<> Awaiting the round of 16 draw: Dec 16
Napoli: If Napoli elects to bolster their squad for the CL knockout stage, what Napoli needs is the established midfielder capable of leading the Napoli midfield. A couple of midfielders currently available in the winter transfer window. Example: Italy and Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo
<> This weekend's Premier League in brief:
Wolves @ Man United: After the shaky start Man United found its footing in the must win Wolves match. Nani, United's current best player on the pitch, broke the deadlock with the clinical finish in the 17th minute. Wayne Rooney followed in the 27th minute. As Nani and Rooney each netted a pair of goals in a 4-1 win, United pulled within 2 points of Manchester City in the standings, who will battle Chelsea @ Stanford Bridge on Monday, Dec 12.
Everton @ Arsenal: On its 125th birthday Arsenal climbed into the top 4 for the first time this season after a 1-0 home win over Everton. The Gunners ended the Toffees midfield resistance in the 70th minute when captain van Persie connected from the Alex Song pass to the far left Everton post.
QPR @ Liverpool: Well organized QPR defence prevented Liverpool from scoring more. L. Suarez gave Liverpool a much needed 1-0 win. Furthermore, Kenny Dalglish's coaching is nothing spectacular, if not too predictable to the point where a 5 year old kid can read Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool game. Liverpool's recent ties have reflected the claim that Kenny Dalglish's coaching is a few years behind in the tactical term.
Newcastle @ Norwich City: Elsewhere, Norwich City considered as one of the best domestic football upstart in Britain registered a 4-2 home win over Newcastle. I'd be delighted to see Norwich finish in the top 10 and qualify for the Europa League next year.
<> The 2011 Edition: Real Madrid - Barcelona: One of the world's best tactical and passing game at club level.
For my football study, I will look into a few things in this game.
Real Madrid - Barcelona as it happens. Courtesy of the BBC Sport.
In picture: Part 1 - Real Madrid Barcelona 1-3.
The perspective: In recent years the annual Real Madrid Barcelona clash has become the football attraction worldwide. It is funny that some coward American soccer pundits only discussed the score line, who won and who lost in The Classic(Catalan: El Classic), without examining the deep root of Spanish football and society.
For years FC Barcelona and the Catalonia region had been in the shadow of Real Madrid and the rest of Spain. The Catalan language often suppressed in Spanish life. In 1988 the former Dutch international Johann Cruyff returning to Barcelona as coach changed Barcelona's football fortune. During the Cruyff era Barcelona underwent the transformation from the football academies onto the pitch, playing attractive, result oriented football. Nowadays the continuing Barcelona football excellence has played the major role in the Catalan revitalization economically, socially.
Archive: FC Barcelona in the complete BBC documentary Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, etc. I posted the BBC story of FC Barcelona on my site a couple of years ago.
The 2011-12 La Liga season is still young with only 1/3 of matches played and the football path of both Real Madrid and Barcelona in this year's Champions League is yet to be determined. The Champions League knockout draw is set for next week, Dec 16. It should be noted that the Champions League was often volative in the pre Euro tourney year as clubs suddently pulled out of the CL in the interest of their national teams. With all things considered, if Real Madrid and Barcelona decided to play deep into the CL, Spain's chance to repeat @ Euro 2012 would likely be diminished.
The conservatives recently swept into power in Spain. I am sincerely hoping that it will have the lasting positive effects in Spanish football, especially the Catalonia region and its beloved FC Barcelona.
In my opinion this year's El Clasico score line between Real Madrid and Barcelona is secondary. What important is the country of Spain comes together to tackle the national issues after the general election and the Spain national team successfully defends the title in the wilderness of Ukraine and Poland next year.
<> FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP JAPAN 2011
The major club tournament in the country of Japan best known for its technological advances. FIFA should expand the field to at least 10 teams to meet its football economic standards. The wintery football tourney: Future FIFA club World Cup tournament would be played annually in a country that has the massive crowd like the USA.
Example: A 10 team tourney format divided into 2 groups consists of 6 continent champions, 1 club from the host nation, 1 defending FIFA club champions from the previous year, the UEFA Champions League and Europa League will send 2 teams. The top two from each group will advance to the knockout semis. The semis winners will play for the Cup and the money prize.
Tomorrow's game between Kashiwa Reysol(Japan) and Monterrey(Mexico) is on FOX Spanish channel @ 2:30 am Pacific Time. What I'd like to see is the way the Japanese organize the major football tournament in the 21st century.
Written by Anhtuan Nguyen Huynh, Reno, NV. All rights reserved 2011.
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