League Defining Match

Saturday, Liverpool FC comes of an impressive thrashing of Real Madrid to face powerful Manchester United FC at Old Trafford.  Right now, United sit seven points ahead of Liverpool with a +11 goal differential.

Liverpool thrashed, thrashed, THRASHED Real Madrid in the Champions League 4-0.  That is exactly what Liverpool needed to end their post-christmas slump.  And conversely United is coming off of a 2-0 win over Inter through sloppy play.  But United is rock solid at the back, at the front and pretty much through middle.  Then on the other hand, Liverpool has a strong, well rounded forward in Torres.  

Im predicting 2-1, United.  

Sloppy Play Still Earns a Win

Manchester United saw off Inter Milan 2-0 in the Champions League round of 16.  United seemed to only play well in the opening twenty minutes of each half, and then Inter took over.  Inter had three choice chances, but two struck the post and one went wide (2 by Ibrahimavic and one by Adriano).  Sir Alex was "fuming" at his players for the sloppy play and little flicks the team started doing after taking the lead. 

Both of Untied's goals came from headers within four minutes of the start of the half from Vidic and Ronaldo.  Then United tried to coast and allowed Inter a lifeline, but the back four was solid all except for a few shaky moments leading to the 3 chances.  But besides those two goals, United also had chances.  Rooney stung the palms of keeper Julio Cesar several times and O'Shea just needed to knick the ball over diving Cesar, but instead drove it into his palms.  

The game did become slightly chippy when 18 year old Balotelli began picking fights with Ronaldo (a carryover from the San Siro Match).  The kid needs to prove himself before he picks fights with the world's best player (as voted by FIFA, not just an opinion.  

United enter the Semis

United punched their ticket to Wembley for the semifinals of the FA cup against Fulham FC yesterday 4-0.  Carlos Tevez scored two goals, Rooney one and then J-S Park the exclamation point on the evening at Craven Cottage.  It seems like United are on path for the sextuple this year overcoming Sir Alex's biggest fear.  

Fergie warned the team that it only took one slip to be sent packing and there were two close, early minute encounters where Van der Saar and Vidic were on different wavelengths almost letting Andy Johnson score.  But the back line solidified and the forwards took over playing most of the game in Fulham's half of the pitch.  

United face Everton in the semifinals while Chelsea take on Arsenal in the other match.  

United face Inter Milan in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League at the Theatre of Dreams on Wednesday.  Both teams enter the fixture tied at 0-0 and the winner of this match moves on to the next stage.

Aggies are In

Im calling that with a first round win in the Big XII tournament in OKC that A&M will be in the NCAA tournament as a 14/15/16 seed.  A&M emphatically beat Mizzou at a capacity crowd at Reed Arena 96-86.  A&M even lead at one point by as many as 26 points and commanded the tempo of the game.  Despite the outstanding first half, A&M nearly blew it in the second half.  A&M is notorious for blowing leads against top opponents and letting them come back into the game.  Thankfully A&M's lead was too large for Mizzou to come back.  A&M should be a lock for the tournament in March but will definatly put their 3-year first round win streak on the line when they face a high seed in the opening round of the tournament.

World Baseball Classic

The WBC began yesterday with defending champions Japan shutting out China 4-0, but do we care?  The United States had the opportunity in 2006 to take hold and capture a large American audience with a win, but were embarrassingly beat out by South Korea and Mexico in the second round.  This was especially shocking because the United States was predicted (mainly by US media and players) to role over the rest of the competition.  Baseball had the ultimate chance to captivate America with an inaugural win on home soil, but egos lead to poor play and dismissal from the tournament.  So when the US kicks off pool play of the 2009 WBC, will anyone actually watch?  After all this is now the only international baseball venue after London dropped baseball and softball from the program.

Another Trophy

Sunday, Manchester United Football Club took yet another trophy this year in the Carling Cup against Tottenham on Penalties at New Wembley Stadium.  Ben Foster was spectacular in goal and probably in my opinion leap frogged Tomasz Kuszczak for the second spot and probably took over as the new England number 1 in goal.  

United have taken 3 trophies in 2008-2009 season (Community Shield, World Club Cup Champions, and Carling Cup) and are still in the running for 3 more trophies (Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup).  United could be the first sextuple in football history.  Im predicting United to win the EPL and FA Cup (or at least make it to final) but not repeat the Champions League, I hope Im wrong.  But you have to wonder win all these competitions will get too much for the players.  But United proved they dont need their ace keeper and two best strikers and several other starters to win a cup.  They are so deep I think the magnitude of the amount of games wont effect them.

United Role On

Today United struggled immensely in the first half v. Newcastle United at St. James' Park and to add insult to injury Van der Saar's goalless run was snapped in the 9th minute, shy of a European Record.  Granted he did capture a Premier League Record, an English Record, and a British Record all in a little over 23 hours and no goals since November.  United's back four was shaky at best and didnt solidify until Berbatov's winner in the 56th minute.  But like champions, United won even when playing poorly; real winners/champions win even when things dont go right and when things go perfect.  

Now one thing I noticed (other than night and day play from ManU), is not to get on Vidic's bad side.  He was maliciously elbowed by Martins and cut him above the cheek, and after that incident, Vidic punished any Newcastle player who came within 20 feet of the United penalty area.  He embodies everything that a perfect defender does and the commentators even told a joke that "one day Vidic showed up late, so Sir Alex fined the rest of the team for showing up early".