Year Opened: 2002

Stadium Capacity: 25,404

Kingston Communications Stadium or KC Stadium for brevity’s sake is the moderately new home of the Hull City Tigers.  This season marks the clubs eighth in a row in KC and out of all the Premier League stadiums KC Stadium is the third newest which is fitting considering the Tigers are also one of the newest top level squads currently playing in their second consecutive Premier League season.

In 2005 KC Stadium was voted by fans of the Football League as the best overall stadium.  Fans believe KC is the most comfortable stadium to watch a match due to the stadium’s excellent service and great view from anywhere inside the stadium.  KC Stadium is listed as one of the venues that would be used if England was awarded the FIFA World Cup in 2018.  Hull City’s football club shares the home with Hull City’s rugby team as well and with extra seating brought in, KC can fit well over 30,000 fans.  It is the fourth smallest stadium in the Premier League though without additional seating added.

Home to several England Under 21 matches and rugby league matches, KC Stadium is considered one of the best stadiums in England for hosting a multitude of different acts.  Recently such musicians as Elton John, the Who, Bon Jovi, R.E.M., and Bryan Adams  all have performed in KC Stadium.  However some of the acts could not sellout the venue and less musical acts are expected to perform their in the future. 

Hull City may be new to the top level, but with one of the newest and nicest stadiums in the league, the Tigers hope to make good use out of their fairly new home.

Tweet This Post

photo credit: roblisameehan

Last week John Terry wanted the world to know that he is still the captain of Chelsea.

The controversial defender scored against Stoke City in their FA Cup match, and following the goal, Terry surprised everyone when he decided to fight back at the critics by lifting his shirt sleeve to reveal the captain’s armband.  The action was especially shocking to spectate because it was Terry who recently expressed that he would like to be judged by his actions on the pitch and not his problems off of it. 

Well I don’t really see how the celebration isn’t related to these off the field problems he has faced and I also don’t think that the act did anything good to positively build on his flawed reputation either.  You would think if you were in his position that you would just play the game and keep your mouth shut, but Terry wanted the world to know about his unhappiness with his current position. 

Apparently the guy has never heard of the term “taking the high road”.

Of course where was the point to the armband when Manchester City had their way with the star and embarrassed his defensive backline for four goals a week back?  Or the week before that when Everton beat them down soundly?  And where was the point to the armband when Diego Milito completely dominated the guy inside the box for a goal in the Champions League a few weeks back as well? 

Well apparently when Terry struggles at his job against a good team he doesn’t point to the band, but when he scores a goal against a mediocre team then he points away like a small child.  The celebration isn’t really that big of a deal.  In fact on the Terry Scale I give it only a 2 out of 10.  But once again the guy is proving to the world that he is in fact a complete wanker.

First off, you are the captain of the Chelsea team.  So shouldn’t scoring goals and doing well be part of the job description?  Secondly, by pointing to that armband you are telling the world that while you are on the pitch (succeeding none the less) you are still stuck on the negative things that you were involved in the past off of the pitch. 

Whatever happened to the pitch being separate then your personal life Mr. Terry?  It seems as if you still hold a little grudge about losing that armband.  Here is what the captain had to say earlier in the week about his recent form:

In the first half of the season I was in really good form but after a couple of bad results, and what has gone on in recent weeks, the spotlight has been on me. But I feel as though I am playing well.

“The spotlight” has been on you Mr. Terry.  Isn’t the job of a captain (especially of a struggling defense too) to take responsibility for the club’s poor form.  It seems as if Terry is simply shifting the blame of Chelsea’s recent poor results on the rest of the team.  “Playing well” are you Mr. Terry?  Is the defense playing well as a whole Mr. Terry?  Then I find it hard to say this.

It appears that Mr. Terry is getting his time on the pitch mixed up once again with his off the field problems.  In fact like anything in the guy’s life it appears that when he does something really good (like scores a goal) he wants to be the center of attention and when he screws up, he wants everybody to forget about it.  

Well BOO-WHO!  The spotlight doesn’t always work that way.

You see Mr. Terry I get it.  You are proud of the symbol of the armband and you want the world to know how you feel about losing that privilege for England.    

And you should know Mr. Terry that you are not the only man in the world that likes symbols and you are not the only man in the world that uses such symbols to make a point.

You see I like symbols too Mr. Terry.  Here is one I especially enjoy.

Now feel free to point away my armband-clad friend.   

Tweet This Post

photo credit: delphaber

The Glass is Half Full

South Africa can win the World Cup if they take serious advantage of the fact that they are the first African nation to ever host the event.  If you look back in the history of the World Cup, nearly all the hosting nations performed their best when they were playing in their own nation.  This has been true ever since the first World Cup when Uruguay won.  England, Argentina, Italy, and France all won their first World Cup when they hosted the event.  And plenty of hosting nations have been the runner-up of the event as well including Sweden and Brazil.  So as long as the club can get off to a strong start and advance to the second round anything is possible.  I am sure if that happens then the club will have some twelfth man help via the blaring horns from the supporters.

The Glass is Half Empty

That guy above me does have one valid point.  South Africa will have one huge advantage over the rest of the competition by being the hosting nation.  They will be able to make it home quicker after being bounced from the first round of the tournament.  I will not deny that hosting the Cup is a great advantage over the rest of the teams in the Cup and sure plenty of teams have over-performed due to having the honor.  But those teams all had wonderful legendary players on their squad and this is South Africa were talking about here.  The club has never made it past the first round.  They have no real stars on their team.  And they will be playing against three strong clubs meaning that they will be lucky to survive Group A.  Mexico, Uruguay and France are all much more talented teams that have the potential to go much further in the Cup.  Those horns better be real loud to change this fact. 

Tweet This Post

photo credit: CLF

South Africa

The Keeper

South Africa’s weakest department is between the posts with Khune as the likely starter of the squad.  This will become a problematic area for South Africa and if the play is inconsistent in the net then it will end their hopes of advancing to the final 16 teams.  Especially considering that they possess a less then great offensive unit as well. 

Grade: D -

The Defense

Certainly not a tremendous unit either, but they have a solid middle when center back Morris of Racing Santander is in there.  But the home squad does lack any real depth on both the outside and the middle and this is a problem the club has all across the board.  Not a great unit here, but maybe they can use that home field advantage in their favor.

Grade: D +

The Midfield

Modise will likely play in the middle and is one of the crucial leaders of the midfield unit.  Again not a great deal of depth here either, but Tshabalala and Pienaar are solid on the wings.  In fact Everton’s Pienaar is probably the club’s best player overall and one of the few guys that can create goal scoring opportunities for the club.  Expect Pienaar to be the club’s offensive leader in the crucial event.

Grade: C

The Forwards

Benni McCarthy could lead the attack game along with a bunch of no-namers.  McCarthy is definitely over the hill and has been out of favor recently with the coaching staff, but hopefully he gets the bid and he might  even have a little bit of gas left in the tank.  For the sake of the club’s chances hopefully they get wise and keep this player on their squad for this summer.

Grade: C-   

Overall

With a below average defense and a mediocre offensive unit, it will be a tough road for South Africa to win the Cup this season even though they are the hosting nation.  In fact no African team has ever won the Cup and South Africa just doesn’t have the star power to be a real candidate for the title.  They do have home field advantage though and that can make all of the difference.

Grade: D

Tweet This Post

Manchester United hammered AC Milan 4-0 to move into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Leading 3-2 after the first leg, Man Utd tightened their grip on the tie when Wayne Rooney scored again. With the goal Rooney became on the second player in history to score in both legs of a European tie against Milan.

Any hopes that Milan had of getting back in the game were killed a minute into the second half when Rooney ran onto a brilliant ball from Nani to score his 30th goal of the season and knock Milan out of the Champions League.

After that it was party time at Old Trafford as Park Ji-Sung added a third after a great Paul Scholes pass.

By then, all that was left for the fans was David Beckham’s return to Old Trafford. His appearance was met with massive cheers and he almost had a fairy tale return when his 20 yard volley was turned over the bar by van der Sar.

Darren Fletcher rounded out the scoring with another header as United romped to a 7-2 aggregate triumph.

Post Match Quotes
Sir Alex Ferguson, United manager

“It was a marvellous second-half performance. We got the break with the early goal in the second half and after that we played very well. When we play with that tempo we’re difficult to play against; it was a solid United performance.

It’s a challenge [for Wayne Rooney to beat Cristiano Ronaldo's 42-goal haul of 2007/08]. I was happy with him getting to 30 to be honest with you. He just keeps improving and tonight again he was sensational. Ji-Sung Park showed sacrifice, intelligence and discipline and we needed that against [Andrea] Pirlo because he’s a very good player for them. With the kind of team we’ve got it doesn’t matter who we play next.”

Leonardo, Milan coach

“We will have to analyse many things about the game but this is not the time to do it. We deserved something more in the first leg but this time around United’s victory was clearly deserved. They had a brilliant start, scored early on and everything became easier for them.

We did some good things in the Champions League this season. I thought we had a chance after our first-leg performance but we were up against a very good side. We lost [Alessandro] Nesta a few hours ahead of the game, than his replacement [Daniele] Bonera in the first half. I took a risk by fielding [Massimo] Ambrosini in defence, but it didn’t pay off.

It will be impossible to quickly put this game behind us but we are just four points adrift of Inter in Serie A with 11 games to play and we have to try to catch them.”

Tweet This Post

THE PAST

AC Milan is another one of those clubs that has one of the richest histories of football in the world.  The club has won 17 Serie A titles and 7 Champions League titles and over the last one hundred years the squad has earned one of the most impressive trophy rooms in the entire world.  The club’s most recent Champions League title came in 2006/2007 when the club beat Liverpool in the final 2-1.

THE PRESENT

AC Milan is only trailing Inter by a match right now in Serie A football and that has to be considered excellent results considering the club lost Kaka right before the season began.  But even though they do have a few positions that could be strengthened out there they do have some great potential in young, Brazilian star Alexandre Pato.  The budding star leads the club in goals and Brazilian Ronaldinho has shown excellent form this season and looks to be a candidate for the MVP trophy at the end of the season with several assists.  Leonardo is the coach too, so yes this team is very Brazilian-oriented.

THE PREDICTION

Before the series began I thought that the score would be high scoring and result in a 5-3 aggregate victory for Man U.  After that first match which saw the Red Devils win on the road 3-2, I think the prediction is looking pretty good.  But if Pato isn’t ready to go that will certainly not help matters any.  But then again Rooney will likely not be 100% either if he plays in the match too.  Still it seems like Man U has the depth more then AC Milan plus they have the home field advantage and the goal advantage as well.

photo credit: CLF

Tweet This Post

Talk about being on a roll…

Arsenal added to its momentum with an intense 5-0 win over Porto.  We could get into the ins and outs of the match, but I think it bears noting that Arsenal is on a roll of their own in the Premier League as well.

The club heads back to England having already put themselves into the Quarterfinals of the Champion’s League AND they have 3 easily winnable matches on their docket.

Hull City, West Ham, and Birmingham might want to take note and gird their loins–because Arsenal is coming for them.

I also don’t think we need to be surprised by Porto.  They hail from a much smaller league and did their very best, but I don’t think they could have expected much against a team that has caught up Chelsea and United in the EPL.

With a draw coming for the Quarterfinals I can’t imagine that anybody is gonna want a piece of Arsenal.  However, if I am right and United moves on–wouldn’t it be cool if United and Arsenal drew each other in the Quarters?  Or Chelsea and Arsenal.  Or Chelsea and United?

I know we want to see “inter-country” competition, but it would be pretty sweet to see EPL rematches in the Champion’s League.  The matches would only get even more heated and send the winner with even MORE momentum into the Semis.

AHHH, that’s an exciting thought!

With all the speculation around Arsene Wenger and his management style it’s good to see that Arsenal is rolling and perhaps the questions about Arsene will die down.

I know I took some major shots at EPL managers, but we can’t really speculate about them because they’re so unpredictable.  Let’s talk about how well this team is playing and how we think they can go.

Now THAT’S excitement!

photo credit: wonker

Tweet This Post

This Tuesday, Arsenal will play host to FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League second match aggregate battle.

THE PAST

FC Porto is basically the Man U or Real Madrid of Portugal and the club has won 24 league titles in their existence.  In fact the team has recently had such a nice run that the last time they didn’t win the league title was in 2004/2005.  And when it comes to tournaments the Portuguese squad doesn’t exactly disappoint either.  FC Porto has won the domestic cup 18 different times and the Champions League title twice.  The last time the club won the honor was in 2004 when Jose Mourinho was the coach.  It was his last year in Portugal before heading to Chelsea.

THE PRESENT

FC Porto is having a very strange season considering that they are currently in third place in their league and 11points back from first place Benfica.  The club does have one great offensive performer in Radamel Falcao who has 17 goals this season in league play, but the club has given up 8 more goals then the first place squad has on defense.  Allowing nearly a goal a game in domestic play will likely not bode well down the road for the club.

THE PREDICTION

Originally I liked Arsenal’s chances of beating the Portuguese squad, but injuries and poor form on defense have me second guessing that pick.  My prediction before the series began saw Arsenal winning 4-2, but the club really played poorly in that first match and Fabregas has already been scratched from the lineup too.  With no Fabregas that will put a serious dent in Arsenal’s attack game and with that bizarre, lazy Campbell play last match that will likely not help their chances of winning, but I did pick Arsenal to win and even though things are working against the squad I still think they will find a way to win this week.

photo credit: wonker

Tweet This Post

Liverpool’s chances to qualify for next season’s Champions League took another hit with a its first-ever loss to Wigan.

The loss left Liverpool in sixth place in the Premier League with 48 points, one behind Tottenham and Manchester City.

Hugo Rodallega was the hero for Wigan, scoring after a giveaway by Dirk Kuyt. The three points for Wigan moved them up to 14th place and four points clear of the relegation zone.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, as expetced, was not happy after the game saying:

“We have to be really disappointed. After a defeat always you cannot be happy but after a defeat in this way…the first half we didn’t do anything. We gave the ball away, we didn’t win any first or second ball, and that is difficult to explain. I think it was a question of attitude in the first half; sometimes we played too quickly, we were in too much of a hurry. It was a poor half.”

 

Tweet This Post

Another week and another huge game for the Arsenal. This time it is in the Champions League as Arsenal try to overcome a 2-1 deficit and defeat Porto to move into the quarter-finals.

Arsenal will have to do it the difficult way, without inspirational leader Cesc Fabregas who will miss the game due to a hamstring injury, as well as William Gallas who will also miss the game due to a calf injury.

But the good news for Arsenal is that Sol Campbell has recovered from the groin problem that kept him out at the weekend, and with Arshavin, . But with Arshavin, Nasri and Walcott all fit, Arsene Wenger will have a good squad to pick from.

Arsene Wenger. Arsenal Manager:

There’s always something new in our game so we can innovate and change history. The team has a good chance to make history. We are very young and in a strong position and, of course, we want to win. Scoring away from home is still a massive advantage under UEFA rules and that’s why we are confident we can do it.

In the first game, Porto defended well. I don’t think they will be ultra-defensive. We conceded unusual goals in the first game so we want a better defensive performance and we want to score goals. We know it’s a tricky game, as it always is in the Champions League against an opponent of Porto’s quality, but we believe we can do it. We are confident and are in a good position, so let’s go for it.

Jesualdo Ferreira, Porto coach

We need to have confidence in what we do as the game will probably be decided by small details. The balance of the game and how the result pans out will be decisive so we don’t need to talk about different scenarios which might happen. At Porto we know what our qualities are and we are confident. We know it will be a difficult match but we have the weapons to make it difficult for Arsenal.

We know the [first-leg] goal they scored puts them in a very good position. For that reason we need to fight, be positive, get a good result and qualify. Last year we reached the quarter-finals and our objective is to do that again. I want to put right the fact that Porto have not won in England before – there’s always a first time for everything.

Match Facts

• Porto have progressed in the last 24 two-legged UEFA competition ties in which they were defending an advantage away from home. Arsenal have only managed to overturn one such deficit in nine attempts.
• Porto have lost all six of their trips to London including a 1-0 loss at Chelsea in this season’s group stage and 4-0 defeat by Arsenal last season.

Prediction
Porto are not an easy team to beat, but I expect Arsenal’s speed and passing ability to be the deciding factor in the game. That away goal in Portugal by Sol Campbell was huge and ultimately I expect that to be the difference.

I am not that confident that Arsenal can shut Porto out, but I believe that they will create enough chances to go through. The only potential problem I see is that Arsenal spurns a lot of chances in front of goal and I hope that doesn’t come back to haunt them.

Arsenal 3 Porto 1. Arsenal advances 4-3 on aggregate

Tweet This Post