So A4H! has been away for a bit. The list of excuses runs long: work picking up, training a new pup, indoor seasons overlapping, trying to keep fitness-related resolutions, mourning the passing of another football season, and so on. Anyway, no time for that, so let’s get right to it.
–We begin today with A4H!’s beloved Liverpool Football Club. The Mighty Reds were 2-1 winners over West Ham yesterday at Upton Park. This puts a four-point buffer between LFC and Arsenal – who don’t play another league game until Saturday (and by that time ‘Pool could be seven points clear). The win – Liverpool’s ninth out of its last ten league games (A4H! told you talk of a crisis after the cup losses to the Arse was silly, didn’t he?) – closes the gap on second-place Chelsea to a razor-thin two points and cuts ManYoo’s lead to eight points. Of course, both clubs are expected to extend their leads today; Chelsea host Blackburn while ManYoo host Watford, who are bottom of the league. Nevertheless, crazy things can and do happen in the beautiful game. And who doesn’t want to see a three-horse title race? Come on Watburn! Come on Blackford!
And no, A4H! certainly didn’t forget that the transfer window will slam shut today. The Reds have been in the thick of that, too. Today’s big news is that FIFA have given ‘Pool the green light to sign West Ham’s Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano (hereinafter Mash or Monster Mash, for spelling-related reasons and as a nod to ol’ No. 24) [Link]. I’ve got a couple of thoughts on this. First, it doesn’t bother me in the least that FIFA waived it’s silly rule about not allowing a player to compete for more than two teams in the same season (the Mash turned out for Brazilian club Corinthians in July and West Ham this EPL season). Maybe I’ll feel different if fans of other English clubs or big European clubs can provide an example of lining up a player, and then being unable to sign the player because of this rule. But I haven’t heard of such a situation. Second, I also don’t mind that the Mash was a massive flop for the Hammers. I saw him play this summer for Argentina in the World Cup and he was good. The player has quality, there’s no disputing it. Whether he can shine in England is certainly a valid question, but Liverpool will provide a better opportunity than West Ham for him to prove it. (Scary thought: if he does come good, how does Liverpool accommodate the Mash, Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko? Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?) Also, it should be noted that the deal for Mash isn’t official yet.
Today’s other big Liverpool news is that Dubai Investment Capital’s proposed takeover of the club off. DIC have ended negotiations after the club rejected their offer yesterday. [link] The club is analyzing a rival offer from US businessman George Gillett, who owns the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens (yes, the NHL is still around, no, I don’t know what channel Versus is, yes, A4H! sees the irony in a soccer fan poking fun at the NHL’s irrelevancy). As A4H! sees it, there must be something the public doesn’t know about this. The DIC offer seemed almost too good to be true. DIC promised to wipe out existing debt, fund the building of a new stadium, and provide a sizeable transfer kitty. If you’re going to go down the road of selling out to foreign investment (which is a whole other topic best addressed in another post), DIC seemed like the perfect partner. Gillett’s offer, on the other hand, didn’t provide as much financial information and proposed a ground share with Everton. I don’t know what to make of it, but perhaps the DIC offer really was too good to be true?
–Let me throw in some other Yanks Abroad EPL news: Brian McBride won’t be coming back to MLS this year. He signed an extension with Fulham. Can’t say that I blame him. I would have loved to have seen him back in the States, but this year he’s been the best player on a team playing in perhaps the best league in the world. Why would you walk away from that? … Status Quo’s favorite Yank, Clinton Deuce “What it do?” Dempsey, completed his move to Fulham and has already turned out three times for the Cottagers, though he’s yet to start. In his debut, Deuce fanboys report that he executed the bestest backheel ever! … Oguchi Onyewu finally got his Premiership move. He was linked with loads of clubs, and if you believe his agent, turned down moves to Fulham, Middlesboro, and Real Madrid (which one doesn’t look like the others?), but ended up signing on loan with Newcastle United. He should see plenty of time there as they don’t have a decent center back. It’s a big (perennially underachieving) club with plenty of resources, so Gooch certainly has a shot at success. Best of luck to him with the Barcodes!
–And now for something completely different. A4H! is in the process of writing a cheesy, clichéd sports movie script (is there any other kind?) about a rag-tag soccer team who enter the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and, against all the odds, progress all the way to the finals. When they get there, they’ll face David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy. (There’s no question that his people will give this the OK. Simon Cowell will love it.) We’re in the developmental stages right now, but so far I know this: (1) the team’s best player has to be a Johnny Foreigner who speaks little to no English; (2) there will be a sweet montage scene where the team gets it all together; (3) there will be some bending of the soccer ball; (4) there will be a fat kid and said fat kid will likely be hit in the groin area at least once; (5) all this movie needs to be a sure fire hit is one of the Frat Pack to star – paging Vince Vaughn, the Brothers Wilson, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, and Steve Carell.
–That’s it for today. But I hope to offer my take on the Basketball Wildcats and Super Bowl XLI (by the way, if you’re scoring at home, both of A4H!’s picks made it) by the end of the week.
Onward and upward!
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