Aug 31 2008
Chelsea - the version that raced to a dominant Premiership start - failed to show up for their home affair with Tottenham on Sunday. In their stead for their London derby they sent their understudy which, unfortunately, was a complacent side unwilling to push a outgunned Spurs team. The result was quiet day for the keepers and a 1-1 draw featuring two inglorious goals.
Aug 29 2008
Michael Ballack hurt his foot against Portsmouth on August 14 and had to leave the match. He played last week, though it seems he probably should not have, as Chelsea has sufficient depth to prevent aggrevating injuries, Now Ballack will be out for two weeks, missing Sunday’s match against Tottenham as well as Germany’s two World Cup qualifiers.
It is an injury which, like Steven Gerrard’s, seems convenient. Continue Reading »
Aug 29 2008
I got too busy yesterday to publish my thoughts on Shaun Wright-Phillips moving to Manchester City, though I just updated American Soccer Reader with the story.
The move came about pretty quickly. Not so much the Wright-Phillips moved from Chelsea-part. That seemed to be a given all summer, and it was somewhat surprising when, over the last two weeks, it seemed Wright-Phillips would not be moving. If anything, he looked to play less under Scolari than he had last season. But this week rumors regarding Everton and Manchester City surfaced, and while they were initially denied by Wright-Phillips, the winger moved on Thursday.
Aug 28 2008
One of the more exciting days of the European club football season is the day the Champions League group stage is drawn.
The 32 teams that have qualified for the group stage are drawn into eight, four-team groups. Before that happens, all teams are broken into four pots, labeled A through D, where they are grouped according to a team’s strength (as determined by a formula called a coefficient). Each of the eight groups can have no more than one team from each pot, no more than one team from a country. The eight groups end up pretty even.
The draw is fun because you end up with a series of matches which, in addition to being high profile based on the quality of the teams involved, are rare. In the days before the draw, you start considering the possibilities and potential story lines: Chelsea and Fiorentina in a group, forcing Adrian Mutu to play the club he owes £14 million; Marseille being slotted with Arsenal months after having sold them Samir Nasri, and potentially getting Bayern Munich in the group, so they would have to face Franck Ribery; Barcelona being slotted with a Zenit St. Petersburg team whose star, Andrei Arshavin, so badly wanted to play at Camp Nou; FC Porto being grouped with Inter Milan and facing Jose Mourinho.
Here’s how the eight groups ended up being drawn, with the clubs listed in order of the group they were drawn from: A to D. Continue Reading »
Aug 24 2008
The determining moment of Chelsea’s 1-0 win at the JJB may have come before kickoff. Wigan goaltender Chris Kirkland, having missed England’s Wednesday international with back trouble, was ruled out of Sunday’s match a reoccurred in warm-ups. His absence may have proved costly for a home team whose 1-0 loss fell on the end of an early, possibly savable, direct kick.
Aug 23 2008
The liberation of Andriy Shevchenko is complete, with the player making a permanent move to AC Milan today. Whereas the move to the San Siro was thought to be a loan, it was confirmed that the Rossoneri have fully acquired the Ukrainian striker’s rights.
Aug 23 2008
One of the trickle-down effects of Robinho’s potential move to Chelsea will be the renewed availability of Shawn Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips was thought to be gone from Stamford Bridge this summer as Luiz Felipe Scolari thinned out the bloated squad he’d inherited. Ultimately, Scolari decided to keep Wright-Phillips as an understudy to Joe Cole. But when Robinho comes aboard Wright-Phillips will lose a rung on the depth chart, becoming an extraneous third option at right wing. So as Chelsea continue negotiating with Real Madrid for their Brazilian target, Peter Kenyon is sure to have a subordinate calling around the Premiership looking for a new home for Wright-Phillips.
Aug 23 2008
A series of interesting notes from Saturday’s papers, but nothing to dissuade me from the notion that Robinho will be in London early this week and will be confirmed a Blue shortly there after. There are, however, plenty of reports that would undermine that conclusion.
Aug 22 2008
In the last day Robinho has gone public with his wish to move away from Real Madrid, explicitly citing Chelsea as his desired destination. Real Madrid, on the club’s web site, announced their intention to honor the request, taking a swipe at Manchester United in by saying they would never hold a player against his wishes. And though it would seem the story has little to do with Cristiano Ronaldo, the loss of Robinho will undoubtedly have an effect on Madrid’s continued desire to lure the Portuguese star. But first, Robinho.
Aug 22 2008
If you read my EPL preview over at American Soccer Reader, you know I think highly of Middlesbrough’s chances this season. I picked them to finish ninth, and the simulation I wrote saw them as having a outside but meaningful chance at finishing in the top seven. But given a chance to pick Boro when they hosted a team of similar standing (by the prediction) to open the season, I picked the visitor.
That’s because that visitor was Tottenham. Continue Reading »