Bob Bradley Plea

Hi all-I just wanted to say that officially I will never watch the US national team again if we hire Bob Bradley as full time coach. His hiring would show a complete lack of creativity and would burrow this program into the ground. Bruce provided the team with a solid work ethic and discipline and Bob Bradley would prove a meager addition to these attributes. Frankly it is insulting to Bruce at a basic level to place Bob Bradley and he in the same sentence. What has Bob Bradley ever done as a coach? Is the accolade of MLS Coach of the Year the sole requirement for the National Team job? What we truly need at this point is to appoint an international coach to add flair and tactical know-how to compete with the top European teams (and Argentina and Brazil). Are we satisfied with easy qualification to the World Cup, exiting in the second round (if we are lucky) and consistent domination of the weak Concacaf region in competitions like the Gold Cup? I cannot see us overcoming these lackluster benchmarks if we hire another mediocre American coach like Bradley. There is a wealth of international coaching talent that we could hire, coaches that would make use of our talent in the World Cup and deliver continued success. The outlook for US soccer is grim if Sunil Gulati insists on hiring Bob Bradley. I won't be the only one stops watching, that's a guarantee.

ignorance must be bliss

I wouldn't know... but the ref seems to...

Facts are facts, but the truly insightful man looks behind them. The real fact is that the payroll for Chelsea is absurd- Abramovich makes Steinbrenner look like a piker. with the talent he has bought, this team ought to win every game 4-nil. Why don't they? Because they have no chemistry and no discretion. Discretion? Swp has been criminally wasted- who cares if we waste a career? (it's irrelevant that he scored today) and ballack has been a waste of unprecedented proportions. Chemistry? 4 central midfielders, despite the fact that they are all superstars (except for ballack who is bollocks), is a disaster that anyone with half a discriminating brain could have seen coming. Special one? overrated doesn't begin to describe it. If they don't win 4 trophies with this roster, it is underperforming to an unprecedented degree.

Ahh and the facts are

Now after youve had your fun bashing on the special one let me have a little say.. And its a little funny after you come down on the bad signings that both of them would score this weekend along with kalou. Let alone the scoreline for the blues being 3-0 (Sheva, Kalou, Ballack) so that also going against the whole notion of it just waiting for the one-nil win. I am going to post Feb and March fixtures for all of the top three.. starting with your beloved ManU:

Now you said Chelsea have been settling for the one-nil winners or the one goal wins yet look here at the recent ManU scorelines. A draw to Reading at home, a last gasp freekick winner at Lille, C Ronaldo scored in the 88th minute against Fulham, had to hold on for dear life against reading again, O'Shea scoring in injury time at 'Pool, 75th minute against Lille, draw at Boro, and then this past weekend. Seems like ManU is leaving it late too. Hence the Jose talk about a little luck - especially when you start counting on O'Shea.

Now Chelsea:HMMMM...
Lamps in the 18th against Charlton, 3 nil against Boro, 4 nil against Norwich (Sheva scored two), Draw away at Porto (with an away goal), Drogba in the 84th in Carling Cup Final, 2 nil at Pompey, 3-3 draw after being down 3-1, Lamps in the 28th against Man city, and then the 3 nil win against Warnock. The only ones you could say Chelsea is leaving it late for are the fixtures with Spurs and Arse... But in the end you question Jose's style of play.. however I have never disagreed with you on that, what I was focusing on was Wenger's excuses that seem to be coming out of his wazoo...

My beef with Arsenal is that while you might say they play attractive football is that they do settle for the one-nil wins and everyone knows this.. Yet Wenger always focuses on the idea that they have pace. Sure he has youth and can bring up young players, I agree with his contract idea of anyone over 30, but if thats going to be his way of life it cant be his excuse.
Here are Arse's last two month:
Well HMMM... So we all know about the 3 cup losses, along with the loss today to Everton lets just look at the wins. All one, two, three, oh four of em.. 2-1 at wigan with both goals coming in the 80s after wigan should have been up 2 -nil plus they had the help of an own goal, Bolton was in extra time and the 3-1 score line is very decieving, the reading and the villa wins ill give them as good wins.. so 2 good wins in the past two months, I dont think Emerites is flying high...

So for the statement to be that Chelsea wait until the 81st minute to get a garbage goal is itself rubbish, especially in comparision to the other teams in the top 3.

And in all fairness all three teams got a little smack talk in this post so dont say I am not seeing all colors

News Flash- The Ref is color blind (at least to all colors not blue!)

Let's face it Ref, you are irrational when it comes to all things Chelsea (and to refs, but that's another story which has already been written...). Anyone who is paying attention will tell you that The Special One is sleepwalking through this year. Yes I know that they still could win everything, but that is just what happens when you don't have a discriminating bone in your body and use your stolen Russian oligarch money to go out and buy every player on the planet for undgodly sums of money. The choices he has made this year have been dumb-founding (or just plain dumb). Playing 4 central midfielders together has been a disaster and he insists on doing it- I know Cole's injury has been tough and Robben is a flake, but the congestion is obvious (as is the fact that Ballack is rubbish) to anyone who can stay awake through one of their snoozefest games. I gather they turned it on during the second half of the FA Cup against Spurs (does anyone know why they are on PPV??? I know they pull in dough, but the ratings bump for FSC seems like it would make up for that), but he never has them attack full out. His idea of a perfect game is to win 1-0 with a garbage goal in the 81st minute- that may have been the only way for Porto to win in Europe, but the sheer talent advantage he has with Chelsea should carry with it an obligation to let his players play the entertaining football they are individually capable of playing.

Regular readers of this blog (all four of us) know that I also despise Arsene Wenger and his pretty boys at Arsenal. You have to give him credit, however grudgingly, for bringing in great young talent and playing attractive football (he is the anti-Jose: all show and no care for wins). He is still a horse's ass.

(No need for either of you to bash Sir Alex in a reply post. Has anyone looked at his nose lately? He needs to cut down on the wine- he could take Rudolph's place next Christmas.)

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?

CL Quarterfinal Draw- Will Trudo hate Meanbaldguy?

From Soccernet.com this morning:
"There will be no all-English tie in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after the draw kept them apart. Liverpool and Manchester United will be away in the first leg, to PSV Eindhoven and AS Roma respectively, while Chelsea host Valencia. The final tie sees AC Milan take on Bayern Munich."

As much as I love Roma and realize how much it would mean to Trudo for them to go through, GO RED DEVILS!

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

ahh good times

Its been a few days I know and dont think its because I am afraid to respond to what has been said... but ive been busy so get over it...

Ill go backwards with the most recent first - Drogba and Jose are just fine.. and if Trudo thinks he can be a better coach then why was it when we played WSM that he forgot to have backup GK on the bench, naughty naughty... A player is hurt and stays on the field.. Drogba is a presence on the pitch and Kalou's goal is something to say to that - Drogba was a part of that play... So Trudo you have much more to do before you could become a better coach than the special one.. Sure it would have been good for Drogba to come off and save himself for Porto but eh hes fine.. As a matter of Sheva, as I write this he had a cracking shot on goal within the first 2 minutes of the Porto game and has said he feels as though he is growing accustomed to England. 2nd off why are you trying to create something that isnt there? where is the discontent between jose and drogba? there isnt one so tryin to get a comeback for your Arse coach, actin like the english press.

The Referee situation... Any improvements are much welcomed and if they end up saying they want two refs on the pitch that is fine. But as everyone here has said when they watched the HS games I played in with the 3 refs with whistles it was crap because there is no tone to the game. At the fifa level hey it might work cause they can have a team work together for years but at the youth level? Goal line technology is all good but I cant ever see a replay referee situation happening. While of course it interupts with play the other thing is that play goes so fast.. How many times could a goal be ruled out in exchange for a penalty kick for the opposing team because a foul happened and then a team went on a break? In the end the problem is with the changes how can they be used through out the competitions... Its unfair for the Uefa qualifies to have extra referees while the African qualifies to not..

So as we speak Barca nil-nil Pool and Chelsea nil-nil Porto..

Drogba + Mourinho = Love on the Rocks?

I found the Pompey-Chelsea game to be a quite stale affair, with the home side only playing good football after the 70th minute and being heroically thwarted on at least two occasions by the rugby-helmet genius of Petr Cech. One instance I found particularly interesting was the injury to Didier "Didn't Everyone Used to Hate Me" Drogba. He went up for a header and fell awkwardly on his tailbone, and took a few minutes to get up. He did go down hard and this post is not to criticize the Ivorian for his all too frequent theatrics, but to highlight the interaction between Drogba and the Special One that insued. Drogba seemingly told the bench that he was not at 100% fitness and when Mourinho was ready, he would like to take the rest of the game in from the inhospitable stands of Fratton Park. Mourinho's changes came and went and Drogba remained, unhappily, on the field. This could have been a result of Shevchenko's complete and total ineptitude at scoring in a Chelsea jersey on British soil. Mourinho therefore needed to replace the useless Sheva and kept the injured Drogba, who was all too unhappy to continue playing. He seemed to mouth, in his gesture ridden, shoulder shrugging way "I told you to take me out" with pointed anger towards Mourinho. He has clearly a massive void of true management skill, exemplified here in his inability to make the right substitution. Though I am sure tha post-game interviews adressed this interaction and both will come out smelling of roses, and love, I found it very interesting. We cannot forget that despite Mourinho's boasting of the "FIVE" trophies he has won since arriving at Chelsea (which in itself is farcical as he includes the community shield and 2 Carling cups) he has yet to produce on the European stage, and his only job seems to be smugness and picking an 11 out of high-priced, glamour stars of the highest quality in world football. I could do that and make the right substitution.

Great Post by Flying Tomato

It's good to see Trudo back in the blogosphere (I wonder who figured out how to register for him) - his latest post (see below) is a beauty and I can't agree more. I know the ref is proud (justifiably) of his reffing skills, but all of the defending of the refereeing in the Prem etc has to stop. Granted, most of the time the refs do a decent job (world cup excepted- I continue to maintain that the performance of the officials in Germany was scandalous) but these guys are mostly part-timers who make way too many glaring mistakes and the game has to see a few changes. One, as Trudo says and which I said over the summer, football at the highest levels isn't suited for one ref. The biggest complaints that I have heard about adding another on-field official comes from refs who seem to see such a suggestion as a threat to their manliness. Two, technology needs to be embraced: for goal line decisions and to analyze diving (do this after a match and give out cards retroactively), perhaps even to get offsides calls and penalties right if this can be done without interrupting the flow of the game. Third, diving and all the theatrics have to go. As just said, use video replay and give out heavy penalties for simulation. Fine the coaches while you are at it- if Jose or Arsene had to pay everytime Drogba or one of the Arsenal starlets acted like they were shot from the stands, this stuff would stop in a heartbeat.

The Ref = Sympathizer

The Ref seemingly cannot go one minute without posting about the mistreatment of refs. Here is what i have to say on the topic: get over it. While the ref does get an ungodly amount of unfair and cruel criticism all over the world, I feel that endlessly supporting them is neither helpful nor constructive. In fact the whole debate over which calls are right and which are wrong, and what player did what and what the referee saw etc ad nauseum...solely serves to distract us from the real point. With the game as fast-paced as it is, and with certain players (not excluding Arsenal lads) bent on diving, girl-slapping and other theatrics, the modern football match needs more referee presence on the field. It is all well and good to say that Graham Poll was right or Howard Webb could not see the action. The linesmen are not there to carefully observe fouls and other goings-on and should not be expected to do so. The conflict will end when there are two head referees on the field. Full stop. No more Mourinho/Ferguson whining. No more Arsene Wenger blindness and existential philosophy. No more Jordan love-dogging to every under fire manager. 2 refs, 1 field, better game full stop.

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.

Brief note

Love the new design! Good job, Ref.

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.

The Federation at its finest

I already sent this article to the red haired memeber of the group but I will post it here as well..
From reading this second article my first understanding has changed...

The whole rotation to awarding the World Cup based on regions and confederations is a great idea, largely in part because South Africa deserves to host the Cup and could use the money. With South America backing Brasil it should be interesting to see if anything comes of their lack of infastructure and proper stadiums. My understanding before re-reading the second article is that in 2018 the Cup was going back to Europe. But actually FIFA has not decided which confederation will get the nod. Of course with England stating that they had the backing of the Government and more say on IFAB they could out run us from the get go. However there are plenty of anti-england fans right now on the world stage especially since they got the 2012 Olympics. Yet is that enough to out weigh the anti-america stuff going on right now?

In the end I would love for us to get the 2018 WC but in the short term I would love even more a new USSF president

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

Best take on the Beckham stuff

With all of the Becks haters trashing him and the apologists (like me) calling him one of the best passers ever, the link below offers some of the fairest reviews of his career and his decision to come the US.

HERE