NEWS OF THE DAY

Liverpool Wants Tevez (FanNation)

Beckham Prohibited to Go on Loan during MLS Off Season(Fox Soccer)

Manchester United Look to Portugal for Another Cristiano? (BBC Sport)

Blatter In For Third Term (World Soccer)

Premiership's Total Payroll to Exceed 1 Billions Pounds Next Season (Reuters UK)

NEWS OF THE DAY

(photo courtesy of Getty Images via BBC Sport)

Giggs Retires from International Play (BBC Sport)

Chelsea's Crespo Remains at Inter on Loan (BBC Sport)

McClaren Owns Up to Risk Over Beckham Recall (World Soccer)

Luca Toni Now Plays In the Bundesliga! (World Soccer)

Henry Fuels Rumors of Barca Transfer (Fox Soccer)

Perin now Lyon Coach (FourFourTwo)

Ronaldinho Banned for One Match (Reuters UK)

Figo Claims Breach of Contract - Will Not Play for Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad (Calciomercato)

NEWS OF THE DAY

(photo courtesy of Daily Mail UK)

Fifa Supports Beckham's England Recall (Daily Mail)

Ferdinand and Dawson X-ed Out of Upcoming English Friendlies (BBC Sport)

Blatter Begins Another Four Years Unopposed (International Herald Tribune)

Ferguson Wants Ajax Striker Huntelaar (Fox Soccer)

Hargreaves Transfer to Man U Nearly Complete (BBC Sport)

FIFA Bans High Altitude Matches (Reuters UK)

Platini Wants Suits Dropped, G-14 Disbanded (World Soccer)

Juventus Needs Lippi (World Soccer)

McClaren Recalls Beckham for Brazil Friendly

McClaren Gives In to Fans Demands



Already there is speculation that McClaren is only recalling Beckham for the Brazil friendly as a response to the majority of English fans who were demanding his return. In an effort to gain popularity (as McClaren has very little with the English fans), McClaren obliged.

There is far too much controversy surrounding Beckham's English performances. Beckham is still a semi - decent player, who is English, who should be able to play. The fact that it is such a debate is a testament to how crazy the Beckham brand has taken the world of football. Nearly every move that any manager makes appears to be politically motivated to either punish or reward Beckham's behavior both on and off the pitch. Ridiculous.

Last summer's world cup showcased a lackluster English team, and demoting Beckham and promoting Terry as captain screams of punishment, but what about McClaren? He took over after Sven-Goran Eriksson's tenure but not without objections - one of his first official moves was Beckham focused - excluding him from not just the starting 11 but from the entire squad. Not smart. The English fans backlashed, and fought hard...hard enough to get McClaren to recall Beckham and rethink whatever motivations he had for excluding him in the first place, which at this point can only be speculated. Punish the celebrity athlete? Cut down on the WAGS at the games? Its possible the real reason may never be uncovered.

McClaren seems focused on bringing back "experience" to the English squad...but it didn't seem to pay off for Eriksson last summer and hopefully McClaren will be able to reshape the players into a functioning team and not just an all star bench.

Critics are already stating that McClaren is taking a risk, but a risk in what way? If Beckham cannot play he should be benched. If he can, then all McClaren has done is given the majority of the English fans what they wanted - an experienced player that may or may not be past his prime - the only way to determine that is to allow him to play and prove himself either way. There cannot be any harm in that, so long as his performance is what dictates his participation.

Why Are You Such a Hater?

McClaren Stubbornly Refuses to Allow Beckham to Play England Nationals




With all the talk thats going on about Beckham's mid summer MLS debut, its easy to forget that his allegiance still will be to jolly old England...but from the way Steve McClaren is handling the soon to be expat, its almost as though Beckham's being exiled.

Despite how forcefully Beckham has come back, helping Real Madrid into the top of La Liga, McClaren is foolish to refuse Beckham entrance - especially when he takes the riddled with injury Michael Owen into the England B squad, to disallow a player with the amount of Becks' talent is a waste of English talent and a disservice to the English altogether.

Perhaps this is a good example of the dangers of allowing an athlete's personality and celebrity status precede their athletic abilities, or lack thereof. Certainly there have been points in Beckham's recent performances that have lent themselves quite readily into the thinking that Beckham's time had passed and that the MLS may have been the only league to take Beckham and pay him as much as they are (despite that much of it is coming from external ad contracts). Still, its undeniable that Beckham has garnered the admiration of even his stiffest of critics and that he has performed to a degree that warrants such praise.

Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has made a complete 180 since Beckham was benched. Capello recently stated that Beckham is in the "best form of his life".

"I told David the other day that I thought he has never been in such good form either mentally or physically and he agreed with me."

"I can't understand how a player who is playing so well can be left out of any national side," said Capello.

So why the stubborn stance by McClaren? Maybe McClaren is tired of the Beckham brand distracting the other players and fans and press alike. Its no secret that the WAGS during last summer's World Cup were a distraction to the players game and more print was devoted to what the WAGS were saying, wearing, and buying, than how their footballer husbands were playing. There are many possibilities for his decision but they cannot possibly be based on the one issue that should matter: if Beckham is capable of playing up to national league standards, and to play for the good of the national team. If that was what McClaren was basing his decision on, there would no question of Beckham's return. Its too bad that McClaren has allowed Beckham's brand to precede his professional capabilities because that, in some ways, makes him exactly what he probably hates - someone who sees more of the celebrity than the athlete.

News of the Day

photo courtesy of bbc.co.uk/sport

OWEN IS BACK...but for how long?

Already Steve McClaren is saying not to "expect too much" from Michael Owen, the perennially injured striker has been named as captain of the England B squad. He will be paired in the attack with Alan Smith.

Despite any mental anguish surrounding the sequential injuries, Owen told BBC that any further injury really hasn't entered his mind. Owen is happy to be back in action again and said the thought of suffering a recurrence of his knee injury would not play on his mind. "No, no, not at all," said Owen. "It only enters your mind if you have had an injury and you still feel something, or you are getting swelling in a certain area or if you pull a muscle, you are still feeling it tightening.

"That is when it enters your mind because it is sending a message from your body to your head saying you are still hurting.

"But, right from minute one, as soon as the swelling went down after my operation, I have sailed through rehab.

"Every time I have been asked to step it up and do the next thing, I have done it with no problems at all."

As speculated, Owen is not going to bow out of his career silently. "That is the life I live. I feed off expectations of myself, of wanting to make myself happy and my friends and family proud, and the country happy," he said.

"Winning games make this country a better place. This game is no different to many of the games I have been involved in.

"I like feeling pressure, I like there being something on the game and going into the game under pressure. I feel some of my best performances have always been when there is a lot riding on it."

UEFA BLAMES LIVERPOOL FANS FOR PANDEMONIUM

Because it was England, there was of course a good deal of hooliganism expected to accompany the Champions final yesterday. For once, however, their anguish may be deserved. A "minority" of fans with legitimate tickets were not allowed into the final due to UEFA's poor job at scouting out counterfeit tickets. The counterfeit ticket holders were allowed in while many actual ticket holders were left out. UEFA needs to get more advanced technology (think the bar codes put on all tickets via ticketmaster) to ensure that counterfeit tickets are neither bought nor sold nor honored. Its disappointing that UEFA is defraying so much of the flack onto Liverpool fans.

Uefa spokesman William Gaillard told the BBC, "The behaviour of the Liverpool fans is in the end responsible for the problems that took place before the game."

However that is not completely accurate. Certainly any antics Liverpool fans employed out of frustration are their own responsibility, but its UEFA's responsibility to ensure that lawful ticket holders are honored and that counterfeit holders are weeded out. For UEFA to drag out riot police seems too much, too late. Riots breaking out because legitimate ticket holders are being denied entrance should never be contemplated with an organization as vast and advanced as UEFA, especially when it was for the otherwise European football super bowl of games. For UEFA to point the blame onto the fans, who traveled from the UK to Athens, only to be turned away, despite the possibility that some that were denied were illegitimate, is not how to handle this. UEFA should take this opportunity to reexamine how they distribute and organize their ticketing, and not fall back on the hooliganism that has plagued football of late. Really, the two have nothing in common.

AC MILAN 2 LIVERPOOL 1 UEFA Champions League Final

Revenge is Sweet.


(photo courtesy of uefa.com)

Sure, Liverpool's exact starters from 2005 played hard, but maybe AC Milan just wanted revenge more than Liverpool wishes to retain their 2005 penalty kick victory. Liverpool played strong and controlled possession in the first half, but they seemed to give up the control they exercised so beautifully within the first half as soon as Pirlo scored the first goal, off a free kick. Gerrard's early miss to equalize the game dashed Liverpool's hopes and seemed to lead them into their tired second half. Benitez was too slow to send Crouch in for Mascherano, but with those 13 minutes left to play, Crouch sent a 25 yard drive into Dida, but with futile results.

Its unnecessary to go into the petty complaints over how the Italians seem to be able to dish out the penalties and the blatant fouls, but can never take it: unnecessary because everyone who is not a die hard Serie A fan knows how these Italian teams play and as upsetting as it is that Liverpool let their guard down in the second half, they had a brief moment of hope as Kuyt forced Dida to give up a corner shot but it wasn't enough to sustain another goal to tie it and go into penalties.

Kaka was surprisingly absent for all the hype he garnered from the last match against Man U, and the touted Gattuso/Pirlo coupling wasn't as strong as usual either. It was Inzaghi that dominated this match - despite colliding with the ball late in the second half with such dramatic antics that one would think the ball was a canon ball. No matter, at the end of the 90 minutes and 3 minutes stoppage time, Milan came out on top despite Liverpool's scrappy efforts to relive their previous Champions glory.

STATS

AC Milan: Dida, Oddo, Nesta, Maldini, Jankulovski (Kaladze 79), Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (Favalli 90), Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 88).
Subs Not Used: Kalac, Cafu, Serginho, Brocchi.

Booked: Gattuso, Jankulovski.

Goals: Inzaghi 45, 82.

Liverpool: Reina, Finnan (Arbeloa 88), Carragher, Agger, Riise, Pennant, Alonso, Mascherano (Crouch 78), Zenden (Kewell 59), Gerrard, Kuyt.
Subs Not Used: Dudek, Hyypia, Gonzalez, Bellamy.

Booked: Mascherano, Carragher.

Goals: Kuyt 89.

Nice Goal. Bad Game.

(photos courtesy of bbc.co.uk)

Well well well.
It was as predicted but just the other way 'round.
In extended time, with the prospect of penalties looming, Drogba proved again why he was the lead scorer in the Premiership this year - despite having been beaten out by Ronaldo for Player of the Year.

The first half of the game was ridiculously slow and Rooney seemed to be the only player with any drive to win. Minus an almost goal by Ryan Giggs, which was either pushed into Cech by Giggs, or pushed out by Cech into Giggs, there were only three other shots on target. The Giggs incident resulted in a denial of a penalty that no one seems to dispute they should have been awarded. How that could or would have changed things, we'll never know.



Clearly Mourinho, despite being petty and arrogant, knew the game Manchester wanted to play and he did not allow them to play it. They predictably doubled Ronaldo anytime he had the ball, leaving him with little room to work his magic or engage Rooney in their tag team that served Man U so well this season. Giggs was not in top form despite his hard effort, much of it appeared futile and sloppy. Smith came on too late to rejuvinate the players, and Mourinho saving Robben for the second half was smart. Chelsea overall seemed to be a bit more deliberate in their playing, leading Man U into a slow, tactical game that refused The Reds their opportunity to play the game they wanted - a quick, fast paced game. Instead, the pitch was slow and the players looked tired.

It became obvious that whoever scored first would win, and Chelsea was the better team in the end. The final, however, was less the glorious for either team, and while Man U clearly is shouldering the loss more heavily, Chelsea really doesn't have that much to celebrate as both teams played like rubbish.

Oh Michael Owen, during a WATFORD game? Again?

In what seemed to be only a short while ago, Michael Owen was like this:



Now...not so much:


It was only 51 seconds into Owen's 80th cap during the 2006 World Cup that he suffered a massive knee injury which required him to go back home, leaving the floundering English squad to sink deeper.

Minus a hamstring injury while playing for Liverpool, the bulk of his injuries seem to have begun when he came to Newcastle from Real Madrid. Maybe a curse, maybe not. He broke a metatarsal in his foot and underwent surgery which involved a pin. Ouch. The pin was supposed to speed up the recovery which it of course didn't and he underwent a second surgery. Then came the kiss of death - the not even a minute into the world cup game v. Sweden and Owen's knee was shattered. A torn ACL and subsequent, time consuming surgery and recovery and nearly a year later, Owen, oddly, decides to make his comeback, coming out of injury, on a rather meaningless game...and gets injured AGAIN.

Again! Why are you playing! You were trying to make a comeback, trying to rally around the fact that you were included in the England B team...but why waste whatever you have left on a game that essentially meant nothing?

Understandably, Owen likely is feeling crazy by not playing. His early career was so phenomenal, he sells so many tickets, and its probably likely that the management wanted to sell more tickets for that last game - with nothing at stake - and Owen really is a draw, sort of like Beckham will be for the Galaxy, and he certainly sells tickets but...at what cost? He's out. Again. For who knows how long. Maybe trying to warm him up slowly...but in a game? That is the last of the season? That counts for nothing? Owen is not just a cash cow and he's being used as a pawn and its ridiculous (go to the Newcastle site and his face is on the Newcastle banner). He's a small player. He simply cannot compete to the level that he needs to be at to come back and play in the Premiership and risk getting injured. Waste of time. Waste of recovery! A head injury now...taken off the field on a stretcher. For a game against WATFORD that ended in a tie.

Whoever takes on Michael Owen now will not be thinking as a manager or as a chair but as a fan and a hopeful...because its not likely Owen will ever come back like we all want him to.

Its sad to see Owen's career go down the crapper so fast, in such a systematic, plaugued-with-injury form. As much as it would be wonderful for Owen to come back, full form, circa 2001, at this point, it may just not be in the cards and he may end up just knotted up with injuries...but it'd be nice to be proven wrong.

:2007 FA CUP 2007 : MANCHESTER UNITED v. Chelsea

(Image courtesy of thefa.com)

Well its almost here, and despite that no one in America can watch it unless they pay $20 at a bar or $25 to payperview it, I am willing to pay. Nothing beats sitting at Fado at 8am, eating Irish breakfast and getting the best seats possible...awaiting the match at 9.

Pertinent Facts:
-The match is being played at WEMBLEY for the first time in 7 years (Wembley is the second largest stadium in Europe, seating 90,000, and serves as the home to the English National team). Its special.
-When Man U and Chelsea last met within the Premiership, the game ended in a tie. Boring.
-Expected lineups:
-Chelsea will trot out: Cech, Hilario, Cudicini, Geremi, Ferreira, A Cole, Terry, Boulahrouz, Diarra, Makelele, Obi, Lampard, Essien, Kalou, Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Robben, Drogba, Sahar.
-Man Utd will shell out: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Brown, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Heinze, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Richardson, Eagles, Rooney, Smith, Solskjaer.
-Man U is the reigning Premiership champ, leading the league 6 points ahead of second place Chelsea.
-The FA cup is notoriously unpredictable when the game at the outset looks like something more like David and Goliath and not like...well, teams that frankly are quite comparable...Think of the 1992 FA Cup third round between Arsenal and Wrexham - Wrexham won, having barely been saved from relegation that year. They still managed to stomp out Arsenal. This year's final is clearly not akin and in some ways that is disappointing be/c there is no clear underdog, no darkhorse.
------------------
Breaking it down, these teams are so close, both in how they have played against one another and the caliber of talent that they have on the bench, that its almost pure speculation as to how the stars of the teams will perform which basically means, who will win. In short, typically when Drogba and Ronaldo play well, their teams win...the real show would be if other players like Scholes and Smith and Essien and Shevchenko step out and play better than normal...thats when the game will begin otherwise, this will be a boring game. I've said it. It will be boring. Inarguably. And without any excuse be/c again, the players on these teams are literally some of the best in the world right now and for them to not step it up and play to satisfy their reputations, its going to be useless.

Chelsea will likely lose if they spend the entire game chasing Man U, which they basically did for the duration of the Premiership. They cannot let Man U have more possession than they do be/c that is when Man U is strongest - they are a good attacking team, a little less so defensively. If Man U fails to play their best game, Chelsea has a much better chance but if Man U plays the way they did against AC Milan, game one in the Champions League, Chelsea will be crying themselves to sleep and Mourinho will hopefully finally be shown the iron fist and be thrown out...because he's the most ridiculous manager in the Premiership currently, playing mind games with his players and pandering to the press about the injuries Chelsea has suffered. And lets not forget that he likes to make fun of Cristiano Ronaldo and his meager upbringing. On and off the pitch, Mourinho fails, time and time again. If Chelsea wins the FA Cup, sure, Abromovich may look more favorably and grant him more funds to add to that billion dollar bench...but I don't count on it. He, like Capello (who makes such a big deal out of saying "no more galacticos" and then signs Fabio Cannevaro? Who benches Beckham be/c hes angry at him? Sure, past his prime, but not completely useless) has torn apart the integrity of those teams...sure, neither team is failing but they are not performing as well as they should, considering who they have playing and the money they have at their disposal.

Basically this game means more, or should mean more, to Mourinho than Chelsea itself, as rumor has it that Abramovich isn't going to be satisfied with just the Carling Cup. Talk about investing and not seeing a return. I don't even want to think about what he's paying Ballack.

Prediction:
As are most people who have followed Man U and Chelsea this season, my prediction is that Man U will win.

Clearly the competition is tighter between Chelsea and Man U and looking at their last match...if Man U focuses only on defending so much that it deprives them from attacking and if Chelsea doubles Rooney and Ronaldo (although its like impossible to do both at once) to prevent one of the their largest talents, Man U will be stunted. If Chelsea plays like Chelsea has done all season, without any changes tactically, they will lose.

I fear another tie, truly, and at then end of the day, its near impossible for either team to come out as a clear gladiator. If its a win and not a shoot out, then great, but don't hold your breath.

Prediction: Man U 2, Chelsea 1.

Being a Supporter is a Full Time Job.

In a recent Virgin Money poll of 2,000 Premiership fans, the results showed that on average, fans think about the game once every twelve minutes.

Seven percent of the fans (properly labeled as "hard core") evidently think about the game once a minute.

The poll was done as part of Virgin's Football Fans Inflation Index, a study into the rising costs of attending matches.

Considering that Chicago Fire tickets for the MLS are running over $200 a match (and thats a Non-David Beckham Galaxy match), maybe Don Garber should conduct his own poll, of how costly MLS tickets are in relation to how many times US fans think about the MLS...or even know about the MLS. I am pretty confident that whatever number they could come up with doesn't warrant $200 dollars, especially considering that its just a bit more, even taking the tortious exchange rate into account, to attend a Manchester United match at Old Trafford. Somehow, paying $200 to see MLS players try their hardest at Toyota Park just doesn't seem right.