Tangerine. Tangerine. Living Reflection from a Dream.

Pretty much every single pundit and commentator had Blackpool’s Premier League stay pegged as a very short one. Almost everyone picked them to finish last and be relegated back to the Championship. In fact, before the start of the season, Racingbase had their odds of going down at 1:4.

Even their own manager wasn’t optimistic about their chances, openly wondering whether Blackpool would even get 10 points – a total that would break Derby County’s 2007-2008 record for lowest point total in a Premier League season.

This were so bad that they even brought in legendary Arsenal flop Francis Jeffers (he of the 100% strike rate for England) a tryout. If that doesn’t scream desperation, I don’t know what does (other than perhaps bringing in Eric Djemba Djemba). Heck, they only filled out their roster on Wednesday, signing four players, including Manchester United castoff Craig Cathcart.

Well, look who’s sitting in second place pending the Manchester United/Newcastle United match on Monday Chelsea destroyed West Brom 6-0.

Obviously, no one expects Blackpool to challenge for a Champions League spot. Indeed, it’s probably only a matter of time before their inevitable 4-month winless drought. Still, their win puts them one-fourth of the way towards surpassing Derby’s total and their demolition of Wigan either proves that Blackpool aren’t as bad as we thought or that Wigan aren’t as good.

Or maybe it doesn’t prove anything at all.

Pepe Reina Makes Robert Green Look Like Lev Yashin

So, was Pepe Reina’s howler against Arsenal the worst gaffe in recent memory or only one of the top ten?

The main goalkeeping subplot going into the game was whether Manuel Almunia was on borrowed time as Arsenal’s number 1, especially with

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Manchester United Get Off to a Flying Start

Last season’s domestic double winners, Chelsea, took on Manchester United in their annual pre-season friendly.  Some call it “The Community Shield.”  I prefer to call it “the gigantic piece of metal that Roy Keane once raised over his head without cracking a smile.”  Then again, aren’t many things that can make Roy crack a smile.

Other than Mick McCarthy collecting unemployment, Alf writhing in pain on the pitch, and the cadaver of Patrick Vieira lumbering around in midfield for Manchester City, of course.

As for the game – check out the highlights here:

Chelsea 0-1 Man Utd. (Valencia 41’) – Rooney did what the Germans did to John Terry, namely take advantage of Terry’s lack of pace and sudden inability to judge long passes, sliding a perfect cross past a bored-looking Ashley Cole to Valencia, who easily beat Hilario for the opener.

Chelsea 0-2 Man Utd. (Hernandez 76’) – Chicarito immediately endeared himself to the United fans by scoring the second.  Valencia got in past an indifferent Cole and then found an unmarked Hernandez at the far post.  Hernandez’s strike was clumsy, so much that the ball actually caromed off his head but managed to settle into the back of the net.  Count that as a headed goal!

Chelsea 1-2 Man Utd. (Kalou 83’) – United’s late-game defensive lapses continue as Chelsea get on the board behind Kalou, who easily puts in the rebound from Sturridge’s shot past Van der Sar.  United’s defense went to sleep there, and that’s something they’ll have to address if they want to win the league this year.

Chelsea 1-3 Man Utd. (Berbatov 90’+2) – Chelsea plays a high-line in their own half to try and win the ball back and counter-attack, but Berbatov gets in behind the defense and chips it over a charging Hilario for the clincher.  Great goal from Berbatov and a good boost for him, as he heads into what could be a make-or-break year for him at Old Trafford.

You can’t take too much from one game, especially one played before the start of the season.  However, both teams have some major concerns on their hands – especially on defense.  Terry continued his horrendous form from South Africa and Cole looks like he’s mentally checked out of England.  As for United, their tendency to fall asleep on defense late in games once again reared its ugly head.  Still, it was a thrilling match and should give United some much-needed confidence as they try to win back Premiership.

Fabregas is Overjoyed That He’s Staying at Arsenal

You know those terrorist propaganda videos where they put one of their prisoners on camera and force him to read a statement repudiating their country and touting the wonders of captors?

That’s what Cesc Fabregas must have felt like when he pledged to stay at Arsenal this season.

In a statement that was devoid of any kind of sentiment or joy, Fabregas begrudgingly conceded that he would spend his 2010-2011 season at the Emirates rather than at the Nou Camp, backing up Xavi and Iniesta, or playing out of position on the wing.  Unlike Fernando Torres’ ode to the greatness of Liverpool(even though he, supposedly, also wanted to go to Barcelona), Stevie G’s latest declaration of dedication, or even Luis Fabiano’s “I wasn’t really looking to leave Sevilla, even though I begged Manchester United and AC Milan to come get me during the World Cup” about-face, Fabregas sounded very much like someone with a gun to his head.  Just take a look at some of these quotes:

I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal’s prerogative not to sell me. I owe a lot to the club, manager and fans and I’ll respect their decision and will now concentrate on the season ahead with Arsenal.

I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me. This was the club where I learned my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing. There are not many players in the world who would not want to play for Barcelona.

I look forward to giving my best to Arsenal this season.  And by “my best” I mean approximately 60% because I don’t want to risk hurting myself and scuttling my dream move to Barcelona next season, which let’s face it, we all know is going to happen.  Nevertheless, 60% of me is better than 100% of many of the jokers on this team.  I’m not going to name names, but E. Eboue and N. Bendtner are horrible, M. Almunia and L. Fabianski couldn’t stop shots from my grandma, and R. van Persie is so brittle, he makes raw eggs look like steel.

I made one of those quotes up.  I’m sure you can guess which one.

So, if there’s anything we learned from the Cristiano Ronaldo saga, it’s that this deal will probably get done in January, it’ll be kept quiet until the end of the summer, and Fabregas will get his “dream move” next June with Arsenal netting a hefty profit.

England’s World Cup Flops Dropped From the Team

All the flops not named Rooney, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, and Barry, of course.

It’ll be interesting to see some of the new blood and what they might have to offer as England embarks on qualifying for their first European championships since 2004.  Phil Jagielka was one of the top defenders in the Premiership before he blew out his knee late in the 2008-2009 season, while Walcott, Wilshire, Gibbs, and Adam Johnson represent the hopes of the next generation of English footballers.  Gabby Agbonlahor, however, continues to be on the outside looking in.  Same with Joey “I’m as Good as Anyone in England” Barton.

It’ll also be interesting to see which of the World Cup castoffs gets recalled once the qualifiers get under way.  I think Carrick and Joe Cole could get themselves back into the picture with strong club campaigns, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Robert Green.  Just kidding on that last one.  He’ll never wear England colors again.

And Now for Something Completely Different

A lot has been made of the new “Homegrown Quota” rule for the Premiership this season.  In short, every team must name a squad of 25 players, at least of 8 whom must be have played for an English or Welsh club for three years before their 21st birthday.  In other words, they have to be English.

At least that’s the subtext of this rule.  The stated intention of the policy is to help the English national team by forcing teams to focus on developing young English players while reining in the out-of-control spending by certain teams in the top flight.  “It will encourage youth development and the promotion of young players,” said Premier League chief Richard Scudamore in 2009. “We think it will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth. We think that one of the benefits will be that it will help the England team.”

The rule, which was agreed to in 2009, and its stated goals have broad support throughout the EPL.  Sir Alex Ferguson backs the rule policy, as does Wayne Rooney and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Not surprisingly, Arsene Wenger is not a fan of the rule.

However, there hasn’t been much talk about its legality, especially in light of FIFA’s recently scrapped “6+5″ Rule. According to the European Commission,the rule violated EU labor laws prohibiting the free movement of workers and any discrimination of laborers due to nationality within the European Union. The Bosman ruling was clear that athletes count as workers and clubs can not restrict their movement once their contracts are up. Additionally, Bosman held that foreign-based quotas are illegal under EU labor law.

So, how is the EPL’s homegrown rule legal? Well, according to David Geey, an attorney with UK firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, since the law regulates age and service time with a club, not nationality, it should be able to pass muster. After all, Cesc Fabregas counts as a “homegrown” player for Arsenal because he’s been registered with an English or Welsh club (the Gunners) for at least 3 years when he was between the ages of 15 and 21. Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves would not count as a “homegrown” player for Manchester United because he came up through the Bayern Munich system.

But don’t feel too bad for Sir Alex Ferguson. Nani and Anderson both became eligible this summer, while Federico Macheda, the Da Silva twins, and forgotten man Rodrigo Possebon all become eligible for “homegrown” status next year.

It’ll be interesting to see how other teams react to this new rule. They aren’t supposed to stockpile foreigners, but could teams do what United did and start signing players like Macheda and stashing them away in the academy or in the reserves for three years until they’re ready to assume “homegrown” status? Moreover, teams with established pipelines to South America or Africa, such as United and Chelsea, should be able to continue plucking foreign prospects, knowing that they can keep them off the main roster for a few years while they develop. Meanwhile, smaller clubs like West Ham, Fulham, and even Everton will have to think twice before spending big bucks bringing over a youngster from outside the English or Welsh FA.

So in other words, expect much of the same.

Quick Hits:

Paul Robinson Snubs Capello and Quits England. I hear Capello’s reaction was: “Can I get that in writing?” In Italian, of course.

Wes Brown, too. Guess he got sick of warming Capello’s bench. Now he’ll go back to warming Sir Alex’s.

Mourinho Gives Up on Ashley Cole. Female team officials, hair dressers, and topless models with cell phones in Madrid rejoice.

German ace Mesut Ozil, blah blah blah. Anyone else sick of this yet?

Finally, you have to check out this penalty from Ezekiel Calvacante of the Spanish U-19 team. That’s right, Spain has plenty of young talent in the pipelines. Maybe that’s why England is desperate to go with the homegrown quota rule.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Liverpool is “Worthless.”
At least their stock is. A Hong Kong-based sovereign wealth fund hoping to take over financially troubled Liverpool have deemed the club’s stock “worthless.” In related news, the fund also deemed Ryan Babel, Lucas Leiva, and Jamie Carragher (World Cup version) “worthless.”

The investors determined that the club’s outstanding debt (£320m or so, including £240m to the Royal Bank of Scotland) was so large that owners George Gillett’s and Tom Hick’s asking price of £600m was only slightly more offensive than Aston Villa’s demand of £20m for Gareth Barry.

But cheer up, Liverpool fans. Apparently, the deal is inching closer to completion, which would make Liverpool the richest club in the world. Take that Manchester City!

So, despite the fact that their stock is “worthless” they’re still going to get bailed out by a rich billionaire. Maybe they should have been the ones wearing “AIG” on their shirts.

More Good News for Liverpool Fans
An England court has deemed Rafa Benitez incompetent, and mentally incapable of entering into a contract. As such, Liverpool get a mulligan on every bad deal he ever made, starting with Xabi Alonso going back to Liverpool.

Just kidding. But boy, did his fortunes go downhill once he lost Alonso, or what?

At least Liverpool will get to keep Fernando Torres. Who knows if Roy Hodgson will get results on the field, but he’s already managed to keep both Steven Gerrard and Torres in the fold while getting Joe Cole to sign on the dotted line. At least we know his powers of persuasion are first-class.

Anyway, Torres still has plenty to prove, especially after a poor World Cup that saw him reduced to a cameo role in Spain’s run to the championship. What’s wrong with Torres? Is it his injuries? Is it lack of quality service from the midfield? Or is it because he cut his hair? I’m inclined to go with the hair. I’m not sure why he cut it in the first place; maybe he was sick and tired of looking like Evgeni Plushenko. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been the same since he butchered that mane.

Manchester United Thrash MLS “All-Stars.”
The MLS “All-Stars” boasted an impressive record against European clubs in pre-season mode who were more concerned about avoiding injuries and selling shirts than proving a point. Fulham, Chelsea, Celtic, and West Ham all fell victim to the inspired MLS “All-Stars” and even Everton failed to defeat the “All Stars” in regulation time – a point MLS officials and ESPN commentators really tried to hammer home as an accomplishment on par with winning the Treble, scoring 4 goals in a game, or being Jose Mourinho.

That all came crashing to a screeching halt as the Manchester United Reserves, featuring a few first-teamers who didn’t play in the World Cup (although that doesn’t explain why Michael Carrick isn’t on the tour), put 5 goals past the MLS “All-Stars.” If you can watch the highlights, definitely do it, especially for Tom Cleverley’s beautiful goal in the 73rd minute. It might be the last you see of him all year. Unless you really like watching early round Carling Cup matches.

Sorry MLS fans - Thierry Henry did not play in the All Stars

Jeff Carlisle says that we should have seen this coming. I agree. My only question now is how is MLS going to weasel its way around this result next year. “The MLS ‘All-Stars’ are undefeated in regulation time against European teams while holding a three-goal handicap! Catch the fever!”

The Houston Chronicle thinks that the sell-out crowd at Reliant Stadium bolsters the city’s case as a potential World Cup site. Mexico would certainly love to play a World Cup match there – assuming we haven’t sent all illegal immigrants to the moon by then.

Ryan Giggs is a Poor Man’s Steve Ralston?
If you’re looking for confirmation of the fact that American soccer commentators are a bunch of uneducated, unintelligent, uninteresting buffoons that make Tommy Smyth look like a thoughtful and insightful erudite, then check out this unofficial transcript of ESPN’s D-team (Max Bretos and Taylor Twellman) doing commentary during the recent Manchester United vs Philadelphia Union match.

Scroll down to 41:30 and that’s when Twellman drops this bombshell:

“When I see Ryan Giggs, he reminds me a lot of a player I played with and reminds me of Steve Ralston.”

Of course! Why didn’t I see it before? The similarities are unmistakable. They’re both 36 years old. They’re both midfielders. Giggs and Ralston both have the most appearances in EPL and MLS history, respectively. Giggs has scored in every single Premier League season. Ralston has scored in every single year he played in MLS – except this season, when he retired after only one appearance for New England.

Giggs has won 11 league titles, 2 Champions League titles, and has scored over 160 goals for club and country. Ralston has won two Gold Cups, a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and has scored over 80 goals for club and country. Oh – and neither man ever played in a World Cup, so maybe that’s what Twellman meant.

So, who else do Manchester United legends remind us of:

GK – Peter Schmeichel – a lot like Kasey Keller – right down to the blonde hair.
RB – Gary Neville – definitely a poor man’s Frankie Hejduk.
CB – Rio Ferdinand – reminds me of a young Eddie Pope.
CB – Jaap Stam – Stone Cold Steve Austin.
LB – Patrice Evra – Labor leader Samuel Gompers (because he led a lot of strikes…)
RM – David Beckham – Robbie Williams (he’s bigger in Europe than in the U.S.)
CM – Paul Scholes – Jedward.
CM – Roy Keane – Clint Mathis (MLS’ all-time leader in red cards)
LM – George Best – Dudley Moore in “Arthur.”
FW – Eric Cantona – Either “The Dude” or Gerard Depardieu.
FW – Wayne Rooney – Eric Wynalda – he might suffer the same fate as Wynalda if he and his wife keep hanging around J.T.

The Glorious Leader Finds Your Lack of Success Disturbing

I knew we should have sat back against Portugal. But the players would not listen!

The North Korean national team, despite being the lowest ranked team in the 2010 World Cup field, giving Brazil a scare, and the fact that, despite finishing dead-last at the tournament, their FIFA ranking actually went up by two places, got one heck of a performance evaluation when they returned home to Pyongyang. Apparently, The Wonderous and Exultant Leader Kim was not impressed with his team’s performance.

According to reports, the team was berated and individual players were forced to admit to each and every mistake they made. The most obvious mistake – that they had been born north of the 38th Parallel – didn’t come up. Kim, the wise and divine leader, who is tactically brilliant in a way that would make Jose Mourinho blush, also escaped punishment – even though he supposedly conveyed coaching instructions to the team manager via invisible cell-phone. It’s good to be the king.

As punishment, they’ll be forced to play for Raymond Domenech for a year.

Quick Hits
Ancelotti claims Benayoun is better than Joe Cole. Benayoun is definitely better at coming off the bench, that’s for sure.

We don’t want Eric Djemba-Djemba! Well, we don’t want him either!

Fulham appoints Mark Hughes – a part of Sven Goran Eriksson just died.

Royston Drenthe’s Facebook post about joining Liverpool was a hoax. People were tipped off after he de-friended Stevie G, Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole, Pepe Reina, and Glen Johnson, and poked Cristiano Ronaldo.

Salomon Kalou thinks money can’t buy titles. I wonder if he mentioned that to Roman Abramovich when he was moving to Stamford Bridge. Maybe he’s just jealous of his countryman to become the highest paid Premier League player. Also, it’s ridiculous how anyone even remotely related to Chelsea can berate any other team for trying to buy success.

Finally, we’d like to wish Howard Webb a quick and speedy recovery. England’s best referee recently announced that he would take an extended break due to suffering repetitive stress injury from giving out so many yellow cards. Get well soon!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Liverpool v Tottenham preview.

Tottenham Hotspur (Assou-Ekotto 44′, Bassong 59′) 2-1 Liverpool (Gerrard pen. 56′)
Stadium: White Hart Lane, England
Competition: English Premier League
Date: 16 August 2009
Kickoff: 16:00 BST, 15:00 GMT, 11:00 EST

Liverpool’s 2009-2010 season got off to a terrible start as they drop a 2-1 contest to Tottenham Hotspur! Soccerlens brought you the action live! Click below for the liveblog and feel free to leave comments.

Match Preview:

If there were ever a season for Liverpool to break their title drought, this would have seemed to be the one. They were edged out for last season’s title and posted a club-record for points in the Premier League. With Manchester United losing one Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Chelsea’s age and inability to land a superstar like David Villa or Franck Ribery, Liverpool were looking like the clear favorites to win their first League Title since 1990.

However, Liverpool have been hit with some defections of their own. The biggest one was Xabi Alonso, the influential midfielder who turned in a career year before heading off to join the Galacticos at Real Madrid. The loss of Alonso will be huge for a number of reasons, however the biggest one might be that his replacement, the £16.9 million man from Roma, Alberto Aquilani, won’t be available for a couple of months due to injury. That means that Lucas Leiva will get an extended look in the center of midfield next to the unsettled Javier Mascherano. To say that Lucas has yet to play up to his potential is a lot like saying that Steven Gerrard has an important role on this team. How Lucas responds could go a long way towards determining if Liverpool finally break that title hoodoo, especially since Fernando Torres and Gerrard have missed a significant amount of time in the last couple of years.

As for Tottenham, they have lofty aims after finishing last season on a high note. After languishing near the bottom of the table for much of the first half, the Spurs ended up finishing 8th. Harry Redknapp got the team playing excellent defense and they made a slow, but steady improvement. From February until the end of the season, they only lost to Blackburn, Manchester United, and Liverpool and got a huge win over Chelsea that, more or less, ended the Blues’ slim chances at the title. Wilson Palacios got a lot of credit for the improvement, as did Robbie Keane, who returned to the team after a nightmarish stint at Liverpool.

As such, Tottenham didn’t do much in the offseason, acquiring former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch from Pompey and defender Sebastian Bassong from Newcastle, and saying goodbye to Darren Bent while dangling Roman Pavlyuchenko and David Bentley to anyone who will have them. Harry Redknapp will hope that the progress his team showed at the end of last season will carry over into this season and that Tottenham will be able to realistically challenge for a Top Four spot.

Who will get off to a good start? Will Liverpool take the first step towards securing the elusive Premier League trophy? Or will Tottenham announce their intentions of crashing the party? Tune in and find out!

Lineups:

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, King, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Huddlestone, Modric, Keane (c), Defoe.
Subs: Cudicini, Hutton, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Naughton, O’Hara.

No Pompey reunion as Crouch will start on the bench in this one. King will get the start, which means we can probably rule him out of next week’s clash. Bentley is out of jail and on the bench for this one, along with Pavlyuchenko, the other big-ticket acquisition from last summer that looks to be on the move this year.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas, Babel, Gerrard (c), Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Voronin, Benayoun, Spearing, Kelly, Dossena, Ayala.

Referee: Phil Dowd

The big news is that Gerrard has been deemed fit to play after suffering a groin injury and will start in his usual spot behind Torres. Glen Johnson will make his first Premiership start for Liverpool and Babel will make his first Premiership start in what seems like forever. And, of course, the man on the spot, Lucas, will partner Mascherano in the center of midfield as Liverpool will try and forget about Xabi Alonso. I’d be shocked if Voronin came on, but then again, I’ve been wrong before.

Minute-by-Minute:

90′ + 4 There’s the whistle and we’re done! Liverpool’s season gets off to a poor start as they lose at White Hart Lane for the second year in a row! Thanks to everyone who followed along! See you next time!

90′ + 2 Tottenham make the change and here comes Pavlyuchenko. Meanwhile, Huddlestone and Lucas get into a shoving match. No cards, though, as it was really more posturing than anything else.

90′ Three minutes will be added on. Pavlyuchenko will come on for Defoe as Spurs look to waste some time.

89′ Liverpool assistant manager, Sammy Lee, has been sent into the stands. Presumably, he said something to Dowd that the ref didn’t appreciate.

87′ Needless to say, Rafa is not happy about that non-call. Torres gets it in the box and tries to cross it. It hits Assou-Ekotto and Liverpool want a handball. The linesman says no, and we’ll play on. On the replay, it did hit the arm, but only after Assou-Ekotto pulled it up and pressed it against his chest.

86′ Voronin almost makes good as he gets a great through-ball from Benayoun and he’s alone with the keeper. Assou-Ekotto shoves him down blatantly, but no penalty! That’s going to be a talking point after the match.

85′ Long pass down the left for Defoe, and he nearly gets past Ayala, which would give him a clear path towards the box. Ayala grabs him, though, and is called for a foul.

83′ Long pass into the box for Torres, but it eludes him slightly and Gomes is able to hold on. King looks like he may have gotten a touch on it, in which case it would be an illegal backpass, but it’s not called by the refs. Meanwhile, Modric will come off for O’Hara as Spurs will try and preserve this lead.

82′ Long punt from Reina and he nearly connects with Torres. They did that a lot last season, too. Torres can’t quite get to it, and Gomes corrals it.

81′ Well, time to see what both of these teams are made of. Can Liverpool fight back and salvage something from this match? Can Tottenham hold on and keep Liverpool off the scoresheet?

79′ Kuyt comes off for Voronin. I would have withdrawn Lucas, but that’s just me. Meanwhile, Corluka and Defoe clear the corner from immediate danger.

78′ Hell has frozen over and Voronin looks like he’s coming on. They must be desperate. Benayoun gets some space along the edge of the box and he fires a shot that takes a deflection off King for a corner.

77′ Assou-Ekotto throw it so high and far that not even Crouch can get to it. He’s only 6’7”, you know. Not seven-feet tall.

76′ Benayoun looks to bring it down with his arm near the center-circle and the refs take their time before calling the infraction. That draws some boos from the Liverpool fans in attendance.

75′ Skrtel will finally come off and the youngster, Ayala, will make his EPL debut.

74′ Assou-Ekotto tries to play the jump-ball into the box for Crouch, and he gets his head on it (and really, he has no excuse not to win that one). It lacks pace, though, and Reina takes it easily.

73′ Corluka gets caught out of position and Gerrard blows by him down the left. He goes for a shot but it lacks power and Gomes easily smothers it.

72′ Johnson sends in a great cross into the center of the box and Torres gets his head on it but he can’t direct it on target. King and Corluka had him well played there.

71′ Miscalculation by King as he jumps in front of a cross but it eludes him and falls to Torres in the box. King recovers, though, and is able to get it away before Torres can do anything with it.

69′ Great run from Lennon into the box and he cuts across and shakes Carragher off his tail. He sends a cross into the center of the box, but Modric can’t get to it in time. He gets hit with a great tackle from Mascherano and Reina saves the corner but gives up the throw.

68′ Babel will come off for Benayoun, and Babel’s lackluster effort will not endear him to his manager. Meanwhile, Keane will be replaced by the former Liverpool man Crouch. Gerrard’s free kick into the box is poor as Huddlestone easily clears it away.

67′ Crouch is also standing at the touchline and he’ll be coming on, probably for Keane. Meanwhile, Assou-Ekotto gives up a free kick in a dangerous area deep down the right flank. He gets booked and this ref is certainly giving out these cards like they’re going out of style.

66′ Keane sends a hard shot from long-range that stings Reina’s palms but ends up giving the keeper very little problem.

63′ Benayoun gets his instructions and he’ll be coming on soon. Liverpool could use some of his magic right now.

62′ Gerrard sends in his corner but Huddlestone heads it away.

61′ Well, things have certainly picked up, haven’t they? Liverpool win a free kick from about 30 yards out on the left flank. Gerrard curls it towards goal, but Gomes knocks it out for a corner.

59′ GOAL! Long pass to Defoe and Carragher elbows him in the face and prevents him from getting on the end of it. That’ll be a booking for Carragher and Spurs will have a free kick from a good 40 yards out or so. Modric sends it towards the far post from the right wing and Bassong heads it strongly past Reina at the near post! Gerrard had jumped for it but it ended up going over his head and right into Bassong’s path! What a great debut for the ex-Newcastle man!

58′ Defoe gets the long pass into the Liverpool box and he turns and fires it. Carragher slides in and makes a great tackle and it’s a corner. Nothing doing on the corner as Liverpool clear it easily.

57′ Liverpool attack again as Babel gets it deep down the left. Corluka stays with him and wins it with a strong tackle.

56′ GOAL! Gomes gets booked for the challenge and Gerrard will step up to take it. He sends it down the middle and it easily beats Gomes, who dove to his right. Well, Gomes has no one to blame but himself.

55′ Johnson makes a strong run into the box and splits the defense. Gomes comes out and is called for the foul and Liverpool have a penalty! Well, that will certainly change the complexion of the game.

54′ Nothing doing on the corner as Defoe gets called for a push inside the box.

53′ Insua tries to clear it, but it’s right into Modric’s path. He takes a strong touch, though, and loses it. He had acres of space to run to and really could have made things interesting there. Keane then sends it long to Defoe who holds it up well. He lays it off to Palacios, who makes the run down the center. He fires a great shot that forces an even better save from Reina.

51′ Skrtel gets booked as he fouls Keane down the left wing. Benitez has Ayala warming up, so Skrtel’s day could be finished soon. Maybe they should have kept Hyypia after all.

50′ According to the commentators, Skrtel and Carragher have switched places because Skrtel can only turn his head to one side. Why not substitute him, then?

49′ Resolute defending from Spurs as Gerrard gets it inside the box. Corluka pokes it away and Liverpool come back with another chance, this time through Kuyt. Spurs clear it away but Kuyt gets it back. He sets up Gerrard from long-range, but his shot is just wide of the post. It looks like Gomes may have gotten a finger on it, but the refs don’t give the corner.

48′ Another charge from Spurs and Modric gets fouled by Mascherano and the Argentine gets a talking too from the official. He better be careful, as he’s already on a yellow.

47′ Nothing doing on the corner and Lennon gets it and makes a brilliant run down the right. He waltzes into the box, but he loses it as Lucas is back to make the excellent tackle.

46′ Liverpool kick off and we’re underway. Liverpool win an early corner as Assou-Ekotto deflects Kuyt’s cross out.

46′ Well, Liverpool were a second-half squad all last season. Will it be the same today?

46′ They replay the Assou-Ekotto goal and I really didn’t do it much justice here. That was a brilliant shot, especially from a guy with zero career goals.

Spurs outplayed Liverpool and deserve to be up by more than 1 goal. If it weren’t for Pepe Reina’s brilliant goalkeeping, then this one could already be out of reach for Liverpool. Lucas has yet to get into a groove with Stevie G and Torres and the Spurs defense has done a great job shutting them down. This is where both managers earn their money, and Rafa Benitez will have to figure out how to get his team going and Harry Redknapp will try and stop them from getting to gear.

45′ + 4 There’s the whistle and we’re at halftime! See you in the second half!

45′ + 1 There will be four minutes added on due to all the injuries.

44′ GOAL! Huddlestone’s free kick hits the wall, but it bounces out to Assou-Ekotto, who is outside the right edge of the box. He fires it to the far post and it tucks in at the top corner! What a rocket of a strike and Spurs will take a deserved lead!

43′ Palacios gets fouled by Skrtel on the edge of the penalty box, and Spurs keep getting opportunities.

42′ Robbie Keane with another chance as Palacios heads it towards him on the left edge of the box. Keane tries to volley it on target, but it’s over the bar. This certainly isn’t the effort Keane wanted, especially against his old team.

41′ Liverpool on the break and Babel keeps it rather than try and set up Gerrard or Torres. He fires a shot that’s easily handled by Gomes

40′ Palacios makes a good run down the right, but his cross into the center of goal for Keane is knocked away by Johnson.

39′ Gerrard’s corner is knocked out by Huddlestone for a throw. Johnson tries to feed Gerrard in the box, but King is there to kick it away.

38′ Long pass to Torres, and the Spaniard is flagged for being offside. King gives him a little push to the ground, and Torres takes exception to that. Nothing comes of it, though, and Liverpool come back and win a corner.

37′ Poor throw-in from Liverpool and Modric casually jumps in front of it and nearly makes something out of nothing. He loses it, though, and that would have been an embarrassing moment for Liverpool if Spurs had scored there.

35′ On the corner, Defoe gets a free header, but it’s off target.

34′ Keane with another great chance as Modric makes a run down the center. He lays it off to Keane down the right and the Spurs skipper tries to chip it over Reina, but the keeper makes a great save to concede the corner. That’s two chances for Keane now.

33′ Spurs will have a free kick from about 35 yards, but it’s more centered than their previous one. Huddlestone takes it and it takes a slight deflection out for a corner.

31′ Mascherano barges into Lennon and the Argentine is booked for the foul. Mascherano is down, though, and he spends a lot of time on the ground. Ultimately, he’s up and he declines the stretcher. What a gamer!

30′ Great chance for Spurs as Keane brings it down and sends it to Lennon. He fires a cross from the right flank to the far post for Modric, who then chips a nice cross towards an unmarked Keane in front of goal. Keane heads it towards the back of the net, but Reina makes a great save! Wow! That one had “goal” written all over it.

29′ Gerrard fires a speculative effort from long range and it’s well wide of the post.

28′ Kind of a dull game so far as neither team has come close to scoring.

27′ Defoe gets it inside the box, but Carragher makes a great tackle on him before he can square up to shoot. To be fair to Lucas, Defoe hasn’t really done much today, either.

25′ Lennon loses the ball and sticks out his boot as he tries to take it away from Skrtel. He gets none of the ball and plenty of Skrtel and Lennon gets booked for a stupid foul. Skrtel, meanwhile, seems to be complaining of double-vision and he’s on the sideline getting looked at. He probably has a concussion. I doubt it’s because Lennon is so fast that Skrtel is having trouble seeing him.

23′ Carragher sends a great long cross from the right flank to the left edge of the box to Torres. He splits the defenders, but he can’t control the header. Otherwise it probably would have been a goal for him.

21′ Tottenham get a free kick and Modric will take it from about 35 yards out or so. Terrible delivery from him, though, as they try to play it across to Assou Ekotto. That was an interesting choice. Anyway, Spurs get a throw and Lennon has the ball inside the right edge of the box. He tries a shot, but it’s wide of the post.

20′ Gerrard gets it and passes it to Lucas. He tries to feed it to Babel down the left, but Lucas’ pass is too strong and results in a turnover.

19′ Carragher has been bandaged around his head and it looks like he’s wearing a headband out there. Skrtel looks a little dazed, though, and he’s still seeing little birdies, that’s for sure.

18′ Skrtel is back on as Carragher is still off. The vice-captain looks to be getting stitches. Anyway, Reina smartly stalls to give Carragher as much time as possible. Spurs get it and Lennon tries to cross it from deep down the right. His effort is blocked, though, and Carragher is ready to come back.

17′ So, Liverpool may be playing without their center-backs for a few moments. Rafa is talking to Torres, so maybe El Nino will take command in the center of defense?

15′ Modric sends it in to Keane, who works on Skrtel deep down the left flank. Keane loses it as Skrtel makes an excellent play on defense. A few moments later, Carragher and Skrtel have a meeting of the minds and both men are down. Carragher probably should have backed off or called him off as Skrtel seemed to have the position, but it happened really quickly so it’s wasn’t really anyone’s fault.

14′ Some fancy footwork from Palacios and he seems to tie himself up as a result. He eventually loses it, but Tottenham end up winning a throw-in.

13′ Lucas finally gets a touch. He completed a short pass to Torres outside the box. Johnson then whips in a cross into the center of goal towards Torres, but King heads it away.

11′ Lucas Watch: I don’t think he’s touched it yet. Maybe he did during pre-game warmups, but he’s had no impact so far. It’s early, but it’s not an encouraging sign if you’re a Liverpool fan.

10′ Palacios sends in a dangerous cross that wins a corner. Modric swings it into the box, but Carragher clears it easily.

9′ Gerrard swings it out, but it eludes everyone. Eventually Liverpool play it into the box, but Gomes is there to collect it.

8′ Johnson sends it long down the right for Kuyt. Assou-Ekotto then gives up the corner and Liverpool will have a chance here.

7′ Long pass to Torres, but he backs off it as he was offside. Bassong then waits for it to trickle over the end-line and Torres has a conversation with the line-judge.

6′ Long pass towards the Tottenham box for Babel. Bassong misjudges it and Babel has it. Bassong recovers, though, and Babel can’t get the shot off. Liverpool did a lot of that at Old Trafford last season, to great success.

4′ Torres tries to work on Assou-Ekotto deep down the right flank, but the defender closes him down nicely. Torres has nowhere to go, and he loses it over the end-line for a goal-kick.

3′ Throw-in deep in Liverpool territory to Keane, and he wins a corner kick. Let’s see what they can do with this. Modric sends it in and it bounces out to the left edge of the box to Assou-Ekotto. He tries a shot from there, but it’s well over the crossbar.

2′ Huddlestone tries to play it down the right to Lennon, but Skrtel kicks it away.

1′ Tottenham kick off and we’re underway! Johnson gets his first (EPL) touch in a Liverpool shirt, and it’s a simple backpass to Reina.

0′ Well, pending the result of this game, if the season ended today, Arsenal would be the champs (so take that, Wenger critics!). Man City, Stoke, and West Ham would be in the Champions League. Wigan and Chelsea would be in the Europa League. Everton, Wolverhampton, and Burnley would be going down.

0′ A bit of a surprise to see Babel get the nod over Benayoun, but Benitez probably likes Benayoun as his impact sub. He scored a lot of big goals for them in the late stages of games last season, and Benitez, no doubt, had that in mind as he named his team today. That’s probably no small consolation to Benayoun, though.

0′ Keane gets the nod over Crouch today, and the Irish striker can put even more distance between the two if he scores against Liverpool like he did on the last week of last season. Keane also showed that he is a true class act as he refused to celebrate the goal, even though he was only at Anfield for a few months and Rafa treated him like crap. If it had been me, I would have celebrated so ostentatiously and outrageously that I would have made the “Robbie Fowler Snorting the End-Line Celebration” look like a casual fist pump.

0′ Owen finds the back of the net, but he’s flagged offside. Valencia then takes a shot from long range, but he’s well off the mark. Owen then gets a chance on a breakaway and he’s onside! He brings Hart off the line, and Hart makes a great kick save to deny Owen the goal! They don’t come any more giftwrapped than that. You can be sure that the critics will get on him for missing that one. Anyway, there’s the whistle and Manchester United have secured the win!

0′ 90′th minute and Birmingham are on the charge. Jay O’Shea (not to be confused with John) was absolutely owned by Evra a few moments ago down the right. This time, Jay O’Shea sends his cross in early and Foster easily grabs it. Three minutes to be added on, which probably doesn’t sit well with Sir Alex.

0′ 84th minute and Giggs does well to get a cross off from deep down the left wing. Rooney meets it with his head, but it’s just wide of the post. That was close.

0′ 78′th minute at Old Trafford and Benitez (not Rafa) has almost scored for Birmingham! He made a brilliant run and beat Brown into the box and unleashed a hard shot towards the far corner, but Foster makes a great save to deny him. That would have been ironic, wouldn’t it?

0′ Manchester United are up 1-0 against Birmingham, but it’s been a pretty tight game. They’re in the 75′th minute and Michael Owen has come on for Berbatov. Evans is off with an injury and United are starting to get depleted in the back.

0′ So much for getting through an entire live-blog without mentioning CR7.

0′ The biggest surprise from the weekend thus far? Has to be Everton giving up 6 to Arsenal. I didn’t see that one coming at all. Villa’s loss was somewhat predictable for me. I figured that they would struggle, especially on defense after losing both Laursen and Barry. I didn’t think they would look totally toothless on offense, though. Especially with their firepower. Then again, when you have Ashley Young trying to look like Cristiano Ronaldo for all the scouts in the audience, it’s not going to help your offense get into a groove.

0′ Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting season of the EPL! I’m Victor and I’ll be your liveblogger for today’s opening week match, which pits Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool! I’m contractually obligated to inform you that if you wish to watch this match online, then you can go to the top of this page and click on the link for http://www.free-football.tv. If that doesn’t meet your requirements, then you can always consult this article for available streaming TV network options or this article for FREE P2P options.

Match Review:

Not a good start to the season for Liverpool as they were outplayed by a determined Tottenham squad. Sure, there were a couple of penalties that probably should have gone their way, but in the end, they were outhustled and outgunned by Harry Redknapp’s troops. Rafa Benitez will be concerned about his team’s effort and their lack of creativity on offense. Plus, he could have some serious depth issues if Skrtel ends up missing time. Taking a look at Liverpool’s bench for this game, and you could only point to Benayoun as a serious impact sub (although Voronin did have his chance late in the game).

As for Spurs, they have a lot to be happy about and are off to a much better start this year, as compared to last season. They defended well and showed heart after seemingly letting Liverpool back into the game after Gerrard’s penalty shot. They should have won by more, especially with Robbie Keane failing to convert on two excellent chances. Either way, they looked very strong and they could be poised to shake things up in the EPL if they keep playing like this.

Man of the Match:

Ledley King

For Tottenham, it was more of a team effort as their defenders did a great job and Palacios was excellent as a link-up man between the back four and the offense. Keane had his chances to put this one beyond doubt, and Modric showed the flashed of genius that made everyone drool after Euro 2008. As for Liverpool, Gerrard woke up after a lackluster first half and seemed to be the only one who was able to do anything on offense for his squad. Johnson had a good debut for Liverpool, while Carragher was his usual dependable self. In the end, King deserves the nod as he made many excellent plays to keep Liverpool at bay. We saw why he’s so important to this team, and iIf he can finally solve his injury issues, then he could be one of the best defenders in the EPL this year.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

This Community Shield match is from a previous season. Watch the latest Community Shield match here and the latest Manchester United v Chelsea match here.

Watch Manchester United v Chelsea in the Community Shield live on your PC.

Manchester United (Nani 10′, Rooney 90′ + 2) 2-2 Chelsea (Carvalho 52′, Lampard 71′) (Chelsea win, 4-1, on penalties)
Competition: F.A. Community Shield
Stadium: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Date: 9 August 2009
Kickoff: 14:00 GMT, 10:00 EST

Manchester United equalized late but Chelsea triumphed on penalty kicks to win the 2009 Community Shield! Soccerlens brought you the action live! Click below for the live-blog and feel free to leave comments below!

When the summer transfer window first opened, both Manchester United and Chelsea had grand plans to acquire some of the best and brightest available talent. Manchester United were resigned to losing Cristiano Ronaldo, but were looking forward to throwing around some of that king’s ransom they got from Real Madrid to replenish the ranks. Chelsea, meanwhile, finally lured Carlo Ancelotti from AC Milan and hoped that their newfound stability (as well as Roman Abramovich’s billions) would allow them to recruit enough world-class talent to finally overtake their bitter rivals to the northwest. Both clubs were maneuvering for gifted French playmaker Franck Ribery and both clubs had their eyes on rising young Argentine phenom Sergio Aguero. Chelsea also looked to acquire David Villa from Valencia and Andrea Pirlo from AC Milan while United bid for Karim Benzema and were linked to the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Indeed, it seemed as if the Community Shield would allow both clubs to show off their wares while introducing a number of European superstars to the English game.

Only that’s not what happened.

Chelsea were able to acquire Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow and Daniel Sturridge from Manchester City, however they struck out on all of their big-time targets (although Pirlo could be on the way). In fact, the biggest story at Chelsea all summer was not who might be coming in but who might be leaving. John Terry, Mr. Chelsea and long-time captain, flirted with Manchester City for weeks before finally declaring his allegiance to the only club he’s ever played for. His loyalty, however, came with a price: improved terms and a commitment to bringing in more big-name talent for the rapidly aging squad. The latter could be difficult, especially with Ribery looking like a future Galactico and Villa wanting to remain in Spain. Plus, it remains to be seen whether Terry’s actions will have any effect on the locker room.

As for Manchester United, they must have felt like a leper at a nudist colony since they had all the money in the world after selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid and no one to spend it on. They were outbid for Benzema, they never really wanted Eto’o, and they were rebuffed by Bayern Munich for Ribery. In the end, they were only able to acquire Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic and former all-world striker, Michael Owen, on a free transfer from Newcastle (as well as young Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux and Mame Biram Diouf from Molde). Nevertheless, there’s reason to be optimistic if you’re a Manchester United fan. Owen and Dimitar Berbatov have looked sensational in the preseason and Ronaldo’s departure means Wayne Rooney can assume his natural position down the center. And, of course, Manchester United still have Sir Alex Ferguson, and if we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that you count them out at your own peril.

These two squads are veterans of the Community Shield, with at least one of these clubs having appeared in 12 out of the last 13. They last met in the 2007 Community Shield, which Manchester United won on penalties after Edwin Van der Sar memorably pitched a shutout against Chelsea. Van der Sar won’t be around, this time, as he broke his hand and will be out for two months. Will that be enough of a difference for Chelsea to topple the defending champs? Or will Manchester United show that they’re still the kings of England? Tune in and find out!

Lineups:

Manchester United: Foster, O’Shea, Ferdinand (c), Evans, Evra, Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov.
Subs: Kuszczak, Owen, Giggs, Scholes, Fabio Da Silva, Valencia, Gibson.

As expected, Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, and Vidic will all miss out with injuries. Anderson and Macheda will also miss out, which is a surprise. Also a surprise is that Sir Alex won’t start either of his new signees, Owen or Valencia. Foster despite making a horrendous howler against the Malaysian XI, will get the start over Kuszczak. All eyes will be on the front line of Rooney and Berbatov to see if they can start to make United fans forget about whats-his-name who plays in Spain now.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry (c), Carvalho, A. Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Ballack, Bosingwa, Deco, Kalou, Alex, Belletti.

As expected, new signee Zhirkov will miss out with an injury. Carvalho will start at center-back, which seems to indicate that he’s back in the team’s good graces. Mikel will play the role that was saved for Pirlo, sending Ballack to the bench. Bosingwa (who might be on the outs) and Deco (who is definitely on the outs) will come off the bench while Shevchenko (who would be on the outs if anyone wanted him) will miss out completely.

Minute-by-Minute:

Fourth Kick Deco steps up, but wait, he hands it off to Kalou. He steps up and he beats Foster easily to the top right corner. Chelsea win, 4-1 on penalties! Congrats to them for winning the Community Shield! If the season is as exciting as this game, then we should be in for a real treat.

Third Kick Drogba (who famously did not take part in the last shootout between these two) goes the same way Ballack did, and Foster was completely fooled. Evra will step up and he’ll try and beat Cech. His tame effort is easily saved by Cech and that was a horrible kick. That one made Berbatov’s against Everton look like a brilliant rocket of a shot. Seriously, I’m not sure what he was trying to do there. That was like a back-pass. Chelsea lead 3-1 and are clearly in the driver’s seat.

Second Kick Terry is talking to the troops, and I have a feeling he won’t be taking any penalty kicks unless absolutely necessary. Ballack is next for Chelsea and he deposits it in the lower left corner and Foster guessed correctly but couldn’t stop it. Carrick will try to get on the board for United. He goes to his right and Cech guesses correctly, but it’s just over his outstretched arm. 2-1, Chelsea.

First Kick Chelsea will go first as Lampard will start it out against Foster. Lampard fires a shot down the middle and beats Foster, who dove to his left. Giggs will go for United and he went right against Chelsea during the CL Final. Giggs turns and fires his shot down the middle, but Cech kicks it away. Advantage Chelsea, 1-0.

The book on Cech is that he’s not good at stopping penalty kicks. He’s lost the aforementioned Community Shield and Champions League Final. He also came up short against Liverpool in the 2006 Champions League semifinal. Foster is 1-1 in shootouts, winning the Carling Cup Final but losing in the FA Cup Semifinals.

Penalty Kicks – No extra time in the Community Shield, so we get a shootout. Manchester United have triumphed in their last two shootouts against Chelsea. Will that hold up today? Or will Chelsea finally atone for the 2007 Community Shield and the 2008 Champions League Final?

90′ + 3 Well, we’re getting some bonus football as we’re going to penalty kicks! Don’t go away!

90′ + 2 GOAL! Wow! Just when you thought it was over, Wayne Rooney begged to differ. Giggs springs him with a great pass and Rooney beats Bosingwa into the box and draws Cech out. He slips it under the diving keeper and it’s level! It looks like Rooney might have been offside, but Cole was slightly off the line and may have been playing him onside.

90′ + 1 Valencia sends a nice pass down the right for Owen. Carvalho impedes him and United will have a chance from about 35 yards out. He sends it into the box and Cech catches it easily. That’s probably all she wrote.

88′ Valencia gets fouled by Kalou and United try to take it quickly. Foy blows it dead, though, and will make them set up from about 35 yards out. Sir Alex is not going to be happy about Chris Foy, I can tell you that. Giggs sends it into the box for Owen and Cech comes out for it. He punches it up into the air and he gets stranded in no-man’s land, but luckily for him, Ferdinand’s header is nowhere near the mark.

87′ This ref is a little card happy today. Do these cards carry over into the season?

86′ Long pass to Owen and he and Terry both go for it. Owen touches it with his hand and he’s booked.

85′ Poor pass from Kalou into the United box and Fabio gets it. He nearly gives it back to Lampard, but is able to get it away.

84′ Anelka will come off for Kalou. Fabio sends a long cross from the right flank and Rooney heads it just over the cross-bar.

83′ Ballack and Evra clash again and Ballack is called for the foul. Well, the Germans and the French do have a lot of history with each other…

82′ Really long pass to Owen, and he catches up to it, but it’s too deep and he can’t do anything with it. Good pace, though, and that’s an encouraging sign for United fans. Maybe he didn’t lose his pace during his years at Newcastle. Maybe he was just dogging it.

80′ Evra hits Ballack with a hard and late tackle that sends Ballack flying. Evra is clearly wound up and he’ll be lucky if he can avoid a red here. Foy gives him a yellow, which is a little surprising, and Evra will get to play on. I bet that was a makeup call for earlier, when he failed to call a foul by Ballack that led to Chelsea’s goal.

79′ United have been unable to do much in the final third of the field. That lack of creativity will surely sound some alarm bells for Sir Alex. Someone get Franck Ribery’s agent on the phone!

77′ Malouda comes off for Chelsea and he’ll be replaced by Deco.

76′ Drogba catches United’s defense napping and he fires a dangerous shot that forces a great save from Foster.

75′ Four Manchester United subs at once as Giggs replaces Park, Owen replaces Berbatov, Scholes replaces Fletcher, and Fabio comes on for O’Shea.

74′ Berbatov does his best Ronaldo as he kicks the ball up to himself and fires it towards goal. It’s blocked, though, and Chelsea escape.

73′ Evra charges down the left with intent and he wins a corner for his troubles. Rooney’s corner goes towards Evans, but his shot is weak and easily taken by Cech.

72′ Well, United have to play to the whistle, but they’ll have a case here since Foy stopped play a few minutes earlier when Ballack went down in his own half, short-circuiting a United surge.

71′ GOAL! Evra is down on the pitch after Ballack shoves him to the ground and the ref won’t stop play. Drogba leads the counterattack and Chelsea have a three-on-two. He sends it to Lampard who is unmarked on the inside right edge of the box, and he fires a shot that Foster gets a glove on but can’t keep from going over the line. Evra is fuming at the non-call and he has to be separated from Foy by some of his teammates, including Rooney (which is somewhat ironic).

69′ Fancy play from Berbatov, but Park gives it away. Park hasn’t done well this half and should probably come off soon.

68′ Valencia shows his pace and bursts into the box. He tries to send a cross towards Berbatov in front of goal, but he can’t handle it.

67′ Evra and Ballack collide and Ballack stays down smartly as Evra had broken into Chelsea territory. The ref stops play and, sure enough, Ballack is okay. Chelsea give it back to United, of course, by booming it back towards Foster.

65′ Ballack will replace Mikel. Not sure if Ballack will take Mikel’s defensive midfield role or if Essien will switch over and Ballack play down the right.

64′ Valencia’s first touch is a forgettable one. He tries to work on Ashley Cole, but the defender easily picks his pocket.

63′ Drogba gets it down the left and he centers it to Lampard. He sends it back to Essien, who is on the edge of the box and has put those away in the past. Evans rushes out and is able to block his shot.

62′ Nani is finally up and he’s favoring his shoulder. He’ll be replaced by Valencia, and we’ll get a look at the new-boy.

61′ Nani has it and Terry tackles him from behind. Nani is down on the pitch but Terry got the ball, so no foul. Meanwhile, it looks like Valencia will be coming on for United.

60′ Lampard flicks it into the box for Anelka, but Ferdinand is there with him. Anelka has to send it back out and eventually, Cole sends a dangerous pass into the center of goal for Drogba. Evans impedes him just enough for Drogba to miss the header attempt, otherwise it would have been 2-1, Chelsea.

59′ Evra works on Essien down the left and he sends a cross to the far post that is easily handled by Cech. A lot of guys are warming up along the touchline, but I can’t see who they are.

56′ Anelka with a hard shot on goal that Foster is able to parry away. Very shaky outing from Foster so far. He’s not going to be the England Number 1 if he keeps playing like this.

52′ GOAL! Evans tries to pass it to Evra, but it’s long and Chelsea have it in a dangerous area. Evans atones for the mistake by hitting Lampard with a hard but clean tackle on the edge of the box. Malouda gets it and works around Evans and gives it to Lampard in the box. He gives it back to Malouda, who chests it down to his leg and serves it up to Drogba, who is in front of the net. He and Foster collide and the ball trickles to an unmarked Carvalho. He heads it into the open net and there’s the equalizer!

50′ Berbatov chips a clever ball into the box and Park taps it to Rooney. He has some space to shoot, but his shot gets blocked by Cole. Great piece of defense there by the much maligned Cole.

49′ Bosingwa gets it and has some space on the right flank. He tries a cross it into the box for the trailing Drogba, but he puts too much on it and Foster has it easily.

48′ Fletcher tries to challenge Bosingwa down the left, but Bosingwa is equal to it and Fletcher loses it for a goal-kick.

47′ Lampard sends it through into the box for Malouda. He tries to create some space inside the box, but Carrick stays with him and forces the turnover. Good defensive play by Carrick there.

46′ United kick off and we’re underway with the second half! Berbatov with another great touch as he always seems to be able to control those long passes. Anyway, he gets fouled from about 30 yards out on the right side. Nani serves this one into the box and Drogba heads it away. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Nani should have gone for goal there.

46′ It will be Bosingwa coming on for Ivanovic and we’ll see if the Portuguese international can do a better job against his countryman, Nani.

46′ Not sure what’s going on with Bosingwa. I thought he played well for Chelsea last year. However, Chelsea seemed keen on dumping him for Glen Johnson before he ended up going to Liverpool. Now Bosingwa starts out on the bench in favor of Ivanovic. Not sure who he pissed off at Stamford Bridge. Maybe it’s the unibrow.

It was an eventual first-half and both sides had their chances. United probably deserve their lead, but Chelsea certainly looked dangerous at times. Ivanovic is getting torched by Nani, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bosingwa in the second half (in fact, I’m not sure why the latter didn’t start today). United have some issues at goal as Foster had a shaky first half, and they’ve had some problems defending corners. Sir Alex might be concerned about that, but not enough to do anything about it. After all, their best guy on corners (Vidic) is injured. I’d expect to see Valencia and Owen at some point, especially the former since he’s hardly played in the preseason.

45′ + 2 Nani takes it short once again and it’s nothing doing as O’Shea loses it out of bounds for a goal-kick. Cech booms it away to see if Chelsea can make one last charge. They can’t do much as there’s the whistle and we’re at halftime!

45′ + 1 United win a corner and they take their time setting up There will be two minutes of added time.

45′ Great counterattack chance for United as Nani is all by himself in the Chelsea box. Rooney’s pass is cut out, though, and Chelsea escape. They come back and win a corner and Lampard decides to test Foster’s mettle by sending into the six-yard area. Foster is up for it, though, and handles it easily.

44′ Lampard heads Nani’s corner away and Chelsea go on the attack. Everytime Ashley Cole gets it, he’s booed heavily by the crowd. It helps with the play-by-play, that’s for sure.

43′ Great burst of speed from Evra and Rooney makes a nice chip pass into his left-back’s path. Evra sends it to Berbatov at the center of goal, and he wins a corner. On the ensuing corner, they play it short to Fletcher, who fires a great shot from inside the left edge of the box. It’s about to tuck in at the top right corner, but Cech just gets a hand on it to concede another corner. Great save there.

41′ Great try by Anelka as he gets a pass from A. Cole on the edge of the box. Fletcher is late to close him down and Anelka fires a low shot at the far post that beats Foster but just trickles wide.

36′ Dangerous moment as Ferdinand heads it away for a corner and nearly puts it past his keeper. Lampard sends in the corner, but Carvalho is called for the foul.

34′ Nani tries to take on three defenders and ends up hitting the side netting from a difficult angle. Clearly, his confidence is sky-high right now. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing for United.

33′ A couple of shaky moments for Foster as he muffs his clearances and nearly gives it to Drogba on two occasions. Is it nerves or lack of experience? United hope its just nerves.

31′ A. Cole slips on the pitch but still gets the cross from deep down the left. Essien gets a free header, but it’s just over the crossbar.

29′ Malouda crashes into Fletcher, and Fletcher is down on the pitch. He looks okay, though, and United will kick it away.

28′ Lampard sizes it up and then hits the wall. Drogba gets a cross on the right edge of the box and volleys a cross to the far post where an unmarked Malouda just shanks it wide of the mark. Nani then comes back on the counterattack and he’s causing all kinds of problems down that left flank. Park gets it on the right edge of the box and he takes his time to set up his shot. It’s wide of the near post, though, and, well, they don’t pay Park to score goals, do they?

27′ Mikel gets it and makes the run towards the United box. Berbatov bumps him from behind, and Chelsea will have a chance from about 35 yards out.

26′ Nani sends a corner into the six-yard box, and Cech take it easily.

25′ Park somehow gets into the box and splits the defense. Carvalho is able to knock it out before Park can go for goal and he concedes the corner.

23′ Berbatov’s touch fails him here as he tries to bring it down and ends up missing most of the ball and giving it to Mikel. Hey, not all of his touches can be silky smooth, right?

21′ Atypical selfish play from Rooney as Berbatov shows off his great touch and eases it to Evra. He gives it to Rooney and he takes a shot from long-range when he really should have passed it back to Berbatov. Rooney’s shot is easily blocked and Chelsea have it.

20′ Berbatov already looks like a different man from last year. If he plays up to his potential, then watch out.

18′ Great move from Berbatov as he lulls Mikel to sleep and then beats him into the box and gets the return pass from Park. Berbatov can’t beat Cech, though, and Park whiffs on the follow-through as Cech sacrifices his body to dive on the ball. Wow. What a breathtaking couple of plays by both sides.

17′ Great passing from United as Berbatov sends a great cross from the right to Rooney at the far post. He heads it into the center for Park, but Park can’t handle it. Cech was all tied up there and if Park had put anything on it, he would have beaten him. Chelsea come back and Drogba makes a run into the United box. He gets around Evans, but his low shot is saved by Foster.

16′ Evans and Drogba collide in midair, and Drogba goes down like he’s been shot. Some things never change. Who had 16 minutes in the pool?

14′ Great chance for United here as they’re right on the left edge of the box. Nani tries to serve into the box for Ferdinand, and Chelsea clear it away. Not sure why he didn’t go for goal there.

13′ Nani’s low effort finds Rooney, but he can’t do anything with it. He heads it down feebly and Chelsea easily clear it away. United gets it back and Evra makes a great run towards the box after receiving the pass from Nani. Ivanovic fouls him on the edge of the box, and the Serb will go into the book here.

12′ Ivanovic fouls Evra deep down the left and United will have a dangerous free kick here.

11′ Wow, to say that goal came from nothing at all is an understatement. The run of play was strongly in Chelsea’s favor and United had barely mustered any kind of rhythm on offense.

10′ GOAL! No question about it: Chelsea are outplaying Manchester United right now. Just as I say that, Nani gets it on the left edge of the penalty area after getting the cross from Fletcher. He runs across the edge of the box and fires a low shot to the far post that easily beats a shocked Cech! Wow! That’s one way to make the fans forget about whats-his-name.

9′ Great pass from Essien near the center line that nearly gets through to Anelka. Ferdinand does well to cut it out, otherwise Anelka would have been through on goal.

8′ Evra chips in the shot/pass from the left flank and he forces an overly acrobatic save from Cech.

7′ Fabio Capello is in the house. No doubt he’s there to ignore Michael Owen.

6′ On the ensuing corner, Ivanovic gets a header on target but Evra heads it against the underside of his own crossbar. United are able to clear it from danger, but that put a charge into the game.

5′ Rooney sends it into the box for Berbatov, but Terry is able to clear it from danger. Malouda sends it to Drogba down the left flank and the pressure causes Ferdinand to make the mistake as he tries to kick it back to Foster. He concedes the needless corner and Chelsea will have a chance here.

4′ Early booking for Berbatov as he gets hit in the back of the head on a free kick and he takes exception to it. A yellow card four minutes into the match? For that? Are you kidding me?

3′ Berbatov tries to get around John Terry and makes a run across the edge of the box before losing it over the touchline.

2′ Lampard gets it near the centerline and sends a long pass to Drogba, who is on the edge of the United box. He fires a shot on target, but Foster makes a diving, albeit comfortable, save.

1′ Chelsea will kick off and we’re underway! Great to be back! Should be a great match today! Chris Foy is our ref. Rooney gets it in Chelsea territory and tries to spring Park. Park sends it back to Carrick, but it’s out of his reach and Carrick slips on the pitch. This pitch was heavily criticized during the F.A. Cup last season, so we’ll see if it’s gotten any better today.

0′ Man, those new United kits are ugly. That black “V” really does nothing for me.

0′ Big season for Nani. He’s going to have to step up if United are to have any chance at winning silverware. It’s not fair to put it all on him as Rooney, Berbatov, Anderson, Carrick, and Owen are all going to have to step up as well. But Nani’s going to be the one under the most pressure since he’s Portuguese and possesses a lot of the same talents and skills as Ronaldo. Plus, he regressed last year to the point where Sir Alex wouldn’t play him in big games. Ronaldo went through the same issues during his first couple of years at Old Trafford, and I think it really helped him to have Carlos Queiroz around. Nani won’t have that luxury (although it Portugal continues playing the way they are, then Carlos might be back at Old Trafford before you know it).

0′ So, no new signings in either team’s starting lineup. That’s weird. I guess these two teams wanted to see what would happen if they played with last year’s squads. You know, other than that guy who used to play for United. I can’t think of his name. The one who likes to take off his shirt and hit on anything that moves.

0′ This is the year that order is restored in the Community Shield. It was weird seeing Pompey in the Shield last year, wasn’t it?

0′ Sometimes, I think Michael Ballack is finished, and then he goes out and shows that he’s still world class. Sometimes, I think Michael Ballack is great, and then he goes out and is a complete nonfactor for the entire match and nearly assaults a referee (or a teammate). I guess the lesson is to manage your expectations when it comes to Ballack.

0′ And, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this will be the first real test for Michael Owen since he turned into Judas in the eyes of Liverpool fans. He missed a few sitters against Valencia that probably didn’t do him any favors with Fabio Capello. It’s one thing to score against the Malaysian XI and the Hangzhou Greentown. It’s another thing to score against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

0′ Looks like Andrea Pirlo won’t be coming to Stamford Bridge after all. That might be good news for Chelsea. They already have a crowded midfield, and adding Pirlo would have been a case of having too many chefs to cook the soup. They look like they’re going with a diamond formation with Lampard at the head of it, Essien on one side, Zhirkov on the other and then Pirlo would have been at the base, thereby relegating Ballack, Mikel, Joe Cole, Malouda, and Deco (assuming he stays) to the bench. That would be a headache that Carlo Ancelotti would not want.

0′ Should be an interesting match between two teams that could finish first and second in the EPL this season. Chelsea has to be the favorite for the EPL title right now, but you can never count out Manchester United. They still have all that money to play with and they’re probably not done shopping. It could very well be Sergio Aguero, who looked great against Liverpool yesterday for Atletico Madrid.

0′ Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting season of football! It’s been a long summer and I know I’m glad that football is back and that the action will be on the pitch instead of in the boardrooms. As always, I’m Victor and I’ll be your liveblogger for today’s match, which pits Manchester United against Chelsea for the 2009 Community Shield! I’m contractually obligated to inform you that if you wish to watch this match online, then you can go to the top of this page and click on the link for http://www.free-football.tv. If that doesn’t meet your requirements, then you can always consult this article for available streaming TV network options or this article for FREE P2P options.

Match Review:

It was an exciting Community Shield (which was a welcome change from last year’s snoozer) and both sides really showed their mettle. Chelsea came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to take the lead and were within a minute of wrapping it up in regulation. However, as they’ve learned all too painfully over the years, it’s never over until the ref’s whistle blows, and Manchester United were able to steal one at the end. Both sides have some things to work on. After all, this is the preseason. United ran circles around Chelsea early in the first half and their lack of youth could come back to bite them as the season drags on. United have some question marks too, and they are sure to be concerned about their lack of creativity in the final third. Still, there’s plenty to be happy about for both sides, and as we’re all well aware, there are three weeks left before the transfer window slams shut.

Man of the Match:

Ricardo Carvalho

Both clubs had no shortage of worthy candidates. Lampard was quiet for the first half but responded with a dominant second half as he asserted himself on the United defense. Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka all looked dangerous at times, and Cole played very well at left-back. As for United, Rooney and Berbatov played well and gave Sir Alex some hope as they look to move forward after losing Ronaldo. Nani played well until he left with an injury while Evans did a solid job in the back. Still, the Man of the Match was Carvalho, which must have been sweet for the man who became a bit of a forgotten figure last year. He did his usual solid job in the back and snuffed out numerous opportunities while demonstrating his scoring chops on the other end. Carvalho went a long way towards reminding everyone that he, and not John Terry, is the team’s best center-back when healthy.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

I’m going to miss him.

Sure, he’s a diver and a crybaby who is one of the least likable Manchester United players of all time. It was always difficult to defend him to United haters because, for all of his considerable talent, he had the maturity of a six-year old and temperament of a diva.

There were plenty of moments that made United fans feel less than proud over the fact that this Portuguese playboy was the team’s franchise bearer. There was the wink to the bench after his United teammate, Wayne Rooney, was sent off in the World Cup. There was the sideline tantrum after being lifted against Manchester City. There was the training ground dust-up with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. There was the orgy at his house that featured several hookers, Nani, and Anderson. I’m not going to speculate as to who did what with whom.

And there were the dives. Many of them. So many of them. Too many of them. In fact, you would think that he was trying out for Portugal’s Olympic Diving team with the rate that he went down after receiving the slightest bit of contact. There were a few funny bits on Special 1 TV over the last few months, but one of the best involved a puppet version of Ronaldo wearing snorkeling gear while proclaiming, quite rightly, that he did the diving. In fact, they later extracted an entire bit out of the joke, advertising for Puppet Ronnie’s Ab Workout. After all, throwing yourself to the ground and writhing around while contorting your body in ways that would probably hurt way more than any late tackle has to be good for your abs, right?

Despite all his faults, though, the man could score. And I’m not talking about beautiful women (although he was certainly no slouch in that department). As much as his detractors can point to several moments that made fans want to cover up those “AIG” letters on the front of their replica Manchester United kits, there have been many more moments of absolute brilliance.

There was the 40-yard rocket against Porto in the 2008-2009 Champions League, a goal that sealed their advancement into the Semifinals. There was the brace against Arsenal in the next round where he audaciously scored on a free kick from 40 yards and followed up with by running the length of the pitch to receive the pass from Wayne Rooney in the box for the second goal. There was the free kick against Portsmouth last season where Ronaldo let fly a beauty from long-range that prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to say that it was the best free-kick he’s ever seen (i.e. better than anything Beckham ever did). There was the cheeky back-heel in traffic against Aston Villa that still managed to beat Scott Carson easily.

If you go on Youtube and look at nothing but Cristiano Ronaldo highlights, you’ll be astonished at just how wonderful and versatile of a goalscorer he is.

As such, I’m a little astonished at the number of Manchester United fans who are glad that he’s leaving for Real Madrid. Sure, his act had worn thin and it was clear that his heart was no longer at Old Trafford. Sure, Manchester United got a great deal for him at £80 million, a number that was, more or less artificially inflated as a result of his 42 goal season last year.

A Ronaldo-led team can wreck havoc on English teams, but we all saw what happened in the Champions League Final. This season, in order to accommodate him, Manchester United had to play Rooney out of position, and they had to alternate between Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez, a situation that pleased neither of them.

The conventional wisdom is that, without Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov will play better, and Sir Alex can replenish his midfield, which was severely exposed against Barcelona. They’ll miss Ronaldo’s goals, but surely the goals will come from elsewhere. Maybe United won’t be as flashy or as exciting without Ronaldo, but there will be no dropoff as long as Ferguson spends wisely, right? If anything, the team will be better off since they’ll stop relying on Ronaldo as much.

However, if you look at the stats, you could argue that they’ll miss Ronaldo a lot more than they think. In the last three seasons, Ronaldo scored a total of 91 goals in 155 matches. During that timespan, there were 18 matches where Ronaldo was Manchester United’s sole goalscorer. In 5 of those 18 matches where his name was the only one on the Manchester United side of the scoresheet, he scored multiple goals. In all, he had 21 matches where he notched multiple goals, including the aforementioned braces down the stretch against Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Arsenal this season. Most importantly, he scored the go-ahead or equalizing goal an astonishing 48 times during the last three seasons.

In other words, more than half of Ronaldo’s goals resulted in Manchester United drawing level with or going ahead of their opponents. One of the (many) criticisms of Berbatov was that he seemed to score when his team was already well ahead and the result was not in doubt. Well, that can hardly be said of Ronaldo.

Also, look at the first month of the just-completed 2008-2009 season. Ronaldo missed the Community Shield, the Super Cup, and three League matches while recovering from off-season surgery. During that entire time, Manchester United failed to score more than one goal in any of their matches and only won one of those matches in regular time. The offense looked stagnant and impotent, so much so that their top scorer was Darren Fletcher.

It wasn’t until the second half of the Champions League match with Villarreal when United’s offense finally woke up and, not coincidentally, that happened to be when Ronaldo made his debut. Even though they ended up with a scoreless draw, the offense finally showed some bite and began getting results afterward.

Sure, it may have been early in the season, and you could probably write it off to the fact that Manchester United simply got off to a slow start. They did the same thing last year and they won the Premiership and the Champions League. However, it also showed just how much this team missed Ronaldo and how they were a much better team with him than without him.

Who’s going to step up and replace all those important goals? Will it be Rooney, who has never scored more than 23 goals in a season? Will it be Berbatov, who has never scored more than 26 and recently admitted to having been scared to take a penalty in the Champions League Final? Will it be Ribery, who’s never had more than 20 goals in any season? Will it be Nani, who was so bad this season that he only made 12 appearances in the League?

Maybe Ronaldo’s departure will actually make the team better and allow the team to pick up where they left off. Maybe Rooney will finally play to his potential and become the lethal force that he could be without Ronaldo holding him back. Maybe Berbatov will thrive after an uneven first year and justify every dime that Sir Alex spent on him and then some. Maybe Hargreaves will return to fitness and become the Roy Keane-type dominator that the team has lacked for years. Maybe Ribery, Benzema, and/or Valencia will contribute so many goals and set up so many others that people will forget that Ronaldo was ever a Red.

Or maybe Rooney and Berbatov can’t step up, Hargreaves retires, Ribery and Co. flop a la Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Forlan, and Bellion, and United will finish third in the league.

One thing is for sure, though. Manchester United will miss him. You don’t lose a player of his caliber and then assume everything is going to be okay. I guess we’ll have the rest of the summer to worry about that. For now, let’s thank Ronaldo for his six years of outstanding service to the club and wish him the best. He’ll need it, especially if Real Madrid continue to sign offensive stars and ignore their defense. Otherwise, he may finally have to learn how to track back.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Last week, we brought you Sir Alex Ferguson’s Greatest XI. This week, we’re taking a look at the other side of the spectrum as we name Sir Alex’s Worst Manchester United XI.

To err is human, and when you’ve been in charge as long as Sir Alex has, you’re bound to make some mistakes. Maybe the highly touted youngster that you signed and developed doesn’t pan out. Maybe the high-priced import doesn’t perform according to expectations. Maybe the grizzled veteran that you signed for leadership and experience was merely over-the-hill and nearing the end.

Ultimately, it’s up to the manager to correct his mistake and move on. Sir Alex Ferguson has proven that he’s able to do that, and he continues to keep the Old Trafford trophy cabinet full of silverware. Then again, I’m sure that’s of little consolation to some of these players:

Goalkeeper: Massimo Taibi

Not all goalkeepers can be Peter Schmeichel or Edwin Van der Sar. However, most of the Manchester United goalkeepers that stood between the posts during Sir Alex’s tenure were above average players that other managers would have killed for. Tim Howard was named to the PFA Best XI during his first season at Old Trafford and also became the first American to win an F.A. Cup. Fabien Barthez was brilliant during his first season at Manchester United, almost single-handedly preventing his squad from dropping points on a number of occasions en route to the Premiership title.

Even Raimond Van der Gouw, Mark Bosnich, and Roy Carroll had their moments in a United shirt. Maybe these guys didn’t reach the heights of Schmeichel or Van der Sar, but they had good careers and contributed to the United cause. In short, they weren’t great, but they weren’t horrible.

Then there was Massimo Taibi.

Taibi came over from Venezia for £4.4 million after Schmeichel left Old Trafford following the 1998-1999 season. Accounting for inflation, he cost twice as much as Howard, almost two-and-a-half times as much as Van der Sar, and nearly seven times as much as Schmeichel. Taibi got the start against Liverpool and committed a horrendous howler that allowed Sami Hyypia to score on a free kick.

United actually won that game, thanks to two own-goals from Jamie Carragher, so Taibi escaped blame for his error. Sadly, that gaffe would pale in comparison to what happened a couple of weeks later against Southampton.

You’ve seen the video. It’s one of the most famous miscues in recent EPL history. With the score 2-1, Southampton’s Matt Le Tissier fired a tame shot on goal that Taibi seemed to have covered. As he went to ground to cover it up, however, the ball trickled through his legs and went over the line for the equalizer.

Taibi later blamed his spikes for the mistake as Southampton went on to earn a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford after Le Tissier victimized Taibi again, this time after hammering a cross past a helpless Taibi from close-range. Taibi only played one more time for Manchester United, a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea. He had no excuses this time and “The Blind Venetian” (as he was dubbed by the press) was shipped away to Reggina after the season.

Taibi still plays to this day, and has managed to carve out a fairly long career. Nevertheless, he’ll always be remembered for those handful of starts for United.

Right Back: David May

You know why Manchester United fans love Gary Neville so much? It’s not just because of his decades of service for club and country, his strong leadership skills, or his hatred of all things Liverpool. It’s because he spared United fans from having to see David May at right-back.

A £1.2 million purchase from Blackburn Rovers, May was a natural central defender. However, with Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce firmly entrenched at centre-back, Sir Alex decided to move May to right-back. The England native was acquired, among other reasons, because of UEFA restrictions on “foreign” players at the time. However, a string of poor performances ensued, with May taking part of the blame for Manchester United’s exit from European play in the 1994-1995 season.

The other main reason for his acquisition was because it came at the expense of title rivals Blackburn Rovers. Unfortunately for Sir Alex, Blackburn edged United out for the title during May’s first season at Old Trafford. While United’s loss was hardly May’s fault, he didn’t help his cause by losing his place at right-back to Neville. Injuries soon followed, and while May turned in some solid performances at center-back over the years, he never made the kind of impact that he hoped to.

He was recently voted the 47th worst player in modern English football. That might be a tad harsh, especially for a player who ended up becoming as big of an Old Trafford fan favorite as May. Ultimately, his lasting legacy at Manchester United was as a squad player and cheerleader from the bench. He memorably jumped onto the trophy table after the 1999 Champions League Final to lead the fans in chants. He also regularly conducted his orchestra at Old Trafford, with one favorite chant going “David May, Superstar! Got more medals than Shearer!”

Center Back: Laurent Blanc

Had Laurent Blanc joined Manchester United from Auxerre in 1995, he would have stood alongside the likes of Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Rio Ferdinand, Jaap Stam, and Nemanja Vidic as the best central defenders in club history. Had Laurent Blanc joined Manchester United in 1997 instead of going to Marseille, he still would have earned well-deserved plaudits for being a great defender. He was a former World Cup and European Title winner with France and was voted fourth best French Footballer of all time behind Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, and Raymond Kopa.

Unfortunately, Laurent Blanc joined Manchester United in 2001. By then, he was well past his prime and near the end of his glorious career. Even worse, he came to Manchester United to replace Jaap Stam, the heart of Manchester United’s defense who had suddenly left Old Trafford amidst a sea of controversy. Stam, he was not, and Blanc’s intelligence, veteran know-how, and experience did not make up for his diminishing skills, especially in the fast-paced English game. Plus, he and Fabien Barthez had a weird kissing ritual that they did before every game, which was more than a little creepy.

Blanc’s woes got worse when the media observed that if you took the first letter of each of the clubs that handed Manchester United their first five losses of the 2001-2002 season, then it spelled out B-L-A-N-C (for Bolton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, and Chelsea). They also lost to West Ham and Middlesbrough that year, but unfortunately, Blanc’s first name wasn’t William, otherwise they really could have been onto something. They lost 9 times in all that season and finished 3rd, their worst showing ever in the Premiership, and failed to win a trophy for the first time 1997-1998. Blanc may not have been the primary reason for United’s “collapse” but he sure didn’t enhance his legacy by coming to Old Trafford.

Ultimately, Blanc retired after one more season for Manchester United. He currently coaches at Bordeaux, where he’s had a lot of success. He’s coming off a Ligue 1 title and has helped resurrect the career of United flop David Bellion (see below). For that, he surely deserves praise.

Center Back: William Prunier

He only made 2 appearances for Manchester United, but that was enough to earn him a legacy of infamy at Old Trafford.

Prunier had come up through the Auxerre system with Eric Cantona, and that connection was surely on Sir Alex’s mind as he invited Prunier to Manchester United for a trial. Sir Alex had planned on using Prunier, who had played 11 seasons in France and was hardly an inexperienced ingénue, in a few reserve-side matches so that he could properly evaluate the French defender. However, an injury crisis forced Sir Alex to start Prunier at center-back for two Premiership matches at the beginning of the 1994-1995 season.

Prunier made it through his first match unscathed, but turned in a disastrous performance against Tottenham during the following week. He was widely blamed for a nightmarish defensive effort that saw the club concede 4 goals. Even though many people thought that Prunier was unfairly singled out as the scape-goat, it was telling that Sir Alex merely offered him an extended trial rather than a permanent deal.

Prunier, perhaps knowing that he had no future with the club or feeling psychologically scarred after his experience at Manchester, turned Sir Alex down and fled back to the European mainland.

Left Back: Quinton Fortune

For the record, I actually liked Quinton Fortune. Unlike some of his contemporaries, especially Kieran Richardson, Fortune had a good attitude and worked hard. He just wasn’t very good.

Fortune was a decent utility man and squad player. Roy Keane was known to be a high on Fortune and always picked him first for five-on-five training drills. Unfortunately, he had trouble staying healthy, which no doubt led to him falling out of favor at Old Trafford.

In seven years, he only made 88 appearances for the club. Ultimately, once Gabriel Heinze made the position into his own after coming over from France, Fortune was a superfluous spare part. He failed to hold down spots at Bolton and Sunderland and was last seen playing in his native South Africa for AFC Tubize.

Ultimately, his lasting legacy at Old Trafford was his indirect role in the Ronaldo/Rooney bust-up at the World Cup. According to Rooney’s autobiography, the press reports of Ronaldo winding up Rooney before the match were false. Instead, Ronaldo was merely asking Rooney about rumors that Fortune was leaving the club (rumors that turned out to be true). Whether this was accurate or merely a cover-story, it looks like Fortune may have saved the Rooney/Ronaldo partnership at Old Trafford, at least for now…

Right Midfielder: Jordi Cruyff

Sometimes, the fruit does fall far from the tree.

It’s tough enough trying to succeed in football on your own merits. Having a legendary father who was one of the greatest players in history only makes it that much tougher.

However, having a famous father also gives you advantages that other players lack. Much like how David Sammartino grew up around wrestling royalty, Barry Bonds got to have Willie Mays as a godfather, and George W. Bush had all of his father’s advisers and donors at his disposal, Jordi Cruyff benefitted from his dad’s connections. He had access to the best training facilities. He was trained and taught by some of the best minds in the game. He broke into the Barcelona squad while his dad was the manager. Most of all, he had his father’s DNA. That had to count for something, right?

Well, it sure didn’t do him much good at Manchester United. Signed for £1.4 million, Cruyff rarely played with the first team. To be fair, he faced some stiff competition for spots, both in midfield and up front. If players like Teddy Sheringham and Nicky Butt were having trouble getting into games, then Cruyff didn’t stand a chance.

However, in his four years under contract at Old Trafford, he only made 55 appearances and scored a grand total of 8 goals. He only won one winner’s medal despite being around for one of the most successful periods in United’s history. Finally, United gave up on him and sent him to Alavés, where he played well. He still didn’t make anyone forget about his father, but then again, not many players could.

Center Midfielder: Juan Sebastian Veron

I’m going to get some flak for this one, so let me explain. Sabas wasn’t nearly as bad as he gets credit for (or discredit, I guess). He displayed moments of brilliance in both the Premiership and in Europe, although the vast majority of those moments came in the latter category. He was an excellent free-kicker and scored a number of impressive goals off set-plays. He was a great shooter and gave the team an excellent attacking dimension that they had lacked for years. In fact, if you watch the creatively-edited video below, then you might think that he was one of the greatest players in Manchester United history.

However, when you take into account his price-tag (£28.1 million, still the 13th highest in history and the third highest in Man Utd history), as well as the fact that he brought disharmony to the clubhouse by destabilizing what had been one of the best midfields in Europe, Juan Sebastian Veron was a complete and unmitigated disaster.

Sir Alex Ferguson desperately wanted to win the Champions League one more time before retiring at the age of 60 (he’s currently 67) and was disillusioned with his 4-4-2 formation after watching his squad come up short in Europe in both 2000 and 2001. He decided to blow it up by adding a playmaking midfielder to combat the European defenses that had succeeded by slowing the pace and manhandling United’s four-man midfield of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, and Ryan Giggs (a foursome that was so good that Nicky Butt rarely got into games unless he was a sub or there was an injury). Veron, who was widely regarded as one of the best in the world, fit the bill and came aboard in the summer of 2001 after a protracted transfer saga (one that even got significant press coverage in America).

However, Veron struggled to adapt to the face-paced game known as English football. He needed space and time to set up his passes, and those were two things in short supply in England. He played well in Europe, turning in several good performances, however he could not stop United from losing to an unheralded Bayer Leverkusen team in the semifinals. His playing style, best described as “deliberate”made Dimitar Berbatov look like Carlos Tevez on speed, and his aversion to playing defense made Cristiano Ronaldo look the like second coming of Roy Keane. To say that he was not popular with the fans would be an understatement.

Worse, his presence on the team complicated Scholes’ role and forced him to play more as a support striker, which angered him so much that he actually refused to board the bus to a League Cup tie with Arsenal. Veron also played an indirect role in David Beckham’s departure. In 2003, Sir Alex’s decision to start an unfit Veron over a rapidly-falling-out-of-favor Beckham when Manchester United played Real Madrid in the second-leg of the Quarterfinals of the Champions League helped play a part in Beckham’s decision to leave in the offseason. Veron also left that summer, as Sir Alex sold him to Chelsea for nearly half what he paid.

Veron remains an excellent footballer, as he continues to put forth strong performances for Estudiantes. However, he also epitomizes the danger of buying someone without any prior experience in English football. If United decide not to pay Franck Ribery’s hefty fee this summer, then a major reason why will be because of its experience with Juan Sebastian Veron.

Center Midfielder: Eric Djemba-Djemba

For all the talk about United’s struggles in replacing Schmeichel, they’ve had even more trouble trying to find Roy Keane’s successor. In fact, you could argue that they still haven’t found a dominant defensive midfielder in the Keane mold, and that this was one of several reasons why they lost to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League Final.

Djemba-Djemba was the first of many pretenders as Sir Alex bought him from Nantes for £3.5 million in 2003. He was about the same height and build as Keane, and his penchant for tough tackling and hard-nosed play made him seem like the perfect heir to the long-time United skipper. However, Djemba-Djemba was never able to establish himself at Old Trafford.

It didn’t help that there were others competing for the throne and Sir Alex seemed unable to settle on any of them, causing him to rotate Djemba-Djemba in and out of the starting lineup. Within 18 months, Djemba-Djemba was gone, having been sold to Aston Villa. He was even worse there and spent a season on loan to Burnley before moving to the place where all over-the-hill footballers go to make one last paycheck – Qatar. Unfortunately for him, he was only 26 when he made the move.

Sir Alex hinted that his on-the-pitch performance wasn’t the only reason why Djemba-Djemba failed at Manchester United. According to the Daily Mail, Djemba-Djemba lived the life of a spendthrift billionaire, even though he was hardly wealthy, even by footballing standards. He often seemed more interested in spending money than training, and he lived a life of luxury that would have made Mike Tyson and M.C. Hammer blush. He had a fleet of ten 4×4 cars, he had 30 different bank accounts, he wore expensive clothes, and he spent lavishly on his home, his family, and his friends. He was bankrupt by the time he was 26 years old and may owe more than £400,000 in English back-taxes.

It’s a shame that a player went from the penthouse to the outhouse as quickly as Djemba-Djemba did. His lasting legacy could very well be as a cautionary tale; a warning against living beyond your means as well as having unreasonable expectations forced on you. That surely wasn’t what Sir Alex or Djemba-Djemba had in mind.

Left Midfielder: Ralph Milne

Yes, Virginia. Someone did play left-wing for Manchester United before Ryan Giggs. He just didn’t play very well.

Milne was a dangerous offensive force for Dundee United, scoring 73 goals in 286 appearances for the Scottish club. Sir Alex, no doubt, remembered Milne’s prowess back when he managed Aberdeen, and hoped Milne would replicate that form for United. Milne, however, was already well past his prime, due in large part to an indifferent attitude that had driven his manager at Dundee, Jim McLean, to single Milne out as his greatest failure. In fact, when Milne got word that Sir Alex wanted to bring him to Manchester United, he thought he was being pranked.

Milne was hardly the second coming of George Best, however he was just like the United legend in one way: he was an absolute party animal. Milne, along with Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath, was known to stay out until all hours of the night, hitting various pubs and imbibing massive quantities of alcohol. Milne’s contributions on the pitch were almost negligible, as he compiled a mere 3 goals on 23 appearances in two seasons for a goals-to-games ratio of 0.13. That may not have been higher than his usual blood-alcohol level.

Milne recently came clean about his alcohol problem and revealed that he had squandered most of his money on alcohol, women, and gambling. So, he may not have played like George Best, but he certainly did his best to live like him.

Forward: David Bellion

Sir Alex Ferguson is no stranger to being accused of breaking the rules. He was accused of tapping up Dwight Yorke while the latter was at Aston Villa. Jaap Stam wrote in his autobiography that Ferguson had approached him while the defender was still under contract to PSV Eindhoven. In those situations, it was easy to see why Ferguson may have been a little more aggressive than usual. Yorke and Stam were world-class talents that rank among the best players in United’s history.

But David Bellion?

You wonder why Sir Alex would risk exposing himself for someone like David Bellion. In 2003, Bellion came over to United from Sunderland amidst a sea of controversy. The previous season, he had disappeared during an important stretch of matches for relegation-threatened Sunderland (who were, in fact, relegated with one of the lowest point totals in Premiership history), saying that he was mentally unfit for a relegation battle as a result of family issues.

Many people thought that the real reason was that he didn’t want to get hurt because he knew Manchester United would be signing him in the offseason. In any event, Sir Alex was accused of tapping him up and paid £2 million in an out-of-court settlement (although, in fairness, Sunderland were entitled to compensation because of Bellion’s youth – we don’t know if the money was for that or for the tapping up since there was a confidentiality agreement involved in the settlement).

So, was the legal headache worth it? Hardly. Bellion’s stay at Old Trafford was a disappointment. He didn’t have many chances with the first team and, despite scoring against arch-rivals Leeds United in the League Cup, didn’t do much when he got chances to start. He went on loan to West Ham and rarely got into matches there. Finally, he left England and went back to France, first with Nice and then with Bordeaux where he’s developed into a very good player. He still might not be a world-class talent worth tapping up, but at least he’s a far cry from the player he was at Old Trafford.

Forward: Diego Forlan

To borrow a line from C & C Music Factory, here are some things to make you go “hmmm…” Manchester United acquired Diego Forlan for £6.9 million so that he could complement Ruud Van Nistelrooy up front. Forlan scored 17 goals in 96 appearances for Manchester United. By contrast, Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in 210 appearances for United, meaning that, at Forlan’s rate, he would need to make 848 appearances before matching Van Nistelrooy’s output in a United shirt. Ever since leaving Old Trafford in the 2004-2005 season, he’s scored a Van Nistelrooy-esque 109 goals in 205 appearances for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid. Hmm…

Assuming he isn’t on performance enhancers, either Forlan is one of those players who can’t play in England, or else he really needed a change of scenery.

To be fair, Forlan did have some success at Old Trafford. It took a while for him to get off the schnide (he went eight months before scoring his first United goal), but Forlan scored some big goals for the club. He found net in a couple of important late-season matches that helped Manchester United’s run to the 2002-2003 Premiership title. He also scored a brace against Liverpool that ensured his status as a fan favorite. However, he could never pull off a consistent run of form to satisfy his critics.

He even flubbed his goal celebration as he took off his shirt after a match-winner against Southampton and then couldn’t put it back on in time before the restart. He actually ran around bare-chested for a few seconds, leaving the commentators to wonder if they were watching a pick-up game of shirts-against-skins in the park, before officials ordered him off the pitch until he got redressed.

Forlan left Old Trafford at the beginning of the 2004-2005 season after United acquired Wayne Rooney in the offseason. He’s become one of the best strikers in the world while playing in Spain, winning the European Golden Boot in his first season at Villarreal (sharing the award with Arsenal’s Thierry Henry). He recently clinched a second Golden Boot after finishing the 2008-2009 La Liga season as the leading scorer with 32 goals. He could be returning to England this summer, so we’ll find out whether he really is a late bloomer or if his game is uniquely suited to Spain.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Watch Chelsea v Everton live here.

Chelsea (Drogba 21′, Lampard 72′) 2-1 Everton (Saha 1′)
Stadium: Wembley Stadium, England
Competition: F.A. Cup Finals
Date: 30 May 2009
Kickoff: 14:00 GMT, 10:00 EST

Chelsea defeated Everton to win the F.A. Cup at Wembley Stadium! Soccerlens brought you the action live! Click below for the live-blog and feel free to leave comments below!

Match Preview:

There’s no question that this isn’t the Cup Final that Chelsea wanted to be in. They were a few moments away from eliminating Barcelona when disaster (also known as Andres Iniesta) struck. Chelsea players, already upset about a number of penalties that weren’t given, turned into sore losers as the match ended. Michael Ballack nearly assaulted the referee. Didier Drogba swore on national television. John Terry stood beside him and also berated Tom Henning Ovrebo after the match. Jose Bosingwa insinuated that the ref was a thief. Pretty much, the only Chelsea player who didn’t have a meltdown on national television was Frank Lampard, who quietly swapped shirts with Xavi. For a club that came so close to winning the Champions League last year, losing out on the chance to avenge their defeat was a bitter pill to swallow. Especially after watching Barcelona, a team that Chelsea dominated for most of the Semifinals and nearly eliminated, had their way with an overmatched Manchester United squad.

Nevertheless, winning the F.A. Cup would make for a remarkable turnaround for a season that was circling the drain in February when Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked. Additionally, it would make one heck of a farewell gift to Guus Hiddink, the man responsible for righting the ship. Chelsea looked like they were a dead team walking when Hiddink took over. Under Scolari’s Reign of Error, veteran players suddenly looked over-the-hill, over-the-hill players suddenly looked like they were one-step away from cadaver status (or playing in the Championship), and want-away players looked like they were ready to leave treadmarks on their way out of London. Hiddink came in and restored their confidence, so much so that they came within a few minutes of reaching the Champions League Final and had an outside chance at the Premiership title until a scoreless draw with their F.A. Cup Final opponents, Everton.

Now, it’s up to Hiddink to secure the club’s second F.A. Cup since 2007 and salvage what has otherwise been a lost season for Chelsea. He’ll surely try and channel Chelsea’s anger over not making the Champions League Final towards annihilating an Everton team that will be without it’s Player of the Year in Phil Jagielka. Everton will also be without the cup-tied Jo, the Manchester City striker who bagged 5 goals since coming over on load (although his last goal was in the beginning of April). Nevertheless, this is where Manager of the Year David Moyes earns his money, and the fact that he guided his team to a fifth place finish despite losing Mikel Arteta in February, Ayegbeni Yakubu in November, and Jagielka in April, all to season-ending injuries, is nothing short of incredible.

He’ll have his hands full with Chelsea, and if he wants to deliver to Everton its first piece of silverware since 1995, then he’ll need a flawless match from what’s left of his roster. They’ve done well in the month since Jagielka went down, going unbeaten and winning three of four, including a 2-0 victory against Fulham on the last day of the season. They’ve only conceded one goal in that span and will hope that Leighton Baines, Jolene Lescott, Joseph Yobo, and Tony Hibbert can show that they don’t miss Jagielka. Meanwhile, Tim Howard, Tim Cahill, Marouane Fellaini, and Phil Neville will look to cap impressive seasons with a strong effort against Chelsea. Everton have had a lot of obstacles this season and have overcome all of them, and only a fool would count them out. Guus Hiddink and his men would be wise not to overlook the Toffees, otherwise they could be staring at another trophyless season.

Who will hoist the F.A. Cup this year? Tune in and find out!

Also See:

Chelsea v Everton – Live on Footbo.

Lineups:

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A. Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.
Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Ballack, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne.

The big news is in the center of midfield where Mikel gets the start over Ballack. Hiddink says that Ballack suffered a “setback” in training. Read into that what you will. Anelka continues to be preferred over Kalou on the left, and Drogba will lead the attack for what could be this Chelsea swansong. Ashley Cole will be looking for his fifth winner’s medal, having won the competition three times with Arsenal and once with Chelsea. This is Cole’s sixth final overall, which means that only Arthur Kinnaird, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs have played in more.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Osman, Neville (c), Pienaar, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha.
Subs: Nash, Castillo, Vaughan, Jacobsen, Rodwell, Gosling, Baxter.

Oft-injured striker Saha will get the start as Moyes looks poised to roll the dice with the former Man Utd. man. David Moyes has never defeated Chelsea in any competition as a manager. He would love to change that today. Tim Howard is the first American to start in two F.A. Cup Finals (having picked up a winner’s medal with Manchester United), so congrats to him.

Minute-by-Minute:

Thanks to everyone who followed along, both today and throughout the year. It’s been a wonderful season and I’ve enjoyed liveblogging it. From Euro 2008 to the EPL, from the F.A. Cup to the Carling Cup, from the Champions League to the UEFA Cup, it’s been an honor and a privilege to bring you the action. This will be my last liveblog for the foreseeable future as I won’t be able to cover the games next season. I’d like to thank Ahmed and Soccerlens for giving me the chance to do this. In this day and age, where blogs are about as common as the cold, it’s difficult for a site to distinguish itself. Not only has Soccerlens made a name for itself, but it’s excelled amid a veritable flood of like-minded sites. Ahmed deserves a lot of credit for that, and I’d like to thank him for everything. This is great site that’s full of talented people, and I wish them nothing but continued success and prosperity.

90′ + 4 They take their time setting it up and Drogba walks it over to the corner. Everton take it away, but can’t keep possession. Mikel gets it and wins a corner, and that should just about do it. Sure enough, Malouda touches it to Drogba and there’s the whistle! Congratulations to Chelsea for winning the 2008-2009 F.A. Cup! It’s been a great season for both clubs, and in the end, Chelsea deserved to win the F.A. Cup.

90′ + 3 Bosingwa makes the run down the right and Baines lunges in with a tackle and is called for a foul. It’s outside the box, though, and Chelsea will have a free kick close to the right line of the penalty area.

90′ + 2 Lampard sends it through to Anelka and he looks to have gotten between Lescott and Yobo. Anelka tries to poke it past Howard, but he ends up putting it over the crossbar.

90′ + 1 Four minutes will be added on. Pienaar’s pass into the box is poor and lacks pace and is easily cut out by Bosingwa. He gets fouled and Chelsea will take their time kicking it away.

90′ Cahill sends in a hard shot from distance, and it’s a pretty good effort. It’s wide of the post, though, and ends up not bothering Cech at all.

89′ Lampard gets into the box and sets up Malouda again. His shot is easily blocked, though, and it’s out for an Everton throw.

88′ Ashley Cole is announced as Man of the Match. I would have gone with Malouda, actually.

85′ Bosingwa is down on the pitch and demands medical treatment as Everton break. Pienaar ignores it and Webb won’t stop the play. He sends a cross to Gosling, but it’s knocked out for an Everton throw. Meanwhile Bosingwa is back and running around without a trace of a limp. What a quick healer!

84′ Cole sends in a cross from deep down the left, but his cross is cleared away by Jacobsen. Lampard gets it in the box, and he goes down after some very slight contact. Webb books him for simulation, and Frank isn’t happy about that. You don’t need to be like Gerrard in everything you do, Frank.

83′ Osman will come off for Gosling, and that’s Everton’s final substitution.

82′ Vaughn sends in the cross from deep down the left and Cech wipes out as he tries to intercept it. Luckily for him, there’s no Everton player near the ball, otherwise this match would be all-square.

80′ They show the replay, and it looks like the ball went over the line. It should be 3-1. That’s why they need those laser sensors. Will that non-goal loom large? Not unless Everton score in the next ten-plus minutes.

78′ Malouda fires a shot from long range and it looks like it’s beaten Howard! It careens off the underside of crossbar and bounces off the pitch and back into the field of play. Malouda argues that it went over the line. Not sure how he could have seen that, but what else is he supposed to do? The linesman didn’t see it, because it happened so fast.

77′ Vaughn comes on for Saha as Everton make their second substitution.

76′ Pienaar is down on the pitch with an injury. Meanwhile, Roman Abramovich is finally smiling.

75′ Pienaar loses it and Chelsea go on the attack. Cole does well to keep it from going out past the touchline and he sends it to Lampard at the top of the penalty area. He sends it into the box for Malouda, who is all alone with the keeper. Howard stands tall, though, and Malouda sends his shot well over the crossbar.

73′ Pienaar tries to answer but his shot from the left edge of the penalty area is well wide of the far post.

72′ GOAL!! Anelka tees it up for Lampard and he shrugs off Neville. Lampard then has space near the edge of the penalty area and he sends the shot towards the left post that just manages to elude Howard! It was a good strike, but Howard probably should have gotten that one. He’s let in a few soft goals this season, especially against Liverpool.

71′ Lampard gets fouled near the center circle and Chelsea take it quickly.

70′ Malouda gets past Osman down the left and he sends a dangerous cross to Drogba in front of goal, but Drogba can’t control it and puts it out for a goal-kick.

68′ Malouda (who’s been much quieter since Jacobsen came in) makes the run down the left and he tries to send a cross into the box for Drogba. It’s too close to Howard, and the keeper picks it out easily.

66′ Ballack is called for a foul on Pienaar, and Everton will have a free kick from about 45 yards out. They take it short and Baines whips in a great cross from the left wing. Saha gets a free header on goal and he just sends his effort over the crossbar. Saha knows he should have done better there.

65′ Fellaini with a poor decision and he gives it away in his own half needlessly. Anelka pounces on it, but Baines is there to make the tackle.

63′ Ballack sends it to Drogba on the edge of the penalty area, but Yobo is there to close him down and get it away. Meanwhile, Mikel gets booked for a fairly innocuous foul. Not sure what Webb is doing today. He’s let some serious tackles go and he’s punished some light ones harshly.

62′ Terry tries to clear it, but Cahill blocks it with his body. Terry want a handball, but it’s not given. Cahill then lashes a shot that’s right into Cech’s arms. Cahill meanwhile pulls up lame and is holding his thigh.

61′ Cahill is called for a foul deep down the left flank against Mikel. Meanwhile, Ballack will come on for Essien.

60′ Anelka with a great chance as he makes a great run into the box and beats Yobo easily. Lampard finds him and Anelka tries to chip it over Howard’s head and tuck it in at the far corner. It’s just over the bar, though, and everyone in the stadium was holding their breath there.

58′ It’s been a dull second-half thus far. All the excitement from the first half seems to have gone away. Cahill heads it down on the edge of the penalty area and Saha tries a shot from distance. It’s a poor effort that still wouldn’t have been close to the mark even if they had doubled the size of the goal and pulled the keeper.

57′ Ballack is warming up and he must be wound up over not getting the start today.

54′ Anelka nearly gets through the Everton defense but Lescott is there to hold him back. Anelka comes back with a cross from deep down the right flank, but Howard is there to intercept it. Meanwhile, the commentators are saying that Hiddink is leaving for Russia immediately after this match to resume his duties with the National Team. Wow! No rest for the weary, I guess. He won’t even stay behind for a few pints with his players? That just seems wrong.

53′ Nothing doing on the corner as Drogba is called for a foul in the box.

52′ Pienaar gets a chance in the Chelsea box, but he can’t get his shot off and ends up giving it away poorly. Chelsea counterattack and Anelka tries to chip it towards a charging Cole, who is near the left post. Jacobsen takes no chances and knocks it out for a corner.

51′ Cahill with some good work to keep possession after Neville gets wiped out from a Lampard tackle. He makes the run down the right and wins a throw deep in Chelsea territory.

50′ Chelsea with a half-chance on the corner as Lescott’s header away is poor and Malouda takes it on the volley. His shot is well over the crossbar, though, and doesn’t trouble Howard at all.

49′ Lampard sends the free kick into the box, but Malouda can’t get his shot off. Everton eventually clear it away from danger. Cole gets it and wins a corner for his club.

47′ Chelsea try to test Jacobsen early, and he does well to knock it away from Malouda down the left. Neville (who had a strong first half) lunges at Mikel and looks like he may have kicked out at the Chelsea midfielder. Neville tries to plead his case, but Webb is going to show him the yellow.

46′ Chelsea kick off and we’re underway with the second half! Are we headed to extra time and/or penalties? We’ll see!

46′ Everton will make a change as Hibbert will be replaced by Jacobsen. That’s a pretty inglorious end to what had been a decent season from Hibbert. Can’t argue with the move, though. Hibbert was suffering from third-degree burns at the hands of Malouda.

46′ Fabio Capello is in the stands. Must be scouting Phil Neville for the next round of England qualifiers. Hey, if Gary could get a recall, then Phil deserves one, right?

Everton got off to a dream start, but then Chelsea settled down and really dominated the action. They seemed to have a lot of success attacking Hibbert down the left with Malouda, and it’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, Moyes does about that during halftime. Everton seem to have settled into a pattern of defending deep and trying to hit Chelsea on the counterattack. We’ll see whether that strategy works, or whether Chelsea figure out a way to pass them to death. They’ve had chances to take the lead, and they’ll fancy their chances if the second half unfolds the same way as the first half did. Everton will need to attack more because I don’t see them shutting Chelsea out in the second half.

45′ + 3 There’s the whistle and we’re at halftime! See you in the second half!

45′ + 1 Nothing doing on the ensuing corner as Saha can’t handle Baines’ delivery into the box off the short corner. Neville tries to keep it in bounds, but it goes out for a Chelsea throw.

45′ Cole fouls Osman and Everton have a free kick from a good 45-50 yards out from the right half of the field. Osman sends in the free kick and it looks like Cech should have it easily, but he spills it and concedes the needless corner!

44′ Hibbert gets victimized down the left again as Cole gets in behind him. He looks to have a clear path to goal, but he sends his shot well over the crossbar. Very poor finish from him, but hey, they don’t pay him to score goals.

43′ Drogba makes a dangerous run towards the box, but Neville hits him with a hard tackle on the edge of the box and Drogba is flapping around like a fish out of water. No whistle, though, and Drogba continues his theatrics, much to the displeasure of the Everton fans. He finally gets up and limps around, but no one’s buying it.

41′ Wow. Chelsea have completed 241 passes to Everton’s 92.

38′ Long pass to Saha in the box, but Cech dives in and take it before Saha can get there. Back the other way as Lampard makes a run into the box, but Neville hits him with a good tackle to prevent the shot. The ball trickles harmlessly to Howard, and the keeper boots it away.

37′ Anelka tries to create some space outside the penalty area, but Neville closes him down well. Lampard eventually chips it into the box for Anelka and he looks offside. Everton keep playing, though, and Pienaar is able to get to it first. Anelka then gets called for the foul on Pienaar as they struggle for position.

36′ Saha nearly gets behind Terry after Hibbert sends a nice pass through to him. Saha tries to chip the ball past Terry with his backheel, which ends up being his undoing as he is unable to control it. Probably should chested it down instead.

34′ Lampard sends the corner to the left edge of the box for Alex, but Saha is there to clear it away. Everton counterattack and Saha passes it deep into the box for Cahill. Cech is out to collect it and Cahill draws some contact on the Chelsea keeper. No foul, though, as Cahill looked like he was trying to stop his run.

33′ Malouda, who is having a field day down that left flank, chips a pass into the six yard area for Drogba, but Lescott is able to head it away. Lampard then wins a corner for his club.

31′ Malouda gets into the box down the left and he centers it to Anelka. He tries a shot, but Yobo is there to block it.

29′ Lampard tries to play a one-two with Malouda down the left, but Lampard’s pass is too strong and Howard is out to collect it.

27′ Pienaar (who’s been very effective today), chips a pass to Saha in the box, but it’s just out of his reach. Chelsea come back the other way and Lampard tries to set himself up for a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but he can’t quite handle the pass and he ends up losing it.

25′ Cahill trips Anelka and he gets a talking to from Webb. No card, though, as it really didn’t look like a very hard tackle. Meanwhile, Essien hits Fellaini with a hard tackle across the knee and Fellaini is on the ground writhing in pain. That should be a booking as Fellaini could have been seriously hurt, but I guess Webb is letting them play.

23′ Lampard sends a shot from long range and it’s dipping but not fast enough for Lampard’s sake. It ends up going over the crossbar. By the way, Drogba has now scored in five consecutive domestic cup finals. Say what you want about the guy, but that’s one heck of an impressive record.

22′ Hibbert sends a cross from deep down the right towards Fellaini and Cahill, but they get their signals crossed and Terry is able to clear it away.

21′ GOAL! Anelka gets it and makes the run towards the box. He ignores Drogba, who is calling for the ball, and lays it off to Lampard. He sends it to Malouda, who is wide open deep down the left wing. He sends a great cross into the center of goal and Drogba unleashes a ferocious header that easily beats Howard! Drogba’s stellar record at Wembley continues!

20′ Malouda does well against Hibbert again, but his cross into the box is easily cleared away by the Evertonian defense.

18′ Chelsea have really controlled things since giving up that goal. That said, they haven’t really threatened to score just yet.

15′ Pienaar whips a dangerous cross into the box from the left wing and it’s well placed in front of goal for a charging Fellaini. Cech reacts quickly, though, and is able to corral it before Fellaini can get that ‘fro on it.

14′ Drogba gets held up in the box by Hibbert and he sends it out to the edge of the penalty area for Essien. He takes a whack at it, and even though he’s had some success from distance this year (right Barcelona?), he sends his effort well over the crossbar.

13′ Fellaini fouls Essien, and that could be the first of many fouls on the afternoon for Fellaini.

12′ Malouda makes a nice run into the box and he tries to play it through to Cole. Malouda holds it too long, though, and Cole is flagged offside.

10′ Malouda gets down the left again. He plays it to Anelka who is closed down well by Lescott. Anelka gives it to Bosingwa, but he gives it away deep down the right. Malouda seems to be having some success down the left as Hibbert has had problems staying with him.

9′ They show Saha’s goal again, and it was a world-class strike. Talent was never the question with Saha. It was always about his fitness.

8′ Lampard thumps his free kick from about 40 yards out over the crossbar.

7′ Lampard plays it long to Malouda down the left and he looks like he has Hibbert beaten. Hibbert clips him and he gets a yellow for that. Looks like it could have been inadvertent, but it was a smart foul since Malouda would have had acres of free space to run into.

5′ Dangerous cross into the box from Chelsea and Howard gets blocked off from it. Essien tries to get his head on it, but he can’t quite reach it. Lampard comes back and wins a corner for his club. Nothing doing on the ensuing corner as Everton knock it away for a throw.

4′ Bosingwa tries to a through-ball into the box for Drogba, but it’s long and Howard comes out to collect it. Back the other way and Bosingwa lives dangerously with his backpass and nearly gives it away to Saha. I’m guessing that would have been the fastest brace in F.A. Cup history.

3′ Wow! Looks like Moyes’ gamble to start Saha paid off. Chelsea still have plenty of time, obviously, but that was not the start that they wanted.

1′ GOAL!! Everton kick off and we’re underway. Howard Webb, Tottenham’s favorite referee, is in charge today. Everton start quickly as Pienaar gets it deep down the left wing. He sends a cross into the box but Mikel’s header away is poor. Fellaini gets it and heads it to an unmarked Saha on the inside edge of the box. He lashes a shot on goal that easily beats Cech! Wow! That’s the fastest goal ever scored in F.A. Cup history at 25 seconds!

0′ After all the complaints from the Semifinals, the Wembley crew have laid down a brand new pitch. It’s a perfect day in London, so rain shouldn’t be a problem. Then again, it is London…

0′ Some lady sings “God Save the Queen.” No, it’s not Susan Boyle.

0′ The teams come out of the tunnel. Chelsea are wearing their yellow kits while Everton will be sporting their usual blue shirts. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the UN, is on hand to shake everyone’s hand before the match. I’d be more excited if it were Boutros Boutros Ghali.

0′ Until Pompey won the title last year, the F.A. Cup had become the exclusive domain of the Big Four. In fact, before last year, the last non-Big Four team to win the F.A. Cup was … Everton in 1995.

0′ The big revelation this morning is that, according to Claude Makelele’s autobiography, John Terry had a hand in Jose Mourinho’s departure. So, if that’s true, then he’s killed off two out of their last four managers. Good ratio for JT there. Carlo Ancelotti better watch his back if he takes this job.

0′ What a job Hiddink has done for Chelsea. He really turned that club around. It’s too bad that he won’t stay because it would be interesting to see what he could do over an entire season. Then again, it’s admirable that he won’t go back on his commitment to coach Russia.

0′ Can Everton pull off what would be a huge upset? Or will Chelsea give Guus Hiddink a nice going-away gift? Should be an interesting match, to say the least. Let’s hope that someone scores. These two teams played to scoreless draws in both of their meetings in the Premiership this season.

0′ Welcome to Soccerlens’ live coverage of the F.A. Cup Final between Everton and Chelsea! I’m Victor and I’ll be bringing you the action live! I’m watching this match on Setanta Broadband. For information on how to access that service, feel free to consult this article about how to watch football online. Click here for free streaming options.

Match Review:

Chelsea suffered a terrible start to the match, but they persevered and ended up dominating this match in their own workman-like style. They really controlled things and limited Everton to a few half-chances after Louis Saha’s record-breaking opener. Malouda was a dominant force down the left and the Chelsea midfield exerted its will over their counterparts from Everton. They held possession for a lion’s share of the match and they made life easy for Petr Cech and the defense. Guus Hiddink got a great send-off and cemented his legacy in only a short time with Chelsea. With the job that he’s done, it seems like a no-brainer that Roman Abramovich should appoint a stopgap for the next season so that he can wait for Hiddink to become available after the World Cup in 2010. We’ll see what happens then, but for now, Chelsea have earned the right to celebrate.

As for Everton, they look absolutely gutted to have lost this match, but they have a lot to be proud of. They had an amazing season and their run to the F.A. Cup Final was one of the most impressive in recent memory, as they knocked off Manchester United, Liverpool, and Aston Villa. With his shoestring budget, perpetual lack of depth, and motley crew of has-beens, cast-offs, and unheralded role-players, the job that David Moyes continues to do with this club is nothing short of miraculous. In the end, though, they just didn’t have enough creativity or class to get back in this match once they went behind. They really missed Jagielka’s steely resolve in defense and Arteta’s creativity on offense. Their defense, which had been so great all season, was exposed today as Hibbert had a nightmare of a match. Despite all that, they’ve had a fantastic season, and they have the Europa League to look forward to next season.

Man of the Match:

Florent Malouda

There were several candidates for the honor, all wearing yellow. Cole had a great game and was officially named Man of the Match by the sponsors. Lampard was quiet for the first half but was very influential in the second half and scored the match-winner. Anelka had an excellent match as well, as he continued to confound his critics who think of him as a lazy malcontent who can’t contribute unless he’s up front by himself. Malouda was outstanding as he single-handedly destroyed Hibbert down the left flank and generated so many chances for his teammates. He even had a few opportunities to score and should have had at least one goal. As for Everton, Saha had the outstanding strike at the beginning and had a couple other chances that could have changed the outcome. Neville also played well as he was his usual physical self in the center of midfield. Maybe Moyes needs to raid Manchester United for a few more of their players…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Watch Manchester United v Barcelona live online here.

Barcelona (Eto’o 10′, Messi 70′) 2-0 Manchester United
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
Competition: UEFA Champions League Final
Date: 27 May 2009
Kickoff: 18:45 GMT, 14:45, EST

Barcelona clinched the Treble as they humbled Manchester United in the Finals of the UEFA Champions League! Soccerlens brought you the action live! Click below for the live-blog and feel free to leave comments below!

Match Preview:

It’s a dream match in every sense of the word. Two of the most storied and successful franchises in the world, each led by a claimant to the mantle of “World’s Best Player,” and each on the verge of historical seasons, will battle it out for supremacy with the most coveted title in Europe on the line. Both teams will come into this match having secured their respective domestic league championship, which marks the first time that two domestic champions met in the Champions League Final since 1999. The winner that year was Manchester United. The place was the Nou Camp at Barcelona.

So it’s appropriate that these two teams will meet for the Champions League crown. Manchester United can become the first team to successfully defend its title since the competition changed its name and format from the European Cup. They’re on the verge of an historical Quadruple and would become only the third team ever to repeat as League and European Champions (Real Madrid and Ajax are the others). They’ve endured a season of ups and downs, but are riding high after clinching their record-tying 18th League title. With Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly putting to rest rumors of his imminent departure to Real Madrid (at least until next week), the only drama surrounding the club seems to be that of Carlos Tevez. The energetic forward could be seeing a lot more of Barcelona next season if those rumors about a move to Real Madrid are accurate.

Manchester United will hope to get Rio Ferdinand back in time for the match. The center-back had hoped to feature in Manchester United’s season finale against Hull, but did not make the team. Darren Fletcher, their versatile midfielder who turned in a career season, will miss out after drawing a highly disputed red card in the Semifinals against Arsenal. Otherwise, Manchester United will probably look to use a similar setup to the squad that humiliated Arsenal in the Semifinals. United seem to struggle against slick-passing teams, and Barcelona would certainly fit the bill. You can bet that Sir Alex Ferguson will study the Chelsea tape very carefully to see how Guus Hiddink’s men stymied Barcelona’s fearsome attack.

Barcelona, meanwhile, could become the first Spanish side to win the Treble having already secured La Liga and the Copa Del Rey. Barcelona have been heavy favorites all year to win the Champions League and it’s easy to see why. With one match to play, they have already set a record for the most points in a 38-match season in La Liga with 86, and are within 3 league goals of Real Madrid’s all-time record for a 38 match season of 107. If they beat Deportivo in the season finale, then they will have matched the record for most wins in a season with 28 victories. If they win by two or more then they will have set a record for the best goal difference in La Liga history. They have three players in the top six for individual scoring, and they have scored 155 goals in all competitions while only conceding 54.

Barcelona, however, showed a surprising amount of ineptitude in the face of Chelsea’s physical defense. While Manchester United tend to play a more finesse style than Chelsea, they certainly have guys that can disrupt the flow of Barcelona’s vaunted offense, which could be missing two valuable components in Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta. Additionally, Barcelona’s defense will be depleted as both left-back Eric Abidal and right-back Dani Alves are suspended. As such, Gerard Pique will play a large role for Barcelona, especially in light of all their personnel issues. The ex-Man Utd man has been giving his teammates inside information on how to stop Ronaldo, however, it could be Sir Alex Ferguson’s inside information of his former charge that could prove to be Barcelona’s undoing.

Of course, most of the focus will be on reigning World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo and last year’s runner up, Leo Messi. Both players have a reputation for being big-game chokers, so both of them would love to lead their respective teams to victory. Will Messi and Barcelona triumph? Or will Ronaldo and Manchester United make it two-in-a-row? Tune in and find out!

Lineups:

Barcelona: Valdes, Puyol (c), Toure, Pique, Sylvinho, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Henry, Eto’o.
Subs: Pinto, Caceres, Gudjohnsen, Krkic, Keita, Rodriguez, Muniesa.

Puyol will come in for the suspended Alves at right-back and former Arsenal man Sylvinho will replace Abidal at left back. Toure will move back from his usual holding midfield role to play center-back. He’ll hope for a better effort than the one he showed against Chelsea. Iniesta and Henry will play (as if there were really any doubts that they would miss out), and Busquets will assume Toure’s usual holding role. No Alex Hleb among the reserves, which is a little strange, given his experience (he was on the Arsenal side that lost to Barcelona in 2006 and has usually played well against Manchester United).

Manchester United: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Anderson, Carrick, Giggs (c), Park, Ronaldo, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Nani, Evans, Rafael, Scholes, Tevez.

As expected, Manchester United will go with a similar lineup to the one that they used against Arsenal. Obviously, Fletcher will miss out due to suspension. As such, Giggs will slot in for him in the center of midfield, and will also wear the armband tonight. Rooney is listed as the lone-striker, but United have been playing Ronaldo up top with Rooney functioning as a left-wing. Tevez, in what will most likely be his last match as a United player, will start out on the bench. After missing out last year, Park Ji-Sung will start and will become the first Asian player to play in a Champions League Final. We’re proud of you, buddy!

Minute-by-Minute:

Trophy Presentation: Hey, wait a minute! Why does Dani Alves get a medal? How is that fair? He was suspended!

Thanks to everyone who followed along! It’s been a great Champions League season and it was an honor and a privilege to bring it to you! Join me on Saturday for the F.A. Cup Final! See you then!

90′ + 3 Vidic gets booked for a foul on Messi, and Messi takes his time getting up from that one. There’s the whistle and we’re done! Congratulations to the Treble-winning Barcelona squad for winning the UEFA Champions League!

90′ + 2 Rooney sends a pass that’s intended for Tevez, but it’s out past the touch-line, and Pedro will come on for Iniesta. The Barca midfielder gets a standing ovation, and he deserves it. He’s the Man of the Match, no question about it.

90′ + 1 Three minutes will be added on. Rooney curls a shot/cross from the left, but it hangs in the air and Valdes takes it easily. Messi wins a corner at the other end as Vidic concedes it. Barca take their time here, and they take it short.

90′ Terrible pass from Rooney and it looks like there will be no ’99 style comeback. United were simply outclassed and outplayed. Plain and simple.

88′ Long kick from Van der Sar and he finds Tevez in the box. He tries to get past Pique, but the former Man Utd. man does well to close him down. It’s out for a goal-kick, and Pique has been excellent today. He’s outplayed both Vidic and Ferdinand today, the two center-halves he was stuck behind at Old Trafford.

87′ Rooney sends it in, but Puyol heads it away for another corner. Van der Sar starts to come up for it, but decides not to. Berbatov gets his head on it, but it’s not even close to the mark.

86′ Rooney gets it deep down the left and Puyol concedes the corner.

85′ United try and play it into the box for Rooney, but he’s so far offside it’s almost comical.

84′ O’Shea makes a great defensive play on Iniesta and he’s one of the few United players who has played well today. Puyol gets inside the box and he has a chance. Van der Sar is out and he blocks the shot. Puyol dives theatrically as he tries to stop the United counterattack. Ref doesn’t blow the whistle, though.

81′ Sure, it’s hard to count Manchester United out, but they really haven’t shown much. You can’t really see them getting two quick goals to send this one into extra time. The biggest reason why is that United just can’t seem to get the ball. Barcelona are too good at keeping possession and, as anyone will tell you, you need the ball to be able to score.

80′ Busquets is fouled by Scholes and the ref plays the advantage. Iniesta fires a hard shot at Van der Sar, but it’s in his arms. Meanwhile, Scholes is actually wearing the armband right now. I thought he had a policy about not being the skipper. Oh well.

78′ Ronaldo fouls Puyol and he gets booked. Ronaldo looks frustrated out there, and it’s not hard to see why.

77′ Scholes is on for Giggs. Is it too little too late?

74′ Puyol gets it deep down the right and Ronaldo lunges at him. He barely glances Puyol, but Puyol goes down like he’s been shot. No yellow for Ronaldo, but he’s hardly endearing himself to the Barca fans. Maybe he’s getting ready for next year. On the free kick, Xavi tees up Puyol in front of goal, but his header is right into Van der Sar’s arms.

73′ Nothing doing on the corner as Giggs’ effort goes out. Terrible showing from Giggs today.

72′ Henry will come off for Keita. United nearly get a goal as Berbatov catches the Barca defense off-guard. He centers it to Giggs, who misses the ball completely. Ronaldo tries to put it in at the far post, but Valdes blocks it to concede the corner.

70′ GOAL!! Giggs’ corner is knocked away into the path of Messi. He charges down the left, but Rooney tracks back and takes it away from him. Puyol comes back and lays it off to his right to Eto’o. His cross is poor, but Barca get it back. Xavi sends a great cross from the right wing and an uncovered Messi, who heads it past a helpless Van der Sar. Messi doesn’t score many with his head, so he must be relishing that goal. Especially since it was his first against English competition.

69′ Keita is warming up and should be coming on for Barca. Tevez charges and sends it to Rooney down the right. He sends in another cross and Pique knocks it away again. He seems to have Rooney well scouted. It’s a corner to United.

68′ Carrick sends another long pass, this time to Ronaldo down the left. It’s out of his reach, though, and Carrick’s struggles continue.

67′ Ronaldo is called for a foul on Puyol, and Ronaldo takes him to task for diving. No, no. You read that correctly. Pot, kettle, black…

66′ Henry fires a tame effort to the near post and Van der Sar saves it comfortably. Park will come off and Berbatov will replace him. Will that make a difference?

65′ Iniesta goes down really easily on the edge of the box, but Busacca is not moved. Ronaldo loses it on the edge of his box and Barcelona go on the counterattack. Carrick makes a nice play on the ball and knocks it away from danger.

64′ Giggs sends his corner into the box and Vidic just misses it with his head. Berbatov is getting ready to come on, and we’ll see the Big Four in action. Unless he’s coming in for Rooney… I doubt it, but Rooney’s done nothing today. Barca have really had his number.

63′ Carrick with another poor pass to Rooney, and Carrick probably isn’t going to put this match on his resume. Do soccer players even have resumes? Tevez gets it and leads the counterattack. Rooney tries to cross it from the right, but Pique again is there to knock it away. This time he concedes the corner.

61′ Giggs with a great effort to win back the ball and he sends it to Ronaldo down the left. He centers it to Carrick, but his pass into the box for Rooney is long and is out for goal-kick. Scholes is warming up and I’d imagine that he’s coming on for Giggs.

59′ United try to play their free kick quickly, but Ronaldo is offside. It’s been that kind of a day for United.

58′ The report is that Valdes is hurt. Not sure if that really makes a difference. He hasn’t had anything to do since the opening minutes of the match. If Barca keep playing like this, they could pull Valdes and United still wouldn’t get a sniff of the goal.

57′ Tevez runs into trouble and Iniesta calmly picks his pockets. Iniesta has been magnificent so far.

56′ Rooney crosses it from the right and he nearly finds Park uncovered at the far post. That could have tied it up right there!

55′ United have been terrible in this half. They still haven’t recovered from that Eto’o goal.

54′ Rooney sends in a cross from the right but Pique heads it away. Again as United cross it into the box once more, but Pique is there to head it away.

53′ Barca take a while to set up and Xavi sends a brilliant effort that hits the post! Van der Sar would have been beaten there. For some reason, Vidic had a chance to block it but chose not to. Maybe he’s already got that contract with Barcelona?

51′ Iniesta gets fouled on the edge of the box, and this will be a golden opportunity for Barca.

50′ Giggs gives it away cheaply and Eto’o threads a brilliant cross to the right half of the box that Messi just can’t get on the end of. He would have had a goal had he been able to reach it. He wants a penalty, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.

49′ Sylvinho with a dangerous cross from the left wing and Eto’o tries to pounce on it. Van der Sar comes off his line, though, and takes it before Eto’o can get his brace.

48′ Henry gets into the box and he turns Ferdinand inside-out as he moves gracefully in the penalty area. He fires it on goal, but Van der Sar makes a tremendous kick-save. The finish left a bit to be desired, but that was a beautiful move to get around Ferdinand.

46′ United kick off and we’re underway! Barca tried to play some mindgames as they were late getting back on the pitch. Park has moved out to the left and Rooney will move over to the right. Rooney loses it cheaply to Sylvinho and this half is starting out much the same way as the first half ended for United.

46′ Tevez is warming up on the sidelines and he’s probably going to come on. Anderson will be sacrificed, and you can’t really argue with that decision. Anderson did nothing in the first half.

46′ In 2006, Barca won by a score of 2-1 and their first goal in those Finals was from Eto’o. Looks like Barcelona have history on their side, too.

46′ Well, there is precedent for this match. In 1999, Manchester United went down to an early goal from Mario Basler of Bayern Munich. They spent most of the match behind by that 1-0 score until they got two quick goals in stoppage time. Will history repeat itself?

Well, most people thought that Barcelona would control the action and that Manchester United would play for a goal on the counterattack. In the opening moments of the match, though, it was the other way around. As such, Barcelona jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and, if they keep passing the ball the way that they’re doing right now, then that scoreline could very well be the final tally. United need to do better when they get the ball, and they need to cut down on their sloppy giveaways. We’ll see what changes, either tactical or personnel-wise, United make for the second half.

45′ + 1 One minute will be added on. I would have thought there would be more, what with Valdes’ injury. Sir Alex will probably take it, though, as United need to get to halftime down by only one. Iniesta slips it into the box for a jumping Henry, but it’s just over his head. Van der Sar takes it and there’s the whistle!

45′ Messi makes a great run down the left, and sends a hard cross/shot at Van der Sar. He spills it, but there’s no one around him to jump on the rebound. The ball must be in his head since Van der Sar never drops those.

44′ Messi and Iniesta do a one-two on the edge of the United penalty area, and Iniesta sends an audacious back-heel into the box, but it’s nowhere near Messi.

43′ Carrick sends it long down the left to Ronaldo. Valdes has to come a long way to kick it away.

41′ Rare giveaway from Barca and Park is there to take it. He gets it back from Ronaldo but then falls down on the edge of the box and gives it away. I think Sir Alex will be looking at some changes at halftime. Park, Giggs, Anderson, and Rooney have been virtually non-existent.

39′ Rooney and Evra get crossed up and Rooney gives it away. Rooney’s been very quiet today, as well.

38′ Messi tries to chip the ball past Ferdinand to Henry, but Ferdinand makes a nice little backheel pass to Vidic, who gets it away from danger.

37′ Puyol gets behind Evra, but his cross into the box is poor. Ronaldo tries to key the counterattack and Toure challenges him with a hard tackle. Ronaldo wants the foul, but no dice.

36′ Pique has an excellent chance on the corner as gets in front of goal but just misses the ball with his head.

35′ Puyol comes forward and wins a corner as Vidic gives away the corner. They play it short and Messi sends it in from the top right edge of the box. Evra heads it away and it’ll be another corner.

34′ The match has slowed down, considerably, since the Eto’o goal. Barca seem content to pass Manchester United to death, and Man Utd. look sloppy and reluctant to take too many chances.

32′ Nice run from Evra as he makes the overlapping run with Rooney and fires a cross into the center of the box. Pique has it well scouted, though, and heads it away.

30′ Barca are stroking the ball around the pitch without any problems at all. It’s like they’re on the training ground out there.

29′ They play it short and get a throw after Park knocks it away. Shaky header by Vidic back to his keeper and Van der Sar does well to get it to Evra. Very poor effort from Vidic today.

28′ Messi wins a free kick after Vidic and Carrick both take him down. This one will be from about 40 yards out.

27′ Xavi takes it and fires a great free kick that just ekes wide of the corner post. Van der Sar had it covered, but it was close.

26′ Anderson gives away a free kick in a dangerous area as he knocks Iniesta to the ground. Barcelona will have it from about 30 yards out.

25′ More nice passing from Barca as Messi threads it through down the left to Henry. He gets closed down well by O’Shea and Barca have to reset their offense.

23′ Giggs sends in the corner, but Ronaldo hits his header over the crossbar.

22′ Long pass from Carrick and Rooney just keeps it from going out down the left. Rooney tries to cross it, but it’s out for a corner.

21′ Valdes is down on the pitch and receiving treatment. Looks like Park caught a bit of Valdes’ knee.

20′ Nice one-two between Park and Anderson. The pass to Park and it’s just out of his reach. He runs at it, but Valdes makes a great slide to get it away without fouling Park in the box. Ronaldo comes back and tries a shot from long range, but it’s just wide of the far post.

19′ Messi gets it and makes a run towards the box. He sends a rocket of a shot and it’s just over the crossbar. Van der Sar shakes his head disapprovingly, and I think the ball is definitely playing tricks on him.

17′ Giggs actually has the better angle, but I think we know who’s taking this one. Oh well, I was wrong. Giggs takes it and his effort gets around the wall but it curls well over the crossbar.

16′ Passing clinic from Barcelona as they knock it around the pitch easily. Ronaldo gets it deep and he cuts into the box on Pique. The former United defender knocks him to the ground, and that’s a yellow card for Pique. He would have been off had Toure not been in the area. Ronaldo will have a chance from less than 30 yards out.

13′ Messi goes down on the edge of the box, but no call from the ref.

12′ Talk about a change in momentum. United were in total control and then they got hit on the counterattack.

11′ United are shell-shocked and they give away a corner. Xavi tries to send it to an uncovered Messi on the edge of the box, but he can’t quite get to it. That was a great chance for the Argentine! It trickles past Puyol as well and they looked like they missed out on another chance. United seem intent on giving them more chances, though, as Carrick nearly gives it away in his own territory. Vidic then fires his clearance right at Anderson. Fortunately for Vidic, he gets it back and kicks it away.

10′ GOAL!! Barcelona hit United with a quick counterattack as Iniesta threads it into the box for Eto’o. He gets around Vidic easily and he squeezes it past Van der Sar at the near post! Van der Sar will be upset about getting beaten to the near post, but Eto’o was so close that he probably would have scored anyway.

8′ Rooney nearly gives it away, but Evra is there to take it. He gets it into the box for Ronaldo, and he chests it down and fires it on goal. He has all kinds of space at the far post, but it bounces just wide of the mark. That was close.

7′ As I say it, Ronaldo tries a long-range shot from about 40 yards out and it’s just off the mark. I bet Barca fans were holding their breaths right there.

6′ Long pass down the left for Rooney. He works on Puyol and the Barca skipper does well to close him down. Apparently, the ball is made of some new material that causes it to move around a lot. I guess we can expect to see a lot of long-range efforts.

4′ Rooney sends in a long pass to Park, who gets behind the defense. The flag stays down, but Park can’t reach it in time. It’s out for a goal-kick.

3′ Corner goes out to Rooney on the edge of the box, but he shanks his chance wide of the post.

2′ Can Ronaldo come through here? He sends in an excellent effort that dives in front of Valdes. The keeper makes a great save and Park can’t get it on the rebound. He probably should have put that one away. It’s a corner kick for United.

1′ Barca kick off and we’re underway! Hold onto your horses, ladies and gents! Massimo Busacca is our ref. Shaky moment for Barca early on as Valdes gets his signals crossed with Sylvinho and United have a throw-in deep in Barca territory. Barca get it away, but Anderson wins a free kick from about 35 yards out.

0′ The players come out from the tunnel and the atmosphere is absolutely electric. The UEFA anthem plays and, for some reason, Andrea Bocelli keeps singing on top of it. I daresay, do we have a UEFA remix in the works?

0′ Is that Jose Mourinho singing? Nope, its Andrea Bocelli. He’s fantastic.

0′ Meanwhile, who gets the loudest round of boos from the Manchester United fans? Is it former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry who terrorized Manchester United for so many years in the Premiership? Is it Leo Messi, a player most United fans consider to be a pretender to the throne of “World’s Greatest Player?” Is it Dimitar Berbatov? Nope. None of the above. It’s UEFA President Michel Platini. I guess that’s understandable.

0′ Looks like a beautiful day in Rome. It’s warm and slightly cloudy, so the sun shouldn’t wreck too much havoc on the keepers. There’s some commotion about the quality of the pitch, though. Pep Guardiola wanted it heavily watered and Sir Alex Ferguson kept his players on the pitch for warmups longer than usual. We’ll see if any of that plays a role in the match.

0′ The Chammmmmmmm-pionnnnnnnnnns!

0′ Also, Gary Neville doesn’t get in the squad, but Fabio Capello saw fit to recall him for England. I guess that tells you all you need to know about England’s right-back situation.

0′ By the way, Dimitar Berbatov has stated that, in light of his horrendous effort in the F.A. Cup Semis, he’s unsure about taking a penalty today. I’m sure that’s exactly what you want to hear from your 30-million quid striker.

0′ With the way the Champions League has expanded over the years, winning it two years in a row would be a remarkable accomplishment. Is it more impressive than winning a Treble while holding a +100 goal difference in all competitions? I’m not sure about that…

0′ Who got the loudest round of boos from the Barcelona fans? Who else? Cristiano Ronaldo. They’ll hate him even more if he goes to Real Madrid next season.

0′ Whose absences will loom larger? Barcelona will miss Alves’ crossing and marauding runs down the right, while Manchester United will miss Fletcher’s physical play and industry.

0′ This is the fourth Champions League Final at the Stadio Olimpico. English sides have won two of the previous three, which bodes well for United. Then again, those two prior Championship teams were Liverpool and Liverpool. So maybe that doesn’t bode well for United after all.

0′ Who gets more camera time tonight? Carlos Tevez or David Beckham? You know Goldenballs is going to be at the game.

0′ I’ll predict a 2-1 victory for Manchester United.

0′ I’ve gone through all the matchups in my head. I’ve made so many arguments and counterarguments for both teams. Despite all of that, I can honestly say that I have no idea who is going to win this match. I could see Barcelona having problems with Manchester United’s counter-attacks and set-plays. I could see Manchester United suffering a defensive lapse and giving up a goal to one of Barcelona’s many playmakers. I could see it being a cagey affair with both teams holding back. I could see it going to penalties. Ugh! I just want the match to start!

0′ I can’t wait for this match to start! I was so excited last night, I could barely sleep. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since the semifinals after Manchester United knocked out Arsenal and Barcelona upended Chelsea.

0′ Welcome everyone to Soccerlens’ live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final! I’m Victor and I’ll be your liveblogger. I’m watching this match on ESPN. However, this match is available, on-line, at ESPN360. For information on how to access that fine service, feel free to consult this article. Click here for other, free, options.

Match Review:

If you take away the first ten minutes of this match, Barcelona completely dominated the match and were never in any danger of losing. Barcelona completely outclassed Manchester United and thoroughly deserved to win. They proved that their eye-popping statistics were not deceptive and that they were every bit as good as their reputation suggested. It didn’t matter that they were playing with a patch-work defense. It didn’t matter that some of their best players were hurt or out of form. It didn’t matter that their keeper got injured early in the first half. They beat the defending champions decisively, and there can be no complaints from United.

It was a surprisingly poor effort from Manchester United as they started well but then seemed to lose all their steam once Eto’o scored. They gave the ball away cheaply, they were sloppy with their passing, they had no answer for Iniesta, who dominated the action in midfield. Most importantly, they seemed like they had a great matchup against Puyol and Sylvinho on the flanks, but Rooney and Ronaldo did nothing against Barca’s second-choice fullbacks. In the end, they have a lot to be proud of as they’ve had a great season. It’s a shame that this season will probably be remembered more for the failure in the Champions League. By any standard, they’ve had a great season, winning the Premiership, the Carling Cup, and the World Club Championship. However, they came up short in their most important match of the season, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Man of the Match:

Andres Iniesta

How different things might have been had Iniesta not been fit to play. Instead, he turned in a dominant performance in midfield and showed the world why he may be the most unsung player on this team. He pulled the strings on offense and seemed like he did whatever he wanted on the pitch. Xavi, Messi, Eto’o, and Henry all had their moments, as did Puyol and Pique, but Iniesta was the best player. As for United, O’Shea actually turned in a decent performance, as did Evra. Ronaldo, in what may have been his final appearance in a United shirt, looked like he was going to win it all by himself in the first ten minutes, but then disappeared. He was hardly alone in that regard.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Obviously, we know that Sir Alex Ferguson has won many trophies, coached a lot of great players, and accomplished a lot of extraordinary things during his time at Manchester United. His critics (namely Rafa Benitez) might point to the amount of money that he’s spent, especially in recent years, as evidence of Sir Alex Ferguson buying his way to greatness. However, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s had more than his fair share of talent at Manchester United. The sheer number of great players that have gone through Old Trafford during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign is stunning.

Who were his very best players? Let’s look at each position:

Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel

Schmeichel’s stats speak for themselves. He has the highest ratio of clean-sheets to starts in Premiership history, blanking the opposition in 42% of his starts with Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Manchester City. His ratio was higher during his time at United as he managed to keep a clean sheet during 176 of his 398 starts for United in all competitions, which translated into a 45% mark. He kept 21 clean sheets in the Premiership in 1994-1995, 18 clean sheets in 1992-1993 and 1995-1996, and 16 in 1997-1998. He won the UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year award three times (1992, 1993, 1998), and the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper Award twice (1992, 1993).

Schmeichel large presence in goal wasn’t limited to his impressive stats or his gigantic 6-foot 4-inch frame and XXXL shirt that made him look more like an NFL linebacker than a Premiership goalkeeper. He always seemed to come up big when his team needed him the most, whether it was saving Dennis Bergkamp’s penalty shot in the 1999 F.A. Cup Semifinals (and followed with an even better stop in extra time against Bergkamp), making a gravity-defying save against Rapid Vienna in the Champions League, or scoring an equalizer against Rotor Volgograd to salvage a UEFA Cup tie. His fiery demeanor and penchant for yelling at teammates and opponents alike ensured that his larger-than-life presence would be felt in any match, regardless of the outcome.

The “Great Dane” continues to loom large at Old Trafford as all successors and heirs have failed to measure up. Even Edwin Van der Sar, a world class keeper who recently broke the English record for most consecutive clean sheets, has been described as the “best Manchester United keeper since Schmeichel.” Maybe that will change if Van der Sar puts up a dominant performance in the Champions League Final, but right now, the edge goes to the Great Dane.

Right Back: Gary Neville

Perhaps no Manchester United player, with the possible exception of one Cristiano Ronaldo, has been more polarizing of a figure than Gary Neville. His many detractors (although he doesn’t have nearly as many as his brother, Phil, does) love to criticize him for everything, ranging from his lack of height and perceived lack of pace, to non-football related things like his outspoken nature (especially after Rio Ferdinand’s drug suspension) and his sleazy-looking moustache. Additionally, his unswerving devotion to his club has made him a lightning rod of criticism for United haters around the world, much more so than the more understated Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
However, even his detractors have to admit that Gary Neville is the best English right-back of his generation and a vital cog in the United machine that has won so many trophies since Sir Alex came to Old Trafford. At his peak, he was one of the best crossers in the game and his ability to come forward made United an extremely dangerous offensive squad. Defensively, he was one of the most reliable right-backs in the world, using his knowledge of the game and his ability to position himself to make up for his athletic limitations.

As a result of injuries, his ability has diminished considerably in recent years. Nevertheless, Neville remains an inspirational leader to his club and seems destined to follow his long-time teammate, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, into the United management hierarchy. For a one-club man like Gary Neville, nothing could be more appropriate.

Center Back: Steve Bruce

There have been many great center-halves at Old Trafford since Sir Alex took the reins, and you could make a case for any number of them over Bruce and Jaap Stam (see below). Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, and Gary Pallister have all had distinguished careers in United red, and when all is said and done, Ferdinand and Vidic may well be remembered as the two best defenders in team history. When talking about Manchester United’s greatest defenders, Bruce, the long-time captain of United, often gets forgotten about. It’s hard to see why.

After all, Bruce was widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted defenders in England during his time with United. He was an excellent passer and could hold the ball even under enormous pressure. He rarely made mistakes, which was all the more impressive given his penchant for playing hard. He was the heart of the defense and thought nothing of playing through injuries and taking punishment from opposing players. Additionally, he was an excellent goal-scorer and finished his United career with an astonishing 51 goals in all competitions (including 19 in all competitions during the 1990-1991 season), giving him a higher United tally than Denis Irwin, Louis Saha, Teddy Sheringham, and Nicky Butt.

Nowadays, Steve Bruce is probably known more for his managerial career. During stints at Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic, Bruce has been both criticized and praised, usually the former. He’s been good to his old club, though, as he has yet to win against Manchester United in a managerial capacity, including a loss on the last day of the season in 2007-2008 that allowed United to clinch the Premiership title and a loss one year later that put United on the brink of the 2008-2009 title. Clearly, those United ties are hard to cut as far as Steve Bruce is concerned.

Center Back: Jaap Stam

Sir Alex doesn’t like to admit when he’s made a mistake, especially when it comes to the transfer market. He still won’t admit that signing Juan Sebastian Veron was a mistake and he has no apologies for the personal rows that led to the likes of David Beckham, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, and Roy Keane leaving Old Trafford.

So when Sir Alex admits that he made a mistake selling Jaap Stam to Lazio in 2001, then you have to stand up and take notice. Moreover, you have to appreciate just how dominant of a center-back Stam was during his time at Old Trafford based solely on the fact that Sir Alex issued a mea culpa for his transfer. Stam was the lynch-pin of the United defense and one of the biggest reasons why they won the Treble in 1999. He was a dominant force in the air and was universally regarded as one of the best individual defenders in the world.

The exact circumstances that led to Stam’s sale remain murky. Various theories abound concerning how the star defender fell out at United so quickly and so suddenly. Some point to his controversial autobiography where Stam criticized some of his teammates (particularly the Nevilles and Beckham) and accused Sir Alex of tapping him up while he was playing for PSV Eindhoven. Others pointed to the growing influence of Jason Ferguson (Sir Alex’s son) and his agency, who were behind several of United’s moves in the transfer market (such as bringing in Roy Carroll and Laurent Blanc). Still others pointed to Stam’s failed drug test immediately after joining Lazio and speculate that United dumped Stam before he could be suspended. We don’t the exact reasons for his departure, but we know the result. Without Stam, United were forced to keep Roy Keane back in order to help out the back four, which hampered their attack and led to a memorable Keane rant about how players are treated like pieces of meat.

One thing that was indisputable was that United were worse off without Stam. It wasn’t until the squad signed Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic that they finally filled the void.

Left Back: Denis Irwin

Here’s an interesting bit of trivia. On a team that boasted so many excellent scorers and dead-ball specialists like Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, it was Denis Irwin that took the penalty kicks. His prowess from the penalty spot was one of many things that made him such an excellent player for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Irwin came to Old Trafford with little fanfare as Sir Alex purchased him for the relatively modest price of £625,000. With the low price tag came low expectations as Irwin, who had toiled for Leeds United and Oldham Athletic, wasn’t seen as a particularly dynamic player. He soon proved his worth to Manchester United as he became their most dependable and reliable defensive player. Sir Alex liked to say that he was always the first name on the lineup sheet, even ahead of the captain. An excellent defender who rarely put a wrong foot forward, Irwin continued to excel even as he got older, keeping youngsters like Phil Neville out of the first team. Meanwhile, his dead ball ability was so great that he was hailed as being a better free-kicker than Ryan Giggs, Paul Ince, and Andrei Kanchelskis. Only David Beckham was seen as a better dead-ball striker during Irwin’s time with United. Irwin could also play right-back, which only emphasizes his value to Sir Alex.

Irwin’s long period of excellence puts him ahead of his only real competition for this spot in Patrice Evra. Maybe Evra might get there after several more years of excellence. However, he’s got a ways to go, and he can thank “Mr. Dependable” for that.

Right Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo faced some stiff competition for this spot from none other than David Beckham. The two of them may share a love of the nightlife and a penchant for outstanding free-kicks, but that’s about it. If this were a team, then maybe Beckham would get the nod due to his outstanding crossing and brilliant passing. However, since we’re talking about the best players, then Ronaldo easily gets takes the pot.

Ronaldo’s talent is unquestionable, and his transformation from a raw, undisciplined youngster who was more style than substance into the best player in the world is a testament to Ferguson’s managerial skills. He has scored 118 goals in all competitions for United (pending the 2009 Champions League Final), including an astounding 42 goal season in 2007-2008. He’s Manchester United’s first Ballon d’Or winner since George Best in 1968. He can score them with his head, he can score then from the penalty spot, and he can score then from 35-40 yards out (as he did against Porto and Arsenal this season in the Champions League). It’s probably not a coincidence that, ever since he emerged as a bona-fide goalscoring treat in 2006-2007, United have won the Premier League every single season. Indeed, the only knocks on him are his penchant for on-the-pitch theatrics, diving, and lack of commitment to playing defense (although Beckham is certainly guilty of not tracking back as well). However, there’s no question that 99% of the managers in the world would be able to live with Ronaldo’s faults if it meant getting a player of his caliber.

The only question seems to be whether Ronaldo will continue on in a United uniform or move to Real Madrid in the offseason. Ferguson may need to rely on every bit of his persuasive skills if he wants Ronaldo to forget about his self-described “dream move.”

Center Midfielder: Roy Keane

Sometimes, the effect of skippers on their teammates is overrated. That wasn’t the case with Roy Keane. Perhaps the greatest captain in Manchester United history, Keane was a great player to boot. Keane was one of the best defensive midfielders that ever lived and his all-consuming desire to win made him an excellent leader. He was the engine of some of Sir Alex’s greatest teams and his aggressive and physical play in midfield inspired his teammates and intimidated his opponents.

It also caused him to go over the edge on numerous occasions. His disciplinary record was one of the worst in English footballing history as he was accumulated a record-tying 13 red cards during his career, with 11 coming as a United player. He admitted to injuring Alf-Inge Håland of Manchester City as retribution for a tackle in 1997-1998 that led to a serious knee injury for Keane. His dissatisfaction with Ireland’s preparations for the World Cup in 2002 led to him being dismissed by team manager Mick McCarthy. His rant on MUTV against Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, John O’Shea, Kieran Richardson, and Alan Smith was pulled from broadcast and remains one of the great “lost” interviews in football history. His row with Sir Alex over, among other things, pre-season accommodations, led to his sudden departure from United after looking like he was going to be groomed to replace Sir Alex as manager.

Nevertheless, Keane remains one of the greatest legends to ever put on a United shirt. His heroic display against Juventus in the 1999 Champions League Semifinals remains the stuff of legends while his willingness to stand up for his teammates (especially against fellow “hard-man” Patrick Vieira) only adds to his reputation. He may have flamed out, but no one burned brighter than Roy Keane did for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Center Midfielder: Bryan Robson

As successful as Sir Alex Ferguson has been over the years, its important to remember that he was hardly an overnight sensation. In fact, he went trophyless during his first three years at Old Trafford and only managed to win the 1989-1990 F.A. Cup. Despite spending on big named players like Bruce, Pallister, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, and Neil Webb, Sir Alex never came close to winning a League Title (the closest was in 1987-1988 when he finished second by a whopping 9 points to Liverpool). He was nearly fired after his squad was humiliated against crosstown rivals Manchester City by a score of 5-1 during the 1989-1990 season. However, the board showed patience with him and he’s repaid them in spades.

The cupboard was virtually bare when Ferguson took over, but the one great player that he had was Bryan Robson, who arrived from West Brom for a then record £1.5 million (how times have changed). Robson was Manchester United’s captain for a record 12 years, but more importantly, he kept the team afloat during Ferguson’s difficult early years in charge and acted as a bridge to the club’s rise to prominence in the 1990’s. Robson gave Manchester United credibility in those days as he was one of the most respected players in England. He captained the English National Team from 1982-1991 and was widely regarded to be one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. His 99 goals in all appearances ranks 21st all time in the Manchester United record book.

Bryan Robson edges out Paul Scholes who, like Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, have been loyal one-club servants under Sir Alex. While both players have their merits, Robson played with lesser teammates and carried his squad while Scholes was always more of a complimentary player. Robson continues to serve his club to this day, returning to Manchester United to serve as a goodwill ambassador alongside fellow legend, Sir Bobby Charlton.

Left Midfielder: Ryan Giggs

Here’s some food for thought. There has never been a Premiership season in which Ryan Giggs did not score at least one goal for Manchester United. He is also the first player in UEFA Champions League history to score in 12 consecutive seasons. Most importantly, Ryan Giggs has won more English League Titles than any other footballer in history and is the only Manchester United player to have played for each and every one of the 11 Premier League championship teams under Sir Alex Ferguson.

More impressively, Giggs has seemingly gotten better with age. He started out as a dynamic left winger who was known for his dazzling runs down the flanks and his deft scoring touch. If you ever needed confirmation of his blinding speed, his excellent dribbling, and his astounding scoring touch, one need only ask Arsene Wenger about it, and he’ll recount to you the 1999 F.A. Cup Semifinals where Ryan Giggs carved up his entire defense and put the past one of the best shot-stoppers in the world in David Seaman (assuming Wenger saw it, of course). As he got older, and his lost a bit of his speed, Giggs was able to reinvent himself as a playmaking central midfielder who used his deft passing skills and outstanding vision to set up his teammates. Even though he became more of a facilitator, he was still capable of scoring the occasional highlight reel goal. Just ask Blackburn about Giggs’ scoring touch and they’ll tell you about this past season when he faked out two defenders and put one past a stunned Paul Robinson.

Simply put, many players have come and gone, but Giggs has always been a constant and important presence at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t know what it’s like to win a Premiership crown without Giggs, and he probably doesn’t want to find out anytime soon.

Forward: Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Maybe the best pure scorer Sir Alex Ferguson ever had, Ruud Van Nistelrooy was a certifiable goal machine. His stats are jaw dropping: 150 goals in 219 starts in all competitions for United. 95 Premiership goals in only 5 seasons (which included an injury-plagued 2004-2005 season where he only made 17 league appearances). 44 goals in all competitions in 2002-2003, which is the second-highest mark in team history. He scored a United-record 38 goals in 47 appearances in Europe, and his all-time mark of 60 goals is second-best behind Real Madrid’s Raul. Despite only playing 219 times for United, he is eighth on their all-time scoring list. Out the club’s top ten scorers of all time, Van Nistelrooy has the fewest appearances by 74 matches.

Van Nistelrooy’s United career was almost over before it began as a serious knee injury derailed his transfer from PSV in 2000. However, he recovered and Sir Alex Ferguson stuck to his gut and brought the Dutch hitman to Old Trafford the following season whereupon he established himself as one of the best target men in the world. As opposed to previous seasons where Sir Alex relied on duos, trios, or even quartets of forwards, Van Nistelrooy thrived no matter what the situation was and always produced, even when his teammates weren’t pulling their weight. It seemed as if Van Nistelrooy was destined to spend his career at Old Trafford, eventually breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring mark.

However, it wasn’t to be. A training camp bust-up with Cristiano Ronaldo, a controversial statement over how the team missed David Beckham, and several personality clashes with Sir Alex over team selection and tactics ensured that Van Nistelrooy’s United career would end badly. After the 2005-2006 season, Van Nistelrooy went to Real Madrid for a fraction of what Sir Alex had paid for him in 2001. Nevertheless, his inglorious end doesn’t detract from his accomplishments, and Van Nistelrooy can rightly claim to be one of the greatest strikers in team history.

Forward: Eric Cantona

The King was voted United’s “Player of the Century”and it’s hard to argue with the choice. The wildly popular French import keyed a turnaround in Manchester United’s (and Sir Alex Ferguson’s) fortunes after he arrived from hated rivals Leeds United in 1992. In fact, you can draw an imaginary line and analyze Manchester United’s accomplishments Before Cantona and After Cantona, and the disparity is striking. Before King Eric arrived to Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson’s United squad won one F.A. Cup (1989-1990), one League Cup (1991-1992), and one Cup Winner’s Cup (1990-1991 – although English clubs were banned from European play as a result of the Heysel Stadium Disaster). After Cantona arrived, they won 11 league titles, 4 F.A. Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 Champions League crowns (pending the 2009 Finals), and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.

Surely, Cantona wasn’t the sole reason for the turnaround. In fact he retired in 1997 and missed out on a majority of those “After Cantona” trophies. However, Cantona carried the team and was the squad’s talismanic figure during what should have been transitional years for Manchester United as the old guard of Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Mark Hughes, Lee Sharpe, and others were being phased out in favor of youngsters like Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and Gary and Phil Neville. Instead, United persevered and Cantona won four Premiership crowns and two F.A. Cups. Along the way, he scored 82 goals in 185 total appearances for United.

Cantona’s skills and ability to create goals out of thin air made him a constant danger to score and nowhere was this more obvious than during the 1996 F.A. Cup Final against the Cream Suit Brigade of Liverpool. In the 85th minute of a scoreless game, David James punched a corner kick out to the edge of the penalty area where Cantona happened to be standing. The United skipper reared back and fired a shot past a helpless James to win the F.A. Cup for his squad. After the match, a classy Cantona even offered to let regular captain Steve Bruce, who missed the game due to injury, lift the trophy.

Much like with Roy Keane, Cantona’s disciplinary problems and his emotional outbursts overshadowed many of his on-field accomplishments. While many might remember his mixed-martial arts demonstration against a Crystal Palace fan, most United fans will remember him, instead, for his heroics on the pitch.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News