I am now officially 18!!!

30 December, is the date I am most familiar with.... coz it is my birthday....haha... Today, I am officially 18, therefore it represents maturity and approaching adulthood. Don't have to worry about being underage anymore......wakaka...

However, a day before my birthday, I was stunned by a breaking news. My all time idol /my favorite footballer- Steven Gerrard(a.k.a. Liverpool's inspirational captain fantastic) was arrested by police for involving in a bar brawl. WTH MAN! I really do not believe he will really beat up other people coz I do think he is such a gentle and polite guy. Just keep fingers crossed and hope that he will he alright.

Well, tell u an interesting story about me. 18 years ago, my mother received a huge present during her birthday- and the present was me... haha.... So, my mum and I celebrate birthday on the same day and today we celebrated with "bunch of monkeys". This bunch of monkeys refers to my mother's ex- student, where their zodiac is monkey, they came to our house for celebration. Here are some of the pictures:

Boxing Day outing- Time Square

Where: Time Square
When: 26th December 2008
What: "Boxing day"
Activity: Karaoke, Bowling, Arcade
Note: Boxing here doesn't mean the sport of fighting and punching with gloves, Boxing Day is the national holiday after Christmas Day in England & Wales

As most people knew, "There are always problems and obstacles in our life, even if one of them is solved, there are still more to come, and it surrounds us forever....."

I always wonder why I always encountered some problems & obstacles whenever I go outing with friends. This time around, my previous obstacle did not even turn up. HAHA.... Oh, NO! I can't be too happy! Coz I am realizing the statement above is getting more and more appropriate to me.

This time, it was Mr LD before our karaoke session. haih... lazy to describe bout it.... He just refused to pay the price for karaoke. Fortunately, it wasn't a tough nut to crack and finally we came out with a solution. (No offence mr LD)

After singing, it's bowling time. As usual we are a bunch of youngsters with high ambitions. Our ultimate goal is always to break the current World Record (WR). Let us take a look at it first........
Yup, it's 203(on the top right corner), set by Dion Cheah on 18th August

Talk is easy, but to actually break it, it's almost an impossible task. However, today, one guy proved that the WR could not stood still forever and remain unbeatable as he- Mr Koh Jun Hao came out with a staggering 190 points, merely 13 points lower than the WR. Well done to him!
Look at the J at the top(190), and notice the quadruple strike? similar to the WR pattern!

Despite that, there was also something proud to show for me. And I can say that this was my most consistent performance throughout the 3 games. The first game, I scored 155, comfortably ahead of everybody.....
Top D(155) is me, Dion while the second one is Darren. In the second game, I managed to do better- 173, still top among everyone. Wakakaka... So the average of the 2 game is 164. Not bad man.......

As I have mentioned, the third game is Jun Hao's game where he scored 190. I only got 121.... Ok lar...... not that bad either. Average of my 3 games still reach around 150...

Bye bye for now.... Hope to challenge again next time

Donnie Yen- The true Invincible+Prestigious MAN (IP MAN)

It has been some time since we last saw a real kungfu fighting movie, with Fearless, starred by Jet Li being the last memorable one to hit the big screen. What I meant by kung fu fighting movie is where the character uses real kungfu to fight, not by watching a gun war, fantasy movie or a normal actor showing fake kungfu.

But this IP MAN, I should say, it is stunning. The name of the movie- IP MAN, should be pronounced as "Eep-man", but I wonder why some people pronounced it as I-P man.....swt la......
Others might, but Donnie Yen's kungfu is no kidding, as what he has showed in his previous movies like SPL, Flashpoint, Dragon Tiger Gate and so on... In most of his his previous movies, he often acted as a ruthless character with full of anger. The way he fights can be described with one word- 猛!

However, what I, and most people noticed in this movie, he had actually portrayed IP MAN as kind of humorous, humble, gentle but confident man, and a man who respects his wife. His wife- Wing Seng, stared by the Aaron Kwok's gf I think- 熊黛林....... she looks so attractive in the movie man. Prettier than how she looks in real life....

Ip man's wife in the movie

Apart from that, the Wing Chun kungfu was awesome, and Donnie Yen made it fantastic to watch. His speed, accuracy and power made his opponents almost impossible to defend against at close range combat. Maybe he can even catch the bullets when someone tries to shoot him.....haha.... So, if u are a fan of kungfu fighting movie, this is a must watch movie!

Ip man 1 on 1 vs Japanese karate master(General)

22 December- Futsal Day

On 22 Dec, I went to play futsal at "Challenger" with my secondary school friends. It has been more than a year since we last played. If wasn't me who suggested to our usual master planner- Desmond, our futsal activity would have gone forever...swt... So at least that's the only valuable opportunity for us to reunion with some old friends.

As usual, the likes of Desmond, Satya, Ken, Jun Hao, Biiang turned up for the game. Surprise package that wasn't in the plan also turned up- including Hur Kwan, Alex, Timothy, TK & bro and our Mr Chew Khye Tjiet! As always, I woke up quite early and departed from my house bout 30 mins before the game coz I don't like being late and make everyone waiting for me. But however, 人算不如天算! I encountered some obstacles in my journey..... Guess who! Yea.... Is Mr Chew KT, who wasted my precious time and petrol! Initially, we have confirmed that I'll pick him up at tasik selatan station at 9.45am(15 min b4 the game), so when I reached there at around 9.40, he told me that he will only be reaching at bout 9.55am. Wth!!! BUT OK lor, wait lor, 15 min only. Then u know what..... I waited until 10.05 then he called me and said he still has a long way to go and ask me to go 1st!!! Then I go 1st on my own frustratedly, leave him to the taxi driver.

OMG, what a horrible experience! According to my plan I'll be reaching there 10 min earlier but now I am late for about 15 min!!! When I reached there, they have already finished their warm up. So I just done some basic stretching and then went straight into the game, where I don't think is enough. All because of Chew! And I think one of the reason why my body so pain on the next day is lack of stretching...

So GAME ON.....
It was a very competitive one.....
The team who score 2 goals wins
Winner stay....
So, we take turns.
But still very tired...
Run like mad......
High tempo!!!
I started fairly slowly, could not find the back of the net despite many decent attempts
Maybe due to lacked of support and bcoz of the BLODDY CHEW KT!
Then back on fire after a while....
When I team up with satya and junhao.....
I scored bout..... ermm 3-4 goals like dat la....

After the match, we still have time
we challenged another gang, all of them Malay & Indian
WOW... they looked strong and skillful
Fairly big size oso
Nvmind, bring it on man!!!

Our team consists of:
Torres - Dion Cheah
Lampard - Jun Hao
Fabregas - Yap
2 x Robinho - Satya & his cousin
HAHA, MEHSI???
We actually scored 5-6 goals past them!
2-3 of them from Torres!
Full credit to my teammates, especially those 2 skillful Robinho...
They only scored 1-2 goals I think...
Then Game Over, GG...
Went CS after dat, I played mostly sniper, killed quite a lot, BUT
Darren Lim man of the match le, mehsi!?

Maybe planning another futsal game with swimmers....
Bye bye...

Arsenal suffer another blow

Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa

Despite their impressive win against Manchester United last week, Arsenal once again failed to maintain the consistency required to challenge the EPL title. They suffered their 4th defeat this season when they lost 2-0 to Aston Villa at home. This is undoubtedly a major setback for them in the league this season. After their win against the Devils last week, they looked as if they are back on track as their victory is then followed by another stunning 3-0 victory against Wigan by their youngster.

A friend of mine, who is an Arsenal fan, was delighted after their win against Man United and he asked me whether is Arsenal back on track after the win. My replied was... they need more consistency if they are to mount a title challenge(as Liverpool have shown this season). It has proved that they are just lacking it to stay up there as their terrific wins can turn into miserable defeats in a sudden! I wonder how many defeats they are going to suffer as the season goes on. In fact, they did not have a good game yesterday, they failed to settle into their passing game policy with some awful miss passes – something that is not expected from the Gunners. In fact, the margin could have been more if Ashley Young didn't has his spot kick saved by Almunia. With that, leaders Chelsea and Liverpool are now 9 points clear of them. So, is their season over?

Obama's win sums up a thrilling and historical week!!!

Sorry for not being able to update my blog as I am having a 2 weeks of final exam. Despite pressures coming from exams, I always keep in touch with the happenings around the world and here I have to say that it has been an amazing 10 days. History was created again , again and again, equipped with lots of drama in it! There were not only football but some historical achivements outside football as well. So, here are those "thrilling" moments that just simply cannot escape from the headline:

1) Stamford Bridge crushed

"Records are to be broken!"First, it all started at Stamford Bridge as Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86 matches of unbeaten home run. (as in the previous post) Finally, after more than 4 years of waiting, their fortress has been destroyed! It was a marvelous achievement by the Reds who have not won a match in Stamford Bridge for many years.

2) Resurgent Spurs

It is difficult to believe that it was only a week ago that Harry Redknapp was appointed Spurs manager. But he was the man who guided Tottenham to collect 7 points from his first 3 games in charge. They produced an incredible late comeback against Arsenal at the Emirates and they weren't finished, their amazing run is then followed by stunning comeback with a 2-1 win over leaders Liverpool. This could be a significant turnaround to their season.

3) Drama in F1 Finale

I believe for those who watched the live coverage of the Brazil GP, it must be an unforgettable one. Unfortunately, I didn't watch. But I can imagine how close Massa came to win the Drivers overall champion. Instead, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest driver to win a F1 World Champion. It was full of excitement and drama towards the end of the race! Ferrari's driver Filipe Massa looked like he is going to edge Hamilton for the drivers champion when he crossed the finishing line. CELEBRATIONS BEGIN for him and the Ferrari camp where Hamilton was only on the 6th place(not enough for him). Then came to the TURNING POINT of the race on the final turn, Timo Glock's, who was in 4th, encountered a tyre problem, Lewis Hamilton then took advantage and went pass him to clinch the title! Ferrari were stunned and celebrations for Hamilton begin! What a dramatic finale!

4) Obama's victory
The latest historical moment came from the US, where Barrack Obama put his name in the history book after becoming America's first black President. Young and charismatic but with little experience on the national level, Obama smashed through racial barriers and easily defeated Republican John McCain to become the first African-American destined to to become America's 44th president.

Fantastic Reds End Chelsea's Unbeaten Home Record

They have done it! Liverpool have ended Chelsea marvelous 86 matches unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge and move 3 points clear at the top of the table. Xabi Alonso scored the only goal of the game in the 10th minute when his left footed volley outside the box deflected off Jose Bosingwa to leave goalkeeper Petr Cech flat-footed.

Cruel for Chelsea & Scolari
Sometimes football can become so cruel, Chelsea's new manager Scolari is now the man who lose their unbeaten home run where it began since Claudio Ranieri's era. He was really unfortunate to face a resurgent Liverpool this season although he also possess a decent team with many quality players.Victory for Liverpool was fully deserved, as is their place at the top of the table. Whatever Chelsea make of the outcome, the visitors gave another indication that they may become champions of England. Chelsea have done very well in this campaign against teams who were incapable of halting their build-up play, but they are up against a quality team like Liverpool, they will suffer from time to time if they could not find a way through. Of course, you don't find another team like that at the moment, so there is no way panic for the Blues as their season remains promising.

Fantastic Reds
There were no comebacks this time, but this kind of performance they have put in was perhaps even more outstanding. They did not sit back after they got the lead, they did not park a bus in front of Chelsea's goal. In fact, they played terrific passing & attacking move and whenever they got the ball and were causing lots of trouble for the Blues when they attack. Xabi Alonso- the man who was confident of beating Chelsea before the match, proved what he said was not a joke as he almost got his second goal when his freekick came off the inside of the post. On the other hand, I have to give credit to Chelsea for their attacking display and well organised passing in the game. However, Liverpool were up to the standard with their rock solid + tight defence. Whenever Chelsea tried to break them down, they were always able to cope with it, largely thanks to Jamie Carragher's superb display at the back. He was everywhere! Dealing with everything and making crucial tackle at the crucial moment. Man of the match for him!

Pundits sucks
Before the match, most pundits from ESPN predicted a Chelsea win some even said that Chelsea will win comfortably, the reason was Chelsea have more quality players and more depth! I need to say that as a football pundit, they should think twice before coming out with a prediction! Not just simply saying a team who scored more in the past will definitely win. That was all rubbish. And after the match I have to say that Liverpool are on their way to clinch the EPL title this season. Sorry if I am a bit bias but this going to be Liverpool's season.

Chelsea & Liverpool looking good to challenge title

The comeback king
Istanbul comeback might be the greatest ever comeback, but can anyone recall when did Liverpool perform a league comeback? Maybe not quite... In the past few years in the league, they found it very hard to comeback even they were only 1 goal down. However, this time around, they have been the comeback king this season where they have came back from behind to win games on 4 occasions already! 1 down against champions Man U, 1 down with less than 10 min against Boro, 2 down against Man City, and twice fell behind against Wigan. They have performed comebacks in all different ways this season. The next one - comeback at the holy ground- Stamford Bridge?

Chelsea looks unstoppable
Meanwhile, despite missing some of the key players through injuries, Chelsea showed their magnificent form as they thrashed Boro 5-0 in style. They now remain at the top of the table with superior goal difference. Their gameplay was very well organised and they are dominating games for fun at the moment. A brace from Kalou, Lampard , Malouda and an absolute screamer from Juliano Belleti from more than 30 yards out complete the 5 goals thrashing against Boro.

The top 2 battle- 26 October
Next week, we will see the current leader Chelsea taking on their fierce rival Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool will stand a chance to end Chelsea's long unbeaten home record based on thier current form and strong character, but they are likely to do it without their top striker - Fernando Torres. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be looking forward to extend their unbeaten run and to eliminate their opponent.

Big 3 win while Arsenal sliped up

Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United all won their respective matches by 2-o. The early kick-off saw Liverpool traveled to Goddison Park to face Everton. A superb double by Fernando Torres sealed a comfortable 2-o win for the Reds. The Spanish hitman has not find the net since he scored the winner in the opening fixture against Sunderland and struggle with his form due to his injury. However, like what the commentator said after he scored, "form is temporary, but class is permanent." He will always remain as a world class striker whatever the situation. Meanwhile, Chelsea also cruise to a convincing 2-0 win over Stoke City. Their new promising signing showed what is he all about by smashing in his first goal for the Blues after a magnificent built-up play. Anelka then came off the bench and scored the second goal.

He has done it again!
Cristiano Ronaldo is back! He is back and he has done it again. Scored from the spot after a 'dive' inside the box. Bolton's Samuel slides and gets the ball but amazingly Styles points to the spot. The Bolton players cannot believe it!!!!! Does he need to go to the ground after he saw the ball was intercept? But for him, Yes! as always. On the other hand, what is wrong with Gunners? Before the match, pundits were trying to predict how many goals can the gunners score in this game. In addition, recently there were on fire, beating Bolton convincingly and even their young guns gave Sheffield Utd a 6-0 thrashing, but I wonder how their fire power can be shut down so suddenly?

Robbie Keane another Shevchenko?

"His goal will come".... "Once he scored he will keep scoring". "He will become a super star and form a formidable partnership with Fernando Torres"..... However, for now, I can't see that is going to happen for Liverpool's new GB20 million striker Robbie Keane. He is yet to score a single goal for Liverpool since his arrival and that streak has stretched to 8 matches. The new star striker for Liverpool reminds me about Sheva in Chelsea not long ago. Where the Ukrainian performed poorly for the Blues that does not worth his sky high price.

Robbie Keane was tipped to open his account against newly promoted Stoke City. He actually had his chance to score but he took them poorly. Also, Liverpool could have won all their EPL matches if he performs at his level. In the game against Aston Villa where ended o-o, Robbie Keane was clean through in an 1 on 1 situation with the keeper in the second half. He could have controlled the ball and finished it to win the game but he waited and waited for the ball to bounce and the ball was cleared by a Villa player in the end. I was surprised he wasn't confident in front of the goal, he did not take his chances confidently in the games so far and also wasted a couple of opportunity in the game against Stoke.

So, how can he find his form and confidence back? How long will he take to actually adapt to the style of Liverpool? In my opinion, he is now really unsure of a place in Liverpool's starting line up unless he starts scoring. Andriy Shevchenco in Chelsea was a good example. He definitely won't want to spend his time on the bench and being criticized for the remaining season. As we can see Rafa Benitez has a lot of faith in Dirk Kuyt and started him almost every match, Ryan Babel is also another option to play as second striker behind Torres.

Finally, Liverpool get it right

Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United

Some people said that Liverpool cannot produce good football & they lack quality to trouble Manchester United's defence. While there are also people said that the home game against the Devils is going to be their time to revenge and they will win it in some styles. Yes, they have done it! And they have done it in STYLE! They dominated their opponent throughout the game with variety of movement and sharp passing, they restricted their rival to only very few chances. They came from 1 goal down to beat their opponent and they have done it without key players like Torres & Gerrard(only played for 20+ min).

Many people also said that without Torres and Gerrard, Liverpool are not a good team. Then aren't Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, Babel, Riera and Keane quality players as what they have shown in the game yesterday? Dirk Kuyt, who has been criticized for lack of quality, worked extremely hard and it was a stunning performance by him. Running all over the pitch, provide precise deliveries and linked well with his teammates. The super sub - Ryan Babel, was magnificent as he scored the winning goal, and troubled the Man United defence all the time after he came on.

It is interesting to see how good Liverpool actually are when Gerrard and Torres return to full fitness. They are going to form a fearsome attacking line up with rock solid defence. But first they must not play too defensively and they must play like how they did yesterday against Man Utd. As we can see from the match, the Reds were very well organized going forward with high tempo but lacked a bit of cutting edge. However, with their captain Steven Gerrard & golden boy Fernando Torres returning to the starting line up soon, I can only see the team scoring more goals and causing more of troubles to other team's defence. So, can they keep up their form or improve further?

Lame Devils tamed by Zenit

Zenit St Petersburg defeated Manchester United by 2-1 in the Uefa Super Cup thanks to goals from Pogrebnyak and Danny. Vidic managed to reduce the deficit but Zenit defended strongly to win the Super Cup. Throughout the match, Zenit produced some magnificent football and they were thoroughly deserved the victory.



The spectacular incident in the game came just before the match ended, one of the most experience and respected player in United squad- Paul Scholes deliberately used his palm to to "spike" the ball into the net. And u know whats next? His "blinded" teammates rushed to congratulate him but it was obviously a pure cheat by Scholes and he was deservedly sent off. This clearly portrayed the character of Man U players, how can an experience player intent to do something which is so disgraceful & unacceptable? Should he receive more punishments?

SUPERSTAR FOCUS (Olympics)

Micheal Phelps









Usain Bolt







The greatest sportsman ever?

The 2008 Beijing Olympic has come to an end after the wonderful closing ceremony at the Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium. Next is London 2012. Many world records have been broken in this thrilling 16-days of competition. The US superstar Micheal Phelps, won 8 gold medal in the pool, with 7 world record and 1 Olympic record. He has done something phenomenal in the pool and has broken Mark Spitz record of 7 gold back in year 1972. I believe this achievement will be hard to emulate in the future. After the swimming events, the track & field events begin. Guess who.... Usain Bolt, coming out of nowhere and he is still even an unknown before this year, became the fastest man in the world with 3 gold medals and 3 world records in 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay. He became the first ever man to win the sprint double with world record time. Even the great legend Carl Lewis did not manage to do that.

So, who is better? Who achieved the best in 2008 Olympic?
For me, I personally think that Usain Bolt deserves more than Phelps. Yes, Phelps has achieved his target of 8 gold medal in a single Olympic, but a couple of the gold medal were very fortunate. Indeed, we can say that was miracle. We first look at his 4 x 100m relay, how on earth can Jason Lezak come from behind and brings down the world record holder- Alain Bernard? His relay split time of 46.06, is about 1.5 seconds faster than his personal best. That was really uncomprehending, he can never beat the great Bernard by his standard. While in the 100 m butterfly event, Serbian swimmer Cavic was leading all the way even until moments before they touch but the final result came out with Phelps edging Cavic by just 0.01 second! When you win a race by so little margin after thrilling behind all the time, you have to say thats luck. It will still remain as a debate in years to come on how the race was won by Phelps. I am not saying that he is a fluke and don't deserve but what he deserves was a silver, not a gold.

Lets look at what Usain Bolt had done. The luck element never comes in for this guy, he just doesn't need that at all! First, he ran an amazing 9.69 for the 100m to renew his own world record. He even had time to celebrate and slap his chest with 20 metres to go, knowing a gold medal is certain for him and that was enough to leave his competitors far behind him. In the 200m, Micheal Johnson's 12 year-old world record of 19.32 was initially said to be the humans limit. However, Bolt came up and showed to the whole world that he can beat that! He proved that on the track and lead from the start to the finish and broke Johnson's 12 year-old world record with a time of 19.30. The whole stadium were stunned at that moment. He than completes his domination in sprinting events when he helped Jamaica to win their 4 x 100 m relay. Again, it was done in world record time, again, he won it with a big margin.

Where is Arsenal's midfield?

Arsenal suffer a shock defeat to last season relegation struggler Fulham at yesterday's late kick-off. Many of their key midfield players including Flamini, Hleb and Gilberto Silva have left the club after a disappointing last season, leaving their solid midfield a big hole. Even Adebayor was unable to perform due to lack of support from the midfield. In addition, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas was unable to play due to injuries, look like Arsene Wenger has to look for some quality midfielders before the transfer window closed.

Lets look at their midfield now, they are force to fill a second string like players such as Eboue, which is not a natural midfield player, Denilson, which spend most of the time last season warming the bench. Their new signing Samir Nasri could be good and promising but lacks experience . They just can't expect a new player to control and have a big influence. They will have to sort out their midfield crisis before they can challenge the title.

Argentina win second succesive Olympic gold.

2008 Olympic Final

Argentina 1-0 Nigeria

Argentina have won the gold medal for 2008 Olympic thanks to Angel Di Maria's only goal of the game. Lionel Messi send Di Maria through and Di Maria cleverly chip the ball past the keeper for the winning goal. Meanwhile, Javier Macherano became the first Argentinean footballer in history to win two Olympic gold medals after helping his country beat Nigeria in this morning's final.

As the Olympics going on, the EPL is back!

08-08-08-Here comes the Beijing Olympic, we have witnessed a magnificent opening ceremony at the "Bird's nest" and some thrilling games going on. We have seen US sensational swimmer Michael Phelps not once, not twice, but 6 times picking up gold medal and standing on top of the podium with world record time. He is on his way to beating Mark Spitz 7 gold haul in Olympics as he will be competing in 2 more events. Meanwhile, tennis world No 1 Roger Federer crashes out in the tennis event. Looks like 2008 is not a good year for him.

(8 x 2)=16-08-08-The English Premier League kicks off! After few months of waiting and watching friendlies, most football fans will probably get their life back on track again after a long wait. It was fun watching the euro 2008 but surely many fans will miss the EPL!

The opening fixture for tomorrow will see Arsenal taking on the newly promoted West Brom.

Liverpool, who have brought in former Spurs striker Robbie Keane to spearhead the attack with Fernando Torres, visit Sunderland later on Saturday. They will be looking to get back on track after a frustrating 0-0 draw in Belgium against Standard Liege in their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday.

Chelsea, last season’s Premier League and Champions League runners-up and who are expected to provide the stiffest challenge to United again this season, face FA Cup winners Portsmouth on Sunday.

Defending champion Man Utd are without their stat player Christiano Ronaldo, will begin their season at home with Newcastle United.

Everton, who finished fifth last season and should be challenging for a European place again, are at home to a Blackburn Rovers side.

Can Torres+Keane parnership fires Liverpool to EPL title?

One of the big name transfer of this summer includes one of the most deadly striker in EPL- Robbie Keane for a near GB20 million to Liverpool. With his experience and proven goal-scoring record recent years in EPL , Keane is tipped to shine at Liverpool by many pundits. Fernando Torres, who is widely regarded as one of the best striker in the world for the moment, should partner him as they are likely to form a formidable strike force in this coming EPL season.

However, it remains to be seen whether the signing of Robbie Keane by Liverpool will significantly improve their title-winning chances. We shall keep an eye on them when the new EPL season kicks off on 16 August.

Man United destroy Arsenal's title hope with a narrow victory.

Man United 2-1 Arsenal

A final chance for Arsenal's season.... 0-0 at Old Traford.... Adebayor scored! Wow, great start, Arsenal took the lead! Go Gunners......... Oh, no! They've blew it! Like at Stamford Bridge and Anfield in recent games, Arsenal got off with a flying start by scoring the first goal before showing their self destruct skills to lose all that was left of their season. Yet again, they allowed their opponent to hit back after scoring the first goal. They certainly have to improve their squad if they don't want to see them ran out of steam at the end of the season like they did. The win sees the Red Devils extend their lead at the top of the table to 6 points and 9 points clear of Arsenal with four games to play, while any hopes of a late Arsenal title-surge were extinguished. Now, it is over to Chelsea to heat up the title race in the next two games before the two meet at Stamford Bridge. For the title decider? We shall see...

Liverpool 3-1 Blackburn

An awesome inspirational display by Steven Gerrard saw Liverpool outclassed Blackburn with a comfortable 3-1 win. Gerrard scored the first and set up the second for Torres for his 30th goal of the season. It was another magnificent combination play from Gerrard and Torres in this match. Liverpool moved 5 points clear of Everton as they look to have a firm grip on the 4th spot. They may now look ahead of overtaking Arsenal to finish 3rd in the League.

Wenger should be realistic & stop complaining!

If there is a society for complaining and sore losers, surely Arsene Wenger would be the member of it, or perhaps holding a high post.(president, chairman, secretary..... etc) Sadly for Arsenal, when the team lose, he seems to blame everything & everyone excluding himself and his players, and his attitude is not likely to change even for years to come. Even his depressed players admitted after the match they were awful in defending and lack of experience. Was his team unlucky throughout the season? Or the triple battle against Liverpool? Certainly you won't think so.

"It's down to a dodgy decision, I believe, from the referee", "all the big decisions were against us", "It's very difficult for me to understand because, for me, it was no penalty tonight. I watched it clearly". "If you lose against a team that's better than you, OK, but that's not the impression that we got over two games."These are what Wenger said after the Champions League defeat. Try to think back their initially poor record in Europe, they got the luck and went into the final 2 years back, only beaten by Barcelona in the final. Think back earlier of the season when they got so many lucky points, including the recent "dodgy" comeback win against Bolton with 10 men. In truth, when he is beneficiary of poor decisions, we don't hear Wenger seeing the incident, and he will never admit that he was lucky.

If he is to blame for his failure this time(or even for the past 3 trophyless season), he should look at the deepness of his squad. Arsene Wenger stubbornly refuses to utilise the resources available (£70 million, allegedly)."We are good enough and we don't need to spend big to buy players", that's what he used to say before the season. Wenger, if he looks back of the video of the CL game at Anfield, should realise that his young players are not up to the standard, twice after scoring, they allowed Liverpool to get back in it, plus another one at Emirates. Although they controlled the possessions, they did not create enough chances in front of goal and they allowed vital spaces for vital goals. And the reason for this? They are not good enough, they cant cope defensively against dangerous players like Torres and Babel. We shall see how are they going to cope with players like Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez when they play Man Utd this week.

In addition, for him to get support from the club's directer and owner and became the "life manager" at Arsenal, I just could not understand what is going on at the club. Jose Mourinho won 5 trophies in 3 years and it wasn't enough. So did the players and the fans questions his ability to win trophies, where he has failed to do so in so many seasons. For now, what he can do is to concentrate on the match against the Devils and a win will put them straight back into the title race. For the excitement of the EPL, I wish Arsenal good luck.

Top 10 Transfers Of The Season.

1) Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid to Liverpool)
2) Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich to Blackburn Rovers)
3) Anderson (Porto to Manchester United)
4) Javier Mascherano (West Ham to Liverpool)
5) Yakubu (Middlesbrough to Everton)
6) Sulley Muntari (Udinese to Portsmouth)
7) Bacary Sagna (Auxerre to Arsenal)
8) Mauro Zarate (Al Sadd to Birmingham City)
9) Carlos Tevez (West Ham to Manchester United)
10) Martin Petrov (Atlético Madrid to Manchester City)

Source: Goal.com
What are your opinions on this topic? Has anyone been left out you feel deserves a place on the list - if so, who should make way? Is Fernando Torres deserving of first place? You can simply post out your favourite top 10 transfer in the comment box to let Dion knows what YOU think.

Man United, Barcelona cruise through.

Man Utd 1-0 AS Roma (Man Utd win 3-0 on agg)
Barcelona 1-0 Schalke (Barca win 2-0 on agg)

Manchester United & Barcelona will meet each other in semi- final after they overcome their opponents convincingly in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. They proved that they are far more superior to their respective opponents AS Roma and Schalke, having already won at the 1st leg away from home.

Liverpool end Gunners season in thrilling battle!

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal

Liverpool have dumped Arsenal out of the Champions League witha a classic 4-2 victory at home. Again...... As the faithful Anfield crowd roars and cheers, chanting the famous "You'll never walk alone", acting as the 12th player on the pitch. We witnessed another famous Anfield night in the Champions League. This time, it is the Gunners who are the victim. However, it was a close and pulsating game until the very last minute with Arsenal gained the upperhand over the Reds twice.

Arsenal started the match brightly at break-neck speed with Diaby putting them ahead on 13 minutes after Arsenal had laid siege to the Liverpool goal. As the match progress, Liverpool levelled the tie through Sami Hypia on 30th minutes, they slowly found their momentum and starting to relax and pass the ball as they put Arsenal on the back foot. The half time score locked at the familiar 1-1 scoreline and crucially for Arsenal they had made the game balanced having already cancelled out Liverpool's away goal. Agg 2-2.

In the second half, Arsenal were no longer the dominant force. In 69th minutes, here comes Fernando Torres, he picked up a Crouch flicked, turned his marker and fired an unstoppable drive into the top corner, 2-1 Liverpool! However, their impressive control of the game looking bad after Theo Walcott's scintillating run sets up Adebayor for the crucial equalizer with 5 minutes to go. It looks like it was the battle for "the super speedy sub" at the closing stage of the game. Ryan Babel, who replaced Peter Crouch, reply by earning the Reds a penalty and scoring a goal to put the game beyond Arsenal's reach. Liverpool progress into the semis with a 5-3 aggregate win.

In the other semi-final, Chelsea defeated Fenerbahce 2-0(3-2 on agg) to set up another semi-final showdown with Liverpool.

Chelsea 2-0 Fenerbahce

The EPL Title Race heats up!

Man United - 77pts
Chelsea - 74 pts
Arsenal - 71 pts


Chelsea have closed the gap with Manchester United to just 3 points after the devils were held by Middlesbrough in a thrilling 2-2 encounter. Alfonso Alves produce an impressive performance by netted 2 goals to stun the Premier League leader. He should have scored the third if he had not miss his close range open header when they were 2-1 up. Later, Wayne Rooney fired home on seventy-four minutes to draw the sides level. Arsenal, who are 6 points behind, could still believe they can win the Premier League but we shall see when they take on Man United at Old Trafford next week. It promises to be an exciting battle and if they can win.... who knows?

Magnificent performance
Apart from that, I think Middlesbrough deserved more than a draw if we look back at their performance throughout the match. Manchester United looked like securing a comfortable victory after taking the lead within ten minutes courtesy of on-form Cristiano Ronaldo’s thirty-seventh goal of the season. However, don't write Boro off! They manage to turn the match around brilliantly against the rampant devils when they looked as if they were out of the game when Ronaldo scored. They are capable of beating any strong teams as we can how close they came to scoring in their previous match against Chelsea(hitting the post once and the bar twice). They are also the first team to beat Arsenal 2-1 when the Gunners were flying high in the League.

Arsenal

Who is more suitable to captain England?

Beckham, Terry, Gerrard, Ferdinand? The new England manager Fabio Capello does not want to appoint a permanent captain for his squad until the beginning of the world cup 2010 qualifying campaign. Chelsea defender John Terry insists that his aggressive style of leadership isn't about to change and that he'll fight to become England captain again. The questions surrounding whether he will remain his captain armband for England...

Rio Ferdinand, A nerd and arrogant player who stands along the defensive line? For most loyal England fan, surely you wont want to see him leading the three lions team out of the pitch. The appointment of Rio made England suffer their first defeat to France. A disgusting figure.... The return of David Beckham? This seems more unlikely to happen...Inspirational captain Steven Gerrard? Perhaps he is now the most suitable man to bring England to an international glory. I could not understand why Capello wants to change his captain for the France game..... Many people believe he can inspire England like how he inspire Liverpool, provided he is given the honour to captain & lead his country.

Massive Showdowns in the Premier League!

After the 2-0 win over Bolton in their extra fixture, Manchester United went 3 points clear over Arsenal at the top of the EPL table. On the other hand, a late Robbie Keane stunner held Chelsea to a thrilling 4-4 draw, which could dent the Blues championship hope.

The EPL Showdown Date: 23 March 2008(Sunday)
Time: 9.30 onwards(Malaysian time)
Venue: Old Trafford & Stamford Bridge
Teams involved: Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea & Arsenal

Showdown 1












Man United may have the advantage over their rivals in this showdown with 3 points ahead of their nearest rival- Arsenal but things could be all different when they face the on form Liverpool this Sunday. Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has vowed to fight on and keep pace with the teams at the top of the table. It is interesting to see where can they finish this season. The Reds will have a chance to close the gap with the top 3 and make it a 4 horse race in this intriguing season if they manage to get a victory over the Devils. Can they win it at Old Trafford? Or shall Man United to win and further increase their grip at the top of the league table? This match also features the EPL top 2 striker.

Where are the goals come from?
Christiano Ronaldo(24 goals) vs Fernando Torres(20 goals)

Showdown 2













The second showdown of the night sees Chelsea take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have not lost at home in the League in over 3 years. This time around, they will be facing Arsenal who are desperate to bounce back after their 4 consecutive draws in the league. Despite the 4-4 draw against Spurs, the Blues actually found their scoring form with Joe Cole is on fire for them. Frank Lampard is also in good form when he scored 4 goals against Derby last week. Meanwhile, other than their impressive 2-0 win at San Siro, Arsenal have not found a way to win matches as they were striked by Liverpool's jinx(as explained in the last post). It will be interesting to see whether they can bounce back or rather Chelsea to overtake them.

Where are the goals come from?
Didier Drogba(2007 top scorer) vs Emmanual Adebayor(19 goals)

The downfall of Arsenal?

After the 1-1 draw against Middesbrough last Saturday, Arsenal slipped to second place in the league table behind Man United on goal difference. They have now equaled Liverpool's streak of 4 draws in a row(from 29 Dec until 19 Jan). Before that, they were sitting quite comfortable at the top of the table until Liverpool's drawing jinx strikes them. According to the jinx, the 4 consecutive draw is then followed by a defeat where The Reds lost 1-0 to West Ham.

With Arsenal playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their next fixture, it is going to be very tough for the Gunners because Chelsea have not suffered defeat at home in the league for more than 3 years. If they lose to Chelsea, they may slip to 3rd place and their confidence will likely to drop tremendously. That isn't over, after the Chelsea encounter, they will have to face Liverpool 3 times in a week, then followed by a daunting visit to Old Trafford to take on the Red Devils. If they slip up in those matches, their season could be well over with yet another trophyless season.

Here are the coming daunting fixtures for Arsenal:
(A)Chelsea-EPL
(A)Bolton-EPL
(H)Liverpool-UCL
(H)Liverpool-EPL
(A)Liverpool-UCL
(A)Man United-EPL

UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw!

Arsenal vs Liverpool

Fenerbahce vs Chelsea

Schalke vs Barcelona

AS Roma vs Man United

• Arsenal came out of the bowl first, who will they face? Then, It was Liverpool who came out next and this tie pits 2 English Giants together which could be the most interesting tie of all. They will face each other 3 times in just over a week as their European game will sandwich the EPL fixture in between.

Pundit's Forecast: Arsenal 45%, Liverpool 55%

• AS Roma will face Man United in the other quarter-final tie. They renew their rivalries again as this will be their 5th & 6th game in just about 1year. Roma were beaten by Man United in the group stage earlier and were thrashed 7-1 at Old Trafford in last season's corresponding fixture. Can the result be any different? Can they change their fate and get a revenge?

Pundit's Forecast: AS Roma 40%, Man United 60%

• Relative minnows Schalke draw Barcelona, Barca will be playing 2nd leg at home. Barcelona will be the clear favourite to go through.

Pundit's Forecast: Schalke 30%, Barcelona 70%

• Finally, Chelsea will take on Turkish newcomer Fenerbahce, with the Blues also playing 2nd leg at home. Chelsea could be all smiling after seeing this draw.....

Pundit's Forecast: Fenerbahce 30%, Chelsea 70%

This QF draw also involve the draw for semi-final, which means whoever progress will know who they face in the next round. If Chelsea advance, they will be likely to tackle Liverpool in another CHELSEA-LIVERPOOL semi-final showdown. While Schalke or Barcelona will encounter Roma or United in the last four.

English teams await their fate in Champions League Draw

It is confirmed that all 4 English side will be playing in this year's quarter-final of the Champions League after Liverpool comfortably eliminated Italian Champions Inter Milan from the competition. Last season we saw 3 English teams were in the semi-final and now, all 4 are in the last 8. Liverpool’s triumph in Milan on Tuesday night – the second by an English side after Arsenal's memorable win at San Siro, one of the the holy stadium in Italy where the visiting teams always failed to produce results. It is no doubt that we can now say the English teams are the best in Europe.

With 4 English Teams, 1 Spanish team, 1 Italian team, and 2 other surprises from Germany and Turkey. They must be waiting anxiously for the quarter-final draw on 14 March. Although the 4 EPL team would prefer those teams from other country, the possibility for an all English encounter remains sky high. By looking at the current situation, it is virtually inevitable that they will face each other at some stages later. So bring it on, who do you want to play in the last 8?

Here are some words from the players and managers:

• United manager Sir Alex Ferguson: "But it doesn't really matter who you play in the quarter-finals, they're all going to be difficult games. The important thing is we are there."
• Chelsea captain John Terry: "Hopefully we can avoid them(English rivals) but if we are drawn together we have to beat them.'
• Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard: "If that happens we'll deal with it at the time but it would be nice to avoid the English teams for as long as possible. It will be an exciting tie if we do draw one, that's for sure."
• Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas:"We'd like to avoid Barca at this stage and save them for the final after what happened 2 seasons ago, but if we do draw them then we know we will have a big extra incentive to beat them.

Teams line up for quarter-final draw: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, AS Roma, Schalke, Fenerbahce

4 teams left in FA Cup, only 1 from EPL!

The British newspapers hails more major upsets in the FA Cup and describe this shocking year as a Hazy, crazy Cup year. Indeed, minnows seem to dominate in this season's FA Cup with 3 out of the 4 teams left are from non Premier League team, Portsmouth are the only side who are playing in top flight football. With 3 Championship teams in the draw, surely there is one of them who is going to play the FA Cup final at Wembley. Portsmouth should emerge as the favourite to lift the cup but does anyone dare to look down at the other 3 teams, especially the sensational Giant Killer- Barnsley? Or can Barnsley go all the way and make history?


FA Cup semifinals draw:

Barnsley vs Cardiff City

West Brom vs Portsmouth

Surprise to see this? You may be wondering what cup is this.....(meh cup ar?)

However, the 'big 4' can redeem themselves by making 4 English teams in the Champions League quarter-final if Liverpool manage to overcome Inter Milan later.

TSUNAMI in FA Cup quarter-final!

Casualties- Man Utd & Chelsea

Last year finalists Man Utd and Chelsea were out of the FA Cup following some stunning upsets.


Casualty no. 1- Manchester United

Portsmouth shocked last year's finalist Manchester United 1-0 away from home in FA Cup quarter-final. It was a memorable win as they recorded their first victory at Old Trafford since 1957. Man Utd had up to 64% of possession and made most of the attacking in the entire match but could not find a way past David James and Pompey's defensive backline who were inspired throughout. As Man U were busy attacking and trying to win the match, Portsmouth got their rare chance in the match by converting a penalty to win the match with 12 minutes on the clock.

Casualty no. 2- Chelsea

I believe Chelsea must be celebrating before the match when Pompey eliminate their biggest rival- Man U from the competition. Which means the rest 0f the EPL 'big 4' are no more available. From quad to treble, now? 2 left..... And now they seem having a big trouble after they blew up their glorious chance in the FA Cup by losing to a lower division side Barnsley. After knocking out Liverpool in the previous round, Barnsley continue to Giant Killing form to stun holder Chelsea 1-0 in the last 8 of the competition. All credits to Barnsley- the truly sensational giant killer, hope we can see them in EPL for the coming seasons.

3rd casualty- Newcastle United?

Perhaps they are the casualty who are staying in the "hospital" for some time..... When Liverpool "visit" them with players like Gerrard and Torres, it is predictably that they are going to add salt to their wound. Without any doubt, Liverpool cruised past them easily 3-0, Torres and Gerrard both scored. After Pennant's bizarre first goal, the second and third goal saw the flawless partnership of Gerrard and Torres combined well to finish off their opponent in brilliant style.

BLOGGER PLAYER OF THE WEEK- FERNANDO TORRES

For this first edition of 'BLOGGER PLAYER OF THE WEEK", we take a deeper look at the performance of players in the past 2 weeks. Most players who joined an English club usually took some time for them to adapt to the pace of English football in their first season, but for a world class player like Fernando Torres, within a very short time he is already on fire!

Hat-trick, hat-trick and hat-tricks! How many hat-tricks do you expect from this young man? (Remember the earlier one in the season against Reading?) The answer for this question, to be precise..... oh no, u cant! The only answer I could give is-unlimited! Two weeks ago when he was just recovering from an injury, he started in the Champions League game against Inter Milan. Although we didn't see the very best of him, his agility and enormous fast pace resulted a red card for Inter's Marco Materazzi, which make them playing the remaining match for over an hour with only 10 men.

Fernando Torres almost single-handedly secured 3 points for Liverpool when he scored a hat-trick against Middlesbrough in the EPL match few days later. Then, he further strengthened his status as the Kop’s new hero when he continued his brace with another hat-trick on Wednesday night as Liverpool downed West Ham 4-0. In other words, he became the first Liverpool striker since Jack Balmer in 1946 to score hat-tricks in successive home games. He has taken his scoring tally to an impressive 18 goals in EPL and 24 goals in all competitions.

Predictabily, he is surely the right player who has tremendous potential to score more goals for his club and take them to another Champions League glory. With some crucial Champions League matches await him , the question remains "can we see more hat-tricks from him"?

Enjoy Flying Torres goals for Liverpool

Milan, Madrid knocked out at home!

UEFA Champions League 7 times winner AC Milan & 9 times winner Real Madrid are out of the competition following their woeful defeat at home.

Real Madrid 1-2 AS Roma(Roma win 4-2 on aggregate)

Roma produced a superb away performance at the Santiago Bernabeu to deservedly knock 10-man Real Madrid out of the Champions League. They won 2-1 on the night, 4-2 on aggregate. Real Madrid seem they have not recover from their recent poor form after a 4-2 win in La Liga few days ago. Despite winning 2-1 at the home two weeks ago, the Italian side were widely considered as outsiders against the Spanish champions. Both teams had their chance in an open encounter, but the 71st-minute dismissal of Madrid defender Pepe finally tipped the balance in Roma's favour. Taddei duly headed the visitors in front two minutes later and, although Raúl González levelled with 15 minutes left, Vučinić struck in added time to ensure it is Roma who take their place in the draw on 14 March.

AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal (Arsenal win 2-0 on aggregate)

Young gunners ended Milan's era and send them packing after an outstanding display at San Siro. They made history by becoming the first team to beat AC Milan at San Siro in European Competition after that impressive result. A 0-0 draw at home look like Arsenal are facing a difficult task 2 weeks later when they take on Milan at San Siro. Instead, started the match boldly, at a high tempo, and were superb throughout a first-half they dominated, yet couldn't find the vital breakthrough goal. Finally, on 83 minutes, Arsenal got the goal they truly deserved. Fabregas found himself in space, burst forward, turned Gattusso and hits a superb early shot from distance that took Kalac by surprise. With the Arsenal fans in the stadium ecstatic, and many Milan fans streaming out of the ground, Arsenal got the second goal through Adebayor, who taped in from close range after a Walcott's low cross.

Teams who progressed into quarter-final:

Barcelona, Arsenal, Man Utd, Fenerbahce, Chelsea, AS Roma, Schalke

-Match between Inter Milan and Liverpool will be played on 11 March.

-Quarter-finals and semi-finals draws will be made on 14 March in UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.