Top Ten Bargins

An interesting piece that I read on the Sky Sports website:


http://www.skysports.com/interactive/top_tens_story/0,25722,11994_6273896,00.html

I wonder is there any truth in Raul moving to England? It'd be interesting to see how he does!

Joe Cole heads up north

So Joe Cole has signed a four-year deal with Liverpool.

Good or bad move?

I think it is a great move for the London lad and Liverpool Football Club. With all the clubs he has been linked with I am surprised that he has ended up on Merseyside. I was sure he was going to head back to Harry at Spurs.

So what has basically happened here is a Swap Deal: Joe Cole for Yossi Benayoun!

This transfer makes Liverpool look a bit more dangerous, and if they can get one more good player they could really challenge for that champions league spot, or even more!

I'm trying to work on my Journalistic Impartiality, I despise Liverpool but I'm going to have to get used to saying a good thing about them every now and then!

Man Utd Away Kit

Why does it look like a Bolton Jersey??


http://www.epltalk.com/manchester-united-away-shirt-for-2010-11-season-new-photo/19724

New Man Utd Strip

I looked everywhere for the Jersey that the new kit was based on, finally found it on theoffside.com (tis a good website)


http://manutd.theoffside.com/manchester-united/united-officially-unveil-new-kit-sigh.html


I like the funny conversation they acted out between Obertan and Berbatov!

Tuesday July 13th 2010 : World Cup Awards

It's been 2 days since the World Cup ended and I'm now going to pick my favourite moments and matches of the Tournament!

BEST PLAYER: MESUT OZEIL

Yes, I know Diego Forlan won the Golden Ball award and in the eyes of most he was the best player as he brought his unfancied Uruguay side to the semi-finals, but for me it has to be Ozeil.

I have to admit, I had never heard of him before the tournament, but isn't this what the World Cup is all about, creating stars.

The young German played some superb football over the last month and was at the heart of a side that didn't have an awful lot of experience. His maturity with so little International football behind him is what made him my player of the Tournamnet. He just shaded Forlan in my view.

BEST GOAL: LUIS SUAREZ (vs. SOUTH KOREA)

This was a tough one to pick. There wasn't a lot of great goals at World Cup 2010, but the best ones certainly stood out.

My shortlist was Tevez, Van Bronckhorst and Suarez. Even though I liked Tshabalala's opener for South Africa on the first day, I considered that more of a good moment.

What swung me towards Suarez's goal was the precision of the strike. When you look at Van Bronckhorst's and Tevez goals they had the potential to go way off target. Don't get me wrong, they were awesome strikes but I've always been a bigger fan of placement and Suarez's curler was superb and is my favourite goal of World Cup 2010.

BEST MATCH: GHANA vs. URUGUAY

This was the best game of the tournament simply for the drama, oh and the goals weren't half bad either.

It was Ghana's first ever World Cup quarter-final and many thought they genuinely had a chance to be the first African team to reach the last four.

We all know what happened and how they were denied a last gasp goal, it was truly heartbreaking. The Suarez handball and Gyan hitting the crossbar will be one of them World Cup moments that will live on for generations.

Honourable mentions would go to: USA vs. Slovenia, Uruguay vs. Holland and the last 20 minutes of Slovakia vs. Italy!

Before I name my team of the tournament, I'l go through a few other of my favourite moments etc... (these are like the awards for special effects and make-up you'd see at the Oscars, but they get any T.V time!)

Favourite Celebration: South Africa's synchronized dancing vs. Mexico

Funniest Moment: Anytime the camera was on Diego Maradona

Best Performance: Germany beating Argentina 4-0. Hands down.

Worst Performance: England's pathetic effort against Algeria.

Worst Player: The entire French team.

Neutral's favourite team: Has to be Ghana.

Biggest Shock: New Zealand to be the only unbeaten team at World Cup 2010.

Worst Team: I know they won a game, but I hate Greece. their sooo boring. England and France would be there too.

One thing I will miss: 3 games of football on a weekday.

One thing I won't miss: Them Bleedy Vuvuzela's!

Ok, so I got all that stuff out of the way, now here's my TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT:

1. Iker Casillas (SPA)

2. Maicon (BRA)

3. Fabio Coentrao (POR)

4. Gerrard Pique (SPA)

5. Diego Lugano (URU)

6. Mesut Ozeil (GER)

7. Xavi (SPA)

8. Wesley Sneijder (HOL)

9. Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER)

10. Diego Forlan (URU)

11. David Villa (SPA)

Subs:

Samir Handanovic (SLV)

Phillip Lahm (GER)

Lucio (BRA)

Andres Iniesta (SPA)

Thomas Mueller (GER)

Let me know what ye think!

World Cup "Future Stars"

Have a look at my piece on World Cup stars of the future on Eircom Soccer Republic, tell me what ya think! anybody i missed out on?

http://soccerrepublic.eircom.net/News/World-Cup-stars-for-the-future.aspx

No more World Cup :(

I said I would be supporting the Dutch yesterday, and for the 120 minutes of the game I did.

But, after thinking about it today I wondered why I bothered. It would have been wrong for them to win the World Cup.

Their rough approach was what ruined the game, it never allowed it to get going. I think I had sympathy for the Dutch considering they had lost two previous World Cup finals - The Total Football years. The way they played yesterday was far from total football, it was total disgrace.

I watched the game again today, and in fairness to Howard Webb, nearly everyone of them yellow cards were justified. De Jong should have seen red, even though I tried to make a case for him in the pub last night by saying the ball was there to win in the air. There was no excuse for that "Kung Fu kick" (still, not as good as Cantona's)

It was a game that was certain to go to penalties, only for "El Ilusionista" (The Illusionist) Andres Iniesta to come up and nick it for the Spain with 4 minutes of extra time to go.

The scenes were amazing! One thing is for sure, the Spanish are truly passionate about football!

there's to many to link, so I'd just suggest that you go on to youtube and look up the reactions from Madrid, the hairs will stand on you're neck.

I've been busy writing articles today so I'm going to leave my overall World Cup until tomorrow. It'l give me time to reflect!! :-P

World Cup Blog: The Final

Spain vs. Holland

Well, we're finally here. After 63 games we are hours away from the World Cup final in Soccer City, Johannesburg.

If you had told me these would be the two teams to contest the final 5 weeks ago I would have said "thank you very much, I'l take it!"

Although Holland have not been the exciting "total football" package we would have hoped for we still have seen moments of genius from Sneijder, Robben and a wonder strike from Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.

I reckon Holland have more chance of beating Spain than they would Germany.

Spain thrive on keeping the ball through slick passing and inter-change and as much as I don't admire his style of play, Mark Van Bommel is the man that could stop that. His hard approach and chopping could deny the Spanish from getting the ball in midfield.

If they can stop Spain from passing they may have a chance because they have some amazing attacking players. Sneijder and Robben could be the key for the Dutch on the break today.

But for all the building up of the Dutch I'm doing, Spain are still clearly the favourites. One thing I only noticed at this world cup is that: Spain are very solid defensively!

Pique and Puyol have had an excellent tournament and even Capdevilla hasn't been the weak link we thought he might be. I still don't rate Sergio Ramos that highly though, he's an average player.

The big question today is: Will Torres start? In my opinion, I don't think he should. Pedro had an excellent game against Germany and added something different to the Spanish play, that was something they were lacking when Torres was starting.

All in all, this game has the potential to be a classic, but usually World Cup finals disappoint so i'm expecting a tight affair with very few goals.

Its a hard one to call, but i'm going to go with Spain to win 1-0 with the winner coming late in the second-half, a bit like the Germany game although I expect the Dutch to get more of the ball than Germany did.

I'l be supporting the Dutch as they remind me a bit of our beloved Mayo. After losing 2 World Cup final's previously, hopefully 3rd time lucky will apply to them. They could do it, after all their not playing Kerry!

Frank McCann is Le Oranje for today.

World Cup Semi-Final (Germany v Spain)

Before I get into tonight's game, I just want to say a few words about last night's semi final between Uruguay and Holland.

It was a fantastic game, and some of the goals were out of this world!

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's opener could possibly be the goal of the tournament, it was the cleanest strike of the Jabulani I have seen at this World Cup. For me though, Carlos Tevez's rocket against Mexico is still shading it.

Diego Forlan's equaliser wasn't half bad either! Some may say the goalkeeper should have done better but if you look at it a few times you can see a last second swerve on the ball that changes its direction. Forlan should definetly be in the World Cup best XI, he and David Villa have been the best two strikers at this tournament.

As for the result, 3-2 is probably a fair reflection of the game as the Dutch were just about the better team. They played the better football in the first half and after soaking up a bit of pressure early in the second they proved to be the better side on the night.

I wanted to see the Dutch progress as I have a fascination with a Holland/Germany final.
It could be tasty enough, and i'l be backing Mark Van Bommel to get a red card in the final if Germany get there. He gave the dirtiest footballing display of World Cup 2010. How did he only get booked for Dissent!?? He was kicking every Uruguay player he seen last night!

Germany vs. Spain

Oh how I am looking forward to this one!

Germany are looking better and better every game they play. After destroying England and Argentina who could bet against them getting to the Final or even winning the World Cup. I wouldn't!

They look so good going forward and are well equipped at the back. They have been the dominant team at this tournamnet.

Miroslav Klose is just one goal away from equalling Ronaldo's all-time scoring record of 15. He would be a good bet to score the first tonight, although I doubt you will get a good price for him.

As for Spain, I think they should drop Torres. He has had a very poor tournament and he is clearly not 100% fit. Maybe Villa could play up front on his own with someone playing in the hole behind him. Cesc Fabregas is certain to miss out tonight, and if the game goes to extra-time this could prove costly.

This game isn't going to be as one sided as Germany's other games but I can see them being better than Spain on the night.

I'm predicting a 2-1 win for the Germans. Wether it is in 90 minutes or not is another question!

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Fingers crossed.

World Cup 2010 Semi-Finals

My God, only four games left to play. I'm getting a bit emotional!

The South African World Cup has had a lot of talking points to say the least. We've had controversy with the ball, the referee's, the players and the French!

As we reached the end of the group stage I was wondering if their would be many "World Cup moments" that would stand out in years to come. Everything had seemed just a tad bland.

Well, that fear is well and truly gone now after a thrilling second round and some excellent displays at the Quarter-Final stage.

On Friday morning I was looking at what price I would get for predicting an All-South American semi finals......I'm so glad I didn't put any money on them!

Here's what I thought of the 8 Quarter-Finalists:

First, THE LOSERS:

Brazil: I was surprised to see them go down without a fight. When Holland took the lead with 20 minutes to go, I was expecting an all-out assault on the Dutch goal but it never materialised. The Brazilian attack looked like they had ran out of ideas as they looked very disheartened and flat footed near the end of the game. Kaka is a shadow of his former self, its a bit sad to see. His career could go a bit "Shevchenko" if you know what I mean!

Ghana: How heartbreaking was Friday night's game. For an African team to come so close, and to get cheated out of a win in such a manner makes it that bit harder to take. They were outplayed during parts of the first half but grew in confidence once they found their feet.

Muntari's goal was hit well, if not a little fortunate to go in, well in my opinion anyways.

They bravely trotted forward at every opportunity and we're so unlucky not to be the first Afican team to make a World Cup semi-final.

I have to say, credit to Gyan for stepping up during the penalty shoot-out. What an excellent finish by the player following his crucial miss just minutes earlier.

Argentina: I knew it! For all the entertainment and dramatics that we had come to love from Maradona, he had no clue what to do when the going got tough. This seems to be a problem for a lot of coaches who played as attackers, they don't know how to defend.

We could see this coming, just not as ruthless as the German's made it. Argentina were simply played of the pitch.

You have to wonder where Maradona goes from here? Does he stay as manager, or does he bow out before things get tough? This could make him a better coach, wether he has the mentality to learn from his mistakes is the big question though.

Paraguay: Personally, I am delighted to see Paraguay eliminated. I didn't enjoy their style of football one bit and their sly bullying methods were not well received by anybody.

On five separate occasions I spotted a little "after the whistle" dig by Paraguayans on a Spanish player and I will never know how their goalkeeper, Villar, got away with the most blatant penalty you will see at World Cup 2010. Ireland beat these fella's 2-1 a few months back, they should have really beaten them by more. Oh well.......what could have been.

and now for THE WINNERS:

Holland: I'm still not overly impressed by this Dutch team, I don't know why? Yes, they beat the World's number one team and have not dropped a point yet, but it just feels like this team are missing something. they seem to be an average enough team, with 2 World-Class players bringing them up a level. It will be interesting to see how they do tonight, they have the ability to do better.

Uruguay: This is a team that have rode their luck in this World Cup. Since their negative start against an awful French side, they have passed every obstacle put in front of them. A convincing win against South Africa and a confident display against Mexico had made them stand out as one of the dark horses in the tournament. Since then though, they have been a bit dodgy. They scraped past South Korea and really should have been sent home only for Gyan's last minute penalty miss in their clash against Ghana. Their luck could run out tonight.

Germany: What can you say? The saying is so true: "Never write off the Germans"

They are not beating teams. They are DESTROYING them. One little slip against Serbia is the only time the German's looked a bit shaky, and even then I still think they were the better side!

After putting four past England, they went out and embarrassed Argentina. The German machine is running smoothly, and I don't think anybody knows how to stop it.

Spain: These boys must me grateful that they have David Villa. He has been their star, and if he wasn't there I don't think Spain would be! Why the hell do they keep playing Torres? He is clearly struggling. The Spanish have done just about enough to merit a semi-final spot but their biggest test yet will be on Wednesday evening when they take on "Ze Germans".

I'm expecting Spain to win a nice bronze medal on Saturday evening.

as for tonight's game:

Uruguay vs. Holland

Both teams are good going forward, and both have dodgy defences. I'm hoping for goals, goals, goals! But everytime I say this we always end up with a boring, low scored affair so i'm not going to get my hopes up.

Uruguay have a few suspensions with Suarez the key man missing out tonight. All the weight will fall on Diego Forlan's shoulders.

I feel like the Dutch have another gear to move up yet, and I'm thinking tonight could be the night. They will be full of confidence after beating Brazil and they are clearly the favourites to progress to Sunday's Final.

This game is going to be close I think. Uruguay have the ability to cause problems for the Dutch but if the Oranje find that next gear tonight they should prove to be too strong for the South Americans.

I'm saying Uruguay 1-2 Holland and if you find a good price on Dirk Kuyt to score first I would recommend putting a few quid on him.

Enjoy the Game!

Classic World Cup Moment: Ireland 1-1 Germany 2002

No games in South Africa today, so I had to go to YouTube for my World Cup fix.

I know we've all seen this clip a million times, but its one that never gets old for me,

I decided to post the video with BBC commentary as John Motson really dramatises the situation!

Good old Motty!

World Cup Matchday 21

How impressive were Germany today??!

I had expected the Germans to win it, but not like that!!

Before kick-off I had predicted 2-2 in 90 minutes with Germany nicking it in extra-time. It was far from that!

From the very first whistle they played attractive, slick, attacking football and had taken the lead within 3 minutes. Following the first goal I expected a backlash from Argentina, but it never came. The German's were too good.

Miroslav Klose is now only 1 goal behind Ronaldo's all-time World Cup scoring record and who would bet against him overtaking the great Brazilian?

With the game finishing 4-0, where does Diego Maradona go from here? His superstars didn't perform when they needed to, they were outplayed by a terrific, hard working German team but still, they did not play anywhere near their capabilities. A real disappointment.

It's interesting to note that the two players who were tipped the set the World Cup alight didn't even get a goal in the tournament.

Rooney and Messi did not live up to their expectations. It goes to show you that club football is very different to the international game.

As for tonight, its hard to look past Spain. They should dispose of a plucky Paraguay side and if they get an early goal we just might see another rout.

If Paraguay get the first goal, we could have an interesting night ahead!

My prediction for this game is 3-1 to Spain, and i'm expecting more goals from the fantastic David Villa. What a talent he is.

The underdogs take to the field!

Uruguay v Ghana

First of all, I have to say how chuffed I was to get the correct score in the Brazil v Holland game today!

Sneijder did me proud, and it takes my correct score total to an amazing five! how good am I? Well not very, but I'm proud that I called that one right!

Uruguay and Ghana take to the field shortly, and for me I'm expecting this game to be very close, Ghana are nearly like a host nation and will have massive support tonight, but they will find it tough against Forlan, Suarez and co.

Ghana really need to get the first goal tonight, if they do they can frustrate Uruguay and play on the counter-attack.

If Uruguay score first they will be hard to break down themselves but they have more ability up front so I'd be more confident of them getting a second.

As a neutral, I want to see Ghana win this. they're the underdogs and to see an african team in the World Cup semi-finals hosted in Africa would be a memorable World Cup moment, much like the Koreans in 2002.

I'm predicting a close game, and I think it will finish 1-1 in 90 minutes, but unfortunately I'm expecting Uruguay to keep a cooler head if it goes to penalties.

Fingers crossed for Ghana.

World Cup Matchday 20

Brazil v Holland

What a mouth-watering game we have today.

The greatest World Cup nation of all time take on the nation that created "Total Football".

I don't expect this game to be as exciting as it seems on paper but I am expecting both teams to give it a good go.

Brazil are less attacking than they have been in previous tournaments and the Dutch haven't overly impressed me yet.

I'm hoping that the big names turn it on today and if Robben and Sneijder play to their abilities I could see Holland sneaking this one.

Brazil are the favourites and I could be insane for saying this, but I think the Dutch will sneak it, 2-1, maybe after extra-time!

Transfer news

Hodgson takes Liverpool hot-seat

Roy Hodgson was officially announced as the new Liverpool manager today.

I wonder if this is a wise move for the Merseyside club? They have hired a coach based on achievements with a fairly small club with all due respect to Fulham.

What has Hodgson achieved in his career? He lead a few Scandinavian teams to domestic titles and reached Uefa Cup finals with Inter Milan and Fulham, losing them both.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to knock Hodgson, he's done wonders for Fulham and did so on a small budget, that is a great achievement, but when I think of Roy Hodgson, I always think of that man that looked out of his depth with Blackburn Rovers in 1998. Rovers were a relatively big team that were expected to succeed rather than get relegated.

I can sense a similar thing happening with Liverpool. With managing Liverpool he will be dealing with bigger ego's and will find it harder to get a good squad morale like he did with Fulham. (I'm not just saying this because I'm a Manchester United fan, if he was taking the United job I would think the same, bigger clubs have bigger ego's in their squad, its a fact)

I'm hoping Hodgson succeeds in his goals, which are:

• Hanging on to Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres
• Regaining a top 4 place to qualify for the Champions League

As a rival fan, its always good to have your rivals close and competitive, it makes them big games all that more exciting. God know's I miss when Man Utd would have that tough game at Elland Road every season! I don't want the Anfield clash to become Liverpool's "Cup Final" in years to come.

Petrov and Blake join the Trotters

Martin Petrov and Robbie Blake have signed contracts with Bolton Wanderers.

Petrov has signed a two-year deal after being released by Manchester City last month. This could prove to be an excellent signing providing the Bulgarian can stay fit. He is a fantastic attacking midfielder and is great at playing in that hole behind the strikers.

In my opinion, he was wasted at Man City and its great that he's moving on. I'm tipping him to do very well with Bolton.

Bolton have also signed Robbie Blake from Burnley following the Claret's relegation from the Premier League. I think they've signed his to be a bit-part player and to possibly give them options on the bench.

Bolton seem to be doing well in the transfer market this summer. If it clicks for them they could be top 10 contenders.

In other news.....

I have to mention David Silva signing for Man City. I'm really disappointed that he joined them (it was obviously for the money!) but I would expect him to do well with City and could be a key player in their title bid for next season.

It's looking like Cesc Fabregas is staying at Arsenal, he's been dropping hints that he may not be moving to Barcelona after-all. He's better off, he'd spend a lot of time on the bench at the Nou Camp.

Yaya Toure and Alexsander Kolarov are the latest players being linked with Man City. I'm definitely expecting to see Toure join his brother at Eastlands.

Tomorrow I will run through the possible big transfers that will be happening after the World Cup and I will give you my preview and predictions for the two World Cup Quarter-Finals that take place tomorrow.

Can't wait for Brazil v. Holland!