games, the Italians in white outfits, played a patient game absorbing pressure from the Scots who simply had trouble breaking down the defence Italian football has always been renowned for.

It helped when Toni fired a quicksilver goal minutes within the start of the match. That meant Scotland had to chase the game. The first half was simply lively with the Scots creating dangerous chances from corners, which seemed to be their best chance as Italy had trouble defending them, but Italy were precise with great offence of their own, Di Natale wrongly ruled out for offside which will have placed Italy with an unassailable 2 goal cushion.

After the half, Scotland continued their pursuit and were rewarded when Barry Ferguson equalised from a free-kick.

In the dying minutes, however, evergreen right-back, Panucci broke millions of Scottish hearts with the winner.

Kudos to Scotland, better luck next time.

071112: Juventus 2 - 2 Parma

Juventus were great to come from 2-0 down to secure a great point against manager Ranieri's old club but another draw this day coupled with the draw against Inter the previous week meant Juventus were unable to rise above 3rd place in front of Fiorentina.

Most importantly, a sad week in football was rounded up when a fan was 'accidentally' shot dead by a police officer forcing a couple of late Serie A games to be postponed.

071112: Man Utd 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers

Ronaldo scored two goals within a minute of each other in a gritty encounter with a team who had drawn with the rest of the Big 4 (Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) so far this season. For a long while in the first half, Blackburn certainly played good football despite their physical game.

In the end, two quicksilver goals from in-form Ronaldo secured three precious points.

Blackburn were certainly unable to play anymore after having Dunn sent off early in the 2nd half for a second yellow card, and as such, it was hard for Man Utd to add to the goal tally when the full time whistle blows. Yet, they showed they can be a serious contender for a Champions' League spot outside the Big 4.

071026: Napoli 3 - 1 Juventus

Napoli 3 - 1 Juventus on Juventus.com
Napoli 3 - 1 Juventus on Soccernet.com
Apparently, Napoli won this game through two dubious penalties. Enough said really. If only I can watch Juventus games too!!

071026: Man Utd 4 - 1 Middlesbrough

A game that Man Utd scored four goals yet again for the 4th consecutive time, thus equalling a 100 year old record, that will not be broken next week against Arsenal (I hope otherwise!).

To be honest (I watched this game from a coffeeshop), Man Utd just scraped through this game again with only the two Tevez goals worthy of being called team goals.

The first two goals were somewhat opportunistic goals caused by some slack defending. Not to take any credit away from Nani's beautiful 30yard screamer (which eclipsed his first goal against Tottenham) nor the way Rooney coolly slotted home the goal that gave Man Utd the lead after Aliadiere punished Ferdinand and Vidic with an equaliser, but it was not really vintage Man Utd as they played the ball around waiting for things to happen instead of truly creating chances.

It could be that Middlesbrough defended deep and tried to cover up any gaping holes in defence with 8 or more men, but Man Utd were simply not excellent last night. But before I start to criticize more....

One encouraging sign was the crisp and pacy interchange of passes, which reminded me of Arsenal's free-flowing style. Another was the telepathic understanding between Rooney and Tevez. Lastly, but not least, was Hargreaves' presence in midfield.

Middlesbrough, unashamedly, knew their weaknesses, given the squad at Southgate's disposal. There was no creativity in midfield and there were some haphazard tactical discipline.

071013: European Championship Qualifying: Group B - Italy 2 - 0 Georgia

Italy 2 - 0 Georgia
From the way the report describes Italy's match, I wonder what is new. It seems that my favourite national team will always be stuck with tags such as "dull", "lacklustre", "pathetic", "defensive" blah blah blah. Critics are never happy with Italy.

Nevertheless, an important victory was secured and Italy need only to win against in-form and leaders Scotland next month and destiny to qualify for the 16-team event is in their own hands. And a "lacklustre" performance is enough for me.

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli, Fabio Grosso, Massimo Oddo, Christian Panucci, Massimo Ambrosini, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella, Luca Toni

071007: Fiorentina 1 - 1 Juventus

Fiorentina 1 - 1 Juventus on Juventus.com
Fiorentina 1 - 1 Juventus on Soccernet.com
With league leaders Inter winning 2 - 1 against Napoli in a Saturday game, Ranieri returned to his old club hoping to lead Juventus to what will have been another impressive win and kept pace with Inter.

As it turned out, Mutu returned to haunt his old club and snatched a point from Juventus with a penalty in the dying minutes (which Buffon nearly saved as pictured below) after Legrottalie had been deemed to handled the ball in the box.



Nevertheless, they remained second in the league.

Scorers:
FIORENTINA: Mutu (88')
JUVENTUS: Iaquinta (23')

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Nocerino, Almiron, Nedved (71' Palladino); Iaquinta (77' Del Piero), Trezeguet
Subs: Belardi, Birindelli, Zebina, Criscito, Tiago

071006: Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan

Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan on ManUtd.com
Man Utd 4 - 0 Wigan on Soccernet.com

It was a match billed as the game when Man Utd will finally get the truckloads of goals for the first time this season and it was duly confirmed when the final whistle blows. However, there was a point in the game when I thought it will end up like the first game of the season when Reading resolutely defended against the champions and left Old Trafford with an invaluable point.

For the whole of the 1st half, Wigan put on a defensive set-up that played hard, tackled hard and defended well. Due to the physical nature of the game, Man Utd were forced to reshuffle their defence twice as Vidic first, followed by O'Shea (who started the game in midfield) left the match due to vision problem and a dead leg respectively. As a result, Rio Ferdinand (in central defence) found a 3rd defensive partner in young hopeful talent Pique, who started at right-back, and all in one half!

It wasn't a dirty game, to be honest, but there were some unsavoury moments, especially in the first half, that Mike Riley, the referee, failed to address properly, though he did a decent job overall.

A goal-less 1st half failed to highlight Man Utd's dominance. However, it was evened out by Man Utd's fruitless wing play and lost-cause corners, which missed Vidic's aerial dominance.

A turnaround in the 2nd half, though, beckoned as Wigan were stretched by Man Utd's incisive and swift passing, which culminated in the first goal of the game courtesy of a brilliant interchange of play among 4 players beginning with Ferdinand, who carried the ball out of defence in his usual calm manner to Rooney. Rooney then played a superb pass to Anderson, the replacement for Vidic. The young Brazilian then stepped forward and threaded through a slide rule pass in the heart of Wigan's defence and found Tevez in the 53rd minute. With the trickery that he was partly bought for, Tevez danced around the Wigan's defence before finishing with a cool shot with his weaker foot.

This goal was reminiscent of Ronaldo's goal against Birmingham last week.

Wigan were increasingly losing their tactical discipline and Anderson was starting to exert his influence, which was useful as Paul Scholes was strangely subdued and did not impose himself as much as the young Brazilian.

As Wigan tried to recover, they suddenly found themselves with a 2-goal deficit 6 minutes later as Wigan's GK, Kirkland could only parry a deflected Giggs cross weakly into the path of Ronaldo, who was at hand to head into an empty net.

It was then Gear 1 as Man Utd took a casual approach, which almost allowed Wigan a way back into the game when shortly after, Wigan's substitute Valencia, almost pulled back a goal only to be denied by the save of the match produced by Kusczak, who was seeking to extend Man Utd's clean sheet and winning run to six.

If Kusczak keeps producing such performances, van der Sar will definitely be having it tough to dislodge the Pole a regular starting berth upon his return from injury, though chances are Sir Alex will re-start with the Dutchman.

That save lifted Man Utd's game again and a 3rd goal was the result as the impressive Anderson linked up defensively with Pique to nick the ball of Wigan's Brown and the ball subsequently made its way to Rooney on the left wing, who delivered a great assist to Ronaldo in the 76th minute in the 6-yard box and Ronaldo made no mistake and promptly celebrated the goal with Rooney.

A 4th goal ensued in 82nd minute, as league debutant Danny Simpson, replacement for O'Shea, swung in a beautiful lofted cross for a contender for the man of the match, Wayne Rooney who equally matched the cross with a menacing and clinical header.

The goal was the icing on the cake for Simpson who capped off his impressive debut performance and was duly congratulated by the more than equally deserving Rooney.

When the final whistle blew, there were bad news in that Saha had injured himself before the match started, Vidic and O'Shea suffered knocks that threatened to derail the result of this game and the fact that Wigan came to play for a point.

It was more than compensated, however, with the thrilling positive news that the ability of Pique, Simpson and the effervescent Anderson shone through in a game that could have been a real baptism of fire had Wigan really came to play football.

This great result puts Man Utd at the top of the table pending Arsenal's result against Sunderland on Sunday. It is still early days, but Man Utd will definitely want to head to Ashburton Grave on 3 November to face the Gunners by leading the table.

071003: Champions League Phase 1 Rd 2 of 6: Man Utd 1 - 0 Roma

Man Utd 1 - 0 Roma

In a very important match, Man Utd were fortunate to come out of this match with another slender victory and take a huge step in qualifying for the next phase.

They were troubled all night by nippy and fast offensive movement produced by Roma and the central figure of it all was Francesco Totti who was pulling the strings. However, due to Man Utd's hidden forces at play, they kept Roma at bay.

It took the type of football Roma had produced all night for Man Utd's Rooney to score the winner in the 70th minute, and what a winner it was with superb team play that started from the left of midfield that began with Ronaldo who made a pass to Carrick in the center. Carrick laid it off for Nani, and the Porugese winger who started the match in place of Giggs, threading through a brilliant ball to Rooney who struck goal with much aplomb.

If Nani continues to develop the way he did in this match, then surely his season will prosper to Man Utd's advantage. John O' Shea didn't do too badly at right back but he was marshalling a handful Mancini. Saha started in place of Tevez, and he had a somewhat disappointing night without (if I recall correctly) a single shot at goal.

Man Utd are still finding their stride and if they can produce more of the football that produced the winner, then they should be able to come up with more convincing displays, though of course, there are teams that won't play open attacking football the way Roma played last night.

Credit to Roma, who can definitely leave Old Trafford with heads tilt high as they bounced back from the embarassing 4 - 1 defeat against Inter last weekend. Their football was really the type of football most observers won't expect from an Italian team and club.

070930: Juventus 1 - 0 Torino

Juventus 1 - 0 Torino

Trezeguet continued his and Juventus' astonishing return to Serie A with another impressive goal and win respectively against bitter local rivals, Torino, albeit with a goal in the dying minutes! Trezeguet beat the Torino goalkeeper with a superb volley.

Torino hasn't beaten Juventus since 1995 and the streak continued today.

With this win, Juventus are now second in the league with 13 points from 6 games behind leaders and champions, Inter Milan, who has 14.

Scorer: Trezeguet (93')

JUVENTUS: Buffon, Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Palladino, Nocerino, Cristiano Zanetti (Almiron 69'), Nedved; Trezeguet, Del Piero.
Subs not used: Belardi, Birindelli, Criscito, Salihamidzic, Tiago, Olivera

070929: Birmingham City 0 - 1 Man Utd

Man Utd official website report
Soccernet report

It was a great game and as Sir Alex pointed out, it was the toughest game of the season so far and for Man Utd to still come up with a win, albeit another narrow one, shows they are not going to give up their title that easily.

This win coupled with a fifth successive clean sheet propels Man Utd to second in the league behind the impressive Arsenal side who also won their away game at West Ham United. The only sore point was that Man Utd will make do without custodian, Edwin van der Sar, who injured his toe in the first half, for a few games maybe. Despite the injury, Man Utd has a ready-made replacement in Tomas Kusczak who impressed with his first league game in goal this season.

After the midweek lost in the League Cup, Sir Alex opted to restore the starting XI that defeated Chelsea last Sunday, which was somewhat surprising considering they have a key Champions' League clash against Roma this coming week. I am quite sure Sir Alex is doing this so as to let Tevez and Rooney settled into the side and find their rhythm (people have been saying that they simply can't play in the same side together) and I have no doubt this decision will be vindicated by the truckload of goals this team promises to bring.

It was a game of two halves and Birmingham totally ran over Man Utd in the first. Ferdinand and co. were outstanding though, and despite the sluggish offensive movement, the defence kept Man Utd in the game. It was a totally different second half as Man Utd turned up their performance slightly and five minutes into the second half, the Man of the Match for me, Rio Ferdinand, played a delightful deep ball from the Man Utd half, which didn't bring any danger till Quedrue failed to read the ball.

The twinkle-toed Ronaldo took advantage, danced around 3 or 4 Birmingham players and scored with a cool finish for his first league goal of the season. Man Utd then proceeded to dominate proceedings but Birmingham still provided a few scares with Kusczak really proving his ability and keeping a clean sheet for himself. His performance may just convinced Sir Alex that he has got a good replacement for the not so young Edwin van der Sar.

By the time the match ended, Man Utd probably were just about lucky to have snatched the win. Birmingham has shown they can play a good game against their more illustrious opponents but they refused to do so against Liverpool recently. Maybe they should be more confident and Steve Bruce may be in for a comfortable return to the top league in England.

~Akim~

070927: Juventus 4 - 0 Reggina, League Cup 3rd Rd: Man Utd 0 - 2 Coventry City

I will now summarise two matches played on 27 September.

Match 1: Juventus 4 - 0 Reggina

Juventus website match report
Soccernet Match Report

Another high-scoring match in which Juventus dominated and deserved to win. In preparation for the big derby game against Torino on Sunday, Juventus rested some players including Iaquinta but it was the current old sharpshooter, Trezeguet, who scored yet again, bringing his tally to 6 goals in 5 serie A games.

A goal-less first half was compensated with goals galore in the second.

I am sure Ranieri meant no disrespect to Reggina but he actually subbed the goalkeeper, Buffon, as the replacement, Belardi, was a former Reggina keeper, and that Buffon had "physical" problem too.

Another milestone, after Trezeguet's 100 Serie A goals at the weekend was that the manager, Claudio Ranieri, was managing his 200 Serie A games, well done, sir!

JUVENTUS: Buffon (Belardi 60'), Birindelli, Legrottaglie, Criscito, Molinaro; Nocerino, Zanetti, Tiago, Salihamidzic (Olivera 78'), Palladino, Trezeguet.
Subs not used: Grygera, Chiellini, Almiron, Nedved, Del Piero.

Scorers: Legrottaglie 48', Salihamidzic 50', Trezeguet' 76, Palladino 90'

Match 2: League Cup 3rd Rd: Man Utd 0 - 2 Coventry City

match report

Tomasz Kuszczak
Phillip Bardsley
Jonathan Evans
John O'Shea
Gerard Pique
Danny Simpson
Chris Eagles
Lee Martin
Luis Nani
Oliveira Anderson
Fangzhou Dong

This was the starting XI that started against Coventry and the result is really disappointing, given the perceived depth in the Man Utd squad. To me, it is not so much about the defence but rather, the offence around whom the future of Man Utd very much depend on. The two summer signings, costing a total of 34mil, Nani and Anderson, are still finding their feet, and they need to find their feet quicker, else, they may find places on the benches rather than being started more often this season.

To be fair, Ronaldo, after a great debut way back in 2003, fizzled out for a while and had to adapt too before exploding into the player he is right now. So Nani and Anderson, being almost as young as when Ronaldo made his debut, will have opportunities to develop at Old Trafford given the massive amount invested.

Nevertheless, it was a game when they could have shown their abilities along with Eagles, Martin and Dong, who are all players in the offensive set-up and trainees of the Academy, unlike Nani and Anderson, who developed their talents elsewhere before coming over. They all have to start taking their chances and play well whenever they get the chance.

Sir Alex, needless to say, was disappointed too and I can only imagine him thinking that there will never be that time (when Beckham, Phil and Gary Neville, Butt and Scholes all made their way almost at the same time) again when the youngsters from the Academy made their way firmly to the first team.

For now, the League Cup is not ours. Congrats to Coventry, and all the best to them in the League Cup journey.

my review on Man U VS Chelsea's match

Yesterday's game was not the best i've seen. The first half was played better than the second. Manchester United won 2 - 0, first score was by Carlos Tevez! (tevez is cute!) It was a beautiful heading, his very first goal for Man U. (tak sia - sia beli kau, tevez...) =p

Dear was of course all excited about it! =p

The other goal was made by Louis Saha, in a penalty kick. It was an easy one! But they could have scored more before that. (like i said it wasnt the best game) There were alot of passing around but no attempts, which made the second half a little draggy and boring.

Michael Carrick, in my opinion, could be the man of the match, he made a few good passing, long shots. And he played better than the rest of them, i think.
Overall, im happy, or rather relieved that we managed to score twice, but we could have done better. Man U wasnt playing at its standard, i think, so i hope the next match will be better! =)
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!
~huda~

070923: Roma 2 - 2 Juventus

Roma 2 - 2 Juventus

Games against Roma isn't always easy and it was a brilliant game (from the description of the match on the official Juventus website) as Juventus apparently started out with a 4-3-3 formation.

Roma's golden boy and one-club player, Francesco Totti, scored a brace while Iaquinta assisted a goal for Trezeguet and scored the equaliser in the dying minutes earning himself a Man of the Match performance.

Iaquinta is turning out to be a positive summer signing for Juventus although I wasn't that impressed with him while he was at Udinese. He may just be a regular starter for the Italian team if he keeps scoring and assisting goals there, though there are some serious contenders who are ahead of him in the pecking order eg Toni, Gilardino.

Trezeguet has also reached a milestone by scoring his 100 goals in Serie A. Well Done!!
JUVENTUS: Buffon; Grygera, Andrade (Birindelli 54'), Criscito (Legrottaglie 46'), Chiellini; Nocerino, Zanetti, Nedved; Iaquinta, Trezeguet, Del Piero (Palladino 74').
Subs not used: Vanstrattan, Molinaro, Salihamidzic, Tiago

Roma: Totti 30' and 36'
Juventus: Trezeguet 17', Iaquinta 88'

Champions League Phase 1 Rd 1 of 6: Sporting Lisbon 0 - 1 Man Utd

This morning @ 2.24am was Man U's game against SC Portugal. Dear stayed over at my place just to watch it. =)
Rooney was back from his leave due to his injury, i was happy to see him play again. I think Man U played quite 'slow', im not sure whats the right word. The game was a boring one, there were a few attempts from both sides. Portugal is quite a good team (thats what i think) and also since our own Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani Almeida came from that team, so i was quite worried for Man U.
By half time, it was still 0 - 0. Man U scored at 60+ mins, by Ronaldo, it was a good score. Afterwards, he apologised to the Portugal fans. Like dear said, it was a sign of respect, after all it was that team that created him. I was glad and surprised that the Portugal fans still applaud and cheer for him when he left the field.
At 90mins, the final score was 0 - 1. =)
Im satisfied, i hope dear is too. His stay at my place is worth it after all. ;p

Real Madrid - Same Old Brand New supersquad

vs Almeria (070916) match report 1

vs Almeria (070916) match report 2

There is something exciting about the Real Madrid squad, which on current form, makes them almost invincible.

They are like the Harlem Globetrotters of basketball, having exciting talents all over especially in the offensive line.

1 Casillas • 2 Salgado • 3 Pepe • 4 Ramos • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Diarra • 7 Raúl • 8 Gago • 9 Soldado • 10 Robinho • 11 Robben • 12 Marcelo • 13 Codina • 14 Guti • 15 Drenthe • 16 Heinze • 17 van Nistelrooy • 18 Saviola • 19 Baptista • 20 Higuaín • 21 Metzelder • 22 Torres • 23 Sneijder • 24 Balboa • 25 Dudek

They won their match recently against a promoted team, Almeria, making it their third win in a row with a first goal for one of these exciting players, Argentinian Javier Saviola, massively underused at his ex-club, Barcelona.

But one talent stood out among all the rest, and that player is WESLEY SNEIJDER {pronounced"Sch-Nai-Der"} (profile), purported (haha) David Beckham's replacement. He is no replacement for David Beckham, he is much better!

At first when I read Real had bought the player during the summer, I was thinking "How is he going to fit in?"

Looks like he has already.

~Akim~

070916: Juventus 0 - 1 Udinese

Juventus 0 - 1 Udinese

Juventus suffered a disappointing defeat at home as Di Natale, Italy's hero against Ukraine in midweek, scoring yet again for Udinese. The international break sure broke Juventus' momentum but hopefully they recover next week in a big match against Roma.

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Birindelli, Andrade, Criscito, Chiellini; Camoranesi (Nocerino 30'), Zanetti (Tiago 56'), Almiron, Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet (Iaquinta 56')
Subs not used: Belardi, Legrottaglie, Molinaro, Palladino

070915: Everton 0 - 1 Man Utd

The international games in the last week may have contributed to a lacklustre performance from both sides as James McFadden, Scottish hero in the famous 1-0 win against France last Wednesday, started from the bench for Everton and Man Utd playing at pedestrian pace and despite having another 20+ shots on goal, they were not forceful and lack conviction in trying to get that goal from open play.

I have talked so much about Man Utd having a Plan B in the previous posts last month and no surprise, it worked yet again as Vidic (again!) headed a brilliant match-winner from a Nani corner in one of the most (rare) boring Man Utd matches I have ever watched.

Man Utd allowed Silvestre his 1st start of the season and it was good to see him play as I know Ferguson is having a tough time giving his fringe players a chance to play. As a result, Nani was rested and Evra was deployed as a winger. Unfortunately, though, Silvestre suffered an awful-looking injury and had to be substituted by Nani.

The most noticeable difference was that Tevez and Giggs interchanged role as compared to their previous games. Ronaldo, coming back from a 3 game suspension was subdued by Leighton Baines and contributed poorly with 3 free-kicks outside the box.

Evra, before Silvestre's injury, seemed to be playing almost as the 3rd striker and was a menace then with his pace.

Wes Brown was awful yet again, contributing nothing offensively again and even mislaid a simple pass once more. I feel it is time O'Shea, who is technically more assured and physical as well, to start in that right back position before Gary Neville regained his place.

Saha started from the bench despite his match-winner before the international games but I won't be surprised if he starts the next time around as Man Utd are really devoid of a central striker.

Ferdinand and Vidic was superb in containing the dangerous pairing of Andrew Johnson and Yakubu, who were really on their own upfront but still provided some moments of anxiety towards Man Utd goal.

Hopefully, we will see the momentum building on in the first Champions' League match this week as Man Utd embarked on a familiar winning streak, but it will be better if they start scoring more than a single goal. This is hardly champions' form and to not score against the weaker teams may give the stronger teams eg Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool more confidence when they faced off against the champions.

~Akim~

070912: Euro 2008

Some of the latest scores from Euro 2008 played on 12 Sep

Ukraine 1 - 2 Italy
Schevchenko is scoring but he is not playing for Chelsea, weird, weird. My favourite country did better this time but they must not stutter now onwards.

France 0 - 1 Scotland
A massive and shock result. Scotland may qualify but will they surprise at Euro 2008 in the tournament proper?

England 3 - 0 Russia
Owen scores twice; will Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard retire from international football? I hope they do, because England is doing well with Gareth Barry in the team, which begs the question. Why was Barry out of the team for so long... With Gerrard and Lampard fit, expect Barry to be removed from the team again.

070902: Cagliari 2 - 3 Juventus

Cagliari 2 - 3 Juventus

Another high scoring game, another win for the Serie B Champs! This game had it all, red cards, two in total and both for Juventus players, 2 Cagliari penalties (both converted) and also another Cagliari penalty claim not given after intervention from the asst referee.

With this win, they are top of the league and will face Udinese at home in two weeks' time because of the international games next week.

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Zebina, Andrade, Criscito (Legrottaglie 46'), Chiellini; Salihamidzic (Camoranesi'), Zanetti, Almiron (Nocerino 87'), Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet.
Subs: Belardi, Molinaro, Tiago, Palladino.

Calgliari: , Foggia 56' (pen) and 81' (pen)

Trezeguet 54', Del Piero 77', Chiellini 90'

070901: Man Utd 1 - 0 Sunderland

The 5th game of the season and Man Utd are grinding out results even on their own turf. It was another match which produced another round of stubborn opposition though it did not actually started out that way in the first ten minutes.

Before the start, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was given an honourable ovation and a special farewell sending off in front of Old Trafford, looking ever so chic in a black suit. As he made his way past the two teams, who formed a Guard-of-Honour formation, there was a sweet moment as he especially shook the hands of Sir Alex who had brought him to the club when he was 23.

As he left the pitch, he was also greeted with warmth by Roy Keane, who was the ex-captain of Man Utd and now manager of Sunderland.

Then on to the match proper.

There were some slick and crisp passing and Man Utd were playing more direct as compared to their previous games. Craig Gordon was busy in the Sunderland goal especially in the 2nd half, although most of the shots were not threatening.

The introduction of Louis Saha, after a long injury spell, in place of debutant Anderson, proved to be the masterstroke. It gave Man Utd that killer instinct in front of goal and as it turned out, Saha got the match winner. He had a great snap shot after a brilliant interchange of passes from midfield, and though it was saved, Saha showed Man Utd needs a real striker.

Wes Brown had a nightmare Right back performance as he made 4 wayward passes throughout the match and did not contribute anything significant offensively. I wonder what will have happen if the opposition had been any of the other top 4 teams. Maybe it's time Man Utd looked to their youth players; Johnny Evans come to mind, and I don't mind O'Shea playing there either.

Plan A did not work last night, but Plan B sure did. Vidic agonisingly missed from a Hargreaves corner and Saha scored from there later on.

Compliment to Sunderland for their resolute defending, but they need to be more brave offensively.

Italian Cup 3rd Round: Parma - Juventus 1-3

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Zebina, Andrade, Legrottaglie (46' Boumsong), Chiellini; Nocerino (59' Molinaro), Almiron, Tiago, Salihamidzic; Iaquinta (79' Palladino), Trezeguet
Subs: Belardi, Duravia, Castiglia, Esposito

Parma:
Castellini: 75' pen, awarded a penalty for a Zebina foul on Budan;

Molinari: 62', cross by Chiellini was headed in perfectly by Molinaro
Almiron: 73', Almiron got a free kick from just outside the penalty area; he took it himself and scored, his powerful shot smashing through the wall
Salihamidzic: 82', whose shot from the edge of the box was deflected by a defender into the net

I can't watch this game, so here is the update.

070826: Man Utd 1 - 0 Tottenham Hotspurs

All it took was a moment of brilliance from a future Man Utd legend as Nani scored his first competitive goal for Man Utd.

My prediction went awry as the Man Utd defence totally exhibited a brand of defending that made Tottenham really happy as Berbatov proved to be a nuisance all night, which coupled with another poor night of offence, showed that Man Utd still needs to prove their title credentials.

In the end, Man Utd undeservedly came away with a victory.

The warning signs started in the first minute as Keane (after a marvellous back-heel from Berbatov) tried an audacious effort from 25 yards, but fortunately, the ball clipped the bar.

I hope this win will show that Man Utd needs to work on a Plan C, which certain Devils can do and that is long-range shooting eg. Scholes, Carrick and now, Nani. From my previous review, Plan B is about getting goals from corners and set-pieces.

Next up; Sunderland.

Serie A begins! Juventus returned with a BIG BANG

Serie A begins! Juventus returned with a BIG BANG.

Juventus 5 - 1 Livorno

SCV is not showing Serie A matches anymore, so I could not watch this game.

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Salihamidzic (74' Zebina), Andrade, Criscito, Chiellini; Nocerino, Zanetti, Almiron (79' Tiago), Nedved; Del Piero (60' Iaquinta), Trezeguet
Subs: Belardi, Molinaro, Camoranesi, Palladino

Trezeguet scored a faboulous hat-trick and new signing, Iaquinta, scored a brace in a storming victory.

As reflected in the line-up, there are numerous new faces signed in the summer who made their competitive Serie A debut.

I hope this win will propel Juventus to the place where they belong come the end of the season; the King of Serie A.

070819: Man City 1 - 0 Man Utd

Man Utd played this game without Ronaldo who began his first suspension after his red card in midweek, allowing Hargreaves a chance to make his debut. The team was otherwise unchanged.

The scoreline did not reflect Man Utd's performance, which in truth, though not convincing, they did at least deserved a draw. The goal scored by Geovanni came out of the blue and it was one of those annoying games when the team play crap football yet they are able to steal the win from more illustrious and masterful opponents.

As with against Reading last weekend, only one team turned up to play football. Man Utd, for the 3rd game had about 20 shots on goal and Kasper Schmeichel was having the game of his life in the Man City goal as his father, ex-Red and the legendary Peter Schmeichel looked on with pride though I am sure he was rooting somewhat for Man Utd too.

Micah Richards, a full-back for the last couple of seasons, had a storming game in central defence, shutting out Tevez effectively. Credit to Sven Goran Eriksson, manager of Man City, who probably took note of Portsmouth handling of the Argentinian in the midweek game.

Tevez had numerous chances to score and Vidic highlighted my previous match review as he crashed his header against the crossbar shortly after the start of the 2nd half. Sadly, that was the only real chance for Vidic to display his aerial prowess offensively.

It is still early days but obviously Man Utd has to start winning soon. Once they find their groove, hopefully it will kickstart their season. What I feel Sir Alex needs to do is to work on Plan B, and that is to rely more on corners and set-pieces.

There were a few moments in the game when the ball was centered in from the wings low instead of high, and to some extent, they caused some trouble in Man City defence, so the offence needs to work on when exactly to time their runs into the box when the crosses come in as such because aerial wise, Man Utd really does not have options.

There is still time before the transfer season closes, so a tall striker could and should be bought because the next time Sir Alex can buy such a striker would only be in January, and by then Man Utd may just be blown away from the title race. I won't even talk about the possibility relegation but as I said in my first match review, if teams were to play like Reading, and now Man City, relegation seems a possibility.

070815: Portsmouth 1 - 1 Man Utd

This was a game Man Utd was predicted to win, and again, try as they might, they yet again managed only a draw.

The game was similar to the one at the weekend in that Man Utd again had 20plus shots at goal, but different in that the opposition, Portsmouth, actually turned up to play football.

My favourite player, Carlos Tevez (other than Giggs and Vidic) made his full debut and he had a lively outing despite being deployed as a lone forward. The starting XI were as predicted but there was something wrong with the formation nevertheless.

As a whole, Man Utd have an excellent and stable defence, probably minus Wes Brown, though he did his part as a right back. However, a good defence can only do so much and needs the offence to score. The way Portsmouth scored came from a player (Benjani) who rushed in from deep, so it's hard to fault the Man Utd defence for not picking him up.

Scholes and Carrick are the best players right now in the central midfield (we have yet to see Hargreaves). They also are, as fans might know, very good at unlocking defence, and I felt they were under-utilised in the game.

This was mostly due to the (presumed) fact that Nani had the ball more often than most of the Man Utd players combined. As a result, we see him hogging the left wing more often than we see Ronaldo on the right. It was only in the last half hour that Ronaldo proved effective as he played more centrally despite this being foreseen in the first half. Nani is Ronaldo in Ronaldo's first year; tricky but not effective. Thus, I am surprised Ronaldo didn't exert his usual influence.

Giggs played a competent game as the 2nd striker but he marked this game with a few uncharacteristic awry passes.

Tevez was unfortunate to come up with 2 very excellent (tall) Portsmouth defenders. Yet, he managed to give me (and others) a glimpse of his undoubted talent with a great knee-down control before volleying over in the 2nd half. He also played a part in Man Utd's 1st goal of the season.

I wonder what would have happen if the two strikers had switched roles. Giggs is not really the tallest player, but at least, he is much taller than Tevez.

The unfortunate part is that Man Utd lacked a tall player who can dominate the aerial attack and they play normally on the ground. The occasional occasions when they play the high ball is normally from clearances from the defence and also from the wings. In set-pieces e.g. corners and free-kicks, they have at least Vidic to rely on.

Speaking of corners, Man Utd should really take advantage because this is where they can have Vidic in offence and when playing against stubborn defence. The corners are woefully awful and Giggs gave me the impression he is not interested at all in taking corners. In fact, it was the same against Reading too.

I wonder what will happen if Man Utd had played with a taller striker, or at least if Giggs and Tevez had swapped roles. The sub, John O' Shea, could have been utilised in the role too, as he possess such the necessary build in question.

Whatever happens, Man Utd have got to have a plan B, and that is mainly to make use of the dead ball situations.

Ronaldo was sent off, so he will miss the next 3 games. Despite this, Man Utd still have some good players to replace. Maybe Hargreaves or Anderson will get their chance.

I will like to compliment Martin Crainie who was making his debut because of injury to Sol Campbell. He really shut down Man Utd's offence more often than I will have like.

070812: Man Utd 0 - 0 Reading

If all the teams were to play like Reading against the Devils, then we will be relegated to the Championship league for sure.

Steve Coppell & Reading came up with a defensive rearguard performance that will have done my favourite national team, the Azzuri (Italy), proud.

We had lots of chances (25 shots) to kill the game but it was one of those days when you can throw a rock at at an egg and the egg still won't break.

I don't agree with the "expert" analysts that Man Utd needs an out-and-out striker i.e. Van Nistelrooy because we won the League last season anyway without having a recognised striker for the most part of the season.

It proved again last night as almost the entire team had shots on goal. We look good. The defence had nothing much to do. The midfield (and offence, as the front two strikers are not really strikers) was somewhat overhitting their crosses but they were crosses. There were abundance of jinking runs and slight shimmies and lots of brilliant individual flair.

Nani replaced Rooney at half time who was injured (later scanned and proved that he will be out of action for 2 months at least) by Michael Duberry, and he too made a decent impression though I felt his passing needs lots of work because he kept underhitting them.

I am not too sure of the subs' bench. Fletcher, O'Shea, Pique and Nani was there. Fletcher is not Carrick and O'Shea is not getting his favoured central defence role and he is also not Carrick, and definitely not a striker as how Fergie deployed him last night. I did not really think about it before but Mourinho (Chelsea manager) suggested a good idea to have 7 on the bench instead of 5. It will have come in useful last night.

I hope all teams don't play like that when they visit Old Trafford because it will prove to be a gargantuan effort for us to retain the title.

070811: Sunderland 1 - 0 Tottenham Hotspurs

The EPL began at 7.40pm Singapore time today.

Sunderland won a close match 1-0. It was an entertaining match, despite the lack of more goals. I was rooting for Sunderland, because of Roy Keane, and they were deserving winners in the end at the Stadium of Light. Michael Chopra started to justify his 5mil move scoring the match winner deep in injury time and sending Roy Keane (manager), Niall Quinn (chairman) and the home fans into rapturous celebration.

I had caught the game from the 35th minute onwards, and Sunderland looked every bit Premiership quality throughout all areas of the field. They are definitely in their element and based on this game, the signs look seriously promising for them to stay in the Premiership.

There was a moment in the game that impressed me when the Sunderland defence failed to clear their line properly in the 70+ min, but they didn't panic and was composed and confident, unlike most defence of other teams that I have watched. They were also confidently passing the ball around and the right winger, Carlos Edwards, look like a man to watch this season.

Darren Bent was introduced for his debut EPL game for the Spurs since his move from Charlton, in place of Tainio in the 60+ min, meaning Totteham played a 4-3-3 formation. Despite this, because of Zokora, they never threatened the Sunderland goal, who had Premiership debutant, Craig Gordon, in goal. Gordon is a recent record British transfer signing (for a GK @ 9mil) from Hearts of Scotland.

Tottenham played poorly and honestly, I do not know why they chose Zokora to start the game in place of Huddlestone, who volleyed a sumptious strike (that was saved) with his first touch after coming on as a substitute late on in the game.

Martin Jol, manager of the Spurs, seriously need a definite starting XI before tinkering with the formation and players later on in the season. The defence is well-marshalled enough with Anthony Garnder and debutant, Younes Kaboul, in central defence. The offence definitely oozes quality with 5 top strikers, at which time only 2 can play, so I'll probably suggest Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane to continue leading the line. The midfield will be good enough minus Zokora.

Now, for Newcastle and Bolton. I am rooting for Newcastle. Tyneside should be happy Sam Allardyce is their manager. They look like dark horses this season. Allardyce is, of course, facing his old club. I predict a Newcastle win with Alan Smith (sorry you didn't make it Man Utd) probably scoring!