Football (Soccer) 2006/2007 Season

[Zorrow]

Well at least they managed to maintain the winning form. Crouch is forever being whistled by the referee, the problem of having suspiciously long legs. I still remember that robotic dance and how I disliked him for that.

Ah, Defoe. If only he was in the World Cup. He would surely be a better player, like so many who had matured from it. He came from West Ham. Cheers the Hammer's academy.

Speaking of West Ham, I'm rather worried. Yeah, like many I was shocked and glad for a while with the two Argentinians landing in. But with the rumours that are flying...gosh, hello, I don't want West Ham to become like Corinthians. West Ham was a modest team. They have a plentiful and young strikeforce, reliable defence and a solid midfield. Okay, so they are a class or two lower than those in top teams, but look at their awesome academy! Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick... the trail will never stop.

I like Alan Pardew. I would prefer to have him staying in West Ham than having Sven Goran. Like what's splashed over newspapers now. Oh boy, not that guy. Plus the bust-up Nigel Reo-Coker had... Things don't look very good. It'll be tricky choosing their strikeforce.

And unless they get rich overnight, with the small capacity of their stadium, they'll never be a big club. I just want West Ham to stay in Premiership. And don't crash. It took pretty long for West Ham to come to where it is now.
_________________

[Exile]

West Ham have the 13th biggest stadium in the country for football, that's actually the tenth biggest in the premiership so it's not like Upton Park is poor in terms of capacity. It's capacity is over 30,000 which is pretty good I think, bigger than the likes of Middlesboro, Blackburn and Bolton at least. Portsmouth have the smallest premiership stadium currently and they're doing alright I think, they are slated to be expanding Fratton Park up to 35,000 capacity in the future though.

The West Ham academy have an excellent recent history, they've really found and produced some top players however it is a real shame they didn't sign this Ukranian trialist player they once had. Some guy called Andriy Shevchenko.

So Everton did pretty well in that Merseyside derby getting their biggest winning margin in years. Andy Johnson continues to play well and got another two goals as well, he's doing pretty well I hope he shuts up the naysayers about his skill the ones constantly saying all his goals are penalties and he's not that good because I really think he is that good. I'd like to see him get a full game in the next England friendly whenever that is because he deserves a bigger chance in my opinion.

Speaking of Portsmouth they were actually top of the table before Manchester United finished their game. Giggs is another player on a good run of form getting the goal that the Red Devils needed to see off Tottenham who aren't having the greatest of starts to a season in which a lot of people had very high hopes for them in. Fulham did well in beating Newcastle but Bullard got injured! No! He was playing so well too.

Arsenal are on a really bad run of form I think, they drew today with Middlesboro who while a good side should still be beaten by a supposed title contender like Arsenal.

Should I be either worried or embarrassed as an England fan that a first year manager such as Gareth Southgate appears to be doing a better job than Steve McLaren could with Middlesboro in the league so far?
_________________

Cry woe, destruction, ruin, and decay -
The worst is death, and death will have his day.

[Zorrow]

I'm so relieved. Thanks for all that about West Ham. :*laugh*: I don't mean not wanting them to excel, of course if they can do that, all the better, but I don't think so. I think with the mess that's going on now, chaos will be erupting in Upton Park. Sure, before the two Argentinians landed in London, they could be well on track to a UEFA spot. And 9th in the promotion season is a great achievement. But West Ham has all along stayed more or less true to it's well, what's that, motto or nickname or slogan that they have under their crest. The Acadeemy of Football. Pride or prestige, or does that just enhances' West Ham being a feeder club?

One season. Many foreign players take more than one season to adapt to English football. And Argentinians haven't particularly adapted well to the English flow of the game, or so are those few Argentinians that I can recall from the top of my head, Seba Veron, Hernan Crespo. What if those two can't adapt well to England in the first season, but West Ham has no choice to play them whenever they are fit? I have no idea of what the contract is about, but it's probably very unreasonable, seeing clubs like Man Utd, Arsenal, and Portsmouth ignoring the temptation of two young, talented and full of potential footballers in such a low-cost deal? West Ham was on the track of more success, but mystery is bad. I don't think the club is strrong enough to handle rumours and attention from the media for long. Their players are young, blooming, but many hasn't seen the biggest stage yet. When they're playing with stars like the two, they'd probably feel stressed. Things like what happened in the middle of England's midfield would probably happen. They'd probably try to give in to the two, adapt to them, tune themselves to how the two work.

I do hope I'm wrong. I don't mind being wrong, and this time I sure hope I'm wrong. West Ham's start to the season hasn't been very nice, a 1-1-1 isn't very pleasant looking either. West Ham had many young, talented, and blooming strikers to choose from, of course, not forgetting the older Teddy. But come what may, they'd probably lose a couple in mid-season, and Tevez next season. Maybe Zamora and C.Cole are prepared warming the benches when Ashton returns. And to choose from Ashton-Harewood-Tevez? Boy, what a nice squad of young players Pardew has. He must be delighted, but I'm not so sure about the players. West Ham's curse of being a feeder club will probably come back to haunt them. If someone offers 20million for one of their star players, I don't see them rejecting. They simply do not have the financial ability to fend off people whose stadiums are twice as big as theirs, whose pockets are xx times deeper then theirs.

Considering how 'top' clubs fared, West Ham would be happy to be sitting on top of the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Boro. But they face Aston Villa today, and this will be where the real tests begin. Villa is strong. I fear their Martin O'Neill. I won't be watching the match though, my exams start the next day.

What's surprising about Arsenal being held to a draw by Boro? Weren't Middlesbrough the ones who spoilt Chelsea's search for a dream start? Well, Portsmouth... Okay, good, but not consistent. Perhaps Southgate will takeover as England Manager ten years down the road. Honestly speaking I was laughing when I read that he took over as Manager, just as I laughed when Keane took over Sunderland. Well, McClaren isn't faring that badly either. At least they weren't killed 4-0 by Andorra.
_________________

[Exile]

Skysports rolled out an interesting note on West Ham, they have the 19th largest turnover from any football club in the world, that's pretty damn good considering. I mean if you think about all the clubs around Europe who you might assume were better off than them. If they get bought out by this guy as well I guess they'll have a bit more financial backing too. It would be a struggle to compete though with the other high powered and financed teams like Tottenham and what Portsmouth are becoming, Newcastle (though they still aren't doing well despite the money), Middleboro and teams of that level.

West Ham do have interesting choices ahead of them in terms of strikers, the in form player is Zamora, so you have Ashton out at the moment, Zamora in form, Harewood with the track record from last season, the veteran Sheringham and the new guy with all the potential in the world in Tevez. Interesting indeed.

Anyway I think this is a great time to be a West Ham fan. I really wouldn't be fretting too much about their future, I honestly think they are a better team today than before the two transfers and I think they'll press for Europe.

[Zorrow]

Well, I'd bet Arsenal lose to a team worse off than Boro soon. Arsenal... With the sale of Ashley Cole, and the dedparture of Sol Campbell, Are there any English left? Oh well, who can forget Theo Walcott? But he has no caps to his name, even though he went in and ahead of Defoe and flew to Germany.

I'm not really surprised by West Ham large turnover. They sell their geniuses like they can produce a replacecment immediately(they did, well most of the time), and buy cheaper, younger, players with less-demanding contrtacts. But well 19th is rather up there. Besides, I can't recall any big-names that they sold recently...

And they drew with Villa, thanks to Zamora again.

Ruud got a hat-trick for Madrid. He's best paired with Beckham, I guess? Beckham looks in shape, assisting, assisting...Lennon is injured...wrong timing, I guess.

[Aurelien]

Arsenal now only have 2 Englishmen in their squad. Theo Walcott, and Justin Hoyte (both are young fine English boys I might add). And of course ... a third Englishman if you count Manuel Almunia's friggin fantasy dream to get English citizenship. He thinks that he could represent England if he got citizenship. I mean seriously ... how rubbish is he anyways? I think he's insulting English football by saying that he can make it to the national team. I'd be insulted if I were Chris Kirkland, heck even if I were to be David James I'd be insulted too.

West Ham is just the kind of club that you know can be good all the time. I was really sad back then when they were relegated a few seasons ago. But I remembered clearly that if they weren't going down, then it was going to be Bolton that went down. So I had to support the Trotters instead of the Hammers hehehe. And to my delight, both seemed to have done well since that season. West Ham really build a solid team that could perform and challenge any great clubs in England.

And I really enjoyed Juventus being held 1-1 against Rimini. Woooo .. there might be a chance that they got stuck in Serie B for another year. On a related note, Inter Milan defeated Fiorentina 3-2. Wooooo Cambiasso scored twice, he really is a solid player and Ibrahimovic scored the third. I'm happy that Inter now look much more solid than ever. I only wish that they could get a better, world-class, goalkeeper.
_________________



~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Exile]

Haha Manuel Almunia, I think he's on loan at a championship team at the moment? I'm not sure. I mean I know our goalkeeper Paul Robinson isn't a great one but he's pretty solid - you don't often see him making obvious screw ups he just comes on the occasional cross when he shouldn't that's the main problem with him I can recall but lots of goalkeepers get caught in indecision occasionally.

Cambiasso getting two goals is impressive, I thought of him as a defensive midfielder more than anything, I do remember he got the finish on the really good Argentinian goal in the world cup actually. Anyway I really think Inter Milan should have that division almost sewn up, if they can't win with their main rivals relegated and a suffering point deductions I'd be a bit concerned. They have a really good team when you think about it but they've always been overshadowed by Juve and AC Milan, this is their chance to shine, they just have to fight off Palermo, maybe Fiorentina and any comeback AC can mount.
_________________

Cry woe, destruction, ruin, and decay -
The worst is death, and death will have his day.

[Aurelien]

I think Manuel Almunia would have a better chance to play for a national side if he gets Qatar citizenship or something like that. And yeah, Paul Robinson just doesn't seem to be as good lately, he was good a few years ago, but it's kind of weird that he didn't seem to get any better over the years and instead seeming to be more and more inconsistent.

Cambiasso is indeed a defensive midfielder, but him being an Argentine, I think it's in his blood to go forward. Also keep in mind that now Inter have Vieira on the team. With such quality also in defensive midfielder role (add Dacourt too .. all played and surprisingly such "defensive" team scored 3 goals), I think Cambiasso can afford to go forward a bit more to support the forward players.

Inter indeed should win Serie A this season. The main rivals would be from AC Milan and AS Roma in my opinion. Palermo, Lazio, and Fiorentina should be somewhere there too depending on the last two's progression to cover up their penalty. AC Milan is only 8 points deducted, mind you, and they finished 12 points ahead of Inter last season. So it's not impossible that AC Milan could still beat Inter to the Scudetto. However, I think AC Milan lost a lot when they sold Schevcenko. And with the addition that Inter had this season (Vieira, Dacourt, Ibrahimovic, Crespo), it seems to me that Inter improved more than Milan. So hopefully Inter would not face too much trouble claiming the Scudetto this season.
_________________



~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Exile]

Shevchenko was obviously the best of the AC Milan bunch but Oliveira, Gilardino and Inzaghi are going to get a team goals. Manchester United lost who I'd call their most prolific striker of the past few years and they're looking very good still too.

I knew I was forgetting one of the teams I meant to include Pessie, Roma of course. They still have a good side but isn't Cassano off at Real Madrid now? That's surely a blow. In fact I think I'll go take a peak at their squad now so I'm a bit more informed about the whole situation. The Italian league isn't where my knowledge is strongest of course.
_________________

Cry woe, destruction, ruin, and decay -
The worst is death, and death will have his day.

[Zorrow]

I read that Chel's Jose Mourinho thinks that Inter has the best team in the world currently. Gee, they've surely taken advantage of their rivals' scandal. Cassano finally scored for Madrid recently. Roma still have Totti, who decided to rest a year away from internationals, if I remember correctly. And Montella should be still there. In between them, nothing is impossible, including dozens of goals, and well, injuries. Atalanta is sitting on top of serie A. I was surprised with their squad, Nicola Ventola? Isn't he some Man City reject years back? Or was it the other way round? Scoring two goals... and when did Vieri end up in Atalanta? Okay. Against a lowly club I guess. Other than the two, I don't recognise anyone else. Not really.

I wonder how still Man Utd can stay. 1-0 over spurs? What's next? Holding Liverpool, and losing to Chelsea? It's about time they get hiccups. Elsewhere in Spain Ruud scored a triplet.

Juventus will come back up alright. They just lacked a bit of match fitness, and were perhaps too confident going into a serie B match. But still, I can't believe Buffon conceded a goal to... a serie B club. They better come back soon, I don't like the idea of Buffon, Nedved and of course, Boumsong... staying too long in serie B. They just get loaded off for 5 million each, except for the latter, to teams like Inter, giving Inter the better, world-class goalkeeper than they need. AH!!!

Sigh. If West Ham hadn't relegated, they might not have lost the likes of Joe Cole, Carrick, Defoe...But on the brighter side, they cashed in Harewood, Ashton, and whoever else from the Championship, so well... it cancels out each other. I was really sad when they relegated, and when Leeds relegated a year or two after, boy! And the worse thing to accept was seeing West Ham climb all the way to the playoff finals, only to be defeated by Crystal Palace! Look where Crystal Palace is now! Grr.

Well, England's defence is rather solid after all. Paul Rob hasn't conceded any in the recent McClaren matches, which should be a better result than Calamity James. But if Kirkland hadn't had so many injuries in the past, he would probably be England's number 1 by now. He's actually pretty good.

The next matches are UCL, eh? Man Utd vs Celtic - I wonder which will Goldmember choose. Too bad Keane has decided to go to the Sunderland. It would be interesting to see him against Man Utd. It looks pretty tough for most other clubs too.
_________________

[Aurelien]

The difference between Man Utd and AC Milan is that Man Utd got rid of a player that the manager doesn't like while AC Milan pretty much lost their God of football. Man Utd did well so far, but again, their best player right now is a midfielder by the name of Giggsy. He carried Man Utd on his back now. Question is, how long can Giggsy keep that up?

AC Milan would definitely still get goals from Gilardino, Inzaghi, and Oliveira (hey, the last two scored on their 2-1 win against Lazio last weekend), but it remains to be seen on how they would perform later on throughout the season. 1 game is not really enough to judge their performance. To me, Shevchenko is just one that is hard to replace because of his tendency to score whenever Milan needed one against big clubs.

Roma has sent Cassano to Real Madrid since last season. So it's not that big of a deal to them. Cassano is known for being troublemaker at times anyways. So it might be even a good thing that Roma offload him to Madrid for some good money. They don't really strengthen their team other than buying Pizzaro off Inter. But that just means that they are as solid as they were before. Now with a more focused Totti and De Rossi too. Could be dangerous.

I don't think Inter has the best team in the world at the moment. I think Chelsea has it (if only they didn't buy Ballack or if they buy him but sell Lampard elsewhere) with Barcelona being a very close second.

Atalanta is on the top spot, but keep in mind that there is only just 1 single game in Serie A. So whoever occupies the top spot might not reflect the true strength yet. Don't be surprised. And yes, Ventola has been travelling a lot. He started as one of Inter's starlet back then. Couldn't really break through the first team, and then started his adventure to other clubs (loaned out a lot too) that I lost track where he was. I'm quite sure that he was at Crystal Palace for a short stint sometime in the past.

Vieri ended up in Atalanta is a very weird story. As we know, he was with AC Milan last season, then he got transferred to Sampdoria. He then decided to retire and therefore Sampdoria gave him his wish and both sides nullified the contract nicely. But a month or so later, he changed his mind and desperately trying to get back playing football saying that he misses it so much. He now joined Atalanta on pay-per-play basis with minimum wage (something like 1,500 per play?)

Juventus is not lacking a bit of match fitness. Serie B might've just started just like Serie A, but Juventus being from Serie B had started their Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) journey about a month ago. They went through to Second Round but then got themselves eliminated by Napoli in 3-4 penalty shoot-out. They would've won the shoot-out had they not put Buffon as their first penalty taker (which of course he missed) since that allowed the shoot out went to sixth taker.

And of course, as an official Juventus-hater, I hope they rot in Serie B or even relegated to Serie C1. >=D

Somehow, I don't think those ex-West Ham players would've been as good as they are nowadays had they stayed at West Ham and they weren't relegated. Part of improving oneself is playing for better team with better managers/coaches. But then again, I could be wrong.
_________________



~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Zorrow]

Of course the West Ham players wouldn't be as good as they are now if they had stayed at West Ham. But West Ham would be much stronger, and to me, club is ahead of player.

I probably like all of the top Italian clubs. I don't mind whoever winning and whoever not winning, and I always root for Italy in the UCL. Touchwood there about Juve not promoting. It's better them than some...Rimini who might get kicked down again immediately. I didn't know they started their season already. I'm so out of touch with Serie B football. Looking at your one post probably told me more than all the things I've known about Serie B.

Oh, so Ventola is Italian too. I thought he was English. Vieri was my all-time favourite star for a while back then. Nice name, nice style, nice temper. Ha. That's a weird story. But well, age is catching up with him too.

Giggs can share some of that burden with the returning Paul Scholes and Rooney. Perhaps not Rooney, but certainly Scholes. He looked sharp for the few games that he managed to catch before being slammed with a suspension. But well, it'd be weird to see Man Utd out too early again. Arsenal always had a good European form, I don't think the league will affect them in it. I still wish Liverpool won't go too far, after they've gotten too far and beat Milan in the finals, all in 7 minutes when I was not looking at the TV. As long as Chelsea don't win it, though. Please, not them. I don't mind any of the Italian clubs if they're up to it, and I don't mind Barca getting back-to-back trophies. They've a strong club, and compared to Chelsea, a good club. I won't be catching this round of matches though. Sigh. Why can't they have matches like, in the morning so that I can catch it in the afternoon? Brrr. Okay, that's way off. But being an Eastern fan... Ah well.
_________________

[Goldy]

[Fundertaker]

[Goldy]

So we have another full round of Premiership matches this weekend:

Charlton - Portsmouth - Away Win - Portsmouth are in fine form at the moment and have no conceded a goal, they might let one past them here but they should win.
Blackburn - Man City - Home Win - City are a bit hit and miss this season so far.
Bolton - Middlesbro - Home Win - Boro are also inconsistant
Chelsea - Liverpool - Score Draw - Chelsea are not yet in full flow and Liverpool are their bogey team.
Everton - Wigan - Home Win - Andy Johnston to add to hit tally.
Man Utd - Arsenal - Home Win - Utd should win 1-0, 2-1 against a shot shy Arsenal.
Sheff Utd - Reading - Away Win - Reading to chalk up another win.
Tottenham - Fulham - Home Win - Time to start showing their worth!
West Ham - Newcastle - Away Win - Or will the Argentinians prove me wrong?
Watford - Aston Villa - Away Win - Martain O'Neil is doing really well so far.