1. Michael Owen should never have signed for Manchester United:
Look at the company he was keeping last night; Obertan, Macaheda, Wellbeck - all clearly reserve players. And this is the category Owen now falls into at United. Ignored when the big games come around, his chances to impress now only arrive in insignificant matches, so the clamour for Capello to pick him is no less ludicrous than expecting Marcello Lippi to give Macheda a call.
Had Owen swallowed his pride and signed for a lesser club, he might be seeing some action in the Premier League, in the process testing himself against international-calibre defenders. When he fails to make Fabio’s 23 in June, he has his own pride to blame.
2. Goalkeepers should stop guessing in shoot-outs:
Following his heroics in the Peace Cup Final penalty shoot-out in the summer, a friend of thespoiler went to interview Brad Guzan to suss out his penalty-saving secrets. Guzan revealed that he has never understood why many keepers merely guess where the penalty is going, and hurl themselves in that direction before the kicker makes contact with the ball. His own preference was to wait, and rely on natural reaction to make it in time.
This worked to extraordinary effect, saving four penalties, bringing to mind Mark Bosnich’s awesome performance against Sunderland in the same competition 16 years ago. So is Guzan right? Are keepers bottling it at shoot-outs?
3. Michael Laudrup is spending today sitting by the phone:
For those who didn’t get their copy of Marca delivered this morning, Real Madrid got soaked 4-0 by 3rd division Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey last night. Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini described himself as, “very embarrassed”, although “very sacked” may soon prove more appropriate.
Amongst the many arrows aimed at the temples of Rafael Benitez Maudes of late, has been the allegation that his ability to bring through young players is limited. Certainly the foriegn teenagers he has brought to Anfield, bear no comparison with Arsene’s shrewd kiddy business.
Three years ago, Arsenal’s youngsters, including Walcott, Song and Denilson, ran riot at Anfield in this same competition. Sky Sports 1 at 7:45pm is the place to be tonight, which is good news for Lee Peltier, Gabriel Paletta, and Danny Guthrie - just some of Rafa’s future stars that night, who will be watching on television this evening.
Elsewhere, Celtic will be looking to recover from the embarrassment of their former manager seeing Middlesbrough as a step-up, by beating Hearts in the CIS Quarter Final (BBC1 Scotland 7:35pm).
The U17 World Cup continues in Nigeria, and if you want to help Rafa find a good young player, Holland face Gambia at 3pm, and then it’s Turkey vs Costa Rica at 6, both on Eurosport 2.
But the spectacle of the night, will be on ESPN at 7:45, where Milan visit Napoli. The Partenopei haven’t lost at San Paolo since 1998 and will fancy their chances tonight. Both sides started the season slowly, but Milan have picked up of late including a win at the Bernabau, whilst Napoli have improved since the booting out of Roberto Donadoni
Above, a memorable evening at Oakwell over a decade ago, but Barnsley’s task may be slightly easier tonight for the absence of Schmeichel, Beckham, Cole, Sheringham et al. Sky Sports 2 at 7:45 is the place to be if you want to see Championship strikers humiliating Rio.
Elsewhere, the U17 World Cup continues where the U20 left off last week - in a vapour of anonymity. It’s Argentina v Germany at 3pm, before Brazil and Mexico are allowed to stay up a bit past their bedtime, to entertain us at 6pm. All the fun on Eurosport 2. There’s a Eurosport 2?
Preston NE 1/ Tottenham 5
There were no League Cup surprises last night as Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester Utd and Tottenham all ensured their places in the fourth round. For the third time this season, Spurs travelled north and bagged five goals, and the highlight of the bunch was the last, which hat-trick hero Peter Crouch audcasiously put away with a backheel volley.
Granted, the scenes in East London last night were abhorrent and completely unwelcome in the game, but fans of both clubs who were present at Upton Park tell The Spoiler that they are fairly surprised by the over-the-top reaction and blanket coverage from the media*. Leading the hyperbolic pack are The Daily Mail, who temporarily cast aside stories about school fees, immigrants and fluffy kittens to print this gem:
West Ham could be thrown from the tournament after this, the ground could be closed.
No, Martin Samuel, the ground will not be closed and West Ham will not be thrown out of the Carling Cup. As a measure of our certainty, if either of those things happen, The Spoiler will actually go through the humiliating process of paying for a copy of your newspaper.
*We are aware that we have sort-of contributed to this melee, but hypercriticism is our bag, baby!
West Ham 3/ Millwall 1 (AET)
The Spoiler can’t help but feel sorry for genuine West Ham and Millwall fans this morning, whose clubs will once again be tarred by the brush of vile thugs who have absolutely no interest in the beautiful game. Several pitch invasions, two stabbings and anarchic rioting made the Carling Cup tie look like something from the 1970s/ present day South America, and not a country mounting a serious World Cup 2018 bid.
Aside from the chaos, a pat on the back is due for Jack Collison, who played in spite of the tragic accident that claimed his father on the way to Sunday’s match at Spurs.
Check out the Sky News report on the troubled game after the jump…
Loading ...
