Kicking off is another poke at the £50 million man. I honestly don't like rubbing salt into wounds....OK let me not lie, I DO...During Tuesday's match, Edwin van der Sar covered 5,176m of the pitch whilst Fernando Torres managed 5,112m....SERIOUSLY!! The United keeper did more running than Chelsea's £50million striker. According to The Sun, if you take into account Torres' fee and wages to date, he has
cost the club £74,855 for every MINUTE on the pitch which works out at £6.73m for a full 90 minutes — or £730,000 more than United paid for Javier Hernandez. Another flop hiding behind Torres failures is £27 million Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko who has scored 4 goals in 3 months. He must be glad Torres has not scored otherwise he would be next in line for biggest flop of the January transfer window.
The Champions League carried on with FC Schalke dumping Inter Milan out as Raul turned back the years to set up a semi-final match with Manchester United and a possible dream final against Real Madrid who secured their semi-final place by finishing off Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 thanks to a howler by goalkeeper Gomes to set up an El Classico semi-final with Barcelona.
Onto business now and being fair and impartial, I will start with the Sunday meeting between Arsenal and Liverpool. Both teams are now owned by Americans after Silent Stan became the majority shareholder at Arsenal and both teams are in high spirits after recent wins. Liverpool, who recently had LeBron James become a shareholder, will be feeling better having faced stronger opponents. Form however is not anything to judge these games by as they tend to be fast and furious besides the tame season opener which is remebered for Joe Cole's red card and Reina's butterfingers which handed Arsenal an unlikely draw. Where is Joe Cole by the way..in fact where is John Obi Mikel come to think of it...mmmm...research needed.
But back to he match, I believe it will be a winner takes all as they are both on the hunt for 3 points rather than sharing the spoils. Arsenal will want to keep the pressure on Manchester United and will be boosted by the return of Wojciech Szczesny and Johan Djourou who had been set to miss the rest of the season. King Kenny will need the 3 points to secure a contract as well as keep Liverpool on track for Europe ( Europa League).
Liverpool may be without captain courageous Steven Gerrad but King Kenny will be encouraged by the team performance against Manchester City which led to Andy Carroll opening his account for his new club. Suarez, Carroll, Kuyt, Wilshire, Fabregas, van
Off to Spain and the El Classico is on at The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu as Real Madrid host Barcelona in the 1st of their four encounters in 18 days. This quartet of matches could have a profound effect on the future of both coaches, which means that full-strength sides, with patched-up star players, may yet be the order of the day. Both teams still have a chance of winning the Treble,with Barcelona looking the more likely as they have a 8 point lead in La Liga with seven games to go. Mourinho and Guardiola will both want to set a precedent for the remaining 3 matches as those will have a trophy and a Champions league Final spot as rewards. Madrid will also want to revenge the 5-0 humiliation suffered at the Nou Camp earlier this season.
I believe this match will be more open with plenty of attacking football and flair as compared to the Champions League meetings later although Mourinho will be more cautious in his approach having learnt the hard way in the 5-0 loss. The result of this match should not be considered a blueprint for the remaining fixtures. As Mourinho himself said, "Each of the Clasicos will be completely independent of each other in this context. Each one will not have any significance in relation to the one before or the one after."
London will be painted Red and Blue by Mancunians as it plays host to a battle traditionally reserved for the city of Manchester when Manchester City and Manchester United battle for a place in the F.A. Cup final at Wembley Stadium come Saturday. United are fighting for a treble of trophies whilst City hope to break their 35 year wait for silverware which has felt all the worse with the success Manchester United has experienced during that same period.
Since City started splashing the cash after Sheikh Mansour's takeover the clubs have met eight times with United winning 6, drawing 1 and losing 1. This a fact Mancini will not dwell upon especially after his teams dismal performance against Liverpool on Monday. United's current form and City's loss of influential captain and top-scorer Carlos Tevez make them favourites to reach the final. Derbies however are not about form, but who digs deeper cometh the hour as seen by the United loss to City at the Munich Disaster anniversary or Michael Owen's dramatic injury time winner in 2009.
With Tevez out and Mancini usually playing very defensively in big games, City have it all to do with the best chance on paper at the moment being getting a draw and taking the tie to penalties.That should not leave United to sit comfortable expecting a win as those are earned the hard way as they showed Chelsea earlier this week. With Wayne Rooney missing through his ban, Berbatov and Hernandez will have to step up along with the rest if United are to make their 1st F.A. Cup final since 2007 and grant Rio Ferdinand his wish off winning an FA Cup medal before he retires.
Bolton and Stoke will battle it out come Sunday for the other FA Cup final spot and the truth is both of them deserve it after hard fought seasons. Stoke and Bolton have battled hard and caused upsets with some of the big teams in the league which is why they deserve their current standings of 12th and 8th in the Barclay's Premier League respectfully.
Owen Coyle gets my nod to win the match though having brought rhythm,flash and flair to Bolton's game-play that was unheard of during the Allardyce era. Many of his squad are now potential signings for the big teams with Gary Cahill being one of the most hunted defenders come the transfer window. Let us not forget Owen Coyle helped mold current Arsenal midfield ace Jack Wilshire when he was on loan there last season. Daniel Sturridge seems to be blossoming under him too and the young striker will have to decide on his future come the summer, whether to stay at n ever-improving team or return home to Chelsea.
Elsewhere in England, the relegation battles continue as sides struggle to stay in the promised land of the Premier League. West Ham host Aston Villa hoping to pull off a miraculous escape of the drop starting with a home win while Villa will want to say clear of the drop zone themselves. Villa look favourites to win on form and on paper after their win against Newcastle. Blackpool will be hoping to stay clear of the relegation zone when they host bottom club Wigan who seem destined for relegation now.
Birmingham host Sunderland in a game where both teams are as desperate for points as Torres is for a goal as they both fight to avoid ending up in the relegation battle. Steve Bruce has done so well at Sunderland and the results over the last two months have been somewhat unfair to him. He will NEED a win to secure his job as the fans are growing ever impatient with the losses. A revitalized Everton host Blackburn and I cannot see Blackburn getting anything out of this match . Why they fired Sam Allardyce only they know, but what we all know is ,they would definitely not be in this mess if they had not fired him. Karma really is a bitch and she is drawing them closer and closer to the relegation zone.
West Brom have the unwanted task of hosting Chelsea after their Champions League exit. Not much to say here as I expect Chelsea to bounce back in RUTHLESS fashion although an upset can never be put out of the picture given West Brom's current form and the lack of confidence Chelsea might be feeling as well as the obvious fact that if Torres starts, Chelsea is not scoring!!
Benni McCarthy's diet let him down at West Ham
Finally, former South African star
That's all til da next time....ENJOY da weekend and all the sports on offer....
Lethario's Take
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