That. Just. Happened. (yesterday)

Busy weekend in the world of football. Unfortunately (or more likely, fortunately) I had a lot going on and didn't catch all the games I wanted to. In fact the only game I saw start to finish was the Milan derby. Hahahahaha. Inter destroyed 4-0. Milito looked superb and Eto'o and Sneijder also impressed me. After that display I can brush aside the worries that sprung up with the draw to Bari last week. Even before Gattuso got sent off I thought Milan looked stale. Still very early but it is nice to win that game. And on that point, why is it the second match of the season? Poor planning in my opinion.

Real Madrid ground out a 3-2 win at home over Depor. I am not impressed. El Graciento put in a penalty but looked very mediocre other than that. Most of the new signings played and I wouldn't say they looked bad but this is not the invisible elite team being played up in the Spanish media.

River Plate got a 4-3 win at home over Chacarita. I am happy on the one hand but kind of terrified at the thought I wasn't sure they would get it. This team is really on thin ice and although I haven't blogged much about them it bums me out. I don't think the parade of washed up old-timers are going to do the trick. On any given day one of them can shine, turn back the clock, and make the fans believe like Ortega did today but realistically this is a losing formula. Ortega, Gallardo, and Almeyda were heroes a decade ago at a team that values history and tradition but the current Argentine game is fast and competitive and technical. Too much for them to be the driving engines of a successful side.

Champions Group

After posting about how unfair it would be for Inter to draw a heavyweight despite winning Serie A they got put in a group with Barcelona. Good work UEFA. This group is the only one of the 8 to be comprised entirely of current champions as Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev are the current title holders in Russia and the Ukraine respectively. Sourness over not being a 1 seed aside I don't think this group is that bad for Inter. The two lower seeds are not exactly giant killers and they will not be playing away at either place late in the year when the temperature and weather can be a factor. Also, the second Barca game, the one at Camp Nou, is on the Tuesday before Barcelona's superclasico against Real Madrid. If things break Inter's way (Barca has sewn up a spot in the round of 16, they are head to head with RM, there is pressure to win that game, etc) it is conceivable they don't get the full force of Barcelona's A-team on their visit to Cataluna. We will see.

On the Eve of the Draw

The play-in round is over without any major surprises and tomorrow the groups for the 2009-10 Champions League will be determined. The Goal.com link above has a pretty good break down of the way it works. The wizards over at UEFA have the 32 teams broken down into 4 "pots", each group being comprised of a team from each pot with no two teams from the same country sharing a group.

The reason this system is stupid and dumb and should make anyone associated with it blush, apologize, and resign is the insane methodology used in assigning rank to the teams. Just one example: AC Milan did not qualify for last year's CL and finished second in Serie A are in pot 1. Meanwhile city rivals Inter Milan made into the final 16 last year and also won their domestic league, but are in pot 2. I don't care what kind of obscure computation models are used to determine UEFA coefficient, this is proof the system is faulty.

Here is another example: Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg are not a 1 seed or a 2 seed. They are not even a 3 seed. They sit comfortably atop pot 4 where they are waiting to be picked for what will be the most brutal group of death in recent memory. How the team that wins one of the big (even if not elite elite) leagues in Europe is given such a low ranking is a mystery.

I am a little bitter that Inter are in pot 2 but really the drawing is one of the markers that signals the European season is in gear so that is pretty cool. For fun, my ideal group for Inter is as follows: Sevilla, Olympiakos, FC Zurich.

In sort of related news AS is reporting that Wes Sneijder has relented and agreed to leave Real Madrid for Inter for 15 million Euros. Real virtually threw him out the door and I am not super stoked about him coming over. Not bummed either but it just feels like he will be a glorified role-player in what is an already established team.

I am sure I will be back tomorrow with plenty to say.

All Alone-So

Due to reasons of AC malfunction I happened to be home early from work and catch the Liverpool-Aston Villa game. It is the second time I have seen LFC play this season and for the second time they looked like a team well below their top 4 pedigree. When a team suffers a 3-1 loss at home there are many culprits but the one glaring weakness in this squad is the hole left by Xabi Alonso's departure for Real Madrid. Lucas Leiva has been in his place for now and he is horrible. I know he has had strong moments in the past and being a Brazilian international is not something that happens by accident, but today he looked miserable. The own goal was bad, but even if that were stricken from the record he gave the ball away needlessly more than once, won barely any balls in the midfield, and was unable to start anything even relatively productive going in the other direction. Javier Mascherano looked pretty good at times, breaking up plays that could have resulted in Villa goals, but having Leiva next to him just shows how much Alonso was worth as his partner in the middle of the park.

I know Alberto Aquilani is likely to assume the spot when he heals from injury but even then Alonso's absence will haunt Liverpool. It is too bad for them because the rest of the big 4 seem to have come back to earth a bit (on paper anyway) and the rest of the Liverpool team is pretty solid. They might lack depth but they can put out a solid squad.

Open Up and Say Serie Ahhhhhhh!!!!

So we are on the eve of the 2009-10 season in Italy. It kind of snuck up on me. Seems like only yesterday I bailed on making the drive up to Boston for the Inter-AC game in favor of the Gold Cup Final at Giants Stadium (smooth move), and now the real action is here. Aside from being an Inter supporter I genuinely love Serie A. Unfortunately... I don't see there being much new and exciting stuff this season in the world of calcio. Inter will defend the crown. I believe an improved Juve will finish second. AC Milan will be weaker than last season but still between 3 and 5 at the end of the season. Fiorentina, Genoa, Lazio, Napoli and maybe one or two other respectable teams will scramble for European places. Roma will continue to fade.

Thoughts on Players
Felipe Melo I think will continue to develop and claim his place as one of the top defensive midfielders in the world.

Not much of a prediction but I think Huntelaar will DESTROY in Serie A. He is well over a goal per game for his career and scored more than could have been expected in the occasional game he got at Real Madrid. He is lethal with one touch and will probably challenge for capocannonnieri this season.

Javier Pastore moved from Argentina's Huracan to Palermo and I could see him taking Italy by storm. He is a tall, quick, and agile play-making midfielder with a precocious mind and eye for the game. If he makes the transition smoothly he has an elite finisher for his passes in Fabrizio Miccoli and the two could make for a devastating combination. If Pastore is on maybe Palermo make a bid for Champions League football.

Play In Wednesday

As I predicted Lyon won at home, although I thought Anderlecht would give them a game instead of folding 5-1. And Atletico Madrid got a 3-2 win at Pana, which I predicted as well. I was able to catch most of that game and it was pretty interesting. Atletico have some lapses in defense and it cost them twice, but in the attack they are extremely dangerous. Forlan and Aguero's goals showed what makes elite strikers elite. Although the home team made a valiant effort to fight back and got within a goal, this series is over. Not just having to win in Madrid against a superior team but having conceded 3 goals at home make it essentially impossible.

This is the first season the Champions League is being seen on Fox Soccer Channel (here in America) instead of ESPN. This is both good and bad. The good is a more comprehensive coverage package with pre and post games and a nightly highlight show. The commentators are very good as well. Although there were some good guys calling the games on ESPN the harmless but insufferable Tommy Smyth will not be missed by Pitch Itchy. The bad is the lower profile the tournament will have stateside on its new home. The core soccer fan will not think twice about this but for the casual fan or the curious potential fan (of which there are many after the eventful summer of soccer in America) the likelihood of stumbling on a Champions League game on FSC while flipping channels and being drawn in are significantly less than they were when it was on ESPN. Also, and this is pretty big for me, most bars and restaurants constantly have a TV locked on ESPN, making it easy to duck out of work and catch a game under the guise of a "late lunch" then return to work. Many of these places have super-duper TV packages and if you pester the bartender enough you are probably going to get to see the game, but it is not as accessible as ESPN.

Whatever, that is all minor detail stuff. The 2009-2010 season is here!

Play-In Round

Today saw the first leg in 5 of the 10 play-in match ups for the Champion's League. The new format is a little different than in previous years with an additional qualifying round (the point the tournament is at currently) and some reconfiguring to in theory give clubs from smaller countries more of a chance. Whereas in the past all teams that didn't qualify directly were "thrown into the hat" and drew an opponent at random, from now on clubs that win their domestic league's title will be paired up with champions from other countries. Obviously the title holders from the big nations have earned direct entry to the group stage so this results in pairings of little known teams that have won leagues mostly in Eastern Europe. It also means that some heavyweights will be drawn together and one of them will miss out on the big dance. Arsenal-Celtic is one example. Under the previous system Celtic may have played Sheriff Tiraspol instead and more than likely stomped them. But now, after a 2-0 loss at home, they look likely to be in the inaugural Europa League instead of with the big boys.

Is this good or bad? I am not really sure. All in all I think I am okay with it for two reasons. 1, everyone loves a Cinderella story and this will give more teams a chance to fill that role. 2, I have always liked the idea that these kind of tournaments be for champions and runners-up. Ensuring that at least 5 champions that did not qualify directly are also included in the group stage is a good idea.

But the truth is that the gap between the haves and have nots is so big (and likely to remain that way) that what this system does is water down the competition in the group stages. The third and fourth best teams in Spain, France, and England are light years ahead of the best teams in Macedonia, Israel, and Lithuania.

Take a look at today's results. Arsenal, Stuttgart, and Olympiacos all got 2-0 wins on the road. Fiorentina are going home from Lisbon with a useful 2-2 draw. It is a tiny sample size, yes, but today illustrates the difference between the Europe's elite teams and it's good ones.

Tomorrow's Lyon-Anderlecht game could be interesting although I think the French will win at home. I also think Atletico will win away in Greece.

How Smart am I?

Well let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. BUT...

I said Hugo Rodallega was a player to watch and he got a goal in Wigan's surprising win at Villa Park.

Other dudes I think might be on the verge of break out years in the Prem are Emiliano Insua at Liverpool and M. Fellaini at Everton. I know Fellaini had a good run of form late last season, but I think he might be poised to really kill it.

The Liverpool-Spurs game tomorrow should be a good one.

The Premiership Begins

I wanted to do an extensive post previewing and predicting the English season. It was going to be called Prem 'Round the Bend which I thought was pretty clever. But I kept putting it off and things started changing and next thing you know the season is only a couple of days away. So here is a very modest, very scaled back version of that post. Really just some rough predictions and thoughts.



At The Top-

This summer saw a lot of changes at the big 4, perhaps enough to reshape the landscape. At the beginning of the summer I felt like the 2009-10 season might be Liverpool's time, but since then they have lost the crucial Xabi Alonso as well as Arbeloa and have not made any significant signings. They still have a top 4 squad but if the transfer window closes and LFC's roster remains what it is today it will be a very, very unlikely they challenge for the title.



Arsenal were miles behind the other b4 teams last season and the transactions they have made don't seem to have improved them too much. Toure out, Vermalean in at the back might not be a huge drop off, we will see. Adebayor bolting for Manchester City is something they can deal with if one of their arsenal (pun def intended, bro) or youngsters pick up the slack, something that is very possible. They have a squad with plenty of firepower and Wenger is an elite manager, but for me this squad still lacks two things: a wordclass ball-winning midfielder and a bit of experience. On any given day they will look like the best team in the league but I see Arsenal leaving points on the field in seemingly insignificant matches that will prevent them from winning the Prem.



How do you recover from losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez? I don't know, but my best guess does not involve signing Antonio Valencia (a winger who scored 6 goals last season) the uber-fragile Michael Owen and Gabriel Obertan (a promising player yes, but not a prodigy. He couldn't crack the first team at Bordeaux at 20 years old, does he belong at United? In 69 games he has 4 career goals). Add to that the injuries and surprisingly shaky form at the goalkeeper position and it looks like a realistic possibility United's streak will stop at 3. The one solid area of this team is the backline. Vidic-Ferdinand remains, for me at least, the best center back partnership in the league.



The pattern here is that the summer of 2009 saw everyone get worse...except Chelsea. In late May I would not have picked them to be the next champions but things seem to be lining up nicely for them. The one major move they made was to bring in a quality winger in Yuri Zhirkov who gives them something more. But for the most part this is the same squad they have had for some time now. It is deep and talented. Carlo Ancelotti is a wild card as manager. Everyone has an opinion but the truth is that he has been tremendously successful in Italy and never worked abroad until now. There is no way of knowing how it will go. They were already an elite team and with a new manager, one good signing, and the return of Joe Cole I think they will be lifting the trophy next spring. BUT... more because their rivals atrophied as the balance of power shifted to Spain and they were able to hold onto their big guns than anything else.





Best of the Rest-

Everton are my pick for Best of (the best) the Rest. Even ravaged by the most incredible series of injuries they hung in last season and finished a very respectable fifth and managed to reach the FA Cup final. They go into this season rested and refreshed with most of the squad in tact and the same steady hand on the touchline in David Moyes. It is tough to know how much this will matter, but Everton seem to be in better shape than their direct competitors when it comes to internationals. They will be losing their share of players at certain times but I think they are lucky to have guys who for some reason don't figure into their national teams' plans like Mikel Arteta or whose national teams have little to play for at the moment like Pienaar and Cahill. From top to bottom they look to be the best team outside the traditional big 4. I could even see them knocking off Arsenal, maybe.



Manchester City is taking the right steps but until they prove otherwise they are just a collection of mercenaries. There really isn't much more to write than that.



Everyone, Pitch Itchy very much included, likes Aston Villa. They do it the right way and have much to admire. They are likely to be in the top third of the table at the end of the season but I don't see them cracking the CL spots this season, much for the same reasons as last year. Depth. There just aren't enough first team calibre players at Villa to survive the grueling English season. They will give the big boys a scare from time to time but that is it.





Survival-

The three promoted sides are always candidates for the drop and this year is no exception. To those three I will add Portsmouth who have been in an intriguing downward spiral the last 24 months or so (and, strangely, captured in FA Cup during that time).



Until very recently I would have put Hull City in the thick of the danger zone but right now I am not so sure. They only stayed up last season but they narrowest of margins and had what can only be described as a meager attack. Throughout the summer Hull City have chased strikers hoping to find a way to patch up the holes before kicking off the new campaign. They lost out on several targets but in the last week got Jozy Altidore on loan from Villarreal and Alvaro Negredo from Real Madrid. These guys should give Hull what they lacked last season up front and I think that will be enough to finish 17th or better.


Other Odds and Ends-
I think West Ham will do better than Sunderland.

Hugo Rodallega at Wigan is a player to watch.

The top scorer will finish with at least 25 goals.

Mexico 2 - USA 1

Pitch Itchy cut out of work a little bit early to catch the WCQ today. Is he disappointed? Not really. Yeah I wish the US had got a better result but it was a pretty good game and they are still in good position. Here are some quick thoughts:

1. The US came out super sharp. Even before Davies scored they looked very good. A 1-2 up the left flank in the early minutes looked very dangerous and when the goal came I was not surprised at all.

2. Getting on the board that early in a game like that (rivalry, at Azteca, etc) can sometimes be a mixed blessing. Though the guys on the pitch are professionals in every sense of the word and belong on the national team there is the natural divergence of instinct. On the one hand you are already winning, don't do anything stupid. On the other hand if you sit back you are giving a dangerous enemy a lot of room to work with for 75 minutes. I saw a little bit of the latter during the rest of the first half.

3. At certain moments some of Mexico's skill players looked to be too much for the American defense. Not too bad, but there were some moments when our guys got owned and Howard bailed them out. And one where he didn't.

4. This could be 3a. Some of the very fine minor mental details escaped some American players. When to pick up a man, that kind of thing. I think Mexico played better on the field but not by much. It was in the details they won the match.

5. The altitude seemed to be a factor. At most other stadiums Landon Donovan doesn't get burned like that up the wing to set up the second Mexican goal. BUT... that is not an excuse. Mexico City didn't gain altitude over night. Everyone knows about it and it is up to the visiting team to prepare. Every other team in CONCACAF has the same task when they come to town. And teams in CONMEBOL have the infinitely more difficult challenge of playing in La Paz.

6. Some of the Mexican fans were terrible. The torrent of soda bottles and other garbage that rained down on Donovan as he tried to take the corner was disgusting. There were similar incidents against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup semi-final in Chicago last month. I was at the final at Giants Stadium and found the Mexican fan base to be very well behaved but those are two embarrassing episodes less than a month apart. CONCACAF should warn and possibly discipline sides whose fans' behavior interferes with players during the match.

The Mourning of Dani Jarque

I didn't blog about the passing of Dani Jarque over the weekend because it didn't seem like there was much to say. His death was sudden and tragic and awful. I am not an Espanyol fan but I was going to pick them to do surprisingly well in the upcoming season and Jarque was definitely a big reason why. But is morbid and not entirely comfortable to think about those things so I didn't write anything. But reading over the Spanish media today I was struck by the intensity of mourning throughout the world of Spanish football. The images and video clips serve as a reminder that in some countries football is more than just a game. Clubs and players are so woven into the fabric of a city or region they take on a life different from what professional sports are here in the United States. Especially when it comes to a Canterano like Jarque who spent 14 of the 26 years of his life at Espanyol, you really get the sense the community is shattered. Below are some links to foto and video galleries I found particularly touching.



AS pictures



17 videos, about a minute each, from AS

El Mundo slide show

Video of the funeral procession

Fans at the stadium from Marca. There are rumors the club will rename the new Cornella-Prat stadium in Jarque's honor.

2 Things

I was in a hurry the other day and forgot the second part of my Xabi Alonso post. I think the move might reconfigure the race for the Prem Crown. With the departures from Man United I had a feeling Liverpool might be poised to knock them off the top. But with the loss of Alonso and their failure to capture Gareth Barry (I seriously doubted Rafa would allow the former after the latter) the Liverpool midfield leaves a little to be desired. They still have some fantastic players but the Xabi-Mascherano partnership gave them something few teams have. And without the ability to win balls and turn play the other way on a dime it is hard for me to see them challenging for the crown.

And then there is the Jozy Altidore move to Hull City. I think the year long loan from Villarreal is a good thing for everyone involved. After showing something in the Confed Cup back in June Altidore needs to play regularly and build on that. He probably didn't have a realistic shot at those kind of minutes at Villarreal and a loan like the one to Xerez last season would probably be counterproductive. But with Hull City he is in a situation where he is going to a club that wants him, in a competitive league that fits his playing style, and stepping into a situation where he has a legitimate expectation of playing regularly. Hull City have been on the prowl for a striker the whole transfer window and come up short on some big names. Let's hope their willingness to gamble on Altidore pays off. They survived last season by the thinnest of margins and were really hurting for goals, so despite it being a challenge for Altidore it is a great opportunity.

Xabi Changes LFC for RM

Liverpool have finally caved and accepted Real Madrid's offer for Xabi Alonso. I think this could prove to be one of the most significant deals of RM's summer spending spree. It means either Gago or Lass D. (probably Gago) will be on the bench or elsewhere while the other will partner XA in the heart of Madrid's midfield. I envision the partnership working more or less like Alonso and Mascherano at Liverpool. This helps Madrid going in both directions and with Arbeloa also coming over from Liverpool they have gone a long way to address their weaknesses. Kaka, Benzema, and CR7/9 generated undying headlines and enormous crowds but they didn't finish second in Spain and get humiliated in the Champs League for lack of firepower. They were flimsy on the defensive side of midfield and leaked goals through their backline. This team is starting to take shape.

That said I still think Barcelona retain the Liga title.