Is Suarez The Best Striker In The World?

You either love him or hate him, but it's hard to admit that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is not an outstanding player. The 27 year-old Uruguayan has scored 30 Premier League goals this season and was awarded the Football Writer's Association Player of the Year award as well as the Professional Football Association Player of the Year award. He is the first non-european player to receive the award.

In one of the toughest--if not the toughest--leagues in the world, Suarez shows that he is a deadly striker capable of breaking any defense and finding the net from anywhere on the pitch. 

The striker will have the opportunity to show his talent on the European scene next season as Liverpool is qualified for the next UEFA Champions League. This is the main reason Suarez should remain at the club this summer and not leave for Real Madrid (who tried to lure him in last summer). Suarez even pleaded to leave the club. Good thing Liverpool kept him! 

Suarez is one of those strikers that are unbelievably smart, skilled, and with an incredible work rate for someone whose main job is to score goals. Suarez has a thirst for victory and a rage to win every challenge and 50/50 balls that makes him a constant threat for the opponent. It doesn't matter where he gets the ball, he always makes something good out of it. Suarez also assisted 12 goals this season, making him one of the best passers in Europe. For more cool stats, check this!

Suarez has wonderful finishing abilities: From long range to close range, with his left or right foot, even his head, Suarez can score in any position. With 30 goals this season, he is only one goal away from the record of most goal scored in a season (31 goals held by Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo). An even greater achievement since the Uruguayan hasn't taken a single penalty this season. He also missed the first six games of the season! 

So is Suarez the best striker in the world? If you don't consider Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as "pure strikers", which I don't, then yes, he is. Without a doubt. Suarez will try to give Liverpool their first title since 2003. 

And hopefully, he'll be able to show what he can do to the world in a few weeks in Brazil!

Nine Men Benfica Holds Off Juventus; Valencia Almost Pulled It Off!

It was a thrilling Thursday night for European football! After the two great Champions League games, the Europa League semifinals were full of goals in one game and tension in the other. 

Benfica Holds Off The Old Lady

Let's start with the tension from the Juventus stadium as the Old Lady needed to win to clinch a spot in the final. However, Benfica had other plans and fought until the end to hold a well-deserved 0-0 draw. 

Down to 10 men at the 60th minute, the Portuguese side showed strength and discipline to stop the ever-flowing wave of Juventus attacks. Benfica even had to play the last 10 minutes with only nine players after an overhead kick by Pogba ended up in Garay's face and Benfica did not even any subs left.

Juventus had trouble creating opportunities to score despite a world-class Paul Pogba. The French man was all over the pitch and was with no doubt the best Italian player last night. But Pogba's tricks and efforts were not enough, especially since Juventus' strikers were not in good form. Tevez tried a lot, but never found the target. As for Llorente (substituted by Osvaldo at the 75th), he wandered around the box for most of the game, never being able to pull free from Luisao's marking. 

Juventus should have regrets after this game as they had all the cards in hand. They won't have the opportunity to play the final in their own stadium on May 14. Benfica will play their second consecutive final.

M'Bia Saves Sevilla From Disgrace

Arriving in Valencia with a two-goal lead, Sevilla had made a big step toward the final. They probably believed they were already in Turin when the referee blew the kick-off. Maybe they had also forgotten that Valencia had recovered from a three-goal deficit against Basel in the quarterfinals! 

Valencia had no options, they had to score. And they did. They had a 2-0 lead at halftime, already making it 2-2 on aggregate. 

The third goal from Matthieu at the 69th minute were the Graal to the final and Valence held it until the 94th minute!

The minute chose by Stephane M'Bia to put on the savior suit and head the winning goal into the net! M'Bia, goal scorer in the first leg, will probably have a statue of himself in Sevilla tomorrow. 

The final will then showcase two footballs that are fairly similar. One team from Portugal, another one from Spain. Two Spanish teams in the Champions League final. In other words, proof that the Iberian football is a la mode! 

Who will win the UEFA Europa League title?  

Mourinho Criticizes His Own Style!

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho seems to have a--really--short memory. The technician complained about West Ham United's defending approach after his team failed to score a goal in the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, Jan. 29. 

Mourinho even said that West ham played 19th century football. 

"This is not the best league in the world, this football from the 19th century. The only other thing I could bring was a Black and Decker hammer to destroy the wall," said Mourinho in press conference after the game.

Poor Jose! His team had to play against 11 defenders, 11 players in the last 20 meters of the field. A real wall dressed in front of West Ham's goalkeeper. It is surely unfair...Hold on a minute! Isn't that how Mourinho's Inter Milan played against Barcelona when they won the Champions League in 2010?

Against the best team in the world, against a team far better than his, Mourinho did the exact same thing. He asked all his players to stay in font of their goal and to only played in counter attacks. He even forced Samuel Eto'o to play second right-back to help out! In other words, only Barcelona was playing and Inter was waiting. That wasn't a problem at the time for Jose Mourinho, but it seems to have become one after this game.

"It's very difficult to play a football match when only one team wants to play," he said. "A football match is about two teams playing and another team not playing." 

Really? In both games against Barcelona, Inter only had 30 percent of possession. Is that "playing" the game? They did not even try in the second leg. They just kept kicking the ball away and let Barcelona come back in front of their box.

But Mourinho is a genius. He said that a game starts at the press conference before the match and finishes at the press conference after the match. Except this time he did not win. West ham United manager Sam Allardyce did.

"He can't take it, can He?" Allardyce said. "He can't take it because we've outwitted him. He just can't cope." 

Allardyce added that he loved "to see Chelsea players moaning at the referee, trying to intimidate him, Jose jumping up and down saying we play rubbish football. It's brilliant when you get a result against him. Hard luck, Jose!"

Finally, Mourinho admitted that if he had been in West Ham's position, he might have done the same thing. We are proud of you, Jose!

 

 

Cabaye Sign To PSG; Major Blow For Newcastle?

It's official! French midfielder Yohan Cabaye signed for the 2013 Ligue1 champions Paris St. Germain. The club was interested in Newcastle's player for a while and after one £17 million offer that Newcastle turned down, PSG got what they were looking for with a second offer around £20 million pound.

English press are still late tonight, saying that Cabaye is simply "on brink" of joining PSG. However, French newspaper L'Equipe made it official, saying "Cabaye in Paris, it's done!"

Cabaye joins PSG and reconnects with his former coach with France, Laurent Blanc. One question remains: Whose player is going to lose his spot to allow Cabaye to play?

PSG midfield is becoming one of the bests in Europe with Matuidi, Veratti and Motta. If you doubt it, just watch PSG play in the Champions League. So what is going to happen when you add a star player like Cabaye in the mix? It's a chinese puzzle that Laurent Blanc will have to fix!

This transfer could be a major blow for Newcastle when you know the impact Cabaye has on the field for the Magpies. The French player has been outstanding so far this season, helping his team staying in eighth place, only seven points behind Liverpool, fourth.

Will the Magpies survive Cabaye's departure? Will the other French players feel lonely without their leader? Newcastle coach Alan Pardew did admit that it would be really hard to keep Cabaye at the club. He was right!

The coach loses there one of his star players, one of his "captains" and leaders. Pardew knew that he did not have a saying in Cabaye's transfer and had to simply accept the outcome, good or bad.

But Magpies fans should not worry! The club is already looking for a replacement. Indeed, the club is on the verge of signing, on loan, Borussia Munchengladbach rising star Luuk de Jong. The 23-year is traveling to Newcastle for a medical exam and a possible loan deal today.

Another target is France and Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier. The 23-year old is one of the best players in Ligue1 and could be consider as the future Cabaye. Same profile, same style, Grenier would be a perfect fit to replace Cabaye.

Let's hope Newcastle finds a new player before the end of the transfer window. And who knows? Maybe a new Frenchie will join the Premier League!

The Falcao Enigma

What is Falcao playing at? The Colombian striker has been injured for almost three weeks, but other than the injury it is the lack of information about it that raises suspicion. Rumors of a transfer in January are already growing...

The 27 year-old player has not been on the field since Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri pulled it out of the Nantes-Monaco game at the 63rd minute. A substitution for no apparent reason as Falcao did not seem to be injured and was even surprised--not to say astonished--to have to leave the field. 

After the game, Ranieri told journalists that Falcao was suffering from a little injury and he did not want to take a risk and aggravate the injury. Well, it apparently did not work! How can a supposedly minor injury turned out to keep Falcao away from the field for four weeks? Especially when there has not been any official injury report from the club itself. Nobody knows what kind of injury Falcao suffers from, assuming he has one. 

Could it be that Falcao is simply showing his displeasure toward his coach? Does he not want to play and is planing a move away from Monaco in January? A transfer that would cost over 60 million Euros for any interested clubs as Monaco fixed the asking price. Falcao's contract expires in 2018 and he joined Monaco for 60 million Euros this summer.  

As the transfer rumor rises, Falcao told the press that he was happy at Monaco.

"I am very happy here at Monaco. I don't have a problem with the coach but with my thigh. I feel better and I will play soon."

Chelsea are interested in signing the Colombian in January, but the main club remains Real Madrid with a real conspiracy behind the transfer. Indeed, when Falcao played at Athletico Madrid, he was forbidden to sign for Real Madrid in his contract, forcing him to leave for another club. Many observers believe that he simply signed for Monaco to be able to go back to Madrid as soon as possible, this time wearing a Real madrid jersey!

Could this be? Could Falcao had used Monaco as a way out to open a window to Real madrid? Falcao's teammate at Monaco, Eric Abidal, ensures that the striker is injured and has the desire to remain at the French club.

"He told me personally that he wanted to stay here. I can assure you that he is injured and he is taking care of it."  

Everything seems fishy around the injury. An injury that, according to Falcao, appeared during a game with his country. However, the Colombian medical staff never heard of it, according to Colombia manager Mauricio Correa. After that, Falcao said that it was reminiscence of an old injury from his time at Madrid...A little bit confused and overwhelmed, Falcao? Maybe... 

I believe that Falcao simply misses the Champions League and top level football it can offer. As Monaco should qualify for next year's edition, Radamel Falcao's thirst of excitement should be fulfilled...As long as he is patient enough to wait at Monaco. The striker played 14 games in Ligue 1, scoring nine goals. 

UCL review: Goals, Records, And Snow Storm!

Eight of the 16 UEFA Champions League Group stage final games were played yesterday, Tuesday, December 10. Five teams involved were already qualified for the next round. The rest had to battle out their way in the last 16. 

The most interesting game was the duel between Galatasaray and Juventus as the Turkish side needed a win to qualify while the Italian simply needed to bring one point home from their trip to Istanbul. If fans and intensity were present at the Turk Telecom Arena, they were, unfortunately, not the only one as snow and hail join the party right from the start. After 30 minutes of an intense and entertaining game game under a dreadful snow storm, officials decided to stop the game and clear the snow off the field. But it was a lost cause and the game was finally postponed to a yet to determined date. Both teams will play this decisive game already knowing the result of the other game as Real Madrid defeated Copenhagen on the road, 2-0. 

Two goals for Madrid and two records! Real Madrid becomes the club which scored most goals in the history of the Champions League group stage (20) and Cristiano Ronaldo the best goal scorer in group stage history as well with nine goals.

Both Manchesters won today with a 1-0 win for United at home over Chaktior and an impressive 3-2 win for City over Bayern Munich in Germany! Both teams were already qualified. Let's hope for English fans that Arsenal and Chelsea will do the same tomorrow.  

Finally, Benfica defeated PSG, 2-1, but it was not enough to clutch the last ticket as Olympiakos dominated Anderlecht, 3-1, on the road. The Greeks join Paris in the round of 16. 

Results are as follows:

Group A

Manchester United 1-0 Donetsk / Real Sociedad 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

1- Manchester; 2- Leverkusen; 3- Donetsk; 4- Real Sociedad

Group B

Copenhagen 0-2 Real Madrid / Galatasaray 0-0 Juventus (Postponed)

1-Real Madrid; 2- Juventus (-1); 3-Galatasaray(-1); 4- Copenhagen

Group C

Benfica 2-1 PSG / Olympiakos 3-1 Anderlecht

1- PSG; 2- Olympiakos; 3- Benfica; 4- Anderlecht

Group D

Bayern Munich 2-3 Manchester City / Victoria Plzen 2-1 CSKA Moscow 

1- Bayern; 2- City; 3- Plzen; 4- Moscow

Everton Stops Gunners In Thrilling Draw

Arsenal FC missed the opportunity to get a seven-point lead at the top of the BArclays Premier League after a 1-1 draw with Everton FC, today at the Emirates Stadium.

Everton offered a very good opposition to the Gunners, surfing on the wave after their great win at Old Trafford against Manchester United early this week. The Toffees played like they were at home, even having more possession than Arsenal! A great achievement for Robert Martinez' team.

The game was incredibly even and the final result is logical as both teams played great football and offered a good show to the fans. Especially in the final 10 minutes of the game!

As both teams were tied, 0-0, Arsenal was pushing higher to score, but was struggling to control the ball and the tempo of the game. We rarely saw the Gunners having so much difficulty to put their style in place. Everton pressured the Gunners and forced them to play long balls most of the time. However, in one of the few good build-ups, Rosicky had time to play a good ball over the defense for Walcott. The international English headed back the ball toward the penalty spot. Olivier Giroud missed his volley, but Mesut Ozil, who had a great game today, was there to score. Arsenal took the lead with even minutes left in the game!

But the beauty of English football makes it that a game is never over until the final whistle is blown and Everton knows that.

After Arsenal's goal, the Gunners left the ball to the Toffees, like they were waiting for them to score and tie the game. And that's exactly what Everton did!

The young and promising Spanish player Gerard Deulofeu made a decisive apparition on the field, after being subbed in with 15 minutes left in the game. Deulofeu quickly showed his skills and created opportunities for Everton and, at the 84th minute, he tied the game with a powerful shot from inside the box. Despite the power of the shot, Scezcny could probably have saved it as the ball just past over his head. 

The intensity of the game kept increasing as the end got nearer. Arsenal could even have clutched the win with an unbelievable volley from 25 yards out by Giroud which hit the woodwork! Tim Howard was beaten and Everton was lucky on that one.

Overall, the draw is logical as both teams had opportunities to score. Both sides deserved a point and it would have been almost unfair to see one of them lose today. Arsenal (35) is still on top of the league with five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea (30). Everton (28) is in the top five, only one point behind Manchester City (29). 

Should Yellow Cards Become "Temporary" Red Cards?

This is the wish of UEFA President Michel Platini who said that it was a proposal to explore.

"I would like to make it like rugby, punishing the offender with 10 or 15 minutes out of the game," Platini said Spanish newspaper AS. "It is an idea. Now, it needs to mature and see if it really is good for the game."

A temporary ban like the one already used in rugby could change the game forever.  One yellow card slightly affects a defender's behavior, but really does not change the whole game. However, 10 minutes out of the field has an impact on the entire team, making it more vulnerable and changing the tactical aspect of the game, even for a short time. 

It'll force defenders to be more careful, giving forwards more space to express themselves. This would bring more skills to the game, more liberty, more fun even. It would become a real game where you could see which player is technically better, faster, quicker over the actual power and strength, not allowing a player to stop his opponent by grabbing his shirt every time he is beaten and getting away with it with a useless yellow card. This is one of Platini's concerns and reasons why he believes this rule should be put in place. 

In the current rules, if the same player gets multiple yellow cards in multiple games, he is suspended for the next game and that only benefits the upcoming opponent. With a temporary ban, the player, as well as his team, would be sanctioned during the actual game.

"That way, the benefit goes to the team he is playing against instead of a sanction by cards which is carried out against a third team, the next on the calendar," Platini said.

Obviously, a few players adept of challenges, tackles, or shirt-pulling would disagree with that rule, probably arguing that being given a yellow card is already enough that it is unnecessary to add a 10 minute ban! 

Surely, the Barclays Premier League would be a totally different league if the rule was applied when there is an average of three yellow cards per games! Players such as Wayne Rooney (Five yellow cards this season), Matthieu Flamini (5), or Branislav Ivanovic (4) would surely change the way they play or think twice before arguing with the referee.  

We should not forget that the yellow card serves to show that the player infringed the rules of the game and was disrespectful of the game. It is a way to make sure the game flows without disruptive interruptions that go against the spirit of the game. 

Many people already disagree with the idea, saying that, with the huge number of yellow cards shown every game, it would be a nightmare to keep track of what's going on. 

I believe the rule will see the light one day and it'll change the game; change it in a good way.

What is your opinion?

    

Suarez: Dr Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

He is one of those players whose attitude detracts from his phenomenal talent as a football player! He is one of those that most football fans hate, but still admit that he is one of the greatest, among Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Mario Balotelli. A player that we want to dislike, but simply can't because he is so good.

Today, Luis Suarez showed, once again, that he was, before anything else, one of the best strikers in the world as Liverpool defeated Norwich City, 5-1, at Anfield Road! 

Any Liverpool FC fan would agree that after a game like that they would pardon Suarez for any misconduct on or off the field. The Uruguayan striker scored four goals against Norwich City, three of which were absolutely incredible. This was his first hat trick with the Reds.

The first one came from a 40-yard volley that finished under the crossbar of a helpless Norwich goalie. A wonderful strike that would certainly be one of the best goals of the season. The second goal came of a corner kick by Steven Gerrard. Coutinho missed the ball played toward the first post, but Suarez, right behind him, buried it in the net with a great left foot volley after getting the best position in his duel with the defender. The third one was a showcase of Suarez' foot skills and his ability to keep the ball under control at full speed, with defenders on him, and his great precision as he finished with a right foot half volley to find the net. Simply stunning and unstoppable. Liverpool was leading 3-0 at half time.

After the break, Suarez seemed to try to make his teammates score, probably feeling that he had his half and that was enough. Not quite though...

At the 75th minute, Liverpool obtained a free kick 25 yards away from goal. As Suarez stepped toward the ball, the crowd was ready to erupt...And surely it came! Suarez did it again! An powerful shot over the wall that finished into the net despite Norwich's goalie efforts. 

Finally, Suarez gave the Liverpool fifth and final goal to Raheem Sterling after a few dribbles and foot skills on the left side. 

"He has own this pitch; he has own this match," said the commentator when Suarez was subbed out. It was an incredible performance by Liverpool's #7, but would that performance be enough to erase his past? Can four goals be enough to forget his racial comments toward Manchester United's defender Patrice Evra or his bout of cannibalism against Chelsea's defender Ivanovic? 

Hopefully not. Suarez has to remember that the respect of the game and his actors are most important than scoring goals, especially when he is an icon and children all round the world watch him play every weekend. Maybe he took a lesson from the multiple-games ban that kept him away from the field at the beginning of the season as his behavior seemed to have evolved the right way.