Blue is the colour of the day and would remain for the next full year as Chelsea are Champions of BPL 09-10 season. They deserve it don’t they? 103 goals scored over a span of 38 games is quite exceptional and the best we’ve seen since 1963.

Chelsea started off the game slowly and looked nervy. Wigan were the better side for the first 15-20 minutes or so even though Nic Anelka gave Chelsea the lead in the opening 6 minutes of the game. However, the game completely changed after Caldwell got himself red-carded when he pulled Lampard’s shirt and fouled him in the box denying the midfielder from a scoring opportunity. Soft but the ref didn’t have another option since the shirt pull was very evident. Lampard made no mistakes and Chelsea went 2-0 ahead, at home, against a 10-man Wigan side. Hence the goal riot was meant to happen. Drogba was the hat-trick hero and won the golden boot with 29 goals for the season. However his shambolic sulk in the first half [when Lampard did not let him take the penalty] would we well forgotten. He did take the one in the second half though, and scored. Ashley Cole finished off the season in style hitting a beautiful volley into the net. 8-0 to Chelsea, 103 goals for Chelsea, Golden Boot for Chelsea and the golden glove too-oh and the BPL title after 4 LONG years. Credit to United to take it down to the wire however I believe the better team won.

Oh for the last time this season, come this way for all your Comments!

After the weekend’s results, Tottenham are a point ahead of Manchester City in the race for fourth place and there can be no denying they have the edge over their rivals going into Wednesday’s big game.

City fans may disagree, given they will be at home when the two clubs meet, but all Spurs have to do is avoid defeat at Eastlands and they should be playing Champions League football next season. With Burnley away for Spurs and West Ham at Upton Park for City next weekend - eminently winnable games for both sides - it pretty much comes down to the midweek clash.

But City have been poor in big games at home this season - they haven’t got the tempo and they rely far too much on Carlos Tevez. If he can be stifled, City can be stopped from playing. Roberto Mancini is a manager under pressure - he absolutely has to win the game and qualify for Champions League whereas there doesn’t seem to be the same pressure on Harry Redknapp.

Spurs have had a good season - including an FA Cup run to the semis - so Harry will certainly be given more time in the hotseat if they fail to snatch fourth. But Mancini came to City to guide them to the Champions League and the club’s owners will not be happy with a mere Europa League spot.

With Spurs not wanting to get beaten, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Redknapp employ a 4-5-1 formation at Eastlands.

He may pack the midfield knowing that he’s not going to be out passed by City. The idea will be to get bodies in there and try to win the ball higher up the park. Defoe can be relied upon as a lone front man as long as he is supported by likes of Modric, Bale, Huddlestone and maybe Kranjcar.

Redknapp should go into the game in quite confident mood. Spurs know how to play away from home - they showed that at Old Trafford, where the scoreline flattered United - and I expect them to make it into next season’s Champions League. If they do, they will thoroughly deserve it. Because honestly, I don’t think City really deserve to play Champions League football. They’re yet a small club, with an even smaller mentality. Their sole objective this season was to overcome their town rivals Manchester United. Which also they couldn’t.

And unlike Manchester United or Arsenal or Liverpool(no, I’m not adding Chelsea!) or maybe even Spurs, Everton and Villa they haven’t really achieved this success due to organic development over a period of time … They haven’t really gone through the grind of developing raw young talent in their academy and bringing the best possible talent through the ranks … They haven’t bought who they have from the net profit generated due to the brand value of the club(which we know is a -ve £billion!), which only develops after achieving consistent results over the period of many, many years. Their brilliant season(as compared to their previous one’s) is a result of some random rich-ass king bored of torturing his people and wanting to play around in the Premier League.

Also, I don’t buy into the conspiracy theory that lifelong Liverpool fan Steven Gerrard deliberately set up Didier Drogba for Chelsea’s first at Anfield over the weekend. So what if he once wanted to move over to London? To suggest he did that to stop Manchester United overtaking his own club’s 18 English league titles is absurd. If he had, he would have just killed his own career. The fact is that the Liverpool captain has had a pathetic season by his own standards and his backpass just defined that - it was nothing more than a poor decision followed by an awful piece of execution. Although i do believe that the act bought some cheer to the Anfield faithfuls.

I’ve always said that the best team over the course of a season wins the league title. So If as expected Chelsea win then great as they have been in the driver’s seat for most of the season. But if United do, then it’ll also be after an equal number of 38 games. Which means, they’ll fully deserve it too!

Just when it all seemed to go back United’s way, Chelsea spanked Stoke 7-0 showing why they were champions and why they still are in the best position to win it back after a 4-year long wait.

Yesterday, It was Arsenal Manc too. But the game was i think limited to welcoming back Pat Viera and booing Adebayor. There weren’t more than 3-4 shots, unless i missed a few, but the only thing i can remember is Adebayor getting booed and of course, his horrendous hairstyle. Coming back to football, Arsenal still needs a new back line. Vermalaen of course is brilliant, but the rest aren’t world class. Their crossing even yesterday was as usual woeful and unfortunately it is an important part of the game.

Like every other True Blue, i was glued to the television screen yesterday hoping Bale produces some magic and United are out of it! However, he couldn’t. In fact, he was rubbish at the position where he plays. Just shows the difference between him and Ashley Cole or for that matter even Evra. United scored first when Asse..something gave United a penalty after a terrible terrible tackle in the box. Giggs made no mistakes. Naturally i was delighted when King scored, but my happiness was limited. Nani received a brilliant ball in the box and chipped the ball past Gomes into the net. Take nothing away from the finish, it was magnificent. Although i do not like him, but he’s good, really good. He won a penalty too few minutes later, generous though but was a penalty. Giggs again made no mistakes. It ended 3-1 to United but once again a highly frustrating game for Berbatov.

Now it was Chelsea’s turn to go back to the top of the table. And they did, in style. Kalou scored his first Chelsea Hat-trick, Lampard put in two, Malouda and Sturridge put in one each. Overall a great morale boosting performance. Stoke thrashed 7-0, third time this season we score 7. And I’m a proud Chelsea fan like every other. Unfortunately Drogba couldn’t score, however his contribution was good.

Elsewhere, Liverpool thrashed Burnley out of the BPL by scoring 4 second-half goals against them. They’re now only 2 points off Tottenham who host Bolton next week and are curently fourth. However both ManC and Spurs have a game in hand and it still looks unlikely for Liverpool, but you never know!

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What a season! What a season! It doesn’t get better than this it never would get better than this!

After having almost won the title 3-4 times this season, Chelsea has again blown it away. This time, they’ve lost to an inspired Tottenham side who has defeated two title contenders within 4 days. First Arsenal, now Chelsea. And ironically, they play the third one next week.

Earlier in the day, United shut their loud rivals for good when Scholes scored a last minute header, keeping the title race very much alive. It was a very scrappy game and could have gone either way. There weren’t many clear cut chances for either side. Rooney did start but was taken off in the second half. Showed good signs of recovery too. However, the turning point was the substitution of De Jong.

In the 21:55 Tot-Che game, many would’ve thought that Chelsea will win as they have been winning against Spurs since the past several years. Chelsea have gained the maximum league points against Tottenham, ever since their existence. That wasn’t the case tonight. Not only did “Captain” John Terry get himself sent off for a foolish second yellow card offense, but also gave away a penalty in the start of the game after the ball hit his hand [may be]. Anyway, the penalty was awarded and Defoe made no mistakes. In the first half itself, Bale doubled Tottenham’s lead. He cut ferreira [who I HATE] like a dog and shot the ball past Cech into the net. In the second half, Spurs were decent and played well enough to hang on to their lead. Chelsea showed the usual signs of frustration. Taking full advantage of their counter-attacks, Tottenham had 3-4 clear cut chances of burying the game, however, Cech was brilliant and made some terrific saves to deny Bentley, Defoe, Bale and Pavlyuchenko.

Surely this is the best season we’ve witnessed since a very very long time. It can still go either way. Tottenham as of now look favourites to grab the fourth spot. As for the title,

Remaining Games:

Chelsea:

Stoke - [H]

Liverpool - [A]

Wigan - [H]

United:

Tottenham - [H]

Sunderland - [A]

Stoke - [H]

Naturally the title will be decided by next week itself if Tottenham are to upset United, but the Liverpool-Chelsea game does appear to be the most vital game of the season. If United do defeat Tottenham, Chelsea would require full 3 points against Liverpool, which wouldn’t be easy. I still tip Chelsea to win it.

Of course, you guys can come this way to give your tips!

Amazing isn’t it! Even after going into administration and 24 hours after getting relegated, Portsmouth have defeated their ex-manager’s team Tottenham 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at the wembley, Piquionne and Boateng scoring. They face holders Chelsea in the final who defeated Villa 3-0 yesterday. Lampard, Malouda and Drogba all scoring in the second half.

Earlier in the day, United were held 0-0 by Blackburn Rovers at Ewood park. Berbatov was rubbish and missed many opportunities. Valencia showed just why he shouldn’t play for United! He got a glorious opportunity, and could have finished the game, which he squandered by hitting the ball right at Robinson.

So here we go, 5 games away from the title with a 2-point lead and a game against Bolton at SFB in hand, Chelsea are going good! And just another thought, if Pool do manage to finish fourth and go on to win the Europa League Cup, ironically, they will have a better season than Carling Cup winners United. So hence, even after all the criticism, it wouldn’t really be so bad for the Reds.

However, you all can come this way to laugh at Berbatov, Valencia, Harry Redknapp and for some reason Garry Neville! We can praise some teams too.

Line Up(ratings/10):-

Manchester United : VDS(7) ; Evra(6) - Vidic(7) - Rio(6) - Rafael(7) ; Valencia(8) - Gibson(6) - Fletcher(6) - Carrick(6) - Nani(9) ; Rooney(8)

Subs : O’Shea(5) - Giggs(5) - Berba(0)

Formation : 4-5-1 [changed to 4-3-3 , 4-5-0]

Bayern Munich : Butt(4) ; Lahm(6) - Van Buyten(6) - Demichellis(5) - Hadbuster(5) ; Robben(8) - Van Bommel(6) - Schweinsteiger(6) - Ribery(7) ; Muller(5) - Olic(7)

Subs : Altintop(7) - Gomez(6) - Pranjic(5)

Formation : 4-4-2

The game kicked off to an electrifying atmosphere at the Theatre Of Dreams. Despite of the 2-1 loss suffered by United just a few days ago in the League, there was absolutely no shortage of optimism being displayed by fans. The announcement of Wayne’s selection was enough to leave them all in a frenzy. The noise in the stadium had reached deafening levels. A mate back here, who had gone to the MUCB in Mumbai said he’d never felt such an atmosphere before in a pub, cafe or any sort of public gathering.

United started the game with great intensity moving ahead like a pack of hungry dogs. And well, that paid off. SAF’s gameble paid off. Darren Gibson, whose inclusion had raised a few eye-brows, had surpised Bayern’s goal-keeper to score a cleanly hit goal on his bottom left. Rafael played the ball to Rooney, who brilliantly passed the ball to Gibson, who, to the surprise of Butt took a shot straight towards the bottom left corner leaving him astonished and putting United in the driver’s seat. Three minutes and United back into the tie, with the game very much open. Seventh minute - Valencia gets the ball, teases Badstuber on the right before delivering a near post ball to Nani, who scores with a brilliant back heel, not dissimilar to Joe Cole’s effort at the weekend. Brilliant stuff! 2-0 in under 7 minutes and leading 3-2 on agg. Or wait, was it two goals too early? Well, Bayern were shell-shocked at that moment… with United riding high on the Rooney-inspired wave. Certainly, being in the right place at the right time without doing much was itself more than enough from Wayne Rooney. Bayern looked like they were unprepaired for United’s talisman to come on. Van Gaal certainly left dumb-founded!

Then the moment which every United fan feared. Rooney, challenged by Van Buyten goes down and well, doesn’t get up fully fit. From then on till the end of the half you only see him limping and struggling while Bayern’s players take full advantage to nudge and kick him whenever possible. Now they are Germans(well, not exactly, but still… ) and not some school kids who wouldn’t do that. Of course they would, they want him out as soon as possible! In the middle of all this Rafael, that litle bundle of talent runs through with the ball straight into Bayern’s nest, looks left, looks right, gets confused and shoots horrendously. I mean wtf was he thinking?! He had Rooney and Nani on his left. All he had to do was pass the freaking ball! Nevermind. With Bayern not really coming up with anything apart from a real sweet chance to Olic which was denied by a brilliant save from VDS, United moved the ball around with all the time in world. 

Five minutes from half-time and United make it 3-0. Nani, once again! Valencia is again the architect, sending the ball past Demichelis before setting it up perfectly for Nani, who hammers the ball into the roof of the net! Brilliant, brilliant finish! United, leading 4-2 on agg seemed poised for a SF clash with Lyon!

Floating in their dream world United feel the game has been won and the SF berth booked. The park the bus.

And then, Ze Germans arrive! Read the rest of this entry »

I know it’s probably not the right time to talk about all this considering we’re in the midst of the most exciting title race in recent memory, but with the Mourinhos and Rijkaards and Blancs of world football lining up to get on the Hot seat at Old Trafford once the master retires, here’s an outrageous thought that comes straight from the heart – Why? Because the head is certain to respond with so many valid, logical reasons against such an idea that it will never get past first base! Sad because romance has long disappeared out of the game, leaving hard headed pragmatism the one and only basis by which decisions are made…and maybe that’s the way it should remain in today’s multi-million pound football business.

What prompted this nostalgia with all its wonderful memories was the visit of  Eric ‘King’ Cantona to Old Trafford on Sunday to watch United beat Liverpool. More than any other club in English football, Manchester United has been blessed with so many legends over the years that it would simply be unfair to select just one as the greatest. There really is no need to name anyone because those football greats are ingrained into the rich history of the club.

If the most influential had to be named however, the record books will undoubtedly suggest that The King will be almost impossible to go past. Cantona proved to be the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle that manager Sir Alex Ferguson had been patiently putting together in order to win the desperately wanted League title for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Ferguson was narrowly denied by a Cantona led Leeds United in his first season in English football but when Sir Alex somehow persuaded Leeds to part with the Frenchman for a mere Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Chelsea, poor JT, poor Ancelotti. A tough week for the blues ended in a disaster last Sunday after they were held at Blackburn for a 1-1 draw in a game in which they looked really comfortable in the first-half.

Remarkably, knowing how impatient Chelsea is, Ancelotti is still the boss. They’ve lost their ability to come back from any game. This season they’ve hardly been innovative. Once they’re a down in a game, it just gets worse for them. Earlier, under Jose, when they went down, their tactics changed and quickly a way back into the game was found out by the special one. However, Mr. Ancelotti does not seem to be so innovative. Another lackluster performance in the league this week. Another show of no ability to come back after conceding. Another show of frustration by the senior players.

I agree as a Chelsea fan I’m impatient, but this is poor football. Really poor. It’s a fact, we were outclassed by Jose last week and continued the poor form in the league. Winning the Blackburn game was highly essential. Knowing as of now nothing more than a realistic draw can be expected at OT on the 3rd of April, we needed that one point edge over them. Now, to stand a good chance, we HAVE to defeat United at OT considering we’re still left to travel to Anfield and to Tottenham and considering United have comparatively easier fixtures. And of course, please do NOT count out Arsenal, who according to me stand a better chance than us.

So if Chelsea is to win the BPL, they need to be different now. What’s gone cannot come back. CL can be won next year. No point crying over it. Let’s look at what we’re left with, and it’s the Premier League. Let’s not blow it away being discouraged by the Inter defeat.

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Ideally this post should’ve been about last night’s game - Milan VS United and about Beckham’s fairytale re-union with father-figure SAF and boyhood club. Scoring their first goals away against Milan in more than 40 years of trying, Manchester United secured a monumental victory in the San Siro last night. But as I sat down, trying to gather words to describe United’s conquer over the Rossoneri At San Siro, trying to re-live one of the most entertaining matches in this years UCL. But all that could come to my mind was - WAYNE ROONEY!

Rather than a stonking, glorious, ruthless exhibition, the consensus amongst the purists is that Alex Ferguson’s men enjoyed the luck of the - presumably red - devil. And even the most loyal green-and-gold-eyed fan would have to concede they did have a fair share of fortune. They were fortunate that Paul Scholes can apparently shin the ball with more precision than most strikers, that the Milan full back Luca Antonini was lying injured on the touchline gifting Darren Fletcher the space to deliver a perfect cross for Scholes’s unorthodox equalizer, that never mind two, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, played as if in possession of three left feet.

The way he squandered chances during Milan’s early ascendancy, can it really be true that Arsene Wenger so desperately desires the Dutchman’s signature? After last night’s performance you’d have to wonder that if he does, it must solely be to make Nicklas Bendtner look a better player. And sure, they were lucky that Milan failed to make the most of a period in the first half when United’s defence played as if determined to give the ball away at every opportunity. Can you imagine Ronaldinho almost at his best for a good half-hour?

But most of all Manchester United had this enormous slice of providence: they had in their line up Wayne Rooney. Before yesterday’s game, Ferguson sharply reproached reporters for their constant praising of his forward. “You guys make out like he’s the greatest thing ever,” he mocked. Which only goes to prove that as far as the United manager is concerned the press can never do right. The trouble is, after watching last night it is hard to do anything other than lavish him with praise.

If you want to know how good Rooney was last night, imagine this: Read the rest of this entry »

Back in 2005, when the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United was marked by supporters wearing black to the Cup Final, some of the more militant fan elements spoke about how the Florida dynasty were a bunch of thieves, stealing from the Reds’ heritage. It is hard, reading the latest set of accounts to emerge from Old Trafford, to suggest such a view was wrong.

In one sense, five years of Glazerdom appears barely to have affected United. During the time of their involvement, one Champions League, three successive titles, a couple of League Cups and a world club championship have been popped into the trophy room. So why is it, then, that the club is heading for the brown stuff?

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s all happening here. It does not get better than this. Chelsea Football Club were heading for their first defeat of the season at the bridge till the 72nd minute until Ivanovic finally put the ball into the box which clearly Paulo Ferreira could not, and Drogba, as usual, was there to put it into the net. The second goal came in 2 minutes later when poor Smalling put the ball into his own net after sturridge’s cracking shot was well saved by Schwarzer. Somehow, some way, they are still top. Are they good or are the others just too bad, that’s for fans to decide.

It’s been a bad new year for Aston Villa. After having been thrashed 3-0 by Fabregas at the emirates, they have now lost to Liverpool. Villa, who could’ve been only 4 points behind leaders Chelsea had they won their previous 2, now find themseves 2 points behind 4th place Tottenham.

Spurs look good and steady like never before. They’ve won 3 out of their last 4 and look the strongest fourth place contendors as of now. They defeated relegation candidates West Ham United 2-0 at home. Defoe and Modric both scoring.

Now let’s come to Manchester City. They’ve defeated both Wolves and Stoke in the past week under new manager Roberto Mancini who now believes his team and win the premier league. Why not?

I’ve nothing more to write. Come this way to make fun of City.

Nothing is more entertaining/eventful than this. Nothing. Not even our news channels.

Manchester United, the team which does not have a defence, got humiliated 3-0 at Fulham. Their worst defeat of the season. 

Avram Grant proved not only can he defeat 4th place contendors Liverpool with the best team of EPL but also with the worst. Every week I think Liverpool cannot get worse but they surprise me in the next. In fact I’m too bored of making fun of them now.

City sack Hughes. Hours after his team won [did not draw, WIN] 4-3 against Sunderland, City have announced the appointment of Roberto Mancini who would be at the Eastlands for three-and-half years.

Coming back to Champions United, Fulham thrashed them 3-0 to inflict their 5th Premier League defeat of the season. I completely agree that they’ve major defensive problems with most of their defenders injured and that conceding 3 goals was expected, but, how did the manage to lose 3-0?? They had most of their best attacking players-Rooney, Owen, Berba, Giggs, Anderson, Valencia, Park, etc. How couldn’t any of them score even one goal? In fact, United’s attack was non-existent in the first half. Not only are they having defensive problems, but I also feel they need better attackers too. They’ve not replaced Ronaldo. He made the difference. A big difference. If you start the season without a player who once scored almost half of your overall goals, losing 5 games in the 1st half of the season should not be surprising. Anyway I still wish them luck!

Elsewhere, Arsenal defeated Hull City 3-0 with Almunia actually making saves. Both Villa and Totenham too registered wins.

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