World Football Postulant

Owen Hargreaves had been expected to return to Manchester United’s lineup today against Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Super Cup.  Although Alex Ferguson was going to use the exhibition as an opportunity to get the England international some playing time, the midfielder has been ruled out of today’s match after his knee was deemed not ready for the match.  Having already ruled himself out of England’s internationals next week, Hargreaves will have two more weeks to get fit for Manchester United’s trip to Anfield on August 13.

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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 »

After Liverpool’s defeat of Standard Liège, it was announced that Steven Gerrard would undergo surgery Thursday morning to correct a groin problem that has bothered him for the last month. The Reds’ captain decided to play through the pain this weekend against Middlesbrough as well as tonight, though against the Belgian champions he was a none factor and Rafa Benitez probably would have been better served with somebody else in the lineup. That Liverpool does not have somebody to fill that spot may have contributed to the decision to play Gerrard, and thanks to the upcoming break in the club schedule for World Cup qualifiers, Liverpool should only have to go one match without Stevie G.

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Liverpool may be one of the eight teams in the top pool for tomorrow’s Champions League group stage draw, but they were the closest of the thirty-two teams to being out of the tournament after the final round of qualifying finished today.

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Manchester City center back Micah Richards had to be stretched off the pitch on Sunday after knocking heads with partner Tal Ben Haim. What looked like a painful but unremarkable clash of heads became serious when Richards fell to the field and lost consciousness within seconds of the collision. The England international spent the night in the hospital.

Thankfully, it looks like Richards will be able to play Manchester City’s UEFA Cup tie against FC Midtjylland on Thursday. Continue Reading »

With the prerequisite Round 1 surprises, the Bundesliga started last weekend. Those few surprises help keep my pick results modest. Still a decent start (not as bad as Ligue 1), with most of the losses coming in matches that featured two teams I did not get to see in the preseason. Continue Reading »

Everton attacking midfielder Tim Cahill was in the news today, saying that, although he targeted the start of the Premiership to return from an injury which prematurely ended last year’s campaign, he is not going to rush back from his injury.  The Australian who had foot surgery in last spring is waiting to be at full health in anticipation of playing for club and national team.

He gives no specific timelines, but in referencing his national team (which will start World Cup qualifying next month) you can assume he will be back before the end of September.  It also sounds like he could be back at any point between now and then, though he still need to build his fitness.  It seems the best estimate might be two weeks after Cahill feels fully recovered.

Please don’t take that last sentence as an attempt to sound flip.  Cahill feeling confident in his foot is as important part of his recovery as the surgery itself.  Though Everton’s run at fourth place last season tailed off at the same time Cahill got injured, David Moyes should not be pushing for a premature return.  Thankfully, it appears as though he’s not.

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This is truly kicking somebody when they’re down, but today’s events need to be looked at from Manchester City’s perspective.

First, Djibril Cisse slips through their fingers after Sunderland swoops in and Marseille decides to deal him as soon as possible.  I get the feeling that Sunderland was willing to just take him, as soon as possible, and was more persistent after this weekend when Cisse’s benching made it clear has was about to go.  I can’t help but feel Manchester City’s organizational turmoil prevented them from making a quick decision on bringing in Cisse and his salary.

Second, Mikael Silvestre.  This one is much more mundane, which is why it may hurt even more.  City was about to get Silvestre from Manchester United, who have been trying to find a home for him all summer.  Right as they are ready to bring him in, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger decide they need more depth.  Silvestre was so close to making this deal that he has to call City and apologize for going to Arsenal.

So you have these two issues, another striker injury this weekend, the UEFA cup and open day loses, Tkashin Shinawatra not returning to Thailand, and that soft hum of Ronaldinho using them still audible in the background.

Mark Hughes is staying, Jô will be back soon, but yeesh:  What a difference a year makes.

Schalke 04 exhibited a new, powerful approach during their 3-0 victory over Hannover on Saturday.

Bundesliga Standings Rank Club GP PTS DIFF 1 Hoffenheim 1 3 3 2 Schalke 1 3 3 3 Stuttgart 1 3 2 4 Hertha Berlin 1 3 2 5 Borussia Dortmund 1 3 1 6 Wolfsburg 1 3 1 7 Karlsruhe 1 3 1 8 Arminia Bielefeld 1 1 0 9 Bayern Munich 1 1 0 10 Hamburger SV 1 1 0 11 Werder Bremen 1 1 0 12 Bayer Leverkusen 1 0 -1 13 1. FC Koln 1 0 -1 14 VfL Bochum 1 0 -1 15 Borussia M’gladbach 1 0 -2 16 Frankfurt 1 0 -2 17 Energie Cottbus 1 0 -3 18 Hannover 1 0 -3 Results August 15, 2008 Bayern Munich 2 2 Hamburg SV August 16, 2008 Bayer Leverkusen 2 3 Borussia Dortmund Arminia Bielefeld 2 2 Werder Bremen Karlsruhe 1 0 VfL Bochum Schalke 3 0 Hannover Energie Cottbus 0 3 Hoffenheim Wolfsburg 2 1 Koln August 17, 2008 Borussia M’gladbach 1 3 Stuttgart Frankfurt 0 2 Hertha Berlin Next Week Home Away August 22, 2008 Hannover Energie Cottbus August 23, 2008 Hoffenheim Borussia M’gladbach Stuttgart Bayer Leverkusen Hamburger SV Karlsruhe Borussia Dortmund Bayern Munich Werder Bremen Schalke 04 Hertha Berlin Arminia Bielefeld August 24, 2008 1. FC Koln Frankfurt VfL Bochum Wolfsburg

When you stack their lineups against each other, Bayern Munich’s seems better, but it is surprising how much talent Schalke has. Announcing it to Europe in their Champions League challenge to Barcelona last season, Schalke is on the verge of transcending the perception of plucky, over-achieving club to league title contender. In round one of the Bundesliga campaign, they were the league’s best team.

Their 3-0 victory over Hannover did not do them justice.  Playing without high-profile summer acquisitions Jefferson Farfán (winger/forward from PSV Eindhoven) and Orlando Engelaar (holding midfielder from FC Twente) - both of whom were hurt in the middle of the week during the club’s impressive Champions League victory over Atlético Madrid - Schalke still exhibited the firepower that should make Bayern, who could have trouble with Farfán and Kevin Kurayni working together, scared.

Bayern limped to a tie against visiting Hamburg without Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Martin Demichelis.  In round two, they play at a Borussia Dortmund team that confidently put three goals on Bayer Leverkusen in opening their season with a win.  If Bayern does not get healthy for their second match, they could find themselves four or five points behind a rolling Schalke 04 team that plays at a Diego-less Werder Bremen.

Four or five points may not sound like much, but in a Bundesliga that looks a little top heavy, the elite teams may face fewer teams capable of stealing points.  With four fewer matches in the Bundesliga season (compared to the big three leagues), a four or five point gifted Schalke now could be the type of thing Jurgen Klinsmann rues at season’s send.  And if there’s any club that knows about elite teams piling up points in the Bundesliga, it’s Bayern.

Werder Bremen was a near-elite last season (there was only one true elite last season), but without Diego they are a completely different team.  There may be no single player more important to his club than Diego, who is in Beijing for the Olympics.  Seeing them struggle to tie Arminia Beilefeld this weekend, Bremen’s desire to keep the Brazilian playmaker out of the Olympics suddenly made sense.  They weren’t involved in Champions League qualifying like Schalke or Barcelona, but even one match without Diego is a huge loss for this club, whose whole style of play is predicated on the young star’s ability to distribute.

Markus Rosenburg’s two surgical strikes helped Bremen get a point from a Bielefeld side that used the visitor’s wide-open style of play to their advantage.  Bremen is unlikely to alter their style for their match against Schalke, so expect Ivan Ratikic and company to have a big day.

In addition to Round 2’s Dortmund-Bayern, Bremen-Schalke headliners, Stuttgart hosts Leverkusen in another potentially defining match.  Stuttgart efficiently dealt with a Moenchengladbach team that, while having chances, lacked the firepower to play with Thomas Hitzlsperger and Mario Gomez.  Now Stuttgart hosts Bayer with a chance for a six point start.  If they get their win, Bayer will have gone without a point in their first two matches, an early hole for a team that has European aspirations.

There was bad news on the injury front from Round 1’s action.  Dortmund’s Dede, who gave Leverkusen so much trouble on Saturday, suffered a major knee injury and should be lost until spring.  And although Schalke has looked the league’s best team, their depth will take a major hit of midfielder Jermaine Jones, who missed almost all of last season with injuries, is out for more than just Wednesday’s Germany friendly.  Jones is doubtful for Joachim Low’s team.   The German-American midfielder is proving to be a vital cog in Schalke’s attack, running off of Kurayni and onto Farfán’s crosses, but any injury scare is twice as frightening for Jones, given his recent injury history.

World Football Postulant Bundesliga Rankings

As their result was injury related, there’s only so much I’m willing to drop Bayern, though they have looked poor all preseason. Likewise, I can only drop Werder so far, seeing as Diego is in Beijing.

With so many clubs who should finish in the top half of the table playing each other this weekend, a lot of teams have three points without being very high in my first rankings set. Those clubs have thirty-three more rounds to show me their value.

And just as was the case with the Ligue 1 rankings, this early in the season, the whole endeavor becomes worthless pretty quickly. We just need to have fun with it.

1. Schalke 04
2. Bayern Munich
3. Hamburger SV
4. Borussia Dortmund
5. Werder Bremen
6. Bayer Leverkusen
7. Stuttgart
8. Hertha Berlin
9. Arminia Bielefeld
10. Hoffenheim
11. Hannover
12. Karlsruhe
13. VfL Wolfsburg
14. Borussia M’gladbach
15. VfL Bochum
16. Koln
17. Frankfurt
18. Energie Cottbus

As if his week hasn’t been bad enough.

Adrian Mutu suffered a dislocated left elbow while training for Romania’s Wednesday friendly against Latvia.  His arm has had to be immobilized and he will miss two weeks.

That means Fiorentina will be without their talisman for their return fixture of Champions League third round qualifying against Slavia Prague on August 27 in the Czech Republic.  Four days later, Mutu will also miss Viola’s Serie A opener when Fiorentina hosts Juventus.

With a 2-0 advantage over Slavia Prague going into the tie’s second leg, Fiorentina is in good position to advance to the group stage without him.  Viola was very impressive in the first leg and should be able to control play in midfield.  Off to a mildly slow start Grambinus Liga (3 matches, 4 points, 0 goal differential), Slavia Prague may not be as strong a side as last season’s team that won the league and qualified for Champions League group stage.

What looked like a tough draw for the Italian club was little trouble in the first leg.  Though Mutu scored the club’s opening goal, Fiorentina should be able to advance without him, though it would make their backers feel a lot better if Alberto Gilardino could pocket and early goal.  With Sparta having failed to get any away goals, one Viola score would force the Czech champions to put up four goals to advance.

Should the home team pull off a 2-0 win or a two goal differential, Fiorentina may do to the head of the club-versus-country debate.  Let’s entertain the implications of a loss for a second.  It means Fiorentina will not go on to the Champions League group stage.  They will lose three highly lucrative home matches and potential prize money.  Should they get to that point, they would have a non-trivial chance of advancing to the knock-out stage, at which point they would get at least one more home match, against a big club, and more prize money.  While Slavia Prague may be down this season, a four game sample (three in league, one versus Fiorentina) is small enough to question whether they necessarily can’t win this tie.

That’s the nightmare scenario for Fiorentina.

After their Champions League qualifier is over, Fiorentina face a tough opening match to the Serie A season when Juventus visits Artemio Franchi.  All matches amongst Italy’s top five teams will be critical this season.  Fiorentina will have to face their first without their best player.

Juventus won the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Artmedia 4-0.  That result fell within an impressive preseason that reflects Juve’s desire to reclaim the Scudetto.  With the match between the two teams coming at the end of Mutu’s two week diagnosed recovery period, Fiorentina fans should hope for a quick recovery and the presence of their star in the August 31 lineup.

Links
Romania striker Mutu suffers dislocated elbow
Mutu suffers elbow injury
Romania striker Mutu suffers dislocated elbow
Injured Mutu needs two weeks to recover