.: Soccer ramblings :.

we interrupt rezuan's dose of nice inspirational quotes or personal life for this special column..for dose of you who watch soccer, gd for u..for dose who dont, well too bad..

uefa champs league final - arsenal vs barcelona
i gotta admit dat im astonished with arsenal's progress in this competition..but honestly, once dey beat real madrid..nothin cud stop them already..y? arsenal cudnt make it past the quarters before and for once, dey cud defend that 1-0 lead that used to be the forte when they were under george graham..last yr, who'd have thought that liverpool cud beat juventus even wen alonso was out? dis yr? a makeshift defence, a lone striker..u gotta admit that injuries can be a double-edged sword and arsenal sure used it to bring in more unknowns to their squad and release their potential in the competition.

and why i tink dey'll win it? Lehmann's penalty save in the semi-final against villareal. Last minute and b4 that, a flurry of chances that Villareal cudnt convert..Fate looks to favor arsenal this time ard and u need luck to win this competition. Dont believe me? Ask Bayern Munich when they faced Man U in 1999 and Milan when Liverpool faced them last yr.

Of course, u need to learn how to shut out ronaldinho first. No one better than Gilberto Silva who is Brazilian too. Eto'o hasnt hit his form of free scoring of late too. U gotta admit that Barca has had their fair share of luck as well when Shev got his goal disallowed in the semi-final. But I've alwaes supported English football, so hence the biasedness..lol..And Messi n Deco are out for the final.heh heh..

I tink its abt time arsenal won it lar. After all, they came into existence before even Man Utd(1878) and Liverpool(1892). Abt time la eh..Do i need to remind you which English Club won the Champs League most times? ha ha..

FA Cup Final - LIVERPOOL vs West Ham
I will sincerely applaud any team that can beat Chelsea. I dont have anything against their players though(well, except Drogba and Robben stimes or when other players stimulate) but Jose Mourinho is getting on my nerves(and everyone else's too). So, no surprise when liverpool beat chelsea to wipe off dat arrogant Mourinho.Although Im still puzzled why he wont play a single winger when he has 4 of dem!! He cud loan Joe Cole/Wright-Phillips to Liverpool and solve that right-wing problem..ha ha

And in truth, any team that beat Chelsea deserves to win the cup..ha ha..

ok la..Im happy wif liverpool's progress this season. Benitez won the Champs League in his first season in charge. Tell me how long Wenger/Ferguson took? And he did it with a makeshift, Owen-less squad that he inherited from dear Houllier. And dear Mourinho, he didnt spend as much as you did..lol..This season, we have the Euro Super Cup already..One more to add? I tink we can do it.

It's still too early to comment on the new signings. In defence, Agger and Kronkamp look to be steals but they need time to adapt. Benitez finally got rid of his patriotism and got Josemi out. Aurelio(from Valencia) looks to be signed to provide cover for Riise. Honestly, its about time Traore got out. Can still remember him in the CL final where I got spasms whenever he got forward. Sorry dudes..u got the heart but nt the ability. Warnock doesnt seem to develop fast enough and might be on the way out too. Hyppia and Carragher are as consistent as alwaes. Next season will most probably see Hyypia and Finnan(who's another under-rated rightback) slowly phased out as Agger, Pelatta and Kronkamp coming in.

Midfield. Im very VERY happy with Sissoko. And there u have Man U looking all over the world for sumone to replace Keane and we got this guy, under 7 million pounds and only 21(wow,he's even yoounger than me..haha). alonso moved up another lvl and has helped supplement the team whenever Gerrard is not ard.Kewell's ever-presence in this season on the left wing has helped the cause a lot and he has repaid the manager's faith in him as well esp his performance against Chelsea. Gerrard? PFA Player of the year - as impt to Liverpool as always. Garcia - Jus dont understand him stimes..misses the easy ones, scores the beautiful ones. As long as there's one to one exchange to them or we win, Im happy..haha

Forwardline. Problem area right now. Create,create and create but cant score. Contrary to others, I feel that Crouch is integral to the team. I've got a feeling that Rafa wants to establish a system jus like the one he had at Valencia wif Carew(tall forward) at the top. Not all forwards are there to score. Jus look at Bergkamp, Zola etc. Different types, different specialties u noe? But I do wish he'd take heading lessons from Fowler/Morientes. Here's to hoping that Fowler will get a new contract bec we still need him as a poacher in the team. Morientes doesnt seem to settle even after 2 seasons but i tink rafa will stick wif him out of loyalty(again). Cisse? Still cant rate him as he doesnt seem to be given a run of games under Rafa and in his preferred position to see his potential. I tink he'll go.

I supported the reds from the late 80s on. So i definitely rate fowler..ha ha..he's one of a kind..if only owen was still in the team huh? but enuff on dat..its sad that pongolle and le tallec are nt given deir due consideration from rafa bec dey definitely have their potential(look at the world youth cup a few yrs back k?)

my wish? a world-class poacher for liverpool..right-wing looks to be solved with mark gonzalez coming..but for me, too early to say..la liga n premiership are two different propositions..remember josemi,nunez..ha ha..

Peace out..U'll Never Walk Alone..