EPL Diaries: Matchday 2 Preview

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To everyone still missing the Olympics (If you’re like me, you weren’t ready to have Dressage pulled out of your life so abruptly) and to everyone counting down the seconds until the NFL season starts, I have a solution for you. The English Premier League (The EPL). The EPL kicked off its season last week with an exciting Matchday 1 that featured thrilling comebacks, blowouts, controversial officiating decisions, Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United jersey, Andres Villas-Boas abandoning the fashionable trench coat in order to look like a highschool gym teacher and more! In this weekly (hopefully weekly) column I will be previewing the upcoming Matchday by highlighting the key games to watch. That is until Michael Vick gets injured in week 3 and I go into a deep depression that ends in me sobbing into my retro Reggie White jersey. Until then though here are the top 5 games to look out for in Matchday 2.

5. West Ham United at Swansea City (Saturday August 25, 2012 – 7:45 AM ET)

Why wake up at 7:45 in the morning on a Saturday now that Fox Kids is long gone (why wouldn’t they bring back good Saturday morning cartoons? Never understood this) you ask? Because this is (somehow) a battle of two teams coming off of week 1 wins. Newly promoted West Ham started the campaign with a victory that came off of Kevin Nolan’s boot as The Hammers beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Upton Park while the surprise of last year Swansea demolished QPR 5-0 on the road no less with 2 goals coming from new signing Michu (no idea how to pronounce this and based on last week, neither do the announcers). Swansea appears to be the favorite as they seem to not have missed a step despite switching managers in the off-season (Brendan Rodgers out, Michael Laudrup in) and will look to play their fluid “tiki-taka” (Is there really no better phrase to describe this brand of football than this? I mean really?) style in front of their home support. I expect West Ham to stay back and look for chances via the counter-attack and whatever set piece they manage to get. If you manage to wake up this early on Saturday, this game will be fun to watch.

Prediction: Draw

Drinking Game: Drink each time Michael Laudrup gets referred to as “The Great Dane” or every time they cut to a shot of Michu adjusting his hair. (I Don’t actually suggest drinking alcohol this early in the morning…unless you haven’t stopped from the night before, if that’s the case then cheers!)

4. Arsenal FC at Stoke City (Sunday August 26, 2012 – 8:30 AM ET)

Ah what better way to cure your Saturday hangover than watching one team try and play the game of football the “right way” with crisp passes and fluid movements face off against a team who takes the “beautiful game” behind the toolshed and beats it mercilessly with long balls, rugby tackles and long throw-ins. I can’t wait. In all seriousness Arsenal will look to get their first win and goal of the season as they take on Stoke City, another team who could only manage a draw in the first week. Arsenal fans were in a panic after the first game calling for Wenger’s head and all other sorts of over-exaggerations that fans typically exhibit. However, new signing Santi Cazorla looked lively and the Arsenal attack looked decent against a Sunderland side that parked the bus effectively for 90 minutes. And yes, Olivier Giroud missed a pretty easy chance but these things happen and it’s no time to panic especially with the talent this team possesses. Stoke City will look like the same side we’ve seen over the last few years, dull but stubborn and very difficult to beat at home.

Prediction: An Arsenal victory (no real reason here, just a gut feeling. Should let people know though that my “gut feelings” on gambling on soccer have given me a Krusty-esque track record.)

Drinking Game: Drink each time Stoke City throws the ball directly into the Arsenal box off a throw-in. Drink each time you’re confused about Gervinho’s hairline (take very very small sips).

3. Fulham at Manchester United (Saturday August 25, 2012 – 10:00 AM ET)

One of these teams is coming off a 5-0 thrashing of Norwich City and the other is Man U. Fulham began their campaign with a demolition of an admittedly bad Norwich side at Craven Cottage. Norwich’s problems aside, five goals is nothing to scoff at with one coming from Damien Duff (yes, he is still alive) and two from new signing Mladen Petric could be signs that Fulham will be more dangerous this season than in years past. United on the other hand, RVP signing and all could do nothing but watch as Marouane Fellaini and his Sideshow Bob-like hair weaved in and out of their defense leading Everton to a 1-0 victory. It will be very interesting to see how Ferguson will use Van Persie from now on as I expect him to get the start this week but for who is the real question. Kagawa looked impressive in his debut being the lone piece of good news for United fans.  Another question that will be answered on Saturday is who gets the start alongside Vidic and his regrown hair at centerback. In my opinion, Michael Carrick didn’t do a bad job against Everton all things considered and should have an easier time at it playing against the Fulham attack than he did against Fellaini and Jelavic. Panicking after one game makes no sense but seeing 1 or maybe 0 points out of a possible 6 for United will be a cause for concern meaning that the Red Devils should be in attack mode from the get go on Saturday. That being said Fulham is no pushover so this should be a good one to watch.

Prediction: Manchester United victory

Drinking Game: Drink each time the words “little boy” and Van Persie are mentioned together. Drink for every minute of “Fergie Time” (stay away from the hard liquor for this one).

Liverpool Vs. Everton a Running Diary

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Alright! Having some free time on my hands, I decided to watch the mersyside derby today and do a running diary of it. As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of Liverpool so this diary will be very biased, so Everton fans (all six of you) you have been warned. Before I begin I do feel that I should mention that this Liverpool season has been the worst. Yes, I am referring to it as simply 'the worst'. Liverpool finally got owners who were willing to spend some serious money to improve the team, only to see players like Andy Carrol, Charlie Adam, and Stewart Downing (combined cost: over 60 million!) get out-performed by the likes of Kuyt, and Craig Bellamy (combined cost: less then 10 mil, and that is only the cost of Kuyt who was bought over 5 years ago, kill me now). To top it off, Liverpool's best players (Suarez, Gerrard, Lucas-not up for debate, he is a phenomenal player) all missed games due to freak injuries, lingering injuries, and suspensions. To make maters even worst than that, as we continue down the well of misery, Liverpool has managed to hit the post or crossbar this season a staggering 28 times. That is not a typo, if even half of those go in I am pretty sure Liverpool is locked into a champions league spot. I have not even talked about penalties yet. It has gotten to the point where every time Liverpool wins a penalty you wonder how they are going to fuck it up. My personal favorite miss so far was when Charlie Adam, the so called 'set piece master' pulled a Beckham. I can not describe how sick to my stomach I am that the only defense I have against other fans (casual or otherwise) is to hold up five fingers and try to ignore their quips. This culminated when people asked me why I am even still a fan and that I should look for a new team. Okay, nothing makes me more mad then hopping onto a band-wagon, I am a fan for a reason, and I know that one day it will be worth it (see: 49ers of San Francisco) so Chelsea fans: your golden boy Mourihno got clowned by Rafa every single time they played in a cup, and Rafa was operating with one third the budget, Arsenal fans: your cup drought is longer then ours, City fans: you might not win shit this year, and United fans: I respect you (the die-hard ones at least) enough to wish you luck in the title race. Whoa that felt good, the next 90 minutes probably will not, but let's get on with it anyways.

4pm: Kickoff, we begin...

1' Form apparently does not matter in Derbies, Good, because Liverpool's form can best be described like the Toronto Maple Leafs: garbage

2' Carrol and Suarez combine nicely, but Everton clears the ball. Andy Carrol has been unbelievable this year, and I use that word in the worst possible way. He took a massive dump on Liverpool when he played for Newcastle, so I was ecstatic when Liverpool got him. The result? ugh... He is incredibly frustrating, has all the tools, but refuses to use them for some reason.

6' After some incredibly dull play, Suarez sets Gerrard up for a one on one with the keeper. Read my introduction to this, then take a wild guess at what happened. Here ill make it even easier: multiple choice.

a) Gerrard scored
b) Gerrard hit the post
c) Everton's goalie made a wonder-save, then an Everton defender made an even better block.

The Idiocy of the Football Association of England

Tweet I have to be honest, this will be hastily written. I had no plans to write about this until I saw just how unfair the ruling against Luis Suarez was. First of all for those of you unfamiliar with the situation, Suarez had been charged with racist abuse leveled against Patrice Evra. In English football, racism is a serious offence (which I am fully behind) so both Suarez and Liverpool cooperated fully with the investigation from day one. Day one was 66 days ago! By my count, it is one of the longest times to make a ruling on anything, let alone a fairly simple matter where the referee was said to be a key witness. What did the referee's report detail? From what I read innocence on Suarez's part and guilt on Evras, wait what? Apparently, Suarez used a Uruguayan (and Spanish expression most likely meaning "buddy") That notable Spanish players use on Twitter all the time. In response Evra leveled Suarez in a much more derogatory fashion. Seems like an open and shut case. Evra, being so frustrated by how Suarez was destroying him, decides to accuse him of racism (and Evra had been found to lie about allegations before) to exact a manner of revenge he could never achieve in the field of play. Sir Alex Ferguson should in no way be blamed for this, he took the word of his player and did what any manager would have. Back to the case; once Suarez was handed an 8-game ban earlier today, the club released this powerful statement: See statement here.

Some highlights

We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no-one else on the field of play - including Evra's own Manchester United teammates and all the match officials - heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner kick was about to be taken


So no evidence and only the word of Evra to go on.

It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said 'I don't think that Luis Suarez is racist'.  The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suarez was not racist.


So 8 games seems fair then?

It appears to us that the FA were determined to bring charges against Luis Suarez, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November. Nothing we have heard in the course of the hearing has changed our view that Luis Suarez is innocent of the charges brought against him and we will provide Luis with whatever support he now needs to clear his name.


 The bomb is dropped. Accusing the FA of gunning after Suarez the whole time, the amazing thing is that John Terry has suffered no consequence for similar charges. What is the difference between Terry and Suarez? Terry is English of course! I find it incredible that an association that prides itself on keeping racism out of football can be so...racist.

We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suarez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms.


Finally, an attack at a questionable (at the very best) accuser, and you know what? I am very interested in seeing how the FA responds to this last statement, a similar ban should be the minimum. Keep racism out of football, unless of course you are not English in which case we will pull no punches in being racist towards you.

The NBA, Liverpool, and School

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Pictured above: A man who finally decided to stand up to the bullshit Liverpool has faced.

I have to be honest, after a whole day of studying, the notes I am reading are starting to blend and I am beginning to see things. Perfect time to take a break from studying. I could not think of a better way to take a mental break then to post my thoughts about a ridiculous day in the sports world. First of all the NBA, WOW! We all knew that free agency would be crazy, but none of us thought it would be this crazy. Earlier in the week NBA fans were both amazed and horrified at the Lakers proclaiming that they would get both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. Everyone's thought process probably went from "no way" to "wait a second..." to "Fuck! they might actually do it". The Lakers have missed the playoffs less then 6 times in their Franchise history, they always have stars somehow. The Lakers fan's dreams and the nightmares of all other fans looked to be true when Paul was traded to LA with Bunym still available as a trade piece for Howard. However, the NBA (who owns the Hornets) decided to veto the trade hours later. This does not make sense. By all accounts the Hornets got a really good deal (a solid base on which to re-build), the Rockets and Lakers both got stars. If anything the Lakers were actually worse-off from losing both Odom and Gasol. Basically, if the Lakers failed to get Howard after the trade they would have been the same or worse as before acquiring Paul. Of course if the NBA did this just to make sure the Lakers get Howard and somehow keep Gasol or Odom well then. I wont go much more into this as Igor will have an excellent running-diary of what is sure to be a crazy day tomorrow, so check that when you get a chance.

The other reason I wanted to post something has to do with my history as a sports fan. It is well documented how NBA referees screwed the 02 Kings out of a title so I will resist the urge to write 100,000 words about it. What I am trying to say is that its not fun when the refs treat your team unfairly, and sadly this is now happening to Liverpool. Before you think I am just saying this as a Liverpool homer, please just examine the facts presented and try to look at it objectively. Today Kenny Dalglish did something few managers did at Liverpool before; he stood up for the club. Dalglish made a DVD of all of the 'injustices' that are happening to Liverpool that others are not being punished for. The content of the DVD will only be displayed if the FA proceeds to foolishly charge both Liverpool and Suarez for the incident that occurred Monday against Fulham. Why foolish? because as this and this show, the people attacking Liverpool can not hide from the fact that they are being unfair and uneducated in their attacks. In one link it is pointed out how various players have done what Suarez did and did not even receive a slap on the wrist. The other article (written by a brilliant Liverpool blogger) points out how 18 months after his departure, the English press still refuses to stop talking about Rafa Benitez, and also refuses to check their facts before writing idiocy about Liverpool. Believe me, if I had time I would write more about this and even provide examples, but the blog above will do a better job then I will. Also, if you are a fan of Liverpool and somehow have not ran into the above blogs I highly recommend them. It's not about mistakes (referees are only human after all) but it is about consistency and respect, something Liverpool is not getting at this time.

Millennium S&E now has a twitter feed: @MillenniumSandE

Suarez, the EPL, and the Tabloids

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It's been a long time sense I felt like I could write another article about soccer.  Too many games missed due to a dreadful combination of school and work combined with some awful game times (8:30 am Sunday for derbies, really?) left me with insufficient knowledge or inspiration to write about anything.  Today I finally got that bit of inspiration and hopefully the following will sound as coherent as it did when I thought about it.

Many in the mainstream media (especially the British media, but that's for another time) will look at Liverpool's 15 points from 9 games as a major disappointment, while also taking shots at Liverpool's American owners and Luis Suarez.  A couple of thoughts on this, first of all, what Suarez is doing on the soccer field is absolutely incredible, he is easily the most exciting Liverpool player I have watched in my life time.  His talent isn't even the best thing about him, if there was an NBA season you would hear me bitch about guys who get paid and don't care, with Suarez it is the exact opposite.  He approaches games with the intensity of a starving wolf, he is genuinely pissed when he (or the team) is playing poorly, and hates being subbed off.  He really, really cares, we can't say the same thing about players like Tevez and Torres who always put themselves before the team, which by the way is something Suarez has yet to do (and in my opinion he wont).  It's too bad that if you are a supporter of another team you wont notice these things because every major British tabloid and sportscasting company is trying to convince us that Suarez is the Antichrist   Look, I get it he sometimes goes to ground too easily and does complain quite a bit; you know who else complains?  Wayne Rooney, Xavi, Iniesta (the Barcelona guys way more than anyone else) Why do these stars complain so much?  Because they don't feel the ref protects them enough.  Against Norwich, Peter Walton decided that the media was right and chose to ignore the numerous incidents of Norwich players tugging at and grabbing Suarez around the neck area because hey, he dives and bitches!  I would be fine with this were it not for the same media blowhards never treating Christiano Ronaldo like this.  Compare how Suarez and Ronaldo behave on the pitch, they wont be far off.  To the media's credit they eventually started treating Ronaldo like they are Suarez now only after the former got Rooney sent off in the World Cup, gee I wonder what caused them to start hating the guy all of a sudden?  I will avoid getting too much into Sir Alex Ferguson's (Phenomenal coach, putrid human being) hypocritical rant about Suarez's antics, keep in mind that this same man has Nani and Evra on his squad but I digress.  

5 Things To Look Forward to In Matchday 1

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I wasn't sure whether to do a full preview of the upcoming Barclays Permier League or simply a preview of my "favourite" (all my friends have a vested interest in this league so I decided to pick a team to cheer on and because it is no fun rooting for your team to stay out of relegation I decided to go with one of the best in the league, yes it's a bandwagon pick but it's made me enjoy the league more so I have no problems with it. My actual team is and always will be Partizan but that's a whole different topic) team Chelsea. I then realized that i did not know enough about the entire league to do a preview justice and that late-summer fatigue (one that comes from sitting around doing nothing) had made me too lazy to even do a team preview. So here are my admittedly rushed and half-hearted (much like the plot in any Michael Bay movie) top 5 things to look forward to on matchday 1.

1. Can Sir Alex Ferguson and Man U. get off to a good start in the defense of their title?

It seems hard to believe but Manchester United has won 4 out of the last 5 Premier League titles. This quiet dynasty will look to kick things off with a win against West Brom. Even though the Red Devils are on the road I have to believe that anything but a win will be a disappointment. Also, with basically the same team as last year (only difference is a weaker defence, Rio Ferdinand's sucked for about 2 years now and a new goalkeeper in net) with a few key additions (Ashley Young, i watched him destroy Chelsea several times) this team will be the team to beat (they are also my pick to win it all again this year) and if the rumours of Wesley Sneijder (yes, i googled how to spell his last name) arriving are true. Look out.

2. How will Chelsea do their first game under Andre Villas-Boas?

The Blues will start their season on the road against Stoke (no pushovers at Brittania Stadium where they won 10 games last season) with basically the same aging squad they finished with last year. All eyes will be on Chelsea's new and charismatic coach who is coming off a dream season with Porto FC becoming the youngest coach (33 years old) ever to win a European Trophy (The Europa League) and on the worst signing last year hands down, Fernando Torres (seriously, Nnamdi Asomugha could kill Michael Vick in week 1 and still have a better year then Torres had last year for Chelsea). Both men will be looking to impress and since Torres has nowhere to go but up (hopefully) and Villas-Boas has already proven himself as a world-class coach I predict a win for Chelsea.

3. What will Dalglish and Liverpool do for an encore after last years great finish?

Go here for an answer.

4. How will Arsenal react to the impending departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri?

With Cesc basically a Barcelona player in everything but name and Nasri close behind him on a move to Man City, how will the young stars of Arsenal react in their opening match against Newcastle (who also have player issues with talented but strange midfielder Joey Barton)? One has to think that if Arsene Wenger doesn't at least contend seriously for some trophies this year or at the very least finish in the top 4 that he would be on his way out of Emirates. I mean how many great young talent can you stock up before fulfilling your potential? This must be infuriating for Arsenal fans who know that if their team went out and bought someone to push them over the top they could win the league (think Oklahoma City Thunder but worse). Going to be a very interesting season for this team.

5. Has Mario Balotelli figured out how to put on a bib?

Ok that was just a cheap excuse to post that video but really who can blame me?

Have a great weekend and enjoy the football. I know i will.

Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on twitter

Previewing: Liverpool Vs. Sunderland

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If you  are expecting this article to be objective forget about it.  I consider myself a very passionate fan of Liverpool FC and writing about them objectively (especially when it comes to games that matter) is impossible.  Throughout the Premier League season, I will be writing about Liverpool on occasions that are appropriate, this being the start of the season seems like such an occasion.  Instead of previewing the entire season (of both the league and of Liverpool) I think it makes more sense to preview Liverpool’s opening game against Sunderland.  If you want full season previews, there are blogs devoted to Liverpool and the EPL which will offer far more insight than I can.

Liverpool comes in to this season with a sense of renewed hope.  I say renewed because the last two years have been nothing short of hell with awful defending, injuries, a terrible ownership situation, the worst big club manager ever (Hodgson), and allowing goals in the last 5 minutes at a rate that would make Arsenal blush.  Last year a new ownership group (also owners of MLB’s Red Sox) took over and in just a few months in charge made things much, much better.  They showed that they did their research when they brought over Luis Suarez from the Erdeviese, easily the best signing of last year.  They fired Roy Hodgson whose eye-gouging brand of soccer and insistence on playing dead-weights Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen made him one of the least popular managers in Liverpool history.  Of course, as the British media would have you believe, it was all Liverpool’s fault that Roy could not succeed, not his own incompetence and inability to manage a big club.  Lastly, they hired a guy who truly bleeds Liverpool red and actually won some titles as a coach to be the new manager, Kenny Dalglish (the best player of all time for Liverpool).   Those changes were made mid-season and Liverpool finally started playing well again, and had they not lost their last two (pretty meaningless) games, they would have finished with the best record vs. The top 6 sides of the table that year.  This summer Liverpool has spent cash like never before, actually signing a lot of players while selling none (something that was impossible in the Benitez era).  How the new signings will fit in remains to be seen, as do a few transfer sagas, but those are for another article and another time. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to the preview:

First of all, I hate Sunderland, I really do.  I hate their manager Steve Bruce (and his obvious racism to foreigners, best seen by how he spoke of Benitez vs. Any British manager), at one time rumours had him being the Liverpool coach, and I would seriously have considered not following the team any more.  I hate how recently, every time they play against Liverpool some sort of controversy must happen as this video, and this one will show you.  The fact that in the last two years Liverpool have not been able to get points off of them easily adds to the hate.  I do not know much about Sunderland (nor do I want to) but from the various previews I’ve seen experts have them anywhere from the top 8 to being relegated, basically, they have no clue either.  As for Liverpool they come into this game without captain Steven Gerrard who will be available after August.  This is a blow to them as Gerrard on form can win games by himself (sadly, these games are getting more and more rare as his age and injuries begin to pile up).  They also come in with a very scary Left-Back problem.  When Fabio Aurelio is fit (never) he is all class at the position, but in the last 4-5 years Liverpool have not really had anyone who could play there, guys were either too young or playing out of position as a result they have been routinely torched by opposing wingers.  The last time Liverpool had Fabio Aurelio play a lot of games they had an amazing season with this game being the cream of the crop.  Update: During the writing of this, Liverpool went ahead and signed Jose Enrique from Newcastle...so ah that left back situation now looks great!  Another thing Liverpool has now that they never had (slight exaggeration) is a true wing-player in Stewart Downing.  Having watched his performances in pre-season games I can safely say that I will really like him and what he brings to the side.  He should be an excellent compliment to Andy Carroll.  It remains to be seen how Dalglish will manage the team or even what the first 11 will be, but it is important for Liverpool to kick things off on a winning note, as this will be a very tight year in the EPL in my opinion.  I do not expect Liverpool to contend for the premier league crown, but a top 4-5 finish would be nice to see, and if they start the campaign off with a 5-0 trashing (wishful thinking by me, I really hate Sunderland) all the better.  My prediction for this game: There will be controversy.