Week 2 of 2012/2013 Season

Lovely weekend of football. Lots of rain in England, but still lovely weekend of football.

Let's start with Saturday. Two biggest games going on were Chelsea vs. Newcastle and Manchester United vs. Fulham. For the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, Chelsea have won their first three games in a row. A 2-0 win against Wigan, a 4-2 win against Reading, and now a 2-0 in against Newcastle. The first goal was a penalty caused by a foul against Torres. Eden Hazard was the one who converted it, making it 1-0. At the end of the first half during stoppage time Torres scored the second goal which was assisted with a toe poke, heel poke, or whatever by Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard has so far had a really good start to the Premier League. I think he's has been involved with almost all 8 of the goals Chelsea has scored so far. To be more exact (not really) I think it's about 6-7 goals he's been involved with. Torres has been showing his old self. He's looking more confident in front of goal which means he's scoring more goals.  He doesn't have the lingering shadow of Drogba on his back this season, so this is a great time for his shine you know after a good ending of last season (winning the FA Cup, Champions League, and Euro 2012).

The second big game on Saturday was Manchester United vs. Fulham. The first to score the goal was Fulham, but at the 10th minute Robin van Persie scored his first goal for the Red Devils. Kagawa scored the second, and Rafael scored the third putting the Reds 3-1 in front. Unfortunately Vidic put in an own goal making it 3-2, but that's how the game ended. Manchester United won their second game of the Premier League. The biggest news out of that game is definitely Wayne Rooney's gash on his thigh. If you haven't seen it's a really big nasty one. It's so bad that it has caused him to be sidelined for about four weeks. I think someone stepped on him on accident and woosh, huge gash. If you are easily disturbed by blood and any type pictures like that, I suggest you NOT go and look it up.


So today, Sunday, there were a lot of big matches played too. Let's begin with the Premier League. games played by Arsenal vs. Stoke and Manchester City vs. Liverpool. The Arsenal game turned out to be another 0-0 draw for the Gunners. I watched a bit of that game, and a lot of them seem to be scared to shoot or something. Arsenal dominated that game, yet they were very hesitant to shoot. Arsenal are playing well, it's just their finishing needs a little work. I guess you could say they are feeling the effects of no Robin van Persie (who scored 40% of their goals). The Manchester City vs. Liverpool game was played at Anfield and that game also game to a 2-2 draw. Goals came from Skrtel, Yaya Toure, Suarez, and then Tevez in that order. There have been lots of surprises this season, and I pretty sure there are more to come.

Moving on to La Liga. Barcelona played an away game at Pamplona again Osasuna. Barcelona was behind 1-0 a majority of the game until Magical Messi came up and got 2 goals in the second half giving the Blaugrana the win for that night. On the other hand of things, Real Madrid LOST their match against Getafe. Like I was really surprised to hear that. Real Madrid were the first to score with a goal from Higuain, but two goals from Getafe put them in front and gave them the win. I'm not really sure why Khedira hasn't been playing which may be a reason why they lost. Another reason could be that Madrid are feeling the effects of not having Pepe as one of their central defenders. When he comes back to play maybe a lot of things will change.

A lot went on this weekend, and a lot of is going to go on next weekend. Stay tune to keep up what's happening in the footballing world!

The Season has Begun!

Both seasons that I love to keep up with (EPL and La Liga) have begun finally. Most of the games have been played on Saturday (yesterday) and today some will be played on tomorrow (Monday). Here are the games that I've been able to keep up with so far are first the Arsenal vs. Sunderland game. This was a way for the new transfers, Podolski, Santi Carzola, and Giroud to show what they had. Unfortunately they weren't able to penetrate Sunderland's defense enough and the first game for the Gunners ended in a 0-0 tie. At least they got one point, but it isn't the three that they wanted. 

Chelsea vs. Wigan is another game that was played today. They were able to take the 3 points away with two goals, one from Ivanovic and the other from Lampard in the first half of the game. This was first Premier game for Hazard and he showed great skill that he has because he had a pretty good game. Oscar another young transfer was also able to make his debut and showed a pretty good performance. 

On the other side of things in England, the defending champions of the Premier League had a struggle during their first game. The newly promoted Southampton showed they weren't going to take the game lightly. They were the first to score which means Manchester City had some catching up to do. In the end City were able to take away a win by 3-2 with goals from Tevez, Dzeko, and Nasri. Hopefully this doesn't happen again in the near future for the them because that was one heck of a scary start for City. 

Manchester United will be playing Everton tomorrow. 

In Spanish news, both the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had their opening season games today. Real Madrid played Valencia FC and left the game with a 1-1 draw with Higuain scoring their only goal. Not something they wanted of course. On the other side of things FC Barcelona played Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou and beat them 5-1. The first goal came from the club captain Puyol during a corner kick from Xavi and then Sociedad drew the game 1-1 a few minutes later. The Catalan giants were going to take that and two goals from Messi and a goal from Pedro put the Blaugrana up 4-1 by half-time. The greatest thing is at the second half David Villa came onto the field after being sidelined from an injury since the Club World Cup in December 2011. What's even better is that he scored a goal and ended the game 5-1. This gives Tito Vilanova his first win of a La Liga season as the head coach. 

The first game is only the beginning and anything can happen during the season. But it's always good to start off the season with a win. It's a good moral booster and it helps set the tempo for what the season has in store. 

RVP to Man U

At the beginning of the summer transfer the Dutch striker Robin Van Persie made it clear that he wanted out of Arsenal. Many clubs around Europe went after him but it seemed that his price tag was a little bit to high. Recently, the Manchester giants made the swoop for the Dutchman and the transfer has been made official, Mr. Robin van Persie is moving to Manchester United for 22 million pounds.

The man is a goal machine, scoring 30 something goals in the last Premier League season, but was RVP's transfer really necessary for the Red Devils? Robin van Persie isn't 24 or 25, he's 29 and no one is able to age backwards. He's at his prime and he's about to reach the peak of it. Also, even though he is lethal in front of goal, he is injury prone. Last year Manchester United had major injury problems all last season which may have caused them the Premier League title. I'm not saying that is RVP get's injured is going to be a HUGE loss for the Reds, for they have excellent strikers such as Rooney, Chicharito, and Welbeck, but injury is something no team needs or wants.

I understand why his price tag was high, but to me it was a little bit to high. I would say around 17million pounds should have been good, business is business. Like stated before, he's not young and I honestly think based on his past injury history he'll have 2-3 years left on him maybe four.

BUT I can see why Van Persie wanted to leave the Gunners. Ever since he arrived in 2004 from Feyenoord, van Persie has only won the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and FA Community Shield out of the 8 years he has been at Arsenal. Since he's not getting younger, he probably wants to achieve bigger success such as the Premier League or even the Champions League. Arsenal have always been so close to success, but it was never enough. Manchester United is the club that holds the most Premier League wins and maybe this season will be RVP's season.

I'm still skeptical about the transfer, but it definitely an interesting one and one that you will want to keep up with. This will also give the new transfers such as Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud more of the lime light. If you continue to read the blog I'll try to keep up with the Dutch striker. All the leagues in Europe are going to start soon. We're just going to have to wait and see how Robin van Persie fits into the Manchester side.

English Premier League vs. La Liga

 

These two leagues are probably the two most popular and competitive leagues there are. But which one is the best  league of the two? Each league is unique and play different styles of football. Here is what I think:

I think the English League is definitely more competitive than La Liga. If you think a little harder, there are multiple top clubs competing for the title such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and honestly it seems that most of the clubs have somewhat a fighting chance unlike La Liga. In La Liga it's literally two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, fighting for first place, and everyone else trying to win third place. That's 2 large Spanish Clubs verses 5 large English Clubs. I'm not trying to say that the other Spanish Clubs can't compete, because they can, but until the La Liga tables fluctuate as much as the EPL table, then EPL wins for the most competitive league out there.

BUT who has the best teams in the world? This might a bit biased, but I believe that La Liga holds the two best teams in the world. To play in the two Spanish Giants it's almost a dream come true to many footballers. Some of the best players to ever play the sport had their best moments while they played in La Liga, like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Figo, etc. And currently the two best players right now (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) play in La Liga. So yes, I believe that La Liga has the best teams. Both clubs are very competitive in their league and in the Champions League (yes I know Chelsea AN ENGLISH CLUB won the most recent one, but BOTH Spanish giants were able to make it to the semi-finals, ok?)


I just want to mention though, that I don't think that English Clubs can't compete with the two Spanish Giants JUST because I say that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I'm just saying that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I believe that big English clubs can compete with the two teams and I have always believed that. AGAIN Chelsea has proven it this past May.


There is one more comparison that I would like to mention: the type of players each league produces. Right now, I think that Spain wins. They have produced and produce some of the best midfielders lately. And come to think of it, I really can't think of any English players that play in the Spanish League. But I know some Spanish players who played or play in the EPL. EXAMPLES WOULD BE:


David Silva (Manchester City)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Xabi Alonso (ex-Liverpool)
Cesc Fabregas (ex-Arsenal)
Alvaro Arbeloa (ex-Liverpool)
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
David de Gea (Manchester United)

This is only a small list of some current and recent Spanish players. The most recent English Players in La Liga were Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid) who only had 9 appearances for the club. He was then loaned off and then went back to the EPL. Then of course the very famous David Beckham (Real Madrid). Other than that, I don't know any English players. I think this goes to show that Spanish players are vital for teams. I think it's because of their midfield mastery and magic (cheesy I know) they bring to a game. Another reason there may not be many English players in La Liga could be because Spain and England have very different styles of play. England concentrates more on strength and La Liga is more finesse....patience.


So which league do I prefer the most.....I would actually have to say the EPL. Even though Barcelona is my favorite club team and I root for Spain, I chose the EPL because there is more competition between clubs. None the less though, I still love La Liga! I watch it just as often and always checking on updates about that league....but everyone likes more competition.

They Called it Survival Sunday

This Sunday couldn't have been a more exciting day of football. So many teams fighting for top spots and trying to resist relegation. The most exciting battle though was the one between Manchester City vs. Manchester United. Today was the day that decided who would win the Premier League Title. Guess what? Manchester City won! The season has been a crazy, crazy, season and the match between Man. City and QPR was a great one to end it off. Manchester United won their game with a goal from Rooney, but that wasn't enough and The Reds end their season trophy-less.

Now the game, The Citizens vs. QPR was ridiculous! A goal from Pablo Zabaleta put City up 1-0 making the game look like it was going City's way (the whole game City has 80% of possession). But at the 48', QPR equalized with a goal from Cisse and a bad clearance from Lescott.  Man. City's title hopes looked a bit out of reach. At the 55', QPR's captain Joey Barton elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off with a red card. Through all the hustle and bustle he also kneed or kicked Kun Aguero which also made his look like he had no class, but that didn't stop QPR. By the 66', QPR scored again and were in front 2-1 with a header from Jamie Mackie. The Citizens needed 2 goals to win and that seemed almost impossible. I'm guessing that Man. City really, really wanted it because a brilliant corner was taken by David Silva and the ball was headed in by Edin Dzeko at the 90+2' (there were 5mins of stoppage time and City needed one more goal to win it). And here it came, Kun Aguero takes the final shot at 90+4', putting his team up 3-2 and sealed the title win for Manchester City after 44 years! Luckily for QPR (who were fighting relegation), were able to stay in the Premier league due to the Bolton Wanderers tie verses Stoke City.

Here are the updates for the other teams. Arsenal needed a win to secure a third place spot in which they did. Tottenham also won, but the only way they could reach the third place spot was if Arsenal had lost. So the Spurs' final spot is fourth. Newcastle lost to Everton, so Newcastle is in 5th place. Chelsea won their game against Blackburn who were already set for relegation, so Chelsea are 6th place which qualifies them for the Europa league, unless they win the Champions League and qualify for that competition.

So here is are the top ten of the Premier league and the Bottom three (you can click on the picture to see the whole table). I cannot say how happy I am for Manchester City. I was sitting in a restaurant which was playing ESPN soccer and that's when I heard the news. I got a little carried away, but who cares!

Chelsea in 6th place

Since the 2-0 lose against Newcastle, it looks like Chelsea will be ending the season in 6th place. If you watched the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, you will know that the two goals Cisse scored were brilliant goals. They were absolutely brilliant, especially the second goal. The second goal really made you go "Holy mother of God." If you don't believe me, just see for yourself

CLICK HERE TO SEE CHESEA vs. NEWCASTLE HIGHLIGHTS 

On another note. Because Chelsea weren't able to take a win from this match, I'm pretty sure that their season is going to end not being able to secure a spot for a Champions league spot. At least they'll be able to play in the Europa League. The rest of the season now, what they have to look forward to is the FA Cup final against Liverpool and the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich. Those two competitions are definitely something they can look forward too. After what Chelsea have been through this season, if they can take the FA Cup and Champions League Final, I would say they had a pretty good season. Next season they can always start fresh, and if Di Matteo stays, there is nothing that Chelsea cannot do. 

Now looking at the standings of the EPL, Newcastle and Tottenham are both tied with 65 points each. The games this weekend (Tottenham vs. Aston Villa and Newcastle vs. Manchester City) are going to be vital games to determine who might get the fourth place spot. Arsenal must watch out too. They need to win their game against Norwich City this Saturday. I've got to say, this weekend of football is going to be really intense. Everyone is fighting to keep their spots and others are fighting to take spots. I'm not predicting anything, but this is what I WANT to happen. 

• I want Arsenal to win their game and eventually secure the third spot in the league 
• I hope that Manchester City wins so they have a chance to beat Manchester United in the league (so that means Newcastle needs to lose) 
• I actually hope that Tottenham lose because if that happens, there is a chance that Bale could move to Barcelona. 

Selfish I know, but hey everyone has their own opinions. 

League Round Up (April 6-8th)

Let's bring all the games into one big pile of closure by starting with the English Premier League. The battle between Manchester United and Manchester City for the title win just seems to fade farther and farther away from Mancini's reach. Manchester City played Arsenal at the Emirates stadium and took a harsh defeat with a late strike from Mikel Arteta losing 1-0. City are now 8 points away from United who secured a home win with goals from non other then Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes which gave them a 2-0 win over QPR. Mancini seems to still be having problems with the young Italian, Balotelli who received a red card during the Arsenal game. From different news sources, City are going to try and sell the controversial striker. It looks like Manchester United have the league title all wrapped up for the 20th time and only 6 more games to play in the league (unless some miraculously happens and Man. U drop a bunch of points, and Man. City win all their games). Chelsea who are continuing their good form (even though the game they played Wigan was NOT a very good performance) won at Stamford Bridge 2-, trying to secure a Champions League spot for next season. Tottenham try and keep their 4th place spot with a 0-0 tie when they played Sunderland. The Spurs taking only one point from the game, they are now two points behind Arsenal and only 3 points in front of Chelsea. Newcastle though is not far, with 56 points TIED with Chelsea. Six more games means a potential 18 more points for any of these teams. 

La Liga has become more and more tight lately. Real Madrid played Valencia this Sunday and were only able to take away 1 point from the Santiago Bernebeu with a tie of 0-0. It may have been European fatigue that has caused this tie between the two sides, but non the less, Madrid now only sit 4 points atop the tables when only a few weeks ago it was 10 points. Valencia were able to take a crucial 1 point and still in 3rd place but only 1 point of in front of Levante and 2 points from Malaga who still have to play Racing Santander Monday April 9th. If Malaga secure a win, they will be able to gain the 3rd place spot. But for the gap between Barcelona and Madrid to even shrink a little, Barcelona took on threatening relegation team Zaragoza and were able to take a 4-1 win, with goals from Puyol, Messi (2), and Pedro for Barcelona and Aranda for Zaragoza. The title race and places are still being fought for and there are still a few games to be played which can decide anything. For the title winner it may come down to the Clascio on April 22nd.  

The last league I'll be talking about is Serie A. The title race is still live and high paced with a 2-0 win for Juventus against Palermo. They sit atop of the table with 65 points only 1 point away from Milan's 64. Milan were not able to secure a win as they lost to 2-1 to Fiorentina at the San Siro.

With the Champions League semis still yet to be played and leagues are still hot and winnable, I believe that the end of each season for each league will be exciting to watch, and everyone should keep up to date and be posted on all things football. You can check out the links above to keep up with your favorite teams or leagues. If you go to the Football News Link there you can check out articles and opinions of all the different games and teams!