Baltimore World Cup Soccer @ Slainte Pub

Friday,  January 27th

FA Cup:
2:30pm Watford v Tottenham
2:45pm Everton v Fulham

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Saturday, January 28th

FA Cup:
6:50am QPR vs Chelsea
7:30am Liverpool v Manchester United
12pm Brighton & Hove Albion or Wrexham v Newcastle United

Bundesliga:
9:30am Bayern Munich vs. VfL Wolfsburg

Serie A:
12pm Catania v Parma
2:30pm Juventus v Udinese

Liga:
12pm Rayo Vallecano vs Ath. Bilbao
2pm Real Madrid vs Zaragoza
4pm Villarreal vs. Barcelona

———

Sunday, January 29th

FA Cup:
8:30am Sunderland v Middlesbrough
11am Arsenal v Aston Villa

Serie A:
6:30am Fiorentina v Siena
9am AC Milan v Cagliari

Bundesliga:
11:30am Stuttgart vs Borussia M’gladbach

Liga:
4pm Malaga vs Sevilla

Ligue 1:
3pm Stade Rennais FC v Olympique de Marseille

As Liverpool face Manchester City in the second leg of their Carling Cup contest today, both teams will be without their main players, Luis Suarez and Mario Balotelli, respectively. Both players are suspended for acts the Football Association merits such punishment.

Suarez, as we all know, is still going through his eight-game ban for the race row with Manchester United’s Patrice Evera, while Balotelli is beginning his four-match ban for allegedly purposefully stamping on Tottenham Hotspur’s Scott Parker on Sunday morning. Some camera angles would show him trying to regain his balance, while others imply a deliberate knock against the former West Ham midfielder.

The question, I pose, however, is the severity of the punishments.

I have always questioned how the FA’s investigative team was able to determine that what Suarez called Evra – “negro” – is racist, while handing out only a four-match ban to Balotelli for what seems to be more violent conduct.

Uruguayan friends I have spoken with affirm that negro is a commonly used word in their society and that no racist or derogatory suggestion is ever implied. One can argue it is a different society and culture altogether from England’s.

As I’ve discussed with others at Slainte, this extreme reaction to Suarez’s comments reflects the overly-PC culture that pervades everywhere. Footballers wind each other up on the pitch and if every comment were to be examined and punished, football would stop. Far from condoning racist chants from spectators and abuse on the pitch, one asks for a more reasonable approach.

On the other hand, Balotelli gets to sit out only four games for an act that could have proved to be more dangerous than it turned out to be. It may not have possessed the deliberateness of Roy Keane’s attack on Manchester City’s Alf-Inge Haland, but it could prove to be just pure rash.

For speech one is severely punished, while for a physical act one is punished.

Carling Cup Semi Final: Liverpool (1) vs Manchester City (0)

Copa del Rey Quarter Final: Barcelona (2) vs Real Madrid (1)

International Friendly: Panama vs USMNT

After the 2-1 loss at Old Trafford, all eyes turned to Wenger and Arsenal’s front office… Is it the end of an Era?

Wenger has now been Arsenal Manager since 1996 for a total of 881 games and 502 wins. This season, and after a heavy loss 8-2 in August against the same Man United, Arsenal does not seduce. Van Persie and Chamberlain are probably the only hopes to “save” the season. Arsenal is now 5th, 10 points behind the Spurs who are sitting on the 3rd place of the table. Wenger’s philosophy is to stay away from becoming a new Man City by spending billions during the transfer window. He believes in Youth which made him become one of the best Manager of the World the past decade. However, it seems now that the recipe does not work anymore…. Talents are leaving Arsenal who ended signing veteran Henry back during the MLS break. The situation is not catastrophic… 5th in EPL, still running in Champions League and FA Cup. But Arsenal has been title-less since now 2005!

The next couple weeks will probably decide for Wenger’s future… A tough FA Cup match up vs Villa, three “easy” EPL matches until the Spurs Derby and AC Milan in Champions League.
I always respected his philosophy regarding the recruitment but a 7th year without a title will probably end Wenger’s love story with the Gunners.

Well, it was another fun-day at Slainte yesterday. The bar was full of so many supporters, including neutrals whose teams had played the day before, on Saturday. Always good to see so many regular faces, including an old one not seen for over a year, and new ones. Then there were the regular patrons present only for brunch and mimosas who probably had no idea what kind of atmosphere they were entering. I love looking at their reactions to our shouts, screams, banter and songs. Patrons entering had to squeeze through the EPL fans on the first floor and the staff are always alert above the noise. Upstairs was less packed and for those wanting to sit and eat.

It was the last day for Bret Holmes for quite a while, as he and Mrs. Holmes are expecting their first child in the next few weeks. Congratulations to them both and Mr. CITEH will be missed. It’s up to Ms. CITEH, a.k.a. Karen, to lead the uproar.

I entered Slainte just as the first big match of the day, Manchester City v. Tottenham Hotspur, was finishing. This would have been an opportunity for Spurs to close the gap on the league leaders. But Mr. Showman, Mario Balotelli, put them in the lead with a late penalty given away by Ledley King, ending the match 3-2. Manchester United, no doubt paying attention to the proceedings in the Etihad Stadium from down in London, would have wished for a different conclusion.

United were to play away at Arsenal in the second and final big match of the day. In recent days the talk had been of a revenge for Wenger’s men who were humiliated 8-2 at Old Trafford in the opening weeks of the current campaign. A repeat performance was too much to expect.

The match, which was televised on local Fox affiliate WBFF Fox 45 as a way of spreading the English Premier League, began with both sides feeling each other out. It really was not the best beginning to such a game as this. But finally, a goal came at the end of the first half when Valencia out-jumped Vermaelen to head into the net. Arsenal returned in the second-half and Van Persie equalized. It was shocking, however, to see Arsenal’s best player, Oxlade-Chamberlain, substituted for the unloved Arshavin, to the dismay of Van Persie. It was the Russian’s mistake it was that led to United’s second and decisive goal, scored by Welbeck.

When all was done, two big matches and big fun at Slainte.

Obviously needs to regroup… supporters in Baltimore are just too strong not to contribute… what’s the main reason do you think that this blog is not upkept… people don’t want to write? People forget? I need a stable… who wants in..? Crickets…

From an email chain by our own — Patrick Geraghty — not too much polish on this… but you get the idea —

I can watch those highlights again and again (City v Blackpool)….. that second half had so much life it was unreal.

Silva is such an important player and his talents on and off the ball benefit the team so much

We have a lot of depth and we have injuries so we truly do not know our side at 100%.

But in what we have seen so far there are pillars to this team. There are several spots up for grabs but some things are certain…

???? Tevez (obviously… without him we have nothing. he must be up top, best when alone or paired??… we haven;t revealed yet)

Silva (although he has played in the hole and on the wings we aren;t sure exactly how he will fit, only that he must be apart of the game)

??? ????
????
??? ???? Kompany ????
Joe

Slowly we are learning that J-bo is a talent and will lock down rb position, while still being versatile to play opposite wing or in the middle (huuuuuuuuuge for us down the stretch, hes like zab + talent/size/speed)

Yaya/Barry/Nigel all are hammers in the midfield, but there roles all depend on opposition…. they can take all three spots in the midfield, and will probably next week and against the rags, but in a game like yesterday we need to bring the game to opponents(second half) and all 3 enforcers are not need

Milner/AJ/SWP – just as the enforcers roles depend on opposition so too does that of our attacking minded midfielders

Up top with tevez is where mario comes in…. Adebuy could be off if yesterdays performance repeats itself…. either way to have adebuy and mario fighting for same spot…. sick

I think adebuy gets one last shot on thursday and will prob start with silva off him

Some good things-

Mark Hughes loses that game 2-1 in typical city fashion

Robinho maybe gets by one(maybe) of the defenders on Silva’s goal before taking a dive on the ball

Lesscott is much better inside then play out on the wing, but still a bit shakey

Great great game to take us into Arsenal

Yet again one more pathetic showing from City. Viera and Yaya in the middle and Yaya playing deep… really? REALLY? Milner and Tevez can not be the attack and SWP and AJ are not world class wingers — choose one of the other and start playing a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-1-2 with Milner or Yaya running the point. Tevez is a trojan – yes – he is… but he can’t run box to box the whole game… he’ll be retired by December.

Call me Willy Worries but I feel the exodus of Tevez coming soon… his remarks about not wanting to play for the National team paired with his lack of pairing… make for an angry Argentine… and with 7 or 8 illegitimate children and a brother in jail across the pond… I can see a Boja Juniors spot for him in 2011.

Ok so Wigan this weekend – if we don’t beat Wigan this weekend I’m going to wear a jersey of the first commenters choosing to the Chelsea game… book it.

B

Well – A win, a draw, and a loss. Seem almost typical… City typical. A typical start to the City season.

But those days seem to be over now. The air of “How could we lose?” confuses me at times. As a matter of fact if you want a true litmus test for whether or not someone has been a City fan for a while — watch their expression after a loss, to say… ohh… Sunderland. If their expression is one of bewilderment, sadness, and downright shame than you know that person has not been witness to what is politely referred to as “Typical City”.

I felt it on Sunday – I was excited for the replay – but my City DNA wouldn’t allow me to say “We will crush Sunderland” – too many things were working against us… a mid week game, away at City of Lights and Darren F’ing Bent. I have to admit I am a bit more excited and optimistic since our new owners landed on Eastlands and started laying golden eggs. But, I’ve always been excited (not necessarily optimistic) for every game. And when we lost on Sunday… it sucked. It always sucks to lose… but for me… losing is just built in… especially losing late on a bogus PK to a team rated much worse than we… It’s party of being a City fan… it’s a part of being a City fan that I don’t want to lose.

I have no desire for these current expectations.

I have no desire to shield off the haters that don’t know the difference between City fans that know and have lived disappointment and those that just bought a Tevez jersey and possibly seem to remember him playing for United…

I have no desire to run into new City fans that can’t understand how we just lost to Sunderland.

With that said — things are definitely looking up at Eastlands. Even with the loss – they looked pretty good… not Chelsea good… but when Mancini figures out how to use Milner, Silva, AJ, Yaya, Balo, and Ade properly… they’ll score tons of goals. It won’t even be close — you can see it when they play. You can see that they haven’t figured it out yet… but that it’s coming. It’s coming like a giant storm towards any team we happen to meet after October… the Chelsea game will be our first big test in Late September. It’s at home… and I’m sure their pissed from our double over them last year.

So, as City start their season — the only surprise from new fans seems to be that we haven’t won every game 6-0.

The only surprise from rival fans is that we managed to show up and play with integrity, look like a team, and not trip all over the 24k golden shoes the owner has purchased for all fans and players.

And for me… well… a win, a loss, and a draw… seems like a pretty typical City start to the season.

See you all down the pub!

OH and where has LeChat been? No where really, well at the pub if that accounts for anything. I have just been keeping a low-ish profile, not wanting to rile the natives so to speak.

Surprising thing, since ManCity himself got married, I don’t think I’ve seen or heard him. That is a good thing I suppose. It just means things have been not quite as loud.

BOY is he loud. HAHA!

The first weekend saw the annual breakfast buffet, which is a little thank you from the owners and management of the above mentioned pub. It was a decent spread and Chef is… well to put it lightly quite excellent at what he does.

I know Chef was in a competition in the past recent weeks and advanced pretty far with the help of TVGooner on his side. However, the judges were a bunch of wankers that gave the game away.

Anyways, the Arsenal crowd has been picking up quite nicely. There have been quite a few new faces in the crowd, joining in on the songs and having a good time. I hope it’s not just a world cup hangover and a few decide to stick around.

The Arsenal themselves have a few new faces as well, Chamakh, who received his first in the league against Blackpool last weekend. There has been quite a buzz about Chamakh’s hairdo. It makes him look a bit like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park. I think it must give him a good aerodynamic flow, but who really knows.

There is also Koscielny, whose name I had to cut and paste. I really wish Wenger would sign people with much easier names. Chamakh wasn’t a hard one though. K-star has picked up on some of the duties in the back. The back four is still a little suspect though and there hasn’t been a quality keeper signing, yet.

My understanding or from what I read in a certain English paper, the Arsenal have picked up another defender by the name of Sébastian Squillaci. Yes, that’s right, he’s a thirty year old as well, put to a three year contract.

Mr. Wenger has begun changing his policy on the signing of older players; from the Guardian.

… has admitted he is now willing to relax his “over-30s rule” by signing older players on longer deals, having previously only offered them one-year contracts. The Arsenal manager also indicated that no players moving on from the club would be sold to Premier League rivals.

He goes on to clarify the new policy, moving the age up to 32 for the year to year contracts and goes on by saying

It depends on the positions as well. If a central defender, then no problem to sign them until 34. But a striker is different. After 32 you go from year to year. A midfielder as well, after 32 you go from year-to-year.

This is all quite interesting. Still there exists the keeper problem. Midfield is more than covered. There are more strikers than positions, even though the quality of the finishing is still leaving something to be desired in my book. Defense still feels like it needs just one more piece.

Finally, not to repeat myself, the keeper issue, is still an issue. There is not much time before the window closes, so I’d like to cross my fingers and hope for a decent number 1 to appear holding up a green shirt.

I haven’t even been paying attention.. we are back to proper keeper green, yes?

~LeChat