While there is something to be said for a goal that is a rocket from outside the box, there is nothing quite like a beautiful chip shot. Maybe not as "exciting" but as demonstrated by David Villa yesterday in Valencia's 2-1 win over Getafe, it can be such a magnificent goal . As always, the play is started by a wonderful pass from David Silva - Villa's constant partner in crime. Villa has a breakaway, the goalie comes out to cut off the angle and challenge the play, Villa sizes up the situation and without taking a touch first he just gracefully lofts it over the goalie's head and into the back of the net. Calm. Smooth. Effortless.The beautiful ch
Derrotado - Invicible Barcelona Finally Loses
Barcelona was defeated (derrotado) at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Sunday. It was their first loss of the season in league play. Going undefeated would be an awesome achievement and quite the exclamation point on Barcelona's dominance over the past two seasons. Although it's quite a bummer for Barcelona fans they didn't complete the undefeated season, there are actually some positives to losing.1. No more pressureGoing undefeated is an extremely difficult feat. While it clearly would be historic, it can almost have a negative affect on a team. As the season wares on, the pressure to go undefeated can become unbearable. It can overshadow ever
Weekly Salute: U.S. Expatriate of the Week: Landon Donovan (Again)
Landon Donovan of Everton (and the USMNT) gets our Weekly Salute for his outstanding performance against league leaders Chelsea. I wish that I had seen this game live so that I could have done an analysis as in-depth as this one. Donovan was again playing out on the right wing, wreaking havoc on Chelsea's defense. He kept Ashley Cole pinned back for most of the evening until he took him out by breaking his foot! Now, I'm not saying Donovan did it on purpose but having Ashley Cole out injured for three or four months would go a long way towards helping the U.S. take out England in the World Cup this summer. Back to the game, Donovan was cut down i
Adebayor - True Beauty in Manchester City's Win
Manchester City beat Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday. Emmanuel Adebayor showed why soccer is often called the beautiful game. More on that goal in a second.I continue to struggle with the penalty kick given to Manchester City which led to their first goal. I've blogged about this before so I don't want to be repetitive or a broken record. I understand that a penalty is a penalty and that you can't foul someone in the box, otherwise it results in a free kick from the spot for the other team. But I hate when a player is fouled and gets a penalty even though it's unclear if he could have made a play even if he wasn't fouled. I understand you can't foul
Arsenal: A True Pretender
On Sunday, Arsenal suffered another defeat at the hands of Chelsea. It's hard to fault them for this loss as the game was at Chelsea and Chelsea has yet to lose at home this year. However, the loss was somewhat convincing. Arsenal really only had two good opportunities. One was off a beautiful cross from Cesc Fabregas and the other was from a free kick taken by Fabregas (remember I said he was the player to watch during the game? The guy is legit. He's going to make himself a ton of money after he dominates this summer in the World Cup). Two weeks ago Arsenal was in third place and still within striking distance of Chelsea and Manchester United
Weekend Games Preview
Sorry to all four of our readers for the lack of posting this week. Sadly this isn't a full time job yet. We'll revamp things next week and provide more posts. For now, here's a preview of some of the interesting games going on this weekend:Liverpool v. EvertonWhy do we care about this game?1. It's the Liverpool derby. Whenever two teams from the same city play each other, you can expect something great. This game is at Anfield, Liverpool FC's stadium, but don't be surprised if Everton comes out on top.2. Liverpool is currently in 5th place and Everton in 9th. Liverpool has had an up and down season and struggled to get in the top 4 of the Lea
Guti-ful!
I went off in the last post about beautiful fastbreaks, but didn't even mention "El Tacon de Dios" or "The Heel of God" that happened on Saturday in Real Madrid's game against Deportivo de la Coruna. I didn't quite realize it was a fastbreak because of the assist that overshadows everything else that transpires, including the goal. Not sure if you will find a more selfless move than what Guti did. Few players in the game would ever turn down the goal scoring opportunity that Guti had. An even smaller percentage of those players would actually have the huevos to make that pass in that moment. It's just brilliant. Phil Ball provides a great commen
Manchester United - Pure Fastbreak Goodness
Manchester United went into Arsenal yesterday and came away win an impressive 3-1 victory. The first goal by Nani can be seen here. It's a beauty. Just a flashy, amazing goal. It's so good that his teammate Darren Fletcher can't think of any way to congratulate him other than trying to get a piggy back ride. Which I'm sure is exactly the way Nani wanted to celebrate after scoring a goal in which he single-handedly abused 3 Arsenal defenders. While it was an amazing goal, the second one was my favorite. Arsenal was actually controlling the first part of the game. They were creating opportunities and they had many opportunities. Even after the N
