Month: March 2009

This posting is really just for my future recollection. Liverpool FC are going all guns now, following up the 4-0 win over Real Madrid with a 4-1 win at Old Trafford and yesterday’s 5-0 Anfield thrashing of Aston Villa. The latter, coupled with a second straight ManUtd loss and Chelsea’s surprising loss to Tottenham, means there are at least two teams who can win the Premier League and neither plays at Stamford Bridge… or the Emirates.

Villa were hoping to push into the top four but based on recent form this seems unlikely. Martin O’Neill is a pretty good manager but has overworked his shallow squad and its beginning to affect results. Lucky for him there’s an international break before they have to go to Manchester United.

With frontman Dimitar Berbatov likely to miss due to an ankle injury, no Wayne Rooney or Paul Scholes–both bad boys got reds on Saturday–and an off-kilter Cristiano Ronaldo, will O’Neill deploy an aggressive front line of Heskey, Carew and Agbonlahor in a 4-3-3 to try and extend Sir Alex’s misery?

The Reds go to Fulham the day before, and the Cottagers will be proud of their victory, but I think the traveling squad will be too much for Roy Hodgson’s backline, too eager to make up points dropped earlier this season that evaporated what was an eight point league table lead prior to Christmas.

Reds have won four straight, scoring 16 and conceding one–ONE!–goal since the wakeup call at Middlesboro. They’ve taken 13 of 15 possible points against the other three Top 4 teams.

Torres did not get any of the goals against Villa and that’s got to sting. Riera will want more of the plaudits he’s had the last few weeks. Reina is making the stops and setting up goals. Stevie G is being called the in-form player period, in any league.

Look out this week to see Gerrard and Benitez get player and manager of the month awards. Fulham, just look out 😉

The E Street Band Live in New York City video was blasting in HD this afternoon while I struggled with some web programming and then a song came on which is the perfect example of why Bruce and his band are for my money the greatest rock act to ever play the big stage.

Light of Day (Youtube Part 1, Youtube Part 2) isn’t one of his hits or even well-known–heck the original release was a version done by Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox in their obscure 1987 film of the same name. But the way the guys worked it up for this tour simply has everything a great rock performance needs.

• Bouncy, fast-paced basic chords with plenty of room for all the guitars, keyboards and Clarence’s sax to add color and style
• Lyrics that are fun and still actually make sense
• Improvisations that break from the expected (like counting up the miles, breaking into a dizzying, poetic listing of all the tour stops that ends with New York and moving on to the kind of teasing a Jersey guy will do to a crowd of New Yorkers)
• Bruce dancing around the mic stand, waving his arms to incite the crowd to even greater abandon, throwing in a gospel-inspired chant that ends with him fountaining water over his head like a rock and roll baptism

“I’ve seen people lost! In envy over the New Jersey Devils winning the Stanley Cup!” he sings, and then holds his hands up in surprise as the audience hisses. “…But that’s alright because I’m here tonight on an ambassadorial mission to unite these two great civilizations,” he finishes, and then the band jumps back in to rock out the house.

I can’t explain this better but this is what I love about rock and why, despite my recent misgivings over his, er, business judgment, I can always get a thrill listening to Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The iconic image is Bruce, hands over his head and the Telecaster hanging low down his back:

All the pundits forecast that Liverpool would come out tonight to squeeze the life out of their Champions League second leg match after bringing home a 1-0 win from the Bernabeau two weeks ago. Rafa confounded everyone, including the Spanish brain trust, by having the players blaze up the field from the start and there was really no doubt at all that the Reds were moving on to the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years.

The outcome was clear from the first Liverpool attack in the first minute when Fernando Torres took the ball at the top of the box with his back to goal, backheeled it between Fabio Cannavaro’s legs, spun around Cannavaro to the outside and regained possession to get off a shot that was only stopped by a great save from Iker Casillas.

The Reds continued pounding Real relentlessly and broke through just before twenty minutes when Torres muscled Real’s other central defender Pepe off the ball. Dirk Kuyt was just outside of them and touched the ball back to Torres in the center and, with Casillas pulled out of position, Torres needed just the lightest of taps for the goal. Torres never beat Madrid in his years with crosstown rivals Atletico but now has two in two weeks!

The Reds got a huge favor from the sideline assistant ten minutes later when he raised his flag for hand ball by Gabriel Heinze inside the box. Replays showed it came off the Argentine’s shoulder but the officials don’t have the benefit of video and Captain Stevie coolly sent the PK the other way for numero dos.

Just after the restart the Reds broke down sloppy back line passing–which they did the whole game, to be fair–and Ryan Babel drove clear to the touchline where he pulled it back to Stevie G, who scored again from a very difficult ball. Andrea Dossena, a late sub, got the final tally just before the end when Casillas could not get back to recover from one last giveaway by his field players.

Besides the score good things from this match:

• Torres was doubtful to play at all but got the opener and was very aggressive coming back on defense to harrass the Madrid midfield.
• Gerrard showed a full recovery from his ankle woes
• Jay Spearing made an impressive senior team debut after subbing in for Gerrard in the 72nd

Draw for the next round is on Friday. Already through are Chelsea, Villareal and Bayern Munich–the German side was especially impressive today, drubbing Sporting of Lisbon 7-1 to go with a 5-0 beatingin the first leg. Favorites to go through tomorrow are Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona, and though I have no idea about Atletico Madrid v. Porto I would certainly like to see my Reds draw the winner of that matchup.

In the Premier League the Reds are having a rough spell but today’s result and the 2-0 beating of Sunderland last time out should give them a good frame of mind for Saturday’s crucial visit to Old Trafford. Only a win gets them back in the title race, though a draw or a tight 1-0 loss will give them hope should the two meet later on in the Champions League.

Liverpool v. Manchester United in the May 27 final in Rome, now that would be a dream fixture!

Lines of supporters snake past the turnstiles
Boldly shouting club chants across each other
Waving colorful pennants and angry fists
Pounding out a rhythm everybody knows.

Players are out on the field warming up
Cameramen line up shots of the goals and benches
Kids climb over their seats, waving at friends
Hands sticky from pop and candy, happy.

Physios set out rolls of tape and extra shinguards
Helpers get trays of bottled water and towels
Announcers and color commentators jabber,
Rushing to scribble final notes and thoughts.

Louder than the fan’s cheers the starting whistle reigns
The referee’s arm comes down and the players jump
Home supporters shouting again, traveling fans
Hold their own, altogether shaking the stands.

Action races up the pitch with the ball flitting,
Wing to mid to fullback to striker to wing, defender
Jumping in to disrupt the play, bounding the ball
Off a leg, off the field and into the technical area.

• Star Trek – May 8: From everything I’ve seen so far, this will be outstanding for Trekkies and non-fans alike
• Public Enemies – July 1: Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, directed by Michael Mann
• X-MEN: Wolverine – May 1: Hugh Jackman’s back with the sideburns and claws
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – July 17: Getting serious about He Who Must Not Be Named
• Terminator Salvation – May 22: Getting back to the serious business of saving the future
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – June 26
• The Taking of Pelham 123 – June 12: Denzel vs. Travolta in Tony Scott’s remake of the ’73 subway thriller
• Land of the Lost – June 5: It’s Will Farrell, you know you want to see it
• Up – May 29: Pixar’s latest
• The Ugly Truth – July 24: Katherine Heigl is the new Jamie Lee Curtis is the new Ursula Andress
• Inglourious Basterds – Aug. 21: Tarantino takes on WWII with Brad Pitt and Mike Myers
• GI Joe: Rise of Cobra – Aug. 7: Not sure, but has some good actors and the trailer looks pretty good
• Taking Woodstock – Aug. 14: Ang Lee makes a comedy about the story behind Woodstock
• The Boat That Rocked – Aug. 28: Richard Curtis, who made Love, Actually, one of my favorite films, looks back at UK pirate radio in the ’60s with a terrific cast including Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Ken Branagh, Bill Nighy and Gemma Arterton