Hello football fans, your old pal the Football Guy is in mourning today as you might expect, but let me tell you now, it has nothing to do with me losing my beard or Arsenal getting out classed by United.

About 20 minutes in to the game I received a phone call informing me that a very good friend of mine (who also was a United fan) had passed away that morning........... All of a sudden being 3-0 down on agg didn't seem like that big of a deal......... Some things are more important than Football.

So I'd like to just take a minute to say goodbye to a good friend, thanks for the good times Lorcan, you will be greatly missed.

Arsenal v United

No as you can imagine, I didn't really watch much more of the game after that (was tuning in and out) but one thing I can say for certain is that - United are MUCH MUCH better than Arsenal!

Over the two legs United out classed the Gunners in every department and fully deserved to go through, now that really hurts to say as I'm an Arsenal fan..... But lets face facts, when a team is so clearly better than your team you will only look like a fool if you say otherwise.

So well done to United, I wish them luck in the final (If they play Chelsea) and I wish them evil (if they play Barca)

Chelsea v Barcelona

Round two of this heavyweight battle should be more entertaining than last weeks snooze fest, because Chelsea, being the home team this time, will have to come out of that shell they were in last week and therefore give Barca that bit of extra space with which to work wonders with.

Worst case scenario for a neutral looking to enjoy a good game tonight would be an early Chelsea goal, as that will mean Chelsea go back to parking their bus and Barca running in to a brick wall......... Hold on.... I just mixed two metaphors....... Can you do that?

Best case scenario - 10-10 and Barca go through on away goals!

Tomorrow

Sorry for the shortness of todays post, but I'm not really in the mood today as you can probaly imagine....... Somethings are more important than Football blogs.

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! I for one am as excited as a kid at Christmas in anticipation of tonight's Champions League semi final 2nd leg between Arsenal and United and the possibility of being clean shaven for the first time since the end of February! But before we get to that, there was a whole weekend of Premiership action to mull over.

As you may have noticed, there was no Hangover column on Monday. That was because in the UK it was a bank holiday and lets face it, nobody like to do any work on a bank holiday unless they really have too........ I for one had too......... I got roped it to moving a friend of mines girlfriends stuff as she is moving house........ Yet the friend who's girlfriend it is did not help........... Boy am I a sucker! Apparently the Boyfriend had "work" to do, but I know he really spent the afternoon browsing the internet. Well at least I got a free pizza out of it and hopefully some karma points!

Weekends Football

I have to say, I found this weekend in the Premiership pretty boring, everything went as expected with no upsets....... Even Joey Barton got sent off in his first game back for Newcastle.

The only two highlights of the weekend were a) Arshavin protesting a penalty he won, wagging his finger and saying it was a corner, not a pen..... The only time I have ever seen that happen was back in 1996 when Robbie Fowler jumped over a David Seaman challenge and when award a penalty he told the ref in was not (Amazing honesty coming from a scouser). He went on to have his penalty saved by Seaman (I'm sure he told him which way to dive) but unfortunately Jason McAteer scored on the rebound...... So well done Arshavin, not only a classy player, but a classy guy too.

The other highlight of the weekend for me was not in the Premiership but in Spain where Barcelona destroyed title rivals Real in their own back yard 6-2. Check out the highlights for some wonderful attacking football............ Or some piss poor defending...... Which ever way you look at it.

Football Guy v Mark Lawrenson

As I said, this weekend was pretty boring, so much so that I managed to predict nine out of the ten matches played........ I'm not going to take much credit for that as every match went pretty much according to plan, had I been a betting man I might have made a lot of money this weekend!

This Week

Football Guy - PS 3 CR 9 WR 1

Lawro           - PS 2 CR 6 WR 4

Players you should have made Captain but never would

1. Steven Pienaar - 13pts
2. Vedran Corluka - 9pts
3. Diego Tristan    - 9pts
4. Zat Knight         - 8pts

The Cristiano Ronaldo award for fantasy excellence

1. Didier Drogba - 14pts

Well done to the evil one, a solid 14 points was enough to take the title this week and it was good preparation for Chelsea's big match on Wednesday against Barca.

Arsenal v Manchester United - Round Two 

United will be hoping to have Captain Rio "Merk" Ferdinand back for the 2nd leg, where as Arsenal will be hoping to not lose anymore players before kick off tonight.

There are quite a few interesting fact ahead of this match , firstly-

Arsenal have never progressed from a European tie against another English club. They lost 3-2 on aggregate against Chelsea in a 2003-04 CL quarter-final and lost 5-3 on aggregate to Liverpool at the same stage last season.

Not good news for the Gunners there, but wait, it gets better-

Arsenal have never been knocked out of European competition at the semi-final stage, successfully progressing to finals of the three main European competitions in 1970, 1980, 1994, 1995, 2000 and 2006.

Alright Arsenal! Good stuff, but hold on-

Manchester United however, have never been knocked out of European competition by an English club. They previously knocked out Tottenham Hotspur (1963-64, Cup Winners' Cup) and Everton (1964-65, Fairs Cup) and won last year's Champions League by beating Chelsea after penalties in the final.

Right, so it's really important for Arsenal not to concede-

Arsenal have not conceded a goal at home in the Champions League this season, a string of five matches.

To be fair, all these stats will mean sweet FA come kick off time but there is one really cool stat I have left to show you -

This is the 39th meeting between Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Both managers have won 15 and eight matches were drawn.

Can't get any closer than that, I'm sure we will be in for macth to remember!

Until tomorrow football fans.....

Take care,

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things are on edge here in the broom closet at Football Guy towers, firstly because  I can hardly wait for tonight's game, one which I hope will be a 1000X better than last nights antics and secondly, I fear my cough is turning in to a slight cold, not quite yet there, but you know when you can feel it coming!

Barcelona v Chelsea 

The Picture to your right is quite fitting because last night in Barca Chelsea planted a big Yellow bus which says a lot about the team to me!

Chelsea think of themselves as a big team and the occasion last night was a big one, for me "big" teams do not play the way Chelsea did last night.

Now, I'm not knocking good defending, which was certainly on show last night from Chelsea, to point is that the Blues (Yellows last night in more ways than one) showed absolutely no ambition to try to pass the ball around, let alone do any sort of attacking! It was like watching a lower league team take on a Premiership team in the FA Cup not an evenly matched CL semi final between to of the top teams in Europe.

You could just imagine the negative, judgmental reaction from the English press had an Italian team put in that kind of performance at Camp Nou (or Old Trafford/Anfield for that matter).

But, no. Since it was an English side who were holding on for dear life, it's labeled as 'resilient', 'brave' and even 'encouraging'. It was anti-football, plain and simple! I'm not saying Chelsea should have gone toe to toe with Barca in Barca's back yard, I just feel that a "big" team in a Champions League semi final should actually try and do a little bit of attacking as well. If Arsenal play like that tonight against United I will be embarrassed........ The same way I hope Chelsea fans are too.

Early thoughts on the 2nd leg

I don't really think 0-0 was all that great a result for Chelsea. A score draw would have been much better as now they must beat Barca to advance (doubt it will be 0-0 again). I think they are capable of doing so, but the fact that they will be the home team and will have to attack might just play in to Barcelona's hands.

Here's hoping for a better match next week at the Bridge.

Manchester United v Arsenal

United v Arsenal...... Can't get much better right? Two teams that like to attack and we get to watch them square off twice in the space of six days!

I think this game basically comes down to how well United can exploit Arsenal's fragile defense, and with Gibbs and Silvester both doubtful for tonight's match, Arsene Wenger might have a real big headache.

Ryan Giggs could likely get his 800th senior cap tonight which is a remarkable achivment...... I know I've been bashing him of late, but I think what I said was fair enough. Good luck to Giggsy, I just hope we don't see a repeat of his goal from another United v Arsenal semi final 10 years ago.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things in the broom closet at Football Guy Towers are not that great, I've developed a nasty little cough which is bothering me just slightly. I hope it says like that and does not turn in to a cold...... Or even worse..... Cancer!

Did anyone watch the game last night?

Millennium Magpie v Portsmouth

I did and I can honestly say I was very disappointed with the Millennium Magpie's.

To get out played by a good team is not sin, but to get out played at home by Pompey should be No11 on the 10 commandments, kind of like an unwritten rule. How they expect to stay up after a performance like that is beyond me.

Even when Pompey generously gifted them with the games best chance, all Michael Owen could do was hit the ball straight at David James when clean through.

It could have been a lot worse for the Magpies had Mike Riley, who of late seems to not want to give penalties of late, pointed to the spot when Peter Crouch was clearly bundled over by cousin IT from the Adams family, or when Richard Hughes header hit the post when it looked like it was looping in.

I'd say that this point for Pompey should all but see them safe, the Millennium Magpies on the other hand have four matches left to save their hides, starting with Liverpool away next weekend, don't see much joy in that match for them. That leaves two home games against Boro and Fulham, Boro have lost their last 10 away matches in the Premiership and Fulham have only managed two away win's all season, if six points are not picked up their I think that will be all she wrote. Their last game of the season is away to Aston Villa who may or may not have anything left to play for come then, but I'm sure Martin O'Neill would love to finish a season which has fizzled out on a high note.

I still think Big Al and the boys can do it as I can see Hull losing all their remaining fixtures, but time is most certainly running out!

 

Barcelona v Chelsea 

On the whole, meeting between these two in the Champions League have been pretty exciting affairs.

All in all their have been 29 goals in the last 8 meetings between the two, that works out to over 3.5 goals per match....... Let's hope tonight is not different.

Here's a quick overview of how those games went -

April 5th, 2000: quarter-final, first leg: Chelsea 3, Barcelona 1 GOALS FROM Gianfranco Zola and Tore Andre Flo (two) put Chelsea 3-0 up in eight first-half minutes at Stamford Bridge but Luis Figo grabbed an away goal in the second half.

April 18th, 2000: quarter-final, second leg

Barcelona 5, Chelsea 1

RIVALDO AND Figo scored in the first half to put Barcelona 2-0 up and level on aggregate, but Flo made it 2-1 in the second half to edge the Blues ahead. Dani scored with seven minutes left to level the tie and two minutes later Rivaldo had a penalty to put Barca through. He missed, sending the game into extra-time, during which he atoned for his error by scoring from the spot before Patrick Kluivert finished the job in the 104th minute.

February 23rd, 2005: last 16, first leg

Barcelona 2, Chelsea 1

AN OWN goal by Chelsea’s then Barca defender Juliano Belletti gifted the Blues the lead but second-half goals from Maxi Lopez and Samuel Eto’o put Barca in front. Didier Drogba was controversially sent off by referee Anders Frisk in the 55th minute, an incident which earned the official some vitriolic abuse from Chelsea fans and subsequently prompted his retirement.

March 8th, 2005: last 16, second leg

Chelsea 4, Barcelona 2

GOALS FROM Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Damien Duff in 11 first-half minutes put the Blues in the ascendancy but Barca hit back with a double from Ronaldinho. With the Spaniards set to progress on away goals, John Terry grabbed the decisive fourth goal 14 minutes from time.

February 22nd, 2006: last 16, first leg

Chelsea 1, Barcelona 2

ASIER DEL Horno was sent off in the first half but Chelsea went ahead in the 59th minute through a Thiago Motta own goal. Terry then put through his own net and Eto’o grabbed a late winner.

March 8th, 2006: last 16, second leg

Barcelona 1, Chelsea 1

A LATE Ronaldinho goal all but clinched it for Barca, rendering Lampard’s injury-time penalty a consolation.

October 18th, 2006: group stage

Chelsea 1, Barcelona 0

DROGBA earned the Blues three points at home.

October 31st, 2006: group stage

Barcelona 2, Chelsea 2

DECO PUT Barca ahead early on but Lampard equalised with a brilliant chip. Gudjohnsen then scored for the hosts against his old club but Drogba netted an injury-time equaliser.

When you think that just in the last round, both teams managed to score 5 and 7 goals respectivly over the two legs, who knows how tonight will turn out.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Take care

Football Guy

U

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things are slightly fuzzy this morning in the broom closet at Football Guy Towers, O had four beers last night and it was just enough to leave me with a little bit of a hungover sensation in my mouth, you know what I mean, the dryness (just went and got a glass of water).

It was a good night for both English teams as both United and Arsenal advanced, I watched the match with the Sportboys and some other mates who don't have websites of their own for me to plug, the bar we watched it in surprisingly had the United game on as well, I say surprisingly because usually if there are two games on Sky in this boozer they only can show one of them, I think they only had one Sky box or something like that. Anyway, it was handy because after Arsenal went 2-0 up I pretty much switched most of my attention to the United match.

Porto v Manchester United

I'm pretty angry with myself about this one, I was fooled in to thinking Porto had vastly improved in half a season since that thrashing Arsenal gave them back in the group stages of the Champions League. That's not to take away from United, who I thought especially in  first half were in complete control.

Ronaldo's goal was quite the strike, Sky Sports had it at 39.50 yards, so lets just say it was an even 40 as no United fan a couple of years from no is going to say "Hey Steve from Romford, you've supported United all your life right? Remember when Ronaldo scored that goal against Porto from 39.50 yards out?"

It really was an amazing goal, yet I find it hard to believe a top class keeper can get beat from 40 yards out, then again, I've never rated Helton as a top class keeper. For some reason a mate of mine called Emi who watched the game with me called Helton Puff Daddy, not sure why as he looks nothing like him and Puff Daddy as we all know has not gone by that name in some years, either way though we thought it was funny enough and get calling him Puffy thoughout the match.

United though deserved to go through and Porto only really had one good chance which came when Van Der Sar misjudged a cross and (I'm not sure who it was) could not direct his header goal bound, cos if he did it would have been a goal. 

I said yesterday that -

"Basically one of two things will happen tonight, either United's form suddenly changes and they go back to being the team they were for most of the season, or their luck finally runs out......... I'm backing the latter of the two".

I'm sorry for underestimating United.

Arsenal v Villarreal

Alex Song is A MAN!....... Not the man..... A MAN.

I can hardly believe this is the same guy, who only a couple of moths ago most Arsenal fans would not have missed had he been sold.

Over the last couple of weeks he really has made that defensive midfield role his own with a string of top class performances, who would have thought it?

I was joking last night with one of the Sportboys in the first half after Alex Song had received a crunching tackle and was hobbling around for a couple of minutes that I never thought I'd see the day that I would be worried if Song had to come off.

Arsenal fan's song for Song is "We've only got one Song"..... Yes.... thankfully he is ours!

Arsenal v United 10 year Anniversary

10 years ago Arsenal and United met in the FA Cup semi final, we all remember that game as being one of the great FA Cup games of all time and it was capped off by Ryan Giggs going on that wonderful run and scoring what has been voted the best FA Cup goal of all time.

What I think a lot of people forget is that there was a game four days earlier, that was far from memorable.

We have two games now coming up that hopefully will be more like the second one from 10 years ago and if that's the case, we shall really be in for a treat.

Take care

Football Guy 

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things are not bad here in the broom closet at Football Guy towers, I'm filled with excitement for tonight's Arsenal match (I'm an Arsenal fan don't you know), but before I get to that, we have the little matter of last nights craziness to digest.

And what a crazy night it was...... Well at Stamford Bridge anyway..... In Munich things went down pretty much as I expected, OK I know I said a 2-1 win for Bayern but the point is that there was not really much to talk about, over in West London on the other hand we had goals flying in like they were going out of fashion. 4-4, who would have thought it? Not me I have to say. Liverpool came out of the blocks like a team possessed and over ran a Chelsea side who at half time looked as bad a mess as I've seen them in many a year, then into the second half I thought just when Liverpool looked like they would do the unthinkable and actually take the lead in the tie Pepe Reina goes and ruins it all....... The first goal he should have dealt with, I know Drogba got a touch that diverted the course of the ball but really, I'm sure if you ask him he would tell you he messed up there big time.

Then came a thunderbolt free kick for Alex, otherwise known as "The Tank" which pretty much ended the tie. Call me harsh, but I think Reina jumped a little to early, if that's even possible for a shot that broke the sound barrier but basically I think it was near enough to him that he could have saved it, maybe if I see it again I will change my mind but for now I'm not going to blame him, just say that he could have saved it.

Lampard then added a third and I lit up a ciggie and was about to walk out of the room (was watching the game with The Football Dad) when Liverpool all of a sudden were back in the match. Lucas scoring a Lampard special (look in the Football Dictionary under deflected goals)...... Actually that's given me an Idea for an article when the season finishes, The Football Guy Footballing Dictionary!

Deadly Dirk put Liverpool back to within a goal again of going through, but alas for The Reds, that was as close as they came, Lampard added another and that was all she wrote....... Note to Lampard - Don't waste goals in the Champions League, I need those goals in the League for my Fantasy Team you fat tramp!

Greatest Game ever?

After the match I logged on to Facebook and saw quite a few statues of friends of mine who put something up along the lines of "Just witnessed the best match ever"......... Best match ever? Not for me, yes goals are great fun, but the quality of defending was to be kind, Sunday league!

You had two goalkeeper errors and a very poor penalty given away, for me I thought there was a lot of huff and puff mixed in with high drama but the quality was sorely lacking. If Chelsea play like they did last night against Barcelona in the Semi Finals they might be on the receiving end of a bigger thumping than the one Bayern got last week.

An incredibly exciting night? YES. Greatest game ever? Not even close.

Porto v Manchester United 

According to the BBC, United have statistically have only a 16% chance of progressing to the semis....... Would love to know how that was worked out? Really, if anyone knows please email me as this is going to cause me many a sleepless night!

Sir Alex has announced that the Merk-Meister General Rio Fredinand will start tomorrow and that can only be good news for a United defence that looks a shadow of the record setting one we saw only a few months ago.

I read somewhere that Porto have never been beaten at home in the Champions League, don't know if that's true but if it is, not good news for United...... Although saying that, records are there to be broken!

One stat I do know is that Porto are unbeaten in 12 European home matches against English clubs, winning five and drawing seven.

I think they will add a digit to that and make it 13 un Lucky. United have not really shownme anything in their last four games to suggest a sudden recovery of the form that hadus all thinking they will win everything hands down this season, in fact this season has reminded me very much of the career of Mike Tyson.

Remember when Iron Mike first came on the scene becoming the youngest heavyweight champ ever and looked like no man alive can beat him....... Then he got beat, went to jail and came out a shadow of his former self...... OK so no United player went to jail, but the point is United just are not play well at the moment and have a 17 year old Italian who no one had ever heard of just 10 days ago to thank for still being top of the league.

Basically one of two things will happen tonight, either United's form suddenly changes and they go back to being the team they were for most of the season, or their luck finally runs out......... I'm backing the latter of the two.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Arsenal v Villarreal

I'm a lot less confident about this match then I was a week ago. The Gunners go in to this one without three of their first choice back five and have now lost their only dependably cover at centerback. Not the best thing to happen in a match you don't want to concede in.

I had the same dream three times last night that Villarreal scored early from a corner and held on..........

So that means Arsenal will have to attack...... Well I'm sure they would have done that anyway, but I feel Arsenal will need two goals at least to see of a Villarreal side that impressed me a week ago.

The reason for me saying this is that I have no confidence in Fabianski and I really have no confidence in Mikael "I look like squidward from Spongebob" Silvestre.

Goals is what they need I tell you and thankfully I am confident that the attack will deliver.

The good news for the Gunners is that they have not lost at home to a Spanish side for a long time, Arsenal's last home defeat to a Spanish club was against Deportivo La Coruna in a Champions League group match back in March 2002 (0-2) and four away matches, Villarreal have won just once against opponents from England (drawing two, and losing one). Their solitary victory was against Everton in a Champions League qualification match in August 2005 which if you think about it, really does not count as Everton have never been a Champions League side.......

I will be a nervous wreck come 7.45pm, but I think I will be as happy as Larry come 10.30pm....... That is of course if they finish on time!

BTW - Anyone fancies watching this game with the Football Guy and some of his buddies, do come down to the Old Red Lion in Islington....... You can miss me, I'm the 6'7ft guy with a beard!

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

OK friends, that's your lot, I'll be back tomorrow...... Possibly clean shaven, but hopefully not!

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things are quite here in the broom closet at Football Guy Towers, not really much to report on other than the fact I'm ready to go back to work after what seemed like the longest Easter bank holiday weekend in recorded history, that's right, I'm moaning about bank holidays........ Whats wrong with me?

The Champions League is back tonight and unfortunately for tonight at least I don't think we have all that much to look forward too, with in my opinion, both ties being pretty much settled. It's going to be like watching a movie you have seen before and don't really like (if you are a neutral) but I guess if your a fan of either Chelsea or Barca then it's like watching your favorite porno over and over again, loads of pleasure and no risk!

Let's take a closer look.

Bayern Munich v Barcelona

Barca take a 4-0 lead into the second leg of a tie which is deader (is that a real word?) than Jade Goody (too soon?).

I really do love it when the manager of the winning team tries to be polite about the situation like Pep Guardiola has been with his pre match quotes -

"Bayern can score four goals and even more when they're on the back foot.

I don't believe it when they say the tie's over. I'm sure they'll be up for it and (Franck) Ribery and company are dangerous players."

He sounds like a guy who has just met his mates new girlfriend for the first time and thinks she is a dog but is not going to tell his mate that so he says stuff like - "She seems like a nice girl" or "She has real good dress sense".

Would it not be better and much funnier if Pep came out with -

"Bayern are a beaten team, we crushed them once and if we want too we will crush them again.

There is more chance of me giving birth to Jesus Christ than there is of us losing this tie."

Lights up a cigar leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind is head.

That would be way cooler than basically pretending that Munich have a chance tonight.

As far as I'm aware, neither team has any new injuries since the first leg but I'm sure Barca will rest a couple of their stars for tonight, which might mean we get to see Alexander Hleb....... Don't expect  to see a goal from him, but do expect to see loads of dribbling with poor pea-roller shots.

Bayern might beat them tonight, but don't expect the greatest comeback in Champions League history........... Yes Liverpool fans, I think this would be a bigger comeback than yours in 2005.

Football Guy verdict 2-1

Chelsea v Liverpool

Not sure why I have a picture of John Terry for this game as he is suspended....... But hey, I'm sure he will be there in spirit on the pitch.

The talk from the dressing room is that Liverpool will risk their inspirational Captain Stevie G for tonight's game and boy do they need a special performance from him.

The problem for me Liverpool have is that they need goals, and that's not been something they have managed in abundance against Chelsea, especially at Stamford Bridge, having failed to score in three of their last four visits to the Bridge in the Champions League. Even if you look back at the two victories in the league, they scored two very late goals at Anfield and at the Bridge (when they ended Chelsea's 47 year unbeaten run at home) it was a game without many real chances and the winner was a deflected Xabi Alonso strike.

Liverpool need to score early and they will need at least three goals to pull this off, so they can afford to throw caution to the wind as even if Chelsea score one it would not change the fact that the Reds need three to get back in the tie.

I'm hoping Liverpool do score two early as it will be a much better spectacle for all of us having to put up with David Pleat's commentary tonight on ITV....... Please let it be Jim Beglin.

Football Guy's verdict 1-1 although I think this could well be wrong if Liverpool go Gung-ho in the last 10 minutes.

OK peeps, see you tomorrow.

Take care

Football Guy 

 

Hi and hello Football fans it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. Things are a little bit chilly here in the broom closet at Football Guy Towers and I'm not sure why, so I've plugged in my electric heater and got a little blanket wrapped a round me at my desk....... Really, I am cold!

I'm also a little annoyed this morning as I had one of the most horrid things done to me that a person could do............. I had a phone call 25 minutes before my alarm was set to go off! WHY GOD........ I hate it when that happens, as I find it impossible to fall back asleep and I keep counting down the minutes until I have to wake up. Had it been an important call I would not have minded, but unfortunately it was the recruitment agency I use giving me a courtesy call......... Fuck you, when I need to speak to you I will, don't call me EVER, just to see how I'm doing...... ASSHOLES!

Liverpool v Chelsea

OK, I hold my hands up. I didn't see this coming, but hey, |I doubt many of you guys did either and to be fair to me I only said 1-0 to Liverpool, I read a lot of other people (some who get paid to do this) tout 3-0 or 3-1........ I certainly didn't read to many 1-3, especially when you think that Chelsea, out of five games so far against the "Big Four" have had four defeats and one draw, hardley form to write home about.

So when Fernando Torres gave Liverpool the lead after six minutes, I thought it was business as usual, but then something happened, Chelsea started to take over the game, winning those 50/50 balls and looking like the team most likely to score.

Drogba could have had two in the first have had it not been for Pepe Reina, but instead the man who did get two was probably Chelsea most unlikeliest man to do so..... Well baring Petr Cech. Branislav Ivanovic, welcome to Chelsea folklore. His two goals, whilst well taken headers were, to quote Alan Hansen "Shocking defending" on Liverpool's part and something you really would not expect.

Drogba did eventually get on the score sheet and his goal virtually killed the tie. I don't see Liverpool beating Chelsea by three goals at Stamford Bridge, yes I know the beat United at Old Trafford only a few weeks ago 4-1 but lets face it, how often to does sort of results happen?

All in all, Chelsea were the better team and deserved the win.

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Looks like I gave Bayern too much credit yesterday, silly me thinking they would score a goal........

At least I was right about how many Barca would score. I said 4-1 it ended up 4-0 but it felt like if Barca needed 10 they would have scored 10.

I'm not surprised in the slightest. We all know Barca are one of the best teams in the world, but I knew Bayern are a average team with a poor defence and that spells trouble when your up against arguably the best three man attck in the world. Messi, Eto and Henry tore them apart with relative ease and the only black mark on the game was when Messi was booked for a dive by Howard Webb when the replay clearly showed it was a penalty to Barca.

So it looks like we are set for a Chelsea Barcelona semi final and to be honest, after last night performances, you can't really argue against it.

OK peeps, I shall be back tomorrow with the weekend preview, till then

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. Things in the broom closet here at Football Guy Towers are a little tired and by things I mean me...... I guess I'm not used to waking up early anymore, so until I get back into the groove or change my hours again at work I guess I will have to deal with the sandbags pulling at my eyelids in the mornings.

Anyway, enough about my tiredness, what an excellent night of Champions League Football we had last night, both games were tense yet exciting, with "Good Football" played by all four teams involved and if tonight is as good as last night, we really are in for a treat.

Manchester United v Porto

OK, so maybe I underestimated Porto a little yesterday in my predictions....... Or did I? Maybe I underestimated how far United have fallen in their last couple of games? Either way my prediction of a 2-0 pretty comfortable win for United was pretty far off the mark.

I thought United would get back on track after the International break, but it seems to have done them no good. But I think the problems they are facing right now if we look closely at them are ones they have had for about 18 months.

Last season C-Ron saved them in so many games with his 40+ goals as they conquered all before them, this year for that long stretch when they were not scoring their defence bailed the, out by going 14 (I think?) games without conceding....... Now it seems they look tired and spent...... Not a good time of the year for this to happen.

They seem to have no answers for teams that attack them and that is exactly what has happened in their last four matches, Liverpool, Fulham, Aston Villa and Porto all attacked them and had it not been for a 17 year old Italian that none of us had really heard of until Sunday the would not have won any of the matches.

I think the least Porto deserved last night was a draw and I could not believe that this was the same Porto team I saw earlier in the season get destroyed at the Emirates. I do think there was a hint of a handball for Porto's late equalizer, but then again I thought Porto also should have had a penalty when Tevez clumsily brought down one of their players in the United box at 1-1.

Anyway, United need to basically now beat Porto away to advance, something not to many teams have done and I think this is where their defence of their crown ends.

Villarreal v Arsenal

I think Villarreal manager Manuel Pellegrini is as good as they come!

He I think realized if his team is to progress past Arsenal they would have to beat them at home and that's what he set out to do from the start.

I could not believe the tempo they played at in the first half, it seemed everytime an Arsenal player had the ball there was a yellow shirt there ready to may a tackle and more impressively for me was the quick passing and movement shown buy their midfield and attack when they went forward, something Arsenal failed to do it the first half...... You could say they were beating Arsenal at their own game.

I must say though at half-time I was not that worried, I thought Arsene would see that and Arsenal came out in the second half with the urgency and movement they needed....... The other reason I was not that worried was because there was no way in hell Villarreal could keep that tempo up for 90 minutes, it was like all their players snorted 3 massive line of coke right before kick-off and come the second half they started to tire giving Arsenal more initiative.

Some might argue that Arsenal were a bit lucky as Ade's goal was truly out of this world..... But hey, Marcos Senna's was not that bad either.

All in all I think Arsenal got the result they needed and are now in pole position to advance to the semi finals. something I'm very confident they will do....... BTW, I said it would be 1-1 yesterday!

Adebayor

It seems to me this guy just can win with most Arsenal fans, no matter what he does he gets criticized.

Last night all I could hear from a lot of Arsenal fans was moaning about Ade losing the ball or not managing to hold the ball up......... HE WAS BY HIMSELF WITH TWO DEFENDERS CONSTANTLY AROUND HIM!!!!!

It really pissed me off, Ade was upfront by himself and anytime he did get the ball at his feet there was nobody in support most of the time, what do you want from him Arsenal fans? Bring the ball down, beat 10 men and score and over head kick? I'm sorry, but he can only do one of those!

I hear the Robin Van Persie fan boys constantly bitching about how Ade is shit and Robin is the way forward and we should sell Ade..... If Ade goes, who going to score 30 goals in a season? Not Robin I can guarantee.

For most Arsenal fans Van Persie is having a great season and Ade is having a shit season, yet when I look at the stats Ade has out scored Robin in both the Premiership and Champions League and despite Van Persie scoring four goals in the FA Cup (Ade has yet to play in it this season) he only has scored one goal more than Ade........ So if Van Persie is having a great season, why is Ade's shit?

If I were Ade id fuck off as I am totally under appreciated by the majority of Arsenal fans.

Who in the last 10 years has scored 30 goals in a season for Arsenal other than Henry? Ade (Arsenal fans are lucky if RvP plays 30 games in a season). Who scored they vital goal last night? Ade.

I know he can be frustrating at times but for fuck sake back off. He is still are biggest goal threat and HAS scored the goals, so give the guy a break.

 

 

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

I know most people in England will be watching Liverpool take on Chelsea tonight, but I'm telling you now....... You might miss something special in Barcelona.

Barca are going to thrash this sorry excuse for a Bayern team.

Wolfsburg destroyed them on the weekend 5-1....... WOLFSBURG!!!!!!! (OK Wolfsburg are top of the German League)

I've watch quite a bit of the German League this season as it's been very competitive (and high scoring) with five teams battling it out for the title and Bayern have been whooped quite a few times.

So if the best of the German League can put 4-5 past Bayern quite a few times this season, what do you think one of the best teams in the world will do to them?

Football Guy's verdict 4-1

Liverpool v Chelsea

This is the 236th meeting between these two in the last five years........ OK, OK, it's really their 23rd..... But it feels more like their 236th.

These two teams no each other well and dislike each other just as much.

Under normal circumstances I'd say Chelsea would go through as they play the all important 2nd leg at home, but since Liverpool have their date with destiny with Arsenal in the final I know it will be the Reds who will prevail.

I don't really have much to say that has not already been said a thousand times over the past five years.

It's going to be close, it's not going to be pretty and Steven Gerrard will score!

I will try to watch both games if I can, but I know which one wont have that many goals in it.

Football Guy's verdict 1-0

READERS COMMENTS

I few of you have mentioned the beard and all I have to say is, YES, I'm still keeping it until Arsenal get knocked out, which unfortunately for my pulling life will probably be the end of May.........

It had been grating on me, but I think a lot of that had to do with the fact there was such a long break in between the 2nd round and quarter finals of the Champions League, the reason for the beard...... Now that it's back in full swing again I've come to love the beard again and will be dying it half red and half white if Arsenal get to the final!

The Man from Leeds

Wrote about how I didn't include Matty Taylor in the "would never picl as captian" section in the Monday Hangover.........

OK, I see your point and from now on, if Matty Taylor has a big week I will include him in that section...... Or will I? Now that you have brought him in to the public eye, maybe he becomes a viable options for captain? Wait until Friday to see if a recommend him in the weekend preview.

BTW - Do you have him if your fantasy team? Or have you resently become his agent? Because you seem to be championing his cause quite a bit......

Take care

Football Guy 

Hi and hello Football fans it's your old pal Roko the Football Guy, whats going down? I hope all is well wherever you are. Things are early here in the broom closet at Football Guy Towers, nice and early..... OK (8.20am at time of writing) I realize many people are already at work at this time but for me.... It's early!

Before we get to the matter at hand, namely the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QF!!!!! I wanted to clear up a few things first -

Where is Lawro?

It's Tuesday morning and his results are nowhere to be seen on the BBC's website.... Boo. This is the LINK to where his predictions should be and as you can see, there not there. Quite annoying to say the least. From what I can remember I think he got two perfect scores and about six correct scores which would mean I'm kicking his butt again but hey, what else is new? I will post his official scores up as soon as I know them.

Why I didn't mention Matty Taylor in Fantasy Football

Long time reader I'm not from Leeds writes -

what about Matthew Taylor, "Players you should have made Captain but never would"?

Well there is a simple reason for that...... I "would" make him captain. I'm not saying he is a defo captain choice but I think if you didn't really have that many options or were trailing your leader in your league Matty Taylor at home to Boro might not be that bad a choice. I would not say Taylor is a player I "Never would make captain".

But hey, that's my opinion.

Fantasy Football question

Avid reader IAWWT writes -

What points are you on by the way? Just so I know what I am up against...

I assume you do the budweiser / premiership, one everyone does?

To clarify, yes it is the Budweiser one, the one everyone does. and as for points, I currently lead my league with 1676 points which puts me 8,169th overall out of 1,916,897 people...... Not bad huh? It's actually down on the last season were I finished with 2218 but still.... Not bad huh?

Manchester United v Porto

Many moons ago and former interpreter and part time wise man led a plucky team from Portugal to the knockout stages of the Champions League to face the might and power that is Manchester United and their Demi-God manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

That Porto team contained the like of Ricky C and Art Deco, both of Chelsea fame (and some other guy who claims to be a full back call Paulo something....) They also had one time decent striker Benni McCarthy and some other bunch of misfits none of whom at the time people thought much off, anyway as the story goes, or so I'm told...... They conquered the "Red Devils" in their own lair - The Theater of Dreams -  and went on to claim the holiest of holy prizes, the Champions League grail.

Thins Porto team has a guy called "The Hulk" playing for them........ Nuff said.

I guess this is as good a time as any to face United, a team that looks a shadow of the one we thought was going to conquer all before it a couple of weeks ago, but regardless, this Porto side is not all that..... In fact they are terrible away, as show in the group stages when Arsenal who, without playing very well in my opinion thrashed them 4-0. I really think this match up is United's to lose and the only way they can do that is by fucking up the first leg because as bad as Porto are away, they are not too shabby at home.

Stranger things have happened in Football before, but tonight in this one I don't see an upset on the cards.

Football guy's verdict 2-0

Villarreal v Arsenal

Arsenal are a team arguably playing their best Football since the famous "Invincible" season..... I say arguably but since this is the longest they have gone unbeaten in the league since that season I think it's a pretty good argument.

The "Yellow Submarine" come in to this match of the back of a 3-0 beating at the weekend with former Gunners Great Robert "Bobby" Pires being sent off, not the best way to come in to a big game.

If Villarreal are to knock out Arsenal it will have to be from the result of the first leg I feel as their home for in Europe has been quite impressive -

Never lost a home match in the CL (won four, drawn three).

Unbeaten in 15 European home matches, which is a club record.

Although if they fail to beat Arsenal tonight they will also have set a rather unwanted record for the Champions League -

Most consecutive winless home matches in the Champions League.

I expect Arsenal to go through, although I feel this first leg will be tougher than a lot of people are expecting.

Football Guy's verdict 1-1

My beard

As some of you already know, I've been growing a "Champions League" beard since the start of the knockout phase, which will stay until Arsenal get knocked out. Now with a full month and a bit's worth of growth under my chin it's starting to piss me off!

I'm not saying I want Arsenal to go out so I can shave and have my good looks back, but every cloud has it's silver lining.........

Take care

Football Guy