On the Premier League: Notes from Opening Day

It was opening day today for the world's best league in football, the English Premier League. There were plenty of things to take away and still plenty more to comment on, so I won't waste any time.

1. Opening match. The first match of the Premier League season pitted Premiership hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City against one another. Though the game ended in a scoreless tie, there were a couple of things to take away from the match.

Mancini is a diluted ass. Roberto Mancini, I'm convinced, is the worst manager in the Premier League. And I mean worst not in the sense that he's bad, which he is, but I mean worst in the sense that he's just a dick. Mancini started some of his recent signings, David Silva, Yaya Toure, and Alexsander Kolorav in this game. All of them were sub par. Admittedly, this is to be expected of players coming from other leagues trying to get used to Premier League speed, but I still expected better.

There was absolutely nothing lethal about City's game, with Tevez most of the time being the only player who was even in the box at all. They played for the scoreless tie throughout the second half, and kicked the ball around in their own area like the poor sports that they are.

Perhaps the most striking thing though, was the news of what Mancini said after the game. After an extremely impressive game from keeper Joe Hart, who made 8 saves and single handedly earned City their point, Mancini said he would refuse to allow Shay Given to leave City. What an asshole. Given is one of the world's best goalkeepers, and it's a complete waste of talent to keep him on the bench. This again shows how little respect Mancini, and the City administration, has for any of their players. Then Mancini said that he fully expectes Stephen Ireland, who didn't even get a chance to play today, to "play his part" in a deal with Aston Villa's James Milner. Which means essentially, he expects Ireland to leave the club that raised him and the club that has defined his life. Can you tell that I hate Manchester City?

Also in this game we saw the full potential of Tottenham Hotspur's leathality. Gareth Bale looked absolutely unstoppable from the left midfield, and Defoe and Crouch also seemed to be well in form, despite their inability to get one to hit the back of the net.

There was also a pretty great performance on display from Michael Dawson, who I think should replace John Terry at the World Cup 2014.

Benoit Assou-Ekoto completely annihilated my expectations with top class service out of the left back position and a great defensive performance. He could be a treasure this season for Spurs.

Moving on from the opening match.

2. Aston Villa: Just fine without O'Neill. So I didn't cover this much, but earlier this week Aston Villa manager O'Neill up and left the club, frustrated with the deal between Milner and City. Everyone thought this, along with a hamstring injury to star forward Gabby Agbonlahor, could spell a flop for Villa this year. But today, Villa proved everyone wrong with a 3-0 thumping of West Ham United.

Villa did everything right in this game, securing 10 corners in the FIRST HALF. Additionally, Ashley Young looks to be in top form in his new role as the right winger for the club. But there were other great performances from the likes of Stewart Downing, who's excellent service into the 18 yard box and first half goal won him Man of the Match. Stiliyan Petrov also scored on a great strike and James Milner got what could be his last goal in a Villa kit to round out the scoring.

Villa are not to be ruled out by any means in the Premier League this season, especially not after this start.

3. Chelsea: Drogba nets hat trick in 6-0 thrashing of West Brom.

Recently promoted from the English Championship, West Bromwich Albion never knew what hit them. A Drogba hat trick and a brace from Florent Malouda, capped by a goal from ever-in-form Frank Lampard made for the ideal day for the Blues.

Drogba's goals couldn't have been better: one from a set piece, one from a defending error following a corner, and one from about 23 yards out. These are his trademark goals, and he netted each one in excellent style, and proved himself to still be in rich form and to still be one of if not the best striker in the world.

Also on display today was central defender Alex, coming in for recently departed Ricardo Carvalho on his way to Real. Alex seemed confident and on the few chances West Brom had, it was more often than not him who steered them off target on their hopeless quest.

Other notes: Another recently promoted team, Blackpool proved today that they cannot be trifled with a 4-0 rout of Wigan Athletic. Tim Howard made a terrible mistake that cost Everton a 0-1 defeat to Blackburn, and apparently left the American goalkeeper in tears. Stoke City's record signing Kenwyne Jones was taken out of their match today against Wolves just 14 minutes into the match. Stoke would lose 2-1.

Upcoming: LIVERPOOL AND ARSENAL ARE PLAYING TOMORROW AT 11 AM. If you are looking for a way to watch it, here you go: http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=83711&part=sports

Some of those feeds go offline occassionally, so if you want a more reliable one you might want to download Veetle or Sopcast. Both are media players and are 100 percent virus free I promise. However, if you have Fox Soccer Channel, you can just watch it there.

Also upcoming is Manchester United's debut against recently promoted Newcastle United on Monday. Kickoff at 2:55 PM on ESPN 2.

Questions? Comments? Insults? All are welcome.

On African Countries: How far each of them will go

The 2010 World Cup marks the first time the tournament has ever taken place in Africa. This has led some to speculate if an African country will make a surprise run this year or not, as no country has ever gone farther than Cameroon in 1990, when they made it all the way to the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly beaten by England. Furthermore, there are a number of dark horses in Africa that everyone is excited about.

In light of this, I've decided to profile the African teams in the tournament this year to try and see who will do well.

1. Cameroon.














Cameroon is, historically, the best African country at football, especially in the World Cup. Their star player is Samuel Eto'o, who is known for being the fastest player on the ball in the world. They also have goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, who made a name for himself by keeping Espanyol in La Liga this year.

However, there are a couple of red flags for Cameroon this year, the most prominent being the attitude of spiritual leader Eto'o. Eto'o has been publicly questioning his place in the international campaign, and has dropped off in form significantly this year. Added to that, he recieved a red card in the first ten minutes of the game against Portugal. Without Eto'o, Cameroon are going to have a much more difficult time in the tournament.

There are a couple of things going for Cameroon, though. They are known for having great depth at every position, as most players could basically start. This was proven when Webo came in the game after Eto'o was ejected and led the Lions to a shorthanded goal.

They are also in Group E, which will be dominated by Holland, who had an undefeated qualifying run. Left in Group E are Japan, Cameroon, and Denmark fighting for second place and a chance to enter the Round of 16. These are three completely different squads, obviously, so Cameroon will have to work together well and score often to keep themselves in the hunt.

2. Algeria.








The North Africans are a little undermatched going into the World Cup this year, they are probably the weakest of the African countries. They're going to have to be able to bounce back from a friendly 3-0 drumming by Ireland if they want to upset United States or worse yet England. Coupled with a few injuries of key players, Algeria's chances in the World Cup do not look too bright, at least from where I'm standing.

3. Ivory Coast.









My personal favorite African team, Ivory Coast has their work cut out for them in this tournament. Placed in a group with Portugal, Brazil, and the very capable North Korea, Ivory Coast are in what some believe to be "The Group of Death."

Ivory Coast are lead by star player and Premier League leading scorer Didier Drogba. They also have stars like Yaya Toure, Saloman Kalou, and recent Barca player Keita. They like to score quickly and often, and they'll need to do both to beat out the incredibly talented teams in their group.

They also just got a new coach from Sweden last week, although Drogba has come out in full support of him.

Ivory Coast may have their toughest work in the Group Stage, but if they can get past that, they may be able to make it to the semi-finals, or perhaps even farther.

4. Nigeria.









Nigeria are in a similar position to Cameroon. They have one mega giant in their group, Argentina, and then two other basically equally matched teams, South Korea and Greece. Greece is a team plagued with injuries, so Nigeria's real obstacle will probably be South Korea.

Any of these three could advance with Argentina, but Nigeria will have to rely on their experienced players like Bundesliga veteran Obafemi Martins and Portsmouth's John Utaka if they want to advance.

5. Ghana.









Ghana is everyone's favorite darkhorse right now. They were the runner up in the African Cup of Nations after a tough loss to Egypt, but everyone has tagged them as the African team to watch right now. This is a little odd, considering that Ghana is decidedly the runt of a group that consists of Serbia, Australia, and Germany. However, Ghana was capable of upsetting all of those teams. And I say was because Ghana recieved some terrible news two days ago: Chelsea star and team leader Michael Essien is injured and will not be able to make the tournament.

But the team has responded well, and have come out to say that they are more driven than ever to do well. And though they were solidly beaten 4-1 against Holland on Tuesday, analysts like what they saw, and are still calling the upset with this team.

The key match will be their opener against Serbia on the 13th, as the loser will surely be out of the tournmanet.

6. South Africa.










Now things get interesting. No host team has ever failed to advance out of the Group Stage in the history of the World Cup. However, Group A with France, Uruguay, Mexico, and South Africa has been consistently fingered as the best Group in the tournament, with the obvious weakest link being South Africa.

Add the controversial exclusion of the country's all time leading scorer from the squad, and there has been some speculation if South Africa will be the first ever host country to miss out.

However, a lot of people are saying that there is no clear winner of this group. France has been performing terribly in their friendly matches, and weaker Uruguay has shown themselves to be quite a force to be reckoned with. Mexico has one of the most committed fan bases in the world, and are thought to be a dark horse to possibly advance even to the semi-finals. There are no guarantees for South Africa, no matter what the history books say.

This is what I think about Africa's chances this year. Have your own opinions? Weigh in!

On Manchester United: Why they are my favorite club and why they are great.

Explaining the title: I just said "great" because personally, it really pisses me off when people always say "THE GREATEST TEAM/BAND/PLAY/MOVIE/POTATO CHIP EVER." Even if it is true, it's obnoxious and dumb. Except for football, as it actually is the best sport. As I will explain later. Anyway, I think it would be pretty hard to argue that Manchester United (who have won 18 Premierships, 11 FA Cups, 3 UEFA Championships, one Super Cup, and a Fifa World Cup) or really any club in the Barclays Premier League, isn't great. This is the top level of football (followed closely by Spain's La Liga, in my book)

Explaining why they are my favorite: We'll just get this out of the way, as I'm sure most of you aren't interested in my personal stake in this team.

I've only been a fan of this club for about 8 months, but you can't really blame me because I'm from the US. I started being a fan of the club after I bought Fifa 10. A video game. But, in my defense, it's considered to be quite great (Metacritic). I liked using them because I could score with them quite a lot, and I liked all of their players. Easy enough. Looking into my history, I found that a major part of my heritage actually comes from Manchester. So, that makes me legit. I guess. Alright, moving on.

Why they are great:

Reason 1: Wayne Rooney.

Rooney is Manchester United right now, straight up. He's the player everyone associates with them, and they very well should. With 26 goals in 32 appearences in League play in 34 goals across all competitions, Rooney is the top scorer for Man U and probably would have been in the Premier League if not for an injury that kept him out of four games at the end of the season, letting Chelsea's goal eater Didier Drogba (29 goals in League play) pass him.

But Rooney means more than just Man U. Going into South Africa, Rooney is really the only solid forward England has got. With Jermaine Defoe woefully out of form, and an aging Peter Crouch, there's really nobody left up top at England. Gerrard plays like a forward, so that will help, but they still need Rooney up there. Rooney is also simply the most fun English forward to watch right now, for the following reasons.

Defoe: Defoe is simply out of form. He's also basically just a speed forward. He doesn't have too much of a shot, and he's got some solid skill, but nothing terribly special.

Crouch: Crouch is just an ugly player in my opinion. He's pretty good at taking chances, but his goals are never really like, "Wow! That guy is special!" He just sort of has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and he's maybe good for a goal every two games.

Heskey: Heskey is a pretty solid player, but that's it. He's just good. He's definitely not great. And in the World Cup, you have to be nothing short of miraculous. Or at least good at kicking penalties.

In short, Rooney is the life blood of Man U, and of England in a lot of ways.

Reason 2: A history of greatness.

I already mentioned this up top, but Man U has got a lot of established precedent of being great. They are one of only four teams to ever win the Premiership, and they've won it the most of anyone. This is reason enough for a band wagon, which Man U definitely has, but there's still more.

(Pictured above is George Best, considered by most to be the best player in Man U's history.

Reason 3: They get them first.

Throughout their history, Man U has had a knack for getting the world's best players right in their prime. It's true that they usually end up losing them, but they still get them while they're hot. We have seen a good amount of this in recent years. Before David Beckham was famous for "bending it," before Cristiano Ronaldo was just "Ronaldo," they were Red Devils. You can see it happening even now. Rooney is now a star (I know, he was at Everton first, but he wasn't a star yet), and they've got 18 year old Italian phenom Federico Macheda waiting in the laurels. A note on Macheda: that kid has come into a game twice now for a total of only about 30 minutes and scored two goals. That's exciting talent right there, and it's budding, as it always has, in Man U.

Reason 4: Diversity.

This is true of most clubs in the big five leagues in Europe (Ligue 1, La Liga, Seria A, Bundesliga, Premier League), but it's especially true of the starters at Man U. Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, pictured above), Patrica Evra (France), Nani (Cape Verde), Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria), Edwin Van Der Sar (Holland), Rafael (Brazil), are all not only starters, but some of them (particularly Vidic and Evra) are considered the best in the world at their position. The list goes on as you look at their roster for those that don't start but are still on the active roster: Senegal, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Poland, South Korea, Yugoslavia. This is a club of the world, and when you realize that it's really incredible when you think about how all of these different people work together so effectively

They also cast a wide net, obviously, as there are players in that list from every continent except Antarctica. And it's only getting wider, as they just signed Javier Hernandez, the club's first ever Mexican player.

Reason 5: Important English national players.

In addition to reason 4, Man U has a great amount of players from England that are key players. We've already talked about Rooney, but they've also got Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand is important not only because he's a really great center defender, but also because people like him. That goes a long way when you're starting next to John Terry, who's faced a whole slew of scandals throughout his career and is known as a pretty dirty player. Ferdinand is also a really loyal Red Devil. He made a point to come out after there was buzz in the air about Man U not winning the Premiership this year to say he wanted to be one of those guys who "got to Man U and stayed there."

By the way, the "those guys" are also an important part of Man U. These are the extremely experienced (aging, slightly) players that are established legends in England. These are the guys who have been to the World Cup, have been on the teams that have won the Premiership. This is where the leadership aspect of the club comes in. You've got guys like Michael Owen, Ryan Giggs, Owen Hargreaves, and Paul Scholes. Scholes, Giggs and Owen hold countless Premier League records, and Hargreaves was supposed to get a tap for the World Cup this year, but then Capello decided to be an ass and pick Garreth Barry, who will be recovering from an injury and useless.

Reason 6: The Red Army.

Whether England likes it or not, hooliganism is a major part of the Premier League image. It's a pretty big draw. Whenever you mention English football, the first reaction is "Whew, those guys are crazy!" It's what everyone wants to talk about when they go to a match, how crazy the fans are. It's what the media projects as the lifestyle of English football. It's a way of life for these guys.

And if you are interested in hooliganism, you need look no further than Man U's Red Army. Despite having probably the most intimidating name of any other hooligan group, the Red Army is one of the largest and have an established precedent as being insane. While the term has been used to describe Man U fans in general, the memory of all of the vandalism and violence still lives on. They are a large part of why fans are segregated at matches now, with two seperate entrances. They have pet players, like the ever-pugnacious Gary Neville and the stoic impassable mountain that is Nemanja Vidic.

Reason 7: Old Trafford.

This should have been higher up on the list, because it's probably one of the best parts of Man U. Built in 1910, the Theater of Dreams is the premier stadium of the Premier League. After Wembley Stadium, it is has the largest capacity of any stadium in England, seating 75,957. It is the 11th largest in all of Europe. It is also the only stadium along with the Wembley to be given a five star rating by UEFA. It's where dreams are made, it's majestic, and I really want to go.

Reason 8: Sir Alex Ferguson.

Whether you like him or not, the man almost won an unprecedented four Premierships in a row. If he didn't have idiotic owners like the American Glazer family pulling the strings, he'd have a lot more money to throw around and may even still have Ronaldo. He's an old guy with a lot of power and he knows how to use it, plain and simple.

I'm out of reasons. Comment if you like this/have other ideas/think I'm an asshole.