Back on the Pitch, Part Trois!

I was back on the pitch again after two weeks away. I had to miss the week before due to a knock to the back of my leg in the previous game. It felt great AND...our team won. This is almost as rare an occasion as the BoSox winning the World Series, so it feels good.

My kids have some great one-liners. For instance, when the little one - the one I call ELP, or Evil LIttle Princess - was mad at me, she turned to me and spat out, "mom only married you because she felt sorry for you." That is probably the best putdown I've received in 42 years of putdowns - and it was delivered by a 12-year-old.

Anyhow, I've been a bit injury prone this year. So injury prone, in fact, that the team has a pool on how many games I'll go until an injury hits. The over/under is two games. So I walk in to the house. Not limping. With a smile on my face because we won. The ELP looks at me and without hesitation says, "hey, you finished a game. Nice job!" Thanks, kid!

After a week of waiting I finally got a chance to see the new Gunners on a televised match, the away game against Manchester City. Yes, the same Aston Villa that had not yet beaten Arsenal in 15 years of trying in the top flight. I even wore my new away strip. Of course, they lost. Now I have to burn the new jersey in an ancient cleansing ceremony (I'm kidding, of course).

It's early yet and the Gunners have a game in hand on most teams, but this is already the worst start to an EPL season for the lads from North London. 1 point. 1 measly point in 2 games against Man City and Aston Villa. Wait until Chelsea and Man U. come knocking, eh?! Nicke Webster offers his thoughts on the Gunners.

Henry, in his first game back, looked, well rusty. Rusty as hell. The defense looks shaky and needs much playing time together. Justin Hoyte, in for the Princess (who apparently has joined the Jehovah's Witnesses or some such), committed the foul that gave Man City the shot from the dot and the goal. The team as a whole passed about as prettily as you would ever hope to see, but they were all build-up and no finish. It was like watching a bunch of 12-year-old girls run around in Arsenal Unis. You shoot. No, you shoot. Sigh....

And, contrary to what I wrote this weekend, JAR is is still a Gunner, but is not on the pitch and is now saying that he's done with Arsenal. Git.

Meanwhile, Man U. continues to slay all comers and Chelsea has righted the ship. If the Gunners don't find their touch soon, it's going to be a looong season...

...and Old Firm idiocy continues.

JAR will go far...I hope

All summer long we've had to listen to the sounds of JAR (aka Jose Antonio Reyes) singing about his love for Real Madrid and how he was ready to leave grimy England where the football is played by ruffians for sunny Spain, a land where soccer is still a gentleman's game played by handsome young men who never get grass stains on their shorts (unless of course, they're demonstrating the athletic feat of the pitch dive). Real Madrid, JAR's agent told us, wanted JAR. For his part, the fragile little forward called Real Madrid his "dream club." They were Kid Rock to his Pamela Anderson. Their love for each other could not be denied.

How fleeting is summer love. It now looks like JAR is on his way home, but not to Real Madrid. Instead, he'll be practicing his frail style of football for RM's city rivals, Athletico Madrid. While there's a certain poetic justice in the Wantaway Kid being sent to Los Galacticos' rival, a much lesser light in the football galaxy, I will just be glad to be rid of the whiny git. Farewell and godspeed JAR.

Also to the good, Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 in a Champions League qualifier at Emirates last night...and Chelsea, the mighty Chelsea, lost to a shop vac of a side, Middlesbrough 2-1.

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for EPL matches...unless you're Arsenal, then you're hosting Dinamo Zagreb at Emirates, though up 3 away goals. Arsene Wenger is feeling crotchety. He's playing catch-up over EPL fixtures, trying to sell the Princess, chasing after William Gallass (a good idea, IMO), and trying to talk down JAR's agent.

I'm supposed to have a match tonight, but my back's been bothering me. I'll have to see if I can get in to see the chiropractor and get right before kick-off. Oh, I hate getting old...

EPL Season Underway

Not a glorious start for the Gunners at their new digs. Only securing a point against an Aston Villa team they'd not lost to in 16 matches has to be viewed as a serious underachievement. By all accounts of the game, the Gunners ran the field and showered the goal with shots but could only figure out how to get one of the onions in the back of the onion bag. Still, a point's better than a goose egg and its a long season. My money's on the young Gunners to make a serious run for 2nd place. No, I'm not feverish enough to claim a legitimate shot at first...

That belongs to Chelsea and Manchester United. Man u would have problems scoring goals without RVN, I said. They would struggle with the lingering issues between CRon and Rooney, I said. Blather! Rooney scored two, CRon one (nice assist from Rooney) and Saha netted the first in the game to blast Glass-is-not-half-Fulham. Chelsea likewise, had little trouble putting down the Citizens from the other side of town. Terry, Lampard and Drogba scored (all headers, if I remember correctly from the highlights). Both teams appear to be the class to chase in the EPL.

Liverpool struggled seriously in tying Sheffield United, a result that might make many forget Arsenal's difficulties with AV. I still think this side is much improved from last season, with the pace of Craig Bellamy up front. And Benitez is the genius you forget about because of Mourinho, SAF and Wenger.

On the positive front, Tottenham lost 2-0!

Start the Season Off Right

So, I wake up this morning, and it's the morning after another soccer tournament. I'm bleary-eyed and in need of caffeine, a little dazed from driving and having watched too many soccer matches featuring 12-year-old girls; just stumbling along and then. I realize. The Community Shield is on TV! It's EPL, baby! And best of all, Liverpool puts down Chelsea, who looks a mite tepid, other than Andriy Shevchenko, who seems to have rockets attached to his boots. Six more days and Arsenal takes the pitch!

I also heard the Mighty Diamonds' "Pass the Kouchie" on my favorite station, KEXP, and can't get the tune out of my head. You may remember the very similar hit from the 1980s, "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth.

Science gets a bad rap, fer sure. Global warming. Bird Flu. Killer asteroids. A million ways the world is going to kill us all. But there is good news, too. First off, beer can help treat polluted wastewater. The byproducts of beer brewing are effective filtrants to toxic wastewater (and take much less energy to produce than conventional methods). Drink more beer. It's for Mother Earth! Secondly, I read in New Scientist that research has revealed that attractive people are 36 percent more likely to produce daughter than sons. With 3 daughters, I'm feeling pretty darn handsome. Thanks, science!

Baptista?

Julio Baptista for JAR? I'm all for that. I saw Baptista Wednesday night and he looked great. JAR's unhappy, he's not been that productive, and he'll never be physical enough for the EPL. Send him home and let's take a player we wanted all along.

Meanwhile, Henry is confident about the upcoming season. I'm hopeful. I still think they'll have a tough go wresting the title from Chelsea, but a clear shot at 2nd place is in order.

Things are not looking so good for our good friend David Beckham. He's been dropped from the England squad for its first friendly under coach Steve McLaren. Long overdue in my book. There's got to be some right wing midfielders in England that can also play defense and run. It's not all free kicks on the pitch, you know.

Another Real Madrid star - Ruud Van Nistelroy - has also received the drop treatment, being left out of the squad for a friendly against Ireland. RVN is still an awesome striker, but it looks like his relationship with Coach Marco Van Basten is not so great.

Real Madrid V. DC United

DC United battled Real Madrid (The club formerly known as Los Galacticos) to a nifty 1-1 draw at Seattle's Qwest Field last night. Northwest soccer fans showed that they're hungry for good soccer, with more than 66,000 fans showing up to form a sellout crowd that couldn't really decide whether they wanted to cheer for RM or DC. RM players got more noise on introductions and the Spanish club's first goal drew loud cheers. However, the crowd got even louder for Alecko Eskandarian's 25th minute equalizer and the roar was deafening when DC United turned away a massive chance for RM with a great goalie save and two goal-line stops by defenders.

A couple of observations from the game. First, DC United is really, really good. They lack the frontline scoring punch you'd expect of a top European club, but they were incredibly well-organized and passed the ball around with vision and (for the most part) precision. Their defense was tough, tough, tough all night long and for the most part stifled most of RM's ideas. Ben Olsen in the midfield was awesome. He scrapped indefatigably with Emerson all night long and was a force in the central midfield, created some good opportunities and got back on defense all game long. DC's goalkeeper - excellent! A number of saves through the game, two on Ruud Van Nistelroy, who thought for sure he was going to school the American keeper.

Freddy Adu looked pretty good to me. He made mistakes here and there, but did a good job patrolling the right wing and had a number of nifty runs. I had no idea how small he is, though. I knew he was short, but he looks like he's only 140 pounds. Too small for European comptetion. Kid's going to have to grow some for his career to advance. Roberto Carlos made Freddy his personal bitch throughout the game. Adu tried to run at him several times and RC just gave him a little shoulder and turned the ball away from him. Ouch.

It was very cool to see Roberto Carlos in person. I think he still looks great. And he did get to take a free kick from the 19 - just a cannon shot!

Ruud. I used to hate this guy but now that he's no longer with Man U, I've changed my mind. He's a great striker and I love his scrappy, goal-sniffer's attitude. I was surprised to see that he's a pretty slender guy. He always looked bulkier to me on TV. What impressed me last night was his foot skills. He was tremendous in controlling the ball out of the air and keeping it at his feet - very quick feet. He had two should've-scored chances, but as mentioned, the keeper came out on top.

I almost got sick at all the attention David Beckham was getting. I hate overatted players and I think Becks fits this description. However, he played a good half last night. He ran hard (looks recovered from the World Cup injury), made a number of good crosses, got to take a couple of corners and free kicks (defended well by DC), and made one absolutely laser perfect, switch the field pass from midfield to the far corner of the 18. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful. Wish I could do that!!

Let's see, who else. Oh yeah, Cannavaro came in during the 2nd half. He is everybit as good as advertised. Fast, athletic, smart. One of the DC boys tried to slide past him on the left side and Fabio just made textbook steal as if he were reaching for the remote at home on the couch.

Emerson looked great. He is a big, strong cat who can hold the ball for what seems like days while the rest of the team gets into position. He had players flying at him, slapping and grabbing at him all night long. Usually, they just fell off him like extras in the final scene of Titanic while Emerson advanced the ball calmly upfield.

Overall, I was disappointed in Real Madrid and really impressed with DC United. As a Barcelona fan, I feel a little more comfortable about the upcoming season. Real Madrid looked well, kind of old, tired. 2nd half substitutions that brought in younger players like Cicinho, DeSouza and others injected much energy into RM. I think Capello's challenge will be to find the right line-up night after night.

It was a great night of soccer in Seattle. Next year, I hope Arsenal will come to town!

It's Real Madrid Day

It's been awhile since I've posted. Forget that last post. It's several days old, but never got posted due to a clerical error in the publishing department. Anyhow, got caught up in one of the princesses tournaments, but now have a little lull until the next one.

So, what's been going on? Well, today is the Real Madrid V. DC United match. I'm looking forward to seeing some good soccer players, but not expecting a great soccer match. Hey, it's a friendly; a boots and ball show for the Yanks. I'll be happy to see the players show some of their stuff, and score a few goals.

It looks like mighty changes are in works for Arsenal. While Henry is worried that Ashely Cole is leaving (and rightfully fretting about the wisdom of selling him to the Evil Empire), he seems to be the only one who still thinks the issue in doubt. JAR is apparently on the verge of joining Real Madrid (though certainly not in time for me to boo him tonight!). And the Best Looking Man in Football seems certain to join the Gunners - now this, I'm excited about. I thought Ribery was electrifying in the French midfield and would be well-suited to the Arsenal attack.

And amidst all the settling of the side, Gunners blasted Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualifying match last night away at Dinamo. Cesc Fabregas netted twice and Van Persie scored to seal the win for a side missing many of the team's star players.

The geographically challenged Sol Campbell, who wanted to end his career abroad, apparently believes that Portsmouth is somewhere outside of England. Let's hope he has better luck locating his old form than dealing with geography. What a weird ending to a great Arsenal career.

And if you thought English fans would be all forgive and forget for CRonaldo, it doesn't appear that way.

Is he or isn't he? Only his agent knows for sure! The continuing saga of Jose Antonio Reyes (AKA JAR)...well, continues. First, he was ready to go. Then he was happy to stay...but one day he'd like to go. Now, he's on his way back to spain. This is one Gunner (other than the Princess) who I really won't mind seeing leave. In my mind, he just doesn't produce enough goals and he's a soft player. Sure, he's pretty for the ladies to look at and all that, but he doesn't appear to be cut out for the rigors of English football. So, go ahead, Professor. Cash out the JAR, buy yourself a midfielder who can bring the rumble, and give him a plane ride back home, where he will be reunited with his family once again.

Why, Martin, Why?
If you believe the BBC, and why wouldn't you, former Hoops boss Martin O'Neill will be taking the reins at Aston Villa, a club beset with controversy and pursued by as many as five different potential buyers. This seems certainly like a downward move from the legendary Celtic, where O'Neill was highly successful.

O'Neill's name surfaced during the bumbling search, or was it a grope, for the England coach. But, other than that, there have not been a surfeit of high profile clubs with openings. He certainly couldn't go back to the SPL after having coached the best team in that league. And with the domestic situation, an English club was probably the only job he wanted to take. If he does well at Villa, then he'll be ready for future openings at better clubs.

If Zidane was not initially sorry for the butt heard round the world, he should be now. The fact that this is the number one song in France right now, is more proof of what I've maintained for years: the French have no ability for popular music. I reached this conclusion years ago in 5th Grade French class, when we were forced to listen to a group known as the French Beach Boys. It was beyond horrible. God, I hope there are no French metal bands.

SAF has explained the expulsion of RVN, one of the best strikers in the game. He didn't like being dropped from the Carling Cup Final, so he had to go. Wow. While I respect a manager's right to have obedience from his players, that rationale seems a bit of thin broth for the quick hook to RVN. I don't like RVN much, but he is a tremendous finisher and I believe the Red Devils have been significantly weakened by the RVN-removal. I think SAF's ego may be getting a bit big for Old Trafford...

And, what the Hell is it about Celtic and friendlies this year?!! First, they blow a tire against DC United, losing 4-0 (I don't think Real Madrid will have the same trouble next week), then they go to Japan and drop a 3-0 decision to Top Ramen, or whoever it was. Losing to a team in the J-League is like...well, like losing to an MLS side. C'mon, Bhoys! Even your third string side should beat Yohohama F Marinos. Geez, even my team could make a match against 'em.

Vieira Does the Right Thing

Good news from Italy. Patrick Vieira has signed with Inter Milan, rather than crossing the River Styx and joining the Red Devils. It may have all been about money. Who knows? But, I like to think that when Patrick really thought about putting on a MU jersey, after all the bitter contests against them during his Arsenal days, he realized that it would just be wrong. Good luck at Inter, No. 4.

There are two primary ways Patrick Vieira could tarnish his Arsenal legacy and he appears ready to choose method #1. Oh well. You can't really blame him. He's got to get out of the Serie A quagmire he's found himself in and Manchester United is one of the premier clubs in the world. He'll have himself right back in the thick of Champions League contention with this move. The problem for the Red Devils, even after the Michael Carrick acquisition, is they're still light in arrears on the front line after shipping RVN away.

I'm glad to see Arsenal making noises of sending disgruntled (and apparently dyspeptic) princess Ashley Cole off to Real Madrdid. Selling one of your best players to your EPL title rival was nothing more than madness, and the Professor knows it.