English clubs keep 100 per cent record after first round
Liverpool 1/ Debreceni 0
After going through the process of finding out who the hell their opponents were, Liverpool fans were generally pleased with last night’s performance. Handsome Dutchman Dirk Kuyt made the difference, but there probably should have been a few more goals.
Standard Liege 2/ Arsenal 3
After five minutes it looked as if The Gunners were going to get hammered in Belgium, but they overcame the two-goal deficit in spectacular style thanks to Nicky Bendtner, Thomas Vermaelen and definitely-not-a-cheater Eduardo.
Spoiler bonus: Inter Milan’s clash with Barcelona promised to be a thrilling affair, but that promise was ultimately broken. Check out highlights of the deadlock after the jump…
Sadly there’s no room for player of the year Ryan Giggs here…
It’s another end of season list, but with a twist. To stop a roundup of the 08/09 Premier League team of the season descending into a top 4 love-in, we’ve tried to limit ourselves to only one player from each club. Sticklers for punishment that we are, we’re also rigidly sticking to a classic 4-4-2. It all ended up being a lot harder than we gave it credit for:
GK - Manuel Almunia (Arsenal)
Pulled off some super saves, stopped an inordinate amount of penalties, and has been good enough to have this ridiculous nonsense about him playing for England rise to the surface again. The Spanish keeper has come a long way from Jens Lehmann’s assessment he was to rubbish to play for Arsenal.
DR - Rory Delap (Stoke)
Rory Delap made a healthy contribution to securing Stoke’s top flight status, earning priceless league (and mental) victories against the big boys at a time when Stoke were looking the unfashionable new kids while Hull cakewalked it. He spent most of the season in midfield but his position is almost irrelevent for what he brings to the team.
DL - Luke Young (Aston Villa)
Playing completely out of position, covering for a crocked Wilfred Bouma and an absolutely dreadful Nicky Shorey, isn’t an ideal way to start your first season a new club, but Young has done the job manfully, without complaint and more often than not, impressively.
DC - Phil Jagielka (Everton)
One of the most reliable performers of the season until that heartbreaking injury, Jags has had a superb campaign, reaping benefits in the form of England
The games that have made this season worth watching
Now that Manchester Utd have pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of the 2008/09 Premier League title race, it’s high time that we start peddling out some end of season lists. Accordingly, here is a top ten of the campaign’s most entertaining matches, which somehow includes a game involving West Brom…
#10: West Brom 3 - 2 West Ham, 13th September
Gianfranco Zola must have been wondering what he’d signed himself up for, watching his first West Ham game from the stands before taking over as manager. A game with a neutral-baiting mix of awful defending and open attacking play, both teams managed to lose their lead twice before an 83rd minute West Brom counter attack saw Chris Brunt sprint free of the Hammers’ defence and clinically place one inside the far post.
#9: Fulham 0 - 0 Sunderland, 18th October
Sunderland’s early visit to Craven Cottage should go down as the best goalless game of the season. Fulham’s goalmouth literally took a battering. Kieron Richardson, taking time off from his usual job of lying on a physio’s table somewhere, had his 25-yard free-kick bounce between the posts twice (before having another free-kick goal disallowed) and Djibril Cisse’s rasping long ranger was saved by the crossbar. However, the Cottagers created their own opportunities in the back-and-forth battle, with Zoltan Gera having a shot cleared off the line from Pascal Chimbonda before spurning his team’s best chance with a Carragher-esque air kick.
Unbeaten table-toppers win again ahead of next week’s collision
Chelsea and Liverpool remain the top two teams in the country after the Blues thumped Middlesbrough 5-0 while the Reds again came from behind to beat Wigan 3-2. So ahead of their clash at Stamford Bridge next Sunday, The Spoiler wants to know which one has impressed you the most?
In the blue corner, Luiz Felipe Scolari has instantly got his team playing exciting, attacking football and has accompanied that with results. They’ve won all four of their away games this season, comfortably have the league’s best goal difference (+16) and have conceded just three goals. Despite numerous injuries, they have continued to shine.
In the red corner, Liverpool haven’t dominated games like Chelsea and have only won by more than one goal once. However, they have already faced three of last season’s top six and whereas Chelsea were expected to start strongly, Liverpool’s form has been more of a surprise. With Fernando Torres out injured today, Dirk Kuyt stepped in with two goals and the Dutchman has already equalled his league total from last season.
Five of Liverpool’s six league wins have come courtesy of goals scored in the final fifteen minutes: does this show a never-say-die spirit that can take them all the way to the title or are they just getting lucky at the moment? Equally, five of Chelsea’s six have been by a margin of two goals or more: is this a worrying sign of things to come or is there a danger of them running out of steam like Arsenal last season?
With all that in mind, let us know which side’s start has impressed you the most with a vote and a comment below.
Liverpool star is an excellent pretend rocker, apparently
The folks at Popbitch seldom miss the mark when it comes to juicy gossip and little-known facts, and in this week’s newsletter they supply details of Dirk Kuyt’s incredulous past:
Dirk Kuyt was the air guitar champion of Holland for four years running.
Could it be true? Did the Dutchman shun training to learn air scales and perfect his air finger tapping technique? Or is this story as real as, well, Dirk’s guitar?
If you have any info on Mr Kuyt’s pseudo-musical side, let us know.
Reportedly, Hamburg’s Martin Jol politely enquired as to whether Liverpool would part with Dutch striker-turned-winger Dirk Kuyt, but was left petrified, alarmed and severely shaken after Rafa Benitez mentioned the £16m price tag. With no new wingers arriving, he will be needed again at Anfield, so a transfer looks unlikely.
Benni McCarthy to Blackburn
McCarthy doesn’t match any of Roy Keane’s three transfer target requirements (played for Manchester Utd, played in the Championship, comes from Ireland) yet a £7 million offer for the South Africa is being readied.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Keane wants another striker and Santa Cruz has stolen Benni’s thunder, but Ince may want to keep hold for now
Footballers lead a blessed existence - the money, the girls, the adulation. But for every upside there is a downside, for every yin a yang, for all the pleasure, there is pain. Especially up in Liverpool, where the players are forced to undergo a series of deeply humiliating training rituals.
Obviously taking his cue from Rocky VI - the most overtly political of the boxing films, in which Sly Stallone trained using not cool things like rowing machines and cross trainers, but instead massive logs, cold meats, and snow - Rafa Benitez has incorporated everyday household objects like boxes and strange poles into his regime. Dirk Kuyt, for one, was forced to balance on a box, as his out-of-view team mates guffawed and poked fun at him. While Steven Gerrard and Jermaine Pennant jumped up and down like looneys.
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