Rooney avoids FA charge

Photograph: Newspics Ltd/BBC. Courtesy Guardian.co.uk

Rooney avoids FA charge - Yahoo! Eurosport

Wayne Rooney has avoided punishment for catching Wigan's James McCarthy with his elbow despite referee Mark Clattenburg having only a peripheral view of the incident.

The Football Association have been told by Clattenburg that he feels he administered the appropriate action, which leaves the governing body powerless to launch disciplinary proceedings against the 25-year-old.

Imagine a just universe where Rooney is sent off and takes a minus-6 for his double game week and I feel SO GOOD about not gutting my fantasy team to buy him. And then remember that we live a cruel, harsh reality where justice is dead and Rooney is on 18pts for the week with a game in hand. :-(

Barn Door Preview

Since people seemed to enjoy the debut version of this column, here is a second go at what I'll be looking at going into the weekend.

The big item is that EVE and BRM are two-gamers next matchweek. Both are reasonably attractive with one home and one away match against mediocre-at-best opposition. I'd favor Birmingham slightly due to their momentum but not a huge advantage in that direction. I'm particularly looking at Bentley, Foster, Howard, Zigic, Bily, Coleman, and the BRM D as serious options on the BD. I'd say I was looking at Cahill too but he appears to be out this week so no BDing necessary.

Elsewhere, Chelsea has a favorable match-up against Adam-less BPL. Definitely time to add Luiz if you haven't already. Hard to say who to watch in the Chelsea attack really - none of them have looked great.

The other strong match-up is Citeh hosting Wigan. We'll have to see how they sort out their line-up but it seems likely that you'll want to have a quick BD trigger in case Tevez, Dzeko, Silva, or Yaya have a big weekend this weekend.

Injuries and Suspensions

Welcome to blogging from sunny Tampa, FL where I'm spending a weekend going to the beach, hanging out with my wife's siblings and going to see my beloved Phillies in a Spring Training game before heading back up to what we hope is the tail end of winter in Northern Virginia. Honestly, there just isn't too much to report on the injury front. Here's a quick recap...

- Just a reminder that MAN has two matches and ARS, BRM, and TOT have none
- Adam is suspended for two matches.
- Citeh's defense is fairly depleted with Kompany, Richards, and de Jong all in various states of doubtfulness.
- Rio is still out making Smalling a great bet against Wigan and maybe for some bonus points against Chelsea.

For those who are pondering what to do with Adam, my suggestion is to see Jeremy's post related Bentley and others who will have two matches in the weeks to come. Adam has already had his runs of double weeks.

That's about all from temporary blog headquarters in Tampa. I'm guessing there isn't likely to be a live chat tomorrow. Family obligations and all that.

The Week Ahead - Carling Cup Championship Edition

Memory is a funny thing.  At its best it allows us to relive fond memories of friends, events, and times gone by as we sip our favorite adult beverages and look out at the ocean or sunset or something similarly suitable for recalling such things.  At its worst, it fools us into thinking that things are still the way they were when an impression was formed.  What do I mean?

At its best, memory allows Liverpool fans to remember fondly the days when they were a dominant force in English football which probably helps them cope with the fact that this hasn't actually true for a number of years.  That's what brand, tradition and a lifetime of memories (fueled by highlights packages, sports radio, and stories from your elders) can do on the upside.

At its worst, memory causes fantasy managers to get suckered into wasting roster spots on fading forces like Giggs and Scholes because they see "ManYoo playing twice" and remember the days not so long ago when both were among the best players in the Premier League.  Then they see what appear to be relatively inexpensive prices (at least compared to years past) for the two and think - how could it go wrong?

How it could go wrong is pretty simple:

• Giggs - He has only started 17 matches total in all competitions this season and only twice in that time has he started two in a span of less than seven days - of those two times only once did he complete both matches.  With two goals and four assists to show for his Premier League exploits this season, any realistic hope of an exceptional fantasy performance rests more on fond memories than any empirical analysis.
• Scholes - He has started the same 17 total matches in all competitions and one ups Giggs on the number of "back-to-back" matches he's started (3) and played the full 90 in (2).  Still with yellow cards (8) doubling his combined total of goals (1) and assists (3) you have to wonder why you'd bother at any price.

If you're thinking of spending the 10+ on Giggs then you should probably find a way to add an extra defender to your line-up and move up to 13 and buy Vidic who is as close to guaranteed to start both matches and has a much higher points/match average.  The only way I'll sanction the Scholes purchase is if it is done entirely to afford other players who WILL do something useful for you (he IS coming in at a Carew-like 2.92).

I know I usually wait to talk about specific players but I went straight from the comments section of one of Jeremy's posts to this and I felt that it couldn't be ignored.  Now back to your regularly scheduled fantasy analysis.

Thursday Thoughts

Is that the worst title for a post ever? Alliteration aside (Oops... I did it again), there's just no excuse for it. So let's forgo the usual long preamble (sorry, Neal) and just get into it, shall we?

Adam Suspended for Two Matches

Adam to miss BPL's next TWO matches - FYI RT @FOXSoccerTrax: CAUTION Adam (Blackpool) And that brings a suspension.less than a minute ago via yoonoNeal Thurman
nealjthurman

He'll miss @Wolves (shame) and Chelsea (where you might not have wanted him anyway).

Van Persie and Koscielny out of Stoke game

Van Persie and Koscielny out of Stoke game | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny will miss the crucial Premier League game with Stoke on Wednesday night.

The Dutch striker has a hamstring problem while the French defender is suffering from a back complaint. However both injuries are short-term and the pair may recover in time for the Carling Cup Final on Sunday.

Abou Diaby (calf) is injured but he is still suspended anyway.

Sad face for fantasy managers with Arsenal players in their line-ups... and this week that's a lot of us. I have Szczesny and van Persie so I'm light up front and vulnerable at the back. The only consolation, perhaps, is that I have Carew. So hopefully if Stoke do score it's through him.

And speaking of Stoke,

Matthew Etherington looks set to miss the Barclays Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium due to a fresh injury concern.

Etherington shook off a hamstring strain to play in Saturday's 3-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Brighton, only to be taken off with a back injury understood to be linked to a defect in his jawline

.Can someone explain that one to me?

Van Der Vaart Re-injury

Photo of Sylvie to follow.

Rafael van der Vaart suffered a recurrence of his calf injury in training and will miss Spurs' match at Blackpool. http://yhoo.it/elb9eiless than a minute ago via bitlyjspitzberg
jspitzberg

Belgium's Golden Generation?

Courtesy the Royal Belgian Football Association

At the same time I was contemplating the lack of a Brazilian super-duper-star at the peak of his powers, another thought related to a national team occurred to me.  It felt like I'd been hearing about a lot of Belgians either being very good players or being seriously high-end prospects.  For a country of just over 10 million people that is currently ranked 57th in the FIFA rankings you are left to wonder if they'll be the surprise package of Euro 2012 or WC2014.  What has me jumping on the bandwagon before Euro qualification has kicked into gear? Here's a quick look.

Great Spine
You often hear that you can't have a great team unless you are solid through the middle.  So how do the Belgians stack up down the middle? Let's take a look:

Sczcesny's got a squeezebox

With apologies to The Who, and thanks to Football365.com.

Djourou sidelined for FA Cup tie

Djourou sidelined for FA Cup tie at Orient | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Johan Djourou will miss Arsenal’s trip to Leyton Orient on Sunday.

The centre half hurt his back in Wednesday’s stunning comeback over Barcelona and is sidelined for the FA Cup Fifth Round tie at Brisbane Road.

Theo Walcott is expected to recover from a mild hamstring problem while everyone else can be classed as suffering from only “bumps and bruises”. Bacary Sagna is available after suspension but Abou Diaby is still banned.

Arsenal are in the middle of four games in four competitions over 11 days so, as expected, Wenger will make changes. Djourou is the only enforced absentee but Marouane Chamakh will be added to the squad after missing out against Barcelona.

Not that we can do anything about it, but I know a lot of us fantasy managers are following along hoping our Arsenal players will line up against Stoke on Wednesday.

Sam Ricketts Achilles Injury

Premier League - Serious injury for Ricketts - Yahoo! Eurosport

Bolton boss Owen Coyle's joy at seeing his side secure a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup was tempered by the loss of another defender to injury after Sam Ricketts damaged his Achilles at Wigan.

Ricketts went to ground in the second half at the DW Stadium while tracking Latics substitute Victor Moses and had to be carried off on a stretcher.

"He has damaged his Achilles and it doesn't look great at this time," said Coyle...

"The medical team think it could be quite severe and we hope that is not the scenario, but the way it is looking right now, I think it is going to be a lengthy period of time.

For fantasy managers, Marcos Alonso is the likely option as Steinsson is injured as well. his replacement is likely to be Gretar Steinsson, who is listed in Y!'s game at a reasonable 5.67. Bolton's upcoming Premier League fixtures include @Newcastle, home to Aston Villa, @Manchester United before easing up with @Birmingham City, home to West Ham United, @Fulham.

Catching My Breath: ARS/BARCA Thoughts

I have to admit to two frailties related to writing about soccer that likely separate me (and not in a good way) from those lucky enough to do this as their primary source of income.  First, I can't stay away from the internet/instant messaging/SMS/etc. during matches - they don't even have to be terribly important ones.  If I'd been trying, I couldn't have stayed away from Birmingham and Newcastle the other day just because I had two players on my fantasy team playing in the match.  Second, once I know the outcome of the match, I generally can't bring myself to watch it on TiVo/DVR later on.  This second part is particularly poor form as there is likely important insight I'm missing out on by not going back and seeing what is happening that doesn't show up in the statistics or the match report.  What young and on-the-rise player or players are playing better than reported or conversely, which players of strong reputation are fading faster than we expected (I'm looking at you Gerrard and Lampard). I'm not proud of these things but in a life where I have a day job, a wife, and occasionally a social life I have to make some hard choices and not watching matches on DVR is one of them.

I relay those failings so I can tell this story.  Yesterday afternoon, when Arsenal vs. Barca was on live, I had work commitments and couldn't watch live.  I followed parts of it via Twitter updates when I could but I wasn't even able to follow via a "textcast" stream which would be my usual fallback.  Since the game "sounded" amazing via Twitter I figured I'd better watch later on DVR just to see what everyone was so excited about and because, you know, ARSENAL CAME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT BARCA!  Fortunately, despite the apparent self-awareness stated in the first paragraph, I tend to DVR big matches in hopes that this will be the time I keep myself from the results.  Here's some thoughts from my view-after-the-fact:

Wilshere Wants To Follow Fabregas' Lead

[EDITOR NOTE: Welcome new contributor Tyler Stellman to the blog family. He comes to us having written most recently for FourFourTwo.com. His first contribution is below and it was written before Arsenal's Champions League match with Barca today. That said, I think it becomes much more interesting in light of Wilshere's exceptional performance in that match. He looked a lot like Cesc the season before he added goal-scoring to his bag of tricks. Enjoy and thanks to Tyler for his contribution.]

Arsenal wonderkid Jack Wilshere has revealed he aims to follow Arsenal captain and teammate’s Cesc Fabregas lead in becoming a star midfielder for the Premier League side.

And Wilshere admits he has taken tips from Arsenal captain Fabregas, who won the World Cup with Spain in the summer and was controversially shown in a Barcelona kit soon after.

"Watching Cesc when he was younger and I was younger was the perfect opportunity to learn from him," said Wilshere according to The Guardian.

"Around the training ground he is helpful and when he is on the pitch he is telling me things to do. He tells me that I am not going to play every week, like he did, and that I have got to break through slowly and then get hopefully get in [to the team permanently]."

Wilshere was sent on a loan spell at Bolton last season, which proved to be helpful for the Hertfordshire born player. Bolton’s rough style of play did not necessarily suit Wilshere’s finesse style but the young midfielder left an impression on the team with fine performances against top opposition such as Chelsea.

“I think I had to go out on loan last year because there are world-class players at Arsenal and I had to get some games. I came back more experienced and stronger, and if you play regularly it makes it it easier for you," he explained.

“Playing for England was brilliant, a nice experience, and hopefully I can get some more games but at the moment I am just trying to concentrate on playing in the Arsenal first team.

“Sometimes I just had to pinch myself sitting in the changing room next to Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. I was just happy to get on [as a second-half substitute].”

The young star went on to praise his club captain.

“For me, in the position he plays, Cesc is the best player in the world,” he added.

“That is shown with all the interest from the clubs who want him and people talking about him. That is what I want to be like – he is the perfect player to learn from.

“He is always talking to you – he is a good leader as well as a good player. Hopefully I can follow in his footsteps, to be as good as him would be nice.”

With Wilshere growing in both form and confidence and Fabregas rumored to be edging towards the exit door, Wilshere may have to take the lead off his mentor and captain sooner rather than later.

-Tyler Stellman

Steven Gerrard misses trip to Sparta Prague

Steven Gerrard misses Liverpool's Europa League trip to Sparta Prague | Football | guardian.co.uk

The Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, was not included in the squad which travelled to the Czech Republic to face Sparta Prague as he continues to recover from a groin injury.

The centre-back Daniel Agger was also left behind with a similar problem but the manager, Kenny Dalglish, did include the youngster Raheem Sterling."

Still a long time before their match at West Ham, but something(s) to watch.

One in, one out for United

Twos ships...


Premier League - Valencia trains, Park blow for Utd - Yahoo! Eurosport

Manchester United have been boosted by Antonio Valencia's return to training only five months after he suffered a horrific broken ankle in a Champions League draw with Rangers - although fellow winger Park Ji-sung was ruled out for a month with a hamstring problem.

...Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that he had begun training with the reserve squad, tempering the blow that Park would miss another month following his absence on South Korea Asian Cup duty.

Don't get your hopes up for Valencia's return to Premier League action just yet. In fact, I would expect that we'd see both returning about the same time.

For United, that means that Nani is unlikely to be rotated (reverse-jinx!) and that Giggs is going to have to keep playing regularly even as matches start to come thick and fast. SAF has been reluctant to play Giggs more than once a week over the last few seasons, so maybe we see Obertan now and again. Though he's never produced much in his limited chances, the young Frenchman will be an interesting option for fantasy managers with his 4.76 price tag.

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp received welcome news on Monday when midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was passed fit for Tuesday's Champions League last 16, first-leg game against AC Milan.

Van der Vaart missed Saturday's 2-1 win over Sunderland with a calf strain and with several other midfielders absent Redknapp was desperately hoping the Dutchman would recover.

Gareth Bale, who scored a hat-trick last time Spurs were in the city, when they lost 4-3 to Inter in the group phase, misses the game with a back injury and Jermaine Jenas is suspended.

Luka Modric is struggling to make the starting side as he recovers from an operation to remove his appendix less than two weeks ago.

And...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will not be "stupid" by rushing back midfielder Samir Nasri for Wednesday's Champions League last 16 first-leg match against Barcelona, the Frenchman said on Monday.

"I will not take a crazy gamble," Wenger said of his compatriot Nasri, who he admitted is "physically ready" after a two-week layoff with a hamstring injury.

"He has worked very hard in the last week...just there is a risk to have a setback," Wenger added on the club's website (www.arsenal.com) before saying Nasri would have tests on Monday and Tuesday.

And finally...

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has no fresh injury worries as his side search for a third successive Barclays Premier League win against Newcastle on Tuesday night...

Former Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins could start again while Cameron Jerome is also in contention. McLeish has a full squad to choose from with the exception of long-term injury victims James McFadden and Scott Dann.

Fantastic Financial Analysis on Chelsea and Financial Fair Play

The Swiss Ramble: Chelsea's Financial Fair Play Challenge

I'm sure Jeremy is rolling his eyes somewhere (or he will as soon as he clicks through and sees what I'm linking to).  First, I feel obligated to let you know this is a really long post.  That said, it is exceptionally well written and lays out not only specific information related to Chelsea's finances and their potential standing vs. UEFA's upcoming Financial Fair Play rules but also gives the reader a really solid understanding of those FFP rules.  He doesn't go into other clubs that might be impacted but you can start to imagine for yourselves.  Also, there is some information related to the cost side of the business that readers were mentioning in the Deloitte Money Table posts last week.  I'm sure this one won't be for everyone but for those who are interested in this part of the game, it is a must read.  Did I mention that it is really well written?

Cheers - Neal

First Impressions and Second Thoughts - Manchester Derby Weekend

Nani's Reaction Upon Reading Our Review Below

Before we get to the specifics related to the Premier League action on the field.  I'm going to start out with a random thought that I had over the weekend.  As these soccer-related thoughts usually do, it ended up being an SMS conversation with Jeremy which was interesting enough that we both thought that it was worth using as the opening for a column.  Then, when I saw that Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) was set to announce his retirement from professional football tomorrow, I knew it was Karma telling me that I had found the right opener for First Impressions.  What was the thought?

What happened to the Brazilians? I watched the International Friendly between Brazil and France this past week and it got my brain to thinking (yes, it happens from time to time) - how is it that there are no Brazilian superstars?  There are lots of very, very good Brazilian players in the game right now and even some who might be considered among the very best at their positions in the world.  That said, there isn't a Brazilian player who demands you say "WOW" as a result of his performances.  On the eve of Ronaldo's retirement, we are left wondering who the heir to the recent run of attacking superstars - Romario, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho might be.

If you start listing the world's best attacking players you have to go a long way before you'd get to a Brazilian based on performance (as opposed to reputation).  The list of the best attackers has to start with Messi and that other Ronaldo fellow and then you start talking about Sneijder, Drogba, Ibra, Xavi, Iniesta, and others before you'd get to the first Brazilian on your list.  So what happened? Kaka was supposed to be the headliner of his generation but he's been pretty invisible for about 18 months now.  Robinho was supposed to be the "next Henry" combining pace, shooting, passing, and dribbling ability but he's been through just about every big club in Europe and no one really seems to want him.  Pato was supposed to be the "next big thing" after those two but his last two seasons have been derailed.  His strike rate for Milan has been very strong but he's only played a total of 35 league matches across the two seasons.  Not exactly the stuff of legends.

Oddly, the only place that Brazilians can claim to be at the absolute top of their professions is in the back.  Alves and Maicon are both exceptional players. That said, it isn't often that an outside defender can really be considered a superstar.  Roberto Carlos was the exception to this rule but neither Alves nor Maicon are up to that standard.  There are also very good Brazilian central defenders but again, you wouldn't say that there are any absolute superstars among them.  Very, very good? Definitely, but you wouldn't necessarily pick any Brazilian defender over Vidic if you were starting a team from scratch.

So what happened? Is it just one of those things?  A slight downward trend that will be remedied in a couple of years when the "next big thing" comes along?  Is it that the rest of the world - most notably Africa - are catching up to the Brazilians and making the difference between the best Brazilians and the best of the rest not seem so big? I can't claim to have an answer but as I watched Sandro try to adapt to life in the Prem and added to that the fact that he was playing for his country in mid-week, I could help but think about the fact that this isn't the Brazil of the last 25 or 30 years.  Any thoughts from you guys on why?

OK, with that international football aside out of the way, here are some observations on the weekend that was in the Prem:

Meireles Withdrawn Due To Virus

Dalglish on Raul, Wigan and Luis - Liverpool FC

Pretty far down the in this article they mention that Raul Meireles' issue was a virus, not a knock of any sort, he should be good to go by the time we get to the next matchweek.  Just a note for anyone trying to decide if they want to keep him or not.  Fortunately for those who were going to BD him, his price didn't go up after his goal so he's still pretty reasonably priced.

Hope you had a good day.  The games were great and we had a fantastic live chat.

Cheers - Neal