A week ago Chelsea sacked Roberto Di Matteo six months after guiding Chelsea to winning the holy grail, the trophy Roman Abramovich, the Board, the players and the Chelsea fans wanted and by typing this down now on paper makes it really hit home just how ridiculous the last seven days has been.
TweetSome would say it is ironic that, in this most turbulent of seasons in Chelsea's recent
history, Roman Abramovich's holy grail of winning the Champions League is finally realised. In
Munich last Saturday, Roberto Di Matteo achieved what esteemed figures such as Jose Mourinho, Luis
Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti could not.
Ducky's Note: Swaraj Bhat, a Chelsea fan (yes, that species we never see
out here on BFZ) sends in a Champions League final preview from a Chelsea FC fan's perspective. In
the nick of time.
In the end, it all comes down to this. This is it, the Champions League final.
Man City & Chelsea's Champions League hopes hang in the balance, as Ajax faces Real Madrid
juggernaut - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
The last round of the Champions League group stages sees a number of mouthwatering and do-or-die
ties. If you're going to be betting on football, you should be very careful where you put your
money.
The MLS Reserves: MLS On NBC: Major League Coverage: Article by Anders Aarhus In the early days it
was the holy grail of MLS: the big TV contract. As MLS has evolved and grown over the...
In the early days it was the holy grail of MLS: the big TV contract.
As MLS has evolved and grown over the years the focus has shifted from simply finding a TV provider
to finding a provider that would promote and showcase the league the same way other major sports in
America are.
Our final post of the holiday week brings Part III of our 2009 Bringing the Fans Series. It
was three years ago that we first raised the issue of bringing soccer fans into the hold. The
presence of those fans has recently been confirmed by the great ratings for Euro 2012. Can MLS
capture that audience?
The German national team spent Tuesday afternoon watching 'The Amazing
Spiderman' in 3D at a special screening in the team hotel in Gdansk. Tim Wiese,
Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Andre Schuerrle, Marco Reus, Ilkay Guendogan
and team manager Oliver Bierhoff were the only enthusiastic ones in the room with
their geeky 3-D glasses on and sadly, the Bayern Munich gang of
Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Gomez were nowhere to be seen at the event.
You have to admire Olivier Giroud's optimism in turning down a club that has just won the FA Cup
and the Holy Grail of the Champions League, for a club that hasn't won a trophy for seven years!
Even though I am an Arsenal fan I am extremely impressed that he believes in Arsene Wenger [...]
"Because he[RvP] is one of the best no10's in the world" Van Marwijk.
The Dutch national manager Bert van Marwijk opted to play RvP behind the striker, in the no10
position, against Portugal last Sunday. He was desperate to turn things round and for once he gave
in to the strong calls in Holland to play Huntelaar, the Bundeslega top scorer, and RvP, the PL top
scorer, together up front.
"Because he[RvP] is one of the best no10's in the world" Van Marwijk.
The Dutch national manager Bert van Marwijk opted to play RvP behind the striker, in the no10
position, against Portugal last Sunday. He was desperate to turn things round and for once he gave
in to the strong calls in Holland to play Huntelaar, the Bundeslega top scorer, and RvP, the PL top
scorer, together up front.
There is so much to write from my side. The last day troll, the not so sharp Chelsea beating an
ultra sharp Bayern, the England Euro squad and lots of transfer drama. But sadly, final semester
exams have tackled me studs up and I'm kind of recovering from it. The other posts shall be done
soon, but one moment I should take time to write about is this.
I have been reflecting on yesterday's firing of Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and I was
struck by the contrasting comments made by Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner and Dalglish
yesterday.
Werner basically said that KD was fired because of the team's poor league form:
"However, results in the Premier League have been disappointing and we believe to build on the
progress that has already been made, we need to make a change.
Match day. 5 days too long to make up for what happened on Monday night. Days in between where
our opponent for the day managed to replicate what we did last season, that is beating Barcelona at
home in the first leg of the semifinal of their Champions League tie. Which should really set them
up nicely for this match but I have a different idea where that is going.
There is a theory among many that finishing fourth is something of a holy grail. It brings
riches, glorious nights against top European opposition, credibility in the football world and
excitement for fans. And this is true, to an extent. It does bring all of those things.
Another week, another disappointment. I undertook this column the week before the Carling Cup
Final last February and it's kind of felt like I've been firefighting an overwhelming tide of
negativity ever since. That's not necessarily because I have felt positive about what we have
witnessed over the last twelve months per se.
There was always something inherently contradictory about Stan Flashman. He is, perhaps, best
remembered as the "King Of The Touts" (often with the prefix "Self-Styled" attached to it), but
when he craved respectability he would rebrand himself as a "Ticket Broker." Ultimately, though, he
himself stated that he didn't care what he was called as long as the money was right.
Birmingham: Premier league dreams, play-off anguish and losing your head - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
This is a funny old time of year for any team in the Championship. Depending on how you've
fared, you could be singing, crying, or just plain tearing your hair out. Any team from the
Championship can be sorted into one of these categories:
1) Promoted this is the holy grail of this league, you're going to be playing
Premier League football next season.
Wigan's destruction of Newcastle shows that the Latics belong in the Premier League - originally
posted on Soccerlens.com
Wigan put on a show on Saturday to all-but-secure their Premier League status for another year,
and delighted the DW Stadium and onlookers in the process. A 4-0 win over Champions League
qualification hopefuls Newcastle mixed a determined and dogged defensive approach with sublime
attacking play, and Roberto Martinez's men were good value for their comprehensive victory.
From one point of view, Stuart Holden's work in exposing teammate Jay De Merit's alarming choice
in shower songs is faultless. He operates with stealth, a nod to the impropriety of his actions.
Once busted, he neatly defuses the situation with a little light harmonising.
Author Devin Pleuler is miles ahead of you when it comes to fantasy "football"
preparation...
Wenger's, Le Professeur...but he can't match this.....
It may come as no surprise that in the Fantasy Football competition hosted on the English
Premier League's website, the more a player is worth doesn't necessarily mean that that player will
produce more fantasy points.
Alex Morgan and Team USA are ready for glory - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Some deem the Champions League as the most important event on the soccer calendar, others the
World Cup, however for the United States woman's team it is clear that the goal of winning the gold
in the Olympics this summer is their pinnacle.
"Didier Drogba delivered a long and passionate eulogy to the European Cup as Chelsea finally
secured their holy grail."The Sun, 21 May 2012
There are some matches that end up seeming primarily the vehicle for one person to somehow
attain mythical status. The Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern was written, it seems
now, purely to allow Didier Drogba a form of poetic catharsis worthy of fiction or film.
World class keepers on the male side tend to be fairly tall, and even the bejeweled Iker
Casillas is considered undersized at 182cm, or under six feet. The keepers of Europe's better
national teams typically range over 190cm Neuer, Buffon, Cech, Hart, Stekelenburg, et cetera, et
cetera.
This past week saw the U.S. Men's National Soccer team fail in its quest to be part of the 2012
Summer Olympics in London.
The team was made up by players mostly U-23, which means under 23 years old. This was done on
purpose to give the main squad of players, including Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, the
appropriate amount of rest as they play for their own pro teams and also play in qualifiers for the
World Cup.
There is a well known scene in Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" in which King Arthur fights a
black knight. As Arthur dismembers him, the black knight nonchalantly goes on boasting that there
are merely flesh wounds and he will go on fighting. Bruce Arena this week has reminded me of the
black knight.
Is this a Dagger which I see before me? – English club Chelsea sack their
latest coach. The Stamford Bridge club's owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, slayed Andres
Villas-Boas after less than a year in charge of the first team. Poor results and a players' locker
room rebellion burned the young Portuguese manager.
We recently had one of our more unique requests find its way into our inbox here at Soccer
Support and this article is the end result.
The question read something like this - "Do you have a list of soccer songs that I can play in
the car on my way to the game I want to get pumped up before I play.
Ledley King has been speaking to the press this week about his own future and the expectations
of his club for the 2011-12 season. King hopes that it will be Spurs that mount the biggest threat
to the Manchester sides this campaign.
"I hope we can become the biggest challenger to the Manchester teams," King said in the Evening
Standard.
