Football Yobs

Euro 2008 Semifinals Preview

brian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:00:53 +0000

What a feast of football Euro 2008 has been so far. Three out of the four semifinalists only managed to finish as runners up in their respective groups, with Spain breaking the pattern in penalty kicks against Italy. Every game has featured sublime skill, great drama and plenty of twists to keep the fans entertained. The quarterfinals saw Germany vs Portugal, Croatia vs Turkey, Russia vs Holland and Spain vs Italy. Here’s how they went: (more…)

My Euro 2008 Team of Nations

brian — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:02:12 +0000

I’ve always found it easier to pick “dream teams” with more restrictions imposed on me; choosing an all-time or current XI from among the world’s brightest stars is impossible, considering the calibre of player that must be left out to accommodate eleven players in a reasonable formation. Fortunately, picking an all-star XI from the European Championships is easier, and selecting only one player from each nation is even easier. Still, there’s plenty of room for debate, so have at it in the comments. Here are my picks, which I’ve dubbed the Euro 2008 Team of Nations.

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It’s Chelsea & Manchester United

brian — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:31:10 +0000

What a week to watch football! It’ll be Chelsea and Manchester United for the Champions League final, with Zenit St. Petersburg meeting Rangers in the UEFA Cup final. PSV, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Lyon and Inter have effectively wrapped up the league titles in Europe, with only Chelsea and Man Utd competing in the Premier League. It’ll be an interesting end to the season, particularly with the plotlines between the two English sides. But how did they get here? (more…)

0-0: The Worst Result for Man Utd?

brian — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:01:48 +0000

Manchester United seemed very satisfied with their efforts after a 0-0 draw at Barcelona’s Camp Nou. Certainly, there was a certain amount of professionalism about the result, achieved in the face of loud whistling whenever the English side maintained possession for more than a few seconds. The ESPN commentators, particularly Tommy Smyth, had absolutely shocking games, unable to perceive anything about what was happening in the match. (more…)

Football News from April 5-6

brian — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:37:36 +0000

It was another fascinating weekend of football with the title race in England becoming much closer, while Real Madrid have all but been crowned champions despite drawing against Mallorca. Meanwhile, there was also FA Cup action. It’s hard to believe that there are only a handful of games left, but there are certainly plenty of twists and turns still to come. Let’s start in Spain and then travel north to England. (more…)

Manchester United Increase Their Grip

brian — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:26:08 +0000

It was a strong weekend of football, with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning. But only United looked like a top-four side. Liverpool laboured to victory over Everton in the Merseyside derby, while Chelsea were saved several times by the woodwork against Middlesbrough. Arsenal overcame a 2-0 deficit and an early red card to Abou Diaby to beat Bolton 3-2. By comparison, Manchester United were brilliant against Aston Villa, crushing them 4-0. (more…)

The Fallout From Super Sunday

brian — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:55:41 +0000

Originially, I thought I’d be missing the action from the so-called “Super Sunday”, featuring Liverpool vs Manchester United and Arsenal vs Chelsea. Celebrating Easter on Saturday, I was operating under the impression that those games would be played then, instead of Sunday. Fortunately, they weren’t, and I got to watch Chelsea beat Arsenal live. (more…)

Transfer Gossip This March

aaron — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:26:44 +0000

I love a good transfer rumour and was vaguely disappointed when international transfer windows made their appearance several years back. On the plus side, it certainly makes the close season more interesting. These days, managers like Roy Keane and Martin O’Neill are constantly banging on about how difficult it is to sign players, so it goes without saying that it takes a lot of legwork. As such, a new process has emerged where teams first let their interest leak out through the media, allow the player to respond through the media, and then take action based on the player’s reaction. No one is better at this than Real Madrid, who are reported to be interested in Werder Bremen’s Diego. (more…)

European Football Roundup

brian — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:24:17 +0000

The Barcelona v Celetic second leg clash was on TV Tuesday, while I got to watch PSV beat Tottenham on Thursday. I would have preferred Man Utd v Lyon or Arsenal v Milan in the Champions League and Everton v Fiorentina in UEFA Cup, but I’ll take whatever is served up. I still have fond memories of watching the likes of Red Star Belgrade and Paris Saint Germaine in the Champions League when I was a kid. Back then, they showed about 4 Champions League games on TV each year in the United States. But onto the action this week. (more…)

Drama in Spain and England

brian — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:39:55 +0000

It was a feast of football this weekend, particularly on Saturday. With Barcelona and Real Madrid in action, as well as Arsenal and Man Utd, the fallout from the games was always likely to be enormous. Let’s start in England first, where Manchester United won comfortably away at Fulham and Arsenal snatched an undeserved, last-gasp equaliser at home to Aston Villa. (more…)