Sanford's Soccer Net

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger

Uli asks, "Is Werder Bremen the new Borussia Monchengladbach?" Find out...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=376618&root=europe&cc=5901

Magpies close to completing Martins deal

This could be interesting. Martins has ridiculous pace and would be a major boon to Newcastle. But is he worth 10 million? I don't think Roeder has a choice -- he's got to get another striker.
-Sanford

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=376814&cc=5901

An interesting weekend

First of all, take a gander at the view from my pal Mark's seats at the Emirates. Not too shabby. It might be just a Lehman kick away from Highbury but this place is a whole different animal. I can't wait to get over there.

Now then. Due to myriad friends and family in town, a radio show, and a trip to the drive-in to watch Snakes On A Plane, the only match I watched in its entirety was Arsenal/Villa. I have to give thanks to my new friend Dave who graciously accepted me into his home to view the Setanta broadcast on Saturday morning. A fellow Gooner, Dave lives a brief bike ride away and has now achieved "Great Savior" status. Setanta had some good (tickers with scores and a solid half-time "Around the Grounds" segment, and some bad (the announcers, who seemed to enjoy talking the entire match, usually repeating themselves or rambling about nothing interesting - strange for an EPL broadcast).

I was quite sad that Arsene started with Adebayor up front with Henry. He just doesn't do it for me and has yet to prove that he can contribute effectively. Why The Boss isn't going with Van Persie and Thierry from the opening whistle is beyond me. Anyway, the match was an all-to-familiar affair. Arsenal dominated possession but couldn't score because of the usual annoying dithering in front of goal. Then came the goal for Villa on (surprise!) a set piece. Ugh. Freddie was the only guy making anything happen. They need someone to pull the trigger from outside the area but nobody was willing. Even Cesc was guilty of making the extra pass when a shot on target was begging. So Villa packed it in and we finally broke through with a Gilberto volley late in the second half. Certainly the most exciting aspect of the morning was the sighting of Theo Walcott on the pitch for the first team. He played well and displayed some vicious pace and keen vision. I can't wait to see more of him. I was able to get over my bummed out state of mind by hitting the drive-in for Snakes on a Plane. My sister-in-law wanted to see and I figured the drive-in would be a good place for it. I was right. It took my mind of the football at least for a couple hours.

The other thing that eased my pain over the Gunner result was Spurs' anemic performance against Bolton. Hah!

Elsewhere, I was pretty shocked that Liverpool could only manage a draw (they really should have lost) with Sheffield United. They looked so strong in Cardiff last week. I only saw the highlight of the "foul" on Gerrard but with the talent and new pace in their squad I expected more. Thankfully I didn't have time to watch Chelski devour Citeh.

I'm pleased that Reading won. It seems like Convey had a good match. It'll be nice to see him darting up and down the wing this campaign against the EPL's finest. I think he can handle it.

And Manchester United are off and running. It's all lovey dovey between The Fall Guy Ronaldo and Boy Wonder Rooney. Whatever. They're wankers and the Red Devils don't have the talent to do the business for the entire season. -Sanford