Diaby v. Portsmouth

Arsenal have to buy this transfer window, and they have to buy players with experience. Flamini, Gilberto and Diarra gone, Walcott, Rosicky and now Fabregas injured. Leaves a bit of a hole in the midfield. Can Diaby fill the hole left by Fabregas?

Diaby v Aston Villa

www.101greatgoals.com

Yoann Gourcuff impresses

Why is this guy back playing in France? Two brilliant little displays of skill:

Yoann Gourcuff skill

www.101greatgoals.com

Gourcuff skill

www.101greatgoals.com

Fred's pass, Benzema's goal

On Saturday morning while out for brunch, I saw this goal by Benzema for Lyon. Decent finish, I thought. Then the replays started.

YouTube - Lyon 1-0 Bordeaux (But de Benzema) J14 - Ligue 1

www.youtube.com

Look at Fred's pass. The first two replays don't do it justice, but the second two clearly show what a amazing pass it was. I haven't seen much of Fred, and nothing particularly memorable, but this was nothing short of brilliant.

Ronaldinho...is he back?

It's nice to see Ronaldinho back in goal-scoring form: see his goal in the UEFA Cup today (what the shit are AC Milan doing in the UEFA Cup?). I still have (and wear) a Barca shirt that I bought in Mexico City for 350 pesos ($40Cdn) with his name on it. What a wizard he was for a couple of years at Barcelona. Remember his spinning bicycle kick goal against Villareal? Brilliant. One of the best goals I've ever seen.

Edit: Another goal, from Nov. 9th.

MyFC voter turn-out update-ish

I've added to the voter turn-out average chart. You can see that as the rolling average is increased the line softens. I tried a rolling average of ten, but it flattened everything out.

I need to adjust the dates on this one, as it doesn't account for the times between votes.

Berbatov

If you haven't seen it, please go here to check it out: Berbatov is pure class.

Against West Ham, Berbatov's assist to Ronaldo gave ManU the lead and gave us viewers something to swoon over. Tevez slid a decent through ball to the left of goal, and with seemingly only one option (possession with his back to goal on the touchline) Berbatov neatly stopped the ball, spun and flicked it over the defender's foot and ran along the line toward the net. A perfect pass picked out a rushing Ronaldo, and the move got the goal it deserved. Nothing short of brilliant.

myfootballclub voter turn-out

I'll expand this in a bit, but I just wanted to publish the graph. Series 1 is the number of voters, Series 2 is a rolling average (of the previous five votes). Voter turn-out is now averaging 1,377 using this calculation.

MyFootballClub (MyFC) is a member-driven internet-based football ownership group that I belong to. Last November the group entered into negotiations with a small club in Kent (southeast of London), and on January 23rd of this year we held a vote to determine whether to buy the club, Ebbsfleet United. (more to follow)

Whitecaps win USL title!

For those that don't know, the Vancouver Whitecaps just won the USL First Division Championship on their home field in Burnaby, beating the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 in a thrilling match (on Oct. 12th). James, Nina, Lucas and I were lucky enough to be there, after a bit of scrambling to find tickets. Well, let me tell you, was it ever worth it.

I had to hustle to the stadium from work, but was lucky enough to make it for kick-off (and with enough time to grab a crap $5 cheeseburger). Lucas handed me a beer as I sat down, and the match began.

The first half was a bit boring. A lot of wasted possession on the part of both teams, who were looking understandably nervous. The 'Caps had some chances couldn't find a way through to the net. Too often they relied on simply hoofing the ball upfield to their two strikers, Sebrango and Gbeke. The Islanders passed the ball well but lacked a finishing touch on two occasions that could have seen them take the lead.

In the second half the match came alive. The 'Caps scored soon after the match restarted, setting the stage for a barnstormer of a half. The ball stayed on the ground more, and the 'Caps made good use of both flanks as well as capably moving the ball through the middle of the park. Sustained pressure led to a corner, from which Jeff Clarke's flick-on was met by Charles Gbeke's powerful header as he jumped over the nearest defender. Unfortunately for the 'Caps, the Islanders replied quickly with an excellent headed ball of their own from open play. Keeper Jeff Nolly had no chance as a great ball in from the left side of the box swung in and was powered into the back of his net. The defending could have been a bit better, but it was a wonderful goal.

The next fifteen minutes saw some exciting attacking play, with both teams having good chances. Gbeke broke the deadlock with another great header. Winger Justin Moose, an attacking threat all match, wriggled past two defenders and clipped a ball in from the top-right of the corner. Gbeke leapt above the defenders again and the ball was soon bulging the old onion-bag (Cheers, Tommy Smyth).

A tense 20 minutes followed. The Islanders pushed forward, but the 'Caps had a few chances of their own. Two free kicks in extra-time had me nervously peaking out from underneath my hat, but time ticked by and the final whistle blew, 2-1 to the good!

The celebration afterward was perfect, and perfectly Canadian. The Southsiders streamed (trickled, really) onto the field, while a few security staff half-heartedly waved them off. The crowd remained a respectful distance away from the celebrating players as we cheered their victory and trophy.

This was Nina's first professional sporting event, and it was a doozy. Pretty hard to match, though. A stale 0-0 draw vs. Portland in May just won't compare.

Football in Canada

The Whitecaps won the USL First Division Championship, the Impact (of Montreal) are in the CONCACAF Champions League, and Toronto are winning again. Not bad.

Meanwhile, our Mens' National Team is a shambles: player dissent, inept coaching, executive bumbling. At least our women are doing well.

At the pick-up level, I haven't played in a while. Stupid jobs getting in the way. At least I have my Fantasy Football to keep me involved (7th in my pool!), but I haven't seen a match in ages.

Arsenal are winning on occasion, third in the league of late. My boy Walcott is finally coming good (as I predicted).

MyFC rolls on. Bit of a shambles as well.

(links to come later)