Premiership Wrap

The weekend's games showed each of the top four winning their respective matches. Chelsea again lost ground and in the end were lucky not to lose all the points to an inspired Fulham.

Man City v. Newcastle (3-1): City came from behind to beat Newcastle, and Elano capped off the victory with a stunning free kick, which the excellent Shay Given had absolutely no chance at saving.

Sunderland v. Blackburn (1-2): Roy's Keane's men looked sloppy and in the end it was a comfortable win for Blackburn.

Chelsea v. Fulham (0-0): Fulham squandered two glorious chances to pick up all three points at the death, but still earned a valuable point at the Bridge. The match also saw Drogba sent off for two yellows and John Terry pick up cheek bone fracture that could sideline him for as many as six weeks.

West Ham v. Arsenal (0-1): Van Persie headed home the crucial winner as Arsenal prevailed by their usual score line.

Derby v. Bolton (1-1): A battle of the bottom-feeders saw Derby keeper Stephen Bywater make a crucial double save to preserve a precious point for struggling Derby.

Wigan v. Liverpool (0-1): Liverpool dominated proceedings, however, it took a late goal by Benayoun to secure all of the points.

Portsmouth v. Reading (7-4): An incredibly wild game, with seemingly no defense, mistakes and smooth moves led to goal after goal... for both sides. Pompey looked strong and Benjani was rampant ending his scoring draught with a hat-trick.

Birmingham v. Man Utd (0-1): A very lucky Man Utd took away all three points after Ronaldo capitalized on a defensive error to score the game's only goal. Van der Sar and Kuszczak (Van der Sar left with an ankle injury at the half) both needed to be sharp, and they were. Steve Bruce will be cursing his bad luck as his team was flying for large portions of the game, but came away empty-handed. Another 1-0 victory leaves United with only seven goals in eight games... not what you'd expect from the champions.

Everton v. Middlesbrough (2-0) : A fairly even overall match, but it was the Toffees that took their chances and a brilliant Arteta led Everton to their first victory at Goodison since the opening day of the season.

The Final: Brazil v. Germany

This was a sad game for me, even sadder than the semi-final where the US lost. And as a die-hard American fan, that's saying something. Brazil, despite their abundant talent, just couldn't put it together today. They dominated for long stretches and looked dangerous, but just never found that killer touch in front of goal. Germany, on the other hand, played the boring game that their men's side is known for, but put away their chances and killed off the game with time wasting and some good old-fashioned luck.

Prinz's finish wasn't brilliant, but it was enough. The frightening Angerer was excellent in goal for the Germans, saving a poorly taken penalty from Marta and making an amazing save on a free kick moments later. The Germans stayed organized and, in typical form, were deadly when given a glimpse in front of goal.

I'm left to rue what might have become of the game had Marta managed a decent penalty. I suppose this will give the Brazilians something to ponder until Beijing 2008. I think I found this final most disappointing because it means Brazil may very well remain in the dark-ages, with non-existent team funding. For me the Brazilians were by far the most exciting team to watch in the tournament, and one can only imagine how strong the Brazilians could become given the proper nourishment.

A side note about the third place game: The Americans dominated the sorry Norwegians (who apparently agree with me that the third place game is a waste of time, so they didn't bother to show up...). And good old Scurry actually looked pretty sharp. What a difference a little recent game experience makes.

Solo v. Ryan: The Aftermath

So I figured this was an important issue on which I should at the very least make a short entry. So it will be just that: short.

Solo-She was right, but she should have kept her mouth shut. I wouldn't be surprised if Barnhart (the third keeper) plays in the final match. She came off reeking of immaturity and further damaging poor Scurry who'd been put in such a difficult position already.

Ryan-He was wrong, but he wouldn't stand up and admit it. His player selection throughout the tournament has been bizarre and quite frankly, downright poor.

And the winner of the big slug fest...

No one, least of all the US Women's Soccer team. Solo will ride the pine for awhile until she proves she's sufficiently penitent, and with any luck someone else will be steering the American ship towards the Olympics, as serious revamping and preparation are necessary.

WWC Semi-Final: USA v. Brazil

Well, well. Couldn't you just see this coming, on some level anyway? Those prone to "I told you so"s will be wallowing in their ability to predict the future. However, I think this result was inevitable. The luck the US would have needed to even compete with Brazil just wasn't there today.

To address a few important issues:
First-The goalkeeping. What can I say? I told you so. I guess that's an apt comment. Why on earth Ryan thought this gamble (sabotage move) would pay off I don't know. I mean, of all positions, the goalkeeper holds the defense together as one smooth operating unit. When you compare a team like the US with Brazil, the strength of the US lies in their organization. By swapping goalkeepers at the last minute, Ryan completely dismantled the US's best hope of victory, or even of competing. Secondly, the change also had to have disrupted the players' focus on preparing for the game. Enough about the controversy, what's done is done, now if US Soccer had a little more backbone, Ryan would be gone before the Olympics.

Second-What was up with man-marking Marta after the US was down 3-0? Ellertson is quick and can hardly be faulted for her inability to stick with that sick no look back heel self-pass that led to the fourth goal... but if the plan was to neutralize Marta, starting at the beginning of the game would have been the thing to do.

Third-If you're down by a few goals and need some offense, sub in offensive players. Isn't this simple? What was with the damage-control substitutions in the second half? It didn't work anyway...

Fourth-The Boxx red card. Worst call ever.

That's enough re-hash for a game that was never competitive.

Predictions:

Final: Brazil 3, Germany 2
Consolation: US 2, Norway 1

Welcome to the scoop, I hope you enjoy reading my articles. Please feel free to comment on my content, or anything you think I should discuss in my blog. The general idea of this blog is to be a weekly update, of course when huge events are happening, new entries may be added more than once a week. Happy reading!

Carling Cup Round Up

Carling Cup... who cares, right? With some of the bigger clubs sporting impressive line-ups this week in the third round, it's clear that someone does. And it's still a piece of hardware in England, and sometimes all a team gets for the season. So here's a look at the action from the mid-week:

Tuesday:

Arsenal v. Newcastle (2-0) - The young gunners came through for Arsenal, and even the league leaders' reserves are looking sharp.

Man City v. Norwich (1-0) - Man City take it at the death.

Blackpool v. Southend (1-0)

Reading v. Liverpool (2-4) - A stacked Liverpool line-up get the job done.

Burnley v. Portsmouth (0-1)

Luton v. Charlton (3-1)

Sheffield United v. Morecambe (5-0)

West Brom v. Cardiff (2-4)

Wednesday:

Aston Villa v. Leister (0-1)

Hull v. Chelsea (0-4) - Is anyone surprised by this result? Mourinho or not, this task could have been handled by the Chelsea youth squad, and to some degree it was, although the Chelsea line-up backed a firmer punch of stalwarts than some of the other big clubs' line-ups...

Sheffield Wednesday v. Everton (0-3)

West Ham v. Plymouth (1-0) - Sad, that the hammers needed 7+ million pound man Dean Ashton to put away Plymouth...

Blackburn v. Birmingham (3-0) - One of the few interesting third round matches in the draw. Although with Blackburn clicking on all cylinders, Birmingham looked like a team destined for the Championship, again.

Man United v. Coventry (0-2) - Shameful performance by a squad of United youngsters, not likely to earn call-ups any time soon, and another sorry exit for the Premiership Champions. Credit to Coventry for coming to Old Trafford and taking the game to the hosts.

Tottenham v. Middlesbrough (2-0) - Was this the boost Jol needed to stick around? Unlikely, he'll be gone before the team plays their fourth round match.

Fulham v. Bolton (1-2) - An extra time goal from Giannakopoulis decided the match. The battle between the two premiership sides produced a thrilling affair, with bottom-feeders Bolton producing the win.

WWC Semi-Final: Germany v. Norway

What a game today, what a first half anyway. The Norwegians came out of the gates inspired today, playing the best soccer I've seen out of their team in ages (well, since 2000 anyway). Unfortunately their quality in front of goal is still what it has been of late, weak. Nevertheless the team created chances, had countless corners (some taken better than others, as the previously excellent Stensland proved erratic today) and should have gone ahead in the first half.

Instead what happened is why soccer can be such a fickle sport, one bad break and it was the momentum shift the mighty Germans needed to crush the Norwegians beyond recognition. There wasn't much Nordby could do about any of the three goals. Bente Nordby that is, as Siri Nordby handed the Germans the third goal, as if the wounds weren't bleeding enough by that stage. So now the Germans are looking to repeat. The result is not a surprise, however, the nature of the game, particularly the first half should give their next opponent some cause for optimism.