FA Community Shield Liverpool 2 (Riise 6', Crouch 80') Ch€£$€a 1 (Shevchenko 44') Began with the FA Community Shield match that ended with a Liverpool win of 2 - 1, courtesy of goals from John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch. The sole goal from Chelsea came from the predatory instinct of Andriy Shevchenko. The season began in earnest a few days back for Liverpool in their game vs Maccabi Haifa at Anfield, with the return leg to take place outside of Israel and not in Cyprus. I mean, Haifa is just several kilometres away from the border to Lebanon, are you serious?! Crouch or Bellamy may not just be provided with crosses from Pennant and Gonzalez but also Katusya missiles from the north! It was supposed to be played in Tel Aviv of course but UEFA ruled that it cannot happen in the country so the game will be carried out away from that area. Back to Cardiff, anybody who thought it will be 'just a glorified friendly' will see that both sides had no charity for one another, both fighting almost tooth and nail to get it. A win here is a small yet important psychological victory for either team to signal their intent and showcase of what is to come for the next nine months. Riise's goal was a beauty, all the way from the last third of his own half and a long run halfway down the middle and unleashed a shot even Gerrard would be proud of. Things went a bit exciting when Shevchenko raced ahead to latch on a long cross from Lampard from the middle to slide the ball in right before half time. Ballack exited early due to bruises he got from the game. Welcome to England, Michael. Peter Crouch sealed the win late in the game on the 80th when he headed Bellamy's lovely cross into the net, sending the red contingent into raptures. Will update on transfers later next week when the season starts proper.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFERS 2006 (correct as of 15 August 2006) notable transfers with * only transfers IN players on loan in italics TEAM (LAST SEASON) EUROPE Position/Nationality/Previous Club) ARSENAL (4) CL *Tomas Rosicky (FC/Czech Republic/Dortmund) ASTON VILLA (16) BLACKBURN (6) UC Jason Brown (GK/England/Gillingham) Francis Jeffers (ST/England/Charlton) Jason Roberts (ST/England/Wigan) Benni McCarthy (ST/South Africa/Porto) BOLTON WANDERERS (8) Idan Tal (MC/Israel/Maccabi Haifa) Abdoulaye Meite (DR/Ivory Coast/Marseille) Quinton Fortune (ML/South Africa/Man Utd) CHARLTON ATHLETIC (13) Cory Gibbs (DL/USA/Feyenoord) Gonzalo Sorondo (DC/Uruguay/Inter Milan) Simon Walton (DC/England/Leeds) *Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (ST/Holland/Middlesboro) Djimi Traore (DL/Mali/Liverpool) Christian Bolanos (ST/Costa Rica/Deportivo Saprissa) Scott Carson (GK/England/Liverpool) CHELSEA (1) CL *Andriy Shevchenko (ST/Ukraine/AC Milan) *Michael Ballack (MC/Germany/Bayern Munchen) Salomon Kalou (AM/Ivory Coast/Feyenoord) Hilario (GK/Portugal/Nacional) Jon Obi-Mikel (AM/Nigeria/Lyn Oslo) EVERTON (11) Tim Howard (GK/USA/Man Utd) *Andy Johnson (ST/England/Crystal Palace) Scott Spencer (ST/England/Oldham) Joleon Lescott (DC/England/Wolverhampton) FULHAM (12) Jimmy Bullard (AM/England/Wigan) Gabriel Zakuani (DC/England/Leyton Orient) Bjorn Runstrom (FC/Sweden/Hammarby) Frank Queudrue (DL/France/Middlesboro) LIVERPOOL (3) CL Mark Gonzalez (ML/Chile/Real Sociedad) Gabriel Paletta (DC/Argentina/Banfield) *Craig Bellamy (ST/Wales/Blackburn) Fabio Aurelio (DL/Brazil/Valencia) Jermaine Pennant (MR/England/Birmingham) MANCHESTER UNITED (2) CL *Michael Carrick (DM/England/Tottenham) Tomas Kuszczak (GK/Poland/West Brom) MANCHESTER CITY (15) Joe Hart (GK/England/Shrewsbury) Paul Dickov (ST/Scotland/Blackburn) Ousmane Dabo (DM/France/Lazio) Dietmar Hamann (DM/Germany/Bolton) *Bernado Corradi (ST/Italy/Valencia) *Hatem Trabelsi (DR/Tunisia/Ajax) MIDDLESBROUGH (14) Herold Goulon (DM/France/Lyon) Julia Arca (DC/Argentina/Sunderland) NEWCASTLE UNITED (7) *Damien Duff (ML/Ireland/Chelsea) PORTSMOUTH (17) Glen Johnson (DL/England/Chelsea) David Thompson (MR/England/Wigan) *Sol Campbell (DC/England/Arsenal) *David James (GK/England/Man City) READING (C1) Seol Ki-Hyeon (MRL/Korea/Wolverhampton) Sam Sodje (DC/Nigeria/Brentford) SHEFFIELD UNITED (C2) David Sommeil (DC/France/Man City) Claude Davis (DC/Jamaica/Preston) Christian Nade (ST/Ivory Coast/Troyes) Mikele Leigertwood (DM/England/Crystal Palace) Li Tie (DM/China/Everton) Rob Hulse (ST/English/Leeds Utd) Ian Bennett (GK/English/Leeds Utd) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (5) UC *Dimitar Berbatov (ST/Bulgaria/Bayer Leverkusen) Dorian Dervitte (DC/France/Lille) Benoit Assou-Ekotto (DL/Cameroon/Lens) *Didier Zokora (DM/Ivory Coast/St Etiene) WATFORD (C3) Damien Francis (ST/England/Wigan) Scott Loach (GK/England/Lincoln) Sheku Kamara (DC/England/Charlton) Claude Seanla (ST/Ivory Coast/Tottenham) Chris Powell (DL/England/Charlton) Ben Foster (GK/England/Man Utd) WEST HAM UNITED (9) UC Lee Bowyer (MC/England/Newcastle) Jonathon Spector (DC/USA/Man Utd) Carlton Cole (ST/England/Chelsea) Tyrone Mears (DR/England/Preston) John Pantsil (DR/Ghana/Hapoel Tel Aviv) George McCartney (DL/N. Ireland/Sunderland) WIGAN ATHLETIC (10) Fitz Hall (DC/England/Crystal Palace) Tomasz Cywka (MC/Poland/Gwarek Zabrze) Emile Heskey (ST/England/Birmingham) Chris Kirkland (GK/England/Liverpool) *Denny Landzaat (MC/Holland/AZ Alkmaar) Emmerson Boyce (DR/England/Crystal Palace) Luis Antonio Valencia (MRL/Ecuador/Villareal)
Don't worry bout transfers man. We'll just ninja some young reserves in and BAM smack the premiership around left right and center. Oh yea BRING ON THE VILLA.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC Andy Reid (ML/Ireland/Tottenham) MANCHESTER CITY Andreas Isaksson (GK/Sweden/Rennes) WEST HAM UNITED Robert Green (GK/England/Norwich)
Hello everyone! Here we are again eh! Couldn't bring myself to watch the football highlights last night as we only drew against Villa, but then I heard little Theo came ond shook the game up. Wish I'd seen it now. Hopefully I can watch it with the highlights of todays games. Going to see the glamour tie of the season on Weds, Fulham v Bolton! How jealous you all must be:crying: I have to admit, unless Chelsea implode, I think it's going to be a predictable season at the top!
Sheff Utd 1 (Rob Hulse 46) Liverpool 1 (Robbie Fowler 70) Unmarked goal shocker from Hulse, controversial penalty from Robbie. Arsenal 1 (Gilberto Silva 84) Aston Villa 1 (Olof Mellberg 53) Arsenal being forced to come back from behind as Villa shows fresh intention with new gaffer and chairman. Everton 2 (Andy Johnson 15, Mikel Arteta 82) Watford 1 (Damien Francis 90) Debut goal from Andy Johnson. Newcastle 2 (Scott Parker 38, Ameobi 64) Wigan 1 (Lee McCulloch 59) Shola Ameobi rises to the occassion in the absence of first choice/quality strikers. Portsmouth 3 (Sergey Todorov 26, Nwanko Kanu 62, 84) Blackburn 0 Blackburn blackballed by two debut goals by Kanu for his new club. Reading 3 (Dave Kitson 43, Steven Sidwell 44, Leroy Lita 55) Middlesboro 2 (Stewart Downing 11, Ayegbeni Yakubu 21) A superb fightback maiden top league win by Reading. West Ham 3 (Bobby Zamora 52, 66, Carlton Cole 90) Charlton 1 (Darrent Bent 15) Alan Perdew's lads continue where they left off as Iain Dowie's first game ends in defeat. Bolton 2 (Kevin Davies 6, Ivan Campo 13) Tottenham 0 Fabulous goal from Campo send Spurs crashing. Man Utd 5 (Luis Saha 7, Ian Pearce og 15 , Wayne Rooney 16, 64, Cristiano Ronaldo 19) Fulham 1 (Rio Ferdinand og 40) Thumping win for Utd and Coleman heads the sack race. Not bad for a 'team in decline' (Utd), no? Chelsea 3 (John Terry 11, Frank Lampard 26, Didier Drogba 78) Man City 0 As sure as Chinese New Year will fall in February every year.
Aug 23, 24 Champions League Qualifiers Maccabi Haifa 1 - 1 Liverpool Q Q Arsenal 2 - 1 Dinamo Zagreb Aug 24 Premier League Aston Villa 2 - 1 Reading Blackburn 1 - 1 Everton Charlton 0 - 3 Man Utd Fulham 1 - 1 Bolton Man City 0 - 0 Portsmouth Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Chelsea And Roy 'Keano' Keane is new Sunderland boss. A rookie, to revive the fortunes of the team currently at the very bottom of the Championship. Good luck Mackems, you'll need it. The Geordies at RAWK had been having fun since that happened. Something off the papers last week: "Glenn Roeder's Watford finished 7th and was relegated the next season. His West Ham finished 7th and was relegated the following year. His first year at Newcastle ended at 7th..."
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGES DRAW Group A FC Barcelona Chelsea Werder Bremen Levski Sofia Group B Internazionale Bayern Munich Sporting Lisbon Spartak Moskva Group C Liverpool PSV Eindhoven Bordeaux Galatasaray Group D Valencia CF AS Roma Olympiakos Shakhtar Donetsk Group E Real Madrid CF Lyon Steaua Bucuresti Dynamo Kyiv Group F Manchester United Celtic Benfica FC Copenhagen Group G Arsenal FC Porto CSKA Moscow SV Hamburg Group H AC Milan Lille AEK Athens RC Anderlecht
Group A Oh yes! Should've gotten the finishing touch of Galatasaray in there. Group B Some toughie there, Lisbon the potential banana skin. Group C New opponents and return trip to Attaturk Stadium... Group D Olympiakos and Donetsk are no pushovers. Group E A rematch of Lyon and Madrid. Group F Man Utd gets old friend Celtic and 'friend' Benfica. Expect them to roll over this group. Group G CSKA being the strong team here with Hamburg capable of upsetting Porto. No easy task for Arsenal this. Group H The overall reaction to this at RAWK was the photo of Dinamo Zagreb fans wearing red and black, with a group holding the banner 'Mafioso' in the middle.
Will you look at this! West Ham sign Tevez & Mascherano West Ham have pulled off a major coup by signing Argentina World Cup stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Striker Tevez, 22, and midfielder Mascherano, 22, join the Hammers from Brazilian side Corinthians on permanent deals for undisclosed fees. The pair have been linked with moves to Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. But the Hammers are thought to have struck a deal with Media Sports Investments, who own the rights to the two players. MSI were linked with a takeover of West Ham last season but eventually pulled out. The club said: "West Ham United are delighted to announce the double signing of Argentinian World Cup stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Brazilian club Corinthians. "The pair have been signed for an undisclosed fee and put pen-to-paper on permanent contracts with the club this afternoon. All other aspects of the transfers will remain confidential and undisclosed. "The transfers represent a massive coup for the Hammers, who have beaten off some of Europe's biggest clubs to secure the services of the duo." Tevez has emerged as one the most highly rated young strikers in the world since signing for Corinthians from Boca Juniors for £9.5m in December 2004. He has been strongly linked with Chelsea this summer, with a transfer fee of between £20m and £60m being reported. In May, Kia Joorabchian, the president of London-based MSI, said: "Tevez will leave Corinthians if a team pays the contract's release clause, which is between £69m and £83m." Both Tevez and Mascherano returned to Argentina's squad for Sunday's friendly against Brazil at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium after signings their deals.
Something Fishy About Tevez And Mascherano To West Ham Deal August 31st, 2006 by Alan Hylands And I'm not talking about the year's supply of jellied eels they've got in front of them either. The deal to take Argentina stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to West Ham United hasn't officially been confirmed yet but football discussion forums are white hot with the news and the potential implications, not only for West Ham but for the premiership at large. What would attract two of the world's most sought after, young, talented international stars to Upton Park and the waiting arms of Alan Pardew? At first glance there is no logical explanation. West Ham had a great season last year after their promotion and surprised a lot of people (me included) with their classy football and solid defence that not only gave them a respectable league finish but also took them to the FA Cup Final. I doubt that their Cup Final defeat in one of the liveliest and most enjoyable Cup Finals in many years will have been enough to tempt the two Argies though and despite having a foot in European competition with the UEFA Cup, I doubt that's the real pulling factor either. My suspicions lead me to a somewhat shadier deal being cooked up between the players' club Corinthians, their owners MSI and another club with shady links to MSI and their owners. It's long been rumoured that Roman Abramovich is the money man behind MSI and the reason that a broke Brazilian club like Corinthians could afford players like Tevez and Mascherano in the first place. It leaves no doubt in my mind that Chelsea and Roman are behind this proposed season long loan deal for the two Argentinians to West Ham and it's only for one purpose - to acclimatise the players to London and the Premiership and see whether they are worth signing for Chelsea properly next summer. There can be no other reason for this transfer to take place. Yes, West Ham are a good, homely club with some good players but for a club to sign Carlton Cole this summer and turn around and also get Carlos Tevez, it leaves me wondering what the motives are. I think I've worked out the obvious answer and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the Premiership. We've seen Chelsea's strange buys and loan deals in the past with players like Smertin and Jarosik but this moves things to another level completely. Chelsea don't outright own these players or their club but their guiding hand can skew the transfer market that they can prevent any of their near rivals in the top five from having these players while they park them at a safe and respectable club, close but not too close, for a season to let them mature in the English game. Something stinks around here and the smell is increasingly eminating from Roman Abramovich's direction.
I'm also amazed that Tevez and Mascherano moved to West Ham. Something just feels wrong here. *No disrepect to West Ham fans.
Re: ! Sorry, for jumping on a bit late this year. I went to watch it at the millenium stadium here in cardiff. What was encouraging from a liverpool viewpoint was that w/o alonso and gerrard, in the first half sissoko just destroyed the chelsea midfield. There seems to be a general awareness in the UK that finally liverpool are in a position to challenge for the title with good strenght in depth through the whole squad other than rightback (Carra can always step in). Also i went to the emirates stadium yesterday to see my team (Argentina) get stuffed by brazil. Grudgingly, emirates is a very impressive place! just hope we (liverpool) get our stadium sorted in the next cple of years
Does anyone else feel that the start of this season is just not as enjoyable as in previous seasons? Some of the things that have taken away my usual enthusiasm are : 1. The whole Cole/Gallas/Arsenal/Chelsea deal (maybe this is just because I am a gooner!) 2. I was initially ecstatic when I heard West Ham had signed Tevez and Maschereno but having read bit more about MSI, I feel a bit disappointed. 3. The Italian match-fixing scandal 4. A lack lustre world cup final Football just seems to have lost something over the past few months. Anyone else feel the same?
