Wayne Rooney had probably the greatest goal of the year to give Manchester United the victory over Manchester City and put City even further back in their bid for the Premier League title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1K7am5WnAQ
UNBELIEVABLE!
The celebration:
The headlines in England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diMLYEFOomYWell, it was the most anticipated match of the weekend, Chelsea vs. Liverpool, and while Luis Suarez remained out of the starting lineup for the Reds, the Blues put Fernando Torres straight into the starting lineup against his former team. While Torres’ attacking counterpart, Didier Drogba, slid the Spaniard through toward goal in the first half, his shot was blocked clear of goal from the stretching leg of defender Jamie Carragher. Unfortunately for Blues fans, that was the first and really the only chance their team would get. Maxi Rodriguez nearly put the visitors up with a wide open tap-in that hit the cross bar and careened away from the goal mouth, keeping the score tightly fixed at 0-0. But finally Raul Meireles volleyed a difficult bouncing ball past Chelsea keeper Petr Cech to put the Reds up 1-0 — a score which would stay until the final whistle. But with all the eyes on Torres, he did not disappoint. The combo of him, Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front was supposed to be lethal. It wasn’t.
So, at least for today’s game, Drogba + Anelka + Torres = FAIL.
Maybe the next game for Liverpool will bring better results after the players gain a better understanding for each other during more practices. Only time will tell.
Wayne Rooney has had quite a dip in form since last season for the Red Devils of Manchester United.
Or has he?
The English forward recorded 34 total goals in the 2010 campaign. He has only scored 5 in all competitions this season. Despite the lack of scoring, Rooney’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has firmly backed his player, believing he has done plenty of other things for the team on the pitch.
“He has a fantastic energy to play the game, he’s always committed to doing his best,” Ferguson told a news conference.
But, of course, scoring goals is always a plus. Which is why his two goals this week in the team’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa were not only surprising, but extremely rewarding for the manager and his side looking to win the Premier League title this season.
Now, he could really be a deciding factor in the team’s chances of winning.
“The bonus is…he’s got two goals and hopefully there’s every chance that scoring the type of goals he scored the other night—particularly that first goal—that he’ll take off.
“I think goalscorers are like that, that’s what we’re going to see with Wayne. He’s got 14 league games, European games, FA Cup games left…he could easily get a good average goal scoring this year.”
With plenty of teams breathing down their back, Man U could definitely use the boost from Rooney to lift them over the hump and regain the title once more. He is a proven veteran and knows how to play the game with his fight, competiveness, and even anger fueling his great career. The team hopes to have this side of him help them for the rest of the season.
United has a chance to set a club record of 30 games unbeaten if they can get a result against struggling Wolverhampton this week.
That would be quite an amazing feat, even for a club with the accolades that Manchester United has.
Wow. What a week. Liverpool giveth and Liverpool taketh.
First, they began by signing the 22-year old former Newcastle United striker, Andy Carroll, for a then-record $56.2 million deal. What a way to make a splash by signing a young player such as Carroll for that “large lump sum.” Hey, they are a club not accustomed to struggling the way they are this season (7th place in standings), so why not make a change? I don’t know much about Carroll as Newcastle isn’t on American TV much, but he better be worth that moolah he just pocketed.
Next, they give away the struggling, disgruntled — though normally fantastic — goal scorer and World Cup winner, Fernando Torres, over to arch rival Chelsea…for the NEW record transfer fee at an eye-popping price of $80.3 million. Hopefully, Bob Barker will be somewhere with his awesomely skinny microphone screaming out “The price IS right!” along with Torres.
What’s scary for Man City (who is struggling to stay afloat with the big boys at the top of the standings recently) is the new combo up top of Didier Drogba and Torres for Chelsea. Really? If Torres can catch fire and roll the way he was last season for Liverpool, they could seriously cause extreme havoc and romp any team in their path. Let’s not forget the haters, though, who is Liverpool defender, Martin Skrtel.
Fox Soccer Channel (@SoccerNews) tweeted that Skrtel believes Torres will soon regret his move.
Enough with the hater-ade. Below is the goal scorer at his best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jRMnBjcZLEHey, hey, hey! We’re not done yet! Because Liverpool’s not done yet.
Just before pleasing Torres with his transfer, the club signed Uruguayan sensation, Luis Suarez, from the Dutch club, Ajax, for $31.4 million. This amount was the second-largest signing for Liverpool in its rich history.
Can you guess who was first? (Hint: He just left Liverpool.)
The club is starting anew (kind of) and they needed to make changes if they want to keep fighting for a spot in the upcoming Champions League.
The only thing that stopped them from splurging some more was that the transfer window closed at the end of January.
Here’s what’s going past the keeper today:
The two big names this week that have been rumored to be making moves from their current clubs to Spanish giant, Real Madrid, are Man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Atletico Madrid midfield/striker Diego Forlan. Both stories are different from the other. Here’s the lowdown on each:
Adebayor.
The Togo international’s move to Real Madrid has been completed. Yesterday was his first training session with the club and his time with Real looks to be long-term, according to Goal.com.
Ryan’s Take:
Adebayor can pose problems for any defense he faces up against. His combination of length, speed, and, of course, scoring prowess, is one that few players in today’s game have. After a troubling season so far with Manchester City, it was clearly time for him to make a move. With Carlos Tevez captaining the squad from the forward position and with the new signing of Bosnian wonder, Edin Dzeko, space for Adebayor was clearly limited. Real Madrid could definitely be a good place for him with Higuain coming off back surgery and French star Karim Benzema out of form, but he will have to prove himself at the Bernabau. Mourinho has expressed his interest in keeping the striker for the remainder of the year despite his large contract, so he should at least come in with confidence.
Here is some more info about Real’s latest signing…
Adebayor with Arsenal (before Manchester City) <— this is why he’s a wanted player!
Forlan.
Diego Forlan is a world-class star. The guy won the Golden Ball for being named the Player of the Tournament at this summer’s World Cup. And according to The Independent, he was wanted by Real Madrid before Adebayor was but was not for sale by his current club. Now, he will stay with Atletico, most likely for the remainder of his contract.
Ryan’s Take:
It’s a good thing Atletico wanted to keep Forlan. I’ve never been a fan of Real Madrid, but with the many stars on that team who need the ball at their feet, it would be difficult for Forlan to properly fit in. Maybe a move to another club with a good shot at winning the league would be good, but one that will understand to the maximum the type of play and professionalism that Forlan will bring to their team and work the ball through him.
Here’s why he was given the Golden Ball at the World Cup 2010.
