Fernando Torres

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The Torres saga continues, although we’re getting contradicting declarations and speculations – according to some British pundits, Chelsea put out a bid of 40 million pounds that got rejected by Liverpool. Yesterday morning it has been reported that Chelsea are mounting up a 50 million pound bid in order to get the talented yet often injured striker. However, Carlo Ancelotti has stated he has no need for new strikers, pleased with having Drogba, Anelka, Kalou and Sturridge.

Cesc Fabregas

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Fresh off World Cup glory, Cesc is quiet about his future, letting everyone else do the talking. Barcelona, who have taken out huge loans at several Spanish banks last week and have already spent considerable sums on transfers the last two years (notably Ibrahimovic and David Villa) have already been rejected a few times by Arsenal this summer, with Wenger being adamant about the fact his talented midfielder will stay in London. Wenger seems to be quite infuriated by the media pressure being put on Cesc by Barcelona players who keep repeating the words: We’d like to see him here, it’d be great for him here. They even dressed him in a Barca shirt! Anyhow, Saturday evening reports about Barca going for one final 40 million bid, take it or leave it style.

Real Madrid Left Back – Ashley Cole? Patrice Evra?

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This is something that has been going on since last mid-season. Real really want a left back, a natural one at least. Ashley Cole is their first option, with rumors of him being tired of the tabloids and the constant prying in his personal life, which has been quite rocky, especially this last year. Carlo Ancelotti has stated again, yesterday, that Cole is happy with Chelsea and won’t be leaving. Some sources suggest that a 30 million bid for the 29 year old will be enough to get Ancelotti to sing a different tune. Coincidence or not, Patrice Evra has put up his house for sale, and Madrid have reportedly approached United for the French defender who made quite a few headlines for the wrong reasons in South Africa during the World Cup.

Guti

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Would you believe that Guti will be turning 34 this fall? It seems that every summer and every transfer window also brings with it the rumors about Guti leaving Real Madrid, a club Guti has been with since the age of 8 and has been capped 517 times at the senior team since 1995. Still, Guti himself has said that the rumors about Besiktas are solid and he would love to go there and join his former head coach (also winning a title with him in 2007-2008), Bernd Schuster. Maybe he’s tired of trying to fight for his place with yet another new manager.

Arsenal Keeper Saga – Now Handanovic?

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According to reports that were buzzing around Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Barnet, Manuel Almunia (33) is on his way out of the club, but that doesn’t mean Wenger is pleased with some up and coming young keeper. Both Mannone and Fabianski have gotten their chances last season but were from consistent. After turning down the Schwarzer rumors, Handanovic seems to be the next target, although he didn’t have a great World Cup or 2009-2010 with Udinese. Still, Handanovic’s agent said that Handanovic will only leave Udinese to one of eight shortlisted clubs, with Arsenal being one of them. An offer from London has yet to arrive.

And Finally, more Joe Cole

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We heard about Spurs, Arsenal and Man City, with Harry Redknapp’s club looking the closest to getting the 28 year old. A new challenger has emerged that last couple of days – Roy Hodgson and Liverpool. First, rumors about Liverpool offering Joe Cole 90,000 pounds a week, 4.7 a year, to travel up north and leave cosy London. Hodgson has spoken about the transfer, saying he has talked to Cole but it’s far from over. Cole needs to find a team fast to get himself ready for the new season, as all the clubs (not Liverpool, their match was rained out last night) are beginning their pre season matches.

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The World Cup is over and teams can start getting ready for the 2010-2011 season, and there’s no summer without some big European clubs making a tour in North America to get some money and try to strengthen their fan base across the Atlantic.

Manchester United (A very big club) and Celtic (Only big in Scotland) met last night in Toronto, with Alex Ferguson’s side winning 3-1. Dimitar Berbatov, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley scored for United, Georgios Samaras, who had a terrible World Cup with Greece, scored a momentary equalizer for Celtic.

Fernando Torres

Torres wasn't loved last time he was at Stamford Bridge

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The injury sustained by Torres in the Final changed things a bit, but it’s not secret the Torres has been the target of Chelsea and Manchester City this summer. Torres had a horrible World Cup, playing seven matches, starting four, and the best he could do was take two shots on target. Very disappointing, but at least he was healthy, which has been a rarity for him in the past two seasons. He has played a total of 46 league matches for Liverpool in the last two campaigns, scoring a remarkable 32 goals. The problem is he missed 30 matches. Chelsea were still willing to bid something around 50 million pounds. Liverpool don’t want to sell, but with the clubs finances and ownership status in complete chaos, it seemed the gifted striker was soon gone. And then came that pulled hamstring, according to the medical staff, which won’t keep him out for two months as earlier thought, but could mean he’ll be staying with Liverpool for the time being.

Joe Cole

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Another player who isn’t a stranger to injuries is Joe Cole, who has played only 39 league games in the last two years, following a fantastic 2007-2008 with Avram Grant. Cole was released after his contract ended a couple of weeks ago, with Ancelotti and Abramovich doing some in-house clearing at the club, as Michael Ballack also got the boot. Cole didn’t get too many minutes in the World Cup, but is a very hot commodity for Premiership managers. It seemed that Arsenal were the quickest to pounce on the 28 year old Londoner, but since then both Manchester City, who seem to be interested in everyone, and Tottenham, managed by the man who pretty much discovered Cole, way back in the early 1990’s Harry Redknapp, have joined the bidding. Redknapp is using all his media savvy to try and put pressure on Cole to sign with him, and Spurs do look like the closest side of getting Cole. Cole has also expressed his interest to stay in London, so City will probably be forced to settle for someone else.

Edin Dzeko

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Dzeko has been with Wolfsburg for three years now, winning the league title in 2008-2009 and despite a bad season for the club in 2009-2010, Dzeko was stellar, scoring 22 league goals (48 in the last two seasons), finishing as the Bundesliga’s top scorer. Last summer it was AC Milan who were keen on signing the 24 year old Bosnian, but the race in the 2010 summer is between Manchester City (again) and Juventus, looking to recover from a horrible season. Gianluigi Buffon has stated his desire to see Dzeko choose Italy over England, but with the price that the Germans are asking for (34 million pounds, reportedly), it’s going to be very hard to compete with City.

Mario Balotelli

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There’s no doubt that Mario Balotelli is amazingly gifted and if put on the right course, can become a world class striker. There’s also no doubt that he and Mourinho cannot be on the same club as of now, so count Real Madrid out. Balotelli scored 9 goals for Inter last season, helping the team to its fifth consecutive Serie A title, but his relationship with the manager and later on the fans and players have made it almost impossible for Balotelli to stay – The AC Milan shirt incident, The incident with the fans after the Champions League match with Barcelona and also the incident after Totti clipped him violently in the Italian Cup Final, receiving no helping hand from the other players.

The 19 year old was present for the beginning of the pre-season training and there’s a chance that a new manager, Rafa Benitez might keep the talented youngster in Milan, but according to his agent, England is where he’ll be heading, if the price is right. Inter will be asking something around 40 million Euro, and Manchester United and City (again) are in the race. Chelsea’s Carlo Ancelotti has expressed his interest in the player as well, but mostly commented about how good the change will be for Balotelli if he comes to England.

Lucas Leiva

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Finally, some good news for Liverpool fans. Well, first – Steven Gerrard’s age will probably deter Real Madrid from going after him. Second – Lucas seems to be on his way out. The 23 year old midfielder who couldn’t fill the shoes of Xabi Alonso last season and hasn’t lived up to the potential after three years at Anfield. Roy Hodgson still hasn’t made up his mind about all the players at Anfield, but Palermo have already made a bid (3 million pounds, according to reports) and Liverpool, in dire need of funds, will probably complete the deal soon enough.

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If just less than a week ago it looked like a done deal, with Chelsea four points ahead of a desperate looking United team, it’s all different after today. Manchester came to the City of Manchester Stadium to the Manchester derby as underdogs for the first time since… no one can remember. Well, City were the better and dominants side, but after it was all said and done, Paul Scholes’ injury time header opened the title race up again, giving United a double over their city rivals, both wins coming deep in extra time.

Down south in London, another derby was played, as Tottenham became the most important team in this championship race, beating Arsenal earlier this week and beating Chelsea today (2-1), in what could have been a much bigger scoreline with Chelsea left with 10 men after John Terry was sent off. Next week, Tottenham visit United at Old Trafford. Can magic happen for a third time?

Three games to go, it’s Chelsea with 77 and Manchester United with 76. If Arsenal beat Wigan tomorrow, they’ll be back in the running with 74. What’s left? Chelsea have a home game with Stoke, an away trip to Anfield and finish off the season at home against Wigan. United have Tottenham at home, a visit to Sunderland and Stoke at home. Arsenal, besides their trip to Wigan tomorrow are left with a home game against Man City, a visit to Blackburn and finish at home in another London derby against Fulham.

Paul Scholes Goal

Jermain Defoe opener

Gareth Bale, 2-0

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Hilarious recreation, using  Lego figures, of Bayern Munich’s goals in their 3-2 loss at Manchester against United last week, scored by Arjen Robben and Ivica Olic, which put Bayern through into the UEFA Champions League Semi Final.

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Why Manchester United will win -

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Alex Ferguson – He finds a way to win. He’s the greatest manager of all time for a reason, and that’s because he brings his players to their best form on the right time of the season, which is now, April-May. With or without Wayne Rooney, Ferguson usually comes up with the answers, whether it’s tactically or motivational/psychologically, with his pre-game comments in the press and to his players, behind closed doors. His rival, Ancelotti, despite staying with AC Milan for quite a while, won only one league title with the Rossoneri. Big edge for United on the sidelines. Call it luck (the number of own goals United benefit from), call it goddamn magic, he finds a way to come out on top almost every time.

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Old Trafford – The biggest stadium in the Premiership grants United, along with Chelsea, the best home record in the league – 14 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. Chelsea tend to lose when they take their trip to the northwest (painful 3-0 last season). United tend to get a lot of calls going their way, including dubious penalties and refs suddenly get trigger happy fingers when it comes to sending off visitors. It may not make United the most popular team among other managers and fans, but the effect their stadium has on the opposition and the referees has been an important part of their success in the last 18 years. Chelsea haven’t won at Old Trafford since the 2004-2005 season and have scored only once in their last four visits to Old Trafford. United have conceded only 9 goals in 16 matches this season at home.

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Injuries & Defensive shuffling – Ashley Cole is out, Bosingwa is out. Meaning it’ll probably be Yuri Zhirkov on the left and Paulo Ferriera or Ivanovic on the right. In any case, Chelsea won’t be fielding it’s strongest possible defense, especially on the flanks, meaning Nani/Park/Valencia who have been looking very good lately should be able to do some damage from there. The only problem is who’ll be playing striker for United.

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Records are meant to be broken - Fergusons’ tenure at United has been about setting new standards and putting Manchester United at the top of the English game – who would have believed that Liverpool, after capturing it’s 18th league title in 1990, would not win it once in 20 years? Who would have guessed that Manchester United, winning it’s last league title in 1967, would go on to dominate the Premiership, winning 11 league titles in 17 seasons, with two three-peats along the way? Ferguson said way way back his grand intent is to knock Liverpool off their fucking perch, and a win on Saturday will almost guarantee a 19th title and an unprecedented fourth in a row.

Why Chelsea will win -

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No Rooney – Forget whatever advantages Chelsea hold over United. This is the main reason. Manchester United between 2007-2009 were a great team. In 2009-2010, they’re a very good one, with one exceptional player. Alex Ferguson didn’t replace Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s practically impossible, even if you have 80 million euros in your pockets to burn. Instead, he gave Rooney the keys to the attack and has gotten a fantastic production – 34 goals in all competitions and a league leading 26 in 29 games. Now he’s out, and United don’t have too much firepower without him. I won’t say mediocre, but they seem to be at a disadvantage against Chelsea without him.

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Drogba & More – Look at the scoring charts, and you’ll see that Drogba is having just as good a season as Rooney, and he missed about a month playing with the Ivory Coast in the ACN. Stat line – 32 goals in all competitions, including 24 league goals in 26 matches. He is having a career year and with Rooney out for about a month, he just might win the scoring title and just might win it for Chelsea on Saturday. It’s not just Drogba – Chelsea are the best scoring team in the Premiership and are coming off a 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa with Lampard scoring four and a 5-0 win over Pompy. More to come at Old Trafford?

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Superior Midfield – United played with Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick in the center with Park coming in to help from the wing. As a defensive unit, it works pretty well. As an attacking, creative unit, you can do better, especially when your super striker is out. Chelsea will probably continue with their 4-3-3, with Lampard-Mikel-Deco in the middle. Sounds a bit better, right? Plus, they have Michael Ballack as well as an option to start with or come off the bench.

Post Champions League Syndrome – Chelsea have only the title to focus on, getting knocked out by Inter in the previous stage of the champions league. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they’d love to be there instead of the special one, but a little bit of rest does a world of good when running for a title. United are back from Munich all scratched and bruised. United’s record after European nights is also encouraging for Chelsea – four losses in the eight matches following European encounters (Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, Aston Villa), one draw, three wins. It is worth mentioning that only one of these losses came at Old Trafford, but still, Manchester United are vulnerable this season, especially after matches like the one they had on Tuesday.

Final Outcome – In a game like this you could go either way, but Chelsea need the win more badly. Rooney’s absence will be a huge factor and I can’t put my money on United, despite them being United and Ferguson and Old Trafford and everything. A draw would suit the Red Devils, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it does end 1-1. Still, Chelsea do have a slight edge going into this game.

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Not a brilliant performance by the champions, but enough to beat their bitter rivals for the first time after three consecutive defeats in the Northwest derby. Liverpool went up very early on after a brilliant combination between Gerrard-Kuyt-Torres, which was the moment they peaked in the match. From then on, it was United. Not rampant, but dominant and good enough to get the goal they deserved. Torres did have a couple of very good chances he should have converted (too nervous or angry) but there were too few moments there was any creative moments from Gerrard and his teammates. United are back on top now, waiting for a Chelsea slip up at Ewood Park while Liverpool’s Champions League hopes for next season along with Benitez’ stature at the club continue to crumble.

Fernando Torres, 5th minute

Wayne Rooney, 12th minute

Ji-Sung Park, 60th minute

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David Beckham did make a return to the theater of dreams where spent the first half plus of his career, but the big story was Wayne Rooney with another brace and Manchester United who swept aside an amateurish AC Milan side, humiliating themselves and Italian soccer in general with an awful performance while United dealt with the 2007 Champions League winners without any problems.

Wayne Rooney, 13th minute

Wayne Rooney, 46th minute

Ji-Sung Park, 59th minute

Darren Fletcher, 87th minute

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With AC Milan and Manchester United clashing at the San Siro in less than 24 hours, lets begin with a reminder – United have have never beaten the Rossoneri on Italian soil, with their last meeting taking place on May 2, 2007, in the Champions League Semi Final. This was probably Ancelotti’s Milan finest display, crushing Ferguson and his red devils 3-0, en route to a seventh champions cup.

Out of Kaka, Seedorf and Gilardino, only the aging Dutchman still plays for Milan, although odds are he won’t be starting tomorrow. Milan are not the continental Mega-Power they were just a few years ago but have certainly been looking much better as the 2009-2010 season progresses.

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Leonardo is looking more comfortable as head coach but the  most important thing, Ronaldinho finding his love for the game again. Just look at this assist to Pato from this weekend in the win over Udinese (3-2) -

Now, taking both legs into consideration, United certainly are the favorites, regardless of history and past results. They have the stronger squad (on paper), and they have Wayne Rooney.

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I don’t know if I’ll be writing the same words after the World Cup, but up to this point Rooney has been playing like the best footballer in the world this season. For some reason, I have a feeling, that at least tomorrow night, Berlusconi will be smiling when the 90 minutes are over. In two weeks? I’m not so sure.

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Oh, and how can we finish without a word or two about David Beckham, who’ll be facing his old club for the first time since leaving in 2003? Well, we can, but we won’t. Beckham is far from his status as one of the best midfielders in the world like many years ago but he seems to fit in well with Milan’s improving team,  with his set pieces ability still world class. Not an X-factor, because he’s pretty much solid every time he’s out there. Still, Beckham scoring for Milan tomorrow would be the greatest moment this match can provide us, at least from a romantic-football kind of outlook.

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Well, it’s good to play in league competition while Arsenal and Chelsea do their FA cup thing. Wayne Rooney cemented his place as leader in the player of the year race, scoring four goals in one match, putting himself on top of the goalscorers charts with 19 this season but more importantly put United on top of the Premiership with 50 points, while Arsenal (one game in hand) and Chelsea (two) drop to second and third, at least for the time being. There will be some noise following the game – Rooney’s second goal came while Hull’s Dawson stayed injured on the ground and Rio Ferdinand committed an obvious red card deserving foul on Craig Fagan which should have been a penalty for Hull, but Rooney’s performance from this match shines brighter than any other incident.

Wayne Rooney, 7th minute

Wayne Rooney, 82nd minute

Wayne Rooney, 86th minute

Wayne Rooney, Injury Time