Football Roundup - ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC!

I usually am not terribly intrigued by the national soccer competitions this time of year.  There's not much going on.  It isn't close enough to the World Cup for qualification matches to mean much.  But it is games like the Sweden 4 - 2 England match today which make national soccer truly the highest level of entertainment.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the hero of the match, plays for PSG in France.  Yes a Swedish footballer of Bosnian descent playing in France - a very strange situation indeed. But Zlatan is not just strange, he is preternatural.



Zlatan: From another planet?

Fernando Torres Red Card

Fernando Torres is a massive disappointment - that is true.  If you pull up the last picture I posted of Juan Mata on his way to another incredible goal you will see Fernando Torres in the background sitting with his feet propped up and a cup of tea in one hand and a newspaper in the other.  He's lost his hunger for goals.  Hunger for goals is what fuels a striker.  It is not enough to hold up play, be a creator, terrorize defenses, throw the other team "off balance," or any other such vague objective.  A striker must score goals and create goals.  Neither of which has Torres been able to do (although Mata has; scoring one and creating the other in this game).  This often requires a striker to play through fouls.  Football is a rough sport Fernando and you need to buck up, take the hits, stay on your feet, and then bury the ball in the back of the net.  This is the Premier League so save the tumbles for Serie A where you'll invariably end up if you want to play with guile rather than skill and power. 





Torres needs to be stronger - but not worthy of a Yellow!

 

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Chelsea FC

Group E

			Home			Away			Total
	Clubs	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	FC Shakhtar Donetsk	3	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	5	2	3	7
2	Chelsea FC	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	7	4	3	4
3	Juventus	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	4	4	0	3
4	FC Nordsjælland	3	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	2	1	7	-6	1

Group E is shaping up to be quite interesting.  We've got two absolute football powerhouses in a group with two, how shall we say it? non-powerhouse teams.  Of course, one can always argue that any team in the Champions League is a top team - by definition a team has to finish in the top of their league or win the Europa to even qualify.  Teams like Tottenham Hotspur did not even qualify for the competition.  We're talking about the very best of the best.  And yet teams out of Belgium, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Denmark, and the Netherlands never seem to have as much success as teams out of Germany, England, Spain, and Italy. 

Tottenham 2 - 4 Chelsea: What's the Mata Villas Boas?



Thank you Senor Mata!


Roman Abramovich must surely feel that his decision to sack Andres Villas Boas was vindicated.  The game billed as a chance for Boas to show that he belongs as a manager of a Champions League caliber team became merely a showcase to expose his and his side's weaknesses.  

Chelsea v FC Nordsjaelland - A key win

Well my prediction was a bit off I must say.  I was quite sure that Chelsea would not be able to run away with a 4-0 win, but it is always nice to be wrong in this way.  There were a couple good things about the results from today's group stage matches. 

Chelsea v FC Nordsjaelland

Tomorrow Chelsea is playing a UEFA Champions League game against some Danish team that no one has heard of.  But don't worry, these types of group games can be very exciting.