Hey, if you haven’t noticed,
I had a perfect record in my predictions for the Champions League round of 16, 7-8 correct, and 8-8 if
Inter Milan manages to stave of
Ajax next week.
Arsenal were deserved winners,
Chelsea deserved losers, and
Liverpool unlucky across 2 legs against a stubborn
Benfica side.
Arsenal have done what no other
Premiership club has managed this season by placing themselves in the last 8 of the competition. By sinking
Real Madrid they achieved the one thing that just might keep
Theirry Henry at the club.
Madrid, well, what can you say other than an era is over. And
Arsenal did it with their ever improving group of young players. In fact, game in, game out,
Arsenal keep improving. They were deserved 2-1 winners just today against
Liverpool in the
Premiership. As for
Real, it’s time to rebuild.
Zidane looks set to retire after the
World Cup,
Ronaldo looks to gain weight -I mean play elsewhere after the season.
Roberto Carlos will also likely make an exit. What is left can’t keep the reputation alive, and if you consider the money spent on disappointment
Robinho, well, there is more money needed to get them afloat again.
Conversely, the
Gunners are on the rise. The ghost of
Patrick Vieira will appear again at
Highbury in the name of
Juventus. How many times can a team get lucky? The
Old Lady’s hopes were saved because of a last minute flub by
Werder Bremen’s keeper. Now
Arsenal must contend with the team which will probably end their
European hopes.
Chelsea-
Barcelona should have been better, in the second leg especially.
Chelsea just ran out of ideas.
Barcelona didn’t have to bring their best to the occasion; the
Blues looked beaten by about the 10th minute.
Jose Mourinho’s petulance could not be hidden and for my money he’s crossed the line of how far excuses can get you. Sometimes 'the special one' takes it on the chin and accepts defeat but too often, especially in the big games, he starts his litany of excuses which often centers on the referee. His behavior against
West Brom recently was terrible.
Without
Asier Del Horno’s red card I think the result would have been the same.
Barcelona were just too fluent in attack to be stopped.
Liverpool lost to
Benfica, twice.
Simao’s wonder-goal finished things off in the first half of the second leg.
Liverpool hit the post and couldn’t buy a goal which has emerged as their Achilles’ heel. They are scoring about ½ a goal per match recently. That’s not good enough with the kind of talent they have brought in. I got a lot of ‘are you nuts’ comments when I predicted
Benfica would win. I’d like to see as many ‘you were right’ comments but something tells me I won’t.
As for
Benfica, they play like a team from
Italy. Stubborn, hard to break down and opportunist.
I didn’t see Ronald Koeman as being up to the job but I have been proven wrong. He’s put together a gritty team which finds a way to win.
*PS- Again, sorry for the lack of articles, I'll be more active soon enough
Dutch club Ajax has proved once again to have some of the best youngsters in the World. Its policy is principally to develop young players, who then go to some of the best clubs. The latest "release" has been 21 year-old Nigel de Jong, who had gained main squad status 3 years ago, in last January, to german Hamburger SV. Nigel was inicially centre-back, but his 1m74 and good technique placed him into a new position: full-back. His best right foot leaded him to the right defensive place. In spite of his speed and technique, he never showed good crossing, so he's been, mostly this season, adapted in a new position: defensive midfielder. For me this is the ideal place for the talented youngster, who also showed great offensive characteristics. He scored 11 goals in 36 games (including League, Cup and Champions League). Now in HSV, de Jong, number 28, scored 1 goal in 10 games and still plays in the midfield. He's fast, strong, intelligent, not individualist, has great shooting, tackling, heading and also plays an essencial role in his team, since he can play in any position in both defense and midfield. Before Hamburg "kidnapped" him, the giant Manchester United has shown interest in this Roy Keane would-have-been substitute. He's also one of Holland's capped main players.
