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August 8th, 2008

Community Shield Preview-Manchester United vs Portsmouth

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Manchester United face Portsmouth in the first major footballing activity of the season. Manchester United are bolstered by the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo will be staying with them for atleast one year. Gary Neville is set to captain the side after a long lay-off due to injury. Ronaldo, Hargreaves and Saha are out with injury. Saha is also linked with a move to Sunderland.
Portsmouth have a strong side with Defoe and Crouch forming the new strike pair.

My take: Manchester United 3 - 1 Portsmouth

Teams:
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, R Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Evans, Evra, Silvestre, F Da Silva, Nani, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Giggs, Martin, Tevez, Campbell.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Utaka, Diop, Pedro Mendes, Kranjcar, Crouch, Little, Sahar, Diarra, Defoe, Davis, Kanu, Wilson, Duffy, Lauren, Nugent, Mvuemba, Cranie, Ashdown.

Tags: Community Shield, Manchester United, Portsmouth

Guna | Posted In Previews | Tagged No Comments »

July 23rd, 2008

Countdown to Kick off

With the premier league kick-off less than a month away, club managers are busy working ways to lure some top signings. Compared to last few years, this year’s transfer activity has been very dull (thanks to Roman Abrahamovic for busy activities in the past few years). Top clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool are yet to make any big signing for this season. Though there have been few signings in the past few weeks, the signing of big names like Eto, Kaka, Robinho, Arshavin, Berbatov are still awaited.
Chelsea have already started their pre-season in China with a 4-0 win over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Lampard, Wright-Phillips, Kalou and Argentine di Santo scored for Chelsea. Lampard’s stay at Stamford Bridge is not final yet as Jose Mourinho is preparing to sign him for Inter Milan. Manchester United will be as strong as they were during last season if they manage to hold Ronaldo. Arsenal will take new shape with Arsene Wenger still pondering over the transfer market.
In the bottom, Sunderland will have some encouraging news in the next week or so with manager Roy Keane prepared to sign a bunch of players from Tottenham which includes Chimponda and Darrent Bent. Roy is also preparing to sign Darren Fletcher from his old club Manchester United. The new boys Hull are also busy in transfer market as they are on the verge of signing few star players. No activities in Newcastle camp after their disappointing performance in last season. They would have to rely on Michael Owen to score as Viduka and Martins were ineffective during latter half of the 08 season.
Every game will be important - well, I have to say that after the close finish last season. I would expect Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea to fight it out for the top spot as I think Liverpool are yet to learn to be consistent. So..who is it going to be… Scolari or Ferguson or Arsene Wenger?

Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Chelsea, Darren Fletcher, Drogba, Eto, Ferguson, Lampard, Manchester United, Martins, Newcastle, Owen, Roy Keane, Scolari, Sunderland, Viduka

Guna | Posted In Opinions, Previews | Tagged Comments 1 Comment »

June 28th, 2008

Euro 2008 Final Preview: Germany v/s Spain

The European Championships draws to a close tomorrow at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna with Germany taking on Spain for the bragging rights. The tournament has proved to be really exciting what with the exciting Turks and Russians providing lots of drama.

On the whole, it has to be said that Germany and Spain are the most deserving two teams for the final showdown. Though Joachim Low’s team lost to Croatia in the group stages, they played some very good football to knock Portugal and Turkey out, the scoreline being 3-2 in both the matches.

Luis Aragones’ men were the second most exciting team after Netherlands in the group stages. They did play out a drab affair against the Italians in the quarterfinals, but against an in-form Russian side, their class showed as Fabregas and company decimated Guus Hiddink’s side. It has to be conceded that Aragones’ decision not to start Fabregas was baffling. But there should be little doubt that the Arsenal midfielder will start the final.

For the Germans though, influential captain Michael Ballack is a doubt. If he does not play, it would be a major blow, because Ballack is one of those people who can change the course of the game. Germany would be hard-pressed to find someone to replace him.

David Villa, though, has surely been ruled out of the final. That puts the onus on Torres who has been surprisingly underperforming in the Euro 2008. Guiza might partner him in attack.

Spain, the perennial underachievers, know that this is a great opportunity for them to shake off that tag, by repeating the success of 1964. Then, they beat the former Soviet Union 2-1. I am expecting Spain to retake the European crown 44 years later with a similar scoreline over Germany.

Prediction: Spain to win 2-1.
Men to watch: Cesc Fabregas, Bastian Schweinsteiger

Tags: 1964, Arsenal, Bastian Schweinsteiger, captain, Cesc Fabregas, Croatia, David Villa, Ernst Happel Stadion, Euro 2008, European, Fabregas, Germans, Germany, Guiza, Guus Hiddink, Italians, Joachim Low, Luis Aragones, Michael Ballack, midfielder, Portugal, quarterfinals, Russians, Soviet Union, Spain, Torres, Turkey, Turks, Vienna

Vijay | Posted In Euro 2008, News, Previews | Tagged Comments 1 Comment »

June 25th, 2008

Euro 2008 Semifinal Preview: Russia v/s Spain

Image via Wikipedia

Many football pundits are of the opinion that the Russian resurgence in football is for real, and that it is here to stay. With so many exciting players and inarguably a top-draw coach, the Russians have shows semblances of living upto their potential.

Based on their performance in the quarterfinal alone where they took apart the high-flying Netherlands side in such clinical fashion, Russia deserve to go through to the final. Spain, on the other hand, played out a sleepy affair against Italy that wasn’t worth watching at all.

But Spain were one of the best teams in the group stages, you say. Yes, they were. After all, they scored 8 goals in the group stages. They still are a force to reckon with. With such promising talents such as Francesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, David Villa and Andres Iniesta in their ranks, the Spaniards pose an attacking threat of frightening proportions. But so were the Dutch. They scored 9 goals, and yet were dismantled with ease by Russia.

So what is the trick? Much as Spain (and the Netherlands too) are an attacking threat, their defence does not hold up very well. At least, it is not necessarily top quality. The Russians, especially Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko, exploited this weakness against the Dutch. Hiddink blooded his team with an attacking mindset, knowing very well that if he let Marco van Basten’s team get on top, they would lay siege on their goal. There is no reason to believe why Russia would treat Luis Aragones’ Spain any differently.

Simply put, Spain are too much of an attacking threat. And the only way the Russians can overcome them is by showing more aggression, and constantly attacking the Spanish defence, both down the middle and from the wings.

Russia would definitely miss suspended defender Denis Kolodin (of CSKA Moscow) at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna tomorrow. Kolodin was not only a rock in defence, but also produced a couple of stunning saves off Edwin van der Sar with well-directed long range shots. Hiddink will also be without the services of Lokomotiv’s Dimitri Torbinsky, who scored the goal that broke the deadlock against Holland in extra time.

Prediction: Russia to win 2-1. Arshavin to be man of the match!

Tags: Andrei Arshavin, Andres Iniesta, CSKA Moscow, David Villa, Denis Kolodin, Dimitri Torbinsky, Dutch, Ernst Happel Stadion, Ernst Happel Stadium, Euro 2008, Fernando Torres, football, Francesc Fabregas, Guus Hiddink, Holland, Italy, Lokomotiv Moscow, Luis Aragones, Man of the Match, Marco van Basten, Netherlands, Prediction, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia, Russian, semifinal, soccer, Spain, Vienna, Wien

Vijay | Posted In Euro 2008, Previews | Tagged 3 Comments »

June 24th, 2008

Euro 2008 Semifinal Preview: Germany v/s Turkey

Image via Wikipedia

Germany and Turkey will do battle tomorrow at the St Jakob Park in Basel in the first semifinal of what has been an exciting Euro 2008.

The German side, coached by the young Joachim Low, started the tournament as one of the favourites, and while they were beaten only once by Croatia, they still haven’t really looked championship material. One is bound to think that the World Cup side coached by Jurgen Klinsmann were a few notches better than the current German line-up. However, let there be no doubt whatsoever that Low’s boys will start tomorrow’s game as favorites against Fatih Terim’s Turkey.

And that is not because the Germans are better. Rather Terim’s side is now missing some key players, as noted earlier. Volkan Demirel, Arda Turan, Tuncay Sanli and Emre Asik are all suspended for the Battle of Basel. To further complicate Terim’s selection headaches, Nihat Kahveci who was the architect and executioner of Turkey’s stunning comeback against the Czech Republic is out injured.

Be that as it may, the Turkish side have proved one point over and over again - never, NEVER EVER count them out. If football were a sport that were played over an 80-minute period, the Turks would have already been back home. But through a combination of resilience, a never-say-die attitude, and an ability to pinch goals, Terim’s men have survived thus far.

Would Germany be too tough a bridge to cross? Will Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Klose and company be too much to overcome? My feeling is that they will be. Especially if Germany go into the game with an attacking frame of mind, and converts their attacks into goals, preferably early goals past the wily Rustu Recber, they should be able to pass safely though to the finals.

Prediction: Germany to win 3-1. Michael Ballack to score.