Football Manager 2010

Hi all…Wish you all a very Happy New year. I know FM 2010 has been out for sometime now and I am very late in my post about it. But I guess better late than never right? So here I am writing about a few of my experiences playing the wonderful game i.e. Football Manager 2010!

As usual, I began the game with Arsenal, my favourite team of all… And I must say I was a little disappointed at the ratings given to some of the promising youngsters at Arsenal like Aaron Ramsey, Carlos Vela, Jack Wilshere, Alexandre Song, Gibbs and the likes. They all peaked at a maximum of 3 stars. In real life though I think many, if not all of them have the potential to be top player for Arsenal. Ramsey and Song in particular have been sensation so far this season. Anyways I have never understood how FM 2010 players are rated anyways… Some of the ratings are such a load of crap while some sure are spot on.

So since Song and Denilson are not so good on the game (peaking at 2 and a half stars each) I went and bought a couple of defensive minded Brazilian Midfielders in Sandro and Hernanes (both peaking at 3 stars). Hernanes was already at 3 stars and so ready to start the first team for me alongside Fabregas in the midfield.

Next i bought a left midfielder in Jovetic who was promised to be a 3 and a half star player by my scout but seems to be showing a peak at 3 stars now. which is not that bad. I also bought Ibrahim Afellay who again is a 3 star player for Arsenal. Now i have enough good options in attacking midfield in Arshavin, Walcott, Nasri, Jovetic and Afellay. Afellay was a little upset because of the competition for places, but after i gave him a few games on the run he cooled off.

I have also bought some players for the future like Angel Di Maria (he is currently at 2 stars and peaks at 2 and a half). I am training him to play at left back since I sent both my back up left backs on loan, i.e. Gibbs at Everton and Traore at Udinese. Defensively i have bought Per Mertesacker who has been an awesome signing for me. I played him alongside Gallas for the first half, but since Gallas’s pace was slowing down with his age, I am giving Vermaleen more of a run in the second half of first season. Early February I have bought Chellini and De rossi who will join me next season. I will sell Hernanes then and use De rossi and Fabregas in the midfield. I have bought Hamsik as a backup for either of the staring midfielders.

I also sent Vela on loan to Udinese. Song went to Wigan for a season long loan spell and seems to have settled well. Extended Rosicky’s contract for 2 more years only to put him on the market once he signed. He is getting old and is injury prone. Sent Almunia on loan to Barca/Madrid and bought Hugo Lloris who is twice the keeper of Almunia. Bought a great Spanish young Keeper, I cant remember the name now but his potential is like 3.5 stars which is like one of the best for Keepers as far as I can tell.

Luckily none of my players were injured long term. RVP was sensational in the first season scoring almost a goal a game overall. Dzeko also played well averaging just lower than a goal a game. Eduardo contributed well when called upon, though his playing time was limited due to the good form of both Robin Van Persie and Edin Dzeko. Eduardo is a decent striker though at 3 stars.

Good first season overall so far. Second should only be better as I am on my way to win all 4 trophies that I was into. Which should mean decent money available for transfers for next season and also I have already signed De rossi(4.5 stars) and Chellini(4 stars) who are coming in at the begining of the transfer window. I have also signed Robert Enke (very sad to hear about his rcent death in real life) and Sergio Canales and Juan Roman Riquelme all on free transfers and they should also be joining my team at the start of the season.

All in all a very good first season so far.

Now lets come to the important part. What FM 2010 wonderkids have i signed for my team so far?

Well I don’t remember all of them offhand and I havent got the game running now so pardon any spelling mistakes. Below is a list of amazing young talent that I have amassed at the club so far:

1. Lorenzo Crisetig from Inter
2. Stephan El Shaarawi from Genoa I suppose
3. Ryder matos from Fiorentina(bought for some 3-4 millions, but Benfica and a few other clubs happily offer 8-10 millions for him in a couple of years)
4. Adrian from Spain (bought for 3.5 million and sold in 6 months for 6 million to Birmingham)
5. Simone David cheap young Keeper (Juventus want him already after just 6 months in my team)
6. Kyriakos Papadopoulos
7. Gerson from Cuzerio
8. Luiz Guillherme cheap GK from Brazil

There are a few more good ones. Will post about them later. Let me know if you have bought any good wonderkids yourselves and how they have matured for you.

Will update more details soon! Cheer!!!

Arsenal: Mid-season Review

We are in the middle of the season now as 19 matches have been played and 19 still to go. Its has been a pretty decent season for us compared to some of our usual competitors (especially Liverpool). We sit 3rd in the table as of now, 4 points adrift of the leaders Chelsea and with a game in hand. We play the game in Hand today at the emirates against a managerless Bolton side.

I fully back the team to win tonight’s fixture and close the gap to 1 points with Chelsea and overtaking Man Utd to the second spot on the Barclays premier league table. So I can’t say I can complain with us just 1 point off the leader at around the half way stage.

Injuries as usual have been a dampner on the season so far…We’ve lost Van Persie, Clichy and Bendtnar for long… Eduardo, Denilson, Walcott, Nasri and Rosicky have been flirting with injuries like Casanova’s with damsels!!!

This was supposed to be a breakthrough season for Walcott (at least in my mind). But he has struggled big time with injuries and hardly made an impact at all. For someone wishing to join Capello’s squad to Africa, he would have to have a really good second half of the season to impress the Italian Don. I think all Walcott needs is a run of games that will boost his confidence and his natural talents will start shining through again.

Nasri has missed the early part of the season due to injuries but has come back and fit in well and started slotting those lovely goals from midfield. He sure has a lot of potential and if he can remain fit for the next few years, he could really help Arsenal to some titles in that period.

Arshavin has continued to shine and show one and all why he is worth each of those 15 million pounds Arsene Wenger paid for him. He just needs to show a bit more consistency. He plays brilliantly against Liverpool and wins us the game, but then disappears for the next couple of games. If he can settle in some sort of rhythm to give in those wonderful performances consistently, then theirs no stopping us!

Diaby, Denilson, Eduardo, Rosicky etc. have all chipped in with decent performances all season whenever they were fit. But None has been able to hold down to a regular first team place mainly due to injury which has affected their performance. So it’s a sort of Catch 22 situation with these guys, but they will have to stay fit and push for a place to be able to hold onto a regular first team place.

At the back we have had some consistency with Sagna, Vermaleen and Gallas all fit most of the season so far and all putting in decent performances. Left back has been a problem case for us as we have struggled with injuries to Clichy, Gibbs and at times even Traore. Traore i think has got a good opportunity to show his class given Clichy’s and Gibbs’ absence due to injury. Traore sure has a lot of pace and needs to learn how to use it effectively to his benefit. Silvestre has chipped in decent performances when called upon too.

Our goal-keeper has been the weakest link for us all season. First it was the injuries to Almunia and Fabianski, and then it was some really comical errors from Almunia which cost us crucial goals. I sincerely think Arsene needs to buy a good goal-keeper and soon.

Upfront Robin Van Persie had been brilliant for us all along right untill he went off for his international duty and got injured. He was in a good goal-scoring form when he got injured and we will definitely miss his flamboyance up front. Bendtnar has also been out injured for some time now and it is a priority that we buy a good striker. We need someone big and strong. I think Edin Dzeko will fit in perfectly and i see him in the moulds of Torres. So thats my take on a new striker.

Fabregas has been sensational all season. And just keeps proving why the Spanish giants have been chasing him for the past few years. He has scored more goals than in any season i believe and we are just half way through the season. His cameo against Aston Villa was brilliant and he has matured as a leader of the young team.

One person, I’d like to give special mention is Aaron Ramsey. He has been a breath of fresh air every time he comes on the pitch. He looks more and more like the young Fabregas. I think Arsene is training him to be a long-term replacement to Cesc. And trust me he is every bit capable. His long-range passing is fantastic. His vision accurate. He has a good head over his shoulder and he is great with both feet. I am glad Arsene did not bother about the hefty 5 million pound (hefty for Arsene’s standard) and beat Manchester United to sign him.

All in all looks like a great season for us so far. We have Porto in the CL knock out stage which couldn’t have been better for us. If Arsene Signs a couple of good backup’s, one good striker and a decent defender, we could mean business at the end of the term.

Happy new year to you all!!! Cheers!!!

Let the season truly begin!!

Even though the season has begun long back and teams have played 3/4 matches each, the real season cannot begin till the transfer window closes and the shape of the teams becomes crystallized. This especially goes for the teams like Portsmouth who bought around 13 players in the window and sold around 11. So after major or minor overhauls in teams across the premier league and the transfer window finally shut on Tuesday we can now concentrate on football rather than the transfer gossip surrounding the game.

I will be commenting on the dealings in the transfer market of all the major teams and am beginning with the layout for Arsenal.

Arsenal sold its leading goal scorer for the last couple of years to Man City but did not go into the transfer market for any replacement. They also sold Kolo Toure and bought Thomas Vermaleen (who by the way is looking like a really good buy by Wenger) as his replacement.

Arsenal could definitely have done with some more good defensive cover both in the centre midfield and centre half positions and a better keeper should have been secured. I know finding good keepers is not that easy but that cant possibly be an excuse. But you know Wenger, and you should know that he will never agree that the existing squad is not good enough or big enough in spite of selling more players than that come in for the last few seasons at least.

I am not worried about the quality of the team we have. They are all good young players who have great futures ahead of them. What troubles me more is the fact that every year we have a few bad injuries to our players and that’s when we are faced with the apparent question of our squad not being big enough and lacking the depth to compete with our Premier league rivals. Why cant we factor in a few injuries and invest in the squad accordingly before hand?

I remember last season too, in January Fabregas was out and we really missed him bad and the team went on to draw a number of matches in a row  till Wenger eventually bought Arshavin on the last day of the transfer window and given some time he was settled he proved to be a very good signing for us. What I never understood then or even now is why Wenger has to wait till the last day of the transfer window to buy a player of Arshavin’s caliber? What is he waiting for? To get a cut price deal or what? I think that’s a big risk and should not be taken when dealing in the market for players of such high class. You never know when a rival might come in and scupper the deal for you.

Frankly speaking If Arshavin had come to Arsenal at the beginning of January, who knows how that bad run of draws might have turned out and we might even have had a chance at the title. Haggling over a million dollars cost Arsenal scores of points and in the broad scheme of things I really wonder if it was all worth it. I am glad that at least this year Wenger had his eyes on Vermaleen and closed the deal much earlier which gave the new joinee time to mingle with the team and helped his integration in the team to a great deal. The result of which is apparent in his performances from the first match itself.

I remember last summer we were trying to get Xabi Alonso from Liverpool who in turn were trying to buy Gareth Barry. Wenger went in with an offer on the last day of the transfer window which was around a million short of what Liverpool wanted. Around 12- 15 million pounds was the amount speculated then. For a player of Alonso’s class couldn’t we have bought him for what it took? For all you know it would have been us selling him to Madrid this year for more than twice the amount we bought him for. And Last season’s results could have been much different with the Spanish partnership of Alonso and Fabregas in the middle. Anyways, what’s happened has happened. We cannot change that but sometimes it pains me to see Wenger haggle over players of the class of Arshavin, Alonso or Nasri. He is too adamant and sometimes his haggling tactics backfire (like in the case of Xabi Alonso) and the negative impact of the same is very difficult to even calculate. Xabi Alonso was a smaller case to point out. Wenger’s policy has cost us many a good players in the past which includes the likes of Ronaldo (Fergie outbid Arsenal), Eto’o (Was offered by Barca in a swap deal for Henry), Wilson Palcacios who had a trial at Arsenal and we suggested him to Birmingham where he flourished and was snapped up by Wigan only to be sold a year later to spurs for a magnanimous profit.

So for all the shrewd deals Wenger has done over the years, he sure has missed quite a few too. Imagine Ronaldo having come to Arsenal instead of going to Manchester united. The last 3 years the title wouldn’t have been at old Trafford. Henry might not have left Arsenal for Barca and what not. But again we should let bygones be bygones and learn to move on.

One good piece of business Wenger has done in the past couple of years is snatching away Aaron Ramsey from under Fergie’s nose a couple of years ago. Ramsey shows so many glimpses of Fabregas when he was that age. I already think its Wenger’s plan to train young Rambo on the lines of Fabregas and groom him to take over the centre of Arsenal’s midfield before we sell Fabregas to one of the Spanish giants for a record breaking amount in a couple of years.

Arsenal teams looks to have good balance this time of the year especially with not many people out with long term injuries. We could have done with a better keeper I am sure, but Wenger decided to continue with his faith in Almunia. Almunia isn’t bad but he is prone to one off errors which can cost us some valuable points.

Defensively I think we are very well covered especially since Senderos could not be offloaded to any team. I still feel Arsenal should’ve stolen Everton’s deal for Johnny Heitinga and brought him to the Emirates and in the process offloaded Senderos to Everton (who were in dire needs of a defender to cover for Lescott’s departure to Manchester City). I rate Heitinga among the very best defenders available in the market today and he would have been a good backup for Gallas and Vermaleen. Anyways we still have Djourou, Silvestre and Senderos as backup for the centre half position. For Right back we have Eboue as a back up to Sagna and for Left back we have Armand Traore and Kieran Gibbs as backup to Gael Clichy. More than enough coverage I guess. Though the quality drop for the backup compared to the first team is immense at some places.

Given Arsenal’s new 4-3-3 formation. I’d prefer Alexandre Song over Denilson as Defensive midfielder simply because Denilson gives away the ball too easily at times. And I continue to say that Song is fast emerging into a great Defensive midfielder for Arsenal. Arsenal recently tied Bendtnar and Denilson to long term contracts and I hear one with revised terms is on the cards for Song too. Denilson can play in this position as a backup in case Song gets injured etc.

In front of Song I would like Fabregas and Nasri to play. Once Nasri is back from injury I would like to see him flourish playing his favored central midfielder role alongside Captain fabulous. Diaby, Denilson, Ramsey and Merida can play as back up for these positions in the absence of Nasri or Fabregas. Merida looked good when he came on as a substitute in one of the matches and he too recently signed a long term contract with Arsenal. Merida sure has potential and just needs to keep working hard in training to impress the manager for more minutes this season.

For the three forwards I would like Van Persie to play through the centre for the sheer reason of his height. Eduardo/Arshavin can play down the left and Arshavin/Walcott can play down the right. Obviously the front 3 formation is very fluid and they will all keep changing positions so as to make runs into the penalty box. As back up to the wide men we have Rosicky returning from injury, Walcott returning from injury soon, young Jack Wilshere with that sensational left foot of his, Carlos Vela, Fran Merida, Diaby, and Armand Traore etc. As a back up at the centre we have Nikolas Bendtnar who scored some crucial goals for the team last season. Then there are Vela and Eduardo who are natural strikers.

I think the squad has a good depth to it when you isolate each position individually. The problems for Arsenal have been when a couple of players face long lay-offs due to injury and there is not enough quality to fill the gaps.

In spite of all that I still think if Arsenals first team players can remain fit for most of the season and especially the crunch matches then we will have a really good season ahead of us and who knows a much awaited trophy might come our way.

Preferred line up: –

 

                                                        Almunia

 

Sagna                        Gallas                        Vermaleen                  Clichy

 

                                                  Alexandre Song

 

                                     Fabregas                         Nasri

 

 Arshavin/Walcott                                                        Eduardo/Arshavin

                                          Robin Van Persie / Bendtnar

 Subs: – Fabianski, Eboue, Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Walcott/Eduardo, Bendtnar/RVP, Diaby/Denilson/Vela/Rosicky/Wilshere/Ramsey

All in all I can’t say we need to replace some one in the first team (except the goalie) unless it’s with an established world class player. But the bench sure could have been strengthened to a great extent. But still if this Arsenal team cannot put up a good fight for the title as well in the FA cup and Champions league I am sure to be surprised.

 Go gunners go!!!

Man Utd v Barcelona final at Rome

Horrible Refereeing helped Barca to beat Chelsea to the finals at Rome on the away goals rule.

Chelsea got the lead in the 10th minute from a sublime left footed volley by Michael Essien. Barcelona did not have a shot on target for 90 minutes. It took them the injury time to score against a Chelsea side which was tactically superior.

Barca defense was running ragged on many a occasions by some good runs from Drogba, Malouda and Anelka. The referee denied Chelsea a penalty on more than 2 occasions both in replay appeared to be quite obvious.

All in all i feel sad for Chelsea. In spite of being a Arsenal fan, i feel bad for Terrry and Lampard who once again have come so close and are yet so far.

People might debate that Barca was the better side over the 2 legs. But i categorically deny that. Chelsea did a perfect European job away at Nou Camp. At Stamford bridge again they kept things tight at the back and counter attacked effectively.

Barca might have had the larger share of possession, but that counts for nothing unless you have something at the end of it. Messi and Eto were anonymous for most portions of the game. Barca sincerely did not deserve to go through as per me, but well, the Norwegian referee has broken Chelsea hearts.

We might be in for a great final all the same where we can see Messi v Ronaldo again. But Barca will be without both Full Backs Alves and Abidal who will miss the final through suspensions…
See you guys at Rome…

Man Utd 1 Arsenal 0

Another lame match at display in the first leg of the second semi finals of the Champions league.

Man utd started out all attacking and had a chance just after 2 minutes as Almunia was forced to make a fully stretched save.

Man Utd took the lead from a somewhat unlikely scorer in John O’Shea as he found space after Arsenal failed to clear a corner in the 17th minute of the match.

The goal did calm the nerves at both ends but made the game a lot boring. It was a night of good defense at both ends which was followed by measured attacks.

Almunia made around a dozen saves to limit the scoreline to 1-0. He was a man on a mission to make as many saves as the number of shots that came towards his goal. He did let one go past him from O’Shea but that was more to slack defending from Arsenal that his mistake.

Kieran gibbs at left back was phenomenal. He had to handle Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half and Wayne Rooney in the second half and did he do a fantastic job keeping tabs on both of them. He looked a bit nervous against Middlesborough the other day and i was so not sure about him being pitted against Ronaldo tonight. Maybe all the hype in the newspaper got to the kid. He was out to prove that Clichy should be looking over his shoulders going forward. He had one of the best games of his career without doubt and Weenger would be extremely pleased by his showing tonight.

Arsenals creative 4 i.e. Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott and Adebayor didn’t have much of a game and that was the reason there was no finished product to any of the Arsenal attacks.

Song i think was excellent once again and the more i see of the lad the more sure i am becoming of the fact that he will be one hell of a Star player for Arsenal in the future. Diaby though was disappointing as he kept losing posession and hardly created an attacking move.

Silvestre and Toure were pretty solid at the centre of defense. The defense surprisingly looked pretty good for Arsenal. And that would be a positive thing for Arsenal going into the second leg next week.

I still think Man Utd will prove too much for Arsenal in the second leg. Though i wish Arsenal can nip it with 2 goals in the second leg.

See you next week. Till then Adios…

Advantage: – Chelsea!!!

Chelsea have achieved what no other team has been able to achieve this season : A clean sheet at Nou Camp.

That tells the story. And believe me there really isnt much else to say.

It was a really disciplined effort from Gus Hiddinks men who knew the task at hand unlike Bayern Munich who were caught sleeping in 1 half of a football game and paid a heavy price. Gus Hiddink got it spot on tactically as his back four were able to control the famous Barca trinity with great ease and panache at times…

Messi was more mediocre than Emmanuel Eboue…Henry caused a few problems for Ivanovic on the left but the end product was missing. Eto looked like a sulking baby who knows his days are numbered at a team that is playing at its peak.

Petr Cech was indeed the man of the match. It was no even contest by any means thou the score line seems to suggest that. Overall Barca had around 20 shots at goal compared to Chelsea’s 3. So you can imagine that Cech had his hands full. And he was looking a lot different and more confident Cech compared to the one we saw against Liverpool.

Drogba had the best chance of the game but was denied from a decent save by Valdes. Eto was similarly denied in an almost one on one by a superb Cech save.

Guardiola’s side looked a distant shadow of the Barca we hear about in newspapers. Same goes for most of its players. Messi gave away more balls than Denilson does for Arsenal in a game. Xavi and Toure wer checked by Ballack and Mikel regularly.

Barca morale would sure be depleted after this draw and i wonder how it would go for them if Real Madrid pull one over on the Guardiola men in the El Classico at the weekend. Another major concern for the Catalan side will be that Puyol misses the next match following a suspension and Marquez limped off injured after the hour mark. So Barca are sure to lack experience in the centre of defense and Drogba and company will surely look to exploit that area…

I had told you guys earlier that Chelsea in Europe are a very difficult proposition for any sides especially over the two legs. The game isn’t over yet, but all in all it was a great draw for Chelsea though a not so great game for us viewers.

Lets see how it goes in the second leg. I will be here to keep you posted next week. But before that we will know for sure who Chelsea or Barcelona will face in the final of the Champions league.

See you tomorrow with the results of the match between the 2 English giants!!!

Champions League Semi Final Preview

I can’t seem to believe the fact that I am writing about the Semi finals of the Champions League!!

Many great players will be at display in 2 mouth watering clashes!!

It seems like just yesterday when Chelsea was struggling to qualify for the knock out stages of the tournament. And Arsene Wenger might have been frustrated to have finished second is his group. (Though in retrospect I am sure Wenger would be happy now as all seem to have gone well for Arsenal as they find themselves in the Semi final against none other than Ferguson’s Red devils).

Well whether I believe it or not, it’s true as the Semi finals of the champions’ league are upon us. And we have 2 mouth watering clashes lined up for us.

First we will have Chelsea traveling to Spain to meet the current Spanish league leader Barcelona on Tuesday.

Barcelona vs Chelsea

Terry and co. will have their hands full against Messi and co.

 

It will be the true test for a Barcelona side that is yet to meet its equal this season. I say so because Chelsea is one of the teams that have had so much champions’ league experience over the last few seasons. They have players who are hungry to erase the memories of last year, where they reached so close and yet in the end it was so far for them.
All these things apart I think Chelsea are a team that can beat any team on their day and the way they thrashed Liverpool 3-1 in their own backyard makes you think they could pull one over Barca too.

I know with such a prediction I could end up with egg all over my face, but if and again IF it turns out to be true then I will have the immense satisfaction of telling you guys I SAID YOU SO… 🙂 My money will be on Chelsea to win over the two legs and qualify for yet another all English Champions League final.

I am not taking anything away from Barcelona mind you. Barca is a team that has flourished to immense proportions under the able guidance of Pep Guardiola. But they are a team that has already achieved so much this season I wonder if Guardiola can keep them motivated in these crucial last few phases of the season. Messi, Eto and Henry are still potential threat to Chelsea but I feel Terry and company will somehow keep them at bay.

Barca will surely score at home. But their away form is what worries me. I am not so sure they can come to Chelsea and beat them comprehensively.
Drogba is coming back in form and as we all have learnt to know now that he is a player of big matches. He is sure to perform well especially trying to impress those in his pursuit of his capability. He had seemed disillusioned with life at Chelsea at the beginning of the season and i have no doubt if one of the European giants come calling Drogba would go running towards them.

It will be a fascinating tactical contest between Hiddink’s Chelsea and Guardiola’s Barca where the eventual triumphant will be Football itself.

Man Utd vs Arsenal

Not just a battle between 2 of the best players in the world

Second we will see Arsene Wenger taking his young gunners to Old Trafford. Last year it was 2 English giants Chelsea and Liverpool meeting in the semi finals. And this time its the other 2 English giants meeting in a Champions’ league semi final. Just goes to show why the English Premier league is one of the best in the world today.

Wenger who has just rejected an audacious move by the German giants Bayern Munich to take him to Germany will be keep to keep his gunner motivated at their only chance of silverware this season. The gunners are finishing the season on a high with some exhilarating football and with 20 games unbeaten in the premiership and still going strong.

But the season will still be a disappointment for a lot of big names including Adebayor, Robin Van Persie, and Fabregas to have not won a single trophy in the last 4 years now. So this will be enough motivation for the big names to fire in this match so as to take Arsenal closer to their 1st trophy in 4 years.

Van Persie will miss the match due to injury and this will be a big blow to Arsenal. Also Arshavin misses the match as he is cup tied. That will make the creative options limited for Arsenal and Fabregas will have to take a chunk of that responsibility.
When you look at the sides on paper it’s not difficult to think that Arsenal look a somewhat weaker side given their youth and inexperience.
But Arsenal have proven it earlier that this perceived weakness of their’s is indeed their strength. And they could do so again.

Yet I feel looking at the way Man Utd came back against Tottenham in the weekend you just feel that this Man Utd side is still hungry for trophy’s and will go to lengths to win one. So my money in this one is on Manchester united and I know a lot of Arsenal fans will disagree and I could again end up with my face smeared in egg but I am willing to take the risk and bet my money on Man Utd. If Arsenal wins I might lose my money but will still be happy to see one of favorite teams in the Champions league Final.
So you see I will win either ways 🙂

Will update the scores immediately after both matches so keep watching this space for more details. Go gunners!!!

 

Liverpool 4 Arsenal 4

What a game there was at display. 7 second half goals and yet not a winner…

Arsenal took the lead from a delightful team move following a error by Mascherano. Nasri took the ball and played a measured pass to Fabregas who then set it up for Arshavin to slot it in the middle for the opening goal of the game.

That was the only goal of the first half. Liverpool dominated the half but Arsenal got the lead.

Liverpool came all guns blazing in the second half and scored 2 goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half through some more defensive errors via a Torres header and a scrappy little finish by Benayoun.

Arsenal got the lead again after Arshavin completed his hat-trick by scoring a quick double, the first of which was a stunning finish to blast the ball across Reina’s goal and past him.

Then Arshavin scored a late goal at the stroke of 90 minutes for Arsenal his 4th of the game and the game was all but won by Arsene Wengers team.

But the Arsenal defense which at times has seemed liked one of the worst defenses in the premier league shattered again to allow Benayoun to score the equalizer in injury time.

Arsenal defense including the young keeper Fabianski looked completely below average throughout the game.

I dont understand what Wenger saw in Fabianski and why he has not gone and bought a decent keeper in the summer or at least the January window.

I sincerely hope Wenger buys a good first team keeper in the summer and also a couple of good defenders.

Arsenal might be cursing themselves to have given away 2 points as they gave away the lead three times after leading at 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3.

Well all said and done the amazing run of games for Arsenal in the premiership continues as they are now unbeaten in 19 consecutive league games.

Bendtnar for me was the weak link as he hardly managed to touch the ball all evening. If there is a player who is lazier than Berbatov it will have to be Bendtnar. He just tries to put on a show of moving around but somehow managed to hardly get a decent possesion of the ball even once…

I am not such a big fan of Adebayor and dont regard him all that highly, but after seeing Bendtnar today i have started to realize why Arsenal fans around the globe regard Adebayor as such a great player.

Wenger, please sell Bendtnar, Denilson and Fabianski in the Summer and buy at least 1 good defender and a good Keeper. Another versatile defender might not be so bad i guess…

Arsenal v Manchester United Semi Final no. 2!!!

A wonder strike from the World’s best footballer helped Manchester United become the first English side to beat Porto at home and go through to the Semi Final of the Champions league.

The Red devils slayed the dragons in their own home ground after Ronaldo scored a stunning strike from all of 40 yards to give United the cushion they needed to sit back and absorb any attack from the dragons.

It was a classic European job by Fergie’s men.

They will now face Arsenal in the semifinal after Arsenal comfortably defeated Villareal by 3 goals.

Wonderkid Theo Walcott opened the scoring after just 10 mins with a delightfull chip over keeper Diego Lopez. Walcott was a constant thorn in the right side of the midfield troubling Capdevilla on more than one ocassions…

Adebayor scored the second at the hour mark and after the next few mins Walcott won a penalty for Arsenal. The decision was dubious and Villareal players protested to no avail.

Robin Van Persie converted from the spot to make it 3-0. Arsenal are comfortably through.

Once again we have an English side assured place in the Champions league final and who knows we might have another all English Final…

Great game by Arsenal and Good European display by the Red Devils.

Catch you all at the Semi finals again!!!

Barcelona v Chelsea semifinal it is then!!!

What an amazing game of football did we see last night… Chelsea were caught napping in the first half to go down by 2 goals and almost give the Kops a chance to go through…
Gus Hiddink must have had some magic words to say to his team at half time coz the chelsea that turned up in th beginning of the second half was something else… They scored 3 goals to put the game beyond Liverpool..
But i’d have to agree with a lot of pundits out there that Liverpool is one of thos sides that you can never write off in Europe. They scored 2 late goals in around 2 minutes to put the score at 4-3.
The game was there for the taking again, Liverpool needed just 1 more goal to go through.
But it wasnt meant to be for Liverpool, they came so close and yet it wasnt meant for them to go through to the Semi finals. Lampard scored a late goal to make it 4-4 and put the tie well beyond Liverpool’s reach.
But chelsea were looking a distant shadow of the side that so comfortably outplayed Liverpool in all facets of the game last week.
Petr Cech in particular looked like he had been drunk at times. He really was a bag of nerves, unsure where his goal post was and unable to catch hold of the ball or punch it clear into safety.
Alex scored a stunning goal through a free kick.The pace and power of his free licks remind me of another Brazilian free kick legend Roberto Carlos.
Lampard had 2 goals against his name by the end of the match. Drogba was lucky and helped in a big way for his goal by Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.
For Liverpool, Aurelio scored a great goal to break the dead lock in the game through a stunning free kick. Xabi alonso doubled the liverpool lead from the spot when he was brought down in the box by Ivanovic.
Lucas was lucky to have his shot deflected into goal for Liverpool’s third and Dirk Kuyt headed in Liverpool’s 4th from a Riera cross.
The final score was 4-4 and we witnessed a stunning night of European football.
Liverpool have crashed out of the Chmpions League alright, but they go out with their heads held high and with the utmost dignity of a side that was up to any challenge but it just wasnt there night to be.

In the other game of the night Barca went through comfortably into the Semi final after a 5-1 aggregate score following a tame 1-1 draw in the second leg at Bayern Munich.
Today predictions: –

Manchester united to crash out… (Which i hope they dont)
Arsenal to go through on penalties… (Which i hope they do)

See ya after the games tonight…

Barcelona v Chelsea Semi Final!!!

Another Splendid night of European Football…

Barcelona – Bayern Munich:  4-0

Barcelona thrashed Bayern for 4-0 at home..That went right with my prediction… The tie is all done now and beyond Bayern’s reach.

Bayern were caught napping in the first half as Barca started scoring for fun.  It was as if Bayern defense did not do any homework for the Barca Trinity. They looked dazed at the ease at which Barca started scoring.

Messi & co. lead Barca closer to the Semi Final

Messi led the Barca attack scoring 2 of the 4 goals and Eto and Henry shared 1 each.

Liverpool v Chelsea:  1-3

Look at Xabi alonso, he typifes Liverpools performance: Caught Sleeping

In Liverpool the story was much different.. Where inspite of the early Lead Benitez’s men could not keep their nerve’s and Branislav Ivanovic was the unlikely hero as he slid 2 from 2 corners past Pepe Reina in the Liverpool Goal. Drogba , the big match player that he is, scored the third for Chelsea from a delightful team effort to make it 1-3 for Chelsea. This tie too is almost beyond Liverpool now as they cannot be expected to go to Chelsea and win 3-0.

Ivanovic: Unlikely Hero for the Night...

Chelsea showed great character to comeback so strongly from being 1 down. They were helped strongly by the unlikely hero of the night Branislav Ivanovic who put two delightful headers past Reina.

So what have we got at the end of the first leg of the Quarter finals. 2 teams that are more or less through , 1 team which has all the chance of making it there and 1 which has a tough task ahead to make it to the next stage.

I feel Arsenal will sail through and Man U might struggle. But this is Champions league my friend, the tournament where you can seldom predict the outcome, the tournament of tactics, the tournament of away goal rules and where away goals rule…

So lets just wait for a week and know for sure…

Champions League Quarter finals Preview

Yesterday’s matches both ended in a draw. Will tonight be any different?

Lets take a look at the would be squads and the history to see if it actually might be any different.

Liverpool v Chelsea: –

The drawback of playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world is that sometimes you have to face one of your local adversaries in Europe much earlier than you would like. And this precisely is no new thing to Chelsea and Liverpool.

Chelsea will travel to Liverpool in a bid to advance further in the Knock out stages of the championship. But the impetus will surely be with the home team who are currently on a roll of good form and have already beaten Chelsea in their own backyard earlier in this season.

Mentally it would be tough for the blues to forget how Liverpool broke one of the longest standing records in Premiership history when they defeated Chelsea at home, who had been undefeated for years…

Here are the team details as per The Telegraph:

Team details

Liverpool (4-2-3-1, r-l): Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio; Alonso, Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera; Torres.
Chelsea (4-3-3, r-l): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Mikel, Essien, Lampard; Kalou, Drogba, Malouda.
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)

Gerrard- Torres combo is sure on fire for Liverpool off late and I am sure they will be key if Liverpool is to take any advantage to Stamford Bridge in the second Leg.

Dangerous Duo, Beware Europe

For Chelsea it would be the midfield which will be very crucial. Lampard, Essien and Mikel will have to dictate the tempo of the game and control it to Chelsea’s favor. Would be interesting to see how Drogba performs tonight. He is the type of player who usually performs in big matches, and does it get bigger than this?

Lampard and Essien will have to dominate the midfield

I feel Liverpool will have an edge, more due to the tremendous recent form they have had both in the European competition and the Barclays Premier League.

 Barcelona v Bayern Munich: –

Even before i start discussing the two teams its better we take a look at the teams first. So here ar ethe team details once again thanks to The Telegraph:

Team details

Barcelona (probable, 4-1-2-3): Valdes; Alves, Marquez, Pique, Puyol; Xavi; Keita, Iniesta; Messi, Eto’o, Henry.
Bayern Munich (probable, 4-3-3): Rensing; Oddo, Demichelis, Van Buyten, Lahm; Schweinsteiger, Ze Roberto, Van Bommel; Ribery, Toni, Podolski.
Referee: H Webb (England).

Well both sides here are extremely good on paper stuffed with world class players and its difficult to choose one. Then again its difficult to choose on paper. Anyone following the La liga will know of the sheer domination Pep Guardiola’s team has had on the Spanish league this season.

So my pick would be Barcelona. They would be playing at home and if all goes will the tie would be decided in the first leg itself (assuming they score 4/5 goals). But underestimating Bayern would be a mistake as Guardiola would know that Jorgen Klinsmann’s men could well dent the Barcelona defense and get the crucial away goals so coveted in this stage of the tournament.

Messi holds the key for Barca going forward and he has been in the form of his life. Luckily he hasn’t had any major injuries this season and so he has been able to reach the high expectations people have set for him. Lot would be expected from him again this time as he would be up against the wily & crafty Phillip Lahm who is no stranger to the tricks of the trade.

Messi, the man in form

For Bayern Ribery would be the man to be watched for. He is on the target-list of all the top clubs of Europe with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona themselves interested in signing the player. He would definitely like to impress one of his prospective suitors with a dazzling performance.

Ribery, the man to watch out for

All in all, I think Barca would have just a little too much going for them to be able to be stopped by Bayern.

Will update final score after the match… Till then Adieus!!! 

 

 

 

 

Champions League Quarter finals: – Arsenal 1-1 :-), Manchester United 2-2 :-(

Well. What a night of football we have seen…

Arsenal looked out of sorts in the first half and conceded the lead to Villareal through a great Marcos Senna goal. They then lost their Goal-Keeper Almunia and Centre half Gallas too. How do they respond to this? In an all out attacking strategy for the second half which saw Adebayor score a delightful overhead kick to give Arsenal the away goal they needed.

Arsenal’s good form continues… and Fabregas looked great again today as he assisted Adebayors goal with a sublime pass.

Song has been impressing me for Arsenal as i see the number of interceptions he has during the game have been steadily on the rise. And his physical presence is obvious to see.

Denilson still needs to work a lot towards not losing possession so often.

Manchester United trailing after the 4th minute goal from Rodrigez.. Come back from a Rooney goal, take a lead late from a Tevez Goal… only to give it away again from a late goal from Gonzalez…

Defensively Manchester United need to work on as they have been leaking loads of Goals off late…

It was a typical European night except that it was just the first leg. The matches aint over yet.
Arsenal could still lose it in the second leg and Man U could turn it around in the reverse leg.
We’ll see how it turns out in the second legs, wont we? Till then… Adieus!!!

Marouane Fellaini: proving to be one hell of a good signing for Everton

More has been written about his poor disciplinary record and his weird hair-do’s.

Amazing Afro

Weird Hair-do’s of Fellaini

Trimmed and groomed

But people seem to forget the immediate impact the youngster has made on Everton and the premiership in general.

I was wondering what to write about when it struck me that more bad has been written about this poor lad who has just recently turned 21. Yes thats right, he is just 21, and yet he has broken the Belgian transfer record and he has broken Everton FC tranfer fee record when they signed him on the last day of the summer transfer window for around 12+ million pounds from Belgian side Standard Liege. So i thought i might as well shed some light on the good work the kid is doing at Everton.

He is a distinctive box to box type mid-fielder. He is great defensively as well as has a very good knack of scoring goals. His finishing at times replicates that of a accomplished striker. He has already scored 6 goals for Everton in just over 4 times as many games. 1 goal every 4 matches for a Box to Box midfielder sure seems like a very good return.

He has scored some really crucial goals for the team and had a big hand to play in all the 4 goals scored at the weekend against Wigan.

I would have to agree with critics of his poor disciplinary record. But cut the guy some slack, he is just 21. He is still learning the game and will surely get only better with time.

I really feel David Moyes has pulled a summer transfer scoop in signing Marouane Fellaini.

I think Arsenal would have been helped a great way if they had signed him and his physical prescense in the weak looking Arsenal midfield could have been the difference in where we are sitting now (4th) vis-avis where we could have been competing for the title. And more so the signing fits into Arsenal’s scheme of things buy young et al. Though Wenger wouldnt have paid 12 mil for him.

I dont want to take credit from Denilson/Song/Diaby, who have all been turning in some decent performances off late. But at the start of the season they were all just not ready to be put straight in to fill Flamini’s shoes who had done a great job last season.

All the same i look forward to the Champions league matches tonight…
My predictions: –

Villarreal vs Arsenal – Arsenal to nip Villareal by sneaking a lone goal: 0-1.

Man Utd vs FC Porto – Man U 2 win comfortably but Porto to score too 3-1.

Football Manager 09: – second coming continued

 To continue with more on the team I am currently managing in the FM 09 series. I have attached some pics of the various aspects of the game. Hope the same are helpful to you all… 

Secured job as of now…and why not with 5 titles each in the last 2 seasons… 🙂

Great looking personal summary…That’s coz if I lose a match I press ‘Ctrl + Shift + R’ 😉

Current Squad…Great, isnt it?I need a good keeper who has a 5/5 though…any suggestions?

Assistant reports… Like you see… very few players with less than 5 stars on potential!!!

Reserve team… Look at some of the names in it… Great players… but with the quality I have in the squad I had to send some really good players out on loan.

Reserve team assistant reports… good back up players to stand up and be counted when called upon…

Great potential coming through at the club… screen 1

Lots of young players are out on loan too to get some much needed first team exposure!

Great potential coming through at the club… screen 2

First Team tactics… V attacking 4-1-3-2 formation, isn’t it?

First Team tactics… Team instruction page…When giving team instructions do not forget to assign free kick takers and penalty and corner takers etc…

To know the best order for players to take the above corners and penalties, Just click on the views above the GK mentioned against Steve Mandana for e.g. there u will see a tab called attributes, you can choose to select the following attributes for the following skills and then sort it by clicking on the short name of that attribute: –

1.       Captains: – Influence : Choose View – Attributes – Influence (then sort by clicking on the short name Inf)

2.       Playmakers: – Choose View – Position – then choose all midfielders (drag the player name and drop it on the right hand side.

3.       Target Men: – Choose View – Position – then choose all forwards and strikers

4.       Penalty takers: – Choose View – Attributes – Penalty Taking (then sort by clicking on the short name Pen)

5.       Free Kick Takers: – Choose View – Attributes – Free Kicks (then sort by clicking on the short name Fre) see screen shots below for E.g.

Choose Free Kicks, and then sort by clicking on the column heading Fre…

 

Drag and put the player on the right side of the screen...

First Team tactics… Tactics I use in away or tough games…

I have also been recently been assigned as the Manager of the Spanish National team…

Great players lined up… It’s placed at 9th in the Fifa rankings… I am aiming at top 3 by the end of this season.

I am already through to the latter half of the season now. Have sold Tevez for 56 Mil and  bought Benzema (40Mil) and Tranquillo Barnetta(6Mil).

Guys let me know how u liked the post! If you have any queries, do write a comment and I will help out as I can…

Keep playing Football Manager 2009!!! The game rocksJ

Football Manager 09: – Second Coming

Since my earlier post on FM 09 received such positive response, I have decided to write more Football Manager 2009 related posts on my blog…

So here’s an update on the game I have been playing. I had chosen to Manage Manchester United at the start of the 2008-09 season. Been two seasons at the club now. I had purchased Messi (82 Mil) and Andres Guardado (19mil) in the second season itself…I have sold Berbatov and bought Bojan for more or less same amount this season…Also Real Madrid wanted Guardado bad this season coz of his excellent performance for my team in my second season in charge. So I decided to Cash in on him by selling him for 50 milJ. I bought Stevan Jovetic for around 15 odd millions as Guardado’s replacement. I have also bought Johnny Heitinga as the replacement to the tired legs of Ferdinand. To replace Gary Neville, I trained Johnny Evans to play as right defender and he has become a really good right back for me now.

 Also I am training Mamadou Sakho to be the long term replacement for Evra, I dunno why I usually feel the charm of a player ends when he reaches 29/30. So I prefer buying young players to replace the old ones once the senior players start nearing 30.

 I am trying to sell Evra now but there seem to be no takers already for the 29 year old. Also i wanted to buy Fabregas as the centre midfield man for my team, but could not as Arsenal are unwilling to sell him even for 85 Mil. Will try and buy him again for 90/95 mil.

 Also I bought this really promising  young South American AM/FC from Villareal for 10/12 Mil called Roquero. He is good at free kicks and has already scored some really good goals for my team. Also had bought Bojan at the beginning of the season. So now I have got some really good forwards, like Rooney, Bojan, Alex Texieria, Roquero and Tevez. So I am trying to sell Tevez for around 60 mil. So that I have sufficient funds to buy both Fabregas and Pato (remember that I already have around 75 mil as of now). 

 I have already reached the January transfer window and am re-inforcing players for next season. I have already signed the brazilian attacking midfielder from Bremen, Ribas Diego on a free transfer. Also trying to rake in Rosina from Italy on a free transfer, but AC milan, Inter, Roma and Chelsea are interested in the player and have bid for a transfer in January window itself. So I also have bid 20 mil for the player and offered him a great 135,000 pounds a week salary so that he cannot reject joining my team. Then when the transfer is supposed to go through, I will keep delaying it again and again till the end of the transfer window. And when the window closes I will offer him a much lower salary and effectively sign him on a free transfer for the next season. This is a very effective strategy i have been using and works like a charm… 🙂

 Also better way is to keep delaying the transfer till end of season and once the player is out of contract he will join for a much lesser amount. Had once used this technique to sign Robinho when managing Barcelona. When I wanted to offer him a contract in the January transfer window, he wanted a very high salary, somewhere in the range of 125,000 pounds etc. So i kept delaying the transfer and once cancelled, used to offer him a new contract again only to delay it further. This way I pushed the transfer till the end of the season. Then when he was out of contract from Manchester City, I offered him a contract and guess how much he wanted to join my team? Just 55,000 pounds a week compared to almost 2 and half times he demanded earlier 🙂

 I am also on the look out to sign the young Russian Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev on a free transfer at the end of the season so that he joins me in the January of next season. Lot of good English players will also be out of contract and I plan to snap them up on free.

 Another great way to build up a great youth team without spending much money is to search at the end of each season for youngsters who are out of contract. For e.g. I search for players who are 16 yrs old and sort them by clubs. Then i see players from large clubs like Barcelona, Athletic Madrid, AC Milan, and Real Madrid etc… All clubs from top European leagues are worth a try. Offer contract to each of these top club players and your assistant manager will let you know if the player would be a quality/good/Decent/last resort signing. When starting a new youth club, I always sign all that are decent and above. Once I have a established youth system in place, i offer contracts to only players who would turn out to be good/quality players. This wont cost you a single penny and you can build up a great youth squads. Based on training and potential some of these youngsters can eventually turn into good first team players and if nothing will definitely rake in good transfer revenue for your team.

 I have won the super cup and the club world championship this season already and am well on track to win the championship, Champions League, League cup and FA cup tooJ

 I recently bought a Bosnian player, a defender for around 2.5 mil. He didn’t get a work permit, but has still been added to my club. I don’t know how I can re-apply work permit for him and I cannot even play him in competitive matches. Don’t know what to do. If anyone has faced such a situation and knows how to get rid of such a player or how to get a work permit for the same, let me know.

 I will soon post more about the tactics I use and the details about my team and how to optimize the tactics for effective match play once I’ve figured out how to upload the prt screens from the game here on wordpress.comJ

 

Till then keep looking at the space for more FM 2009 updatesJ

 

EPL is in a state of Turmoil, but not so for Liverpool!

Well well well, It was a weekend that might prove to be the most crucial one in the race to the championship. Both Man United and Chelsea lost their respective fixtures and Liverpool thrashed Villa to take the second spot with just 1 point separating them from Manchester United.

Though Man U have a game in hand, the momentum is surely not with the Red Devils as they have lost their last 2 matches and have had 3 players sent off in them. That doesn’t sound like Man U now does it? It sound more like a championship struggler like West Brom or Stoke or even Hull City at the moment.

Liverpool are on a roll right now scoring 13 goals in their last 3 fixtures and conceding just 1. It did not look like a match between a 2nd placed and a 5th placed side. More like a top Premier league side versus a League 2 struggling team. Liverpool were scoring for Fun and the Villa defence looked as clueless as it could be to the likes of Riera, Gerrard and Torres.

Liverpool went into the match knowing they had a chance to bridge a lot of gap as they knew that both Chelsea and Manchester United had lost their matches on saturday.

This weekend would proove crucial to the race for the championship. And if Liverpool eventually win the title (I still think they wont win though), they might look at this weekend and think these last 2 weekends were the weekend that led them towards the title more than any.

Man United have some catching up to do in terms of Momentum and the fact that they would have an extra match in the form of the FA cup semi final might come as a good news to Liverpool, who would then pray for the Merseyside rivals to dent the Red Devil’s morale further.

Arsenal also almost had another scare but did eventually do enough to claim the 4th spot and are now 3 points clear of Aston Villa.

All in all, the EPL is going crazy if you’d ask me and i think we would be in store for a very exciting finish to the season:)

Champions League Quarter Final draws are out!!!

Arsenal and Manchester United were handed relatively easy ties against Villareal and Porto while Liverpool face off Chelsea and Barcelona go against German giants Bayern Munich.

Below is a table depicting the dates and the home and away teams from the UEFA website:

UEFA Champions League quarter-finals
1st leg: 07/08 April; 2nd leg: 14/15 April
1	Villarreal CF (ESP)	v	Arsenal FC (ENG)
2	Manchester United FC (ENG, holders)	v	FC Porto (POR)
3	Liverpool FC (ENG)	v	Chelsea FC (ENG)
4	FC Barcelona (ESP)	v	FC Bayern München (GER)

One sad news for the English teams is that either Chelseas or Liverpool will not reach the Semi’s yet again. Last time Chelsea pipped Liverpool out in the Semi’s, but on the current form doesnt look like that would be easy this time. Man United in my view have got the easiest opponents of the lot. They really should not face much difficulty going through to the Semi finals.

Also Arsenal seem to have got another of the easy opponents. I would expect them too to go through to the Semi’s. The sad thing for Arsenal is that even though they get through to the Semi’s they might end up facing current Champions Manchester United and ther challenge might be put to an end at the hands of their English rivals.

In form Barcelona will face another in form team in Bayern Munich. The winner of this fixture will either meet Liverpool or Chelsea in the other Semi Final as depicted in the table below.

UEFA Champions League semi-finals
1st leg: 28/29 April; 2nd leg: 5/6 May
1	Winner quarter-final 2	v	Winner quarter-final 1
2	Winner quarter-final 4	v	Winner quarter-final 3

Great fixtures over all. Should be interesting to see some great football…

Things seem to be looking bright for Arsenal…Finally!!!

Arsenal on the rise again?

Arsenal defeated Hull city 2-1 yesterday night to go through to the FA cup semi final. Before that they defeated Blackburn comprehensively to regain the coveted 4th place and qualification for the Champions League. Also just a few days earlier they defeated FC Roma on penalties in the knock out stages of the Champions league to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League.

Thus as of now all seems well placed for Arsenal. If only the EPL season ended today I would be glad. I don’t trust Aston Villa (they might topple us from the 4th place)  and more importantly I dont trust Arsenal (the inconsistent performances over the last 2 years are to blame). With EPL and the pressure to qualify for the Champions League out we could concentrate on the FA cup and Champions league and try and get some silverware at the club after a long time.

Things are bright as of now for sure but the road ahead is not as rosy. We face Chelsea in the FA cup Semi finals and some very tough teams are lined up in the Champions league quarter finals draw.

I strongly believe that Arsenal will reach the Semi-finals of the Champions League, more so if we get Porto or Villareal in the Quarters, Even Bayern we might handle. But if we face any other English club or Barcelona, then we are doomed for sure.

Even the Premier league fixtures are gonna get tougher as the season comes to a close.

Date	Team		Team	home/away
21st March 2009	Newcastle	vs	Arsenal	away
4th April 2009	Arsenal	vs	Man City	home
11th April 2009	Wigan	vs	Arsenal	away
26th April 2009	Arsenal	vs	Middlesbrough	home
2nd May 2009	Portsmouth	vs	Arsenal	away
9th May 2009	Arsenal	vs	Chelsea	home
16th May 2009	Manchester United	vs	Arsenal	away
24th May 2009	Arsenal	vs	Stoke City	home
to be scheduled	Liverpool	vs	Arsenal	away

As you can see, Arsenal has to face 3 of the top 4 teams in the last 9 fixtures pending. So each match is gonna be a tough ask on the Gunners. I think the Gunners can maximum take 4 points out of those 3 fixtures. Which leaves very little scope to drop any more points in the other 6 fixtures.  

 Stoke, Middlesborough, Wigan and Newcastle are the fixtures that i think we will get the maximum points from. The Portsmouth & Man City fixtures would be tricky ones and i see us struggling to win.

Lets hope Aston Villa’s champions league hopes are deflated when our rivals Liverpool and Manchester United take lead from one of our other rivals Tottenham and beat Aston Villa. That would not only deflate their hopes of the champions league place, but also the morale of the team-mates who already look jaded and drained out from a long hard season. Aston villa have a small squad and the results of not rotation are showing with a decline in form for players like Agbonlahor and Young who were at the peak of their forms at the begining of the season.

All in all I think the 4th place finish will go down to the wire and Arsenal will just nip fellow contendors Villa and Everton to qualify for Champions league 2009-10.

The Phenomenon that is BARCELONA

The team that Europe is scared of at the moment!!!

Barcelona sit 6 points clear at the top of the spanish league table and are comfortably through to the quarter finals of the Champions league. They are hot favourites to win this seasons European tournament.

The team has thrived under the leadership of Pep Guardiola. Guardiola took over the reins from Rijkaard in the summer and re-organised the squad to create one of the most beautiful attacking team in Europe. Only Manchester United might come close to Barcelona in the amount of Matches won and goals scored and conceded and more prolifically for the amount of dominance in the league.

Guardiola spent around 90 Million to rebuild the squads buying the likes of Daniel Alves, Seydou Keita, Caceres, Pique, Hleb etc…

Barca play the 4-3-3 formation and they play it without any disguise as done by the likes of Chelsea who indeed play 4-3-2-1. the front 3 of Barca are out and out forwards and can in no way be classified as wingers. Eto leads the front 3 through the centre. Bojan is used in rotation or as a substitute and is definitely capable of reaching the high standards as set by the front 3 playing for Barca.

The Barca trinity: - Attack any defense would be terrorised of

In the midfield Barca either play the young but highly promising Sergio Busquets, or Yaya Toure or Seydou Keita in the holding Midfield position. Then they have the ever dependable Xavi and highly creative Iniesta leading the midfield in attacking positions. Hleb and Gudjohnson are also available as options to the coach.

Iniesta & Xavi: - The creativity behind the team

2 dependable centre backs

 Puyol and Marquez are the centre halfs where Pique or Caceres or Gabriel Milito also play under rotation. Daniel Alves has been a revelation and he and Messi create a hovoc down the right hand side. On the left the french duo of Abidal and Henry are no less and Henry especially seems to be finding his form and is as lethal as Eto or Messi if not more.

2 explosive full backs

The defense has seen many a rotations and thats the only thing where Pep Guardiola havent been able to find his best 4 which has led to a lot of goals being conceded by Barcelona.

Going forward the team has scored a phenomenal 76 goals in 26 matches averaging almost 3 goals a game. they have conceded 24 in the league too, which at 1 goal a match for a team like Barcelona is a bit of a worry. The fact that they score so many up front almost always overshadows the fact that they leak quite a few at the back.

the front 3 alone have scored almost 55 goals in the league alone this season and there are still 12 matches to go. which goes to show the sheer terror they might be causing to the opposition defenders. Henry as i mentioned earlier is finding his groove as at Arsenal and Messi is turning into the Best player in the world that everyone debates he is. And although Eto is scoring goals for fun in the Spanish league, question remains open about his future at the camp nou.

The success should also be attributed to the abundance of talented home grown players Barca has been able to produce. With the likes of Puyol, Xavi, Victor Valdes, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan all coming through the ranks from the Barcelona youth setup one can just imagine how much talent the youth setup at Barca has been able to produce over the years. 

The academy at Barcelona has been able to produce stars over the years

There is also the right mix of youth and old at the club. The clubs have experienced players like Puyol, Henry, Marquez, Xavi, Abidal, Valdes and Sylvinho and at the same time budding stars in the form of Messi, Bojan, Pique, Caceres, Busquets.

Young players en route to develop into stars at Barca

With the guidance of Puyol and Xavi, surely we can imagine Pique & Busquets to be the next big names at Barca.

Surely a superstar in the making!!Another Raul Gonzalez for Spain?

And Bojan has been a revelation since a very young age. He has been a breeze of fresh air when the old legs look tired. He has lot to learn and I am sure with the right guidance from Henry and Eto he will be one of the best players in the world in the years to come. Then there are other youngsters like Caceres and Sanchez who have shown potential and with time will surely earn a place in the starting 11. Messi though young is a star as it is now and could only bring more fame and awards to the club.

With the current future in the hands of dependable stars like Puyol, Valdes, Henry, Eto, Xavi , Iniesta and of course Messi and the future in the hands of promising youngsters like Pique, Busquets and Bojan it is all but certain that the club is in the right hands and going in the right direction.

All that remains to be seen is how well the team fares this season and how they take it from there. As of now the treble is on for Barca and my money is for them to at leats win 2 of the 3 competions they are competing in. Who knows they may win all 3 too. Real Madrid sure has some catching up to do. If i was the president of Madrid, I’d be lining up bids for the likes of Vidic, Villa, Ronaldo and the likes to be anywhere close to where Barca are right now.

Watch out Madrid and Europe the Barca juggernaut is not to be stopped anytime soon…