And he said what?

Last week Trudo called out Jose saying that he could be a better manager because Jose didnt sub out Drogba when he was asking due to a back strain. I would like to emphasis that Drogba was eventually subbed out and still was able to play the Champions League game and the FA Cup match. Striking back at Trudo will be easy because his beloved Arse just lost their main attraction. Henry will be sitting out the rest of the season getting some much needed rest.

Here is where Wenger should have done differently. Henry had been coming back slowly and steadily since his injuries but every time he was forced onto the pitch by Wenger he came off even more injured. Wenger however does not take the blame rather puts it off on France. So Wenger is now saying Club is more important than Country. I wont disagree that some of the friendlies are stupid but you play for your country when called upon, its not like he had retired.

Yet I wont be like Trudo saying there is bad blood now between Henry and Wenger. Wenger used him yes, but then again Henry wanted to play, yet what player doesnt. Pedro Martinez wanted to play and look where that got the red sox the year before they won. Henry is still committed to Arse which is nice to see. Yet the manager is there to make sure that he has a healthy team throughout the year, but he lost his star player for the rest of the season over a 30 minute run out to try to stay in the Champions League. Arsenal should first however teach their other strikers how to put the ball in the net.

So who is really the dumb manager now?

Champs League Rap UP and

ITS THE 100th post for 22andYou!!! so I would just like to say, its been fun. I know there been plenty of long breaks between posts and such but hopefully everything will be smooth running.. Good Times to come - now to some opinions..

I watched the Pool v Barca game while being distraced with the Chelsea v Porto game and then through the goal of the ManU v Lille game... I then caught the Sky Sports highlights of the Arse game.. if you think there is an english bias well there probably is but then again what games can we get over here in the states?

Now ill let the meanbaldguy have his take on the Pool game because he watched than one closer than I. Chelsea v Porto had its ups and downs... first off without Terry in the back it seems as though then need the first 20 minutes to remind themselves of his absence and that was for sure with the opening goal. Essien is a world class player and was 3rd in the African player of the year standings and while he can play defense he is a midfielder and if in the defense he should be on the wing. Diarra has come in and played extremely well on the back line even though he is young (turning 22 this week) and a midfielder first. Robben was all over the place, for the longest time on the left and then all of a sudden he was on the right. I think I agreed with Tommy SmYth for the first time in my life after that Robben's goal and that Chelsea needed to keep pressuring the keeper by putting the ball on target. I have no idea why Drogba was taking a throw in about 10 yards from the byline when he should have been in the center of the pitch. Last but not least.. Sheva had a huge impact and as i have been saying he is coming into form.. that was a wicked blast at the start of the game, Robben should have fed him a nice slot pass but shot instead, and then his assist at the end.. More about Robben in a little bit.

ManU v Lille
Decent back and forth game although there was still much talk about what the managers had been saying about each other. The referee, the same one that called the penalty for the Italians against the Aussies, was quick with the yellow card on for not giving ManU the 10 yards on the freekick which was smart. Larrson leaves ManU with a bang by getting the goal.. maybe someone else can provide some more about the games..

The bad of the games Chelsea, Arse, and ManU... Meanbaldguy I am sure is happy that the cheaters were dealt with.. Robben and C. Ronaldo were given yellows for dives... Robben it was clear although he prolly felt he had been doing a lot of work and needed a rest, just kidding... C. Ronaldo was hit a little on the shin and was about to take the next step before throwing his legs out... Yes to disagree with mr. smyth it is a yellow card because it is simulation and thus under the laws of the game it should be dealt with.. I think, feel free to disagree with me and i know everyone does feel that way, that offsides is one way or the other - the man is either off or on, and the same for simulation. It needs to be dealt with and any dive should be a yellow, and possibly embellishment of a foul as well should be dealt with as simulation.. Here is a clip of the Arse highlights.. Wenger says his team played well and should have won - THEY CANT PUT THE BALL IN THE NET.. they are lost with Henry.. more lost than Chelsea was with Sheva at the start of the season... Julio and Adebayor cant score and the "young kids" just arent delievering - no silverware for Arse this season, yet this man has the job for life?

ahh 100 feels good

Has to End

Ok so I just posted last night about some other good stuff so go down a little and check that out. But right now I need to get this out there. Referees DO NOT SCORE GOALS.. THEY DO NOT FOUL.. THEY DO NOT HAVE CRAPPY DEFENSES... THEY DO NOT HAVE HORRIBLE TEAM FORMATIONS IN THE STARTING LINEUP...

I say this because Wenger is now coming out and saying that the linesman is a liar in the case of saying that Adebayor should have been sent off. He got Lampard to say he was not hit by Adebayor. Yet Wenger doesnt say anything that Lamps back was turned and that all that Adebayor needed to do to get a red was attempt to throw a punch. And now Warnock is also coming in and saying that referees lie and that it should be investigated. Look I understand the pressure that the Premiership could have on a coach, especially one in Wenger's position of having to win a trophy (whens the last?) or Warnock who needs to avoid the drop... but in the end their team winning is on them and not the referee. Wenger now has a meeting with the FA to explain himself and I hope with his French accent he just, uhhhh hoooww doo you say, je ne sais pas, i do uhhh not know, trips over himself. This is the stuff that once the FA can prove is a crock of bull needs to take down Warnock and Wenger...

Oh yea Wenger - Eboue got his three match ban as well, classy english (ooops cancel that) team you got there..

Please someone tell me I am going insane here and all this crap isnt true, where is the redhead to defend his coach when you need him?

More of the same...

So over the past week we have seen some great games... Arse v Chelsea, ManU v Reading, and then Arse v Blackburn...

Everything swirling around Arse again because of their tries to get the suspensions lifted of their players for violent conduct. As I said before, Howard Webb did a great job in getting everything settled, taking his assistants advice and then dolling out justice. He gave Mikel and Toure reds before being at the start of the fight. And with that the FA came down and handed Toure a suspension and I believe Mikel one too. If you look at the replays the red and the suspension is hard done on Mikel, I know I am a Chelsea fan so I am biased but if you take a step back all Mikel tries to do is get away from the situation... Now here is where Wenger gets in the way, he does not believe Adebayor should have gotten his red even though replays show him coming in and throwing a punch, and Eboue gets off free in the end as well with his punch on W. Bridge. Like I have said, Wenger needs to come out and discipline his own players in the press, they are not perfect! this latest thing is ludicrous.

ManU v Reading - FA Cup 5th round Replay
Great game and unbelievable first 6 minutes. ManU destroyed a back four that had no communication and was basically invisible. However the red devils should consider themselves lucky cause in the end they deserved the extra half hour at least fight their way back to a respectable 3-2 defeat. I like that Howard Webb got to follow up the Carling Cup final with this game, it shows that the FA is behind their referees. I will still be partial to Reading for giving some Americans a chance and its unfortunate that Bobby is out for the rest of the season.


Arse v Blackburn - FA Cup 5th round Replay
The whistle sounded a lot I will give the critics that. Mr. Poll was up to his usual antics and I believed the game was going to end with a goal on a freekick. However McCarthy's goal was a piece of brillance and Senderos needs to check himself because he was horrible throughout the game. The one-nil scoreline is what many expected from the previous clash between the teams. The only American in the game, Friedel, made some great saves and the first 20 minutes had some great pace. The short passes were excellent. Another thing to come of this game is to show the bias of Football365.com. I usually like how they have opinions, they have a great referee section, and their articles are usually better that BBC and Soccernet, YET they have such a thing for Arse its rediculous. Everytime Arse lose its cause of the ref or the other team's lack of offensive football and everytime Tottenham win its because of the ref or some luck. This time they take it out of Mr. Poll who has the ManU v Liverpool game this weekend. Headline seen below:


Hopefully you can read that. I know Poll has made his mistakes such as the WC and one or two this season in the EPL but this is insane. The first was a clear dive and the 2nd would have been iffy at best.

looking forward to the weekend

Carling Cup Champions

Ahhh yes the first hardware of the year handed out to none other than the blues.... Since I havnt heard back from my red-headed friend (The one Arse fan amongst us - See the bottom photo) I will use the internets to show my celebration. I caught a little of the first half and then the last 25 minutes of the second.

First off credit to youngster Walcott for an amazing first goal and showing that England do have something to look forward to. From my understanding the gunners had excellent starts to both halves but just lost steam. On a note about the whole "young gunner" thing, yes Arse did play some of their younger players maybe 4 or 5 that dont normally start but if you looked at their bench and the people that came on (Helb, Adebayor, and Eboue) how much younger were they than normal? More on Arse - the stand in Captain should be ashamed of himself, the foul was miniscule and then for him to start a fight with such precious time to go? rediculous. Adebayor to also throw a punch or two when he came on as a sub and had a full load of steam to get one back. rediculous.

More on the fight. Howard Webb did a great job dealing with it. He tried to break up the original tussle but then let the teammates work it out and just took in everything that happened and was correct to send of Adebayor which was the hardest card to call because it happened in the thick of things. However I wonder what his reasoning is for the red card on Mikel was for... Mikel did commit a foul but then for Toure to come at him, Mikel did a lot to step away from the fight and not allow things to continue. He might have done a little shove back to give himself some space, i have no problems with the card, i think both had to be sent off if one was gone but Mikel was obviously upset because he had tried to get away from the situation. Webb should also be credited for handling the John Terry situation brillantly and relaying information to Jose and the Chelsea bench, he should receive a lot of applause for noticing it was a head injury and getting the right people involved. Overall Webb did a great job taking in information and talking to his other officials.

Now onto the champions!!! Chelsea were underfire at the start of both halves but they showed their composure. Especially after Terry went down again, and if you see the kick to the face it is unbelievable that he was back at the stadium to celebrate 2 hours later. Lamps showed his skill by leading his team on the charge after the incident - sparking interest back into the match with a long range shot that powerfully hit the crossbar. Once again I would like to point out that Sheva made a difference. He was a threat that had to be watched and thus drew attention away from Drogba. Sheva had a brillant strike only a little later that also hit the cross bar. Now finally to the man of the match - Drogba. If people arent talking about him as being the best striker they should be. Two more goals his 27th and 28th of the season should show that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Overall a great win and a great game that just was unfortunatly hurt with the injury to Terry and the brawl at the end.. I wonder what the Frenchman will say now and just which peice of hardware will be next.

My CL Recap

So I was thinkin about trying to so some live blogging on my thoughts on the game but that was too tedious of a task after being up since 7:30 and having to sit through 3 straight classes. I know its not a tough life but eh I was fore-going my afternoon nap for the games. Plus my internet broadcast from China was slacking on sound for the Chelsea game while being perfect for the 'pool-barca game. So my thoughts:

Chelsea 1-1 Porto
As the red head of the group will certainly be proud the underdogs held the visitors to a draw. Terry being out for the Carling Cup and being taken to the locker room was not a good sight to see. The defense looked horrible with him on the sidelines until the sub was put in and Essien being dropped down to the defense. Essien I believe has to be one of the most underrated players in the world, he has truly shown his world class status this season with the different possitions he has played and the stuff he has done. With Robben in the game it was a world of difference and that led to our goal. Sheva, I believe and I know meanbaldguy will say different, is coming into his form. While it might be late, he has scored goals recently. Totals are 9 goals in 35 total first team showings, but think of the recent goals in FA and League Cup games - along with a few prem goals (Maybe he is a fantasy pick up?). My confusion from the game is taking Robben out at halftime, it didnt seem to do anything for the match. But I will take the tie going back to the Bridge and look forward to the game in Cardiff this weekend.

Barca 1-2 'Pool
Ok so I had the sound on for this game but wasnt paying as close attention. Of course the story line is that the two golfers connected to win the game for the mersysiders. Bellamy and Riise both got their goals. Bellamy got a great game after all the reports saying he is done for at liverpool and that should help him stay with the club but who knows. Barca seemed lost going into halftime with the score tied and came out lost for the second half. The return leg should be interesting.

in response to the trudo comment in the cl recap yesterday:
Ok you think we are bashing on Wenger but get this he deserves it. Jose gets it plenty but think about the last time you read in the news something about Jose. As someone pointed out on F365, we havnt heard him complain in over a month now - check the chelsea news reports there is nothing there. now about Sir Alex there is no doubt he plays the media and plays it to his advantage - i am thinking about Worldwide Soccer manager and playing mind games with the the opponents. But if we are talking about the ManU game, he has plenty of reason to complain because that was disgusting the way Lille reacted to getting scored on and from the reports the fans were being crushed. And I am not hating on the French cause I am mostly french in heritage and I love my french-ness - hell they created democracy (think of ricky bobby and finish it).. But Wenger needs a change of policy on his comments cause he should come out against Henry's dive and taunting against wigan - a captain should act better. he should come out against Jens and all the stunts he pulls. and he should come out in cases not just saying the other team decided to play deep and protect the ball - honestly come on..

enough for now - i get some rest

Yesterday's CL action

Watched the end of the Arsenal/PSV game and then watched the taped replay of the Real/Bayern game on ESPN Classic. A couple of comments: first, it is good to see that ESPN finally deems it worthy to show a second game in lieu of highlights from the 1959 NBA championships or the 1999 Strongest Man Competition- a small victory for football but a victory nonetheless. Second, Arsenal is eminently stoppable and despite all their young starlets I am not buying them as the side of the future. If you play at all physically (go Blackburn!) they run away and hide. I know it was only a 1- nil loss on the road and they probably will win big at the Emirates in two weeks, but I couldn't be happier- if Arsene would only go back to France. Finally, the Real game was fascinating in a lot of respects. Despite Seamus Malin's fawning, Beckham did in fact play a superb 60 minutes of football- agressive, with pace (shocking) and smart- probably the best player on the pitch until the team went into a stupefying defensive shell which convinces me yet again that Capello is not the right man for this job (not that I have a clue who is). Robinho's insertion did nothing and he looked like a circus act- dribble around like a lunatic and see if something happens. The replay in Munich should be fascinating. Can't wait for today's action.

A long time coming

I take time away from the necessary work that must be done due to my recent illness to write about the game right now. As my tag suggests being "the ref" I feel that I must comment on the recent stuff going against refs right now. Just recently wigan v arse P. Dowd was given a stern talking to from the wigan organization because of his handling of the situation.

I think back in the day to my beloved Gtown Hoyas and when Coach Esherick went off on Big East referees and their handling of Mike Sweetney. Yet he came out at referees after a WIN not a loss. As he stated it would have otherwise been seen as sour grapes. Much like it did seem with Paul Jewell. There is much difference with Bball and soccer in this matter because many more fouls are called I believe in Bball and its much more of a stop and start sport. In soccer you can look at replays and see individual things that in Bball are more technicalities.

How this relates to Wigan. Well this is more for me to go off on the bastards at Arse than anything. Wenger is such a tool, he should be coming out against Jens but doesnt. Ok I digress and will be here - JENS is a bastard. What type of Goalie gets 5 yellow cards in a season and has to sit out? All of them being either for time wasting or running at the referee or at an opposing team player. He is ridiculous and should be sent back to Germany - prolly the best move Ill ever agree to with Wenger is to not sign Jens up for another season. Back to the topic. Wenger should have come out and said his opinion about Dowd. Given Wigan more credit because they didnt deserve to lose 3-1 and should have been up 2-nil to begin with. And if anyone complains about referees it is Wenger, Paul Jewell has been a decent man on the sidelines unlike his arsenal counterpart.

In the end Dowd got a lot of hell. Some of it deserved although it should be interesting to see what comes of him talking back to the players supposedly. That he used "industrial language" when you see Rooney make a fool of himself every time he talks to a ref.

Now the upcoming Champions League. My predictions - Arsenal lose after playing wigan in extra time and then a boring draw to blackburn over the span of 4 days last week. Chelsea pull out the win away either that or get an important away goal draw. Ronaldhino v Liverpool is of course the game to watch and with the recent news at both Liverpool and Barca it should be interesting who is more motivated.

thats all for now