Thank you for the fail Liverpool.

But no, really, thank you. At least there was a bit of fail on Tuesday to put a smile on my face during my otherwise miserable birthday. And at least the people ate UEFA were nice enough to make it so the Liverpool game was the day after my birthday. Still, last night was appalling. On so many different levels. The team that went out against Chelsea last night had NOTHING in common with the team that beat Man U and Real Madrid last month. Except the name of course. They were poor, it's as simple as that. They played for 10 minutes, went a goal up and seemed to think that was game over. Well, obviously it was not. The 3-1 scoreline at the end only goes to illustrate that. I will not be able to ever figure out what the hell Lucas was doing on the pitch last night. We may as well have played with 10 men, we'd probably have done better. He was like a 12th man for Chelsea, not one of his passes was accurate, he lost possession way too easily and he was the biggest fail in the collective vortex of suckage (thanks to Erin for that phrase) that was Liverpool last night. I can't even get over it. It's the first game I've been able to watch since the Real Madrid game, and I could probably be forgiven for being a little cocky and thinking we'd win this for sure. I wasn't asking for another miraculous scoreline of 4-0. 1-0 would have done. Taking a lead to Stamford Bridge, no away goal for Chelsea, a job well done. Instead, we go into that game trailing 3-1, needing at least 3 away goals to give us a chance and quite frankly, they need to bring it hardcore, because playing like they did last night, they'll be lucky to get ONE goal in the second leg.

Well, the one good thing to come out of that game is that if I do manage to find a way to watch the second leg while in Valencia, I don't have to put up with John Terry's smug little face because he got booked last night and will miss the second leg. *does happy dance* Also, can they PLEASE stop fucking whining about the yellow card? First Terry spouts a load of BS about it not being fair and how Liverpool crowded the ref asking for the yellow (I'm sorry, but er...Pot. Kettle. Black.) and now Lampard is in on the act too. I don't want to insult anyone here, but grow up, yes? It was a yellow card. He went in hard and headbutted the goalkeeper in the chest when the ball was long gone. You know you'd have wanted a yellow if it happened to your goalie, so shut up and put up. And for the record, yes I would say the same thing had Skittles gone in like that on Cech. I don't believe in team bias when it comes to decisions made in the course of a game, everyone deserves an equal chance.

Call me bitter, and I probably am, but I don't think Chelsea were the better team on the night because they outplayed Liverpool or showed anything particularly special. They were the better team on the night because Liverpool simply stopped playing. Still, it was a deserved win I suppose, and I am sort of not really looking forward to the second leg next week. It's sure to be a good game if the Liverpool from previous games show up instead of the Liverpool from last night.

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CL and birthdays...

So, I have less than a week until I turn 21, and I am so not looking forward to it at all. In the slightest. Of course, there's the small miracle that Liverpool play their first leg of the CL against Chelsea the day after, so my birthday won't be ruined. Anyway, just for reference, I'm going to post a rundown of the last however meetings the two teams have had in the CL of late. It's a lot. And it sucks that we have to play them again. Like...change is good people. Try it.

So, the first meeting in the series came back in the 2004/2005 season. The first leg was at Stamford Bridge and finished 0-0. The second leg, played at Anfield, finished 1-0 to Liverpool. Even then, there was much controversy over the 'phantom goal' and there was people questioning whether the whole ball had crossed the whole line. To them, all I have to say is - no goal = penalty for Liverpool, Cech sent off and you playing with 10 men for the rest of the game. It would have been a loss anyway, just a more humiliating one. Deal. And you know, there's no shame in losing to the eventual winners anyway, right?

Then the following year, we drew Chelsea again. This time, we met in the group stages. Both games finished 0-0. Quite frankly, these games were already developing a reputation for being unbearably boring and with very few goals. Still, the likelihood of the two teams playing again any time soon was small right?

Wrong. Next year along and you guessed it - Liverpool vs Chelsea again. Another semi final. It seemed the people in charge hadn't learned their lesson yet, and Chelsea won the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Again, there was only one goal in it, and when Daniel Agger scored the opening goal in the return leg at Anfield, you could just sense it was going to penalties. After 180 minutes of football, with the score tied at 1-1 with no away goals, extra time and penalties beckoned. Liverpool held on during the extra time period and Pepe Reina was the hero on the night, Liverpool scoring 4 of their penalties to Chelsea's 1 and made it to the final where they eventually lost to Milan.

UEFA weren't done yet though. For the fourth year in a row, there was a Liverpool-Chelsea tie in the CL. Again, it was in the semi final. This time, the main difference was that the first leg was at Anfield. Liverpool took the lead through Kuyt and it was heading towards being another bore until Riise put the ball into the back of his own net in the 94th minute of play. The second leg was perhaps the most entertaining game played between these two teams in the CL, but that didn't take much effort. The game finished 1-1 in normal time, and it was decided in extra time, just one goal in it. Had Riise not scored that OG in the dying minutes in the first leg, perhaps we'd have had an entertaining final instead of one that made me want to blow my brains out. Still, no point in looking back now.

And then, we come to this year's CL. Again, there HAD to be a Liverpool-Chelsea tie in there somewhere, I'm convinced the people in charge of the draw don't think the competition is valid unless these two teams bore us to death play each other.

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CL Draw

Ok, so this is how the games from here to the end of the CL competition will be this year.

The quarter final draw is:
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v FC Porto
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich

The semi final draw is:
Villarreal/Arsenal vs Manchester United/FC Porto
Liverpool/Chelsea vs Barcelona/Bayern Munich

So, basically, my reaction to the draw. First up, the quarter finals...well, surprise surprise, Man U got the easy draw. This is football, and anything is possible, but I think they'll make the semi final. I didn't really want to see Villareal play Arsenal either because I like both teams. Barca have been unstoppable in La Liga this year, but in Europe, they've seemed shaky at times. I don't think this is going to be an upset, they're the favourites and I think they'll go through, but Bayern may well get something out of the games if they are quick out of the starting blocks. As for Liverpool's draw...AGAIN?! Are you fucking kidding me? I am so sick of Chelsea. Every year, you can GUARANTEE that Liverpool-Chelsea is in there somewhere. What, is it not a proper competition unless those two teams have played each other? Well, I suppose I can at least thank my lucky stars I'll have gotten to live for a day as a 21 year old before the urge to blow my brains out through boredom takes over.

And the semi finals? Well, it was inevitable that the draw would make English teams meet in the semis too if they get past the quarter final stages. UEFA really don't like the fact the the EPL is currently dominating Europe, which is kind of good in a way, because I watch the EPL all the time and the football's not the prettiest there is...having said that, all four teams are clearly very strong and deserve to be where they are in Europe. I don't like the idea of Liverpool vs Barca. I'm pretty confident we can beat them if it comes to that, we've done it before. And lets face it, it's not a worthwhile victory if you don't beat the best on the way. Liverpool play better as underdogs. They always have done, and probably always will do. It suits them because it takes the pressure off them and they can focus more on the task they have to do.

So, basically, having to potentially face Chelsea and Barca, Liverpool have the hardest draw and the hardest road to the final. I bet we'll see them there though, and if that happens, whoever their opponent is wants to watch out. The final is in Rome. We ALWAYS win in Rome.

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Midweek round up

Liverpool were amaze. I love Yossi. My thinner beaver ♥
I'm going to be sensitive to the Real Madrid fans that I know read my blog and I won't say anything else. You know where to go for the official views on the game by now anyway.

Valencia. Hmm. Unai is totally in my bad books right now. He had a massive talk with Vicente about this like 3 days ago, yet STILL he does not let the boy play. Why the fuck not? What's going on? If you can find a way to accomodate Marchena in midfield, then damn right you can make room for Vicente! Jesus.

Dynamo went a goal up. Dahveed equalised. Goal disallowed for offside. Story of my (and Valencia's) life. And then...then MARCHENA SCORED!!! He's sort of my hero right now. No, it was not a case of mistaken identity, it actually was him. So, end of the 1st half, score 1-1. All even. If it finished like this then extra time beckoned.

Of course, Valencia don't do things like that. They went 2-1 up thanks to a goal from Del Horno, and then fucking threw it away. Again. The defence needs a serious kick up the backsides, because they are letting the team down. It's all fine and dnady scoring boys, but it means fuck all if you can't stop the opposition doing the same. And so 2-2, Valencia out of the UEFA cup and left to concentrate on La Liga and getting into the top 4. If you screw this up Unai...

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Well...

Well, that's ok Arjen. We hate you too, you diving, cheating, snivelling, pathetic excuse for a footballer. Seriously, I know babies that have better balance and don't fall over as often as you. That dive that got Pepe sent off...yeah, I still remember that.

Funnily enough, at no point in the article does he mention hating Liverpool, that's just the journalists twisting his words. But still, it's not a very nice thing to say. It's hardly their fault they were better than you and beat you twice.

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THE SMOOCH!

Well, this is pretty much old news. Very old news in fact. But I just wanted to go back to the days when Liverpool won things, Stevie and Xabi were very much in love and all was right in the world.

It was the kiss that sent the slash world into overdrive and all the fangirls went totally gaga over it. I was one of said fangirls. I did have the video clip of this too, but I don't remember where I've put it. Sad days :(

Oh boys. I miss those days. Please make everything better again.

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I need to stop (epic post alert)

I don't even know how many of the most recent posts I've done have had something to do with Valencia in some way or another. I guess it's just because I haven't been seeing so many Liverpool games lately. I miss the CL, it needs to hurry up and come back so I can watch them play and remember what I'm missing out on. The last time I saw a Liverpool game live on the telly/internetz was Boxing Day, which is way too long ago. I know that I spend a lot of time ranting about Valencia on this blog, and this is because I see them play almost every week. Although it may not really seem like it sometimes, Liverpool are and will remain my first team. It's just that lately, I've been thinking about what would happen were they to play Valencia at any point in the future, and I think I can safely say I would not know what to do. I don't want either team to lose, but I want them both to win. Impossible, huh?

Anyway, seeing as I haven't really paid much attention to them lately, I figured I'd do a post on all my recent (and not so recent) memories of Liverpool just to let them know that I still love them and I'm still very much a fan. I guess the best place to start on this post is the beginning. I first started watching Liverpool when I was 11 years old. It feels strange that I have been following this team for nearly half my life. It all began with Michael Owen, as you will most probably remember from this post. In fact, it was so long ago, the Liverpool site doesn't even give results back that far. It starts from 1999. I became a fan in 1998. Back then, I didn't understand much about football. I think it's pretty safe to say, I understood nothing. It was just this sport I watched from time to time, but the more I watched, the more I fell in love. I don't even remember too much of my first few years as a Liverpool fan, I was still learning about the game and the players. All I seemed to care about back then was the looks, the talent didn't even cross my mind. I'll be the first to admit that when Steven Gerrard first made it into the Liverpool line up, I wasn't particularly a fan. It wasn't until the 2000-2001 season I finally started seeing past the looks and to the talent. That was the season Liverpool won the UEFA Cup, Worthington Cup (now the Carling Cup) and the FA Cup and it's probably one of the first memories I have firmly embedded. Michael Owen was still my favourite player at that time. Steven Gerrard became my new favourite the season Rafa came to Liverpool and Owen left for bigger things. The Real Madrid subs bench mainly. I never did understand that decision :(

I went to my first live game at Anfield at the start of the 2002-2003 season. Well, I say start of the season, it was actually the pre season friendlies against Lazio on 30th June 2002. I still remember the game (sadly), Lazio won 1-0. I was sat right near the match control room, and saw the goal really rather clearly. I think I swore, but that may just have been the Kop letting the Lazio players know what they thought of that scoreline. This was the season Liverpool beat Manchester United to lift the Worthington Cup. I remember watching that final, I went crazy screaming when Owen scored the second. Sadly, that year, Liverpool finished 5th, just outside the Champions League places, meaning they had to be content with a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season.

The 2004-2005 season is the next one I have big memories from. Rafa B arrived at the club from Valencia (and I think that's another reason I like Valencia so much, they gave us Rafa) and performed miracles to get Liverpool to the CL final. Who could forget that? It had everything. Drama, goals, lucky breaks. At half time, 3-0 down, I really thought that was game over. A small part of me still believed they could do something, ANYTHING to lift the cup, but I didn't think it would actually happen the way it did. I was ready to put my pyjamas on and go to bed when Gerrard got the first. I decided to sit and watch a bit more, and when Smicer got the second just minutes later, I just KNEW that cup was coming home to Liverpool for good. In a crazy 6 minutes in the second half, they got the score back to 3-3. Since then, I don't think I have been as nervous about any game. The FA Cup final the following year came close, as did the Spain-Italy shootout in the Euros in 2008, but Liverpool-Milan tops them all for me. I got so drunk that night, I think I turned up to my exams the next morning with more alcohol in my bloodstream than I had blood. Probably why I failed them really...
They finished 5th in the Prem that year, and only the CL win gave them entry to the competition the following year, on the condition they played from the very start and qualified. Everton weren't best pleased of course, but who gives a shit? They got knocked out of the first qualifying games of both the CL and the UEFA Cup. There's only two teams in Liverpool boys. Liverpool and the Liverpool reserves. The great man Bill Shankly said so himself.

Rafa's second season at Liverpool brought more silverware, this time in the form of the FA Cup. The final that is now known as the Gerrard final because our captain was immense. Say what you like about the man, but his heart and soul goes into every game he plays and you can see how much each win means to him. I would say something cliche along the lines on 'cut him open and he'll bleed Liverpool red' but er...duh! We all do. If you don't, go to the doctor. Seriously, there's something wrong if your blood is not red. The game was again, full of drama. It had many similarities to the CL final the previous season, and the scoreline was the same come the final whistle. Two seasons in English football, two trophies. Not bad going for a newbie.

The 2006-2007 season saw Liverpool once again reach the CL final, where they would once again meet AC Milan. Sadly, this game didn't quite end the same way as their previous meeting. In all fairness, Milan deserved to win the 2005 final and Liverpool deserved to win this one, so justice was served. Over that summer, the boss was busy in the transfer window and the start of 2007-2008 saw a new arrival at the club. Fernando Torres. His first season in the Prem was an absolute blinder. He was easily the best player for me personally that season. He became the highest foreign scorer in his debut season, an honour which had previously belonged to Ruud van Nistelrooy. Had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo and his many free kicks and penalties, Torres would have been player of the season. He was outstanding in every way that mattered. And then, to top off a great season with Liverpool, he went on international duty with Spain and scored the winner in the Euro final, giving Spain their first major trophy in 44 years.

And so we get to the present season. The closest run race for the title I can remember in years. It's not just a two horse race this year. And the best thing of all...Liverpool are one of those horses. Sitting pretty at the top, they've had some memories to be proud of so far this season. Beating Man U and Chelsea for starters. This is the most points Liverpool have gotten against the other teams in the big 4 since Rafa B arrived, and there's still 3 more games to go! Fingers crossed it all goes well, and this IS the year we win #19. I know I can't wait to see how this will all pan out. Despite all the frustrations against the likes of Stoke and Fulham this year, it's the best I've seen Liverpool play in a long time. They're more confident, it's the strongest team I remember watching in my 10 years as a fan and they're hungry to win things. Ok, so that last point is not much different from other years, but this season, they're showing that hunger on the pitch and (mostly) getting the results when it matters. And when they don't, the other contenders (mostly) slip up too.

I realise this post is about 55000 words long, feel free to wake up now. I just felt the need to get all this off my chest because see for yourself how much attention Liverpool have been getting lately. Ever since I started working weekends, it's basically been...none. I promise I will try to change that.

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CL and UEFA Cup draws

Champions League draw in full:
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

I would just like to point out that I totally predicted that would happen. Not the whole thing obviously. In fact, I think I got all the rest wrong. But I just KNEW Liverpool would get Real Madrid. Ties to be played 24/25 February and 10/11 March.

UEFA Cup draw in full:
Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v Manchester City
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
Aston Villa v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v St Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham

I guess it could have been worse for Valencia. I wanted Aalborg, but whatevs. It'll have to do. The first legs take place on the 18/19 February with the return match on 26 February.

Last 16 UEFA Cup draw:
Werder Bremen/AC Milan v Olympiakos/St Etienne
Aston Villa/CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk/Tottenham
Lech Poznan/Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg/VfB Stuttgart
Paris St Germain/Wolfsburg v Braga/Standard Liege
Dynamo Kiev/Valencia v Sampdoria/Metalist Kharkiv
FC Copenhagen/Manchester City v Aalborg/Deportivo La Coruna
Marseille v FC Twente v Fiorentina/Ajax
NEC Nijmegen/Hamburg v Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray

Yeah, it could definitely have been worse for them. Ties to be played on 12 March and 18/19 March

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Midweek round up

I know I promised a better match report this time, but I wasn't really paying all that much attention. All I know are the basics. Slightly weakened side, went a goal down, equalised right on the stroke of half time, a wonder shot from Riera put them a goal up and then Ngog scored his first goal for the club. All this happened with just 77 minutes gone. They topped the group, thus avoiding the likes of Barcelona in the next round. Seeing as the Liverpool site is so lovely, read about the game here .

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Midweek round up

Liverpool are once again made of win. They won 1-0 last night, booking their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League in doing so. They were playing a Marseille side who had beaten them in the competition last season, but there was to be no repeats of last season. The Liverpool team was arguably the strongest starting 11 available to Rafa B, and their class showed through.

The first half was a much better performance from them, Steven Gerrard scoring from a Xabi Alonso cross to put them 1-0 up. It was his 5th goal in the competition so far, equalling Leo Messi's tally. It also helped settle Liverpool's nerves, that goal essentially putting them through to the knockout stages. There were other chances, and Pepe Reina was rarely called into action.

The second half proved a bit more of a contest, Marseille coming back into the game a little more and enjoying more of the possession. The win was later overshadowed by news of injuries to Fernando Torres and Fabio Aurelio, both players set to be on the sidelines for at least 2 weeks. Not only this, but Liverpool's job is still not done. If they want to have a more realistic prospect of progressing further into the competition, they need to finish first in the group to avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Much of the build up to the Valencia game was centered around comments published on the Rosenborg official site (see below post for evidence) and the team would have been even more motivated than usual to prove a point and walk away with a win. They'd already stated that they were not playing for revenge, they just wanted to get the three points.

They were 1-0 up midway through the first half, and basically controlling the game. Rosenborg clearly don't know how to play football, because they were kicking Valencia players, but not the ball. Renan got kicked in the head, but he was ok. Seriously, who let these animals near the beautiful game? Anyway, the first half finished 1-0, and aside from the goal, other things that made me happy were seeing Dahveed all wrapped up on the bench and Mata's bum. Things that made me sad included a perfectly good goal being disallowed for offside. Again. Poor Mata.

Not to be denied though, Pablo scored an absolute stunner of a goal to put Valencia 2-0 up, and after that, goals from Baraja and Joaquin completed the rout, 4-0 the final score. So maybe Rosenborg regret what they did, but you can bet it's because it only seemed to motivate Valencia to play better. They're back to the convincing displays from the start of the season, scoring goals for fun. They did themselves and the fans proud.

At the end of the game, the Rosenborg players had the cheek to ask the Valencia boys for their shirts. It that was me, I'd be ashamed to face them, never mind ask for their shirts. If I was a Valencia player, I would tell them to go fuck themselves. Still, it was a comprehensive win, and a well deserved one at that, they dominated play from start to finish.Eat shit Rosenborg, step down and let the big boys show you how it's done. Not bad for a bunch of 'coward fags' huh?

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Yes, I win at life.

Well, my day so far has been totally brilliant. I finished my dissertation proposal (go me!) and did most of my other work for uni, and I finally sorted out my photobucket as well. I never thought that organising a bunch of pictures would take me longer than writing 2000 words for a dissertation proposal, but apparently, it does.

So, thanks to that fabby bit of news, I am super uber happy today, despite my cold. I hope my good mood carries on after the football tonight, Liverpool need to win and put me out of my misery when it comes to watching their games recently. Thankfully, Man U were unable to beat a 10 man Villareal last night (10 man thanks to Ronaldo and his fucking cheating. He wants to wait until I kick him across the shins, then he'll know what a foul is!)

Only bad thing that happened to me today was that I woke up at 8, but that gave me more time to finish all my work, so I can't complain.

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Liverpool phail sometimes.

There are times when being a Liverpool fan is incredibly stressful. Like tonight. Nando again didn't get a chance to play against his former team, ruling himself out in favour of recovering 100% and helping Liverpool advance in the Premier League.

The game wasn't all that eventful for the most part. I don't even really want to say too much about it because it was a disappointment. Liverpool had many shots on goal, far more than their opposition, most of which came from Daniel Agger, but none led to a goal. Instead, it was Atletico Madrid who took the lead, Maxi scoring late in the first half.

The second half was more of the same. Liverpool continued dominating possession, but could not find the goal. It was their defenders that were proving the more attacking force, Daniel Agger missing several more good chances. Liverpool were also denied a penalty when the ball hit Perea's arm inside the box, appeals waved away by the referee. They were lucky not to concede a penalty later in the half, the referee having a nightmare evening. He made very few right decisions all night, and the most controversial of the night was when Steven Gerrard was felled in the penalty area and he showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The captain made no mistake, slotting the ball in deep into extra time to even up the scores and ensure that both teams still have a chance of topping the group over the coming weeks.

Poor Dagger had an awful time, dislocating his finger during the second half, but the Dane simply went to get it popped back in and carried on playing like nothing had happened. ♥ for the boy.

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Torres' grand homecoming...except not

It was the game many Liverpool fans had been looking to, as well as many Atletico fans. It was supposed to be Fernando Torres' grand homecoming, but an injury while on international duty with Spain ruled him out. He declined Atletico's offer to watch the game from a VIP seat in favour of continuing his recovery on Merseyside. Even without their star striker, Liverpool fielded more Spaniards than their Spanish league opposition. That's slightly embarassing for them, don't you think?

Anyway, to the football. The Atletico defence had some very shaky moments at the start, and had it not been for the uselessness of the Liverpool strike force, they could have got an early lead. The away kit is somewhat of a strange colour, it only looks good on certain people, and I spent the majority of the first half admiring the fact that Daniel Agger is one of these people. My god, I missed that boy and his tattoos. By the 15th minute, Liverpool had got their reward, Robbie Keane (yes, you did read that right) scoring the first of the game. The nerviest moment for Pepe Reina on the other hand was a poor header by Arbeloa, forcing the goalkeeper to spring into action and smother the ball before one of the incoming Atletico strikers put it in. After going 1-0 up, Liverpool seemed to stop playing for a while, sitting back on the ball rather than attacking. The referee wrongly booked Riera for diving late in the first half, it should have been a penalty kick.

The second half was pretty uneventful, Robbie Keane was withdrawn early on with a groin injury, and with the Chelsea game looming and Torres almost certainly out, Liverpool cannot afford to lose any more strikers. Atletico Madrid had a goal disallowed in the 55th minute, totally unfairly. Considering Liverpool's lead was from an offside position, it was not going well for the assistant referee in that side. They had more luck merely a minute later when Atletico crashed a shot against the post. Gerrard was substituted just before the hour mark with one eye on the clash with Chelsea this weekend. It was a very nervy second half, with Liverpool just needing to hang onto their lead in order to top the group. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to do so, and they can only take comfort in the fact that the referee's flag prevented them from losing all 3 points.

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What is happening to me?

I am starting to seriously worry about myself. It all started with Alexis, and now it seems like it's spreading. I'm actually starting to care about footballers I am not in any way attracted to for reasons unknown to me. Well ok, with Alexis, I can say it's because he plays for Valencia. But Cazorla? Yeah, I can't explain that one.

I chose to watch Villareal last night (of all the games I could have picked, I settled for that) and it was a very good game, probably the best game in the CL. Having said that, I was flicking between 3 games and probably missed all the good stuff. It seemed like every time I changed the channel to see a goal in one game, there was a goal in the one I'd just changed over from :( There were goals, attacking play and it very much overshadowed the hype of 'the Battle of Britain' which was a boring affair, and apparently, two of Man U's 3 goals came from an offside position. Wow, what a shock that is...

Anyway, the reason I am worried is because during the game last night, I was more concerned about the fact that they weren't showing Santi Cazorla much. And you know...the fact the commentator kept mispronouncing his name. I was even upset that out of 6 goals scored by Villareal, not one of them was scored by him. Now, don't get me wrong, I think he's cute in the annoying little brother kind of way, but I'm not attracted to him. Which makes me think - why was I so concerned about how much camera time he was getting? Is it because he's Spanish, and I'm a little biased in their favour?

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