Year in Review 2011 (Part 2): Royal Weddings, Scandal & The Worlds Most Wanted Man

Posted by Jeff in Opinion

Year in review 2011 (part 2): More incredible stories from the second quarter of 2011 emerge.

Year in Review 2011: April

April was all about a Royal Wedding between Prince William and commoner Kate Middleton. She apparently had posters of Prince William on her wall when she was younger, we don’t know if that is true or not but it goes nicely with the dream Princess story. Although some may say she was upstaged by her sister, Pippa Middleton, who had a facebook page dedicated to her derrière.

Sony faced one of the biggest problems in its history when the playstation network was hacked and millions of users details stolen.

Barcelona and Real Madrid seemed to be playing each other every week at this point in the year with Mourninho turning up the heat.

We lost the controversial Indian spiritual leader Sai Baba in this month and also on the controversial front, did we finally see proof of Aliens at Roswell crash? I’ll leave you to decide.

We also took a look at some cool iPhone apps and at a show jumping cow…. yes we did.

Year in Review 2011: May

This month Microsoft took the plunge and bought Skype for $8.5 billion and Google launched the Chromebook, while over on Twitter Lady Gaga made history by reaching 10 million followers.

Both Barcelona and Sebastian Vettel carried on winning everything while Sepp Blatter started to feel the heat over some dubious goings on over at FIFA.

We looked at whether cell phones were dangerous and we were promised that the world would end on the 21st May. That didn’t happen, unless I am now living in a parallel universe (well you never know), my guess is we might see a few more of those predictions in 2012.

We saw Ratko Mladic finally arrested in Serbia after years in hiding and the then IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested over sexual assault, charges that were later dropped.

Charlie Sheen went a bit, shall we say ‘off kilter’, and was replaced on ‘two and a half men‘ by Ashton Kutcher.

Golfing legend Seve Ballesteros passed away and President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed when US forces stormed his hiding place right under the noses of the Pakistan police.

Barcelona took the Spanish La Liga trophy and the Champions League while Manchester United sealed the English Premiership title. Chelsea sack their manager (again) and Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest.

It was a very busy month of May.

Year in Review 2011: June

While Apple unveiled their iCloud service, Nintendo announced the Wii U in Los Angeles. MySpace was off loaded by News Corp for a fraction of what they paid for it.

Rafael Nadal was winning the French Tennis Open and Li Na made history as the first Chinese winner of a Grand Slam. Later in the month Wimbledon got underway and Germany prepared for the Womens World Cup. Chelsea also got their new manager, Andre Villas-Boas.

There were all sorts of goings on at the X Factor USA as Cheryl Cole was effectively sacked as a judge and replaced by Nicole Scherzinger. Beyonce closed Glastonbury in style but not before U2 and Coldplay had rocked the stage.

The Lunar eclipse seemed to foretell the up and down lunacy of the markets as Greece came close to defaulting on its debts while child vaccination got a massive boost in the arm by GAVI and the Gay Marriage Rights Bill was passed in New York.

There was Weinergate and JK Rowling teased us with the pottermore website. A Picasso painting fetched $20 million, Marilyn Monroe’s white dress sold for $4.6 million and a rare Billy the Kid portrait reached $2.3 million.

Read more in Year in Review 2011 (Part 3) here.

La Liga Football Players Go On Strike in Spain

Posted by James in Football, Sports

La Liga football players are getting ready to strike at the start of the new Spanish football season.

Spanish players in the top two leagues of La Liga, who belong to the AFE (Association of Spanish Footballers), are going on strike after talks collapsed over the guaranteeing of wages.

The AFE want players to be able to break their contracts with clubs if they haven’t received any wages for 3 months in a row, and they want a guaranteed wage fund so that even if their club becomes insolvent they will still be paid.

Like many leagues, the Spanish league is littered with clubs who are not financially stable and, at the last count, 6 are under Spanish bankruptcy protection laws.

Millions of Euros are currently owed to around 200 players by clubs struggling to pay their high wage bills, a story echoing around much of Europe as football wages skyrocket year on year.

The row has been rumbling on for some time now. Players had initially threatened a strike last season over the distribution of TV money amongst other things, but talks then headed off the threat.

Wary of perceived broken promises, the AFE are unlikely to be dissuaded from carrying out strike action in last minute talks between the two sides.

The Spanish La Liga campaign was meant to kick off with Barcelona entertaining Malaga and Real Madrid facing Athletic Bilbao this week. Next weeks games are also under threat.

Photo: Jan S0l0

Cesc Fabregas Makes Debut for Barcelona in Super Cup Win

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Cesc Fabregas makes his début for Barcelona in a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in a confrontational Spanish Super Cup win.

Cesc Fabregas has his hands on his first trophy for 5 years after being at Barcelona for less than a week.

Barcelona beat their arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-2 (5-4 on aggregate) in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

The match was a confrontational, not to mention occasionally violent one, involving one mass brawl, a finger in the eye, three red cards and goals for both Messi and Ronanldo.

The mass brawl erupted after Fabregas came on as a substitute and was given a ‘welcome to Spain’ scissor type tackle from Brazilian Marcelo.

Marcelo was sent off by the referee but not before every player and most of the coaches got out their handbags and started pushing each other around. Barcelona’s David Villa and Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil were both shown red cards by the referee after the scuffle.

The TV camera’s then caught Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho giving Barcelona’s assistant coach, Tito Valanova, a cheeky poke in the eye with his finger.

It’s unlikely that La Liga will take any action because it was not seen by the referee at the time, but Real Madrid are coming under more pressure to-do something about their wayward manager. It’s not the first time he has caused a loss of face for the club.

Perhaps a move back to the Premier League may be closer than we thought, although I suspect the only job Jose wants is to be at the helm of Man Utd.

In the match itself, Andres Iniesta put Barcelona ahead early with an assist from Messi. Christiano Ronaldo then equalised before Lionel Messi restored Barcelona’s lead just before half time.

Benzema levelled the score again after the break but Messi struck again just a few minutes before the final whistle blew giving Barcelona yet another trophy for their display cabinet.

Photo: LaLigaBBVA

Cesc Fabregas News: Transfer to Barcelona from Arsenal Imminent

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Cesc Fabregas news just coming in today, his long drawn out transfer to Barcelona is a done deal with only personal terms yet to be finalised.

After 8 years, 57 goals and over 300 appearances for Arsenal it looks like the long running transfer saga of Cesc Fabregas looks to be coming to an end this week.

It is expected that Cesc Fabregas will be unveiled early this week after agreeing personal terms and undergoing a medical on monday.

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said,

“We understand Cesc’s desire to move to his home-town club and have now accepted an offer from Barcelona.”

Cesc Fabregas has been Barcelona’s main target for over a year now but the strained relationship between Arsenal and Barcelona has caused problems and delays even though the player has been keen to move back home.

Barcelona are angry with Arsenal for luring some of their young players away after Barcelona have spent years investing in their development.

Arsenal for their part, resent the way the way Barcelona have tried to lure Cesc Fabregas away including stunts such as Barcelona players draping him in a Barcelona shirt when he was celebrating a win playing for Spain.

A lack of trophies at Arsenal is seen as the main reason for Cesc Fabregas discontent with the club. In the time that he has been there the only trophy that Arsenal have secured is an FA Cup 6 years ago.

It also looks likely that Arsenal will lose another of their stars, Nasri, to Manchester City for similar reasons.

This leaves Arsenal starting their Premiership season with Nasri and Cesc Fabregas leaving, whether they can cope with the defections remains to be seen but it is certain that alot of people will write their chances off before the league even gets going.

Photo: Ronnie Macdonald

Romeu Signs For Chelsea

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Romeu has signed a four year deal with Chelsea football club for £4.35 million and will leave Barcelona immediately.

Oriol Romeu is currently playing for Spain in the under 20 World Cup in Colombia and has played all their matches so far.

At 19 years old Romeu is just one of the many Barcelona stars coming through their youth academy and he played for the Barcelona first team twice last season.

It seems that he became a target after Chelsea learned that Michael Essien would be out of action for a while after an another injury pre-season.

Barcelona have played safe however and opted to add a buy back clause into his contract meaning that Romeu could return to his former club as early as next year.

Romeu is a midfielder but is versatile enough to also play in a defensive role allowing Chelsea some flexibility if they start picking up more injuries.

Romeu & Other Signings in the English Premiership

Apart from Romeu, Chelsea have also signed goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois so far this summer.

Arsenal have Gervinho from Lille for a reputed £11 million.

Aston Villa bought Shay Given from Manchester City for £3.5 million.

Liverpool have been spending big again, Stewart Downing arrives for £20 million, Jordan Henderson also for £20 million and Charlie Adam for £9 million from Blackpool.

Money bags Manchester City have secured Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid for £38 million, Clichy from Arsenal for £7 million and Savic From Belgrade at £7 million. Big spending but they also offloaded over £20 million worth of players.

Manchester United also bought big, Phil Jones from Blackburn for £16.5 million and Ashley Young from Aston Villa at £20 million. With Van der Sar retiring they brought in David De Gea from Madrid for £20 million.

The transfer window is not closed yet so it will change I am sure over the coming weeks.

Man Utd Finally Beat Barcelona

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Man Utd have finally defeated Barcelona in a football match, although lets call it a soccer match as it took place in the US.

Yes, it has finally happened. After being comprehensively beaten by Barcelona in 2 of the last 3 years of the Champions League, Man Utd finally got one over on Barcelona beating them 2-1 at the FedEx stadium just outside Washington DC.

The last time they came together was at the Champions League Final when Barcelona comprehensively outplayed Man Utd. There were 6 members of that Barcelona team playing in this friendly game and 3 Man Utd players who played in both games.

There was no Messi or Xavi, two of the kingpins of the Barcelona success story. However, Barcelona have proved on their tour of the US that they have strength in depth. Wonderkid Thiago particularly impressing with his skills.

There were over 81,000 people at the game, witnessing two of the best sides in world football soccer go head to head once again in this final game of the tour.

Nani opened the scoring for Man Utd in the 22nd minute, beating the offside trap and charging onto a though-ball from Danny Welbeck.

He sprinted into the box and coolly slipped the ball between the keepers legs into the net. He followed that up with his trademark somersaulting celebration.

Man Utd were dominating and by contrast Barcelona hadn’t forced a save from the Man Utd keeper at all in the first half. The frustration was starting to show with a few rash challenges flying in.

Barcelona started to come alive a bit more in the second half although Man Utd were still creating chances. Nani once again had a chance, this time it was a difficult shot to make and he blasted it just over the bar from a tight angle.

Barcelona equalised in the 70th minute when he thumped a shot from the edge of the box into the top right hand corner of the goal like an arrow. Man Utd’s new keeper, David de Gea, didn’t have a chance.

The status-quo would only last 6 minutes though. The veteran striker, Michael Owen, was put through after a pass was intercepted on the half way line.

With Owen in a one on one situation with a keeper there is usually only one result and so it proved as Owen dinked the ball over the on rushing keeper.

One on one the Man Utd striker is great, at other times he can be frustrating and he managed to miss the last effort of the game with a volley from short range somehow missing it’s target.

Man Utd 2 (Nani 22 mins, Owen 76 mins) Barcelona 1 (Thiago 70 mins)

Barcelona Win 2011 Champions League Final 3-1

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Barcelona have won the Champions League Final against Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley.

Barcelona showed their masterly control of the football throughout the match, dominating the possession in both the 1st and 2nd half.

Manchester United started brightly, chasing the ball down but after 20 minutes they had started to stand off, giving Barcelona the time on the ball they needed to dictate the play.

Barcelona were the first to score with a side footed shot into the corner of the net from inside the area by Pedro. He had stolen some space on the right side as the defenders got dragged out of position. Vidic couldn’t get across from the centre and Pedro had a large area of the goal to aim for.

It wasn’t long before Manchester United pulled something back however as they pulled off a move that Barcelona themselves would have been proud of. Rooney played a couple of one-two’s and finished smartly in the top corner.

Barcelona kept playing their game and in the second half a snap shot from the brilliant Messi caught United flat footed and his shot flew past Van Der Sar, playing in his last game before retirement.

Their third goal was a curling shot from David Villa after United had the chance but failed to clear the ball. The move was again started by Messi whose exceptional close control allowed him to get free on the wing. When the ball ended up at Villa’s feet he curled the ball beautifully into the corner.

Barcelona thoroughly desired the win, not even the Man. Utd. players would disagree with that. On this evidence it looks like they could dominate until the current crop of midfielders retire.

Photo: dersportmanager

Champions League Final Buildup – Man. Utd Vs Barca.

Posted by Jeff in Football, Sports

The Champions League final, one of the biggest games in world football, takes place tonight and excitement is building. Could this be one of the greatest Champions League games we have seen?

On paper it certainly seems so. Two teams bristling with talent, two teams whose philosophy is attack but who do defending equally as well. It’s a mouth watering prospect.

What do you think?

Gary Lineker (famous goal poacher, world cup golden boot winner and ex Barcelona player) said in an article on the BBC’s website that Manchester United could only win if Barcelona don’t play well. In other words, Barcelona are too good. You can read the article here.

In his argument Lineker uses logic to come to his conclusions. Yes Barcelona are a great team, possibly one of the best ever assembled. Yes they have the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. Yes Iniesta and Xavi can dominate games from midfield. Yes they are favourites on paper.

But sport isn’t about logic, especially in such an important game. If it was, we would successfully be able to predict every game and football would be a very dull. No, there is something else going on which dictates games apart from raw talent.

Many teams have dominated games and not won, many underdogs have toppled giants and often the favourites have failed to win the big competitions. It’s what makes sport exciting and unpredictable.

So Manchester United needn’t be intimidated and have a good a chance as Barcelona in lifting the trophy. They have supreme talent of their own, players with something to prove. It’s not often that they are labelled the underdogs and will be keen to prove otherwise.

One cannot overlook the possibility that playing the game at Wembley, which can almost be considered a home game for United, will also have a significant influence.

I am going to go for an upset and just to stake a claim against logic, how about a defender who rarely gets over the half way line, Rio Ferdinand to score?

Whoever wins and whatever happens I think we are in for a great game and a great occasion. The Wembley football pitch has finally come good after the original gardening team were replaced and is looking amazing. Perfect for the passing game that both teams play.

Barcelona Seal Spanish La Liga Title

Posted by Jeff in Football, Sports

Barcelona have captured their 3rd Spanish La Liga title in succession after a 1-1 draw at Laventa.

Barcelona have secured the La Liga title with 2 games to spare, moving 6 points clear from 2nd place Real Madrid.

Their greater head to head results against Real Madrid mean that they cannot be overtaken, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5-0 at home earlier in the season.

Xavi was once again instrumental in their goal, crossing for Keita to head his first half goal. A rare mistake by Pique let in Laventa for the equaliser but it didn’t matter to the Barcelona faithful. The result led to celebrations in the streets of the Catalan capital.

Sealing the win with 2 games to go means that Pep Guardiola to rest his key players ahead of the Champions League Final clash with Manchester United on May 28th at Wembley.

It is an important point for Barcelona, their players were looking tired and in need of some rest. Manchester United can also be in a similar position if they win or draw their next game away at Blackburn and seal the English Premier League title.

Photo: www.fcbarcelona.cat