Baltimore World Cup Soccer @ Slainte Pub

Or The Return of LeChat, at least to this blog spot.

I know several people have asked me when I was going to restart the normal spot but there have been several life changing issues over the past few weeks that I won’t go into. Excuse the run on… and the sentence fragment. It seems like my own 2011/12 season has been just as rocky and incoherent as the Arsenal’s.

Personally, I’m waiting for the world to end. S*urs may finish top 4…

I’ll let that sink in for the gooners and wannabes out there…

And now for the knife:  They may even finish above the Arsenal.

I guess the only possible good thing to come out of this is Good Ol’ ‘Arry is doing himself no favors on the stand. If you haven’t been following; allegedly Mr. Rednapp decided to take a few quid as a bonus for the Crouch deal. Not a bad thing on it’s own, however putting in an “investment” account in Monaco and not reporting it on your taxes is something a little, let’s just say, suspect.

Reading a few reports from the Guardian, I swear it sounds like something out of a Guy Ritchie movie. I know I’m not doing it any justice. So, as a rule I don’t trust any geezer who owns a pig farm. Ol’ ‘Arry might be one to own a pig farm or two.

More locally, has anyone noticed the excitement around the pub lately? No, well I guess I’m the only who pays attention. We have quite a few new faces showing up in the crowd; some falling right in step and others still lingering in the periphery. It’s good to have new blood, especially once they’ve lasted a few weekends and learn to order a pint without stuttering.

As SlainteLOSC stated, ‘No one is going to bite you.’

I hope to see everyone out this weekend and to Mr. Suarez…. no biting

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 – 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!

Recently, I’ve been privy to an argument—by people I like and respect—regarding rooting for a team that is not the country of your birth.  And while both sides make decent arguments, I personally feel that they’ve both missed the point. Cliché though it may be, the whole world will be watching the World Cup, and that’s what needs to be focused on.

I was in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, and when I say that that tournament was run more efficiently and smoothly (from a fan’s perspective) than Disney World, I’m not being hyperbolic. Standing in four separate security lines, I did not stop moving once. If you had a match ticket, public transportation was free for you for that day. And, as you can imagine, German public transport is excellent.

So, you may ask, why am I going to South Africa? Frankly, you get to see more of a match watching it on television than you do in the stands. To say nothing of the security risks, the cost, and the extensive travel involved.

So, you may ask, why am I going to South Africa? The simple answer is this: because many of the same people I met in Germany will be there. Maybe not those people specifically, but people like them. Like the Ghana fans who, after defeating the U.S. in the first round, decided not to gloat or rub it in, but to instead buy us beers, ask us about our families, and promise to beat Brazil on our behalf. Like the Australian fans I met at the Hofbräuhaus who had flown for 24 hours only to be in Germany for 6 hours before they returned home. Like the Russian gentleman whose hair was dyed to look like a soccer ball who didn’t speak much English, but organized a pick up game in the parking lot of our hotel. Those people are why I’m going to South Africa. I love the game, but the game is made up of people.

In a world of war, poverty, hunger, and pain, soccer/futbol/football can be a means to unite. Yes, we are all very different, but we have two things in common: 1) we are human beings and 2) we are ensorcelled with this game. This is the biggest sporting event in the world, so which would you rather focus on? The differences? Or the similarities that transcend borders, gender, race, class, culture, nationality, and politics?

It’s the Beautiful Game. For the next month or so, let’s all try to be worthy of it. In other words, God bless the whole footy world. No exceptions.

Let me first address some things -

To all my Liverpool friends and fans. I hate that you aren’t in the top 4. Seriously – for some odd reason it really bothers me. It’s like Ireland not being in the World Cup. It just isn’t natural. Maybe it’s our pub, maybe it’s the patience you’ve show us City supporters — maybe it’s just that Irish Dave needs a break. But either way… all love.

To all those Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea fans out there. Cheers on a great year. I feel much closer to the soccer community in Baltimore simply because of your good will and good times. It’s been a fun matriculation of laughs and drinks.

And cheers to Slainte for making an atmosphere that makes every weekend something to really look forward to in the Baltimore Soccer bubble. It truly is a special place and you all deserve a big hand – except Willy… he’s French.

The video – some of you may have seen me jet in with a video camera on Sunday morning. Don’t worry – it’s not incriminating… it’s a video we are shooting for the game on July 31st – it’s a Soccer Fan’s guide to Baltimore.

With all that said – Tottenham and Man City play on wed. – be there. Support the gas kings – crown us the new bouncing baby money bags of the world and join the regime now… because when we take over in 3 years — I’ll have a list of who was there to support us in the beginning.

I’m not going to go into detail about who is playing and who isn’t. There are so many wildcard variables leading into this – that personally I’d rather just see a fight to the death between Mancini and Redknapp. But – if they have to play – let it be at home and let Vincent Kompany score the winner. Because I will not get bogged down in nuance for the biggest game in the Blue Moon realm in 31 years.

Love – overlord.

Well here it is – the only “super” game left on the schedule this year. Liverpool will be reeling from their UEFA drop. Something I take no joy in reporting. The league is a better league when Liverpool are quality. If I weren’t a City fan — I would most likely be a ‘Pool fan.

With that said – I hope they lose on Sunday.

The only thing worse than Chelsea winning the league – are United winning the league. And I just can’t root for the Reds to lift a trophy again. So… *choke… come on you Chelsea Blues –

I would have tried to brutally mutilate a break down of both sides… where they were weak and strong – but given the level of people that read this… I stick to my team and I don’t tread on territory not lightly interpreted.

However, I would LOVE to see on of you Scouse or Chelsks take a stab at a post – no matter how short or one-sided.  I would love for this blog to pick up some steam heading into the World Cup – -

Contact me bretholmes[at]gmail.com if you want to request a user login to write from —

ManCity

Irish needs something to make him happy in a year of so many disappointments -

Right about now, I have decided that suppressing memories may be a good thing.

Seriously, a loss to the Spurs is the last thing any true Gooner is willing to accept.

It was worst than (insert your own horrible disaster here)!

I remember exactly where I was… standing by my co-workers desk complaining about how my head and how my wrist were hurting. Then I realised that my body tends to fall apart and give me warnings when something utterly catastrophic has happened to a certain North London club.

It is the end of the world, my friends, well at least towards the end of the season as 2012 is fast approaching. Volcanoes in Iceland causing havoc, earthquakes in and around the Americas, flooding in Rio, and Spurs beating the Arsenal.

What’s next?

I figure the only positive thing that may have happened is that Crystal Palace Baltimore has their home opener this weekend. Some summertime football fun to look forward to outside of the World Cup. The 35rs are planning a tailgate around 5PM and the game is at 7PM. I personally know a good deal of pub supporters will be out, so come and join the fun and festivities at UMBC.

Switching gears for half a second, there is a great article in the Guardian about the beauty of the offside rule. LINK

Til the next debacle we call a football match gets along.

~LeChat

Just wanted to share the video of that incredible goal. I let you debate about Rose’s future… But yesterday at the pub, everybody agreed on the magic of the goal!

Just a little funny video I found this afternoon.

If you are unfamiliar with Dragon’s Den, it is a show where people come and pitch their ideas to a panel of powerful business types.  The business types then decide if they want to invest in their idea. While I myself am not a big fan of the show, this video mash-up is hilarious.

I do apologise to any hardcore Michael Owen fans. The once bright spark of England that now fizzles.

Video Link cause embedding is not friend today.

~LeChat

THERE’S ONLY 1 City

THERE’s ONLY 1 City

THERE IS ONLY ONE CITY!

Chant along if you want —

Birmingham at Home. After the trouncing of Burnley last week I doubt there will be much shake in the side. The problem is – this team may be playing for a tie on the road – don’t know why – they are 8 points shy of UEFA – and stuck firmly in the 9th slot.

Birmingham have proven to be a tougher side than in the past – and should measure up close to what Everton brings to the table – without the knuckle draggers in the middle. As always Tevez is the key – he’s the best player on the field and needs to create in order for us to win – if he doesn’t score we just don’t win.

Mancini has debunked going back to Juventus – but all is smoke and mirrors in the EPL press line.

Would LOVE to see this team ~~~~~~~

……………….Given……………….
Richards…Toure….Kompany…Onuoha

A Johnson…Ireland….Barry….Bellamy

…………Tevez…..Adebayor………..

Will Probably get this team ~~~~~~~~~

……………….Given……………….
Richards…Toure….Kompany…Garrido

A Johnson…Viera….Barry….Bellamy

…………Tevez…..Adebayor………..

If you want to preview your team’s match leave a comment and we’ll hook you up –