Young Guns Part II

If you've missed the Part 1, I would suggest you to have a look at it first by clicking this link*. By the way, Part 1 has been revamped since there are complaints of words cramped up half way into the blog in which I've noticed of since posting but I didn't have time to correct it until 2 two days ago.


Ok, here comes the Part II as I've promised earlier!


On the side note, apparently right now Man Utd is winning and scoring for fun and we can't give the credits to the youngsters such as Nani and Anderson only but Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs played very important roles as well, so bravo to Fergie!

In Part II, I will "pretend" to predict what those young guns that I've mention in Part 1 could bring to their respective clubs in the next few seasons. As well as introduce more young guns that I feel could make an impact very soon.

Manchester United;

The truth is inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo is on top of the world right now. No matter what they said how Kaka' brought the whole Milan team all the way to the Champions League Final and winning it that made him the best player in the world, I thought it was a wonderful achievement but the consistency wasn't there. Milan is awful right now. What Kaka' have done for them this season?

As for C.Ronaldo, he has done it again. Score goals after goals after goals after goals and it goes on and on. He broke his last season scoring record by January and now he has surpassed the best of the best, George Best' scoring record (32 goals) as a midfielder. The best part is, the season is far from finishing. His scoring record has made United lifted up to the top and dominating games. But many people overlook those new boys in town's contribution because of Ronaldo's unbelievable form.

Nani was the first player to score a win for United against Tottenham back at the start of the season when United were struggling. Anderson was the one who filled in when Paul Scholes was injured and outclassed Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal during their respective meetings earlier this season. To be fair, Man Utd fans are not blind. They have made Anderson as their Man of the Match a few times already.

During the summer, Fergie bought 4 players, Nani, Anderson, Carlos Tevez, and Owen Hargreaves. But feeling short of striker to cover up Rooney and Tevez since Louis Saha has been a "has been" due to his consistent form of getting himself injured, Fergie bought another striker his name is Manucho from Angola. 25 years old, tall and consider big in size and able to score goals with both feets as well as putting in some headers. He's currently on loan at Panathinaikos, in Greece. Fergie had to loan him out because he wasn't eligible to get UK's working permit but I'm sure he'll be a good addition for Man Utd attacking front next season.

If you wonder what kind of player he is, just imagine Emmanuel Adebayor in Man Utd's shirt. Fair enough clear enough?

Carlos Tevez has been a revelation, he has scored countless important goals such as the 90th minutes goal against Lyon to draw 1-1 and have an advantage for the second leg in which United won 1-0. Owen Hargreaves is one of those not getting alot of limelight but he is in fact a very very effective player. Protecting the back four is his priority, other than that it doesn't bother him.

Now, Arsenal! I've mentioned Carlos Vela in Part I and I couldn't stop mentioning about this fella. I found out right now he is playing as a very important First Team Player in Osasuna, starting games and getting oppoturnity to gain invalueable match experience in Primera Liga aka La Liga.

ENOUGH of Carlos Vela! PLEASE!!........... One last note, he's the new Wonderkid in town. Do you know whats that suppose to mean? He's the next big thing! ROARRR!

Not buying big names or popular players is practiced by Arsenal all these years. They prefer getting young players with very little money involves and polish them into a superstar. Thierry Henry was a reject of Juventus, Arsene Wenger snapped him up with few million quid and made him the most prolific striker in Barclays English Premier League history. He has done the same to Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas.

The biggest mistake Arsene Wenger has ever made was purchasing Jose Antonio "Betrayer" Reyes from Sevilla with 17million pound. With so much money spent on him, he did not shine is another matter but making noises in the media about how unhappy he is in the Gunner's camp has got himself a self-satisfaction loan to Real Madrid half in 2006/2007 and eventually he was sold by Wenger to Atlectico Madrid. Since then Reyes has been very happy and very satisfied with life much to Wenger's frustration that he has wasted so much money on him. Jeeeezzz....Spaniards....

Since then, Arsene Wenger has never splash his cash on "over-hyped" players anymore. Oh, Tomas Rosicky is a popular player but Wenger bought him on a very reasonable price. Choosing him instead of the very expensive Franck Ribery was a masterstroke in my opinion.

There are alot of belief in Arsenal squad during the earlier stage of the season when they've stayed on top of the table for a very very long period. Everyone talking about the maturity of the younger players in the squad has propelled them into that position. I kept my mouth closed and watch patiently how they will progress.

Indeed, about 7 months into the 2007/2008 season, Arsenal has finally lost their master touch, their wonderful form. 4 draws and 1 lose in 5 games Arsenal finally surrendered their lead to United. Just as I've expected, the young guns of Arsenal hasn't got the stamina yet to lead all the way to the finish line.

To be fair, Arsenal aren't out of the title race yet as they are keeping pace on United with a 6 points deficit.

Will be continue.....

Love for Premier League

Last night, after 45 minutes Arsenal was down by 2 goals and Abou Diaby was sent off against home side, Bolton Wanderers. Everyone thought, "Yea, that's it. Arsenal title dream is over." Obviously, no one would even dare to think that Arsenal got a chance to fight back in that match.





45 minutes later, Arsenal won 3-2. Celebrated like they've won the title





What can I say? Witnessing the red card, the 2nd goal scored by Matt Taylor for Bolton and then the turnaround made by a 10man Arsenal side. No script can be written as perfect as this one.

Yes, it was an absolutely thrilling match. A sore eye for Man Utd fans such as me. Told my brother about what happened in that match, being a semi-pro football gambler, he can't help but tell me it was most probably match-fixed by big-time bookies. Well, I kinda agree with him but we can't say that it was match fixed because we've got nothing to prove and we do not need to prove it.

In fact I hope it's not match fixed because these are the kind of matches that attracts football fans around the world to watch the Premier League. Thrilling, amazing fight back, soaking in heavy rain,being 2-0 down by halftime, down to 10 man, score in the 90th minute to win the match. What more you could possibly ask from a football match?

As I said before, this is the part of a game that ruined anyone's interest in International matches. Don't you love the Premier League?

Young Guns

The Barclays English Premier League (EPL) is arguably the best league in the world at the moment amongst club football. One of the strongest evidence to prove English clubs' capabilities could be seen in this year's UEFA Champions League as all 4 English clubs has progressed to the quarter-final stage.

It's quite amazing that how English clubs has finally taken over the Europe's dominant forces from Spain and Italy such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and of course the holder of Champions League, AC Milan.

To tell the truth, football clubs in England such as Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool wouldn't have achieved this by relying on local talents from their respective youth system as more and more foreign players coming into EPL. Yes, those top 4 clubs in England relies on foreign players to achieve these kind of success. Heck, not only foreign players but as well as foreign managers and coaches.

Sir Alex Ferguson is from Scotland, he is not an Englishmen.

It's a cruel and very sad fact for local English youngsters who dreamt to play for their favourite clubs because those top 4 clubs tend to overlook their local talents for talented young foreign players. Those clubs would pay crazy money for them to buy their way to success.

Take Manchester United as an example. This club was very famous for producing local talents that turned into World Class players for the past 50 years. They have produced player such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and damn, even the primadonna David Beckham are one of the best product came out of the Red Devil's successful youth system. Don't even get me started to mention those legends from back then.

But look, Sir Alex realised that depending on local talents aren't always successful to bring them up to World Class quality. For example, Kieran Richardson was a failure. Chris Eagles, what the hell he is a joke! All he has got to do is dreaming to be the next David Beckham, dream on!

Paul Scholes is aging and he won't be able to play forever and Fergie had headache looking for his replacement. Therefore, he made a move that surprised everyone in the summer of 2007.

He freaking bought a 19 years old Brazilian from Porto named, Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira for £18 million. That is a huge amount of money to spend on a youngster. FYI, most Brazilians who came to the the Premiership has little success to cheer about. But Fergie took the risk and so far, it's paying off. Anderson sparkled in the middle of the park, tackling hard like Roy Keane, run with the ball challenging defender like Ryan Giggs. He's a workaholic that anyone would love to have in their team.

There, a replacement for the Red Head Ginger, Scholes but how about Ryan Giggs? Of course, Anderson can't split into two. SO, about the same time when Fergie bought Anderson, he snapped up his long term target from Sporting Lisbon named, Nani who he believed to be able to replace Ryan Giggs as well as immitate Cristiano Ronaldo's success ( C.Ronaldo was from Sporting Lisbon as well). He came to United and showed everyone he's capable to cope with the pressure to succeed the great Ryan Giggs and he possesed tremendous skills. The scariest part is, he's like Ronaldo's clone.

Man Utd has made a move they believed could prolonged them as a dominant club in the world but the other 3 top clubs in England has done their part as well to keep pace on United.

Arsenal's youth system consist alot of foreigners and I personally think they have the talents to grow into World Class quality. One of them has succeed, Spain borned Cesc Fabregas has become from an unknown kid to a World Class player.

Expected to fill the boot of influential ex-Gunner Captain, Patrick Vieira who left a huge gap in the middle of the park for Arsenal but since then, Fabregas has been able to mature steadily and make a name for himself in the world of football. His passing are World Class. His visions are peerless. His determination is unbelievable. He has done more than enough to fill Vieira's boot.

But not only Fabregas is maturing. Look at Gael Clichy, Denilson, Eboue, Bendtner, Diaby and one more to look out for, Mexican wonderkid, Carlos Vela.

Now, most youngsters I mentioned up there appeared in recent Arsenal matches except for Carlos Vela. Who is this fella? He is a predator, a prodigy, a winger that will strike fear on defenders. He may not be able to play for Arsenal yet due to working permit restriction but he was loaned to several clubs and now he's at Osasuna, Spain. He shone and appear under the limelight during his time there and received high praise as the next big thing. Do look out for him Gunner's fans.

As for Chelsea, a club that famed in recent years for spending crazy amount of money to buy players. Some of them worth it, some of them not. But they have been able to secure 2 Premiership in a row before Man Utd snapped their streak. So, it wasn't a bad idea to buy your way to the title actually.

Yes, they bought players that are growing older such Nic Anelka, Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack (Chelsea snapped him up for free as his contract with Bayern Munich expired), Claude Makelele and Juliano Belletti. But those players are the ones that could bring priceless experience into the club and they are the mentors for Chelsea's younger players.

One of those younger players who benefited alot by learning from them is John Obi Mikel.

He is a Nigerian central midfielder and has caused alot of controversy when he came to Chelsea. At first, Manchester United announced that they have agreed with Lyn Oslo (Mikel's previous club) to sign Obi Mikel. He went to Old Trafford, signed the contract and hold the number 21 shirt in a press conference to announced his arrival. But soon after that, he went dissapeared after rumours of him receiving threats from phone calls. IN FACT, he was at London negotiating with Chelsea and announced that he was forced to join United and he supposedly wanted to join Chelsea. It caused alot of controversy but still he was finally transferred to Chelsea after they agreed to pay Lyn Oslo £4 million and pay Man Utd as well for £12 million.

In spite of all those controversy, he was able to settle down and played well for Chelsea. He is one of Chelsea's main engine this season as he produced great strength and tackling all over the place that has kept Chelsea midfield as tight as possible. His good form has restricted playing time of veterans, Makelele and Ballack.

For the past 15 odd years, Liverpool has been living in the shadow of Man Utd, Arsenal, and now, Chelsea. They tried to revive their dominance in the league by purchasing foreign players as well but each of them has gone down the drain such as Djibril Cisse. But during the summer, they have finally bought someone with tremendous talent and ability to take them back to the Premiership summit. His name is Fernando Torres aka El Nino. Dispite his good looks, he showed everyone that he is a here for real business. On his debut season he has scored goals for fun, 2 hat tricks in a row was the clear evidence of his ability and as well sending out warnings to United, Arsenal and Chelsea that he's here to change Liverpool for good.

All the players that I've mentioned here are all young guns and surely they are the future of their respective clubs. Next post, I will predict what they could do for their clubs and analyse more young guns, stay tuned :)

International Friendlies

Okay, last night was one of England's "Biggest match" for the moment, sort of.... since they haven't been able to qualify to Euro 2008. They played against their old rival, the French in a FRIENDLY Match....It's just a FRIENDLY match but it was pretty much hyped up due to talks of David Beckham getting his 100th cap for England and Fabio Capello's first "big" match since becoming England's coach.

To be honest, I never bothered watching International Friendly match because it bored me and face the truth, the main purpose for having friendly match is to suck on supporter's money. Most of the time (maybe all the time) these kind of matches never gonna be interesting because the fact that it's not COMPETITIVE match, the players and coach never bothered to take the game seriously.

Forget about England, they sucks so badly each player of the team deserve to be kicked into the Pit of Death. Leonadis, please press the disposal button. They play so badly and deserve to lose more than 1 goal against France. Well, "mercy for you" says the French

Oh, not to mention that those famous, skilled, "King of Football, best to watch, best in the game", the BRAZILIAN had a friendly match against a underpowered-Sweden at Emirates Stadium, London.

Awwwww.... yes, they were missing those star players such as Kaka and Ronaldinho, but they sucks just as much as England team even with the likes of Robinho, Anderson and co. But at least they got away with a win.

I mean, a narrow 1-0 win...

1-0 against a weakened Sweden ( oh, that rhymes )

Jeeeee, where's the classic Brazil? Trashing opponent 3-0, 4-0 while playing beautiful football. Now, I've no idea what they are trying to show. Showing skills won't get you goals, you know?

That is why I never liked International Friendlies, there aren't anything except sucking supporter's money, sponsor's payout and TV money. No offense to World Cup and Euro Cup though. Heck, even Copa America and African Nation Cup have much more excitement in their game. Why? Because there are stakes in these kind of competition. You see, COMPETITION= COMPETITIVE matches = EXCITEMENT.

But nor you and I could do a damn thing about it because that's the way the football works nowadays. It's all about sucking money and more money and more money. It is soooo commercialized that the game has become an entertainment. Take WWE as mirror and you'll know what I mean.

During 80's and 90's, people tend to tune into International matches instead of watching the Premiership or Serie A or Primera Liga because they find more excitement in International matches as they think that those club matches are mostly involves match fixing.

To tell the truth, if Man Utd match involves match fixing, I really wouldn't mind paying for their tickets, buy a hot dog, a cold beer and enjoy a beautiful game in the tremendous Theater of Dream, Old Trafford instead of watching dull football in International matches. I would rather they match fix it and play a beautiful game but not waste our money on those already rich-like-fuck footballers that kick the ball like a bitch.

Seriously....

Introduction

First of all, I would like to welcome those who came across this blog. I hope you would take your time and enjoy what you're about to read here.

My name is Ban, an ordinary blogger, blogging ordinary stuff in my another blog link BUT here, I would like to share my thoughts, my ideas, my lil experience and in-depth knowledge about football most fans do not know in HERE, halftimegreentalk.blogspot.com.

Football is a sport that I never like right until few years ago. I was impressed by Arsenal at that time where they've got Thierry Henry, Sylvian Wiltord, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira and etc in their team. They impressed me with what we called "Beautiful Football". I WAS an Arsenal fans for a short period until I fell in love with Manchester United's ruthless, dominating, fearless, slick passing, deadly finishing football. Roy Keane was the one influenced me to love the Red Devils forever.

As I am writing now, last weekend was the Easter Super Sunday.

Manchester United thumped their arch-rival, Liverpool 3-0 and increased their lead to 6 points in the Barclays Premier League.

Wes Brown scored a rare and somewhat lucky goal for United 34minutes into the game. The ball came off the Manchester-borned Wesley Brown's back and it proved to be enough to beat Liverpool's 'keeper, Jose Reina. As a local lad, scoring a goal against their biggest rival in the history of Man Utd means the world. Although he has yet to commit his future since his contract is running out in the summer but I'm sure the fans still loves him.

Javier Mascherano was sent off in what I thought was deserving after being shown 2nd yellow card by referee Steve Bennett. The media raves too much about the incident so, I'm gonna skip it.

2nd goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo's header off Nani cross from corner and Nani grabbed a goal for himself as well. Honestly, Nani looks more and more like Ronaldo when he first came to United, being selfish on the ball, shooting from awkward position when he should've pass and doing too much tricks. But try to think that he's gonna transform into Cristiano Ronaldo 2 makes defender chill in their spines. It is that scary.

United extended their lead to 6 but Chelsea won against Arsenal in a thriller 2-1 cut United's lead to 5 as Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal into 2nd place.

Bacary Sagna gave Arsenal the lead with a header from a corner but was canceled out by a controversial goal from Didier Drogba as he was clearly offside when the ball was played to him. But he took his chances as Kolo Toure made a mistake and couldn't clear a cross from Anelka and Drogba scored again to win the match and put their title race off and running.

The result of the Super Sunday proves to be crucial as the Barclays Premier League opens up to 3 horses race. Nailbiting towards the end of the season.

More to come from http://www.halftimegreentalk.blogspot.com/ Stay Tuned!