Liverpool Advances to CL Quarterfinals; New College Basketball Podcast

As sure as the sun will rise and set every day, a Rafa Benitez-coached team will not give up a 2-0 lead in a Champions League tie. I've criticized Benitez's tactics in the Premier League on many occasions and will continue to do so when the situation calls for it in the future, but this man simply is built for two-legged ties and knows exactly how to get the job done in Europe.

I never once got the feeling today that Liverpool were in danger of losing to Inter Milan, even though Milan had their fair share of near-misses. Once Fernando Torres scored midway through the second half, the tie was, for all intents and purposes, over. Torres has been the best striker in the Premier League this season and without him, I'm not sure where Liverpool would be.

As far as I'm concerned, the Reds are England's best chance to win the Champions League this season; they may not be a better team than Manchester United, Arsenal, or even Chelsea, but as far as in Europe, they have the best manager in Benitez and a team full of players who have a lot of Champions League experience and the same can't be said about those other three teams.

On an unrelated note, I was asked by my good friend Kartik to come on to his Canes Rising podcast again and talk about the college basketball landscape heading into Championship Week and Selection Sunday. We'll be recording tonight and the finished product should be ready for your listening pleasure within the next couple of days, and trust me, if you're a fan of the ACC, you'll want to listen.

Sven Pimps "I'm on Setanta Sports"

This show is getting more and more unbelievable every week, but you know what, I don't care.

It is fantastic.

FA Cup Semifinal Draw

A record 731 teams set out for eternal glory in winning the 2007-2008 edition of the FA Cup and after matches since August 18 of last year, we're down to the last four remaining clubs: Portsmouth, Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion, and Cardiff City.

Bryan Robson conducted the draw for the semifinals this afternoon, with both matches to be played at Wembley during the first weekend of April:

April 5: Barnsley vs. Cardiff City
April 6: West Bromwich Albion vs. Portsmouth

A betting man would likely take Portsmouth to win this competition, something they've done only once in their long history (in 1939). However, West Brom, Pompey's opponent, just thrashed Bristol Rovers, who were the cinderella story in this year's FA Cup, 5-1 on the road.

Many people, including Chelsea captain John Terry apparently, want Barnsley to go on and win though and I have to say, after beating Liverpool and Chelsea in consecutive rounds, Barnsley certainly would deserve it. The Tykes could be due for a letdown against Cardiff after those two massive victories, so that will be an interesting game to watch.

Wigan Should Consider a Synthetic Turf Field

Watching today's game at the JJB Stadium between hosts Wigan and Arsenal, one thing was made patently obvious: That field is a disaster and shouldn't be used for Premiership games. It has gotten worse and worse as the season has gone on and it's gotten to the point where it just seems unplayable; the surface is an embarrassment to a league that is one of the top three of its kind in the world.

The field is as hard as a rock on sunny days and a mudpit on rainy days. There are vast stretches without grass. There are clearly visible remains of rugby lines from games played by rugby Super League's Wigan Warriors, who share the JJB with Wigan Athletic.

My high school soccer field was in much better shape than what I'm seeing today and have seen for large portions of the season. I've seen better elementary schoolyard fields than that as well.

What's the solution? Something many purists of the game don't want to hear and likely will criticize me for even suggesting it.

Synthetic turf.

You know what, I don't care if it isn't commonly used on soccer fields in Europe. That doesn't matter. I don't care if it isn't part of the sport's tradition; the only reason synthetic turf wasn't used back in the old days was because it hadn't been invented yet. If it had been, it would've been installed and there would be none of this debate about tradition and sentiment.

The Premier League and its member clubs have a responsibility to provide the best and most safest possible fields with the surfaces most condusive to the game. You can argue and cite studies that indicate that natural grass is safer than synthetic turf and if all things were equal, I'd agree with you. I'd rather play on grass than turf also.

But when the conditions lead to such slop like we've seen for a majority of the season at the JJB, synthetic turf simply has to be considered. It would be safer than what we're seeing now and it would allow the players to contest a game with as close to a perfect surface as possible. As I said earlier, this is one of the top, if not THE top, leagues in the world. It's inexcusable to see balls skipping around all over the place and players not being able to gain any firm footing, especially when the technology to prevent those things is out there.

UEFA announced in 2005-2006 that approved artificial surfaces were permittable in their competitions. Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg, Austria has an approved synthetic turf field and will have matches played on it in Euro 2008 this summer. Heracles, a Dutch Eredivisie side, has a synthetic surface in their stadium, which, like the JJB, is a multi-use ground.

The field in today's game was a joke. A joke. There are alternatives, namely in the form of synthetic turf, that just have to be considered. Soccer purists, I don't want to hear you. It's not about tradition, which I respect, it's about getting it right and providing the best possible surface for these players to compete on.

Nightmare Saturday for Chelsea, UEFA Cup Spot Contenders

What a day.

For Liverpool, who are now just two points behind Chelsea for third place in the Premiership, although Chelsea have two games in hand, today couldn't be any better. Led by Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who have been carrying the team all year, the Reds strolled to a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

For Reading, who picked up a much-needed 2-0 victory over Manchester City and escaped the relegation zone in the process, today couldn't be any better either. The Royals now sit in 13th place in the league, which is a bit deceiving due to the small points gap between themselves and 18th place Bolton, but it's clearly a better position to be in then the one in which they came into today's match.

For a few other teams, however, today was a day they'd love to forget.

We'll start with Chelsea, who crashed out of the FA Cup in shocking fashion at now multiple giant-killers Barnsley. The FA Cup represented the last real chance for silverware for the West London club, because they're not going to win the Premiership and in my opinion are the fourth most likely team in England to win the Champions League, not even factoring in the rest of the continent. I'm not saying a third place finish in the league and deep cup/tournament runs wouldn't be respectable, but that's not acceptable to Mr. Abramovich. Avram Grant could very well be replaced in the role of manager this summer..

As refreshing as it was to see Barnsley, a lower-league side, knock off Chelsea and advance to the FA Cup Semifinals, teams like Aston Villa, Everton, Portsmouth, Manchester City, and Blackburn have to be disgusted with the way these cup competitions have gone this year. With Spurs winning the Carling Cup and no "Big Four" teams left in the FA Cup, two UEFA Cup spots (those usually given to the league's 6th and 7th place finishers) have vanished, although Portsmouth could very well make it into the UEFA Cup through their league position anyway, even though now they have to be considered the odds-on favorite to win the FA Cup.

The fight is on for 5th place in the Premiership now, and in my estimation, three teams--Aston Villa, Pompey, and Everton--have a legitimate chance to finish up the season there. Everton, of course, are currently in 5th with a five point lead on Villa and a nine point lead on Portsmouth, so it would take a poor run of games for Everton for either of those other two clubs to take that spot.

I already mentioned Liverpool's victory over Newcastle. Newcastle and losing badly seems to just go together very nicely these days..

No Posts Today

I'm heading down to the Richmond Coliseum this morning for the first two rounds of the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball tournament, so I won't be posting for the rest of the day.

Four games today and four games tomorrow, nothing better than watching win-or-go home college basketball. It's something I wish more soccer leagues across the world would adopt; as it stands right now, a 20-team league with no playoffs uses a 38-game schedule but every game means the same. There is no extra pressure to win or lose; either way, you'll live to play another game.

Today's First Round Schedule:

Noon: #8 Hofstra vs. #9 Towson
2:30 PM: #5 William & Mary vs. #12 Georgia State
6:00 PM: #7 Delaware vs. #10 Drexel
8:30 PM: #6 Northeastern vs. #11 James Madison

My Champions League Round of 16 Predictions Update

After seven of eight ties, with Liverpool going to Inter Milan next week, here's a quick recap of my predictions:

My predictions to advance:

Liverpool (second leg still to come, currently up 2-0)
Real Madrid (eliminated by Roma, 4-2)
AC Milan (eliminated by Arsenal, 2-0)
Fenerbahçe (defeated Sevilla on PK's, 5-5)
Barcelona (defeated Celtic, 4-2)
Chelsea (defeated Olympiacos, 3-0)
Manchester United (defeated Lyon, 2-1)
Porto (eliminated on PK's by Schalke 04, 1-1)

So as it stands right now, I'm 4-7, with Liverpool looking pretty good to make me 5-8. That would be 62.5%. Not bad, not great.

If I was able to predict the outcome of every tie correctly, there would be no reason to play the games. When it gets down to the last 16 in the Champions League, it's a crapshoot and all bets are off.

Attractive Style Shouldn't Matter So Much in Soccer

Fabio Capello, as manager of Real Madrid in the 2006-2007 season, won La Liga, which was Madrid's first domestic league title in four years. One month later, he was fired. Why? Fans and club executives didn't like his defensive-minded style.

Felix Magath, as mananger of Bayern Munich from 2004-2005 until the middle of the '06-'07 season, won two Bundesliga titles, two German Cups, one German League Cup, and reached the Champions League Round of 16 (eliminated by AC Milan) and the Quarterfinals (eliminated by Chelsea). When he was fired, Munich was 10-4-5 in the league and had won Group B in the Champions League. Why was he fired? No one liked his management style, which placed a premium on discipline and hard work.

It brings up the question that I've really never heard talked about at any length.

Why does creativity matter so much?

The last time I checked, the object in a game of soccer, and this holds true in any sport, is to win. That's the bottom line. Win.

To me, it's not about how you do it, it's about doing it. You can play the most technically sound, beautiful style you want. If you don't win, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, people remember the team that came out on top, not the team that played the most attractive game. If that team is one and the same, then that makes it even better, but playing "joga bonito" shouldn't be the be-all and end-all.

José Mourinho has been the most successful European manager this decade in my opinion, having won four league titles, a Champions League, a UEFA Cup, two Carling Cups, an FA Cup, a Portuguese Cup, and a Portuguese SuperCup. Did his teams play an aesthetically-pleasing style? Hardly. Some of Mourinho's best players have been guys who did the grunt work and received few accolades and little recognition from mainstream media for it, like Claude Makélélé.

Fabio Capello has won five Scudettos, two La Liga titles, a Champions League, a European Super Cup, four Italian Super Cups, and been to two other Champions League finals. He uses the 4-2-3-1 formation, which employs two holding midfielders and a lone striker. Definitely not what I would call creative, but it gets the job done.

One of Capello's former clubs, AC Milan, uses three defensive midfielders in Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and Massimo Ambrosini. What has that done for AC Milan? Just helped them win a Champions League last season and go to a final in 2004-2005.

The point is this: There are many ways to go about winning games, but it's wrong to value how you win over actually winning. It's not about looking good while doing so, it's not about pleasing the fans or club executives, it's about doing the job you're supposed to do, and that is win games and trophies. You can't ask for more than that because there is nothing more; it's unfair to put stipulations on being victorious. Playing the most attractive style doesn't always work and in fact, I'd argue that it works less often than playing a more defensive-minded formation.

Either way, the bottom line is winning, and doing whatever it takes to do so. You can't please everyone with how you do it; some people want to be entertained when they watch a game, some don't. You caan, however, please everyone by doing it.

Do or Die Time for West Ham

The race for the UEFA Cup is in full swing, with essentially six or seven teams fighting for two spots. Tottenham's triumph in the Carling Cup Final guaranteed them a place in Europe next season, something they wouldn't have achieved through their league position, but that took away the UEFA Cup berth usually handed to the league's 7th place finisher. Depending on which teams advance to the FA Cup Final, it's also possible that another UEFA Cup spot, the one generally given to the league's 6th place finisher, would vanish.

Of course, multiple Premiership teams have already applied for next summer's Intertoto Cup, which leads into the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds if the team selected progresses through. That would, for all intents and purposes, replace the UEFA Cup spot taken away by Spurs, and England could gain another spot in Europe's second-tier club competition if it remains on top of the UEFA Fair Play standings through the end of April.

With all this said, today's game between West Ham and Liverpool is big, especially for the Hammers. The East London-based club is currently in 10th place in the league table, eight points out of what would be a UEFA Cup spot if the season ended right now, but with today's game in hand.

Current Standings (4th-10th):

4. Everton (53 points, 28 games played)
5. Liverpool (50 pts., 27 GP)
6. Aston Villa (48 pts., 28 GP)
7. Blackburn Rovers (45 pts., 28 GP)
8. Manchester City (45 pts., 28 GP)
9. Portsmouth (44 pts., 28 GP)
10. West Ham (40 pts., 27 GP)

West Ham has been consistently inconsistent up to this point in the season, having beaten Manchester United and Liverpool while also losing to Wigan and Newcastle. They seem to follow every good, even great, performance with a display that can be considered abject and dismal at best.

They can't afford a showing more like the latter today. A loss and the Hammers will be hard-pressed to get back into the European fight; they'd be hanging on by a thread. To their advantage, they still have games against Villa, Blackburn, Everton, and Pompey, fellow UEFA Cup spot contenders, but they would likely need to win three of those games instead of possibly earning a point, or even worse, losing, in a couple of those games and then making hay against the rest of their schedule.

Right now, these teams are like a fast-moving train and West Ham has to find a way to get onboard or risk being left behind for good. Today's game is at Anfield, where the Hammers have not won since September 1963, so there is no time like the present to fix that. A draw wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for West Ham; they'd still be on the train, but they'd be the ones being dragged along on the tracks.

For Liverpool, this is an important game as well. Three points behind Everton for the fourth and last Champions League spot, the Reds and captain Steven Gerrard have come to terms with the fact that 4th place is what they're playing for. This is a team that will play their next three league games, including today's match, and four of their next five, at Anfield, so the opportunity to make up ground is right in front of them.

It all starts today though, and Liverpool lost at Upton Park 1-0 on January 30. They'll need to reverse that scoreline and get a win because they don't want to make things more difficult down the stretch of the league season than they have to be, particularly because one would have to say that a deep Champions League run will be a focus given their disappointing Premiership campaign.

I've got Liverpool winning 2-0, with Gerrard and Torres both scoring for the home team. We'll see what happens though; both teams should come out desperate for these three points and that should make for a good game to watch. West Ham seems to come out for the big matches, which today's game certainly is, but you just never know which Hammers team you're going to get on a given day.

Full Credit to Arsenal

The title of this post says it all.

I’ve criticized Arsenal and manager Arsene Wenger a lot recently, although there was every reason for me to do so.

Today, there’s nothing for me to do but salute the Gunners’ performance in Milan, as they beat the hosts 2-0 and advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals. This was a match that Arsenal had the better of from start to finish and while the final scoreline may be a bit flattering, there is no doubt that Arsenal deserved to win. They had more chances and created more going forward than Milan, and it’s as simple as that.

It’s time for me to eat a bit of crow and I will do so. I picked Milan to win this tie and prove that experience was more important than youth, something I still believe regardless of this result but will have to question more when the case arises again.

Great result for Arsenal and as I said, they were the better team on this day.

I would be remiss to not also salute Paolo Maldini, who played his last European match for AC Milan today. Maldini has been a great servant to the club and has played in over 1,000 competitive games for the Rossoneri, which is unheard of today. Along with Franz Beckenbauer, I believe Maldini is the best central defender in international history.

José Mourinho is Back and Joined by His Newest Signing, Sven

Two more segments of "I'm on Setanta Sports" for your viewing pleasure.

Fantastic.

Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg--TV Schedule

ESPN2:

AC Milan vs. Arsenal (Tomorrow, 2:45 PM ET)
Chelsea vs. Olympiacos (Wednesday, 2:45 PM ET)

ESPN Classic:

Barcelona vs. Celtic (Tomorrow, 5:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)
Real Madrid vs. Roma (Wednesday, 5:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)

Setanta:

Manchester United vs. Lyon (Tomorrow, 2:45 PM ET)
Sevilla vs. Fenerbahçe (Tomorrow, 6:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)
Schalke 04 vs. Porto (Wednesday, 11:00 PM ET, Tape-Delayed)

If you can only pick two matches to watch in these next couple days, look no further than the game at the San Siro between AC Milan and Arsenal and Sevilla's clash with Fenerbahçe, which could have a few goals in it.

Should the Premiership Have an All-Star Weekend?

This is an idea I’ve been kicking around in the back of my mind for a few weeks now, and I wanted to put it out there for discussion.

Here in the US, all of our major professional sports leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB) have their own versions of an All-Star Game, and the NBA, MLB, and NHL all have an All-Star Weekend with festivities usually on Friday and Saturday leading up to the All-Star Game itself on Sunday. The cities hosting the events benefit from a tremendous economic boost during the weekend due to the mass influx of tourists and visitors looking to be a part of the whole showcase and experience.

There is often an extravagant halftime or pre-game musical act as well, and for those of you who haven’t seen an All-Star weekend here in the States, suffice it to say that it is an orgy of sports and entertainment crammed into a two or three-day span. Celebrity sightings are routine during these games, especially if they’re being played in a fun, desirable city like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, etc.

Before I get to the specifics of my Premiership All-Star Weekend proposal, I want to address the logistics of hosting such an event.

1. To capitalize on financial possibilities and to accommodate the large number of fans who would want to come to this event, only stadiums with a seating capacity of at least 40,000 and are used primarily for soccer would be eligible to host the festivities.

In England, that limits us to Old Trafford, St. James Park, Wembley, Emirates Stadium, the Stadium of Light, the City of Manchester Stadium, Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Villa Park, Goodison Park, and Elland Road. I would also be in favor of playing the game elsewhere in Britain; in Scotland (Celtic Park, Hampden Park, and Ibrox), Ireland (Croke Park), and Wales (Millennium Stadium) to acknowledge the fans who support the league outside of England.

No stadium would be be permitted to host more than once in a 10-year period.

Total stadiums (at least at this point in time): 16

2. The city, stadium, and team hosting the event obviously would be responsible for hiring a sufficient amount of security, with cooperation from national governments. A weekend of this magnitude could very well bring terrorist threats and/or an increased rate of crime (both petty and serious) during the run-up to the weekend and the weekend itself. The number one priority is to keep the fans safe so that they can enjoy their experience without having to worry about their well-being, and it’s also necessary to protect the players themselves.

Now, to the weekend itself. The All-Star Game would be played on Sunday, with a “Young Stars” game on Friday night, a celebrity game on Saturday afternoon, and a skills competition to follow that night. I would schedule the festivities for the weekend immediately following the Champions League final; so this year, for example, it would be the 23rd-25th of May.

Young Stars Game: Players must be 22 or younger to be eligible for this game and can’t have been chosen to play in the “real” All-Star Game. Rosters would be comprised of 18 players, with one squad made up of players who play for clubs that finished in an odd-numbered position that season in the Premiership (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19), and the other made up of players who play for clubs that finished in an even-numbered position that year.

Each Premiership team would have at least one representative on the Young Stars rosters, with the manager of that year’s third place team coaching one side, and the manager of that year’s fourth place team coaching the other. Each Premiership team would nominate one player from their team to play, and the other eight players to fill out the roster would be selected by each Young Stars team’s manager. Unlimited substitutions, 9 vs. 9 (8 field players and a goalie), 35-minute halves.

Celebrity Game: This is where I defer to you folks in Britain. Surely there are some British celebrities–actors, singers, models, etc., who love to play soccer and played it growing up that you would love to see play under the bright lights. I don’t know of any offhand, but I’m sure you could find 20 “A-List”, “B-List”, “C-List”, whatever, who fit that description, 10 for each team. Unlimited substitutions, 8 vs. 8 (7 field players and a goalie), 20-minute halves.

This is the part of All-Star Weekend I’m flexible on; it wouldn’t kill me at all to not have this as part of the festivities.

Skills Competition: Taking a page from what the NBA and NHL do, I’d love to see a skills competition featuring Premiership players. To take part, you would have to be named to either the Young Stars Game or the All-Star Game. Two teams would be competing: the British team against the World team, with the Young Stars joining whichever of those they’d belong to.

Here’s a few of the events that I’d propose:

Fastest Man: Three heats, four players in each, two from each team, with the top two finishers from each heat advancing to a six-man final. Goal line to midfield; so depending on the stadium, it’d be anywhere from a 50-60 yard run or thereabouts. Wouldn’t you love to see just a dead sprint between speed merchants like Theo Walcott, Gabby Agbonlahor, Nedum Onouha, Aaron Lennon, and Ashley Young? I know I would.

Hardest Shot: Place the ball at the center of the top of the 18-yard box. Five players from each team, three shots each. A radar gun would be used to measure the velocity of each shot. To count, a shot has to go in the goal; I don’t care how hard you can strike a ball if it goes into Row X. Again, I’d love to see Steven Gerrard, Michael Ballack, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kolo Toure, and others just lay into a ball with no one in front of them.

Obstacle Course: This is something that could be taken straight off the training pitch. Get some cones or flags, put them close together and have the players dribble in and out. Make the players pass a 15 or 20-yard ball into a tight little space. Make them juggle the ball 20-25 times in a row, which should be no problem. Whatever. Come up with some course that challenges and incorporates the different skills it takes to be a player. Fastest time through the course wins, maybe six or eight players competing, three or four from each team.

Dribble-in Penalty Shootout: Taken from the old days of MLS, I think this would be entertaining. Five players on each team start 35 yards from goal and have five seconds to get their shot off, one team at a time. Whichever team scores the most goals wins.

All-Star Game: OK, here’s the centerpiece of the weekend. Again, two teams, the British team against the World team, or you could even do the same even and odd thing that I proposed for the Young Stars rosters. Each team would be comprised of 20 players (18 field players and two goalkeepers, with each Premiership team from that season having at least one representative so that it’s not just an Arsenal XI or a Manchester United XI. Each goalkeeper would play one half.

Same rules as always, with one exception: unlimited substitutions. The first-place team’s manager would coach one All-Star team (his choice), the second-place team’s manager would coach the other. Each coach would be responsible for picking both goalies and the ten reserves not nominated by each Premiership team. The players that the Premiership teams choose would start the game, so we’d see all 20 teams represented in the starting 22.

To incorporate the fans, perhaps each club could set something up on their website in which their fans select the one guaranteed representative.

This is a very, very rough outline of what I’d like to see one day. I don’t think anything like this would ever happen; All-Star festivities seem to be uniquely American in concept but I’d still love to see this kind of thing in the Premiership.

I’m interested in your feedback, whatever it is. Let me hear what you like in this proposal, let me hear what you’d want to change a little bit, let me hear what you wouldn’t want to see at all. Remember, the point of having an All-Star event, at least ideally, is to show off the game for the fans who love watching it, and to put on a showcase for those fans in a show of thanks and appreciation for coming out each and every week.

Keegan Gets Dreaded Vote of Confidence

Uh-oh. Newcastle chief executive Chris Mort came out and publicly backed his manager, Kevin Keegan, today, saying that Keegan is the man to turn the club around and that there is no "doubt or worry" about Newcastle's recent form.

Now that Keegan has the vote of confidence, expect him to be gone by the end of the month.

Just kidding, I think. We all joke that once the ownership backs the manager during hard times, there's a very good chance that they'll act in the contrary and get rid of him sooner rather than later. In this instance though, the manager is a legend at the club and probably has more wiggle room than most in his position.

Still, things don't look good for Keegan and Newcastle. When Keegan got back into managing after taking some time away from the game, he had to have thought Newcastle was in better shape then they really are. Sure, financially they're set, but this just isn't a good team. Aside from Steven Taylor and James Milner, there are no quality youngsters on the roster and the veteran players are perennial underachievers for the most part.

Mike Ashley will have to overpay to bring even average to above-average players in because Newcastle isn't a desirable location to play, not for the team itself or in the city.

I honestly can't see Keegan staying beyond next season and he may leave this summer. Now that he has the dreaded vote of confidence though, he could very well be gone next week.

Upset Alert

Alright, maybe this wouldn't be as big of a surprise as some people would think, but I like Aston Villa's chances to go to the Emirates and beat Arsenal on Saturday.

Martin O'Neill's young side has only lost twice on the road this season, and they gave Arsenal everything they had and more at Villa Park back on the 1st of December, although they lost 2-1. Villa is fully healthy as well, which counts a lot at this point in the year.

Arsenal aren't exactly playing too well right now as they're winless in their last three games. Emmanuel Eboue will be suspended for this match (frankly, Eboue is one of the dirtiest players in the league), and creative midfielder Tomáš Rosický is still out with a hamstring injury. There is also the question of whether or not the Gunners will be up for this game after the devastating injury to Eduardo da Silva last week.

I've got Villa returning the favor and continuing their quest for 4th place with a 2-1 victory.

Also, make sure to tune in to the Portsmouth-Everton game on Sunday. Both teams have legitimate European aspirations and the three points would be huge in a game of this significance.

Who Needs Aliadière When You Have Paddy Kenny??

Obviously not Middlesbrough, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup yesterday thanks to an own-goal from Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny in extra-time.

It was a harsh ending for Kenny, who had played a very good game in net for the Blades.

Jérémie Aliadière’s Ban is Ridiculous

Middlesbrough’s Jérémie Aliadière, the man with the last name that takes me 73 tries to pronounce correctly, had his red card appeal denied today on the grounds of its “frivolous” nature and his ban increased from three to four games.

This is one of the biggest farces I’ve seen all season.

I don’t subscribe to any conspiracy theories suggesting that the Premier League publicly wants the “Big Four” to finish in the top four, so I don’t believe that this is a case of Middlesbrough being harshly done by and Liverpool escaping without penalty simply because they are Middlesbrough and Liverpool.

With that said, this is simply outrageous. Aliadière should NEVER have been sent off in the first place. Sorry, the “violent conduct” section in FIFA, UEFA, and the FA’s rules dealing with this sort of thing shouldn’t apply to what Aliadière did; it should be reserved for actually striking or punching, or attempting to punch, an opponent in a malicious manner. This was nothing more than a light tap on the face, so I don’t buy the red card for a second.

Not only do I not buy the red card though, I have a problem with the way match referee Lee Mason handled the situation. First of all, Aliadière was responding to Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano putting his hand on the Frenchman’s mouth in a muzzling, shut-your-mouth-type manner. If you’re going to send Aliadière off, then surely Mascherano should’ve been dismissed as well since he instigated the whole thing to begin with.

Coaches always say that it’s not the first one that gets caught, it’s the retaliation. That certainly proved to be true in this instance.

As a referee myself, I would’ve handled the situation much differently. This is a professional game we’re talking about here, a match in one of the top leagues in the world. We’re not talking about kids, where sportsmanship and safety and all those things are more important than winning. Liverpool are battling for every point they can get to climb back into the 4th spot, and Boro need every point they can get to feel safe from relegation. Understandably, emotions were running high as Boro were frustrated that they were losing. If I would’ve been in charge, both players would’ve been called over, warned, and that’s it, end of story, let’s move on. No need to hand out cards, certainly not a red card, and especially not a red card to one player and not both. It takes two to tango, does it not?

To make matters worse, Aliadière had his already unfair suspension increased by another game. He’ll now have to sit out Boro’s next four matches, including their FA Cup Fifth Round replay and potential FA Cup quarterfinal, and that’s a big blow to that club’s attack. Aliadière doesn’t score many goals, but his pace opens up space on the field for others to run into and he’s a pretty decent passer of the ball. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano gets off scot-free, even though the referee’s assistant had a clear view of what went on and could easily have recommended a booking for the Argentine.

Boro chief executive Keith Lamb was rightly upset at the decision, branding it “a travesty of justice.”

Lamb also said, “We are furious and totally astounded that the commission, without consultation, should consider our appeal to be frivolous. Who are they to know our minds when we made this appeal? We are appalled at the decision and the entire process. How can nameless, faceless people on a commission decide that our genuine claim for equality and justice be dealt with in such a flippant manner? It is a disgraceful comment to suggest our claim was frivolous. We agonised over it before deciding to submit a claim for wrongful dismissal.”

Good for you Mr. Lamb, you have every right to be incensed with this mockery of a ruling.

Podcast is Available

I know I mentioned this already today, but the most recent episode of the Canes Rising podcast, featuring myself and host Kartik Krishnaiyer, is actually out right now for you to listen to or download.

I didn't think it would be available until Tuesday, but once again, I've been proven wrong.

Head over to canesrising.com to download this episode directly, or go to iTunes and search "Canes Rising" in the Store, where you can subscribe to the podcast and download each show.

We'll be talking more about college basketball in the days to come as conference tournament and NCAA Tournament time is drawing near.

The Spurs Have Come Marching In

Jonathan Woodgate’s extra-time header completed an impressive comeback for Spurs as the North London club beat West London rivals Chelsea today 2-1 to win the Carling Cup.

I don’t want to focus as much on the game itself here as I want to talk about how this result was good for the Premier League as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, Tottenham deserves a lot of credit and this trophy will look great in their cabinet, but as I mentioned yesterday, it’s more important in the broader sense for the 16 teams outside the “Big Four”.

There are three major competitions to be won in England: the Premiership, the FA Cup, and the Carling Cup. Simple multiplication tells us that over the past 12 years, 36 big trophies have been on offer, not counting this year’s Carling Cup.

Guess how many of those trophies were won by “Big Four” clubs.

30.

How about over the past six years (18 trophies)?

16.

These figures work out to be astoundingly high, ridiculous percentages, especially if you’re a neutral fan like me. I want to see different teams win these competitions; it gets boring to see the same teams win over and over again just because they have more money to spend than everyone else.

Worldwide TV rights for the Premiership will be hotly contested by major corporations when they next become available after the 2009-2010 season. The Premier League needs to do a better job of distributing that revenue equally amongst its 20 teams. I would even go as far as to say that all prize money won for playing and/or advancing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup should be distributed equally amongst the 20 Premiership teams as well, rather than having the individual teams who play in European competitions pocketing all of that money for themselves like they do now. It’s a case of the rich only getting richer because the same teams are the ones playing in Europe year after year.

Competitive balance in the Premier League is essential to its growth as not only the most popular league in the world, but the top soccer league in the world as well, something it isn’t right now. You look at the fight for fourth place this season and things change every week. Teams 4-10 are separated by only seven points, and teams 4-8 by just three.

The more teams that are in the running to actually win something, the better. It allows these teams to go out and attract better players because they know they have a chance to win, and that appeals to the athlete and competitor in them. Rather than four teams monopolizing competitions, you could have anywhere close to 10 teams fighting it out for three trophies over the course of a 9/10-month season. This opens up more room for top-quality players; again, simple math tells us that the more teams involved, the more roster spots involved, and the more top-quality players who have somewhere to ply their trade rather than sitting on the bench at one of the “Big Four” clubs or playing elsewhere in Europe for less recognizable prizes.

I understand that if you’re a fan of a “Big Four” team, you like the way things are now. You essentially have a 25% chance to win any major competition in any given year, and that’s great. Let me ask you this though: If you were a fan of anyof the other 16 teams and knew your side basically had a 0% chance to win something, what motivation is there for you to really support that team, to really become a serious fan? It’s difficult to just show up to the stadium every week knowing that your team is just playing games for the sake of playing games, that they don’t have a real chance to win anything when all is said and done.

Great win for Spurs today. I’m excited to see someone break the stranglehold of the “Big Four” and I hope this becomes a continuing trend in England.

College Basketball Podcasts

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you're interested, a college basketball podcast featuring myself and host Kartik Krishnaiyer (from CSRN and US Soccer Spot) will be available for your listening pleasure within the next few days over at canesrising.com.

I was a guest on the show earlier this month and Kartik and I had a good discussion about the ACC and the Big Ten, particularly the different styles of play in both conferences and some early NCAA Tournament talk.

This weekend we'll be talking more about the ACC and the bubble teams currently making a push for the Big Dance from that conference. We'll have a chat about each of those teams' tournament résumés and examine the stretch run of regular season conference play. The focus, of course, will be on the Miami Hurricanes and their situation on the heels of impressive back-to-back home victories over Duke and Maryland.

Canesrising.com, go check it out and look for the show within the next couple of days.

Also, for more college basketball information you can always check my "Useful CBB Sites" section on the lower left side of the homepage.

Big Chance for Tottenham Tomorrow

Tomorrow's Carling Cup final at Wembley represents the first chance at meaningful silverware this year in England. The Community Shield, whose winner does get a trophy, is generally considered to be nothing more than a glorified preseason exhibition match. I think I can safely say that tomorrow's game will be anything but an exhibition, and it should be a great 90 minutes (perhaps more) of action.

Both Tottenham and Chelsea will be pushing to win this game, there's no doubt about it. Chelsea are the defending champions of the Carling Cup and will obviously want to repeat. I'm not sure how much I buy into the opinion that they have an obligation to play their best team, but manager Avram Grant likely wants to put his own stamp on the team and win his first trophy in charge of the West London club.

This game appears bigger for Tottenham though, and for good reason. The goal of the other 16 teams in the Premiership is to break the stranglehold of the "Big Four". The only way to do that is by winning these cup competitions and trying to sneak into the top four in the league like several clubs are seriously bidding to do this season.

Spurs have been a new and improved club with Juande Ramos, who replaced Martin Jol as manager in late October 2007, at the helm. The North London club is 14-8-5 in all competitions under Ramos and have undergone changes in the roster and in tactical preferences. Spurs are playing with more passion and confidence and seem hungrier to win than they had been during Jol's last few months in charge.

Tomorrow's game also represents a route into Europe for Spurs, who are unlikely to get back into the UEFA Cup through their league position this year. If they don't beat Chelsea, they'll have to win this year's UEFA Cup to earn their way back into Europe's second-tier club competition. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that winning one game is more likely than prevailing from 16 teams in a knockout tournanent.

I've got Spurs winning this game 3-2 in a victory not only for the club itself, but for every other Premiership team outside the "Big Four" as well. It's important to the competitive growth and progression of the league that someone besides Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United win something. The fans who want to see the same four teams win year after year are in the minority. As a neutral fan, I obviously don't count myself in that group and will be rooting for Spurs tomorrow.

Satisfied With Kevin Keegan?

Kevin Keegan was hired for his second stint in charge of Newcastle on January 16. I wrote a post that day questioning that move by Magpies owner Mike Ashley, saying Keegan was nothing more than a blast from the past and that the way to move forward in the future was not by looking back to that past.

I took a lot of heat from Newcastle fans in the few days after that. The Toon Army was out in full force, telling me that Keegan was one of the best things to ever happen to their club and that he would turn their fortunes around after the Sam Allardyce debacle and be a success.

Well, the facts seem to prove otherwise, at least up to this point. I understand that it's a bit harsh to judge Keegan on a month's worth of results; he hasn't had a full transfer window to bring in his own players and was out of soccer completely for a couple of years before coming back to Tyneside. Still though, Newcastle are winless in the Premiership since Keegan has been at the helm and are just 1-2-4 in all competitions since the day he was named manager, with that win coming in a game in which Keegan wasn’t even in charge. They've dropped to 13th in the league and are only six points out of the relegation zone. They've been extremely uncompetitive and disappointing in multiple-goal losses to Arsenal, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.

I'm interested in hearing what you Newcastle fans think. Do you still believe Keegan is the guy to take you out of this rut of mediocrity? Do you want him out of there and Alan Shearer in to replace him? Do you, like me, still want to take a wait-and-see approach and see where Newcastle is at the January transfer window next season before passing judgement on Keegan?

Let me hear you.

Arsene Wenger Wants Lifetime Ban for Taylor

In the words of José Mourinho's puppet character on "I'm On Setanta Sports", shut up, Wenger.

For those of you who haven't seen the gruesome pictures or seen video, Arsenal front man Eduardo da Silva had his left leg nearly snapped at the ankle after a sliding challenge from Birmingham defender Martin Taylor. It took nearly ten minutes for trainers and medical staff to get da Silva off the field, and all reports indicate the Croatian has a badly broken leg. It didn't exactly take a genius to come to that conclusion as anyone who has seen what happened could diagnose the injury instantly.

It would be irresponsible at this point to speculate as to how long da Silva will be out, but Arsene Wenger has said that "His injury is very, very bad. More than the season is over."

The Frenchman also said "This guy (Taylor) should never play football again. What is he doing on the football pitch?"

"I've gone along with the idea for a long time that to stop Arsenal, you have to kick Arsenal. I knew that was coming for a long time now."

Here's where I have a problem with Wenger. There is simply no way Taylor is going to get a lifetime ban, no way. There was no malice whatsoever in the challenge, no intent to injure like we've seen in the past with some of Roy Keane's attacks on opponents when he was still a player. On the match broadcast, play-by-play man Jon Champion even said he wasn't sure if Taylor should've been sent off.

Personally, I thought it was a red card and the automatic three-match ban that comes with it is deserved. Anything more than that would really be harsh on Taylor because the reality is that this was just a freak incident. It was a mis-timed, late tackle. I've seen numerous tackles similar to this one in the past that haven't even been red-carded. I think it's wrong for Wenger to call for a lifetime ban for Taylor simply based on the extent of the injury to da Silva.

It's not as if Taylor is a repeat offender and has a reputation for causing incidents like this. He showed remorse immediately after the challenge; as Birmingham boss Alex McLeish said, "Martin's distraught about the lad's injury. It's certainly not in Martin Taylor's make-up at all to commit a malicious tackle."

In the NHL, a player can be given a two-minute penalty for high-sticking if he gets his stick in an opponent's face and makes contact, but four minutes if that same incident draws blood. That's just ridiculous; you can't additionally penalize something because of a freak injury, or drawn blood in the case of hockey. It's not fair to overreact to how badly someone is hurt because of a challenge, I believe you have to look at the challenge itself in a vacuum and go from there. With that said, make no mistake. I'm not condoning what Taylor did today by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm also not condemning him for it either.

If I was Arsene Wenger, who has a well-deserved reputation for being a sore loser and a whiner, I would worry about my own team instead of Martin Taylor. Wenger's star young left back, Gaël Clichy, was directly at fault for giving up Birmingham's late equalizer through his lack of focus and poor judgment and decision-making. These two points dropped could end up being what loses the title for Arsenal, yet after the game, Wenger is talking about the opposition and not saying anything about his own team.

Taylor's fate isn't in Wenger's hands; he's just wasting his time by chipping in his own two cents about the situation. I don't want to hear this man in public anymore. He doesn’t say anything chastizing or harsh when his players, like Eboue and Flamini, go in recklessly on challenges like they’ve done in the past month or so, either nearly causing or actually causing serious injury, but when someone from another team does the same thing to a player on his team, he gets up in arms and has a fit. I’m sorry, I don’t have any time for that and it is embarrassing.

Shut up, Wenger!

Interesting Poll Question Results

This week's poll question asked you all which Premiership team left in the Champions League did you believe had the best chance to win the whole thing.

I put out this question before the Round of 16 first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and half of the eight votes received came before those games. Curiously enough, no one voted for Liverpool even though they beat Inter Milan 2-0 and are clearly in the best position to advance out of their fellow "Big Four" teams.

Four people chose Manchester United, who were also my picks to win this competition. I'm beginning to rethink that a little bit because if the Red Devils are ever forced to play without Cristiano Ronaldo and/or especially Wayne Rooney, they are extremely vulnerable to defeat.

Chelsea and Arsenal got two votes each and both of these teams, particularly Arsenal, are not locks to even make the quarterfinals.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I've put a new poll question out, so take a second and vote if you could.

UEFA Cup Round of 32 Recap; Round of 16 Draw

Wow, it's been an extremely busy week of cup competitions what with FA Cup Fifth Round action last weekend, Champions League Round of 16 first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs today.

Four out of the five British teams, including all three English teams, left in the UEFA Cup advanced to the next round after doing enough in their respective matches this evening. Draws for Bolton (0-0), Rangers (1-1), and Tottenham (1-1) sealed all three sides' places in the last 16.

Perhaps the most surprising of those three teams, Bolton came into today's game at Sergio Aguero-less Atlético Madrid with a 1-0 lead on aggregate and knew what they needed to do: just get a draw or lose by one goal while scoring at least one goal themselves. They had one shot (which was on goal), ONE shot, but in a performance former manager Sam Allardyce would've been proud of, the 4-5-1 formation more than did its job and the match ended scoreless. Atlético clearly missed Aguero; they showed little creativity in the attacking third and were stifled all game long.

Aberdeen needed a miracle performance in Munich to beat Bayern, having conceded two goals at home in the first leg. Virtually no one expected this tie to be even heading back to Germany, so just making this game mean something had to have been a bonus for Aberdeen. The Dons lost 5-1 today as Lukas Podolski bagged a brace for the hosts, and while perhaps they will be disappointed with their showing in this game, they'll surely take solace in reaching this stage of the competition.

Finally, Everton thrashed Norwegian side SK Brann 6-1 behind a hat trick from Yakubu and two goals from Andy Johnson. This was a tie Everton had always expected to win, but they have to be especially pleased with a performance like they gave today.

Round of 32 Final Aggregates (teams listed first advance):

Hamburg SV-3, FC Zürich-1
Bayer Leverkusen-5, Galatasaray-1
Anderlecht-3, Bordeaux-2
Olympique Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow-2
PSV Eindhoven-4, Helsingborg-1
Tottenham-3, Slavia Prague-2
Rangers-1, Panathinaikos-1 (Rangers advance on away goals)
Fiorentina-3, Rosenborg-1
Bayern Munich-7, Aberdeen-3
Sporting Lisbon-5, FC Basel-0
Getafe-4, AEK Athens-1
Everton-8, SK Brann-1
Bolton-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Benfica-3, FC Nuremberg-2
Zenit St. Petersburg-2, Villarreal-2 (Zenit St. Petersburg advance on away goals)
Werder Bremen-4, Braga-0

The draw for the Round of 16 was also released this afternoon, and the four British teams left will have their work cut out for them. The tie of the round could very well turn out to be Spurs-PSV Eindhoven, as both teams love to attack and play a fast tempo. These ties will be played March 6 and 12/13

Complete Round of 16 Draw (home teams listed first):

Anderlecht vs. Bayern Munich
Rangers vs. Werder Bremen
Bolton vs. Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hamburg SV
Getafe vs. Benfica
Fiorentina vs. Everton
Tottenham vs. PSV Eindhoven
Olympique Marseille vs. Zenit St Petersburg

Note: British teams are in bold

Champions League Round of 16 First Leg--Winners and Losers

After the matches Tuesday and Wednesday, some teams have clearly put themselves in a good position heading into the second leg in a couple weeks' time. Others put themselves into a hole that they'll have to climb out of in that second leg. Here, I'm going to examine the teams that fit into each of these categories.

Winners:

1. Liverpool- This is the most obvious pick; there's no question about it. You can say what you want about Marco Materazzi and how he shouldn't have been booked twice, whatever. The fact of the matter is Liverpool won 2-0 against a team in Inter Milan that is undefeated in Serie A and had only one loss to their name all season long, at Fenerbahçe in the Group Stage of the Champions League.

Liverpool didn't just beat Inter either, they dominated the match from start to finish. The Reds had 25 shots (6 on goal) compared to just 4 (0 on goal) for the Nerazzuri, 70% possession, and won numerous more corners than their opponent.

I don't think there's any way that Inter will be able to claw their way back in the second leg either as not only will they be without the suspended Materazzi and likely the injured Iván Córdoba, Rafa Benitez and Liverpool know how to shut shop and grind out the result they need. If Liverpool can nick a goal at the San Siro, Inter would need to score four goals to advance. That's not going to happen against a Benitez-coached side.

2. Sevilla- Even with their 3-2 loss at Fenerbahçe, Sevilla are in the driver's seat going into the second leg of this tie. Any time you can score twice on the road in a competition where away goals are so valuable, you're in good shape to progress. Sevilla have a +17 goal differential at home this year and are 8-1-3 in the league, so Fenerbahçe have their work cut out for them in Spain. Sevilla have to win, but any victory without conceding two or more goals will do.

3. Barcelona- This tie is essentially over as Barcelona won 3-2 at Celtic Park on Tuesday. Celtic is awful away from home in European competition and knowing that, they were really counting on their crowd to help give them a lead heading into the second leg. That didn't happen, and I would conservatively estimate Celtic's chances of winning in Spain are extremely slim to none. That's conservative.

Losers:

1. Chelsea- Underestimating Olympiacos could prove to be a fatal mistake for Avram Grant and his team if the Greek side can snatch a goal and then grind out some sort of result at Stamford Bridge. We all know that Chelsea are not exactly dynamic even at the best of times anyway; they rarely score more than two goals in a given game, but being held scoreless on Tuesday really puts the impetus on them in the second leg.

2. Schalke 04- Winning 1-0 at home over Porto very likely won't be enough for the German side. Porto are 9-1-0 on home turf in their domestic league this season, have only conceded one, yes, one goal at the Estádio do Dragão in the league (+20 goal differential), and just three in the league and Champions League combined. Schalke have been less than impressive on the road this year and will be four days removed from a league clash against Bayern Munich when they play in Portugal. I don't think they'll have the energy or the heart to get the job done there, and having only one goal in their back pocket doesn't help.

3. Lyon- An important home victory over Manchester United was in Lyon's grasp yesterday but an 87th minute goal from Carlos Tevez spoiled that possibility. The 1-1 scoreline clearly favors United as they'll welcome Lyon to Old Trafford for the second leg, needing only a 0-0 draw or a victory to advance. The juggernauts of La Ligue really squandered an opportunity to make Manchester United squirm a little bit, and now they'll have to chase a goal (or two) in a tough place for visitors to play.

What Was Avram Grant Thinking?

They say hindsight is 20/20, and that’s certainly true. That doesn’t make it worthless though, especially when the party involved has already made a few questionable decisions in the past.

So then, Mr. Grant, let me ask you why you didn’t start John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Nicolas Anelka yesterday in your Champions League Round of 16 first leg at Olympiakos. Was it because you didn’t approve of Lamps scoring TWO goals last weekend in the FA Cup? Was it because you think that Florent Malouda is a better attacking option than Anelka, who has scored 13 goals this season? Was it because you wanted to go with a guy in Ballack who hadn’t played a Champions League game all season?

Listen, Ballack, Malouda, and Alex (who maintained his place ahead of Terry) aren’t exactly slouches, don’t get me wrong. They also aren’t as good as the three players who they started over. When you get to the Round of 16 in the Champions League, you have to play your best team and it’s as simple as that. There are no easy games at this stage of the tournament; teams that reach the last 16 don’t get there off a fluke or because of luck, they’re there because they proved they should be over six games in the Group Stage. You can’t disrespect an opponent by playing a weakened side. Bringing Anelka and Lampard on late in the second half isn’t good enough. You can’t expect them to do anything if they don’t get many minutes; it’s tough to come off the bench cold into a tough match and contribute, especially when you’re not used to being a substitute in the first place.

I don’t want to hear that Grant was trying to rest these guys for the Carling Cup final against Spurs this weekend. That match is five days away from yesterday’s game in Greece; Lampard, Terry, and Anelka would have had plenty of time to recover. I would’ve thought that players who can score goals (Anelka and Lampard) would’ve been preferred away from home over players who don’t usually score from the run of play (Malouda and Ballack) because away goals mean more in the Champions League. I would’ve thought that going with the club captain, John Terry, over Alex, who is a center back in name only as he loves to go forward, was the smarter move.

People are saying that Chelsea are in prime position now to advance to the quarterfinals. I don’t agree. Sorry, a 0-0 draw for the home team in the Champions League favors the home team because they didn’t give up a goal to the away side. Now, Olympiakos doesn't even have to win at Stamford Bridge; they can play for another 0-0 draw and take their chances in extra time and/or PK's, or push for that all-important away goal in normal time and then park the bus.

Do I think Chelsea will still advance? Yes. I just don’t think they did themselves any favors yesterday and I put the blame squarely on Avram Grant for not selecting his best side.

I Missed Me Some Champions League

It's that time again, time to listen to the official Champions League Hymn that we hear before and after TV matches and sing as high as we can. Don't kid yourself; you do it, I do it, it's no big deal, even if we don't understand the words.

The Champions League is back tomorrow and I couldn't be any more excited. There are some mouth-watering ties in the Round of 16 and to me, one of the best of the bunch will be on TV tomorrow as Liverpool hosts Inter Milan on ESPN2.

I made my predictions the week that the draw came out and did a small capsule for each pairing, so if you're interested in those, go back to the blog archive from around Christmastime.

Just to put it on the record though, I'll list the eight teams that I believe will advance right now:

Liverpool
AC Milan
Chelsea
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Porto
Fenerbahce

I know where I'll be at 2:30 PM tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully you'll be able to find a nice couch as well and enjoy the commentary from ESPN's Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth, two of the best in the business. Should be a good game at Anfield; I can't wait to watch.

The Champions!

FA Cup Quarterfinal Draw

The draw for the quarterfinal round of the world's oldest soccer competition was conducted today in Soho Square. From a record 731 teams that entered the 2007-2008 edition of the FA Cup, we're down to the last 8/9 and for a neutral fan like myself, this draw shaped up very nicely. All four ties will be played on the weekend of March 8.

Everyone's sentimental pick to win this tournament now has to be League One's Bristol Rovers, the lowest-placed team left standing. The newly-promoted Pirates will have every chance to advance to the semifinals as they'll host West Bromwich Albion, who just spanked fellow Coca-Cola Championship side Coventry City 5-0 on the road. Fortunately for Bristol Rovers, that game was a bit of an anomaly as W.B.A. have a losing record (6-2-8) this season away from home. With that said, Rovers' home record hasn't exactly been outstanding so far this year either (5-6-3) but there should be a sellout, raucous crowd at Memorial Stadium to give them an extra boost.

The other lower-profile, lower-league team who has reached this stage is Barnsley, and they are coming off a huge 2-1 upset victory at Anfield on Saturday. The Tykes drew a home game in this round so that works in their favor, but they'll have the distinct displeasure of hosting Chelsea, who are the defending FA Cup champions. Barnsley have been very good on home turf this season (9-5-2) and have obviously just proven that they are capable of beating a Premiership power. I don't particularly like their chances of knocking off Chelsea in this game, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to force a replay at Stamford Bridge either and take their chances there.

In the other two quarterfinal, or 6th Round as the FA likes to call it, ties, we'll see an all-Premiership battle as Manchester United will welcome road warriors Portsmouth to Old Trafford, and then the winner of the Middlesbrough-Sheffield United replay will host Cardiff City.

Complete Quarterfinal Draw:

Barnsley vs. Chelsea
Bristol Rovers vs. West Bromwich Albion
Middlesbrough/Sheffield United vs. West Bromwich Albion
Manchester United vs. Portsmouth

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

FA Cup 5th Round Recap

Seven out of the eight FA Cup 5th Round ties were settled this weekend, with only the Middlesbrough-Sheffield United pairing in need of a replay. That match will come at the Riverside on the 26th, but both teams will be in the hat for tomorrow's quarterfinal draw.

Two surprise teams will be joining the aforementioned sides and the other five winners in that draw.

Barnsley, currently sitting in 14th place out of 24 in the Coca-Cola Championship, shocked Liverpool at Anfield by coming away with a 2-1 victory, a match which I covered in my last post.

The lowest-placed team left in this tournament, Bristol Rovers, hosted Southampton and won 1-0 on an 84th minute free kick from Richard Lambert. The Pirates are in 13th place out of 24 in League One right now and were only promoted to England's third-tier league last May after defeating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Two Playoff. This is a team who has now defeated at least one team in every division of the Football League in this year's FA Cup. They're riding the wave of success and have become the sentimental favorites to win this competition.

Portsmouth were fortunate to escape Preston with a 1-0 win as it took a 93rd minute own-goal to save the South Coast side from a home replay. David James showed why he's been selected as England's number one goalkeeper with a PK save on the hour mark. The most compelling storyline of the game didn't even come to fruition; David Nugent wasn't fit enough to play for Pompey in what would have been a return against the club for which he starred before moving on last summer.

Manchester United sent a convicingly strong message to Arsenal in a 4-0 home victory for the Red Devils. Arsene Wenger played a nearly full-strength lineup so there can be no excuses about that, and United showed that they're a different team when Wayne Rooney is on the field. The title race is not over yet; Arsenal will have to go back to Old Trafford in April and this FA Cup match served them notice that they better come ready to play.

Elsewhere, Chelsea took care of business at home against Huddersfield Town (3-1), and Coventry City thumped West Bromwich Albion 5-0 on the road in a battle of two recent Premiership sides.

Complete FA Cup 5th Round Scores:

Bristol Rovers-1, Southampton-0
Barnsley-2, Liverpool-1
Cardiff City-2, Wolverhampton-0
West Bromwich Albion-5, Coventry City-0
Chelsea-3, Huddersfield Town-1
Manchester United-4, Arsenal-0
Sheffield United-0, Middlesbrough-0
Portsmouth-1, Preston North End-0

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

As I said earlier, the quarterfinal draw will be made tomorrow morning here on the East Coast. You can find full coverage and analysis of that on this site and at epltalk.com.

Barnsley Shocks Liverpool in FA Cup

I don't think I need to explain to you what an upset this is, so I won't.

Liverpool should've won the game. It's that simple. They had more shots, more possession, more chances, more everything. But they only scored one goal and as I've said countless times, the only stat that matters in a team sport like soccer is goals scored.

Barnsley-2, Liverpool-1.

Oh, yeah. Time to get rid of Rafa yet? Someone has to be held accountable for a home loss to a mediocre Championship side in the FA Cup, particularly since Liverpool has been walking on a thin rope in this competition so far anyway. Yes, Liverpool could very well have been looking ahead to the showdown with Inter Milan on Tuesday in the Champions League, but it's the manager's job to prepare his players and get them focused on the game at hand, not the next game, or the one after that.

Not only that, but this competition likely represented the last chance that the Reds had at silverware this year; they’ve already been knocked out in the Carling Cup, have virtually no chance of winning the Premiership, and the Champions League is nothing more than a crapshoot based on who you draw, and Inter Milan will be daunting to say the least.

To me, when you get to this stage of a tournament, you have to go with your best players no matter who the opposition is. Not starting the captain, Steven Gerrard, and only bringing him on off the bench late in the game is inexcusable. Not starting Jose Reina, one of the two or three best goalkeepers in the league, is inexcusable. Not starting Javier Mascherano, a player who you alledgedly believe to be worth $34 million US, is inexcusable.

Sometimes you get what you deserve in soccer, and sometimes you don’t. Today Liverpool fell to a team they dominated in all aspects of the game other than goals scored. Is it fair? Maybe, maybe not. Is it life? Yes. If you don’t play your best players in a given game, you can lose. Someone needs to take the fall for this.

I believe it has to be Rafa.

Wise Move by Stewart Downing?

Middlesbrough left winger Stewart Downing signed a new five-year contract with the club today after weeks of maintaining his wish to leave Boro when his previous contract expired after the 2009-2010 season.

Downing has seemingly been rumored to join Tottenham in every recent transfer window, and looked a good bet to do just that in January. He's a 23-year old graduate of Boro's reputable youth academy, which has churned out some talented youngsters over the past several seasons and still appears strong.

The left-footer has also earned 16 caps for England and many people believed him to be England's next big thing at his position. He made his first senior appearance at the age of 20 under former manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, but his international career has stalled over the past couple of seasons due to injury and poor form.

Downing is a hometown boy and is probably Middlesbrough's best player right now. He's likely bringing in a pretty handsome salary with other clubs' interest in him driving up the the price for Boro to keep him, and he's one of their most tenured players anyway.

This is the issue for me as it relates to Downing. I don't think staying at Middlesbrough will help him grow at all as a player, and it definitely lessens his chances of a significant future with the national team. Ashley Young's emergence on the left side at Aston Villa has been a revelation to some people, and his 13 assists are tied for the most in the Premiership this season. Young is a spectacular set-piece taker, has great pace, and can score goals from open play. He's a year younger than Downing as well, and was handed a cap by new manager Fabio Capello in England's recent 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland. Joe Cole still has a big role with the national team also; Cole can play on both wings or behind the striker, and his versatility is a great asset to have.

Where does this leave Downing? With England, he has to be the third-choice on that left side now, even though he really looked to be the player of the future at that position as I said previously. With Middlesbrough, he's stuck on a club that's mired in neutral. Yes, Boro has ambition, but teams around them in the table have more money and nicer stadiums, so those clubs are able to attract better talent for the most part, even though I know Boro just landed record signing Afonso Alves.

This is a guy who would've fit in nicely at Spurs in my opinion, a team loaded with young British players and one that's in need of a player on the left wing. Playing for Juande Ramos, a well-known, accomplished international manager, would help Downing develop as a player much quicker than playing for the vastly less experienced Gareth Southgate. At Boro, he’s a star and sometimes has a tendency to take his foot off the pedal; at Spurs, he would’ve been just another good player on a team full of good (and a couple great) players and would’ve had to work his tail off.

I'm interested to hear your take on this, especially if you're a Boro fan. I'm not sure how much money Downing is making per week or per year at the Riverside, but surely Spurs would've offered him either very close to, as much as, or maybe even slightly more money. Spurs are a perennial UEFA Cup contender as well, and most players want a chance to play in a European competition.

It appears to me like Downing doesn't have much ambition; it's like he's lacking that drive to become the best player he can possibly be. He has it easy at Boro. He's one of the first names on the team sheet there every week as long as he's healthy. Playing for a bigger club would help him regain a meaningful role on the national team, but he seems satisfied with taking the easy route by staying at Boro.

What gives?

Everton, Bolton, Spurs in the Driver's Seat; Dons, 'Gers Have Work to Do

Solid away victories for Everton and Tottenham, at Brann and Slavia Prague respectively, have propelled the two Premiership sides into great position heading into their UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs next week.

Everton had the more straightforward road game of the two, although going to Norway in February really couldn't have been pleasant. The Toffees clearly came to win as manager David Moyes opted to play a 4-4-2 formation instead of the more traditional away 4-5-1, and Yakubu was back in the starting lineup after his benching last weekend.

Their sixth straight UEFA Cup victory didn't come easy for Merseyside's second team; it was a 0-0 game heading into halftime and Brann had their share of chances in the first 45 minutes. Midfielder Leon Osman opened the scoring for Everton, however, in the 59th minute, and Victor Anichebe put the match to bed with a goal two minutes before full-time.

The victors had 61% of the possession but as I've said time and time again, you can have the ball all you want but it only matters if you do something with it, and Everton was able to do that tonight.

Tottenham went into the Czech Republic and held on for a 2-1 victory despite an awful mistake by former Slavia Prague goalkeeper Radek Cerny that allowed the hosts to pull one back. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov each scored in the first half for Spurs, giving the strike duo a combined 36 goals so far this season.

Juande Ramos went with a makeshift back four as Pascal Chimbonda (left back), Didier Zokora (center back), and Teemu Tainio (right back) all played out of their usual positions. Ledley King stayed on the bench as the freezing temperature would've put his sore knee at even further risk, and both Lee Young-Pyo and Younes Kaboul were also available if needed.

The two away goals scored by Spurs and Everton really set both teams up nicely for the home leg next week, where I would expect a win from them anyway.

Fellow Premiership side Bolton got a victory as well, a 1-0 triumph over Atletico Madrid at the Reebok. The Trotters also received a big bonus and trump card in the form of a Sergio Aguero red card, meaning he'll miss the return leg next week. Aguero, the Argentine wunderkid, is tied for 10th in scoring in La Liga with 9 league goals and has scored 5 goals in 5 UEFA Cup games this season as well.

El-Hadji Diouf scored a minute after Aguero's dismissal late in the second half to put Bolton ahead, but former Pompey left back/midfielder Matthew Taylor put on a man of the match-type performance in the victory. Taylor was also the victim of the spitting incident that earned Aguero an early trip to the showers after the former's challenge.

After countless low crowds this season, Bolton were boosted by their largest home crowd of the season (26,163).

The two Scottish clubs left in this competition, Rangers and Aberdeen, both have their work cut out for them next week. Both sides were the hosts for this leg and both came out with a draw.

Aberdeen will have to go to Munich and either win or score at least two goals in a draw to advance past Bayern, the odds-on favorites to win the tournament, as today's match ended at 2-2. England U-19 players Josh Walker and Sone Aluko scored for the Dons, who led this game on two separate occasions.

Bayern Munich didn't play a full-strength side and nearly paid the price. A few controversial refereeing decisions went against Aberdeen and would've resulted in PK's for the hosts if they would've been called. Instead, Bayern will thank fortune for being on their side and should win with relative ease next week to move on to the Round of 16.

Current SPL leaders Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw at Ibrox by Greek side Panathinaikos, who can advance with a win in Athens next week. They're undefeated at home in the league so far this season (8-2-0) and could pull off a surprise by defeating Rangers and progressing to the next round.

The only other surprise of this week's first leg was a 1-0 victory by Dick Advocaat-coached Zenit St. Petersburg over Villarreal.

Complete List of First Leg Scores: (Home team listed first)

Aberdeen-2, Bayern Munich-2
AEK Athens-1, Getafe–1
Bolton Wanderers-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Zenit St. Petersburg-1, Villarreal–0
Galatasaray-0, Bayer Leverkusen–0
Anderlecht-2, Bordeaux–1
Brann-0, Everton–2
FC Zürich-1, Hamburg SV–3
Rangers-0, Panathinaikos–0
PSV Eindhoven-2, Helsingborg-0
Slavia Prague-1, Tottenham–2
Rosenborg-0, Fiorentina–1
Sporting Lisbon-2, FC Basel-0
Werder Bremen-3, Sporting Braga-0
Benfica-1, Nuremberg–0
Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow–0

Note: British teams are in bold

All Quiet on the Premiership Front

Very, very slow news day today.

Nothing much to talk about right now as it's an FA Cup weekend, and I already covered these matchups a little bit after the draw for this round was conducted. The first legs of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 ties will be finished up tomorrow as half were played today. I'll have a recap of sorts on that tomorrow night with a focus on the British teams in the competition.

I know what I'm doing tonight though, and all you American college basketball fans out there should join me in watching Maryland head down to Cameron Indoor Stadium to battle Duke. I'm also going to keep an eye on the Connecticut-Notre Dame game as the winner will solidify their status as the second best team in the Big East, and the Indiana-Wisconsin game in Bloomington. I'm curious to see whether Wisconsin can win a tough road game in a hostile environment like Assembly Hall; the Badgers still have to prove themselves to me away from home.