me and a buddy were arguing over whether Man U or Chelsea are the Yankees of the EPL. I say Chelsea because they spend the most money trying to gobble up the best players from other smaller teams and he says Man U because of their dominance of the EPL. I like Man U, but I hate the Yankees.

4/30/2007 3:35:32 PM

all the big teams gobble up players from smaller teams...where do you think rooney and ronaldo came from?

with that said, roman buys mourinho anyone he wants, which is why there's a fucking all-star team on the bench at chelsea...sir alex still has a lot to work with, but he doesn't have carte blanche on the transfer market (see having to choose between carrick and hargreaves)

chelsea are much more yankees-like

4/30/2007 3:40:07 PM

historically, man u have been called the "yankees" of the soccer world...but definately chelsea since Abramovich bought the club, and there is no argument about that whatsoever

[Edited on April 30, 2007 at 3:43 PM. Reason : ]

4/30/2007 3:42:10 PM

Chelsea is definitely the current answer to this argument

I read somewhere, however, that Abramovich is not going to be as free-wheeling with his money over the next few seasons as he has been... good news for the rest of the EPL

I would say, "and good for Europe too, for that matter," but they've got to win one continent-wide title first

let's go Liverpool

Probable Lineups from uefa.com, even though Benitez is keeping quiet about the finality of the Reds's eleven until kickoff tomorrow

Essien is back for Chelsea, but Ballack is still going to miss the rest of the Blues's campaign, as the final blow to his campaign came with surgery this past week - Ricardo Carvalho is out for Chelsea also, having been injured in this past Saturday's affair against Bolton... Benitez resting seven starters over the weekend in the 2-1 defeat by Portsmouth is cast in a little better light after the Carvalho development

Probable Lineups

Liverpool
Pepe Reina
Steve Finnan
Jamie Carragher
Daniel Agger
Álvaro Arbeloa
Steven Gerrard, MBE
Javier Mascherano
Xabi Alonso
John Arne Riise
Peter Crouch
Dirk Kuyt

Chelsea
Petr Cech
Paulo Ferreira
Michael Essien
John Terry
Ashley Cole
John Obi Mikel
Claude Makelele
Frank Lampard
Joe Cole
Didier Drogba
Salomon Kalou

4/30/2007 6:02:37 PM

Abramovic set the tone for Chelsea this past January when he wouldn't let The Special One spend his money at will... that's where the temper tantrum came from and the months of "Is Mourinho leaving?" came from


but yes, Chelsea are the Yankees of the EPL.



United is more like the Atlanta Braves of the 90s - they win a lot, and when they do you know they've earned it because they're head and shoulders above the rest in terms of play

4/30/2007 6:19:13 PM

WOW what a goal from daniel agger..."absolute peach of a goal"

5/1/2007 3:09:06 PM

DROGBA = teh ghey...omg the ball hurted my face

5/1/2007 3:11:38 PM

oh man, 'pool close with 2 headers by crouch and kuyt

5/1/2007 4:01:37 PM

pennant is raping cole in the 2nd...cannot believe crouch hasn't put one in yet

[Edited on May 1, 2007 at 4:02 PM. Reason : ]

5/1/2007 4:02:13 PM

i saw that kuyt had cech beat on that header, i didnt think it would hit the crossbar, i thought it was in



...once again drogba fakes an injury

[Edited on May 1, 2007 at 4:04 PM. Reason : k]

5/1/2007 4:03:12 PM

quite a game

5/1/2007 4:55:49 PM

PEPE...incredible liverpool...incredible

5/1/2007 5:24:19 PM

hell yeah, gooo Liverpool


even though they arent my favorite team out there, I dont like Chelsea, and I love rooting for the underdog

5/1/2007 5:24:46 PM

pleaseeeeee milan...hold down the san siro

5/1/2007 5:25:51 PM

hahaah goodbye chelsea, you douchebags

[Edited on May 1, 2007 at 5:36 PM. Reason : you'll never walk alone]

5/1/2007 5:34:16 PM

aha, sensational!

absolutely great stops from Reina, for some reason Cech didn't start after the shots as early as Reina

even though I didn't like the stepping off of the gas allowing Chelsea to dictate toward the end of extra time, it all worked out

all that money still can't buy European championships

and the love that Agger gets now is almost going to equal the shredding he took from the English media after being beaten by Drogba last week

on to Athens

5/1/2007 5:40:24 PM

great how these things work out with kuyt deservedly being the one to put chelsea out after his superb match.

the special one brought on robben and geremi...they both missed...gg jose.

5/1/2007 5:42:55 PM

^yeah, i thought robben should have been brought in the 80th minute or so, not as late as he was, and mourinho stuck to his guns in drogba longer than he should have, because he just wasn't on his game today, missing two open net shots, really.

5/1/2007 5:59:35 PM

ynwa

5/1/2007 7:26:08 PM

Quote :

"United is more like the Atlanta Braves of the 90s - they win a lot, and when they do you know they've earned it because they're head and shoulders above the rest in terms of play"

Man U are more like the Boston Red Sox currently, the lesser of the two evils. Their fans are more than happy to mention when Chelsea start dropping money on the world all-star team, but when fans of lesser teams complain about Man U's players and spending, their fans just point the finger at Chelsea and say "well...they're worse than us".

Maybe Terry and Lampard won't re-sign, and the special one will run off to Spain or some other league.

I just wish Shevchenko would roll out, I'm sick of watching him ride the pine.

5/2/2007 3:09:09 AM

any word on rio and vidic's fitness to be able to play today

5/2/2007 11:53:12 AM

Maldini is out for Milan
Rio and Vidic are game time decisions by the sound of it

5/2/2007 12:01:34 PM

^fuck, Maldini is out.

5/2/2007 12:04:09 PM

Gattuso's good to go, right?

5/2/2007 12:28:21 PM

Gattuso is playing

5/2/2007 12:33:32 PM

Damn...block two penalty kicks, send your club on to the UEFA CL Final, and then come home to a burglarized house and missing Porsche Cheyenne...that sucks.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=426940&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901

[Edited on May 2, 2007 at 12:38 PM. Reason : oops]

5/2/2007 12:38:30 PM

let's see who's ready to meet Liverpool in Athens on the 23rd

Quote :

"The 65-year-old [Sir Alex Ferguson] singled out Milan's Kaká, Gattuso and Maldini for particular praise but insists his team will not be cowed by the sold-out San Siro. The possible comeback from injury of defenders Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic - who both trained on Tuesday - may also compensate for the loss of the suspended Patrice Evra. "This team thrives on the big occasions and tomorrow will be the biggest test yet," continued Sir Alex. "You would expect Milan to score at home but our safety net is an emphasis on scoring. Sitting on the edge of the penalty box doesn't do us any good and it doesn't do the fans any good. So I think if we're going to do it, we've got to do it our way.""

Probable Lineups

Milan

Dida
Massimo Oddo
Alessandro Nesta
Kakha Kaladze
Marek Jankulovski
Gennaro Gattuso
Andrea Pirlo
Massimo Ambrosini
Kaká
Clarence Seedorf
Filippo Inzaghi

Manchester United
Edwin van der Sar
John O'Shea
Nemanja Vidic/Rio Ferdinand
Wes Brown
Gabriel Heinze
Darren Fletcher
Michael Carrick
Cristiano Ronaldo
Paul Scholes
Ryan Giggs
Wayne Rooney

[Edited on May 2, 2007 at 2:13 PM. Reason : ]

5/2/2007 2:13:41 PM

No doubt Milan are looking for a 1-0 scoreline with that lineup.

5/2/2007 2:20:38 PM

milan is all over united like a bad rash in the opening minutes.

5/2/2007 2:55:55 PM

[Edited on May 2, 2007 at 2:56 PM. Reason : ']

5/2/2007 2:56:31 PM

score....magnificent finish.

5/2/2007 2:57:23 PM

Quote :

"No doubt Milan are looking for a 1-0 scoreline with that lineup."

Well, they have it after 10 minutes. What an awesome goal... but I have a feeling they'll need another

5/2/2007 2:58:25 PM

I'm in the library .

5/2/2007 3:05:21 PM

me too...but hooray for sopcast

5/2/2007 3:11:04 PM

wow United, sloppy defending, 2-0 Milan

5/2/2007 3:15:26 PM

seedorf 2-0

5/2/2007 3:16:25 PM

seedorf is having himself a season

5/2/2007 3:22:22 PM

gotta love the miserable conditions, but that comedy of errors and failure to clear properly could be the end of United in this tournament

5/2/2007 3:47:28 PM

PLAY THAT VIOLIN GILARDINO!!!!!!

5/2/2007 4:22:15 PM

the end...3-0 gilardino scores
revenge for 2005 here we come

5/2/2007 4:22:37 PM

if milan holds the same form it displayed today, it will be tough sledding for Liverpool

i thought Manchester was just all around bad today - obvious critical errors from the back line, sloppy play by the midfield, and failure to ever really mount any sort of serious threat by rooney, ronaldo, and giggs - i'm not sure they ever registered a shot Dida had to really save

part of it was Milan's constant pressure from that jackass Gattuso and company, but I don't think Liverpool will beat themselves the way Man U did this afternoon

5/2/2007 4:45:36 PM

REVENGE WILL BE TAKEN

5/2/2007 4:46:01 PM

maybe this time they'll spot you four, just for grins

5/2/2007 4:51:28 PM

Milan looked good today but don't expect Carra, Mascherano, and Co. to look as bad as that United defense

it's going to be a good final

5/2/2007 6:06:58 PM

2007 is the year kaka wins fifa player of the year

5/2/2007 8:50:15 PM

Dude, I'll be in Florence, Italy for a month starting May 16, just might have to take a train to Milan for the final...I bet that place would go fucking nuts.

5/3/2007 6:49:57 AM

nothing happening in milan that week.the champions league final is on at athens though

5/3/2007 8:33:32 AM

i think he means things would be nuts in and around the city among the followers of the club

5/3/2007 11:48:28 AM

^^^ i am very jealous of you...is anyone watching the game anywhere around here?

5/4/2007 3:16:56 PM

nah, i dont like either team

5/4/2007 3:17:57 PM