African Cup of Nations Recap--Day 1

As I said before in my previous post about the 2008 African Cup of Nations, I'm very disappointed that I'm not going to be able to watch the games on TV. I’m going to try and do my best to keep with this tournament as best I can, but that’s not nearly the same as actually watching games live. The African Cup of Nations is the second biggest continental championship in the world in my opinion, and it's an absolute outrage that it's not available here in the States for free on TV.

That said, the tournament started in rousing fashion yesterday. Ghana, the host nation, defeated Guinea 2-1 on a last-minute rocket from Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari, who I picked to be the top newcomer to the Premier League before the season started. The Black Stars feature a roster that includes four players who play their domestic soccer in the Premiership and to be honest, were fortunate to beat Guinea yesterday.

What I'm planning on doing is coming out with a recap of the games every day and highlight the contributions of the Premiership players on each team. Guinea doesn't have anyone on their roster who plays in England, much less the Premiership, and Ghana's lineup yesterday also featured Chelsea stalwart Michael Essien and Birmingham goalie Richard Kingson.

There's a pretty good slate of games on tap today, particularly the Nigeria-Ivory Coast affair that's ongoing as I type this. I picked Ivory Coast to win the whole thing, so hopefully they start out group play on a good note.

New ''I'm on Setanta Sports". Fantastic.

A Weekend to Forget? Not So Fast, My Friend

If you're a neutral observer like me, this weekend's slate of games really doesn't have any compelling storylines or reasons to get excited, at least from the outside. None of the big teams are playing each other and there are no rivalry games. The closest thing to a true derby is the Fulham-Arsenal affair at Craven Cottage tomorrow but I don't think anyone expects that game to be pleasing to the eye.

Look a little bit deeper though. You'll find what could be a pretty good game between Reading and Manchester United as Reading went to Old Trafford early in the season and escaped with a point. Now the Royals get a chance to knock off the defending champions at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow in front of what should be a capacity crowd in Reading. United have lost three times away from home this season already. Can Reading make it a fourth? I'm not so sure, but I think that's still a game to keep an eye on.

Kevin Keegan will make his Premiership return with Newcastle as his side welcomes Bolton to St. James Park tomorrow afternoon. With Nicolas Anelka gone to Chelsea and with the incredible amount of emotion one would expect to see from Newcastle, you wouldn't think Bolton has much of a chance but emotion can only carry Newcastle so far. Bolton will have to commit men forward if they want to win, which is more than possible. Newcastle are a bad team; Bolton have no punch without Anelka. You say boring, I say one of the most exciting draws you'll see all season simply because no one is expecting much out of this game. Hey, if Newcastle lose, maybe we'll see Kevin Keegan cry again, you never know. That possibility alone makes this game worth watching.

West Ham and Manchester City will square off for the second time in four days on Sunday as the two sides will get together again at Eastlands after City beat the Hammers 1-0 there in a FA Cup 3rd Round replay on Wednesday. Nothing says emotion and passion like renewed acquaintances and I'd expect to see most of the same players on Sunday that we saw in midweek because both teams sent out full-strength sides. I think there's a good chance we'll see our share of yellow cards and possibly a sending off or two in this game. Remember, both teams are within striking distance of a place in Europe next season, so that just makes Sunday's match even more meaningful.

I'll be honest with you, the rest of this weekend's games don't look to be that great, on paper at least. That's the beauty of the Premiership though. Did anyone foresee that 4-4 goalfest between Aston Villa and Chelsea a couple weeks ago? I know I didn't; Chelsea rarely score more than a goal or two in a game, much less concede more than once. The Premiership is the most entertaining league in the world. I'm not expecting anything from the other games this weekend but even though I can say that with certainty now, just watch a candidate for game of the year come out from the woodwork.

I wouldn't be surprised, and you shouldn't be either.

Newcastle Hires Kevin Keegan

The hiring of Kevin Keegan today to become Newcastle's manager (again) demonstrates why the Tyneside club have become one of the laughingstocks of the Premier League: Instead of looking to the future, they've fallen back into the deadly trap that is the past. What's worse is that Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, had to have made this decision based solely on what his club's fans wanted rather than making the best business decision and what was right for the team by going with a foreign manager.

I have nothing against Kevin Keegan whatsoever. He's a Liverpool legend and was a great player for Newcastle and Southampton and wasn't too shabby during his time in Germany with Hamburg either.

What has he accomplished as a manager though?? Listen, I could care less about the two First Division titles he has and the one Second Divison championship; those don't prove anything to me at all. Newcastle were the runners-up in the Premier League in 1995-1996 and lost the Charity Shield to begin the '96-'97 season; again, not impressive to me. Second place in the Premiership is nice and not too shabby of an accomplishment, I admit that, but that was the best he could do in thirteen years of management.

He didn't do anything when he coached England except crash them out of the group stage in Euro 2000, when they lost two games in which they led at some point. Keegan finished with a .500 record with England (7-4-7) and in terms of winning percentage is the least successful permanent manager in England national team history.

Let me put this out there. If Keegan didn't win multiple domestic and European trophies when he was at Liverpool as a player, I don't think he would even have gotten into the management door. People don't seem to understand that being a great player and playing on a great team doesn't necessarily translate to being a good manager; the two aren't connected like that.

Apparently Newcastle owner Mike Ashley (all 567 pounds of him) doesn't see it that way, and that's fine. His problem is that as a fan himself, he's biased towards guys like Keegan and Shearer; he even sits with the fans at home matches. He has absolutely no knowledge and experience in the game of soccer other than making his fortune in the sporting goods business, and he clearly doesn't understand the game. If he did, he would realize that appointing a figure from the past isn't the answer the answer for Newcastle's problems in the present and certainly isn't the right way to steer the team to better things in the future.

There were better, more qualified candidates that Ashley could have, and should have, pursued. Yes, I give him credit for going after Harry Redknapp and trying to lure him with the big bucks, but come on; Redknapp was never going to leave the South Coast for the coal heap that is Newcastle. The favorite over the past few days had been former Monaco and Juventus manager Didier Deschamps, who did an outstanding job in leading Monaco to a Champions League final in 2004 and won Serie B with a depleted Juventus side after the Italian match-fixing scandal.

Mark Hughes would clearly have been a better choice than Keegan with the way he's led Blackburn to a possible UEFA Cup spot this year and he has that team on the right track, and Gerard Houllier would have been the best choice of all. Houllier is outstanding at developing young players and Newcastle really needs an injection of young talent into their side. The Frenchman had just come off two La Ligue titles in a row at Lyon and won two Carling Cups, a UEFA Cup, and an FA Cup at Liverpool. It was reported that Houllier turned Mike Ashley down to stay at his post with the French national team, but I have a feeling that's because Ashley didn't offer Houllier a good enough amount of money.

If you're a member of the Toon Army, you think you won. You persuaded your owner to hire a blast from the past because you think he's the right man to take you out of the hole you've dug yourself in over the past few years.

I've got news for you. You lost. You lost bigtime.

Al Bangura Will Remain in the UK

Finally, after a protracted, drawn out saga that stretched over the past couple of months, I'm glad to see that justice has been served and Watford midfielder Al Bangura will be allowed to remain in the UK permanently. Bangura won his appeal of an original ruling by the Home Office that was going to deport him back to his native Sierra Leone and now will be able to raise his young family without fear for his own life.

I wrote twice about this in mid-December and I don't want to go over his whole life story again because by now, many of you have heard what has been going on, but suffice it to say that Bangura had an extremely difficult childhood and has gone through more in his life than many people twice his age. I'm just thrilled to see that the United Kingdom got it right this time by making this decision based on common sense and rationale rather than following the letter of the law. If they would've done that, Bangura would not have been granted a work permit and his days in England would've been over.

England's World Cup 2010 Qualifying Schedule

The England national team's fixture list for World Cup 2010 qualifying has just been released, and I think it sets up pretty nicely for new manager Fabio Capello. The meeting to hash out the exact details of the schedule took a reported eight hours in Zagreb, Croatia.

It’ll be important for the Three Lions to start and end qualifying on a high note and they have a good chance to do just as they’ll visit minnows Andorra to get the ball rolling and host relative lightweight Belarus to end the campaign.

September 6, 2008: @ Andorra
September 10, 2008: @ Croatia
October 11, 2008: Kazakhstan
October 15, 2008: @ Belarus
April 1, 2009: Ukraine
June 6, 2009: @ Kazakhstan
June 10, 2009: Andorra
September 9, 2009: Croatia
October 10, 2009: @ Ukraine
October 14, 2009: Belarus

Big Ten Conference Update

Each team in the Big Ten Conference is now either three or four games into an 18-game league slate and things are really starting to become clear.

The Big Ten is extremely down this year. In past seasons, this league routinely sent six or seven teams to the NCAA Tournament but with new head coaches and young rosters all across the conference, it looks like the Big Ten will get four teams (at most) into the Big Dance.

As almost everyone who knows college basketball predicted, the conference is extremely top-heavy with Indiana, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. After that, we've got a bunch of above average and mediocre teams who are all going through their respective struggles right now and a couple of teams who are just downright bad.

Let's take a look at the current standings:

1. Indiana (14-1; 3-0)
2. Wisconsin (13-2; 3-0)
3. Ohio State (12-4; 3-1)
4. Michigan State (14-2; 2-1)
5. Minnesota (12-3; 2-1)
6. Purdue (11-5; 2-1)
7. Penn State (10-5; 2-1)
8. Iowa (8-9; 1-3)
9. Michigan (5-11; 1-3)
10. Illinois (8-9; 0-4)
11. Northwestern (5-8; 0-4)

For me, the most surprising team so far this year has been Illinois and not in a good way. One of their key players, Jamar Smith, has been out for the entire season and won't return until next year, but still, this is a team with two experienced big men and a pretty solid point guard in Chester Frazier, and that's usually the recipe for success in the Big Ten. Perhaps the most disappointing thing is the way they've played at Assembly Hall, usually one of the toughest places to play in the conference, if not the nation. The Fighting Illini have already lost at home to Miami (OH) (a pretty good team in the MAC), Tennessee State (enough said), Ohio State, and Penn State. Two conference losses at home is almost an abomination for Illinois and right now, they're just not playing good enough basketball to win anywhere.

The jury is STILL out on Minnesota as far as I'm concerned. Yes, their overall record looks nice but they didn't beat anyone of note in the non-conference and in their two games against decent opponents, they lost both times. In the conference, it's been much of the same. They won at Penn State but that's a game they should win; it wasn't an upset, they beat Northwestern at home but everyone beats Northwestern, and they lost at Michigan State, the one tough team they've played so far inside the Big Ten.

I'll keep these posts about basketball to about once every week and a half or so, but if you're interested check out the "Useful Basketball Sites" on the left side of the homepage. Those are all great sites for college basketball fans.

Race for Fourth Place--Who Will Win?

After this weekend’s games, Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa, and Manchester City (in that order) are all tied with 39 points and Blackburn is within reach at 36. Portsmouth are hanging on right now with 34 points but face a difficult month or so ahead as they’ve lost some key players to international duty in the African Cup of Nations.

Starting with whom I believe is most likely to snatch fourth place and the last Champions League place that comes with it and progressing to the least likely, here's a breakdown of the contenders:

Liverpool: I picked the Reds to finish third at the beginning of the season and while that may be out of reach now, I'm still going to stick with my guns and go with them to get back into the Champions League. Whether that's good enough for Rafa Benitez to keep his job is unclear at the moment, but in my opinion everyone involved would be better off if he left.

The squad he consistently rotates has more collective talent than any of the other contenders and boasts the two best players in that group of teams in Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. To me, it's that overall talent that will prevail despite Rafa's Premiership incompetence. As long as he puts those two players and Jamie Carragher in the lineup at the same time to form that spine right up the middle of the field, Liverpool have a good chance to win every single league game they play in. They have the huge advantage of hosting Manchester City (awful away from home), Everton, and Aston Villa and it's nearly impossible to win for visitors to win at Anfield.

Aston Villa: Aston Villa, aka the future England national team, have been very impressive at times this season. However, they may still be a season or two away from breaking into the ranks of the top four. I'm not sure if they're consistent enough to end up ahead of schedule this year. Are they the team that got walloped at home by Manchester United 4-1 or the side that has taken four points out of six from Chelsea? Games at Portsmouth, Manchester United, Arsenal, and West Ham will tell us. Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor are stars in the making.

Portsmouth: The month of January and the beginning of February will be a make it-or-break it slate of games for Pompey. They've lost some important players (John Utaka, Kanu, Sulley Muntari) to the African Cup of Nations and need to tread water until those guys return. Luckily for the South Coasters, the schedule after early February shapes up nicely with home games against Fulham, Sunderland, Birmingham, Wigan, and Newcastle. Five games, must take 12 points (at least) to have a chance at finishing fourth.

Manchester City: If this club could win away from the Eastlands, they'd have a legitimate chance to wind up in fourth place. As it is, they've claimed full points on the road just twice in eleven games and that's not good enough to break the stranglehold on the top four. They lost at fellow contender Everton today and that's the type of game they simply can't afford to lose. The overall talent is there, the coaching is certainly there; the consistency is not.

Everton: The Tim Cahill Show is back on a roll after their 1-0 win over City (at Goodison Park) today. The Australian midfielder is the King of Clutch and for Everton to mount a serious challenge, he'll need to carry the load with Yakubu gone for at least the next month. The Yak's presence up top will be sorely missed and I'm not sure who they have (other than Cahill) to replace him. It certainly isn't Andy Johnson, at least not on a regular basis.

Blackburn: Out of all the teams battling for fourth place, let's be honest, Mark Hughes is getting the most from the least amount of talent. This is a group of experienced, veteran players who are the definition of "steady". Blackburn aren't flashy but they get it done. Difficult games against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal are still to come, but the schedule is relatively light in March. Blackburn have five winnable games and need to take care of business to be in with a shout.

José Mourinho is Fantastic!

I want to thank a loyal reader for e-mailing me today and giving me the heads-up about a new José Mourinho segment on Setanta. There's no better idea for my 200th post here at English Soccer Talk then to post the embedded YouTube video of The Special One; after all, he is fantastic.

For more of the future AC Milan manager, scroll down to January 2 and "José Mourinho Setanta Commercials".

200th Post

Alright everyone, listen up.

My next post will be the 200th on English Soccer Talk since its inception in May. This site has undergone a few changes over the months and I'm continually tweaking it to try and make it better and more informative but most of all, more enjoyable for visitors.

What I'd like everyone to do is leave a comment after this post and explain what you'd like to see in the future on this site. I'm interested to hear how you all think I could really push English Soccer Talk further into that community of more reputable blogs. Give me your feedback; do you think I should change the color scheme? Should I write about different topics?

Also if you don't mind, give me your suggestions on what I should post about for the big 200. I'm open to anything and whichever option I like best will be the winner. My contact details are on the lower left side of the page if you want to send an e-mail, or feel free to leave another comment.

Here's to another 200 posts!

Harry Redknapp Rejects Newcastle

Come on. Did anyone actually think Harry Redknapp was going to leave Portsmouth for Newcastle? Let's see, a relatively quiet life on the South Coast near the water or life in the North East, where you're more likely to find coal than a good time?

Never mind those things though, just look at the actual talent on the field. Portsmouth is an up-and-coming team with legitimate European aspirations this season and for seasons to come. 'Arry has put a dangerous team together down there and with Alexandre Gaydamak's considerable wealth, Redknapp doesn't exactly have to worry about not having any money to buy more players if he needs to.

Newcastle is a team in turmoil right now. Their squad is full of players in their late 20's and doesn't have much young talent aside from Steven Taylor, James Milner, and Obafemi Martins. They haven't won anything of note in over 50 years and the immense pressure placed upon both the team and its manager by the fans to change that is hard to operate under.

I don't blame Redknapp one bit for not going up to Newcastle; it would be a step down for him and he has Portsmouth on the right track.

Lazy Friday Night

Nothing much to report tonight, although I'm sure you've all heard about Nicholas Anelka's reported $30 million US move to Chelsea today. When he makes his first appearance with the West London side, Anelka will have played for his eighth different professional team since 1995. The "Incredible Sulk" has cost teams a combined $170 million US in transfer fees over the course of his career.

You heard it here first: Tottenham will end Chelsea's record home league unbeaten streak at 73 matches tomorrow...

Following Premiership Players in the African Cup of Nations

I have to tell you all how unbelievably disappointed I am that this year's 26th edition of the African Cup of Nations, set to kick off in Ghana on January 20, isn't being televised on any major station here in the US (at least as far as I know, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). This tournament has a history of exciting games and has developed a reputation of producing players that are amongst the best in the world now but really got their kickstart by playing at Africa's championship.

The quality of players coming out of Africa is growing by leaps and bounds. Most of the major clubs across Europe have at least a couple of Africans on their roster, even some, like Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, that won't be playing in this tournament because their respective nations didn't qualify for the 16-team event. The host nation, Ghana, has players on its squad who ply their trade at the domestic level at Chelsea, Portsmouth, West Ham, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, Fenerbahçe, Udinese, and Celta Vigo. My personal favorite to win the whole thng, Ivory Coast, boasts players from Stuttgart, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Lyon, Sevilla, Werder Bremen, and others.

Many of the Premiership's managers and others from other major European leagues, notably Arsene Wenger, are upset with the timing of this tournament. Players who are called up by their country will miss roughly a month of action with their clubs and managers don't like to have to adjust. What they seem to not realize, however, is that Africa's geographical position in the Southern Hemisphere puts this tournament in the summer for them, which is the same time that the World Cup and the European Championship are played.

The whole "country or club" debate is always called into question at times like this, but how you can realistically expect a player to reject a place on his country's team? A chance to put on the colors of your nation is something that truly appeals to players. To represent your country and wear the colors with pride is something that's so honest and special; it's not about the money like it is with club soccer, it's about the spirit of the game and love for the place you came from. I would pick country over club any day of the week if I was lucky enough to ever get the chance to be in that position.

Numerous Premiership players will compete in this tournament to one degree or another and I wanted to make it easier for fans out there to know who's going and what nations they'll want to support if they have players from their favorite club. The players mentioned below have either been named to their nation's provisional squad or the actual tournament squad itself. Again, feel free to correct me if I went wrong somewhere.

Nations with Premiership players (club team):

Ghana:
Richard Kingson (Birmingham)
John Paintsil (West Ham)
Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)

Guinea:
None

Morocco:
None

Namibia:
None

Benin:
None

Ivory Coast:
Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal)
Abdoulaye Méïté (Bolton)
Kolo Touré (Arsenal)
Emerse Faé (Reading)
Didier Zokora (Tottenham)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

Mali:
Mohamed Sissoko (Liverpool)

Nigeria:
Joseph Yobo (Everton)
Dickson Etuhu (Sunderland)
John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
John Utaka (Portsmouth)
Yakubu (Everton)
Obafemi Martins (Newcastle)
Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)

Cameroon:
André Bikey (Reading)
Geremi (Newcastle)
Alexandre Song (Arsenal)

Egypt:
Mohamed Shawky (Middlesbrough)

Sudan:
None

Zambia:
None

Angola:
Manucho Goncalves (Manchester United)

Senegal:
Habib Bèye (Newcastle)
Ibrahima Sonko (Reading)
Papa Bouba Diop (Portsmouth)
Diomansy Kamara (Fulham)
El Hadji Diouf (Bolton)
Henri Camara (West Ham)

South Africa:
Steven Pienaar (Everton)
Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn)

Tunisia:
Radhi Jaïdi (Birmingham)
Medhi Nafti (Birmingham)

Editor's Note: At the time of publishing Mohamed Sissoko still technically played for Liverpool, although all signs point to him joining Juventus within the coming days.

Goodbye, Sam Allardyce

In a move that should come as no surprise to anyone, Newcastle United and Sam Allardyce have parted ways today by "mutual agreement". The writing was on the wall for Big Sam after his team took just one point from a possible six against bottom-feeders Derby and Wigan over the holiday season and were also held to a scoreless draw in their FA Cup 3rd Round tie last weekend at Championship side Stoke City.

I've been calling for this move for weeks now, as you all well know. All Big Sam did at Bolton was prove he can manage a side to mid-table mediocrity. He didn't have any expectations to answer to when he was with the Trotters and he had a roster that was full of experienced players. Honestly, teams like the ones he had should finish somewhere around 7th or 8th anyway so I don't really believe Allardyce worked magic there like many people believe he did.

As soon as he made the jump up to Newcastle (if you can even consider Newcastle a step up), he showed his true colors. Newcastle are a club with passionate supporters and with all due respect to Bolton, have higher expectations than the Wanderers and Allardyce couldn't answer the bell when he needed to.

Look, you can argue that he deserved more time and a chance to really rebuild his squad, and I can see your point. The Premiership managerial merry-go-round has been on super-speed this year and some of its victims have been less deserving than others. In Allardyce's and Newcastle's case, there's no real difference between 13th in the table and 9th; it's mid-table and it's nothing to brag about. Newcastle would have, and likely still will, finished somewhere in that range this year so why not give him another two transfer windows to improve the squad?

Well, I'll tell you why, Because the players Allardyce signed last summer have turned out to be disasters. Joey Barton could go to jail for an extended period of time, Mark Viduka still hasn't left the pie shop, José Enrique is an average Premiership left back at best, Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye has played in only 11 league games, and Caçapa's transition to the Premiership from Lyon hasn't gone nearly as smoothly as hoped for. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, a man of the fans, would have been wrong in letting Allardyce spend more of the former's money given the fact that he hadn't shown he can buy wisely.

Rumors are circulating that Steve McLaren could take over but I'm not sure how much I buy into that. His former club, Middlesbrough, are Newcastle's bitter rivals in the North East. McLaren was just fired from the England job in the summer after that whole debacle and I would think he'd want some time away from the game.

Alan Shearer is clearly the people's choice but appointing him would be a step in the wrong direction. He has no managerial experience whatsoever and as Sammy Lee's short tenure at Bolton this year proved, you can't just walk into the Premiership and be successful. Newcastle fans will have a say in who the club's next manager would be because as I said, Mike Ashley is a man of the people and a fan himself, but they need to look past their favoritism and reach out for a more experienced candidate.

Martin Jol is available but I believe he'll want the vacant Dutch national team job after Marco van Basten's contract with Holland ends after Euro 2008 this summer. There's no way Mourinho will take this position; he looks poised to take over at AC Milan or maybe even Barcelona next summer. Marcelo Lippi won't have any interest in Newcastle either; if he even takes another managerial job it'll be with a national team and he is way, way above a club like Newcastle.

Football Manager 2008

Frustrated by Rafa's rotation policy at Liverpool and think the Reds should be better? Angry that Valencia is falling apart as we speak under Ronald Koeman? Think you could lead Manchester United to another treble? Then Football Manager 2008 is the game for you.

I know this game has been out for a while here in the US but I haven't seen any "reviews" for it on soccer blogs or websites around the internet, so I wanted to put something out there for those of you who may be interested.

This isn't your typical soccer video game like EA Sports' FIFA series or Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. In FM 2008 you don't actually play the game on the field; rather, you take complete control of nearly any club or national team in the world as their manager. You can buy, loan, and sell players, schedule friendlies, set up your team and player tactics in nauseating detail; in short, anything a manager is responsible for in real life you become responsible for as well.

If you want to look at all the nifty features and whatnot, I encourage you to go to the game's official website at http://fm08.footballmanager.net/en/article/100/index.html. I'm not going to go into specifics here other than what I've already covered but suffice it to say that this game is worth the money. You can also download a free demo if you want to get a feel for what FM 2008 is like and then decide whether or not to buy the full game.

I definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in soccer. As I said, it's not the typical video game but that's what drew me to this series in the first place. This "review" doesn't do it justice in the least and so if you're intrigued, check out the website for yourself. In fairness, the game did have a few bugs and kinks to be worked out but several patches have been released that should have addressed and corrected those errors.

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

The draw for the 4th Round of the FA Cup was conducted today and once again, we'll be able to look forward to some potentially entertaining ties. Once the 3rd Round replays are played on January 15 and 16, the 4th Round matchups will become set in stone.

The 4th Round is made up of the last 32 teams in the competition and its pairings will be played the weekend of January 26 and 27. I'm hoping to see a Manchester United-Tottenham affair and that would come to fruition only if Spurs can go to Reading and win in their 3rd Round replay. I'm also excited about the battle of the "mouths" as Portsmouth will welcome Plymouth Argyle to Fratton Park.

The Cinderella story of this year's 127th edition of the FA Cup, Havant & Waterlooville, got either a dream draw or a nightmare draw, depending on how you want to look at it. On one hand, if they beat Swansea City in their 3rd Round replay, they'll get a chance to slay Goliath and beat Liverpool at Anfield. The national media exposure and publicity for the Blue Square South side would be immeasureable. On the other hand, they likely wouldn't progress in the competition and their dreams of winning the whole thing would come crashing down on them. This whole dilemma would be moot, of course, if Luton Town goes to Liverpool and wins but that doesn't appear likely.

Both Oldham Athletic and Huddersfield Town have to like their chances to advance to the last 16 as the two sides will square off at Oldham, and the same can be said for Southend United and Barnsley.

Here's the complete list of 4th Round matchups, with the home team listed first:

Arsenal vs. Stoke City/Newcastle United
Coventry City vs. Walsall/Millwall
Oldham Athletic vs. Huddersfield Town
Swindon Town/Barnet vs. Fulham/Bristol Rovers
Wigan Athletic vs. Chelsea
Luton Town/Liverpool v Swansea/Havant & Waterlooville
Southend United vs. Barnsley
Southampton vs. Norwich City/Bury
Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur/Reading
Portsmouth vs. Plymouth Argyle
Derby County/Sheffield Wednesday vs. Preston North End
Watford vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Peterborough United vs. Charlton Athletic/West Bromwich Albion
Sheffield United vs. West Ham United/Manchester City
Mansfield Town vs. Middlesbrough
Tranmere Rovers/Hereford United vs. Cardiff City

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

FA Cup Recap--3rd Round

The Third Round of England's most prestigious knockout competition, the FA Cup, made for a very exciting slate of games. We saw some lower-league sides keep their dreams alive; we saw Premiership teams overcome spirited opposition to move on to the next stage; and most importantly, we saw the true spirit and passion of the game come out.

Chasetown were the lowest ranked team to ever make it to this point in the FA Cup and after scoring first in their game against Cardiff, gave up three unanswered goals to bow out of the competition. Havant & Waterlooville are now the flag-bearers for clubs outside the Football League (Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2) as the Hawks are currently toiling in Blue Square South.

Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, and Birmingham City were all knocked out by lower-league sides, Sunderland (Wigan) and Aston Villa (Manchester United) were eliminated by fellow Premier League teams, and Newcastle, Derby, Tottenham, Reading, West Ham, Manchester City, Fulham, and Liverpool will all need replays to further their quest to win the FA Cup.

Like I said before, we saw some great displays of the game this weekend. The quality of play wasn't always the greatest but it was made up for with the passion and desire that both teams and fans showed. The draw for the 4th Round will be made tomorrow, and you can get full coverage of that right here.

Round 3 Results:

DATE HOME SCORE OPPONENT
01/05 Chasetown 1 - 3 Cardiff City
01/05 Walsall 0 - 0 Millwall
01/05 Wolverhampton 2 - 1 Cambridge Utd.
01/05 Barnsley 2 - 1 Blackpool
01/05 Blackburn 1 - 4 Coventry City
01/05 Bolton 0 - 1 Sheffield Utd
01/05 Brighton 1 - 2 Mansfield Town
01/05 Bristol City 1 - 2 Middlesbrough
01/05 Charlton 1 - 1 West Bromwich Albion
01/05 Chelsea 1 - 0 QPR
01/05 Colchester 1 - 3 Peterborough
01/05 Everton 0 - 1 Oldham Athletic
01/05 Huddersfield Town 2 - 1 Birmingham City
01/05 Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Portsmouth
01/05 Norwich 1 - 1 Bury
01/05 Plymouth Argyle 3 - 2 Hull City
01/05 Preston North End 1 - 0 Scunthorpe
01/05 Southampton 2 - 0 Leicester City
01/05 Southend Utd. 5 - 2 Dagenham & Redbridge
01/05 Sunderland 0 - 3 Wigan
01/05 Swansea City 1 - 1 Havant and Waterloo
01/05 Swindon Town 1 - 1 Barnet
01/05 Tottenham 2 - 2 Reading
01/05 Tranmere Rovers 2 - 2 Hereford
01/05 Watford 2 - 0 Crystal Palace
01/05 West Ham 0 - 0 Manchester City
01/05 Aston Villa 0 - 2 Manchester Utd.
01/06 Burnley 0 - 2 Arsenal
01/06 Derby 2 - 2 Sheffield Wed.
01/06 Fulham 2 - 2 Bristol Rovers
01/06 Luton Town 1 - 1 Liverpool
01/06 Stoke City 0 - 0 Newcastle

Replays:

01/15 Barnet vs. Swindon Town
01/15 Bristol Rovers vs. Fulham
01/15 Bury vs. Norwich
01/15 Hereford vs. Tranmere Rovers
01/15 Millwall vs. Walsall
01/15 Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County
01/15 West Bromwich Albion vs. Charlton Athletic
01/15 Liverpool vs. Luton Town
01/15 Reading vs. Tottenham
01/16 Havant and Waterloo vs. Swansea City
01/16 Manchester City vs. West Ham
01/16 Newcastle vs. Stoke City

Premiership Teams' New Year's Resolutions

I figured that before the Christmas and New Year's hype ends and becomes irrelevant, I'd try to milk it for all it's worth and relate it back to the Premiership.

Twenty teams compete in the most entertaining domestic league in the world; every single one of them has room to improve, some much more so than others...Derby, ahem, ahem...

Here's what each club should look to do in the new year:

Arsenal: Choose one competition to focus on, either you go for the Champions League or the Premiership, but not both. A roster this inexperienced and young really can't balance both and be successful.

Aston Villa: Build around that great young English talent in the midfield and up front by strengthening the back four. Laursen and Mellberg aren't getting any younger..

Birmingham City: Keep up a good relationship with Arsenal. Fabrice Muamba, Johan Djourou, and Nicklas Bendtner (last season) have all come to Birmingham on loan recently and all parties involved have been better for it.

Blackburn Rovers: Get rid of the dead wood (Benni McCarthy, Robbie Savage, Jason Roberts, etc.), make whatever profit you can for those players, and invest in some capable defenders. Also, it'll be essential to play better at Ewood Park.

Bolton: Keep Nicholas Anelka, plain and simple. You'll be worse off financially in the short term, but you could be relegated without him because no one else scores goals. Sell him in the summer and buy a couple younger strikers to replace him. Win away from the Reebok (0-2-8 this season).

Chelsea: Buy Nicholas Anelka, plain and simple. Whatever the cost, buy him. You need a striker who can score goals in the Premier League; 1-0 and 2-1 every game isn't going to get it done. Look what he does at Bolton with inferior talent around him; imagine what he can do with quality players in West London.

Derby County: Avoid becoming the worst team in Premiership history by somehow picking up at least eight more points before the season ends.

Everton: Make the Steven Pienaar deal permanent. If you can get a king's ransom for Mikel Arteta and Joleon Lescott like what we've heard on the rumor mill, sell them both in a heartbeat. They're good players, but not irreplaceable.

Fulham: Find a way to stop conceding late goals, whether they be equalizers or game-winners. You've got to play with a bit more creativity also, pumping the ball up the field isn't really getting it done.

Liverpool: Get rid of Rafa Benitez in the summer and offer the job to The Special One with no expenses spared. If Tom Hicks can give A-Rod a 10-year, $250 million contract, I think he can find a way to bring Mourinho to Liverpool.

Manchester City: Must improve away from Eastlands if you hope to become a top-four club. How do you do that? Bring in a capable striker or two who can step up under pressure and score big goals. Oh, and send Rolando Bianchi packing.

Manchester United: First and foremost, find a right back. Sevilla's Daniel Alves, perhaps? After that, make Old Trafford a more imposing place for away teams to come and play. Fergie said there's no atmosphere at the largest stadium in the Premier League and he's exactly right.

Middlesbrough: Lower ticket prices, advertise more in the local media, whatever it is, put more butts in seats at the Riverside. You're the best team amongst your rivals in the North East, use that to your advantage and keep bringing in talented young players through your academy.

Newcastle: Either fire Big Sam now or commit to him through next season at least. It's too much of a distraction with his job security seemingly hanging in the balance after every game; make a decision and stick with it. Buy Joey Barton a private jail cell or something, he may need it.

Portsmouth: Last year you couldn't win on the road, this year you can't win at home. More consistency is the only way you'll become a top-six side every year.

Reading: Find another keeper to replace Marcus Hahnemann, and find someone else who can score goals on a regular basis to play with Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita, when he returns. Have to improve away from home as well.

Sunderland: Use that Manchester United connection that Roy Keane has and bring in Wes Brown and Darren Fletcher to shore up the leaky defense and midfield. Two draws and nine losses away from the Stadium of Light doesn't cut it either.

Tottenham: Sell Dimitar Berbatov and use that money to invest in experienced, quality defenders. Alan Hutton would've been a good start before he rejected you, and Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson aren't good enough to play for a team with your ambition. English lessons for Juande Ramos wouldn't be a bad idea either; he has a good system but if he can't really communicate it to his players, it does no good.

West Ham: Somehow, some way, you have to prevent your players from getting injured. Maybe it's lighter training sessions or better physical therapists and massuers, I don't know, but injuries are killing you. Keep buying the rejects from other teams; their trash is your treasure (Craig Bellamy, Lucas Neill, Lee Bowyer, Carlton Cole, etc.)

Wigan: Make sure that great performance at Anfield this week doesn't become an anomaly; try and duplicate that and make it the norm rather than the surprise. Steve Bruce is a solid manager I think and he knows what it's like to work with little to nothing, but if you can raise more money through ticket sales or merchandise, he'll have more opportunity to bring players in.

Premiership Midseason Awards

Phew. After a jampacked holiday schedule that came fast and furious, fans and players alike now get a chance to catch their breath as the next round of games doesn't come until the 12th. The Carling Cup semifinals and the 3rd Round of the FA Cup will have to tide everyone over until then and there should be some pretty good games in both competitions.

I came out with a "Best of" list for the year 2007 the day after Christmas and got some interesting feedback on that. That list encompassed everything in the 2006-2007 season and what we've seen thus far in the '07-'08 season, but my next endeavor is to hand out midseason awards for this year. I know it's not exactly the halfway point in the season as teams have played either 20 or 21 league games, but I've always looked at midseason as the turn of the new year and that time has come.

So, without further ado, here are my midseason awards for the 2007-2008 Barclays Premier League season:

Most Outstanding Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Most Valuable Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Striker: Nicholas Anelka (Bolton)
Best Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Center Back: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Best Full Back: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
Best Summer Signing: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Worst Summer Signing: Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Most Improved Team: Manchester City
Least Improved Team: Newcastle
Biggest Surprise (Team; Best): Manchester City
Biggest Surprise (Player; Best): Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)
Biggest Surprise (Team; Worst): Tottenham
Biggest Surprise (Player; Worst): Darren Bent (Tottenham)
Best Goal: Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham); vs. Tottenham (12/02)
Best Manager: Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa)
Worst Manager: Sam Allardyce (Newcastle)
Best Match: Chelsea-4, Aston Villa-4 (12/26/07)

Big Ten Conference Play Starts Tonight

Well first off, I want to congratulate the University of Michigan Wolverines football team for winning the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Citrus Bowl) in Orlando yesterday, beating the virtual home team, the Florida Gators, 41-35. The win was a great way to send out Coach Lloyd Carr, whose retirement as head football coach begins today, and the senior class led by Jake Long, Mike Hart, Chad Henne, and Shawn Crable. There were many people out there who thought Florida would win by a couple touchdowns but as Michigan's defense showed today, if you pressure Tim Tebow, you can beat the Gators. Tebow is a great college quarterback and deserved the Heisman Trophy but despite what a lot of people think, he is still human. Michigan's victory should bring some much-deserved respect back to the Big Ten, a conference that has been criticized in recent years. As part of the almighty SEC, the Gators were put up on a pedestal and it was great to see them chomped back to size, if you will. Yes, Percy Harvin got his but the Wolverines were able to neutralize Andre Caldwell and Tim Tebow and then got huge performances on the offensive side of the football from Henne, Hart, Adrian Arrington, and "Super" Mario Manningham.

Now let's get back to basketball. We'll start by taking a look at the standings heading into conference play, which begins tonight with three games:

1. Michigan State (12-1)
2. Indiana (11-1)
T3. Minnesota (10-2)
T3. Wisconsin (10-2)
5. Ohio State (9-3)
6. Purdue (9-4)
7. Penn State (8-4)
8. Illinois (8-5)
9. Northwestern (5-4)
10. Iowa (7-6)
11. Michigan (4-8)

I would venture to say that at the end of the 18-game conference season, the standings will look pretty similar to this but with a few minor changes.

Michigan State and Indiana are head and shoulders above the rest of the Big Ten and will fight it out for the #1 seed in the conference tournament. Drew Neitzel (MSU) and Eric Gordon (IU) are the two best players in the league and both players have supporting casts that are more than capable of sharing the load.

The jury is still out on Minnesota, at least for me, because they haven't played anyone of note so far and I'm not sure how good they are yet. The decent teams they did play (Florida State and UNLV), they lost against. They returned a lot of players from last year's 9-22 team and have a much more accomplished coach in Tubby Smith, so we'll see what happens with the Golden Gophers.

Wisconsin should end up ahead of Minnesota this year and will battle with Purdue and Ohio State to finish third in the conference. The Badgers are finally getting the production they thought they would have last season, and even the year before, from their center, Brian Butch. Butch was the Big Ten Player of the Week for the week ending December 31 and is carrying the load with 13.6 ppg and 8.3 rpg. Trevon Hughes is putting up 15 points a night and there is a solid group of role players behind those two guys. Wisconsin almost never loses at home and I would expect that to continue in the conference season.

Purdue and Ohio State are two fairly young teams that should really make some noise next year when Neitzel, Gordon, and Butch have all left their respective schools. Matt Painter is a very talented, up-and-coming coach and has the Boilermakers on the right track and Thad Matta is simply reloading, not rebuilding, at OSU. He's got a big man in Kosta Koufos who has future All-American written all over him and it's a matter of how long he stays with the Buckeyes before moving on to the NBA.

This is a make-it or break-it type year for Penn State and coach Ed DeChellis. He has a surefire all-Big Ten player in Geary Claxton and another player, Jamelle Cornley, who has that kind of talent as well. Claxton is a senior and Cornley a junior and I could see him leaving school early, so PSU really has to get it done this year. These two players are big, strong, and physical; they rebound extremely well and are capable of going for 25 points on any given night. Danny Morrissey and Mike Walker can light it up from behind the arc when they're hot; but when they aren't, PSU is left without much of a perimeter presence. The Nittany Lions are in 7th right now; I can see them maybe pushing for 5th or 6th and I think they're a better team than Minnesota and maybe even Purdue as well.

Illinois have been very disappointing this season for me. This is a team that has a fortress for a home arena in Assembly Hall but have already lost there against Tennessee State and Miami (OH). They have quality experienced big men (a necessity in the rough-and-tumble Big Ten) in Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle, a lightning-fast point guard in Chester Taylor, a lights-out three point shooter in Trent Meacham, but are still only 8-5. Depth is Bruce Weber's problem right now; he doesn't have any. He needs a couple players outside that starting five to really step and give him some big, productive minutes this year or else Illinois will be an NIT team at the end of the season.

As for the dregs of the Big Ten right now, I think the current bottom three will finish that way, just maybe not in that order. Iowa, Michigan, and Northwestern all have their respective issues but the bottom line is that right now, they simply don't have the talent and depth to compete with the rest of the conference over an 18-game season. Each of these teams is capable of pulling off an upset or two during the year, particularly Michigan, but they can't maintain that level of play for the grueling two and a half months that is the Big Ten conference schedule. Out of these three teams, I'd say Michigan is the best and certainly has the most potential, but like I said, it could be a very long winter and early spring for the Wildcats, Wolverines, and Hawkeyes.

Tonight's conference openers should be OK; we've got Michigan-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Penn State, and Iowa-Indiana. The home team in each of these games is listed first; I'll take the visitors in two of the games and the host Wolverines to pull off the aforementioned upset in the other.

José Mourinho Setanta Commercials

Check these out, they are fantastic.

What Started it All:



José Accepts England Job:



Birth of José:



"Big Four" Managers Argue:

Best Week of the Year

I know this sounds corny but in the holiday season of giving, that's exactly what the Premiership did as this was the most exciting week of soccer in 2007, at least that I can remember, as far as England's top league goes.

As we all know, the Christmastime schedule is packed with teams playing three or four games in the span of two weeks. Everything kicked off on December 22 and 23 and we saw an exciting 2-1 victory for Arsenal over their North London rivals, Tottenham on the 22nd. Had Robbie Keane converted a penalty late in that game ("Robbie Keane does not miss penalties"), Spurs might very well have come out of the Emirates with a win.

None of the other games that day were particularly enjoyable for the viewers, but the next day both the Manchester United-Everton (2-1 Man U) and Newcastle-Derby fixtures (2-2) were fun to watch.

Midweek was where things really started heating up though. On Wednesday morning, we had a candidate for match of the year in Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Aston Villa. Both teams could easily have won the game and there were some harsh refereeing decisions that affected both teams as well. This game was a fast-paced affair with chances on both sides but as a neutral observer, I was really pulling for Villa to win and end Chelsea's home unbeaten streak. Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was the true definition of a captain when he put the Reds on his back for the last quarter of an hour at Derby with his team needing a victory. Gerrard's late winner really just proved once again how much means to his team, while Derby's terrific effort and performace went for nothing. Tottenham put up five goals against Fulham in a 5-1 laugher at White Hart Lane, and Manchester United's second-stringers went to the Stadium of Light and beat Sunderland 4-0. On Thursday, Manchester City and Blackburn combined for three goals in as many minutes in the first half in what turned out to be a 2-2 draw. Roque Santa Cruz is on a goalscoring tear right now and is as hot as any striker in the league.

We saw some entertaining games this weekend as well, not the least of which was a goalfest between Tottenham and Reading, with Spurs prevailing 6-4 behind four, yes four goals from Dimitar Berbatov. Arsenal came from behind to win 4-1 at Goodison Park in a game in which many people, myself included, predicted that Arsenal would drop points. West Ham pulled off what could likely be the upset of the season so far as the Hammers shocked defending champions Manchester United 2-1 at Upton Park. If only Alan Curbishley's squad could play Man U every game of the season; West Ham have won three straight league matches between the two sides. It was very nice to see Carlos Tevez salute the crowd before the match, I thought that was a great gesture of appreciation for the fans who supported him with everything they had last season. Even the 0-0 match between City and Liverpool was exciting. It was as up-and-down as they come at times and while Liverpool were the only team who were going to win, City did a great job of defending and Richard Dunne put in a heroic performance.

All in all, it was a great week of soccer and no matter what club you support, you can't beat that.

Shut Up, Rolando Bianchi!

Take a look at this article that came out today on ESPNsoccernet about Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi:

ROME, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Italian striker Rolando Bianchi aims to reach double figures at Manchester City this season but does not plan staying in the Premier League in the long term.

'I hope to score at least 10 goals and I want to win a place in the next Champions League with City. It would be like winning the championship,' he said in an interview published in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.

'I want to become a European top scorer. After the 18 goals I scored with (Serie A side) Reggina, I want to reach double figures in the Premier League too.

'Then I'll pack my bags again and go in search of new adventures. I'd like to wear the shirt of Atletico Madrid and score 15 goals in the Primera Liga too.'

He also said he planned to return to Italy soon because playing abroad was not helping his chances of winning a place with the Italian national team.

The forward, who has scored four league goals since joining City in July, said he had trouble getting used to the British diet.

'I have raised the white flag with English food. I don't like it,' he said.

'I think I'm the only teetotal player in the Premier League. My team mates were surprised when I refused a beer. They looked at me as if I were an alien.'

He also has his doubts about English refereeing:

'In Italy the referee whistles as soon as a defender brushes against you. In the Premier League you don't get a free kick even if the defender runs you over with a tank.'

Wow. I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll start by saying that if you're lucky enough to play professional soccer, or any sport for a living for that matter, one would think that you'd appreciate that opportunity and not complain about it. I understand that that isn't how things work in the real world; players have their gripes about certain things and I know that, I'm a player myself.

But Bianchi crossed the line in this interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, a newspaper in his home country, Italy. First of all, he shouldn't have gone public with his desire to basically leave Manchester City and go to Atletico Madrid or somewhere else in Spain if he can score 10 goals this season. Bianchi is 24 years old and in the soccer world, you're supposed to be a little bit more mature and a lot less selfish at that age; you're not a youngster or a kid anymore. Basically what he's saying is that he just views playing soccer for City as a challenge, as another step in the ladder. He scored 18 goals with Reggina in Italy, he wants to score 10+ goals with City in England, and then he wants to go to Spain and do the same thing.

This is selfishness to a tee. You don't come out in the media and say that you're in it for the individual glory of scoring goals; whether that's what you care about or not, you stick with the team-first mantra and say you want to help achieve great things with that club.

"I'll pack my bags again and go in search of new adventures." I'm sorry, you just can't say that publicly. This will become a distraction because he's putting himself above the rest of the team. If you're going to boast about scoring goals and speak of your ambitions, at least be able to back that up on the field. Bianchi has not done that. He's scored 4 goals in 14 Premier League games this season and is not even a regular starter for City.

Bianchi also has the gall to complain about British food and refereeing. Granted, British food isn't in the same caliber as Italian food (but then again, nothing is), and some of the refereeing has been shockingly bad this year. But come on! Bianchi had to have known these things before he came to City! It was his choice to come to England in the first place; he made the decision to leave home for greener pastures. I have no problem with that at all, but I do have a problem with whining about something he knew full well about or at the very least, should have known full well about.

As I said before, he's 24 years old now. He's not a kid anymore but this interview brought him back down to that level. I haven't heard younger, more productive foreign players like Nani and Fernando Torres come out in the media and say things like this. There was no reason for Bianchi to do what he did and there's no excuse for it. If I was manager Sven Goran-Eriksson, I would have Bianchi on a plane out of England in January as soon as I could. It's obvious he doesn't want to be in England and he has no real desire to play for City, so why keep him on the roster?

Things like this make me angry. Rolando Bianchi is a disgrace and I truly feel bad for Manchester City, who invested a lot of money in him and their faith won't be rewarded.

Fulham Hires Roy Hodgson

Fulham hired well-traveled English manager Roy Hodgson today to what the club described only as a "long-term contract", and the former Inter Milan boss will take over after the Cottagers' match against Birmingham City tomorrow.

Hodgson's last stop as manager was with the Finland national team from January 2006 to November 2007, and the 60-year-old nearly led the Scandinavian team to a place in Euro 2008 next summer. Among others, Hodgson has been in charge at Inter Milan, Udinese, Blackburn, Malmö FF, Grasshoppers, and F.C. Copenhagen on the domestic scene, as well as the UAE and Switzerland internationally. He was considered to be a long shot candidate for the England job as well this winter before Fabio Capello was hired.

Hodgson should command immediate respect with his background and experience as a manager. He's inheriting a team that's had more than their share of tough breaks this season but has the talent, at least in my opinion, to stay in the Premiership. Captain Brian McBride and Jimmy Bullard should return to the lineup within the next few weeks and that will really be a majoy boost for the Cottagers.

Champions League Round of 16 Previews--Part 2

The night before Christmas Eve I gave you all my predictions for four of the eight Round of 16 ties in the Champions League and as promised, I have the last four today.

5. AC Roma vs. Real Madrid: This could make for a pretty entertaining two games as we'll see the current leaders of La Liga take on the current second-place side in Serie A. Madrid are 8-0-0 in the league at Santiago Bernabeu while Roma are 5-4-0 away from home, so something will have to give when Madrid host Roma on March 5. However, I think this tie will basically be decided in Rome during the first leg. If Roma can get a win and not concede a goal I think they can go to Madrid and, in true Italian fashion, sit 9 or 10 men behind the ball and grind out a draw. To me though, it's more likely that Real Madrid will score at the Stadio Olimpico and at the very worst, head home with a draw. Madrid aren't going to lose at home so the only chance Roma has to advance to the quarterfinals is to win the first leg and stave off the attacks in the second leg. Robinho and Ruud van Nistelrooy are tied for 3rd place in the top goalscorers category with four apiece. Here's what it comes down to: If Madrid can stifle Francesco Totti (9 goals in 10 Serie A matches), they'll move on and it's as simple as that.
Real Madrid-3, Roma-1

6. Arsenal vs. AC Milan: This is the most interesting tie of the round with the young bucks at Arsenal taking on the veteran old guard at Milan. Arsenal may or may not still be in serious contention to win the Premiership by the time the first leg at the Emirates rolls around in February, but AC Milan have essentially no chance to win Serie A this season. In fact, Milan may have to win the Champions League this year just to qualify for it next year as they're way off the pace even though they have three games in hand on most of the other teams in the league. Listen, I know Arsenal are 9-1-0 at home this season but they've feasted on a soft schedule; the Gunners are beatable in London, especially because Milan will have all of their focus on the Champions League as Serie A is out of reach, and because the Rossoneri boast such an experienced, battle-tested roster. They are the defending champions and I expect them to play like it when they go to the Emirates in February. Gattuso won't give Fabregas a yard of space and will hound him all game long, while Arsenal doesn't have anyone who can contain Kaka (especially if Gilberto leaves in January). To be honest, I think Milan will win both legs and advance in style.
AC Milan-3, Arsenal-1

7. Olympiacos vs. Chelsea: Out of any of the teams Chelsea could have drawn for this round, I think they got their preferred choice. It won't be easy to go to Greece and come out with a result (Olympiacos is 7-0-0 at home in the league this season) but Chelsea will find a way to win 1-0 or 2-1, and they won't lose at Stamford Bridge in the return leg. The Blues won't win the Premier League and honestly, I think Avram Grant needs a deep run in the Champions League to really ensure his job status as manager. I don't care that he just signed a multi-year contract; if a big-name manager is interested, Roman Abramovich will come calling with no expense spared. As I said, Chelsea will get it done in this round with relative ease but we'll see what happens after that.
Chelsea-5, Olympiacos-1

8. Fenerbahçe vs. Sevilla: Here is the possible upset of the round; Fenerbahçe are my dark horse to move on to the quarterfinals and gain some valuable exposure for Turkish soccer. Fenerbahçe won all three of their group stage games at home en route to finishing 2nd behind Inter Milan in Group G, including a 1-0 win over Inter in September, and are 8-1-0 on home turf in the Turkcell Süper Lig so far this season. Sevilla, on the other hand, are seemingly crumbling as we speak. The back-to-back winners of the UEFA Cup now sit in 8th place in La Liga and are just three points ahead of the 13th place side, Recreativo Huelva. New manager Ronald Koeman is really trying to put his stamp on the club with the benching of some well-known players like David Albelda, Santiago Canizares and Miguel Angel Angulo, and I get the impression that the players don't have much confidence in him. Sevilla have just one win on the road in La Liga this season; they won't win in Turkey, so this tie will come down to the second leg in Seville, where they've already lost three times in nine matches. Fenerbahçe have some experienced players in Roberto Carlos, Alex, and Stephen Appiah while Sevilla's roster could be raided in January. It would be an upset in name only; I really think Fenerbahçe are the better team and we'll see that over two legs.
Fenerbahçe-3, Sevilla-2

So there you have it, my picks to move on to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. To recap:

Barcelona
Manchester United
Porto
Liverpool
Real Madrid
AC Milan
Chelsea
Fenerbahçe

"Best Of" List--2007

Before I get to the superlatives, I want to take care of a few little housekeeping notes.

First off, I hope everyone had a happy holiday and you were able to spend it with those that you care about. Whether you believe in Christmas or not, the holiday season is supposed to bring people closer together and have them share in this special time of year. I had family over for the past few days and it was a joy to spend time with them. I don't get to see them that often during the year so as I said, it was great to spend Christmas with some of my relatives.

I'd also like to thank all of you guys out there for checking out this blog and leaving comments and sharing your thoughts. I started English Soccer Talk right after the Champions League final in May as a way to try and express some of my thoughts about what I consider to be the most exciting league in the world, the Premiership. I've written 182 posts since then even with taking basically a month and a half off from posting after I started my freshman year of college this fall, and I'm looking forward to next year and sharing some of my ideas with everyone out there.

The podcast that I've hinted about twice over the past few weeks has kept getting pushed back but it looks like we'll start for sure in early January. Again, when I get confirmation about this and about the format of the show and where/when you can tune in, I'll let you all know with a post here. This podcast is the brainchild of one of my colleagues in the blog world, Johnathan Starling (BCJohn) and we (my brother, me, John, and Tyler Duffy) are all excited to get rolling.

Phew, alright. Here's my "Best Of" list for the year 2007 in the Premiership.

Best Game: Tottenham-4, West Ham-3 (03/04/07)
Most Improved Team: Portsmouth
Best Uniform: Manchester United-Away (Black)
Best Manager: Arsene Wenger
Most Passionate Fans: Liverpool
Best Stadium: Fratton Park and Craven Cottage (tie)
Most Outstanding Striker: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Most Outstanding Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Most Outstanding Center Back: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) and Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) (tie)
Most Outstanding Full Back: Nicky Shorey (Reading)
Most Outstanding Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Everton)
Best Goal: Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham vs. Tottenham-12/02/07)
Most Exciting to Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo
Most Valuable to his Team: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Best Summer Signing: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Worst Summer Signing: Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Best Commentary Team: Alan Parry and Robbie Earle

Champions League Draw--Round of 16

Since I'm two days late with this, does that make me two dollars short? Oh well. The draw for the Round of 16 was conducted on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland, UEFA's headquarters, and there are some very interesting ties that will play out beginning February 19/20 and end, at least for most teams, on March 4/5. Inter Milan and AC Milan share the same stadium and both of those teams will play the second leg of their respective ties at home. Obviously they can't both play on the same day, so Inter Milan's home leg against Liverpool was pushed back until March 11.

Remember, the eight group winners play the eight group runners-up in the Round of 16. Teams from the same country can't be drawn against each other at this stage in the competition, and neither can teams from the same group.

Onto the matchups for the Round of 16: (Note: Teams listed first are at home first)

Celtic vs. Barcelona (Feb. 20, Mar. 4)
Lyon vs Manchester United (Feb. 20, Mar. 4)
Schalke 04 vs. FC Porto (Feb. 19, Mar. 5)
Liverpool vs. Inter Milan (Feb. 19, Mar. 11)
AC Roma vs. Real Madrid (Feb. 19, Mar. 5)
Arsenal vs. AC Milan (Feb. 20, Mar. 4)
Olympiacos vs. Chelsea (Feb. 19, Mar. 5)
Fenerbahçe vs. Sevilla (Feb. 20, Mar. 4)

•British teams are highlighted in bold.

First, my predictions to advance to the quarterfinals and then a brief synopsis of the first four ties:

Barcelona
Manchester United
Porto
Liverpool
Real Madrid
AC Milan
Chelsea
Fenerbahçe

1. Celtic vs. Barcelona: The only chance Celtic have to beat Barcelona over two legs is to win at Celtic Park by at least one goal, preferably two, and then try and hold out for a draw or a one-goal defeat in Barcelona. In the group stage Celtic beat AC Milan 2-1 at home; in fact, the Bhoys won all three of their fixtures at Celtic Park. They lost all three of their away matches as well, however, and two of those were against Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk. Those two teams are a far cry from Barcelona, who currently occupy 2nd place in La Liga.
Barcelona-4, Celtic-1

2. Lyon vs. Manchester United: Listen, I could care less that Lyon have won Ligue 1 six years running and look good to stretch that to seven titles in a row. They are not even close to being in the same class as Manchester United. Karim Benzema is an up-and-coming star for the French champions and will cost one of Europe's biggest clubs at least $35 million US this summer, and Juninho is a masterful free-kick taker, but that's about all Lyon have going for them in comparison to United. The Red Devils can beat you in any number of ways; they can grind it out like they did against Liverpool, and they can simply overpower you like they did to Blackburn and Aston Villa. Lyon may, and I repeat, may manage a draw at home but they have no chance to get a result in Manchester.
Manchester United-4, Lyon-1

3. Schalke 04 vs. FC Porto: Neither of these two teams have anything to lose at this stage in the competition; Porto was fortunate to win a group that also featured Liverpool, and Schalke wasn't even favored to make it to the Round of 16 in the first place. The German side were never going to finish ahead of Chelsea and it's only because of Valencia's complete collapse that they finished ahead of Ronald Koeman's outfit. Schalke needed a 3-1 win over Rosenborg on the last matchday of the group stage to advance to this point. These two teams don't play in domestic leagues that are lucrative financially like the Premiership, La Liga, or Serie A, so a big source of extra revenue has been generated from the Champions League. The gate receipts and prize money are nothing to sneeze at, and I would expect both teams to play an attacking style and really try and win both legs rather than play not to lose like some of the bigger clubs do. Schalke have been good at home this season (only one loss in the Bundesliga) and if they can win by a couple goals and not concede in the first leg, they'll have the advantage going back to Porto, who haven't lost at home in the Portuguese league and have only given up one goal at the Estádio do Dragão.
Porto-3, Schalke-2

4. Liverpool vs. Inter Milan: This is undoubtedly the tie of the round in my opinion. Liverpool are a much better team in the Champions League than they are in the Premiership; Rafa Benitez is a brilliant tactician and can outwit any manager in the world over two legs. I guarantee Liverpool won't lose at Anfield in the first leg and I don't think they'll concede a goal either, and it could very well come down to March 11 and the second leg at the San Siro. Inter Milan are a more dangerous team on paper and when they're firing on all cylinders, no one can stop them. That's why the game at Anfield is so critical; Liverpool will need to set the tone heading back to Milan and make the Nerazzuri win the tie at home rather than at Anfield. Liverpool aren't explosive enough to come from behind and win, so it's essential that they get the first goal and try to grind the rest of the tie out. Liverpool are the more experienced team in Europe and by far the more successful one in recent years and I'll give them the nod here.
Liverpool-2, Inter Milan-1

My previews for the last four ties will be out at some point later next week; I'm taking a little holiday break to spend time with family and enjoy Christmas. Hope you and yours have a merry Christmas as well.

Goodbye, Lawrie Sanchez

Another Premiership manager has bitten the dust as Fulham fired Lawrie Sanchez today with immediate effect.

Sanchez joins Martin Jol, José Mourinho, Chris Hutchings, Sammy Lee, and Billy Davies as managers who started the year with a Premiership club and have been fired or have left by "mutual consent" during the season. Steve Bruce left Birmingham to join fellow relegation candidate Wigan in mid-November as well.

After a decent start to the season, Fulham have struggled recently and are in 18th place in the Premiership right now. The Cottagers haven't won since November 3 when they beat Reading and have picked up just one point in their last five league matches. To be fair though, they've been one of the most unlucky teams in the Premiership all season. Fulham very nearly won at Chelsea on September 29 but had to settle for a 0-0 draw, outplayed Arsenal at the Emirates for 80 minutes in the first game of the season but lost 2-1, were robbed of a point by a poor refereeing decision (what else is new?) at Middlesbrough on August 18, conceded a 90th minute goal to lose 2-1 at Aston Villa the week after the Boro loss, and on and on and on.

The injury bug has also hampered Fulham, with Brian McBride's absence due to a dislocated kneecap since that Boro defeat really limiting the options Sanchez could throw out there up front and making it much tougher for the London club to score goals. Creative midfielder Jimmy Bullard has been out for over a year with knee ligament damage but is back in training and could return to the lineup within a week or so, and McBride was no more than a month away from doing the same.

Still though, the Premiership is a business and Fulham have decided to cut ties with Lawrie Sanchez and move on. This club is too talented to be relegated in my opinion, but with Sanchez gone, you'd have to believe that the Northern Irish players he brought in this summer may want to leave during the January transfer window.

Former Fulham midfielder and Scotland international John Collins is now the favorite to replace Sanchez as the former just resigned from his managerial post at Hibernian. Collins is relatively young for a manager at 39 years of age and is very inexperienced as a manager, having only coached Hibs. He was at the helm for 54 games with the Hibbies and won 23 of them, with 15 draws and 16 losses as well.

UEFA Cup Draw--Rounds of 32, 16

Wow, we've had draws galore over the past couple days what with the Carling Cup semifinal draw yesterday and the UEFA Cup Round of 32/Round of 16 and the Champions League Round of 16 draws today. I'll get to the Champions League draw in my next post, but right now I want to shine the spotlight on Europe's second-tier club competition, the UEFA Cup.

Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup twice in a row now but won't have a chance to make it a trifecta. The Spanish side qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this season, where they'll meet Fenerbahçe; but again, I'll discuss those pairings later on today.

The UEFA Cup final will be played at the City of Manchester Stadium this year, the first time it's been in held in England since the UEFA Cup switched from a two-legged final to a one-off affair in 1997-1998.

The draw for both the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 was made today in Nyon, Switzerland, the headquarters of UEFA. The eight UEFA Cup group winners were drawn against the eight third-placed teams, while the eight second-placed teams were drawn against the eight teams who finished third in the Champions League groups. Teams from the same country or the same group can't be drawn against each other.

Round of 32 draw: (Note--The team listed first plays at home first, then away)

Aberdeen vs. Bayern Munich
AEK Athens vs. Getafe
Bolton Wanderers vs. Atletico Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Villarreal
Galatasaray vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht vs. Bordeaux
Brann vs. Everton
Zurich vs. Hamburg
Rangers vs. Panathinaikos
PSV Eindhoven vs. Helsingborg
Slavia Prague vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Rosenborg vs. Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon vs. Basel
Werder Bremen vs. Sporting Braga
Benfica vs. Nuremberg
Olympique Marseille vs. Spartak Moscow

The first legs are scheduled for February 13/14, and the second legs will be played on February 21.

Round of 16 draw: (Once again, the first team listed is home first, then away)

Anderlecht/Bordeaux vs. Aberdeen/Bayern Munich
Rangers/Panathinaikos vs. Werder Bremen/Sporting Braga
Bolton Wanderers/Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon/Basel
Galatasaray/Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zurich/Hamburg
AEK Athens/Getafe vs. Benfica/Nuremberg
Rosenborg/Fiorentina vs. Brann/Everton
Slavia Prague/Tottenham Hotspur vs. PSV Eindhoven/Helsingborg
Olympique Marseille/Spartak Moscow vs. Zenit St. Petersburg/Villarreal

The first legs will be played on March 6, and the second legs will be contested on March 12/13.

•British teams are highlighted in bold.

You have to believe that Bayern Munich are the favorites to win this competition. They are on top of the Bundesliga (tied with Werder Bremen) with 36 points from 17 games heading into the winter break. With Luca Toni, Lukas Podolski, Franck Ribéry, and Miroslav Klose, the German side are more explosive than anyone else left in the UEFA Cup and to be honest, I believe they would've qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this year if that would've been possible.

As far as the British clubs go, Everton and Tottenham seemingly have the best chances to progress further in this competition. Everton should take care of SK Brann, the Norwegian champions, without too much trouble (although it'll be miserable when they go up to Norway to play) and Tottenham should handle Slavia Prague as well. Rangers should also progress to the Round of 16, but I don't like their chances against Werder Bremen whereas I think Everton would prevail over two legs against relative lightweight Rosenborg or Fiorentina and Spurs would likely do the same against PSV Eindhoven.

Here are my predictions to advance to the Round of 16:

Bayern Munich
Getafe
Atletico Madrid
Villarreal
Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht
Everton
Hamburg
Rangers
PSV Eindhoven
Tottenham
Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon
Werder Bremen
Benfica
Spartak Moscow