Yum.

I suppose the Blackburn midfield didn't sit so well in his system.

via Opta Sports - Sandro won 11 tackles vs. Blackburn today, the most by a PL players since Javier Mascherano vs. Wigan in March 2010.

Take Your Pick - Wonderstrikes of the Weekend

Luis Suarez's final goal in Liverpool's victory against Norwich sealed a hat trick for him and destroyed the dignity of Norwich keeper John Ruddy...an exquisite lob from near the half way line.

Wigan dismantled Newcastle with 4 first half goals in a rout at the DW Stadium. The fourth, in first half stoppage time, capped an incredible performance by arguably the hottest team in the Premier League right now. Take a bow Franco Di Santo...

And last but not least, a stunning curler off a set piece by England's Right Back Kyle Walker - as the announcer stated, "Beckham-esque" indeed.

In Honor of Chelsea v. Barcelona Tomorrow

I present one of the most epic CL goals ever.

After a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou in the 2009 CL Semi-Final, Chelsea were seconds away from advancing to the final before this...

Lasik Eye Surgery for all Refs

Since I am still distraught over this past weekend's FA Cup result, and generally disgusted by recent refereeing, I do not even want to think about EPL, the chase for the top 4, or Martin Atkinson.  So, I've looked elsewhere for today's football enjoyment. (Side note: Cheers to Wigan and Roberto Martinez).

Let's see how League 2 side Crawley Town react upon hearing their manager has left for another job:

I believe they were singing, "We're singing a song because the fat man's gone."

And here's a quick check in on one of our favorite Arsenal cast aways, Andrey Shava Arshavin:

Nice. Teammate scores, gets injured, and Arshavin stands on him. I hope he brings this nearly acquired skill back to the Emirates, wonder how RVP would react (is it just me or does he seem to have a pretty bad temper lately)?  

Deep Inside of a Parallel Universe

Spurs advanced to the FA Cup Final by beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley. Chelsea went into the break leading 1-0 before a Juan Mata strike was cleared off the line by LB Benoit Assou Ekotto. Minutes later, Petr Cech was shown a red card for bringing down Emmanuel Adebayor as he ran clear of John Terry on goal. Rafael van der Vaart leveled from the spot before Adebayor sealed the famous win in stoppage time.

Goddammit.

Re: The King Has Lost the Plot

I thought for sure this would be your main pic after seeing that title.

The King Has Lost the Plot

Speaking ahead of Tuesday night's Premier League match with Blackburn, Dalglish continued: "I know we have integrity, I know we have integrity in bucketloads, but I can't speak for other people and whether they have integrity.

"What we have to do now, is ensure this football club maintains its integrity, that the players keep their integrity, and hope that people elsewhere have some integrity too. They [referees] have to look at themselves and ensure they are seen to have integrity." Link to full article


Remind you of anything? Listening to Kenny babble on about how much integrity he has is like listening to Tim Tebow babble on about how many girls he's banged, it just doesn't make sense. How ironic of all people to be talking about integrity is Dalglish, the one who has consistently supported the skidmark of this year's Premier League season, Luis Suarez? The guy has been one of the biggest headlines of the season for all of the wrong reasons yet Dalglish continually supports him. 

And now he believes there is a conspiracy against Liverpool. If there's a conspiracy against Liverpool, there must be a full blown scandal involving Wigan after watching their Chelsea game this past weekend. Both goals seemingly were undisputably offside, yet both goals were given. Perhaps Kenny can get on this case as well because clearly he hasn't been giving Liverpool too much attention. He also seems to have graduated from the Sir Alex School of Entitlement. This is evidenced by his slating of referees in nearly every post game interview as of late. Complaining about missed and or blown calls is about as useful as placing Andy Carroll in your starting XI - They happen to every team throughout the course of the season and you'd like to believe that over time, they even out. Clearly he's just using these calls as an excuse for Liverpool's consistently average performances this year. There's no doubt he would have gotten the sack by now had he not had the illustrious playing career at Anfield that he has as there is no difference between the results that he has put up versus that of Roy Hodgson - and Dalglish has gotten more time and much more investment, regardless of how meaningless it has been (see Carroll, Downing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam). 

"Bucketloads of integrity", the ramblings of a mad king.

The Ponytail Saves Liverpool

Days after Norwich boldly claimed they could finish above the historic Reds, Liverpool escaped a trip to Blackburn with three points. On paper, the game seemed destined to be dull, boring English football. It was anything but. Two goals within the first sixteen minutes, two penalties, nine yellow cards, and a red card to Liverpools GK Doni, which saw the Reds play with ten men for 65 minutes, provided me with enough of an excuse to stay at the pub for the game's entirety. Liverpool got the winner in injury time from Andy Parole, but again had another poor showing that sums up their season. Up 2-0 within 16 minutes and with an eye on this weekend's FA Cup semifinal date with Everton, they managed to make a mess of what should have been routine. 19 year old RB John Flanagan was abysmal, and at fault for Doni's red, until sacrificed after Doni's departure. Liverpool now heads into the weekend's derby with momentum from Carroll's late goal but also with their third choice goalie (who also almost saw red, would have loved to see Liverpool forced to use a teenager in goal for the FA Cup semi).

This has to be one of the worst penalties taken ever.

http://videa.hu/videok/sport/yakubu-penalty-miss-v-liverpoo-liverpool-xednD7pdSBIGiSYa

Arsenal-Man City Postmortem

Salt. funnel. wound.

mcarsefans by arsenalist

Back to your cage, Balotelli. Take that landing strip on your head and that 23rd chromosome with you. Announcer put it best when he said "everytime I go to the circus, there's always a clown". I don't get it. Maybe that's because I have a father. In either event, Mikel "Most Underrated Midfielder In The Game" Arteta ensures Samir "I Can't Hold All These Trophies" Na$ri and the rest of his mercenaries will get 2nd place at best- 2:1 odds they completely fold these next 6 games and Arsenal snipes the runner-up crown.

manccit10 by arsenalist

At the worst, Arsenal have guaranteed 4th and a Champions League spot. Which means RvP won't be going anywhere. Add Wilshere and Podolski and a one-year older Ox and this team has a chance to win some serious hardware over the next few years. Bold prediction: treble next year, undefeated in the Prem, Wenger immediately bangs Kate Middleton and ascends to heaven.

Look at banner Samir-

PS apparently Super Mario had #YOLO written on his undershirt. I have no words for this.

Messi hits 60

So, some guy named Lionel Messi scored his 60th goal of the season this past weekend as Barcelona was able to move within 4 points of Real Madrid at the summit of La Liga. The Flea became the first player since Gerd Muller in 1973 to score 60 goals in a season. Muller went on to score 67 that year for Bayern Munich and holds the record to this day for most goals scored in one season of European competition. With 7 games remaining in La Liga, a Copa del Rey final on the horizon and 3 potential remaining games left for Barca in the Champions League, there's no reason why Messi can't surpass Muller. Do I hear 70? 75?

Daily Dose of Wonderstrike Brought to You by Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo...he's so hot right now. Dude has got to be forever playing with a chip on his shoulder, am I right? Just killing it day in and day out but is always overlooked by Messi. Not that any of the praise heaped on the Argentine is undeserved, but from set pieces and from distance, there's not a more dangerous player in the world than CR7. Combine that with pace and strength, and you're looking at a living legend. The numbers speak for themselves - a legend at Old Trafford and has now scored a whopping 103 goals for Real Madrid in just 93 games.

Tottenham 3-1 Swansea City - The Recap

Spurs earned their first league win in their last 5 outings by beating Swansea City at White Hart Lane today. Spurs were the better side throughout but much credit should be given to Swansea, who played a very open game and looked impressive during some periods, especially considering the penchant of less-established sides to, well, park the bus away from home (looking at you Tony Pulis...). Spurs dominated most of the first period and were rewarded when van der Vaart strolled up to a Gareth Bale cross and struck home to put the home side up 1-0. Swansea leveled in the second half through Gylfi Sigurdsson before Aaron Lennon entered for Sandro and turned the game back in Spurs favor as Adebayor netted 2 quick headers in the last 15 minutes to put the game out of reach. And now to the stars of the game...

Man of the Match - Gareth Bale. Rampaged down the left with ease throughout the day. You would be hard pressed to find a single run where he failed to beat his man down the wing. Turned provider for the first goal as his cross eventually found van der Vaart. Also had success when occasionally drifting into the  center of the park but most of his damage was done down the left.

Runner-Up - Gylfi Sugurdsson. By far Swansea's most dangerous threat throughout. Scored the only goal of the match for the Welsh side from a bouncing volley that beat Friedel. Also should have scored from a 25-yard bullet that was tipped around the top corner by a diving Friedel. Seemed to be at the center of everything good going forward.

Honorable Mention- Emmanuel Adebayor. Netted a second half brace to seal the game for Spurs. Both goals were very similar and very well taken as he beat defenders in the air and left Vorm rooted to the spot. Was very valuable going forward as he was able to hold off defenders and keep momentum going both on the edge of the box and on the wing.