Celtic won’t mind the fine, as it was their inability to control the security of the stadium resulted in one fan running around amok during last weeks Champions league game. It was this very fan than ran amok, and appear to give Dida a ‘sniper’ slap.

A sniper slap is one of those rare forms of fan based slap attacks that only begin to affect the victim after about 5-6 seconds.

Don’t know what i’m talking about? Missed the whole incident? Well then, thank your lucky stars for YouTube baby!

Dida, the Brazillian overactor

Sometimes i wonder, are footballers a moronic bunch? Don’t they know that their every move during a game is scrutinized by media from almost every angle. Nowdays, there isn’t a single blade of grass that isn’t covered by camera. If i was Dida, i know i’d feel like a moron. I’d also feel very lucky that UEFA didn’t make a bigger effort to clamp down on other moronic behaviour by fellow players (e.g. diving, faking, grabbing other players balls during corner kicks) by making an example out of me.I wish i was a friend of Dida though. I know in this kind of situation, he will need friends like me. Friends that will continue to laugh, mock and taunt him for his stupidity.

Ah, ‘footebol’, tis why we love thee.

It says everything about the esteem in which the Liverpool manager is still held in Valencia that more than three years after he departed the La Liga side he remains the man the fans would love to see running their club.

With a pair of league championships and a UEFA Cup won during his stint at the Mastella we shouldn’t be surprised that Benitez is still revered there.

Breaking the Real Madrid/Barcelona duoploy marks him out as an iconic figure in the Mediterranean city and seeing as the La Liga title has eluded Valencia ever since Benitez’s departure it was always likely that absence would make the heart grow fonder.

In England, meanwhile, the very same Rafa Benitez is finding his ability to turn Liverpool into genuine title challengers questioned and, on occasion, his methods ridiculed whenever results go against his side and sometimes even when they don’t.

The criticism of Benitez comes at a time when Liverpool are unbeaten in the league and lie just six points off first place. I repeat, when Liverpool are unbeaten in the league and just six points off first place.

The stick with which the Liverpool manager is being beaten most often is rotation. Apparently, if you listen to his critics, teams which rotate do not win the big prizes.

Well, it certainly worked in Spain so rotation cannot be dismissed as a failure all that easily.

“Ah,” say the critics, “that’s all well and good but football in England is different to Spain and it’ll never work here”.

The case for the defence could easily centre on the fact that Benitez has already guided Liverpool to domestic success in the FA Cup (not to mention that continental triviality that is the Champions League).

It might well pain him to do so, but in this case Benitez could quite easily point to Manchester United’s Premiership triumph last season.

In the 2006/07 season, Sir Alex Ferguson used a total of 23 players en route to the title. At Anfield, Benitez used six more.

Significantly, five of those selected by Benitez only featured in Liverpool’s last three games of the season when the focus had shifted from domestic to continental pursuits with key first team players making way for youngsters as the Champions League final loomed.

So, for the most part of the season, Benitez and Ferguson utilised squads of an almost idenitical size.

When it comes down to rotation, the two managers both made constant changes to their sides throughout the season and looked on track to record an almost identical number of changes until Liverpool secured their place in the following season’s Champions League and Benitez began to make more and more changes in a bid to assess the quality of his younger squad players and the club’s priority shifted to that meeting with Milan.

So, again, both Benitez and Ferguson used rotation. The difference? United won the title and Liverpool didn’t.

This season, the criticism of Benitez’s methods has grown more and more ridiculous with every passing week. So much so that their are now people far less qualified who feel they have the right to tell the Liverpool manager what his team should be.

Sensationalism is masquerading as analysis and it has got to stop. By all means question Rafa Benitez but it has to be done with perspective.

Trophies aren’t handed out in October and we will all only know if the Reds boss’ system will pay dividends come next May.

But if you have doubts about whether Benitez’s methods should be accepted then consider the words of another of Valencia’s favourite sons, centre forward David Villa.

In a recent interview, Villa was asked how Valencia had managed to be beaten by Chelsea in last season’s Champions League quarter finals despite having gone 2-1 up on aggregate at home.

His answer was revealing: “It is very simple. We had a very small squad last season so the manager (Quique Sanchez Florez) could not rotate as much as he would have liked.

“By the end of the season we had played a lot of games, too many games, and we were tired and carrying injuries and when Chelsea came back we had nothing left to give.”

It is this kind of endemic exhaustion that Benitez is trying to avoid at Anfield.

Rotation is new to the English game and in a country as insular and naturally conservative as this one it was always going to be viewed with suspicion.

But it is all too easy to blame all a club’s ills on a selection process when results go against it. When Liverpool were beaten by Marseilles last week the usual suspects again argued that the defeat was caused by rotation.

This was despite the fact that physically the Liverpool players were at their highest level for several weeks. They were fresh and the occasional rests they had been given were the reason for this.

The problem was, their physical attributes were fatally undermined by a lack of confidence which meant their technical and tactical skills simply did not function.

It was a bad, bad performance but to lay the blame for it at the door of rotation is lazy in the extreme.

Just three seasons ago, the very same critics claimed that every single goal Liverpool conceded from a set piece was caused by this new fangled zonal marking system that Benitez had brought with him from Valencia.

Now, no-one even talks about it. The reason why? Liverpool hardly ever concede a goal from a set piece anymore while other teams which use more traditional man-to-man marking systems continue to concede them on a much more regular basis.

So the message is simple – support the manager and support his methods. Let the critics have their say but never lose sight of the fact that we have one of the most tactically astute coaches in European football who has a record of success that few can get near and most envy.

Oh, and his Liverpool team is still unbeaten in the Premiership as autumn kicks in.

Those fans at the Mastella know all too well that Benitez is a special manager – that’s why they still sing his name – so let him get on with the job in hand at Anfield and let’s see where we end up in May.

(Courtesy: www.liverpoolfc.tv)

Bayern Munich, who have had a continual presence in the Champions League for a decade and a half, are in the second-tier UEFA Cup this time and would look a tough draw but Anelka saw the positive side of playing the German giants.

Anelka told the Bolton club website they had nothing to lose when they go to Munich next month: “I would love to go there and upset the world of football by winning. It would put Bolton on the map in terms of being a European force.

“Bayern Munich are the best team in the competition and will give us a great test in Munich. I have played at the old Olympic Stadium many times and the atmosphere is amazing.

“The new Allianz Arena, where they play now, is one of the best stadiums in the world. I haven’t played there before but I’m looking forward to it. Bayern have some great players that will be a threat to us.

“My international team-mate Franck Ribery joined them from Marseille this season and he is a great talent, who has the ability to change a game.”

In Group F, Bolton have home games against Portugal’s Braga and Greeks Aris Salonika before trips to Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade, who won the competition in 1991.

“The match against Red Star will be very intimidating,” Anelka added. “They always seem to raise their game in European competition and their fanatical fans are always very passionate at home. It will be a great atmosphere in Belgrade and one that the Bolton fans will look forward to.”

Meanwhile Tottenham Hotspurs have been drawn against Belgians Anderlecht, the team they beat in the 1984 final, in Group G while Everton are up against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in Group A.

In Group B, Scotland’s Aberdeen meet Greeks Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid.

Each team will play two matches at home and two away with the group stage starting on 25 October and the top three of the five go through. They will be joined by eight third-placed teams from the Champions League groups for the knockout round.

(Courtesy: soccerway.com)

Personally, Bolton need to fight hard to get anything out of this game. Bayern have got quality stamped ALL over their team. Bolton are a mediocre team sprinkled with one or 2 quality players like Anelka. Still, the Bolton players are more than likely to raise their game against their more illustrious opponents. Should be a good game.

Henry flew into London after Barcelona’s Champions League victory away to VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday to promote a collection of clothes by Tommy Hilfiger, profits from which are going to One 4 All, the anti-racist foundation backed by the French player. Fortunately, Henry likes talking about football, which was just as well — attempts to weave soccer into questions about fashion became tiring.

Last weekend, Henry scored his first hattrick for Barcelona (away to Levante) since leaving Arsenal. A hattrick is a sort of football fashion statement, isn’t it, a way of telling a new set of supporters that you have arrived? “They wanted me to score,” he said. “I f you give 100% , they recognise that, but scoring three goals, as you say, it is a statement.”

The Thierry Henry Capsule Collection was influenced by the player’s “grace and charisma”.

Presumably Hilfiger could have chosen any number of footballers, but Henry is a star, a fact borne out by the jostling fans who stood outside the Hilfiger store in Regent Street and cheered as he stood in the window and grinned at them.

“It’s always the thing I am fighting against; stars, heroes, icons,” he said. “What is a star? At night I see them in the skies, but if you kick a ball, I don’t know if you can call that a star. I think if you look in the dictionary they won’t put ‘football player who plays for Arsenal’ or whatever. Players never call themselves stars; people give you names.”

There is a theory that Henry became too big a star for Arsenal and his transfer liberated the team’s youngsters, who were inhibited by his presence. Henry did not like it, though, when reference was made to “Thierry Henry’s Arsenal” rather than plain Arsenal.

“That was annoying because it’s Arsenal playing and people get sucked into it,” he said. “Football has always been a team effort and always will be .”

So, is he enjoying playing for Barcelona and not Thierry Henry’s Barcelona?

“It’s the same thing — now it’s Lionel Messi’s Barcelona,” he said. “Then it’s going to be another player. They always find a player because there is always a player who shines more at times. You have to live with it. We don’t get sucked into it. You never hear a player saying he is more important.”

Arsenal were not expected to thrive without Henry, but they lead the Premier League, having delivered performances of flair and steel. Has Henry noticed anything different?

“The only thing is the last two seasons we didn’t start well,” he said. “This season they did . I know and the boss [Arsène Wenger] knew what the players were capable of doing. Sometimes it is not always easy.

“Two years ago, Chelsea had an amazing year, Manchester United last year had an amazing year. There is quality [at Arsenal], you don’t reach a Champions League final just like this, so it was always going to come. To find out [how] you have to go inside the head of Arsène Wenger and that’s more difficult; he pulls the strings.”

Henry continues to watch Premier League matches and retains a love for English football. “There’s the type of game you can see only in England; 4-1 [the scoreline in Aston Villa’s favour away to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday] with 20 minutes to go and then it’s 4-4. It was 7-4 in Portsmouth against Reading. In two games you have almost 20 goals. It’s ridiculous — not in a bad way but ridiculous, like wow, but that’s the Premiership. If you go to get a bottle of water from your fridge you can miss two goals.”

Does the forward miss those rollercoaster games?

“Not just that, everything,” he said. “Everything about the Premiership, everything about England. The stadiums always full, the whole thing on Saturday, everyone raving about going to the game, going to the stadium, waking up early, walking to the stadium, going to the pub afterwards, talking about the game for the whole weekend.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, his favourite colour is blue.

“But I don’t wear it,” he said, “that’s weird, huh? It’s difficult to match blue.”

(Courtesy: thetimes.co.za)

Eyebrows were raised in the summer when City paid Shakhtar Donetsk £6 million for Elano, the Brazilian midfield player, but he has not taken long to justify the price. His creativity has allowed a previously blunt City team to score nine goals in their past three outings and his two-goal display left Eriksson drooling.

The mercurial Brazillian leads the assist charts with Fabregas

“The big difference between him now and when he first arrived is his fitness,” Eriksson, the City manager, said. “He’s much stronger now and we don’t have to teach him how to play football. He won’t be able to keep this standard up all the time, but you are seeing the best of him at the moment. He can keep the ball, see things around him and is starting to score goals. You can’t ask for much more. He’s a top-class player.”

Mido, Lee Dong Gook and Jérémie Aliadière were ruled out for Middlesbrough before kick-off and Gareth Southgate, the manager, handed Tom Craddock, 21, his first Premier League start of the season.

His task as Middlesbrough’s lone forward appeared fruitless, though, when the home side took the lead inside ten minutes. Martin Petrov’s inswinging corner evaded Richard Dunne before striking the foot of the unfortunate Riggott, who steered the ball past Mark Schwarzer and into his own net.

It took a fine save from Joe Hart to prevent Lee Cattermole from equalising in the 30th minute with a diagonal header from Fabio Rochemback’s cross. It proved to be the turning point of the first half and, ultimately, the match. Three minutes later, City broke forward with pace once more, with Michael Johnson’s sublime backheel allowing Elano to drill a dipping drive past the diving Schwarzer into the bottom corner. Game over, not least because Middlesbrough had no stomach for the fight, despite the tenacity of Jonathan Woodgate. Even he was powerless to prevent Elano from scoring his second with a stunning free kick in the 63rd minute.

Ben Hutchinson, a second-half substitute, scored a consolation goal with a minute remaining, but City’s home league record now reads: played five, won five, nine goals scored and two conceded.

(Courtesy: www.timesonline.co.uk)

The Real goal scorers practising their ballerina duet steps at the Bernabeu

Barcelona rose to second after they secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Athletico Madrid thanks to goals from Deco (17), Lionel Messi (20) and Xavi (90).

Villarreal suffered their second defeat of the season after Osasuna claimed a 3-2 victory. Giuseppe Rossi (20) put the away side ahead but Osasuna replied through Juan Juanfran (21) and Eduardo Dady (34). Diego Godin (36) levelled for Valencia but Franciso Javi Garcia (79) scored late on to hand Jose Angel Ziganda’s men all three points.

Sergio Garcia (64) scored Real Zaragoza’s opener as they moved up to eighth with a 3-0 win over Levante. Ricardo Oliveira (70 and 82) put the result beyond doubt with a late brace.

Athletic Bilbao were held to a 1-1 draw against Almeria at the Estadio San Mames. Joseba Etxeberria (32) put the home side in front but Felipe Melo levelled with 28 minutes remaining.

Gregorio Manzano’s Real Mallorca put on an inspired second half display to come back from two goals behind. Francisco Sousa (3 and 48) put Getafe ahead but Ariel Ibagaza (55), Juan Arango (72 and 79) and Ivan Ramis (93) sealed an impressive 4-2 win.

Sevilla lost their fourth consecutive league game following a 1-0 home defeat to Deportivo La Coruna. Riki got the goal for Deportivo with just 17 minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Murcia and Real Betis shared the spoils following a 0-0 draw at La Condomina.

(Courtesy: www.teamtalk.com)

However, with the potent strike force of Berbatov and Keane, Spurs made Liverpool pay for not taking their chances. Time and time again, they served warning to the Liverpool backline. If anything, these two are the classic example of how NOT rotating your strikers can benefit a team. Their understanding and movement was almost telephatic, and they scored 2 gems of a goal. The first came before halftime and the second came just after the second half started, to make the scoreline 1-2.

But as the commentator rightly said, Liverpool cannot be counted out, especially at Anfield, and they made an almighty effort to get something out of the game. They risked a lot, leaving plenty of space at the back and Spurs should have capitalized on it on a few occasions.

In the end though, Torres scored from a bullet header right at the end. There was nothing Robinson could do about it. The Spaniard has been a joy to watch this season, and did his team a big favour by scoring that equaliser. Alarm bells will be ringing in the Liverpool camp though, as a loss and a draw at Anfield isn’t just what is expected at this club.

What a game it was though, a showpiece for what the EPL is all about. It will be hard to believe that Spurs will stay at the bottom of the table if they continue to play like this.

I thought perhaps the last game against EPL game was a blip. Their passing there was average and lackluster. I expected a much better performance from Liverpool against Marseille.

I should have just watched the Valencia v Chelsea game.

Marseille totally outplayed Liverpool, at Anfield no less. Can’t remember the last time Liverpool were outplayed by a lesser team. Not only that, Liverpool was happy to not even try to keep possesion. Did they ever string 3-4 consecutive passes in the Marseille half? Maybe on one or two occasions only.

Credit to Marseille though. They had a full uninterrupted 10 days to prepare for this game and the did their homework very well. Cisse and Zenden probably contributed with a lot of inside information as well.

Sissoko, geez, what an infuriating player. He played as the holding midfielder, but was completely useless. Above all, he constantly lost possession and never made a decent forward pass.

Remember my previous post when i said Liverpool aren’t out of winning the EPL yet? Well, i take it back. In fact, i am going to take it back and further add insult and say Liverpool’s not gonna win anything this season.