Apologies, and new Spurs’ kit

Apologies for the lack of activity around here of late. It is obviously not the football season at the moment so not much on which to comment, especially as neither Spurs nor Arsenal have really dived into the transfer market yet. As soon as something of interest comes up, I’m sure we will have something to say.

In the meantime, Tottenham have a new home kit this season, to which, for the first time (I think) in the club’s recent history, Puma have added a ‘third colour’. The ‘third colour’ is a kind of canary yellow, and is backed by the incredibly cheesy, not to say optimistic, slogan: “Glory comes in three colours”. If I’m honest, after giving it some reflection, I like the added third colour, and the new design overall. I am surprised at this because I haven’t really liked any of the Puma kits so far, other than the blue/white halves one for the 125 year anniversary. Anyway, here’s the new kit for anyone to cast their judgement:

Ronaldo Goes

Two days ago, I logged on to the BBC news website to see an article that I have longed for for quite some time.  Cristiano Ronaldo has finally left Manchester United and the Premier League for a sum of around 80 million to play his football in Real Madrid.  He will now be playing his superb football, mixed with a heavy dose of diving, whining and general prickishness, amongst the La Liga crowd along with the new signing of Kaka.  Very interesting on a football front, but I couldn’t help but feel bittersweet about the whole thing.

Bittersweet you say?  Yes indeed.  I’m obviously over the moon about not having to endure his crap for another season, but I also realised how much I liked to hate him.  I feel like Alexander the Great who ‘wept as there were no more kingdoms for him to conquer’, if you know what I mean.  I feel like Ronaldo epitomised so much of what I disliked about Man United and somehow justified my contempt for the team. 

However, I’m sure now that Ferguson has 80 million quid to splash out on players, he will no doubt by two or three quality replacements which will further concrete the sides success and make me hate them even more.  I uspect as well annoyingly, that United will buy some players that I am found of, causing me to hold a stupid grudge against them.  A player that matches this profile is Valencia. 

It will be interesting to see where Ronaldo’s career goes from here.  Will he continue to get better or go a bit downhill?  I reckon he’ll get better.   I believe one of the reasons that he struggled at times this season, was that defenders in the Premiership were starting to read him well and frustrate his play.  I don’t believe he’ll have this problem initally in Spain and that infact he’ll have many new oppurtunites as Real Madrid’s squad looks very impressive for next season.  So no doubt I’ll see his whiny face in the Champions League, but i’m ok with that.  No doubt he’ll also win footballer of the year again, and i’m not ok with that.

So in summary, I’m gald he’s going, but somehow will miss him.  And I never thought I’d say that.

James

Ladies Football

From the International Design Festival, Berlin

 

Wilson Palacios… incredible

Wilson Palacios flew back to Honduras yesterday to be with his family after the remains of his brother, who had been kidnapped back in 2007, were found and identified 150 miles from the nation’s capital. This is why he missed Tottenham’s game against Everton.

That is obviously awful news for him, but listen to this:

Palacios heard the news about his brother at 1am on Saturday morning in the club’s hotel in Liverpool, after getting a phone call from his family. He packed his back and prepared to leave, but waited in the hotel lobby until 7am before phoning manager Harry Redknapp, to avoid waking him unnecessarily. What’s that about? He’d just received what must have been devastating news, and yet he still had the consideration to wait six hours in a hotel lobby in the middle of the night because he didn’t want to unduly bother his manager. Incredible. What a bloke.

All Harry Redknapp could say was, “I’m amazed with him”. 

Read more, HERE. 

This is the second time in a month a relative of a Tottenham player has been killed, after Jermain Defoe’s half-brother died from stab wounds received in East London a few weeks ago.

[Contrast Palacios' behaviour with that of Ledley King who was arrested last night outside a London nightclub for suspected ABH (HERE). If the allegations are true, it would be stunningly out of character for King, who has always been considered a model professional.]

Injustice and Disappointment

“I Think my Sat Nav is broken, I typed in Chelsea and it said just two minutes away from Rome.”

Just one of the ‘hilarious’ jokes that I’ve heard in the aftermath of two quite bizarre Champions League semi finals.

Here are my post game reflections on both matches:

Arsenal 1 – 3 Manchester United

As an Arsenal fan, I was absolutely gutted when Kierian Gibbs slipped and let Park in to score an easy goal.  Ronaldo’s superb free kick was the nail in the coffin.  After that I knew it was all over.  So how am I feeling about it all?  Well disappointed obviously, mainly because in both ties Arsenal never seemed to show up.  In this game particulary they looked too predictible and were trying to do too many clever passes when perhaps a simple shot would of done.

The two mistakes have to be key to the loss though.  Gibbs’s slip was unfortunante and a shame considering how well he performed at Old Trafford and Ronaldo’s free kick was very good but for me it was never a free kick.  Ronaldo as par usual flopped over as soon as he was challenged and seem to win every decision.  These two goals dealt a heavy psychological blow to an Arsenal team that looked good in the first 8 minutes. 

So overall a real shame.  Man United did play well, but then again, Arsenal never really showed up.  I did feel a bit sorry for Fletcher and his unjust sending off, but then again, it was marvellous to see Fergie’s face when it happened.

Also, Ronaldo’s celebration of his free kick once again showed why he is deserving of the title ‘Cock of the Year’.

It will be interesting to see how the Arsenal players react in the last few games of the season and also who will stay and who will go during the summer.

Chelsea 1 -1 Barcelona

All I can say on this match is, I’m glad I’m not a Chelsea fan.  Now, I wanted Barcelona to win this game, yet when I watched the highlights I was gutted for Chelsea.  They deserved to win.  End of. 

Chelsea have every right to feel hard done by.  In my opinion, they should of been awarded at least 3 penalties and to lose to only one shot on target in the 93rd minute is a really kick in the pants.  Saying that, it was a lovely strike (as was Essien’s). 

The penalty controversy in my opinion showed once again the need for video referreing.  I can understand the argument against, but surely the game needs to be slowed down for key moments such as the penalty claims, as at the end of the day, it was these bad decisions that cost Chelsea a place in the Champions League final.

Saying that however, I did agree with Andy Townsend who concluded that Drogba was reaping what he had sown all season.  Despite his clear physical strength, Drogba often goes down far too easily and makes a meal out of it when he’s down.  It’s these actions that could of well discredited him in the eyes of the ref when he did go down.

As for the after game reactions, as a neutral, I just found them highly amusing.  Ballack’s chasing of the ref and Drogba madman-esq rant at the camera were my two highlights.  Was this reaction right?  Probably not, but fair game to them.  I doubt I could say that I would react differently.

So Barcelona are undeserveadly through and will face Man United, which for me is a shame cos it would of been great to see a replay of last years final, and I think Chelsea could of beat United where as Barcelona will probably lose.

However I may be wrong, and will be supporting Barcelona come final night.

So overall I felt let down by the two semi finals.  First by Arsenal’s bad luck and poor performance and second by the bad referee decisions in Chelsea’s game.

James

Fat lot of good this is…

Howard Webb has admitted his decision to give Man Utd a penalty on Sunday was a mistake. How noble of him…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8022476.stm

Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal

I’ve just returned from watching the Liverpool – Arsenal league at Anfield and had one of the weirdest experiences of Arsenal supporting life.  I was actually a bit gutted when Arsenal scored.

But first, to the game itself.  It was superb.  The whole game was back and forth and both teams looked like scoring.  Arshavin was brilliant and his second goal was beautiful. 

I am a bit gutted that Bendtner’s goal was ruled offside, cos that would of been a quality finish.  But oh well.

I imagine both teams will be disappoined with their defending, as it was key mistakes that let a number of the goals in, but it has to feel like a win for Arsenal, and a loss for Liverpool.  Arsenal played well and scored four goals at Anfield.  They could even of nicked it at the end.  Liverpool however needed the 3 points if they are gonna keep chasing United and you could see how gutted they were after the game had finished. 

And that’s why I found the Arsenal goals bittersweet.  Yes, I want Arsenal to win.  Yes, I want them to keep a good momentum, espically with the Champions League semis against Man Yoo coming up.  But ultimately I feel a bit like we helped United towards the Title with that performance.  We denied them crucial points and probably dealt them a psychological blow.

And why don’t I want Man United to win?  Well mainly cos I dislike them so much.  But I do feel that Liverpool deserve it more this year.  They have beaten both Chelsea and Man U twice and played the better football out of the two teams (in my opinion).  United however have as usual got wins when they havent played well.  Plus they keep getting late winners (from annoying players like the over celebrating, greasy Macheda)  or getting away with dodgy play (such as the suspect shirt pulling from Vidic). 

So in conclusion, I’m very happy with Arsenal’s performance tonight, but its bittersweet as we may have cost Liverpool the title.  I’m hoping that Portsmouth beat Man U tomorrow (which won’t happen) or that Arsenal slap them about at Old Trafford.

James

The Spurs’ Revival… oh wait

I was sat in the pub around 2:20pm on Saturday, watching the Spurs vs. Blackburn game. It was 1-0 to Spurs, and while our goal had come from a rather dodgy penalty, we had bossed the whole game, and we could have easily been 3 or 4 up. I was imagining how my next blog entry on Seven Sisters Road would be a wonderful narration of Spurs’ revival since the Carling Cup final defeat to Man. Utd, and how we now looked destined to qualify for Europe in seventh spot.

And then- the referee sent off Wilson Palacios for two bookable offences within a few minutes of each other. The first booking was fair, it was a poor tackle. But the second… well, what can I say!! When you watch the replay, you see that poor old Wilson was booked for nothing more than flopping on the floor near David Dunn. It was a disgraceful decision. Palacios had pulled out of his tackle, and barely touched Dunn. It was no way a booking. But it turned the game around. Palacios had arguably been our best player, and without him to hold things together in the middle, and reeling from the shock of the red card decision, Spurs did their usual implosion – Blackburn stealing two goals in the last ten minutes and taking the three points, having been outplayed for the first 80 minutes.

Now, in many ways it was our own fault- we should have made more of our dominance, and scored three or four goals earlier in the game, which would have put us out of sight, regardless of whether Palacios got sent off. But we didn’t, and ended up losing a game we should have easily won. In the post match interview, Harry Redknapp looked visibly shocked by the late turnaround.

But he may well have to get used to such things. It has been the Tottenham way for years that just when we start to fire on all cylinders, something very, very silly happens. If there is one thing Tottenham have lacked over the last few decades it is consistency, and the ability to be ruthless in finishing teams off. Here is a remarkable stat: Spurs have not lost to anyone in the top four this season… but have lost to every team in the bottom five. Only Tottenham Hotspur could have such a stupid statistic as that. On our day, we are capable of beating any team in the country, but when we get careless, you can bet we will lose to any team in the country. Mid-table finish it is then.

So, after wins against Aston Villa and Chelsea, just as it looked like Spurs’ would be galloping up the table and challenging for a European spot, we go and do something stupid – by losing to Blackburn in the last ten minutes of a game we had dominated. Will there ever be a proper Spurs’ Revival, that fulfils what it promises? Probably not.

Simon

Champions League Quarter Final Draw

Villareal v Arsenal:

I’m happy with this draw.  Apart from Porto, Villareal are probably the most beatable team out of the 8 quarter finalists.  Arsenal have an advatnage with playing away first and now that alot of their key players are returning from injury, they should progress.  It will also be interesting to see Robert Pires playing against his old side.

My prediction: Arsenal

Man United v Porto

As I’m biased against United, when I heard that they had once again drawn the easiest team I tutted under my breath and grumbled a bit.  United fans lareay sounds confident, and with good cause.  They should sail past Porto and have the easier route as they will face either Arsenal or Villareal.  Saying that, I’d love to see Arsenal vs Man United in the semi.  And I do think Arsenal could beat them.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Porto have the advantage with playing away first, but I still think United will win

My prediction: Man United

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

In my opinion this is the most exciting draw.  Barcelona are on incredible form in the Spanish League and Bayern have looked solid all the way the Champions League this year.  Bayern will be confident after whooping 12 goals past Sporting Lisbon, whilst Barcelona looked a bit shaky at times against Lyon.  But regardless, I think Barcelona have got to be favourites.  Hopefully, with the class in both sides, we’ll see alot of goals.  I reckon we could even witness a 5-4 thriller. 

My Prediction: Barcelona

Chelsea v Liverpool

Once again, these two have met in the Champions League.  It was inevitable that two English teams would meet in this round, and i’m just glad that it wasn’t Arsenal v Liverpool again.  We should be in for two very good games.  Liverpool have to be favourites too.  They have been playing some fantastic football lately and have already beaten Chelsea this season.  But saying that, Chelsea seem to have revived in form under Huudink, so it should be very close.

My prediction: Liverpool

So if my predictions are correct, that would make the semi’s Arsenal vs Man Utd and Liverpool vs Barcelona.  They would be some fantastic semi’s.  I’m not gonna guess that Man Utd would annoying beat Arsenal and Liverpool would shock everyone by beating Barca giving us a Liverpool v Man United final and I predict another annoying Man United win.  I don’t want that to happen, buts that my uninformed, probably wrong prediction.

James

Justice is finally served

I’m sure I’m not alone in stating how much I enjoyed this weekends football.  The two results I enjoyed the most were Arsenal 4-0 Blackburn and Man Utd 1-4 Liverpool.

Arsenal now finally look like they are returning to form.  Arshavin is making a big difference in the team and Walcott back has been a massive boost.  With Spurs beating Villa, Arsenal are back in the top four and hopefully things will continue to improve.

I am more delighted however with the Liverpool victory at Old Trafford.   This is due to a number of reasons.  The first is that finally someone has decisively beated United and wiped the smug smile of Ferguson’s face.  After weeks of hearing how no one can beated the Man U defence, it was lovely to see four goals going past them at their own ground. 

There’s something I’ve always enjoyed about seeing Man United fans reactions when their team lose at Old Trafford.  This is probably because it is such a rare occurance and they don’t know how to react.  The over confidence of the fans after the first goal was a qutie wonderful contrast to the looks on their faces when Liverpool pulled in front.

Another key reason, is that Vidic finally got sent off for his dodgy defending.  Anyone who has spoken to me in the last few months will know that the way he has continuously pulled players down and unlawfully obstructed key chances has been getting right on my tits, so it was great to see it finally penalised, and a goal resulting in the infringement. 

The final reason is probably just because its a slap in the face for a United side that have pretty much secured the title already.  It was great to see them finally beaten at home, espically with Rooney’s over the top reactions to the game not going his way after his amusing jibe before the game.

I hope, that Liverpool winning in such a decisive manner will encourage other teams to go to Old Trafford and seek to win.  I believe, that too often teams travel to United’s ground expecting to lose.  This means they try and hold on to a 0-0 draw and inevtiably United score (as they are experts and breaking teams down).  However, when teams go to Old Trafford and really attack and go for a win, they often come away with more success.  One of the first games of the season where Newcastle got a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford is a good example.  They werent intimidated by Man U and attacked strongly.

Anyway so I hope that teams will now be encouraged to challenge United at home more, knowing that they can be beaten and arent as invincible as some would have us believe.

James