The Inaugural "Caught it on the UpBounce"

When a certain Retired Ginger Prince and I are engaged in one of our twice-daily Fifa battles, there will be 25 shots that careen wildly over the net for every one goal from distance. Thus, we've created an excuse to be used in every situation where someone tries to belt one home from distance and ends up decapitating a 2-dimensional fan in row Z. We just exclaim "Whoop, caught it on the upbounce!" The blame is transferred to the game, and everyone goes home happy.

This does not only happen in Fifa, however. Today in the Champions League play-in stages, an unknown midfielder from FC Zurich put on his Gerrard pants and tried to boom one in from many a mile away. Needless to say, he caught it on the upbounce:

Sorry for the shoddy video quality, but shout out to Greg's iPhone for the technology. 

Bayern was 1 goal to the good at this point, and miserable finishing by the Swiss enabled the Germans to move on to the group stage of the Champions League. Stay tuned for exclusive coverage of the UCL all season long!

City Sign Nasri

Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, better known as one Sheikh Mansour, has reached into his bottomless pit of Arabian oil money and emerged with a playmaking midfielder for around £24 million. That's right, one of the longest running transfer sagas of the summer has ended, with the rich boys coming out on top again.

At only 24, Nasri is one of the most exciting and gifted players in world football today, and was considered at one point last season a front-runner for EPL PFA player of the year. The only question is, will he be a victim of the Man City blackhole? Where a gifted player (Edin Dzeko, Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli), transfers into the squad only to be shuffled in and out of the starting 11 at the whim of Mancini or the Sheikh.

Regardless, City only benefit from this deal as they receive a distributor on the order of David Silva, someone who can score goals as well as set them up for the aforementioned strikers. Arsenal, meanwhile, seem to be reeling. Coming off a 2-0 home defeat to the resurgently mighty Reds of Liverpool, and having lost their two best players and central midfielders, a fall from their perennial top four status may not be hard to imagine. Heavy incoming transfers in the January window may be the key to an Arsenal resurgence.

Nasri looking spindly-legged and ever so French

Liverpool Interested in Borriello

Marco Borriello, the 29 year old Italian striker, is set to leave AS Roma less than 2 months after signing a deal worth €4.5 million per year. Borriello has scored 54 goals in the last three seasons, making him an enticing target for any squad. Liverpool seem set to sell David N'Gog to Bolton, which would open up a forward spot for the Italian.

The Reds have already splashed serious cash in the transfer market this season, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them dole out a few more million to rake in Borriello. Despite having world-class options Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt, as well as highly touted part-dinosaur Andy Carroll, LFC seem to be in serious contention for Borriello as he is cup-tied from his exploits in Europe with Roma. With no European football this season, Liverpool are gearing up for a return to the top of the EPL on the backs of all these new signings. Only time will tell if King Kenny can craft a winning side from so many shiny new pieces.

Article Here

Ridiculous Pay for Eto'o

If you haven't heard...besides having the the hardest name in professional football to announce Russian club, Anzhi Makhachakala, is now the proud owner of Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o. They paid an exorbitant amount of money for him a whopping $39.8 million transfer fee and an equally ridiculous $28.8 per year. This makes him the highest paid player in history by around $11 million over Cristiano Ronaldo.

Why Eto'o wants to go to Russia is beyond me. Its not like he is in the twilight of his career or was on a bad team.

I guess he can buy a wicked expensive fur coat to battle the bitter Russian winters with all that money.

I also hope that he doesn't have a run-in with the great Russian bear...that would be unfortunate

Brief MLS Update

2 big moves in MLS this week: Robbie Keane to the LA Galaxy and Juan Pablo Angel from the Galaxy to Chivas USA. Keane moves to the Galaxy from Tottenham for 2 years and a reported $9.75 million, while Angel has moved over to Chivas USA in exchange for a 3rd-round selection in the 2012 MLS supplemental draft.

With the signing of the still very dangerous 31 year old Keane, the Galaxy had to offload one of their high-earning "designated players", since any MLS team can only have 2. With David Beckham firmly entrenched in the squad, Angel was unceremoniously dumped to Chivas for basically nothing.

Everyone wins in this scenario: Tottenham make money and offload one of their MANY forwards, the Galaxy pick up a 31 year old forward with known scoring prowess (and a serious finesse rip), and Chivas USA have the most prolific scorer in recent MLS history dropped into their laps.

 

Keane's trademark cartwheel celebration

Speculative Rip of the Week

This week's entry comes to you from this past Sunday, when Barcelona and Real Madrid battled to a 2-2 tie in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Barca edged past Madrid 5-4 on aggregate a few days later, but many are still talking about the dipping wonderstrike executed by Barcelona's diminutive Spanish forward David Villa. Have a look-see:





A worthy effort indeed. Villa (like the entire Barcelona roster save Dani Alves) is not known for his long-distance efforts. This was a very out-of-character attempt for a Barcelona player, and it shows the kind of class that David Villa possesses.

2010-2011 Barclays Premier League Season Preview- Part 3

Here's my take on a few of the teams for the upcoming premier league season. Sorry for the late publish but other things (birthday!) have kept me distracted. Anyway, after that amazing last second victory for United over City in the Community Shield, I am officially PUMPED for this weekend's first matchday. So here is part 3 of the Season Preview.

Liverpool

Manager: Kenny Daglish

Recent History: Until recently, Liverpool could always been counted on to be a top 4 threat under former manager Rafa Benitez. However, with the mutual decision for his leave before last season, the reins were turned over to former Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. After his epic disaster to start the season, new owner John Henry turned to the "King" Kenny Daglish to return the Reds to their former glory. While Daglish did a magnificent job in the second half turning Liverpool back into a magnificent attacking team, Liverpool finished a disappointing 6th after finishing 7th the year previous. A highlight for the season was a 3-1 thrashing of eventual champions & hated rivals Manchester United at Anfield.

Significant Changes: Liverpool was active this summer bringing in young midfielder Jordan Henderson, winger Stewart Downing, & keeper Doni. However, their biggest score came from prized midfielder Charlie Adam from Blackpool. Adam's vision on the ball & delivery into the dangerous areas will be an absolute plus this year for the Reds. Also not to be forgotten, Liverpool made a huge splash in the January transfer window bringing in prized strikers Luis Suarez & Andy Carroll while disposing of petulant child Fernando "the Rat" Torres. Suarez and Carroll will compliment each other wonderfully in attack with superb captain Steven Gerrard backing them with his furious cannon of a right foot.

Player to Watch: While Gerrard's health is essential and Carroll's skill, height, hair, and persona will draw him towards the center of attention, for me Luis Suarez will be the biggest player to watch. His on the ball skill is unbelievable and his competitive fire makes him an absolute threat despite his smaller size. His dribbling ability & willingness to run at defenders will prove him to be a huge threat---for me a player of the year candidate.

Predicted Finish: With their brilliance in attack & the managing of King Kenny, look for Liverpool to return to the top 4 this year.