Bleacher Report - Articles by Salomon Gonzales

FIFA World Cup Draw: Denmark Grouped with Holland, Japan, and Cameroon

Salomon Gonzales — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:48:22 -0500

Denmark might not have landed in the proverbial "group of death ," but they sure have been handed a tough group with a lot of World Cup experience.

Between them, Holland, Japan, and Cameroon have 17 World Cup appearances, which makes Denmark, with only three previous World Cup appearances, the side with the shared least experience.

The pick of the group will be Holland and Morten Olsen has already gone on record stating the obvious.

He told Ekstra Bladet , "Holland are clear favorites and we (the other three nations) must fight it out for second place."

Not a wise thing to say at all. Even if he is simply stating the obvious, such talk is not the sort of thing the Danish players and public want to hear right now.

While the whole world had their eyes on the "group of death," who would land in Spain's group, and where France's ill-gotten qualification would take them, I'm pretty sure Denmark, Holland, Japan, and Cameroon are all quietly believe that they can make it out of this very interestingly Group E.

With eight previous appearances, Holland is the most experienced side in the group but have never won the cup. Their best results came in 1974 (West Germany) and then in 1978 (Argentina).

Denmark has beaten Holland in major tournaments before, but we have to go back 17 years (1992) to find the semifinal encounter during Euro'92 in Sweden.

Two goals from the eventual golden boot winner Henrik Larsen were cancelled out—first by Dennis Bergkamp and then in the 86th minute by Frank Rijkaard.

The match proceeded on to a shoot-out and everybody scored their spot kicks except one player, which placed Denmark in the final.

That player happened to go by the name of Marco Van Basten.

Olsen certainly showed his respect (or fear) for Holland and Bert van Marwijk was quick to return the favor saying the Danes are "very underrated."

"Denmark won their qualification group containing sides like Portugal and Sweden. It would be extremely foolish to under-estimate them and we certainly won't do that," he told Telegraaf.

"We (the Dutch) are known for our arrogance but that needs to be turned into confidence. We have often made the mistake of getting too happy too quickly and that was one of the first things I had to work on when I started," he continued in Ritzau.

Meanwhile, the Japanese coach, Takeshi Okada has stated that he knows nothing about Denmark and their capabilities.

Okada said, "I have no information on Denmark and Cameroon but thankfully, we have a long time yet to study them and hopefully next summer, we will know everything there is to know about these countries."

Denmark and History

As mentioned, Denmark has only ever appeared in three World Cup finals. The last two were quite recent, in France in 1998 and Japan/Korea in 2002.

The first one was all the way back in Mexico in 1986 and the years of the famous " Danish dynamite." After qualifying for their first every World Cup, Denmark shocked the world by sweeping their group—which contained West Germany, Scotland, and Urugay—with maximum points.

After beating Scotland in the opening group match (1-0), they thrashed the highly rated Uruguay side (6-1), before clinching the top spot by beating favorites West Germany (2-0).

Led by strikers Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjaer, Denmark took the whole world by surprise, not only with their results, but with their playing style. Arriving in Mexico virtually unknown, they came with a sway of arrogance and that certainly showed on the pitch.

Once in the knockout rounds, Denmark let themselves down and were sent home packing by Spain with a 5-1 spanking. Arrogance can be an advantage sometimes, but if not controlled, it could turn out to be your downfall.

Lesson learned.

Denmark got their chance to right the wrongs in 1992 when they were unexpectedly awarded (after failing to qualify) a place in Euro '92 after Yugoslavia, Denmark's conqueror's, were prevented from taking part.

Denmark was determined to not "just make up the numbers" after being labeled the groups "whipping boys." . As it turned out, they did more than that, emerging as Euro '92 winners in the final against Germany.

Playing in the World Cup in 1998 provided Denmark with another chance to impress the football world and after a pretty average group performance, Denmark set the World Cup alight by thrashing the talented Nigeria 4-1 before bowing out to Brazil in a highly entertaining 3-2 defeat.

The 2002 World Cup was a tournament to forget. Even though they helped eliminate France by beating them in the group stage (2-0) they were eventually sent packing by England (3-0) in the round of last 16.

Group E-Players to Watch Out For

Holland

Holland boasts a bunch of highly rated players that could potentially set the tournament on fire.

Robin Van Persie (if fit), Arjen Robben (if fit), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Rafael Van Der Vaart are all capable of that bit of magic that can turn a match on its head.

Cameroon

Samuel Eto'o is the obvious one to look out for. Over the years, he has proved that he is a lethal and prolific goal scorer.

Arsenal's Alexandre Song, Tottenham's Bassong, and Assou-Ekotto are other notable players in Cameroon's squad.

Japan

No real obvious star in this current Japan side. With only five players playing their football outside Japan, what they achieve will be done so with a bunch of unknowns.

Denmark

Jon Dahl Tomasson, Christian Poulsen, Dennis Rommedahl, and Daniel Agger will have to play well for Denmark to progress out of this group.

The key players however, will be Nicklas Bendtner and Simon Kjaer.

What they do or don't do, will determine how Denmark fares next summer.

" Denmark might not have landed in the proverbial " group of death" but they sure have been handed a tough group with a lot of World Cup experience."

Denmark 3-1 USA: Danes Come from Behind to Sink the Americans

Salomon Gonzales — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:10:54 -0500

Match: Denmark vs USA
Occasion: Friendly Match
Location: [NRGi Park] , Aarhus
Referee: Craig Thompson (SCO)

It was a night where both coaches chose to experiment with their squads. Having already qualified for the World Cup, key players were excused as fringe players and youngsters were given their chance to prove themselves.

While experienced veterans Tomasson, Jørgensen, and Rommedahl were subject to criticism in recent weeks, a hole host of domestic talent gave themselves a shot at being on the plane to South Africa.

First half

After defeat to Hungary in Copenhagen and a disappointing stalemate with South Korea, Denmark were on a mission to get a favorable result against the Americans and they started brightly.

Former Chelsea winger Jesper Grønkjær passed up a fantastic chance to give Denmark the lead, in only the second minute, when he woefully missed from close range.

However, that was pretty much as good as it got for the Danes in the first half as USA started controlling proceedings and knocking the ball around smoothly, much to the irritation of Coach Olsen.

Things took a turn for the worse when, the usually trusty, Sørensen miss-kicked the ball straight to Jeffrey Cunningham, who said thank you very much by putting the Americans 1-0 up.

It went from bad to worse when local lad Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen, went off injured and was replaced by his club teammate Martin Bernburg.

Nonetheless, the Danes held on till half time with the score only 1-0. The commentators described it the worst half of football they had witnessed from the national side and a strong teamtalk was expected at half time..

Second Half

Olsen didn't just leave it at that and he made three halftime changes. He replaced first team regulars Poulsen, Grønkjær and Jensen with the unknown prospects of William Kvist (24), Johan Absalonsen (23) and Søren Rieks (22), who before the night had nine caps between them, with latter two only having one cap each to their name.

The changes immediately paid dividens as Absalonsen [pictured] equalised in 47th min after latching onto a sublime, over-the-top ball from Kjær. Absalonsen was again in the thick of the action as he turned supplier and with a lovely cross found fellow substitue Rieks to make 2-1 in 52nd minute.

On 54 minutes, the match was over as another substitute, albeit an earlier one, Bernburg scored to make it 3-1.

Now that the Danes were firmly in the comfort zone, they began playing the sort of football we've come to expect from them.

Reaction

"Scoring for your country is a crazy feeling. I was a little nervous before coming because the team hadn't really performed well and the coach threw us in, hoping we would change the match. That is a big responsebility but we did it and I'm extremely proud", said the goal scorer Absalonsen.

Meanwhile, Olsen praised the domestic talent that was on show tonight.

"Things weren't going so well in the first half and I decided to give the lads a chance to showcase what they could on the international stage and I couldn't have asked for a better response.

"It just shows that there is whole host undiscovered home-grown talent, who are just waiting for their opportunity. Some of them got it tonight and they didn't disappoint", he said.

Denmark 3-1 USA (0-1)

Goals: 0-1 Jeffrey Cunningham (26.), 1-1 Johan Absalonsen (47.), 2-1 Søren Rieks (52.), 3-1 Martin Bernburg (54.)

Denmark (4-3-3): Thomas Sørensen, Lars Jacobsen, Simon Kjær, Per Krøldrup, Michael Lumb - Christian Poulsen (Søren Rieks, 46), Martin Jørgensen (Jesper Bech, 79.), Daniel Jensen (William Kvist, 46.) - Jakob Poulsen, Morten 'Duncan' Rasmussen' (Martin Bernburg, 35.) (Thomas Enevoldsen, 89.), Jesper Grønkjær (Johan Absalonsen, 46.)

USA (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Jonathan Spector (Clarence Goodson, 69.), Carlos Bocanegra, Frankie Hejduk, Jonathan Bornstein - Stuart Holden (Castillo, 61.), Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley (Rogers, 61.), Ricardo Clark - Jozy Altidore, Jeffrey Cunningham (Eddie Johnson, 61.)

Drama in Scandiniva As Denmark Qualify and Sweden Lose Their Coach

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:13:30 -0400

Big Match: Denmark vs Sweden
Event: World Cup Qualifier
Location: [Parken], Copenhagen
Time: 20:00 GMT

It was a night where Sweden had it all to do. Before a ball was kicked, Sweden was sitting in second place, uncomfortably looking over their shoulders with Portugal and Hungary breathing down their necks.

They could take comfort in the fact that those two countries (Portugal and Hungary) were actually facing each other in Group A's other big match. A draw would suit them down to the ground, whatever the outcome in Copenhagen.

As usual with these two neighbouring countries meeting, a lot was said in the build up to the match and emotions were clearly running high but it was events on the pitch that provided the most talking points.

It is worth noting that this was Coach Olsen's 100th match in charge. An admirable milestone indeed!

First Half

If the atmosphere inside [Parken] was loud in the recent home game against Portugal, this time it was downright intimidating.

Barely five minutes was played, when Bendtner got his first sight at goal but he couldn't get enough power behind his effort and it was easily saved. The Arsenal forward was pushed to the left to accommodate the return of captain Jon Dahl Tommason.

A minute later, it was Jakob Poulsen's turn to spurn a half chance. An inviting cross found Poulsen in a bit of space but he could only guide his weak header into the palms of Isaksson.

Unfortunately, that was as big an opportunity the Danes would get all half, as Sweden began pulling the strings.

Star strikers Ibrahimovic and Larsson both went close to opening the scoring but none were clinical enough to beat Sørensen. However, it seemed only a matter of time before the Swedes took the lead.

Such was their dominance...

Second Half

Sweden began the second period as they ended the first-pounding on the Danish goal. They were much more aggressive than the first half, thus creating more chances.

As time went on, there was suddenly total silence inside the stadium as Larsson fired the ball into the back of the net and wild celebrations erupted in the away end. However, the noise levels soon rose again as the linesman chalked off the goal for offside.

Sweden's suffered further disappointment as their dominance brought about another goal, only for it to be disallowed once again. This time the goal was judged to have been out of play before it was crossed by Ibrahimovic.

To add insult to injury, Denmark took the lead against the run of play to spark wild scenes of wild celebrations.

On 79 minutes, Bendtner squared the ball for for Poulsen, who fired the ball from way outside the box into the bottom corner.

The goal proved to be enough as the ref blew the whistle that saw Denmark reach the first major tournament since 2002.

Swedish reaction

Zlatan Ibrahimovic thought the Danish victory was undeserved and Sweden should have won the match.

"It was totally undeserved. We were better than them but they got the three points they needed to reach the World Cup." he said.

Though, he thinks Sweden deserved more out of the match, he doesn't believe their World Cup hopes would have been won or lost in this match.

"It's not tonight defeat that doomed us. We have played many matches before where we just haven't done the business. We can put it down to bad luck or bad performances but the fact is, we just haven't been good enough." he continued.

Meanwhile Swedish coach, Lars Lagerbäck announced he would quit his job after the match against Albania on Wednesday. He will only stay on if the miracle Sweden are hoping for, comes true - a Portugal defeat and a Sweden win - which will effectively see Sweden claim the playoff spot.

"We spoke of it yesterday and again today. We agreed that Roland (assistant manager) and I will call it quits, " he said.

"Right now, I'm very sad and disappointed. Right now, I'm disappointed and I can't get the Denmark game out of my head," he said when asked about his favorite moments as coach of the national team.

Another member of the Swedish set up to call it quits is captain and veteran Henrik Larsson.

The 38 year old striker, will play his last match against Albania and will not take part in the World Cup, should Sweden make it.

"The way I feel right now, I won't be taking part of any more matches after Wednesday night, regardless of whether my country make it to the World Cup or not," he said.

Larsson, who has played for clubs such as Celtic, Manchester United, Barcelona, and now plays in Helsingborg, has not yet decided when to end his career. When that happens, he will most certainly take up a coaching role.

"I have picked up a lot of experience over the years and I have a clear vision of what I want to do when I become a manager. The style of play, tactics and glory is already going through in my head," he continued.

Danish reaction

As expected, the wild celebrations in Copenhagen went on late into the night.

Denmark qualified for the World Cup in South Africa in the sweetest way possible—beating their neighbours and arch-rivals and in process, give their World Cup hopes a huge blow.

Coach Olsen had the biggest smile on his face, when he met up with the press, the day after sealing qualification and he came with one message...

"This side is showing signs of something big," he said.

"This is the biggest achievement of my coaching career and I am overwhelmed. Unforseen incidents meant that I had to use 37 different players during the qualifying campaign and it made things difficult at one stage but one way or another, all 37 players and everybody else that have been in and around the team, they delivered." he continued.

Danish legend Michael Laudrup believes this Danish side can do some damage in South Africa, though he isn't getting ahead of himself just yet.

"It was a great, great night to be a Dane and although there were a few obstacles on the way, the boys did fantastic to stick together and deliver when it mattered.

"However, just getting there isn't enough and the boys have to dig deep to deliver some outstanding performances in South Africa because some pretty strong nations are going to be there.

"England have repeatedly showed what a quality side they are with quality players that everyone knows about. Brazil are still the best in the world. Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands all possess world class players but if our boys play like we know they can play, getting in the mix of those top nations shouldn't be a problem." He continued.

Portugal 3-0 Hungary

In Group A's other big match, Portugal knew they had to win this match to stand any chance of qualifying, regardless of the outcome in Copenhagen and they did.

An outstanding display from Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco and Simao put Hungary to the sword.

The result means Portugal leap frog Sweden into second place with only one match remaining.

Group standings

1. Denmark - 21 pts
2. Portugal  - 16 pts
3. Sweden   - 15 pts
4. Hungary  - 13 pts
5. Albania    - 7 pts
6. Malta       - 1 pt

Last round of matches

Sweden vs Albania
Denmark vs Hungary
Portugal vs Malta

Highlights

Denmark 1-0 Sweden

Portugal 3-0 Hungary

Blues Talk: The Aftermath of Chelsea's Wigan Athletic Disaster

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:20:50 -0400

Speaking to a few Chelsea fans, they would have you believe Chelsea's season had just ended. Some were calling Ancelotti's head, while others simply believed the ref was on some sort of one man mission to bring Chelsea down.

The reality of it all though, is that Chelsea lost a Premier League match to a very good, hard-working Wigan side—a mere three points were lost in a season that consists of 38 matches.

Chelsea came into the match boasting the only remaining 100 percent record in the league. Carlo Ancelotti had indeed started his Chelsea career impressively. Players were confident, fans were buoyant, and everybody associated with Chelsea was generally enjoying the season, thus far.

However, it was the general consensus that a defeat or a bad performance was due sooner or later.

Ancelotti had gone on record before the match and stated that Chelsea were not invincible. Though he was speaking the truth, it was definitely ill-advised as the very first match after he made those comments, Chelsea lost!

Obviously Wigan was not the place they expected to lose, but if Chelsea are going to have a bad day at the office then I'd rather it was at Wigan than Manchester United or Liverpool.

Chelsea have a great opportunity on Wednesday to bounce back, and I don't think they could have asked for a better game on Sunday to show everyone what they are made of. Yes, being without Big Pete is a shame but Hilario (or Turnbull) will have all week to focus on the game, watch the video's, and get into a bit more intensive training.

John Terry has already read the riot act so I am certain that Liverpool will be sitting thinking they could not be coming to the Bridge at a worse time. It's normally difficult for them anyway, but now they face a team with something to prove.

Since the match, Captain Terry (as mentioned), Drogba, and Cech have voiced their concerns over the performance or certain events that occurred within the match.

Big Pete questioned the sending off decision.

"We played very badly," Cech told his personal website. "We were not going along with the tasks we had set before the match. In the second half our performance improved, we equalised but then the penalty came.

"The penalty call was too strict," added Cech. "It surprised me that I was sent off, because I was not the last player. Ashley Cole was running behind my back."

I have to say I agree with the big man to a certain extent. I mean, it was definitely a penalty. There is no getting away from the fact that Rodallega was tripped and technically Cech has no case as it was a sending off offence, but did Almunia get sent off when he brought Rooney down at Old Trafford? No. Was the Celtic keeper sent off when he was adjudged to have brought down Eduardo? No.

Referees in general seem to have been using their discretion in these circumstances, judging the award of a penalty as harsh enough punishment. From that perspective, Cech certainly has a case.

Meanwhile, Drogba stated that it was his worst personal performance.

"We didn't play very well," he told the Evening Standard. "We lost all the battles, all the duels. We didn't win anything. We were poor.

"This is the worst game I have played in since I have been at Chelsea. We need to think about it, correct what was wrong and try to go again.

"We equalised just after half-time and we were trying to improve our game, but then there was the penalty and a red card, which I think was a bit harsh.

"Still with 10 players we had the chance to make it 2-2, but we didn't do it. There was a lot of space and they used the pitch very well, they deserved to win."

While acknowledging that Wigan deserved their win is commendable, has he already forgotten his pathetic display on that fateful night at Old Trafford last season?

As a new week begins, this weekend's shock events must be put aside while a new task presents itself. A potential banana skin fixture that could turn into a potential tricky match is on the cards, as Chelsea travel to Cyprus to face the unknown prospect of Apoel Nicosea.

That is followed by the blockbuster encounter with league rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

If there were ever a time for the players to step and prove themselves, this week would be it. There is a big question mark hanging over their heads.

This week Chelsea lost three points. Next week, another three points are on the line and so on and so on.

Chelsea Announce the Departure of Cheif Executive Peter Kenyon

Salomon Gonzales — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:41:46 -0400

Chelsea have announced that chief executive Peter Kenyon will leave his full-time role at Stamord Bridge at the end of next month.

Kenyon, who left Manchester United in 2003 to join the Blues, will depart his current role on Oct. 31 but will continue to represent Chelsea in various capacities, including committee roles with UEFA.

Kenyon said: "I intend to take a little time off before considering what I do next but I am certain I have at least one major challenge left in me."

"I am extremely proud of my time at Chelsea and of the friendships I have forged with everyone here."

"I have been in football for 15 years and I can say with great certainty and pleasure the experience at Chelsea is one of the best I have had."

"When I joined Chelsea it was an incredible challenge and together with all the staff, the players, the board and Roman, I think we have really built a club, in a relatively short space of time, that can be in the forefront of European football for many years to come. That is a major achievement."

"I am also delighted that our relationship is not ending and I can continue to make a contribution to keeping Chelsea in that position and to go back to visit friends."

Kenyon is generally perceived as man driven by money, money and more money. His controversial departure from Manchester United to join cash-rich Chelsea, was the first sign of his money driven ambition.

Not many men can unite the fans of United and Chelsea, but this chief executive did on the first meeting between the two sides after the move: “Kenyon, you’re a bastard,” was the chant.

United fan's hostility was understandable and natural—he had deserted their club and one of the first people to be lured to Chelsea by Abramovic's money. We, Chelsea fans, resented his treatment of Claudio Ranieri, the clubs manager at the time and a fans favourite.

One of the first things he did at Chelsea, was to sign long-term Manchester United target Arjen Robben and with that his once excellent relationship with Alex Ferguson went down the drain.

Kenyon has never been far away from controversy and the Ashley Cole affair was the tip of the iceberg as far the Kenyon and controversy are concerned.

Kenyon and Mourinho "just happened" to walk into a restaurant for a meeting with Pini Zahavi and saw Cole seated with their appointment.

If we go by Ashley Cole's explanation in his autobiography, it was still avoidable. These are supposed to be top professionals. Ashley Cole being an Arsenal player and Mourinho and Kenyon being top officials at rivals Chelsea, they must have known it would be a bad idea to sit at the same table.

All three people involved in that scandal, to this day, deny any wrong-doing.

Then we have the more recent incident—The Champions League Final.

If ever one moment summed up the contrast between the heritage and history of Manchester United and Chelsea, it came on that fatal Wednesday night. United’s winning presentation party was led by the distinguished and respected Bobby Charlton, a staunchly one-club man who modestly declined to place a winner’s medal around his neck.

Chelsea’s was preceded by Peter Kenyon, a chief executive!!

This was the most self-centred act I've ever witnessed in football. Sir Bobby Charlton, England's all-time leading goalscorer, declined his medal with dignity, in the knowledge that he hadn't played a part in the match.

Peter Kenyon, merely the face of Chelsea's corporate machine, couldn't wipe the smirk off his face as he collected his "losers" medal.

Absolutely shameful.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said: "Peter has done a fantastic job for Chelsea in the last five-and-a-half years and has been absolutely central to the success on and off the field we have had during that time."

"Without his football knowledge and business acumen Chelsea would not be where we are today."

"Everyone at Chelsea thanks him for that contribution and although he will not be with us on a permanent basis he will have an important role to play as a non-executive director and in the various roles he holds in European football bodies."

"When Peter first joined us we knew we were recruiting a top executive from business generally, not just football. With that always came a certain inevitability he would eventually want to seek a new challenge and I am sure that is what he will do."

Although, no Chelsea fan would be sad to see him leave, it has definitely come at the worst time possible—in the wake of FIFA ban that Chelsea were slammed with recently.

Is Kenyon jumping ship? Maybe so, now that there is a transfer ban there is absolutely no use for him as he was only there to tie up sponsorship deals and "tap up players."

What's the betting that he ends up with Manchester City? Probably the biggest mercenary in the game today bar none.

GOOD RIDDANCE!

Denmark 1-1 Portugal: Bendtner Scores A Beauty To Leave Portugal Hanging On

Salomon Gonzales — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:03:54 -0400

Big Match: Denmark vs Portugal
Event: World Cup Qualifier
Location: [Parken], Copenhagen
Time: 20:00 GMT

Denmark took another massive step towards World Cup qualification by holding favourites Portugal to a 1-1 draw in Copenhagen last night.

In a match where anything but a win would almost certainly doom the Portuguese, they came out of the traps playing like a team possessed.

At the start of the day, they were seven points behind group leaders Denmark, with only four matches left to play for - that's 12 points.

Prior to the match, Coach Olsen urged the crowd to become the proverbial 12th man for their side. They didn't disappoint, as the the two teams walked out to a deafening atmosphere that brought back memories of the good old glory days of both teams.

FIRST HALF

The Portuguese players didn't seem at all fazed. They began controlling procedures right from kick off and squandered a number of chances to take the lead. "The superstar" (as the Danish commentators called Cristiano Ronaldo with great sarcasm) had a host of long range off-target shots. Every one of them met with loud cheers from the home crowd.

Stephan Andersen, who had a great first half, was called into action once more when Simao managed what Ronaldo had failed to do - to force Andersen into a meaningful save.

It was Portugal's biggest and best opportunity and just when the match appeared to be headed for a goalless first half, the man of the moment stepped up and fired in a goal which even the great Ronaldo (Brazilian) would be proud of.

A seemingly hopeful cross was lodged into the penalty box and with three Portugal defenders around him, Nicklas Bendtner confidently chest-controlled the ball before blasting the ball into the top corner.

It was a goal that oozed pure class, and was one that Arsenal fans should be proud of.

SECOND HALF

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first, with Portugal continuing to dictate the play and enjoying most of the chances, but continually failing to take advantage of their dominant possession. Ronaldo meanwhile continued to try his luck, with a number of long range efforts - none of which forced a save out of the 'keeper.

[Parken] was buzzing but nobody could escape the inevitable Portuguese onslaught on the Danish goal. It was a nail-biting finish and when Portugal were awarded a freekick on the edge of the area, nobody dared to look. That was until we saw Ronaldo step up, that settled our nerves a bit.

As expected, he fired it well wide and the party in the stands continued.

With 85 minutes on the clock, Portugal finally got the equaliser they had long waited for. A corner was sent over from the right by Brazilian born playmaker Deco to be met by another Brazilian-born player, Leidson, who headed home to give his adopted nation a glimmer of hope.

However, despite their hopes, the match ultimately finished 1-1, to leave Denmark on the brink of qualification and Portugal on the brink of elimination. Sweden's win in Hungary means they leapfrogged Portugal into third spot in the group.

Portugal will surely need to win their last three matches against second placed Hungary and Malta to stand any chance. Still that might not be enough to guarantee them a place in the World Cup.

REACTION

Chelsea star Deco was understandable disappointed after such a dominant display went unrewarded.

"We played well", he said. "Better than them".

"But they scored first. We had many chances, just like in the first match which they won", he continued.

When quizzed about his adopted nation's World Cup chances, he wasn't exactly confident.

"We need to win our last three matches and hope for some luck in the other matches along the way" he said.

As Deco was wandering off back to the dressing rooms, Ronaldo appeared and gave a quick but effective interview to Portuguese TV.

"Sorry, not today", he said.

He was obviously not happy with his nation's, and in particular his own performance.

Carlos Queiroz was also far from happy, and believed the Danes had Nicklas Bendtner to thank for the draw.

"The difference between the sides was Bendtner", he said.

"Bendtner had one chance all night and he took it with great maturity", he continued.

Unfortunately, that was as far as he would go in praising the Danes, if indeed he was doing that.

"We were cheated out of five penalties. The only person who did not see it was the referee. It (the referee's performance) has put a huge dent in our qualification hopes but we will stay strong and keep believing. Now we must hope the Danes can beat Sweden."

BENDTNER'S MESSEGER TO WENGER

"I'm a central striker, not a winger", he said.

"I've always seen myself as a central striker and aim to play there every game. I just want to play though and if Wenger wants me to play on the wing, then that's what I'll do. Last season I was primarily used on the left side. This season I'm being used on the right but as I said, I just want to play central" he continued.

See the goals here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swc3cYg3szs&feature=related

FIFA Ban Chelsea from Signing Any Players Until January 2011

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:49:49 -0400

FIFA have hit Chelsea FC with a shock ban, that prevents the club from signing any new players until January 2011.

The news come about after it was revealed that Chelsea young French starlet, Gael Kakuta, was "induced" to breach his contract with his previous club Lens.

FIFA said in a statement: "The French club had lodged a claim with FIFA seeking compensation for breach of contract from the player and requesting also sporting sanctions to be imposed on the player and the English club for breach of contract and inducement to breach of contract respectively.

"The DRC found that the player had indeed breached a contract signed with the French club. Equally, the DRC deemed it to be established that the English club induced the player to such breach.

"As a result the player was condemned to pay compensation in the amount of EUR 780,000, for which the club, Chelsea, is jointly and severally liable, and sporting sanctions were imposed on both the player and Chelsea in accordance with art. 17 par. 3 and 4 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

"A restriction of four months on his eligibility to play in official matches is imposed on the player Gael Kakuta while the club Chelsea is banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the two next entire and consecutive registration periods following the notification of the present decision.

"Furthermore, Chelsea, has to pay RC Lens training compensation in the amount of EUR 130,000."

Kakuta, who is held in high regard by the Chelsea faithful, joined the club two years ago and has been a revalation ever since. His first season, the 18 year old finished as the top scorer in the youth teams as well as being voted the youth team player of the year.

Kakuta has now been banned from playing football for four months.

This news will most likely kick up a storm and rightly so! The punishment seems a little on the extreme side. Chelsea have been told they have right to appeal and they will most likely excersise that right. If they do, the case will be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. If this decision is up held, it will mean Chelsea won't be signing any players until January 2011—Thats 15 months from now!

The question of the day is undoubtedly, can Chelsea survive this sort of ban? Believe it or not, I think they can. People will bring up the age factor in the squad and although it's not favourable, it's not disastrous either. January 2011 might seem like a lifetime away now, but it is just over one year away. I'd like to believe the current crop of players can stick together and perform to the standard expected until that time.

The way I see it, the ban will most likely be reduced anyway after the inevitable appeal.

It is understood that Swiss club (FC Sion) has already been hit with a similar ban and the player in question has also been given a four month ban. They appealed and were allowed to buy players pending the outcome of the decision.

Therefore, on the assumption we would appeal anyway, possibly not as bad as people are thinking. If anything I would have thought that those fans who favoured giving the youth a chance may now get there way as that certainly is an option we have to consider.

The football governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, have made no effort in hiding the fact that don't like the English very much. Are English clubs are being targeted because of their success? First the Eduardo affair and now this! Diving and tapping up obviously don't occur abroad, of course not!

Let us all hope Chelsea win the Champions League and p*** them off even more!

Champions League Draw: English Sides Avoid Real Madrid & Inter Milan

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:29:36 -0400

England's quartet of Champions League contenders Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were all braced for an encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid.

Big-spending Real, who this summer signed Ronaldo along with Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol, were in the second group of seeds, meaning they could be drawn alongside any of the English sides.

The 32 teams were split into four pots, based on their UEFA coefficient, with one team from every pot going into each of the eight groups. As always, two teams from the same country could not draw each other, so necessary steps were taken to conveniently avoid that.

Pot 1: Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, AC Milan & Sevilla.

Pot 2: Real Madrid, Internazionale, Porto, Lyon, Juventus, Glasgow Rangers, AZ Alkmaar & CSKA Moscow.

Pot 3: Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina, Dynamo Kiev, Stuttgart, Olympiacos, Bordeaux, Besiktas & Marseille.

Pot 4: Rubin Kazan, Apoel Nicosia, Wolfsburg, FC Zurich, Maccabi Haifa, Standard Liege, Debrecen & Unirea Urziceni.

The big question of the day was, of course, where Real Madrid would end up. The top seeds were also looking to avoid Internazionale & Juventus.

Here is how it turned out:

Group A

Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

Group B

Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

Group C

AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D

Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
Apoel Nicosia

Group E

Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debrecen

Group F

Barcelona
Internazionale
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan

Group G

Sevilla
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

Group H

Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Standard Liege

So Real Madrid's star-studded Galactico will face AC Milan & Ronaldinho. Jose Mourinho's love/hate affair with Barcelona goes on as he faces the Catalans with Internazionale.

Of the English sides, Chelsea seems to have the toughest group with Atletico Madrid & Porto along with debutantes Apoel Nicosia in Group D.

Arsenal seemingly got the easiest group with relatively "banana-skin" type trips to Holland, Greece & Belgium.

Both Manchester United & Liverpool are expected to top their respective groups, but could face one or two awkward obstacles on the way. United faces trips to Moscow and Istanbul, while Liverpool face a talented Fiorentina side and French masters Lyon as well as debutantes Debrecen.

So there you have it. Another season of top draw European football is all set to go. Any bets on Chelsea & Liverpool facing each other somewhere along the line?

I Know Chelsea Won't Buy Him, but I Will Still Suggest: Salomon Gonzales

Salomon Gonzales — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:15:40 -0400

In the series "I Will Suggest" started by Madrista & Gooner Deepak Israni, I will suggest one extremely talented fellow.

Gonzales is an unproven striker with superb feet and a huge frame. The ideal replacement for Didier Drogba. With the right guidance, Chelsea fans could have something to shout about for the next 15 years.

Salomon Gonzales: Fact-file

Age: 22
Position: Striker
National Team: Denmark (Uncapped)
Gonzales is a 6'3" striker with excellent dribbling abilities. Not the fastest in the world but he makes up for it with his quick thinking and eye for a pass. Gonzales had a brief stint in the Nottingham Forest youth team before being released because he didn't quite make the grade. The rejections have not discouraged Gonzales and he displayed real maturity when he captained his college side (New College Nottingham) to a winning streak of 19 straight wins. He then put football to one side to focus on the only thing he did succeed in—Studies. He is currently a Law Student at Aston University but intending to take a gap year to re-pursue his none-existant football career.
Salomon Gonzales to Chelsea: Pro and Cons

Pros

At only 22 years of age, he brings much needed youth to the side.
With Drogba & Kalou off to ACN in January, Gonzales will provide cover for the remaining strikers.
If nurtured right, he could well turn into the 30 goals a season striker.
He will cost nothing.
£1000-a-week will do him good.

Cons

He has no experience as a pro footballer.
Chelsea can easily find more proven strikers with all their money.
He isn't exactly the "marquee signing" Chelsea fans were promised.
Gonzales will throw away his education, if such deal comes through.
A young man dedicated to his religion, playing pro football could provide complications in his personal life.

Conclusion

We all know Chelsea won't really sign him. It would be one of the biggest shocks if they did—a miracle.

Ah well! Dreaming is still legal after all, ain't it?

World Cup: Sweden-Denmark: The Scandinavian Clash of the Titans...

Salomon Gonzales — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:05:34 -0400

The Big Match: Sweden v Denmark
Event: World Cup Qualifiers
Location: [Rasunda], Solna
Time & Date: June 6, '09 - 19:00 GMT
Referee: Mike Riley (ENG)

Sweden take on Denmark in what is a "must win" match for them. Denmark have enjoyed a fruitful qualification campaign thus far and are sitting pretty at the top of the group.

Sweden, on one hand, albeit a game in hand, have so far failed to find any form of consistency. They may still be unbeaten, but three goalless draws combined with poor performances, have been a real setback.

Sweden

Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will lead the line for the Swedes. Ibrahimovic, who has edged closer to a move to Barcelona, has put speculation about his future out of his head to focus on this all-important qualifier.

""As soon as the final league match was finished on Sunday, I began thinking about the national team," he said.

""It's a very important match and it will be a good match, a hard one but fun. It's always fun to face Denmark, it will be sold out, they're our neighbours and we'll get to show who's the best in Scandinavia."

President of the Swedish FA Lars-Åke Lagrell however, admitted to being a little scared of the outcome.

A Denmark victory will not only halt their World Cup ambitions, but it could lead to more serious repercussions financially.

"Missing out on the World Cup would bring us a lot of problems, outside the obvious fact of not being able to compete in it," Lagrell said.

"Qualification alone brings in 50+ million kroners and after that, we have to negotiate TV deals and contracts".

"It will be a very anxious night for a lot of reasons beyond football itself".

Meanwhile, Swedish coach Lars Lagerbäck believes Portugal are a better team than Denmark.

The fact that he wouldn't find anybody in the world that would disagree with that, didn't stop him from stating the obvious.

"Portugal are better than Denmark," he said.

"We are playing a side tonight, who a little inferior, on paper, to the Portuguese team."

Lagerbäck is not convinced about Denmark's position as the group leaders. While he admitted they had played reasonably well so far, that was as far as he would go to praise the Danes.

" The table never lies, but after the two matches with Portugal, I believe they are technically superior and possess more gifted individuals"

"There is no denying Denmark have enjoyed a little bit of luck along the way".

"Case in point", he says, " When they, in the final few minutes of their match away against Portugal, turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win".

Lagerbäck then proceeded to say, his side should not rely on Ibrahimovic too much.

""The more Zlatan gets to have the ball, the better it is for us. But he cannot create our game all by himself, no football player is that skilful."

"Of course we could send a good luck ball to Zlatan and hope he does one of his wonders, but you can only make that once or twice in a match. We need to have a game of our own that works."

Denmark

Young sensation Simon Kjær, has been handed one of the toughest international debuts one can imagine.

The defender, who learns his trade with Serie A's Palermo will be up against Ibrahimovic. Although this won't the first time, he's come up against him. Kjær played for Palermo in their 2-2 draw with Inter earlier in the season and he knows just what to do to stop him.

"I learned a few things from that match," he said.

"He is strong in every department and unlike the rest of the Serie A striker, I couldn't dominate him physically".

"One has to be extremely tight and try and pick his pocket. That way he gets frustrated and getting frustrated while under pressure can lead to disaster."

Meanwhile, Christian Poulsen has put the nightmare from two years ago fully behind him.

Poulsen was at center of the almighty controversy that ended in the Euro08 qualifier being abandoned, with the score at 3-3.

Sweden had raced to a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead before half time before Denmark came storming back to tie the match at 3-3.

In the 90th minute, however, all hell broke loose as Sweden were awarded a penalty and Poulsen was sent off.

During a corner, a scuffle broke out between Poulsen and Sweden's Rosenberg which resulted in Poulsen punching Rosenberg in the stomach.

Poulsen left the pitch and Sweden prepared to take the penalty.

Out of nowhere however, a mindless idiot escaped the security from behind the goal and ran onto the pitch. He a aimed a punch at the referee but was impeeded by a Danish player.

The referee promptly picked the ball up, blew the whistle and walked off down the tunnel.

UEFA came down hard on Denmark and awarded Sweden a 3-0 win, which effectively ended Denmark's hopes of reaching the Euro's.

"I feel as if I've learned from the whole episode," Poulsen said.

"My actions were idiotic and my country suffered because of it. Regardless of what that fan did or did not do, I let my country down and I've had to live with it."

"This time around, I am prepared for any provocations and I will just let my feet do the talking. Hopefully will come away with the three points."

Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner has once more given his critics ammunition to use against him when he claimed, he will be among the best in world next season.

"I feel as though, next season will be the season I finally get my breakthrough," Bendtner said.

"It has been a reasonably good season for me personally, eventhough the team didn't do as well as we hoped. I know I can do better though. I have an enormous hunger and huge expectations of myself, which I will use as a platform to reach the next level"

Bendtner realizes the area that needs the most improvement is his finishing.

"Every chance I miss, and there have been a lot of them this season, the fans will keep getting on my back, which I accept because a striker is meant to score goals."

"I am hoping to score more next season and hopefully with a lot of hardwork, I can reach the level Ibrahimovic, Drogba, & Eto'o are at."

Meanwhile, Pele has added fuel to an already fiesty occasion by declaring that Sweden are better than Denmark.

"Sweden have better players technically," he said.

"They also have that one superstar that rises above everybody else, which Denmark don't possess."

"As far as the match itself, I cannot pick a winner. In these derby matches, having better players is simply not enough and I wouldn't bet against either of them winning."

Probable teams

Sweden: Andreas Isaksson; Adam Johansson, Olof Mellberg, Daniel Majstorovic, Mikael Nilsson; Daniel Andersson, Christian Wilhelmsson, Kim Kallstrom, Sebastian Larsson; Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Denmark: Thomas Sorensen; Lars Jacobsen, Daniel Agger, Simon Kjaer, William Kvist; Christian Poulsen, Jakob Poulsen, Thomas Kahlenberg; Jesper Gronkjaer, Dennis Rommedahl, Nicklas Bendtner

Prediction

Sweden 0-1 Denmark

Chelsea FC Season Review 2008-09: Entertainment, Frustration, Heartbreak, and Pride

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:18:16 -0400

Chelsea's rather disappointing season ended on a how note with a win in the FA Cup final. Beating Everton provided interim manager Guus Hiddink with the perfect send off. It all started with the arrival of Big Phil Scolari and with that followed a roller-coaster season filled with emotion, pain, entertainment, frustration, heartbreak & pride. The arrival of Hiddink saw a special relationship between manager, players and fans blossom. He was truly the man Chelsea fans had been waiting for. Only it's a shame, he arrived as a "temporary coach" and would soon leave again. Here's Chelsea's season captured in motion.. Enjoy!

Begin Slideshow

FC Copenhagen 4-0 Brondby: Brazilian Hotshot Ailton Delivers His Promise

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:32:41 -0400

The Danish championship finally tilted in Copenhagen's favour after they crippled and played their neighbours and arch-rivals Brondby off the park.

Brazilian hotshot Ailton Almeida, who made good on his promise, struck twice while surprise inclusion Gronjaer and Oscar Wendt completed a highly impressive 4-0 victory.

When Copenhagen coach Solbakken, puts an end to his managerial career, he could quite easily make a promising career at the poker table.

He called the bluff of the season, when he announced star player Gronjaer was unavailable and had to manage without him.

The media, the press and the opposition manager all picked up on this and everybody were predicting a Brondby win and Brondby coach Nielsen was qouted as saying he was "extremely confident."

Little did they know, Gronkjaer lined up in the starting eleven and with barely five minutes played, the former Chelsea winger gave his side the lead.

Albeit a defensive error, Copenhagen's "other" Brazilian hotshot Cesar Santin capitalised, dribbled past the whole the defence before serving it on plate for Gronjaer, who could hardly miss.

Brondby were rattled and didn't know what hit them. They were struggling to get out of their own half and Copenhagen were rampant.

Chances went begging for Cesar, Ailton & Kvist, before Ailton gave Copenhagen a fully deserved 2-0 lead just before half time, when he got on the end of a sweeping move, with Gronkjaer at the heart of it.

The start of the second half saw a rejuvenated Brondby cause problems for the first time in the match. However, Jan Kristiansen's shot which cannoned off the bar, was as close as they would come to finding the net.

Instead Copenhagen further increased their lead when Ailton scored his second and Copenhagen's third with 20 minutes to go, to put the match beyond doubt. He took advantage of some hilariously crazy defending by Brondby.

The rout was completed when substitute Wendt finished off an impressive night of football, with a superbly taken goal from outside the box.

The match ended with the masses of Copenhagen fans making themselves heard. "Vi er nummer et" (We are number one) and "F** tilbage til jeres slummer kvater" (F*** off back to your East side slums) were the chants.

Ailton was understandably pleased with his side's (and in particular his own) performance, after the sweeping statements he made prior to he match. His rather arrogant statements raised a few eyebrows, mainly from the opposition.

If anyone had any doubts though, Ailton silenced them with two well taken goals and a magnificent overall performance.

"People can say what they want. People can think what they want but I was totally confident that we would deliver a powerful performance tonight," Ailton said.

"Now we are where we belong (at the top) and the title is ours to lose. This is the position we wanted to be in and now we're here" he continued.

Meanwhile Gronjaer, felt the margin could have been much bigger of it weren't for wasteful finishing.

"It was a total joy. We played really well and you could tell the lads were enjoying themselves. We got off to a bright start and in the end we wasted too many opportunities" Gronkjaer said.

Brondby manager Kent Nielsen, was understandably unhappy and blamed individual errors for their humiliating loss.

"This is the worst I've experienced as Brondby manager" Nielsen said.

"We talked about focusing and keeping the errors as minimal as possible but it all went out of the window. Inside five minutes, they score a goal due to a defensive error. There is only so much you can do from the bench and it was up to the players to perform and they didn't."

"Obviously the two injuries in the first half didn't help much but we came out fighting in the second half only to see them go 3-0 up. It was terrible to watch" he continued.

He then went on to do something a manager should never do. Admit defeat in the race while still two matches remaining.

"I wholeheartedly believe its gone", he said.

"It has slipped out of our hands and into their hands and with just two games remaining, I don't think we can do it"

Unlike Liverpool's Rafa Benitez though, Nielsen didn't forget to congratulate his rival manager on his excellent result and the little trick he pulled regarding Gronjaer.

"They played well and were clearly better than us on the day. He did a great job fooling everybody into believing Gronjaer was out. I could learn from him", he continued.

The victory now means Copenhagen are the new league leaders, two points clear of Brondby with just two games remaining.

It is certainly theirs to lose.

See the goals here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRj98afHV_s&feature=related

Denmark: Ailton Almeida Promises To Land His Club the League Title

Salomon Gonzales — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:58:35 -0400

[Parken] Osterbro, will be buzzing tonight. The whole of Denmark and in particular the city of Copenhagen will be glued to their television sets

Arch-rivals FC Copenhagen (central) face Brondby (East Copenhagen) in a match that could virtually seal the title.

FC Copenhagen's Brazilian hotshot, Ailton Almeida has promised his club to bring home the league from the grasp of arch-rivals Brondby.

With the title race on a knife edge, Brondby are sitting top, one point clear of Copenhagen. With just three games left, the Copenhagen-Brondby match couldn't have come at a better time.

Ailton, who was the difference between the sides earlier in the season—scoring the winner in a 1-0 win for Copenhagen, believes his side possess psychological advantage over their rivals, having beaten them away earlier in the season (0-1).

"I hope I can do it again" Ailton said.

"Being in the right place at the right time all the time, is a quality and I hope to use it again. I will do everything in my power to tilt the race back in our favour" he continued.

A Brondby win will seal the title bar a miracle. It would put them four points clear with two games remaining, although these kind of deficits have been overhauled before. A win for Copenhagen though, would throw it wide open again as they would go two points clear.

Former Chelsea player Gronkjaer is unavailable for Copenhagen due to injury.

League standing and remaining matches

DANMARK
SAS LIGAEN (33 rounds)

#	Club	PL	W	D	L	GS-GC	Points
1	Brøndby IF	30	21	5	4	53-22	68
2	FC København	30	21	4	5	59-23	67

AGF-Brondby 24-05-2009
Brøndby IF-FC Midtjylland 31-05-2009

Esbjerg IF-FC Copenhagen 24-05-2009
FC Copenhagen-Randers FC 31-05-2005

Break Down

Brondby

AGF have nothing to play for as they sitting comfortably in mid-table. There is a bit of a territorial rivalry between the two clubs. AGF being located Denmark's second city Aarhus and Brondby in the capital, these matches tend to be extremely heated and both teams giving their all. A Brondby win here is by no means guaranteed. A score-draw looks on the cards here.

FC Midtjylland—currently in fourth place, like AGF, have nothing to play for. They can't reach third place nor can fifth place reach them. A win for Brondby here is a distinct possibility but again, by no means guaranteed. Under the circumstances though, I'm going for a Brondby win here.

FC Copenhagen

Esbjerg are not entirely safe yet. They are currently sitting fif points clear of the relegation zone but only three matches remaining, it would need a minor miracle to see them relegated. With that in mind, A Copenhagen win here is an almost certainty.

Esbjerg have been poor all season but have taken advantage of others around them screwing up.

Randers FC are another side with virtually nothing to play for. They currently sit fifth, level on point with sixth placed AGF. Copenhagen played Randers off the park earlier in the season with a 3-0 win away from home. A Copenhagen win here is, again, an almost certainty.

The big match itself

Both sides are coming into the match on a good bit of form. Brondby have won five out of their last six matches, while Copenhagen have won four out of the last six matches.

A draw with OB, sandwiched in between five wins means Brondby are on slightly better form than Copenhagen, who are sporting two losses in the last six matches.

Brondby have a full squad to pick from and Coach Kent Nielsen is very confident ahead of the match.

"We have an amazing balance in our side at the moment. We are totally injury free which means a lot of players are fighting for a starting berth. We have five very good full backs in contention for two places so it is a very good problem to have" said Nielsen.

FC Copenhagen, as mentioned, have a few casualties with Gronkjear being the pick of the bunch but Nielsen believes, Gronkjaer's absence won't change much.

"He is a big player for them as he is a player of international quality but they have other good players who can do the job and it is those we need to be wary of," he said.

"These matches have their own historic implications and even though they (Copenhagen) have to win to stand a realistic chance of winning the title, I don't think they will let that dictate how they play. I believe they will play their usual passing game and as the match goes on the urgency will automatically pick up," he continued.

Ailton however, believes his side will do the business and bring home the title.

"In Brazil we have a saying - 'Luck only shines for so long'. There is no denying that they (Brondby) have been extremely lucky in recent weeks especially in that 4-3 win but sooner or later their luck will run out and we will make sure it runs our today" he said.

My prediction

FC Copenhagen 2-1 Brondby

Copenhagen always have that bit of extra quality in big matches. They proved it the reverse fixture and they proved it when they smashed reining champions Aalborg 3-0 recently.. Having said all this, whatever the outcome, a great match is in store.

Chelsea's Quest for the Champions League Trophy: Will It Ever Happen?

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:04:31 -0400

A dramatic late strike from Andres Iniesta saw Barcelona snatch a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and a place in the UEFA Champions League final.

The away goal rule came into effect as the two legs both ended in draws.

However, in recent years, Chelsea have seen frustratingly huge success in Europe. Chelsea became the highest ranked club under UEFA's five-year coefficient system used in the seeding of European club competitions in the following season, the first English club to do so in the 21st century.

Despite the "success," Chelsea have never been able to get their hands on that ever-elusive Champions League trophy.

A lot of could-have-beens and should-have-beens, means Chelsea fans are still waiting.

Although, an appearance in the tournament in '99 where, ironically, Chelsea were knocked out by Barcelona -- the quest seriously gathered pace in 2004.

Chelsea pipped Liverpool to the last CL spot by beating them in the last game of the season. The match was billed as "the £25M match," as that was the prize for reaching the CL.

Those £25M didn't matter so much, when during the summer a certain Roman Abramovic bought the club and began bankrolling huge transfers.

In a tournament full of surprises, Chelsea reached the semifinals only to be sent home packing by eventual losing finalists Monaco.

The following season, Chelsea again qualified for the tournament by finishing 2nd the domestic league. They again reached the semifinals by knocking out Barcelona on the way.

Chelsea's progress was eventually halted by Liverpool. However, Chelsea finished that season as English champions.

Next season provided new hopes. Defending English champions, most felt this was Chelsea's season. This was the season Chelsea would showcase that money could indeed buy success.

Unfortunately, they were once again eliminated, this time by Barcelona at the Quarterfinal stage. However, the pain didn't last long, as Chelsea became English champions for the second season running.

Another season came and went, with Chelsea once again failing in Europe. Liverpool sent Chelsea home via a penalty shootout at the semifinal stage.

Many were starting to question if it were ever going to happen. Those questions grew louder when Manchester United held Chelsea off to become English champions. Was Chelsea's dominance over?

Chelsea came in for some heavy criticism. "They can't handle the big stage," "Lampard goes missing in big games," "Drogba chokes".

Chelsea were adamant to answer silence their critics and by pure determination, Chelsea reached the semifinal stage again. Liverpool were the opposition, again!

Chelsea defied the odds and eliminated Liverpool to finally reach the CL final. It was a dream come true for the players and fans. There was a certain feeling of inevitability about the match. It felt like it was our time.

Manchester United were the opponents and they had other ideas, as they won the final via a penalty shootout. Chelsea fans were heartbroken once again.

Chelsea though, showed their resilience by reaching the semifinals once again, the following season. Barcelona were standing in their way once again.

Chelsea and Barcelona have become somewhat familiar with each other. Before the semifinals were played, there had been eight meetings between them in recent times.

The stats said 3 wins each, 2 draws and an impressive 29 goals scored.

Chelsea were once again cruelly eliminated. This time via the away goal rule. 0-0 in Barcelona and 1-1 in London meant, Barcelona marched onto the final and once again, Chelsea and their fans were left heartbroken.

Questions are now being asked again. Is it ever going to happen for Chelsea? They have reached the semifinal five times in the last six seasons and once reaching the final itself.

While Chelsea still have the FA Cup final to look forward to, for many of the fans, winning it will hardly make up for the loss last night.

Chelsea will start next season again, with hopes of doing the impossible. If recent history is anything to go by, Chelsea is the one team that deserves to finally win the CL title.

Champions League Draw: Familiar Foes Chelsea and Liverpool Lock Horns Again

Salomon Gonzales — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:14:14 -0400

Liverpool will face Chelsea in the upcoming Champions League quarterfinals, while Manchester United meet Porto and Arsenal must take on Villarreal.

It is the fifth consecutive season that the two English sides have been paired together.

Liverpool and Chelsea have famously played each other in each of the last three seasons at the semifinal stage with Liverpool triumphing twice, and Chelsea getting the upper hand last season.

It was largely expected that at least two of the four English teams would be paired.

In 2005, the semifinal between the two sides was infamously decided by, "the goal that never was". The following season, Liverpool again triumphed when they went through on penalties after both sides won their respective homes games 1-0.

Last season it was Chelsea's turn to get one over their rivals. After getting the much needed away goal, which none of the teams had managed the previous two seasons, Chelsea finished the job at home with a 3-2 scoreline after extra time.

Liverpool chief executive was said to be a "relieved man" after the draw, which meant Liverpool did not have to play on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

On the actual draw he said, "We know what we've got to do over the two legs. We know what we're capable of doing, so we will get on with it now.

It's not about historical form, it's about current form at this stage of the season.

Obviously at the moment we're coming into form, so fingers crossed we are peaking nicely and if we can keep everybody fit, we're optimistic."

And on the fact that the second leg will be played at Stamford Bridge, Parry said," "I don't think that bothers us. I don't think it makes a significant difference."

History shows that the side that plays the second leg at home goes through. Liverpool played their second leg at Anfield the first two seasons and getting through, while Chelsea got their advantage last season and also went through.

It would be foolish to say that the tie is now a foregone conclusion but it gives Chelsea fans every bit of hope of advancing to the semifinals.

Note how Manchester United conveniently always manages to avoid English teams. Chelsea and Liverpool have faced each other three times in the semifinals as well as being put in the same group once.

Chelsea and Arsenal have also faced each other at the quarterfinal stage in 2004.

Liverpool and Arsenal were paired together in last season's quarterfinals.

Other ties include Barcelona vs Bayern Munich, which promises to be a mouth watering occasion.

The winner of Liverpool-Chelsea will meet the winner of Barcelona-Bayern Munich.

The winner of Manchester United-FC Porto will meet the winner of Arsenal-Villarreal.

Thomas Gravesen: Where Did It All Go So Wrong?

Salomon Gonzales — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:02:27 -0400

Some people blame Kira Eggers (Gravesen's new girlfriend). Some people say the blame lies with the press and the journalists. Some people even blame his agent but the fact remains that Gravesen has simply lost interest in the beautiful game.

Gravesen started his career in the small town of Vejle in 1995. He met the Danish league with a bang and there was a lot of fuss about him in his early years. In his debut season he carried Vejle to second place and a silver medal in the cup final.

After the following season he went off to the south of the border to join Bundesliga outfit Hamburg. He completed three seasons at the club before joining the premier league.

After taking part in Euro2000 with Denmark, he joined Everton. Gravesen played a key role in Everton's rise toward the top of the table during the 2004/2005 season, from his position as an attacking midfielder. His influential performances was deservedly noticed by most people across Europe and most of us had him down as one of the better players in the premier league.

Gravesen then shocked the football world by declaring he would be joining the mighty Real Madrid. His move to Madrid was followed by a media frenzy back home in Denmark. With that came a sway of arrogance and Gravesen, usually good with the press, began refusing interviews.

Gravesen wasn't happy though. He wasn't seeing any minutes on the pitch. His arrogance and allegedly new negative personality could be put down to one of two things.

Either, he was really proud to be playing for Real Madrid and now saw himself too big a celebrity to be talking to small time Danish journalists.

Or, he was ashamed of himself. After the huge fuss of him joining the biggest club in the world, it all came to nothing. He was just a bench player and coming on for the last few minutes of games. He was being introduced just to waste time at the end of games.

With all the euphoria came a huge reality check. Gravesen was nowhere near the quality the rest of Madrid team mates was displaying. Running round amongst the likes of Guti, Robinho, Beckham he looked embarrassingly off the pace and it was pretty obvious that he lacked one thing only: quality.

After his blatant lack of quality was exposed, Gravesen escaped to Celtic, who fought off interest from Newcastle to seal a reported 2M deal. At Celtic, he got off to great start. He scored his first goal against Old Firm rivals Rangers.

For a while it seemed like a great bit of business but soon his performances started to deteriorate. And with that went his confidence. According to Gordon Strachan, his last straw was Celtic's champions league tie with FC Copenhagen. A tie, if Celtic won they would claim top spot in the group and if not, would allow Man United to nick it. Gravesen was picked to play central midfield and control the play.

However, he displayed both arrogance and ignorance. He kept defying instructions and orders from the bench. For 90 minutes, he ran around pretty much doing nothing. Celtic ended up losing that game and even though it wasn't all that bad since they'd already qualified for the next stage, it meant United finished top of the group and Celtic second. Celtic then faced AC Milan as a result, when they could have gotten a much weaker side. They got eliminated and it was obvious something was wrong with Gravesen.

Gravesen was apparently given a last throw at the dice when Celtic played a friendly match. This was his chance to prove he was still an asset to the club. However, he just showed a complete lack of interest and the very next day he was released by Celtic.

Gravesen stayed without a club ever since and was reported to be "assessing his situation." In an interview with Channel 3+ in Denmark last summer, his agent Sivebæk confirmed that Gravesen was at the time weighing his options and taking a break from football.

The general perception in Denmark was that the man had simply lost interest in the game.

FC Copenhagen were willing to have him, on conditions. Vejle BK would have been another good option. To end his career at the club where it all started would have been favourable. Although, I doubt he would have joined a team that low in the Danish League.

At the end of the day it was a huge career decision that cost him so dearly. When he decided that he didn't want to settle for being the star at a relatively small club Everton, everything simply started going downhill for him.

What makes his story so sad is the fact that he is only 32 years old.

Gravesen retired from football on January 27, 2009.

Coventry 0-2 Chelsea: A Day To Remember

Salomon Gonzales — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:08:12 -0500

Saturday morning, I woke up at 8, bright and early. I knew this was going to a special day.

Coventry City, a team that I had been rooting for all season, was taking on my beloved Chelsea at home in the first FA Cup tie of the day.

After a quick shower, I slowly made my way to our usual meeting point—my cousin's house, which was conveniently round the corner from me.

I was the last one to turn up. Puzzled, I asked what time everybody else arrived since it was still only 08.30 am.

To my surprise, they had been there throughout the night. I clearly remember, leaving them to go home at 11.15 the previous night. We had been playing FIFA '09 and apparently everybody else stayed and played on through the night.

Kick off at Ricoh Arena was 12.30, and since Coventry is only a 20 minute drive from Birmingham, it meant we still had some time to relax and keep playing FIFA.

At 11.30, we started to make our way down to Coventry. Since none of us drink, I thought we had time to zip past the Uni and drop in an overdue assignment.

Just about made it in time, as they close up the office at 12 o'clock.

Now, that was out of the way, we went straight to the ground.

Just as we were pulling up the Tesco car park, I was amazed at what I saw. Never had I seen such a huge police presence at Ricoh Arena.

The last time, that I saw anything close to this, was last season's home game against Leicester—a game Coventry incidentally won 2-0.

The noise level was extremely high and there was a certain buzz around the ground, which wasn't surprising given that the glamorous Chelsea were the visitors.

Ricoh Arena was sold out for the first time in its history. All of the 31,407 tickets were snapped up, moments after they knocked out Blackburn in the previous round.

Just before kickoff, news that Essien and Carvalho were on the bench brought about loud cheers and set the tone for the day.

Chelsea started the game really relaxed and comfortable. Patience built up, which has been a feature of Chelsea's play this season, was frustrating their Championship opponents.

It didn't take long before the chance of the game came our way and not surprisingly, it fell to the in-form Drogba.

A long hoof of the park by Cech was controlled well by the Ivorian, and he rolled Turner all too easily before putting the shot just wide.

A touch of class and surely a sign of things to come and with 15 minutes gone, Chelsea took the lead through none other than Drogba.

Coventry skipper Scott Dann allowed himself to be robbed by Drogba who went on to round the keeper and produce a superb finish from a tight angle.

Chelsea continued to dominate the rest of the half but with no real clear-cut chances. Coventry, on the other hand, offered practically nothing going forward. Although, it wasn't through lack of trying.

Leon Best, Clinton Morrison, and especially Freddy Eastwood tried their best, but it just wasn't enough.

Half time brought one change. Quaresma replaced Kalou, which everybody around me found odd. Malouda, who hardly had a touch in the first half, kept his place, while Kalou who was in the heart of everything that Chelsea was doing was taken off.

An odd decision indeed, nevertheless Quaresma continued where he left off at Portsmouth. His first touch was a lovely cross that Drogba nearly managed to turn in.

Then came the big moment that we all were waiting for—the return of a hero. Michael Essien stepped up to replace Mikel.

The cheers and applause were deafening.

Essien rose to the occasion, as he immediately got involved in a few neat interchanges with Lampard and Ballack. Every touch brought out loud cheers.

Essien was back!

Coventry though, never lost hope and with the score still 1-0, they had no reason to. Their main source of threat was the long throw—Gunnarsson's Delap-like long throws but with a unique touch caused some nervy moments for the Chelsea defence.

On 72 minutes though, Chelsea put the tie beyond doubt. After a Coventry set piece, Chelsea broke away at devastating speed.

Essien came away with the ball, with Lampard, Drogba, Quaresma all running beside him. He passed the ball to Drogba, who in turn sent Quaresma away. Quaresma had time and space to pick his cross, which he did in superb style.

His cross found Alex, who had all the time in the world to find the net. Fantastic goal and the Jewson stand erupted.

The game continued in the same fashion, but once that second goal went in, the result was never in doubt.

Credit goes to Coventry, who never gave up fighting for the ball but in Chelsea's quality, shone through.

The final whistle brought mixed feelings. Delighted that Chelsea reached the semifinals but sad to see Coventry go out.

Having been to almost every single home game this season and last, I have a strange attachment to the club and its fans.

I remember last season when Coventry got knocked out by West Brom. They were taught a very tough footballing lesson in smooth and offensive football that day. The final score was Coventry 0-5 West Brom. Everybody went home in silence..

My mate, who is a Leicester fanatic could not hide his joy at seeing them lose. "Covscum" is how he refers to Coventry City.

In the end, a great day had just begun in the most perfect way. Chelsea won 2-0, in a truly professional performance.

Didier Drogba seems to be finding his old form and Essien is back. The team is not conceding any goals and is gathering pace just at the right time.

Bring on Juventus on Tuesday.. I predict a 2-1 win in Chelsea's favour and a brace from the in-form Drogba.

Now, I'm going to sit back and hope for a Fulham win.

Chelsea Roundtable: John Obi Mikel—Flattering to Deceive or Top-Notch Talent?

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:02:23 -0500

Welcome to the second edition of the Chelsea Roundtable, where we get a few contributors to give their view on important Chelsea matters.

As always, our old pal and trusty Community Leader Alan McGuiness is with us. And this time I wanted to get a non-Chelsea point of view too, so I caught up with Manchester United fan, Steven Ho.

I asked both of our contributors five questions and and not surprisingly their answers (and mine) vary and in some cases, totally differ. So without further ado, let's get going...

1. Has he done better than expected?

Salomon Gonzales:

Having arrived with huge reputation, I'd say he has slightly under-achieved.

He has been the under-study to the departed Makelele, ever since his move to Chelsea and Lassana Diarra, who was the original under-study, was sold to accommodate him. His positioning awareness as a defensive midfielder is far from what you'd expect a starting player at Chelsea to be.

However, we need to keep in mind that Mikel, prior to moving to Chelsea, was not a holding player. For his old Norwegian club and the U-18 Nigerian National side, he was used as an attacking midfielder. He was, if i remember correctly, voted the second best player in a U-18 tournament with Nigeria. First place was taken by Lionel Messi, and it is widely believed that Messi was chosen as number one solely because Argentina beat Nigeria in the final. Either way, this goes a long way in showing what a real talent Mikel represents.

Having said all this, Mikel has been one of the shining lights at Chelsea this season. Frank Lampard aside, he has been the consistent performer in the side.

With this in mind, I am well pleased with the progress he has been making.

Steven Ho:

I don't think so. In fact I think he's failed miserably to live up to the expectations set for him when he first signed for the club. Of course, expectations always differ from person to person but we must remember that he was not only courted by Chelsea but also by Man United, so it's very probable that he was rated as one of the potential outstanding prospects in football.

And yet, in the two seasons he's been at Chelsea he's done nothing to live up to that claim. Based on the games I've watched, he's shown himself to be nothing more than an average player of average technical ability and average footballing intelligence. I have yet to see an outstanding performance from him that would warrant his place at a club like Chelsea, one of the biggest football clubs in Europe.

He's also popularly tipped as the natural successor to Claude Makelele—the man whose name is synonymous with the "holding midfielder" role—who left last summer. Yet he's so deficient in the qualities that made Makelele the great player he was. He can't hold the ball well; he can't defend well; he lacks intelligence, anticipation; and he's not a great passer too.

And you know what? People talk about Berbatov being a lazy player, but if you really watch Mikel in games you'll realise that often he's one of the most static players on the pitch.

All in all, based on what he's produced so far I feel only the staunchest Mikel fan would say that he's lived up to, or exceeded, expectations.

Alan McGuiness:

I'd heard a lot of hype about him before we signed him so my expectations were quite high. He has lived up to them.   I've always been a big fan and defender of him and I feel that now he is showing that my stock in him is high for a reason.

2- Does he deserve all the critisism that come his way?

Salomon Gonzales:

No players are perfect and they are all rightfully critisised when they put a foot wrong. The other week Chelsea were detroyed 3-0 by United, but John Terry hardly put a foot wrong all game. Still though, he had to shoulder some of the critisism that came his way simply because he is a football captain. Being critisised is part and parcel of being a footballer, so in that sense, he deserves some of of critisism that comes his way.

The level of critisism thrown at him though, I feel is a tad unfair.

"He can't pass to save his life", "He can't shoot to save his life either", "He doesn't know how to tackle".

These are some of the critisism that is hurled at him week after week. Granted his passing isn't up scratch, but how do you expect someone to produce a great pass or a killer through ball when every single time he is possession of the ball he has 2-3 players standing on top of him waiting for the short 3-yard pass? As soon as he gets hold of the ball Lampard, Deco, and Ballack all make runs towards him expecting a pass. Very rarely has he had the chance to move forward with the ball, and have the time to produce a good pass.

Yes he can't shoot but, quite frankly, he isn't meant to have shots at goal. His job is to protect the back four, and that's what he does. How many goals did Makelele score in his career?

To be fair, his tackling has vastly improved from previous seasons when he used to receive yellow and red cards on a monthly basis. Nowadays, since he has matured, he does not go ground that easily. Hence, rash tackles are eliminated. He still has some way to go though but he is getting there.

Steven Ho:

It's a bit absurb to say that he deserves ALL the criticism that comes his way, but obviously he deserves the ones that can be evidentially justified.

Like, for example, one of my biggest criticisms of him is that he has a terrible lack of concentration. We've seen it in numerous matches so far this season: Roma, Fulham, Man United, Arsenal, Blackburn, are just a few off the top of my head. But it seems to happen in almost every game, which is inexcusable.

Another criticism I have for him is that he's actually very poor technically. A lot of passes from him have been made to look good by his teammates, rather than being a good pass by itself. And he's also lost the ball numerous, and crucial, times simply because his control hasn't been good enough.

Just look at Roma's third goal in Chelsea's 0-3 away defeat, and how he gave away the ball so cheaply to Park Ji Sung in their recent 3-0 defeat to Manchester United; just two examples that perfectly illustrate how clumsy he has been in crucial matches this season.

Mikel is not being made a scapegoat in the face of Chelsea's recent poor form. The criticisms he's been receiving can be clearly justified and so, yes, he does deserve them.

Alan McGuiness:

A few seasons ago he deserved some of it, because he was rash with his tackling and did make a number of mistakes. He got a few needless red cards.

However, some of them were not red cards and his reputation began to work against him. But since then he has come on leaps and bounds. Nowadays he is much calmer on the ball and an overall better player.

3) Should he keep his place, once Essien returns to fitness?

Salomon Gonzales:

Yes, he should. Up untill recently I was convinced that Essien should return to the starting line-up, only if he was to replace Mikel. I have since then, changed my stance.

Mikel should definitely keep his place. If, and only if, he has to be replaced, then Julio Belletti would be more suitable to take his spot.

Essien is not a defensive midfielder, despite what people think. He is an attacking midfielder, but due to his physical approach and non-stop hassling of opponents people tend to believe that he is actually a defensive player.

Therefore when Essien returns, he should replace another attacking player: either Deco or Ballack. That's if they are still putting in the dire performances they have been recently. I am a firm believer that every player, no matter how great his ability, should be made to work for his place in the team, earn it. Essien should be, and is, no different.

A midfield line-up of Mikel, Essien, Deco (would've said Joe Cole, but sadly he'll be out for the remainder of the season) and Lampard doesn't look too shabby does it?

Steven Ho:

No.

But I'm not saying that I think Scolari should automatically replace Mikel with Essien simply because Essien is more talented. I think both players are actually equally poor in many respects. Rather, my rationale is that Mikel has been the source of so many costly errors for Chelsea, that simply replacing him with anyone—whether that's Essien or anyone else capable—would be an improvement, and thus the right choice.

If it is Essien that the manager chooses to replace Mikel with, Essien wouldn't need to put in outstanding performances to justify replacing Mikel; just not making calamitous errors would be good enough.

Saying all of that, I think that the right choice for Scolari right now is to replace Mikel with Julio Belletti, and when Essien returns keep him as a backup. We've already seen, in Didier Drogba's case, how a player coming back from injury, no matter how much ability they've shown in the past, can perform way below par. That's why I think it's very unlikely that a player like Essien will be the magic bullet a lot of Chelsea fans are hoping him to be.

Belleti, however, is a proven talented individual who has shown potency in both defense and attack. And most importantly, he is an experienced player. Therefore he would not be as vulnerable to the sort of horrific errors that Mikel has been making, the sort of errors that have been costing Chelsea so many points.

Alan McGuiness:

Yes. He has been one our best players this season alongside Lampard and he doesn't deserve to be dropped, something I can't say about some other players. I'd move Essien further forward and drop Deco.

With Joe Cole now out for the rest of the season I'd play a midfield of: Mikel, Lampard, Ballack and Essien.

4) He's 21 now. Looking at his past performances, how good do you reckon he could get?

Salomon Gonzales:

Well, it's not an easy thing to predict but I'd say he'll turn out pretty good. In the two years he has been at Chelsea, he has managed to reduce the amount of fouls he concedes, hence also the amount of bookings and sending offs he recieves.

In another two years, he could possibly add something else to his game that he doesn't already have. Improving tackles would be a good place to start. If he masters his tackling to perfection and improves on his ball distribution he could turn out to be one hell of a player.

As for now though, he is making steady progress and I am pleased with his attitude and performances so far.

I'd say he has the potential to be a better holding player than Makelele ever was, which shows how high my expectations are for him.

Steven Ho:

It's incredibly difficult to make any sort of prediction in football so I'm hesitant to make a prediction about Mikel's potential.

But if I had to, I would say that... he can only become as good as Darren Fletcher has been for Man United, early on this season.

My reasons? Well, Fletcher also showed similar qualities as Mikel in the past: lack of concentration, poor ball distribution, weak defending etc. Fletcher also plays the same role as Mikel does now, and for a couple of seasons he was massively under-performing in my opinion, much like Mikel is right now.

Fletcher has managed to improve significantly, though, and this season he's shown himself to be one of United's most improved players over the last year. He's grown up a lot, and perhaps Mikel will eventually do the same. The only caveat I would add is that whilst Fletcher has obviously put in a lot of work to improve himself, I've yet to see the same level of determination and internal motivation in Mikel.

Alan McGuiness:

I definitely think he can become one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. He reminds me of Makelele in many ways and also has the added bonus of a much more imposing stature.

If he keeps on improving at the rate he is now then the £16 million we paid Manchester United and Lyn Oslo for him will look like a very shrewd piece of business.

5) Does he really make as many mistakes as opposition fans are claiming?

Salomon Gonzales:

I honestly do not think he makes that many mistakes. The only ones that are stuck in my mind are the errors against Roma that cost us a few goals, and in the 2-2 draw against Fulham, where his lack of awareness allowed Clint Dempsey to rescue a point for Fulham in the dying minutes.

He has played virtually every minute since the third game this season, when Essien returned to the club injured from international duty.

For a 21 year old, who is having his first real run in the side, I think he has done remarkably well. He is getting more and more relaxed on the ball and he does not over-complicate things as some players like to do.

The errors he HAS made however, have been crucially punished and hence why it is so highlighted so much.

Steven Ho:

Personally, I've criticized him for some mistakes but it's actually his overall poor play that I'm most critical about, especially defensively.

When he tries to tackle players, he looks like a lost puppy. He's shown a really amateur way of defending, where he simply runs after the ball whilst it's easily being passed around him. Frankly, it's the kind of defending that you literally expect to see on a school playground.

Another key responsibility for a defensive midfielder is to track player's runs into the box. Yet time and time again this season he has simply not done it.

He appears so lazy sometimes, jogging back to goal instead being hell-bent on winning the ball back. You'll often see him tracking a player for a few yards and then give up, relying on the defense to pick him up instead. Is that good enough for a club expected to win major titles?

In the heading department, he's been caught out too, as not being a strong header of the ball. Passing from midfield, he's also displayed nothing special.

All in all, I don't think he possesses the intelligence, skill, or determination yet to be a defensive midfielder.

If anyone is unsure of why I have this viewpoint on Mikel, go back and watch the games that he's played this season and truly analyse his performances in them. I guarantee you that you'll see what I described above.

You question to me was: does he really make as many mistakes as fans are claiming? I don't know how many mistakes fans are claiming but my answer is that he's made enough crucial mistakes, enough amateurish errors in his poor play, to deserve to be dropped from the side until he's improved a lot more.

Alan McGuiness:

He used to.

Now he retains the ball better and doesn't jump into tackles as much. I think a lot of opposition fans haven't watched him properly and just jump on his reputation he picked up during his first two seasons with Chelsea.

He has an arrogance on the ball that makes him stand out. He just doesn't seem to think he's going to lose it. Sometimes he appears to be a bit complacent but overall he has turned into a very important player for Chelsea.

That's it! I would like to thank Steven Ho for his wonderful and colourful contribution. It was priceless. And Alan McGuiness for his continued contribution to the Chelsea community.

Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea: A Chelsea Fan's View Point....

Salomon Gonzales — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:30:53 -0500

Chelsea's excellent away record went down the drain while United's title defence gathered pace.

Chelsea arrived at Old Trafford boasting the best away record in the league, and United boasting the best home record.

Something had to give!

Chelsea lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Ballack, Lampard and Mikel occupying the midfield. Deco, Drogba and J.Cole playing up front. Or at least that how it would seem.

United lined up in their usual 4-4-2 formation, with Fletcher and Giggs in the middle and Ronaldo and Park on the flanks.

First half:

Considering the inevitably fevered build-up to the match, the first-half was a largely uneventful one.

United started the game the stronger of the two sides, with a series of of one-twos in and around the Chelsea players.

Lampard received a yellow card within the first three minutes for a foul on Ronaldo and United's intent was clear.

Chelsea slowly built up their momentum and midway through the first half, it was quite evenly matched.

The match continued in a tit-for-tat form but with United enjoying much more of the possession.

At the end of the half, with the game seemingly headed for the break with a 0-0 score, United struck their first blow.

Giggs struck in a corner and Ronaldo glanced the ball into the back of the net, but it was disallowed for either taking it before the whistle or the ball wasn't in the right place when it was taken.

Either way, Chelsea didn't learn anything from that warning.

The re-taken corner was flicked on by Berbatov and nodded in by Vidic.

Second half:

Second half started with Chelsea making one change. Anelka came on for Deco and Chelsea reverted to a 4-4-2 formation.

United though, continued the domination and simply carried on where they left off. Chelsea couldn't get out of their own half at times.

Midway through the second-half, United doubled their lead when Evra—returning from a four-match ban for his row with a Chelsea groundsman at Stamford Bridge last April—curled in a cross that was too high for Berbatov to head but Rooney was able to prod home from close range.

A 2-0 score-line was exactly what they deserved.

However, they didn't stop here. Ronaldo left Belletti for dead and the Brazilian tripped him up in desperation, and gets the booking.

Ronaldo fired the free-kick low towards the near post and it was guided into the net by the boot of Berbatov!

This victory went from comprehensive to emphatic!

Chelsea's performance:

To sum it up in three words—absolutely non-existent!

Drogba was useless. Walked around the pitch moaning half the time and when he did get the ball, he would lose it. Somebody buy him a plane ticket already!

Ironically, I thought Deco (despite all the flak he's been getting from Chelsea fans) was our best player in the time played.

Lampard tried his best but given he was up against Giggs (an ageing winger) and Fletcher (an inferior player), his efforts simply wasn't good enough.

Terry had a good game but in all honesty, a 3-0 defeat means he will have to carry some of the criticism that comes his way.

A.Cole and Bosingwa had decent games but Ronaldo and Rooney were too much to handle at times.

Mikel had a great game. The fact that all of United's goals (and most of their chances) came from the flanks, shows that he did his job well.

In the end though, it was all about damage limitation for Chelsea.

Manchester United's performance:

Rooney was immense throughout.

Ji-Sung Park, although a rubbish player, displayed a lot of energy and never seemed to stop and take a breather.

Giggs (is he really 34?) put in another breathtaking performance.

Berbatov (How good is he?) was his usual dazzling self. Un-playable at times.

End result:

Looking at the balance of play, 3-0 is just about deserved. One would have thought conceding a goal would spark Chelsea into life and they would start playing football.

But no, United simply upped their tempo after every goal.

Great result for them and I put my hands up in respect, we were well and truly destroyed today and fair play to them.

What went wrong then?:

Well for starters, we started the game in a 4-3-3 formation but with 4 central midfielders in the line up.It doesn't take a lot to figure out that it wouldn't work.

Deco (not surprisingly) played the game right alongside Lampard and Ballack. At some point in the game, they were literally standing right beside eachother, not knowing what to do with the ball.

Didier Drogba - Enough said here really. What is he still doing at Chelsea?

Anelka played a whole half but I only saw him with the ball, once.

Scolari made some inept and weak substitutions again.

On 64 minutes (right after the second goal) he replaces Bosingwa with Belletti, with no reported injury to Bosingwa.

Why? What was that change (straight swap) going to do to affect the tide of the game. We had Kalou and Di Santo (2 attackers) on the bench. Surely it would have made more sense to throw them on.

Coming back from 2-0 with 26 minutes to go, is a daunting task but not impossible.

When Di Santo eventually did come on, there were only a few minutes left and the game was already won.

Overall, one can just put this demoralising defeat down to the players having an "off day".

But, when an ageing winger who is playing central midfield and an inferior player controls the game the way they did, one can do nothing but hold his hands up in respect.

Bring on the next game..!!

Bold Injection of Truths: Reality Check Needed at Stamford Bridge

Salomon Gonzales — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:27:57 -0500

The year of 2008 started out in not so good fashion. The club seemed to be in never-ending tormoil after the departure of The Special One at the back end of 2007. Avram Grant, who promptly named himself "The Normal One," was given the job.

To everybody's astonishment, he not only steadied the ship after a few demoralising results but he guided the crisis-club to League cup final, Champions league final and nail biting second place finish in the domestic league.

A disappointing, trophy-less season but it had turned out much better than we had anticipated at the beginning of the year.

None-the-less, Grant was shown the door and the charismatic, Brazilian World Cup winner, Luis Felipe Scolari was appointed.

Hopes had risen sky high and Chelsea were linked with all kinds of Brazilian players. Scolari's promise was to deliver the "much sought after but ever elusive" sexy football.

His only signing turned out to be 31 year old Deco from Barcelona. At £8M, this seemed like a real coup and most people had it down as the best signing of the summer.

Sizzling start to new season:

Life under Scolari couldn't have started any sweeter. A 4-0 thumping of FA Cup Winners, Portsmouth in the opening match and a debut goal for new signing, Deco.

A good few games into the new season and Chelsea were riping teams apart, scoring goals left, right and centre. Four-Nil and Five-Nil scores were becoming a weekly event.

Life in the Champions League also started with a bang. Another Four-Nil win against French side Bordaux, managed by the legend Laurent Blanc.

Scolari seemed to be the man Abramovic was looking for all along. Sublime touches and beautiful general play was added to the already effective play and a seemingly unstoppable recipe was created.

First test:

The Brazilian's first major test however, was the visit of English and European champions Manchester United. Chelsea were on a high and scoring goals for fun. United, on the contrasts, were grinding out wins and were yet to hit top form.

The match will be remembered for missed chances at both ends and the 1-1 draw left both sides satisfied.

For the hardcore Chelsea fans, this was the first sign of a major flaw, only to be revealed much later to the general football fan.

Life though, under Scolari was sweet! We were sitting pretty at the top of the league and playing much superiour football to our closest challengers, Liverpool, who themselves had improved immensely from last season.

That Sunday Afternoon:

Then crunch time struck. On Sunday 26th October, Liverpool, bouyed by a couple of performances that saw them win games, when they looked dead and buried, came to Stamford Bridge, with the two sides level on points but Chelsea possessing vastly superiour goal difference.

Chelsea lost the game, the 86 game unbeaten home record and top spot.

Although Chelsea regained top spot briefly, Liverpool have more or less remained league leaders ever since.

Flaws were starting to appear in Chelsea's play. Injuries were coming thick and fast. Essien, Drogba, J.Cole, Carvalho, and Ballack the main victims but the likes of Deco and Terry also missed a few games.

Another match lost at home:

Teams were now coming and "parking the bus" in front of the goal. Deco had lost his early season good form, the defence started to look shaky and we struggled for goals.

No better time for a struggling Arsenal side to make their visit to Stamford Bridge. The confused Chelsea side still controlled much of the game but Arsenal saw their chance and took it.

Chelsea lost another game at Stamford Bridge. So much for the Fortress!

Since then, Chelsea have managed to win one home game (vs West Brom).

What is this major flaw im talking about then?

Im sure you remember the way Ranieri selected and played Jokanovic. I can still remember hearing the boos ringing out game after game as he made error after error. Yet Ranieri still picked him and played him.

Then remember Hasselbaink. Yes, he scored some great goals, but in many games he was ineffective and lazy as he walked around moaning. It was like us playing with 10 men in each of those games, yet Ranieri would never sub him.

One of the first things Mourinho did was to ship Hasselbaink out and bring in Drogba and the rest is history.

Why am I mentioning all this? Well, because there are similarities between Ranieri and Scolari.

Scolari brings many attributes to our game, but we need to win and Scolari needs to get a grip on his tactics and subs. Scolari needs to pick the right type of player for the game ahead, and cease giving Deco preferential treatment.

Maybe then Deco will up his game and show us the things he is capable of.

If us fans are getting frustrated by the way Deco keeps giving the ball away, I can tell you, you can bet for sure that his team mates are too. And the guys sitting on the bench watching this happen are not going to be impressed by their coach the longer this goes on as you can bet for sure it will start to breed disharmony in the camp.

One can point towards the departure of assistant coach Steve Clarke as the turning point in our season so far.

He provided the much-needed insight on English football. Although Wilkins does that just fine, what Clarke was doing was highlighting the opposition's strong points and weaknesses. This helped Scolari focus on getting his team playing good, attacking football and the same he was getting all the information needed before each game.

Ray Wilkins more or less acts as a translator and I wouldn't be surprised if all did was convey the message in good English when Scolari struggles to do so.

What am I saying really?

Scolari needs to identify and execute a plan B. The lack of pace in the side was already a worry and if we fans can see it, why in Gods name, can't Scolari?

I appreciate the fact that we couldn't get Robinho but if Deco isn't going to show the will to put in a respecable effort, then bench him.

He isn't untouchable, nobody is.

Make-shift Solution:

Sit Deco on the bench. Sit Ballack on the bench. Play Scott Sinclair. Sell Malouda because he is about as useless as you can get.

Play Drogba and Anelka together already! Enough of the excuses and put them on the pitch together. I fail to understand why it has to be one or the other, their styles compliment eachother.

Again, if we fans can see it crystal clear, why in Gods name, can't Scolari?

The End of the Road for Salomon Gonzales?

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:58:30 -0400

Seven months ago, a brash new artist that went by the name of Salomon Gonzales joined the already star-studded team of Bleacher Report.

74 articles later, I have decided to put a hold on my B/R involvement. Now, before you readers go ahead and put this down to Chelsea losing their unbeaten home record, I must stress, it is not!

Yes, the loss was hard to take. Yes, I am hurting real bad because of it. Although I (and everybody else) knew it had to go someday, as Alan McGuiness said it, I just wish it had come against different opposition.

I was thinking about squeezing in one final article in before bowing out. It would either have been an in-depth analysis of Chelsea's 86 game unbeaten run or one last Chelsea Roundtable. However, I decided against doing so and I am going to allow Alan McGuiness to have pleasure of doing it instead.

Although, I was terribly inconsistent with my writings, I'd like to believe that I was perceived as one of the better writers and one of the more likably writers on B/R.

I did my best to try and interact with fellow World Football writers and my readers. Writers such Andrew McNair, Salaar Shamsi, SB and Simon Williams were here when I joined and helped me ease right in.

Writers who joined after myself such as, Shyam Parthasarathi, Marzia Hazra, Barney Corkhill, Alex Diamond and Alan McGuiness have all more than played their part in making my stay here very pleasant.

Also a special thanks must go to Alex Diamond for his cool and professional edits.

During the seven months, I have managed to get 74 articles in. I posted 1370 comments on various articles written by my fellow writers.

I managed to amass 29 pick of the day votes, which is greatly appreciated.

I recieved a total of 954 comments to 74 articles.

I also managed to win over 45 fans, which i extremely proud of.

And finally, I recieved 49,433 article reads.

I am not saying I will be gone for good, but so much is going on right now that I will not have time to write as much as before. Given the fact that I was terribly inconsistent to begin with, I dont think it will be worth the effort.

Uni has to take priority over B/R and in the end it is a choice I have had to make.

To be brutally honest, I think B/R is losing its appeal. More and more writers are starting to turn in one article a week, when we used to have writers turning in 2-3 articles a day!

In the end I'd just like to say a special thanks to Zander, Ryan and all the rest of B/R community.

It was good while it lasted!!

I hereby step down and leave the Chelsea Community Leader throne to fellow community leader Alan McGuniess, who was doing a far better job than me anyway!

Thank you all for a wonderful time..

P.S.. Feel free to post note on my bulletin to let me know about new articles. I'd be glad to pop by and leave my opinion here and there.

So long folks!!

Greatest Comebacks: Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:07:11 -0400

"The Greatest Comeback" series is back with a third edition. This time we will be going back to the quarter final of the of the UEFA Champions League in 2004.

For the talented Deportivo side, the reigning European champions were waiting. The first leg was played in Milano and despite a 0-1 lead in the San Siro stadium, this was thrown away in the space of nine minutes as Deportivo lost 4-1.

An impossible task remained ahead in Riazor...

7th April 2004

Early Goal

Deportivo were like a hurricane in the first minutes and put a lot of pressure upon Milan, taking an early lead when Walter Pandiani scored after just five minutes.

The Uruguayan striker received a cross from the left, turned around Paolo Maldini and shot through the Italian's legs to beat Dida. This was the start that Deportivo wanted and Milan had wanted to avoid.

The Riazor crowd got behind the team and the Galicians went on in a furious rhythm. There was no time to take free kicks or corner kicks in a slow pace and the passion was converted into a deluge of chances.

End to end stuff

Then in a heart stopping moment, Milan produced one of their own when Kaká had a one-on-one with Molina. But the Deportivo goalkeeper kept his focus on the ball, saved the try of Kaká and send it spinning across goal for the defence to hack away.

A vital save because an Italian goal would have meant Deportivo needing to win 4-1 to earn extra-time.

35 minutes on the clock, and it was 2-0. This time the highly rated playmaker, Juan Valderon got on the scoresheet headed home after a cross from Luque.

The dream was slowly turning into reality!

The rest of half continued in a tit-for-tat form but AC Milan was slowly getting control of the game. Although, they had no penetration, they seemed content to just keep hold of the ball and see out the first half.

Deportivo had other ideas though and on the stroke of halftime, it was 3-0.

An awful mix-up at the back allowed Luque to gleefully run through and he powered his shot into the top left hand corner.

Great finish, and it's 4-4 on aggregate!!

Second half

The second half was a completely another story. Now that Deportivo had got their noses in front on aggregate, it was Milan who was asking all the questions.

They were seriously lacking cutting edge though and Deportivo looked real comfortable at the back.

Milan looked bewildered. They had a lot of possession but only could create one good chance, missed by Tomasson. And after Ancelotti took off Pirlo it looked like the angle was taken out of the Italian team.

Then disaster struck for them!

A cross came in from the right, it missed everyone and Gattuso then falls asleep at the back post enabling Fran to take control of the ball.

The substitute powered in a shot, it took a deflection off Cafu and left Dida with no chance.

4-0 to Deportivo and Milan had no answers!

Historic moment

The amazing comeback of Deportivo also meant that another page of history was added to the Champions League. With the 4-0 victory Deportivo became the first side ever to overcome a three-goal first-leg deficit in this prestigious tournament.

Carling Cup to Be Replaced By a Summer Premier League Cup

Salomon Gonzales — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:19:44 -0400

The English league cup, Carling Cup, could be on its way to seeing dramatic changes. According to the Daily Mail, it would seem there are plans to replace the Carling Cup with a "Premier League Cup," which be played in pre-season and they are to be played in stadiums across the globe.

The plans, which will also mean that the Community Shield, the meeting between the League champions and the FA Cup winners, being scrapped, will involve the 20 teams in the Premier League and the three promoted teams from the Championship.

The Premier League sides will be divided into five groups containing four teams. Each group will be played out in a given country outside England.

Of the four teams in each group, only the winner will progress to the quaterfinals. The five teams making it through, will be then be joined by the three promoted sides from the Championship.

The new tournament would satisfy the Premier League clubs wish to make the league stronger as global brand.

However, they will need the permission of the Football League to go ahead with their idea.

A while ago, there was talk of extending the league fixture by one match and introducing a 39th game, which would be played across the globe as well.

These suggestions wound up being dismissed.

Denmark 3-0 Malta: Bendtner & Tomasson's Absence Not Missed...

Salomon Gonzales — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:07:32 -0400

Denmark tonight went two points clear at the top of Group One.

Their 3-0 win over minnows Malta, combined with other results going their way steered them two points clear.

In [Parken], the Danes were clearly the better side and at no point during the match did the opposition threaten.

The Danes were totally dominant from the word go. Especially in the first 25 minutes, where they gave Malta a huge footballing lesson in smooth, offensive football. The two full backs, Kasper Bøgelund and Thomas Rasmussen, attacked and attacked down the flanks and were a constant threat everytime they were in possession of the ball.

Early goal

After barely ten minutes, the early domination paid off. Daniel Jensen released Søren Larsen and the Toulouse striker smartly guided the ball passed the on-rushing 'keeper to make it 1-0.

A few minutes later, it was almost 2-0. A superb cross from Bøgelund, found Larsen with time and space to pick his spot, but he dragged his effort woefully wide.

Denmark came back at them though, and Bøgelund supplied another superb cross. This time, it was Kahlenberg who found himself in acres of space but again, a woeful attempt on goal and the score stayed at 1-0.

Penalty

On 28 minutes, Liverpool's Daniel Agger was clattered into following a corner. The referee didn't hesitate to point to the spot and Agger picked himself up, to fire home the spotkick, calmly sending the 'keeper the wrong way.

This gave the Danes extra motivation to increase the tempo of the game after it had died down following the early pressure.

The second half was barely underway, when Bøgelund again charged down the flank and with classic "Brian Laudrup move" he faked the cross and cut inside before supplying a through ball that Larsen ran onto and easily made it 3-0.

Daniel Agger and Christian Poulsen both saw chances go begging, when their efforts was stopped by good saves.

Disallowed goal

After 55 minutes, Morten Nordstrand found Rommedahl with a peach of a pass. He in turn centered the ball, but it was just out of reach from the on-rushing Larsen.

The ball instead fell to Poulsen, who with an elegant pass found Rommedahl again, who in turn fired past the 'keeper to make it 4-0.

The linesman had his flag up though and the goal was chalked off. On closer look, it was an incorrect call and it would seem that Rommedahl quickness fooled the linesman.

Had the goal stood, it would have been a fantastic one with superb interchanges, quick feet and off the ball movement.

On 76 minutes, Larsen was substitued and went off to a standing ovation. With Bendtner and Tomasson out injured, he surely stepped up to the plate. He was replaced by debutant Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen.

Reaction

Coach Olsen was a relieved man when he admitted he had fears, the potential "banana skin" would not go as smoothly as anticipated, after he had been hounded by Danish media all week.

"We had discussed before the game, that we needed to play concentrated and pressure football. If we did that, I was very confident we would demolish the opposition.

We didn't make them look better than they were, but we should have scored three or four goals more, thats how many chances we created for ourselves.

We had everything to lose in such a game, where the opposition turns up and defends for 90 minutes. They were hoping to catch us on an off day, like the night in Hungary but they were disappointed and hardly put up any fight," Olsen said.

Man of the Match

Kasper Bøgelund easily ran away with the Man of the Match award. Two assists and a hand in the penalty, when he supplied the corner. Søren Larsen ran him close with an effecient perfomance and a brace to show for it.

Other matches

Sweden and Portugal played out an entertaining 0-0 draw, with Sweden and Bolton's Elmander in particular guilty of missing a host of chances.

Hungary beat Albania 2-0, with goals from Torghelle and Juhasz.

This leaves Group One pretty much wide open.

Group One

1. Denmark -- 7 points

2. Sweden -- 5 points

3. Portugal -- 4 points

4. Albania -- 4 points

5. Hungary -- 4 points

6. Malta - 0 points

Chelsea Roundtable: Which Youngsters Should Be Integrated and How

Salomon Gonzales — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:42:54 -0400

A few debates have been going around various sports sites regarding our fringe youngsters here at Chelsea. Knowing we all have huge opinions on these issues, I decided to hook up with our own Chelsea Community Co-Leader Alan-McGuinness and our good friend Marcus to discuss the matter.

The question was, which of the youngsters should be integrated into the first team and how?

Salomon-Gonzales

Franco Di Santo is a youngster that has got me really excited, and I'd love to see him get playing time. However, it isn't as straight forward as that, and we all know it.

Playing/training alongside Drogba and Anelka, Di Santo will probably see minimal, if any, minutes in league matches. Carling Cup is where he could and should make his mark.

Big Phil has blatantly stated that he wants all four trophies, which means he'll field our best players every single game, regardless of the occasion. This again means that Di Santo will have to work extremely hard to even get into the Carling Cup squad. If he does that, the sky is the limit.

To me, there is not a lot of difference between Sinclair and Walcott. They are both extremely fast and have the occasional eye for goal. What the difference is/was however is Arsenal gave and continue to give Walcott the chance to show his worth whereas Chelsea are reluctant to give any of the youngsters a try out.

Maybe its just because their squad is not as big as ours and there are occasion where they have to use him. The difference again would be the Carling Cup, where he has played regularly, and although Sinclair made a couple of appearances, and a goal if I remember correctly, he has not been able to break into the Carling Cup squad. Again, this is where he could and should make his mark.

Sooner or later, if we want to cut/reduce the transfer fees, then some of these guys have to be given a chance, otherwise we are wasting our time with the reserve/youth academy aren't we..?

Michael Mancienne will unfortunately struggle to see any minutes at all. I've had the pleasure of watching this boy in action in his time at QPR, and he is a genuine talent who is more than capable becoming a first team player at Chelsea.

Chelsea however, don't seem interested in trying him in the first team, and I'd be very surprised if he sees any minutes on the pitch at all this season.

Marcus

I think it's great that Chelsea has some young guns in waiting to play. The question is: Will they ever see the light of day? I think that we first need to look at the philosophy of the manager and go from there. Scolari has stated on numerous occasions that the goal of Chelsea FC will play to win all in all competitions.

From a fan's perspective, this is a great winning attitude to have, and we all want to win trophies. However, with all the young guns waiting in the wings, how will they ever play?

I think that one of the ways that Scolari can involve the young guns is through the Carling Cup. In the last Carling Cup match versus Portsmouth, he started a strong team, but he made changes to the lineup. I think this could be a way to include Di Santo and Sinclair.

Let Di Santo play the second half of the Carling Cup, or the whole game for that matter. You could pair him alongside Anelka in a 4-3-3 formation or sub him as a lone striker in the second half if the game is wrapped. I think Chelsea fans would be fine with this setup.

Also, if he got hot, it could lift his confidence and make Chelsea fans ecstatic about our striking position. I think that bringing him as a sub during some Premier League matches, FA Cup matches versus weaker opponents, and even starting Champions League games, if we have already won the group stage, which could give him some valuable experience.

Some of these suggestions maybe slightly controversial, but I say why not? It would be great to see that day where we wouldn't have to go into that transfer market to get a striker because we've developed ones that we already have (at least for a few years anyway). All these suggestions could give Di Santo some valuable playing time.

On the other hand, it will be a bit tricky to include Sinclair, since our midfield is a bit clogged, and if we ever move to a consistent 4-3-3, Sinclair's chances will be extremely limited.

I would advocate Sinclair getting him some game time in the Carling Cup and coming on as an occasional sub in a game that we have firmly wrapped up. Looking towards Sinclair's future, I think that Scolari's decision on Ballack's future could be a key for Sinclair. (Ballack's contract runs out at the end of the year and Deco's at the end of 2010).

If Ballack isn't retained, then the chances for Sinclair to be included in the first squad will increase for 2009, if only by a little bit. With both of them possibly gone by fall 2010, he'll definitely get some first-team experience.

Well, whatever happens, let's hope that Chelsea will have lifted a few trophies by then and that some of our young guns have gotten some good quality playing time.

Alan-McGuinness

First of all, I think they have to be ready to make the step up to the first team. Once that judgment has been made, they should train with the first team and get to know the other players and become accustomed to the intensity.

Cup competitions such as the Carling Cup and FA Cup should be used to give the likes of Mancienne, Sinclair, and Di Santo some playing time and help them build up vital experience.

Sinclair and Di Santo are more advanced down this path than Mancienne. With these two, I think they should get some minutes in league matches and maybe even start them against teams down the bottom of the table. I wouldn't recommend doing it away from home in front of a hostile crowd, where they could freeze or not to perform to the best of their ability.

Mancienne is yet to make his first-team debut, so I think he should be eased in more gradually. He has appeared on the bench a number of times over the past few years, and I think he should play alongside John Terry in a cup game, maybe not for 90 minutes, but enough to get a feel for what its like playing in the first team.

I'd like to see Scolari use the Carling Cup like Arsene Wenger uses it, but I don't think that will happen. It seems the approach taken under Mourinho (a strong team with one or two youngsters in the 16) will be continued. Of course, that could all change if we get a really talented crop of youngsters coming through...

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa: Chelsea Destroy Villa in Sublime Fashion..

Salomon Gonzales — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:42:33 -0400

A devastating performance from Chelsea absolutely destroyed the highly-rated Aston Villa side. On a weekend when title rivals Arsenal could only manage a draw and Liverpool struggled to overcome Man City, Chelsea simply walked Villa off the park.

Chelsea started the day with five players out with injuries. Essien, Drogba, Deco, Carvalho, and Alex were all unavailable, which meant Ivanovic got his first premiership start alongside Terry in defence.

Chelsea attacked Villa from the word go and had a couple of long range efforts saved by Freidel on four and six minutes respectively, the former bringing a good save from the American.

The game continued in a similar manner, with Villa defending desperately and Chelsea trying to find a way around the disciplined defence.

On 16 minutes, Anelka lobbed a cute pass to the edge of the six-yard box and Lampard, who looked odds-on to score, sent his header just wide.

This was a clear sign of things to come!

Five minutes later, on 21 minutes, that was indeed the case as Chelsea took the lead and it was fully deserved.

Malouda collected Davies' poor clearance and found Lampard, who in turn slipped a superb pass for Joe Cole, who thumped the ball easily past Friedel from 10 yards out.

Only three minutes later, Chelsea hit the bar. Anelka belted a 25-yarder that beat Friedel but not the woodwork.

These were desperate moments for Villa, who so far had offered nothing in attacking terms.

Lampard then hit a ferocious freekick that Freidel could only parry for a corner. The resulting corner was headed over by Terry.

By now, Chelsea were camped inside the Villa half!

A minute before half time, Chelsea doubled their lead. It had been coming.

Cole pulled it back to Ballack on the penalty spot whose shot was parried by Freidel. He managed to block Anelka's follow-up as well, but the ball fell to Anelka again and he easily tucked it away.

This fixture last season at Stamford Bridge ended 4-4. For a while it looked like there could be eight goals again, and it would have been a surprise if Villa got any of them.

Chelsea were playing some absolutely sublime football and Villa simply could not cope.

The second half continued in much the same way as the first, with Chelsea attacking and Villa defending.

Chances went begging for Ballack, Lampard, and Kalou respectively, where better finishing could have resulted in more goals.

Even Di Santo got in on the act, getting on the end of a sumptuous move, but he cut inside his man and made space for himself only to blaze a shot high over the bar.

A few minutes later, Mikel fired into the side-netting after a neat interchange between him and Lampard.

This was an absurdly one-sided game considering Villa fancy themselves as the fourth or fifth best team in the country.

In the end, the 2-0 score-line flattered the Villans. They just didn't turn up and Chelsea were in no mood to pass out any favours.

Chelsea hang on to top spot for at least another week, along with Liverpool, who themselves bagged three points when they turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win against Man City.

Man of the Match: Frank Lampard

Goal Scorers: Joe Cole 21', Anelka 44'

Bookings: Petrov, Shorey

Possession: Chelsea 61% - 39% Aston Villa

Officially The Worst Footballer To Ever Play Football...

Salomon Gonzales — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:40:21 -0400

In 1996 Graeme Souness immortalised himself in football folklore by falling for an amazing scam that resulted in him signing a player who was so bad, that it was literally possibly to find a better player randomly on the street.

The whole situation started when Ali Dia, a desperate 30-year-old nobody, convinced his agent (who presumably was broke too) to phone the then Southampton boss pretending to be World Footballer of the Year, George Weah, recommending ‘his cousin’ (Ali Dia) as the next big thing.

Souness fell for it and Dia was instantly signed up on a month’s loan.

As you can imagine, Souness was eager to see what his new acquisition could do but the proposed reserve game, and Dia’s debut, against Arsenal was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Heaven behold, Souness made the dumbest decision of his life and Dia suddenly found himself on the bench in Southampton’s next game against Leeds.

However, the madness didn't stop here.

Despite Souness never seeing Dia kick a ball, he brought him off the bench. Star striker and captain Le Tissier pulled a hamstring and on 57 minutes, Dia came on for him.

What followed next was nothing short of hilariously insane!

Dia had the touch of an elephant and the whole spectacle was an embarrassment.

He couldn’t control a ball to save his life and after 14 minutes of 'Bambi on ice' the substitute was substituted, and his loan rapidly terminated.

However, according to the team physio, Dia turned up on Monday morning for a treatment on an injury. Afterwards, he just got up and left, never to be seen again.

Oh no, wait! That's not entirely true..

After his embarrassing stint at Southampton , he played for Non league team Gateshead where he scored in his first match! He got transfer listed shortly after only making eight appearances.

He has never been heard of since..

Top 25 Footballers In Europe

Salomon Gonzales — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:24:37 -0400

Everybody has an opinion about who the best footballers are and I am no different. Having spent a lot of time thinking, I decided to come up with a list of the best 25 footballers in Europe, so here they are.....

25. Ashley Cole

The Chelsea left back has with time proven that he one of the best (if not the best) left backs in the world. He had a torried after his switch across London from Arsenal but he is slowly regaining the form of his Arsenal days.

24. Joaquín

The pacy winger once had all the potential to become the best winger in the world. Bad choices combined with bad form made him come up short.

23. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

He has the ability to become the best striker in the world but his stuck-up attitude has hindered him from doing so thus far. His laziness on the pitch has frustrated most managers he has played under but once presented with a chance, he has always done the business.

22. David Silva

The little Spanish midfielder has risen to superstardom very quickly in the past year. He is one of the shining lights at a sinking ship (Valencia). He also played a crucial part in the Spanish Euro 08 triumph.

21. Carlos Tevez

The hard-working Argentine would make the starting 11 in any team around the world and he is showing why with pulsating performances for Manchester United.

20. Robinho

A very elegant and skillful player. Robinho likes to taunt the opposition with his little tricks and cheeky smiles. On form, he is one the most dangerous players on earth but off form, he can be really frustrating. Drops his head when things aren't going his way.

19. Wayne Rooney

This ex-Evertonian is yet to fulfill the potential seen in him by just about everyone in the country. He is undoubtedly talented and he looked like he would justify his huge pricetag immediately but since C. Ronaldo has been at the scene at United, Rooney seems to have taken a step back and allowed Ronaldo to bask in all the glory. The same contributions by Rooney that were so much highlighted before, now goes almost unnoticed.

18. Didier Drogba

The Ivorian Power house, on his day, is the best striker in the world. Chelsea fans have reluctantly given him another chance at Stamford Bridge and only time will show whether he can re-capture his form of 2006/2007.

17. Arjen Robben

The ex-Chelsea man has lightening speed and great technical ability. He is very injury prone and this has halted his progression as he otherwise would easily have won a few personal accolades. He is still only 25 years old.

16. Francesco Totti

A true one-club man, Totti will never leave Roma. He is loved and adored in his home-town but has failed to justify his hype on the world stage thus far.

15. Cesc Fabregas

This young Spaniard has the world at his feet. At the age of only 21, he has already become the most important player at his club Arsenal. Combining vision with excellent passing ability, he is one of the exciting play-makers in the game.

14. Michael Essien

He appears quiet and unassuming, but the Ghanaian is any manager’s dream. Rarely will you hear dissent from Essien’s mouth, even though he was asked to play in defense far more than he would have liked. Jose Mourinho learned though, that Essien can play just about anywhere and will always give 200 percent.

13. Fernando Torres

The Spaniard provided a much needed 20+ goals a season to Liverpool and was the architect of Spain's Euro 08 triumph.

12. Deco

The little Portguese play-maker would definitely have won world player of the year once but he was unfortunate that his peak arrived at the same time as a certain Ronaldinho peaked. Classy midfielder.

11. Michael Ballack

After a slow start at Chelsea, he is beginning to find the form that made him world famous in his days at Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. When he is on form, he stands above most midfielders in the world but injuries have crippled him and his white Ferrari was named "the ambulance" due to his back and forth trips to the hospital and physio clinics.

10. Andrea Pirlo

He is a player who expertly reads the game and is able to supply the decisive pass at the end of a move. An enormously gifted midfielder who relies on precision passing rather than pace to change a game’s complexion

9. Frank Lampard

An amazing box-to-box midfielder whose goal-scoring stats speak for itself. A midfielder that can guarantee 20+ goals every season, is definitely something special.

8. Rio Ferdinand

The Manchester United man has definitely won over some of his critics over the past few seasons. The fact that he was seriously considered for the England captaincy shows the kind of leader he is. Combine that with superb footballing skills and you have a truly world class defender.

7. Fabio Cannavaro

Having the honour of being the only defender to claim the world player of the year award, Cannavaro has everything needed to be a top defender. Vision, alert, fast and strong.

6. John Terry

The England and Chelsea captain has more than his fair share of critics about his personality but his footballing abilities speak for itself. A great leader and a great defender makes a world class player and that's exactly what he is.

5. Steven Gerrard

Gerrard, unlike many other England internationals, has an enviable amount of raw talent, leading to high praise from across the globe from the likes of Kaká and Carlo Ancelotti, and in guiding the Reds to another European final, confirmed that he is ready to join the all-time greats of the Premiership, and indeed the world.

Twice almost a Chelsea player, Gerrard ultimately stayed loyal and though his long-standing ambition to win the league has not been met, Liverpool’s objectives have satisfied him with the promise that further silverware is imminent.

4. Kaka

Brazilians are the most naturally talented footballers on the globe and the 25-year-old incorporates this Latin elegance into his overall, devastating game, which has been perfectly adapted for the robustness of the European game.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo

Despite all the hate he receives, one can't deny the talent and ability that this youngster posseses. Ronaldo, in a few years, could become the world's greatest, if it isn't for one man standing in his way.

2. Lionel Messi

He is probably the scariest youngster on the planet and the finest talent in Barcelona’s enviable squad. The 2006/7 campaign saw the maturity of the 20-year-old wizard, and he scored one of the most phenomenal goals in memory in the Copa del Rey against Getafe, dribbling past five opponents across a distance of 60 yards before finishing with his wrong foot.

1. Ronaldinho

Despite all the criticism he has received for his pretty weak season last season, Ronaldinho remains the best current footballer in Europe (if not the world). Hoping to re-capture the sort of form that made world player of the year twice in a row, he started off brightly with a sensational performance against City rivals Inter in the Milan derby last night. He scored the winner in the 1-0 victory for AC Milan.

Feyenoord vs. Ajax Amsterdam, 2-2: Dutch Classic Marred by Violence

Salomon Gonzales — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:43:42 -0400

Jon Dahl Tomasson stole the sporting headlines when he bagged a brace for Feyenoord in the feisty, intense 2-2 draw against rivals Ajax Amsterdam.

Jeffrey Sarpong gave Ajax a 39th minute lead after collecting Luis Suarez's pass, but Tomasson leveled in the 50th with a header.

Ajax reclaimed the lead in the 69th when Suarez set up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for his first league goal this season.

Tomasson equalized again for Feyenoord, scoring an 86th minute penalty.

The result of the Dutch Classic was not crucial, according to Marco van Basten.

"The season still lasts too long for that, but winning in the Kuip stadium would have been a major shot in the arm at this point in the season. But winning was not in the cards this time for us.

"The match ended in 2-2, just like last season. We could have gone home the winners", Van Basten said.

"But we did not use the spaces we got. And you can also question some of the decisions of the referee, but I won't hide behind that. It's just a pity."

The great match, however, was marred by violence.

On the terraces an adult Feyenoord fan was creating his own bit of headlines in Holland, when he flat out punched a 12-year-old boy in the face.

The boy was an Ajax supporter and was just celebrating a goal scored by his own team.

According to reports, the attacker was caught by security men but later escaped.

There were a few other scuffles between the two sets of fans after the match. On the whole, though, the police only had to make a few arrests.

Luol Deng's Insurance Problems Cast Doubt on UK Qualification for London 2012

Salomon Gonzales — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:10:01 -0400

With the city of London hosting the 2012 Olympics, things seem to be far from settled in the Team Great Britain camp.

Basketball sensation Luol Deng, may be prevented from playing any games with his national team, because of insurance clauses included in his new contract with Chicago Bulls.

Great Britain Basketball [GBB] officials fear that the insurance problems that are preventing Deng from playing for his country at the moment will also rule him out of the 2012 Olympic Games in London—and even put Britain's involvement in the tournament in doubt.

The sport's governing body has to find $500,000 (about £272,000) for an additional insurance premium if Deng, who is an ambassador for London 2012, is to take his place in the qualifying campaign for next year's European Championship A division finals.

The root of the problem lies with MetLife, the NBA's insurer, which covers the top 150 salaries in the American league on a group policy. Under the terms of its agreement with the NBA, MetLife has the right to exclude 14 high-risk players every year, a decision based on the individual's injury history and the amount of money remaining on his contract.

Deng caught the eyes of Met Life when he recently signed a massive $71 million contract on a six-year deal.

GBB officials are working on the assumption that they will have to cough up a similar fee every summer between now and the London Olympics to allow Deng to play—a total cost of $2.5 million for a programme that runs on an annual budget of about £1.5 million.

“This is a devastating blow,” said Chris Spice, the GBB performance director.

“If Luol doesn't participate this season, or any other season leading up to London 2012, there is no question our involvement is in doubt. The world governing body [FIBA] has not been very specific, but we know from discussions that we need to be playing in the A division tournament in Europe to be given a place in the Olympics.

“If we fall out of the A division next year and cannot participate in the A division for [the 2011 European Championships], there is a real possibility we will not play in London.”

Of course, there is one solution to this whole problem—Mr. Deng could just fork out the the money himself.

If he wants to play for his "adopted" country, even though he does not live here or pay taxes, why doesn't he fork out the insurance money?

A very, very small drop in the ocean, as far as he would be concerned

This could potentially be a long saga—one that the GGB doesn't necessarily need with everything else that is going on.