Podcast: Champions league recap, Preview of the Classico and more
Luis and Craig recap Champions league matches and get ready for the Classico Madrid and Barca! Plus much more.
Archive for April, 2009
Heartbreak LA for Colorado
For a game that started out very sloppy for both teams sure ended with some craziness.
The Rapids seemed to have all three points in the bag but then gave LA “a gift” of a goal in what has to be 2 points dropped instead of 1 pt earned.
The Colorado Rapids dominated the match after LA showed no ambition from the beginning and showed there youthful side with Colin Clark’s superb bending strike in the 60th minute and then again on the other side in defensive mistakes in giving LA a chance with Landon Donovan’s 82nd strike. “Our biggest problem is our mistakes” said Colorado Rapids manager Gary Evans.
“Our strikers have good pace but lack overall experience and composure, we can’t kill teams off” stated Evans.
Also the craziness came in with a horrible challenge on Omar Cummings just outside the box made the ref give a straight Red card to Todd Dunivant and somehow was over ruled by the linesmen and then wasn’t even awarded a free kick. “The first mistake for the ref was not consulting his linesmen right away. Then the players advised the ref to seek a second opinion when it wasn’t asked for and then a Red was rescinded which were firsts that I have seen and the league must address”
There were good things to come from this match as the Rapids dominated play and Colin Clarke is showing class but they will need it as they battle Real Salt Lake next week who just thumped New England 6-0. “6 Goals or 1 Goal still equal 3 points so I’m not concerned we just have to show up and play”
Podcast: Quick show lots to cover
Luis and Craig do a quick show and ramble on a bit about La Liga, Pepe, English Soccer and even some Colorado Rapids.
Disrespecting the FA Cup or a necessary evil
Sir Alex has made it no secret that his main conquests for the season are the Premier League title and the Champions League. He made that very clear when he turned in his lineup sheet and at the same time disrespected the oldest competition in the world the FA Cup.
Gone is the chance to become the only team ever to earn a “Quintuple”. Granted the Manchester United reserve team is quite capable of earning a UEFA spot on there own.
Let’s take a look at the FA Cup Semi Final roster compared to the Champions League match vs Porto, a tournament Sir Alex is desperate to win again.
|
4/19 FA Cup v Everton |
4/16 CL v Porto |
|
|
Ben Foster |
Van Der Sar |
Downgrade |
|
Rafael |
O’Shea |
Upgrade |
|
Ferdinand |
Ferdinand |
Same |
|
Vidic |
Vidic |
Same |
|
Fabio |
Evra |
Downgrade |
|
Gibson |
Carrick |
Downgrade |
|
Anderson |
Anderson |
Same |
|
Park |
Ronaldo |
Downgrade |
|
Welbeck |
Giggs |
Downgrade |
|
Tevez |
Berbatov |
Downgrade |
|
Macheda |
Rooney |
Downgrade |
Clearly many people will not agree with my assessment of the differences in players but the only ones that I could see swapping are the Tevez/Berby pair and the Welbeck/Giggs pair. Sure Welbeck has the wheels that Ryan no longer has but you have to imagine Giggsy would have found a way to get it done and had that been Giggs going down in the box a penalty would surely have been called.
When Manchester United lines up vs Portsmouth on Wednesday I’m sure you will see Rooney, Berbatov, Carrick, Ronaldo, Edwin etc back in the lineup and if the result is a 3 points and that leads to the Premier League title than it will be worth it in the end and sure it’s nice to have such great youngsters that can lead a team in the future but it’s hard to imagine what could have been.
Tan Man vs the Ball Cap
Who can forget Hull City or who can forget the love we all had for Hull City. The mighty brave team who didn’t know any better but to attack attack and then attack some more. Started off the year super strong with 3pts against Fulham. Ok New team with a lot to prove I get it. Then wins over Newcastle, Tott’ham, West Ham, West Brom and Arsenal to go a long with results vs Everton and Blackburn had everyone screaming about Hull “Hull for Champions league” was the battle cry.
Now let’s look at lowly city in Stoke. Pretty much started the way a newly promoted team should start out except for a surprise win vs Villa. Sure we knew about Delap’s long super throws and the obnoxious fans they have but there football was well…. boring to say the least.
I think it all started to go wrong for Hull after the 3 pts vs West Brom and they started to read there own paper clippings. Sure they battled hard against Manchester United and attacked like kids who don;t know any better but then the trashing vs Chelsea after wards started to get them thinking. Who can forget the act Phil Brown did against Man city when in the freezing cold he kept all his players on the pitch like a rec team and scolded them and embarrassed them.
Things started to go right for Stoke after the hype about the one dimensional throw ins started to die down. Sure they still had that but a player arrived named James Beattie in January for a measly £3.5million. 11 games 6 goals and 2 assists later Stoke City now sit with what I believe to be the magic safe # of 39 points.
Yes the “Tan Man” vs the Coach who always wears a ball cap to the pitch. How the tides of turned. Yes it is possible Hull will still survive the season, but Newcastle and Boro are hot on there heels and this is just another reason to call the Premiere League a race and not a sprint.
