Injuries worry Benitez

Liverpool’s injury list is getting bigger by the day and few of the players who have just recovered are again injured. Six of the main players are down with injury. Its time for the younger players to step in. And yesterday’s match against Arsenal saw another 3 of them limp off the field. The following list sums it up so far

Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano are nursing knocks and Xabi Alonso is again having some problem with his metatarsal. Jermaine Pennant will need a surgery for s stress fracture in his right leg and will be out of action for at least 10 weeks. Harry Kewell is still recovering from his broken toe and toe infection. Daniel Agger, Liverpool’s full back is having some problems with his metatarsal. So this leaves the entire mid field in the injury list.

Shevchenko being sharpened

In a bid to sharpen up, Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has been secretly training with British sprinter Darren Campbell on a tennis court at his house after former Blues boss Jose Mourinho banned it from the training ground.... BBC

Tottenham move on

Jol had done a great job at the club but now club has to move on



Can he change the fortunes of Spurs ?


After a series of poor results, Tottenham board decide it was finally time up for the Dutchman Martin Jol.This sacking was confirmed after Spurs lost to Getafe at home in the UEFA cup group stage. Martin Jol had a disappointing start to the season after a spending spree over the summer. All the fans stood up and chanted Jol’s name.He has been at the club since three years and finished 5th for the last 2 seasons but couldn’t break into the top 4.This season everything backfired. Now, the club is in total disarray and needs someone experienced to fill Jol’s shoes.Juande Ramos has resigned as Sevilla coach and is poised to become Martin Jol’s successor. The 53 year old Spanish is all excited about the new job and he told the Spanish press that ,

“ For my family and career it is impossible not to leave for London “

The Spanish has agreed on a 4 year deal and will be joining the club on Monday. He would be paid 25 Million pounds over the length of his contract. Ramos says ,

“ This has been the hardest decision of my life. My time at Sevilla has been the most important period of my life personally and professionally”

Ramos wants , Leeds assistant boss Gus Poyet as his assistant at the club

Jol said goodbye to all the players during the training on Friday and all the players wished him luck.

Facts about Ramos:

Ø Full name : Juan De La Cruz Ramos Cano
Ø Age: 53
Ø Former clubs: Alcoyano, Levante, Logrones, Barcelona, Leida, Real Valicano, Real Betis, Espanyol, Malaga, Sevilla
Ø Trophies: Uefa cup [ 2005,2006 ] , Super Cup [2006], Copa Del Ray[2007],Spanish super Copa[2007]. All trophies with Sevilla

Now can Ramos change the fortunes for Spurs ? now that is a million dollar question

Liverpool's Euro misery continues as they crash at Istanbul

Liverpool have had their problems in Europe since the beginning of this season and yesterday was their worst European nights ever. In the city, Istanbul, where they won the Champions League 2 years ago, they were beaten by a daring Besiktas side shall we say. The fond memories were erased and this defeat has left the 5 times winner at the bottom of group A. Liverpool have only 1 point so far from the played three games. Now qualifying to the knockout stage has become an uphill task. Liverpool began the match quite positively creating a couple of quick chances. A very good opportunity went begging in the 5th minute, as Voronin couldn’t find the back of the net. The hosts were gifted their first goal when the veteran defender, Sami Hyypia, deflected in Serdar Ozkan’s strike, who scored an own goal during the weekend merseyside derby. After that it was all Liverpool. They had plenty of possession but things weren’t going their way. Passing was sloppy and sluggish. They were missing the likes of Alonso and Torres in the squad. Babel came close to scoring twice but it just wasn’t their day. Gerrard struck the bar once in the second half and came close to scoring twice. Bobo doubled the lead in the 82nd minute as he slid the ball through Reina’s feet. Gerrard revived some hope as he scored a beauty through a flying header but it was too late for Benitez’s side. Liverpool just lacked the spark last night. Now this leaves the English giants at the brink of exit. If they need to qualify from here on, they will have to win their remaining three games. Goal difference matters a lot from now on. Well , both the captain and the manager were positive about the club making it to the knock out stage . They have 2 home games at hand . Liverpool face a confident Arsenal side this weekend in the Barclays Premier League.

Liverpool's 2005 champions league squad had less quality but more passion. Right now the passion is missing.

Jol under heavy pressure

Jol looks dejected

Monday’s late night kick off in the English League saw New Castle beat a lack luster Spurs side who were still looking for their first away win. The under fire manager Martin Jol failed to get anything from the match yet again, and now they lie in the relegation zone, 18th in the table managing to get just 7 points from their 10 games. Both the teams started the match quite slowly and both the teams were sloppy in their passes. Bale’s injury in the 18th minute added on to Martin jol’s woes as he was forced to take him off the pitch. Many defensive errors by Spurs cost them the match.. Cerny, the reserve goalkeeper replaced Robinson but even he couldn’t turn the fortunes in favor of Spurs. Martins scored in the 44th minute just before half time, the ball sneaking through the legs of Cerny on the way to the goal. Cacapa , New Castle full back , scored immediately after the break trough a corner as yet again there were lapses in the defense. Keane revived some hopes as he got back a goal in the 57th minute but a wonder strike by the substitute Milner sealed the game. Darren Bent was lacking confidence and wasn’t at his best.
Martin Jol still says he can get things back on track. Now this could be his last match and the board have started their search for their new manager.

A typical merseyside derby

It was the 177th merseyside derby. Everton got all 4 points from the available 6 last season beating Liverpool at their home ground 3 0. They were hoping for a repeat performance. Rafa had again used his rotation policies and started with Kuyt and Voronin up front as Torres was injured while on international duty. Tim Cahill wasn’t included in the Everton line up so Neville and Jagileka too their places in the midfield. Gerrard started on the right as Pennant was on the bench. The stage was set for another of the classic clashes between the neighbors. Liverpool dominated the first 20 minutes of the game creating 2 good chances. Sissoko was a weak link in the team at times as he gave away possession easily. Everton got into their rhythm after 25 min. They got a couple of chances and a really good one when Yakubu gave a back flick to Lescott. Liverpool were defending in depth. Eventually Everton got a couple of corners and during one of them, Everton took the lead, courtesy Sami Hyppia. An own goal. Beautiful finishing by the veteran Liverpool defender. Liverpool started the second half quite positively and their hard work paid off when Voronin gave a beautiful pass to Gerrard , who was about to score it himself but was fouled inside the penalty area by Hibbert , who was obviously sent off and Liverpool were awarded a spot kick. Kuyt scored easily and they got things back on track. Then the 10 man Everton side were put to tremendous pressure by their rivals. Riise missed a simple chance , Voronin missed one and Sissoko missed a sitter. Gerrard was taken off the pitch in the 72nd minute much to the surprise of all the fans and Gerrard himself . Leiva entered the field. It was almost time. 4 minutes of stoppage time were given. A goal mouth scramble by Liverpool and Leiva got a sight of an open goal and almost scored when Phil Neville handled the ball on purpose. He was sent off and a second penalty came Liverpool’s way. Kuyt stepped up and got the winner. Within seconds Carragher pulled back Lescott in the penalty area when Everton were awarded a free kick. Referee didn’t notice that and that was the last play of the match. Everton were furious and the game ended in controversial circumstances. Liverpool wont mind that and got their league campaign back on track.


Well, you can download all the goals through the widget box in the side.

4 minutes of magic

Roman Pavluchenko


Russia, have a brilliant chance to qualify for the Euro which is to be held next summer after they defeated England on Wednesday night. After this defeat their qualifying chances look very meek. Russia on the other hand have a bright chance to qualify along with the group leaders Croatia as they have 2 more matches in hand. Rooney opened the scoring for England in the 29th minute with a screamer, which was slightly offside though. England were in complete control of the game. During the start of the second half Gerrard got a very good chance to score but the England skipper failed to find the back of the net. 4 minutes of magic by Russia changed the match. England would call those four minutes as 4 minutes of madness. Rooney committed a foul just outside the penalty box but the referee awarded Russia a penalty. The assistant referee didn’t give the decision but the main referee who was quite a distance from the incident spotted the foul . The substitute Pavluchenko eventually scored from the spot kick. Next within 4 minutes he scored again as Robinson failed to grab the ball. It was a simple tap in goal. Poor goal keeping cost them their match . Mclaren was furious after the match and said that England were in complete control of the game and the Russians were running out of ideas and the penalty changed the match. He said that the referee should shoulder responsibility for this defeat. Well, he never mentioned a word about Rooney being offside during the frirst goal. Gerrard’s error proved costly at the end. Mclaren would be kicking his fate for this defeat. Now England’s Eoro 2008 hopes and Mclaren’s job rest in the hands of Israel .

" Disgraceful penalty decision cost us "
Mclaren , Steve

"England not qualifying , unthinkable "
Gerrard , Steven


Some important facts...

1.Rio Ferdinand had gone 1021 minutes without conceding a goal for his club and country before Pavluchenko scored. the next spell lasted for 4 minutes

2.If England fail to qualify it'll cost the economy atleast 1.25 billon pounds

3. Mclaren would lose his job for sure if England fail to qualify

4. Paul Robinson would be the first on the casualty list if Mclaren quits

5. It would be the frist time since 1994 that England fail to qualify for a major tournament

6. Jose Mourinho , Arsene Wenger and Klinsmann are all linked with the England job

Here's the highlights of the match.[ Print isn't that good ]

Sammy Lee quits

The 48-year-old former Liverpool mid field player, Sammy Lee, who took over Bolton from Big Sam at the end of last season has been struggling to live up to the expectations. He quit the job by a mutual consent .Bolton’s General Manager Frank Mcparland has also left the club. Its difficult times at the club but the team need to stick together. The new boss is yet to be announced. The trotters find themselves in the relegation zone lying 19th in the table.

Sleepy Babel snubbed

Liverpool’s Ryan Babel lost his spot in the national squad during their match against Romania this weekend due to oversleeping. Marco Van Basten had to take this step to bring Babel on track. Real Madrid’s Arjen Robben was picked instead of Babel. The Liverpool man had already missed two of the team meetings. Once he arrived late for the team meeting and the next time he arrived late for a team meal. Van Basten says this is not the way he handles things but he was forced to do this. He says that all the players have to obey the rules. The coach says that

“ It is very possible that Babel feels deflated by the snub, but I expect the players to obey the rules during the match “

Babel came in as a sub for Robben in the closing stage of the second half but could not get anything from the match as they lost to Romania 1 0. Holland are second in their group just 2 points ahead of Bulgaria.

Three lions roar back

England defeated Estonia in a crucial fixture last evening and got the important 3 points. Rooney returned to the national squad after a 2-month lay off due to an ankle fracture. Michael Owen started alongside Rooney, which made the striking combination even more fierce. Rooney admitted that he hasn’t been playing well for his country and it was 1211 days since he scored a goal for England managed to score one against Estonia. Sol Campbell returned to the national squad to replace the injured Terry.Gareth Barry retained his spot in the mid-field alongside Gerrard, which left Lampard on the bench. Wright Phillips scored the first goal in the 11th minute, a mistake by Poom and Rooney blasted home Joe Cole’s low cross to get England in a comfortable position. Rahn’s own goal completed the icing on the cake as England won their 5th consecutive match. England weren’t impressive at all. Though they scored 3 goals, their football wasn’t catching the eye. England suffered a big setback as Ashley Cole was stretched off the pitch early in the second half due to an Ankle injury. It would be impossible for him to play against Russia. This leaves Mclaren with a fewer options at the back with Terry also out injured. Now England have a crucial fixture on Wednesday against Russia, and a win there would make sure England would qualify for the Euro 2008 at Austria and Switzerland. But England have a tough task ahead as the Russian pitches are all artificial and are totally different from the pitches back home.

Who's going to win it ?

FIFA, the governing body of world football has short listed 30 names for the world footballer of the year award. The award will be given on December 17 in Zurich. The top three would be announced. All the national team managers, Coaches and Captains are eligible to vote. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and AC Milan’s Ricardo Kaka are leading the race. The full list goes like this




Goal Keeper's : Buffon , Cech

Defenders : Terry , Nesta ,Marquez, Thuram , Gattuso , Lahm , Canavaro

Mid Field : Gerrard , Lampard , Viera , Essien , Deco , C.Ronaldo , Pirlo , Kaka ,Juninho ,Riquelme , Ronaldinho

Strikers : Drogba , Torres , Rooney , Messi , Henry , Tezez , Van Nistelrooy ,Eto'o , Ribery , Klose




I’m amazed why isn’t Fabregas’ name included in this list

Torres adds late twist to the tale

Torres proved his worth in front of the home crowd yet again. The last minute strike from Torres ensured that Liverpool were still in the title race. In a game that was completely dominated by Liverpool , Keane managed to score 2 times within a span of just 5 minutes. Liverpool took the lead in the 12th minute as a result of Robinson’s mistake but Spurs bounced right back. An injury time goal from the 26 million pound striker made sure that Liverpool were still undefeated in the league. Gerrard struck the cross bar once in a free kick and another chance was squandered when Voronin and Gerrard were in front of the goal .According to me it was a 2 point drop for Liverpool . Gerrard has urged the Liverpool fans not to panic and said that things will get going in the right direction. He said that all teams go through a lean period and this is their period. Legendary Ian Rush has laughed off suggestions that Liverpool are in crisis and insists that Liverpool should only be judged when it really matters. It was not the result everyone wanted but its much a better performance than in the mid week.

“ I’m a great believer in judging everything at the end of the season – not now – and this is still an awfully long way off “ says Rush

“ In my experience the main thing everyone at Anfield must do is stick together as one “



YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Dida's cheap tactics

Celtic had one of their fantastic nights when they beat the defending champions AC Milan in the east end of Glasgow last week but the their hardwork was undermined by the Dida incident. Celtic took the lead during the second half in the 60th minute through McManus and the defending champions bounced right back within 5 minutes and equalized via Kaka . When the match was about to end in a draw , a last minute defensive error by aided Celtic to score the winner. A last minute goal by Mcdonald was enough to ensure Celtic the victory. But when Celtic were celebrating , a fan broke loose escaping the barrier behind Dida’s goal and patted Dida on the face . The Brazilian goal keeper chased the fan for quite a distance and then caught his face and fell down. It was crystal clear that Dida faked the incident and tried to get something out of the match. These were obvious signs of frustration. Fan control could’ve been better but these kind of things are bound to happen on a football field and these type of reactions are least expected form a professional football player. Dida collapsed as if he had fractured his face and was stretched off the field and the game finished in controversial circumstances. Due to these jokers the beautiful game is stooping to low levels. The football field is to play the beautiful game and there is no place for these actors and divers. UEFA is investigating in this matter and I hope some severe and serious action is taken against these incidents. Hollywood awaits these actors. The bottomline is Dida faked the incident

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Champions League- Review

Another week of Champions League gone and there were quite a few ecstatic wins and quite a few upsets. It was a mammoth of a week for the Scottish clubs as both Rangers and Celtic recorded their win in their respective matches.

The big story of the week was Rangers beating Lyon. None expected Rangers to get anything from the game but they exhibited the quality of Scottish football. Lee McCulloch opened the scoring for Rangers in the 22nd min and Daniel Cousin doubled the lead, as soon as the second half kicked off. Demarcus Beasley scored the third goal and sealed the game. Juninho led a one-man army on the Rangers goal. The Brazilian was in superb touch especially in the first 45 min with his free kicks getting more and more on target. The French Champions, who lost their opener to Barcelona fortnight ago, are already close to elimination.

Barcelona visited the German Champions Stuttgart, and there was quality football all over. Though Barcelona won the match 2 0, the Germans played really well . Barcelona Goal keeper, Victor Valdez was in awesome form. The Spanish giants scored through an unusual source, Carlos Puyol who returned after a 3-month injury lay off. A well crafted goal. Messi, 15 min later, put the Catalan giants level to Rangers in the Group E. Ronaldinho, returned in this match and showed that he’s still the best. There was excellent Chemistry between Messi and Ronaldinho

Roma visited the Old Trafford and the 7 1 loss to Man U a couple of months back was lingering behind their minds. Totti lead Roma again and the veteran Italian Striker played really well coming really close to scoring a couple of times. In the second half , Rooney finished things of with a sublime finish. That was the only goal of the match and that was enough to get them the 3 points and send them at the top of the group.

Sporting Beat Dynamo Kiev 2 1 and the 3 goals were scored in the first half. Sporting showed real character as their lead was cut short immediately , but they got back their lead in no time.

In the other matches this week , Moscow drew with Fenerbahce 2 2 and the Italian Giants Inter beat last year’s quarter-finalist PSV 2 0 with only 9 men on the field as two of the Inter players were sent off.

Arsenal carried their fine domestic form to Europe and a superb goal by RVP sealed the match against Steaua Bucuresti. It took 75 minutes to get the match going. Sevilla bounced back from their defeat to Arsenal 2 weeks back by winning the match 4 2. Kanoute , the Mali striker got things going for Sevilla in the 8th minute.

Liverpool , at their Fortress Anfield hosted Marseille. Cisse returned to Anfield , not as a Liverpool player though. Liverpool played sloppy football and couldn’t even complete a pass successfully. Sissoko was especially weak in the mid field. He proved to be the weak link in the squad and gave away possession in the 75 th minute which resulted in an awesome goal form Valbuena. Reina didn’t even budge. Liverpool 3rd in the group right now , face a tough task ahead. They are quite close to elimination as Porto recorded a last minute goal form Quaresma to defeat Besiktas to move into the second place.

Avram Grant faced his first match in Europe and had a great start as his Team Valencia yet again. It was 2 1 this time. Villa opened the scoring just after 8 minutes. Joe Cole was instrumental in both of their goals. Scoring the first and being an architect for the next. Drogba scored the 2nd to finish things off.


In other matches , Schalke beat Rosenberg 2 0 & Shakthar beat Benfica 1 0.

Olympiacos beat Werder Bremen 3 1 at the German’s home. And a double strike by RVN wasn’t enough to get Real Madrid the 3 points against Lazio who fought back for a 2 2 draw.

Celtic had an awesome time against AC Milan beating them 2 1. Milan’s form has been a bit slack all over. Mcmanus scored first in the 61st minute. Kaka equalized through a penalty 7 min later but a late goal from Celtic left Milan thinking what went wrong.